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Drought and salt stress are important limiting factors that affect crop growth and yield. As a newly recognized plant hormone, melatonin can participate in the regulation of plant stress tolerance and enhance the tolerance of plants to adversity. In this study, the effects of melatonin (150 µmol·L−1) on agronomic traits, osmotic adjustment substances, antioxidant enzyme activities, and reactive oxygen species content in C. esculentus under different salt (0 and 200 mmol·L−1 NaCl), drought (70% field capacity, 50% field capacity), and salt–drought (200 mmol·L−1 NaCl + 50% field capacity) stress conditions were determined using a pot experiment. Spraying with 150 µmol·L−1 of melatonin effectively improved the plant height, number of blades, biomass, and root growth of C. esculentus seedlings under salt, drought, and combined stress. In addition, this treatment also increased the relative water content, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase activities, and soluble sugar content of the blades and decreased the relative electroconductivity conductivity and proline, malondialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and superoxide anion contents. A comprehensive analysis showed that spraying the plants with exogenous melatonin could increase the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the accumulation of osmotic adjustment substances in C. esculentus blades under salt and drought stress, effectively remove excessive reactive oxygen species, alleviate oxidative damage, and enhance the ability of C. esculentus to resist salt and drought stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wetting boundary condition for handling contact line dynamics on three-dimensional curved geometries is developed in the lattice Boltzmann color-gradient framework. By combining the geometrical formation and the prediction-correction wetting scheme, the present wetting boundary condition is able to avoid the necessity to select an appropriate interface normal vector from its multiple solutions in the previous prediction-correction method. The effectiveness and accuracy of the wetting boundary condition are first validated by several benchmark cases, namely a droplet resting on a flat surface and on a solid sphere, and the spontaneous imbibition into a cylindrical tube. We then use the color-gradient model equipped with the developed wetting boundary condition to study the trapping behavior of a confined droplet in a microchannel with a cylindrical hole on the top surface, in which the effects of the hole radius and the droplet radius are identified for varying capillary numbers. Results show that the simulated critical capillary numbers, below which the droplet would be anchored by the hole, and the steady-state shapes of the anchored droplet generally match well with their theoretical solutions. The critical capillary number is found to decrease by either decreasing the hole radius or increasing the droplet radius, which is attributed to the weakened anchoring surface energy gradient and the enhanced driving force from outer flow, respectively. In addition, we show that the previous theoretical solutions are valid only when the initial droplet radius is greater than twice the height of the channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have fully discussed the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and achievement, but few of them regarded urban–rural differences as the moderating factor, which is an essential issue in urban–rural educational equalization in terms of educational outcomes. This study discusses the urban–rural heterogeneous effect of family SES on achievement and manifests the mediating role of education-related cultural factors. Based on the China Education Panel Survey data of 18,672 junior high school students, this study found the following: (1) family SES had a weaker positive effect among rural children than among urban children; (2) the urban–rural heterogeneous effect could be mediated by education-related cultural factors, i.e., learning environments and beliefs; and (3) in this regard, contemporary China is experiencing cultural reproduction rather than a cultural mobility mode. In Conclusion, although the urban–rural achievement gap will be maintained or even expanded in China, improving rural children's learning environments and beliefs opens up the possibility of alleviating disadvantages in achievement resulting from family socioeconomic disadvantages. Therefore, narrowing down the urban–rural achievement gap from a cultural perspective provides policy implications for educational development in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wetting boundary condition for dealing with moving contact lines on complex surfaces is developed in the lattice Boltzmann color-gradient model. The wetting boundary condition is implemented by combining the geometrical formulation of contact angle and the idea of the prediction–correction wetting scheme, which not only produces the desired contact angles with high accuracy but also avoids the necessity to select an appropriate interface normal vector from multiple solutions that satisfy the contact angle condition. Through the implementation in the framework of color-gradient model, the developed wetting boundary condition is validated against analytical solutions by a series of benchmark cases, including a droplet resting on a cylindrical surface and on a tilt wall, a liquid film migrating between two parallel plates, and the forced imbibition into a pore doublet. The simulation results of static contact angles show that the wetting boundary condition is able to simulate arbitrary values of contact angle and leads to negligible mass leakage across the boundary. For dynamic problems, the wetting boundary condition is found to correctly capture the imbibition dynamics under various flow and viscosity ratio conditions and produce dynamic contact angles that match well with the Cox–Voinov law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is a promising green substitute for conventional petroleum-based plastics in a variety of applications. However, the wide application of PLA is still limited by its disadvantages, such as slow crystallization rate, inadequate gas barrier, thermal degradation, etc. In this study, lignin (1, 3, 5 PHR) was incorporated into PLA to improve the thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties of PLA. Two low-viscosity epoxy resins, ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) and poly (ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDE), were used as compatibilizers to enhance the performance of the composites. The addition of lignin improved the onset degradation temperature of PLA by up to 15 °C, increased PLA crystallinity, improved PLA tensile strength by approximately 15%, and improved PLA oxygen barrier by up to 58.3%. The addition of EGDE and PEGDE both decreased the glass transition, crystallization, and melting temperatures of the PLA/lignin composites, suggesting their compatabilizing and plasticizing effects, which contributed to improved oxygen barrier properties of the PLA/lignin composites. The developed PLA/lignin composites with improved thermal, mechanical, and gas barrier properties can potentially be used for green packaging applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a rare disease with unclear diagnostic criteria among the children and adolescents. The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical features of pediatric Sjögren's syndrome and validate with Japanese diagnostic guidelines criteria of 2018. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the clinical data of a cohort of 54 patients with pediatric Sjögren's syndrome admitted to our hospital over a total of 10 years from September 2013 to September 2022. Results: The ratio of females to males was 49:5 among the 54 children (34 cases of primary SS and 20 cases of secondary SS), the average age of onset of symptoms for the first time was 9.9 years, and the average age at diagnosis was 10.2 years. In terms of subjective symptoms, 7 cases (13.0%) presented with dry mouth and 5 cases (9.3%) reported dry eyes. The positive rates were 9.3% for Schirmer I test, 70.4% for salivary gland function test, and 55.6% for salivary gland ultrasonography. The positive rates were 94.4% for Anti-Ro/SSA antibodies, 66.7% for Anti-La/SSB antibodies, 88.9% for ANA, 59.3% for RF, and the elevation rate of IgG was 63.0%. Among the EULAR Sjögren's syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI) domains, the biological, constitutional, glandular, cutaneous, and lymphadenopathy domains were most involved. Treatment consisted of glucocorticoids in 88.9% of the patients in our study and hydroxychloroquine in 92.6%. As per the Japanese version of the clinical practice guidance for Sjögren's Syndrome in pediatric patients (2018), 5 cases were identified as Definite SS, 35 cases as Probable SS, and 14 cases as Possible SS. With respect to primary and secondary SS, there was essentially no significant difference between the groups in any of the above aspects. Conclusions: Patients with pediatric SS presented with a wide spectrum of clinical features, a low prevalence of reported symptoms of dry mouth and dry eyes, and various clinical manifestations with multi-system involvement. These are similar to other pediatric study cohorts in terms of epidemiology, auxiliary investigation results, disease activity scores, and treatment. The coincidence between our study and the Japanese version of the clinical practice guidance for Sjögren's Syndrome in pediatric patients (2018) is good for the diagnosis of pediatric SS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress is a common environmental challenge that plants face, severely constraining plant growth and reducing crop yield and quality. Several studies have highlighted distinct responses between monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants. However, the mechanisms underlying flax tolerance to abiotic stress, such as drought, remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics and the genome-wide gene expression of oil flax and fiber flax in response to drought stress. The results revealed that drought stress caused significant wilting of flax leaves. Within the first 24 h of stress, various physiological and biochemical characteristics exhibited rapid responses. These included fresh weight, relative water content (RWC), proline, soluble protein, soluble sugar, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) in the leaves or roots of flax. Additionally, drought stress led to a significant rise in lignin content in fiber flax. In addition, the transcriptome analysis demonstrated genome-wide variations in gene expression induced by drought stress. Specifically, genes associated with photosynthesis, proline biosynthesis, and phytohormone metabolism exhibited significant differences in expression levels under stress conditions in flax. These findings highlight the rapid response of flax to drought stress within a short-term period. Our experiment also revealed that, although there were variations in the levels of small compound content or gene expression between Longya10 and Fany under drought stress, most stress-resistance responses were similar. Furthermore, the results provide additional evidence supporting the existence of mechanisms underlying the response to drought stress in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saline–alkali stress is a significant abiotic stress factor that impacts plant growth, development, and crop yield. Consistent with the notion that genome-wide replication events can enhance plant stress resistance, autotetraploid rice exhibited a higher level of tolerance to saline–alkali stress than its donor counterparts, which is reflected by differential gene expression between autotetraploid and diploid rice in response to salt, alkali, and saline–alkali stress. In this study, we investigated the expression of the transcription factors (TFs) in the leaf tissues of autotetraploid and diploid rice under different types of saline–alkali stress. Transcriptome analysis identified a total of 1040 genes from 55 TF families that were altered in response to these stresses, with a significantly higher number in autotetraploid rice compared to diploid rice. Contrarily, under these stresses, the number of expressed TF genes in autotetraploid rice was greater than that in diploid rice for all three types of stress. In addition to the different numbers, the differentially expressed TF genes were found to be from significantly distinct TF families between autotetraploid and diploid rice genotypes. The GO enrichment analysis unraveled that all the DEGs were distributed with differentially biological functions in rice, in particular those that were enriched in the pathways of phytohormones and salt resistance, signal transduction, and physiological and biochemical metabolism in autotetraploid rice compared to its diploid counterpart. This may provide useful guidance for studying the biological roles of polyploidization in plant resilience in response to saline–alkali stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lutetium dihydride LuH2 is stable at ambient conditions. Here we show that its color undergoes sequential changes from dark blue at ambient pressure to pink at ∼ 2.2 GPa and then to bright red at ∼ 4 GPa upon compression in a diamond anvil cell. Such a pressure-induced color change in LuH2 is reversible and it is very similar to that recently reported in the N-doped lutetium hydride [ Nature 615, 244 (2023)]. However, our preliminary resistance measurements on LuH2 under pressures up to ∼ 7 GPa evidenced no superconductivity down to 1.5 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presented the possible mechanism of arthritis damaged changes in cartilage's interstitial fluid flowing behavior. Firstly, the analytical solutions for the pore fluid pressure and velocity in the idealized cartilage defect model were obtained, which are employed to validate the finite element (FE) method. Then according to the MRI data, an articular cartilage FE model was developed to study the effects of defect characteristics on its poroelastic behaviors. The results showed the interstitial fluid pressure and velocity in defected articular cartilage is diminished, moreover, this trend is even more severe as the defect radius or thickness increased. As the development of osteoarthritis goes, the fluid velocity is decreased and cause the even serious nutrients loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lacto- N -fucopentaose V (LNFP V) is a typical human milk pentasaccharide. Multi-enzymatic in vitro synthesis of LNFP V from lactose was reported, however, microbial cell factory approach to LNFP V production has not been reported yet. In this study, the biosynthetic pathway of LNFP V was examined in Escherichia coli. The previously constructed E. coli efficiently producing lacto- N -tetraose was used as the starting strain. GDP-fucose pathway module and a regio-specific glycosyltransferase with α 1,3-fucosylation activity were introduced to realize the efficient synthesis of LNFP V. The α 1,3/4-fucosyltransferase from Bacteroides fragilis was selected as the best enzyme for in vivo biosynthesis of LNFP V from nine candidates, with the highest titer and the lowest by-product accumulation. A beneficial variant K128D was obtained to further enhance LNFP V titer using computer-assisted site-directed mutagenesis. The final strain EW10 could produce 25.68 g/L LNFP V by fed-batch cultivation, with the productivity of 0.56 g/L·h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue culture is an important experimental technique widely used for plant transformation and can induce somaclonal variation that is shown to be associated with genetic and epigenetic changes. However, the molecular basis of somaclonal variation and plant cell response to tissue culture has yet to be fully understood. In this study, we investigated gene expression, DNA methylation, and small RNA changes in regenerated lines (RL) compared with the wild-type progenitor plants (WT) of rice cv. Hitomebore. Using microarray, we identified many genes that were differentially expressed in the shoot-tip tissue and showed that TEs were generally activated in RL. Methylation Sensitive Amplification Polymorphism (MSAP) analysis of 5′CCGG sites combined with bisulfite sequencing detected a generally reduced DNA methylation in the RL lines. Small RNA sequencing analysis detected widespread changes in small RNA accumulation between RL and WT. In particular, repeat and TE-associated 24-nt size class of small RNAs, the inducer of RNA-directed DNA methylation, was in general down-regulated in RL, consistent with reduced CHG and CHH methylation at some of the differentially methylated TE loci. A large number of differentially expressed miRNAs were identified in RL and WT lines, including known and novel miRNAs. The expression of some of these miRNAs exhibited inverse correlation with the predicted target genes, suggesting a regulatory function. The RL plants looked similar to WT plants under normal conditions but showed significant phenotypic alterations under abiotic stress conditions. The widespread changes in DNA methylation, small RNA accumulation and gene expression in regenerated plants supports the role of epigenetic changes in tissue culture-induced somaclonal variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saline−alkaline stress is a critical abiotic stress that negatively affects plants' growth and development. Considerably higher enhancements in plant tolerance to saline−alkaline stress have often been observed in polyploid plants compared to their diploid relatives, the underlying mechanism of which remains elusive. In this study, we explored the variations in morphological and physiological characteristics, phytohormones, and genome-wide gene expression between an autotetraploid rice and its diploid relative in response to alkaline stress. It was observed that the polyploidization in the autotetraploid rice imparted a higher level of alkaline tolerance than in its diploid relative. An eclectic array of physiological parameters commonly used for abiotic stress, such as proline, soluble sugars, and malondialdehyde, together with the activities of some selected antioxidant enzymes, was analyzed at five time points in the first 24 h following the alkaline stress treatment between the diploid and autotetraploid rice. Phytohormones, such as abscisic acid and indole-3-acetic acid were also comparatively evaluated between the two types of rice with different ploidy levels under alkaline stress. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that gene expression patterns were altered in accordance with the variations in the cellular levels of phytohormones between diploid and autotetraploid plants upon alkaline stress. In particular, the expression of genes related to peroxide and transcription factors was substantially upregulated in autotetraploid plants compared to diploid plants in response to the alkaline stress treatment. In essence, diploid and autotetraploid rice plants exhibited differential gene expression patterns in response to the alkaline stress, which may shed more light on the mechanism underpinning the ameliorated plant tolerance to alkaline stress following genome duplication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann method, which couples the color-gradient model for two-phase fluid dynamics with a lattice diffusion-advection scheme for the elastic stress tensor, is developed to study the deformation and breakup of a Newtonian droplet in the Giesekus fluid matrix under simple shear flow. This method is first validated by the simulation of the single-phase Giesekus fluid in a steady shear flow and the droplet deformation in two different viscoelastic fluid systems. It is then used to investigate the effect of Deborah number De , mobility parameter α , and solvent viscosity ratio β on steady-state droplet deformation. We find for 0.025 < α < 0.5 that as De increases, the steady-state droplet deformation decreases until eventually approaching the one in the pure Newtonian case with the viscosity ratio of 1 / β , which is attributed to the strong shear-thinning effect at high De. While for lower α , the droplet deformation exhibits a complex nonmonotonic variation with De. Under constant De , the droplet deformation decreases monotonically with α but increases with β. Force analysis shows that De modifies the droplet deformation by altering the normal viscous and elastic stresses at both poles and equators of the droplet, while α mainly alters the normal stresses at the poles. Finally, we explore the roles of De and α on the critical capillary number C a cr of the droplet breakup. By establishing both Ca – De and Ca – α phase diagrams, we find that the critical capillary number increases with De or α except that a plateau critical capillary number is observed in Ca – De phase diagram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive relationships between structural diversity and forest productivity have been documented in controlled experiments and early secondary forests, however, negative relationships have also been observed in late successional forests. The mechanisms causing observed relationships between structural diversity and productivity are not well‐established, but complementarity among crowns and asymmetric competition have been suggested.We used LiDAR and repeated census data to examine the relationship between canopy structural diversity and productivity in nine 1‐ha subtropical forest plots along a disturbance gradient in southeastern China. We quantified the relative importance of community composition, species diversity, canopy structural diversity, leaf area index (LAI) and disturbance regime on productivity using piecewise structural equation modelling. We also tested how vertical leaf area distribution affected productivity.Contrary to many prior observations, we found a negative relationship between canopy structural diversity and forest productivity. The negative effect may stem from asymmetric competition between overstorey and understorey leaves, leading to a lower leaf area efficiency (i.e. wood production per leaf area). Asymmetric competition was suggested by a negative relationship between understorey leaf area and total productivity. Changes in community composition over the disturbance gradient, but not species diversity, had a significant effect on productivity.Synthesis. Our study suggests that leaf area and canopy structural diversity have contrasting effects on productivity in this subtropical forest, and this needs to be considered when estimating rates of carbon sequestration in secondary forests. The negative effect of asymmetric competition on productivity is comparable to that of the shift in species composition over succession, highlighting the role of canopy structural diversity in shaping forest productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter presents a feasible and cost‐effective approach to realize closed laminated core, which is used to realize on silicon integrated thin film inductors. The closed laminated core is fabricated by electroplating magnetic layers with an oxide insulation layer sputtered in‐between. This is compatible with the back end of line (BEOL) processes. The prototype of the thin film inductor with closed laminated core shows less degradation of AC inductance and smaller AC resistance at high frequencies than the variant with a solid core. Furthermore, it is tested in a 20‐MHz DC–DC converter. The peak efficiency of 80% was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A mathematical model is developed for penetration lengths in a pore doublet with arbitrary initial interface location. • The effects of initial interface location, capillary number, viscosity ratio and width ratio are investigated. • Phase diagrams are presented for the occurrence of backflow in a pore doublet. • The capillary valve effect is found to inhibit backflow in pore networks. Backflow is a typical flow phenomena in two-phase displacement, but it is rarely studied in the forced imbibition and it remains unknown if the backflow occurs in forced imbibition into a porous medium. In this paper, we focus on the forced imbibition and investigate the backflow behavior in pore doublet (PD) models and in dual-permeability pore networks. Inspired by Gu et al. (2021) and Shan et al. (2023), a general mathematical model is first developed to predict the evolution of the penetration length of wetting fluid in a PD with arbitrary initial interface locations. Based on the analytical predictions and numerical simulations, we then study the influence of initial interface location, capillary number, viscosity ratio, and channel width ratio on the backflow. Results show that the backflow in a PD is mainly attributed to high flow rate in narrow channel, driven by the dominant capillary force. To supplement the insufficiency of inlet flow rate, the fluid in wide channel has to flow backwards to fill the narrow channel. The backflow strengthens with the decrease of capillary number or viscosity ratio, but it exhibits non-monotonic variation with initial interface location and channel width ratio. Moreover, the phase diagrams showing the critical conditions for the occurrence of backflow are established in terms of capillary number, viscosity ratio and channel width ratio. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted to explore the occurrence of backflow in three different dual-permeability pore networks. It is found that the backflow does not occur in dual-permeability pore networks due to the low flow rate caused by overlap event and pronounced tortuosity in the low permeability zone, or occurs only in the early stage when the capillary valve effect does not work. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter demonstrates an on-silicon integrated thin film coupled inductor using a novel cascade matrix concept to suit multiphase integrated voltage regulator (IVR) applications. The novel cascade matrix coupled (CMC) stripline inductor facilitates all-phase-coupled configuration to reduce the phase ripple current in IVRs. It also shows excellent scalability and neat floor planning. Moreover, the proposed CMC inductor uses double layer metal scheme for windings and interconnects, which significantly reduces the ac winding resistance. A four-phase CMC inductor has been successfully fabricated on-silicon substrate and characterized, which uses conventional thin film magnetic core deposition process to achieve in-plane magnetic uniaxial anisotropy. The device occupies 3.2 × 1.7 mm2 floor area and provides 19.5 nH phase inductance with 120 mΩ dc resistance. The saturation current for each phase is up to 0.4 A when the phase inductance drops by approximately 20%. The coupling coefficient between any two phases of the proposed CMC inductor is 0.27, much higher and more controllable than that of toroid core-based coupled inductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the anomalous charge density wave (CDW) state evolution and dome-like superconductivity in CuIr2Te4âˆ' x Se x (0 â©˝ x â©˝ 0.5) series. Room temperature powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that CuIr2Te4âˆ' x Se x (0 â©˝ x â©˝ 0.5) compounds retain the same structure as the host CuIr2Te4 and the unit cell constants a and c manifest a linear decline with increasing Se content. Magnetization, resistivity and heat capacity results suggest that superconducting transition temperature (T c) exhibits a weak dome-like variation as substituting Te by Se with the maximum T c = 2.83 K for x = 0.1 followed by suppression in T c and simultaneous decrease of the superconducting volume fraction. Unexpectedly, the CDW-like transition (T CDW) is suppressed with lower Se doping (0.025 â©˝ x â©˝ 0.2) but re-emerges at higher doping (0.25 â©˝ x â©˝ 0.5). Meanwhile, the temperature-dependent XRD measurements show that the trigonal structure is stable at 20 K, 100 K and 300 K for the host sample and the doping composition with x = 0.5, thus we propose that the behavior CDW-like transition arises from the disorder effect created by chemical doping and is not related to structural transition. The lower and the upper critical fields of these compounds are also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), highlights major gaps in our knowledge on the prevention control and cross‐species transmission mechanisms of animal coronaviruses. Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), and porcine delta coronavirus (PDCoV) are three common swine coronaviruses and have similar clinical features. In the absence of effective treatments, they have led to significant economic losses in the swine industry worldwide. We reported that indoles exerted potent activity against swine coronaviruses, the molecules used included melatonin, indole, tryptamine, and L‐tryptophan. Herein, we did further systematic studies with melatonin, a ubiquitous and versatile molecule, and found it inhibited TGEV, PEDV, and PDCoV infection in PK‐15, Vero, or LLC‐PK1 cells by reducing viral entry and replication, respectively. Collectively, we provide the molecular basis for the development of new treatments based on the ability of indoles to control TGEV, PEDV, and PDCoV infection and spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: X inactivation-specific transcript (XIST) is the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) related to cancer, which is involved in the development and progression of various types of tumor. However, up to now, the exact role and molecular mechanism of XIST in the progression of ovarian cancer are not clear. We studied the function of XIST in ovarian cancer cells and clinical tumor specimens. Methods: RT-qPCR was performed to detect the expression levels of miR-335 and BCL2L2 in ovarian cancer cells and tissues. MTT and transwell assays were carried out to detect cell proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities. Western blot was performed to analyze the expression level of BCL2L2. The interaction between miR-335 and XIST/BCL2L2 was confirmed using a luciferase reporter assay. Results: The inhibition of XIST can inhibit the proliferation invasion and migration of human ovarian cancer cells. In addition, the miR-335/BCL2L2 axis was involved in the functions of XIST in ovarian cancer cells. These results suggested that XIST could regulate tumor proliferation and invasion and migration via modulating miR-335/BCL2L2. Conclusion: XIST might be a carcinogenic lncRNA in ovarian cancer by regulating miR-335, and it can serve as a therapeutic target in human ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong near‐field coupling between small catalytic Pt nanoparticles (NPs) and their dielectric supports can be achieved while visible light absorption in the Pt NPs is greatly enhanced via rationally designing the dielectric–Pt core–satellite configuration. Herein, it is demonstrated that the absorption enhancement is mediated by the Mie resonances of the support and the absorption peaks are induced by the magnetic Mie resonances. Utilizing both multipole decomposition analysis and numerical near‐field mapping, resonances including magnetic dipole, magnetic quadrupole, and higher modes are verified. For the generation of strong Mie resonances, a dielectric support with a high refractive index, like TiO2, can be used not only as the core directly, but also as a shell coated beneath or above the Pt NP layer. Additionally, the redshifts between the absorption peaks contributed by the Pt NPs and the scattering peaks contributed by the dielectric core are ascribed to the intrinsical spectral deviation between near‐ and far‐field optical properties. These findings benefit significantly both the fundamental understanding and optimized design of dielectric supported Pt photocatalysts, providing new opportunities for solar energy conversion and visible light photocatalysis using nonplasmonic catalytic transition metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-pronged concept combining photodynamic therapy (PDT) and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) blockade in a minimalist nanoplatform was proposed to combat basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) metastasis. Based on PDT-mediated tumor killing and epalrestat (Epa)-mediated EMT blockade, as-prepared Ce6/Epa nanoparticles prevented BLBC metastasis effectively in vivo, providing a very promising two-pronged strategy against BLBC metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) plays a pivotal role in metabolism. Convenient detection of NADH and its related metabolites has the pursuit of point-of-care and clinical analysis. Here, we propose a polymer dots (Pdots)-based NADH-sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor for detection of NADH and three metabolites. Pdots acted as the efficient ECL emitters without additional modification to construct this biosensor. Specially, NADH both acted as the final detection target and at the same time as the bio-coreactants to sensitively influence the ECL intensities, in which NADH was generated or consumed in the presence of the target analyte and their specific enzyme. For glucose and lactic acid detection, NAD+ was reduced to NADH to generate an enhanced ECL signal. Conversely, for pyruvate detection, NADH was consumed to further decrease the ECL. The designed Pdots-based ECL biosensor showed wide detection ranges, high selectivity and low limits of detection of 4.6 μM, 0.7 μM and 0.5 μM for the analysis of three analytes, respectively. This strategy was successfully applied in quantifying the concentrations of glucose, lactic acid and pyruvate in human serum, which also has the potential to be implemented as a powerful and fast tool for ECL sensing of NADH and other related metabolites for point-of-care use and disease monitoring. [Display omitted] • A polymer dot-based NADH-sensitive electrochemiluminescent biosensor is developed. • The biosensor realized convenient and universal analysis of multiple metabolites. • The biosensor had high sensitivity and wide detection range for three metabolites. • The strategy is competent for target analysis in the serum samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We have designed and fabricated a new type 3D nonlinear photonic crystal containing two-layer fork-shaped χ(2) gratings. Different from the periodic fork structures in Nat. Commun. 10 , 4193 (2019), these fork gratings are aligned in an antiparallel configuration. In this way, we are able to study the interference of these layers in the context of nonlinear wave front shaping, instead of pure energy flow in Nat. Commun. 10 , 4193 (2019). • We show 3D nonlinear photonic crystals have advantages over the one- and two-dimensional peers because the multiple χ(2) layers can lead to their own nonlinear diffracted second harmonics and their subsequent interference offers more possibilities to generate structured beams at the harmonic frequency. According to the best of our knowledge, no similar study has been conducted prior to this work. We show that nonlinear diffraction in nonlinear photonic crystal offers a convenient way to generate structured light at new frequencies. To this end we fabricate a 3D nonlinear photonic crystal containing two layers of fork-shaped ferroelectric domain gratings. Illumination of the structure by a fundamental Gaussian beam leads to the generation of two co-propagating second harmonic vortices with opposite topological charges, whose subsequent interference forms Hermite–Gaussian (HG) beams in far field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for transporting coreactant to emitter and short lifetime of the radicals in electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emission inhibit greatly its application in cytosensing and microscopic imaging. Herein we designed a dual intramolecular electron transfer strategy and tertiary amine conjugated polymer dots (TEA‐Pdots) to develop a coreactant‐embedded ECL mechanism and microimaging system. The TEA‐Pdots could produce ECL emission at +1.2 V without need of coreactant in test solution. The superstructure and intramolecular electron transfer led to unprecedented ECL strength, which was 132 and 45 times stronger than those from the mixture of Pdots with TEA at equivalent and 62.5 times higher amounts, respectively. The ECL efficiency was even higher than that of typical [Ru(bpy)3]2+ system. Therefore, this strategy and coreactant‐embedded ECL system could be used for in situ ECL microimaging of membrane protein on single living cells without additional permeable treatment for transporting coreactant. The feasibility and validity were demonstrated by evaluating the specific protein expression on cell surface. This work opens new avenues for ECL applications in single cell analysis and dynamic study of biological events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for transporting coreactant to emitter and short lifetime of the radicals in electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emission inhibit greatly its application in cytosensing and microscopic imaging. Herein we designed a dual intramolecular electron transfer strategy and tertiary amine conjugated polymer dots (TEA‐Pdots) to develop a coreactant‐embedded ECL mechanism and microimaging system. The TEA‐Pdots could produce ECL emission at +1.2 V without need of coreactant in test solution. The superstructure and intramolecular electron transfer led to unprecedented ECL strength, which was 132 and 45 times stronger than those from the mixture of Pdots with TEA at equivalent and 62.5 times higher amounts, respectively. The ECL efficiency was even higher than that of typical [Ru(bpy)3]2+ system. Therefore, this strategy and coreactant‐embedded ECL system could be used for in situ ECL microimaging of membrane protein on single living cells without additional permeable treatment for transporting coreactant. The feasibility and validity were demonstrated by evaluating the specific protein expression on cell surface. This work opens new avenues for ECL applications in single cell analysis and dynamic study of biological events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a novel suspension array of polystyrene (PS) beads for simultaneous recognition and quantification of multiple cancer-associated microRNAs (miRNAs) using flow cytometry has been reported. The suspension array contained three moieties, streptavidin-modified PS beads, biotin-labeled substrate strands (17S) of the 17–8 DNAzyme and two split DNAzyme parts (PA, PB). 17S was labeled with 6-carboxyfluorescein (FAM) and Dabcyl on both sides of the ribonucleic acid. Once the target miRNAs appear, they can bind with the corresponding PA and PB to form an active secondary structure of DNAzyme. The active DNAzyme can cleave 17S and remove Dabcyl from the bead's surface, thus recovering the FAM's fluorescence intensity. Furthermore, the released target miRNA can autonomously move to the neighboring inactive DNAzyme for further cleavage, thus amplifying the fluorescence signal. Therefore, the target miRNAs can be quantified by reading the fluorescence intensity output from flow cytometry. The PS beads-based suspension array for the target miRNA in buffer shows good selectivity and high sensitivity. Via binding with a different pair of PA and PB, this suspension sensor array has successfully typed and quantified cancer-associated miRNAs of miR-21, miR-155, miR-335, and miR-122 in buffer and serum conditions. Image 1 • A novel microsphere-based suspension array for simultaneous determination of multiple cancer-associated miRNA was developed. • DNAzymes have various unique features, such as high stability, convenient preparation, and good signal amplification. • DNAzymes are able to recognize target miRNAs via complementary base paring, thus showing excellent sensing specificity. • This flow cytometry strategy has a broad application prospect in multiple miRNAs-associated cancer diagnosis and typing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver fibrosis is an intrinsic repair process of chronic injury with excessive deposition of extracellular matrix. As an early stage of various liver diseases, liver fibrosis is a reversible pathological process. Therefore, if not being controlled in time, liver fibrosis will evolve into cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. It has been demonstrated that hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) play a crucial role in the formation of liver fibrosis. In particular, the activation of HSCs is a key step for liver fibrosis. Recent researches have suggested that autophagy and inflammasome have biological effect on HSC activation. Herein, we review current studies about the impact of autophagy and NOD-like receptors containing pyrin domain 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome on liver fibrosis and the underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we fabricated three kinds of Ag/Fe 2 O 3 model catalysts with different morphologies to study the interfacial interactions between Ag and Fe 2 O 3 , and how they affected the catalytic activity in hydrogenation of p -nitrophenol was explored. The hydrothermal method was used to synthesize the metal oxide supported silver catalyst, with various morphologies including nanoplates (NPs), nanospheres (NSs), and nanocubes (NCs). The crystal structure, morphology and surface elements of the composite were investigated by various measurements, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The catalytic activity was also evaluated by the reduction of p -nitrophenol to p -aminophenol. It was found that the activities of the above catalysts varied with the morphology of the support. Among them, Ag/Fe 2 O 3 NPs promoted the highest performance, Ag/Fe 2 O 3 NSs were slightly inferior, and Ag/Fe 2 O 3 NCs were the worst. At last, we ascribed the remarkable activity of Ag/Fe 2 O 3 NPs to the strong metal-support interactions between Ag and Fe 2 O 3. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A natural biomaterial l -Arginine has been successfully exploited in inverted OSCs as electron transfer layer. • l -Arginine can be processed by eco-friendly and inexpensive water solution. • l -Arginine can reduce cathode work function and efficiently extract electrons. Proper interfacial modification is a necessary condition for high-performance organic solar cells (OSCs). In this work, l -Arginine (l -Arg) with the advantages of low price, friendly environment and widespread existence in natural was successfully introduced into inverted OSCs as electron transport layer (ETL). Compared to the devices without ETL (bare ITO), the open circuit voltage (V OC), short circuit current density (J SC) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the ITO/ l -Arg /PTB7-Th:PC 71 BM/MoO 3 /Ag device was increased to 0.77 V, 17.25 mA·cm−2 and 9.00% from 0.36 V, 14.99 mA·cm−2, 1.90%, respectively. What's more, the photovoltaic performance of the device with ZnO/ l -Arg double ETL was further improved (PCE (9.31%)). The excellent PCE resulting from the improved work function and the increased interface conductivity, and thus more effective carrier extraction and collection. Furthermore, the lifetime of the device with ZnO/ l -Arg double ETL was significantly increased in comparison with that of with pure ZnO ETL. The results indicated that double ETL formed by the introduction of l -Arg, which provides an efficient, low-cost, green and healthy method for the preparation of high-performance OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-component conjugated polymers of a strong donor–acceptor (D–A) type could be synthesized by Pd-catalyzed Suzuki coupling polymerization reaction of 1,2-bis(4-bromophenyl)-1,2-diphenylethene (M-1) with 9-octyl-3,6-bis(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)-9H-carbazole (M-2) and 4,6-bis((E)-4-bromostyryl)-2,2-difluoro-5-phenyl-2H-1l3,3,2l4-dioxaborinine (M-3). Among them, P-1 and P-2 with high TPE ratios at 0.95 and 0.9 showed obvious aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior; in contrast P-3 with a low TPE ratio at 0.8 showed an aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) phenomenon. In particular, the three resulting polymer dots (P-1 to P-3 Pdots) exhibited a 200 mV lower electrochemiluminescence (ECL) potential due to their strong D–A electronic structure. Most importantly, the ECL signals of Pdots could be enhanced as high as 3 times by increasing their AIE-active TPE moiety ratios from 0.8 (P-3) to 0.95 (P-1) via the band gap emission process. Herein, P-1 Pdots with the strongest ECL signal were successfully used as ECL biosensors for the detection of catechol, epinephrine and dopamine with detection limits of 1, 7 and 3 nM, respectively. This work provides a new strategy for developing highly sensitive ECL biosensors by the smart structure design of the AIE-active Pdots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we report a novel fluorescence method for the highly selective and sensitive detection of RNase H by combining the use of a dual-pyrene-labeled DNA/RNA duplex with supramolecular inclusion-enhanced fluorescence. Initially, the probe is in the "off" state due to the rigidness of the double-stranded duplex, which separates the two pyrene units. In the presence of RNase H, the RNA strand of the DNA/RNA duplex will be hydrolyzed, and the DNA strand transforms into a hairpin structure, bringing close the two pyrene units which in turn enter the hydrophobic cavity of a γ-cyclodextrin. As a result, the pyrene excimer emission is greatly enhanced, thereby realizing the detection of RNase H activity. Under optimal conditions, RNase H detection can be achieved in the range from 0.08 to 4 U/mL, with a detection limit of 0.02 U/mL. Image 1 • A novel pyrene excimer switching-based fluorescence method was developed for the highly selective detection of RNase H. • The sensor exhibited high selectivity both in an ideal solution and in complex biological samples. • The developed sensor is suitable for evaluating screening potential agents to inhibit RNase H activity. • The proposed strategy holds the prospect for early diagnosis of diseases associated with abnormal RNase H activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difficulty in regularly analyzing marrow myeloma cells (MMCs) and low frequency of circulating myeloma cells (CMCs) in blood presents challenges for monitoring minimal residual disease (MRD) in multiple myeloma (MM). We have developed a set of method for enrichment of CMCs by immunomagetic beads (IMB) combined with flow cytometry (IMB-FCM) based on CD38-APC/CD138-APC antibodies in U266-spiked samples and in 122 patient samples. U266 cell capture efficiency of CD38/CD138-IMB-FCM (6.960, 2.574) was 6- and 2-fold higher than that of FCM (1.032), and the sensitivity of FCM and IMB-FCM was 0.01% and 0.001%, respectively. In MM cohort, the positive rate of CMCs by IMB-FCM increased from 60.5~70.0 to 85~87.2% in newly diagnosed/relapsed and partial remission (PR) patients compared with by FCM (P < 0.05). Two complete remission (CR) patients contain certain amounts of CMCs by IMB-FCM while no CMCs and MMCs were detectable by FCM. Patients exhibiting PR and CR upon therapy had much lower CMC and MMC counts than newly diagnosed/relapsed patients (P < 0.005). Based on MRD measurement in BM and PB samples, all FCM-negative BM samples were also paired with FCM/IMB-FCM-negative PB samples among newly diagnosed, relapsed, and PR patients, and FCM-positive BM samples were accompanied by IMB-FCM-positive results in 88% of corresponding PB samples. CMCs strongly associated with other clinical biomarkers of disease burden, including elevated MMCs, β2-MG, sCrea, and DS and ISS stages, and more serious anemia, bone destruction, and renal impairment (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that elevated β2-MG and moderate-to-more anemia were significant risk factors for the presence of CMCs (P < 0.05). As a noninvasive "liquid biopsy" of monitoring MRD, the potential of IMB-FCM for CMC detection may complement or minimize bone marrow aspiration in future treatment of MM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to accurately and efficiently identify different types of intrusion signals of optical fiber perimeter security systems, this paper proposes a novel intrusion signal recognition method based on an echo state network (ESN). A perimeter security system based on an in-line Sagnac interferometer is employed to simulate in lab two laying situations of the sensing fiber: attached to a physical fence or buried under ground and acquire various event signals. The preprocessed signals are input into a trained well ESN to identify different types of events. The final recognition result of an event signal segment is determined according to the most dominant classification label corresponding to the signal segment. As a result, the average identification rates are 98.75% and 100% for the two laying situations, respectively. The proposed method has no need of extracting signal features and a large number of samples to train the classifier model. Therefore, more accurate and more effective intrusion identification can be achieved by the method than by others. The method is expected to satisfy the requirements of the practical application in the security field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral image (HSI) classification (HIC) has attracted much attention in the last decade. Spectral–spatial HIC methods have been the state-of-the-art methods in recent years. Small labeled training sample size (SLTSS) problem is still an important issue in HIC. This paper presents a spectral–spatial HIC method that is based on superpixel (SP) segmentation and distance-weighted linear regression classifier to tackle the SLTSS problem. First, SP segmentation is applied to the original HSI. Then, those SPs that contain training samples belonging to only one class are first searched out, and all the pixels of each of these SPs are assigned to the class of the training samples it contains. Next, with the identified labels, all these classified pixels are added to the initial training sample set for training sample set enlargement. Later, using this enlarged training sample set, the distance-weighted linear regression classifier is applied to classify each mean vector of each SP. Finally, the last classification map is obtained by assigning each SP with the same label as its mean vector. Experimental results on three HSI data sets demonstrate that the proposed approach can solve SLTSS problem very well and outperforms several state-of-the-art algorithms in classification accuracy under different training samples sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to fine particular matter (≤2.5 μM, PM 2.5) contributes to increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Hydroxytyrosol (HT), a simple polyphenol found in virgin olive oil, is considered to be beneficial for cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. The current study determined whether HT could improve PM 2.5 -induced adiposity and insulin resistance (IR), and explored the underlying mechanisms. Fifteen adult female C57BL/6j mice on a chow diet were randomly divided into three groups receiving (1) sterile PBS, (2) PM 2.5 suspended in sterile PBS (1 mg/mL) and (3) PM 2.5 +HT (50 mg/kg/day). PM 2.5 /PBS exposure was administered by oropharynx instillation every other day and HT supplementation was achieved by gavage every day. Four-week PM 2.5 exposure did not affect body weight, but significantly increased visceral fat mass. The abdominal adiposity coincided with adipocyte hypertrophy and proliferation in visceral white adipose tissue (WAT), as well as decreased metabolic activity in brown adipose tissue and subcutaneous WAT. PM 2.5 enhanced the oxidative stress by diminishing antioxidant enzyme activities in liver and serum, whereas contents of 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in liver and serum were elevated. These changes were accompanied by macrophage infiltration and activation of NF-κB pathway in the liver. Moreover, PM 2.5 exposure led to glucose intolerance and insulin insensitivity, impaired hepatic glycogenesis, and decreased insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation in peripheral tissues. Importantly, HT treatment prevented PM 2.5 -induced visceral adipogenesis, oxidative stress, hepatic inflammation and NF-κB activation, systemic and peripheral IR. In vitro, after HepG2 cells were incubated with PM 2.5 (0, 5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/mL), reduced glutathione depletion and 4-HNE, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, MDA increment in a dose-dependent manner were observed; likewise, insulin-stimulated glucose uptake decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Further, with antioxidant NAC and NF-κB inhibitor PDTC, we confirmed that HT attenuated PM 2.5 -induced IR through restraining NF-κB activation evoked by oxidative stress. In addition, HT could expand gut microbiota richness, reduce pathogenic bacteria and accommodate the microbial architecture in PM 2.5 -exposed mice, which were correlated with parameters of adiposity, oxidative stress and glycometabolism. HT could effectively correct imbalanced oxidative stress triggered by PM 2.5 , in turn ameliorated NF-κB pathway and insulin signaling. Gut microbiota may mediate the actions of HT. A schematic illustration of how HT interfered with PM 2.5 -induced oxidative stress and metabolic disorders in vivo and in vitro. vWAT, visceral white adipose tissue; scWAT, subcutaneous WAT; BAT, brown adipose tissue; PPARγ, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma; C/EBPα, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha; UCP1, uncoupling protein 1; COX2, cyclooxygenase 2; IL-1β, interleukin 1beta; TNFα, tumor necrosis factor alpha; GSK3β, glycogen synthase kinase 3β; GS, glycogen synthase; ↑indicates increase, ↓indicates decrease. Image 1 • Hydroxytyrosol alleviates PM 2.5 -induced visceral adiposity, oxidative stress, insulin resistance (IR), and gut dysbiosis. • Hydroxytyrosol mitigates hepatic IR through inhibiting NF-κB activation derived from oxidative stress induced by PM 2.5. • Modulation of gut microbiota may mediate the pharmacologic actions of orally administrated Hydroxytyrosol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stamping process produces thin-walled structures that, in general, have uniform wall thickness and no enclosed cavity. However, it is difficult to satisfy the above geometric requirements with the current density-based topology optimization method, since configuring the related geometric constraints is challenging. In order to solve this problem, a topology optimization method for stamping structures based on a directional density field is proposed. Specifically, the directional density field is developed to enable the adding and removing of materials only along the stamping direction, so as to avoid internal voids and concave features. The geometric control for uniform wall thickness is realized by tuning the truncation threshold of the Heaviside projection that processes the directional density field into the 0–1 binary field. At the same time, a calibrated filter radius of the truncation thresholds will facilitate the drawing angle control of the stamping ribs. The effectiveness of the established method has been verified by a number of numerical case studies. Results show that the proposed method can perform topology optimization for stamping structures with tunable uniform thickness and drawing angle control of the ribs. No internal voids or undercuts appear in the results. The results also disclose that a constant truncation threshold increment does not guarantee uniform wall thickness, and varying the threshold increments through surface offset and polynomial fitting is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • IRMOF-3 nanosheets are filled into glass fiber filters to prepare MOF nanosheet-filled membranes. • GCMC simulations suggest a synergistic H 2 /CO 2 separation mechanism based on selective adsorption and size exclusion. • The H 2 /CO 2 selectivity reaches 1341 ± 134. Metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheets have been identified as promising membrane materials for various separation applications. However, the development of MOF nanosheet membranes for practical applications is impeded by the difficulties in preparing ultrathin nanosheets and the limitations of conventional membrane production methods. For the first time, conveniently prepared and purified isoreticular MOF-3 (IRMOF-3) nanosheets are filled into macroporous glass fiber (GF) filters to prepare IRMOF-3 nanosheet-filled GF (IRMOF-3@GF X , X = filling amount expressed in mg) membranes. The IRMOF-3@GF 2.0 membrane exhibits an impressively high H 2 /CO 2 selectivity of 1341 ± 134, and the H 2 permeance reaches 974 ± 41 gas permeance units (GPU). In addition, the IRMOF-3@GF 2.0 membrane shows excellent durability with no performance degradation during a 150-h test. Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations are performed to investigate the H 2 /CO 2 separation mechanism and the results suggest a synergistic separation mode based on selective adsorption and size exclusion. The innovative filled-membrane fabrication route and the presented gas separation mechanism offer a new strategy to design and prepare MOF nanosheet-based gas separation membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two novel polymorphs of adefovir dipivoxil-saccharin (AD-SAC) cocrystals, forms II and III, were prepared and characterized by PXRD, DSC, FT-IR and SEM. Polymorphic transformations of these two forms and the known form (form I) were also investigated. In comparison to form I, forms II and III of AD-SAC cocrystals showed different thermal behaviors on DSC, characteristic diffraction peaks on PXRD and absorption spectra on FT-IR. In addition, form I exhibited an irregular plate-like shape, while forms II and III showed as needle-like shape and stubby columnar shape, respectively. During the heating process on DSC, forms I and II underwent solid-solid transformations to form III with endothermic transition peaks, suggesting that forms I and II were enantiotropically related to form III. Furthermore, slurry conversion experiments in ethanol showed forms II and III would quickly convert to form I by solution-mediated transformation, indicating that form I was the most stable form among three forms of AD-SAC cocrystal from 15 to 50 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A spherical DNAzyme-based two-photon nanoprobe has been developed for high sensitive and selective monitoring of miRNA in live cells. • DNAzyme has the significant signal amplification ability. • The SNA probe has the properties of resistance to enzymatic degradation, enhanced nucleic acid binding and excellent cellular uptake. • This two-photon SNA probe may serve as a new tool for getting insight into the functionality of miRNAs in a wide range of biological processes. Abstract Two-photon excitation (TPE) has excellent properties, such as lower tissue self-absorption and autofluorescence, reduced photodamage and photobleaching, and higher spatial resolution. Meanwhile, DNAzyme has significant signal amplification ability, and the gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-based spherical nucleic acid (SNA) has the properties of resistance to enzymatic degradation, enhanced nucleic acid binding and excellent cellular uptake. Taking advantage of their properties, in this work, we constructed a novel SNA-based TPE fluorescent DNAzyme probe for the selective and sensitive detection of target miRNA in living cells. Briefly, AuNPs were first functionalized with the substrate sequences hybridized to two split fragments of the 8–17 DNAzyme-contained sequence. Then, numerous two-photon absorption (TPA)-dye molecules of Ethyl-4-[3,6-Bis (1-methyl-4-vinylpyridium iodine)-9 H -carbazol-9-yl)] (EBMVC) were inserted into the substrate/split-DNAzyme duplexes on the surface of the AuNP to form the TPE SNA nanoprobe in the "off" fluorescence emission state. When the target miRNA is bound, the conformation of the split DNAzymes will change resulting in the activation of their catalytic ability, thus leading to cleavage of the substrate sequences and the release of the TPA-dye molecules-inserted DNAzyme motif from the surface of the AuNP. Concurrently, the released target miRNA would autonomously hybridize with another split DNAzyme motif and activate further cleavage reactions. This would induce the gradual dissociation of the TPA-dye molecules-inserted DNAzyme motifs from the surface of the AuNP through the repeated target miRNA hybridization-activated cleavage reaction and thereby trigger the cascade TPE fluorescence emission, ultimately achieving the detection of the miRNA through amplification of the fluorescence signals. The assay was successfully validated with clean buffer conditions as well as with cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Microorganisms are vital to biogeochemical cycles. However, heavy metal contamination has been implicated in altering the microbial community. Antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) in soils can alter soil bacterial community composition in previous studies and, therefore, may have effects on soil fungal and archaeal community composition. The aim of this study was to assess the microbial activity and fungal and archaeal community composition in long-term Sb and As contamination areas. We analyzed soil respiration rates from 247.91 μg C/kg SDW h to 1372.93 μg C/kg SDW h, which revealed a positive correlation with concentrations of antimony (r = 0.79). The microbial diversity indices (Shannon and Simpson indices) showed that the abundances of the fungal and archaeal communities were more sensitive to As. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that soil properties and contamination are drivers controlling the fungal and archaeal community. All of these two microbial groups responded strongly to pH. However, the dominant drivers for fungal and archaeal community composition were very different. These differences were related to limiting conditions for different species, with fungal community composition affected strongly by pH, TC, TSb, RI and Sb DGT , while archaeal community composition was mainly affected by the pH, As DGT and TAs. Furthermore, soil respiration showed a very strong relationship with fungal community composition with r2 = 0,60, p < 0.01. These results showed that microbial responses to contamination gradients of Sb and As were heterogeneous due to the limiting environmental conditions of different microbial taxa. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • First time for fungal and archaeal community in Sb and As contaminated soil • A positive correlation between soil basal respiration rates and T Sb • Fungal and archaeal community both responded strongly to the soil pH. • Sb affects fungal more than archaeal community while As exerts opposite effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid method is developed for simulation of electrohydrodynamics interfacial flows. This method uses a lattice Boltzmann color model to describe the immiscible two-phase flow and a finite volume method to solve the Poisson equation for electric potential. The lattice Boltzmann and finite volume simulations are coupled by the leaky dielectric model. The method is applied to simulate a single droplet subject to a steady electric field, in which the influence of electric capillary number (CaE), dielectric constant ratio (Q) inside and outside of the droplet, and electric conductivity ratio (R) is studied for both oblate and prolate droplets. For a droplet undergoing small deformation, our numerical results are found to agree well with theoretical predictions, justifying the numerical method. Results of oblate droplets show that at low R, the droplet undergoes the transition from steady deformation to breakup with CaE, and the critical electric capillary number for droplet breakup, CaEB, decreases with increasing Q, whereas at high R, the droplet does not break up but finally reaches a steady shape regardless of the value of CaE. For prolate droplets, the droplet state may undergo the transition from steady shape to periodic oscillation and finally to breakup as CaE increases. Increasing Q increases both CaEB and the critical electric capillary number CaEO, which characterizes the transition from steady shape to periodic oscillation, but the increase in CaEO is less significant. In the CaE-R diagram, the periodic oscillation is limited to a small range, and increasing R decreases CaEB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) gene is one of the most-studied candidate genes related to essential hypertension (EH). Pulse pressure (PP) may reflect vascular stiffness, especially in patients with EH, and has been used to predict EH. Previous evidence has indicated that obesity is a traditional risk factor of hypertension. The aim of the present study was to investigate the interaction between the obesity status and ACE gene polymorphisms on the development of high level of PP. A total of 1980 adults (1024 hypertensive and 956 normotensive) were included in this study and genotyped for ACE gene polymorphisms. The results showed that rs4343 and rs4351 in ACE gene were risk factors of high level of pulse pressure (p < 0.05). We also detected positive interactions between the two SNPs and obesity status in the pathway of high level PP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Selecting only part of classes to collaboratively represent a test sample is useful. • Can use only the first k -nearest classes to collaboratively represent a test sample. • Put forward a k -nearest classes based classification scheme. • k -nearest classes based algorithms are more accurate. • k -nearest classes based algorithms are less time-consuming. Abstract Sparse representation based classification (SRC) and collaborative representation based classification (CRC), have been widely used in many fields such as face recognition and hyperspectral image classification. All known pattern classes of the training samples are used by SRC and CRC to collaborative represent a test sample, which may be time-consuming and unnecessary. This paper proposes the use of only a part of known pattern classes to collaboratively represent a test sample. Specifically, only the first k (a pre-given constant) classes that are nearest to the sample to be tested are used. With these k -nearest classes (KNCs), SRC and CRC, each can be generalized as KNCs based SRC (KNCSRC) and KNCs based CRC(KNCCRC), and conversely, SRC and CRC can be seen as special cases of KNCSRC and KNCCRC, respectively. Weighted SRC (WSRC) and weighted CRC (WCRC) also can be generalized as KNCs based WSRC (KNCWSRC) and KNCs based WCRC (KNCWSRC), respectively. Competitive classification experiments are carried out on five databases to evaluate the proposed classification scheme. The experimental results show that, in all cases, the proposed KNCSRC and KNCCRC outperform SRC and CRC, respectively.The results also prove that the proposed KNCWCRC outperforms WCRC. In conclusion, collaborative representation with KNCs can further improve collaborative representation based classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Antimony (Sb) is a toxic metalloid, and its pollution has become a global environmental problem as a result of its extensive use and corresponding Sb-mining activities. The toxicity and mobility of Sb strongly depend on its chemical speciation. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the biogeochemical processes (including emission, distribution, speciation, redox, metabolism and toxicity) that trigger the mobilization and transformation of Sb from pollution sources to the surrounding environment. Natural phenomena such as weathering, biological activity and volcanic activity, together with anthropogenic inputs, are responsible for the emission of Sb into the environment. Sb emitted in the environment can adsorb and undergo redox reactions on organic or inorganic environmental media, thus changing its existing form and exerting toxic effects on the ecosystem. This review is based on a careful and systematic collection of the latest papers during 2010–2017 and our research results, and it illustrates the fate and ecological effects of Sb in the environment. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene oxide (GO)-based membranes have been widely studied for various separation applications, but it is highly desirable to tailor their structure for the separation of small molecules such as hydrogen. Herein, we demonstrate the fabrication of a thin GO membrane by using a low-cost and highly gas permeable glass fiber (GF) filter as a porous substrate. By partial thermal reduction of GO, the interlayer channel size of the GF-supported GO membrane is precisely tailored for molecular sieving, leading to extraordinarily enhanced hydrogen separation performance. With the synergistic effect of retained functional-group interactions, the quasi-reduced GO (q-rGO) membrane displays a H 2 permeance of 783 ± 50 gas permeance units (GPU) and an impressive H 2 /CO 2 separation factor as high as 3636 ± 312, which is the highest selectivity for H 2 /CO 2 reported thus far. In addition, the q-rGO membrane exhibits excellent durability with no performance degradation during a 120-h test. Our results represent a key step toward GO membrane-based molecular sieving applications. [Display omitted] • The interlayer spacing of graphene oxides is tailored by partial reduction at a lower temperature. • The precisely tailored interlayer spacing enhances the channel-size sieving effect. • The H 2 /CO 2 separation factor reaches 3636 ± 312. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a principal organelle responsible for energy and nutrient management. Its dysfunction has been viewed in the context of obesity and related glucolipid metabolic disorders. However, therapeutic approaches to improve ER adaptation and systemic energy balance in obesity are limited. Thus, we examined whether hydroxytyrosol (HT), an important polyphenolic compound found in virgin olive oil, could correct the metabolic impairments in diet-induced obesity (DIO) mice. Here, we found that HT gavage for 10 weeks significantly ameliorated glucose homeostasis and chronic inflammation and decreased hepatic steatosis in DIO mice. At the molecular level, ER stress indicators, inflammatory and insulin signaling markers demonstrated that high-fat diet (HFD)-induced ER stress and insulin resistance (IR) in insulin sensitive tissue were corrected by HT. In vitro studies confirmed that HT supplementation (100 μM) attenuated palmitate-evoked ER stress, thus rescuing the downstream JNK/IRS pathway. As a result from suppression of ER stress in the liver, HT further decreased hepatic sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 expression (SREBP1). Additionally, aberrant expression of genes involved in hepatic lipogenesis (SREBP1, ACC, FAS, SCD1) caused by HFD was restored by HT. These findings suggested that HT ameliorated chronic inflammation and IR and decreased hepatic steatosis in obesity by beneficial modulation of ER stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]