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Toll-like receptors (TLRs), as the members of pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs), play a crucial role in innate immunity due to its significant function to recognize pathogens and activate downstream elements in signaling pathway. In the present study, the full-length cDNA sequences of TLR1 and TLR2 were cloned in the natural triploid Qihe crucian carp (Carassius auratus). The complete cDNA sequence of TLR1 was 2754 bp which was comprised of 5′ UTR of 60 bp, 3′ UTR of 300 bp, and an open reading frame of 2394 bp encoding 797 amino acids. The full-length cDNA sequence of TLR2 was 2605 bp, containing 5′ UTR of 36 bp, 3′ UTR of 202 bp, and an open reading frame of 2367 bp, encoding 788 amino acids. The mRNA expressions of CaTLR1 and CaTLR2 were detected to be constitutive at various embryonic developmental stages, and it was indicated that the similar expression pattern that mRNA expression levels were high at early development, then went down, and increased at later development stage. With regard to mRNA expression levels of CaTLR1 and CaTLR2 in various tissues of Qihe crucian carp, it showed to be constitutive with being higher in the liver and heart and the lowest in ovary. The mRNA expressions of CaTLR1 and CaTLR2 were profiled by quantitative real-time PCR following intraperitoneal injections of Aeromonas hydrophila and TLR ligands including LPS, PGN, and PolyI:C. Compared with the control, both CaTLR1 and CaTLR2 expressions were upregulated in most tissues of fish after challenges of LPS, PGN, PolyI:C, or A. hydrophila, although expression patterns varied in different tissues (gill, liver, spleen, trunk kidney, and head kidney). Together, these data highlighted the important role of CaTLR1 and CaTLR2 in recognizing LPS, PGN, PolyI:C, and A. hydrophila and in augmenting the innate immune ability against bacterial and viral infections in Qihe crucian carp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of high dimensionality, strong band correlation, and high information redundancy make band selection become a necessary step for efficient processing of hyperspectral images. In this paper, a new band selection method based on connection centre evolution (CCE) is proposed, named n -nearest neighbour CCE band selection (NNCCEBS). First, according to CCE, we measure the band similarity under different observation scales by iteratively calculating the connectivity at different scales. Therefore, NNCCEBS can achieve multi-scale band selection, and is able to complete it at one time. Next, to avoid the selected bands being aggregated, an n -nearest neighbour similarity matrix is introduced, which only retains the connectivity of n -nearest bands for a band. By doing so, the new method is less sensitive to the parameter settings, and can select more accurate band centres. Experiments on real hyperspectral datasets prove the effectiveness of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clinical value of Serum amyloid A (SAA) and Lactoferrin (LTF) has received significant attention, but their detection methods are inadequate, which limits their application. This study aims to develop a dual detection method based on stable element labeling strategies and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for SAA/LTF and to assess whether it can be widely used in clinical practice. A duplex immunoassay system based on sandwich method was constructed. After optimization, methodological evaluation was performed with the guidelines of Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Finally, 131 plasma samples were collected to analyze whether the new method is suitable for clinical detection. The LoB, LLoQ, ULoQ, and linear range of the assay were 1.09 ng/mL, 3 ng/mL, 1500 ng/mL, 3–1500 ng/mL for SAA and 0.85 ng/mL, 2 ng/mL, 1200 ng/mL, 2–1200 ng/mL for LTF respectively. The recovery rates were 95.01% to 106.26%, the intra-batch precision of low, intermediate, and high-level samples was <8%, and the inter-batch of them was <11%, the deviation of interference test results was less than±10%. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) was 0.9809 for SAA, 0.8599 for LTF, and 0.9986 for combination. The quantitative duplex immunoassay for SAA/LTF has high accuracy, good precision, and high specificity, which meets the clinical testing requirements and can be widely used in clinical practice. • A new method for simultaneous detection of SAA and LTF was developed. • The new method can be applied in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CD4-1 found in bony fish contains four extracellular immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domains similar to that of mammalian CD4, which is crucial for the activation of CD4+ helper T-cell. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the molecular markers, immune functions and regulation mechanism of CD4-1 in teleosts due to their vast diversity. In this study, we cloned and characterized two isoforms of Qihe crucian carp CD4-1 , designated as CaCD4-1.1 and CaCD4-1.2. We further explored their expression responses upon stimulation with Aeromonas veronii , and the regulation of their immune responses against A. veronii by NF-κB. The ORF of CaCD4-1.1 and CaCD4-1.2 cDNA encoded 477 and 466 amino acids, respectively. Both proteins contained seven conserved cysteine residues in the extracellular domain, and a CCC motif in their cytoplasm, respectively. However, Ca CD4-1.1 exhibited a relatively limited similarity with Ca CD4-1.2 in the ectodomain. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that the mRNA expression of CaCD4-1.1 and CaCD4-1.2 exhibited differential constitutive expression across all examined tissues. Furthermore, the expression level of CD4-1.2 was higher than that of CD4-1.1 in the gills, head kidney, and spleen of Qihe crucian carp subjected to A. veronii challenge, while it was lower in the trunk kidney. Inhibition of NF-κB activity resulted in a decrease in the expression levels of CD4-1.1 and CD4-1. 2 mRNA in the gill, while inducing an increase in expression levels in the spleen, in accordance with the observed ultrastructural changes in both organs. Interestingly, the impact of NF-κB on the mRNA expression level of CD4-1.1 appears to be stronger than that of CD4-1.2. Our results suggest that Ca CD4-1.1 and Ca CD4-1.2 could be expressed on T cells and antigen-sampling cells that exhibit similar characteristics to mammalian M cells, respectively, and differentially regulated by NF-κB in adaptive immune responses against bacterial infection. This research contributes to a better understanding of the crucial role of CD4-1 in the immune response of Qihe crucian carp and provide novel insights for the prevention and treatment of fish diseases in aquaculture. • The full-length of CD4-1.1 and CD4-1.2 from Qihe crucian carp were successfully obtained. • CD4-1.1 exhibited a relatively limited similarity with CD4-1.2 in the ectodomain. • Two CD4-1 s mRNA displayed differential constitutive and inducible expression patterns. • The impact of NF-κB on CD4-1.1 was observed to be more pronounced compared to CD4-1.2 after challenged with Aeromonas. veronii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different Cr-based bimetallic oxides were prepared, and their catalytic performance was evaluated on the simultaneous removal of multi-VOCs mixtures (acetone, benzene, toluene, and o -xylene) by ozonation. Among them, Co–Cr catalyst stood out in catalytic ozonation of aromatic VOCs, and its activity on acetone conversion was promoted by raising the temperature and ozone concentrations, owing to lower crystallization, larger surface area, excellent redox and VOCs/CO 2 desorption ability. Above 95% conversion of all multi-VOCs was achieved over the Co–Cr catalyst when the temperature was 100 °C and an excess ozone ratio λ (the ratio of actual moles of ozone to theoretical moles of ozone needed) was equal to 3. A competitive relationship was noticed during the removal process of four multiple VOCs, with significant inhibition of acetone conversion in the presence of aromatic VOCs, conceivably due to adsorption competition and byproducts accumulation. Effects of NO/SO 2 /H 2 O and respective reversibility were also investigated. The inhibition effects of NO/SO 2 /H 2 O on aromatic VOCs were far less than those on acetone. Further, the retarding effect of NO was reversible, attributing to physical adsorption competition, but the inhibition effect of SO 2 /H 2 O was irreversible, due to the blockage of active sites for VOCs removal. With the combination of scrubbing, multi-VOCs and NO/SO 2 could be removed by catalytic ozonation simultaneously and efficiently. In-situ DRIFTS measurement was also conducted to investigate the adsorption and catalytic ozonation process of multi-VOCs mixtures, as well as under the presence of SO 2 /H 2 O, discovering the major intermediates, surface carboxylates and carboxylic acids. [Display omitted] • Co-Cr catalyst stood out owing to excellent redox and desorption ability. • Competition and inhibition of aromatic VOCs on acetone conversion was discovered. • Effects of NO/SO2/H2O and respective reversibility were revealed. • Simultaneous and efficient removal of multi-VOCs and NO/SO2 was achieved. • Mechanisms of multi-VOCs abatement and NO/SO2/H2O poisoning were illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Tubulin and histone deacetylase have been clinically proven as promising targets for cancer therapy. Herein, we describe the design and synthesis of chiral 1,4-diarylazetidin-2-one-based hydroxamic acids as novel tubulin/HDAC dual inhibitors. Among them, compound 12a was validated to effectively disrupt tubulin polymerization, and exhibited potent HDAC1/8 inhibitory activities. Meanwhile, 12a showed good antiproliferative activities against four tumor cell lines. Further studies showed 12a works through blocking cellular cycle, inducing apoptosis and inhibiting colony formation. In addition, 12a has suitable physicochemical properties and high liver microsomal metabolic stability. Importantly, compound 12a was found to exhibit significant antitumor efficacy in vivo , thus warranting it as a promising tubulin/HDAC dual inhibitor for further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Clinical Message: Delayed intestinal perforation has various manifestations. For peritonitis with delayed treatment and multi‐bacterial peritonitis, we should be alert to the occurrence of this rare complication. Abdominal CT examination and imaging results judgment based on clinical conditions are particularly important for diagnosis. Delayed intestinal perforation of peritoneal dialysis catheter is a rare but serious complication. We reported a 49‐year‐old patient who had been hospitalized twice within 3 months due to poor drainage of the peritoneal dialysis catheter. During the first hospitalization, peritoneal dialysis‐related peritonitis was diagnosed, and a variety of bacterial infections were cultivated. However, at that time, the actual peritoneal dialysis catheter‐related intestinal perforation was missed, and he was discharged after anti‐infection treatment until a clinical cure was met. After more than 2 months of normal peritoneal dialysis after returning home, the patient again had poor drainage of the peritoneal dialysis catheter, accompanied by the outflow of yellowish‐brown sediment. It was found that the peritoneal dialysis catheter had evidence of intestinal perforation. After the removal of the catheter and intestinal repair, he recovered and was discharged from the hospital and received long‐term hemodialysis treatment. In the case of delayed intestinal perforation, peritoneal dialysis was maintained normally for more than 2 months, which was an unprecedented situation in previous case reports. In addition, we should be alert to the occurrence of this rare complication, especially when we find the occurrence of polybacterial Peritonitis. Abdominal CT examination and imaging results judgment based on clinical conditions are particularly important for diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CD3γ/δ found in non-mammalian vertebrates is a CD3 homolog with structural characteristics similar to both mammalian CD3γ and CD3δ, and plays important roles in T cell recognization and immune response in fish. In this study, the full-length of CD3γ/δ from Qihe crucian carp (named CaCD3γ/δ) was cloned and characterized, then the expression response profiles and potential immune functions was explored after Aeromonas veronii and Poly(I:C) challenge. The results showed that the full-length of CaCD3γ/δ was 819 bp including a 5ʹ-UTR of 141 bp, a 3ʹ-UTR of 168 bp, and an ORF of 510 bp encoding a putative 169-aa protein with an estimated MW of 18.71 kD and a theoretical pI of 8.77. The protein sequence of CaCD3γ/δ contained a Leu-Leu and a CXXXC motif in the extracellular domain, and an ITAM and a Leu-Ile motif in the cytoplasm, and a residue of Asn in the transmembrane. CaCD3γ/δ was constitutively expressed in the spleen, liver, gill, and blood of Qihe crucian carp. After the carp were challenged with Poly(I:C) and Aeromonas veronii , the mRNA expression levels of CaCD3γ/δ were significantly changed in the spleen, head kidney, intestine and gill, according to the results of qPCR. However, compared with A. veronii , Poly(I:C) challenge can rapidly induce the CaCD3γ/δ expression levels in head kidney, intestine and spleen, which suggested CaCD3γ/δ may be differentially modulated by different pathogens. Moreover, the results of immunohistochemical analysis showed that the CaCD3γ/δ+ secreted cells in the spleen and gills of Qihe crucian were increased after challenged with Poly(I:C), as well as the spleen challenged with A. veronii , but at different levels. Combined with the fact that vascular congestion, necrosis of parenchymal cells, and inflammatory cells including lymphocytes infiltration were also observed in the gill and spleen of Qihe crucian carp treated with A. veronii and Poly(I:C) revealed by pathological analysis, it was predicted that Ca CD3γ/δ+ T lymphocytes may participated in the immune response against pathogens. This study will contribute to understand the important role of Ca CD3γ/δ+ T lymphocytes in the immune response of Qihe crucian carp, and provide new insights for the prevention and treatment of the diseases of Qihe crucian carp. • The full-length of CD3γ/δ from Qihe crucian carp (named CaCD3γ/δ) was obtained. • The CaCD3γ/δ was significantly changed after challenged with Poly(I:C) and Aeromonas veronii. • The CaCD3γ/δ+ secreted cells were increased after challenged with Poly(I:C) and A. veronii. • Poly(I:C) and A. veronii could cause serious tissues damage in the immune organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Today, diabetes mellitus (DM) has become a worldwide concern. DM is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Eligible patients with CVD are treated invasively by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) whereby a stent is implanted inside the coronary vessel with the particular lesion to allow sufficient blood flow. Newer scientific research have shown that even though associated with a lower rate of re-stenosis, first-generation drug eluting stents (DES) were associated with a higher rate of late stent thrombosis. Recently, newer stents, namely biodegradable polymer DES (BP-DES) have been developed to overcome the safety issues of earlier generation DES. In this analysis we aimed to systematically compare the long term (≥ 12 months) adverse cardiovascular outcomes observed in DM versus non-DM patients who were implanted with BP-DES. Methods: Cochrane central, MEDLINE (Subset PubMed), EMBASE, Web of Science, http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov and Google scholar were searched for relevant publications involving BP-DES in patients with DM versus non-DM and their associated adverse cardiovascular outcomes. The mean follow-up time period ranged from 12 to 120 months. Data analysis was carried out with the latest version of the RevMan software (version 5.4). Based on the Mantel-Haenszel test, risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated and used to represent the results following analysis. Results: Seven (7) studies with a total number of 10,246 participants were included in this analysis. Stents which were implanted during PCI were BP-DES. Participants were enrolled from the year 2006 to 2013. Our current results showed that in patients who were implanted with BP-DES, the risks of major adverse cardiac events (RR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.18–1.43; P = 0.00001), myocardial infarction (RR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.14–1.93; P = 0.003), all-cause mortality (RR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.29–2.23; P = 0.0002), cardiac death (RR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.28–2.93; P = 0.002), target vessel revascularization (RR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.03–1.77; P = 0.03), target lesion revascularization (RR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.07–1.54; P = 0.007) and target lesion failure (RR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.52–2.12; P = 0.00001) were significantly higher in the DM group. Definite and probable stent thrombosis (RR: 1.80, 95% CI: 1.28–2.55; P = 0.0009) were also significantly higher in the DM group. Conclusions: Diabetes mellitus was an independent risk factor associated with long term adverse cardiovascular outcomes following PCI with BP-DES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Two series of HDAC/tubulin dual inhibitors were designed and synthesized. • Compound 10a worked by inhibiting HDAC8 and tubulin. • Compound 10a exhibited good metabolic stability and aqueous solubility. • Compound 10a exhibited significant antitumor activities in vitro and in vivo. Herein, two series of HDAC/tubulin dual inhibitors via introducing the key pharmacophore of HDAC inhibitor into the skeletons of 2,6-diarylpyridine and 2′-arylchalcone were synthesized. Among them, 2,6-diarylpyridine-based hydroxamic acid 10a exhibited good inhibitory activity against HDAC8 (IC 50 = 117 nM) with 50-fold and 42-fold high selectivity relative to HDAC1 and HDAC6, respectively. Meanwhile, 10a disrupted tubulin polymerization effectively and exhibited potent antiproliferative activity against BE-(2)-C cell line, with IC 50 value of 17 nM. Mechanism studies revealed that 10a blocked cell cycle, induced cellular apoptosis and suppressed colony formation. Moreover, 10a possessed good physicochemical properties and metabolic stability. Importantly, 10a exhibited better antitumor effects in human neuroblastoma xenograft mice model than those of clinical HDAC inhibitor and tubulin inhibitor, whether used alone or in combination. These results highlighted the advantages of the HDAC8/tubulin dual inhibitor 10a as an outstanding antitumor agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a degenerative joint illness which leads to knee pain and functional limitation. In this study, we combined microfracture surgery with kartogenin (KGN), a small bioactive molecule used to promote the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and explored its impact on cartilage repair and possible latent mechanisms of action. The research offers a brand-new idea for the clinical cure of KOA. The microfracture technique in combination with KNG treatment was performed on a rabbit model of KOA. Animal behaviour was evaluated after the intra-articular injection of miR-708-5p and Special AT-rich sequence binding protein 2 (SATB2) lentiviruses. Later, the expression of the tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin- 1 (IL-1), the pathology of synovial tissue and cartilage tissue, and the positive cartilage type II collagen, MMP-1, MMP-3 and TIMP-1 were detected. Finally, a luciferase assay was conducted to verify the interaction of miR-708-5p and SATB2. Our results showed that miR-708-5p was elevated in the rabbit KOA model; however, the expression of SATB2 was reduced. Meanwhile, the microfracture technology combined with MSCs inducer KGN drove cartilage repair and regeneration in rabbit KOA by repressing the miR-708-5p expression. We also found that miR-708-5p directly targeted the SATB2 mRNA to regulate its expression. Furthermore, our data urged that elevating miR-708-5p or restraining SATB2 may reverse the therapeutic effect of the microfracture technique combined with MSCs inducer on rabbit KOA. Microfracture technique combined with MSCs inducer represses miR-708-5p to target SATB2 to drive cartilage repair and regeneration in rabbit KOA. This indicates that the microfracture technique combined with MSCs inducers is supposed to be an effective latent method for osteoarthritis cure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-Terra surface reflectance product (MOD09A1), with bands 1 to 7, is a gridded, eight-day composite product derived from the MODIS-Terra top of atmosphere reflectance swaths. It performs cloud detection and corrects for the effects of atmospheric gases and aerosols. The cloud mask (CM) algorithms for MODIS are based on empirical thresholds on spectral reflectance and brightness temperature. Since the spatial resolution of the thermal band is 1000 m, while that of MOD09A1 is 500 m, many undetected and false clouds are observed in MOD09A1. These errors always result in temporal and spatial inconsistencies in higher-level products. In this paper, a cloud detection algorithm (TSCD) based on a MOD09A1 time series is introduced. Time series cloud detection (TSCD) algorithm is based on the relative stability of ground reflectance and the sudden variations in reflectance that result from cloud cover. The algorithm first searches the clear-sky reference data, and then discriminates clouded and unclouded pixels by detecting a sudden change of reflectance in the blue wavelength and spectral correlation coefficient at the pixel level. Compared with cloud cover assessments obtained from MODIS' original CM, TSCD provides similar or better discrimination in most situations when the land surface changes slowly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Optical remote-sensing images have a wide range of applications, but they are often obscured by clouds, which affects subsequent analysis. Therefore, cloud removal becomes a necessary preprocessing step. In this paper, a novel and superior transformer-based network is proposed, named Cloudformer. The proposed method novelly combines the advantages of convolution and a self-attention mechanism: it uses convolution layers to extract simple features over a small range in the shallow layer, and exerts the advantage of a self-attention mechanism in extracting correlation in a large range in the deep layer. This method also introduces Locally-enhanced Positional Encoding (LePE) to flexibly generate suitable positional encodings for different inputs and to utilize local information to enhance encoding capabilities. Exhaustive experiments on public datasets demonstrate the superior ability of the method to remove both thin and thick clouds, and the effectiveness of the proposed modules is validated by ablation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organoselenium compounds have attracted growing interests as promising antitumor agents over recent years. Herein, four series of novel selenium-containing chiral 1,4-diarylazetidin-2-ones were asymmetrically synthesized and biologically evaluated for antitumor activities. Among them, compound 7 was found to be about 10-fold more potent than its prototype compound 1 a , and compound 9a exhibited the most potent cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines, including a paclitaxel-resistant human ovarian cancer cell line A2780T, with IC 50 values ranging from 1 to 3 nM. Mechanistic studies revealed that compound 9a worked by disrupting tubulin polymerization, inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, decreasing mitochondrial membrane potential, blocking the cell cycle in the G 2 /M phase, inducing cellular apoptosis and suppressing angiogenesis. Additionally, compound 9a exhibited appropriate human-microsomal metabolic stability and physicochemical properties. Importantly, compound 9a was found to inhibit tumor growth effectively in a xenograft mice model with low toxicity profile, which rendered 9a a highly promising candidate for further pre-clinical development. [Display omitted] • A series of selenium-containing 1,4-diarylazetidin-2-ones were synthesized. • Compound 9a exhibited significant antitumor activities in vitro and in vivo. • Compound 9a inhibited tubulin polymerization and induced ROS production. • Compound 9a exhibited good metabolic stability and aqueous solubility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CD4-1 is mainly regulated by its promoter, and CD4-2 by internalization. • CD4-2 contains more structural similarity to mammalian CD4 than CD4-1. • CD4-2 functions as a cooperator of CD4-1 in teleost CD4+ helper T cells. • Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg cells similar to those of mammal exist in teleost. CD4+ helper T cells play key and diverse roles in inducing adaptive immune responses in vertebrates. The CD4 molecule, which is found on the surfaces of CD4+ helper T cells, can be used to distinguish subsets of helper T cells. Teleosts are the oldest living species with bona-fide CD4 coreceptors. Although some components of immune systems of teleosts and mammals appear to be similar, many physiological differences are represented between them. Previous studies have shown that two CD4 paralogs are present in teleosts, whereas only one is present in mammals. Therefore, in this review, the CD4 molecular structure, expression profiles, subpopulations, and biological functions of teleost CD4+ helper T cells were summarized and compared with those of their mammalian counterparts to understand the differences in CD4 molecules between teleosts and mammals. This review provides suggestions for further studies on the CD4 molecular function and regulatory mechanism of CD4+ helper T cells in teleost fish and will help establish therapeutic strategies to control fish diseases in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The reactions of the chemical warfare agent sulfur mustard (HD) degradation over CaO, MgO, SiO2, Al2O3, HZSM-5, A-Clays were studied. More than 10 kinds of products from the degradation of HD over these oxides were detected and identified by GC-FPD, GC–MS, NMR and UV–vis approaches. All the studied oxides can exhibit reactivity towards destroying HD molecules in air at room temperature. The acid and base sites over the oxides were not entirely poisoned by H2O and CO2 in air as evidenced by the acid–base property characterization results. The conserved acid and base sites over the oxides might be the reaction center for degradation of HD molecules. Both degradation activity and product distribution were strongly determined by the strength and density of the acid–base sites and the adsorbed water over the oxides. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A preliminary study has been done to examine the sorption, diffusion and degradation of mustard (HD) in cement. The sample of dried cement paste is a meso-porous adsorbant with a BET surface area around 40.8m2/g, which is able to adsorb vapor of HD at room temperature and to result in a multiple-layer isotherm of II type. The molecule of HD seemed to chemically adsorb onto cement surface. Droplet of HD contaminating cement was able to be degraded into less toxic products, but in a very low rate of k =4.8×10−5 min−1 and t 1/2 =16×104 min at room temperature. Droplet of HD is able to penetrate through the layer of cement, but a cement plate of 8mm can protect against HD droplets over 48h. A decrease of thickness for cement layer or addition of sand in cement would lead to lower the protection time against HD droplets. The diffusion coefficient of HD molecule in cement was determined, about 1.3×10−4 cm2/min and of a typical diffusion in solid. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, first principles were used to obtain a set of lateral interactions of oxygen atoms adsorbed on Pt (111) which can be applied in future studies of the phase diagram of O-Pt (111). Density functional theory (DFT) total energy computations were performed for fifteen configurations of oxygen adsorbed on Pt (111), with oxygen coverages ranging from zero to one. A cluster expansion was then carried out to fit lateral interaction parameters between and among oxygen atoms. The interaction parameters extracted from first principles indicate that strong repulsions exist between first (237.1 meV) and second nearest neighbours (39.5 meV), and weak attractions exist between third nearest neighbours (-5.8 meV). These weak attractions may explain the formation of islands of oxygen with p(2 × 2) symmetry, observed to form on Pt (111). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different transition metals (Cr/Fe/Mn/Co) derived catalysts supported on γ-Al2O3 were prepared by the isovolumetric impregnation method for catalytic ozonation of acetone (C3H6O), and their catalytic activities under industrial complex conditions were investigated. Among them, CrOx/γ-Al2O3 catalyst with Cr loading of 1.5%, abbreviated as Cr1.5%, achieved the best activity, benefitting from its larger surface area, larger proportion of Cr6+/Cr, more chemically desorbed oxygen species Oβ, appropriate acidity, and superiority of low-temperature reducibility. Simulated industrial conditions were used to investigate the applicability of Cr1.5% catalysts for catalytic ozonation of acetone. Results illustrated that the optimum temperature range was 120–140 °C, with molar ratio O3/C3H6O > 6. Different C3H6O initial concentrations had less effect over the activity of Cr1.5% catalysts, with little residual ozone, confirming the applicability of Cr1.5% catalysts in industrial application. The effects of sulfur/water vapor on catalytic activity were also investigated, and satisfactory resistance to sulfur or water vapor individually was obtained. Finally, in-situ DRIFTS measurement was carried out, to explore and illustrate mechanisms of acetone catalytic ozonation pathways and sulfur/water poisoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibition of tubulin polymerisation with small molecules has been clinically validated as a promising therapy for multiple solid tumours. Herein, a series of chiral azetidin-2-ones were asymmetrically synthesised and biologically evaluated for antitumour activities. Among them, a chiral fluorinated azetidin-2-one, 18 , was found to exhibit the most potent activities against five cancer cell lines, including a drug-resistant cell line, with IC 50 values ranging from 1.0 to 3.6 nM. Further mechanistic studies revealed that the compound 18 worked by disrupting tubulin polymerisation, blocking the cell cycle in the G 2 /M phase, inducing cellular apoptosis, and suppressing angiogenesis. Additionally, 18 exhibited higher human-microsomal metabolic stability and aqueous solubility compared to those of combretastatin A-4. Finally, 18 was also found to effectively inhibit tumour growth in a xenograft mice model with low toxicity and thus might be a promising lead for further clinical development. Image 1 • A series of novel chiral azetidin-2-ones were asymmetrically synthesised. • A chiral fluorinated azetidin-2-one 18 exhibited significant antitumour activities. • Compound 18 could disrupt tubulin polymerisation with IC 50 values of 1.0 μM. • Compound 18 exhibited good metabolic stability and aqueous solubility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Present a novel and original concept of clustering center. • Present a novel and original clustering rule. • The implementation of the presented algorithm involves only the calculation of matrix power, and does not require any manual interference. • The presented algorithm is very simple, practical and easy to operate. The determination of clustering centers generally depends on the observation scale that we use to analyze the data to be clustered. An inappropriate scale usually leads to unreasonable clustering centers and thus unreasonable results. In this study, we first consider the similarity of elements in the data as the connectivity of vertices in an undirected graph, then present the concept of connection center and regard it as the clustering center of the data. Based on this definition, the determination of clustering centers and the assignment of class become very simple, natural and effective. One more crucial finding is that the clustering centers of different scales can be obtained easily by different powers of a similarity matrix, and the change of power from small to large leads to the dynamic evolution of clustering centers from local (microscopic) to global (macroscopic). Further, in this process of evolution, the number of clusters changes discontinuously, which means that the presented method can automatically skip the unreasonable number of clusters, suggest appropriate observation scales and provide corresponding clustering results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most important city in China, Beijing has experienced an economic soar, large-scale population growth and eco-environment changes in the last 20 years. Evaluating climate- and human-induced vegetation changes could reveal the relationship of vegetation-climate-human activities and provide important insights for the coordination of economic growth and environmental protection. Based on a long-term MODIS vegetation index dataset, meteorological data (temperature, precipitation) and impervious surface data, the Theil-Sen regression and the Mann-Kendall method are used to estimate vegetation change trends in this study and the residual analysis is utilized to distinguish the impacts of climate factors and human activities on vegetation restoration and degradation from 2000 to 2019 in Beijing. Our results show that the increasing vegetation areas account for 80.2% of Beijing. The restoration of vegetation is concentrated in the urban core area and mountainous area, while the degradation of vegetation is mainly concentrated in the suburbs. In recent years, the vegetation in most mountainous areas has changed from restoration to significant restoration, indicating that the growth of mountain vegetation has continued to restore. We also found that in the process of urban expansion, vegetation browning occurred in 53.1% of the urban built-up area, while vegetation greening occurred in the remaining area. We concluded that precipitation is the main climatic factor affecting the growth of vegetation in Beijing's mountainous areas through correlation analysis. Human activities have significantly promoted the vegetation growth in the northern mountainous area thanks to the establishment of environmental protection areas. The negative correlation between vegetation and the impervious surface tends to gradually expand outwards, which is consistent with the trend of urban expansion. The positive correlation region remains stable, but the positive correlation is gradually enhanced. The response of vegetation to urbanization demonstrated a high degree of spatial heterogeneity. These findings indicated that human activities played an increasingly important role in influencing vegetation changes in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thick cloud and shadows have a significant impact on the availability of optical remote sensing data. Although various methods have been proposed to address this issue, they still have some limitations. First, most approaches rely on a single clear reference image as complementary information, which becomes challenging when the target image has large missing areas. Secondly, the existing methods that can utilize multiple reference images require the complementary data to have high temporal correlation, which is not suitable for situations where the difference between the reference image and the target image is large. To overcome these limitations, a flexible spatiotemporal deep learning framework based on generative adversarial networks is proposed for thick cloud removal, which allows for the use of three arbitrary temporal images as references. The framework incorporates a three-step encoder that can leverage the uncontaminated information from the target image to assimilate the reference images, enhancing the model's ability to handle reference images with diverse temporal differences. A series of simulated and real experiments on Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 data is performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The proposed method is especially applicable to small/large-scale regions with reference images that are significantly different from the target image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract NO x control by catalytic oxidation combined with wet absorption has been a promising technology for the flue gas treatment of industrial boiler and furnace. LaMnO 3+δ perovskites were investigated as catalysts for NO oxidation. The comparison between metal substitution of La and Mn cations was researched. The activity results indicated that La site substitution was more favorable for NO oxidation than Mn site substitution. LaCoMnO exhibited the highest activity in NO oxidation with maximum value of 83.74% at 250 °C. That value further increased to 89.96% after acid etching (LaCoMnO-A), and closely, such high value of 89.78% was achieved at 220 °C. The surface area was significantly improved by acid etching, i.e., from 47.0 m2/g to 212.0 m2/g, Tremendous changes in crystalline structure and morphology were taken place, i.e., perovskites phase disappeared and MnO 2 was detected instead; compact amorphous particle morphology was replaced by multiple layer structure. Even more, Mn4+ ions and oxygen vacancies accumulated on the surface were improved. Deservedly, the redox property was enhanced enormously, especially at low temperature. Subsequently, SO 2 poisoning tests were conducted at 250 °C under 20 ppm SO 2. Interestingly, no decrease was observed for LaCoMnO-A within 480-min SO 2 poisoning test, which was totally contrasted with the nearly complete deactivation results of LaCoMnO. In-situ DRIFTS measurements validated nitrate disappeared and replaced by sulfate formation on the catalyst surface. Merely, under low-concentration SO 2 atmosphere, the monodentate nitrate and bidentate nitrate were destroyed, while the free nitrates exhibited higher resistance. Overall, the acid etching improved the catalyst resistance to SO 2 , which may have the potential to apply in the flue gas treatment of low-sulfur and sulfur-free fuel fired boiler and furnace. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • LaMnO 3+δ perovskites catalysts were modified by metal substitution and acid etching. • Metal substitution in La site was more favorable for NO oxidation. • Acid etching treatment improved NO oxidation activity significantly. • High resistance to low-concentration SO 2 was achieved by LaMnO 3+δ after acid etching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clouds often contaminate remote sensing images, which leads to missing land feature information and subsequent application degradation. Low-rank tensor completion has shown great potential in the reconstruction of multi-temporal remote sensing images. However, existing methods ignore different low-rank properties in the spatial and temporal dimensions, such that they cannot utilize spatial and temporal information adequately. In this paper, we propose a new frequency spectrum-modulated tensor completion method (FMTC). First, remote sensing images are rearranged as third-order spatial–temporal tensors for each band. Then, Fourier transform (FT) is introduced in the temporal dimension of the rearranged tensor to generate a spatial–frequential tensor. In view of the fact that land features represent low-frequency components and fickle clouds represent high-frequency components in the time domain, we chose adaptive weights for the completion of different low-rank spatial matrixes, according to the frequency spectrum. Then, Invert Fourier Transform (IFT) was implemented. Through this method, the joint low-rank spatial–temporal constraint was achieved. The simulated data experiments demonstrate that FMTC is applicable on different land-cover types and different missing sizes. With real data experiments, we have validated the effectiveness and stability of FMTC for time-series remote sensing image reconstruction. Compared with other algorithms, the performance of FMTC is better in quantitative and qualitative terms, especially when considering the spectral accuracy and temporal continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Catalytic ozonation method has higher efficiency at lower temperature. • CuMn-II attains an EA conversion of 99% at 120 °C with an O 3 /EA molar ratio of 10. • Abundant oxygen vacancies contribute to the superior performance of CuMn-II. • In-situ DRIFTS and DFT calculations are combined to evaluate the reaction mechanism. A series of Cu-Mn oxides were synthesized by the redox-precipitation method with different precipitants to evaluate the catalytic ozonation of ethyl acetate (EA). It was found that CuMn-II (with H 2 C 2 O 4 as precipitant) exhibited the best catalytic activity, which achieved an EA conversion of 99 % at 120 °C with an O 3 /EA molar ratio of 10. The reaction temperature, O 3 /EA molar ratio, ozone utilization rate, and CO x selectivity were also discussed. Meanwhile, many characterizations were conducted to reveal the properties of catalysts, such as SEM, XRD, BET, XPS, H 2 -TPR and NH 3 -TPD. Abundant surface defects, plentiful oxygen vacancies, larger specific surface area, higher content of Mn3+ and more acid sites contributed to the superior performance of CuMn-II. Catalyst poisoning occurred when SO 2 was added, however, the conversion of EA could gradually recover to 88 % once SO 2 was stopped. In-situ DRIFTS measurement was carried out to reveal the formation of intermediate species during the reaction. Combined with DFT calculations, a reaction mechanism for the catalytic ozonation of EA over CuMn 2 O 4 catalysts was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • KI additive was found as a liquid catalyst in simultaneous NO 2 and SO 2 removal. • NO x /SO 2 removal efficiency was steady in 300 min stability test. • Reaction pathways for NO 2 /SO 2 absorption in KI solution was discussed. • Ozone oxidation and KI catalytic absorption is a feasible way in NO x /SO 2 treatment. Abstract NO x and SO 2 are the main air pollutants emitted from the coal-fired combustors. Since the typical combination of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) is not suitable for some of industrial flue gas treatment due to their unsuitable temperature window and limited retrofitting space, new technologies must be developed. This paper proposes an effective wet method for simultaneous removal of NO x and SO 2. The insoluble NO was first oxidized into NO 2 by ozone, and then NO 2 together with SO 2 were both absorbed in one wet wash tower. To further improve NO 2 removal efficiency, a new kind of additive was proposed and tested. Effects of various influence factors, such as additive concentration, residence time in the wash tower, liquid/gas ratios, initial NO/SO 2 /O 2 concentration and slurry pH value, were carefully evaluated in a home-designed experimental platform. Results indicated that the NO x removal efficiency was positively correlated with the increasing the additive concentration, while the maximum denitration and desulfurization efficiency were more than 95% and 86%. The NO x removal efficiency was enhanced with the increasing residence time and liquid/gas ratios. The alkaline environment was verified to be beneficial for the simultaneous absorption process. The exiting O 2 in flue gas would not consume additives, and the denitration and desulfurization efficiency were insensitive to the initial NO and SO 2 concentration as well. Only 2% decrease of the denitration efficiency was observed after 300 mins stability test, while the desulfurization efficiency kept >98%. With the characterizations of Ion Chromatograph (IC), NO 2 −, NO 3 − and SO 4 2− were detected as the main absorption by-products anions, whereas NO 2 − accumulation would inhibit the overall NO x removal. Finally, the mechanism of simultaneous removal of SO 2 and NO using the novel liquid phase catalyst was proposed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of unsupervised band selection, both robustness and efficiency are of great importance. In this article, we propose a new unsupervised band selection method termed graph representation based band selection (GRBS), which is expected to be insensitive to noisy bands and computationally inexpensive. In GRBS, bands are treated as the nodes of graph in high-dimensional space and centres of the band clusters are considered as the ideal choice. Interestingly, different from other clustering-based band selection methods, GRBS does not involve band clustering. Instead, it employs an easily computed criterion function to select the desired bands, which greatly improves the efficiency. The experiments demonstrate that GRBS has a promising performance and outperforms the compared methods in terms of both accuracy and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Unsupervised classification plays an important role in hyperspectral image(HSI) applications. However, most clustering methods used for HSI classification face the problem of tuning parameters carefully. Recently, a novel clustering algorithm named connection center evolution (CCE) has been proposed and achieved great success regarding this problem. However, for large-scale HSI data with too many pixels, CCE suffers from large memory costs for constructing the similarity matrix. In this paper, we proposed an improved version for CCE, which is inspired by the fact that the underlying data distribution can be expressed as a few weekly correlated clusters. The proposed version treats the original data as a few representative sets, then uses the clustering center of each set to construct the similarity matrix. This new version breaks, for the first time, the limitation of CCE with regards to handling large-size HSI datasets. Extensive experimental results on synthetic data and real HSI datasets show that the proposed algorithm is insensitivity to the setting of parameters, able to suggest the optimal number of clusters, and can achieve superior performance compared to state-of-the-art clustering methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a slope-adapted sample-tilting method for the profile measurement of microstructures with steep surfaces. Distinct from the traditional scanning method that has the restriction of a maximum detectable angle, this method corrects the sample-stylus relative angle during the measurement of the steep surface to eliminate the profile deviation and the scanning blind region. The performance of the proposed method was verified by simulations that measured the surface profiles of a trapezoidal microstructure and a spherical microstructure, finding maximum errors of 0.15 μm and 1.71 μm, respectively, compared to 3.63 μm and 7.85 μm using the traditional scanning method. The proposed method enables accurate profile measurement and quality control of microstructures with steep surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land surface albedo is an important parameter to describe the radiant forcing in the climate system. A long-time series of global albedo products is needed to understand the mechanism of climate change. Aiming to support global change and Earth system studies, GLASS (Global LAnd Surface Satellites) provides long-term global land surface albedo product from 1981 to 2010, which are generated from multisource remote sensing data and newly developed algorithms. It is critical to assess the quality of the GLASS product when it is released to the public. This paper first introduced the algorithms and then analyzed the integrity, accuracy, and robustness of the GLASS albedo product. The results show that the GLASS albedo product is a gapless, long-term continuous, and self-consistent data-set with an accuracy similar to that of the widely acknowledged MODIS MCD43 product. The quality flag, which is provided along with the black-sky and white-sky albedo, gives a pertinent indication of the expected uncertainty in the product. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recently, five Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) products have been released: leaf area index (LAI), shortwave broadband albedo, longwave broadband emissivity, incident short radiation, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). The first three products cover the years 1982–2012 (LAI) and 1981–2010 (albedo and emissivity) at 1–5 km and 8-day resolutions, and the last two radiation products span the period 2008–2010 at 5 km and 3-h resolutions. These products have been evaluated and validated, and the preliminary results indicate that they are of higher quality and accuracy than the existing products. In particular, the first three products have much longer time series, and are therefore highly suitable for various environmental studies. This paper outlines the algorithms, product characteristics, preliminary validation results, potential applications and some examples of initial analysis of these products. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2017, a coal banning area of approximately 10,000 square kilometers was established in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region of China for the first time. This study compared the change of elemental concentrations during the autumn and winter of 2016 and 2017, and analyzed the environmental and health benefits of the coal banning policy. Result showed that compared to 2016, the reduction rate of atmospheric particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter no larger than 2.5 μm (PM 2.5) in 2017 was as high as 63.5% (p < 0.01), and that of the total elements in PM 2.5 was up to 43% (p < 0.01). Coal consumption, transportation, industry, soil dust, and fuel consumption were the main sources of these elements in BTH. Coal consumption and industry accounted for 5.8–26.2% and 6.5–31.3%, respectively, of the total elements. After the coal banning area was established, the elements from coal consumption were reduced by 13.5–60.3% (the background station was reduced by 19.6%, p < 0.05), and those from industrial sources were reduced by 11–80.1%. The results of the health risk assessment showed that the carcinogenic risk of the coal consumption and industrial sources had been reduced by 30.7–48.3% in 2017. The policy of the coal banning is very effective in controlling the air pollution in urban agglomeration in developing countries and has resulted in great health and environmental benefits. Image 1 • Coal Banning Area is the most efficient pollution control measure in BTH in 2017. • The measure cut down the bulk coal consumption by 10.2% in the 10,000 km2 region. • The measure has resulted in the high benefits of environment and health in BTH. • PM 2.5 and total elements declined drastically by 63.5% and 43% in 2017. • The carcinogenic risk index of hazardous elements decreased by 36.3% in BTH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Toluene catalytic ozonation in flue gas was evaluated under related industrial conditions. • The acidity and oxygen species on catalyst surface was related to catalytic activity. • The effect of SO 2 and water vapor in flue gas on toluene oxidation were firstly investigated. • Toluene conversion efficiency could recover as SO 2 and water vapor was stopped. In this paper, three kinds of Mn-based catalysts over γ-Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 and TiO 2 were synthesized to evaluate the toluene catalytic degradation by ozone under the related industrial conditions (i.e., temperature, SO 2 and water vapor addition). Results show that the total acid and Mn3+ content on catalyst surface have a positive correlation with catalytic activity, thereby MnO x supported on γ-Al 2 O 3 achieving the highest toluene conversion and ozone decomposition efficiency. Key operating parameters of reaction temperature, initial toluene concentration and O 3 /C 7 H 8 ratio were investigated over MnO x /γ-Al 2 O 3 to get the optimal daily operation condition. The suitable temperature range was 100∼120 °C, whereas too high or too low temperature both inhibited catalytic activity. Catalyst poisoning occurred as SO 2 or water vapor was added, but fortunately, the toluene conversion efficiency could recover once SO 2 or water vapor was stopped. Finally, in-situ DRIFTS measurement was carried out to reveal the reaction process and SO 2 effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NO oxidation was conducted over MnOx-CeO2 catalysts, which were synthesized by the co-precipitation method. The calcination temperature and third metal doping were the main considerations. MnCe catalysts calcined at 350 °C and 450 °C attained the highest NO conversion efficiency, compared to 550 °C. XRD results suggested that the higher the calcination temperature, the higher the crystallization degree, which led to a negative effect on catalytic activity. Subsequently, Sn, Fe, Co, Cr, and Cu were separately doped into MnCe composites, but no improvement was observed for these trimetallic catalysts in NO conversion. Nevertheless, MnCeSn, MnCeFe, and MnCeCo still exhibited a desirable NO conversion efficiency, so they were tested under SO2 addition together with MnCe catalyst. Among them, MnCeFe exhibited the highest NO conversion after whole poisoning testing. XPS results indicated that Fe could protect Mn and Ce metal oxides from being reduced during SO2 poisoning process. Furthermore, in in-situ DRIFTS measurement, part of nitrate species maintained undestroyed on the MnCeFe catalyst surface after SO2 poisoning. These characteristics reinforced that Fe dropping would achieve better performance under SO2 atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]