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Aims: Lakeshore wetlands are global carbon (C) hotspots, but their role in C sequestration has been largely overlooked. The rhizosphere has a complex interaction of microbiota and metabolites, which plays an important role in wetland C cycling. This study aims to understand how the rhizospheric interactions affect harvested aboveground C and soil C of lakeshore wetlands in a subtropical region. Methods: An investigation of five lakeshore reed (Phragmites australis) wetlands at the similar latitudes of the Lower Yangtse Valley in China was carried out to explore the relationship of rhizospheric interactions with harvested aboveground C and soil C. The plant traits and soil physicochemical properties were determined due to their important role in affecting rhizosphere interactions. Results: Plant traits and soil physicochemical properties significantly differed among the sites, while aboveground C fixation did not significantly differ. The soil organic C (SOC) content of the topsoil was accounting for the majority of the soil total C at most sites, except for the wetland at the Yangtze River estuary with higher soil pH and conductivity, whose soil inorganic C (SIC) accounted for almost half. Bacterial community and metabolite composition were significantly partitioned across the region. Structural equation modeling revealed the rhizospheric interactions positively affected aboveground C and SOC, but negatively affected SIC. Their effects on soil C content were stronger than those on aboveground C fixation. Conclusions: The rhizosphere exhibited the direct and indirect effects on harvested aboveground C and soil C by altering microbial community structure and metabolite composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The metal–organic framework (MOF) materials with significant steadiness and a large specific surface area have been popular with supercapacitor material in recent years. However, its application in supercapacitors is restricted due to the low specific capacitance and poor conductivity. Herein, sulfur compounds with a high theoretical specific capacitance and highly conductive titanium nitride (TiN) were introduced into Co-based metal–organic frameworks/nickel foam (Co-MOF/NF) through a two-step hydrothermal technique (nickel sulfide/titanium nitride@ Co-based metal–organic frameworks/nickel foam). In detail, the fabricated nickel sulfide/titanium nitride@Co-based metal–organic frameworks/nickel foam (Ni3S2/TiN@Co-MOF/NF) electrode material exhibits a markedly high specific capacitance (2648.8 F g−1) at 1 A g−1, compared with that (770 F g−1) of the precursor Co-MOF/NF. And its mass specific capacitance is retained 88.3% (8 A g−1) after 5000 cycles. Furthermore, a non-symmetrical supercapacitor (ASC) composed of Ni3S2/TiN@Co-MOF/NF and AC exhibits excellent power density (801.8 W kg−1) and energy density (97.8 W h kg−1). Therefore, Ni3S2/TiN@Co-MOF/NF with excellent electrochemical properties and stability provides new ideas for the development of excellent supercapacitor electrode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand plasmon-induced charge-transfer mechanisms between a photo-excited gold (Au) nanoparticle and a TiO2 nanoparticle, a Monte Carlo random walk (MCRW) simulation was applied to reproduce the charge recombination kinetics in the nanocrystalline (Au/TiO 2) assemblies reported previously based on transient absorption spectroscopy. The Au/TiO2 assemblies consist of a confined electron diffusion space within a tiny TiO2 nanoparticle, making it possible to study electron diffusion transport through MCRW simulation. In this simulation algorithm, the electron diffusion starts at the coordinate origin of a rectangle, and the next direction of movement is obtained by calculating the coordinate matrix and random offset so that the electron is reflected on three boundaries and absorbed when it reaches the other boundary. By simulation programming, the histogram which indicates the occurrence frequency of the step accumulation number up to the right boundary was obtained. From 100 to 100000 steps under condition of 10000 iteration, that is, changing the steps but keeping the iteration times to ensure that all particles experience absorption in the simulation. Comparing the trace of 106 particles position with that of 104 under 1000 simulations, the electron density was found to saturate other than the region near the right boundary, where electrons disappear by the absorption process during the electron diffusion process. Finally, by fitting curves, it is confirmed that the tendency of the simulated response reproduced the transient absorption kinetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the influence of thermal stress and material property variations, this study employs the Navier–Stokes equations and Fourier heat conduction law to establish a semi-implicit time-domain numerical analysis method for hypersonic aerothermal-structural coupling. Study the temporal variation pattern of different regions of the composite material wing under aerodynamic heating. Using the obtained transient temperature field of the wing, the thermal modal of the wing at different time points is calculated using the finite element method. Additionally, it conducts an analysis and discussion on the factors influencing the thermal modal. Composites can be effectively utilized as thermal protection materials for aircraft. During the aerodynamic heating process, the leading edge temperature reaches thermal equilibrium first, followed by the trailing edge, and the belly plate experiences a slower thermal response. Temperature rise significantly affects higher-order modes, with the change in material properties during the early stages of heating being the dominant factor. This leads to a faster decrease in natural frequency. As heat conduction progresses, the influencing factors of thermal stresses gradually increase, and the natural frequency decreases slowly or even rises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to realize the effective separation of palladium from high-level liquid waste (HLLW), a ligand-supported adsorbent (NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P) was prepared by the impregnation method in a vacuum. The SiO2-P carrier was synthesized by in situ polymerization of divinylbenzene and styrene monomers on a macroporous silica skeleton. The NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P adsorbent was fabricated by impregnating an NTAamide(C8) ligand into the pore of a SiO2-P carrier under a vacuum condition. The adsorption performance of NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P in nitric acid medium has been systematically studied. In a solution of 0.2 M HNO3, the distribution coefficient of Pd on NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P was 1848 mL/g with an adsorption percentage of 90.24%. With the concentration of nitric acid increasing, the adsorption capacity of NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P decreases. Compared to the other 10 potential interfering ions in fission products, NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P exhibited excellent adsorption selectivity for Pd(II). The separation factor (SFPd/other metals > 77.8) is significantly higher than that of similar materials. The interference of NaNO3 had a negligible effect on the adsorption performance of NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P, which maintained above 90%. The adsorption kinetics of Pd(II) adsorption on NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P fits well with the pseudo-second order model. The Sips model is more suitable than the Langmuir and Freundlich model for describing the adsorption behavior. Thermodynamic analysis showed that the adsorption of Pd(II) on NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P was a spontaneous, endothermic, and rapid process. NTAamide(C8)/SiO2-P also demonstrated good reusability and economic feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BAZ2A, an epigenetic regulatory factor that affects ribosomal RNA transcription, has been shown to be highly expressed in several cancers and promotes tumor cell migration. This study explored the expression and mechanism of BAZ2A in tumorigenesis at the pan-cancer level. The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus databases and TIMER2.0, cBioPortal and other tools were used to analyze the level of expression of BAZ2A in various tumor tissues and to examine the relationship between BAZ2A and survival, prognosis, mutation and immune invasion. In vitro experiments were performed to assess the function of BAZ2A in cancer cells. Using combined transcriptome and proteome analysis, we examined the possible mechanism of BAZ2A in tumors. BAZ2A exhibited high expression levels in multiple tumor tissues and displayed a significant association with cancer patient prognosis. The main type of BAZ2A genetic variation in cancer is gene mutation. Downregulation of BAZ2A inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion and promoted apoptosis in LM6 liver cancer cell. The mechanism of BAZ2A in cancer development may involve lipid metabolism. These results help expand our understanding of BAZ2A in tumorigenesis and development and suggest BAZ2A may serve as a prognostic and diagnostic factor in several cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BAZ2A, an epigenetic regulatory factor that affects ribosomal RNA transcription, has been shown to be highly expressed in several cancers and promotes tumor cell migration. This study explored the expression and mechanism of BAZ2A in tumorigenesis at the pan-cancer level. The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus databases and TIMER2.0, cBioPortal and other tools were used to analyze the level of expression of BAZ2A in various tumor tissues and to examine the relationship between BAZ2A and survival, prognosis, mutation and immune invasion. In vitro experiments were performed to assess the function of BAZ2A in cancer cells. Using combined transcriptome and proteome analysis, we examined the possible mechanism of BAZ2A in tumors. BAZ2A exhibited high expression levels in multiple tumor tissues and displayed a significant association with cancer patient prognosis. The main type of BAZ2A genetic variation in cancer is gene mutation. Downregulation of BAZ2A inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion and promoted apoptosis in LM6 liver cancer cell. The mechanism of BAZ2A in cancer development may involve lipid metabolism. These results help expand our understanding of BAZ2A in tumorigenesis and development and suggest BAZ2A may serve as a prognostic and diagnostic factor in several cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Research on the Cap protein is highly significant in the diagnosis, prevention, and control of porcine circovirus 3. In this study, we identified a novel B cell epitope of Cap protein using monoclonal antibody, and an epitope-blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was successfully developed to detect PCV3 antibodies in porcine sera. This established EB-ELISA has the advantages of being rapid, highly sensitive, re-producible, specific, and did not react with other porcine virus sera, which has great potential for the detection of PCV3 antiserum in porcine farms. Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) is endemic in swine worldwide and causes reproductive disorders, dermatitis and nephrotic syndrome, and multi-organ inflammation. Currently, there is a growing need for rapid and accurate diagnostic methods in disease monitoring. In this study, four monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against PCV3 capsid proteins were prepared (mAbs 2F6, 2G8, 6E2, and 7E3). MAb 7E3, which had the highest binding affinity for the Cap protein, was chosen for further investigation. A novel B cell epitope 110DLDGAW115 was identified using mAb 7E3. An epitope-blocking (EB) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was successfully developed using horseradish-peroxidase-labeled mAb 7E3 to detect PCV3 antibodies in porcine sera. Moreover, the EB-ELISA showed no specific reaction with other porcine disease sera, and the cut-off value was defined as 35%. Compared with the commercial ELISA, the percentage agreement was 95.59%. Overall, we have developed a novel EB-ELISA method that accurately and conveniently detects PCV3 in serum, making it a valuable tool for the clinical detection of PCV3 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, novel and efficient IF-supported NiCu (NiCu/IF) and NiMn (NiMn/IF) electrocatalysts are successfully deposited on iron foam (IF) via electrolysis of spent cupronickel (SCN), with outstanding performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in an alkaline solution, respectively. The physical and electrochemical characterization results demonstrate that the catalysts possess a large active surface area, remarkable performance, and excellent durability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural non-point source pollution (ANPSP) is a primary cause of watershed water quality deterioration, and over 50% of NPS pollutants are estimated to come from ANPSP. Based on the "source-sink" theory and minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, ANPSP source and key resistance factors were integrated to identify areas at risk of ANPSP production and transportation into the waters of the upper Yangtze River basin. The results showed a spatial difference in the agricultural pollution sources of the basin, which were determined using both ANPSP loads and land-use types. Soil type, rainfall erosivity, and elevation were the three most important resistance factors in pollution transportation, weighting 0.373, 0.241, and 0.147, respectively. There was a spatial effect on the comprehensive resistance of ANPSP transportation, which was lower in mountainous terrain at the central basin. On the coupling of source and resistance processes, regions at serious risk of ANPSP were found to be concentrated in the southwest area. Areas at very high risk of NH3-N and TP pollution accounted for 37.6% and 38.1%, respectively, in the total town/street area. The spatial risk patterns identified in this study could be used for decision making and policy regulation of ANPSP and for aquatic environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if aging would lead to greater decline in neuromuscular function during a fatiguing task under severe whole‐body hyperthermia conditions. Methods: Twelve young (aged 19–21 years) and 11 older (aged 65–80 years) males were enrolled in the study, which comprised a randomized control trial under a thermoneutral condition at an ambient temperature of 23°C (CON) and an experimental trial with passive lower body heating in 43°C water (HWI‐43°C). Changes in neuromuscular function and fatigability, and physical performance‐influencing factors such as psychological, thermoregulatory, neuroendocrine, and immune responses to whole‐body hyperthermia were measured. Results: A slower increase in rectal temperature, and a lower heart rate, thermal sensation, and sweating rate were observed in older males than young males in response to HWI‐43°C trial (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, prolactin increased more in response to hyperthermia in young males, while interleukin‐6 and cortisol levels increased more in older males (p < 0.05). Peripheral dopamine levels decreased in older males and increased in young males in response to hyperthermia (p < 0.05). Surprisingly, older males demonstrated greater neuromuscular fatigability resistance and faster maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) torque recovery after a 2‐min sustained isometric MVC task under thermoneutral and severe hyperthermic conditions (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Neuromuscular performance during fatigue‐provoking sustained isometric exercise under severe whole‐body hyperthermia conditions appears to decline in both age groups, but a lower relative decline in torque production for older males may relate to lower psychological and thermophysiological strain along with a diminished dopamine response and prolactin release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABO blood type associated with differentiated onset of infectious diseases. To investigate whether people with different blood types were vulnerable in developing chronic otitis media (CSOM) and if the risk and protective factors varied among them. The study was a case-control study that included 206 participants in the case group and 210 in the control group. Stratified analysis for blood type was adopted. Patients with different blood types were insignificantly different in the incidence of CSOM. Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI, OR = 21.81, 95% CI: 4.80–99.06), socioeconomic status (OR = 3.02, 95% CI: 1.35–6.74), and were risk factors in blood type A. In blood type B, smoking and urban residence were risk factors. The OR (95% CI) were 11.42 (2.77–47.08), and 0.14 (0.03–0.65). Urban residence, BMI and blood calcium increase, male gender were protective factors for different blood types. Our study identified the risk and protective factors for CSOM among different blood types. The findings might provide new insights into taking precautions against CSOM in people of different blood types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differentiating tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) from non-tuberculosis pleural effusion remains a challenge in clinical practice. This study aimed to develop and externally validate a novel prediction model using the peripheral blood tuberculous infection of T cells spot test (T-SPOT.TB) to assess the probability of TPE in patients with unexplained pleural effusion. Patients with pleural effusion and confirmed etiology were included in this study. A retrospective derivation population was used to develop and internally validate the predictive model. Clinical, radiological, and laboratory features were collected, and important predictors were selected using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. The prediction model, presented as a web calculator, was developed using multivariable logistic regression. The predictive performance of the model was evaluated for discrimination and calibration and verified in an independent validation population. The developed prediction model included age, positive T-SPOT.TB result, logarithm of the ratio of mononuclear cells to multiple nuclear cells in pleural effusion (lnRMMPE), and adenosine deaminase in pleural effusion ≥ 40 U/L. The model demonstrated good discrimination [with area under the curve of 0.837 and 0.903, respectively] and calibration (with a Brier score of 0.159 and 0.119, respectively) in both the derivation population and the validation population. Using a cutoff value of 60%, the sensitivity and specificity for identifying TPE were 70% and 88%, respectively, in the derivation population, and 77% and 92%, respectively, in the validation population. A novel predictive model based on T-SPOT.TB was developed and externally validated, demonstrating good diagnostic performance in identifying TPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, in order to clarify the influence of structural parameters of laminates on the modal characteristics of high-aspect-ratio wings under prestress, the CFD/CSD coupling method was used to study the modal characteristics of nonlinear structures under the influence of layering angle, layering unbalanced coefficient, and layering reference direction. The results show that the first six order modal frequencies of wing structure increase with the increase of layering angle, and the increment change of frequency increases with the increase of layering angle. The frequency results of positive and negative layering angles are basically the same, and there is no great difference. The modal frequency of airfoil structure is not very sensitive to the change of unbalanced coefficient. The modal frequencies obtained by the mixed angle layering scheme are obviously larger than those obtained by the layering scheme composed of only two angles. With the change of the reference direction of laying, the lowest frequency is generally present in the 0° reference direction and has one or two minima in each order of modal frequency. The layer reference direction angle mainly in the second quadrant is beneficial to the enhancement of modal frequency. After determining the related layer parameters, the appropriate adjustment of the layer reference direction will be beneficial to change the vibration characteristics of the wing structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Il-MnP1, a short-type manganese peroxidase from Irpex lacteus F17, can oxidize some substrates in the absence of Mn2+, but the catalysis was much lower than in the presence of Mn2+. Here, we report a mutant R70V/E166A of Il-MnP1 with some unique properties, which possessed clearly higher catalysis for the decolorization of anthraquinone and azo dyes in the absence of Mn2+ than that of Il-MnP1. Importantly, the optimum pH of R70V/E166A for decolorization of anthraquinone dyes (Reactive Blue 19, RB19) was 6.5, and the mutant achieved high decolorization activities in the range of pH 4.0–7.0, whereas Il-MnP1 only showed decolorization for RB19 at pH 3.5–4.0. In addition, the optimum H2O2 concentration of R70V/E166A for RB19 decolorization was eight times that of Il-MnP1 and the H2O2 stability has improved 1.4 times compared with Il-MnP1. Furthermore, Mn2+ competitively inhibited the oxidation of RB19 by R70V/E166A, explaining the higher catalytic activity of the mutant R70V/E166A in the absence of Mn2+. Molecular docking results suggested that RB19 binds to the distal side of the heme plane in mutant R70V/E166A, which extended from the heme δ-side to the heme γ-side, and close to the mutated residues of R70V and E166A, whereas RB19 could not access the heme pocket of Il-MnP1 due to the steric hindrance of the side-chain group of Arg 70. Thus, this study constructed a useful mutant R70V/E166A and analyzed its higher Mn2+-independent activity, which is very important for better understanding the Mn2+-independent catalytic mechanism for short manganese peroxidases. Key points: •The mutant R70V/E166A of atypical MnP1 of I. lacteus F17 shows unique catalytic properties. •At pH 6.5, the R70V/E166A had a strong ability to decolorize anthraquinone dyes in the absence of Mn2+. •The binding sites of Reactive Blue 19 in mutant R70V/E166A were elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the influence of the unbalanced coefficient and the change in lay-up angle on the failure characteristics of the laminate in the static aeroelastic problem of the aircraft, numerical simulations were performed based on the classical laminate theory and the Tsai-Wu failure criterion, as well as the fluid-structure coupling calculation method. The structure's stress-strain and failure curves are found to decrease as the unbalanced coefficient increases. The stress curve's slope is relatively stable, whereas the strain and failure curves' slopes change three times, indicating that strain may be the primary cause of structural failure. Unbalanced coefficient laminates are classified into three types based on their mechanical properties low unbalanced coefficient laminates (Unbalanced coefficient 0.2 to 0.3), quasi-balanced coefficient laminates (Unbalanced coefficient 0.4 to 0.6, Balanced laminate when the Unbalanced coefficient is 0.5), and high unbalanced coefficient laminates (Unbalanced coefficient 0.7 to 0.8). Within their respective spanning intervals, the mechanical properties of the three types of laminates remain relatively stable. An increase in the ply angle reduces both the elastic deformation of the structure and the failure factor. The variation patterns of structural strain and failure at 45° and 60° ply angles decrease as unbalanced coefficients increase, whereas the opposite is true for 30° ply angles. Finally, a two-level optimization method based on "equalized plies" and "equal-angle plies" was developed, resulting in a 23.93% reduction in elastic deformation and a 37.04% reduction in the laminated structure's failure coefficient when compared to the preoptimization results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using butyl titanate as titanium source and cerium nitrate as modifier, modified nano-Ti(32 particles with different Ce doping contents (0%, 0.3 mol%, 0.6 mol%, 0.9 mol%) were prepared by sol-gel method. The effects of different rare earth Ce doping on the phase structure, micro morphology, spectral properties and photocatalytic properties of nano-TiO2 parties were studied by XRD, SEM, UV-Vis, PL and photocatalytic tests. The results showed that the prepared nano-TiO2 particles were anatase phase with high crystallinity. After adding rare earth Ce, the morphology of nano-TiO2 parties gradually became regular spherical, and the grains were reined. When the doping amount of rare earth Ce was 0.6 mol%, the grain size of TiO2 particles was the most regular and the distribution was the most uniform. The absorption sideband of rare earth Ce doped nano-TiO2 particles had a red shift and the absorption sideband increased, and the doping of rare earth Ce effectively inhibited the recombination of electron hole pairs. The degradation efficiency of Cr("W) in heavy metal wastewater had been significantly improved by rare earth Ce modified nano-TiO2 particles, and when the doping amount of rare earth Ce was 0.6 mol%, the highest degradation efficiency of nano-TiO2 at 180 min was 92.7%, which was 166.4% higher than that of pure nano-TiO2. Comprehensive analysis showed that the optimum do¬ping ratio of rare earth Ce was 0.6 mol%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data integrity verification means that the data in the cloud are uploaded by the user. In addition to the user's own update of the data, any external factors including the cloud service provider's data are destroyed, tampered with, and lost, and the data are not updated in a timely manner. Any inconsistencies in the actual data required can be detected by the user. This article aims to study cloud data integrity verification algorithms based on data mining and accounting informatization. This article proposes data mining technology, accounting information to help business managers assist management work. The article uses Company H as an example to illustrate the accounting information system and proposes a new information management strategy based on it. The CBF algorithm and data integrity verification algorithm are used to study the cloud storage data integrity verification protocol, the cloud data integrity verification model is constructed, the data program flow design is analyzed, and the time-consuming operation of file data insertion is analyzed. The experiment in this paper uses 16 standard mathematical calculation formulas to strengthen the analysis. The results show that the study of cloud data integrity verification algorithms based on data mining and accounting information is beneficial to the integrity and protection of data. When the number of documents added increases from 0 to 400, the document agreement shows an upward trend, and the agreement in this paper basically fluctuates between 10 and 80. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with yellow fluorescence were firstly prepared by hydrothermal method using corn stover as raw material. Then, the CQDs/Cu 2 O S-scheme heterojunction was obtained by combining the prepared CQDs with dodecahedral Cu 2 O. The catalytic performance of the prepared catalyst under visible light was studied by using tetracycline (TC) as the degradation target. The results showed that the conductivity and the active sites in Cu 2 O were enhanced by loading CQDs, and the 3 wt% CQDs/Cu 2 O heterojunction showed the highest photocatalytic performance and the most excellent stability with 92.49% of TC degradation within 100 min. It is found that the recombination rate of electron and hole was reduced by the CQDs/Cu 2 O heterojunction with improved separation efficiency of the photo-generated electron-hole pairs and enhanced photo-degradation efficiency. [Display omitted] • CQDs/Cu 2 O S-scheme heterojunction was successfully prepared. • CQDs were successfully prepared from using corn stover by a hydrothermal method. • 92.49% of tetracycline was decomposed in 100 min by 3 wt% CQDs/Cu 2 O composite. • Effective separation of e--h+ pair and faster interfacial charge transfer was achieved. • Excellent performance is ascribed to synergistic effect of photo-generated electron pair in Cu 2 O and CQDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the physiological roles of various hormones in fish glucose metabolism have been elucidated. Spexin, a 14-amino acids polypeptide, is highly conserved in many species and has functions such as reducing body weight and improving insulin resistance. In this paper, the open reading frame (ORF) of spx2 1 in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) was cloned, and the tissue distribution of spx1 and spx2 , their direct and indirect regulatory effects on glucose metabolism of grass carp were investigated. The ORF of spx2 gene in grass carp was 279 bp in length. Moreover, spx1 was highly expressed in the adipose tissue, while spx2 was highly expressed in the brain. In vitr o, SPX1 and SPX2 showed opposite effects on the glycolytic pathway in the primary hepatocytes. In vivo , intraperitoneal injection of SPX1 and SPX2 significantly reduced serum glucose levels and increased hepatopancreas glycogen contents. Meanwhile, SPX1 and SPX2 promoted the expression of key genes of glycolysis (pk) and glycogen synthesis (gys) in the hepatopancreas at 3 h post injection. As for indirect effects, 1000 nM SPX1 and SPX2 significantly increased insulin-mediated liver type phosphofructokinase (pfkla) mRNA expression and enhanced the inhibitory effects of insulin on glucose-6-phosphatase (g6pase), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pepck), glycogen phosphorylase L (pygl) mRNA expression. Our results show that SPX1 and SPX2 have similar indirect effects on the regulation of glucose metabolism that enhance insulin activity, but they exhibit opposite roles in terms of direct effects. [Display omitted] • SPX1 and SPX2 showed opposite effects on the glycolytic pathway in vitro. • SPX1/2 play a hypoglycemic role in vivo in grass carp. • SPX1 promotes glycolysis and glycogen synthesis, and inhibits gluconeogenesis in vivo. • SPX2 promotes glycolysis and glycogen synthesis in vivo. • SPX1/2 promote insulin-induced glycolysis and glycogen synthesis, inhibit gluconeogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Different types of anesthesia may affect cancer patient's outcomes, we compared the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with pancreatic cancer under total intravenous and inhalation anesthesia. Methods: The authors collected the electronic medical records of patients who had accepted at a pancreatectomy from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2016. Patients respectively received total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) or inhalational anesthesia (INHA). Stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting (SIPTW)was used to minimize differences. Kaplan–Meier survival was established to analyze the influence of sort of anesthesia on disease-free and overall survival. We compare the effects of each sort of anesthesia on cancer recurrence or metastasis and all-cause mortality. Results: A total of 463 patients who had undergone pancreatic cancer resection were collected in this study, of which 421 patients were available (TIVA group, n = 114 INHA group, n = 307). After SIPTW there were no significant differences between the two groups in disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 1.01, 95%CI, 0.78 to 1.29, P = 0.959) or overall survival (hazard ratio, 1.11, 95%CI, 0.87 to 1.42, P = 0.405). Conclusions: In conclusion, the present study showed no significant difference in overall survival and disease-free survival between total intravenous anesthesia and volatile anesthesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dots (CDs) as a class of new fluorescent materials have attracted numerous attention. However, the solid-state photoluminescence quenching of CDs is still a big challenge. In this work, self-quenching-resistant solid-state fluorescent CDs are achieved, which exhibit tunable full-color solid-state emission without any other additional solid matrices. These CDs were prepared via one-step microwave method using phloroglucinol and urea as sources by regulating reactant ratio and microwave power. The maximum emission of CDs gradually shifts from 445 to 643 nm, and solid-state quantum yield of five typical CDs with blue (B), green (G), yellow (Y), orange (O) and red (R) emission reaches up 48.2%, 26.0%, 18.5%, 13.7% and 5.7%, respectively. Moreover, multicolor solid-solid fluorescence mechanism of CDs is investigated. The G-, Y-, O-, R-CDs show aggregation-induced red-shift behavior, while B-CDs exhibit unique crystallization-induced emission enhancement property. Finally, CDs are utilized as phosphors combing with ultraviolet chip to fabricate multicolor and white light emitting diodes (LEDs). The obtained white LEDs exhibit an adjustable correlated color temperature (3937–8588 K) and high color rendering index (80–88). This study provides a novel guidance for developing self-quenching resistant CDs with multicolor emission. Full-color solid-state carbon dots are synthesized for the first time without any other additional solid matrices by regulating molar ratio of precursors and microwave power. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An easy prepared probe, BHMMP, was designed and synthesized, which displayed a significant fluorescence enhancement (over 38-fold) and obvious color change in the recognition of Al3+. The binding ratio of probe BHMMP to Al3+ was determined as 1:1, according to Job plot. The binding mechanism was fully clarified by the experiments, such as FT-IR spectrum, ESI–MS analysis, and 1H NMR titration. A DFT study further confirmed the binding mode of BHMMP to Al3+. The limit of detection (LOD) for Al3+ was determined as low as 0.70 µM, based on the fluorescence titration of BHMMP. Moreover, the results from real sample experiments, including real water samples, test papers, and cell images, well-demonstrated that BHMMP was capable of sensing Al3+ in environmental and biological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pervaporation desalination membrane with a water flux of 256.6 kg/(m2 h) was prepared. • Crosslinked PVA having sulfonic acid groups was used as selective layer material. • Crosslinking improved fracture toughness of the PVA layer. • Mechanism of spray coating was discussed. • Thin film composite membrane was prepared by optimizing spray coating parameters. Water flux of pervaporation (PV) desalination membranes can be increased by reducing thickness of the selective layer and/or reducing the resistance of the support layer. However, low resistant support layer typically has large surface pores that requires a thick selective layer to avoid fracture. To solve this problem, we used poly(acrylic acid-co-2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid) (P(AA-AMPS)) to crosslink PVA to improve the mechanical property of the coating layer. The PVA layer was deposited on to a highly porous PTFE substrate via spray-coating. By optimizing the spray-coating conditions, a thin and defect-free P(AA-AMPS) crosslinked PVA/PTFE composite membrane with a selective layer thickness of 1.1 μm was prepared. The water flux of the composite membrane reached to 256.6 ± 31.3 kg/(m2 h) at 75 °C with a NaCl rejection rate over 99.9% when desalinating a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. The membrane flux is higher than all reported PV desalination membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Intermediate layer of SS NPs improves the physical and electrochemical properties of the electrode. • CeCoO x powder has good electrochemical properties under acidic oxygen evolution. • The feasibility of powder-modified electrodes in zinc electrowinning simulations is demonstrated. Presently, the most widely used anode material in industrial zinc electrowinning is lead-silver alloy, and the low corrosion resistance and high oxygen evolution overpotential of lead-silver alloy anodes are the most popular topics and urgent problems to solve in zinc electrowinning research. Herein, the Ti/Sb-SnO 2 NPs/α-PbO 2 /β-PbO 2 -CeCoO x composite anode is prepared by hydrothermal-electrodeposition. Based on the tested results of electrochemical properties, the composite anodes have a low overpotential of 545 mV at 50 mA cm−2 and a low Tafel slope of 135.19 mV dec–1. According to the tested results of the Raman spectra, Co4+ is the primary active material in the oxygen evolution reaction. Compared to the anode containing lead-silver alloy, the cell voltage is reduced by 0.41 V, and the electrode can operate at a high current density of 2 A cm−2 and under highly acidic conditions for 94 h, confirming excellent corrosion resistance in H 2 SO 4 solution electrolysis. The composite anode shows bright prospects for industrial applications in zinc electrowinning and other hydrometallurgy processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Porous NF/Ni@Co x P y was synthesized via a simple electrodeposition–hydrothermal–thermal phosphorization process. • The in-situ Raman characterization reveals the reconstruction during HER. • The KSCN probing experiment demonstrates the truly active center is Co. • NF/Ni@Co x P y exhibits enhanced activity in acid, buffer and alkaline media. Designing and synthesizing an effective and robust hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst is of great significance for hydrogen production from electrochemical water splitting yet remains challenge. Herein, this work reports a porous cobalt phosphide nanoneedles arrays grown a coarsen naked nickel foam (NF/Ni@Co x P y) through a successive electrodeposition–hydrothermal–thermal phosphorization process. Detailed investigation reveals the NF/Ni@Co x P y exhibited a porous structure, leading to the largest double-layer capacitance of 7.6 mF cm–2 and enhanced the hydrophily. In addition, the generation Co-P contains both CoP and Co 2 P phases, leading to shift of the electronic structure, together to boost the electrocatalytic HER activity. The NF/Ni@Co x P y only needs overpotential of 77, 98, and 71 mV at 10 mA cm–2 in alkaline, buffer solution, and acid solution, respectively. The SCN– probing experiment and in-situ Raman characterization reveal that the Co serves as the active site and the Co x P y reconstructed to Co(OH) 2 during HER, which accelerating the fast water dissociation, leading to a lower apparent activation energy of 65.9 kJ mol–1. Hence, this study offers a facial synthesis route to prepare catalyst for HER and provides deep insight into the relationship among coarsen substances, microstructures, and electrocatalytic activity. The SCN– probing experiment and in-situ Raman demonstrates the Co serve as the active site during HER. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Electrochemical reduction of laser-prepared, in-situ-grown Ti/TiO 2 produced the intermediate layer Ti/TiH 2. • Special structured Mn 3 O 4 @C micro-flakes were prepared by high-temperature pyrolysis-oxidation. Simulated zinc electrowinning tests demonstrated the viability of the Ti/TiH 2 /β-PbO 2 − Mn 3 O 4 @C electrode. • At 50 mA cm−2, Ti/TiH 2 /β-PbO 2 -Mn 3 O 4 @C (0.6 g L−1) exhibited a low overpotential of 493 mV, a low Tafel slope of 73.6 mV dec−1, a low i corr of 2.320×10−5 A cm−2 and voltage stability of 1.65 V vs. RHE for up to 72 h in stability tests" to the original text. Ti-based PbO 2 electrodes must currently address the high overpotential and low corrosiveness of the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during zinc electrowinning. In this study, a composite electrode composed of Ti/TiH 2 /β-PbO 2 − Mn 3 O 4 @C (0.6 g L–1) was fabricated using Ti/TiH 2 generated by electrochemical reduction of Ti/TiO 2 prepared by laser ablation as an intermediate layer, co-deposited β-PbO 2 , and Mn 3 O 4 @C micro-flakes prepared by high-temperature pyrolysis-oxidation as the active layer. In a zinc electrowinning test solution (50 g L–1 ZnSO 4 mixed with 150 g L–1 H 2 SO 4), the oxygen evolution and corrosion behavior of the obtained Ti/TiH 2 /β-PbO 2 − Mn 3 O 4 @C composite anodes were systematically investigated. Ti/TiH 2 /β-PbO 2 − Mn 3 O 4 @C (0.6 g L–1) exhibited a low overpotential of 493 mV, a low Tafel slope of 73.6 mV dec−1, a low i corr of 2.320 × 10−5 A cm−2 and voltage stability of 1.65 V vs. RHE for up to 72 h in stability tests, with an overall performance outperformed most of the reported Ti-based PbO 2 electrode materials. The outstanding catalytic activity is primarily attributable to the low resistance and porous interlayer of TiH 2 nanosheets, which speeds up the rate of electron transfer. The addition of Mn 3 O 4 @C micro-flakes to the active layer enhances the composite electrode's OER performance and corrosion resistance. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The construction of heterostructure at the interface of Cu 2 O and CuNiMo optimized the electronic structure. • The coupling of Cu 2 O with CuNiMo makes Cu 2 O produce a large number of oxygen vacancies, which provided a mass of protons by accelerating water splitting. • The obtained Cu 2 O@CuNiMo exhibits outstanding hydrogen evolution reaction performance with a low overpotential of 49 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in a 1.0 M KOH electrolyte. • Excellent catalytic performance and stability verified the practical applicability. Electrochemical water splitting is an attractive chemical method for hydrogen generation with cleanliness and zero pollution. However, the reported catalysts are still unsatisfactory due to low electron transport efficiency and poor water splitting capacity. Herein, a high–performance oxygen vacancy–rich Cu 2 O–based heterostructure (Cu 2 O@CuNiMo) was constructed for solving these problems. The results of X–ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman suggested that there was strong electron transfer between CuNiMo and Cu 2 O, which could optimize the electronic structure. Electron paramagnetic resonance proved that there were abundant oxygen vacancies (OV S) on the surface of the Cu 2 O, which generated a mass of adsorbed hydrogen (H ads) by accelerating water splitting in an alkaline solution. Therefore, the Cu 2 O@CuNiMo electrocatalyst exhibits outstanding hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance with an ultra–low overpotential of 49 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH electrolyte, outperforming many other previously reported transition metal–based catalysts. Moreover, Cu 2 O@CuNiMo exhibits exceptional durability for a 24–h long–term test at a current density of 200 mA cm−2. This work provides a promising method to design highly active HER electrocatalysts via the dual regulation strategy of oxygen vacancy engineering and electronic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bitter melon extract (BME), which contains a variety of natural bioactive substances, has diversified biological functions. The present study is aimed at evaluating the effects of dietary supplementation of BME on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, inflammatory cytokine expression, and intestinal microbiota in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.). An 8-week feeding trial was conducted using four isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets containing different levels of BME (0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1% for control, LBME, MBME, and HBME groups, respectively). The results showed that there were no significant differences in the growth performance of common carp among all groups, including final body weight (FBW), weight gain rate (WGR), specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and viscera index (VSI) (p > 0.05), but the condition factor (CF) was decreased by all BME treatments (p < 0.05). Serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was significantly improved in all BME groups (p < 0.05), and serum catalase (CAT) activity was significantly higher in the MBME group (p < 0.05). Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) level was lowest while serum total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) was highest in the HBME group (p < 0.05). Dietary BME supplementation inhibited proinflammatory cytokine (il-1β and il-8) mRNA expression, while anti-inflammatory cytokine (il-6 and il-10) mRNA expressions were promoted (p < 0.05). Furthermore, principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) showed that there were no differences in bacterial communities among different groups, and Shannon index and Simpson index of intestinal microbiota were unaffected (p > 0.05). Whereas dietary BME reduced Firmicutes abundance and the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes at phylum level, the relative abundance of streptococcaceae at family level, Streptococcus and Exiguobacterium at genus level were also decreased (p < 0.05). Overall, these results suggested that dietary supplementation of BME improved serum antioxidant capacity, anti-inflammatory activity, and modified intestinal microbiota in common carp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Milk protein allergy is one of the most common food allergies in infants. We aimed to test whether fecal calprotectin can be used to monitor food allergies in infants by comparing the fecal calprotectin levels in infants with a milk protein allergy before and after an intervention treatment. Methods: The study was designed as a prospective case–control trial. Stool samples were collected at follow-up, and the concentration of fecal calprotectin was determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The infant's weight and length were measured. Results: The allergic group comprised 90 milk-allergic infants (41 boys, 49 girls), and the nonallergic group comprised 90 nonallergic infants (51 boys, 39 girls). Compared with the fecal calprotectin level in the nonallergic group (median: 141 μg/g), that in the allergic group (median: 410 μg/g) was significantly higher (z = − 9.335, p < 0.001). After two dietary interventions and treatments, the fecal calprotectin levels of the infants with a milk protein allergy at the first (median: 253 μg/g) and second follow-up visits (median: 160 μg/g) were significantly lower than those before the intervention (z = − 7.884, p < 0.001 and z = − 8.239, p < 0.001, respectively). The growth index values (LAZ and WAZ) of the infants with a milk protein allergy at the first and second follow-up visits were significantly higher than those before dietary intervention (p < 0.05). Fecal calprotectin was negatively and significantly correlated with the WLZ and WAZ at the second follow-up visit (Spearman's rho = − 0.234, p = 0.01 and Spearman's rho = − 0.193, p = 0.03, respectively). Conclusion: The level of fecal calprotectin in infants with a milk protein allergy decreased after dietary intervention and seems to be a promising biological indicator for monitoring intestinal allergies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, in order to understand the influence of the unbalanced coefficient of composite laminates on the static aeroelasticity of high aspect wings, a series of numerical simulation calculations were carried out, and this work wants to provide some reference for the structural design of aircraft. Considering the influence of geometric nonlinearity, the unidirectional fluid-solid coupling calculation method based on loose coupling is used to control the change of unbalanced coefficient of laminates on the basis of layering angle, layering thickness, and layering region, so as to observe the changes caused to the wings. The relationship between the unbalanced coefficient and the constant thickness layup and the variable thickness layup with 0° and ±45° layup angles was studied, respectively. Then, the layup angle of 90° was added to study the influence of the unbalanced coefficient on the static aeroelasticity of the wing structure with the change of the layup angle and the different choice of layup region. The results show that the deformation is the smallest when the unbalanced coefficient is 0.5, and the deformation trend is evenly distributed along both sides when the unbalanced coefficient is 0.5. When the unbalanced coefficient is changed, adding the 90° layup angle can significantly reduce the overall deformation of the wing and show different sensitivity characteristics to different layup areas. The increase of the unbalanced coefficient makes the chordal displacement gradually change from linear distribution to nonlinear distribution along the spread direction, and the displacement will gradually decrease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantification of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) via mass spectrometry is highly sensitive but targets a limited number of compounds and the instrumentation is not available in many laboratories. We developed a methodology to determine total organofluorine by modifying a total organic carbon analyzer, which is common in laboratories across disciplines. Evolved hydrogen fluoride was captured in an impinger and analyzed by ion chromatography. Recovery of fluorine from 20 PFAS was dependent on terminal functional group and alkyl chain length. The method detection limit based on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) spiked samples was 36 μg‐F/L (52 μg PFOA/L). Fluorine recoveries of spiked PFAS in river water and wastewater were similar to those spiked in deionized water. The recovery of inorganic fluorine present in sodium fluoride was 91%. Therefore, researchers should be cautious when applying methods that pre‐combust samples to differentiate organo‐ and inorganic fluorine, because the combustion process may cause inadvertent losses of inorganic fluorine, resulting in an overestimation of organofluorine. Article Impact Statement: Results enable the quantification of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances using equipment present in a greater number of laboratories than mass spectrometry‐based methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The oil-soluble contrast medium used in hysterosalpingography has been shown to have a fertility-enhancing effect, but the underlying mechanism is unclear, especially regarding the role of window of implantation (WOI). This study aimed to assess the endometrial immunological impact of the WOI before and after bathing with the oil-soluble contrast medium in women with recurrent implantation failure (RIF). Methods: This descriptive study involved two medical centers between December 18, 2019, and December 30, 2020. We included infertile women who underwent three or more transfer cycles, cumulative transplantation of at least four high-quality cleavage-stage embryos or three high-quality blastocysts without clinical pregnancy, and high-quality frozen embryos that were still available for implantation. Patients received 5 ml of ethiodized poppyseed oil bathing, endometrial biopsy around bathing, and frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) within four menstrual cycles after bathing. Patients were excluded if failure to complete anyone. Data on the baseline characteristics and clinical data of the FET cycles were collected, and endometrial biopsy specimens were collected in the luteal phase before and after bathing and subjected to immunohistochemistry. The number of CD56 and CD138 positive cells and H-score of expression of ανβ-3 and HOXA10 in endometrium were collected. Results: Thirty-four patients were initially enrolled in the study; ultimately, twelve patients with a median age of 32.5 years (range 27–40 years) completed the research. The median number of embryo transfer cycles was three (range 3–8). A total of 4 of 12 women (33.33%) were diagnosed with chronic endometritis before oil-soluble contrast bathing. After bathing, the median numbers of CD138-positive cells in endometrium decreased from 0.75 (range 0–13.5) to 0.65 (range 0–6), P = 0.035; additionally, the H-score of expression of ανβ-3 in endometrium increased from 148.50 ± 31.63 to 175.58 ± 31.83, P < 0.001. The thickness of the endometrium also significantly increased (8.90 ± 1.45 mm vs.10.11 ± 1.98 mm, P = 0.005). However, no consistent changes were found in the expression of CD56 and HOXA10 in the endometrium. Five patients experienced biochemical pregnancies (41.67%), four had clinical pregnancies (33.33%), and three achieved live births following oil-soluble contrast bathing (25%). Conclusions: These results suggest that oil-soluble contrast medium bathing decreased CD138-positive cells and upregulated expression of ανβ-3 during WOI in patients with RIF. This histological impact of endometrium may result in enhanced fertility during FET cycles. Investigating the ability of intrauterine bathing with lower-dosage oil-soluble contrast to improve pregnancy in the RIF population is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) belongs to the class of persistent organic pollutants widely distributed in the environment, and has the characteristics of high bioaccumulation and refractory degradation in organisms. To date, there are limited reports on the microbial degradation of PFOA. In this pursuit, the present study envisaged the screening of microbes capable of degrading PFOA from the soils of eight sites in Huaxi district of Guizhou province, China, using the enrichment culture. Sixteen bacterial isolates were obtained in total, and their growth curves were found to be unimodal or bimodal in PFOA-spiked MSM cultural solutions. Five isolates of them, viz. 4-a, 5-b, 6-a, 7-c and 8-a, were further selected for in-depth study of PFOA degradation, and it was found that all of isolates could increase the concentrations of fluoride ions in the cultural solutions. The five PFOA-degrading bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas sp. Obtained Pseudomonas resources would contribute to the studies on the degradation of PFOA by the facultative anaerobes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, we identified that the atypical protein kinase C isoform ι (PKCι) enhances the expression of Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) to promote the tumorigenesis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma harboring mutant KRAS (mu-KRAS). To advance our understanding about underlying mechanisms, we analyze the transcription of YAP1 in pancreatic cancer cells and reveal that transcription factor specificity protein 1 (Sp1) is upregulated by PKCι and subsequently binds to multiple sites in YAP1 promoter to drive the transactivation of YAP1 in pancreatic cancer cells carrying mu-KRAS. The bioinformatics analysis further substantiates that the expression of PKCι, Sp1 and YAP1 is correlated and associated with the stages and prognosis of pancreatic tumors. Moreover, our apoptotic detection data demonstrate that combination of PKCι and Sp1 inhibitors at subtoxic doses displays synergistic effects on inducing apoptosis and reversing the immunosuppression of pancreatic cancer cells, establishing the combination of PKCι and Sp1 inhibitors as a promising novel therapeutic approach, or an adjuvant strategy to potentiate the antitumor effects of other immunotherapeutic agents in pancreatic cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work class remote operated vehicles (ROVs) are generally equipped with underwater manipulators and are widely used in underwater intervention and maintenance tasks. As the load of underwater operation is relatively heavy, most commercial underwater manipulators are hydraulically actuated and are not equipped with any sensor for joint angles to keep their architectures compact. Therefore, the automatic control methods widely used in industrial robots cannot be simply applied to underwater manipulators. In this paper, an estimation method on joint angles of manipulator is presented, in which several markers are arranged on the arm links and positioned from the corresponding cameras; consequently, the joint angles of the manipulator are estimated. The simulation results show that under typical optical vision positioning error (RMS: 5 mm), the positioning error of the end effector can be estimated as about 10 mm (RMS), which means that the proposed estimation method is feasible for the state estimation for automatic control of underwater manipulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Multiple cobalt species were found on x Co/HZ- T catalysts and cooperatively catalyzed N 2 O decomposition;. • Co2+ ions in cobalt species on x Co/HZ- T catalysts are regarded as active sites in N 2 O decomposition. • The 10Co/HZ-800 catalyst exhibited the optimal catalytic performance, O 2 , and NO tolerance. As a strong greenhouse gas with a wide lifespan, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) reduction emissions are imperative. Transition metal oxides, especially cobalt oxides, possess superior N 2 O catalytic decomposition properties. A series of cobalt-incorporated HZSM-5 (Co/HZ) catalysts were synthesized by citric acid-complexion impregnation and were systematically investigated by N 2 O decomposition and characterizations. Co content and calcination temperature influenced cobalt species distribution and active site amount. Multiple cobalt species were found and cooperatively catalyzed N 2 O decomposition. Co2+ ions in cobalt species are regarded as active sites in N 2 O decomposition and the 10Co/HZ-800 catalyst showed better N 2 O catalytic decomposition performance, O 2 , and NO tolerance. The 10Co/HZ-800 catalyst was subjected to in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy (in situ DRIFTS) for surveying N 2 O adsorption patterns on the surface under different temperatures and atmospheres. Multiple cobalt species were found on cobalt incorporated HZSM-5 (x Co/HZ- T) catalysts by the citric acid-complexion impregnation method. Co2+ ions in cobalt species are regarded as active sites in N 2 O decomposition and cooperatively catalyzed N 2 O decomposition. There were probable two types of oxygen release in N 2 O decomposition, and oxygen release was demonstrated as a rate-determining step in N 2 O decomposition. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Porous NF/Ni@Zr-NiCoS was synthesized via a simple electrodeposition–hydrolysis–hydrothermal method. • The high valent Zr4+ doping optimized the electronic structure of NF/Ni@Zr-NiCoS. • The methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) reveals the surface stronger *OH covering. • The apparent activation energy is 84.4 kJ mol−1. Electrochemical water splitting shows great promise as a method for hydrogen production yet remains challenge. Herein, this paper reports a high valent zirconium (Zr) doped bimetal sulfide grown onto coarsen nickel foam (NF/Ni@Zr-NiCoS) via a sequent process including electrodeposition, hydrolysis and hydrothermal sulphuration. The optimal NF/Ni@Zr 3.6% -NiCoS processes the largest active sites and demonstrates an overpotential of 216 and 275 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm−2 with a robust stability of more than 100 h@200 mA cm−2, exceeding the state-of-the-art benchmark RuO 2 catalyst. The Zr4+-doping decrease the electron density of the Ni center, which enhance the intrinsic activity. A novel methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) further reveals that the NF/Ni@Zr 3.6% -NiCoS electrocatalyst demonstrated a stronger binding ability to *OH and the decreased apparent activation energy of 84.4 kJ mol−1. This work offers a new strategy for optimization the adsorption of intermediates via doping method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transaction fraud detection is an essential topic in financial research, protecting customers and financial institutions from suffering significant financial losses. The existing ensemble learning-based fraud detection model improves the accuracy of distinguishing fraudulent transactions by integrating multiple base learners. However, their insufficient optimization of variance leads to the inadequate generalization of the model, which makes them unable to meet the requirements of detecting evolving fraudulent behavior. So, this paper proposes an attention-based boosting ensemble model (AM-Boost) for fraud detection that imparts diversity perturbation to the base learner from the feature dimension. Firstly, the feature-wise attention mechanism is proposed to help the model exploit the highly informative fraud features by learning distributed global feature space. And it is combined with boosting strategy to reduce the variance by lowering the correlation between base learners. Secondly, we propose a feature diversity regularization term in the integration stage to optimize the weighted majority voting strategy with a reasonable trade-off between bias and variance. Finally, we evaluate the proposed method on a public fraud detection dataset and a real-world transaction dataset. Extensive experiment results demonstrate that our method outperforms the baseline methods in both datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep clustering plays an important role in data analysis, and with the prevalence of graph data nowadays, various deep clustering models on graph are constantly proposed. However, due to the lack of more adequate clustering guidance, the discriminability of feature representation learned from these models for the clustering task is limited. Therefore, for the purpose of enabling the output of these models to be more cluster-oriented, we propose a Deep Clustering Optimization Method for Graph Neural Networks (DCOM-GNN), which can be attached to the original model architecture conveniently. For DCOM-GNN, it contains two components, one is the inter-cluster distance optimization module, whose role is to further adjust the distance between clusters of the original model output rationally. Another one is the intra-cluster distance optimization module, which aims to improve the cohesiveness of the original model output. Comprehensive experiments show that the performance of various deep clustering models on graph can be significantly improved after adding DCOM-GNN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The role of serum S100A8/A9 in intestinal inflammation has been confirmed, and its role in food allergy is currently being investigated. Objective: To explore the levels of S100A8/A9 and inflammatory factors, including Toll-like receptors 4 (TLR4), Nuclear transcription factors (NF-κB) and Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), in mild food allergies. Methods: Eighty 3-week-old male Brown Norway rats were used. Forty rats were randomly assigned to the ovalbumin-sensitized experimental group, while 40 rats were assigned to the normal saline sham-sensitized control group. Body weight and length and the levels of serum ovalbumin-specific IgE (OVA-IgE), histamine, Th1-associated and Th2-associated factors, S100A8/A9 and inflammation-associated cytokines were compared. Results: Through the evaluation of OVA-IgE level and Th1/Th2 balance in the experimental group, a successful IgE-mediated food allergy model was constructed. Compared with the control group, the experimental group had higher serum S100A8/A9 levels on days 21, 28, 35 and 42 (all P < 0.05); higher TLR4 levels on days 28, 35 and 42 (all P < 0.05); higher TNF-α levels on days 28, 35 and 42 (all P < 0.05); higher NF-κB levels on days 35 and 42 (all P < 0.05); and higher IL-1β and IL-6 levels on days 7 to 42 (all P < 0.05). Moreover, positive correlations were found between the serum levels of S100A8/A9 and inflammation-associated cytokines [TNF-α: r = 0.378, P = 0.039; IL-1β: r = 0.679, P = 0.000; IL-6: r = 0.590, P = 0.001]. Conclusion: S100A8/A9 and inflammatory-related factors, including TLR4, NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β, is closely related to food allergies. Moreover, immune and inflammatory factors interact with each other in food allergies, which may provide insight into food allergy causes and treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common inherited disorder in the Chinese population, there is scarce evidence regarding the epidemiology, evolutionary origin, and malaria‐induced positive selection effects of G6PD‐deficient alleles in various Chinese ethnic populations. Methods: We performed a large population‐based screening (n = 15,690) to examine the impact of selection on human nucleotide diversity and to infer the evolutionary history of the most common deficiency alleles in Chinese populations. Results: The frequencies of G6PD deficiency ranged from 0% to 11.6% in 12 Chinese ethnic populations. A frequency map based on geographic information showed that G6PD deficiency was highly correlated with historical malaria prevalence in China and was affected by altitude and latitude. The five most frequently occurring G6PD gene variants were NM_001042351.3:c.1376G>T, NM_001042351.3:c.1388G>A, NM_001042351.3:c.95A>G, NM_001042351.3:c.1311T>C, and NM_001042351.3:c.1024C>T, which were distributed with ethnic features. A pathogenic but rarely reported variant site (NM_001042351.3:c.448G>A) was identified in this study. Bioinformatic analysis revealed a strong and recent positive selection targeting the NM_001042351.3:c.1376G>T allele that originated in the past 3125 to 3750 years and another selection targeting the NM_001042351.3:c.1388G>A allele that originated in the past 5000 to 6000 years. Additionally, both alleles originated from a single ancestor. Conclusion: These results indicate that malaria has had a major impact on the Chinese genome since the introduction of rice agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composition engineering is an active topic of research for optical and electronic (nano)crystals and functional materials. We here demonstrate the control over the ratios and distributions of selenium and sulfur in ternary Sb2(Se,S)3 alloy nanorods (NRs), which were synthesized from a molecular chalcogen precursor, selenium disulfide (SeS2). By increasing the anion/cation precursor ratios (SeS2/SbCl3) from 0.5 : 1 to 1 : 1 and 1.5 : 1, an increase in both the Se fractions and the lengths × diameters of NRs is achieved with the Se and S distributions in Sb2(Se,S)3 varying from homogeneity to inhomogeneity. Within the inhomogeneous NRs obtained at high SeS2/SbCl3 ratios containing excessive chalcogen (Se + S), S decreases but Se increases from the center to the periphery as revealed by EDS elemental analyses performed on individual NRs. In particular, the 1D growth anisotropy of NRs allows for a large chalcogen concentration gradient along the axial direction of the resulting NRs from their middle to the two ends. Such non-uniform Se and S distributions can be rationally interpreted by analyzing the growth kinetics and processes of Sb2(Se,S)3 NRs and would give rise to uncommon (opto)electronic properties towards future nanowire-based devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting (EAQEC) codes could generalize and improve performance of standard quantum error-correcting (QEC) codes to a great extent. In this paper, series of EAQEC codes of length n = q - 1 a (q + 1) are constructed from cyclic codes and negacyclic codes, where q is a prime power and a is a positive integer such that a ∣ (q - 1) . It turns out that the number of required entanglement bits can take almost all possible values. Consequently, our EAQEC codes have flexible parameters and most of them are new. For given the same length, our construction contain and extend those known consequences in Grassl et al. (Int J Quantum Inf 2(1):55–64, 2004), Jin et al. (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 56:4735–4740, 2010), Kai et al. (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 60:2080–2086, 2014), Jin and Xing (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 60:2921–2925, 2014), Chen et al. (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 61:1474–1484, 2015), Zhang and Ge (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 61:5224–5228, 2015; Des Codes Cryptogr 83(3):503–517, 2016), Shi et al. (Cryptogr Commun 10(6):1165–1182, 2018; Finite Fields Appl 46:347–362, 2017), Fan et al. (Quantum Inf Comput 16:423–434, 2016), Lu et al. (Quantum Inf Process 17(69):1–23, 2018), Li et al. (Int J Quantum Inf 17(1):1950022, 2019), Liu et al. (Quantum Inf Process 17(210):1–19, 2018), Fang et al. (Euclidean and Hermitian Hulls of MDS Codes and Their Applications to EAQECCs. arXiv:https://arxiv.org/abs/1812.09019v3). Above all, all our codes are maximum-distance-separable (MDS) if their minimum distance d ≤ n + 2 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate narrow-sense and non-narrow-sense negacyclic Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem (NBCH) codes of length n = q m - 1 a (q m + 1) over F q 2 closely, where q is an odd prime power, m ≥ 3 is an odd integer and a ∣ (q m - 1) is an even integer. To derive accurate maximum designed distance of Hermitian dual containing NBCH codes, we define 2 ≤ a ≤ 2 q 2 - q - 1 for narrow-sense codes with δ m , a N and 2 ≤ a < 2 (q - 1) for non-narrow-sense codes with δ m , a NN . For given a, our maximum designed distance improves over the distance δ m A of Aly et al. (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 53:1183–1188, 2007) to a great extent, that is, δ m , a N = δ m , a NN = a + 2 2 δ m A . After determining dimensions of such Hermitian dual containing NBCH codes, we construct many new quantum codes via Hermitian construction naturally, whose parameters are better than the ones in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is a low-toxic, element-abundant, narrow bandgap (Eg = ∼1.1–1.3 eV) semiconductor that shows potential for UV-Visible-Near-infrared optoelectronic applications. This paper reports the use of potassium selenocyanate (KSeCN) as a novel molecular selenium source to synthesize Sb2Se3 uniform nanorods. The resulting nanorods have been carefully characterized and are found to exhibit decent photoconductivity as well as broad-spectrum optical absorption with an Eg value of ∼1.35 eV. A molecular reaction mechanism is rationally proposed and evidenced for forming Sb2Se3, which is related to the thermal decomposition of selenocyanate (SeCN−) anions through the cleaving of Se–CN bonds to elemental Se(0), followed by its reduction to Se2− anions. Our work using KSeCN offers an alternative method for the synthesis of metal selenides with desirable nanostructures and properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A colorimetric method is described for the determination of uric acid (UA). The assay is based on oxidative etching of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by chloroauric acid (HAuCl4). The presence of UA suppresses the redox reaction between AgNPs and HAuCl4 because a competitive reaction occurs between HAuCl4 and UA. This results in a color change of the solution from brown to yellow. In parallel, the absorbance is blue shifted from 477 to 428 nm. The method has a detection limit as low as 30 pM (at S/N = 3) and a linear response range that covers the 0.1 nM to 0.1 mM UA concentration range. The reliability of the method was successfully demonstrated by analyzing spiked serum samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By studying the properties of q 2 -cyclotomic cosets, the maximum designed distances of Hermitian dual-containing constacyclic Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem (BCH) codes with length n = 2 (q m + 1) are determined, where q is an odd prime power and m ≥ 3 is an integer. Further, their dimensions are calculated precisely for the given designed distance. Consequently, via Hermitian Construction, many new quantum codes could be obtained from these codes, which are not covered in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]