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Photocatalytic water-splitting has encouraged great interest to obtain renewable H 2 fuel via the transformation of solar energy. Although significant progress has been achieved, realizing efficient H 2 evolution reaction (HER) with non-noble-metal photocatalysts is still challenging. Herein, we report a facile synthesis of Mo 2 C–CdS–Co@C heterojunction by anchoring CdS and Mo 2 C nanoparticles onto Co@C micro-flowers. The Co@C micro-flowers were composed of graphitic carbon nanoflakes partially embedded with Co, CoO x , Co 9 S 8 nanocrystals and obtained through the carbonization of metanilic-anion intercalated Co(OH) 2 precursor. Due to excellent visible-light harvesting capacity, efficient charge transmission and isolation caused by the existence of superior electron mediator (graphitic carbon) together with oxidation (CoO x) and reduction (Co, Co 9 S 8 , Mo 2 C) cocatalysts, as well as the plentiful H 2 -evolving active sites originating from the metal (Co), metal sulfide (Co 9 S 8), and metal carbide (Mo 2 C), the Mo 2 C–CdS–Co@C hybrid micro-flowers delivered an exceptional HER (λ > 400 nm) activity of 760.58 μmol h−1 (10 mg), approximately 32 and 15 folds that of pristine CdS and platinum (3 wt%)-decorated CdS, respectively. Moreover, both the cycling and long-term photocatalytic tests confirm that the Mo 2 C–CdS–Co@C possesses an outstanding durability for H 2 production. The study results might inspire the rational integration of cocatalysts to simultaneously optimize the charge trapping and H 2 -evolving kinetics for strengthening the photocatalytic HER activity efficiently. [Display omitted] • Unique Mo 2 C–CdS–Co@C heterojunction was constructed for the first time. • Abundant H 2 -evolving active sites stem from the Co, Co 9 S 8 , and Mo 2 C cocatalysts. • Efficient charge separation was enabled by the presence of redox cocatalysts. • A robust photocatalytic HER activity as high as 76.58 mmol · g−1 h−1 was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Candida albicans is the most common fungal microorganism in healthy individuals, as well as the cause of high mortality infections in high-risk hosts such as immunocompromised patients. Antifungal vaccines and monoclonal antibodies useful for active or passive immunizations have recently generated considerable excitement for the treatment of fungal infections. The cell wall proteins of C. albicans , which are crucial for virulence and pathogenicity, are attractive target antigens. Als3p, a member of the C. albicans agglutinin-like sequence (ALS) family, is a hyphal-specific glycophosphatidylinositol cell wall protein that plays a key role in the interaction with host cells. The abundance of Als3p on the hyphal surface makes it an attractive target. For example, the NDV-3 vaccine, targeted at the N-terminus of Als3p, has entered a preparation of Phase 2 clinical trial. The Als3p-specific antibodies include monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) 3-A5, MAb 113, and scFv3. In addition, MAb C7, MAb 3D9.3 and MAb 2G8, which were supposed to be identifying other targets, have also provided good protection by recognizing Als3p. In this review, we summarize the functions of Als3p and highlight the development of the vaccines and the antibodies that are associated, directly or indirectly, with this protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The effects of astaxanthin on gout were observed in a randomized controlled trial. • Astaxanthin has a lowering effect on the index of gout arthritis. • Astaxanthin combined with western medicine may be an alternative method for gout. • Contributing a rationale for astaxanthin as a dietary supplement to assist in gout. Gout is a form of arthritis caused by hyperuricemia that can significantly affect a patient's quality of life. Here, we investigated the therapeutic effects of astaxanthin, a carotenoid with strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, on gout. The results of animal experiments showed that in terms of animal serological indicators, astaxanthin has the same effect as colchicine in treating gouty arthritis. The outcomes of clinical trials showed that the astaxanthin at 8 mg/d combined with celecoxib at 100 mg/d worked better than celecoxib at 200 mg/d according to ESR and UA, and according to CRP, the effect was comparable. The molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of astaxanthin included inhibition of COX-2 and anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation. Collectively, astaxanthin ameliorated gout in rats' model of gouty arthritis and clinical trials suggesting that it has potential as a dietary supplement to assist in the treatment of gouty arthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The suppression of ship radiation noise is studied through a generalized Lorenz system. The system integrates a classical Lorentz system with a time-delay feedback control and an external acoustic excitation. The output of the system can be categorized into three different states: the quasi-periodic state, the periodic state and the chaotic state. The output state is characterized by the trajectory, the bifurcation diagram and the Lyapunov exponent of the system. The dependence of the output state on different excitation parameters like amplitude, frequency, time delay and the number of external excitations are simulated. It is found that the chaotic state and noise suppression is largely dependent on the amplitude of the external excitation. The noise suppression in the generalized Lorenz system is characterized by the changes in power spectrum of the acoustic energy, which is investigated through Fourier transformation. The suppression is optimized by specified excitation parameters: an acoustic energy reduction up to 26.67 dB is realized with excitation source of small amplitude, high frequency, and a phase synchronized with the noise phase. The noise suppression through multiple excitations in the system is also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Source Camera Identification (SCI) has achieved remarkable success. However, existing approaches require sufficiently large training sets for high performance on accuracy and robustness. For maintaining high performance given small training sets, we propose a semi-supervised, Mega-Trent-Diffusion (MTD) method to generate virtual samples, such that the training sets can be expanded and unlabeled samples can be fully utilized as well. The stability of our method is improved using ensemble learning. Our theoretical analysis and experiments corroborate the effectiveness of our method beyond others when few-shot is given. • We propose a MTD method to generate virtual samples as labeled samples. • We use semi-supervised bagging method to make full use of unlabeled samples • Our experiment results demonstrate the superiority of our method given few-shot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present fMRI study examined the neural basis of processing context-supported or -unsupported interpretations of ambiguous morphemes during Chinese compound word reading in a masked priming lexical decision task. Targets were Chinese bimorphemic words that contained ambiguous morphemes. Prime words contained the same ambiguous morphemes with either the same meanings (context-supported interpretation) or different ones (context-unsupported interpretation). Lexical-level semantic sharing and unrelated control conditions were also included. Compared to the unrelated control condition, the context-supported morphemic meaning was associated with increased activity in the left SFG and bilateral MTG, and this priming effect could be dissociated from that of the lexical-level semantic-related condition. In broader brain regions, including the left SFG, bilateral MTG, left STG, right IOG, and left precuneus, the context-unsupported meaning condition showed decreased activity compared with the unrelated control condition. These findings indicate that both the context-supported and -unsupported meanings evoke significant priming effects, however, they differ from each other with different brain basis, providing new insight into the neural substrates of ambiguous morpheme processing. • Left SFG and bilateral MTG are core brain regions in ambiguous morpheme processing. • Each distinct morphemic meaning of ambiguous morphemes has independent neural entry. • Contextual information would modulate the activation pattern of each interpretation of ambiguous morphemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]