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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in Taiwan. The Taiwan Liver Cancer Association and the Gastroenterological Society of Taiwan established HCC management consensus guidelines in 2016 and updated them in 2023. Current recommendations focus on addressing critical issues in HCC management, including surveillance, diagnosis, systemic treatment, and posttreatment monitoring. For surveillance and diagnosis, we updated the guidelines to include the role of protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist II (PIVKA-II) and gadoxetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting HCCs. For systemic treatment, the updated guidelines summarize the multiple choices available for targeted therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and a combination of both, especially for those carcinomas refractory to or unsuitable for transarterial chemoembolization. We have added a new section, posttreatment monitoring, that describes the important roles of PIVKA-II and EOB-MRI after HCC therapy, including surgery, locoregional therapy, and systemic treatment. Through this update of the management consensus guidelines, patients with HCC may benefit from optimal diagnosis, therapeutic modalities, and posttreatment monitoring.

Introduction:The progression patterns, dispositions, and outcomes of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who achieved durable responses with immunotherapy remain poorly characterized. Methods:Patients with advanced HCC who received immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based immunotherapy and achieved durable responses were retrospectively included. A durable response was defined as partial response (PR) or stable disease (SD) per RECIST 1.1 for more than 8 months after initiation of immunotherapy. Oligoprogression and polyprogression were defined as progression at ≤3 and >3 lesions, respectively. Results:A total of 91 durable responders (63 PR and 28 SD) were identified. The majority had chronic viral hepatitis (n= 69, 75.8%). Forty-seven (51.6%) and 44 (48.4%) patients received the index immunotherapy as first-line and second- or beyond-line therapy, respectively. Fifty-four (59.3%) patients subsequently developed progression, with a predominant pattern of oligoprogression (66.7%). The median overall survival (OS) was 46.2 months (95% CI: 34.1–58.3). For patients with subsequent progression, employment of locoregional therapy (LRT) for progression was associated with prolonged OS (univariate analysis: hazard ratio [HR] 0.397, p= 0.009; multivariate analysis: HR 0.363, p= 0.050). Patients with oligoprogression who received LRT showed longer median OS than those who did not (48.4 vs. 20.5 months, p< 0.001). In contrast, the median OS of patients with polyprogression who received LRT was not different from those without LRT (27.7 vs. 25.5 months, p= 0.794). Conclusion:Approximately 60% of the post-immunotherapy durable responders of HCC subsequently develop progression. Proactive LRT may further rescue patients who develop subsequent oligoprogression. Prospective studies are mandatory to clarify the proper management of durable responders with subsequent progression.

When incipient faults of gears or bearings occur in the wind turbine gearbox, their fault information will be readily masked by intensive background noise, which may postpone the fault detection and maintenance schedule. Specifically, the phenomenon manifested in the time domain is that the fault impulse is not obvious, while in the frequency domain, it is manifested that the fault frequency is prone to submerge in other interference frequency components. However, conventional signal processing methods and matrix factorization algorithms make it difficult to intuitively characterize fault features. Complex algorithms often require some manually adjusted parameters, which is difficult to be applied in engineering practice. To balance the performance and complexity of algorithms, a sparsity and periodicity-induced symplectic geometry decomposition (SPSGD) method is proposed. The initial components are obtained by the symplectic geometry mode decomposition method. Stem from the periodicity of gear faults in the time domain and the sparsity in the frequency domain, a periodicity-induced Bayesian clustering method is proposed as a novel iteration termination condition to pursue the fault-related components in the time domain. Then, a sparsity and periodicity-induced inverse filter is designed by the Laplace operator to weigh the faulty components to reduce the noise influence. The proposed SPSGD is validated by three cases, which indicate that the noise can be reduced adaptively as well as enhance the useful fault components effectively.

Nowadays, digital image processing systems are developing towards faster data transmission and processing speed, smaller size, higher real-time performance and more flexible and convenient programming. How to improve the performance of digital image processing systems has become a concern for people. Starting from the actual project development needs, this article uses high-performance computing technology and combines the real-time processing characteristics of images. With TMS320C6455 as the core framework, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) + Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology is used to achieve high-performance computing and real-time image processing in digital image processing systems. This article uses TMS320C6455 embedded in FPGA to achieve data caching and data sharing between nodes. On this basis, real-time pre-processing of digital images is carried out using FPGA, and a high-speed serial interface with FPGA is used to increase the transmission bandwidth of the system. In the real-time tracking testing of images, the high-performance real-time digital image processing system used in this article took an average of 0.00425 s per frame of image and 0.00235 s in the process of feature extraction and matching. The high-performance real-time digital image processing system used in this article can achieve real-time image processing.

Most existing wearable displays for augmented reality (AR) have only one fixed focal plane and hence can easily suffer from vergence-accommodation conflict (VAC). In contrast, light field displays allow users to focus at any depth free of VAC. This paper presents a series of text-based visual search tasks to systematically and quantitatively compare a near-eye light field AR display with a conventional AR display, specifically in regards to how participants wearing such displays would perform on a virtual-real integration task. Task performance is evaluated by task completion rate and accuracy. The results show that the light field AR glasses lead to significantly higher user performance than the conventional AR glasses. In addition, 80% of the participants prefer the light field AR glasses over the conventional AR glasses for visual comfort.

Compound faults are common in wind turbine gearbox due to complex structure and harsh operating condition, which are represented by the bearing–gear fault, gear–gear fault, and so on. It is a challenging task to accurately detect multiple faults from on-site vibration signal potentially contaminated by intensive background noise. To address this issue, a multiperiodicity-induced sparse-fidelity representation (MPSFR) model is proposed in this article. The proposed method is based on the periodicity-induced overlapping group shrinkage (POGS) model with the constraint of the sparsity within and across groups (SWAG). The $l_{\mathrm {p}}$ -norm and the proposed reweighted minimax-concave penalty function (MCP) with adjustable order are adopted for SWAG constraints. The Hanning sequence is utilized as the periodicity-induced sequence in the POGS model. The closed-form solution of the proposed method is deduced using the majorization–minimization (MM) algorithm. Eventually, a weighted strategy for the decomposed results is inferred to prevent overdecomposition issue. The proposed method is validated by simulation signals, experimental signal, and on-site signal of actual wind turbine, which indicate that the characteristics of compound fault can be extracted plainly and the energy loss is reduced effectively.

The key steps of gram methods for bearing fault diagnosis are using an indicator to identify the optimal frequency band for demodulation and obtaining the signal’s squared envelope spectrum (SES). Using cyclostationary-based indicators for optimal band determination is one of the most widely used methods. However, the effectiveness of these methods may be compromised when the signal is non-Gaussian distributed. Compared with cyclostationary analysis, correntropy has the potential capability to detect cyclostationarity under non-Gaussian conditions. Therefore, this study proposes a novel tool called the spectral correntropy-based coherence gram (IEESCCgram) as an optimal band determination and fault diagnosis method. First, a novel bi-frequency map, the spectral correntropy-based coherence (SCECoh), is proposed, which is more robust to impulsive noise and can reveal hidden cyclic periodicities. Then, represented in a 1/3 binary tree, the IEESCCgram uses the proposed cyclic band spectral negentropy (SNc) to select the optimal band. Finally, the improved energy spectrum (IEES) is obtained for bearing fault diagnosis. Vibration signals collected from experimental test rigs and real-life applications are used to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the IEESCCgram for bearing fault diagnosis when the signal is contaminated by impulsive noise and cyclostationary interference.

The conversion of nitrate to ammonia can serve two important functions: mitigating nitrate pollution and offering a low energy intensity pathway for ammonia synthesis. Conventional ammonia synthesis from electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reactions (NO3RR) is often impeded by incomplete nitrate conversion, sluggish kinetics, and the competition of hydrogen evolution reactions. Herein, atomic Cu sites anchored on micro-/mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon (Cu MNC) with fine-tuned hydrophilicity, micro-/mesoporous channels, and abundant Cu(I) sites were synthesized for selective nitrate reduction to ammonia, achieving ambient temperature and pressure hydrogenation of nitrate. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that the catalyst has an ammonia yield rate per active site of 5466 mmol gCu–1h–1and transformed 94.8% nitrate in wastewater containing 100 mg-N L–1to near drinking water standard (MCL of 5 mg-N L–1) at −0.64 V vs RHE. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and theoretical calculations showed that the coordination environment of Cu(I) sites (Cu(I)-N3C1) localizes the charge around the central Cu atoms and adsorbs *NO3and *H onto neighboring Cu and C sites with balanced adsorption energy. The Cu(I)-N3C1moieties reduce the activation energy of rate-limiting steps (*HNO3→ *NO2, *NH2→ *NH3) compared with conventional Cu(II)-N4and lead to a thermodynamically favorable process to NH3. The as-prepared electrocatalytic cell can run continuously for 84 h (14 cycles) and produce 21.7 mgNH3with only 5.64 × 10–3kWh energy consumption, suitable for decentralized nitrate removal and ammonia synthesis from nitrate-containing wastewater.

The 2,6-naphthoquinodimethane (2,6-NQDM) containing S-heterocyclic molecule 6-Swas synthesized, and its dual open-shell diradical and dipolar characters were revealed via both experimental and theoretical studies. Unlike the shorter p-quinodimethane (p-QDM)-containing analogue 5-S, which possesses a closed-shell ground state (y0= 0%) with small dipolar character, 6-Spossesses enhanced dipolar character with a singlet diradical ground state (y0= 23.3%) and a thermally accessible triplet excited state (ΔEST= −4.13 kcal/mol). Despite this, it displays good stability (t1/2= 41days) under ambient air and light conditions due to its distinctive dipolar character and kinetic blocking of reactive sites.

DNA methyltransferase 3a (DNMT3A) plays a crucial role during mammalian development. Two isoforms of DNMT3A are differentially expressed from stem cells to somatic tissues, but their individual functions remain largely uncharacterized. Here we report that the long isoform DNMT3A1, but not the short DNMT3A2, is essential for mouse postnatal development. DNMT3A1 binds to and regulates bivalent neurodevelopmental genes in the brain. Strikingly, Dnmt3a1knockout perinatal lethality could be partially rescued by DNMT3A1 restoration in the nervous system. We further show that the intrinsically disordered N terminus of DNMT3A1 is required for normal development and DNA methylation at DNMT3A1-enriched regions. Mechanistically, a ubiquitin-interacting motif embedded in a putative α-helix within the N terminus binds to mono-ubiquitinated histone H2AK119, probably mediating recruitment of DNMT3A1 to Polycomb-regulated regions. These data demonstrate an isoform-specific role for DNMT3A1 in mouse postnatal development and reveal the N terminus as a necessary regulatory domain for DNMT3A1 chromatin occupancy and functions in the nervous system.

Aims:Shared decision-making regarding COVID-19 vaccination in IgA nephropathy involves the ability to handle health information regarding potential benefits and risk of flare, but few studies have evaluated health literacy in the context of vaccination. We aimed to evaluate the health literacy and COVID-19 vaccination uptake and acceptance in IgA nephropathy. Methods:Single-center cross-sectional study of 126 consecutive patients with IgA nephropathy. Health literacy was assessed using the HLS-EU-47 questionnaire. Determinants of vaccine acceptance such as contextual influences, individual and group influences, and vaccine-specific issues were adapted from the World Health Organization framework. Results:Forty-eight patients (38.1%) with IgAN nephropathy completed the survey between June and August 2021. The participants’ median age was 40.5 (31.6, 52.8) years with median disease duration of 2.8 (1.3, 4.3) years. The median general health literacy index was 31.74 (29.88, 35.82) with significantly greater difficulty in the competency of appraising health information and in the domain of disease prevention (p< 0.001). Forty-five patients (93.8%) received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine between January and August 2021. Among the 3 unvaccinated patients, 2 intended to receive the vaccination while and 1 did not intend to get vaccinated. There was a high level of trust and belief that their government and healthcare providers had their best interests at heart and that the healthcare providers were honest about the vaccine’s risk and benefits, although 31.2% did not understand how the vaccine works and 22.9% believed that there were other ways to prevent infection. Most thought there was adequate safety information, were confident in the system for tracking adverse events and had no issues with access to the vaccine. Conclusion:Participants with IgA nephropathy had high health literacy scores and low vaccine hesitancy. The determinants for vaccine acceptance can potentially guide efforts to optimize vaccination coverage.

Periodontitis induced by bacteria especially Porphyromonas gingivalis(P. gingivalis) is the most prevalent microbial disease worldwide and is a significant risk factor for systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA and periodontitis share similar clinical and pathologic features. Moreover, the prevalence of RA is much higher in patients with periodontitis than in those without periodontitis. To explore the immunologic mechanism of periodontitis involved in RA, we established a mouse model of periodontitis and then induced RA. According to the results of paw thickness, arthritis clinical score, arthritis incidence, microscopic lesion using H&E staining, and micro‐CT analysis, periodontitis induced by P. gingivalispromoted the occurrence and development of collagen‐induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. Furthermore, periodontitis enhanced the frequency of CD19+B cells, Th17, Treg, gMDSCs, and mMDSCs, whereas down‐regulated IL‐10 producing regulatory B cells (B10) in CIA mice preinduced for periodontitis with P. gingivalis. In vitrostimulation with splenic cells revealed that P. gingivalisdirectly enhanced differentiation of Th17, Treg, and mMDSCs but inhibited the process of B cell differentiation into B10 cells. Considering that adoptive transfer of B10 cells prevent RA development, our study, although preliminary, suggests that down‐regulation of B10 cells may be the key mechanism that periodontitis promotes RA as the other main immune suppressive cells such as Treg and MDSCs are up‐regulated other than down‐regulated in group of P. gingivalisplus CIA. P. gingivalisstimulates experimental periodontitis; induces immune dysregulation, especially downregulation of B10 cells; and enhances pathogenesis of collagen‐induced arthritis.

The air-gap eccentricity of motor rotor is a common fault of flywheel energy storage devices. Consequently, this paper takes a high-power energy storage flywheel rotor system as the research object, aiming to thoroughly study the flywheel rotor's dynamic response characteristics when the induction motor rotor has initial static eccentricity. Firstly, the formula of unbalanced magnetic pull (UMP) of the motor rotor based on the Timoshenko beam element is derived by the finite element method. Then, utilizing the beam element model, an electromechanical coupling dynamic model of the flywheel rotor incorporating UMP is established. At last, the effects of eccentric amount and direction on the steady and transient characteristics are calculated and analyzed. The accuracy of the theoretical results is verified by the flywheel vibration test. Based on our analysis, the following conclusions are drawn: eccentricity will change the shape and position of the displacement waveform and axis orbit. New frequency components related to the rotating magnetic field of the stator appear in the spectrum, and new resonance peaks appear in the acceleration response. When the eccentricity is doubled, the amplitude of double rotating magnetic field frequency increases approximately 8 to 10 times, and similarly, the amplitude of new resonance peaks increases approximately 6 to 10 times. These increases are positively correlated with the eccentricity, following a power function relationship. The variations in eccentric amount and direction will also lead to predictable alterations in the position of the axis orbit and the critical speed of the acceleration response. Notably, a novel aspect of our approach lies in considering beam deformation during the calculation of UMP. This enhancement ensures a more accurate and suitable modeling of eccentric beam elements.

Large-scale applications of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) in waste treatment and environmental remediation are challenging due to declining activity and stability of nanoparticles that arises from rapid aggregation during synthesis and deactivation under environmental conditions. A potential approach to overcome these problems is to confine the highly reactive MNPs in porous frameworks. In confined nano-architectures, dispersed MNPs are more stable and accessible to pollutants while integration of the support can further improve catalytic degradation of pollutants with high metal utilization. In this perspective, emerging environmental applications of confined-MNP nanocomposites are discussed, focusing on the removal of toxic heavy metals, degradation of organic pollutants and catalytic denitrification. The confinement effects are emphasised, including spatial restriction in material synthesis, enrichment and selective adsorption of reactants, and electronic interactions between metal and support. Understanding the confinement effects to guide the design of confined materials for targeted pollutants, and especially for single-atom catalysts and heteroatom doping, is highlighted.

Dechlorination of coal-fired flue gas is a novel approach for realizing zero discharge of desulfurization wastewater. The core principle is to convert the HCl in the flue gas into chloride salt, which will migrate into the fly ash. Pilot-scale experiments were conducted to research the migration and agglomeration of chlorine in actual coal-fired flue gas in a power plant. The results indicate that the HCl removal efficiency in flue gas can rise to 70% at a Na/Cl molar ratio of 7.58 when using NaOH solution with clean water or a ratio of 8.93 when using NaOH solution with desulfurization wastewater. XPS shows that the characteristic peak of chloride in the dechlorinated ash is much more pronounced than that in the original ash. The content of inorganic chloride increases significantly with increasing Na/Cl or the utilization of desulfurization wastewater. SEM–EDS indicates that the various salts agglomerated on the fly ash surface notably increase after dechlorination. The contents of Na, Ca, Mg, Fe and S in the ash increase remarkably, especially with desulfurization wastewater. The chloride salts generated by flue gas dechlorination and the pollutants in the desulfurization wastewater are effectively agglomerated with the fly ash.

Electrocatalytic denitrification has been considered as one of the most promising technologies to selectively reduce excessive nitrogen oxyanions to benign dinitrogen in polluted water. The development of nonprecious metal catalysts with high performance for the denitrification is imperative but still a great challenge. Herein, we report an iron-based electrocatalyst for high-efficiency and selective denitrification. This nanocatalyst is prepared by template assembly of iron-based metal organic frameworks on surface-functionalized bimodal mesoporous carbon and subsequent pyrolysis under argon atmosphere. It contains well-dispersed FeNxsites and Fe nanoparticles (most of them are wrapped by N-doped graphitic carbon), with high surface area (1080 m2g–1) and uniform mesopore and micropore (5.0 and 1.7 nm) for the construction of electrodes. Experimental results confirm that the catalyst can achieve an excellent nitrate removal capacity of 3410 mg N/g Fe, along with a reduction efficiency up to 87% and N2selectivity of 81% in neutral electrolyte (100 mg/L NO3–-N and 0.1 M Na2SO4) within 24 h. It is proposed that the active FeNxsites cooperated with sufficient Fe nanoparticles to be conducive to adsorption of O in NO3–on the catalyst for the improved performance. The material also presents long-term durability and good adaptability in the range of pH 5–9 and simulated neutral wastewater, mainly contributed by the protection of the mesostructure and graphitic N-doped carbon. These findings open the door to rational design of nonprecious metal iron-based functional electrocatalysts for water purification and environmental remediation.

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the standard of care for intermediate‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. The postembolization fever (PEF) is observed in 20% to 73% patients. This study aims to investigate the predictive factors of PEF and its impact on therapeutic response. From 2010 to 2015, a total of 525 HCC treatment naïve patients treated by TACE were recruited. Age, gender, etiologies of HCC, cirrhosis, tumor status, and pretherapy liver biochemistry were compared between patients with and without PEF. Predictors of PEF, complete response (CR), and progressive disease were analyzed by logistic regression. The PEF was observed in 185 patients (35.2%). The beyond up‐to‐seven, AST >2X upper limit of normal (ULN) and ALBI grade ≧2 were the independent predictors of PEF. Patients with PEF were less likely to achieve CR (18.4% vs 32.1%, P= .0017). Patients whose tumor burden beyond “up‐to‐seven” criteria with presence of tumor fever are least likely to achieve CR (aOR: 0.08, P= .022) and had higher risk for disease progression (aOR: 2.13, P= .082). PEF is related to heavier tumor burden and poorer liver reserve function. The presence of PEF is an unfavorable phenomenon correlating with poorer treatment response.

Most of sodium-layered oxide cathodes are unstable under moisture conditions. As a unique water-stable cathode, Na2/3Ni1/3Mn2/3O2(NNM) usually becomes vulnerable to water molecules after element substitution treatment to suppress the Na+vacancy ordering arrangement, which causes limited Na+diffusion kinetics. Herein, we show that these issues can be addressed simultaneously by rational designing the transition-metal (TM) layer to achieve both water-stable and Na+vacancy disordering structures. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the water-stability of the layered oxide cathode can be correlated to the surface adsorption energy of H2O molecules. In the TM layer, the Co/Mn and Fe/Mn units exhibit a much lower adsorption energy than that of the Li/Mn unit, and hence the H2O molecule prefers to be absorbed on Co/Mn and Fe/Mn units rather than Li/Mn. Moreover, the Li/Mn unit in the TM layer can suppress the Na+vacancy ordering structure in NNM to improve the Na+diffusion kinetics. As a consequence, the well-designed Na2/3Li1/9Ni5/18Mn2/3O2cathode can not only maintain its original crystal structure and electrochemical property after water soaking treatment but also exhibit high rate capability (78% capacity retention at 20 C) and excellent cycling stability (87% capacity retention after 1000 cycles).

Photocatalytic H2production and CO2reduction have attracted considerable attention for clean energy development. In this work, we designed an efficient photocatalyst by integrating lamellar oxygen-doped carbon nitride (CNO) nanosheets into ZnIn2S4(ZIS) microflowers by a one-step hydrothermal method. A well-fitted 2D hierarchical hybrid heterostructure was fabricated. Under visible light irradiation, the ZIS@CNO composite with 40 wt% CNO (ZC 40%) showed the highest hydrogen evolution rate from water (188.4 μmol·h−1), which was approximately 2.1 times higher than those of CNO and ZIS (88.6 and 90.2 μmol·h−1, respectively). Furthermore, the selective CO production rates of ZC 40% (12.69 μmol·h−1) were 2.2 and 14.0 times higher than those of ZIS (5.85 μmol·h−1) and CNO (0.91 μmol·h−1), respectively, and the CH4production rate of ZC 40% was 1.18 μmol·h−1. This enhanced photocatalytic activity of CNO@ZIS is due mainly to the formation of a heterostructure that can promote the transfer of photoinduced electrons and holes between CNO and ZIS, thereby efficiently avoiding recombination of electron-hole pairs.

Nitrate and phosphorous contamination owing to increasing fossil fuel consumption and the use of modern fertilizers is the leading cause of the eutrophication and deterioration of water quality worldwide. Herein, we introduced an N-doped ordered mesoporous carbon-based skeleton with Cu–Pd nanocrystals (Cu–Pd@N-OMC) for the electrocatalytic reduction of NO3−to dinitrogen (N2). Laboratory experiments demonstrated high NO3−removal (91%) and N2selectivity (97%) for eutrophic water treatment. The nanocatalyst also remained highly active over 15 experimental cycles. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) induced dispersion and the embedment of small Cu–Pd nanocrystals (4–9 nm) in the carbon mesochannels. Moreover, the metal loading was as low as 5 wt% with the Cu/Pd ratio at 4/1. The results suggested that the electrocatalytic reactivity could be fine-tuned by the size and crystallinity of the Cu–Pd nanoparticles through controlling the pyrolysis temperature. The high-density Cu–Pd nanocrystals promoted rapid hydrogen adsorption to cleave the N–O bond for high N2selectivity. The incorporation of MOFs and OMC improved the dispersion and stabilization of metallic nanoparticles for prolonged electrocatalytic activity and durability.

Hexanol is a major compound contributing to the off-flavors (the bean-like odor) of soybean derived soymilk. The most effective way to reduce the off-flavors of soymilk is the screening and utilization of soybean cultivars with improved hexanol content. However, no genome-wide genetic analysis for this particular trait has been conducted to date. The objective of the present study was to dissect the genetic basis of hexanol content in soybean seed through genome-wide association analysis (GWAS). A total of 105 soybean accessions were analyzed for hexanol content in a three-year experiments and genotyped by sequencing using the specific locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) approach. A total of 25 724 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained with minor allele frequencies (MAF)>5%. GWAS showed that 25 quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) were significantly associated with the hexanol concentration in soybean seed. These identified QTNs distributed on different genomic regions of the 15 chromosomes. A total of 91 genes were predicted as candidate genes underlying the seed hexanol level and six candidates were predicted possibly underlying the seed hexanol by gene based association. In this study, GWAS has been proven to be an effective way to dissect the genetic basis of the hexanol concentration in multiple genetic backgrounds. The identified beneficial alleles and candidate genes might be valuable for the improvement of marker-assisted breeding efficiency for low hexanol level and help to explore possible molecular mechanisms underlying hexanol content in soybean seed.

Low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) with NH3(NH3-SCR) has been identified as a promising strategy to mitigate the pollution of NOx. The fine control of synergistic effect and the suppression of aggregation of the active component, however, are still the challenge because of the weak interaction between the active component and matrix. In this work, a series of Ce-promoted Mn-based heterogeneous catalysts supported on mesoporous silica (SBA-15) with different Mn contents were prepared by two separated impregnation processes. Low-temperature NH3-SCR activity demonstrates that the Mn content in the catalyst has a great influence on the activity of the NH3-SCR reaction. The 20% MnOx–CeOx/SBA-15 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic performance in a broad temperature window. Moreover, it exhibits enhanced resistance to SO2and H2O and long-term durability during 72 h reaction. The highly dispersive active phase, the formation of solid solution, the high ratio of Ce3+, and the spatial confinement effect largely contribute to the outstanding activity and durability of the 20% MnOx–CeOx/SBA-15 catalyst. Finally, a monolithic catalyst fabricated by the 20% MnOx–CeOx/SBA-15 catalyst powder and cordierite substrate show promising industrial application.

Ischemic stroke is a common life-threatening disease. Epidemiological studies have shown that chronic periodontitis is closely related to ischemic stroke. However, it remains unknown whether periodontitis plays a direct role in the injury of cerebral ischemia. To explore the role of chronic periodontitis in the development process of ischemic stroke, we combined two mouse models: experimental periodontitis induced by a periodontal injection of lipopolysaccharide and ischemic stroke induced by the photothrombotic method. Alveolar bone loss and inflammatory infiltration of the periodontal tissue were found in the mice with experimental periodontitis. Periodontitis significantly increased the infarction volume, and numbers of activated microglia and astrocytes. Furthermore, an increased expression of nod-like receptor protein 3 inflammasome and interleukin-1β was detected in the peri-infarct region. We drew a conclusion that chronic periodontitis exacerbated ischemic stroke by increasing the activation of microglia/astrocytes and the expression of nod-like receptor protein 3 inflammasome and interleukin-1β. This suggested that chronic periodontitis played a role in ischemic brain injury directly through exacerbating the inflammation of the damaged brain.

In cancers, increased fucosylation (attachment of fucose sugar residues) on cell-surface glycans, resulting from the abnormal upregulation of the expression of specific fucosyltransferase enzymes (FUTs), is one of the most important types of glycan modifications associated with malignancy. Fucosylated glycans on cell surfaces are involved in a multitude of cellular interactions and signal regulation in normal biological processes, as well as in disease. For example, sialyl LewisXis a fucosylated cell-surface glycan that is abnormally abundant in some cancers where it has been implicated in facilitating metastasis, allowing circulating tumor cells to bind to the epithelial tissue within blood vessels and invade into secondary sites by taking advantage of glycan-mediated interactions. To identify inhibitors of FUT enzymes as potential cancer therapeutics, we have developed a novel high-throughput assay that makes use of a fluorogenically labeled oligosaccharide as a probe of fucosylation. This probe, which consists of a 4-methylumbelliferyl glycoside, is recognized and hydrolyzed by specific glycoside hydrolase enzymes to release fluorescent 4-methylumbelliferone, yet when the probe is fucosylated prior to treatment with the glycoside hydrolases, hydrolysis does not occur and no fluorescent signal is produced. We have demonstrated that this assay can be used to measure the inhibition of FUT enzymes by small molecules, because blocking fucosylation will allow glycosidase-catalyzed hydrolysis of the labeled oligosaccharide to produce a fluorescent signal. Employing this assay, we have screened a focused library of small molecules for inhibitors of a human FUT enzyme involved in the synthesis of sialyl LewisXand demonstrated that our approach can be used to identify potent FUT inhibitors from compound libraries in microtiter plate format.

Titanium alloy-based carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone laminates (TA2/Cf/PEEK), as an emerging type of fiber metal laminates, have demonstrated their massive potential in the field of aerospace. Nonetheless, the machining and forming of these laminates have long been a challenge due to the heterogeneity between the composite layers and the metal layers as well as the strain mismatch. In this study, experimental investigation and numerical simulation were conducted in combination to systematically explore the impact of deep drawing temperature and fiber orientation on the warm deep drawing characteristics of TA2/Cf/PEEK laminates. It is revealed that the deep drawing at a temperature slightly above the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the composites can improve the quality of formed parts compared to room temperature and melt temperature (Tm). Moreover, this study illustrates the profound influence of fiber orientation on boundary dimensions, thickness distribution, and stress-strain extension direction of the formed parts. Notably, the (0/45/90/-45°) fiber orientation in TA2/Cf/PEEK laminates exhibits pseudo-isotropic behavior, which is effective in mitigating the anisotropy of the composite layers and endowing them with excellent forming properties. Furthermore, the mechanism behind the influence of the intermediate composite's state on the forming quality of FMLs is determined, which provides a reference for further research on the deep drawing of TA2/Cf/PEEK laminates.

Excessive nutrients (N and P) are among the most concerned pollutants in surface and ground waters. Herein, we report nanoscale zero-valent iron supported on ordered mesoporous carbon (nZVI@OMC) for electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate (NO3–) to nitrogen gas (N2). This material has a maximum removal capacity of 315 mg N/g Fe and nitrogen selectivity up to 74%. The Fe–C nanocomposite is prepared via a postsynthetic modification including carbon surface oxidation, in-situammonia prehydrolysis of iron precursor and hydrogen reduction. The synthesized materials have large surface areas (660–830 m2/g) and small iron nanoparticles (3–9 nm) uniformly dispersed in the carbon mesochannels. The iron loading can be adjusted in the range of 0–45%. Results demonstrate that the reaction reactivity of electrocatalysis can be fine-tuned by manipulating iron nanoparticle size, degree of crystallization, as well as porous structure. Meanwhile, the small, uniform, and stable iron nanoparticle promotes fast hydrogen generation for rapid cleavage of the N–O bond. Furthermore, this material can maintain its high performance over repetitive experimental cycles. Results suggest a new approach for fast and eco-friendly nitrate reduction and a novel nZVI application.