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Abstract The purpose of signal control is to allocate time for competing traffic flows to ensure safety. Artificial intelligence has made transportation researchers more interested in adaptive traffic signal control, and recent literature confirms that deep reinforcement learning (DRL) can be effectively applied to adaptive traffic signal control. Deep neural networks enhance the learning potential of reinforcement learning. This study applies the DRL method, Double Deep Q‐Network, to train local agents. Each local agent learns independently to accommodate the regional traffic flows and dynamics. After completing the learning, a global agent is created to integrate and unify the action policies selected by each local agent to achieve the purpose of traffic signal coordination. Traffic flow conditions are simulated through the simulation of urban mobility. The benefits of the proposed approach include improving the efficiency of intersections and minimizing the overall average waiting time of vehicles. The proposed multi‐agent reinforcement learning model significantly improves the average vehicle waiting time and queue length compared with the results from PASSER‐V and pre‐timed signal setting strategies.

Information storage and anti-counterfeiting are two very important applications of photochromic materials. Photochromic materials with both information storage and anti-counterfeiting should meet the requirements including fast coloration, good stability and reversibility, low storage cost, and practical application value. Herein, a novel viologen-based coordination polymer, Cd[(pbpy)0.5(HBTC)Cl]⋅2H2O (1) (pbpy = 1,1'-[1,4-phenylenebis-(methylene)]bis(4,4'-bipyridinium); HBTC2- = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid), has been constructed. Compound 1 not only exhibits selective amine sensing properties, but also shows excellent photochromic properties, and the anti-counterfeiting of a two-dimensional code can be also realized through the color-changing behavior. Meanwhile, photochromic glass films of compound 1 were prepared, and compared to traditional optical information storage technology, these photochromic glass films have better water resistance and stability, improving their practical application stability. This work has further enriched the application of photochromic materials in the field of sensing, anti-counterfeiting and information storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In insects, superoxide dismutases (SODs) play a critical role in the scavenging of harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protecting against oxidative stress induced by various environmental stresses. The Asiatic rice borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is an economically important insect pest of rice crops. In this study, a mitochondrial manganese SOD (Cs-mMnSOD) gene was characterized in C. suppressalis. The deduced Cs-mMnSOD protein has typical highly conserved features of mitochondrial manganese SODs, including four manganese binding residues, the signature DVWEHAYY peptide, and a mitochondrial-targeting sequence at the N -terminus. Transcription of Cs-mMnSOD was detectable at all developmental stages, but highest in pupae. Furthermore, the mRNA level of Cs-mMnSOD was strongly upregulated (more than twofold increase) following exposure to low and high temperatures (4, 30 and 35°C), insecticides (chlorpyrifos and chlorantraniliprole), and chemical reagents (cumene hydroperoxide, paraquat, H2O2 and CdCl2), but slightly elevated (less than twofold increase) in response to 8°C, abamectin and CuSO4. Additionally, the Cs-mMnSOD transcription results were consistent with the enzymatic activity data of the protein product. Purified recombinant Cs-mMnSOD protein expressed in Escherichia coli displayed SOD activity and thermostability. Furthermore, E. coli cells overexpressing Cs-mMnSOD exhibited long-term resistance to the oxidative inducers cumene hydroperoxide and paraquat. Our findings indicate that Cs-mMnSOD plays an important role in protecting C. suppressalis against oxidative damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An open reading frame of thea-subunit 1-205 residues (a205) of human acetylcholine receptor (AchR) was amplified by PCR with pUC-AChRa205 as the template and inserted into vector pMAL-c2X. The constructed pMARa205 was transferred intoE. coliBL21 which were then grown in LB medium. The amount of soluble MBP-AChRa205 protein reached about 25% of total soluble proteins from the cell lysate. Using amylose-affinity chromatography, about 35 mg MBP-AChRa205 could be obtained from 1 l culture. Western blot analysis and ELISA showed that immunoreactivities of both MBP-AChRa205 and AChRa205 were similar to that of AChRa-subunit fromTorpedo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]