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The lattice thermal conductivity (LTC) of Ga 2 O 3 is an important property due to the challenge in the thermal management of high-power devices. In this work, we develop machine-learned neuroevolution potentials (NEPs) for single-crystalline β - Ga 2 O 3 and κ - Ga 2 O 3 and demonstrate their accuracy in modeling thermal transport properties. Combining NEP-driven homogeneous non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations with tensor analysis, we determine the spatial distributions of LTCs for two Ga 2 O 3 crystals, showing dissimilar thermal behaviors. Specifically, β - Ga 2 O 3 shows isotropic thermal transport properties, with the LTCs along [100], [010], and [001] directions being predicted to be 10.3 ± 0.2 , 19.9 ± 0.2 , and 12.6 ± 0.2 W/(m K), respectively, consistent with previous experimental measurements. For κ - Ga 2 O 3 , our predictions suggest nearly isotropic thermal transport properties, with the LTCs along [100], [010], and [001] being estimated to be 4.5 ± 0.1 , 3.9 ± 0.1 , and 4.0 ± 0.1 W/(m K). The reduced LTC of κ -Ga 2 O 3 vs β -Ga 2 O 3 stems from its restricted low-frequency phonons up to 5 THz. Furthermore, we find that the β phase exhibits a typical temperature dependence slightly stronger than ∼ T − 1 , whereas the κ phase shows a weaker temperature dependence, ranging from ∼ T − 0.5 to ∼ T − 0.7 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractSpatial reasoning of hierarchical relations is an important research topic in geographic information science. Existing literature focuses mainly on hierarchical relations according to ordered containment of point sets based on the 9-Intersection Model (9IM). However, in natural language descriptions, hierarchical relations expressed by prepositions such as in can have spatial configurations conflicting with those hierarchical relations based on 9IM. This paper proposes an algorithm employing combined hierarchies to infer hierarchical relations among places in different contexts. Two graph databases containing combined hierarchies conforming to administrative reach and geometric enclosure are established with places represented by polygons with misaligned boundaries on prototypical and real data. The 13170 pairs of conflicting hierarchical relations with the same start nodes but different end nodes detected in the combined hierarchies on real data validate the proposed algorithm for spatial reasoning of hierarchical relations in different contexts. This research facilitates consistent spatial reasoning of hierarchical relations in different contexts for spatial information retrieval and question answering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a method for analyzing dimethomorph residues in lychee using QuEChERS extraction and HPLC-MS/MS. The validation parameters for this method, which include accuracy, precision, linearity, and recovery, indicate that it meets standard validation requirements. Following first-order kinetics, the dissipation dynamic of dimethomorph in lychee was determined to range from 6.4 to 9.2 days. Analysis of terminal residues revealed that residues in whole lychee were substantially greater than those in the pulp, indicating that dimethomorph residues are predominantly concentrated in the peel. When applied twice and thrice at two dosage levels with pre-harvest intervals (PHIs) of 5, 7, and 10 days, the terminal residues in whole lychee ranged from 0.092 to 1.99 mg/kg. The terminal residues of the pulp ranged from 0.01 to 0.18 mg/kg, with the residue ratio of whole lychee to pulp consistently exceeding one. The risk quotient (RQ) for dimethomorph, even at the recommended dosage, was less than one, indicating that the potential for damage was negligible. This study contributes to the establishment of maximum residue limits (MRLs) in China by providing essential information on the safe application of dimethomorph in lychee orchards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impaired glutamate recycling plays an important role in the pathophysiology of depression, and it has been demonstrated that glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1) on astrocytes is involved in glutamate uptake. Studies have shown that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is effective in treating depression, however, the exact mechanism of rTMS treatment remains unclear. Here, we used a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) protocol to induce depression-like behaviors in rats followed by rTMS treatment. Behavioral assessment was primarily through SPT, FST, OFT and body weight. Histological analysis focused on GFAP and GLT-1 expression, synaptic plasticity, apoptosis and PI3K/Akt/CREB pathway-related proteins. The results showed that rTMS treatment increased sucrose preference, improved locomotor activity, shortened immobility time as well as increased body weight. And rTMS intervention reversed the elevated glutamate concentration in the hippocampus of CUMS rats using an ELISA kit. Moreover, rTMS ameliorated the reduction in GFAP and GLT-1 expression, alleviated the decrease in BDNF, PSD95 and synapsin-1 expression, also reversed the expression levels of BAX and Bcl2 in the hippocampus of CUMS-induced rats. Moreover, rTMS also increased the protein phosphorylation level of PI3K/Akt/CREB pathway. These results suggest that rTMS treatment ameliorates depression-like behaviors in the rat model by reversing the reduction of GLT-1 on astrocytes and reducing glutamate accumulation in the synaptic cleft, which in turn ameliorates synaptic plasticity damage and neuronal apoptosis. The regulation of GLT-1 by rTMS may be through the PI3K/Akt/CREB pathway. • rTMS alleviated the depression-like behaviors induced by CUMS in rats. • rTMS may reduce glutamate toxicity in the hippocampus of CUMS-induced rats by upregulating GLT-1 expression in astrocytes. • rTMS may upregulate GLT-1 expression through activation of the PI3K/Akt/CREB signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron single‐atom nanozymes represent a promising artificial enzyme with superior activity owing to uniform active sites that can precisely mimic active center of nature enzymes. However, current synthetic strategies are hard to guarantee each active site at single‐atom state. In this work, an erythrocyte‐templated strategy by utilizing intrinsic hemin active center of hemoglobin as sing‐atom source for nanozyme formation is developed. By combining cell fixation, porous salinization, and high‐temperature carbonization, erythrocytes are successfully served as uniform templates to synthesize nanozymes with fully single‐atom FeN4 active sites which derived from hemin of hemoglobin, resulting in an enhanced peroxidase (POD)‐like activity. Interestingly, the catalytic activity of erythrocyte‐templated nanozyme (ETN) shows dependence on animal species, among which murine ETN performed superior catalytic efficiency. In addition, the as‐prepared ETNs display a honeycomb‐like network structure, serving as a sponge to accelerate hemostasis based on the interactions with prothrombin and fibrinogen. These features enable ETN to effectively kill methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by combining POD‐like catalysis with near‐infrared (NIR) induced photothermal effect, and subsequently suitable to promote wound healing. This study provides a proof‐of‐concept for facile fabrication of multifunctional nanozymes with uniform single‐atom active sites by utilizing intrinsic iron structure characteristics of biogenic source like erythrocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-terrestrial network (NTN) is a trending topic in the field of communication, as it shows promise for scenarios in which terrestrial infrastructure is unavailable. Unmanned autonomous intelligent systems (UAISs), as a physical form of artificial intelligence (AI), have gained significant attention from academia and industry. These systems have various applications in autonomous driving, logistics, area surveillance, and medical services. With the rapid evolution of information and communication technology (ICT), 5G and beyond-5G communication have enabled numerous intelligent applications through the comprehensive utilization of advanced NTN communication technology and artificial intelligence. To meet the demands of complex tasks in remote or communication-challenged areas, there is an urgent need for reliable, ultra-low latency communication networks to enable unmanned autonomous intelligent systems for applications such as localization, navigation, perception, decision-making, and motion planning. However, in remote areas, reliable communication coverage is not available, which poses a significant challenge for intelligent systems applications. The rapid development of non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) communication has shed new light on intelligent applications that require ubiquitous network connections in space, air, ground, and sea. However, challenges arise when using NTN technology in unmanned autonomous intelligent systems. Our research examines the advancements and obstacles in academic research and industry applications of NTN technology concerning UAIS, which is supported by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and other low-altitude platforms. Nevertheless, edge computing and cloud computing are crucial for unmanned autonomous intelligent systems, which also necessitate distributed computation architectures for computationally intensive tasks and massive data offloading. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the opportunities and challenges of unmanned autonomous intelligent systems in UAV NTN, along with NTN-based unmanned autonomous intelligent systems and their applications. A field trial case study is presented to demonstrate the application of NTN in UAIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Punishment promotes cooperation among selfish agents. Unlike previous studies, we propose a new supervision (heterogeneous preference supervision, HPS) mechanism based on the original random supervision (ORS) mechanism considering regulators' limited supervision ability and agents' heterogeneous preferences. The concepts of exemption list capacity, observation period, and removal time are introduced as the variables under the HPS mechanism. A public goods game model is built to verify the supervision effects under the ORS and HPS mechanisms. The simulation results show that the HPS mechanism can promote cooperation more than the ORS mechanism. Increasing the exemption list capacity can make regulators pay more attention to defectors and improve the cooperation level. Setting a relatively moderate observation period benefits a better supervision effect, while a too-small or too-large observation period leads to the collapse of cooperation. Shortening the removal time can increase the updating speed of the exemption list and enhance the role of the exemption list, resulting in improving the fraction of cooperators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines a microplate with a porous structure and two nanocomposite piezoelectric layers. All the layers’ properties are graded functionally, bonded to each other, and supported by an elastic foundation that can withstand both normal and shear loads. Additionally, carbon nanotubes are used to increase the electro-mechanical performance of the piezoelectric patches, which are exposed to an externally applied electric voltage. Using a higher-order trigonometric shear deformation theory and von Karman’s assumptions, the kinematic relations are demonstrated. The governing motion equations are derived using Hamilton’s principle and variational technique, and the modified couple stress theory is employed to take the scale effect into account. An analytical method based on Fourier series functions is used to solve the differential motion equations, and the impact of diverse factors such as porosity percentage, pore distribution patterns, carbon nanotubes distribution patterns, and other key parameters on the normalized frequencies of the model is analyzed after verifying the accuracy of the results. The findings of this research may aid in the development and production of smart structures and devices with increased efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report presents the development of a highly effective method employing high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to investigate chlorantraniliprole's dissipation, risk assessment, and residue distribution in whole lychee fruit and its pulp. Mean recoveries of the samples ranged from 80 to 105%, exhibiting a relative standard deviation (RSD) of below 8%. The limits of quantification (LOQ) for lychee and pulp were determined as 0.001 mg/kg, and half-lives (t1/2) ranged from 8.0 to 12.2 days. Terminal residue concentrations in whole litchi and pulp were determined as 0.008–0.45 mg/kg and ≤0.001 mg/kg. These residues were treated twice and thrice at two different dosage levels with pre-harvest intervals (PHIs) of 7, 14, and 21 days. The potential chronic risk posed by chlorantraniliprole to humans was non-negligible, as indicated by the risk quotient (RQ) value not exceeding 1. Therefore, this study provides significant fresh data about the safe application of chlorantraniliprole in the production of lychee, which will help China develop maximum residual limits (MRLs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we demonstrated the active electrocatalysts of CoS 2 coated by N-doped carbon microspheres, CoS 2 @NHCs-x (x = 600, 700, 800, and 900; x is pyrolysis temperature). Results show that the obtained electrocatalyst has good catalytic activity and cyclic stability for the reaction of hydrogen evolution (HER) when the pyrolysis temperature is 800 °C. At a current density of 10 mA cm−2, the overpotential of CoS 2 @NHCs-800 was only 98 mV in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 , and 118 mV in 1 M KOH, respectively. In addition, CoS 2 @NHCs-800 also revealed excellent electrochemical stability, with only 32.7% performance degradation after continuous reaction in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 for 20 h, and the later current density almost no longer deceased with time as the reaction process stabilized. The excellent HER catalytic performance of CoS 2 @NHCs-800 is mainly attributed to the rich active sites of CoS 2 , the unique porous core-shell structure, and the enhanced conductivity of the carbon carrier caused by N and S co-doping. This work opens up an opportunity for advanced CoS 2 -based electrocatalysts for HER. [Display omitted] • Structure-controlled synthesis of carbon-loaded CoS 2. • The particle size and pore structure of the core-shell microspheres can be controlled by adjusting the pyrolysis temperature. • The porous carbon shells significantly increased the electrical conductivity of catalysts and stability of active sites. • Excellent HER catalytic activity and cycling stability in both acidic and alkaline electrolytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clustering is a long-standing challenging task in pattern recognition and computer vision. In recent years, with development of multimedia technologies and explosive growth of data, the access to data is various. Clustering data from different feature sources has attracted considerable attentions for the remarkable clustering performance due to exploiting complementary information from data of different features. However, in fact, existing work often suffers from heavy computational load that restricts their capacity for large-scale datasets and most existing methods about fusing multi-view data are not perfect enough, namely, the quality of the joint matrix learned from multiple sources is not high enough. In this paper, we propose an efficient and effective clustering approach which combines sparse subspace learning with a bipartite graph for binary/hash codes produced from data of different sources by a collaborative discrete representation learning model that is an efficient and effective data fusion and binary code learning method. The bipartite graph that owns low time complexity is constructed to extract local geometric structure information for improving clustering performance. Extensive experiments performed on four benchmark datasets validate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach in comparison with ten state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of plasma-activated water (PAW) technology, its applications in the fields of food, agriculture, and biomedicine are becoming increasingly widespread. PAW has sterilization, pesticide residue reduction, anti-cancer, and blood clotting functions. Traditional methods for pesticide degradation include home processing, baking and freeze-drying, and UV treatment; however, they generally suffer from poor degradation efficiency and adverse effects on fruit quality. This study found that PAW treatment is a green and efficient environmental technology with the advantages of simple operation, good treatment effect, and no secondary pollution. This paper investigated the efficiency of PAW on the reduction of two acaricides, namely, bifenazate and spirodiclofen, and the effect of PAW treatment on the quality of Cuimi kumquat. The results showed that after PAW treatment, the residual amounts of bifenazate and spirodiclofen were reduced to a minimum of 1.19 mg·kg−1 and 0.23 mg·kg−1, with a reduction of 74.35% and 59.37% respectively compared to the control. Moreover, PAW treatment did not have any negative effects on the storage quality of Cuimi kumquat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the challenge of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, there is an urgent need to develop alternative antibacterial agents. While some metal sulfides are promising candidates against bacterial resistance, their fundamental mechanism of action (MoA) remains unclear. Herein, a "coordination‐precipitation" method is developed for the synthesis of a metal sulfide library and the evaluation of antibacterial consistency. Employing ethylenediamine as a coordination agent and thioglycolic acid as a precipitation agent, 12 different metal sulfide nanocrystals following the same procedure are synthesized. Antibacterial assessment reveals that six metal sulfides with bactericidal potency perform a common feature of phase transformation. In particular, in the process of manganese sulfide (MnS) transformation to Mn3O4, a highly reactive complex of high‐valance manganese (Mn3+) and polysulfide (S32−) accompanied by superoxide is sustainably generated, which synergistically induces bacterial death with a hallmark of lipid peroxidation (named liperoptosis) specifically toward Gram‐positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). In addition, this MoA confers MnS with therapeutic effects superior to vancomycin in a methicillin‐resistant S. aureus‐infected skin wound model. This study reveals the correlation between phase transformation and the antibacterial MoA of metal sulfides and provides a general fundamental to design a non‐antibiotic antibacterial candidate against bacterial resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is not sensitive to immunotherapy and has poor prognosis. DNA methylation regulates gene expression, and its abnormal changes are related to many human diseases. Recently, DNA methylation has been found to participate in immune infiltration in various cancers. However, its pattern in RCC remains poorly understood. Results: We found that IL18 was significantly over-expressed in RCC tumor tissues compared to normal adjacent tissues The IL18 promoter region was hypomethylated, which was strongly correlated with elevated IL18 mRNA expression, and predicted advanced clinicopathological characteristics and shorter overall survival. Furthermore, we found that IL18 promoter methylation was significantly related to the down-regulation of immune checkpoint molecules and increase of CD8 + T cell infiltration in RCC tumor tissues. Conclusions: We have identified the important role of IL18 promoter methylation and expression, which are associated with clinicopathological characteristics, overall survival, immune cell infiltration and expression of immune checkpoint molecules in RCC. We present the rationale for IL18 promoter methylation as a molecular biomarker for predicting the response of RCC to immune checkpoint inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Mango anthracnose is among the most severe diseases impacting mango yields and quality. While this disease can be effectively controlled through chemical means, it is vital that appropriate field efficacy and fate determination studies be conducted when applying pesticides to crops in order to appropriately gauge the ecological and health risks associated with the use of these agents. RESULTS: GAP field trials were conducted to explore the efficacy, dissipation, and terminal residues associated with the application of mefentrifluconazole and pyraclostrobin to mango crops in six locations throughout China. These analyses revealed that three applications of mefentrifluconazole [160 mg active ingredient (a.i.) kg−1] in combination with pyraclostrobin mixture achieved satisfactory disease control efficacy. To simultaneously detect mefentrifluconazole and pyraclostrobin residues on mangoes, a 'quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe' (QuEChERS) high‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC‐MS/MS)‐based approach was established. The initial mefentrifluconazole and pyraclostrobin concentrations ranged from 0.18 to 0.34 mg kg−1, and these two compounds exhibited respective half‐lives of 5.6 to 10.8 days and 5.5 to 9.0 days. At 21 days following foliage application, the terminal mefentrifluconazole and pyraclostrobin residue concentrations were 0.02–0.04 and 0.01–0.04 mg kg−1, with these concentrations being below the maximum residue limit (MRL) established for pyraclostrobin. Both short‐term [acute reference dose percent (ARfD%) 0.78–2.36% and 2.0–6.08%] and chronic [acceptable daily intake percent (ADI%) 0.08–0.47% and 0.09–0.55%] dietary intake risk assessments for mefentrifluconazole and pyraclostrobin indicated that these terminal residue concentrations are acceptable for the general population. CONCLUSION: Mefentrifluconazole and pyraclostrobin in mango was rapidly degraded following first‐order kinetics models. The dietary risk of mefentrifluconazole and pyraclostrobin through mango was negligible to consumers. The application of a 400 g L−1 mefentrifluconazole–pyraclostrobin suspension concentrate mixture represents a highly efficacious fungicidal approach to controlling mango anthracnose that exhibits significant potential for development as it is easily degraded and associated with low residual concentrations after application. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political leaders in China regularly launch anti-corruption campaigns to win public support. But how are anti-corruption signals perceived? We use event study to examine the case of Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign – an unprecedented effort in China to fight corruption. Contrary to expectations, we find that for the firms with connected officials later investigated, the initial anti-corruption signals – speeches from the top leadership and earlier crackdowns on other senior officials – did not decrease their stock prices. We argue that the perceived high costs of following through and repeated campaigns in the past paradoxically nurtured cynicism. We exploit the case of Zhou Yongkang and Ling Jihua – the two officials who were alleged to be involved in the power struggle and whose downfall had circulated widely since 2012. We find that when the targets of earlier crackdowns were connected to Zhou or Ling, the stock prices of the firms went down only if their connected and later investigated officials were in the same faction; the stock prices of the other firms, however, went up. We interpret the results as investors' misperceptions of the campaign in the beginning. Our findings suggest that even real efforts in campaign-style enforcement can be dismissed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suicide attempt is one of the most severe consequences for patients with mood disorders. This study aimed to perform deep learning and machine learning while using text mining to identify patients with suicide attempts and to compare their effectiveness.Methods: A total of 13,100 patients with mood disorders were selected. Two traditional text mining methods, logistic regression and Support vector machine (SVM), and one deep learning model (Convolutional neural network, CNN) were adopted to perform overall analysis and gender-specific subgroup analysis of patients to identify suicide attempts. The classification effectiveness of these models was evaluated by accuracy, F1-value, precision, recall, and the area under Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC).Results: CNN's results were greater than the other two for all indicators except recall which was slightly smaller than SVM in male subgroup analysis. The accuracy values of the CNN were 98.4 %, 98.2 %, and 98.5 % in the overall analysis and the subgroup analysis for males and females, respectively. The results of McNemar's test showed that CNN and SVM models' predictions were statistically different from the logistic regression model's predictions in the overall analysis and the subgroup analysis for females (P < 0.050).Limitations: A fixed number of features were selected based on document frequency to train models; this was a single-site study.Conclusions: CNN model was a better way to detect suicide attempts in patients with mood disorders prior to hospital admission, saving time and resources in recognizing high-risk patients and preventing suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study established a QuEChERS high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry method for determining azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, picoxystrobin, difenoconazole, chlorantraniliprole, imidacloprid, and cyantraniliprole and its metabolite (IN-J9Z38) in litchi and longan, and applied this method to the real samples. The residues in samples were extracted with acetonitrile and purified with nano-ZrO2, C18, and PSA. The samples were then detected with multireactive ion monitoring and electrospray ionization in the positive ion mode and quantified using the external matrix-matched standard method. The results showed good linearities for the eight analytes in the range of 1–100 μg/L, with correlation coefficients (r2) of >0.99. The limit of quantification was 1–10 μg/kg, and the limit of detection was 0.3–3 μg/kg. Average recovery from litchi and longan was 81–99%, with the relative standard deviation of 3.5–8.4% at fortified concentrations of 1, 10, and 100 μg/kg. The developed method is simple, rapid, efficient, and sensitive. It allowed the rapid screening, monitoring, and confirming of the aforementioned seven pesticides and a metabolite in litchi and longan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, tau tangles, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and progressive memory deficits. Aβ deposition could exacerbate oxidative damage and cellular apoptosis. GM-1 ganglioside (GM-1) has previously been reported to exhibit neuroprotective effects in rodents and patients with AD. However, the substantial impacts and mechanism of GM-1 on Aβ-induced oxidative stress remain elusive. The present study used PC-12 pheochromocytoma cells treated with Aβ25–35 peptide to construct the AD model in vitro. Aβ25–35 administration alone inhibited cell viability and facilitated cell apoptosis in the range doses of 10 μM to 30 μM. At the same time, GM-1 supplementation promoted cell proliferation and rescued cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent fashion ranging from 5 to 30 μM. In parallel, GM-1 treatment alleviated Aβ-induced oxidative stress by increasing the level of antioxidant enzymes and decreasing the content of malondialdehyde (MDA). The nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a crucial mediator of antioxidant response. We reported herein that GM-1 could activate Nrf-2 in the PC-12 cells co-treated with Aβ25–35, following with the activated expression of antioxidant response elements (ARE)-mediated antioxidant and detoxifying genes. Consistently, knock-down of Nrf-2 via siRNA abolished the beneficial decrease of Aβ-induced oxidative stress by GM-1 treatment, indicating that GM-1-improved oxidative stress was regulated by the Nrf-2 signaling pathway. Collectively, GM-1 could alleviate Aβ25–35-induced oxidative damage mediated through the Nrf-2/ARE signaling pathway, which might be a potential agent for AD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNNs have become pervasive in many security–critical scenarios such as autonomous vehicles and medical diagnoses. Recent studies reveal the susceptibility of DNNs to various adversarial attacks, among which weight Bit-Flip Attacks (BFA) is emerging as a significant security concern. Moreover, Targeted Bit-Flip Attacks (T-BFA), as a novel variant of BFA, can stealthily alter specific source–target classifications while preserving accurate classifications of non-target classes, posing a more severe threat. However, due to the inadequate consideration for T-BFA's "targeted" characteristic, existing defense mechanisms tend to perform over-protection/-modification to the network, leading to significant defense overheads or non-negligible DNN accuracy reduction. In this work, we propose ALERT , A L ightweight defense mechanism for E nhancing DNN R obustness against T -BFA while maintaining network accuracy. Firstly, fully understanding the key factors that dominate the misclassification among source–target class pairs, we propose a Source-Target-Aware Searching (STAS) method to accurately identify the vulnerable weights under T-BFA. Secondly, leveraging the intrinsic redundancy characteristic of DNNs, we propose a weight random switch mechanism to reduce the exposure of vulnerable weights, thereby weakening the expected impact of T-BFA. Striking a delicate balance between enhancing robustness and preserving network accuracy, we develop a metric to meticulously select candidate weights. Finally, to further enhance the DNN robustness, we present a lightweight runtime monitoring mechanism for detecting T-BFA through weight signature verification, and dynamically optimize the weight random switch strategy accordingly. Evaluation results demonstrate that our proposed method effectively enhances the robustness of DNNs against T-BFA while maintaining network accuracy. Compared with the baseline, our method can tolerate 6. 7 × more flipped bits with negligible accuracy loss (< 0. 1 % in ResNet-50). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biosensors are powerful tools for improving microbial biosynthesis. For example, biosensors can be used to establish feedback control mechanisms to inhibit the growth of low performing cells in a microbial population. In this study, a previously developed biosensor-assisted cell selection system was further engineered to increase the cell selection pressure for improving the bioproduction of 4-hydroxybenzoate (4HB) in E. coli. First, additional sensor protein PobR binding sites were introduced to reduce the binding of PobR controlling the expression of the selection marker gene (antibiotic tetracycline resistance tetA), which stimulated the engineered cells to produce more 4HB to compensate for the tetA expression reduction due to the loss of the PobR binding. Second, the degradation of the PobR sensor protein was promoted using an E. coli ssrA-SspB system to press the cells to make more 4HB. Third, the dosage of antibiotic tetracycline controlling the selection strengths was dynamically increased during the cultivation to align the selection pressure elevation with the cell growth. Our findings show these strategies all effectively improved the 4HB biosynthesis in E. coli and thus demonstrate their potential of wider applications in microbial biosynthesis. • Three strategies were developed to increase the strength of a biosensor-based cell selection mechanism. • Biosynthesis of 4-hydroxybenzoate was used to test the effectiveness of the adopted strategies. • Extra sensor protein binding sites were added to impose higher cell selection pressure. • Accelerating the degradation of the sensor protein also stimulated the cells to produce more product. • The antibiotic dosage was dynamically increased to align the cell selection pressure elevation with the cell growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaders in the developing world typically value inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), on the logic that FDI bolsters economic development and signals competence to voters. Yet the promise of new jobs and other benefits may outstrip the supply, leaving many disappointed. We present a theory of unmet expectations and political blame, which we test by connecting 223 georeferenced Chinese FDI projects to the political-economic perceptions of 179,278 respondents in Africa. We show that the announcement of Chinese FDI projects inspires economic optimism and bolsters perceptions of political leaders' competence for about one year. Once projects are operational, however, individuals living near those projects view the economy as worse than it would have been in the absence of FDI, and perceptions of political leaders similarly decline. This pattern of unmet expectations and political blame does not appear in the context of Chinese foreign aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing share of renewable energies needs more flexible services to balance their intermittency and variance. The existing coal fired units and electrical energy storage (EES) systems may play an important role in delivering flexible services. The value of their flexibility services, along with the value of renewable energies, has to be analyzed from the perspective of the power system, in which the capacity costs and operation costs of renewable energy power units, EES systems, and thermal power generation units have to be taken into consideration. An optimal model is built to analyze the renewable energy integration and the flexibility services delivered by the EES systems and thermal power units in a power system. Taking the existing thermal power units and EES systems in North China Power Grid as an instance, the overall cost of the grid is examined for the penetration of renewable energies and flexible service provision. The results show that the growing shares of renewable energies are affected by their capacity credits and flexibility sources in the grid, and that the potential of thermal power units to provide flexible services will be reduced due to the replacement of renewable energies for thermal power generation. The results also indicate that the thermal units may be dispatched to have priority to delivering flexible services for the renewable energy integration, and that the curtailment of renewable energies may be regarded as one type of flexible service. According to these results, policy and strategy recommendations are put forward to weigh the role of existing coal-fired units and EES systems in providing flexible services, and to improve their compensation mechanism and their coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a novel inertia emulation and fast frequency-droop (IEFF) control strategy for a point-to-point voltage source converter-based high voltage direct current (VSC-HVdc) transmission system. It allows asynchronous ac grid synchronization in forms of inertial and fast frequency-droop responses provided to “both” sides of the VSC-HVdc interconnected grids, different from the historically reported schemes only providing these responses to one grid. Under the IEFF scheme, the power-regulating VSC (PR-VSC) station emulates a synchronous generator directly through its active power control, whereas the dc-voltage-regulating VSC (DR-VSC) station employs a dc voltage/frequency droop control to convey its connected grid frequency communication-free to the remote PR-VSC for inertial and fast frequency-droop oriented power variations. To avoid the clash of the PR-VSC IEFF and DR-VSC IEFF control under simultaneous frequency events in the asynchronous grids, a novel frequency support mode selection scheme is designed to effectively prioritize the IEFF support with a higher frequency gradient. The key parameters of the IEFF controller are optimized through small signal stability analysis. The effectiveness of the proposed IEFF scheme is verified through controller hardware-in-the-loop experiments. The results show that the proposed IEFF scheme effectively promotes synchronization and enhances overall frequency stability for the two interconnected asynchronous grids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to detect the discharge products and study the decomposition characteristics of C5F10O/N2 gas mixture under pulsed discharge. Discharge tests are carried out on three kinds of gas mixtures with different contents of C5F10O (3.3%, 10%, and 30%). Electron attachment mass spectrometry (MS) is proposed to detect discharge products after negative ionization, and the results are compared with that in gas chromatography (GC) MS. The discharge products are detected and the formation pathways of the main decomposition products are deduced. The results show that the densities of some products increase with the number of discharge pulses. There are differences on the types of products and the cumulative effect of discharge in the three kinds of gas mixtures. Furthermore, these discharge products are able to characterize the discharge accumulation effects in power switchgear, such as insulation degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) are neuropsychological tests commonly used by physicians for screening cognitive dysfunction of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Due to different imperfect reference standards, the performance of MoCA and MMSE do not reach consensus. It is necessary to evaluate the consistence and differentiation of MoCA and MMSE in the absence of a gold standard for AD.Objective: We aimed to assess the accuracy of MoCA and MMSE in screening AD without a gold standard reference test.Methods: Studies were identified from PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, Chinese Wanfang Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and Cochrane Library. Our search was limited to studies published in English and Chinese before August 2021. A hierarchical Bayesian latent class model was performed in meta-analysis when the gold standard was absent.Results: A total of 67 studies comprising 5,554 individuals evaluated for MoCA and 76,862 for MMSE were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity was 0.934 (95% CI 0.905 to 0.954) for MoCA and 0.883 (95% CI 0.859 to 0.903) for MMSE, while the pooled specificity was 0.899 (95% CI 0.859 to 0.928) for MoCA and 0.903 (95% CI 0.879 to 0.923) for MMSE. MoCA was useful to rule out dementia associated with AD with lower negative likelihood ratio (LR-) (0.074, 95% CI 0.051 to 0.108). MoCA showed better performance with higher diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) (124.903, 95% CI 67.459 to 231.260).Conclusion: MoCA had better performance than MMSE in screening dementia associated with AD from patients with mild cognitive impairment or healthy controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies of aberrantly expressed circular RNAs (circRNAs) can provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of osteosarcoma (OS). However, the role of circ_0001174 in OS progression remains unknown. This study is aimed to identify differentially expressed circRNAs and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in patients with OS and to investigate potential regulatory ways of circ_0001174. Methods: High-throughput sequencing was performed to screen aberrantly expressed circRNAs and mRNAs between tumor and paracancerous tissues from patients with OS. Several bioinformatics tools were used to analyze the functions and pathways of the differentially expressed genes between the tissues. Cell counting kit-8, cell migration and invasion assays were performed to evaluate the functions of the critical circRNAs. RNA interference experiments, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting were used to explore the relationship between miR-186-5p and circ_0001174 or metastasis-associated in colon cancer 1 (MACC1). Results: Compared with the paracancerous tissues, 109 circRNAs and 1264 mRNAs were differentially expressed in the OS tissues, including 88 circRNAs and 707 mRNAs that were upregulated and 21 circRNAs and 557 mRNAs that were downregulated. The expression of four upregulated and four downregulated circRNAs was validated using RT-qPCR; the results were consistent with the sequencing data, and circ_0001174 was found to be significantly upregulated in 16 pairs of OS tissues and OS cell lines (fold change > 2.0, P value < 0.05). Knockdown of circ_0001174 inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OS cells. Additionally, circ_0001174 directly and negatively modulated the expression of miR-186-5p and positively regulated the expression of MACC1. Conclusions: Abnormally high expression of circ_0001174 may promote the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OS cells through up-regulating MACC1 by sponging miR-186-5p. These results provide insight into therapeutic targets for preventing and treating OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loss of muscle proteins is a deleterious consequence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) that causes a decrease in muscle strength and function, and can lead to a reduction in quality of life and increased risk of morbidity and mortality. The effectiveness of current treatment strategies in preventing or reversing muscle protein losses is limited. The limitations largely stem from the systemic nature of diseases such as CKD, which stimulate skeletal muscle protein degradation pathways while simultaneously activating mechanisms that impair muscle protein synthesis and repair. Stimuli that initiate muscle protein loss include metabolic acidosis, insulin and IGF1 resistance, changes in hormones, cytokines, inflammatory processes and decreased appetite. A growing body of evidence suggests that signalling molecules secreted from muscle can enter the circulation and subsequently interact with recipient organs, including the kidneys, while conversely, pathological events in the kidney can adversely influence protein metabolism in skeletal muscle, demonstrating the existence of crosstalk between kidney and muscle. Together, these signals, whether direct or indirect, induce changes in the levels of regulatory and effector proteins via alterations in mRNAs, microRNAs and chromatin epigenetic responses. Advances in our understanding of the signals and processes that mediate muscle loss in CKD and other muscle wasting conditions will support the future development of therapeutic strategies to reduce muscle loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study identified three distinct trajectories of sleep duration over an 8-year follow-up: high increasing, stable increasing, and low decreasing patterns. • High increasing sleep duration trajectory is associated with an elevated risk of cognitive decline. • Monitoring changes in sleep duration over the long term can aid in early intervention to prevent cognitive decline. The relationship between sleep duration trajectories and cognitive decline remains uncertain. This study aims to examine the connections between various patterns of sleep duration and cognitive function. Group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) was employed to identify longitudinal trajectories of sleep duration over four-year follow-up period, while considering age, sex and nap duration as adjustments. Logistic regression was utilized to analyze the association between sleep trajectories and cognition, with odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) reported. Subgroup analyses based on various demographic characteristics were conducted to explore potential differences in sleep trajectories and cognitive decline across different population subgroups. A total of 5061 participants were followed for four years, and three sleep duration trajectories were identified: high increasing (n = 2101, 41.6 %), stable increasing (n = 2087, 40.7 %), and low decreasing (n = 873, 17.7 %). After adjustment for basic demographic information, health status, and baseline cognition, the high increasing trajectory was found to be associated with cognitive decline in terms of global cognition (OR :1.52,95 % CI :1.18–1.96), mental intactness (OR :1.36,95 % CI :1.07–1.73) and episodic memory (OR :1.33, 95 % CI :1.05–1.67), as compared to stable increasing trajectory. These associations were particularly prominent among the non-elderly population (≤65 years) and those without depressive symptoms. This study suggests that both high increasing and low decreasing sleep duration trajectories are linked to cognitive decline, as compared to the stable increasing trajectory. Long-term attention to changes in sleep duration facilitates early prevention of cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Static-dynamic wetting characteristics of surfactant on coal dust was evaluated. • Adsorption mechanism of compound surfactant on coal dust surface was clarified. • Anionic-nonionic compound surfactants can show a significant synergism. The compound surfactant has a synergistic effect on the wetting ability of coal dust. In the study, the wettability of compound surfactant on coal dust with different metamorphic degrees was studied from static wetting experiment, dynamic wetting experiment, and micro molecular simulation. The results showed that the contact angle of the anionic-nonionic compound surfactant solution on any coal sheet was significantly smaller than that of the single component, which was 14.04%～63.31% lower than that of the single component. The contact angle of the anionic-anionic compound surfactant on the six kinds of coal dust test pieces was not smaller than the contact angle of each single component, only a compromise of contact angle of single component. The dust suppression efficiency of the gas coal in 0.025 wt% fatty acid methyl esters ethoxylate sulfonate (FMES) and 0.025 wt% coconutt diethanolamide (CDEA) compound solution was the highest, which was 78.4%. Lignite coal, long flame coal, non-caking coal, coking coal, and anthracite all have the highest dust suppression efficiency when sprayed with 0.025 wt% sodium alcohol ether sulphate (AES) and 0.025 wt% CDEA, which were 91.53%, 88.24%, 85.7%, 73.25%, and 80.57%, respectively. For any metamorphic degree of coal sample dust, the anionic-nonionic compound surfactant shows obvious synergistic effect on improving the wettability of coal dust. Furthermore, when the surfactant is adsorbed on the surface of coal molecules, the concentration of water molecules on the surface of coal molecules is increased, the hydrophilicity of the solid–liquid interface is improved, and the water molecules are more intensely diffused on the surface of coal dust. And the absolute value of the adsorption energy of the surfactant on the surface of the coal dust is higher, and the more hydrogen bonds formed by the hydrophilic groups, the better the wettability of the coal dust surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the soil fugitive dust pollution at the infrastructure construction site, a new environment friendly dust suppressant was prepared with carboxymethyl guar gum (CMGG) as the core raw material. The optimal formulation of the dust suppressant was determined using single factor experiments and RSM (Response surface method). The performance test results showed that the water erosion rate of the soil dust was <5%, and wind erosion rate reached 97.51%. The water retention rate of dust suppressant reached 31.33%. The dust suppressant contained substantial oxygen-containing functional groups (-OH, -COOH). The -COOH and -OH contained in the soil were interactively attracted with -OH and -COOH in dust suppressant to form hydrogen bonds, resulting in interfacial between dust suppressant and soil dust surface. The dust suppressant-soil dust adhesion system is formed, thereby inhibiting the spread of soil dust. [Display omitted] • Carboxymethyl guar gum is used for soil dust control. • Carboxymethyl guar gum could optimize dust suppression performance and efficiency. • OH and -COOH play a major role in dust suppressant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The real biological effect is not generated by the total content of heavy metals (HMs), but rather by bioavailable content. A new bioavailability-based ecological risk assessment (BA-based ERA) framework was developed for deriving bioavailability-based soil quality criteria (BA-based SQC) and accurately assessing the ecological risk of soil HMs at a multi-regional scale in this study. Through the random forest (RF) models and BA-based ERA framework, the 217 BA-based SQC for HMs in 31 Chinese provinces were derived and the BA-based ERA was comprehensively assessed. This study found that bioavailable HMs extraction methods (BHEMs) and total HMs content play the predominant role in affecting HMs (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) bioavailability by explaining 27.55–56.11% and 9.20–62.09% of the variation, respectively. The RF model had accurate and stable prediction ability for the bioavailability of soil HMs with the mean R 2 and RMSE of 0.83 and 0.43 for the test set, respectively. The results of BA-based ERA showed that bioavailability could avoid the overestimation of ecological risks to some extent after reducing the uncertainty of soil differences. This study confirmed the feasibility of using bioavailability for ERA and will utilised to revise the soil environmental standards based on bioavailability for HMs. [Display omitted] • A new bioavailability-based ecological risk assessment framework was developed. • The feasibility of using bioavailability for ERA of soil HMs was confirmed. • The RF model had accurate prediction ability for the bioavailability of soil HMs. • The BA-based ERA for different geographic regions in China was assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been known that the carbon nanotube (CNT)/cement composites can be used to reflect the external loading information and detect premature damage; however, the agreement on whether the piezoresistivity as a function of external loading is positive or negative has yet to be achieved, and the innate electrically conductive mechanism remains unclear. In this study, to minimize the application cost, small-size CNT/cement composites were embedded into the surface of the concrete as sensing elements, and the piezoresistivity of the CNT/cement composites under external loading along with/without salt attacks was tested. The results indicate that the piezoresistivity significantly depends on the percolation backbone density and the critical exponent of the CNT networks near the percolation threshold. Without salt environments, an "M" shape was observed in the curve of the fractional electrical resistivity (FCR) as a function of cyclic loading applied on the concrete samples. However, when the concrete samples were exposed to a salt environment, the "M" shape in the FCR curve disappeared. In addition, based on the percolation theory, the electrical resistivity changes as a function of strain fits well with an exponential function. The microstructure analysis demonstrates that the pore structure of the CNT/cement composites can be divided into spherical pores and cracks with layered structures. This study not only provides a new insight into the electrical conduction mechanism in CNT/cement composites systems but also sheds light on how to accurately monitor and analyze concrete structures with external loads, especially along with salt environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The mechanism of polymer on soil fugitive dust surface was studied at molecular level. • The bonding effect is mainly due to van der Waals force. • HPG has the lowest adsorption energy and the best bonding effect. Polymers with good adhesion properties are typically used as soil fugitive dust suppressants in infrastructure construction. This study investigates the dust suppression effect of hydroxypropyl guar gum (HPG), polyacrylamide (PAM), and starch (STA), as well as analyses their bonding mechanism on soil fugitive dust surface via laboratory experiments and molecular simulations. Laboratory test results indicate that the viscosity of HPG solution is the highest. At a mass concentration of 0.35 %, the maximum viscosity recorded is 288.5 m P a ∙ s , which is 44.8 and 264.08 m P a ∙ s higher than those of PAM and STA solutions, respectively. The wind-erosion resistance rate of soil fugitive dust samples treated with HPG is 98.63 %, which is 2.66 %, 3.51 %, and 30.43 % higher than those of PAM, STA, and water, respectively. The water-erosion rate of soil fugitive dust samples treated with HPG is only 2.06 %, which is 0.52 %, 1.05 %, and 12.11 % lower than those of PAM, STA, and water, respectively. HPG exhibits excellent cohesiveness and effectively inhibits the generation of soil fugitive dust. Molecular simulation results show that the adsorption energy of HPG is 4.8 %–48.3 % and 3.2 %–54.8 % lower than those of PAM and STA, respectively, thus indicating the higher adsorption capacity of HPG. The distribution of HPG on the surface of soil fugitive dust components is the most concentrated. The self-diffusion coefficient of HPG is 0.3–6.7 and 1.2–12.4 times lower than those of PAM and STA, respectively; therefore, the structures of the HPG/soil fugitive dust component simulation systems are more stable. The radial distribution function shows that the van der Waals force is the primary force affecting the molecular dynamics behaviour, which signifies physical adsorption. The binding mechanism of polymers on the surface of soil fugitive dust is that the polymer approaches the surface of soil fugitive dust through van der Waals forces and eventually adsorbs onto the surface of soil fugitive dust to bond with it. This study provides a theoretical foundation for the development of more effective soil fugitive dust suppressants for infrastructure construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melanoma is an aggressive malignant skin tumor endangering the health of patients. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) have been increasingly reported to be implicated in the carcinogenesis of melanoma. Long intergenic non‐coding RNA 00665 (LINC00665) has been found to exert important regulatory roles in some cancers, yet its function in melanoma remains to be investigated. QRT‐PCR analysis was conducted to evaluate the relative expression of RNAs. Functional experiments in vitro including colony formation, EdU, wound‐healing and transwell assays, as well as in vivo xenograft assays, were utilized to study the role of LINC00665 in melanoma. Mechanical experiments were implemented to probe into the molecular linkage of LINC00665, miR‐224‐5p and VMA21. LINC00665 was abnormally highly expressed in melanoma cells. Silencing LINC00665 could inhibit the proliferation and migration of melanoma cells. LINC00665 sponged miR‐224‐5p to upregulate VMA21. VMA21 knockdown exerted similarly interfering effects on above biological processes in melanoma cells. However, VMA21 overexpression abolished the in vitro and in vivo outcomes of LINC00665 silencing. LINC00665 promotes proliferative and migrating abilities of melanoma cells via targeting miR‐224‐5p/VMA21 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bladder cancer (BLCA) typically has a poor prognosis due to high relapse and metastasis rates. A growing body of evidence indicates that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in the progression of BLCA and the treatment response of patients with BLCA. Therefore, we conducted a comprehensive RNA-seq analysis of BLCA using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to establish an m6A-related lncRNA prognostic signature (m6A-RLPS) for BLCA.Methods: Consensus clustering analysis was used to investigate clusters of BLCA patients with varying prognoses. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator Cox regression were used to develop the m6A-RLPS. The ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms were used to evaluate the immune composition.Results: A total of 745 m6A-related lncRNAs were identified using Pearson correlation analysis (|R| > 0.4, p < 0.001). Fifty-one prognostic m6A-related lncRNAs were screened using univariate Cox regression analysis. Through consensus clustering analysis, patients were divided into two clusters (clusters 1 and 2) with different overall survival rates and tumor stages based on the differential expression of the lncRNAs. Enrichment analysis demonstrated that terms related to tumor biological processes and immune-related activities were increased in patient cluster 2, which was more likely to exhibit low survival rates. Nine m6A-related prognostic lncRNAs were finally determined and subsequently used to construct the m6A-RLPS, which was verified to be an independent predictor of prognosis using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Further, a nomogram based on age, tumor stage, and the m6A-RLPS was generated and showed high accuracy and reliability with respect to predicting the survival outcomes of BLCA patients. The prognostic signature was found to be strongly correlated to tumor-infiltrating immune cells and immune checkpoint expression.Conclusions: We established a novel m6A-RLPS with a favorable prognostic value for patients with BLCA. We believe that this prognostic signature can provide new insights into the tumorigenesis of BLCA and predict the treatment response in patients with BLCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Indigo is a color molecule with a long history of being used as a textile dye. The conventional production methods are facing increasing economy, sustainability and environmental challenges. Therefore, developing a green synthesis method converting renewable feedstocks to indigo using engineered microbes is of great research and application interest. However, the efficiency of the indigo microbial biosynthesis is still low and needs to be improved by proper metabolic engineering strategies. Results: In the present study, we adopted several metabolic engineering strategies to establish an efficient microbial biosynthesis system for converting renewable carbon substrates to indigo. First, a microbial co-culture was developed using two individually engineered E. coli strains to accommodate the indigo biosynthesis pathway, and the balancing of the overall pathway was achieved by manipulating the ratio of co-culture strains harboring different pathway modules. Through carbon source optimization and application of biosensor-assisted cell selection circuit, the indigo production was improved significantly. In addition, the global transcription machinery engineering (gTME) approach was utilized to establish a high-performance co-culture variant to further enhance the indigo production. Through the step-wise modification of the established system, the indigo bioproduction reached 104.3 mg/L, which was 11.4-fold higher than the parental indigo producing strain. Conclusion: This work combines modular co-culture engineering, biosensing, and gTME for addressing the challenges of the indigo biosynthesis, which has not been explored before. The findings of this study confirm the effectiveness of the developed approach and offer a new perspective for efficient indigo bioproduction. More broadly, this innovative approach has the potential for wider application in future studies of other valuable biochemicals' biosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hakka enclosed-castled-houses in southern Jiangxi are the historical treasure of Hakka culture, and are the material carrier of Hakka traditional excellent ethics. This article combs the historical development of Hakka enclosed-castled-houses from the perspective of design, and explores the ethical implication of respecting ancestors, respecting social rank, and valuing harmony in space design, in order to provide new ideas and basic theoretical support for the protection and inheritance of Hakka enclosedcastled-houses in southern Jiangxi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the substantial increase in vehicle population, the road safety problems such as accidents have become serious. In this paper, we propose a road-safety data delivery solution in vehicular sensor networks to solve road safety problems and improve driving safety. The road-safety data delivery in vehicular sensor networks is delay-sensitive, so this solution aims to reduce the road-safety data delivery latency by shortening the addressing, routing and handover delays. In the proposal, a new address structure is proposed to achieve the road-safety data delivery. Based on the new address structure, the address configuration can be achieved without duplicate address detection and the routing can be performed without route discovery. Moreover, multiple sensor devices can achieve handovers via one handover operation without performing time-consuming care-of address configuration. Finally, the proposal is analyzed and evaluated, and the data shows that the proposal effectively reduces the road-safety data delivery latency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that remnant cholesterol (RC) was associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) among middle-aged or older adults. However, lack of evidence on long-term exposures to RC and their role in CVD risk among young adults. We thus aimed to explore the association between cumulative RC burden and CVD in young adults. We enrolled participants younger than 45 years free of CVD history in the Kailuan Study who completed the first three health examinations from 2006 to 2010. Cumulative RC burden included cumulative RC burden score, time-weighted cumulative RC, exposure duration of high RC, and time course of RC accumulation. The outcome was the incidence of CVD. Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between cumulative RC burden and CVD risk. A total of 15,219 participants were included (73.70% male, median age 39.13 years). During a median follow-up duration of 8.71 years (interquartile range: 8.4–9.15 years), 502 individuals developed CVD. After adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, highest risk of CVD was observed in participants with the highest cumulative RC burden score (HR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.29–2.12), the highest quartile time-weighted cumulative RC (HR,1.50; 95% CI, 1.15–1.96), the longest exposure duration of high RC (HR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.21–2.42), and those with cumulative RC burden and positive slope (HR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.35–2.36). Cumulative RC burden increased the risk of CVD among young adults, suggesting that maintaining low RC levels throughout young adulthood may minimize CVD risk. • Remnant cholesterol (RC) was associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) among middle-aged or older adults, but lack of evidence on long-term exposures to RC and their role in CVD risk among young adults. • We explored the association between cumulative RC burden and CVD in younger than 45 years adults. • Cumulative RC burden increased the risk of CVD among young adults, suggesting that maintaining low RC levels throughout young adulthood may minimize CVD risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of age-related dementia, and causes progressive memory degradation, neuronal loss and brain atrophy. The pathological hallmarks of AD consist of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque accumulation and abnormal neurofibrillary tangles. Amyloid fibrils are constructed from Aβ peptides, which are recognized to assemble into toxic oligomers and exert cytotoxicity. The fibrillar Aβ-protein fragment 25–35 (Aβ25-35) induces local inflammation, thereby exacerbating neuronal apoptosis. Notoginsenoside R1 (NGR1), one of the primary bioactive ingredients isolated from Panax notoginseng, exhibits effective anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activities. However, NGR1 pharmacotherapies targeting Aβ-induced inflammation and cell injury cascade remain to be elucidated. The present study investigated the effect and mechanism of NGR1 in Aβ25-35-treated PC12 cells. NGR1 doses between 250 and 1,000 µg/ml significantly increased cell viability suppressed by 20 µM Aβ25-35 peptide treatment. Notably, the present study demonstrated that Aβ25-35 peptide-induced sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) signaling activation was reduced after NGR1 treatment, further inhibiting the downstream NF-κB inflammatory signaling pathway. In addition, administration of SphK1 inhibitor II (SKI–II), a SphK1 inhibitor, also significantly reduced Aβ25-35 peptide-induced apoptosis and the ratio of NF-κB p-p65/p65. Furthermore, SphK1 knockdown in PC12 cells using small interfering RNA alleviated Aβ-induced cell apoptosis and inflammation, suggesting a pivotal role of SphK1 signaling in the anti-inflammatory effect of NGR1. In summary, NGR1 alleviated inflammation and apoptosis stimulated by Aβ25-35 by inhibiting the SphK1/NF-κB signaling pathway and may be a promising agent for future AD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the vehicular network makes the early road safety warning become possible because vehicles can retrieve road safety information via the vehicular network. The topology of the vehicular network is frequently fragmented due to some reasons such as vehicle mobility. To guarantee communication continuity, vehicular data is usually uploaded to infrastructures so that vehicles can download data from these infrastructures. However, in some places such as suburban parts of a city, infrastructures are sparsely deployed, which leads to long delays of data delivery and failures of data reception. Nowadays, resources of parking vehicles are not fully utilized, so we are motivated to exploit parking vehicles to work as virtual infrastructures and provide data for driving vehicles. Based on this idea, we propose a vehicular Data Delivery based on Virtual Infrastructures (DDVI) and aim to reduce data delivery delays and failures. In DDVI, parking vehicles in the peripheral area of a parking lot are elected as gateways so that driving vehicles on the roads surrounding the parking lot can rely on gateways and name-centric reverse paths to share data from the nearest provider via one data delivery process. DDVI is evaluated, and the experimental results demonstrate its strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MENK reduces the abundance of MDSCs in mice. • MENK induces M1 polarization of macrophages. • MENK inhibits osteosarcoma by regulating OGFr. This study aimed to investigate the underlying regulatory effects of methionine enkephalin (MENK) on osteosarcoma. The Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, clone formation, wound healing, transwell assay, and flow cytometry were performed to measure the effects of MENK on the proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis of MG-63 and Saos-2 cells. Opiate growth factor receptor expression (OGFr) in cells was stably knocked down using siRNA. A tumor model was established by inoculating MG-63 cells into mice. Flow cytometry was performed to identify alterations in mice bone marrow, spleen, and tumor tissue immune cells. The phenotype of tumor-associated macrophages was determined using immunohistochemistry. After OGFr knockdown or/and treatment with MENK, Bax, Bcl-2, caspase 3, caspase 9, and PARP expression levels were characterized using qRT-PCR, western blot, and WES, respectively. MENK could significantly inhibit the proliferation, invasion, and migration of MG-63 and Saos-2, arrest the cell cycle in the G0/G1 phase, upregulate Bax, caspase 3, caspase 9, and PARP expression, and downregulate Bcl-2 expression. Tumor size and weight were lower in the MENK group than those in the control group. MENK-treated mice exhibited a reduced ratio of CD11b + Gr-1 + myeloid-derived suppressor cells. MENK increased the ratio of M1-type macrophages and decreased the proportion of M2-type macrophages in tumor tissue. Furthermore, the level of TNF-α significantly increased while that of IL-10 decreased in MENK-treated mice. The effect of MENK could be partly reversed by OGFr knockdown. MENK reduces the abundance of myeloid-derived suppressor cells, induces M1 polarization of macrophages, and exhibits an inhibitory effect on osteosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbially nitrate-reducing Fe(II) oxidation (NRFO) is widespread in anoxic environments at circumneutral pH, in which Fe(II) oxidation is considered to be mainly catalyzed by nitrite via chemodenitrification after microbial nitrate reduction. Cadmium (Cd) is toxic to organisms, and its availability is strongly affected by iron (oxyhydr)oxides and/or bacteria. However, it remains unclear how NRFO affects the fate of Cd with environmentally relevant concentrations, and the relative contributions of microbes and secondary minerals to Cd immobilization during NRFO. Here, Acidovorax sp. BoFeN1, a typical NRFO bacterium, was used to investigate the Cd immobilization during NRFO at pH 7.0 with 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/L Cd, respectively. Higher initial Cd concentration resulted in a higher amount of Cd immobilized in precipitates, but showed stronger inhibition on nitrate reduction, acetate metabolism, and cell growth. The presence of Cd barely influenced the Fe(II) oxidation during NRFO or chemodenitrification, but retarded the mineral transformation to secondary crystalline minerals, i.e., lepidocrocite and goethite. The extracellular polymeric substances deposited in the bacteria-mineral precipitates were rich in tyrosine-like and tryptophan-like proteins with negatively charged amino and carboxyl groups. The STEM-HAADF images with EDX mapping demonstrated that Cd was strongly co-localized with Fe on the cell surface and in the periplasm. Cadmium immobilization experiments with bacterial cells or during chemodenitrification indicated that the bacterial cells and secondary minerals formed during chemodenitrification are comparably important for Cd immobilization in the Cd0.1 treatment, while the secondary minerals played a predominant role in Cd immobilization in the Cd0.5 and Cd1.0 treatments. These results suggested that Cd was likely associated with the secondary iron minerals, which precipitated with the proteins on the cell surface and in the periplasm. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the roles of Cd, bacterial cells, and secondary minerals formed via chemodenitrification, as well as their interactions during the complicated NRFO process at circumneutral pH. • More Cd is immobilized during the NRFO process with the increasing Cd. • Higher Cd contents show stronger inhibition on nitrate reduction and cell growth. • Lepidocrocite and goethite are the main secondary minerals formed during NRFO. • Bacterial cells and Fe minerals contribute to Cd immobilization in Cd0.1 treatment. • Fe minerals are more important than bacterial cells in Cd immobilization in Cd0.5 and Cd1.0 treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C5F10O has the potential to replace SF6 as an insulation gas in switchgears due to its high breakdown field strength and low global warming potential. However, as a newly synthesized gas, the chemical characteristics of C5F10O are not well known. In particular, the discharge products of C5F10O are not clear, which limits its insulating capability evaluation in long-term use, and further hinders the development of a gas sensor to monitor the insulation deterioration of C5F10O-containing switchgears. In this paper, electron attachment mass spectrometry (MS) was proposed to detect the decomposed products of C5F10O under pulsed spark discharge condition. It was found that the ionization source of the MS had an optimal electron energy of 2 eV to avoid decomposing the gas molecules to be detected while having a high detection sensitivity. The detected discharge products mainly included CF4, C2F4, C3F6, C3HF5, C3F8, C3HF7, C4F10, C5F10, C6F12, C3F4O and C2F6O, while CF4, C3HF5, C3HF7, C5F10, C6F12, C3F4O and C2F6O were not detected using GCMS. Based on the nonionization measurement, the decomposition mechanism was deduced. Also, it was found that the densities of some products, such as C3F6, C3F8, C4F10 were increasing with the discharge voltage and the number of discharge pulses, implying that these species might be used as indicators for the discharge accumulation effects such as the insulation deterioration of switchgears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advancement of globalization and urbanization, the coexistence of growth and shrinkage in urban areas has become increasingly prominent and has implications for urban transformation. This research provided a comprehensive case study of Yiwu and used multisource spatial data to identify and analyze urban growth and shrinkage according to an analytical framework based on multidimensional changes in the population, economy, and landscape from 2012 to 2018. Township-level resident population data and the records of investment data among business enterprises are referred to as macroscopic indicators, and monthly nighttime light image data are employed to evaluate microscale environmental changes of Yiwu. The results showed a rapidly urbanizing process along with some local shrinkage areas in Yiwu. The growth areas were mainly in central Yiwu, while shrinkage occurred in the northern and southern areas. Based on the theoretical framework following the interaction between globalization and localization, both the quantitative analysis and the qualitative analysis indicated that the changes in the international trade environment and domestic environment; the advancement of machine replacement; the development of e-commerce economy; the renovation and improvement of the environment, which was predominantly carried out by the government of Zhejiang province, and the reform of the household registration system are all contributing to Yiwu's growth and shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel composite has been successfully synthesized in situ via a coprecipitation method about the coupling of Cu 2 (OH) 2 CO 3 with oxidized carbon nitride (O-g-C 3 N 4) forming Cu 2 (OH) 2 CO 3 /O-g-C 3 N 4 (CuCN) heterojunction structure. The as-prepared composites were characterized by diverse means. The CuCN composite with 3:5 mass ratio of Cu 2 (OH) 2 CO 3 to O-g-C 3 N 4 (60CuCN) presented an extremely excellent photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic H 2 evolution of 60CuCN was around 23.26 and 44.62 times higher than that of g-C 3 N 4 and Cu 2 (OH) 2 CO 3 , respectively. The photocatalytic degradation malachite green (MG) rate of 60CuCN was up to 91%, which was around 2.2 and 4.8 times as much as that of g-C 3 N 4 and Cu 2 (OH) 2 CO 3 , respectively. These results are mainly attributed to the structure property of O-g-C 3 N 4 and the heterojunction structure of the composite, which could effectively accelerate the separation and transfer rate of photogenerated electrons and holes. The holes (h+) and superoxide radicals (·O 2 −) played a dominant role in photocatalytic degradation MG reaction. • CuCN was synthesized using O-g-C 3 N 4 in situ via a coprecipitation method. • 60CuCN presented an extremely excellent photocatalytic activity. • The OCN possessed a larger BET surface area and narrower band gap than bulk g-C 3 N 4. • The CuCN heterojunction structure accounted for enhanced photocatalytic activity. • The possible mechanism was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy scientists have long examined how policy innovation has emerged and diffused by focusing on the interaction between agents and policy programs. In contrast, this article focuses on how uncertainty in policy environments has affected the fate of policy innovation in an authoritarian state. Using original data from China's official newspaper, the People's Daily,it is found that the central government's decision to promote sensitive policy experiments is a function of the perceived risks in the policy environment. The U-shaped relationship between the promotion of sensitive policy innovation and inflation reflects the wire-walking behavior of China's central government. The central authority in China tends to promote fewer sensitive political experiments when inflation increases and resumes promoting experiments when the inflation rate passes a certain tipping point. It is also found that the central authority intentionally regulates the promotion of political experiments during important political events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]