Search

Differential-linear cryptanalysis is an efficient cryptanalysis method to attack ARX ciphers, which have been used to present the best attacks on many ARX primitives such as Chaskey and Chacha. In this paper, we present the differential-linear cryptanalysis of another ARX-based block cipher SPARX-64/128. We first construct multiple 6-round differential-linear distinguishers based on the structure of SPARX-64/128, and then extend them into 14-round differential-linear distinguishers by adding a 7-round differential characteristic before and a one-round linear approximation after the distinguishers. Then we introduce a new linear approximation of modular addition, and use it to extend one more round after the 14-round differential-linear distinguishers. With the 15-round differential-linear distinguishers, we present a differential-linear attack on 18-round SPARX-64/128. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) data for the chronic heart failure (HF) population in Malaysia are lacking. Using EQ-5D-5L, this study intended to describe their HRQoL, identify predictors of worse HRQoL, and derive EQ-5D-5L index scores for use in economic evaluations. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between April and September 2023 to collect EQ-5D-5L, sociodemographic, and clinical data from outpatients with HF across seven public specialist hospitals in Malaysia. Multivariable logistic and linear regression models were used to identify independent predictors of reported problems in the EQ-5D-5L dimensions, and predictors of index scores and EQ-VAS, respectively. Results: EQ-5D-5L data from 424 outpatients of multi-ethnic background (mean age: 57.1 years, 23.8% female, mean left ventricular ejection fraction: 35.7%, 89.7% NYHA class I-II) were collected using either Malay, English, or Chinese, achieving a 99.8% completion rate. Nearly half of the respondents reported issues in the Mobility, Usual Activities, and Pain/Discomfort dimensions. Mean EQ-5D-5L index was 0.820, lower than the general population, and significantly lower with NYHA class III-IV (0.747) versus NYHA class I (0.846) and NYHA class II (0.805). Besides NYHA class, independent predictors of worse HRQoL included Indian ethnicity, living alone, lower education, unemployment due to ill-health, and proxy-reported HRQoL, largely aligning with existing literature. Conclusion: Community-dwelling Malaysians with HF reported poorer HRQoL compared to the general population. The observed disparities in HRQoL among HF patients may be linked to specific patient characteristics, suggesting potential areas for targeted interventions. HRQoL assessment using EQ-5D-5L proves feasible and should be considered for routine implementation in local clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL)-6D into Malay (Malay-AQoL-6D), and assesses the instrument's acceptability, reliability, and validity among Malaysians living with chronic heart failure (HF). Methods: The translation and cross-cultural adaptation process adhered to international guidelines. The Malay-AQoL-6D underwent content and face validity assessments via expert review, and pretesting among healthy individuals and patients with chronic conditions. Subsequent psychometric validation utilised clinico-sociodemographic data and paired AQoL-6D and EQ-5D-5L data from a health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) survey involving Malay-speaking patients with HF, which encompassed assessments of Malay-AQoL-6D acceptability, internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as its construct, concurrent, convergent and divergent, and known-group validity. Results: The Malay-AQoL-6D was deemed acceptable among clinicians and local patients, achieving a 90.8% completion rate among 314 patients surveyed. The instrument demonstrated strong content validity (item-level content validity index [CVI]: 0.83–1.00, average CVI: 0.98), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.72–0.89; MacDonald's omega: 0.82–0.90, excluding the Senses dimension), and test-retest reliability (average intraclass correlation coefficients: 0.79–0.95). Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the instrument's two-level, six-factor structure (Satorra-Bentler [SB]-scaled χ2(df: 164): 283.67, p-value < 0.001; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]: 0.051; comparative fix index [CFI]: 0.945, Tucker-Lewis index [TLI]: 0.937; standardised root mean-squared error [SRMR]: 0.058). The Malay-AQoL-6D's concurrent validity was evident through its good agreement with EQ-5D-5L. Multiple hypothesis tests further affirmed its construct and known-group validity. The Malay-AQoL-6D's psychometric properties remained consistent across different missing data techniques. Conclusion: The findings suggest that Malay-AQoL-6D could be a culturally acceptable, reliable, and valid HRQoL measure for quantifying HRQoL among the local HF population. Future studies are necessary to further validate the instrument against other measures and confirm the instrument's test-retest reliability and responsiveness, which are possible with the availability of the Malay-AQoL-6D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton fabrics are widely used in clothing, packaging, and medical applications because of their excellent comfort, breathability, and low cost. However, it poses a threat to use them in specific scenarios, where flame retardance and antibacterial activity are highly desired. In this work, we propose the functionalization route by using layer-by-layer assembly of polyethyleneimine (PEI), phytic acid (PA), iron (Fe3+), and aluminum (Al3+) ions on cotton fabrics. Interestingly, the modified cotton fabric showed good biocompatibility in the cell viability (> 70%) and hemolysis (< 3%) test. In addition to biocompatibility, the antibacterial performance was largely improved for the modified cotton fabric with the antibacterial efficacy of > 99% due to the presence of Fe3+ and Al3+ that work in a synergistic manner. In term of flame retardance, the modified cotton fabric exhibited self-extinguishing characteristics in vertical burning experiments, with the Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) of 35.0%. The excellent flame-retardant property was further supported by the results in cone calorimetry test, thermal gravimetric analysis, and TG-IR test, elucidating the underlying mechanism that rapid formation of dense char layer by the thermal decomposition of PEI/PA/FeAl system is effective to prevent the spreading of flame and thus protect the cotton from burning. This work provides a strategy to achieve multifunctionality on cotton fabrics, which may inspire the design on other types of fabrics or materials for extended applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past century, there have been great achievements in identifying resistance (R) genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) as well as revealing the corresponding molecular mechanisms for resistance in rice to major diseases and insect pests. The introgression of R genes to develop resistant rice cultivars has become the most effective and eco-friendly method to control pathogens/insects at present. However, little attention has been paid to durable and broad-spectrum resistance, which determines the real applicability of R genes. Here, we summarize all the R genes and QTLs conferring durable and broad-spectrum resistance in rice to fungal blast, bacterial leaf blight (BLB), and the brown planthopper (BPH) in molecular breeding. We discuss the molecular mechanisms and feasible methods of improving durable and broad-spectrum resistance to blast, BLB, and BPH. We will particularly focus on pyramiding multiple R genes or QTLs as the most useful method to improve durability and broaden the disease/insect spectrum in practical breeding regardless of its uncertainty. We believe that this review provides useful information for scientists and breeders in rice breeding for multiple stress resistance in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The positive occupancy-abundance relationship (OAR) is considered a ubiquitous pattern and well explained by species niches. However, OAR can change largely with functional groups. Benthic diatoms in tropical rivers are subject to seasonal hydrological disturbance. Their OAR can be affected by their attachment mode and shows a strong seasonality with precipitation. We investigated benthic diatoms in a river basin in South China during wet and dry seasons. Using hierarchical models, we detected the seasonal effects of niche position and breadth on diatom occupancy, abundance, and OAR for the three attachment groups. Multilevel modeling demonstrated that niche position was the main predictor that substantially explained the variations in diatom occupancy. Compared with niche breadth, niche position had a larger effect on the abundances of strongly and moderately attached diatoms; but it had a smaller effect on that of weakly attached diatoms. Weakly attached diatoms had the lowest OAR slope, and moderately attached diatoms had the highest slope. The OAR slope exhibited marked seasonality and positively correlated with precipitation. Attachment mode is a key functional trait that largely determines the distribution and abundance of diatoms and mediates their OAR. Our study provides insight into diatom-based biological monitoring of tropical streams and rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CRTAC1, one of the pyroptosis-related genes, has been identified as a protective factor in certain kinds of cancer, such as gastric adenocarcinoma and bladder cancer. The study aimed to investigate the role of CRTAC1 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). LUAD datasets were obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), pyroptosis-related genes from GeneCard. Limma package used to find differentially expressed genes (DEGs), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression and weighted genes co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify CRTAC1 as hub gene. CRTAC1 expression was confirmed in a real-world cohort using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western Blot (WB) analyses. Cellular experiments were conducted to investigate CRTAC1's potential oncogenic mechanisms. CRTAC1 mRNA expression was significantly lower in LUAD tissues (p < 0.05) and showed high accuracy in diagnosing LUAD. Reduced CRTAC1 expression was associated with a poor prognosis. Higher CRTAC1 expression correlated with increased immune cell infiltration. Individuals with high CRTAC1 expression showed increased drug sensitivity. Additionally, qPCR and WB analyses showed that CRTAC1 expression was lower in tumor tissue compared to adjacent normal tissue at both the RNA and protein levels. Upregulation of CRTAC1 significantly inhibited LUAD cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in cellular experiments. CRTAC1 has the potential to serve as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-regulation includes the ability to control one's behavior as needed to meet social expectations and is associated with adaptive developmental outcomes. One tool for self-regulation is private speech; however, research has not examined if children's private speech is consistent across cognitively-focused and emotionally-focused contexts and if it is associated with regulatory abilities in similar ways. The goal of this study was to investigate relations between children's private speech and their regulation in three contexts with varying emotional and cognitive demands with children's age examined as a moderator of the association of private speech to regulation. Preschool-aged children's (n = 122) private speech (vocalizations, inaudible muttering, task-irrelevant, negatively valenced, and facilitative) was transcribed and coded in three contexts: selective attention where children matched pictures according to certain rules, emotion regulation where children's persistence in attempting to overcome an obstacle to achieve a goal was observed, and inhibitory control where the children were instructed to wait to color. Using linear mixed modeling, private speech did not significantly predict children's regulatory abilities in the selective attention task; however, meaningful associations were found between private speech and regulation in the emotion regulation and inhibitory control contexts. Furthermore, age moderated the association of private speech to regulation in the inhibitory control context. Our findings that associations between private speech and regulation outcomes differed across contexts highlight the importance of examining self-regulation as a multidimensional construct and emphasize the importance of considering both cognitive and emotional demands for supporting children's optimal self-regulation. Highlights: Preschoolers' private speech was associated with their regulation in emotion regulation and inhibitory control contexts. Associations between private speech and regulation differed across different regulatory contexts. It is important to emphasize both cognitive and emotional demands when investigating children's regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, air pollution is increasingly harmful to life on earth. At present, purifying polluted air through functional filter materials is an effective but still challenging and important strategy. But there was the problem that the air filter protection materials are easy to get wet, which will reduce the filtering effect and cause the service life to decrease. In this study, we used PU fiber membrane prepared with electrospinning as the substrate, fluorinated silica nanoparticles (F-SNs) and quaternary ammonium salt silica particles (Q-SNs) were used as functional particles, PDMS were used as adhesive to prepare hydrophobic and anti-fouling F/Q-SNs-PU fiber membrane through coating. F/Q-SNs-PU fiber membrane exhibited excellent hydrophobic stability, excellent anti-fouling and self-cleaning ability, and filtration effect. Therefore, F/Q-SNs-PU fiber membrane can effectively alleviate the air filtration problem in high humidity environment by virtue of its excellent hydrophobic anti-fouling performance and filtering effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tends to have mild presentations in children. However, severe and critical cases do arise in the pediatric population with debilitating systemic impacts and can be fatal at times, meriting further attention from clinicians. Meanwhile, the intricate interactions between the pathogen virulence factors and host defense mechanisms are believed to play indispensable roles in severe COVID-19 pathophysiology but remain incompletely understood. Data sources: A comprehensive literature review was conducted for pertinent publications by reviewers independently using the PubMed, Embase, and Wanfang databases. Searched keywords included "COVID-19 in children", "severe pediatric COVID-19", and "critical illness in children with COVID-19". Results: Risks of developing severe COVID-19 in children escalate with increasing numbers of co-morbidities and an unvaccinated status. Acute respiratory distress stress and necrotizing pneumonia are prominent pulmonary manifestations, while various forms of cardiovascular and neurological involvement may also be seen. Multiple immunological processes are implicated in the host response to COVID-19 including the type I interferon and inflammasome pathways, whose dysregulation in severe and critical diseases translates into adverse clinical manifestations. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a potentially life-threatening immune-mediated condition chronologically associated with COVID-19 exposure, denotes another scientific and clinical conundrum that exemplifies the complexity of pediatric immunity. Despite the considerable dissimilarities between the pediatric and adult immune systems, clinical trials dedicated to children are lacking and current management recommendations are largely adapted from adult guidelines. Conclusions: Severe pediatric COVID-19 can affect multiple organ systems. The dysregulated immune pathways in severe COVID-19 shape the disease course, epitomize the vast functional diversity of the pediatric immune system and highlight the immunophenotypical differences between children and adults. Consequently, further research may be warranted to adequately address them in pediatric-specific clinical practice guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of the ISDra2-TnpB system, a compact bacterial protein, for efficient genome editing in vitro and in vivo. The authors demonstrate that ISDra2-TnpB can successfully edit genes in human and mouse cells, resulting in targeted mutations. They also introduce a truncated version of TnpB, called supermini TnpB, which exhibits efficient gene editing capabilities. The study highlights the potential of ISDra2-TnpB and its truncated variant as versatile tools for genome editing applications. [Extracted from the article]

From a spatial perspective, this paper constructs a spatial Durbin model based on the adjacent weight matrix to analyze the impact of environmental regulation on the development of renewable energy in 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) in China from 2007 to 2020. The results show that (1) both environmental regulation and renewable energy development have positive spatial autocorrelation and form relatively similar spatial agglomeration areas, specifically showing the characteristics of "high-high" agglomeration in resource-rich areas and "low-low" agglomeration in resource-scarce areas. (2) Environmental regulation significantly promotes the development of local renewable energy and has a significant spatial spillover effect on the development of renewable energy in neighboring provinces. (3) The moderating effect results show that renewable energy installed capacity and electricity demand play an inverse moderating role between environmental regulation and renewable energy development. (4) From the perspective of different regions, the impact of environmental regulation on the development of renewable energy is heterogeneous. Based on the research conclusions, this paper finally provides corresponding policy suggestions from three aspects: regional cooperation, technical support, and differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate and optimize brief alcohol interventions (BAIs), it is critical to have a credible overall effect size estimate as a benchmark. Estimating such an effect size has been challenging because alcohol outcomes often represent responses from a mixture of individuals: those at high risk for alcohol misuse, occasional nondrinkers, and abstainers. Moreover, some BAIs exclusively focus on heavy drinkers, whereas others take a universal prevention approach. Depending on sample characteristics, the outcome distribution might have many zeros or very few zeros and overdispersion; consequently, the most appropriate statistical model may differ across studies. We synthesized individual participant data (IPD) from 19 studies in Project INTEGRATE (Mun et al., 2015b) that randomly allocated participants to intervention and control groups (N = 7,704 participants, 38.4% men, 74.7% White, 58.5% first-year students). We sequentially estimated marginalized zero-inflated Poisson (Long et al., 2014) or negative binomial regression models to obtain covariate-adjusted, study-specific intervention effect estimates in the first step, which were subsequently combined in a random-effects meta-analysis model in the second step. BAIs produced a statistically significant 8% advantage in the mean number of drinks at both 1–3 months (RR = 0.92, 95% CI = [0.85, 0.98]) and 6 months (RR = 0.92, 95% CI = [0.85, 0.99]) compared to controls. At 9–12 months, there was no statistically significant difference in the mean number of drinks between BAIs and controls. In conclusion, BAIs are effective at reducing the mean number of drinks through at least 6 months post intervention. IPD can play a critical role in deriving findings that could not be obtained in original individual studies or standard aggregate data meta-analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding aquatic insect diversity is fundamental for river monitoring, conservation, and restoration. In contrast to the existence of general patterns for aquatic insects at large scales, weak or non-significant patterns are common at small scales. Numerical resolution and statistical approaches are considered key technical factors influencing the revealed patterns. In the present study, we examined the taxonomic composition and diversity of aquatic insects in a disturbed (sub)tropical river during wet and dry seasons and demonstrated seasonal patterns using linear and nonlinear approaches with both occurrence and abundance data. Collector-gatherers were more abundant and scrapers were less abundant in the wet season than in the dry season. Alpha diversity did not change significantly between the seasons but was affected seasonally by different environmental variables. However, beta diversity measured by both Sorensen and Bray–Curtis dissimilarity varied seasonally. Beta diversity was predicted to vary nonlinearly by environmental distance, more strongly in the wet season, and Bray–Curtis dissimilarity was predicted better than Sorensen dissimilarity index. Our study supports the role of environmental selection in structuring the community composition and diversity of aquatic insects in (sub)tropical rivers and emphasises that quantitative data and nonlinear approaches are more sensitive to community analyses at small scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients narratives are being recorded increasingly frequently and spontaneously in short user produced content (UGC) films, which may have an impact on the vlogger's health as well as the public's comprehension of the relevant health concerns. This paper addressed three research questions regarding the population characteristics of UGC video publishers, the narrative theme of the videos, and the emotional orientation of the commenters. This study aimed to deepen our understanding of COVID-19 patients' narrative intentions and emotional needs through the theoretical frameworks of theory of planned behavior (TPB) and negative dominance theory (NDT). We collected 335 videos from 28 COVID-19 patients and 572,052 comments as samples on Douyin platform, the largest short-video website in China. Using Latent Semantic Analysis, we analyzed the descriptive information of the video blogs, the narrative textual information of the videos, and the emotional orientation of the comments. Our findings revealled seven categories of narrative themes, with 52.1% of video comments exhibiting a positive emotional orientation. Within a framework integrating TPB and NDT theories, we analyzed the behavioral intentions of vloggers and viewers during COVID-19 epidemic, and interpreted the persistent posting of videos and the active posting of comments as positive actions that counteracted the multiple effects of negative messages. This study contributes to the understanding of individual narratives in macro-risk communication, both theoretically and empirically, and offers policy recommendations in relevant fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) is essential for the spatial prediction of landslides and risk prevention. Physically based LSM models are confined by oversimplifications of physical processes and limited information about soil properties. Data-driven LSM models may give reliable results only when the training and the testing data have high similarity, and application in regions with different geological conditions is often inapplicable. This paper proposes four hybrid data-driven and physical models and compares these models in terms of cross-regional generalization ability and prediction uncertainty. The effects of physical module performance on the hybrid model are analyzed. For the physical modules of the four hybrid models, two-dimensional (2D) physically based models, TRIGRS and the infinite-slope stability models (ISSMs), and the three-dimensional (3D) physically based model, Scoops3D, are adopted. The data-driven modules all adopt the convolutional neural network (CNN) model. Two towns in the Three-Gorge Reservoir area of China are used as the training and testing areas. The results show that all hybrid models have better generalization ability than using the data-driven module exclusively. The prediction uncertainty is significantly reduced by pre-selecting training samples using the physical module. The optimal hybrid model is the one that integrates CNN and ISSM (under the saturated condition). It is then applied to a new region (Wushan County) to further validate the generalization ability. It can make accurate predictions without calibrating the trained model using new data from the validation area. Finally, the effectiveness of model averaging for improving the prediction performance is verified. Using model averaging, the AUC value in the validation area yields 0.834, which is even higher than the original realizations, with AUC values ranging from 0.683 to 0.817. Therefore, the optimal hybrid model can be directly used for LSM in the Three-Gorge Reservoir, and the findings can provide valuable guidance for generalization ability improvement and prediction uncertainty reduction of LSM models in other countries and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) has a poor prognosis due to its therapeutic resistance. Inactivation of vitamin D/vitamin D receptor (VDR) signaling may contribute to the malignant phenotype of PDA and altered expression of oncoprotein mucin 1 (MUC1) may be involved in drug resistance of cancer cells. Aim: To determine whether vitamin D/VDR signaling regulates the expression and function of MUC1 and its effect on acquired gemcitabine resistance of pancreatic cancer cells. Methods: Molecular analyses and animal models were used to determine the impact of vitamin D/VDR signaling on MUC1 expression and response to gemcitabine treatment. Results: RPPA analysis indicated that MUC1 protein expression was significantly reduced in human PDA cells after treatment with vitamin D3 or its analog calcipotriol. VDR regulated MUC1 expression in both gain- and loss-of-function assays. Vitamin D3 or calcipotriol significantly induced VDR and inhibited MUC1 expression in acquired gemcitabine-resistant PDA cells and sensitized the resistant cells to gemcitabine treatment, while siRNA inhibition of MUC1 was associated with paricalcitol-associated sensitization of PDA cells to gemcitabine treatment in vitro. Administration of paricalcitol significantly enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of gemcitabine in xenograft and orthotopic mouse models and increased the intratumoral concentration of dFdCTP, the active metabolite of gemcitabine. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate a previously unidentified vitamin D/VDR-MUC1 signaling axis involved in the regulation of gemcitabine resistance in PDA and suggests that combinational therapies that include targeted activation of vitamin D/VDR signaling may improve the outcomes of patients with PDA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both theoretical and empirical work support variation in maternal beliefs about children's emotions across sociocultural contexts. Cross-cultural comparisons require valid scales measuring mothers' beliefs about children's emotions. Therefore, we translated the Parents' Beliefs About Children's Emotions (PBACE) questionnaire into Chinese. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test measurement invariance between reports from mothers of 6- to 8-year-old children on Chinese (n = 163) and English (n = 164) versions. Five of the seven scales showed measurement invariance. Validity of the Chinese translation was assessed and obtained via correlations with maternal emotion coaching/dismissing styles and emotional expressivity. Mean comparisons of mothers' beliefs about children's emotions in China and the US were tested for the five invariant scales. US mothers reported stronger beliefs regarding the value of anger. Chinese mothers reported stronger beliefs regarding the negative consequences of excessive positive emotions, children's use of emotions to manipulate others, and whether children should deal with their emotions on their own. Chinese and US mothers were similar in the strength of their beliefs about children's capacity to control their emotions. Results support the utility of the Chinese translation of the PBACE for researchers interested in emotion-related socialization processes in Chinese families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impossible differential cryptanalysis is an important approach to evaluate the security of block ciphers. In EUROCRYPT 2016, Sun, et al. proved that there exists no impossible differential longer than four rounds for the AES structure where S-boxes are arbitrary. In DCC 2019, Wang, et al. proved that any differential is possible for 5-round AES, assuming that the round keys are independent and uniformly random. In ASIACRYPT 2020, Hu, et al. used automatic search to show that there exists no one-byte active impossible differential for 5-round AES-128 considering the relations of 3-round keys. By algebraic methods, this paper theoretically proves that there exists no one-byte active impossible differential for 5-round AES even considering the relations of all round keys. Firstly, the authors prove the independence of ten bytes in the consecutive four round keys under the key schedule of AES-128. Then 5-round AES is decomposed to three subfunctions and the propagations of the considered differences in these subfunctions are discussed. Finally, the authors prove that the considered differential trails can be connected by the ten bytes of round keys. Furthermore, for any given one-byte active differential, there are at least 251 master keys such that the differential is possible for 5-round AES-128. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To estimate the security of block ciphers against linear attacks, we introduce a kind of word-wise permutation which is used to construct equivalent linear trails from known ones for bit-oriented SPN block ciphers. Particularly, we find such word-wise permutations for GIFT-64, and use one of them to construct equivalent linear trails for 12-round GIFT-64. With five of these linear trails, we further present a 19-round multiple linear attack on GIFT-64 using Flórez-Gutiérrez et al.'s improved key-recovery algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Progressive hepatic fibrosis leads to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and decompensated cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to identify the high-risk population for progressive hepatic fibrosis and the incidence of HCC and decompensated cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with antiviral therapy. Methods: The data came from a multicenter, center-randomized, double-blind clinical trial that analyzed only patients in the ETV-treated arm. There was 156 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive and 135 HBeAg-negative patients in 14 institutions. The primary endpoint was fibrosis reversal on 72-week Entecavir (ETV) treatment. The 7-year cumulative incidence of HCC and decompensated cirrhosis were analyzed. Multivariate logistic and LASSO regression analyses were used to screen variables associated with fibrosis reversal. Results: 86/156 (55%) HBeAg-positive and 58/135 (43%) HBeAg-negative patients achieved fibrosis reversal on 72-week ETV treatment. Average age was 43 years, 203 (69.8%) was male, and 144 (49.5%) patients had cirrhosis. Age ≥ 40 years (OR: 0.46, 95% CI 0.23–0.93) and HBcrAg ≥ 8.23 log U/ml (OR: 2.72, 95% CI 1.33–5.54) in HBeAg-positive patients and HBV genotype C (OR: 0.44, 95% CI 0.21–0.97) in HBeAg-negative patients were independent factors of fibrosis reversal. It was confirmed in patients with cirrhosis. After 7-year ETV treatment, seven (4.5%) HBeAg-positive patients occurred HCC or decompensated cirrhosis, including four patients with age ≥ 40 years and six with HBcrAg 8.23log U/ml, while twelve (8.9%) HBeAg-negative patients occurred, including eleven with HBV genotype C. Conclusions: HBeAg-positive patients with a low HBcrAg level or old age, and HBeAg-negative patients with HBV genotype C tended to develop progressive hepatic fibrosis and had a high incidence of HCC and decompensated cirrhosis, even on ETV treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spider-capture-silk (SCS) can directionally capture and transport water from humid air relying on the unique geometrical structure. Although there have been adequate reports on the fabrication of artificial SCSs from petroleum-based materials, it remains a big challenge to innovate bio-based SCS mimicking fibers with high-performance fog collection ability and efficiency simultaneously. Herein, we report an eco-friendly and economical fiber system for water collection by coating gelatin on degummed silk. Compared to the previously reported fibers with the best fog collection ability (~ 13.10 μL), Gelatin on silk fiber 10 (GSF10) can collect larger water droplet (~ 16.70 μL in 330 s) with ~ 98% less mass. Meanwhile, the water collection efficiency of GSF10 demonstrates ~ 72% and ~ 48% enhancement to the existing best water collection polymer coated SCS fibers and spidroin eMaSp2 coated degummed silk respectively in terms of volume-to-TCL (vapor–liquid-solid three-phase contact line) index. The simultaneous function of superhydrophilicity, surface energy gradient, and ~ 65% water-induced volume swelling of the gelatin knots are the key factors in advancing the water collection performance. Abundant availability of feedstocks and ~ 75% improved space utilization guarantee the scalability and practical application of such bio-based fiber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Green revolution" gene sd1 has been used widely in the breeding of modern rice varieties for over half a century. The application of this gene has increased rice yields and thereby supported a significant proportion of the global population. The use of a single gene, however, has raised concerns in the scientific community regarding its durability, especially given the bottleneck in genetic background and the need for large input of fertilizer. New dwarfing or semi-dwarfing genes are needed to alleviate our dependence on the sole "Green revolution" gene. In the past few years, several new dwarfing and semi-dwarfing genes as well as their mutants have been reported. Here, we provide an extensive review of the recent discoveries concerning newly identified genes that are potentially useful in rice breeding, including methods employed to create and effectively screen new rice mutants, the phenotypic characteristics of the new dwarfing and semi-dwarfing mutants, potential values of the new dwarfing and semi-dwarfing genes in rice breeding, and potential molecular mechanisms associated with the newly identified genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Numerous efforts worldwide have been made to increase diversity in engineering and computer science (ECS), fields that pay well and promote upward mobility. However, in the United States (U.S.), females and students from underrepresented racial/ethnic minority groups (URM) still pursue ECS training far less than do their peers. The current study explored sex and racial/ethnic differences in ECS college enrollment as a function of math and verbal SAT score patterns (balanced or imbalanced) using an intersectional approach within a U.S. context. Data represented a census of students who took the SAT, graduated from all Virginia public high schools between 2006 and 2015, and enrolled in a 4-year college (N = 344,803). Results: Our findings show, within each sex, URM students were at least as likely as their non-URM peers to enroll in ECS programs when they scored within similar SAT score ranges. Students were more likely to enroll in ECS programs if their SAT profile favored math, compared to students with similar math and verbal SAT scores (balanced profile). This overall pattern is notably less pronounced for URM female students; their propensity to major in ECS appeared to be largely independent of verbal scores. Conclusions: Our findings inform strategies to diversify ECS enrollment. If programs continue to emphasize SAT scores during admission decisions or if more systemic issues of resource allocation in secondary schools are not addressed, other efforts to broaden participation in ECS programs may fall short of goals. Our findings also highlight the importance of considering the intersection of sex and race/ethnicity for recruitment or other educational promotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewal of the myocardium by preexisting cardiomyocytes is a powerful strategy for restoring the architecture and function of hearts injured by myocardial infarction. To advance this strategy, we show that combining two clinically approved drugs, but neither alone, muscularizes the heart through cardiomyocyte proliferation. Specifically, in adult murine cardiomyocytes, metoprolol, a cardioselective β1-adrenergic receptor blocker, when given with triiodothyronine (T3, a thyroid hormone) accentuates the ability of T3 to stimulate ERK1/2 phosphorylation and proliferative signaling by inhibiting expression of the nuclear phospho-ERK1/2-specific phosphatase, dual-specificity phosphatase-5. While short-duration metoprolol plus T3 therapy generates new heart muscle in healthy mice, in mice with myocardial infarction-induced left ventricular dysfunction and pathological remodeling, it remuscularizes the heart, restores contractile function and reverses chamber dilatation; outcomes that are enduring. If the beneficial effects of metoprolol plus T3 are replicated in humans, this therapeutic strategy has the potential to definitively address ischemic heart failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present here the results of the analysis of the complete genome sequence of a potentially temperate phage, vB_Sb_QDWS, which was isolated from wastewater samples collected in Qingdao, China. The genome of phage vB_Sb_QDWS is composed of a double-stranded DNA that is 47,902 bp in length with a G + C content of 63.16%. It is predicted to contain 69 putative protein-encoding genes. Microscopic and genomic analysis showed that vB_Sb_QDWS is a novel phage of the class Siphoviridae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through sequential electrospinning, a sandwich Janus membrane (PU-(CA/PU)-CA) was constructed with hydrophobic polyurethane (PU) nanofiber membrane as the top layer, cellulose acetate/polyurethane (CA/PU) blend nanofiber membrane as the intermediate transition layer and hydrophilic cellulose acetate (CA) nanofiber membrane as the bottom layer. The effects of membrane structure, composition and thickness on the mechanical properties, permeability and separation ability of PU-(CA/PU)-CA nanofiber membrane were studied. The results show that the transition sandwich structure PU-(CA/PU)-CA membrane has good mechanical properties, high permeability and selective separation ability, and can realize the unidirectional transmission of water and efficient oil–water separation. When the membrane thickness is 80 μm, the hydraulic permeability is 3.4 ± 0.4 × 104 L/(m2 h bar), the oil–water separation efficiency reaches 99 ± 0.4%, and the tensile strength is 95.8% higher than that of the double-layer PU-CA membrane. The thermal stability and antifouling ability of PU-(CA/PU)-CA nanofiber membrane have also been improved, and the reusability is good. CA/PU transition interlayer improves the interfacial compatibility between CA and PU nanofiber membrane, enhances the performance of PU-(CA/PU)-CA nanofiber Janus membrane, and shows its application prospect in the field of separation and purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic degradation is an advanced technique towards remediation of wastewater laden with organic contaminants. In the present study, in order to improve the photocatalytic activity and recycling times of TiO2 under visible light, TiO2 was facilely in situ immobilized on activated carbon fiber (ACF) surface by coating and hydrothermal treatment, called ACF-TiO2. XRD indicated that TiO2 on ACF-TiO2 was nano anatase type with a grain size of 3.72 nm. SEM, XPS and FT-IR analysis showed that TiO2 was uniformly dispersed on the surface of ACF, and the C element of ACF entered the lattice of TiO2, forming Ti–O–C bond. According to the analysis of UV-Vis DRS, the response of ACF-TiO2 to light exhibited a significant red shift, and the bandgap energy value decreased to 3.03 eV; In the process of eliminating MB, the presence of ACF improved the photocatalytic performance of TiO2 and the loaded TiO2 continuously degraded the MB molecules adsorbed by ACF. The whole process of adsorption-photocatalytic degradation was dynamically completed, and the synergistic effect between ACF and nano TiO2 was beneficial to the in situ regeneration and sustainable use of ACF-TiO2. This study may provide a facile reference to prepare ACF supported TiO2 without the sacrifice of the pores and adsorption capacity of substrates of ACF, and the desirable performance can be highly applied in the treatment of wastewater contaminated with organic dyes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is a critical metabolic enzyme. LDH A (LDHA) overexpression is a hallmark of aggressive malignancies and has been linked to tumour initiation, reprogramming and progression in multiple tumour types. However, successful LDHA inhibition strategies have not materialised in the translational and clinical space. We sought to develop a rational strategy for LDHA suppression in the context of solid tumour treatment.Methods: We utilised a doxycycline-inducible short hairpin RNA (shRNA) system to generate LDHA suppression. Lactate and LDH activity levels were measured biochemically and kinetically using hyperpolarised 13C-pyruvate nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We evaluated effects of LDHA suppression on cellular proliferation and clonogenic survival, as well as on tumour growth, in orthotopic models of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), alone or in combination with radiation.Results: shRNA suppression of LDHA generated a time-dependent decrease in LDH activity with transient shifts in intracellular lactate levels, a decrease in carbon flux from pyruvate into lactate and compensatory shifts in metabolic flux in glycolysis and the Krebs cycle. LDHA suppression decreased cellular proliferation and temporarily stunted tumour growth in ATC and HNSCC xenografts but did not by itself result in tumour cure, owing to the maintenance of residual viable cells. Only when chronic LDHA suppression was combined with radiation was a functional cure achieved.Conclusions: Successful targeting of LDHA requires exquisite dose and temporal control without significant concomitant off-target toxicity. Combinatorial strategies with conventional radiation are feasible as long as the suppression is targeted, prolonged and non-toxic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor family, which is widely prevalent in higher plants, plays an important role in regulating plant growth and development under various environmental factors. However, there is still no genome-wide analysis of the bHLH family conducted in mango (Mangifera indica L.). In this study, 212 MibHLH genes were identified in the mango genome by genome wide-analysis and they are unequally distributed across all the mango chromosomes. Based on the phylogenetic tree analysis, MibHLH proteins were divided into 26 subgroups. GO and protein-protein interaction network analyses showed bHLH protein family has multiple biological functions in mango. Several cis-elements related to hormone responses such as CGTCA-motif and TGACG-motif, ABRE, GARE-motif, TCA-element and TGA-element were identified in the upstream regions of MibHLH genes. The results provide some valuable information for exploring the functional roles of the MibHLH genes in mango. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional porous graphene/polyaniline (3D-G/PANI) electrode materials were fabricated with hydroquinone-functionalized three-dimensional porous graphene (3D-G) as the substrate. To obtain 3D-G/PANI, the functionalized 3D-G substrate was synthesized through a hydrothermal method first, and then, polyanilines (PANIs) were grown onto the skeleton of functionalized 3D-G substrate by the in situ polymerization of aniline (An). The effect of An amount was optimized to improve the electrochemical performance of 3D-G/PANI. The results of scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy reveal that functionalized 3D-G was successfully prepared and PANIs were uniformly grown on the skeleton of functionalized 3D-G in the form of nanoparticles. The 3D-G/PANI prepared with 80 μL of An exhibits a highest specific capacitance of 542 F/g at 1.5 mA/cm2 (1.14 A/g), 2.05 and 1.54 times those of functionalized 3D-G and PANI, respectively. And the 3D-G/PANI retains a specific capacitance of 435 F/g even at 30 mA/cm2 (22.73 A/g). Moreover, the capacity retention is 82% of initial specific capacitance after 3000 charge/discharge cycles, which is much higher than that of PANI (62%) after 1000 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WD40 domain-containing proteins constitute one of the most abundant protein families in all higher plants and play vital roles in the regulation of plant growth and developmental processes. To date, WD40 protein members have been identified in several plant species, but no report is available on the WD40 protein family in mango (Mangifera indica L.). In this study, a total of 315 WD40 protein members were identified in mango and further divided into 11 subgroups according to the phylogenetic tree. Here, we reported mango TRANSPARENT TESTA GLABRA 1 (MiTTG1) protein as a novel factor that functions in the regulation of Arabidopsis root growth and development. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay in tobacco leaves revealed that MiTTG1 protein physically interacts with MiMYB0, MiTT8 and MibHLH1, implying the formation of a new ternary regulatory complex (MYB-bHLH-WD40) in mango. Furthermore, the MiTTG1 transgenic lines were more adapted to abiotic stresses (mannitol, salt and drought stress) in terms of promoted root hairs and root lengths. Together, our findings indicated that MiTTG1 functions as a novel factor to modulate protein–protein interactions and enhance the plants abilities to adjust different abiotic stress responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiomyocytes of newborn mice proliferate after injury or exposure to growth factors. However, these responses are diminished after postnatal day-6 (P6), representing a barrier to building new cardiac muscle in adults. We have previously shown that exogenous thyroid hormone (T3) stimulates cardiomyocyte proliferation in P2 cardiomyocytes, by activating insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R)-mediated ERK1/2 signaling. But whether exogenous T3 functions as a mitogen in post-P6 murine hearts is not known. Here, we show that exogenous T3 increases the cardiomyocyte endowment of P8 hearts, but the proliferative response is confined to cardiomyocytes of the left ventricular (LV) apex. Exogenous T3 stimulates proliferative ERK1/2 signaling in apical cardiomyocytes, but not in those of the LV base, which is inhibited by expression of the nuclear phospho-ERK1/2-specific dual-specificity phosphatase, DUSP5. Developmentally, between P7 and P14, DUSP5 expression increases in the myocardium from the LV base to its apex; after this period, it is uniformly expressed throughout the LV. In young adult hearts, exogenous T3 increases cardiomyocyte numbers after DUSP5 depletion, which might be useful for eliciting cardiac regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rod-like cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were mechanically prepared from microcrystalline cellulose by colloid milling, and then the CNCs were used to reinforce rayon filament yarn by way of viscose blending and wet spinning. Compared with ordinary viscose filaments, the viscose filament yarn enhanced by CNCs had higher crystallinity, dry and wet tensile strengths, and better humidity release. When the addition amount of CNCs reached 1 wt%, the crystallinity of the viscose filament was obviously improved, and as a result, the wet and dry tensile strengths increased by 14% and 24%, respectively, showing excellent mechanical properties. The research work in this paper has a certain reference significance to improve the mechanical performance of viscose filaments, and more importantly, the CNC preparation process used in the work is simple and environmentally friendly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strain CGJ02-2 was isolated from the coral reefs in South China sea and deposited in South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Active compounds including indole, ρ-hydroxybenzaldehyde were isolated from this strain. To explore the biosynthetic way of these compounds and search gene clusters, the complete genome of this strain was sequenced by Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) technology. It was de novo assembled to two circular chromosomes of 3,400,283 bp with GC% 44.77 and 1,845,572 bp with GC% 44.59 respectively and classified as Vibrio alginolyticus. In silico phenotype features of Vibrio alginolyticus CGJ02-2 were also analyzed. The biosynthetic pathway of ρ-hydroxybenzaldehyde and indole in this strain were postulated. Gene clusters of four secondary metabolites including bacteriocin, ectoine, siderophore, arylpolyene were identified. This study provides helpful information for further utilizing Vibrio alginolyticus CGJ02-2 as a source of valuable bioactive compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging is related to the lowered overall functioning and increased risk for various age-related diseases in humans. Tectochrysin is a flavonoid compound and rich in a traditional Chinese Medicine Alpinia oxyphylla Miq., which has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-diarrhea, hepatoprotective, and neuro-protective effects. Therefore, we tested if tectochrysin had an effect on aging in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Our results showed that tectochrysin could extend the lifespan of C. elegans by up to 21.0%, delay the age-related decline of body movement, improve high temperature-stress resistance and anti-infection capacity, and protected worms against Aβ1-42-induced toxicity. Tectochrysin could not extend the lifespan of the mutants from genes daf-2, daf-16, eat-2, aak-2, skn-1, and hsf-1. Tectochrysin could increase the expression of DAF-16 regulated genes. The extension of lifespan by tectochrysin requires FOXO/DAF-16 and HSF-1. Overall, our findings suggest that tectochrysin may have a potential effect on extending lifespan and age-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increased meningitis caused by extensively drug-resistant bacillary presents a significant challenge in antibiotic selection. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of polymyxin in the treatment of post-neurosurgical meningitis due to the extensively drug-resistant bacillary in children. Methods: We performed a retrospective study on post-neurosurgical meningitis caused by the extensively drug-resistant bacillary in children, who were treated with polymyxin for ≥ 3 days. Results: Among five post-neurosurgical meningitis cases that were included, the children were infected by Acinetobacter baumannii (n = 3), Klebsiella pneumonia (n = 1), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 1). The drug susceptibility test showed that they were extensively drug-resistant bacillary. Two patients received intravenous polymyxin E. Three children received intravenous combined with intraventricular injection of polymyxin B. One patient infected by Klebsiella pneumonia eventually died of septic shock. No serious adverse effects of polymyxin were observed. Conclusions: Polymyxin is a safe and effective therapy for post-neurosurgical, multidrug-resistant bacillary meningitis in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon carbide ceramics with different thicknesses/diameter ratios were prepared by using ultra-fine silicon carbide powder with the sintering additives of 1.0 wt% boron and 1.5 wt% carbon. The influence of thickness/diameter ratio on the microstructure and density of SiC ceramics was investigated in detail. The experimental results show that the addition of boron and carbon sintering aids can promote the densification process of SiC ceramic, leading to the low sintering temperature and improve mechanical properties. At 1950 °C, SiC ceramic with a density of 99% exhibits Young's modulus, hardness, and flexural strength of 476 MPa, 28.3 GPa, and 334 MPa, respectively. It is found that long holding time has a positive effect on the uniformity of the microstructure and density distribution of SiC ceramics with large thickness/diameter ratios. Additionally, the sintering additive of boron can solid-solve into SiC, and then facilitate the phase transformation of SiC to form 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC composite ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural clay have attracted significant interest in microwave absorption (MA) field. In this work, for the first time, a series of modified sepiolite/La-barium ferrite@polyaniline composites (ASEP/BF@PANI) were fabricated by sol–gel self-propagating combustion method and followed by in situ chemical oxidation polymerization and developed into MA materials. The structure, morphology, and magnetic properties of the as-prepared composites were investigated in detail. The electromagnetic parameters of paraffin composites were measured at 2–18 GHz to evaluate their MA properties. After in situ growth of conductive PANI on the ASEP/BF surface, the optimized composites of ASEP/BF@PANI-2 with a filler loading of 60 wt% displays ultra-strong MA properties with the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of − 71.98 dB (almost 100% absorption) at 10.80 GHz with a thickness of 2.4 mm and the broadest effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL below − 10 dB) is as broad as 4.27 GHz (11.41–15.68 GHz) at a thinner thickness of 2.0 mm. More importantly, by adjusting thickness from 1.5 to 2.8 mm, it is also found that the RLmin values are all below − 20 dB (99% absorption) and the qualified EAB ranges from Ku to X bands. Mechanism analysis reveals that the superior MA property of ASEP/BF@PANI-2 composites can be attributed to the improved impedance matching, interference cancellation, and good attenuation ability simultaneously. Therefore, it has great potential to be used as a high-efficiency and tunable MA materials in the future. We think this work could open up a new avenue to promote the electromagnetic applications of low-cost sepiolite-based composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrafine grain tungsten heavy alloys (WHAs) were successfully produced from the nanocrystalline powders using spark plasma sintering. The present study mainly discussed the effects of sintering temperature on the density, microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloys. The relative density of 98.12% was obtained at 1 050 °C, and the tungsten grain size is about 871 nm. At 1 000 °C-1 200 °C, the mechanical properties of the alloys tend to first rise and then goes down. After SPS, the alloy exhibits improved hardness (84.3 HRA at 1 050 °C) and bending strength (987.16 MPa at 1 100 °C), due to the ultrafine-grained microstructure. The fracture mode after bending tests is mainly characterized as intergranular or intragranular fracture of W grains, interfacial debonding of W grains-binding phase and ductile tearing of binding phase. The EDS analysis reveals a certain proportion of solid solution between W and Ni-Fe binding phase. The good mechanical properties of the alloys can be attributed to grain refinement and solid solution strengthening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibacterial and antioxidant properties exert an indispensable effect on biomedical and packaging materials which are mainly made of fiber-based fabrics. The current research illustrates a novel type of composite fiber which was prepared from thermoplastic polyurethane (PU), polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and tea polyphenols (TP) through wet-spinning technology. The PU-PAN mass ratio was optimized upon the mechanical property; TP was incorporated into the composite fiber with different contents. The obtained fibers were fully characterized in terms of mechanical, thermal, morphological properties as well as surface wettability. Additionally, in vitro TP release, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of such composite fibers before and after washing were under investigation systematically and orderly. The findings showed that TP-loaded composite fibers with an average diameter around 120 μm performed a sustained TP release behavior and desirable cytocompatibility. According to the capacity on scavenging 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals, the observation of scavenging ratio reaching to 97 % proved the excellent antioxidant performance. Furthermore, the ideal antibacterial activity against Gram-negative E. coli and Gram-positive S. aureus was also demonstrated. Collectively, this study provides a facile strategy to design and prepare a novel type of composite fibers and fabrics, which may be put into application as wound dressing and tissue conduit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria-generated reactive oxygen species (mROS) are frequently associated with DNA damage and cell cycle arrest, but physiological increases in mROS serve to regulate specific cell functions. T3 is a major regulator of mROS, including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Here we show that exogenous thyroid hormone (T3) administration increases cardiomyocyte numbers in neonatal murine hearts. The mechanism involves signaling by mitochondria-generated H2O2 (mH2O2) acting via the redox sensor, peroxiredoxin-1, a thiol peroxidase with high reactivity towards H2O2 that activates c-Jun N-terminal kinase-2α2 (JNK2α2). JNK2α2, a relatively rare member of the JNK family of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), phosphorylates c-Jun, a component of the activator protein 1 (AP-1) early response transcription factor, resulting in enhanced insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) expression and activation of proliferative ERK1/2 signaling. This non-canonical mechanism of MAPK activation couples T3 actions on mitochondria to cell cycle activation. Although T3 is regarded as a maturation factor for cardiomyocytes, these studies identify a novel redox pathway that is permissive for T3-mediated cardiomyocyte proliferation—this because of the expression of a pro-proliferative JNK isoform that results in growth factor elaboration and ERK1/2 cell cycle activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A promising material for supercapacitors based on 4-methylaniline reduced graphene oxide/polyaniline (GP) composite was successfully prepared through a facile one-pot synthesis route. During the preparation process, 4-methylaniline acted as a reducing agent for graphene oxide (GO) as well as a spacer for the resulting reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets. The characterization results reveal that GO was successfully reduced by 4-methylaniline and the RGO sheets covered by polyaniline (PANI) nanowires retain favorable dispersibility in the GP composite. The GP composite shows a high specific capacitance (530.4 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1) with a good cycling stability (87.61% retention after 3000 cycles). Moreover, the GP composite also delivers a good rate performance of 77.5% retention from 0.5 A g−1 to 20 A g−1, but for the graphene oxide/polyaniline (GOP) composite and pure PANI, the retentions are only 47.2% and 28.9%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a promising electrode material for supercapacitor based on P-toluidine-reduced graphene oxide/Mn3O4 (GM) composite was successfully synthesized through a new one-pot synthesis route. To obtain GM composite, graphite oxide (GO) was reduced by P-toluidine first, and then, the resulting reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was hydrothermally treated accompanied with KMnO4 and K2SO4. The effect of K2SO4 on the microstructure and electrochemical performance of as-synthesized composites was investigated. At the weight feed ratio of the theoretical amount of Mn3O4 to GO is 13:1, the GM composite prepared with K2SO4 displays a network structure, but under the same conditions, GM composite prepared without K2SO4 presents a different-sized lumps structure closely piled up by Mn3O4 nanoparticles. A specific capacitance of the GM composite prepared with K2SO4 reaches to 331.6 F/g, almost two times higher than that of the composite prepared without K2SO4. Moreover, the specific capacitance retention of the composite is above 88% after 1000 cycles at 5.0 A/g. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It is promising to fabricate renewable and flexible electronic devices due to increasing awareness of sustainable development of environmental-friendly materials. Flexible and renewable bio-based composite film (GLFF) based on graphene and lotus fiber (LF) was prepared by adding graphene into the mixture solution of lotus fiber and ionic liquid. The GLFFs show high electrical conductivity, remarkable electrochemical performance, excellent electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE) and ability to generate heat. The surface resistance of GLFF reaches 19.01 Ω sq−1. The EMI SE of GLFF arrives at 30 dB at the frequency ranging from 1 to 18 GHz. In addition, the surface temperature of GLFF reaches 46.5 °C when only 7 V was applied on GLFF surface. The area capacitance of the GLFF is 1088.7 mF cm−2. GLFF can maintain a specific capacitance of 85% of initial capacitance after 500 cycles. The influences of graphene content on mechanical property, sheet resistance, heat generation, EMI SE and electrochemical performance of GLFFs were investigated. GLFF, as renewable electrical materials, can be potentially applied in the fields of energy storage, electromagnetic shielding and heat generation.Graphical abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]