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Mid‐infrared (MIR) lasers generated by nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals have aroused extensive attention in various military and civilian applications. Among the MIR NLO crystal family, LiInSe2 (LISe) is a promising candidate in the generation of MIR lasers due to its wide transmission range, large bandgap, and high laser‐induced damage threshold. However, the intrinsic defects in LISe induce optical losses, which will induce laser damage and hinder the performance of MIR laser generation. In this work, the mechanism of optical absorption induced by defects is revealed in LISe through transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. It is verified that the deep‐level defects in LISe give rise to the extra optical absorption, which is owing to the excited state absorption (ESA) and photo‐induced absorption (PIA). Accordingly, for improving the optical properties of LISe crystals, Li2Se vapor‐mediated annealing to reduce defects concentration is rationally designed. The results confirmed that the optical properties of annealed LISe are improved due to the decrease of defects concentration. Ultimately, the performance of MIR laser generation is successfully enhanced by using the annealed LISe crystal. This work provides deep insights into the defect‐induced absorption losses in LISe crystals and promotes the application of LISe crystals in MIR laser generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gas flow temperature signal simulation system (ATSSS) plays a crucial role in the hardware-in-the-loop simulation of hypersonic aircraft. The accuracy of gas flow temperature measurements is of paramount importance for the ATSSS. This system comprises a high-temperature plasma heater, a gas flow mixing chamber, and thermocouples. The ATSSS exhibits specific characteristics such as high temperatures, rapid temperature changes, and fast flow rates. However, due to the large measurement time constant of high-temperature thermocouples, significant dynamic errors are introduced into the measurement results. To address this issue and enhance the dynamic measurement accuracy of gas flow temperature, this study establishes a thermocouple heat transfer model for the ATSSS. It also analyzes the mechanism behind the generation of dynamic errors in the ATSSS and proposes a three-thermocouple coupled temperature measurement dynamic compensation method (TTCTMDC). This method compensates for errors caused by thermal convection, thermal radiation, and thermal conduction under high-temperature conditions. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can reduce errors by 50% to 80%. In addition, an experimental platform for the ATSSS is constructed, and the TTCTMDC method is employed to compensate for measurement errors. The results indicate that the dynamic measurement error can be reduced to 1/4 to 1/2 of the original value using the TTCTMDC method. This research lays a foundation for the successful development of the ATSSS and provides a novel approach to dynamically measuring high-temperature gas flow, thereby advancing scientific research in the field of measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate target prediction, especially bounding box estimation, is a key problem in visual tracking. Many recently proposed trackers adopt the refinement module called IoU predictor by designing a high‐level modulation vector to achieve bounding box estimation. However, due to the lack of spatial information that is important for precise box estimation, this simple one‐dimensional modulation vector has limited refinement representation capability. In this study, a novel IoU predictor (IoUNet++) is designed to achieve more accurate bounding box estimation by investigating spatial matching with a spatial cross‐layer interaction model. Rather than using a one‐dimensional modulation vector to generate representations of the candidate bounding box for overlap prediction, this paper first extracts and fuses multi‐level features of the target to generate template kernel with spatial description capability. Then, when aggregating the features of the template and the search region, the depthwise separable convolution correlation is adopted to preserve the spatial matching between the target feature and candidate feature, which makes their IoUNet++ network have better template representation and better fusion than the original network. The proposed IoUNet++ method with a plug‐and‐play style is applied to a series of strengthened trackers including DiMP++, SuperDiMP++ and SuperDIMP_AR++, which achieve consistent performance gain. Finally, experiments conducted on six popular tracking benchmarks show that their trackers outperformed the state‐of‐the‐art trackers with significantly fewer training epochs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicle-mounted ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been used to non-destructively inspect and evaluate railway subgrade conditions. However, existing GPR data processing and interpretation methods mostly rely on time-consuming manual interpretation, and limited studies have applied machine learning methods. GPR data are complex, high-dimensional, and redundant, in particular with non-negligible noises, for which traditional machine learning methods are not effective when applied to GPR data processing and interpretation. To solve this problem, deep learning is more suitable to process large amounts of training data, as well as to perform better data interpretation. In this study, we proposed a novel deep learning method to process GPR data, the CRNN network, which combines convolutional neural networks (CNN) and recurrent neural networks (RNN). The CNN processes raw GPR waveform data from signal channels, and the RNN processes features from multiple channels. The results show that the CRNN network achieves a higher precision at 83.4%, with a recall of 77.3%. Compared to the traditional machine learning method, the CRNN is 5.2 times faster and has a smaller size of 2.6 MB (traditional machine learning method: 104.0 MB). Our research output has demonstrated that the developed deep learning method improves the efficiency and accuracy of railway subgrade condition evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two polysaccharides, named APS2-I and APS3-I, were purified from the water extract of Radix Astragali. The average molecular weight of APS2-I was 1.96 × 106 Da and composed of Man, Rha, GlcA, GalA, Glc, Gal, Xyl, and Ara in a molar ratio of 2.3:4.8:1.7:14.0:5.8:11.7:2.8:12.6, while the average molecular weight of APS3-I was 3.91 × 106 Da and composed of Rha, GalA, Glc, Gal, and Ara in a molar ratio of 0.8:2.3:0.8:2.3:4.1. Biological evaluation showed APS2-I and APS3-I had significant antioxidant activity and myocardial protection activity. Furthermore, total polysaccharide treatment could significantly enhance hemodynamic parameters and improve cardiac function in rat ischemia and reperfusion isolated heart models. These results provided important information for the clinical application of APS in the field of cardiovascular disease and implied that Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) could be considered as a reference for the quality control of Radix Astragali. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) signals in the white matter (WM) have been demonstrated to encode neural activities by showing structure‐specific temporal correlations during resting‐state and task‐specific imaging of fiber pathways with various degrees of correlations in strength and time delay. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown state‐dependent functional connectivity and regional amplitude of signal fluctuations in brain gray matter across wakefulness and nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep cycles. However, the functional characteristics of WM during sleep remain unknown. Using simultaneous electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging data during wakefulness and NREM sleep collected from 66 healthy participants, we constructed 10 stable WM functional networks using clustering analysis. Functional connectivity between these WM functional networks and regional amplitude of WM signal fluctuations across multiple low‐frequency bands were evaluated. In general, decreased WM functional connectivity between superficial and middle layer WM functional networks was observed from wakefulness to sleep. In addition, functional connectivity between the deep and cerebellar networks was higher during light sleep and lower during both wakefulness and deep sleep. The regional fluctuation amplitude was always higher during light sleep and lower during deep sleep. Importantly, slow‐wave activity during deep sleep negatively correlated with functional connectivity between WM functional networks but positively correlated with fluctuation strength in the WM. These observations provide direct physiological evidence that neural activities in the WM are modulated by the sleep–wake cycle. This study provided the initial mapping of functional changes in WM during sleep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past 20 years, many studies have been performed on ballast layer inspection and condition evaluation with ground penetrating radar (GPR). GPR is a non-destructive means that can reflect the ballast layer condition (fouling, moisture) by analysing the received signal variation. Even though GPR detection/inspection for ballast layers has become mature, some challenges still need to be stressed and solved, e.g., GPR indicator (for reflecting fouling level) development, quantitative evaluation for ballast fouling levels under diverse field conditions, rapid GPR inspection, and combining analysis of GPR results with other data (e.g., track stiffness, rail acceleration, etc.). Therefore, this paper summarised earlier studies on GPR application for ballast layer condition evaluation. How the GPR was used in the earlier studies was classified and discussed. In addition, how to correlate GPR results with ballast fouling level was also examined. Based on the summary, future developments can be seen, which is helpful for supplementing standards of ballast layer evaluation and maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case of H7N9 influenza virus infection was first identified in China in 2013. This virus is considered to have high pandemic potential. Here we developed an H7N9 influenza vaccine containing an aluminium adjuvant and evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine. From October 2017 through August 2018 we conducted a randomized, double-blinded, single-centre phase I clinical trial in China among 360 participants aged ≥12 years. All participants received two doses of the vaccine (7.5, 15 or 30 μg haemagglutinin antigen) or placebo at an interval of 21 days. Adverse event data were collected for 30 days after vaccination. Serum samples were collected on days 0, 21 and 42 for the haemagglutinin inhibition (HI) antibody assay. A total of 347 participants (347/360, 96.4%) completed the study. The proportions of vaccine-related adverse events after one injection were 56.7% (34/60) in the 7.5-μg group, 86.7% (52/60) in the 15-μg group and 86.7% (52/60) in the 30-μg group. The proportions of adverse events after two injections were less than those reported after the first dose. None of the serious adverse events were related to the vaccine. After receiving two doses of the 7.5-μg vaccine, the proportion of participants achieving an HI titre of ≥40 was 98.2% (55/56, 95%CI 72.3~100.0%), with a geometric mean titre (GMT) of 192.6 (95%CI 162.9~227.8). The alum-adjuvanted H7N9 whole-virion inactivated vaccine was safe and strongly immunogenic in a population aged ≥12 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A micro-sprinkling hose is promising water-saving irrigation equipment due to its low cost and ease of installation and dismantlement during operation. The performance of the micro-sprinkling hose depends on the kinetic energy generated during field irrigation, which in turn is determined by the distribution of water droplets sprayed into the air. This paper aims to investigate the droplet diameter distribution provided by micro-sprinkling hoses by determining drop characteristics and assessing the impacts of the pressure and spraying angle on the droplet diameter distribution. Therefore, an indoor experiment was conducted to investigate the drop diameter distribution provided by micro-sprinkling hose under different pressures (20, 24, 28, and 32 kPa) and spraying angles (20°, 30°, 40°, 50°, 60°, 70°, and 80°). Droplet characteristic parameters were measured and collected using a laser precipitation monitor (LPM). The results show that (1) the diameter of water droplets sprayed from a micro-sprinkling hose with a single-hole diameter increases with increasing pressure, resulting in an expanded distribution range. Moreover, the diameter of these droplets initially increases and then decreases with increasing spraying angle. The maximum droplet is observed at a spraying angle of 40°. (2) The percentage of water droplets increases with increasing distance from the ground, with a diameter distribution range of 0–2.00 mm and an increase in the droplet diameter from 0.50 to 0.75–1.00 mm. The results reflect the characteristics of the droplet diameter distribution obtained with micro-sprinkling hoses under different pressures and spraying angles, providing guidance for the design of hose structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LD conversion offers great potential in providing an additional degree of freedom that may be beneficial to novel polarization‐wavelength‐selective detectors and optical switching. However, conventional crystals with optical anisotropy typically show unidirectional LD over a broad wavelength range and the materials with LD conversion behavior remain scarce. Here, by combining angle‐resolved polarized optical absorption measurements and theoretical calculations, this study demonstrates that quasi‐1D Weyl semimetal (TaSe4)2I single crystal shows unique LD conversion phenomenon at the wavelength of 1064 nm. Meanwhile, (TaSe4)2I persists giant linear optical anisotropy due to the intrinsic feature of 1D [TaSe4] chains along the c‐axis. Additionally, the (TaSe4)2I nanoribbon exhibits anisotropic second harmonic generation (SHG). These results hold significant importance to facilitate the development of topological photonics and novel photonic devices applications based on topological semimetals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Microbial consortium was synthesized based on "functional complementarity". • Conversion rate of cellulose and hemicellulose were 19.64% and 10.88% by enzyme. • Two pathways (SEHFC and SEHFW) were used to produce feed protein. • The true protein content of CDGs increased by 48.35%-53.49% after SSF. • This study provided a potential pathway for the high-quality utilization of CDGs. Chinese distillers' grains (CDGs) have low fermentation efficiency due to the presence of lignocellulosic components, such as rice husk. In this study, a microbial consortium synthesized was used based on the "functional complementarity" principle to produce lignocellulolytic crude enzyme. The crude enzyme was used to hydrolyze CDGs. After enzymatic hydrolysis, lignocellulose was damaged to varying degrees and the crystallinity decreased. Subsequently, the feed protein was produced using yeast through two pathways. The results showed that the crude enzyme produced by the microbial consortium (comprising Trichoderma reesei , Aspergillus niger , and Penicillium) exhibited excellent enzymatic efficiency, yielding 27.88%, 19.64%, and 10.88% of reducing sugar, cellulose, and hemicellulose. The true protein content of CDGs increased by 53.49% and 48.35% through the first and second pathways, respectively. Notably, the second pathway demonstrated higher economic benefits to produce feed protein. This study provides a pathway for high-quality utilization of CDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A system of obtaining image of surface of wire rope is designed in this paper. Three linear-array charge-coupled device industrial cameras are used, separated by 120 degrees in the same plane. The acquisition is realized by receiving the synchronous pulse transmitted by the encoder. Considering that the wire rope is bent due to gravity, this paper restores the wire rope to the straightened state through image processing. The wire rope is then separated from the image. In order to obtain a complete surface unrolling diagram, this paper firstly corrects the projection of curved surface of image of the wire rope. Three unrolling diagrams of surface of wire rope with different angles are obtained, and then, the surface development image with different directions is aligned in axial and circumferential directions, respectively. At last, weighted average algorithm is used for image fusion. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can obtain a complete, intuitive and non-dislocation surface development image of wire rope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional semiconductors, such as MoS2, have demonstrated great potential applications in post-Moore electronic and optoelectronic devices, and organic cations intercalation has been widely utilized to modulate their physical properties. However, the correlation between the conductivity, carrier mobility, carrier density, and structure of organic cations intercalated MoS2 is still unclear. In this Letter, we systematically investigated the structural and electrical transport properties of pristine MoS2 and MoS2 intercalated with various organic cations such as tetradecyltrimethyl-ammonium, tetraheptyl-ammonium, and cetyltrimethyl-ammonium. Semimetal bismuth (Bi) was used as electrodes to make Ohmic contact with MoS2, and four-probe measurements were employed to obtain the intrinsic conductivity of MoS2. The intercalated organic cations greatly expand interlayer spacing and strongly dope MoS2 up to an electron concentration of 6.1 × 1013 cm−2 depending on the size and intercalation amount of organic cations. The severe electron doping constrains the out-of-plane A 1 g vibration mode and screens the Coulomb scattering, such that the intercalated MoS2 has enhanced Hall mobility of >50 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature and even >1700 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 5 K. The intercalated MoS2 responds much faster than pristine MoS2 when functioning as a phototransistor. Our work provides insight for understanding the electrical transport properties of MoS2 and designing more efficient electronic and optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knee joint is the main weight bearing tissue of human body, also it is one of the prone parts of the clinical disease. Under different sports conditions, knee joint was loaded at different forms. In this study, the changes of average contact pressure, peak contact pressure, contact area and pressure-sharing regions were researched using the intact and defect pig knee joints under different loading rates and loads, including fast rates and large loads. These data were measured and recorded by usage of the sensor plate that placed between the unilateral meniscus and the femur cartilage during loading process. As for the intact cartilage samples, the average contact pressure and peak contact pressure of the femur cartilage increase with the loading rate, while the contact area is contrast to it. As for defect cartilage samples, it not only emerged stress concentration on the edge of the defect and pressure distribution in joint cavity was different with intact cartilage samples, but also the main bearing region was transferred from the femur cartilage-meniscus contact area to the femur cartilage-tibial cartilage contact area at different loading forms. In different loading stages, the pressure-sharing regions between the cartilage and the meniscus also changes. Different loading rates, different loads and defects will change the mechanical states of the knee joint. In loading forms, the mechanical condition may cause or aggravate damnification of the knee joint cartilage. Therefore, this study is beneficial for promoting and perfecting the research of mechanical properties of knee joint cartilage and provides a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of knee cartilage injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) detection has the advantages of obvious target defect and accurate positioning. The MFL information on the surface of the wire rope can be converted into magnetic images so that the axial and circumferential position of the wire rope defects can be displayed more intuitively. The visible image has rich texture information. By fusing the visible and magnetic images, we can make full use of their information and the defect recognition rate can be improved. In this paper, the original magnetic leakage data are first denoised by wavelet soft threshold, and the corresponding visible image is processed by homomorphic filtering to eliminate the interference of light. Then, the magnetic image and visible image are fused at feature level. The features of magnetic image and visible image are extracted and fused, and then principal component analysis is carried out to reduce dimensions. The fusion feature vector is input into back-propagation network for recognition and is compared with the magnetic image features alone. Experimental results show that when the error is allowed to be 0.9%, the defect recognition rate after image fusion is 5.27% higher than the magnetic image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence reveal that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) participates in the epigenetic regulation of pathophysiological process. However, the deepgoing role of lncRNAs on meningioma is still unclear. In present study, we investigate the roles of lncRNA LINC00460 in meningeoma tissue and uncover its molecular mechanism. Results revealed that LINC00460 expression level was significantly up-regulated in meningeoma tissues and malignant meningeoma cell lines (IOMM-Lee, CH157-MN). Mechanically, loss-of-function assays showed that LINC00460 knockdown significantly suppressed the proliferation ability, increased the apoptosis and decreased the proteins (MMP-2, MMP-9, ZEB1) expression. Bioinformatics tools predicted that miR-539 both targeted with the 3’-UTR of LINC00460 and MMP-9 mRNA, which was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay and western blot analysis. In summary, our study reveals that LINC00460 promotes MMP-9 expression through targeting miR-539, acting as an oncogenic RNA in the meningeoma malignancy and accelerating the proliferation and metastasis of meningeoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is difficult to repair cartilage damage when cartilage undergoes trauma or degeneration. Cartilage tissue engineering is an ideal treatment method to repair cartilage defects, but at present, there are still some uncertainties to be researched in cartilage tissue engineering including the mechanical properties of the repaired region. Methods: In this study, using an agarose gel as artificial cartilage implanted into the cartilage defect and gluing the agarose gel to cartilage by using the medical bio-adhesive, the full-thickness and half-thickness defects models of articular cartilage in vitro repaired by tissue engineering were constructed. Strain behaviors of the repaired region were analyzed by the digital correlation technology under 5,10, 15, and 20% compressive load. Results: The axial normal strain (Ex) perpendicular to the surface of the cartilage and lateral normal strain (Ey) as well as shear strain (Exy) appeared obviously heterogeneous in the repaired region. In the full-defect model, Ex showed depth- dependent strain profiles where maximum Ex occurs at the low middle zone while in the half-defect mode, Ex showed heterogeneous strain profiles where maximum Ex occurs at the near deep zone. Ey and Exy at the interface site of both models present significantly differed from the host cartilage site. Ey and Exy exhibited region-specific change at the host, interface, and artificial cartilage sites in the superficial, middle, and deep zones due to the artificial cartilage implantation. Conclusion: Both defect models of cartilage exhibited a heterogeneous strain field due to the engineered cartilage tissue implant. The abnormal strain field can cause the cells within the repaired area to enter complex mechanical states which will affect the restoration of cartilage defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The troponin (Tn) is a ternary complex consisting of three subunits TnC, TnI and TnT; molecular disruption of the Tn complex has been recognized as an attractive strategy against neuropathic pain. Here, a self-inhibitory peptide is stripped from the switch region of TnI interaction interface with TnC, which is considered as a lead molecular entity and then used to generate potential peptide disruptors of TnC–TnI interaction based on a rational molecular design protocol. The region is a helical peptide segment capped by N- and C-terminal disorders. Molecular dynamics simulation and binding free energy analysis suggests that the switch peptide can interact with TnC in a structurally and energetically independent manner. Terminal truncation of the peptide results in a number of potent TnC binders with considerably simplified structure and moderately decreased activity relative to the native switch. We also employ fluorescence polarization assays to substantiate the computational findings; it is found that the rationally designed peptides exhibit moderate or high affinity to TnC with dissociation constants K D at micromolar level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two microbial consortia showed different mechanisms relieving ammonia inhibition. • Syntrophic consortium (MC) improved the conversion of propionic and butyric acids. • Single microbial consortium (SS) mainly enhanced the hydrogenotrophic pathway. • Methanospirillum and Methanothermobacter contributed most at early stage. • Methanoculleus contributed most to relieve ammonia inhibition at the later stage. Ammonia inhibition is a challenging issue in the anaerobic digestion (AD) of nitrogen-rich substrates and hinders the energy recovery from organic wastes. Bioaugmentation is promising strategy to stabilize AD systems with high ammonia concentration. The composition of microbial consortia often determines their effectiveness in bioaugmentation. Up to now, the effect of various microbial consortia as biological additives on the AD systems is not fully understood. In this study, two microbial consortia (syntrophic microbial consortium, MC, and hydrogenotrophic methanogen consortium, SS) were obtained through two domestication methods, and were applied in a nitrogen-rich AD system. The results showed that the MC and SS treatments could restore AD performance within 21 days and 83 days, respectively. The recovery of digestion performance depended on the methanogenic archaea Methanospirillum, Methanothermobacter , and Methanoculleus in the early and later stages. Analysis of the 13C isotope indicated that both MC and SS enhanced the hydrogenotrophic pathway. The KEGG analysis showed that the MC not only promoted the key enzyme genes in the hydrogenotrophic pathway but also had a positive effect on the related enzyme genes of propionate and butyrate degradation, which was affected by the abundant short-chain fatty acids degrading bacteria, such as Syntrophomonas, Syntrophobacter , and Tissierella in the MC. After recovery of digestion performance, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in methane yield between the MS and SS treatments. Therefore, the best intervention period for bioaugmentation is when the digestion performance of the AD system is unstable. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the strongly morphology and size-dependent properties of nanomaterials, developing a simple and eco-friendly approach for controlling synthesis and assembly of hierarchical CuO nanostructures plays a critical role. In this work, we successfully developed an eco-friendly and facile hydrothermal route for controllable synthesis of various morphologies CuO nanostructures, where traditional and toxic additives were replaced by biocompatible 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethane-sulfonic acid (HEPES). The growth rate and orientation of CuO nanoparticles were tuned through adjusting the concentration and pH value of HEPES. The XRD pattern, SEM, UV-DRS, and BET indicated CuO nanostructures maintained high purity and excellent crystalline nature and showed more regular morphology and size with enhanced visible light absorption. The analogous photo-Fenton assay demonstrated that the as-prepared CuO nanostructures present enhanced dye removal capability when compared with CuO synthesized in pure water. Furthermore, the antibacterial assay on S. aureus was also investigated, and CuO nanoparticles with smallest size displayed the best antibacterial performance. These results reveal that HEPES shows a remarkable influence on the possible application of as-prepared CuO nanostructures which having great potential in pollutant removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, extracellular matrix (ECM)-mimicking nanofibrous chitosan microspheres (NCM) were developed via thermal induction of chitosan molecular chain from alkaline/urea aqueous solution. The regeneration of NCM from chitosan was proved to be physical process. The morphology of NCM could be precisely controlled by adjusting the initial solution concentration and the reaction temperature. The NCM possessed desirable in vitro / vivo biocompatibility and biodegradability. The excellent cell adhesion capability of NCM facilitated the formation of large-sized 3D geometric constructs in vitro. The NCM promoted in vitro osteogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow stem cells (rMSCs). Finally, pre-differentiated rMSCs-NCM constructs obviously enhanced in vivo bone healing of rat calvarial defects. This work opened up a new avenue for the construction of chitosan microspheres with ECM-like nanofibrous structure, indicated the great potential of the NCM as micro-Noah's Ark for stem cells to anchor, proliferate, and pre-differentiate for tissue engineering. [Display omitted] • Chitosan microspheres with tunable ECM-mimicking nanofibers were successfully fabricated from alkaline/urea aqueous solution. • NCM demonstrated ideal biocompatibility, appropriate degradability, and excellent cell adhesion capability. • In vitro pre-differentiated cell-laden constructs obviously enhanced the in vivo bone healing of rat calvarial defects. • This work indicated the great potential of the NCM as cell micro-ark for tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweet sorghum is a high-energy crop which has many applications, such as producing sugars and fuel ethanol. The sweet sorghum stalk residues are discarded as waste. However, there are fat, protein, crude fiber and other carbohydrates in stalk residues which can be used to make protein feedstuff. To achieve the rapid promotion and large-scale application of producing protein feedstuff using sweet sorghum stalk residues, the solid state fermentation system was used. First, the physical and chemical parameters of the sweet sorghum stalk residues were determined, the total content of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin was 73.75% (dry weight, the same below) and the crude protein content was 2.27%. Secondly, the combination of Aspergillus nige, Trichoderma reesei, Candida utilis and Lactobacillus casei was optimized. The optimal combination of the strains was selected based on the component change of crude protein, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, crude ash and crude fat. The results showed that the fermentation after adding 4 strains was proper. In this condition, the cellulose content decreased by 27.0%, and the hemicellulose content decreased by 15.72%. The crude protein content in the combination added with Lactobacillus casei increased by 26.96%, the crude ash content decreased by 15.49% and the crude fat decreased by 18.15%, compared with those without adding Lactobacillus casei. Third, based on the optimal combination of the strains, 1% and 3% urea were respectively added in the sweet sorghum stalk residues to confirm the optimal content of urea. It indicated that the contents of crude protein and true protein were significantly improved with the addition of 1% urea. The true protein content was increased by 21.90% compared with that without the addition of urea under the same condition. In conclusion, the crude protein content of sweet sorghum stalk residues increased from 2.27% to 7.14% and its true protein increased from 2.01% to 6.41% after 8 days under the raw solid state fermentation along with inoculating 4 strains and adding 1% urea. This study provides an effective process to produce protein feedstuff from the raw sweet sorghum stalk residues feasibly on a large scale. It is helpful to explore an alternative of protein feedstuff in the animal husbandry industry. On the other hand, this can alleviate the environmental pollution caused by the accumulation of the sweet sorghum stalk residues, and has a very promising future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic assessment of ballast fouling and mechanized cleaning efficiency through ground penetrating radar (GPR) is vital to ensure track stability and safe train transportation. Nevertheless, conventional methods of ballast fouling inspection and evaluation impede construction progress and escalate the cost of maintenance. This paper proposes a novel method using random irregular polygons and collision detection algorithms to model the ballast layer and simulated using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithm. Hilbert transform energy, S-transform, and energy integration curve are employed to identify ballast fouling and cleaning efficiency. The highly fouled ballast exhibits concentrated Hilbert transform energy, increased energy attenuation rate in S-transform with depth in the 1.0–3.0 GHz, along with a stronger energy integration curve. Clean or post-cleaning ballast shows opposite results. Experiments on a passenger trunk line in southern China validated the method's accuracy after mechanized ballast cleaning. This approach guides GPR-based detection and supports railway maintenance. Future studies will consider heterogeneous properties and the three-dimensional structure of the ballast layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Six diverse railway lines were inspected by the GPR, proving the GPR application feasibility for diverse railway line conditions. • Accuracy of the GPR-based fouling index is correlated with sieving-based fouling index. • By comparing the sensitivity of different indicators, the suitable GPR signal processing means is obtained. • Fouling composition is proved as a decisive factor for GPR-based fouling level evaluation, especially the iron ore. Ballast layer condition should be more regularly and accurately inspected to ensure safe train operation; however, traditional inspection methods cannot sufficiently fulfil this task. This paper presents a method of ground penetrating radar (GPR) application to reflect ballast layer fouling levels under diverse field conditions (annual gross passing load, cleaning and renewal year, fouling composition and transportation type). The results show that the GPR-based inspection method can assess the ballast layer fouling level with a 1–7% difference from the traditional sieving results. Fouling composition (especially metal materials) has a great effect on the GPR signals, thus affecting the inspection accuracy of ballast layer fouling level. Developing diverse GPR-based fouling indicators (by distinguishing different GPR signal features) can improve the GPR inspection applicability to the diverse field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• High-quality LiInSe 2 crystals (φ26 mm) were obtained by optimized Bridgman method. • Defects of In Li , V Li and V Se in LiInSe 2 are verified by spectroscopy. • The defect concentration was reduced greatly by annealing under Li 2 Se vapor. Mid-infrared (MIR) lasers based on nonlinear frequency conversion by nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals are urgently desired for various military and civilian applications. LiInSe 2 (LISe) crystal has aroused intense attention due to its remarkable optical properties. However, the presence of point defects in LISe increases absorption loss and degrades the laser damage threshold (LDT), which limits the practical application in high-power MIR lasers. Therefore, it is essential to reveal the defect types and their formation mechanism in LISe, which is beneficial to design a rational strategy to improve the crystal quality. Here, large-sized LISe crystals with a diameter of 26 mm were successfully grown by the optimized Bridgman method using oriented seed crystal. Furthermore, three types of defects, V Se , V Li , and In Li in the as-grown LISe crystals were verified by photoluminescence (PL) spectra. Therefore, we designed the thermal annealing process under Li 2 Se vapor to compensate for the losses of Li and Se elements and reduce the defect concentration in LISe. Moreover, the evolution of defects in LISe crystals was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), PL and ultrafast transient absorption spectra (TAS). All the experimental results confirm that the defect concentration in LISe greatly decreases and the crystal quality was obviously improved after annealing under Li 2 Se vapor. More importantly, this work provides a general strategy to reveal the defects in crystals and to improve the crystal quality of MIR chalcogenides for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mitochondrial division inhibitor (mdivi-1) is a derivative of quinazolinone that acts as a selective inhibitor of a mitochondrial fission protein Drp1. A previous study demonstrated that as a selective inhibitor of Drp1, mdivi-1 has a protective effect in an experimental model of heart ischemia/reperfusion injury. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of mdivi-1 on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in a middle cerebral artery occlusion mouse model. We found that mdivi-1 (1.2mg/kg) significantly reduced cerebral damage induced by ischemia/reperfusion. This neuroprotective effect was dose-dependent. Mdivi-1 treatment blocked apoptotic cell death in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, and significantly decreased the expression of Drp1 and Cytochrome C. These results suggest that mdivi-1 exerts neuroprotective effects against nerve injury after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, and the underlying mechanism may be through the prevention of Cytochrome C release and suppression of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

One new aszonalenin analogue, 6-hydroxyaszonalenin was isolated from the culture of Neosartorya fischeri CGMCC 3.5378, together with aszonalenin, acetylaszonalenin, fumitremorgin B, verruculogen, and aszonapyrones A and B. The structure of the new metabolite was elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses, especially HR-ESI-MS and NMR experiments. The absolute configuration of 6-hydroxyaszonalenin was determined by X-ray diffraction. To the best of our knowledge, aszonapyrone B was reported for the first time from this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tandem oxidative iodination and alkyne-azide cycloaddition reaction has provided one of the most widely used methods for preparation of 5-iodo-1,2,3-triazoles. However, stoichiometric copper salts are involved in this type of reaction in order to enhance the reaction effectiveness, which caused some problems related to toxic metal contaminations and less sustainability. In this paper, we described that a copper-catalyzed (10 mol%) tandem oxidative iodination and alkyne-azide cycloaddition could be completed in the presence of the newly-found glycine-type ligands with low-cost NaI as the iodine resource. In the novel reaction system, a wide range of terminal alkyne, organic azide and inexpensive iodide could react effectively in one pot to give structurally diverse 5-iodo-1,4-subsitutied 1,2,3-triazoles. Natural product derivatives and alkynyl pyridines that hardly react under traditional conditions could also be transferred smoothly to the target products for the first time. Image 1 • Catalytic amount of Cu(I) salt. • New Glycine-type ligand. • NaI as the low-cost iodine resource. • Wide scope of reactants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To electrically control magnetic properties of material is promising toward spintronic applications, where the investigation of carrier doping effects on antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials remains challenging due to their zero net magnetization. In this work, the authors find electron doping dependent variation of magnetic orders of a 2D AFM insulator NiPS3, where doping concentration is tuned by intercalating various organic cations into the van der Waals gaps of NiPS3 without introduction of defects and impurity phases. The doped NiPS3 shows an AFM‐ferrimagnetic (FIM) transition at a doping level of 0.2–0.5 electrons/cell and a FIM‐AFM transition at a doping level of ≥0.6 electrons/cell. The authors propose that the found phenomenon is due to competition between Stoner exchange dominated inter‐chain ferromagnetic order and super‐exchange dominated AFM order at different doping level. The studies provide a viable way to exploit correlation between electronic structures and magnetic properties of 2D magnetic materials for realization of magnetoelectric effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new pregnane glycosides, the cynatratosides A and B, were isolated from the roots of Cynanchum atratum, together with six known steroids. The structures of the new isolates were elucidated as glaucogenin A 3-O-β-D-digitoxopyranosyl-(1→4)-O-β-D-oleandropyranoside (cynatratoside A) and amplexicogenin C-3-O-β-D-oleandropyranoside (cynatratoside B) by NMR spectroscopy and acid-catalysed hydrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ag/ZnO inhibits the biofilm formation of S. mutans. • Ag/ZnO at sub-MICs inhibits multiple virulence factors. • Ag/ZnO affects virulence factors of S. mutans at transcriptional levels. Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), the main pathogen of dental caries, could be well killed by Ag/ZnO nanocomposite. However, effects on virulence factors remain to be elucidated. This study investigated effects of Ag/ZnO at sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) on virulence factors of S. mutans and related genes expressions. Effects of Ag/ZnO on the growth of S. mutans was investigated by growth curves and MTT staining method. The influence of Ag/ZnO at sub-MICs on biofilm formation was measured by the crystal violet staining method and observed by a scanning electron microscopy. Adherence, cell-surface hydrophobicity, acidogenicity and extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) of S. mutans after treatment by Ag/ZnO at sub-MICs were also investigated. Virulence factors related genes expressions after treated by Ag/ZnO at 1/2 MIC was conducted by the quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) method. Sub-MICs of Ag/ZnO exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition on the virulence factors of S. mutans. Specially, Ag/ZnO at 1/2 MIC decreased 69.00 % biofilm formation, 31.78 % sucrose-independent and 48.08 % sucrose-dependent adherence, 69.44 % cell-surface hydrophobicity and 72.45 % water-soluble and 90.60 % water-insoluble EPS. Furthermore, the expression of virulence factors related genes was significantly suppressed by Ag/ZnO at 1/2 MIC. Ag/ZnO at sub-MICs inhibited multiple virulence factors of S. mutans through downregulating the related genes. Ag/ZnO nanocomposite could be used for prevention of dental caries at low dosage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium oxides (CdO), an important semiconductor material, have many superior properties when used as a cathode material for nickel-cadmium batteries. Here, the coating and the doped co-modified LiNi 0.8 Co 0.15 Al 0.05 O 2 cathode are constructed by a continuous wet chemical process and a high-temperature sintering process, wherein the Cd2+ are uniformly doped in a gradient form and the CdO protective layer is distributed on the outer surface of secondary particles. The Cd-modified NCA material has more stable interfacial and crystal lattice structure, thereby inhibiting harmful phase transitions and side-reactions. Accordingly, the modified sample has excellent electrochemical performance and maintaining a complete spherical morphology during long cycling compared to the pristine sample. In addition, as a pillar ion, cadmium increases the plate spacing and lithium-ion diffusion kinetics. The electrochemical results show that the capacity retention of the modified sample Cd-2000 reached 96.5% and 90.6% after 100 cycles and 200 cycles respectively at 1 C. At the high current rate of 8 C, the initial capacity and retention (100 cycles, 3.0–4.3 V) reach 166.2 mAh g−1 and 95.2%, respectively. Besides, the results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) reveal that CdO modification could decrease the resistance of the cell polarization and impedance increment upon cycling. Image 1 • The Cd-modified NCA cathode is prepared by simple wet chemical precipitation-calcination techniques. • The modification of LiNi 0.8 Co 0.15 Al 0.05 O 2 cathode was achieved by the synergistic effect of CdO coating and Cd ion doping. • After modification, the interface and crystal structure stability is improved. • The Cd-modified cathode material achieves excellent electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) layer composite orthotropic steel deck was adopted in the construction of a new bridge in China to improve the fatigue performance of the orthotropic steel deck plate and reduce the disease of surface wearing layer. In situ experiments were conducted to study the UHPC layer's impact on the behavior of the orthotropic steel deck. The test vehicle loads were applied on the deck plate before and after UHPC layer paving, the stresses where fatigue cracks usually occur and the deflections of critical sections were measured. The test results verified that the UHPC composite steel deck system could significantly reduce the stress of the rib-to-deck connection region and the stress at the bottom toe of rib-to-diaphragm weld. In addition, it slightly influenced the performance of U shape rib, girder web-to-deck and diaphragm cutout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Designing new peptides to combat SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. • Employing advanced computational methods for peptide design. • Identifying key role of hydrophobic forces in peptide binding. • Pep11 as a potent inhibitor with high omicron RBD affinity. • Molecular-level analysis of interactions in liquid phase. The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to a significant global health crisis. The virus's spike glycoprotein (S protein) plays a pivotal role in facilitating viral entry and enhancing infectivity. In this study, we aimed to design peptides that can inhibit the interaction between the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its receptor ACE2, thereby preventing viral pathogenesis. We employed computational methods, including molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, to design and assess the binding affinity of peptide inhibitors. The crystal structure of the receptor-binding domain (RBD)-ACE2 complex was used as a template for peptide design. The designed peptides were evaluated for their stability, interaction strength, and binding affinity through molecular dynamics simulations. A library of peptide candidates was constructed, considering mutations that enhance binding affinity. The toxicity and allergenicity of the peptides were also assessed. Our results identified several promising peptide inhibitors with high affinity for the Omicron RBD domain. These peptides exhibited strong hydrophobic interactions and significant binding strengths. The findings suggest that these peptides could potentially inhibit viral fusion and pathogenicity, with P11 being the most potent inhibitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is known to have obesity as a risk factor. Body mass index cannot distinguish between lean mass and fat mass. We aimed to examine the association between predicted fat mass, predicted lean mass, predicted percent fat and risk of T2DM in Japanese adults. We also explored whether these three new parameters could predict T2DM better than other obesity markers. Methods: This present study is a secondary data analysis. The study enrolled 20,944 Japanese individuals who participated in the NAGALA medical assessment program between 2004 and 2015. 15,453 participants who are eligible and have complete information were included to our analysis. Through the use of Kaplan-Meier curve, restricted cubic spline and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, the relationship between predicted fat mass, predicted lean mass, predicted percent fat and T2DM risk was examined. The area under the curve method was used to assess the differences between these markers of obesity. Results: A total of 373 cases of T2DM occurred over a median time of 5.4 years. In the male group, we found a U-shaped connection between predicted fat mass, predicted lean mass, and T2DM onset (p value, non-linearity < 0.05). A linear relationship was found between predicted percent fat and T2DM onset. The linear relationship was also found in the female group for predicted fat mass, and predicted percent fat. And for women, predicted lean mass was not an independent predictor. The area under the curve (AUC) for predicted fat mass, predicted lean mass, predicted percent fat in men was 0.673 (95%CI: 0.639 ~ 0.707), 0.598 (95%CI: 0.561 ~ 0.635), 0.715 (95%CI: 0.684 ~ 0.745), respectively. In males, WHtR was the strongest predictor (AUC 0.7151, 95%CI: 0.684 ~ 0.746), followed by predicted percent fat (AUC 0.7150, 95%CI: 0.684 ~ 0.745). In the females, WHtR was also the strongest predictor (AUC 0.758, 95%CI: 0.703 ~ 0.813), followed by body mass index (AUC 0.757, 95%CI: 0.704 ~ 0.811) and predicted percent fat (AUC 0.742, 95%CI: 0.687 ~ 0.798). Conclusion: Predicted fat mass, predicted lean mass, predicted percent fat were strongly connected with an increased risk for developing T2DM in Japanese, particularly in males. WHtR and predicted percent fat had a slightly better discrimination than other common obesity indicators in males. In the females, predicted fat mass and predicted percent fat were associated with T2DM risk, WHtR and body mass index had the slightly higher predictive power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current mainstream deep learning optimization algorithms can be classified into two categories: non-adaptive optimization algorithms, such as Stochastic Gradient Descent with Momentum (SGDM), and adaptive optimization algorithms, like Adaptive Moment Estimation with Weight Decay (AdamW). Adaptive optimization algorithms for many deep neural network models typically enable faster initial training, whereas non-adaptive optimization algorithms often yield better final convergence. Our proposed Adaptive Learning Rate Burst (Adaburst) algorithm seeks to combine the strengths of both categories. The update mechanism of Adaburst incorporates elements from AdamW and SGDM, ensuring a seamless transition between the two. Adaburst modifies the learning rate of the SGDM algorithm based on a cosine learning rate schedule, particularly when the algorithm encounters an update bottleneck, which is called learning rate burst. This approach helps the model to escape current local optima more effectively.The results of the Adaburst experiment underscore its enhanced performance in image classification and generation tasks when compared with alternative approaches, characterized by expedited convergence and elevated accuracy. Notably, on the MNIST, CIFAR-10, and CIFAR-100 datasets, Adaburst attained accuracies that matched or exceeded those achieved by SGDM. Furthermore, in training diffusion models on the DeepFashion dataset, Adaburst achieved convergence in fewer epochs than a meticulously calibrated AdamW optimizer while avoiding abrupt blurring or other training instabilities. Adaburst augmented the final training set accuracy on the MNIST, CIFAR-10, and CIFAR-100 datasets by 0.02%, 0.41%, and 4.18%, respectively. In addition, the generative model trained on the DeepFashion dataset demonstrated a 4.62-point improvement in the Frechet Inception Distance (FID) score, a metric for assessing generative model quality. Consequently, this evidence suggests that Adaburst introduces an innovative optimization algorithm that simultaneously updates AdamW and SGDM and incorporates a learning rate burst mechanism. This mechanism significantly enhances deep neural networks’ training speed and convergence accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air is an ideal oxidant due to its abundance, low cost and lack of toxic by-products. However, the catalytic aerobic oxidation reaction using air as an oxidant is still challenging due to its reduced activity and poor selectivity. In this study, a new class of glycinamide-type ligands was successfully synthesized and utilized for the aerobic oxidative reaction via in situ trapping of the formed triazolides with the nucleophilic fluoroalkyl reagents. By this designed oxidative procedure, various 5-fluoroalkyl-1,2,3-triazoles could be synthesized from available fluoroalkyl reagents, terminal alkynes and organic azides via one-pot reactions. Air was used as the sole oxidant; this significantly reduced the cost of this transformation, and the resulting operations and work-up procedures were significantly simplified. Alkyl azides and alkynes bearing various functional groups and natural structural motifs, and even aryl azides, which were ineffective in other reported methods, reacted efficiently under the current conditions. Different fluoroalkyl reagents, including trifluoromethyl trimethylsilane (CF3TMS), pentafluoroethyl trimethylsilane (C2F5TMS) and heptafluoropropyl trimethylsilane (C3F7TMS), could be used effectively for these reactions. The mechanistic study further indicates that the new N,O-ligand can stabilize the Cu(i) catalyst in a multiple binding mode and effectively promote the generation of oxidative coupling products; high efficiency together with a wider substrate scope has enlisted this copper-catalyzed aerobic coupling reaction among the most efficient methods for the preparation of 5-fluoroalkyl 1,2,3-triazoles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Dunaliella salina is an important source of natural β-carotene. Phytohormones have growth-promoting and other physiological effects on many microalgae. However, there are only few systematic studies on the screening and optimization of key phytohormones for D. salina production. To enhance the biomass production of D. salina , the growth and physiological effects of seven phytohormones, myo-inositol (MI), 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA), naphthyl acetic acid (NAA), indoleacetic acid (IAA), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), gibberellic acid (GA), and abscisic acid (ABA), on D. salina were investigated. The results showed that the seven selected phytohormones exerted significant effects on growth, photosynthesis, respiration and β-carotene biosynthesis at specific concentrations and time points. Three significant variables affecting biomass production were revealed via a Plackett–Burman design. The statistical model for maximum biomass production was constructed via response surface methodology using a Box-Behnken design. Statistical analysis showed that MI, IAA, and ABA have a stronger promoting effect on D. salina growth than the other four phytohormones, and their optimum concentrations were found to be 552 mg·L−1, 0.14 mg·L−1 and 0.22 mg·L−1, respectively. Validation experiments showed that the biomass increased by 19% using this optimized combination of phytohormones. Highlights • Phytohormones significantly promote Dunaliella salina cell growth. • Phytohormones affect photosynthesis and respiration of Dunaliella salina. • Phytohormones affect β-carotene biosynthesis of Dunaliella salina. • Three variable effects were found to be significant. • A second-order quadratic model was developed to predict biomass production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3) was found to be associated with reproductive disease in pigs, and since its first identification in the United States, it subsequently spread worldwide, especially in China, where it might pose a potential threat to the porcine industry. However, no exhaustive analysis was performed to understand its evolution in the prospect of codon usage pattern. Here, we performed a deep codon usage analysis of PCV3. PCV3 sequences were classified into two clades: PCV3a and PCV3b, confirmed by principal component analysis. Additionally, the degree of codon usage bias of PCV3 was slightly low as inferred from the analysis of the effective number of codons. The codon usage pattern was mainly affected by natural selection, but there was a co-effect of mutation pressure and dinucleotide frequency. Moreover, based on similarity index analysis, codon adaptation index analysis and relative codon deoptimization index analysis, we found that PCV3 might pose a potential risk to public health though with unknow pathogenicity. In conclusion, this work reinforces the systematic understanding of the evolution of PCV3, which was reflected by the codon usage patterns and fitness of this novel emergent virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

isolation and structure elucidation of two new pregnane glycosides, cynatraosides A (I) and B (II), along with six known steroids [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Bi 2 S 3 nanospheres with size of 212 nm were prepared by a simple hydrothermal process. The selectively enhanced antibacterial effects of Bi 2 S 3 nanospheres with three classes of ineffective antibiotics, β-lactam (cefuroxime, CXM; cefotaxime, CTX and piperacillin, PIP), quinolone (ciprofloxacin, CIP) and aminoglycoside (gentamicin, GEN) against clinical isolated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were investigated for the first time. GEN shows significantly synergistic growth inhibition against MRSA when combined with Bi 2 S 3 nanospheres, while CXM, CTX, PIP and CIP do not. Raman spectroscopy and Z potential studies reveal that Bi 2 S 3 could interact with GEN and the combination showed small electronegativity, which probably induced the increase of GEN content in cytoplasm of bacteria. Furthermore, the combination of Bi 2 S 3 nanospheres and GEN can destroy the bacterial membrane function and induce more bactericidal reactive oxygen generation than that of Bi 2 S 3 or GEN alone. The cytotoxicity test indicates that the combination of Bi 2 S 3 and GEN presented low toxicity to human normal hepatocyte L02. This work shows that Bi 2 S 3 nanospheres can be used to enhance the action of ineffective antibiotic GEN against MRSA, thus strengthening the antibiotic capacity for fighting MRSA infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient and facile synthesis of 5-amino-2,3-dihydrobenzo[ b]thiophene-4,6-dicarbonitrile and 5-amino-2,3-dihydrobenzo[ d]thiazole-4,6-dicarbonitrile derivatives from the reactions of aldehyde, malononitrile, and dihydrothiophen-3(2 H)-one or rhodanine has been reported. This is the first reported method for preparation of these compounds containing sulfur 2,6-dicyanoanilines. The compounds were confirmed by IR, H NMR, C NMR, and HRMS. The other advantages of this procure are simple handling, high yields, and short reaction times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superior multifunctional hydrogel dressings are of considerable interest in wound healing. In clinical practice, it is useful to investigate hydrogel dressings that offer multifunctional benefits to expedite the process of wound healing. In this study, Catechol-grafted Chitosan, Gelatin, and Fe3+ as substrates to construct a hydrogel network. The network was dynamically cross-linked to form Ccg@Fe hydrogel substrate. Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles and baicalin, which possess antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, were loaded onto the substrate to form a photothermal antibacterial composite hydrogel dressing (Ccg@Fe/Bai@Fe 3 O 4 NPs). The Ccg@Fe hydrogel was characterised using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV–Vis). The morphological, mechanical, and adhesion properties of the hydrogel were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a universal testing machine. The hydrogel's swelling, hemostasis, and self-healing properties were also evaluated. Additionally, the study determined the release rate of hydrogel-loaded antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory Baicalin (Ccg@Fe/Bai) and evaluated the photothermal antimicrobial properties of hydrogel-loaded Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (Ccg@Fe/Bai@Fe 3 O 4 NPs) through synergistic photothermal therapy (PTT). Histological staining of mice skin wound tissues using Masson and H&E revealed that the Ccg@Fe/Bai@Fe 3 O 4 NPs hydrogel dressing demonstrated potential healing ability with the aid of PTT. The study suggests that this multifunctional hydrogel dressing has great potential for wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) transports free Ca 2+ into the mitochondrial matrix, maintaining Ca 2+ homeostasis, thus regulates the mitochondrial morphology. Previous studies have indicated that there was closely crosstalk between MCU and mitochondrial fission during the process of ischemia/reperfusion injury. This study constructed a hypoxia reoxygenation model using primary hippocampus neurons to mimic the cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury and aims to explore the exactly effect of MCU on the mitochondrial fission during the process of ischemia/reperfusion injury and so as the mechanisms. Our results found that the inhibitor of the MCU, Ru360, decreased mitochondrial Ca 2+ concentration, suppressed the expression of mitochondrial fission protein Drp1, MIEF1 and Fis1, and thus improved mitochondrial morphology significantly. Whereas spermine, the agonist of the MCU, had no significant impact compared to the I/R group. This study demonstrated that the MCU regulates the process of mitochondrial fission by controlling the Ca 2+ transport, directly upregulating mitochondrial fission proteins Drp1, Fis1 and indirectly reversing the MIEF1-induced mitochondrial fusion. It also provides new targets for brain protection during ischemia/reperfusion injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) transports Ca from the cytoplasm to the mitochondrial matrix and thus maintains Ca homeostasis. Previous studies have reported that inhibition of MCU by ruthenium red (RR) protects the brain from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and that mitochondrial fission plays an important role in I/R injury. However, it is still not known whether MCU affects mitochondrial fission. In the present study, treatment with RR was found to decrease the concentration of free calcium in the mitochondria, calcineurin enzyme activity and dynamin-related protein 1 expression, and treatment with spermine was found to have the opposite effect in organisms subjected to occlusion of the middle cerebral artery lasting 2 h followed by 24 h reperfusion. These results indicate that MCU may be related to mitochondrial fission via modulating mitochondrial Ca uptake and this relationship between MCU and mitochondrial fission may protect the brain from I/R injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cereals are widely used as raw material for food fermentation, and they can provide a variety of sugars in the fermentation via saccharification. However, the effect of sugar profile on microbial metabolism in spontaneous food fermentation is still unclear. Here, this work studied the regulation of sugar profile on the diversity of microbiota and their metabolism in Chinese Baijiu fermentation using sorghum as raw material. Six sugars were detected during Baijiu fermentation with 6 different cultivars of sorghum. The diversity of microbiota (ANOSIM: bacteria: P = 0.001, R = 0.77; fungi: P = 0.009, R = 0.33) and metabolites (ANOSIM: P = 0.001, R = 0.50) had different profiles during Baijiu fermentation. Among these sugars, glucose, fructose, and arabinose were identified as key sugars driving both the microbial and the metabolic diversity during Chinese Baijiu fermentation, and the metabolic diversity was positively correlated with the microbial diversity (P < 0.05). Hence, response surface methodology was used to establish a predictive model for regulating the metabolic diversity with the combination of three key sugars. The metabolic diversity significantly increased to 0.42 with the optimized levels of glucose (31.82 g/L), fructose (4.81 g/L), and arabinose (0.20 g/L), compared with unoptimized low-level average metabolic diversity (0.29). This work would provide a strategy to control microbial metabolism in spontaneous food fermentation, hence to improve the quality of fermented foods. • Sugar profiles were significantly different in 6 cultivars of sorghum. • Glucose, fructose and arabinose were key sugars driving microbial diversity. • Sugar profile regulated metabolic diversity by driving microbial diversity. • Metabolic diversity was significantly related to microbial diversity. • Combination of abundant sugars and trace sugars had higher metabolic diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper proposes a multi-dimensional assessment framework for cropland use stability. • Multi-dimensional cropland use characteristics present significant spatial differentiation. • Cropland stability in Northeast China Plain and Loess Plateau is the highest and lowest. • Urbanization will lead to about 9.31% of high-stability cropland losses in 2030. • Integrating landscape stability and national planning can draft a sustainable-oriented strategy. Shifting to more sustainable use can curb cropland resource degradation and improve production resilience. However, most cropland use assessments are unilaterally focused on biophysical levels and productivity, ignoring the multi-dimensional aspects of degraded cropland. This study attempts to describe cropland use stability in China by proposing a multi-dimensional assessment framework (including quantity, quality, management, service, and risk) to provide a reference for designing land degradation-neutral strategies. Results show that multi-dimensional cropland use characteristics present significant spatial heterogeneity. Western regions are reserve resource agglomerations that can replenish cropland quantity. In contrast, main grain-producing areas cover most current resources with preferably cultivation quality, management efficiency, and ecosystem services, while risk resistance is weak (especially in Middle-lower Yangtze Plain). Generally, the stability of cropland use in Northeast Plain is the highest and in Loess Plateau the lowest. Besides, urbanization will occupy about 9.31% of the high-stability cropland in 2030, of which 70.29% will occur in Northeast Plain and Huang-Huai-Hai Plain. The total potential productivity loss in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain alone will reach 100.1 kt, equivalent to supplying the food demand of 199,200 people annually. Therefore, a sustainable-oriented refined cropland management strategy should be designed according to the hierarchical nested spatial layout of comprehensive planning-stability map-multi-dimensional utilization characteristics to ensure the loss-replenishment balance and stable production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]