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As high-performance monomers for the manufacture of polyamide materials, mid- and long-chain dicarboxylic acids (DCAi, i≥ 6) have received extensive attention from researchers. Biosynthesis is gradually replacing chemical synthesis due to its outstanding advantages in the industrial production of mid- and long-chain dicarboxylic acids, which is mostly achieved by using the strong terminal oxidation ability of nonmodel microorganisms such as Candida tropicalisto oxidize hydrophobic substrates such as alkanes. Here, we first summarize the metabolic pathways of oxidative alkane conversion into dicarboxylic acid by terminally oxidizing unconventional yeasts and the corresponding metabolic engineering strategies. Then, we summarize the research progress on new dicarboxylic acid production processes. Finally, the future development directions in the biosynthesis of mid- and long-chain dicarboxylic acids are prospected from synthetic biology and bioprocess engineering, which can also provide a reference for the synthesis of other biobased chemicals and biomaterials.

Photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) based gas sensors with high sensitivity, high selectivity, zero background signal and real-time online monitoring are desirable in energy, environment and medicine. However, the stability and accuracy of PAS are decreased due to the resonant frequency shift of the photoacoustic cell, which is caused by finesse of photoacoustic cell and the temperature variety. In this paper, we propose a measurement method based on linearly swept wavelength modulation and frequency tracking demodulation to track and scan the frequency response of the photoacoustic cell, and obtain the resonant frequency of the photoacoustic cell directly and quickly. At the same time, it can be used as a gas concentration measurement method without measuring the resonant characteristics. The formula of the theoretical model is derived, and the feasibility and advantages are demonstrated in principle. Combined with the PAS system and the acetylene gas detection experiment, the measurement method was completed within 1 minute, and the error of resonant frequency was less than 0.1%. As a concentration measurement method, it has good linearity and stability. The research aims to eliminate the influence of resonant frequency deviation, improve the measurement speed, stability and accuracy of the PAS system, and promote the real-time online measurement application of PAS technology.

In response to the lack of reliable physical parameters in the process simulation of the butadiene extraction, a large amount of phase equilibrium data were collected in the context of the actual process of butadiene production by acetonitrile. The accuracy of five prediction methods, UNIFAC (UNIQUAC Functional-group Activity Coefficients), UNIFAC-LL, UNIFAC-LBY, UNIFAC-DMD and COSMO-RS, applied to the butadiene extraction process was verified using partial phase equilibrium data. The results showed that the UNIFAC-DMD method had the highest accuracy in predicting phase equilibrium data for the missing system. COSMO-RS-predicted multiple systems showed good accuracy, and a large number of missing phase equilibrium data were estimated using the UNIFAC-DMD method and COSMO-RS method. The predicted phase equilibrium data were checked for consistency. The NRTL-RK (non-Random Two Liquid-Redlich-Kwong Equation of State) and UNIQUAC thermodynamic models were used to correlate the phase equilibrium data. Industrial device simulations were used to verify the accuracy of the thermodynamic model applied to the butadiene extraction process. The simulation results showed that the average deviations of the simulated results using the correlated thermodynamic model from the actual values were less than 2% compared to that using the commercial simulation software, Aspen Plus and its database. The average deviation was much smaller than that of the simulations using the Aspen Plus database (>10%), indicating that the obtained phase equilibrium data are highly accurate and reliable. The best phase equilibrium data and thermodynamic model parameters for butadiene extraction are provided. This improves the accuracy and reliability of the design, optimization and control of the process, and provides a basis and guarantee for developing a more environmentally friendly and economical butadiene extraction process.

• Facet-vacancy modified biobr-series material are prepared for CO 2 cycloaddition. • Bi3+-Bi(3- x)+ double site is formed in near OVs to synchronously activate PO and CO 2. • The activate Br− are formed near BrVs to facilitate epoxides ring-opening reaction. • BiO 1- x Br 1- y -(010) shows a high yield of 99 % under cocatalyst-free and mild conditions. • The catalytic performance is far surpassing most heterogeneous catalytic systems. Among the many strategies for CO 2 resource utilization, the synthetic technology of cyclic carbonates with 100 % atom economy through CO 2 and epoxide is one of the most industrially viable routes, but its efficiency has been severely hampered by the lack of highly active catalytic sites. Moreover, due to the intrinsic thermodynamic stability and kinetic inertia of CO 2 and the higher energy barrier of the ring-opening reaction of epoxides, the heterogeneous catalytic conversion of CO 2 highly depends on harsh operating conditions, high temperatures and pressures, and the incorporation of cocatalysts. The development of efficient heterogeneous catalysts for CO 2 conversion under cocatalyst-free and mild conditions has always been a challenge. Herein, we have proposed a synergetic strategy of facet and vacancy engineering for the construction of highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst BiO 1- x Br 1- y -(010) for CO 2 cycloaddition, where introducing the OVs-BrVs pairs into typical (010) facets BiOBr with simultaneous surface Lewis acid sites Bi3+ and nucleophilic sites Br−. By combining theoretical calculations and a series of systematic experiments, such as CO 2 temperature-programmed desorption, electron paramagnetic resonance and fluorescence probe analysis experiments, the introduced OVs-BrVs pair can not only form Bi3+-Bi(3-x)+ dual active sites on the surface, which activate PO and CO 2 respectively to reduce the energy barrier of CO 2 insertion, but also activate Br− near BrVs to enhance their nucleophilic attacking ability and reduce the energy barrier of epoxides ring-opening. As a result, the BiO 1- x Br 1- y -(010) with abundant surface OVs-BrVs pairs showed a high cyclic carbonates conversion of 99 % with 100 % selectivity under cocatalyst-free and mild conditions, far surpassing most heterogeneous catalytic systems. This work provides a completely new strategy to construct high-performance heterogeneous CO 2 cycloaddition catalysts through a simple facet and vacancy engineering strategy to overcome the harsh operating conditions limitation and the use of cocatalysts. Through facet and dual vacancies engineering build high-performance catalyst of CO 2 and epoxide cycloaddition with double substrates active site Bi3+-Bi(3- x)+ and surface activated Br− as nucleophile for efficient-simultaneous CO 2 -epoxide activization and enhanced ring-opening reaction rate, respectively, As heterogeneous metallic oxide catalytic system, the superiority of the as-prepared catalyst BiO 1- x Br 1- y -(010) was experimentally and theoretically identified in detail. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular subtyping of gastric cancer (GC) aims to comprehend its genetic landscape. However, the efficacy of current subtyping methods is hampered by their mixed use of molecular features, a lack of strategy optimization, and the limited availability of public GC datasets. There is a pressing need for a precise and easily adoptable subtyping approach for early DNA‐based screening and treatment. Based on TCGA subtypes, we developed a novel DNA‐based hierarchical classifier for gastric cancer molecular subtyping (HCG), which employs gene mutations, copy number aberrations, and methylation patterns as predictors. By incorporating the closely related esophageal adenocarcinomas dataset, we expanded the TCGA GC dataset for the training and testing of HCG (n= 453). The optimization of HCG was achieved through three hierarchical strategies using Lasso‐Logistic regression, evaluated by their overall the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (auROC), accuracy, F1 score, the area under precision‐recallcurve (auPRC) and their capability for clinical stratification using multivariate survival analysis. Subtype‐specific DNA alteration biomarkers were discerned through difference tests based on HCG defined subtypes. Our HCG classifier demonstrated superior performance in terms of overall auROC(0.95), accuracy(0.88), F1 score (0.87) and auPRC(0.86), significantly improving the clinical stratification of patients (overall p‐value = 0.032). Difference tests identified 25 subtype‐specific DNA alterations, including a high mutation rate in the SYNE1, ITGB4, and COL22A1 genes for the MSI subtype, and hypermethylation of ALS2CL, KIAA0406, and RPRD1Bgenes for the EBV subtype. HCG is an accurate and robust classifier for DNA‐based GC molecular subtyping with highly predictive clinical stratification performance. The training and test datasets, along with the analysis programs of HCG, are accessible on the GitHub website (github.com/LabxSCUT).

ABSTRACTMTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase) complex 1 (MTORC1) orchestrates diverse environmental signals to facilitate cell growth and is frequently activated in cancer. Translocation of MTORC1 from the cytosol to the lysosomal surface by the RRAG GTPases is the key step in MTORC1 activation. Here, we demonstrated that transcription factors MEF2A and MEF2D synergistically regulated MTORC1 activation via modulating its cyto-lysosome shutting. Mechanically, MEF2A and MEF2D controlled the transcription of FNIP1 and FNIP2, the components of the FLCN-FNIP1 or FNIP2 complex that acts as a RRAGC-RRAGD GTPase-activating element to promote the recruitment of MTORC1 to lysosome and its activation. Furthermore, we determined that the pro-oncogenic protein kinase SRC/c-Src directly phosphorylated MEF2D at three conserved tyrosine residues. The tyrosine phosphorylation enhanced MEF2D transcriptional activity and was indispensable for MTORC1 activation. Finally, both the protein and tyrosine phosphorylation levels of MEF2D are elevated in human pancreatic cancers, positively correlating with MTORC1 activity. Depletion of both MEF2A and MEF2D or expressing the unphosphorylatable MEF2D mutant suppressed tumor cell growth. Thus, our study revealed a transcriptional regulatory mechanism of MTORC1 that promoted cell anabolism and proliferation and uncovered its critical role in pancreatic cancer progression.Abbreviation:ACTB: actin beta; ChIP: chromatin immunoprecipitation; EGF: epidermal growth factor; EIF4EBP1: eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E binding protein 1; FLCN: folliculin; FNIP1: folliculin interacting protein 1; FNIP2: folliculin interacting protein 2; GAP: GTPase activator protein; GEF: guanine nucleotide exchange factors; GTPase: guanosine triphosphatase; LAMP2: lysosomal associated membrane protein 2; MAP1LC3B/LC3B: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta; MEF2: myocyte enhancer factor 2; MEF2A: myocyte enhancer factor 2A; MEF2D: myocyte enhancer factor 2D; MEF2D-3YF: Y131F, Y333F, Y337F mutant; MTOR: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase; MTORC1: MTOR complex 1; NR4A1: nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1; RPTOR: regulatory associated protein of MTOR complex 1; RHEB: Ras homolog, mTORC1 binding; RPS6KB1: ribosomal protein S6 kinase B1; RRAG: Ras related GTP binding; RT-qPCR: real time-quantitative PCR; SRC: SRC proto-oncogene, non-receptor tyrosine kinase; TMEM192: transmembrane protein 192; WT: wild-type.

Aging performance of polyethylene material from PE pipe under hydrostatic pressure was investigated by measuring its mechanical/ chemical properties. Tensile test, thermogravimetric analysis, oxidation induction time, as well as hardness test were carried out to evaluate the aging status of polyethylene material. Results show that as aging time prolongs, elongation rate after brake, thermal decomposition temperature, as well as oxidation induction time of PE specimen decreases, while its hardness increases, indicating that its mechanical/ chemical properties change with the aging intensity. Life prediction model was also established based on failure time- pressure data obtained from hydrostatic pressure test, under the guidance of Arrhenius theory. Conclusions drawn from this research could help to prompt the efficiency of PE pipe on-site inspection as well as serve as references for understanding the aging behavior of PE pipe.

A half-wave voltage $(V_{\pi })$ measurement method for phase modulators (PM) based on Sagnac Interferometer (SI) and time-domain pulse intensity demodulation is proposed. The SI structure consists of a delay fiber and the PM to be measured. Through a structure of the fiber optic delay network, a pulsed light signal can be divided into four sensing signals. By using the time-domain pulse intensity demodulation method, phase information can be demodulated based on the intensities of four pulse signals, thereby obtaining the half-wave voltage. The $V_{\pi }$ measured by this method is approximately 3.9V. When using an optical attenuator to increase the loss interference from 0 to 4dB in the transmission optical path, a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2.1343% can still be obtained. The RSD of multiple measurements is 2.0948%. This method don’t require expensive instruments and can accurately and stably measure the half-wave voltage.

MADS-boxgenes play a vital role in the vegetative and reproductive growth of plants. In this study, a MiAGL1gene was cloned and identified from mango (Mangifera indicaL.). The DNA sequence of AGAMOUS-LIKE1(MiAGL1) was 8741 bp in length, including a 723 bp open reading frame and encoding 241 amino acids. MiAGL1belongs to the MADS-box family. This gene was expressed not only in vegetative tissues but also in floral organs, and the highest expression level was found in flowers. MiAGL1was expressed in leaves at different floral developmental stages, but the peak appeared at the floral organ differentiation stage. MiAGL1was present in the cell membrane and nucleus. Ectopic expression of MiAGL1in Arabidopsisresulted in significant early flowering under long-day conditions. Overexpression of MiAGL1resulted in abnormal flowering and silique morphology, such as a decrease or absence of petals, smaller petals, and shorter, bent or distorted capsules. The endogenous Arabidopsis thalianaflowering-related genes FT, AP1, and SEPwere significantly upregulated, and AtSVPwas downregulated in the transgenic lines. Therefore, our data showed that the MiAGL1gene may play a crucial role in flowering time regulation and floral organ identity.

Background: Although quercetin exhibits promising anti-tumor properties, its clinical application is limited due to inherent defects and a lack of tumor targeting.Objectives: This study aimed to prepare and characterize active targeting folate-chitosan modified quercetin liposomes (FA-CS-QUE-Lip), and its antitumor activity in vitroand in vivowas also studied.Materials and Methods: Box-Behnken Design (BBD) response surface method was used to select the optimal formulation of quercetin liposomes (QUE-LP). On this basis, FA-CS-QUE-LP was obtained by connecting folic acid chitosan complex (FA-CS) and QUE-LP. The release characteristics in vitroof QUE-LP and FA-CS-QUE-LP were studied. Its inhibitory effects on HepG2 cells were studied by the MTT method. The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in vivo were studied in healthy Wistar mice and S180 tumor-bearing mice, respectively.Results: The average particle size, zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency of FA-CS-QUELP were 261.6 ± 8.5 nm, 22.3 ± 1.7 mV, and 98.63 ± 1.28 %, respectively. FA-CS-QUE-LP had a sustained release effect and conformed to the Maloid-Banakar release model (R2=0.9967). The results showed that FA-CS-QUE-LP had higher inhibition rates on HepG2 cells than QUE-Sol (P < 0.01). There was a significant difference in AUC, t1/2, CL and other pharmacokinetic parameters among QUE-LP, FA-CS-QUE-LP, and QUE-Sol (P < 0.05). In in vivoantitumor activity study, the weight inhibition rate and volume inhibition rate of FA-CS-QUE-LP were 30.26% and 37.35%, respectively.Conclusion: FA-CS-QUE-LP exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on HepG2 cells, influenced the pharmacokinetics of quercetin in mice, and demonstrated a certain inhibitory effect on S180 tumor-bearing mice, thus offering novel avenues for cancer treatment.

The current literature has yet to reach a full consensus on the influence of corporate political ties (PT) on firm-level low-carbon innovation (LCI). At one extreme, some literature argues that PT can improve access to government-controlled material innovation resources and provide firms with privileged information on existing or forthcoming innovation policies, thus facilitating LCI. At the other end of the spectrum, others suggest that businesses with PT may be vulnerable to rent-seeking activities and suffer reduced autonomy in innovation decision-making, which appears detrimental to LCI. To reconcile the debate, this study fused and extended insights drawing upon the combination of resource dependence, rent-seeking, and legitimacy theories and reasoned that both propositions may be correct over some range. As expected, we found that PT will exert a U-shaped effect on LCI. Also, it revealed that two facets of corporate reputation, namely, corporate prominence (i.e., being known) and generalized favorability (i.e., being liked), can enhance the curvilinear relationship. By collecting and analyzing a longitudinal panel dataset of 3425 firms from 2009 to 2018 drawn from China—the largest emerging market economy and the biggest carbon dioxide emitter in the world, strong evidence was found for our theoretical arguments and empirical hypotheses. Our study contributes to the literature on the curvilinear effects of political capital, the reputational contingency of PT, and more broadly, the relationship between corporate political activities and corporate environmental performance. Finally, our findings survived a series of rigorous robustness checks.

This letter proposes a new magnetic field sensor using phase-shift fiber loop ring-down (PS-FLRD) technique combined with single mode-no core-single mode fiber (SNS) structure. This is the first time the PS-FLRD technique has been applied to magnetic field sensing. The magnetic fluid (MF) coated SNS structure is the sensing head. Among them, we have creatively proposed and derived the discrete PS-FLRD model. We calculated and experimentally verified the linear region of the system and achieved $R^{2}$ above 0.999. Finally, we have used the linear region in combination with the SNS structure to measure the magnetic field, achieving a sensitivity of ${5\times 10}^{-5}$ /Gs in the measurement range of 0-200Gs. This work demonstrates the significant potential of the PS-FLRD technique combined with interferometric structures in sensing.

Graphical Abstract:

Radiation measurement is critical in ensuring astronauts' safety during space exploration. Although various radiation monitoring techniques have been developed, achieving high-precision measurements remains a significant challenge. This study proposes an improved phase shift fiber loop ring-down (PS-FLRD) system for measuring radiation levels. To enhance the accuracy of the PS-FLRD model, we have constructed a more precise model under discrete conditions, which reduces the fitting error of the phase versus loss equation. Moreover, we have implemented a dual optical path design to mitigate errors arising from environmental changes and ensure the long-term stability of the radiation measurement process. As a result of these improvements, our system can achieve high resolution and low uncertainty, with values of 80 $\mu$dB and 13 mdB, respectively. This level of precision enables the detection of loss variations of 1 m erbium-doped fiber at a radiation dose of 1 Gy, which is one to two orders of magnitude higher than that of commercial instruments. Our proposed system is highly beneficial for measuring the exposure of astronauts to the radiation environment, providing a strong safety guarantee for future surface exploration of the moon and Mars.

The master transcription factor receptor retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γt (RORγt) regulates the differentiation of T-helper 17 (Th17) cells and the production of interleukin-17 (IL-17). Activation of RORγt+T cells in the tumor microenvironment promotes immune infiltration to more effectively inhibit tumor growth. Therefore, RORγt agonists provide a reachable approach to cancer immunotherapy. Herein, a series of biaryl amide derivatives as novel RORγt agonists were designed, synthesized, and evaluated. Starting from the reported RORγt inverse agonist GSK805 (1), “functionality switching” and structure-based drug optimization led to the discovery of a promising RORγt agonist lead compound 14, which displayed potent and selective RORγt agonist activity and significantly improved metabolic stability. With excellent in vivopharmacokinetic profiles, compound 14demonstrated robust efficacy in preclinical tumor models of mouse B16F10 melanoma and LLC lung adenocarcinoma. Taken together, current studies indicate that 14deserves further investigation as a potential lead RORγt agonist for cancer immunotherapy.

We present a numerical study on the penetration of spherical projectiles into a granular bed in the presence of upward gas flows. Due to the presence of interstitial fluid, the force chains between particles in the granular bed are weakened significantly, and this distinguishes the penetration behavior from that in the absence of fluid. An interesting phenomenon, namely granular jet, is observed during the penetration, and the mechanism for its formation and growth is attributed to the merging of granular vortices generated by the interaction between the intruder and primary particles. Moreover, both the final penetration depth and the maximum diameter of the crater are found to follow a power-law dependence with the impact velocity, and the maximum height reached by the granular jet tends to increase linearly as the impact velocity increases, agreeing well with the experimental results reported in the literature.

Objective:Nanosilver-alginate dressing can effectively promote the healing of diabetic wounds in rats. However, due to the potential toxicity of nanosilver, its widespread application in hard-to-heal wound healing is limited. In the present study, the role and potential mechanism of nanosilver-free alginate gel (NSFAG) in the healing process of diabetic wounds were explored.Method:A diabetic rat skin wound model was established, and wounds were treated with saline (NC group), nanosilver gel (NSG group) or nanosilver-free alginate gel (NSFAG group) for seven consecutive days.Results:NSFAG significantly promoted wound healing and increased the content of protein and hydroxyproline in granulation tissues, and was superior to NSG (p<0.05). Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the skin wound tissue structure of the NSFAG group was intact, and the number of skin appendages in the dermis layer was significantly higher compared with the NC group and the NSG group (p<0.05). Western blot analysis found that the protein expression of the epidermal stem cell marker molecules CK19 and CK14 as well the proliferation marker of keratinocytes Ki67 in the NSFAG group was significantly higher compared with the NC group or NSG group (p<0.05). Additionally, the proliferation marker of keratinocytes Ki67 in the NSFAG group was significantly higher compared with the NC or NSG group (p<0.05). Immunofluorescence staining analyses indicated that the CK19- and CK14-positive cells were mainly distributed around the epidermis and the newly formed appendages in the NSFAG group, and this result was not observed in the NC or NSG groups.Conclusion:The present findings demonstrate that NSFAG can effectively accelerate wound healing in diabetic rats by promoting epidermal stem cell proliferation and differentiation into skin cells, as well as formation of granulation tissue, suggesting that it can be a potential dressing for diabetic wounds.

Control of premature corrosion of magnesium (Mg) alloy bioresorbable stents (BRS) is frequently achieved by the addition of rare earth elements. However, limited long-term experience with these elements causes concerns for clinical application and alternative methods of corrosion control are sought after. Herein, we report a “built-up” composite film consisting of a bottom layer of MgF2conversion coating, a sandwich layer of a poly (1, 3-trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) and 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) co-spray coating (PA) and on top a layer of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) ultrasonic spray coating to decorate the rare earth element-free Mg–2Zn–1Mn (ZM21) BRS for tailoring both corrosion resistance and biological functions. The developed “built-up” composite film shows synergistic functionalities, allowing the compression and expansion of the coated ZM21 BRS on an angioplasty balloon without cracking or peeling. Of special importance is that the synergistic corrosion control effects of the “built-up” composite film allow for maintaining the mechanical integrity of stents for up to 3 months, where complete biodegradation and no foreign matter residue were observed about half a year after implantation in rabbit iliac arteries. Moreover, the functionalized ZM21 BRS accomplished re-endothelialization within one month.

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Extramedullary infiltration (EMI) is a concomitant manifestation that may indicate poor outcome of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The underlying mechanism remains poorly understood and therapeutic options are limited. Here, we employed single-cell RNA sequencing on bone marrow (BM) and EMI samples from a patient with AML presenting pervasive leukemia cutis. A complement C1Q+ macrophage-like leukemia subset, which was enriched within cutis and existed in BM before EMI manifestations, was identified and further verified in multiple patients with AML. Genomic and transcriptional profiling disclosed mutation and gene expression signatures of patients with EMI that expressed high levels of C1Q. RNA sequencing and quantitative proteomic analysis revealed expression dynamics of C1Q from primary to relapse. Univariate and multivariate analysis demonstrated adverse prognosis significance of C1Q expression. Mechanistically, C1Q expression, which was modulated by transcription factor MAF BZIP transcription factor B, endowed leukemia cells with tissue infiltration ability, which could establish prominent cutaneous or gastrointestinal EMI nodules in patient-derived xenograft and cell line–derived xenograft models. Fibroblasts attracted migration of the C1Q+ leukemia cells through C1Q–globular C1Q receptor recognition and subsequent stimulation of transforming growth factor β1. This cell-to-cell communication also contributed to survival of C1Q+ leukemia cells under chemotherapy stress. Thus, C1Q served as a marker for AML with adverse prognosis, orchestrating cancer infiltration pathways through communicating with fibroblasts and represents a compelling therapeutic target for EMI.

Purpose: The accuracy of real-time sound source localization is an important issue in acoustics. The steered sample algorithm (SSA), an algorithm developed based on the reciprocity of wave propagation, has a higher spatial resolution than the steered response power – phase transform (SRP-PHAT) algorithm. The algorithm can also render an accurate sound source localization under limited array elements and low signal-to-noise ratio. However, the actual implementation of the algorithm is usually based on an expensive grid search process, which makes the computational cost a serious problem. Methods: An improved implementing algorithm based on beetle swarm optimization (BSO) is proposed for SSA, which can effectively reduce the computational cost. The modified algorithm has a good convergence speed as the SSA algorithm has fewer local extremums. Results: Experimental results demonstrate that compared with steered sample algorithm (SSA), the proposed algorithm has almost the same localization performance and robustness with lower computational cost. Conclusion: This paper proposes an improved algorithm about SSA algorithm. Compared with SRC algorithm, the amount of computation is reduced more than twice. Meanwhile, the proposed algorithm inherits the anti-noise performance of SSA. Under the condition of low SNR, the positioning success rate and RMSE performance are excellent. Under the condition of high reverberation, the improved algorithm needs more particles to ensure the positioning performance. When the number of particles is not less than 70, the localization success rate of the proposed algorithm is highly consistent with the conventional SSA, and the RMSE is slightly less than the conventional SSA. Compared with SRC algorithm, the proposed algorithm better inherits the robustness of original SSA and improves the positioning accuracy.

Chronic pain is often accompanied by negative emotions, and the progression of negative emotions may further impede pain relief. Both chronic pain and negative emotions are closely associated with reward/motivation circuits. Treatment with acupuncture is effective for the relief of pain and emotional disorders, although the acupoint combinations vary. Thus, this study aimed to elucidate the relationship of chronic pain and emotional disorders with the reward/motivation circuits. In association with the theory on “seven emotional factors that cause pain” in traditional Chinese medicine, the potential effect mechanism of “spirit-regulation with acupuncture” for the relief of chronic pain and negative emotions was explored. The findings suggest that chronic pain and its related negative emotions may be effectively relieved with acupuncture after optimizing its acupoint combination based on “spirit-regulation”. However, the role of reward/motivation circuits for negative emotions in the relief of chronic pain with acupuncture needs to be demonstrated.

The oxygen-doped porous carbon nitride (O-PCN) was prepared via calcinating oxalic acid and urea to activate peroxydisulfate (PS) for abatement of 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) under visible light. The results indicated that O-PCN possessed relatively higher specific area (50.48 m2g−1), larger pore volume (0.168 cm3g−1), larger average size (14.33 nm) and thinner layer compared to g-C3N4. This structure feather can utilize light more efficiently because more light can penetrate the pore of O-PCN reflect in the pores and reflect. Most importantly, O-PCN has quasi-full-visible-light response (790 nm) compared to pure g-C3N4(480 nm), which can broaden utilization efficiency of visible light range. In PS/O-PCN/Vis system, 6 mg/L EE2 can be completely removed only within 20 min, and degradation rate constant of EE2 is 6.81 and 2.00 times than those in PS/g-C3N4/Vis and O-PCN/Vis systems. The h+and ∙O2−are main contributors for EE2 abatement in the PS/O-PCN/Vis system. The effect of anion (Cl−, HCO3−, NO3−and SO42−) and typical natural organic matters (HA and FA) present in water matrixes on EE2 abatement in this system is explored, and the estrogenic activities of treated process is also evaluated by MCF-7 cell viability.

Electrical control of superconductivity is critical for nanoscale superconducting circuits including cryogenic memory elements1–4, superconducting field-effect transistors (FETs)5–7and gate-tunable qubits8–10. Superconducting FETs operate through continuous tuning of carrier density, but no bistable superconducting FET, which could serve as a new type of cryogenic memory element, has been reported. Recently, gate hysteresis and resultant bistability in Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene aligned to its insulating hexagonal boron nitride gate dielectrics were discovered11,12. Here we report the observation of this same hysteresis in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) with aligned boron nitride layers. This bistable behaviour coexists alongside the strongly correlated electron system of MATBG without disrupting its correlated insulator or superconducting states. This all-van der Waals platform enables configurable switching between different electronic states of this rich system. To illustrate this new approach, we demonstrate reproducible bistable switching between the superconducting, metallic and correlated insulator states of MATBG using gate voltage or electric displacement field. These experiments unlock the potential to broadly incorporate this new switchable moiré superconductor into highly tunable superconducting electronics.

A self-feedback anti-symmetric coupled fiber ring resonator (SACFRR) is proposed and demonstrated to generate the distinctive loss dependent bifid dips. The universal derivation of the ring resonators in both lightwave and optical carrier based microwave domains considering different conditions including attenuation, coupling and self-feedback is systematically elaborated, which is applicable to diverse ring resonator configurations. The lightwave and optical carrier based microwave experience different phase evolution during the cross-coupling procedure, thereby causing very different output. The anti-symmetric coupling strategy is creatively introduced into the ring resonator, which dominates the splitting of the original resonance dip for the optical carrier based microwave interferometry (OCMI). And OCMI shows the noticeable bifid dips within the lower envelope which receives less attention before. By performing the measurement of temperature and bend-induced loss, the bifid dips based demodulation of OCMI is employed to present the property of SACFRR and compared with the conventional upper envelope based demodulation, contributing to the utilization of lower envelope information. The temperature sensitivity is 521.4 kHz/$^{\circ }$C at 3.05 GHz and the bend-induced loss sensitivity is 24.845 MHz/turn (diameter of 2.30 cm) at 10 turns where is adjacent to the critical point of bifid dips merging. The proposed scheme provides an extraordinary design avenue which can be extended to diverse ring resonators in both photonic integrated circuits and fiber links for exploring compelling functions.

Semi-Markov model is one of the most general models for stochastic dynamic systems. This paper deals with a two-person zero-sum game for semi-Markov processes. We focus on the expected discounted criterion with state-action-dependent discount factors. The state and action spaces are both Polish spaces, and the reward rate function is ω-bounded. We first construct a fairly general model of semi-Markov games under a given semi-Markov kernel and a pair of strategies. Next, based on the standard regularity condition and the continuity-compactness condition for semi-Markov games, we derive a “drift condition” on the semi-Markov kernel and suppose that the discount factors have a positive lower bound, under which the existence of the value function and an optimal pair of stationary strategies of our semi-Markov game are proved by using a general Shapley equation. Moreover, in the scenario of finite state and action spaces, a value iteration-type algorithm for approximating the value function and an optimal pair of stationary strategies is developed. The convergence and the error bound of the algorithm are also proved. Finally, we conduct numerical examples to demonstrate the main results.

In this study, two hybrid biogeography based and particle swarm optimization-radial basis function (BBO-RBF, and PSO-RBF) were proposed to predict the California-bearing capacity of pond ash stabilized with lime (LI) and lime sludge (LS). The model had five inputs and CBR as output variable. Comparing the measured with those predicted by BBO-RBF and PSO-RBF models, the proposed models have R2 larger than 0.9932. It means that the correlation between measured and predicted values from models is mostly the same to show the highest accuracy. In the training phase, PSO-RBF has better results, while in the testing phase, the best value of statistical indices is owned by BBO-RBF. The OBJ value for PSO-RBF is lower than those of BBO-RBF. Therefore, the PSO-RBF model outperforms the BBO-RBF model for predicting the CBR value of pond ash stabilized with LI and LS, consequently being recognized as the proposed model.

This paper presents a sum-of-exponentials domain decomposition method for the numerical simulation of two-dimensional unsteady fluid flow and heat transfer using a time-fractional fluid model. We employ a fast time-stepping approach to discretize the time-fractional derivatives, followed by the application of a parallel Newton-Krylov-Schwarz algorithm to solve the resulting discrete nonlinear system. The numerical experiments demonstrate a superior performance of the fast time-stepping method compared to the traditional L1 scheme, particularly in the context of parallel computation, as it substantially reduces the computational complexity and memory usage. The algorithm exhibits robust performance across a wide range of model parameters and solver settings. Notably, it achieves 60% parallel efficiency with the use of 768 processor cores. This study underscores the efficacy of parallel processing as a potent computational strategy for addressing the challenges in solving time-fractional partial differential equations. • A sum-of-exponentials domain decomposition method is introduced to solve a time-fractional fluid model for the unsteady fluid flow and heat transfer problem. • The algorithm exhibits robust performance across a wide range of model parameters and solver settings. • The Newton-Krylov-Schwarz solver achieves 60% parallel efficiency with the use of 768 processor cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rational design of elemental incorporation in colloidal eco-friendly core/shell quantum dots (QDs) holds the potential to synergistically tailor their electronic band structure and carrier kinetics for applications in forthcoming “green” and high-efficiency solar energy conversion. Herein, we have conducted simultaneous Cu incorporation in both the core and shell regions of environment-benign AgInSe (AISe)/ZnSe core/shell QDs to realize high-efficiency solar-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen evolution. It is verified that Cu incorporation in AISe core enables an upward shift in the position of the band edge relative to the ZnSe shell, which promoted the electron delocalization and extended the lifetime of exciton. Simultaneously, Cu incorporation in the ZnSe shell further results in the trapping of photoinduced holes from AISe core, leading to a decelerated recombination of carriers. The prepared Cu-AISe/ZnSe:Cu QDs with optimized optoelectronic properties have been successfully employed to fabricate QDs-PEC devices, delivering a maximum photocurrent density of 9.1 mA cm−2under standard AM 1.5 G illumination (100 mW cm−2). Our findings indicate that synchronous elemental incorporation in eco-friendly core/shell QDs is a promising strategy to achieve future high-performance solar-to-hydrogen conversion systems.

Plasmonic materials have been widely used in chemo/biosensing and biomedicine. However, little attention has been paid to the application of plasmonic materials in terms of the transition from molecular sensing to molecular informatization. Herein, we demonstrated that silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) prepared through facile and rapid microwave heating have multimode colorimetric sensing capabilities to different metal ions (Cr3+, Hg2+, and Ni2+), which can be further transformed into interesting and powerful molecular information technology (massively parallel molecular logic computing and molecular information protection). The prepared AgNPs can quantitatively and sensitively detect Cr3+and Hg2+in actual water samples. The AgNPs’ multimode-guided multianalyte sensing processing was further investigated to construct a series of basic logic gates and advanced cascaded logic circuits by considering the analytes as the inputs and the colorimetric signals (like color, absorbance, wavelength shift) as the outputs. Moreover, the selective responses and molecular logic computing ability of AgNPs were also utilized to develop molecular cryptosteganography for encrypting and hiding some specific information, which proves that the molecular world and the information world are interconnected and use each other. This research not only opens the door for the transition from molecular sensing to molecular informatization but also provides an excellent opportunity for the construction of the “metaverse” of the molecular world.

The massive discharge of polymer-containing sewage has caused more and more serious consequences to the petroleum production industry and ecological environment. To solve the above problem, constructing a Z-scheme heterojunction with effective charge transfer within the photocatalyst structure is critical in improving the performance of the catalytic reaction. A series of Z-scheme photocatalysts combining g-C3N4and α-Fe2O3were synthesized, and they exhibited high photocatalytic degradation HPAM efficiencies (up to 90%) without additional photosensitizers and sacrificial agents. The experiments have confirmed an efficient α-Fe2O3to g-C3N4electron transfer viastrong electrostatic interaction, resulting in electron accumulation in g-C3N4for H2O reduction to generate the active species OH and holes in α-Fe2O3for O2oxidation to generate the active species O2−; thus, OH and O2−synergistically catalyse HPAM degradation by mimicking natural photosynthesis. This study provides theoretical guidance for the efficient treatment of oilfield sewage using the photocatalytic technology.

The service discipline of weighted fair queueing (WFQ) has been practically used in many telecommunication systems. The development of analytically tractable models with WFQ discipline to determine their performances is vitally important. Motivated by a practical project on routers’ optimization from the Huawei Company, this paper deals with a two-class single server MAP/PH/1 queue with a finite capacity under the WFQ discipline, which is little investigated in the literature. To capture the most generality of stochastic factors in traffic traces, we assume that the arrive process is a Markovian arrival process (MAP) and the service time obeys a phase-type (PH) distribution. This paper focuses on the performance analysis of our proposed queueing system and its application to traffic flow performances. We model this system as a five-dimensional Markov chain and use the matrix-geometric method to derive its stationary probabilities and performance measures, such as the average queue length and sojourn time of each class of customers. In order to validate our analysis results, we further develop a simulator to evaluate the system performance with a real data of Internet packet traces. Experiment comparison demonstrates the effectiveness and applicability of our theoretical model.

The discovery of correlated states and superconductivity in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) established a new platform to explore interaction-driven and topological phenomena. However, despite multitudes of correlated phases observed in moiré systems, robust superconductivity appears the least common, found only in MATBG and more recently in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene. Here we report the experimental realization of superconducting magic-angle twisted four-layer and five-layer graphene, hence establishing alternating twist magic-angle multilayer graphene as a robust family of moiré superconductors. This finding suggests that the flat bands shared by the members play a central role in the superconductivity. Our measurements in parallel magnetic fields, in particular the investigation of Pauli limit violation and spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking, reveal a clear distinction between the N= 2 and N> 2-layer structures, consistent with the difference between their orbital responses to magnetic fields. Our results expand the emergent family of moiré superconductors, providing new insight with potential implications for design of new superconducting materials platforms.

Proper regulation of p53 signaling is critical for the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and leukemic stem cells (LSCs). The hematopoietic cell–specific mechanisms regulating p53 activity remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that conditional deletion of acidic leucine-rich nuclear phosphoprotein 32B (ANP32B) in hematopoietic cells impairs repopulation capacity and postinjury regeneration of HSCs. Mechanistically, ANP32B forms a repressive complex with p53 and thus inhibits the transcriptional activity of p53 in hematopoietic cells, and p53 deletion rescues the functional defect in Anp32b-deficient HSCs. Of great interest, ANP32B is highly expressed in leukemic cells from patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Anp32b deletion enhances p53 transcriptional activity to impair LSC function in a murine CML model and exhibits synergistic therapeutic effects with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in inhibiting CML propagation. In summary, our findings provide a novel strategy to enhance p53 activity in LSCs by inhibiting ANP32B and identify ANP32B as a potential therapeutic target in treating CML.

Simultaneous alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) measurement is demonstrated with a new fiber sensor that combines fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with giant magnetostrictive materials (GMMs). Deformation of GMMs, proportional to the central wavelength shift of FBGs, is different when applying DC and AC to a solenoid where the whole sensing structure is located. DC introduces a constant deformation while AC causes a periodic variation. Therefore, the central wavelength of FBG has a periodic harmonic variation, which makes it possible to demodulate the values of DC and AC at the same time. In addition, the proposed method has potential significance for reducing temperature cross talk caused by the thermal sensitivity of FBGs. The experimental results show that the sensitivity of the AC current can reach up to 0.090576 nm/A in the range of 0 to 1 A, and in different AC environments, the sensitivity of the DC current can reach up to 0.2378 nm/A.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of subtraction coronary computed tomographic (CT) angiography (SubCCTA) to decline calcium artifacts and improve diagnostic accuracy in the presence of coronary calcification and analyze the factors that influence SubCCTA. Methods: A total of 294 patients suspected of having coronary artery diseases underwent coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) and SubCCTA. Coronary stenoses were blindly evaluated by two experienced radiologists, which were compared with invasive coronary angiography (ICA). Multiple statistical indexes were adopted to analyze the value of SubCCTA for the diagnosis of calcium stenoses. Results: The diagnosable rate of SubCCTA was 67.2% (n=197), and the non-diagnosable rate was 32.8% (n=97). Using SubCCTA, the false positive rate decreased from 56.5% to 17.4%, and the corresponding diagnostic accuracy was increased from 83.6% to 92.9%. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that height (OR=1.029, 95% CI=1.001–1.058), weight (OR=1.025, 95% CI=1.004–1.046), left ventricular size (OR=1.018, 95% CI=1.007–1.030), cardiothoracic ratio (OR=39.917, 95% CI=1.244–1281.098), the average heart rate (OR=0.866, 95% CI=0.836–0.896) and heart rate range (OR=0.882, 95% CI=0.853–0.912) might be the factors influencing SubCCTA. Conclusion: This study suggested that SubCCTA could help improve diagnostic accuracy in the presence of calcium plaques. Moreover, several factors were discovered for the first time to possibly influence SubCCTA, which will be helpful in improving the subtracted image quality.

We present a high-precision, low-cost demodulation method for the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) using a thermal-induced chirp and a shallow neural network. The thermal-induced chirp of a semiconductor laser generates the different wavelength components in a single pulse, which will form an exponential function echo signal after being reflected by the FBG. By learning the shape of the reflected light, the back-propagation neural network can simultaneously demodulate the sensing temperature and laser power. The whole detection system has only a few basic detection devices, which makes it low cost. The experimental results show that the multivision demodulation (MVD) method can reach a high demodulation precision of 0.35°C. We believe these results indicate the MVD method is an outstanding scheme in the field of FBG interrogation.

Currently, microbial production is becoming a competitive method for N-acetyl-glucosamine production. As the biosynthesis of N-acetyl-glucosamine originating from fructose-6-P directly competes with central carbon metabolism for precursor supply, the consumption of glucose for cell growth and cellular metabolism severely limits the yield of N-acetyl-glucosamine. In this study, appropriate catabolic division of labor in the utilization of mixed carbon sources was achieved by deleting the pfkAgene and enhancing the utilization of glycerol by introducing the glpKmutant. Glycerol thus mainly contributed to cell growth and cellular metabolism, and more glucose was saved for efficient N-acetyl-glucosamine synthesis. By optimizing the ratio of glycerol to glucose, the balancing of cell growth/cellular metabolism and N-acetyl-glucosamine synthesis was achieved. The resulting strain GLALD-7 produced 179.7 g/L N-acetyl-glucosamine using mixed glycerol/glucose (1:8, m/m) carbon sources in a 5 L bioreactor, with a yield of 0.458 g/g total carbon sources (0.529 g/g glucose) and a productivity of 2.57 g/L/h. Coherent high titer/yield/productivity was obtained, with the highest values ever reported, suggesting that an appropriate catabolic division of labor using mixed glycerol/glucose carbon sources is a useful strategy for facilitating the microbial production of chemicals originating from glucose or metabolites upstream of glycolysis.

BACKGROUNDDue to the long time interval between exposure and outcome, it is difficult to infer the causal relationship between educational attainment (EA) and common chronic diseases. Therefore, we utilized Mendelian randomization (MR) to predict the causal relationships of EA with hypertension and type-2 diabetes (T2DM).

An array of homogeneous glycans representing all the major carbohydrate structures present in the cell wall of the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosisand other mycobacteria has been probed with a panel of glycan-binding receptors expressed on cells of the mammalian innate immune system. The results provide an overview of interactions between mycobacterial glycans and receptors that mediate uptake and survival in macrophages, dendritic cells, and sinusoidal endothelial cells. A subset of the wide variety of glycan structures present on mycobacterial surfaces interact with cells of the innate immune system through the receptors tested. Endocytic receptors, including the mannose receptor, DC-SIGN, langerin, and DC-SIGNR (L-SIGN), interact predominantly with mannose-containing caps found on the mycobacterial polysaccharide lipoarabinomannan. Some of these receptors also interact with phosphatidyl-myo-inositol mannosides and mannose-containing phenolic glycolipids. Many glycans are ligands for overlapping sets of receptors, suggesting multiple, redundant routes by which mycobacteria can enter cells. Receptors with signaling capability interact with two distinct sets of mycobacterial glycans: targets for dectin-2 overlap with ligands for the mannose-binding endocytic receptors, while mincle binds exclusively to trehalose-containing structures such as trehalose dimycolate. None of the receptors surveyed bind furanose residues, which often form part of the epitopes recognized by antibodies to mycobacteria. Thus, the innate and adaptive immune systems can target different sets of mycobacterial glycans. This array, the first of its kind, represents an important new tool for probing, at a molecular level, biological roles of a broad range of mycobacterial glycans, a task that has not previously been possible.

The proteolytic activation of protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ) generates a catalytic fragment called PKCδ-CF, which induces cell death. However, the mechanisms underlying PKCδ-CF-mediated cell death are largely unknown. On the basis of an engineering leukemic cell line with inducible expression of PKCδ-CF, here we employ SILAC-based quantitative phosphoproteomics to systematically and dynamically investigate the overall phosphorylation events during cell death triggered by PKCδ-CF expression. Totally, 3000 phosphorylation sites were analyzed. Considering the fact that early responses to PKCδ-CF expression initiate cell death, we sought to identify pathways possibly related directly with PKCδ by further analyzing the data set of phosphorylation events that occur in the initiation stage of cell death. Interacting analysis of this data set indicates that PKCδ-CF triggers complicated networks to initiate cell death, and motif analysis and biochemistry verification reveal that several kinases in the downstream of PKCδ conduct these networks. By analysis of the specific sequence motif of kinase-substrate, we also find 59 candidate substrates of PKCδ from the up-regulated phosphopeptides, of which 12 were randomly selected for in vitrokinase assay and 9 were consequently verified as substrates of PKCδ. To our greatest understanding, this study provides the most systematic analysis of phosphorylation events initiated by the cleaved activated PKCδ, which would vastly extend the profound understanding of PKCδ-directed signal pathways in cell death. The MS data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD000225.

Due to the ionic feature of the lanthanide ions, to straightly bridge two lanthanide (Ln) ions is rather challenging though this bridging mode is much beneficial to suppress the zero-field quantum tunneling of the magnetization (QTM) for single-molecule magnets (SMMs), a kind of nanosized magnetic materials for high-density information storage and magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent. Here we used an unusual terminal amino pyridine ligand which utilizes extensive supramolecular interactions to stabilize such an unusual linear bridging mode and obtained a series of such dimeric Ln(III) complexes - {[LnLA(4-NH2py)5]2(µ-Cl)}[BPh4]3(For LA- = 1-AdO-, 1Ln; for LA- = tBuO-, 2Ln; Ln = Dy, Gd). More uniquely, the bridging chloride sits in the center of two improper rotation symmetry related Ln(III) ions with local C5vsymmetry. The dimeric compounds 1Dyand 2Dyexhibit much slower low-temperature magnetic relaxation and thousands of times longer relaxation times at 2 K (τ2K = 2706.89 and 1437.05 s for 1Dyand 2Dy) compared to the diluted ones with the approaching magnetic property of the C5vmotifs (τ2K = 0.77 and 1.29 s for 1Dy@1Yand 2Dy@2Y). Though magnetic interactions mediated via the chloride bridge in both 1Dyand 2Dyare weak and antiferromagnetic, it is still very effective due to such a linear geometry to reduce the QTM effect in SMMs.