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Oxygen is necessary for life and plays a key pivotal in maintaining normal physiological functions and treat of diseases. Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) have been studied and developed as a replacement for red blood cells (RBCs) in oxygen transport due to their similar oxygen-carrying capacities. However, applications of HBOCs are hindered by vasoactivity, oxidative toxicity, and a relatively short circulatory half-life. With advancements in nanotechnology, Hb encapsulation, absorption, bioconjugation, entrapment, and attachment to nanomaterials have been used to prepare nanomaterial-related HBOCs to address these challenges and pend their application in several biomedical and therapeutic contexts. This review focuses on the progress of this class of nanomaterial-related HBOCs in the fields of hemorrhagic shock, ischemic stroke, cancer, and wound healing, and speculates on future research directions. The advancements in nanomaterial-related HBOCs are expected to lead significant breakthroughs in blood substitutes, enabling their widespread use in the treatment of clinical diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food analysis is significantly important in monitoring food quality and safety for human health. Traditional methods for food detection mainly rely on benchtop instruments and require a certain amount of analysis time, which promotes the development of portable sensors. Portable sensing methods own many advantages over traditional techniques such as flexibility and accessibility in diverse environments, real‐time monitoring, cost‐effectiveness, and rapid deployment. This review focuses on the portable approaches based on carbon dots (CDs) for food analysis. CDs are zero‐dimensional carbon‐based material with a size of less than 10 nm. In the manner of sensing, CDs exhibit rich functional groups, low biotoxicity, good biocompatibility, and excellent optical properties. Furthermore, there are many methods for the synthesis of CDs using various precursor materials. The incorporation of CDs into food science and engineering for enhancing food safety control and risk assessment shows promising prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balancing catalytic activity and durability remains a challenge in the development of high performance, inexpensive and durable electrocatalysts. In this study, fully hydrolyzed composite catalyst V–Fe 2 P@Co 3 (PO 4) 2 /NF with ping-pong daisy-like morphology was synthesized using conventional hydrothermal and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes. In alkaline electrolyte, V–Fe 2 P@Co 3 (PO 4) 2 /NF showed excellent electrochemical performance, achieving a current density of 10 mA cm−2 when the driving overpotentials for the hydrogen production reaction (HER) and oxidation reaction (OER) were 56 mV and 178 mV, respectively. Meanwhile, V–Fe 2 P@Co 3 (PO 4) 2 /NF demonstrated good durability in terms of both HER and OER stability. Furthermore, the driving voltage required for the electrolyser assembled with V–Fe 2 P@Co 3 (PO 4) 2 /NF as the electrode is lower than that of the RuO 2 /NF||Pt/C/NF electrode, both of which have driving voltages of 1.503 and 1.562 V (10 mA cm−2), respectively. Meanwhile, it achieves a Faraday efficiency of 95%. This study offers a feasible solution towards synthesizing and applying bifunctional water decomposition electrocatalysts. The synthesized V–Fe 2 P@Co 3 (PO 4) 2 /NF catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic properties for bifunctional electrolysis of water in 1 M KOH solution. [Display omitted] •V doping alters Co3(PO4)2 and Fe2P nanosheets morphology and catalytic properties. • Synthesized samples show superior catalytic activity for total hydrolysis in 1 M KOH. • Ping Pong daisy's shape leads to more pores, larger active area and better stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of an 18-year-old female diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who rapidly progressed to the blast phase despite treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Topics discussed include the identification of recurrent fusion genes in CML-blast phase, their potential role in disease progression and drug resistance, and the need for further research to understand their prevalence and clinical implications.

The creation of hierarchical nanostructures can effectively strengthen phonon scattering to reduce lattice thermal conductivity for improving thermoelectric properties in inorganic solids. Here, we use Zn doping to induce a remarkable reduction in the lattice thermal conductivity in SnTe, approaching the theoretical minimum limit. Microstructure analysis reveals that ZnTe nanoprecipitates can embed within SnTe grains beyond the solubility limit of Zn in the Zn alloyed SnTe. These nanoprecipitates result in a substantial decrease of the lattice thermal conductivity in SnTe, leading to an ultralow lattice thermal conductivity of 0.50 W m−1 K−1 at 773 K and a peak ZT of ~0.48 at 773 K, marking an approximately 45 % enhancement compared to pristine SnTe. This study underscores the effectiveness of incorporating ZnTe nanoprecipitates in boosting the thermoelectric performance of SnTe‐based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the escalating demand for Astragalus polysaccharides products developed from Radix Astragali (RA), the necessity for quality control of polysaccharides in RA has become increasingly urgent. In this study, a specific method for the simultaneous determination of seven monosaccharides in polysaccharides extracted from Radix Astragali (RA) has been developed and validated using ultra-performance liquid chromatography equipped with an ultraviolet detector (UHPLC-UV) for the first time. The 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP) derivatizations were separated on a C18 column (Waters ACQUITYTM, Milfor, MA, USA, 1.8 µm, 2.1 × 100 mm) using gradient elution with a binary system of 5 mm ammonium formate (0.1% formic acid)-acetonitrile for 24 min. Additionally, seven monosaccharides showed good linear relationships (R2, 0.9971–0.9995), adequate precision (RSD < 4.21%), and high recoveries (RSD < 4.70%). The established method was used to analyze 109 batches of RA. Results showed that the Astragalus polysaccharides (APSs) mainly consist of mannose (Man), rhamnose (Rha), glucose (Glu), galactose (Gal), arabinose (Ara), xylose (Xyl); and fucose (Fuc); however, their composition was different among RA samples from different growth patterns, species, growth years, and origins, and the growth mode of RA and the age of wild-simulated RA can be accurately distinguished by principal component analysis (PCA). In addition, the immunological activity of APSs were also evaluated jointly by measurement of the NO release with RAW264.7, with the results showing that APSs have a promoting effect on the release of NO and exhibit a significant correlation with Man, Glu, Xyl, and Fuc contents. Accordingly, the new established monosaccharides analytical method and APS-immune activity determination in this study can provide a reference for quality evaluation and the establishment of quality standards for RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and allergic diseases possess similar genetic backgrounds and pathogenesis. Observational studies have shown a correlation, but the exact direction of cause and effect remains unclear. The aim of this Mendelian randomization (MR) study is to assess bidirectional causality between inflammatory bowel disease and allergic diseases. Method: We comprehensively analyzed the causal relationship between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and allergic disease (asthma, Hay fever, and eczema) as a whole, allergic conjunctivitis (AC), atopic dermatitis (AD), allergic asthma (AAS), and allergic rhinitis (AR) by performing a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study using summary‐level data from genome‐wide association studies. The analysis results mainly came from the random‐effects model of inverse variance weighted (IVW‐RE). In addition, multivariate Mendelian randomization (MVMR) analysis was conducted to adjust the effect of body mass index (BMI) on the instrumental variables. Results: The IVW‐RE method revealed that IBD genetically increased the risk of allergic disease as a whole (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01–1.04, fdr.p =.015), AC (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.01–1.06, fdr.p =.011), and AD (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02–1.09, fdr.p =.004). Subgroup analysis further confirmed that CD increased the risk of allergic disease as a whole (OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 1.00–1.03, fdr.p =.031), AC (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01–1.05, fdr.p =.012), AD (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02–1.09, fdr.p = 2E−05), AAS (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.02–1.08, fdr.p =.002) and AR (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.00–1.07, fdr.p =.025), UC increased the risk of AAS (OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.98–1.07, fdr.p =.038). MVMR results showed that after taking BMI as secondary exposure, the causal effects of IBD on AC, IBD on AD, CD on allergic disease as a whole, CD on AC, CD on AD, CD on AAS, and CD on AR were still statistically significant. No significant association was observed in the reverse MR analysis. Conclusion: This Mendelian randomized study demonstrated that IBD is a risk factor for allergic diseases, which is largely attributed to its subtype CD increasing the risk of AC, AD, ASS, and AR. Further investigations are needed to explore the causal relationship between allergic diseases and IBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floral transition, the switch from vegetative to reproductive growth, is extremely important for the growth and development of flowering plants. In the summer chrysanthemum, CmBBX8, a member of the subgroup II B‐box (BBX) family, positively regulates the transition by physically interacting with CmERF3 to inhibit CmFTL1 expression. In this study, we show that CmBBX5, a B‐box subgroup I member comprising two B‐boxes and a CCT domain, interacts with CmBBX8. This interaction suppresses the recruitment of CmBBX8 to the CmFTL1 locus without affecting its transcriptional activation activity. CmBBX5 overexpression led to delayed flowering under both LD (long‐day) and SD (short‐day) conditions, while lines expressing the chimeric repressor gene‐silencing (CmBBX5‐SRDX) exhibited the opposite phenotype. Subsequent genetic evidence indicated that in regulating flowering, CmBBX5 is partially dependent on CmBBX8. Moreover, during the vegetative growth period, levels of CmBBX5 expression were found to exceed those of CmBBX8. Collectively, our findings indicate that both CmERF3 and CmBBX5 interact with CmBBX8 to dampen the regulation of CmFTL1 via distinct mechanisms, which contribute to preventing the premature flowering of summer chrysanthemum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For vacuum circuit breakers, the anode will change to active mode when the current is high enough. The vapor produced by the anode will become another important source of plasma. In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic model considering anode vapor and multiple components is developed to study the vacuum circuit breakers with cup-shaped CuCr contact. The characteristics of arc under the actual magnetic field with different anode temperature distribution and different cathode utilization are simulated. Moreover, the ionization and recombination processes between different kinds of components are considered. The simulation results show that the arc current concentrates toward the center. The current value is high between electrodes slots under the actual magnetic field, which significantly affects the arc characteristics. At the same time, higher anode temperatures will produce more neutral atom vapor area (NAVA). Current is concentrated outside NAVA due to the low conductivity of NAVA. As NAVA expands, the constriction of current on the outside is more severe. The simulation results in this paper are consistent with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gas composition inside the low-voltage circuit breaker (LVCB) chamber and the residual plasma in the post-arc stage affect the breakdown process, which in turn affects the breaking capacity of LVCBs. In this paper, the back-arc breakdown and post-arc re-breakdown phenomena occurring inside the LVCB chamber are categorized as the breakdown in the case of high-temperature gas gap of hot electrodes, for which a particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulation model has been established, which takes into account the effects of high-temperature gas components, cathode electron thermal emission, electron collision ionization, and other effects, and simulation studies have been conducted. The simulation results show that the gap breakdown is mainly caused by the high-temperature hot free background gas and the cathode thermal electron emission. A plasma sheath layer is formed at the cathode during the breakdown process, and the electric field strength in the sheath layer is higher than that in other regions. With the development of the streamer to the cathode, the thickness of the sheath layer becomes narrower and the electric field strength increases, and finally, a discharge plasma channel is formed in the gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The longjaw tapertail anchovy Coilia nasus, which migrates from ocean to freshwater for spawning in spring, is an important anadromous fish with ecological and cultural significance. To determine parasite infection in anadromous C. nasus, a total of 103 fish from the Yangtze River were collected and examined in 2021 and 2022. The overall infection prevalence of nematodes in C. nasus was 100%, with a mean intensity of 13.81 ± 16.45. The mean intensity of nematode infections in 2022 was significantly higher than that observed in 2021 across all sampling sites (p < 0.05). Nematodes were widely detected in the mesentery, pyloric cecum, stomach, and liver, among which the mesentery accounted for the highest proportion, reaching up to 53.52%. A total of eight ascaridoid nematodes belonging to the family Anisakidae and Raphidascarididae were identified by using morphological characters and molecular biological techniques, including two species of Anisakis, five species of Hysterothylacium, and one species of Raphidascaris. A. pegreffii was found as the predominant species, accounting for 48.65% of all identified parasitic nematodes in liver, while Raphidascaris sp. was the most common nematode in the mesentery, pyloric cecum, and stomach, reaching up to 39.81%, 36.21%, and 74.36%, respectively. The present study systematically investigated the parasitic status and community structure of the nematode in C. nasus during its migration in the Yangtze River. This research provides a foundation for studying the impact of nematode parasitism on the reproductive migration and population recruitment of C. nasus, and offers valuable insights for biomarker screening and nematode identification in C. nasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite significant improvements, convolutional neural network (CNN) based methods are struggling with handling long-range global image dependencies due to their limited receptive fields, leading to an unsatisfactory inpainting performance under complicated scenarios. To address this issue, we propose the Inpainting Transformer (ITrans) network, which combines the power of both self-attention and convolution operations. The ITrans network augments convolutional encoder–decoder structure with two novel designs, i.e. , the global and local transformers. The global transformer aggregates high-level image context from the encoder in a global perspective, and propagates the encoded global representation to the decoder in a multi-scale manner. Meanwhile, the local transformer is intended to extract low-level image details inside the local neighborhood at a reduced computational overhead. By incorporating the above two transformers, ITrans is capable of both global relationship modeling and local details encoding, which is essential for hallucinating perceptually realistic images. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed ITrans network outperforms favorably against state-of-the-art inpainting methods both quantitatively and qualitatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the vacuum DC circuit breaker based on the artificial current zero, the change of arc luminosity delays the change of current value significantly in the fast current-zero stage. This phenomenon has impacts on the breaking capacity of the DC vacuum circuit breaker. Therefore, it is necessary to study the dynamic characteristics of the arc plasma under the above condition. In this work, a 3D transient magneto-hydro-dynamic model based on the commercial cup-type axial magnetic field (AMF) contact is established to study this phenomenon. The simulation results show that the fast current-zero stage is too short for the plasma to diffuse. The changes of the physical characteristics of the arc plasma lag the change of current value. Moreover, the magnetic field hysteresis caused by the eddy current on the electrode occurs in this stage, resulting in a continuous stronger AMF. It makes the distributions of the plasma uniform, while the diffusion of the arc plasma reduced at low currents, which is detrimental to the post-arc dielectric recovery stage. In addition, in the fast current-zero stage, the AMF near the contact slot is smaller than in other areas. This indicates that the slotting is effective in suppressing eddy currents and avoiding the negative effect of excessive AMF on plasma diffusion at this stage. The simulation results are consistent with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O2 impurity in the working gas of an He/CF4 atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) can affect the discharge dynamics and the density of reactive species. Therefore, a two-dimensional (2D) fluid model is built in order to explore the influence of an O2 admixture on the propagation and F-containing species distribution of He/CF4 APPJ. The addition of 0.1% O2 accelerates the ionization rates of APPJ due to the increase of Penning ionization reactions of O2, resulting in the increases of axial speed and F-containing reactive species (CF4+, CF3+, CF2+, CF+, F+, CF3, F, CF3−) when APPJ approaches the dielectric surface. The addition of O2 has the inhibitory effect on the rise of some F-containing reactive species (CF3+ and F). As O2 concentration increases to 2%, the concentration of F-containing reactive species shows a downward trend due to the increase of excitation energy loss and an electron attachment reaction of O2. Different from the axial speed, the radial speed decreases continuously with the increase of O2 because of the high O2 concentration on the dielectric surface when APPJ propagates radially. This also results in a reduced distribution of reactive species fluxes. The excitation energy loss and electronegativity of O2 and CF4 in the case of He + 0.5% CF4 + 0.5% O2 have been presented in this paper. It is discovered that excitation energy loss of O2 is stronger than that of CF4, but the electronegativity of CF4 is stronger than that of O2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractEmploying piezoelectrically activated beam-like structures is extending in numerous applications for instance energy harvesters and sensors. On the other hand, advanced materials such as carbon nanotube-reinforced nanocomposites are widely implemented in making passive structures with the aim of using their advantages. For the first time, a study is established on the critical temperature of a piezoelectric sandwich aggregated CNTRC beam regarding the pyroelectricity. The stabilization contribution of pyroelectricity against the thermal buckling incidence of sandwich beams has been demonstrated specifically. It is found that the pyroelectricity develops the critical point for the temperature of a clamped-clamped piezoelectric sandwich non-reinforced beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Predict intraocular lens position after cataract surgery using the IOL Master 700 and explore the associated ocular parameters compared with the results obtained from the anterior segment analysis system (Sirius, CSO Inc, Florence, Italy). Methods: A total of 98 patients (106 eyes) were included in the retrospective study. The postoperative intraocular lens position was obtained using the IOL Master 700 and measured using Adobe Illustrator software. Correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were applied to study the correlation between the actual position of the postoperative intraocular lens (ALP) and the ocular parameters. In addition, Bland–Altman consistency analysis was used to compare the consistency between any two among the predicted intraocular lens position (ALPi) obtained using IOL Master 700 biometry, the predicted artificial lens position (ALPs) calculated using the anterior segment analysis system, or the ALP. Results: Ocular parameters, including preoperative anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, axial length, white-to-white, and postoperative refractive error were all correlated with ALP after cataract surgery (P < 0.05) using univariate analysis. However, in multivariate linear regression, only the first three variables were correlated with ALP. Compared with the equation obtained by the anterior segment analysis, the equation from IOL Master 700 biometry provided a better fit. The results of the consistency analysis showed that ALP, ALPi, and ALPs were in good agreement. Conclusion: IOL Master 700 biometry can help predict intraocular lens position after surgery, and its accuracy is better than that provided by the anterior segment analysis system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a two dimensional self-consistent model, the effect of different CF4 concentrations on the discharge dynamics characteristics, F-containing species distribution and the distribution of the axial and radial ionization rates of He atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) has been investigated. In addition, the accuracy of the simulation is verified by comparing the experimental results. The ionization rate of He APPJ enhances with the increase of CF4 from 0% to 2% because of the Penning ionization of CF4 with metastable He while decreases in the case of 3% CF4 owing to the electronegativity and the electron excitation energy loss of CF4. The increase of CF4 concentration and the decrease of the electron density leads to the decrease of CF4+ density at 3% CF4. CF3+ density is determined by the Penning ionization rate of CF4 and the reaction rate of He+ + CF4 → CF3+ + F + He. As CF4 concentration increases from 2% to 3%, the decrease of metastable He and He+ concentration results in the significant decrease of CF3+ density. The densities of CF3− and F− keep increasing from 1% to 3% CF4 due to the effect of the electron attachment reaction of CF4. With the addition of CF4, the ionization reaction of CF4 is gradually playing the major role in the streamer head, the Penning ionization of CF4 is the main source of electron ionization inside the jet and dominates in the formation of ionization wave tail. As the concentration of CF4 increases from 0% to 2%, the electron impact ionization rates of He and CF4 near the axis increase, resulting in the more uniform radial ionization rate distribution of He + 2% CF4 APPJ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate a reaction-diffusion model incorporating dynamic variables for nutrient, phytoplankton, and zooplankton. Moreover, we account for the impact of time delay in the growth of phytoplankton following nutrient uptake. Our theoretical analysis reveals that the time delay can trigger the emergence of persistent oscillations in the model via a Hopf bifurcation. We also analytically track the direction of Hopf bifurcation and the stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions. Our simulation results demonstrate stability switches occurring for the positive equilibrium with an increasing time lag. Furthermore, the model exhibits homogeneous periodic-2 and 3 solutions, as well as chaotic behaviour. These findings highlight that the presence of time delay in the phytoplankton growth can bring forth dynamical complexity to the nutrient-plankton system of aquatic habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Regular exercise training benefits cardiovascular health and effectively reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in cardiac pathophysiology. However, the role of circRNAs in response to exercise training and biological mechanisms responsible for exercise-induced cardiac protection remain largely unknown. Methods and results RNA sequencing was used to profile circRNA expression in adult mouse cardiomyocytes that were isolated from mice with or without exercise training. Exercise-induced circRNA circUtrn was significantly increased in swimming-trained adult mouse cardiomyocytes. In vivo , circUtrn was found to be required for exercise-induced physiological cardiac hypertrophy. circUtrn inhibition abolished the protective effects of exercise on myocardial ischaemia–reperfusion remodelling. circUtrn overexpression prevented myocardial ischaemia–reperfusion-induced acute injury and pathological cardiac remodelling. In vitro , overexpression of circUtrn promoted H9 human embryonic stem cell–induced cardiomyocyte growth and survival via protein phosphatase 5 (PP5). Mechanistically, circUtrn directly bound to PP5 and regulated the stability of PP5 in a ubiquitin–proteasome-dependent manner. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α–dependent splicing factor SF3B1 acted as an upstream regulator of circUtrn in cardiomyocytes. Conclusion The circRNA circUtrn is upregulated upon exercise training in the heart. Overexpression of circUtrn can prevent myocardial I/R-induced injury and pathological cardiac remodelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of Y on the solidification process of 7Mo super austenitic stainless steel (7MoSASS) under low cooling rate conditions (10 °C/min) were investigated using high-temperature confocal laser scanning microscopy (HT-CLSM). The in situ observation results indicate that Y samples promote an increase in austenite nucleation density. After 10 s of nucleation, the nucleation density increased by 149.53/mm2 for the Y sample. Furthermore, variance analysis indicated that Y addition improved the uniformity of the 7MoSASS solidification microstructure under low cooling rate conditions. The Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov (JMAK) theory results showed that when the solid phase ratio was 0.5, the nucleation mode of the Y sample transitioned from saturation site nucleation to saturation site nucleation + Avrami nucleation. YAlO3 has a low lattice disregistry value with austenite, making it a suitable heterogeneous nucleation core for promoting the early nucleation of austenite. During the late stages of solidification, Y accumulates in the residual liquid phase, providing a greater degree of compositional undercooling. SEM-EDS analysis showed that Y contributed to the refinement of the 7MoSASS solidification microstructure, with the proportion of precipitated phases decreasing by approximately 7.5%. Cr and Mo were the main elements exhibiting positive segregation in 7MoSASS, and the Cr segregation ratio increased in the Y sample, while the Mo segregation ratio decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to investigate the vacuum arc characteristics on transverse magnetic field (TMF) contacts at different opening speeds. Experiments are carried out at different opening speeds. The experimental current ranges from 7 to 16 kA (peak current) at approximately 50 Hz. The contact material is CuCr30. The results show that increasing the opening speed increases the expansion speed of the arc after ignition. A higher opening speed increases the gap distance at which an anode spot occurs and reduces the duration of the instability stage, and it also reduces the duration of the motion stage. The arc motion can be optimized by adjusting the opening speed. The moment of contacts separation has no obvious influence on the gap distance at the transition of the arc mode. When the arc ignites between the arms, it expands slowly. This phenomenon is analyzed by a finite element method. The simulation results show that the ignition position influences the current direction, which influences electromagnetic force of the arc. The radial electromagnetic force is smaller when the arc ignites between the arms, causing a stagnation of the arc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a two dimensional (2D) axisymmetric fluid model is built to study the effect of the ratio of CF4 admixture on the plasma dynamics and F-containing species concentration in He atmospheric pressure plasma jet. The steady mole fraction distribution of He and CF4 is first studied, which presents that the mole fractions of CF4 show peaks at 5 mm from the symmetry axis on the dielectric surface due to the dual influences of the boundary layer effect and air mixing. The CF4 admixture enhances the propagation speed of ionization wave, and the axial velocity reaches the peak value in the case of He + 1.5% CF4. The conversion from the ring-shaped plasma–surface interaction to a solid-disk one results from the addition of CF4. The Penning ionization of CF4 accelerates the plasma jet propagation within 1.5% CF4. However, the excitation energy loss and electron attachment caused by the addition of CF4 also quench the propagation of plasma jet, which become obvious in the case of 2% CF4. F-containing groups (CF4+, CF3+, CF3−, F−, CF3, and F), mainly produced by the Penning ionization reaction, electron attachment reaction, and He+ + CF4 → He + CF3+ + F, also show peaks for He + 1.5% CF4. On the dielectric surface, as the radial distance increases, the ratio of F-containing neutral species (CF3 and F) to O atom at 200 ns decreases due to the increase of O atom concentration and then increases at the streamer head because the surface flux of CF3 reaches the maximum value. The maximum surface flux radial distribution distance for ratio of F-containing species to O atom, CF3 and F appear in the case of 1.5% CF4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the self-healing performance of macroscopic fractures of asphalt mixtures, semicircular bending (SCB) tests were used to test 90# base asphalt mixtures, SBS (Styrene–Butadiene–Styrene) modified asphalt mixtures, and SBS + CR (Chloroprene Rubber) composite modified asphalt mixtures. The F-H-F (the asphalt mixture specimen was fatigued for a certain number of times, then healed under certain conditions, and then fatigued until destroyed) test was carried out, and the fatigue life recovery rate of the fatigue test before and after healing was defined as the healing index (HI). The gray correlation analysis method was used to judge the influence degree of influencing factors on fatigue–healing according to the correlation index. The results show the type of asphalt has the most significant influence on the healing ability of the asphalt mixture. In the case of complete healing, the fatigue–healing performance of the SBS + CR composite modified asphalt mixture was the best, followed by the SBS-modified asphalt mixture, and 90# base asphalt. When the healing temperature is close to the softening point of asphalt, the healing performance of 90# base asphalt is better when the healing temperature is low. When the healing time is longer, the healing performance is better, and there is an optimal healing time. The healing index decreased with the increase in the degree of damage. When the degree of damage is too large, the asphalt mixture will be difficult to heal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iodine is a well-known oxidant that is widely used in organic syntheses. Thiol oxidation by stoichiometric iodine is one of the most commonly employed strategies for the synthesis of valuable disulfides. While recent advancements in catalytic aerobic oxidation conditions have eliminated the need for stoichiometric oxidants, concerns persist regarding the use of toxic or expensive catalysts. In this study, we discovered that iodine can be used as a cheap, low-toxicity catalyst in the aerobic oxidation of thiols. In the catalytic cycle, iodine can be regenerated via HI oxidation by O2 at 70 °C in EtOAc. This protocol harnesses sustainable oxygen as the terminal oxidant, enabling the conversion of primary and secondary thiols with remarkable efficiency. Notably, all 26 tested thiols, encompassing various sensitive functional groups, were successfully converted into their corresponding disulfides with yields ranging from >66% to 98% at a catalyst loading of 5 mol%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study involves the fabrication and characterization of a multifunctional therapeutic nanocomposite system, as well as an assessment of its in vitro efficacy for breast cancer treatment. The nanocomposite system combines gold nanorods (GNRs) and gold nanoclusters (GNCs) to enable a combination of photothermal therapy and doxorubicin-based chemotherapy. GNRs of various sizes but exhibiting similar absorbance spectra were synthesized and screened for photothermal efficiency. GNRs exhibiting the highest photothermal efficiency were selected for further experiments. GNCs were synthesized in bovine serum albumin (BSA) and integrated into citrate-capped GNRs using layer-by-layer assembly. Glutaraldehyde crosslinking with the lysine residues in BSA was employed to immobilize the GNCs onto the GNRs, forming a stable "soft gel-like" structure. This structure provided binding sites for doxorubicin through electrostatic interactions and enhanced the overall structural stability of the nanocomposite. Additionally, the presence of GNCs allowed the nanocomposite system to emit robust fluorescence in the range of ~520 nm to 700 nm for self-detection. Hyaluronic acid was functionalized on the exterior surface of the nanocomposite as a targeting moiety for CD44 to improve the cellular internalization and specificity for breast cancer cells. The developed nanocomposite system demonstrated good stability in vitro and exhibited a pH- and near-infrared-responsive drug release behavior. In vitro studies showed the efficient internalization of the nanocomposite system and reduced cellular viability following NIR irradiation in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Together, these results highlight the potential of this nanocomposite system for targeted breast cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, nanostructured non-stoichiometric TiO 2-x compacts were prepared by the in-situ reduction of rutile titanium oxide (TiO 2) powder with urea powder via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The crystal structure and particle size of the prepared compacts were examined. The XRD patterns revealed that TiO 2 could be reduced easily by the urea powder to obtain non-stoichiometric TiO 2-x , and the compacts still possessed rutile crystal structures. The average particle sizes of the compacts were less than 250 nm, successfully obtaining the non-stoichiometric TiO 2-x with uniform nanostructures at the sintering temperature of 1073 K. In addition, nanostructured TiO 2- x compacts with Magnéli phase Ti n O 2 n -1 (n = 2, 4, 8) were fabricated by varying the volume fraction of Ti powder in a urea environment via SPS. The results suggested that addition of Ti powder contributed to the formation of Magnéli phases Ti n O 2 n -1 , and the value of n decreased with an increase in the volume fraction of the Ti powder. Furthermore, the thermoelectric properties of the compacts sintered with and without Ti powder were both investigated. The TiO 2 –U13.3-Ti10 compact displayed the highest power factor of 5.04 μWcm−1K−2 at 973 K. A lower thermal conductivity was achieved by TiO 2 –U13.3-Ti10 compact in the temperature range of 373–973 K, approximately 3 Wm−1K−1, due to the nanostructures and Magnéli phases. The highest ZT value of 0.146 was obtained for the TiO 2 –U13.3-Ti10 compact at 973 K, achieving a reasonable enhancement of thermoelectric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise on depressive-like behavior induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) in rats and to explore the role of the SIRT3/ROS/NLRP3 signaling pathway in this process. Methods: Twenty-nine male 8-week-old Sprague Dawley rats were divided into a control group (CON) (nine rats) and a model group (twenty rats). Thirteen chronic stress stimuli were randomly applied once or twice per day for 35 days to induce depression in the model group rats. After the model was established, the model group rats were randomly divided into the CUMS group (CUMS) and the aerobic exercise + CUMS group (EX + CUMS). The EX + CUMS group received 8 weeks of aerobic exercise intervention for 6 days per week. Behavioral assessments were performed using the sucrose preference test and forced swimming test. The expression of SIRT3, NLRP3, IL-1β, and IL-18 in the hippocampus was detected using RT-PCR. The ROS level in the hippocampus was detected using immunofluorescence. The protein levels of SIRT3 and NLRP3 in the hippocampus were detected using western blotting. The protein levels of IL-1β and IL-18 in the hippocampus were measured using ELISA. Results: After 5 weeks of chronic stress stimuli, the hippocampal function of rats in the CUMS model group was impaired, and their sucrose preference was reduced, while their forced swimming time was prolonged. The expression of SIRT3 decreased, ROS increased, and the expression of NLRP3 and the levels of IL-1β and IL-18 increased. Aerobic exercise increased the sucrose preference of rats, shortened their immobility time, increased the expression of SIRT3, and reduced the levels of ROS, NLRP3, IL-1β, and IL-18. Conclusion: Exercise can improve the depressive behavior of CUMS model rats, and its mechanism may be related to the upregulation of SIRT3 in the hippocampus, which plays an anti-inflammatory role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trichoderma longibrachiatum SMF2 is an important biocontrol strain isolated by our group that can promote plant growth and induce plant disease resistance. To further study its biocontrol mechanism, the effector proteins secreted by T. longibrachiatum SMF2 were analyzed through bioinformatics and transcriptome sequencing. Overall, 478 secretory proteins produced by T. longibrachiatum were identified, of which 272 were upregulated after treatment with plants. Functional annotation showed that 36 secretory proteins were homologous with different groups of effectors from pathogenic microorganisms. Moreover, the quantitative PCR results of six putative effector proteins were consistent with those of transcriptome sequencing. Taken together, these findings indicate that the secretory proteins secreted by T. longibrachiatum SMF2 may act as effectors to facilitate its own growth and colonization or to induce plant immunity response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sequential modular hydrodynamic model integrated with detailed reaction kinetics (SMHM-RK) was developed and validated to predict tar and syngas components produced by the steam gasification of biomass in a fluidized bed gasifier. The simulations showed that the prediction accuracy is sensitive to both models for hydrodynamics and reaction kinetics. The simulations showed that the tar composition predicted by the SMHM-RK was more close to the measured values than those predicted by the well-mixed hydrodynamic model integrated with the same reaction kinetics (WMHM-RK). The predictions showed that the total tar decreased, but the polycyclic aromatic tar compounds increased with the increase in gasification temperature. There was an optimum steam-to-biomass ratio (SBR) for minimizing tar formation. The simulations found that the contents of total tar and heavy tar compounds decreased by increasing the SBR from 0.3 to 0.9, and then increased by further increasing the SBR. The injection of a small amount of oxygen in steam gasification cannot reduce tar formation. The injection of oxygen in steam gasification changed the reaction pathways of naphthalene to produce more naphthalene in the syngas. The de-volatilization rate affects pyrolytic volatile compositions and subsequent tar formation. Therefore, biomass devolatilization and homogeneous gas reactions should be solved simultaneously to accurately predict the syngas and tar composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen energy is considered to be a zero-carbon chemical energy alternative to traditional fossil energy, and electrolysis of water, as one of the most effective methods of producing hydrogen, can produce high-purity hydrogen under the premise of zero pollution. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a slow and energy-intensive four-electron process that limits the rate of decomposition of electrolyzed water and is considered as the bottleneck for overall water splitting. In this paper, CoNi2S4 nanosheets were assembled on blank nickel foam with a conventional two-step hydrothermal method, which then was continued with a hydrothermal method to load the diamond-block structure of MIL-53(Fe) on top of CoNi2S4 nanosheets, denoted as MIL-53(Fe)@CoNi2S4/NF. The MIL-53(Fe)@CoNi2S4/NF catalyst exhibited excellent electrochemical performance in 1 M KOH aqueous solution, which required an overpotential of only 201 mV when the current density reached 20 mA cm−2. In addition, after long-term stability testing, the MIL-53(Fe)@CoNi2S4/NF catalyst maintained its favourable OER activity due to the lattice structure of the rhombic blocks which enhanced both the stability of the catalyst structure and the internal ion transport channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the physical mechanism of the separation between heavy and light species in the vacuum arc devices with deuteride cathodes, a three-fluid model based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory is established. In the model, different kinds of species are considered to be different kinds of fluids, and their physical parameters are calculated separately. Moreover, the distribution of arc current is calculated by the generalized Ohm's law, and the ionization and recombination of species are taken into account. In the paper, the two cases where the cathode is Zr or ZrD0.67 are simulated, respectively. The results show that in the case of ZrD0.67 cathode, the separation of light and heavy species is remarkable. Because of D's lighter mass and lower mass-to-charge ratio, the distribution of it is more uniform. In addition, the differences between species also lead to large differences in other physical characteristics, such as ion velocity, ion temperature, and so on. Notably, the desorption and ionization of deuterium lead to a decrease in plasma temperature. The self-generated magnetic field of the arc has an inhibitory effect on the expansion of each species, and it is more obvious for ions with lower mass-to-charge ratio. The simulation results are consistent with the experimental results. The theoretical analysis can provide theoretical guidance for the improvement of vacuum arc devices with composite or gas-saturated cathodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maize is one of the most important economic crops in the world. The integrity of maize grains directly affects the economic value of the maize as a main commodity that depends on the percentage of grains broken (POGB) in mechanized harvesting. Decreasing grain processing breakage is key to achieving mechanical harvesting with high quality. It is difficult to ensure a low POGB, because it depends on different maize varieties, their moisture contents, threshing devices and harvester working speeds. In this paper, the effects of these factors on the POGB are investigated when the working speed of the harvester is 1.0 m·s−1, 1.5 m·s−1 and 2.0 m·s−1, respectively. The different threshing forms, including tangential-axial-flow (TAF), axial-flow with nail-tooth (AFN), axial-flow with rasp bar in big space (AFRBBS) and axial-flow with rasp bar in small space (AFRBSS), are summarized. The POGB of TAF was 5.4% and it was the lowest of four threshing devices when the working speed of the harvester was 1.0 m·s−1, which was suitable to thresh maize at a low working speed. Maize Demeiya No. 1 (DMYN1), XianDa205 (XD205), Demeiya No. 3 (DMYN3) and Hayu189 (HY189) were harvested at different harvester working speeds, and the POGB of maize DMYN1 was the lowest among the four maize varieties. The POGB increased with increases in the working speed of the harvester and the moisture content of the maize grains. The POGB reached a minimum value of 3.5% when maize XD205 with the lowest moisture content was harvested. The results can provide a reference for choosing the maize variety, its moisture content, the threshing device and the working speed of the harvester for decreasing grain processing breakage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIM: To observe the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 （ACE2） deletion on vasoconstriction reactivity of aortic segments in ACE2 knockout （KO） mice with tourniquet shock （TS）. METHODS: The 8-monthold male mice with C57BL/6 background were divided into wild-type （WT） control group, WT-TS group, KO group and KO-TS group, with 10 mice in each group, of which five were used for determination of vascular reactivity, and the other five for the other assays. The hindlimbs of the mice in WT-TS group and KO-TS group were ligated with tourniquet for 2 h and loosened for 4 h. The mice in WT group and KO group were subjected to the same treatment except for tourniquet ligation. The vasoconstriction reactivity of the aorta was measured on tensiometer. The morphological damage of the aorta was evaluated by vascular histopathology. Western blot was used to detect the expression of AT1, MAS, ACE and ACE2 proteins in aorta. The serum levels of angiotensin （Ang） II and Ang-（1-7） were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Compared with WT group, the mice in WT-TS group had lower vascular reactivity to norepinephrine （NE） and obvious vascular lesions. The expression of ACE protein increased significantly （P<0. 01）, while the expression of ACE2 decreased（ P<0. 05）. The expression of AT1 protein in aorta decreased significantly, the expression of MAS protein increased significantly, and the AT1/MAS ratio decreased （P<0. 01）. Serum Ang II level increased, serum Ang-（1-7） level decreased, and Ang II/Ang-（1-7） ratio increased （P<0. 05）. Compared with WT group, vascular reactivity in KO group increased at low concentration of NE （<10-7 mol/L）, and decreased at high concentration （>10-7 mol/L） without vascular lesion. The expression levels of aortic AT1, MAS and ACE were all elevated （P<0. 05）. The serum level of Ang II increased （P<0. 05）, but the level of Ang-（1-7） had no obvious change. Compared with KO and WT-TS groups, the aortic reactivity in KO-TS group subtracted apparently （P<0. 05）, representing its curve shifting to the right obviously. The morphological damage aggravated slightly, and the expression of AT1 and ACE increased slightly in KO-TS group compared with WT-TS group （P<0. 05）. However, the expression of MAS increased significantly in vascular tissue （P< 0. 01）. The serum levels of Ang II and Ang-（1-7） further increased and decreased, respectively, and the Ang II/Ang-（1-7） ratio increased （P<0. 01）. CONCLUSION: Deficiency of ACE2 induces severe aortic hyporeactivity to NE during TS, which may be related to the increased imbalance of renin-angiotensin system in ACE2 gene knockout mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ special-shaped microfibrillar composites, employing polyolefin elastomer (POE) as matrix and poly(lactic acid)/polyamide 6 (PLA/PA6) masterbatch as dispersed phase, were successfully prepared by using multistage stretching extrusion technology. The special-shaped microfibrils liking "gourd skewers" or "trepang" can be readily tuned by changing the weight ratio of PLA to PA6 in the POE/(PLA/PA6) composites. It was found that the morphological evolution of special shaped structure microfibril were mainly ascribed to the phase separation and viscosity difference between PLA and PA6 during stretching extrusion process. Owing to the large specific surface area and the "hang nail" effect of special-shaped microfibrils, the excellent elongation at break(867%) and tensile strength (20.1 MPa) can be achieved for the POE/(PLA/PA6) composites (PLA/PA6 = 12.5/12.5), which were 1.2 and 2 times higher than those of pure POE respectively. Dynamic rheology studies showed that the viscoelasticity of POE/(PLA/PA6) composites can be improved significantly compared to pure POE. This work provided a facile and cost-effective way to fabricate special shaped microfibrillar composites to improved strength and toughness simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the arc behaviors with CuCr25 electrodes considering anode vapor using a magneto-hydro-dynamic model. Different kinds of components are considered including ions (Cu and Cr) with different charge numbers, electrons, and atoms (Cu and Cr). The effect of the anode sheath is also considered. The density distributions of these components are analyzed and compared with the experiments during the anode spot mode and the anode plume mode. Simulation results show that the anode vapor can enter the arc column forming a cool and poorly conducting region (i.e., neutral atom vapor area, NAVA) under high anode temperature. Atoms and single-charged ions mainly gather near each electrode. The highest double-charged ion density can be seen in front of the NAVA. Triple-charged ion density is negligibly low and reaches its maximum where the electron temperature is high. Cr is more likely to be ionized to a higher ionization level compared with Cu. Our results agree with experimental measurements of density distributions of different components and plasma temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Various features extracted from breast MRI have the potential to serve as noninvasive biomarkers for the prediction of the biologic behavior of breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of focal breast edema and breast edema score (BES) on T2-weighted images in providing valuable biological information for breast cancer patients' personalized treatment. Method: Two hundred and five lesions in 201 patients with invasive breast cancer confirmed by surgery or biopsy in Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine from November 2018 to October 2019 were retrospectively recruited and analyzed in this study. Focal edema and BES were evaluated at fat-suppressed T2 weighted imaging. All the lesions were divided into two groups according to the presence of focal edema. The differences in clinicopathological characteristics between the two groups and between different BES were compared. Results: Two hundred and five lesions in 201 patients with invasive breast cancer were retrospectively recruited and analyzed in this study. On the fat-suppressed T2WI, focal edema was detected in 102 of 205 lesions (49.8%). BES was positively correlated with tumor size (p < 0.001), histologic grade (p = 0.006), Ki-67 index (p < 0.001), and N stage (p = 0.007), and was negatively correlated with expression of ER and PR (p < 0.001). Higher BES was more likely to present in patients with non-luminal breast cancer (p < 0.001) and suggested the possibility of a higher N stage. Conclusions: Focal edema on T2WI of breast MRI indicates stronger tumor invasiveness, in which non-luminal breast cancer is more inclined to present focal edema. Breast edema score, a novel and practical tool, helps guide the individualized treatment of patients with invasive breast cancer. Critical relevance statement: Focal edema on T2WI of breast MRI indicates stronger tumor invasiveness. Breast edema score helps guide the individualized treatment of patients with invasive breast cancer. Key points: Focal edema on T2WI of breast MRI indicates stronger tumor invasiveness. Non-luminal breast cancer is more inclined to present focal edema. Breast edema score is a novel and practical tool to guide therapy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a major cause of liver disease worldwide and comprises non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Due to the high prevalence and poor prognosis of NASH, it is critical to identify and treat patients at risk. However, the aetiology and mechanisms remain largely unknown, warranting further analysis. We first identified differential genes in NASH by single-cell analysis of the GSE129516 dataset and conducted expression profiling data analysis of the GSE184019 dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Then single-cell trajectory reconstruction and analysis, immune gene score, cellular communication, key gene screening, functional enrichment analysis, and immune microenvironment analysis were carried out. Finally, cell experiments were performed to verify the role of key genes in NASH. We conducted transcriptome profiling of 30,038 single cells, including hepatocytes and non-hepatocytes from normal and steatosis adult mouse livers. Comparative analysis of hepatocytes and non-hepatocytes revealed pronounced heterogeneity as non-hepatocytes acted as major cell-communication hubs. The results showed that Hspa1b, Tfrc, Hmox1 and Map4k4 could effectively distinguish NASH tissues from normal samples. The results of scRNA-seq and qPCR indicated that the expression levels of hub genes in NASH were significantly higher than in normal cells or tissues. Further immune infiltration analysis showed significant differences in M2 macrophage distribution between healthy and metabolic-associated fatty liver samples. Our results suggest that Hspa1b, Tfrc, Hmox1 and Map4k4 have huge prospects as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for NASH and may be potential therapeutic targets for NASH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial learned index constructs a spatial index by learning the spatial distribution, which performs a lower cost of storage and query than the spatial indices. The current update strategies of spatial learned indices can only solve limited updates at the cost of query performance. We propose a novel spatial learned index structure based on a Block Range Index (SLBRIN for short). Its core idea is to cooperate history range and current range to satisfy a fast spatial query and efficient index update simultaneously. SLBRIN deconstructs the update transaction into three parallel operations and optimizes them based on the temporal proximity of spatial distribution. SLBRIN also provides the spatial query strategy with the spatial learned index and spatial location code, including point query, range query and kNN query. Experiments on synthetic and real datasets demonstrate that SLBRIN clearly outperforms traditional spatial indices and state-of-the-art spatial learned indices in the cost of storage and query. Moreover, in the simulated real-time update scenario, SLBRIN has the faster and more stable query performance while satisfying efficient updates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Heterozygous mutations in HTRA1 were recently found to cause autosomal dominant cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), and it was named HTRA1-autosomal dominant disease (AD-HTRA1) in the consensus recommendations of the European Academy of Neurology. This study aimed to investigate the clinical features of a mutation in HTRA1 and the effect of HTRA1 mutation on white matter hyperintensity (WMH). Methods: A proband's brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed multiple lacunar infarctions and multiple WMH in the lateral ventricle, external capsule, frontal lobe and corpus callosum. The proband and family members were tested for CSVD-related genes by next-generation sequencing and the clinical data of the patients were collected. The published literature on AD-HTRA1 was collected, and the clinical characteristics and pathogenicity of the patients were summarized. Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion (CADD) is a tool for scoring the deleteriousness of single-nucleotide variants and insertion/deletion variants in the human genome. The relationship between the degree of WMH and the pathogenicity of the mutation was further analyzed. Result: It was found that the proband and her family members had a heterozygous missense mutation of c.854C > T (p.P285L) in the 4 exon of HTRA1 gene. A retrospective analysis of 5 families with c.854C > T mutation found that the patients had an early age of onset, cognitive impairment was more common, and alopecia and spondylosis could be combined at the same time. By univariate analysis, the severity of WMH was found to be significantly associated with the mutated CADD score (p < 0.05, Spearman's rho = 0.266). Conclusion: The clinical manifestations of AD-HTRA1 with mutation site c.854C > T (p.P285L) are similar to CARASIL, and brain MRI are mainly moderate or severe WMH and lacunar infarction (LI). WMH are affected by mutation sites. Therefore, our pathogenicity score for mutations can predict the severity of WMH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. Pirfenidone (PFD), an antifibrotic drug, has various beneficial functions such as antioxidant, antifibrotic, and anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying how PFD modulates retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells involved in neovascularization and subretinal fibrosis. Methods. ARPE-19 cell lines were treated with transforming growth factor-beta 2 (TGF-β2) alone or in combination with PFD. RPE cell viability, as a consequence of PFD use, was determined by the CCK-8 assay. Cell migration was assessed by the wound closure assay and quantified by the Image J software. Protein expression of the following markers was measured by the western blot analysis: an epithelial cell marker and E-cadherin; mesenchymal cell markers, fibronectin, matrix metalloprotein-9 (MMP-9), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA); a fibrotic marker and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF); an angiogenesis marker and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); NF-κB/Snail. The mRNA levels of fibronectin and α-SMA were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. VEGF was quantitatively measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results. The cell viability assay revealed that PFD had no significant cytotoxic effect on RPE cells at concentrations of less than 1 mg/mL. The cell scratch assay showed that TGF-β2 stimulation significantly improved the migration of RPE cells and that PFD attenuated this effect. PFD significantly inhibited the TGF-β2-induced protein expression of E-cadherin and increased the TGF-β2-induced protein expression of fibronectin, MMP-9, α-SMA, CTGF, and VEGF in ARPE-19 cells. The mRNA expression of fibronectin and α-SMA was inhibited by PFD in TGF-β2-inducedARPE-19 cells. Additionally, the increased intracellular and supernatant expression of VEGF protein was suppressed by PFD. Mechanistically, RPE cells treated with PFD + TGF-β2 exhibited a decrease in phosphorylation of the NF-κB P65 subunit and activation of Snail, compared with the RPE cells treated with TGF-β2 alone. Conclusion. PFD ameliorated TGF-β2-induced neovascularization and fibrosis by suppressing the NF-κB/Snail signaling pathway. Therefore, PFD may be a potential drug in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a converter model is established to study the powder spraying process. The effects of powder spraying speed, solid–gas ratio, particle size, and powder spraying position on the distribution of powder in a molten bath and the molten iron splash on a liquid surface are quantitatively studied by using image technology. Increasing the carrier gas flow to 2 m3 h−1 can effectively promote the movement and mixing of the powder in the molten bath, but at the same time, this leads to a degree of splash of 50.61% above the molten bath. A similar situation occurs with increasing solid–gas ratio and decreasing particle size. However, as the powder injection position is gradually moved away from the center of the furnace bottom, the powder distribution before 3 s is more advantageous, and the degree of splash decreases from 25.39 to 12.40%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the accurate prediction of porosity is one of the critical factors for estimating oil and gas reservoirs, a novel porosity prediction method based on Imaged Sequence Samples (ISS) and a Sequence to Sequence (Seq2Seq) model fused by Transcendental Learning (TL) is proposed using well-logging data. Firstly, to investigate the correlation between logging features and porosity, the original logging features are normalized and selected by computing their correlation with porosity to obtain the point samples. Secondly, to better represent the depositional relations with depths, an ISS set is established by slidingly grouping sample points across depth, and the selected logging features are in a row. Therefore, spatial relations among the features are established along the vertical and horizontal directions. Thirdly, since the Seq2Seq model can better extract the spatio-temporal information of the input data than the Bidirectional Gate Recurrent Unit (BGRU), the Seq2Seq model is introduced for the first time to address the logging data and predict porosity. The experimental results show that it can achieve superior prediction results than state-of-the-art. However, the cumulative bias is likely to appear when using the Seq2Seq model. Motivated by teacher forcing, the idea of TL is proposed to be incorporated into the decoding process of Seq2Seq, named the TL-Seq2Seq model. The self-well and inter-well experimental results show that the proposed approach can significantly improve the accuracy of porosity prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Situ microfibrillation is an easy and economical processing method, which has drawn wide concern in recent years. In Situ special-shaped microfibrillar composites, which with poly(lactic acid)/polyamide 6 (PA6/PLA) together formed special-shaped microfibrils in polyolefin elastomer (POE) matrix, were successfully prepared by using multistage stretching extrusion technology. Four types of PA6 with different viscosity were utilized to investigate the effect of viscosity ratio of PA6 to PLA on the structure evolution of special-shaped microfibrils and the mechanical properties of POE/(PA6/PLA) composites. The morphological observation showed that the viscosity ratio was closely associated to the size and shape of PA6 and greatly affected the microfibrillar morphology of PLA/PA6. When the viscosity ratio of PA6 to PLA was less than 2.2, the "gourd-skewers-like" structure microfibrils were obtained. When the viscosity ratio of PA6/PLA to 14.2 was further increased, the "trepang" structure microfibrils were dominant. The "gourd skewers" structure microfibrils were favorable to improvement the tensile strength, Young's modulus, and viscoelastic properties of POE/(PA6/PLA) blends compared to the "trepang" structure microfibrils. In addition, the morphology of microfibrils exhibited a negligible effect on the melting and crystallization temperature and crystallization degree of PLA and POE matrix. This work provides a new strategy for designing the in situ special-shaped microfibrillar composites with improved mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, to investigate vacuum arc characteristics under different diameter-to-gap distance ratios (D/g), experiments are conducted on axial magnetic field (AMF) contacts with varying D/g. The peak current value ranges from 15 to 35 kA. The experimental results show that the ability of AMF contacts to control the arc decreases with D/g. Furthermore, the 2/3 coil contact can control the arc under long gap distances, whereas the cup-shaped contact cannot effectively control the arc under long gap distances. The arc energy and noisy period duration decrease with increasing D/g. The arc voltage of the 2/3 coil contact at the peak moment is always the lowest compared to the cup-shaped contact and the 1/2 coil contact, and the arc voltage of the 2/3 coil contact at the peak moment has an approximate power function relation with D/g. The simulation results show that the AMF distribution changes from saddle shape to bell shape with decreasing D/g. The 2/3 coil contact is more suitable for high-voltage vacuum interrupters (VIs), while the cup-shaped contact is more suitable for medium-voltage VIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the mechanism of negative streamer formation and branching between planar electrodes is studied using a two dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collisional model. Super-particles, each one of which represents many physical particles, are used in our model to reduce the calculation and memory usage. The electric field applied to the gap between electrodes is constant and is above the breakdown value already before the streamer formation. For nitrogen at standard temperature and pressure, the simulation is first performed in the background field of 10 MV/m. The results show that prior to branching, the streamer head is flattened, and the non-uniform distribution of electrons accelerated to energies above 50 eV is obtained at the flat streamer head, which then leads to streamer branching. Then, additional simulations in the background fields of 9 MV/m, 11 MV/m, and 12 MV/m are performed to investigate the effects of background field. The results show that the streamer propagates faster, has larger plasma density, and branches more rapidly in a stronger field. The simulation results of argon are also given at a standard temperature and pressure in the background field of 10 MV/m. The results show that more branches can be obtained in argon compared with nitrogen, which agrees well with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a 2D axisymmetric plasma fluid model, the effect of the levels of O2 admixtures on the plasma dynamics of an atmospheric pressure He plasma jet incident on a dielectric surface situated normal to the jet axis has been studied. The introduction of O2 admixture in the feedstock gas changes the shape of the discharge ionization rate that approaches the target surface from a ring to a solid disk. As the streamer extinguishes radial propagation along the dielectric surface, comparatively larger plasma-surface contact areas were obtained for O2 additions to the He plasma of less than 0.5% relative to that for the discharge in pure He, while in the case of 2% O2, the radial propagation distance dropped off significantly. The propagation of an ionization wave peaked in the range 0.2%–1% for the O2 admixture. The enhanced ionization reactions are considered to predominate for small concentrations of O2 as additive, and the negative role played by the excitation energy loss and the attachment of electrons to O2 is more important with the addition of 2% O2. There was a remarkable incremental gain in the flux intensity of O on the surface center, while the flux of N was mainly concentrated on the streamer head. The magnitude of the O flux on the surface showed a peak at the 0.5% O2 admixture level, and the flux of O3 on the surface was directly proportional to the O2 concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent agricultural activities in farmland ecosystems bring challenges to crop information extraction from remote sensing (RS) imagery. The accurate spatiotemporal information of crops serves for regional decision support and ecological assessment, such as disaster monitoring and carbon sequestration. Most traditional machine learning algorithms are not appropriate for prediction classification due to the lack of historical ground samples and poor model transfer capabilities. Therefore, a transferable learning model including spatiotemporal capability was developed based on the UNet++ model by integrating feature fusion and upsampling of small samples for Sentinel-2A imagery. Classification experiments were conducted for 10 categories from 2019 to 2021 in Xinxiang City, Henan Province. The feature fusion and upsampling methods improved the performance of the UNet++ model, showing lower joint loss and higher mean intersection over union (mIoU) values. Compared with the UNet, DeepLab V3+, and the pyramid scene parsing network (PSPNet), the improved UNet++ model exhibits the best performance, with a joint loss of 0.432 and a mIoU of 0.871. Moreover, the overall accuracy and macro F1 values of prediction classification results based on the UNet++ model are higher than 83% and 58%, respectively. Based on the reclassification rules, about 3.48% of the farmland was damaged in 2021 due to continuous precipitation. The carbon sequestration of five crops (including corn, peanuts, soybean, rice, and other crops) is estimated, with a total carbon sequestration of 2460.56, 2549.16, and 1814.07 thousand tons in 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. The classification accuracy indicates that the improved model exhibits a better feature extraction and transferable learning capability in complex agricultural areas. This study provides a strategy for RS semantic segmentation and carbon sequestration estimation of crops based on a deep learning network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the robust nonlinear mixed H2/H∞ output-feedback control problem for a class of uncertain polynomial systems. Generally, the solvable conditions of such nonlinear output-feedback control problems are nonconvex, whose computations are challenging. By using the semidefinite programming relaxation technique based on sum of squares (SOS) decomposition, the solvable conditions of above control problem are formulated in terms of state-dependent linear matrix equality (LMI), which can be effectively solved. This conversion effectively overcomes the computational difficulties caused by the non-convexity of output-feedback H∞ control design for nonlinear systems. Furthermore, the state-observer and the controller can be designed simultaneously through a single-step SOS condition and constructed in a simple analytical form, thus reducing the computational complexity in a certain degree. In the simulation, the nonlinear mass-spring-damper system is considered to illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach. The results show that the proposed method not only guarantees the stability of the system, but also has good transient performance and robust performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the transient anode temperature and plasma parameters considering the electrode movement and the arc expansion. A transient self-consistent model is established using the dynamic mesh approach. Two cases with different maximum arc currents, representing various anode activity, have been studied. The simulations predict significant changes in spatial distribution of species densities, electron temperature and anode surface temperature in case with the anode spot formation. Furthermore, the influence of opening velocity on the plasma parameters has been studied numerically. The model was validated by comparison with experimental data for anode surface temperature as well as spectrally filtered arc images. Results of this comparison are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]