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The electronic structure of the strongly correlated electron system plutonium hexaboride is studied by using single‐particle approximations and a many‐body approach. Imaginary components of impurity Green's functions show that 5fj=5/2 and 5fj=7/2 manifolds are in conducting and insulating regimes, respectively. Quasi‐particle weights and their ratio suggest that the intermediate coupling mechanism is applicable for Pu 5f electrons, and PuB6 might be in the orbital‐selective localized state. The weighted summation of occupation probabilities yields the interconfiguration fluctuation and average occupation number of 5f electrons n5f ~ 5.101. The interplay of 5f–5f correlation, spin‐orbit coupling, Hund's exchange interaction, many‐body transition of 5f configurations, and final state effects might be responsible for the quasiparticle multiplets in electronic spectrum functions. Prominent characters in the density of state, such as the coexistence of atomic multiplet peaks in the vicinity of the Fermi level and broad Hubbard bands in the high‐lying regime, suggest that PuB6 could be identified as a Racah material. Finally, the quasiparticle band structure is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defect‐induced recombination dynamics remain an essential factor hindering the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, an upgraded solvent posttreatment strategy is proposed to simultaneously improve the quality and related electronic properties of absorbers by introducing the black phosphorus–graphene oxide (BP–GO) composites with a unique microscopic heterojunction stacking structure, high charge mobility, tunable bandgap, and excellent surface chemical properties into the grain boundaries and surface of the perovskite. The BP–GO composites block the layer‐to‐layer diffusion of active ions while directionally passivating uncoordinated defects in the perovskite, thereby accelerating the carrier extraction/transfer at the perovskite interface, ultimately significantly reducing the nonradiative recombination and interfacial charge recombination losses of the devices. The BP–GO composites improve Oswald ripening, guaranteeing the formation of high‐crystallinity and large‐grain perovskites, thereby significantly enhancing the lattice stability, interface quality, and light‐harvesting capacity of the absorbers. Benefiting from the synergistic action of the unique lattice structure of BP–GO, excellent passivation/isolation effect, and enhanced charge dynamics, the photovoltaic output performance of the BP–GO‐modified PSCs is significantly higher than that of conventional n–i–p planar PSCs, and the corresponding unencapsulated device exhibits good stability. This work provides theoretical and technical guarantees for achieving more efficient and stable planar PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In nature, regulation of the spatiotemporal distribution of interfacial receptors and ligands leads to optimum binding kinetics and thermodynamics of receptor–ligand binding reactions within interfaces. Inspired by this, we report a hierarchical fluid interface (HieFluidFace) to regulate the spatiotemporal distribution of interfacial ligands to increase the rate and thermodynamic favorability of interfacial binding reactions. Each aptamer‐functionalized gold nanoparticle, termed spherical aptamer (SAPT), is anchored on a supported lipid bilayer without fluidity, like an "island", and is surrounded by many fluorescent aptamers (FAPTs) with free fluidity, like "rafts". Such ligand "island‐rafts" model provides a large reactive cross‐section for rapid binding to cellular receptors. The synergistic multivalency of SAPTs and FAPTs improves interfacial affinity for tight capture. Moreover, FAPTs accumulate at binding sites to bind to cellular receptors with clustered fluorescence to "lighten" cells for direct identification. Thus, HieFluidFace in a microfluidic chip achieves high‐performance capture and identification of circulating tumor cells from clinical samples, providing a new paradigm to optimize the kinetics and thermodynamics of interfacial binding reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(aryl ether sulfone ketone) (PPESK) is an engineering plastic with high strength, good heat resistance, insulation, and chemical corrosion resistance. The properties of PPESK fiber prepared by centrifugal melt electrospinning can be improved, and the method is efficient and environmentally friendly. This article employs a systematic analysis to investigate the impact of process parameters on the jet formation process, jet motion, fiber diameter, fiber yield, and changes in molecular chain orientation of PPESK. The analysis uses dissipative particle dynamics simulation to reveal that PPESK fibers can attain a certain degree of refinement, and fiber yield can be increased with an appropriate increase in rotational speed, temperature, and electric field force. Moreover, for PPESK with different chain lengths, longer molecular chains impede the untwisting of the molecular chains within the fiber, weakening the fiber orientation, increasing fiber diameter, and resulting in a slower fiber yield increase. These simulation results provide theoretical guidance for preparing PPESK ultrafine fibers with the required performance, shortening the exploration process of actual spinning, and saving time and labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) assisted roasting has been proven to be an effective way to convert spent lithium‐ion battery cathodes to water‐soluble salts. Herein, thermogravimetric (TG) experiments are performed to analyze the mechanism of the sulfation conversion process. First, the reaction activation energies of the sulfate‐assisted roasting are 88.87 and 95.27 kJ mol−1, which are calculated by Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) methods, respectively. Then, nucleation and growth are determined and verified as the sulfation reaction model by the Šatava–Šesták method. Finally, sub‐reactions of the sulfation process are investigated and reaction controlling mechanisms are determined by the contribution of sub‐reaction. Based on the thermogravimetric analysis, the phase boundary reaction is found to dominate in the initial step of the roasting process (α < 0.6) while the nucleation reaction controlls the following step (α > 0.6), agreeing well with changing trend of activation energy. Overall, thermogravimetric analysis is a general way to study the mechanism of the various roasting processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We test whether proprietary costs (relating to competition) are associated with disclosure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of companies in annual and stand‐alone sustainability reports. We use the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 disclosure requirement to create a natural experiment to control for endogeneity issues. Disclosure is significantly higher when there are lower proprietary costs from existing rivals and higher proprietary costs from potential new entrants for hard, and soft disclosures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The aim is to elucidate whether the structural changes of shrimp tropomyosin (TM) following ribose treatment affected its potential allergenicity. The structural changes of glycated TM were analysed by fluorescence, ultraviolet spectrum (UV), circular dichroism (CD) and liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS), and the changes in allergenicity were investigated by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and RBL‐2H3 cell model. The result indicated that ribose could cause the conformational structural changes of TM. Moreover, the phenylalanine, isoleucine and DL‐methionine residues were altered by ribose by LC‐MS/MS analysis. These modified amino acids also appeared in the shrimp allergic epitopes region. Furthermore, the glycated TM (4000 mmol L−1 ribose) could significantly decrease the IgE‐binding capacity and inhibit the release of cytokines and mediators from RBL‐2H3 cells. These findings suggest that ribose‐induced glycation could damage the allergic epitope of TM, decreasing the potential allergenicity and could be considered for alleviating TM‐induced food allergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the impact of independent directors' reputations on executive pay‐performance sensitivity. Using hand‐collected data from listed Chinese companies from 2012 to 2017, we find a positive association between independent directors' reputations and pay‐performance sensitivity that is more pronounced in companies with less concentrated ownership. Further, the results show that reputable directors have a stronger influence on pay‐performance sensitivity when they sit on a remuneration committee, are in state‐owned enterprises, and are in companies with higher agency costs. Our results highlight the monitoring role of reputable independent directors in setting effective executive compensation contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Snow albedo feedback (SAF) behaves similarly in the current and future climate contexts; thus, constraining the large intermodel variance in SAF will likely reduce uncertainty in climate projections. To better understand this intermodel spread, structural and parametric biases contributing to SAF variability are investigated. We find that structurally varying snowpack, vegetation, and albedo parameterizations drive most of the spread, while differences arising from model parameters are generally smaller. Models with the largest SAF biases exhibit clear structural or parametric errors. Additionally, despite widespread intermodel similarities, model interdependency has little impact on the strength of the relationship between SAF in the current and future climate contexts. Furthermore, many models now feature a more realistic SAF than in the prior generation, but shortcomings from two models limit the reduction in ensemble spread. Lastly, preliminary signs from ongoing model development are positive and suggest a likely reduction in SAF spread among upcoming models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Seafood is regarded as a high-purine food that may induce gout, which has attracted extensive attention concerning its safety. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a simple and reliable method to determine the purine content in seafood and its change during storage to offer consumers healthy diet information. RESULTS Chromatographic separation was carried out using Waters Atlantis dC18 column, and potassium phosphate monobasic solution (0.02 mol L−1, pH 3.6) as a mobile phase. The average recovery yields of four purines were 91.5-105.0%, and relative standard deviation values were around 1.8-6.5%. Shrimp and snail contained higher amounts of purine than fish and bivalves; the livers and skins of fish contained higher amounts of purine than muscles; and the main purine varied depending on the type of seafood. Also, purine content of seafood changed during storage. CONCLUSION The purine content of seafood differed depending on species, body part and degree of freshness, which could recommend consumers a healthy diet, especially for people with hyperuricemia and gout. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of current treatment modalities for kaposiform hemangioendothelioma and tufted angioma. A systematic review was performed using PubMed (Medline), Web of Science and Embase for clinical studies. The outcome was measured by pooled response rate with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), together with heterogeneity, subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis and publication bias. Fifteen studies with 244 participants were included in this analysis. Vincristine therapy exhibited a relatively higher response rate (0.72; 95%CI, 0.64-0.79) compared with other therapies including systemic corticosteroid (0.27; 95%CI, 0.17-0.36), interferon (0.36; 95%CI, 0.24-0.48), radiotherapy (0.49; 95%CI, 0.26-0.73), embolization (0.66; 95%CI, 0.48-0.83), aspirin/ticlopidine (0.42; 95%CI, 0.06-0.78) and sirolimus (0.57; 95%CI, 0.00-0.10), in treating KHE/TA. Subgroup analysis indicated that the efficacy of systemic corticosteroids therapy was age-related. The pooled response rate was 0.15 (95%CI, 0.08-0.23) for participants 3.5 months of age and older compared with 0.35 (95% CI, 0.26-0.44) for participants less than 3.5 months. Regarding side effects, systemic corticosteroids treatment was 0.32 (95%CI, 0.15-0.50), vincristine modality was 0.16 (95%CI, 0.08-0.24) and interferon therapy was 0.28 (95%CI, 0.13-0.43). In conclusion, as one of the first reviews evaluating the effect of common therapies in the treatment of KHE/TA, our meta-analysis displayed that vincristine was more effective. Thus, vincristine was the most effective, providing evidence supporting the use of vincristine as a first-line therapy for KHE/TA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and cardiovascular diseases in later life, yet with underlying mechanisms unclear. The present study was to explore the association of upregulated histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC 2) with the impaired mitochondrial function and the cytokine secretion in the monocytes/macrophages from GDM patients. In this study, we examined the mitochondrial function, proinflamatory cytokine secretion and the HDAC 2 level in the serum or in the monocytes/macrophages from GDM patients, investigated the influence by HDAC 2 inhibitor, AR-42 (N-hydroxy-4-[[(2S)-3-methyl-2-phenylbutanoyl]amino]benzamide), on the mitochondrial function and cytokine secretion in the isolated GDM monocytes/macrophages. Results demonstrated an increased mitochondria size, mitochondrial superoxide and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and an undermined mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) in the GDM monocytes/macrophages. And the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and IL-6 were also markedly higher in the GDM pregnancies, while the expression and activity of HDAC 2 was downregulated. Moreover, AR-42-mediated HDAC 2 inhibition in vitro contributed to the impaired mitochondrial function and the proinflamatory cytokine secretion. In conclusion, this study suggests an association of the impaired mitochondrial function and the promoted proinflamatory cytokine secretion with the reduced HDAC 2 activity in GDM. These findings may present HDAC 2 as a target for GDM treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anoectochilus nandanensis, a new species from northern Guangxi, China, is described and illustrated. It is similar to A. emeiensis K. Y. Lang in habit, but distinguished by the size of the plant, leaves and lateral sepals, as well as the flanges of the mesochile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cells sense and respond to mechanical forces, regardless of whether the source is from a normal tissue matrix, an adjacent cell or a synthetic substrate. In recent years, cell response to surface rigidity has been extensively studied by modulating the elastic modulus of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based hydrogels. In the context of biomaterials, Poisson's ratio, another fundamental material property parameter has not been explored, primarily because of challenges involved in tuning the Poisson's ratio in biological scaffolds. Two-photon polymerization is used to fabricate suspended web structures that exhibit positive and negative Poisson's ratio (NPR), based on analytical models. NPR webs demonstrate biaxial expansion/compression behavior, as one or multiple cells apply local forces and move the structures. Unusual cell division on NPR structures is also demonstrated. This methodology can be used to tune the Poisson's ratio of several photocurable biomaterials and could have potential implications in the field of mechanobiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Ultrasonics was used to improve the dispersion of NaA zeolite in polyacrylic acid sodium (PAAS) membranes. The effect of ultrasonication time on the dispersion of NaA zeolite in the membranes, the membrane structure, and performance were investigated. The casting solution and resulting membranes were characterized by viscosity measurement, polarizing optical microscopy (POM), scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). With increasing ultrasonication time, the viscosity of the casting solution decreased as the chain entanglements decreased. The POM and XRD results showed that crystallization occurred in the PAAS membrane after ultrasonic processing. A more homogeneous morphology was obtained due to improvement in the dispersion of zeolite under ultrasonic treatment for 0.5-1.0 h. As a result, the separation performance was enhanced. The water/ethanol separation factor increased from 176.2 to 577.8. However, the relative separation factor decreased when the ultrasonic time exceeded 2.5 h, due to the appearance of a lamellar structure. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 3979-3984, 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) presents a huge challenge to plants by the combined damaging effects of Na+, high pH, and CO32-. Little is known about the cellular responses to Na2CO3 stress. In this study, the transcriptome of maize ( Zea mays L. cv. B73) roots exposed to Na2CO3 stress for 5 h was compared with those of NaCl and NaOH stresses. The expression of 8,319 genes, representing over a quarter of the total number of genes in the maize genome, was altered by Na2CO3 stress, and the downregulated genes (5,232) outnumbered the upregulated genes (3,087). The effects of Na2CO3 differed from those of NaCl and NaOH, primarily by downregulating different categories of genes. Pathways commonly altered by Na2CO3, NaCl, and NaOH were enriched in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, as well as the metabolism of secondary metabolites. Genes for brassinosteroid biosynthesis were specifically upregulated by Na2CO3, while genes involved in ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum and by N-glycosylation, fatty acid biosynthesis, and the circadian rhythm were downregulated. This work provides the first holistic picture of early transcriptomic adaptation to Na2CO3 stress, and highlights potential molecular pathways that could be manipulated to improve tolerance in maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ilex kaushue S. Y. Hu (Aquifoliaceae) is an evergreen tree growing in dense forests at elevations between 400 and 1000 m in southern China (Chen et al., 2008). The species is one of the primary sources of ku-ding-cha (Hao et al., 2013), a tea used in traditional medicine that has been consumed for thousands of years in China. Modern medicinal research has demonstrated that ku-ding-cha has significant pharmacological effects, including as an antidiabetes and antiobesity drug, as well as an antioxidant (Hao et al., 2013). Ilex kaushue lives in a fragmented habitat with extremely small population sizes, and was included in a conservation program carried out in 2011 by the State Forestry Administration of China (Chen et al., 2014). Furthermore, I. kaushue is an economically important crop due to its widespread use for tea, and there has been rapid development in its cultivation in southern China (Guo et al., 2005). Evidence supports that small natural populations and modern plant breeding can lead to a reduction in overall genetic diversity (Tanksley and McCouch, 1997; Leimu et al., 2006). Low levels of genetic diversity put wild populations at risk and jeopardize the continued ability to improve crops (Reif et al., 2005). Therefore, assessment and preservation of genetic diversity of I. kaushue are important concerns. Although Zhang et al. (2003) developed molecular markers (RAPD) for use in the study of I. kaushue, further genetic diversity research is necessary at the population and species levels to assess and protect its germplasm resources. Assessment and conservation of genetic diversity of a species requires development of efficient codominant microsatellite markers. In this study, 16 microsatellite loci for I. kaushue were isolated and characterized, which will be useful for assessment and conservation of genetic diversity of I. kaushue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most promising "liquid biopsy", analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) provides noninvasive access to obtain biological information of solid tumors. It not only advances the understanding of the mechanisms underlying tumor metastasis, relapse, and chemoresistance, but also promotes the development of precision medicine. Over the past decade, the rapid advances in micro/nanomaterials and microfluidics have overcome the technical challenges of capturing CTCs, allowing efficient enrichment and sensitive detection. Beyond the capture of CTCs, major challenges of in‐depth CTC analysis are the release of CTCs from capture platforms and the inherent heterogeneity in CTCs. A variety of technologies have now emerged for release and single‐cell analysis of CTCs. This review focuses on recent progress along this direction. First, different release strategies are outlined and discussed, including their design principles and characteristics (merits and limitations). Then, existing methods for single CTC analysis at the genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and functional level are summarized. Finally, some perspectives are provided on current development trends, future research directions, and challenges of CTC studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergent constraints use relationships between future and current climate states to constrain projections of climate response. Here we introduce a statistical, hierarchical emergent constraint (HEC) framework in order to link future and current climates with observations. Under Gaussian assumptions, the mean and variance of the future state are shown analytically to be a function of the signal‐to‐noise ratio between current climate uncertainty and observation error and the correlation between future and current climate states. We apply the HEC to the climate change, snow‐albedo feedback, which is related to the seasonal cycle in the Northern Hemisphere. We obtain a snow‐albedo feedback prediction interval of (−1.25,−0.58)%/K. The critical dependence on signal‐to‐noise ratio and correlation shows that neglecting these terms can lead to bias and underestimated uncertainty in constrained projections. The flexibility of using HEC under general assumptions throughout the Earth system is discussed. Plain Language Summary: Reducing the uncertainty in climate projections has been one of the signature challenges in Earth science because simulated future climate states cannot be directly falsified. We propose a hierarchical statistical framework that formally relates projections of future climate to present‐day climate and observations. We show that the future‐climate estimate is driven by the correlation between future and present climate variability and the signal‐to‐noise ratio obtained from observations and present climate. This framework is applied to a future northern hemispheric climate projection that is influenced by the snow‐albedo feedback, which is an amplification of temperature due to reduced snow extent as a consequence of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. We show that the climate change snow‐albedo temperature sensitivity ranges from (−1.25,−0.58)%/K. The flexibility of this approach can be applied more broadly to constrain climate projections across the Earth system. Key Points: A hierarchical emergent constraints (HEC) framework for climate projections is introducedHEC depends on the signal‐to‐noise ratio between climate and observational uncertaintyUsing HEC, the snow‐albedo feedback prediction interval is found to be (−1.25,−0.58)%/K [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly uncertain aspect of anthropogenic climate change is the rate at which the global hydrologic cycle intensifies. The future change in global‐mean precipitation per degree warming, or hydrologic sensitivity, exhibits a threefold spread (1–3%/K) in current global climate models. In this study, we find that the intermodel spread in this value is associated with a significant portion of variability in future projections of extreme precipitation in the tropics, extending also into subtropical atmospheric river corridors. Additionally, there is a very tight intermodel relationship between changes in extreme and nonextreme precipitation, whereby models compensate for increasing extreme precipitation events by decreasing weak‐moderate events. Another factor linked to changes in precipitation extremes is model resolution, with higher resolution models showing a larger increase in heavy extremes. These results highlight ways various aspects of hydrologic cycle intensification are linked in models and shed new light on the task of constraining precipitation extremes. Plain Language Summary: The global water cycle is expected to intensify under climate change and can be generally characterized by greater rainfall and surface evaporation in the future. However, the rate at which the globally averaged precipitation increases is highly variable among different climate models. In this paper, we relate the intermodel variability in global water cycle intensification to differences in model projections of heavy precipitation in tropical and some extratropical regions. We also find that models consistently experience a trade‐off between increasing heavy and decreasing light‐moderate precipitation: Models with larger future increases in heavy precipitation exhibit greater compensating declines in light‐moderate rainfall. Differences in heavy precipitation changes are also tied to model resolution. Our study helps to provide new insight on the factors shaping projections of future precipitation extremes, which have strong implications for water resources, natural hazard risks associated with flooding, and ecosystem stability. Key Points: Models with higher global hydrologic sensitivity project larger extreme precipitation increases in tropical and some extratropical regionsModels with a larger increase in extreme precipitation exhibit compensating larger declines or smaller increases in light‐moderate eventsThe results showcase links between hydrologic cycle projections across spatial scales and offer new perspectives for constraining extremes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]