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Background: Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is one of the most common neurological problems occurring in the perinatal period. However, there still is not a promising approach to reduce long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of HIE. Recently, itaconate has been found to exhibit anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the therapeutic efficacy of itaconate in HIE remains inconclusive. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the pathophysiological mechanisms of oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in HIE as well as the potential therapeutic role of a derivative of itaconate, 4-octyl itaconate (4OI). Methods: We used 7-day-old mice to induce hypoxic-ischemic (HI) model by right common carotid artery ligation followed by 1 h of hypoxia. Behavioral experiments including the Y-maze and novel object recognition test were performed on HI mice at P60 to evaluate long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. We employed an approach combining non-targeted metabolomics with transcriptomics to screen alterations in metabolic profiles and gene expression in the hippocampal tissue of the mice at 8 h after hypoxia. Immunofluorescence staining and RT-PCR were used to evaluate the pathological changes in brain tissue cells and the expression of mRNA and proteins. 4OI was intraperitoneally injected into HI model mice to assess its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. BV2 and C8D1A cells were cultured in vitro to study the effect of 4OI on the expression and nuclear translocation of Nrf2. We also used Nrf2-siRNA to further validate 4OI-induced Nrf2 pathway in astrocytes. Results: We found that in the acute phase of HI, there was an accumulation of pyruvate and lactate in the hippocampal tissue, accompanied by oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory, as well as increased expression of antioxidative stress and anti-inflammatory genes. Treatment of 4OI could inhibit activation and proliferation of microglial cells and astrocytes, reduce neuronal death and relieve cognitive dysfunction in HI mice. Furthermore, 4OI enhanced nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor (Nfe2l2; Nrf2) expression and nuclear translocation in astrocytes, reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and increased antioxidant enzyme expression. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that 4OI has a potential therapeutic effect on neuronal damage and cognitive deficits in HIE, potentially through the modulation of inflammation and oxidative stress pathways by Nrf2 in astrocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pyrolysis separation of calcium and magnesium from phosphate tailings is an important process due to its high-value resource utilization. In this paper, aiming to address the problems of high energy consumption, a slow decomposition rate and the low activity of decomposition products in the high-temperature pyrolysis of phosphate tailings, the medium-temperature pyrolysis of phosphate tailings under a H2O atmosphere was carried out, and the phase reconstruction and activation of pyrolysis process were discussed. The results showed that compared with N2, air and CO2 atmospheres, the pyrolysis process of phosphate tailings in a H2O atmosphere was changed from two stages to one stage, the starting decomposition temperature was reduced to 500 °C and the decomposition time was shortened to 30 min. The order of the influence of each factor on the pyrolysis of phosphate tailings was temperature > H2O pressure > holding time. Under the optimized pyrolysis conditions, the yield of CaMg(CO3)2 decomposition of phosphate tailings into MgO and CaO was 97.3% and 98.1%, respectively, and the reactivity of MgO was 31.6%. The distribution of Ca and Mg elements in the phosphate tailings after pyrolysis showed a negative correlation, and both of them no longer formed associated compounds; Ca mainly existed in the form of Ca(OH)2, Ca5(PO4)3F, CaSiO3 and CaF2, and Mg mainly existed in the form of MgO, MgF2 and Mg(OH)2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The specific mechanisms by which tumors acquire resistance to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy are not completely understood. The aim of this study was to elucidate the complex interactions between tumor cells and CAR T cells targeting epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) in a xenograft model of gastric cancer. Using whole-body CAR T cell imaging and single-cell multiomic analyses, we noticed that within resistant tumors, CAR T cells exhibited a tendency to proliferate, but they were largely dysfunctional, losing their ability to fight cancer effectively. Specifically, most CD8 T cells became exhausted within tumors, while CD4 T cells transformed into regulatory T cells that can dampen the immune response. Additionally, the resistant tumor cells had specific gene changes that could promote cancer growth and make the disease more challenging to cure. This research provides valuable information for understanding how tumors resist CAR T cell therapy and may guide future developments in cancer treatment. Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is a tumor-associated antigen that is frequently overexpressed in various carcinomas. We have developed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells specifically targeting EpCAM for the treatment of gastric cancer. This study sought to unravel the precise mechanisms by which tumors evade immune surveillance and develop resistance to CAR T cell therapy. Through a combination of whole-body CAR T cell imaging and single-cell multiomic analyses, we uncovered intricate interactions between tumors and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). In a gastric cancer model, tumor-infiltrating CD8 T cells exhibited both cytotoxic and exhausted phenotypes, while CD4 T cells were mainly regulatory T cells. A T cell receptor (TCR) clonal analysis provided evidence of CAR T cell proliferation and clonal expansion within resistant tumors, which was substantiated by whole-body CAR T cell imaging. Furthermore, single-cell transcriptomics showed that tumor cells in mice with refractory or relapsing outcomes were enriched for genes involved in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and antigen presentation pathways, interferon-γ and interferon-α responses, mitochondrial activities, and a set of genes (e.g., CD74, IDO1, IFI27) linked to tumor progression and unfavorable disease prognoses. This research highlights an approach that combines imaging and multiomic methodologies to concurrently characterize the evolution of tumors and the differentiation of CAR T cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of non-precious metal electrocatalysts with high activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a crucial and challenging task. In this work, we proposed a solvent-free in situ metal–organic framework (MOF) growth strategy for the fabrication of an Fe-doped CoO/Co electrocatalyst. This approach not only partially granted the MOF's porous structure to the catalyst but also resulted in a tighter combination between the Co metal and CoO, thereby enhancing its electrical conductivity. Furthermore, this method enabled the Fe species to be more uniformly dispersed on CoO/Co, which significantly exposed more active sites for efficient electrocatalysis. The entire synthesis process was solvent-free, except for a small amount of water and ethanol used during catalyst washing. The as-synthesized Fe-CoO/Co electrocatalyst exhibited superior OER activity on a glass carbon electrode, with η = 276 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, even higher than that of the commercial precious IrO2/C catalyst. Additionally, it was also extended to prepare a Ni-doped CoO/Co electrocatalyst by the same procedure with satisfactory OER performance. This work presents a new preparation approach for MOF-derived catalysts with potential applications in energy conversion and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic technology is a unique method of treating energy crisis and environmental concern. Herein, Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were employed to prepare a series of visible light responsive MoS 2 /CdS heterojunction photocatalysts by facile low-temperature hydrothermal sulfurization. The structural analysis revealed that the prepared MoS 2 /CdS heterojunction exhibited highly porous structure and the intimate interface was formed between the MoS 2 and CdS. For these structure features, the charge separation and transfer were significantly improved, and the MoS 2 /CdS heterojunction presented efficient photocatalytic activity towards hydrogen evolution and degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC). The highest H 2 evolution rate (3318 μmol h−1 g−1) was found at the 5 wt%-MoS 2 /CdS, which were 10 times and 6 times of pristine MoS 2 and CdS, respectively. In particular, the 5 wt%-MoS 2 /CdS can also remove 95% RhB and 90% TC within 40 min. Moreover, the MoS 2 /CdS heterojunction showed good photocatalytic stability for hydrogen evolution and degradation of RhB and TC. Furthermore, the radical trapping experiment revealed that the photogenerated · O 2 − played critical role in RhB degradation and the hole (h+) and · O 2 − were essential for TC degradation. The work will provide a guidance for rational design and facile preparation of photocatalyst for the visible light-driven hydrogen evolution and elimination of organic pollutants. [Display omitted] • MoS 2 /CdS heterojunction were synthesized by facile hydrothermal sulfurization method. • MoS 2 /CdS heterojunction exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance and stability. • MoS 2 /CdS heterojunction possessed porous structure and specific large surface area. • Photocatalytic mechanism of MoS 2 /CdS heterojunction were further studied in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs) are closely related to the deterioration of enhanced biological phosphorus removal systems. However, the metabolic mechanisms that drive GAOs remain unclear. Here, the two-thirds supernatant of a reactor were decanted following the anaerobic period to enrich GAOs. Long-term monitoring demonstrated that the system was stable and exhibited typical characteristics of GAOs metabolism. Acetate was completely consumed after 60 min of the anaerobic phase. The level of glycogen decreased from 0.20 to 0.14 g/gSS during the anaerobic phase, whereas the level of glycogen significantly increased to 0.21g/gSS at the end of the aerobic period. Moreover, there was almost no phosphate release and absorption in the complete periods, thus confirming the successful construction of a GAOs enrichment system. Microbial community analysis demonstrated that Ca. Contendobacter was among the core functional genera and showed the highest activity among all of the communities. Furthermore, our study is the first to identify the involvement of the ethyl-malonyl-CoA pathway in the synthesis of polyhydroxyvalerate via croR, ccr, ecm, mcd, mch and mcl genes. The Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas (EMP) pathway was preferentially used via glgP. Furthermore, the glyoxylate cycle was the main source of ATP under anaerobic conditions, whereas the tricarboxylic acid cycle provided ATP under aerobic conditions. aceA and mdh appeared to be major modulators of the glyoxylate pathway for controlling energy flow. Collectively, our findings not only revealed the crucial metabolic mechanisms in a GAOs enrichment system but also provided insights into the potential application of Ca. Contendobacter for wastewater treatment. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis and prediction of urban ecological risk are crucial means for resolving the dichotomy between ecological preservation and economic development, thereby enhancing regional ecological security and fostering sustainable development. This study uses Nanning, a Chinese landscape garden city, as an example. Based on spatial granularity and extent perspectives, using 30 m land use data, the optimal scale for an ecological risk assessment (ERA) and prediction is confirmed. This study also explores the patterns of spatial and temporal changes in ecological risk in Nanning on the optimal scale. At the same time, the Patch-generating Land Use Simulation model is used to predict Nanning's ecological risk in 2036 under two scenarios and to propose ecological conservation recommendations in light of the study results. The study results show that: a spatial granularity of 120 m and a spatial extent of 7 km are the best scales for ERA and prediction in Nanning. Although the spatial distribution of ecological risk levels is obviously different, the overall ecological risk is relatively low, and under the scenario of ecological protection in 2036, the area of high ecological risk in Nanning is small. The results can provide theoretical support for ERA and the prediction of landscape cities and ecological civilization construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial development is an essential foundation of the national economy, but the industry is also the largest source of air pollution, of which power plants, iron and steel, building materials, and other industries emit large amounts of pollutants. Therefore, the Chinese government has promulgated a series of stringent emission regulations, and it is against this backdrop that research into air pollution control technologies for key industrial sectors is in full swing. In particular, during the 13th Five-Year Plan, breakthroughs have been made in pollution control technology for key industrial sectors. A multi-pollutant treatment technology system of desulfurization, denitrification, and dust collection, which applies to key industries such as power plants, steel, and building materials, has been developed. High-performance materials for the treatment of different pollutants, such as denitrification catalysts and desulfurization absorbers, were developed. At the same time, multi-pollutant synergistic removal technologies for flue gas in various industries have also become a hot research topic, with important breakthroughs in the synergistic removal of NO x , SO x , and Hg. Due to the increasingly stringent emission standards and regulations in China, there is still a need to work on the development of multi-pollutant synergistic technologies and further research and development of synergistic abatement technologies for CO 2 to meet the requirements of ultra-low emissions in industrial sectors. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vessel emissions have contributed a great deal to air quality deterioration in China. Hence, the Chinese government has promulgated a series of stringent emission regulations. It is in this context that vessel emission control technology research is in full swing. In particular, during the 13th Five-Year Plan, the air pollution control technology of vessels has greatly improved. Vessel emission control has followed two main governance routes: source emission reduction and aftertreatment technology. Source control focuses on alternative fuels, with two main directions, the development of new fuels and the modification of existing fuels. Moreover, after-treatment technologies have also been developed, including wet desulfurization technology using seawater or alkaline liquids as wet washing liquids and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) for the control of NO x emission. Due to China's increasingly stringent emissions standards and regulations, work on the development of clean alternative fuels and further upgrading the collaborative application of after-treatment technologies to meet the near-zero-emissions requirements of vessels is still necessary. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting energy-saving behavior among college students in dormitories is conducive to improving the energy efficiency of college buildings. As students in the same dormitory need to share the energy-using equipment and expenses, they will inevitably influence each other by their energy-use behaviors, and this interaction process will gradually reach a certain stable state with the passing of the time spent with roommates. However, the existing research on the influencing factors of energy-use behaviors often focuses on individual subjective characteristics while overlooking the influence of group and time factors. Therefore, this paper incorporates interpersonal relationship and group identity into the theory of planned behavior, and considers the time spent with roommates as the moderating variable to build a model of factors influencing college students' energy-use behaviors in their dormitories. Empirical data were collected by a questionnaire survey with 768 respondents, and generalized ordered logit regression was used to analyze the research model. The results reveal that the factors that influence students' energy-use behaviors will change with the time spent with roommates. When the time spent with roommates is 0–1 year, interpersonal relationships, group identity, comfort, individual norms, and environmental concerns are significant influences. When the time spent with roommates is 1–2 years, environmental concerns will no longer have an effect; however, energy-use costs and energy-use habits will be added. When the time spent with roommates is 2–3 years, interpersonal relationships, individual norms, group identity, and energy-use costs will no longer have any influence, but subjective norm will be added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing low-carbon economy is an inherent requirement for China's sustainable development, and digital economy is an important engine for China's economy to reduce carbon emission intensity in the new development stage. Identifying the industrial evolution law of China's digital economy is helpful to diagnose its development opportunity, tap the 'green potential' and provide strategic support for the digital economy to play the low-carbon effect. Based on the data of China's digital industrialization and industry digitization from 2001 to 2020, the development level of China's digital economy industry was analyzed by logistic curve estimation, and the evolution stage of China's digital economy industry was determined by the characteristic points of the curve. The results showed that, before 2008, China's digital economy industry was in the germination period; from 2009 to 2035, China's digital economy industry is in the period of accelerating growth; from 2036 to 2062, China's digital economy industry will be in the mature stage; after 2062, it will enter a period of decline. The above analysis results are basically in line with the requirements of China's 'strategic plan to become a high-income country by 2035' and 'strategic goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060'. Finally, according to the carbon emission reduction development demand of China's digital economy in the 'growth period', it is pointed out that it is urgent for China to continue to promote the construction of digital infrastructure, achieve green digital technology innovation, improve the social digital literacy level and increase the proportion of renewable energy application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is difficult to accurately establish a model of the real mesa system. Furthermore, a model of a seismic simulation vibration table array system is critical to increasing the accuracy of seismic testing in laboratory settings. Herein a model of the nine subarray shaking table system is identified by recursive extension of the least square method, which is used to accurately identify the structure parameters by simulation of the structure assuming a single degree-of-freedom. Then, through the displacement of the empty shaking table and the application of the recursive least squares algorithm, the model of the seismic simulation vibration table array is established. Through this study, the vibration table model of different construction forms can be obtained, and the parameters that are difficult to measure for some complex structures can effectively be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to image adoptively transferred T cells in the body and to eliminate them to avoid toxicity will be vital for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, particularly against solid tumors with higher risk of off-tumor toxicity. Previously, we have demonstrated the utility of somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) for CAR T cell imaging, illustrating the expansion and contraction of CAR T cells in tumor as well as off-tumor expansion. Using intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1)-specific CAR T cells that secrete interleukin (IL)-12 as a model, herein we examined the potential of SSTR2 as a safety switch when combined with the SSTR2-specific maytansine-octreotate conjugate PEN-221. Constitutive secretion of IL-12 led to continuous expansion of CAR T cells after rapid elimination of tumors, causing systemic toxicity in mice with intact MHC expression. Treatment with PEN-221 rapidly reduced the abundance of CAR T cells, decreasing the severity of xenogeneic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), and prolonged survival. Our study supports the development of SSTR2 as a single genetic marker for CAR T cells that is readily applicable to humans both for anatomical detection of T cell distribution and an image-guided safety switch for rapid elimination of CAR T cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Asthma is a common inflammatory respiratory disease with increasing incidence worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of miR-146a-5p in reducing allergic airway inflammation by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages. Methods: Allergic mouse models were established by ovalbumin stimulation, and mice were treated with miR-146a-5p agomir and oe-TIRAP 3 h before OVA stimulation. The pathological changes of lung tissues were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The airway hyperresponsiveness of mice were examined. The miR-146a-5p level was detected by RT-qPCR. The inflammatory cytokines (IL-18/TNF-α) and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum IgE levels were examined by ELISA. Airway inflammation in mice was detected after miR-146a-5p overexpression. The levels of NLRP3/ASC/caspase1 proteins and macrophage M1/M2 surface markers in mouse lung tissues were examined using immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and flow cytometry. The targeting relationship between miR-146a-5p and TIRAP was verified by dual-luciferase assay. The p65 levels in the cytoplasm/nucleus of mouse lung tissue were measured. Results: miR-146a-5p was downregulated in the lung tissues of allergic mice, and miR-146a-5p overexpression alleviated airway inflammation in asthmatic mice. miR-146a-5p suppressed NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages of allergic mice, reduced NLRP3/ASC/caspase1 protein levels in lung tissues, blocked M1 polarization, and promoted M2 polarization. miR-146a-5p targeted TIRAP. TIRAP overexpression partially reversed the promoting effect of miR-146a-5p on M2 polarization. miR-146a-5p can inhibit the activation of the TIRAP/NF-κB pathway. Conclusion: miR-146a-5p inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages in the lung tissue of allergic mice, prevented pro-inflammatory phenotype M1 polarization, and promoted anti-inflammatory phenotype M2 polarization by targeting the TIRAP/NF-κB pathway, thus alleviating airway inflammation in allergic asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyascus gregaria is a specialized crustacean parasite of Chinese mitten crab; however, only limited information on interactions between parasite and its host is available. This study examined interactions between P. gregaria and Chinese mitten crab with regard to immune‐related enzyme activities and expression of respective genes in the hepatopancreas. To further elucidate the pathogen–host interactions, untargeted gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) metabolomics was used to analyse changes in metabolites in response to P. gregaria infection. Superoxide dismutase, acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase activities were significantly increased in parasitized crabs, whereas phenoloxidase activity was significantly decreased. Moreover, the expression of three immune‐related genes, that is proPO, Toll1 and Toll2, was markedly downregulated in parasitized crabs. In the metabolomic assay, 73 differential metabolites were identified, and they were significantly enriched in 71 pathways. Among these metabolites, 58 were significantly upregulated and 15 were downregulated. Lysolipids lysoPE, lysoPC, lysoPG, LysoPI and lysoPS were the most strongly upregulated metabolites, and 9‐cis‐retinol, glycerophosphocholine and 5‐thymidylic acid were the top three downregulated metabolites. Most of these metabolites were enriched in the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway, which was one of the most significantly activated pathway responses to P. gregaria infection. This increase in lysoglycerophospholipids caused major structural and functional abnormalities in the membranes of host tissues, especially in the hepatopancreas. We propose that long‐term infection with P. gregaria induces silence of the innate immune system, disturbs intracellular homeostasis and causes cell membrane immune‐related dysfunction in Chinese mitten crab. These results may help us better understand P. gregaria infection in Chinese mitten crab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is associated with the risk of several human malignancies, including Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, as EBV infection is widely spread across human populations, whereas only a small proportion of the infected individuals eventually develop such malignancies, additional component causes are likely needed in the development of EBV-related malignancies. We performed a national register-based study in Sweden to examine the role of infections that required hospital treatment on the subsequent risk of HL and NPC. We found that previous hospital-treated infections were associated with a higher risk of HL and NPC and that a positive association was observed for both bacterial and viral infections, especially for respiratory and skin infections. A dose-response relationship was also noted between the number of infections and the risk of HL. These findings suggest that infectious events might contribute to the carcinogenesis of malignancies potentially related to EBV. Background: To assess the association of hospital-treated infections with the subsequent risk of two Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-related malignancies, namely Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: We performed a nested case-control study based on several national registers in Sweden. Cases were individuals newly diagnosed with HL or NPC during 1994–2016 in Sweden, according to the Swedish Cancer Register. For each case, we randomly selected five controls individually matched to the case on sex and year of birth from the general Swedish population. Hospital-treated infections (i.e., infections requiring either inpatient or outpatient hospital care) were identified from the Swedish Patient Register. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of HL and NPC, in relation to hospital-treated infections, after adjustment for age, sex, calendar period, educational achievement, and region of residence. Results: The study included a total of 890 cases of HL and 306 cases of NPC. A hospital-treated infection three years ago or earlier was associated with a higher risk of HL (OR = 1.49, 95%CI: 1.26–1.75) as well as NPC (OR = 1.36; 95%CI: 1.01–1.83). The positive association was noted for both bacterial and viral infections and primarily for respiratory and skin infections. A monotonous dose-response relationship was found between a number of hospital-treated infections and the risk of HL (p = 0.02) but less compelling for NPC (p = 0.06). Using a 5-year lag time rendered similar results (OR = 1.43, 95%CI: 1.21–1.70 for HL; OR = 1.43, 95%CI: 1.05–1.95 for NPC). Conclusions: These findings suggest that infections requiring hospital treatment might contribute to the carcinogenesis of malignancies potentially related to EBV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Sepsis is one of the most common reasons for hospitalization and in-hospital mortality each year. Noncoding RNAs have been reported not only as diagnostic and prognostic indicators but also as therapeutic targets of sepsis. Herein, we used an integrative computational approach to identify miRNA-mediated ceRNA crosstalk between lncRNAs and genes in sepsis based on the "ceRNA hypothesis" and investigated prognostic roles of hub genes in sepsis. Methods. Two good-quality gene expression datasets with more than 10 patient samples, GSE89376 and GSE95233, were employed to obtain differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) and genes (DEGs) in sepsis. The DElncRNA-miRNA-DEG regulatory network was constructed using a combination of DElncRNA-miRNA pairs and miRNA-DEmRNA pairs. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by mapping DEGs into the STRING database to identify hub genes in sepsis. The clinical and prognostic significance of hub genes was validated in 89 patients with post-traumatic sepsis. Results. The integrative computational approach identified 311 DEGs and 19 DElncRNAs between septic patients and healthy volunteers. Results yielded 122 downDElncRNA-miRNA-downDEG networks based on two lncRNAs, HCP5, and HOTAIRM1, and 36 upDElncRNA-miRNA-upDEG network based on BASP1-AS1. The PPI network identified serum/glucocorticoid regulated kinase 1 (SGK1), arrestin beta 1 (ARRB1), and G protein-coupled receptor 183 (GPR183) as located at the core of the network, and three of them were downregulated in sepsis. SGK1, ARRB1, and GPR183 were all involved in lncRNA HCP5-based ceRNA network. The quantitative real-time PCR revealed that the patients with post-traumatic sepsis exhibited reduced relative mRNA levels of SGK1, ARRB1, and GPR183 compared to the patients without sepsis. The nonsurvivor group, according to the 28-day mortality, showed lower relative mRNA levels of SGK1, ARRB1, and GPR183 than the survivor group. We also demonstrated reduced mRNA levels of SGK1, ARRB1, and GPR183 were associated with sepsis-related death after trauma. Conclusion. Our integrative analysis and clinical validation suggest lncRNA HCP5-based ceRNA networks with SGK1, ARRB1, and GPR183 involved were associated with the occurrence and progression of sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CMC/SA-Zn2+ gel electrolyte is designed for manipulating interfacial chemistry. • CMC/SA-Zn2+ inhibits Zn-related issues and shows improved durability. • The decomposition voltage of the CMC/SA-Zn2+ is higher than 2.4 V. • The self-healing Zn-MnO 2 batteries demonstrate exceptional dynamic stability. • The pathway excludes the petroleum-based polymers and chemical crosslinkers. The inconsistent zinc stripping/deposition leading to low durability of zinc anodes is a fundamental obstacle for the practical application of zinc-based aqueous batteries. Hence, the self-healing capability of flexible batteries is crucial for enhancing their durability and dependability during routine operation, as it allows them to withstand various deformations. Through composite strengthening and dynamic coordination complexation, we have developed a dual-crosslinked and natural polymer-based self-healing hydrogel electrolyte (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose/sodium alginate-Zn2+, denoted as CMC/SA-Zn2+) for flexible Zn-MnO 2 batteries. The metal coordination interactions of carboxyl groups with Zn2+ as the dynamic motif are contributed to excellent mechanical and electrochemical properties, as well as fast self-healing ability for the CMC/SA-Zn2+ hydrogel electrolyte. Moreover, the improved compatibility of the electrode and electrolyte at their interfaces results in considerably more meticulous Zn deposition. Subsequently, a reversible plating/stripping performance is observed in a symmetric cell for a duration of 2000 h. After applying this self-healing and tough electrolyte to the flexible Zn-MnO 2 battery, it is constructed with a high capacity of 218 mAh/g and a high coulombic efficiency close to 100 %. Additionally, the flexible batteries exhibit exceptional resilience and can recover their electrochemical performance even after enduring multiple mechanical damages, highlighting their potential use in wearable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atherosclerosis is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, in which vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) proliferation and migration play a vital role. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been reported to be correlated with the VSMCs function. Therefore, this study is designed to explore the role and mechanism of circRNA lipase maturation factor 1 (circLMF1) in Human aortic VSMCs (HASMCs). The microarray was used for detecting the expression of circLMF1 in proliferative and quiescent HASMCs. Levels of circLMF1, microRNA-125a-3p (miR-125a-3p), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), and fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Cell viability, cell cycle progression, and migration were assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), flow cytometry, wound healing, and transwell assays, respectively. Western blot assay determined proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), Cyclin D1, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP2), osteopontin (OPN), VEGFA, and FGF1 protein levels. The possible interactions between miR-125a-3p and circLMF1, and miR-125a-3p and VEGFA or FGF1 were predicted by circbank or targetscan, and then verified by a dual-luciferase reporter, RNA Immunoprecipitation (RIP), RNA pull-down assays. CircLMF1, VEGFA, and FGF1 were increased, and miR-125a-3p was decreased in platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB)-inducted HASMCs. Functionally, circLMF1 knockdown hindered cell viability, cell cycle progression, and migration in PDGF-BB-treated HASMCs. Mechanically, circLMF1 could regulate VEGFA or FGF1 expression through sponging miR-125a-3p. Our findings revealed that circLMF1 deficiency could inhibit cell viability, cell cycle progression, and migration of PDGF-BB stimulated atherosclerosis model partly through the miR-125a-3p/VEGFA or FGF1 axis, suggesting that targeting circLMF1 can be a feasible therapeutic strategy for atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The homologous oligomers of porous organic cages (POCs) were fabricated through post-synthesized modification in a controlled way and moderate yields. The structures of these POC oligomers were confirmed by NMR, Maldi-TOF, FT-IR and DLS. The obtained POC oligomers exhibit very stable and symmetric structures and high solubility in common solvents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic situation of COVID-19 blocks many traditional information exchange paths, intensifies the information asymmetry in the implementation of the energy efficiency retrofitting project of existing building and seriously affects the decision-making effect of the energy performance contracting (EPC) subject. Therefore, based on the information-sharing platform, this paper constructs the synergistic incentive framework; designs the computational experimental models from the aspects of system information structure, system organization structure, synergistic communication strategy and subject knowledge structure; and analyzes the influence mechanism and evolution law of information on synergistic incentive performance from the two dimensions of the influence of the synergy cycle on the incentive performance and the influence of the incentive cycle on the synergy degree. The results show that increasing the information redundancy length and the information redundancy width can improve the synergy degree and incentive validity. The concentration of subject number or information dimension in a certain information area can quickly improve the synergy degree and incentive utility in the early stage of the synergistic incentive cycle, but the above situation is opposite in the later stage. Increasing the information communication path is beneficial to the effective information dissemination among subjects and can improve the efficiency of the decision-making of the subjects. Lastly, considering the background of COVID-19 epidemic situation, this paper puts forward the remedial methods and coping strategies make up for the lack of synergistic incentive information between EPC subjects. Research results can provide strong support for the design of synergistic incentive mechanism of EPC subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71 or EV-71) is an RNA virus that causes hand, foot and mouse disease in children. The N6 -methyladenosine (m6A) of RNA is a common RNA modification involved in various biological events. METTL3 is an m6A methyltransferase that regulates EV-71 replication. EV-71 infection induces autophagy, which also promotes EV-71 replication. In this study, we explored the role of METTL3 in EV-71 infection-induced autophagy. We constructed lentivirus expressing METTL3-specific shRNA and knocked down the endogenous METTL3 in mouse Schwann cells. We infected normal Schwann cells and METTL3 knockdown Schwann cells and compared the viral titer, expression of autophagy-related proteins and apoptosis-related protein. Transduction of lentivirus expressing METTL3 shRNA significantly decreased the endogenous METTL3. Knocking down METTL3 decreased the viral titer of EV-71 after infection. Knocking down METTL3 prevented EV-71-induced cell death and suppressed EV-71-induced expression of Bax while rescuing Bcl-2 expression after EV-71 infection. Knocking down METTL3 inhibited EV-71-induced expression of Atg5, Atg7 and LC3 II. Knocking down METTL3 inhibited EV-71-induced apoptosis and autophagy. In summary, our study describes the relationship of METTL3 and autophagy during EV-71 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The LRK10‐like receptor kinases (LRK10L‐RLKs) are ubiquitously present in higher plants, but knowledge of their expression and function is still limited. Here, we report expression and functional analysis of TtdLRK10L‐1, a typical LRK10L‐RLK in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum). The introns of TtdLRK10L‐1 contained multiple kinds of predicted cis‐elements. To investigate the potential effect of these cis‐elements on TtdLRK10L‐1 expression and function, two types of transgenic wheat lines were prepared, which expressed a GFP‐tagged TtdLRK10L‐1 protein (TtdLRK10L‐1:GFP) from the cDNA or genomic DNA (gDNA) sequence of TtdLRK10L‐1 under the native promoter. TtdLRK10L‐1:GFP expression was up‐regulated by the powdery mildew pathogen Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt) in both types of transgenic plants, with the scale of the elevation being much stronger in the gDNA lines. Both types of transgenic plants exhibited enhanced resistance to Bgt infection relative to wild type control. Notably, the Bgt defence activated in the gDNA lines was significantly stronger than that in the cDNA lines. Further analysis revealed that a putative MYB transcription factor binding site (MYB‐BS, CAGTTA) located in TtdLRK10L‐1 intron I was critical for the efficient expression and function of TtdLRK10L‐1 in Bgt defence. This MYB‐BS could also increase the activity of a superpromoter widely used in ectopic gene expression studies in plants. Together, our results deepen the understanding of the expression and functional characteristics of LRK10L‐RLKs. TtdLRK10L‐1 is likely useful for further dissecting the molecular processes underlying wheat defence against Bgt and for developing Bgt resistant wheat crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Purpose Methods Results Conclusions Auxiliary diagnosis of different types of cystic lung diseases (CLDs) is important in the clinic and is instrumental in facilitating early and specific treatments. Current clinical methods heavily depend on accumulated experience, restricting their applicability in regions with less developed medical resources. Thus, how to realize the computer‐aided diagnosis of CLDs is of great clinical value.This work proposed a deep learning‐based method for automatically segmenting the lung parenchyma in computed tomography (CT) slice images and accurately diagnosing the CLDs using CT scans.A two‐stage deep learning method was proposed for the automatic classification of normal cases and five different CLDs using CT scans. Lung parenchyma segmentation is the foundation of CT image analysis and auxiliary diagnosis. To meet the requirements of different sizes of the lung parenchyma, an adaptive region‐growing and improved U‐Net model was employed for mask acquisition and automatic segmentation. The former was achieved by a self‐designed adaptive seed point selection method based on similarity measurement, and the latter introduced multiscale input and multichannel output into the original U‐Net model and effectively achieved the lightweight design by adjusting the structure and parameters. After that, the middle 30 consecutive CT slice images of each sample were segmented to obtain lung parenchyma, which was employed for training and testing the proposed multichannel parallel input recursive MLP‐Mixer network (MPIRMNet) model, achieving the computer‐aided diagnosis of CLDs.A total of 4718 and 16 290 CT slice images collected from 543 patients were employed to validate the proposed segmentation and classification methods, respectively. Experimental results showed that the improved U‐Net model can accurately segment the lung parenchyma in CT slice images, with the Dice, precision, volumetric overlap error, and relative volume difference of 0.96 ± 0.01, 0.93 ± 0.04, 0.05 ± 0.02, and 0.05 ± 0.03, respectively. Meanwhile, the proposed MPIRMNet model achieved appreciable classification effect for normal cases and different CLDs, with the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and F1 score of 0.8823 ± 0.0324, 0.8897 ± 0.0325, 0.9746 ± 0.0078, and 0.8831 ± 0.0334, respectively. Compared with classical machine learning and convolutional neural networks‐based methods for this task, the proposed classification method had a preferable performance, with a significant improvement of accuracy of 10.74%.The work introduced a two‐stage deep learning method, which can achieve the segmentation of lung parenchyma and the classification of CLDs. Compared to previous diagnostic tasks targeting single CLD, this work can achieve various CLDs’ diagnosis in the early stage, thereby achieving targeted treatment and increasing the potential and value of clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the clinical treatment of bone cancer pain (BCP) is mainly related to its pathogenesis. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the potential role of N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) in BCP in the spinal cord dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of BCP rats and its specific regulatory mechanism in N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor subunit 2B (NR2B). A rat model of BCP was constructed by tibial injection of Walker256 cells, and ALKBH5 and NR2B expression in the spinal cord DRG was detected. ALKBH5 was silenced or overexpressed in PC12 cells to verify the regulatory effect of ALKBH5 on NR2B. The specific mechanism underlying the interaction between ALKBH5 and NR2B was investigated using methylated RNA immunoprecipitation and dual‐luciferase reporter gene assays. The results showed increased expression of m6A, decreased expression of ALKBH5, and increased expression of NR2B in the DRG of the BCP rat model. Overexpression of ALKBH5 inhibited NR2B expression, whereas interference with ALKBH5 caused an increase in NR2B expression. In NR2B, interference with ALKBH5 caused an increase in m6A modification, which caused an increase in NR2B. Taken together, ALKBH5 affected the expression of NR2B by influencing the stability of the m6A modification site of central NR2B, revealing that ALKBH5 is a therapeutic target for BCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A precise evaluation of the influence of the dispersion and interface on the mechanical properties is the foundation to fabricate high-performance composites. In this work, original CNTs and carboxylic acid-modified CNTs (CNT-COOH) were chosen as the models, and a multi-scale study of CNTs reinforced epoxy composites was conducted, including the mechanical property test, the dispersion state evaluation and the interface analysis. The interface analysis was conducted by combining scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). A wider interphase region was successfully identified in the CNT-COOH/epoxy than in the CNTs/epoxy composites. In addition, improved dispersion state has been achieved in the CNT-COOH/epoxy composite, which leads to a better mechanical performance for the CNT-COOH/epoxy composite. The successful characterization in multi-scale paves the way for a better understanding of the structure–property relationships in composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the energy performance contracting (EPC) mode, the energy services company (ESCO) involved in energy efficiency retrofitting of existing buildings often faces the parallel construction of multiple tender segments and multi-professional subcontractors. The one-to-many structure for ESCO and subcontractors causes difficulties to the project quality management and directly affects the effect of energy efficiency retrofitting of existing buildings. Therefore, this paper constructs a revenue-sharing incentive model by considering situation where subjects have fairness cognition. Through the social calculation experiment of the model, results show the following: (1) increasing the revenue-sharing coefficient will help to optimize the engineering quality of energy efficiency retrofitting and increase the energy-saving income; (2) in order to get better incentive effect, the engineering quality grade of energy efficiency retrofitting should match with the incentive strength; (3) because of the impact of fairness cognition, the incentive level difference is too large, and the incentive effect will gradually weaken in the subsequent incentive cycle; (4) subcontractor's effort level changes can prompt ESCO to adjust the corresponding incentive intensity. Finally, some suggestions are put forward to optimize the engineering quality management of energy efficiency retrofitting of existing building, which is of great significance to improve the effect of energy efficiency retrofitting of existing building under EPC mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Codonopsis pilosula (DS), a traditional Chinese medicine, had been used to regulate the immune, digestive and circulatory systems of the human, as well as protect the gastrointestinal tract, improve lung function. The aim of study was to explore the effects and mechanism of Codonopsis pilosula aqueous extract (DS) intervention in improving ulcerative colitis (UC). UC model rats were established using combination of TNBS and ethanol. Tissue samples were collected for transcriptome and metabolomics analysis. Network pharmacology was performed on DS to identify bioactive compounds. Western blot was used to detect the key proteins involved in UC pathogenesis and PI3K/AKT pathways. DS exerted the preventive and therapeutic effects in improving UC via inhibiting abnormal inflammatory responses and promoting antioxidant capacity. Levels of intestinal barrier, oxidative stress and inflammatory mediators were improved to nearly normal level in vivo by DS. Metabolome profiles showed that DS could restore the metabolic disorders associated with the UC pathogenesis. Further transcriptome results showed that DS mainly alleviate UC through inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, and various related genes that dramatically expressed in UC Model rats were downregulated by DS. Typically, network pharmacology analysis identified that Glycitein was the hub compounds that involved in the mechanism of DS in improving UC. The results show that Codonopsis pilosula (DS) was an potential excellent material in treating of UC depending on its suitable concentration. Possible therapeutic mechanisms of the DS involved in mitigating colonal inflammation, restoring metabolic disorders, promoting antioxidant capacity, and especially blocking the activation of PI3K/Akt pathway. [Display omitted] • Codonopsis pilosula aqueous extract(DS)alleviates abnormal inflammatory responses and promotes antioxidant capacity. • DS could restore metabolic disorders associated with the UC pathogenesis. • Glycitein is the bioactive compounds of DS in improving UC. • DS mainly alleviate UC through inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Yb 2 SiO 5 /mullite/Si tri-layer environmental-barrier-coating (EBC) were coated on SiC f /SiC substrates via Air Plasma Spraying (APS). The thermal cycle tests (TCT) were conducted under thermal corrosive condition of vapor-oxygen (50 vol% H 2 O and 50 vol% O 2) with thermal shock from 1200 °C to 200 °C. Microstructures, weight loss and bonding strength of the samples were systemically investigated after 101, 396, 606 and 700 TCT cycles respectively. The results show that the corner of the tri-layer coating peel off from the sample with weight loss of 1.3% after 700 TCT cycles. The bonding strength between substrate and tri-layer coatings gradually decreases to 6.79 MPa (approximately 55.2% of virgin specimens) after 700 cycles due to thermal shock induced cracks distributed horizontally within Si layers and between Si layer and outer layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), the B-type Raf kinase (BRAF)V600E mutation is a molecular biomarker of poor prognosis and is of great importance to drug target. Currently, the commonly used methods for detecting BRAFV600E mutation include immunohistochemistry (IHC) and gene sequencing, but both present certain limitations. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a spectroscopy technology that takes advantage of the electromagnetic wavelength between visible light and mid-infrared light. Methods: IHC was used to detect the expression of BRAFV600E protein with the BRAFV600E (VE1) antibody in 42 cases of paraffin-embedded (FFPE) mCRC tissue sections. The NIR-discriminant analysis model (NIRS-DA) was established using 6 cases of wild-type and 6 cases of mutant-type BRAF specimens. Results: IHC detection results revealed 13 cases of weakly positive (+), 1 case of moderately positive (++), and 28 cases of negative (−) CRC. Compared with the next-generation sequencing (NGS) results, the positive rate was 66.7%. The classification accuracy of calibration (CAC) was 100% compared with the results of NGS, demonstrating that the BRAFV600E mutant NIRS-DA model, verified by 2 cases of wild-type and 2 cases of mutant-type CRC samples was established. The NIRS-DA model was used to predict gene mutation in the CRC samples, 7 cases were positive (+), and 35 cases were negative (−), and the classification accuracy of prediction (CAP) was 83.3% (35/42). Discussion: The NIRS-DA model-predicted results were in high agreement with the detection results of NGS, and the difference in IHC is not statistically significant (P> 0.05). However, this study is a preliminary discussion on a methodology due to its small sample size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modified three-derivative Runge–Kutta (MTHDRK) methods for the numerical solution of the resonant state for the Schrödinger equation are investigated. Order conditions are presented and oscillation-fitting conditions are derived. Two practical fifth-order explicit MTHDRK methods are constructed and the error analysis is carried out for large energy. The numerical results are presented for the numerical solution of the Schrödinger equation to show the robustness of our new methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fusion product of FIP1-like-1 (FIP1L1) and platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRA) gene rearrangement is a tyrosine kinase oncoprotein sensitive to imatinib. This gene rearrangement characterizes a novel clinico-biological class of myeloid and lymphoid neoplasms with eosinophilia and PDGFRA abnormalities. The DEK proto-oncogene (DEK) and nucleoporin 214 (NUP214) rearrangement is rare in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML); therefore, the coexistence of DEK-NUP214 and FIP1L1-PDGFRA rearrangements in patients with AML is extremely rare. The present study presents a rare relapse case of a patient with AML with DEK-NUP214 and FIP1L1-PDGFRA rearrangements, without marked eosinophilia in the peripheral blood or bone marrow. Low-dose imatinib monotherapy without intensive chemotherapy was used to achieve complete hematological remission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to perform a survival analysis of patients with multicentric low-grade gliomas (MLGGs) and to assess the influence of various prognostic factors on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival. A literature search on Web of Science and PubMed was performed for literature in English published from 1963 to September 2018. Detailed information including demographics, clinical characteristics, treatments, critical events, and time to events for survival analysis were extracted from the included articles. A total of 36 cases from published articles were selected for analysis. Univariate analysis showed that age (<31 years or ≥31 years), grade (pure low grade/low and high grade) and glioma type (astrocytoma/oligodendroglioma) had a significant relationship with PFS. Cox regression analysis showed that tumor grade was an independent prognostic factor for PFS. No factors correlated with overall survival. This integrative analysis of MLGGs patients revealed that age younger than 31 years, pure MLGG, and oligodendroglioma were significantly associated with improved PFS, and pure MLGGs was an independent prognostic factors for PFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new explicit fourth-order Runge–Kutta method adapted to oscillatory problems with two frequencies (μ and ν) is developed. The new method can integrate exactly the different harmonic oscillators y ′ = i μ y and y ′ = i ν y simultaneously. Numerical stability and phase properties of the new method are analysed. Numerical experiments are conducted to illustrate the high accuracy and competence of our new method in comparison with some highly effective methods from the recent literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated the activity levels of two major digestive enzymes (pepsin and lipase) in the commercially important Japanese grenadier anchovy Coilia nasus during its upstream migration to analyse the digestive physiological responses to starvation and to analyse the influence of the water temperature on enzyme activity. Water temperature had a significant effect on pepsin activity, while long‐term starvation resulted in a significant decrease in pepsin activity. As starvation continued, however, a slight increase in pepsin activity between the Wuhu (440 river km) and Anqing (620 river km) regions may indicate that C. nasus had refeeding behaviour due to its large expenditure of energy reserves. In contrast, lipase activity was not significantly affected by the water temperature but the effect of fasting increased as much as 13% of lipase activity from the Chongming region (20 river km) to Anqing region, suggesting that the stored lipids of grenadier anchovy were mobilised to meet energy requirements of upstream migration activity and gonad development. Lipid mobilisation activated lipoprotein lipase (LPL; proteins with lipase activity) to hydrolyse triacylglycerides (TAG), which is the first step of lipid assimilation and obtained energy from fatty acids under fasting conditions. Therefore, the increased lipase activity is attributed mainly to the lipase that is involved in endogenous lipid hydrolysis. Grenadier anchovy appears to adapt to long‐term starvation during migration and the increased lipase activity may indicate a crucial effect on lipid metabolism. This study demonstrated that distinct alterations occur in pepsin and lipase activities during the spawning migration of grenadier anchovy due to exogenous nutrition and endogenous metabolism. Furthermore, it provides a basis for further research on the digestive physiology and energy metabolism in this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The near-space solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle has broad prospects in application owing to its high altitude long-endurance performance. Launching solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle into the near-space with balloon-borne approach has advantages over the traditional sliding take-off methods, in that it is able to quickly and safely cross the turbulent zone. In this article, we investigate the control technology of balloon-borne launching for the solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. First, the motion of the launching process is divided into longitudinal and lateral-directional motion, with the longitudinal process and its equation addressed in detail. We then analyze the flight state and restriction conditions that the unmanned aerial vehicle should meet during the process. Second, the target variables and constraints are selected to formulate the optimization problem. The control variable parameterization method is applied to find the optimal pitch angle in the releasing-and-pulling process. More explicitly, a three-channel attitude stabilization controller is designed, in which the longitudinal channel takes the optimal pitch angle as the pitch instruction, the transverse channel carries out the zero control of the inclination angle, and the course channel takes the stabilization control, respectively. Numerical simulation results show that our proposed control design is capable of accelerating the solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles from the vertical state and pulling them up to the horizontal cruising flight state, with the flight angle of attack, the maximum speed, and the maximum axial acceleration in the pulling process all within the designed range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new family of A-stable Runge-Kutta methods with equation-dependent (EDRK) coefficients for the numerical solution of stiff differential equations is investigated. The newly constructed four-stage EDRK methods are of algebraic order five. The linear stability properties are analyzed. Numerical experiments are carried out to show the efficiency of the new methods compared with the existing codes in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coilia nasus is a typical anadromous migratory fish found in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Every year, C. nasus clusters offshore and swims upstream along the Yangtze River into the tributaries and lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to breed. In this study, female C. nasus were collected as study subjects from the Chongming section of Shanghai, the Taizhou section of Jiangsu, and the Anqing section of Anhui. Their ovaries were used to examine tissue sections and investigate gene expression, including the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (fshr), the luteinizing hormone receptor (lhr), kisspeptin-1 (kiss1), and forkhead box l2 (foxl2), which are related to reproductive development, while the serum levels of estrogen (including estradiol, E2) and progestins (including 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregenen-3-one, 17α,20β-DHP) were also analyzed. Our results showed that, first, the growth period of the oocytes was small in stage II of ovarian development, in which both E2 and 17α,20β-DHP levels and gene expression were low. Then, in stage III, the growth period of the oocytes became large, and the yolk granules and oil droplets began to appear. Simultaneously, E2 and the expression of kiss1 and foxl2 were significantly elevated. Finally, stage IV was the period of a large amount of accumulation of nutrients in the oocytes, and 17α,20β-DHP levels and the expression of fshr and lhr were significantly elevated. These results enrich the theoretical study of ovarian development in the natural population of C. nasus, supplementing the biological basis of C. nasus reproduction and scientifically supporting the study of C. nasus population ecology and resource conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gynostemma pentaphyllum is a traditional medicine used by ethnic minorities in southwest China and gypenosides are currently recognized as essential components of the pharmacological substances of Gynostemma pentaphyllum, which are effective in regulating metabolic syndrome, especially in improving hepatic metabolic disorders. The present study randomly divided C57BL/6J male mice into the normal diet control group (ND), high-fat diet modeling group (HFD) and gypenosides group (GP). Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) was applied to quantify bile acids in the liver, bile and serum of mice in ND, HFD and GP groups. Liver proteins were extracted for trypsin hydrolysis and analyzed quantitatively using UPLC-MS + MS/MS (timsTOF Pro 2). Total mouse liver RNA was extracted from ND, HFD and GP groups respectively, cDNA sequencing libraries constructed and sequenced using BGISEQ-500 sequencing platform. The expression of key genes Fxr, Shp, Cyp7a1, Cyp8b1, and Abab11 was detected by RT-qPCR. The results showed that gypenosides accelerated free bile acid synthesis by promoting the expression of bile acid synthase CYP7A1 and CYP8B1 genes and proteins and accelerating the secretion of conjugated bile acids from the liver to the bile ducts. GP inhibited the bile acid transporters solute carrier organic anion transporter family member (SLCO) 1A1 and SLCO1A4, reducing the reabsorption of free bile acids and accelerating the excretion of free bile acids from the blood to the kidneys. It also promoted the metabolic enzyme CYP3A11, which accelerated the metabolism and clearance of bile acids, thus maintaining the balance of the bile acid internal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new optimized three-derivative Runge–Kutta type methods with vanishing phase-lag and its first derivative for the numerical integration of Schrödinger equation are derived in this paper. We present the error analysis in terms of the asymptotic expressions of the local errors. Numerical results are reported to show the efficiency and robustness of the new methods for the numerical integration of the Schrödinger equation with the Woods–Saxon potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the networked active vibration control for a multi-degree-of-freedom structural system subject to modeling uncertainties, stochastic sensor faults, and earthquake excitations. By adopting a positive velocity feedback controller and introducing a communication network that produces proper network-induced delays and packet dropouts in the feedback control loop, the closed-loop system is first modeled by an uncertain stochastic system with a nonsmall interval time-varying input delay. Then a delay-dependent criterion is derived by employing a complete Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional such that the stochastic system with the proper nonzero input delay is stochastically stable with L2-gain performance, but unstable without delay. An iterative algorithm is presented to design the networked controller. A three-storey shear-beam building model subject to the El Centro 1940 earthquake is given to validate the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy is a powerful technology in trace analysis. However, the wide applications of SERS in practice are limited by the expensive substrate materials and the complicated preparation processes. Here we report a simple and economical galvanic-replacement-assisted synthesis route to prepare Ag nanoparticles on Cu(0) foil (nanoAg@Cu), which can be directly used as SERS substrate. The fabrication process is fast (ca. 10 min) and easily scaled up to centimeters or even larger. In addition, the morphology of the nanoAg@Cu (with Ag particles size from 30 nm to 160 nm) can be adjusted by various additives (e.g., amino-containing ligands). Finally, we show that the as-prepared nanoAg@Cu can be used for SERS characterization of two-dimensional polymers, and ca. 298 times relative enhancement of Raman intensity is achieved. This work offers a simple and economical strategy for the scalable fabrication of silver-based SERS substrate in thin film analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A family of exponentially fitted two-step hybrid methods for the numerical integration of the Schrödinger equation is investigated. The asymptotic expressions of the local errors for large energies are presented. The stability of the new methods is analyzed. Numerical results are reported for the widely used Woods–Saxon potential to show the efficiency of the new methods. The error analysis is clearly tested by the resonance problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A family of modified two-derivative Runge–Kutta (MTDRK) methods for the integration of the Schrödinger equation are obtained. Two new three-stage and fifth order TDRK methods are derived. The numerical results in the integration of the radial Schrödinger equation with the Woods–Saxon potential are reported to show the high efficiency of our new methods. The results of the error analysis are illustrated by the resonance problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Tracking model properties with time-invariant models on adaptive segment lengths. • Optimal partitioning of data by Bayesian model class selection. • Optimal partitioning determined efficiently by dynamic programming. • Application to tracking modal properties in OMA. Structural health monitoring (SHM) quite often involves continually tracking the temporal variation of some properties of interest, where statistical information about variations under normal situation can be obtained and potential anomalies may be detected for further attention. Structural-related properties such as natural frequency and stiffness often need to be identified with a physics-based model that relates them to measured data. Conventional approaches empirically divide data into non-overlapping segments with equal lengths and identify the model parameters within each segment based on a time-invariant model. Potentially time-varying model properties are then investigated based on the variation of identified results from one data segment to another. Challenges do exist, e.g., how to choose segment length to balance modeling error and identification accuracy, how to set criterion for anomaly detection, etc., which should be addressed with proper extraction of probabilistic information from data. In this work, the SHM problem is formulated as a Bayesian model selection problem, where the data can be 'partitioned' in an arbitrary manner, whose optimal choice, and hence points of significant change, are determined together with the model inference process by maximizing the probabilistic evidence supported by data. An efficient algorithm based on dynamic programming is proposed to determine the optimal partitioning and associated piecewise-constant properties, which is otherwise computationally prohibitive. The methodology is applied to tracking modal properties, e.g., natural frequency and damping ratio, of structures using output-only ambient vibration data. It is investigated with synthetic data and then applied to field data of a tall building during a typhoon event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic maps provide the foundation for QTL mapping of important traits of crops. As a valuable food and forage crop, rye (Secale cereale L., RR) is also one of the tertiary gene sources of wheat, especially wild rye, Secale cereale subsp. segetale, possessing remarkable stress tolerance, tillering capacity and numerous valuable traits. In this study, based on the technique of specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq), a high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) linkage map of the cross-pollinated (CP) hybrid population crossed by S. cereale L (female parent) and S. cereale subsp. segetale (male parent) was successfully constructed. Following preprocessing, the number of 1035.11 M reads were collected and 2425800 SNP were obtained, of which 409134 SNP were polymorphic. According to the screening process, 9811 SNP markers suitable for constructing linkage groups (LGs) were selected. Subsequently, all of the markers with MLOD values lower than 3 were filtered out. Finally, an integrated map was constructed with 4443 markers, including 1931 female mapping markers and 3006 male mapping markers. A major quantitative trait locus (QTL) linked with spike length (SL) was discovered at 73.882 cM on LG4, which explained 25.29% of phenotypic variation. Meanwhile two candidate genes for SL, ScWN4R01G329300 and ScWN4R01G329600, were detected. This research presents the first high-quality genetic map of rye, providing a substantial number of SNP marker loci that can be applied to marker-assisted breeding. Additionally, the finding could help to use SLAF marker mapping to identify certain QTL contributing to important agronomic traits. The QTL and the candidate genes identified through the high-density genetic map above may provide diverse potential gene resources for the genetic improvement of rye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]