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In this paper, a novel radial spatial power combiner based on the WRD650 standard double‐ridge waveguide has been proposed. The combiner exhibits a significant increase in operating bandwidth due to the utilization of the upper ridge taper and the lower ridge extension. The principle prototype is designed, processed, and tested. The test results show that the overall return loss of the dual‐ridge waveguide power combiner is better than −10 dB at the input port, and the insertion loss at each output port is better than −2 dB in the 6–18 GHz band, and the maximum phase difference at each port does not exceed 11°. Due to the limitations of the processing accuracy, the final overall synthesis efficiency is higher than 70%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In lithium‐ion batteries, the polymer electrolyte was susceptible to mechanical damage from external stimuli or internal expansion caused, which in turn affected the performances of the batteries. The thermally reversible self‐healing gel polymer electrolyte (DASHPE) based on the Diels–Alder reaction was prepared to solve the above problems. The DASHPE electrolytes exhibited good flexibility and self‐healing ability, achieving self‐healing at 80°C for 30 min. Furthermore, the DASHPE electrolyte exhibited excellent thermal stability and could withstand temperatures above 300°C. Additionally, it had a wide electrochemical window (about 5 V) and good electrochemical performances. Serving as the electrolyte in lithium‐ion batteries, DASHPE‐2 showed an initial specific capacity of 133.11 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C. The DASHPE electrolyte was expected to be a candidate material for self‐healing battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improper management of sugarcane cultivation may cause severe soil erosion, especially in lateritic red soil hilly areas. Crop straw return to the field can effectively improve the soil structure, but there is a lack of evaluation studies of the soil and water conservation benefits of sugarcane leaf mixing and return to the field, and the underlying regulatory mechanism has rarely been described. Thus, we conducted a series of simulated rainfall experiments to investigate the impact of returning different mixed sugarcane leaf weights (0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 t/ha) to the field on erodible lateritic red soil slopes that support sugarcane production under various slopes (5°, 10°, 15° and 20°) in different rainfall events (60 and 120 mm/h). The results indicated that returning sugarcane leaves into farmland could effectively regulate the process of runoff and sediment production on lateritic red soil slopes, and the optimal mixing amount was 9 t/ha. Under a low rainfall intensity, the erosion process was mainly affected by the slope, and the benefits of applying the sugarcane leaf mixing treatment to the slope to reduce runoff and sediment could reach 13.37–53.04% and 23.86–77.55%, respectively. However, under a high rainfall intensity, the sugarcane leaf mixing amount was the main influencing factor, the benefits for reducing runoff and sediment could reach 4.64–38.72% and 30.87–93.14%, respectively. The sugarcane leaf mixing amount exhibited a linear relationship with the Reynolds number (R2 > 0.63), whereas the runoff velocity (R2 > 0.96), Froude number (R2 > 0.94) and drag coefficient (R2 > 0.85) exhibited well‐fitting exponential function relationship with it. This study provides a reference for future endeavours regarding the inhibition mechanisms of sugarcane leaves mixed and returned to the field for decreasing slope erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functional role of soil microbes in the restoration of degraded lands is greatly influenced by interactions within and between microbial communities, as well as by soil organisms at higher trophic levels (microfauna). However, little is known about how changes in connection patterns among soil microbes and their co‐existing microfauna contribute to associated changes in soil function over the ecosystem restoration process.In this study, the effects of afforestation and natural regeneration approaches on connection patterns among soil microbes and their co‐existing microfauna were assessed in ex‐arable lands on the Loess Plateau in China along a 50‐year restoration chronosequence. The relationships between soil network connections, microbial functional associations, and multiple soil functions (e.g. multifunctionality) were assessed quantitatively.Although both afforestation and natural regeneration approaches enhance connections among soil microbes and their co‐existing microfauna compared to recently abandoned sites, connection trends were opposed between these two approaches across the restoration chronosequence. Afforestation resulted in a higher number of soil microbial and microfauna species with a unimodal connection pattern, while natural regeneration resulted in a continuous increase in soil network connections over the progress of succession. These increases in soil network connections, particularly those of soil microfauna‐microbe and microbial inter‐kingdom connections, corresponded to enhanced microbial functional associations. This result is corroborated by significant correlations between microbial functional genes encoding different central functional pathways, which, in turn, were positively correlated with soil multifunctionality.Synthesis and applications. Changes in the connections among soil microbes and their co‐existing microfauna were positively associated with changes in soil multifunctionality, mediated by microbial functional associations. While in the early restoration stages, soil networks following afforestation contained more connections than those following natural regeneration, in later restoration stages, the number of connections of the afforestation network declined and was eventually surpassed by those following natural regeneration. These findings raise concerns about the ecological sustainability of afforestation measures in historic grasslands on the Loess Plateau, suggesting that natural regeneration is the preferred approach to achieve long‐term ecological restoration success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

10‐Hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) is a widely used clinical anticancer drug but has a significant side effect profile. Melatonin has a beneficial impact on the chemotherapy of different cancer cells and reproductive processes, but the effect and underlying molecular mechanism of melatonin's involvement in the HCPT‐induced side effects in cells, especially in the testicular cells, are poorly understood. In this study, we found that melatonin therapy significantly restored HCPT‐induced testicular cell damage and did not affect the antitumor effect of HCPT. Further analysis found that melatonin therapy suppressed HCPT‐induced DNA damage associated with ataxia‐telangiectasia mutated‐ and Rad3‐related and CHK1 phosphorylation levels in the testis. Changes in apoptosis‐associated protein levels (Bax, Bcl‐2, p53, and Cleaved caspase‐3) and in reactive oxygen species‐associated proteins (Nrf2 and Keap1) and index (malondialdehyde and glutathione) suggested that melatonin treatment relieved HCPT‐induced cell apoptosis and oxidative damage, respectively. Mechanistically, melatonin‐activated autophagy proteins (ATG7, Beclin1, and LC3bII/I) may induce p62‐dependent autophagy to degrade Keap1, eliciting Nrf2 from Keap1‐Nrf2 interaction to promote antioxidant enzyme expression such as HO‐1, which would salvage HCPT‐induced ROS production and mitochondrial dysfunction. Collectively, this study reveals that melatonin therapy may protect testicular cells from HCPT‐induced damage via the activation of autophagy, which alleviates oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and cell apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sevoflurane is a superior agent for maintaining anesthesia during surgical procedures. However, the neurotoxic mechanisms of clinical concentration remain poorly understood. Sevoflurane can interfere with the normal function of neurons and synapses and impair cognitive function by acting on α5‐GABAAR. Methods: Using MWM test, we evaluated cognitive abilities in mice following 1 h of anesthesia with 2.7%–3% sevoflurane. Based on hippocampal transcriptome analysis, we analyzed the differential genes and IL‐6 24 h post‐anesthesia. Western blot and RT‐PCR were performed to measure the levels of α5‐GABAAR, Radixin, P‐ERM, P‐Radixin, Gephyrin, IL‐6, and ROCK. The spatial distribution and expression of α5‐GABAAR on neuronal somata were analyzed using histological and three‐dimensional imaging techniques. Results: MWM test indicated that partial long‐term learning and memory impairment. Combining molecular biology and histological analysis, our studies have demonstrated that sevoflurane induces immunosuppression, characterized by reduced IL‐6 expression levels, and that enhanced Radixin dephosphorylation undermines the microstructural stability of α5‐GABAAR, leading to its dissociation from synaptic exterior and resulting in a disordered distribution in α5‐GABAAR expression within neuronal cell bodies. On the synaptic cleft, the expression level of α5‐GABAAR remained unchanged, the spatial distribution became more compact, with an increased fluorescence intensity per voxel. On the extra‐synaptic space, the expression level of α5‐GABAAR decreased within unchanged spatial distribution, accompanied by an increased fluorescence intensity per voxel. Conclusion: Dysregulated α5‐GABAAR expression and distribution contributes to sevoflurane‐induced partial long‐term learning and memory impairment, which lays the foundation for elucidating the underlying mechanisms in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method of preparing SiO2‐BNNSs hybrid material by surface modification of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) with SiO2 was proposed to improve the dispersion of BNNSs in the coatings. Then, phosphate ceramic coatings with BNNSs and SiO2‐BNNSs were prepared on stainless steel (304) by spraying. Characterization of BNNSs and SiO2‐BNNSs by X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform‐infrared, Raman, and scanning electron microscopy proved the success of hybridization. The surface morphology and mechanical properties were conducted to characterize the protective performance of the coating. Simultaneously, the phase composition and electrochemical properties of the coatings after high‐temperature oxidation were studied. The results showed that ceramic coatings had low surface energy with a contact angle of 102.41° when.4 wt.% SiO2‐BNNSs was added. Compared with BNNSs coating, the mechanical properties of SiO2‐BNNSs coating were significantly enhanced, the hardness of.4 wt.%SiO2‐BNNSs coating was as high as 170 HV, and the interface bonding strength was 12.24 MPa. For the oxidation corrosion resistance,.4 wt.% SiO2‐BNNSs coating under oxidation at 400°C for 50 h had the minimum corrosion current density and maximum impedance, which were.864 μA/cm2 and 177 kΩ/cm2, respectively, this indicated that SiO2‐BNNSs coating could still maintain excellent oxidation corrosion resistance under high‐temperature conditions for a long time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors study the problem of compressive target detection in a single‐frequency network (SFN)‐based multistatic passive radar system (MS‐PRS) consisting of multiple illuminators of opportunity (IOs) and one receiver. Firstly, a generalised likelihood ratio test (GLRT)‐based SFN‐based compressive subspace detector (SFN‐CSD) is derived by exploiting the sparsity of the target echoes for the case of known noise variance. When the noise variance is unknown, an SFN‐based unknown‐noise (UN) compressive subspace detector is proposed, referred to as the SFN‐UNCSD. Moreover, closed‐form expressions of the probability of false alarm and detection of the proposed detectors are deriived. It is proved that the SNF‐UNCSD has a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) property. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted to verify the theoretical analysis and illustrate the performance of the proposed detector relative to several benchmark detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare precipitation events with return periods of multiple decades to hundreds of years are particularly damaging to natural and societal systems. Projections of such rare, damaging precipitation events in the future climate are, however, subject to large inter‐model variations. We show that a substantial portion of these differences can be ascribed to the projected warming uncertainty, and can be robustly reduced by using the warming observed during recent decades as an observational constraint, implemented either by directly constraining the projections with the observed warming or by conditioning them on constrained warming projections, as verified by extensive model‐based cross‐validation. The temperature constraint reduces >40% of the warming‐induced uncertainty in the projected intensification of future rare daily precipitation events for a climate that is 2°C warmer than preindustrial across most regions. This uncertainty reduction together with validation of the reliability of the projections should permit more confident adaptation planning at regional levels. Plain Language Summary: Very rare extreme precipitation events are particularly damaging to natural and societal systems. Projections of such rare, damaging precipitation events in the future climate vary substantially among climate models. Reducing this uncertainty will aid adaptation planning. We show here that the projected range of future rare precipitation intensification is strongly affected by the projected range of global warming, especially for regions where the intensification is dominated by increases in atmospheric moisture. We verify that using the past global warming trend as an observational constraint can eliminate more than 40% of the warming‐induced uncertainty in the intensification of future rare precipitation events at 2°C warmer above preindustrial across most global land regions. This narrowing of the possible range of future rare precipitation intensification at regional scales can greatly benefit adaptation planning. Key Points: Projections of future rare precipitation intensification exhibit substantial differences among climate modelsA substantial portion of the inter‐model differences can be traced to the projected global warming uncertaintyUsing the past global warming trend as an observational constraint can eliminate >40% of the warming‐induced uncertainty [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the Entropy Weight Method‐Grey Relational Analysis (EWM‐GRA) and Covariance Base Structural Equations Model (CB‐SEM) to study the relationships between driving habits and efficiency. EWM‐GRA ranks 12 indicators in terms of their relevance of lane‐changing and driving efficiency. Based on this, a CB‐SEM‐based framework to describe the relevance between driving habits and lane‐changing is established, focusing on the effects of lane‐changing and car‐following behaviour. To validate the established framework, NGSIM trajectory data is used as measurement variables to describe latent variables. Several hypotheses about the relationships between the latent variables in this framework are proposed, and they are verified using trajectory data. The results show that driving habits have a direct impact on efficiency, and this impact becomes more significant when associated with lane‐change behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although early diagnosis and therapeutic advances have transformed the living quality and outcome of cancer patients, the poor prognosis for metastatic patients has not been significantly improved. Mechanisms underlying the complexity of metastasis cannot be simply determined by the straightforward 'cause‐and‐effect relationships'. We have developed a 'dry‐lab‐driven knowledge discovery and wet‐lab validation' approach to embrace the complexity of cancer and metastasis. We have revealed for the first time that polymetastatic (POL) melanoma cells can utilize both the secretory protein pathway (S100A11–Sec23a) and the exosomal crosstalk (miR‐487a‐5p) to transfer their 'polymetastatic competency' to the oligometastatic (OL) melanoma cells, via synergistic co‐targeting of the tumor‐suppressor Nudt21. The downstream deregulated glycolysis was verified to regulate metastatic colonization efficiency. Further, two gene sets conferring independent prognosis in melanoma were identified, which have the potential for clinical translation and merit future clinical validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of large‐scale bilayer graphene (bi‐graphene) is significantly important for graphene‐based device fabrications. Chemical vapor deposition is usually used for the synthesis of high‐quality and large‐scale thin films including various monolayers and bilayers. However, a major challenge for bi‐graphene growth is the so‐called limited underlayer coverage, i.e., the faster growth of the top layer than the underlayer. Herein, using the circumfluence chemical vapor deposition, it is demonstrated that the underlayer growth can be greatly enhanced via optimizing the streamline, and high‐quality AB‐stacking sub‐millimeter bi‐graphene with underlayer coverage over 93% is achieved successfully. Raman spectroscopy and selected area electron diffraction confirm the high crystalline quality and uniformity of the as‐grown bilayers. The as‐fabricated field‐effect transistor using the bi‐graphene as the channel layer exhibits typical semiconductor transfer characteristics and a nonzero bandgap which is required for device applications. It is suggested that the optimized streamline design largely allows a reduction of difference in the edge growth kinetics between the top and bottom layers. Thus, in this work, a promising technical route is presented for the growth of large‐scale bi‐graphene with high underlayer coverage, beneficial for the development of functional graphene devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scalar transport in vegetated flow plays an important role in natural river ecology. In this study, a scalar transport model for the flow with flexible submerged vegetation is developed. The turbulent structure and scalar transport characteristics in the flow without vegetation, and with rigid and flexible vegetation are compared. The results show that the scalar diffusion in the flow is mainly governed by the turbulent diffusion outside the diffusion boundary layer. The wake flow downstream of rigid vegetation and the small‐scale Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) vortices near the top of the canopy are the main reasons to enhance the turbulence intensity in the flow and to significantly increase the turbulence diffusion of scalars. However, the flexible vegetation movement induces the large‐scale KH vortices near the top of the canopy. It also causes to increase the turbulence intensity in the flow, to redistribute the scalar concentration in a wide range, to increase the scalar concentration across the flow depth, and to increase the scalar turbulence diffusion intensity. In the flow with rigid vegetation, the values of the turbulent Schmidt number vary from 0.72 to 1.93 below the top of the canopy, while in the flow with flexible vegetation, they vary from 0.58 to 1.99 only near the top of the canopy. Above the top of the canopy, the Schmidt number ranges from 0.48 to 0.84. The results are useful for the parameterization of scalar transport in natural vegetated rivers. Key Points: A 3D numerical model simulating scalar transfer in water flow with flexible submerged vegetation is establishedThe turbulent diffusion caused by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability is the main reason to enhance the scalar transferThe turbulent Schmidt number ranging approximately 1.0–2.0 near the canopy height, being larger than that above the canopy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabricating ultrathin covalent organic framework (COF) membranes toward high‐permeance molecular separations is highly desired yet challenging. Herein, a polyelectrolyte‐mediated assembly (PMA) strategy is developed to fabricate ultrathin ionic COF membrane for efficient CO2 separation. The PMA strategy allows a facile control over the assembly mode between polyethyleneimine (PEI) and TpPa‐SO3H, yielding PEI‐bridged ultra‐large COF nanosheets which are readily processed into COF membranes with thickness down to 8 nm. The resulting COF membranes exhibit a high CO2 permeances of 1371 GPU and CO2/N2 selectivity of 33 for stimulated flue gas. This PMA strategy may open up a new avenue to fabricating ultrathin 2D material membranes for diverse applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, superhydrophobic ceramic coatings were successfully prepared on stainless steel substrates (S304) by sol–gel method, and the effects of pore content and pH conditions on the corrosion resistance of hydrophobic ceramic coatings were studied. As the porosity increases, the contact angle of the coating increases. Among them, the contact angles of the coatings with 15% and 20% porosity in different pH solutions are all greater than 150°, achieving superhydrophobic surfaces. The contact angle results before and after corrosion show that the solution with a higher pH has a greater damage to the hydrophobicity of the coating. The corrosion resistance of the coatings was evaluated comparatively from polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. As the hydrophobicity improves, the corrosion resistance of the hydrophobic ceramic coating is enhanced. The impedance moduli at.01 Hz of the coating are 1.04 × 103 times (pH 4),.13 × 103 times (pH 7), and.74 × 103 times (pH 10) of the bare steel, respectively. With the increase of pH, the corrosion resistance of hydrophobic ceramic coatings decreases, because OH− in the corrosion solution is more easily adsorbed on the surface of the coating, thereby destroying the long hydrophobic chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) are a class of microporous organic materials that contain interconnected pores of less than 2 nm in diameter. Such materials are of great potential used in membranes for molecular separation, such as drug fractionation in pharmaceutical industry. However, the PIMs membranes are often susceptible to low separation selectivity toward different molecules due to their wide pore size distribution. Herein, a linear polyimide, Matrimid, is incorporated with PIM‐1 (a typical member of PIMs) by solution blending, and the blends are dip‐coated onto a polyimide P84 support membrane to prepare thin‐film composite (TFC) membranes to control pore size distribution while keep high microporosity. The component miscibility, pore characteristics, and molecular separation performances of the Matrimid/PIM‐1 TFC membranes are investigated in detail. The Matrimid and PIM‐1 are partially miscible due to their similar Hansen solubility parameters. The Matrimid endows the selective layers (coatings) with narrower pore size distribution due to more compact chain packing. The prepared Matrimid/PIM‐1 TFC membranes show high selectivity for separation of riboflavin (80% of retention) and isatin (only 5% of retention). The developed membranes exhibit great potential for separating molecules with different molecular weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) individuals easily develop three‐vessel disease (3VD) coronary artery disease (CAD), there is very little information available about their left ventricle (LV) functions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the LV function using two‐dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2‐D STE) in T2DM patients with 3VD. Methods: One hundred and three consecutive patients with confirmed 3VD CAD were enrolled and divided into two groups, while 53 patients with DM and 50 patients without. The control group was composed of 30 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy individuals. All patients underwent 2‐D STE and standard echocardiograms. The durations of DM and the level of HbA1c were also recorded. Result: Between the 3VD‐DM and 3VD‐non‐DM groups, normal echocardiography did not reveal any appreciable differences. However, patients with 3VD‐DM had significantly lower global longitudinal strain (GLS) than those with 3VD‐non‐DM (15.87 ± 2.51 vs.17.56 ± 2.72, p <.05) by 2‐D STE strain measurement. Besides, patients whose duration of DM excess 5 years showed significant lower GLS than those with less than 5 years duration (14.25 ± 2.31 vs. 16.65 ± 1.96, p =.007). However, there was no difference in GLS between the 3VD‐DM patients with HbA1c ≥ 7% and HbA1c < 7%. Conclusions: Compared to patients with 3VD alone, those with 3VD‐DM have a lower cardiac function. In 3VD‐DM patients, the duration of DM is a significant factor that contributes to cardiac function deterioration, whereas, the glucose control state has limited influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, microcapsules are prepared by in situ polymerization using the repairing agent fluorinated alkyl silane (FAS) as the core material and urea‐formaldehyde as the covering shell. Self‐healing coatings (FEP coatings) with repairing ability in water are prepared by adding FAS microcapsules in an epoxy resin matrix. The morphology, composition, and thermal properties of the microcapsules are studied. In addition, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is used to study the barrier properties and self‐healing properties of the coating. The results show that FEP coating has good self‐healing ability, with the semiquantitative index of 105 Ω·cm2, which is greater than that of pure epoxy coating (EP coating). This is because that FAS leaked from the microcapsules reacts with water molecules to form a dense water‐insoluble film, which blocks the contact of corrosive ions with the substrate and inhibits the progress of metal corrosion. Moreover, the scratch width and depth results of the FEP coating after self‐healing also confirm the formation of the new film by FAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are one of the most promising membrane materials for olefin/paraffin separations. However, most of MOF membranes have a thickness over 1 µm, which greatly compromises the permeation flux. While previous studies are focused on increasing crystal nucleus density on the substrates, achieving ultrathin membrane via modulation of the crystal growth is lacking. Herein, an inhibited Ostwald ripening (IOR) strategy is proposed to fabricate ultrathin ZIF‐8 membranes, through incorporating polymer‐based inhibitors into the membrane formula to inhibit the growth process of ZIF‐8 crystals via the metal–organic coordination. The IOR process can be readily tuned by varying the functional groups, molecular weights, and concentrations of the inhibitors, enabling a facile control over the IOR degree and thus the membrane thickness. Consequently, the thickness of ZIF‐8 membranes can be dramatically reduced to 180 nm. The resulting membranes exhibit ultrahigh C3H6/C3H8 separation performance with C3H6 permeance of 386 GPU and C3H6/C3H8 separation factor of 120. It is anticipated that this straightforward and efficient IOR strategy can open a new avenue for the fabrication of ultrathin MOF membranes to tackle many critical molecular separations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fibulin‐4, namely, EFEMP2, is an essential matricellular protein associated with a variety of malignancies. The aim of this study was to explore the role of fibulin‐4 in the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), as well as its effect on ESCC sensitivity to apatinib treatment. Methods: The expression of fibulin‐4 in ESCC tissues and cell lines was detected. Stably transfected ESCC cells were established by transducing lentiviral vectors for silencing or overexpressing the fibulin‐4 gene into ESCC cells, and a subcutaneous xenograft tumor model of ESCC in mice was successfully established. IHC, RT–qPCR and western blotting were used to detect the expression of related genes and proteins. The CCK8 assay, EdU cell proliferation assay, wound healing assay, transwell assay and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the proliferation, invasion, migration and apoptosis of ESCC cells. After mice were sacrificed, the transplanted tumors were resected, and their volumes were measured. Results: The expression of fibulin‐4 was significantly increased in both ESCC tissues and cell lines, and the high expression was closely related to the poor clinicopathological features. Downregulation of fibulin‐4 inhibited the proliferation, invasion and migration of ESCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Meanwhile, fibulin‐4 knockdown inhibited autophagy of tumor cells by activating the Akt–mTOR signaling pathway and significantly promoted apatinib‐induced apoptosis of ESCC cells. Conclusion: Our study showed that fibulin‐4 is an oncogene that can promote ESCC progression and inhibit apoptosis. Downregulation of fibulin‐4 enhances the sensitivity of ESCC cells to apatinib by inhibiting cellular protective autophagy through activating the Akt–mTOR signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a micro–nano structural ceramic coating with good hydrophobicity and wear resistance was successfully prepared by sol–gel method, which is assisted by pore‐forming agent and nanoparticles 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H‐perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane modified. The surface morphology, hardness, roughness, wettability, and tribological properties of three different surface coatings were characterized. With the complication of the surface structure, the roughness of the coating increases from 1.30 to 2.05 μm. Under the combined effect of roughness and long hydrophobic chains, the contact angles of the coatings before and after modification under saline conditions increased from 56.31 to 140.59° (pH4); from 55.58 to 134.40° (pH7); from 53.80 to 132.26° (pH10). Through the comparison of wear rate and wear morphology, it is found that the micro–nano structure coating has the lowest wear rate (0.705 × 10–6 mm3·N–1·s–1) and the smallest plastic deformation. This means that in addition to the good hydrophobicity and chemical stability, the micro–nano structure on the surface also improves the wear resistance of the coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Hypoxia causes plenty of pathologies in the central nervous system (CNS) including impairment of cognitive and memory function. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has been proved to have therapeutic effects on CNS injuries by maintaining the homeostasis of synapses, yet its effect on hypoxia‐induced CNS damage remains unknown. Methods: In vivo and in vitro models were established. Concentrations of glutamate and γ GABA were tested by ELISA. Levels of synapse‐associated proteins were measured by western blotting. Density of dendritic protrusions of hippocampal neurons was assessed by Golgi staining. Immunofluorescence was adopted to observe the morphology of primary neurons. The novel object recognition test (NORT) and shuttle box test were used to evaluate cognition. Results: Dehydroepiandrosterone reversed abnormal elevation of glutamate levels, shortenings of neuronal processes, decreases in the density of dendritic protrusions, downregulation of synaptosome‐associated protein (SNAP25), and impaired cognition caused by hypoxia. Hypoxia also resulted in notably downregulation of syntaxin 1A (Stx‐1A). Overexpression of Stx‐1A dramatically attenuated hypoxia‐induced elevation of glutamate. Treatment with DHEA reversed the Stx‐1A downregulation caused by hypoxic exposure. Conclusion: Dehydroepiandrosterone may exert a protective effect on hypoxia‐induced memory impairment by maintaining synaptic homeostasis. These findings offer a novel understanding of the therapeutic effect of DHEA on hypoxia‐induced cognitive dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a composite coating of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and fluorinated alkyl silane (FAS, C16H19F17O3Si) is prepared on AISI 304 L stainless steel. Scanning electron microscope and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used to analyze the microstructure and chemical group changes of PTFE–FAS coating (PF coating) before and after sulfuric acid (H2SO4) corrosion and after heat treatment. In addition, differential scanning calorimeter is performed to study the thermodynamic properties of PF coating. The corrosion resistance of PF coating under the above conditions is tested by the electrochemical experiment. The results show that acid and abrasion treatments can reduce the hydrophobic properties of the coatings, and the damage caused by acid is more serious. Heat treatment can repair the hydrophobic properties of the coating damaged by acid and abrasion. In addition, PF coating has an excellent corrosion resistance, but after H2SO4 treatment, the protection efficiency (PE) decreases from 89.09% to 2.51%, indicating that the corrosion resistance of PF is severely damaged. However, PE of PF coating increases to 76.83% after heat treatment. This repair ability improves the corrosion resistance of the coating. At the same time, the related mechanism is also clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composite ceramic coatings with hybrid aluminum dihydrogen phosphate (AP) are prepared on AISI 304L stainless steel by spraying and heat curing to improve the corrosion resistance of the coatings. AP is hybridized with methyltriethoxysilane (MTES), and the structure of the hybrid AP is characterized by Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Contact angle tests, scratch tests, and electrochemical experiments are used to investigate the corrosion behavior of composite ceramic coatings. In addition, scanning electron microscopy is used to examine the microscopic morphology of the coatings after corrosion to investigate the mechanism of the hybrid AP on the corrosion resistance of the composite ceramic coatings. The findings reveal that MTES successfully hybridizes with AP and implants the –CH3 hydrophobic group in AP, which improves the hydrophobicity of composite coatings. The corrosion potential of hybrid AP coatings all move in a positive direction, and the corrosion current density is lower than that of unhybridized AP coatings. The corrosion current density of the coating is about 2.931e−008 A/cm2 when the MTES content is 5 wt%, which is 20% less than that of the unhybridized AP coating. Results indicate hybrid AP can significantly improve the corrosion resistance of PTFE composite ceramic coatings with the best corrosion resistance occurring when the content of MTES is 5 wt%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, chemically bonded phosphate ceramic coatings (CBPCCs) with different contents of aluminum phosphate (AP) are prepared on stainless steel (AISI 304L). Differential scanning calorimetry, X‐ray diffraction, contact angle test, and a tribocorrosion experiment are carried out to clarify the role of AP in the tribocorrosion performance of CBPCCs. The results show that, with the increase in the AP content, the enthalpy of curing increases because of the greater formation of the bonding phase AlPO4. Both in static corrosion and in tribocorrosion, the corrosion current density of CBPCCs achieves the lowest value when the weight ratio of AP to polytetrafluoroethylene is about 0.78. Additionally, the influence mechanism of AP on tribocorrosion is clarified. AlPO4 from the reaction between AP and Al2O3 has excellent mechanical properties and can enhance the wear resistance of CBPCCs by reducing the mechanical wear and the increased wear due to corrosion. The alumina particles wrapped by AlPO4 can form a dense and smooth surface and change the direction of electrolyte propagation, which leads to the increase in the tribocorrosion resistance of CBPCCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitophagy, a form of autophagy, plays a role in cancer development, progression and recurrence. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) also play a key role in these processes, although it not known whether mitophagy can regulate the stemness of CSCs. Here, we employed the A549‐SD human non‐small cell lung adenocarcinoma CSC model that we have developed and characterized to investigate the effect of mitophagy on the stemness of CSCs. We observed a positive relationship between mitophagic activity and the stemness of lung CSCs. At the mechanistic level, our results suggest that augmentation of mitophagy in lung CSCs can be induced by FIS1 through mitochondrial fission. In addition, we assessed the clinical relevance of FIS1 in lung adenocarcinoma using The Cancer Genome Atlas database. An elevation in FIS1, when observed together with other prognostic markers for lung cancer progression, was found to correlate with shorter overall survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field significance tests have been widely used to detect climate change. In most cases, a local test is used to identify significant changes at individual locations, which is then followed by a field significance test that considers the number of locations in a region with locally significant changes. The choice of local test can affect the result, potentially leading to conflicting assessments of the impact of climate change on a region. We demonstrate that when considering changes in the annual extremes of daily precipitation, the simple Mann‐Kendall trend test is preferred as the local test over more complex likelihood ratio tests that compare the fits of stationary and nonstationary generalized extreme value distributions. This lesson allows us to report, with enhanced confidence, that the intensification of annual extremes of daily precipitation in China since 1961 became field significant much earlier than previously reported. Plain Language Summary: Changes to weather and climate extremes at individual locations can be highly uncertain due to natural variability. Much of the natural variability in precipitation extremes occurs on small spatial scales, and thus analyzing changes at different locations in a region with a field significance test can help extract information about changes in the region that is less affected by natural variability. An important component of doing so is the local test that is used to identify significant changes at individual locations and a field significance test that evaluates whether such changes are found at more locations than would be expected from natural variability in an unchanged climate. By contrasting several common local test methods with varying complexity, we find that the simple Mann‐Kendall test tends to yield a field significance test with high power of detection. Based on these lessons, we find that the intensification of extreme precipitation in China became field significant much earlier than previously reported, thereby resolving uncertainty about whether intensification is in fact discernable in China. Key Points: Field significance is generally determined by summarizing the results of individual tests conducted at different locations in a domainInconsistent field significance conclusions can be drawn when using different local test methodsFor extreme precipitation, field significance determined from the simple Mann‐Kendall test performs better than other commonly used ones [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient olefin/paraffin separation is a grand challenge because of their similar molecular sizes and physical properties, and is also a priority in the modern chemical industry. Membrane separation technology has been demonstrated as a promising technology owing to its low energy consumption, mild operation conditions, tunability of membrane materials, as well as the integration of physical and chemical mechanisms. In this work, inspired by the physical mechanism of mass transport in channel proteins and the chemical mechanism of mass transport in carrier proteins, recent progress in channel‐based and carrier‐based membranes toward olefin/paraffin separations is summarized. Further, channel‐based membranes are categorized into membranes with network structures and with framework structures according to the morphology of channels. The separation mechanisms, separation performance, and membrane stability in channel‐based and carrier‐based membranes are elaborated. Future perspectives toward membrane‐based olefin/paraffin separation are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zeolite Y, with a high SiO2/Al2O3 ratio (SAR), plays an important role in fluidized catalytic cracking processes. However, in situ synthesis of zeolite Y with high SARs remains a challenge because of kinetic limitations. Here, zeolite Y with an SAR of 6.35 is synthesized by a hydroxyl radical assisted route. Density‐functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that hydroxyl radicals preferentially enhanced the formation of Si‐O‐Si bonds, thus leading to an increased SAR. To further increase the SAR, a dealumination process was carried out using citric acid, with a subsequent second‐step hydrothermal crystallization, giving an SAR of up to 7.5 while maintaining good crystallinity and high product yield. The resultant zeolite Y shows good performance in cumene cracking. Introduced here is a new strategy for synthesizing high SAR zeolite Y, which is widely used in commercial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The plant richness–productivity relationship is a central subject in ecology, yet the mechanisms behind this pattern remain debated. Soil fungi are closely associated with the dynamics of plant communities, however empirical evidence on how fungal communities integrate into the richness–productivity relationships of natural environments is lacking.We used Illumina high‐throughput sequencing to identify rhizosphere fungal communities across a natural plant richness gradient at two sites with different fertility conditions, and related the subsequent information to plant richness and productivity to elucidate the role of fungal guilds in integrating the linkages of both plant components.Saprotrophs, mycorrhizal fungi and potential plant pathogens interacted differently between the sites, with saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungal abundances being positively correlated at the high‐nutrient site and abundances of mycorrhizal fungi and potential plant pathogens being negatively correlated at the low‐nutrient site. The synergistic associations between these fungal guilds with plant richness and productivity operated in concert to promote positive richness–productivity relationships.Our findings provide empirical evidence for the importance of soil fungal guilds in integrating the linkages of plant richness and productivity, and suggest that future work incorporating soil fungal communities into richness–productivity relationships would advance our mechanistic understanding of their linkages. See also the Commentary on this article by Hannula & Träger, 226: 947–949. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has played an increasingly important role in the military and civil fields. Since the SAR image reflects the scattering characteristics of the target， it is of great significance to achieve multi-angle fusion of the target. However, there is a problem of angular loss in real SAR images. Through the electromagnetic simulation method, SAR images of 0–360° can be obtained, but the similarity to real images is low. Here, the authors combine electromagnetic simulation with conditional generative adversarial networks (cGANs). The image obtained by the electromagnetic simulation is taken as the input of the cGANs, and then the generator generates photorealistic SAR images containing the label information. Thereby, authors' method complement the missing angles in the real SAR image dataset. Finally, they qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated the synthetic images generated through their model to verify the quality of the dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate due to late diagnosis and high incidence of metastasis. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subgroup of cancer cells with self‐renewal capability similar to that of normal stem cells (NSCs). While CSCs may play an important role in cancer progression, mechanisms underlying CSC self‐renewal and the relationship between self‐renewal of the NSCs and CSCs remain elusive. The orphan nuclear receptor Nr5a2 is a transcriptional factor, and a regulator of stemness of embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. However, whether Nr5a2 regulates the self‐renewal of lung CSCs is unknown. Here, we showed the diagnostic and prognostic values of elevated Nr5a2 expression in human lung cancer. We generated the mouse LLC‐SD lung carcinoma CSC cellular model in which Nr5a2 expression was enhanced. Using the LLC‐SD model, through transient and stable siRNA interference of Nr5a2 expression, we provided convincing evidence for a regulatory role of Nr5a2 in the maintenance of lung CSC self‐renewal and stem cell properties in vitro. Further, using the syngeneic and orthotopic lung transplantation model, we elucidated augmented cancer biological properties associated with Nr5a2 promotion of LLC‐SD self‐renewal. More importantly, we revealed that Nr5a2's regulatory role in promoting LLC‐SD self‐renewal is mediated by transcriptional activation of its direct target Nanog. Taken together, in this study, we have provided convincing evidence in vitro and in vivo demonstrating that Nr5a2 can induce lung CSC properties and promote tumorigenesis and progression through transcriptional up‐regulation of Nanog. In the present study, we have provided convincing evidence in vitro and in vivo demonstrating that Nr5a2 can induce lung cancer stem cells (CSC) properties and promote tumorigenesis and progression through transcriptional up‐regulation of Nanog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to recognize the axial direction of ReS2 single crystals, with considerable anisotropy in electrical and optical properties, which are expected to have a wide application in photoelectric devices. Here, we successfully synthesize ReS2 single crystals with triangle and parallelogram shapes on SiO2 substrate by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method and propose a simple approach to recognize the axial direction of ReS2 single crystals just by comparing the ratio of the edge lengths, which are confirmed by transmission electron microscopy images. In addition, the mobility of a prepared ReS2 field effect transistor is 8.16 cm2 V−1 s−1 and the on/off ratio is up to 105. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global change scenario, nitrogen (N) deposition has the potential to affect the soil microbial communities that play critical roles in ecosystem functioning. Although the impacts of N deposition on soil microbial communities have been reasonably well studied, microorganism responses to the N addition combined with the seasonal change have rarely been reported. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of N addition (0, 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 g N·m-2·yr-1) on soil microbial communities in different seasons (spring, summer, and autumn) in a boreal forest. Our results showed that the soil physical-chemical properties were found to be changed by N addition and seasonal changes were correlated with microbial community structure. The N addition and seasonal changes significantly affect the diversity and abundance of the microbial community, while their interactions only affect the bacterial abundance and the fungal diversity. In addition, our results also provided clear evidence for specific responses of microorganisms to the different N additions and each season. Our findings suggest that the microbial community response to N deposition could be the seasonal change and will strongly correlate with environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase and spread of Gram-negative bacteria that resistant are to almost all currently available β-lactam antibiotics is a major global health problem. The primary cause for drug resistance is the acquisition of metallo-β-lactamases such as metallo-β-lactamase-1 (NDM-1). The fungal natural product aspergillomarasmine A (AMA), a fungal natural product, is an inhibitor of NDM-1 and has shown promising in vivo therapeutic potential in a mouse model infected with NDM-1-expressing Gram-negative bacteria. The first total synthesis and stereochemical configuration reassignment of aspergillomarasmine A is reported. The synthesis highlights a flexible route and an effective strategy to achieve the required oxidation state at a late stage. This modular route is amenable to the efficient preparation of analogues for the development of metallo-β-lactamase inhibitors to potentiate β-lactam antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT With the proposed intensity-tunable reflectance filter based on the effect of the guided mode resonance, the influence of the structure parameters on full width at half maximum (FWHM) and wavelength separation (Δ λ) are studied. The experimental data indicates that the intensity of the spectral reflectance can be tuned by adjusting the azimuthal angle at the wavelength of 752.9 nm and 782.5 nm. With numerically calculated, the influence of the structural parameters on the value of wavelength separation between the dual resonance channels are analyzed. We investigated Δ λ and bandwidth by changing the parameters of the structure with the azimuthal angle of 45°. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:705-708, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface-diffusion-induced spontaneous Ga incorporation process is demonstrated in ZnO nanowires grown on GaN substrate. Crucially, contrasting distributions of Ga atoms in axial and radial directions are experimentally observed. Ga atoms uniformly distribute along the ∼10 μm long ZnO nanowire and show a rapidly gradient distribution in the radial direction, which is attributed substantially to the difference between surface and volume diffusion. The understanding on the incorporation process can potentially modulate doping and properties in semiconductor nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bandgap engineering of semiconductor nanostructures is of significant importance either for the optical property tailoring or for the integration of functional optoelectronic devices. Here, an efficient way to control the bandgap and emission wavelength is reported for a binary compound semiconductor through alloying with another binary compound. Taking GaP-ZnSe system as an example, the bandgap of quaternary GaP-ZnSe solid-solution nano­wires can be selectively tailored in the range of 1.95-2.2 eV by controlling the solubility of ZnSe dopants in GaP host. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurement and chemical analyses using an X-ray energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) demonstrate the solid-solution feature of GaP-ZnSe semiconductor alloy, while X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization verifies the formation of some new chemical bonds corresponding to Zn-P and Ga-S bonds in GaP-ZnSe nanowires. The strategy to tailor the optoelectronic property of semiconductor nanostructures through the solid-solution of two different binary compounds represents a general routine to the property modification of all pseudobinary systems and will open more opportunity for their applications in electronics, optics and optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton orchestrates the cellular plasticity and dynamics that underlie morphogenesis and cell division. Growing MT plus ends have emerged as dynamic regulatory machineries in which specialized proteins—called plus-end tracking proteins (+TIPs)—bind to and control the plus-end dynamics that are essential for cell division and migration. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the plus-end regulation by +TIPs at spindle and astral MTs have remained elusive. Here, we show that TIP150 is a new +TIP that binds to end-binding protein 1 (EB1) in vitro and co-localizes with EB1 at the MT plus ends in vivo. Suppression of EB1 eliminates the plus-end localization of TIP150. Interestingly, TIP150 also binds to mitotic centromere-associated kinesin (MCAK), an MT depolymerase that localizes to the plus end of MTs. Suppression of TIP150 diminishes the plus-end localization of MCAK. Importantly, aurora B-mediated phosphorylation disrupts the TIP150–MCAK association in vitro. We reason that TIP150 facilitates the EB1-dependent loading of MCAK onto MT plus ends and orchestrates the dynamics at the plus end of MTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the synthesis of an amphiphilic glucose-carrying graft copolymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride)-g-poly(3-O-methacryloyl-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-D-glucofuranose) (PVDF-g-PMAIpG). The copolymer, which is used for membrane surface modification, was synthesized using atom transfer radical polymerization. The membrane fabricated from PVDF and PVDF-g-PMAG blend showed improved anti-protein adsorption property and hydrophilicity.

c-plane ZnO films were eptiaxially grown on c-GaN/sapphire substrate by MOCVD. Cathodoluminescence (CL) line scan was performed on the cross-sectional ZnO/GaN films. These CL spectra shapes show a variation along the growth direction with a peak position shift, which can be divided into three stages. The study of the three stages reflects the growth mode alteration from the interface between ZnO and GaN to the surface. (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Vehicle field test can be conducted smoothly because of the automobile‐mounted monitoring system and abundant diving data have been collected. Driving data mining is in an urgent need of new thoughts introduced to break through the original technical bottleneck. This paper presented a novel method of symbolic representation in diving data mining and applied the idea of time series symbolization to traffic engineering. The sample data is processed by normalization, dimensionality reduction, discretization, and symbolization based on the three steps of symbolic aggregate approximation (SAX) with driving data characteristics taken into adequate consideration. The results showed that the high‐dimensionality miscellaneous driving time series data was rationally converted into highly readable, easy to search and locate symbolic series after semantic encoding, and the main characteristics of time series data was preserved after a substantial reduction of data dimensionality. Finally, the paper demonstrated the positive effects of this method on the analysis of actual vehicle driving safety based on case study, and it explored the application of SAX to speed and acceleration data from driving data set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the development of a new rice variety called MR&HY rice, which was created using multigene transformation and gene editing techniques. The researchers aimed to make the rice resistant to pests, diseases, and herbicides while also increasing its yield. By incorporating six resistance genes and editing a gene related to growth stage, the resulting rice variety showed resistance to various pests and diseases and had a significant increase in yield. This research has the potential to address global food security challenges and reduce the need for pesticides. The document includes two appendices providing additional information on the process and primers used in the study. [Extracted from the article]