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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, which is characterized by microglia activation and dopaminergic neurons affected by inflammatory processes. Inflammation has been recognized to be necessary for initiation and progress of PD. Emerging evidence indicates that NLRP3 inflammasome complex is involved in the recognition and execution of host inflammatory response. Stress is acknowledged to be a predisposing and precipitating factor in some neurodegenerative diseases. However, it is unknown whether chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) sensitized microglia to pro-inflammatory stimuli. In this study, in vivo experiments are used to evaluate the effects of CUMS on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced microglia activation and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. The results showed that CUMS pretreatment for 14 days significantly aggravated the behavioral dysfunction of PD rats, increased the activation of microglia. Pretreatment with CUMS for 14 days increased the levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) in the serum, and increased the expression of NLRP-3, ASC, Casepase-1 in the substantia nigra of PD rats. Our data showed that pretreatment with CUMS for 14 days increased the microglia activation and the DA neurons damage, and the mechanisms may be associated with the acceleration of the inflammatory response and activation of NLRP3 inflammasome.

The fabrication and luminescent properties of novel Na2YMg2V3O12:Eu3+ phosphors produced by conventional solid-state reactions were investigated. Self-activated emission of the Na2YMg2V3O12 host produces a broad emission band ranging from 400 to 700 nm with a maximum peak at 530 nm, ascribed to the charge transfer in the (VO4)3− groups. Excitation with near-UV (365 nm) light causes the Na2YMg2V3O12:Eu3+ phosphors to emit bright red light, including both the broad emission band of the (VO4)3− groups and the sharp emission peaks of Eu3+ ions. At a quenching concentration of 0.03 mol, the Eu3+ ion emission peaks were located at 597, 613, 654 and 710 nm. As-prepared Na2YMg2V3O12:Eu3+ phosphors also exhibited stable emission at high temperatures. Furthermore, a designed and packaged white-light-emitting diode (WLED) lamp, including the obtained phosphors, commercial (Ba,Sr)2SiO4:Eu2+ green phosphors, BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ blue phosphors and a near-ultraviolet (n-UV) chip, emitted bright white light with a good chromaticity coordinate of (0.3068, 0.3491), a satisfactory colour rendering index of 88.20 and a properly correlated colour temperature of 4460.52 K. These results indicate the potential of this Na2YMg2V3O12:Eu3+ phosphor as a red-emitting phosphor for solid-state illumination.

The application of a coordination container in biomedicine is hindered by single binding domains and unsatisfactory biostability and biocompatibility. Herein, we designed a sulfonylcalix[4]arene-based decahexanuclear zinc(II) coordination container employing a flexible tetracarboxylate ligand as a linker and utilized it as a novel drug delivery system. The coordination container consisting of one endo and four exo cavities provides multiple binding domains for efficient encapsulation of drug molecules as clearly revealed by systematic host-guest studies using NMR techniques of 1H NMR titration experiments and 2D NOESY and diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy studies. Incorporation of a flexible p-phenylene-bis(methanamino) spacer into the container via the carboxylate linker allowed a stepwise drug loading process through sequential binding at endo and exo cavities, as well as enabling pH-responsive stepwise drug release. The drug-loaded coordination container not only exhibits excellent biostability and biocompatibility but also provides encouraging therapeutic efficiency toward inflammatory macrophages as revealed by in vitro studies. The novel strategy for engineering the endo cavity of a coordination container provides a new approach to achieving controlled drug delivery and opens up new opportunities for designing novel functional supramolecular materials.

The hydrophobicity of ultrafiltration membranes is the main cause of membrane fouling and reduced permeability, so it is necessary to improve the hydrophilicity and anti-fouling performance of ultrafiltration membrane materials. MoS

Biotic and abiotic stresses, especially heavy metal toxicity, are becoming a big problem in agriculture, which pose serious threats to crop production. Plant hormones have recently been used to develop stress tolerance in a variety of plants. Brassinosteroids (BRs) are the sixth class of plant steroid hormones, with pleiotropic effects on plants. Exogenous application of BRs to boost plant tolerance mechanisms to various stresses has been a major research focus. Numerous studies have revealed the role of these steroidal hormones in the up-regulation of stress-related resistance genes, as well as their interactions with other metabolic pathways. BRs interact with other phytohormones such as auxin, cytokinin, ethylene, gibberellin, jasmonic acid, abscisic acid, salicylic acid, and polyamines to regulate a variety of physiological and developmental processes in plants. BRs regulate expressions of many BR-inducible genes by activating the brassinazole-resistant 1 (BZR1)/BRI1-EMS suppressor 1 (BES1) complex. Moreover, to improve plant development under a variety of stresses, BRs regulate antioxidant enzyme activity, chlorophyll concentration, photosynthetic capability, and glucose metabolism. This review will provide insights into the mechanistic role and actions of brassinosteroids in plants in response to various stresses.

The training process of deep learning model is costly. As such, deep learning model can be treated as an intellectual property (IP) of the model creator. However, a pirate can illegally copy, redistribute or abuse the model without permission. In recent years, a few Deep Neural Networks (DNN) IP protection works have been proposed. However, most of existing works passively verify the copyright of the model after the piracy occurs, and lack of user identity management, thus cannot provide commercial copyright management functions. In this paper, a novel user fingerprint management and DNN authorization control technique based on backdoor is proposed to provide active DNN IP protection. The proposed method can not only verify the ownership of the model, but can also authenticate and manage the user's unique identity, so as to provide a commercially applicable DNN IP management mechanism. Experimental results on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100 and Fashion-MNIST datasets show that the proposed method can achieve high detection rate for user authentication (up to 100% in the three datasets). Illegal users with forged fingerprints cannot pass authentication as the detection rates are all 0 % in the three datasets. Model owner can verify his ownership since he can trigger the backdoor with a high confidence. In addition, the accuracy drops are only 0.52%, 1.61 % and -0.65% on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100 and Fashion-MNIST, respectively, which indicate that the proposed method will not affect the performance of the DNN models. The proposed method is also robust to model fine-tuning and pruning attacks. The detection rates for owner verification on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100 and Fashion-MNIST are all 100% after model pruning attack, and are 90 %, 83 % and 93 % respectively after model fine-tuning attack, on the premise that the attacker wants to preserve the accuracy of the model.

This study evaluated the effects of endoplasmic reticulum autophagy (ER-phagy) and globular adiponectin (gAPN) on chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH)-induced H9C2 cardiomyocytes injury while investigating potential mechanisms of action. The CIH model of H9C2 cardiomyocytes was established in this study. CCK-8 assay was used to determine cell viability post-exposure to various CIH times and gAPN concentrations. Flow cytometry was used to observe H9C2 cardiomyocytes apoptosis and immunofluorescence was used to measure ER-phagy and SEC62 activation. Western blot was used to observe ER stress and AMPK pathway. Results indicated that ER stress was activated in H9C2 cardiomyocytes exposed to CIH. Inhibition of ER stress reduced CIH-induced cell apoptosis. gAPN attenuated CIH-induced ER stress and H9C2 cardiomyocytes apoptosis. ER-phagy and SEC62 protein level were induced by CIH, while gAPN highly enhanced these changes. Inhibition of SEC62 expression reduced ER-phagy and increased ER stress and H9C2 cardiomyocytes apoptosis. Moreover, gAPN induced AMPK expression. Inhibition of AMPK expression reduced SEC62-mediated ER-phagy and increased the H9C2 cardiomyocytes apoptosis. Altogether, our study suggested that gAPN upregulated SEC62-mediated ER-phagy to extenuate ER stress, and mitigated H9C2 cardiomyocytes apoptosis induced by CIH through AMPK activation.

Irregular structures are known to be more prone to disproportionate collapse (DC) than structures with regular horizontal and vertical layouts. Despite this, many public, commercial and institutional buildings have to be designed with various irregularities in structural layout due to architectural and aesthetic considerations. While extensive experimental and numerical studies have been carried out to advance the basic understanding of DC behaviors of regular structures, limited research has been carried out on irregular structures. On the other hand, alternate load path method has been recommended by several design codes and standards for DC design, but the large number of potential column removal scenarios involved poses a real challenge for the wide use of the method. This paper presents a quantitative measure referred to as irregularity index, or Π , that can be used to quickly identify the worst column removal scenarios for design check of DC resistance of reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures. Based upon a solid understanding of various competing failure mechanisms and DC resistance of RC frame structures, the irregularity index was derived from the maximum load factors between the yielding load and the limit load at the end of tensile membrane action stage. For verification and validation of the proposed Π , a 3D nonlinear finite element model was developed in OpenSees and calibrated by beam-slab sub-assemblage experiments. Various numerical experiments were carried out to verify the effectiveness of the Π . The very high correlation coefficient between the calculated irregularity indices and DC resistance obtained from finite element analyses showed that the proposed irregularity index can quickly identify the worst column removal scenarios in various irregular structures including setback buildings and large-bottom-space structures. Sensitivity analysis further verified the reliability of the proposed irregularity index.

Innovative syntheses of uniform and size-controlled chlorapatite crystals need to be developed. Molten salt synthesis is a simple process, which uses low temperatures and short reaction times to obtain synthesized powders with uniform chemical composition as well as good crystal morphology and high-phase purity. In this study, a molten salt synthesis was used to prepare ClAP microcrystallites at different temperatures, reaction times, and quantities of molten salt. ClAP microcrystallites with different sizes and morphologies were obtained, and the process parameters were optimized. The phase formation and morphologies of the ClAP microcrystallites were examined by X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results determined the optimal parameters, as follows: synthesis temperature, 600 °C; reaction time, 4 h; and ClAP/molten salt ratio, 1 : 3. The reaction time and the quantity of the molten salt, as well as the growth mechanism of the ClAP microcrystallites, were proposed based on the phase formation and morphologies of ClAP synthesized at various temperatures. ClAP phosphors activated using different ions (Sb3+, Eu2+, and Tb3+) were prepared by the molten salt method at 600 °C for 4 h with a ClAP/salt ratio of 1 : 3. The as-prepared ClAP:Sb3+/Eu2+/Tb3+ phosphors exhibited a blue-green emission (470 nm), a blue emission (460 nm), and a green emission (547 nm). Their excellent photoluminescence properties indicated their potential for application in white light emitting diodes.

Sensitive and selective detection of harmful gas is an important task in environmental monitoring. In this work, a gas sensor based on cataluminescence (CTL) for detection of acetaldehyde was designed by using nano-NiO as the sensing material. The sensor shows sensitive response to acetaldehyde at a relatively low working temperature of 200 &deg, C. The linear range of CTL intensity versus acetaldehyde concentration is 0.02&ndash, 2.5 mg/L, with a limit of detection of 0.006 mg/L at a signal-to-noise ratio of three. Mechanism study shows that electronically excited CO2 is the excited intermediate for CTL emission during the catalytic oxidation of acetaldehyde on the NiO surface. The proposed sensor has promising application in monitoring acetaldehyde in residential buildings and in the workplace.

The Zn1–xAl2O4:xEu2+ phosphor powders were synthesized by the solid-state reaction method. The synthesis temperature for ZnAl2O4 was optimized, whereas the phase structure, TEM images, photoluminescence (PL) properties, the concentration quenching mechanism, the fluorescence decay curves, as well as the CIE chromaticity coordinates of the samples were investigated in details. Under the excitation at 379 nm, the phosphor exhibits an asymmetric broad-band green emission with a peak at 532 nm, which is ascribed to the 5d–4f transition of Eu2+. When the doping concentration of Eu2+ ions is 0.01, the luminescence intensity of the sample reaches the maximum value. It is further proved that the exchange interaction results in the concentration quenching of Eu2+ in the Zn1–xAl2O4:xEu2+ phosphor powders. The thermal quenching property of ZnAl2O4:Eu2+ phosphor was investigated and the quantum efficiency (QE) values of the selected Zn0.99Al2O4:0.01Eu2+ phosphor was measured and determined as 54.85%. The lifetime of the optimized sample Zn0.99Al2O4:0.01Eu2+ is 3.0852 μs and the CIE coordinate of the sample was calculated as (0.3323, 0.5538) with high-color-purity green emission. All properties indicate that the green-emitting ZnAl2O4:Eu2+ phosphor powder has potential application in white LEDs.

It is highly desirable to red shift the emission of Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ phosphor to obtain a warmer correlated color temperature (CCT) in applications for blue-light pumped white-light emitting diodes (w...

A mercury(II) ion-selective electrode with an ionic liquid (IL), 1-methyl-2-butylthioimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide ([C1C4Sim]NTf2) as active material was constructed. Parameters affecting the performance of the electrodes such as the dosages of the IL and carbon nanotubes and the aqueous pH values were investigated. Experimental results indicated that the optimal composition of the electrode filling material was 47.6% [C1C4Sim]NTf2, 47.6% tetrabutylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide (TBPNTf2) and 4.8% carboxylic multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-COOH). Under the selected conditions, the proposed electrodes showed a good linear response in the concentration range of 10−10–10−5 mol L−1 and had a detection limit of 4.1 × 10−11 mol L−1. No great interference from common metal ions was found. The proposed electrodes were applied to determine Hg2+ in seafood samples; the results were comparable to those of the direct mercury analyzer. Keywords: Ionic liquids (ILs), Mercury, Ion-selective electrodes, Carbon nanotubes, Seafood

Modular integrated Construction (MiC) is a game changing construction approach which could significantly increase construction efficiency, quality, and sustainability. For steel MiC structures, modules are manufactured in the factories and assembled at the construction sites through inter-module connections. The concern of the vulnerability of these connections under abnormal hazards leading to disproportionate progressive collapse will impede industrial applications of MiC structures in the construction community. This study investigates the structural robustness of corner-supported modular steel buildings with the focus on different inter-module connections. A sub-structure extracted from a five-storey modular building is analysed by high fidelity finite element analysis under a corner column removal scenario. The load redistribution mechanism and failure modes are investigated thoroughly, based on which the simplified macro model is proposed where connections are modelled with rotational springs. Good consistence is found for the simplified model and the detailed FE analysis in terms of the pushdown curve. It is also found that the inter-module connection types will affect the beam-column joint properties which dominate the progressive collapse resistance of MiC structures. Therefore, attention should be paid when selecting different inter-module connections. The current rigid beam-column joint connection may lead to nonconservative evaluation.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to design and fabricate a three-dimensional (3D) bionic airflow sensing array made of two multi-electrode piezoelectric metal-core fibers (MPMFs), inspired by the structure of a cricket’s highly sensitive airflow receptor (consisting of two cerci). Design/methodology/approach A metal core was positioned at the center of an MPMF and surrounded by a hollow piezoceramic cylinder. Four thin metal films were spray-coated symmetrically on the surface of the fiber that could be used as two pairs of sensor electrodes. Findings In 3D space, four output signals of the two MPMFs arrays can form three “8”-shaped spheres. Similarly, the sensing signals for the same airflow are located on a spherical surface. Originality/value Two MPMF arrays are sufficient to detect the speed and direction of airflow in all three dimensions.

The novel COVID-19 outbreak has affected more than 200 countries and territories as of March 2020. Given that patients with cancer are generally more vulnerable to infections, systematic analysis of diverse cohorts of patients with cancer affected by COVID-19 is needed. We performed a multicenter study including 105 patients with cancer and 536 age-matched noncancer patients confirmed with COVID-19. Our results showed COVID-19 patients with cancer had higher risks in all severe outcomes. Patients with hematologic cancer, lung cancer, or with metastatic cancer (stage IV) had the highest frequency of severe events. Patients with nonmetastatic cancer experienced similar frequencies of severe conditions to those observed in patients without cancer. Patients who received surgery had higher risks of having severe events, whereas patients who underwent only radiotherapy did not demonstrate significant differences in severe events when compared with patients without cancer. These findings indicate that patients with cancer appear more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Significance: Because this is the first large cohort study on this topic, our report will provide much-needed information that will benefit patients with cancer globally. As such, we believe it is extremely important that our study be disseminated widely to alert clinicians and patients. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 747

The fabrication and luminescent performance of novel phosphors Na2YMg2V3O12:Dy3+ were investigated by a conventional solid-state reaction method. Under near-UV light, the Na2YMg2V3O12 host self-activated and released a broad emission band (400–700 nm, with a peak at 524 nm) ascribable to charge transfer in the (VO4)3− groups. Meanwhile, the Na2YMg2V3O12:Dy3+ phosphors emitted bright yellow light within both the broad emission band of the (VO4)3- groups and the sharp peaks of the Dy3+ ions at 490, 582, and 663 nm at a quenching concentration of 0.03 mol. The emission of the as-prepared Na2YMg2V3O12:Dy3+ phosphors remained stable at high temperatures. The obtained phosphors, commercial Y2O3:Eu3+ red phosphors, and BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ blue phosphors were packed into a white light-emitting diode (WLED) device with a near-UV chip. The designed WLED emitted bright white light with good chromaticity coordinates (0.331, 0.361), satisfactory color rendering index (80.2), and proper correlation to a color temperature (7364 K). These results indicate the potential utility of Na2YMg2V3O12:Dy3+ phosphor as a yellow-emitting phosphor in solid-state illumination.

Influence of floc breakage and re-growth on the release of natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) and dissolved Al was explored. Results indicated that Al species including monomeric species (Ala), medium polymer species (Alb), and colloidal or solid species (Alc) in polyaluminum chlorides (PACls) played significant role. At lower doses ranged from 5 to 20 mg/L, floc breakage damaged Ala-NOM bonds for AlCl3, causing obvious release of DOM and dissolved Al. After re-growth, dissolved Al mainly connected with broken flocs, rather than released DOM. Thus, after re-growth, DOM release was still remarkable, but additional removal of dissolved Al was observed. At higher doses above 20 mg/L, more Ala transformed to Alb and Alc. Due to the enmeshment effect induced by Alc coagulation, fewer DOM and dissolved Al were released after breakage, and additional removal of DOM and dissolved Al were attained after re-growth. For PAClAl13 which mainly contained Alb, at optimal dose, floc breakage generated the most severe release of DOM and dissolved Al, while the result after re-growth was just reverse. This was ascribed to stronger charge neutralization ability of Alb. Furthermore, the influence of floc breakage and re-growth on DOM and dissolved Al for PAClC was similar to that for AlCl3. The reason was fully analyzed in this research. This study may give further indication regarding reaction mechanisms of floc breakage and re-growth for PACls.

As one of the most complicated joint structures, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is susceptible to inflammatory reaction caused by osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and so on. The treatment for TMJ inflammation is still challenging due to the rapid clearance and lack of selectivity of traditional medication. Herein, we design a novel discrete sulfonylcalix[4]arene-based magnesium(II) coordination container, MgDHIA, which features satisfactory biocompatibility, appropriate molecular size and multiple binding domains. MgDHIA is capable of selectively encapsulating rapamycin (RAPA) in the endo cavity and folic acid (FA) in the exo cavities to form the co-loaded system RAPA-FA@MgDHIA, which exhibits outstanding activated macrophages targeting, stepwise releasing and cellular uptake behaviors. For therapeutic aspect, the RAPA-FA@MgDHIA reprograms the phenotype of polarized macrophages, specifically, transforming the pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages to anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype by inhibiting NF-kB pathway. The in vivo studies also demonstrate that the RAPA-FA@MgDHIA presents higher accumulation in inflamed synovial tissues, protecting the articular cartilage and subchondral bone structures by alleviating synovial inflammation. Anyway, we first evaluate the application of coordination container-based nanomedicine in treatment of inflammatory TMJ, demonstrating that the drug and targeting agents co-loaded coordination container remarkably boosts the therapeutic efficacy of traditional medication, thus providing a promising approach for anti-inflammatory treatment in joints.

A new optical thermometer material—Er3+-doped SrNb2O6—based on the fluorescence intensity ratio was synthesized and investigated by both theoretical calculation and experimental measurement, combining X-ray diffractometry (XRD), XRD Rietveld refinement, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photon emission spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation of qualitative and quantitative analysis, to develop a novel green-emitting phosphor with excellent thermometry sensitivity. The Er3+ ions occupied 4e sites of SrNb2O6, and the stable activator occupation induces luminescence properties of emissions at 525, 531, and 550 nm. The SrNb2O6: Er3+ phosphor possesses an outstanding thermal sensitivity in the measurement region of 298–523 K, where Sa and Sr can achieve 6.15 × 10−3 K−1 and 1093.2711/T2, respectively, at 323 K. The optical thermal properties originated from the thermal excitation and formation of quashing thermal equilibrium between 2H11/2 and 4S3/2 levels, leading to photons on 4S3/2 → 4I15/2 transfer process thermally populate onto 2H11/2 → 4I15/2 transfer process. This work will lay a foundation for further exploration of activator suitability in columbite phosphors, making it practicable to foreseeably improve thermal sensitivity and PL for emergent applications in optical thermometer.

Flowback water generated during shale gas extraction in Pennsylvania is mostly reused for hydraulic fracturing operation. Abandoned mine drainage (AMD), one of the most widespread threats to water quality in Pennsylvania, can potentially serve as a make-up water source to enable flowback water reuse. This study demonstrated co-treatment of flowback water and AMD produced in northeastern Pennsylvania in a pilot-scale system consisting of rapid mix reactor, flocculation tank and sedimentation tank. Sulfate concentration in the finished water can be controlled at a desired level (i.e., below 100 mg/L) by adjusting the ratio of flowback water and AMD in the influent. Fe3+ contained in the AMD can serve as a coagulant to enhance the removal of suspended solids, during which Fe2+ is co-precipitated and the total iron is reduced to a desirable level. Solid waste generated in this process (i.e., barite) will incorporate over 99% of radium present in the flowback water, which offers the possibility to control the fate of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) brought to the surface by unconventional gas extraction. Sludge recirculation in the treatment process can be used to increase the size of barite particles formed by mixing flowback water and AMD to meet specifications for use as a weighting agent in drilling fluid. This alternative management approach for NORM can be used to offset the treatment cost and promote flowback water reuse, reduce environmental impacts of AMD and reduce pressure on fresh water sources.

Management of Marcellus Shale flowback water is a rising concern in Pennsylvania. Due to limited capacity for wastewater disposal by deep-well injection, flowback water reuse is the dominant management option in PA. Microfiltration is a promising technology to be used in a mobile treatment system for solids removal from Marcellus Shale flowback water prior to reuse. It was found previously that early Marcellus Shale flowback water could cause severe membrane fouling due to the presence of stable submicron colloids. Bench-scale cross-flow filtration system was used in this study to evaluate the feasibility of microfiltration for treatment of Marcellus Shale flowback water that does not contain these submicron colloids. The performance of alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) and silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic membranes that have distinct surface charge properties was evaluated in this system using a constant transmembrane pressure. The difference in the isoelectric point of these membranes suggested possible differences in fouling behavior, but extremely high salinity of the flowback water screened the electrostatic interactions and minimized these differences. For the two flowback waters tested in this study, the one with lower TDS caused more severe fouling of both SiC and Al 2 O 3 membranes during the first 15 min of filtration. The flux decline analysis revealed that intermediate pore blocking was the dominant fouling mechanism in the early filtration stage. Such behavior was due to the fact that the particulate matter in this flowback water was in the aggregate form and the flocs were prone to breakup at elevated shear stress caused by high pumping rate. Despite having much higher TSS, the other flowback water did not cause excessive membrane fouling due to stability and strength of its original particles.

In this work, the treatment of bio-treated coking wastewater (BCW) by catalytic ozonation was conducted in semi-batch and continuous flow reactors. The kinetics of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal were analyzed using BCWs from five coking plants. An integral reactor with catalytic ozonation stacked by ozone absorption (IR) was developed, and its efficiency was studied. The catalyst of MnxCe1-xO2/&gamma, Al2O3 was efficient in the catalytic ozonation process for the treatment of various BCWs. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies after 120 min reaction were 64&ndash, 74%. The overall apparent reaction rate constants were 0.0101&ndash, 0.0117 min&minus, 1, which has no obvious relationship with the initial COD of BCW and pre-treatment biological process. The IR demonstrated the highest efficiency due to the enhancement of mass transfer and the utilization efficiency of ozone. Bypass internal circulation can further improve the reactor efficiency. The optimal results were obtained with the ozone absorption section accounting for 19% of the valid water depth in the reactor and 250% of circulation flow ratio. The long-term and full-scale application of the novel reactor in a continuous mode indicated stable removal of COD and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The results showed that the system of IR is a promising reactor type for tertiary treatment of coking wastewater by catalytic ozonation.

In this study, the performance of catalytic ozonation in the treatment of bio-treated coking wastewater (BCW) using pilot- and full-scale systems was investigated. Additionally, the removal efficiency of organic pollutants from BCW, the deactivation mechanism of MnxCe1-xO2/γ-Al2O3, and backflushing optimization for in-situ catalyst regeneration, which have not been previously investigated, were analysed. Results of the 12-month pilot scale experiments showed that catalytic ozonation resulted in the effective removal of organic pollutants when backflushing was applied as an in-situ catalyst regeneration strategy. The effluent chemical oxygen demand (COD) content decreased from 150 to 78 mg L−1, and remained below a discharge limitation of 80 mg L−1, and the stable COD removal efficiencies (from 56.0% to 47.9%) indicated that catalyst deactivation, which primarily resulted from the deposition of inorganic salts on the surface of the catalyst that limited interaction between ozone and active sites and/or prevented electrons transfer, was primarily inhibited by backflushing. The catalyst regeneration via in-situ air- and water-backflushing was attributed to the scrubbing, collision, and/or the loosing effect. Additionally, in the full-scale experiment, the catalytic ozonation process with in-situ alternative backflushing exhibited a stable COD removal efficiency (above 45.6%) for 885 days when water- and air-flushing strengths of 10 L m−2 s−1 and 15 L m−2 s−1, respectively, were applied with a 7-day regeneration interval. Therefore, the results of this study provide new insights into catalytic ozonation and support its engineering application in BCW treatment.

The novel COVID-19 outbreak has affected more than 200 countries and territories as of March 2020. Given that patients with cancer are generally more vulnerable to infections, systematic analysis of diverse cohorts of patients with cancer affected by COVID-19 are needed. We performed a multi-center study including 105 cancer patients and 536 age-matched non-cancer patients confirmed with COVID-19. Our results showed COVID-19 patients with cancer had higher risks in all severe outcomes. Patients with hematological cancer, lung cancer, or with metastatic cancer (stage IV) had the highest frequency of severe events. Non-metastatic cancer patients experienced similar frequencies of severe conditions to those observed in patients without cancer. Patients who received surgery had higher risks of having severe events, while patients with only radiotherapy did not demonstrate significant differences in severe events when compared to patients without cancer. These findings indicate that cancer patients appear more vulnerable to SARS-COV-2 outbreak. Since this is the first large cohort study on this topic, our report will provide the much-needed information that will benefit global cancer patients. As such, we believe it is extremely important that our study be disseminated widely to alert clinicians and patients. Citation Format: Meng-Yuan Dai, Dian-bo Liu, Miao Liu, Fu-Xiang Zhou, Gui-Ling Li, Zhen Chen, Zhi-An Zhang, Hua-You Md, Meng Wu, Qi-Chao Zheng, Yong Xiong, Hui-Hua Xiong, Chun Wang, Chang-Chun Chen, Fei Xiong, Yan Zhang, Ya-Qin Peng, Si-Ping Ge, Bo Zhen, Ting-Ting Yu, Ling Wang, Hua Wang, Yu Liu, Ye-Shan Chen, Jun-Hua Mei, Xiao-Jia Gao, Zhu-Yan Li, Li-Juan Gan, Can He, Zhen Li, Yu-Ying Shi, Yu-Wen Qi, Jing Yang, Daniel G. Tenen, Li Chai, Lorelei Ann Mucci, Mauricio Santillana, Hongbing Cai. Patients with cancer appear more vulnerable to SARS-COV-2: A multi-center study during the COVID-19 outbreak [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr CT406.

Associations between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and allergic diseases were already reported by many publications. The aim of this meta-analysis was to clarify associations between VDR gene polymorphisms and allergic diseases by combing the results of all relevant publications. Eligible publications were searched from Pubmed, Embase, WOS and CNKI. We used Review Manager to combine the results of individual studies. Twenty-one studies were included in this study. Combined results proved that VDR rs1544410 BsmI (over-dominant comparison: p = .04, OR = 1.14, 95% CI 1.01–1.29; allele comparison: p = .03, OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.01–1.22) and rs731236 TaqI (dominant comparison: p = .01, OR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.04–1.33) polymorphisms were both associated with allergic diseases. In subgroup analyses by type of disease, we confirmed positive results for rs1544410 BsmI polymorphism in both asthma and atopic dermatitis, and for rs731236 TaqI polymorphism in atopic dermatitis. Besides, in subgroup by ethnicity of participants, we observed significant associations with allergic diseases for rs7975232 ApaI polymorphism in Caucasians, for rs1544410 BsmI polymorphism in Asians and Caucasians, and for rs731236 TaqI polymorphism in Asians. We also investigated associations between VDR rs2228570 FokI polymorphism and allergic diseases, yet no any positive results were detected for this polymorphism. If we only focused on asthma, then positive findings were detected for rs1544410 BsmI polymorphism in Caucasians, and for rs731236 TaqI polymorphism in Asians. Collectively, this meta-analysis proved that VDR rs7975232 ApaI, rs1544410 BsmI and rs731236 TaqI gene polymorphisms may confer susceptibility to allergic diseases in certain populations.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, which is characterized by loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Accumulated evidences have suggested that oxidative stress is closely associated with the dopaminergic neurodegeneration of PD that can be protected by antioxidants. Biochanin A that is an O-methylated isoflavone in chickpea is investigated to explore its protective mechanism on dopaminergic neurons of the unilateral lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-injected rat. The results showed that biochanin A significantly improved the animal model's behavioral symptoms, prevented the loss of dopaminergic neurons and inhibited the deleterious microglia activation in the LPS-induced rats. Moreover, biochanin A inhibited nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NADPH oxidase) activation and malondialdehyde (MDA) production, increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities in the rat brain. These results suggested that biochanin A might be a natural candidate with protective properties on dopaminergic neurons against the PD.

In health monitoring of long-span structures, proper arrangement of sensors is a key point because of the need to acquire effective structural health information with limited testing resources. This study proposes a novel approach called dual-structure coding and mutation particle swarm optimization (DSC-MPSO) algorithm for the sensor placement. The cumulative effective modal mass participation factor is firstly derived to select the main contributions modes. A novel method combining dual-structure coding with the mutation operator is then utilized to determine the optimal sensors configurations. Finally, the feasibility of the DSC-MPSO algorithm is verified by optimizing the sensors locations for a long-span cable-stayed bridge. The effective independence method, genetic algorithm and standard particle swarm optimization algorithm are taken as contrast experiments. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm in this paper could improve the convergence speed and precision. Accordingly, the method is effective in solving optimal sensor placement problems.

Excitation makes a great influence on the wavelet energy distribution of the response signal, this deficiency leads that the traditional structural damage identification method based on wavelet energy has a low precision. In order to solve this problem, a new structural damage identification method based on wavelet packet energy entropy (WPEE) of impulse response is presented in this paper. Firstly, natural excitation technique (NExT) is adopted to extract structural impulse response. Then, WPEE of the impulse response is computed, and the change rate of WPEE is used to construct the structural damage index. An experiment of damage identification on a pile structure is provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Experiment results show that this method can accurately identify the single damage and multi-damage.

Gd2−xO2S:xTb3+ phosphors were prepared by the microwave solid state method, and its phase formation and morphologies were studied by the X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The photoluminescence (PL) properties, cathodoluminescence (CL) properties and PL thermal stability of the samples were investigated, which indicated that better luminescence properties can be obtained via the microwave method compared to the conventional high temperature solid-state method. The composition-optimized Gd1.85O2S:15%Tb3+ exhibited strong green emission peaking at 546 nm upon excitation at 254 nm with the CIE coordinates of (0.238, 0.382). Different electric voltage and current dependent CL spectra investigations of Gd1.85O2S:15%Tb3+ phosphor shows similar green spectral profile as PL emission and it also demonstrates the good luminescence stability suggesting its potential application as green emission component in cathode ray tube (CRT).

The simulation of electromagnetic fields distribution around high-speed railway catenary on the platform by the finite element method. The research is based on simulation models as classification material properties of human body parts, and presents subdivision mesh sub-model method to calculate and simulate the frequency electromagnetic fields around the human, and giving a comprehensive evaluation on the safety of electromagnetic environment around high-speed railway according to national standard limit.

Thresholding function is an important part of the wavelet threshold denoising method, which can influence the signal denoising effect significantly. However, some defects are present in the existing methods, such as function discontinuity, fixed bias, and parameters determined by trial and error. In order to solve these problems, a new wavelet thresholding function based on hyperbolic tangent function is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the basic properties of hyperbolic tangent function are analyzed. Then, a new thresholding function with a shape parameter is presented based on hyperbolic tangent function. The continuity, monotonicity, and high-order differentiability of the new function are theoretically proven. Finally, in order to determine the final form of the new function, a shape parameter optimization strategy based on artificial fish swarm algorithm is given in this paper. Mean square error is adopted to construct the objective function, and the optimal shape parameter is achieved by iterative search. At the end of the paper, a simulation experiment is provided to verify the effectiveness of the new function. In the experiment, two benchmark signals are used as test signals. Simulation results show that the proposed function can achieve better denoising effect than the classical hard and soft thresholding functions under different signal types and noise intensities.

Due to simple calculation and good denoising effect, wavelet threshold denoising method has been widely used in signal denoising. In this method, the threshold is an important parameter that affects the denoising effect. In order to improve the denoising effect of the existing methods, a new threshold considering interscale correlation is presented. Firstly, a new correlation index is proposed based on the propagation characteristics of the wavelet coefficients. Then, a threshold determination strategy is obtained using the new index. At the end of the paper, a simulation experiment is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. In the experiment, four benchmark signals are used as test signals. Simulation results show that the proposed method can achieve a good denoising effect under various signal types, noise intensities, and thresholding functions.

Animproved particle filter algorithm which based on mean shift algorithm isintroduced. The algorithm makes the particles move towards the high likelihoodregion in posterior distribution with the effect of mean shift algorithm,increases the efficiency of the particles moving, and reduces the phenomenon ofdegradation and dilution of particles

Due to the interference of strong vibration signal, a big error exists in modal parameter identification based on traditional ARMA model. In order to solve this problem, a new method for modal parameter identification based on natural excitation technique (NExT) and ARMA model is presented. Firstly, NExT is used to obtain cross-correlation function of different response sequences. Then, ARMA model of cross-correlation function is established, and the parameters of ARMA model are estimated by least squares method. Finally, the modal parameter identification is achieved using the relationship between the ARMA parameters and structural modal parameters. Experiment shows that the identification results of our method are more accurate than the traditional ARMA model.

The reuse of produced water generated by natural gas extraction from Marcellus Shale for hydraulic fracturing is the dominant management option in Pennsylvania (PA), USA. The advantages and disadvantages of this management approach are reviewed and discussed together with long-term concerns and technology development needs. Abandoned mine drainage is a promising alternative make-up water, but high sulfate concentrations will lead to barite precipitation once it is mixed with the produced water. Bench-scale studies were conducted to optimize barite separation from this mixture that meets the finished water quality criteria for sulfate. Conventional separation processes are very effective in removing these solids but radium (Ra) co-precipitation may be a concern for their disposal in municipal landfills. If the produced water volume exceeds the reuse capacity for hydraulic fracturing, lime–soda ash softening can be used to remove divalent cations, including radium, to enable the production of pure salts using subsequent thermal processes.

Flowback water generated during unconventional gas extraction is of great concern due to its high total dissolved solids (TDS), radioactive elements and organic matter. Abandoned mine drainage (AMD) is a water source that is often located in the vicinity of gas wells and can be mixed with flowback water to reduce fresh water usage for hydraulic fracturing. The feasibility of microfiltration to separate solids created by mixing actual flowback water and AMD was evaluated using a bench-scale setup. Hydrophilic polyvinyldiene fluoride (PVDF) membrane with a pore size of 0.22 μm was as a model polymeric microfiltration membrane. Severe membrane fouling occurred during the first 5 min of filtration with one flowback/AMD mixture while no significant fouling was observed for a different mixture. It was found that the flowback water that caused membrane fouling contained stable iron-based colloids with an average particles size of 0.2 μm, especially in the samples collected early in the flowback period. These colloids were not formed by mixing flowback water containing high barium concentration with AMD rich in sulfate but were originally present in the flowback water. Stability of these sub-micron colloidal particles at high ionic strength of the flowback water is attributed to organic coating on the particle surface.

Wavelet basis selection is an important part in the wavelet denoising of structural vibration signal. However, some defects are present in the existing methods, such as large computation and a single optimal index. In order to solve these problems, a new selection method based on multiple index is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the wavelet basis category which suits for the vibration signal denoising is determined by analyzing the characteristics of wavelet basis and vibration signal. Then, a multiple index evaluation function is constructed by mean square error indicator (MSE), signal-to-noise ratio indicator (SNR) and correlation coefficient indicator (ρ), the weights of index are received by analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the wavelet basis with biggest evaluation function value is considered as optimal wavelet basis. At the end of the paper, a experiment is provided to verify the effectiveness of the new method, the results show that the new method is better than the other four methods in MSE, SNR and ρ index.

Acid-washed activated carbon (AC-A), nitric acid modified activated carbon (AC-NO2), aminated activated carbon (AC-NH2) and cerium-loaded activated carbon (Ce/AC) were prepared and characterized by BET procedure, Boehm titration and SEM. Their performances were investigated for the ozonation of p-chlorobenzoic acid (p-CBA) in its solution and organic compounds in reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC). Nitration and amination had little effect on the surface area of catalyst, but increased the concentration of surface acid and basic functional group respectively. After loading Ce, the surface area of the catalyst decreased, and amount of Ce particles were agglomerated on the surface of activated carbon. All the four catalysts can improve the removal rate of the organics in water. Among the four catalysts, Ce/AC shows the highest catalytic activity. The removal rates of p-CBA, TOC and three target pollutants (e.g., tetracycline, metoprolol, atrazine) are 99.6%, 70.38%, 97.76%, 96.21% and 96.03%, respectively. Hydroxyl radical (&middot, OH) was proved to be the core of catalytic reaction mechanism for Ce/AC, with the contribution rate to p-CBA removal of 91.4%. The surface groups and the Ce loaded on AC were the initiator for the rapid generation of &middot, OH. Electron transfer between electron-rich structures and cerium oxide might be a synergistic effect that can increase catalytic activity of Ce loaded on AC. Catalytic ozonation with Ce/AC is a promising ROC treatment technology due to its efficiency and possibilities for improvement.