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To gauge the utility of multiparametric MRI in characterizing pathologic changes after iodinated contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) in rats. We randomly grouped 24 rats injected with 8 g iodine/kg of body weight (n = 6 each) and 6 rats injected with saline as controls. All rats underwent T1, T2 mapping and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) after contrast injection at 0 (control), 1, 3, 7, 13 days. T1, T2, and mean kurtosis (MK) values were performed in renal outer/inner stripes of outer medulla (OSOM and ISOM) and cortex (CO), and their diagnosis performance for CI-AKI also been evaluated. Serum creatinine (SCr), insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 (IGFBP7), tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP-2), aquaporin-1 (AQP1), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and histologic indices were examined. Compared with controls, urinary concentrations of both TIMP-2 and IGFBP7 were obviously elevated from Day 1 to Day 13 (all p < 0.05). T2 values were significantly higher than control group for Days 1 and 3, and T1 and MK increased were more remarkable at all time points (Days 1–13) in CI-AKI (all p < 0.05) than control group. Changes in T1 and MK strongly correlated with renal injury scores of all anatomical compartments and with expression levels of AQP1 and moderately correlated with α-SMA. Changes in T2 values correlating moderately with renal scores of CO, ISOM and OSOM and AQP1. The MK obtained the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.846 with a sensitivity of 70.8 % and specificity of 88.9 %. Combined use of multiparametric MRI could be a valid noninvasive method for comprehensive monitoring of CI-AKI. Among these parameters, MK may achieve the best diagnostic performance for CI-AKI. • Combined use of multiparametric MRI could give one opportunity to comprehensively monitor CI-AKI. • Alterations of renal MK, T1, and T2 values after CI-AKI were useful to detect renal impairment. • T1, T2 and MK values at early time points after CI-AKI induction displayed significant correlations with renal microstructure alterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstructing High Dynamic Range (HDR) video from alternating exposure Low Dynamic Range (LDR) sequence is an exceptionally challenging task. It not only demands the reliable reconstruction of missing information caused by occlusion or motion without introducing artifacts but also balances the exposure differences between frames to ensure a visually pleasing reconstructed HDR video. Unfortunately, existing methods are typically complex and struggle with unavoidable artifacts and noise, especially when dealing with low-exposed scenes. To tackle this formidable challenge, we propose a two-stage HDR video reconstruction method that employs a global to local alignment strategy. Firstly, we utilize iterative optical flow estimation and hybrid weighting to achieve global alignment, ensuring well-reconstructed in majority of areas. Secondly, the recursive refinement network further addresses locally misaligned areas, reconstructing HDR frames from bottom to top and recursively refining them to yield faithful reconstruction results. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that our method generates the HDR video with fine details and superior visually, surpassing the state-of-the-art method across diverse scenes. [Display omitted] • This paper offers an HDR video reconstruction method that alleviates the inevitable ghosting and noise encountered in existing techniques when dealing with alternating exposure frames. • An innovative strategy that integrates global and local alignment, representing a significant improvement over the single alignment strategy. • A recursive refinement network that produces HDR frames by interacting multi-scale features of input and reconstructed, surpassing the common methods that rely on feature stacking. • The proposed method achieves SOTA performance compared to other competing methods, with the fewest parameters and the fastest inference time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated whether diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) facilitated the assessment of serial alterations in persistent post-contrast acute kidney injury (PC-AKI). We randomly divided 24 rats into four PC-AKI groups (days 1, 3, 7, and 13, n = 6/group), with an additional six control animals. We conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), and arterial spin-labeling (ASL) analyses. Mean kurtosis (MK), axial kurtosis (Ka), mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), radial kurtosis (Kr), and renal blood flow (RBF) maps were normalized to baseline (prior to contrast injection) to calculate adjusted △RBF, △MK, △Ka, △MD, △FA, and △Kr values. We also investigated urinary neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL), serum cystatin C (CysC), aquaporin-2 (AQP2), hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1α), and histological indices. In the inner stripe of the outer medulla, when compared with controls, decreased △FA and △MD levels were observed on days 1, 3, and 7, and a distinct elevation in △MK and △Kr on days 1–13, and a persistent decrease in △RBF on days 1–13, and a prominent increase in △Ka on days 7 and 13 in PC-AKI animals (all p < 0.05). △Ka and △MK were positively correlated with AQP-2 (r = 0.8086, p < 0.0001 and r = 0.7314, p < 0.0001, respectively), and △RBF was highly correlated with HIF-1α (r = −0.7592, p < 0.0001). Moreover, both CysC and NGAL were significantly elevated in PC-AKI animals when compared with controls from days 1–13 (all p < 0.05). Renal histological data indicated severe tubular and glomerular injury at days 1–13 in all PC-AKI groups. ASL and DKI may be noninvasively and longitudinally used to detect PC-AKI and predict further outcomes. • Combining ASL and DKI could give one the opportunity to study PC-AKI and predict further outcomes. • Alterations of renal Mk, Ka, and RBF values after PC-AKI were useful to detect persistent renal impairment. • CysC and NGAL seems to be reliable markers for improving the identification of PC-AKI to PRD transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The perceptual heterogeneous features are extracted for 3D videos quality assessment. • The binocular spatio-temporal internal generative mechanism to achieve multi-videos. • The multi-channel natural video statistics to characterize 3D video quality. • The AdaBoosting Radial Basis Function neural network to infer the overall quality. • The enhanced blind metric is robust and higher accuracy. Abstract 3D videos quality assessment (3D-VQA) is essential to various 3D video processing applications. However, it has not been well investigated on how to make use of perceptual multi-channel video information to improve 3D-VQA under different distortion categories and degrees, especially under asymmetrical distortions. In the paper, we propose a new blind 3D-VQA metric by jointly learning perceptually heterogeneous features. Firstly, a binocular spatio-temporal internal generative mechanism (BST-IGM) is proposed to decompose the views of 3D video into multi-channel videos. Then, we extract perceptually heterogeneous features by proposed multi-channel natural video statistics (MNVS) model, which are characterized 3D video information. Furthermore, a robust AdaBoosting Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network is utilized to map the features to the overall quality of 3D video. On two benchmark databases, the extensive evaluations demonstrate that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms several state-of-the-art quality metrics in term of prediction accuracy and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract With intensification of climate change and human activities, warming and drying trend has brought severe challenges to pastoral areas in arid and semi-arid regions. Consequently, it becomes imperative to explore non-stationarity features of drought in such regions. In this research, the SPEIbase v2.4 datasets with a 0.5 degree spatial resolution was employed to extract Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) in Inner Mongolia, China. We explored non-stationarity characteristics of drought using Breaks For Additive Seasonal and Trend (BFAST) method, investigated the variation characteristics of drought intensity in each time interval using intensity analysis method, and finally assessed the spatial and temporal gathering characteristics of drought with Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF). The results showed that trend of regional drought had a tendency towards drought conditions, which is particularly significant from the year 1945 onwards in the overall Inner Mongolia. We have explored a long behavior of drought in semiarid and central regions of cold semihumid climate zone throughout the whole study period, and detected a drying trend in northeastern regions of Inner Mongolia at the latter decades. The overall drought intensity displayed an increasing trend first, which was followed by a decreasing trend, among which the extreme drought was dominant in period of 1960–1970. EOF mode1 showed that variation intensity of drought showed a not significantly increasing trend in the entire region, and the drought with high amplitude was likely to occur in the central region. EOF mode2 showed that variation intensity of drought displayed the opposite phases between the eastern and the western regions. The northeastern regions were prone to display a high amplitude of drought. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • SPEIbase v2.4 data was employed to extract SPEI in Inner Mongolia. • BFAST is introduced to study the non-stationarity characteristics of drought. • Central and eastern region of the study area showed a tendency towards drought. • Intensity variation of drought showed an upturn, followed by a downtrend. • Eastern and western regions exhibit opposite spatial gathering characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Activated carbons have been prepared by phosphoric acid activation of lignocellulosic precursors, an industrial method, followed by heat treatment in ammonia. Thus, a cost-effective, scalable and metal-free electrocatalyst was developed for use in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at fuel cell cathodes. The physicochemical properties of the activated carbons have been analyzed by elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen adsorption. The ORR electrocatalytic performances of the activated carbons have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry in an alkaline electrolyte. The results showed that phosphorus-containing groups are key to endowing phosphoric-acid-activated carbons with comparable electrocatalytic activity to that of commercial Pt/C. This was because these phosphorus-containing groups facilitated the formation of both nitrogen-containing groups and defects in the microstructure. Besides, heat treatment of phosphoric-acid-activated carbons in ammonia produced a highly developed mesopore structure and thus kinetically facilitated the ORR. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Electrocatalysts were prepared by H 3 PO 4 activation of lignocellulosic materials. • The phosphorus-containing groups favor the formation of nitrogen-containing groups. • Phosphoric-acid-activated carbons modified by ammonia possess developed mesopore. • Phosphoric-acid-activated carbons modified by ammonia show excellent ORR activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A coconut-shell-based carbon was activated with KOH and three methods of ammonia modification were used to prepare nitrogen-containing activated carbon of high surface area. Thus, a cost-effective, scalable, and metal-free electrocatalyst was developed for use in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption have been used to analyze the physicochemical properties of activated carbons. The electrocatalytic performance of activated carbons was investigated with respect to ORR using cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry in an alkaline electrolyte. The results indicate that the species distribution of nitrogen-containing groups was significantly affected by the method and temperature of ammonia modification. These factors consequently determined the electrocatalytic performance of the modified activated carbons. When the nitrogen-containing activated carbon was prepared by methods I and II at 950 °C, it exhibited an electrocatalytic activity toward ORR that was comparable to that of commercial 20% Pt/C catalyst in terms of onset potential and limiting current density. Moreover, they catalyzed ORR approximately in a four-electron pathway and showed good tolerance toward methanol crossover. In addition, we investigated the influence of various nitrogen-containing species on the electrocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study mapped the fate of antibiotics in a swine farm with integrated waste treatment including anoxic stabilization, fixed-film anaerobic digestion, anoxic-oxic (A/O), and composting. Results show the prevalent and consistent occurrence of 12 antibiotics in swine waste. Mass balance of these antibiotics was calculated to track their flow and evaluate their removal by different treatment units. The integrated treatment train could effectively reduce antibiotic loading to the environment by 90% (measured as combined mass of all antibiotic residues). Within the treatment train, anoxic stabilization as the initial treatment step, accounted for the highest contribution (43%) to overall antibiotic elimination. Results also show that aerobic was more effective than anaerobic regarding antibiotic degradation. Composting accounted for an additional of 31% removal of antibiotics while anaerobic digestion contributed to 15%. After treatment, antibiotic residues in the treated effluent and composted materials were 2 and 8% of the initial antibiotic loading in raw swine waste, respectively. Ecological risk assessment showed negligible or low risk quotient associated with most individual antibiotics released into the aquatic environment or soil from swine farming. Nevertheless, antibiotic residues in treated water and composted materials together showed significant ecological risk to water and soil organisms. Thus, further work to improve treatment performance or develop new technologies is necessary to reduce the impact of antibiotics from swine farming. [Display omitted] • 12 antibiotics were detected in both liquid and solid of raw swine slurry waste. • As The 1st treatment, anoxic stabilization contributed to 43% antibiotic removal. • Aerobic was more effective than anaerobic in terms of antibiotic degradation. • Integrated treatment showed 90% overall antibiotic removal. • Aggregated risk from antibiotic residues to aquatic/soil organisms was still high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aeolian desertification is one of the most significant environmental and socio-economic problems, represents a major component of land degradation, and seriously harms the ecological environment, leading to adverse impacts on human society. Monitoring aeolian desertification and identifying the driving factors behind it are crucial for developing prevention and management strategies to combat this issue. The objectives of this study were to monitor the trends of aeolian desertification in Horqin Sandy Land by using time-series MODIS-NDVI remote sensing data for the period of 2000–2013. A dimidiate pixel model was chosen to calculate the Vegetation Coverage Index (VCI), while a unary linear regression analysis was used for a temporal trend analysis of the Aeolian Desertification Index (ADI) and selected climate factors. The Sen's slope estimator and the Mann-Kendall statistical test were used to analyze the spatial trends of the ADI. (1) The temporal trend of ADI showed three stages: reversion during the period of 2000–2005 and 2009–2013, and development during the period of 2005–2009. For the five classes of ADI, the areas of non-aeolian desertified lands (N) showed an increasing trend and the slight (SL), moderate (M), serious (S), and very serious aeolian desertified lands (VS) showed decreasing trends, with the decline in areas of SL and M contributing to the reversion of aeolian desertification. (2) The spatial distribution showed that the VS was mainly distributed in the southwestern portion, and the S was mainly distributed around the VS portion. The SL and M formed a straight line from the southwest to the northeast, bisecting the two areas of S. The N was mainly distributed in the northwestern portion and the eastern edges of the study area. (3) The spatial trends showed that areas of decreasing and significantly decreasing ADI trends occupied 78.44%, while areas with increasing and significantly increasing ADI trends only occupied 21.56% of the study area over the period of 2000–2013, indicating that aeolian desertification in Horqin Sandy Land is decreasing overall and advancing in certain portions. (4) The driving factors of aeolian desertification were analyzed from the perspectives of two groups: climate and anthropogenic factors. We found that the desertification control measures and favorable climate condition have played key roles in the process of desertification reversion; and climate fluctuations, reclamation and livestock pressure have led to the desertification development. The results can provide meaningful information for the prevention and control of aeolian desertification in Horqin Sandy Land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an important role in tumor formation and development by serving as the most influential stromal cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME). The communication between tumor cells and CAFs, along with the resulting impact, is more important than originally anticipated. Numerous studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in this crosstalk, and related evidence continues to emerge and advance. In addition, exosomes containing miRNAs have been found as a crucial mode of interaction between these two types of cells, with a more direct and precise role. Under the influence of exosomal miRNAs, normal fibroblasts are converted into CAFs. By doing so, CAFs can greatly promote tumor progression. Additionally, through exosomal miRNAs, activated CAFs may alter the genetic expression in tumor cells, affecting the TME and promoting malignant biological processes. Learning more about exosomal miRNAs in tumor cells and CAFs, and the intricate molecular networks that link CAFs to cancer cells, may help researchers develop more sensitive and effective cancer treatments targeting miRNAs, exosomes and CAFs, thereby giving hope to cancer patients. A comprehensive search of the literature was conducted through PubMed databases. The keywords entered for the search included: exosomes, cancer-associated fibroblasts, microRNA and cancer. This search provided information about articles published in peer-reviewed journals until 2022. Information from these articles was collected and analyzed in this review. Exosomal miRNAs can act as tumor inhibitors or tumor inducers by affecting several targets and molecular signaling pathways. MiRNAs and exosomes involved in crosstalk could have promising applications in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy. This finding about the crosstalk can help find and develop innovative miRNA-based approaches towards diagnosis, prognosis, and anti-cancer treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Lignin-based and wood-based activated carbons were prepared by phosphoric acid activation conducted using the oxidant ammonium persulfate ((NH4)2S2O8) as the activation additive. Results showed that at a (NH4)2S2O8 dosage of less than 10%, the oxidant increased the activated carbon yield and promoted pore development. However, at a (NH4)2S2O8 dosage of higher than 10%, an over-oxidation condition was created so that the activated carbon yield was reduced and pore development was negatively affected. It is suggested that oxidants play two roles during phosphoric activation, promotion of phosphate ester formation on the matrix and over-oxidation of carbon. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Graphene nanosheet/alumina composite has been prepared by spark plasma sintering. A homogeneous distribution of nanosheets in an alumina matrix could be obtained by the electrostatic attraction between graphite oxide and alumina particles and their subsequent reduction. The introduction of graphene nanosheet leads to refinement of grain size of alumina after hot pressing. The experimental results have shown that the fracture toughness and conductivity of the graphene nanosheet/alumina composite are about 53% and 13 orders of magnitude higher than those of unreinforced alumina material, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ovarian cancer cells (SKOV3) secreting IL-21 alone or combination with GM-CSF cytokines was developed and its antitumor effect was evaluated in the nude mice. The gene of IL-21 was amplified from plasmid pRSC-IL-21 by PCR, cloned into the plasmid pRSC-GM-CSF, and the plasmid pRSC-GM-CSF-IL21 was constructed. The plasmids of pRSC-GM-CSF, pRSC-IL21, pRSC-GM-CSF-IL21 and pRSC were respectively transfected into the SKOV3 cells and antitumor efficacy induced by the SKOV3 cells secreting IL-21 or combination with GM-CSF was evaluated by surveying the tumor growth and the nude mice''s survival. The results indicated that the secreted IL-21 and GM-CSF were functional because the culture supernatant of SKOV3 cells transfected with the plasmid pRSC-GM-CSF-IL21 enhanced NK cytotoxicity in vitro. The expressions of MIC A/B, NKG2D and ICAM-1 molecules on the SKOV3 cells were up-regulated. The level of IFN-γ and TNF-α, the NK cytotoxicity and the antitumor efficacy were significantly increased in the null mice inoculated with the SKOV3 cells secreting both IL-21 and GM-CSF in comparison with the nude mice inoculated with the other different SKOV3 cells. We concluded that the SKOV3 cells genetically engineered to secrete biologically active IL-21 and GM-CSF elicited antitumor immunity effectively through enhancing NK cytotoxicity, promoting the expressions of MIC A/B , ICAM-1 and NKG2D molecules as well as elevating level of IFN-γ and TNF-α in the nude mice model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Apolipoprotein C1 (APOC1) is a member of the apolipoprotein family. In recent years, more and more studies have shown that APOC1 participates in the occurrence and development of cancer. However, there is no systematic study about the specific functions and underlying mechanisms of APOC1 in breast carcinogenesis. The APOC1 was found significantly over-expressed in breast cancer tissues. The correlation of APOC1 expression with the prognosis and the clinicopathological characteristics were subsequently analyzed. APOC1 overexpression was correlated with higher TNM stage and positive lymph node metastasis. APOC1 enhanced the proliferation, invasion, and migration ability of breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) in vitro. APOC1 inhibited E-cadherin expression and promoted Vimentin's expression, which suggested that APOC1 played a crucial role in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process of the breast cancer cell. Moreover, APOC1 participated in the progression of breast cancer by regulating the JNK/MAPK pathway. Thus, our results demonstrated that APOC1 might be used as a novel biomarker for prognosis and diagnostic in breast cancer patients. • Apolipoprotein C1 is highly expressed in breast cancer tissues. • Apolipoprotein C1 enhances breast cancer cell proliferation via MAPK/JNK pathway. • Apolipoprotein C1 enhances breast cancer cell migration and invasion via the EMT pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate warming triggers increased frequency and intensity of extreme climate events, and due to disequilibrium precipitation at spatial and temporal scales, droughts or floods may occur frequently. Therefore, it is necessary to assess spatiotemporal variation of precipitation concentration and its potential impact on drought. The study calculated the Concentration Index (CI) and Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) of 780 stations during 1961–2016 in mainland China, and monthly temperature and precipitation data were adapted to calculate the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Changepoint method was used to determine the turn and change points of CI and PCI, and Sen's slope method was used to calculate the trend before and after the year of turn points (YTPs) and the overall trend of drought was also analyzed. The Pearson correlation method was employed to evaluate the correlation between CI/PCI and SPEI to explore potential influence of precipitation concentration on drought from qualitative and quantitative perspectives. The results demonstrate that the annual CI ranges from 0.56 to 0.75, and the 25% rainiest days account for 68.35%–85.92% of total precipitation. The summer CI was the largest and the winter CI was the smallest among all seasons. 9.74% and 9.62% of stations were observed with change points for annual CI and PCI, respectively. Meanwhile, 80.13% and 69.36% of stations for annual CI and PCI showed a decreasing trend, respectively, and 73.21% of stations exhibited a trend of drought. Annual SPEI was positively correlated with CI and PCI, accounting for 88.59% and 70.77% of stations in mainland China, respectively, indicating that the variation of drought was more sensitive to CI than to PCI. The results can provide a basis for decision-making in water resources and drought risk management in China. • The precipitation and drought characteristics were systematically investigated based on CI, PCI and SPEI. • The Sen's slope and change point method were applied to the research. • CI and PCI had different impacts on annual drought of Sub-basin across mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We obtained the nonlinear trends of extreme climate indices. • We explored the probability of extreme climate indices using tridimensional copula. • The climate of NEC had an obvious tendency of warming and drying. • High temperatures and excessive precipitation occurred frequently in western NEC. • Southeastern Jilin and northeastern Liaoning are vulnerable to low temperatures. Abstract With the acceleration of global warming, the frequent occurrence of extreme climate events has inflicted great socio-economies losses and casualties; therefore, it is particularly important to explore the characteristics of extreme climate events. Nine extreme climate indices defined by the World Meteorological Organization's Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) were constructed from a long term (1960–2014) continuous dataset of 70 meteorological stations in Northeast China (NEC). We detected the current and future spatial variation characteristics using the Sen's slope estimator and R/S analysis method, respectively, and periodicities of individual extreme climate indices were calculated by Morlet continuous wavelet transform methods. Furthermore, a variety of marginal distribution functions was adopted to construct trivariate copula functions in order to calculate the joint probabilities and return periods. The results show that there were different spatiotemporal variation patterns of extreme climate indices: the extreme cold temperature index frost days (FD0) had a significant decreasing trend, summer days (SU25), tropical nights (TR20), and warm days (TX90) had a significant increasing trend. However, no significant changes in the extreme precipitation indices were detected consistently; only a few stations scattered over NEC showed significant changes in these indices. Most of the extreme temperature indices showed significant periods of about 1.5, 2, and 3 years, whereas extreme cold and precipitation indices had approximate periods of 3, 3.5, and 4 years. Southeastern Jilin and northeastern Liaoning Provinces had colder winters and higher annual precipitation than other regions. The probabilities of high temperatures and heavy precipitation were relatively high in western Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang Provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Incorporate the underwater image formation model into a novel constructed Laplacian variation model. • Introduce a simple and effective L 2 norm on the Laplacian priors to preserve details and enhance texture. • Propose a brightness-aware manner to estimate the transmission map. • Design an efficient optimization scheme to improve the convergence speed. Underwater images are usually degraded by color distortion, blur, and low contrast due to the fact that the light is inevitably absorbed and scattered when traveling through water. The captured images with poor quality may greatly limit their applications. To address these problems, we propose a new Laplacian variation model based on underwater image formation model and the information derived from the transmission map and background light. Technically, a novel fidelity term is designed to constrain the radiance scene, and a divergence-based regularization is applied to strengthen the structure and texture details. Moreover, the brightness-aware blending algorithm and quad-tree subdivision scheme are integrated into our variational framework to perform the transmission map and background light estimation. Accordingly, we provide a fast-iterative algorithm based on the alternating direction method of multipliers to solve the optimization problem and accelerate its convergence speed. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves outstanding performance on dehazing, detail preserving, and texture enhancement for improving underwater image quality. Extensive qualitative and quantitative comparisons with several state-of-the-art methods also validate the superiority of our proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Introducing the DPSIRM model to establish an evaluation indicator system. • Utilize the Extension Cloud Model to assess the health status of the water cycle. • Introduced the Degree of Obstacle Model to analyze the main obstacle factors in 11 provinces and cities. • Utilized the ARIMA model to forecast the future health of water circulation. • Put forward relevant suggestions according to the evaluation results. The regional water cycle reflects the dual processes of nature and society. A healthy and benign water cycle is a fundamental guarantee for achieving regional sustainable development.The Yangtze River Economic Belt, as a densely populated urban cluster with abundant water resources in China, plays a crucial role in promoting the sustainable development of Chinese urban clusters. It is of significant importance to optimize the water cycle health of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and explore its primary obstacles.This study integrates the natural-social attributes of the water cycle and selects 25 evaluation indicators from six dimensions: Drivers (D), Pressures (P), States (S), Impacts (I), Responses (R), and Management (M), to construct the water cycle evaluation system for the Yangtze River Economic Belt.Combining Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), and the Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) method, the comprehensive weights of subjective and objective factors are obtained based on the principle of minimum relative entropy.Based on this, an Extended Cloud Model is constructed to evaluate the water cycle health status of the region from 2012 to 2022.Furthermore, the Obstacle Degree Model is introduced to identify the primary obstacles affecting the water cycle health in the region. Finally, the ARIMA model is applied to forecast the water cycle health status in the region from 2023 to 2030.The results indicate that the comprehensive water cycle health level in the region improved gradually from initially sub-pathological to sub-healthy status from 2012 to 2022.Per capita GDP, industrial water consumption per ten thousand yuan of industrial value added, per capita water consumption, forest coverage rate, sediment transport module, proportion of environmental protection investment to GDP, and proportion of water resources management investment to GDP are the primary obstacles affecting the improvement of health in this region.The forecast indicates that the overall water cycle health status in the region will remain at a sub-healthy level from 2023 to 2030.The research results can provide a scientific reference for further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, better supporting and serving China's modernization, and providing scientific reference basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidents of Aurelia sp. stinging have recently increased because of a bloom in offshore area. However, their symptoms are much milder than those from another scyphozoan jellyfish, Stomolophus meleagris. The molecular composition of the medusa and polyp of Aurelia coerulea was analyzed by sequencing the transcriptome and proteome. The toxicity of tentacle extract from A. coerulea medusa (A-TE) and S. meleagris medusa (S-TE) was measured by the survival rates of mice, their blood indexes, and integrity of red blood cells. The medusa and polyp of A. coerulea are similar in molecular composition, while their gene expressions are significantly different at both transcriptome and proteome levels. A-TE displayed no in vitro hemolysis and caused mild damage to the liver, heart and kidney instead of lethality. In contrast, S-TE showed strong hemolytic toxicity, and lethal effect with serious damage to the liver, heart and kidney. The toxin screening in the medusae showed that there were similar toxin categories though the number of toxin species in A. coerulea was larger than that in S. meleagris. Among them, lactotransferrin and venom prothrombin activator were the two predominant protein toxins in the medusae of A. coerulea and S. meleagris , respectively. A. coerulea medusa and polyp have similar molecular compositions, though there are observable morphological differences. The toxicity of A. coerulea medusa is significantly weaker than that of S. meleagris medusa of which the variation in toxin expressions is feasibly an important reason. [Display omitted] • There was little difference in gene function between Aurelia coerulea medusa and polyp. • Compared with Stomolophus meleagris , A. coerulea caused milder liver, heart and kidney damages without lethality. • Lactotransferrin and venom prothrombin activator were the predominant proteins in A. coerulea and S. meleagris , respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Graphite-like crystallites are the predominant structures that are strongly bonded together via amorphous carbons in biomass-based activated carbon. Here, we demonstrate a scalable process for efficiently decomposing biomass-based activated carbons into independent graphite-like crystallites with a high yield of 78 wt% by a selective oxidation scheme to rapidly break the amorphous carbon parts between graphite-like crystallites. The results show that the obtained graphite-like crystallite-based nanomaterials with tunable dimensions and morphologies has remarkable features, such as high water solubility and a strong tendency to self-assemble into a film structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there are several treatments approaches available for lung cancer; however, patients who develop drug resistance or have poor survival rates urgently require new therapeutic strategies for lung cancer. In autophagy, damaged proteins or organelles are enclosed within autophagic vesicles with a bilayer membrane structure and transported to the lysosomes for degradation and recirculation. Autophagy is a crucial pathway involved in the clearance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and damaged mitochondria. Meanwhile, inhibiting autophagy is a promising strategy for cancer treatment. In this study, we found for the first time that Cinchonine (Cin) can act as an autophagy suppressor and exert anti-tumor effects. Cin significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cancer cells in vitro and the tumor growth and metastasis in vivo , without obvious toxic effects. We found that Cin suppressed the autophagic process by blocking autophagosome degradation through the inhibition of the maturation of lysosomal hydrolases. Cin-mediated autophagy inhibition resulted in the elevated ROS level and the accumulation of damaged mitochondria, which in turn promoted apoptosis. N-acetylcysteine, a potential ROS scavenger, significantly suppressed Cin-induced apoptosis. Additionally, Cin upregulated programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in lung cancer cells by inhibiting autophagy. Compared with monotherapy and control group, the combined administration of anti-PD-L1 antibody and Cin significantly reduced tumor growth. These results suggest that Cin exerts anti-tumor effects by inhibiting autophagy, and that the combination of Cin and PD-L1 blockade has synergistic anti-tumor effects. The data demonstrates the significant clinical potential of Cin in lung cancer treatment. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To search for markers of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) for diagnosis. Design and methods: Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, we evaluated 51 serum metabolites in 49 NPC, 37 throat cancer patients and 40 healthy controls. High metabolites were selected and confirmed in NPC tissues. Sensitivity and specificity were appraised for 53 NPC diagnoses. Results: Metabolic profiling revealed that kynurenine, N-acetylglucosaminylamine, N-acetylglucosamine and hydroxyphenylpyruvate increased in NPC patient sera. Their sensitivity and specificity were respectively 79% and 71%, 78% and 69%, 83% and 68%, 84% and 73% for NPC diagnosis. These increases were confirmed in NPC cells. Four metabolites gradually increased from stage I to stage III. After radiotherapy, four metabolites decreased gradually, and tended to a normal level, and were associated with rate of tumor reduction. Conclusion: The results reveal that kynurenine, N-acetylglucosaminylamine, N-acetylglucosamine and hydroxyphenylpyruvate are potentially markers of NPC for diagnosis and therapy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: GPI-anchored membrane cytokines have been shown to play an important role in host immune response against tumor cells. In the present study, we constructed the tumor vaccine expressing mIL-21 in the GPI-anchored form and investigated its anti-tumor effect in C57BL/6 mice model. The fusion genes containing mIL-21 and the GPI anchor signal sequence was acquired by overlaping PCR, inserted into plasmid pcDNA3.1 to form the pcDNA3.1 mIL-21-GPI recombinant, which was transfected into the B16F10 cells, and the tumor vaccine based on B16F10 cells expressing the GPI-anchored membrane mIL-21 was generated. Through transfection, it was found that GPI-anchored membrane mIL-21 has no proliferate impact on B16F10 cells, but it was functional and reflected in inducing CD3-activated murine splenocytes proliferation response to B16F10 cells, improving the cytotoxicities of CTL and NK cells, increasing the numbers of splenocytes-producing IFN-γ in mice, augmenting therapeutic effect of tumor and prolonging longevity effects in tumor-bearing mice injected with the inactivated GPI-anchored mIL-21 tumor vaccine. We concluded the expression of mIL-21 on the B16F10 cells surface in the GPI-anchored form was proved to be effective in activating immune responses against tumor cells, and our results provided a good foundation for further investigating the immunotherapy of tumor by GPI-mIL-21. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]