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Foliar accumulation of atmospheric mercury (Hg), particularly gaseous elemental mercury (Hg(0)), accounts for a significant amount of atmospheric Hg deposition and influences the Hg geochemical cycle. Foliar Hg accumulation occurs as the net result of uptake, adsorption, fixation, re-emission, and other processes. The combination of these processes influences foliar Hg speciation, translocation, toxicity, transport, and bioavailability, which eventually affects the environmental risk of Hg. Therefore, a systematic understanding of the various processes involved in foliar Hg accumulation is urgently needed. This review summarizes the current knowledge, research progress, and remaining knowledge gaps regarding foliar Hg accumulation processes and the biochemical mechanisms involved. Atmospheric Hg is biochemically fixed within foliage after stomatal and/or nonstomatal uptake, with foliar Hg then volatilized after reduction, washed off via throughfall, deposited on soil surfaces via litterfall or stored within vegetation over time. Mechanisms underlying these processes and future perspectives on foliar accumulation are hereby discussed with the aim of reducing knowledge gaps on foliar Hg accumulation. The combination of different methods, such as Hg speciation analysis, isotope tracer techniques, element imaging, biological technologies, and ecologically microcosmic methods, will help clarify Hg speciation, transformation, and subcellular distribution in foliage, and quantitate different Hg fluxes during foliar Hg accumulation and litterfall decomposition. Measurements and modeling on the foliar accumulation process of atmospheric Hg under natural and human perturbations are also essential. These future investigations will help comprehensively understand the processes influencing atmospheric Hg interactions with foliage and evaluate the environmental fates and risks of foliar Hg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-speed transmissions can enhance the comprehensive performance of electric vehicles (EVs), while exhibiting potential to further improve their shift quality. In this study, a gearshift control architecture combined with multi-objective trajectory planning was proposed for EVs with two-speed transmission. Three indices, namely shifting duration, jerk and friction work, were selected as optimization objectives. Numerous iterations of multi-objective optimization were conducted using the Legendre pseudospectral method, which is an optimization algorithm with high convergence speed and low sensitivity to initial values. Optimization results were presented through a Pareto solution set which was then used as a reference by the control architecture for optimal trajectory selection in the transmission control unit. In a hardware-in-the-loop experiment, the control architecture was applied in a passenger car to run the New European Driving Cycle, demonstrating the effectiveness and feasibility of the developed multi-objective trajectory planning and gearshift control architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the serious filtering problems of fracturing fluid during active hydraulic fracturing of coalbed methane, which blocks gas migration channels with residual fracturing fluid and results in a rapid decline in coalbed methane production, several preliminary experiment of thermal nitrogen injection was carried out. To explain the process and mechanism of thermal nitrogen injection at the nanoscale, an adsorption and diffusion model was established to study the adsorption and diffusion of methane, water and fracturing fluid during thermal nitrogen injection. The results showed that the self-diffusion coefficient of methane was increased by 23%, 45% and 32%, the self-diffusion coefficient of water molecule was increased by 108%, 185% and 138%, the self-diffusion coefficient of fracturing fluid molecule was increased by 169%, 275% and 181%, and the total number of atoms in the slit hole was decreased by 15%, 25% and 37%, respectively, when hot nitrogen was injected at 2, 4 and 6 Mpa, respectively. This shows that the numbers of methane, water and fracturing fluid molecules in the slit hole were significantly decreased by the thermal and displacement effects of hot nitrogen injection. The self-diffusion coefficient was significantly improved, and the effects of plug removal was remarkable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the set of terminal bending moments, actuator position, and terminal slopes for each actuator, solve for the set of coefficients k SB 1 sb ~k SB 4 sb . Since no lateral force is imparted on the silicon mirror in between the two end supports (outside the glue pad area and ignoring the effect of GaIn), the bending moment along the long axis of the mirror within the clear optical aperture is a straight line connecting the two terminal bending moments controlled by the actuator. To back calculate actuator positions with a given center line surface shape, one would repeat steps 4 to 5 to obtain the terminal bending moments and terminal slopes, then solve the quadratic equation for actuator position in Eq. (1) with corresponding coefficient sets (k SB 1 sb ~k SB 4 sb ). In essence, each actuator controls the bending moment exerted on their corresponding end of the silicon mirror. [Extracted from the article]

Aberrant expression of Anillin (ANLN) has been shown to function in the development of multiple cancers. However, its effects on colorectal carcinoma (CRC) remain unclear. We aimed to explore the role of ANLN in CRC development. By real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), Western blot, and immunohistochemistry (IHC), we assessed the expression level of ANLN in CRC tissues and cell lines. The role of ANLN in CRC cell proliferation was evaluated by CCK-8 assays, colony formation assays, EdU assays and cell cycle assays. A mouse tumorigenic model was established to evaluate the in vivo function of ANLN. We found that ANLN was overexpressed in CRC tissues and cell lines. Highly expressed ANLN correlated with tumor size, tumor number, and stage in patients with CRC. Silencing ANLN in CRC cell lines suppressed proliferation both in vitro and in vivo and induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. Downregulation of ANLN led to reduced phosphorylated levels of AKT and ERK. However, total AKT protein showed no change. SP2, a critical transcription factor, was implicated in the upregulation of ANLN. Our study demonstrated that ANLN regulates CRC cell proliferation via the PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways, indicating that ANLN may represent a novel and effective target for CRC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Based on the nonlocal integral elasticity, this paper focuses on the plane wave propagation in functionally gradient piezoelectric material (FGPM) nanoplates immersed in liquid, especially on the dissipation characteristics of the waves. A mathematical model is established by using the presented Legendre polynomial series approach. Comparisons with the published works not only demonstrate the correctness of the presented method, but also indicate the significant differences between the nonlocal integral and differential elasticities at high frequencies or at large incident angles. Besides, the energy dissipation and the crucial incident angle both increase as the nonlocal parameter increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Researches on immunotherapy of glioma has been increasing exponentially in recent years. However, autoimmune-like side effects of current immune checkpoint blockade hindered the clinical application of immunotherapy in glioma. The discovery of the TIM-3, a tumor-specific immune checkpoint, has shed a new light on solution of this dilemma. We aimed at investigating the role of TIM-3 at transcriptome level and its relationship with clinical practice in glioma. Methods: A cohort of 325 glioma patients with RNA-seq data from Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA project) was analyzed, and the results were well validated in TCGA RNA-seq data of 699 gliomas. R language was used as the main tool for statistical analysis and graphical work. Results: TIM-3 was enriched in glioblastoma (the most malignant glioma) and IDH-wildtype glioma. TIM-3 can act as a potential marker for mesenchymal molecular subtype according to TCGA transcriptional classification scheme in glioma. TIM-3 was closely related to immune functions in glioma, especially T cell mediated immune response to tumor cell and T cell mediated cytotoxicity directed against tumor cell target. Moreover, TIM-3 and PD-L1 played almost exactly the same inflammatory activation functions in glioma. Clinically, high expression of TIM-3 was an independent indicator of poor prognosis. Conclusion: The expression of TIM-3 is closely related to the pathology and molecular pathology of glioma. Meanwhile, in glioma TIM-3 plays a specific role in T cell tumor immune response. Therefore, TIM-3 is a promising target for immunotherapeutic strategies, providing an alternative treatment when glioma gains resistance to antibodies of PD-1/PD-L1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: PD-L1 has been widely reported as immune check points in a range of malignancies as well as some immune-originated diseases. In glioma, the role of PD-L1 remains unclear. We aimed at investigating its role at transcriptome level and relationship with clinical practice. Method and patients: In total, 976 glioma samples with transcriptome data, including 301 microarray data from Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA project) and 675 RNAseq data from TCGA project, were enrolled into our study. Clinical and IDH mutation data were also available. R language was used as the main tool for statistical analysis and graphical work. Results: PD-L1 expression was found to be positively correlated with WHO grade of glioma. PD-L1 seemed to express more in mesenchymal subtype according to TCGA transcriptional classification scheme and may contribute as a potential marker for mesenchymal subtype in glioblastoma. Pearson correlation test indicated that PD-L1 showed robust correlation with PD1, PD-L2, and CD80 in CGGA dataset. Subsequent gene ontology analysis based on significantly correlated genes of PD-L1 revealed that PD-L1 seemed to be profoundly associated with T cell activation. To further investigate the relationship between PD-L1 expression and immune response, we selected a series of immune signatures, which were then transformed into metagenes, and found that PD-L1 expression was particularly paralleled with T-cells and macrophages-related immune response instead of B cell linage-related immune response. In line with the corresponding biological process, PD-L1 exhibited predictive value for glioma patients: Higher PD-L1 indicated significantly shorter survival, especially in glioblastoma. Conclusion: PD-L1 is upregulated in glioblastoma, and is synergistic with other check point members. Moreover, PD-L1 is significantly associated with T-cell activation and macrophage-related immune response and predicts much worse survival for patients, warranting clinical trials of PD1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors for potential glioma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]