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Lithium sulfur batteries provide one of the most attractive opportunities for next generation energy storage devices benefiting from their particularly high energy density. However, the obstacle ma...

The graphene/mesocarbon microbead (MCMB) composite is assessed as an anode material with a high capacity for lithium-ion batteries. The composite electrode exhibits improved cycling stability and rate capability, delivering a high initial charge/discharge capacity of 421.4 mA·h/g/494.8 mA·h/g as well as an excellent capacity retention over 500 cycles at a current density of 40 mA/g. At a higher current density of 800 mA/g, the electrode still retains 35% of its initial capacity which exceeds the capacity retention of pure graphene or MCMB reference electrodes. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy reveal that the composite electrode favors electrochemical kinetics as compared with graphene and MCMB separately. Superior electrochemical properties suggest a strong synergetic effect between highly conductive graphene and MCMB.

Nanocubic lithium titanate (Li4Ti5O12, N-LTO) has been synthesized by a modified solid-state reaction using H-titanate nanotubes as titanium source and lithium carbonate as lithium source. The as-prepared N-LTO was highly crystalline with size ranging from 50 nm to 200 nm. The electrochemical performance of the N-LTO was investigated and compared with commercial nanoscale lithium titanate (C-LTO). The N-LTO electrode showed an initial discharge capacity of 181.0 mAh g−1 at 0.5 C with capacity retention of 86.7% after 200 cycles. At a high rate of 10 C, the N-LTO electrode retained a high reversible capacity of 149.2 mAh g−1, considerably higher compared with the value of 117.1 mAh g−1 for C-LTO. The N-LTO electrode exhibited excellent long-term cycling stability with capacity retention of 82.6% at 5 C after 1000 cycles. A full cell of LiFePO4/N-LTO was tested, showing capacity retention of 78.7% at 1 C after 100 cycles.

Edwardsiella piscicida is an important pathogen that infects a wide range of hosts, from fish to human. Its infection leads to extensive losses in a diverse array of commercially important fish, like Japanese flounder, turbot, and tilapia. During the infection, type III secretion system (T3SS) and type VI secretion system (T6SS) of E. piscicida play significant roles, but how T3SS and T6SS cooperatively contribute to its virulence is still unknown. In this study, we first examined the roles of T3SS and T6SS in different processes during E. piscicida infection of host cells, and revealed that T3SS of E. piscicida is responsible for promoting bacterial invasion, the following intracellular replication and inducing cell death in host cells, while T6SS restrains E. piscicida intracellular replication and cell death in J774A.1 cells, which suggested that T3SS and T6SS antagonistically concert E. piscicida infection. Furthermore, we found an significant decrease in transcription level of IL-1β in zebrafish kidney infected with T3SS mutant and an drastically increase in transcription level of TNF- α infected with T6SS mutant when compared with the wild-type. Interestingly, both T3SS and T6SS mutants showed significant attenuated virulence in the zebrafish infection model when compared with the wild-type. Finally, considering the cooperative role of T3SS and T6SS, we generated a mutant strain WEDΔT6SS based on the existing live attenuated vaccine (LAV) WED which showed improved vaccine safety and comparable immune protection. Therefore, WEDΔT6SS could be used as an optimized LAV in the future. Taken together, this work suggested a bilateral role of T3SS and T6SS which respectively act as spear and shield during E. piscicida infection, together contribute to E. piscicida virulence.

Selenium–sulfur solid solutions show unique advantages beyond sulfur and selenium as cathode materials for lithium batteries. Herein, we propose a dual-confined SexSy-based cathode with a three-dimensional (3D) network structure where Se0.4S0.6 is first encapsulated in double-layered hollow carbon spheres (DLHCs) and embedded by 3D graphene-like material (3DG) shells. The dissolution of polysulfides/ polyselenides in the cathode is effectively inhibited through dual confinement from DLHCs and 3DG as well as chemical binding between sulfur and selenium. Benefiting from the indispensable advantages of Se0.4S0.6 and the uniquely designed host architecture, the 3DG-DLHC-Se0.4S0.6 cathode delivers a high reversible capacity of 627 mAh g−1 at 0.2 A g−1 after 200 cycles, good rate capability of 533 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1, and outstanding long cycling stability over 500 cycles with Coulombic efficiency almost reaching 100%.

Edwardsiella piscicida ( E. piscicida ) is an intracellular pathogen within a broad spectrum of hosts. Essential to E. piscicida virulence is its ability to invade and replicate inside host cells, yet the survival mechanisms and the nature of the replicative compartment remain unknown. Here, we characterized its intracellular lifestyle in non-phagocytic cells and showed that intracellular replication of E. piscicida in non-phagocytic cells is dependent on its type III secretion system but not type VI secretion system. Following internalization, E. piscicida is contained in vacuoles that transiently mature into early endosomes but subsequently bypasses the classical endosome pathway and fusion with lysosomes which depend on its T3SS. Following a rapid escape from the degradative pathway, E. piscicida was found to create a specialized replication-permissive niche characterized by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) markers. Furthermore, we found that a T3SS effector EseJ is responsible for intracellular replication of E. piscicida by preventing endosome/lysosome fusion. In vivo experiments also confirmed that EseJ is necessary for bacterial colonization of E. piscicida in the epithelial layer followed by systemic dissemination both in zebrafish and mice. Thus, this work elucidates the tactics used by E. piscicida to survive and proliferate within host non-phagocytic cells. IMPORTANCE E. piscicida is a facultative intracellular bacterium associated with septicemia and fatal infections in many animals, including fish and humans. However, little is known about its intracellular life, which is important for successful invasion of the host. The present study is the first comprehensive characterization of E. piscicida ’s intracellular life-style in host cells. Upon internalization, E. piscicida is transiently contained in Rab5-positive vacuoles, but the pathogen prevents further endosome maturation and fusion with lysosomes by utilizing a T3SS effector EseJ. In addition, the bacterium creates a specialized replication niche for rapid growth via an interaction with the ER. Our study provides new insights into the strategies used by E. piscicida to successfully establishes an intracellular lifestyle that contributes to its survival and dissemination during infection.

Objective To study the effects of ibuprofen on androgen production, gene expression, and cell viability in rat theca–interstitial cells exposed to the proinflammatory stimuli interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Design Animal study. Setting University-based research laboratory. Patient(s)/Animal(s) Theca-interstitial cells were isolated from 30 day old female Sprague Dawley rats. Intervention(s) Theca cells were cultured with pro-inflammatory media containing IL-1β and LPS and compared with cells cultured in control media. Main Outcome Measure(s) Androstenedione quantification was performed on conditioned cell culture medium using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Theca cell viability was assessed using PrestoBlue cell viability assay. The gene expression of Cyp17a1, Cyp11a1, and Hsd3b was analyzed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Result(s) Both proinflammatory stimuli IL-1β and LPS increased androstenedione concentration in cell culture medium, and these effects were mitigated with ibuprofen. Both inflammatory agents in addition increased the expression of key genes involved in androgen synthesis: Cyp17a1, Cyp11a1, and Hsd3b; the addition of ibuprofen to the culture medium inhibited these effects. Theca cell viability increased with IL-1β and LPS. Ibuprofen inhibited the IL-1β-mediated increase in cell viability but did not reverse the effects of LPS. Conclusion(s) In conclusion, our findings support the hypothesis that many of the alterations induced by inflammatory stimuli in theca–interstitial cells are abrogated by the addition of ibuprofen.

In lithium-ion battery industry, the nanoscale electrode materials usually have difficulty to be dispersed well in the electrode slurry. The inferior processability thus results in deterior...

In this work, the V2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) with ultrathin carbon shells were synthesized by a facile solvothermal process. The V2O3 NPs were about 30 nm and contained a carbon shell of about 2 nm thick. The V2O3 NPs were homogeneously dispersed and loosely packed. When used as anode material, the V2O3 core-shell NPs showed a reversible capacity up to 525 mA h g−1 at 200 mA g−1 over 200 cycles with good cycle stability and rate capability. The excellent electrochemical performance promotes its practical application in lithium-ion batteries.

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which uses the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellites as transmitters (GNSS-based SAR), consists of the GNSS transmitter in orbit and reception equipme...

CN(CH2)2Si(CH3)(OCH2CH2OCH3)2 (BNS) is used as electrolyte solvent to improve the safety for LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 (NCM)/graphite battery. BNS increases the thermal stability of the carbonate-based electrolyte with (de) lithiated cathode/anode and the electrochemical stability of coin cells. By using an optimal BNS-based electrolyte formula, 13 Ah NCM/graphite prismatic cell achieves 95.8% retain of capacity at 2 C/3 C (charge/discharge) rate after 600 cycles. Meanwhile, 13 Ah prismatic cell exhibits improved safety performance in the nail penetration test.

Constitutive activation of MAPK (RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK) pathway is frequently observed in many tumors and thus has become an interesting therapeutic target for cancer therapy. Despite the successful development of BRAF and MEK inhibitors in clinic treatment, resistance often appears to re-enhance ERK1/2 signaling. Inspired by the central role of the ERK1/2 signaling cascade in cancer, we describe the scaffold-hopping generation of a series of isoindolin-1-one ERK1/2 inhibitors. Our new compounds could inhibit proliferation of KRAS and BRAF mutant cells lines at low nanomolar concentrations. Compound 22a possesses acceptable pharmacokinetic profiles and showed considerable in vivo antitumor efficacy in a HCT-116 xenograft model, providing a promising basis for further optimization towards clinical ERK1/2 inhibitors.

The gut microbiota elicits antigen-specific IgG at steady state that cross-reacts to pathogenic Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae to confer protection against systemic infection. The role of these IgG antibodies in the development of gut microbiome and immunity against enteric pathogens in early life, however, remains largely undefined. In this study, we demonstrate that gut microbiota-induced maternal IgG is transferred to the neonatal gut through maternal milk via the neonatal Fc receptor and confers critical protection by inhibiting colonization and attachment of C. rodentium to the mucosa in the neonatal gut. Enhanced neonatal immunity against oral C. rodentium infection was observed following maternal immunization with a gut microbiota-derived IgG antigen, outer-membrane protein A (OMP-A), or induction of protective IgG antibodies in germ-free mice after reconstitution with IgG-inducing gut bacteria. Furthermore, we generated a mouse model with complete deficiency in all IgG isotypes. IgG-deficient neonatal mice exhibited increased susceptibility to C. rodentium infection, altered gut microbiome and increased numbers of intestinal IL-17-producing γδ T cells driven by the gut microbiome at steady state. The altered gut microbiome persisted into adulthood in IgG KO mice and contributed to increased disease severity in DSS-induced colitis. Taken together, our studies have defined critical roles for gut microbiome-induced IgG antibodies in shaping the gut microbiome and immunity against Gram-negative enteric pathogens from early life to adulthood.

The CD8+ T-cell response is an essential part of the adaptive immunity. Adjuvants are routinely required for priming of T cells against antigens encountered in lymph nodes (LNs) to generate antigen-specific immunity but may concomitantly trigger unexpected inflammatory responses. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) induces transient desensitization of S1P receptors on LN T cells and temporarily blocks their egress, leading to prolonged intranodal retention that allows effective immunosurveillance and increases the chance of priming. In light of the regulatory role of S1P in T-cell migration, we here develop a strategic approach to the T-cell priming with protein vaccine containing low-dose TLR-based adjuvants (LDAV) to induce antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses as efficiently as using regular dose adjuvants in vaccine (RDAV). We found that when combined with one low dose of the S1P analog fingolimod administered into the same vaccination site posteriorly at a specific time, LDAV can elicit a primary response that reaches the level of that induced by RDAV with respect to the response magnitude and functionality. Time-course studies indicate that LDAV and fingolimod in combination act to mimic the expansion kinetics of RDAV-primed antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. Further, intranodal accumulation of cDC1 is markedly enhanced in mice receiving the combination vaccination despite the decrease in adjuvant use. Of particular note is the marginal cutaneous inflammation at the injection site, indicating an added benefit of using fingolimod. Therefore, fingolimod as a nonadjuvant agent essentially facilitates antigen-specific T-cell priming with reduced need of adjuvants and minimized adverse reactions.

Selenium disulfide (SeS2) exhibits attractive advantages beyond naked selenium and sulfur as an electroactive material for lithium storage. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) interconnected, sulfur-doped mesoporous carbon (ISMC) with a sulfur content of 9.3 wt% has been prepared by a simple in-situ constructing strategy to confine SeS2 for lithium batteries. The sulfur doping enhances the conductivity of the carbon matrix and inhibits the diffusion of polysulfides and polyselenides, while the 3D mesoporous network facilitates fast electron and ion transport. Benefiting from the synergy between sulfur doping and 3D network architecture, the SeS2@ISMC composite displays a high reversible capacity of 486 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.5 A g−1 and outstanding rate capability of 465 mAh g−1 at 4 A g−1.

Berberine (BBR) is currently explored in the oral treatment of many disorders, especially in those involving inflammatory processes. Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems are emerging as an effective approach for improving the poor oral absorption/bioavailability of BBR. To optimize the BBR immunoregulatory effects on a specific part of the gastrointestinal tract, here we describe a micro- and nanoencapsulated hybrid delivery system (MNEHDS) for colon-targeted oral delivery of BBR and test its therapeutic efficacy in a murine colitis model. The MNEHDS is formed by encapsulation of BBR-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles into a pH-sensitive, BBR-pre-entrapped Eudragit FS30D matrix to form a hybrid microparticle composed of the BBR and BBR nanoparticles. Once in the colonic environment, the microencapsulated BBR is almost completely released for immediate action, while BBR nanoparticles can provide sustained release of BBR subsequent to their intestinal absorption. One dose of oral MNEHDS/BBR treatment results in significant attenuation of acute colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium. The MNEHDS/BBR also proves to be effective during chronically induced colitis with two doses given 1 week apart. The improved efficacy is accompanied by decreased production of colon inflammation. Comparatively, oral treatment with one or two 7-day courses of free BBR has less effect on ameliorating either acute or chronic colitis. Thus, MNEHDS represents a novel delivery system for BBR, and potentially other therapeutic agents, to treat inflammatory bowel disease.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disorder prevailing among females at reproductive age. Circular non-coding RNAs (circRNAs) are essential “player” in PCOS. This study aimed to investigate the potentials of newly found circRNA, circ_ACTL6A in PCOS. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) was utilized to establish PCOS model in vivo. qRT-PCR and western blot were applied to determine the gene expression level. DNA methylation was determined by bisulfite sequencing assay. RNA pull-down, Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay, and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay was applied to verify gene interactions. CCK-8, colony formation and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay were applied to determine cellular function of human granulosa-like tumor cell line (KGN) cells. The results showed that circ_ACTL6A was upregulated in PCOS, which was due to the upregulation of RNA splicing factor eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A3 (EIF4A3) and its cognate protein actin like 6A (ACTL6A). Downregulation of circ_ACTL6A suppressed the cell viability, colony formation and proliferation of KGN cells in vitro. Moreover, knockdown of circ_ACTL6A suppressed the progression of PCOS, manifested by the improvement in insulin sensitivity, ovarian function and fertility. Furthermore, circ_ACTL6A recruited tet methylcytosine dioxygenase 1 (TET1) to suppress DNA methylation of ACTL6A. Overexpression of ACTL6A promoted the development of PCOS in vivo and in vitro. Taken together, circ_ACTL6A/ACTL6A may form a positive feedback in the progression of PCOS. This may be a potential therapeutic target for PCOS.

Background Acquisition and distribution of zinc supports a number of biological processes. Various molecular factors are involved in zinc metabolism but not fully explored. Basic procedures Spontaneous mutants were generated in yeast with excess zinc culture followed by whole genome DNA sequencing to discover zinc metabolism related genes by bioinformatics. An identified mutant was characterized through metallomic and molecular biology methods. Main findings Here we reported that MTM1 knockout cells displayed much stronger zinc tolerance than wild type cells on SC medium when exposed to excess zinc. Zn accumulation of mtm1Δ cells was dramatically decreased compared to wild type cells under excessive zinc condition due to MTM1 deletion reduced zinc uptake. ZRC1 mRNA level of mtm1Δ cells was significantly higher than that in the wild-type strain leading to increased vacuolar zinc accumulations in mtm1Δ cells. The mRNA levels of ZRT1 and ZAP1 decreased in mtm1Δ cells contributing to less Zn uptake. The zrc1Δmtm1Δ double knockout strain exhibited Zn sensitivity. MTM1 knockout did not afford resistance to excess zinc through an effect mediated through an influence on levels of ROS. Superoxide dismutase 2 (Sod2p) activity in mtm1Δ cells was severely impaired and not restored through Zn supplementation. Meanwhile, additional Zn showed no significant effect on the localization and expression of Mtm1p. Principal conclusions Our study reveals the MTM1 gene plays an important role in the regulation of zinc homeostasis in yeast cells via changing zinc uptake and distribution. This discovery provides new insights for better understanding biochemical communication between vacuole and mitochondrial in relation to zinc-metabolism.

We have recently described Pz-1, a benzimidazole-based type-2 RET and VEGFR2 inhibitor. Based on a kinome scan, here we show that Pz-1 is also a potent (IC50 50 ~ 1 nM), with a negligible effect against RET- and TRKA-negative cells. By testing mutations, known to mediate resistance to other compounds, RET G810R/S, but not L730I/V, E732K, V738A and Y806N, showed some degree of resistance to Pz-1. In the case of TRKA, G595R and F589L, but not G667C, showed some degree of resistance. In xenograft models, orally administered Pz-1 almost completely inhibited RET- and TRKA-mutant tumours at 1–3 mg/kg/day but showed a reduced effect on RET/TRKA-negative cancer models. The activity, albeit reduced, on RET/TRKA-negative tumours may be justified by VEGFR2 inhibition. Tumours induced by NIH3T3 cells transfected by RET G810R and TRKA G595R featured resistance to Pz-1, demonstrating that RET or TRKA inhibition is critical for its anti-tumourigenic effect. In conclusion, Pz-1 represents a new powerful kinase inhibitor with distinct activity towards cancers induced by oncogenic RET and TRKA variants, including some mutants displaying resistance to other drugs.

Intestinal T cells form a central part of the front-line defence against foreign organisms and need to be situated in the mucosa where infection occurs. It is well accepted that immunization by a mucosal route favours localization of antigen-specific effector T cells in the mucosal epithelium, while systemic immunization does not. The aim of the study is to determine how homing receptors are specifically involved in retaining effector T cells in the small intestine after oral immunization. We here demonstrate that the chemokine receptor CXCR6, integrins β7 and CD29 contribute differentially to the epithelial retention phenotype of CD8+ T cells in the small intestine of mice. CD8+ intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) of unvaccinated mice are predominantly β7 single positives, and subcutaneous immunization-induced antigen-specific CD8+ effector IELs are mainly composed of CXCR6+ , CD29+ and CXCR6+ CD29+ cells. Strikingly, the majority of oral immunization-induced antigen-specific CD8+ effector IELs exhibit a distinct, tissue-specific CXCR6+ β7+ double-positive phenotype, cytotoxic potential and enhanced intraepithelial localization. Transfer of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells preactivated with certain immuno-stimuli (such as monophosphoryl lipid A) results in increased accumulation of donor IELs with the CXCR6+ β7+ phenotype. As β7 exclusively paired with αE on IELs, our results strongly suggest that CXCR6 may cooperate with the heterodimer αEβ7 to preferentially retain intestinally induced effector IELs in the epithelium. The identification of this novel IEL phenotype has significant implications for the development of vaccines and therapeutic strategies to enhance gut immunity.

Calculating the fractal dimension of complex networks by using a box-covering algorithm has attracted tremendous attention. However, the existing methods have randomness characteristics and depend on heavy computational bandwidth. To address these issues, deterministic box-covering algorithm is proposed for the calculation of fractal dimension in this paper. Firstly, the weight of each edge is obtained by the multiplication of degrees of the two connected nodes, and nodes are colored in order of degree from large to small. Furthermore, the sequence of nodes with the same degree is rearranged to get the minimum number of boxes. The Lastly, the fractal dimensions of a theoretical scale-free network and three real networks are investigated by the deterministic box-covering algorithm. All these results demonstrate that deterministic box-covering algorithm is serviceable in fractal dimension calculation of complex networks with high accuracy and less calculation.

Belt conveyors is one of the most used equipment in coal production process. However, the amount of coal on the belt conveyors is fluctuant in practical conditions, and the power output of belt conveyor is often greater than the actual demand, resulting in a large amount of energy waste. The detection of coal transport volume on the belt conveyor has become the key to solve this problem. This paper develops a coal weight detection system for belt conveyor, which integrates a three-dimensional (3D) coal information extraction module based binocular vision, and a coal weight detection calculation module incorporated by 3D scene reconstructing method and T-S fuzzy reasoning. Concretely, the first module combines local entropy transform coal image information and K-means clustering segmentation method to segment coal area, followed by 3D coal information extraction via binocular vision technology; the second module firstly collects 3D information of belt under empty load offline, then calculates the initial volume of coal by reconstructing scene from 3D information of belt and coal; Furthermore, the system calculates the area and perimeter of each coal lump by watershed algorithm. Then the area and perimeter of each coal lump are taken as the inputs of t-s fuzzy reasoning, and the void rate of coal can be estimated. Finally, the volume of coal is modified according to the void rate, and formula for calculating density and weight is used to realize coal weight detection. An experimental study is carried out through actual coal transport images of belt conveyor. The results show that the effectiveness of the proposed measurement method.

PM2.5 in Shijiazhuang was collected from October 15, 2018 to January 31, 2019, and selected toxic elements were measured. Five typical haze episodes were chosen to analyze the health risks and critical risk sources. Toxic elements during the haze episodes accounted for 0.33% of PM2.5 mass. Non-cancer risk of toxic elements for children was 1.8 times higher than that for adults during the haze episodes, while cancer risk for adults was 2.5 times higher than that for children; cancer and non-cancer risks were primarily attributable to As and Mn, respectively. Health risks of toxic elements increased during the growth and stable periods of haze episodes. Non-cancer and cancer risks of toxic elements during the haze stable periods were higher than other haze stages, and higher for children than for adults during the stable period. Mn was the largest contributor to non-cancer risk during different haze stages, while As was the largest contributor to cancer risk. Crustal dust, vehicle emissions, and industrial emissions were critical sources of cancer risk during the clean-air periods; while vehicle emissions, coal combustion, and crustal dust were key sources of cancer risk during the haze episodes. Cancer risks of crustal dust and vehicle emissions during the haze episodes were 2.0 and 1.7 times higher than those in the clean-air periods. Non-cancer risks from emission sources were not found during different periods. Cancer risks of biomass burning and coal combustion increased rapidly during the haze growth period, while that of coal combustion decreased sharply during the dissipation period. Vehicle emissions, crustal dust, and coal combustion were significant cancer risk sources during different haze stages, cancer risk of each source was the highest during the stable period. Southern Hebei, Northern and central Shaanxi were potential risk regions that affected the health of both adults and children in Shijiazhuang.

With the promotion of the power Internet of things strategy of State Grid Corporation of China, using wireless communication technology to realize the interconnection of everything in multi business scenarios has become a research focus. However, there are still blind coverage areas such as basement, dense urban area and building shadow area in the existing power wireless private network, which can not achieve full communication coverage. For this reason, this paper designs a relay transceiver for deep coverage of power wireless network, which adds relay nodes in the weak coverage area of the network, and evaluates its coverage ability by defining its importance, which effectively improves the coverage of power wireless communication system. The experimental results show that the relay transceiver designed in this paper can realize the deep coverage of the power wireless network and improve the reliability of the power wireless communication network.

We present an image compression algorithm that preserves high-frequency details and information of rare occurrences. Our approach can be thought of as image inpainting in the frequency scale space. Given an image, we construct a Laplacian image pyramid, and store only the finest and coarsest levels, thereby removing the middle-frequency of the image. Using a network backbone borrowed from an image super-resolution algorithm, we train our network to hallucinate the missing middle-level Laplacian image. We introduce a novel training paradigm where we train our algorithm using only a face dataset where the faces are aligned and scaled correctly. We demonstrate that image compression learned on this restricted dataset leads to better GAN network [1] convergence and generalization to completely different image domains. We also show that Lapacian inpainting could be simplified further with a few selective pixels as seeds.

In this paper, the microfacies of thin-layer sand of outer front facies are described by homogeneous unit thickness classification in the past, the plane distribution of single sand body and the connection relationship between different sand body types are roughly understood; From the two aspects of vertical single-stage thin-layer sand body identification and fine description of sedimentary facies belt map applying energy facies in plane microfacies, the outer front belt is divided into 6 types and 9 kinds of thin-layer sand combinations, the connectivity of sand bodies is clearer and the directionality is clearer. The application of research results not only deepens the geological understanding, but also guides the adjustment of water-driven scheme.

Dense medium separation (DMS) is of great significance for coal cleaning. The DMS control system always involves dense medium density adjustment and ash content control that are operating on fast and slow time scales, respectively. The inherent time-varying and strongly nonlinear characteristics of the DMS process give rise to challenges for the design of this multitime scale control system. To address this issue, this article proposes a dual-rate adaptive optimal tracking control approach for the DMS system. For the basic loop process, a nonlinear adaptive PI controller containing a neural network (NN)-based unmodeled dynamics compensator is proposed. Then, a lifting technique is used to unify the time scales of the two loops accompanied by formulating a generalized controlled object, whose dynamics is completely unknown. On this basis, a data-driven operation optimization control method that combines adaptive dynamic programming algorithm and reference control is developed, which is implemented using NNs. Finally, the stability of the proposed method is analyzed. The simulation results indicate its effectiveness.

This paper introduces the current problems of wireless coverage, including blind spot and blocking problems in the communication system, the problems results in limited signal coverage. Wireless relay system can improve the shortcomings of insufficient wireless coverage. Compared with base stations, wireless relay system has many obvious advantages, such as the low cost, low investment, and good maintenance, etc. The architecture of the wireless relay system is built and implemented. The main functional modules included in the architecture are introduced in detail, and the radio frequency module, digital front-end and digital baseband processing module are explained separately. Finally, the implemented system was tested and verified.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that is one of the most prevalent chronic adult diseases and the third leading cause of fatality until 2020. Elastase/anti-elastase hypothesis, chronic inflammation, apoptosis, oxidant-antioxidant balance and infective repair cause pathogenesis of COPD are among the factors at play. Epigenetic changes are post-translational modifications in histone proteins and DNA such as methylation and acetylation as well as dysregulation of miRNAs expression. In this update review, we have examined recent studies on the upregulation or downregulation of methylation in different genes associated with COPD. Dysregulation of HDAC activity which is caused by some factors and miRNAs plays a key role in the suppression and reduction of COPD development. Also, some therapeutic approaches are proposed against COPD by targeting HDAC2 and miRNAs, which have therapeutic effects.

We propose an image synthesis approach that provides stratified navigation in the latent code space. With a tiny amount of partial or very low-resolution image, our approach can consistently out-perform state-of-the-art counterparts in terms of generating the closest sampled image to the ground truth. We achieve this through scale-independent editing while expanding scale-specific diversity. Scale-independence is achieved with a nested scale disentanglement loss. Scale-specific diversity is created by incorporating a progressive diversification constraint. We introduce semantic persistency across the scales by sharing common latent codes. Together they provide better control of the image synthesis process. We evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed approach through various tasks, including image outpainting, image superresolution, and cross-domain image translation.

Numerous studies demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) were highly involved in pancreatic cancer development. However, the functional roles of many miRNAs remain elusive in pancreatic cancer. In the present study, we analyzed previous published microarray data and found that miR-1469-5p was one of top upregulated miRNAs in pancreatic tumors. Our further study showed that miR-1469-5p was highly expressed in collected pancreatic tumors and its upregulation was associated with lymph node metastasis and tumors of advanced TNM stage. Functional analysis with miR-1469-5p inhibitor showed that downregulation of miR-1469-5p repressed pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and invasion. Mechanistically, miR-1469-5p directly interacted with metastasis suppressor NDRG1 mRNA and downregulated expression of NDRG1 to activate NF-κB pathway in pancreatic cancer cells. It was also found that miR-1469-5p decreased expression of E-cadherin, a metastasis related gene repressed by NF-κB pathway, in pancreatic cancer cells. Transfection of NDRG1 small interference RNA (siRNA) attenuated the function of miR-1469-5p inhibitor in pancreatic cancer cells. Moreover, miR-1469-5p expression was negatively associated with NDRG1 and E-cadherin mRNA levels in pancreatic tumors. Taken together, miR-1469-5p may exert its oncogenic potential in pancreatic cancer via regulating a NDRG1/NF-κB/E-cadherin axis, suggesting that it may be clinically valuable as a prognostic biomarker of pancreatic cancer.

Paracrine interactions between ovarian theca-interstitial cells (TICs) and granulosa cells (GCs) play an important role in the regulation of follicular steroidogenesis. Androgens serve as substrates for aromatization as well as affect GC function. This study evaluated the effects of co-culture of GC with TICs and the role of testosterone (T) and 5-alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and estradiol (E2) in modulation of GC expression of genes involved in the production of progesterone: 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/Δ(5–4) isomerase (Hsd3b) and cholesterol side-chain cleavage (Cyp11). GCs obtained from immature Sprague-Dawley rats and were cultured in chemically defined media without or with TICs, DHT, or T. Hsd3b and Cyp11 transcripts were analyzed by qt-PCR. Co-culture of GCs with TICs stimulated Hsd3b and CYP11 expression in GCs. DHT and T induced a concentration-dependent upregulation of Hsd3b and CYP11 expression, as well as increased progesterone concentrations in spent media. E2 also increased expression of Hsd3b, and Cyp11. Effects of androgens were abrogated in the presence of an anti-androgen bicalutamide and the antiestrogen ICI 182780 (ICI). In conclusion, present findings demonstrate that androgens upregulate production of progesterone in GCs; these effects are likely due to a combination of direct action on androgen receptors and effects mediated by estrogen receptors.

Main obstacles from the shuttle effect and slow conversion rate of soluble polysulfide compromise the sulfur utilization and cycling life for lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries. In pursuit of a practically viable high performance Li-S battery, a separator configuration (CoS