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Background: In recent years, abnormal expression of collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) has been found in some tumors, closely related to the poor prognosis of cancer patients. However, the clinical significance of CTHRC1 in gliomas is not completely understood. Methods: We investigated the expression, prognostic value, and potential biological function of CTHRC1 in different types of gliomas through bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification. Results: Bioinformatics analysis revealed several key findings regarding the expression and clinical significance of CTHRC1 in gliomas. First, the analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between CTHRC1 expression and the World Health Organization (WHO) grading of gliomas, a relationship that was validated through immunohistochemistry experiments. In addition, a trend was observed in which CTHRC1 expression increased with the extent of glioma invasion, as supported by Western blot experiments. Subsequent bioinformatics analysis identified the mesenchymal subtype of gliomas as having the highest levels of CTHRC1 expression, a finding reinforced by immunohistochemical staining. Moreover, high CTHRC1 expression was associated with poor prognosis in gliomas and emerged as an independent prognostic factor, with varying impacts on prognosis between low-grade gliomas (LGGs) and glioblastoma (GBM) subgroups. Notably, comparative analysis unveiled distinct patterns of immune infiltration of CTHRC1 in LGG and GBM. Furthermore, alterations in copy number variations and DNA methylation were identified as potential mechanisms underlying elevated CTHRC1 levels in gliomas. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis indicated that CTHRC1 and its associated genes mainly function in the extracellular matrix and participate in tumor-related signaling pathways. Conclusions: The CTHRC1 has shown significant clinical utility as a prognostic marker and mesenchymal subtype marker of glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments of co-gasification of spirit-based distillers' grains (SDG) and sewage sludge (SS) were carried out with red mud (RM) by using a self-designed fixed-bed gasifier. The effects of RM addition, gasification reaction temperature, SS and SDG blending ratio and other factors on the gasification reaction characteristics and synergism were investigated. The results are as follow: RM had catalytic effect on SS and SDG co-gasification, which can enhance the gasification reaction and H2 yield; increasing the temperature can enhance the gasification reaction and reduce the syngas H2/CO; with the increase of SDG, the H2 yield gradually grew; with the rise of SS, the gasification reaction gradually augmented. The catalytic mechanism was mainly due to the redox cycle of Fe2O3 in RM, which can promote the water transfer reaction. At the same time, the eutectic mixture of K, Na, Ca, Fe and other metal elements at high temperatures was the main reason for the synergistic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous profiling of DNA methylation and gene expression within single cells is a powerful technology to dissect complex gene regulatory network of cells. However, existing methods are based on picking a single‐cell in a tube and split single‐cell lysate into two parts for transcriptome and methylome library construction, respectively, which is costly and cumbersome. Here, DIRECT is proposed, a digital microfluidics‐based method for high‐efficiency single‐cell isolation and simultaneous analysis of the methylome and transcriptome in a single library construction. The accuracy of DIRECT is demonstrated in comparison with bulk and single‐omics data, and the high CpG site coverage of DIRECT allows for precise analysis of copy number variation information, enabling expansion of single cell analysis from two‐ to three‐omics. By applying DIRECT to monitor the dynamics of mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation, the relationship between DNA methylation and changes in gene expression during differentiation is revealed. DIRECT enables accurate, robust, and reproducible single‐cell DNA methylation and gene expression co‐analysis in a more cost‐effective, simpler library preparation and automated manner, broadening the application scenarios of single‐cell multi‐omics analysis and revealing a more comprehensive and fine‐grained map of cellular regulatory landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Toxin‐antitoxin systems are highly variable, even among strains of the same bacterial species. The MazEF toxin‐antitoxin system is found in many bacteria and plays important roles in various biological processes such as antibiotic tolerance and phage defense. However, no interplay of MazEF systems between different species was reported. Materials and Methods: MazEF toxin‐antitoxin system of Helicobacter macacae was examined in three Escherichia coli strains with and without endogenous MazEF knockout. In vivo toxicity, antibiotic tolerance, and live/dead staining followed by flowcytometry analysis were performed to evaluate the functionality and interplay of the toxin‐antitoxin system between the two species. Results: Controlled ectopic expression of MazF of H. macacae (MazFhm) in E. coli did not affect its growth. However, in endogenous MazEF knockout E. coli strains, MazFhm expression caused a sharp growth arrest. The toxicity of MazFhm could be neutralized by both the antitoxin of MazE homolog of H.macacae and the antitoxin of MazE of E. coli, indicating interplay of MazEF toxin‐antitoxin systems between the two species. Induced expression of MazFhm enhanced tolerance to a lethal dose of levofloxacin, suggesting enhanced persister formation, which was further confirmed by live/dead cell staining. Conclusions: The MazEF toxin‐antitoxin system of H. macace enhances persister formation and thus antibiotic tolerance in E. coli. Our findings reveal an interplay between the MazEF systems of H. macacae and E. coli, emphasizing the need to consider this interaction while evaluating the toxicity and functionality of MazF homologs from different species in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focused on the reaction features and kinetics of tar catalytic conversion by char based on the generation and evolution of gas products. To probe the roles of heat and catalysis in tar conversion, a micro fluidized bed reaction analyzer (MFBRA) was used to assess tar thermal cracking (TC) and catalytic cracking (CC) by char at 1073, 1123, 1173, and 1223 K. The tar cracking behavior of the individual gas components (H 2 , CO, CO 2 , and CH 4), generation rates, and reaction kinetics were thoroughly investigated. The results show that TC and CC included a fast (Stage-1) and slow (Stage-2) conversion stage, in which Stage-1 contributed more than 80% of the total conversion. Compared to TC, tar CC required a longer reaction time but obtained higher conversions to individual gas components and the total gas products. The final conversion ratios (X CC/TC) of H 2 , CO, CO 2 , and CH 4 were kept above 1 at the tested temperature. The char catalytic action was very remarkable, especially at low temperatures. In tar CC, the generation rate of individual gas components slowly declined after quickly reaching the peak, forming a relatively stable zone. The volume reaction model (VRM) well described the tar conversion behavior with and without char. Compared to TC, char lowered the activation energy (Ea) of gas generation. For individual gas components (H 2 , CO, CO 2 , CH 4) and the total gas products, the corresponding reduction degree of Ea was 25.56%, 24.18%, 22.14%, 4.75%, and 21.71%, respectively, further displaying the promoting impact of char. The evaluated generation features and kinetics of individual components in the gas products will benefit the in-situ tar removal in the biomass gasification process. • Tar thermal and catalytic cracking were assessed on a micro fluidized bed reaction analyzer. • Test was based on real-time analysis of gas products rather than tar mass change. • Gas components were mainly generated in the initial stage of tar thermal and catalytic cracking. • Char played an essential role in the initial conversion process even in low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The expression of SIRT4 is down-regulated in intestinal fibrosis. • SIRT4 provides protection against intestinal fibrosis. • SIRT4 restricts glutaminolysis to reduce extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. • SIRT4 facilitates glutaminase 1 (GLS1) degradation by hindering SIRT5's stabilizing interaction with GLS1. • The "α-KG/H3K27me3" signals mediate SIRT4-limited transcription of components in ECM after inhibiting glutaminolysis. Intestinal fibrosis is a prevalent complication of Crohn's disease (CD), characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM), and no approved drugs are currently available for its treatment. Sirtuin 4 (SIRT4), a potent anti-fibrosis factor in mitochondria, has an unclear role in intestinal fibrosis. In this study, fibroblasts isolated from biopsies of stenotic ileal mucosa in CD patients were analyzed to identify the most down-regulated protein among SIRT1–7, and SIRT4 was found to be the most affected. Moreover, in vivo and in vitro models of intestinal fibrosis, SIRT4 expression was significantly decreased in a TGF-β dependent manner, and its decrease was negatively associated with disease severity. SIRT4 impeded ECM deposition by inhibiting glutaminolysis, but not glycolysis, and α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) was identified as the key metabolite. Specifically, SIRT4 hinders SIRT5's stabilizing interaction with glutaminase 1 (GLS1), thereby facilitating the degradation of GLS1. KDM6, rather than KDM4, is a potential mediator for α-KG-induced transcription of ECM components, and SIRT4 enhances the enrichment of H3K27me3 on their promotors and enhancers. These findings indicate that the activation of TGF-β signals decreases the expression of SIRT4 in intestinal fibrosis, and SIRT4 can facilitate GLS1 degradation, thereby resisting glutaminolysis and alleviating intestinal fibrosis, providing a novel therapeutic target for intestinal fibrosis. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The global delay in women's reproductive age has raised concerns about age-related infertility. The decline in oocyte quality is a limiting factor of female fertility, yet there are currently no strategies to preserve oocyte quality in aged women. Here, we investigated the effects of growth hormone (GH) supplementation on aneuploidy of aged oocytes. Methods: For the in vivo experiments, the aged mice (8-month-old) were intraperitoneally injected with GH daily for 8 weeks. For the in vitro experiments, germinal vesicle oocytes from aged mice were treated with GH during oocyte maturation. The impacts of GH on ovarian reserve before superovulation was evaluated. Oocytes were retrieved to assess oocyte quality, aneuploidy and developmental potential characteristics. Quantitative proteomics analysis was applied to investigate the potential targets of GH in aged oocytes. Results: In this study, we demonstrated that GH supplementation in vivo not only alleviated the decline in oocyte number caused by aging, but also improved the quality and developmental potential of aged oocytes. Strikingly, we discovered that GH supplementation reduced aneuploidy in aged oocytes. Mechanically, in addition to improving mitochondrial function, our proteomic analysis indicated that the MAPK3/1 pathway may be involved in the reduction in aneuploidy of aged oocytes, as confirmed both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, JAK2 may also act as a mediator in how GH regulates MAPK3/1. Conclusions: In conclusion, our research reveals that GH supplementation protects oocytes against aging-related aneuploidy and enhances the quality of aged oocytes, which has clinical significance for aged women undergoing assisted reproduction technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen production from rice husk was carried out via a two-stage system combining CLG (calcium looping gasification) using Ca(OH) 2 adsorbent in a bubbling fluidized bed and catalytic reforming with Ce–Ni/γAl 2 O 3 catalyst in a connected fixed bed. The results show that the maximum H 2 concentration (69.16 vol%) and H 2 yield (11.86 mmol g−1 rice husk) are achieved at Ca/C (Ca(OH) 2 to carbon molar ratio) = 1.5, H 2 O/C (H 2 O to carbon molar ratio) = 1.5, T g (gasification temperature) = 500 °C, T c (catalytic temperature) = 800 °C. The supplementation of fresh Ca(OH) 2 at Ca/C of 0.5 during calcination helps to activate the regenerated CaO by hydration, maintaining its carbonation activity and CO 2 adsorption. Ce–Ni/γAl 2 O 3 catalyst promotes water gas shift (WGS), steam methane reforming (SMR), and C 2 –C 3 hydrocarbons reforming, also exhibits excellent activity stability to maintain H 2 concentration and H 2 yield above 67.21 vol% and 11.67 mmol g−1 rice husk , respectively, during 5 lifetime tests. • Staged catalytic gasification of rice husk in a fluidized bed for H 2 -rich gas. • Ca(OH) 2 adsorbent promotes WGS and hydrocarbons reforming at a moderate temperature. • Fresh Ca(OH) 2 supplement during calcination activates regenerated CaO by hydration. • Ce–Ni/γAl 2 O 3 catalyst promotes WGS, SMR, and C 2 –C 3 hydrocarbons reforming reactions. • Ce–Ni/γAl 2 O 3 catalyst shows excellent activity stability with low carbon deposition. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we presented an oblique incidence-insensitive metamaterial absorber (MA) based on the strong magnetic coupling resonance using the printed circuit board process, and the spacer is produced by a typical magnetic absorber material (MAM). As for reflection loss (RL) at oblique angles, it can achieve high-efficiency absorption for both transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) polarizations with a wide angular range from 0° to 60° in the low frequency of 2.33 GHz to 3.44 GHz. In addition, the magnetic coupling mechanism of the metamaterial absorber was deeply analyzed. Comparing the results of the simulation and experiment, it displays excellent absorption performance of the proposed absorber in TE and TM modes under large oblique incidence angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of modern industry, the surface of workpieces is becoming increasingly complex, and workpieces present the trend of small personalized batches. Robot polishing has become one of the required precision machining methods because of their excellent flexibility, ample working space, and strong maneuverability. Therefore, this paper reviews a series of precision machining methods based on robotic technology. First of all, the seven aspects of the operating principle of industrial robot polishing system like robot polishing force control technology, robot polishing trajectory planning, robot polishing path planning, robot teaching programming technology, robot polishing vibration control, multi-robot polishing control technology, and commercial robotic polishing systems, have been carried on in detailed by discussion and analysis. Secondly, researches on the basic architecture of the polishing robot are concluded by two aspects as researches on structure classification of the polishing robot and design of robot polishing end-effector. Finally, the study of robot polishing and future work are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laryngeal carcinomas cause vocal cord (VC) mobility problems. Other than evaluation through flexible laryngoscopy, rare reports concerning CT findings for the motion of the VC or arytenoid cartilage (AC) are found. To explore a novel evaluation of the mobility of the AC in glottic carcinoma. In 39 patients with glottic carcinoma grouped upon lesion locations and AC mobilities, laryngeal CT scans were collected during inspiration and phonation. AC static position and motion data were compared between paired lesion and control sides. No significant difference showed in the group with glottic carcinoma invading the anterior 2/3 of VC. In the abnormal mobility group, significant AC position changes and weaker motion of most measurements were proved on the lesion side. Lesion invading the posterior 1/3 of VC also resulted in an adducted, medially rotated and forward-tilted AC, rotation of axial angle (RAA) was the only motion item that decreased significantly. In most glottic cancer cases, CT and laryngoscope had similar judgments for AC mobility. For lesions extending to the cartilaginous VC with laryngoscopically confirmed normal mobility, CT measurement of RAA showed the feasibility of being an indicator for the earliest motion problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We aimed to compare the DNA methylation profiles of human embryos cultured in uninterrupted or interrupted incubators. Methods: This study included 9 women, ≤ 30 years old (range: 20–30 years), without a history of genetic diseases or smoking, undergoing ICSI treatment, and each woman donated one oocyte. Embryos were randomly assigned to culture in either time-lapse imaging or standard incubators after ICSI. We compared the DNA methylation profiles of human eight-cell embryos cultured in uninterrupted condition using time-lapse imaging (TLI) incubator (EmbryoScope) to those cultured in interrupted culture model using standard incubators (SI, G185 K-System). Nine single-cell whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) datasets were analyzed, including four SI-cultured embryos and five TLI-cultured embryos at the eight-cell stage. Results: A total of 581,140,020 and 732,348,182 clean reads were generated from the TLI and SI groups, respectively. TLI-cultured embryos had similar genome-wide methylation patterns to SI-cultured embryos. There were no significant differences in the methylation and transcription levels of transposable elements and imprinted control regions. Although a total of 198 differentially methylated genes (DMGs) were identified, only five DMGs had significantly different transcription levels between the two groups. Conclusions: This is the first study to compare the DNA methylation profiles of embryos cultured in TLI and SI and will provide a foundation for evaluating the safety of TLI application in assisted reproductive technologies. However, further study with a larger cohort of samples was needed for the data validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CuO grown by room-temperature direct current reactive magnetron sputtering is introduced to realize p-type thin-film transistors (TFTs) with a high-k HfO2 gate dielectric fabricated by atomic layer deposition. The devices work in an accumulation mode (AM) with two apparent threshold voltages corresponding to the formation of a buried channel and an accumulation layer, respectively. A CuO AM TFT with a channel length of 25 μm exhibit a competitive on-off ratio (Ion/Ioff) of 1.3 × 102, a subthreshold swing (SS) of 1.04 V dec−1, and a field-effect mobility (μFE) of 1.1 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature. By measuring a CuO metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitor at room temperature, a high acceptor doping density (NA) of ∼5 × 1017 cm−3, a high positive effective fixed surface charge density (Qf) of ∼9 × 1012 cm−2, and a low interfacial trap charge density (Dit) of ∼6 × 1010 eV−1 cm−2 at the HfO2/CuO interface are estimated. The μFE extracted from the accumulation regime appears lower than the Hall mobility measured for a similarly processed CuO layer on glass due to the increased hole concentration in CuO TFTs, compared to a Hall concentration of ∼1014 cm−3, following the MOS process. SS appears limited by the decreased channel to gate capacitance (Ccg) related to the buried channel in AM TFTs, parasitic capacitance to ground, and potentially very high interfacial traps at the non-passivated CuO/air interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four new meroterpenoids, namely nivalones C F (1 – 4), along with a known meroterpenoid, cannabiorcicyclolic acid (5), were isolated from the branches and leaves of Rhododendron nivale. The chemical structures of compounds 1 – 4 were elucidated through comprehensive spectroscopic analyses, including NMR, UV–Vis, IR, ECD spectroscopy, as well as HR-ESI-MS. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. The inhibitory activity of compound 5 against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production was initially demonstrated, showcasing an IC 50 value of 21.1 μM. Additionally, both compounds 2 and 5 displayed a notable effect on the viability of H 2 O 2 -damaged SH-SY5Y cells, indicating their significant neuroprotection effects. Four new meroterpenoids 1 – 4 (nivalones C F) and a known meroterpenoid 5 with good anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects were isolated from Rhododendron nivale. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic cholestasis leads to liver fibrosis, which lacks effective treatment. In this study, we investigated the role and mechanisms of action of loureirin B (LB) in cholestatic liver fibrosis. Bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced hepatic fibrosis mice were used as in vivo models. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-pretreated HSC-T6 cells were used to explore the mechanism by which LB attenuates liver fibrosis in vitro. RNA sequencing, quantitative PCR (qPCR), western blotting, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were performed to detect the fibrosis markers and measure autophagy levels. Flow cytometry, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, and 5′-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay were conducted to detect cell proliferation and viability. GFP-RFP-LC3 adenovirus, autophagy-related protein 7 (ATG7) siRNA, and bafilomycin A1 (BafA1) were used to verify autophagic flux. Our results showed that LB ameliorates liver injury, inhibits collagen deposition, and decreases the expressions of fibrosis-related markers in BDL-induced mouse livers. In vitro , we found that LB inhibited proliferation and migration, promoted apoptosis, and inhibited the activation of HSC-T6 cells pretreated with TGF-β1. RNA sequencing analysis of HSC-T6 cells showed that LB treatment predominantly targeted autophagy-related pathways. Further protein analysis indicated that LB downregulated the expression of phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) and phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR), and upregulated LC3-II, p62, and ATG7 both in vivo and in vitro. Intriguingly, ATG7 inactivation reversed the antifibrotic effects of LB on HSC-T6 cells. LB can improve BDL-induced liver fibrosis by inhibiting the activation and proliferation of HSCs and is expected to be a promising antifibrotic drug. [Display omitted] • Loureirin B (LB) exerts an anti-hepatic fibrosis effect on bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced liver fibrosis. • LB inhibits TGF-β1-induced proliferation and activation of HSC-T6 cells. • LB inhibits cell proliferation and activation by activating autophagy and inhibiting autophagy flux. • LB inhibits hepatic fibrosis and HSC-T6 activation via AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous fermentation of the thought of intelligence, artificial intelligence has extended its tentacles into the field of artistic creation and has begun to try intelligent creation. Painting creation based on artificial intelligence is called "intelligent painting." For oil paintings, the computational language is a relatively complicated description. How to correctly identify the computational language of oil paintings is essential for establishing a large oil painting database. This paper constructs a meaningful learning similarity measure and multiclassification model based on the CCNN model to realize the classification of oil painting language. A cropped CNN model is used to extract language features, and on this basis, oil painting works are cross-compared and multiclassified. This method realizes the classification of oil painting language and the corresponding painter and achieves superior accuracy. This paper constructs a data classification method based on small samples, measures similarity through cross-comparison, and provides a measuring approach for classifying the language of oil paintings. The CCNN model proposed combines the best classification results of oil painting language, which improves the accuracy of oil painting language classification. Moreover, it further enriches the methods of oil painting language classification and image recognition under computational intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to be related to the occurrence and development of a variety of cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, a large number of potential HCC-related lncRNAs remain undiscovered and are yet to be fully understood.Differentially expressed lncRNAs were first obtained from the tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues of five HCC patients using high-throughput microarray chips. Then the expression levels of 10 differentially expressed lncRNAs were verified in 50 pairs of tissue samples from patients with HCC by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The oncogenic effects of lncRNA-4045 (ENST00000524045.6) in HCC cell lines were verified through a series of in vitro experiments including CCK-8 assay, plate clone formation assay, transwell assay, scratch assay, and flow cytometry. Subsequently, the potential target genes of lncRNA-4045 were predicted by bioinformatics analysis, fluorescence in situ hybridization assay, and RNA sequencing. The mechanism of lncRNA-4045 in HCC was explored by WB assay as well as rescue and enhancement experiments.The results from microarray chips showed 1,708 lncRNAs to have been significantly upregulated and 2725 lncRNAs to have been significantly downregulated in HCC tissues. Via validation in 50 HCC patients, a novel lncRNA lncRNA-4045 was found significantly upregulated in HCC tissues. Additionally, a series of in vitro experiments showed that lncRNA-4045 promoted the proliferation, invasion, and migration of HCC cell lines, and inhibited the apoptosis of HCC cell lines. The results of qRT-PCR in HCC tissues showed that the expression levels of AKR1B10 were significantly positively correlated with lncRNA-4045. LncRNA-4045 knockdown significantly down-regulated AKR1B10 protein expression, and overexpression of lncRNA-4045 led to significant up-regulation of AKR1B10 protein in HCC cell lines. Lastly, down-regulation of AKR1B10 could partially eliminate the enhancement of cell proliferation induced by lncRNA-4045 overexpression, while up-regulation of AKR1B10 was shown to enhance those effects.LncRNA-4045 may promote HCC via enhancement of the expression of AKR1B10 protein.Methods: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to be related to the occurrence and development of a variety of cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, a large number of potential HCC-related lncRNAs remain undiscovered and are yet to be fully understood.Differentially expressed lncRNAs were first obtained from the tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues of five HCC patients using high-throughput microarray chips. Then the expression levels of 10 differentially expressed lncRNAs were verified in 50 pairs of tissue samples from patients with HCC by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The oncogenic effects of lncRNA-4045 (ENST00000524045.6) in HCC cell lines were verified through a series of in vitro experiments including CCK-8 assay, plate clone formation assay, transwell assay, scratch assay, and flow cytometry. Subsequently, the potential target genes of lncRNA-4045 were predicted by bioinformatics analysis, fluorescence in situ hybridization assay, and RNA sequencing. The mechanism of lncRNA-4045 in HCC was explored by WB assay as well as rescue and enhancement experiments.The results from microarray chips showed 1,708 lncRNAs to have been significantly upregulated and 2725 lncRNAs to have been significantly downregulated in HCC tissues. Via validation in 50 HCC patients, a novel lncRNA lncRNA-4045 was found significantly upregulated in HCC tissues. Additionally, a series of in vitro experiments showed that lncRNA-4045 promoted the proliferation, invasion, and migration of HCC cell lines, and inhibited the apoptosis of HCC cell lines. The results of qRT-PCR in HCC tissues showed that the expression levels of AKR1B10 were significantly positively correlated with lncRNA-4045. LncRNA-4045 knockdown significantly down-regulated AKR1B10 protein expression, and overexpression of lncRNA-4045 led to significant up-regulation of AKR1B10 protein in HCC cell lines. Lastly, down-regulation of AKR1B10 could partially eliminate the enhancement of cell proliferation induced by lncRNA-4045 overexpression, while up-regulation of AKR1B10 was shown to enhance those effects.LncRNA-4045 may promote HCC via enhancement of the expression of AKR1B10 protein.Results: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to be related to the occurrence and development of a variety of cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, a large number of potential HCC-related lncRNAs remain undiscovered and are yet to be fully understood.Differentially expressed lncRNAs were first obtained from the tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues of five HCC patients using high-throughput microarray chips. Then the expression levels of 10 differentially expressed lncRNAs were verified in 50 pairs of tissue samples from patients with HCC by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The oncogenic effects of lncRNA-4045 (ENST00000524045.6) in HCC cell lines were verified through a series of in vitro experiments including CCK-8 assay, plate clone formation assay, transwell assay, scratch assay, and flow cytometry. Subsequently, the potential target genes of lncRNA-4045 were predicted by bioinformatics analysis, fluorescence in situ hybridization assay, and RNA sequencing. The mechanism of lncRNA-4045 in HCC was explored by WB assay as well as rescue and enhancement experiments.The results from microarray chips showed 1,708 lncRNAs to have been significantly upregulated and 2725 lncRNAs to have been significantly downregulated in HCC tissues. Via validation in 50 HCC patients, a novel lncRNA lncRNA-4045 was found significantly upregulated in HCC tissues. Additionally, a series of in vitro experiments showed that lncRNA-4045 promoted the proliferation, invasion, and migration of HCC cell lines, and inhibited the apoptosis of HCC cell lines. The results of qRT-PCR in HCC tissues showed that the expression levels of AKR1B10 were significantly positively correlated with lncRNA-4045. LncRNA-4045 knockdown significantly down-regulated AKR1B10 protein expression, and overexpression of lncRNA-4045 led to significant up-regulation of AKR1B10 protein in HCC cell lines. Lastly, down-regulation of AKR1B10 could partially eliminate the enhancement of cell proliferation induced by lncRNA-4045 overexpression, while up-regulation of AKR1B10 was shown to enhance those effects.LncRNA-4045 may promote HCC via enhancement of the expression of AKR1B10 protein.Conclusion: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to be related to the occurrence and development of a variety of cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, a large number of potential HCC-related lncRNAs remain undiscovered and are yet to be fully understood.Differentially expressed lncRNAs were first obtained from the tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues of five HCC patients using high-throughput microarray chips. Then the expression levels of 10 differentially expressed lncRNAs were verified in 50 pairs of tissue samples from patients with HCC by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The oncogenic effects of lncRNA-4045 (ENST00000524045.6) in HCC cell lines were verified through a series of in vitro experiments including CCK-8 assay, plate clone formation assay, transwell assay, scratch assay, and flow cytometry. Subsequently, the potential target genes of lncRNA-4045 were predicted by bioinformatics analysis, fluorescence in situ hybridization assay, and RNA sequencing. The mechanism of lncRNA-4045 in HCC was explored by WB assay as well as rescue and enhancement experiments.The results from microarray chips showed 1,708 lncRNAs to have been significantly upregulated and 2725 lncRNAs to have been significantly downregulated in HCC tissues. Via validation in 50 HCC patients, a novel lncRNA lncRNA-4045 was found significantly upregulated in HCC tissues. Additionally, a series of in vitro experiments showed that lncRNA-4045 promoted the proliferation, invasion, and migration of HCC cell lines, and inhibited the apoptosis of HCC cell lines. The results of qRT-PCR in HCC tissues showed that the expression levels of AKR1B10 were significantly positively correlated with lncRNA-4045. LncRNA-4045 knockdown significantly down-regulated AKR1B10 protein expression, and overexpression of lncRNA-4045 led to significant up-regulation of AKR1B10 protein in HCC cell lines. Lastly, down-regulation of AKR1B10 could partially eliminate the enhancement of cell proliferation induced by lncRNA-4045 overexpression, while up-regulation of AKR1B10 was shown to enhance those effects.LncRNA-4045 may promote HCC via enhancement of the expression of AKR1B10 protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cheap metal sulfide-functionalized fibrous adsorbent was successfully fabricated via the facile in-situ growth method. The composite features irradiation and pH resistance, showing the high adsorption capacity, fast kinetics, excellent selectivity, and dynamical uptake for UO 2 2+ from complex aqueous environments. The adsorption mechanism for UO 2 2+ is revealed to be the synergistic action between functional groups on the functionalized fibers and metal sulfide. [Display omitted] • An environmental and sustainable way for the efficient UO 2 2+ capture by ZnS-AACF. • Cheap and eco-friendly ZnS-AACF is prepared via the facile in-situ growth method. • ZnS-AACF with irradiation and pH resistance exhibits rapid and selective UO 2 2+ adsorption. • ZnS-AACF as a stationary phase in the column can effectively dynamically capture UO 2 2+. • The synergy between functional groups of collagen fibers and ZnS nanoparticles is revealed. Uranium is one of the most hazardous elements due to its long half-life and chemical toxicity to living organisms that occurs in surface, subsurface water, and radioactive wastewater normally in the soluble UO 2 2+ form. However, it is a challenge to rapidly and highly selectively separate UO 2 2+ from complex aqueous environments. Here, we innovatively propose a secure, environmental, and sustainable approach to proficiently capture UO 2 2+. A nano-ZnS/alkali-activated collagen fiber composite (ZnS-AACF) was successfully fabricated via the facile in-situ growth method, in which collagen fibers derived from leather waste act as the substrate. Notably, the composite ZnS-AACF presents good radiation resistance and wide pH durability (pH = 2–11). Moreover, ZnS-AACF has the high maximum adsorption capacity (q m U = 359.72 mg/g), fast kinetics, and excellent selectivity for UO 2 2+. ZnS-AACF can selectively capture UO 2 2+ in the presence of a variety of excess competitive ions such as Fe3+, Ni2+, Cu2+, VO 3 -, and UO 2 2+. Even in highly saline environments with ultra-high concentrations of K+, Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, Cl-, HCO 3 –, SO 4 2-, and Br- ions, ZnS-AACF can still achieve the selective removal for UO 2 2+. Furthermore, ZnS-AACF can serve as a stationary phase in columns facilitating the dynamic and efficient separation of UO 2 2+ with q m U up to 243.69 mg/g. The adsorption mechanism of ZnS-AACF for UO 2 2+ is revealed to be the synergistic action between functional groups on the collagen fibers and nano-ZnS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Increased oxide charge density Qf improves the subthreshold slope (SS) but too high Qf degrades SS by pinning the potential. • Increased interface donor defect density D it improves the subthreshold behavior of HfO 2 -passivated TFT with 120-nm-thick CuO. • Decreased D it improves the subthreshold behavior of HfO 2 -passivated TFT with 90-nm-thick CuO. • The impact of Q f on the subthreshold behavior is more significant than that of D it. In this work, models of p-type CuO metal-oxide- semiconductor (MOS) capacitor and thin-film transistors (TFTs) are established using numerical simulation tools and compared with experimental data, to investigate the impact of a passivation layer on the TFT subthreshold behavior. Simulated transfer curves and hole concentrations of back-gated CuO TFT with 10 μm channel length confirm the experimental observation of buried-channel and accumulation-mode conduction mechanisms. The subthreshold behavior is analyzed with HfO2 passivation on the top CuO surface varying the densities of fixed oxide charge and interface states, as well as the thickness of the CuO film. The simulation results demonstrate a significant potential improvement of the subthreshold slope and on/off current ratio, mainly thanks to the optimization of the fixed oxide charge densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfur corrosion has been proven to significantly decrease the insulation performance of oil-immersed transformer and the addition of benzotriazole passivator (BTA) to insulating oil has been widely used to control the sulfur corrosion. However, the relevant studies indicate that the addition of metal passivator to oil can cause abnormal generation of dissolved gases in oil. Thus, this study further explores the effects of metal passivator degradation on the dissolved gas characteristics of oil in oil-immersed transformers. Several accelerated aging experiments on oil-paper insulations with and without BTA are conducted. The results indicate that the addition of BTA lead to the generation of abnormal dissolved gases in the oil along with an increase of stray gases, especially the increase of H 2 , CO and CO 2. Moreover, an abnormal production of the total hydrocarbon fraction is found, which may interfere with the DGA results. Finally, the degradation of BTA related to abnormal production of stray gases in the insulating oil was preliminarily analyzed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-stage system involving alkaline thermal gasification of cellulose with Ca(OH) 2 sorbent and catalytic reforming with Ni/Fe dual-functional CaO based catalysts is proposed and applied to enhance H 2 production and in-situ CO 2 capture. The results show that the H 2 concentration is maximized at a considerably lower temperature (500 °C) than commercialized biomass gasification processes, reducing energy consumption. Sol-gel method is deemed better than impregnation method for its lower cost and higher-concentration H 2 production. Among the prepared catalysts, sol-NiCa catalyst exhibits the best performance in CO 2 absorption, resistance to carbon deposition, and cyclic stability, creating maximum H 2 concentration (79.22 vol%), H 2 yield (27.36 mmol g−1 cellulose), and H 2 conversion (57.61%). Introduction of Ni rather than Fe on the CaO based catalyst promotes steam methane reforming at moderate temperature range of 400–600 °C, generating low contents of CH 4 (5.38 vol%), CO 2 (4.82 vol%), and CO (10.58 vol%). [Display omitted] • A two-stage system involving alkaline thermal gasification and catalytic reforming. • Sol-gel shows higher-concentration H 2 production and lower cost than impregnation. • Introduction of Ni rather than Fe on CaO catalysts promotes SMR at 400–600 °C. • Sol-NiCa catalyst exhibits good carbon deposition resistance and cyclic stability. • Maximum H 2 concentration (79.22 vol%) is achieved at moderate temperature of 500 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) represents a major global health challenge. Drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) poses a substantial obstacle to effective TB treatment. Identifying genomic mutations in MTB isolates holds promise for unraveling the underlying mechanisms of drug resistance in this bacterium. Methods: In this study, we investigated the roles of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in MTB isolates resistant to four antibiotics (moxifloxacin, ofloxacin, amikacin, and capreomycin) through whole-genome analysis. We identified the drug-resistance-associated SNVs by comparing the genomes of MTB isolates with reference genomes using the MuMmer4 tool. Results: We observed a strikingly high proportion (94.2%) of MTB isolates resistant to ofloxacin, underscoring the current prevalence of drug resistance in MTB. An average of 3529 SNVs were detected in a single ofloxacin-resistant isolate, indicating a mutation rate of approximately 0.08% under the selective pressure of ofloxacin exposure. We identified a set of 60 SNVs associated with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), among which 42 SNVs were non-synonymous mutations located in the coding regions of nine key genes (ctpI, desA3, mce1R, moeB1, ndhA, PE_PGRS4, PPE18, rpsA, secF). Protein structure modeling revealed that SNVs of three genes (PE_PGRS4, desA3, secF) are close to the critical catalytic active sites in the three-dimensional structure of the coding proteins. Conclusion: This comprehensive study elucidates novel resistance mechanisms in MTB against antibiotics, paving the way for future design and development of anti-tuberculosis drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Virus integration in the host genome is frequently reported to be closely associated with many human diseases, and the detection of virus integration is a critically challenging task. However, most existing tools show limited specificity and sensitivity. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop a method for accurate detection of virus integration into host genomes. Results Herein, we report a novel method termed HIVID2 that is a significant upgrade of HIVID. HIVID2 performs a paired-end combination (PE-combination) for potentially integrated reads. The resulting sequences are then remapped onto the reference genomes, and both split and discordant chimeric reads are used to identify accurate integration breakpoints with high confidence. HIVID2 represents a great improvement in specificity and sensitivity, and predicts breakpoints closer to the real integrations, compared with existing methods. The advantage of our method was demonstrated using both simulated and real datasets. HIVID2 uncovered novel integration breakpoints in well-known cervical cancer-related genes, including FHIT and LRP1B, which was verified using protein expression data. In addition, HIVID2 allows the user to decide whether to automatically perform advanced analysis using the identified virus integrations. By analyzing the simulated data and real data tests, we demonstrated that HIVID2 is not only more accurate than HIVID but also better than other existing programs with respect to both sensitivity and specificity. We believe that HIVID2 will help in enhancing future research associated with virus integration. Availabilityand implementation HIVID2 can be accessed at https://github.com/zengxi-hada/HIVID2/. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the emerging concept of "Hybrid Intelligence," this paper aims to explore a new model of human–computer interaction, and deeply research on its development and application of Intelligent Service in the big data environment. It systematically explores the related academic concepts of hybrid intelligence, and establishes its architecture model. The development of hybrid intelligence is faced with cognitive differences, system fragmentation, human–machine digital divide, and other issues. Strengthening the interaction between cognition and perception can be the key to break through the bottleneck. The intelligent service system based on the hybrid intelligent architecture takes knowledge fusion as the core, and "cloud intelligent brain" is making it possible for the human–computer symbiosis driven by hybrid intelligence. The proposed advanced human–computer interaction mode constructs a hybrid intelligent architecture model, enriches the concept system of human–machine hybrid intelligence, and provides a new landing scheme for intelligent services based on complex scenes in the big data environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Abnormally activated vascular smooth muscle cells are key factors in pulmonary artery remodelling (PAR) and pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). Keratin 1 is involved in inflammatory diseases; however, its role in PAH is unknown. We speculated that keratin 1 could regulate PASMCs and prevent PAH. Methods: Rats were exposed to hypoxia (10% O2) or MCT (50 mg/kg, intraperitoneal injection) or treated with AAV6 virus. PAR was measured through HE and Masson staining. PASMC activities were measured using MTS assay, EdU and Western blot analyses after cell knockdown with siRNAs or overexpression with Krt1 vectors. Results: 1. Hypoxic PAR was associated with a decrease in keratin 1, especially in PASMCs. 2. Keratin 1 knockdown led to cell proliferation, migration and contraction to synthetic transformation, while keratin 1 overexpression attenuated hypoxia‐induced changes in PASMCs. 3. Decreased keratin 1 induced TLR7 upregulation and mediated increases in the inflammatory factors S100a8 and S100a9. 4. Keratin 1 overexpression reduced the inflammatory factor expression induced by TLR7 activation. 5. Further studies demonstrated that keratin 1 expression was negatively correlated with pulmonary vascular pressure following prolonged hypoxia. 6. Pre‐treatment with keratin 1 decreased pulmonary artery pressure and the right heart hypertrophy index and alleviated PAR in two model rats. 7. Keratin 1 exhibited a hypermethylation status in hypoxic pulmonary arteries in the sequencing. Hypoxia‐induced decrease in keratin 1 expression was associated with Dnmt1 upregulation induced by YY1 downregulation in PASMCs. Conclusion: This study suggests that keratin 1 regulates PASMC expansion and has a preventive effect on PAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rubber vulcanization generates volatile organic compounds emissions associated with the intermolecular crosslinking reactions at rather higher temperatures mediated by many kinds of indispensable additive. To achieve the carbon peaking and neutrality targets in China, rubber processing industries call for ecofriendly, green additives to satisfy demands of high-efficiency vulcanization at low temperatures. Herein an oligomer deep eutectic solvent (DES) based on polyethylene glycol is used for the first time for regulating vulcanization kinetics of natural rubber (NR) gums. It is found that DES at 0.2–1.0 phr (parts per hundred parts of rubber) dosages could accelerate the vulcanization at 120–140 °C without marked influences on crosslinking density and storage modulus at vulcanization equilibrium. The vulcanization of DES-containing gums at 120 °C is faster than that of the DES-free one at 140 °C while the DES-containing vulcanizates cured at 120 °C exhibit nonlinear rheological responses being similar to the DES-free one cured at 140 °C. The low-temperature vulcanization in general generates vulcanizates exhibiting higher tensile strength in comparison with those cured at 140 °C. Furthermore, DES could not influence the Mullins effect of the vulcanizates undergoing cyclic tension deformation. The results show that the non-volatile DES could be used to adjust the vulcanization kinetics without impact on the crosslinking density and Mullins effect, paving the way for developing energy-saving green vulcanization technologies. Polyethylene glycol-based deep eutectic solvent accelerates vulcanization of natural rubber without impact on the crosslinking density, paving the way for developing energy-saving green vulcanization technologies. [Display omitted] • Polyethylene glycol-based deep eutectic solvent (DES) accelerates vulcanization of NR. • DES improves proportion of polysulfide bonds of the crosslinking network. • DES does not influence Mullins effect of the vulcanizates. • DES-containing vulcanizates cured at 120 °C exhibit nonlinear rheology being similar to the DES-free ones cured at 140 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a known complication of cisplatin administration; currently, there are no effective ways to prevent it. Therefore, it largely limited the use of cisplatin in chemotherapy in the clinic. In this study, we reported that Limonin, a triterpenoid compound extracted from citrus, alleviated cisplatin-induced AKI through metabolic reprogramming in the diseased kidneys. Cisplatin was employed to induce AKI in mice. Three groups were set up: Sham, cisplatin + vehicle, and cisplatin + Limonin. Using UHPLC-TOF/MS, we conducted metabolomics to profile the kidneys' endogenous metabolites and metabolic pathways. A network pharmacological method was performed to identify the targets of Limonin on AKI. The human proximal tubular epithelial cell line (HK-2) was applied for in vitro studies. Limonin preserved serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels after cisplatin-induced AKI. Employing metabolomics, we identified 33 endogenous differentially expressed metabolites and 7 significantly disturbed metabolic pathways in the diseased kidneys within three groups. After AKI, Limonin significantly reduced linoleic acid and its downstream product, arachidonic acid, thus exerting a protective effect on the kidney. The network pharmacological method identified CYP3A4 as a key target of Limonin in treating AKI, while CYP3A4 also serve as a mediator of arachidonic acid metabolism. In vitro , Limonin markedly reduced the level of arachidonic acid and HK-2 cell apoptosis triggered by cisplatin, mainly related to the targeted inhibition of CYP3A4-mediated arachidonic acid metabolism. Limonin ameliorates cisplatin-induced AKI by inhibiting CYP3A4 activity to regulate arachidonic acid metabolism, ultimately preserving kidney function. [Display omitted] • Limonin is an effective phytochemical with significant clinical potential in preventing cisplatin-induced AKI. • Regulating the kidney metabolic microenvironment change is a key mechanism of limonin treating cisplatin-induced AKI. • As a novel target of limonin, CYP3A4 mediates arachidonic acid metabolism to protect against AKI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pneumatic wheel tool with reinforced aramid fiber is presented to finish irregular freeform surface with high hardness. Aramid fiber mainly is selected as a filler to achieve multi-dimension net distribution in polymer. In this case, the wheel can keep the outer abrasive particles more stable and decrease scratch damages of surface in the high-speed machining process. Based on the Halpin-Tsai formula, the orientation coefficient is brought in for the establishment of an elastic modulus prediction model of a fiber-reinforced pneumatic wheel. By ANSYS simulation, rules of stress and strain of pneumatic wheel with different volume ratios of fiber are given. It has been proved out that the fiber-reinforced method can overcome the defect of inner rubber deformation in the contact process. By mixed refining method, pneumatic wheels reinforced by aramid fiber are achieved. Multi-dimension net distribution of aramid fiber–reinforced polymer is observed in a microscopic view. Elastic modulus–predicted model is confirmed by drawing experiments. After that, aramid fiber–reinforced pneumatic wheel machining experiments are carried out. Results show that the fiber-reinforced method can improve surface roughness efficiently in the pneumatic wheel machining process and decrease scratch damages of the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-induced de-etiolation is an important aspect of seedling photomorphogenesis. GOLDEN2 LIKE (GLK) transcriptional regulators are involved in chloroplast development, but to what extent they participate in photomorphogenesis is not clear. Here, we show that ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5) binds to GLK promoters to activate their expression, and also interacts with GLK proteins in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). The chlorophyll content in the de-etiolating Arabidopsis seedlings of the hy5 glk2 double mutants was lower than that in the hy5 single mutant. GLKs inhibited hypocotyl elongation, and the phenotype could superimpose on the hy5 phenotype. Correspondingly, GLK2 regulated the expression of photosynthesis and cell elongation genes partially independent of HY5. Before exposure to light, DE-ETIOLATED 1 (DET1) affected accumulation of GLK proteins. The enhanced etioplast development and photosystem gene expression observed in the det1 mutant were attenuated in the det1 glk2 double mutant. Our study reveals that GLKs act downstream of HY5, or additive to HY5, and are likely quantitatively adjusted by DET1, to orchestrate multiple developmental traits during the light-induced skotomorphogenesis-to-photomorphogenesis transition in Arabidopsis. GLK transcription factors act downstream of or additive to HY5 to regulate both chloroplast development and hypocotyl elongation during greening of Arabidopsis seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neural networks have become the dominant algorithms rapidly as they achieve state-of-the-art performance in a broad range of applications such as image recognition, speech recognition, and natural language processing. However, neural networks keep moving toward deeper and larger architectures, posing a great challenge to hardware systems due to the huge amount of data and computations. Although sparsity has emerged as an effective solution for reducing the intensity of computation and memory accesses directly, irregularity caused by sparsity (including sparse synapses and neurons) prevents accelerators from completely leveraging the benefits, i.e., it also introduces costly indexing module in accelerators. In this article, we propose a cooperative software/hardware approach to address the irregularity of sparse neural networks efficiently. Initially, we observe the local convergence, namely larger weights tend to gather into small clusters during training. Based on that key observation, we propose a software-based coarse-grained pruning technique to reduce the irregularity of sparse synapses drastically. The coarse-grained pruning technique, together with local quantization, significantly reduces the size of indexes and improves the network compression ratio. We further design a multi-core hardware accelerator, Cambricon-SE, to address the remaining irregularity of sparse synapses and neurons efficiently. The novel accelerator have three key features: 1) selector modules to filter unnecessary synapses and neurons, 2) compress/decompress modules for exploiting the sparsity in data transmission (which is rarely studied in previous work), and 3) a multi-core architecture with elevated throughput to meet the real-time processing requirement. Compared against a state-of-the-art sparse neural network accelerator, our accelerator is 1.20 × and 2.72 × better in terms of performance and energy efficiency, respectively. Moreover, for real-time video analysis tasks, Cambricon-SE can process 1080p video at the speed of 76.59 fps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome (CHS) is one of the most serious complications after revascularization surgery in patients with moyamoya disease (MMD). However, there are few effective measures to prevent the occurrence of CHS. Objective: The present study aims to examine the effect of the method about matching selection of donor-recipient vessels during revascularization surgery on the incidence of postoperative CHS in adult MMD patients. Methods: 216 Chinese adult patients with MMD received surgery treatment between January 2018 and December 2019 in our hospital were enrolled in this study. 191 out of 216 patients were included in this study. Matching selection method was defined as follows: (1) blood flow: the direction of blood flow and speed of the donor artery and potential receptor arteries were measured by flow 800 indocyanine green video angiography; (2) vascular diameter: the diameters of the donor artery and potential receptor arteries by a miniature ruler. Only the artery with antegrade flow and with smallest difference in flow speed and diameter with the donor artery will be selected as the receptor artery to perform anastomosis. Matching selection was performed from January 2019. Digital subtraction angiography was performed in all patients for initial MMD diagnosis. Perioperative cerebral perfusion and related clinical symptoms were monitored. Clinical characteristics, contralateral progression, and risk factors were reviewed. The incidence of CHS and the correlation of CHS with baseline characteristics or clinical conditions were analyzed. Results: Of these 191 patients, 82 patients received matching selection of donor-recipient vessels during revascularization surgery and 109 patients without. The postoperative CHS incidence in the matching group was 3.66%, which was much lower than that in the nonmatching group (15.60%). Multivariate analysis did not reveal a significant risk factor between the progression group and the nonprogression group. Correlation analysis revealed only the matching selection method was significantly associated with the reduced postoperative CHS incidence in MMD patients. Conclusions: The matching selection of donor-recipient vessels during revascularization surgery effectively reduces the incidence of postoperative CHS in adult patients with MMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors report a case of a woman aged 33 years who suffered from the combination of primary gliosarcoma and arteriovenous malformation as the first clinical presentation of intracranial hemorrhage. Subsequently, gene examination rarely finds BRAF V600E mutation in the surgical specimen. The lesion was not completely identified with magnetic resonance imaging and digital subtraction angiography. This case illustrates the occult and unusual feature of gliosarcoma. The pathogenesis of such coexistence might be related to underlying genetic alterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A micro fluidized bed reactor was used for char drying. • The behavior of wet char can simulate lignite drying at high temperature. • High temperature drying behavior was much different with that at low temperature. • The calculated Ea of char drying was in the range of 12.83–14.97 kJ/mol. To simulate the drying behavior of lignite in the high-temperature thermal conversion process, a micro fluidized bed reactor was adopted to measure the drying characteristics of moist char from 773 K to 1173 K and calculate the drying kinetics. Both temperature and the initial moisture strongly affected the drying behavior by changing the curve shape and drying time. The higher the initial moisture, the more obvious the influence of drying temperature. Compared to the conventional low-temperature lignite drying, the rate curve tested by MFBRA only had the growing-rate zone and falling-rate zone, but did not include the common constant-rate zone. Under the experimental condition, the Lewis drying model can describe the drying characteristics of wet char in MFBRA very well. The apparent diffusion coefficient and activation energy ranged from 1.765 E−10 to 4.756 E−10 m2/s, and 12.83–14.97 kJ/mol, respectively. The activation energy was much lower than those in literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The naive Bayes classifier is a widely used text classification method that applies statistical theory to text classification. Due to the particularity of the text, related feature items may generate new semantic information, which may be lost when the traditional vector space model represents text. This paper mainly studies the construction and improvement of distributed naive Bayes automatic classification system. The application of Hadoop cloud computing in web page classification is one of the focuses of this article. Firstly, the text classification system and Bayesian classification model are analyzed and discussed, including the representation and extraction of text information, text classification methods and Bayesian text classification methods. Then, in view of the shortcomings of the above-mentioned naive Bayesian text classification method, when training text, we use the mutual information method to check the correlation between the feature sets generated after feature selection, and then combine the features with higher correlation degree appropriately. Through a series of tests, the experimental data show that the improved text classification system can achieve better classification results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reaction conditions for the palladium‐catalysed decarboxylative generation and regiodivergent prenylation of 2‐azaallyl anions to form either the branched or linear prenylated benzylic imines from prenyl 2,2‐diphenyl‐glycinate imines are reported. For certain substrates, formation of side products arising from a competitive elimination/protonation pathway could be reduced by the addition of various basic additives. The optimal basic additive and reaction concentration were found to be highly substrate dependent. Geranyl esters also proved to be viable substrates for the corresponding regiodivergent decarboxylative geranylation reactions. Preliminary efforts toward an enantioselective variant are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Coal char was used as catalyst for tar catalytic reforming. • Effect of pore structure and metal oxide in char were fully examined. • Micro pore in char played an important role in tar removal. • Na 2 O had the best activity among the metal oxides in char. To well understand the effect of char property on tar catalytic reforming and support the development of two-stage gasification technology for the clean fuel gas production, the roles of pore structure and metal oxide in tar removal behavior were examined and compared on a fluidized bed two-stage reactor. The results show that although both of micro pore and meso pore had a remarkable influence on tar removal efficiency, fuel gas component and distilling fractions in tar, perhaps micro pore played a much more important role. Moreover, the tar removal efficiency did not have a good proportional relationship with the specific surface area of char. For the spent char, the activation treatment in steam was very beneficial to renew the catalytic reforming on tar by increasing the surface area of micro pore and maintain its high gasification activity. Compared to the demineralized char, the char samples that loaded metal oxide by impregnation approach largely promoted the tar removal efficiency, following the rank of Na 2 O > Fe 2 O 3 > CaO > MgO. For Na 2 O, it not only had the best catalytic activity on tar, but also greatly promoted the generations of light tar and effective fuel gas, such as H 2 and CO. Finally, considering the different effect of pore structure and metal oxide on tar catalytic reforming, a brief mechanism of tar catalytic reforming by char was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposed deflecting abrasive waterjet peening (DAWJP) process can be used for surface strengthening of metallic parts with confined space features, which has great potential to improve the surface integrity and fretting fatigue (FF) life of dovetail slots in turbine discs. In this paper, the nickel-based superalloy GH4169 dovetail slot is strengthened by DAWJP and shot peening (SP), and the effects of DAWJP and SP on surface integrity and FF performance of the dovetail slot are investigated. First, the DAWJP with three different processes (water pressure of 205 MPa, traverse speed of 5 mm/s, standoff distance of 2 mm, and path interval of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15 mm) and the SP with one process (peening intensity of 0.25 mmA with coverage of 100%) were conducted on the contour surface of the dovetail slot. The surface integrity of the dovetail slot before and after the DAWJP and SP treatment was investigated, including microstructure, surface roughness and microscopic morphology, microhardness, and residual stress. Results showed that the dovetail slot treated by the DAWJP with different path intervals formed a plastic deformation layer with a thickness of 22–43 μm and surface roughness Ra and Sa of 0.391–0.501 μm and 0.763–0.907 μm. The surface microhardness and CRS of the DAWJP-treated dovetail slot were approximately 541–591 HV and 1005–1169 MPa, 16%–27% and 178%–224% times higher than the as-received dovetail slot. The SP-treated dovetail slot produced relatively large surface roughness, slight plastic deformation, and low microhardness and CRS compared with the DAWJP-treated dovetail slot. Finally, FF tests were carried out to study the FF behavior of the dovetail slot before and after DAWJP and SP treatment. The FF lives of the dovetail slot treated by DAWJP were 4.82 and 3.91 times that of the as-received dovetail slot at room temperature and a high temperature of 650 °C. In contrast, the FF lives of the SP-treated dovetail slot were 2.96 and 1.96 times that of the as-received specimen at room temperature and a high temperature of 650 °C, which verified that DAWJP has a more significant effect on improving the FF life of dovetail slots than the SP treatment used for comparison. The FF fracture and fretting contact surface and its cross-sectional microstructure were examined, and the results showed that the extreme grain refinement, large CRS, and high work-hardening induced by DAWJP could be the key to greatly improving the FF life of dovetail slots. This work takes the lead in the surface treatment of dovetail slots through the proposed DAWJP process, which provides a feasible reference plan for effectively and economically improving the FF resistance of dovetail slots in turbine discs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A brief introduction of single-molecule magnets (SMMs) and polyoxometalates (POMs). • The advantageous chemical and structural features of POM frameworks for the preparation of SMMs. • The systemic classification and survey of POMs-based SMMs. • The synthesis strategies and multifunctional properties for future application devices. Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) have attracted increasing attention in recent years due to the potentially applicable in high-density information storage and spintronic devices. There are now many high-performance SMMs that have been achieved by the use of organic ligands. Meanwhile, polyoxometalates (POMs) as inorganic multidentate ligands are toward prospective candidates for the fabrication of SMMs, owing to their oxygen-rich surfaces and various coordination geometries of the incorporated 3d- and 4f-ions. Notably, the bulky diamagnetic shell of POMs efficiently excludes dipole–dipole coupling between neighboring molecules, and the rigid frameworks offer the advantage for surface deposition and device applications. Hence, the wide variety of paramagnetic cations have been stabilized by POM ligands to establish SMMs, including mono-, di-, multi- and hetero-metal containing POMs. We herein systematically summarize the research progress achieved for POM-based SMMs reported in the last decade. The present review focuses on the design strategies for the construction of the SMMs referring to POM ligands and multifunctional properties of the POM-based SMMs for future application devices. This review provides a roadmap for the further exploration of compelling and challenging areas in POM-based SMMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, more and more people are concerned about air quality. The particle size of aerosol is an important parameter of air quality. The classical laser particle size analyzer has some disadvantages, such as high price, large volume, and difficult processing. We introduce the scattering receiving screen into the forward light intensity distribution detection system, which only needs a commonly available CCD to obtain an image. Our method has the advantages of low cost and large detection angle. A genetic algorithm was then used to retrieve aerosol particle size distribution from scattered light intensity images. The experimental results show that the aerosol particle size distribution measured by the imaging method is close to that provided by a commercial particle size spectrometer. Moreover, the experimental results also show that this method can measure a polydisperse system. The method presented in this paper provides a simple and feasible scheme for the online detection of particle size distribution in atmospheric, medical, and industrial environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a common bacterium causing tuberculosis and remains a major pathogen for mortality. Although the MTB genome has been extensively explored for two decades, the functions of 27% (1051/3906) of encoded proteins have yet to be determined and these proteins are annotated as hypothetical proteins. Methods: We assigned functions to these hypothetical proteins using SSEalign, a newly designed algorithm utilizing structural information. A set of rigorous criteria was applied to these annotations in order to examine whether they were supported by each parameter. Virulence factors and potential drug targets were also screened among the annotated proteins. Results: For 78% (823/1051) of the hypothetical proteins, we could identify homologs in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium by using SSEalign. Functional classification analysis indicated that 62.2% (512/823) of these annotated proteins were enzymes with catalytic activities and most of these annotations were supported by at least two other independent parameters. A relatively high proportion of transporter was identified in MTB genome, indicating the potential frequent transportation of frequent absorbing essential metabolites and excreting toxic materials in MTB. Twelve virulence factors and ten vaccine candidates were identified within these MTB hypothetical proteins, including two genes (rpoS and pspA) related to stress response to the host immune system. Furthermore, we have identified six novel drug target candidates among our annotated proteins, including Rv0817 and Rv2927c, which could be used for treating MTB infection. Conclusions: Our annotation of the MTB hypothetical proteins will probably serve as a useful dataset for future MTB studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymeric graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) materials are promising catalysts to compete with precious metals, but they mostly only show moderate catalytic activity, particularly low oxidation power for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Although activating strategies, such as nanostructure designing and band structure engineering, have led to remarkable activity gains, there remains considerable room to improve performance that aims for real applications. We report here a novel strategy—protonating supramolecular aggregates followed by thermal polycondensation—to prepare porous g-C3N4 nanosheets (SH-g-C3N4) with high oxidation power, which employ as bifunctional OER catalyst and highly efficient photocatalyst material. The OER onset potentials of 1.47 V and Tafel slope of 128 mV dec−1 over SH-g-C3N4 are superior to the g-C3N4 obtained from supramolecular aggregates without protonation (S-g-C3N4). Furthermore, its Tafel slope would be reduced to 63.6 mV dec−1 under visible light irradiation, which is comparable to that of the active commercial RuO2 and IrO2 catalysts. Interestingly, the achieved nanosheets display enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity. The striking catalysis performance of SH-g-C3N4 can be ascribed to the unique advantage of its highly porous structure and favorable electronic structure and the generation of lots of ·O2− and ·OH radicals promoting the kinetic process. Our theoretical calculations reveal the mechanism of photoelectric catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction. This work provides a facile and scalable method to design highly efficient polymeric catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A devised fixed bed reactor with rapid infrared heating was employed for quick coal pyrolysis. • Increasing heating rate decreased char yield and increased total volatile production. • At higher heating rates the oil was heavier, while at higher pyrolysis temperatures there was more light tar. • The hydrogen extraction rate from coal is subject to a linear relationship with pyrolysis gas yield. There are few studies about pyrolysis with the a massive sample at high heating rates to obtain liquid and gas products. This study adopted a newly designed small fixed bed reactor mounted with infrared heating to minimize secondary reactions to volatiles and further to investigate the pyrolysis of Xinjiang Naomaohu coal in terms of pyrolysis products characterization at different temperatures and heating rates. Infrared heating has good penetrability to heat the inner layer of the sample at a quick rate of up to 1723 °C/min in the particle bed. For the tested reactor at 700 °C, raising the heating rate decreased the yields of gas and char and increased the yield of tar. The realized tar yield was higher than that in Gray-King (G-K) assay at heating rates above 18 °C/min. For the heating rate of 667 °C/min at the pyrolysis temperature of 700 °C, the obtained maximum yield of tar was 134% of the G-K assay oil yield. Overall, increasing the heating rate decreased char yield and increased the production of total volatiles. At higher heating rates, the tar became heavier, while at higher pyrolysis temperatures, it produced more light tar. The extraction rate of hydrogen from coal was found to be subject to a linear relationship with pyrolysis gas yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pipeline usually extends thousands of meters or more, and, in order to test the pipeline in the lab accurately, it is expected to develop a reasonable method to simplify the length of the model and simulate the small deformation section of the pipeline for a practical lab test. In this research, the scale model with consideration of the strengthening stage after the pipeline yielding is given to study the mechanical performance of the pipeline under fault displacement. Based on the mechanical model of the elastic foundation beam, a new analytical method of strain and deformation of pipeline is developed in which an equivalent spring model is established to simulate the small deformation section of the pipeline far away from the fault. The similarity ratio of the model is designed, and the results of the shell model with fixed boundary at both ends are compared by using ABAQUS software. On this basis, the soil-box test model with equivalent spring boundary is made. The elastic coefficients of springs at both ends are determined by N △ L curve (N and △ L represents the interaction force and the relative displacement of pipeline-soil, respectively), and the influences of pipeline diameter, buried depth, soil and spring with different elastic coefficients on the mechanical properties of pipelines are analyzed. The results show that the two-end spring device can better control the size of the test model and enhance the reliability of the test results. The strain and deformation responses of the pipeline can be reduced by choosing larger pipeline diameter, smaller buried depth, non-cohesive backfill soil and spring with smaller elastic coefficient. • A new analytical method of strain and deformation of pipeline is developed. • A N-ΔL curve including the strengthening stage after the pipeline yielding is obtained. • A soil-box scale test model based on the equivalent spring boundary is accomplished. • Different influencing factors on the mechanical properties of pipelines are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Neointima hyperplasia is one of the predominant features of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, and is also responsible for the restenosis of vascular surgery including arteriovenous fistula and stent implantation. Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) contributes to neointima hyperplasia by activation of the Notch or TGF-β signaling pathway. Rapamycin has been utilized as anti-restenosis drug due to its anti-proliferative activity. However, its effects on the EndMT have not been investigated yet. Thus, we examined the biological effects of rapamycin on the EndMT and its potential mechanisms. We showed that rapamycin significantly reversed TGF-β1 stimulated EndMT by upregulating endothelial marker CD31 expression and downregulating mesenchymal marker SMA-α expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Rapamycin also inhibited TGF-β1 induced expression of the Notch signaling pathway components expression, such as Notch-1, Jagged-1, RBP-jκ and Hes-5. Among the different Notch receptors and ligands, Jagged-1/Notch-1 cascade was most remarkably blocked by rapamycin. Finally, consistently with the results from Notch inhibitor DAPT treatment, rapamycin suppressed the migration of HUVECs in vitro. Together, these findings indicate that rapamycin may function as an effective inhibitor of the EndMT in HUVECs by suppressing targeting the Notch signaling pathway. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning-based speech enhancement approaches like deep neural networks (DNN) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) have already demonstrated superior results to classical methods. However, these methods do not take full advantage of temporal context information. While DNN and LSTM consider temporal context in the noisy source speech, it does not do so for the estimated clean speech. Both DNN and LSTM also have a tendency to over-smooth spectra, which causes the enhanced speech to sound muffled. This paper proposes a novel architecture to address both issues, which we term a conditional generative model (CGM). By adopting an adversarial training scheme applied to a generator of deep dilated convolutional layers, CGM is designed to model the joint and symmetric conditions of both noisy and estimated clean spectra. We evaluate CGM against both DNN and LSTM in terms of Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) and Short-Time Objective Intelligibility (STOI) on TIMIT sentences corrupted by ITU-T P.501 and NOISEX-92 noise in a range of matched and mismatched noise conditions. Results show that both the CGM architecture and the adversarial training mechanism lead to better PESQ and STOI in all tested noise conditions. In addition to yielding significant improvements in PESQ and STOI, CGM and adversarial training both mitigate against over-smoothing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With respect to the newly proposed fluidized bed two-stage (FBTS) gasification process, the researches on tar thermal cracking and catalytic removal by char bed layer were conducted on a FB two-stage reaction apparatus. It shows that the effect of char on tar removal was much related to the reaction temperature and residence time of tar-containing fuel gas in the tar reformer. Under the tested experimental conditions, increasing reaction temperature and residence time can effectively promote tar abatement and generate more H 2 , CO and CH 4 . For catalytic reforming by char, the higher reaction temperature and the longer residence time, the lower tar content in fuel gas. Compared to thermal cracking, catalytic reforming of tar by char was more effective in tar removal efficiency and inhibition of carbon deposition, upgrading the quality of fuel gas. The researches indicated that the suitable operational conditions for tar removal by char in the FB two-stage gasification process were at reforming temperature of 1000 °C, and residence time above 0.9 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Catalytic role of char's CaO in tar conversion was examined in micro fluidized bed reaction analyser. • Reaction Characteristics and kinetics were analyzed based on gas products release and evolution. • CaO dramatically enhanced the generation of H 2 , CO, CO 2 even at 1023 K. • CaO greatly reduced the generation activation energy of H 2 , CO, and C 2 H 6. In this study, a newly-developed micro fluidized bed reaction analyser (MFBRA) was adopted to examine the effects of char's inherent CaO on tar catalytic cracking from 1023 K to 1173 K. A simulated CaO-based char catalyst was prepared by impregnation method. For comparison, the blank experiments were also conducted by employing the demineralized char free of CaO. The tar cracking behaviour and reaction kinetics based on the gas products generation were systematically compared. The structure and reaction activity of char sample before and after experiment were also analyzed. The results shows that tar conversion processes can be divided into a fast cracking stage and a stable conversion stage. By increasing the reaction temperature, the tar conversion by char without CaO to the total gas products and its reaction rate changed from 41.15 % to 71.50 % and from 0.055 s−1 to 0.081 s−1, respectively; but for char with CaO, they improved from 57.54 % to 88.25 % and from 0.062 s−1 to 0.096 s−1, respectively. The presence of CaO dramatically enhanced tar conversion even at a low temperature of 1023 K, producing more effective gas components, such as H 2 , CO, CO 2 , and C 2 H 6. For CH 4 and C 3 H 6 , the promotion became obvious at high temperatures above 1123 K. During tar catalytic cracking, CaO suppressed carbon deposition on char surface to some extent. Meanwhile, the generation activation energy (Ea) of CH 4 , the total gas products, H 2 , CO 2 , CO, C 2 H 6 , and C 3 H 6 decreased to a great extent, indicating the good catalytic activity of the inherent CaO in char. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Filament-induced aerosol fluorescence emission appears a strong angular dependence. • The backward angular distribution of the aerosol fluorescence can be attributed to Mie scattering. • The divergence angle of aerosol fluorescence radiation is affected by the particle size distribution. Backward angular distributions of the sodium fluorescence in NaCl aerosols induced by femtosecond laser filamentation in air with a distance of 10 m are measured. The recorded signals appear as strong angular dependence. Further study indicates that it could be associated with the Mie scattering of the filamentation-induced "aerosol lasing" in the forward direction. These results will benefit the remote-sensing of air pollutants by femtosecond laser filamentation-based LIDAR (light detection and ranging). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is one of the major challenges in tuberculosis (TB) treatment. However, known mutations cannot explain all of the cases of resistance and little research has focused on the relationship between insertions / deletions (indels) and drug resistance. Results: Here, we retrieved whole genome sequencing data of 743 drug-resistant MTB strains and 367 pan-susceptible strains from TB patients from the public domain to identify novel genomic markers of drug resistance. A total of 20 region markers containing genes and intergenic regions (IGRs) with significant statistical correlation with antibiotic resistance were revealed, four of which have been previously reported to be associated with drug resistance. In addition, 83 point markers containing frameshift (FS) mutations and IGR indels were also identified independently based on differences in their incidence rates between drug-sensitive and -resistant strains. Among the 83 point markers, eight indels were detected in known drug-associated genes or IGRs. Furthermore, the overlap between 20 region markers and 83 point markers further indicated their associations with drug resistance. The markers identified were involved in essential bacterial metabolic functions, including cell wall and transmembrane transporter functions. A strong correlation between FS mutations and mutations in DNA repair genes including I21V in alkA, R48G in mutT4 and P2R in nth was also found. Conclusions: This study identified a set of novel genetic markers with FS mutations and IGR indels associated with MTB drug resistance, which greatly broadens the pool of mutations related to MTB drug resistance. This insight may be important in identifying novel mechanisms of drug resistance in MTB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]