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This study determined the effects of seed structures on seed dormancy and tested methods to break dormancy in seeds of Urochloa hybrid cultivar ‘Mulato II’. Seeds stored for 10 months in indoor ambient conditions were studied to determine effects of seed structures on seed germination and their water permeability. Results showed that seed structures presented a barrier to water permeability. Removal of lemmas, puncturing the seed coat, seed structure removal and sulfuric acid immersion all reduced seed dormancy. Water and alcohol extracts from different parts of seeds inhibited seed germination of Brassica pekinensis seeds. There were 3 mechanisms responsible for seed dormancy; first, the mechanical barrier of seed structures, which excluded water and reduced gas exchange as well as restricting growth of the embryo; second, an endogenous germination inhibitor mainly found in lemmas; and third, water permeability of the seed coat (including pericarp and testa). The mechanical removal of lemmas and immersion in concentrated sulfuric acid reduced seed dormancy, although mechanical removal of the lemma alone was effective, convenient and safer.

This article explores genre variation and simplification in interpreted language from both comparable (interpreted vs. non-interpreted/non-mediated) and intermodal (interpreted vs. translated) perspectives. It draws on a newly built unidirectional comparable and intermodal corpus named the LegCo+, which features legislative proceedings in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (including originals and their translations and interpretations from Cantonese to English), as well as original plenary speeches delivered by native English speakers in the UK Parliament. It investigates the variation patterns of four simplification features in three dimensions, namely, standardized type-token ratio (STTR) and list heads for lexical diversity, lexical density for informativeness, and average sentence length for lexical sophistication. It aims to uncover the effects of mediation and genre, as well as their interaction effects on linguistic variation. The results indicate that texts of different mediation statuses and genre categories vary with respect to simplification patterns. From a comparable perspective, interpretations rely on a narrower range of vocabulary than non-interpretations, but they are also more informative, and such informativeness is dependent on genre categories. Intermodally speaking, interpretations exhibit consistent patterns of simplification, indicating a strong modality (or mode of mediation) effect.

Rolling bearings are critical in maintaining smooth operation of rotating machinery and considerably influence its reliability. The signals collected from rolling bearings in field conditions are often subjected to noise, creating a challenge to extract weaker fault features. This paper proposes a rolling bearing fault diagnosis method that addresses the above-mentioned problem through the moth-flame optimization algorithm optimized variational mode decomposition (MFO-optimized VMD) and an ensemble differential evolution online sequential extreme learning machine (DE-OSELM). By using the dynamic adaptive weight factor and genetic algorithm cross operator, the optimization accuracy and global optimization ability of the moth-flame optimization (MFO) are improved, and the two basic parameters of VMD decomposition level and quadratic penalty factor are adaptive selected. Since the vibration characteristics of the signal cannot be fully interpreted by a single index, The effective weighted correlation sparsity index (EWCS) is utilized to extract the relevant intrinsic mode functions (IMF) of VMD decomposition and extract their energies as features. In order to improve the classification accuracy, The energy feature set is subsequently inputted into DE-OSELM for training and classification purposes, and the proposed method is assessed via a sample set with four different health states of actual rolling bearings. Our proposed method results are compared with other diagnosis methods, proving its feasibility to diagnose rolling bearing faults with higher classification accuracy.

Contemporary art is gradually diversifying, and the aesthetics of artists have changed and progressed together with the times. Some brush painters, while inheriting the essence of tradition, continue to summarize and search for a painting language in line with the atmosphere of the times, gradually shifting their perspective to a separate, tiny “corner” of life, recording the painter’s own subtle emotional fluctuations through such “tiny” scenes. The approach models services through a context-aware service model and establishes flexible driving relationships between IoT data and services through context and scenario concepts. Moreover, it reduces the amount of business data to be processed by the system through contextual events. The process of the approach for service development is described, and relevant context-aware service development tools are introduced. Finally, the feasibility of the approach proposed in this article is illustrated by a service development example. An event-triggered sensor node clustering algorithm based on beamforming data transmission technology is proposed, which can improve network energy efficiency and clustering success rate. Meanwhile, a clustering algorithm based on the energy consumption rate of sensor nodes is designed to optimize the task allocation and scheduling of mobile node access, reduce the node charging delay, and enable the sensor nodes in the network to get energy replenishment in a timely and reasonable manner according to their own energy consumption rate demand.

Efficient noninvasive imaging techniques in the differentiation of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are very important because of their different management and prognosis. Our purpose was to evaluate the difference of parameters extracted from intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) between the two groups and their performance for the differentiation, as well as the significance of perfusion information. IVIM studies (9 b-values) in 41 patients with either ICC or HCC were reviewed retrospectively by two observers. Diffusion coefficient (D), pseudodiffusion coefficient (D ∗ ), perfusion fraction (f), ADC, and the mean percentage of parenchymal enhancement (MPPE) at 30 s after contrast-enhancement were calculated and compared between ICC and HCC. The relationship between D ∗ , f values, and MPPE was evaluated by Spearman’s correlation test. The diagnostic efficacy of all parameters was analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Interobserver and intraobserver agreements were analyzed. The parameters (D and ADC) of ICC were distinctly higher than those of HCC; whereas the parameters (f and MPPE of arterial phase) were distinctly lower (all false discovery rate [FDR]-corrected P ∗ value of ICC was slightly higher than that of HCC (71.44 vs 69.41) with FDR-corrected P > 0.05. Moreover, the value of parameter D was significantly lower than that of ADC (FDR-corrected P ∗ , f values) and MPPE. Interobserver and intraobserver agreements were excellent or perfect in measurements of all parameters. Parameters derived from IVIM were valuable for distinguishing ICC and HCC. Moreover, the D value showed better diagnostic efficiency for the differential diagnosis than monoexponential fitting-derived ADC value. Meanwhile, the significant correlation between perfusion-related parameters and MPPE demonstrates that specific IVIM metrics may serve as a noninvasive indicator for the vascular perfusion information of ICC and HCC.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and lethal cancers worldwide. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and validate a novel prognostic model for HCC patients.To establish an innovative and valuable prediction model of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) for HCC.Transcriptome and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were analyzed globally using bioinformatic approaches. We used Cox and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analyses to screen for prognostic lncRNAs, while receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier curve analyses were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the models. Clinical data from our center were used as a validation set.In the training set, a prediction model was established based on the expression of AP000844.2, LINC00942, SRGAP3-AS2, and AC010280.2 Hepatocellular carcinoma patients were divided into 2 groups (high-risk group and low-risk group) according to their risk score, and differences in survival were compared between the groups. The clinical data from our center served as a validation set to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the predictive model. The model had an excellent performance. The area under the curve (AUC) of 3-year survival was 0.771, while for 5-year survival it was 0.741, and the concordance index (C-index) was 0.756 (standard error (SE) = 0.023, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.620-0.891).The 4-lncRNA combination model is critically important in evaluating the prognosis of HCC. It is an effective independent prognostic factor, although prospective, multi-center studies are needed to validate our findings.

A series of long-chain branched polylactide (LCB PLA)/poly(D-lactic acid) (PDLA) blends with different low amounts of PDLA were prepared by a solution blending method. The formation of stereocomple...

Three-dimensional (3D) adsorption materials have attracted ever-increasing interest as a cost-effective tool to remove antibiotics from water. However, how to effectively enhance the adsorption capacity of the adsorbents is still a great challenge. In this study, a novel method for fabricating 3D porous carbon nanofiber/graphene oxide composite aerogels (PCNF/GOAs) with an adjustable pore structure was developed for antibiotic removal from water using electrospinning-liquid assisted collection technology. By adding poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as a pore-forming agent, the volume of pores corresponding to the tetracycline (TC) size (0.8–2 nm) increased twelve-fold, and the adsorption capacity increased nine-fold. To evaluate the feasibility of PCNF/GOAs as a potential adsorbent for antibiotic removal, batch and fixed-bed experiments were conducted. The results showed that PCNF/GOAs effectively removed TC from water over a wide pH range (4–10), and the maximum adsorption capacity was more than 900 mg g−1 at pH 7. The experimental data for the adsorption of TC onto PCNF/GOAs better fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Temkin models. Due to its self-supporting characteristic, 3D PCNF/GOAs generated lower inlet pressure compared to traditional particle adsorbents in fixed-bed column adsorption. π–π electro-donor–acceptor (EDA) interaction, pore filling and hydrogen bonding are the main possible mechanisms for the adsorption of TC on PCNF/GOAs.

The combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy (chemoradiotherapy) is a promising strategy, extensively studied and applied clinically. Meanwhile, radiosensitizers play an important role in improving clinical radiotherapy therapeutic efficacy. There are still some disadvantages in practical applications, because radiosensitizers and drugs are difficult to deliver spatio-temporally to tumor sites and work simultaneously with low efficiency for DNA damage and repair inhibition, leading to an inferior synergistic effect. Herein, a suitable radiosensitizer of nano-enabled coordination platform (NP@PVP) with bismuth nitrate and cisplatin prodrug is developed by a simple synthetic route to improve the effectiveness of chemo-radiation synergistic therapy. When NP@PVP is internalized by a tumor cell, the bismuth in NP@PVP can sensitize radiation therapy (RT) by increasing the amount of reactive oxygen species generation to enhance DNA damage after X-ray radiation; meanwhile, the cisplatin in NP@PVP can inhibit DNA damage repair with spatio-temporal synchronization. NP@PVP is demonstrated to exhibit higher sensitization enhancement ratio (SER) of 2.29 and excellent tumor ablation capability upon irradiation in vivo in comparison with cisplatin (SER of 1.78). Our strategy demonstrates that the RT sensitization effect of bismuth and cisplatin based NP@PVP has great anticancer potential in chemo-radiation synergistic therapy, which is promising for clinical application.

The study explored the Sb toxicity by investigating the impacts of 10% and 20% effective concentrations (EC10 and EC20, respectively) of Sb on the inhibition of barley root elongation in 21 Chinese soils with a wide range of physicochemical properties after aging for 3 months. The results demonstrated that various soil properties profoundly influenced the Sb toxicity which was ranged from 201–2506 mg Sb kg−1 to 323–2973 mg Sb kg−1 under EC10 and EC20, respectively. Soil sand fraction was a significant soil factor responsible for elevating Sb bioavailability. The bioavailable Sb concentration accounted for 2.08%–11.94% of total Sb content in all 21 soil samples and the decreased Sb bioavailability in this study was attributed to soil properties including soil clay fraction, amorphous and crystalloid iron, and oxides of manganese and aluminum. The findings would contribute in developing Sb toxicity threshold for establishing standard for Sb regulation in crop production.

This study discovered considerable differences of levels of protection provided by Chinese courts to foreign nationals in labour disputes. In general, courts in Beijing and Guangzhou extended signi...

A benzothiadiazole-involving donor-acceptor (D-A) covalent organic framework (COF), which has high crystallinity and strong light-harvesting capability (ranging from 300 to 800 nm), can serve as a highly effective photocatalyst for window ledge aerobic cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) reactions (such as Mannich and aza-Henry reactions) even at a gram level.

A supertoughened ternary polylactide (PLA) blend with high heat deflection temperature was reported in this study. The ternary blend was composed of two major biocompatible and biodegradable polyme...

Conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to fuels and chemicals with the help of renewable hydrogen (H2) is a very attractive approach to reduce CO2 emissions and replace dwindling fossil fuels. However,...

Ethnopharmacological relevance Coronavirus and influenza virus infection seriously threaten human health. Cangma Huadu Granules (CMHD) is an in-hospital preparation composed of eight traditional Chinese medicines (TCM), which has been clinically used against COVID-19 in China and may be a promising candidate for the treatment of influenza. However, the role of its treatment urgently needs to be studied. Aim of the study: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of CMHD on pneumonia induced by coronavirus (HCoV-229E) and influenza A virus (H1N1/FM1) in mice and explore its mechanism of anti-infection. Materials and methods Mice were infected with HCoV-229E or H1N1/FM1 virus through the nasal cavity. CMHD (12.1, 6.05 and 3.03 g/kg/d) or the positive control drugs were administered intragastrically. The lung index and histopathological changes were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of CMHD. The expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-4 in Serum and the proportion of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes in peripheral blood were detected to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and immune regulation effects of CMHD, respectively. Furthermore, the levels of p–NF–κBp65/ NF-κB p65, which was the key targets of the NF-κB pathway was analyzed. Results In HCoV-229E-induced pneumonia, the lung index was markedly reduced, and lung pathology was improved in mice that treated with CMHD (12.1, 6.05 g/kg/d). Meanwhile, the expression of TNF-α, IL-6 were obviously inhibited, but the expression of IL-4 was significantly increased in CMHD groups. Compared with the model group, CMHD could also markedly upregulate the level of CD4+ and CD8+. Furthermore, CMHD has a markedly effect on inhibit the expression of p–NF–κB p65/NF-κB p65 in the lung. In H1N1-induced pneumonia, the lung index of mice in the CMHD (12.1 g/kg/d) treatment group was lower than that in the model group, and less inflammatory infiltration could be seen in the lung pathological. Moreover, CMHD could also obviously decrease the expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, but significantly increase the expression of IL-4. Except for that, CMHD could also markedly downregulate the level of CD4+ and upregulate the level of CD8+ compared with the model group. In addition, CMHD has a markedly effect on inhibit the expression of p–NF–κB p65/NF-κB p65 in the lung. Conclusion CMHD can significantly combats viral infections caused by HCoV-229E and H1N1, and the mechanism may be related to its multiple functions of anti-inflammatory, immunity regulating and inhibiting NF-κB signal transduction pathway., Graphical abstract Image 1

Propanedioyl dihydrazide (PDH), traditionally believed to be non-fluorescent, was first discovered to emit substantial fluorescence in both the solid state and solvents. Then, significantly, a novel strategy is provided: fluorescent non-aromatic small molecules with rigid molecular structures could be constructed by forming hydrogen bonds.

Background Abnormal microRNAs (miRNAs) expression is closely related to the development and poor prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We aimed to elucidate the invasive mechanism and clinical significance of miR‐10b in PDAC. Methods The RNA sequence data of pancreatic cancer were extracted from the TCGA database. R packages were performed to analyze the differential expression of RNAs. TargetScan, picTar, and miRanda were used to predict the target gene of miRNA. The expression level of the selected candidate was tested by western blot and RT‐PCR in PDAC cells and tissues. Scrape and Transwell assays were determined the effect of candidate molecules on cell migration and invasion. The gain of function and loss of function was achieved by co‐culture with mimics and vector. Luciferase reporters were generated based on the psiCHECK2 vector. The relative luciferase activity was measured with the Dual‐Luciferase Reporter Assay System and Infinate M200 PRO microplate reader. Results Based on the TCGA data and bioinformatics analysis, we obtained seven differentially expressed miRNAs. Both TCGA data and our center clinical date indicated that miR‐10b was contributed to the poor survival of PDAC. Based on the target gene prediction database, we found that E2F7 was a target mRNA of miR‐10b. In subsequent experiments in molecular biology, miR‐10b expression was downregulated in PDAC cells and tissues, while E2F7 was upregulated. Scrape and Transwell assay indicated that miR‐10b could inhibit the invasion and migration of PDAC. MiR‐10b was confirmed to be by the E2F7 targeting site by dual‐luciferase report. Moreover, rescue experiments prove that miR‐10b could inhibit the invasion and migration of PDAC cells by regulating E2F7 expression. Conclusion Our results suggest that miR‐10b could inhibit the progression of PDAC by regulating E2F7 expression and acts as an independent prognostic risk factor for PDAC., Acquired the miRNA sequencing dataset and corresponding clinical records of PDAC from TCGA. Differentially expressed miRNA analysis and survival analysis indicated miR‐10b was PDAC progression associated miRNA. And E2F7 was a potential target of miR‐10b. And miR‐10b may inhibit PDAC cell migration and invasion by targeting E2F7.

Although graphene has been widely used as a nano-filler to enhance the conductivity of porous materials, it is still an unsatisfactory requirement to prepare graphene-based sponge porous materials by simple and low-cost methods to enhance their mechanical properties and make them have good sensing and capacitive properties. Graphene platelets (GnPs) were prepared by the thermal expansion method. Graphene-based sponge porous materials were prepared by a simple method. A flexible sensor was formed and supercapacitors were assembled. Compared with other graphene-based composites, the graphene-based composite sponge has good electrical response under bending and torsion loading. Under 180&deg, bending and torsion loading, the maximum resistance change rate can reach 13.9% and 52.5%, respectively. The linearity under tension is 0.01. The mechanical properties and capacitance properties of the sponge nanocomposites were optimized when the filler fraction was 1.43 wt.%. The tensile strength was 0.236 MPa and capacitance was 21.4 F/g. In cycles, the capacitance retention rate is 94.45%. The experimental results show that the graphene-based sponge porous material can be used as a multifunctional flexible sensor and supercapacitor, and it is a promising and multifunctional porous nanocomposite material.

Bisphenol A polycarbonate (PC) is difficult to crystallize. In this study, it was found that PC could rapidly accomplish melt crystallization only within 8 min by laying poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) film on it. Polarized optical microscope (POM) was applied to trace the growth of spherulites of PC in PEG/PC double-layer films during isothermal crystallization in a wide range of temperatures, which were above the melting temperature for PEG. The dependence of spherulitic growth rate (G) on isothermal crystallization temperature (Tc) followed a “bell-shape” curve, just like some other semicrystalline polymers did. A PEG film was laid on a PC film at 250 °C for 5 min to obtain a PEG/PC double-layer film, which was subsequently quenched to different Tc’s for observation on its crystallization process by using POM. It was surprising to observe that the spherulitic growth rate of PC was significantly improved and the crystallization time was obviously shortened. The miscibility for PEG/PC blends was evaluated by...

The effects of flowing preformed spherulites on shear-induced melt crystallization behaviors of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) had been investigated by using a Linkam shearing cell coupled with an optical microscope, atomic force microscope, and rheometer. By quenching iPP melt to 130 °C for a short time, preformed spherulites were intentionally obtained. While iPP films were heated up to temperatures below the nominal melting point of iPP (164 °C), various shear conditions were applied, and then the crystalline morphologies during crystallization at the isothermal crystallization temperature of 135 °C were traced by alternately using phase contrast optical microscopy and polarized optical microscopy modes. Two distinct highly orientated thread- and cylinder-like crystalline morphologies were induced by shearing with preformed spherulites present, which were dependent on the applied shear rate and temperature. The distinct crystalline morphologies were attributed to relative movements between shear flowing...

Malignant melanoma is a highly aggressive neoplasia of melanocytic origin. In part because of the lack of effective treatment methods, the incidence and mortality rates of this disease continue to increase. Rapidly accumulating evidence suggests that dysregulation of epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation/demethylation, chromatin modification, and remodeling, and diverse activities of noncoding RNAs, play a central role in the pathogenesis of melanoma. The epigenetic mark 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) has attracted interest since 2009, when it was shown that ten-eleven translocation proteins can enzymatically convert 5-methylcytosine into 5-hmC, a key intermediate of DNA demethylation. Factors that regulate DNA hydroxymethylation are frequently altered in cancer, leading to deregulation of 5-hmC levels. In this review, we will discuss the relationship between melanoma and DNA hydroxymethylation, the regulation of DNA hydroxymethylation, and defects in this pathway in melanoma.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and GLP-1 receptor agonists are actively pursued as therapeutic agents for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the therapeutic utility of GLP-1 is limited due to its rapid inactivation by dipeptidyl peptidase IV, and many GLP-1 receptor agonists suffer from innegligible adverse effects. In the present study, in order to develop long-acting GLP-1 derivatives with improved hypoglycemic activity, native GLP-1 (7-36)-NH2 was loaded into sterically stabilized phospholipid micelles (SSM), affording GLP-1-SSM. In vitro stability test and in vivo pharmacokinetic study demonstrated that the association of GLP-1 with SSM led to enhanced stability and drug utilization without affecting its insulinotropic and glucose-lowering activities. Single and multiple glucose tolerance tests confirmed that GLP-1-SSM was a long-acting antidiabetic agent comparable or even better than exendin-4. More importantly, preclinical studies found out that a chronic twice daily treatment of GLP-1-SSM in type 2 diabetic db/db mice suppressed body weight gain and food uptake, decreased HbA1c value, and restored the glucose tolerance ability. Collectively, our results suggest that GLP-1-SSM is a promising therapy for the treatment of T2DM and deserves further investigation.

Hydropower has a damaging effect on aquatic biodiversity globally. Extensive research has demonstrated the significance of plant diversity in sustaining wetland services and functions. However, wetland plant diversity conservation has rarely been considered in hydropower operation optimization, and the relationship between hydropower generation and plant diversity indicators has rarely been quantified. In this study, a new optimization approach is proposed for reservoir operation to balance hydropower generation and plant diversity conservation in downstream wetlands. We identify key hydrological indicators affecting wetland plant diversity, accounting for the richness and abundance of plants as well as the evenness of multiple plant species. An artificial neural network (ANN) is subsequently adopted to quantify the complex relationship between hydrological and plant diversity indicators. Using the ANN model for plant diversity prediction, we develop a multi-objective optimization model for reservoir operation to maximize hydropower generation and wetland plant diversity indicators. This approach is applied to a large plant-dominated wetland (Baiyangdian) in China as a case study. Using a genetic algorithm to solve the optimization model, we suggest a reservoir operation scheme which can increase multi-year averaged plant diversity indicator in this wetland by 20% while decreasing reservoir hydropower generation by 10%. We also generate a set of Pareto-optimal solutions from the optimization model, which quantifies the tradeoff relationship between hydropower generation and plant diversity conservation. This relationship provides a reference for managers in determining reservoir operation rules depending on the demands on these two conflicting objectives.

Chinese cordyceps (or caterpillar fungus, Cordyceps sinensis), an expensive medicinal organism, is collected intensively every spring. It is concluded that over-collection has caused vegetation and soil degradation. However, most descriptions of the ecological impact of collection were qualitative and the impact on plant communities has not been quantified precisely. Collection plots and control plots were established in three counties on the Tibetan Plateau in order to measure impacts of collection on plant community composition. The results showed that due to Chinese cordyceps collection, species diversity expressed as the Shannon—Wiener indices significantly decreased by 10–13%, community dominance expressed as the Berger—Parker indices significantly increased by 17–32%, vegetation cover significantly decreased by 11–19% and aboveground biomass significantly decreased by 21–46%. However, root biomass did not change significantly, and only a few soil physical and chemical indicators in some plo...

In this work, a novel solid rotor induction motor with toroidal winding (N-TWSRIM) is proposed and its structure and main structural parameters are given. The operating principle is analyzed in accordance with the movement of the armature magnetic field at different times. An equivalent circuit model (ECM) of the N-TWSRIM is established based on composite multilayer theory to analyze and calculate motor performance quickly and accurately. Electromagnetic performance, which includes output torque, stator current, and power factor under different slip, is calculated with ECM, and its results are compared with those of the finite element method. A prototype of the N-TWSRIM is built and experimented on to validate the correctness of the operating principle and ECM. Experimental results on stator current and torque are consistent with the finite element and analytical results.

An efficient method was developed for chlorination of aromatic compounds with electron-donating groups using iodobenzene as the catalyst and m -chloroperbenzoic acid as the terminal oxidant in the presence of 4-methylbenzenesulfonic acid in THF at room temperature for 24 h, and a series of the monochlorinated compounds was obtained in good yields. In this protocol, the catalyst iodobenzene was first oxidized into the hypervalent iodine intermediate, which then treated with lithium chloride and finally reacted with aromatic compounds to form the chlorinated compounds.

DNS (Domain Name System) tunnels can provide high-bandwidth covert channels that pose a significant risk to sensitive information inside the company networks. Sensitive data are embedded in DNS query and response packets to exfiltrate and infiltrate the network boundaries. However, traditional Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Firewalls let DNS packets pass without any checking. This paper explores a novel approach to detect in real time whether a DNS packet is in a tunnel by scoring the query domain based on bigram. Experiment shows that the bigrams of domains follow Zipf's law whereas tunnelled traffic is obedient to random distribution. The score mechanism in detecting DNS tunnels is proved to be usable theoretically and is confirmed in the experiment. Our approach can get a high accuracy of 98.74% and low false positive of 1.24%.

The rapid industrial development has led to the intermittent outbreak of pm2.5 or haze in developing countries, which has brought about great environmental issues, especially in big cities such as Beijing and New Delhi. We investigated the factors and mechanisms of haze change and present a long-term prediction model of Beijing haze episodes using time series analysis. We construct a dynamic structural measurement model of daily haze increment and reduce the model to a vector autoregressive model. Typical case studies on 886 continuous days indicate that our model performs very well on next day’s Air Quality Index (AQI) prediction, and in severely polluted cases (AQI ≥ 300) the accuracy rate of AQI prediction even reaches up to 87.8%. The experiment of one-week prediction shows that our model has excellent sensitivity when a sudden haze burst or dissipation happens, which results in good long-term stability on the accuracy of the next 3–7 days’ AQI prediction.

Fe-doped GaN thin films are grown on c-sapphires by metal organic chemical vapour deposition method (MOCVD). Crystalline quality and phase purity are characterized by x-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements. There are no detectable second phases formed during growth and no significant degradation in crystalline quality as Fe ions are doped. Fe-related optical transitions are observed in photoluminescence spectra. Magnetic measurements reveal that the films show room-temperature ferromagnetic behaviour. The ferromagnetism may originate from carrier-mediated Fe-doped GaN diluted magnetic semiconductors or nanoscale iron clusters and Fe-N compounds which we have not detected.

The study was conducted to investigate the role of vitamin E in the high altitude hypoxia-induced damage to the intestinal barrier in rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control (Control), high altitude hypoxia (HH), and high altitude hypoxia+vitamin E (250 mg/kg BW*d) (HV) groups. After the third day, the HH and HV groups were placed in a hypobaric chamber at a stimulated elevation of 7000 m for 5 days. The rats in the HV group were given vitamin E by gavage daily for 8 days. The other rats were given equal volume saline. The results showed that high altitude hypoxia caused the enlargement of heart, liver, lung and kidney, and intestinal villi damage. Supplementation with vitamin E significantly alleviated hypoxia-caused damage to the main organs including intestine, increased the serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) (p< 0.05), diamino oxidase (DAO) (p< 0.01) levels, and decreased the serum levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2) (p< 0.01), interleukin-4 (IL-4) (p

Lingyao Qi, Hanxiong Liu, Lianchao Cheng, Caiyan Cui, Xu Chen, Siqi Yang, Lin Cai Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University, The Third People’s Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Lin CaiDepartment of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University, The Third People’s Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86 28-67575956Email clin63@hotmail.comPurpose: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common in patients admitted with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and it is associated with poor outcomes. However, data are limited. Hence, we examined the long-term prognostic significance of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) among Chinese patients hospitalized with ACS.Patients and Methods: This is a multicenter, observational study that included 1860 ACS patients enrolled between March 2014 and June 2019 from 11 hospitals in Chengdu. CKD-EPI equation was used to calculate the baseline eGFR. Patients were divided into three groups: eGFR ≥ 90 mL/min (normal renal function), eGFR 60 to < 90 mL/min (mild impaired renal function), and eGFR < 60 mL/min (moderate or severe renal dysfunction). The endpoint was all-cause death during follow-up.Results: At baseline, 714 patients had normal renal function, while 746 patients had mild impaired renal function, and 400 patients had moderate or severe renal dysfunction. In the follow-up of 15 months (10 months, 22 months), 261 (14.0%) patients died;, 139 (34.8%) in the moderate or severe renal dysfunction group, 94 (12.6%) in the mild impaired renal function group, and 28 (3.9%) in the normal renal function group (log-rank p-value from Kaplan–Meier analysis < 0.001). In multivariable Cox Proportional hazard analysis, age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate, eGFR, ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were independent predictors of all-cause death.Conclusion: In this study, among Chinese patients with ACS, renal insufficiency was associated with unfavorable long-term prognosis. Age, SBP, heart rate, eGFR, STEMI, and PCI could identify those at risk.Keywords: renal insufficiency, acute coronary syndrome, long-term prognosis, retrospective study

Although nanocarbon-based nanofillers have been widely used to improve the energy-storing and sensing functions of porous materials, the comparison of the effects of different nanocarbon-based fillers on the capacitive and flexible sensing properties of nanocarbon-based porous sponge composite supercapacitor electrodes by combining a carbon nanotube, graphene, and graphene oxide with porous sponge is incomplete. The specific capacitance of carbon nanotube-based electrodes is 20.1 F/g. The specific capacitance of graphene-based electrodes is 26.7 F/g. The specific capacitance of graphene oxide-based electrodes is 78.1 F/g, and the capacity retention rate is 92.99% under 20 000 charge-discharge cycles. Under a bending load of 180 degrees, the capacitance retention rate of graphene oxide sponge composite electrodes is 67.46%, which indicates that the prepared electrodes of supercapacitor have the advantages of high capacitance and good flexibility at the same time. To demonstrate their performance, an array of three graphene oxide supercapacitors in series was constructed, which could light up a red light-emitting diode (LED). The tensile strength of carbon nanotube sponge composite electrodes is 0.267 MPa, and the tensile linearity is 0.0169. The experimental results show that graphene oxide-based sponge composite supercapacitor electrodes have the best capacitance performance and carbon nanotube sponge composites have the most potential as a flexible sensor. Refereed/Peer-reviewed