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Cloud-aided mobile edge networks (CAMENs) allow edge servers (ESs) to purchase resources from remote cloud servers (CSs), while overcoming resource shortage when handling computation-intensive tasks of mobile users (MUs). Conventional trading mechanisms (e.g., onsite trading) confront many challenges, including decision-making overhead (e.g., latency) and potential trading failures. This paper investigates a series of cross-layer matching mechanisms to achieve stable and cost-effective resource provisioning across different layers (i.e., MUs, ESs, CSs), seamlessly integrated into a novel hybrid paradigm that incorporates futures and spot trading. In futures trading, we explore an overbooking-driven aforehand cross-layer matching (OA-CLM) mechanism, facilitating two future contract types: contract between MUs and ESs, and contract between ESs and CSs, while assessing potential risks under historical statistical analysis. In spot trading, we design two backup plans respond to current network/market conditions: determination on contractual MUs that should switch to local processing from edge/cloud services; and an onsite cross-layer matching (OS-CLM) mechanism that engages participants in real-time practical transactions. We next show that our matching mechanisms theoretically satisfy stability, individual rationality, competitive equilibrium, and weak Pareto optimality. Comprehensive simulations in real-world and numerical network settings confirm the corresponding efficacy, while revealing remarkable improvements in time/energy efficiency and social welfare.

Natural gas is increasingly recognized as a clean energy source due to its high quality, low pollution levels, and abundant availability. However, certain gas fields contain complex components that require purification for efficient transportation and utilization. Addressing these issues involves efficient gas–liquid separation technology. Existing gas–liquid separation units face challenges such as efficiency, liquid entrainment, energy consumption, and the need for consumable replacement. This study focuses on a novel cyclone-coalescence separator that combines centrifugal and coalescence principles. Implemented in a high-acid natural gas purification plant in China, the cyclone-coalescence separator demonstrated efficiency primarily influenced by gas velocity and diameter. Optimal performance was observed with a 75 mm diameter reactor at velocities of 8–12 m·s−1, achieving a peak efficiency of 96%. The hydrophilic glass fiber with a monofilament structure can coalesce droplets effectively. In practical industrial use, under operational conditions, the hydrocyclone's liquid discharge rate is 89.6 kg·h−1with an inlet concentration of 382.7 g·m3. Over a 400-h cycle, the cyclone-coalescence separator demonstrated superior separation performance with an average liquid discharge volume of 9.09 mg·kg−1, compared to 4.93 mg·kg−1for the precision filter. This successful industrial implementation presents a promising approach to natural gas purification.

Primaquine, the only widely available treatment to prevent relapsing Plasmodium vivaxmalaria, is produced as 15 mg tablets, and new paediatric formulations are being developed. To inform the optimal primaquine dosing regimen for children, we aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of different primaquine dose strategies in children younger than 15 years.

Sarcopenia is an important indicator of ill health and is linked to increased mortality and a reduced quality of life. Age‐associated muscle mass indices provide a critical tool to help understand the development of sarcopenia. This study aimed to develop sex‐ and age‐specific percentiles for muscle mass indices in a Chinese population and to compare those indices with those from other ethnicities using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data. Whole‐body and regional muscle mass was measured by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) in participants of the China Body Composition Life‐course (BCL) study (17 203 healthy Chinese aged 3–60 years, male 48.9%) and NHANES (12 663 healthy Americans aged 8–59 years, male 50.4%). Age‐ and sex‐specific percentile curves were generated for whole‐body muscle mass and appendicular skeletal muscle mass using the Generalized Additive Model for Location Scale and Shape statistical method. Values of upper and lower muscle mass across ages had three periods: an increase from age 3 to a peak at age 25 in males (with the 5th and 95th values of 41.5 and 66.4 kg, respectively) and age 23 in females (with the 5th and 95th values of 28.4 and 45.1 kg, respectively), a plateau through midlife (30s–50s) and then a decline after their early 50s. The age at which muscle mass began to decline was 52 years in men with the 5th and 95th percentile values of 43.5 and 64.6 kg, and 51 years in women with the 5th and 95th percentile values of 31.6 and 46.9 kg. Appendicular skeletal muscle mass decreased earlier than whole body muscle mass, especially leg skeletal muscle mass, which decreased slightly after age 49 years in both sexes. In comparison with their US counterparts in the NHANES, the Chinese participants had lower muscle mass indices (all P< 0.001) and reached a muscle mass peak earlier with a lower muscle mass, with the exception of similar values compared with adult Mexican and White participants. The muscle mass growth rate of Chinese children decreased faster than that of other races after the age of 13. We present the sex‐ and age‐specific percentiles for muscle mass and appendicular skeletal muscle mass by DXA in participants aged 3–60 from China and compare them with those of different ethnic groups in NHANES. The rich data characterize the trajectories of key muscle mass indices that may facilitate the clinical appraisal of muscle mass and improve the early diagnosis of sarcopenia in the Chinese population.

The poxvirus-derived protein vCCI (viral CC chemokine inhibitor) binds almost all members of the CC chemokine family with nanomolar affinity, inhibiting their pro-inflammatory actions. Understanding the affinity and specificity of vCCI could lead to new anti-inflammatory therapeutics. CCL17, also known as TARC, is unusual among CC chemokines by having only micromolar binding to vCCI. We have used sequence analysis and molecular simulations to determine the cause of this weak binding, which identified several locations in CCL17 where mutations seemed likely to improve binding to vCCI. Based on the aforementioned analysis, we expressed and tested multiple mutants of CCL17. We found two single point mutants V44K and Q45R that increased binding affinity to vCCI by 2–3-fold and, in combination, further improved affinity by 7-fold. The CCL17 triple mutant G17R/V44K/Q45R yielded a Kdof 0.25 ± 0.13 μM, a 68-fold improvement in affinity compared to the complex with wild-type CCL17. A quadruple mutant G17R/V44K/Q45R/R57W showed high affinity (0.59 ± 0.09 μM) compared to the wild type but lower affinity than the triple mutant. This work demonstrates that sequence comparisons and molecular simulations can predict chemokine mutations that increase the level of binding to vCCI, an important first step in developing engineered chemokine inhibitors useful for anti-inflammatory therapy.

We have proposed and experimentally validated a novel approach to suppress interference fading in phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (ϕ-OTDR) by employing dual-polarization orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) signals within the fractional Fourier domain. The fractional OFDM signals for orthogonal polarization states consist of multi-subcarriers that are linear frequency modulation (LFM) signals with identical sweep bandwidths but different initial frequencies. By combining fractional Fourier transform (FrFT) algorithm with multiple input multiple output (MIMO) processing, each subcarrier with specific frequency modulation (FM) slope and overlapped sweep bandwidth can be not only compressed but also distinguished, even when affected by polarization evolution. Consequently, the complementary backscattering signals extracted can be utilized to concurrently eliminate interference fading and polarization fading after the synthesis by MIMO-FrFT. The proof-of-concept experiment has demonstrated that this approach can reduce intensity fluctuations from over 70 dB to 15 dB. The lowest intensity of the synthesized trace is 6.7 dB higher than the noise floor, resulting in fading free performance. The fading-free ϕ-OTDR is experimentally verified through dynamic measurements under single-frequency or sweep-frequency vibrations, attaining a sensing distance of 10 km and a sub-meter spatial resolution of 50 cm. Moreover, the block sliding window FrFT scanning is proposed to reduce complexity consumption of data processing, leading to 99.2% decrease in multiplication compared to FrFT scanning sample by sample. The sweep bandwidths of LFM signals for orthogonal polarization states completely overlap, resulting in ultra-high spectrum efficiency.

With the rapid development of edge computing technology, edge-assisted unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) networks have become popular, helping with fast and cost-effective data collection in mobile crowdsensing (MCS) environments. This paper investigates the online data collection problem for MCS over an edge-assisted UAV network architecture, where UAVs work to collect the data required by tasks at different on-ground point-of-interests (PoIs) in an autonomous and cooperative manner. Different from conventional edge-assisted UAV networks, edge nodes in our paper help distribute, aggregate, share, and update the task state information (TSI, e.g., if a task has been completed, or if it still requires more data), to support efficient and cost-effective data collection, e.g., avoiding repetitive and ineffective task execution. In particular, a UAV can exchange TSI with an edge node when it is within the signal coverage of the edge node, while making decisions on PoI selection and path planning in an online and decentralized manner. To address the issue of edge-assisted UAV data collection, we propose a multi-agent deep reinforcement learning-based algorithm using personalized training with decentralized executing (PTDE) architecture. Different from the traditional centralized training with decentralized executing (CTDE) architecture, our considered architecture adopts the agent-specific state for critic networks instead of the joint observation, thus achieving effective utilization of environmental information. Furthermore, we propose an observation enhancement algorithm based on artificial potential field (APF). Extensive simulation results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm greatly outperforms baseline algorithms in terms of total profit, data collection ratio, geographical fairness, and energy efficiency.

In this work, the stability of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‐Si:H) thin‐film transistors (TFTs) under reliability (RA) test was studied and a two‐stage degradation behavior during the RA test was first observed. The influence of bandgap (Eg) of the SiNx gate insulator (GI) on the degradation behavior was studied and the SiNx GI of a high Eg was found of vital importance due to its better blocking capability against electron injection from gate electrode into GI. The results in this work indicated technological impact for a‐Si:H TFTs in high‐brightness LCD products for outdoor display applications.

Vehicular cloud (VC) is a promising technology for processing computation-intensive applications (CI-Apps) on smart vehicles. Implementing VCs over the network edge faces two key challenges: (C1) On-board computing resources of a single vehicle are often insufficient to process a CI-App; (C2) The dynamics of available resources, caused by vehicles’ mobility, hinder reliable CI-App processing. This work is among the first to jointly address (C1) and (C2), while considering two common CI-App graph representations, directed acyclic graph (DAG) and undirected graph (UG). To address (C1), we consider partitioning a CI-App with $m$ dependent (sub-)tasks into $k\le m$ groups, which are dispersed across vehicles. To address (C2), we introduce a generalized reliability metric called conditional mean time to failure (C-MTTF). Subsequently, we increase the C-MTTF of dependent sub-tasks processing via introducing a general framework of redundancy-based processing of dependent sub-tasks over semi-dynamic VCs (RP-VC). We demonstrate that RP-VC can be modeled as a non-trivial semi-Markov process (SMP). To analyze this SMP model and its reliability, we develop a novel mathematical framework, called event stochastic algebra ( $\langle e\rangle $ -algebra). Based on $\langle e\rangle $ -algebra, we propose decomposition theorem (DT) to transform the presented SMP to a decomposed SMP (D-SMP). We subsequently calculate the C-MTTF of our methodology. We demonstrate that $\langle e\rangle $ -algebra and DT are general mathematical tools that can be used to analyze other cloud-based networks. Simulation results reveal the exactness of our analytical results and the efficiency of our methodology in terms of acceptance and success rates of CI-App processing.

Filter bank multicarrier (FBMC) with offset quadrature amplitude modulation (OQAM) is a promising option for short-reach intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) transmissions, as it can operate without a cyclic prefix (CP) and has lower out-of-band spectral/power leakage compared to conventional orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) with QAM. In this paper, we for the first time present a comprehensive comparison between high-speed IM/DD OFDM and FBMC over a chromatic dispersion (CD) constrained standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) channel. Simulation and experimental results show that FBMC exhibits better robustness against the CD-induced power fading. Compared with 0-point, 16-point, 32-point, and 64-point CP-based OFDM signals, the CP-free FBMC signal experimentally achieves significant subcarrier-SNR improvements of up to 6.5 dB, 5.6 dB, 3.7 dB, and 3.4 dB, respectively, after 50-km SSMF transmission. By using adaptive bit and power loading algorithm, 157-Gbit/s line rate and 130.3-Gbit/s net rate FBMC signal transmission over 50-km SSMF is achieved, which improves the net data rate by 26.6% compared to net-102.9-Gbit/s OFDM signal with a 32-point CP. Moreover, under the same line rate of 126.6 (131.7) Gbit/s, the adaptive bit and power loading FBMC not only increases the spectral efficiency (SE) by 6.25% (i.e., complete avoidance of inserting a CP), but also improves the receiver sensitivity by 2.9 (4.6) dB in comparison with the adaptive bit and power loading OFDM with a 32-point CP. Despite its higher computational complexity relative to OFDM, the high-speed FBMC system with superior gains shows great potential in CD-constrained IM/DD transmissions.

To fulfill the growing demands for high data rates in visible light communications (VLC), this letter proposes a user-centric access point (AP) clustering mechanism tailored for indoor VLC systems. Specifically, a stable matching is devised to establish connections between VLC user equipments (UEs) and APs, with the overarching optimization goal of maximizing the sum achievable system rate (SASR). Moreover, we conduct a thorough analysis encompassing the effectiveness, stability, convergence, and complexity of the proposed mechanism. Simulation results highlight its superiority over benchmark approaches in terms of both the average achievable user rate and the SASR.

Chitosan coating and salicylic acid are two widely used preserving methods for fruits and vegetables in postharvest storage, but very limited research can be found on the application of chitosan‐enriched salicylic acid (CS–SA) coating for fresh‐cut radishes. In this study, three variables (chitosan, salicylic acid, and immersion time) and two responses (whiteness and total bacterial count) were employed to optimize CS–SA process for fresh‐cut radishes using response surface methodology. The results showed that the optimal coating process for fresh‐cut radishes was 1.0% chitosan and 1.0 mM salicylic acid for 1.8 min. The effects of the optimal CS–SA process on the major storage quality and shelf‐life of fresh‐cut radishes were also investigated. Results indicated that CS–SA effectively delayed the decrease of whiteness, firmness, ascorbic acid, and total phenolic content in fresh‐cut radishes during storage. Meanwhile, CS–SA significantly inhibited the microbial growth and extended the shelf‐life of fresh‐cut radishes up to 12 days, much longer than those of non‐ or NaClO‐treated ones with 6 and 8 days, respectively. This study suggests that CS–SA is an efficient alternative for the preservation of fresh‐cut radish products, and the underlying regulation mechanism of CS–SA on delaying browning and microbial growth is worth further exploration. The optimal CA–SA coating for fresh‐cut radishes was obtained by response surface methodology. The CS–SA coating effectively inhibited microbial growth and maintained the quality of fresh‐cut radishes. The CS–SA coating extended the shelf‐life of fresh‐cut radishes up to 12 days.

Implementing either Federated learning (FL) or split learning (SL) over clients with limited computation/communication resources faces challenges on achieving delay-efficient model training. To overcome such challenges, we investigate a novel distributed Clustering-based Hybrid fEdErated Split lEarning (CHEESE) framework, consolidating distributed resources among clients by device-to-device (D2D) communications, working in an intra-serial inter-parallel manner. In CHEESE, each learning client can form a cluster with its neighboring helping clients via D2D communications to train an FL model collaboratively. Inside each cluster, the model is split into multiple segments via a model splitting and allocation (MSA) strategy, while each cluster member trains one segment. After completing intra-cluster training, a transmission client (TC) is determined from each cluster to upload a complete model to the base station for global model aggregation under allocated bandwidth. Accordingly, an overall training delay cost minimization problem is formulated, involving the following subproblems: client clustering, MSA, TC selection, and bandwidth allocation. Due to its NP-Hardness, the problem is decoupled and solved iteratively. The client clustering problem is first transformed into a distributed clustering game based on potential game theory, where each cluster further investigates the remaining three subproblems to evaluate the utility of each clustering strategy. Specifically, a heuristic algorithm is proposed to solve the MSA problem under a given clustering strategy, while a greedy-based convex optimization approach is introduced to solve the joint TC selection and bandwidth allocation problem. Extensive experiments on practical models and datasets demonstrate that CHEESE can significantly reduce training delay costs.

Submerged floating tunnels (SFTs) are novel structures for transportation across long- and deep-strait regions. Owing to severe wave and current excitation as well as the effects of underwater structures and corrosion, the risk of local anchor cable failure is high, which can result in the progressive failure of the entire structure. In this study, experimental and numerical investigations are conducted to analyze the dynamic behavior of an SFT with different mooring styles under local cable failure. A custom-designed cable failure device and the birth-and-death element method are used to simulate cable failure (i.e., progressive failure) via experiments and numerical simulation, respectively. A physical-scale segmental model of an SFT with different mooring styles under anchor cable failure is developed in this study. A segmental and entire-length mathematical model is developed using the ANSYS program to perform the numerical simulation. The results of the segmental numerical and experimental models indicate good agreement. The dynamic response of an SFT with different mooring styles under cable failure is comprehensively investigated by investigating the effects of key parameters (wave period, buoyant weight ratio, and cable failure mechanism). Moreover, the progressive failure of the SFT under cable failure is investigated via a segment model test and a numerical simulation of its entire length. The present study can serve as a reference for the safer designs of the SFT mooring style.

The past decade has witnessed an explosive growth of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which have attracted great attention in assisting Internet of Vehicles (IoV) communication systems thanks to the advantages of cost-effectiveness, high maneuverability, and flexible deployment. Yet several issues, such as UAVs' transmit power and energy resources as well as the high-speed mobility of IoV user equipment (VUE), pose challenges to the development of UAVs in UAV-assisted IoV. To provide reliable and high-throughput wireless links for VUEs in a given ground area, this article considers a scenario in which a ground VUE is facing difficulties in receiving service from a ground roadside unit (RSU) owing to possible sudden RSU malfunction or poor signal coverage. In this case, UAVs are generally deployed in the air, serving as relays to establish communication links between uncovered VUE and the neighboring RSU. To maximize the system capacity, we investigate the deployment problem of UAV relays under single-UAV relaying and multi-UAV relaying cases upon considering VUE mobility, and exploit the optimal deployment strategy of UAV relays under fixed total power consumption. Comprehensive simulation results verify that the proposed algorithm can outperform benchmark methods on significant critical indicators such as the average achievable user rate, and the outage probability. Also, evaluations and analyses have highlighted the effects of key system parameters (e.g., altitude, number, and transmit power of UAV relays) on optimal UAV relay deployment position and system performance.

The big data processing in distributed Internet of Things (IoT) systems calls for innovative computing architectures and resource provisioning techniques to support real-time and cost-effective computing services. This article introduces a novel overbooking-promoted forward trading mechanism named Overbook in Advance, Trade in Future (OATF), where computing resources can be traded across three parties, i.e. end-users, an edge server and a remote cloud server, under a hybrid device-edge-cloud network with uncertainties (e.g., “no shows”). More importantly, OATF encourages a feasible overbooking rate that allows the edge server to overbook resources to multiple end-users (e.g., exceed the resource supply), while purchasing backup resources from the cloud server, by determining rights and obligations associated with forward contracts in advance via analyzing historical statistics (e.g., network, resource dynamics). Such a mechanism can greatly improve time efficiency and resource utilization thanks to overbooking and pre-signed forward contracts. Critical issues such as overbooking rate design and risk management are carefully investigated in this article, while an interesting case study is proposed with mathematical analysis. Comprehensive simulations demonstrate that OATF achieves mutually beneficial utilities for different parties (cloud, edge, and end-users), as well as substantial resource usage and commendable time efficiency, in comparison with conventional trading methods.

Vehicular cloud (VC) platforms integrate heterogeneous and distributed resources of moving vehicles to offer timely and cost-effective computing services. However, the dynamic nature of VCs (i.e., limited contact duration among vehicles), caused by vehicles' mobility, poses unique challenges to the execution of computation-intensive applications/tasks with a directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure, where each task consists of multiple interdependent components (subtasks). In this paper, we study the scheduling of DAG tasks over dynamic VCs, where multiple subtasks of a DAG task are dispersed across vehicles and processed by vehicles cooperatively. We formulate DAG task scheduling as a 0-1 integer programming problem, aiming to minimize the overall task completion time while ensuring a high execution success rate, which turns out to be NP-hard. To tackle the problem, we develop a ranking and foresight-integrated dynamic scheduling scheme (RFID). RFID consists of i) a dynamic downward ranking mechanism that sorts the scheduling priority of different subtasks, while explicitly taking into account the sequential execution nature of DAG; ii) a resource scarcity-based priority changing mechanism that overcomes possible performance degradations caused by the volatility of VC resources; and iii) a degree-based weighted earliest finish time mechanism that assigns the subtask with the highest scheduling priority to the vehicle which offers rapid task execution along with reliable transmission links. Simulation results reveal the effectiveness of our proposed scheme in comparison to benchmark methods.

A cascade selenylation/cyclization of dienes with diselenides has been realized under visible-light irradiation or electrolysis conditions. Employing O2or electricity as a “green” oxidant, this protocol provides a green and efficient method for an array of biologically important seleno-benzo[b]azepine derivatives in moderate to good yields. The direct sunlight irradiation and gram-scale reaction render the approach practical and attractive.

To overcome the lack of dissolved oxygen in high-density aquaculture water, a hydrogen peroxide-acrylic resin inclusion complex with sustained oxygen releasing effect was designed and prepared. The resin was synthesized by emulsion polymerization of acrylic acid, methyl methacrylate and butyl acrylate in a mass ratio of 2: 3: 5, and neutralized with sodium hydroxide solution by 50%. The resin solution was mixed in a mixture of urea and 30% hydrogen peroxide solution (CO(NH2)2: H2O2, 1: 1, mol: mol), and dried at 40 °C for 4 h to obtain the hydrogen peroxide-acrylic resin inclusion complex. The product with 4.0% resin by mass of hydrogen oxygen solution, could release oxygen for 92 h in pond water. After optimization by adding a small amount of NaCl, Na2SO4,and EDTA, it was mixed with calcium carbonate and magnesium stearate in a mass ratio of 5: 4: 0.9, and pressed into tablets (1.2 × 0.6 cm, 0.99 g). One tablet in 50 L simulated micro ecosystem aquaculture water with 20 of Carassius auratusfish could release oxygen for 116 h and brought fish with 83.3% of survival rate higher than 51.7 and 70.0% of blank and sodium percarbonate groups.

The development of the Internet of Vehicles has attracted a large number of innovative vehicular applications. Specifically, vehicular crowdsensing represents an emerging paradigm that utilizes on-board sensing and computing capacity to provide location-based services. The conventional vehicular crowdsensing method aims to improve the quality of service or reduce the cost while guaranteeing coverage and data quality. Inappropriate sensing vehicle selection may cause high execution latency, which, however, has rarely been considered. In this article, we propose a fog-based vehicular crowdsensing scheme, where on-board sensors can act as sensing participants and vehicles can act as fog nodes. It unifies crowdsensing participant selection and computing task allocation to jointly optimize execution latency and cost. Furthermore, we present a heuristic algorithm named as random chemical reaction optimization (RCRO) to solve the proposed problem. Finally, we evaluate the proposed scheme and algorithm by simulating real-world traffic. Numerical results show the performance of the RCRO algorithm and the superiority of the proposed method in comparison with the conventional method.

Benefited from their flexibility and on-demand deployment capability, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as critical aerial communication platforms in future Internet of Vehicles (IoV). However, limited spectrum resources can lead to unsatisfying data rate of IoV, which thus incur large latency, especially under congested IoV network conditions. Although UAVs and road side units (RSUs) can work within the same spectrum and increase spectral efficiency, mutual interference becomes unavoidable. To this end, this article develops a heterogeneous network architecture, in which a UAV-assisted IoV system coexists with a Wi-Fi system: the RSUs can properly occupy unlicensed spectrum to increase the capacity of the UAV-assisted IoV system while mitigating interference, without affecting the performance of the Wi-Fi system. A case study of resource management over licensed and unlicensed spectrum is investigated under the proposed architecture, where time and power are jointly optimized to maximize the sum user satisfaction of the system. We further provide an intelligent solution to tackle the problem in the considered case study. Simulations demonstrate that our proposed case can efficiently improve the sum user satisfaction of the system. Key challenges and opportunities for UAV-assisted IoV over licensed and unlicensed spectrum are discussed, while recommendable future research directions are investigated.

Cassava is a staple food crop in tropical regions, serving as a significant source of carbohydrates. However, rapid postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD) significantly limits the shelf life and utilization of cassava. Despite its importance, the overlapping molecular mechanisms underlying phytohormones-induced PPD alleviation in cassava tuberous roots remain unknown. In this study, the phytohormones ethephon (ET), gibberellic acid (GA), and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) were applied to cassava tuberous roots after harvest. These treatments led to significantly reduced H2O2accumulation and alleviation of PPD. Transcriptomic analysis revealed shared functions, including transcriptional regulation and oxidoreductase activity, among differentially expressed genes (DEGs) affected by ET, GA, or MeJA. A total of 305 genes encoding antioxidant enzymes were systematically identified, with 151 responsive to phytohormone treatments across ten families. Notably, the expression of 10 Glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes was induced by all three phytohormone treatments, while their expression was suppressed in the absence of phytohormones during PPD. By using co-expression network analysis, DNA-binding motif analysis, and experimental validation using yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase assays, a regulatory network involving MeMYB102 and MeZAT11 transcription factors (TFs) that directly promote the expression of MeGST42, MeGST43, MeGST44, and MeGST46was established. Overall, this study enhances the understanding of the overlapping molecular mechanisms underlying phytohormones-induced alleviation of PPD in cassava, thereby providing genetic resources for developing PPD-resistant cassava.

The large amount of waste gas containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) discharged from petrochemical sewage plants will cause air pollution and seriously endanger the safety of human beings and the ecological environment. In this paper, we proposed a photocatalytic oxidation degradation technique of VOCs and designed a photocatalytic reaction device loaded with TiO2/SnO2catalyst. Under UV light irradiation, there is an energy level difference in the conduction band between TiO2and SnO2, which makes the photogenerated electrons (e–) migrate to SnO2and reduces the surface electron density of TiO2. Thus, the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs (e––h+) is inhibited and the catalyst activity is improved. Meanwhile, the synergistic effect of the oxidation of hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and ozone greatly improves the conversion rate. In addition, in the industrial side line, by studying the influence of inlet gas volume, inlet gas concentration, and gas humidity (RH) on the conversion rate of the VOCs, we revealed the operation law of the photocatalytic technique in industrial applications. Under the best working conditions, the purification rate of the VOCs was as high as 92.73%. This technique can not only effectively avoid the damage to the environment caused by polluting VOCs but also promote the low-carbon and green development of enterprises in the industry.

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Phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) influences the shelf life of fruit, vegetables, and tubers after harvest. However, little is known about the core signaling module involved in ABA’s control of the postharvest physiological process. Exogenous ABA alleviated postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD) symptoms of sliced cassava tuberous roots, increased endogenous ABA levels, and reduced endogenous H2O2content. The specific ABA signaling module during the PPD process was identified as MePYL6–MePP2C16–MeSnRK2.1–MebZIP5/34. MebZIP5/MebZIP34 directly binds to and activates the promoters of MeGRX6/MeMDAR1through ABRE elements. Exogenous ABA significantly induced the expression of genes involved in this module, glutaredoxin content, and monodehydroascorbate reductase activity. We presented a hypothesis suggesting that MePYL6–MePP2C16–MeSnRK2.1–MebZIP5/34–MeGRX6/MeMDAR1 is involved in ABA-induced antioxidative capacity, thus alleviating PPD symptoms in cassava tuberous roots. The identification of the specific signaling module involved in ABA’s control of PPD provides a basis and potential targets for extending the shelf life of cassava tuberous roots.

Compare the differences between the intervention and control groups in changes of primary outcomes (body mass index [BMI] and waist-to-height ratio [WHtR]) and secondary outcomes (nutrition knowledge of children and parents), from baseline to the 6- and 12-month follow-ups; examine the associations of changes in nutrition knowledge of children and their parents with children's changes in BMI and WHtR.

Examine effect of sleep duration on children's risk of overweight and obesity; and study associations between activities in the last hour before bedtime and sleep outcomes (sleep duration, sleep quality, and sleep onset latency).

The AAA+family member KaiC is the central pacemaker for circadian rhythms in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus. Composed of two hexameric rings of adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) domains with tightly coupled activities, KaiC undergoes a cycle of autophosphorylation and autodephosphorylation on its C-terminal (CII) domain that restricts binding of clock proteins on its N-terminal (CI) domain to the evening. Here, we use cryogenic-electron microscopy to investigate how daytime and nighttime states of CII regulate KaiB binding on CI. We find that the CII hexamer is destabilized during the day but takes on a rigidified C2-symmetric state at night, concomitant with ring-ring compression. Residues at the CI-CII interface are required for phospho-dependent KaiB association, coupling ATPase activity on CI to cooperative KaiB recruitment. Together, these studies clarify a key step in the regulation of cyanobacterial circadian rhythms by KaiC phosphorylation.

SO2and NO emitted from marine ships have seriously polluted the regional environment. However, there is a lack of high-efficiency, small-size, and cost-effective technology with which these pollutants could be purified. Here, a gas cyclone–liquid jet absorption separator (GLAS) combined with NaClO solution was developed to remove SO2and NO simultaneously. The high-speed gas that rotates in the GLAS forms a high-gravity field and vortex flow, and SO2and NO were removed efficiently in a small GLAS. The effect of key operating parameters was well studied through the experiment, and the total mass transfer coefficient (KGa) was calculated. It was found that the removal efficiency increased with the absorbent flow rate and concentration, while it decreased with the gas flow rate and the initial SO2and NO concentrations. Under the experimental conditions, the maximum removal efficiency for SO2and NO was 99% and 93%, and the maximum KGawas 0.0559 and 0.0357 kmol·m–3·kPa–1·s–1, respectively, which were 10 times higher than that of traditional devices. Semiempirical equations were also developed to predict the mass transfer performance of desulfurization and denitrification by GLAS. The study indicates that GLAS combined with NaClO solution has great potential applications for marine ships.

Schottky diode is the fundamental building blocks for modern electronics and optoelectronics. Reducing the semiconductor layer thickness could shrink the vertical size of a Schottky diode, improving its speed and integration density. Here, we demonstrate a new approach to fabricate a Schottky diode with ultrashort physical length approaching atomic limit. By mechanically laminating prefabricated metal electrodes on both-sides of two-dimensional MoS2, the intrinsic metal–semiconductor interfaces can be well retained. As a result, we demonstrate the thinnest Schottky diode with a length of 2.6 nm and decent rectification behavior. Furthermore, with a diode length smaller than the semiconductor depletion length, the carrier transport mechanisms are investigated and explained by thickness-dependent and temperature-dependent electrical measurements. Our study not only pushes the scaling limit of a Schottky diode but also provides a general double-sided electrodes integration approach for other ultrathin vertical devices.

The cardiotoxicity induced by arsenic trioxide (ATO) limits its clinical application in acute promyelocytic leukemia treatment. Sacubitril/valsartan (LCZ696) is an effective drug for the treatment of heart failure. In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective effect and mechanisms of LCZ696 against the ATO-induced cardiotoxicity in mice and H9c2 cells. We found that LCZ696 could alleviate the decrease of ejection fraction and fractional shortening induced by ATO, thereby improving mouse cardiac contractile function. LCZ696 could also reduce the myocardial enzyme, resist oxidative stress, mitigate myocardial fibrosis, and ameliorate myocardial structure, thereby alleviating myocardial damage caused by ATO. In addition, LCZ696 could significantly increase the cell viability and reduce the accumulation of reactive oxygen species in ATO-treated H9c2 cells. Besides, in vivoand in vitrostudies have been found that LCZ696 could restore the expression of Bcl-2 and reduce Bax and Caspase-3 levels, inhibiting ATO-induced apoptosis. Meanwhile, LCZ696 decreased the levels of IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α, alleviating the inflammatory injury caused by ATO. Furthermore, LCZ696 prevented NF-κB upregulation induced by ATO. Our findings revealed that LCZ696 has a considerable effect on preventing cardiotoxicity induced by ATO, which attributes to its capability to suppress oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis.

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Signal peptide is an essential part during protein translocation for extracellular expression in the plants. A secretomics approach was performed to identify secretory proteins from oil palm and predict the presence of the signal peptide in each protein. The transcriptome and secretome profiles were generated from oil palm ramets. A combination of bioinformatics tools including SignalP, TargetP, TMHMM, and SecretomeP was used to predict both classical and leaderless secretory proteins. The secretome analysis from transcriptome data revealed 2259 genes that encoded secretory proteins. The proteome analysis identified a total of 37 proteins from which 10 classical secretory proteins can be distinguished. It was important to note that oil palm ramet’s secretome was dominated by stress or defence related proteins which may act as protection during certain plant developmental stages. We also found that some proteins can be both intracellular and extracellular protein. Among 10 identified classical secretory proteins, the signal peptides of oil palm beta-1,3-glucanase and putative class III chitinase were interesting for further study due to their high cleavage site scores. Overall, this study provided broader view of oil palm secretomes and specific signal peptides for extracellular expression.

Nitrogen (N) is one of the major nutrients for plant growth and development. Nitrogen uptake is influenced by many factors, genetics is one of them. Plants with high nitrogen uptake efficiency are the goal targets for breeders, especially in oil palm plantations. Fumarte hydratase, also known as fumarase (Fum), is an important enzyme in the nitrogen assimilation process, especially in nitrogen-deficient conditions. This study used three oil palm progenies with different levels of nitrogen uptake efficiency. The selection progenies are based on SNP markers. The progenies were treated with N 30% (low N) and N 100% (control). Nitrate and nitrite accumulations in root and leaf tissues were in line with the concentration of nitrogen fertilizer. The H progeny (high nitrogen uptake efficiency) could accumulate the highest nitrate content. The other nitrogen assimilation products, such as total amino acids and chlorophyll contents, were higher in H progeny too. Nitrate could act as a signal that induces the expression of Fum genes. Therefore, nitrogen assimilation is positively correlated with carbon assimilation or the TCA cycle. We concluded that nitrogen uptake could induce the rate of carbon assimilation with increasing fumarate hydratase activity.

APOE4 is the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease1–3. However, the effects of APOE4 on the human brain are not fully understood, limiting opportunities to develop targeted therapeutics for individuals carrying APOE4and other risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease4–8. Here, to gain more comprehensive insights into the impact of APOE4on the human brain, we performed single-cell transcriptomics profiling of post-mortem human brains from APOE4carriers compared with non-carriers. This revealed that APOE4is associated with widespread gene expression changes across all cell types of the human brain. Consistent with the biological function of APOE2–6, APOE4 significantly altered signalling pathways associated with cholesterol homeostasis and transport. Confirming these findings with histological and lipidomic analysis of the post-mortem human brain, induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived cells and targeted-replacement mice, we show that cholesterol is aberrantly deposited in oligodendrocytes—myelinating cells that are responsible for insulating and promoting the electrical activity of neurons. We show that altered cholesterol localization in the APOE4brain coincides with reduced myelination. Pharmacologically facilitating cholesterol transport increases axonal myelination and improves learning and memory in APOE4mice. We provide a single-cell atlas describing the transcriptional effects of APOE4 on the aging human brain and establish a functional link between APOE4, cholesterol, myelination and memory, offering therapeutic opportunities for Alzheimer’s disease.

The arrival of the Internet of Things (IoT) era calls for cost-effective resource provisioning techniques to secure necessary computing resources in supporting dynamic and computation-intensive applications on diverse IoT devices, where resource trading in edge networks brings a viable prospect. While conventional onsite spot trading may facilitate this paradigm, the inherent extra latency of onsite decision making and unreliable network significantly limit resource trading efficiency and the eventual resource utilization rate. More importantly, the “no show” of confirmed resource buyers incurred by unreliable network conditions, can result in negative impacts on trading performance and resource usage. To this end, resource overbooking is adopted that provides an effective solution in handling “no shows” while substantially improving resource utilization rate. In this article, an interesting overbooking-enabled resource trading paradigm in mobile edge networks is proposed, allowing pre-negotiated forward contracts between the edge server (seller) and a number of overbooked smart devices (buyers), which will be fulfilled during future trading. Specifically, a framework associated with the proposed trading paradigm is introduced first to provide a comprehensive view of the relevant key issues. Then a case study is presented that elaborates how the proposed trading can be implemented in practice. Extensive simulation results and analysis demonstrate that the overbooking-enabled trading paradigm achieves both time and energy efficiency, as well as substantial resource utilization and profit improvements.

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have attracted considerable attention in recent years. However, to date, there is still no effective approach to produce large-scale monolayers while retaining their intrinsic properties. Here, we report a simple mechanical exfoliation method to produce large-scale and high-quality 2D semiconductors, by designing an atomically flat Au-mesh film as the peeling tape. Using our prefabricated mesh tape, the limited contact region (between the 2D crystal and Au) could provide enough adhesion to mechanically exfoliate uniform 2D monolayers, and the noncontact region (between the mesh holes and monolayers) ensures weak interaction to mechanically release the 2D monolayers on desired substrates. Together, we demonstrate a scalable method to dry exfoliate various 2D monolayer arrays onto different substrates without involving any solutions or contaminations, representing the optimization between material yield, scalability, and quality. Furthermore, detailed optical and electrical characterizations are conducted to confirm their intrinsic quality. With the ability to mechanically exfoliate various 2D arrays and further restacking them, we have demonstrated large-scale van der Waals heterostructure arrays through layer-to-layer assembling. Our study offers a simple and scalable method for dry exfoliating 2D monolayer and heterostructure arrays with intrinsic material quality, which could be crucial to accelerate fundamental investigations as well as practical applications of proof-of-concepts devices.

Plasmodium falciparumfrom the Greater Mekong subregion has evolved resistance to the artemisinin-based combination therapy dihydroartemisinin and the partner drug piperaquine. To monitor the potential westward spread or independent evolution of piperaquine resistance, we evaluated the in vitrosusceptibility of 120 P. falciparumisolates collected at the China-Myanmar border during 2007 to 2016.

Magnetic pulse welding (MPW) exhibits an enormous advantage on welded joints of dissimilar metals. Various process parameters (discharge energy and standoff distance) were considered to weld aluminum alloys and galvanized steels by MPW. Mechanical behavior and interfacial morphology of MPW joints between galvanized steels and aluminum alloys were investigated systematically. Results indicated that the weldable standoff distance range of the MPW joints was enhanced with ascending discharge energy. The change of weld dimension (width and gap of the effective weld) was the main reason for the difference in joint performance at the various welding process parameters. With enhancing discharge energy, both the length of zinc-free zone and the size of interfacial waves increased, which contributed to the enhancement of the mechanical strength of the MPW joint. With increasing standoff distance, the strength of MPW joints appeared to increase first and then decrease. This was owing to the change of interfacial wave size and zinc-free zone length.

Disease burden and lifestyle patterns have changed rapidly worldwide, especially in some Asian countries over the past 2 decades. However, cross-country comparative research is limited. This study investigated the nutritional status of preschool children and childbearing women in China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan selected based on their socioeconomic status, population size, and urbanization. Nationally representative data were used from the China National Nutrition and Health Surveillance Report, India National Family Health Survey, Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, the WHO repository, and the World Bank. The prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity and some ratios were compared. These rates varied across these 4 countries and were associated with their economic development levels. China's economic status and prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity (11.5%) were highest; India's economic status was higher than that of Nepal and Pakistan, but had higher rates of stunting, wasting, and underweight (38.4%, 21.0%, and 35.7%, respectively) in preschool children. Pakistan had the highest prevalence of overweight/obesity among childbearing women (52.4% in all, 63.0% in urban areas). Nepal had the lowest economic status and overweight/obesity rate in preschool children (1.2%). In general, the prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher in urban than in rural areas, except among childbearing women in China. Nutritional status and health burden are heavily influenced by economic development. The double burden of malnutrition poses prioritization challenges for policymakers and public health efforts. Prevention of obesity is urgently needed, at least in higher-income countries in Asia.

An increasing number of proteins have been demonstrated in recent years to adopt multiple three-dimensional folds with different functions. These metamorphic proteins are characterized by having two or more folds with significant differences in their secondary structure, in which each fold is stabilized by a distinct local environment. So far, ∼90 metamorphic proteins have been identified in the Protein Databank, but we and others hypothesize that a far greater number of metamorphic proteins remain undiscovered. In this work, we introduce a computational model to predict metamorphic behavior in proteins using only knowledge of the sequence. In this model, secondary structure prediction programs are used to calculate diversity indices, which are measures of uncertainty in predicted secondary structure at each position in the sequence; these are then used to assign protein sequences as likely to be metamorphic versus monomorphic (i.e., having just one fold). We constructed a reference data set to train our classification method, which includes a novel compilation of 136 likely monomorphic proteins and a set of 201 metamorphic protein structures taken from the literature. Our model is able to classify proteins as metamorphic versus monomorphic with a Matthews correlation coefficient of ∼0.36 and true positive/true negative rates of ∼65%/80%, suggesting that it is possible to predict metamorphic behavior in proteins using only sequence information.

The cyanobacterial circadian clock in Synechococcus elongatusconsists of three proteins, KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC. KaiA and KaiB rhythmically interact with KaiC to generate stable oscillations of KaiC phosphorylation with a period of 24 h. The observation of stable circadian oscillations when the three clock proteins are reconstituted and combined in vitro makes it an ideal system for understanding its underlying molecular mechanisms and circadian clocks in general. These oscillations were historically monitored in vitro by gel electrophoresis of reaction mixtures based on the differing electrophoretic mobilities between various phosphostates of KaiC. As the KaiC phospho-distribution represents only one facet of the oscillations, orthogonal tools are necessary to explore other interactions to generate a full description of the system. However, previous biochemical assays are discontinuous or qualitative. To circumvent these limitations, we developed a spin-labeled KaiB mutant that can differentiate KaiC-bound KaiB from free KaiB using continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy that is minimally sensitive to KaiA. Similar to wild-type (WT-KaiB), this labeled mutant, in combination with KaiA, sustains robust circadian rhythms of KaiC phosphorylation. This labeled mutant is hence a functional surrogate of WT-KaiB and thus participates in and reports on autonomous macroscopic circadian rhythms generated by mixtures that include KaiA, KaiC, and ATP. Quantitative kinetics could be extracted with improved precision and time resolution. We describe design principles, data analysis, and limitations of this quantitative binding assay and discuss future research necessary to overcome these challenges.

The isomers of monosaccharide always produce multiple chromatographic peaks as volatile derivatives during gas chromatography, which may result in the overlapping of different sugar peaks. Whereas reduction and oximation of sugar carbonyl groups for GC analysis do eliminate many isomer derivatives, the approaches create new problems. One ketose can yield two peaks by oximation, and different aldoses and ketoses can yield the same alditol upon reduction, leading to the inability to detect some important monosaccharides. This paper reports an optimal method that yields a single peak per sugar by acetylation directly. By using a methyl sulfoxide (Me2SO)/1-methylimidazole (1-MeIm) system, the carbohydrates in acetic anhydride (Ac2O) esterification reactions were solubilized, and the oxidation that normally occurs was inhibited. The results demonstrate that acetylated derivatives of 23 saccharides had unique peaks, which indicates aldose, ketose, and alditol can be determined simultaneously by GC-MS.

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) system are effective technologies for rapid and accurate gene function verification in modern plant biotechnology. However, the investigation of gene silencing and editing in radish remains limited. In this study, the bleaching phenotype was generated through the knockdown of RsPDSusing tobacco rattle virus (TRV)- and turnip yellow mosaic virus (TYMV)-mediated gene silencing vector. The TYMV-mediated gene silencing efficiency was higher than the TRV-based VIGS system in radish. The expression level of RsPDSwas significantly inhibited using VIGS in ‘NAU-067’ radish leaves. The rootless seedlings of ‘NAU-067’ were infected with Agrobacterium rhizogenesusing the 2300GN-Ubi-RsPDS-Cas9 vector with two target sequences. Nine adventitious roots occurred blue with GUS staining, amongst which four of these adventitious roots were edited at target sequence 1 of RsPDSgene with Sanger sequencing. Furthermore, the albino lines were generated with A. tumefaciens-mediated transformation of radish cotyledons. Five base substitutions and three base deletions occurred at target sequence 2 in Line 1, and three base insertions and three base substitutions occurred at target sequence 1 in Line 2. The VIGS and CRISPR/Cas9 techniques could be employed to precisely verify the biological functions of genes in radish. Consequently, it would facilitate the genetic improvement of vital horticultural traits in radish breeding programs.

Overweight and obesity prevalence has increased in low-income countries. This study systematically reviewed the obesity trend, disparities, and prevention and control efforts in Nepal.

The emergence of locally transmitted Plasmodium vivaxmalaria in Florida from May to July 2023 underscores the persistent threat of malaria reintroduction in non-endemic regions. The increasing instances of imported malaria associated with international travel, alongside the existence of competent local vectors, emphasize the critical need for public health authorities in non-endemic countries to remain vigilant and well-prepared to sustain a malaria-free status.

The mechanical characteristics and acoustic behavior of rock masses are greatly influenced by stochastic joints. In this study, numerical models of rock masses incorporating intermittent joints with different numbers and dip angles were produced using the finite element method (FEM) with the intrinsic cohesive zone model (ICZM). Then, the uniaxial compressive and wave propagation simulations were performed. The results indicate that the joint number and dip angle can affect the mechanical and acoustic properties of the models. The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and wave velocity of rock masses decrease monotonically as the joint number increases. However, the wave velocity grows monotonically as the joint dip angle increases. When the joint dip angle is 45°–60°, the UCS of the rock mass is lower than that of other dip angles. The wave velocity parallel to the joints is greater than that perpendicular to the joints. When the dip angle of joints remains unchanged, the UCS and wave velocity are positively related. When the joint dip angle increases, the variation amplitude of the UCS regarding the wave velocity increases. To reveal the effect of the joint distribution on the velocity, a theoretical model was also proposed. According to the theoretical wave velocity, the change in wave velocity of models with various joint numbers and dip angles was consistent with the simulation results. Furthermore, a theoretical indicator (i.e. fabric tensor) was adopted to analyze the variation of the wave velocity and UCS.

We have developed a panel design that integrated the demux TFT into the active area (MIA). By placing the demux TFT in the pixel area, we eliminate the impact of the TFT to realize the narrower border. We optimized the connection of demux devices and data lines to reduce the horizontal wire in layout. The influences of the special design were verified. By introducing the novel arrangement of the circuit, the 12.3 inch LCD panel with proposed circuit was fabricated with the narrow border , and the height of the down border was reduced by 200um.