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Inspired by the positive impact of service outsourcing in Chery and other enterprises on human resources, this paper explores the impact of service outsourcing on labor income share. This paper introduces a framework to analyze how value added is distributed between capital and labor along the mix of inputs from different countries and sectors participating in global value chains and examines the effect of service outsourcing on the labor share income. Using the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) and OECD Inter-Country Input-Output (OECD- ICIO) table, this paper utilizes the WWZ decomposition method of global value chains (GVCs) to quantify labor share income. The results show that: (1) service outsourcing significantly contributes to the increase in labor share income; (2) Offshore outsourcing had a statistically stronger effect on labor share income after the financial crisis, both compared to the past and to onshore outsourcing; (3) Offshore outsourcing has a higher coefficient in countries with low technology. For ease of comparison, only onshore outsourcing shows a statistically significant difference among various service types; (4) The analysis using Chinese data reveals that the coefficient of offshore outsourcing is negative and statistically significant, indicating that industries with higher levels of service outsourcing have a lower labor share income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming has caused an increase in the frequency and duration of droughts worldwide. Droughts could trigger large changes in physico-chemical conditions and phytoplankton community in waterbodies, resulting in a shift in the phytoplankton community. Spring diatom blooms in reservoirs have been increasingly observed in the past decade in the Taihu Lake basin. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the impacts of droughts on aquatic environment and to determine the driving factors for the succession of the phytoplankton functional groups based on the analysis of data collected during spring from 2009 to 2020 in the Daxi Reservoir. The unimodal relationship between 1-month aggregated precipitation index and phytoplankton species richness indicated the competitive exclusion occurred in extremely drought period. The structural equation modeling indicated that drought-related low water level conditions intensified sediment resuspension, and increased the phosphorus-enriched nonalgal turbidity in the Daxi Reservoir. Concurrently, a steady shift in the Reynolds phytoplankton functional groups from L0, TD, J, X2, and A (phytoplankton taxa preferring low turbidity and nutrient conditions) to TB (pennate diatoms being adapt to turbid and nutrient-rich conditions) was observed. The increased TP and non-algal turbidity in addition to the lowered disturbance contribute to the prevalence of Group TB. Considering the difficulties in nutrient control, timely water replenishment is often a feasible method of controlling the dominance of harmful algae for reservoir management. Finally, alternative water sources are in high demand for ensuring ecological safety and water availability when dealing with drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The presence of individual growth differentiation within the sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus intermedius) has significantly hindered the advancement of aquaculture. Despite this, the underlying causes and mechanisms driving these growth disparities remain largely unexplored. Here, we provide evidence that sea urchins of different sizes differ to varying degrees in behavior, gut microbiota compositions, and gene transcription profiles, which may collectively elucidate the observed growth disparities. Firstly, larger sea urchins demonstrated significantly heightened feeding activity compared to smaller sea urchins. Secondly, analysis of the gut microbiota revealed that larger sea urchins possess enhanced digestive efficiency and greater growth potential. Finally, the transcriptome research results prove that small-sized sea urchins were in a state of long-term stress and had some physiological responses to counteract the stress. In conclusion, we have elucidated the potential factors contributing to growth disparities in sea urchins across three distinct levels. This work provides a theoretical basis for regulating the growth of sea urchins, exploring methods to enhance aquaculture production, and promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the sea urchin aquaculture industry. Growth differentiation among farmed sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus intermedius) poses a significant challenge to aquaculture, with there being a limited understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this study, sea urchins with varying growth rates, reared under identical conditions, were analyzed for feeding behavior, gut microbiota, and transcriptomes. Large-sized sea urchins demonstrated significantly higher feeding ability and longer duration than smaller ones. The dominant phyla across all size groups were Campylobacterota, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes, with Campylobacterota showing the highest abundance in small-sized sea urchins (82.6%). However, the families Lachnospiraceae and Pseudomonadaceae were significantly less prevalent in small-sized sea urchins. Transcriptome analysis identified 214, 544, and 732 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the large vs. medium, large vs. small, and medium vs. small comparisons, respectively. Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway analyses associated DEGs with key processes such as steroid biosynthesis, protein processing within the endoplasmic reticulum, and nucleotide sugar metabolism. Variations in phagosomes and signaling pathways indicated that size differences are linked to disparities in energy expenditure and stress responses. These findings provide a foundation for future investigations into the regulatory mechanisms underlying growth differences in S. intermedius and provide clues for the screening of molecular markers useful to improve sea urchin production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a general inverse relationship between strength and toughness in low‐carbon steels. The transformation‐induced plasticity (TRIP) effect of retained austenite (RA) can help overcome this contradiction by providing strain hardening and transformation toughening during service. In this study, the effect of RA on the microstructure evolution, cryogenic mechanical properties, and fracture behavior of multi‐alloyed Ni‐containing steel is explored. Two well‐established techniques are employed to tailor the RA: quenching–intercritical tempering (QIT) and quenching–lamellarizing–intercritical tempering (QLIT). QLIT steel has a 25.1 vol% RA fraction, which is twice that of QIT steel, and offers exceptional stability at –196 °C. As a result, QLIT steel exhibits superior cryogenic mechanical properties in comparison to QIT steel, including a 6.9% increase in yield strength up to 1228 MPa, a 36.6% increase in elongation up to 33.2%, and a 147.4% increase in impact energy up to 193 J. These improvements are due to the higher fraction of RA transformed into the martensite during tensile deformation, resulting in an enhanced TRIP effect and increased work‐hardening rate. The exceptional stability of the RA also provides more sustainable TRIP toughening during cryogenic impact deformation, which helps to arrest crack propagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Lipid metabolism due to lipid hydrolysis and oxidation considerably contributes to the final product quality of fermented fish products and especially impacts its flavour. Lipase and lipoxygenase (LOX) are key enzymes involved in lipid metabolism. Endogenous lipases (lipase from fish muscle and adipose tissue) and/or exogenous lipases (lipase from microorganisms, the added lipase) catalyse the hydrolysis of lipids, producing numerous free fatty acids. LOX in fish gills and skin tissues plays an important role in lipid oxidation. During the catalysis by LOX, polyunsaturated fatty acids having cis, cis‐1,4‐pentadiene structure are oxidised, finally leading to the generation of flavour precursors or compounds such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters and acids. The addition of lipase effectively enhances the content of acidic components. Simultaneously, fermented fish products with a start culture capable of producing both lipase and LOX exhibit higher levels of flavour and aroma. In this process, the collaborative action of lipase and LOX generates a rich array of volatile flavour components. This review offers a comprehensive overview of the distinct functions and effects of both endogenous and exogenous lipase, along with LOX, in fermented fish products, as well as their roles in lipid metabolism. The study also explores their effects on the main volatile flavour compounds of fermented fish products. Moreover, the article discusses the prospects of applying lipase and LOX in fermented fish products, highlighting some limitations in current research and offering recommendations for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of medical knowledge graphs (MKGs) is steadily progressing from manual to automatic methods, which inevitably introduce noise, which could impair the performance of downstream healthcare applications. Existing error detection approaches depend on the topological structure and external labels of entities in MKGs to improve their quality. Nevertheless, due to the cost of manual annotation and imperfect automatic algorithms, precise entity labels in MKGs cannot be readily obtained. To address these issues, we propose an approach named Enhancing error detection on Medical knowledge graphs via intrinsic labEL (EMKGEL). Considering the absence of hyper-view KG, we establish a hyper-view KG and a triplet-level KG for implicit label information and neighborhood information, respectively. Inspired by the success of graph attention networks (GATs), we introduce the hyper-view GAT to incorporate label messages and neighborhood information into representation learning. We leverage a confidence score that combines local and global trustworthiness to estimate the triplets. To validate the effectiveness of our approach, we conducted experiments on three publicly available MKGs, namely PharmKG-8k, DiseaseKG, and DiaKG. Compared with the baseline models, the Precision@K value improved by 0.7%, 6.1%, and 3.6%, respectively, on these datasets. Furthermore, our method empirically showed that it significantly outperformed the baseline on a general knowledge graph, Nell-995. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation In the medical field, multiple terminology bases coexist across different institutions and contexts, often resulting in the presence of redundant terms. The identification of overlapping terms among these bases holds significant potential for harmonizing multiple standards and establishing unified framework, which enhances user access to comprehensive and well-structured medical information. However, the majority of terminology bases exhibit differences not only in semantic aspects but also in the hierarchy of their classification systems. The conventional approaches that rely on neighborhood-based methods such as GCN may introduce errors due to the presence of different superordinate and subordinate terms. Therefore, it is imperative to explore novel methods to tackle this structural challenge. Results To address this heterogeneity issue, this paper proposes a multi-view alignment approach that incorporates the hierarchical structure of terminologies. We utilize BERT-based model to capture the recursive relationships among different levels of hierarchy and consider the interaction information of name, neighbors, and hierarchy between different terminologies. We test our method on mapping files of three medical open terminologies, and the experimental results demonstrate that our method outperforms baseline methods in terms of Hits@1 and Hits@10 metrics by 2%. Availability and implementation The source code will be available at https://github.com/Ulricab/Bert-Path upon publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we use composite optimization algorithms to solve sigmoid networks. We equivalently transfer the sigmoid networks to a convex composite optimization and propose the composite optimization algorithms based on the linearized proximal algorithms and the alternating direction method of multipliers. Under the assumptions of the weak sharp minima and the regularity condition, the algorithm is guaranteed to converge to a globally optimal solution of the objective function even in the case of nonconvex and nonsmooth problems. Furthermore, the convergence results can be directly related to the amount of training data and provide a general guide for setting the size of sigmoid networks. Numerical experiments on Franke's function fitting and handwritten digit recognition show that the proposed algorithms perform satisfactorily and robustly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vanillin holds significant importance as a flavoring agent in various industries, including food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. The CoA-dependent pathway for the biosynthesis of vanillin from ferulic acid involved feruloyl-CoA synthase (Fcs) and enoyl-CoA hydratase/lyase (Ech). In this research, the Fcs and Ech were derived from Streptomyces sp. strain V-1. The sequence conservation and structural features of Ech were analyzed by computational techniques including sequence alignment and molecular dynamics simulation. After detailed study for the major binding modes and key amino acid residues between Ech and substrates, a series of mutations (F74W, A130G, A130G/T132S, R147Q, Q255R, ΔT90, ΔTGPEIL, ΔN1-11, ΔC260-287) were obtained by rational design. Finally, the yield of vanillin produced by these mutants was verified by whole-cell catalysis. The results indicated that three mutants, F74W, Q147R, and ΔN1-11, showed higher yields than wild-type Ech. Molecular dynamics simulations and residue energy decomposition identified the basic residues K37, R38, K561, and R564 as the key residues affecting the free energy of binding between Ech and feruloyl-coenzyme A (FCA). The large changes in electrostatic interacting and polar solvating energies caused by the mutations may lead to decreased enzyme activity. This study provides important theoretical guidance as well as experimental data for the biosynthetic pathway of vanillin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc–bromine redox flow battery (ZBFB) is one of the most promising candidates for large-scale energy storage due to its high energy density, low cost, and long cycle life. However, numerical simulation studies on ZBFB are limited. The effects of operational parameters on battery performance and battery design strategy remain unclear. Herein, a 2D transient model of ZBFB is developed to reveal the effects of electrolyte flow rate, electrode thickness, and electrode porosity on battery performance. The results show that higher positive electrolyte flow rates can improve battery performance; however, increasing electrode thickness or porosity causes a larger overpotential, thus deteriorating battery performance. On the basis of these findings, a genetic algorithm was performed to optimize the batter performance considering all the operational parameters. It is found that the battery energy efficiency can reach 79.42% at a current density of 20   mA   cm − 2 . This work is helpful to understand the energy storage characteristics and high-performance design of ZBFB operating at various conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CuH‐catalyzed hydrocarboxylation of allenes is an enantio‐ and regioselective approach for the synthesis of (S)‐carboxyl‐containing compounds. With density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we elucidate the reaction mechanism and the origins of the enantioselectivity and regioselectivity. The hydrocarboxylation proceeds through the migratory insertion of allenes on CuH complex, the enantioselective addition of fluoroformate, and the β‐fluoride elimination gives the branched carboxylation products. The electron‐donating alkyl and phenyl groups in the allene polarize the C=C bond and thus lead to the anti‐Markovnikov‐selective migratory insertion. In addition, the enantioselective addition of fluoroformate by either (R)‐ or (S)‐addition determines the enantioselectivity. The (S)‐addition is more favorable due to the bulky −tBu group of (R)‐DTBM‐SEGPHOS ligand, which prefers keeping the C=C bond of allene away from the reaction center in six‐membered transition state and thus results in (S)‐carboxyl‐containing products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, relation extraction on unstructured texts has become an important task in medical research. However, relation extraction requires a large amount of labeled corpus, manually annotating sequences is time consuming and expensive. Therefore, efficient and economical methods for annotating sequences are required to ensure the performance of relational extraction. This paper proposes a method of subsequence and distant supervision based active learning. The method is annotated by selecting information-rich subsequences as a sampling unit instead of the full sentences in traditional active learning. Additionally, the method saves the labeled subsequence texts and their corresponding labels in a dictionary which is continuously updated and maintained, and pre-labels the unlabeled set through text matching based on the idea of distant supervision. Finally, the method combines a Chinese-RoBERTa-CRF model for relation extraction in Chinese medical texts. Experimental results test on the CMeIE dataset achieves the best performance compared to existing methods. And the best F1 value obtained between different sampling strategies is 55.96%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we use the knowledge of positive definite tensors to develop a concept of positive definite multi-kernels to construct the kernel-based interpolants of scattered data. By the techniques of reproducing kernel Banach spaces, the optimal recoveries and error analysis of the kernel-based interpolants are shown for a special class of strictly positive definite multi-kernels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-object tracking (MOT) in the scenario of low-frame-rate videos is a promising solution to better meet the computing, storage, and transmitting bandwidth resource constraints of edge devices. Tracking with a low frame rate poses particular challenges in the association stage as objects in two successive frames typically exhibit much quicker variations in locations, velocities, appearances, and visibilities than those in normal frame rates. In this paper, we observe severe performance degeneration of many existing association strategies caused by such variations. Though optical-flow-based methods like CenterTrack can handle the large displacement to some extent due to their large receptive field, the temporally local nature makes them fail to give reliable displacement estimations of objects that newly appear in the current frame (i.e., not visible in the previous frame). To overcome the local nature of optical-flow-based methods, we propose an online tracking method by extending the CenterTrack architecture with a new head, named APP, to recognize unreliable displacement estimations. Further, to capture the fine-grained and private unreliability of each displacement estimation, we extend the binary APP predictions to displacement uncertainties. To this end, we reformulate the displacement estimation task via Bayesian deep learning tools. With APP predictions, we propose to conduct association in a multi-stage manner where vision cues or historical motion cues are leveraged in the corresponding stage. By rethinking the commonly used bipartite matching algorithms, we equip the proposed multi-stage association policy with a hybrid matching strategy conditioned on displacement uncertainties. Our method shows robustness in preserving identities in low-frame-rate video sequences. Experimental results on public datasets in various low-frame-rate settings demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper to explain the role and importance of fractional derivatives for mass and heat transfer in Casson nanofluids including clay nanoparticles. These particles can be found in water, kerosene, and engine oil. The physical flow phenomena are illustrated using PDE and thermophysical nanoparticle properties, and this paper addresses the Casson fractional fluid along with chemical reaction and heat generation. The heat and mass fluxes are generalized using the constant proportional Caputo fractional derivative. The present flow model are solved semi-analytically using the Laplace transform. We generated several graphs to understand how various flow factors affect velocity. The acquired results reveal that fractional parameters have dual behavior in velocity profiles. Velocity and temperature are also compared to previous studies. Compared to the other fractional derivatives results, field variables and proposed hybrid fractional derivatives showed a more decaying trend. Furthermore, significant results of clay nanoparticles with various base fluids have been obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of the wear of high-speed steel cutting tools modified mechanochemically by shot peening their rake faces with a mixture of Al2O3 and Cu2S particles. This treatment has been recently proved to reduce cutting forces significantly, but little is known about the wear resistance of the modified tools. To pave the way for practical implementation of this technology, here we bridge this gap. Orthogonal cutting tests performed under base oil lubrication demonstrate at least a twofold increase in the tool life compared to the untreated references. This is attributed to the formation of iron sulfide and its ability to retain oil at the cutting interface, which results in lower stresses and temperature. This environmentally friendly technique shows good potential to lower manufacturing costs, reduce energy consumption, and improve machining quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a direct energy converter between heat and electricity, thermoelectric generators (TEGs) have potential applications including recovery of waste heat, and solar thermoelectric power generation. Geometric parameter and material are two critical factors to improve the TEG performance. However, the strategies base on structure design and material development are always separated. There are limited studies on the effects of consolidating them simultaneously. Here, an idea of segmented material coupled with irregularly variable cross-section design was conceived to further improve the TEG output power. The performance of TEGs with rectangular leg, segmented leg, variable cross-sectional leg, and the new design are compared. The coupling effects between various mechanisms are revealed, which are responsible for the superior performance provided by the developed design. Based on this knowledge, a multiparameters optimization was performed through the genetic algorithm to reach the optimal combination of design parameters. The results show that, with a constraint of certain material volume, the optimal performance of the TEG can be further enhanced by coupling segmented material and irregularly variable cross-section design. An improvement of 51.71% was achieved when compared with the conventional counterpart. This work offers a simple route to enhance the TEG performance when the device materials are specified, without an increase in the cost of manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a combination of solid mechanics and reaction kinetics models, this work simulates a mechanochemical reaction in dual shot peening with a mixture of Al2O3 and Cu2S particles used to form a tribologically beneficial iron sulfide layer on treated surfaces. The model predicts that the dissociation of the Fe-Fe and Cu-S bonds needed for the formation of Fe-S bonds accelerates monotonically with an increase in the shot peening particle speed, whereas its rate reaches a local maximum at the impact angle of about 75 deg. The latter finding is validated by treating the rake faces of high-speed steel cutting tools and performing orthogonal cutting experiments in which the tools peened at the impact angle of 75 deg exhibit lower cutting and thrust forces than those peened at 40 deg. Additional peening parameters, namely, the particle volume ratio and the stage speed, are found to be much less statistically significant under the conditions tested. The developed approach may be instrumental in guiding process optimization to improve the tribological performance of mechanochemically treated surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Penicillium griseofulvum D-756 was a mutant strain with high yield of griseofulvin. Revealing the expression of key genes in the biosynthesis of griseofulvin at the transcriptional level would be helpful to understand its gene function and to carry out the directional genetic modification of the strain. The primers were designed by using Primer3 and Primer BLAST. After the qPCR verification, the amplified products of the primers were single and the amplification efficiency was in the range of 90%-110%. Then, the expression stability of the four candidate reference genes TUBB, HISH3, RPS24 and 28S rRNA was evaluated by using the geNorm software. The candidate genes TUBB and RPS24, which were relatively stable in the evaluation results, were selected as the reference genes to construct a qPCR system suitable for Penicillium griseofulvum D-756. Last, this system was used to detect the relative expression of gsfA, the key gene for the biosynthesis of griseofulvin in Penicillium griseofulvum D-756, at different culture times, thus to provide a powerful tool for the further study of each gene function in the biosynthetic gene cluster of griseofulvin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a high-isolation dual-polarized leaky-wave antenna (LWA) with a fixed beam is proposed for full-duplex millimeter-wave (mm-wave) applications. The proposed antenna consists of a dual-polarized LWA array and an orthogonally differential feeding network. The proposed dual-polarized LWA array is developed based on the proposed LWA unit cell, which is suitable for differential feed, and the open stopband is eliminated. The proposed feeding network provides two pairs of orthogonally differential excitation for the LWA array to realize the fixed beam with orthogonal polarization in boresight direction; the high interport isolation is implemented as well. The prototype for demonstration purposes is fabricated and measured. The measured results show that the proposed antenna exhibits an operating band from 27.6 to 29.5 GHz with a maximum gain of up to 24 dBi. Furthermore, the measured interport isolation is higher than 51 dB within the operating band, where the maximum isolation is up to 60 dB. The measured cross-polarization levels are also very low, less than −27 dB. The proposed antenna features high gain, high interport isolation, and good co-/cross-polarization isolation, achieving a good Tx/Rx separation for the in-band full-duplex applications at mm-wave frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing the demand for decoupling and filtering for large-scale antenna arrays in modern communication systems, a transmission-line-based scheme is proposed and studied in this article. Different from other decoupling networks published recently featuring narrow decoupling bandwidths and high spurious levels, the proposed approach uses simple T-shaped networks where decoupling and filtering responses are realized simultaneously, leading to high-frequency selectivity and improved decoupling bandwidth. The proposed design is a simple 1-D configuration but powerful for 2-D arrays. Based on the study case of a $4\times {4}$ dual-polarized patch array, theoretical analysis and full-wave simulation are carried out to verify the performance in decoupling and frequency selectivity of this method. A prototype is further fabricated, assembled, and measured to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method in practice. The measured and simulated results are consistent with each other where a low insertion loss of around 0.6 dB is observed. The results denote that the proposed method is easily realized with a very small effect on the radiation performance of antenna elements, making it to be a potential and valuable decoupling and filtering solution for large-scale arrays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toroidal vortices, or vortex rings, are torus‐shaped vortices observed in various fluid systems. Recently, optical toroidal vortices, novel solutions to Maxwell's equations, have been experimentally observed (Nat. Photonics, 2022, 16, 519). Thus, their nanoplasmonic counterparts, namely plasmonic toroidal vortices, are highly anticipated. This study aims to elucidate the generation and manifestation of plasmonic toroidal vortices. To achieve this, a technique involving the illumination of a gold nanotorus with a radially‐polarized beam is employed. Notably, the plasmonic toroidal vortices exhibit a distinct photon flow trajectory along the minor radius of a nanotorus. This work presents an advancement in toroidal vortices within the plasmonic regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we propose a new peroxide test strip (PTS) based point-of-care testing (POCT) method to detect ricin B-chain qualitatively and quantitatively by using catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) mediated liposome-encoded magnetic beads for signal amplification. The sensitivity of this PTS based POCT method was improved significantly because it combined CHA signal amplification and liposome-based signal amplification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the classical support vector machine (SVM) classifiers are generalized by the non-Euclidean margins. We first extend the linear models of the SVM classifiers by the non-Euclidean margins including the theorems and algorithms of the SVM classifiers by the hard margins and the soft margins. Specially, the SVM classifiers by the -norm margins can be solved by the 1-norm optimization with sparsity. Next, we show that the non-linear models of the SVM classifiers by the -norm margins can be equivalently transferred to the SVM in the -norm reproducing kernel Banach spaces given by the hinge loss, where. Finally, we illustrate the numerical examples of artificial data and real data to compare the different algorithms of the SVM classifiers by the -norm margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new phase Na2Ti3O7 compound is synthesized by solid‐state method for the first time, which is verified to belong to the triclinic structure in P‐1 space group. Compared to the conventional monoclinic Na2Ti3O7 (m‐NTO), in P21/m1 space group, the triclinic Na2Ti3O7 (t‐NTO) possesses a shorter O‐O band in the distorted TiO6 octahedron, which accounts for more smooth Na+ transport channels and a more stable layered structure with smaller fluctuation. The experimental results show that the t‐NTO keeps a low charge potential plateau at 0.3 V compared to the m‐NTO, but with much promoted structure resilience. It delivers a capacity retention of 94.7%, far exceeding the 25.7% of the m‐NTO upon decades of cycles. In situ X‐ray diffraction reveals that the conventional m‐NTO experiences an irreversible phase transition during insertion/de‐insertion of Na+, while the new t‐NTO can recover its structure reversibly after discharge and charge, which is consistent with its improved cycling performance. The results demonstrate a new t‐NTO anode and provide a new understanding for the phase diversity of sodium‐ion battery materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply the artificial neural network to quantify two-qubit steerability based on the steerable weight, which can be computed through semidefinite programming. Due to the fact that the optimal measurement strategy is unknown, it is still very difficult and time-consuming to efficiently obtain the steerability for an arbitrary quantum state. In this work, we show the method via machine learning technique which provides an effective way to quantify steerability. Furthermore, the generalization ability of the trained model is also demonstrated by applying to the Werner state and that in dephasing noise channel. Our findings provide an new way to obtain steerability efficiently and accurately, revealing effective application of the machine learning method on exploring quantum steering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hand pose estimation, formulated as an inverse problem, is typically optimized by an energy function over pose parameters using a 'black box' image generation procedure, knowing little about either the relationships between the parameters or the form of the energy function. In this paper, we show significant improvement upon such black box optimization by exploiting high-level knowledge of the parameter structure and using a local surrogate energy function. Our new framework, hierarchical sampling optimization (HSO), consists of a sequence of discriminative predictors organized into a kinematic hierarchy. Each predictor is conditioned on its ancestors, and generates a set of samples over a subset of the pose parameters, with only one selected by the highly-efficient surrogate energy. The selected partial poses are concatenated to generate a full-pose hypothesis. Repeating the same process, several hypotheses are generated and the full energy function selects the best result. Under the same kinematic hierarchy, two methods based on decision forest and convolutional neural network are proposed to generate the samples and two optimization methods are studied when optimizing these samples. Experimental evaluations on three publicly available datasets show that our method is particularly impressive in low-compute scenarios where it significantly outperforms all other state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we propose a kernel-based algorithm for generalized interpolations by kernel-based probability measures on Banach spaces. Different from the classical kernel-based approximation methods, we construct and analyze the deterministic kernel-based estimators based on the generalized data by the stochastic approaches including formulas and convergence. Specially, we do not need the regularization parameter estimations and the noise distribution estimations in the computational processes of the kernel-based estimators based on the noisy data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we solve a deterministic interpolation problem by a stochastic approach. We generalize the kernel-based probability measure on a Banach space. The kernel-based probability measure provides a numerical tool to construct and analyze the kernel-based estimators conditioned on the interpolated data including kernel-based algorithms and error analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a mechano-chemical surface modification to improve cutting tool performance is proposed. We applied this surface modification via shot peening the rake faces of high-speed steel tools with a blend of Al2O3 and Cu2S particles that serve as a plastic deformation medium and a chemical precursor, respectively. Orthogonal cutting experiments under base oil lubrication demonstrated that the proposed treatment results in a reduction of cutting and thrust forces, as well as in a reduction of built-up edge formation. These effects are explained by favorable changes in the lubricity and roughness of the rake face, and they suggest that this method has the potential to increase cutting tool life, lower energy consumption, and improve the dimensional accuracy and surface quality of a machined workpiece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• TGM-Nets is a physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) based framework. • TGM-Nets can infer patient-specific parameters for long-term predictions. • We quantify the uncertainty of TGM-Nets using the randomized priors. • We demonstrate the robustness of TGM-Nets. • We use the images of the pancreatic cancer cultured in-vitro to train TGM-Nets. Prediction and uncertainty quantification of tumor progression are vital in clinical practice, i.e., disease prognosis and decision-making on treatment strategies. In this work, we propose TGM-Nets, a deep learning framework that combines bioimaging and tumor growth modeling (TGM) for enhanced prediction of tumor growth. This proposed framework, developed based on physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), is capable of integrating the TGM and sequential observations of tumor morphology for patient-specific prediction of tumor growth. The novelties of the design of TGM-Nets include the employment of Fourier layers to extract the features of the input images as well as the utilization of sequential learning and fine-tuning with physics for extrapolation to improve the prediction accuracy. The validity of TGM-Nets for tumor growth forecasting is verified by testing the model performance on synthetic and in-vitro datasets, respectively. Our results show that the TGM-Nets not only can track the growth rates of the mild and aggressive tumors but also capture their detailed morphological features within and outside the training domain. In particular, TGM-Nets can be used to predict the long time dynamics of tumor growth in mild and aggressive cases. Our results show that the parameters inferred from the TGM-Nets can be used for long-time prediction for up to 4 months with a maximum error of ∼ 4%. We also systematically study the effects of the number of training points and noisy data on the performance of TGM-Nets as well as quantify the uncertainty of the model predictions. We show that TGM-Nets can integrate the biomedical images to predict the growth of the in-vitro cultured pancreatic cancer cells and identify the associated growth rates, demonstrating the possibilities of using TGM-Nets in clinical practice. In summary, we propose a new deep learning model that combines imaging and TGM to improve the current approaches for predicting tumor growth and thus provide an advanced computational tool for patient-specific tumor prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat stress is a major limitation to Rhododendron cultivation in tropical and subtropical regions. Microbial community plays an important role in plant resistance to heat stress, however the microbial mechanism is poorly understood. We conducted a pot culture experiment on Rhododendron hainanense to reveal the mechanism of root microorganisms and soil microorganisms in response to heat stress, using an artificial climate simulation. The experimental control (CK) was set as day (25 ℃, 14 h) /night (20 ℃, 10 h), treatments were medium temperature stress (MTS, 35/30 ℃), and severe temperature stress (STS, 40/35 ℃). The result showed that compared with CK, MTS treatment considerably increased malondialdehyde content, and STS treatment significantly increased proline, and both heat stress treatments significantly decreased chlorophyll content. In comparison to CK, MTS considerably reduced soil nitrate nitrogen, soil microbial biomass carbon, and soil water-soluble organic carbon content. STS dramatically increased soil available nitrogen, soil water-soluble organic carbon, and soil microbial biomass carbon. Heat stress also significantly affected soil microbial community and root endophytic microbial community. Soil microbial and root bacterial community significantly correlated with soil nitrate nitrogen content, and root endophytic fungi significantly correlated with proline and soilwater-soluble organic carbon content. Therefore, soil microorganisms impacted soil nitrogen availability under heat stress, root endophytic bacteria impacted the ability of R. hainanense to absorb nitrogen, and root endophytic fungi controlled the physiological traits of R. hainanense by modifying Pro content to increase the resistance of R. hainanense to heat stress. [Display omitted] • Soil microorganisms are closely related to soil available nitrogen content. • Root endophytic bacteria can promote Rhododendron to absorb soil available nitrogen. • Microbes play a major role in coping with heat stress in Rhododendron hainanensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A new germacrane sesquiterpenoid with an epoxy moiety, pierreanin A (1), and a pair of unique cyclobutyl-containing sesquiterpenoid diastereoisomers, pierreanins B and C (2 and 3), were isolated from the branches and leaves of Vitex pierreana , together with 2 known analogues, identified as germacrone (4) and epiprocurcumenol (5). The structures of all isolates were evaluated by detailed analyses of NMR, IR, and MS data. The absolute configurations of 1 – 3 were determined by comparison of the experimental ECD spectra with reported data of analogues containing the same chromophore. The ability of three new compounds to inhibit the growth of DU145 prostate cancer cells was also evaluated, as well as their inhibitory effects against the production of NO in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Graphical Abstract Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the dynamics of quantum steerability between two non-interacting atoms, each of which is trapped inside one of two coupled cavities. Compared with entanglement, quantum steerability manifests sudden birth and sudden death phenomenon during the time evolution. We find that the cavity decay plays a destruction role for both steerability and entanglement. It is also shown that the survival time as well as the maximal value of steerability are sensitive to the asymmetry of the cavities. Moreover, it is found the sudden death of steerability can be controlled by the hopping rate of the coupled cavities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering and quantum phase transitions of the transverse Ising and antiferromagnetic XXZ spin-1/2 chains. By making use of steerable weight, we calculate the steerability for the bipartite subsystems of the models. It is shown that steerability vanishes abruptly and its value maintains zero in a region close to the critical point for the Ising chain. This result is quite different from the information provided by entanglement and quantum discord. While for the XXZ chain, steerability increases and reaches maximal at the critical point, indicating the occurrence of quantum phase transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We combine techniques in meshfree methods and Gaussian process regressions to construct kernel-based estimators for numerical derivatives from noisy data. Specially, we construct meshfree estimators from normal random variables, which are defined by kernel-based probability measures induced from symmetric positive definite kernels, to reconstruct the unknown partial derivatives from scattered noisy data. Our developed theories give rise to Tikhonov regularization methods with a priori parameter, but the shape parameters of the kernels remain tunable. For that, we propose an error measure that is computable without the exact values of the derivative. This allows users to obtain a quasi-optimal kernel-based estimator by comparing the approximation quality of kernel-based estimators. Numerical examples in two dimensions and three dimensions are included to demonstrate the convergence behavior and effectiveness of the proposed numerical differentiation scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their nice algebraic structures and pseudorandom features, generalized cyclotomic sequences have wide applications in simulation, coding and cryptography. Based on the Ding-Helleseth sequence, Bai et al. proposed a class of balanced generalized sequences of length pq. Moreover, they showed that this class of sequences has high linear complexity over a finite field of order two. In this paper, we study the linear complexity and the minimal polynomial of this class of sequences over a general finite field. Results indicate the sequence considered possesses high linear complexity over a general finite field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) was investigated in the synergetic system of electron beam irradiation (EBI) combined with graphite carbon nitride/carbon nanodots (g-C 3 N 4 /CDs). The results suggested that the presence of g-C 3 N 4 /CDs could not only promote the degradation of CIP but also significantly enhanced the mineralization ratio. At 25 kGy, the mineralization ratio increased from 18.1% to 69.0% while g-C 3 N 4 /CDs was added. Regeneration experiments revealed that the g-C 3 N 4 /CDs composite possessed good reusability. In addition to finding that the presence of CO 3 2−, HCO 3 −, NO 3 − and NO 2 − obviously restrained the radiolysis process of CIP, the adding of Cl− and SO 4 2− could also have slight inhibitory effects. The effect of various water matrices in EBI&g-C 3 N 4 /CDs systems suggested that the degradation efficiency decreased in lake and tap water. Moreover, the studies in the presence of different radical scavengers suggested that ·OH was the main reactive species in the degradation process. The possible degradation pathway of CIP was proposed in the light of intermediate products using Liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer (LC–MS) analysis coupled with DFT calculations. • The degradation of CIP was improved in the synergetic system of EBI combined with g-C 3 N 4 /CDs. • In the presence of g-C 3 N 4 /CDs, the mineralization ratio increased from 18.1% to 69.0% at 25 kGy. • ·OH played the most vital role in the degradation process. • Degradation pathway of CIP was proposed in the heterogeneous irradiation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Although chemotherapy is the primary means in colorectal cancer treatment, it is burdenerd by adverse drug effects. Drug-resistance is one of the most important challenges for chemotherapy and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays critical role in the development of drug resistance. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms underlying the effect of astragaloside IV (AS-IV) on miR-134 expression, EMT and chemotherapeutic sensitivity in CRC. Methods: Cell proliferation, transfection assay, western blot, real-time PCR, cell migration and invasion assay and luciferase reporter assay were used to detect the effects of AS-IV on CRC. Results: AS-IV significantly inhibited CRC cell migration and invasion by inducing miR-134 expression. Moreover, AS-IV and miR-134 increased the sensitivity of CRC tumors to oxaliplatin (OXA) chemotherapy. cAMP responsive elementbinding protein 1 (CREB1), which was required for CRC cells migration, invasion and drug sensitivity, was significantly down-regulated by AS-IV. Conclusions: Our results indicated that AS-IV inhibited CRC EMT by inducing miR-134 expression which significantly down-regulated the CREB1 signaling pathway, and therefore increased the sensitivity to chemotherapy. Our findings provided new insight into the mechanisms of chemotherapy-resistant CRC, and may open new therapeutic options in the treatment of this devastating disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Mild hypothermia has been well known as an effective way to reduce ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI), while the mechanisms are still unclear. More and more evidences have indicated that miRNAs should been involved in the regulation of IRI and expecially some miRNAs have shown temp-responsiveness for temperature variation. Therefore, the role of miR-122 in mild hypothermia pretreatment after IRI was investigated. Methods We established a LO2 cell anoxia-reoxygenation injury model to simulate liver IRI. Five groups of differently pretreated L02 cells were studied. ALT, AST and LDH as well as cell viability were measured. Flow cytometric analysis was used to evaluate the apoptosis. The expression of miR-122 was quantified by qRT-PCR. Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R), protein kinase B (p-AKT), AKT, forkhead box O3a (p-FOXO3a) and Caspase3 were examined using western blot analysis. Results We found that mild hypothermia pretreatment could reduce the hepatocellular injury and induce a significant down-regulation in miR-122 expression after IRI. However, those effects of protection were attenuated by overexpressed miR-122 blockade. We further demonstrated that down-regulation of miR-122 promoted IGF-1R translation and AKT activity, suppressed FOXO3a activity and Caspase3 expression after mild hypothermia pretreatment, which was abrogated by miR-122 mimic. Conclusion Our data clearly demonstrate that mild hypothermia pretreatment can down-regulate miR-122 to protect hepatocytes against IRI through activation IGF-1R/AKT signaling pathway and inhibit cells apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In this study, MethylRAD-Seq of the body wall tissues of Apostichopus japonicus at different ages was analyzed based on methylated RAD-Seq technology and, combined with GO and KEGG analyses, different genes related to the age of A. japonicus were screened, such as H2AX, Hsp90, Pepn, and CDC6. This provides reference significance for the identification of A. japonicus age. The A. japonicus industry has expanded significantly, but no research has focused on determining the age of A. japonicus during farming. Correctly estimating the age of A. japonicus can provide a decision-making basis for the breeding process and data for the protection of A. japonicus aquatic germplasm resources. DNA methylation levels in the body wall of Apostichopus japonicus at 4 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years old were determined using MethylRAD-Seq, and differentially methylated genes were screened. A total of 441 and 966 differentially methylated genes were detected at the CCGG and CCWGG sites, respectively. Aspartate aminotransferase, succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, the histone H2AX, heat shock protein Hsp90, aminopeptidase N, cell division cycle CDC6, Ras GTPase activating protein (RasGAP), slit guidance ligand slit1, integrin-linked kinase ILK, mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase Mtor, protein kinase A Pka, and autophagy-related 3 atg3 genes may play key roles in the growth and aging process of A. japonicus. This study provides valuable information regarding age-related genes for future research, and these candidate genes can be used to create an "epigenetic clock". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large vertical pipes are key structures connecting subsea wells to offshore platforms. However, existing studies mainly focus on small vertical pipes. In a vertical acrylic pipe with 80 mm inner diameter and 11 m height, a high-speed camera was used to visually research the influences of pipe diameters, liquid properties and inlet effect on air-water co-flow characteristic. Different flow regime maps of vertical pipes (diameters are in the range of 50–189 mm) were compared and the critical gas velocity of the transition boundary from bubble to slug flow tended to increase with the increase of diameters at D ≥ 80 mm. Drift-flux models were established in different flow regimes and liquid properties have a significant effect on drift coefficients of bubble flow and slug flow (void fraction α ≤ 0.4). The influence of inlet turbulent effect on the gas-liquid interface distribution gradually weakened and disappeared from the pipe base to 85D, where the flow was fully developed. Slug frequency has a trend of increase first and then decrease with the gas Weber numbers increasing at low liquid superficial velocities (JL ≤ 0.31 m/s). And on the basis of this law, a new slug frequency correlation was proposed. It was found that there was an exponential relationship between the ratio of lengths of Taylor bubble to slug and the void fraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we study the optimal designs of the positive definite kernels for the high-dimensional interpolation. We endow the Sobolev spaces with the probability measures induced by the positive definite kernels such that the kernel-based estimators can be solved to maximize the kernel-based probabilities conditioned on the observed data. In the practical implementations, we have many choices of the positive definite kernels to construct the kernel basis such as the Gaussian kernels with various shape parameters; hence we have an open problem what the optimal kernels are. The kernel-based probabilities provide a novel way to search the optimal kernels for the observed data. Combining with the statistical techniques such as the maximum likelihood estimation, we can solve the optimal shape parameters of the Gaussian kernels by the kernel-based probabilities even though the classical kernel-based methods cannot achieve the uncertain data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, retained austenite (RA) characteristics of Ni-alloyed steel were tailored via a multi-stage intercritical heat treatment to evaluate the contribution of RA stability on yield strength, elongation, and cryogenic toughness. Two heat-treatment routes were used to tailor RA formation: first, stage Ⅰ intercritical annealing (IA) combined with stage Ⅱ high-temperature intercritical annealing (IA-HIA); and second, stage Ⅰ IA combined with stage Ⅱ low-temperature intercritical annealing (IA-LIA). Although a considerably higher amount of RA (10.6%) was obtained in the IA-HIA steel, its yield strength (770 MPa), elongation (17.1%), and cryogenic impact energy (49 J) were significantly lower than those of the IA-LIA steel. In the latter steel, a superior yield strength (920 MPa), elongation (19.1%), and cryogenic impact energy (95 J) were obtained at a much lower amount of RA (7.8%). Multi-alloy enrichment and thin-filmy morphology increased the thermal and mechanical stability of RA, which was further demonstrated via cryogenic holding and interrupted straining tests. The sustainable transformation-induced plasticity effect of stable filmy RA at larger strain under tensile and impact loads remarkably enhanced the elongation and cryogenic toughness. Nano-sized vanadium carbide precipitates greatly improved the yield strength without deteriorating the elongation and cryogenic toughness. It is concluded that postponing destabilization of RA is the key to improve the yield strength and cryogenic toughness. [Display omitted] • Amount and stability of retained austenite are optimized via IA-LIA heat treatment. • Retained austenite is further stabilized by multi-alloy enrichment and filmy shape. • Stabilized retained austenite enhances combination of strength-ductility-toughness. • Adequately stable retained austenite deflects crack propagation through TRIP effect. • Retained austenite cryo-stability is more crucial than amount for TRIP toughening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury after a liver transplant is a major cause of severe complications that lead to graft dysfunction. Fucoidan, a complex of sulfated polysaccharides derived from marine brown algae, demonstrated antiapoptotic as well as potential anti-inflammatory properties in previous studies. Fucoidan has also shown protective effects on I/R-injured kidney and heart. However, whether fucoidan can attenuate hepatic I/R injury has not been examined. To clarify the role of fucoidan in hepatic I/R injury, Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to sham operation or ischemia followed by reperfusion with treatment of saline or fucoidan (50, 100, or 200 mg·(kg body mass)−1·d−1). The fucoidan-treated group showed decreased levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase compared with the control group. Myeloperoxidase and malondialdehyde activities and mRNA levels of CD11b in the fucoidan-treated group were significantly decreased. Hepatocellular swelling/necrosis, sinusoidal/vascular congestion, and inflammatory cell infiltration were also attenuated in the fucoidan group. The expression of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, CXCL-10, VCAM-1, and ICAM-1 were markedly decreased in the samples from the fucoidan-treated group. Fucoidan largely prevented activation of the inflammatory signaling pathway, compared with the control group. In summary, fucoidan can protect the liver from I/R injury through suppressing activation of the inflammatory signaling pathway, as well as the expression of inflammatory mediators, and inflammatory cell infiltration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manganese in excess promotes unstable emotional behavior. Our previous study showed that olfactory manganese uptake into the brain is altered in Hfe −/− mice, a model of iron overload hemochromatosis, suggesting that Hfe deficiency could modify the neurotoxicity of airborne manganese. We determined anxiety-related behavior and monoaminergic protein expression after repeated intranasal instillation of MnCl 2 to Hfe −/− mice. Compared with manganese-instilled wild-type mice, Hfe −/− mice showed decreased manganese accumulation in the cerebellum. Hfe −/− mice also exhibited increased anxiety with decreased exploratory activity and elevated dopamine D1 receptor and norepinephrine transporter in the striatum. Moreover, Hfe deficiency attenuated manganese-associated impulsivity and modified the effect of manganese on the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase, vesicular monoamine transporter and serotonin transporter. Together, our data indicate that loss of HFE function alters manganese-associated emotional behavior and further suggest that HFE could be a potential molecular target to alleviate affective disorders induced by manganese inhalation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the shifting relations between China and India and their positions on climate change, the construction of a national carbon market in China, and the synergies between China's air pollution and climate policies.

This paper aims to examine and compare customer satisfaction towards China Mobile and China Telecom's services. The literature suggests factors such as customer services, price, network quality, and product diversity influence customers' satisfaction with telecommunications organizations. This study employs the judgment sampling method, which is limited to specific people who can provide the desired information since the respondents are confined to customers who subscribed to the services of either China Mobile or China Telecom. A self-reporting questionnaire was developed and disseminated to 500 respondents in which 472 completed copies were returned. The results indicate that all of the influencing factors are significantly and positively correlated with overall satisfaction of China Mobile and China Telecom's customers. However, satisfaction seems to be higher among China Mobile's customers in terms of product diversity, while better customer service is recorded among China Telecom's customers. The findings suggest that the telecommunications service providers should develop appropriate strategies based on their strengths in satisfying their customers as well as overcoming their weaknesses by learning from each other. With network quality and customer service identified as the major factors influencing customer satisfaction, strategies should be formulated along these two areas. Both telecommunications service providers cannot ignore the importance of product diversity and pricing as these factors scored strong correlations with customer satisfaction. China Mobile, which seems to possess the advantage of product diversity, can further enhance its offerings to attract younger users. China Telecom, on the other hand, can take the opportunity to determine what it needs to offer to be on par with China Mobile as it is evident that customers are more satisfied with the latter's services. This paper focuses on a small sample size and that by using the outcome instead of process approach to test the model might raise the issue of generalizability in which future studies should address. Nevertheless, this study has advanced knowledge for it has provided information on the current state of customer satisfaction with the People's Republic of China's telecommunications organizations. It has confirmed the factors which significantly influence customer satisfaction with both China Mobile and China Telecom which are beneficial to the telecommunications service providers as they craft strategies towards increased mobile service use in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypertrophic scar is a complication of wound healing and has a high recurrence rate which can lead to significant abnormity in aesthetics and functions. To date, no ideal treatment method has been established. Meanwhile, the underlying mechanism of hypertrophic scarring has not been clearly defined. Although a large amount of scientific research has been reported on the use of medicinal plants as a natural source of treatment for hypertrophic scarring, it is currently scattered across a wide range of publications. Therefore, a systematic summary and knowledge for future prospects are necessary to facilitate further medicinal plant research for their potential use as antihypertrophic scar agents. A bibliographic investigation was accomplished by focusing on medicinal plants which have been scientifically tested in vitro and/or in vivo and proved as potential agents for the treatment of hypertrophic scars. Although the chemical components and mechanisms of action of medicinal plants with antihypertrophic scarring potential have been investigated, many others remain unknown. More investigations and clinical trials are necessary to make use of these medical plants reasonably and phytotherapy is a promising therapeutic approach against hypertrophic scars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We determine a novel ent-kaurane diterpenoid, termed EPLE, as a new Wnt/β-catenin inhibitor. EPLE inhibits β–catenin-mediated transcription by blocking formation of β-catenin/TCF4 complexes. EPLE impedes CRC cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo and exhibits synergistic cytotoxicity with 5-fluorouracil.Aberrant activation of Wnt signaling pathway is crucial for the onset and progression of human colorectal cancer (CRC). Owing to the persistent dependence on Wnt signaling for growth and survival, inhibition of this pathway is an attractive approach for new therapies. 11α, 12α-epoxyleukamenin E (EPLE) is a novel ent-kaurane diterpenoid that we previously isolated from Salvia cavaleriei, exhibiting antitumor activities in a variety of cancer cells. Herein, we found that whereas sparing normal human colon mucosal epithelial cells, EPLE selectively inhibited the proliferation of CRC cell lines as well as primary tumor cells. Mechanistically, we demonstrated EPLE exerted its function through suppressing Wnt signaling pathway, as evidenced by EPLE-mediated downregulation of Wnt target genes such as c-Myc, Axin2 and Survivin. Consistently, luciferase reporter assays showed that the EPLE directly blocked Wnt/β-catenin–mediated transcriptional activation. In combination of co-immunoprecipitation and protein structure-based analyses, we determined that the EPLE entered the interface of β-catenin/TCF4 complexes and blocked their interaction that is required for β-catenin–mediated transcriptional activation. Moreover, overexpression of β-catenin alleviated the cytotoxicity of EPLE in CRC cells, supporting Wnt signaling is a major and specific target of EPLE. Combined treatments of EPLE and 5-fluorouracil, the first-line chemotherapy for CRC patients, achieved a synergistic effect. More importantly, EPLE hampered tumor development in a CRC xenograft model. Our data thus establish EPLE as a novel inhibitor of Wnt signaling that holds great promise as a potential candidate for further preclinical evaluation for CRC treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]