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The flow of fracturing fluid through rock pores generates a seepage force (SF) that disrupts the existing stress equilibrium and significantly affects rock deformation and failure. Despite its impact, the effect of SF on hydraulic fracture (HF) initiation has yet to be fully understood. In this study, a mechanistic model of SF's impact on fracture initiation was established through analysis of the force balance on a microscopic element. Using the finite difference method, a transient hydro‐mechanical model was developed to simulate fluid seepage‐induced stress distribution and pore pressure variation around a wellbore. Model results were validated through comparison with an analytical solution of pore pressure. The influence of SF on fracture initiation was investigated by conducting simulations with various wellbore pressurization rates and fracturing fluid viscosities. The results showed that fluid viscosity and pressurization rate have a significant impact on fracture initiation pressure (FIP) and SF‐induced circumferential stress. A larger SF‐induced circumferential stress and a lower FIP were observed when the viscosity and pressurization rate were smaller. A higher Biot coefficient results in stronger SF and reduced FIP. The theoretical mechanical model of seepage force established in this paper can provide crucial theoretical support for understanding the mechanism of fracture initiation and propagation, as well as for optimizing the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing construction. Highlights: The impact of seepage force on rocks is analyzed by establishing a theoretical mechanical model.The mechanism of seepage forces on fracture initiation is studied for the first time.The influence of fluid viscosity and wellbore pressurization rate on fracture initiation is illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Random fiber lasers (RFLs) with disordered scattering feedback media provide a range of functionalities and properties. The primary drawback with weak Rayleigh scattering (RS)-based RFLs is their large frequency drift and mode hopping, which are caused by the random walk of photons at different round trips. Here, we present a technique to control the mode propagation of RFLs by using a narrow gain bandwidth from stimulated Brillouin scattering and photon localization from a strongly scattering disordered grating. Multiple scattering of light within the disordered grating leads to photon localization and narrow reflection peaks, which suppresses frequency drift and reduces the number of modes. The compact Brillouin random fiber laser (BRFL) with a 200 m strongly scattering disordered grating enables single-mode lasing with an ultra-narrow linewidth of ∼650 Hz. The results of the real-time spectral evolution obtained by the heterodyne method demonstrate long-term stability of the lasing frequency, confirming the capability of the strongly scattering disordered grating to control mode propagation of the BRFL. The BRFL exhibits an ultra-high frequency stability of 0.48 MHz and mode-hop-free operation up to 120 s. This work provides a perspective on the development of RFLs with high coherence and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fourteen species of Cheiloneurus from China are studied. Cheiloneurus guangxiensis Zu, sp. nov., is described as new to science, and C. boldyrevi Trjapitzin & Agekyan, 1978, C. bouceki Anis & Hayat, 2002, C. gonatopodis Perkins, 1906, and C. hadrodorys Anis & Hayat, 2002 are newly recorded from China. A key to Chinese species based on females is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the Shuram Excursion (SE), a major event in Earth's history that occurred during the Ediacaran Period around 570 million years ago. The SE is characterized by a significant drop in carbon isotope values and a decoupling between carbon isotope compositions. The article presents evidence that the SE was caused by the massive oxidation of organic matter in the oceans, which released phosphorus and resulted in changes in various isotopic systems. The text emphasizes the importance of technological advancements in understanding the nature of the SE and discusses the implications of this research for the evolution of early complex life and the carbon cycle of ancient oceans. [Extracted from the article]

A green photo-oxidation reaction was discovered in which the imidazole ring is oxidized and rearranged to generate imidazolinone derivatives with thermal activation delayed fluorescence properties. The excellent photo-oxidation properties of p -PTZ-PIM can be utilized for detecting trace oxygen in the water phase and the sealing of food packaging bags. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a summary of recent advancements in high-order dipolar annulations (HODAs) of donor-acceptor cyclopropanes (DACs) and donor-acceptor cyclobutanes (DABs). These processes are used to construct highly functionalized medium-sized (hetero)cycles. The article highlights various annulation reactions, including (3+4) and (3+5) annulations, and discusses the catalysts and reaction conditions used. The authors suggest that future research in this field should focus on discovering new annulation modes and developing efficient chiral organometallic catalysts. [Extracted from the article]

With the development of the space industry, LEO simulation platforms are increasingly important. Prior work mainly focused on the dynamics of constellation topology, routing algorithms against the topological motion, and the behavior of LEO constellation networks, but neglected real-time and completeness properties. In our work, we design a real-time and complete network simulation framework, named LEOCN, that is more meaningful and detailed for researchers than previous work on LEO satellite constellation simulations. LEOCN is supported by Linux System, which makes the framework more realistic and relieves the computational burden. Meanwhile, LEOCN deeply considers topology and routing algorithms, visualization, satellite mobility, communication protocols, and network traffic problems. On LEOCN, we can deploy routing algorithm experiments via SDN. We evaluate the performance of LEOCN in large-scale constellation scenarios, and the results demonstrate the superiority of the real-time and complete network simulation framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational structural design is an important method to control conductivity and enhance the electrochemical performance. In this work, a spindle-like CoNi 2 S 4 is prepared by a simple hydrothermal technique. XRD and SEM tests indicate the spindle shape of CoNi 2 S 4. TEM measurement further implies the hollow structure, which can effectively shorten electron/ion transfer distance and improve conductivity. Electrochemical analysis demonstrates that the CoNi 2 S 4 exhibits a specific capacitance of 1326.2 F g−1 at 1 A g−1; the CoNi 2 S 4 //AC also shows high specific capacitance (96.48 F g−1 at 0.2 A g−1) and cycling durability with nearly no capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles. Furthermore, in Ni–Zn battery application field, the CoNi 2 S 4 //Zn also displays satisfying specific capacity (156.7 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1) and cycle durability (∼60.3 % capacity retention after 1500 cycles). The above results imply that CoNi 2 S 4 is a promising electrode candidate in energy storage field. [Display omitted] • CoNi 2 S 4 was successfully fabricated by two-step hydrothermal method. • CoNi 2 S 4 displays high specific capacitance of 1326.2 F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1. • CoNi 2 S 4 shows superior electrochemical properties in Ni–Zn battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MALT1 (mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma translocation protein 1) serves as a pivotal mediator for NF-κB activation in response to a wide spectrum of transmembrane receptor stimuli. In the present study, a homolog of MALT1, named LvMALT1, is cloned from the Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and its potential function in shrimp innate immunity is explored. The open reading frame of LvMALT1 is 2364 bp that encodes 787 amino acids. The predicted LvMALT1 protein structure comprises a death domain, three immunoglobulin domains, and a caspase-like domain, exhibiting remarkable similarity to other homologs. LvMALT1 is a cytoplasmic-localized protein and could interact with LvTRAF6. Overexpression of LvMALT1 induces the activation of promoter elements governing the expression of several key antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), including penaeidins (PENs) and crustins (CRUs). Conversely, silencing of LvMALT1 leads to a reduction in the phosphorylation levels of Dorsal and Relish, along with a concomitant decline in the in vivo expression levels of multiple AMPs. Furthermore, LvMALT1 is prominently upregulated in response to a challenge by the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), facilitating the NF-κB-mediated expression of AMPs as a defense against viral infection. Taken together, we identified a MALT1 homolog from the shrimp L. vannamei, which plays a positive role in the TRAF6/NF-κB/AMPs axis-mediated innate immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four triazine mantic acid derivative additives were synthesized, and their tribological properties in rapeseed oil (RSO) were investigated with a four-ball tester. The results showed that the emulsions prepared with thiotriazine derivatives had excellent tribological properties. For the same S content, the antiwear performance was enhanced by increasing the carbon chain length at low load and deduced by increasing the carbon chain length at high load. The superior antiwear performance was attributed to forming the organic sulfide and nitrogen adhering layer, moreover, under low load, the thiotriazine xanthate derivatives containing a longer substituent chain would be hardly damaged during sliding, and the branch chain on the substituent group would be beneficial to enhance the tribological properties of triazine xanthine derivatives. Sulfur-containing triazine derivatives have a good corrosion inhibition effect for Q235 steel because they contain N, O, S, and other active sites. These heteroatoms have unshared lone pair electrons, which can coordinate with the unoccupied orbital of Fe atoms to form covalent bonds and prohibit the corrosive media from contacting the surface of the Q235 steel, thus inhibiting the corrosion processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controversy measurement on social media plays an important part in understanding public opinion. Various topics are frequently hotly debated on social media platforms including Twitter and Sina Weibo. People sometimes use offensive or sarcastic language to convey their opinions about a topic or a source post, which might spark heated discussions and controversy towards related topics. Recent researches take controversy detection as a binary classification problem with two labels: controversy or non-controversy. The reason might be lacking a comprehensive understanding of why the controversy happened and a specific imagination of how it will be used in the downstream tasks. However, we believe that the degree of controversy courted by posts or topics in a real scenario varied. And fine-grained measurement of controversy will be beneficial to public sentiment identification, influence assessment and other social network analysis tasks. We also notice that the existing benchmarks of controversy detection are not applicable for fine-grained topic-level controversy measurement. In this paper, we present ProsCons, a large-scale comprehensive Chinese dataset that includes 245 topics and 32,667 posts with pro, con or neutral stances. Based on that, we design a controversy measurement framework for measuring the controversy intensity that topics sparked. This framework considers the degree of antagonism in terms of stance and sentiment, as well as the irrational degree (offensive or sarcasm) of a post to compute a controversy intensity. ProsCons provides a new benchmark for Chinese stance detection, offensive language and sarcasm detection, contributing to the multi-task learning of them. We conduct extensive experiments on ProsCons and provide baselines for these tasks. The experimental results highlight the challenges of the aforementioned tasks based on the ProsCons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) are regarded as "superfoods" attributed to large amounts of anthocyanins, a group of flavonoid metabolites, which provide pigmentation in plant and beneficial effects for human health. MYB transcription factor is one of vital components in the regulation of plant secondary metabolism, which occupies a dominant position in the regulatory network of anthocyanin biosynthesis. However, the role of MYB family in blueberry responding to anthocyanin biosynthesis remains elusive. Results: In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of VcMYBs in blueberry based on the genome data, including phylogenetic relationship, conserved motifs, identification of differentially expressed MYB genes during fruit development and their expression profiling, etc. A total of 437 unique MYB sequences with two SANT domains were identified in blueberry, which were divided into 3 phylogenetic trees. Noticeably, there are many trigenic and tetragenic VcMYBs pairs with more than 95% identity to each other. Meanwhile, the transcript accumulations of VcMYBs were surveyed underlying blueberry fruit development, and they showed diverse expression patterns, suggesting various functional roles in fruit ripening. More importantly, distinct transcript profiles between skin and pulp of ripe fruit were observed for several VcMYBs, such as VcMYB437, implying the potential roles in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Conclusions: Totally, 437 VcMYBs were identified and characterized. Subsequently, their transcriptional patterns were explored during fruit development and fruit tissues (skin and pulp) closely related to anthocyanin biosynthesis. These genome-wide data and findings will contribute to demonstrating the functional roles of VcMYBs and their regulatory mechanisms for anthocyanins production and accumulation in blueberry in the future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic type‐I photosensitizers (PSs) which produce aggressive reactive oxygen species (ROS) with less oxygen‐dependent exhibit attractive curative effect for photodynamic therapy (PDT), as they adapt better to hypoxia microenvironment in tumors. However, the reported type‐I PSs are limited and its exacted mechanism of oxygen dependence is still unclear. Herein, new selenium‐containing type‐I PSs of Se6 and Se5 with benzoselenadiazole acceptor has been designed and possessed aggregation‐induced emission characteristic. Benefited from double heavy‐atom‐effect of selenium and bromine, Se6 shows a smaller energy gap (ΔEST) of 0.03 eV and improves ROS efficiency. Interestingly, type‐I radicals of both long‐lived superoxide anion (O2•‾) and short‐lived hydroxyl (•OH) are generated from them upon irradiation. This may provide a switch‐hitter of dual‐radical with complementary lifetimes for PDT. More importantly, simultaneous processes to produce •OH are revealed, including disproportionation of O2•‾ and reaction between excited PS and water. Actually, Se6 displays superior in–vitro PDT performance to commercial chlorin e6 (Ce6), under normoxia or hypoxia. After intravenous injection, a significantly in–vivo PDT performance is demonstrated on Se6, where tumor growth inhibition rates of 99% is higher than Ce6. These findings offer new insights about both molecular design and mechanism study of type‐I PSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, cancer immunotherapy has emerged as an exciting cancer treatment. Immune checkpoint blockade brings new opportunities for more researchers and clinicians. Programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1) is a widely studied immune checkpoint, and PD-1 blockade therapy has shown promising results in a variety of tumors, including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma, which greatly improves patient overall survival and becomes a promising tool for the eradication of metastatic or inoperable tumors. However, low responsiveness and immune-related adverse effects currently limit its clinical application. Overcoming these difficulties is a major challenge to improve PD-1 blockade therapies. Nanomaterials have unique properties that enable targeted drug delivery, combination therapy through multidrug co-delivery strategies, and controlled drug release through sensitive bonds construction. In recent years, combining nanomaterials with PD-1 blockade therapy to construct novel single-drug-based or combination therapy-based nano-delivery systems has become an effective mean to address the limitations of PD-1 blockade therapy. In this study, the application of nanomaterial carriers in individual delivery of PD-1 inhibitors, combined delivery of PD-1 inhibitors and other immunomodulators, chemotherapeutic drugs, photothermal reagents were reviewed, which provides effective references for designing new PD-1 blockade therapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of using a 3D-printed total skin bolus in total skin helical tomotherapy for the treatment of mycosis fungoides. Materials and methods: A 65-year-old female patient with a 3-year history of mycosis fungoides underwent treatment using an in-house desktop fused deposition modelling printer to create a total skin bolus made of a 5-mm-thick flexible material, which increased the skin dose through dose building. The patient's scan was segmented into upper and lower sections, with the division line placed 10 cm above the patella. The prescription was to deliver 24 Gy over 24 fractions, given 5 times per week. The plan parameters consisted of a field width of 5 cm, pitch of 0.287 and modulation factor of 3. The complete block was placed 4 cm away from the planned target region to reduce the area of the internal organs at risk, especially the bone marrow. Dose delivery accuracy was verified using point dose verification with a "Cheese" phantom (Gammex RMI, Middleton, WI), 3D plane dose verification with ArcCHECK (Model 1220, Sun Nuclear, Melbourne, FL), and multipoint film dose verification. Megavoltage computed tomography guidance was also utilized to ensure the accuracy of the setup and treatment. Results: A 5-mm-thick 3D-printed suit was used as a bolus to achieve a target volume coverage of 95% of the prescribed dose. The conformity index and homogeneity index of the lower segment were slightly better than those of the upper segment. As the distance from the skin increased, the dose to the bone marrow gradually decreased, and the dose to other organs at risk remained within clinical requirements. The point dose verification deviation was less than 1%, the 3D plane dose verification was greater than 90%, and the multipoint film dose verification was less than 3%, all of which confirmed the accuracy of the delivered dose. The total treatment time was approximately 1.5 h, which included 0.5 h of wearing the 3D-printed suit and 1 h with the beam on. Patients only experienced mild fatigue, nausea or vomiting, low-grade fever, and grade III bone marrow suppression. Conclusion: The use of a 3D-printed suit for total skin helical tomotherapy can result in a uniform dose distribution, short treatment time, simple implementation process, good clinical outcomes, and low toxicity. This study presents an alternative treatment approach that can potentially yield improved clinical outcomes for mycosis fungoides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we formulate a time-inconsistent linear-quadratic (LQ) mean-field game problem for large-population systems. By the Nash certainty equivalence methodology, we construct an auxiliary problem consisting of time-inconsistent LQ control problems for every agent, respectively. An equilibrium, instead of optimal solution, is presented explicitly in the form of linear feedback for each agent in this auxiliary problem. Inspired by the framework of tackling time-inconsistency for control problems, we generalize the definition of ϵ -Nash equilibrium for large-population games to the time-inconsistent case. Then, the set of linear feedback controls obtained above can be proved to be an ϵ -Nash equilibrium for our original problem. Moreover, we solve a resource investment problem and provide a numerical simulation to illustrate the application of our theoretic results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supported Pt-based catalysts have been identified as highly selective catalysts for CO oxidation, but their potential for applications has been hampered by the high cost and scarcity of Pt metals as well as aggregation problems at relatively high temperatures. In this work, nanorod structured (TiO2−Pt)/CeO2 catalysts with the addition of 0.3 at% Pt and different atomic ratios of Ti were prepared through a combined dealloying and calcination method. XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, and STEM measurements were used to confirm the phase composition, surface morphology, and structure of synthesized samples. After calcination treatment, Pt nanoparticles were semi-inlayed on the surface of the CeO2 nanorod, and TiO2 was highly dispersed into the catalyst system, resulting in the formation of (TiO2−Pt)/CeO2 with high specific surface area and large pore volume. The unique structure can provide more reaction path and active sites for catalytic CO oxidation, thus contributing to the generation of catalysts with high catalytic activity. The outstanding catalytic performance is ascribed to the stable structure and proper TiO2 doping as well as the combined effect of Pt, TiO2, and CeO2. The research results are of importance for further development of high catalytic performance nanoporous catalytic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most lethal cancers. Shenlian capsule (SLC) is a Chinese patent medicine made from 11 herbs containing numerous plant-derived compounds, and the clinical trials of SLCs confirmed that they had effective adjuvant therapy for a variety of cancer such as lung cancer and gastric cancer. Moreover, the HPLC fingerprint of SLCs was established from other research to find potential components. In this study, network pharmacology-based research was used to identify combinations with molecules, targets, and pathways to explore their interaction mechanisms. Methods. The Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Database (TCMID) were widely implemented in selecting the active chemical components of SLCs with an oral bioavailability (OB) ≥ 30% and drug-likeness (DL) ≥ 18%. In addition, the TCMSP and TCMID databases obtained the targets of SLCs, and PharmMapper (PM) was used to predict targets of SLCs. Gastric cancer-related genes were provided by the GeneCards and TTD databases. Subsequently, the drug/target/pathway network was established and visualized using Cytoscape software. Then, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) enrichment analyses were used to predict the potential genes and pathways of gastric cancer. Molecular docking was performed to study the interaction between ligands and targets; the interaction was visualized using Discovery Studio and PyMOL. Finally, the potential primary mechanism used by SLCs against gastric cancer was verified by cell experiments, including MTT cell apoptosis assay, flow cytometry cell cycle assay, and western blotting with HGC-27 cells (undifferentiated). Results. Of 213 active chemical components from SLCs, 35 primary active chemical components were identified, and 10 potential critical targets were selected from the 185 intersections of the targets of SLCs and GC, such as RAC-alpha serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT1), cellular tumor antigen p53 (TP53), interleukin-6 (IL6), caspase-3 (CASP3), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). GO and KEGG enrichment analysis provided the PI3K/AKT, TNF, and p53 signaling pathways, which may be the primary signaling pathways modulating gastric cancer. Molecular docking verified targets such as AKT1, TP53, EGFR, and CASP3, which exhibited satisfactory binding capacity with active ingredients. Experiments with HCG-27 cells confirmed that SLCs may provide favorable treatment for GC by promoting CASP3 and TP53 expression to induce cell apoptosis and provided the predictions for network pharmacology and molecular docking. MTT and flow cytometry assays verified that SLCs promoted cell apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation by triggering G0/G1 and S cell cycle arrest. In addition, western blot analysis confirmed that SLCs promoted TP53 and CASP3 overexpression, which led to HGC-27 gastric cell apoptosis. Conclusions. Our results confirmed that SLCs inhibit proliferation of HGC-27 gastric cell by promoting cell apoptosis and, therefore, have potential in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. P53 signaling pathway was the key pathway. In addition, quercetin, matrine, and ursolic acid might be the main active ingredients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria are important organelles that play key roles in generating the energy needed for life and in pathways such as apoptosis. Direct targeting of antitumor drugs, such as doxorubicin (DOX), to mitochondria into cells is an effective approach for cancer therapy and inducing cancer cell death. To achieve targeted and effective delivery of antitumor drugs to tumor cells, to enhance the therapeutic effect, and to reduce the side effects during the treatment, we prepared a cationic amphiphilic polymer with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristic. The polymer could be localized to mitochondria with excellent organelle targeting, and it showed good mitochondrial targeting with low toxicity. The polymer could also self-assemble into doxorubicin-loaded micelles in phosphate buffer, with a particle size of about 4.3 nm, an encapsulation rate of 11.03%, and micelle drug loading that reached 0.49%. The results of in vitro cytotoxicity experiments showed that the optimal dosage was 2.0 μg/mL, which had better inhibitory effect on tumor cells and less biological toxicity on heathy cells. Therefore, the cationic amphiphilic polymer can partially replace expensive commercial mitochondrial targeting reagents, and it can be also used as a drug loading tool to directly target mitochondria in cells for corresponding therapeutic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well accepted that close assembly between a fuel and an oxidizer can increase the interfacial contact-area and reduce the diffusion distances, which can significantly promote a heterogeneous reaction. However, we recently observed for nanocomposites of Al/PVDF (aluminum/polyvinylidene fluoride), that if we separated some of the PVDF to form a laminated structure, the flame propagation rate is significantly increased compared to the homogenous case. To probe the mechanism behind this, we used functionalized aluminum nanoparticles to create microsized aggregates of Al-rich and PVDF-rich regions to induce the inhomogeneity and also fabricated Al/PVDF laminate structure films to control the inhomogeneity systematically. The result demonstrates that the inhomogeneous mixing between Al and PVDF can significantly increase the flame front corrugation (burning area). This presumably occurs due to variations in the microburn rate (local burn velocity vectors at the flame front on the microscale). The benefit of the enhanced flame area can apparently overcome the effects of the decrease in the contact area, leading to enhanced burning for an inhomogeneously mixed system. Finally, fluorocarbon functionalization of Al particles can further increase the microburn rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spin-selective multi-functional integrated metasurfaces have attracted much research attention due to its promising application prospects. However, the goal of independent and arbitrary control of both amplitude and phase for orthogonal circularly polarized (CP) waves still has not been achieved fully. This is because it requires mirror asymmetric structure to achieve such a goal but there is no apparent physical relation between the unit cell structure and the spin-selective properties. A simple method with clear physical pictures is proposed in this paper to achieve the goal of arbitrary spin-selective manipulations. The idea is to convert the incident orthogonal CP waves to orthogonal linearly polarized (LP) waves first, then manipulate the LP waves with matured techniques, and finally convert the LP waves back to the corresponding CP waves. Simulations and experiments have been carried out to validate the method. Using this idea, spin-selective focusing, spin-selective deflection and spin-selective orbital angular momentum vortex beam have been demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has dramatically increased the global prevalence of depression. Unfortunately, antidepressant drugs benefit only a small minority of patients. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new interventions. Accumulating evidence supports a causal relationship between gut microbiota dysbiosis and depression. To advance microbiota‐based diagnostics and therapeutics of depression, a comprehensive overview of microbial alterations in depression is presented to identify effector microbial biomarkers. This procedure generated 215 bacterial taxa from humans and 312 from animal models. Compared to controls, depression shows significant differences in β‐diversity, but no changes in microbial richness and diversity. Additionally, species‐specific microbial changes are identified like increased Eggerthella in humans and decreased Acetatifactor in rodent models. Moreover, a disrupted microbiome balance and functional changes, characterized by an enrichment of pro‐inflammatory bacteria (e.g., Desulfovibrio and Escherichia/Shigella) and depletion of anti‐inflammatory butyrate‐producing bacteria (e.g., Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium) are consistently shared across species. Confounding effects of geographical region, depression type, and intestinal segments are also investigated. Ultimately, a total of 178 species and subspecies probiotics are identified to alleviate the depressive phenotypes. Current findings provide a foundation for developing microbiota‐based diagnostics and therapeutics and advancing microbiota‐oriented precision medicine for depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant seed germination is easily influenced by endogenous gene expression, hormones and environmental conditions. Here, we investigated a Populus R2R3-MYB transcription factor (referred to as MYB94) that plays a role in seed germination in close relation to the hormone abscisic acid (ABA). Two independent Arabidopsis transgenic lines overexpressing MYB94 (Oe-lines) and wild-type (Wt) were no clear differences in the seed germination rates under normal conditions, but the germination rates of the two Oe-lines were both significantly delayed under ABA treatment. This delay in germination is most likely associated with the endogenous hormone abscisic acid (ABA). We find that the transcript levels of several representative genes in relation to ABA synthesis or signaling in the MYB94 Oe-lines showed significantly increased compared with those of the Wt plants. Taken together, our results here reveal the role of the Populus R2R3-MYB transcription factor MYB94 in regulating the ABA-responsive genes in plant seed germination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problems of severe oxygen-dependent hypoxia and fluorescence aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) of conventional photosensitizers (PSs) in tumour cells with a hypoxic microenvironment have impeded the development of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer treatment. To overcome these shortcomings, PDT PSs based on free radical reactive oxygen species (ROS) with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics have attracted considerable attention recently. Herein, we design and synthesize two AIE-PSs, OMEPY and OMEPYH, based on the benzophenone core. Detailed photophysical and photochemical study has shown that these two AIE-PSs produce ROS based on both type I (electron transfer) and both type II (energy transfer) pathways. The in vitro experimental results reveal that OMEPYH can be used for mitochondria-targeted PDT due to the interaction of its positively charged methylpyridinium group with the negative mitochondrial membrane via electrostatic interactions. This work provides a strategy for utilizing the benzophenone core to design efficient AIE-PSs for the image-guided PDT modality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitional metal oxides have attracted substantial research interest due to their diverse catalytic effects and relatively low costs compared with those of precious metals. We herein report the facile construction of MnOx decorated CeO2 hollow microspheres with rich interfaces and phase boundaries, displaying superior reaction performance than the pristine CeO2 in the selective oxidation of styrene. The MnOx-CeO2 composite catalyst presents intensive electronic interaction and abundant oxygen vacancies anchored at the interfacial sites, which is beneficial for the generation of active oxygen species with high mobility and reactivity. The intimately contacted MnOx species act as engines to promote the oxygen transfer process and the Ce3+ ↔ Ce4+ cyclic process during the oxidation. This work opens up a new avenue for the rational design of unique metallic oxide catalysts toward organic oxidation transformation. Intriguing MnOx decorated CeO2 hollow microspheres display superior reaction performance than the pristine CeO2 in the selective oxidation of styrene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The commensal microbiome in the human body must always be considered as a potential factor in carcinogenesis that may play a crucial role in the occurrence and progression of lung cancer. Herein, we give great details about the biological processes involved in lung cancer mediated by the microbiome. Potential mechanisms include regulating host immune activity by means of a variety of pathogenic factors, dysregulating host metabolism as a result of microbiome alterations, and microbiome dysbiosis, which are well elucidated in this article. The human commensal microbiome existing in an internal environment is relatively consistent with that of the host. The presence of bacterial dysbiosis, on the other hand, promptly results in the termination of this symbiotic association. The altered microbial structure in the lung may be responsible for the development of lung cancer by controlling the host's inflammatory response and influencing a variety of immunological pathways. More and more studies have pointed to the fact that the commensal microbiota plays a vital role in both the development of tumors and the body's response to lung cancer treatment. Microbiome dysbiosis, genotoxicity, virulence effect, and epigenetic dysregulations are some of the potential mechanisms that may lie behind the process of tumorigenesis that is mediated by microbiome. Other potential mechanisms include regulating host immune activity through a variety of pathogenic factors, dysregulating host metabolism as a result of microbiome alterations, and microbiome dysbiosis. In this historical overview, we go through some of the more recent mechanistic discoveries into the biological processes that are involved in lung cancer that are caused by bacteria. Without a question, obtaining a greater knowledge of the dynamic link between the lung microbiome and lung cancer has the potential to inspire the development of innovative early detection and customized treatment methods for lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive electrochemical platform for the determination of bisphenol A (BPA) was constructed. A hybrid of MoS2 quantum dots decorated poly sodium styrene sulfonate functionalized reduced graphene oxide (MoS2 QDS@PSS-rGO) was prepared by a simple method. The hybrid was cast on a bare glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to form the MoS2 QDs@PSS-rGO/GCE. The electrochemical response of BPA on the MoS2 QDs@PSS-rGO/GCE was significantly enhanced compared to the unmodified electrode, indicating that the nanocomposite possessed an electrocatalytic effect. A novel method was established to determine BPA with a detection limit of 0.008 μM. The applicability of the prepared sensor was demonstrated to determine BPA in real samples with high recoveries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly corrosion-resistant AW90 extruded alloy (Mg-9Al-0.2Y wt %) was developed via alloying and solution-aging treatment (P W = 0.14 mm/y). The solution-treated AW90 alloy exhibits the most severe localized corrosion due to the strong micro-galvanic acceleration effects. The finely dispersed Mg 17 Al 12 phase promotes the strong quasi-passive behavior and uniform corrosion of the aged AW90 alloy due to the formation of a dense and uniform corrosion product film. The high corrosion resistance of the aged AW90 alloy is attributed to the formation of a Mg-Al layered double hydroxide film, which has stronger resistance to chloride ions. [Display omitted] • A highly corrosion-resistant AW90 extruded alloy was developed via alloying and solution-aging treatment. • The aged AW90 alloy exhibits an extremely low corrosion rate of 0.14 mm/y. • The uniformly dispersed Mg 17 Al 12 precipitates promote the uniform corrosion of AW90 alloy. • Mg-Al layered double hydroxide film leads to high corrosion resistance of aged AW90 alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of rapid screening sensing platforms to improve pre-screening mechanisms in community healthcare is necessary to meet the significant need for portable testing in biomarker diagnostics. Here, we designed a portable smartphone-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunoassay for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) detection using Cu-doped ultrathin porous Bi 2 WO 6 (CuBWO) nanosheets as the photoactive material. The CuBWO nanosheets exhibit a fast photocurrent response and excellent electrical transmission rate under UV light due to their surface plasmon resonance effect (SPR). The method uses glucose oxidase-labeled secondary antibody as a signal indicator for sandwich-type immune conjugation. In the presence of the target CEA, the electrons and holes generated at the surface of the photo-excited ultrathin porous CuBWO were rapidly consumed by the production of H 2 O 2 from glucose oxidase oxidizing glucose, resulting in a weakened photocurrent signal. The photocurrent intensity increased logarithmically and linearly with increasing CEA concentration (0.02–50 ng mL−1), with a detection limit of 15.0 pg mL−1 (S/N = 3). The system provides a broader idea for inferring the electron-hole transport mechanism in ultrathin porous nanosheet layer materials and developing efficient PEC sensors. [Display omitted] • SPR-enhanced Cu-doped ultra-thin porous Bi 2 WO 6 for improving sensitivity of PEC immunoassay. • SPR effect from Cu doping enhances light absorption activity and increases electron transfer efficiency. • The integrated micro-device achieves efficient conversion of biological and optoelectronic signals. • This immunoassay avoids the interference of photoexcitation and photoactive materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual-emitting N-CDs with multi-application of white light emission, detection of metal ions, solvatochromism, detection of the water content in organic solvents, pH detection, and temperature detection. [Display omitted] • Dual-emissive N-CDs were synthesized and applied for pH and temperature sensing. • Ratiometric fluorescence probe based on N-CDs detected Fe3+, Cu2+ and Ag+ simultaneously. • N-CDs exhibited unique solvatochromism phenomena and were used for detecting water content in organic solvents. Ratiometric fluorescence probes based on multi-emission carbon dots improve accuracy and sensitivity on detecting various environment issues. Herein, a novel dual-emitting N-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) was synthesized from citric acid and urea via a solvothermal method in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). The blue and orange emissions of N-CDs in water were modulated, and pure white light-emitting with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.33, 0.33) was achieved. The two PL centers behaved differently for Fe3+, Cu2+ and Ag+ ions, with the limit of detection (LOD) of ppm as fluorescence probes. Additionally, N-CDs displayed unique solvatochromism phenomenon. A new green emission appeared in organic solvents and gradually quenched with the increase of solvent polarity. The ratiometric PL displayed an excellent linear response for detecting water, and the LOD was between 0.003 % and 0.3 % in DMF, ethanol, isopropanol and N-methylpyrrolidone. Furthermore, N-CDs exhibited pH-sensitive response in the range of 4.0–7.0 and temperature-dependent response during heating–cooling cycles between 15 and 70 °C. A simple, efficient and reliable multi-functional ratiometric probe for detecting metal ions, water content, pH and temperature simultaneously was realized. However, there is a need for future application research to overcome the limitation imposed by the excitation wavelength of 330 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We have confirmed that the impact of maternal separation (MS) on individuals may last throughout their lifetime. • We have explained the specific effects of early stress on stress-induced depression sensitivity and individual behavior during growth. • We have found the timing of stress exposure in the later stages is critical in determining MS's differential effects on individuals. • We have identified key metabolites and enrichment pathways associated with behavioral changes. Depression is a serious mental illness. Previous studies found that early life stress (ELS) plays a vital role in the onset and progression of depression. However, relevant studies have not yet been able to explain the specific effects of early stress on stress-induced depression sensitivity and individual behavior during growth. Therefore, we constructed a maternal separation (MS) model and administered chronic social frustration stress at different stages of their growth while conducting metabolomics analysis on the hippocampus of mice. Our results showed that the immobility time of mice in the forced swimming test was significantly reduced at the end of MS. Meanwhile, mice with MS experience significantly decreased total movement distance in the open field test and sucrose preference ratio in the sucrose preference test when subjected to chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) during adolescence. In adulthood, the results were the opposite. In addition, we found that level changes in metabolites such as Beta-alanine, l-aspartic acid, 2-aminoadipic acid, and Glycine are closely related to behavioral changes. These metabolites are mainly enriched in Pantothenate, CoA biosynthesis, and Beta Alanine metabolism pathways. Our experiment revealed that the effects of ELS vary across different age groups. It will increase an individual's sensitivity to depression when facing CSDS in adolescence, but it will reduce their sensitivity to depression when facing CSDS in adulthood. This may be achieved by regulating the hippocampus's Pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis and Beta Alanine metabolism pathways represented by Beta-alanine, l-Aspartic acid, 2-aminoadipic acid, and Glycine metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a kind of time-inconsistent linear-quadratic non-zero sum stochastic differential game problems with random jumps. The time-inconsistency arises from the presence of a quadratic term of the expected state and a state-dependent term, as well as the time-dependent weight of each term in the cost functionals. We define the time-consistent Nash equilibrium point for this kind of problems and establish a general sufficient condition for it through a flow of forward-backward stochastic differential equations with random jumps. In the situation of one-dimensional state and deterministic coefficients, a Nash equilibrium point is given explicitly by some flows of Riccati-like and linear ordinary differential equations. We apply the truncation method to obtain the existence and uniqueness of solutions to them for a specific case. Moreover, an investment and consumption problem is solved and some numerical examples are further provided to illustrate the application of our theoretic results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A design method of greatly widening the stopband of waveguide bandpass filter is proposed in this paper. The parasitic passband of the filter mainly comes from the high-order oscillation mode of the resonant unit. Based on the theory of capacitance loading shortening of the transmission line and the transmission characteristics of each mode in the resonant cavity, a pair of transverse one-dimensional uniform capacitive diaphragms are placed in the center of the resonant cavity to shorten the resonant cavity and suppress the high-order modes. By changing the width of the waveguide and the height of the waveguide on the distribution of out-of-band transmission poles, the out-of-band transmission poles of each resonator can be staggered, which destroys or weakens the high-order oscillation coupling transmission conditions between the resonant units of the filter and further expands the stopband width of the filter. The results show that the length of the X-band waveguide bandpass filter (center frequency 9.5 GHz, bandwidth 400 MHz) is reduced by 54%, and the 40 dB stopband rejection bandwidth is 5.7 times the cutoff frequency of the transmission waveguide, compared with the prototype half-wavelength direct-coupled filter of the conventional Chebyshev filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, some new results of quantized discrete feedback control are revealed for stochastic delay systems via discrete-time state and mode observations (DSMO). Particularly, the coefficients of considered hybrid stochastic systems do not satisfy the linear growth condition (LGC). The main emphasis is to design a quantized feedback control law that ensures H ∞ stable and exponentially stable of the integrated systems. Based on DSMO, the desired controller can be fairly constructed. Finally, the correctness of presented results is testified by a numerical case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the parallel-pumped nonlinear (NL) loss effects of polycrystalline Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) material caused by the high-power microwave (HPM) were explored for the first time. In terms of the coupling process of spin waves and electromagnetic waves, the improved ferrite NL theory encompassing the input microwave waveform parameters (pulse duration and power) was developed. The theoretical and experimental results indicated that the critical threshold power of the NL effect is approximately inversely proportional to incident microwave pulse with a duration below 80 ns, demonstrating the features of the energy threshold. Furthermore, the theoretical calculation and the high-power measurements show that the polycrystalline YIG sample exhibits a relatively stable microwave power loss trend in the HPM environment with input power of 160 W–400 W. The influence of the external magnetic bias field on the YIG nonlinear effects was also carried out for comparative analysis. This research not only expanded the NL loss theory of ferrite in the nanosecond-level microwave environment but also offered a potential limiting protection application against HPM electromagnetic environment threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a common acute altitude sickness. This study was designed to investigate the effect of MIR17HG polymorphisms on HAPE risk in the Chinese population. The Agena MassARRAY platform was used to genotype six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MIR17HG gene in 244 HAPE patients and 243 non-HAPE controls. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval were used to evaluate the association between each MIR17HG polymorphisms and the risk of HAPE under a polygenetic model. Statistical analysis was performed using the χ2 test. Multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) analysis was used to analyze the impacts of SNP–SNP interactions on the risk of HAPE. According to the allele model, the HAPE risk of people with the rs7318578 A allele of MIR17HG was lower than that of people with the C allele (OR 0.74, p = 0.036).Logistic regression analysis of four models for all selected MIR17HG SNPs showed significant differences in the frequencies of rs7318578 (OR 0.74, p = 0.037) and rs17735387 (OR 1.51, p = 0.036) between cases and controls. The results of the sex stratification analysis showed that among males, rs17735387 in the MIR17HG gene is associated with an increased risk of HAPE. MDR analysis showed that the best combination model was a three-locus model incorporating rs72640334, rs7318578, and rs7336610. This study revealed the correlations between rs7318578 and rs17735387 on the MIR17HG gene and the risk of HAPE in the Chinese population, providing a theoretical basis for the early screening, prevention, and diagnosis of HAPE in high-risk populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bulk chemical composition and interior structure of rocky exoplanets are fundamentally important to understand their long-term evolution and potential habitability. Observations of the chemical compositions of solar system rocky bodies and of other planetary systems have increasingly shown a concordant picture that the chemical composition of rocky planets reflects that of their host stars for refractory elements, whereas this expression breaks down for volatiles. This behavior is explained by devolatilization during planetary formation and early evolution. Here we apply a devolatilization model calibrated with solar system bodies to the chemical composition of our nearest Sun-like starsâ€" α Centauri A and Bâ€"to estimate the bulk composition of any habitable-zone rocky planet in this binary system (“ α -Cen-Earth”). Through further modeling of likely planetary interiors and early atmospheres, we find that, compared to Earth, such a planet is expected to have (i) a reduced (primitive) mantle that is similarly dominated by silicates, albeit enriched in carbon-bearing species (graphite/diamond); (ii) a slightly larger iron core, with a core mass fraction of 38.4 âˆ' 5.1 + 4.7 wt% (see Earth’s 32.5 ± 0.3 wt%); (iii) an equivalent water-storage capacity; and (iv) a CO2â€"CH4â€"H2O-dominated early atmosphere that resembles that of Archean Earth. Further taking into account its ∼25% lower intrinsic radiogenic heating from long-lived radionuclides, an ancient α -Cen-Earth (∼1.5â€"2.5 Gyr older than Earth) is expected to have less efficient mantle convection and planetary resurfacing, with a potentially prolonged history of stagnant-lid regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The increasing insecticide resistance of Aedes albopictus puts many countries in Asia and Africa, including China, at great risk of a mosquito-borne virus epidemic. To date, a growing number of researches have focused on the relationship between intestinal symbiotic bacteria and their hosts' resistance to insecticides. This provides a novel aspect to the study of resistant mechanisms. Methods/Findings: This study reveals significant composition and dynamic changes in the intestinal symbiotic bacteria of Ae. albopictus between the resistant and susceptible strains based on full-length sequencing technology. The relative abundance of Serratia oryzae was significantly higher in the resistance strain than in the susceptible strains; also, the relative abundance of S. oryzae was significantly higher in deltamethrin-induced Ae. albopictus than in their counterpart. These suggested that S. oryzae may be involved in the development of insecticide resistance in Ae. albopictus. To explore the insecticide resistance mechanism, adult mosquitoes were fed with GFP-tagged S. oryzae, which resulted in stable bacterial enrichment in the mosquito gut without affecting the normal physiology, longevity, oviposition, and hatching rates of the host. The resistance measurements were made based on bioassays as per the WHO guidelines. The results showed that the survival rate of S. oryzae-enriched Ae. albopictus was significantly higher than the untreated mosquitoes, indicating the enhanced resistance of S. oryzae-enriched Ae. albopictus. Also, the activities of three metabolic detoxification enzymes in S. oryzae-enriched mosquitoes were increased to varying degrees. Meanwhile, the activity of extracellular enzymes released by S. oryzae was measured, but only carboxylesterase activity was detected. HPLC and UHPLC were respectively used to measure deltamethrin residue concentration and metabolite qualitative analysis, showing that the deltamethrin degradation efficiency of S. oryzae was positively correlated with time and bacterial amount. Deltamethrin was broken down into 1-Oleoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-PE and 2',2'-Dibromo-2'-deoxyguanosine. Transcriptome analysis revealed that 9 cytochrome P450s, 8 GSTs and 7 CarEs genes were significantly upregulated. Conclusions: S. oryzae can be accumulated into adult Ae. albopictus by artificial feeding, which enhances deltamethrin resistance by inducing the metabolic detoxification genes and autocrine metabolic enzymes. S. oryzae is vertically transmitted in Ae. albopictus population. Importantly, S. oryzae can degrade deltamethrin in vitro, and use deltamethrin as the sole carbon source for their growths. Therefore, in the future, S. oryzae may also be commercially used to break down the residual insecticides in the farmland and lakes to protect the environment. Author summary: This work, for the first time, isolated intestinal symbiotic bacteria S. oryzae from Ae. albopictus and verified its role in enhancing insecticide resistance in vivo and in vitro. We show that S. oryzae enhances deltamethrin resistance by inducing the metabolic detoxification genes and autocrine metabolic enzymes. This work highlights a new aspect of mosquito resistance. Moreover, S. oryzae's capacity to high-effectively degrade insecticide in vitro may contribute to environmental protection by degrading the residual insecticide in the farmland and lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A magnetically fixed bifunctional monomer molecularly imprinted electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor (MIP/MMOF@g-C 3 N 4 /L-Aas/MGCE) was constructed to selective detection thiabendazole (TBZ). Fe 3 O 4 modified by sulfonic acid group (–SO 3 H) acted as magnetic core to attract Co2+ to initiate the growth of ZIF-67 (MMOF). Graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (g-C 3 N 4) were doped into MMOF by inherent amino groups to prepare integrated magnetic ECL luminophore (MMOF@g-C 3 N 4). MMOF@g-C 3 N 4 was immobilized on the surface of magnetic glassy carbon electrode (MGCE) by using the superparamagnetism of Fe 3 O 4 , which enhanced the stability and reusability of ECL system. Sodium ascorbate (L-Aas) acted as co-reactant accelerators to further enhance ECL intensity. MIP prepared with TBZ as template molecule and o-phenylenediamine (oPD)/resorcinol (RS) as bifunctional monomers contained more imprinting sites, which can enhance the adsorption performance. The luminescence mechanism of magnetic ECL system was investigated, and the specific recognition mechanism of MIP recognition system was deeply explored. The linear range of the method was 1 × 10−9–5 × 10−5 mol L−1, and the detection limit was 3.77 × 10−10 mol L−1. A good recovery rate (80.08%–96.82%) was obtained in the actual sample detection, which was basically consistent with the detection results of High Performance Liquid Chromatography. [Display omitted] • A novel magnetically fixed electrochemiluminescence sensor was constructed. • Sodium ascorbate was used as a co-reactant accelerator. • Bifunctional monomers molecular imprinting polymer was prepared. • The method for selective detection of thiabendazole was established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corrosion fatigue (CF) experiments of G20Mn5QT cast steel and Q355D steel butt-welded joint are conducted with loading frequencies of 1 Hz and 10 Hz. The decrease of loading frequency resulting in a reduction in the CF life of specimens. The average percentage of CF life reduction are 6.4% (S = 300 MPa), 53.5% (S = 260 MPa), 17.5% (S = 220 MPa), 34.3% (S = 190 MPa), 38.6% (S = 160 MPa) and 80.5% (S = 130 MPa), respectively. The CF failure mechanism remains unchanged regardless of the loading frequency. Based on continuum damage mechanics (CDM), a novel CF life prediction model is proposed, in which the effect of loading frequencies is introduced by the evolution of corrosion pits. The prediction model considers the coupling effect of fatigue and corrosion, and it achieves the prediction of CF life of the butt-welded joints using experiment data at higher loading frequency. The accuracy and universality of the prediction model are verified by predicting the CF life of other specimens. [Display omitted] • The S–N curves of butt-welded joints under different loading frequencies is obtained. • The corrosion fatigue failure mechanism of butt-welded joints is analyzed. • A corrosion fatigue life prediction model considering loading frequency is proposed. • The prediction of corrosion fatigue life of the butt-welded joints is achieved. • The accuracy and universality of the prediction model are verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fractures in deeply buried or formerly deeply buried rocks commonly contain mineral deposits having varying degrees of strength. Understanding how cement deposits in fractures interact with hydraulic fractures (HFs) is important for hydraulic fracture design for practical engineering applications such as enhanced geothermal fluid circulation or oil and gas production. Using discrete element methods, we describe a fully fluid-solid coupling numerical model simulating hydraulic fracture propagation to investigate the influence of cemented natural fractures (CNFs) that do not intersect the predicted path of hydraulic fractures on HF propagation morphology. The fracture morphology depicted by the numerical model aligns well with analytical solutions, indicating the reliability of the simulation results. Using this model, we delved into the effects of fracture cement strength and position, fracturing fluid viscosity, and induced stress field on the interactive propagation patterns of fractures. The simulation results indicate that the HF is captured by weakly non-intersecting CNF, causing the activation of the CNF and the development of cracks primarily caused by tensile failure. As the HF approaches the CNF, the induced tensile stress region at the fracture tip offsets toward the CNF, resulting in fracture reorientation. When the cementing strength ratio between pre-existing natural fracture and reservoir matrix is less than 0.5, it is beneficial to activate CNF and enhance reservoir permeability. The seepage of low-viscosity fracturing fluid into the reservoir significantly enhances the ability of the HF and non-intersecting CNF to communicate with each other, thereby providing favorable pathways for oil and gas flow. The research findings offer valuable insights into fracture network connectivity and permeability enhancement, contributing to enhanced reservoir stimulation strategies. • The cementation strength ratio has a significant influence on the hydraulic fracture propagation behavior. • Non-intersecting natural fractures may trap hydraulic fractures and become activated. • Low-viscosity fluids improve communication between hydraulic fractures and non-intersecting natural fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friction behavior is crucial for metal deformation and failure analysis. Tests on contact between specimens and rigid mold (S-S) and rubber (S-R) were conducted. Results show that S-S friction coefficient decreases with normal pressure, while S-R static friction coefficient increases and kinetic remains low. Friction coefficient is influenced by real contact area changes due to softer surface deformation. S-S friction depends on specimen strength, and S-R friction on rubber properties. A proposed friction model based on contact area variation accurately predicts friction changes with normal pressure and workpiece properties. Integrated with finite element simulation, the model improves efficiency and accuracy compared to classical Coulomb friction model. • Friction coefficient depends on the normal pressure and the properties of the softer surface in the two contact surfaces. • The relationship between true contact area and normal pressure follows an exponential function. • Friction coefficient decreases with normal load for workpiece-rigid die contact. • The use of variable friction coefficients can effectively improve simulation accuracy and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polysaccharides possess excellent moisturizing effects due to their abundance of hydrophilic groups and film-forming properties. Additionally, they can produce a refreshing aroma during the pyrolysis process. However, there is scarce research on their application in the tobacco field. Herein, we investigated the effects of low molecular weight fenugreek polysaccharide (FP) obtained through ethanol fractionation and DEAE-52 cellulose column chromatography on moisture retention and aroma enhancement in tobacco. The moisture retention test revealed that the addition of FP increased the moisture retention index (MRI) of tobacco by 11.72 %–16.69 %, indicating that the hydrophilic nature of polysaccharides facilitated the migration of free water in tobacco to bound water, resulting in reduced water activity. Moreover, the contact angle between polysaccharide and tobacco was <90°, enabling better infiltration into tobacco and slowing down tobacco shrinkage caused by water loss. Among all the components, EFP-20 and EFP-40 demonstrated superior performance. Furthermore, FP exhibited excellent thermal stability below 200 °C and can decomposed to produce aromatic substances at high temperatures. It also demonstrated the ability to adsorb ethyl heptanoate and thermally decompose to produce a substantial amount of heptanoic acid. Consequently, the incorporation of FP in tobacco demonstrated favorable effects on both moisturization and aroma enhancement. [Display omitted] • Fenugreek polysaccharide (FP) can raise the proportion of bound water in tobacco. • FP can better infiltrate the surface of tobacco and make the surface smooth and full. • FP cracking produces aromatic substances. • FP can adsorb ethyl heptanoate and crack to produce heptanoic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To observe the agglomeration, an important parasitic process in metal composite combustion, sandwiched structures with laminates of aluminum (Al) and ammonia perchlorate (AP) layers are prepared and characterized by high-speed macro and microscopic imaging systems with pyrometry. The bilayer structure prepared by electrospraying was confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and the composition was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermal calorimetry (TGA/DSC). We found that the burn rate of the Al/AP sandwich films increases with the decrease of bilayer thickness of Al and AP, owing to the shorter diffusion distance between fuel and oxidizer. More importantly, the complete process of the agglomeration/sintering of Al nanoparticles (NPs) is observed in-situ, which demonstrates the different stages of agglomeration process of Al NPs. Temperature measurement from pyrometry reveals the temperature of agglomerates during combustion, consistent with the agglomerate size and burn rate observation. Simple calculations based on "pocket-theory" support the observed changes in agglomeration size with bilayer thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum (Al) based reactive materials are of interest as their addition can significantly increase the energy density of energetic composites such as solid propellants. In this study, we employed graphene oxide (GO) as an energetic gas generator to increase the ignitability of Al and promote the flame propagation of Al/CuO thermite composites. Compared to the pristine Al/CuO composite, 2.5 wt % addition of GO releases gas and heat upon disproportionation, resulting in a 2X higher burn rate and heat flux. Though both GO and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) addition can reduce the agglomeration size of Al NPs by 2X, GO is more energetic with heat and gas release at low temperature, granting it the ability to increase the ignitability of Al NPs and promote the energy delivery of Al/CuO composite. This study provides a simple way to increase the energy delivery rate of reactive materials by adding a small percentage of functionalized carbon nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supermassive black holes in most galaxies in the universe are powered by hot accretion flows. Both theoretical analysis and numerical simulations have indicated that, depending on the degree of magnetization, black hole hot accretion flow is divided into two modes, namely SANE (standard and normal evolution) and MAD (magnetically arrested disk). It has been an important question which mode the hot accretion flows in individual sources should belong to in reality, SANE or MAD. This issue has been investigated in some previous works but they all suffer from various uncertainties. By using the measured rotation measure (RM) values in the prototype low-luminosity active galactic nuclei in M87 at 2, 5, and 8 GHz along the jet at various distances from the black hole, combined with three-dimensional general relativity magnetohydrodynamical numerical simulations of SANE and MAD, we show in this paper that the RM values predicted by MAD are well consistent with observations, while the SANE model overestimates the RM by over two orders of magnitude and thus is ruled out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The intestinal microbiota is thought to be involved in the occurrence of inflammatory bowel disease in remission with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-type symptoms, but the specific distinct profile of these bacteria remains unclear. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the fecal microbiota profiling in patients with these diseases.Methods: Fecal samples from 97 subjects, including Crohn's disease patients in remission with IBS-type symptoms (CDR-IBS+) or without IBS-type symptoms (CDR-IBS-), ulcerative colitis patients in remission with IBS-type symptoms (UCR-IBS+) or without IBS-type symptoms (UCR-IBS-), IBS patients and healthy controls, were collected and applied 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene sequencing. The V4 hypervariable regions of 16S rDNA gene were amplified and sequenced by the Illumina MiSeq platform. The differences in the sample diversity index in groups were analyzed with R software.Results: The richness of the intestinal microbiota in the CDR-IBS group was markedly lower than those in the control and IBS groups based on the analysis of observed species and the Chao index (P < 0.05). The observed species index in the CDR-IBS+ group was higher than that in the CDR-IBS- group (median index: 254.8 vs 203, P = 0.036). No difference was found in alpha diversity between UCR patients with IBS-type symptoms and those without related symptoms. At the genus level, the number of Faecalibacterium in CDR patients with IBS-type symptoms increased significantly, while Fusobacterium decreased versus those without such symptoms (mean relative abundance of Faecalibacterium: 20.35% vs 5.18%, P < 0.05; Fusobacterium: 1.51% vs 5.2%, P < 0.05). However, compared with the UCR-IBS- group, the number of Faecalibacterium in the UCR-IBS+ group decreased, while the number of Streptococcus increased, but there was no significant difference in the genus structure. The abundance and composition of the microbiota of IBS patients were not distinct from those of healthy controls.Conclusions: The IBS-type symptoms in CD patients in remission may be related to an increase in Faecalibacterium and a decrease in Fusobacterium. The IBS-type symptoms in UC patients in remission cannot be explained by changes in the abundance and structure of the intestinal microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epilepsy represents a hazardous neurological disorder, underpinned by a pathophysiological process that is yet to be fully understood. Here, we aimed to elucidate the effect of methyl-CpG-binding domain protein 3 (MBD3) on hippocampal neuronal damage in epileptic mice by targeting the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) pathway. The expression of MBD3 was determined by Western blot in a hippocampal neuronal culture (HNC) epileptic model established using the low Mg2+ECF culture method. The interaction between MBD3 and DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) was determined via co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry analysis. Bisulfite modification and sequencing was performed to evaluate the degree of methylation of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2). The viability and apoptosis of hippocampal neurons were detected by CCK-8 and TUNEL assays, respectively. Finally, the effect of MBD3 was verified in vivo. MBD3 was highly expressed in the HNC model of epilepsy, with its interaction with DNMT1 found to promote the hypermethylation of TREM2 at site cg25748868. Additionally, decreased TREM2 and inhibited PI3K/Akt pathway was observed in the HNC epileptic model. Simultaneous inhibition of MBD3 and DNMT1 decreased the methylation level at cg25748868, up-regulated TREM2 expression, and activated the PI3K/Akt pathway, thereby arresting neuronal damage. Inhibition of MBD3 reduced the level of epileptic seizures, down-regulated cg25748868 methylation, activated TREM2-mediated signaling pathways, and alleviated hippocampal neuronal damage in the acute seizure mouse models. The present study unveiled that MBD3 and DNMT1 synergistically enhanced hypermethylation of cg25748868 in TREM2, and promoted the onset of epilepsy via inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]