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Objective Methods Results Conclusion This study aimed at ascertaining the efficacy and safety of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) combined with donafenib versus HAIC alone in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Seventy HCC patients were enrolled for our study, and they were randomized by simple randomization using computer‐generated random numbers into two groups: control group and observation group. Regular follow‐up reviews were conducted to assess the efficacy of treatments. The levels of apoptotic factors, the levels of hepatic fibrosis indices, the levels of serum tumor vascular factors and tumor markers, and the occurrence of adverse reactions in the two groups were recorded and compared.Disease control rate, objective response rate, and progression‐free survival (PFS) of patients in the observation group were higher in contrast to the control group. After 12 weeks of treatment, lower mRNA expression of c‐mesenchymal‐epithelial transition factor, telomerase, and Fas Ligand and higher mRNA expression of Fas and Caspase‐3 were observed in HCC tissues of the observation group versus the control group (p < 0.05); lower detection values of serum laminin, hyaluronic acid, collage type IV, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, and alpha‐fetal protein (AFP) were noted in HCC patients of the observation group in comparison to the control group (p < 0.05); there was no difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups.Donafenib combined with HAIC in the treatment of unresectable HCC patients can notably reduce serum AFP levels, improve hepatic fibrosis, enhance short‐term efficacy, prolong PFS, and have a favorable safety profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaporation‐driven electricity generators have been proposed to generate electricity by water interacting with nanostructured materials. However, several proposed mechanisms, such as intrinsic gradient of polar functional groups principle and electrokinetic effect perspective, are in wide discrepancy. Here, through the combination of theoretical calculations involving time dimension on material's moisturizing process and experimental analyses, it is revealed the working principle through the water molecule triple roles in driving moisture electric generators (MEGs): 1) intrinsic H2O absorption on the material surface and splitting into hydroxy group and proton due to the polarizability of the material surface determined by the static electric potential of the materials. This process induces the electrochemical potential difference of the materials via the work function changes; 2) freely diffused protons derived from the H2O splitting work as the ions charge carriers; 3) via the hydrogen bond of the water molecules to drive charge carriers diffuse between opposite electrodes, maintaining the internal circuit current flow. It is successfully unveiled that anatase TiO2 based materials for output voltage changes correlated to the domains' work function's difference, tuning by the surface adsorption species (H, Cl, OH) and anisotropic exposed crystal facets of the material. This work unveils MEG's general working principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The praying mantis Creobroter nebulosa Zheng (Mantedea: Hymenopodidae) is an insect that has medicinal and esthetical importance, and being a natural enemy for many insects, the species is used as a biological control agent. In this publication, we used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the fine morphology of antennae of males and females of this species. The antennae of both sexes are filiform and consist of three parts: scape, pedicel, and flagellum (differing in the number of segments). Based on the external morphology and the sensilla distribution, the antennal flagellum is could be divided into five regions. Seven sensilla types and eleven subtypes of sensilla were observed: grooved peg sensillum (Sgp), Bohm bristles (Bb), basiconic sensillum (Sb), trichoid sensillum (StI, StII), campaniform sensillum (Sca), chaetic sensillum (ScI, ScII, ScIII), and coeloconic sensillum (ScoI, ScoII). In Mantodea, the ScoII is observed for the first time, and it is located on the tip of the flagellum. The external structure and distribution of these sensilla are compared to those of other insects and possible functions of the antennal sensilla are discussed. The males and females of the mantis could be distinguished by the length of antennae and number of Sgp. Males have antennae about 1.5 times longer and have significantly larger number of Sgp compared to females. The sexual difference in distribution of the Sgp suggests that this type of sensilla may play a role in sex-pheromones detection in mantis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel phytic acid-modified corn stalk-composite superabsorbent (PACS-g-p(AA-AM-VP)) with water absorbency of 391 g/g, water retention around 30% at 200 min under 90 °C, adsorption capacities of 284 mg/g and 448 mg/g for Ni(II) and Cu (II), respectively, was synthesized by graft copolymerization of acrylamide(AM), vinyl pyrrolidone(VP) and itaconic acid(IA) with phytic acid-modified corn stalk (PACS) in aqueous solution, using N,N-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker and ammonium persulfate (APS) and sodium bisulfite (SBS) as redox initiator. Factors influencing water absorbency and water retention of PACS-g-p (AA-AM-VP), such as PACS amount, initiator amount, crosslinker amount, neutralization degree of IA, IA/VP mass ratio and IA/AM mass ratio, were investigated. Morphologies and structure of PACS-g-p (AA-AM-VP) were characterized by FTIR and SEM. FTIR spectra indicate the structure of phytic acid-modified corn stalk graft-copolymer. SEM data shows that fiber structure of corn stalk is partially destroyed after phytic acid modification under ultrasonic wave. PACS-g-p (AA-AM-VP) has a coarse, fluffy and porous structure, facilitating the permeation of water and heavy metal ions into the polymeric network. Given these properties, PACS-g-p (AA-AM-VP) can be extensively applied in agriculture and horticulture as a water-retaining and soil remediation material which increases agricultural irrigation efficiency and remediates heavy metal-contaminated soil due to its low cost, environmental friendliness, high water retention and good adsorption for heavy metal ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic hydrogels have huge potential environmental applications in the elimination of various noxious pollutants from the water system. Polyethyleneimine (PEI)-modified magnetic hydrogel nanocomposites (PEI-mHNCs) with three-dimensional networks were prepared based on poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) and PEI-modified magnetic nanoparticle and used for the removal of crystal violet dye from aqueous solution. XRD results preliminarily confirmed the target structure of PEI-mHNCs without destroying the structure of magnetic nanoparticles during modification and radical polymerization. PEI-mHNCs had rough and uneven surface with many coarse porous and gap structure. PEI-mHNCs had crystal violet adsorption capacity of 198.5, 286.3 and 372.6 mg/g for initial dye concentration of 300, 500 and 700 mg/L, respectively. Dye absorption approached absorption equilibrium at 90 min and PEI-mHNCs had maximum dye absorption capacity at pH = 8. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics conformed to the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, respectively. Thermodynamic studies revealed that crystal violet adsorption for PEI-mHNCs was a spontaneous, exothermal and decreased entropy process.Besides, PEI-mHNCs had good magnetic responsiveness, desorption and reusability which made it an efficient adsorbent for the removal of cationic dyes from an aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The packing states of luminescent molecules can be affected by external stimuli, leading to changes in the emission energy. Compared with the traditional organics and metal−organic frameworks, closely packed coordination polymers (CPs) have more transition types and better stabilities, respectively. However, little attention is paid to the closely packed CPs in the field of piezochromism, and much less to the corresponding optical mechanism. For studying the effect of molecular structure and the energy transfer on piezochromism, ten [Cu2I2] cluster‐based CPs with bridging aromatic ligands and terminal triphenylphosphine ligands are constructed to explore the pressure‐dependent luminescence, especially the influences of bridging ligand length, supramolecular interactions, and halogen atoms on the wavelength shift for luminescent piezochromism. In these CPs, the conformational and structural flexibilities can be effectively increased by lengthening the bridging ligand and addition of pendent methyl groups in the phosphine ligands, respectively, resulting in more obvious piezochromism. In addition, the XLCT/MLCT ratios are efficiently modulated by adjusting the flexibility of halogen electron cloud, which further affects the piezochromic property. Upon the combined effect of multiple flexibilities, a closely packed CP with a large wavelength shift (77 nm) and reversible piezochromism is found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

γ-Methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (KH570)-modified magnetic hydrogel nanocomposite absorbents with semi-interpenetrating networks (semi-IPNs-KH570-mHNAs) were synthesized by radical copolymerization via poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and KH570-modified magnetic nanoparticles. FTIR and XRD results preliminarily confirmed the target structure of semi-IPNs-KH570-mHNAs without destroying the structure of magnetic nanoparticles during KH570 modification and radical polymerization. Semi-IPNs-KH570-mHNAs with many porous and ravine structure had high adsorption capacity for Pb(II) (450 mg/g). Semi-IPNs-KH570-mHNAs had the best absorption capacity for Pb(II) ion in the synthesis condition of acrylic acid/acrylamide mass ratio of 60:40, 0.8% initiator, acrylic acid (AA) neutralization degree of 70%, 0.2% cross-linker, 12% PVP and 10% KH570-modified magnetic nanoparticles. Besides, semi-IPNs-KH570-mHNAs had good magnetic responsiveness, high thermal stability, reusability which made it a potential application in removing heavy metal ions from the contaminated wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently reported adsorbents for wastewater purification generally have only limited adsorption capacity and low adsorption rate towards dye contaminants. In this work, KH570-modified magnetic hydrogel nanocomposites (KH570-mHNCs) with semi-IPNs structure were prepared based on poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), and KH570-modified magnetic nanoparticles, and it exhibited high absorption capacity and absorption rate for methylene blue dye. KH570-mHNCs had a rough surface with many porous and gully structures, and FTIR results preliminarily confirmed the target structure of KH570-mHNCs. KH570-mHNCs could rapidly absorb methylene blue by approaching absorption equilibrium at 90 min. Dye absorption of KH570-mHNCs had maximum dye absorption capacity at pH = 8, and methylene blue adsorption capacity was 255.4 mg/g, 326.3 mg/g, and 418.5 mg/g in the condition of initial dye concentrations of 700 mg/L, 900 mg/L, and 1100 mg/L, respectively. Methylene blue adsorption isotherms and kinetics conformed to the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, respectively. Methylene blue adsorption for KH570-mHNCs was a spontaneous, exothermal, and entropy reduction process. In addition, KH570-mHNCs had good magnetic response, desorption, and reusability, which made it a potential application in the field of methylene blue removal from the aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their tight structures, it is usually difficult for one-dimensional (1D) coordination polymers (CPs) to form permanent pores unless 2D and 3D topologies are formed via supramolecular interactions, so studies in the field of oxygen sensing on 1D CPs are rarely reported. Here, we report a 1D Cu(I) cluster-based CP with dual sensing characteristics for temperature and oxygen. Even if the porosity is only 6.6%, the quenching rate of this CP reaches 98.4% with 1 bar O2 at room temperature. Its luminescence intensity exhibits a unique thermal "quenching, then activating" behavior during monotonic variations in temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel polyethylenimine (PEI)-modified magnetic hydrogel nanocomposites (PEI-mHNs) for heavy metal ions removal were prepared by copolymerization of acrylamide, acrylic acid and PEI-modified magnetic nanoparticles using polyethylene glycol diacrylate as chemical crosslinker and PEI-modified magnetic nanoparticles as physical crosslinker. FTIR and XRD results preliminarily confirmed the target structure of PEI-mHNs without destroying the structure of magnetic nanoparticles during modification and radical copolymerization. PEI-mHNs have rough and uneven surface with many porous and gap structure, which makes the rapid adsorption rate and high adsorption capacity of heavy metal ions(Cu(II) (150 mg/g), Cd(II) (236.7 mg/g) and Pb(II) (371.4 mg/g). The adsorption capacity of PEI-mHNs could be improved by increasing the pH of the original solution and initial concentration of heavy metal ions. Heavy metal ions adsorption isotherms and kinetics conformed to the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, respectively. Besides, PEI-mHNs had good magnetic responsiveness, desorption and reusability which made them potential materials to remove heavy metal ions from the aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• High temperature of CO 2 and steam were investigated to convert the shale oil. • The critical influencing factors of thermal fluid pyrolysis were determined. • The mechanical properties of shales during CO 2 and steam heating were captured. • Change of pore structures of shale oil during CO 2 and steam pyrolysis were determined. This study evaluates the potential of oil and gas generation from thermal pyrolysis of low-maturity organic rich shales by high temperature fluids injection. This method aims to convert the solid organic matter into hydrocarbons, thereby enhancing the quality of shale oil. The effectiveness of this technique hinges on its ability to convert retained heavy compounds and kerogen into light, moveable hydrocarbons, while also improving the oil recovery factor. Our experimental findings reveal that the decrease of total organic carbon content predominantly occurs between 400–550 °C or even higher. Different heating fluid media were tested for their pyrolysis effectiveness, among the heating media tested, CO 2 and steam mixture proved the most productive. A comparison of CO 2 , steam and CO 2 -steam pyrolysis experiments were carried out. It is observed that the oil yield is the lowest in a pure CO 2 atmosphere, while oil yield from the mixture of CO 2 -steam pyrolysis is the highest. In addition, the pore structure and mechanical properties of shales during pyrolysis process are examined. This investigation provides a theoretical basis for the large-scale upgrading of organic-rich shale formations, highlighting the critical influencing factors of thermal pyrolysis in optimizing shale oil recovery and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The WhiB-Like (Wbl) proteins are a large family of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster-containing transcription factors exclusively found in the phylum Actinobacteria, including the notable genera like Mycobacteria, Streptomycetes and Corynebacteria. These proteins play pivotal roles in diverse biological processes, such as cell development, redox stress response and antibiotic resistance. Members of the Wbl family exhibit remarkable diversity in their sequences, structures and functions, attracting great attention since their first discovery. This review highlights the most recent breakthroughs in understanding the structural and mechanistic aspects of Wbl-dependent transcriptional regulation. • Wbl proteins are a unique family of iron-sulfur transcription factors exclusively found in the phylum Actinobacteria. • Wbl proteins play crucial roles in a variety of biological processes in Actinobacteria. • Holo-Wbl proteins bind to region 4 of the primary sigma 70 factor to regulate transcription. • Recent structural and mechanistic studies reveal diverse mechanisms of action for Wbl proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • An anti-corrosive and conductive composite coating was prepared on Mg alloy by two-step chemical conversion. • High corrosion resistance of the coating depends on the combined effect of two conversion processes. • Low contact resistance of the coating is due to the formation of conductive manganese oxides. A composite coating based on phytic acid and permanganate was developed on AZ31 magnesium alloy via two-step chemical conversion process, exhibiting high corrosion resistance and low contact resistance. The morphology, composition, anti-corrosion properties and electrical properties of the composite coating were characterized. The composite coating was mainly composed of magnesium phytate, MnO 2 and Mn 2 O 3. The corrosion protective efficiency of the composite coating is 80.25 %, which is higher than that of the phytic acid coating and potassium permanganate coating. Furthermore, the composite coating shows low electrical contact resistance around 0.083 Ω cm2, which is close to the potassium permanganate coating but much higher than the phytic acid coating. The high corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity of the composite coating can be attributed to the growth of conductive manganese oxide at the cracks or pores of the anti-corrosion phytic acid coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yarn supercapacitors have attracted significant attention for wearable energy storage due to their ability to be directly integrated with garments. Conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPy) based yarn supercapacitors show limited cycling stability because of the huge volume changes during the charge–discharge processes. In addition, laundering may cause damage to such yarn supercapacitors. Here, the fabrication of PPy‐based re‐stickable yarn supercapacitors is reported with good cycling stability by employing vapor phase polymerization (VPP) and water‐soluble polyethylene oxide (PEO) film as the adhesive layer. VPP duration and cycle are controlled to achieve multi‐layered PPy electrodes. The assembled yarn supercapacitors show a good cycling stability with capacitance retention of 79.1% after 5000 charge–discharge cycles. The energy stored in the yarn supercapacitor is sufficient to power a photodetector. After gluing the yarn supercapacitors onto a PEO film, the devices can be stunk on and peeled off the garment to avoid the mechanical stresses during the washing process. Three yarn supercapacitors connected in parallel on PEO film show negative changes in electrochemical performance after 5 sticking‐peeling cycles. This work provides a facile way to fabricate PPy‐based re‐stickable energy storage devices with high cycling stability for smart garments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offender residences have become a research focus in the crime literature. However, little attention has been paid to the interactive associations between built environment factors and the residential choices of offenders. Over the past three decades, there has been an unprecedented wave of migrant workers pouring into urban centers for employment in China. Most of them flowed into urban villages within megacities. Weak personnel stability and great mobility have led to the urban villages to be closely related to decreased public safety and the deterioration of social order. The YB district in China was selected as the study area, which is located in one of the most developed cities in Southern China and has an area of approximately 800 km2 and a population of approximately four million people. This study aims to explore the associations between the neighborhood environment and the offender residences by using the geographical detector model (GeoDetector) from the perspective of interaction. The conceptual framework is based on the social disorganization theory. The results found that urban villages were the most important variable with a relatively high explanatory power. In general, taking the urban village as the carrier, various places (hotels, entertainment places, and factories) within the urban village may be more likely to include offender residences. This study also found the social disorganization theory applicable in the non-Western context. These findings may have important implications for offender residences identification, crime prevention, and the management of urban villages in Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KH570‐modified magnetic hydrogel nanocomposite absorbents (KH570‐mHNAs) with semi‐interpenetrating networks (semi‐IPNs) were synthesized by radical copolymerization based on poly(acrylamide‐co‐acrylic acid), PVP and KH570‐modified magnetic nanoparticles. KH570‐mHNAs with porous and ravine structure have the target structure confirmed by FTIR and XRD results. KH570‐mHNAs have high adsorption capacities of Cu(II) (163 mg/g), Cd(II) (150 mg/g), and Pb(II) (460.8 mg/g), approaching the absorption equilibrium at 60 min. Heavy metal absorption was highly dependent on different process variables, such as pH value, initial heavy metal ion concentration, contact time, and temperature. The endothermic, entropy increasing, and spontaneous nature of heavy metal ion adsorption was revealed from thermodynamic study. Heavy metal ions adsorption isotherms and kinetics were in agreement with the Langmuir model and pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model, respectively. Besides, KH570‐mHNAs had good magnetic responsiveness, desorption, and reusability, which made it a promising adsorbent for removing heavy metal ions from the contaminated wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article "Unveil the Triple Roles of Water Molecule on Power Generation of MXene Derived TiO2 based Moisture Electric Generator," published in Advanced Energy Materials, the authors Tao Wan, Peiyuan Guan, Dawei Su, Dewei Chu, and their colleagues explore the role of water molecules in driving moisture electric generators. They find that the power output of anatase TiO2-based materials is influenced by the difference in work function of the domains, which can be adjusted by the adsorption species on the surface and the crystal facets of the material. This research sheds light on the potential of water molecules in energy harvesting. [Extracted from the article]

Integrating multiple semiconductors with distinct physical properties is a practical design strategy for realizing novel optoelectronic devices with unprecedented functionalities. In this work, a photonic resistive switching (RS) memory is demonstrated based on solution‐processed bilayers of strontium titanate (SrTiO3 or STO) quantum dots (QDs) and all‐inorganic halide perovskite CsPbBr3 (CPB) with an Ag/STO/CPB/Au architecture. Compared with the single‐layer STO or CPB RS device, the double‐layer device shows considerably improved RS performance with a high switching ratio over 105, an endurance of 3000 cycles, and a retention time longer than 2 × 104 s. The formation of heterojunction between STO and CPB significantly enhances the high resistance state, and the separation of the active silver electrode and the CPB layer contributes to the long‐term stability. More importantly, the photonic RS device exhibits UV–visible dual‐band response due to the photogating effect and the light‐induced modification of the heterojunction barrier. Last, tri‐mode operation, i.e., photodetector, memory, and photomemory, is demonstrated via tailoring the light and electric stimuli. This bilayer device architecture provides a unique approach toward enhancing the performance of photoresponsive data‐storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gymnosperms represent an ancient lineage that diverged from early spermatophytes during the Devonian. The long fossil records and low diversity in living species prove their complex evolutionary history, which included ancient radiations and massive extinctions. Due to their ultra-large genome size, the whole-genome assembly of gymnosperms has only generated in the past 10 years and is now being further expanded into more taxonomic representations. Here, we provide an overview of the publicly available gymnosperm genome resources and discuss their assembly quality and recent findings in large genome architectures. In particular, we describe the genomic features most related to changes affecting the whole genome. We also highlight new realizations relative to repetitive sequence dynamics, paleopolyploidy, and long introns. Based on the results of relevant genomic studies of gymnosperms, we suggest additional efforts should be made toward exploring the genomes of medium-sized (5–15 gigabases) species. Lastly, more comparative analyses among high-quality assemblies are needed to understand the genomic shifts and the early species diversification of seed plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Asian honey bees; Gnetum; gymnosperms; moths; nocturnal pollination; plant-insect interactions; pollen theft; tropical rainforests EN Asian honey bees Gnetum gymnosperms moths nocturnal pollination plant-insect interactions pollen theft tropical rainforests 1 4 4 12/03/21 20211201 NES 211201 Bees belong to modern groups of pollinators, which originated concurrently with new angiosperms (flowering plants), and might have contributed to the global gymnosperm-to-angiosperm turnover in the mid-Cretaceous (125-90 million years ago [Ma]; Cardinal and Danforth 2013, Peris et al. 2017). Our data suggest that diurnal honey bees disrupt the pollination of an insect-pollinated gymnosperm by reducing the pool of pollen available for nocturnal pollinators, resulting in decreased pollinator pollen loads and reduced seed set. Then, in bee-present season, we quantified honey bee visitation rate, pollen loads on honey bees and pollen remaining in anthers after honey bee visits to assess the intensity of theft. [Extracted from the article]

The dual-spectrum triocular camera system composed of a binocular visible light camera and mid-infrared camera is used for high-precision thermal fault detection and thermal field reconstruction of industrial equipment. The realization of its function depends on the high-precision camera parameter calibration. The difficulty lies in how to realize the infrared camera calibration quickly and improve the parameter accuracy of multi-lens camera. In this paper, according to the characteristics of the dual-spectral triocular camera system, the theoretical model is constructed, and the circular asymmetric calibration plate under infrared supplementary light is selected as the calibration object through experiments. A method for combining infrared image adaptive histogram enhancement and binarization processing based on the Sauvola algorithm is proposed to effectively calibrate the infrared camera. A global parameter optimization method based on traditional passive vision binocular stereo calibration is proposed. The optimization of experimental parameters finds the reprojection error value is 0.16, which meets the demand of high-precision calibration and solves the problem of difficult-to-calibrate weak image texture of infrared camera and the calibration accuracy of the camera under different imaging capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Detailed numerical analysis of a 2.5 MW LBE spallation target planned for CiADS was carried out. • Effect of geometric parameters on the target performances was investigated by single-factor analysis. • Multiple factors and multiple levels were objectively and reasonably optimized by multi-factor analysis. • Variation coefficient method was used to integrate multiple indexes into one index that can reflect the overall situation. In an Accelerator Driven System (ADS), the spallation target typically has a power of several megawatts or above. As high-power targets are challenging to design, the targets studied in the past generally had a power of 2 MW or less. For the China initiative Accelerator Driven System (CiADS) under construction, a 2.5 MW lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) target is planned. In this paper, thermal–hydraulic and structural analyses were performed to optimize the design of the LBE spallation target. As a first step, given other conditions being fixed, the influence of a single parameter on the target performances, i.e., the outlet size, the diameter of the guide tube, the angle of the transition section, and the vertical distance from the origin of the beam window (BW) hemisphere to the upper end of the transition section, were investigated. Subsequently, the multi-factor analysis was conducted by adopting a four-factor and four-level orthogonal test. Results indicated that the target optimized by the multi-factor analysis, performed much better than the original design and that obtained by the single-factor analysis, providing a new approach for the parameter optimization of spallation target. Moreover, detailed analyses showed that the improved target met the thermal–hydraulic and mechanical design requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inertia friction welding has emerged as a promising technique for fabricating lightweight and high-strength components in aerospace industry. To achieve high-quality weldments between dissimilar titanium alloys, this present work systematically investigates Ti60 (near-α)/TC18 (near-β) bimetal components manufactured by inertia radial friction welding. The focus is on understanding the joint interface behavior, heterogenous grain structure, microstructural evolution and resulting mechanical properties, with a particular emphasis on dynamic recrystallization, phase transformation and atomic diffusion of elements in the welded zone and thermos-mechanical affected zone. The results revealed that the significant influence of thermo-physical property mismatch between the dissimilar workpieces (Ti60-Ring and TC18-Core) on the microstructure and tensile strength of the joints. This mismatch could be effectively controlled by setting different flywheel kinetic energy (E k) before welding. The tensile strength of the Ti60/TC18 joints manufactured with levels of E k ranging from 174.74 kJ to 207.95 kJ, were observed to be governed by the combined effect of mechanical interlocking, grain boundary strengthening, precipitation strengthening and hetero-deformation induced strengthening. The formation of heterogeneous grain structure and intergrowth grains on the Ti60 alloy side, and the dislocation tangles in the "forked" α phase of the TC18 alloy side are identified as key factors in achieving optimized bonding strength for dissimilar Ti60/TC18 bimetallic inertia radial friction welding. [Display omitted] • Inertia radial friction welded dissimilar titanium alloy joints with a "taper" design. • Fewer flashes and superior metallurgical bonding joints. • The ultimate strength of the welded joints is 1067 Mpa at room temperature and 710 Mpa at 723 K, which can reach ~50%δ of the base metals at both room and elevated temperatures. • Providing technical parameters and security for manufactured dual property blisk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genome-editing systems based on clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/associated protein (CRISPR/Cas), are emerging as a revolutionary technology for the treatment of various genetic diseases. To date, the delivery of genome-editing biomacromolecules by viral or non-viral vectors have been proposed as new therapeutic options for lung genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis (CF) and α-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), and it has been accepted that these delivery vectors can introduce CRISPR/Cas9 machineries into target cells or tissues in vitro , ex vivo and in vivo. However, the efficient local or systemic delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 elements to the lung, enabled by either viral or by non-viral carriers, still remains elusive. Herein, we first introduce lung genetic disorders and their current treatment options, and then summarize CRISPR/Cas9-based strategies for the therapeutic genome editing of these disorders. We further summarize the pros and cons of different routes of administration for lung genetic disorders. In particular, the potentials of aerosol delivery for therapeutic CRISPR/Cas9 biomacromolecules for lung genome editing are discussed and highlighted. Finally, current challenges and future outlooks in this emerging area are briefly discussed. Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The underlying principles influencing bacteria community assembly have long been of interest in the field of microbial ecology. Environmental heterogeneity is believed to be important in controlling the uniqueness and variability of communities. However, little is known about the influence of the host macrophytes on epiphytic bacteria assembly. In this study, we used two contrasting artificial water environments (eutrophic and oligotrophic) for reciprocal transplant experiment of Myriophyllum spicatum to examine the colonization of epiphytic bacteria accompanied with plants growth. Comparative analysis addressed a higher species diversity in epiphytic bacteria than in bacterioplankton, and the highest microbiome richness in sediment. Our data revealed that the organization of epiphytic bacterial community was affected by both plant status (i.e. branch number, net photosynthesis rate etc.) and water bodies (i.e. total phosphate, total nitrogen, pH etc.). Moreover, plant status effected the assembly in priority to water. 16S rRNA gene sequencing further indicated that the epiphytic assemblies were motivated by functionalization and interplay with hosts as a whole. The results complemented new evidences for the 'lottery process' in the epiphytic bacteria assembly traits and shed insights into the assembly patterns referring to functional adaptation across epiphytic bacteria and macrophytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated nuclear segmentation in histopathological images is a prerequisite for a computer-aided diagnosis framework. However, it remains a challenging problem due to the nucleus occlusion or overlapping, shape variation, and image background complexity. Recently, deep learning techniques are widely used in analyzing digital histopathology. We present a computerized image-based method for automatically segmenting nuclei using an integration of a deep learning model and an improved concave point detection algorithm. A modified atrous spatial pyramid pooling U-Net (ASPPU-Net) is derived to capture multi-scale nuclei features and obtain nuclei context information without reducing the spatial resolution of feature map. A weighted binary cross entropy loss function with Dice loss function is used to better handle the data unbalance problem. An accelerated concave point detection method allows to effectively and accurately segmenting highly overlapping nuclei. Our ASPPU-Net based method was tested on four independent data cohorts and achieved the highest Dice similarity coefficient of 0.83, and pixel wise accuracy of 0.95. The experimental results suggested that the combination of ASPPU-Net model and concave point detection method was able to gain improved performance in separating both isolated and touching clustered nuclei in histopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CRISPR (clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system has emerged as a powerful genome-editing tool to correct genetic disorders. However, successful intracellular delivery of CRISPR/Cas9, especially in the form of ribonucleoprotein (RNP), remains elusive for clinical translation. Herein, we describe a supramolecular polymer that can mediate efficient controlled delivery of Cas9 RNP in vitro and in vivo. This supramolecular polymer system is prepared by complexing disulfide-bridged biguanidyl adamantine (Ad-SS-GD) with β -cyclodextrin-conjugated low-molecular-weight polyethyleneimime (CP) through supramolecular assembly to generate CP/Ad-SS-GD. Due to multiple, strong hydrogen bonding and salt bridge effects, CP/Ad-SS-GD well interact with Cas9 RNP to form stable nanocomplex CP/Ad-SS-GD/RNP, which can be readily released in the reductive intracellular milieu as a result of the cleavage of disulfide bonds. The supramolecular polymer ensures the efficient intracellular delivery and the release of Cas9 RNP into 293T cells and colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, thus displaying high genome-editing activity in vitro. Importantly, we also found that hyaluronic acid (HA)-decorated CP/Ad-SS-GD/RNP nanocomplexes targeting mutant KRAS effectively inhibit tumor growth as well as metastasis in the tumor-bearing mouse models. Collectively, our findings provide a promising therapeutic strategy against mutant KRAS for the treatment of CRC-activated RAS pathways, offering a new therapeutic genome-editing modality for the colorectal cancer treatment. Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver nanowire (Ag NW)-based flexible and transparent electrodes are a promising candidate for various electronic and optoelectronic applications. However, thermal and electrical instabilities of Ag NW networks during operation and post treatments need to be improved for practical applications. In this work, Ag NW/Graphene Oxide (GO) hybrid films with a multilayer structure were developed, in which transparent GO sheets were inserted between Ag NWs. For the pristine Ag NW networks, contacted NWs exhibited poorer thermal stability than individual NWs as faster Ag diffusion between NWs led to the breakage of the junctions at working temperatures, hence leading to the overall device failure. In contrast, the GO intermediate layers hindered the Ag diffusion between NWs in the Ag NW/Graphene Oxide hybrid films and maintained the junction structure, giving rise to enhanced thermal stability compared to the pristine networks and the GO-covered samples. For electrical tests, unlike the network degradation under annealing treatments, a local deterioration perpendicular to the current flow was directly observed after electrical breakdown, which was attributed to high local temperature under large applied voltage. The electrical failure of the devices was related to the network structure and defects. Furthermore, the pristine devices showed notable variation of failure voltage, which in the hybrid devices is more uniform and improved in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the applied value of rapid on‐site evaluation during endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) with a guide sheath for peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs). Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent EBUS with a guide sheath for PPLs at our hospital from December 2015 to June 2017 in this retrospective study. The samples obtained from each operation were made rapid on‐site evaluation at the same time. The results of rapid on‐site evaluation were compared with the pathological diagnosis. Results: A total of 127 PPLs in 124 patients were included in the study. 70 lesions were malignancy in the final pathological diagnosis. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of rapid on‐site evaluation for malignancy during EBUS with a guide sheath for PPLs was 88.6%, 98.2%, 98.4%, 87.5% and 92.9%, respectively. Conclusions: Rapid on‐site evaluation during EBUS with a guide sheath has a high diagnostic value for malignant PPLs. ROSE during EBUS‐GS has high specificity, positive predictive value and diagnostic accuracy rate for the examination of peripheral pulmonary diseases. It is important to make this procedure more popular in intervention centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate cell segmentation is essential for computer-aided diagnosis of cervical precancerous lesions in cytology images. Automated segmentation poses a great challenge due to the presence of fuzzy and overlapping cells, noisy background, and poor cytoplasmic contrast. Deep learning diagnosis technology has showed its advantages in segmenting complex medical images. We present a new framework based on deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) to automatically segment overlapping cells in digital cytology. A double-window based cellular detection method is derived to correctly localize individual cells, in which TernausNet is adopted to classify the image pixels into nucleus, cytoplasm, or background. A modified DeepLab V2 model is applied to perform cytoplasm segmentation. To provide more training samples, a synthesis method is utilized to generate cell masses containing touching or overlapping cells. The presented method was tested on three independent data cohorts, including two public datasets. We achieved improved performance in terms of dice coefficient (DSC), false negative and false positive rates, with up to 15% improvement in DSC, compared with the state-of-the-art approaches. The results indicated that the DCNN based segmentation method could be useful in an image-based computerized analysis system for early detection of cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Air injection and NMR T 2 spectra was integrated to determine the EOR potential. • Most of hydrocarbon was produced from the 1～10 μ m pore size. • The effect of formed flue gas in air injection is crucial to improved oil recovery. • Air injection has the potential to recover incremental oil in the presence of fractures. The primary objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of extracting shale oil resources by air injection experiments. In this paper, the shale cores were acquired from Xinjiang Permian Lucaogou formation, with an average porosity of 14% and an average permeability of 0.3mD. 2) Method : The remaining oil distribution and mobilization of oil saturation was characterized by online NMR spectra and X-ray CT scanner. Nitrogen, 8% oxygen of air and 16% oxygen of air injection were evaluated for their enhanced shale oil recovery performance. 3) Significant findings : With the increase of oxygen concentration in the air, a higher oil recovery factor was yielded. Under different O 2 concentration, oil recovery factor by nitrogen drive is 45.31%, and the highest (16% oxygen) is 69.81%. Most of hydrocarbons were produced from the 1～5 μ m pore size. Approximately 50% of oil was recovered by the first 0.6 PV of air injection. Oil recovery efficiency is remarkably declined for successive 0.6 PV of air injection. From the CT images of air injection into the fractured shale cores, air injection has the potential to recover incremental oil in the presence of fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Obvious luminescent piezochromism (62 nm). • Efficient thermochromism (80 to 300 K). • Multi-stimuli-responsive luminescence combines into one material. Luminescent coordination polymers (CPs) with one-dimensional (1D) closely-packed structures usually display poor performances in stimuli-responsive luminescence due to the low porosity and high rigidity. Here, we reported a multi-stimuli-responsive 1D luminescent [Cu 2 I 2 ]-cluster-based CP (CuIP-OPY) with piezochromic, thermochromic and oxygen sensing properties. Attributing to the flexibility of the OPY ligand, which twists under external forces and heating, respectively, CuIP-OPY shows obvious piezochromic and thermochromic luminescence. Moreover, although its porosity is only 1.1%, oxygen can still quench its luminescence intensity by 57.53%. To further confirm the related mechanism, we also synthesized a [Cu 2 Cl 2 ]-cluster-based CP with similar structure, namely CuClP-OPY, that displays higher rigidity, and compared the differences between these two CuXP-OPY (X = I, Cl) in the multi-stimuli-responsive behavior. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ag-Y, Ce-Y, and Cu-Y zeolites were successfully prepared via the liquid phase ion exchange method as adsorbents for removing dibenzyl disulfide and dodecyl mercaptan in transformer insulating oil. The physicochemical properties of the adsorbents were investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, and N2 adsorption–desorption. The removal efficiency increased rapidly with increased dosage of Ag-Y (0.5–1.0 wt%) and Ce-Y, Cu-Y (1.0–3.0 wt%), and became slower with its increased dosage. Kinetic studies showed the adsorption on these adsorbents can be described by a pseudo-second-order model, and the rate constants increased with increasing temperature, indicating the endothermic nature of the adsorption. The activation energies (Ea) calculated for dibenzyl disulfide and dodecyl mercaptan were over 40 kJ mol−1 which clearly indicated that the adsorption process on the three adsorbents was dominated by chemical adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/associated protein (CRISPR/Cas)-based genome editing has recently emerged as a new potential therapeutic tool for disease modeling and therapy in a wide range of biomedical fields. A comprehensive overview of the latest studies on different non-viral delivery materials for the delivery of CRISPR-Cas system is presented, including lipid nanoparticles, polymeric materials, hydrogels, gold nanoparticles, graphene oxide (GO), metal–organic frameworks, cell-penetrating peptide (CPP), black phosphorus nanosheet, and DNA nanostructure. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) system is an adaptable immune mechanism used by many bacteria to protect themselves from invading nucleic acids, and it has been recently exploited as an efficient tool for site-specific, programmable genome editing in both single cells and whole organisms with a precise manner. CRISPR/Cas system has been shown its great potentials for a wide range of biomedical applications, such as transcriptional control, epigenetic modification, genome-wide screening and chromosomal imaging, and treatment of genetic disorders. Despite these excitements, the shortage of delivery materials that can deliver genome editing tools (including plasmid DNA, mRNA, and ribonucleoprotein) represents one of the major challenges for successful CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing. This review seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of different types of carriers ranging from classic drug delivery materials to advanced drug delivery systems that can transport CRISPR/Cas systems and mediate genome editing at the targeted loci. The challenges and future prospects of the delivery materials for optimizing the CRISPR delivery system for clinical translations are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • This work reports tunable heterojunction architectures of CoO x on g -C 3 N 4 nanotubes. • Annealing under vacuum ensured a Type II heterojunction of CoO/C 3 N 4 NTs. • Annealing under air condition led to a Type I heterojunction of Co 3 O 4 /C 3 N 4 NTs. • The CoO/C 3 N 4 NTs (7 wt. % of CoO) exhibited the highest H 2 yield and the best stability. • Experimental evidences by Kelvin probe force microscopy verify the charge transfer pathways. Abstract This work reports tunable heterojunction architectures of cobalt oxides (CoO x) nanoparticles confined on well-arrayed graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes (C 3 N 4 NTs) by using a facile one-pot method but under different annealing atmospheres. A Type II heterojunction of cobalt monoxide nanoparticles (CoO NPs)/C 3 N 4 NTs was obtained after annealing under vacuum, and fine CoO NPs less than 8 nm in size were homogeneously anchored on the surface of C 3 N 4 NTs. A Type I heterojunction of tricobalt tetraoxide (Co 3 O 4)/C 3 N 4 NTs were formed under air condition, and Co 3 O 4 NPs in the size range of 20 to 80 nm were aggregated on the surface. The photocatalytic activities of these two heterojunctions were evaluated with hydrogen production from water splitting. The strategically developed CoO/C 3 N 4 NTs with a 7 wt. % CoO shows the highest H 2 yield under visible light irradiation and the best stability among the photocatalysts studied in this work. Comprehensive characterization results reveal that the superior performance of CoO/C 3 N 4 NTs may be attributed to the uniformly distributed smaller nanoparticles on the well-arrayed nanotubes, the longer lifetime of excited electrons, the faster charge transfer and the stronger electronic interaction between the heterojunctions. Our Kelvin probe force microscopy results firmly verify that the CoO/C 3 N 4 NT and Co 3 O 4 /C 3 N 4 NT nanocomposites form a Type II and Type I heterojunction, respectively, and charge transfer pathways and reaction mechanisms are therefore established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The huge reserves of Eagle Ford shale gas condensate reservoirs have drawn great attention. The well productivity analysis indicates that the leading Eagle Ford is in reservoir decline stage. Condensate banking effect induces severer adverse effect on ultra-low permeability reservoirs and shale gas production than conventional reservoirs. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of CO 2 huff-n-puff injection on mitigating condensate accumulation surrounding the induced fractures. The nano-pore confinement effect on condensate and gas production performance is considered. The nano-meter scale of shale condensate plays exhibit different phase behavior than conventional condensate reservoirs. The influence of nano-pore confinement on liquid phase behavior in shales is similar to adding CO 2 in admixture with reservoir fluids, which acts to suppress the phase envelope. The interaction of CO 2 injection with reservoir oil at molecular scale was discussed. Two scenarios including a lean gas condensate and rich gas condensate were compared in order to study the CO 2 huff-n-puff performance with different reservoir fluids. The simulation results indicated that CO 2 is more favorable in improving the rich condensate recovery. Removal of condensate accumulation in rich condensate Eagle Ford shale reservoirs by CO 2 huff-n-puff injection results in substantial recovery increment in comparison with the pressure depletion scheme. This paper focuses on studying the influences of nano-pore walls on CO 2 injection phase behavior in shale gas-condensate reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • An automated vessel stenosis quantification method in angiography images is presented. • An improved measure of match method provides an accurate vessel diameter measure. • The method can serve as a generalized framework to handle different image modalities. Abstract Background and Objective X-ray coronary angiography (XCA) remains the gold standard imaging technique for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Automatic detection and grading of coronary stenoses in XCA are challenging problems due to the complex overlap of different background structures with intensity inhomogeneities. We present a new computerized image based method to accurately identify and quantify the stenosis severity on XCA. Methods A unified framework, consisting of Hessian-based vessel enhancement, level-set skeletonization, improved measure of match measurement, and local extremum identification, is developed to distinctly reveal the vessel structures and accurately determine the stenosis grades. The methodology was validated on 143 consecutive patients who underwent diagnostic XCA through both qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Results The presented algorithm was tested on a set of 267 vessel segments annotated by two expert cardiologists. The experimental results show that the method can effectively localize and quantify the vessel stenoses, achieving average detection accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and F-score of 93.93%, 91.03%, 93.83%, 89.18%, respectively. Conclusions A fully automatic coronary analysis method is devised for vessel stenosis detection and grading in XCA. The presented approach can potentially serve as a generalized framework to handle different image modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • MiR-590-3p down-regulation was observed both in osteosarcoma tissue samples and cell lines. • Over-expression of miR-590-3p significantly inhibits osteosarcoma cells proliferation and metastasis. • SOX9 was identified as a direct target of miR-590-3p. • Enforced SOX9 expression partially reversed miR-590-3p effects in osteosarcoma cells. Abstract Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone malignancy and arises primarily in the metaphyseal ends of long bones in children and adolescents. m iR-590 has been found to have anti-tumor effects in many other cancers. However, the role of miR-590-3p in osteosarcoma is poorly understood. In this study, we show that miR-590-3p was significantly decreased both in osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines, suggesting a potential role of miR-590-3p in osteosarcoma. Over-expression of miR-590-3p inhibited U2OS cell viability as shown by the CCK-8 assay and clonogenic assay. Ki-67 immunofluorescence staining and cell cycle analysis revealed that up-regulation of miR-590-3p inhibited U2OS cell proliferation. Transfection with miR-590-3p mimics suppressed PCNA, Cyclin D1 and CDK4 expression and increased p53 and p21 expression. In addition, U2OS cells transfected with miR-590-3p mimics exhibited reduced cell invasion and migration, characterized by the wound healing assay and transwell assay. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that SOX9 was a potential target of miR-590-3p. SOX9 was up-regulated in osteosarcoma tissues. Transfection with miR-590-3p mimics markedly suppressed SOX9 expression both at the mRNA level and protein level. Dual luciferase assay validated the direct binding site of miR-590-3p on SOX9. Exogenous SOX9 expression in U2OS cells at least partially reversed the effects of miR-590-3p in U2OS cells. Enforced SOX9 expression restored cell viability in osteosarcoma cells transfected with miR-590-3p mimics. In addition, over-expression of SOX9 restored decreased cell metastasis properties caused by transfection with miR-590-3p mimics in osteosarcoma cells. In summary, these results indicated that miR-590-3p is an anti-cancer miRNA that can inhibit proliferation and metastasis in osteosarcoma cells. Our findings provide a novel insight into the biological function of miR-590-3p in osteosarcoma and SOX9 may be a potential therapeutic target for osteosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible supercapacitors (FSCs) with high electrochemical and mechanical performance are inevitably necessary for the fabrication of integrated wearable systems. Conducting polymers with intrinsic conductivity and flexibility are ideal active materials for FSCs. However, they suffer from poor cycling stability due to huge volume variations during operation cycles. Two-dimensional (2D) materials play a critical role in FSCs, but restacking and aggregation limit their practical application. Nanocomposites of conducting polymers and 2D materials can mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks. This review presents the recent progress of those nanocomposites for FSCs. It aims to provide insights into the assembling strategies of the macroscopic structures of those nanocomposites, such as 1D fibers, 2D films, and 3D aerogels/hydrogels, as well as the fabrication methods to convert these macroscopic structures to FSCs with different device configurations. The practical applications of FSCs based on those nanocomposites in integrated self-powered sensing systems and future perspectives are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfaces play a crucial role in mechanical behaviors of laminated materials. In this study, a series of hard/soft nanotwinned Cu laminates with varying interface spacing from 200 to 33 μm are prepared by means of direct current electrodeposition. Simultaneous improvement of strength and work hardening with decreasing interface spacing is found in tensile tests. Extra strengthening and geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs), but without any strain concentration, are found in the vicinity of interfaces. An obvious strain discrepancy appears across the interface and decreases with decreasing interface spacing. Most importantly, a highest plastic strain gradient appearing in the vicinity of interfaces, regardless of interface spacing, indicates a significant deformation compatibility across the interfaces. The spatially-distributed strengthening mediated by interface contributes for increasing strength and decreasing strain discrepancy by decreasing the interface spacing. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aim: The drivers of extraordinary species diversity and endemism in biodiversity hotspots remain elusive. To identify such drivers, it is necessary to understand the origin of allopatric cryptic diversity that formed as an important part of the biodiversity in low‐latitude montane areas. Here, we test hypotheses regarding the patterns and processes that underlie the diversity of Asian shrew‐like moles (Uropsilus, Uropsilinae, Talpidae), which exhibit strikingly high cryptic diversity. Specifically, we test the hypotheses that niche conservatism and complex topography explain the largely cryptic diversification of these small montane mammals. Location: The mountains of Southwest China (MSC), which are a biodiversity hotspot, and adjacent areas. Materials and methods: A total of 186 specimens that include all seven species of Uropsilus were collected from key geographical areas of the MSC. One mitochondrial and six nuclear genes were sequenced for phylogenetic and phylogeographical analyses. We reconstructed the phylogeny and delimited species boundaries within Uropsilus using multiple methods. We also tested the hypothesis of phylogenetic niche conservatism and examined the effect of topography on genetic divergence. Furthermore, we implemented a hierarchical examination of spatial‐temporal dynamics in our study system. Results: Phylogenetic and species delimitation analyses discovered vastly more cryptic diversity than had been identified in morphology‐based taxonomy. Significant niche similarity between sibling phylogroups was detected and the genetic structure of Uropsilus accorded well with the topography of the MSC. Relatively stable biogeographical diffusion and demography, as well as in situ persistence during the last glacial cycle, were detected. Main conclusions: Our analysis indicates that much genetic diversification has occurred without evident niche divergence; hence topographical diversity has provided strongly geographical isolation and ecological gradients which reinforce niche conservatism for sedentary organisms. Cryptic species, as the consequence of a lack of variability in the traits, is attributed to stabilizing selection by the optimal ecological and/or climatic envelopes over evolutionary time‐scales. Our findings indicate that global biodiversity in certain areas could be underestimated. Analyses of other biological systems can determine the universality of niche conservatism in the MSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a transparent memristor with a configuration of Au/SnO 2 /FTO is fabricated by a simple solution process at low temperature and further utilized to mimic biological synapses. A series of significant synaptic functions, including nonlinear transmission characteristics, spike-rate-dependent plasticity (SRDP), short-term plasticity (STP) and long-term plasticity (LTP) are emulated. The transition from short-term to long-term plasticity is also investigated in the device by repeated stimulation. The nonlinear rectification characteristic in the current memristor is attributed to the Schottky barrier at the Au/SnO 2 interface. By controlling the oxygen vacancy migration induced under electrical input, the barrier at the interface can be modified, giving rise to the different synaptic functions. These results suggest that the proposed Au/SnO 2 /FTO memristor in this study is a promising synaptic device for artificial neural network applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With shale oil reservoir pressure depletion and recovery of hydrocarbons from formations, the fracture apertures and conductivity are subject to reduction due to the interaction between stress effects and proppants. Suppose most of the proppants were concentrated in dominant fractures rather than sparsely allocated in the fracture network, the fracture conductivity would be less influenced by the induced stress effect. However, the merit of uniformly distributed proppants in the fracture network is that it increases the contact area for the injection gas with the shale matrix. In this paper, we address the question whether we should exploit or confine the fracture complexity for CO2-EOR in shale oil reservoirs. Two proppant transport scenarios were simulated in this paper: Case 1—the proppant is uniformly distributed in the complex fracture system, propagating a partially propped or un-propped fracture network; Case 2—the proppant primarily settles in simple planar fractures. A series of sensitivity studies of the fracture conductivity were performed to investigate the conductivity requirements in order to more efficiently produce from the shale reservoirs. Our simulation results in this paper show the potential of CO2 huff-n-puff to improve oil recovery in shale oil reservoirs. Simulation results indicate that the ultra-low permeability shales require an interconnected fracture network to maximize shale oil recovery in a reasonable time period. The well productivity of a fracture network with a conductivity of 4 mD ft achieves a better performance than that of planar fractures with an infinite conductivity. However, when the conductivity of fracture networks is inadequate, the planar fracture treatment design maybe a favorable choice. The available literature provides limited information on the relationship between fracture treatment design and the applicability of CO2 huff-n-puff in very low permeability shale formations. Very limited field test or laboratory data are available on the investigation of conductivity requirements for cyclic CO2 injection in shale oil reservoirs. In the context of CO2 huff-n-puff EOR, the effect of fracture complexity on well productivity was examined by simulation approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective Coronary artery segmentation is a fundamental step for a computer-aided diagnosis system to be developed to assist cardiothoracic radiologists in detecting coronary artery diseases. Manual delineation of the vasculature becomes tedious or even impossible with a large number of images acquired in the daily life clinic. A new computerized image-based segmentation method is presented for automatically extracting coronary arteries from angiography images. Methods A combination of a multiscale-based adaptive Hessian-based enhancement method and a statistical region merging technique provides a simple and effective way to improve the complex vessel structures as well as thin vessel delineation which often missed by other segmentation methods. The methodology was validated on 100 patients who underwent diagnostic coronary angiography. The segmentation performance was assessed via both qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Results Quantitative evaluation shows that our method is able to identify coronary artery trees with an accuracy of 93% and outperforms other segmentation methods in terms of two widely used segmentation metrics of mean absolute difference and dice similarity coefficient. Conclusions The comparison to the manual segmentations from three human observers suggests that the presented automated segmentation method is potential to be used in an image-based computerized analysis system for early detection of coronary artery disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the complex pore network and fractures are crucial to efficiently producing tight gas and oil reservoirs. A better understanding of gas flooding recovery mechanisms will lead to improved successes of EOR (enhanced-oil-recovery) practices in tight oil formations. In this paper, the gas huff-n-puff efficiency performance in tight oil formations is under surveillance by NMR technology. It is of our interest to estimate the recoverable or movable oil saturation by waterflooding and gas flooding at different types of pore sizes. Fortunately, NMR measurements provide an avenue for calculating the recoverable reserves in different types of pore system (micropores, mesopores and macropores). The NMR T 2 relaxation time closely correlates with the pore sizes. The NMR technique was used to analyze the mechanisms of gas flooding and waterflooding in shale formations from a microscopic scale view. In this paper, a series of nitrogen huff-n-puff experiments were conducted on tight cores and NMR was used in the whole huff-n-puff process to observe the gas flooding efficiency at different cycles. The NMR relaxation spectrum reveals that most of the oil production happened in the first few cycles, less oil is recovered in the subsequent cycles. The recoverable oil of this field falls into a range of 1–100 ms T 2 relaxation pore size system. Oil production only occurs in certain type of pores. Due to the nanometer or micrometer scales of the pores and pore throats, cycle depletion time has considerable effect on oil recovery from tight oil reservoirs in the first few cycles. The literature lacks a study of the NMR investigation of gas huff-n-puff effect in tight formations. The purpose of this current study is to illustrate the application of NMR technique in interpreting the effect of cyclic nitrogen injection in tight oil reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resistive switching behaviour can be classified into digital and analog switching based on its abrupt and gradual resistance change characteristics. Realizing the transition from digital to analog switching in the same device is essential for understanding and controlling the performance of the devices with various switching mechanisms. Here, we investigate the resistive switching in a device made with strontium titanate (SrTiO 3 ) nanoparticles using X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and direct electrical measurements. It is found that the well-known rupture/formation of Ag filaments is responsible for the digital switching in the device with Ag as the top electrode. To modulate the switching performance, we insert a reduced graphene oxide layer between SrTiO 3 and the bottom FTO electrode owing to its good barrier property for the diffusion of Ag ions and high out-of-plane resistance. In this case, resistive switching is changed from digital to analog as determined by the modulation of interfacial resistance under applied voltage. Based on that controllable resistance, potentiation and depression behaviours are implemented as well. This study opens up new ways for the design of multifunctional devices which are promising for memory and neuromorphic computing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxide-based ionic conductors have attracted tremendous research interests due to their wide applications in energy storage and conversion devices, such as photovoltaics, fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors. Extensive efforts have been undertaken to improve the ionic conductivity of existing materials along with the development of novel conductors. The recent advance of ionic conductors in nanoscale demonstrated their ultra–high ionic conductivity for the promising applications in energy sector. In this work, recent progresses of conventional oxide conductors and the development of novel conductors are reviewed in details. The strategy to exploit the nanoionics of enhancing the ionic conductivity is discussed. Furthermore, the novel applications of nanoionics for the resistive switching memories are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: HSF1 is reported to be overexpressed in various solid tumors and play a pivotal role in cancer progression. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the potential prognostic role of HSF1 in patients with solid tumors. Methods: An extensive electronic search of three databases was performed for relevant articles. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios with their corresponding 95% CI were calculated with a random-effects model. Heterogeneity and publication bias analyses were also conducted. Results: A total of 3,159 patients from 10 eligible studies were included into the analysis. The results showed that positive HSF1 expression was significantly correlated with poor overall survival in all tumors (HR=2.09; 95% CI: 1.62-2.70; P,0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that there was a significant association between HSF1 overexpression and poor prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) (HR=1.83; 95% CI: 1.21-2.77; P=0.004), breast cancer (BC) (HR=1.52; 95% CI: 1.24-2.86; P,0.001), hepatocellular carcinoma (HR=3.02; 95% CI: 1.77-5.18; P,0.001), non-small-cell lung cancer (HR=2.19; 95% CI: 1.20-3.99; P=0.01), and pancreatic cancer (HR=2.58; 95% CI: 1.11-6.03; P=0.03) but not in osteosarcoma (HR=1.58; 95% CI: 0.47-5.35; P=0.46). In addition, HSF1 overexpression was significantly associated with some phenotypes of tumor aggressiveness including TNM stage, histological grade, lymph node metastasis, and vascular invasion. Conclusion: HSF1 overexpression may prove to be an unfavorable prognostic biomarker for solid tumor patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lattice defects, for example oxygen vacancies in cerium oxide (CeO 2 ), usually play a vital role in determining physical and chemical properties, including catalytic performance and resistance switching behaviour. Here, tin (Sn) was introduced as a dopant in one dimensional CeO 2 nanostructures to investigate oxygen vacancy modulation and achieve improved catalytic properties and a tunable electrical performance. Our findings revealed that the Sn-doped CeO 2 nanorods maintained their morphology while the aspect ratio decreased gradually with increasing Sn content. The variation in oxygen vacancy concentration with Sn doping was confirmed by Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies and enhanced thermal catalytic and photo-catalytic performances were attained for the Sn-doped CeO 2 nanorods. The variation in oxygen vacancy concentration with Sn doping was also found to influence its electrical properties. Hysteresis loops expressing resistance switching behaviour were observed in Sn-doped CeO 2−δ nanorods. The results detailed in this study can help to rationally design nanostructures with the potential to provide desirable multi-functionalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data clustering is the process of dividing data elements into clusters so that items in the same cluster are as similar as possible, and items in different clusters are as dissimilar as possible. One of the key features for clustering is how to define a sensible similarity measure. Such measures usually handle data in one modality, but unable to cluster data from different modalities. Based on fuzzy set and prototype theory interpretations of label semantics, two (dis) similarity measures are proposed by which we can automatically cluster data and vague concepts represented by logical expressions of linguistic labels. Experimental results on a toy problem and one in image classification demonstrate the effectiveness of new clustering algorithms. Since our new proposed measures can be extended to measuring distance between any two granularities, the new clustering algorithms can also be extended to cluster data instance and imprecise concepts represented by other granularities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]