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The Fe-modulated Co x Fe 1−x P@NPC exhibits excellent electrooxidation performance. [Display omitted] • The N content of NPC is increased via WLSH as precursor to increase its catalytic site density. • Co x Fe 1−x P@NPC exhibits excellent electrooxidation performance for TCH removal. • Radical generation capacity of Co x Fe 1−x P@NPC can be modulated with Fe modulation. • The mechanism for electrooxidation activity of Co x Fe 1−x P@NPC is reasonably revealed. Developing low-cost, green, high-performing electrode materials to address environmental pollutants and the energy crisis is significant but challenging. Herein, the bimetallic iron cobalt phosphide coated in waste biomass-derived N, P co-doping carbon (Co x Fe 1−x P@NPC) is constructed. Furthermore, the active site density and the water decomposition energy barrier of surface-coated NPC are modulated by optimizing the electronic structure of Co x Fe 1−x P via doping engineering. The Fe-modulated Co x Fe 1−x P@NPC exhibits a hierarchical porous self-supporting structure and excellent physical & chemical properties with excellent electrooxidation performance, achieving over 95% removal of TCH within 60 min. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations further confirms that N carries more positive charge and P carries more negative charge in the NPC of Co x Fe 1−x P@NPC with Fe modulation, which can promote the adsorption and dissociation of water molecules. Of note, Co 0.75 Fe 025 P@NPC displays a low water dissociation energy barrier to produce ·OH and a high energy barrier to produce O 2 than its counterparts. This study offers new insight into controllable modulation of biomass carbon-based composite electrode catalytic activity for high-efficiency degradation of contaminants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of the great challenge of climate change and growing global environmental concerns, this study deals a systematic literature review of research related to Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) from 1991 to 2023, details the background, definition, significance, critiques, theoretical foundations and model specifications of EKC, and summarizes the data, variables, econometric methods and findings used in over 100 EKC studies. This study focuses on EKC studies that examine the relationship between energy consumption, economic growth and environmental degradation, with most of the studies reviewed using global pollutants (carbon emissions) to measure the level of environmental degradation. This study found that EKC still has great research potential, and with the development of energy diversification, energy consumption in EKC studies have been further subdivided into renewable or non-renewable energy consumption; innovative EKC studies in the last few years have favoured the use of novel environmental and economic indicators and econometric method, and have validated the existence of EKC at the sectoral level rather than the national level. Finally, the present study summarizes the development and innovations of EKC and provides suggestions for future research aimed at advancing the development of EKC and environmental management. • The study provides a systematic literature review of Environmental Kuznets Curve. • The study critically reviews the critical issues that have emerged in recent years. • The study summarizes innovations in environmental and economic indicators. • This study innovatively analyses from the perspective of energy diversification. • The study suggests specific future research from novel direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater nitrate contamination has emerged as a pressing global concern. Given its potential for long-term impacts on aquifers, protective measures should primarily focus on prevention. Drawing on the theory of groundwater vulnerability (GV), the original DRASTIC model and parameters related to human activities are employed as inputs and integrated with the LightGBM regression algorithm to facilitate nitrate index (NI) prediction tasks. The SHAP analysis is conducted to effectively examine the contribution of parameters to the NI prediction and interpret the issue of parameter interactions. In addition, to mitigate the limitations of the intrinsic GV model, a composite nitrate index (CNI) is developed by linearly combining the DRASTIC index with the NI. The framework presented in this study provides adaptive strategies for managing groundwater resources over different time periods. A representative region for arid and semiarid climates, the Yinchuan region, is studied using the framework. As compared to 2012, the intrinsic GV index has changed spatially in 2022. Human activities have increased the influence of the nitrate concentration as shown by the Pearson correlation coefficient of −0.082 between the DRASTIC index and nitrate concentration. A significant increase in pollution levels was predicted by NI, ranging from −0.116 to 0.968. According to SHAP analysis, the significant increase in NI levels in 2022 was mainly due to high-value industrial and agricultural production. In 2022, 12.02% of the areas had an increase of at least 0.549 in the CNI. 42.1% of the areas were classified as moderate or high CNI levels. The farm was identified as a high-contributing source to nitrate pollution. The small-scale agricultural and livestock activities in non-urban areas also contribute to groundwater pollution. Dynamic groundwater management strategies need to be implemented in high-growth and high-level CNI areas. [Display omitted] • DRASTIC model and anthropogenic parameters were combined to predict nitrate index. • The innovative composite nitrate SGV framework were applied to Yinchuan regions. • SHAP analysis results support an increase in nitrate loading caused by human activity. • Dynamic groundwater management strategies were designed for different levels of CNI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of large civil infrastructures has become a priority due to economic advantages and early detection of structural failure. Distributed Fiber Optics (DFO) sensors are becoming widely used for SHM due to their immunity to Electromagnetic interference and the ability to collect multiple data points from a single fiber cable. However, its reliability for a long monitoring period is still an area of interest. This paper studied the long-term performance of DFO embedded into textiles for faster installation procedures. The aim was to understand if the textile distributed fiber sensor experience any signal degradation after multiple weather seasons. To perform this investigation a railway bridge was used as a case study. The data was collected using Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (BOTDR) and Brillouin Optical Time Domain Amplification (BOTDA). Additionally, a temperature compensation technique was investigated to remove the cross-relation between temperature and strain. The final results show the sensor's effectiveness for long-term monitoring, where the data quality remained constant with an average standard deviation of 0.455 for the BOTDR and 0.208 for the BOTDA approaches. • Developed a Smart textile for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). • Performed long-term monitoring of a Railway bridge under different weather conditions. • Utilized Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (BOTDA) in combination with the smart textile to determine changes in the fiber strain distribution. • Determined the survivability of the Smart Textile under New England's harsh conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Compound 2h is the most potent against A549 cells with the IC 50 value of 0.27 µM; • Compound 2h inhibits A549 proliferation and arrest A549 cells at G2/M cycle; • Compound 2h can influence A549 cell migration and invasion and induce cells apoptosis; • Compound 2h can inhibit the activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in vivo ; Fangchinoline (Fan) are extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine Stephania tetrandra S. , which is a bis-benzyl isoquinoline alkaloids with anti-tumor activity. Therefore, 25 novel Fan derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated for their anti-cancer activity. In CCK-8 assay, these fangchinoline derivatives displayed higher proliferation inhibitory activity on six tumor cell lines than the parental compound. Compared to the parent Fan, compound 2h presented the anticancer activity against most cancer cells, especially A549 cells, with an IC 50 value of 0.26 μM, which was 36.38-fold, and 10.61-fold more active than Fan and HCPT, respectively. Encouragingly, compound 2h showed low biotoxicity to the human normal epithelial cell BEAS-2b with an IC 50 value of 27.05 μM. The results indicated compound 2h remarkably inhibited the cell migration by decreasing MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression and inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells by arresting the G2/M cell cycle. Meanwhile, compound 2h could also induce A549 cell apoptosis by promoting endogenous pathways of mitochondrial regulation. In nude mice presented that the growth of tumor tissues was markedly inhibited by the consumption of compound 2h in a dose-dependent manner, and it was found that compound 2h could inhibit the mTOR/PI3K/AKT pathway in vivo. In docking analysis, high affinity interaction between 2h and PI3K was responsible for drastic kinase inhibition by the compound. To conclude, this derivative compound may be useful as a potent anti-cancer agent for treatment of NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A new finite difference scheme for space fractional equations is constructed. • The scheme is unconditionally stable for time dependent problems. • The scheme is fourth order accurate in space. • The same idea could be used to construct even higher order difference methods. Abstract A weighted and shifted difference formula is constructed based on the Lubich operators, which gives a forth-order and unconditionally stable difference scheme for the Cauchy problem of space fractional diffusion equations. The novelty of the proposed method here is that only four weighted parameters are required, compared to eight parameters used in the previous work, to achieve the fourth-order accuracy and to ensure the stability at the same time. To verify the efficiency of the proposed scheme, several numerical experiments for both one-dimensional and two-dimensional fractional diffusion problems are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • N doping and MoP heterostructures are achieved together through co-pyrolysis methods. • The heterostructures and doped N can synergistically optimize electronic structure. • MoP@ N -NiCoP requires low overpotentials of 43 mV and 232 mV to drive HER and OER. Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) are one of the most promising alternatives to noble metal electrocatalysts, but so far their activity and stability still fall short of expectations. Here, we prepare nitrogen-doped nickel–cobalt phosphide (N -NiCoP) and molybdenum phosphide (MoP) heterostructures engineered on nickel foam (NF) with nanosheet structure by high-temperature annealing and low-temperature phosphorylation. Notably, heteroatomic N doping and heterostructures construction are achieved together through a simple co-pyrolysis method. The distinctive composition can synergistically promote the electron transfer, lower the reaction barriers, thus improving the catalytic performance. Therefore, the modified MoP@ N -NiCoP requires low overpotentials of 43 mV and 232 mV to reach 10 mA cm−2 current density for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) accompanied by satisfactory stability in 1 M KOH. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal the electron coupling and synergistic interfacial effects at the heterogeneous interface. This study provides a new strategy for heterogeneous electrocatalysts with elemental doping to promote hydrogen applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the northern plains of Laizhou City, groundwater quality suffers dual threats from anthropogenic activities: seawater intrusion caused by overextraction of fresh groundwater, and vertical infiltration of agricultural pollutants. Groundwater management requires a comprehensive analysis of both horizontal and vertical pollution in coastal aquifers. In this paper, Intrinsic Aquifer Vulnerability (IAV) was assessed on an integrated scale using two classic IAV models (DRASTIC and GALDIT) separately based on a GIS database. Hydrogeological parameters from two classic IAV models were clustered using affinity propagation (AP) clustering algorithm, and silhouette coefficients were used to determine the optimal classification result. In our application, the objects of the AP algorithm are 3320 units divided from the whole study area with 500 m*500 m precision. A comparison of all four outputs in AP-DRASTIC shows that the clustering results of the 4-classification yielded the best silhouette coefficient of 0.406 out of all four. Cluster 4, which comprises 21% of the area, had relatively low level of groundwater contamination, despite its high level of vulnerability as indicated by the classic DRASTIC index. In the second level of vulnerability Cluster 3, 53.8% of all water samples were found to be contaminated, indicating a greater level of nitrate contamination. With respect to AP-GALDIT, the silhouette coefficient for result 7-classification reaches the highest value of 0.343. There was a high level of vulnerability identified in Clusters 2, 4 and 5 (34.7% of the study area) relating to the classic GALDIT index. The concentration of chloride in all water samples obtained in these areas was extremely high. Groundwater management should be addressed by AP-DRASTIC results on anthropogenic activity/contamination control, and by AP-GALDIT results on groundwater extraction limitation. Overall, this method allows for the evaluation of IAV in other coastal areas on an integrated scale, facilitating the development of groundwater management strategies based on a better understanding of the aquifer's essential characteristics. • Classic intrinsic vulnerability indexes correlate poorly with water quality data. • A universal solution was developed by DRASTIC and GALDIT models separately. • Hydrogeological characteristics were incorporated into the AP algorithm. • A combination of classic index and AP cluster results achieves water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrate/nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-DAMO) has been recognized as a sustainable process for simultaneous removal of nitrogen and methane. The metabolisms of denitrifying anaerobic methanotrophs, including Candidatus Methanoperedens and Candidatus Methylomirabilis, have been well studied. However, potential roles of heterotrophs co-existing with these anaerobic methanotrophs are generally overlooked. In this study, we pulse-fed methane and nitrate into an anaerobic laboratory sequencing batch bioreactor and enriched a mixed culture with stable nitrate removal rate (NRR) of ∼28 mg NO 3 −-N L−1 d−1. Microbial community analysis indicates abundant heterotrophs, e.g., Arenimonas (5.3%–18.9%) and Fimbriimonadales ATM1 (6.4%), were enriched together with denitrifying anaerobic methanotrophs Ca. Methanoperedens (10.8%–13.2%) and Ca. Methylomirabilis (27.4%–34.3%). The results of metagenomics and batch tests suggested that the denitrifying anaerobic methanotrophs were capable of generating methane-derived intermediates (i.e., formate and acetate), which were employed by non-methanotrophic heterotrophs for denitrification and biomass growth. These findings offer new insights into the roles of heterotrophs in n-DAMO mixed culture, which may help to optimize n-DAMO process for nitrogen removal from wastewater. [Display omitted] • Heterotrophic denitrification in a n-DAMO culture was investigated. • Denitrifying anaerobic methanotrophs generated formate and acetate from methane. • Heterotrophs employed methane-derived formate and acetate for denitrification. • Heterotrophs assimilated methane-derived formate and acetate for biomass growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Three new cadinene-type sesquiterpene dimers, named hibisceusones A-C, were isolated from H. tiliaceus. • Dimeric skeletons were formed from a unique 1,4-dioxane ring for the first time in natural products. • Compound 2 exhibited promising anti-TNBC activities by inducing the apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells by inhibiting the PI3Kα pathway. Three new cadinane-type sesquiterpenoid dimeric diastereomers (1 – 3) named hibisceusones A-C were obtained from the infected stems of Hibiscus tiliaceus. The structures were determined by NMR spectroscopy and MS techniques, and the absolute configurations were assigned by ECD and single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. Compounds 1 – 3 are diastereomers, and contain a 1,4-dioxane ring linearly fused to different cadinane-type polycyclic skeletons. This is the first time that such a structure has been identified in natural products. Compounds 1 – 3 exhibited cytotoxic activities, and 2 showed a significantly high anti-triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) effect. The anti-cancer effect of compound 2 was 3–4 fold higher than that of 1 and 3. The anti-cancer effect was generated via the induction of the apoptosis of the MDA-MB-231 cells by inhibiting the PI3Kα pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To test heteroscedasticity in single index models, in this paper two test statistics are proposed via quadratic conditional moments. Without the use of dimension reduction structure, the first test has the usual convergence rate in nonparametric sense. Under the dimension reduction structure of mean and variance functions, the second one has faster convergence rate to its limit under the null hypothesis, and can detect local alternative hypotheses distinct from the null at a much faster rate than the one the first test can achieve. Numerical studies are also carried out to evaluate the performance of the developed tests. Interestingly, the second one works much better than the first one if the variance function does have a dimension reduction structure. However, it is not robust against the violation of dimension reduction structure, in other words, the power performance of the second test may not be encouraging if without the dimension reduction structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dual-functional ionic liquid additive, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate (BMIHSO 4), is developed to tune the preferential Zn(002) crystallographic texture and simultaneously suppress the hydroxide sulfate accumulation on Zn anode by dynamically manipulating electrolyte pH-surroundings. The effective suppression of Zn dendrite growth enables a Zn symmetrical cell cycling stably to over one year. [Display omitted] Zn anodes suffer from the formation of uncontrolled dendrites aggravated by the uneven electric field and the insulating by-product accumulation in aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs). Here, an effective strategy implemented by 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate (BMIHSO 4) additive is proposed to synergistically tune the crystallographic orientation of zinc deposition and suppress the formation of zinc hydroxide sulfate for enhancing the reversibility on Zn anode surface. As a competing cation, BMI+ is proved to preferably adsorb on Zn-electrode compared with H 2 O molecules, which shields the "tip effect" and inhibits the Zn-deposition agglomerations to inducing the horizontal growth along Zn (002) crystallographic texture. Simultaneously, the protonated BMIHSO 4 additives could remove the detrimental OH– in real-time to fundamentally eliminate the accumulation of 6Zn(OH) 2 ·ZnSO 4 ·4H 2 O and Zn 4 SO 4 (OH) 6 ·H 2 O on Zn anode surface. Consequently, Zn anode exhibits an ultra-long cycling stability of one year (8762 h) at 0.2 mA cm−2/0.2 mAh cm−2, 3600 h at 2 mA cm−2/2 mAh cm−2 with a high plating cumulative capacity of 3.6 Ah cm−2, and a high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.6 % throughout 1000 cycles. This work of regulating Zn deposition texture combined with eliminating notorious by-products could offer a desirable way for stabilizing the Zn-anode/electrolyte interface in AZIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the evaluation of the vibration mitigation effect of a nonlinear energy sink (NES), the selection of performance measures is important for the optimal design. This paper aims to propose new reasonable performance measures and new design criteria of the NES in harmonic excitation. To broaden the application range of the slow invariant manifold, coordinate correction is carried out for the square root model of the bistable NES. Two existing performance measures (the displacement amplitude of the main system and the energy dissipation rate of the NES) and two new performance measures (the mechanical energy and the input energy of the main system) are compared. The optimal geometric configuration and response form of the NES are found in different excitation conditions. The results show that the energy dissipation rate of the NES is not competent to evaluate the performance of the NES in harmonic excitation, while the two new performance measures show competence. By adjusting the geometry parameter, the nonlinear vibration absorber with positive linear stiffness and the bistable NES show optimal vibration mitigation effect in small and large excitation amplitudes, respectively. Unusually, the optimal response form is the periodic response rather than the strongly modulated response. In summary, the proposed performance measures and design criteria will contribute to the design of NESs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper considers estimation of the semiparametric multi-index model with missing covariates at random. A weighted estimating equation is suggested by invoking the inverse selection probability approach, and estimators of the indices are respectively defined when the selection probability is known in advance, is estimated parametrically and nonparametrically. The consistency is provided. For the single-index model, the large sample properties show that the estimators with both parametric and nonparametric plug-in estimations can play an important role to achieve smaller limiting variances than the estimator with the true selection probability. Simulation studies are carried out to assess the finite sample performance of the proposed estimators. The proposed methods are applied to an AIDS clinical trials dataset to examine which method could be more efficient. A horse colic dataset is also analyzed for illustration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Peanut oil contains large amount of non-polar lipids and minor polar lipids. However, the effect of roasting on lipid profile of peanut oil has not been investigated systematically. Herein, an UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry-based lipidomic method was applied to comprehensively analyze lipid profile of the oils from raw, light and dark roasted peanut kernels. Microstructure of peanut kernels, physicochemical properties and oxidized fatty acids in peanut oil during roasting were also evaluated. Dark roasting destructed the cell membrane severely according to microstructure observation. The color of the oils became darken after light and dark roasting. Acid value increased during roasting. Peroxide value, conjugated dienens, and oxidized fatty acids increased after light roasting while decreased after dark roasting. Roasting had an obvious effect on phospholipids. Triglycerides and diglycerides showed a thermal stability during this process. Our study could provide useful information for peanut oil processing. • Roasting had significant effect on lipids, especially fatty acids and phospholipids. • Light roasting increased OFAs, while dark roasting decreased their contents. • Lipids degradation and oxidation were the main behaviors during roasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A short-memory operator splitting scheme for constant-Q wave equation is proposed. • The short memory principle is based on the scaling in the Laguerre spectral method. • A solid theoretical analysis of the Yuan-Agrawal method is provided. • An efficient algorithm for calculating the Mainardi function is given. We propose a short-memory operator splitting scheme for solving the constant-Q wave equation, where the fractional stress-strain relation contains multiple Caputo fractional derivatives with order much smaller than 1. The key is to exploit its extension problem by converting the flat singular kernels into strongly localized ones, so that the major contribution of weakly singular integrals over a semi-infinite interval can be captured by a few Laguerre functions with proper asymptotic behavior. Despite its success in reducing both memory requirement and arithmetic complexity, we show that numerical accuracy under prescribed memory variables may deteriorate in time due to the dynamical increments of projection errors. Fortunately, it can be considerably alleviated by introducing a suitable scaling factor β > 1 and pushing the collocation points closer to origin. An operator splitting scheme is introduced to solve the resulting set of equations, where the auxiliary dynamics can be solved exactly, so that it gets rid of the numerical stiffness and discretization errors. Numerical experiments on both 1-D diffusive wave equation and 2-D constant-Q P - and S -wave equations are presented to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study was designed to investigate the protective effect of the autophagy signaling pathway against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in type II alveolar epithelial cells. An in vitro M. tuberculosis system was established using human A549 cells. Infection-induced changes in the expression of the autophagic marker LC3 were assessed by reverse transcription-PCR and Western blotting. Morphological changes in autophagosomes were detected by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The function of the autophagy signaling pathway during infection was assessed by measuring the level of cell death and the amount of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released in the presence or absence of the inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA). In addition, effects on LDH release were assessed after the siRNA-mediated knockdown of the essential autophagosomal structural membrane protein Atg5. LC3 mRNA expression was significantly reduced in M. tuberculosis-infected A549 cells (16888.76±1576.34 vs. uninfected: 12744.29±1089.37; P <0.05). TEM revealed M. tuberculosis bacilli-containing compartments that were surrounded by double membranes characteristic of the autophagic process. M. tuberculosis-infected A549 cells released more LDH (1.45±0.12 vs. uninfected: 0.45±0.04; P <0.05). The inhibition of autophagy signaling significantly enhanced M. tuberculosis-induced necrosis (3-MA: 75±5% vs. untreated: 15±1%; P <0.05) and LDH release (3-MA: 2.50±0.24 vs. untreated: 0.45±0.04; Atg5 knockdown: 3.19±0.29 vs. untreated: 1.28±0.11; P <0.05). Our results indicate that autophagy signaling pathway prevents apoptosis in type II alveolar epithelial cells infected with M. tuberculosis and may represent a molecular target for promoting cell survival during infection by respiratory pathogens. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The coupled thermoelstic vibration characteristics of the axially moving beam are investigated. The differential equation of motion of the axially moving beam under the thermoelastic coupling is established based to the equilibrium equation and the thermal conduction equation involving deformation term. The eigenequation is deduced and the dimensionless complex frequencies of the axially moving beam with different boundary conditions under the coupled thermoelastic case are calculated by the differential quadrature method. The curves of the real parts and imaginary parts of the first three-order dimensionless complex frequencies versus the dimensionless axially moving speed are obtained. The effects of the dimensionless coupled thermoelastic factor, the ratio of length to height, the dimensionless moving speed on the stability of the beam are analyzed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A series of identical hybrid structural Cu-MOFs with various morphologies have been synthesized under diverse conditions, including reaction solvents, surfactants and concentrations. The Cu-MOFs have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Electrochemical performances of the as-synthesized materials have been evaluated through cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and endurance-life tests. The results indicate that the slender rod shaped Cu-MOF E shows a high performance of 802 ​F ​g−1 at 0.5 ​A ​g−1 and no attenuation over 2000 GCD cycles. To promote the electrochemical performance, the flower-like Cu-MOF SDS has been obtained by using the selected sodium dodecyl sulfate. Then, the capacitive performance enhancement of Cu-MOF SDS has achieved approvingly, and the highest specific capacitance is 851 ​F ​g−1 at 0.5 ​A ​g−1. In this work, the solvents, surfactants and concentrations would be generating energetic effects on the morphological modulation and supercapacitive performances. A series of rGOs with different morphologies have been synthesized through modulating solvents, surfactants and concentrations. The slender rod shaped rGO E (synthesized in ethanol) shows a high performance of 802 ​F ​g−1 at 0.5 ​A ​g−1 and no attenuation in capacitance over 2000 GCD cycles. To improve the electrochemical performance, the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was added in the reaction and flower-like rGO SDS was obtained. Then, the capacitive performance enhancement of Cu-MOF SDS has been achieved approvingly, and the highest specific capacitance of 851 ​F ​g−1 at the current density of 0.5 ​A ​g−1. Further, the mechanism of this work has been explored elaborately. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the transverse vibration of the cantilever structure is of great interest, the internal resonance of the vertical cantilever structure is always ignored. In this paper, nonlinear free vibration and 1/3 super-harmonic resonance of a hanging cantilever beam are firstly presented with 3:1 internal resonance caused by gravity. By employing the temporal multi-scale method, mode responses in these two vibrations are obtained. The harmonic balanced method is used for solving the excitation component and the whole deflection in super-harmonic resonance. For nonlinear free vibration, beat phenomenon is found and the effect of mode interaction is determined by gravity, damping and initial perturbation. For super-harmonic resonance, the amplitude of the first two modes can be quite large and exceed the excitation component if damping is not strong. Besides, the softening-type frequency curves are predominated by the inertia nonlinearity. Compared with the excitation component and the whole deflection, the mode responses are more easily affected by gravity. If the value of gravity parameter is a little bit lower than the one in the condition of strict internal resonance, the energy transmission, multiple solutions and bifurcations and three complex types of frequency curves can be found in mode responses. Hysteresis and saturation phenomena in mode responses can be discovered as well. Results from analytical methods are almost identical to those from numerical ways. In summary, the internal resonance of slender hanging cantilever structures should be aroused more attention, for hanging cantilevers are common in practical engineering and considerable mode responses can be induced by large initial perturbation in weakly damped free vibration or by low excitation frequency and large excitation amplitude in super-harmonic resonance. In addition, the complex dynamics can be worthwhile to judge the occurrence of internal resonance and its impact on structures. Since gravity has tensile effects on hanging cantilevers, these phenomena may also occur in beams with axial tension. • The gravity has great effects on free vibration and super-harmonic resonance. • Beat phenomena are discovered in free vibration of a cantilever beam. • Complex dynamic phenomena are found in softening-type response curves. • Energy transfer between the first two modes is achieved by internal resonance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Consider a multidimensional time-dependent space-fractional equation to model solute transport in heterogeneous porous media. • The equation involves all directions in its fractional derivative rather than only coordinate directions. • We derive the fast control-volume schemes, these schemes naturally have second order accuracy in space. • A fast Krylov subspace iterative solver for control volume schemes is proposed. We develop control volume methods for two-dimensional time-dependent advection-dominated directional space-fractional advection-dispersion equations with the directional space-fractional derivative weighted in all the directions by a probability measure in the unit circle, which are used to model the anisotropic superdiffusive transport of solutes in groundwater moving through subsurface heterogeneous porous media. We develop a fast upwind control volume method for the governing equation to eliminate the spurious numerical oscillations that often occur in space-centered numerical discretizations of advection term, which are relatively straightforward to implement. We also develop a Eulerian-Lagrangian control-volume method for the governing equation, which symmetrizes the governing equation by combining the time-derivative term and the advection term into a material derivative term along characteristic curves. Both methods are locally mass-conservative, which are essential in these applications. Due to the nonlocal nature of the directional space-fractional differential operators, corresponding numerical discretizations usually generate full stiffness matrices. Conventional direct solvers tend to require O (N 2) memory requirement and have O (N 3) computational complexity per time step, where N is the number of spatial unknowns, which is computationally significantly more expensive than the numerical approximations of integer-order advection-diffusion equations. Based on the analysis of the structure of stiffness matrix, we propose a fast Krylov subspace iterative solver to accelerate the numerical approximations of both the upwind and Eulerian-Lagrangian control volume methods, which reduce computational complexity from O (N 3) by a direct solver to O (N log ⁡ N) per Krylov subspace iteration per time step and a memory requirement from O (N 2) to O (N). Numerical results are presented to show the utility of the methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phosphorus content in eel aquaculture wastewater exceeds the discharge standard, and the amount of wastewater discharged is substantial. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore an economical and efficient method of treating aquaculture wastewater. This study explored the use of Desmodesmus sp. PW1, a type of microalgae, to treat eel aquaculture wastewater. By optimizing the conditions, Desmodesmus sp. PW1 achieved a total phosphorus (TP) removal efficiency of 92.3%, as well as total nitrogen (TN) and ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 +-N) removal efficiency of 99%, using a photoperiod of 24:0, a temperature of 25 °C, and an inoculation amount of 15%. Furthermore, Desmodesmus sp. PW1 demonstrated a high self-flocculating efficiency (>90%) within 100 min of settling, which facilitated biomass recovery. Subsequently, a semi-continuous treatment process mode was established with a sewage renewal rate of 90%. The results showed that after four rounds of sewage renewal operations, the microalgae biomass in the sewage treatment system could be maintained between 160.0 and 220.0 mg/L, and the average removal rate of TP was 0.13 mg/(L * h). The lipid content of algae cells collected in the semi-continuous treatment system for eel aquaculture wastewater was as high as 36.5%, and the biodiesel properties met the biodiesel standards authorized by Europe and the United States. Overall, this study provides an economical and effective strategy for converting wastewater into high-value microalgae products. [Display omitted] • Desmodesmus sp. PW1 demonstrated high removal efficiencies of 92.3% for TP and 99% for TN in treating eel aquaculture wastewater • Desmodesmus sp. PW1 demonstrated a self-flocculating efficiency of over 90% within a settling time of 100 min. • A semi-continuous model with a renewal rate of 90% for treating eel aquaculture wastewater was constructed. • Desmodesmus sp. PW1 contained 36.5% lipid that can be utilized for preparing biodiesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inorganic resources are a key determining factor in the growth process of seagrass; however, the process and mechanisms involved in the promoting effect of increased seawater HCO 3 − concentration on seagrass growth and propagation under controlled conditions are poorly understood. We subjected shoots of the eelgrass Zostera marina to different seawater HCO 3 − levels [2 (control), 5, 10, 15 and 20 mmol L−1] for 6 weeks under controlled, mesocosm conditions. We measured eelgrass response in terms of survivorship, growth, propagation, productivity, carbonic anhydrase, leaf pigmentation and carbohydrate concentrations. The ramet frequency of Z. marina reached 58.7% when exposed to 5 mmol L−1, which was 1.3 times higher than that of shoots under the control condition. Survival analysis combined with growth assessment suggested that the optimal range of seawater HCO 3 − concentration for the propagation of Z. marina shoots was 4.8–5.5 mmol L−1. The promotion of survival and propagation of Z. marina that stemmed from seawater HCO 3 − concentration mainly depended on the increase in chlorophyll content and accumulation of nonstructural carbohydrate. The total chlorophyll content of Z. marina leaves exposed to 5 mmol L−1 was 1.1 times higher than that of shoots under the control condition. The results provide valuable data that could prove helpful in the development of efficient artificial propagation technology for Z. marina shoots. • Inorganic resource is a key determining factor in growth process of seagrass. • Optimal range of HCO 3 − concentration for propagation of eelgrass is obtained. • Chlorophyll and non-structural carbohydrate positively affect the propagation of eelgrass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Graphite carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4) as metal-free photocatalyst has been widely studied recently in photocatalytic water reduction, which is considered as one of the promising routes to realizing the hydrogen energy-based society in the future. The generally used preparation process based on thermal polymerization of precursors easily brought the formation of aggregated nanosheets morphology, severely limiting its photocatalytic activity. Herein, the hollow tube-like morphology with porous surface was elaborately obtained by ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA)-involved hydrothermal treatment of melamine precursor. The hollow and porous features shortened the migration distance of photo-generated carriers, trapped the incident lights, and provided more photocatalytic reactive sites, then realizing the enhanced photocatalytic H 2 -evolution activity up to 7.1 times that of pristine g-C 3 N 4. The presence of EDTA acted as the pivotal role to control the recrystallization process of melamine and its derivative, cyanuric acid, and thus to determine the framework formation of the hollow tube-like microstructure. Moreover, complete thermal decomposition of cyanuric acid during the thermal polymerization of precursors was responsible for the hollow and porous features. This work extends the morphology regulation cognition of g-C 3 N 4 based on hydrothermal treatment of precursors, and is expected to bring deep understanding and feasible strategies to design morphology-dominated highly-efficient g-C 3 N 4 photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonists have been clinically used to treat heart failure. However, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Using osteoblast MR knockout (MRobko) mouse in combination with myocardial infarction (MI) model, we demonstrated that MR deficiency in osteoblasts significantly improved cardiac function, promoted myocardial healing, as well as attenuated cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis and inflammatory response after MI. Gene expression profiling using RNA sequencing revealed suppressed expression of osteocalcin (OCN) in calvaria from MRobko mice compared to littermate control (MRfl/fl) mice with or without MI. Plasma levels of undercarboxylated OCN (ucOCN) were also markedly decreased in MRobko mice compared to MRfl/fl mice. Administration of ucOCN abolished the protective effects of osteoblast MR deficiency on infarcted hearts. Mechanistically, ucOCN treatment promoted proliferation and inflammatory cytokine secretion in macrophages. Spironolactone, an MR antagonist, significantly inhibited the expression and secretion of OCN in post-MI mice. More importantly, spironolactone decreased plasma levels of ucOCN and inflammatory cytokines in heart failure patients. MR deficiency in osteoblasts alleviates pathological ventricular remodeling after MI, likely through its regulation on OCN. Spironolactone may work through osteoblast MR/OCN axis to exert its therapeutic effects on pathological ventricular remodeling and heart failure in mice and human patients. [Display omitted] • Osteoblast MR may be a target for treating pathological ventricular remodeling after MI. • Osteoblast MR regulates ventricular remodeling remotely by ucOCN. • ucOCN promotes proliferation and inflammation of macrophages. • ucOCN is closely correlated with cardiac function in post-MI mice. • The cardiac benefit of MR antagonists may be partially mediated by osteoblastic MR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two novel coordination polymers, namely, [Ca(NCP) 2 ] ∞ ( I ) and [Sr(NCP) 2 ] ∞ ( II ) were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions based on 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)imidazo(4,5-f)-(1,10)phenanthroline (HNCP) and characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectrometry, X-ray powder diffraction and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Findings indicate that I and II are isomorphous and isostructural, containing the unit of M(NCP − ) 4 (M=Ca(II) and Sr(II)), based on which to assemble into three-dimensional (3D) porous 4-fold interpenetration honeycomb-shaped neutral coordination polymers (CPs). Between the adjacent lamellar structures in I and II , there exist π–π interactions between the pyridine rings belonging to phenanthroline of NCP − which stabilize the frameworks. Both I and II display stronger fluorescence emissions as well as high thermal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Installation cost improvement of Distributed Fiber Optics Sensors used for Structural Health Monitoring. • Development of fiber patterns layout to adapt to the specific measurement requirements of the project. • The use of fabrics adds an extra layer of protection to the fiber sensor, increasing its survivability during and after installation. This paper explored the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of pipelines by using fiber optic cables embedded into textiles and interrogated using Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (BOTDR). Embedded fiber optic sensing textile would result in significant cost reduction by reducing installation time, which lowers the labor cost and the cost of work stoppage which can be substantial for certain applications like oil & gas. Also, embedding fiber into fabric provides additional protection and allows the design of different layout patterns to accommodate the requirements of a project. A strain characterization experiment was conducted to study the performance of the sensor while monitoring structural changes on an HDPE (High-density Polyethylene) pipe. Additionally, a specific sensor pattern was explored to enhance the overall sensing area of the sensor. During the test, changes in the strain distribution on the pipe were measured as the pipe was subjected to a loading of 0–600 lb. The maximum strain values measured were 1322 μ ∊ and 2465 μ ∊ for the intact and damaged pipe respectively and the highest standard deviation was 0.212. These results demonstrated the capability of the sensors to detect damages on pipelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canine bufavirus (CBuV) was first discovered in puppies in Italy in 2016, and subsequent studies have reported its possible relationship with acute enteritis. Currently, there is no specific and quantitative detection method for CBuV. This study examined the conserved NS1 gene and used a pair of specific primers to establish a direct SYBR Green I-based real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method for the detection and quantification of CBuV. In the sensitivity experiment, the detection limit of SYBR Green I-based real-time qPCR was 4.676 × 101 copies/μL and that of conventional PCR (cPCR) was 4.676 × 103 copies/μL. Furthermore, the qPCR method did not detect other viruses in dogs, indicating good specificity. The intra-assay coefficient of variation was 0.07–0.55% and the inter-assay coefficient of variation was 0.03–0.11%, indicating good repeatability. In clinical sample testing, the detection rate of qPCR was 5.0% (6/120), higher than that of cPCR (2.5%, 3/120). In addition, the samples that tested CBuV-positive in this experiment were all from dogs with acute enteritis. In summary, the SYBR Green I-based qPCR method established in this study has good sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility for clinical sample detection and can also assist in future research on CBuV. • The study established a SYBR Green I-based real-time RT-PCR assay for Canine Bufavirus detection. • The assay is highly sensitive, specific, and reproducible. • It provides a tool for clinical diagnostics of Canine Bufavirus infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To extend shelf-life and develop new bayberry products, the effects of storage time and temperature on polyphenolic content and qualitative characteristics of freeze-dried and spray-dried bayberry power were studied. Results showed that the retention of total polyphenols, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, cyanidin-3-o-glucoside and anthocyanins in the freeze-dried bayberry powder was in most cases higher than in the spray-dried powder when they were stored for the same period. The content of these components in both the freeze-dried and spray-dried bayberry powder decreased gradually with the longer storage time. No significant difference was detected for the retention of these compounds whether they were stored at 4 °C or 25 °C. The browning index of both the freeze-dried and spray-dried powder significantly increased during a 50-day storage period. The ΔE value of the bayberry powder stored at 25 °C was distinctly higher than that of the other treated samples; a value of the spray-dried powder was slightly higher than that of the other samples. All presented results indicate that freeze-drying and 4 °C storage is an efficient and convenient method to maintain the bioactive polyphenolic components and high-qualitative characteristics of bayberry fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims to propose a novel approach for damage identification of continuum structures based on their dynamic performances. The main idea is resorting to the level set model, which is used to describe the shape and topology of the damage regions implicitly. The original natural frequency-based inverse problem is thus transferred into a generalized shape optimization problem which can be tackled by solving an evolution type Hamilton–Jacobi equation. Compared to traditional approaches, the distinctive advantage of the proposed approach is that it can deal with damage regions of complex shapes in a convenient way. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IL-20 is a pleiotropic cytokine that belongs to the IL-10 family and has a variety of biological functions in tissue homeostasis and regulation of host immune defenses. It signals through a heterodimeric receptor composed of a subunit with a long intracellular domain (R1 type receptor) and a subunit with a short intracellular domain (R2 type receptor). In this study, the R1 type receptor (Ci IL-20R1/CRFB8) and the R2 type receptor (Ci IL-20R2/CRFB16) were identified in grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella. Expression analysis revealed that IL-20R2 was highly expressed in the gills and skin in healthy fish. Infection with Flavobacterium columnare resulted in the downregulation of both receptors in the gill at 48 and 72 h, whilst infection with grass carp reovirus induced their expression in the head kidney and spleen at 72 h. In the primary head kidney leucocytes, the expression levels of IL-20R1 and IL-20R2 were decreased after stimulation with 250 ng/mL IL-1β but not affected by IFN-γ. Co-immunoprecipitation analysis showed that Ci IL-20R2/CRFB16 but not Ci IL-20R1/CRFB8 bound to Ci IL-20L. Furthermore, it was shown that Ci IL-20R1/CRFB8 was responsible for activating the phosphorylation of STAT3, whilst Ci IL-20R2/CRFB16 was not involved. Structural modeling analysis showed that key residues involved in the interaction between IL-20 and receptors were highly conserved between grass carp and humans, suggesting that the signal transduction and functions of IL-20/IL-20R axis are evolutionarily conserved. • Homologs of IL-20R1 and IL-20R2 were identified in grass carp. • The expression of IL-20R1 was highly expressed in the gill and downregulated after infection with F. columnare. • Ci IL-20R2/CEFB16 but not Ci IL-20R1/CRFB8 interacts with Ci IL-20L. • Ci IL-20L induces STAT3 phosphorylation mainly via Ci IL-20R1/CRFB8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HLA-G and HLA-E are non-classical HLA Ib molecules. Recently, increasingly more reports have shown that HLA-G is highly expressed in different malignancies. In this article, we detected the expression levels of HLA-G and HLA-E in primary colorectal cancer patients. Our results showed that 70.6% and 65.7% of the colorectal cancer tissues had positive HLA-G or HLA-E expression, respectively, and that 46.1% positively expressed both molecules. We also analyzed the correlations between the expression levels of HLA-G, HLA-E or both combined and the clinical outcomes of the patients. Kaplan–Meier analysis results showed that the expression levels of HLA-G or HLA-E alone and the combined expression of both molecules were all statistically correlated with the overall survival of colorectal cancer patients. Cox multivariate analysis showed that only HLA-G expression can serve as independent factor for OS. Our results also showed that the expression of HLA-E was significantly correlated with tumor metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A series of novel geniposide derivatives were designed and synthesized for discovering efficient XOD inhibitor. • Compound 2e displayed the most XOD inhibitory effect in vitro and in vivo. • Compound 2e can also repair kidney damage by inhibiting the expression of TNF-α and IL-1β signaling pathways. • Kinetics analysis revealed that compound 2e is a reversible mixed competitive inhibitor. • Molecular docking study indicated iridoid and glycosyl moiety of compound 2e were critical for binding to the XOD active site. Hyperuricemia is a principal factor mediating gout and kidney damage, and xanthine oxidase (XOD) is a key enzyme in the pathogenesis of hyperuricemia. In this context, a series of geniposide derivatives were designed and synthesized, and antihyperuricemic and nephroprotective effects of all derivatives was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Compound 2e emerged as the most potent XOD inhibitor, with an IC 50 value of 6.67 ± 0.46 µM. Simultaneously, cell viability, ROS generation, and SOD levels assay showed that compound 2e could repair the damage of HKC cells by inhibiting the oxidative stress response. The results of the study indicated compound 2e significantly decreased uric acid levels by inhibiting the XOD activity, and repaired kidney damage by inhibiting the expression of TLR4/TLR2/MyD88/NF-κB and NALP3/ASC/caspase-1 signaling pathways. Enzyme inhibition kinetics suggested that compound 2e functioned via reversible mixed competitive inhibition. Moreover, a molecular docking study was performed to gain insight into the binding mode of compound 2e with XOD. These results suggest that geniposide derivatives were potential to be developed into a novel medicine to reveal healthy benefits in natural prevention and reduction risk of hyperuricemia and kidney damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ferric-impregnated volcanic ash (FVA) which consisted mainly of different forms of iron and aluminum oxide minerals was developed for arsenate (V) removal from an aqueous medium. The adsorption experiments were conducted in both DI water samples and actual water (Lake Kasumigaura, Japan) to investigate the effects of solution mineralization degree on the As(V) removal. Kinetic and equilibrium studies conducted in actual water revealed that the mineralization of water greatly elevated the As(V) adsorption on FVA. The experiment performed in DI water indicated that the existence of multivalence metallic cations significantly enhanced the As(V) adsorption ability, whereas competing anions such as fluoride and phosphate greatly decreased the As(V) adsorption. It is suggested that FVA is a cost-effective adsorbent for As(V) removal in low-level phosphate and fluoride solution. It was important to conduct the batch experiment using the actual water to investigate the arsenic removal on adsorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicobacter pylori is a pathogen involved in several gastroduodenal diseases, whose infection mechanisms have not been completely confirmed. To study the specific mechanism of gastropathy caused by H. pylori , we analyzed the gene microarray of gastric mucosa and gastric cells infected by H. pylori through bioinformatics analysis. We downloaded GSE60427 and GSE74492 from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, screened differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and identified the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) through R software. The Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) was applied to establish a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network and Cytoscape was used to identify the top seven hub genes. Besides, we also constructed the gene–microRNA(gene–miRNA) interaction through the miRTarBase v8.0 database by using the NetworkAnalyst tool. One hundred and fifteen DEGs were screened out, with 54 genes up-regulated and 61 genes down-regulated, among which seven hub genes, including "IGF1R," "APOE," "IRS1," "ATF3," "LCN2," "IL2RG," and "PI3," were considered as the main regulatory proteins in gastric cells when infected by H. pylori. In this study, hub genes and related signal enrichment pathways of gastropathy infected by H. pylori were analyzed through bioinformatics analysis based on the GSE60427 and GSE74492 datasets. • Bioinformatics revealed the signaling pathways related to Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric cells. • Bioinformatics revealed the main differential genes of Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric cells. • The study first found that IGF1R was down regulated in Helicobacter pylori with proper conjecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]