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Analog radio-over-fiber (ARoF) fronthaul emerges as a possible solution to overcome the fronthaul bottleneck for 5G and beyond mobile networks. ARoF technology exhibits better spectral efficiency compared to the traditional common public radio interface (CPRI) that is based on digitized transport of wireless signals. The deployment of ARoF links at millimeter wave (mmWave) bands has added advantage of being able to support ultra-broadband wireless signal transmission, but the performance is subjected to channel nonlinearity and noise. The transport of mmWave modulated optical signal is also subjected to fiber chromatic dispersion when transported in a double sideband format. In this paper, we investigate a 28 GHz mmWave-based ARoF fronthaul link with 1 GHz single wideband transmission over 10 km fiber using optical single sideband modulation format to combat the dispersion-based power fading. We propose, investigate, and demonstrate three approaches for compensating channel nonlinearity, including novel digital modulation, i.e., modified cut-and-paste-based probabilistic shaping (CAP-based PS), and directly using nonlinear post-equalizers, i.e., Volterra series-based equalizer and neural network-based (NN-based) equalizer. The experimental results show that the CAP-based PS approach using signal transformation at the transmitter and the receiver can improve the bit-error-rate (BER) performance for 64-quadrature amplitude modulation (64-QAM) with low computation complexity, but introduces slight data rate loss. On the other hand, both Volterra and fully connected NN-based equalizers can achieve BER< 3.8 × 10−3 for 64-QAM without data rate loss, with a superior BER obtained by NN equalizer under a relatively increased computation complexity. Furthermore, the NN equalizer applied after orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) 16-QAM using least-square equalization also achieves an improved BER below 3.8 × 10−3, which highlights the NN equalizer's capability of addressing channel distortions under different modulation formats. These practical channel nonlinearity compensation approaches provide promising solutions for addressing channel nonlinearity in the future deployment of ARoF fronthaul, especially for fronthaul operating at mmWave bands.

Inhibition of autophagy increases the sensitivity of tumor cells to radiotherapy and chemotherapy and improves the therapeutic effect on tumors. Recently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) combined with chemotherapy has been proven to further improve the efficiency of cancer treatment. As such, combining autophagy inhibition with PDT and chemotherapy may represent a potentially effective new strategy for cancer treatment. However, currently widely studied autophagy inhibitors inevitably produce various toxic side effects due to their inherent pharmacological activity. To overcome this constraint, in this study, we designed an ideal multifunctional upconversion nanoplatform, UCNP-Ce6-EPI@mPPA + NIR (MUCEN). Control, UCNP-EPI@mPPA (MUE), UCNP-EPI@mPPA + NIR (MUEN), Ce6-EPI@mPPA (MCE), Ce6-EPI@mPPA + NIR (MCEN), and UCNP-Ce6-EPI@mPPA (MUCE) groups were set up separately as controls. Based on a combination of autophagy inhibition and PDT, the average particle size of MUCEN was 197 nm, which can simultaneously achieve the double encapsulation of chlorine e6 (Ce6) and epirubicin (EPI). In vitro tests revealed that MUCE was efficiently endocytosed by 4T1 cells under near-infrared light irradiation. Further, in vivo tests revealed that MUCE dramatically inhibited tumor growth. Immunohistochemistry results indicated that MUCE efficiently increased the expression of autophagy inhibitors p62 and LC3 in tumor tissues. The synergistic effect of autophagy inhibition and PDT with MUCE exhibited superior tumor suppression, providing an innovative approach to cancer treatment.

The prevalent practice of substituting fishmeal with plant protein frequently leads to disturbances in bile acid metabolism, subsequently increasing the incidence of metabolic liver diseases. Bile acid nutrients such as cholesterol, taurine and glycine have been shown to enhance bile acid synthesis and confer beneficial effects on growth. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of cholesterol-taurine-glycine (Ch-Tau-Gly) supplement on bile acid metabolism and liver health in spotted seabass (Lateolabrax maculatus) fed a plant-based diet. Two isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets were formulated: (1) plant protein-based diet (PP); (2) PP supplemented 0.5% cholesterol, 0.5% taurine and 1.3% glycine (CTG). Each experimental diet was randomly fed to quadruplicate groups of 30 feed-trained spotted seabass in each tank. The results revealed that supplementing plant-based diet with Ch-Tau-Gly supplement led to an increase in carcass ratio (meat yield) in spotted seabass (P < 0.05), indirectly contributing positively to their growth. The dietary supplement effectively suppressed endogenous cholesterol synthesis in the liver, promoted the expression of bile acid synthesis enzyme synthesis, and simultaneously the expression of intestinal fxrand its downstream genes, including hnf4αand shp(P < 0.05). The reduction in Lactobacillus_salivariusand bile salt hydrolase (BSH) were observed in CTG group with concurrently increased conjugated chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) bile acids (P < 0.05), suggesting the enhancement of the hydrophilicity of the bile acid pool. In CTG group, fatty liver was alleviated with a corresponding increase in lipid metabolism, characterized by a downregulation of genes associated with lipogenesis and lipid droplet deposition, along with an upregulation of genes related to lipolysis. Our study underscored the ability of Ch-Tau-Gly supplement to influence the gut microbiota, leading to an increase in the levels of conjugated CDCA (P < 0.05) in the bile acid pool of spotted seabass. The interplay between the gut microbiota and bile acids might constitute a crucial pathway in the promotion of liver health. These findings offer a promising solution, suggesting that Ch-Tau-Gly supplement have the potential to promote the growth of aquatic species and livestock fed on plant-based diets while addressing issues related to metabolic fatty liver.

A series of novel Ti(IV) complexes bearing new type of nonsymmetric amine-bis(phenolate) tetradentate ligands, Me2NCH2CH2N[2-O-3-R1-5-tBuC6H2] [CH2(2-O-3-R2-5-tBuC6H2)]TiCl2[R1= R2= tBu (1); R1= R2= CPhMe2(2); R1= R2= CPh2Me (3); R1= CPh3, R2= tBu (4); R1= CPh3, R2= CPhMe2(5); R1= CPh3, R2= CPh2Me (6); and R1= R2= CPh3(7)], have been synthesized and characterized by 1H and 13C NMR. The X-ray crystallography analysis on complexes 5and 6demonstrates that both complexes exhibit a distorted octahedral geometry around their central metals. When activated with methylaluminoxane (MAO), dry-MAO, MAO/2,6-Ditert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT), or AliBu3/CPh3B(C6F5)4, these new complexes display moderate to high catalytic activities for ethylene polymerization and produce ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylenes (up to 3.74 × 106g mol–1). Polymers with low to moderate isotacticity are formed from the polymerization reactions of propylene or 1-hexane, and the isotacticity of the produced polymers increases with the increase in bulkiness of the ligands of the titanium complexes. For copolymerization reactions of ethylene/1-hexene or ethylene/1-octene, the MAO/BHT or dry-MAO activated catalytic systems show relatively high catalytic activities [106–107g of polymer (mol Ti)−1h–1] and produce polyolefin thermoplastic elastomer (POE) or linear low-density polyethylene with high to ultrahigh molecular weights (105–106g of mol–1) and moderate to high comonomer incorporations. The mechanical properties for some typical UHMWPE and POE samples were also determined and the results are in line with expectations. In most cases, these new titanium complexes display notable high thermal stability and long lifetime for the examined olefin polymerization reactions.

Titanium alloys are advanced lightweight materials, indispensable for many critical applications1,2. The mainstay of the titanium industry is the α–β titanium alloys, which are formulated through alloying additions that stabilize the α and β phases3–5. Our work focuses on harnessing two of the most powerful stabilizing elements and strengtheners for α–β titanium alloys, oxygen and iron1–5, which are readily abundant. However, the embrittling effect of oxygen6,7, described colloquially as ‘the kryptonite to titanium’8, and the microsegregation of iron9have hindered their combination for the development of strong and ductile α–β titanium–oxygen–iron alloys. Here we integrate alloy design with additive manufacturing (AM) process design to demonstrate a series of titanium–oxygen–iron compositions that exhibit outstanding tensile properties. We explain the atomic-scale origins of these properties using various characterization techniques. The abundance of oxygen and iron and the process simplicity for net-shape or near-net-shape manufacturing by AM make these α–β titanium–oxygen–iron alloys attractive for a diverse range of applications. Furthermore, they offer promise for industrial-scale use of off-grade sponge titanium or sponge titanium–oxygen–iron10,11, an industrial waste product at present. The economic and environmental potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the energy-intensive sponge titanium production12is substantial.

The advent of the era of big data not only enables us to have more information that we can use, but also creates conditions for us to create and disseminate information in a timely manner. This article systematically sorts out and analyzes the overall development and investment of new energy in China, as well as the current new energy incentive policies implemented, and points out the problems in the development of new energy. On this basis, the technical risks, policy risks, and market risks faced by this new energy investment are analyzed, and a risk evaluation model based on DHGF and entropy technology is established. It can help investors identify potential investment opportunities. Investors can use the option of investment projects granted by real options to reduce the impact of uncertainty, thereby increasing the value of the company, and making more scientific and reasonable investment decisions. The experimental results of this article show that since 2009, stock market financing has become a financing channel favored by developers.

Advanced three-dimensional structure variations of chromatin in large genome fragments, such as conversion of A/B compartment, topologically associated domains (TADs) and chromatin loops are related closely to occurrence of malignant tumors. However, the structural characteristics of lung cancer still remain uncovered. In this study, we used high-throughput chromosome (Hi-C) conformation capture technology to detect the advanced structural variations in chromatin of two non-smoking lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) tumor and paired normal tissues. The results indicate that significant chromatin variations are detected in tumor tissues compared with normal tissues. At compartment scale, the main conversion type of compartment is A → B in tumor tissues, which are concentrated mainly on chromosome 3 (Chr3) (33.6%). A total of 216 tumor-specific TADs are identified in tumor tissues, which are distributed mainly in Chr1 (19), Chr2 (15) and Chr3 (17). Forty-one distinct enhancer-promoter loops are observed in tumor tissue, which are associated closely to tumor-related pathways including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-Protein kinase B (PI3K-AKT), Ras, Wnt and Ras1. The most important observation in this study is that we identify five important genes (SYT16, NCEH1, NXPE3, MB21D2, and DZIP1L), which are detected in both A → B compartment, TADs and chromatin loops in tumor samples, and four of these genes (NCEH1, NXPE3, MB21D2, and DZIP1L) locate on q arm of Chr3. Further gene expression and invasion experiment analysis show that NCEH1, MB21D2and SYT16are involved in the tumor development. Thus, we provide a comprehensive overview of advanced structures in LUAD for the first time and provide a basis for further research on the genetic variation of this tumor.

Joint image compression and encryption techniques can be used to ensure the security of JPEG images. The related works in this field face problems such as low compression efficiency, limited protection power, and corrupted format information. In this paper, we propose a new JPEG protection method by introducing encryption operations into the compression process. Considering that different images have different properties, instead of using a fixed block size for encryption, we develop a new block segmentation strategy to first divide the plain-image into two different sizes of blocks, $8\times 8$ and $16\times 16$ , followed by corresponding size of DCT’s transformation. The strategy can ensure that the file size increment and rate-distortion are minimal. After block transformation and quantization, we encrypt DC coefficients by XOR and swapping, while AC coefficients are protected through block permutation and data embedding. The experiments show that our scheme does not compromise JPEG’s compression efficiency, offers satisfied security and maintains the format-compliant of the final encrypted bitstream to JPEG’s decoder.

The recent literature has shown that adversarial embedding has promise for enhancing the security of steganography. However, existing methods achieve the final stego mainly based on a pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based steganalyzer without considering any other steganalytic features. When the steganalyzer is re-trained, its performance usually drops significantly. We propose a novel adversarial embedding method via stego generation and selection. To improve the diversity of the stego images, this method first randomly generates many candidate stegos according to the amplitudes of the gradients and embedding costs of a given cover. Since the image residuals are the commonly used low-level features in many steganalyzers, the proposed method carefully designs different adaptive high-pass filters to calculate the image residuals, and then selects a final stego from among those candidate stegos which can successfully fool the pre-trained steganalyzer, according to the residual distance between stego and the cover. Extensive experimental evaluations on re-trained CNN-based and traditional steganalyzers demonstrate that the proposed method can significantly enhance the security of the modern steganographic methods in both spatial and JPEG domains, and achieve much better performance than related adversarial embedding methods.

Obesity imposes a global health threat and calls for safe and effective therapeutic options. Here, we found that protein-rich diet significantly reduced body fat storage in fruit flies, which was largely attributed to dietary cysteine intake. Mechanistically, dietary cysteine increased the production of a neuropeptide FMRFamide (FMRFa). Enhanced FMRFa activity simultaneously promoted energy expenditure and suppressed food intake through its cognate receptor (FMRFaR), both contributing to the fat loss effect. In the fat body, FMRFa signaling promoted lipolysis by increasing PKA and lipase activity. In sweet-sensing gustatory neurons, FMRFa signaling suppressed appetitive perception and hence food intake. We also demonstrated that dietary cysteine worked in a similar way in mice via neuropeptide FF (NPFF) signaling, a mammalian RFamide peptide. In addition, dietary cysteine or FMRFa/NPFF administration provided protective effect against metabolic stress in flies and mice without behavioral abnormalities. Therefore, our study reveals a novel target for the development of safe and effective therapies against obesity and related metabolic diseases.

The extraction of high-quality useful signals in downhole environments has perennially posed a technical challenge for continuous wave mud pulse transmission systems. Traditional denoising methods, such as adaptive filtering and wavelet transform, inevitably compromise the integrity of the original signal's useful components while removing noise. Different from the traditional denoising methods, stochastic resonance (SR) is capable of transferring the energy of noise to the signal, thereby accomplishing the objective of noise suppression. In this paper, based on the second-order tri-stable stochastic resonance detection method combined with the estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA), a distributed estimation cascade second-order tri-stable stochastic resonance (EDA- CSTSR) detection method is proposed for the first time. By constructing 5 groups of simulation signals with different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), the denoising performance of distributed estimation CSTSR, Langevin SR, and Duffing SR is analyzed in detail. The results show that compared with Langevin SR and Duffing SR, the EDA-CSTSR can increase the SNR of the input simulation signal by at least 17 dB and significantly increase the amplitude of the useful pulse signal. Moreover, the EDA-CSTSR is applied to process actual data obtained from a drilling site, enabling the recognition of weak signals amidst strong background noise, which highlights the method's excellent practical application value and underscores its potential for further enhancement.

The traditional strong alkaline activation method for preparing porous carbon faces with complex preparation processes, equipment corrosion, excessive disordered microporous structures, and environmental pollution. Hence, a green, facile and sustainable method is proposed for synthesizing N/O co-doped porous carbon derived from polyacrylamide gel with the assistance of recyclable sodium chloride (NaCl) template. NaCl template is dissolved in gel with water and can give full play to the template effect after recrystallization. Due to a suitable specific surface area (499.8 m2 g−1) and massive N (11.38 at. %) and O (8.71 at. %) functional groups, the optimized NPC-5 electrode possesses a high specific capacitance of 283.3 F g−1at 0.5 A g−1, superior rate characteristics and excellent cycle stability in 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. In addition, the constructed NPC-5//NPC-5 symmetric supercapacitor shows a high energy density of 34.0 Wh kg−1in 1 M ZnSO4aqueous electrolyte. More importantly, the assembled Zn//ZnSO4//NPC-5 hybrid capacitor shows a high capacity of 115.44 mAh g−1and an energy density of 85.3 Wh kg−1.

• The added Nb could refine the grain size not only inner the ribbon but also the coarse regions to optimize the microstructure of die-upset magnets. • The coercivity was increased from 5.3 kOe to 16.5 kOe for die-upset magnet with Nd 70 Cu 30 diffusion and Nb addition. • The thermal stability of coercivity and remanence is improved with Nb addition. [Display omitted] To restrict grain growth in coarse grain regions caused by the diffusion of Nd-Cu eutectic alloys, the Nb element was introduced into the precursor alloy to regulate the microstructure of melt-spun powder and die-upset magnets. The magnetic properties and thermal stability of die-upset magnets were appreciably improved through the addition of Nb. For the Nb-doped diffusion die-upset magnet, the grains inside the ribbons were refined and the coarse non-oriented surface crystallite got suppressed on the interface of ribbons during the hot-deformation process to form the anisotropic magnet. Moreover, Nd gathers at the intergranular phases, which is considered to enforce domain wall pinning force. The Nb-modified microstructure is advantageous to thermal stability and coercivity enhancement. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy images revealed that the Nb element gathered on the grain boundary and triple grain boundary to form c-Nb and h-NbFeB to hinder the grain growth during the hot-deformation process, which led to direct enhancement in the coercivity. Furthermore, the c-Nb and h-NbFeB are nonmagnetic phases that strengthened the magnetic isolation. However, the h-NbFeB precipitated from the hard magnetic phase and formed crystal defects which led to remanence deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ARB was investigated in different soil types following manure application.CTC-manure induced more resistance of soil indigenous microbes in fluvo-aquic soil.Lactobacillus, Dyella, Ralstonia, and Bacilluswere the key different genera.Manure control is an effective way to reduce the risk of soil ARB.

A series of new zirconium complexes bearing bulkier amine bis(phenolate) tetradentate ligands, Me2NCH2CH2N{CH2(2-O-3-R-5-tBu-C6H2)}2ZrCl2[R = CPhMe2(1); CMePh2(2); CPh3(3); Ph (4); 3,5-Me2C6H3(5); 3,5-tBu2C6H3(6); 4-tBuC6H4(7)], were synthesized and characterized by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), 13C NMR, and elemental analyses. The molecular structures of complexes 1and 3were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The X-ray crystallography analysis reveals that these complexes display a slightly distorted octahedral geometry around their metal centers. Upon activation with methylaluminoxane (MAO), dry-MAO, MAO/butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), or AliBu3/CPh3B(C6F5)4, these zirconium complexes exhibit high catalytic activity for ethylene polymerization [up to 1.07 × 107g PE (mol Zr)−1h–1] and ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization [up to 2.78 × 107g polymer (mol Zr)−1h–1], affording (co)polymers with moderate to high molecular weights and good comonomer incorporations. The zirconium complexes with bulkier R groups show higher catalytic activities and longer lifetimes and produce polymers with higher molecular weights, while the zirconium complexes with aryls as R groups demonstrate relatively good comonomer incorporation ability for the copolymerization reactions. These catalytic systems also show moderate catalytic activities for the polymerization reactions of propylene, 1-hexene, and 1-decene. Upon activation with MAO, the zirconium complexes also show moderate catalytic activities for the copolymerization reaction of ethylene with 3-buten-1-ol (treated with 1 equiv of AliBu3), affording copolymers with the incorporation of 3-buten-1-ol up to 1.05%.

Graphical abstract: The combination of SPMA and APP was finished on cotton fabric through UV cross-linking, which presented an obvious flame retardant effect for cotton fabric.

Selective laser melting (SLM) is an advanced, efficient and capable manufacturing technology that utilizes a laser for heating metal or alloy powders to melt and solidify directly into metal parts. In this paper, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method was employed for the three-dimensional numerical simulation of the SLM process. This method is significantly benefit for solving free surface flows and complex motions at multiple material phase interfaces. The weakly compressible equation of state and Navier-Stokes equation were used to describe the state and flow of the liquid metal in the process of the SLM mathematical modelling. The surface tension and wetting effect are critical for the morphology and evolution of the molten pool. A continuous surface tension model and a wetting effect model were established, and the correctness of these mathematical models was verified by the evolution of the liquid droplets over time. Then, a special material model was established based on the thermophysical properties of 304L stainless steel. A Gaussian heat source model was employed to heat the metal powder in the SLM process. In this work, the SPH method was used to simulate the morphology and formation of the molten pool at different laser powers and to analyse the effect of different laser powers on the size of the molten pool. The simulation results show that the surface tension and wetting effect under laser action play an important role in the expansion of the molten pool size; within a certain laser power range, the size of the molten pool gradually increases with increasing laser power, and the simulation calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental results. The results show that the SPH method is a viable and promising way to simulate the SLM process.

ABSTRACTArchitectured hierarchical porous materials exist widely in nature. Inspired by their unique mechanical and functional responses, extensive efforts have been made to develop architectured hierarchical porous metallic materials for specific industrial applications where fast mass transport and specific surface area are both critical, such as energy storage and catalysis. More specifically, the rapid development of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies has enabled the design and fabrication of a wide variety of architectured hierarchical porous metals in recent years. This review discusses the developments to date of AM-enabled hierarchical porous metals with or without the combination of other manufacturing processes. AM opens avenues for the creation of unprecedented hierarchical porous metals with novel properties or functionalities.

Graphic abstract: Conducting films based on silver nanowires (AgNWs) have been reviewed with a focus on their assembly and their advantages.

Wetlands are multi-functional ecosystems and important for global environment. Taiwan implemented the Wetland Conservation Act in 2013. This study surveyed in Gaomei Wetland by conjoint analysis. The purpose of this research is to examine environmental value by willingness to pay (WTP) of the Gaomei Wetland, to study the relationship between the environmental value of the water quality, mangrove coverage and bird species in Gaomei Wetland, the popularity of the Wetland Conservation Act and the relationship between the Wetland Conservation Act and environmental economic valuation. The results show that approximately 70% of respondents were willing to pay to improve the wetland environment, the females' WTP is higher than males, and young peoples' WTP is higher than older people. Those who were not willing to pay believed that protecting the wetlands should be the government's responsibility. When considering different ecological attributes, respondents prioritised water quality over bird diversity and mangrove coverage.

Atomic-scale defects in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) often dominate their physical and chemical properties. Introducing defects in a controllable manner can tailor properties of TMDs. For example, chalcogen atom defects in TMDs were reported to trigger phase transition, induce ferromagnetism, and drive superconductivity. However, reported strategies to induce chalcogen atom defects including postgrowth annealing, laser irradiation, or plasma usually require high temperature (such as 500 °C) or cause unwanted structural damage. Here, we demonstrate low-temperature (60 °C) partial surface oxidation in 2D PdSe2with low disorder and good stability. The combination of scanning tunneling microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations provide evidence of atomic-scale partial oxidation with both atomic resolution and chemical sensitivity. We also experimentally demonstrate that this controllable oxygen incorporation effectively tailors the electronic, optoelectronic, and catalytic activity of PdSe2. This work provides a pathway toward fine-tuning the physical and chemical properties of 2D TMDs and their applications in nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, and electrocatalysis.

A kinetically controlled radical addition/elimination reaction generating fluorinated allenes was developed. This strategy offers a route to a facile synthesis of diverse trifluoromethyl, difluoromethylene, and perfluoroalkyl functionalized allenes from readily available fluoroalkyl halides and alkynyl aziridines under visible-light irradiation. Density functional theory calculation of this radical clock type of reaction revealed a kinetically controlled C–N bond cleavage overcoming the alternative thermodynamically controlled C–C bond cleavage process.

A facile one-pot hydrothermal approach has been developed for the preparation of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with hierarchical pore structure. The PEI-modified MSNs exhibit an improved adsorption capacity for CO2capture.

Photochromic phenylhydrazones are one of the most promising candidates for a photoswitchable fluorescent probe with potential applications in various fields, but mechanistic understanding of the origin of this unique behavior is limited. In this work, we explored the emission nature and switching mechanism of a model phenylhydrazone-based fluorescent photoswitch, DMA-PHA, by means of TD-DFT and CASPT2 calculations. The fluorescence-emitting Zconfiguration of DMA-PHA does not involve an excited-state intramolecular proton transfer process since the resonance effect between the DMA group and the rest part of the molecule in the excited state strengthens the hydrogen bond and thus stabilizes the emissive state. The light-induced fluorescence toggling results from E↔Zinterconversion driven by an out-of-plane C═N bond torsion and assisted by a N–N single bond rotation, which in total lead to a charge separation process losing the fluorescence activity. The N–N bond rotation in phenylhydrazone further enhances the competitive nonradiative decay and reduces the photoisomerization yields. The theoretical results will provide the guidance for the rational design of novel and improved photoswitchable fluorescent probes with desired performances.

Left atrial appendage (LAA) closure (LAAC) procedures are conventionally performed using empirical fluoroscopic viewing angles. However, because the LAA is a highly variable anatomical structure, these angles cannot depict the LAA in the optimal position. The present study aimed to assess the efficiency of using a novel optimal fluoroscopic projection angle (OPA) for LAAC and to validate its feasibility.

Indoor optical wireless communications have been widely studied to provide high-speed connections to users, where the use of repetition-coded (RC) multiple transmitters has been proposed to improve both the system robustness and capacity. To exploit the benefits of the RC system, the multiple signals received after transmission need to be precisely synchronized, which is challenging in high-speed wireless communications. To overcome this limit, we propose and demonstrate a recurrent neural network (RNN)-based symbol decision scheme to enable a delay-tolerant RC indoor optical wireless communication system. The experiments show that the proposed RNN can improve the bit-error-rate by about one order of magnitude, and the improvement is larger for longer delays. The results also show that the RNN outperforms previously studied fully connected neural network schemes.

Pear (Pyrus pyrifolia(Burm. f.) cv. Nak.) is cultivated worldwide, with China ranking as the top producer of Asian pear. Pear trees often waste a lot of nutrients during the growing process, due to the large number of flowers on the trees. Traditional thinning methods to reduce flower number are often laborious and time-consuming and affect fruit quality. Here, we investigated the use of plant-derived nutrient solution (PDNS), a liquid organic fertilizer that is made from naturally fallen tree fruit, as a thinning agent. PDNS was sprayed onto two pear cultivars, ‘Whangkeumbae’ and ‘Hosui’ during bud, flower and fruit stage. We observed that the thinning effect of PDNS was significantly greater than that of widely used chemical thinning agents and that PDNS can promote pear tree vegetative growth and fruit quality. The work described in this report lays a foundation for developing protocols using environmentally benign thinning agents in organic fruit production.

A highly thermally stable twistarene, namely 11,16‐di‐tert‐butyl‐9,18‐diphenylbenzo[kl]benzo[8,9]triphenyleno[2,3‐b]xanthene (BTX), has been synthesized via a simple reaction, and its structure was unambiguously determined by single crystal X‐ray analysis with a twisted angle of 37.9° between plane C1‐C2‐C4 and plane C16‐C17‐C24. More interestingly, molecule BTXcould self‐assembly into nanowires and nanospheres via simple reprecipitation, which were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV‐vis absorption and emission spectra. The fabricated electroluminescent devices based on BTXas active ingredient presented a maximum brightness of 4355 cd m−2(bias voltage at 9.0 V) with CIE coordinate of (0.14, 0.53). Bright twist: A pyran‐embedded arene was synthesized and possessed a twisted topological structure with a twist angle of 37.9°. This molecule could self‐assembly into nanowires and nanoparticles by tuning the solvent type and ratio. More interestingly, the optimized devices using it as emitter exhibited green electroluminescence with a maximum brightness of 4355 cd m−2.

Heteroatom-doped porous carbon materials have shown great potential in energy storage devices. In this paper, the mixture of potassium polyacrylate and polyacrylamide was freeze-dried to obtain a precursor, followed by a one-step carbonization method to prepare nitrogen oxygen co-doped hierarchical porous carbon (HPC). The superior electrochemical properties of HPC-4 electrode could be attributed to the synergistic effects of the three-dimensional (3D) interconnected hierarchical porous structure, high content of heteroatomic functional groups, and large specific surface area. The symmetrical supercapacitor assembled by two HPC-4 electrodes achieves an energy density of 21.13 Wh kg−1(100 W kg−1). More interestingly, the Zn//ZnSO4//HPC-4 hybrid capacitor constructed by HPC-4 as the cathode, zinc foil as the anode, and 2 M ZnSO4as the electrolyte achieved an outstanding capacitance of 282.81 F g−1(125.69 mAh g−1), an ultra-high energy density of 100.56 Wh kg−1(100 W kg−1) and excellent cycle performance. This work provides a simple method for preparing high-performance electrode for zinc-ion hybrid capacitors.

Continuous wave mud pulse transmission is crucial for wireless logging, but surface pump noise disrupts upstream mud pulses, hindering downhole information extraction. At a theoretical level, the dual-sensor differential denoising approach is an excellent technology for suppressing pump noise, but precisely identifying the time delay, which has a considerable impact on the denoising effect, remains a challenge. This paper provides an improved variable step-size adaptive time delay estimation method TVSS-LMSTDE to address this issue. Iteration time regulates the change in step size. The preset adjustment principle states that modifying parameters ζand γcontrols the learning features of step size. A series of stable and erratic dual-sensor continuous wave mud pulse signals interfered by various noise intensities are created in the simulation, and the performance of three different variable step-size technologies—error-oriented, nonlinear relationship, and iterative time regulation—in terms of convergence speed, estimation stability, and calculation amount are compared and analyzed. The results show that the iterative time regulation technique produces a minimal mean square error in time delay estimate, with generally steady estimation and excellent accuracy. When applied to hydraulic cycle tests, the technique accurately gets the time delay value of dual-sensor signals, giving critical support for the successful recovery of mud pulse data severely disrupted by pump noise.

Acenes, usually defined as segments of “graphene”, consist of linearly annulated benzene rings, and have attracted considerable interest in both theoretical research and practical applications. However, these compounds generally have undesirable features such as poor solubility, easy oxidation and photodimerization. Thus, scientists have to invest much effort to address these problems and experimentally achieve the desired electronic properties to meet various demands. Herein, we summarize recent progress in the synthesis of pyrene‐functionalized acenes and heteroacenes through the use of pyrene diketone and pyrene tetraketone building blocks. Moreover, the physical properties and applications of these semiconductors in organic semiconductor devices are also described. You′re creating a‐cene! Recent progress in synthetic efforts to access pyrene‐functionalized acenes and heteroacenes from pyrene diketone and pyrene tetraketone building blocks is reviewed. The favorable physical properties and applications of these materials in organic semiconductor devices are also described.

To realize the high reactivity of large acenes, doping heteroatoms into the skeleton of acene is an appealing strategy. Thus herein a novel annulated dioxin derivative containing thirteen six‐membered rings (DPyP) in one row has been synthesized and characterized. The resulting molecule presented maximum absorption and emission peaks at 611 nm and 655 nm in dichloromethane, respectively, and its decomposition temperature was stable up to 343 °C (5% weight loss). Furthermore, the organic light‐emitting diode fabricated with DPyPas an emitter exhibited a promising electroluminescent performance with the maximum red brightness of 301 cd m−2with CIE of (0.71, 0.28). A novel annulated dioxin derivativecontaining thirteen six‐membered rings (DPyP) in one row has been synthesized and characterized. The resulting molecule presented maximum absorption and emission peaks at 611 nm and 655 nm in dichloromethane. The fabricated device with DPyPas an emitter exhibited a promising red electroluminescence.

The first Co-containing polyoxotantalate cluster, [H5Co8Ta24O80]15–, has been obtained. The tetramer has by far the highest degree of polymerization of any polyoxotantalate based on {Ta6O19} and is the largest high-nuclearity Co-cluster-containing polyoxotantalate obtained thus far. The synthesis of new polyoxotantalates has long been a challenging subject in polyoxotantalate chemistry. The findings of this study show the possibility of using Ta-based polyoxometalates as ligands to construct large aggregated structures analogous to the related Nb compounds. Therefore, the work demonstrates exciting progress in the synthesis of new polyoxotantalates.

The sludge-derived biochar (SBC) was prepared by a low-cost microwave pyrolysis process, and then MnFe2O4nanoparticles were anchored onto the surface of SBC through a hydrothermal route to construct a magnetic MnFe2O4/SBC composite catalyst. As-obtained MnFe2O4/SBC catalysts were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, Raman, FE-SEM, BET surface area and XPS. The optimized MnFe2O4/SBC(1:3) catalyst showed a higher catalytic activity to activate peroxydisulfate (PDS) for levofloxacin (LVF) degradation than that of SBC, MnFe2O4and reported magnetic composite catalysts. After 80 min of reaction, 79.5% of LVF in water (10 mg/L) was degraded by MnFe2O4/SBC(1:3) in the presence of PDS (1.5 g/L), and LVF degradation followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics. Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in SBC participates in PDS activation. XPS analysis, oxidative species capture experiments, EPR and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) tests confirmed that LVF degradation in MnFe2O4/SBC-PDS oxidation system was achieved through the non-radical (electron transfer, 1O2) and radical (SO4•−, ∙OH and O2•−) pathways, with the former playing a dominant role. The degradation routes of LVF were established based on the degradation intermediates. LVF removal efficiency from real water matrices was improved by means of increasing catalyst dosage and reaction temperature. Cost analysis indicates that MnFe2O4/SBC-PDS oxidation process is a cost-effective method to eliminate the antibiotics in water.

ABSTRACTHeat stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that adversely affect growth and yield in Lentinula edodes(Shiitake mushroom) under natural cultivation. In this study, two parental strains (L808 and Lsm9), an F1strain, and an F2population derived from their hybrid progeny were used to evaluate the regeneration of mycelia after heat stress. A multi-level heat stress experiment showed that the dynamics of radial mycelium expansion of the two parents followed a linear equation after heat stress treatment at 37°C for 4–24 h, 42°C for 4–16 h, or 45°C for 4 h. Three indices were selected to describe the regeneration ability of the strains, including the number of regeneration days (NRD), the real growth rate after heat stress (Vregeneration), and the regenerative index (RI). L808 presented a faster rate of regeneration, while Lsm9 had better regeneration quality. The phenotype analysis of the F2population showed that these indices were controlled by multiple genetic factors with high heritability. Four strains were selected from the population, pyramiding the advantages of heat resistance from the two parents. The results will help our understanding of the genetic features of this mushroom after extreme high-temperature stress.

Residual organic contaminants in water environment pose a huge threat to ecosystem and human health. As an efficient and clean technology, persulfate (PS)-based advanced oxidation processes (PS-AOPs) can efficiently remove organic contaminants from wastewater. Spinel ferrite magnetic materials or carbonaceous materials (rGO, CNTs, BC, etc.) have been widely used as the effective heterogeneous catalysts for activation of PS to degrade various organic contaminants in water. Coupling carbon catalysts with spinel ferrite improves the PS activation efficiency and solves the separation problem of carbon catalysts. This paper firstly reviews the recent advances in PS activation by magnetic ferrite-carbon (MFC) composite materials for organic contaminants degradation in water. In-depth discussion of the mechanism for PS (including PMS and PDS) activation by MFC composite catalysts was conducted, and the degradation of organic contaminants in MFC/PS systems was achieved via the radical and/or non-radical reaction pathways. The main role of carbon materials involved in MFC/PS systems includes preventing the aggregation of ferrite particles and increasing the exposure of reactive sites on ferrites, providing additional active sites for PS activation, promoting electron transfer involved in PS activation and organic contaminant degradation and reducing the leaching of metal ions from ferrites. Moreover, the environmental application of MFC-activated PS oxidation systems was discussed, including the effect of reaction conditions, stability and reusability of MFC catalyst, flow reactor configuration and cost-efficiency analysis. Finally, the possible future developments are presented.

This letter proposes what we believe is a novel time-slot coding (TSC) scheme to provide optical wireless communications to multiple users simultaneously with limited multiuser interference. We studied the proposed TSC experimentally and our results show that the code alignment tolerance, due to imperfect timing during the code generation process in practice, is 90.2%, 91.8%, and 93.1% with 4-QAM modulation at the received optical power of −22  dBm, −20  dBm, and −18  dBm, respectively. Furthermore, we also demonstrated a proof-of-concept experiment for simultaneous wireless connectivity for up to five users at multiple gross data rates (0.5 Gbps, 1  Gb/s, 1.6  Gb/s, 2  Gb/s, and 2.5  Gb/s).

In this paper, we propose certain different design ideas on a novel topic in quantum cryptography — quantum operation sharing (QOS). Following these unique ideas, three QOS schemes, the “HIEC” (The scheme whose messages are hidden in the entanglement correlation), “HIAO” (The scheme whose messages are hidden with the assistant operations) and “HIMB” (The scheme whose messages are hidden in the selected measurement basis), have been presented to share the single-qubit operations determinately on target states in a remote node. These schemes only require Bell states as quantum resources. Therefore, they can be directly applied in quantum networks, since Bell states are considered the basic quantum channels in quantum networks. Furthermore, after analyse on the security and resource consumptions, the task of QOS can be achieved securely and effectively in these schemes.

A 41-year-old woman presented to our hospital with a 12-year history of recurrent episodes of excessive sweating on her right face, neck, shoulder, and left calf after exercise (Figure). Cranial nerve examination was normal. Routine tests, thyroid function, ultrasound of carotid artery, MRI of the head, mediastinum, cervical and lumbar spine, and whole-body 18F-FDG PET/MRI were all negative. At her 3-year follow-up, her entire left leg was affected. She was finally diagnosed with Harlequin syndrome. Harlequin syndrome is attributed to sympathetic dysfunction.1Contralateral involvement of autonomic nerves is relatively rare. Causes include syringomyelia, carotid artery dissection, tumors, or brainstem infarction, but many cases are idiopathic.1,2Usually, Harlequin syndrome requires no treatment, but botulinum toxin can be tried in patients with severe symptoms.1

This paper reports on the electrochemical dealloying of a ternary Al67Cu18Sn15 (in at.% throughout the paper) alloy consisting of a-Al, Al2Cu and Sn using potentiodynamic and potentiostatic polarization measurements. When the applied potential (-0.5 V) was below the critical potential of the Al2Cu phase (-0.41 V), complete electrochemical dealloying of the binary Al75Cu25 alloy (consisting of a-Al and Al2Cu) occurred, leading to the formation of a nanoporous (52 +- 10 nm) copper (Cu) structure. However, under the same condition dealloying only occurred partially to the a-Al phase in the ternary Al67Cu18Sn15 alloy due to the suppressing influence of Sn. The electrochemical dealloying of the ternary Al67Cu18Sn15 alloy was potential dependent and involved the concurrence of dealloying and realloying as evidenced by the formation of Cu6Sn5.

Perilla frutescens(L.) Britt is widely used as an edible and medicinal plant in Asian countries, and its fruits have been adopted in Chinese pharmacopoeia as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). To provide an efficient method for quality control, an attempt to explore antioxidant activity and fingerprint analysis was made in this work. 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activities of the fruits of P. frutescensfrom different sources were measured first. Then, HPLC fingerprints of these samples were established and four active components were deduced by multiple correlation analysis. Combined with TLC bioautography assay and HPLC comparison, the four antioxidant components separated by silica gel chromatography and further purified by Sephadex LH-20 were determined to be caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, luteolin and apigenin, respectively. Finally, total phenolic contents of the test samples were determined and their correlation with antioxidant activity was also investigated. The results indicated that most of the similarities of 22 batches of samples were more than 0.89 based on the four active components corresponding to the peaks 5, 10, 11 and 12 in the fingerprints and total phenolic contents correlated closely with antioxidant activity. Therefore the four components and total phenols are predominant contributors to the antioxidant activity of the fruits of P. frutescens. It is proposed that the fingerprint with the four characteristic peaks as common peaks and total phenolic content determination were necessary for the quality control of this plant and should be adopted in its quality standards.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:To evaluate uncorrected distance, intermediate, and near visual acuity (VA), uncorrected near stereoacuity, the preferred reading distance, and reading speed after bilateral implantation of AcrySof ReSTOR SN6AD1 or SN6AD3 multifocal intraocular lens (IOL) (Alcon Laboratories, Fort Worth, TX).PATIENTS AND METHODS:Forty patients (80 eyes) from our hospital were prospectively enrolled in either the SN6AD1 group or the SN6AD3 group. There were 20 patients (40 eyes) in each group. Uncorrected distance and near VA, uncorrected intermediate VA at 40, 63, and 100 cm under high and low contrast, defocus curve, preferred reading distance, uncorrected near stereoacuity, and reading speed were evaluated 3 months postoperatively.RESULTS:Uncorrected intermediate VA at 40, 63, and 100 cm with high or low contrast was significantly better in the SN6AD1 group than in the SN6AD3 group (Uncorrected intermediate VA at 40, 63, and 100 cm with high or low contrast was significantly better in the SN6AD1 group than in the SN6AD3 group (P< .05), with no difference in uncorrected distance VA or near VA (P> .05). The preferred reading distance in both groups was 38.5 and 32.8 cm, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between groups in uncorrected near stereoacuity and reading speed (56.7 ± 45.4 vs 52.5 ± 35.4 seconds of arc and 174.2 ± 65.0 vs 195.3 ± 45.8 words per minute, respectively).CONCLUSION:Patients receiving the SN6AD1 IOL achieved better intermediate VA under high or low contrast and a more comfortable reading distance than patients receiving the SN6AD3 IOL without compromising uncorrected near and distance VA, uncorrected near stereoacuity, and reading speed.

Limertinib (ASK120067) is a newly developed third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting both sensitizing EGFRand EGFRThr790Met (T790M) mutations. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of limertinib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic EGFRT790M-mutated NSCLC.