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Tripartite motif (TRIM) proteins are a multifunctional family of ubiquitin E3 ligases involved in multiple biological processes. Studies have shown that many TRIM proteins in mammals play vital roles in the host defense against viral pathogens. In the present study, we identified a novel TRIM gene (MnTrim-like) from the oriental river prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense. Predicted MnTrim-like protein contains the characteristic RING finger domain. MnTrim-like was abundantly distributed in hepatopancreas, intestine, stomach, and gills. Upon white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) challenge, transcripts of MnTrim-like in the stomach were significantly up-regulated. Knockdown of MnTrim-like increased the expression of VP28 and decreased the synthesis of several antimicrobial peptides, including two crustins and one anti-lipopolysaccharide factor. Besides, silencing of these three antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) led to an increase in the expression of VP28 and WSSV copies. Moreover, it was found that injection of recombinant MnTrim-like protein with WSSV could decrease the transcription of VP28 and the number of virus particles. These results suggest that this MnTrim-like may restrict WSSV infection by positively regulating the expression of AMPs with antiviral activities and directly interacting with viral components. This study will broaden our understanding about the function of TRIM in crustacean during viral infection. • The TRIM-like gene was induced by WSSV infection. • Knockdown of MnTrim-like increased the expression of VP28 and decreased the synthesis of several antimicrobial peptides. • Injection of recombinant MnTrim-like protein restricts the replication of WSSV in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative longitudinal magnetoresistivity (nLMR) induced by the chiral anomaly together with the weak antilocalization (WAL) due to the quantum interference can be regarded as remarkable magnetotransport signatures for three-dimension (3D) topological semimetals. Here, we report the observation of high-temperature competition between the chiral anomaly and WAL by magnetotransport measurements on high-quality Cd 3 As 2 nanoplates under parallel electromagnetic fields. We find that, the WAL dominates the magnetotransport in the weak magnetic fields, which decreases gradually and ultimately vanishes at a critical temperature T c. In contrast, the chiral anomaly is robust against temperature and can survive up to room temperature. This competition between the chiral anomaly and WAL can be understood in terms of Berry phase, accompanying with the low carrier density in Cd 3 As 2 nanoplates. Our work would offer a better understanding of magnetotransport properties governed by Berry phase and the nature of electronic states in topological semimetals. In this work, we systematically investigated the magnetotransport properties of high-quality Cd 3 As 2 nanoplates with low carrier densities. In configuration of the parallel electromagnetic fields, we observed a large positive longitudinal magnetoconductivity (LMR) induced by WAL in zero-magnetic field limits that overwhelms nLMR induced by chiral anomaly at low temperature regions. With the increase of temperatures, the WAL is suppressed and finally vanishes at a critical temperature T c. In contrast, the chiral anomaly can survive in the high temperature regions. Furthermore, the LMR exhibiting a strong competition between chiral anomaly and WAL that can be well fitted by a semiclassically parallel conductivity formula. By careful analysis, this high temperature competition is related to the low carrier density in our Cd 3 As 2 nanoplates. [Display omitted] • In the presence of parallel electromagnetic fields, a large WAL due to the quantum interference overwhelms the chiral anomaly in zero fields limit at low temperatures. • The WAL decreases gradually with increasing the temperature and finally vanishes at T c. • In contrast, the chiral anomaly is robust against temperature and dominates the magnetotransport at high temperatures. • Both chiral anomaly and WAL can be well understood by the picture of Berry phase. • Our finding provides a better understanding of the impact of Berry phase on magnetotransport as well as the electronic structure of topological semimetals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Rapid crystallization of Zr-Beta with high Zr content possible with MCLA protocol. • Zr-Beta formed with high crystallinity and hydrophobicity. • High Zr loadings useful in MPV reduction of sterically hindered ketones and diones. • MCLA-synthesized Zr-Beta is less susceptible to poisoning by water adsorption. Heteroatom-incorporated zeolite catalysts are critical for biomass utilization and feedstock valorization in green chemistry. Key features are adjustable acidity, high stability, and a tailored range of functionalities. However, an environmentally benign synthesis of zeolites with good crystallinity and especially with high levels of metal substitution into the lattice remains challenging. Here, we propose a mechanochemistry-based liquid-assisted method (MCLA) for Zr-incorporated Beta zeolites that is high yielding, facile and sustainable. Compared with the fluoride-mediated hydrothermal method, crystallization times were considerably shortened so that Si-Beta and Zr-Beta (Si/Zr 100) zeolites can be synthesized within 9 and 15 h, respectively. Using the MCLA route, Beta zeolites with Zr loading up to 10.4 wt% (Si/Zr 12.5) were obtained. The materials have excellent catalytic activity for Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reductions with much higher water tolerance compared to Zr-Beta prepared by the post-synthesis method. The hydrophobic nature of the MCLA-synthesized zeolites makes them particularly useful as catalysts for organic reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Mg incorporated into zeolite Beta framework by two-step postsynthesis procedure. • Rh3+/[MgO 4 ]2- electrostatic interactions stabilize single Rh atoms. • Catalytic efficiency of Rh/Mg-Beta due to low atomic coordination and basicity. • High selectivity in phenol hydrogenation to cyclohexanone at mild conditions. Nanoparticles are of interest in heterogeneous catalysis because of their excellent activity associated with atoms in a low coordination environment. However, their high reactivity becomes a drawback where selectivity is desired, compounded by their propensity towards agglomeration. Here, we show that stable subnanometric Rh particles can be prepared in a Mg-doped zeolite Beta based on the electrostatic interaction of the negatively charged zeolitic framework and the Rh3+ precursor. The Mg ions are incorporated into the zeolite framework whereas the Rh is located in the channels adjacent to the Mg. With only 0.27 and 0.5 wt% Mg and Rh, respectively, the Rh/Mg-Beta catalysts were highly active with > 94 % selectivity for the hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone, an important intermediate for the production of Nylon. Key to the selectivity is the formation of the C=O double bond early in the reaction sequence, aided by the basicity of the Mg-Beta support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Zr-HY is an excellent catalyst for the cascade reaction. • Hydrophobicity and cosolvents significantly accelerate the title reaction. • Ratio of open:closed Zr sites higher in Zr-HY than Zr-Beta. • IR of sorbed 2-pentanol probes hydrophobic/hydrophilic environment. Trans -anethole is an important ingredient in many flavors, fragrances and pharmaceutical formulations. Heterogeneous catalysis provides the opportunity for its green synthesis from 4′-methoxypropiophenone via a cascade of Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction followed by dehydration. Zr-containing zeolites were especially active catalysts. Surprisingly, Zr-HY was more active than Zr-Beta or mesoporous Zr-MSU. The effect of pore size, hydrophobicity and co-solvent has been investigated. Pyridine poisoning revealed that weak Lewis acid sites can catalyze the MPV reduction but stronger acid sites are required for the dehydration. The hydrophobicity and the ratio of open/closed Zr sites were higher for Zr-HY than Zr-Beta. Adding a moderately polar co-solvent like p -xylene more than doubled the reaction rate compared to only 2-pentanol as solvent. For an efficient cascade reaction, a hydrophobic catalyst with large micropores is required which combines hydrogen transfer and dehydration activities, together with an inert co-solvent that balances the concentration of both substrates inside the zeolite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A highly efficient Cu/SiO 2 catalyst for non-oxidative dehydrogenation of ethanol. • Catalyst preparation by ammonia evaporation with optimum loading lends robustness. • High yields of acetaldehyde and hydrogen using 4.37% ethanol/Heat GHSV 8895 h−1. • Long catalyst lifetimewith minimal sintering and coking. While acetaldehyde is industrially produced in the Wacker process by homogeneous catalysts, a heterogeneous catalyst is so far elusive due to rapid deactivation stemming from metal sintering and coke formation. This work reports on a highly efficient, robust and stable Cu/SiO 2 catalyst for the non-oxidative dehydrogenation of ethanol prepared by the ammonia evaporation method. The highly dispersed Cu-particles are distinguished by outstanding thermal stability with very little sintering up to 600 °C. This was attributed to the strong interactions between the copper crystallites and SiO 2 arising from the intermediately formed copper phyllosilicate phase. Deactivation due to coke formation was successfully addressed by optimizing the metal loading. The CH x /Cu ratio in the used catalyst decreased by a factor of 10 as the copper loading was increased from 0.5 to 10 wt%. Samples with Cu ≥ 10 wt% demonstrated excellent activity of > 90% ethanol conversion and > 98% acetaldehyde selectivity with no observable deactivation for up to 500 h on-stream at 280 °C and a GHSV of 8895 h−1 (34,930 ml g-1h−1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• One-pot cascade transformation of furfural to γ-valerolactone in open system. • Zr-HY is an excellent MPV catalyst for reduction of furfural and levulinate ester. • Variable combination of Lewis and Brønsted acidic sites in mixture of Zr-HY and Al-HY zeolites. • High yields of γ-valerolactone within short reaction times. A highly efficient catalyst system was developed for the one-pot transformation of furfural to γ -valerolactone (GVL) in an open system. The cascade of two Meerwein Ponndorf Verley (MPV) reductions, ring-opening and esterification reactions was catalyzed by a physical mixture of Zr- and Al-HY zeolites where the proportion and strength of Lewis and Brønsted acid sites could be independently optimized. The excellent activity of Zr-HY zeolites for the MPV reduction of furfural and levulinate ester with 2-pentanol as hydrogen donor was attributed to the larger pore size of HY-zeolites and stronger Lewis acidic sites compared to Zr-Beta. Al-HY zeolites were more effective as Brønsted acid than Al-Beta because they converted furfuryl ether to levulinate ester rather than to β -angelica lactone. The dual catalytic system comprising Zr-HY (Si/Zr 20) and Al-HY (Si/Al 6) exhibited remarkably high catalytic activity with GVL yields of 85% after only 5 h at 120 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A silica-supported rhodium catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone under mild conditions has been developed. As the Rh concentration on the catalyst increased from 0.5 to 15 wt%, the conversion (at phenol/Rh mole ratio 100/1) dropped whereas the initial selectivity to cyclohexanone increased. The direct hydrogenation to cyclohexanol occurred in parallel with partial hydrogenation to cyclohexanone. The negative correlation between selectivity and Rh dispersion suggests that direct hydrogenation occurs at low coordination sites whereas dissociation of phenol to phenoxy followed by hydrogenation to cyclohexanone takes place at higher coordinated terrace sites. DFT calculations revealed that the activation barrier for O–H bond cleavage is lower for phenol adsorbed on a Rh(1 1 1) flat surface than on small particles. By blocking the low coordination edge and step sites through grafting with (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane, the cyclohexanone selectivity was improved from 82 to 93% at 100% conversion. The catalyst is active at room temperature and 1 atm H 2 pressure and can be easily activated by in-situ reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depuration is a vital stage to ensure the safety of oyster consumption, and salinity had a great impact on the environmental adaptability of oysters, but the underlying molecular mechanism was poorly understood during depuration stage. Here, Crassostrea gigas was depurated for 72 h at different salinity (26, 29, 32, 35, 38 g/L, corresponding to ±20%, ±10% salinity fluctuation away from oyster's production area) and then analyzed by using transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome combined with bioinformatics techniques. The transcriptome showed that the salinity stress led to 3185 differentially expressed genes and mainly enriched in amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, etc. A total of 464 differentially expressed proteins were screened by the proteome, and the number of up-regulated expression proteins was less than the down-regulated, indicating that the salinity stress would affect the regulation of metabolism and immunity in oysters. 248 metabolites significantly changed in response to depuration salinity stress in oysters, including phosphate organic acids and their derivatives, lipids, etc. The results of integrated omics analysis indicated that the depuration salinity stress induced abnormal metabolism of the citrate cycle (TCA cycle), lipid metabolism, glycolysis, nucleotide metabolism, ribosome, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transport pathway, etc. By contrast with Pro-depuration, more radical responses were observed in the S38 group. Based on the results, we suggested that the 10% salinity fluctuation was suitable for oyster depuration and the combination of multi-omics analysis could provide a new perspective for the analysis of the mechanism changes. • Multi-omics was applied to study depuration salinity effect on C. gigas. • 248 metabolites, 464 proteins, and 3185 genes were significantly altered. • More radical responses were observed in the S38 group. • 10% salinity fluctuation was suitable for oyster depuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reaction pressure in the photocatalytic conversion of CO 2 into fuels is optimized between 0 and 0.80 MPa under CO 2 and moisture. The higher reactivity of water than H 2 was observed at higher pressure and the reason was clarified using several ∼10-μm-thick semiconductor-based photocatalysts. The best Pd/TiO 2 photocatalyst produces methane with a reaction order of 0.39. The sum of independent total formation rates of C-containing compounds under UV and visible light does not account for that under UV–visible light, demonstrating synergetic reaction mechanism on Pd for CO 2 reduction by excited electrons via surface plasmon resonance and on TiO 2 for water oxidation. Active metallic Pd and O vacancy sites due to O 2 formation from H 2 O are confirmed by in situ monitoring of EXAFS [ N (Pd–Pd) = 5.9–6.2; N (Ti–O) = 5.2–3.5] and the decrease of the H-bound and bi/tri-coordinated OH peaks in FTIR. Effective redox-site separation explains the higher reactivity of water than H 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic conversion of CO 2 into fuels could mitigate global warming and energy shortage simultaneously. In this study, the reaction pressure was optimized for CO 2 reduction by H 2 . The major products were methane, CO, and methanol, and the observed catalytic activity order was Cu or Pd on TiO 2 ≫ Ag/ZrO 2 ∼ g-C 3 N 4 > Ag/Zn 3 Ga-layered double hydroxide ∼ BiOCl. Hot/excited electrons due to surface plasmon resonance could be transferred to CO 2 -derived species and the remaining positive charge could combine with excited electrons in the semiconductor. As the levels of hot/excited electrons became more negative, the catalysts became more active, except for Ag/ZrO 2 and Ag/Zn 3 Ga-LDH, probably due to lower charge separation efficiency for intrinsic semiconductors or hydroxides. The reaction order was controlled by the partial pressure of H 2 , demonstrating preferable adsorption of H on Pd. The photoconversion of CO 2 into methane was optimum at P H2 = 0.28 MPa and P CO2 = 0.12 MPa, but the rates gradually dropped at higher partial pressures due to adsorption of CO 2 being hindered by H. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider the Boussinesq-type equation associated with logarithmic nonlinear term and initial boundary value conditions. By using potential well method combined with the logarithmic Sobolev inequality, we obtain the existence of global solution. At last we show that the L 2 -norm of the solution will grow up as an exponential function as time goes to infinity under some suitable conditions for initial data. The result shows that the polynomial nonlinearity is a critical condition of blow-up in finite time for the solutions of Boussinesq equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider the Cauchy problem of two-dimensional generalized Boussinesq-type equation u t t − Δ u − Δ u t t + Δ 2 u + Δ f ( u ) = 0 . Under the assumption that f ( u ) is a function with exponential growth at infinity and under some assumptions on the initial data, we prove the existence and nonexistence of global weak solution. There are very few works on Boussinesq equation with nonlinear exponential growth term by potential well theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Using a single cylindrical vector mode to generate OAM mode is proposed. • The generated OAM mode can be switched among − l , 0, l. • HE 21 odd/even , HE 31 odd , EH 11 even mode are used for the first time to generate OAM mode. We deduce theoretically that arbitrary l th order cylindrical vector (CV) mode in few-mode fiber can be seen as linear combination of a left-handed and a right-handed circularly polarized orbital angular momentum (CP-OAM) modes with the opposite l , where l is the topological charge (l ≥ 1). And these two CP-OAM modes can be stimulated by a combination of a quarter-wave plate (QWP) and a polarizer with an angle ±π/4. Thus, using a single CV mode, the orbital angular momentum of light can be switched among – l , 0, l. As an example, the generations of σ+OAM ± l and σ−OAM ± l (l = 1, 2) beams are demonstrated and verified by theoretical simulation and experiment. Compared to the conventional combination of eigenmodes pairs to generate OAM beams, this approach not only provides an increased stability, but also builds a bridge between polarization singularities mode and phase singularities mode, due to using a single CV mode as the light source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most previous visible–infrared person re-identification methods emphasized learning modality-shared features to narrow the modality differences, while neglecting the benefits of modality-specific features for feature embedding and narrowing the modality gap. To tackle this issue, our paper designs a method based on dual attention enhancement features to use shallow and deep features simultaneously. We first convert visible images into gray images to alleviate the visual difference. Then, to close the difference between modalities by learning the modality-specific features, we design a shallow feature measurement module, in which we use a class-specific maximum mean discrepancy loss to measure the distribution difference of specific features between two modalities. Finally, we design a dual attention feature enhancement module, which aims to mine more useful context information from modality-shared features to shorter the distance between classes within modalities. Specifically, our model exceeds the current SOTAs on SYSU-MM01, with 66.61% Rank-1 accuracy and 62.86% mAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SH2 domain-containing phosphatase 2 (SHP2) is a widely expressed protein tyrosine phosphatase, and it is proposed to act as an oncogenic protein. SHP2 is also engaged in drug resistance of a variety of cancers. However, the role of SHP2 in the proliferation and drug resistance of colon cancer cells remains elusive. In this work we determined the effect of SHP2 expression on colon cancer cell proliferation and resistance to oxaliplatin (L-OHP), a commonly used drug in the clinic. Our results show that knockdown of SHP2 decreased and overexpression of SHP2 increased the proliferation of SW480 cells, respectively. Knockdown of SHP2 increased, and overexpression of SHP2 decreased apoptosis of the cells. We selected oxaliplatin-resistant SW480(SW480/L-OHP) and HCT116(HCT116/L-OHP) cells and found that the SHP2 protein level was raised in these drug-resistant cells. The upregulated SHP2 contributed to oxaliplatin resistance of the cells, as knockdown of SHP2 decreased the IC 50 of oxaliplatin and abated proliferation and survival of SW480/L-OHP and HCT116/L-OHP cells in the presence of oxaliplatin. Also, SW480/L-OHP and HCT116/L-OHP cells had increased phosphorylation of AKT and ERK. Inhibition of AKT, ERK, or SHP2 sensitized SW480/L-OHP and HCT116/L-OHP cells to oxaliplatin. Our results indicate that SHP2 contributes oxaliplatin resistance through AKT and ERK. These results also suggest that SHP2-targeting is a potential strategy for overcoming oxaliplatin resistance of colon cancer cells. • SHP2 promote cell proliferation and inhibit cell apoptosis in colon cancer cells. • SHP2 is upregulated in oxaliplatin-resistant colon cancer cells. • SHP2 promote oxaliplatin resistance in colon cancer cells through activating AKT and ERK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nanopore regulation strategy can improve the sodium storage capacity of hard carbon. • The relationship between nanopore and sodium storage capability was investigated. • Micropores hardly accommodate Na+ ions and hinder Na+ ion diffusion. • Mesopores facilitate Na+ ion intercalation and shorten the ion diffusion pathway. Hard carbon is regarded as one of the most promising anode material for sodium-ion batteries in virtue of the low cost and stable framework. However, the correlation between pore structures of hard carbon and sodium-ion storage is still ambiguous. In this work, based on precise control of pore-size distribution, the capacity, ion diffusion, and initial Coulombic efficiency were improved. Meanwhile, the relationship between pore structure and capacity was investigated. Our result indicates that the micropores hinder ion diffusion and hardly ever accommodate Na+ ions, while mesopores facilitate Na+ ion intercalation. Hard carbon with negligible micropores and abundant mesopores delivers a maximum capacity of 283.7 mAh g−1 at 20 mA g−1, which is 83% higher than that of micropore-rich one. Even after 320 cycles at 200 mA g−1, the capacity still remains 189.4 mAh g−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To compare the effects of levonorgestrel-intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) with or without oral megestrol acetate (MA) versus MA alone on fertility-preserving treatment in patients with atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH). This was a single-center phase II study with an open-label, randomized, controlled trial conducted between July 2017 and June 2020 at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China. A total of 180 patients (18–45 years) with primary AEH were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to the MA (N = 60), LNG-IUS (N = 60), or MA + LNG-IUS (N = 60) groups, in which the patients received MA (160 mg orally daily), LNG-IUS, or MA + LNG-IUS (MA 160 mg orally daily plus LNG-IUS), respectively. The primary endpoint was complete response (CR) rate at 16 weeks of treatment. The secondary endpoints were CR rate at 32 weeks of treatment, adverse events, and recurrence and pregnancy rates. All analyses were conducted in a modified intention to treat (ITT) population who underwent randomization and in whom treatment was initiated. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of 16-week CR rates (with 95% confidence interval) were 19.2% (9.0–29.4%) in the MA group, 35.0% (22.8–47.2%) in the LNG-IUS group, and 29.4% (17.2–41.6%) in the MA + LNG-IUS groups. Side effects such as weight gain, increased nocturnal urine, night sweat, insomnia and edema face seemed to occur less frequently in LNG-IUS group compared with MA group. No difference was found among groups regarding second endpoints. LNG-IUS or LNG-IUS plus MA did not show significant therapeutic benefit compared with MA alone. Further studies including sufficient sample-size are needed to validate these findings due to the underpowered design of this trial. This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No 2019YFC1005200 and 2019YFC1005204), Shanghai Medical Centre of Key Programs for Female Reproductive Diseases (Grant No. 2017ZZ010616), Shanghai sailing program (Grant No. 19YF1404200), and Shen Kang clinical project (SHDC22021219). Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03241888. https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03241888?term=NCT03241888&draw=2&rank=1 • In AEH patients, LNG-IUS or LNG-IUS plus MA might not show significant therapeutic benefit compared with MA alone. • Use of LNG-IUS alone might be associated with less adverse events than MA alone. • LNG-IUS combined with MA might have more side effects compared with MA alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimized fertilization is an effective strategy for improving nitrogen (N) use efficiency and maintaining high crop yield, but its long-term impacts on soil organic carbon (C) and inorganic N dynamics remain unclear. The objectives of this study were to 1) explore the economic optimum N rate and evaluate the DSSAT CERES-Maize model using the measurements from three 3-year maize (Zea mays L.) field experiments, in Gongzhuling and Yushu County, Northeast China, and 2) assess the long-term impacts of farmers' N rate (N250), optimum N rate (N180) and organic-inorganic combined N rate (MN180) on maize yields, soil N and C changes from 1985 to 2020. Results showed that similar maize yields of 8000–11,000 kg ha−1 were achieved under the average economic optimum N rate of 170 kg N ha−1 relative to N250 in both counties. Good agreements were observed between the simulated and measured maize yield, above-ground biomass, N uptake and soil nitrate (NO 3 −-N). Long-term simulation confirmed that N180 and MN180 can achieve the same yield as N250 in both counties. The lowest annual soil inorganic N balance, NO 3 −-N leaching, and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and ammonia (NH 3) emissions were achieved under MN180, followed by N180 in both sites. Higher NO 3 −-N leaching was found in sandy clay loam soil than silt clay loam and clay loam soils. Average soil organic C (SOC, 0–0.2 m) increased from 1.3 to 2.4% in Gongzhuling and from 2.2 to 2.4% in Yushu under MN180 during the 35-year period, but it showed declining trends under N180 and N250. We concluded that the economic optimum N rate could be an option to replace current farmers' N rate for the continuous maize. Substitution of inorganic fertilizer by 20–30% manure under the optimum N rate showed advantage on maintaining high yield, reducing soil inorganic N losses as well as increasing SOC stock for sustainable agriculture. • Economic optimum N rate saved 23–76 kg N ha−1 compared with the maximum N rate. • DSSAT well simulated maize growth and soil N dynamics under multiple sites. • Soil N balance and SOC were simulated under long-term fertilization scenarios. • Substitution with 20–30% manure under optimum N rate maintained maize yields with high SOC and low N losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The generated lattice strain induces the charge redistribution at the interface between BP and NiO, which leads to the improved electron transfer efficiency and favorable H* adsorption kinetics for photocatalytic H 2 evolution reaction. [Display omitted] • A novel multilayered heterostructure coupling BP nanosheets and NiO nanosheets with abundant interface P-Ni and P O bonds is prepared. • Due to the lattice mismatch between BP and NiO, the strain effect was introduced. • BP-NiO heterostructure with strain effect exhibits much enhanced photocatalytic H 2 evolution activity in the presence of Eosin Y. • The lattice strain induces the charge redistribution at the interface between BP and NiO, leading to the improved electron transfer efficiency and favorable H* adsorption kinetics. As an emerging post-graphene two-dimensional material, black phosphorus (BP) has attracted enormous interest as a promising cocatalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen (H 2) evolution, however, the activity of either pristine bulk or BP nanosheets is far from satisfactory. Herein, we present an effective strategy to greatly boost the H 2 evolution performance of BP via applying the synergistic effect of heterojunction and interfacial lattice strain. A multilayered heterostructure coupling BP nanosheets and nickel oxide (NiO) nanosheets with abundant interface P-Ni and P O bonds is synthesized and utilized as a proof-of-concept material for our design. Both the experimental and theoretical results have revealed that the strain is formed in BP-NiO multilayered heterostructure. The generated lattice strain induces the charge redistribution at the interface between BP and NiO, which leads to the improved electron transfer efficiency and favorable H* adsorption kinetics for photocatalytic H 2 evolution reaction. As a result, the BP-NiO heterostructure with strain effect exhibits much enhanced photocatalytic H 2 evolution activity in the presence of Eosin Y (EY) as photosensitizer, exceeding that of zero-strained BP/NiO heterostructure and many other reported noble-metal-free cocatalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Co–TCPP was covalently anchored on TiO 2 surface. • Co–TCPP–TiO 2 photoproduced 13CO at a rate of 17 μmol h−1 g cat −1 from 13CO 2 and H 2. • 13CO formation rate using Co–TCPP–TiO 2 decreased to 12 % after 9 h of photoreaction. • Deactivated Co–TCPP–TiO 2 was reactivated under ethanol and UV–visible light. • Reactivated Co–TCPP–TiO 2 photoproducted 13CO at a rate of 63 μmol h−1 g cat −1. Porphyrin and its derivatives have been often used for electrochemical and photocatalysis combined with first-row transition metals for sustainable applications. Cobalt–tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (Co–TCPP) was covalently anchored onto TiO 2. Under CO 2 , H 2 , and UV–visible light irradiation, Co–TCPP anchored on TiO 2 produced CO at a rate of 2.5 μmol h−1 (using 100 mg of catalyst and UV–visible light of 118 mW cm−2) when the Co–TCPP content was 2.5 wt %; however, the CO formation rate dropped to 0.3 μmol h−1 (using 100 mg of catalyst and the same intensity of light). The photoactivity drop to 12 % was solved by removing the hydroxy ligands coordinated to the central Co ions through ethanol treatment for 5 min of the Co–TCPP–TiO 2 photocatalysts. This resulted in an increased CO photoformation rate to 7.3 μmol h−1 (using 100 mg of catalyst and the same intensity of light) because the dispersion of the J- and/or H-aggregates to the isolated Co–TCPP unit proceeded more with ethanol treatment and under UV–visible light. Conversely, to use ethanol as reductant was not effective because it reduced and deactivated Co–TCPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A Co 3 O 4 -Bi 2 O 3 -Ti catalytic membrane was facilely fabricated. • The membrane efficiently activated PMS to degrade organic pollutants continuously. • Reactive oxidative species and non-radical electron transfer were involved. • The catalytic membrane showed excellent reusability. In this study, a functionalized Co 3 O 4 -Bi 2 O 3 -Ti catalytic membrane (CBO-Ti-M) was prepared and applied for removing organic pollutants via activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) in the dead-end filtration mode. Characterizations including scanning electron microcopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the Co 3 O 4 -Bi 2 O 3 catalyst was successfully supported on the Ti membrane. The CBO-Ti-M /PMS system could efficiently remove various organic pollutants such as sulfamethoxazole, methyl orange, bisphenol A and methylene blue, achieving removal efficiencies of 98.0%-99.5%. The effects of PMS concentration, flow rate and solution environment on degradation efficiency were investigated in detail. Furthermore, quenching experiments, electron spin resonance (ESR) and in-situ open circuit potential (OCP) tests collectively demonstrated that singlet oxygen as well as the non-radical electron transfer pathway mainly contributed in the reaction mechanism. The synergistic effect of Co and Bi was illustrated according to XPS results, and the possible degradation pathway of MB was proposed based on LC-MS analysis. Reusability test showed that pollutant removal efficiency with the CBO-Ti-M /PMS system remained stable in four runs and limited metal leaching was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The molecular interactions and mechanisms between four ethyl esters (ethyl acetate, ethyl butyrate, ethyl hexanoate, and ethyl octanoate) and myofibrillar proteins (MPs) were investigated. The gas chromatography and mass spectrometry results showed that binding capability was significantly enhanced as MP concentrations increased (p < 0.05). The four esters bound to MPs (6 mg/mL) with: ethyl octanoate > ethyl hexanoate > ethyl butanoate > ethyl acetate (p < 0.05), according to their binding capabilities. Moreover, hydrogen bonding was the dominant reversible physicochemical force between the MPs and ethyl esters. In addition, ethyl octanoate was the best MP fluorescence quenchera, and the static quenching performed a more predominant role in the fluorescence quenching process. Furthermore, the MPs' α-helix content gradually decreased as the concentration of ethyl octanoate was increased. Finally, the molecular docking and dynamic simulation verified that hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces were the primary driving forces in the myosin-ethyl octanoate complex. This study sheds light on the interactions between proteins and ester compounds facilitating flavor regulation in protein-rich foods. • Myofibrillar protein (MP) concentrations affected MPs-ester binding capabilities. • Ester characteristics affected MPs-ester binding capabilities. • MPs-ethyl octanoate binding resulted in static fluorescence quenching. • Conformation of MPs was changed by interactions with ethyl octanoate. • Hydrogen bonding and Van der Waals forces were the main reversible interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C-type lectins (CTLs) function as pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) by recognizing invading microorganisms, thereby triggering downstream immune events against infected pathogens. In this study, a novel CTL containing a low-density lipoprotein receptor class A (LDLa) domain was obtained from Litopenaeus vannamei , designed as LvLDLalec. Stimulation by the bacterial pathogen Vibrio anguillarum (V. anguillarum) resulted in remarkable up-regulation of LvLDLalec, as well as release of LvLDLalec into hemolymph. The rLvLDLalec protein possessed broad-spectrum bacterial binding and agglutinating activities, as well as hemocyte attachment ability. Importantly, LvLDLalec facilitated the bacterial clearance in shrimp hemolymph and protected shrimp from bacterial infection. Further studies revealed that LvLDLalec promoted hemocytes phagocytosis against V. anguillarum and lysosomes were involved in the process. Meanwhile, LvLDLalec participated in humoral immunity through activating and inducing nuclear translocation of Dorsal to regulate phagocytosis-related genes and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) genes, thereby accelerated the removal of invading pathogens in vivo and improved the survival rate of L. vannamei. These results unveil that LvLDLalec serves as a PRR participate in cellular and humoral immunity exerting opsonin activity to play vital roles in the immune regulatory system of L. vannamei. • LvLDLalec is activated by V. anguillarum and promotes bacterial clearance. • LvLDLalec binds to the surface of hemocytes to promote phagocytosis and lysis of ingested V. anguillarum in phagosomes. • LvLDLalec regulates the expression of immune-related genes by promoting the nuclear translocation of Dorsal. • LvLDLalec protectes shrimp from infection from V. anguillarum to improve the survival rate of L. vannamei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been verified as a really common cancer worldwide. Several studies have suggested that the suppression of malignancy growth can be traced to miR-199a-5p. Even though CDC25A could activate the tumorigenesis of various cancer by modulating cell cycle, the modulation of the miR-199a-5p/CDC25A axis is still not clear in HCC. Our aim is to identify the modulation of the miR-199a-5p/CDC25A axis in HCC. The expression of CDC25A and miR-199a-5p in HCC cells and tissues was assessed using qRT-PCR. After using western blot assay to confirm the protein level, luciferase reporter and RNA pull-down assays were performed to explore the relation between CDC25A and miR-199a-5p. Functional assays such as CCK8 assay, BrdU proliferation assay and flow cytometry analysis identified the cell progression. Experimental findings indicated the downregulation of miR-199a-5p in HCC samples. It was also found that miR-199a-5p overexpression declined the development of the cells with HCC and that it could bind to CDC25A to suppress the progression of HCC. Research suggested that miR-199a-5p could restrain the proliferation ability of HCC cells by regulating CDC25A, thus inducing cell-cycle arrest. • CDC25A and miR-199a-5p were potential key regulators in hepatocellular carcinoma. • Overexpressing miR-199a-5p inhibited hepatocellular carcinoma cell progression. • MiR-199a-5p could bind to CDC25A in hepatocellular carcinoma. • MiR-199a-5p/CDC25A axis modulated the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Ultrafine Pt-based intermetallic catalyst synthesized by in situ LRM strategy. • The electron-rich and isolated features of Pt sites in the Pt-based catalyst. • A superior catalytic performance for anti-Markovnikov alkene hydrosilylation. Regulating electronic structure of active centres to improve the performance of catalysts has always been a notable research topic, in which many challenges still need to be solved urgently. Herein, we report a PtFe 3 intermetallic catalyst anchored on N-doped carbon spheres (PtFe 3 /CN) with electron-rich isolated Pt active sites. The electron-rich nature of isolated Pt sites is attributed to the coordination of low electronegativity iron atoms. The PtFe 3 /CN catalyst showed a catalytic performance for the hydrosilylation of alkene superior to traditional single-atom Pt catalyst (coordinate with N etc. atoms) loading on N-doped graphene carbon (Pt1/CN) with electron-deficient isolated Pt sites and Pt nanoparticles supported N-doped carbon spheres (Pt NPs/CN) catalysts with the contiguous Pt sites. More importantly, turnover number (TON) of alkene hydrosilylation can reach a striking ca. 740,000 and no Pt leaching was detected. The opinion has been substantiated by both experimental and theoretical results that the PtFe 3 /CN catalyst can completely catalyze conversion of alkene and exhibit a high selectivity for anti-Markovnikov addition under environmentally friendly and mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, comprehensive lipid composition in the muscle tissue of four popularly consumed shrimp species was determined using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-triple time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC−Triple TOF−MS/MS). About 600 molecules from 14 types of lipids were characterized and quantified. Phospholipids (PLs) were the main component in all four shrimp species (51.4–71.0% of total lipids). Phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) were the major PL subclasses (49.3–53.2% and 42.3–48.4% of total PLs). Triacylglycerol (TAG) and diacylglycerol (DAG) contents were relatively low (8.6–32.5% and 11.5–14.1% of total lipids). Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4n-6) were dominant in free fatty acids (76.5–85.2%) and PL. Sphingolipid (SL) was detected in low content (<5% of total lipids). Using high throughput analytical method, detailed lipid composition in shrimp muscle were obtained, which could help to assess shrimp nutrition value and identify their species. • A UPLC-Triple TOF-MS/MS method was used to analyze the lipid composition of shrimp. • About 600 lipid compounds from 14 classes were identified. • Phospholipids were the main lipid in all 4 shrimp species. • Alkenyl-phospholipids and alkyl-phospholipids were detected and compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a fatal disease; most patients are asymptomatic before the disease enters the advanced stage, but molecular mechanisms of early PC that can be exploited for diagnosis are not clear. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play key roles in the progression of PC. In this study, we found that the expression of the lncRNA EPIC1 (Lnc-EPIC1) is high in PC and closely related to tumor size, TNM staging and lymph node metastasis status. Silencing Lnc-EPIC1 by siRNA targeting could significantly inhibit the cell growth and colony formation ability of PC cells and induced G1/S cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in PC cells. Lnc-EPIC1-specific siRNAs could downregulate the expression of cyclins and CDKs, such as CDC20, CDK4 and Cyclin A1. Knocking out YAP1 with the CRISPR/Cas-9 gene editing method recapitulated the effects of the Lnc-EPIC1-specific siRNAs on cell growth, colony formation ability and apoptosis in PC cells. In addition, the Lnc-EPIC1-specific siRNAs did not further inhibit cell growth or promote apoptosis in YAP1-knockout (YAP1-KO) cells. RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) results showed that there was a direct interaction between Lnc-EPIC1 and YAP1. An Lnc-EPIC1-overexpressing lentiviral vector promoted the growth of PC cells. The results show that Lnc-EPIC1 interacts with YAP1 to promote the progression of PC. Image 1 • Lnc-EPIC1 and YAP1 is highly expressed in pancreatic cancer. • Lnc-EPIC1 may promote tumor progression by promoting cell growth and reducing apoptosis. • Lnc-EPIC1 regulates PC progression by targeting YAP1, which impacts the downstream molecules CDC20, CDK4 and Cyclin A1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sucrose and phytic acid as abundant biomass resources have been combined for the fabrication of highly porous carbons with surface areas up to 1897 m2/g through hydrothermal carbonization and phytic acid-induced in-situ activation in the absence of additional activation agents. The carbons were employed as efficient adsorbents for the adsorptive removal of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) from water and the adsorption of dibenzothiophene (DBT) from model fuels. Kinetic and isotherm studies were performed for both processes. The effect of pH and ionic strength on SMX adsorption as well as the effect of arene on DBT adsorption was also investigated. By comparing the two adsorption processes, it was found that heteroatom doping could promote DBT adsorption obviously, but its effect on SMX adsorption was less straightforward. This was mainly attributed to the divergent solution media and thus the different adsorption mechanisms between aqueous and non-aqueous adsorption processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most recent occluded person re-identification (re-ID) methods usually learn global features directly from pedestrian images, or use additional pose estimation and semantic analysis model to learn local features, while ignoring the relationship between global and local features, thus incorrectly retrieving different pedestrians with similar attributes as the same pedestrian. Moreover, learning local features using auxiliary models brings additional computational cost. In this work, we propose a Transformer-based dual-branch feature learning model for occluded person re-ID. Firstly, we propose a global–local feature interaction module to learn the relationship between global and local features, thus enhancing the richness of information in pedestrian features. Secondly, we randomly erase local areas in the input image to simulate the real occlusion situation, thereby improving the model's adaptability to the occlusion scene. Finally, a spilt group module is introduced to explore the local distinguishing features of pedestrian. Numerous experiments validate the effectiveness of our proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance P (SP) plays an important role in several types of cancer promotion and progression by binding to its preferential neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R). However, the clinical significance and downstream mechanism of NK1R in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) have not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of SP/NK1R in the proliferation of ESCC and to screen related downstream molecules. In the current investigation, the expression of NK1R was detected via immunohistochemistry (IHC), western blot (WB) analysis and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in ESCC tissues and cell lines. Thereafter, the optimal concentration of SP was determined in vitro. The proliferation ability of SP/NK1R was assessed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assays and subcutaneous tumour formation in nude mice with EC109 cells. Moreover, the related downstream molecules were screened by performing isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) protein spectrum analysis. NK1R was upregulated in ESCC, and its overexpression correlated with larger tumour size, deeper tumour invasion, more perineural invasion and eventually caused poorer overall survival (OS). Both intrinsic and SP-activated NK1R upregulation could promote the proliferation and clonogenic capacity of ESCC cells. In nude mice, tumour growth was suppressed by EC109 cells of NK1R downregulation. Further experiments demonstrated that Hairy and Enhancer of Split 1 (Hes1) was markedly reduced upon NK1R downregulation in EC109 cell lines and could regulate cell proliferation in the downstream of SP/NK1R. The significant role of NK1R in mediating ESCC cell proliferation depended on the activation of SP and might be related to the downstream regulation of Hes1. • NK1R was overexpressed in ESCC tissues and predicts advanced stage and poorer OS. • SP/NK1R promotes cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. • SP/NK1R mediating ESCC cell proliferation via the downstream regulation of Hes1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Caspase 3 is not only involved in apoptosis, but also participates in the nonapoptotic functions. Previously, we found that caspase 3 gene knockout mice displayed decreased number of dendritic cells (DCs). However, whether caspase 3 participate in the function of DCs is unclear. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the role of caspase 3 in the maturation and antitumor function of DCs. Methods Caspase 3 gene was overexpressed in DC2.4 cell line through Lentivirus system. The impact of caspase 3 gene overexpression on the biological behavior of DC2.4 cells was determined by CCK-8, colony formation and apoptosis analysis. The impact of caspase 3 gene overexpression on the antigen uptake, maturation, migration, T cell activation of DC2.4 cells was analyzed with phagocytosis, transwell and mixed lymphocyte reaction assay. Tumor growth and tumor infiltrated T cells were also investigated through tumor bearing model. Results Caspase 3 gene overexpression could slightly increase the apoptosis of DC2.4 cells. Antigen uptake capability and maturation of DC2.4 cells were significantly promoted through caspases 3 gene overexpression. However, CXCR4 expression on DC2.4 cells and migration of DC2.4 cells were not influenced. Caspase 3 gene overexpression also enhanced the T cell activation and cytotoxicity of activated T cells. Finally, overexpression of caspase 3 gene significantly increased the tumor suppression of DC2.4 cells, accompanied by increased infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ Cells in tumor tissue. Conclusion Caspase 3 gene overexpression could promote maturation and enhance antitumor capability of DC2.4 cells. Highlights • Caspase 3 overexpression only slightly influenced apoptosis of DC2.4 cells. • Antigen uptake, maturation and T cell activation of DC2.4 cells were enhanced. • Finally, antitumor immunity of DC2.4 cells were enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of comprehensive hysteroscopic evaluation and lesion resection combined with progestin therapy in young patients with endometrial atypical hyperplasia (EAH) and early stage endometrial cancer (EEC) who wished to preserve their fertility. Methods Patients with EAH (n = 120) or well-differentiated EEC (n = 40, FIGO stage IA, without myometrial invasion) were retrospectively included. All patients received constant oral progestin combined with hysteroscopic evaluation every 3 months until achieving complete response (CR). The location, number and size of each suspected lesion or cluster were detailly recorded during the hysteroscopy. Results The median age was 32.0 year-old (range, 22–47 year-old). Totally 148 patients (97.4%) achieved CR while 3 EAH and 1 EEC patients presented with disease progression, and 8 patients were still in treatment. The mean treatment duration for achieving CR was 6.7 ± 0.3 months (range, 1–18 months). After adjusting for patient age, body mass index (BMI), history of pregnancy and type of conservative therapies, lesion size ≤2 cm (OR, 0.701; 95% CI, 0.496–0.991; P = 0.045) was significantly correlated with shorter treatment time to achieve CR. Among 60 patients attempted to conceive after achieving CR, 45.0% (15/60) had been pregnant, 25.0% (15/60) delivered live birth, 13.3% (8/60) are still in pregnancy, while 6.7% experienced spontaneous abortion. Conclusion Comprehensive hysteroscopic evaluation and lesion resection plus progestin therapy seem to be an effective and safe fertility sparing therapy for patients with EAH or EEC. Endometrial lesion size ≤2 cm correlated with a shorter treatment period to achieve CR. Highlights • Mean treatment duration to achieve CR was 6.7 ± 0.3 months, using progestin therapy combined with hysteroscopic evaluation. • Endometrial lesion size ≤2 cm correlated with a shorter treatment period to achieve CR. • Comprehensive hysteroscopic evaluation seems to be effective for EAH and EEC patients who wish to preserve fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addition of different (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) (0, 100, 200, 500 or 1000 mg/L emulsion) on the interfacial composition and protein-lipid co-oxidation of whey protein isolate (WPI)-stabilised oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions were studied, and underlying mechanisms were also explored. The results indicated that the physical stability of emulsions gradually decreased with the increasing level of EGCG during storage, which clearly verified by decreasing ζ-potential absolute values and increasing droplet size. Moreover, the combination between WPI and EGCG by covalent/non-covalent binding for either adsorbed proteins (AP) or unadsorbed proteins (UAP) led to aggregation and conformational changes in WPI, which confirmed and characterised by electrophoresis, fluorescence quenching, and molecular docking simulation. Meanwhile, the concentration of AP slightly decreased as a function of EGCG level and storage time, however, the UAP showed the opposite change tendency, indicating that EGCG could effectively modulate the interfacial adsorption property of WPI in O/W emulsions. In addition, the incorporation of EGCG efficiently suppressed protein-lipid co-oxidation of O/W emulsions during storage, which was illustrated by hierarchical cluster and correlation analysis between protein and lipid oxidation products. Our results clearly revealed the viability of the EGCG to modulate the interfacial composition and retard the co-oxidation of O/W emulsions with enhanced storability. • Higher levels of EGCG decreased the physical stability of O/W emulsions. • EGCG can alter the structure and molecular mass of whey protein isolate (WPI). • EGCG can bind to WPI mainly via hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. • EGCG could modulate the interfacial adsorption properties of WPI in O/W emulsions. • Incorporation of EGCG suppressed the protein-lipid co-oxidation of O/W emulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food addiction (FA) is a distinguished clinical feature affecting about 5% adults of the general population in Canada. FA contributes to obesity, however, the underlying genes in FA are largely unknown. The aim of the current study was to search for FA candidate genes using an exome sequencing followed by a verification study using the most significantly associated identified genes. From a total of 752 adults, 24 subjects were selected including 8 obese with high and 8 obese with low/zero FA clinical symptom score (FAO, NFO), and 8 healthy controls with normal BMI and low/zero FA symptom score (Ctrl). Exome sequencing was completed in all three groups. The top 100 SNPs identified were categorized into 5 subgroups based on gene functions: addiction (Ad), psychological disorders, energy metabolism and obesity, and cancer, unknown function or with other diseases. In the verification study, the top 19 SNPs in the Addiction subgroup were genotyped in the entire 752 subjects using Sequenom iPLEX Gold genotyping technology. Comparison of NFO with Ctrl, and FAO with NFO, Ctrl and the combined group of NFO + Ctrl revealed 19 SNPs associated with Ad genes including, TIRAP, MMADHC, ERAP1, NTM, MYPN, GRID1, ITPR2, GPSM1, ZCCHC14, TNN, PPARD, CACNA1C, SIM1, and DRD2. Genetic association analysis was performed. The major allele A of rs2511521 located in DRD2 (OR = 3.1(95% CI 1.1-8.2)) and the minor allele T of rs625413 located in TIRAP (OR = 2.5(95% CI 1.1-5.8)) in NFO subjects significantly associated with increased risk of food addiction. Using a combination of exome sequencing method and a candidate gene association approach two new FA candidate genes are identified. Further study on the rest of the genes in the other four categories will be warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upon ER stress, IRE1α is activated to splice XBP1 mRNA to generate XBP1s, a transcription factor that induces the expression of genes to cope with the stress. Expression of IRE1α is elevated in cancers and the IRE1α-XBP1s axis plays an important role in proliferation of cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanism is not well known. We found that ER stressors induced the expression of IRE1α , which was inhibited by depletion of XBP1s. XBP1s bound IRE1α promoter and initiated the transcription of IRE1α. These data indicate that XBP1s acts as a transcription factor of IRE1α. Overexpression of XBP1s increased the phosphorylation of JNK, a substrate of IRE1α kinase, which was inhibited by IRE1α kinase inhibitor Kira8. Overexpression of XBP1s also activated the regulated IRE1-dependent decay of mRNAs, which was suppressed by IRE1α RNase inhibitor STF083010. Moreover, we found that expression of XBP1s promoted proliferation of colon cancer cells, which was abrogated by Kira8 and STF083010. The results suggest that XBP1s functions to induce IRE1α expression and promote cancer cell proliferation. Our findings reveal a previously unknown mechanism of IRE1α expression by XBP1s and highlight the role of this regulation in proliferation of colon cancer cells, suggesting that IRE1α-targeting is a potential therapeutic strategy for colon cancer. [Display omitted] • ER stress induces the expression of IRE1α through XBP1s. • XBP1s acts as a transcription factor of IRE1α. • XBP1s promotes cell proliferation through IRE1α. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered double hydroxides (LDH) are prepared by controlling urea assisted homogeneous precipitation conditions. Morphology and crystallinity of LDHs are confirmed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. After LDHs are incorporated into quaternized polysulfone membranes, transmission electron microscope is used to observe the exfoliated morphology of LDH sheets in the membranes. The properties of the nanocomposite membranes, including water uptake, swelling ratio, mechanical property and ionic conductivity are investigated. The nanocomposite membrane containing 5% LDH sheets shows more balanced performances, exhibiting an ionic conductivity of 2.36×10 −2 S cm −1 at 60 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many previous occluded person re-identification(re-ID) methods try to use additional clues (pose estimation or semantic parsing models) to focus on non-occluded regions. However, these methods extremely rely on the performance of additional clues and often capture pedestrian features by designing complex modules. In this work, we propose a simple Fine-Grained Multi-Feature Fusion Network (FGMFN) to extract discriminative features, which is a dual-branch structure consisting of global feature branch and partial feature branch. Firstly, we utilize a chunking strategy to extract multi-granularity features to make the pedestrian information contained in it more comprehensive. Secondly, a spatial transformer network is introduced to localize the pedestrian's upper body, and then introduce a relation-aware attention module to explore the fine-grained information. Finally, we fuse the features obtained from the two branches to obtain a more robust pedestrian representation. Extensive experiments verify the effectiveness of our method under the occlusion scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The image descriptors based on multi-features fusion have better performance than that based on simple feature in content-based image retrieval (CBIR). However, these methods still have some limitations: (1) the methods that define directly texture in color space put more emphasis on color than texture feature; (2) traditional descriptors based on histogram statistics disregard the spatial correlation between structure elements; (3) the descriptors based on structure element correlation (SEC) disregard the occurring probability of structure elements. To solve these problems, we propose a novel image descriptor, called Global Correlation Descriptor (GCD), to extract color and texture feature respectively so that these features have the same effect in CBIR. In addition, we propose Global Correlation Vector (GCV) and Directional Global Correlation Vector (DGCV) which can integrate the advantages of histogram statistics and SEC to characterize color and texture features respectively. Experimental results demonstrate that GCD is more robust and discriminative than other image descriptors in CBIR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining ecosystem services (ESs) and reducing ecosystem degradation are important goals for achieving sustainable development. However, under the influence of various anthropogenic factors, the total ecosystem service value (ESV) of China continues to decline, and the detailed processes involved in this decline are unclear. In this paper, a new long-term annual land cover dataset (the Climate Change Initiative Land Cover or CCI-LC dataset) with a spatial resolution of 300 m was employed to estimate the ESV of China, and Bayesian spatiotemporal hierarchy models were built to examine the detailed patterns and anthropogenic driving factors. From 1992 to 2018, the total ESV of China fluctuated and decreased from 3265.3 to 3253.29 billion US$ at an average rate of 0.55 billion US$ per year. Furthermore, the model revealed the spatiotemporal variations in the ESV pattern, and simultaneously detected the influences of 9 variables related to economic factors, population, infrastructure, energy, agriculture and ecological restoration, providing a convenient and effective method for ESV spatiotemporal analysis. The results enrich our understanding of the detailed spatiotemporal variation and anthropogenic driving factors underlying the declining ESV in China. These findings have substantial guiding implications for adjusting ecological regulation policies. • The annual ESVs of China from 1992 to 2018 was estimated. • China's total ESV showed a trend of decline and fluctuation. • The Bayesian spatiotemporal hierarchy model was constructed for ESV analysis. • The hot and cold provinces of ESV spatial distribution were identified. • The effects of 9 variables from anthropogenic driving factors on ESV were examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining ecosystem services (ESs) and reducing ecosystem degradation are important goals for achieving sustainable development. However, under the influence of various anthropogenic factors, the total ecosystem service value (ESV) of China continues to decline, and the detailed processes involved in this decline are unclear. In this paper, a new long-term annual land cover dataset (the Climate Change Initiative Land Cover or CCI-LC dataset) with a spatial resolution of 300 m was employed to estimate the ESV of China, and Bayesian spatiotemporal hierarchy models were built to examine the detailed patterns and anthropogenic driving factors. From 1992 to 2018, the total ESV of China fluctuated and decreased from 3265.3 to 3253.29 billion US$ at an average rate of 0.55 billion US$ per year. Furthermore, the model revealed the spatiotemporal variations in the ESV pattern, and simultaneously detected the influences of 9 variables related to economic factors, population, infrastructure, energy, agriculture and ecological restoration, providing a convenient and effective method for ESV spatiotemporal analysis. The results enrich our understanding of the detailed spatiotemporal variation and anthropogenic driving factors underlying the declining ESV in China. These findings have substantial guiding implications for adjusting ecological regulation policies. • The annual ESVs of China from 1992 to 2018 was estimated. • China's total ESV showed a trend of decline and fluctuation. • The Bayesian spatiotemporal hierarchy model was constructed for ESV analysis. • The hot and cold provinces of ESV spatial distribution were identified. • The effects of 9 variables from anthropogenic driving factors on ESV were examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional dry sausage is highly appreciated in China because of its unique quality characteristics, but it contains high salt content. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) comprising Lactobacillus sakei (LS), Lactobacillus curvatus (LC), Lactobacillus plantarum (LP), and Weissella hellenica (WH) on the quality attributes of the reduced-salt dry fermented sausages. The results indicated that the LP sausage showed higher (P < 0.05) shear force value compared to the other sausages, while the LP, LC, and WH sausages had higher (P < 0.05) lightness values than the control sausages. Seventy-six volatile compounds were detected, and nine compounds were identified as the key differential volatile compounds among the sausages based on partial least squares discriminant analysis. Clustering analysis of electronic nose results corresponded well to the volatile compound results. The sensory evaluation confirmed that the inoculation with LC and LP had a positive impact on the aroma, color, and hardness attributes of the reduced-salt sausages. Besides, partial least squares regression analysis further indicated that L. curvatus and L. plantarum could be used as the potential starter cultures to manufacture reduced-salt dry fermented sausage having improved texture, color, and flavor. [Display omitted] • The LP sausage shows higher shear force value compared to the other sausages. • The LP, LC, and WH sausages have higher lightness values than the control sausages. • Seventy-six volatile compounds are detected in dry fermented sausage. • Sensory attributes correlate with the key volatile compounds using PLSR analysis. • L. curvatus and L. plantarum can improve the quality of reduced-salt dry sausage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization in China has worsened the sustainable utilization of limited cultivated land resources, which seriously threatens food security and ecological security. To realize maximum benefits and minimize environmental pollution, the eco-efficiency of cultivated land utilization (ECLU) is becoming a vital indicator in weighing the rationality of regional land use. However, conceptualization of the ECLU remains lacking, while assessments of this indicator are still incomplete. This lack of information may inhibit planning guideline for the sustainable development of cultivated land resources. Thus, this study attempts to fill this gap by customizing a new conceptual index system for the ECLU and measuring it using the slack-based measure with undesirable output (SBM-Undesirable) model in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) during the period 2001–2018. Spatial econometric models were used to further analyze the influencing factors of the ECLU. The average ECLU value in the YREB declined from 2001 to 2004, and then rapidly trended upward in 2005–2018. The lower reaches had the highest efficiency, followed by the middle and upper reaches, with respective values of 0.494, 0.628, and 0.683. The spatial–temporal pattern of the ECLU reveals that the number of areas with low and medium-low efficiency decreased gradually, while the number of areas with medium-high and high efficiency increased continuously. The magnitude and direction of influencing factors indicates that socioeconomic development level, agricultural science and technology investments, carbon emission reducing, and agricultural pollution control could effectively improve the ECLU. These findings have important implications for promoting high-efficient, low-carbon utilization of cultivated land resources and sustainable regional development in China. [Display omitted] • A new conceptual index system for ECLU's measurement was customized. • The average ECLU value in the YREB declined from 2001 to 2004, and then rapidly trended upward in 2005–2018. • Spatial econometric models were adopted to investigate influencing factors of the ECLU. • Attentions should be paid to achieve highly efficient utilization of cultivated land and sustainable regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the optimization problems with k -th order stochastic dominance constraint on the objective function of the two-stage stochastic programs with full random quadratic recourse. By establishing the Lipschitz continuity of the feasible set mapping under some pseudo-metric, we show the Lipschitz continuity of the optimal value function and the upper semicontinuity of the optimal solution mapping of the problem. Furthermore, by the Hölder continuity of parameterized ambiguity set under the pseudo-metric, we demonstrate the quantitative stability results of the feasible set mapping, the optimal value function and the optimal solution mapping of the corresponding distributionally robust problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, small animal arterial port-catheter systems have been implemented in rodents with reasonable success. The aim of the current study is to employ the small animal port-catheter system to evaluate the safety of multiple hepatic-artery infusions (HAI) of low-density lipoprotein-docosahexaenoic acid (LDL-DHA) nanoparticles to the rat liver. Wistar rats underwent surgical placement of indwelling HAI ports. Repeated administrations of PBS or LDL-DHA nanoparticles were performed through the port at baseline and days 3 and 6. Rats were sacrificed on day 9 at which point blood and various organs were collected for histopathology and biochemical analyses. The port-catheter systems were implanted successfully and repeated infusions of PBS or LDL-DHA nanoparticles were tolerated well by all animals over the duration of the study. Measurements of serum liver/renal function tests, glucose and lipid levels did not differ between control and LDL-DHA treated rats. The liver histology was unremarkable in the LDL-DHA treated rats and the expression of hepatic inflammatory regulators (NF-κβ, IL-6 and CRP) were similar to control rats. Repeated infusions of LDL-DHA nanoparticles did not alter liver glutathione content or the lipid profile in the treated rats. The DHA extracted by the liver was preferentially metabolized to the anti-inflammatory DHA-derived mediator, protectin DX. Our findings indicate that repeated HAI of LDL-DHA nanoparticles is not only well tolerated and safe in the rat, but may also be protective to the liver. • Multiple hepatic artery infusions (HAI) of LDL-DHA was evaluated in the rat. • HAI of LDL-DHA nanoparticles does not induce hepatotoxicity. • The rat liver preferentially metabolized LDL transported DHA to protectin DX. • Repeated HAI of LDL-DHA nanoparticles is well tolerated and safe in the rat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a distributionally robust risk optimization (DRRO) problem where the information on the probability distribution of the underlying random variables is incomplete. But it is possible to use partial information to construct an ambiguity set of probability distributions. In some cases, decision vector x may have a direct impact on the likelihood of the underlying random events that occur after the decision is taken, which motivates us to propose an ambiguity set to be parametric and decision-dependent. To conduct quantitative stability analysis of the optimal value function and the optimal solution mapping of the DRRO problem, we derive error bounds results for the parametrized ambiguity set under the total variation metric and investigate Lipschitz continuity of the objective function of the DRRO problem under some conditions. As an application, we demonstrate that the two-stage stochastic linear semi-definite programs satisfy these conditions and then apply results obtained to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A self-made micro-electrolysis-circulatory system with the mixture regime of an upflow bed and reactor was tested for the pretreatment of industrial estate wastewater with a low ratio of biological to chemical oxygen demand (BOD 5 /COD) at room temperature, 1:1 vol ratio of sponge iron (SFe)/granular activated carbon (GAC), and an intermittent process in aeration and discharge. The system efficiency was evaluated in view of the effects of various processes (hydraulic retention time (HRT), fillers/wastewater ratio (S/L) and aeration). COD reduction of about 51% was obtained for industrial estate wastewater at an S/L ratio of 25%, refluence rate of 16 L/h, HRT of 24 h, and aeration of 60 L/h as the optimal conditions. The considerable change in the calculated BOD 5 /COD ratio, from 0.07 to 0.49, showed favorable application of the micro-electrolysis-circulatory system for the reductive and oxidative degradation of organic pollutants to enhance wastewater biodegradability. The reusability of the SFe was also investigated after three successive runs. On the basis of the results of Fe leaching, HRT, S/L ratio, scanning electron microscopy observation, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis, the corrosion products facilitated by the inherent porosity of SFe played a significant role due to different oxygen conditions in the surface and internal layers. One result from the removal of organic pollutants dominated by the galvanic cell reactions between SFe and GAC was observed, and the integration coagulation in the bulk solution was mainly attributed to the leaching of Fe. The innovative approach described in this study provides a promising and economical technology for pretreatment of industrial wastewater prior to a biological process. • The micro-electrolysis-circulatory system was capable of elevating biodegradability of industrial estate wastewater. • The optimal conditions for COD removal were in excellent agreement with the real values. • It was very easy to regenerate SFe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]