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The majority of ixodid ticks display host-specificity to varying extents. Feeding on different hosts affects their development and reproduction. Consequences can be analyzed at the level of the egg, as it is the initial stage of tick development. Tick egg proteins are abundant and diverse, providing nutrients for embryonic development. However, studies on tick egg profiles are scarce. In this study, we aimed to analyze whether feeding Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis ticks on the yaks (Bos grunniens) and domestic sheep (Ovis aries) has an impact on the variety and variability of the egg proteome. Detached engorged females were used to lay eggs, which were then collected, dewaxed, and subjected to protein extraction. The extracted egg proteins were enzymatically digested using Filter-Aided Sample Preparation (FASP), and the unique peptides were separated and detected by Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The MS data were searched against the previously constructed whole tick transcriptome library of H. qinghaiensis, and the UniProt database for the identification of tick-derived egg proteins. The analysis revealed 49 and 53 high-confidence proteins identified in eggs collected from B. grunniens (EggBg) and O. aries (EggOa), respectively. Of these, 46 high-confidence proteins were common to both egg types, while three were unique to EggBg and seven to EggOa. All the identified proteins mainly belonged to enzymes, enzyme inhibitors, transporters, and proteins with unknown functions. The differential abundance analysis showed that nine proteins were significantly more present in EggBg, while six were significantly more present in EggOa. Overall, enzymes were the most diverse group, while vitellogenin (Vg) was the most abundant. Blood meal uptake on different hosts has a certain effect on the egg proteome composition and the abundance of some proteins, but it may also lead to compensation of protein roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless energy transfer (WET) is a promising technology to fundamentally settle energy and lifetime problems in a wireless sensor network (WSN). In this paper, we study the operation of WSN based on WET using a mobile charging vehicle (MCV) and construct a periodic strategy to make the network operational permanently. Our goal is to decrease energy consumption of the entire system while maintaining the network operational forever. Based on the analysis of total energy consumption, we propose an energy-efficient renewable scheme (ERSVC) to achieve energy saving. Compared to previous schemes where the MCV visits and charges all nodes in each cycle, the MCV only needs to visit a portion of nodes in ERSVC. Numerical results show that our scheme can significantly decrease the total energy consumption with no performance loss. It is also validated that ERSVC can maintain the network operational forever with lower complexity than other schemes, making it more practical for real networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the existence of infinitely many nontrivial solutions for the following semilinear Schrödinger equation: { − Δ u + V (x) u = f (x , u) , x ∈ R N , u ∈ H 1 (R N) , where the potential V is continuous and is allowed to be sign-changing. By using a variant fountain theorem, we obtain the existence of infinitely many high energy solutions under the condition that the nonlinearity f (x , u) is of super-linear growth at infinity. The super-quadratic growth condition imposed on F (x , u) = ∫ 0 u f (x , t) d t is weaker than the Ambrosetti–Rabinowitz type condition and the similar conditions employed in the references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water shortage and pollution are serious challenges for many countries. Nanomaterials are promising new tools for water quality management due to unique physicochemical properties, high economic benefit, high removal efficiency and environmental friendliness. Here we describe four types of nanomaterials used for water treatment: nanofiltration membranes, photocatalytic nanomaterials, adsorption nanomaterials and reducing nanomaterials. We discuss their properties, applications and mechanisms for pollutant removal. We also review nanomaterials used for water quality monitoring, notably nanomaterials used for the detection of trace pollutants and pathogens. These nanomaterials include carbon nanotubes, magnetic nanoparticles, noble metal nanomaterials and quantum dots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunological responses to pathogens are stringently regulated in the eye to prevent excessive inflammation that damage ocular tissues and compromise vision. Suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) regulate intensity/duration of inflammatory responses. We have used SOCS1-deficient mice and retina-specific SOCS1 transgenic rats to investigate roles of SOCS1 in ocular herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) infection and non-infectious uveitis. We also genetically engineered cell-penetrating SOCS proteins (membrane-translocating sequence (MTS)-SOCS1, MTS-SOCS3) and examined whether they can be used to inhibit inflammatory cytokines. Overexpression of SOCS1 in transgenic rat eyes attenuated ocular HSV-1 infection while SOCS1-deficient mice developed severe non-infectious anterior uveitis, suggesting that SOCS1 may contribute to mechanism of ocular immune privilege by regulating trafficking of inflammatory cells into ocular tissues. Furthermore, MTS-SOCS1 inhibited IFN-γ-induced signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1) activation by macrophages while MTS-SOCS3 suppressed expansion of pathogenic Th17 cells that mediate uveitis, indicating that MTS-SOCS proteins maybe used to treat ocular inflammatory diseases of infectious or autoimmune etiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin-10 (IL-10)-producing regulatory B (Breg) cells suppress autoimmune disease, and increased numbers of Breg cells prevent host defense to infection and promote tumor growth and metastasis by converting resting CD4+ T cells to regulatory T (Treg) cells. The mechanisms mediating the induction and development of Breg cells remain unclear. Here we show that IL-35 induces Breg cells and promotes their conversion to a Breg subset that produces IL-35 as well as IL-10. Treatment of mice with IL-35 conferred protection from experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU), and mice lacking IL-35 (p35 knockout (KO) mice) or defective in IL-35 signaling (IL-12Rβ2 KO mice) produced less Breg cells endogenously or after treatment with IL-35 and developed severe uveitis. Adoptive transfer of Breg cells induced by recombinant IL-35 suppressed EAU when transferred to mice with established disease, inhibiting pathogenic T helper type 17 (TH17) and TH1 cells while promoting Treg cell expansion. In B cells, IL-35 activates STAT1 and STAT3 through the IL-35 receptor comprising the IL-12Rβ2 and IL-27Rα subunits. As IL-35 also induced the conversion of human B cells into Breg cells, these findings suggest that IL-35 may be used to induce autologous Breg and IL-35+ Breg cells and treat autoimmune and inflammatory disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helper T (Th) cells comprising Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg are involved in the pathogenesis of various vascular inflammations, and information about Th cells in Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is still controversial. The aim of our study was to investigate the changes in CD4 T cell subsets and their roles in the pathogenesis of HSP. Thirty children with diagnosis of HSP and thirty age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Real-time PCR was used to evaluate the mRNA expression levels of transcriptional factors and cytokines of CD4 T cells. Proportions of Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg cells in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry. Plasma cytokine concentrations were measured by ELISA. The proportions of Th2 and Th17 cells increased significantly in children with acute HSP ( P < 0.05), while there were no significant differences between HSP and healthy controls regarding the proportions of Treg cells and Th1 cells ( P > 0.05). mRNA levels of transcriptional factors and cytokines of Th2 and Th17 cells were significantly up-regulated ( P < 0.05), while the differences were not significant as to those of Th1 and Treg cells ( P > 0.05). Plasma concentrations of IL-17A, IL-4, and IL-6 in patients with HSP were found to be much higher than those of the control group ( P < 0.05), and no differences between IFN-γ, IL-12, and TGF-β were detected between the two groups ( P > 0.05). Presence of higher proportions of Th2 and Th17 cells in patients with HSP could be closely correlated with aberrant creation of antibody and development of vessel vasculitis. The changes in cytokine milieu in peripheral blood may play an important role in the derangement of CD4 T cell subset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using synchrotron SAXS and WAXS, we investigated crystalline structures including crystallite size, lamellar thickness, long spacing of syndiotactic polypropylene ( sPP) and poly(ethylene- co-octene) (PEcO) that crystallized from the sheared melt. The independence of the shear effects on the crystalline structures and the shear related lamellar orientation indicate the stable mesophase. Experiments on the different shear effects on polymer various crystalline structures confirm the multi-step polymer crystallization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T-helper type 17 cells (TH17) are implicated in rodent models of immune-mediated diseases. Here we report their involvement in human uveitis and scleritis, and validate our findings in experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU), a model of uveitis. TH17 cells were present in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and were expanded by interleukin (IL)-2 and inhibited by interferon (IFN)-γ. Their numbers increased during active uveitis and scleritis and decreased following treatment. IL-17 was elevated in EAU and upregulated tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in retinal cells, suggesting a mechanism by which TH17 may contribute to ocular pathology. Furthermore, IL-27 was constitutively expressed in retinal ganglion and photoreceptor cells, was upregulated by IFN-γ and inhibited proliferation of TH17. These findings suggest that TH1 cells may mitigate uveitis by antagonizing the TH17 phenotype through the IFN-γ–mediated induction of IL-27 in target tissue. The finding that IL-2 promotes TH17 expansion provides explanations for the efficacy of IL-2R antibody therapy in uveitis, and suggests that antagonism of TH17 by IFN-γ and/or IL-27 could be used for the treatment of chronic inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STAT3 transcription factor induces differentiation of naïve T cells into Th17 cells and loss of STAT3 in T cell prevents development of CNS autoimmune diseases. However, function of STAT3 in the B lymphocyte subset is not well understood. In this study, we have generated mice lacking STAT3 in CD19+ B cells (CD19-STAT3KO) and investigated intrinsic and extrinsic functions of STAT3 in B cells and its potential role in resistance or pathogenesis of organ-specific autoimmune diseases. We show that STAT3 regulates metabolic mechanisms in B cells with implications for bioenergetic and metabolic pathways that control cellular homeostasis in B cells. Thus, loss of STAT3 in CD19-STAT3KO cells perturbed growth and apoptosis by inducing rapid entry of B cells into the S-phase of the cell cycle, decreasing expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors and upregulating pro-apoptotic proteins. We further show that the CD19-STAT3KO mice develop severe experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU), an animal model of human uveitis. Exacerbated uveitis in CD19-STAT3KO mice derived in part from enhanced expression of costimulatory molecules on B cells, marked increase of Th17 responses and increased recruitment of granulocytes into the neuroretina. The enhanced autoimmunity upon deletion of STAT3 in B cells is also recapitulated in experimental autoimmune encephalitis, a mouse model of multiple sclerosis and thus support our conclusion that STAT3 deletion in B cells enhanced inflammation and the effects observed are not model specific. Our data further indicate that STAT3 pathway modulates interactions between B and T cells during EAU resulting in alteration of lymphocyte repertoire by increasing levels of autoreactive pathogenic T cells while suppressing development and/or expansion of immune-suppressive lymphocytes (Bregs and Tregs). Taken together, STAT3 exerts diametrically opposite effects in lymphocytes, with loss of STAT3 in B cells exacerbating uveitis whereas Stat3 deletion in T cells confers protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The repair of cartilage injuries and defects in the knee presents a significant challenge in the field of human joint surgery. A promising solution involves the synergy of three-dimensional printing and articular cartilage tissue engineering. This research primarily focuses on the formulation of composite hydrogels comprising gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), silk fibroin (SF) and hydroxyapatites (Haps), with a thorough examination of their morphology and mechanical properties. We also conducted tests on stacking height and grid area to assess the 3D printability of GM/SF/Haps inks. To evaluate the suitability of GM/SF/Haps scaffolds in cartilage regeneration, we performed 2D culture with mouse chondrocytes (ATDC5) inoculated on hydrogel surface and 3D culture with ATDC5 mixed in printing scaffolds. The assessment involved various techniques, such as Live/Dead staining, Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, immunofluorescence staining and cytoskeleton staining. The outcomes of this investigation revealed that the inclusion of Haps significantly enhanced cell viability, cell proliferation and the differentiation of chondrocytes within the composite scaffolds. Consequently, this study underscores the promising potential of GM/SF/Haps scaffolds in the domain of cartilage regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fairness is an important standard needed to be considered in a secure quantum key agreement (QKA) protocol. However, it found that most of the quantum key agreement protocols in the travelling model are not fair, i.e., some of the dishonest participants can collaborate to predetermine the final key without being detected. Thus, how to construct a fair and secure key agreement protocol has obtained much attention. In this paper, a new fair multiparty QKA protocol that can resist the collusive attack is proposed. More specifically, we show that in a client-server scenario, it is possible for the clients to share a key and reveal nothing about what key has been agreed upon to the server. The server prepares quantum states for clients to encode messages to avoid the participants' collusive attack. This construction improves on previous work, which requires either preparing multiple quantum resources by clients or two-way quantum communication. It is proven that the protocol does not reveal to any eavesdropper, including the server, what key has been agreed upon, and the dishonest participants can be prevented from collaborating to predetermine the final key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline of fossil fuels is fostering research on carbon–neutral fuels such as nuclear energy, yet uranium supply is limited by actual techniques of uranium extraction from seawater. In particular, biofouling by marine bacteria and adsorbent instability are major drawbacks. Here we synthesized a novel amidoxime-functionalized antibacterial covalent organic framework that displays high stability and inhibits more than 90% the growth of marine bacteria, thus resulting in an enhanced uranium recovery capacity of 6.64 mg/g. Meanwhile, due to its exceptional fluorescence properties, the adsorbent can also be applied to highly sensitive on-site and real-time monitoring of UO22+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we apply the method associated with the technique of measure of noncompactness and the Darbo fixed point theorem to study the existence of solutions of the Darboux problem involving the distributional Henstock-Kurzweil integral. Meanwhile, an example is provided to illustrate our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Car sharing has become a non-negligible complement to the existing transportation and is viewed as an environmentally beneficial alternative. In this paper, we develop a game-theoretic model to investigate how the introduction of car sharing has an impact on the market. Our results indicate that car sharing does not always reduce vehicle quantity. Specifically, only when the producing cost and transportation need are below some thresholds and the market size is greater than a threshold, can car sharing decrease the total number of vehicles. Otherwise, the manufacturer can generate a larger profit by increasing its production volume. We also find that the introduction of car sharing always makes the retailer incur loss, but it benefits the manufacturer if the market size is sufficiently large. Finally, our results show that the total number of vehicles does not always increase in sharing service level. In such cases, there is a positive spillover effect: by providing the car-sharing service, the manufacturer generates a larger profit with producing less vehicles, which helps alleviate some urban problems, such as air pollution and congestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of cloud computing, amounts of new concerns for security have been suggested. Cryptographic protocols are useful tools to address the problem emerging in cloud computing. Among those protocols, program obfuscation gradually showed the exclusive advantages that it can provide for cloud computing. In this paper, we present a cloud signing scheme, which can outsource the signing rights of a client to a cloud server securely by applying obfuscation. To improve the efficiency of obfuscation, we construct an obfuscator for all polynomial-size CNF circuits, which has the potential to avoid matrix branching programs and multilinear maps. A new notion of homomorphic encoding schemes, whose functionality is weaker than that of graded encoding schemes, is defined to complete our construction. The obfuscator is proven to be virtual black-box secure in the idealized homomorphic encoding model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerebral amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation due to impaired Aβ clearance is a pivotal event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Considerable brain-derived Aβ is cleared via transporting to the periphery. The liver is the largest organ responsible for the clearance of metabolites in the periphery. Whether the liver physiologically clears circulating Aβ and its therapeutic potential for AD remains unclear. Here, we found that about 13.9% of Aβ42 and 8.9% of Aβ40 were removed from the blood when flowing through the liver, and this capacity was decreased with Aβ receptor LRP-1 expression down-regulated in hepatocytes in the aged animals. Partial blockage of hepatic blood flow increased Aβ levels in both blood and brain interstitial fluid. The chronic decline in hepatic Aβ clearance via LRP-1 knockdown specific in hepatocytes aggravated cerebral Aβ burden and cognitive deficits, while enhancing hepatic Aβ clearance via LRP-1 overexpression attenuated cerebral Aβ deposition and cognitive impairments in APP/PS1 mice. Our findings demonstrate that the liver physiologically clears blood Aβ and regulates brain Aβ levels, suggesting that a decline of hepatic Aβ clearance during aging could be involved in AD development, and hepatic Aβ clearance is a novel therapeutic approach for AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSCs-EVs) possess cardioprotection in acute myocardial infarction. Nevertheless, the therapeutic intervention potential and the molecular mechanism of EVs from NMN (Nicotinamide mononucleotide) preconditioned hUCMSCs (N-EVs) in acute myocardial infarction remains unknown. In the present study, EVs from hUCMSCs (M-EVs) and N-EVs were identified by electron microscopy, immunoblotting and nanoparticle tracking analysis. Compared with M-EVs, N-EVs significantly increased the proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of HUVECs. Meanwhile, N-EVs markedly reduced apoptosis and cardiac fibrosis and promoted angiogenesis in the peri-infarct region in the MI rats. A high-throughput miRNA sequencing and qPCR methods analysis revealed that miR-210-3p was abundant in N-EVs and the expression of miR-210-3p was obviously upregulated in HUVECs after N-EVs treated. Overexpression of miR-210-3p in HUVECs significantly enhanced the tube formation, migration and proliferative capacities of HUVECs. However, downregulation of miR-210-3p in HUVECs markedly decreased the tube formation, migration and proliferative capacities of HUVECs. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assays revealed that EphrinA3 (EFNA3) was a direct target of miR-210-3p. Knockdown of miR-210-3p in N-EVs significantly impaired its ability to protect the heart after myocardial infarction. Altogether, these results indicated that N-EVs promoted the infarct healing through improvement of angiogenesis by miR-210-3p via targeting the EFNA3. Created with Biorender.com. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present work, spectrum of the S-wave fully-heavy tetraquark states Q Q Q ¯ Q ¯ ( Q = c , b ), i.e., c c c ¯ c ¯ , b b b ¯ b ¯ , c c b ¯ b ¯ / b b c ¯ c ¯ , b c c ¯ c ¯ / c c b ¯ c ¯ , b b c ¯ b ¯ / c b b ¯ b ¯ , and b c b ¯ c ¯ are systematically investigated within a nonrelativistic constituent quark model, in which the instanton-induced and one-gluon-exchange interactions are taken into account as the residual spin-dependent hyperfine interaction. Our results show that the states with c c c ¯ c ¯ and b b b ¯ b ¯ components could be located around 6500 MeV and 19,200 MeV, respectively. Based on our calculations, the new X(6900) state observed by LHCb may be not a ground c c c ¯ c ¯ tetraquark state, while it could be an orbitally or radially excited state of c c c ¯ c ¯ system. On the other hand, the recently reported X(6600) state by CMS and ATLAS can be explained as a ground c c c ¯ c ¯ tetraquark state with spin-parity J PC = 0 + + . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spectrum of the low-lying hidden- and double-charm tetraquark states are investigated in a nonrelativistic quark potential model, where the instanton-induced interaction is taken as the residual spin-dependent hyperfine interaction between quarks. The model parameters are fixed by fitting the spectrum of the ground hadron states. Our numerical results show that masses of several presently studied tetraquark states are close to those of the experimentally observed candidates of exotic meson, which indicates that the corresponding compact tetraquark components may take considerable probabilities in those observed exotic states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As bone marrow transplant (BMT) is gradually applied to the study of central nervous system (CNS) disease, it is needed to investigate the proper dose of chemotherapy to eradicate bone marrow cells while bringing little damage to brain. In the present study, we established a BMT model with varied busulfan and cyclophosphamide (Bu-Cy) dosages. The recipient mice's chimera rate, neuronal death, neuroinflammation, and behavioral functions were all investigated. Chimerism of peripheral blood cells was shown to rise with Bu-Cy treatment doses, with 60.7% in the Bu(20 mg/kg)/Cy(100 mg/kg) group and 93.0% in the Bu(35 mg/kg)/Cy(100 mg/kg) group. Recipients with Bu(35 mg/kg)/Cy(100 mg/kg) therapy had brain injury, increased neuroinflammation, diminished neurogenesis and cognitive abnormalities, whereas animals given a lesser dosage had no such brain damages. Conclusively, considering the chimerism and the possibility to damage brain, we recommend Bu(20 mg/kg)/Cy(100 mg/kg) is the ideal dose in BMT for studying CNS diseases in the C57/BL6 mouse strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing thermal challenges of electronic equipment, topology optimization of heat sinks has aroused great research interest in recent years. However, most related researches deal with heat transfer problems of the laminar flow. Only several papers deal with heat transfer problems of the turbulent flow which exhibits better heat dissipation capacity. This paper intends to demonstrate the topology optimization of turbulent forced convective heat sinks with a computational-cheap multi-layer thermofluid model. Based on the assumption of a hydrodynamically fully developed turbulent flow, a single-layer flow model is derived from the 3D turbulent flow model. Viscous effects in the out-of-plane direction are modeled as the additional terms in the derived momentum and transportation equations. Similarly, based on the assumption of adaptive temperature profiles in the out-of-plane direction, heat fluxes between adjacent layers are modeled and a multi-layer heat transfer model is constructed. Further, the porosity field is introduced to describe the channel's topology and the corresponding topology optimization scheme is presented. Topology optimizations of a heat sink for coil-cooling are carried out to reduce the average temperature rise of the heat source under a maximum volume fraction constraint. The accuracy of the multi-layer model is evaluated via 3D thermofluid simulation of optimized and reference designs. Topology-optimized heat sinks exhibit better thermal performance and provide up to a 32.39% reduction of the average temperature rise, compared with the reference designs. Additionally, a comparative study is also provided between designs optimized in heat transfer problems under laminar and turbulent flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the topology optimization of planar cooling channels using a low-cost multilayer thermofluid model. A novel three-layer model including the upper/lower cover-plate layers and the central solid-fluid mixing layer is proposed. The flow boundary layer effect and the heat transfer effect in the thickness direction are modeled as the flow coupling and thermal coupling effects between adjacent layers, respectively. Particularly, in order to estimate more accurate temperature fields, the constructed three-layer heat transfer model in the solid-fluid mixing channel is derived based on the assumption of adaptive temperature profiles in the thickness direction. Further, based on the three-layer thermofluid model, the porosity field is introduced to describe the channel's topology, and the corresponding topology optimization scheme is presented. Several optimized channels under different constraints and boundary conditions are shown and discussed in comparison. Optimized channels show streamlined boundaries and reasonable layouts and exhibit competitive heat dissipation performance. Parametric studies are conducted to analyze the effectiveness and reliability of the topology optimization scheme. Further, to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed three-layer model, optimized channels are simulated with the full 3D model and previous low-cost models. The proposed three-layer model exhibits good consistency with the full 3D model while achieves great improvement in efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing dissipated power levels of electronic equipment, heat sink design problems are significant aspects of some industrial design fields. Topology optimization theory has attracted much research interest in thermal-fluid problems to design high-performance heat sinks. These researches focus on optimizing the internal flow channel of heat sinks under predefined inlet and outlet schemes. However, inlet/outlet schemes also exhibit great influence on the performance of optimized heat sinks. This paper intends to demonstrate a concurrent optimization method of the internal flow channel, inlets, and outlets in forced convection heat sinks. The porosity field and moving morphable components (MMCs) are adopted to describe structural topologies of the internal channel design domain and the inlet/outlet design domains, respectively. The internal porosity field and the shape/position parameters of MMCs are applied as design variables. A conventional inlet/outlet component is presented and the corresponding topology description transformation function is constructed to convert the inlet/outlet topology into corresponding porosity fields. Further, the thermal-fluid coupling problems are solved through porosity-interpolated fluid flow and heat transfer governing equations. To ensure accurate inlet flow and temperature conditions during the topology iteration, continuous design-dependent inlet governing equations are established under inlet pressure, velocity, and flow flux boundary conditions. Design variables are concurrently optimized based on the sensitivity information. The proposed method is shown in detail by taking design problems of water-cooled heat sinks as examples. Various numerical examples are presented to validate the applicability and efficiency of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the complex underwater environment and the selective absorption and scattering effect of water on light waves, underwater images often suffer from issues such as low contrast, color distortion, and blurred details. This paper presents a stable and effective algorithm for enhancing underwater images to address these challenges. Firstly, an improved color correction algorithm based on the gray world and minimum information loss is employed to remove the blue-green bias present in the images. Secondly, a contrast enhancement algorithm is based on the guided filter and wavelet decomposition to make the texture details of the image clearer. Then, the normalized weight map of the image is obtained to carry out multi-scale fusion. Finally, the fused image is applied to perform the multi-scale decomposition. The experimental results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper can correct the image color deviation, improve the image contrast and enhance the image details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discrete logarithm problem (DLP) plays an important role in modern cryptography since it cannot be efficiently solved on a classical computer. Currently, the DLP based on the hyperelliptic curve of genus 2 (HCDLP) is widely used in industry and also a research field of hot interest. At the same time, quantum computing, a new paradigm for computing based on quantum mechanics, provides the ability to solve certain hard problems that cannot be efficiently solved on classical computers. In this paper, we consider the problem of solving the HCDLP in the paradigm of quantum computing. We propose a quantum algorithm for solving the HCDLP by applying the framework of quantum algorithm designed by Shor. The key of the algorithm is the realization of divisor addition. We solve the key problem and get analytical results for divisor addition by geometric meaning of the group addition. Therefore, the procedure can be efficiently realized on a quantum computer using the basic modular arithmetic operations. Finally, we conclude that the HCDLP defined over an n-bit prime field F p can be computed on a quantum computer with at most 13 n + 2 ⌊ log 2 n ⌋ + 10 qubits using 2624 n 3 log 2 n - 2209.2 n 3 + 1792 n 2 log 2 n - 3012.8 n 2 Toffoli gates. For current parameters at comparable classical security levels, there are fewer qubits and Toffoli gates to solve the HCDLP than the ones to solve the DLP based on elliptic curves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a high thermoelectric figure of merit, zT of 1.9 at 740 K is achieved in Ge1−xBixTe crystals through the concurrent of Seebeck coefficient enhancement and thermal conductivity reduction with Bi dopants. The substitution of Bi for Ge not only compensates the superfluous hole carriers in pristine GeTe but also shifts the Fermi level (EF) to an eligible region. Experimentally, with moderate 6–10% Bi dopants, the carrier concentration is drastically decreased from 8.7 × 1020 cm−3 to 3–5 × 1020 cm−3 and the Seebeck coefficient is boosted three times to 75 μVK−1. In the meantime, based on the density functional theory (DFT) calculation, the Fermi level EF starts to intersect with the pudding mold band at L point, where the band effective mass is enhanced. The enhanced Seebeck coefficient effectively compensates the decrease of electrical conductivity and thus successfully maintain the power factor as large as or even superior than that of the pristine GeTe. In addition, the Bi doping significantly reduces both thermal conductivities of carriers and lattices to an extremely low limit of 1.57 W m−1K−1 at 740 K with 10% Bi dopants, which is an about 63% reduction as compared with that of pristine GeTe. The elevated figure of merit observed in Ge1−xBixTe specimens is therefore realized by synergistically optimizing the power factor and downgrading the thermal conductivity of alloying effect and lattice anharmonicity caused by Bi doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D micro-electrode is fitted out by multilayer 2D micro-structures, so the steps inevitably occur in the 3D micro-electrode. When the 3D micro-electrode is used in micro-EDM, steps are replicated onto the surface of the 3D micro-structure, which have an adverse impact on the shape precision of the 3D micro-structure. Focus on this problem, this paper proposed to eliminate the steps of the 3D micro-electrode based on skin effect and point discharge. Then, the paper detailedly researched the impact of machining voltage, machining depth, and processing numbers on the elimination of 3D micro-electrode’s step effect and its micro-EDM results. In order to verify the feasibility of this method, the paper designed a 3D micro-cavity structure which has slopes in the X and Y directions with slope angle of 45°. Finally, under workpiece of 304# stainless steel, pulse width of 800 ns, pulse interval of 4200 ns, machining voltage of 110 V, and machining depth of 650 μm (250 μm larger than the design depth), the step effect of the 3D micro-electrode was effectively eliminated and its micro-EDM result has a dimension error within 7 μm and slope error within 3°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii offers a great promise for large-scale production of multiple recombinant proteins of pharmaceutical and industrial interest. However, the nuclear-encoding transgenes usually are expressed at a low level, which severely hampers the use of this alga in molecular farming. In this study, the promoter of the endogenous intraflagellar transport 25 (IFT25) gene of C. reinhardtii was tested for its ability to drive the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP), which functions as a readout for target gene expression . IFT25 promoter (IFT25P) alone was not able to drive GFP expression to a detectable level. IFT25P, however, can drive robust IFT25-GFP fusion protein expression when the intron-containing IFT25 gene was inserted between IFT25P and GFP cDNA. When an extended version of foot-and-mouth virus 2A protease (2A) sequence was further inserted between the intron-containing IFT25 gene and the GFP cDNA, discrete GFP protein was observed to release from the IFT25-2A-GFP polyprotein via 2A self-cleaving with a cleavage efficacy of approximately 99%. The monomer GFP was accumulated to a level of as high as 0.68% of total soluble proteins. To test whether the newly developed bicistronic IFT25P-IFT25-2A expression system can be used to overexpress heterologous proteins of different origins and sizes, we inserted codon-optimized cDNAs encoding a Trichoderma reesei xylanase1 (25 kDa) and a Lachnospiraceae bacterium ND2006 type V CRISPR-Cas protein LbCpf1 (147 kDa) to the vector and found that the production of xylanase1 and LbCpf1 was as high as 0.69 and 0.49% of total soluble protein. Our result showed that IFT25P-IFT25-2A system is more efficient to drive nuclear gene expression in C. reinhardtii than other conventionally used promoters, thus representing a novel efficient recombinant protein expression tool and has the potential to be scaled for commercial production of nuclear-encoded recombinant proteins of different sizes and origins in C. reinhardtii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D micro-electrode used in micro electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM) is difficult to be fabricated. Based on laminated object manufacturing (LOM) process, this paper superimposed multilayer 2D micro-structures together to fit out 3D micro-electrode and applied it in micro-EDM to process 3D micro-cavity mold. Firstly, 100-μm-thick Cu foils were cut by wire-electrical discharge machining (WEDM) to obtain multilayer 2D micro-structures, and then these 2D micro-structures were connected together to fit out 3D micro-electrode through vacuum pressure thermal diffusion welding. Secondly, under the effect of 80-V voltage, 0.2-MHz pulse frequency, 800-ns pulse width, and 4200-ns pulse interval, the 3D micro-electrode was applied in micro-EDM and 3D micro-cavity mold with high surface quality was obtained. Thirdly, in order to reduce the adverse impact of electrode wear on machining precision of 3D micro-cavity mold, 3D queue micro-electrode was used to process the same 3D micro-cavity mold, in which the first electrode is for rough machining and the others for fine machining. Finally, based on the above studies, two kinds of 3D queue micro-electrodes were fabricated, and the 3D micro-cavity molds with surface roughness Ra = 0.48 μm were obtained through micro-EDM. Compared with the scanning 3D micro-EDM process, the 3D micro-cavity mold can be obtained through up and down reciprocating method of the 3D queue micro-electrode, featuring simple machining process and high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study was to propose a new method to fabricate metal/alloy micro-composites and investigate the properties of the micro-composites. A micro-ultrasonic powder moulding method was proposed for the fabrication of copper wires/Sn-Bi eutectic alloy micro-composite ( x-Cu/Sn-Bi, where x refers to the number of copper wires). Micro-structures and tensile properties of the micro-composite were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and tensile tests. Micro-structures indicated that the interface bonding of the copper wires and Sn-Bi alloy matrix was fairly good. During the tensile tests, the micro-composite's tensile strength increased significantly with increasing the number of copper wires; however, the elongation first improved and then decreased. The reinforced copper wires failed by two mechanisms during the tensile tests. In one mechanism, the copper wire fractured in the middle position, while in the other, it pulled out from the Sn-Bi alloy matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method of micro-double-staged laminated object manufacturing (micro-DLOM) for fabricating three-dimensional (3D) micro-molds and verifies its feasibility of fabricating of micro-stepped gear molds. First, under the action of 10 μs pulse width, 40 μs pulse interval, 0.28 Å wire-cutting current, and 60 V discharge voltage, a 100-μm-thick Cu foil is cut by wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) to obtain a multilayer two-dimensional (2D) microstructure. Under the technological parameters of 850 °C thermal diffusion temperature, 10 h thermal diffusion time, and 1.0 N/mm pressure, the multilayer Cu 2D microstructure is then connected by vacuum-pressure thermal diffusion welding to fit the gear molds with two- and three-stage steps. Finally, on the basis of ultrasonic powder molding, two- and three-stage step plastic gears are respectively obtained. Compared with the ultraviolet lithography (UV-LIGA) process, the new process can fabricate complicated 3D microstructure with free-form surfaces; compared with the femtosecond laser-layering flat-scanning ablation process, the new process cuts only 2D microstructure of each layer with high processing efficiency; and compared with the micro-electrical discharge machining (EDM) process, the new process omits the step of microelectrode fabrication. Moreover, because there is no loss in the course of the microelectrode process, micro-molds in which the depth-to-width ratio is beyond limitation can be fabricated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional (3D) flower-like cubic NiS nanoplates with single crystalline nature were successfully prepared through decomposing bis(thiourea) nickel(II) chloride crystals (BTNC). The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, selected area electron diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Results show that the as-prepared products are pure cubic NiS and stable in range of 180-220°C with single crystal nature providing high surface areas, and higher reaction temperature leads to lower surface areas. Typical Raman peaks of the as-synthesized 3D flower-like cubic NiS at 200°C are located at 239, 286, 337, 379, 423, 478 and 630 cm. Magnetization measurement indicates that single crystalline NiS nanoplates prepared at 200°C displays antiferromagnetic behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a meta-analysis of Parkinson's disease genome-wide association studies using a common set of 7,893,274 variants across 13,708 cases and 95,282 controls. Twenty-six loci were identified as having genome-wide significant association; these and 6 additional previously reported loci were then tested in an independent set of 5,353 cases and 5,551 controls. Of the 32 tested SNPs, 24 replicated, including 6 newly identified loci. Conditional analyses within loci showed that four loci, including GBA, GAK-DGKQ, SNCA and the HLA region, contain a secondary independent risk variant. In total, we identified and replicated 28 independent risk variants for Parkinson's disease across 24 loci. Although the effect of each individual locus was small, risk profile analysis showed substantial cumulative risk in a comparison of the highest and lowest quintiles of genetic risk (odds ratio (OR) = 3.31, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.55-4.30; P = 2 × 10−16). We also show six risk loci associated with proximal gene expression or DNA methylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The lack of control over microvasculature formation remains a key roadblock to the therapeutic vascularization and regeneration of functional tissues. In the current study, the integration of plasmid DNA (pDNA) condensation and electrospraying technologies was proposed to promote the regeneration of mature blood vessels through injectable or infusible administration of microparticles. Methods: Calcium phosphate (CP) nanoparticles with encapsulated plasmids encoding vascular endothelial growth factors (pVEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (pbFGF) were synthesized using reverse microemulsions. Electrosprayed microparticles with the loading of CP-pDNA nanoparticles were evaluated on both endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells and after subcutaneous infusion into animals. Results: CP-pDNA nanoparticles was obtained with an average size of around 110 nm and electrosprayed into microparticles, resulting in high loading efficiency and extended protection on pDNA from external DNase environment. The inoculation of poly(ethylene glycol) into microparticle matrices realized a gradual release for 4 weeks of CP-pDNA nanoparticles, leading to an incremental transfection efficiency and strong secretion of extracellular matrices. After subcutaneous infusion of microparticles with encapsulated both CP-pVEGF and CP-pbFGF nanoparticles, significantly higher densities of blood vessels were achieved than those containing individual nanoparticles, and induced a rapid generation of mature blood vessels with few cytotoxicity and inflammation reactions. Conclusions: Electrosprayed microparticle with CP-pDNA nanoparticles encapsulated promoted the formation of vascular networks, providing clinical relevance for therapeutic vascularization and regeneration of functional tissues after injection to ischemic sites or entrapment into tissue engineering scaffolds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aimed at microplastic parts molding, we use a novel method of micro-ultrasonic powder molding (micro-UPM) on polypropylene (PP) microplastic parts and investigate the experimental process in detail. Firstly, the experimental results show that the temperature is maximum on the top outer edges of plastic parts and minimum on the bottom center. Then, the effects of experimental process parameters on plastic flashes are studied. The results show that under the same pressure, the flash thickness gradually thins with increased ultrasonic time. The ultrasonic time for the flashes to be automatically separated from the matrix of microplastic parts is obviously shortens with increased pressure. Finally, the tests on thermal properties, morphology, and mechanical properties of microplastic parts are also conducted. The results show that the melting point and crystallinity of microplastic parts produced by micro-UPM are higher than those of raw materials. The organizational structure shows no obvious 'skin-core' structure, and its crystal form is α crystal form, which is the most common type of polypropylene. With increased ultrasonic time, the tensile strength and elongation at break of samples both have a trend of rise followed by drop before and after annealing. An ultrasonic time that is too long can lead to the degradation of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) risk is strongly influenced by genetic factors such as the presence of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (referred to here as APOE4), as well as non-genetic determinants including ageing. To pursue mechanisms by which these affect human brain physiology and modify LOAD risk, we initially analysed whole-transcriptome cerebral cortex gene expression data in unaffected APOE4 carriers and LOAD patients. APOE4 carrier status was associated with a consistent transcriptomic shift that broadly resembled the LOAD profile. Differential co-expression correlation network analysis of the APOE4 and LOAD transcriptomic changes identified a set of candidate core regulatory mediators. Several of these-including APBA2, FYN, RNF219 and SV2A-encode known or novel modulators of LOAD associated amyloid beta A4 precursor protein (APP) endocytosis and metabolism. Furthermore, a genetic variant within RNF219 was found to affect amyloid deposition in human brain and LOAD age-of-onset. These data implicate an APOE4 associated molecular pathway that promotes LOAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was found that the interface effects in viscous capillary flow influenced the process of viscosity measurement greatly, and the abnormal viscosity behaviors of polyelectrolytes as well as neutral polymers in dilute solution region were ascribed to interface effect. According to this theory, we have reviewed the previous viscosity data of derivatives of poly-2-vinylpyridine reported by Maclay and Fuoss first. Then, the abnormal viscosity behaviors of a series of sodium polystyrene sulfonate samples with various molecular weights in dilute aqueous solutions were studied further. The solute adsorption behaviors and structural information of polymers have been discussed carefully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Base on the principle of absolute quantification of size exclusion chromatography (SEC), a light scattering (LS) detector coupled with a concentration detector (refractive index detector) is utilized to determine the compositions of complicated binary mixtures. A theoretical analysis predicts that the response factors for both LS and RI detectors are linear functions with the composition of any specified polymer mixtures in the binary polymer mixtures. Two pairs of complicated binary mixtures were used to test the theory mentioned in the present paper, and the experimental results show an excellent accordance with the theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recycling of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) from the cell surface via the endocytic pathways plays a key role in the generation of amyloid β peptide (Aβ) in Alzheimer disease. We report here that inherited variants in the SORL1 neuronal sorting receptor are associated with late-onset Alzheimer disease. These variants, which occur in at least two different clusters of intronic sequences within the SORL1 gene (also known as LR11 or SORLA) may regulate tissue-specific expression of SORL1. We also show that SORL1 directs trafficking of APP into recycling pathways and that when SORL1 is underexpressed, APP is sorted into Aβ-generating compartments. These data suggest that inherited or acquired changes in SORL1 expression or function are mechanistically involved in causing Alzheimer disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]