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The High Magnetic Field Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CHMFL) is now upgrading its power supply system and cooling system, so further improvement of the magnetic field of water-cooled magnets will become possible. The design of a new 32-mm bore resistive magnet, which will generate 42 T with 30+ MW, has been completed. The magnet consists of four elongated-hole coils and two circular-hole coils, and all the coils are electrically connected in series. The design of this magnet follows the developed new technologies for the hybrid insert, which generated 34.22 T in 11 T superconducting background field. Details of the coil design and structural and mechanical design are presented.

High Magnetic Field Laboratory of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CHMFL) has upgraded the 40 T hybrid magnet built in October 2016. The latest test operation of the upgraded CHMFL hybrid magnet was completed in August 2022, and the maximum central field arrived at 45.22 T in the center of a 32 mm clear bore, which is the highest steady magnetic field by user magnet in the world. The upgraded hybrid magnet consists of a Florida-Bitter resistive magnet producing 34.22 T central field and a superconducting magnet producing 11 T central field and providing a room-temperature bore of 800 mm. The enhanced performance of the upgraded CHMFL hybrid magnet is mainly attributed to the new design of the resistive insert coils, and the outer superconducting magnet still generated steadily a central field of 11 T without change. This article mainly describes the commissioning and test operating results of the upgraded CHMFL hybrid magnet.

We consider a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) assisted multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system in the presence of scattering objects. The MIMO transmitter and receiver, the RIS, and the scattering objects are modeled as mutually coupled thin wires connected to load impedances. We introduce a novel numerical algorithm for optimizing the tunable loads connected to the RIS, which does not utilize the Neumann series approximation. The algorithm is provably convergent, has polynomial complexity with the number of RIS elements, and outperforms the most relevant benchmark algorithms while requiring fewer iterations and converging in a shorter time.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the modifiable predictors of T2DM and the roles of insulin resistance (IR) and β-cell function over a 6-year study and 30-year follow-up. Methods: A total of 462 non-diabetic participants, 282 with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and 180 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) were enrolled in this analysis. The Matsuda IR index and area under the curve of insulin-to-glucose ratio (AUCI/G-R) were used as IR and β-cell function indices in the analysis. Results: In all participants, multivariable analysis showed that BMI, glucose status, Matsuda IR index and systolic blood pressure (SBP) at baseline were independently associated with an increased risk of T2DM over 30 years, whereas lifestyle intervention and AUCI/G-R were inversely associated with this risk. The predictive effect of the Matsuda IR index and AUCI/G-R in participants with IGT was consistent with the results of all participants, whereas in those with NGT, only the Matsuda IR index, not the AUCI/G-R, predicted the development of T2DM (HR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.07–1.89 vs HR = 1.09, 95% CI 0.76–1.56). The predictive effect of the Matsuda IR index on T2DM existed even in participants with BMI < 25 (p= 0.049). Conclusion: The modifiable predictors of T2DM in Chinese adults were high BMI, hypertension, mild hyperglycaemia, IR, and β-cell dysfunction. Both IR and β-cell function contributed to the development of T2DM in the long term; however, IR remains the initial and long-standing key risk factor for T2DM.

Over the past few decades, neuroimaging has become a ubiquitous tool in basic research and clinical studies of the human brain. However, no reference standards currently exist to quantify individual differences in neuroimaging metrics over time, in contrast to growth charts for anthropometric traits such as height and weight1. Here we assemble an interactive open resource to benchmark brain morphology derived from any current or future sample of MRI data (http://www.brainchart.io/). With the goal of basing these reference charts on the largest and most inclusive dataset available, acknowledging limitations due to known biases of MRI studies relative to the diversity of the global population, we aggregated 123,984 MRI scans, across more than 100 primary studies, from 101,457 human participants between 115 days post-conception to 100 years of age. MRI metrics were quantified by centile scores, relative to non-linear trajectories2of brain structural changes, and rates of change, over the lifespan. Brain charts identified previously unreported neurodevelopmental milestones3, showed high stability of individuals across longitudinal assessments, and demonstrated robustness to technical and methodological differences between primary studies. Centile scores showed increased heritability compared with non-centiled MRI phenotypes, and provided a standardized measure of atypical brain structure that revealed patterns of neuroanatomical variation across neurological and psychiatric disorders. In summary, brain charts are an essential step towards robust quantification of individual variation benchmarked to normative trajectories in multiple, commonly used neuroimaging phenotypes.

Antiferromagnets are interesting materials for spintronics because of their faster dynamics and robustness against perturbations from magnetic fields. Control of the antiferromagnetic order constitutes an important step towards applications, but has been limited to bulk materials so far. Here, using spatially resolved second-harmonic generation, we show direct evidence of long-range antiferromagnetic order and Ising-type Néel vector switching in monolayer MnPSe3with large XY anisotropy. In additional to thermally induced switching, uniaxial strain can rotate the Néel vector, aligning it to a general in-plane direction irrespective of the crystal axes. A change of the universality class of the phase transition in the XY model under uniaxial strain causes this emergence of strain-controlled Ising order in the XY magnet MnPSe3. Our discovery is a further ingredient for compact antiferromagnetic spintronic devices in the two-dimensional limit.

We consider a fading channel in which a multi-antenna transmitter communicates with a multi-antenna receiver through a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) that is made of ${N}$ reconfigurable passive scatterers impaired by phase noise. The beamforming vector at the transmitter, the combining vector at the receiver, and the phase shifts of the ${N}$ scatterers are optimized in order to maximize the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) at the receiver. By assuming Rayleigh fading (or line-of-sight propagation) on the transmitter-RIS link and Rayleigh fading on the RIS-receiver link, we prove that the SNR is a random variable that is equivalent in distribution to the product of three (or two) independent random variables whose distributions are approximated by two (or one) gamma random variables and the sum of two scaled non-central chi-square random variables. The proposed analytical framework allows us to quantify the robustness of RIS-aided transmission to fading channels. For example, we prove that the amount of fading experienced on the transmitter-RIS-receiver channel linearly decreases with ${N}~\gg ~1.$ This proves that RISs of large size can be effectively employed to make fading less severe and wireless channels more reliable.

Fundamentally contradictory but inescapably joined dual attributes, wave and particle, remain a conceptually unsettling element at the heart of quantum mechanics. It was a career-long unanswered challenge for Bohr to rationalize quantum duality. The conceptual dilemma it presents has remained an open issue, a topic of continued discussion, ever since. Here we report the discovery of an experimentally manageable route to control the weirdness of duality. Ironically, entanglement, the other conceptually challenging weirdness of quantum theory, will be shown to be in control of duality. We establish a simple identity through which entanglement prescribes quantitatively the degree of duality, of combined waveness and particleness, that can be recorded in any one-quantum two-path coherence experiment.

Deafness or hearing loss is a major issue in human health. Inner ear hair cells are the main sensory receptors responsible for hearing. Defects in hair cells are one of the major causes of deafness. A combination of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology with genome-editing technology may provide an attractive cell-based strategy to regenerate hair cells and treat hereditary deafness in humans. Here, we report the generation of iPSCs from members of a Chinese family carrying MYO15A c.4642G>A and c.8374G>A mutations and the induction of hair cell-like cells from those iPSCs. The compound heterozygous MYO15A mutations resulted in abnormal morphology and dysfunction of the derived hair cell-like cells. We used a CRISPR/Cas9 approach to genetically correct the MYO15A mutation in the iPSCs and rescued the morphology and function of the derived hair cell-like cells. Our data demonstrate the feasibility of generating inner ear hair cells from human iPSCs and the functional rescue of gene mutation-based deafness by using genetic correction.

Sox2 has a critical role in embryonic stem (ES) cell maintenance and differentiation. Interestingly, its activity is highly dosage-dependent. Although transcriptional regulation of Sox2 has been extensively studied, the mechanisms orchestrating its degradation remain unclear. In this study, we identified ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2S (Ube2s) as a novel effector for Sox2 protein degradation. Ube2s mediates K11-linked polyubiquitin chain formation at the Sox2-K123 residue, thus marking it for proteasome-mediated degradation. Besides its role in fine-tuning the precise level of Sox2, Ube2s reinforces the self-renewing and pluripotent state of ES cells. Importantly, it also represses Sox2-mediated ES cell differentiation toward the neural ectodermal lineage.

Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) is a stress-induced transcription factor that has been shown to repress inflammatory gene expression in multiple cell types and diseases. However, little is known about the roles and mechanisms of ATF3 in liver ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). In warm and cold liver IRI models, we showed that ATF3 deficiency significantly increased ischemia/reperfusion (IR)-stressed liver injury, as evidenced by increased serum alanine aminotransferase levels, histological liver damage, and hepatocellular apoptosis. These may correlate with inhibition of the intrahepatic nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase-1 (NRF2/HO-1) signaling pathway leading to enhancing Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor kappa beta (TLR4/NF-κB) activation, pro-inflammatory programs and macrophage/neutrophil trafficking, while simultaneously repressing anti-apoptotic molecules in ischemic liver. Interestingly, activation of NRF2/HO-1 signaling using an NRF2 activator, oltipraz (M2), during hepatic IRI-rescued ATF3 anti-inflammatory functions in ATF3-deficient mice. For in vitrostudies, ATF3 ablation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) depressed levels of NRF2/HO-1 and PI3K/AKT, resulting in enhanced TLR4/NF-κB activation. Pretreatment of LPS-stimulated BMMs with M2 increased NRF2/HO-1 expression, promoted PI3K/AKT, which in turn suppressed TLR4/NF-κB-mediated proinflammatory mediators. Thus, our results first demonstrate ATF3-mediated NRF2/HO-1 signaling in the regulation of TLR4-driven inflammatory responses in IR-stressed livers. Our findings provide a rationale for a novel therapeutic strategy for managing IR-induced liver injury.

This study demonstrates that activating transcription factor 3 regulates toll‐like receptor 4–driven inflammatory responses by nuclear factor erythroid‐derived 2‐related factor 2/heme oxygenase‐1, and attenuates liver ischemia reperfusion injury.

During plasma spraying, partial hydroxyapatite (HA) decomposes and partial constituent of the coatings transforms into amorphous phase, which greatly reduce the crystalline HA content of the coatings. Experimental results indicate that the content of crystalline HA in the coatings can be increased significantly by saturated steam treatment. Owing to the existence of steam, the reaction [3Ca3(PO4)2+CaO+H2O?Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] will take place during treatment, and with the increase in processing temperature and the increase in holding period, the content of the crystalline HA increases obviously. In addition, HA nanocrystals can be obtained with suitable processing parameters.

Calcium phosphates (CaP) have been successfully coated on TiO2loaded SBA-15 by a facile inner-pore sol–gel process. The CaP coating amounts can be easily tuned in the range of 4.6–18.7 wt %. Characterization by XRD, N2sorption, TEM, EDX, and FT-IR techniques reveals the composites possess ordered mesopore structures, large specific surface areas (259–444 cm2/g), uniform pore sizes (6.4–7.1 nm), and a highly dispersed CaP phase within the TiO2/SBA-15 frameworks. The exploration on adsorption and adsorption-photocatalysis of a model dye for the composite materials was carried out. The adsorption capabilities and the derived pore occupancy for dyes were increased by over twice for the CaP coatings incorporating TiO2/SBA-15 composites, which also positively influenced the photodegradation efficiency. A scheme regarding photodegradation enhancement induced by dye enrichments has been proposed to illustrate the adsorption-photodegradation process.

Objective: We investigated the effect of peroxisome proliferator activator receptors α (PPARα) on cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by glucose and fatty acid, and if high glucose levels could increase fatty acid-induced apoptosis. Methods: Cardiomyocytes were maintained in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium and divided into 5 groups: Group N (control Group); Group G (exposed to 25.5 mmol/l glucose); Group L (exposed to 5 mmol/l glucose, fatty acid); Group H (exposed to 25.5 mmol/l glucose and fatty acid); Group I (exposed to 25.5 mmol/l glucose, fatty acid and Wy 14643). Apoptosis was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling. Immunocytochemistry staining detected PPARα’s expressing, and western blotting detected PPARα and nuclear factor κB’s (NF-κB) protein level. Results: Exposure to fatty acid resulted in a significant increase of cardiomyocytes apoptosis, with the extension of NF-κB formation, whereas exposure to 25.5 mmol/l glucose had no influence on the apoptosis rate. However, combination with fatty acid and high glucose concentration had induced more apoptosis with the up-regulation of NF-κB formation. The fatty acid and glucose-induced effects were improved by Wy14643, with down-regulation of NF-κB formation. Conclusion: These results suggested that in neonatal cardiomyocytes, fatty acid and glucose in combination with fatty acid induced apoptosis viaNF-κB formation and activation of apoptosis pathways; glucose in combination with fatty acid induce more apoptosis rate for the more NF-κB formation, activation of the PPARα can reverse such apoptosis effect. The results also suggest that gluco-lipotoxicity may play a central role in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy, and PPARα-agonist may be an effective drug in treating the diabetic cardiomyopathy

Tomosynthesis requires projection images from different viewing angles. Using a distributed x-ray source this can be achieved without mechanical motion of the source with the potential for faster image acquisition speed. A distributed xray tube has been designed and manufactured specifically for breast tomosynthesis. The x-ray tube consists of 31 field emission x-ray sources with an angular range of 30°. The total dose is up to 100mAs with an energy range between 27 and 45 kVp. We discuss the source geometry and results from the characterization of the first prototype. The x-ray tube uses field emission cathodes based on carbon nanotubes (CNT) as electron source. Prior to the manufacturing of the sealed x-ray tube extensive testing on the field emission cathodes has been performed to verify the requirements for commercial tomosynthesis systems in terms of emission current, focal spot size and tube lifetime.

Artificial enzymes are synthetic materials or molecules that exhibit enzyme-like activities. Herein, we report artificial enzymes based on metalloporphyrins (MPs) that can mimic nitric oxide synthase (NOS) to produce nitric oxide (NO) from l-arginine (Arg) using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as an oxidant, and we determine the microenvironmental influence on their activity and stability. An assortment of structurally diverse water-soluble MPs was synthesized, and their NO production was compared. Improved catalytic activity and stability of the lead MP were observed when it was conjugated to the hydrophilic homopolymer poly(2-carboxyethyl acrylate) (PCEA). Micelles assembled from the amphiphilic block copolymer poly(cholesteryl methacrylate)-block-PCEA functionalized with the lead MP, and MP-conjugated PCEA polymer chains immobilized on silica particles resulted in moieties with ∼3 × higher catalytic activity compared to the monomeric MP. Finally, the PCEA-coated silica particles could use the MPs as motor units to exhibit enhanced diffusion in the presence of the required fuel molecules Arg and H2O2. Taken together, the microenvironments of the artificial enzymes have a marked impact on their activity and stability, and these NO-producing MPs offer an interesting synthetic alternative to their natural counterparts.

Various researchers have suggested that certain anthropometric ratios can be used to measure female body attractiveness, including the waist to hip ratio, Body Mass Index (BMI), and the body volume divided by the square of the height (Volume-Height Index). Based on a wide range of female subjects and virtual images of bodies with different ratios, Volume-Height Index was found to provide the best fit with female body attractiveness, and the effect of Volume-Height Index can be fitted with two half bell-shaped exponential curves with an optimal Volume-Height Index at 14.2 liter/m2. It is suggested that the general trend of the effect of Volume-Height Index may be culturally invariant, but the optimal value of Volume-Height Index may vary from culture to culture. In addition to Volume-Height Index, other body parameters or ratios which reflect body proportions and the traits of feminine characteristics had smaller but significant effects on female body attractiveness, and such effects were stronger at optimum Volume-Height Index.

A polyurethane/nanosilica (PU/SiO2) hybrid for grouting was prepared in a two‐step polymerization using poly(propylene glycol) diols as the soft segment, toluene 2,4‐diisocyanate (TDI) as the diisocyanate, 3,3′‐dichloro‐4,4′‐diaminodiphenylmethane (MOCA) as the chain extender, and acetone as the solvent. The size and dispersion of nanosilica, the molecular structure, mechanical properties, rheological behavior, thermal performance, and the UV absorbance characteristic of the PU/SiO2 hybrid were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), FTIR, mechanical tests, viscometry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and UV spectroscopy. Nanosilica dispersed homogeneously in the PU matrix. The maximum values of mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation break, and adhesive strength showed an addition of nanosilica of about 2 wt %. Resistance to both high and low temperatures was better than with PU. And the UV absorbance of the PU/SiO2 hybrid increased in the range of 290–330 nm with increasing nanosilica content. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4333–4337, 2006

A theoretical model based on the competition between hydrogen-bonding energy and strain energy was constructed to explain the size of native cellulose Iβ. The cellodextrins in native crystalline cellulose Iα and Iβ are unusually stable compared to other polysaccharides, not easily prone to hydrolysis even though they are only nanometers in diameter. The stability of crystalline cellulose Iβ is most likely due to its greatly enhanced hydrogen-bonding (HB) network. We carried out ab initio calculations to determine the native crystalline cellulose Iβ atomic and conformational structures. For crystalline cellulose, we found that every hydroxyl group in the cellulose structure is hydrogen bonded as both a donor and an acceptor. This agrees well with published X-ray and neutron diffraction data. We also determined the electronic structures and the energetics for one cellodextrin chain, one to four sheets of cellodextrins in cellulose, and the bulk cellulose Iβ.

A new fluorescent probe N-butyl-4,5-di[2-(phenylamino)ethylamino]-1,8-naphthalimide 1 senses only Cu(II) among heavy and transition metal (HTM) ions by means of a colorimetric (primrose yellow to pink) method with a large red-shift in emission (green to red) attributed to the deprotonation of the secondary amines as a receptor conjugated to the naphthalimide fluorophore.

A Cu^II-sensing, ratiometric, and selective fluorescent sensor 1, N-butyl-4,5-di[(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino]-1,8-naphthalimide, was designed and synthesized on the basis of the mechanism of internal charge transfer (ICT). In aqueous ethanol solutions of 1, the presence of Cu^II induces the formation of a 1:1 metal−ligand complex, which exhibits a strong, increasing fluorescent emission centered at 475 nm at the expense of the fluorescent emission of 1 centered at 525 nm.

The pulsed field ionization-photoelectron PFI-PE spectrum of boron trichloride BCl3 in the region of 93 590–95 640 cm−1has been measured using vacuum ultraviolet VUV laser. At energies 0–1100 cm−1above the adiabatic ionization energy IE of BCl3, the bending vibration progression of BCl3is clearly resolved in the PFI-PE spectrum, whereas the spectrum at energies 1200–1900 cm−1above the IEBCl3 is found to exhibit dense vibrational structure. This observation unambiguously shows that BCl3in its ground state has C2Vsymmetry. Ab initiocalculations performed at the CCSDTCBS level with high-level corrections are consistent with this observation, indicating that the BCl3X 2B2 ground state has two long and one short B–Cl bonds. Furthermore, the CCSDTCBS calculations predict the existence of two BCl3transitional structures with D3hand C2Vsymmetries lying 800 and 1300 cm−1, respectively, above the BCl3X 2B2 ground state. This prediction is also consistent with the dense features observed in the PFI-PE spectrum in the region of 1200–1900 cm−1above the IEBCl3. The assignment of the PFI-PE vibrational bands gives the IEBCl3 93 891 ± 2 cm−111.6410 ± 0.0003 eV and the bending frequencies for BCl3X 2B2, ν1b2 194 cm−1and ν1a1 209 cm−1. We have also examined the dissociative photoionization process BCl3hν→ BCl2 Cl e−using the synchrotron based PFI-PE-photoion coincidence method, yielding the 0 K threshold or appearance energy AE for this process to be 12.495 ± 0.002 eV. Combining this 0 K AE value and the IEBCl3, we have determined the 0 K bond dissociation energy D0 for Cl2B–Cl as 0.854 ± 0.002 eV. This experimental and theoretical study indicates that the CCSDT, FullCBS calculations with high-level corrections are highly reliable for the predictions of IEBCl3, AEBCl2 and D0Cl2B–Cl with error limits of less than 35 meV. However, the CCSDT, FullCBS predictions for ΔHf0°BCl3, ΔHf0°BCl2, and ΔHf0°BCl3 are less reliable with discrepancies up to 0.1 eV as compared to the experimental determinations.

4-Piperidine-naphthalimide derivatives containing potential acceptors for hydrogen bonding were synthesized, and their fluorescence properties were examined. Some of the compounds with a 2-imino-oxalidin (thiazolidin) side chain at the imide moiety exhibit a strong fluorescence quench and some red shift in weakly acidic conditions, caused by the formation of an intramolecular hydrogen bond. Their pKa values were estimated to be about 6.4−7.5. The results showed that these compounds could serve as novel fluorescent pH sensors for further application.

Large-scale arrayed ZnO crystals with a series of novel morphologies, including tower-like, flower-like, and tube-like samples, have been successfully fabricated by a simple aqueous solution route. The morphology and orientation of the obtained ZnO crystal arrays can be conveniently tailored by changing the reactants and experimental conditions. For example, the tower-like ZnO crystal arrays were obtained in a reaction solution system including zinc salt, ammonia, ammonium salt, and thiourea, and the orientation of these tower-like crystals could be controlled by the contents of these reactants. Flower-like ZnO arrays were obtained at lower temperatures, and tube-like ZnO arrays were obtained by ultrasonic pretreatment of the reaction system. The growth mechanism of the tower-like and tube-like ZnO crystals was investigated by FESEM. The results show that tower-like crystals grow layer by layer, while tube-like crystals grow from active nanowires. Ultrasonic pretreatment is proved to be effective in promoting the formation of active nuclei, which have important effects on the formation of the tube-like ZnO crystals. In addition, large-scale arrays of these ZnO crystals can be successfully synthesized onto various substrates such as amorphous glass, crystalline quartz, and PET. This implies this chemical method has a wide application in the fabrication of nano-/microscale devices.

Flocculation of biological cells is important in the biotechnology industry, as it could lead to improved efficiencies for bioreactor harvesting operations such as microfiltration. Experimental studies for flocculation of yeast and CHO cells using cationic polyelectrolytes suggest the existence of a steady‐state, self‐similar floc size distribution. The experimentally determined floc size distributions were modeled using a population balance approach. For flocculated yeast suspensions, the variation of the floc volume fraction with dimensionless particle diameter is predicted by the population balance model assuming a binary breakage distribution function. However, the variation of floc number fraction with dimensionless particle diameter is better predicted assuming a log normal fragment distribution function probably due to the presence of submicron‐sized yeast cell debris. For CHO cell flocs, the floc volume and number fractions are predicted using a log normal fragment distribution function. CHO cells are far more fragile than yeast cells. Thus, individual CHO cells in a CHO cell floc can lyse leading to the formation of a number of small particles.

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Identification of fungi in tissue sections can be difficult. In particular, species of Aspergillus, Fusarium,and Pseudallescheriaall appear as septate, branched hyphae. However, their differentiation can have significant clinical implications, as the latter two groups are often resistant to commonly used antifungal agents. In situ hybridization may assist in rapidly distinguishing these organisms in the absence of available culture. Oligonucleotide DNA probes were directed against the 5S, 18S, or 28S rRNA sequences of three groups of fungi with a high degree of specificity for each. Probes were tested on 26 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens, each with culture-proven involvement by one of these organismsFusariumspecies, n 12;Pseudallescheria boydii,n 5;Aspergillusspecies, n 9 (Aspergillusprobe set validated in an earlier study). Accuracy of both ISH and morphology was compared with culture.