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Atmospheric rivers (ARs) play important roles in various extreme weather events across the US. While AR features in western US have been extensively studied, there remains limited understanding of their variability in the eastern US (EUS). Using both observations and a state-of-the-art climate model, we find a significant increase (~10% dec-1) in winter AR frequency in the EUS during the past four decades. This trend is closely linked to recent changes in the Pacific/North America (PNA) teleconnection pattern, accompanied by a poleward shift of the mid-latitude jet stream. We further reveal a strong correlation (R = 0.8; P < 0.001) between interannual variations in AR occurrence and the PNA index. This linkage has been verified in various model simulations. A statistical model, built on this linkage, has proven effective in predicting the AR frequency using the PNA index at both monthly and seasonal scales. These promising results have important implications for addressing concerns related to AR-associated extreme precipitation and flooding in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly sensitive and selective choline microbiosensors were constructed by microcontact printing (μCP) of choline oxidase (ChOx) in a crosslinked, polyamine-functionalized zwitterionic polymer matrix on microelectrode arrays (MEAs). μCP has emerged as a potential means to create implantable, multiplexed sensor microprobes, which requires the targeted deposition of different sensor materials to specific microelectrode sites on a MEA. However, the less than sufficient enzyme loading and inadequate spatial resolution achieved with current μCP approaches has limited adoption of the method for electroenzymatic microsensors. A novel polymer, poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine)-g-poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PMPC-g-PAH), has been developed to address this challenge. PMPC-g-PAH contributes to a higher viscosity “ink” that enables thicker immobilized ChOx deposits of high spatial resolution while also providing a hydrophilic, biocompatible microenvironment for the enzyme. Electroenzymatic choline microbiosensors with sensitivity of 639 ± 96 nA μM−1 cm−2 (pH 7.4; n = 4) were constructed that also are selective against both ascorbic acid and dopamine, which are potential electroactive interfering compounds in the mammalian brain. The high sensitivities achieved can lead to smaller MEA microprobes that minimize tissue damage and make possible the monitoring of multiple neurochemicals simultaneously in vivo with high spatial resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides two direct methods for solving the split quaternion matrix equation (AXB,CXD)=(E,F), where X is an unknown split quaternion η‐Hermitian matrix, and A, B, C, D, E, F are known split quaternion matrices with suitable size. Our tools are the Kronecker product, Moore–Penrose generalized inverse, real representation, and complex representation of split quaternion matrices. Our main work is to find the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a solution of the matrix equation mentioned above, derive the explicit solution representation, and provide four numerical algorithms and two numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of people with eye diseases has increased with the use of electronics. However, the bioavailability of eye drops remains low owing to the presence of the ocular barrier and other reasons. Although many drug delivery systems have been developed to overcome these problems, they have certain limitations. In recent years, the development of contact lenses that can deliver drugs for long periods with high bioavailability and without affecting vision has increased the interest in using contact lenses for drug delivery. Hence, a review of the current state of research on drug delivery contact lenses has become crucial. This article reviews the key physical and chemical properties of drug-laden contact lenses, development and classification of contact lenses, and features of the commonly used materials. A review of the methods commonly used in current research to create contact lenses has also been presented. An overview on how drug-laden contact lenses can overcome the problems of high burst and short release duration has been discussed. Overall, the review focuses on drug delivery methods using smart contact lenses, and predicts the future direction of research on contact lenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supraclavicular block (SCB) and the infraclavicular block (ICB) are introduced to meet upper extremity surgery, where the transducer or the insertion point is placed superiorly and inferiorly at the approximate midpoint of the clavicle, respectively. These two approaches are highly appealing since they clearly exhibited each cord and its associated anatomy. In addition, it directed the needle accurately with real-time imaging by ultrasound guidance. Therefore, it brought higher success rates and fewer complications. Numerous trials have recently been conducted to examine the SCB and ICB regarding the new approach, injection techniques, block dynamics, and complication of hemidiaphragmatic paresis. It was found that both approaches could improve block effectiveness and postoperative analgesia for upper extremity surgery, according to recent studies at the level of the clavicular brachial plexus block. However, there is still a lack of work comparing the clinical performance and effectiveness of both approaches with ultrasonography. This review aims to outline the current available data from clinical trials along with case reports about these two approaches and to describe the findings published in the literature during the previous 5 years. Based on these findings, we attempt to determine whether there exists a one-size-fits-all approach that has the potential to meet upper extremity surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a certain functional building group, the coupling relationship between the load of a single unit and entire building groups lies in the spatial and temporal patterns personnel distribution. Using the DeST (Designer's Simulation Toolkit) method, the personnel flow trajectory in a university campus in Shanghai was analyzed and the established energy consumption calculation model based on personnel flow trajectory of university buildings. It is proposed that personnel mobility should be included in the application of DeST to predict the total load of building groups. The results show that after the people flow trajectory was included, the total annual accumulated load decreased from 27.01 to 19.39 GWh, reducing by 28.20%; the hourly load fluctuation became more stable, the daily peak load decreased by 22.57%, and the daily peak valley difference decreased by 43.74%. The results suggest that the prediction for the air conditioning load of building complexes would be better when the trajectory of human flow is considered, minimizing unnecessary system scale and investments. Under the "double carbon" policy, the personnel flow trajectory model can effectively reduce waste in air conditioning energy consumption in campus buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cigarette smoking is usually more prevalent among those with a lower socioeconomic status (SES), which can be driven by inequalities in the initiation and cessation of smoking, giving rise to SES disparities in health. This study aimed to gauge the SES inequalities in smoking related behaviours and their evolving trends based on a nationally representative database. Method: Data were extracted from repeated cross-sectional China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) of adults aged ≥18 and <60 years in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. SES was constructed by principal component analysis based on income, education and occupation. Regression-based odds ratios and coefficients as the relative effect index of inequality were applied to quantify the degree of socioeconomic inequality in smoking related behaviours and to adjust for possible confounding factors. Multivariable regressions were utilized to explore the temporal trends in smoking inequalities. Results: The smoking prevalence among men decreased from 61.16% to 2012 to 57.88% in 2018, cigarette consumption among current smokers declined from 16.71 to 15.49 cigs/per day, and the cessation rate increased from 17.55% to 24.08%. Cigarette consumption for women decreased from 13.39 in 2012 to 11.01 cigs/per day in 2018. Smoking prevalence showed significant SES inequalities among men and women from 2012 to 2018 (men: OR2012 (95%CI)= 0.72 (0.63, 0.83), OR2014 = 0.60 (0.52, 0.69), OR2016 = 0.58 (0.50, 0.67), OR2018 = 0.56 (0.48, 0.66); women: OR2012 = 0.63 (0.41, 0.97), OR2014 = 0.50 (0.32, 0.79), OR2016 = 0.44 (0.26, 0.73), OR2018 = 0.50 (0.30, 0.85)). Cigarette consumption showed significant SES inequalities among men from 2012 to 2018 (β2012=-1.39 (-2.22, -0.57), β2014=-2.37 (-3.23, -1.50), β2016=-2.35 (-3.25, -1.44), β2018=-2.91 (-3.86, -1.97)). In 2018, inequality emerged in smoking cessation rates among men and smoking intensity among women. However, all tests for trends in changes over time were not statistically significant (P varied from 0.072 to 0.602). Conclusion: The smoking prevalence declined between 2012 and 2018 in China. However, SES inequalities in smoking persist, while socioeconomic inequalities in smoking were not alleviated among adults aged 18 ~ 59 in China. Tobacco control measures should be implemented by giving more attention to people with lower SES who are more vulnerable to tobacco use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the potential impacts of large-scale atmospheric circulations that are forced by sea surface temperatures (SST) on global tropical cyclone (TC) formation. Using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) global atmosphere and land surface model, version 4 (AM4), under different SST distributions, it is found that the east--west clustering of global TC formation is mainly governed by large-scale circulations in response to given SSTs, instead of direct ocean surface fluxes associated with zonal SST anomalies. Our zonally homogeneous SST simulations in the presence of realistic surface coverage show that TC clusters still emerge as a result of the breakdown of zonal circulations related to land--sea distribution, which produce specific "hotspots" for global TC formation. Sensitivity experiments with different climate warming scenarios and model physics confirm the persistence of these TC clusters in the absence of all zonal SST variations. These robust results offer new insights into the effects of large-scale circulation and terrain forcing on TC clusters beyond the traditional view of direct SST impacts, which are based on the direct alignment of the warmest SST regions and TC clusters. In addition, our experiments also capture internal variability of the global TC frequency, with an average fluctuation of 6--8 TCs at several dominant frequencies of ~3, 6, and 9 years, even in the absence of all SST interannual variability and ocean coupling. This finding reveals an intrinsic "noise" level of the global TC frequency that one has to take into account when examining the past and future trends in TC activity and their related significance or detectability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specific leaf area (SLA) is one of the most important plant functional traits. It integrates multiple functions and reflects strategies of plants to obtain resources. How plants employ different strategies (e.g., through SLA) to respond to dynamic environmental conditions remains poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the spatial variation in SLA and its divergent adaptation through the lens of biogeographic patterns, evolutionary history, and short-term responses. SLA data for 5424 plant species from 76 natural communities in China were systematically measured and integrated with meta-analysis of field experiments (i.e., global warming, drought, and nitrogen addition). The mean value of SLA across all species was 21.8 m2 kg−1, ranging from 0.9 to 110.2 m2 kg−1. SLA differed among different ecosystems, temperature zones, vegetation types, and functional groups. Phylogeny had a weak effect on SLA, but plant species evolved toward higher SLA. Furthermore, SLA responded nonlinearly to environmental change. Unexpectedly, radiation was one of the main factors determining the spatial variation in SLA on a large scale. Conversely, short-term manipulative experiments showed that SLA increased with increased resource availability and tended to stabilize with treatment duration. However, different species exhibited varying response patterns. Overall, variation in long-term adaptation of SLA to environmental gradients and its short-term response to resource pulses jointly improve plant adaptability to a changing environment. Overall SLA-environment relationships should be emphasized as a multidimensional strategy for elucidating environmental change in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem that ABC (Artificial Bee Colony) algorithm is good at exploration but poor at exploitation for the numerical optimization is investigated in this paper. PA-ABC (Parameter Adaptive ABC) algorithm is proposed, which adopts different search equations with different search abilities for the employed bee and the onlooker bee. Firstly, the best-so-far solution is introduced into each search equation to enhance exploitation; secondly, the employed bee uses two random solutions to search, so as to keep high ability of exploration; thirdly, the onlooker bee searches around a random solution to keep population diversity; most importantly, adaptive parameter computed by fitness function is introduced in the search equation of the onlooker bee, which makes the search step adjust according to the search process. So the search equation of the employed bee has balanced abilities of exploration and exploitation, while the search equation of the onlooker bee can make the search focus transfer from exploration to exploitation adaptively. The experiment results on benchmark functions show that the search performance of PA-ABC is higher than or at least comparable to basic ABC and typical improved ABCs. In addition, compared to the performance of the state-of-the-art ABC variants under their original parameter configuration, PA-ABC is verified to have similar performance to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Itaconic acid (ITA), an effective alternative fossil fuel, derives from the bypass pathway of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Therefore, the imbalance of metabolic flux between TCA cycle and ITA biosynthetic pathway seriously limits the production of ITA. The optimization of flux distribution between biomass and production has the potential to the productivity of ITA. Based on the previously constructed strain Escherichia coli MG1655 Δ1- SAS-3 (ITA titer: 1.87 g/L), a CRISPRi-mediated self-inducible system (CiMS), which contained a responsive module based on the ITA biosensor YpItcR/Pccl and a regulative CRISPRi-mediated interferential module, was developed to regulate the flux of the TCA cycle and to enhance the capacity of the strain to produce ITA. First, a higher ITA-yielding strain, Δ4-Prmd-SAS-3 (ITA titer: 3.20 g/L), derived from Δ1-SAS-3, was constructed by replacing the promoter PJ23100, for the expression of ITA synthesis genes, with Prmd and knocking out the three bypass genes poxB, pflB, and ldhA. Subsequently, the CiMS was used to inhibit the expression of key genes icd, pykA, and sucCD to dynamically balance the metabolic flux between TCA cycle and ITA biosynthetic pathway during the ITA production stage. The constructed strain Δ4-Prmd-SAS-3 under the dynamic regulation of the CiMS, showed a 23% increase in the ITA titer, which reached 3.93 g/L. This study indicated that CiMS was a practical strategy to dynamically and precisely regulated the metabolic flux in microbial cell factories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a relatively low climate sensitivity indicated by atmospheric-only simulations with uniform sea surface temperature (SST) warming, GFDL's new climate model CM4.0 participating in CMIP6 and the seasonal-to-decadal prediction system SPEAR, both of which use an identical atmospheric model AM4.0, produce relatively high effective climate sensitivity (EffCS). The substantial increase in CM4.0's EffCS is found to be caused by additional positive forcing associated with the CO2 fertilization effect on vegetation, enhanced positive feedback due to stronger reduction in Southern Hemisphere (SH) sea ice concentration (SIC), and clouds whose feedback depends on SST warming patterns. Compared to a SPEAR run using a static vegetation model (SPEAR-SV), CM4.0 produces roughly 30% larger EffCS, among which roughly 1/3 of the increase is due to dynamical vegetation with the rest due primarily to changes in SIC. Although cloud feedback does not explain the key feedback differences among CM4.0, SPEAR, and SPEAR-SV, it is the primary cause of the models' increase (less negative) in TOA net feedback during the later period of their quadrupling CO2 simulations due to changes in their SST warming patterns. Moreover, CM4.0's SST warming pattern and its effects on cloud feedback appear to be the leading cause of CM4.0's EffCS increase compared to the earlier generation GFDL model ESM2M, which produces one of the lowest EffCS values among CMIP5 models. In comparison, CM4.0's enhanced reduction in SH SICs plays a slightly less important role in its increase in EffCS compared to ESM2M. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacancy-type defects in Al0.1Ga0.9N were probed using a monoenergetic positron beam. Al0.1Ga0.9N layers with different carbon doping concentrations ([C]=5x1017-8x1019cm-3) were grown on Si substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The major defect species in Al0.1Ga0.9N was determined to be a cation vacancy (or cation vacancies) coupled with nitrogen vacancies and/or with carbon atoms at nitrogen sites (CNs). The charge state of the vacancies was positive because of the electron transfer from the defects to CN-related acceptors. The defect charge state was changed from positive to neutral when the sample was illuminated with photon energy above 1.8 eV, and this energy range agreed with the yellow and blue luminescence. For the sample with high [C], the charge transition of the vacancies under illumination was found to be suppressed, which was attributed to the trapping of emitted electrons by CN-related acceptors. With increasing [C], the breakdown voltage under the reverse bias condition increased. This was explained by the trapping of the injected electrons by the positively charged vacancies and CN-related acceptors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytoremediation is an eco-friendly and cost-effective method for treating cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soil. However, safe disposal of harvested hyperaccumulators remains scarce. Herein, a mild synergistic pretreatment combining dilute acid and alkali pretreatment was developed for safe biorefining of the Cd-containing sweet sorghum, and Cd was centrally extracted into the acid pretreatment liquid in the first step. The results showed that the synergistic pretreatment was more effective in removing Cd from the biomass and overcoming biomass recalcitrance. During the synergistic pretreatment, the Cd concentration in biomass dramatically decreased from 4.03 to 0.00626 mg/kg, and a considerable amount of lignin and hemicelluloses in biomass was removed, facilitating enzymatic saccharification and safe bioenergy production. The optimal conditions of the synergistic pretreatment resulted in a total sugar yield of 81.6 wt %, which was 4.7-fold higher than that of the original biomass. This strategy holds promise for reducing the cost of industrial saccharification and is a valuable inspiration for the safe handling and resource utilization of Cd-containing biomass. [Display omitted] • A mild synergistic pretreatment process for cadmium-containing sweet sorghum. • Centralized Cd release (99.7 %) from feedstock during the dilute acid pretreatment. • Synergistic pretreatment removed 93.8 % hemicelluloses and 84.1 % lignin. • Safe pretreated residue with effective enzymatic saccharification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, the effect of high-pressure conditions (0.1-400 MPa) on the water-loss, texture, gel strength, color, dynamic rheological property, and water migration of pork batters containing 0.1% (W/W) Artemisia sphaerocephala krasch gum (PB-AG) is studied. Results indicated that the cooking yield, waterholding capacity, texture, gel strength, L* values, and G' values increasedwith the increase in pressure (0.1-300 MPa) (p < 0.05). Dynamic rheological results (G') revealed that the thermal gelling ability of the PB-AG gel gradually increased with pressure (0.1-300 MPa). The minimum of T22 content was observed and the proportion of immobilized water decreased at 300 MPa by low-filed nuclear magnetic resonance. However, excessive high-pressure processing treatments (400 MPa) resulted in lower gel strength, WHC, texture, and G'. The scanning electron microscopy results shown that a denser network structure with small cavities was observed at 300MPa. Therefore, moderate pressure treatment (≤300MPa)may improve gelation properties of PB-AG gel,while excessive pressure treatment (400 MPa) may weaken the gelation properties. Practical Application: High-pressure processing combining Artemisia sphaerocephala krasch gum could enhance the gelation properties of pork batters. To do so, establishing knowledge on gelation properties of pork batters with Artemisia sphaerocephala krasch gum at different pressure levels treatment would be of paramount importance, because this contributes furnishing engineering data pertinent to the technical progress for the processing of emulsiontype meat with high quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China National Petroleum Corporation Dingbian oilfield is located in the wind field area of the beam pumping unit affected by the wind load, occurred several pumping unit bracket bending, beam fracturing, horsehead off and horsehead drop and other serious accidents, endanger the equipment and personnel safety. However, there is little research on the influence of beam pumping unit under wind load. Based on the dynamics of solid-fluid interaction theory and the standard k-ε turbulence model, this paper calculated the polished rod load range of the pumping unit according to the actual working condition of Dingbian oilfield, and established the CYJ10-4.2-53 numerical model of wind field. Under the sinusoidal variable wind speed conditions, the stress and deformation of the beam loader with different sizes of wind load on the beam loader were compared to those of the different sorts. The stress and deformation of the two different types of pumping unit were compared under the wind load. The results show that under the influence of wind load, the rig of the pumping unit bracket has a serious bending deformation, and the safety risk of the front end of the horsehead along the wind load is deformed. When the wind speed reaches 24.48m/s, the horsehead and barcket's offset is the largest to the top dead point by the wind load, The minimum impact is affected by the wind load at the bottom dead center, The maximum offset of the horsehead and the bracket reached 8.5 mm and 2.16 mm. The research work of this paper provides a scientific basis for the improvement of safety structure for pumping unit in the wind field area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bortezomib is a novel proteasome inhibitor, which has been successfully used to treat mantle cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma. However, the direct effects of bortezomib on acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) have not been fully investigated. In the present study, the WST-8 assay, western blotting, flow cytometry, monodansylcadaverine staining and transmission electron microscopy were performed. It was demonstrated that bortezomib treatment induced a timeand dose-dependent decrease in the viability of NB4 cells. Bortezomib treatment induced cell apoptosis in NB4 cells, as assessed by Annexin V/propidium iodide analysis, and the detection of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, Bax and Bcl-2 expression. Furthermore, bortezomib treatment induced autophagy in NB4 cells, as indicated by autophagosome formation, p62 degradation, LC3-I to LC3-II conversion and formation of acidic autophagic vacuoles. Notably, autophagy induced by bortezomib was initiated prior to apoptosis. Inhibition of autophagy by knocking down Beclin-1 expression increased bortezomib-induced apoptosis in NB4 cells. Therefore, the present study revealed that the combination of bortezomib and autophagy inhibition may be a potential treatment strategy for APL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shape sensing refers to the deformation reconstruction of structures using measured surface strain. However, there is currently a lack of research on the shape sensing of large deformations, especially for beam structures. To address this issue, this paper proposes a new method called the rotation angle approximation (RAA) for reconstructing large deformations of beam structures. This method utilizes theoretical and actual curvatures to create a least-squares error functional. By minimizing this functional, the rotation angles of the corresponding beam can be obtained, avoiding the accumulation of errors that occurs when using traditional computation methods. The deformed shapes can be predicted utilizing the boundary conditions and the rotation angles along the beam. This method can reconstruct the large deformation of a beam without requiring prior knowledge about the material properties or external loads. The accuracy and effectiveness of this method were validated through numerical simulations and experiments. The results indicate that this method can accurately predict the different deformations of a beam induced by various loading conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

50-km-resolution GFDL AM4 well captures many aspects of observed atmospheric river (AR) characteristics including the probability density functions of AR length, width, length-width ratio, geographical location, and the magnitude and direction of AR mean vertically integrated vapor transport (IVT), with the model typically producing stronger and narrower ARs than the ERA-Interim results. Despite significant regional biases, the model well reproduces the observed spatial distribution of AR frequency and AR variability in response to large-scale circulation patterns such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Northern and Southern Hemisphere annular modes (NAM and SAM), and the Pacific-NorthAmerican (PNA) teleconnection pattern. For global warming scenarios, in contrast tomost previous studies that show a large increase inARlength andwidth and therefore the occurrence frequency ofARconditions at a given location, this study shows only a modest increase in these quantities. However, the model produces a large increase in strong ARs with the frequency of category 3-5 ARs rising by roughly 100%-300%K21. The global mean AR intensity as well as AR intensity percentiles at most percent ranks increases by 5%-8%K21, roughly consistent with the Clausius-Clapeyron scaling of water vapor. Finally, the results point out the importance of AR IVT thresholds in quantifying modeled AR response to global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine bacteria play important roles in the degradation and cycling of algal polysaccharides. However, the dynamics of epiphytic bacterial communities and their roles in algal polysaccharide degradation during kelp decay are still unclear. Here, we performed metagenomic analyses to investigate the identities and predicted metabolic abilities of epiphytic bacterial communities during the early and late decay stages of the kelp Saccharina japonica. During kelp decay, the dominant epiphytic bacterial communities shifted from Gammaproteobacteria to Verrucomicrobia and Bacteroidetes. In the early decay stage of S. japonica, epiphytic bacteria primarily targeted kelp-derived labile alginate for degradation, among which the gammaproteobacterial Vibrionaceae (particularly Vibrio) and Psychromonadaceae (particularly Psychromonas), abundant in alginate lyases belonging to the polysaccharide lyase (PL) families PL6, PL7, and PL17, were key alginate degraders. More complex fucoidan was preferred to be degraded in the late decay stage of S. japonica by epiphytic bacteria, predominantly from Verrucomicrobia (particularly Lentimonas), Pirellulaceae of Planctomycetes (particularly Rhodopirellula), Pontiellaceae of Kiritimatiellota, and Flavobacteriaceae of Bacteroidetes, which depended on using glycoside hydrolases (GHs) from the GH29, GH95, and GH141 families and sulfatases from the S1_15, S1_16, S1_17, and S1_25 families to depolymerize fucoidan. The pathways for algal polysaccharide degradation in dominant epiphytic bacterial groups were reconstructed based on analyses of metagenome-assembled genomes. This study sheds light on the roles of different epiphytic bacteria in the degradation of brown algal polysaccharides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new labdane diterpene (1) and five known compounds (2-6) were isolated from the aerial parts of Chloranthus serratus. The gross structure of compound 1 was resolved by NMR and HRESIMS data. The absolute configuration of 1 was determined by comparing CD spectrum and specific rotations with those of the co-isolated known analogue 2. The known compounds were identified to be agathic acid (2), altechromone A (3), chlorajapolide F (4), shizukanolide (5), and chloranthalactone E (6) by comparing the NMR data with those in the literature. All compounds were evaluated for their inhibitions against NO production in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages, compounds 2 and 6 showed moderate inhibitions with IC50 values of 45.2 ± 1.2 and 35.3 ± 0.9 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of luminescent materials is a key factor for the practical application in white light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Poor chemical stability of narrow-band green-emitting RbLi(Li3SiO4)2:Eu2+ (RLSO:Eu2+) phosphor hinders their further commercialization even if they have excellent stability against thermal quenching. Herein, we propose an efficient protection scheme by combining the surface coating of amorphous Al2O3 and hydrophobic modification by octadecyltrimethoxysilane (ODTMS) to construct the moistureresistant dual-shelled RLSO:Eu2+@Al2O3@ODTMS composite. The growth mechanisms of both the Al2O3 inorganic layer and the silane organic layer on the phosphor surface are investigated. The results remarkably improve the water-stability of this narrow-band green emitter. The evaluation of the white LED by employing this composite as the green component demonstrates that RLSO:Eu2+@Al2O3@ODTMS is a promising candidate for the high-performance display backlights, and this dual-shelled strategy provides an alternative method to improve the moisture-resistant property of humidity-sensitive phosphors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the effects of miR-345-5p on papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and uncover the possible mechanisms.Material and Methods: MiR-345-5p and SETD7 mRNA levels were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR and SETD7 protein level was measured by Western blot. The viability, colony formation ability and apoptosis of PTC cells were measured with CCK-8, soft agar colony formation and flow cytometry assay, respectively. Luciferase reporter assay was used to identify miR-345-5p's target.Results: Compared to neighboring normal tissues, there was lower miR-345-5p expression and higher SETD7 expression in PTC tissues. Moreover, Spearman's correlation analysis indicated that there was a negative correlation between miR-345-5p and SETD7 expression in PTC tissues. MiR-345-5p mimics inhibited the viability and colony formation of TPC1 and B-CPAP cells and promoted apoptosis, whereas anti-miR-345-5p promoted PTC cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis. SETD7 was confirmed to be a direct target of miR-345-5p through target scan analysis and luciferase reporter assay. Additionally, overexpression of SETD7 promoted the viability and colony formation of TPC1 and B-CPAP cells and inhibited apoptosis, whereas downregulation of SETD7 by shRNAs had opposite effects on PTC cells. Furthermore, overexpression of SETD7 attenuated the miR-345-5p induced anti-tumor effects on PTC cells.Conclusions: MiR-345-5p exhibited suppressive effects on PTC via targeting SETD7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Due to recent developments and the wide application of percutaneous transforaminal discectomy (PTED) in China, we herein compare its clinical effects with microendoscopic discectomy (MED) for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation in terms of recurrence and revision rates. Methods: Six databases, namely, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Ovid, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang, were searched by computer. The literature was screened according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the quality of the included literature was evaluated. After extracting the data from the papers, Review Manager 5.2 software (Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, UK) was applied to analyze these data. Finally, sensitivity and publication bias analyses of the results were conducted. Results: A total of 12 studies consisting of 2400 patients were included in this meta-analysis. A comparison of PTED with MED revealed higher postoperative recurrence and postoperative revision rates for PTED (odds ratio [OR] recurrence, 1.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 2.53; p=0.05 and OR revision, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.18 to 2.64, p=0.006). Conclusion: PTED has a number of advantages because it is a minimally invasive surgery, but its recurrence and revision rates are higher than MED. Therefore, MED should not be completely replaced by PTED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are indispensable for the formation of germinal center (GC) reactions, whereas T follicular regulatory (Tfr) cells inhibit Tfh-mediated GC responses. Aberrant activation of Tfh cells contributes substantially to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Nonetheless, the molecular mechanisms mitigating excessive Tfh cell differentiation are not fully understood. Herein we demonstrate that the adenovirus E4 promoter-binding protein (E4BP4) mediates a feedback loop and acts as a transcriptional brake to inhibit Tfh cell differentiation. Furthermore, we show that such an immunological mechanism is compromised in patients with SLE. Establishing mice with either conditional knockout (cKO) or knockin (cKI) of the E4bp4 gene in T cells reveals that E4BP4 strongly inhibits Tfh cell differentiation. Mechanistically, E4BP4 regulates Bcl6 transcription by recruiting the repressive epigenetic modifiers HDAC1 and EZH2. E4BP4 phosphorylation site mutants have limited capability with regard to inhibiting Tfh cell differentiation. In SLE, we detected impaired phosphorylation of E4BP4, finding that this compromised transcription factor is positively correlated with disease activity. These findings unveiled molecular mechanisms by which E4BP4 restrains Tfh cell differentiation, whose compromised function is associated with uncontrolled autoimmune reactions in SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a new extragradient method with regularization for finding a common element of the solution set Γ of the split feasibility problem and the set Fix(S) of fixed points of a nonexpansive mapping S in infinitedimensional Hilbert spaces, combining the regularization method and the technique of averaged operator, we prove the sequences generated by the proposed algorithm converge weakly to an element of Fix(S) ∩ Γ under mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs) are a well-known complication of Kawasaki disease (KD), but there are no data on incidence or outcomes of systemic artery aneurysms (SAAs) in the current era. METHODS: From April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2019, we screened for SAAs in 162 patients with KD at risk for SAAs with magnetic resonance angiography or peripheral angiography and analyzed incidence and early outcomes of SAAs. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients had SAAs, demonstrating an incidence of 14.2% (23 of 162) in patients who were screened at 1 month after onset. The proportion of patients with SAAs was estimated to be 2% (23 of 1148) of all patients with KD. The median age at onset of KD with SAAs was 5 months. All patients with SAAs had CAAs, with z scores >8. Of patients with giant CAAs, 38.6% (17 of 44) had SAAs. A total of 129 SAAs occurred in 17 different named arteries. The most common sites for SAAs were the axillary (18.6%), common iliac (12.4%), and brachial (11.6%) arteries. During a median follow-up time of 6 months, 92.9% (79 of 85) of SAAs had some degree of regression, with 80% (68 of 85) of SAAs returning to normal. The overall regression rate was higher for medium to large SAAs than for medium to giant CAAs. CONCLUSIONS: Although the incidence of SAAs may not be as dramatically reduced as we expected compared with previous data, SAAs have a high regression rate during short-term follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the distribution and structural features of lignin in heartwood, sapwood, and bark of terrestrial plants is important to optimize the industrial utilization of lignocellulose. In this work, the lignins in heartwood, sapwood, and bark of Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis were comparatively studied. Confocal Raman microscopy was used to probe the heterogeneity of lignin distribution in situ. The swollen residual enzyme lignin samples were isolated and systematically characterized to determine the structural differences. The results showed that the content and molecular weights of lignin gradually decreased in the order of heartwood, sapwood, and bark. The S/G ratios of heartwood lignin (3.45) and sapwood lignin (2.74) suggested the increase of deposited S-type lignin with the maturity of wood. The bark lignin exhibited a high frequency of β– O –4′ linkages and showed a unique substructural pattern with the absence of spirodienone substructures and p -hydroxycinnamyl alcohol end-groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic patients are more susceptible to myocardial ischemia damage than nondiabetic patients, with worse clinical outcomes and greater mortality. The mechanism may be related to glucose metabolism, mitochondrial homeostasis, and oxidative stress. Pyridostigmine may improve vagal activity to protect cardiac function in cardiovascular diseases. Researchers have not determined whether pyridostigmine regulates glucose metabolism and mitochondrial homeostasis to reduce myocardial vulnerability to injury in diabetic mice. In the present study, autonomic imbalance, myocardial damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress were exacerbated in isoproterenolstimulated diabetic mice, revealing the myocardial vulnerability of diabetic mice to injury compared with mice with diabetes or exposed to isoproterenol alone. Compared with normal mice, the expression of glucose transporters (GLUT)1/4 phosphofructokinase (PFK) FB3, and pyruvate kinase isoform (PKM) was decreased in diabetic mice, but increased in isoproterenol-stimulated normal mice. Following exposure to isoproterenol, the expression of (GLUT)1/4 phosphofructokinase (PFK) FB3, and PKM decreased in diabetic mice compared with normal mice. The downregulation of SIRT3/AMPK and IRS-1/Akt in isoproterenol-stimulated diabetic mice was exacerbated compared with that in diabetic mice or isoproterenol-stimulated normal mice. Pyridostigmine improved vagus activity, increased GLUT1/4, PFKFB3, and PKM expression, and ameliorated mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress to reduce myocardial damage in isoproterenol-stimulated diabetic mice. Based on these results, it was found that pyridostigmine may reduce myocardial vulnerability to injury via the SIRT3/AMPK and IRS-1/Akt pathways in diabetic mice with isoproterenol-induced myocardial damage. This study may provide a potential therapeutic target for myocardial damage in diabetic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fenofibrate is commonly used in the treatment of dyslipidemia. Fenofibrate is related to mild aminotransferase elevations and in some cases severe chronic injury such as fibrosis or cirrhosis, resulting in liver transplantation or death. The latency of disease has been reported to range between weeks to years.Case Presentation: A 63 years old male with hypertriglyceridemia developed symptoms of fatigue and anorexia 48 h after taking fenofibrate for the first time. The patient's aminotransferase level was more than 10 times ULN. Immediately, fenofibrate was discontinued and aminotransferase level returned to normal 23 days later. To assess causality between the drug and liver damage, the standardized Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method (RUCAM) was used. The patient's RUCAM score was 7, which fell in the group of "probable". Eight months later, follow-up examination suggested the liver function was normal.Conclusions: Weakness, fatigue and abnormal liver function during fenofibrate therapy should be closely monitored and trigger prompt withdrawal if these symptoms occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic inversion is one of the fundamental techniques for solving geophysics problems. To obtain the elastic parameters or petrophysical parameters, it is necessary to establish a direct or indirect mapping that is usually nonlinear between the observed data and the inversion parameters in seismic inversion. The traditional model-based inversion method, which is calculating complex and expensive, relies on strict physics theories. Neural networks are an excellent artificial intelligence method for establishing nonlinear mapping. Theoretically, any linear and nonlinear functions can be fitted with neural networks. Compared with model-based inversion methods, the inversion efficiency and accuracy can be improved remarkably using neural networks with their powerful ability to discover and extract features from big data. By reviewing the application of fully-connected neural networks, probabilistic neural networks, convolutional neural networks, recurrent neural networks, generative neural networks, and physics-based neural networks in seismic inversion, we provide a comprehensive overview of neural network methods to seismic inversion, including the basic principles of different neural networks, types of seismic inversion, seismic datasets, and the general framework of neural networks for seismic inversion. In addition, the future trends of seismic inversion based on neural networks are also discussed, including the application of image segmentation networks and generative adversarial networks in seismic inversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a new extragradient method with regularization for finding a common element of the solution set Γ of the split feasibility problem and the set Fix(S) of fixed points of a nonexpansive mapping S in infinitedimensional Hilbert spaces, combining the regularization method and the technique of averaged operator, we prove the sequences generated by the proposed algorithm converge weakly to an element of Fix(S)∩Γ under mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical investigation of the aerodynamic performances and flow mechanisms of an airfoil with leading-edge protuberances is presented within stall region at a Reynolds number of 1.2×105. In detail, a large-eddy simulation has been conducted and then validated through quantitative comparisons with previous experimental and numerical investigations. Based on the numerical results, a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis has been carried out. The flow control mechanisms within stall regime and physical backgrounds of corresponding POD modes have been uncovered from the view of flow energy. It has been found that the improved aerodynamic characteristics of modified airfoil might be attributed to different flow mechanisms at peaks and troughs, including spanwise momentum transfer process and flow transition within laminar separation bubble. In addition, the fluctuating characteristics of airfoil flow field have also been investigated. Consequently, it has been found that the Karman vortices dominate the rear wake of the smooth airfoil and the first four POD modes are closely related with the shedding process. In contrast, the corresponding vortex shedding process is suppressed by the modified airfoil according to the results of POD analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the optimal management and bearing control ability of Hainan boundary island waters ecological environment, it is necessary to optimize and predict the ecological environment carrying capacity of Hainan boundary island waters, and put forward the optimization prediction method of Hainan boundary island waters ecological environment carrying capacity based on association rule bearing control and fuzzy adaptive clustering. The statistical sequence distribution model of ecological environment carrying capacity of Hainan boundary island waters is constructed. Big data statistical information modeling of Hainan boundary island waters ecological environment carrying capacity is carried out by using big data mining method. The characteristics of association rules of Hainan boundary island waters ecological environment carrying capacity are extracted, and the automatic clustering treatment of Hainan boundary island waters ecological environment carrying capacity big data is carried out by using fuzzy clustering method. The optimal iterative model for predicting the ecological environment carrying capacity of Hainan boundary island waters is established, and the optimal prediction of ecological environment carrying capacity of Hainan boundary island waters is realized by combining the adaptive optimization algorithm. The simulation results show that the method has good adaptability and high prediction accuracy, and improves the adaptive bearing control and management ability of the ecological environment of Hainan boundary island waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a new extragradient method with regularization for finding a common element of the solution set Γ of the split feasibility problem and the set Fix(S) of fixed points of a nonexpansive mapping S in infinitedimensional Hilbert spaces, combining the regularization method and the technique of averaged operator, we prove the sequences generated by the proposed algorithm converge weakly to an element of Fix(S)∩Γ under mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recurrent medulloblastoma has a very poor prognosis in children regardless of the treatment employed. We report the case of a 3-year-old child with recurrent refractory medulloblastoma who was treated with both bevacizumab and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). The boy was found to harbor a tumor in the cerebral posterior fossa in November 2010. Craniotomy was performed to remove the tumor completely. Postoperative pathological examination showed desmoplastic medulloblastoma. Craniospinal radiotherapy and chemotherapy were performed. Three years later, the boy suffered from constant headache again. Magnetic resonance imaging showed seeding of medulloblastoma in the posterior fossa as four masses with diameter ranging from 2 cm to 3 cm. To avoid overdose radiation, we used SRS and anti-angiogenesis therapy. Bevacizumab was given at 10 mg/kg for four times with an interval of 1 month. Gamma Knife (Leksell Gamma Knife®, Elekta Instruments, Stockholm, Sweden) was used targeting at one lesion each time and performed for consecutive two times with bevacizumab therapy. Following this combined treatment, the lesions targeted with radiosurgery showed complete response with minimal toxicity in <1 month successively. The combined use of bevacizumab and SRS may represent a novel treatment against medulloblastoma in patients who are not surgical candidates, and should be investigated further. This is the first documented case of medulloblastoma treated with bevacizumab and SRS. Further clinical trials should be considered to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coated sands are used extensively for additive manufacturing sand molds in the metal casting process, and the packing structure changes caused by the resin flow promote the shrinkage and deformation of the part. During the coated sand heating, the resin on the surface flowing to the contact points of the particles forms the resin neck and causes particles to pack close to each other. In this work, the diameters of the coated ceramsite sand before and after heating were measured based on in-situ experimental observations with image measuring apparatus and blue laser, to obtain the relationship between resin coating thickness and the particle diameter. The particle packing model was established to describe the particles' achievement of a stable state one by one. A re-packing simulation was then performed after reducing the particle diameter according to the resin coating thickness, to obtain the shrinkage ratios at different particle size distributions. It was found that the resin coating thickness increased from 0.8 to 2.3 μm as the particle diameter increased from 107 to 500 μm, for the coated ceramsite sand with the resin content of 2wt.%; the shrinkage ratio decreased first and then increased as the particle diameter increased. The experimental minimum shrinkage ratio was 3.28%, and the corresponding particle diameter was 300-375 μm, while the minimum shrinkage ratio obtained by simulation was 3.43%, and the corresponding particle diameter was 214-300 μm. After mixing the five groups proportionally, the shrinkage ratios of the simulation and experiment dropped to 2.81% and 3.04%, respectively, indicating the best results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient synthesis of bisbenzopyrones by a N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed intramolecular hydroacylation-Stetter reaction cascade has been developed. A series of symmetrical and unsymmetrical bisbenzopyrones were obtained with good to excellent yields. Bisbenzopyran-4-ol was synthesized efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The habitat features of breeding territory have important adaptive significance for the survival and reproduction of territory holders. The Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) is a rare and endemic species with relatively small distribution range and decreasing population trend. It is important to elucidate breeding territory habitat requirements of the Chinese Grouse for habitat management and conservation actions. Methods: Using radio-telemetry and field observations, we determined the core areas of 65 breeding territories of males. Two to three samples were selected in each core breeding territory as used sites and compared with nearby sites with no grouse occurrence using logistic regression. Results: Our model showed a high accuracy in prediction of core breeding territory used by males, which preferred stands with more small deciduous trees (0.5 m ≤ height < 5 m), more small willow trees (Salix spp., 0.5 m ≤ height < 5 m), greater willow cover, and greater herb cover. The number of small willow trees had the greatest influence on males' core breeding territory selection. Dense shrubs were also chosen compared with unused sites. Tall conifer trees was an important determinant in the distribution of Chinese Grouse at the landscape scale, and was relatively important in the univariate model, but not included in our final multivariable model. Conclusions: Male Chinese Grouse established territories at sites with abundant food resources. At the landscape scale, the Chinese Grouse occurred in alpine conifer forest. At the territory scale, small willow trees had the most important effect on males' core breeding territory selection. We suggest that the forest gaps in dense conifer forest are important for improving the occurrence of willows and facilitating breeding territory establishment for the Chinese Grouse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noble-metal nanocages with ultrathin (less than 2 nm) walls and well-defined facets have received great interest owing to their remarkable utilization efficiency of atoms and facet-dependent catalytic activities toward various reactions. Here, we report the synthesis of Ru-based octahedral nanocages covered by {111} facets, together with ultrathin walls in a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure rather than the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) of bulk Ru. The involvement of slow injection for the Ru(III) precursor, the introduction of KBr, and the use of elevated temperature were all instrumental to the formation of Pd@Ru core-shell octahedra with a conformal, uniform shell and a smooth surface. The {111} facets were well preserved during the selective removal of the Pd cores via wet etching, even when the Ru walls were only five atomic layers in thickness. Through in situ XRD, we demonstrated that the fcc structure of the Ru nanocages was stable up to 300 °C. We also used first-principles, self-consistent density functional theory calculations to study the adsorption and dissociation of N2 as a means to predict the catalytic performance toward ammonia synthesis. Our results suggested that the small proportions of Pd atoms left behind in the walls during etching could play a key role in stabilizing the adsorption of N2 as well as in reducing the activation energy barrier to N2 dissociation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present study was to quantitatively analyze the permeability of tumor entity and peritumor edema in glioma grading, using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). In the present retrospective study, 80 patients underwent T1-weighted DCE-MRI examination at 3.0 T and the pathological results (including astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma) were obtained between January 2012 and June 2015. All cases were surgically validated as grade I-IV gliomas. The original DCE-MRI data were analyzed using dual compartment modified Tofts model. The forward volume transfer constant (Ktrans), backflux rate (kep) and fractional volume (ve) were calculated with the region of interest selected on the highest permeability area of the tumor entity and peritumor edema. Analysis of variance with the Bonferroni correction was used to compare the values of Ktrans, kep, and ve of the tumor entity and peritumor edema in different glioma grades. The results of the present study revealed that the Ktrans, kep, and ve values in each stage were associated with the pathological grading (r=0.951, 0.804 and 0.766, respectively). There were significant differences identified between different tumor grades in Ktrans, kep, with the exception being between grades II and III in kep. In addition, there was a significant difference revealed between grade I/II and grade III/IV in ve. Receiver operator characteristics curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnosis accuracies of permeability parameters. Ktrans was demonstrated to exhibit the highest sensitivity and specificity for evaluating the tumor grade. With the threshold values of 0.160, 0.420 and 0.935 in Ktrans on tumor, glioma grades I vs. II, II vs III and III vs. IV may be differentiated with sensitivities of 0.900, 0.950 and 0.950, and specificities of 0.950, 0.950 and 0.850, respectively. Furthermore, associations were observed between the Ktrans, kep and ve values of peritumor edema and the pathological grading in glioma (Ktrans r=0.438, P<0.001; Kep r=0.385, P<0.001; Ve r=0.397, P<0.001, respectively). Ktrans values in peritumoral edema revealed significant differences between low-grade and high-grade glioma. The sensitivity and specificity for Ktrans of peritumor edema were 0.975 and 0.950, with a threshold value of 0.007. Therefore, the DCE-MRI parameters of Ktrans of tumor entity and peritumor edema in gliomas may be used to accurately differentiate glioma grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transferring emergent target tracking data to sinks is a major challenge in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), because inefficient data transmission can cause significant personnel and property loss. For tracking a constantly moving mobile target, sensing data should be delivered to sinks continuously and quickly. Although there is some related research, the end to end tracking delay is still unsatisfying. In this paper, we propose a Fast and Efficient Data Forwarding (FEDF) scheme for tracking mobile targets in sensor networks to reduce tracking delay and maintain a long lifetime. Innovations of the FEDF scheme that differ from traditional scheme are as follows: firstly, we propose a scheme to transmit sensing data through a Quickly Reacted Routing (QRR) path which can reduce delay efficiently. Duty cycles of most nodes on a QRR path are set to 1, so that sleep delay of most nodes turn 0. In this way, end to end delay can be reduced significantly. Secondly, we propose a perfect method to build QRR path and optimize it, which can make QRR path work more efficiently. Target sensing data routing scheme in this paper belongs to a kind of trail-based routing scheme, so as the target moves, the routing path becomes increasingly long, reducing the working efficiency. We propose a QRR path optimization algorithm, in which the ratio of the routing path length to the optimal path is maintained at a smaller constant in the worst case. Thirdly, it has a long lifetime. In FEDF scheme duty cycles of nodes near sink in a QRR path are the same as that in traditional scheme, but duty cycles of nodes in an energy-rich area are 1. Therefore, not only is the rest energy of network fully made use of, but also the network lifetime stays relatively long. Finally, comprehensive performance analysis shows that the FEDF scheme can realize an optimal end to end delay and energy utilization at the same time, reduce end to end delay by 87.4%, improve network energy utilization by 2.65%, and ensure that network lifetime is not less than previous research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The union of temperature-dependent phase transition and relating structural transformation via modification of chemical compositions is of fundamental importance for the discovery of new materials or their functional properties optimization. Herein, the synthesis temperature and Eu2+-doping content induced phase selection and variations of the local structures in nepheline, low-carnegieite and high-carnegieite types of NaAlSiO4 polymorphs were studied in detail. The luminescence of Eu2+ in low-carnegieite and nepheline phases shows blue (460 nm) and yellow (540 nm) broad-band emissions, respectively, under near-ultraviolet excitation. The photoluminescence evolution can be triggered by the different synthesis temperatures in relation to the Eu2+-doping concentration, as corroborated by density functional theory calculations on the local coordination structures and corresponding mechanical stabilities in terms of the Debye temperature. The fabricated white light-emitting diode device with high color rendering index demonstrates that the multicolor phosphors from one system provides a new gateway for the photoluminescence tuning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate how the properties of dark energy affect the cosmological measurements of neutrino mass and extra relativistic degrees of freedom. We limit ourselves to the most basic extensions of ʌ cold dark matter (CDM) model, i.e. the wCDM model with one additional parameter w, and the w0waCDM model with two additional parameters, w0 and wa. In the cosmological fits, we employthe 2015 cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization data from the Planck mission, in combination with low-redshift measurements such as the baryon acoustic oscillations, Type Ia supernovae and the Hubble constant (H0).Given effects of massive neutrinos on large-scale structure, we further include weak lensing, redshift space distortion, Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster counts and Planck lensing data. We show that, though the cosmological constantʌ is still consistent with the current data, a phantom dark energy (w < -1) or an early phantom dark energy (i.e. quintom evolving from w < -1 to w > -1) is slightly more favoured by current observations, which leads to the fact that in both wCDM and w0waCDM models we obtain a larger upperlimit of Ʃ;mʋ. We also show that in the three dark energy models, the constraints on Neff are in good accordance with each other, all in favour of the standard value 3.046, which indicates that the dark energy parameters almost have no impact on constraining Neff. Therefore, we conclude that the dark energy parameters can exert a significant influence on the cosmological weighing of neutrinos, but almost cannot affect the constraint on dark radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: GATA-binding protein 3 (GATA3) has been identified as a sensitive marker for breast carcinoma but its sensitivity in primary genital extramammary Paget diseases (EMPDs) has not been well studied. Methods: Here we investigated immunohistochemical expression of GATA3 in 72 primary genital EMPDs (35 from female, 37 from male; 45 with intraepithelial disease only, 26 with both intraepithelial disease and invasive adenocarcinoma including 14 also metastasis, 1 with metastatic adenocarcinoma only for study). We also compared GATA3 to gross cystic disease fluid protein 15 (GCDFP15) for their sensitivity. Results: Positive GATA3 staining was seen in all 71 (100%) intraepithelial diseases, 25/26 (96%; female 10/10, male 15/16) invasive adenocarcinomas and 14/15 (93%; female 3/3, male 11/12) metastatic adenocarcinomas, respectively. Positive GCDFP15 staining was seen in 46/71 (65%; female 28/34 or 82%, male 18/37 or 49%) intraepithelial diseases, 20/26 (77%; female 9/10, male 11/16) invasive adenocarcinomas, and 12/15 (80%; female 2/3, male 10/12) metastatic adenocarcinomas, respectively (GATA3 versus GCDFP15: p < 0.01 for both intraepithelial disease and invasive adenocarcinoma, p = 0.28 for metastatic adenocarcinoma). In positive-stained cases, GATA3 stained more tumor cells than GCDFP15 (79% versus 25% for intraepithelial disease, 71% vs 34% for invasive adenocarcinoma, 73% vs 50% for metastatic adenocarcinoma, p < 0.01forall3components). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that GATA3 is a very sensitive marker for primary genital EMPDs and is more sensitive than GCDFP15. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of an elastically mounted rigid circular cylinder in an oscillatory flow is investigated by three-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS). The cylinder is allowed to vibrate only in the cross-flow direction. The main aim of the study is to investigate the correlation between the vibration, the lift coefficient, and the vortex shedding flow. The three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are solved using the Petrov-Galerkin finite-element method for predicting flow, and the equation of motion is solved for predicting the vibration of the cylinder. Simulations are carried out with a Reynolds number (R) of 500, Keulegan-Carpenter (KC) numbers of 10 and 20, and reduced velocities (Vr) in the range of 2-16. The dominant frequencies of the displacement and lift coefficient synchronize for both KC values when Vr is small. For KC = 10, the frequencies of the vibration and the lift coefficient deviate from each other at large Vr values. The cylinder vibrates at a frequency that is a multiple of the oscillatory flow frequency and is close to the natural frequency measured in water. For KC = 20, where the lift coefficient has multiple frequencies, the intermittent change of the vibration frequencies is observed at large reduced velocities. The number of vortices shed from the cylinder is increased by the vibration of the cylinder compared with the case of a stationary cylinder. Extra vortices are shed from the cylinder after flow reversal, and they do not significantly affect the overall vortex flow pattern because they are very weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radial distributions of velocity components need to be resolved in quasi-two-dimensional laminar water hammer problems. In a collocation spectra method, the radial distributions are approximated with Chebyshev expansions and the equations are assumed valid at the collocation points. The traditional collocation method requires an equal number of equations and unknown expansion coefficients, which is sometimes difficult to implement. The proposed model adopts extra collocation points to provide extra equations for expansion coefficients to construct an overdetermined system. Singular value decomposition is used to solve the overdetermined system. In the new method, the boundary conditions can be naturally incorporated into the system. However, the accuracy of the boundary condition equation is not acceptable because of least-squares approximation. Large multipliers are introduced to enhance the accuracy of the boundary condition equations. Spatial variation in the axial direction and time advancement are treated using the method of characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plant Erigeron breviscapus (Vant.) Hand.-Mazz.,a Chinese herbal medicine with multiple pharmacological effects and clinical applications, has been traditionally used in the treatment of paralysis caused by stroke and joint pain from rheumatism by the Yi minority people of Southwest China for generations.However, its mechanism involves many factors and has not been fully clarified. Taking intestinal flora as the target, the protective effect of extract(breviscapine) of E. breviscapus on cerebral ischemia and its possible mechanism were discussed from the perspective of brain inflammatory pathway and intestinal CYP3A4, which depends on intestinal flora. In this study, we first verified the binding ability between major active ingredient of Erigeron breviscapus and the core target TLR4 protein by molecular docking using Vina software.We established a rat model of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo.The neurological function of rats was scored by Bederson score table, the cerebral infarction volume was detected by TTC staining, and the serum NSE level was detected by ELASA. 16S rRNA sequencing was used to detect the intestinal flora of rats in each group.The expression levels of cerebral TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB and CYP3A4 mRNA and protein in different intestinal segments were detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Compared with the model group, the neurological injury score, infarct volume and serum NSE concentration of breviscapine low, medium and high dose groups and nimodipine groups decreased significantly. Meanwhile, breviscapine could significantly reduce the expression level of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB in brain tissue and CYP3A4 in different intestinal segments of rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. In addition, breviscapine also significantly ameliorated intestinal flora dysbiosis of rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Breviscapine can protect rats from cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by regulating intestinal flora, inhibiting brain TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB inflammatory pathway and intestinal CYP3A4 expression. [Display omitted] • The downregulation of the expression of intestinal CYP3A is accompanied by the disorder of intestinal flora. • Breviscapine can inhibit inflammatory response and reduce cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. • The intestinal flora of rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury will be disturbed. • Breviscapine significantly reduce the expression level of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB protein in brain tissue of rats. • Breviscapine significantly reversed intestinal flora dysbiosis of rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a systematic study of the sulfate-mediated polyol synthesis of Pd decahedra in an attempt to maximize both the conversion and morphology yields. Quantitative analyses of the as-obtained products reveal the presence of nanocrystal populations with distinct ranges of size. Samples collected in the early stage of a standard synthesis indicate that this size distribution is likely caused by the coalescence of the initially formed decahedral nuclei. Kinetic measurements clearly show the impact of the sulfate additive on the initial reduction rate and thus the yield of decahedral nuclei. Based on the mechanistic understanding developed over the course of this work, we were able to significantly improve the conversion and morphology yields of the Pd decahedra synthesis by introducing a second reducing agent after the completion of homogeneous nucleation. The improvement in yields for the Pd decahedra synthesis will increase the availability of these nanocrystals as catalytic materials and as a unique platform for the development of more complex nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]