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While frailty is a prominent risk factor in an aging population, the underlying biology of frailty is incompletely described. Here, we integrate 979 circulating proteins across a wide range of physiologies with 12 measures of frailty in a prospective discovery cohort of 809 individuals with severe aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation. Our aim was to characterize the proteomic architecture of frailty in a highly susceptible population and study its relation to clinical outcome and systems‐wide phenotypes to define potential novel, clinically relevant frailty biology. Proteomic signatures (specifically of physical function) were related to post‐intervention outcome in AS, specifying pathways of innate immunity, cell growth/senescence, fibrosis/metabolism, and a host of proteins not widely described in human aging. In published cohorts, the "frailty proteome" displayed heterogeneous trajectories across age (20–100 years, age only explaining a small fraction of variance) and were associated with cardiac and non‐cardiac phenotypes and outcomes across two broad validation cohorts (N > 35,000) over ≈2–3 decades. These findings suggest the importance of precision biomarkers of underlying multi‐organ health status in age‐related morbidity and frailty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: We validated longitudinally a typology of diabetes-specific family functioning (named Collaborative and Helpful, Satisfied with Low Involvement, Want More Involvement, and Critically Involved) in adults with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted k-means cluster analyses with nine dimensions to determine if the typology replicated in a diverse sample and if type assignment was robust to variations in sampling and included dimensions. In a subsample with repeated assessments over 9 months, we examined the stability and validity of the typology. We also applied a multinomial logistic regression approach to make the typology usable at the individual level, like a diagnostic tool. RESULTS: Participants (N = 717) were 51% male, more than one-third reported minority race or ethnicity, mean age was 57 years, and mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was 7.9% (63 mmol/mol; 8.7% [72 mmol/mol] for the longitudinal subsample). The typology was replicated with respect to the number of types and dimension patterns. Type assignment was robust to sampling variations (97% consistent across simulations). Type had an average 52% stability over time within participants; instability was not explained by measurement error. Over 9 months, type was independently associated with HbA1c, diabetes self-efficacy, diabetes medication adherence, diabetes distress, and depressive symptoms (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The typology of diabetes-specific family functioning was replicated, and longitudinal analyses suggest type is more of a dynamic state than a stable trait. However, type varies with diabetes self-management and well-being over time as a consistent independent indicator of outcomes. The typology is ready to be applied to further precision medicine approaches to behavioral and psychosocial diabetes research and care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NO x emitted from coal combustion can cause great harm to the environment and human health. The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) deNO x technology is a mature commercial deNO x technology, of which the SCR catalyst is the core. In China, the SCR deNO x technology has covered almost every coal-fired power plant since the 13th Five-Year Plan. Due to the complex and harsh working environment at the operating site, these catalysts will face the deactivation and replacement. This paper presents a comprehensive and systematic review of commercial V 2 O 5 -WO 3 /TiO 2 SCR catalyst from three aspects, including composition and deNO x characteristics, poisoning, and regeneration, based on studies published in the recent years. It has an important guiding significance for the poisoning study and regeneration technology development of commercial SCR catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normalization and batch correction are critical steps in processing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data, which remove technical effects and systematic biases to unmask biological signals of interest. Although a number of computational methods have been developed, there is no guidance for choosing appropriate procedures in different scenarios. In this study, we assessed the performance of 28 scRNA-seq noise reduction procedures in 55 scenarios using simulated and real datasets. The scenarios accounted for multiple biological and technical factors that greatly affect the denoising performance, including relative magnitude of batch effects, the extent of cell population imbalance, the complexity of cell group structures, the proportion and the similarity of nonoverlapping cell populations, dropout rates and variable library sizes. We used multiple quantitative metrics and visualization of low-dimensional cell embeddings to evaluate the performance on batch mixing while preserving the original cell group and gene structures. Based on our results, we specified technical or biological factors affecting the performance of each method and recommended proper methods in different scenarios. In addition, we highlighted one challenging scenario where most methods failed and resulted in overcorrection. Our studies not only provided a comprehensive guideline for selecting suitable noise reduction procedures but also pointed out unsolved issues in the field, especially the urgent need of developing metrics for assessing batch correction on imperceptible cell-type mixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 21 %-ES-SC is the best mercury removal adsorbent with removal efficiency of 97.1 %. • Thiophene/elemental sulfur are main sulfur species for promoting mercury removal. • SO 2 and NO inhibit the mercury removal, while HCl has a promoting effect. • Mercury forms of the used ES- SC are mainly oxidized and residual forms. This work uses widely sourced rice straw as raw material, sulfur containing substances as modifiers, and mechanochemistry as modification methods to prepare the mechanochemical sulfur modified rice straw char mercury removal adsorbent (S-SC). The influence of modifiers, flue gas components, and the environmental stability of mercury removal products were systematically studied. The mechanochemical sulfur modification (elemental sulfur (ES), Na 2 S, NaHS) can improve the mercury removal performance of raw rice straw char (R-SC). It enhances mercury adsorption and capture. The ES is the best sulfur specie whose mercury removal rate firstly increases and then decreases as the amount of sulfur added increases. Sulfur modification promotes mercury forms convert to HgS (red) or even HgSO 4 with higher thermal stability. The thiophene/elemental sulfur are the main sulfur species for promoting mercury removal. SO 2 and NO inhibit mercury removal by ES-SC, while HCl has a promoting effect. As their concentration in the flue gas increases, the proportion of mercury removed by adsorption increases, and the adsorbed mercury transforms into a more thermally stable mercury form. The mercury forms of the spent ES-SC are mainly oxidized and residual form with TCLP leaching rate of zero, which has good environmental leaching stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • As 2 O 3 adsorption on CaO(0 0 1), γ-Al 2 O 3 (0 0 1) and α-Fe 2 O 3 (0 0 1) is mainly chemisorption. • The d-band center of Fe atom influence the adsorption reactivity significantly. • SO 2 exhibits obvious competitive adsorption with As 2 O 3 on CaO(0 0 1) surface. • As 2 O 3 structure will change on SO 2 pre-adsorbed γ-Al 2 O 3 (0 0 1) and α-Fe 2 O 3 (0 0 1). Arsenic (mainly As 2 O 3) removal is one of the key concerns in the ultra-clean emissions of coal-fired flue gas. Facing the no consensus on the adsorption mechanism of As 2 O 3 on typical metal oxides (CaO, γ-Al 2 O 3 and α-Fe 2 O 3) and the influence mechanism of SO 2 on that, this work adopted the DFT calculation to conduct the systematic study from multiple perspectives, including adsorption energy, EDD, PDOS, Gibbs free energy and FMO. The results show As 2 O 3 adsorption on CaO (0 0 1), γ-Al 2 O 3 (0 0 1) and α-Fe 2 O 3 (0 0 1) surface are mainly chemisorption, where that on CaO (0 0 1) surface is strongest. The adsorption ability of the metal oxides to As 2 O 3 under 0–1173.15 K satisfies CaO (0 0 1) > γ-Al 2 O 3 (0 0 1) > α-Fe 2 O 3 (0 0 1). SO 2 competes with As 2 O 3 for adsorption active sites, and that on CaO is greater than α-Fe 2 O 3 (0 0 1) and γ-Al 2 O 3 (0 0 1). The newly formed adsorption sites are less active for As 2 O 3 adsorption after SO 2 adsorbed on the three metal oxides surfaces. The γ-Al 2 O 3 (0 0 1) and α-Fe 2 O 3 (0 0 1) surface with pre-adsorbed SO 2 decreases the stability of hexahedral As 2 O 3 , which benefits for the adsorption occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Fe 3 Mn 3 O y has the best arsenic removal efficiency of 55.04% with good magnetism. • Moderate amount of MnO 2 coating promotes adsorbed As(III) convert to As(V). • Lattice oxygen plays an important positive role in the As 2 O 3 removal process. • O 2 can supplement lattice oxygen while SO 2 inhibits the As 2 O 3 removal. The gaseous arsenic (mainly As 2 O 3) emitted from coal combustion has become another highly toxic volatile pollutant of concern after mercury. Unlike high-temperature arsenic removal technology, injecting adsorbents before dust collectors has more industrial application prospects, where the development of high-performance arsenic removal adsorbents at low temperatures (100–200 °C) is the core. This work developed a magnetic recyclable MnO 2 coated magnetic flower-like Fe 3 O 4 (FL-Fe 3 O 4) composites (Fe 3 Mn x O y) adsorbent. It shows the prepared FL-Fe 3 O 4 has both adsorption and catalytic effects on As 2 O 3 removal from the flue gas. The As 2 O 3 removal amount and efficiency of Fe 3 Mn x O y reaches their maximum at 102.96 μg/g and 55.04 % at Mn/Fe molar ratio of 1 (Fe 3 Mn 3 O y) where the comprehensive effect of the adsorption, oxidation, and fixation of As 2 O 3 on Fe 3 Mn x O y gets to optimal. Lattice oxygen plays an important positive role in the arsenic removal process and O 2 can continuously supplement it. Priority adsorption of SO 2 will consume lattice oxygen and convert it into SO 4 2-, which inhibits the As 2 O 3 removal by Fe 3 Mn 3 O y. Finally, the influence mechanism of MnO 2 coating and SO 2 on As 2 O 3 removal by Fe 3 Mn x O y was deeply revealed based on density functional theory calculations. The finding has a vital promoting effect on the industrial application of flue gas arsenic removal technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • As 2 O 3 removal satisfies Fe-BC-0.15 > BC > Al-BC-0.15 > Ca-BC-0.15 > K-BC-0.15 at 150 ℃. • 0.15 mol/L is the optimum impregnation concentration for Fe-BC to remove As 2 O 3. • O ɑ and O β and C-O play a promoting role in the arsenic removal by adsorbents. • NO and 0–4000 ppm SO 2 inhibit As 2 O 3 removal by Fe-BC-0.15. Coal-fired power plant is one of the main anthropogenic arsenic emission sources, where gaseous As 2 O 3 is the main form in the flue gas to the atmosphere. In this work, a series of metal salt impregnated wood chips coke (Me-BC) were developed for As 2 O 3 removal from flue gas, which selected BC with low cost and high arsenic removal potential as the carrier and modified by metal nitrate through impregnation and pyrolysis to load active components. The results indicate that As 2 O 3 removal performance of the Me-BC obeys Fe-BC-0.15 > BC > Al-BC-0.15 > Ca-BC-0.15 > K-BC-0.15 under the basic flue gas composition (N 2 + O 2 + CO 2) at 150℃, with the highest As 2 O 3 removal capacity (141.5 μg/g) and efficiency (92.9%) for Fe-BC-0.15 compared to 92.4 μg/g, 60.7% of the BC. The arsenic removal ability of Fe-BC firstly increases and then decreases as Fe(NO 3) 3 impregnation concentration increases with its maximum value at 0.15 mol/L. Generally, the NO has a significant inhibitory effect on the arsenic removal of Fe-BC-0.15 due to consumption of surface active oxygen species by or the competitive adsorption between NO and As 2 O 3. Low-concentration SO 2 complete with As 2 O 3 for the adsorption on active sites while high-concentration SO 2 will promote SO 3 and O β formation which benefits for As 2 O 3 capture. Overall, O ɑ and O β and C-O play an important promoting role in the arsenic removal by adsorbents. DFT calculations indicates that C-O have strongest adsorption energy for As 2 O 3 among oxygen-containing functional groups. The adsorption of SO 2 and NO on naked BC and BC-O is easier than As 2 O 3. Both Fe 2 O 3 and BC play an important role in the arsenic removal process by Fe-BC-0.15. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: (1) To identify clinical factors and perioperative practices that correlate with longer length of stay (LOS) in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) after adenotonsillectomy (T&A) in pediatric populations. (2) To understand the relationship between family presence and PACU LOS for pediatric patients after T&A. Methods: Pediatric patients (ages 3-17) who underwent T&A between February 2016 and December 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Factors assessed for impact on PACU LOS included BMI, preoperative medications, intraoperative medications/narcotics, postoperative medications/narcotics, method of postoperative medication administration, and family presence in the PACU. Kruskal–Wallis and Spearman tests were used to assess correlations. Statistical significance was set a priori at P <.05. Results: Our cohort included 500 patients. Patients were in the PACU for an average of 135.4 minutes (±65.8). Subset analyses of the type of medications administered intra-operatively and in the PACU show that the intraoperative administration of sedatives is associated with increased LOS (P =.014). Postoperative administration of any medications (P <.001), and specifically, postoperative administration of narcotics (P <.001), analgesics (P =.043), antihistamines (P <.001), and dopamine antagonists (P =.011), are associated with increased LOS. Administration of PACU medications by IV was also correlated with shorter LOS compared to oral administration of PACU medications (P =.016). A comparison of patients who received PACU medications to those who did not demonstrated that intraoperative administration of acetaminophen was associated with a reduced need for PACU medication administration (P =.012). Shorter waiting times for family arrival in the PACU was also associated with shorter LOS (P <.001). Conclusion: Our results suggest that postoperative medication administration and time until family arrival in the PACU are associated with significant differences in LOS. We also find that intraoperative administration of acetaminophen is correlated with reduced need for postoperative medication administration. Standardizing postoperative practices to minimize PACU LOS could result in a more efficient recovery for pediatric patients undergoing T&A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very short tandem repeats bear substantial genetic, evolutional, and pathological significance in genome analyses. Here, we compiled a census of tandem mono-nucleotide/di-nucleotide/tri-nucleotide repeats (MNRs/DNRs/TNRs) in GRCh38, which we term "polytracts" in general. Of the human genome, 144.4 million nucleotides (4.7%) are occupied by polytracts, and 0.47 million single nucleotides are identified as polytract hinges, i.e., break-points of tandem polytracts. Preliminary exploration of the census suggested polytract hinge sites and boundaries of AAC polytracts may bear a higher mapping error rate than other polytract regions. Further, we revealed landscapes of polytract enrichment with respect to nearly a hundred genomic features. We found MNRs, DNRs, and TNRs displayed noticeable difference in terms of locational enrichment for miscellaneous genomic features, especially RNA editing events. Non-canonical and C-to-U RNA-editing events are enriched inside and/or adjacent to MNRs, while all categories of RNA-editing events are under-represented in DNRs. A-to-I RNA-editing events are generally under-represented in polytracts. The selective enrichment of non-canonical RNA-editing events within MNR adjacency provides a negative evidence against their authenticity. To enable similar locational enrichment analyses in relation to polytracts, we developed a software Polytrap which can handle 11 reference genomes. Additionally, we compiled polytracts of four model organisms into a Tract Hub which can be integrated into USCS Genome Browser as an official track for convenient visualization of polytracts. Author summary: Short tandem repeats in the human genome are frequently used as genetic markers in population studies and they are also associated with genetic diseases. Nevertheless, accurate localization and mapping of short tandem repeats in the reference genome have not been well addressed, and there is a lack of systematic catalog of short tandem repeats in the most updated human reference genome. Here, we compiled an updated census of mono-nucleotide/di-nucleotide/tri-nucleotide repeats (MNRs/DNRs/TNRs) from the human reference genome GRCh38, and collectively termed them polytracts. The resultant polytract dataset encompasses TNRs, the presumably more biologically significant repeat species, as well as the under-studied species MNRs and DNRs. With such a composition, the polytract dataset can provide a negative control for genome analyses which are potentially confounded with polytract regions, and it can also be used as a discovery tool to screen for MNR/DNR/TNR-characteristic genomic features. We integrated the polytract dataset with genome coordinates of RNA-editing sites, and found significant enrichment of C-to-U and non-canonical RNA-editing events in adjacency of MNR polytracts, especially break-points of tandem polytracts. The same phenomenon was not observed for the canonical A-to-I RNA editing type. This distinct enrichment patterns between canonical and non-canonical RNA-editing events provides a negative evidence against the authenticity of non-canonical RNA-editing events. Similarly, we examined locations of enhancer sequences relative to polytracts, and found varied degree of locational enrichment among subtypes of polytracts. In practice, different researchers may be interested in different genomic features and/or different organisms, so we developed a tool Polytrap and a Public Tract Hub to assist with general locational enrichment analysis of polytracts with respect to localizable genomic features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in small RNA sequencing have revealed the enormous diversity of small noncoding RNA (sRNA) classes in mammalian cells. At this point, most investigators in diabetes are aware of the success of microRNA (miRNA) research and appreciate the importance of posttranscriptional gene regulation in glycemic control. Nevertheless, miRNAs are just one of multiple classes of sRNAs and likely represent only a minor fraction of sRNA sequences in a given cell. Despite the widespread appreciation of sRNAs, very little research into non-miRNA sRNA function has been completed, likely due to some major barriers that present unique challenges for study. To emphasize the importance of sRNA research in cardiometabolic diseases, we highlight the success of miRNAs and competitive endogenous RNAs in cholesterol and glucose metabolism. Moreover, we argue that sequencing studies have demonstrated that miRNAs are just the tip of the iceberg for sRNAs. We are likely standing at the precipice of immense discovery for novel sRNA-mediated gene regulation in cardiometabolic diseases. To realize this potential, we must first address critical barriers with an open mind and refrain from viewing non-miRNA sRNA function through the lens of miRNAs, as they likely have their own set of distinct regulatory factors and functional mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Adsorbent injection system was optimized based on field experimental results and numerical simulations. • Nozzles number and injection direction affect the distribution of particle concentration field. • Single-sided four-way pipe has the best average adsorbent coverage and mercury removal efficiency. • Coupling degree of the particle and mercury concentration field is important in determining mercury removal performance. Optimizing the injection system significantly reduces the cost of adsorbent injection technology for mercury removal from coal-fired flue gas. In this work, the effects of three common injection system layouts, namely single-sided four-way pipe (SFP), quadtree (QT), and long to short (L-S), on adsorbent particle concentration, mercury concentration, and mercury removal efficiency were systematically investigated by simulation calculation. It shows adsorbent coverage, and particle concentration standard deviation coefficient at the initial injection satisfies SFP > QT > L-S. The number of nozzle and injection directions affect the distribution of adsorbent particle concentration. The apparent mercury removal occurs within 2 s after adsorbent injection. The SFP arrangement has the best average coverage rate of adsorbent (86.86%), average standard deviation coefficient (2.40), and mercury removal efficiency (60.12%). The coupling degree between particle concentration and flue gas mercury concentration field is essential in determining mercury removal performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural organic matter (NOM) plays an important role in the iodine mobilization in the groundwater system. In this study, the groundwater and sediments from iodine affected aquifers in the Datong Basin were collected to perform chemistry analysis and molecular characteristics of NOM by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR-MS). Total iodine concentrations in groundwater and sediments ranged from 1.97 to 926.1 μg/L and 0.001–2.86 μg/g, respectively. A positive correlation was observed between DOC/NOM and groundwater/sediment iodine. FT-ICR-MS results showed that the DOM in the high-iodine groundwater system is characterized by less aliphatic and more aromatic compounds with higher NOSC, indicating the features of more unsaturated larger molecule structures and more bioavailability. Aromatic compounds could be the main carriers of sediment iodine and were easily absorbed on amorphous iron oxides to form the NOM-Fe-I complex. More aliphatic compounds, especially those containing N/S, experienced a higher degree of biodegradation, which further mediated the reductive dissolution of amorphous iron oxides and the transformation of iodine species, thereby causing the release of iodine into groundwater. The findings of this study provide some new insights into the mechanisms of high-iodine groundwater. [Display omitted] • NOM with aromatic structures preferentially adsorbed to the amorphous iron oxides. • Amorphous iron oxides-aromatic compounds complexes were the main carriers of iodine. • Biodegradation of N/S-containing aliphatic compounds results in iodine release. • Interaction between iron oxides and NOM affects iodine mobilization and species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mercury, as a global pollutant, has raised worldwide concern due to its high toxicity, long-distance transport, persistence, and bioaccumulation in the environment. Coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) are considered as the major anthropogenic mercury emission source to the atmosphere, especially for China, India, and the US. Studies on mercury in coal combustion process have been carried out for decades, which include content and occurrence forms of mercury in coal, mercury transformation during coal combustion, sampling, co-removal and emission of mercury in CFPPs, mercury removal technologies for CFPPs. This current review summarizes the knowledge and research developments concerning these mercury-related issues, and hopes to provide a comprehensive understanding of mercury in coal combustion process and guidance for future mercury research directions. The average mercury content in the coal from China, the US, and South Africa is 0.20, 0.17, and 0.20 mg/kg, respectively, which is higher than the world's coal average value of 0.1 mg/kg. In general, mercury in coal is in the forms of sulfide-bound mercury (mainly pyritic mercury, dominant), clay-bound mercury, and organic matter-bound mercury, which are influenced by diagenetic, coalification, and post-diagenetic conditions, etc. Mercury transformation in coal combustion includes homogeneous (without fly ash) and heterogeneous (with fly ash) reaction. The transformation is affected by the coal types, flue gas components, flue gas temperature, combustion atmosphere, coal ash properties, etc. The effects of chlorine, NOx, SO 2 , H 2 O, O 2 NH 3 on elemental mercury (Hg0) homogeneous oxidation and the influence of physical structure properties, unburned carbon, and metal oxides in fly ash as well as flue gas components on Hg0 heterogeneous transformation are systematically reviewed in detail. For the mercury transformation in oxy-coal combustion, O 2 promotes Hg0 oxidation with Cl 2 while NO and CO 2 inhibit or do not favor that reaction. CO 2 increases Hg0 oxidation in the atmosphere of NO and N 2. SO 2 will limit Hg0 oxidation, while HCl has a higher oxidation effect on Hg0 than that in air-coal combustion atmosphere. Fly ash plays an important role in Hg0 oxidation. SO 3 inhibits mercury retention by fly ash while H 2 O promotes the oxidation. The sampling or analysis principle, sampling requirements, and advantages and disadvantages of the commonly used on-site mercury sampling methods, namely, Ontarion Hydro Method (OHM), US EPA Method 30B, and Hg-CEMS, are compared. The air pollution control devices (APCDs) in CFPPs also have the mercury co-removal ability besides the conventional pollutants, such as NO x , particulate matter (PM), SO 2 , and fine PM. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) equipment, electrostatic precipitator (ESP) or fabric filter (FF), and wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) device are good at Hg0 oxidation, particulate mercury (Hgp) removal, and oxidized mercury (Hg2+) capture, respectively. The Hg0 oxidation rate for SCR equipment, and the total mercury (Hgt, Hgt = Hg0 + Hg2+ + Hgp) removal rate for ESP, FF, and WFGD device is 6.5–79.9%, 11.5–90.4%, 28.5–90%, and 3.9–72%, respectively. Wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP) can capture Hg0, Hg2+, and Hgp simultaneously. The mercury transformation process in SCR, ESP, FF, WFGD, and WESP is also discussed. Hgt removal in ESP+WFGD, SCR+ESP+WFGD, SCR+ESP+FF+WFGD, and SCR+ESP+WFGD+WESP is 35.5–84%, 43.8–94.9%, 58.78–73.32%, and 56.59–89.07%, respectively. The mercury emission concentration in the reviewed CFPPs of China, South Korea, Poland, the Netherlands, and the US is 0.29–16.3 µg/m3. Mercury in some fly ash and gypsum, and in most WFGD and WESP wastewater, is higher than the relevant limits, which needs to be paid attention to during their processing. Mercury removal technologies for CFPPs can be divided into pre-combustion (including coal washing technology and mild pyrolysis method), in-combustion (including low-NO x combustion technology, circulating fluidized bed combustion technology, and halogens addition into coal), and post-combustion (including existing commercial SCR catalyst improvement, inhibiting Hg0 re-emission in WFGD, mercury oxidizing catalysts, injecting oxidizing chemicals, carbon-based adsorbents, fly ash, calcium-based adsorbents, and mineral adsorbents) based on the mercury removal position. The mercury removal effects, mercury removal mechanism, and/or influencing factors are summarized in detail. One of the regenerable mercury removal adsorbents, the magnetic adsorbent modified by metal oxides or the metal halides, is the most promising sorbent for mercury removal from CFPPs. It has advantages of high mercury removal efficiency, low investment, easy separation from fly ash, and mercury recovery, etc. Lastly, further works about mercury transformation in coal combustion atmosphere, mercury co-removal by APCDs, the emission in CFPPs, and mercury removal technologies for CFPPs are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reports the chemical speciation and leaching characteristics of seven hazardous trace elements (HTEs, including Hg, As, Cr, Cd, Ba, Mn, and Pb) in the coal and fly ash samples collected from four coal-fired power plants in China. The physical structure and chemical composition of the fly ash were characterized by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX). The chemical speciation of HTEs in the coal and fly ash was measured by the modified three-step sequential extraction method, proposed by the European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR). Leaching characteristics of HTEs in the fly ash were investigated by a single batch leaching test. The concentration of HTEs in solid and liquid samples was determined by the direct mercury analyzer DMA 80 (Hg in solid) and the inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results show that for the coal, concentration of Hg, As, Cr, Cd, Ba, Mn, and Pb is 0.06–0.22, 0.63–4.01, 8.91–13.09, 0.06–0.15, 108.67–229.21, 49.94–100.24 and 6.74–26.38 mg/kg, respectively. Mercury is mainly in the residual form while Cd and Ba are primarily in reducible form. Compared with other HTEs, manganese in water/acid soluble and exchangeable fraction has the large percentage. For the fly ash, the concentration of Hg, As, Cr, Cd, Ba, Mn and Pb is 0.17–1.26, 5.15–25.74, 43.25–64.61, 0.56–0.70, 777.05–970.70, 163.83–831.47 and 28.94–119.57 mg/kg, respectively. Mercury and chromium are mainly in the residual speciation. Arsenic and manganese in water/acid soluble and exchangeable form have high ratio with value of 7.27–58.60% and 6.14–62.27%, respectively. Cadmium and barium are primarily in the reducible form. Based on the risk assessment code, manganese in the coal can pose high or very high risk on the environment. Leaching concentration of Cr in some fly ash is higher than permissible limits and the pH value of leaching solution for the fly ash is alkaline. Considering huge fly ash production from coal combustion and complex landfill conditions, some suitable disposal measures to minimize the risk on the environment are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazardous trace elements (HTEs) may release from flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum in the utilization concerning heat treatment or landfills, which cause great harm on the environment. Thermal stability, chemical speciation and leaching characteristics of seven HTEs (Hg, As, Cr, Cd, Ba, Mn and Pb) in the FGD gypsum from three power plants equipped with air pollution control devices (APCDs) in China were investigated in this work. Results show that concentration of Hg, As, Cd, Pb, Cr, Ba, and Mn in the three FGD gypsums is 0.20–3.85, 1.04–2.87, 0.02–0.69, 3.50–7.01, 9.19–21.32, 14.84–55.94, and 45.95–69.85 mg/kg, respectively. The evaporation rate (ER) of HTEs in the three FGD gypsums increases as the thermal treatment temperature rises. More attention should be given to Hg in the thermal disposal process of gypsum, because its thermal stability is worst with ER higher than 94% at the temperature higher than 350 °C. Hg and Ba in the three FGD gypsums are mainly existed in residual form with ratio of 73.11–86.69% and 72.97–82.46%, respectively. The easily soluble As in the three FGD gypsums has the minimum percentage of 2.75–4.78%. The sum of Cr in water/acid soluble and exchangeable fraction (F1), reducible fraction (F2), and oxidizable fraction (F3) in the three FGD gypsums has a considerable ratio of 37.88–53.84%. Compared with other HTEs in the three FGD gypsums, Mn in the easily soluble form occupies largest share of 40.64–55.43%, which will be leached out from gypsum and bioavailable to the environment under typical environmental condition. The HTEs in the three FGD gypsums are in different risk levels, namely, low risk (including Hg, As, Cr, Ba), medium risk (including Cd and Pb (except FGD-G1)), high or very high risk (Mn), which should take Mn in serious consideration once disposing FGD gypsum based on the RAC. Leaching characteristics test indicates the three FGD gypsums belong to non-hazardous wastes. Several suitable disposal measures to minimize the risk of HTEs release on the environment are needed considering the bulk production of gypsum and complex landfill conditions, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illumina genotyping arrays have powered thousands of large-scale genome-wide association studies over the past decade. Yet, because of the tremendous volume and complicated genetic assumptions of Illumina genotyping data, processing and quality control (QC) of these data remain a challenge. Thorough QC ensures the accurate identification of single-nucleotide polymorphisms and is required for the correct interpretation of genetic association results. By processing genotyping data on > 100 000 subjects from >10 major Illumina genotyping arrays, we have accumulated extensive experience in handling some of the most peculiar scenarios related to the processing and QC of Illumina genotyping data. Here, we describe strategies for processing Illumina genotyping data from the raw data to an analysis ready format, and we elaborate on the necessary QC procedures required at each processing step. High-quality Illumina genotyping data sets can be obtained by following our detailed QC strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Release of hazardous trace elements (HTEs) during re-use of coal-fired fly ash involving heat treatment process can cause health risks for on-site workers and contaminate the surrounding environment. Enrichment characteristics, thermal stability and volatility of five HTEs (Hg, As, Pb, Cr, Mn) in fly ash collected from a 660 MW coal-fired power plant were investigated. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), scanning electron microscope- energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), and X-ray power diffraction spectrometry (XRD) were used to characterize pore structure and chemical composition of the coal-fired fly ash (CFA) samples. Results show that the coal belongs to bituminous, containing low content of S, Cl, and the HTEs analyzed. CFA samples have low content of Hg (0.04–0.20 mg/kg) and As (3.0–8.7 mg/kg), and high content of Mn (782.46–1115.85 mg/kg). Burnout degree and specific surface area result in the decreasing HTEs concentration in CFA samples when increasing the particle size. Relative enrichment index (REI) of HTEs in the raw CFA are in the order of Mn > Cr > Pb > 1 > As > Hg. Increase in particle sizes leads to decrease of the REI value, implies that HTEs are enriched more in finer fractions. Thermal stability of HTEs in CFA samples becomes weaker at higher temperature. The smaller the particle size is, the worse the thermal stability becomes. Volatilization fractions of Hg, As, Pb, Cr, and Mn in CFA samples at four temperatures (350 °C, 550 °C, 750 °C, 950 °C) range 88.35%–99.50%, 2.32%–23.17%, 4.08%–22.59%, 20.36%–34.43%, and 1.21%–23.43%, respectively. The derivative of the concentration-fitted curve to the temperature in the range of 20–900 °C at heating rate of 10 °C/min indicates volatility of HTEs in CFA follows the decreasing order of Hg > As, Cr > Mn, Pb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-temperature deNO x selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts are of great significance to prolong catalyst life and reduce flue gas temperature. In this work, the low-temperature deNO x performance of different zFeCe x Mn y catalysts was investigated on a simulated flue gas fixed-bed experimental bench. BET, XRD, XPS, NH 3 -TPD, and in situ FT-IR were used to characterize the physical-chemical properties of the samples. The optimum ratio and deNO x mechanism of the catalysts were explored. The results show 4FeMn 7 Ce 3 doped with 4 wt% Fe based on Mn 7 Ce 3 has the best deNO x performance. Its deNO x efficiency is over 90% at 120–220 °C and GHSV = 50,000 h−1, with the peak value of 98% at 150 °C. The Fe doping makes the oxide distributed uniformly on the catalyst's surface, promotes the valence cycle of the catalyst, yields more Mn4+ and Ce3+ species, and prompts the optimal deNO x temperature to the low temperature direction. Meanwhile, Lewis acid sites on the catalyst's surface are enhanced, which can promote the amide species formation that is beneficial for the deNO x reaction. Combined with in situ FTIR, the E -R mechanism and the L-H mechanism coexist in the deNO x process of zFeCe x Mn y catalysts. These findings are helpful for the development of high-performance low-temperature deNO x catalysts. • 4FeMn 7 Ce 3 catalyst can achieve >90% of deNOx efficiency at 120–220 °C. • Abundant Ce3+ and Fe3+ play a key role in protecting active Mn4+ and increasing O α concentration. • The Lewis acid site is stronger than the Bronsted acid site in the deNOx process. • The deNOx mechanism of 4FeMn 7 Ce 3 obeys both L-H and E -R mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human mitochondrial genome has been extensively studied for its function and disease associations. Utilizing five types of high-throughput sequencing data on ten breast cancer patients (total N = 50), we examined several aspects of the mitochondrial genome that have not been thoroughly studied, including the occurrence of tri-allelic heteroplasmy, the difference between DNA and RNA, and the variants association with polynucleotide tracts. We validated four previously reported and identified 23 additional tri-allelic positions. Furthermore, we detected 18 single nucleotide and seven InDel differences between DNA and RNA. Previous studies have suggested that some of these differences are caused by post transcriptional methylation. The rest can be accredited to RNA editing, polyadenylation or sequencing errors. Most importantly, we found that the tri-allelic positions, and differences between DNA and RNA, are strongly associated with polynucleotide tracts in the mitochondrial genome, suggesting DNA instability or difficulty sequencing around the polynucleotide tract regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One of the most important and often neglected components of a successful RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) experiment is sample size estimation. A few negative binomial model-based methods have been developed to estimate sample size based on the parameters of a single gene. However, thousands of genes are quantified and tested for differential expression simultaneously in RNA-Seq experiments. Thus, additional issues should be carefully addressed, including the false discovery rate for multiple statistic tests, widely distributed read counts and dispersions for different genes. Results: To solve these issues, we developed a sample size and power estimation method named RnaSeqSampleSize, based on the distributions of gene average read counts and dispersions estimated from real RNA-seq data. Datasets from previous, similar experiments such as the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) can be used as a point of reference. Read counts and their dispersions were estimated from the reference's distribution; using that information, we estimated and summarized the power and sample size. RnaSeqSampleSize is implemented in R language and can be installed from Bioconductor website. A user friendly web graphic interface is provided at http://cqs.mc.vanderbilt.edu/shiny/RnaSeqSampleSize/. Conclusions: RnaSeqSampleSize provides a convenient and powerful way for power and sample size estimation for an RNAseq experiment. It is also equipped with several unique features, including estimation for interested genes or pathway, power curve visualization, and parameter optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal-fired power plant is considered to be main anthropogenic emitter for emission of hazardous trace elements (HTEs), which can cause great damage on environment and human health. Emission characteristic of nine HTEs, namely Hg, Zn, Sb, Pb, Cd, As, Cr, Mn and Ba was carried out on a 320 MW coal-fired power plant equipped with SCR, ESP and WFGD. US EPA method 29 was used for flue gas HTEs sampling at inlet or outlet of each APCD simultaneously. Solid or liquid samples like feed coal, ESP ash, bottom ash, fresh slurry, waste water, gypsum were collected at the same time. Scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometer and X-ray power diffraction spectrometry were adopted to characterize the physical and chemical structure characteristic of some solid samples. Results show that mass balance rate of the HTEs for each device and the system is in acceptable range. Mass amount of HTEs distributed in bottom ash and ESP ash accounts for large proportion, while little of them escapes into atmosphere (<0.05%). The mass amount of Mn and Ba in bottom ash is higher than that of other HTEs. Particulate HTEs are the main form in flue gas before ESP. ESP + WFGD has high removal efficiency for the HTEs in flue gas (99.96–99.99%), in which ESP makes a great contribution. During coal combustion, Mn and Ba enrich in bottom and fly ash equally while As, Cd, Sb, Zn, Pb and Cr will be prone to enrich in fly ash. Concentration of the HTEs in flue gas emitted to atmosphere is relatively low (3.5 × 10 −3 –4.30 μg/m 3 ) with emission factor of 0.001–1.473 g/10 12 J. Finally, transformation mechanism of the studied HTEs during coal combustion is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Effects of O 2 , CO 2 , SO 2 and NO on the Hg0 removal characteristics of S 2 Cl 2 -MC were revealed. • Hg0 removal characteristics were discussed by Hg0 removal efficiency, Hg2+ escape ratio, and Hg0 adsorption amount. • O 2 + CO 2 , 1200 ppm SO 2 , NO promote Hg0 removal while O 2 and low-concentration SO 2 have little effect. • Adsorbent surface structure plays an important role in the Hg0 adsorption. The effects of flue gas components (O 2 , CO 2 , SO 2 and NO) on the Hg0 removal of mechanochemical S 2 Cl 2 -modified BC (S 2 Cl 2 -MC) were explored based on the Hg0 removal efficiency/amount, Hg0 adsorption amount and Hg2+ escape amount/ratio. The BET, FTIR, XPS, and Hg-TPD were used to obtain relevant physicochemical properties. It shows O 2 and CO 2 promote the Hg2+ escape but inhibit Hg0 adsorption. O 2 slightly affects Hg0 removal, while CO 2 promotes it. 400 ∼ 800 ppm SO 2 slightly affect Hg0 removal, while 1200 ppm SO 2 facilitates Hg2+ escape and Hg0 adsorption. SO 2 affects Hg2+ escape ratio little. As NO concentration increases, the Hg2+ escape is promoted while Hg0 adsorption is inhibited. O 2 and CO 2 do not change the mercury forms. SO 2 and NO promote the production of HgSO 4 and Hg(NO 3) 2 , respectively. The Hg0 adsorption might mainly depend on the physical properties of adsorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Near infrared spectroscopy combined with contrastive principal component analysis was proposed to rapidly classification of silkworm pupae with different varieties. • The method could achieve rapid and accurate identification the sex of silkworm pupae with different varieties. • The accuracy of this method can reach 99.58%. The accuracy of sex classification of silkworm pupae is directly related to the quality of crossbred silkworm pupae and silkworm silk. Manual selection as the traditional method for sex identification of silkworm pupae is labor-intensive and time-consuming. In addition, there are hundreds of silkworm pupae varieties. Currently, the widely used near infrared spectroscopy（NIR) technology showed unsatisfactory accuracy in distinguishing the sex of different species of silkworm pupae. Thus, we developed a method combining NIR and contrastive principal component analysis(cPCA) to achieve high precision sex classification of different silkworm pupae by introducing the background data set to eliminate the influence of silkworm pupae varieties. The experimental results showed that the cPCA analysis showed better performance (98.34%) compared with the accuracy of PCA analysis (71.36%). After characteristic wavenumber selection by iPLS, the accuracy could be improved to 99.58% by using the cPCA algorithm. The combination of NIR spectroscopy with cPCA provides a method for developing portable devices to quickly identify the sex of silkworm pupae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mercury emissions from a Chinese ultra-low emission (ULE) coal-fired power plant burning a low chlorine and sulfur bituminous coal was investigated by using the Ontario Hydro method (OHM). A temperature-programmed decomposition desorption (TPDD) instrument, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray power diffraction spectrometry (XRD) were used to identify the mercury species, apparent morphology, and chemical composition of the coal and combustion by-products. As measured by the OHM, the elemental mercury emitted from the stack is the largest proportion of the total mercury (about 38.95%), almost 13 times more than the oxidized mercury. Mercury in bottom ash was found to be only 0.07% of the incoming total mercury. The elemental mercury was found to oxidize across the SCR, with 45.47% converted to oxidized mercury. This increase in mercury oxidation is significant, as it was shown to be removed by the WFGD system. The total mercury removed across all APCDs in order of most to least was WFGD > ESP > WESP. The WESP was shown to further remove mercury, whose removal rate is about 13.63%, resulting in lower mercury stack emissions. For this plant arrangement, the mercury emission factor was calculated to be 1.56 g/10 12 J, less than the mean value of Chinese plants. The mercury content in the gypsum is higher than the limit (0.50 mg/kg) while bottom and ESP ash were shown to have no effect on the soil. Further investigation of thermal treatment on mercury in gypsum is needed before definitive conclusions on disposal can be drawn. Concentration of mercury measured in the WFGD and WESP waste water is higher than the limit (0.001 mg/L), and more importance should be given on the waste water from WFGD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Gaseous As 2 O 3 removal ability satisfies BC > PC > AC under the basic adsorption conditions at 150–250 ℃. • Physisorption (mainly) and chemisorption occur in arsenic removal by carbon-based adsorbents. • C–O and O–C=O, Al 2 O 3 , K 2 S, and K 2 SO 4 are the main active sites for As 2 O 3 chemisorption. • Increasing adsorption temperature firstly increases and then decreases the arsenic removal ability. • NO and high concentration (6000 ppm) SO 2 inhibit gaseous As 2 O 3 removal by BC. Gaseous As 2 O 3 emitted from the coal-fired power plant is one of the most carcinogenic and harmful pollutants. In this work, the commercial activated carbon (AC), wood chip-based biomass coke (BC), and KOH activated high-sulfur petroleum coke (PC) were selected, and the effects of adsorption temperature and flue gas components on gaseous As 2 O 3 removal of the carbon-based adsorbents were investigated. The results show that under the basic adsorption conditions, the As 2 O 3 removal ability satisfies BC > PC > AC with the best arsenic removal ability of BC at 150 ℃. Increasing the adsorption temperature benefits the oxidation of As3+ to As5+ on the surface of the three carbon-based adsorbents. Oxygen-containing functional groups (C–O and O–C=O), Al 2 O 3 , K 2 S, and K 2 SO 4 are the main active sites for As 2 O 3 chemisorption. Overall, increasing adsorption temperature leads to the first increase and then decrease in arsenic removal ability of carbon-based adsorbents. Physical adsorption is the main reason for the change in their arsenic removal ability. The weakening degree of physical adsorption is higher than the promotion of chemisorption with increasing adsorption temperature. NO has inhibitory effects on the As 2 O 3 removal by BC. Low concentration (<4000 ppm) SO 2 can promote the As 2 O 3 removal by BC due to the formation of SO 4 2- and the increased content of oxygen-containing functional groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic emitted from coal-fired power plants has attracted widespread attention. Metal oxides are promising adsorbents for arsenic removal, but the influence laws and mechanisms of temperature and flue gas components on their arsenic removal performance are unclear. In this work, systematic research on the effects of adsorption temperature and flue gas components on As 2 O 3 removal by Fe 2 O 3 , CaO, and γ-Al 2 O 3 was conducted. The results show that As 2 O 3 removal ability satisfies Fe 2 O 3 > CaO > γ-Al 2 O 3 at 300–900 °C, which is mainly related to their basic site strength. At 500 °C, Fe 2 O 3 has the largest As 2 O 3 removal capacity (adsorption capacity: 158.4 μg/g; removal efficiency: 84.68%). Increasing adsorption temperature is beneficial to the transformation of arsenic to high-valent arsenic (As(V)) on the surface of Fe 2 O 3 , CaO, and γ-Al 2 O 3. Low-concentration SO 2 will compete with As 2 O 3 for adsorption on the three metal oxides surface, which thereby inhibits their As 2 O 3 removal ability. The presence of NO has an obvious inhibitory effect on the As 2 O 3 removal of Fe 2 O 3 , CaO, and γ-Al 2 O 3 , which is little affected by the change of NO concentration. Fe 2 O 3 is a metal oxide adsorbent with strong arsenic removal potential. Compared with basic simulated flue gas (BSFG) components, the presence of SO 2 , NO, and SO 2 +NO in the simulated flue gas all inhibits the adsorption of As 2 O 3 by Fe 2 O 3. Finally, future work on arsenic removal from coal-fired flue gas adsorbents is presented. This work has important engineering applications and theoretical research guiding significance for the development of high-performance arsenic removal adsorbents. [Display omitted] • Fe 2 O 3 has the best As 2 O 3 removal performance than CaO and γ-Al 2 O 3. • Increasing adsorption temperature favors the conversion of As(III) to As(V). • SO 2 , NO, and SO 2 +NO in simulated flue gas all inhibit the As 2 O 3 adsorption by Fe 2 O 3. • Adsorbents with low-cost, high efficiency, etc. Should be the development direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst is a widely used deNOx technology. Different from the review papers on SCR catalysts published in recent years, the preparation method, composition, deNOx ability, influence of flue gas components, and deNOx mechanism of the SCR catalysts were comprehensively discussed according to classification on the different catalyst supports published in the nearly ten years. Meanwhile, the related studies on high-temperature and low-temperature deNOx were also concerned. It shows the unsupported SCR catalyst has lower specific surface area. Metal-based SCR catalysts have relatively good low and high-temperature deNOx performance. Carbon material as a carrier can provide abundant surface area to distribute active elements, and oxygen-containing functional groups on the activated carbon surface can oxidize NO to NO 2. These are beneficial to improve the deNOx ability. The minerals-based SCR catalyst has good deNOx capacity in the middle and low temperature section. Fe, Mn, Ce, V, and Cu are mostly favorable elements for the SCR catalysts with high deNOx ability. The good distribution of active elements, chemical adsorption of oxygen, Lewis or Brønsted acid sites, and abundant surface pore structure on the catalyst surface are important for the catalyst with good deNOx ability. Lastly, the further works are given. [Display omitted] • Metal-based SCR catalysts have relatively good low and high-temperature deNOx performance. • Fe, Mn, Ce, V, and Cu are mostly favorable elements for SCR catalysts with high deNOx ability. • Influence of SO 2 and/or H 2 O on deNOx ability of the SCR catalyst should be fully considered. • More theoretical calculations should be put into the development of high-performance SCR catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meta-learning has gained wide popularity as a training framework that is more data-efficient than traditional machine learning methods. However, its generalization ability in complex task distributions, such as multimodal tasks, has not been thoroughly studied. Recently, some studies on multimodality-based meta-learning have emerged. This survey provides a comprehensive overview of the multimodality-based meta-learning landscape in terms of the methodologies and applications. We first formalize the definition of meta-learning in multimodality, along with the research challenges in this growing field, such as how to enrich the input in few-shot learning (FSL) or zero-shot learning (ZSL) in multimodal scenarios and how to generalize the models to new tasks. We then propose a new taxonomy to discuss typical meta-learning algorithms in multimodal tasks systematically. We investigate the contributions of related papers and summarize them by our taxonomy. Finally, we propose potential research directions for this promising field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, somatic mutations are detected by examining DNA sequence. The maturity of sequencing technology has allowed researchers to screen for somatic mutations in the whole genome. Increasingly, researchers have become interested in identifying somatic mutations through RNAseq data. With this motivation, we evaluated the practicability of detecting somatic mutations from RNAseq data. Current somatic mutation calling tools were designed for DNA sequencing data. To increase performance on RNAseq data, we developed a somatic mutation caller GLMVC based on bias reduced generalized linear model for both DNA and RNA sequencing data. Through comparison with MuTect and Varscan we showed that GLMVC performed better for somatic mutation detection using exome sequencing or RNAseq data. GLMVC is freely available for download at the following website: https://github.com/shengqh/GLMVC/wiki . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most popular RNA library used for RNA sequencing is the poly(A) captured RNA library. This library captures RNA based on the presence of poly(A) tails at the 3′ end. Another type of RNA library for RNA sequencing is the total RNA library which differs from the poly(A) library by capture method and price. The total RNA library costs more and its capture of RNA is not dependent on the presence of poly(A) tails. In practice, only ribosomal RNAs and small RNAs are washed out in the total RNA library preparation. To evaluate the ability of detecting RNA for both RNA libraries we designed a study using RNA sequencing data of the same two breast cancer cell lines from both RNA libraries. We found that the RNA expression values captured by both RNA libraries were highly correlated. However, the number of RNAs captured was significantly higher for the total RNA library. Furthermore, we identify several subsets of protein coding RNAs that were not captured efficiently by the poly(A) library. One of the most noticeable is the histone-encode genes, which lack the poly(A) tail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Preparation conditions of mechanochemical S 2 Cl 2 -modified biomass coke based on mercury removal were optimized. • BC-10B-8S 2 Cl 2 -MC has the best Hg0 removal rate of 97.12%. • Thiophen/element sulfur and sulfoxide benefit for mercury removal. • Mechanochemical method has more application prospects than impregnation method. Mercury is a global pollutant. In this work, wood sawdust-based biomass coke and S 2 Cl 2 were selected as the raw material and modifier, respectively. Two modification methods were adopted to prepare the mechanochemical S 2 Cl 2 -modified biomass coke (BC-S 2 Cl 2 -MC) and S 2 Cl 2 impregnated-modified biomass coke (BC-S 2 Cl 2 -IM). The flue gas fixed mercury-removal experiment rig was used to evaluated the mercury removal performance of the adsorbents. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were adopted to characterize the surface physical and chemical properties of some typical samples. Hg temperature-programmed desorption (Hg-TPD) was used to analyze the main mercury forms in the used adsorbents. The results show both mechanochemistry and impregnation methods can significantly improve Hg0 removal performance with the addition of S 2 Cl 2. Increasing S 2 Cl 2 addition amount increases the Hg0 removal efficiency of BC-S 2 Cl 2 -MC overall. Considering the economy and mercury removal performance, 800 μL is the optimum addition amount for the 3 g raw biomass coke with the Hg0 removal rate of 91.94%. The change of ball milling parameters within a certain range has little effect on the mercury removal performance of BC-S 2 Cl 2 -MC. The best ball milling parameters in this work are a ball-to-material ratio of 10:1 and big balls (diameter = 20 mm), which corresponds to the Hg0 removal rate of 97.12%. Chemical adsorption plays a great part in the Hg0 removal of BC-S 2 Cl 2 -MC and BC-8S 2 Cl 2 -IM. The surface functional groups such as O–H, C = O, C = S and thiophen/element sulfur and sulfoxide are the main Hg0 adsorption active sites. HgS (black) is the main mercury form in the used BC-S 2 Cl 2 -MC and used BC-S 2 Cl 2 -IM. The mechanochemical method has more prospects for industrial application than the impregnation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The pyrolysis temperature and atmosphere have great influence on Hg0 removal of BC. • N 2 + 7% O 2 , higher pyrolysis temperature and heating rate develop the pore structure. • BC-N 2 + 7% O 2 -800-10 has the best Hg0 removal rate of 34.89% under all the pyrolysis conditions. • Hg0 removal of BC mainly by chemical adsorption with main content of HgO. Effects of pyrolysis conditions, including pyrolysis temperatures, pyrolysis atmosphere, and heating rate, on Hg0 removal of wood chip-based biomass coke (BC) under the basic simulated flue gas were systematically studied. The BET, SEM, FTIR, XPS and Hg-TPD were used to analyze the physicochemical properties and specific mercury compounds. The results show that the final pyrolysis temperature and pyrolysis atmosphere have greater influence on the mercury removal performance while heating rate affects little. The BC-N 2 + 7%O 2 -800-10 has the best Hg0 removal efficiency under all the pyrolysis conditions, mainly due to the good pore structure and abundant surface oxygen-containing functional group. N 2 + 7% O 2 , higher pyrolysis temperature and heating rate benefit for BC's pore structure development. Oxygen-containing functional groups of O H, C O and C O O are the main functional groups on the BC surface, which promotes Hg0 adsorption. The physically adsorbed Hg0 and more chemically adsorbed HgO are the main mercury compounds in the used BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • 3% salt amount curing could significantly increase the intramuscular TG hydrolysis. • Salting (≤ 5% salt) could markedly induce the adipocyte protein phosphorylation. • Both ATGL and HSL could be activated by salt through inducing phosphorylation. • Perilipin1 was key regulator of TG hydrolysis in BF muscle during salting process. Towards a better understanding of the formation mechanism of salt on intramuscular triglyceride (TG) hydrolysis occurring in biceps femoris (BF) muscles during dry-salting process, the changes of TG hydrolysis, TG hydrolysis activity and phosphorylation of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) as well as their regulatory proteins (Perilipin1, ABHD5, G0S2) with different salt content (0%, 1%, 3%, 5%) and salting time (the first and third day) were analyzed. The results showed that dry-salting significantly increased the TG hydrolase activity and hydrolysis extent with salting process proceed (P < 0.05), especially upon the treatment with 3% amount of salt. The SDS-PAGE and Western-blot results further demonstrated that the promotion of salt on TG hydrolysis in intramuscular adipocytes was mainly attributed to the activation of protein kinase activity and protein phosphorylation process. Accordingly, the ATGL and HSL were activated, and meanwhile, the TG hydrolysis pivotal switch perilipin1 was also turned on by phosphorylation modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanochemical S/FeS modified high sulfur petroleum coke (HSPC) were prepared in this work. The mercury removal performance of the adsorbents was evaluated in a simulated flue gas fixed bed experimental device. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), Hg temperature-programmed desorption (Hg-TPD) and thermogravimetric (TG) were used to obtain the physical and chemical properties of some typical samples. It shows that the mercury removal efficiency (MRE) of mechanochemical S/FeS modified HSPC (MC-S/FeS-PC) increases with increasing the S or FeS addition amount under the same mechanical conditions (600/300 rpm, 60 min), where S is superior to FeS. The mass ratio of carbon to sulfur (RCS) of 4.5 for the MC-S-PC is the optimal sulfur addition amount with the MRE of 98.6%. Mechanochemical S/FeS modification is conducive to the development pore structure of raw HSPC with certain effects. S is the main sulfur form on the surface of MC-S-PC, while thiophene, FeS, and Fe 2 (SO 4) 3 are the main sulfur forms of MC-FeS-PC. The mercury compound on used adsorbents is mainly HgS (black). Moreover, another immature mechanism hypothesis about the mercury removal by MC-S-PC is proposed. [Display omitted] • Mechanochemical S/FeS modified high sulfur petroleum coke (MC-S/FeS-PC) were prepared. • Mercury removal efficiency (MRE) of MC-S/FeS-PC increases with increasing S or FeS addition amount. • RCS of 4.5 for the MC-S-PC is selected as the optimal sulfur addition amount with MRE of 98.6%. • Modification mechanism and mercury removal mechanism of MC-S/FeS-PC were deeply explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Effects of activation parameters on demercuration of PPC and RPC/PPC-M were studied. • Final pyrolysis temperature and medium and small balls benefit for pore structure development. • Pyrolysis and mechanochemical activation cause changes in surface S total and sulfur forms. • Sulfone acts avital role in mercury removal of petroleum coke-based adsorbents. • Needing additional additives to further improve demercuration ability of PC-based adsorbents. With the signing of the Minamata Convention , the task of reducing mercury emission from coal-fired power plants is imminent. High-sulfur petroleum coke (PC), a by-product of the petrochemical industry, has the potential to prepare high-performance mercury removal adsorbents. The effects of activation parameters of pyrolysis, mechanochemistry, pyrolysis + mechanochemistry on the mercury removal ability of activated PC were systematically studied in this work. The TG, BET, FTIR, XPS and Hg-TPD were used to characterize physical and chemical properties, and adsorbed mercury compounds of some selected samples. The results show that pyrolysis, mechanochemistry, pyrolysis + mechanochemistry can enhance the mercury capture performance of Raw PC (RPC). PPC10-60–900, RPC-M-15 M, and PPC-M-15B have the best mercury removal rate of 29.15%, 25.68%, and 27.86%, respectively. Influence of pyrolysis parameters, mechanochemical activation parameters (R bm , R ms) on mercury removal of activated RPC or pyrolyzed petroleum coke (PPC) are not regular, while final pyrolysis temperature plays a vital role on mercury capture for the PPC. At the fixed R bm , mechanochemical activation with R ms = 1.08 g/cm2 (M) and 0.62 g/cm2(S) benefits for the pore structure improvement of RPC and PPC. The pyrolysis will make the C–H, C-O, C-O-C, and C = O disappear from PC, while mechanochemical activation almost has no effect on it. The conversion of sulfur forms occurs in both the pyrolysis and mechanochemical activation process. Sulfone acts an important role in the mercury removal of PC-based adsorbents. The mercury captured on the PPC, mechanochemically activated RPC (RPC-M) and PPC (PPC-M) mainly exists in the more stable form of HgS. Additional modifiers are needed to further improve the mercury removal performance of the PC-based adsorbent to facilitate its large-scale industrial application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Mechanochemical sulfur modified biomass coke was firstly prepared. • Hg0 removal follows BC-4-S 2 Cl 2 -MC > BC-CaHS-MC > BC-ES-MC > BC-NaHS-MC > BC-Na 2 S-MC > R-BC. • BC-S 2 Cl 2 -MC with 800 μL S 2 Cl 2 has the best Hg0 removal rate of 96.17%. • Sulfoxide benefits for mercury removal among all the sulfur forms. • Mercury forms in the used MC-organic sulfur-BC are HgS with good stability. Coal-fired power plants are the main anthropogenic source of mercury emissions in the atmosphere. In this work, the raw material of biomass (wood chips), modifiers of sulfur-containing substances (Na 2 S, NaHS, S, CaHS, S 2 Cl 2), and mechanochemical method were adopted to prepare the mechanochemical sulfur-modified biomass coke (BC-S-MC). The effects of sulfur addition types and sulfur addition amounts on mercury removal performance of BC-S-MC were investigated by the mercury removal experimental device. The modification mechanism and mercury removal mechanism was explored with the help of BET, XPS, FTIR, and Hg-TPD. The results show that the mercury removal efficiency of BC-S-MC under the same sulfur addition amount meets BC-4-S 2 Cl 2 -MC > BC-CaHS-MC > BC-ES-MC > BC-NaHS-MC > BC-Na 2 S-MC > R-BC. As S 2 Cl 2 addition amount increases, the mercury removal rate of BC-S 2 Cl 2 -MC firstly increases and then decreases with best value of 96.17%. Mechanochemical sulfur modification severely destroys the pore structure of R-BC, but affects the surface chemistry properties like sulfur forms, C = O, C = S, O–H, etc. Sulfoxide plays an important role in improving the mercury removal ability. The mercury forms in the used mechanochemical organic sulfur modified biomass coke are mainly HgS (black) and HgS (red), which have good stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Seroprevalences of the four human coronaviruses (HCoVs) in children showed similar trajectories. • Immunoglobulin G levels of the four HCoVs in mothers and their neonates were correlated. • The immunoglobulin G in the neonates then dropped significantly until their 1 year of age. • Majority of children were seropositive to the four HCoVs before 18 years old. Four seasonal coronaviruses, including human coronavirus (HCoV)-229E and HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-HKU1 cause approximately 15-30% of common colds in adults. However, the full landscape of the immune trajectory to these viruses that covers the whole childhood period is still not well understood. We evaluated the serological responses against the four seasonal coronaviruses in 1886 children aged under 18 years by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The optical density values against each HCoV were determined from each sample. Generalized additive models were constructed to determine the relationship between age and seroprevalence throughout the whole childhood period. The specific antibody levels against the four seasonal coronaviruses were also tested from the plasma samples of 485 pairs of postpartum women and their newborn babies. The immunoglobulin (Ig) G levels of the four seasonal coronaviruses in the mother and the newborn babies were highly correlated (229E: r = 0.63; OC43: r = 0.65; NL63: r = 0.69; HKU1: r = 0.63). The seroprevalences in children showed a similar trajectory in that the levels of IgG in the neonates dropped significantly and reached the lowest level after the age of around 1 year (229E: 1.18 years; OC43: 0.97 years; NL63: 1.01 years; HKU1: 1.02 years) and then resurgence in the children who aged older than 1 year. Using the lowest level from the generalized additive models as our cutoff, the seroprevalences for HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-HKU1 were 98.11%, 96.23%, 96.23% and 94.34% at the age of 16-18 years. Mothers share HCoV-specific IgGs with their newborn babies and the level of maternal IgGs waned at around 1 year after birth. The resurgence of the HCoV-specific IgGs was found thereafter with the increase in age suggesting repeated infection occurred in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have greatly improved our ability to detect genomic variants for biomedical research. The advance in NGS technologies has also created significant challenges in bioinformatics. One of the major challenges is the quality control of sequencing data. There has been heavy focus on performing raw data quality control. In order to correctly interpret the quality of the DNA sequencing data, however, proper quality control should be conducted at all stages of DNA sequencing data analysis: raw data, alignment, and variant detection. We designed QC3, a quality control tool aimed at those three major stages of DNA sequencing. QC3 monitors quality control metrics at each stage of NGS data and provides unique and independent evaluations of the data quality from different perspectives. QC3 offers unique features such as detection of batch effect and cross contamination. QC3 and its source code are freely downloadable at https://github.com/slzhao/QC3. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this work, a severe plastic deformation method, namely elliptical cross-section torsion extrusion (E -TE), was applied to achieve superplasticity of an in-situ TiB 2 /Al-Zn-Mg-Cu composite by obtaining the optimized microstructure of uniformly distributed particles and equiaxed-fine grains. The superplastic behavior and mechanisms of the E -TE processed composite were comprehensively investigated via tensile tests (at T = 350 °C–500 °C and ε ̇ = 10−1 s−1-10−3 s−1) and microstructure characterizations. The tests demonstrated that the composite after a single pass of the E -TE gained a maximum elongation of 420% at 450 °C × 10−3 s−1. Even with the strain rate increasing to 10−2 s−1, the elongation still reached 360%, which implies a high strain rate superplasticity. Analysis based on the strain rate sensitivity (m ≈ 0.20–0.35) and microstructure characterizations showed that the deformation and failure mechanisms of the composite vary with the temperature. When the temperature is within 350 °C–400 °C, the composite realizes deformation mainly through intragranular dislocation slip and fails by intragranular fracture. With the temperature of 425 °C–450 °C, the deformation is attributed to cooperative grain boundary sliding (CGBS) accommodated by dislocation activity and liquid phase, where a small fraction of liquid phases observed at the triple junctions of GBs facilitates the composite's superplasticity by reducing the stress concentration and deformation incompatibility. The failure is ascribed to the intergranular fracture by cavity formation/coalescence. For temperature within 475 °C–500 °C, numerous liquid phases formed at GBs and significantly weakened the GBs' strength, deteriorating the composite's superplasticity. The composite's failure is resulted from the intergranular fracture by strength weakening of GBs. • Particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites after elliptical cross-section torsion extrusion (E-TE) show superplasticity. • The E-TE processed composite exhibits an elongation of 360% at 450℃×10-2s-1, implying a high strain rate superplasticity. • The superplastic deformation/failure mechanisms of the E-TE processed composite vary with temperatures. • The composite's superplasticity is facilitated by the appropriate liquid phase at the optimized temperature of 450℃. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel severe plastic deformation method, i.e. , elliptical cross-section torsion extrusion (E-TE), was applied to improve the performance of an in-situ TiB 2 /Al–Zn–Mg–Cu composite to promote the application of the composite in the aerospace industry. Results evidence that the E-TE can homogenize the particle distribution and refine the composite's microstructure in a one-step process, thus yields a simultaneous improvement of the strength and ductility. Based on the experimental and simulation results, the underlying microstructure evolution during the E-TE process is revealed that the E-TE imposes large shear deformation on the composite, which mechanically fragments large grains and smashes particle bands/clusters; meanwhile, the dispersed reinforced particles and precipitations facilitate grain refinement via both accelerating continuous dynamic recrystallization and particle stimulated nucleation, and impede grain growth by hindering grain boundary migrant. Therefore, the E-TE processed composite exhibits optimized microstructures of uniformly distributed particles and fine-equiaxial grains; and its strength is increased via the grain boundary strengthening, while the ductility is improved due to the damage-generation retardation and crack-propagation impediment resulted from the fine-homogeneous microstructures. However, the precipitation dissolution under high temperatures weakens the particle/matrix interface bonding and results in void formation, leading to less mechanical properties improvement. [Display omitted] • Composites processed by the elliptical cross-section torsion extrusion (E-TE) exhibit fine-homogeneous microstructures and simultaneously improved strength and ductility. • The E-TE introduced shear deformation effectively disperses particles, and meanwhile co-acts with the reinforced particles and precipitations to refine grains. • Precipitation dissolution at high temperatures deteriorates the grain refinement and weakens the particle/matrix interface bonding, causing less strength improvement. • Multiple strengthening mechanisms contribute to composites' strength, where grain-boundary strengthening mainly causes the strength improvement of the E-TE processed composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification of soil contamination types is of great scientific significance for soil remediation and environmental pollution control. However, traditional identification methods for soil determination are time-consuming, laborious, and complicated. Here, we proposed an accurate method for identifying soil contamination types based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and an improved convolutional neural network (CNN) model. The spectral feature extraction-based multiple attention residual network (SFEMARNet) model was constructed to extract detailed features by spectral feature extraction (SFE) modules, and highlight useful features by multiple attention residual (MAR) modules in LIBS spectral data. In addition, deep learning models and machine learning models were used to identify the data. The results showed that the SFEMARNet model achieved an accuracy of 98.75% on the test set. The recall, precision, and F1-score of the models reached 98.78%, 98.75%, and 98.76%, respectively, which were significantly better than the three deep learning models and of four machine learning models. It seems that the SFEMARNet model combined with LIBS technology may be a potential method for the accurate identification of soil contamination types. [Display omitted] • Convolutional neural network-assisted LIBS was used to identify soil contamination types. • An improved CNN model was developed to improve identification accuracy. • The accuracy of identification reached 98.75%, which was higher than other models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Intramuscular TG hydrolysis was significantly affected by salt content during dry-salting. • 3% salt content could significantly promote the phosphorylation of ATGL and HSL. • Increasing salt could significantly promote the large lipid droplets to split into small ones. This study mainly investigated the effect of different salt concentrations (1, 3, or 5%) on triglycerides (TG) hydrolysis in muscle during salting by analyzing moisture distribution, TG hydrolysis, TG hydrolase activity, native and phosphorylated adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) protein content, lipid droplets morphology, and muscle microstructure. The results showed that increasing salt concentration could significantly decrease T 21 moisture proportion and relaxation time (p < 0.05), which was more beneficial to the lipase activity. The TG hydrolase activity increased first and then decreased with the salt concentration increasing during dry-salting process, and 3% salt concentration was the point of inflection. Western blot (WB) analysis detected both ATGL, HSL and their phosphorylated proteins, which were increased with the salt content increase. The microstructure analysis showed that the lipid droplets were split into small lipid droplets with the increase of salt content, which was more conducive to the triglycerides hydrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modified torsion extrusion (TE) method, entitled elliptical cross-section TE (E-TE), was proposed as a severe plastic deformation (SPD) process to refine the microstructures and improve the mechanical properties of a bulk in-situ TiB 2 particle reinforced 7075 Al composite. The material is deformed in a rotatable cavity with variable cross-section that varies from circular to elliptical then to circular, by which a severe shear effect is subjected to the material. Numerical simulations show that the E-TE processed sample underwent larger shear deformation than the ones processed by the conventional TE and the forward extrusion. Microstructure characterizations demonstrate that the E-TE processed sample results in better microstructures with uniformly distributed particles and fine equiaxed recrystallized grains due to the larger deformation. Mechanical tests on the processed samples demonstrate that the E-TE processed sample has the best combination of strength and ductility. Besides, with the aid of the torsion effect, the E-TE operation requires the minimum extrusion load to achieve the same extrusion ratio. The proposed E-TE process thus can be used as an efficient process for optimizing mechanical properties of metal matrix composites. Image 1 • An SPD method, elliptical cross-section torsion extrusion (E-TE), was proposed to improve the metal matrix composites. • E-TE can effectively disperse the agglomerated particles and promote the dynamic recrystallization of the composites. • The E-TE processed sample behaves better than the ones processed by forward extrusion and circular cross-section TE. • E-TE requires a lower extrusion load due to its larger shear strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical professionals such as physicians and veterinarians are responsible for appropriate antimicrobial prescription (AMP) and use. Although seemingly straightforward, the factors influencing antibiotic prescription, a category of antimicrobials, are complex. Many studies have been conducted in the past two decades on this subject. As a result, there is a plethora of empirical evidence regarding the factors influencing clinicians' AMP practices. Aim : A systematic review of AMR studies on AMP was conducted, condensing findings according to a combination of the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) and Capacity, Opportunity, Motivation—Behavior (COM-B) models. Review findings were then synthesized and analyzed for policy implementation according to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Design and methodology: A systematic literature review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines to identify peer-reviewed papers indexed in pre-determined medical science, social sciences, and humanities databases that apply the KAP model in their investigations. Antimicrobial prescription factors were compared and contrasted among low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). Findings: The KAP model is a heuristic and structured framework for identifying and classifying respondents' knowledge. However, other than medical knowledge, factors that influence prescription decision-making can be expanded to include attitudes, perception, personal affinities, professional circumstances, relational pressure, and social norms. • There are intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing antibiotic prescription. • Prudent prescription challenge is externalization of AMR problem in LMIC and HMIC. • Each cohort is characterized with local and pre-existing strength and weaknesses. • This review adapts combined KAP and COM-B domains for behavioral change factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We recently found that epiplakin 1 (EPPK1) alterations were present in 12% of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cases and were associated with a poor prognosis in early-stage LUAD when combined with other molecular alterations. This study aimed to identify a probable crucial role for EPPK1 in cancer development. Methods: EPPK1 mRNA and protein expression was analyzed with clinical variables. Normal bronchial epithelial cell lines were exposed to cigarette smoke for 16 weeks to determine whether EPPK1 protein expression was altered after exposure. Further, we used CRISPR-Cas9 to knock out (KO) EPPK1 in LUAD cell lines and observed how the cancer cells were altered functionally and genetically. Results: EPPK1 protein expression was associated with smoking and poor prognosis in early-stage LUAD. Moreover, a consequential mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition was observed, subsequently resulting in diminished cell proliferation and invasion after EPPK1 KO. RNA sequencing revealed that EPPK1 KO induced downregulation of 11 oncogenes, 75 anti-apoptosis, and 22 angiogenesis genes while upregulating 8 tumor suppressors and 12 anti-cell growth genes. We also observed the downregulation of MYC and upregulation of p53 expression at both protein and RNA levels following EPPK1 KO. Gene ontology enrichment analysis of molecular functions highlighted the correlation of EPPK1 with the regulation of mesenchymal cell proliferation, mesenchymal differentiation, angiogenesis, and cell growth after EPPK1 KO. Conclusions: Our data suggest that EPPK1 is linked to smoking, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, and the regulation of cancer progression, indicating its potential as a therapeutic target for LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effects of three emotional types of advertising on driving behavior in risky situations were studied based on a driving simulator. • Negative and positive emotion advertisements are more likely to attract drivers' attention. • Negative ads are more likely to have a negative effect on driving behavior. • Emotional advertising distracts drivers from their primary task and reduces drivers' braking response ability. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of emotional advertising on driver behavior and to investigate whether emotional advertising changes drivers' external attention and braking responsiveness in risky driving situations. We assessed the cheerfulness and evocativeness of 12 advertising images through a Likert scale, classifying the billboards into negative, neutral, and positive categories. In a driving simulator study with 30 participants, advertisements of different emotional types were placed in front of straightaways and intersections and risk scenarios were set up, with a total of 12 risk scenarios being presented. Analysis of driver distraction by gaze duration and probability of smooth distribution of gaze. Analysis of the effect of emotional advertising on driver braking responsiveness through reaction time and speed change rate. The results showed that drivers allocated 13% more attention to emotional advertising than to neutral advertising. Negative emotional advertising is more likely to affect drivers emotionally, distract drivers, and increase their braking reaction time and speed change rate in risky situations. This study provides some guidance for better design of road advertising to improve driving safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To comprehensively study extracellular small RNAs (sRNA) by sequencing (sRNA-seq), we developed a novel pipeline to overcome current limitations in analysis entitled, "Tools for Integrative Genome analysis of Extracellular sRNAs (TIGER)". To demonstrate the power of this tool, sRNA-seq was performed on mouse lipoproteins, bile, urine and livers. A key advance for the TIGER pipeline is the ability to analyse both host and non-host sRNAs at genomic, parent RNA and individual fragment levels. TIGER was able to identify approximately 60% of sRNAs on lipoproteins and >85% of sRNAs in liver, bile and urine, a significant advance compared to existing software. Moreover, TIGER facilitated the comparison of lipoprotein sRNA signatures to disparate sample types at each level using hierarchical clustering, correlations, beta-dispersions, principal coordinate analysis and permutational multivariate analysis of variance. TIGER analysis was also used to quantify distinct features of exRNAs, including 5ʹ miRNA variants, 3ʹ miRNA non-templated additions and parent RNA positional coverage. Results suggest that the majority of sRNAs on lipoproteins are non-host sRNAs derived from bacterial sources in the microbiome and environment, specifically rRNA-derived sRNAs from Proteobacteria. Collectively, TIGER facilitated novel discoveries of lipoprotein and biofluid sRNAs and has tremendous applicability for the field of extracellular RNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]