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Purpose: Serum-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been reported to play an important role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The current study sought to explore the effect of serum-EVs delivering m6A methylation regulator heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein C (HNRNPC) on the development of NSCLC through the regulation of discs large-associated protein 5 (DLGAP5). Methods: NSCLC-related RNA-Seq and clinical data were first obtained from the TCGA database to screen differentially expressed m6A-related regulators, which were intersected with the differential genes in NSCLC-related microarray GSE43458 obtained from the GEO database for survival analysis and clinical correlation analysis. Correlation between HNRNPC and DLGAP5 expression was evaluated. Serum-EVs were isolated and identified, and the uptake of EVs by A549 cells was visualized using fluorescence microscopy. In vivo xenograft tumor models and tumor metastasis models were constructed in nude mice to observe growth and metastasis of NSCLC cells. Results: HNRNPC was associated with poor prognosis and metastasis of NSCLC, and further implicated in the regulation of DNA replication and cell cycle-related pathways. HNRNPC might promote the growth and metastasis of NSCLC by identifying m6A modification of DLGAP5 mRNA. Serum-EVs delivered HNRNPC to NSCLC cells in vitro. In vivo experimentation further confirmed that serum-EVs could deliver HNRNPC to promote the growth and metastasis of NSCLC cells in nude mice. Conclusions: Our findings highlight that serum-EVs can deliver HNRNPC to NSCLC cells, wherein HNRNPC recognizes the m6A modification of DLGAP5 mRNA, thus ultimately promoting NSCLC growth and metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We design a multilevel correction type of adaptive finite element method based on the moving mesh technique for solving nonlinear eigenvalue problems. In this paper, we take the ground state of Bose–Einstein condensates as the example of a nonlinear eigenvalue problem to show the solving process. For this aim, we propose a non-nested augmented subspace method for the nonlinear eigenvalue problems since the sequence of finite element spaces generated by the r-adaptive method has non-nested property. The new method proposed in this paper can improve the efficiency for solving nonlinear eigenvalue problems by the corresponding theoretical analysis and numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photosynthesis is the most important biological process on Earth that converts solar energy to chemical energy (biomass) using sunlight as the sole energy source. The yield of photosynthesis is highly sensitive to the intensity and spectral components of light received by the photosynthetic organisms. Therefore, photon engineering has the potential to increase photosynthesis. Spectral conversion materials have been proposed for solar spectral management and widely investigated for photosynthesis by modifying the quality of light reaching the organisms since the 1990s. Such spectral conversion materials manage the photon spectrum of light by a photoconversion process, and a primary challenge faced by these materials is increasing their efficiencies. This review focuses on emerging spectral conversion materials for augmenting the photosynthesis of plants and microalgae, with a special emphasis on their fundamental design and potential applications in both greenhouse settings and microalgae cultivation systems. Finally, a discussion about the future perspectives in this field is made to overcome the remaining challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overexpression of human dynactin-associated protein (dynAP) transforms NIH3T3 cells. DynAP is a single-pass transmembrane protein with a carboxy-terminal region (amino acids 135–210) exposed to the outside of the cell possessing one potential N-glycosylation site (position 143) and a distal C-terminal region (residues 173–210) harboring a Thr/Ser-rich (T/S) cluster that may be O-glycosylated. In SDS–PAGE, dynAP migrates anomalously at ~ 45 kDa, much larger than expected (22.5 kDa) based on the amino acid composition. Using dynAP mutants, we herein showed that the T/S cluster region is responsible for the anomalous migration. The T/S cluster region is required for transport to the cytoplasmic membrane and cell transformation. We produced and purified the extracellular fragment (dynAP135–210) in secreted form and analyzed the attached glycans. Asn143 displayed complex-type glycosylation, suggesting that oligosaccharide transferase may recognize the NXT/S sequon in the secretory form, but not clearly in full-length dynAP. Core I-type O-glycosylation (Gal-GalNAc) was observed, but the mass spectrometry signal was weak, clearly indicating that further studies are needed to elucidate modifications in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-tech industrial agglomeration is conducive to boosting technological progress, promoting industrial structure upgrading and realizing economic transformation, and certainly affects the overall industrial environmental efficiency. However, few recent studies have focused on its impact on industrial environmental efficiency from a green perspective. In the context of promoting the development of green economy, it is of great significance to clarify the links between high-tech industrial agglomeration and industrial environmental efficiency. In this research, we first analyzed the theoretical mechanism of the impact of high-tech industrial agglomeration and its spatial spillover effects on industrial environmental efficiency and then made an empirical analysis based on the panel data of 29 provinces and cities in China from 2003 to 2016. During the research, Super-DEA method, ESDA method and spatial Dubin model are used. The result shows that: (1) There is a significant spatial positive correlation between China's industrial environmental efficiency and high-tech industrial agglomeration; (2) high-tech industrial agglomeration has improved the local industrial productivity and industrial technology level through scale effects and technical effects, which has accordingly significantly enhanced the corresponding environmental efficiency; (3) through the association of regional industries, the cross-regional cooperation of enterprises and the formation of innovation networks, high-tech industrial agglomeration promotes the spillover of knowledge and technology among regions, improves the level of industrial technology in neighboring regions, and enhances the industrial environmental efficiency in neighboring regions. All these three is helpful to re-evaluate the development mode of high-tech industry agglomeration and to formulate relevant government policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing differential privacy for social network graphs data published method is mainly focused on graph synthesis. But the privacy budget is set by data owner without adequate consideration of the differences in privacy requirements between individual users. And it published a topology data of social network data, which does not combine the independent attribute information and attribute information of the individual user with the correlation of edge information. This paper researches the influence of both social network attribute graph node properties and the correlation of edge information under the condition of considering the user privacy requirements, thus a social network attributes graphs algorithm is proposed under personalized differential privacy, which is for the independent attribute information between users. Since the node properties do not match the data type, our proposed mode will make the data partitioning in the data set, and it also divides and calculates the probability according to the node attribute distribution query function. Finally, through two real social network data sets, our proposed algorithms will execute for experimental comparison, and are verified they validity and usability through the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The numerical solution of nonlocal constrained value problems with integrable kernels is considered. These nonlocal problems arise in nonlocal mechanics and nonlocal diffusion. The structure of the true solution to the problem is analyzed first. The analysis leads naturally to a new kind of discontinuous Galerkin method that can more efficiently solve the problem numerically. The new method is shown to be asymptotically compatible. Moreover, it has optimal convergence rate for any dimensional case under mild assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a numerical strategy to generate a sequence of anisotropic meshes and select appropriate stabilization parameters simultaneously for linear SUPG method solving two dimensional convection-dominated convection-diffusion equations. Since the discretization error in a suitable norm can be bounded by the sum of interpolation error and its variants in different norms, we replace them by some terms which contain the Hessian matrix of the true solution, convective field, and the geometric properties such as directed edges and the area of triangles. Based on this observation, the shape, size and equidistribution requirements are used to derive corresponding metric tensor and stabilization parameters. Numerical results are provided to validate the stability and efficiency of the proposed numerical strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Association Link Network (ALN) can organize massive news data to support many intelligent Web applications. The degree estimating can facilitate the rapid positioning of Web resources in ALN. In our prior work, we have well studied the degree estimating of out-degree of nodes in ALN. In this paper, we proposed an automatic estimating method of the in-degree of nodes in ALN to further reduce the searching scope for the rapid positioning. First, we explore the main factors of forming the in-degree of any one node from semantic feature view by qualitative analysis. Then, based on the result of qualitative analysis, we propose the model for estimating the in-degree of any one node in ALN, including the method framework, the first automatic estimating method and its further optimization method. Experimental results show that the proposed estimating method as well as the optimization method have a high precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stabilized finite element method based on local projection stabilization is applied to discretize the Stokes eigenvalue problems, then the corresponding stability and convergence properties are given. Furthermore, we use a postprocessing technique to accelerate the convergence rate of the eigenpair approximations. The postprocessing strategy contains solving an additional Stokes source problem in an augmented finite element space which can be constructed either by refining the mesh, or increasing the order of finite element space. Numerical tests are also provided to confirm the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of optical second harmonic generation in 1961 started modern nonlinear optics. Soon after, R. C. Miller found empirically that the nonlinear susceptibility could be predicted from the linear susceptibilities. This important relation, known as Miller's Rule, allows a rapid determination of nonlinear susceptibilities from linear properties. In recent years, metamaterials, artificial materials that exhibit intriguing linear optical properties not found in natural materials, have shown novel nonlinear properties such as phase-mismatch-free nonlinear generation, new quasi-phase matching capabilities and large nonlinear susceptibilities. However, the understanding of nonlinear metamaterials is still in its infancy, with no general conclusion on the relationship between linear and nonlinear properties. The key question is then whether one can determine the nonlinear behaviour of these artificial materials from their exotic linear behaviour. Here, we show that the nonlinear oscillator model does not apply in general to nonlinear metamaterials. We show, instead, that it is possible to predict the relative nonlinear susceptibility of large classes of metamaterials using a more comprehensive nonlinear scattering theory, which allows efficient design of metamaterials with strong nonlinearity for important applications such as coherent Raman sensing, entangled photon generation and frequency conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piezoelectricity allows precise and robust conversion between electricity and mechanical force, and arises from the broken inversion symmetry in the atomic structure. Reducing the dimensionality of bulk materials has been suggested to enhance piezoelectricity. However, when the thickness of a material approaches a single molecular layer, the large surface energy can cause piezoelectric structures to be thermodynamically unstable. Transition-metal dichalcogenides can retain their atomic structures down to the single-layer limit without lattice reconstruction, even under ambient conditions. Recent calculations have predicted the existence of piezoelectricity in these two-dimensional crystals due to their broken inversion symmetry. Here, we report experimental evidence of piezoelectricity in a free-standing single layer of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) and a measured piezoelectric coefficient of e11 = 2.9 × 10-10 C m−1. The measurement of the intrinsic piezoelectricity in such free-standing crystals is free from substrate effects such as doping and parasitic charges. We observed a finite and zero piezoelectric response in MoS2 in odd and even number of layers, respectively, in sharp contrast to bulk piezoelectric materials. This oscillation is due to the breaking and recovery of the inversion symmetry of the two-dimensional crystal. Through the angular dependence of electromechanical coupling, we determined the two-dimensional crystal orientation. The piezoelectricity discovered in this single molecular membrane promises new applications in low-power logic switches for computing and ultrasensitive biological sensors scaled down to a single atomic unit cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermodynamically driven self-assembly offers a direct route to organize individual nanoscopic components into three-dimensional structures over a large scale. The most thermodynamically favourable configurations, however, may not be ideal for some applications. In plasmonics, for instance, nanophotonic constructs with non-trivial broken symmetries can display optical properties of interest, such as Fano resonance, but are usually not thermodynamically favoured. Here, we present a self-assembly route with a feedback mechanism for the bottom-up synthesis of a new class of symmetry-breaking optical metamaterials. We self-assemble plasmonic nanorod dimers with a longitudinal offset that determines the degree of symmetry breaking and its electromagnetic response. The clear difference in plasmonic resonance profiles of nanorod dimers in different configurations enables high spectra selectivity. On the basis of this plasmonic signature, our self-assembly route with feedback mechanism promotes the assembly of desired metamaterial structures through selective excitation and photothermal disassembly of unwanted assemblies in solution. In this fashion, our method can selectively reconfigure and homogenize the properties of the dimer, leading to highly monodispersed aqueous metamaterials with tailored symmetries and electromagnetic responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) monolayers have recently emerged as an important class of two-dimensional semiconductors with potential for electronic and optoelectronic devices. Unlike semi-metallic graphene, layered TMDCs have a sizeable bandgap. More interestingly, when thinned down to a monolayer, TMDCs transform from indirect-bandgap to direct-bandgap semiconductors, exhibiting a number of intriguing optical phenomena such as valley-selective circular dichroism, doping-dependent charged excitons and strong photocurrent responses. However, the fundamental mechanism underlying such a strong light-matter interaction is still under intensive investigation. First-principles calculations have predicted a quasiparticle bandgap much larger than the measured optical gap, and an optical response dominated by excitonic effects. In particular, a recent study based on a GW plus Bethe-Salpeter equation (GW-BSE) approach, which employed many-body Green's-function methodology to address electron-electron and electron-hole interactions, theoretically predicted a diversity of strongly bound excitons. Here we report experimental evidence of a series of excitonic dark states in single-layer WS2 using two-photon excitation spectroscopy. In combination with GW-BSE theory, we prove that the excitons are of Wannier type, meaning that each exciton wavefunction extends over multiple unit cells, but with extraordinarily large binding energy (∼0.7 electronvolts), leading to a quasiparticle bandgap of 2.7 electronvolts. These strongly bound exciton states are observed to be stable even at room temperature. We reveal an exciton series that deviates substantially from hydrogen models, with a novel energy dependence on the orbital angular momentum. These excitonic energy levels are experimentally found to be robust against environmental perturbations. The discovery of excitonic dark states and exceptionally large binding energy not only sheds light on the importance of many-electron effects in this two-dimensional gapped system, but also holds potential for the device application of TMDC monolayers and their heterostructures in computing, communication and bio-sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For lack of laboratory and field performance data on stabilization of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) aggregate and stabilized soil (S) for road bases and subbases construction, the influences of RAP/S ratio, cement and fly ash content, modifying agent (MA) on the compact, unconfined compressive strength, indirect tensile strength and water stability of the CIR mixtures were investigated. The experimental results showed that the maximum dry density and the optimum moisture content of the mixture changed significantly with the RAP/S ratio and cement-fly ash content. Unconfined compressive strength, indirect tensile strength and water stability were improved significantly by the addition of MA, and the water stability was improved by nearly 20% on average. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) images indicated that MA accelerated the hydration of cement-fly ash system. Needle-like AFt and fibrous C-S-H gel were observed in the mixtures, which resulted in the cementation effect among the CIR mixture particles and a more compact microstructure. All these could be the cause of high strength of the CIR mixtures with MA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extraordinary electronic properties of graphene provided the main thrusts for the rapid advance of graphene electronics. In photonics, the gate-controllable electronic properties of graphene provide a route to efficiently manipulate the interaction of photons with graphene, which has recently sparked keen interest in graphene plasmonics. However, the electro-optic tuning capability of unpatterned graphene alone is still not strong enough for practical optoelectronic applications owing to its non-resonant Drude-like behaviour. Here, we demonstrate that substantial gate-induced persistent switching and linear modulation of terahertz waves can be achieved in a two-dimensional metamaterial, into which an atomically thin, gated two-dimensional graphene layer is integrated. The gate-controllable light-matter interaction in the graphene layer can be greatly enhanced by the strong resonances of the metamaterial. Although the thickness of the embedded single-layer graphene is more than six orders of magnitude smaller than the wavelength (

Metamaterials allow for extraordinary electromagnetic properties that are not attainable in nature. Indefinite media with hyperbolic dispersion, in particular, have found intriguing applications. The miniaturization of optical cavities increases the photon density of states and therefore enhances light-matter interactions for applications in modern optoelectronics. However, scaling down the optical cavity is limited to the diffraction limit and by the reduced quality factor. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an optical cavity made of indefinite metamaterials that confines the electromagnetic field to an extremely small space. The experiments reveal that indefinite cavities demonstrate anomalous scaling laws: cavities with different sizes can resonant at the same frequency, and a higher-order resonance mode oscillates at a lower frequency. We also demonstrate a universal fourth power law for the radiation quality factor of the wave vector. Cavities with sizes down to ?/12 are realized with ultrahigh optical indices (up to 17.4), a feature that is critically important for many applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The law of refraction first derived by Snellius and later introduced as the Huygens-Fermat principle, states that the incidence and refracted angles of a light wave at the interface of two different materials are related to the ratio of the refractive indices in each medium. Whereas all natural materials have a positive refractive index and therefore exhibit refraction in the positive direction, artificially engineered negative index metamaterials have been shown capable of bending light waves negatively. Such a negative refractive index is the key to achieving a perfect lens that is capable of imaging well below the diffraction limit. However, negative index metamaterials are typically lossy, narrow band, and require complicated fabrication processes. Recently, an alternative approach to obtain negative refraction from a very thin nonlinear film has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated in the microwave region. However, such approaches use phase conjugation, which makes optical implementations difficult. Here, we report a simple but different scheme to demonstrate experimentally nonlinear negative refraction at optical frequencies using four-wave mixing in nanostructured metal films. The refractive index can be designed at will by simply tuning the wavelengths of the interacting waves, which could have potential impact on many important applications, such as superlens imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the stream function-vorticity-pressure method for the Stokes eigenvalue problem. Further, we obtain full order convergence rate of the eigenvalue approximations for the Stokes eigenvalue problem based on asymptotic error expansions for two nonconforming finite elements, Q and EQ. Using the technique of eigenvalue error expansion, the technique of integral identities and the extrapolation method, we can improve the accuracy of the eigenvalue approximations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss the aspects of light propagation and the unidirectional invisibility from exceptional points that combined states of an open system in photonic media. They are critical on the concept of the magic cloak worn by the fictional wizard Harry Potter, which makes him invisible due to the reciprocity of light. They comment on the use of photonic crystals in manipulating the light propagation and in controlling light-matter interactions.

One of the great challenges of unconfined seepage through a dam lies in the accurate determination of free surface that depends on the complexity of the seepage model, especially if the model is characterized with complex geometry and sharp variations in permeability distribution. This study presents a practical methodology that combines the adaptive moving-mesh algorithm and the Galerkin finite element method (FEM) to solve an unconfined seepage problem with high efficiency and precision. The methodology employs a set of improvement terms, such as remainder factor, step-size parameter and termination condition, all of which guarantee that the simulation and the refinement fitting can be implemented efficiently until the free surface converges within a given allowable error. In particular, a specialized discussion is presented for the significant relation between the location of the exit point and the corresponding grid fineness. To validate the practicability of the proposed method, a series of examples are performed. Comparing the result with those of other numerical approaches, we conclude that even though the unconfined seepage model may be complicated with arbitrary complex geometry and sharp variations in permeability distribution, the proposed algorithm provides a great improvement in efficiency and accuracy in free-surface searching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering heterogeneous micro-mechano-microenvironments of extracellular matrix is of great interest in tissue engineering, but spatial control over mechanical heterogeneity in three dimensions is still challenging given the fact that geometry and stiffness are inherently intertwined in fabrication. Here, we develop a layer-by-layer three-dimensional (3D) printing paradigm which achieves orthogonal control of stiffness and geometry by capitalizing on the conventionally adverse effect of oxygen inhibition on free-radical polymerization. Controlled oxygen permeation and inhibition result in photo-cured hydrogel layers with thicknesses only weakly dependent to the ultraviolet exposure dosage. The dosage is instead leveraged to program the crosslink density and stiffness of the cured structures. The programmable stiffness spans nearly an order of magnitude (E ~ 2-15 kPa) within the physiologically relevant range. We further demonstrate that extracellular matrices with programmed micro-mechano-environments can dictate 3D cellular organization, enabling in vitro tissue reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene oxide (GO) is an emerging material for energy and environmental applications, but it has been primarily produced using chemical processes involving high energy consumption and hazardous chemicals. In this study, we reported a new bioelectrochemical method to produce GO from graphite under ambient conditions without chemical amendments, value-added organic compounds and high rate H2 were also produced. Compared with abiotic electrochemical electrolysis control, the microbial assisted graphite oxidation produced high rate of graphite oxide and graphene oxide (BEGO) sheets, CO2, and current at lower applied voltage. The resultant electrons are transferred to a biocathode, where H2 and organic compounds are produced by microbial reduction of protons and CO2, respectively, a process known as microbial electrosynthesis (MES). Pseudomonas is the dominant population on the anode, while abundant anaerobic solvent-producing bacteria Clostridium carboxidivorans is likely responsible for electrosynthesis on the cathode. Oxygen production through water electrolysis was not detected on the anode due to the presence of facultative and aerobic bacteria as O2 sinkers. This new method provides a sustainable route for producing graphene materials and renewable H2 at low cost, and it may stimulate a new area of research in MES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piezoelectricity allows precise and robust conversion between electricity and mechanical force, and arises from the broken inversion symmetry in the atomic structure. Reducing the dimensionality of bulk materials has been suggested to enhance piezoelectricity. However, when the thickness of a material approaches a single molecular layer, the large surface energy can cause piezoelectric structures to be thermodynamically unstable. Transition-metal dichalcogenides can retain their atomic structures down to the single-layer limit without lattice reconstruction, even under ambient conditions. Recent calculations have predicted the existence of piezoelectricity in these two-dimensional crystals due to their broken inversion symmetry. Here, we report experimental evidence of piezoelectricity in a free-standing single layer of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) and a measured piezoelectric coefficient of e11 = 2.9 × 10-10 C m−1. The measurement of the intrinsic piezoelectricity in such free-standing crystals is free from substrate effects such as doping and parasitic charges. We observed a finite and zero piezoelectric response in MoS2 in odd and even number of layers, respectively, in sharp contrast to bulk piezoelectric materials. This oscillation is due to the breaking and recovery of the inversion symmetry of the two-dimensional crystal. Through the angular dependence of electromechanical coupling, we determined the two-dimensional crystal orientation. The piezoelectricity discovered in this single molecular membrane promises new applications in low-power logic switches for computing and ultrasensitive biological sensors scaled down to a single atomic unit cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]