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Objective: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are widely expressed in the brain and are associated with the development of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. However, their roles and molecular mechanisms in major depressive disorder (MDD) remain largely unknown. This study aimed to identify lncRNAs and miRNAs involved in the development of MDD and elucidate their molecular mechanisms. Methods: Transcriptome and bioinformatic analyses were performed to identify miRNAs and lncRNAs related to MDD. C57 mice were subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) to establish a depression model. Lentiviruses containing either lncRNA NPTN-IT1-201 or miR-142-5p were microinjected into the hippocampal region of these mice. Behavioral tests including the sucrose preference test (SPT), tail suspension test (TST), and forced swim test (FST) were conducted to evaluate depressive-like behaviors. Results: The results revealed that overexpression of lncRNA NPTN-IT1-201 or inhibition of miR-142-5p significantly ameliorated depressive-like behaviors in CUMS-treated mice. Dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed interactions between miR-142-5p with both brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and NPTN-IT1-201. ELISA analysis revealed significant alterations in relevant biomarkers in the blood samples of MDD patients compared to healthy controls. Histological analyses, including HE and Nissl staining, showed marked structural changes in brain tissues following CUMS treatment, which were partially reversed by lncRNA NPTN-IT1-201 overexpression or miR-142-5p inhibition. Immunofluorescence imaging demonstrated significant differences in the levels of BAX, Bcl2, p65, Iba1 among different treatment groups. TUNEL assays confirmed reduced apoptosis in brain tissues following these interventions. Western blotting showed the significant differences in BDNF, BAX, and Bcl2 protein levels among different treatment groups. Conclusion: NPTN-IT1-201 regulates inflammation and apoptosis in MDD by targeting BDNF viamiR-142-5p, making it a potential therapeutic target for MDD.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in tumor progression. Numerous studies show that lncRNAs are strongly associated with prostate cancer (PCa) progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the pathway through which lncRNA HCG18regulates PCa progression by bioinformatics analysis and experiments.

AbstractEndometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common cancers of the female reproductive system. Multi-epitope vaccine may be a promising and effective strategy against EC. In this study, we designed a novel multi-epitope vaccine based on the antigenic proteins PRAME and TMPRSS4 using immunoinformatics and bioinformatics approaches. After a rigorous selection process, 14 cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, 6 helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes, and 8 B cell epitopes (BCEs) were finally selected for vaccine construction. To enhance the immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate, the pan HLA DR-binding epitope was included in the vaccine design as an adjuvant. The final vaccine construct had 455 amino acids and a molecular weight of 49.8 kDa, and was predicted to cover 95.03% of the total world population. Docking analysis showed that there were 10 hydrogen bonds and 19 hydrogen bonds in the vaccine-HLA-A*02:01 and vaccine-HLA-DRB1*01:01 complexes, respectively, indicating that the vaccine has a good affinity to MHC molecules. This was further supported by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Immune simulation showed that the designed vaccine was able to induce higher levels of immune cell activity, with the secretion of numerous cytokines. The codon adaptation index (CAI) value and GC content of the optimised codon sequences of the vaccine were 0.986 and 54.43%, respectively, indicating that the vaccine has the potential to be highly expressed. The in silico analysis suggested that the designed vaccine may provide a novel therapeutic option for the individualised treatment of EC patients in the future.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

In the field of high-power microwave (HPM) devices with low magnetic fields, the efficiency, impedance, and stability of the diode are significantly reduced by the backward current. This article investigates the process that backward current bombards the anode, leading to anode ions bombarding the cathode rod, and ultimately enhancing the cathode rod emission. The study also examines the reasons behind the sharp change in diode impedance and the effect of the anode material on the diode. Finally, methods for suppressing the backward current are presented, including the anode material and cathode rod structure. The experiments demonstrate that these methods can suppress the backward current, enhance diode impedance, and improve diode impedance stability and structure lifetime.

During the operation of deep-sea pipelines, the accumulation and deposition of hydrates are important reasons for pipeline blockage. The current main measure to solve the hydrate plugging problem is the addition of low-dose inhibitors (LDHIs), but it is not yet known whether the precipitation of wax crystals will affect their effectiveness. Therefore, in this study, the hydrate cohesive force within the wax-free/wax-containing system was directly measured by using a micromechanical force device (MMF) and the reasons for the change in cohesive force were analyzed from a morphological point of view. The results showed that glycine was effective in reducing the cohesion between hydrate particles in both wax-free/wax-containing systems and still exerted the effect of antiagglomeration agent (AA) at very low concentrations (as low as 0.10 wt %). Moreover, the optimum concentration of glycine was 0.50 wt %. At this concentration, the cohesive force decreased from 8.54 to 7.07 mN/m in the wax-free system, a decrease of about 17.2%, while the cohesive force decreased from 5.94 to 2.15 mN/m in the wax-containing system, a decrease of about 63.8%. By observation of the morphology of the hydrate particles, the presence of glycine was found to reduce the volume of the liquid bridge by changing the surface roughness and wettability of the particles, thereby reducing the cohesive force. And when wax was contained in the system, the wax further reduced the wettability by adsorbing on the surface of the hydrate particles. However, under certain AA conditions, the increase in wax concentration (from 0.1 to 0.3 wt %) resulted in the free water inside the hydrate being more likely to form liquid bridges with the surrounding particles, thus weakening the effect of AA. This work analyzes the effect on cohesive force in the simultaneous presence of LDHIs and wax from a morphological point of view, which is beneficial in providing more insights into securing safe hydrate flow management.

Strong metal–support interaction (SMSI) has been extensively studied in heterogeneous catalysis because of its significance in stabilizing active metals and tuning catalytic performance, but the origin of SMSI is not fully revealed. Herein, by using Pt/CeO2as a model catalyst, we report an embedding structure at the interface between Pt and (110) plane of CeO2, where Pt clusters (∼1.6 nm) are embedded into the lattice of ceria within 3–4 atomic layers. In contrast, this phenomenon is absent in the CeO2(100) support. This unique geometric structure, as an effective motivator, triggers more significant electron transfer from Pt clusters to CeO2(110) support accompanied by the formation of interfacial structure (Ptδ+–Ov–Ce3+), which plays a crucial role in stabilizing Pt nanoclusters. A comprehensive investigation based on experimental studies and theoretical calculations substantiates that the interfacial sites serve as the intrinsic active center toward water–gas shift reaction (WGSR), featuring a moderate strength CO activation adsorption and largely decreased energy barrier of H2O dissociation, accounting for the prominent catalytic activity of Pt/CeO2(110) (a reaction rate of 15.76 molCOgPt–1h–1and a turnover frequency value of 2.19 s–1at 250 °C). In addition, the Pt/CeO2(110) catalyst shows a prominent durability within a 120 h time-on-stream test, far outperforming the Pt/CeO2(100) one, which demonstrates the advantages of this embedding structure for improving catalyst stability.

Purpose: 5-Azacitidine (5-Azac) is a base analog that replaces methylated cytosine in DNA, thereby reducing the methylation level of the genome. However, the mechanism by which exogenous 5-Azac induces aluminum accumulation in grapes through methylation remains unclear. Methods: Spraying 'Shuijing' grape seedlings with a 5-Azac treatment solution under aluminum (Al) stress, agronomic traits of grapes were observed, and the activities of SOD, POD, and MDA, as well as the content of H2O2and Al, and the rate of oxygen free radical production, were measured. Furthermore, whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) was employed to generate high-coverage cytosine methylation profiles of the grape genome. Results: After treatment with 5-Azac, 'Shuijing' grape seedlings under Al stress showed decreased methylation rates across all chromosomes and a reduced overall DNA methylation level. Specifically, methylation levels at CG, CHG, and CHH sites in promoters increased, enabling transcription factors to activate these promoters and induce upregulation of hypo-differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in the genome, thus mitigating Al stress. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis of DMRs demonstrated that 5-Azac treatment effectively reduced the Al toxicity in grape plants under Al stress by upregulating related genes and effectively reducing the Al stress-induced DNA methylation level of the grape genome. Conclusions: Treatment with 5-Azac results in a decrease in the degree of DNA methylation in the grape genome. Analyzing the methylation characteristics has provided insights into the molecular mechanism underlying the response of grapes to Al stress.

Aluminum (Al) is the most abundant element in the earth crust. Due to the abuse of phosphate fertilizer, acid rain has been frequently observed in recent years, resulting in the conversion of non-toxic aluminosilicates in the soil into Al ions, thereby causing stress to plants. As a DNA methylation inhibitor, curcumin can effectively counteract the Al stress on plants, while the epigenetic mechanism remains unclear. This study discusses the epigenetic mechanism of curcumin counteracting Al stress on grape. The results demonstrated that curcumin could significantly relieve the Al stress symptoms of grapes and reduce its whole genome methylation level. Al stress and curcumin treatment did not cause variations in the methylation level in each chromosome. While Al stress led to a slight increase in the average methylation level of each chromosome, and treatment by curcumin led to a significant decrease in the average methylation level of each chromosome. Specifically, the sites of CG and CHG were decreased significantly, and the site of CHH was increased or decreased significantly. Analysis of differentially-methylated regions (DMRs) revealed that treatment by curcumin led to an increase in hypo-DMRs in the whole genome of grape, and analysis of differentially-methylated genes (DMGs) also identified differentially related genes of hypo-DMRs in the whole genome of grapes, suggesting that curcumin triggers responses to Al stress by regulating hypo-methylation mode of the whole genome of grape. Additionally, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis demonstrated that DMGs of grapes generate responses to Al stress by participating in galactose metabolism, ascorbate, and aldarate metabolism, and amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism pathways of carbohydrate metabolism in the KEGG subclass.

Self-supervised contrastive learning (SSCL) has achieved significant milestones in remote sensing image (RSI) understanding. Its essence lies in designing an unsupervised instance discrimination pretext task to extract image features from a large number of unlabeled images that are beneficial for downstream tasks. However, existing instance discrimination-based SSCL suffers from two limitations when applied to the RSI semantic segmentation task: 1) positive sample confounding issue (SCI), SSCL treats different augmentations of the same RSI as positive samples, but the richness, complexity, and imbalance of RSI ground objects lead to the model actually pulling a variety of different ground objects closer while pulling positive samples closer, which confuse the feature of different ground objects, and 2) feature adaptation bias, SSCL treats RSI patches containing various ground objects as individual instances for discrimination and obtains instance-level features, which are not fully adapted to pixel-level or object-level semantic segmentation tasks. To address the above limitations, we consider constructing samples containing single ground objects to alleviate positive SCI and make the model obtain object-level features from the contrastive between single ground objects. Meanwhile, we observed that the discrimination information can be mapped to specific regions in RSI through the gradient of unsupervised contrastive loss, and these specific regions tend to contain single ground objects. Based on this, we propose contrastive learning with gradient-guided sampling strategy (GraSS) for RSI semantic segmentation. GraSS consists of two stages: 1) the instance discrimination warm-up stage to provide initial discrimination information to the contrastive loss gradients and 2) the gradient-guided sampling contrastive training stage to adaptively construct samples containing more singular ground objects using the discrimination information. Experimental results on three open datasets demonstrate that GraSS effectively enhances the performance of SSCL in high-resolution RSI semantic segmentation. Compared with eight baseline methods from six different types of SSCL, GraSS achieves an average improvement of 1.57% and a maximum improvement of 3.58% in terms of mean intersection over the union (mIoU). In addition, we discovered that the unsupervised contrastive loss gradients contain rich feature information, which inspires us to use gradient information more extensively during model training to attain additional model capacity. The source code is available at https://github.com/GeoX-Lab/GraSS.

To evaluate the prevalence and incidence of periodontitis and associated disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2019. We collected data on periodontitis between 1990 and 2019 from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 Study. The global prevalence, incidence, and DALYs attributed to periodontitis were analyzed. The age‐standardized rate (ASR) and estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) were calculated to quantify the burden of the disease and temporal trends. The ASR of the prevalence, incidence, and DALYs increased worldwide from 1990 to 2019. In 2019, Western Sub‐Saharan Africa carried the heaviest burden of periodontitis, whereas the nation with the highest periodontitis burden was Gambia. The burden of periodontitis was negatively associated with the level of socioeconomic development. Although, the majority of periodontitis burden was observed among those aged 55–59 years, the incidence of periodontitis has shown an increasing trend among younger individuals. Periodontitis continues to be a global public health problem. Current prevention and control strategies should be enhanced to prevent an increase in periodontitis.

Advanced Video Coding is recently announced and widely used, although the according protection means have not been developed thoroughly. In this paper, a secure AVC coding scheme is presented based on some partial encryption algorithms. During AVC encoding, such sensitive data as intra-prediction mode, residue data and motion vector are encrypted partially. Among them, the intra-prediction mode is encrypted based on Exp-Golomb entropy coding, the intra-macroblocks' DCs are encrypted based on context-based adaptive variable length coding (CAVLC), and intra-macroblocks' ACs and the inter-macroblocks' MVDs are sign-encrypted with a stream cipher followed with variable-length coding. This encryption scheme is secure in perception, keeps format compliance, and obtains high time efficiency though reducing the encrypted data volumes. These properties make it practical to incorporate encryption/decryption process into compression/decompression process, and thus suitable for secure video transmission or sharing. Index Terms--video encryption, advanced video coding, digital right management, media content protection

Ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB) serves as a promising material for chemical storage of hydrogen owing to its high hydrogen density and superior stability, in which the development of highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts toward AB hydrolysis plays a crucial role. Herein, we report Pt atomic clusters supported on MoO3–xnanorods using a two-step process: MoO3–xnanorods were synthesized at various calcination temperatures, followed by a further deposition–precipitation approach to obtain Pt/MoO3–xcatalysts (denoted as Pt/MoO3–x-T, T= 300, 400, 500, and 600 °C). The optimized Pt/MoO3–x-500 catalyst exhibits a prominent catalytic performance toward hydrolytic dehydrogenation of AB for H2generation, with a turnover frequency value of 2268.6 min–1, which stands at the top level among the reported catalysts. Moreover, the catalyst shows a remarkable stability with 90% activity remaining after five cycles. A combination investigation including HR-TEM, ac-HAADF-STEM, XPS, in situCO-IR, XANES, and Bader charge analysis verifies the formation of Pt2+–Ov–Mo5+(Ovrepresents oxygen vacancy), whose concentration is dependent on the strength of the metal–support interaction. Studies on the structure–property correlation based on an isotopic kinetic experiment, in situFT-IR, and DFT calculations further reveal that the Mo5+–Ovsites accelerate the dissociation of H2O molecules (rate-determining step), while the adjacent Pt2+species facilitates the cleavage of the B–H bond in the AB molecule to produce H2. This work provides a fundamental and systematic understanding on the metal–support synergistic catalysis toward robust H2production, which is constructive for hydrogen storage and energy catalysis.

ABSTRACTNeurodegenerative disorders, including spinal cord injury (SCI), result in oxidative stress-induced cell damage. Morroniside (MR), a major active ingredient of the Chinese herb Shan Zhu Yu, has been shown to ameliorate oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Our previous study also confirmed that morroniside protects SK-N-SH cell line (human neuroblastoma cells) against oxidative impairment. However, it remains unclear whether MR also plays a protective role for oligodendrocytes that are damaged following SCI. The present study investigated the protective effects of MR against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced cell death in OLN-93 cells. MR protected OLN-93 cells from H2O2-induced injury, attenuated H2O2-induced increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and blocked the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) induced by H2O2. MR enhanced the activity of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) and suppressed H2O2-induced downregulation of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and activation of the proapoptotic protein caspase-3. Finally, we found that LY294002, a specific inhibitor of the PI3K/Akt pathway, inhibited the protective effect of MR against H2O2-induced OLN-93 cell injury in the MTT and TUNEL assays. LY294002 also inhibited the expression of SOD and Bcl-2, and increased the expression of iNOS and c-caspase-3 induced by MR treatment. MR exerts protective effects against H2O2-induced OLN-93 cell injury through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway-mediated antioxidative stress and antiapoptotic activities. MR may provide a potential strategy for SCI treatment or other related neurodegeneration.

AbstractHepatic metabolism catalyzed by the cytochrome P450 (CYP) superfamily affects liver toxicity associated with exposures to natural compounds and xenobiotic agents. Previously we generated a battery of HepG2-derived stable cell lines that individually express 14 CYPs (1A1, 1A2, 1B1, 2A6, 2B6, 2C8, 2C9, 2C18, 2C19, 2D6, 2E1, 3A4, 3A5, and 3A7). In this study, we comprehensively characterized each cell line for its CYP expression and enzyme activity. Specifically, we measured the mRNA expression, protein expression, and metabolite formation. Using CYP3A4, 2D6, and 2C9-overexpressing cells as representatives, we examined the stability of these cells in long-term cultures for up to 10 passages. The results showed that CYPs can be stably overexpressed for up to 10 cell culture passages without losing their activities. The robustness of responses to stimuli among the cells at different passages was also investigated in CYP3A4-overexpressing cells and the response to amiodarone and dronedarone showed no difference between the cells at the passage 2 and 10. Moreover, the mRNA expression level of most CYPs was higher in CYP-overexpressing HepG2 cells than that in HepaRG cells and primary human hepatocytes. This study confirmed the stability of CYP-overexpressing HepG2 cell lines and provided useful information for a broader use of these cells in pharmacologic and toxicologic research.

The metal nodes, functionalized ligands, and uniform channels of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are typically utilized to regulate the catalytic properties of metal nanoparticles (MNPs). However, though the ligand functionalization could impact the properties of the metal nodes and channels, which might further regulate the catalytic activity and selectivity of MNPs, related research in the design of MNP/MOF catalysts was usually neglected. Herein, we synthesized a series of Pt@UiO-66 composites (Pt@UiO-66-NH2, Pt@UiO-66-SO3H, and Pt@UiO-66) with slightly different organic ligands, which enhanced steric hindrance and contributed to multipathway electron transfer in selective hydrogenation of linear citronellal. The selectivity toward citronellol was gradually improved along with the increased size of functional groups (hydrogen, amino groups, and sulfo groups) on organic ligands, which enhanced steric hindrance provided by channels. In addition, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements also revealed that the electronic state of Pt NPs was regulated through multipathway electron transfer from Pt NPs to metal nodes, between organic ligands and Pt NPs/metal nodes. Our research proved that the ligand functionalization altered physiochemical properties of the channels and metal nodes, further together managing the catalytic performance of Pt NPs through enhanced steric hindrance and multi-pathway electron transfer.

Lead (Pb) is an important pollutant of worldwide concern with respect to extensive pollution sources and highly toxic effect. Flavonol can improve plant resistance to abiotic stress and is also responsible for the alleviating effect under Pb stress. The relationship between Pb stress and flavonol and the knowledge about the mechanisms of flavonol function are very limited. Pb affected the energy metabolism process and, thus, inhibited plant growth and development. Flavonol accumulation controlled by FLS1 (flavonol synthase) could alleviate the toxic effect. Importantly, nes (mutant of NES that allows FLS1 to enter the nucleus expression) showed better growth status and lighter oxidative damage than NES (N-terminal nucleus exclusion signal peptide prevents FLS1 from entering the nucleus expression), which indicated that nucleus flavonol synthesized by nucleus FLS1plays a key role in plant resistance to Pb stress. Although FLS1signals were detected in the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus, membrane flavonol, cytoplasm flavonol, and nucleus flavonol were not exercising their function in the corresponding position. The expression of nucleus FLS1intervened in the total content and composition of flavonol. The results also revealed that nucleus flavonol could regulate the ascorbate metabolism for alleviating the damage on the chloroplast, thus maintaining the photophosphorylation pathway. Our findings provided new insights for the molecular basis of Pb tolerance and response mechanism of the plant.

Producing emulsions continuously compared to in batch production has many benefits, such as increased speed and agility of production. A Sonolator, a device similar to a high-pressure homogenizer, is capable of this continuous production. In this paper, the size of droplets produced during emulsification has been investigated for various orifice pressure drops, dispersed phase viscosities, and orifice sizes. The phase fraction of the dispersed phase, up to 10% v/v, and the presence of a blade after the orifice were found not to affect the droplet size distribution (DSD). The mode droplet size decreased with increasing pressure drop and the DSDs were mostly bimodal, due to the formation of satellite droplets, meaning that d3,2is a poor benchmarking parameter. We propose a model capable of predicting the full DSD of the emulsion. This reveals key parameters for scale-up of production using Sonolators and can help to improve product quality and process efficiency.

Salinity is a major abiotic stress limiting crop growth and reducing grain yield. In recent years, little progress was made in salt‐tolerant cultivation techniques. Therefore, a controlled experiment was conducted to study the effects of nitrogen management (NM) on growth, antioxidant ability, and yield performance of salt‐tolerant rice (Oryza sativaL.) under salinity stress. Three salinity levels (0‰ as control; 0.75‰, 4.3 dS m−1; and 1.5‰, 7.7 dS m−1) and four levels of NM (tillering fertilizer/panicle initiation fertilizer = 7:3, 6:4, 5:5, and 4:6) were arranged in this study. Under salinity stress, plant height, tiller number, fresh weight, grain yield, panicle, spikelets per panicle, grain weight, and soluble sugar content in stem were significantly decreased. In contrast, antioxidant parameters of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase were significantly increased. Grain filling percentage and sucrose content were slightly changed. Compared to the control, grain yield was reduced by 45.6%, 34.8%, 60.4%, and 46.7% at the ratio of 7:3, 6:4, 5:5, and 4:6 NM at 0.75‰ salinity level, and 73.5%, 59.7%, 74.8%, and 61.7% at 1.5‰ salinity level, respectively. The highest yield was generated by 6:4 NM at both the 0.75‰ and 1.5‰ salinity level, and the lowest by 4:6 and 5:5. However, NM could obviously alleviate the inhibition effects of salinity stress and improve antioxidant ability of rice. Among them, 6:4 NM performed the best alleviation effects, followed by 7:3 and 5:5 NM. This study suggests that the appropriate NM can effectively alleviate salinity stress and increase grain yield.

The sintering of hydrate aggregates on the pipe wall is a major form of hydrate deposition. Understanding the sintering behavior of hydrates on the wall is crucial for promoting hydrate safety management and preventing pipeline blockage. However, limited research currently exists on this topic. In this study, the cohesive force strength of hydrate particles on the wall surface under different conditions was directly measured using a high-pressure micromechanical force device (HP-MMF). Subsequently, the effects of subcooling and glycine on the cohesive force were investigated. The results indicate that the cohesive force is influenced by different growth states during the process of free water on the wall surface gradually growing into hydrate. Three states with larger measured values during the growth process were selected for research. Observation showed that increased subcooling strengthened sintering by accelerating the growth rate of the hydrate film, resulting in a significant increase in cohesive force. The role of glycine in the methane hydrate system was then evaluated. Glycine was found to reduce the degree of sintering by reducing the growth rate of the hydrate film, thereby decreasing the cohesive force. The optimal concentration in the system was determined to be 0.25 wt %. Moreover, compared with low subcooling (1 °C), glycine had a better effect at high subcooling (5 °C). At 5 °C subcooling and the optimal concentration, the cohesive force in the wall droplet state decreases from 677.38 to 489.02 mN/m, the cohesive force at the low-saturation state decreases from 951.79 to 543.32 mN/m, and the cohesive force at the high-saturation state decreases from 1194.95 to 641.76 mN/m. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the cohesive force behavior of gas hydrate on the inner wall of the pipeline and provide basic data for reducing the risk of hydrate blockage.

Chemoselective hydrogenation of carbonyl in unsaturated aldehydes is a significant process in the chemical industry, in which the development of aqueous-phase reaction systems as a substitution to organic ones is challenging. Herein, we report Ir atomic cluster catalysts anchored onto WO3–xnanorods viaa reduction treatment at various temperatures (denoted as Ir/WOx-T, T= 200, 300, 400, and 500 °C), which accelerates the chemoselective hydrogenation of carbonyl groups in aqueous solutions. The optimal catalyst Ir/WOx-300 exhibits exceptional activity (TOF value: 1313.7 min–1) and chemoselectivity toward cinnamaldehyde (CAL) hydrogenation to cinnamyl alcohol (COL) (yield: ∼98.0%) in water medium, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest level compared with previously reported heterogeneous catalysts in liquid-phase reaction. Ac-HAADF-STEM, XAFS, and XPS verify the formation of interface structure (Irδ+–Ov–W5+(0 ≤ δ ≤ 4); Ovdenotes oxygen vacancy) induced by metal–support interaction and the largest concentration of interfacial Ir (Irδ+) in Ir/WOx-300. In situstudies (Raman, FT-IR), isotopic labeling measurements combined with DFT calculations substantiate that the hydrogenation of the C=O group consists of two pathways: water-mediated hydrogenation (predominant) and direct hydrogenation viaH2dissociation (secondary). In the former case, W5+–Ovsite accelerates the activation adsorption of H2O, while Ir0site facilitates the H–H bond cleavage of H2and Irδ+promotes the CAL adsorption. H2O molecule, as the source of hydrogen species, participates directly in the hydrogenation of the carbonyl group through a hydrogen-bonded network, with a largely reduced energy barrier relative to the H2dissociation path. This work demonstrates a green catalytic route that breaks the activity-selectivity trade-off toward the selective hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes, which shows great potential in heterogeneous catalysis.

Nasal polyps influence the burden of aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) by contributing to eicosanoid production. AERD is diagnosed through graded aspirin challenges. It is not known how sinus surgery affects aspirin challenge outcomes.

Pitaya contains various types of polyphenols, flavonoid and vitamins which are beneficial for health and it is among the most important commercial tropical fruits worldwide. Endophytic bacteria might be beneficial for plant growth and yield. However, bacterial diversity in pitaya is poorly characterized. In this study, fruits of white and red pitayas from three different origins (Thailand, Vietnam and China) were chosen for endophytic bacteria diversity investigation by using Illumina HiSeq second-generation high-throughput sequencing technology. Large number of endophytic bacteria were detected and 22 phyla, 56 classes, 81 orders, 122 families and 159 genera were identified. Endophytic bacteria diversity was uneven among pitaya fruits from different origins and bacteria structure was different between white pitaya group and red pitaya group. Phylum Bacteroidetes, classes Bacteroidia and Coriobacteriia, orders Bacteroidales and Coriobacteriales, families Prevotellaceae, Bacteroidaceae, Ruminococcaceae, Paraprevotellaceae, Rikenellaceae, Alcaligenaceae and Coriobacteriaceae, genera Prevotella, Bacteroides, Roseburia, Faecalibacteriumand Sutterellawere statistically significant different species (P < 0.05) between white and red pitayas. These findings might be useful for growth improvement, fruit preservation and processing of different pitaya species from different origins.

Electrochemically synthesized nanosphere, nanorod and nanotube Fe2(MoO4)3 at optimized temperature and current density are characterized with XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS. Crystal lattices of the three types Fe2(MoO4)3detected by HRTEM are well matched with the simulation analysis results from Materials Studio 6.0 based on the inorganic crystal structure database (ICSD) data and the modified XRD lattice parameters. The ratios of Fe/Mo on the surface resulted from XPS analysis are 1.47, 1.63 and 2.22 respectively for nanosphere, nanorod and nanotube. The mixture of Fe2(MoO4)3with polytetrafluoroethylene dispersion are coated on glass carbon substrate as electrode for electrocatalytic performance test by cyclic voltammetries in 0.1 mol/L KOH and 1 mol/L methanol electrolyte. Methanol oxidation peak current density of the Nanotube- Fe2(MoO4)3/GCEs electrode is 3.27 mA/cm2higher than 2.8 mA/cm2of platinum foil electrode, which shows enhanced catalytic activity of Nanotube-Fe2(MoO4)3/GCEs. The cyclic stability in terms of peak current retention are 91%, 92% and 88% respectively for Nanosphere-Fe2(MoO4)3/GCE, Nanorod-Fe2(MoO4)3/GCE and Nanotube-Fe2(MoO4)3/GCE electrode after 220 cycles. It is concluded that nanosized Fe2(MoO4)3could be promising alternative non-noble electro-catalysts for electro-oxidation of methanol in alkaline medium.

We report on the synthesis of a cage-type calix[4]pyrrole (1) bearing an additional basic pyridinebisthiazolamine group on the strap. The receptor in its protonated form shows strong affinity and selectivity for sulfate over a wide range of inorganic anions. With receptor 1as a liquid–liquid extractant, H+/SO42–in the form of H2SO4is almost quantitatively extracted from an aqueous solution containing HNO3at a high concentration to CH2Cl2in a recyclable manner.

A priority in solving the problem of drug resistance is to understand the molecular mechanism of how a drug induces the resistance response within cells. Because many cancer cells exhibit chromosome aneuploidy, we explored whether changes of aneuploidy status result in drug resistance. Two typical colorectal cancer cells, HCT116 and LoVo, were cultured with the chemotherapeutic drugs irinotecan (SN38) or oxaliplatin (QxPt), and the non- and drug-resistant cell lines were selected. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was employed to evaluate the aneuploidy status of these cells, and RNAseq and LC-MS/MS were implemented to examine gene expression at both mRNA and protein level. The data of gene expression was well-matched with the genomic conclusion that HCT116 was a near diploid cell, whereas LoVo was an aneuploid cell with the increased abundance of mRNA and protein for these genes located at chromosomes 5, 7, 12, and 15. By comparing the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data, the LoVo cells with SN38 tolerance showed an increased genome copy in chromosome 14, and the expression levels of the genes on this chromosome were also significantly increased. Thus, we first observed that SN38 could impact the aneuploidy status in cancer cells, which was partially associated with the acquired drug resistance.

The main objective of this study is to explore prefabricated thermal insulation composite wall’s thermal performance in the project. Using infrared thermal imager and multi-point heat meter takes a test on office building envelope. The test results showed that the composite wall temperature change delay of 3 hours 12 minutes, the temperature change attenuation of 2.5 °C; The composite board exterior wall surface temperature attenuation is larger and the thermal stability of the structure is perfect; thermal bridge is the main reason for reducing the average thermal resistance of the wall.

It has previously been shown that a bacterial 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) encoding gene AM79 aroAcan be a candidate gene to develop glyphosate-tolerant transgenic crops (Cao et al. 2012). In this study, AM79 aroAwas redesigned using the plant biased codons and eliminating the motifs which would lead to the instability of mRNA, to create a synthetic gene that would be expressed highly in plant cells. The redesigned and artificially synthesized gene, named as mAM79, was cloned into plant expression vector pM3301UbiSpAM79, where mAM79is fused with signal peptide sequence of pea rib-1,5-bisphospate carboxylase (rbcS) small subunit and controlled by ubiquitin promoter. The plasmid was transformed into maize (Zea mays) immature embryos using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. Total 74 regenerated plants were obtained and PCR analysis showed that these transgenic plants had the integration of mAM79. Southern blot analysis was performed on the genomic DNA from four transgenic lines, and the result showed that one or two copies of mAM79were integrated into maize genome. RT-PCR analysis result indicated that mAM79was highly transcribed in transgenic maize plants. When sprayed with glyphosate, transgenic maize line AM85 and AM72 could tolerate 4-fold of commercial usage of glyphosate; however, all the non-transgenic maize plants were killed by glyphosate. The results in this study confirmed that mAM79could be used to develop glyphosate-tolerant maize, and the obtained transgenic maize lines could be used for the breeding of glyphosate-tolerant maize.

Individuals with primary antibody deficiency (PAD) syndromes have poor humoral immune responses requiring immunoglobulin replacement therapy. We followed individuals with PAD after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination by evaluating their immunoglobulin replacement products and serum for anti-spike binding, Fcγ receptor (FcγR) binding, and neutralizing activities. The immunoglobulin replacement products tested have low anti-spike and receptor-binding domain (RBD) titers and neutralizing activity. In coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-naive individuals with PAD, anti-spike and RBD titers increase after mRNA vaccination but wane by 90 days. Those vaccinated after SARS-CoV-2 infection develop higher and more sustained responses comparable with healthy donors. Most vaccinated individuals with PAD have serum-neutralizing antibody titers above an estimated correlate of protection against ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and Delta virus but not against Omicron virus, although this is improved by boosting. Thus, some immunoglobulin replacement products likely have limited protective activity, and immunization and boosting of individuals with PAD with mRNA vaccines should confer at least short-term immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron.

In this article, a scheme for cooling a nanomechanical resonator (NMR) by a double quantum dot system with an extra driving field attached to ferromagnetic leads is proposed. It shows that, for the combination of ferromagnetic leads, it can reach a much lower temperature than that with normal leads. It also reveals that the current noise plays a vital role in the cooling and also supplies theoretically a method to detect the cooling level of the NMR.

Physical explosion model is applied in a certain carbon steel vertical water tube boiler explosion analysis, all the safety accessories and records have been damaged and no data related with before explosion could be found. Boiler energy and operation pressure before explosion was estimated by the measurement of cast pieces. Hurt radius calculated by TNT equivalent method is in accordance with on site measuring, which proves that TNT equivalent method is applicable in carbon steel boiler explosion analysis.

Transmission spectrum and reflectance spectrum have long been used to characterize gap semiconductor. Transmission spectrum can be measured very directly, but the influence of substrate absorption is often unavoidable. However, when using the reflectance spectrum measurement, the absorption of thin film, substrate absorption, and coherent interference will make the reflectance spectrum much more complicated. In this paper, Considering the absorption of thin film, substrate absorption, and coherent interference, we use the envelope curves algorithm to achieve the calculation formula of refractive index deduced from the reflectance spectrum. Through the analysis of the reflectance spectrum of Ga2O3 film, we achieved thickness of the film, refractive index, extinction and absorption coefficient and dispersion constant.

Highly monodispersed ZnO nanorods have been synthesized by the hydrothermal approach with polyacrylamide (PAM) as the template and zinc acetate as the zinc source. Most of these synthesized ZnO rods have diameters of 30 nm~200 nm and lengths of 80 nm~15 μm. The structural characterization of ZnO nanorods was carried out by XRD, TG, FTIR, TEM and SEM. nanoZnO rods can be prepared merely by one step reaction using little template. It indicated that this method can be applied to the commercialization of rod-like ZnO preparation technology.

Former USSR manufactured ΤΠ-230-2 type coal burning boiler has serviced for more than 369000 hours. The water fall tube burst caused by corrosion. The following examinations have been carried out , including macro-examination, metallographic analysis, tensile tests, inner and outer wall corrosion products and insulation materials analysis. Strength and remained thickness has also been calculated. Suggestions have been proposed to prevent similar explosions.

Arch dam is a water retaining structure which has beautiful bodily form and reasonable structure form, in recent years, arch dam has been widely used. This paper adopts finite element method to carry out three-dimensional finite element simulation analysis for Haierwa reservoir concrete hyperbolic arch dam, researching variation law of the dams stress and displacement in operating process. Research results show that, Haierwa reservoir concrete hyperbolic arch dam is reasonable structure, good mechanical performance, every index meets the requirements for design.

This paper adopt universal finite element calculation software to carry out force analysis for Shayubeigou prestressed reinforced concrete inverted siphon,computer is applied in analysis of prestressed reinforced concrete inverted siphon. Deducing variation law of the inverted siphons stress and displacement in construction process and operating process. The calculation results further shown design schemes rationality and safety. which provide reliable reference of design and construction for the prestressed reinforced concrete inverted siphon.

The text introduced a system based on BP network for the prediction of grape disease. It included the design of a network structure, the selection of parameter for network study, the processing of sample data etc. With the use of BP network model, this system can forecast the extent of grape disease, so it is applicable to the conditions which have many influencing factors, complicated relationship, difficulty of analyze quantitatively and requirement of long-term prediction. Using this system to the prediction of grape disease in Zhuo Lu area Zhang Jia Kou city, the authors obtained a good effect, which is of value to the prediction of grape disease occurrence.

An integrated two-phase anaerobic reactor was designed to treat domestic sewage, and the corresponding start-up process was investigated.In this investigation, the volumetric loading rate ( VLR) of the system was raised by basically maintaining the influent COD ( Chemical Oxygen Demand) concentration and gradually decreasing the hydraulic retention time (HRT) at 35℃，and the start-up process was completed only in the 36 days. When the Influent pH was kept in the range of 7.39 ~ 7.67，the acidogenic phase and the methanogenic phaseof integrated two-phase anaerobic reactor were separated only by using the kinetic method. After completing this process, the reactor operated well with VLR at 1.31 kg / ( m3·d) and HRT at about 7h, and a COD removal of more than 80%,a SS removal of about 90% and a gas production rate of about 0.31L/h were respectively achieved.

Hardness heterogeneous on weld metal and base metal in complicate structure of water storage tank was found after examination. Replica metallographic examination in hardness heterogeneous zone shows abnormal microstructures. Ostwald Ripening structure was caused by uneven temperature control during heat treatment. Lower cooling speed is the main cause of forming tempered sorbite in weld joints.

This paper analyzes the mechanism of the GNOME and ADIOS models. On this basis, GNOME and ADIOS model are applied to the simulation of the oil drift and the weathering process of the early oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico respectively by correctly adding the Gulf of geographical information and environmental information. The simulated oil spill trajectories agree well with remote sensing monitoring results and the simulation results of ADIOS are in line with the oil spill weathering study conclusions. This paper also analyzes the reasons of simulation mistakes and the shortcomings of the model itself so as to figure out the direction for the future study.

In this paper, the crack diseases of 106 simply supported-to-continuous split-type box girder bridges from G55 Taichang and G55 Changjin highways were statistically analyzed by the number of bridges, the frequency of each meter cracks appeared and the degree of cracks developed. According to the norm that Standard for Technical Condition Evaluation of Highway Bridges and which was recommended by the department of transportation, the crack diseases were evaluated by the two indexes, which were maximum crack width and crack length divided corresponding section size . The conclusion provides a technical basis for the effective prevention and treatment of cracks in the design, construction, repair and maintenance in the future. The proposed crack disease statistics method and evaluation method are provided with practical application value for management and maintenance departments to effectively evaluate the crack development and make decisions to repair.

Seven concrete beams were constructed with normal reinforcement bars. Grooves were opened on the concrete cover of the tensile region in the concrete beams using different combinations of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) and pre-stressed helical rib bar (HRB), CFRP and HRB pre-stressed at different levels were inserted into the grooves and filled with resin. Flexural experimental results indicated that the limit bearing capacity, rigidity, and crack resistance of the beams were strengthened significantly with near-surface mounted two pre-stressed HRB and one CFRP (BF1P2) bar, or near-surface mounted one pre-stressed HRB and two CFRP (BF2P1) bars, in which HRB was pre-stressed at 30%, 45%, and 60% of its limit strength, respectively. Compared with an un-strengthened beam, the crack loads of the BF1P2 beams increased by 86.70% and 133.33%, the yield loads by 32.25% and 72.04%, and the limit bearing capacities by 72.73% and 90%. The crack loads of the BF2P1 beams increased by 50% and 133.33%, the yield loads by 50.54% and 136.56%, and the limit bearing capacities by 72.20% and 173.60%. The BF1P2 beams had better reinforcing results compared to those of the BF2P1 beams. The beam strengthened with HRB pre-stressed at 45% of its limit strength was the best concrete beam.

We report a simple and green approach to synthesize reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets at room temperature based on Zn reduction of exfoliated GO. The evolution of GO to RGO has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveal that the atomic ratio of carbon to oxygen in the RGO can be tuned from 1.67 to 13.7 through controlling the reduction time. Moreover, the conductivity of the RGO is measured to be 26.9+-2.2 kS/m, much larger than those previously obtained by chemical reduction through other reducing agents. More importantly, the resistance of the RGO film with 20 nm thickness can be as low as 2 k/square, while a high transparency over 70% within a broad spectral range from 0.45 um to 1.50 um can be retained. The proposed method is low-cost, eco-friendly and highly-efficient, the as-prepared thinner RGO films are useful in a variety of potential application fields such as optoelectronics, photovoltaics and electrochemistry by serving as an ultralight, flexible and transparent electrode material.

This paper summarized some major methods in image progressing and existent problems. Also we analyzed and summarized the support vector machine pattern recognition which is described as a new direction in pattern recognition in recent years.