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Abstract A significant yet largely untapped reservoir of polluted water arises from groundwater, where the diffusion of PFAS has been shown to be alarmingly on the rise, driven by prolonged accumulation and restricted avenues for degradation. Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) was used to concentrate and remove perfluorooctanoic acid compounds from contaminated groundwater for the first time using commercially available poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes. The temporal membrane fouling propensity over the DCMD test was assessed by analysing the morphological and chemical structural changes of the pristine and used membranes. Over 120 h of test using 10 mg/L PFOA-contaminated model groundwater as feed, the PVDF membrane exhibited a lower extent of flux decline of 15% compared to that 43% obtained by PTFE membrane using feed temperature of 60 oC. This study provides a practical route to pre-concentrate the amphiphilic PFAS contaminants from groundwater.

The activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is regarded as the primary driving factor of liver fibrosis. miR-192, a miRNA associated with hepatocellular carcinoma and enriched in HSCs, has an undisclosed role in HSC activation and liver fibrosis. In this study, a CCl4-induced rat liver fibrosis model and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1)-treated HSC lines (LX-2 and HSC-T6) were used to detect miR-192 and Rictor levels in vivo and in vitro. Bioinformatic analysis and a dual luciferase assay were used to predict and confirm the interaction of Rictor with miR-192. Gain- and/or loss-of-function methods evaluated molecular changes and HSC activation phenotypes, detected by quantitative real-time PCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescence. We observed a gradual downregulation of miR-192 and upregulation of Rictor during CCl4-induced liver fibrosis/cirrhosis in rats. Enriched miR-192 was downregulated, while Rictor was upregulated in TGF-β1-activated HSCs. miR-192 inhibited the activation of HSCs by directly targeting Rictor. High miR-192/low Rictor expression attenuated the fibrotic-related gene expression by AKT/mTORC2 signaling. In conclusion, miR-192 could inhibit the activation of HSCs by directly targeting Rictor in the AKT/mTORC2 signaling pathway. This study provides insights into potential therapeutic targets for liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.

In this work, hollow fibre ultrafiltration (UF) membrane operating under gravitational force were used to treat Escherichia coli bloomed water as well as contaminated surface water. The biofouling propensity of the UF membrane was investigated. The results showed that after the single filtration using the gravitational-driven UF unit, E. coli cells were accumulated on the membrane surface and gave fair rejection of 86.35–90.22% for initial E. coli cells concentrations of 5,000 and 10,000 MPN/ 100 mL, respectively. On the other hand, the double GDU membrane unit (filtration in series) could enhance E. coli removal up to 97.70–99.03% based on initial E. coli cell of 5,000 and 10,000 MPN/100 mL, respectively. For river water as feed, it was found that the permeate is free of pathogenic cells. No significant E. coli cells were found on the membrane surface of second filtration unit. Although there is ten-fold flux decrement by using a double filtration unit, the module is able to polish the contaminated water to potable water quality. The membrane could be cleaned using the simple backwash and the flux could be recovered up to 94%. In overall, this study has demonstrated the potential of using gravitational-driven UF to remove pathogens from contaminated river water. HIGHLIGHTS Modular or flexible filtration could be set up depending on the flux and permeate quality.; Double filtration module of gravitational deiven ultrafiltration could effectively remove pathogenic bacteria.; E. coli cells accumulated only on the membrane surface of the first filtration module.; Dissolved salts are able to penetrate the membrane and crystallize on membrane surface.; No pathogenic cells were found in the river water permeate.;

C43H78CaO22S2, monoclinic, P21 (no. 4), a = 18.2539(3) Å, b = 15.3118(3) Å, c = 18.3718(4) Å, β = 91.2637(17)°, Z = 4, V = 5133.65(18) Å3, Rgt(F) = 0.0544, wRref(F2) = 0.1622, T = 293(2) K.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the main alimentary tract system malignancies affecting people worldwide. Adenomatous polyps are precursors of CRC, and therefore, preventing the development of these lesions may also prevent subsequent malignancy. However, the adenoma detection rate (ADR), a measure of the ability of a colonoscopist to identify and remove precancerous colorectal polyps, varies significantly among endoscopists. Here, we attempt to use a convolutional neural network (CNN) to generate a unique computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system by exploring in detail the multiple-scale performance of deep neural networks. We applied this system to 3,375 hand-labeled images from the screening colonoscopies of 1,197 patients; of whom, 3,045 were assigned to the training dataset and 330 to the testing dataset. The images were diagnosed simply as either an adenomatous or non-adenomatous polyp. When applied to the testing dataset, our CNN-CAD system achieved a mean average precision of 89.5%. We conclude that the proposed framework could increase the ADR and decrease the incidence of interval CRCs, although further validation through large multicenter trials is required.

C44H76CaO19S2, monoclinic, C2 (no. 5), a = 25.5446(14) Å, b = 7.38025(19) Å, c = 18.8450(10) Å, β = 136.543(10)°, Z = 2, V = 2443.6(4) Å3, Rgt(F) = 0.0419, wRref(F2) = 0.1161, T = 293(2) K.

ZnO nanorods and RGO/ZnO nanorods composites were prepared by hydrothermal method. The influence of RGO content on the photocatalytic activity of RGO/ZnO nanorods composites was studied. ZnO nanorods and RGO/ZnO nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and diffuse reflectance UV-visible absorption spectroscopy techniques. The results show that RGO/ZnO samples are synthesized successfully. With different additions of GO, the RGO/ZnO samples obtained exhibit different absorption characteristics in visible light region. The photocatalytic results of using methyl orange (MO) as the simulated pollutant show that RGO/ZnO nanorods composites exhibit high degradation efficiency under UV-Vis light illumination. The highest photocatalytic performance is obtained for RGO/ZnO composites when the mass ratio of RGO to ZnO is 3%. MO is almost completely degraded in 120min. RGO/ZnO also shows the visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity under visible light illumination (λ>400nm), and the maximum MO degradation efficiency in 180min can reach 26.2%, meanwhile, RGO/ZnO samples exhibit good photostability.

In view of problem that traditional OFDM algorithm based on discrete Fourier transform used in underground low-voltage power lines is prone to produce larger ISI and ICI to influence normal receiving of signal, an OFDM communication algorithm based on wavelet transform was proposed. The algorithm selects Daubechies wavelet function as orthogonal wavelet basis, uses MATTAL algorithm to decompose and reconstruct wavelet, and gets channel output functions. The simulation result shows that the OFDM algorithm based on wavelet transform can reduce ISI and ICI in application of low-voltage power line communication, and improve communication quality.

【Abstract】Objective: To observe the quality of life in patients with post-traumatic epilepsy and discuss the influencing factors. Methods: We assessed 105 patients with post-traumatic epilepsy and 100 healthy people as control using Quality of Life Scale-31 (QOL-31), Self-rating Depressing Scale (SDS) and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and conducted retrospective analysis on the depression, anxiety, site of trauma, control of seizure, EEG and therapeutic compliance. Results: Patients with post-traumatic epilepsy scored much lower than the control group on QOL-31 (P

The kinetics of oxidation of 2-amino-1-butanol (AB) by diperiodatoargentate(III) (DPA) has been studied spectrophotometrically in alkaline media in the temperature range 288.2-303.2 K. The reaction is first order with respect to [DPA] and fractional order with respect to [AB]. The observed rate constant (kobs) decreased with increasing [IO4-] and increased with increasing [OH-]. Increasing ionic strength of the media decreased the rate. The rate and equilibrium constants involved in the mechanism were calculated. There is good agreement between the observed and calculated rate constants under varying experimental conditions. The activation parameters for the slow step were computed and discussed. Thermodynamic quantities were also determined.

In view of problems that network topology of underground low-voltage power line is complex and multi-path transmission model is difficult to suit channel modeling of underground low-voltage power line, the paper made a test for channel transmission characteristics of underground low-voltage power line. It indicated that attenuation of underground signal increases with increasing of transmission distance and changes with changing of frequency, and has certain selective fading. It took selective fading as resonant frequency point and used model of series resonant circuit to make modeling simulation for channel attenuation characteristics of underground low-voltage power line, and the simulation result shows that the model of series resonant circuit can well reflect channel transmission characteristics of underground low-voltage power line.

Fungi have evolved over millions of years and their species diversity is predicted to be the second largest on the earth. Fungi have cross-kingdom interactions with many organisms that have mutually shaped their evolutionary trajectories. Zygomycete fungi hold a pivotal position in the fungal tree of life and provide important perspectives on the early evolution of fungi from aquatic to terrestrial environments. Phylogenomic analyses have found that zygomycete fungi diversified into two separate clades, the Mucoromycota which are frequently associated with plants and Zoopagomycota that are commonly animal-associated fungi. Genetic elements that contributed to the fitness and divergence of these lineages may have been shaped by the varied interactions these fungi have had with plants, animals, bacteria, and other microbes. To investigate this, we performed comparative genomic analyses of the two clades of zygomycetes in the context of Kingdom Fungi, benefiting from our generation of a new collection of zygomycete genomes, including nine produced for this study. We identified lineage-specific genomic content that may contribute to the disparate biology observed in these zygomycetes. Our findings include the discovery of undescribed diversity in CotH, a Mucormycosis pathogenicity factor, which was found in a broad set of zygomycetes. Reconciliation analysis identified multiple duplication events and an expansion of CotH copies throughout the Mucoromycotina, Mortierellomycotina, Neocallimastigomycota, and Basidiobolus lineages. A kingdom-level phylogenomic analysis also identified new evolutionary relationships within the subphyla of Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota, including supporting the sister-clade relationship between Glomeromycotina and Mortierellomycotina and the placement of Basidiobolus as sister to other Zoopagomycota lineages.

At present, there is a trend to design a hard disk with a larger capacity, a faster revolution speed, and a precise mechanism. Therefore, the influence of data transmission with respect to vibration is obvious. To reduce interference of the vibrational impact on the data transmission efficiency, vibrational abatement on the hard disk using the damping material becomes crucial. Because of the complicated relationship for the damping coefficient and spring constant to the hardness (D1, D2, and D3) of the damping material installed under the hard disk, it is difficult to theoretically assess an optimal hardness combination of the damping material. Therefore, an alternative way by using an experimental study in conjunction with Taguchi method, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and a GA Method is proposed. In this paper, a hard disk is placed on a vibration tester that is an analogue to a dynamic vibrational circumstance induced by a vibrational base. The data transfer rate of the hard disk will be detected by using IOmeter software under various base-excitation accelerations, tilted angles of the hard disk, and targeted frequencies. To reduce the vibrational impact on the data transmission efficiency, an assessment of an optimal three-layer damping material installed under the hard disk using the Taguchi method, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and the GA Method is proposed. Before the optimization of the damping material is performed, the required experimental sets (the hardness for three layers of damping material) of the data transmission testing with respect to various design parameters will be determined by using the Taguchi method. The ANN, a simplified objective function (OBJ), will be established by inputting the hardness of three layers of damping material and their related data transmission efficiency at three targeted frequencies. Thereafter, the optimal hardness for three layers of the damping material will be obtained using a genetic algorithm (GA). Consequently, the optimal hardness of the three-layer damping material with respect to various tilted angles and target frequencies will be assessed.

The first genome sequenced of a eukaryotic organism was for Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as reported in 1996, but it was more than 10 years before any of the zygomycete fungi, which are the early-diverging terrestrial fungi currently placed in the phyla Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota, were sequenced. The genome for Rhizopus delemar was completed in 2008; currently, more than 1000 zygomycete genomes have been sequenced. Genomic data from these early-diverging terrestrial fungi revealed deep phylogenetic separation of the two major clades-primarily plant-associated saprotrophic and mycorrhizal Mucoromycota versus the primarily mycoparasitic or animal-associated parasites and commensals in the Zoopagomycota. Genomic studies provide many valuable insights into how these fungi evolved in response to the challenges of living on land, including adaptations to sensing light and gravity, development of hyphal growth, and co-existence with the first terrestrial plants. Genome sequence data have facilitated studies of genome architecture, including a history of genome duplications and horizontal gene transfer events, distribution and organization of mating type loci, rDNA genes and transposable elements, methylation processes, and genes useful for various industrial applications. Pathogenicity genes and specialized secondary metabolites have also been detected in soil saprobes and pathogenic fungi. Novel endosymbiotic bacteria and viruses have been discovered during several zygomycete genome projects. Overall, genomic information has helped to resolve a plethora of research questions, from the placement of zygomycetes on the evolutionary tree of life and in natural ecosystems, to the applied biotechnological and medical questions.

Dinoflagellates are a large group of algae that contribute significantly to marine productivity and are essential photosynthetic symbionts of corals. Although these algae have fully-functioning mitochondria and chloroplasts, both their organelle genomes have been highly reduced and the genes fragmented and rearranged, with many aberrant transcripts. However, nothing is known about their RNA polymerases. We cloned and sequenced the gene for the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial polymerase (RpoTm) of the dinoflagellate Heterocapsa triquetra and showed that the protein presequence targeted a GFP construct into yeast mitochondria. The gene belongs to a small gene family, which includes a variety of 3'-truncated copies that may have originated by retroposition. The catalytic C-terminal domain of the protein shares nine conserved sequence blocks with other single-subunit polymerases and is predicted to have the same fold as the human enzyme. However, the N-terminal (promoter binding/transcription initiation) domain is not well-conserved. In conjunction with the degenerate nature of the mitochondrial genome, this suggests a requirement for novel accessory factors to ensure the accurate production of functional mRNAs.