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There are many papers and tools regarding the detection of unsafe contracts, but few ways for detection results to practically benefit contract users and owners. This paper presents a Blockchain Safe Browsing (BSB) platform to safely disseminate those detection results. An encrypted blacklist will be generated to provide privacy preserving user warning before they make transactions with unsafe contracts. Contract owners will be notified that there are vulnerabilities in their contracts, and they can purchase related reports which record how to exploit the vulnerabilities. The profits inspire the researchers to contribute their update-to-date lists of unsafe contracts. An effective encryption scheme is developed to guarantee that only contract owners can decrypt the encrypted reports. Extensive evaluations demonstrate that our prototype can function as intended without sacrificing user experience. • A Blockchain Safe Browsing platform is presented to safely disseminate smart contract detection results. • The researchers are inspired to contribute their update-to-date lists of unsafe contracts to generate an integrated contract blacklist. • The blacklist can be used to warn users before they make transactions with unsafe contracts. • Contract owners can safely obtain knowledge about how to exploit the vulnerabilities in their contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemotherapy remains the core anticancer treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, drug resistance still poses a major obstacle, leading to shorter survival times. Given the biosafety of porous Se@SiO 2 nanospheres in normal tissues, their combination with chemotherapeutic drugs has emerged as an effective treatment for cancer. It is unknown whether porous Se@SiO 2 nanospheres can protect CRPC cells from drug resistance. In our study, we synthesized porous Se@SiO 2 nanospheres and confirmed their characteristics in line with previous studies. We discovered that porous Se@SiO 2 nanospheres sensitize CRPC to docetaxel (DTX) treatment, both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, the nanospheres induce dephosphorylation of autophagy-related 14 (ATG14) at Y357 by upregulating the expression of the cellular form of prostatic acid phosphatase (cPAP) protein, which prevents the induction of autophagy and the survival of prostate cancer cells after DTX treatment. Furthermore, there is a negative correlation between cPAP and autophagy in CRPC. Our results suggest that the combination of porous Se@SiO 2 nanospheres with DTX could be a potentially effective treatment for CRPC. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Autophagy plays an important role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension (PH). ROC-325 is a novel small molecule lysosomal autophagy inhibitor that has more potent anticancer activity than the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, the latter has been prevalently used to inhibit autophagy. Here, we sought to determine the therapeutic benefit and mechanism of action of ROC-325 in experimental PH models.Methods and Results: Hemodynamics, echocardiography, and histology measurement showed that ROC-325 treatment prevented the development of PH, right ventricular hypertrophy, fibrosis, dysfunction, and vascular remodeling after monocrotaline and Sugen5416/hypoxia administration. ROC-325 attenuated high K+ or alveolar hypoxia-induced pulmonary vasoconstriction and enhanced endothelial-dependent relaxation in isolated pulmonary artery rings. ROC-325 treatment inhibited autophagy and enhanced endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity in lung tissues of monocrotaline-PH rats. In cultured human and rat pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell and pulmonary arterial endothelial cell under hypoxia exposure, ROC-325 increased LC3B and p62 accumulation, endothelial cell nitric oxide production via phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (Ser1177) and dephosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (Thr495) as well as decreased HIF (hypoxia-inducible factor)-1α and HIF-2α stabilization.Conclusions: These data indicate that ROC-325 is a promising novel agent for the treatment of PH that inhibits autophagy, downregulates HIF levels, and increases nitric oxide production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Figure: see text]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alteration in microbiota composition of respiratory tract has been reported in the progression of many chronic lung diseases, yet, the correlation and causal link between respiratory tract microbiota and the disease development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) remain largely unknown. This study aims to define and compare the respiratory microbiota composition in pharyngeal swab samples between patients with PH and reference subjects. A total of 118 patients with PH and 79 reference subjects were recruited, and the pharyngeal swab samples were collected to sequence the 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) V3-V4 region of respiratory microbiome. The relative abundances in patients with PH were profoundly different from reference subjects. The Ace and Sobs indexes indicated that the microbiota richness of pharynx value is significantly higher; while the community diversity value is markedly lower in patients with PH, comparing to those of the reference subjects. The microbiota on pharynx showed a different profile between the 2 groups by principal component analysis. The linear discriminant analysis effect size also revealed a significantly higher proportion of Streptococcus, Lautropia, and Ralstonia in patients with PH than reference subjects. The linear discriminant analysis effect size output, which represents the microbial gene functions, suggest genes related to bacterial invasion of epithelial cells, bacterial toxins were enhanced, while genes related to energy metabolism, protein digestion and absorption, and cell division pathways were attenuated in patients with PH versus reference subjects. In summary, our study reports the first systematic definition and divergent profile of the upper respiratory tract microbiota between patients with PH and reference subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry reforming of CH 4 (DRM) using a plasma-enabled catalytic process is an appealing approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while producing fuels and chemicals. However, this is a complex process that is influenced by both catalysts and discharge plasmas, and low energy efficiency remains a challenge for this technology. Here, we developed a water-cooled dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor for plasma DRM reactions over supported catalysts (Ni/γ-Al 2 O 3 , Ag/γ-Al 2 O 3 and Pt/γ-Al 2 O 3) prepared via plasma-modified impregnation. Results show that metal loading on γ-Al 2 O 3 enhanced the basic nature of the catalysts and promoted the formation of discharge channels and reactive species. The maximum conversion of CO 2 (21.4 %) and CH 4 (27.6 %) was obtained when using Ag/γ-Al 2 O 3. The basic nature of the catalytic materials dominated CO 2 conversion, whereas the properties of the catalyst and discharge plasma determined CH 4 conversion. The highest selectivity of hydrogen (∼34.5 %) and carbon-containing gas products (∼81.0 %) were attained when using the noble metal catalysts (Ag/γ-Al 2 O 3 and Pt/γ-Al 2 O 3), while the highest total selectivity of liquid products (14.1 %) was achieved in the presence of Ni/γ-Al 2 O 3. Compared with γ-Al 2 O 3 , the supported catalysts demonstrated higher stability, especially for Ag/γ-Al 2 O 3 and Pt/γ-Al 2 O 3 , which also provided higher energy efficiency for gas conversion and product formation. • Plasma-catalytic CH 4 reforming with CO 2 was carried out in a DBD reactor. • Three γ-Al 2 O 3 supported catalysts were prepared by a modified impregnation method. • CO 2 conversion and CO selectivity are closely related to the catalyst basicity. • Ag/γ-Al 2 O 3 had the highest conversion of CO 2 (21.4%) and CH 4 (27.6%). • Ni/γ-Al 2 O 3 showed the highest total selectivity of liquid products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-thermal plasma reforming of CH 4 with CO 2 into value-added fuels and chemicals is very promising but challenging due to the low energy efficiency of the reforming process. One of the most important factors influencing energy efficiency is plasma power supply, and nanosecond pulsed power sources are gaining increasing interest in enhancing the energy efficiency of plasma chemical processes. Here, we investigate plasma-assisted CH 4 reforming with CO 2 using a nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma. Both electrical characteristics and reaction performance were investigated under different operating parameters, including applied voltage, total flow rate, CH 4 /CO 2 molar ratio, and discharge length. Increasing applied voltage (from 20 to 28 kV) and discharge length (from 6 to 14 cm) enhanced the total gas conversion by 53.2% and 41.2%, respectively, but decreased the energy efficiency by 30.6% and 14.3%, respectively. The highest energy efficiency (12.4%) was obtained at an applied voltage of 20 kV, a total flow rate of 50 ml/min, a CH 4 /CO 2 molar ratio of 1:1 and a discharge length of 10 cm, while the highest total gas conversion of 30.3% was achieved at a higher applied voltage of 26 kV and a lower total flow rate of 25 ml/min. An artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed to predict the plasma reforming process, and to investigate the relative contributions of key operating parameters to the reaction performance of this process. The results of the ANN model indicate that the CH 4 /CO 2 molar ratio and total flow rate affect the gas conversion most significantly, while the CH 4 /CO 2 molar ratio plays a dominant role in determining the product selectivity and energy efficiency. [Display omitted] • A nanosecond pulsed DBD reactor was developed for CH 4 reforming with CO 2. • An artificial neural network was used to model the plasma reforming process. • Both the CH 4 /CO 2 molar ratio and total flow rate affect gas conversion remarkably. • The CH 4 /CO 2 molar ratio significantly affect selectivity and energy efficiency. • The highest energy efficiency of 12.4% was achieved in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A compact human touchable air plasma jet source is developed for the inactivation of oral bacteria. • The safety of the device is estimated by evaluating the current through the human body. • The discharge characteristics of the custom-built device are systematically analysed and optimized. • The microorganisms can be effectively inactivated by the developed air plasma. A compact low-temperature and atmospheric-pressure air plasma jet source is developed for the inactivation of oral bacteria. Electrical and optical measurements are carried out to understand the fundamental characteristics of the custom-built system. The adjustable operating parameters are optimized to regulate the length of the plasma plume and control the generation of the reactive species. Results show that the temperature of the plasma jet is around 40–45 °C during 5 min plasma-on, without inducing any thermal effects on bacterial cells. Importantly, the safety of the device is estimated by evaluating the current through the human body via an equivalent electrical circuit. Antibacterial studies indicate that the plasma jet can effectively inactivate E. coli , P. aeruginosa and S. aureus within 20 s. Further analysis on the morphology of bacterial cells and the intracellular DNA leakage is performed to evaluate the integrity of the cell. This study suggests that the developed portable air plasma jet can effectively deactivate oral bacteria and has great potential in future dental or clinical medical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CO 2 reforming of CH 4 was performed in DBDs with different dielectric layers. • More intensified filamentary microdischarges were displayed in DBD-SD. • DBD-SD exhibited higher reactant conversion and liquid product selectivity. • Higher gas product selectivity and stable carbon balance were achieved in DBD-DD. • Higher energy efficiency for plasma reforming process was obtained in DBD-SD. CO 2 reforming of CH 4 in a non-thermal plasma process (e.g., dielectric barrier discharge, DBD) possesses dual benefits for our environment and energy needs. However, this process is strongly influenced by the dielectric structure of the DBD. Here, plasma CO 2 reforming of CH 4 has been performed in both single-dielectric and double-dielectric DBD (DBD-SD and DBD-DD) reactors under atmospheric pressure. Electrical and optical characterization, along with temperature measurements are performed to understand the influence of the DBD-SD and DBD-DD designs. Reactor performance for reforming is compared under different discharge powers. The results show that CO 2 /CH 4 discharges in both DBD-SD and DBD-DD display typical filamentary microdischarges. Compared with the DBD-DD, the DBD-SD reactor exhibits a larger number and higher intensity of current pulses, which leads to a higher electron density and formation of reactive species. The highest conversion of CO 2 (24.1 %) and CH 4 (49.2 %) are achieved in the DBD-SD at a high discharge power (75 W). Moreover, higher selectivities of gaseous products are obtained in the DBD-DD, while the DBD-SD reactor shows a higher selectivity for liquid products, mainly including methanol and acetic acid. The highest energy efficiencies for reactant conversion (0.34 mmol/kJ), gaseous and liquid production formation (0.26 mmol/kJ and 0.015 mmol/kJ) are achieved in the DBD-SD reactor at a low discharge power (22 W), resulting from the low energy loss to the environment. However, the carbon deposited on the inner electrode surface in the DBD-SD would have an adverse influence on the reactor's performance. Further research on the optimization of the DBD reactor to establish an efficient plasma-catalysis system is required for industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]