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Early diagnosis and intervention are key to the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is an urgent need for new biomarkers and molecular targets for the detection and treatment of early Alzheimer's pathology. Circular RNA (circRNA) is a newly discovered non-coding RNA with a special type of covalently closed single strand, with potential preventive and therapeutic applications in a variety of diseases. New studies in the field of circRNA in AD have made many exciting new discoveries in recent years, some of which have not received sufficient attention but have important research implications. This review will focus on existing studies of circRNA in AD and discuss future translational perspectives of proposed circRNA strategies for clinical application in AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mushroom poisoning contributes significantly to global foodborne diseases and related fatalities. Amanita mushrooms frequently cause such poisonings; however, identifying these toxic species is challenging due to the unavailability of fresh and intact samples. It is often necessary to analyze residues, vomitus, or stomach extracts to obtain DNA sequences for the identification of species responsible for causing food poisoning. This usually proves challenging to obtain usable DNA sequences that can be analyzed using conventional molecular biology techniques. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a DNA mini-barcoding method for the identification of Amanita species. Following the evaluation and optimization of universal primers for DNA mini-barcoding in Amanita mushrooms, we found that the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene sequence primer ITS-a was the most suitable DNA barcode primer for identifying Amanita species. Forty-three Amanita samples were subsequently amplified and sequenced. The sequences obtained were analyzed for intra- and inter-species genetic distances, and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. The findings indicated that the designed primers had strong universality among the Amanita samples and could accurately identify the target gene fragment with a length of 290 bp. Notably, the DNA mini-barcode accurately identified the 43 Amanita samples, demonstrating high consistency with the conventional DNA barcode. Furthermore, it effectively identified DNA from digested samples. In summary, this DNA mini-barcode is a promising tool for detecting accidental ingestion of toxic Amanita mushrooms. It may be used as an optimal barcode for species identification and traceability in events of Amanita-induced mushroom poisoning. Key points: • Development of a DNA mini-barcoding method for Amanita species identification without fresh samples. • The ITS-a primer set was optimized for robust universality in Amanita samples. • The mini-barcode is suitable for screening toxic mushroom species in mushroom poisoning cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we aim to evaluate the association of the genetically proxied effect of metformin on blood pressure (BP) and hypertension through a drug target-based Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Thirty-two instrumental variables for five metformin targets (i.e., AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), mitochondrial glycerol 3 (MG3), mitochondrial complex I (MCI), and glucagon (GCG)) were introduced to the MR analysis on the datasets of hypertension, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP). The MR analyses demonstrated that the MCI- and MG3-specific metformin's use would significantly reduce SBP, DBP, and hypertension risk. The meta-analyses showed that the genetically proxied metformin's use equivalent to a 6.75 mmol/mol reduction on HbA1c could decrease both the SBP (beta = − 1.05, P < 0.001) and DBP (beta = − 0.51, P = 0.096). Furthermore, metformin's use was also implied to reduce the hypertension risk. The MG3- and MCI-dependent metformin's effect may play key roles in the anti-hypertension function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a need for accurate estimates of extreme sea levels for use in coastal engineering during typhoon seasons. Therefore, a numerical study was carried out to investigate tide–surge interactions induced by Typhoon Mangkhut in the Pearl River Estuary. A nested model was first validated and then used to study the spatial and temporal behavior of the storm surge and tide–surge interactions in the Pearl River Estuary during Typhoon Mangkhut (2018). The numerical results showed that the typhoon could induce nonlinear oscillations with amplitudes of approximately 0.3 m in the bay, which were caused by tide–surge interactions. Thus, we investigated the temporal and spatial features of the nonlinear oscillations and tracked their origin. First, for most stations inside Lingdingyang Bay, the peak of the nonlinear oscillations did not coincide with the highest stage of the surge and instead occurred afterward. Spatially, much larger nonlinear oscillations occurred at the top of the bay than near the mouth. Second, through a series of sensitivity experiments that involved translating the original typhoon landfall process forward and backward relative to the tide within a limited timeframe, the nonlinear oscillations showed tidally influenced characteristics. Specifically, there tend to be positive oscillations at low tide and negative oscillations at high tide, which explains the fact that surge is always enhanced (or weakened) under low (or high) tide. In addition to the phase difference between tide and surge, we also tested the influence of tidal range on the nonlinear oscillations. The results showed that the strength of the nonlinear oscillations in the bay was proportional to the tidal range under the same meteorological conditions. Finally, we conducted additional experiments by altering terms in primitive movement equations to weigh the importance of the origins that produce the nonlinear oscillations in terms of hydrodynamic mechanisms. The results indicated that nonlinear bottom friction was the major factor causing significant nonlinear oscillations, accounting for nearly three-fourths of the total. The next most influential factor was the shallow water effect, accounting for the other one-fourth of the total. The advective term showed little effect on the nonlinear oscillations in the open bay of the Pearl River Estuary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fine-tuning deep neural networks pre-trained on large scale datasets is one of the most practical transfer learning paradigm given limited quantity of training samples. To obtain better generalization, using the starting point as the reference (SPAR), either through weights or features, has been successfully applied to transfer learning as a regularizer. However, due to the domain discrepancy between the source and target task, there exists obvious risk of negative transfer in a straightforward manner of knowledge preserving. In this paper, we propose a novel transfer learning algorithm, introducing the idea of Target-awareness REpresentation Disentanglement (TRED ), where the relevant knowledge with respect to the target task is disentangled from the original source model and used as a regularizer during fine-tuning the target model. Two alternative approaches, maximizing Maximum Mean Discrepancy (Max-MMD) and minimizing mutual information (Min-MI) are introduced to achieve the desired disentanglement. Experiments on various real world datasets show that our method stably improves the standard fine-tuning by more than 2% in average. TRED also outperforms related state-of-the-art transfer learning regularizers such as L 2 - SP , AT , DELTA , and BSS . Moreover, our solution is compatible with different choices of disentangling strategies. While the combination of Max-MMD and Min-MI typically achieves higher accuracy, only using Max-MMD can be a preferred choice in applications with low resource budgets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keratoconus is one of the most common causes leading to visual impairment in young adult population. The pathogenesis of keratoconus remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to identify the potential key genes and pathways associated with keratoconus and to further analyze its molecular mechanism. Two RNA-sequencing datasets of keratoconus and paired normal corneal tissues from the Gene Expression Omnibus database were obtained. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were conducted. The protein–protein interaction (PPI) network of the DEGs was established, and the hub genes and significant gene modules of PPI were further constructed. Lastly, the GO and KEGG analyses of the hub gene were performed. In total, 548 common DEGs were identified. GO enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs were primarily associated with regulation of cell adhesion, the response to molecule of bacterial origin, lipopolysaccharide and biotic stimulus, collagen-containing extracellular matrix, extracellular matrix, and structure organization. KEGG pathway analysis showed that these DEGs were mainly involved in the TNF signaling pathway, IL-17 signaling pathway, Rheumatoid arthritis, Cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction. The PPI network was constructed with 146 nodes and 276 edges, and 3 significant modules are selected. Finally, top 10 hub genes were identified from the PPI network. The results revealed that extracellular matrix remodeling and immune inflammatory response could be the key links of keratoconus, TNF, IL6, IL1A, IL1B, CCL3, MMP3, MMP9, MMP1, and TGFB1 may be potential crucial genes, and TNF signaling pathway and IL-17 signaling pathway were the potential pathways accounting for pathogenesis and development of keratoconus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is the main driver of regional economic development. Exploring the spatial patterns of regional innovation can elucidate the regional differences in innovation development. Nearly all the researches on spatial patterns of innovation take the administrative divisions of provinces, cities and counties as spatial units, and portray the spatial patterns of regional innovation from the macroscopic overall, but lack the spatial patterns within the regions. This paper employed patents of Jiangsu province, China in 2019 as a sample, divided the spatial units based on geographic coordinates of patent data, calculated the technological innovation capability index of within the spatial units, overcoming the drawbacks of the research method that fails to reveal the internal pattern of cities by using provinces, cities and counties as the research scale, and analysed the spatial patterns of technological innovation capability in Jiangsu province by using spatial autocorrelation analysis and standard deviation ellipse. The results show that: (1) In terms of distribution, the spatial pattern of technological innovation capability in Jiangsu province is obviously "one core and one belt" in southern Jiangsu, with Nanjing as the core and Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou as a southeast-northwest belt of high innovation capacity, while multi-point scattered in northern Jiangsu. (2) From the perspective of aggregation mode, each city has the largest number of H-H agglomeration units, relatively presenting a zonal distribution in the Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou area and Nanjing, and less distribution in other places. (3) Industrially speaking, the development of technological innovation capability of the secondary industry in many cities is better and centralized, while secondary and tertiary industries move hand in hand around the city centre in Nanjing, and the tertiary industry dominates comparably in Suzhou and Wuxi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined villagers' intention of pro-environmental behavior while supporting the Landcare Policy in China. The research team conducted field surveys of villagers from four famous scenic spots of Cili, which is near the world natural heritage site of the Zhangjiajie natural landscape core area. This area has developed rural tourism, many local villagers rely on tourism to obtain their livelihood income. However, the area is now affected by the environmental remediation policy called Landcare Policy. Cultivated land near the tourist area needs to be repaired, which affects the tourism income of some local villagers. Therefore, local villagers are facing a contradiction between tourism development and environmental protection. The study chose the change in local villagers' pro-environmental intention as the research content. Then we adopted an empirically validated norm activation model (NAM) from Schwartz, and merged the NAM with the expectancy theory of Vroom, based on 511 valid responses from the field questionnaire surveys, we aimed to develop a theoretical framework for researchers to understand the change in villagers' pro-environmental behaviors, concerning the balance between rural tourism livelihood benefits and environmental remediation behavior. Structural equation modeling was conducted for each index of the responses, the findings showed that the merged model had 76.46% better predictive accuracy of villagers' pro-environmental intentions than applying Schwartz's NAM independently. This study found that the motivational force of this new theory significantly influences environmental personal norms due to the joint impact of valence, instrumentality, and expectancy. Villagers with a positive pro-environmental behavior intention expect good tourism benefits and environmental living conditions under the impact of the Landcare policy in rural tourism destinations near the famous natural heritage site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colon cancer (CC) is a prevalent malignant tumor that affects the colon in the gastrointestinal tract. Its aggressive nature, strong invasiveness, and rapid progression make it a significant health concern. In addition, oxidative stress can lead to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that surpass the body's antioxidant defense capacity, causing damage to proteins, lipids, and DNA, potentially promoting tumor development. However, the relationship between CC and oxidative stress requires further investigation. Methods: We collected gene expression data and clinical data from 473 CC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Additionally, we obtained 433 oxidative stress genes from Genecards (https://www.genecards.org/). Using univariate, multivariate, and LASSO Cox regression analyses, we developed predictive models for oxidative stress-related genes in CC patients. To validate the models, we utilized data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. We assessed the accuracy of the models through various techniques, including the creation of a nomogram, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA). The Cytoscape program was utilized to identify hub genes among differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in tumor patients using the TCGA dataset. Subsequently, we conducted survival analysis, clinical relevance analysis, and immune cell relevance analysis for the intersected genes obtained by combining the hub genes with the genes from the predictive models. Moreover, we investigated the mRNA expression and potential functions of these intersected genes using a range of experimental approaches. Results: In both the TCGA and GSE17538 datasets, patients classified as high-risk had significantly shorter overall survival compared to those in the low-risk group (TCGA: p < 0.001; GSE17538: p = 0.010). As a result, we decided to further investigate the role of SERPINE1. Our survival analysis revealed that patients with high expression of SERPINE1 had a significantly lower probability of survival compared to those with low expression (p < 0.05). Additionally, our clinical correlation analysis showed a significant relationship between SERPINE1 expression and T, N, and M stages, as well as tumor grade. Furthermore, our immune infiltration correlation analysis demonstrated notable differences in multiple immune cells between the high- and low-expression groups of SERPINE1. To validate our findings, we conducted experimental tests and observed that knocking down SERPINE1 in colon cancer cells resulted in significant reductions in cell viability and proliferation. Interestingly, we also noticed an increase in oxidative stress parameters, such as ROS and MDA levels, while the levels of reduced GSH decreased upon SERPINE1 knockdown. These findings suggest that the antineoplastic effect of silencing SERPINE1 may be associated with the induction of oxidative stress. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study introduces a new approach for the early diagnosis and treatment of CC, and further exploration of SERPINE1 could potentially lead to a significant advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So far, the studies exploring plasma α-synuclein as a biomarker of Parkinson's disease (PD) have provided contradictory results. Here, we first employed the Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to elucidate their potential causal relationship. Five genetic instrumental variables of plasma α-synuclein were acquired from two publicly available datasets. Three independent genome-wide association studies of PD were used as outcome cohorts (PD cohorts 1, 2, and 3). Two-sample MR analyses were conducted using inverse-variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and leave-one-out methods. Though the IVW approach demonstrated positive plasma α-synuclein effect on the PD risk in three outcome cohorts (OR = 1.134, 1.164, and 1.189, respectively), the P values were all larger than 0.05. The conclusions were robust under complementary sensitivity analyses. Our results did not support the causal relationship between plasma α-synuclein and PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When an n-partite physical system is measured by n observers, the joint probabilities of outcomes conditioned on the observables chosen by the n- parties form a nonnegative tensor P, called an n-partite correlation tensor (CT). According to the special relativity, CTs can be classified as signaling and nonsignaling ones; and from the point of view of hidden variable theory, CTs can be divided into Bell local and Bell nonlocal ones. In this paper, we aim to establish some Bell bi-inequalities for n-partite Bell local correlation tensors. A Bell bi-inequality consists of two Bell inequalities that hold only for Bell local CTs. First, we obtain an inequality for n-partite nonsignaling CTs, which can be used to check the nonsignaling property of a CT. Second, we recall the mathematical definition of Bell locality of CTs and prove global properties of the set of all Bell local CTs over an index set Δn. Then we establish a series tight Bell bi-inequalities and prove that a CT P is Bell local if and only if it satisfies all tight Bell bi-inequalities. Lastly, we list some examples to illustrate how to establish a Bell bi-inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time detection and identification of dangerous driving behaviors is an effective measure to reduce traffic accidents. Due to the high network delay, limited communication bandwidth, and weak computing power, lightweight detection models that can run on edge devices have been widely investigated and attracted considerable attention. In recent years, the Graph Convolutional Network (GCN), which models the human skeleton as a spatiotemporal graph, has achieved remarkable performance, due to its powerful capability of modeling non-Euclidean structured data. However, there are disadvantages such as the unitary way of extracting information, high model complexity, and inability to integrate environmental information. Therefore, we design a Lightweight Multimodal Feature Graph Convolutional Network (L-MFGCN) model for dangerous driving behavior detection video in an end-to-end manner. First, we propose a Multimodal Feature Graph Convolutional Neural Network (MF-GCN), which captures richer features by extracting critical local spatial and temporal information of joint points, and a multi-information fusion behavior recognition model of “people + objects” by capturing the motion information of related object. Then, the method based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) rank reduction is used to compress the model to improve the speed of recognizing an action sample while ensuring sufficient detection accuracy. The proposed model, respectively, achieves 96% and 86.3% accuracy on the x-view benchmark of NTU-RGBD dataset and the homemade Locomotive Driver Dataset, which attains the state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After decades of excavation and research, the Bronze Age metallurgy in the mineral-rich region Rudnyi Altai still has much to be explored. This article, taking advantage of an ensemble of ore, slag, and metal samples from the recently excavated metalworking settlement Sovetskii Put’-I, aims to delve into the technological behaviors of late Bronze Age metallurgists. It appears that they were occupied with smelting ores and producing metal artifacts; to that end they had a sufficient supply of oxide copper ores, although they also used sulfide ores. They curiously did not make good use of the tin ores of the tin-rich Kalba-Narym zone; instead, they were mostly content to produce pure copper. They acquired copper ores not only from the two adjacent mining areas of Zmeinogorsk and Rubtsovsk, but also from distant sources, including the Nulasai copper deposit in the Ili Valley in Xinjiang. Many of these behaviors, except for the application of both casting and forging in metal production, are unexpected in the context of metallurgical development in Bronze Age Eurasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most antiepileptic drug therapies are symptomatic and adversely suppress normal brain function by nonspecific inhibition of neuronal activity. In recent times, growing evidence has suggested that neuroinflammation triggered by epileptic seizures might be involved in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. Although the potential effectiveness of anti-inflammatory treatment for curing epilepsy has been extensively discussed, the limited quantitative data regarding spatiotemporal characteristics of neuroinflammation after epileptic seizures makes it difficult to be realized. We quantitatively analyzed the spatiotemporal changes in neuroinflammation in the early phase after status epilepticus in rats, using translocator protein (TSPO) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, which has been widely used for the quantitative evaluation of neuroinflammation in several animal models of CNS disease. Methods: The second-generation TSPO PET probe, [18F]DPA-714, was used for brain-wide quantitative analysis of neuroinflammation in the brains of rats, when the status epilepticus was induced by subcutaneous injection of kainic acid (KA, 15 mg/kg) into those rats. A series of [18F]DPA-714 PET scans were performed at 1, 3, 7, and 15 days after status epilepticus, and the corresponding histological changes, including activation of microglia and astrocytes, were confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Results: Apparent accumulation of [18F]DPA-714 was observed in several KA-induced epileptogenic regions, such as the amygdala, piriform cortex, ventral hippocampus, mediodorsal thalamus, and cortical regions 3 days after status epilepticus, and was reversibly displaced by unlabeled PK11195 (1 mg/kg). Consecutive [18F]DPA-714 PET scans revealed that accumulation of [18F]DPA-714 was focused in the KA-induced epileptogenic regions from 3 days after status epilepticus and was further maintained in the amygdala and piriform cortex until 7 days after status epilepticus. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that activated microglia but not reactive astrocytes were correlated with [18F]DPA-714 accumulation in the KA-induced epileptogenic regions for at least 1 week after status epilepticus. Conclusions: These results indicate that the early spatiotemporal characteristics of neuroinflammation quantitatively evaluated by [18F]DPA-714 PET imaging provide valuable evidence for developing new anti-inflammatory therapies for epilepsy. The predominant activation of microglia around epileptogenic regions in the early phase after status epilepticus could be a crucial therapeutic target for curing epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predisposition to Alzheimer's disease (AD) may arise from lipid metabolism perturbation, however, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we identify ATPase family AAA-domain containing protein 3A (ATAD3A), a mitochondrial AAA-ATPase, as a molecular switch that links cholesterol metabolism impairment to AD phenotypes. In neuronal models of AD, the 5XFAD mouse model and post-mortem AD brains, ATAD3A is oligomerized and accumulated at the mitochondria-associated ER membranes (MAMs), where it induces cholesterol accumulation by inhibiting gene expression of CYP46A1, an enzyme governing brain cholesterol clearance. ATAD3A and CYP46A1 cooperate to promote APP processing and synaptic loss. Suppressing ATAD3A oligomerization by heterozygous ATAD3A knockout or pharmacological inhibition with DA1 restores neuronal CYP46A1 levels, normalizes brain cholesterol turnover and MAM integrity, suppresses APP processing and synaptic loss, and consequently reduces AD neuropathology and cognitive deficits in AD transgenic mice. These findings reveal a role for ATAD3A oligomerization in AD pathogenesis and suggest ATAD3A as a potential therapeutic target for AD. Disturbance in lipid metabolism is one of the major pathological events in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, the authors identify ATAD3A oligomerization as a key mechanism causing impaired cholesterol metabolism and neuropathology in AD models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common hallmark of neurological disorders, and reducing mitochondrial damage is considered a promising neuroprotective therapeutic strategy. Here, we used high-throughput small molecule screening to identify CHIR99021 as a potent enhancer of mitochondrial function. CHIR99021 improved mitochondrial phenotypes and enhanced cell viability in several models of Huntington's disease (HD), a fatal inherited neurodegenerative disorder. Notably, CHIR99201 treatment reduced HD-associated neuropathology and behavioral defects in HD mice and improved mitochondrial function and cell survival in HD patient-derived neurons. Independent of its known inhibitory activity against glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3), CHIR99021 treatment in HD models suppressed the proteasomal degradation of calpastatin (CAST), and subsequently inhibited calpain activation, a well-established effector of neural death, and Drp1, a driver of mitochondrial fragmentation. Our results established CAST-Drp1 as a druggable signaling axis in HD pathogenesis and highlighted CHIR99021 as a mitochondrial function enhancer and a potential lead for developing HD therapies. Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common hallmark of neurological disorders. Here, the authors identify CHIR99021 as a potent enhancer of mitochondrial function, which improved mitochondrial phenotypes in Huntington's disease models. CHIR99021 was shown to stabilize calpastatin, which suppressed calpain activation and Drp1-induced mitochondrial fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fisher's Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) has been widely used for linear classification, feature selection, and metrics learning in multivariate data analytics. To ensure high classification accuracy while optimally discovering predictive features from the data, this paper studied CDA , namely Combinatorial Discriminant Analysis that intends to combinatorially select a subset of features and assign weights to them optimally. CDA extents the Truncated Rayleigh Flow algorithm (Tan et al. in J R Stat Soc: Ser B (Stat Methodol) 80(5):1057–1086, 2018) and improves LDA estimation under k-sparsity constraint. The experimental results based on the synthesized and real-world datasets demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms other LDA baselines and downstream classifiers. The empirical analysis shows that our algorithm can recover the combinatorial structure of optimal LDA with empirical consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blue flowers, which are rare, have long been a focus for researchers engaged in colored flower breeding. In this study, Plumbago auriculata, a plant with blue flowers, and its white flower forma Plumbago auriculata f. alba were used as research materials. Flower color quantification, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) observation of petal epidermal cells, and determination of the cell sap pH were carried out; moreover, metabolomic analysis was used to analyze the flavonoid metabolites of both types of petals. The results showed that the flower color of P. auriculata was bluish violet, and there was no significant difference in the epidermal cell distribution of the white and blue petals. The key substance that determined the bluish violet flower color was cyanidin-3-O-(6″-p-coumaroylglucoside) (Cy3-pC·G). Compared to the white petal cells, the blue petal cells exhibited up to 40 upregulated flavonoid compounds that were copigments. Together with the significantly increased pH (5.92 ± 0.12) of the petal cell sap, these copigments affected the color presentation of Cy3-pC·G, causing the final petal color of P. auriculata to be bluish violet. The results of this study indicate that cyanidin is an important anthocyanidin in blue flowers, which provides new insights into the breeding of blue flowers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study selected Dendrobium officinale protocorms as the experimental material and used different light-quality treatments and calcium signalling inhibitors to explore the mechanism of the biological response of calcium to light quality. The results indicate that a 1:3 red:blue (R:B) light ratio promotes the accumulation of biomass and polysaccharides in the protocorm. Nevertheless, this effect can be entirely counteracted by calmodulin (CaM) inhibitors and calcium ion-chelating agents. The possible mechanisms of this effect are as follows: (1) The Ca2+-CaM signal-regulated photosynthetic apparatus is improved by the R:B 1:3 light, increasing the CaM content and Ca2+-ATPase activity. Thus, R:B 1:3 light increases the development of the photosynthetic apparatus in the D. officinale protocorm, enhances its photosynthetic productivity, and promotes the activities of sucrose phosphatase; accordingly, biomass and sucrose accumulation increase. (2) R:B 1:3 light enhances Ca2+-CaM signalling and regulates glycometabolic processes to promote the activities of sucrose synthase, thus increasing fructose and glucose levels and providing sufficient synthetic precursors to promote polysaccharide production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mufushan massif, as continental intra-plate magmatites located in the Jiangnan-Xuefeng orogenic belt of the South China. The Mufushan massif constitutes the largest Mesozoic intrusive complex, intruded the Mesoproterozoic Lengjiaxi Formation. Multiple geochronometric dating was used to reconstruct their evolution from emplacement to exhumation. The Mufushan granitoids were emplaced at ∼150 Ma (U-Pb zircon) as post-orogenic magmatites contributing to Triassic crustal thickening. Onset of regional extension at ∼128 Ma (40Ar/39Ar white mica and biotite) manifests a tectonic regime switch. Intense exhumation prior to ∼55 Ma was followed by slow denudation and peneplanation for the next 37 Ma (∼55'18 Ma). Accelerated cooling since ∼18 Ma may have been caused by a far-field effect of the collision between India-Asia Plate or the Pacific-Plate subduction. Through a multi-geochronometric approach, this study provides a new comprehensive model for the cause of the intra-plate magmatism formation in the South China, and also established a reliable geochronological framework of the post-orogenic tectonic evolutions of the Jiangnan-Xuefeng orogenic belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-resolution Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM) inundation model has been developed for Dartmouth Town near Apponagansett Bay and Clarks Cove. Series of modeling experiments were conducted for the purpose of: (1) Assess the potential impacts of the climate-induced Sea Level Rise (SLR) on the storm-induced coastal inundation in Dartmouth Town; (2) Compare the current patterns, wave fields and surge distributions under different dynamic forces including winds in different directions and wave-current interaction; (3) Evaluate the impact of the bank on the flooding protection. Results show that under the hundred-year nor'easter storm condition, the climate-induced SLR could significantly enlarge possible flooding areas with the percent area enlargement of approximately 60% per foot of SLR. The directions of wind essentially determine the feature of the current patterns, wave and surge distributions. The northeasterly and easterly winds mainly threaten the western coast of the bay and the estuarine areas, and the southerly and southeasterly winds endanger the regions around the inner part of the bay. Wave-current interaction can change the current pattern nearshore, including formation of eddies and narrow alongshore currents, greatly enhancing the strength and complexity of the currents near the mouth of the bay. In addition, wave-induced surge tends to accumulate in the bay and near the estuary and coastal regions. The bank blocks a large amount of flooding current and waves into the bay and improves the local current and wave condition effectively near the mouth and in the bay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteromorphic self-incompatibility (HetSI) is a strategy used to prevent selfing while favouring outcrossing in angiosperm. Although the genome, proteome and metabolome of homomorphic self-incompatibility (HomSI) have been investigated, metabolome findings have shown that energy deficiency is one of the factors leading to HomSI. However, the mechanism of HetSI remains unclear. This study investigates the alterations of metabolite fluxes in HetSI. Here, metabolic changes present in dimorphic styles as well as between self-incompatibility (SI) and self-compatibility (SC) pollinations of Plumbago auriculata Lam were simultaneously determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Fifty-three metabolites, mainly including other organic acids, amino acids, carbohydrates/glycosides, fatty acids/lipids, amines, amides, flavonoids and alcohols, were detected. The overall results showed that carbohydrates, which may affect pollen germination and pollen tube growth rate on stigmas, were abundant in S (short styles without pollination). Moreover, energy deficiency may not be a reason for HetSI because we found inflated levels of metabolites in SI pollinations. This study provided detailed insight into metabolic changes in HetSI and evidence for further studies of HetSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humic-like substances (HULIS) are an important mixture of organic compounds, which account for a great part of water-soluble organic compounds in ambient aerosols. In this study, individual carboxylic and hydroxylic species in HULIS extracts of PM2.5 samples collected in Hong Kong during summer were measured by gas chromatography mass spectrometry with prior chemical derivatization. Significantly higher levels of HULIS were observed on days mainly impacted by regional pollution (regional days, 4.11 ± 1.76 μg m−3) than on days under local emission influences (local days, 0.56 ± 0.30 μg m−3). Positive matrix factorization was applied to identify the major sources and apportion their contributions to HULIS. Simultaneous monitoring and analysis data from four different sampling sites showed that sources of HULIS in Hong Kong were mainly regional with small spatial variations. Secondary aerosol formation (both organic and inorganic) had a predominant contribution (52.7%) to HULIS during the whole sampling period. It accounted for 1.88 ± 0.91 μg m−3 of HULIS on regional days, which was about 5 times higher than its contribution (0.39 ± 0.34 μg m−3) on local days. Of the three identified primary sources, biomass burning had the largest contribution on both regional (34.9%) and local days (24.6%). Marine vessels were also a significant contributor, especially on local days (20.3%). Vehicle exhaust, on the other hand, showed a negligible contribution to HULIS (2.1%) in Hong Kong in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With its rare and naturally blue corolla, Plumbago auriculata Lam. has received attention and been introduced and planted worldwide. However, it is sensitive to low temperatures. Continuous low temperatures cause the stagnation of plant growth and the disappearance of ornamental traits. Currently, there is no report on the response of P. auriculata to low temperature. In this study, the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of P. auriculata leaves were analysed after 10 days of low-temperature stress, and 943 differentially expressed genes were identified via high-throughput RNA sequencing. P. auriculata copes with low-temperature stress by changing the pathways of sugar metabolism, glutathione metabolism and lipid metabolism; however, the decrease in the assimilation level caused by damage to the photoreaction system is an important reason for plant growth stagnation. In addition, we identified 47 differentially expressed transcription factors, including the upregulated MYBS3 transcription factor, which is involved in the MYBS3-dependent pathway that is distinct from the DREB/CBF pathway. Our data reveal the cause of P. auriculata stagnation at low temperatures and provide valuable information for further studies on cold-response mechanisms and the genetic improvement of cold tolerance in P. auriculata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reconstruction of thermal history is an important component of basin evolution and hydrocarbon exploration. Based on vitrinite reflectance data, we integrate the paleo-temperature gradient and paleo-heat flow methods to reconstruct the thermal history of Junggar Basin. Compared with present thermal state, the Junggar Basin experienced much a higher heat flow of ca. 80–120 mW/m2 during the Carboniferous. This feature can be attributed to large-scale volcanic events and related thermal effects. The hydrocarbon maturation history of Carboniferous source rocks indicates that the temperature rapidly reached the threshold of hydrocarbon generation during the Late Carboniferous and has never achieved such a high level since then. This characteristic resulted in the early maturation of hydrocarbons in Carboniferous source rocks. Meanwhile, the results reveal that hydrocarbon maturities are different among various tectonic units in Junggar Basin. The kerogen either rapidly broke through the dry gas period so that cracking of gas occurred or remained in the oil maturation window forming oil reservoirs, which depended on the tectonic background and depositional environment. In this study, we present the thermal and hydrocarbon maturation history since the Carboniferous, which has important implications for further hydrocarbon exploration in Junggar Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plumbago auriculata Lam. (Plumbaginaceae) is an ornamental/medicinal flowering shrub. However, it could be stop growing under 5 °C resulting in its poor germplasm resources. Increasing the tolerance of polyploids to environmental stress will enrich its germplasm resources. In this study, we thus employed the stem segments and buds exposed to pendimethalin and trifluralin in vitro to conduct an effective polyploid protocol, in which buds were cultured for 7 days in MS medium with 800 μM. In this study, we have developed a novel polyploid identification method based on accuracy and efficiency. Early screening was performed based on the morphological characteristics of this plants, and then polyploidy was determined by flow cytometry. The number of chromosomes was determined by the chromosomal accounting. At the anatomical level, in comparison with diploids, the root parenchyma, stem collenchyma and tetraploid spongy tissues were thickened, the guard cell size and vascular bundles number were increased, and the stomata were widened; but the stomatal density was decreased. After 24 h of cold stress, the maximal quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) and maximum primary yield of photochemistry of PSII (Fv/Fo) of diploids decreased significantly. Conversely, the minimal value of chlorophyll a fluorescence (Fo), relative electrical conductivity and malondialdehyde increased markedly. Accordingly, the cold tolerance of the tetraploids presented better than these of the diploids. Taken together, our study has first developed an effective protocol to obtain and identify the tetraploid of P. auriculate plants. Furthermore, it was proved that this polyploid has presented improving cold tolerance and enriching phenotypic properties. These findings could be useful for improving cold-tolerance breeding and enriching genetic diversity of P. auriculate plants. Key message: We used stem segments and buds exposed to pendimethalin and trifluralin in vitro to conduct polyploids of Plumbago auriculata and compared characterizations including cold tolerance between diploids and polyploids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is a non-toxic and cheap photovoltaic absorber material, however, many challenges still remain for the successful fabrication of these devices. In this study, CZTS was deposited with CdS, a commonly used buffer layer, using different spray coating procedures (i.e., two-step, single-step and graded deposition techniques), to demonstrate a facile and rapid fabrication technique of creating CZTS:CdS photovoltaic devices. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the morphology of the deposited films, showing that the two-step, single-step and the graded deposition with 2 s of overlap time produced clear and defined layers. However, when the overlap time exceeded 4 s the layer became less defined, thicker and less dense, resulting in failed photovoltaic devices. This was attributed to the additional source of air during the deposition period, resulting in air being trapped by the deposited precursor, which therefore forms more foam-like functional layers. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reflected this change in morphology, with graded samples above 4 s displaying no obvious CZTS peaks, suggesting an ineffective decomposition route. Depositions using a two-step, single-step and the graded deposition technique with 2 s of overlap time were shown to form functional photovoltaic devices, with a 2 s graded overlap performing three times better than the ungraded samples, resulting in an improved power conversion efficiency of 0.41%. It is important to highlight that the device prepared with a 2 s graded interface significantly increased the current peak performance of CZTS photovoltaic devices deposited using xanthate precursors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanofiller reinforcement is an effective approach to realize high performance of regular synthetic fibers. In this paper, graphene oxide nanoribbons (GONRs) with complete morphology were prepared via unzipping single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) through long-time freeze-drying after oxidation. GONRs derived from SWCNTs (SGONRs) did not need any modification and could be directly added to poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to form uniform dispersions and then continuous fibers were fabricated using wet spinning and hot-drawing. SGONRs provided abundant hydrogen bonding interaction with PVA chains, so SGONRs could not only obviously improve the dispersibility in PVA, but also enhance the mechanical properties of the composites. The tensile strength of PVA/SGONRs composite fibers with 0.4 wt% loading of SGONRs reach 1032 MPa, improved by 121 % compared with PVA/SWCNTs fiber, and by 200% with PVA fiber, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nickel catalysts are vulnerable to suffering from carbon deposition and metal sintering in the methane dry reforming process under high temperature. Based on these problems, in this paper, La2O3–KIT-6 materials with different La2O3 contents were designed and prepared in order to take advantage of the basic sites of La2O3 and rich mesoporous structure of KIT-6, and then nickel catalysts supported on La2O3–KIT-6 materials were synthesized. In contrast, the Ni/KIT-6 catalyst was also prepared by the same method. XRD, TEM, SEM, physisorption of N2, XPS, H2-TPR, Raman, and TG were used for fresh and spent catalysts characterization in this work. The catalytic performance of these Ni/La2O3–KIT-6 catalysts was tested under high temperature methane dry reforming reaction. Our work showed that the La2O3-modified catalysts showed reasonably superior catalytic activity and high long term stability compared with the nickel catalyst supported on KIT-6 without modification of La2O3. The high dispersion of nickel nanoparticles on La2O3–KIT-6 as well as the basic property of La2O3 were both helpful to the resistance towards carbon deposition, and the interaction between Ni nanoparticles and support material in Ni/La2O3–KIT-6 was helpful to the resistance towards nickel sintering on account of the special physicochemical properties of La2O3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plutella xylostella L. (diamondback moth) is a pest of cruciferous plants and has devastating effects on the yield and quality of cruciferous vegetables. Insect midgut protease plays an important role in the digestion of host plant nutrients and the detoxification of defensive compounds. The effects of host plants on the larval midgut protease activity and the performance of P. xylostella larvae were examined on six different host plants, including qingan 70, lvqiu 66, qingan 80, Brassica chinensis, broccoli and oilseed rape The results showed that P. xylostella larvae ingested all hosts, and the protease activities were significantly different at different instars. In the 3rd instar and early 4th instar, which were the important periods for digestion, 4 proteases activities of P. xylostella were greater than activity in other instars. Meanwhile, the activities of the high-alkaline trypsin and low-alkaline trypsin (important proteases in the insect midgut) were greatest when P. xylostella larvae ingested qingan 80. The relative host suitability, ranked from highest to lowest was: broccoli > oilseed rape = Brassica chinensis > qingan 70 > qingan 80 > lvqiu66. The intrinsic rate of increase indicated that P. xylostella had the best adaptability and food receptivity to the oilseed rape, whereas when P. xylostella larvae ingested Brassica chinensis, the activities of the trypsin were highest. This suggests Brassica chinensis in an appropriate host for P. xylostella that highly elevates the activities of trypsin that subsequently helps the insect to digest nutrients obtained from host plants. In practical application, we can reduce the harm to target plants by adjusting the plantation structure by optimally planting different hosts limit growth and reproduction to minimize pest outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) in improving the image quality of chest CT in children with reduced concentration contrast medium (CM). Methods: Fifty-six children (median age of 4 years) who received low-dose enhanced chest CT were enrolled as the study group and compared with the control group of 56 children. Both groups used the automatic tube current modulation to achieve age-based noise index values of 11–15 HU. The study group used 100 kVp and reduced CM concentration of 270 mgI/ml, and the images in this group were reconstructed with 50% adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) and MBIR. The control group used 120 kV and standard CM of 320 mgI/ml, and the images in this group were reconstructed with ASIR only. Subjective image quality and objective image quality of the three image sets were evaluated. The subjective quality included overall image noise, enhancement degree, lesion (including mediastinum mass, pulmonary space-occupying lesions, and parenchymal infiltrative lesions) conspicuity, and beam-hardening artifacts. The objective quality included the measurement of noise in the left ventricle and back muscle to calculate signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of ventricle. Results: There was no difference in radiation dose between the study (CTDIvol of 1.79 ± 1.45 mGy) and control (1.68 ± 0.92 mGy) groups (p = 0.65). However, the study group used 19.7% lower CM dose than the control group (5.84 ± 2.69 vs. 7.27 ± 3.80 gI), and the enhancement in all images met the diagnostic requirements. MBIR reduced image noise by 58.6% and increased SNR and CNR by 143.6% and 165.7%, respectively, compared to ASIR images in the control group. The two ASIR image sets had similar image quality. Conclusion: MBIR improved the image quality of low-radiation-dose chest CT in children at 19.3% reduced CM dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both α-Synuclein (αSyn) accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction have been implicated in the pathology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Although studies suggest that αSyn and its missense mutant, A53T, preferentially accumulate in the mitochondria, the mechanisms by which αSyn and mitochondrial proteins regulate each other to trigger mitochondrial and neuronal toxicity are poorly understood. ATP-dependent Clp protease (ClpP), a mitochondrial matrix protease, plays an important role in regulating mitochondrial protein turnover and bioenergetics activity. Here, we show that the protein level of ClpP is selectively decreased in αSyn-expressing cell culture and neurons derived from iPS cells of PD patient carrying αSyn A53T mutant, and in dopaminergic (DA) neurons of αSyn A53T mice and PD patient postmortem brains. Deficiency in ClpP induces an overload of mitochondrial misfolded/unfolded proteins, suppresses mitochondrial respiratory activity, increases mitochondrial oxidative damage and causes cell death. Overexpression of ClpP reduces αSyn-induced mitochondrial oxidative stress through enhancing the level of Superoxide Dismutase-2 (SOD2), and suppresses the accumulation of αSyn S129 phosphorylation and promotes neuronal morphology in neurons derived from PD patient iPS cells carrying αSyn A53T mutant. Moreover, we find that αSyn WT and A53T mutant interact with ClpP and suppress its peptidase activity. The binding of αSyn to ClpP further promotes a distribution of ClpP from soluble to insoluble cellular fraction in vitro and in vivo, leading to reduced solubility of ClpP. Compensating for the loss of ClpP in the substantia nigra of αSyn A53T mice by viral expression of ClpP suppresses mitochondrial oxidative damage, and reduces αSyn pathology and behavioral deficits of mice. Our findings provide novel insights into the mechanism underlying αSyn-induced neuronal pathology, and they suggest that ClpP might be a useful therapeutic target for PD and other synucleinopathies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceratostigma willmottianum Stapf is an endemic species of China. Although it has high ornamental and medical value, its use is greatly limited by the scarcity of germplasm resources. To protect the wild resources and obtain more plumbagin, a protocol for aseptic rapid propagation of C. willmottianum was developed and the plumbagin content was quantified. The results showed that Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA, 0.5 mg L− 1) and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA, 0.1 mg L− 1) was suitable for axillary bud induction with an induction rate of 82.74%, while MS medium with higher 6-BA (2.0 mg L− 1) and NAA (0.1 mg L− 1) was suitable for multiplication with a propagation coefficient of 2.91. Additionally, 1/2 MS medium with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA, 0.5 mg L− 1) was suitable for rooting, with rooting rate of 94.44 ± 1.93%. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed the tendency of the plumbagin content to decrease in the following order: root had the highest content, followed by the whole-plant, stem and leaf. Notably, the plumbagin content in 1-month-old plantlets was higher than that in 1- and 2-year-old plants, especially in the roots (19.94 mg g− 1 DW). Overall, an aseptic rapid propagation system of C. willmottianum was successfully established for the first time and the roots of 1-month-old plantlets were used to obtain plumbagin rapidly. Key message: An aseptic rapid propagation system of Ceratostigma willmottianum was established successfully and plumbagin content was quantified by HPLC in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Previous studies have investigated the brain structural abnormalities in children with type I Gaucher disease (GD). The purpose of our study is to investigate the topological efficiency of the brain functional network in children with type 1 GD.Methods: Twenty-two children diagnosed with type 1 GD and 22 sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) examination. For longitudinal study, the GD patients underwent rs-fMRI examination again after 4.6 years. Graph theoretical analysis was used to assess the brain network topological properties at the global and regional levels.Results: Compared with the HCs, the children with type 1 GD showed a decreased efficiency in functional segregation with a decreased γ (normalized clustering coefficient). In addition, the balance between functional segregation and integration was disrupted with decreased small-worldness (σ). At the regional level, the children with type 1 GD showed significantly decreased nodal degree and efficiency in the right precentral gyrus (PreCG.R) and left postcentral gyrus (PoCG.L). The significantly altered γ, σ, and nodal degree in the PreCG.R and PoCG.L were negatively correlated with the disease duration. No significant alterations in the global and regional topological properties were identified in these patients over time.Conclusion: Compared with that of the HCs, the efficiency of the brain functional network in the children with type 1 GD was disrupted, and regional involvement was located in motor- and sensory-related regions. The efficiency of the brain functional network in these patients remained stable over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research reports on the catalytic performance of Co-BTC in solvent-free cycloaddition of CO2 and styrene oxide for the production of cyclic carbonate using tetrabutylammonium bromide as a co-catalyst. The results demonstrated that the conversion of styrene oxide and the selectivity of the product were both more than 95% under relatively mild reaction conditions (10 bar CO2, 110 °C). In addition, the Co-BTC catalyst maintained its unique morphology and excellent catalytic performance even after recycling it for three times. Co-BTC reported as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst in this work. The acid-base property of Co-BTC catalyst was investigated by NH3 and CO2 temperature-programmed desorption methods, and it was found that the acidic and alkaline nature of the Co-BTC catalyst did not changed apparently after the catalyst was recycled. So it was confirmed that the Co-BTC catalytic cycloaddition reaction was closely related to the Lewis acid-base distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lilium sargentiae E.H. Wilson (Liliaceae) is an ornamental and economic flowering bulb in China. Unfortunately, due to low natural bulb multiplication rates or long juvenile phases, commercial release of a new genotype may take 10 or even 20 years. In this study, bulbs were expanded in test tubes by adding sucrose, to shorten the duration of the commercial production cycle. Results indicated that when sucrose, with a concentration of 60 g l−1, was supplied to the culture medium, the bulblets could be most effectively induced and expanded. The effect of sucrose on the formation and expansion of L. sargentiae was obvious and dominant. It was not connected to the osmotic potential of sucrose, nor entirely explained by the function of sucrose as an energy and carbon source. We used sugar analogues in the culturing of explanted materials to research the effect of sucrose-specific signaling on bulblet formation and expansion. Results showed that exogenous 3-O-methyl glucose could not induce and expand test-tube bulblets, which was similar to mannose, whereas isomaltulose could generate similar results to those obtained with sucrose. The results further indicated that the specific signalling of sucrose could be responsible for the effect on bulblets formation and swelling. We used the exclusion method to confirm above results and hypothesis, and observed that only a small part of sucrose was transformed by cell wall invertase and entered the cells through hexose transporters, playing a certain effect on bulbelt growth and development through hexose or hexose signaling systems. Overall, the effect of sucrose on bulblet induction and swelling could be explained by sucrose-specific signaling. Furthermore, this effect has a direct correlation with the sucrose-specific vector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes is a complex metabolic syndrome that is characterized by prolonged high blood glucose levels and frequently associated with life-threatening complications. Epidemiological studies have suggested that diabetes is also linked to an increased risk of cancer. High glucose levels may be a prevailing factor that contributes to the link between diabetes and cancer, but little is known about the molecular basis of this link and how the high glucose state may drive genetic and/or epigenetic alterations that result in a cancer phenotype. Here we show that hyperglycaemic conditions have an adverse effect on the DNA 5-hydroxymethylome. We identify the tumour suppressor TET2 as a substrate of the AMP-activated kinase (AMPK), which phosphorylates TET2 at serine 99, thereby stabilizing the tumour suppressor. Increased glucose levels impede AMPK-mediated phosphorylation at serine 99, which results in the destabilization of TET2 followed by dysregulation of both 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and the tumour suppressive function of TET2 in vitro and in vivo. Treatment with the anti-diabetic drug metformin protects AMPK-mediated phosphorylation of serine 99, thereby increasing TET2 stability and 5hmC levels. These findings define a novel ‘phospho-switch’ that regulates TET2 stability and a regulatory pathway that links glucose and AMPK to TET2 and 5hmC, which connects diabetes to cancer. Our data also unravel an epigenetic pathway by which metformin mediates tumour suppression. Thus, this study presents a new model for how a pernicious environment can directly reprogram the epigenome towards an oncogenic state, offering a potential strategy for cancer prevention and treatment. Modulation of DNA 5-hydroxymethylcytosine by glucose reveals an AMPK-TET2-5hmC axis that links diabetes to cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kroll process has been employed for titanium extraction since the 1950s. It is a labour and energy intensive multi-step semi-batch process. The post-extraction processes for making the raw titanium into alloys and products are also excessive, including multiple remelting steps. Invented in the late 1990s, the Fray-Farthing-Chen (FFC) Cambridge process extracts titanium from solid oxides at lower energy consumption via electrochemical reduction in molten salts. Its ability to produce alloys and powders, while retaining the cathode shape also promises energy and material efficient manufacturing. Focusing on titanium and its alloys, this article reviews the recent development of the FFC-Cambridge process in two aspects, (1) resource and process sustainability and (2) advanced post-extraction processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this work, a new kind of heterostructured mesoporous materials (x%La2O3–MCF) for supporting nickel nanoparticles was developed by surface modification of mesoporous cellulous foam silica (MCF) with La2O3 in a monolayer/submonolayer state through an in situ growth method in order to make use of the advantages of mesoporous structure of MCF and basic sites of La2O3 at the same time. Nickel catalysts supported on these materials (Ni/x%La2O3–MCF) were prepared by impregnation method. The received mesoporous materials possessing predominant textural properties and thermal stabilities were investigated as catalysts for the carbon dioxide reforming of methane, exhibiting not only high activity but also good stability after a steady-state reaction for 10 h. The influence of La2O3 loadings on the performance of Ni/x%La2O3–MCF catalysts to the carbon dioxide reforming of methane was studied in this paper, and it was found that with La2O3 wt% = 10%, the Ni-based catalyst Ni/10%La2O3–MCF showed the highest activity, and exhibited superior stabilization. Several technologies were used to characterize the catalysts, such as transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction patterns, physisorption of N2, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, carbon dioxide temperature programmed desorption and so on. The relationship between physicochemical properties of catalysts and catalytic performances has been investigated in detail.Graphical Abstract: A new kind of heterostructured mesoporous materials (x%La2O3–MCF) for supporting nickel nanoparticles was developed by surface modification of MCF with La2O3 in a monolayer/submonolayer state. The received mesoporous materials were investigated as catalysts for the carbon dioxide reforming of methane, exhibiting not only high activity but also good stability after a steady-state reaction for 10 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we establish strong laws for weighted sums of identically distributed $$\psi $$ -mixing random variables without any conditions on mixing rate. The classical Kolmogorov strong law of large numbers is extended to weighted sums of $$\psi $$ -mixing random variables. Two types of weights are considered for the weighted sums. These results are applied to the least-squares estimators in the simple linear errors-in-variables regression model when the errors are $$\psi $$ -mixing random vectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the new requirements of the services encapsulation and virtualization access of manufacturing resources for cloud manufacturing (CMfg), this paper presents a services encapsulation and virtualization access model for manufacturing machine by combining the Internet of Things techniques and cloud computing. Based on this model, some key enabling technologies, such as configuration of sensors, active sensing of real-time manufacturing information, services encapsulation, registration and publishing method are designed. By implementing the proposed services encapsulation and virtualization access model to manufacturing machine, the capability of the machine could be actively perceived, the production process is transparent and can be timely visited, and the virtualized machine could be accessed to CMfg platform through a loose coupling, 'plug and play' manner. The proposed model and methods will provide the real-time, accurate, value-added and useful manufacturing information for optimal configuration and scheduling of large-scale manufacturing resources in a CMfg environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure design, simulation, fabrication, signal measurement and control of a symmetrical decoupled dual-mass micro-gyroscope (SDDMG) are presented in the paper. The two masses of the SDDMG are linked elastically not only in the drive mode but also in the sense mode and can be resonant driven simultaneously in in-phase and anti-phase mode even if there is fabrication error. The micro-gyroscope structure is designed and the operating principle of the improved lever support system is described detailedly. The modes of the SDDMG are controlled to optimize the acceleration sensitivity. The micro-gyroscope structure is simulated by Ansys software to optimize modes and the structure parameters. The DDSOG process is adopted for the fabrication of the micro-gyroscope structure. The frequency sweep results indicate that the modes have an in-phase drive frequency of 3328.8 Hz, an anti-phase drive frequency of 3530.8 Hz, an in-phase sense frequency of 3380.0 Hz and an anti-phase sense frequency of 3579.1 Hz. The signal processing circuit based on FPGA is implemented. The rotation rate sensitivity experiment exhibits a rate sensitivity of 15.13 mV/°/s. Comparing the acceleration sensitivities with that of the prevenient micro-gyroscope, the maximum acceleration sensitivity decreases by 3.18 times, which indicates that the mode optimization is viable. Finally, the Allan variance analysis shows that the device has a bias instability of 2.38/h under the vacuum environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the non-ideal dynamics of a dual-mass silicon micro-gyroscope (DSMG). The operating principle and description of the DSMG are interpreted. Under the in-phase, anti-phase, and single-mass excitation conditions, the motion characteristics of the drive mode and sense mode are deduced. The non-ideal dynamics of the drive and sense modes with stiffness errors are analyzed. Then, the finite element simulation of the DSMG with a stiffness error is implemented to verify the non-ideal dynamics. Simulation results demonstrate that the left and right masses share the same natural frequencies in the in-phase or anti-phase drive modes even with the existence of stiffness errors. However, a significant amplitude difference between the left and right proof masses can be observed in the in-phase and anti-phase drive modes. The harmonic response analysis proves that the in-phase drive mode is activated even under anti-phase excitation conditions. Finally, sweep frequency experiments are performed on the fabricated DSMG to verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis. Experimental results indicate that the in-phase and anti-phase modes are excited simultaneously under both the anti-phase and in-phase excitation conditions because of the stiffness errors resulting from fabrication errors. This outcome is consistent with the theoretical analysis and simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated system including eutrophication simulation and algal bloom predication was established and applied in Lake Taihu. The mechanic models, which are based on a three-dimensional numerical model coupling hydrodynamic module, pollutant transport module, suspended sediment resuspension module, wind wave module and algal bloom predication module, can simulate not only the single function such as current pattern, nutrient distribution, sediment concentration and wave height field, but also the interaction among them. Using these models, some complex phenomenon such as endogenous pollution can be simulated. In the study, some key technologies are introduced to make the simulation reasonable and feasible. First, a new method for predicting algal bloom is introduced. Differing from the traditional phytoplankton dynamic model, judging the algal bloom through biomass or chlorophyll concentration, the method quantitatively estimates algal growth state switching among bloom, collapse and steady based on algal stability criterion in water column. Second, the sediment resuspension is estimated using calibrated critical shear stresses derived from remote sensing data and the wave-enhanced bottom stress during the windy days. Third, a user-friendly operation environment based on plug-in development and geographic information system is developed. The tests demonstrated that the system could both simulate the reactive solutes such as BOD and DO and the suspended sediment correctly under interaction of gravity and turbulent diffusion. The simulation results demonstrated that the system could obtain reasonable and reliable simulated results in Lake Taihu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most cases, the velocity profiles of tidal currents are expressed by the classical logarithmic (log) law, through which various important friction parameters, such as the friction velocity and roughness length, can be obtained conveniently. However, the power law is not used as much as the log law in tidal current surveys because of the difficulty in obtaining the friction parameters as well as the lack of a theoretical basis. Through theoretical improvements of the power law in recent years, its advantages have been validated based on measurements in pipe and river flows. For a better understanding of the power law in tidal flow, an assessment of the power law from three aspects, namely, the mean velocity profiles, the velocity gradient distribution and the Reynolds shearing stress distribution, is performed through a comparison with measurements within a tidal cycle, which are collected from some previous literature. The power law demonstrates a better correlation with the near-bed velocity profiles and gradient distribution compared with the log law. The auxiliary shearing stress distribution caused by tidal acceleration and deceleration can also be well described by the power law. Moreover, the relationships between the power index and other parameters, such as roughness length, Reynolds number and friction velocity, are investigated according to the tidal current profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most TVD schemes, the r-factors were proposed according to the cell-centered (CC) finite volume method (FVM) framework for the numerical approximation to the convective term. However, it is questionable whether those r-factors would be appropriate and effective for the vertex-centered (VC) FVM. In the paper, we collected five kinds of r-factor formulae and found out that only three of those, respectively by Bruner (1996), Darwish and Moukalled (2003) and Cassuli and Zanolli (2005) can be formally extended to a context of the VC FVM. Numerical tests indicate that the TVD schemes and r-factors, after being extended and introduced to a context of the VC FVM, maintained their similar characteristics as in a context of the CC FVM. However, when the gradient-based r-factors and the SUPERBEE scheme were applied simultaneously, non-physical oscillations near the sharp step would appear. In the transient case, the oscillations were weaker in a context of the VC FVM than those in a context of the CC FVM, while the effect was reversed in the steady case. To eliminate disadvantages in the gradient-based r-factor formula, a new modification method by limiting values on the virtual node, namely ϕ in the paper, was validated by the tests to effectively dissipate spurious oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]