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Polarization-encoded single-photon qubit and single-photon entanglement are important resources of quantum communication. In practical long-distance quantum communication, photon transmission loss caused by the channel noise is a big obstacle. Noiseless linear amplification (NLA) is a useful method to solve the photon transmission loss problem. In the paper, we propose two efficient NLA protocols for the polarization-encoded single-photon qubit and single-photon entanglement, respectively. Our NLA protocols can increase the fidelity of the target photon state and perfectly preserve the encoded polarization feature. Moreover, local-quadrature squeezing operation is introduced into the NLA protocols to further improve the amplification. Our NLA protocols have important application in future quantum communication field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most lethal malignant gastrointestinal tumors (GI) characterized by a poor prognosis. Ferroptosis is an emerging programmed cell death that plays an essential role in the progression of various cancers. Ferroptosis is driven by iron-dependent phospholipid peroxidation and is regulated by mitochondrial activity, lipid peroxidation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS). The function and mechanism of ferroptosis in PC need more research. Methods: The levels of circRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Western blot was used for protein detection. CCK8 assays were used to detect cell proliferation. Cell death, lipid peroxidation, ROS, and Fe2+ were detected by indicted kits. Dual-luciferase reporter and RNA pull-down assays were conducted to confirm the interaction between circRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs. Results: In this research, we found that circular RNA hsa_circ_0000003(circ_WASF2) was upregulated in pancreatic cancer cells. The silence of circ_WASF2 inhibited cancer proliferation and increased cell death by increasing ferroptosis accompanied by up-regulation of lipid peroxidation, ROS, and Fe2+. Further studies showed that circ_WASF2 could attenuate ferroptosis by targeting miR-634 and the downstream glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). GPX4 has been well-reported as a central factor in ferroptosis. Our research revealed a new pathway for regulating ferroptosis in PC. Conclusion: In summary, we have determined that circ_WASF2/miR-634/GPX4 contributed to ferroptosis-induced cell death, and provided a possible therapeutic target in PC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporary neurological dysfunction (TND), a common complication following surgical repair of Type A Aortic Dissection (TAAD), is closely associated with increased mortality and long-term cognitive impairment. Currently, effective treatment options for TND remain elusive. Therefore, we sought to investigate the potential of postoperative relative band power (RBP) in predicting the occurrence of postoperative TND, with the aim of identifying high-risk patients prior to the onset of TND. We conducted a prospective observational study between February and December 2022, involving 165 patients who underwent surgical repair for TAAD at our institution. Bedside Quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) was utilized to monitor the post-operative brain electrical activity of each participant, recording changes in RBP (RBP Delta, RBP Theta, RBP Beta and RBP Alpha), and analyzing their correlation with TND. Univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to identify independent risk factors for TND. Subsequently, line graphs were generated to estimate the incidence of TND. The primary outcome of interest was the development of TND, while secondary outcomes included intensive care unit (ICU) admission and length of hospital stay. A total of 165 patients were included in the study, among whom 68 (41.2%) experienced TND. To further investigate the independent risk factors for postoperative TND, we conducted both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses on all variables. In the univariate regression analysis, we identified age (Odds Ratio [OR], 1.025; 95% CI, 1.002–1.049), age ≥ 60 years (OR, 2.588; 95% CI, 1.250–5.475), hemopericardium (OR, 2.767; 95% CI, 1.150–7.009), cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (OR, 1.007; 95% CI, 1.001–1.014), RBP Delta (OR, 1.047; 95% CI, 1.020–1.077), RBP Alpha (OR, 0.853; 95% CI, 0.794–0.907), and Beta (OR, 0.755; 95% CI, 0.649–0.855) as independent risk factors for postoperative TND. Further multivariate regression analyses, we discovered that CPB time ≥ 180 min (OR, 1.021; 95% CI, 1.011–1.032), RBP Delta (OR, 1.168; 95% CI, 1.105–1.245), and RBP Theta (OR, 1.227; 95% CI, 1.135–1.342) emerged as independent risk factors. TND patients had significantly longer ICU stays (p < 0.001), and hospital stays (p = 0.002). We obtained the simplest predictive model for TND, consisting of three variables (CPB time ≥ 180 min, RBP Delta, RBP Theta, upon which we constructed column charts. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) were 0.821 (0.755, 0.887). Our study demonstrates that postoperative RBP monitoring can detect changes in brain function in patients with TAAD during the perioperative period, providing clinicians with an effective predictive method that can help improve postoperative TND in TAAD patients. These findings have important implications for improving clinical care in this population. Trial registration ChiCTR2200055980. Registered 30th Jan. 2022. This trial was registered before the first participant was enrolled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen-based compounds have been found to exhibit high superconducting critical temperature ( T c ) through the electron–phonon coupling mechanism under ultrahigh pressure. Herein, a new two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide material is constructed, namely, the Janus WSH monolayer. It is formed by replacing one layer of S atoms in the WS2 monolayer with H atoms. Then the electronic structure, phonon dispersion, electron–phonon coupling, and superconductivity are investigated by first-principles calculations. The results show that the introduction of H atoms helps to flatten the electronic dispersion and leads to high electronic density of states at the Fermi level, resulting in strong electron–phonon coupling. Additionally, the softening of phonon modes from the hybridization of in-plane W atomic vibrations and out-of-plane H atomic vibrations boosts the electron–phonon coupling further. The strong interactions between electrons and phonons lead to phonon-mediated superconductivity in Janus WSH monolayer with a calculated T c being about 23.1 K. This is the highest T c predicted in WS2-based materials at present, which indicates that hydrogenation is a great way to improve the T c of transition metal dichalcogenide materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additives are a cost-effective method to improve the performance of the very low profile (HVLP) copper foil coarsened layer. In this paper, the effects of 3,3'-Dithiobis-1-propanesulfonic acid disodium salt (SPS), gelatin, and sodium thiazoline dithiopropane sulfonate (SH110) concentration on the morphology, roughness, and peel strength of HVLP copper foil was reported. The results show that SH110 contributes significantly to the reduction of copper foil roughness, improvement of peel strength, and refinement of coarsened layer grains. In addition, the linear scanning voltammetry and AC impedance spectroscopy of the solution were carried out to understand the action mechanism of additives on the copper foil surface. The results demonstrate that SPS promotes the copper deposition process due to the presence of sulfonic acid groups(–SO3). The amino group(–NH2) of gelatin inhibits copper deposition. SH110 has both promoter (Sodium 3-Mercapto-1-Propane Sulfonate, MPS) and inhibitor (Tetrahydrothiazolidinone, H1) fragments, which achieve synergistic or competitive effects consistent with the composite additive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel interpretation of the thermodynamics of perfect fluid dark matter (PFDM) black hole based on Misner–Sharp energy and then investigate its evaporation behavior. We find that the ratio between dark sector initial density and black hole horizon radius significantly influences black hole evaporation behaviors. We demonstrate that the presence of the dark sector can significantly extend the lifetime of a black hole which is similar to the Reissner–Nordström case. Our work reformulates the thermodynamics of PFDM black holes and points out the existence of long-lived black holes in the presence of the dark sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the shadows and rings of the charged Horndeski black hole illuminated by accretion flow that is both geometrically and optically thin. We consider two types of accretion models: spherical and thin-disk accretion flow. We find that in both types of models, the size of the charged Horndeski black hole shadow decreases with the increase of the charge, and it decreases more slowly for the Reissner–Nordström (RN) black hole. In the spherical accretion flow model, we find that the increase of the charge of Horndeski black hole brightens the light ring around it, and it brightens more significantly in comparison with RN black hole. Due to the Doppler effect, the charged Horndeski black holes with accretion flow of radial motion have darker shadows than those with the static accretion flow, but the size of the shadow is not affected by accretion flow motion. In the thin disk-shaped accretion flow model, we find that the brightness of the light ring around the charged Horndeski black hole is dominated by the direct emission from the accretion flow, and the contribution from lensed rings is relatively small, and that from the photon rings is negligible. We also find that the ring brightness decreases as the charge of Horndeski black hole increases, and the decrease is more significant than that in the RN black hole case. Moreover, the radiation position of the accretion flow can affect the shadow size and the ring brightness of the charged Horndeski black hole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We revisit the vital issue of gauge dependence in the scalar-induced secondary gravitational waves (SIGWs), focusing on the radiation domination (RD) and matter domination (MD) eras. The energy density spectrum is the main physical observable in such induced gravitational waves. For various gauge choices, there has been a divergence in the energy density, ΩGW, of SIGWs. We calculate SIGWs in different gauges to quantify this divergence to address the gauge-dependent problem. In our previous studies, we had found that the energy density diverges in the polynomial power of conformal time (e.g., η6 in uniform density gauge). We try to fix this discrepancy by adding a counter-term that removes the fictitious terms in secondary tensor perturbations. We graphically compare the calculations in various gauges and also comment on the physical origin of the observed gauge dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air transportation systems are a foundational infrastructure for the human's society. The lack of systematic and detailed investigation on a large amount of records for air flights has blocked seriously the deep understanding of the systems. By using the American domestic passenger flight records from 1995 to 2020, we constructed the air transportation networks and calculated the betweenness and the eigenvector centralities for the airports. It is found that in terms of eigenvector centrality, 15–30% airports in the unweighted and undirected networks behave anomalous. The anomalies disappear after considering the information of link weights or directionalites. Five widely used models for air transportation networks are evaluated, results for which tell us that the spatial constraints are required to eliminate the anomalies detected by the eigenvector centrality, and provide us some references for selecting the parameters in the models. We hope the empirical benchmarks reported in this paper can stimulate much more works on theoretical models for air transportation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purinergic signalling adenosine and its A1 receptors have been demonstrated to get involved in the mechanism of acupuncture (needling therapy) analgesia. However, whether purinergic signalling would be responsible for the local analgesic effect of moxibustion therapy, the predominant member in acupuncture family procedures also could trigger analgesic effect on pain diseases, it still remains unclear. In this study, we applied moxibustion to generate analgesic effect on complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammatory pain rats and detected the purine released from moxibustioned-acupoint by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) approach. Intramuscular injection of ARL67156 into the acupoint Zusanli (ST36) to inhibit the breakdown of ATP showed the analgesic effect of moxibustion was increased while intramuscular injection of ATPase to speed up ATP hydrolysis caused a reduced moxibustion-induced analgesia. These data implied that purinergic ATP at the location of ST36 acupoint is a potentially beneficial factor for moxibustion-induced analgesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protective Ni-Mo-P ternary composite coating was deposited on AZ91D magnesium alloy substrate by electroless plating with different concentrations of Na2MoO4. The effect of Na2MoO4 concentration on deposition rate, microstructures, adhesion between the Ni-Mo-P coatings and the substrates, corrosion morphologies and corrosion resistance of Ni-Mo-P coatings were systematically investigated. Moreover, the growth and corrosion resistance mechanisms of the composite coatings were explored. The results revealed that the Ni-Mo-P coating possessed a uniform and dense structure, and the adhesion between the coating and the magnesium alloy substrate was improved. The x-ray pattern and EDS demonstrated that the Ni-Mo-P coating with the addition of 0.4 g/L Na2MoO4 presented amorphous structural characteristics. Furthermore, when the concentration of Na2MoO4 was 0.4 g/L, the Ni-Mo-P coating presented superior corrosion resistance, among which Ecorr was − 0.26 V and Icorr was 8.725 × 10−3 A/cm2. In addition, the Ni-Mo-P composite coating was corroded slightly at this concentration, with the lowest corrosion rate of 0.68 g/m2·h. The results were attributed to the addition of molybdenum elements to improve the amorphous degree for the coating, which improved the corrosion resistance for Ni-Mo-P composite coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on first-principles calculations, this work reports the effect of doping sites of several different depths on the electromagnetic properties of 1.2-nm-sized ZnO quantum dots. The model doping concentration is 2.222%, close to the optimal concentration of 2% for nanoparticles. Under the effect of p-d hybridization, internal sites are more likely to be doped by Mn2+. The intermediate doping sites are beneficial to obtain stable structures and good electromagnetic properties for the ZnO-based diluted magnetic quantum dots. As the doping site changes, the system exhibits different magnetic properties: ferromagnetism (FM) or anti-ferromagnetism (AFM). These differences are the result of a combination of system structure and doping site depth. Studying the doping sites of Mn-doped ZnO quantum dots is of great reference value for developing low-dimensional transition metal-doped oxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, aiming at the problem that the ideal modeling point of the foot end deviates from the actual contact point due to the rolling effect of the semi-cylindrical foot end in leg hydraulics drive system (LHDS), a novel and relatively simple kinematics and statics correction algorithm is proposed. This algorithm can effectively improve the accuracy of LHDS kinematics and statics, and it is still applicable when the body and the contact surface are at different angles. Firstly, this paper deduces the kinematics and statics when the foot end of LHDS is regarded as the point foot, analyzes and calculates the deviation under common working conditions. Secondly, in view of this phenomenon, a kinematics correction algorithm based on virtual DOF and a statics correction algorithm based on translation theorem of forces are proposed respectively. Finally, the proposed algorithm is verified by LHDS performance test platform under various working conditions. The results show that after applying the kinematics correction algorithm, the trajectory deviation reduction rate of the hip joint is over 65%; after applying the statics correction algorithm, the deviation reduction rate of foot end contact force is over 43%. The related research results can be applied to any similar foot end, which has engineering application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We make a first principle study of gravitational pressure in cosmic thermo- dynamics. The pressure is directly derived from the unified first law, in fact the Einstein field equation in spherically symmetric spacetime. By using this pressure, we obtain the thermodynamics for the FRW universe, especially presenting the gravitational equation of state for the FRW spacetime itself, i.e. P = P (RA, T) for the first time. Furthermore, we study the Joule-Thomson expansion as an application of the thermodynamic equation of state to find the cooling-heating property of the FRW universe. We demonstrate that there is an inversion temperature for a FRW universe if its enthalpy ℋ is negative. These investigations shed insights on the evolution of our universe in view of thermodynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We define thermodynamic pressure P by work density W as the conjugate quantity of thermodynamic volume V from field equation. We derive the equations of state P=P(V, T) for the Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) universe in Einstein gravity and a modified gravity respectively. We find that the equation of state from Einstein gravity shows no P-V phase transition, while the equation of state from the modified gravity does, where the critical exponents are the same as those in mean field theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electroless Ni–Mo–P/CNTs composite coatings were applied on AZ91D magnesium alloys, and the effects of CNTs concentration on the microstructure, micro-indentation hardness, wear and corrosion behaviors of the composite coatings were studied. Meanwhile, the mechanism of wear and corrosion resistance for coatings was investigated. The results suggested that the surface morphology of the composite coating fabricated at 0.4 g/L CNTs concentration was smooth and compact, and the maximum micro-indentation hardness and minimum friction coefficient were achieved as 1263.54 HV and 0.201, respectively. The worn surface morphologies showed that the carbon film formed by the optimal concentration of CNTs was covered on the coating surface, which acted as solid lubricant to enhance the abrasion resistance of the composite coating. Furthermore, the coating deposited with 0.4 g/L CNTs concentration had excellent corrosion resistance, which could be attributed to the fine and dense structure which prevented the intrusion of corrosive liquid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WC-12%Co-6%Cr coatings were deposited by high-velocity oxygen-fuel spraying technology (HVOF) on 42CrMo steel, and then, the sealing treatment was carried out by sol–gel aluminum phosphate inorganic sealing agent. The phases and porosity of the coatings before and after sealing were characterized by XRD and metallographic grayscale method, and high-temperature sliding wear tests were carried out at five different temperatures. The results showed that the coating/substrate bonding was mainly mechanical bonding with metallurgical bonding, and the high-temperature friction and wear mechanism of the coating was mainly contact fatigue and oxidation wear. The porosity of the coating was significantly reduced by aluminum phosphate sealing treatment, which was less than 2%, and the density was significantly improved. With the increase in wear temperature, the wear rate of the coatings increased, and the effect of phosphate sealing on reducing the wear loss was gradually weakened, and the highest service temperature was found near 450 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead halide perovskites have received increasing attention recently as a candidate material in various optoelectronic areas because of their high performance as light absorbers. Herein, we report the growth of CsPbI3 nanobelts via a solution process. A single-crystalline CsPbI3 nanobelt with uniform morphology can be achieved by controlling the amount of PbI2. A single-crystalline CsPbI3 nanobelt possesses a mean width, length, and thickness of 100 nm, 5 µm, and 20 nm, respectively. In this work, photodetectors (PDs) based on individual CsPbI3 nanobelts are constructed and found to perform well with an external quantum efficiency and responsivity of 2.39 × 105% and 770 A/W, respectively. The PDs also show a high detectivity of up to 3.12 × 1012 Jones, which is at par with that of Si PDs. The PDs developed in this work exhibit great promise in various optoelectronic nanodevices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have captured substantial attention of an increasing number of scientists working in sensing analysis fields, due to their large surface area, high porosity, and tunable structure. Recently, MOFs as attractive fluorescence quenchers have been extensively investigated. Given their high quenching efficiency toward the fluorescence intensity of dyes-labeled specific biological recognition molecules, such as nucleic acids, MOFs have been widely developed to switch fluorescence biosensors with low background fluorescence signal. These strategies not only lead to specificity, simplicity, and low cost of biosensors, but also possess advantages such as ultrasensitive, rapid, and multiple detection of switch fluorescence methods. At present, researches of the analysis of switch fluorescence biosensors based on MOFs and nucleic acids mainly focus on sensing of different types of in vitro and intracellular analytes, indicating their increasing potential. In this review, we briefly introduce the principle of switch fluorescence biosensor and the mechanism of fluorescence quenching of MOFs, and mainly discuss and summarize the state-of-the-art advances of MOFs and nucleic acids-based switch fluorescence biosensors over the years 2013 to 2020. Most of them have been proposed to the in vitro detection of different types of analytes, showing their wide scope and applicability, such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNAs), ribonucleic acid (RNAs), proteins, enzymes, antibiotics, and heavy metal ions. Besides, some of them have also been applied to the bioimaging of intracellular analytes, emerging their potential for biomedical applications, for example, cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and subcellular glutathione (GSH). Finally, the remaining challenges in this sensing field and prospects for future research trends are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet theory is a string-generated gravity theory when approaching the low energy limit. By introducing the higher order curvature terms, this theory is supposed to help to solve the black hole singularity problem. In this work, we investigate the evaporation of the static spherically symmetric neutral AdS black holes in Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet gravity in various spacetime dimensions with both positive and negative coupling constant α . By summarizing the asymptotic behavior of the evaporation process, we find the lifetime of the black holes is dimensional dependent. For α > 0 , in D ⩾ 6 cases, the black holes will be completely evaporated in a finite time, which resembles the Schwarzschild-AdS case in Einstein gravity. While in D = 4 , 5 cases, the black hole lifetime is always infinite, which means the black hole becomes a remnant in the late time. Remarkably, the cases of α > 0 , D = 4 , 5 will solve the terminal temperature divergent problem of the Schwarzschild-AdS case. For α < 0 , in all dimensions, the black hole will always spend a finite time to a minimal mass corresponding to the smallest horizon radius r min = 2 | α | which coincide with an additional singularity. This implies that there may exist constraint conditions to the choice of coupling constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active layer is a key component for permafrost environment studies as many subsurface biological, biogeochemical, ecological, and pedogenic activities prevail in this layer. This study focuses on active layer temperature monitoring in an area with sporadic permafrost at two adjacent sites along China-Russia Crude Oil Pipeline (CRCOP), North-East China. Site T1 is located in disturbed ground on the right-of-way (on-ROW) 2 m away from the center of the oil pipeline. T2 is located in a natural and undisturbed site, around 16.6 m off-ROW. Our objective was to study seasonal variability of the active layer depth and thermal regime from October 2017 to September 2018. The monitoring sites consist of soil temperature probes arranged in a vertical array at different depths at both sites. The following parameters were computed: number of isothermal days (ID), freezing days (FD), thawing days (TD), freezing degree days (FDD), thawing degree days (TDD), number of freeze-thaw days (FTD). The mean air temperature in the monitoring period reached - 3.2°C. The temperature profile indicates that the maximum active layer thickness observed during the study period was 10 m at T1 and 2 m at T2. The majority of the soil temperatures were above or close to 0°C, resulting in great values of TDD, especially in the first 4 m depth. TDD for T1 were predominant and ranged between 600–1160°C·days (0–4 m depth) reflecting the influence of oil temperature from the pipeline. In T2 borehole FDD were predominant for all the soil layer depths resulting in less permafrost degradation. This comparison emphasizes the significant influence of vegetation removal and the dispersed heat from the pipeline on the active layer thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the holographic p-wave superfluid model with charged complex vector field is studied in dRGT massive gravity beyond the probe limit. The stability of p-wave and p + ip solutions are compared in the grand canonical ensemble. The p-wave solution always get lower value of grand potential than the p + ip solution, showing that the holographic system still favors an anisotropic (p-wave) solution even with considering a massive gravity theory in bulk. In the holographic superconductor models with dRGT massive gravity in bulk, a key scaling symmetry is found to be violated by fixing the reference metric parameter c 0 . Therefore, in order to get the dependence of condensate and grand potential on temperature, different values of horizon radius should be considered in numerical work. With a special choice of model parameters, we further study the dependence of critical back-reaction strength on the graviton mass parameter, beyond which the superfluid phase transition become first order. We also give the dependence of critical temperature on the back reaction strength b and graviton mass parameter m 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the improvement and advance in cancer diagnosis and treatment, the cancer is still a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Obviously, new breakthroughs in therapies remain be urgent needed. In this work, we designed and synthesized the compound 1–4, namely resveratrol analogues with methylation of hydroxy distyrene, to further explore its new anti-cancer potential. Encouragingly, compound 1 ((E)-4,4′-(ethene-1,2-diyl)bis(3,5-dimethylphenol)) exhibited cytotoxicity superior to resveratrol in MCF 7 cells. More importantly, the compound 1 showed greater toxicity to tumor cells than that to normal cells, which proved that it could selectively kill tumor cells. The favorable results encouraged us to explore the inhibitory mechanism of compound 1 on MCF 7 cells. The research finding indicated the compound 1 inhibited tumor cell proliferation by both arresting cell cycle in S phase and apoptosis via a prooxidant manner. In addition, the results further verified compound 1 caused cell cycle arrest in S phase and apoptosis by down-regulation of the cycling A1/cycling A2 expression and the rise of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in a p21-dependant pathway in MCF 7 cells. Therefore, these results are helpful for the effective design of anticancer reagents and the better understanding of their mechanism of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating in situ deformation and electron tomography (ET) techniques allows us to visualize the materials' response to an applied stress with nanometer spatial resolution. The capability of structural, chemical, and morphological characterization in three-dimension real time and at sub-microscopic levels alleviates several persistent problems of two-dimensional imaging such as the projection effect and postmortem appearance. On the other hand, implementing deformation mechanism introduces additional experimental constraints that could influence the accuracy of the reconstructed volumes in a different way. To materialize quantitative and statistically relevant microstructure interpretation by time-resolved ET, we evaluated several key parameters such as angular tilt range, tilt increment, and reconstruction algorithms to characterize their influences on the accuracy of size and morphology reproducibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) plays a role in aging adipose tissue dysfunction by directly promoting chronic inflammation. The JNK/p53 pathway was reported as a potential mechanism that mediates SASP. In this study, we investigated the effects of L-carnitine, an inhibitor of the JNK/p53 pathway in adipose tissue SASP and dysfunction. Young and aging rat were given L-carnitine by gavage. Next, we detected the senescence, cytokines expression, chronic inflammation and insulin resistance of adipose tissue. Additionally, JNK/p53 pathway was estimated. Our results show a significant increase expression of SASP components in the adipose tissue of aging rats compared to young rats. Further, we found that infiltration of immune cells and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines were enhanced in aging adipose tissue while insulin signaling activity was reduced in aging adipose tissue. Interestingly, L-carnitine markedly reduced the expression of SASP factors. L-Carnitine could significantly reduce chronic inflammation, improving insulin resistance. Further, L-carnitine inhibited SASP by inhibiting JNK/p53 pathway. L-Carnitine inhibited SASP by JNK/p53 pathway and attenuated adipose tissue dysfunction of aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present geomorphological evidence for multiple glacial fluctuations during the Quaternary in the Taniantaweng Mountain, which is situated at the transition zone of the southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. To reconstruct the history of glacial evolution during the Quaternary Glaciation, we present a ~13000 km2 geomorphologic map (1:440,000) for the Quaternary glaciations, as well as three electron spin resonance (ESR) ages and three optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from the landforms. By integrating these with ages from previous studies, four major glacial advances are identified during marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS) 6, 3, 2 and 1. This glacial chronology is in reasonable agreement with existing glacial chronologies from other parts of the Hengduan Mountains and surrounding mountains. Glaciers had extended to the Yuqu River during the glacial maximum advance (MIS 6), but became successively more restricted from MIS 3 to MIS 1. The glacial distribution show that precipitation brought by the south Asian monsoon might play a primary role in driving glacial advances during the last glacial period in the southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we firstly combine the 2 + 1 flavors Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model with propertime regularization (PTR) to study the equation of state (EOS) and fix the corresponding parameters in 2 + 1 flavors system. Based on this model, we calculate chiral susceptibility and quark number susceptibility and we find a crossover with chemical potential from 220 to 400 MeV. Then we consider the chemical equilibrium and electric charge neutrality conditions in electroweak reactions, which give some constrains of chemical potentials of different quark flavors. At last, we find that the 2 + 1 flavors system is more stable than 2 flavors system after a comparison and discussion of these two cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To overcome nonlinear and 6-DOF (degrees of freedom) under-actuated problems for the attitude and position of quadrotor UAVs, an adaptive backstepping sliding mode method for flight attitude of quadrotor UAVs is proposed, in which an adaptive law is designed to online estimate the parameter variations and the upper bound of external disturbances and the assessments is utilized to compensate the backstepping sliding mode control. In addition, the tracking error of the design method is shown to asymptotically converge to zero by using Lyapunov theory. Finally, based on the numerical simulation of quadrotor UAVs using the setting parameters, the results show that the proposed control approach can stabilize the attitude and has hover flight capabilities under the parameter perturbations and external disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrical properties and band offset of ZnS/ n-Si(111) heterojunctions with and without annealing were analyzed. The result showed that the rectifying characteristics of ZnS/ n-Si(111) heterojunctions became better and the leakage current increased after annealing. This phenomenon is mostly due to the volatilization of S atoms of ZnS films and leads to defect levels appearing at the interface of the ZnS/ n-Si(111) hetrojunctions. The valence band offset (Δ E ) of the ZnS/ n-Si(111) heterojunctions can be calculated to be −0.7 ± 0.15 eV by means of photoelectron spectroscopy, indicating that the band offsets of ZnS/ n-Si(111) heterojunctions show a type-II band alignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative parameters of bed combustion, including the thickness of the combustion zone (TCZ), the maximum temperature of the combustion zone (MTCZ), and the bed shrinkage, were characterized through a series of sinter pot tests in transparent quartz pots. The results showed that TCZ first ascended and then descended as the sintering process proceeded. The sintering process was divided into four stages according to the variation rate of the TCZ. A 'relative-coordinate' method was developed to obtain the actual reaction temperature of sinter along the height direction. With increasing the sintering temperature, the reactants transformed and entered into liquid phases. The mineral composition and microstructure of the sinter were characterized through X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Liquid phases with greater Fe and Al contents were more likely to form acicular-like silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminum after crystallization because of the outward spread of Al, which led to a better fluidity of the liquid. An evolution mechanism of 'solid-state reaction-liquid phases formation-crystallization' of the mineral phases is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we carried out first-principles calculations based on density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green's function to investigate the electronic transport properties of a quinone-based molecule sandwiched between two Au electrodes. The molecular switch can be reversibly switched between the reduced hydroquinone (HQ) and oxidized quinone (Q) states via redox reactions. The switching behavior of two forms is analyzed through their I- V curves, transmission spectra and molecular projected self-consistent Hamiltonian at zero bias. Then we discuss the transmission spectra of the HQ and Q forms at different bias, and explain the oscillation of current according to the transmission eigenstates of LUMO energy level for Q form. The results suggest that this kind of a quinone-based molecule is usable as one of the good candidates for redox-controlled molecular switches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-isothermal preoxidation of the titania/ferrous oxide solution (TFOS) was investigated between 300°C and 1200°C. To explore the TFOS preoxidation mechanism, the phase transitions, crystal structure behavior, subreactions, and atomic-scale migration and enrichment of the TFOS during preoxidation were studied. Two different titanium and iron solutions were distinguished by scanning electron microscopy analysis. The phase transitions from titanomagnetite (TTM) to titanohematite to pseudobrookite (PSB) were indicated by the separation and enrichment of Ti and Fe, which migrated into PSB and hematite, respectively. This occurred alongside the generation and destruction of FeTiO. Multiple local maxima and shoulders were observed in the double-derivative thermogravimetric curves during the preoxidation process, indicating the existence and initial reaction temperatures of five stages of subreactions. Compared with the theoretical mass gain (3.28 wt.%), only 80.8 at.% of the Fe was oxidized to Fe, leaving unoxidized TTM in the solid solution during non-isothermal oxidation at 1200°C. The concentration of Ti gradually increased in the lamellar structures. However, Fe, Al, and O were mostly restricted to the homogeneous regions. The segregation of Mg only became obvious when TFOS was oxidized at high temperatures. The enrichment reduced the impact of Ti when O migrated during the reduction process, thus, enhancing the reducibility of the TFOS after preoxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In practice, airborne gravimetry is a sub-Nyquist sampling method because of the restrictions imposed by national boundaries, financial cost, and database size. In this study, we analyze the sparsity of airborne gravimetry data by using the discrete Fourier transform and propose a reconstruction method based on the theory of compressed sensing for large-scale gravity anomaly data. Consequently, the reconstruction of the gravity anomaly data is transformed to a L1-norm convex quadratic programming problem. We combine the preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm (PCG) and the improved interior-point method (IPM) to solve the convex quadratic programming problem. Furthermore, a flight test was carried out with the homegrown strapdown airborne gravimeter SGA-WZ. Subsequently, we reconstructed the gravity anomaly data of the flight test, and then, we compared the proposed method with the linear interpolation method, which is commonly used in airborne gravimetry. The test results show that the PCG-IPM algorithm can be used to reconstruct large-scale gravity anomaly data with higher accuracy and more effectiveness than the linear interpolation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the chemical structure and morphology of plasmapolymers produced by deposition of ethylene on the surface of polypropylene. The deposition films (sediments) of ethylene plasma on the surface of polypropylene are nonuniform, and the characterization results indicate the existence of hydroxyl groups and aldehyde (or ketone) groups in the sediments. The sediment of ethylene plasma on the polypropylene surface could induce the growth of β-form crystals in the surface layer of polypropylene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our previous study, 17β-estradiol was proved to protect rat annulus fibrosus cells against apoptosis induced by interleukin-1β (IL-1β). However, whether 17β-estradiol has protective effect on rat nucleus pulposus cells remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to further explore the effects of 17β-estradiol on rat nucleus pulposus cells based on IL-1β-induced apoptosis. TUNEL assay and Annexin V/PI double staining were used to detect apoptosis and revealed that IL-1β induced notable apoptosis, which was reversed by 17β-estradiol. Meanwhile, cell viability and binding ability were decreased by IL-1β, but activated caspase-3 was increased. However, all of the detected effects of IL-1β were eliminated by 17β-estradiol. Furthermore, real-time quantitative RT-PCR was used to further find that IL-1β downregulated expression level of type II collagen, aggrecan, tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1, while upregulated matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, MMP-13 and Bcl-2, which was further confirmed by western blot. Finally, 17β-estradiol was proved to abolish the above negative effects of IL-1β. In summary, this work presented that IL-1β maybe induced apoptosis of rat nucleus pulposus cells, which was resisted by 17β-estradiol by down-regulating MMP-3 and MMP-13 via a mitochondrial pathway. This research provides a novel insight into the anti-apoptotic effect of 17β-estradiol on IL-1β-induced cytotoxicity, and may potentially lead to a better understanding of the clinical effects of 17β-estradiol, especially in terms of intervertebral disc degeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The probability-assessment analyses on the characteristic value of voltage dip by using Monte Carlo stochastic modeling method to stimulate the randomness of the short circuit fault are introduced. Using Matlab and Power Systems CAD (PSCAD), we design control interface which combines the electromagnetic transient simulation with the Monte Carlo method. Specifically, the designing of interface which is meant to employ the method of Matlab programming to control the electromagnetic transients including direct current (EMTDC) simulation is introduced. Furthermore, the influences of the protection devices on the voltage dip to ensure the authenticity and the referential reliability are simulated. A system with the inverse-time protection devices equipped on each line which can coordinate together is designed to cut off the short-circuit fault. The voltage dip of the designed system is assessed by the pre- and post-system average root mean square (RMS) variation frequency index, and the voltage dip index is compared with the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) curves. The simulation results demonstrate that the inverse-time relay protection equipments are well-coordinated, and the severity and the range of the voltage dip are influenced by the cooperation of the equipped inverse-time protection devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Levofloxacin has been reported to have cytotoxicity to chondrocytes in vitro. And 17β-estradiol has been widely studied for its protective effects against cell apoptosis. Based on apoptotic cell model induced by levofloxacin, the purpose of this study was to explore the mechanism by which 17β-estradiol protects rat nucleus pulposus cells from apoptosis. Inverted phase-contrast microscopy, flow cytometry, and caspase-3 activity assay were used to find that levofloxacin induced marked apoptosis, which was abolished by 17β-estradiol. Interestingly, estrogen receptor antagonist, ICI182780, and functional blocking antibody to αβ integrin, both prohibited the effect of 17β-estradiol. Simultaneously, levofloxacin decreased cellular binding ability to type II collagen, which was also reversed by 17β-estradiol. Furthermore, western blot and real-time quantitative PCR were used to find that integrin αβ was responsible for estrogen-dependent anti-apoptosis, which was time-response and dose-response effect. 17β-estradiol was proved for the first time to protect rat nucleus pulposus cells against levofloxacin-induced apoptosis by upregulating integrin αβ signal pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New bisphenol monomers, (4-fluorophenyl)hydroquinone ( 3b) and (3,4-difluoro phenyl)hydroquinone ( 3c), were synthesized in a two-step synthesis. Poly(aryl ether ketone)s (PAEKs) ( 4a- c) were derived from these fluorinated bisphenols and nonfluorinated bisphenol-phenylhydroquinone ( 3a) with 4,4′-diflourobenzophenone via a nucleophilic aromatic substitution polycondensation. The obtained polymers had inherent viscosities of 0.50-0.92 dL/g. Thermal analysis showed that the obtained PAEKs had excellent thermal properties, the glass transition temperatures ranged from 148 to 160 °C, and the temperatures at 5% weight loss (Td) were above 527 °C and the temperatures at 10% weight loss (Td) were above 544 °C in nitrogen. All the polymers showed excellent solubility and could dissolve in common organic solvents, such as DMSO, NMP, DMF, etc. So the films of them were easily cast from their solutions, which possessed good mechanical properties, with tensile strengths of 95.2-104.0 MPa, Young's moduli of 2.68-3.06 GPa, and elongation at break of 15-32%. Furthermore, the prepared PAEKs displayed low dielectric constants (2.75-2.95 at 1 MHz) and hydrophobic character (contact angles for water: 83.9-98.4). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the role of phosphatase inhibition on anti-CD22, HB22.7-mediated lymphomacidal effects. CD22 is a cell-surface molecule expressed on most B cell lymphomas (NHL). HB22.7 is an anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody that binds a unique CD22-epitope, blocks ligand binding, initiates signaling, and has demonstrated lymphomacidal activity. The SHP-1 tyrosine phosphatase is associated with the cytoplasmic domain of CD22. Sodium orthovanadate (NaV) is a phosphatase inhibitor. The SHP-1-CD22 interaction presents an opportunity to manipulate CD22-mediated signaling effects. In vitro cell culture assays and in vivo human NHL xenograft studies were used to assess the effects of phosphatase inhibition. NaV caused dose dependent killing of NHL cells in vitro; when HB22.7 was given with NaV, antibody-mediated cell death was augmented. Flow cytometry showed that NaV-pretreatment resulted in less CD22 internalization after ligation with HB22.7 than did control cells. Studies in mice bearing Raji NHL xenografts showed that the combination of NaV and HB22.7 shrank NHL tumors more rapidly, had a higher complete response rate (80%), and produced the best survival compared to controls; no toxicity was detected. Studies using Raji cells stably transfected with SHP-1DN confirmed that these observations were due to SHP-1 inhibition. The relatively specific association of SHP-1 with CD22 suggests that CD22-specific signal augmentation by phosphatase inhibitors can improve the clinical outcome of anti-CD22 based immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]