Search

In the push to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, nuclear power will play an essential role alongside renewable wind and solar power, and correspondingly global interest and investment in this well-established technology is accelerating. The uranium present in seawater could support nuclear power generation for centuries, but traditional adsorptive separation strategies have proven ineffective for the selective extraction of uranium from this vast resource. Here, we report the synthesis of nanowires of a triazine-linked two-dimensional covalent organic framework via a solvent modulation approach, which can be used to access nanowire external diameters ranging from 50 to 200 nm. The 100 nm nanowires are exceptionally promising for the capture of uranium(VI) via photocatalytic reduction. Under simulated sunlight and without the use of sacrificial agents, the nanowires achieve a uranium uptake of 10.9 g/g from a 100 ppm uranyl(VI) solution, which is the highest reported to date among materials studied for photo and electrocatalytic uranium capture. Significantly, these nanowires exhibit a uranium adsorption capacity of 34.5 mg/g after exposure to seawater under irradiation for 42 days, a record among all materials reported to date for uranium capture.

This article presents a method for using a conventional high-voltage cable as a transducer and exciting it with a pulse power supply to generate perfect cylindrical acoustic waves in water. The experimental results prove that the acoustic pulse strictly follows the propagation law of cylindrical waves. There is a slight fluctuation of sound pressure in the direction parallel to the cable and no directivity in the plane perpendicular to the cable. Under excitation energy of 1000 J, the duration of the acoustic pulse generated by a 12-m cable is about 500 μs, the dominant frequency is around 3000 Hz, the effective source level reaches 195 dB, and the energy conversion efficiency is 0.012%. This method breaks through the traditional mode of forming a line source by combining point sources. The vibration and acoustic radiation along the cable are continuous, and the cylindrical waves are very stable. Based on the comparative analysis of marine single-channel seismic exploration, line source shows the potential to change the traditional method based on point source and spherical wave theory. It provides a new method for simplifying the survey system and improving exploration accuracy.

This paper introduces a two-stage stochastic optimization model for the renewables-transmission expansion planning (RTEP) problem to obtain the optimal size and site of the renewable energy generating unit, as well as the investment decisions related to transmission lines and gas pipelines. The uncertainties associated with demand growth and stochastic renewable sources production levels are considered via a series of scenarios, and then, the scenario-reduction approach, i.e., the k-medoids method, is applied to reduce the computation burden. In addition, the gas flow-pressure difference steady-state formulations in the expansion planning model are reconstructed convexly using second-order cone constraints. A Benders-based decomposition method is adopted as a solution methodology in the co-planning problem. The proposed model was simulated on a modified IEEE 39-bus and Belgian gas-20 energy test network, and the simulation results validate the correctness and applicability of the presented approaches.

The risk of cardiovascular disease is associated with the echo intensity of carotid plaques in ultrasound images and their cardiac cycle‐induced intensity variations. In this study, we aimed to 1) explore the underlying origin of echo intensity variations by using simulations and 2) evaluate the association between the two‐dimensional (2D) spatial distribution of these echo intensity variations and plaque vulnerability. First, we analyzed how out‐of‐plane motion and compression of simulated scattering spheres of different sizes affect the ultrasound echo intensity. Next, we propose a method to analyze the features of the 2D spatial distribution of interframe plaque echo intensity in carotid ultrasound image sequences and explore their associations with plaque vulnerability in experimental data. The simulations showed that the magnitude of echo intensity changes was similar for both the out‐of‐plane motion and compression, but for scattering objects smaller than 1 mm radius, the out‐of‐plane motion dominated. In experimental data, maps of the 2D spatial distribution of the echo intensity variations had a low correlation with standard B‐mode echo intensity distribution, indicating complementary information on plaque tissue composition. In addition, we found the existence of ∼1 mm diameter subregions with pronounced echo intensity variations associated with plaque vulnerability. The results indicate that out‐of‐plane motion contributes to intra‐plaque regions of high echo intensity variation. The 2D echo intensity variation maps may provide complementary information for assessing plaque composition and vulnerability. Further studies are needed to verify this method's role in identifying vulnerable plaques and predicting cardiovascular disease risk.

By the end of 2020, 83 silver deposits (or ore occurrences), including four super-large-scale deposits, nine large-scale deposits, 33 medium-scale deposits and 37 small-scale deposits or ore occurrences, have been proved. The amount of silver metal exceeds 86000 t with average grade of 100 g/t, which makes Daxing’ anling region one of the the most important silver ore belt in China. However, the metallogenic characteristics and metallogenesis need to be clarified. The silver deposits in the study area are classified into three main types, which are magmatic hydrothermal vein type, continental volcano-subvolcanic type and skarn type, respectively. The supergiant deposits include the Shuangjianzishan deposit (silver metal amount of 15214 t with average grade of 138 g/t), the Baiyinchagandongshan deposit (silver metal amount of 9446 t with average grade of 187 g/t), the Huaobaote deposit (silver metal amount of 6852 t with average grade of 170 g/t), and the Fuxingtun deposit (silver metal amount of 5240 t with average grade of 196 g/t). The silver deposits are mainly distributed in the central and south of the Daxing’anling area, and mainly formed in the Yanshanian period. The silver polymetallic deposits in the Daxinganling area are significantly controlled by regional faults and the junction zone of volcanic rock basins and their margins. The north-east trending deep faults are the most important ore-controlling structures in this area. The distribution of silver polymetallic deposits along the main faults is obvious, and the intersection area of multiple groups of faults often form important mine catchments. The Permian is the most important ore-bearing formation in this area, but some important silver polymetallic deposits occur in Mesozoic volcanic basins or pre-Mesozoic strata. The magmatic rocks related to mineralization are mainly intermediate acidic or acidic intrusions, intermediate acidic lavas, pyroclastic rocks, and small intrusions of ultra-shallow or shallow facies of the Yanshanian Period. The mineralization element combination is mainly determined by the elemental geochemical background of surrounding rocks or source layers. In addition, the type of deposit, the distance from the mineralization center, and the degree of differentiation of ore-forming rock mass are also important influence factors. The article analyzes the prospecting prospects of each silver deposit type in the study area, discusses the relationship between mineralization center and deep prospecting, and proposes that porphyry silver deposits should be paid attention to. In the prospecting and exploration of silver deposits, comprehensive evaluation and multi-target prospecting need to be strengthened because silver can coexist or be associated with a variety of metals.

Chieh-qua is an important cucurbit crop and very popular in South China and Southeast Asia. Despite its significance, its genetic basis and domestication history are unclear. In this study, we have successfully generated a chromosome-level reference genome assembly for the chieh-qua ‘A36’ using a hybrid assembly strategy that combines PacBio long reads and Illumina short reads. The assembled genome of chieh-qua is approximately 953.3 Mb in size and is organized into 12 chromosomes, with contig N50 of 6.9 Mb and scaffold N50 of 68.2 Mb. Notably, the chieh-qua genome is comparable in size to the wax gourd genome. Through gene prediction analysis, we have identified a total of 24 593 protein-coding genes in the A36 genome. Additionally, approximately 56.6% (539.3 Mb) of the chieh-qua genome consists of repetitive sequences. Comparative genome analysis revealed that chieh-qua and wax gourd are closely related, indicating a close evolutionary relationship between the two species. Population genomic analysis, employing 129 chieh-qua accessions and 146 wax gourd accessions, demonstrated that chieh-qua exhibits greater genetic diversity compared to wax gourd. We also employed the GWAS method to identify related QTLs associated with subgynoecy, an interested and important trait in chieh-qua. The MYB59(BhiCQ0880026447) exhibited relatively high expression levels in the shoot apex of four subgynoecious varieties compared with monoecious varieties. Overall, this research provides insights into the domestication history of chieh-qua and offers valuable genomic resources for further molecular research.

Low latency is a prerequisite for real-time applications, and random access is almost an inevitable choice for large-scale wireless networks. In this article, we consider how to decrease access delay in random access manners for the industrial Internet of Things. We propose a novel scheme by integrating multiple subchannels on the user equipment (UE) side with message-level successive interference cancellation (SIC) on the sink side. Specifically, for any UE that starts an uplink transmission, it just stochastically chooses parts of its subchannels and then simultaneously transmits the same message on them without any power control. On the sink side, the sink decodes signals from UEs using SIC across multiple subchannels. Based on the proposed multichannel SIC scheme, minimizing the access delay in the random access manner is equivalent to minimizing the probability of decoding deadlock. Based on the mathematical method of density evolution and the help from the differential evolution algorithm, an optimal distribution for choosing subchannels is presented. With the optimal distribution, the average access delay is minimized.

Aqueous film-forming foam extinguishing agent (AFFF) plays an important role in fighting pool fires, but the environmental problems caused by them are also increasingly apparent. The key component of traditional AFFF is C8 fluorocarbon surfactant, which is harmful to the ecological environment and human health. In this paper, a perfluorinated branched short-chain fluorocarbon anionic surfactant with high surface activity, simple synthesis route and easy industrial scale-up was reported. The surface activity and aggregation behavior of the mixed solution of this fluorocarbon surfactant and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) were studied by surface tension meter and transmission electron microscope. The results showed that CTAB and anionic fluorocarbon surfactant had the significant synergistic effect, and many vesicles could be observed to nestle together at the concentration of 0.0406 mol/L. Subsequently, three environmental friendly AFFF formulations (F-1, F-2, F-3) were designed with the mixed system of this fluorocarbon surfactant, CTAB and dodecyl betaine (BS-12) as foaming agent. The foam properties confirmed that F-1 possessed excellent foam properties, the initial foam height h0was 115.34 mm, 25% drainage time was 182.4 s, extinguishing time was 31 s, and burn-back time was 720 s. This type of fire extinguishing agent had potential for fire protection applications.

Proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) is an attractive technology in drug discovery. Canonically, targets act as a basic starting point in the most previous PROTAC design. Here, we designed degraders considering from the view of clinical benefits. With this novel design, Brigatinib was turned into a degrader SIAIS164018 and endowed with unique features. First, SIAIS164018 could degrade not only ALK fusion proteins in activating or G1202R-mutated form but also mutant EGFR with L858R + T790M, which are two most important targets in non-small-cell lung cancer. Second, SIAIS164018 strongly inhibited cell migration and invasion of Calu-1 and MDA-MB-231. Third and surprisingly, SIAIS164018 degrades several important oncoproteins involved in metastasis such as FAK, PYK2, and PTK6. Interestingly, SIAIS164018 reshuffled the kinome ranking profile when compared to Brigatinib. Finally, SIAIS164018 is orally bioavailable and well tolerated in vivo. SIAIS164018 is an enlightening degrader for us to excavate the charm of protein degradation.

The American bullfrog (Aquarana catesbeiana) is an economically important aquaculture species in China. Intensive high-density breeding of American bullfrogs has caused a variety of diseases. In this study, we isolated a dominant strain, STR202108, from the viscera of American bullfrogs raised on a bullfrog farm in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, and affected by a disease outbreak that has led to many deaths. We identified the strain as Streptococcus iniae, on the basis of morphological, biochemical and phylogenetic analyses. Regression infection experiments using strain STR202108 indicated that the clinical signs in artificially infected bullfrogs were the same as those in naturally diseased bullfrogs. The typical clinical signs were hepatomegaly with white necrosis, and renal and intestinal bleeding. Histopathological examination indicated that strain STR202108 damaged multiple organs, such as the liver and intestines, in bullfrogs. Drug sensitivity tests showed that STR202108 was sensitive to tetracyclines, macrolides and β-lactam antibiotics. Challenge with high concentrations of the isolated strain STR202108 resulted in a high mortality rate in zebrafish, but no clear clinical signs or death in mice. This study is the first report of Streptococcus iniaeinfection in American bullfrogs. These results may aid in elucidating the pathogenicity of Streptococcus iniaein a variety of animals, and in controlling and preventing Streptococcus iniaeinfections in American bullfrogs.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of dietary Lactobacillus reuterion the antimicrobial activity, antioxidant capacity, immune response, and disease resistance against Streptococcus agalactiaeof the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The results of in vitro antibacterial assay demonstrated that L. reuterihad antibacterial effects against the main pathogenic bacteria of tilapia, S. agalactiaeand Aeromonas hydrophila. A feeding trial was next conducted, fingerling tilapia were fed with basal diet (control [CT]) supplemented with L. reuteriat concentrations of 109(R9), 1010(R10), and 1011(R11) colony-forming units /kg for 56 days. Dietary L. reuterisignificantly decreased blood glucose (p < 0.05) and significantly increased LZM activity of serum in R10 and R11 groups as compared to the CT group. In addition, the activity of glutathione peroxidase was decreased in R11 group, the level of malondialdehyde was decreased and the level of glutathione was increased in R10 and R11 group, and the level of total antioxidant capacity was increased in R9, R10 and R11 groups (p < 0.05).As compared to the CT group, the transcriptional level of TGF-βwas significantly increased in liver samples of the R10 and R11 groups (p < 0.05). In the intestinal mucosa, mRNA expression of TGF-βwas significantly upregulated, while that of IL-1βwas significantly downregulated in the R10 and R11 groups (p < 0.05). Moreover, the survival rate was significantly higher in tilapia fed L. reuterithan the CT group after challenge with S. agalactiae. The relative percent survival of the R10 and R11 groups compared to CT group was 35.30%, and the RPS of group R9 compared to group CT was 23.53%. These results demonstrate that dietary L. reuterienhanced antioxidant capacity, regulated immune-related genes and improved resistance against S. agalactiaein tilapia.

We describe an efficient decision tree searching strategy (DTSS) to boost the identification of cross-linked peptides. The DTSS approach allows the identification of a wealth of complementary information to facilitate the construction of more protein–protein interaction networks for human cell lysate, which was tested by the use of a recently reported cross-linking data set (ACS Cent. Sci.2019, 5, 1514–1522). A variant of the PhoX-linker, named pDSPE, was synthesized and applied to cross-link Escherichia colicell lysate to demonstrate that the acquisition of doubly charged ions can significantly improve identification results. The method can be seamlessly integrated to other search engines to maximize the number of identified cross-links.

The concrete aging problem has gained more attention in recent years as more bridges and tunnels in the United States lack proper maintenance. Though the Federal Highway Administration requires these public concrete structures to be inspected regularly, on-site manual inspection by human operators is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Conventional inspection approaches for concrete inspection, using RGB image-based thresholding methods, are not able to determine metric information as well as accurate location information for assessed defects for conditions. To address this challenge, we propose a deep neural network &#x0028 DNN &#x0029 based concrete inspection system using a quadrotor flying robot &#x0028 referred to as CityFlyer &#x0029 mounted with an RGB-D camera. The inspection system introduces several novel modules. Firstly, a visual-inertial fusion approach is introduced to perform camera and robot positioning and structure 3D metric reconstruction. The reconstructed map is used to retrieve the location and metric information of the defects. Secondly, we introduce a DNN model, namely AdaNet, to detect concrete spalling and cracking, with the capability of maintaining robustness under various distances between the camera and concrete surface. In order to train the model, we craft a new dataset, i.e., the concrete structure spalling and cracking &#x0028 CSSC &#x0029 dataset, which is released publicly to the research community. Finally, we introduce a 3D semantic mapping method using the annotated framework to reconstruct the concrete structure for visualization. We performed comparative studies and demonstrated that our AdaNet can achieve 8.41 &#x0025 higher detection accuracy than ResNets and VGGs. Moreover, we conducted five field tests, of which three are manual hand-held tests and two are drone-based field tests. These results indicate that our system is capable of performing metric field inspection, and can serve as an effective tool for civil engineers.

This article reports the synthesis of a novel sulfonated fluorocarbon surfactant (SFDC) containing double C6perfluorinated branched short chains and compares its surface properties with a similar structured compound (SFDC-L) in solutions. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the corresponding surface tension (γCMC) of SFDC aqueous solution are 9.77 × 10–3mmol/L and 22.15 mN/m, respectively, indicating that SFDC has excellent surface properties. Besides, the addition of n-hexyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB) could further enhance the surface properties of SFDC. Meanwhile, the micellization, aggregation behavior, wettability, and adsorption at the air–water interface of SFDC and SFDC/HTAB mixture aqueous solutions are systematically investigated. Both SFDC and SFDC/HTAB show excellent wettability at low concentrations. The aggregation of SFDC and SFDC/HTAB mixtures in aqueous solution could be clearly seen as vesicles and rod-like micelles on TEM micrographs.

A new class of N-phenyl-divinylsulfonamides which can be easily prepared have been successfully developed and utilized as efficient linkers in the field of disulfide bond modification. Functional divinylsulfonamides provide opportunities for the specific introduction of various functionalities, including affinity probes, fluorescent tags, and drugs, into peptides.

Compound 1((−)-gossypol) has been long known as a chemical anticancer agent. With its low water solubility and toxicity, it is not widely used as a commercial drug. To overcome these disadvantages, several novel derivatives of gossypol were designed, synthesized, and analyzed. One of the derivatives, compound 7(6-aminopenicillanic acid sodium-gossypolone), was identified with great water solubility and anticancer property, suggested by inducing a dramatically decrease in Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL protein expression level found in vitro and growth inhibition of murine colon tumor in vivo. Furthermore, it was also recognized with less toxicity than compound 1in vivo and significantly increased chemotherapeutic sensitivity against colon cancer in combination with traditional chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil. Therefore, it is concluded that compound 7is superior to parent compound 1, and further preclinical studies of compound 7is necessary for colon cancer therapy.

The oncogenic fusion protein BCR-ABL is the driving force of leukemogenesis in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Despite great progress for CML treatment through application of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) against BCR-ABL, long-term drug administration and clinical resistance continue to be an issue. Herein, we described the design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel proteolysis-targeting chimeric (PROTAC) small molecules targeting BCR-ABL which connect dasatinib and VHL E3 ubiquitin ligase ligand by extensive optimization of linkers. Our efforts have yielded SIAIS178 (19), which induces proper interaction between BCR-ABL and VHL ligase leading to effective degradation of BCR-ABL protein, achieves significant growth inhibition of BCR-ABL+leukemic cells in vitro, and induces substantial tumor regression against K562 xenograft tumors in vivo. In addition, SIAIS178 also degrades several clinically relevant resistance-conferring mutations. Our data indicate that SIAIS178 as efficacious BCR-ABL degrader warrants extensive further investigation for the treatment of BCR-ABL+leukemia.

A H2O-regulated chemoselective addition in oxa- and aza-Michael reactions for aminoalcohols and mixtures of structurally similar alcohols and amines was reported. The oxa-Michael reactions might be kinetically controlled, and the reactions to produce O-selective products were slowed by the addition of water. The electrophilicity of Michael acceptors and the steric hindrance of Michael donors also affect the ratios of O/N products. This method offers novel ideas over conventional metal-catalyzed or ligand-induced strategies.

The ever-increasing environmental and toxicity concerns have resulted in the widespread development of fluorosurfactants without long perfluorinated chain (≥ C8). The surveys have reported that perfluoroether chains are easier to degrade than fluorinated chains due to the better flexibility of ether bond. Herein, four novel kinds of fluorosurfactants with a perfluorinated branched ether chain were reported, which can be synthesized via a simple and economical route. These surfactants all exhibited extremely high surface activity. The effect of salt and pH on the surface activities of the newly prepared surfactants were studied. The results showed that these surfactants possessed excellent acid and alkali resistance except that the anionic surfactant was slightly sensitive to acid. Interfacial tension of oil/water and thermodynamic properties of the surfactants were further investigated for the purpose of special applications. This series of surfactants had great thermal stability and the fluorinated cationic surfactant can spread on the oil surface under the condition of low concentration. These excellent properties indicate that these surfactants possess good prospect for industrial applications.

An organic base-promoted chemoselective alkylation of lenalidomide with different halides was developed, which offers a novel approach to a highly functionalized lenalidomide-based PROTAC library under mild reaction conditions. DIPEA was found to act as an efficient base to trigger facile generation of arylamine alkylation products compared with inorganic bases. This library was successfully applied to BET PROTAC, which not only degraded BET protein but also effectively inhibited cancer cell proliferation.

Use of N-methyl-N-phenylvinylsulfonamides to perform chemoselective modification of cysteine-containing peptides and proteins is reported. Probes linked to the drug were applicable to prepare antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs). The drug–antibody ratio for ADCs was controlled by rationally tuning the electron deficiency and linker hydrophilicity of the probes.

A protocol for a CoII/N,N′,N′′‐trihydroxyisocyanuric acid (THICA)‐catalyzed aerobic oxidative esterification and amidation of aldehydes has been developed. Preliminary insight into the mechanism indicates that such an oxidative C−O/N cross‐coupling reaction proceeds by masking the aldehyde in a nucleophilic addition reaction with an alkoxy/amino source, thereby keeping the highly reactive formyl group from undesired oxidation. This protocol for the oxidative esterification and amidation of aldehydes proceeds through two different pathways that are characterized by the intrinsic nucleophilicity of the alkanol and amine substrates The former occurs in the presence of p‐CH3C6H4SO3H as a cocatalyst and orthoformates as the alkoxy sources, instead of alkanols, to efficiently afford the transient acetals. In contrast, the coupling of the more nucleophilic amines with aldehydes renders a readily accessible cross‐coupling reaction that occurs without any cocatalyst but is limited by the potential inhibition of THICA upon nucleophilic substitution by an amine. Consequently, only sterically hindered amines were tolerated in this catalytic system, whereas further condensation occurred in the presence of primary amines to lead to imines. Through THICA and thin: A protocol for a CoII/N,N′,N′′‐trihydroxyisocyanuric acid (THICA) mediated aerobic oxidative esterification and amidation of aldehydes has been developed. A variety of esters and amides were obtained in moderate to excellent yields by using this one‐step approach.

The long noncoding RNA HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) has been found to be overexpressed in many human malignancies and involved in tumor progression and metastasis. Although the downstream target through which HOTAIR modulates tumor metastasis is not well known, evidence suggests that microRNA-197 (miR-197) might be involved in this event. In the present study, the significance of HOTAIR and miR-197 in the progression of colorectal cancer was detected in vitro and in vivo. We found that HOTAIR expression was significantly increased in colorectal cancer cells and tissues. In contrast, the expression of miR-197 was obviously decreased. We further demonstrated that HOTAIR knockdown promoted apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, HOTAIR modulated the progression of colorectal cancer by competitively binding miR-197. Taken together, our study has identified a novel pathway through which HOTAIR exerts its oncogenic role and provided a molecular basis for potential applications of HOTAIR in the prognosis and treatment of colorectal cancer.

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Among the surgical and nonsurgical treatments available, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and sorafenib have been shown to have efficacy. There is little evidence whether combination of these therapies would have additional benefits.Methods In a mouse model of HCC, effects of sorafenib were determined by tumor size, RFA-induced necrosis area (triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining), microvascular density (MVD; 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and anti-CD31 antibody staining), and tumor perfusion (magnetic resonance imaging).Results The RFA-induced necrosis area was 80.98 ± 9.14 and 69.49 ± 7.46 mm2in mice administered 80 and 40 mg/kg sorafenib, respectively, but only 57.29 ± 3.39 mm2in controls. Sorafenib also reduced tumor volume and enhanced RFA-induced tumor destruction in a dose-dependent manner, and reduced both MVD and tumor perfusion.Conclusions The results of our study suggest a potential role for combining RFA with sorafenib for treatment of HCC. Sorafenib could enhance RFA efficiency, possibly through its angiogenesis suppressive effects.

The WRKY transcription factors play an important role in plant resistance for biotic and abiotic stresses. In the present study, we cloned 10 WRKY gene homologs (CqWRKY) in Chieh-qua (Benincasa hispidaCogn. var. Chieh-qua) using the rapid-amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) or homology-based cloning methods. We characterized the structure of these CqWRKY genes. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences with cucumber homologs suggested possible structural conservation of these genes among cucurbit crops. We examined the expression levels of these genes in response to fusaric acid (FA) treatment between resistant and susceptible Chieh-qua lines with quantitative real-time PCR. All genes could be upregulated upon FA treatment, but four CqWRKY genes exhibited differential expression between resistant and susceptible lines before and after FA application. CqWRKY31seemed to be a positive regulator while CqWRKY1, CqWRKY23and CqWRKY53were negative regulators of fusaric resistance. This is the first report of characterization of WRKY family genes in Chieh-qua. The results may also be useful in breeding Chieh-qua for Fusarium wilt resistance.

Self-immolative linkers have been widely used to construct prodrugs to improve their efficacy and safety. In this study, we report the use of phenoxysilyl linker as a self-immolative unit to prepare antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Phenoxysily based ADC Ate-PPS-CA4 was prepared and its release was systematically investigated by mass spectrometry. Biological evaluation showed that Ate-PPS-CA4 displayed the ability to target delivery and self-immolative release the active payload CA4 on PD-L1 positive cells MDA-MB-231. As the same with its payload CA4, it could arrest the cell cycle to the G2/M phase and induced changes in cell morphology at the dose of its IC50. The development of this linker with novel drug release mechanisms will expand the methodology to construct ADCs, especially for non-internalizing ADCs by extracellular cleavage.

Here we reported a novel and efficient method for the synthesis of the critical intermediates of branched fluorinated surfactants with CF3CF2CF2C(CF3)2- group using HFPD as starting material. The reaction conditions were mild and easy to handle, which was promisingly applied to the industrial production.

•The full-length mRNA of cobia Chemerin1was cloned and analyzed.•The RcChemerin1were highly expressed in blood, gill, liver and spleen.•The RcChemerin1expression showed up-regulated in immune tissues post immunostimulation.

The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of Lactobacillus reuterias a dietary supplement on growth performance, nutrient retention, digestive enzyme activities, intestinal morphology, expression of intestinal tight junction (TJ) proteins and composition of the gut microbiota in juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Fish (9.01 ± 0.11 g) were fed with a basal diet supplemented with 0 (control group), 109(R9 group), 1010(R10 group), or 1011(R11 group) colony-forming units (CFU) of L. reuteriper kg of feed. After 8 weeks, the weight gain rate, specific growth rate and lipid retention were significantly enhanced in the R10 and R11 groups. In addition, villus height and mucin secretion were significantly increased in the groups supplemented with L. reuteri. Trypsin activity was increased in the foregut of the R10 and R11 groups and the midgut of the R11 group, while lipase activity was increased in the foregut of the R11. Additionally, the expression level of genes coding the intestinal TJ proteins Hif1α, ZO-1, and Occludin were up-regulated with increasing dietary L. reuterisupplementation. Furthermore, dietary L. reuterisupplementation improved the diversity (Shannon index, Simpson index and principal coordinate analysis), changed the composition of gut microbiota, and increased the relationships among bacterial species. These results indicate that dietary supplementation with L. reuteriat 1011CFU/kg promotes the growth performance, nutrient retention, gut health and microbiota of O. niloticus.

A series of novel malonate derivatives-calix[4]arene conjugates were synthesized through Knoevenagel condensation reaction, and the structures of these functionalized calix[4]arenes have been determined.

This minireview describes the strategies for synthesis of fluorinated surfactants potentially non-bioaccumulable.

Cu–0.81Cr–0.12Zr–0.05La–0.05Y (mass fraction) alloy was successively subjected to hot rolling, solid solution treatment, cold rolling and aging treatments. Its microstructure, microhardness and electrical conductivity at different states were systematically investigated. The as-cast microstructure consists of three phases: Cu matrix, Cr and Cu5Zr. Zr is completely dissolved into the matrix while partial Cr remains after the solid solution treatment. Aging of the cold-rolled sample makes nanocrystals of Cr and Cu5Zr precipitate from the matrix, and the microhardness and electrical conductivity rise. A combination of high microhardness (HV 186) and high conductivity (81% IACS) can be obtained by aging the sample at 773 K for 60 min. As the aging temperature increases, the orientation degree of the Cu crystals gradually decreases to zero, but the microstrain in them cannot be eliminated completely owing to the presence of precipitates and dislocations. The Cr precipitates exhibit the N–W orientation relationship with the matrix when the coherence strengthening mechanism plays a main role.

Synthesis and anionic polymerization of the fluorine-substituted phenyl methacrylates are herein reported. A series of mono-, di-, and multi-substituted fluorophenyl methacrylates H2C=C(CH3)C(O)OC6H4F-4 (M1a), H2C=C(CH3)C(O)OC6H4F-3 (M1b), H2C=C(CH3)C(O)OC6H3F2-2,4 (M2), H2C=C(CH3)C(O)OC6H2F3-2,3,4 (M3), H2C=C(CH3)C(O)OC6HF4-2,3,5,6 (M4), and H2C=C(CH3)C(O)OC6F5(M5) were synthesized and characterized. Initially, the polymerization was carried out on the monomer M1aby using nBuLi, tBuLi, and KH as the respective catalysts; this approach produced the polymers in yields of 12%–50%, but with lower molecular weights. Similar results were obtained by using tBuLi for catalytically polymerizing the other five monomers. By introducing a co-catalyst MeAl(BHT)2, the catalysts NaH, LiH, and tBuOLi each were tested to polymerize M1a, which gave the polymers in very low yields (3%–7%). Polymer yields of 13%–27% were obtained by each of the catalysts LiAlH4, nBuLi, PhLi, and tBuLi in connection with MeAl(BHT)2, but a better yield (61%) was achieved with KH/MeAl(BHT)2. The KH/MeAl(BHT)2catalyst system was further employed to polymerize M1band M2, which afforded respective polymer yields of 12%–63% and 10%–53%, depending on the molar ratios of KH:MeAl(BHT)2as well as on the monomer concentrations. All of the polymers produced were syndiotactically rich in structure, as indicated by either 1H or 19F NMR data. The polymerization mechanism by the combined catalyst system is proposed.

Background: The Marshall computed tomography (CT) system for classification of traumatic brain injury (TBI) includes the most important independent prognostic variables except for traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (tSAH).

Background: Decompressing craniectomy (DC) is an important method for the management of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Diatomite/TiO2 composite films were prepared with diatomite and P25 TiO2 nanoparticles on conductive glass substrates. The surface morphology and phase composition of the film were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X ray diffraction (XRD). It is concluded that diatomite doped into the film will form granular cores. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) were fabricated with the diatomite/TiO2 composite film as anode, and the photoelectric properties of the cells were tested. Results show that the doping of diatomite can significantly increase the open circuit voltage and short circuit current of DSSC. Optimized photoelectric properties can be acquired as 1.3 percent diatomite doped in TiO2 film.

Maintenance training of airborne electronic equipment is the guarantee of working orderly for the airplane. The best choice of maintenance training is using real electronic equipment so that high training cost and potential damage to normally working equipment exist. To reduce the training cost and risk, a virtual maintenance training system of airborne electronic equipment is designed and implemented using virtual reality technology. The architecture of this virtual training system is given. In this architecture, three-dimensional model of electronic equipment is implemented by 3DMax software, and GL Studio software is used to create the operation response of all manipulations. Signal models based on multi signals flaw graph is used to simulate various faults. Finally, the application of this virtual maintenance training system in daily aircraft maintenance training show good training efficiency.

Perfluoro epoxy compounds are important intermediates in organic chemistry, however, the methods for preparing them are scanty. We found that in situ generated tri-n-butylamine N-oxide and N,N-Dimethylcyclohexylamine N-oxide were found to be good reagents for the epoxidation of tri-substituted Perfluoro-2-methyl-2-pentene in good to excellent yields. Catalytic epoxidation methods were developed by coupling this reaction with the N-oxidation of tertiary amine by hydrogen peroxide or MCPBA. The advantages of these methods are easy work-up, mild reaction conditions, environmentally friendly and low cost. The reaction using MCPBA as a oxidant is better than hydrogen peroxide for it is fast and high yielding.

The synthesis and crystal structures of three oxacalixcrowns are described.

AbstractCellulose triacetate (CTA) forward osmosis membranes were prepared by immersion precipitation. Following a standard recipe for the preparation of reverse osmosis membranes, the concentrations of polymer, additives (lactic acid, methanol), and solvent composition in the casting solution were investigated with respect to membrane permeation and salt rejection. The membrane preparation parameters including the evaporation time and the coagulation bath temperature were investigated as well. A CTA membrane with a quasi double-skinned morphology was obtained. The CTA FO membrane showed a water flux higher than 10 kg/m2h using 2 M glucose water solution as the draw solution and 0. 5 M NaCl as feed. A NaCl rejection of 95% was obtained.

Cellulose triacetate (CTA) forward osmosis membranes were prepared by immersion precipitation. Following a standard recipe for the preparation of reverse osmosis membranes, the concentrations of polymer, additives (lactic acid, methanol), and solvent composition in the casting solution were investigated with respect to membrane permeation and salt rejection. The membrane preparation parameters including the evaporation time and the coagulation bath temperature were investigated as well. A CTA membrane with a quasi double-skinned morphology was obtained. The CTA FO membrane showed a water flux higher than 10 kg/m2h using 2M glucose water solution as the draw solution and 0. 5M NaCl as feed. A NaCl rejection of 95% was obtained.

Android uses permissions for application security management. Android also allows inter-application communication (IAC), which enables cooperation between different applications to perform complex tasks by using some components and Intents. In other words, Android provides more flexibility and places less restriction on application development. This is a major feature that differentiates Android from its competitors. However, IAC also facilitates malicious applications that can collude in attacks of privilege escalation. In this paper, the authors demonstrate with case studies that all IAC channels can potentially be utilized for privilege escalation attacks, and the authors propose a refinement to solve this problem by enforcing IAC permissions and exposing IAC to users.

When several ultra-wide band (UWB) communication systems coexist, multiuser interferences (MUI) are unavoidable. To cope with the MUI of UWB systems, the independent of UWB signals are investigated and a novel receiving method is proposed. At first several antennas are utilized to receive the transmitted signals of different UWB users, and the mixture signals are gained. Then the mixed signals are separated by independent component analysis algorithm to recover the transmitted signals of each UWB users. Finally, the information of each UWB users transmitted is demodulated. Computer simulations show that the proposed method can efficiently resist the interference of different UWB users.

Oxacalix[4]aromatics comprised of terphenylene units have been synthesized by cyclooligomerization of 5′‐tert‐butyl‐1,1′:3′,1″‐terphenyl‐4,4″‐diol (1) and electron‐deficient meta‐dihalogenated benzene and heterocycles. Single‐crystal X‐ray analysis revealed that oxacalix[2]terphenylene[2]pyrazine 13adopts a chair conformation, forming a molecular cavity to trap an ethyl acetate guest molecule in the solid state. 1,3‐Alternate conformations are adopted by other oxacalix[2]terphenylene[2]aromatics (11, 12and 15), which form a narrow tweezer‐like molecular cavity that is incapable of encapsulating any guest molecules.

An efficient strategy for a high‐yielding and stereoselective synthesis of α‐trifluoromethyl unsaturated carboxylic acids directly from the reactions of 3,3,3‐trifluoropropanoic acid (CF3CH2COOH) with various aryl aldehydes in the presence of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) is reported here for the first time, which is a valuable expansion for the classical Knoevenagel reaction. Because these compounds may have potential applications in organic electronics and can be easily converted to the corresponding fluorinated alcohols and amino acids with excellent bioactivity, this route should be a good choice for the preparation of α‐trifluoromethyl‐containing derivatives.

In this paper, we present a dynamic ant colony optimisation (ACO) algorithm to solve dynamic traffic routing problem. The main objective of this work is to search out the least-time-cost route in a variable-edge-weight graph. We introduce time-dependent pheromones and electric-field model as two heuristic factors to improve the basic ACO. The simulation results show that the proposed dynamic ACO algorithm can effectively reduce time cost by avoiding the dynamic congestion areas. Finally, this proposed heuristic algorithm is verified to be steady-going by repeated testing.

To investigate the structural form of gossypol and gossypolone Schiff's bases, seven relevant Schiff's bases were synthesized and the electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (ESI–MS/MS) with low-energy collision-induced dissociation was used to analyze their fragmentations. A common fragmentation pathway with the loss of RNH2 from those schiff's bases quasi-molecular ions was observed and proposed on the basis of their MS/MS spectra data. This common pathway indicated that those Schiff's bases existed mainly as the enamine form not the imine form previously showed in most reports.