Search

Comprehensive Summary: Ten novel isocoumarins, including four pairs of enantiomers, were isolated from Artemisia dubia var. subdigitata (Asteraceae). Compounds 1, 2 and 3a/3b possessed a unique 6/6/6‐tricyclic system comprising an unusual 1‐(2‐methylcyclohexyl) propan‐1‐one moiety fused with isocoumarin core skeleton. Compounds 4a/4b were characterized as an unexpected 2,5‐dimethylcyclohexan‐1‐one scaffold, and compounds 5a/5b and 6a/6b were rare 1,2‐seco‐isocoumarin. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated through spectroscopic data, X‐ray crystallography, ECD and NMR calculations with DP4+ analyses. Plausible biosynthetic pathways were proposed from the naturally occurring isocoumarin. Network pharmacological analysis suggested that the targets of compound 1 were significantly enriched in the cell cycle and PI3K‐Akt signaling pathway. The molecular docking revealed that compound 1 had high binding affinity with CDK2 (total score: 6.8717). Furthermore, compounds 1 and 2 exhibited inhibitory activity on three human hepatoma cell lines, with inhibitory ratios of 85.1% and 84.5% (HepG2), 88.2% and 87.3% (Huh7), and 69.2% and 69.1% (SK‐Hep‐1) at 200 μmol·L–1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A catalytic asymmetric vinylogous aldol reaction between β,γ-unsaturated amides and isatins has been developed. In the presence of 10 mol% of tertiary amine-thiourea C7, the vinylogous reaction has been achieved in up to 98% yield and up to 99% ee (26 examples). This methodology provides an efficient approach to construct chiral multifunctional 3-hydroxy-2-oxindoles. Moreover, the transformations of the chiral products, including the esterification of amides, the hydrogenation of the C–C double bond and further conversion to spirolactones, have been investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the double pressure of economic downturn and climate deterioration, the Chinese government needs to use the "double carbon" policy to drive the green transformation of the manufacturing industry. This article takes A-share manufacturing listed companies as the research object, constructs the enterprise digital economy investment index by text analysis and expert scoring method, and represents the degree of green transformation by enterprise green total factor productivity. At the theoretical level, the impact mechanism of the digital economy empowering green transformation in the manufacturing industry is hypothesized. The relevant hypotheses were tested through econometric empirical evidence, and the econometric model significantly passed the robustness test, proving that the digital economy empowers the development of green transformation in the manufacturing industry significantly. This article reveals that the digital economy promotes the green total factor productivity of enterprises by enhancing their innovation capability, improving the efficiency of production factor flow, and increasing their emission costs, but the factor intensity and the nature of enterprise owners will have different effects on the green transformation of the manufacturing industry enabled by the digital economy. This article explores the internal mechanism of green transformation development in the digital economy-enabled manufacturing industry and provides empirical evidence for enterprises to formulate development strategies and for governments to issue guiding policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: Nineteen new cadinane‐involving sesquiterpenoid dimers, artemordins A—S (1—19), together with 13 known SDs (20—32) were isolated from Artemisia ordosica. Their structures and absolute configurations were established by comprehensive spectral analyses, X‐ray single crystal diffraction, theoretical ECD, and NMR calculations. Chemically, artemordins A—F (1—6) were the first examples of two cadinane units constructed by unprecedented C‐3−C‐15′ or C‐3−C‐13′ single bond with an oxido‐rearranged 6/5/6/6 fused ring system; artemordins G—K (7—11) were biogenetically connected by [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction and artemordins G—J (7—10) possessed a novel 5/6/6/6/6/6/5‐heptacyclic fused ring system. Artemordins L—S (12—19) were formed by esterification, which involved three different types of sesquiterpenoids. Antihepatoma assay suggested that the most active compounds, artemordins B and H (2 and 8), exhibited inhibitory activities on three hepatoma cell lines with IC50 values of 26.9 and 25.1 μmol/L (HepG2), 29.5 and 18.3 μmol/L (Huh7), 19.7 and 15.7 μmol/L (SK‐Hep‐1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of molecular nonequilibrium transports, physical mechanisms of multiple reaction dynamics of these systems are the core of deep understanding complex reactions and transport mechanisms. In order to explore related mechanisms, establishing multiple systems coupled with tremendous exit dynamics and studying their exit dynamics properties are quite vital. Beyond previous researches, new stochastic transport processes are emphasized here. Multiple new exit dynamic systems are established, which are motivated by the multiplicity of paths and products of real biochemical processes in organisms. In order to ensure research universality, core system modeling factors are fully considered. Countable parallel orbits, uniform connection with external sources, countable parallel orbits as subsystems in middle lattices and influences of all lattices on transport trajectories on dynamic properties are analyzed. Dynamic properties of different particles located in orbits are explored by deeply studying average exit time and time scale. Quantitative spatiotemporal impacts are extensively studied. The rationality of average exit time as a time scale in the universal exit dynamic system is proved. Main findings and fruitful results can not only serve as theoretical bases for broadening reaction path modeling, but also be helpful to support understanding nonequilibrium transport mechanisms, especially stochastic biochemical processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater is an important component of water resources. Excessive exploitation can lead to water scarcity, while excessive groundwater can cause problems such as terrain collapse. Therefore, it is crucial to obtain timely information on groundwater levels (GWL) and make predictions accordingly. Previous methods, considering only the time series of the sites did not consider the spatial relationships between the sites due to the difficulty to handle unstructured site location data. This paper proposes a GWL prediction model based on GCN-LSTM, each GWL site is regarded as a node of the graph. The spatial topological relationship between the sites is determined through Pearson correlation coefficient and Euclidean distance, and the adjacency matrix is constructed. Using the graph convolutional neural network (GCN) mines the spatial characteristics between groundwater level sites, and then inputs the time series data with spatial characteristics into the long short-term memory neural network (LSTM) to mine the temporal characteristics to predict groundwater. In this paper, the GWL data from 18 sites were selected to predict GWL in the next three day. The mean absolute error (MAE), mean squared error (MSE), and root mean squared error (RMSE) are used as evaluation criteria, the mean absolute error of the predicted GWL was 0.13 m, the mean square error was 0.02 m, and the root mean square error was 0.14 m, the proposed prediction model has lower errors than the LSTM and TGCN models. Compared with the long short-term memory network model, this model can shorten the training time and improve the prediction efficiency. And it can reflect the dynamic changes of GWL at multiple sites more efficiently and obtain the changing trend of GWL in the entire region, which has certain practical application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the challenge of global energy transition, coal-fired cogeneration systems are undergoing a technical revolution towards enhanced efficiency, heating capacity, and flexibility. In this paper, four schemes using a steam ejector integrated into a cogeneration system are designed. Considering operational safety, integrated locations are selected at the front and back of high- and medium-pressure turbines. Subsequently, the thermodynamic and operational characteristics under both design and off-design conditions are analyzed based on a model built in EBSILON Professional. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of the heating process is conducted. The results show that the integration of steam ejectors can increase the waste heat recovery ratio of exhaust steam by 18.42–45.61% under design conditions. The largest waste heat recovery ratio is obtained in System 4, resulting in the power generation efficiency ( η g ) and gross energy utilization efficiency ( η p ) of 81.95% and 65.53%, respectively. Meanwhile, the steam ejector can expand the power-load regulation range of the cogeneration system, and System 4 has the lowest lower power limit among all the systems. The η p values of Systems 1–4 reach extreme values at different mixed steam pressures of the ejector. Increasing the pinch point temperature difference reduces the power load η g and η p of Systems 1–4. The results provide technical solutions for improving the heating capacity and efficient and flexible operation of cogeneration systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: Eight new guaiane‐type sesquiterpenoid trimers, artemsieverolactones A—H, possessing unprecedented scaffolds via biocatalyzed [4+2] Diels−Alder cycloaddition reactions were identified from Artemisia sieversiana. Their structures were determined by comprehensive spectroscopic data, single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analyses, and ECD calculations. In terms of structure, artemsieverolactones A—H are first examples of sesquiterpenoid trimers from guaiane‐type sesquiterpenoid through four different [4+2] Diels−Alder cycloaddition models. Antihepatic fibrosis assay suggested that five compounds exhibited activity against HSC‐LX2 with IC50 values ranging from 37.8 to 117.1 μmol/L. The most active artemsieverolactone B (2) displayed significant inhibitory activity against HSC‐LX2 with IC50 value of 37.8 μmol/L, which was 3 times more active than the positive drug silybin (IC50, 139.7 μmol/L). Preliminary mechanism study revealed that artemsieverolactone B could inhibit the deposition of human collagen type I (Col I), human hyaluronic acid (HA), and human laminin (HL) with IC50 values of 40.4 μmol/L (Col I), 55.1 μmol/L (HL), 47.3 μmol/L (HA), which was 2 to 3‐fold more potent than silybin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gold (Au) with excellent properties, is widely used in many fields, resulting in the depletion of Au resources and environment pollution due to a great deal of wastewater containing Au(III) produced in the industrial production process. Hence, it is necessary to remove and recover Au from wastewater. In this work, a novel hyperbranched polyethyleneimine functionalized porous polyacrylonitrile/graphene oxide nanofiber membrane (HP-PAN/GO) for adsorption of Au(III) was fabricated by electrospinning, hot-water soak and grafting methods. The effect of the solution pH, initial concentration and contact time on the adsorption performance of HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) was explored by batch experiments. The adsorption process was investigated by pseudo-first-order kinetic, pseudo-second-order kinetic, intra particle diffusion models, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The results showed that the HP-PAN/GO with abundant amino functional groups and pore structure was successfully fabricated. The adsorption and reduction of HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) were simultaneous, and Au(III) adsorbed HP-PAN/GO was partially reduced to elemental Au with hexagonal flakes and irregular particles, and the maximum adsorption capacity of HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) was 2601.27 mg·g−1. The removal rate of the HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) remained over 83% after five adsorption cycles. Moreover, the HP-PAN/GO had excellent adsorption selectivity in coexisting ion system. The HP-PAN/GO could be a promising candidate for effective removal and recovery of Au(III) in wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the digital economy to empower urban economic green growth provides essential opportunities for China to achieve high-quality growth. This paper assesses the level of digital economy and green growth in Chinese cities, seeking to explore the mechanisms and effects of the digital economy on urban green growth in a unified framework. The results indicate that the digital economy can drive cities' green growth. This conclusion still holds after a set of robustness tests. Meanwhile, the green value of the digital economy is fully released among the eastern cities, major urban agglomerations, and high-level cities. Further research shows that the digital economy can indirectly enhance urban green growth in the neighboring regions through spatial spillover effects. Moreover, labor resource mismatch, capital resource mismatch and green technology innovation are significant mediating mechanisms. The findings could guide policymakers on green growth in emerging economies from a digital economy perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anions play a significant role in the construction of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). Anions can affect coordination between metal ions and organic ligands, and the formation of crystal structures, thereby affecting the structure and properties of MOFs. Two novel 3D porous MOFs ({[Cd3(TIPE)2(SO4)1.6(H2O)2.4]·2.8OH·6.2H2O}n (MOF-1) and {[Cd3(TIPE)2(SO4)3(H2O)2]·10H2O}n (MOF-2)) were successfully synthesized, by introducing SO42− to design and adjust their structure and properties, in which the sulfate ions not only participated in coordination but also played a bridging role. Both MOF-1 and MOF-2 exhibited high stability and strong fluorescence properties, and their fluorescence properties also changed compared to those of previously reported 2D nonporous MOF-3 ({[Cd2(TIPE)2Cl3(ACN)]·CdCl3·3H2O}n) with an identical ligand. They could also be used in combination with MOF-3 to distinguish between Fe3+ and Cr2O72− ions, due to a change in their fluorescence properties. In this work, the structure was reshaped by introducing sulfate ions, and the role and function of the sulfate ions in the structure were studied, providing a feasible idea for the design and precise regulation of MOFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electric capacitance tomography (ECT) technique has been widely used in phase distribution reconstruction, while the practical application raised nonideal noise and other errors for cryogenic conditions, requiring a more accurate algorithm. This paper develops a new image reconstruction algorithm for ECT by coupling the traditional Landweber algorithm with the least square support vector regression (LSSVR) for cryogenic fluids. The performance of the algorithm is quantitatively evaluated by comparing the inversion images with the experimental results for both the room temperature working medium with the dielectric constant ratio close to cryogenic fluid and the cryogenic fluid of liquid nitrogen/nitrogen vapor (LN2-VN2). The inversion images based on the conventional LBP and Landweber algorithms are also presented for comparison. The benefits and drawbacks of the developed algorithms are revealed and discussed, according to the results. It is demonstrated that the correlated coefficients of the images based on the developed algorithm reach more than 0.88 and a maximum of 0.975. In addition, the minimum void fraction error of the algorithm is reduced to 0.534%, which indicates the significant optimization of the LSSVR coupled method over the Landweber algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to research the possible mechanism and effect of active ingredients of corn silk on Alzheimer's disease (AD) by the method of network pharmacology, molecular docking, and animal experiments. The active ingredients of Corn silk were obtained by searching the TCMSP database and the targets corresponding to the active ingredients of Corn silk were obtained through the TCMSP and SwissTargetPrediction platforms, and the AD targets were obtained in the GeneCards, OMIM, and DisgeNET databases. Cytoscape was employed for creating the "active ingredient‐target" relationship network; STRING and Cytoscape for creating the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network. Besides, Meta scape was used for Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of the intersecting targets; AutoDockTools and Pymol for molecular docking and visualization of core ingredients and core targets; and animal experiments for verifying the anti‐AD effect of luteolin. A total of 12 active ingredients of corn silk were screened, including 465 targets and 209 intersected targets. Moreover, GO functional analysis results showed that the anti‐AD effect of corn silk was mainly reflected in phosphotransferase activity, response to hormone, membrane raft, etc.; KEGG results indicated the main pathways involving cancer, Alzheimer disease, etc.; and the molecular docking results revealed excellent binding of the core ingredients (α‐tocopheryl quinone, luteolin, etc.) to the core targets. Besides, the outcomes of animal experiments exhibited that luteolin not only reduced the expression of inflammatory factors TNF‐α and IL‐1β in mice but also attenuated inflammation. With the help of network pharmacology and experimental validation, the material basis and mechanism of the anti‐AD of corn silk have been explored in this study. Briefly speaking, luteolin from corn silk plays an anti‐AD role by inhibiting inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timetable scheduling is a combinatorial optimization problem that presents formidable challenges for classical computers. This paper introduces a pioneering methodology for addressing the high-speed train timetabling problem through quantum computing. Initially, a comprehensive binary integer programming model, grounded in the space–time network, is proposed (M1). To manage the intricacy of model M1, a knapsack problem reformulation is employed to establish a simplified binary integer programming model (M2). Both M1 and M2 are subsequently converted into quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) models to harness the potential of quantum computing. Several techniques, including the Gurobi solver, simulated annealing, and the coherent Ising machine (CIM) quantum simulator, are deployed to solve the model across four distinct scenarios of varying complexity. The findings indicate that CIM quantum simulator outperforms the simulated annealing method in terms of solution quality for medium-scale problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: Artemiprincepsolides A—F (1—6) were isolated from Artemisia princeps guided by bioactivity and elucidated by comprehensive spectral data and ECD calculation. Compounds 1—3 represented the first connecting model of germacrane‐guaiane hetero‐dimeric adducts, and compounds 4—6 were eudesmane‐guaiane hetero‐coupled sesquiterpenoid dimers, meanwhile, all these were presumably formed by Diels‐Alder cycloaddition. Compounds 1—6 were evaluated for their hepatomatic cytotoxicity on three hepatoma cell lines, and demonstrated cytotoxicity with IC50 values in the range of 5.0—67.3 μmol/L. Interestingly, compound 1 manifested significant cytotoxicity against HepG2, Huh7, and SK‐Hep‐1 cells with IC50 values of 9.9, 9.2, and 5.0 μmol/L, which were almost equivalent to the positive control, sorafenib. Flow cytometry data and Western blot assays revealed the most active compound 1 dose‐dependently inhibited cell migration and invasion, and significantly induced HepG2 cells arrest in G2/M phase by downregulating proteins pcdc2 and upregulating the level of protein CyclinB1; and induced apoptosis by downregulating of Bcl‐2 expression and upregulating Bax level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: 17 new guaiane‐type sesquiterpenoid dimers (GSDs), artemzhongdianolides B1—B17 (1—17), were isolated from Artemisia zhongdianensis under the guidance of bioassay, and elucidated by spectral analyses (HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, IR, ECD). The absolute configuration of compounds 1, 3, 7, 9, 10, and 13 was determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analyses. Structurally, artemzhongdianolides B1 (1) and B2 (2) were the first example of the GSDs fused via a C‐13/C‐13' single bond, and artemzhongdianolides B3—B17 were [4 + 2] Diels–Alder adducts of two monomeric guaianolides. Most of the compounds showed antihepatoma cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging from 9.9 to 170.1 μmol/L. Importantly, artemzhongdianolide B9 (9) was the most active one against three hepatoma cell lines with IC50 values of 13.1 μmol/L (HepG2), 19.5 μmol/L (Huh7), and 19.5 μmol/L (SK‐Hep‐1), and dose‐dependently inhibited cell migration and invasion, induced G1 cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis in HepG2 cells. Compound 9 might suppress HepG2 cells via affecting the p38MAPK signaling pathway suggested by machine learning approach, and significantly upregulated expression of phosphorylated p38 validated by Western blot assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, bird droppings flashover faults frequently occur on transmission lines. Based on the existing conditions of the laboratory, this paper explores the flashover mechanism of 110 kV bird droppings. A new type of bird droppings propulsion device was designed and developed, and the process of bird droppings falling in the natural state was simulated without voltage. According to several typical forms of bird droppings, the main findings are ① the bird droppings connected to the two poles are the most serious short circuit situation; ② the bird droppings flashover fault of the 110 kV line is actually a single-phase grounding fault of the line through a resistance, and the grounding resistance is between 20 and 300 kΩ; and ③ the conductivity is the most sensitive factor affecting bird droppings flashover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the opening and closing process of the contact, it will undergo repeated arc ablation and wear. After each ablation and wear, the composition, performance, and shape of the contact surface constantly change, leading to cracks, slag drop, melting, evaporation, and other phenomena on the contact surface, ultimately causing the contact to fail, resulting in the switch not being able to open and close normally. In order to study the failure mechanism of arc contacts caused by arc erosion after breaking short-circuit current, a pair of arc contacts for the cumulative breaking short circuit current test was selected as the research object. The metallographic, microscopic morphology, and energy spectrum analysis of the arc contacts were conducted, and the analysis results were compared with the new arc contacts to reveal the evolution and development process of arc contacts from cumulative arc erosion to failure during breaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artemongolins A–K (1–11), which are undescribed sesquiterpenoid dimers, were obtained from Artemisia mongolica and characterized through comprehensive spectral data, including HRESIMS, IR, 1D and 2D NMR, and ECD calculations. The absolute configurations of compounds 1, 4, and 7 were undoubtedly determined by a single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Artemongolins A–K (1–11) featured a rare 5/7/5/5/5/10 hexacyclic system composed of a germacrene and a guaianolide by a fused 2-oxaspiro[4,4]nonane-1-one ring system. Antihepatoma evaluation against three human hepatoma cell lines demonstrated that the most active compounds 5 and 6 displayed inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 88.6 and 57.0 (HepG2), 59.1 and 26.4 (Huh7), and 67.5 and 32.5 (SK-Hep-1) µM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ice-templating technology holds great potential to construct industrial porous materials from nanometers to the macroscopic scale for tailoring thermal, electronic, or acoustic transport. Herein, we describe a general ice-templating technology through freezing the material on a rotating cryogenic drum surface, crushing it, and then re-casting the nanofiber slurry. Through decoupling the ice nucleation and growth processes, we achieved the columnar-equiaxed crystal transition in the freezing procedure. The highly random stacking and integrating of equiaxed ice crystals can organize nanofibers into thousands of repeating microscale units with a tortuous channel topology. Owing to the spatially well-defined isotropic structure, the obtained Al2O3·SiO2 nanofiber aerogels exhibit ultralow thermal conductivity, superelasticity, good damage tolerance, and fatigue resistance. These features, together with their natural stability up to 1200 °C, make them highly robust for thermal insulation under extreme thermomechanical environments. Cascading thermal runaway propagation in a high-capacity lithium-ion battery module consisting of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode, with ultrahigh thermal shock power of 215 kW, can be completely prevented by a thin nanofiber aerogel layer. These findings not only establish a general production route for nanomaterial assemblies that is conventionally challenging, but also demonstrate a high-energy-density battery module configuration with a high safety standard that is critical for practical applications. In this work, the authors present an ice-templating strategy to produce large-scale isotropic nanofiber aerogels using a unique process of freezing the material on a rotating cryogenic drum surface, crushing it, and then re-casting the nanofiber slurry enabling high-throughput and design flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by our previous finding that disesquiterpenoids showed more potent antihepatoma cytotoxicity than their corresponding parent monomers, natural product‐like guaianolide‐germacranolide heterodimers were designed and synthesized from guaianolide diene and germacranolides via a biomimetic Diels–Alder reaction to provide three antihepatoma active dimers with novel scaffolds. To explore the structure–activity relationship, 31 derivatives containing ester, carbamate, ether, urea, amide, and triazole functional groups at C‐14′ were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against HepG2, Huh7, and SK‐Hep‐1 cell lines. Among them, 25 compounds were more potent than sorafenib against HepG2 cells, 15 compounds were stronger than sorafenib against Huh7 cells, and 17 compounds were stronger than sorafenib against SK‐Hep‐1 cells. Compound 23 showed the most potent cytotoxicity against three hepatoma cell lines with IC50 values of 4.4 µM (HepG2), 3.7 µM (Huh7), and 3.1 µM (SK‐Hep‐1), which were 2.7‐, 2.2‐, and 2.8‐fold more potent than sorafenib, respectively. The underlying mechanism study demonstrated that compound 23 could induce cell apoptosis, prevent cell migration and invasion, cause G2/M phase arrest in SK‐Hep‐1 cells. Network pharmacology analyses predicted PDGFRA was one of the potential targets of compound 23, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assay verified that 23 had strong affinity with PDGFRA with a dissociatin constant (KD) value of 90.2 nM. These promising findings revealed that structurally novel guaianolide‐germacranolide heterodimers might provide a new inspiration for the discovery of antihepatoma agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocatalysis has emerged as a valuable and reliable tool for industrial and academic societies, particularly in fields related to bioredox reactions. The cost of cofactors, especially those needed to be replenished at stoichiometric amounts or more, is the chief economic concern for bioredox reactions. In this study, a readily accessible, inexpensive, and bench‐stable Hantzsch ester is verified as the viable and efficient NAD(P)H mimic by four enzymatic redox transformations, including two non‐heme diiron N‐oxygenases and two flavin‐dependent reductases. This finding provides the potential to significantly reduce the costs of NAD(P)H‐relying bioredox reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) provides new opportunities and great space for China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) cooperation, as evidenced in 2018 when it financed US$15.64 billion in 56 countries along this burgeoning economic path, targeting Europe, Africa, and Asia as its hot spots. However, most of the countries along the Belt and Road are low-growth, middle-income, and developing economies, and their infrastructure, export trade, and other factors play an important role in the security and efficiency of OFDI. Therefore, this research selects 60 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa as the objects and uses the common boundary SBM model to calculate the investment efficiency of 7 indicators from 2013 to 2017. The results show a significant regional gap in the efficiency of China's total foreign investment. The efficiency scores of European countries are generally better than those of Asian and African countries, while the technology gaps of countries in Asia and Europe are higher than that in Africa. The efficiencies of three major indicators, FDI, infrastructure development indicator (IDI), and export trade (ET), exhibit four types of distribution. Therefore, it is necessary to coordinate and optimise the proper investment layout, enhance China's investment quality in countries along the Belt and Road, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between think tanks, and promote further construction of BRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the phase transition during the rapid solidification of liquid metal tungsten (W). In particular, the formation and evolution of the topologically close-packed (TCP) crystals of β-W have been thoroughly investigated in terms of the newly developed largest standard cluster analysis (LaSCA), tracing method, and 3D visual analysis. Results indicate that the system solidifies into the amorphous structure that coexists with TCP crystals rather than pure amorphous ones even at high cooling rates, and the content of the TCP crystals increases with decreasing cooling rate. The defects in the TCP crystal structure are the precursor of the perfect ones; at the beginning of crystallization, both the perfect TCP crystal structure and defect ones increase quickly with decreasing temperature, however, when the perfect TCP crystal structure become dominant in the system, the defective ones begin to gradually transform into perfect ones. Interestingly, the formation and evolution of the TCP crystals of β-W experience three stages: the incubation of the crystal nuclei, formation and rapid growth of the critical nucleus, and slow growth and regulation of crystal nuclei. These findings shed new light on the understanding of the nucleation theory under rapid cooling of metal melts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superhydrophobic surfaces often lose the easy-removal ability of liquids during icing & melting cycles due to the impalement phenomena of air pockets. Especially for the most common mixed liquids in normal life, their difficult-removals after icing and melting have brought colossal troubles in the fields of aviation, energy, biomedicine, etc. Here we adopt the ultrafast laser to fabricate the optimal micro-nanostructured surfaces, realizing excellent superomniphobicity for seven environmental-related liquids. It is demonstrated that different droplets on the surfaces recover well to the original Cassie-Baxter state after melting, and can be removed easily at low tilted angles. The ice adhesion strengths of the seven liquids as low as 5 kPa and the micro-nanostructure durability ensure the long-term easy-removal after icing. Compared with the ice adhesion strength of untreated surfaces (264.4 ± 17.6 kPa), those of our designed surfaces have decreased by over 50 times. Icing and melting processes are investigated to reveal the easy-removal mechanisms that specifically distributed solutes and bubbles after icing impact downwards significantly to accelerate the recovery of the Cassie—Baxter state during melting. A series of environmental-related durability experiments including continuous icing & melting cycles, long-term salt spray, and high-pressure water jet impact further demonstrate the surfaces promising for real applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposed a new piezoelectric transformer structure based on shear vibration modes. The difficulty in the preparation of shear vibration piezoelectric transformer was minimised using the integrated structure design. The transformer working mode was determined using a finite element simulation and laser vibrometer. A transformer preparation methodology was designed, and the transformer samples were fabricated. The test results showed that by optimising the area ratio between the input and output of the piezoelectric transformer, its voltage ratio, operating frequency, efficiency, and other parameters can be adjusted. The piezoelectric transformer samples were tested at 110 kHz. The maximum variable voltage ratio and efficiency can reach 34.1 and 91%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the institutional quality effects on the foreign direct investment (FDI)–regional integration nexus in the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD). The novelty of our approach extends the regional integration theory in Africa by employing the Africa Regional Integration Index (ARII) and utilizes a dynamic panel data model based on the one-step system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM) estimation to explore the institutional quality effects on the relationship between FDI location advantages and inflows and dimensions of regional integration. Our study highlights macroeconomic integration as the strongest indicator of regional integration as well as the most crucial determinant of FDI in CEN-SAD. We also discovered that FDI inflows into the lower-middle income countries (LMICs) were only slightly higher than in low-income countries (LICs). Our results infer that institutional reforms augment FDI location advantages and enhance FDI inflows irrespective of the level of integration in the Community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional terahertz (THz) waveform or spectral diagnostics mainly employ the electro-optic-based techniques or the multi-shot Michelson interferometer. Simultaneously, single-shot, ultrabroadband THz spectral measurements remain challenging. In this paper, a novel probe-free scheme based on the non-collinear autocorrelation technique is proposed to characterize the ultrabroadband THz spectrum at a single-shot mode. The non-collinear autocorrelator is a modified beam-division interferometer, in which the two beams are recombined non-collinearly onto a camera. The temporal or spectral resolution and range depend on the noncollinear configuration and camera parameters. This simple approach has been applied experimentally to characterize the ultrashort THz pulse generated from ultraintense laser–solid interactions, demonstrating the capability of single-shot ultrabroadband measurements without an auxiliary ultrafast laser probe. The proposed non-collinear autocorrelator here would be much useful for characterization and applications of low-repetition-rate intense THz sources and could also be extended to other frequency bands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten new germacrane-type sesquiterpenoids, artemyrianosins A–J (1–10), were isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia myriantha. Their structures were elucidated by spectral analyses including UV, IR, HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, ECD and the absolute configurations of compounds 1 and 7–9 were characterized using X-ray crystallography. All isolates were tested their cytotoxicity against three human hepatoma cell lines (HepG2, Huh7, and SK-Hep-1), and compounds 1–3, 7, and 10 showed cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging from 43.7 to 89.3 μM. Among them, the most active compound 3 exhibited activity against three human hepatoma cell lines with IC50 values of 43.7 μM (HepG2), 47.9 μM (Huh7), and 44.9 μM (SK-Hep-1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antidepressant activity of (+) and (−)-paeoveitol was first evaluated using the forced swimming test (FST), and (+)-paeoveitol showed potential antidepressant activity by decreasing immobility time of mice (by approximately 26.4%) in the FST at a dose of 20 mg/kg. To explore the structure-activity relationships (SARs) and obtain more potent compounds, twenty derivatives of (+)-paeoveitol were synthesized and evaluated for their agonistic activities on melatonin type I (MT1) and type II (MT2) receptors. As a results, compound 13 with an N-methylpiperazine fragment exhibited obvious effect on MT1 and MT2 receptors with EC50 values of 0.20 and 0.24 mM. Moreover, compound 13 dose-dependently decreased the immobility of mice in the FST and showed an inverted U-shaped dose-effect, and the most efficacious dose (at 40 mg/kg) was comparable to fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) with a reduced immobility time of 29.2% and 34.5%, respectively. In vivo neurochemical assays suggested that compound 13 obviously increased 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and norepinephrine (NE) levels in the mice brain, indicating that its antidepressant effects might be related to the monoaminergic system. In silico ADMET study revealed that 13 has favorable pharmacokinetic properties. These findings suggest that compound 13 could be a potential antidepressant agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular diseases are associated with platelet hyperactivity, and downregulating platelet activation is one of the promising antithrombotic strategies. This study newly extracted two polysaccharides (purified exopolysaccharides, EPSp and purified intercellular exopolysaccharides, IPSp) from Cordyceps sinensis Cs-4 mycelial fermentation powder, and investigated the effects of the two polysaccharides and their gut bacterial metabolites on platelet functions and thrombus formation. EPSp and IPSp are majorly composed of galactose, mannose, glucose, and arabinose. Both EPSp and IPSp mainly contain 4-Galp and 4-Glcp glycosidic linkages. EPSp and IPSp significantly inhibited human platelet activation and aggregation with a dose-dependent manner, and attenuated thrombus formation in mice without increasing bleeding risk. Furthermore, the EPSp and IPSp after fecal fermentation showed enhanced platelet inhibitory effects. The results have demonstrated the potential value of Cs-4 polysaccharides as novel protective ingredients for cardiovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By simulating nonequilibrium processes like biological transport, traffic transport, etc., totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (i.e., TASEP) is vital to understand stochastic dynamics of lattice systems. Stochastic networks using TASEP as underlying dynamics make a more practical generalization of traditional exclusion models, which better simulate real transport processes. According to real experimental data, a new network structure of nonaverage weight assignment at nodes is constructed to further understand physical mechanisms of molecular motors transporting along microtubules. Two typical kinesins, KIF3AC and KIF3CC, are used as modeling bases. High-tendency segments and low-tendency segments are introduced to characterize heterogeneous flow distribution at nodes. Multi-body system dynamics affected by the global density are studied. Edge densities are analyzed by using new mean-field theories compared with Monte Carlo simulations. New detailed structures of adsorption and desorption at nodes are considered. In order to restore a motor transport framework more suitable for real systems, analytical solutions and simulations of local statistical densities and phase diagrams affected by particle desorption and no desorption are obtained. This work provides help for understanding dynamical mechanisms of complex networks and other important nonlinear physics depicting molecular motors transport, cytoskeleton designs, structural optimizations, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roots are essential organs for a plant's ability to absorb water and obtain mineral nutrients, hence they are critical to its development. Plants use root architectural alterations to improve their chances of absorbing nutrients when their supply is low. Nine root traits of a Brassica napus association panel were explored in hydroponic-system studies under low potassium (K) stress to unravel the genetic basis of root growth in rapeseed. The quantitative trait loci (QTL) and candidate genes for root development were discovered using a multilocus genome-wide association study (ML-GWAS). For the nine traits, a total of 453 significant associated single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci were discovered, which were then integrated into 206 QTL clusters. There were 45 pleiotropic clusters, and qRTA04-4 and qRTC04-7 were linked to TRL, TSA, and TRV at the same time, contributing 5.25–11.48% of the phenotypic variance explained (PVE) to the root traits. Additionally, 1360 annotated genes were discovered by examining genomic regions within 100 kb upstream and downstream of lead SNPs within the 45 loci. Thirty-five genes were identified as possibly regulating root-system development. As per protein–protein interaction analyses, homologs of three genes (BnaC08g29120D, BnaA07g10150D, and BnaC04g45700D) have been shown to influence root growth in earlier investigations. The QTL clusters and candidate genes identified in this work will help us better understand the genetics of root growth traits and could be employed in marker-assisted breeding for rapeseed adaptable to various conditions with low K levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An excellent root system is responsible for crops with high nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE). The current study evaluated the natural variations in 13 root- and biomass-related traits under a low nitrogen (LN) treatment in a rapeseed association panel. The studied traits exhibited significant phenotypic differences with heritabilities ranging from 0.53 to 0.66, and most of the traits showed significant correlations with each other. The genome-wide association study (GWAS) found 51 significant and 30 suggestive trait–SNP associations that integrated into 14 valid quantitative trait loci (QTL) clusters and explained 5.7–21.2% phenotypic variance. In addition, RNA sequencing was performed at two time points to examine the differential expression of genes (DEGs) between high and low NUE lines. In total, 245, 540, and 399 DEGs were identified as LN stress-specific, high nitrogen (HN) condition-specific, and HNLN common DEGs, respectively. An integrated analysis of GWAS, weighted gene co-expression network, and DEGs revealed 16 genes involved in rapeseed root development under LN stress. Previous studies have reported that the homologs of seven out of sixteen potential genes control root growth and NUE. These findings revealed the genetic basis underlying nitrogen stress and provided worthwhile SNPs/genes information for the genetic improvement of NUE in rapeseed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous study demonstrated that guaiane-type sesquiterpenoid ludartin showed potent antihepatoma activity against two human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, HepG2 and Huh7, with IC50 values of 32.7 and 34.3 μM, respectively. In this study, 34 ludartin derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against HepG2 and Huh7 cell lines using an MTT assay in vitro. As a result, 17 compounds increased the activity against HepG2 cells, and 20 compounds enhanced the activity against Huh7 cells; 14 derivatives 2, 4-7, 9, 11, 17, 24, 28-30 and 32-33 were superior to ludartin on both HepG2 and Huh7 cells. In particular, dimeric derivative 33 as the most active compound showed 20-fold and 17-fold enhancement of cytotoxicity against HepG2 and Huh7 cells compared to that of ludartin. These results suggested that compound 33 could serve as a promising lead compound against liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]