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Predation reduces the population density of prey, affecting its fitness and population dynamics. Few studies have connected trait changes with fitness consequences in prey and the molecular basis and metabolic mechanisms of such changes in bat-insect systems. This study focuses on the responses of Helicoverpa armigera to different predation risks, focusing on echolocating bats and their calls. Substantial modifications were observed in the nocturnal and diurnal activities of H. armigera under predation risk, with enhanced evasion behaviors. Accelerated development and decreased fitness were observed under predation risks. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses indicated that exposure to bats induced the upregulation of amino acid metabolism- and antioxidant pathway-related genes, reflecting shifts in resource utilization in response to oxidative stress. Exposure to bat predation risks enhanced the activity of DNA damage repair pathways and suppressed energy metabolism, contributing to the observed trait changes and fitness decreases. The current results underscore the complex adaptive strategies that prey species evolve in response to predation risk, enhancing our understanding of the predator–prey dynamic and offering valuable insights for innovative and ecologically informed pest management strategies. Helicoverpa armigera shows adaptive trait changes under bat predation risk, with increased evasion, accelerated development, and fitness decreases. Molecular analyses reveal shifts in metabolism and stress response pathways linked to these changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Segmented thermoelectric (TE) legs are promising for improving heat‐electricity conversion efficiency, but their practical applications are still limited by the lack of cost‐effective interface‐connection technology. Here, an interface‐connection method for one‐step sintering of GeTe‐Bi2Te3 segmented TE legs is developed using mixtures of Al0.88Si0.12 and Ni (ASN) as diffusion barrier materials. Although the interface‐connection performance using Ni or Al0.88Si0.12 alone is poor, their mixtures can realize a compromise optimization of interface‐connection properties, simultaneously achieving a matched coefficient of thermal expansion, low contact resistivity, high shear strength, and high reliability. These robust interface‐connection properties can be attributed to the activation of the eutectic‐alloy Al0.88Si0.12 and the formation of appropriate reaction‐diffusion layers between ASN and GeTe/Bi2Te3 and between Al0.88Si0.12 and Ni in ASN. Finally, a remarkable energy conversion efficiency of ≈15.5% at a temperature difference of 449 K can be obtained in this segmented TE leg. Moreover, ASN can also be applied in fabricating n‐type PbTe‐Bi2Te3 segmented legs and multi‐pair TE devices, demonstrating the universality of this methodology. This work accelerates the development of robust, low‐cost, one‐step‐sintered segmented TE legs and promotes the use of eutectic alloys as "alloy glues" for advancing TE‐device connection technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smallholder farming systems make a vital contribution to food security. However, pests pose a significant challenge to the productivity and sustainability of these agricultural systems. The need to reduce the usage of chemical pesticides in agriculture has intensified due to growing public health and environmental concerns. Retaining generalized predators to biologically control pests is commonly considered as an alternative management strategy. Bats are widely acknowledged as highly effective pest suppression agents. However, little is known about how bats contribute to pest suppression services in smallholder farming systems and how different sympatric bat species divide their use of food resources. We employed DNA metabarcoding to determine the differential prey species consumed by seven bat species in Chinese smallholder farming systems to clarify pest suppression services and dietary niche differentiation. We detected 19 orders of arthropods, among which mosquitos (Diptera), moths (Lepidoptera), and beetles (Coleoptera) were the most predominant prey items. We also documented 75 major pests consumed by bats that can potentially damage agricultural areas or spread diseases. Moreover, there was a significant differentiation among the seven sympatric bat species. Finally, Spearman correlation analysis shows that morphological and echolocation traits may explain dietary niche differentiation. Our results suggest that bats play a critical role in pest suppression services in smallholder farming systems and further prove that the dietary niche was significant differentiation among bat species. These results implied that landscape heterogeneity in smallholder farming systems may increase arthropod diversity, in turn increase biological pest control by bats. Thus, our results also highlight the importance of conserving bat populations and their crucial ecosystem services in integrated pest management (IPM), which has significant implications for the potential protection of food security and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An iron‐catalyzed direct C3−H radical trifluoromethylthiolation of quinoxalin‐2(1H)‐ones has been developed. This protocol uses earth‐abundant FeSO4 ⋅ 7H2O as the catalyst, and AgSCF3 as the trifluoromethylthiolating reagent to provide various SCF3‐containing quinoxalin‐2(1H)‐one derivatives in 26–88% yields. Preliminary mechanistic investigations indicate that the reaction proceeds through a radical pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A visible‐light induced multicomponent reaction of aromatic aldehydes, amines and sodium difluoromethanesulfinate for the synthesis of fluorinated secondary amines has been investigated. The protocol affords a convenient pathway for the introduction of difluoromethyl group into imines, which generated in situ by the reaction of aldehydes and amines. A diverse range of fluorinated secondary amines were synthesized in 43%–79% yields under room temperature. In addition, a plausible mechanism was proposed based on several control experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Visible-light-induced cascade trifluoromethylthiolation/cyclization. • An efficient protocol to synthesize trifluoromethylated tricyclic indoles. • The reaction proceeds without additional photocatalysts or additives. • Wide substrate scope and good functional group compatibility. A visible-light-induced radical trifluoromethylation/cyclization of unactivated alkenes for the construction of trifluoromethylated tricyclic indoles with readily accessible trifluoromethyl thianthrenium triflate has been reported. A variety of CF 3 -containing tricyclic indole derivatives were synthesized at room temperature without the addition of photocatalysts or additives. Mechanistic investigations indicate that the reaction probably undergo a radical pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Coke gasification and coking wastewater treatment are the major concerns of the research community, both in the past and today. However, most researchers have not paid enough attention to the research that phenol in coking wastewater can promote coke gasification. The promoting characteristics of aqueous solution with phenol concentration of 1000 and 2000 mg/L on coke gasification were experimentally studied. The effects of the reaction temperature on coke gasification, phenol concentration in water on reaction kinetics, and phenol aqueous solutions on the coke structure during gasification reactions were explored. The morphological, physicochemical, and textural properties of coke were characterized using Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and N2 low‐temperature physical adsorption analyzer. Results show that with an increase in the reaction temperature from 900°C to 1100°C, the total syngas amount, low calorific value, carbon conversion, and reaction rate increased by 20.5%, 4.6%, 10.2%, and 1.2 times, respectively. The random pore model was the most suitable among the considered kinetic models. The apparent activation energy for the reaction of aqueous solution with phenol concentration of 1000 and 2000 mg/L reacted with gasification‐coke was approximately 8.48% and 27.26% lower than that of pure water with coke, respectively. Compared with pure water, phenol aqueous solutions may preferentially consume the amorphous carbon structure and penetrate deeply into the carbon matrix of the gasification‐coke to participate in the reaction. Phenol aqueous solutions can inhibit the sintering and aggregation of the ash phase in coke and improve its dispersibility on the coke surface. Moreover, it facilitates the development of the coke pore structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain dust represents a significant health risk to grain farmers and workers. Exposure to grain dust can diminish lung function as well as cause respiratory diseases. Grain storage facilities are considered agricultural confined spaces with high concentrations of grain dust. On-farm research for dust sample measurements is time consuming and cost prohibitive. The objective of this research was to design, build, and test a grain dust simulator (GDS) to simulate the dusty environments of grain storage bins in a laboratory setting whereby different types of grain dusts with various environmental conditions (airflow, temperature, and humidity) could be studied. The GDS, a 1/10th scale bin model, was designed with similar ventilation and auger systems as an on-farm grain bin with a diameter of 15.24 m and a capacity of 1762 m3. Dust concentration data collected from farms in Ohio, USA were used to guide the development of the GDS. Feasibility and performance tests verified that the GDS designed can be used as a testing platform for simulating the dusty environment in grain bins and development of effective respiratory protection for farmers under various on-farm conditions. • Grain dust simulator designed, built and tested. • Design simulates the respirable dust environment in on-farm grain bins. • Simulator a testing platform for dust mitigation strategies. • Also, simulator a testing platform for respirable protection equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies implied that elevated exposure to amphenicol antibiotics may induce increased oxidative stress. However, the effects of amphenicol antibiotics exposure on oxidative stress damage in human have not been well studied. This study examined the associations between amphenicol antibiotics exposure and oxidative damage biomarkers in school children. Three major amphenicols including chloramphenicol (CAP), thiamphenicol (TAP), florfenicol (FF) and two biomarkers of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) for oxidative DNA damage and 8-oxo-7,8- dihydroguanosine (8-OHG) for oxidative RNA damage were measured in 414 morning urine samples collected from 70 school children in Shanghai, China. School children were exposed to CAP, TAP, and FF with median concentrations of 1.37, 0.36, and 0.06 μg/g Cre, respectively. Linear mixed models revealed that an interquartile range (IQR) increase of urinary TAP was positively associated with 7.75%(95% CI: 4.40%, 11.1%) increase of 8-OHdG and 7.48%(95% CI: 2.49%, 15.6%) increase of 8-OHG, respectively; in addition, CAP was associated with elevated 8-OHdG. Although FF was not found to be significantly associated with either 8-OHdG or 8-OHG, it is warranted to further investigate FF and its metabolites levels in relation to oxidative stress in future study. Our findings provide new evidence for the effects of exposure to TAP and CAP on nucleic acid oxidative damage in Children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a microwave (MW)/millimeter-wave (MMW) triple-band shared-aperture antenna. It is implemented by integrating a differentially-fed patch (3.6 GHz) and a dual-band transmitarray (TA) (26 GHz and 39 GHz) through structure reuse. To realize an efficient integration, the patch antenna is evolved from a single-layer structure to a multi-layer one, with an extended ring-shaped patch added in each layer to obtain a proper transmitting surface (TS) size. For the TA, it adopts a unit cell (UC) consisting of two interleaved slots. By adjusting the lengths of the slots, independent dynamic phase shifts covering 360 ∘ can be attained for the 26 GHz and 39 GHz bands, respectively. To achieve an appropriate focal-to-diameter ratio (F/D) for the TA, a frequency selective surface (FSS) is employed to replace the ground plane of the patch antenna. Thanks to the spatial feeding architecture of the TA, the proposed antenna eliminates the need of complicated feeding network and features low feeding loss and high gain in the MMW bands. To validate the design idea, a prototype is fabricated and measured. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed antenna can successfully operate in the three bands with peak gain of 7.6 dBi, 19.3 dBi and 19.5 dBi, respectively. In the 26 GHz and 39 GHz bands, beam scanning ranges of ± 2 5 ∘ and ± 1 3 ∘ can be obtained, respectively. The proposed antenna can be a promising candidate for 5G multi-band applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resonant levels (RLs) are expected to increase the density of states (DOS) abruptly, thereby increasing the Seebeck coefficient for a high thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT). However, the negative effects of RLs on reducing the carrier mobility and band gap have rarely been explored. In this work, the pros and cons of resonant‐state doping of group IIIA elements (In, Ga) in GeTe‐based alloys are studied by experimental transport properties and density‐functional‐theory calculations. RLs effects of Fermi level pinning and increased effective mass are strong in Ge0.9‐xInxSb0.1Te but weak in Ge0.9‐y(In0.5Ga0.5)ySb0.1Te, which shows dependence on the hump DOS relative to the background, location of RLs, and energy width of RLs. Using the In‐Ga co‐doping strategy to make a compromise between the DOS, carrier mobility, and bipolar transport, combined with beneficial alloying effects of Pb and Sb, a peak ZT≈ 2.1 at 773 K and a high average ZT≈ 1.43 within 300–773 K can be obtained in Ge0.78In0.005Ga0.005Pb0.1Sb0.07Te. The corresponding single‐leg device shows a remarkable energy conversion efficiency of 13.7% at a temperature difference of 451 K. This work suggests that RLs are not always beneficial for improving ZT, and the compromise design of RLs should be carefully considered to advance ZT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of group activity analysis has garnered significant attention. Group activity offers a unique perspective on the relationships between individuals, providing insights that individual and crowd activities may not reveal. This paper aims to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by providing a comprehensive review of the methods employed in utilizing deep learning for the analysis of group activity. The review encompasses an overview of various methodologies for group detection, segmentation, feature extraction, and description. Additionally, it delves into the classification, recognition, and prediction of group activities, including crowd trajectory prediction. The representation of crowd activity patterns and labels, along with an exploration of datasets for crowd activity analysis, is also included. Ultimately, the paper concludes with a discussion of potential future research directions in the field. By offering a comprehensive review of the advancements in group activity analysis through the lens of deep learning, this paper aims to provide researchers with a better understanding of the field's progress, thereby contributing to the continued development of this area of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) ratio (LDLc/HDLc) and carotid plaques remains controversial. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate whether LDLc/HDLc is associated with carotid plaques in individuals with a high-stroke-risk. The study initially enrolled 5529 residents aged 40 years or older from Yangzhou, China in 2013–2014. All participants received a questionnaire interview, physical examination, and laboratory tests. Risk factors for stroke included hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, atrial fibrillation, smoking, less exercise, overweight/obesity, and family stroke history. Subjects with at least three of the risk factors or a history of stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) were defined as a high-stroke-risk population. Carotid ultrasonography was only conducted for this high-stroke-risk population. Logistic regression was used to examine the association of LDLc/HDLc with the presence of carotid plaques. Final analysis included 839 high-stroke-risk subjects and 40.6% were identified to have carotid plaques. Subjects with the highest tertiles group of LDLc/HDLc had a higher proportion of carotid plaques than the other two groups (47.1% vs. 34.6% and 40.4%, P < 0.001). With each unit increase of LDLc/HDLc, the chance of having carotid plaques increased by 65% (OR 1.65, 95%CI 1.31–2.08) after adjusted for potential confounders. Among most subgroups, a higher LDLc/HDLc was significantly correlated with the presence of carotid plaques. Higher LDLc/HDLc was significantly associated with the presence of carotid plaques in the Chinese population with a high risk of stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar evaporation is considered a promising technology to address the issue of fresh water scarcity. Although many efforts have been directed towards increasing the solar–thermal conversion efficiency, there remain challenges to develop efficient and cost‐effective solar–thermal materials from readily available raw materials. Furthermore, further structural modification of the original biomass structure, particularly at multiple length scales, are seldom reported, which may further improve the solar–thermal performance of these material systems. Herein, a novel low‐cost system is developed based on a common bio‐waste, pomelo peels (PPs), through a bioinspired fractal structural design strategy, fractal carbonized pomelo peels (FCPP). This FCPP system shows an extremely high solar spectrum absorption of ≈98%, and marvelous evaporation rate of 1.95 kg m−2 h−1 with a solar–thermal efficiency of 92.4%. In addition, the mechanisms of the evaporation enhancement by fractal structural design are identified by numerical and experimental methods. Moreover, using FCPP in solar desalination shows great superiority in terms of cost and its potential in sewage treatment is also studied. The present work is an insightful attempt on providing a novel proposal to develop bio‐waste‐derived solar–thermal materials and construct biomimetic structures for efficient solar evaporation and applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we developed a novel combination model for different types of catalysts, which could generate synergistic effects for the catalysts with different functions. A Mn3CeOx catalyst with good low-temperature activity and a Ce0.1TiOx catalyst with good medium and high temperature activities were selected to make the combination and show synergistic effects. The combination of Ce0.1TiOx–Mn3CeOx (with Ce0.1TiOx located at the upstream of Mn3CeOx) showed high NOx conversions in the whole temperature range, together with relatively low N2O formation, indicated the synergistic effects between the Ce0.1TiOx and Mn3CeOx catalysts. This combination model can be extended widely to various NH3-SCR catalysts and therefore has universal significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar interfacial thermal evaporation system has recently drawn extensive attention because it enables low heat loss and high solar thermal conversion efficiency for water desalination and sewage treatment. However, the portability and low cost of solar thermal material are still challenges for its further practical implementation. Besides, the fundamental understanding of thermal management on the effect of efficiency remains unclear. Herein, we demonstrate a novel strategy to construct a solar thermal material of hierarchical carbon framework decorated by Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 @CA/CF). Under 1 sun irradiation (1 kW m−2), the as-prepared absorber shows a broad spectrum absorption (∼99%) and outstanding water evaporation rate (1.316 kg m−2 h−1) with ∼91.0% efficiency, which is six times as that of water without absorber. Significantly, a marvelous volumetric water evaporation rate (up to 658 kg m−3 h−1) has been obtained, indicating its portable and cost-effective superiorities. Besides, for the first time, we quantitatively reveal a strong correlation between evaporation efficiency and porosity of 1D water path in isolation configuration through numerical simulation; the optimum range of porosity for evaporation is also identified. Combining low-cost materials, broad spectrum absorption, high solar thermal conversion efficiency and excellent portability, the as-prepared material is likely to be a promising absorber for solar interfacial evaporation system. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change may diminish biodiversity; thus, it is urgent to predict how species’ ranges may shift in the future by integrating multiple factors involving more taxa. Bats are particularly sensitive to climate change due to their high surface‐to‐volume ratio. However, few studies have considered geographic variables associated with roost availability and even fewer have linked the distributions of bats to their thermoregulation and energy regulation traits. We used species distribution models to predict the potential distributions of 12 bat species in China under current and future greenhouse gas emission scenarios (SSP1‐2.6 and SSP5‐8.5) and examined factors that could affect species’ range shifts, including climatic, geographic, habitat, and human activity variables and wing surface‐to‐mass ratio (S‐MR). The results suggest that Ia io, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, and Rhinolophus rex should be given the highest priority for conservation in future climate conservation strategies. Most species were predicted to move northward, except for I. io and R. rex, which moved southward. Temperature seasonality, distance to forest, and distance to karst or cave were the main environmental factors affecting the potential distributions of bats. We found significant relationships between S‐MR and geographic distribution, current potential distribution, and future potential distribution in the 2050s. Our work highlights the importance of analyzing range shifts of species with multifactorial approaches, especially for species traits related to thermoregulation and energy regulation, to provide targeted conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A high vanadia loading (5 wt%) catalyst was modified by ceria to improve the NH 3 -SCR performance. CeVO 4 was generated after the addition of ceria to 5 wt% V 2 O 5 /TiO 2 , result not seen in the case of low-loading vanadia samples. CeVO 4 presented stable Brønsted acid sites for NH 3 adsorption and moderate redox sites for NH 3 activation rather than polymeric VO x for the V-based catalyst. These properties effectively suppressed formation of N 2 O and NO (side reactions). Therefore, ceria preserved the low-temperature activity of V 2 O 5 /TiO 2 and improved its high-temperature N 2 selectivity. Furthermore, ceria promoted the resistance of V 2 O 5 /TiO 2 to SO 2 and H 2 O poisoning. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • CeO 2 improved SCR performance of V 2 O 5 /TiO 2 , even in the addition of H 2 O and SO 2. • CeVO 4 generated because of high V 2 O 5 loading and the interaction between V and Ce. • CeVO 4 , rather than VO x , served as active sites on CeO 2 -V 2 O 5 /TiO 2. • CeVO 4 provided more acid sites and moderating redox activity. • CeVO 4 suppressed the formation of N 2 O and the oxidation of NH 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents statistical methods for analyzing the molar distribution of components in petroleum fluids. Reservoir fluid characterization is very significant in Equation of State modeling and in some flow assurance- related problems. Heptanes plus components (C7+) are usually lumped together as a pseudo-component, hence, characterizing it improves modeling. Three statistical methods were assumed for analyzing the distribution of components using two reservoir fluid data. The statistical methods selected were validated for best fit of the molar distribution data using methods including the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The goodness of fit for each test is presented. A new model showing the relationship while using data of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is presented with high r2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A total of 925 papers were searched and 106 articles were screened for deep review. • Green buildings generally performed better than the conventional counterparts. • A significant gap between the designed and operational energy use was found. • The key findings of objective IEQ and occupant satisfaction were summarized. • The performances of green buildings in China and the U.S. were compared. ABSTRACT This paper aims to review the published researches on post-occupancy performance of green buildings in terms of energy use, indoor environment quality (IEQ) and occupant satisfaction. A total of 925 related papers were searched and 106 articles were screened for deep review. The study also compared the actual operating performance of green buildings in China and the United States, with information collected from previous research. The findings of literature review can be summarized as follows: 1) Though with some exceptional cases, the energy performance of green buildings was on average better than the conventional counterparts with similar climate conditions; 2) A significant gap between the designed and operational energy consumption was found, and lots of green buildings saved less energy than expected; 3) No clear relationship between the actual energy use and the green building certification level could be observed; 4) The actual IEQ conditions of green buildings were not comparable in different countries due to the variance in design criterions and operation modes; 5) Green buildings generally had higher occupants' satisfaction level than conventional buildings, although the subjective data from the U.S. did not support this inference. Furthermore, this study proposed two areas worthy further investigations in the field of post-occupancy evaluation on green buildings, including new data collection technologies and performance optimization at the comprehensive level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to resolve the contradiction between the lack of building energy data and the need of more detailed information about energy performance, this paper presents a simplified building energy performance diagnosis method which can assess the energy performance from building level to system level with only limited information. Based on multiple-parameter regression between the whole building energy bills and outdoor weather data, the proposed diagnosis method uses the regression coefficients to identify the energy use of main systems (i.e., lighting-plug system and cooling/heating system), as well as other detailed information about physical properties of the building and cooling/heating system (i.e., cooling or heating load, the operation of cooling/heating system and the efficiency of cooling/heating system). One case study was conducted in an office building in China to test the application of this diagnosis method. In addition, the regression result of simulated energy consumption served as benchmark data to further diagnose the performance gap between the operation stage and the design stage and help locate the poor performance and key points of energy-saving. Finally, all diagnosis results have been verified by the performance data from advanced energy consumption monitoring system together with field surveys and measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Plastrum testudinis extracts (PTE) show osteoprotective effects on glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in vivo and in vitro. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of PTE in promoting osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is unclear. Methods: BMSC proliferation was investigated using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. BMSC differentiation and osteogenic mineralization were assayed using alkaline phosphatase and Alizarin red staining, respectively. The mRNA expression levels of Let-7f-5p, Tnfr2, Traf2, Pi3k, Akt, β-catenin, Gsk3β, Runx2, and Ocn were measured using real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Protein levels of TNFR2, TRAF2, p-PI3K, p-AKT, p-β-CATENIN, and p-GSK3β were analyzed by western blotting. The functional relationship of Let-7f-5p and Tnfr2 was determined by luciferase reporter assays. Results: The optimum concentration for PTE was 30 μg/ml. PTE significantly promoted BMSC osteogenic differentiation and mineralization after 7 and 14 days in culture, respectively. The combination of PTE and osteogenic induction exhibited significant synergy. PTE upregulated Let-7f-5p, β-catenin, Runx2, and Ocn mRNA expression, and downregulated Tnfr2, Traf2, Pi3k, Akt, and Gsk3β mRNA expression. PTE inhibited TNFR2, TRAF2, and p-β-CATENIN protein expression, and promoted p-PI3K, p-AKT, and p-GSK3β protein expression. In addition, Tnfr2 was a functional target of Let-7f-5p in 293T cells. Conclusions: Our results suggested that PTE may promote BMSC proliferation and osteogenic differentiation via a mechanism associated with the regulation of Let-7f-5p and the TNFR2/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first nickel-catalyzed C H trifluoromethylation of pyridine N -oxides with Togni’s reagent has been achieved. Trifluoromethylation proceeds smoothly under mild conditions with moderate functional group compatibility. Notable advantages of this method include the using of low cost of nickel catalyst, and its simple convenient operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A concise synthesis of (S)-3-hydroxytetrahydropyran from natural l -glutamic acid has been developed. The intramolecular etherification starting from 1,5-diol was promoted by trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride. The clinnamates of the alcohols were prepared for accurately determining the optical purity by HPLC method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain modulation is a powerful approach to study brain function in vivo . Tremendous progress had been made by controlling brain activity with different brain modulation tools. Synapse is the more fundamental functional unit of brain. In theory, synapse engineering could modulate brain function more precisely. However this had not been possible until recently. Our review provides a brief introduction of various brain modulation methods, and elaborates on a recently developed synapse-engineering tool. This technique allows modulation of specific synapses in vivo for the first time and has been used to clarify the causal role of synaptic plasticity in learning and memory. We also discuss its potentials for further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose Mild hypothermia has been proved to reduce global and focal cerebral ischemic injury in rodents by preventing cellular apoptosis through several pathways. However, whether hypothermia will be beneficial for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and its underlying mechanisms haven’t reached a consensus. It has been implicated that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress plays a role in the secondary injury after ICH in rats. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether mild hypothermia would attenuate ICH induced neuronal injury via regulating ER stress. Methods The model of ICH was induced by injecting autologous blood (120 μl) into the rat striatum. Rats were divided into sham, normothermic (NT) and hypothermic (HT) groups. HT group were subjected to mild hypothermia (33 °C–35 °C) for 2 days starting from 6 h after ICH. Neurological deficits were evaluated. The ER stress related proteins (GRP78, CHOP and p-eIF2α) and the apoptosis associated indicators (cleaved caspase3, Bcl-2 and Bim) around hematoma were assessed by western blot, qRT-PCR (quantificational real-time polymerase chain reaction), immunofluorescence and TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling) assay. Results Neurological deficits following ICH were reduced in HT group compared to NT group. Protein levels of GRP78, CHOP and p-eIF2α significantly increased after ICH in both NT and HT group compared to sham group, which was consistent with the trend of cleaved-caspase3 at protein level, and Bim, Bcl-2 at gene level. In comparison to NT group, GRP78, CHOP, p-eIF2α, cleaved caspase-3 and Bim all decreased, while Bcl-2 increased in HT group. Additionally, apoptotic cells detected by TUNEL staining significantly decreased in the HT group. Conclusion Mild hypothermia could attenuate ICH caused neuron injury by decreasing ER response-induced neuron apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) monitoring is an important basis of smart buildings to ensure human comfort and control energy systems. IEQ monitoring conventionally relies on a limited number of stationary sensors deployed at selected locations, which has little capacity to capture fine spatial characteristics due to the cost of infrastructure and maintenance. This paper describes a robot-based mobile sensing system for high-resolution temperature monitoring by selecting air temperature as the targeted IEQ parameter. Experiments were conducted in a classroom to test the mobile sensing performance through comparisons with the dense stationary sensor network. Furthermore, two spatio-temporal processing methods were developed to reconstruct continuous thermal maps from short- and long-term monitoring. The results indicate that the robot velocity of 0.25–0.45 m/s is better than 0.60–0.80 m/s and 0.10–0.20 m/s, and that the proposed methods are suitable for generating accurate, high-resolution thermal maps. • A robot-based mobile sensing system is proposed to achieve high-resolution temperature monitoring. • The mobile sensing performance is tested by comparative experiments with the dense stationary sensor network. • The velocity of 0.25–0.45 m/s is better for mobile sensing as compared to 0.60–0.80 m/s and 0.10–0.20 m/s. • Time-series trend fitting by the mobile sensing data is sufficient to generate thermal map in the short term. • A method combining mobile and stationary sensing is developed for the long-term estimation of continuous thermal map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment is conducted to study the shrinkage of falling film in countercurrent direct contact with saturated vapor. The experiment indicates that falling film shrinks along its width. The degree of shrinkage decreases with increasing liquid inlet temperature and flow rate. To study the details of the phenomenon, a three-dimensional multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on the method of volume of fluid (VOF) is developed. The model considers the variation of surface tension with temperature. The results of the simulation are consistent with the experimental data. Simulations reveal the temperature, velocity and tension surface profiles. The modified Marangoni number is compared to illustrate the influence of surface tension and demonstrates that the surface tension plays an important role in this phenomenon and the shrinkage of the film causes the heat transfer to decrease. This model is expected to be applied to the design of the industrial equipment with falling film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) affects human comfort, productivity and health. The rich values behind massive IEQ data are urgently required for the improvement of building performance. Clustering is one common approach for data mining. However, current time-series clustering methods are not applicable to IEQ data, owing to its high dimension and complex pattern. This study proposes a sub-sequence clustering framework for the extraction of daily IEQ patterns. Two case studies were conducted: 1) three main daily patterns of air temperature were extracted from 734 curves in an office building, and 2) six typical daily patterns of CO 2 concentration were identified from 1884 curves in a university building. Post-clustering analyses, including a classification tree, were also performed for knowledge discovery. Finally, the clustering performance of the proposed method was compared with that of previous methods. The results indicate that the sub-sequence clustering method is appropriate for identifying daily IEQ patterns. • A sub-sequence clustering method for extracting daily IEQ patterns is proposed. • The method solves the high-dimensionality issue in the time-series clustering of IEQ. • Applications of the proposed method in two buildings (office and school) are presented. • Post-clustering analyses were conducted for further knowledge discovery. • The proposed method performed better than previous methods on the IEQ clustering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of room temperature ozone oxidation treatment on thin HfSiO film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been investigated. The optical and electrical properties with different post-ozone oxidation time were characterized. The evolution of ozone interacting with HfSiO films was clearly illuminated. Ozone can repair the lossy chemical bonds and vacancies, resulting in the improvement of packing density and polarizability of HfSiO films. With more ozone entering the HfSiO films, the refractive index, dielectric constant, and interfacial properties can be greatly upgraded. Furthermore, the frequency dispersion of ALD-HfSiO film can be improved after O treatment time for 8 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data aggregation is an important technique for reducing the energy consumption of sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, compromised aggregators may forge false values as the aggregated results of their child nodes in order to conduct stealthy attacks or steal other nodes' privacy. This paper proposes a Secure-Enhanced Data Aggregation based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (SEDA-ECC). The design of SEDA-ECC is based on the principles of privacy homomorphic encryption (PH) and divide-and-conquer. An aggregation tree disjoint method is first adopted to divide the tree into three subtrees of similar sizes, and a PH-based aggregation is performed in each subtree to generate an aggregated subtree result. Then the forged result can be identified by the base station (BS) by comparing the aggregated count value. Finally, the aggregated result can be calculated by the BS according to the remaining results that have not been forged. Extensive analysis and simulations show that SEDA-ECC can achieve the highest security level on the aggregated result with appropriate energy consumption compared with other asymmetric schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hearing loss following laser-assisted ear surgery has been reported. However, the mechanism responsible for the hearing loss remains largely speculative. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between laser-induced hearing loss and changes in the number of hair cell ribbon synapses and ultrastructure in the cochlea. Laser cochleostomy was performed with a superpulsed carbon dioxide (CO) laser at 2 and 5 W in Sprague-Dawley rats. Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were measured preoperatively and 2 days after surgery. The synapse numbers in apical and middle cochlear turns were quantified. Transmission electron microscopy was employed to further examine the subcellular changes in the cochlea. Click and tonal ABR threshold shifts in both 2 and 5-W groups displayed a frequency-dependent loss within the frequency range measured. Laser cochleostomy induced a significant decrease of synapse numbers in the middle turn in both groups ( p < 0.05). Electron microscopy data indicated varying degrees of auditory nerve degeneration in both groups. Auditory nerve degeneration might contribute to laser-caused hearing loss even under low-energy laser cochleostomy. The high-energy laser-induced hearing loss was associated with more reduction of synapse number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data aggregation is an important method to reduce the energy consumption in wireless sensor networks (WSNs); however, it suffers from the security problems of data privacy and integrity. Existing solutions either have large communication and computation overheads or only produce inaccurate results. This paper proposes a novel secure data aggregation scheme based on homomorphic primitives in WSNs (abbreviated as SDA-HP).The scheme adopts a symmetric-key homomorphic encryption to protect data privacy and combines it with homomorphic MAC synchronically to check the aggregation data integrity. It compares the scheme with the previously known methods such as SIES, iPDA, and iCPDA in terms of the data privacy protection efficiency, integrity performance, computation overhead, communication overhead, and data aggregation accuracy. Simulation results and performance analysis show that our SDA-HP requires less communication and computation overheads than previously known methods and can effectively preserve data privacy, check data integrity, and achieve high data transmission efficiency and accurate data aggregation rate while consuming less energy to prolong network lifetime. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that provides both integrity and privacy based on homomorphic primitives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The annealing effect on HZO films grown by atomic layer deposition is investigated. [•] The electrical properties of HZO films are affected by rapid thermal annealing treatment. [•] The luminescent characteristic is enhanced by rapid thermal annealing treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hafnium-doped zinc oxide (HZO) films were deposited by atomic layer deposition at 220°C. The influences of Hf content on the structure, optical and electrical properties of HZO films were investigated systematically. The X-ray diffraction spectra revealed that the grown HZO films have a hexagonal structure with the preferential orientation changing from a-axis to c-axis with increasing Hf-doping concentrations. The X-ray photoelectron spectra showed the HZO films contain oxygen vacancies and Zn interstitials. Based on photoluminescence measurements, the dominating ultraviolet emission peak exhibited a blue-shift and its intensity was found to decrease with the increasing of Hf-doping content. In addition, a minimum resistivity of 1.6×10−3 Ωcm was obtained for the HZO film with 4.6at.% Hf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore a viable solution for a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind farm to meet the reactive support requirement of the low voltage ride-through (LVRT) grid code with safe grid-connected operation during asymmetrical grid faults. First, the control scheme for the DFIG-based wind energy conversion system (WECS) is designed. Then, the controllability issue is analyzed by means of an optimal method, and the derived controllable regions indicate that the DFIG-based WECS can only remain controllable under mild asymmetrical fault situations. Afterwards, the static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) is introduced as extra equipment to ensure that the DFIG-based wind farm remains controllable under severe asymmetrical fault situations. For this purpose, a voltage compensation control scheme and a corresponding capacity matching method for the STATCOM are proposed. The simulation results verify that, with the proposed coordinated control between the DFIG-based wind farm and the STATCOM, the required positive-sequence reactive current can be supplied to support the power grid. The oscillations on the electromagnetic torque and direct current (DC)-link voltage of the DFIG-based WECS can also be eliminated. Therefore, the control scheme can be helpful to improve the reliability of both the wind farm and the power system during grid faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A member of the NF-ΚB signaling pathway, PoAkirin1, was cloned from a full-length cDNA library of Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). The full-length cDNA comprises a 5'UTR of 202 bp, an open reading frame of 564 bp encoding a 187-amino-acid polypeptide and a 521-bp 3'UTR with a poly (A) tail. The putative protein has a predicted molecular mass of 21 kDa and an isoelectric point (pI) of 9.22. Amino acid sequence alignments showed that PoAkirin1 was 99% identical to the Scophthalmus maximus Akirin protein (ADK27484). Yeast two-hybrid assays identified two proteins that interact with PoAkirin1: PoHEPN and PoC1q. The cDNA sequences of PoHEPN and PoC1q are 672 bp and 528 bp, respectively. Real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that bacteria could induce the expressions of PoAkirin1, PoHEPN and PoC1q. However, the responses of PoHEPN and PoC1q to the bacterial challenge were slower than that of PoAkirin1. To further study the function of PoAkirin1, recombinant PoAkirin1 and PoHEPN were expressed in Escherichia coli and would be used to verify the PoAkirin1-PoHEPN binding activity. These results identified two proteins that potentially interact with PoAkirin1 and that bacteria could induce their expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: HfO2/Al2O3 stacks are grown on Si (100) substrate by atomic layer deposition and then nitridized using ammonia (NH3) annealing in the temperature range of 600–900°C. The effects of NH3 annealing temperature on the structural and physical properties are investigated. HfO2 phase changes from monoclinic to orthorhombic with the annealing treatment. Moreover, the increasing of the grain size and decreasing of the valence band maximum with increasing annealing temperature are demonstrated. In addition, the film annealed at 900°C clearly shows that there exists an amorphous Al2O3 layer between partially crystalline HfO2 layer and the Si substrate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We consider a hybrid two-tiered sensor network consisting of regular resource-limited sensor nodes and powerful master nodes with abundant resources. In the architecture, master nodes take charge of storing data collected by sensor nodes and processing queries from the base station. Due to the important role of master nodes, they might easily become the target for the adversary to compromise in an untrusted or hostile circumstance. A compromised master node may leak sensitive data in its storage to the adversary, which breaches the data privacy. This paper proposes EMQP, a novel and energy-efficient privacy-preserving MAX/MIN query protocol which is capable of preventing adversaries from obtaining sensitive data collected by sensor nodes. To preserve privacy, the 0-1 encoding verification, keyed-hash message authentication coding, and symmetric encryption are applied to achieve the secret comparison of data items without knowing their real values. On the basis of secret comparison mechanism, the data submission and query processing protocols are proposed to describe the details of EMQR And the analyses on privacy protection and energy consumption are also given. Moreover, a hash-based optimization method is presented to save more energy of the resource-limited sensor nodes. The simulation result shows that EMQP is more efficient than the current work in energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security is always a hot topic in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Privacy-preserving data aggregation has emerged as an important concern in designing data aggregation algorithm. This paper proposes a precision-enhanced and encryption-mixed privacy-preserving data aggregation (PEPDA). The objective is to reduce collision during data transmission and energy consumption and to compensate loss caused by the collision. Based on the Slice-Mix-AggRegaTe (SMART) scheme, it optimizes data slicing by using small data packet, node classifying, and positive and negative data slicing techniques. It also describes a randomized time slot and a data compensation algorithm. Theoretical analysis and simulation show that PEPDA demonstrates a good performance in terms of accuracy, complexity, and security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The innate immune system, including the cell-based immunity (mainly apoptosis and phagocytosis) and the humoral immunity (such as pro-phenoloxidase system), is the first defense line of animals against the infection of pathogens in a nonspecific manner, which is fine regulated through the gene expression regulations. The microRNAs (miRNAs) are recognized as important regulators of gene expression. To date, however, a comprehensive view about the regulation of innate immunity by miRNAs is not available. To address this issue, the signature miRNAs involved in the innate immunity were characterized in this study. The phagocytosis, apoptosis and phenoloxidase (PO), a key enzyme in the pro-phenoloxidase system, of invertebrate shrimp were activated or inhibited, followed by the small RNA sequencing. The results showed that a total of 24 miRNAs took great effects on phagocytosis, apoptosis or the pro-phenoloxidase system, which were further confirmed by Northern blots. Among the 24 innate immunity-associated miRNAs, 21 miRNAs were conserved in animals, suggesting that these miRNAs might share the similar or the same functions in different species of animals. Based on degradome sequencing and prediction of target genes, it was found that the miRNAs might mediate the regulations of phagocytosis, apoptosis or pro-phenoloxidase system by targeting different genes. Therefore our study presented the first comprehensive view of the miRNAs associated with innate immunity, which would facilitate to reveal the molecular events in the regulation of innate immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CuO nanocrystals were prepared with hydrothermal synthesis method. The morphology of the nano-CuO was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The prepared shuttlelike CuO nanocrystals were modified to glass carbon electrode (GCE) to form nano-CuO/GCE modified electrode. The obtained modified electrode showed an excellent electrocatalytic property towards hydrogen peroxide in 0.01M NaOH containing 0.09M KCl electrolyte. Under the optimal experiment conditions, the electrocatalytic response current of this sensor was proportional to the H2O2 concentration in the range of 0.02 μM~250 μM with a detection limit down to 7nM (signal/noise = 3). The sensitivity was calculated to be 227 μA/mM. The H2O2 sensor exhibited low detection limit, fast response time, and good reproducibility and could be applied to determine hydrogen peroxide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A robust pitch control strategy for the output power control of wind generator systems in wide-wind-speed range is presented in this paper. The corresponding controller is designed, which consists of a nominal inverse-system controller and a robust compensator. The advantages of the proposed strategy include the simple implementation, tolerance of turbine parameter or some nonparametric uncertainties, and robust control of the generator output power with wind-speed variations. Theoretical analyses, simulation, and experimental results show that the proposed controller can work better in a wide-wind-speed range compared with the traditional proportional-integral-derivative controller. It has similar performance with the neural network controller, but less complexity. Additionally, it can be easily adapted to other wind generator systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: SPAK/STK39 is a mammalian protein kinase involved in the regulation of inorganic ion transport mechanisms known to modulate GABAergic neurotransmission in the both central and the peripheral nervous systems. We have previously shown that disruption of the gene encoding SPAK by homologous recombination in mouse embryonic stem cells results in viable mice that lack expression of the kinase . With the exception of reduced fertility, these mice do not exhibit an overt adverse phenotype. In the present study, we examine the neurological phenotype of these mice by subjecting them to an array of behavioral tests. We show that SPAK knockout mice displayed a higher nociceptive threshold than their wild-type counterparts on the hot plate and tail flick assays. SPAK knockout mice also exhibited a strong locomotor phenotype evidenced by significant deficits on the rotarod and decreased activity in open-field tests. In contrast, balance and proprioception was not affected. Finally, they demonstrated an increased anxiety-like phenotype, spending significantly longer periods of time in the dark area of the light/dark box and increased thigmotaxis in the open-field chamber. These results suggest that the kinase plays an important role in CNS function, consistent with SPAK regulating ion transport mechanisms directly involved in inhibitory neurotransmission. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Nanocrystalline Y2O2S:Eu3+ was successfully prepared with a combustion synthesis method, the corresponding bulk Y2O2S:Eu3+ was synthesized by conventional sulfur flux method. The results of XRD indicated that both bulk and nanocrystalline Y2O2S:Eu3+ have pure hexagonal phases. The crystallite size was calculated to be about 20nm according to Scherrer formula, which was consistent with the size as indicated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The charge-transfer transition bands in nanocrystalline Y2O2S:Eu3+ shift to higher energy in contrast to the bulk material. By combining centroid shift and crystal-field splitting, the blue-shift of the charge-transfer (CT) band is interpreted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study used the sequence of the mitochondrial Cytochrome b (Cytb) to estimate phylogenetic relationships among host Hepialidae insects of Cordyceps sinensis. Genome DNA of host insect was extracted from the dead larva head part of 18 cordyceps populations and 2 species of Hepialus, and the Cytb fragment of host insect was amplified with PCR technique. The nucleotide sequence alignments and their homologous sequences of 24 species host Hepialidae insects of Cordyceps sinensis were obtained from GenBank and were used to construct phylogenetic trees based on neighbor-joining method. The results showed that genus Bipectilus diverged earlier than genus Hepialus and Hepialiscus. Hepialus host insects of Cordyceps sinensis have multitudinous species with different morphological characteristics and geographical distributions. The interspecific genetic differentiations are obvious in Hepialus. Thus, the genus Hepialus might be considered as polyphyletic origin. Cytb sequences have abundant variations among the host insects of Cordyceps sinensis on specific and generic level. The divergence rate of Cytb sequences among the species in Hepialus ranged from 0. 23% to 9. 24%, except that Hepiatus pratensis and Hepialus jinshaensis have the same sequence. Cytb sequence can be used for species identification of host insects of Cordyceps sinensis, but further confirmation in more host insect species is needed. To obtain the Cytb sequence of host insect by amplifying DNA extracted from the head part of dead larva in cordyceps turns out to be an effective and accurate approach, which will be useful for studies on phylogeny and genetic structure of host insects of cordyceps populations, especially for analyzing relationships between C. sinensis and its host insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract??A continuous sliding mode controller based on nonlinear robust observer for a class of nonlinear non-minimum-phase systems is presented, which utilizes synthetic output that is statically equivalent to the original process output and make the system minimum-phase. The designed continuous sliding mode controller can avoid chattering phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]