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The vibration of high-speed trains induced by track irregularities is a main factor affecting ride comfort. Especially, the long-wavelength track irregularities can reduce the passengers' ride comfort by increasing the vibration of the high-speed trains. A three-dimensional human body model coupled to a vehicle body and tracks is established to form a coupled human-seat-vehicle-track system for investigating the influence of the long-wavelength track irregularities on ride comfort. The parameters of the seated human model are determined by measurement based on the multi-island GA method. The coupled model is then used to evaluate the ride comfort of high-speed trains using ISO 2631 under the excitation of the track longitudinal level irregularities. The effects of primary, secondary suspension, and seat support vertical stiffness and damping on ride comfort are analysed. The results show that the track's longitudinal irregularities lead to high human body vibration levels and large ride comfort indices (lower ride comfort), especially when the irregularity excitation frequency is near the natural frequency of the high-speed train. The passengers' ride comfort is more sensitive to the vertical secondary suspension stiffness than the other suspension parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 3D rigid-flexible human-seat-vehicle-track coupling model is proposed to analyze high-speed train ride comfort. The seated human model is built based on the multi-body dynamic method. The human multi-axis excitation measurement data determines the model parameters. The detailed FE (finite element) car body model is built, and the model is calibrated by laboratory modal tests. The dynamic behavior of the high-speed train, running on both straight and curved tracks, is analyzed by using the rigid-flexible human-seat-vehicle-track coupling model. Then, the effect of the seat support parameters on the ride comfort of the high-speed train is analyzed, when the train travels on curved tracks. The results show that using the rigid car body model can overestimate the ride comfort of the high-speed train. The lateral and rolling motion of the car body, induced by curves can worsen the lateral dynamic performance of the passenger seats. At the different seat positions and for the different configurations of seats (three-abreast and two-abreast), selecting proper stiffness of the seat-floor and seat-sidewall supports can achieve comfort for the passengers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For thermoelectric thin film, the substrate plays an important role during the growing process and produces effects on its thermoelectric properties. Some special kinds of substrates provide an optimal combination of influences on both the structure and thermoelectric properties. In this work, Bi-Sb-Te films are deposited on Si substrates with different initial orientations by magnetron sputtering in two ways: with and without a pre-coating process. The preferred orientations of the Bi-Sb-Te films are greatly affected by the substrates, in which the thin film tends to deposit on Si substrate with (100) initial orientation and high (015)-texture, while the (00l)-textured Bi-Sb-Te film easily deposits on Si substrate with (110) initial orientation. The experimental and theoretical calculation results indicate that Bi-Sb-Te film with (00l)-texture presents good electrical conductivity and a higher power factor than that of film with (015)-texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous chromium oxide confined Ni/NiO nanoparticles-assembled nanosheets are designed for highly efficient and stable overall urea splitting. [Display omitted] Applications of urea oxidation reaction (UOR) in various sustainable energy-conversion systems are greatly hindered by its slow kinetics. Herein, we demonstrate an in - situ confined synthesis method that produces amorphous chromium oxide confined Ni/NiO nanoparticles-assembled nanosheets (Ni/NiO@CrO x) with fast reaction kinetics towards UOR. The confinement effect of the in - situ generated CrO x overlay contributes to ultrafine Ni/NiO nanoparticles, bringing about rich Ni/NiO and NiO/CrO x interfaces. In - situ Raman and electrochemical characterization show that both CrO x and metallic Ni can promote the formation of the NiOOH species and the electron transfer, leading to high intrinsic activity and fast reaction kinetics. At 1.40 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, the Ni/NiO@CrO x delivers a current density of 275 mA cm−2, which is about 2.6 and 6.1 times as large as those of the NiO@CrO x and NiO, respectively. In addition, the protective effect of the CrO x overlay leads to robust working stability towards UOR. Further, the Ni/NiO@CrO x nanosheets are used as bifunctional catalysts for overall urea splitting, and a small electrolysis cell voltage of 1.44 V is needed to reach the benchmark current density of 10 mA cm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bulk Ni/Fe ratio is a crucial parameter that determines the catalytic performance of the NiFe alloys by affecting the surface Fe/Ni ratio and the oxygen vacancy (O V) content, and the Ni 4 Fe 1 alloy with well-tailored oxide/metal interface presents highly enhanced oxygen evolution reaction with an overpotential of 242 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 37 mV dec−1. [Display omitted] NiFe alloys are among the most promising electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, a comprehensive study is yet to be done to reveal the surface structure-performance relationship of NiFe alloys. In particular, the role of the ultrathin surface oxide layer, which is unavoidable for pure NiFe alloys, is always neglected. Herein, a series of NiFe alloys with different Ni/Fe ratios are fabricated. It is found that different Ni/Fe ratios lead to significant differences in surface composition and structure of the NiFe alloys, and thus affect their catalytic performance. Then, the oxide/metal interface of the Ni 4 Fe 1 alloy is tailored by adjusting the hydrogenation temperature to further understand the surface structure-activity relationship, and the optimal OER performance is achieved at the oxide/metal interfaces that have suitable surface Fe/Ni ratio and an appropriate amount of oxygen vacancies. In - situ Raman characterization shows that the Ni 4 Fe 1 alloy with well-tailored oxide/metal interface facilitates the formation of active species. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the ultrathin surface oxide layers are responsible for the high catalytic activity of the NiFe alloys, and that the quantity of oxygen vacancies in the surface oxides affects the adsorption energy of O* and thus to a great extent determines the catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very-high-resolution (VHR) remote sensing images contain various multiscale objects, such as large-scale buildings and small-scale cars. However, these multiscale objects cannot be considered simultaneously in the widely used backbones with a large downsampling factor (e.g., VGG-like and ResNet-like), resulting in the appearance of various context aggregation approaches, such as fusing low-level features and attention-based modules. To alleviate this problem caused by backbones with a large downsampling factor, we propose a feature-selection high-resolution network (FSHRNet) based on an observation: if the features maintain high resolution throughout the network, a high precision segmentation result can be obtained by only using a $1\times $ 1 convolution layer with no need for complex context aggregation modules. Specifically, the backbone of FSHRNet is a multibranch structure similar to HRNet where the high-resolution branch is the principal line. Then, a lightweight dynamic weight module, named the feature-selection convolution (FSConv) layer, is presented to fuse multiresolution features, allowing adaptively feature selection based on the characteristic of objects. Finally, a specially designed $1\times $ 1 convolution layer derived from hypersphere embedding is used to produce the segmentation result. Experiments with other widely used methods show that the proposed FSHRNet obtains competitive performance on the ISPRS Vaihingen dataset, the ISPRS Potsdam dataset, and the iSAID dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercalation-induced partial exfoliation of NiFe LDHs with tunable interlayer space has been achieved by a scalable synthesis method, and the optimal NiFe LDHs show an overpotential of 225 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 43 mA dec−1. [Display omitted] Edge sites and interlayer space of NiFe layered double hydroxides (LDHs) play an important role in water oxidation. However, the combined effect of interlayer expansion and partial exfoliation on the catalytic activity is yet to be investigated. Herein, scalable synthesis of partially exfoliated citrate-intercalated NiFe LDHs with tunable interlayer space have been achieved. The effect of citrate concentration on the phase, morphology, surface elemental composition, electronic states of surface metals, and electrochemical properties are comprehensively studied. The unique structure results in improved intrinsic catalytic activity and abundant active edge sites for oxygen evolution reaction. The optimal NiFe LDHs show an overpotential of 225 mV at 10 mA cm−2, which is much smaller than that (∼305 mV) of the single-layer NiFe LDH nanosheets reported in the literature. The high catalytic activity can be mainly attributed to the combined effect between the enlarged interlayer space and the partial exfoliation/nanosheet thickness. That is, the interlayer space is related to the reaction kinetics/mechanism, while the degree of exfoliation affects the magnitude of the current density at a certain potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synergistic composite catalysts have always been the research focus of water splitting. Whereas, amorphous phases usually occurred on grain boundaries, which greatly hinders electron transfer and reduces the catalytic performance. Herein, a NiWSe@NF acicular nanowire electrode was fabricated by a simple hydrothermal strategy, affording outstanding activity and durability, requiring overpotentials of only 103 mV (HER) and 203 mV (OER) under 10 mA cm−2, respectively. Experimental studies and theoretical analysis demonstrate that the excellent catalytic activity is attributed to the interpenetrate structure, which eliminates the formation of amorphous phase and provides a high-speed channel for electron transmission. The crystal interpenetration on grain boundaries adjusts the electronic, promotes the intermediates adsorption and reduce reaction energy barrier. The super-hydrophilic arisen from crystal interpenetration would also reduce the adhesion of generated bubbles and avoid performance attenuation. This work provides a new perspective for the development of high-efficiency composite catalysts. NiWSe@NF electrode with crystal interpenetrating structure eliminates the amorphous phase between interfaces, effectively adjusts the electronic distribution of heterostructure, and achieve ultra-low overpotential bifunctional catalytic activity of HER and OER. [Display omitted] • Neoteric crystal interpenetration featured NiWSe@NF electrode has been prepared. • The NiWSe@NF acicular nanowires electrode shows super-hydrophilic ability. • Crystal interpenetrating structure promotes the intermediates adsorption and reduce reaction energy barrier. • The current density of 10 mA cm−2 can be reached by only 1.53 V of the overall water splitting. • The NiWSe@NF electrode exhibits excellent catalytic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying cell proportions, especially for rare cell types in some scenarios, is of great value in tracking signals associated with certain phenotypes or diseases. Although some methods have been proposed to infer cell proportions from multicomponent bulk data, they are substantially less effective for estimating the proportions of rare cell types which are highly sensitive to feature outliers and collinearity. Here we proposed a new deconvolution algorithm named ARIC to estimate cell type proportions from gene expression or DNA methylation data. ARIC employs a novel two-step marker selection strategy, including collinear feature elimination based on the component-wise condition number and adaptive removal of outlier markers. This strategy can systematically obtain effective markers for weighted |$\upsilon$| -support vector regression to ensure a robust and precise rare proportion prediction. We showed that ARIC can accurately estimate fractions in both DNA methylation and gene expression data from different experiments. We further applied ARIC to the survival prediction of ovarian cancer and the condition monitoring of chronic kidney disease, and the results demonstrate the high accuracy and robustness as well as clinical potentials of ARIC. Taken together, ARIC is a promising tool to solve the deconvolution problem of bulk data where rare components are of vital importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very high resolution (VHR) satellite and aerial images often suffer from scene occlusion caused by redundant objects. The task of removing these redundant objects can be solved by missing data reconstruction technology. However, when dealing with VHR images with large-scale missing regions, existing spatial-based methods often destroy the structural information of ground objects. To alleviate this problem, this paper proposes a novel missing data reconstruction method based on deep learning. The reconstruction process is divided into two parts: structure prediction and texture generation. First, a progressive edge generation network (PEGN) is designed to predict the edges of objects in missing regions in a progressive manner. Then, the edge map predicted by PEGN is input to a texture generation network (TGN) as structural information to produce the reconstruction results. This is a spatial-based method that can produce realistic and reasonable results without any need for auxiliary spectral or temporal data. Experiments demonstrate that our model can better restore the structure of ground objects in VHR images than other spatial-based methods and outperform them in SSIM and PSNR indices. In addition, our model also has a strong generalization capability by introducing Poisson blending and histogram matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal organic frameworks derived NiCo hydroxides with abundant Ni3+ species and surface oxalate ligand are synthesized for highly enhanced electrochemical glycerol oxidation reaction. [Display omitted] Glycerol oxidation reaction can be substituted for oxygen evolution reaction for more efficient hydrogen production due to its lower thermodynamic potential. Herein, a series of NiCo hydroxide nanosheets containing abundant Ni3+ species and surface ligands were synthesized by in - situ structural transformation of bimetallic organic frameworks in alkaline media for efficient glycerol oxidation reaction. It is found that the incorporation of Co ions increases the content of the Ni3+ species, and that the Ni/Co ratio of 1.0 lead to the optimal catalytic performance. The oxalate-modified nickel–cobalt hydroxide with the optimized Ni/Co ratio can deliver a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at 1.26 V vs. RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode), and reaches its maximum selectivity and Faradaic efficiency at 1.30 V vs. RHE. A high selectivity of 82.9% and a Faradaic efficiency of 91.0% are achieved. The high catalytic activity can be mainly attributed to the abundant Ni3+ species and surface carboxyl groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities worldwide are facing a significant threat of stormwater hazards caused by the increase in extreme downpours and urbanization. Meso-level urban stormwater management focuses on alleviating the detrimental impacts of urban flooding and enhancing water resource utilization at the block or community scale, typically through 1) specific policies and management rules; 2) catchment-scale scenario simulation, optimization and evaluation; 3) the group of stormwater control measures implementation. It may effectively coordinate macro-level urban stormwater management planning and micro-level distributed stormwater control facilities. This study conducts a review of Urban Stormwater Management at Meso-level (USM-M) with a view to research publication trends, citation analysis, geographic spread and subject category, as well as content analysis, including temporal progression and research gaps. The Web of Science database and CiteSpace are used for the bibliometric analysis of 66 articles from 2006 to 2021. The results show that the number of USM-M topic articles generally has an upward trend over the years. Whilst the United States and China are leading research on this topic, the European countries have diverse local research and dense cooperation. Research foci have generally shifted from theoretical frameworks to multi-element subdivided topics and specific technical roadmaps. Moreover, the spatial layout optimization and multi-functional integration are, or will be, potential research directions in terms of enhancing stormwater utilization and co-benefits of USM-M. This systematic review concludes trends, challenges and potential approaches of USM-M, and aims to provide recommendations for researchers and policymakers on the development of a more advanced and comprehensive USM-M. • This paper aims to quantitatively and qualitatively review how Urban Stormwater Management at Meso-level (USM-M) is being studied and applied. • The question was "What are the trends, challenges and approaches of USM-M research?". • USM-M is applied at the catchment, block, community scale, and play a coordinator role between macro-level and micro-level. • Research focus has shifted from theoretical frameworks to subdivided topics and specific technical roadmaps. • Optimal spatial layout and multi-functional integration of USM-M implementation are potential directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To develop and validate a multivariable risk prediction model for ketosis‐prone type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) based on clinical characteristics. Methods: A total of 964 participants newly diagnosed with T2DM were enrolled in the modeling and validation cohort. Baseline clinical data were collected and analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to select independent risk factors, develop the prediction model, and construct the nomogram. The model's reliability and validity were checked using the receiver operating characteristic curve and the calibration curve. Results: A high morbidity of ketosis‐prone T2DM was observed (20.2%), who presented as lower age and fasting C‐peptide, and higher free fatty acids, glycated hemoglobin A1c and urinary protein. Based on these five independent influence factors, we developed a risk prediction model for ketosis‐prone T2DM and constructed the nomogram. Areas under the curve of the modeling and validation cohorts were 0.806 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.760–0.851) and 0.856 (95% CI: 0.803–0.908). The calibration curves that were both internally and externally checked indicated that the projected results were reasonably close to the actual values. Conclusions: Our study provided an effective clinical risk prediction model for ketosis‐prone T2DM, which could help for precise classification and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Visceral obesity is associated with high cardiovascular events risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Whether normal-weight visceral obesity will pose a higher atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk than body mass index (BMI)-defined overweight or obese counterparts with or without visceral obesity remains unclear. We aimed to explore the relationship between general obesity and visceral obesity and 10-year ASCVD risk in patients with T2DM. Methods: Patients with T2DM (6997) who satisfied the requirements for inclusion were enrolled. Patients were considered to have normal weight when 18.5 kg/m2 ≤ BMI < 24 kg/m2; overweight when 24 kg/m2 ≤ BMI < 28 kg/m2; and obesity when BMI ≥ 28 kg/m2. Visceral obesity was defined as a visceral fat area (VFA) ≥ 100 cm2. Patients were separated into six groups based on BMI and VFA. The odd ratios (OR) for a high 10-year ASCVD risk for different combinations of BMI and VFA were analysed using stepwise logistic regression. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for diagnosing the high 10-year ASCVD risk were constructed, and areas under the ROC curves were estimated. Potential non-linear relationships between VFA levels and high 10-year ASCVD risk were examined using restricted cubic splines (knot = 4). Multilinear regression was used to identify factors affecting VFA in patients with T2DM. Results: In patients with T2DM, subjects with normal-weight visceral obesity had the highest 10-year ASCVD risk among the six groups, which had more than a 2-fold or 3-fold higher OR than those who were overweight or obese according to BMI but did not have visceral obesity (all P < 0.05). The VFA threshold for high 10-year ASCVD risk was 90 cm2. Multilinear regression showed significant differences in the effect of age, hypertension, drinking, fasting serum insulin, fasting plasma glucose, 2 h postprandial C-peptide, triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol on VFA in patients with T2DM (all P < 0.05). Conclusions: T2DM patients with normal-weight visceral obesity had a higher 10-year ASCVD risk than BMI-defined overweight or obese counterparts with or without visceral obesity, which should initiate standardised management for ASCVD primary prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation The exponential growth of genomic sequencing data has created ever-expanding repositories of gene networks. Unsupervised network integration methods are critical to learn informative representations for each gene, which are later used as features for downstream applications. However, these network integration methods must be scalable to account for the increasing number of networks and robust to an uneven distribution of network types within hundreds of gene networks. Results To address these needs, we present Gemini, a novel network integration method that uses memory-efficient high-order pooling to represent and weight each network according to its uniqueness. Gemini then mitigates the uneven network distribution through mixing up existing networks to create many new networks. We find that Gemini leads to more than a 10% improvement in F 1 score, 15 % improvement in micro-AUPRC, and 63 % improvement in macro-AUPRC for human protein function prediction by integrating hundreds of networks from BioGRID, and that Gemini's performance significantly improves when more networks are added to the input network collection, while Mashup and BIONIC embeddings' performance deteriorates. Gemini thereby enables memory-efficient and informative network integration for large gene networks and can be used to massively integrate and analyze networks in other domains. Availability and implementation Gemini can be accessed at: https://github.com/MinxZ/Gemini. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies in our laboratory discovered that SIX1 mRNA expression increased during in vitro progression of HPV16-immortalized human keratinocytes (HKc/HPV16) toward a differentiation-resistant (HKc/DR) phenotype. In this study, we explored the role of Six1 at early stages of HPV16-mediated transformation by overexpressing Six1 in HKc/HPV16. We found that Six1 overexpression in HKc/HPV16 increased cell proliferation and promoted cell migration and invasion by inducing epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). Moreover, the overexpression of Six1 in HKc/HPV16 resulted in resistance to serum and calcium-induced differentiation, which is the hallmark of the HKc/DR phenotype. Activation of MAPK in HKc/HPV16 overexpressing Six1 is linked to resistance to calcium-induced differentiation. In conclusion, this study determined that Six1 overexpression resulted in differentiation resistance and promoted EMT at early stages of HPV16-mediated transformation of human keratinocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of a surface ethylenediaminetetraacetate-metal coordination layer activates the Ni x Fe 3-x O 4 as an outstanding electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction, exhibiting a very small overpotential of 180 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and excellent working durability. [Display omitted] Nickel-iron oxides are competitive electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction, but their practical applications are restricted by the less-than-desirable intrinsic activity and working stability. To tackle the challenge, surface coordination chemistry is applied to the nickel–iron oxides through a complex-assisted in - situ crystal growth strategy. The ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) coordinated Ni x Fe 3-x O 4 (Ni x Fe 3-x O 4 -EDTA) is prepared by a simple one-pot hydrothermal process. The coordinated EDTA molecules can deeply alter the surface coordination structure of the Ni x Fe 3-x O 4. The Ni x Fe 3-x O 4 -EDTA demonstrates outstanding intrinsic activity towards oxygen evolution reaction, requiring only a small overpotential of 180 mV to reach 10 mA cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH. Moreover, the Ni x Fe 3-x O 4 -EDTA exhibits extremely stable long-term working stability. Density functional theory calculations show that the highly enhanced intrinsic activity is attributed to the surface coordinated EDTA-induced favorable electronic structure and coordination environment, which tunes the adsorption strength of the intermediates and optimizes the energetics of the elementary steps, while the high stability is ascribed to the strong coordination ability of EDTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concrete-filled double-skin steel tubular (CFDST) specimens that exhibit lightweight, good ductility, and better bending resistance, can be used for beams. However, fire often causes great damage, and the flexural behavior of CFDST beams after subject to high-temperature has not been studied. To investigate the flexural behavior of CFDST beams after subject to high temperature, seven CFDST specimens after subject to high temperature were carried out four-point bending tests. The main parameters explored in the test include hollow ratio (0.31, 0.52, 0.72) and temperature (300 °C, 500 °C, 800 °C). The corresponding finite-element analysis (FEA) models were established, and the results showed good agreement with the test. The in-depth mechanism and systematic analysis including the influence of different hollow ratio, material property, and temperature on the whole process curve of CFDST after subject to high temperature are carried out using FEA models. It is found that the ultimate bending moment of CFDST after subject to high-temperature increases with hollow ratio and material property, but decreases with the temperature. The outer steel tube contributes the most to the ultimate bending moment, and the inner steel tube improves the ductility at a later stage. Specimens with a large hollow ratio (χ ≥ 0.52) have better bending capacity, and the ultimate bending moment of specimens with a small hollow ratio (χ < 0.52) decrease the least with the change of temperature due to the protection of concrete. Based on the findings from the test and numerical studies, a temperature effect coefficient k r is proposed to represent the residual bearing capacity after subject to high temperature, and combined with three different codes to evaluate the ultimate bending moment. A comparison of test results showed the calculated results following the T/CCES 7–2020 (2020) had a good agreement. Unlabelled Image • CFDST beams under pure bending subject to high temperature. • The in-depth mechanism and systematic analysis of CFDST after subject to high temperature are carried out. • The proportion of ultimate bearing moment of each component is studied by ABAQUS. • A temperature effect coefficient k r was proposed to predict the ultimate bending moment after subject to high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Promoters with desirable properties are crucial in biotechnological applications. Generative AI (GenAI) has demonstrated potential in creating novel synthetic promoters with significantly enhanced functionality. However, these methods' reliance on various programming frameworks and specific task-oriented contexts limits their flexibilities. Overcoming these limitations is essential for researchers to fully leverage the power of GenAI to design promoters for their tasks. Results Here, we introduce GPro (Generative AI-empowered toolkit for promoter design), a user-friendly toolkit that integrates a collection of cutting-edge GenAI-empowered approaches for promoter design. This toolkit provides a standardized pipeline covering essential promoter design processes, including training, optimization, and evaluation. Several detailed demos are provided to reproduce state-of-the-art promoter design pipelines. GPro's user-friendly interface makes it accessible to a wide range of users including non-AI experts. It also offers a variety of optional algorithms for each design process, and gives users the flexibility to compare methods and create customized pipelines. Availability and implementation GPro is released as an open-source software under the MIT license. The source code for GPro is available on GitHub for Linux, macOS, and Windows: https://github.com/WangLabTHU/GPro , and is available for download via Zenodo repository at https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10681733. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synergy between the heterointerface and interfacial oxygen vacancy, combined with the regulated electronic structure, leads to the outstanding catalytic performance of NiCo/CeO 2−x towards hydrogen evolution reaction. [Display omitted] • The Ni favors the formation of interfacial oxygen vacancies in the metal/CeO 2−x. • The introduction of Co regulates the electronic structure of the metal/CeO 2−x. • The interfacial oxygen vacancies enhance the water adsorption. • The NiCo/CeO 2−x shows the lowest desorption barrier of OH*. • The high activity is assigned to the regulated interfacial structure and electronic structure. The high activity of the metal/oxide heterostructures towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is generally attributed to the metal-oxide synergy. A comprehensive study is thus needed to definitely unveil the origin of the catalytic activity of the metal/oxide heterostructures. Herein, Ni/CeO 2−x , Co/CeO 2−x and NiCo/CeO 2−x heterostructures are in - situ synthesized by hydrogenation. Both experimental and computational results validate that the presence of Ni favors the formation of interfacial oxygen vacancies, which facilitate the adsorption of H 2 O molecules for HER. Theoretical calculations further show that the desorption of OH* is the rate-determining step, and that the desorption barrier of OH* on the NiCo/CeO 2−x is the lowest because of the NiCo alloying induced regulation in electronic structure. Additionally, the NiCo-CeO 2−x heterointerface greatly promotes the charge accumulation, leading to the low onset potential. Therefore, the NiCo/CeO 2−x presents the highest intrinsic activity with a small overpotential of 30 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual‐atom catalysts (DAC) are deemed as promising electrocatalysts due to the abundant active sites and adjustable electronic structure, but the fabrication of well‐defined DAC is still full of challenges. Herein, bonded Fe dual‐atom catalysts (Fe2DAC) with Fe2N6C8O2 configuration were developed through one‐step carbonization of a preorganized covalent organic framework with bimetallic Fe chelation sites (Fe2COF). The transition from Fe2COF to Fe2DAC involved the dissociation of the nanoparticles and the capture of atoms by carbon defects. Benefitting from the optimized d‐band center and enhanced adsorption of OOH* intermediates, Fe2DAC exhibited outstanding oxygen reduction activity with a half‐wave potential of 0.898 V vs. RHE. This work will guide more fabrication of dual‐atom and even cluster catalysts from preorganized COF in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual‐atom catalysts (DAC) are deemed as promising electrocatalysts due to the abundant active sites and adjustable electronic structure, but the fabrication of well‐defined DAC is still full of challenges. Herein, bonded Fe dual‐atom catalysts (Fe2DAC) with Fe2N6C8O2 configuration were developed through one‐step carbonization of a preorganized covalent organic framework with bimetallic Fe chelation sites (Fe2COF). The transition from Fe2COF to Fe2DAC involved the dissociation of the nanoparticles and the capture of atoms by carbon defects. Benefitting from the optimized d‐band center and enhanced adsorption of OOH* intermediates, Fe2DAC exhibited outstanding oxygen reduction activity with a half‐wave potential of 0.898 V vs. RHE. This work will guide more fabrication of dual‐atom and even cluster catalysts from preorganized COF in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overexpression of the homeodomain transcription factor Six1 augments the p38-TβRII pathway, and thus promotes EMT, increases CSC-like properties and results in malignant conversion in HPV16-immortalized HKc.Six1, a member of the Six family of homeodomain transcription factors, is overexpressed in various human cancers, and SIX1 overexpression is associated with tumor progression and metastasis. Six1 messenger RNA levels increase during in vitro progression of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16)-immortalized human keratinocytes (HKc/HPV16) toward a differentiation-resistant (HKc/DR) phenotype. In this study, we show that HKc/DR-overexpressing Six1 exhibited a more mesenchymal phenotype, as characterized by a fibroblastic appearance and increased invasion. We utilized Whole Human Genome Microarrays to explore the gene expression changes associated with Six1 overexpression in HKc/DR. We found that overexpression of Six1 downregulated epithelial-related genes and upregulated mesenchymal-related genes, which suggests that Six1 overexpression induces epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). Pathway analysis of the microarray data showed alterations in the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) pathway, including enhanced expression of the TGF-β receptor type II (TβRII), and activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in HKc/DR-overexpressing Six1, suggesting that Smad-independent pathways of TGF-β signaling may be involved in Six1-mediated EMT. p38 MAPK activation was required for sustained Six1-induced EMT and TβRII overexpression. Finally, we determined that Six1 overexpression in HKc/DR resulted in malignant conversion and increased the cancer stem cell (CSC)-like population. Thus, Six1 overexpression promotes EMT, CSCs properties and malignant conversion in HKc/DR through MAPK activation, which supports the possible use of p38-TβRII inhibitors for the treatment of cancers overexpressing Six1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) derived metal hydroxides have been widely studied for urea oxidation reaction (UOR). However, few studies have paid attention to the effect of the surface-absorbed ligand molecules on the catalytic activity. Herein, hierarchical microspheres constructed by hexagonal NiCo(OH) 2 nanosheets with rich Ni3+ species and surface carboxylic groups are synthesized by using the NiCo-based MOFs as the sacrificial templates. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and in - situ Raman characterizations confirm the presence of the surface carboxylic groups. The introduction of the surface carboxylic groups is revealed for the first time to greatly enhance the UOR catalytic activity. Owing to the unique structure (two-dimensional nanosheets in three-dimensional microspheres) and the numerous Ni3+ species and surface carboxylic groups, the as-prepared hexagonal NiCo(OH) 2 nanosheets exhibit outstanding electrochemical performance, requiring only 1.368 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode to reach a current density of 100 mA cm−2. • Hexagonal NiCo(OH) 2 nanosheets were fabricated from metal organic frameworks. • The NiCo(OH) 2 contains numerous Ni3+ species and surface carboxylate groups. • The quantity of Ni3+ species and carboxylic groups is controlled by the Ni/Co ratio. • The surface carboxylate groups can greatly promote the urea oxidation reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel MOF-assisted in - situ synthetic strategy is developed to fabricate NiOOH-rich bimetallic catalysts for highly efficient urea oxidation reaction. [Display omitted] NiOOH has been considered as the active center for urea oxidation reaction (UOR), but it remains challenging to synthesize high-performance NiOOH-based catalysts. Herein, we realize the synthesis of a high-performance NiOOH-based catalyst through in - situ transformation from the NiMn-based metal–organic framework to NiMnOOH. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization shows that the Ni3+/Ni2+ ratio in the NiMnOOH is 3.9 times as big as that in the Ni(OH) 2 , and in - situ Raman characterization further consolidates the presence of the NiOOH species in the NiMnOOH and as well unveils the faciliated Ni2+/Ni3+ redox reaction. The abundant NiOOH species, the markedly facilitated Ni2+/Ni3+ redox reaction and the Ni-Mn synergy contribute to the high intrinsic activity of the NiMnOOH towards UOR. The NiMnOOH exhibits an impressively low onset potential of 1.305 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and requires only a small potential of 1.34 V vs RHE to deliver a current density of 100 mA cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH + 0.33 M urea. In addition, the NiMnOOH catalyst possesses good long-term working stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report designed a Pt/LaCoO3 composite electrocatalyst for electrochemical water splitting: LaCo0.94Pt0.06O3 was prepared via the sol-gel method and then dealt with a heat treatment in 10% H2/Ar atmosphere at 350 °C. The XRD, HRTEM, SEM and XPS results show that the Pt nanoparticles (NPs) exsolve from the perovskite lattice and are homogeneously distributed on the surface. The HER and OER performance of the samples was tested in 1 mol·L-1 KOH solution and the findings illustrate that compared with LaCo0.94Pt0.06O3, Pt/LaCoO3 owes better OER and HER performance. The improved performance could be up to the higher ratio of oxygen vacancies and improved charge transfer. Furthermore, the synergistic effect between Pt NPs and the LaCoO3 matrix may also take a leading part in the future. Figure SEM images of the samples: (a) LaCo0.94Pt0.06O3; (b) Pt/LaCoO3. After the exsolution, the Pt/LaCoO3 is well-developed with smooth surface and some nanoparticles are homogeneously distributed on the surface of the samples. The exsolved Pt nanoparticles can accelerate the electron exchange process between the matrix and its adsorbed intermediates, and ultimately promote the electrochemical reaction kinetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A wheel-rail noise based indirect method for quick rail corrugation measurement is proposed. • Numerical models, verified by field tests, combined with Kriging interpolation are used to establish the quantitative relation between corrugation and wheel-rail noise. • Wavelet Packet Decomposition method is adopted and the nodes energies are used to quantify the corrugation amplitude. This method advances the research of corrugation amplitude estimation by indirect measurement to a certain extent. • The experimental verification process shows an encouraging result, which indicates that the proposed indirect method has great potential for practical engineering. Estimation of corrugation amplitude is an important but difficult point for indirect methods, to advance related research, an indirect method based on wavelet packet decomposition (WPD) and energy level of wheel-rail noise is developed. For this purpose, firstly, numerical models are proposed to calculate wheel-rail noise under various corrugation statuses. Next, the WPD is conducted on wheel-rail noise, the energy levels of relevant nodes are used as evaluation indicators for corrugation amplitude. With this treatment, the amplitude of corrugation with diverse wavelengths can be evaluated. Then, by using numerical fitting and the Kriging interpolation model, nonlinear mapping from corrugation amplitude to energy level is established. Finally, the proposed method is verified by direct measurement, the estimated amplitudes have an average error of 10.5 % compared with the directly measured results. Therefore, the proposed indirect method has great potential for practical engineering, since it has encouraging results in the first attempt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In maritime search and rescue (SAR), the planning of the search path will directly affect the efficiency of searching for people overboard in the search area. However, traditional SAR decision-making schemes often adopt a fixed search path planning mode, but the limits are poor flexibility, low efficiency, and insufficient intelligence. This paper plans a search path with the shortest time-consuming and priority coverage of high-probability areas, considering complete coverage of maritime SAR areas and avoiding maritime obstacles. Firstly, a maritime SAR environment model is built using marine environmental field data and electronic charts. Secondly, an autonomous coverage path planning model for maritime SAR is proposed based on reinforcement learning, in which a reward function with multiple constraints is designed to guide the navigation action of the vessel agent. In the iterative training process of the path planning model, the random action selection probability is dynamically adjusted by the nonlinear action selection policy to ensure the stable convergence of the model. Finally, the experimental verification is conducted in different small-scale maritime SAR simulation scenarios. The results indicate that the search path can cover the high-probability areas preferentially with lower repeated coverage and shorter path length compared with other path planning algorithms. • A maritime search and rescue environment model is built using marine environmental field data and electronic charts. • An autonomous coverage path planning model for maritime search and rescue is proposed using reinforcement learning. • The reward function with multiple constraints plays a guiding role in the learning process. • The non-linear action selection policy based on the sine function improves the stability of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The highly efficient energy conversion of the polymer‐electrolyte‐membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is extremely limited by the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics and poor electrochemical stability of catalysts. Hitherto, to replace costly Pt‐based catalysts, non‐noble‐metal ORR catalysts are developed, among which transition metal–heteroatoms–carbon (TM–H–C) materials present great potential for industrial applications due to their outstanding catalytic activity and low expense. However, their poor stability during testing in a two‐electrode system and their high complexity have become a big barrier for commercial applications. Thus, herein, to simplify the research, the typical Fe–N–C material with the relatively simple constitution and structure, is selected as a model catalyst for TM–H–C to explore and improve the stability of such a kind of catalysts. Then, different types of active sites (centers) and coordination in Fe–N–C are systematically summarized and discussed, and the possible attenuation mechanism and strategies are analyzed. Finally, some challenges faced by such catalysts and their prospects are proposed to shed some light on the future development trend of TM–H–C materials for advanced ORR catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nickel hydroxide was a promising catalyst for urea oxidation reaction, but its catalytic activity is still far from satisfactory. Structure engineering is an efficient approach to tailoring the electrical conductivity and the quantities of active sites. Herein, a series of hierarchical NiCr hydroxide nanowire-assembled nanospheres with tunable crystallinity have been synthesized by hydrothermal method. The effect of Cr content on the structure and the electrochemical properties of NiCr hydroxides has been investigated. The axially aligned nanowires ensure the exposure of active sites; the crystalline/amorphous domain boundaries are intrinsically more active; the amorphous structure improves the electrical conductivity; the incorporation of Cr3+ promotes the charge transfer kinetics. The 10Cr-Ni(OH) 2 with the optimized Cr3+ content and domain boundaries shows the best catalytic performance with a reduction of 35 mV in onset potential relative to the α -Ni(OH) 2. In addition, the 10Cr-Ni(OH) 2 demonstrates good long-term working stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest causal agent of malaria, caused more than half of the 229 million malaria cases worldwide in 2019. The emergence and spreading of frontline drug-resistant Plasmodium strains are challenging to overcome in the battle against malaria and raise urgent demands for novel antimalarial agents. The P. falciparum formate–nitrite transporter (PfFNT) is a potential drug target due to its housekeeping role in lactate efflux during the intraerythrocytic stage. Targeting PfFNT, MMV007839 was identified as a lead compound that kills parasites at submicromolar concentrations. Here, we present 2 cryogenic-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of PfFNT, one with the protein in its apo form and one with it in complex with MMV007839, both at 2.3 Å resolution. Benefiting from the high-resolution structures, our study provides the molecular basis for both the lactate transport of PfFNT and the inhibition mechanism of MMV007839, which facilitates further antimalarial drug design. The malaria parasite's lactate transporter, PfFNT, is a potential drug target due to its housekeeping role in lactate efflux during the red blood cell stage. Cryo-EM structures of PfFNT alone or in complex with the anti-malarial drug MMV007839 reveal the mechanism of lactate transport and drug inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical calculations unveil the charge redistribution over abundant interfaces and the enhanced electronic states of Ru/RuS2 heterostructure. The resulting surface electron‐deficient Ru sites display optimized adsorption behavior toward diverse reaction intermediates, thereby reducing the thermodynamic energy barriers. Experimentally, for the first time the laminar Ru/RuS2 heterostructure is rationally engineered by virtue of the synchronous reduction and sulfurization under eutectic salt system. Impressively, it exhibits extremely high catalytic activity for both OER (201 mV @ 10 mA cm−2) and HER (45 mV @ 10 mA cm−2) in acidic media due to favorable kinetics and excellent specific activity, consequently leading to a terrific performance in acidic overall water splitting devices (1.501 V @ 10 mA cm−2). The in‐depth insight into the internal activity origin of interfacial effect could offer precise guidance for the rational establishment of hybrid interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical calculations unveil the charge redistribution over abundant interfaces and the enhanced electronic states of Ru/RuS2 heterostructure. The resulting surface electron‐deficient Ru sites display optimized adsorption behavior toward diverse reaction intermediates, thereby reducing the thermodynamic energy barriers. Experimentally, for the first time the laminar Ru/RuS2 heterostructure is rationally engineered by virtue of the synchronous reduction and sulfurization under eutectic salt system. Impressively, it exhibits extremely high catalytic activity for both OER (201 mV @ 10 mA cm−2) and HER (45 mV @ 10 mA cm−2) in acidic media due to favorable kinetics and excellent specific activity, consequently leading to a terrific performance in acidic overall water splitting devices (1.501 V @ 10 mA cm−2). The in‐depth insight into the internal activity origin of interfacial effect could offer precise guidance for the rational establishment of hybrid interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The surface of La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.8 Fe 0.2 O 3 perovskite oxides was modified using diluted HNO 3. • Sr cations on A-sites can be selective dissolved by diluted HNO 3. • Surface area and oxygen vacancies were increased with etching time. • The OER performance was enhanced by selective dissolution of the A-site Sr cations. Perovskite oxide is a potential alternative to precious metal oxides like IrO 2 and RuO 2 as electrocatalysts in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), mostly for its cost-effectiveness and adequate stability. However, the low catalytic activity in the OER limits its practical application. This paper deals with the preparation of perovskite oxides (by the sol-gel method) with enhanced electrocatalytic activity through selective dissolution of A-site cations of La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.8 Fe 0.2 O 3 (LSCF) in order to tune the A-site cation deficiency. Additionally, a thorough investigation of the catalysts' OER performance was performed in a 0.1 mol⋅L−1 KOH solution. Based on the results of XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS and ICP-AES, it can be concluded that selective dissolution of Sr cations on A-sites can be achieved using a HNO 3 etching remaining the perovskite structure. The OER catalytic activity of LSCF can be effectively promoted after acid etching for 6 h, which can be attributed to the higher surface area (BET result) and ratio of the high oxidative oxygen species (O2−/O−) and surface oxygen species (OH−/O 2). Moreover, the LSCF catalysts maintains an appropriate electrochemical stability after acid etching. Our work offers a simple but effective way to modify the perovskite surface so as to boost the OER performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: The combination chemotherapy of fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX) has provided clinically meaningful improvement for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We previously uncovered a role for the serine hydrolase carboxylesterase 2 (CES2) in mediating intratumoral activation of the prodrug irinotecan, a constituent of FOLFIRINOX. We aimed to further test the predictive value of CES2 for response to irinotecan using patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models and to elucidate the determinants of CES2 expression and response to FOLFIRINOX treatment among patients with PDAC. METHODS: PDXs were engrafted subcutaneously into nude mice and treated for 4 weeks with either saline control or irinotecan. CES2 and hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4A) expression in PDAC tissues was evaluated by immunohistochemical and Western blot analysis. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were applied to assess the association between overall survival and hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) levels in patients who underwent neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX treatment. RESULTS: High CES2 activity in PDAC PDXs was associated with increased sensitivity to irinotecan. Integrated gene expression, proteomic analyses, and in vitro genetic experiments revealed that nuclear receptor HNF4A, which is upregulated in diabetes, is the upstream transcriptional regulator of CES2 expression. Elevated CES2 protein expression in PDAC tissues was positively associated with a history of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio, 4.84; P =.02). High HbA1C levels were associated with longer overall survival in patients who received neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX treatment (P =.04). CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, we provide, for the first time, evidence that CES2 expression is associated with a history of type 2 diabetes in PDAC and that elevated HbA1C, by predicting tumor CES2 expression, may represent a novel marker for stratifying patients most likely to respond to FOLFIRINOX therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brittle minerals, especially quartz, play an important role in the quality of shale reservoir. The precipitation of authigenic quartz caused a significant change in the rock stiffness and porosity. However, the formation mechanism of authigenic quartz in shale is still unclear. Lower Cambrian Niutitang shale from Guchengcun outcrop has been examined with respect to quartz cement. Four different types of quartz have been identified using SEM/CL/EDS. Type 1 occurs as angular to sub-rounded silt-size quartz grains with uniform luminescence, indicative of detrital origin. Type 2 appears as relatively large quartz aggregates approximately 30–150 μm in size, which is composed of small quartz grains (1–3 μm) and abundant in siliceous shale. The petrological evidence and consideration of potential diagenetic process suggest that Type 2 quartz was formed by local re-crystallization of biogenic silica in syndiagenesis and preferentially precipitated in the axial cavities of sponge spicules. Type 3 occurs as quartz overgrowths that are essentially non-luminescent at the periphery of high luminescence detrital quartz grains. This type quartz is present in most investigated samples. Type 4 represents microcrystalline quartz embedded in the illitized clay matrix as discrete, short chains or small clusters/nests and they are most commonly observed in argillaceous shale. The petrological evidence and CL responses indicate that both Type 3 and Type 4 quartz are derived from precipitation of silica released during the smectite to illite dissolution–precipitation reaction. S-I transition can be driven by microbial metabolic processes in shallow buried diagenesis or by heat and pressure in late diagenesis. Some of Type 4 quartz may be originated from low-temperature microbial pathway in shallow buried diagenesis, while Type 3 quartz and the remaining Type 4 quartz were formed in late diagenesis. Siliceous shale contains less abundant detrital quartz than argillaceous shale, indicating that siliceous shale was deposited in deeper water and far from terrigenous input than argillaceous shale. Although identifying the exact cause for diagenetic silica deposition in shale is not a trivial matter, its recognition is important for the reconstruction of the depositional history of shale sequences and understanding the role of diagenesis in shale reservoirs development, moreover, it also has great potential for enhancing prediction of mechanical rock properties in shales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single atom catalysts (SAC) have the potential to achieve large-scale production of NH 3 through electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NO 3 -RR). Tailoring the coordination structure of the SAC can effectively tune their electronic structure and thus promote their catalytic selectivity and activity. In this work, Fe SAC with unique FeN 2 O 2 coordination was fabricated through direct pyrolysis of metal-organic frameworks that have pre-organized FeN 2 O 4 environment. Fe SAC exhibits both high faradaic efficiency (~92%) and high ammonia yield rate (46 mg h−1 mg cat. −1) in neutral electrolytes. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the O atoms in FeN 2 O 2 can tune the d -band center of Fe and thus adjust the adsorption energies of the NO 3 -RR intermediates. Compared to FeN 4 , FeN 2 O 2 structure has higher conductivity and selectivity to NH 3 and can spontaneously trigger the transformation of *NOH to N * , thus promoting the NO 3 -RR. This work provides a simple method to fabricate O, N-coordinated Fe SAC and may stimulate the flourishing development of asymmetric SAC for electrocatalysis. [Display omitted] ● A novel nut-like MOF was fabricated through the self-assembly of metal ions and ligands. ● Fe single atom catalyst with FeN 2 O 2 configuration can be obtained through the one-step pyrolysis of the as-prepared MOFs. ● Fe single atom catalysts exhibits a high faradaic efficiency of 92%, and a high NH 3 yield rate of 46 mg h−1 mg cat. -1. ● FeN 2 O 2 structure owns the enhanced conductivity and optimized rate-limiting steps compared with FeN 4 structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is gaining substantial attention from both biological and clinical fields as a promising marker for liquid biopsy. Many aspects of disease-related features have been discovered from cfDNA high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data. However, there is still a lack of integrative and systematic tools for cfDNA HTS data analysis and quality control (QC). Results Here, we propose cfDNApipe, an easy-to-use and systematic python package for cfDNA whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) data analysis. It covers the entire analysis pipeline for the cfDNA data, including raw sequencing data processing, QC and sophisticated statistical analysis such as detecting copy number variations (CNVs), differentially methylated regions and DNA fragment size alterations. cfDNApipe provides one-command-line-execution pipelines and flexible application programming interfaces for customized analysis. Availability and implementation https://xwanglabthu.github.io/cfDNApipe/. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A predictive model of a natural vacuum solar desalination system is proposed. • The model is verified by comparison with experimental results. • Annual freshwater yield of system in 2021 is up to 30.86 t/year in Chennai. • Thermal and total efficiency of system in 2021 peak at 79.41% and 76.96% in June in Muscat. • The freshwater cost of system in 2021 is as low as 5.31 $/t in Jizan. Solar-powered desalination systems have attracted much attention because they can alleviate freshwater shortages without polluting the environment. In the present work, a mathematical model is established to estimate the performance of a natural vacuum solar desalination system via water-filling and air-releasing. The estimates are compared with experimental results to validate the model. Six typical Asian cities are selected as the potential locations for the system. The annual freshwater yield, efficiency, and freshwater cost of the system are estimated for these cities under 2021 weather conditions to predict its productivity and commercial prospects. The results show that the average predictive error of the model is <3.52%. Jizan has the highest application potential among the six regions, with an all-day freshwater yield of about 10.77 kg/h and 55.96 kg/m3h on a typical day. The desalination system has a maximum annual freshwater yield of 30.86 t/year in Chennai, a maximum thermal efficiency of 79.41% and a maximum total efficiency of 76.96% in June in Muscat, and a minimum freshwater cost of 5.31 $/t in Jizan. Therefore, the predictive model is highly accurate and its results confirm the wide applicability and great commercial potential of the desalination system in Asia, potentially, the whole world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • 3D Janus face graphene (JFG) substrate is prepared in large scale by facile process. • Distinct Janus face comes from different aperture size and N-doping on both sides. • Dendrite growth is suppressed when lithiophilic layer is as Li deposition interface. • Li@JFG composite anode achieves efficient Li electro-plating/stripping. • Li@JFG anode has high coulomb efficiency, small polarization and stable cycle. The dendrite growth and irreversibility of lithium (Li) metal anode seriously hinders the wide-scale application of high-energy–density rechargeable batteries. Here, we report a thin Janus-faced graphene substrate, consisting of lithiophilic-lithiophobic faces separately, for Li plating/stripping. The visualized analysis demonstrates that the unique Janus-faced graphene structure provides different lithiophilic sites and pore channels to steer the Li electrodeposition and suppress the dendrite growth. As expected, the Janus-faced graphene anode achieves long-term Li plating/stripping with high Coulombic efficiency, small polarization and stable cycling throughout the symmetry, asymmetry and LiFePO 4 full cells. Such an encouraging strategy for reversible Li plating/stripping provides a promising way to design long-life carbon-base anode materials for Li metal batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GF-6 is the first optical remote sensing satellite for precision agriculture observations in China. Accurate identification of the cloud in GF-6 helps improve data availability. However, due to the narrow band range contained in GF-6, Fmask version 3.2 for Landsat is not suitable for GF-6. Hence, this paper proposes an improved Fmask based on the spectral-contextual information to solve the inapplicability of Fmask version 3.2 in GF-6. The improvements are divided into the following six aspects. The shortwave infrared (SWIR) in the "Basic Test" is replaced by blue band. The threshold in the original "HOT Test" is modified based on the comprehensive consideration of fog and thin clouds. The bare soil and rock are detected by the relationship between green and near infrared (NIR) bands. The bright buildings are detected by the relationship between the upper and lower quartiles of blue and red bands. The stratus with high humidity and fog_W (fog over water) are distinguished by the ratio of blue and red edge position 1 bands. Temperature probability for land is replaced by the HOT-based cloud probability (LHOT), and SWIR in brightness probability is replaced by NIR. The average cloud pixels accuracy (TPR) of the improved Fmask is 95.51%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, deep learning approaches, especially convolutional neural networks (CNNs), have attracted extensive attention in iris recognition. Though CNN-based approaches realize automatic feature extraction and achieve outstanding performance, they usually require more training samples and higher computational complexity than the classic methods. This work focuses on training a novel condensed 2-channel (2-ch) CNN with few training samples for efficient and accurate iris identification and verification. A multi-branch CNN with three well-designed online augmentation schemes and radial attention layers is first proposed as a high-performance basic iris classifier. Then, both branch pruning and channel pruning are achieved by analyzing the weight distribution of the model. Finally, fast finetuning is optionally applied, which can significantly improve the performance of the pruned CNN while alleviating the computational burden. In addition, we further investigate the encoding ability of 2-ch CNN and propose an efficient iris recognition scheme suitable for large database application scenarios. Moreover, the gradient-based analysis results indicate that the proposed algorithm is robust to various image contaminations. We comprehensively evaluated our algorithm on three publicly available iris databases for which the results proved satisfactory for real-time iris recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton-coupled monocarboxylate transporters MCT1-4 catalyze the transmembrane movement of metabolically essential monocarboxylates and have been targeted for cancer treatment because of their enhanced expression in various tumors. Here, we report five cryo-EM structures, at resolutions of 3.0–3.3 Å, of human MCT1 bound to lactate or inhibitors in the presence of Basigin-2, a single transmembrane segment (TM)-containing chaperon. MCT1 exhibits similar outward-open conformations when complexed with lactate or the inhibitors BAY-8002 and AZD3965. In the presence of the inhibitor 7ACC2 or with the neutralization of the proton-coupling residue Asp309 by Asn, similar inward-open structures were captured. Complemented by structural-guided biochemical analyses, our studies reveal the substrate binding and transport mechanism of MCTs, elucidate the mode of action of three anti-cancer drug candidates, and identify the determinants for subtype-specific sensitivities to AZD3965 by MCT1 and MCT4. These findings lay out an important framework for structure-guided drug discovery targeting MCTs. • A data processing strategy for cryo-analysis of small size membrane proteins • Structures of MCT1/Basigin-2 in distinct states at 3.0–3.3 Å resolutions • Substrate recognition and proton-coupled transport mechanism were elucidated • The mode of action of three anti-cancer drug candidates was unveiled Structures of MCT1, a small highly flexible SLC-family transporter, in inward-open and outward open conformations, provide a window on how anti-cancer leads influence transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]