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Hierarchical Amorphous Vanadium Oxide and Carbon Nanotubes Microspheres with Strong Interface Interaction for Superior Performance Aqueous Zinc-ion Batteries. [Display omitted] Aqueous zinc-ion batteries have attracted more and more attention due to their safety, environmental benignity and high theoretical capacity. However, the lack of appropriate cathode materials with high capacity and long cycle life have become an obstacle to the development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Herein, the hierarchical amorphous vanadium oxide and carbon nanotubes (a-V 2 O 5 @CNTs) microspheres with strong interface interaction were successfully prepared by combing facile spray drying technique with annealing treatment. Benefiting from the a-V 2 O 5 amorphous characters, CNTs framework high conductivity and hierarchical microspheres with strong interface interaction, the a-V 2 O 5 @CNTs exhibited abundant active sites, fast reaction kinetics as well as eminent structure stability. As a promising electrode material, the a-V 2 O 5 @CNTs displayed high specific capacity (480 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1), good rate capability and long-term stability under high current density (158 mAh g−1 at 30 A g−1 over 1000 cycles). Meanwhile, the corresponding mechanism was further illustrated through different characterizations. Furthermore, the as-assembled flexible pouch battery based on the a-V 2 O 5 @CNTs delivered outstanding flexibility and feasibility. Hence, this work provides a new idea for developing high performance cathode materials of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-arid regions present unique challenges for maintaining aquatic biological integrity due to their complex evolutionary mechanisms. Uncovering the spatial patterns of aquatic biological integrity in these areas is a challenging research task, especially under the compound environmental stress. Our goal is to address this issue with a scientifically rigorous approach. This study aims to explore the spatial analysis and diagnosis method of aquatic biological based on the combination of machine learning and statistical analysis, so as to reveal the spatial differentiation patterns and causes of changes of aquatic biological integrity in semi-arid regions. To this end, we have introduced an innovative approach that combines XGBoost-SHAP and Fuzzy C-means clustering (FCM), we successfully identified and diagnosed the spatial variations of aquatic biological integrity in the Wei River Basin (WRB). The study reveals significant spatial variations in species number, diversity, and aquatic biological integrity of phytoplankton, serving as a testament to the multifaceted responses of biological communities under the intricate tapestry of environmental gradients. Delving into the depths of the XGBoost-SHAP algorithm, we discerned that Annual average Temperature (AT) stands as the pivotal driver steering the spatial divergence of the Phytoplankton Integrity Index (P-IBI), casting a positive influence on P-IBI when AT is below 11.8 °C. The intricate interactions between hydrological variables (VF and RW) and AT, as well as between water quality parameters (WT, NO 3 –N, TP, COD) and AT, collectively sculpt the spatial distribution of P-IBI. The fusion of XGBoost-SHAP with FCM unveils pronounced north-south gradient disparities in aquatic biological integrity across the watershed, segmenting the region into four distinct zones. This establishes scientific boundary conditions for the conservation strategies and management practices of aquatic ecosystems in the region, and its flexibility is applicable to the analysis of spatial heterogeneity in other complex environmental contexts. • XGBoost-SHAP uncovers key drivers in semi-arid aquatic integrity evolution. • Innovative integration of XGBoost-SHAP with FCM maps aquatic spatial patterns. • AT dominates the distribution of aquatic biological integrity. • Distinct north-south trends in aquatic biological integrity of semi-arids revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent years there has been much interest in both Turán and Ramsey properties of vertex ordered graphs. In this paper we initiate the study of embedding spanning structures into vertex ordered graphs. In particular, we introduce a general framework for approaching the problem of determining the minimum degree threshold for forcing a perfect H-tiling in an ordered graph. In the (unordered) graph setting, this problem was resolved by Kühn and Osthus [The minimum degree threshold for perfect graph packings, Combinatorica, 2009]. We use our general framework to resolve the perfect H -tiling problem for all ordered graphs H of interval chromatic number 2. Already in this restricted setting the class of extremal examples is richer than in the unordered graph problem. In the process of proving our results, novel approaches to both the regularity and absorbing methods are developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Z-scheme Bi 25 FeO 40 /BiOCl (BOFC) heterojunction possesses superior tetracyclines removal performance in the photocatalytic peroxymonosulfate oxidation process at low PMS concentrations. [Display omitted] • Z-scheme Bi 25 FeO 40 /BiOCl heterojunction was constructed for tetracyclines removal. • The photocatalytic PMS oxidation process was carried out at 0.08 M PMS. • Bi 25 FeO 40 /BiOCl/PMS/Vis system exhibits low toxicity. Photocatalytic peroxymonosulfate (PMS) oxidation systems demonstrate significant potential and promising prospects through the interconnection of photocatalytic and PMS oxidation for simultaneously achieving efficient pollutant removal and reduction of PMS dosage, which prevents resource wastage and secondary pollution. In this study, a Z-scheme Bi 25 FeO 40 /BiOCl (BOFC) heterojunction was constructed to carry out the photocatalytic PMS oxidation process for tetracyclines (TCs) pollutants at low PMS concentrations (0.08 mM). The photocatalytic PMS oxidation rate of Bi 25 FeO 40 /BiOCl composites for tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH), chlortetracycline (CTC), oxytetracycline (OTC) and doxycycline (DXC) reaches 86.6%, 83.6%, 86.7%, and 88.0% within 120 min. Simultaneously, the BOFC/PMS system under visible light (Vis) equally displayed the practical application prospects for the solo and mixed simulated TCs antibiotics wastewater. Based on the electron spin resonance (ESR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) valence band spectrum, a Z-scheme electron migration pathway was proposed to elucidate the mechanism underlying the performance enhancement of BOFC composites. Bi 25 FeO 40 in BOFC composites can serve as active site for activating PMS by the formation of Fe3+/Fe2+ cycle. Toxicity estimation software tool (T.E.S.T.) and mung beans planting experiment demonstrates that BOFC/PMS/Vis system can reduce toxicity of TCs wastewater. Therefore, BOFC/PMS/Vis system achieves efficient examination in different water environments and efficient utilization of PMS, which displays a scientific reference for achieving environmentally-friendly and resource-saving handling processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice protein, varying in different nitrogen (N) fertilizer levels, is a crucial contributor to the eating and cooking qualities (ECQs) of rice. In this study, we investigated the relationship between protein components and ECQs of different rice varieties at different nitrogen fertilizer levels. Our results showed that prolamin and glutelin are the most abundant protein components in rice. Compared to the varieties, the effect of nitrogen fertilization on these two protein components was greater, with 59.3% and 45.9% of the variation in prolamin and glutelin soluble proteins being explained. Higher nitrogen application reduced the peak viscosity, trough viscosity, final viscosity, and breakdown, accompanied by lower adhesiveness and higher hardness in rice. Under nitrogen fertilization, prolamin and glutelin affected the ECQs of rice by affecting the adhesiveness and hardness of rice, respectively. At a nitrogen fertilizer level of 100 kg ha−1, the reduction in ECQs of rice was small and a balance between rice yield and ECQs could be achieved. Overall, our results suggested that appropriate N fertilization would reduce the deterioration of rice texture on account of elevated protein compositions. [Display omitted] • The increasing N level expanded rice main protein components' distribution. • Prolamin and glutelin significantly degrades rice eating and cooking quality. • Prolamin reduces the adhesiveness of rice. • Glutelin affects rice taste mainly by increasing rice hardness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A family of subsets of [ n ] is intersecting if every pair of its sets intersects. Determining the structure of large intersecting families is a central problem in extremal combinatorics. Frankl–Kupavskii and Balogh–Das–Liu–Sharifzadeh–Tran showed that for n ≥ 2 k + c k ln ⁡ k , almost all k -uniform intersecting families are stars. Improving their result, we show that the same conclusion holds for n ≥ 2 k + 100 ln ⁡ k. Our proof uses, among others, the graph container method and the Das–Tran removal lemma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To elucidate the inhibition mechanisms of hydroxyapatite (HA), a biological model mimicking the mineralization process was developed. The addition of 4% (v/v) dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in synthetic cartilage lymph (SCL) medium containing 2mM calcium and 3.42mM inorganic phosphate (Pi) at pH 7.6 and 37°C produced HA as matrix vesicles (MVs) under physiological conditions. Such a model has the advantage of monitoring the HA nucleation process without interfering with other processes at the cellular or enzymatic level. Turbidity measurements allowed us to follow the process of nucleation, whereas infrared spectra and X-ray diffraction permitted us to identify HA. Mineral formation induced by DMSO and by MVs in the SCL medium produced crystalline HA in a similar manner. The nucleation model served to evaluate the inhibition effects of ATP, GTP, UTP, ADP, ADP–ribose, AMP, and pyrophosphate (PPi). Here 10μM PPi, 100μM nucleotide triphosphates (ATP, GTP, UTP), and 1mM ADP inhibited HA formation directly, whereas 1mM ADP–ribose and 1mM AMP did not. This confirmed that the PPi group is a potent inhibitor of HA formation. Increasing the PPi concentration from 100μM to 1mM induced calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate. We propose that DMSO-induced HA formation could serve to screen putative inhibitors of mineral formation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For a set of positive integers A ⊆ [ n ] , an r -coloring of A is rainbow sum-free if it contains no rainbow Schur triple. In this paper we initiate the study of the rainbow Erdős-Rothschild problem in the context of sum-free sets, which asks for the subsets of [ n ] with the maximum number of rainbow sum-free r -colorings. We show that for r = 3 , the interval [ n ] is optimal, while for r ≥ 8 , the set [ ⌊ n / 2 ⌋ , n ] is optimal. We also prove a stability theorem for r ≥ 4. The proofs rely on the hypergraph container method, and some ad-hoc stability analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyphosphate (polyP) is abundant in bone but its roles in signaling and control of gene expression remain unclear. Here, we investigate the effect of extracellular polyP on proliferation, migration, apoptosis, gene and protein expression in human osteoblast-like SaOS-2 cells. Extracellular polyP promoted SaOS-2 cell proliferation, increased rates of migration, inhibited apoptosis and stimulated the rapid phosphorylation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) directly through basic fibroblast growth factor receptor (bFGFR). cDNA microarray revealed that polyP induced significant upregulation of interleukin 11 (IL-11) at both RNA and protein levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The small Rho GTPases Rac1 and Rac2 regulate actin structures and mediate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production via NADPH oxidase in a variety of cells. We have demonstrated that deficiency of Rac1 and Rac2 GTPases in mice disrupts the normal hexagonal organization of the RBC cytoskeleton and reduces erythrocyte deformability. This is associated with increased phosphorylation of adducin at Ser-724, (corresponding to Ser-726 in human erythrocytes), a domain target of protein kinase C (PKC). PKC phosphorylates adducin and leads to decreased F-actin capping and dissociation of spectrin from actin, implicating a significant role of such phosphorylation in cytoskeletal remodeling. We evaluated adducin phosphorylation in erythrocytes from patients with sickle cell disease and found it consistently increased at Ser-726. In addition, ROS concentration is elevated in sickle erythrocytes by 150–250% compared to erythrocytes from normal control individuals. Here, we review previous studies demonstrating that altered phosphorylation of erythrocyte cytoskeletal proteins and increased ROS production result in disruption of cytoskeleton stability in healthy and sickle cell erythrocytes. We discuss in particular the known and potential roles of protein kinase C and the Rac GTPases in these two processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For an odd integer n = 2 d − 1 , let B (n , d) be the subgraph of the hypercube Q n induced by the two largest layers. In this paper, we describe the typical structure of independent sets in B (n , d) and give precise asymptotics on the number of them. The proofs use Sapozhenko's graph container method and a recently developed method of Jenssen and Perkins, which combines Sapozhenko's graph container lemma with the cluster expansion for polymer models from statistical physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and accurate testing of wheat flour for illegal additives is important for maintaining food safety. In this study, a combination of NIR spectroscopy and partial least squares regression (PLSR) was used to predict the levels of two illegal additives (talc powder and benzoyl peroxide) in wheat flour. Different critical wavelength selection algorithms (competitive adaptive reweighted sampling, CARS; random frog, RF; Monte Carlo uninformative variable elimination, MCUVE; CARS-RF; CARS-MCUVE) were used to filter key wavelengths. In our study, R2P for talc and benzoyl peroxide in the full-wavelength PLSR model was 0.995 and 0.964, respectively. The CARS-RF and RF were screened for 10 effective wavelengths. In wheat flour containing talc, the R2P and RPD of the model using the CARS-RF were 0.995 and 14.796, respectively. In wheat flour containing benzoyl peroxide, the R2P and RPD of the model using the RF were 0.923 and 3.697, respectively. CARS-RF and RF algorithms had great potential to accurately predict illegal additives. • NIR spectroscopy of wheat flour containing talc and benzoyl peroxide were collected. • Full-wavelength NIR spectroscopy and PLSR were used for modeling. • The 5 key wavelength algorithm was used to screen the key wavelength. • Both CARS-RF and RF algorithms screened out 10 key wavelengths. • CARS-RF and RF algorithms could predict the illegal additives in flour very well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, variants of many classical extremal theorems have been proved in the random environment. We, complementing existing results, extend the Erdős–Gallai Theorem in random graphs. In particular, we determine, up to a constant factor, the maximum number of edges in a P n -free subgraph of G (N , p) , practically for all values of N , n and p. Our work is also motivated by the recent progress on the size-Ramsey number of paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice taste quality is one of the most important factors influencing rice marketing and distribution, and rice with a high taste quality is more popular with consumers and has a higher price. Accurate and rapid determination of rice protein content helps to assess the rice taste quality and aids in marketing. In this study, NIR spectra of 84 rice samples combined with partial least squares regression (PLSR) were used to model protein content, and different selection algorithms based on key wavelengths (competitive adaptive reweighted sampling, CARS; Monte-Carlo uninformative wavelength elimination, MC-UVE; random frog, RF) were used to understand the accuracy of NIR spectra in predicting the rice protein content. Our results showed that the R2P and RPD of the original full-spectrum PLSR model were 0.83 and 1.95, respectively. After the second-order derivative preprocessing, the R2P and RPD of the full spectrum were improved to 0.95 and 4.14. Both CARS and MC-UVE increased the R2P of the PLSR model to 0.97 and the RPD to 5.57 and 5.65, respectively. R2C and R2CV in the PLSR model based on CARS algorithm were 0.93 and 0.91, respectively. The CARS algorithm had excellent results in predicting the rice protein content. [Display omitted] • PLSR was used to mine NIR spectra of rice protein content. • The RPD of the full original wavelength spectrum was 1.95. • Mining key wavelengths by CARS, MC-UVE, and RF algorithms. • The CARS and PLSR based models showed that R2P and RPD were 0.97 and 5.57. • CARS was an excellent algorithm in determining the protein content of rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]