Search

Purpose: This paper aims to compare the aging behavior of water-based coatings and solvent-based coatings in sulfuric acid environments and to discuss the related mechanism. Design/methodology/approach: A sulfuric acid solution with a concentration of 5 Wt.% was selected for immersion test at 23°C. The failure behavior of the coating was studied by combining the transformation rules of the macroscopic morphology and basic properties with the results of electrochemical impedance spectrum analysis. Findings: The results showed that the surface smoothness of the water-based coating was lower than that of the solvent-based coating. The glossiness, thickness and hardness of the water-based coating exhibited more significant changes. The electrochemical test also indicated that the water-based coating was infiltrated by a large number of corrosive media, which may have induced corrosion under the coating. In contrast, the solvent-based coating showed good shielding properties, but the adhesion was seriously affected by the corrosive medium. Originality/value: This work clarified the difference of failure behavior and mechanism between water-based coatings and solvent-based coatings in acidic environment and provided a theoretical basis for the selection and mechanism research of anticorrosive coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The serological diagnostic criteria for the immune-tolerant (IT) phase have not been strictly defined and it is hard to determine an accurate rate for significant histologic changes among IT patients. The aim of this study was to establish a baseline rate of significant histologic changes and to determine the main characteristics of IT patients. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. Studies reporting liver biopsy results (inflammation grade or fibrosis stage) for adults with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the IT phase diagnosed by serological criterion were included to pool the rate of significant histologic changes. Studies that enrolled subjects with confirmed chronic HBV infection in the IT phase diagnosed by serological and liver biopsy criteria (dual criteria) were included to pool the mean values of main characteristics among IT patients. Of 319 studies screened, 15 were eventually included in the meta-analysis. The pooled rates of significant liver fibrosis and inflammatory activity for 10 studies were 10% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.06–0.18) and 16% (95% CI 0.07–0.31), respectively. The pooled mean values of age, alanine aminotransferase level, HBV DNA level, and HBsAg level for another 5 studies with IT patients diagnosed by dual criteria were 30.7 years (95% CI 27.31–34.09), 26.64 IU/mL (95% CI 24.45–28.83), 8.41 log10 cp/mL (95% CI 7.59–9.23), and 4.24 log10 IU/mL (95% CI 3.67–4.82), respectively. Significant histologic changes were not rare events among IT patients. Strictly defined serological diagnostic criteria for the IT phase are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The feasibility of using laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy (LPG) for the treatment of proximal early gastric cancer (EGC) has not been addressed. This study aimed to comparatively evaluate the effects on LPG with piggyback jejunal interposition double-tract reconstruction (PJIDTR) versus laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) with Roux-en-Y reconstruction (overlap method) using propensity score matching for proximal EGC. Materials and Methods: We examined the clinical outcomes of LPG with PJIDTR for proximal EGC. We retrospectively collected data from patients with proximal EGC who were treated at Shanxi Cancer Hospital between January 2012 and December 2015. The complication rate, nutritional indicators, reflux oesophagitis incidence and overall survival were compared between LTG and LPG with PJIDTR. Results: Of the 424 patients, 200 were excluded, and 50 of the remaining patients received LPG with PJIDTR. Fifty matched LTG patients were screened. The incidence of early complications was 14% in the LPG group and 16% in the LTG group (P > 0.05). At 1 year after surgery, nutrition indices in the LPG group were significantly better than those in the LTG group (P < 0.05). One year after surgery, the Visick score II rate was 2% and 4%, and the endoscopic oesophagitis rate was 4% and 6% in the LPG and LTG groups, respectively. No tumour recurrence was observed in either group. The 5-year overall survival rates of the two groups were 98% and 90% (P = 0.08). Conclusions: LPG with PJIDTR may be suitable for proximal EGC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A point elimination method was proposed to improve the efficiency of slope pretreatment for the slope surface. • Integrating three-dimensional numerical modeling and data monitoring to understand deformation mechanisms of the slope. • The feasibility of the mining scheme that incorporates waste dump inside the pit was explored. The slope at Zhahanur open-pit mine (China) has experienced significant and prolonged deformation, posing a considerable risk to life and property within the mining area. To analyse the deformation and failure mechanism of the rock slope, geotechnical investigations, numerical simulations, and long-term movement monitoring were undertaken. In order to improve the efficiency of slope pretreatment, a point elimination method was proposed for the slope surface, and a 3D geological model of mining area was established. A systematic analysis was performed on monitoring data from surface slope radar and underground inclinometers, enabling the identification of the potential sliding surface and deformation pattern of northern slope in a rational manner. Additionally, through three-dimensional numerical simulation, the feasibility of the mining scheme that incorporates waste dump inside the pit was explored. These simulations accurately captured the varying deformation patterns at different levels and exhibited good agreement with available field monitoring data. The findings revealed a composite multi-stage slope failure pattern primarily controlled by weak layers. The safety factors associated to two competing slip surfaces were determined to be 1.20 and 1.15, respectively. To ensure the safe extraction of coal resources from the deformed slope, a combined mining scheme of in-pit dumping and mining is proposed in the study. The proposed scheme was shown to meet the production needs, with a minimum safety factor of 1.08 for rock slope under the mining scheme. By integrating various field monitoring techniques with numerical simulations, a collaborative monitoring scheme was devised to effectively and promptly identify potential sliding surface and implement necessary mining and control measures to ensure slope stability. This comprehensive approach provides valuable insights into the deformation behavior of the rock slope and facilitates the implementation of proactive measures to mitigate risks associated with slope instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

However, the honey bees exhibited a reduction in consuming the sucrose containing not less than 1 ug/mL of CdCl SB 2 sb ; although non-significant, there exists the possibility that sucrose containing more than 1 ug/mL of Cd may affect honey bee sucrose responsiveness that is essential for olfactory learning in honey bees [[38]]. We, therefore, investigated whether honey bees exposed to chronic Cd exhibited altered olfactory learning, and we further compared the patterns of brain gene expression between cadmium-exposed bees and control bees using RNA-seq analysis. Our studies showed that the head weight was significantly lower in cadmium-exposed bees when compared to controls, suggesting chronic Cd exposure may have adverse effects on the total protein content of the mandibular and hypopharyngeal glands in the heads of adult honey bees, thus resulting in a decrease in head weight in Cd-exposed bees. [Extracted from the article]

Dynamic response analysis for large-scale horizontal axis wind turbine(HAWT) plays a pivotal role in the design, stability, performance and safety. To overcome the problem of difficult measurement caused by many influence factors in wild wind field, accurately calculate the unsteady load, modal characteristics and dynamic response for megawatt flexible wind turbine components under various complex wind conditions, a novel time-variant prediction model is proposed in the manuscript. It perfectly combines the TUDK (Technical University of Denmark) dynamic inflow aerodynamic model, the hybrid beam theory considering shear deformation and centrifugal stiffening effect and Lanczos decoupling technology widely used in finite element software. Meanwhile, the rotor dynamic inflow effect, structural-damping and aerodynamic-damping of blade and tower, the structural coupling between blade and tower are considered in the model. Furthermore, the time-variant dynamic responses of blade tip and tower top under normal turbulence model (NTM) and extreme coherent gust with direction change (ECD) are further analyzed. The research results under ECD condition are compared with the experimental data from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to validate the model accuracy. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unsteady aerodynamic characteristics and serious time-lag of wind turbine blades due to long time of dynamic stall make the actual measured power of rotor seriously deviate from its static prediction value. Therefore, dynamic stall model is becoming more and more significant for the Megawatt wind turbine with larger size and flexibility. In this paper, a novel dynamic stall model accounting for attached flow and dynamic separation flow of trailing edge is built using Theodorsen theory and Kirchhoff potential flow theory. The model includes the unsteady effect arising from vortex shedding and flow separation on trailing edge, and takes boundary layer lag and pressure lag into consideration. A validation is carried out by comparing the response of the model with incompressible dynamic stall model in software GH Bladed using airfoils data from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 5 MW offshore wind turbine blades as input. The consistent results prove that the proposed model is accurate, reliable and universal. Furthermore, effect factors such as mean angle of attack, angle of attack amplitude, Mach number, reduced frequency and time constants on dynamic stall performance are further explored. The proposed model will provide a new choice for calculating aerodynamic load of the blades under stall condition. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active layer of the thin film composite (TFC) nanofiltration membrane prepared by traditional interfacial polymerization (IP) was usually a non-homogeneous state with dense in the middle and loose on both sides. Such structure would reduce the stability of membrane in operation. In this paper, a novel electrospray polymerization nanofiltration (EPNF) membrane was fabricated for efficient and long-term stable separation for Mg2+/Li+ by multiple scan 3D electrospray printing technique. The active layer consisted of two homogeneous separation layers, the piperazine-trimesoyl chloride (PIP-TMC) inner layer and polyethyleneimine based (PEI-TMC) outer layer. With a fixed scan of inner layer, the effect of scan number of PEI-TMC outer layer on the performance of EPNF membrane was analyzed detailly from chemical structure and ion separation performance. Under the synergistic effect of electrostatic repulsion and pore size screening, the EPNF membrane achieved a Mg2+/Li+ separation factor of 36.28 and only 1.5 % performance loss in the operation of 150 h. The electrospray polymerization process presented unique advantages in preparing TFC nanofiltration membranes with long-term separation stability. [Display omitted] • 3D electrospray printing was used to construct PEI-TMC nanofiltration membrane. • A Mg2+/Li+ separation factor up to 36.28 was achieved. • The membranes maintained high separation factor for different Mg2+/Li+ mass ratios. • The membranes have long-term separation stability and anti-organic fouling ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complementors who provide content on platforms are increasingly threatened by the entry of platform owners. Platform owners may enter the content market through offering vertically differentiated content either by self producing or hiring the complementor to produce. We build a game-theoretic model to analyze the platform owner’s entry decisions and the complementor’s response strategy considering the effects of demand complementarity, vertical content differentiation and consumer heterogeneity to both players’ strategies. We find that vertical content differentiation relaxes boundary conditions of entry, and it is more obvious when the platform owner has advantage in content value. However, we show that though the complementor may hold advantages on content value, price, or sales volume, it faces dependent dilemma once entry happens. Further, we demonstrate that second-party cooperation may mitigate the dependent dilemma and create a “win–win” situation through leveraging the platform owner’s efficiency in marketing and the complementor’s efficiency in content producing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laccase is an important biodegradation agent as the catalytic degradation could be enhanced in the presence of redox mediators. This work aims to improve the removal performance of immobilized laccase for high concentrations of synthetic dye degradation using 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS), 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) and violuric acid (VLA) as redox mediators. The laccase was immobilized on magnetic hydroxyl-functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4–PEG 2000–Cu2+) based on Cu2+ chelation. The immobilized laccase presented relatively high immobilization capacity and activity retention, improved thermostability and pH tolerance, and excellent reusability. The removal performance assay reveals that the immobilized laccase had high and sustainable removal efficiencies for high concentrations of triphenylmethane dyes in the presence of these redox mediators. It should be mentioned that azo and anthraquinone dyes at concentrations of 25–200 mg L−1 could be rapidly oxidized by the immobilized laccase using these mediators in 20–30 min. A recycling degradation study showed that after 10 catalytic runs, the removal efficiency of triphenylmethane, azo and anthraquinone dyes by the immobilized laccase employing these mediators could still reach 78.3–99.9 (%), 63.1–94.6 (%) and 60.5–74.6 (%), respectively. The outstanding dye degradation performances show that the immobilized laccase has a potential application in wastewater treatment and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, based on the Diophantine equation technique, we first prove the circulant graph C (Z n , { k 1 , k 2 }) is isomorphic to the disjoint union of gcd (n , k 1 , k 2) identical graphs, which belong to one of the three types of graphs: (i) C (Z n { 1 , k }) ; (i i) the Cartesian graph bundle C s □ φ C t over cycles; (i i i) the Cartesian product of the complete graph K 2 and a cycle. Naturally, to study the dispersability of C (Z n , { k 1 , k 2 }) can be reduced to study that of the above three types. Next, we solve the dispersability of the circulant graph C (Z n , { 1 , k }). Specifically, C (Z n , { 1 , k }) is dispersable if it is a bipartite; otherwise, it is nearly dispersable. In addition, we prove that bipartite circulant graphs are dispersable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The SAS around the Danjiangkou Reservoir shows a clear spatial distribution. • Landscape and environmental factors and soil properties synergistically influence SAS. • Orchards displayed higher SAS compared to paddy fields and uplands. • SAS can be enhanced by reducing LPI and increasing landscape heterogeneity. Soil aggregate stability (SAS) plays a crucial role in determining the soil's resistance to erosion. Conducting a spatial variability analysis of SAS in the reservoir area, which is highly susceptible to soil degradation and erosion, can yield valuable insights for agricultural practices, landscape planning, and environmental management in this region. Nevertheless, existing research remains constrained in its capacity to accurately map and forecast soil aggregates at a spatial level. This study aims to investigate the spatial distribution of SAS in the Danjiangkou reservoir area, as well as to explore the intrinsic linkage mechanisms between changes in soil properties, environmental factors and landscape patterns and SAS. Results revealed significant spatial variations in SAS within the vicinity of the Danjiangkou reservoir area. Notably, soil properties (including clay, available potassium, soil organic matter, and available phosphorus), environmental factors (such as digital elevation model, slope, land surface temperature difference between seasons (ΔLST)), and landscape pattern (largest patch index (LPI), shannon's diversity index (SHDI), edge density (ED)) significantly affected the spatial variability of SAS, explaining 18.91%, 8.22%, and 8.17% of the total variability of soil SAS, respectively. Structural equation modeling results indicated that altering soil properties serves as the primary approach to enhance SAS. Furthermore, interventions targeting landscape factors such as LPI, SHDI, and ED, alongside environmental factors like ΔLST and slope, exert direct influences on SAS, while also indirectly impacting it through their effects on soil properties. These findings contribute to the design of land planning and soil and water conservation measures in the reservoir watershed, promoting its protection of soil structure and its ecological service function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-layer structure consisting of metal and dielectric layers which allows coupling between surface plasmon polaritons and waveguide modes is studied by calculating reflectivity curves of incident light. A wide waveguide structure is employed to ensure SPP resonance with different order waveguide modes when varying coupling layer thicknesses. Multi-hybrid plasmonic waveguide modes (HPWG) are formed in the coupled system. The weight fractions of metal SPP deduced from losses of HPWG modes are calculated for each hybridized mode, which can be considered as a parameter of evaluating coupling strength. Three different evolution stages for hybrid modes are clearly distinguished based on the variation of loss with spacer layer thickness. The interaction between SPP and waveguide experiences a series of change from weak Fano resonance, via strong coupling, finally to weak coupling process. In case of strong coupling regime, the contribution of metal SPP for low order hybrid modes starts to increase and then decreases with decreasing spacer layer thicknesses. Furthermore, difference of resonant behavior for hybrid modes in both weak coupling stages is analyzed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-retailers have recently paid close attention to frugal innovation in their supply chains. However, there are few studies on frugal innovation considering the e-retailer's platform value raised by the increase in the platform user scale. Motivated by industrial practice, we consider a supply chain consisting of an e-retailer and a manufacturer in the context of frugal innovation, where the platform value of the retailer is characterized by Metcalfe's law. We use game models to investigate the frugal product price and optimal degree of frugality decisions for the centralized, decentralized, retailer-led revenue-sharing contract and bargaining revenue-sharing contract scenarios. Our results indicate that the bargaining revenue-sharing contract can improve the frugal degree of the development-intensive frugal product (DIFP), while the frugal degree of the marginal cost-intensive frugal product (MIFP) cannot be improved by cooperation in the supply chain. We then compare the supply chain profit, the platform value of the retailer and the profit of the manufacturer in different scenarios. The results show that the centralized scenario is the optimal scenario where the platform retailer implements vertical integration strategy. Otherwise, establishing strategic partnership through the bargaining revenue-sharing contract is suboptimal for both the platform retailer and the manufacturer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When wind turbines operate in complex atmospheric environments, the flow fields around their blades are complex and unsteady. To capture the lag characteristics of induced velocity when the dynamic environment of a rotor changes, this study further modified the equilibrium wake model using the blade element momentum and acceleration potential theories. In addition, a novel expression for the added mass force m A = 128 / 75 ρ R 3 was derived. Consequently, a numerical aerodynamics model of a rotor with an added mass force was developed. The model was used to calculate the aerodynamic load of a 5 MW wind turbine under steady wind, turbulence, gust, wind direction change, and rapid pitching. The results demonstrated that the numerical model with added mass force could reflect the rotor aerodynamic performance more accurately than its counterpart. The fluctuation amplitudes of the flapwise and edgewise bending moments of the blade root were smaller than those from the equilibrium wake model. The overshoot in loading, which was caused by the added mass force during pitching, could not be ignored. The research results were compared with experimental data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It was found that the proposed model provided a new strategy for calculating the added mass force and predicted rotor aerodynamic loads more accurately than the model without added mass force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To accurately calculate the unsteady dynamic load and output performance of the rotor in the stand-alone large-scale wind turbine, a novel added mass force expression mA=128/75ρR3 is derived and corresponding dynamic wake model is established using the acceleration potential flow theory and the blade element momentum in the present study. Moreover, induced velocity delay, wind shear, and yaw are considered in the proposed model. Referring to IEC61400-1 standard of the wind turbine, numerical models of turbulence, gust and wind direction change are established to investigate the output performance of the rotor under the combined effect of aerodynamic force, gravity, and centrifugal force. The obtained results show that the axial load and flapwise bending moment of the blade root are mainly determined by the axial aerodynamic component, while the tangential load and edgewise bending moment are mainly determined by the gravity component of the blade. It is found that the wind shear has a significant impact on the axial load and flapwise bending moment. Meanwhile, the axial thrust and rotor power are mainly affected by the inflow wind speed. It is observed that when the yaw angle exceeds 9.25°, the axial thrust and power of the rotor decrease obviously. The research results are compared with the experimental data from the NREL, it is found that the proposed model provides a new choose for the calculation of added mass force, and it has more calculation accuracy compared with classical BEM method in the prediction of unsteady dynamic load and output performance of the rotor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an uncertain bimatrix game, different uncertain equilibrium strategies have been proposed based on different criterions, such as expected value criterion, optimistic value criterion and uncertain measure criterion. This paper further presents an uncertain bimatrix game with Hurwicz criterion and defines a new solution concept Hurwicz Nash equilibrium. Furthermore, its existence theorem is also proved, and a sufficient and necessary condition is presented to find the Hurwicz Nash equilibrium. Finally, an example is provided for illustrating the usefulness of Hurwicz Nash equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genipin is one of the major component in Gardenis fruit, which has long been used in the treatment of many chronic diseases, such as colitis. In the present study, we investigated the protective effects and mechanism of genipin on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. Colitis was induced by giving 2.5% (wt/vol) DSS for 7 days. As the results show, DSS-induced body weight loss and colonic histological changes were inhibited by the treatment of genipin. DSS-induced MPO activity, MDA level, TNF-α, and IL-1β production in colonic tissues were also suppressed by genipin. To investigate the mechanism of genipin on DSS-induced colitis, the NF-κB and Nrf2 signaling pathways were detected. The results showed genipin significantly attenuated DSS-induced NF-κB activation and increased the expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 in a dose-dependent manner. The results of the present study indicated that genipin protected mice against colitis through inhibiting inflammatory and oxidative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) can reduce urinary protein excretion and postpone the deterioration of renal function. However, the mechanisms of renal protection are not yet fully understood. To investigate the mechanisms of ACEIs in the treatment of diabetic nephropathy (DN), the present study determined the effects of the ACEI fosinopril (FP) on the profiling of renal cortex protein expression in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats using Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats as controls. Urinary protein levels at 24 h were examined using the Broadford method. PAS staining was performed to observe renal histopathological changes. The kidney cortices of OLETF, FP-treated OLETF and LETO rats were examined using soluble and insoluble high-resolution subproteomic analysis methodology at age of 36 and 56 weeks. Differentiated proteins were further confirmed using western blotting analysis. The results demonstrated that FP significantly decreased the glomerulosclerosis index and reduced the 24 h urinary protein excretion of OLETF rats. Additionally, 17 proteins significantly changed following FP-treatment. Amongst these proteins, the abundances of the stress-response protein heat shock protein family A member 9 and the antioxidant glutathione peroxidase 3 were particularly increased. These results indicated that FP ameliorated diabetic renal injuries by inhibiting oxidative stress. In conclusion, the differentially expressed proteins may improve our understanding of the mechanism of ACEIs in the OLETF rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Provence tomato variety was chosen for investigating the environmental causes of tomato fruit cracking, cracks characteristics, and their propagation prediction in a greenhouse. Fruit bagging approach was used to alter the temperature and humidity and to create a microclimate around the fruit to induce fruit cracking for testing. Results showed that the fruit cracking rate increased when the environment temperature exceeded 30°C, and the difference between the highest and lowest temperature values in a day was greater than 20°C. The cracking rate was aggravated when the difference between the highest and lowest humidity values in a day was less than 20%. The proportions of top cracking, longitudinal cracking, ring cracking, radial cracking, and combined cracking were 5.4%, 16.1%, 28.3%, 26.8%, and 32.1%, respectively. The fruit shoulder was the most susceptible region to crack, followed by fruit belly and top regions, whereas longer cracks were observed in the fruit belly region indicating a higher propensity to crack propagation in that region. Finally, the measured data were used to validate an extended finite element method developed to effectively predict cracking susceptibility and propagation in tomato fruit with a relative error of 4.68%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lattice thermal conductivity ( k lat ) of mantle minerals is a key factor in determining the Earth's energy budget and influences its dynamic processes. Here, we trained a neuroevolution machine learning potential for CaSiO3 perovskite (CaPv), the third most abundant mineral of the lower mantle, to investigate the k lat of pyrolitic aggregates at the core–mantle boundary (CMB). We show that the k lat of two types of pyrolitic aggregates has increased by 7% and 5% upon the addition of CaPv, demonstrating its significance in shaping the thermal structure of Earth's interior. Considering other mantle minerals and iron content, as well as the global distribution of temperature, we evaluated the heat flow across the CMB to be 7.98 ± 0.4 TW. The estimated heat flow is inconsistent with the value derived from the Fe alloy, which might suggest the presence of a thermally or chemically stratified layer atop the outer core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper (Cu) is the most attractive electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction to multi‐carbon (C2+) products with high economic value in considerable amounts. However, the rational design of a structurally stable Cu‐based catalyst that can achieve high activity and stability towards C2+ products remain a grand challenge. Here, a highly stable nickel oxygenate/Cu electrocatalyst is developed with abundant NiOOH/Cu interfaces by in situ electrochemical reconstruction. The nickel oxygenate/Cu electrocatalyst achieves a superior Faradaic efficiency of 86.3 ± 3.0% and a record partial current density of 2085 A g−1 for C2+ products with long‐term stability. In situ experimental and theoretical studies demonstrates that the exceptional performance in generating C2+ products is attributed to the presence of the NiOOH/Cu interfaces which increase *CO coverage, lower energy barrier for *CO coupling and stabilize *OCCO simultaneously. This work provides new insights into the rational design of electrocatalysts to achieve stable and efficient electrocatalytic CO2 reduction capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind-disturbance is a potential eco-friendly technique for tackling leggy seedlings. This study uses orthogonal experimental design and seedlings vigour assessment by strong seedling index (SSI) to investigate wind-disturbance on regulating tomato seedlings growth. Changes in endogenous hormone levels and biomechanical properties of tomato seedlings were investigated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and uniaxial tension tests. Results showed that factors influencing significantly SSI , in descending order, are wind disturbance time (T), seedling age at the onset of wind disturbance (SA), wind velocity (V), and interval time (I). The wind-disturbance effect was found to be optimal with SSI = 0.126 for a condition where V , T , I and SA values are 3 m s−1, 1 min, 30 min, and 15 days, respectively. V and T were positively correlated with the ethylene and abscisic acid content in seedling leaves, abscisic acid and auxin content in stems, cytokinin and ethylene content in roots, and the elastic moduli of stems and roots but negatively associated with the cytokinin content in stems and leaves, auxin and abscisic acid content in roots, and leaves' elastic modulus. Wind disturbance mechanism for controlling seedlings growth involved eliciting the accumulation of abscisic acid in stems and leaves and reduction of the auxin content in roots to about the optimal threshold for roots growth thereby reducing seedling stems and leaves development and promoting a better roots growth and a high SSI. This work offers theoretical insights and technical guidance for utilising wind-disturbance as a sustainable seedling cultivation and personalised seedling management approach. • Wind disturbance as a tool for regulating tomato seedlings growth was studied. • Wind disturbance could alter endogenous hormone content and elastic modulus. • The optimal wind disturbance strategy was determined. • Seedling strong index reached 0.126 when wind disturbance was most effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the size and adaptability of commercial wind turbines are both drastically rising, the aeroelastic performance analysis is crucial for the design and optimization of large-scale megawatt wind turbines. However, most existing aeroelastic methods based on assumption of small deflections are linear models and not suitable for flexible blades often undergoing large deflection. The present study aimed at developing a novel time-variant two-way aeroelastic coupling numerical model for calculating the unsteady load, operational modal analysis, aerodynamic damping and nonlinear large deformation is proposed in this paper. Compared to software GH bladed, this study takes aerodynamic damping analysis and aeroelastic coupling of flexible blades between unsteady load and large structural deformation into consideration. The subspace iteration method widely used in software ANSYS, hybrid beam theory, and modified Newmark-β displacement iteration method are first combined with the blade element momentum theory (BEM). A validation is carried out by comparing the present results with commercial software GH Bladed as well as the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) public data with a maximum difference of 3.13%, it is validated that the aeroelastic model in this paper is accurate and reliable. Furthermore, the unsteady aeroelastic performance such as aerodynamic force, aerodynamic damping, and dynamic response of flexible blade is further analyzed instantaneously during time-domain simulation in detail. The results indicate that the reduction of aerodynamic load and dynamic response caused by aeroelastic coupling is mainly the out-of-plane structural deformation, yet the blade vibration-induced velocity can be ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Time- and dose-to-event phenotypes used in basic science and translational studies are commonly measured imprecisely or incompletely due to limitations of the experimental design or data collection schema. For example, drug-induced toxicities are not reported by the actual time or dose triggering the event, but rather are inferred from the cycle or dose to which the event is attributed. This exemplifies a prevalent type of imprecise measurement called grouped failure time, where times or doses are restricted to discrete increments. Failure to appropriately account for the grouped nature of the data, when present, may lead to biased analyses. Results: We present groupedSurv, an R package which implements a statistically rigorous and computationally efficient approach for conducting genome-wide analyses based on grouped failure time phenotypes. Our approach accommodates adjustments for baseline covariates, and analysis at the variant or gene level. We illustrate the statistical properties of the approach and computational performance of the package by simulation. We present the results of a reanalysis of a published genome-wide study to identify common germline variants associated with the risk of taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy in breast cancer patients. Conclusions: groupedSurv enables fast and rigorous genome-wide analysis on the basis of grouped failure time phenotypes at the variant, gene or pathway level. The package is freely available under a public license through the Comprehensive R Archive Network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Declines in honey bee populations represent a worldwide concern. The widespread use of neonicotinoid insecticides has been one of the factors linked to these declines. Sublethal doses of a neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, has been reported to cause olfactory learning deficits in honey bees via impairment of the target organ, the brain. In the present study, olfactory learning of honey bees was compared between controls and imidacloprid-treated bees. The brains of imidacloprid-treated and control bees were used for comparative transcriptome analysis by RNA-Seq to elucidate the effects of imidacloprid on honey bee learning capacity. The results showed that the learning performance of imidacloprid-treated bees was significantly impaired in comparison with control bees after chronic oral exposure to imidacloprid (0.02 ng/μl) for 11 days. Gene expression profiles between imidacloprid treatment and the control revealed that 131 genes were differentially expressed, of which 130 were downregulated in imidacloprid-treated bees. Validation of the RNA-Seq data using qRT-PCR showed that the results of qRT-PCR and RNA-Seq exhibited a high level of agreement. Gene ontology annotation indicated that the oxidation-reduction imbalance might exist in the brain of honey bees due to oxidative stress induced by imidacloprid exposure. KEGG and ingenuity pathway analysis revealed that transient receptor potential and Arrestin 2 in the phototransduction pathway were significantly downregulated in imidacloprid-treated bees, and that five downregulated genes have causal effects on behavioral response inhibition in imidacloprid-treated bees. Our results suggest that downregulation of brain genes involved in immune, detoxification and chemosensory responses may result in decreased olfactory learning capabilities in imidacloprid-treated bees. Unlabelled Image • Olfactory learning of bees was significantly impaired after chronic exposure to imidacloprid. • Brain transcriptome revealed that 130 genes were downregulated in imidacloprid-treated bees. • GO annotation showed that oxidation-reduction imbalance may exist in brain of IMD-treated bees. • Five genes that have causal effects on behavioral response inhibition in bees were revealed by IPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nosema ceranae infection induces energetic stress, malnutrition, and precocious foraging in Apis mellifera. This study investigated effects of N. ceranae infection on the gene expression, protein content, and enzyme activity in the hypopharyngeal gland of nurse bees. The 285 differentially expressed genes were found between N. ceranae-infected and control bees using RNA-Seq, and 279 were upregulated and 6 were downregulated in infected bees. The protein level was significantly lower in infected bees than in controls, implying protein dysmetabolism and energetic stress in infected bees. The ELISA test showed that the specific activity of amylase was significantly higher in infected bees than in controls. The elevated enzymic activities were accompanied by an increased expressed level of hemolymph juvenile hormone-binding protein-encoding gene in infected bees, suggesting the possibility of Nosema-infected nurse bees to engage in behaviors that are normally performed by foragers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The obtained logistic model can predict the probability of power-grasp stability. • The minimum curvature radius R c exerted the strongest effect on the grasp stability probability. • The grasp stability probability decreased by 32.3% when R c increased by 1 mm. • The grasp stability probability increased by 8.2% when the fingertip span increased by 1 mm. • The static friction coefficients between apple skin and finger ranged from 0.68 to 0.77. Abstract In this paper, we present a logistic regression analysis approach to quantitatively investigate the effect of fruit characteristics, hand dimensions and interaction parameters between fruit and fingers such as static friction coefficient on the probability of stable thumb–index finger power-grasp during manual sorting. The logistic regression results of the study demonstrated that the obtained logistic regression model can predict the probability of stable thumb–index finger power-grasp reasonably. The minimum curvature radius of the fruit equatorial contour line exhibited the strongest association with the probability of stable thumb–index finger power-grasp, followed by the major diameter , minor diameter, thumb circumference, index finger circumference, fingertip span and fruit mass. The minimum curvature radius, minor diameter and fruit mass were negative determinants of the probability of stable thumb–index finger power-grasp. An increase by 1 mm in the minimum curvature radius keeping the other variables constant decreased the probability of stable thumb–index finger power-grasp by 32.3%, whereas a similar increase in the minor diameter decreased the probability by 19.4%. Similar increases in the thumb circumference, index finger circumference and fingertip span increased the probability by 13.8%, 12.6% and 8.2%, respectively. The static friction coefficients between apple skin and finger, mango skin and finger and melon skin and finger ranged from 0.68 to 0.77, 0.38 to 0.44 and 0.43 to 0.44, respectively. This logistic regression model would provide quantitative technical guidelines for defining a reasonable geometric size for two-finger power-grasp end-effector of fruit sorting robot during ergonomic design, and for assessing power-grasp stability of robotic two-finger end-effectors; this probabilistic model would also be used to develop learning-based robotic grasping planning strategies for robotic fruit sorting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Power palm-Thumb abduction was most frequently used for tomato fruit-picking. • Fruit posture and position had no significant effects on the grasp type choice. • The fruit's major diameter affected the grasp type choice. • Stature, forearm and hand lengths significantly affected the grasp type choice. • This is a statistical investigation for ergonomic design of harvesting robot. Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect the human hand grasp type in tomato fruit picking. The correlation between the parameters of the growing environment, fruit size, human body characteristics and choice of grasp type was investigated using a multinomial logistic regression analysis. In tomato fruit-picking, Power palm-Thumb abduction was the most frequently used grasp type, followed by Power palm-Thumb adduction , Power pad-Thumb abduction and Pinch. The plant posture and position of fruits in a tomato plant had no significant effect on the choice of the grasp type during tomato picking (p > 0.05). On the other hand, the major diameter of the fruit, right-hand length, forearm length, middle-finger length, and stature (participant height) had significant contributions on the choice of the grasp type (p < 0.05). With other independent variables unchanged, the probability that Power palm-Thumb abduction was chosen for picking was higher than those of Power pad-Thumb abduction and Pinch when the major diameter of fruits were 1 mm longer; when both the stature and forearm length of participants were 1 cm longer, the corresponding probability that Power palm-Thumb abduction was chosen for picking was higher than those of Power pad-Thumb abduction and Power palm-Thumb adduction , respectively; when both the hand length and middle-finger length of participants were 1 mm longer, the corresponding probability that Power palm-Thumb adduction and Pinch , respectively, were chosen for picking was higher than that of Power palm-Thumb abduction. This study provided an in-depth scientific guidance for dimensional synthesis of fruit-harvesting robots as well as in making grasp planning algorithms for intelligent picking of multi-finger end-effectors from the viewpoint of ergonomics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Hexavalent chromium [Cr (VI)], which is widely found in occupational environments, is a recognized human carcinogen. In this study, the role of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in Cr (VI)-induced crosstalk of apoptosis and autophagy was investigated. Cr (VI) resulted in ER stress by upregulating the expression of GRP78 and p-PERK. 4-Phenylbutyric acid (4PBA), an inhibitor of ER stress, reduced both Cr (VI)-induced apoptosis and autophagy, suggesting that ER stress played an important role in Cr (VI)-induced apoptosis and autophagy in A549 cells. Furthermore, Cr (VI)-induced apoptosis preceded autophagy. Z-VAD-FMK, the suppressor of apoptosis, repressed Cr (VI)-induced autophagy. Pretreatment with 3-MA, the inhibitor of autophagy, increased Cr (VI)-induced apoptosis. Exposure to Cr (VI) significantly reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) during Cr (VI) treatment for 6–12 h. However, Cr (VI)-reduced MMP rescued significantly after treatment with Cr (VI) for 24 h compared with that of 6 h and 12 h groups, suggesting that Cr (VI)-induced autophagy at 24 h might rescue Cr (VI)-induced decrease of MMP through engulfing damaged mitochondria and then inhibit apoptosis in A549 cells. Above all, our results indicated that Cr (VI)-induced ER stress plays an important role in the crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy. The autophagy might be apoptosis-dependent and subsequently prevents apoptosis cell death to keep A549 cells resistant to Cr (VI)-induced further toxicity. This maybe underlies the mechanism of Cr (VI)-induced carcinogenesis. Highlights • Cr (VI) induced time-dependent apoptosis and autophagy in A549 cells. • ER stress played an important role in Cr (VI)-induced apoptosis and autophagy in A549 cells. • Cr (VI)-induced apoptosis initiated autophagy and autophagy attenuated Cr (VI)-induced apoptosis in A549 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cadmium (Cd) is a highly ubiquitous detrimental metal in the environment. It is a well-known inducer of tumorigenesis, but the mechanism is not clear. In our previous study, we found that ROS-dependent Atg4B upregulation mediated Cd-induced autophagy and autophagy played an important role in Cd-induced proliferation and invasion in A549 cells. In this study, we found that Cd induced both apoptosis and autophagy in A549 cells, and apoptosis preceded autophagy. Z-VAD-FMK repressed Cd-induced LC3 and Beclin1, indicating that apoptosis was essential for Cd-induced autophagy. 3MA destroyed the recovery of mitochondrial membrane potential and increased Cd-induced CL-CASP9 and CL-CASP3 expression, suggesting that Cd-induced autophagy prevented A549 cells from apoptosis. Further study showed that Atg4B upregulation was mediated by mitochondrial dysfunction and conversely affected mitochondrial function by decreasing Bcl-2 protein expression and its localization in mitochondria, and played an important role in Cd-induced apoptosis. Moreover, Bcl-2 was involved in Cd-induced autophagy. Co-IP assay showed that Atg4B could directly bind to Bcl-2, and consequently promote disassociation of Bcl-2-Beclin1 and released autophagic protein Beclin1 to activate autophagic pathway. Taken together, our results demonstrated that the interaction of Atg4B and Bcl-2 might play an important role in Cd-induced crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy through disassociation of Bcl-2-Beclin1. Cd-induced autophagy is apoptosis-dependent and prevents apoptotic cell death to ensure the growth and proliferation of A549 cells. Graphical abstract fx1 Highlights • CdCl 2 induced both apoptosis and autophagy in A549 cells, and apoptosis preceded autophagy. • Atg4B was involved in both CdCl 2 -induced apoptosis and autophagy. • Atg4B could bind to Bcl-2 and subsequently promote disassociation of Bcl-2-Beclin1, releasing Beclin1 to activate autophagic pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new type of pollutant, microplastics (MPs) are an increasingly prominent threat to terrestrial ecosystems. However, the distribution, sources and influencing factors of MPs need to be further studied, especially in reservoir surrounding soil, a hot zone for MPs accumulation and a source of MPs in the watershed. Here, we detected MPs in 120 soil samples collected around Danjiangkou reservoir, with their amount ranging from 645 to 15,161 items/kg. The topsoil layer at 0–20 cm had lower levels of MPs (mean 3989 items/kg) than subsoils at 20–40 cm (mean 5620 items/kg). The most commonly detected types of MPs were polypropylene (26.4%) and polyamide (20.2%), with sizes ranging from 0.05 to 0.5 mm. With regard to shape, most MPs (67.7%) were fragmented, while fibers make up 25.3% of the MPs. Further analysis revealed that the number of villages had the highest driving force for the abundance of MPs with 51%, followed by pH 25% and land use types 10%. The water and sediment of reservoirs are important sources of agricultural soil microplastics. Paddy lands showed higher microplastics levels than orchards and dry croplands. The polymer risk index indicated that the agricultural soil near Danjiangkou reservoir had the highest MPs risk. This study highlights the importance of assessing MPs contamination in the agroecosystems surrounding reservoirs and provides valuable insight into clarify the ecological risks of MPs in the reservoir area. [Display omitted] • Agricultural soils were investigated for MPs in Danjiangkou Reservoir, China. • Habitats adjacent to the reservoir were widely contaminated by MPs. • Paddy land had higher MPs concentrations compared to orchards and dry croplands. • Microplastic contamination was positively related with number of village settlements. • Assessing fate of MPs in reservoir areas is vital for agroecosystem and food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibroblasts are critical pro-inflammatory regulators in chronic inflammatory and fibrotic skin diseases. However, fibroblast heterogeneity and the absence of a unified cross-disease taxonomy have hindered our understanding of the shared/distinct pathways in non-communicable skin inflammation. By integrating 10× single-cell data from 75 skin samples, we constructed a single-cell atlas across inflammatory and fibrotic skin diseases and identified 9 distinct subsets of skin fibroblasts. We found a shared subset of CCL19+ fibroblasts across these diseases, potentially attracting and educating immune cells. Moreover, COL6A5+ fibroblasts were a distinct subset implicated in the initiation and relapse of psoriasis, which tended to differentiate into CXCL1+ fibroblasts, inducing neutrophil chemotaxis and infiltration; while CXCL1+ fibroblasts exhibited a more heterogeneous response to certain inflammatory conditions. Differentiation trajectory and regulatory factors of these fibroblast subsets were also revealed. Therefore, our study presents a comprehensive atlas of skin fibroblasts and highlights pathogenic fibroblast subsets in skin disorders. • We developed a single-cell atlas of dermal fibroblasts and identified 9 distinct fibroblast subsets across chronic inflammatory (psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, lupus) and fibrotic skin disorders. • A shared subset of CCL19+ fibroblasts was found to mediate skin inflammation in all the diseases examined. • COL6A5+ fibroblasts were a distinct subset in psoriasis that had the ability to differentiate into CXCL1+ fibroblasts. • COL6A5+ fibroblasts were implicated in the recurrence of psoriasis based on the non-lesional and relapsing skin data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel collision warning system is proposed based on the visual road environment schema. • This schema can quantify drivers' unequal attention to different road environmental elements and visual fields. • The visual motion state of vehicles is calculated by the sensitivity matrix and the vision matrix. • The effectiveness of this novel system is examined by vehicle and driver characteristics. • A grey target decision-making model is built to comprehensively evaluate the system. Drivers pay unequal attention to different road environmental elements and visual fields, which greatly influences their driving behavior. However, existing collision warning systems ignore these visual characteristics of drivers, which limits the performance of collision warning systems. Therefore, this study proposes a novel collision warning system based on the visual road environment schema, in order to enhance the support for avoiding potential dangers in objects and areas that are easily overlooked by the drivers' vision. To capture the above visual characteristics of drivers, the visual road environment schema that consists of the semantic layer, the scene depth layer, the sensitive layer, and the visual field layer is established by using several different deep neural networks, which realizes the recognition, quantization, and analysis of the road environment from the drivers' visual perspective. The effectiveness of the novel collision warning system is verified by the driving simulation experiment from six indicators, including warning distance, maximum lateral acceleration, maximum longitudinal deceleration, minimum collision time, reaction time, and heart rate. Additionally, a grey target decision-making model is built to comprehensively evaluate the system. The results show that compared with the traditional collision warning system, the novel collision warning system proposed in this study performs significantly better and can discover potential dangers earlier, give timely warnings, enhance the vehicles' lateral stability and driving comfort, shorten reaction time, and relieve the drivers' nervousness. By integrating the drivers' visual characteristics into the collision warning system, this study could help to optimize the existing collision warning system and promote the mutual understanding between intelligent vehicles and human drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystalline porous materials (CPMs), including covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), are promising materials for advanced separation technologies. However, the challenge of transforming nanoscale CPMs into large‐area functional membranes hinders their application in the membrane separation process. Herein, a self‐standing pure COF (TpPa‐1) nanofiber membrane with high crystallinity, good flexibility, excellent mechanical properties, and scalability is prepared using an electrospinning process and polymer sacrificial template strategy. Subsequently, the COF nanofiber membrane is innovatively used to replace traditional inorganic discs, metal meshes, and polymer membranes as porous supports, and the COF–MOF composite CPM membrane is prepared through the tailorable and confined growth of zeolite imidazolium salt frame‐8 (ZIF‐8) on the surface of the COF membrane and in the gaps of the COF nanofibers. The COF–MOF composite membrane exhibits excellent permeability and significantly enhances separation selectivity for organic dyes. Moreover, MOF and COF form an interpenetrating network structure, and their similar chemical properties improve the interfacial stability between the two phases, giving the COF–MOF composite membrane good long‐term separation performance. This is the first self‐standing composite CPM membrane with excellent molecular sieving performance, which provides new insights into the design of high‐performance and robust composite membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: It has long been established that high-dose methotrexate is an essential part of therapy for primary central nervous system lymphoma. When regimens utilizing high-dose methotrexate were first studied, a dose of 8 g/m2 was used. More recently, reduced dosing strategies have been studied and adopted in attempts to reduce rates of adverse events. Studies utilizing 3.5 g/m2 of methotrexate have shown promising outcomes and improved rates of adverse events but there have never been any randomized head-to-head studies of differing dose levels of high-dose methotrexate. The purpose of this study was to compare efficacy and safety of different dosing strategies of high-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) for primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). Methods: This single center retrospective review was conducted between 07/01/2013 to 6/3/2020. The patient population was separated into two arms based upon dose of methotrexate. The high intensity (HiHD) arm was defined as patients who received doses > 3.5 g/m2, while the low intensity (LiHD) arm received ≤ 3.5 g/m2. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR) and secondary endpoints include efficacy via 2-year overall survival (OS), progression to transplant, and utilization of consolidation or salvage therapy. Safety was assessed through monitoring of relevant laboratory studies. Results: A total of 92 patients were included in this analysis. Baseline demographics were similar between groups, with the LiHD group trending toward older age. There were 78 patients eligible for assessment for ORR; there was no significant difference between the two groups (42.0% LiHD vs. 44.4% HiHD; p = 1.0). Rates of OS, progression to transplant and progression to consolidation chemotherapy were not different between groups. There were statistically significantly higher rates of renal and/or hepatic dysfunction with the first dose in the HiHD group compared with the LiHD group (11.5% LiHD vs. 64.3% HiHD; p ≤ 0.01). Conclusions: In this PCNSL patient cohort, there is no difference in terms of efficacy between HiHD LiHD methotrexate, but patients in the HiHD group had higher rates of renal and hepatic dysfunction. Limitations include small sample size and disparity between group sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specialized epoxy resin, capable of achieving room-temperature profound curing and sustaining prolonged exposure to high-temperature environments, stands as a pivotal material in modern high-end manufacturing sectors including aerospace, marine equipment fabrication, machinery production, and the electronics industry. Herein, a silicon-hybridized epoxy resin, amenable to room-temperature curing and designed for high-temperature applications, was synthesized using a sol–gel methodology with silicate esters and silane coupling agents serving as silicon sources. Resin characterization indicates a uniform distribution of silicon elements in the obtained silicon hybrid epoxy resin. In comparison to the non-hybridized epoxy resin, notable improvements are observed in room-temperature curing performance, heat resistance, and mechanical strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grouped survival data arise often in studies where the disease status is assessed at regular visits to clinic. The time to the event of interest can only be determined to be between two adjacent visits or is right censored at one visit. In data analysis, replacing the survival time with the endpoint or midpoint of the grouping interval leads to biased estimators of the effect size in group comparisons. Prentice and Gloeckler developed a maximum likelihood estimator for the proportional hazards model with grouped survival data and the method has been widely applied. Previous work on sample size calculation for designing studies with grouped data is based on either the exponential distribution assumption or the approximation of variance under the alternative with variance under the null. Motivated by studies in HIV trials, cancer trials and in vitro experiments to study drug toxicity, we develop a sample size formula for studies with grouped survival endpoints that use the method of Prentice and Gloeckler for comparing two arms under the proportional hazards assumption. We do not impose any distributional assumptions, nor do we use any approximation of variance of the test statistic. The sample size formula only requires estimates of the hazard ratio and survival probabilities of the event time of interest and the censoring time at the endpoints of the grouping intervals for one of the two arms. The formula is shown to perform well in a simulation study and its application is illustrated in the three motivating examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resveratrol (RSV) attenuates early brain injury (EBI) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). This study aimed to investigate whether the effects of RSV on SAH-induced EBI were mediated via the AMPK/SIRT1/autophagy pathway. A SAH rat model was established and oxyhemoglobin (Oxyhb)-induced primary cortical neurons were prepared to mimic SAH in vitro. The results showed that RSV significantly reduced microglia activation and the release of inflammatory cytokines, resulting in the alleviation of neurological behavior impairment, brain edema and neural apoptosis at 24 h post-SAH. However, RSV failed to ameliorate neurological deficits, brain edema and neural apoptosis when SAH injury lasted for 72 h. Additionally, at 24 h post-SAH, RSV-administered rats showed a significant increase in the LC3-II/I ratio and the phosphorylation state of AMPK and SIRT1 protein expression in brain tissues. Further in vitro studies revealed that RSV notably reduced the release of inflammatory cytokines and neural apoptosis in neurons at 24 post-Oxyhb, which was abolished by 3MA (an autophagy inhibitor) and Compound C (an AMPK inhibitor). Moreover, Compound C decreased LC3-II/I ratio and inhibited SIRT1 protein expression, whereas 3MA had no significant effects on AMPK/SIRT1-related proteins. In conclusion, the AMPK/SIRT1/autophagy pathway plays an important role in the alleviation of SAH-induced EBI by RSV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, discussions concerning use of clean technologies in oil and gas industry are thriving more than ever before because the question of global warming and the threat to public health have reached critical points. The present research intends to study the various thermal processes and investigate the environmental advantages and disadvantages of each one in the oil utilization process. Each process is first briefly introduced and its environmental features are then examined. Since the energetic aspects of these processes are also important, and in some cases combustion is preferred to the environmental aspects, the energetic features of all these processes are also explained in brief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Agrin is essential for the formation and maintenance of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). NT-1654 is a C-terminal fragment of mouse neural agrin. In this study, we determined the effects of NT-1654 on the severity of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG).Methods: EAMG was induced in female Lewis rats by immunization with the Torpedo acetylcholine receptor (tAChR) and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). NT-1654 was dissolved in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and injected daily subcutaneously into tAChR immunized rats during the first 10 days after immunization, and then every other day for the following 20 days.Results: We showed that NT-1654 attenuated clinical severity, effectively promoted the clustering of AChRs at NMJs, and alleviated the impairment of NMJ transmission and the reduction of muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) in EAMG rats.Discussion: We demonstrated that NT-1654 attenuated clinical severity, effectively promoted the clustering of AChRs at NMJs, and alleviated the impairment of NMJ transmission and the reduction of muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) in EAMG rats. Muscle Nerve 57: 814-820, 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass is a nonorganic fuel that has a high potential for transforming into favorable chemicals in pyrolysis and syngas reaction in gasification reaction. However, economic problems in design and operation of gasification systems are the most important problems in this field. The present research aims to review current conditions and economic characteristics of this process. This research also studied economic characteristics of different produced chemicals such as hydrogen, methanol, and ethanol. Based on the literature data, it was found that the use of a 2000 dry-ton/day plant is more economical than that of 1000 dry-ton/day plant for ethanol production. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

[Display omitted] • The absorption coefficient measured at 405 nm was an indicator for fruit ripeness. • LSD average values were correlated with microscopy results. • Percentage frequency of cell size distribution was correlated to tissue mechanics. • Peak frequency was correlated to failure stress and elastic modulus. • Percentage frequency of largest cell size range was inversly correlated to failure stress and elastic modulus. Strawberry fruit are high value, but also perishable products, because of their soft texture. Better insight on the strawberry mechanics are requested for understanding postharvest decay due to bruising. To gain data on the volumetric cell size distribution of strawberry tissue capturing the volume of 10 * 5 * 5 mm, fruit cells were suspended in 0.3 M mannitol solution. Cell size of 'Flair', 'Malwina', and 'Sonata' strawberry fruit, each in three commercially marketed ripeness stages (N = 135), was measured with particle size analyzer based on laser light scattering density analysis (LSD). The strawberry cell size distribution showed a wide range from 30–500 µm with frequency peak between 200 and 240 µm. The cell size of 'Flair' and 'Malwina' was smaller compared to 'Sonata' strawberry fruit. The volumetric cell size distribution obtained by LSD was correlated to microscopy results (R2 = 0.97–0.99) obtained on single cells (N = 1215), indicating that LSD can be used for measuring the percentages of different cell size ranges of volumetric fruit sample. The three ripeness stages were classified with Gaussian Naïve Bayes approach considering absorption coefficient of anthocyanins at 405 nm (GNBa) and percentage frequency of peak cell size (GNBc). For GNBa classes, ripening stage showed no interaction with failure stress, strain, and elastic modulus. Considering GNBc classes, the failure stress and elastic modulus of strawberry tissue increased with enhanced percentage frequency of peak cell size for all three cultivars. An enhanced percentage frequency of large cells resulted in increased susceptibility of the strawberry tissue. Overall, this study showed that LSD cell size distribution data from a volumetric tissue sample are related to fruit tissue mechanics, which is conducive to a better analysis of the actual stress and damage problems of strawberry fruit tissue specimens during compression in supply chain processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Alon–Tarsi number AT (G) of a graph G is the smallest k for which there is an orientation D of G with max indegree k − 1 such that the number of even and odd spanning Eulerian subgraphs contained in D are different. In this paper, we show that the Alon–Tarsi number of toroidal grids T m , n = C m □ C n equals 4 when m , n are both odd and 3 otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors study the properties of virtual Temperley-Lieb algebra and show how the f-polynomial of virtual knot can be derived from a representation of the virtual braid group into the virtual Temperley-Lieb algebra, which is an approach similar to Jones's original construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic metal widely found in a number of environmental matrices, and it induces serious adverse effects in various organs and tissues. In this study, the role of high mobility group A2 (HMGA2) in promoting migration and invasion in Cd-treated A549 cells and lung tissues of mice was investigated. Our findings showed that exposure to Cd (2 μM) for 48 h or subcutaneous injection of Cd daily for 6 weeks significantly enhanced the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase ( p -FAK), and HMGA2 in A549 cells or lung tissues of mice. In A549 cells, HMGA2 knockdown significantly decreased expression of MMP-9, MMP-2 and p -FAK and inhibited the migration and invasion compared to that of only Cd-treated cultures. Overexpression of HMGA2 in HEK-293T cells increased expression of MMP-9, MMP-2 and p -FAK and enhanced the migration and invasion compared with the empty vector transfection group. In conclusion, upregulation of HMGA2 plays an important role in Cd-enhanced migration and invasion. Suppressing HMGA2 expression might have potential values in prevention of Cd-resulted toxicities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute toxicities (LD50s) of imidacloprid and clothianidin to Apis mellifera and A. cerana were investigated. Changing patterns of immune-related gene expressions and the activities of four enzymes between the two bee species were compared and analyzed after exposure to sublethal doses of insecticides. Results indicated that A. cerana was more sensitive to imidacloprid and clothianidin than A. mellifera . The acute oral LD50 values of imidacloprid and clothianidin for A. mellifera were 8.6 and 2.0 ng/bee, respectively, whereas the corresponding values for A. cerana were 2.7 and 0.5 ng/bee. The two bee species possessed distinct abilities to mount innate immune response against neonicotinoids. After 48 h of imidacloprid treatment, carboxylesterase (CCE), prophenol oxidase (PPO), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities were significantly downregulated in A. mellifera but were upregulated in A. cerana . Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity was significantly elevated in A. mellifera at 48 h after exposure to imidacloprid, but no significant change was observed in A. cerana . AChE was downregulated in both bee species at three different time points during clothianidin exposure, and GST activities were upregulated in both species exposed to clothianidin. Different patterns of immune-related gene expression and enzymatic activities implied distinct detoxification and immune responses of A. cerana and A. mellifera to imidacloprid and clothianidin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 3D virtual model was developed of compression of a whole tomato fruit to 10% deformation. This included a 1/4 geometrical model of the fruit, an up-plate probe and a bottom-plate base. The fruit model included the cuticle, a pericarp frame and septal tissues, and a nearly incompressible surface-based water-filled locule. The cuticle was meshed into quadrilateral membrane elements whilst the pericarp frame and septal tissues were meshed into hexahedral brick elements with an edge size of 0.4 mm, approximating cells in the fruit. Assuming elastic-plastic constitutive behaviour and von Mises yield criterion for the cuticle and cell elements, the cuticle did not yield during simulation whilst the cells that had yielded were mainly distributed inside the pericarp tissues and near the stem-blossom axis. The vertical compression resulted in a main local deformation response in the contact area and a minor equatorial structural response. The internal damage volume increased from 0 to 6672 mm 3 when a vertical force from 0 to 6.5 N was applied and the corresponding deformation of the model fruit ranged from 0 to 10%. The relationship between internal damage volume and percentage deformation (or compression force) followed the 4-parameter sigmoidal model. Tiny internal damage of fruit at the microscale began from the start of the compression but was not easily observed when the fruit deformation was <3%. This mathematical modelling method to find the internal damage volume might also be used for other fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In sequential multiple assignment randomized trials, longitudinal outcomes may be the most important outcomes of interest because this type of trials is usually conducted in areas of chronic diseases or conditions. We propose to use a weighted generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach to analyzing data from such type of trials for comparing two adaptive treatment strategies based on generalized linear models. Although the randomization probabilities are known, we consider estimated weights in which the randomization probabilities are replaced by their empirical estimates and prove that the resulting weighted GEE estimator is more efficient than the estimators with true weights. The variance of the weighted GEE estimator is estimated by an empirical sandwich estimator. The time variable in the model can be linear, piecewise linear, or more complicated forms. This provides more flexibility that is important because, in the adaptive treatment setting, the treatment changes over time and, hence, a single linear trend over the whole period of study may not be practical. Simulation results show that the weighted GEE estimators of regression coefficients are consistent regardless of the specification of the correlation structure of the longitudinal outcomes. The weighted GEE method is then applied in analyzing data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]