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The myostatin (MSTN) gene also regulates the developmental balance of skeletal muscle after birth, and has long been linked to age-related muscle wasting. Many rodent studies have shown a correlation between MSTN and age-related diseases. It is unclear how MSTN and age-associated muscle loss in other animals are related. In this study, we utilized MSTN gene-edited bovine skeletal muscle cells to investigate the mechanisms relating to MSTN and muscle cell senescence. The expression of MSTN was higher in older individuals than in younger individuals. We obtained consecutively passaged senescent cells and performed senescence index assays and transcriptome sequencing. We found that senescence hallmarks and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) were decreased in long-term-cultured myostatin inactivated (MT-KO) bovine skeletal muscle cells (bSMCs). Using cell signaling profiling, MSTN was shown to regulate the SASP, predominantly through the cycle GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of antiviral genes (cGAS-STING) pathway. An in-depth investigation by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis revealed that MSTN influenced three prime repair exonuclease 1 (TREX1) expression through the SMAD2/3 complex. The downregulation of MSTN contributed to the activation of the MSTN-SMAD2/3-TREX1 signaling axis, influencing the secretion of SASP, and consequently delaying the senescence of bSMCs. This study provided valuable new insight into the role of MSTN in cell senescence in large animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-combustion of solid waste and biomass can alleviate biomass ash-related problems. To investigate the effects of solid waste on the ash fusion characteristics of biomass and its variation mechanisms under an oxidation atmosphere, an X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analyzer (TG), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and FactSage calculation were used to examine the ash fusion behaviors of sorghum straw (SS) with the addition of textile dyeing sludge (TDS) or chicken manure (CM). The ash fusion temperature (AFT) of SS increased gradually with the TDS ash addition; with CM ash addition, the AFT of SS mixtures increased rapidly (0–20%), decreased slightly (20–30%), and finally increased slowly (30–60%). The generations of high melting point (MP) minerals (e.g., KAlSi2O6, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4) led to an increase in the AFT of TDS-SS mixtures. The K+ in silicate was gradually replaced by Mg2+ or Ca2+, which caused the generations of high-MP minerals (e.g., Ca3MgSi2O8, Ca2MgSi2O7, and CaMgSiO4). The TG analysis showed that the additions of TDS or CM ash slowed down the weight loss of SS mixed ash due to the formation of high-MP minerals. The SEM and FactSage calculations were also explained with the AFT change and their variation mechanisms. The result provided effective references for the AFT regulation during the co-combustion of biomass and solid waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the traditional transmission line fault diagnosis approaches cannot handle the variables' dynamic coupling properties, and they also ignore the local structure feature information during the feature extraction. To figure out these issues, a novel enhanced feature extraction based convolutional LSTM (ECLSTM) approach is developed to diagnose the transmission line fault in this paper. Our work has three main contributions: (1) To tackle the dynamic coupling characteristics of the process variables, the statistics analysis (SA) method is first employed to calculate different statistical features of the transmission line's original data, where the original datasets are transformed into the subsequently used statistics datasets; (2) The statistics comprehensive feature preserving (SCFP) is then proposed to maintain both the global and local structure features of the constructed statistics datasets, where the locality structure preserving technique is incorporated into the principal component analysis (PCA) model to extract the features from the statistics datasets; (3) To effectively diagnose the transmission line's fault, the SCFP based convolutional LSTM fault diagnosis scheme is constructed to classify the global and local statistical structure features of fault snapshot dataset, because of its ability to exploit the temporal dependencies and spatial correlations of the extracted statistical features. Detailed experiments and comparisons on the datasets of the simulated power system are performed to prove the excellent performance of the ECLSTM based fault diagnosis scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine why drop and pull transport is developing so slowly in China and whether there is a chance for its further development, this paper formulates a model to compute two threshold values of freight demand, namely the value that makes drop and pull transport profitable and the value at which it is more profitable than traditional truck transport. The results indicates that the most favorable freight market for drop and pull transport has a demand distribution in which most demand is concentrated on a few highway corridors and approximately equal in both directions along each corridor. Based on a comparison between the computed results and the actual demand distribution, it is found that the current Chinese highway freight market is not ideal for fostering drop and pull transport. The results further indicate that specific model markets should be selected for trial drop and pull transport. Since drop and pull transport will only be successful in a market with favorable freight demand distribution, successful attempts in model markets are the key to expanding the use of drop and pull transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myostatin (MSTN) is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle genesis during development. MSTN mutation leads to increased lean meat production and reduced fat deposition in livestock. However, the mechanism by which MSTN promotes myogenesis by regulating metabolism is not clear. In this study, we compared the metabolomics of the livers of wild-type (WT) and MSTN mutation cattle (MT), and found changes in the content and proportion of fatty acids and bile acids in MT cattle. The differential metabolites were enriched in sterol synthesis and primary bile acid synthesis. We further analyzed the expression of genes involved in the regulation of lipid and bile acid metabolism, and found that the loss of MSTN may alter lipid synthesis and bile acid metabolism. This study provides new basic data for MSTN mutations in beef cattle breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myostatin (MSTN), a growth and differentiation factor, plays an important role in regulating skeletal muscle growth and development. MSTN knockout (MSTN-KO) leads to skeletal muscle hypertrophy and regulates metabolic homeostasis. Moreover, MSTN is also detected in smooth muscle. However, the effect of MSTN-KO on smooth muscle has not yet been reported. In this study, combined metabolome and transcriptome analyses were performed to investigate the metabolic and transcriptional profiling in esophageal smooth muscles of MSTN-KO Chinese Luxi Yellow cattle (n = 5, 24 months, average body weight 608.5 ± 17.62 kg) and wild-type (WT) Chinese Luxi Yellow cattle (n = 5, 24 months, average body weight 528.25 ± 11.03 kg). The transcriptome was sequenced using the Illumina Novaseq™ 6000 sequence platform. In total, 337 significantly up- and 129 significantly down-regulated genes were detected in the MSTN-KO cattle compared with the WT Chinese Luxi Yellow cattle. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that the DEGs were mainly enriched in 67 signaling pathways, including cell adhesion molecules, tight junction, and the cGMP-PKG signaling pathway. Metabolomics analysis by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) identified 130 differential metabolites between the groups, with 56 up-regulated and 74 down-regulated in MSTN knockout cattle compared with WT cattle. Differential metabolites were significantly enriched in 31 pathways, including glycerophospholipid metabolism, histidine metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and purine metabolism. Transcriptome and metabolome were combined to analyze the significant enrichment pathways, and there were three metabolically related pathways, including histidine metabolism, purine metabolism, and arginine and proline metabolism. These results provide important references for in-depth research on the effect of MSTN knockout on smooth muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Myostatin (MSTN) negatively regulates skeletal muscle growth. Although the role of MSTN in muscle hypertrophy can be investigated in depth, studies of MSTN in mitochondrial energy metabolism in muscle would be valuable. In this study, we evaluated the importance of MSTN in regulating mitochondrial energy metabolism in MSTN-knockout (Mstn−/−) mice and explored the possible mechanisms. A loss of MSTN inhibits oxidative phosphorylation, alters TCA cycle activity, and impairs ATP production in skeletal muscles. These changes may be achieved through TGF-β-Smad2/3. These results suggest that MSTN may be an important regulator of mitochondrial energy homeostasis in mice. Myostatin (MSTN) is an important negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth in animals. A lack of MSTN promotes lipolysis and glucose metabolism but inhibits oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Here, we aimed to investigate the possible mechanism of MSTN regulating the mitochondrial energy homeostasis of skeletal muscle. To this end, MSTN knockout mice were generated by the CRISPR/Cas9 technique. Expectedly, the MSTN null (Mstn−/−) mouse has a hypermuscular phenotype. The muscle metabolism of the Mstn−/− mice was detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, indirect calorimetry, ChIP-qPCR, and RT-qPCR. The resting metabolic rate and body temperature of the Mstn−/− mice were significantly reduced. The loss of MSTN not only significantly inhibited the production of ATP by OXPHOS and decreased the activity of respiratory chain complexes, but also inhibited key rate-limiting enzymes related to the TCA cycle and significantly reduced the ratio of NADH/NAD+ in the Mstn−/− mice, which then greatly reduced the total amount of ATP. Further ChIP-qPCR results confirmed that the lack of MSTN inhibited both the TCA cycle and OXPHOS, resulting in decreased ATP production. The reason may be that Smad2/3 is not sufficiently bound to the promoter region of the rate-limiting enzymes Idh2 and Idh3a of the TCA cycle, thus affecting their transcription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Myostatin (Mstn) is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, and its deletion leads to reduced mitochondrial function. However, the exact regulatory mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate myostatin-knockout (Mstn-KO) mice via pronuclear microinjection. The skeletal muscle of Mstn-KO mice significantly increased, and the basal metabolic rate, muscle ATP synthesis, mitochondrial respiratory chain complex activity, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), and thermogenesis decreased. In the muscle tissue of Mstn-KO mice, the expression of SIRT1 and pAMPK decreased, and the acetylation modification of PGC-1α increased. Furthermore, the treatment of isolated muscle cells from Mstn-KO and wild-type mice with AMPK activator (AICAR) and AMPK inhibitor (Compound C) found that Compound C down-regulated the expression of pAMPK and SIRT1 and the activity of citrate synthase (CS), isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDHm) and α-ketoglutarate acid dehydrogenase (α-KGDH) similar to that of Mstn-KO. However, AICAR partially reversed the inhibitory effect of Mstn-KO on the expression of pAMPK and SIRT1 and activity of three enzymes. Thus, Mstn-KO affects mitochondrial function by inhibiting the AMPK/SIRT1/PGC1α signaling pathway. Myostatin (Mstn) is a major negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass and initiates multiple metabolic changes. The deletion of the Mstn gene in mice leads to reduced mitochondrial functions. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate myostatin-knockout (Mstn-KO) mice via pronuclear microinjection. Mstn-KO mice exhibited significantly larger skeletal muscles. Meanwhile, Mstn knockout regulated the organ weights of mice. Moreover, we found that Mstn knockout reduced the basal metabolic rate, muscle adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis, activities of mitochondrial respiration chain complexes, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) cycle, and thermogenesis. Mechanistically, expressions of silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) and phosphorylated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (pAMPK) were down-regulated, while peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) acetylation modification increased in the Mstn-KO mice. Skeletal muscle cells from Mstn-KO and WT were treated with AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside (AICAR), and the AMPK inhibitor Compound C, respectively. Compared with the wild-type (WT) group, Compound C treatment further down-regulated the expression or activity of pAMPK, SIRT1, citrate synthase (CS), isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDHm), and α-ketoglutarate acid dehydrogenase (α-KGDH) in Mstn-KO mice, while Mstn knockout inhibited the AICAR activation effect. Therefore, Mstn knockout affects mitochondrial function by inhibiting the AMPK/SIRT1/PGC1α signaling pathway. The present study reveals a new mechanism for Mstn knockout in regulating energy homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter-species somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) is significant in the study of biological problems such as embryonic genome activation and the mitochondrial function of embryos. Here, we used iSCNT as a model to determine whether abnormal embryo genome activation was caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. First, we found the ovine-bovine iSCNT embryos were developmentally blocked at the 8-cell stage. The reactive oxygen species level, mitochondrial membrane potential, and ATP level in ovine-bovine cloned embryos were significantly different from both bovine-bovine and IVF 8-cell stage embryos. RNA sequencing and q-PCR analysis revealed that mitochondrial transport, mitochondrial translational initiation, mitochondrial large ribosomal subunit, and mitochondrial outer membrane genes were abnormally expressed in the ovine-bovine embryos, and the mitochondrial outer membrane and mitochondrial ribosome large subunit genes, mitochondrial fusion gene 1, and ATPase Na+/K+ transporting subunit beta 3 gene were expressed at lower levels in the ovine-bovine cloned embryos. Furthermore, we found that overexpression and knockdown of Mfn1 significantly affected mitochondrial fusion and subsequent biological functions such as production of ATP, mitochondrial membrane potential, reactive oxygen species and gene expressions in cloned embryos. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanism by which the Mfn1 gene regulates embryonic development and embryonic genome activation events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low-grade bauxite in southern Shanxi Province, China is enriched in multiple critical metal elements, including Li, Ga, V, Se, and rare earth elements (REEs), which have reached the standard of comprehensive utilization as independent deposits or associated resources. Even more importantly, identifying the modes of occurrence of these critical elements is essential for designing technologies to extract critical metals from bauxite ores. This study used a combination of direct (X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and micro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometer), and indirect (size sieving method, float-sink experiment, and correlation analysis) methods to effectively reveal the distribution of critical elements in the different identified mineral phases. The results regarding the low-grade bauxite are as follows: Li was mainly hosted in cookeite as an independent mineral; Ga was mainly associated with diaspore; anatase is the main carrier mineral for V; REEs were present in the low-grade bauxite in multiples modes of occurrence, the most common of which were goyazite, and to a lesser extent, florencite; Se primarily occurs in sulfides. This study contributes to the development and utilization of these essential metal resources in bauxite by providing a useful reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese Yellow Cattle, an ancient and domesticated breed for draft service, provide unique animal genetic resources with excellent genetic features, including crude feed tolerance, good stress resistance, strong adaptability, and tender meat quality; however, their production performance and meat yield are significantly inferior. Herein, the myostatin gene (MSTN), a negative regulator of skeletal muscle development, was knocked out by CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Eight MSTN gene-edited bull calves (MT) were born, and six of them are well-developed. Compared with the control cattle (WT), the growth trait indexes of MT cattle were generally increased, and the hindquarters especially were significantly improved. The biochemical indexes and the semen characteristics demonstrated that MT bulls were healthy and fertile. Consistent with our conjecture, the wobble and beating of MT bull spermatozoa were significantly higher than that of WT. Nine sperm motility-related proteins and nineteen mitochondrial-related proteins were identified by up-regulation in MT bull spermatozoa using FLQ proteomic technique and act to govern sperm flagellum assembly, organization, and beating and provide sufficient energy for sperm motility. The current study confirmed that the MSTN gene-edited Chinese Yellow cattle have improved growth traits and normal fertility, which can be used for beef cattle production and breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: GNG4, a member of the G-protein γ family, is a marker of poor overall survival (OS) rates in some malignancies. However, the potential role of GNG4 in bladder cancer (BLCA) is unknown. It is also unclear whether GNG4 may be utilized as a marker to guide chemotherapy or immunotherapy. Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing data were used to explore the expression of GNG4 in tumor microenvironment of BLCA. Bulk RNA sequencing data from TCGA were used to evaluate the relationship between GNG4 expression and biological features, such as immune cell infiltrations and gene mutations. The associations between GNG4 expression and survival in BLCA patients under or not under immunotherapy were evaluated using seven BLCA cohorts. Results: GNG4 was specifically expressed in exhausted CD4+ T cells. And the high expression of the GNG4 was associated with high level of immune cell infiltration. The high-GNG4-expression group displayed a better response to immunotherapy, whereas patients in the low-GNG4-expression group often benefited from chemotherapy. Moreover, the high-GNG4 group was more similar to the basal group, whereas the low-GNG4 group was similar to the luminal group. Conclusions: GNG4 may be a potential biomarker for the prediction of the response to therapy in BLCA. Higher GNG4 expression can be used as a predictor of response to immunotherapy, and lower GNG4 expression can be used as a predictor of response to chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of oral microbial dysbiosis on Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains controversial. Building off recent studies reporting that various microbes might directly seed or promote amyloid β (Aβ) deposition, we evaluated the effects of periodontal bacteria (Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola) and supragingival commensal (Streptococcus gordonii) oral bacterial infection in the APP-transgenic CRND8 (Tg) mice model of AD. We tracked bacterial colonization and dissemination, and monitored effects on gliosis and amyloid deposition. Chronic oral infection did not accelerate Aβ deposition in Tg mice but did induce alveolar bone resorption, IgG immune response, and an intracerebral astrogliosis (GFAP: glial fibrillary acidic protein). In contrast, intracerebral inoculation of live but not heat-killed P. gingivalis increased Aβ deposition and Iba-1 (ionized calcium-binding adaptor-1) microgliosis after 8 weeks of bacterial infection but not at 4 days. These data show that there may be differential effects of infectious microbes on glial activation and amyloid deposition depending on the species and route of inoculation, and thereby provide an important framework for future studies. Indeed, these studies demonstrate marked effects on amyloid β deposition only in a fairly non-physiologic setting where live bacteria is injected directly into the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Myostatin (MSTN) gene knockout can increase lean muscle mass and has been widely used in livestock breeding. MSTN deficiency also regulates various metabolic processes. However, the effect of MSTN knockout on the liver, the largest metabolic organ, has not been reported. In this study, physiological and biochemical parameters of serum, untargeted and targeted metabolomics of MSTN+/− and WT cattle were studied, and we found that the knockout of MSTN could regulate liver metabolism and promote bile acid metabolism. This may be due to the enhanced expression of bile acid synthesis genes in MSTN+/− bovine livers. In conclusion, MSTN knockout regulated bile acid metabolism via enhanced bile acid synthesis. Myostatin (MSTN) is a major negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass and causes a variety of metabolic changes. However, the effect of MSTN knockout on bile acid metabolism has rarely been reported. In this study, the physiological and biochemical alterations of serum in MSTN+/− and wild type (WT) cattle were investigated. There were no significant changes in liver and kidney biochemical indexes. However, compared with the WT cattle, lactate dehydrogenase, total bile acid (TBA), cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in the MSTN+/− cattle were significantly increased, and glucose, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides (TG) were significantly decreased, indicating that MSTN knockout affected glucose and lipid metabolism and total bile acids content. Targeted metabolomic analysis of the bile acids and their derivatives was performed on serum samples and found that bile acids were significantly increased in the MSTN+/− cattle compared with the WT cattle. As the only bile acid synthesis organ in the body, we performed metabolomic analysis on the liver to study the effect of MSTN knockout on hepatic metabolism. Metabolic pathway enrichment analysis of differential metabolites showed significant enrichment of the primary bile acid biosynthesis and bile secretion pathway in the MSTN+/− cattle. Targeted metabolomics data further showed that MSTN knockout significantly increased bile acid content in the liver, which may have resulted from enhanced bile acid synthesis due to the expression of bile acid synthesis genes, cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) and sterol 27-hydroxylase (CYP27A1), and upregulation in the liver of the MSTN+/− cattle. These results indicate that MSTN knockout does not adversely affect bovine fitness but regulates bile acid metabolism via enhanced bile acid synthesis. This further suggests a role of MSTN in regulating metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hollow-structured mesoporous silica has wide applications in catalysis and drug delivery due to its high surface area, large hollow space, and short diffusion mesochannels. However, the synthesis of hollow structures usually requires sacrificial templates, leading to increased production costs and environmental problems. Here, for the first time, amino-functionalized mesoporous silica hollow spheres were synthesized by using CO2 gaseous bubbles as templates. The assembly of anionic surfactants, co-structure directing agents, and inorganic silica precursors around CO2 bubbles formed the mesoporous silica shells. The hollow silica spheres, 200–400 nm in size with 20–30 nm spherical shell thickness, had abundant amine groups on the surface of the mesopores, indicating excellent applications for CO2 capture, Knoevenagel condensation reaction, and the controlled release of Drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key to the commercialization of sustainable energy conversion technologies is the development of high-performance catalysts. The discovery of a stable, efficient, and low-cost multi-function catalysts is the key. We used a simple green precipitation method to load nanozinc oxide particles onto a diatomite substrate. The ZnO is nano-sized. This precipitation method produces ZnO nanoparticles in situ on diatomite. The catalysts degraded 90% of Methylene blue solution and also degraded gaseous benzene and gaseous acetone. Not only can the catalysts be used for the organic degradation of wastewater, but it also has the potential to degrade volatile organic compounds. Photocatalytic efficiency is closely related to the generation and separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. The effective suppression of the recombination rate of photoliving carriers and thus improvement of the photocatalytic activity, has become a key research area. At present, photocatalysis is an effective technology to inhibit photogenerated carrier recombination, which is often studied in sewage treatment. Photoelectrochemical decomposition of water reduces the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes by applying an external bias, thus improving the quantum efficiency for the complete mineralization of organic pollutants. The composite catalysts were used for oxygen and hydrogen extraction reactions, and a comparison of the catalysts with various loading ratios showed that the photoelectrochemical decomposition of water activity of the composite catalysts are due to pure ZnO, and the efficiency is highest when the loading ratio is 10%. This work provides new methods for the design and further optimization of the preparation of photoelectrochemical decomposition of water catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, dual-arm robots have been favored in various industries due to their excellent coordinated operability. One of the focused areas of study on dual-arm robots is obstacle avoidance, namely path planning. Among the existing path planning methods, the artificial potential field (APF) algorithm is widely applied in obstacle avoidance for its simplicity, practicability, and good real-time performance over other planning methods. However, APF is firstly proposed to solve the obstacle avoidance problem of mobile robot in plane, and thus has some limitations such as being prone to fall into local minimum, not being applicable when dynamic obstacles are encountered. Therefore, an obstacle avoidance strategy for a dual-arm robot based on speed field with improved artificial potential field algorithm is proposed. In our method, the APF algorithm is used to establish the attraction and repulsion functions of the robotic manipulator, and then the concepts of attraction and repulsion speed are introduced. The attraction and repulsion functions are converted into the attraction and repulsion speed functions, which mapped to the joint space. By using the Jacobian matrix and its inverse to establish the differential velocity function of joint motion, as well as comparing it with the set collision distance threshold between two robotic manipulators of robot, the collision avoidance can be solved. Meanwhile, after introducing a new repulsion function and adding virtual constraint points to eliminate existing limitations, APF is also improved. The correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method in the self-collision avoidance problem of a dual-arm robot are validated in MATLAB and Adams simulation environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the high-accuracy position/force control requirements of dual-arm robots for handling a target object, a control algorithm for dual-arm robots based on the modified sliding mode impedance controller MSMIC(tanh) is proposed. First, the combinative kinematics equation of the dual-arm robots and the unified dynamics model combining the manipulated object is established. Second, according to the impedance control motion model for the object, the desired joint angular accelerations of the manipulators are obtained, and the sliding mode controller based on the hyperbolic tangent function as the switch function is introduced to design the coordinated control strategy for dual-arm robots. The stability and convergence of the designed controller are proved according to the Lyapunov function theory. Finally, the operation tasks of the coordinated transport the target object for dual-arm robots are carried out in the simulated experiment environment. Simulation results show that the proposed control scheme can stably output the required internal force and achieve a high-precision trajectory tracking effect while reducing the periodic torque and joint chattering amplitude generated in the conventional sliding mode control algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loop Closure Detection (LCD) is an important technique to improve the accuracy of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). In this paper, we propose an LCD algorithm based on binary classification for feature matching between similar images with deep learning, which greatly improves the accuracy of LCD algorithm. Meanwhile, a novel lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN) is proposed and applied to the target detection task of key frames. On this basis, the key frames are binary classified according to their labels. Finally, similar frames are input into the improved lightweight feature matching network based on Transformer to judge whether the current position is loop closure. The experimental results show that, compared with the traditional method, LFM-LCD has higher accuracy and recall rate in the LCD task of indoor SLAM while ensuring the number of parameters and calculation amount. The research in this paper provides a new direction for LCD of robotic SLAM, which will be further improved with the development of deep learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the structure and photoelectric characteristics of zincblende InxGa1−xN alloys are systematically calculated and analyzed based on the density functional theory, including the lattice constant, band structure, distribution of electronic states, dielectric function, and absorption coefficient. The calculation results show that with the increase in x, the lattice constants and the supercell volume increase, whereas the bandgap tends to decrease, and InxGa1−xN alloys are direct band gap semiconductor materials. In addition, the imaginary part of the dielectric function and the absorption coefficient are found to redshift with the increase in indium composition, expanding the absorption range of visible light. By analyzing the lattice constants, polarization characteristics, and photoelectric properties of the InxGa1−xN systems, it is observed that zincblende InxGa1−xN can be used as an alternative material to replace the channel layer of wurtzite InxGa1−xN heterojunction high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) devices to achieve the manufacture of HEMT devices with higher power and higher frequency. In addition, it also provides a theoretical reference for the practical application of InxGa1−xN systems in optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene-based van der Waals (vdW) heterojunction plays an important role in next-generation optoelectronics, nanoelectronics, and spintronics devices. The tunability of the Schottky barrier height (SBH) is beneficial for improving device performance, especially for the contact resistance. Herein, we investigated the electronic structure and interfacial characteristics of the graphene/AlN interface based on density functional theory. The results show that the intrinsic electronic properties of graphene changed slightly after contact. In contrast, the valence band maximum of AlN changed significantly due to the hybridization of Cp and Np orbital electrons. The Bader charge analysis showed that the electrons would transfer from AlN to graphene, implying that graphene would induce acceptor states. Additionally, the Schottky contact nature can be effectively tuned by the external electric field, and it will be tuned from the p-type into n-type once the electric field is larger than about 0.5 V/Å. Furthermore, the optical absorption of graphene/AlN is enhanced after contact. Our findings imply that the SBH is controllable, which is highly desirable in nano-electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the most harmful contaminants that have been identified, most of which are gaseous organic pollutants. In this study, TiO2@diatomite catalysts with various loading amounts of TiO2 were fabricated using a facile solvothermal method with anhydrous ethanol as a solvent for the removal of VOCs. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that TiO2 has an anatase phase and the introduction of diatomite has no negative effect. The catalysts were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and transmittance electron microscopy techniques. The results indicate that after introducing diatomite, TiO2 nanoparticles are mostly square-like and intact, and are uniformly immobilized in the diatomite. Finally, their photocatalytic performance was investigated using liquid ultraviolet spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Among the catalysts tested, 0.35TiO2@diatomite (with a mass ratio of TiO2 to diatomite of 0.35) exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than the other samples, i.e., pure TiO2 and diatomite, and could effectively remove acetone and benzene, demonstrating its potential market application and practical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural and electronic properties of graphene/graphene-like Aluminum Nitrides monolayer (Gr/g-AlN) heterojunction with and without vacancies are systematically investigated by first-principles calculation. The results prove that Gr/g-AlN with nitrogen-vacancy (Gr/g-AlN-VN) is energy favorable with the smallest sublayer distance and binding energy. Gr/g-AlN-VN is nonmagnetic, like that in the pristine Gr/g-AlN structure, but it is different from the situation of g-AlN-VN, where a magnetic moment of 1 μB is observed. The metallic graphene acts as an electron acceptor in the Gr/g-AlN-VN and donor in Gr/g-AlN and Gr/g-AlN-VAl contacts. Schottky barrier height Φ B , n by traditional (hybrid) functional of Gr/g-AlN, Gr/g-AlN-VAl, and Gr/g-AlN-VN are calculated as 2.35 (3.69), 2.77 (3.23), and 1.10 (0.98) eV, respectively, showing that vacancies can effectively modulate the Schottky barrier height. Additionally, the biaxial strain engineering is conducted to modulate the heterojunction contact properties. The pristine Gr/g-AlN, which is a p-type Schottky contact under strain-free condition, would transform to an n-type contact when 10% compressive strain is applied. Ohmic contact is formed under a larger tensile strain. Furthermore, 7.5% tensile strain would tune the Gr/g-AlN-VN from n-type to p-type contact. These plentiful tunable natures would provide valuable guidance in fabricating nanoelectronics devices based on Gr/g-AlN heterojunctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hollow-structured mesoporous silica has wide applications in catalysis and drug delivery due to its high surface area, large hollow space, and short diffusion mesochannels. However, the synthesis of hollow structures usually requires sacrificial templates, leading to increased production costs and environmental problems. Here, for the first time, amino-functionalized mesoporous silica hollow spheres were synthesized by using CO 2 gaseous bubbles as templates. The assembly of anionic surfactants, co-structure directing agents, and inorganic silica precursors around CO 2 bubbles formed the mesoporous silica shells. The hollow silica spheres, 200-400 nm in size with 20-30 nm spherical shell thickness, had abundant amine groups on the surface of the mesopores, indicating excellent applications for CO 2 capture, Knoevenagel condensation reaction, and the controlled release of Drugs.