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Natural sunlight activated persistent luminescence (PeL) is ideal candidate for optical information display in outdoors without the requirement of electric supply. Except the brightness and duration, the stability especially water resistance of the PeL materials is of significant importance for practical application, which remains a great obstacle up to date. Herein, we report a new sunlight activated PeL glass ceramic containing hexagonal Sr13Al22Si10O66:Eu2+ crystals, which exhibits strong blue PeL and can last more than 200 h. The PeL can be charged by the full wavelengths located in AM 1.5G due to the broad distribution of traps in the crystal structure. The PeL is clearly observed by the naked eye even after 24 h upon sunlight irradiation irrespective of the weather, and the photoluminescence intensity only decreased ∼3.3% after storing in water for 365 d. We demonstrate its potential application for thermal and stress responsive display as well as long-term continuous security indication upon sunlight irradiation, which not only save vast energy and reduce environment pollution, but also are appropriate for outdoor usage.

Ektaphelenchids are entomophilic nematode species, commonly found in association with insects. In the present study, an alien and a native Chinese ektaphelenchid species were described based on integrative taxonomic approaches. Both species have three lateral lines and excretory pore at the same level or posterior to nerve ring. The alien species to China is Ektaphelenchus apophysatus sp. nov. which was recovered from the logs of imported Pinus taeda at Ningbo port, China. It was characterized by females having a conical posterior body end (tail) with variable morphology of the tip, i.e., sharply pointed, bluntly rounded or irregular, and males with spicules having a characteristic apophysis and two pairs of caudal papillae. The native species is Ektaphelenchoides zingiberis sp. nov. which was recovered from the rhizosphere of ginger, growing in the cultivated areas of Shandong province. Ektaphelenchoides zingiberis sp. nov. can be characterized by the presence of orange-red coloured particles in the intestine, female posterior body region (tail) conical, ending to an elongate slender to clavate terminus. The host associations, insect vectors and distribution of both genera are also outlined in the present study. The study will aid the nematologists to explore the biological aspects of ektaphelenchids and will be useful to investigate the nature of relationships between nematodes and their insect associates., This research was funded by the Ningbo Science and Technology Innovation Team (2015C110018), China Customs Science Program (2020HK161), and Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation (LY19C140003).

Salinity has been demonstrated to influence the biosynthesis of long-chain (C20–24) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) in teleost fish. Since LC-PUFAs are essential nutrients for vertebrates, it is central to understand how fish cope with an acute change in salinity associated with natural events. We herein report on the cloning and functional characterization of two elongation of very-long-chain fatty acid (Elovl)4 proteins, namely, Elovl4a and Elovl4b, and study the roles that these enzymes play in the biosynthesis of LC-PUFAs and very-long-chain (>C24) polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFAs) in marine teleost Pampus argenteus. The P. argenteus Elovl4 displayed all of the typical features of Elovl-like enzymes and have eyes and brain as major sites through which they exert their functions. Moreover, functional studies showed that the P. argenteus Elovl4 can effectively elongate C18–22 substrates to C36 VLC-PUFA. Because both P. argenteus Elovl4 are able to produce 24:5n – 3 from shorter precursors, we tested whether the previously reported Δ6 Fads2 from P. argenteus was able to desaturate 24:5n – 3 to 24:6n – 3, a key step for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) synthesis. Our results showed that P. argenteus can indeed bioconvert 24:5n – 3 into 24:6n – 3, suggesting that P. argenteus has the enzymatic capacity required for DHA biosynthesis through the coordinated action of both Elovl4 and Fads2. Furthermore, an acute salinity test indicated that low-salinity stress (12 ppt) upregulated genes involved in LC-PUFA biosynthesis, with 12 ppt salinity treatment showing the highest hepatic LC-PUFA content. Overall, our results unveiled that the newly characterized Elovl4 enzymes have indispensable functions in LC- and VLC-PUFA biosynthesis. Moreover, acute salinity change influenced the biosynthesis of LC-PUFA in P. argenteus. This study provided new insight into the biosynthesis of LC- and VLC-PUFAs in vertebrates and the physiological responses that teleosts have under acute salinity stress., This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD0900400), the Nature Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY17C190002 and Y21C190016), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31802303 and 32072987), Key Research Program of Zhejiang Province of China (2018C02037), Ningbo Agricultural Major Project (2015C110003), Zhejiang Major Science Project (2019C02059), Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LQ20C190005), Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo (2019A610427), and the Industrial Chain Collaborative Innovation Project of the Demonstration Work on Innovative Development of the Marine Economy of the State Oceanic Administration (NBHY-2017-S2). This research was also sponsored by the K. C. Wong Magna Fund from Ningbo University. Further funding was obtained through a Proyecto Intramural Especial of CSIC (201840I016) awarded to Ó .M.

Aharonov-Bohm (AB) caging, a special flat-band localization mechanism, has spurred great interest in different areas of physics. AB caging can be harnessed to explore the rich and exotic physics of quantum transport in flatband systems, where geometric frustration, disorder, and correlations act in a synergetic and distinct way than that in ordinary dispersive band systems. In contrast to the ordinary Anderson localization, where disorder induces localization and prevents transport, in flat band systems disorder can induce mobility, a phenomenon dubbed inverse Anderson transition. Here, we report on the experimental realization of the AB cage using a synthetic lattice in the momentum space of ultracold atoms with tailored gauge fields, and demonstrate the geometric localization due to the flat band and the inverse Anderson transition when correlated binary disorder is added to the system. Our experimental platform in a many-body environment provides a fascinating quantum simulator where the interplay between engineered gauge fields, localization, and topological properties of flat band systems can be finely explored., We acknowledge support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant No. 2018YFA0307200 and No. 2022YFA1404203, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants No. U21A20437 and No. 12074337, Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province under Grant No. LR21A040002, Zhejiang Province Plan for Science and Technology Grant No. 2020C01019, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant No. 2021FZZX001-02.

International audience; Constitutive behaviors of granular materials are driven by both particle interactions and geometric arrangements of contact network. To bridge the gap between the grain scale and the sample scale, the mesoscale is of great importance as it corresponds to the smallest scale at which geometrical effect can be accounted for. Meso shear structures (sometimes called microbands) have been observed frequently on incremental strain maps Shear chain concept for granular materials in granular materials under shearing, while the Rudnicki and Rice localization criterion for shear band is not fulfilled yet. These meso structures are thin, quasi-linear and they involve a few grains as well as their surrounding voids. This paper introduces the concept of "incremental shear strain chain" (simply called "shear chain") to provide a specific quantitative definition of such mesostructures. "Shear chains" are defined based on incremental deviatoric strain fields in 2D biaxial simulations. Particular attention is paid to demonstrate that the shear chain orientation is a material scale property, insensitive to boundary conditions, loading paths and sample densities. Since shear chains are shown to be closely related to sliding mechanisms, they can stand for a mesoscale definition of the concept of slip lines as defined in the standard elasto-plasticity theory.

The regulation of lipogenesis and lipolysis mechanisms related to consumption of lipid has not been studied in swimming crab. The aims of present study were to evaluate the effects of dietary lipid levels on growth, enzymes activities, and expression of genes of lipid metabolism in hepatopancreas of juvenile swimming crab. Three isonitrogenous diets were formulated to contain crude lipid levels at 5.8 %, 9.9 % and 15.1 %, respectively. Crabs fed the diet containing 15.1 % lipid had significantly lower weight gain, specific growth rate and survival, and higher feed conversion ratio than those fed the 5.8 % and 9.9 % lipid diets. Crabs fed 5.8 % lipid had lower malondialdehyde concentrations in the hemolymph and hepatopancreas than those fed the other diets. Highest glutathione peroxidase in hemolymph and superoxide dismutase in hepatopancreas were observed in crabs fed 5.8 % lipid. The lowest fatty acid synthase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities in hepatopancreas were observed in crabs fed 15.1 % lipid, whereas crabs fed 5.8 % lipid had lower carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 activity than those fed the other diets. Crabs fed 15.1 % lipid showed lower hepatopancreas expression of genes involved in LC-PUFA biosynthesis, lipoprotein clearance, fatty acid uptake, fatty acid oxidation, lipid anabolism and lipid catabolism than those fed the other diets, whereas expression of some genes of lipoprotein assembly and fatty acid oxidation were up-regulated compared with crabs fed 5.8 % lipid. Overall, high dietary lipid level can inhibit growth, reduce feed utilization and reduce antioxidant enzyme activities. Moreover, dietary lipid influenced enzyme activities and gene expression involved in lipid metabolism of juvenile swimming crab., The present study was supported by National Key R & D Program of China (2018YFD0900400), China Agriculture Research System (CARS-48), National Natural Science Foundation of China (41476125), Nature Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY17C190002), Key Research Program of Zhejiang Province of China (2018C02037), Zhejiang Aquaculture Nutrition & Feed Technology Service Team (ZJANFTST2017-2) and Major Agriculture Program of Ningbo (2017C110007). This research was also sponsored by the K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University.

Silver quantum clusters ([Agm]n+ QCs) are a type of efficient broadband fluorescence centers with m and n related quantum size effects but usually lack chemical and thermal stability. To solve such a problem and exploit [Agm]n+ QCs potential applications in white LED lighting, [Agm]n+ QCs and rare earth ions (RE3+) were designed to be selectively enriched into B2O3-rich spinodal nanophase separation and SrF2 nanocrystals in fluoroborosilicate multiphase glass-ceramics. In this work, Ag/RE3+-codoped glasses and glass-ceramics with a designed composition were prepared through a melt-quenching method and subsequent heat treatment. The B2O3-rich spinodal nanophase separation and SrF2 nanocrystals were stepwise formed in these glass-ceramics. Taking Ag/Er3+-codoped glass-ceramics for an example, the special microstructures were clearly revealed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and energy-disper...

International audience; With the wide use of visual sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT) in the past decade, huge amount of images are captured in people's daily lives, which makes the traditional deep learning-based image retrieval frameworks meeting some challenges. For one, most of them need a large amount of annotated training data, which is expensive. Moreover, machines still lack human intelligence, as illustrated by the fact that they pay less attention to the interesting regions that humans generally focus on when search images. Hence, this paper proposes a novel unsupervised framework that focuses on the instance object in the image, and integrates human intelligence into the deep learningbased image retrieval. This framework is called adversarial instance-level image retrieval (AILIR). We incorporate adversarial training and an attention mechanism into this framework that consider human intelligence with artificial intelligence. The generator and discriminator are redesigned to guarantee that the generator retrieves similar images while the discriminator selects unmatched images and creates an adversarial reward for the generator. A minimax game is conducted by the adversarial reward retrieval mechanism until the discriminator is unable to judge whether the image sequence retrieved matches the query. Comparison and ablation experiments on four benchmark datasets prove that the proposed adversarial training framework indeed improves instance retrieval and outperforms the state-ofthe-art methods focused on instance retrieval.

International audience; Lanthanide-doped up-conversion (UC) materials with color tunable property show promising application in many fields, such as biological imaging, optical multiplexing, and information security. Although great efforts have been devoted to regulate UC emission color via modifying chemical composition, crystal structure, or external stimuli condition, it is remain a daunting challenge to develop a general strategy that probably suitable for various lanthanide-doped nano-systems. Herein, we verify the cross-relaxation possibility between sensitizer Yb3+ and activator Er3+ as well as Er3+- Er3+ pairs can be well modified by engineering the crystal lattice distortion of matrix, leading to the evident UC emission color variations. Specifically, with incorporating Al3+ or Ca2+ ions into the Yb/Er co-doped BaF2 nanocrystals (NCs) contained glass ceramics (GCs), the contraction of the crystal lattice lead to the change of UC emission color from green to red. On the contrary, the high laser excitation power results in the lattice expansion of the Al3+-doped BaF2:Yb/Er GCs at different Yb3+ concentration as well as Al3+ doped CaF2 GCs, which leads to the greatly increased green-to-red ratio. These multi-color UC GCs show potential application in anti-counterfeiting filed. Our results open up a general avenue for the control of UC emission color via engineering crystal lattice distortion.

[Background]: Pru p 1 is a major allergen in peach and nectarine, and the different content in varieties may affect the degree of allergic reactions. This study aimed to quantify Pru p 1 levels in representative peach varieties and select hypoallergenic Pru p 1 varieties., [Methods]: To obtain monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, mice and rabbits, respectively, were immunized with recombinant Pru p 1.01 and Pru p 1.02. The Pru p 1 levels in fruits from 83 representative peach varieties was quantified by sandwich enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (sELISA). nPru p 1 was obtained through specific monoclonal antibody affinity purification and confirmed by Western blot and mass spectrometry. The variable Pru p 1 content of selected varieties was evaluated by Western blot and the expression level of encoding Pru p 1 genes by quantitative polymerase chain reaction., [Results]: A sELISA method with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies was built for quantifying Pru p 1 levels in peach. Pru p 1 was mainly concentrated in the peel (0.20–73.44 μg/g, fresh weight), being very low in the pulp (0.05–9.62 μg/g) and not detected in wild peach. For the 78 peach and nectarine varieties, Pru p 1 content varied widely from 0.12 to 6.45 μg/g in whole fruit. We verified that natural Pru p 1 is composed of 1.01 and 1.02 isoallergens, and the Pru p 1 expression level and Pru p 1 band intensity in the immunoblots were in agreement with protein quantity determined by ELISA for some tested varieties. In some cases, the reduced levels of Pru p 1 did not coincide with low Pru p 3 in the same variety in whole fruit, while some ancient wild peach and nectarines contained low levels of both allergens, and late‐ripening yellow flesh varieties were usually highly allergenic., [Conclusion]: Pru p 1 content is generally low in peach compared to Pru p 3. Several hypoallergenic Pru p 1 and Pru p 3 varieties, “Zi Xue Tao,” “Wu Yue Xian,” and “May Fire,” were identified, which could be useful in trials for peach allergy patients., This study was funded by The Key Project for New Agricultural Cultivar Breeding in Zhejiang Province, China (2016C02052‐5), Shanghai Science and Technology Committee Rising‐Star Program (19QB1404600).

International audience; Metallic gratings have flexible and powerful modulation effects on electromagnetic waves. Reflection and transmission spectra of metallic gratings may become extremely narrow or ultra wide depending on the grating parameters. In this paper, a surface plasmon resonance-based sensing system comprising of a metallic grating coupled with a prism configuration was proposed. The effects of all parameters of the sensing system on the Goos-Hadnchen shift and sensitivity were studied in detail, and the results showed that ultra-shallow metallic gratings with large duty cycles, with no other materials involved, are more beneficial. In addition, a set of optimum parameters was obtained at the incident wavelength. Compared with the conventional SPR-based gold sensing chip, strongly coupled surface plasmon resonance around the grating enlarges the penetration depth, and enhances both Goos-Hadnchen shift and the corresponding sensitivity by 5.6 times, with increasing refractive indices of the analyte solutions. These results indicate that the proposed ultra-shallow metal grating-based sensing structure is in favor of detecting ultralow concentrations of biomolecules in the analyte solutions.

International audience; On the basis of a kind of zinc phosphate oxynitride glass matrix with a broadband blue light, a series of manganese single-doped glasses were obtained. A broader red emission with the higher intensity belonging to the Mn2+ ion was observed in this glass matrix. The mechanism of the emission from Mn2+ ions was clarified through Mn3+ as an "energy acquisition probe" to replace complex dynamic luminescence discussion, which was a fit explanation for the differences in luminescence behavior of Mn ions in prepared glasses at different degrees of redox. The research results indicated that the prepared manganese-doped glass was a potential candidate as phosphor-converted white-light-emitting diodes. An encapsulated white-light-emitting diode device based on this glass with 276 nm ultraviolet chip was achieved. It showed the CIE values of (0.33, 0.35), high CRI (Ra = 86), and low color temperature (5228 K).

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 31272131 and 31372040), Shanghai Science and Technology Committee Rising‐Star Program (19QB1404600), and The Key Project for New Agricultural Cultivar Breeding in Zhejiang Province, China (2016C02052‐5).

Bulk SrTiO3 is a quantum paraelectric in which an antiferrodistortive distortion below ≈105 K and quantum fluctuations at low temperature preclude the stabilization of a long-range ferroelectric state. However, biaxial mechanical stress, impurity doping, and Sr nonstoichiometry, among other mechanisms, are able to stabilize a ferroelectric or relaxor ferroelectric state at room temperature, which develops into a longer-range ferroelectric state below 250 K. In this paper, we show that epitaxial SrTiO3 thin films grown under tensile strain on DyScO3 exhibit a large reduction of thermal conductivity, of ≈60% at room temperature, with respect to identical strain-free or compressed films. The thermal conductivity shows a further reduction below 250 K, a temperature concurrent with the peak in the dielectric constant [J. H. Haeni et al., Nature (London) 430, 758 (2004)]. These results suggest that strain gradients in the relaxor and ferroelectric phase of SrTiO3 are very effective phonon scatterers, limiting the thermal transport in this material., F.R. acknowledges financial support of the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (Project No. MAT2016- 80762-R), and Xunta de Galicia (Centro Singular de Investigación de Galicia accreditation 2016-2019) and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund ERDF), and the European Commission through the project 734187 - SPICOLOST (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2016). J.A.M. would like to acknowledge the National Science Foundation, Division of Electrical, Communication and Cyber Systems, Award No. 1901972. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51876186), Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. LZ19E060002), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (K20200145), and ZJUI with W.-L. Ong as one of the Principal Supervisors.

International audience; The use of Yb3+ co-doping with Ho3+ to enhance the Ho3+: I-5(6) -> I-5(7) similar to 2.84-mu m emissions is investigated in the tellurite-germanate glasses. An intense similar to 2.84-mu m emission with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 132 nm is achieved in the Ho3+/Yb3+ co-doped tellurite-germanate glass upon excitation at 980 nm. The glass not only possesses considerably low OH-absorption coefficient (0.206 cm(-1)), but also exhibits 2.84-mu m large emission cross section (14.6 x 10(-21) cm(2)). Moreover, the measured lifetime of Ho3+: I-5(6) level is as high as 0.283 ms. Results reveal that Ho3+/Yb3+ co-doped Tellurite-germanate glass is an attractive host for developing a mid-infrared 3-mu m solid-state laser.

Elongation of very long-chain fatty acid 4 (Elovl4) proteins participate in the biosynthesis of long-chain and very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA and VLC-PUFA). In the present study, an elovl4 cDNA was cloned from the swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus by PCR techniques and functionally characterized using recombinant expression in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The elovl4 cDNA sequence contained an open reading frame of 1038 base pairs, encoding a protein of 346 amino acids. The elovl4 has typical Elovl structures, with transmembrane domains (6) and a histidine box. The elovl4 was expressed in various tissues analyzed, with the highest expression found in intestine and hepatopancreas, followed by stomach and eyestalk. The functional characterization of Elovl4 yeast showed that the P. trituberculatus Elovl4 can elongate C18–22 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), reaching in some cases products of C24 and C26. Along its ability to elongate PUFA, the P. trituberculatus Elovl4 was also efficient in the elongation of saturated fatty acids, with 28:0 and 30:0 being prominent elongation products. These results provide insight into the LC-PUFA biosynthetic capability of commercially important species of crustaceans., This study was supported by National Key R & D Program of China (2018YFD0900400), China Agriculture Research System-48 (CARS-48), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41476125), and the Nature Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY17C190002), Key Research Program of Zhejiang Province of China (2018C02037), the Major Agriculture Program of Ningbo (2017C110007). This research was also sponsored by the K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University. Further funding was obtained through a Proyecto Intramural Especial of CSIC (201840I016) awarded to ÓM.

International audience

Prior to the availability of whole-genome sequences, our understanding of the structural and functional aspects of Prunus tree genomes was limited mostly to molecular genetic mapping of important traits and development of EST resources. With public release of the peach genome and others that followed, significant advances in our knowledge of Prunus genomes and the genetic underpinnings of important traits ensued. In this review, we highlight key achievements in Prunus genetics and breeding driven by the availability of these whole-genome sequences. Within the structural and evolutionary contexts, we summarize: (1) the current status of Prunus whole-genome sequences; (2) preliminary and ongoing work on the sequence structure and diversity of the genomes; (3) the analyses of Prunus genome evolution driven by natural and man-made selection; and (4) provide insight into haploblocking genomes as a means to define genome-scale patterns of evolution that can be leveraged for trait selection in pedigree-based Prunus tree breeding programs worldwide. Functionally, we summarize recent and ongoing work that leverages whole-genome sequences to identify and characterize genes controlling 22 agronomically important Prunus traits. These include phenology, fruit quality, allergens, disease resistance, tree architecture, and self-incompatibility. Translationally, we explore the application of sequence-based marker-assisted breeding technologies and other sequence-guided biotechnological approaches for Prunus crop improvement. Finally, we present the current status of publically available Prunus genomics and genetics data housed mainly in the Genome Database for Rosaceae (GDR) and its updated functionalities for future bioinformatics-based Prunus genetics and genomics inquiry., A fruitful genomic resource Detailed genomic maps from the fruit-bearing trees of the Prunus genus should greatly accelerate the breeding of superior cultivars. These plants produce a variety of popular fruits, but until relatively recently, breeders had only limited genetic information with which to work. Pere Arús of Spain’s Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology and colleagues have now reviewed the rapid advances in Prunus genomics that have taken place since 2010, when researchers completed the first genome assembly for this genus. In the ensuing decade, increasingly high-quality genomes from the peach, Japanese apricot, and cherry have allowed scientists to home in on chromosomal regions associated with key traits such as fruit quality and disease resistance. These data also offer valuable genetic markers that agronomists can use to guide the production of healthier trees and more commercially desirable fruits.

The present study aimed to investigate whether dietary choline can regulate lipid metabolism and suppress NFκB activation and, consequently, attenuate inflammation induced by a high-fat diet in black sea bream (Acanthopagrus schlegelii). An 8-week feeding trial was conducted on fish with an initial weight of 8·16 ± 0·01 g. Five diets were formulated: control, low-fat diet (11 %); HFD, high-fat diet (17 %); and HFD supplemented with graded levels of choline (3, 6 or 12 g/kg) termed HFD + C1, HFD + C2 and HFD + C3, respectively. Dietary choline decreased lipid content in whole body and tissues. Highest TAG and cholesterol concentrations in serum and liver were recorded in fish fed the HFD. Similarly, compared with fish fed the HFD, dietary choline reduced vacuolar fat drops and ameliorated HFD-induced pathological changes in liver. Expression of genes of lipolysis pathways were up-regulated, and genes of lipogenesis down-regulated, by dietary choline compared with fish fed the HFD. Expression of nfκb and pro-inflammatory cytokines in liver and intestine was suppressed by choline supplementation, whereas expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines was promoted in fish fed choline-supplemented diets. In fish that received lipopolysaccharide to stimulate inflammatory responses, the expression of nfκb and pro-inflammatory cytokines in liver, intestine and kidney were all down-regulated by dietary choline compared with the HFD. Overall, the present study indicated that dietary choline had a lipid-lowering effect, which could protect the liver by regulating intrahepatic lipid metabolism, reducing lipid droplet accumulation and suppressing NFκB activation, consequently attenuating HFD-induced inflammation in A. schlegelii., This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 31802303), Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo (grant no. 2018A610343), National Key R & D Program of China (2018YFD0900400), Key Research Program of Zhejiang Province of China (no. 2018C02037), Zhejiang Aquaculture Nutrition & Feed Technology Service Team (ZJANFTST2017-2), the Open Fund of Zhejiang Provincial Top Key Discipline of Aquaculture in Ningbo University and K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University.

International audience; Fasting influences the overall physiology of fish, and the knowledge how the gut microbiota, growth performances, and immune function in response to intermittent and long-term fasting is still insufficient. Here, we characterized the effects of fasting on the host-gutmicrobiotaincrucian carp, which would enhance our insight intophysiological adaptation tofasting. To achieve this, we investigated the gut microbial communities of crucian carp with different fasting stress, and corresponding immune and growth parameters. The gut microbial communities were structured into four clusters according to different fasting stress, namely one control group (feed regularly), two intermittent fasting groups (fasting period and re-feeding period, respectively), and one long-term fasting group. Intermittent fasting significantly improved the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and lysozyme (LZM) (ANOVA, p < 0.05) and significantly increased alpha diversity and ecosystem stability of gut microbiota (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Gut length (GL) and condition factor (CF) showed no significant difference between the control group (CG) and intermittent fasting group under re-feeding period (RIF) (ANOVA, p = 0.11), but relative gut length (RGL) in group RIF was higher than that in the CG (ANOVA, p = 0.00). The bacterial genera Bacteroides, Akkermansia, andErysipelotrichaceae were enriched in fishes under intermittent fasting. Two Bacteroides OTUs (OTU50 and OTU1292) correlated positively with immune (SOD, comple-ment, and LZM) and growth (GL and RGL) parameters. These results highlight the possible interplay between growth perfor-mances, immune function, and gut microbiota in response to fasting.

peer-reviewed Research on HOFs has been developed for quite a long time; however, those with both established permanent porosities and functional properties are extremely rare due to weak hydrogen-bonding interactions among molecular organic linkers which are much more fragile and difficult to stabilize. Herein, through judiciously combining the superiority of both the moderately stable coordination bonds in MOFs and hydrogen bonds, we have realized a microporous hydrogenbonded metal-complex or metallotecton framework HOF-21, which not only shows permanent porosity but also exhibits highly selective separation performance of C2H2/C2H4 at room temperature. The outstanding separation performance can be ascribed to sieving effect confined by the fine-tuning pores and the superimposed hydrogen-bonding interaction between C2H2 and SiF62- on both ends as validated by both modeling and neutron powder diffraction experiments. More importantly, the collapsed HOF-21 can be restored by simply immersing it into water or salt solution. To the best of our knowledge, such extraordinary water stability and restorability of HOF-21 was observed for the first time in HOFs, underlying the bright perspective of such new HOF materials for their industrial usage.

International audience; Er3+/Tm3+ co-doped lead silicate glasses with low phonon (953 cm(-1)) and good thermal stability were synthesized. The similar to 2 mu m mid-infrared emission resulting from the F-3(4) -> H-3(6) transition of Tm3+ sensitized by Er3+ has been observed by 808 nm LD pumping. The optimal luminescence intensity was obtained in the sample with 1Tm(2)O(3)/2.5Er(2)O(3) co-doped. Moreover, the energy transfer mechanism from Er3+ to Tm3+ ion was analyzed. Absorption and emission cross section have been calculated. The calculated maximum emission cross section of Tm3+ is 2.689 x 10(-21) cm(2) at 1863 nm. Microparameters of energy transfer between Er3+ and Tm3+ ions have also been analyzed. These results ensure that the prepared Er3+/Tm3+ co-doped lead silicate glasses have excellent spectroscopic properties in mid-infrared region and provide a beneficial guide for mid-infrared laser material. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The use of Yb3+ and Er3+ co-doping with Ho3+ to enhance and broaden the Ho3+: 5I6 → 5I7 ~2.8 μm emissions are investigated in the fluorotellurite-germanate glasses. An intense ~3 μm emission with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 245 nm is achieved in the Er3+/Ho3+/Yb3+ triply-doped fluorotellurite-germanate glass upon excitation at 980 nm. The glass not only possesses considerably low OH− absorption coefficient (0.189 cm−1), but also exhibits low phonon energy (704 cm−1). Moreover, the measured lifetime of Ho3+: 5I6 level is as high as 0.218 ms. In addition, the energy transfer rate to hydroxyl groups and quantum efficiency (η) of 5I6 level were calculated in detail by fitting the variations of lifetimes vs. the OH− concentrations. The formation ability and thermal stability of glasses have been improved by introducing GeO2 into fluorotellurite glasses. Results reveal that Er3+/Ho3+/Yb3+ triply-doped fluorotellurite-germanate glass is a potential kind of laser glass for efficient 3 μm laser.

International audience; Transparent oxyfluoride glass and glass ceramics doped with 0.5% Ho3+ and 1.0% Yb3+ ions have been prepared. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated the formation of NaYF4 nanocrystals during the heat treatment process. Raman spectra indicated the variation of glass structure brought about by the formation of NaYF4 nanocrystals. XRD curves and Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters confirmed the incorporation of Ho3+ into NaYF4 nanocrystals. Significantly enhanced visible upconversion and 2.85 mm emissions were achieved in glass ceramic under 980 nm laser diode pumping. A broadband spectrum with a full-width at half-maximum close to 132 nm was obtained in the glass ceramic. Besides, the calculated peak emission cross section was 0.6 x 10(-20) cm(2), suggesting that the glass ceramic is a promising gain material that can be applied to broadband amplifiers in the mid-infrared region. Furthermore, energy transfer mechanisms in glass and glass ceramics were proposed based on visible to mid-infrared emission spectra. It was found that the change in the photon energy environment around rare earth ions induced different dominant transitions in glass and glass ceramic. Finally, the influence of phonon energy on the transition processes was further quantitatively investigated, which may provide useful guidance for obtaining highly efficient 2.85 mm emission of holmium.

International audience; WSx/a-C multilayer films with different layer thickness ratios and the modulation period of similar to 50 nm were prepared on monocrystalline silicon substrate by magnetron sputtering method. The morphology, microstructure and composition of the films were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Raman spectroscopy. The surface chemical states under different etching conditions were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profile technique. The hardness, the adhesion to the substrate and the tribological properties of the films under various test environments were evaluated by means of nano-indentation, scratching tester and ball-on-disk tribometer. The results showed that a WS2 phase with (101) preferential orientation was formed in WSx sublayer and the WC phase was not present at the WSx/a-C interface. The effects of La-C/L-WSx ratio on the microstructure of as-prepared films were negligible while the effects on the mechanical and tribological properties of the film were significant. An increased hardness (the maximum of similar to 2.2 GPa) and a decreased adhesion were found in the multilayer films. The WSx/a-C multilayer films were of the best wear resistance in vacuum (the minimum of 5.7 x 10(-15) m(3) N-1 m(-1)) and exhibited much better tribological properties than a single WSx film in various test environments.

Herein, three different silver species were stably formed in SiO2-Al2O3-B2O3-Na2O-ZnF2-CaF2 glasses and were identified by their characteristic luminescence bands: violet blue luminescence (Ag+: 4d95s1 → 4d10), green white molecular fluorescence (molecule-like [Agm]n+, named ML-Ag) and orange molecular fluorescence ([Ag2]2+ pairs). Due to the relatively low aggregation degrees of [Agm]n+ and [Ag2]2+, non-radiative transitions were highly suppressed, and the PL quantum yields (QYs) of ML-Ag and [Ag2]2+ pairs reached 73.7% and 89.7%, respectively. The substitution of 0.5B2O3-0.5Na2O with SiO2 promoted the partial reduction of Ag+ to Ag0 and the subsequent aggregation of Ag+ and Ag0 to form [Agm]n+ (ML-Ag). The absence of Na2O also resulted in an increasing amount of Ag+-Ag+ pairs with closing interionic distance to form [Ag2]2+ in glass. According to the X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra, a solubility strategy and a charge compensation model were proposed to describe the transformations between different silver species. The formation of ML-Ag was further controlled via the solubility of Ag+ in glass, whereas [Ag2]2+ centers could be effectively produced by lowering the total amount of other competitive charge compensators, such as Na+, or by introducing negatively charged [BO4]-, [AlO4]-, and [ZnO4]2- tetrahedrons into the glass matrix.

7 p.-4 fig., Although various studies have demonstrated that growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) might be a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, the results are inconsistent and the statistical power of individual studies is also insufficient. An original study was conducted to explore the diagnostic and prognostic value of serum GDF15 in CRC patients. We also conducted a meta-analysis study which aimed to summarize the diagnostic and prognostic performance of serum GDF15 in CRC. We searched PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge up to 1 November 2014 for eligible studies. In order to explore the diagnostic performance of GDF15, standardized mean difference (SMD) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed. For prognostic meta-analysis, study-specific hazard ratios (HRs) of serum GDF15 for survival were summarized. A total of eight studies were included in the meta-analyses. Our results revealed that serum GDF15 levels in CRC patients were higher than those in healthy controls (SMD = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.56–1.59, P < 0.001). For discriminating CRC from healthy controls, the AUC of GDF15 was 0.816 (95% CI: 0.792–0.838). The sensitivity and specificity were 58.9% (95% CI: 55.0–62.8) and 92.08% (95% CI: 89.2–94.4), respectively, when a cut-off value of 1099 pg/ml was established. Besides, higher GDF15 expression level was associated with worse overall survival for CRC patients (pooled HR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.47–2.96). In conclusion, the present meta-analysis suggests that serum GDF15 may be a useful diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for CRC. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine., This research is supported by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81171938 and 81201557), the 111 Project (B13026), and the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (LY15H160032 and LY15H160067).

et al., Nickel compounds are widely used in industries and have been massively introduced in the environment in different chemical forms. Here we report the effect of two different chemical forms of nickel, NiCl2 and nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs), on the reproduction of the marine calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa. The behavior of nickel nanoparticles was analyzed with different techniques and with two protocols. In the “sonicated experiment” (SON) NiNP solution was sonicated while in the “non-sonicated experiment” (NON-SON) the solution was vigorously shaken by hand. Final nominal concentrations of 5, 10 and 50 mg L−1 and 1, 5 and 10 mg L−1 NiNPs were used for the acute and semichronic tests, respectively. Nanoparticle size did not change over time except for the highest concentration of 50 mg L−1 NiNPs, in which the diameter increased up to 843 nm after 48 h. The concentration of Ni dissolved in the water increased with NP concentration and was similar for SON and NON-SON solutions. Our results indicate that sonication does not modify toxicity for the copepod A. tonsa. Mean EC50 values were similar for NON-SON (20.2 mg L−1) and SON experiments (22.14 mg L−1) in the acute test. Similarly, no differences occurred between the two different protocols in the semichronic test, with an EC50 of 7.45 mg L−1 and 6.97 mg L−1 for NON-SON and SON experiments, respectively. Acute and semichronic tests, conducted exposing A. tonsa embryos to NiCl2 concentrations from 0.025 to 0.63 mg L−1, showed EC50 of 0.164 and 0.039 mg L−1, respectively. Overall, A. tonsa is more sensitive to NiCl2 than NiNPs with EC50 being one order of magnitude higher for NiNPs. Finally, we exposed adult copepods for 4 days to NiCl2 and NiNPs (chronic exposure) to study the effect on fecundity in terms of daily egg production and naupliar viability. Egg production is not affected by either form of nickel, whereas egg viability is significantly reduced by 0.025 mg L−1 NiCl2 and by 8.5 mg L−1 NiNPs. At NiNP concentration below the acute EC50 (17 mg L−1) only 9% of embryos hatched after 4 days. Interestingly, the percentage of naupliar mortality (>82%) observed in the semichronic test at the nominal concentration of 10 mg L−1 NiNPs corresponding to almost 0.10 mg L−1 of dissolved Ni, was similar to that recorded at the same Ni salt concentration. Electron microscopical analyses revealed that A. tonsa adults ingest NiNPs and excrete them through fecal pellets. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the toxicity of two different forms of Ni on the reproductive physiology of the copepod A. tonsa and showing the ability of the calanoid copepod to ingest nanoparticles from seawater., This research was partially supported by the Open Foundation from Marine Sciences in the Most Important Subjects of Zhejiang (No.20130105, 20130210) and Major projects of Zhejiang Ocean University, and by the Danish National Strategic Research Council – IMPAQ – grant no. 10-093522 to IB.

For a given point set, a particular point is called a star if it can see all the boundary points of the set. The star test determines whether a candidate point is a star for a given set. It is a key component of some topology computing algorithms such as Connected components via Interval Analysis (CIA), Homotopy type via Interval Analysis (HIA), etc. Those algorithms decompose the input object using axis-aligned boxes, so that each box is either not intersecting or intersecting with the object and in this later case its center is a star point of the intersection. Graphs or simplicial complexes describing the topology of the objects can be obtained by connecting these star points following different rules. The star test is performed for simple primitive geometric objects, because complex objects can be constructed using Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG), and the star property is preserved via union and intersection. In this paper, we improve the method to perform the test for implicit objects. For a primitive set defined by an implicit polynomial equation, the polynomial is made homogeneous with the introduction of an auxiliary variable, thus the degree of the star condition is reduced. A linear programming optimization is introduced to further improve the performance. Several examples are given to show the experimental results of our method. The work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 61100084 , 61202197 , 61272300 ), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China ( LQ13F020003 , LY15F020014 ), Zhejiang Province Department of Education Fund ( Y201223321 ), and China Scholarship Council . Scopus

International audience; The dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) is used to study the compatibilizing process of an immiscible polymer blend using a graft copolymer as a compatibilizer. Polystyrene (PS) and polyamide 6 (PA6) are chosen as the polymer components of the blend. The graft copolymer is composed of PS as the backbone and PA6 as the grafts. Mesoscale morphology, density distribution, end-to-end distance of PA6 and interfacial tension are investigated. Simulations show that the presence of a graft copolymer contributes to the formation of finer and more uniform dispersed domains by preventing them from collision and coalescence. In the presence of a graft copolymer, the density distribution is more uniform and the dynamic equilibrium of the blend morphology is reached more rapidly. For a given backbone and number of grafts per backbone, the compatibilizing efficiency of the graft copolymer first increases with increasing graft length. However, when the graft length exceeds a certain value, it starts decreasing.