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The clinical application of cancer immunotherapy is unsatisfied due to low response rates and systemic immune-related adverse events. Microwave hyperthermia can be used as a synergistic immunotherapy to amplify the antitumor effect. Herein, we designed a Gd-based metal-organic framework (Gd-MOF) nanosystem for MRI-guided thermotherapy and synergistic immunotherapy, which featured high performance in drug loading and tumor tissue penetration. The PD-1 inhibitor (aPD-1) was initially loaded in the porous Gd-MOF (Gd/M) nanosystem. Then, the phase change material (PCM) and the cancer cell membrane were further sequentially modified on the surface of Gd/MP to obtain Gd-MOF@aPD-1@CM (Gd/MPC). When entering the tumor microenvironment (TME), Gd/MPC induces immunogenic death of tumor cells through microwave thermal responsiveness, improves tumor suppressive immune microenvironment and further enhances anti-tumor ability of T cells by releasing aPD-1. Meanwhile, Gd/MPC can be used for contrast-enhanced MRI. Transcriptomics data revealed that the downregulation of MSK2 in cancer cells leads to the downregulation of c-fos and c-jun, and ultimately leads to the apoptosis of cancer cells after treatment. In general, Gd/MPC nanosystem not only solves the problem of system side effect, but also achieves the controlled drug release via PCM, providing a promising theranostic nanoplatform for development of cancer combination immunotherapy.

In the creep fatigue crack growth of GH4169 alloy, oxidation is a prominent damage source, which is mainly manifested as the oxidation damage zone in front of crack tip. In order to investigate the property of the oxidation damage zone formed in the creep fatigue crack growth, crack growth tests of directly aged GH4169 alloy were conducted at 650 °C in air under various load conditions. Interrupted tests were performed to observe the damage characteristics at crack tip. Block tests were systematically executed to quantify the dependency of oxidation damage zone size on load and holding time. The crack propagation of the GH4169 alloy has a close relationship with grain boundary oxidation at 650 °C. An oxidation damage zone in front of crack tip includes intergranular microcracks and oxidised but uncracked grain boundaries. Its size has been calculated from transient crack growth rate and described as a function of maximum stress intensity factor and holding time. Based on oxidation damage zone size, a novel model has been developed to predict the creep fatigue crack growth rate of the GH4169 alloy at 650 °C.

In this work (CoCrNi)100−xNbx(x= 0–23.08 at.%) medium-entropy alloys were designed to investigate the solidification process and principle. The solid solubility of Nb in CoCrNi equiatomic MEA was discovered to be less than 0.46 at.%, and a fully eutectic structure was obtained at Co28.9Cr28.9Ni28.9Nb13.3alloy. Fcc and Laves phases are the main component phases in the (CoCrNi)100−xNbxalloys. With the increasing Nb content, the volume fraction of fcc decreased, accompanied by the increment of Laves phase. Based on CALPHAD and experimental results, the top-left corner of the (CoCrNi)Nb pseudo binary phase diagram was achieved. Hypoeutectic (CoCrNi)100−xNbx(x< 13.3 at.%) alloys undergo the following solidification process: at first, primary dendrites with fcc structure nucleate and grow in the melt, then, eutectic reaction occurs and a mixture of Laves and fcc eutectic structure is obtained. Conversely, for hypereutectic (CoCrNi)100−xNbx(x> 13.3 at.%) alloys, the primary dendrite of Laves phase form, followed by the eutectic reaction of L → fcc + Laves.

Sterol regulatory element–binding proteins (SREBPs) are transcription factors that have important roles in the genes involved in lipid biosynthesis. In this study, it was found that the flavonoid pectolinarigenin, reduced the activity of SRE-containing fatty acid synthase (FAS) promoter and the mRNA expressions of SREBP target genes in human hepatoma (Huh-7) cells. Moreover, compared with other flavonoids, pectolinarigenin reduced the mature forms of SREBPs in a dose-dependent manner. The insulin-induced gene (INSIG) and proteasome were not involved in the pectolinarigenin-mediated reduction of mature forms of SREBPs. Pectolinarigenin also reduced the lipid contents in vitro. These results suggest that pectolinarigenin may inhibit lipogenesis through suppressing SREBP activity, at least partially, via the formation of SREBPs mature forms, thereby reducing the expression of their downstream genes related to lipogenesis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that shows how pectolinarigenin affects cellular lipid levels by affecting SREBPs.Graphical AbstractThe possible mechanism of pectolinarigenin treatment on SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP) and lipogenesis (SREBP, sterol regulatory element-binding protein).

A noninvasive prenatal Rh immune globin (RHD) genotyping by real-time polymerase chain reaction is studied using plasma from D-negative pregnant women for the management of hemolytic disease of the fetus. Fetal RHD genotyping in this study correctly predicted fetal Rh status in 92 of 98 cases.

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Graphical abstract:

Temperature stability is a critical factor affecting the performance of the most subsystems in the lithography system, due to the high precision and sensitivity of system components to temperature variations. The temperature control system of the lithography machine is characterized by its large inertial constant, time delay characteristics, as well as susceptibility to multiple disturbances. The temperature control system of the lithography machine chiefly requires response speed, high accuracy, and stable and constant temperature control. The contribution of this study is not only avoiding complex precision modeling processes based on real-time parameter estimation and neural network self-tuning but also improving the performance of temperature control in real time under external disturbances. A novel adaptive algorithm with a cascade structure based on generalized predictive control (GPC) and backpropagation (BP) neural network proportional-integral (PI) control is successfully proposed for high accuracy temperature control of lithography machine with a large inertial constant, time delay, and multiple disturbances. In this study, firstly, the liquid circulating temperature control system is developed based on heat exchanger and heater. Secondly, an adaptive controller composed of GPC and BP neural network PI control is successfully proposed. A BP neural network is employed to enable the parameters of the PI controller to adjust in real time, and the mathematical model parameters of the control system are identified in real time by the least square method. Also, the performance of the proposed controller is evaluated comparing with conventional PI controller and GPC controller in terms of robustness and quantitative study of error analysis. Finally, the temperature stability and robustness of the temperature control system controlled with the proposed adaptive GPC-PI algorithm has been investigated by the simulation results carried out in different working scenarios. The simulation results show that the steady-state error from the proposed algorithm is less than 0.01°C under the action of disturbance input. It can effectively counteract the influence of environmental interference and time-varying system parameters. The results of the simulation experiment indicate that the proposed adaptive GPC and PI control algorithm exhibits significant advantages in terms of control accuracy, anti-interference ability, and robustness compared to the conventional control method.

Loss of either TSC1 or TSC2 causes tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) via activation of mTOR signaling pathway. The two prominent features of TSC are skin lesions including hypomelanic macules and benign tumors in multiple organs, whose molecular alterations are largely unknown. We report here that Xc−cystine/glutamate antiporter (xCT) was elevated in Tsc2−/−or Pten−/−cells, Tsc1knockout mouse tissues and TSC2-deficient human kidney tumor. xCT was transcriptionally boosted by mTOR-mediated Oct1 signaling cascade. Augmented xCT led to reduction of eumelanin and elevation of pheomelanin in Tsc1skin knockout mice through mTOR signaling pathway. Disruption of xCT suppressed the proliferation and tumorigenesis of Pten-null cells and Tsc2-null cells. mTOR hyperactive cells were more sensitive to inhibitors of mTOR or xCT. Combined inhibition of mTOR and xCT synergistically blocked the propagation and oncogenesis of mTOR hyperactive cells. Therefore, oncogenic mTOR activation of xCT is a key connection between aberrant melanin synthesis and tumorigenesis. We suggest that xCT is a novel therapeutic target for TSC and other aberrant mTOR-related diseases.

Three new bisindole alkaloids, 3'-(2-oxopropyl)-19,20-dihydrotabernamine (1), 3'-(2-oxopropyl)-ervahanine B (2), 19,20-dihydrovobparicine (3), and 20 known compounds were isolated from the aerial parts of Tabernaemontana bufalina. The structures of these alkaloids were elucidated using spectroscopic methods. The absolute configurations of 1-3 were determined by the circular dichroic exciton chirality method. Compounds 1-23 were screened for their cytotoxicity against two human cancer cell lines, A-549 and MCF-7. Ten compounds (1-3, 10, 14, 16, 17, 19, 22,and 23) exhibited inhibitory effects against the two human cancer cells with IC50 values of 1.19 ~ 6.13 µM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence has linked the gut microbiome to human obesity. We performed a metagenome-wide association study and serum metabolomics profiling in a cohort of lean and obese, young, Chinese individuals. We identified obesity-associated gut microbial species linked to changes in circulating metabolites. The abundance of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a glutamate-fermenting commensal, was markedly decreased in obese individuals and was inversely correlated with serum glutamate concentration. Consistently, gavage with B. thetaiotaomicron reduced plasma glutamate concentration and alleviated diet-induced body-weight gain and adiposity in mice. Furthermore, weight-loss intervention by bariatric surgery partially reversed obesity-associated microbial and metabolic alterations in obese individuals, including the decreased abundance of B. thetaiotaomicron and the elevated serum glutamate concentration. Our findings identify previously unknown links between intestinal microbiota alterations, circulating amino acids and obesity, suggesting that it may be possible to intervene in obesity by targeting the gut microbiota.

In order to improve the machining accuracy and production efficiency of face-gear, a method of face-gear generating hobbing by worm is provided in this paper. The principle of face-gear hobbing worm is analyzed, and the mathematical model of the worm is presented based on the principle and the theory of meshing. Taking the hobbing needs into account, the special machine tool is provided, and the movement control method of face-gear hobbing by the worm on the machine tool is proposed. The equation of face-gear tooth surface is calculated, and the 3-D model of face-gear is established based on CATIA software. To reduce the face-gear tooth profile errors induced by ratio errors, an error analysis model of face-gear hobbing is established. The experiment is carried out, and the completed specimen is detected by Coordinate Measuring Machining (CMM). The processing parameter is amended according to the tooth flank detection results, and the maximum normal deviation of the whole tooth surface of the face-gear specimen is improved from 243.2 µm to 61.0 µm. Experiment results demonstrate that the method of face-gear hobbing by worm is an effective approach to achieve the precision face-gear with high dimensional accuracy.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the potential for diagnosing colorectal cancer (CRC) from faecal metagenomes.DesignWe performed metagenome-wide association studies on faecal samples from 74 patients with CRC and 54 controls from China, and validated the results in 16 patients and 24 controls from Denmark. We further validated the biomarkers in two published cohorts from France and Austria. Finally, we employed targeted quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays to evaluate diagnostic potential of selected biomarkers in an independent Chinese cohort of 47 patients and 109 controls.ResultsBesides confirming known associations of Fusobacterium nucleatumand Peptostreptococcus stomatiswith CRC, we found significant associations with several species, including Parvimonas micraand Solobacterium moorei. We identified 20 microbial gene markers that differentiated CRC and control microbiomes, and validated 4 markers in the Danish cohort. In the French and Austrian cohorts, these four genes distinguished CRC metagenomes from controls with areas under the receiver-operating curve (AUC) of 0.72 and 0.77, respectively. qPCR measurements of two of these genes accurately classified patients with CRC in the independent Chinese cohort with AUC=0.84 and OR of 23. These genes were enriched in early-stage (I–II) patient microbiomes, highlighting the potential for using faecal metagenomic biomarkers for early diagnosis of CRC.ConclusionsWe present the first metagenomic profiling study of CRC faecal microbiomes to discover and validate microbial biomarkers in ethnically different cohorts, and to independently validate selected biomarkers using an affordable clinically relevant technology. Our study thus takes a step further towards affordable non-invasive early diagnostic biomarkers for CRC from faecal samples.

To improve the machining accuracy and production efficiency of face gears, this article presents a generating milling method for the spur face gear using a five-axis computer numerical control milling machine and proposes a milling principle of the spur face gear using a milling cutter. Based on the milling principle and theory of gearing, a mathematical model of the spur face gear milling cutter is established, and the design parameters of the cutter are determined. Considering the requirements of machine motion during the face gear milling process, a five-axis computer numerical control milling machine is developed to produce the face gear. Based on the structure of the milling machine, a mathematical model of the spur face gear is established, and a milling method is proposed. The spur face gear milling cutter is manufactured, and the face gear milling experiments are conducted on the self-developed milling machine. The measurement results of the tooth surface deviations indicate that the maximum deviation is 22.6 µm, and that the machined spur face gear accuracy can meet the requirements of roughing. The experimental results verify the validity of the proposed generating milling method and demonstrate that the generating milling method is an effective approach to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the spur face gear.

The aim of this study was to test the effects of visual and audiovisual distraction on pain, anxiety, and procedure tolerance among patients undergoing colonoscopy. A prospective, randomized, controlled design was used with 180 consecutive patients who underwent colonoscopy. Subjects were randomly allocated into 3 groups: Group A received visual distraction, Group B received audiovisual distraction, Group C with routine care. Outcome variables included pain, anxiety, and willingness to undergo colonoscopy again if the procedure was to be repeated. No significant difference was found on the pain scores of the 3 groups. However, when groups A and B were further divided into groups A1, A2, A3 (low-, middle-, high-involvement groups), and B1, B2, B3 (low-, middle-, high-involvement groups) according to the level of distraction involvement, significant differences in pain scores were found between 7 groups (A1 and A3, A2 and A3, A1 and B3, A2 and B3, A3 and C, B1 and B3, B3 and C). The pain score of Group A3 was significantly lower than those of groups A1, A2, and C, and the pain score of Group B3 was significantly lower than those of groups B1 and C. The reduction of anxiety levels after procedure was insignificant between the 2 intervention groups and control group. The rates of willingness to undergo colonoscopy again if the procedure was to be repeated of the 2 intervention groups were significantly higher than that of the control group. Visual and audiovisual distraction is effective in promoting pain control for patients undergoing colonoscopy and improving their tolerance of the procedure.

The study used the bibiometric analysis to assess papers on emission inventory from 2001-2012, based on the SCIE and SSCI databases. The paper analyzed publication outputs, subject categories, major journals, authors’ outputs, geographic distribution of publications, international collaboration and author keywords. Our research identified a total of 5995 emission inventory-related publications during the period. Most of the papers related to emission inventory were published in journals linkd to the atmosphere. Streets, DG from Argonne National Laboratory contributed most in the research of emission inventory whose total papers, total citations, the average number of citations and H-index were all in the leading position. The USA, with the most independent and internationally collaborative papers, cooperated with China most. Global emission inventory research focused on life cycle assessment, greenhouse gases, models, remote sensing and so on, which may serve as a foundation for further research in emission inventory field.

We present an efficient way for measuring the entanglement of atoms. The concurrence of atomic entanglement can be obtained according to the probability of picking up the singlet states of the atoms. In this protocol, we require the phenomenon of optical Faraday rotation, but the entangled atoms do not need to be in contact with each other and the atomic entanglement can be distributed nonlocally. Moreover, our way of measuring the concurrence for atoms can also be suitable for other solid systems, such as quantum dots inside microcavities and the nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) defect centers in diamonds, which can also induce the optical Faraday rotation. All these advantages provide important applications in future distributed quantum computations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of analysis in Zhejiang, this paper uses the trend fitting method, the quadratic exponential smoothing model and multiple linear regression and grey GM (1, 1) portfolio model to forecast electricity consumption in 2012-2020 in Zhejiang, and compare the various methods of prediction accuracy.

We study a waveguide QED system with a rectangular waveguide and a two-level system inside, where the transverse magnetic TMmn modes define the quantum channels of guided photons. It is discovered that the loss of photons from the TM11 channel into the others can be overcome by replacing it with a certain coherent superposition of TMmn channels, which is named the controllable channel (CC), as the photons in the CC can be perfectly reflected or transmitted by the two-level system and never lost into the other channels. A dark state emerges when the photon is incident from one of the scattering-free channels orthogonal to the CC. The underlying physics mechanism is the multichannel interference associated with Fano resonance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a single-photon frequency converter via a one-dimensional waveguide coupled to a three-level V-type atom. An on-demand classical driving field is used to couple to the atom, allowing it to absorb a photon with a given frequency and then emit a photon with a different carried frequency. We study such a single-photon frequency conversion mechanism in two kinds of realistic physical systems: the system of coupled-resonator waveguide with cosine dispersion relation and the one of waveguide with linear dispersion relation. To demonstrate the single-photon transfer efficiency, we introduce the concept of scattering flows via the calculation of group velocities and find that the driving field prefers to be weak in the coupled-resonator waveguide but arbitrarily strong in the linear waveguide to achieve an optimal transfer efficiency. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our theoretical model is experimentally feasible with currently available technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a single-photon router using a single atom with an inversion center coupled to quantum multichannels made of coupled-resonator waveguides. We show that the spontaneous emission of the atom can direct single photons from one quantum channel into another. The on-demand classical field perfectly switches off the single-photon routing due to the quantum interference in the atomic amplitudes of optical transitions. Total reflections in the incident channel are due to the photonic bound state in the continuum. Two virtual channels, named the scatter-free and controllable channels, are found, which are coherent superpositions of quantum channels. Any incident photon in the scatter-free channel is totally transmitted. The propagating states of the controllable channel are orthogonal to those of the scatter-free channel. Single photons in the controllable channel can be perfectly reflected or transmitted by the atom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the fundamental flow equations of high-pressure gas pipeline, the numerical solution for unsteady-state flow was studied with the Central difference scheme. Considered the energy equation and urban gas regular, the problem of low calculation precision caused by ignorance of the energy equation was solved. During the variation of gas consumption with time, the dynamic simulation program was generated. Finally, a numerical example of engineering application was presented .

We study the coherent propagation of light whose dynamics is governed by the effective Schrödinger equation derived in a magneto-optically manipulated atomic ensemble with a four-level tripod configuration for electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The small transverse deflection of an optical beam, which is ultrasensitive to the EIT effect, could be drastically amplified via a weak measurement with an appropriate preselection and postselection of the polarization state. The physical mechanism is explained as the effect of wave-packet reshaping, which results in an enlarged group velocity in the transverse direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an entanglement purification protocol (EPP) to reconstruct some maximally hybrid entangled states (HESs) from nonmaximally mixed HESs. We use simple linear optical elements such as a polarization beam splitter (PBS) and beam splitter (BS) to achieve this task. Meanwhile, it is shown that the parity-check gates acted by PBS and BS are enough to complete the task, and the controIIed-NOT (CNOT) gates or similar logic operations are not needed. Unlike the current EPPs, this protocol can purify not only the conventional bit-flip error and phase-flip error but also the dissipation error coming from the photon loss of the coherent state. It can also be extended to achieve the purification for multiphoton and multicoherent state HES. This protocol may be useful in current hybrid quantum repeaters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photovoltaic power generation, as the effective complement of the existing grid, usually adopts the on-grid method，which needs to solve the frequency and phase tracking problem; otherwise, once the frequency and phase of the electric energy in the photovoltaic power generation system are different from those in the grid, the solar power will become an interference source of the existing grid. In the on-grid photovoltaic power generation simulate system, use a DC power supply and a resistance to simulate solar cells. The microcontroller outputs SPWM signals to control the status of the high-frequency power tubes in the inverter circuit，thus changing the DC energy power into AC power with the same frequency and phase of the grid. On the other hand, because the light and temperature will affect the outputting features of the solar cells, usually we require the solar cells work at the maximum power output point. In the system, we use the microcontroller to realize the maximum power point tracking algorithm. Seen from the experimental results, the quality of the output wave is good; by testing, the efficiency of the whole machine is above 80%.

We study the coherent transport of a single photon in a one-dimensional coupled-resonator array, nonlocally coupled to a two-level system. Since its inherent structure is a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, we explain the destructive interference phenomenon of the transmission spectra according to the effect of which-way detection. The quantum realization of the present model is a nanoelectromechanical resonator array with two nearest resonators coupled to a single spin via their attached magnetic tips. Its classical simulation is a waveguide of a coupled-defected cavity array with double couplings to a side-defected cavity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present two realistic entanglement concentration protocols (ECPs) for pure partially entangled photons. A partially entangled photon pair can be concentrated to a maximally entangled pair with only an ancillary single photon with a certain probability, while the conventional ECPs require two copies of partially entangled pairs at least. Our first protocol is implemented with linear optics and the second protocol is implemented with cross-Kerr-nonlinearities. Compared with other ECPs, they do not need to know the accurate coefficients of the initial state. With linear optics, it is feasible with current experiments. With cross-Kerr-nonlinearities, it does not require sophisticated single-photon detectors and can be repeated to get a higher success probability. Moreover, the second protocol can get the higher entanglement transformation efficiency and it may be the most economical protocol by far. Meanwhile, both protocols are more suitable for multiphoton system concentration because they need less operations and classical communications. All these advantages make the two protocols useful in current long-distance quantum communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the efficiency of dynamic frequency selection (DFS) in mitigating interference among neighboring low-power cognitive wireless portable networks operating in the TV white space. We derive an interference model to predict the range and level of interference generated in the TV bands by portable low-height antenna cognitive wireless access points in suburban and urban areas. Based on the aforementioned model, we provide an analysis of the spectral availability for either the scenarios where DFS coexistence is employed or not. The steps of our analysis are introduced in a tutorial fashion, and a coexistence case study of TVWS enabled low-power cognitive wireless portable APs in Japan is presented. Our analysis demonstrates the intrinsic relationship SA holds with the TVWS channel set as well as statistical information (e.g., household density of wards and cities, Internet penetration, and white space radio AP market penetration).

On the basis of analyzing the necessary, such as the bridge monitoring data management, safety state evaluation, evaluation opinions and etc , this paper designs a remote monitoring and assessment system (BRMAS)with the parametric, intelligent and modular design thought, and applicates object-oriented software Microsoft VC++ to developt BRMAS system, which gives a system structure, function module and evaluation model. Through applying the design scheme and developed software into a highway bridge management, applications indicated that BRMAS system is very maneuverable, and realize the modern information management of bridges.

Formulas of flux and power consumption of twin screw pulping extruder (TSPE) based on extrusion model deal with nearly all of geometrical and mechanical parameters of the twin screw and the material processed, they are not convenient for estimation and initial design of the machine. Adopting dimensional analysis based on similarity theory and considering the most important factors, such as outer diameter of screw, rotational speed of screw and average pressure between barrel and material processed, estimation equations of flux and power consumption of the TSPE are deduced in the paper, and the correction coefficients are determined by experiment data. The estimation results show that the estimation and theoretical results have similar changeable trend although there are some errors. The work is easy to apply in the estimation and initial design of the TSPE, and complement the design theory and method of the TSPE.

Original weak electrical signals in Clivia miniata were tested by a touching test system of self-made double shields with platinum sensors. Tested data of electrical signals denoised by the wavelet soft threshold and using Gaussian radial base function (RBF) as the time series at a delayed input window chosen at 50. An intelligent RBF forecasting system was set up to forecast the signal in plants. Testing result shows that it is feasible to forecast the plant electrical signal for a short period. The forecast data can be used as an important preferences for the intelligent automatic control system based on the adaptive characteristic of plants to achieve the energy saving on agricultural production both the greenhouse and /or the plastic lookum.

y=f(m,t)c+g(m,t) for the first time. A mechanism on the information transmission of the nutrition growth in plants was discussed by the math language. The bark and timber at a stem of plants could be derived from phloem and xylem cells respectively because the wave period of electric signals’ c in cambium cells was rather short and needed to transfer the growth information of cells to the circumference rapidly. It was why the wave period of electric signals at the cambium of plants was shorter than the phloem and xylem. Only positive amplitude value of electric signals of the xylem was bigger than the phloem and cambium, which expressed the needed more energies for the elongated growth up of plants. An importance is that the discovery in this paper may find out the character preferences for constructing a system of the intelligent control growth by feedback information at the transmission of the signals in plants or crops, and to realize the energy saving and pollutant abating to environments.

. For a medium or large-sized gear drive, in order to achieve the optimum weight reduction effect, an approach of weight reduction design is proposed that multi-objective optimization of gear parameters is carried out firstly, and then structural optimization is adopted to design the gear former. The rational design parameters of a gear drive are determined by the multi-objective optimization with minimizing the sum of gear volumes and the equivalent moment of inertia of input shaft (EMI) synchronously. Conceptual design of the former is given by structural topology optimization of the gear, and the reasonability of topology optimization can be demonstrated by static and dynamic analysis. The results indicate that for a double-reduction gearbox of 500KW co-rotating twin screw pulping extruder, the EMI of the gear drive reduces by 20.88% through the multi-objective optimization of gear parameters, and the moment of inertia of a bull gear reduces by 38.86% through structural topology optimization.

The limited clinical response and serious side effect have been challenging in cancer immunotherapy resulting from immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and inferior drug targeting. Herein, an active targeting TME nanoplatform capable of revising the immunosuppressive TME microenvironment is designed. Briefly, gold nanorods (GNRs) are covered with silica dioxide (SiO2) and then coated manganese dioxide (MnO2) to obtain GNRs@SiO2@MnO2(GSM). Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) membrane is further camouflaged on the surface of GSM to obtain GNRs@SiO2@MnO2@MDSCs (GSMM). In this system, GSMM inherits active targeting TME capacity of MDSCs. The localized surface plasmon resonance of GNRs is developed in near-infrared II window by MnO2layer coating, realizing NIR-II window photothermal imaging and photoacoustic imaging of GSMM. Based on the release of Mn2+in acidic TME, GSMM can be also used for magnetic resonance imaging. In cancer cells, Mn2+catalyzes H2O2into ·OH for (chemodynamic therapy) CDT leading to activate cGAS-STING, but also directly acts on STING inducing secretion of type I interferons, pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Additionally, photothermal therapy and CDT-mediated immunogenic cell death of tumor cells can further enhance anti-tumor immunity via exposure of CRT, HMGB1 and ATP. In summary, our nanoplatform realizes multimodal cancer imaging and dual immunotherapy.

Objective: To study the antidepressant effects and its mechanism of bioactive compounds (metabolite extract) from entomogenous fungi (BCEF) on experimental animal models of depression.Methods: The antidepressant effect of BCEF was examined on the acquired models of depression (rats and mice in forced swimming test) and unpredictable chronic stress mouse models. The behavior alterations were assayed by detecting the duration of immobility in forced swimming test. UV spectrophotometer analysis technique was used to detect the activity of Superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) and catalase (CAT) in mice brain mitochondria; and colorimetric method was used to detect the content of malondealdehyde (MDA), nitrogen oxide (NO) in rat brain cytoplasm and mitochondria.Results: BCEF (25, 50, 100 mg/kg) could obviously shorten the immobility time in forced swimming mice and BCEF (50,100 mg/kg) could obviously shorten the immobility time in forced swimming rats. Both of them showed some extent of dose-effect relationship. BCEF (50, 100 mg/kg) could significantly inhibit the increase of MDA and NO content in brain mitochondria and cytoplasm in chronic unpredictable stress models. BCEF (25,50,100 mg/kg) could obviously enhance the activities of SOD and GSH-PX. BCEF (50 mg/kg) also enhances the activities of CAT.Conclusion: BCEF has antidepressant effects in depressed animal models. The anti-oxidation may be one of the important mechanisms.

Summary. A new reagent, potassium permanganate adsorbed on aluminum silicate, suitable for the oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds is described.

Ablation of Slc22a14causes male infertility in mice, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we show that SLC22A14 is a riboflavin transporter localized at the inner mitochondrial membrane of the spermatozoa mid-piece and show by genetic, biochemical, multi-omic, and nutritional evidence that riboflavin transport deficiency suppresses the oxidative phosphorylation and reprograms spermatozoa energy metabolism by disrupting flavoenzyme functions. Specifically, we find that fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) is defective with significantly reduced levels of acyl-carnitines and metabolites from the TCA cycle (the citric acid cycle) but accumulated triglycerides and free fatty acids in Slc22a14knockout spermatozoa. We demonstrate that Slc22a14-mediated FAO is essential for spermatozoa energy generation and motility. Furthermore, sperm from wild-type mice treated with a riboflavin-deficient diet mimics those in Slc22a14knockout mice, confirming that an altered riboflavin level causes spermatozoa morphological and bioenergetic defects. Beyond substantially advancing our understanding of spermatozoa energy metabolism, our study provides an attractive target for the development of male contraceptives.

Zika virus (ZIKV) causes microcephaly by killing neural precursor cells (NPCs) and other brain cells. ZIKV also displays therapeutic oncolytic activity against glioblastoma (GBM) stem cells (GSCs). Here we demonstrate that ZIKV preferentially infected and killed GSCs and stem-like cells in medulloblastoma and ependymoma in a SOX2-dependent manner. Targeting SOX2 severely attenuated ZIKV infection, in contrast to AXL. As mechanisms of SOX2-mediated ZIKV infection, we identified inverse expression of antiviral interferon response genes (ISGs) and positive correlation with integrin αv(ITGAV). ZIKV infection was disrupted by genetic targeting of ITGAV or its binding partner ITGB5 and by an antibody specific for integrin αvβ5. ZIKV selectively eliminated GSCs from species-matched human mature cerebral organoids and GBM surgical specimens, which was reversed by integrin αvβ5inhibition. Collectively, our studies identify integrin αvβ5as a functional cancer stem cell marker essential for GBM maintenance and ZIKV infection, providing potential brain tumor therapy.

This paper proposes a new distributed wavelength-routed optical burst switching (WR-OBS) network architecture and two corresponding control protocols. By taking advantage of merits from both just enough time (JET) protocol and two-way signaling method, this new control architecture outperforms traditional JET OBS network in points of burst loss probability, system throughput and centralized WR-OBS network in network scalability confirmed by computer simulations. Further simulation is developed to compare the performance of the two control protocols, which leads to instructive discussion in real WR-OBS network design.

The gut microbiota has been typically viewed as an environmental factor for human health. Twins are well suited for investigating the concordance of their gut microbiomes and decomposing genetic and environmental influences. However, existing twin studies utilizing metagenomic shotgun sequencing have included only a few samples. Here, we sequenced fecal samples from 250 adult twins in the TwinsUK registry and constructed a comprehensive gut microbial reference gene catalog. We demonstrate heritability of many microbial taxa and functional modules in the gut microbiome, including those associated with diseases. Moreover, we identified 8 million SNPs in the gut microbiome and observe a high similarity in microbiome SNPs between twins that slowly decreases after decades of living apart. The results shed new light on the genetic and environmental influences on the composition and function of the gut microbiome that could relate to risk of complex diseases.