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The emergence of resistant pathogens has increased the demand for alternative fungicides. The use of natural products as chemical scaffolds is a potential method for developing fungicides. HWY-289, a semisynthetic protoberberine derivative, demonstrated broad-spectrum and potent activities against phytopathogenic fungi, particularly Botrytis cinerea(with EC50values of 1.34 μg/mL). SEM and TEM imaging indicated that HWY-289 altered the morphology of the mycelium and the internal structure of cells. Transcriptomics revealed that it could break down cellular walls through amino acid sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism. In addition, it substantially decreased chitinase activity and chitin synthase gene (BcCHSV) expression by 53.03 and 82.18% at 1.5 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, this impacted the permeability and integrity of cell membranes. Finally, HWY-289 also hindered energy metabolism, resulting in a significant reduction of ATP content, ATPase activities, and key enzyme activities in the TCA cycle. Therefore, HWY-289 may be a potential candidate for the development of plant fungicides.

In this study, a novel method is proposed to effectively identify the thermal properties of porous composite materials, which are challenging to determine directly through experiments due to non-equilibrium heat transfer between the porous matrix and fluids. To solve the non-equilibrium heat transfer in saturated porous media and calculate temperature sensitivities to unknown properties, a complex-variables-based spectral element collocation method is developed. The proposed collocation method achieves high accuracy and employs an explicit time-marching approach to avoid repetitively solving of large-scale linear systems. Additionally, a normalization conjugate gradient method is introduced to overcome the slow convergence issue of the original conjugate gradient method caused by stiffness problems. Numerical cases demonstrate that this proposed method significantly improves efficiency in solving inverse non-equilibrium heat conservation problems, making it valuable for identifying complex systems with numerous unknown parameters.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture plus point application in managing pain after thoracoscopic radical lung cancer surgery (TRLCS). Methods: A total of 120 patients undergoing TRLCS were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, with 60 cases in each group. Both groups received patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) to relieve postoperative wound pain. The control group did not receive any other interventions. The treatment group started acupuncture treatments 4 h after the surgery with point application between two acupuncture sessions; the acupuncture treatment was conducted 4, 24, 48, and 72 h after the surgery. At the above 4 time points, the visual analog scale (VAS) score and additional PCIA drug consumption were recorded. The 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) content in the peripheral blood was determined 4 h and 72 h after the surgery. Results: The treatment group was superior to the control group in comparing the total effective rate (P<0.05). After the intervention, the VAS score decreased in both groups (P<0.05); the VAS score presented different decreasing patterns at each time point in the two groups, and the score dropped more significantly in the treatment group than in the control group (P<0.05). The total PICA drug consumption varied in the two groups after the surgery; the additional analgesic consumption was notably smaller in the treatment group than in the control group (P<0.05). The decrease in the 5-HT content in the peripheral blood also varied in the two groups; the peripheral blood 5-HT content was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Acupuncture plus point application can significantly relieve wound pain after TRLCS.

Clinically, cardiac dysfunction is a key component of sepsis-induced multi-organ failure. Mitochondria are essential for cardiomyocyte homeostasis, as disruption of mitochondrial dynamics enhances mitophagy and apoptosis. However, therapies targeted to improve mitochondrial function in septic patients have not been explored. Transcriptomic data analysis revealed that the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway in the heart was the most significantly decreased in the cecal ligation puncture-treated mouse heart model, and PPARα was the most notably decreased among the three PPAR family members. Male Pparafl/fl(wild-type), cardiomyocyte-specific Ppara-deficient (PparaΔCM), and myeloid-specific Ppara-deficient (PparaΔMac) mice were injected intraperitoneally with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce endotoxic cardiac dysfunction. PPARα signaling was decreased in LPS-treated wild-type mouse hearts. To determine the cell type in which PPARα signaling was suppressed, the cell type-specific Ppara-null mice were examined. Cardiomyocyte- but not myeloid-specific Pparadeficiency resulted in exacerbated LPS-induced cardiac dysfunction. Pparadisruption in cardiomyocytes augmented mitochondrial dysfunction, as revealed by damaged mitochondria, lowered ATP contents, decreased mitochondrial complex activities, and increased DRP1/MFN1 protein levels. RNA sequencing results further showed that cardiomyocyte Pparadeficiency potentiated the impairment of fatty acid metabolism in LPS-treated heart tissue. Disruption of mitochondrial dynamics resulted in increased mitophagy and mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in Ppara△CMmice. Moreover, mitochondrial dysfunction caused an increase of reactive oxygen species, leading to increased IL-6/STAT3/NF-κB signaling. 3-Methyladenine (3-MA, an autophagosome formation inhibitor) alleviated cardiomyocyte Pparadisruption-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cardiomyopathy. Finally, pre-treatment with the PPARα agonist WY14643 lowered mitochondrial dysfunction-induced cardiomyopathy in hearts from LPS-treated mice. Thus, cardiomyocyte but not myeloid PPARα protects against septic cardiomyopathy by improving fatty acid metabolism and mitochondrial dysfunction, thus highlighting that cardiomyocyte PPARα may be a therapeutic target for the treatment of cardiac disease.

Jin Ning Fang (JNF), a classic Chinese medicine formula, is widely used to treat lung cancer. However, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. Thus, we aimed to explore the pharmacological mechanisms of JNF against lung cancer. JNF targets and lung cancer-related genes were derived from public databases. Key compounds, potential therapeutic targets, and pathways were determined via bioinformatics analyses. Further, molecular docking, in vitroexperiments, and real-time PCR were performed to verify the findings. A total of 27 active compounds and 25 genes were selected. Pharmacological network revealed that quercetin, calcium carbonate, and beta-sitosterol might be candidate agents; ESR1, AR, AKT1, FDPS, PIM1, VCAM1, SLC29A1, NQO1, and ANPEPcould be potential drug targets. These genes were involved in apoptosis pathway. Docking analysis showed that beta-sitosterol combined well with AKT1, AR, and ESR1. In vitroexperiments confirmed that JNF could inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of A549 cells. JNF treatment inhibited the level of FDPS, PIM1, VCAM1, SLC29A1, NQO1, and ESR1, while increased the level of ARand ANPEP. This study illuminated that JNF exerts anti-lung cancer effects through regulating multiple targets and pathways, and the identified genes may be used as potential therapeutic targets for lung cancer.

We aimed to identify co-stimulatory molecule clusters and explore their associations with immune infiltration and tumor mutation burden (TMB) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), using a systematic analysis based on RNA-seq and mutation data in TCGA database. Twelve immune-related prognostic co-stimulatory molecules were screened. Based on the expression of these molecules, all samples were divided into four clusters by Consensus clustering analysis. Clusters 2 and 4 were associated with worse survival and favorable prognosis, respectively. The proportion of patients with different age, Pathologic T and Pathologic stage among these four clusters showed significant differences. Cluster 4 was associated with a higher proportion of patients with pathological N0 and T1–2, as well as early tumors (stages I–II). Additionally, these clusters significantly differed in terms of immune infiltration of memory B cells, regulatory T cells, M2 macrophages, and activated memory CD4+ T cells, as well as the expression of six checkpoint genes. Worse survival was associated with a high rather than a low TMB; among the clusters, clusters 4 and 2 had the lowest and highest TMB, respectively. In conclusion, four co-stimulatory molecule clusters identified in NSCLC significantly differed in terms of survival, tumor stage, immune response, and TMB.HighlightsFour co-stimulatory molecule clusters were identified that correlated differently with survival.Feature genes of four clusters were enriched in different functions.Four clusters significantly differed in terms of tumor stage, immune infiltration, and checkpoint gene expression.Worse survival was associated with high, compared with low TMB.Survival was better for cluster 4 than other clusters, and TMB was low.

Electromagnetic coil launch is an important branch of electromagnetic launch (EML) technology, which is suitable for launching anti-torpedo torpedo (ATT). This paper focuses on the EML parameters and the interception probability of the EML two ATTs salvo. Based on the launching model of a multi-stage coil launcher, the trajectory model of the ATT and the attacking torpedo, a calculation method for the EML two ATTs salvo parameters is proposed, with the conditions of capture and interception given reasonably. An adaptive particle swarm optimization (APSO) algorithm is proposed to calculate the optimal launching parameters, by designing the adaptive inertia weight and time-varying study factors. According to the analysis of the simulation with Monte Carlo method, EML will improve the interception probability effectively, and the interception probability is affected by the launching range. The results demonstrate good performance of the proposed APSO in calculating EML parameters for the two ATTs salvo in certain combat situation. Implications of these results are particular regarding the command and decision in the anti-torpedo combat.

The inhibitory effect of tavaborole on the invasion of Botrytis cinereain grapes and tomatoes, as well as the potential mechanism involved, was discovered in this study. Our findings showed that tavaborole inhibited Botrytis cinereaspore germination and mycelial expansion in vitro and that the control efficiency in vivo on fruit decay was dose-dependent, which was effective in reducing disease severity and maintaining the organoleptic quality of the fruit, such as reducing weight loss and retaining fruit hardness and titratable acid contents during storage. Furthermore, the precise mechanism of action was investigated further. Propidium iodide staining revealed that Botrytis cinereatreated with tavaborole lost membrane integrity. For further validation, cytoplasmic malondialdehyde accumulation and leakage of cytoplasmic constituents were determined. Notably, the inhibitory effect was also dependent on inhibiting the activities of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases involved in the aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis pathway in Botrytis cinerea. The above findings concluded that tavaborole was effective against Botrytis cinereainfection in postharvest fruit, and a related mechanism was also discussed, which may provide references for the drug repurposing of tavaborole as a postharvest fungicide.

In this work, a series of derivatives with disulfide bonds containing pyridine, pyrimidine, thiophene, thiazole, benzothiazole, and quinoline were designed and synthesized based on the various biological activities of allicin disulfide bond functional groups. The antimicrobial activities of the target compounds were determined, and the structure–activity relationships were discussed. Among them, compound S8demonstrated the most potent antifungal activity in vitro against Monilinia fructicola(M. fructicola), with an EC50value of 5.92 μg/mL. Furthermore, an in vivo bioassay revealed that compound S8exhibited equivalent curative and higher protective effects as the positive drug thiophanate methyl at a concentration of 200 μg/mL. The preliminary mechanism experiments showed that compound S8could inhibit the growth of M. fructicola’ s hyphae in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, and compound S8could induce the shrinkage of hyphae, disrupt the integrity of the plasma membrane, and cause the damage and leakage of cell contents. More than that, compound S5also demonstrated an excellent antibacterial effect on Xanthomonas oryzae(X. oryzae), with a MIC90value of 1.56 μg/mL, which was superior to the positive control, thiodiazole copper.

Based on the structural characteristics of the cryptolepine alkaloid, a series of new quindoline derivatives bearing various substituents were prepared and evaluated for their fungicidal and antibacterial activities. Bioassay results showed that compound D7displayed superior in vitrofungicidal activities against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium graminearum, and Rhizoctonia solaniwith EC50values of 0.780, 3.62, 1.59, and 2.85 μg/mL, respectively. Compound A7showed apparent antibacterial activities toward Xanthomonas oryzaepv. oryzaewith a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 3.12 μg/mL. Significantly, in vivoantifungal activity suggested that the curative effect (98.3%) of compound D7was comparable to that of the positive control azoxystrobin (96.7%) at 100 μg/mL. Preliminary mechanistic studies showed that compound D7might cause mycelial abnormality of S. sclerotiorum, cell membrane breakage, accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and inhibition of sclerotia formation. Therefore, compound D7could be a novel broad-spectrum fungicidal candidate against plant fungal diseases.

ABSTRACTThe Polar Silk Road (PSR) will open up China’s maritime trade route through the Arctic to Northwest Europe and affect the freight function structure of China’s coastal ports. This study evaluates ports’ freight capacity and predicts the freight function structure of China’s coastal ports under the PSR from four dimensions, namely, comprehensive/professional, function status, function scale and function hierarchy. The freight function structure is also compared with the current one. Results show that the ports in the Bohai Rim and Yangtze River Delta will have more diversified development and become the main force of the port system under the PSR. Coal will have an important position in most ports’ cargo transportation under the PSR. The PSR will bring great economic development opportunities to the northern ports because of the influence of the sea route distance. The port function hierarchy is more obvious under the PSR, and the medium-sized ports are most affected by the PSR. We classify coastal portsaccording to the freight scale and freight function. An adaptive proposal for the government’s port function planning is proposed in the conclusion.

With the unique characteristics, electromagnetic launch technology is applicable to launch shipborne anti-torpedo torpedo(ATT). This paper aims to establish an analytic model to pre-evaluate the capture probability of the electromagnetic launched ATT. The mathematics model of the multi-stage coilgun and the trajectory of the ATT is established for analysis. The influence factors of the capture probability are analyzed respectively, including the entry point dispersion of the ATT and the position dispersion of the incoming torpedo. Adopting the advanced angle interception mode, the ATT search model is obtained according to the positional relationship, and the course error is synthetically calculated according to the differentiation of implicit function. A geometric method to calculate the integral boundaries of the probability density function is proposed, based on the relative motion of the ATT and the incoming target. To verify the proposed integral model, the digital simulation and comparison is conducted. The results reveal that the variation trends and the calculation value of the proposed analytic model are coincident with the statistic results from Monte Carlo method. And implications of the results regarding the analytic model are discussed.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in China. However, there are no targets to treat ESCC because the molecular mechanism behind the cancer is still unclear. Here, we found a novel long noncoding RNA LINC02820 was upregulated in ESCC and associated with the ESCC clinicopathological stage. Through a series of functional experiments, we observed that LINC02820 only promoted the migration and invasion capabilities of ESCC cell lines. Mechanically, we found that LINC02820 may affect the cytoskeletal remodeling, interact with splice factor 3B subunit 3 (SF3B3), and cooperate with TNFα to amplify the NF-κB signaling pathway, which can lead to ESCC metastasis. Overall, our findings revealed that LINC02820 is a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for the diagnosis and treatment of ESCC.

For a∈(0,1/2]and r∈(0,1), let μa(r)and ma(r)be the generalized Grötzsch ring function and generalized Hübner function, respectively. In this paper, the authors mainly study the dependence on the parameter aof μa(r)and ma(r), and present several properties of μa(r)and ma(r), as functions of a∈(0,1/2]for arbitrarily given r∈(0,1). The obtained results improve and extend some previously well-known results.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), a ligand-activated nuclear receptor critical for systemic lipid homeostasis, has been shown closely related to cardiac remodeling. However, the roles of cardiomyocyte PPARα in pressure overload-induced cardiac remodeling remains unclear because of lacking a cardiomyocyte-specific Ppara-deficient (PparaΔCM) mouse model. This study aimed to determine the specific role of cardiomyocyte PPARα in transverse aortic constriction (TAC)-induced cardiac remodeling using an inducible PparaΔCMmouse model. PparaΔCMand Pparafl/flmice were randomly subjected to sham or TAC for 2 weeks. Cardiomyocyte PPARα deficiency accelerated TAC-induced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. Transcriptome analysis showed that genes related to fatty acid metabolism were dramatically downregulated, but genes critical for glycolysis were markedly upregulated in PparaΔCMhearts. Moreover, the hypertrophy-related genes, including genes involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, cell adhesion, and cell migration, were upregulated in hypertrophic PparaΔCMhearts. Western blot analyses demonstrated an increased HIF1α protein level in hypertrophic PparaΔCMhearts. PET/CT analyses showed an enhanced glucose uptake in hypertrophic PparaΔCMhearts. Bioenergetic analyses further revealed that both basal and maximal oxygen consumption rates and ATP production were significantly increased in hypertrophic Pparafl/flhearts; however, these increases were markedly blunted in PparaΔCMhearts. In contrast, hypertrophic PparaΔCMhearts exhibited enhanced extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) capacity, as reflected by increased basal ECAR and glycolysis but decreased glycolytic reserve. These results suggest that cardiomyocyte PPARα is crucial for the homeostasis of both energy metabolism and ECM during TAC-induced cardiac remodeling, thus providing new insights into potential therapeutics of cardiac remodeling-related diseases.

ABSTRACTLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are the new regulators and biomarkers for various tumors. However, in cervical cancer (CC), the potential roles of lncRNAs are not well characterized. This research aimed at exploring the roles of MEOX2 antisense RNA 1(MEOX2-AS1) in CC progression and the underlying mechanisms. The examination of MEOX2-AS1 levels in CC specimens and cell lines was conducted by RT-PCR. Loss-of-function experiments were performed for the assays of proliferation, migration, and invasion of CC cells after various treatments. Animal experiments were applied for the determination of the effects of MEOX2-AS1 in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis, together with dual-luciferase reporter assays, was applied to demonstrate the possible relationships among MEOX2-AS1, miR-143-3p and VDAC1. In the paper, we reported that MEOX2-AS1 levels were distinctly upregulated in CC cells and tissues, and higher MEOX2-AS1 expressions indicated a poor clinical outcome. Besides, STAT1 could activate transcriptions of MEOX2-AS1 by binding directly to its promoter region. The silence of MEOX2-AS1 suppressed the metastatic and proliferative ability of CC cells, as revealed by functional assays. Mechanistically, MEOX2-AS1 sponged miR-143-3p to regulate VDAC1 expressions. Furthermore, miR-143-3p inhibitor reversed the anti-proliferation and anti-metastasis effect of MEOX2-AS1 knockdown. Overall, the data indicated that the MEOX2-AS1/miR-143-3p/VDAC1 pathway participated in CC progression, making it a novel therapeutic target for CC cures.

ABSTRACTThrough the roles of vitamin B1 and B12 in neuroprotection and in improving cerebral palsy symptoms have been previously noticed, the action mechanism is still unclear. This study aims to investigate the protective effect of vitamin B1 and B12 on neuron injury in cerebral palsy and to clarify the mechanism of vitamin B1 and B12 inhibiting neurons apoptosis, and to focus on the role of lncRNA MALAT1 in this process. In order to investigate the effect of vitamin B1 and B12 on neurons injury in vivoand on neuron apoptosis in vitro, we, respectively, introduced vitamin B1 and B12 into cerebral palsy rat and in apoptosis-induced N2A neurons by Oxygen Glucose Deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R). Our results demonstrated that vitamin B1 and B12 treatment improved the motor and memory functions and ameliorated the neurons injury in cerebral palsy rats. OGD/R treatment repressed the expression of MALAT1 and BDNF and the phosphorylation of PI3K and Akt, and enhanced the miR-1 expression, which were all reversed by vitamin B1 and B12 treatment in N2A neurons. Vitamin B1 and B12 inhibited miR-1 expression through MALAT1, promoted BDNF expression and activated PI3K/Akt signaling through the MALAT1/miR-1 axis. Vitamin B1 and B12 suppressed neuron apoptosis by up-regulating BDNF via MALAT1/miR-1 pathway. MALAT1 interference abolished the neuroprotective effect of vitamin B1 and B12 in cerebral palsy rats. Collectively, vitamin B1 and B12 up-regulates BDNF and its downstream PI3K/Akt signaling through MALAT1/miR-1 axis, thus suppressing neuron apoptosis and mitigating nerve injury in cerebral palsy rats.

Background:Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL-NT) is a highly invasive tumor with a short doubling time and poor prognosis. Clinically, it usually involves the upper aerodigestive tract and mainly presents with early-stage. Initially, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has been considered the preferred first-line therapy for early-stage ENKTL due to its high response rate. In recent years, more and more studies show that adding chemotherapy, especially asparaginase (ASP)-based regimens, provide survival benefit in early-stage patients. However, the optimal chemotherapy regimen has not been fully defined. Epigenetic regulatory mechanisms related to histone deacetylase (HDAC) have been found to play a role in the evolution and progression of ENKTL. Chidamide, a new HDAC inhibitor, has been confirmed to be effective and tolerable to treat lymphoma. Recently, Xue et alshowed that chidamide in combination with cisplatin, etoposide or gemcitabine showed synergistic effect and reversed the chemotherapy resistance in the relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphoma. Here, we investigate the safety and efficacy of adding chidamide to a sandwich protocol, P-GEMOX (pegaspargase/gemcitabine/oxaliplatin) regimen (CP-GEMOX) combined with IMRT as first-line treatment in early-stage ENKTL-NT patients.

Thin film batteries (TFBs) are receiving increasing interest in the transition stage from current liquid electrochemistry to solid-state future in pursuit of higher energy and power densities. Nevertheless, the fundamental understanding the impacts of the electrode-solid-electrolyte interface engineering and unveiling the correlation between crystallographic texture as well as the electrochemical behavior of electrodes has remained elusive. Herein, the epitaxial growth of LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2cathode on two rational designed buffer substrates has been studied. The highly textured LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2thin films with c-axis (003) preferred orientation were successfully fabricated onto the in situ-annealed Pt (111) reconstructed buffer substrate by virtue of direct-current (DC) and radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technologies. The LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2thin films were also deposited onto the Ti buffer substrate. The effects of the substrate on the structural and electrochemical properties of the LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2thin film deposited on these two (Pt and Ti) substrates have been both investigated and compared. The deposited LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2thin film on the Pt substrate exhibited much better electrochemical performance as the sole active cathodes thin film electrodes than the Ti buffered one. The results demonstrate that the Pt/LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2thin film electrode exhibits a discharge capacity of 84 mA h/g at ambient temperature and shows a stable cyclic performance within 200 cycles. Such interface dominated electrochemical performance behavior is of technological significance. Furthermore, it is indispensable in developing synergistic interfacial engineered design and process control strategy on fabricating more robust batteries with higher energy density and longer cycling stability beyond thin solid ones.

Generally, the emission intensity of phosphors can be enhanced by introducing a proper number of defects. To enhance the emission intensity of Ca4.85(BO3)3F(C4.85BF):0.15Bi3+, more Frenkel defects were introduced by Na+, Sr2+, and Ba2+. It is found that the number of Frenkel defects is related to volume and covalence of the crystal, in which the covalence has a greater effect than the volume. Furthermore, the larger the volume of the crystal is, the stronger the covalence of the crystal is, the more Frenkel defects will be produced. The volume of Ca4.85–xSrx(BO3)3F(C4.85–xSrxBF):0.15Bi3+is larger than that of Ca4.85–xNax(BO3)3F(C4.85–xNaxBF):0.15Bi3+; however, the covalence of Na+is similar to that of Sr2+, which leads to the same trap depth (Eα) and defect density (μg) in the quenching concentration. The results also confirmed that the number of Frenkel defects is mainly influenced by the covalence of crystal. Furthermore, crystal distortion also affects the number of Frenkel defects. C4.85–xSrxBF:0.15Bi3+and C4.85–xNaxBF:0.15Bi3+have the same distortion at quenching concentration, which results in the same emission intensity in the quenching concentration. Ca4.85–xBax(BO3)3F (C4.85–xBaxBF):0.15Bi3+has a larger volume and stronger covalence; meanwhile, it has deeper trap depth (Eα) and larger defect density (μg) at the quenching concentration, comparing with C4.85–xSrxBF:0.15Bi3+and C4.85–xNaxBF:0.15Bi3+. However, the distortion of C4.85–xBaxBF:0.15Bi3+is in agreement with C4.85–xNaxBF:0.15Bi3+and C4.85–xSrxBF:0.15Bi3+, which leads to the emission intensity of C4.85–xBaxBF:0.15Bi3+basically the same as that of C4.85–xNaxBF:0.15Bi3+and C4.85–xSrxBF:0.15Bi3+in quenching concentration. And the different rates of distortion result in the different quenching concentrations of C4.85–xNaxBF:0.15Bi3+, C4.85–xSrxBF:0.15Bi3+, and C4.85–xBaxBF:0.15Bi3+. Moreover, for Ca4.85–xMgx(BO3)3F(C4.85–xMgxBF):0.15Bi3+and Ca4.85(BO3)3F1–yCly(C4.85BF1–yCly):0.15Bi3+, there are no Frenkel defects due to weaker covalence and smaller volume of the crystal in C4.85–xMgxBF:0.15Bi3+. However, Frenkel defects can be observed in C4.85BF1–yCly:0.15Bi3+due to stronger covalence and larger volume of the crystal, furthermore, and the emission spectra and thermoluminescence spectra of C4.85BF1–yCly:0.15Bi3+are similar to those of 0.15Bi3+doped C4.85–xNaxBF:0.15Bi3+, C4.85–xSrxBF:0.15Bi3+, and C4.85–xBaxBF:0.15Bi3+.

A modified electro-optic phase chaos system that can conceal time delay (TD) and allows for unidirectional message transmission, is numerically investigated. The configuration includes two cascaded delay loops, and the parallel-coupled microresonators (PCMRs) in one of two loops result in a frequency-dependent group delay. The largest Lyapunov exponent (LLE), Lempel–Ziv complexity (LZC) and permutation entropy (PE) are used to distinguish the chaotic behavior and the degree of complexity in a time series, and the autocorrelation function (ACF) and the delayed mutual information (DMI) are plotted to extract the TD. The corresponding diagrams show that in the electro-optic system phase chaos with high complexity can occur within a certain range of feedback strength. The diagrams also show that, at a fixed feedback strength, the effect of the TD concealment becomes quite good with an increase in the number of PCMRs. The numerical simulation also reveals that the delayed chaotic dynamics can be identically synchronized, and the synchronization solution is robust. Moreover, based on the coherence of Mach–Zehnder interferometers, we convert the phase variations of the transmitter outputs and the receiver into the corresponding intensity variations, so the synchronization error of the two-phase chaotic series can be monitored. At last, we can successfully decipher the message introduced on the transmitting end of a link. In this scheme, the feedback TD has been concealed, which prevents eavesdroppers from listening and makes the proposed chaotic communication system secure.

In this paper, two configurations of point-to-multipoint (PTM) and ring networks, based on the chaotic semiconductor laser subject to optical feedback, are investigated. A bifurcation diagram and the maximum Lyapunov exponent in the system have been used to distinguish the existence of chaos, and the complex degree of chaotic output is measured through Lempel–Ziv complexity. These results show that feedback strength has a significant effect on the dynamics of the system, namely, an increase in it can induce the system to enter into chaos. In the PTM model, it can be seen that the arbitrary receiver laser (RL) and central transmitter laser (TL) are identically synchronized, and moreover, the synchronization solutions are robust; the message can be encoded by modulating the bias current of the central TL, and at each RL end, the message from TL can be simultaneously recovered by monitoring the power error between RL and TL. As a result, the unidirectional broadcast message transmission, based on PTM, can be well achieved. In the ring network configuration, the coupling between two adjacent lasers through a partially transparent mirror induces the delay and chaotic dynamics. We prove that the dynamics is identically synchronized, and the synchronization against external perturbation also possesses good robustness; the messages introduced on the two arbitrary lasers in this ring network can be simultaneously exchanged.

The reduction behavior of single iron ore particle was investigated at high temperatures (above 1373 K) with CO/CO2mixture. A high-temperature laser scanning confocal microscope for in situ observation and a vertical quenching furnace for offline characterization were designed. The reduction process of ore particles at different temperatures and in different atmospheres was videoed using the confocal microscope. In the temperature range studied, the transformation of Fe2O3–FeO firstly occurred in the ore particles, and there was no metallic iron until the ore particles completely converted to FeO phase. During the formation of FeO phase, its crystal lattice transforms along the most close-packed direction of its close-packed plane (111). The gangue-rich area firstly melts during reduction around 1573 K. Above 1673 K, the iron ore particles melt and form spherical liquid drops with metallic iron in the center. The gas-based reduction behavior of iron ore particles above 1373 K is deduced and graphically presented.

ABSTRACTObjective: To investigate the underlying mechanism of lncRNA myocardial infarction-associated transcript (MIAT) in hypoxic-ischemic (HI)-induced neonatal cerebral palsy.Materials and methods: Neonatal rat model of HI injury was established to detect the motor function. LncRNA MIAT, miR-211, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and caspase-3 expressions were measured by qRT-PCR or western blot. The apoptosis of Neuro2A cells was detected by flow cytometry. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and RNA pull-down assays were performed to confirm the interaction between MIAT and miR-211.Results: Compared with control group, lncRNA MIAT and GDNF were downregulated in striatal tissues of neonatal rats in HI group and oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced ischemic injury of Neuro2A cells, whereas miR-211 was up-regulated in striatal tissues of HI group and OGD-induced ischemic injury of Neuro2A cells. LncRNA MIAT interacted with miR-211, and lncRNA MIAT overexpression reduced neuron apoptosis through miR-211. Besides, GDNF expression was positively regulated by lncRNA MIAT and negatively regulated by miR-211 in Neuro2A cells. In vivoexperiment proved MIAT promoted motor function and relieved HI injury.Conclusion: MIAT overexpression reduced apoptosis of Neuro2A cells through miR-211/GDNF, which relieved HI injury of neonatal rats.

Tricoordinated planar triangle (PO4)3–may be formed due to the structural differences between planar triangular (BO3)3–and tetrahedral (PO4)3–when (BO3)3–is gradually substituted by (PO4)3–. This transformation of structure may affect the luminescence properties of phosphor. Therefore, a series of Ca5–y(BO3)3–x(PO4)xF (CBPxF):yBi3+(y= 0.05, 0.15; x= 0–3), Ca5–y(PO4)3–X(BO3)XF (CPBXF):yBi3+(y= 0.05, 0.15; X= 0–1), Ca4.9(PO4)3F (CPF):0.1Eu3+, Ca4.95(PO4)3F (CPF):0.05Bi3+, and nCaF2/CaCl2(n= 0–0.1) are synthesized to explore transformation of the crystal structure on luminescence properties. In CBPxF:0.15Bi3+(x= 0–3), (PO4)3–is doped to substitute for (BO3)3–, the position of emission spectra remains unchanged and the emission intensity decreases rapidly with increasing x. The underlying main reason for that is formation of the triangular plane (PO4)3–, which has been verified by performing a series of verification experiments of CPBXF:yBi3+(y= 0.5, 0.15; X= 0–1). In CPBXF:yBi3+(y= 0.5, 0.15; X= 0–1), (BO3)3–is doped to substitute for (PO4)3–, P–O2 bond breaks and the coordination of (PO4)3–varies from four to three when 0.5 < X< 1; meanwhile, the crystal structure transforms from Ca5(PO4)3F (ICSD-9444) to Ca5(PO4)3F (ISCD-30261), which impedes abnormal reduction from Bi3+to Bi2+. Furthermore, Bi3+should non-luminance in the plane triangular (PO4)3–, but luminescence in (BO3)3–. Therefore, the emission intensity starts to increase and the emission position suddenly changes from 553 to 474 nm in CPBXF:yBi3+(y= 0.05, 0.15; 0.5 < X< 1). From this, the crystal structures of CBPxF:yBi3+(y= 0.05, 0.15; x= 0–3) has been inferred to transform from Ca5(BO3)3F (ISCD-65763) to Ca5(PO4)3F (ISCD-30261), and then to Ca5(PO4)3F (ISCD-9444) with xincreasing. Emission position remains unchanged and the emission intensity decreases rapidly in CBPxF:yBi3+(y= 0.05, 0.15; x= 0–3) do to formation of the triangular plane (PO4)3–. In addition, the rate of abnormal reduction from Bi3+to Bi2+can be improved by reducing the electronegativity of the environment around the activator or increasing the ionization energy of the activator, which has been confirmed by verification experiments of CPF:0.05Bi3+, nCaF2/CaCl2(n= 0–0.1), and CPF:0.1Eu3+.

The dissolved oxygen (DO) content of the ocean provides potential evidence and clues for the waxing and waning of marine productivity, ocean circulation, global climate change, and the evolution of ecological communities. On the basis of the analysis of the Benthic Foraminiferal Oxygen Index (BFOI), the percentage of epifaunal benthic foraminifers, and the redox-sensitive trace elements (Mo/Al) in Core MD12-3432, we reconstruct the evolution of deep water DO content in the northern South China Sea (SCS) during the past 400ka and discuss the mechanisms of variable DO content. The results show that the changes of BFOI, Mo/Al, and the percentage of epifaunal benthic foraminifer present a similar pattern, which may reflect the variations of the DO content in seawater since 400ka. Both variations in BFOI and Mo/Al indicate that the DO content was high during most time of marine isotope stage (MIS) 11 to mid-MIS 6, then decreased in late-MIS 6, and remained stable in MIS 5. It increased in MIS 4 and decreased until MIS 2, and then rose again. The non-synchronous variations between bottom water DO and benthic foraminiferal δ18O indicate that the DO content is not controlled by glacial-interglacial cyclic environmental variations. Comparing the biomarker productivity index with the DO content of water, we find that the DO content is affected mainly by productivity. Bulimina, Uvigerinaand Chilostomella oolinaare high productivity species. The accumulation rates of Buliminaand Uvigerinaare higher during 61–15kyr interval, but the accumulation rate of C. oolinais higher during 168–130kyr. The results infer that different intensity of primary productivity and DO during these two periods. The DO and phytoplankton total (PT) show the opposite relation, which also indicates that the DO is affected by primary productivity, and the combined action of productivity and DO decides the growth of Bulimina, Uvigerina, and C. oolina. Besides the influences of productivity, the change of DO in the ocean is also affected by oceanic circulation.

Late Pennsylvania–Early Permian carbonate mud-mounds exposed in the Shangdan section, Inner Mongolia, are commonly massive, showing depositional relief, and are distinct from the thin- to medium-bedded limestones of intra-mounds. Based on the various proportions of lithofacies, four types of mud-mounds are recognized: MM-A (type A carbonate mud-mound) and B (type B carbonate mud-mound) consist of massive lime mudstone and massive wackestone (Subfacies B), respectively; MM-C (type C carbonate mud-mound) are composed of massive wackestone (Subfacies B) in the lower parts, analogous to MM-B, and massive wackestone (Subfacies A) and boundstone in the upper parts, similar to MM-D (type D carbonate mud-mound). Carbonate mud-mounds are deposited in low-energy settings on a ramp, likely below fair-weather wave base, where the depositional settings of MM-A, B, C and D have a shallowing-upward trend. Carbonate mud-mounds have diverse origins of lime mud: allochthonous lime mud in MM-A; lime mud produced by the disintegration of phylloid algae in MM-B, C and D; lime mud linked to cyanobacterial activity in MM-D and the upper parts of MM-C. Different from MM-A and B, which were formed only by mechanical accumulation, MM-C and D resulted from the combinations of mechanical accumulation and microbial binding and solidifying. MM-A, B, C and D significantly expand the global spectrum of Late Pennsylvania–Early Permian carbonate mounds.

Limb length discrepancy (LLD) is a common orthopedic condition that can result in significant functional impairment, pain, and cosmetic deformities. Current reconstructive techniques for severe LLD are primarily based on callus distraction, which is a time-consuming process that can lead to complications, such as significant infection, joint stiffness, and stress fractures. To reduce the therapeutic time and minimize the risk of complications, we investigated the use of vascularized bone flaps as a technical supplement to callus distraction in the reconstruction of short limbs. We present two cases of severe LLD in the upper and lower legs, in which a two-stage reconstruction approach was used. In the first stage, external fixation was applied to the affected limb to correct the soft tissue length and convert the short deformity into a bone defect. In the second stage, the bone defect was reconstructed using bilateral (patient A) or unilateral (patient B) free vascularized fibula bone grafts. Both patients had complete survival of the fibular grafts without stress fractures, and bone consolidation took 8 months (patient A) and 4 months (patient B). Compared to the traditional callus distraction, the two-stage approach was found to be more time-saving and reliable. The entire reconstructive scheme required 18 and 4 months for patients A and B, respectively, whereas the traditional callus distraction required 41 and 17 months, respectively. These findings suggest that the use of vascularized bone flaps as a technical supplement for callus distraction may provide an effective and efficient alternative for the treatment of severe LLD. Further studies are needed to validate these results and assess the long-term outcomes of this approach.

In order to improve the efficiency of solid-liquid separation, dewatering and filtration, as well as to reduce the loss of concentrate and production costs, silicon carbide porous ceramic filter plate with high porosity and high bending strength was prepared by using the particles close packing method adding proper amount of adhesives and sintering additives at 1450 oC. The porosity of the fired samples was evaluated by Archimedes law. The morphology and properties of the samples were characterized. Effects of SiC grains gradation, pore formers content, molding pressure and soaking time on the bending strength and porosity of ceramic filter plate was studied. SiC porous ceramic composition was prepared by mixing 90wt% and 10wt% SiC powders with D50 of 200.7 μm and 312.6 μm, respectively, 4% walnut powder as pore former and 5% Kaolin clay as binder. The sample was pressured at 8 MPa and fired at 1450 oC for 30 min, and endowed with 6-8 μm of the average pore diameter, 41% of the porosity and 11 MPa of the bending strength, respectively, which is especially not easy to plug hole. The obtained results can be applied in ceramic filter core parts for heavy metal concentration.

The marine biological sonar system evolved in the struggle of nature is far superior to the current artificial sonar. Therefore, the development of bionic underwater concealed detection is of great strategic significance to the military and economy. In this paper, a generative adversarial network (GAN) is trained based on the dolphin vocal sound dataset we constructed, which can achieve unsupervised generation of dolphin vocal sounds with global consistency. Through the analysis of the generated audio samples and the real audio samples in the time domain and the frequency domain, it can be proven that the generated audio samples are close to the real audio samples, which meets the requirements of bionic underwater concealed detection.

The authors prove that for arbitrarily given b∈(0,∞), r∈(0,1)and n∈N0, and for λ∈R, the functions a↦F(a,b;a+b;r)aλanda↦F(a,b;a+b;r)-∑k=0n(a,k)(b,k)(a+b,k)k!rkaλare both strictly increasing (decreasing) on (0,∞)if and only if λ≤0(λ≥max{1,b}, respectively), where F(a,b;a+b;r)denotes the Gaussian hypergeometric function. This result gives one answer to an open problem raised by Qiu et al. (J Math Anal Appl 2020, 492(2):31, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmaa.2020.124469) recently.

In this paper, the low thermal expansion iron-red glaze was prepared. Effects of Si/Al molar ratio on the glaze were studied. The phase and thermal expansion coefficient were characterized by XRD and thermal expansion coefficient analysis. The results showed that with the increase of Si/Al molar ratio, the obtained sample changed from small red spots or suitable spots, to connected red spots, and then to little red spots. When Si/Al molar ratio of the sample changes from 8.0 to 9.0, the thermal expansion coefficient of the sample was slightly lower than that of porcelain body and the difference between them remained between 1.08~ 1.12×10-6K-1 and 1.16×10-6K-1, which indicated that the iron-red glaze could be well matched with the low-expansion porcelain body.

In this paper, the fancy red brown glaze with suitable red spots was prepared. Effects of Fe2O3 contents on the glaze were studied. Glaze surface quality was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) were analyzed the phase. The results showed that with the increase of Fe2O3 contents, the obtained sample changed from black as the base color with little red spots, to the red brown as the base color with uniform red spots, and then to the red brown as the base color with crowded red spots. It indicated that the suitable Fe2O3 content is important for good glaze surface quality with red spots. When Fe2O3 content is 10%, the iron-red fancy glaze with low expansion coefficient could be well matched with the body. It is due to the presence of petalite phase, corderite phase and a - Fe2O3 crystals.

With the rapid development of the world's industrial, issues of energy and environment have increasingly been prominent. Currently, the cost of building ceramics production needs a large number of raw materials and fuel, how to save energy and reduce consumption in building ceramic process is still hot spot of domestic and international research and the main development trends. Reducing the sintering temperature is one of the most efficient ways for energy conservation and consumption. In order to reduce the sintering temperature, fluxing agents are often used in preparing ceramic products. In this paper, the ceramic green bodies were prepared by mixing clays, lithium China stone and grammite, equivalent to “K2O-Na2O-Li2O-CaO” normally used as fluxing agents. The effects of grammite on the properties of ceramic body were studied. The sintering behavior of the samples was evaluated by water absorption and bulk density. The fired samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and bending strength measurements. The results showed that the optimum sintering temperature range of 40 °C and bending strength of 60 MPa could be achieved in the presence of 3 wt % grammite. The obtained results are useful in low-temperature sintering porcelain ceramic application.

Due to low water absorption, high bending strength and abrasion resistance, and excellent chemical and frost resistance, porcelain building ceramic tiles are the highest increase in production and sales over all other kind of building ceramic tiles materials. In this paper, porcelain building ceramic tiles was prepared by a fast firing process of rare earth tailings as the main raw material, low fused sand and Zhuji porcelain sand et al mixture. Effects of firing temperature and forming pressure on the sintering behavior and mechanical property of porcelain building ceramic tiles were studied. The sintering behavior of the fired samples was evaluated by linear shrinkage and water absorption. The fired samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and bending strength measurements. The sample is pressured at 15 MPa and sintered at 1180 °C and endowed with 0.04% of the water absorption and 51 MPa of the bending strength, due to denser microstructure. The obtained results would contribute to save natural resources and protect environment.

Due to its excellent chemical stability, high temperature resistance and mechanical properties, alumina porous ceramic was the first choice of the production of microfiltration membrane support body material. In this paper, alumina porous ceramic was prepared by alumina as main materials and adding proper amount of adhesives and sintering additives. Effects of the kinds and addition of pore formers, such as starch, graphite and carbon-black, on properties of alumina porous ceramic was studied. The porosity of the fired samples was evaluated by Archimedes law. The fired samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), compressive strength and mercury porosimeter measurements. Alumina porous ceramic composition was prepared by mixing 100% alumina with different particle size and 8 % graphite pore former. The sample was pressured at 10 MPa and fired at 1650 °C for 2 h, and endowed with 6-8 μm of the average pore diameter, 37.65 % of the porosity and 40.33 MPa of the compressive strength, respectively. The influence law of the kinds and addition of graphite pore former on the performance of alumina porous ceramic was studied for application in micro-filtration mmembrane supports.

This paper concerns the simulation of Mode I fracture with a local concrete damage model in explicit finite element code LSDYNA. A reliable modeling of fracture is essential in the analysis of tension-dominated problems, as well as the prediction of concrete damage due to cracking. A special focus of this paper is placed on an effective representation of the tensile localization in finite element modeling while generalized macro material properties are employed to modeling meso-scale problems. An investigation into the use of a typical damage plasticity concrete model within LSDYNA Explicit, based on the crack band theory, is described in detail. The main focus of the current paper is on the tensile softening branch.

The effects of different proportions of poly (vinyl alcohol) and polyamide 6 on the structure and property of electrospun PA6/PVA membranes have been studied. According to a certain proportion, PVA and PA6 were dissolved in formic acid. The solution was electrospun at 70 kV. The nanofibers membranes were characterized by SEM, FT-IR, XRD, TGA and DSC analyses. The sound absorption coefficients of each absorber are measured with SW477 impedance tube. PA6/PVA composite mats with good compatibility and relatively stable performance, and enhanced sound absorption and property may have many other important applications.

As a common threat to the public safety, gas explosion and its damage on structures have drawn more and more attention in the academic fields. In this paper, a series of numerical simulations are conducted to study the behavior of autoclaved aerated concrete block infilled walls under gas explosion loading. Firstly, considering the difference between the blocks and the mortar, a refined numerical model is established, and the constitutive model of Brittle Damage in LS-DYNA is hired to describe the material behaviours of both materials. Based on the laboratory material test data, the parameter of the material model are selected reasonably. Then, massive numerical calculation is carried out and the dynamic response of autoclaved aerated concrete block infilled walls is captured and discussed. At last, the anti-blast ability of block infilled walls is compared with that of clay infilled wall of the same thickness. It is found that the anti-blast ability of block infilled walls is weaker than the clay infilled walls for the difference of material density and boundary conditions.