Search

The development of highly active oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with low-loading of precious metals is imperative but remains a great challenge. Herein, Pd/B,N-CDs@CNT composite catalysts was designed with Pd nanoparticles immobilized on hybrid support composed of B,N-doped carbon dots (B,N-CDs) and the multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNT) using a simple methanol reduction method. The deposited Pd nanoparticles exhibit clean surface, low crystallinity and surface distortion. The Pd/B,N-CDs@CNT catalyst shows significantly enhanced ORR activity, with the mass activity about 5–6 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C. Thus prominent ORR performance is mainly attributed to the unique microstructure of Pd nanoparticles. Moreover, the composited B,N-CDs and the doped B, N heteroatoms further improve the ORR performance, in which B,N-CDs supply more absorption sites, the formation of N–Pd facilitates the electron transfer, B doping can promote the adsorption of oxygenated species and weaken the strong interaction between Pd and C. Furthermore, the B, N co-doping plays a synergistic effect. This strategy provides a simple and mild method for designing highly efficient electrocatalysts with ultra-low precious metals in alkaline electrolytes. [Display omitted] • Pd nanoparticles were deposited on B,N-CDs@CNT hybrid by a simple methanol reduction. • The composited B,N-CDs act as a doping source of B, N into CNT. • The Pd nanoparticles show clean surface, low crystallinity and surface distortion. • The Pd/B,N-CDs@CNT shows prominent ORR activity outperforming commercial Pt/C. • The ORR performance is attributed to the unique microstructure of Pd nanoparticles and support effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A label-free electrochemical immunosensor was developed to rapidly detect tilmicosin (TMC) residues in pork and milk. The immunosensor was constructed by immobilizing a high-affinity monoclonal antibody against TMC on an rGO-PEI-Ag nanocomposite-modified electrode. The rGO-PEI-Ag nanocomposites were prepared by mixing polyethyleneimine (PEI) modified reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with AgNO 3 solution. The prepared rGO-PEI-Ag nanocomposites showed good redox activity and conductivity, as characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). During the preparation process, staphylococcal protein A (SPA) was added to targetedly bind the Fc segment of the monoclonal antibody. The immunosensor showed a low detection limit (LOD) of 0.0013 ng/mL, a linear range of 0.01–100 ng/mL, and recoveries ranging from 92.77 to 100.02% in pork and 92.26–101.23% in milk. Furthermore, the immunosensor exhibited good stability, reproducibility, and specificity in detecting TMC in pork and milk real samples. • A murine monoclonal antibody against tilmicosin was produced. • The label-free electrochemical immunosensor to successfully detect TMC residues in animal-derived food. • The electrochemical immunosensor exhibited a wider detection range and a lower detection limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Xenopus, several TGF[beta]s, including nodal-related 1 (Xnrl), derriere, and chimeric forms of Vgl, elicit cardiac and visceral organ left-right (LR) defects when ectopically targeted to right mesendoderm cell lineages, suggesting that LR axis determination may require activity of one of more TGF[beta]s. However, it is not known which, if any, of these ligands is required for LR axis determination, nor is it known which type I TGF[beta] receptor(s) are involved in mediating left-side TGF[beta] signaling. We report here that similar to effects of ectopic TGF[beta]s, right-side expression of constitutively active activin-like kinase (ALK) 4 results in LR organ reversals as well as altered Pitx2 expression in the lateral plate mesoderm. Moreover, left-side expression of a kinase-deficient, dominant-negative ALK4 (DN-ALK4) of an ALK4 anti-sense morpholino also results in abnormal embryonic body situs, demonstrating a left-side requirement for ALK4 signaling. To determine which TGF[beta](s) utilize the ALK4 pathway to mediate LR development, biochemical and functional assays were performed using an Activin-Vg1 chimera (AVg), Xnr1, and derriere. Whereas ALK4 can co-immunoprecipitate all of these TGF[beta]s, including endogenous Vg1 protein from embryo homogenates, functional assays demonstrate that not all of these ligands require an intact ALK4 signaling pathway to modulate LR asymmetry. When AVg and DN-ALK4 are co-expressed, LR defects otherwise induced by AVg alone are attenuated by DN-ALK4; however, when functional assays are performed with Xnrl or derriere, LR defects otherwise elicited by these ligands alone still occur in the presence of DN-ALK4. Intriguingly, when any of these TGF[beta]s is expressed at a higher concentration to elicit primary axis defects, DN-ALK4 blocks gastrulation and dorsoanterior/ventroposterior defects that otherwise occur following ligand-only expression. Together, these results suggest not only that ALK4 interacts with multiple TGF[beta]s to generate embryonic pattern, but also that ALK4 ligands differentially utilize the ALK4 pathway to regulate distinct aspects of axial pattern, with Vg1 as a modulator of ALK4 function in LR axis determination and Vg1, Xnr1, and derriere as modulators of ALK4 function in mesoderm induction during primary axis formation. Keywords: ActRIB; ALK4; Derriere; Heterotaxy; Left-right asymmetry; Xnr1; Nodal; TGF[beta]; Vg1

Improving ship energy efficiency and intelligent optimization depend heavily on predictive maintenance of Marine diesel engine performance. For successful Condition-Based Maintenance, a multi-step fuel consumption prediction of ships that is accurate and stable is needed. However, existing methods mainly focus on current time or future single-step forecasts. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the optimum prediction model across various prediction time steps from the perspective of model accuracy and model generalization capability. Based on the 14-month sensor data of bulk carriers, high-quality ship energy consumption data is obtained using the local weighting method to establish a short-term multi-step prediction model of engine fuel consumption based on deep learning. Five real fuel consumption sample sets with different equilibrium levels were determined to evaluate the robustness and generalization of varying prediction models. According to the research, the ensemble empirical mode decomposition-based memory network (EEMD-LSTM) can maintain good stationarity and high accuracy in long-term trend prediction within 30 to 60 steps. In contrast, the bidirectional memory network (BiLSTM) has high accuracy in short-term volatility prediction within 30 steps. An efficient method for ship prediction maintenance and defect diagnosis can be found in a high-precision multi-step forecast method for Marine diesel engine fuel consumption. • The prediction models consider the impact of various dataset equilibrium levels. • Only using historical fuel data for consumption shows predictive solid capability. • We have innovatively identified more appropriate models for different time steps. • Confirmed LSTM and BiLSTM's prediction feasibility through model generalization. • Before step 30, BiLSTM's MAPE is 3.8%; EEMD-LSTM's MAPE is 1.9% from steps 30-60. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To systematically describe the short stature of patients with Diamond-Blackfan anemia and to explore factors affecting the height development of patients with Diamond-Blackfan anemia.Study Design: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, and the height, weight, and clinical data of 129 patients with Diamond-Blackfan anemia were collected from June 2020 to September 2020.Results: The median height-age-z score (HAZ) of children affected by Diamond-Blackfan anemia was -1.54 (-6.36-1.96). Short stature was found in 37.98% of the patients. Specific Diamond-Blackfan anemia growth curves were developed for weight, height, and body mass index, separately for male and female patients. Multivariable logistic regression models showed that female sex (aOR 4.92; 95% CI 1.29-18.71; P = .0195), underweight (aOR 10.41, 95% CI 1.41-76.98, P = .0217), cardiovascular malformations (aOR 216.65; 95% CI 3.29-14279.79; P = .0118), and RPL11(aOR 29.14; 95% CI 1.18-719.10; P = .0392) or RPS26 (aOR 53.49; 95% CI 1.40-2044.30; P = .0323) mutations were independent risk factors for short stature. In the subgroup of patients who were steroid-dependent, patients with a duration of steroid therapy over 2 years (OR 2.95; 95% CI 1.00-8.66; P = .0494) or maintenance dose of prednisone >0.1 mg/kg per day (OR 3.30; 95% CI 1.02-10.72; P = .0470) had a higher incidence of short stature.Conclusions: Patients with Diamond-Blackfan anemia had a high prevalence of short stature. The risk of short stature increased with age and was associated with sex, underweight, congenital malformations, and RPL11 or RPS26 mutations. The duration of steroid therapy and maintenance dose of steroid was significantly associated with the incidence of short stature in steroid-dependent patients with Diamond-Blackfan anemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Children with cerebral palsy have reduced vowel space and speech articulation. • VSA, VAI, FCR and F1/F2 can reflects the variation of acoustic features in patients. • VSA and VAI are more sensitive for assessing vowels production and intelligibility. The present study aimed to identify certain acoustic parameters for speech evaluation in cerebral palsy children with dysarthria. The subject included 30 native Mandarin-Speaking children with cerebral palsy, who were 5–15 years old, and 13 healthy children in a similar age range. Each subject was recorded while producing a list of 12 Mandarin words, which included three syllables ('ba', 'bi' and 'du'), in all four Mandarin tones. The formants (F1 and F2) of monophthong vowels /a, i, u/ were extracted from each vowel token. Based on F1 and F2, the vowel acoustic indexes VSA, VAI and FCR were calculated and analyzed. Compared with the control group, the cerebral palsy group had significantly low F1 and F2 in vowel /a/ (P < 0.05), and F2 in vowel /i/ (P < 0.05), while F1 and F2 in vowel /u/ and F1 in vowel /i/ had no significant difference. Between the healthy group and cerebral palsy group, the differences in VSA, VAI and FCR were all statistically significant. Children with cerebral palsy have reduced vowel space and speech articulation. The significant difference in vowel acoustic indexes (VSA, VAI and FCR) among the two groups revealed that the three indexes were sensitive to the variation of the vowels production in children with cerebral palsy, and that these may be used as an evaluation method of speech intelligibility caused by impaired vowel pronunciation in children with cerebral palsy, and the effect of rehabilitation therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental and ecological degradation are more prominent within lake-wetland ecosystem than any other ecosystem on Earth, especially in the highlands. The continued pressures of population growth and rapid urbanization on cultural ecosystem services (CES) provided by lake-wetland ecosystem in highlands present ongoing challenges to decision-makers and managers. In this paper, Social Values for Ecosystem Services model (SolVES) was used to map, quantify and assess CES in Dianchi lake basin (DLB) and Erhai lake basin (ELB) to understand the spatial dynamics of CES perceived by residents and tourists. After combining the field survey data with four environmental variables, our analysis shows that (1) The Maximum Value Index (M-VI) ranking of the three CES in descending order within DLB was aesthetic (M-VI = 10), recreation (M-VI = 10), cultural (M-VI = 8). (2) Different stakeholders (residents and tourists) had different perceptions of CES. Recreation value between residents and tourists had the same M-VI (M-VI = 10), but the M-VI of aesthetic value (M-VI = 10) perceived by tourists was higher than those perceived by residents. (3) The four environmental variables significantly influenced CES, especially distance to water and dominant landcover. (4) CES were transferable from DLB to ELB due to the potential transferability of Maxent's DLB models for each CES, and CES hotspots in ELB generated from SolVES were highly consistent with high kernel-density areas. In conclusion, SolVES incorporating CES can benefit the basin resource managers when seeking to integrate a social perspective into the resource management decision-making process. In particular, the involvement of various stakeholders ensures that they are not marginalized in environmental planning and management. [Display omitted] • Social values for ecosystem services (SolVES) was used to assess cultural ecosystem services. • MaxEnt provided robust results in mapping with outputting variables' effects. • The study provides valuable references for land planning and decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon-supported composite electrocatalysts of Pd nanoparticles implanted on Co nanofilms (Pd x /Co-nanofilm/C) were synthesized on an immiscible ionic liquid/water interface by a sequential reduction approach. Controllable metal nanostructures (Pd nanoparticles, Co nanofilms) and highly dispersed Pd x /Co-nanofilms on carbon are achieved through simple strategies. The Pd nanoparticles implanted on Co nanofilms evidently exhibit crystal lattice distortion and surface roughness. Thus prepared Pd 3 /Co-nanofilm/C catalyst demonstrates the highest activity toward ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), with the lowest onset potential shifting negatively about 100 mV, the most negative peak potential, and the highest peak current compared with those of Pd 3 Co/C and pure Pd/C catalysts in alkaline solution. Chronoamperometric results also demonstrate higher current values produced by the Pd 3 /Co-nanofilm/C catalyst. We proposed that the EOR activity enhancement of Pd x /Co-nanofilm/C catalysts may be attributed to a modulation of the structural properties of Pd nanoparticles through the 2D Co-nanofilm substrate, as well as a synergistic effect between Pd nanoparticles and the Co-nanofilm substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to healthy controls, microRNA-29c (miR-29c) is highly expressed in the heart during progression towards ventricular septal defect. However, studies on miR-29c function in heart development are scarce. We investigated the role of miR-29c in P19 cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation and the underlying mechanisms. We evaluated proliferation and cell cycle progression, detected morphological changes; apoptosis rate; BAX , BCL2 , GATA binding protein 4 ( GATA4 ), cardiac troponin T ( cTnT ), and myocyte enhancer factor 2C ( MEF2C ) expression; and caspase-3, -8, and -9 activity in miR-29c-overexpressing P19 cells, and investigated whether WNT4 was a miR-29c target. MiR-29c-overexpressing cells had decreased proliferation, increased G1 cells, and significantly higher apoptotic rate than the controls. Expression of the apoptosis-related BAX and BCL2 genes and caspase-3, -8, and -9 activity were significantly increased in miR-29c-overexpressing cells. Expression of the cardiac-specific markers GATA4 , cTnT , and MEF2C revealed promoted differentiation in miR-29c-overexpressing cells compared to the controls. Luciferase assay confirmed that WNT4 is a miR-29c target. Wnt4 and β-catenin expression was decreased in miR-29c-overexpressing cells. MiR-29c inhibits P19 cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis and differentiation, possibly by suppressing Wnt4 signaling, whose deregulation contributes to congenital heart disease development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose represents one of the most common drug-induced liver injuries (DILI) worldwide. Oxidative damage to the hepatocytes and their resultant autophagy are the key components in the APAP-induced DILI. Echinacea purpurea polysaccharide (EPPS), the component extracted from the root of Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench, shows various biological functions including immunoregulation and antioxidant activity.Purpose: This study aimed to elucidate the protective effect of EPPS against APAP-induced DILI and the underlying mechanisms.Results: EPPS attenuates APAP overdose induced DILI in mice and ameliorates inflammation and oxidative stress in mice with APAP overdose-induced DILI. Furthermore, EPPS protected the hepatocytes against APAP-induced liver injury by suppressing apoptosis. EPPS ameliorates APAP-induced DILI via an autophagy-dependent mechanism in vivo and increases autophagy with a reduction in oxidative stress and inflammation in vitro. Parkin knockdown prevents the autophagic-dependent manner of EPPS effects in APAP-treated hepatocytes.Conclusions: EPPS exhibited a strong hepatoprotective effect against APAP-induced DILI and was correlated with reduction of autophagy-dependent oxidant response, inflammation, and apoptosis. Moreover, the findings indicated that EPPS exerts its hepatoprotective effect against APAP mainly via Parkin-dependent autophagy, and the use of EPPS can serve as a promising novel therapeutic strategy for APAP-induced DILI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane (AB) has attracted much attention due to its high hydrogen content and stability. Therefore, the design and construction of low-cost and high-performance catalysts for AB hydrolysis are of great significance. In this work, Co/CoFeO x -X (X is the additional content of Fe precursor) bimetallic oxide nanofilms having an amorphous structure were prepared on an (IL)/water interface for the hydrolysis of AB. Strategies including the rapid addition of metal precursors and variation of Co/Fe atom ratios were employed to induce an amorphous structure for inhibiting the rearrangement of the formed metal nuclei and optimizing the alloying effect on the IL/water interface. This ultrathin amorphous nanofilm structure can expose more metal active sites. Moreover, the electronic interaction between Fe and Co after doping Fe into the Co/CoO x nanofilms facilitates the adsorption and activation for AB and H 2 O molecules. As a result, the optimized Co/CoFeO x -25 catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity with a turnover frequency (TOF) value of 12.25 mol H2 ·mol Co –1·min–1, which is considerably higher than that of the monometallic Co/CoO x catalyst. This enhanced activity can be ascribed to the morphology advantages and the electronic effect of Fe and Co on the Co/CoFeO x -25 catalyst. This work provides a promising method to design the highly efficient non-noble metal catalysts for the hydrolysis of chemical hydrides. [Display omitted] • Co/CoFeO x -X composite oxide nanofilms were constructed via the method of (IL)/water interface. • The Co/CoFeO x -25 exhibits superior catalytic activity for AB hydrolysis with TOF of 12.25 mol H2 ·mol Co –1·min–1 without NaOH. • The electronic effect of CoFeO x composite oxides facilitate the adsorption and activation of AB and H 2 O molecules. • An amorphous structure of Co/CoFeO x -25 is in a metastable state, which provides abundant defects and active sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, a fully discrete stabilized discontinuous Galerkin method is proposed to solve the Biot’s consolidation problem. The existence and uniqueness of the finite element solution are obtained. The stability of the fully discrete solution is discussed. The corresponding error estimates for the approximation of displacement and pressure in a mesh dependent norm are obtained. The error estimate for the approximation of pressure in norm is also obtained. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study used qualitative and quantitative validation to explore a combination of research methods. Using correlation analysis, principal component analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analysis of the 293 samples were analyzed for government departments within Emergency Management Information System (EMIS) applications, five-impact factor model analysis is conducted including Management factors within the organization, the supplier of the product technology standard, the external technical environment factors and the information technology sector to support service capabilities of government departments within EMIS applications have a significant impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper proposes and analyzes a numerical method for solving the coupled Stokes and Darcy problem, an interface problem between a fluid, governed by Stokes equations, and a flow in a porous medium, governed by Darcy equations. The method employs conforming finite elements for the velocity field in both Stokes and Darcy subdomains. Optimal-order error estimates are established. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In HEK293S cells expressing opsin, rhodopsin regenerates on addition of all-trans retinol. This study was to determine if key proteins in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) are present in these cells. Cellular retinoid binding protein, cellular retinoic-acid binding protein, RPE65, caveolin-1-α- and -β-isoforms, interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein, and 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase, but not lecithin:retinol acyltransferase (LRAT), were identified by Western blot analysis. LRAT transcripts were found by RT-PCR and Southern blot analysis. Small interference RNA specific to LRAT reduced ester formation, confirming that the enzyme is present. Therefore, HEK293S cells contain the functional components of the retinoid cycle found in the RPE. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Examines the wear behavior and the nono-structure of the surface layer of Hadfield steel under impact loading. Formation of nano-sized grains embedded in the amorphous structures; Relation of the wear weight loss to the impact cycle; Measurement of the volume-structure of the nano-sized grains and the amorphous structures.

Anomaly detection in photovoltaic (PV) cells is crucial for ensuring the efficient operation of solar power systems and preventing potential energy losses. In this paper, we propose an enhanced YOLOv7-based deep learning framework for fast and accurate anomaly detection in PV cells. Our approach incorporates Partial Convolution, Switchable Atrous Convolution and novel data augmentation techniques to address the challenges of varying defect sizes, complex backgrounds. The Partial Convolution component effectively manages the irregularities in PV cell images, reducing false detections. On the other hand, the Switchable Atrous Convolution enhances the model's adaptability to different defect scales and spatial resolutions, leading to improved localization and classification performance. We evaluate our model on a large-scale dataset of PV cell images, demonstrating its superiority over existing methods in terms of detection accuracy, speed, and robustness. Our proposed framework offers a practical and reliable solution for real-time anomaly detection in PV cells, facilitating timely maintenance and maximizing the performance of solar energy systems. The integration of these advanced convolution techniques into the YOLOv7 model not only improves detection capabilities but also paves the way for further research and development in the field of deep learning-based anomaly detection. • The PSA-YOLOv7 proposed in this paper exhibits better interpretability than the baseline model. • The PSA-YOLOv7 shows better robustness under common corruptions. • PSA-YOLOv7 has improved anomaly detection performance while ensuring real-time capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]