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Glyoxal is considered to be the most likely substitute for formaldehyde to synthesize resin adhesives for wood bonding due to its reactivity, structural characteristics, being non-toxic, low volatility, and acceptable cost. Regrettably, the performance of the resin synthesized using glyoxal to directly replace all formaldehyde is not totally satisfactory, especially as it has almost no water resistance. This makes such a simple alternative fail to be suitable for industrial production. To prepare an environment-friendly glyoxal-based adhesive with good bonding performance, the work presented here relies first on reacting citric acid and hexamethylene diamine, producing a polyamide, with glyoxal, and then crosslinking it, thus synthesizing a thermosetting resin (namely CHG) adhesive and applying it for plywood bonding. The plywood prepared exhibits excellent dry and wet shear strength, which are better than GB/T9846-2015 standard requirements (≥0.7 MPa), and even after being soaked in hot water at 63 °C for 3 h, its strength is still as high as 1.35 MPa. The CHG resin is then potentially an adhesive for industrial application for replacing UF (urea-formaldehyde) and MUF (melamine-urea-formaldehyde) adhesives for wood composites.

Using the index of the degree of digital transformation of enterprises constructed based on text analysis, and combining the data of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2020, a panel data model was established to empirically study the impact of digital transformation on green technology innovation and the mechanism of action and to further analyze the impact of heterogeneity. The results show that digital transformation can significantly promote green technology innovation, and its internal mechanism is that digital transformation can improve the level of green technology innovation by alleviating financing constraints and attracting government subsidies. Compared with nonstate-owned enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, digital transformation plays a more significant role in promoting green technology innovation in state-owned enterprises and large-scale enterprises. Therefore, the government should regulate the market order and formulate reasonable financial policies to provide policy and financial support for enterprises to carry out digital transformation, mobilize the willingness of enterprises to carry out green technology innovation and improve the level of green technology innovation in China.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide and accounts for more than 22% of all cancer-related deaths in the US. Developing new therapies is essential to combat against deadly lung cancer, especially the most common type, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). With the discovery of genome-derived functional small noncoding RNA (ncRNA), namely microRNAs (miRNA or miR), restoration of oncolytic miRNAs lost or downregulated in NSCLC cells represents a new therapeutic strategy. Very recently, we have developed a novel technology that achieves in vivo fermentation production of bioengineered miRNA agents (BERA) for research and development. In this study, we aimed at simultaneously introducing two miRNAs into NSCLC cells by using single recombinant "combinatorial BERA" (CO-BERA) molecule. Our studies show that single CO-BERA molecule (e.g., let-7c/miR-124) was successfully processed to two miRNAs (e.g., let-7c-5p and miR-124-3p) to combinatorially regulate the expression of multiple targets (e.g., RAS, VAMP3 and CDK6) in human NSCLC cells, exhibiting greater efficacy than respective BERA miRNAs in the inhibition of cell viability and colony formation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that CO-BERA let-7c/miR-124-loaded lipopolyplex nanomedicine was the most effective among tested RNAs in the control of tumor growth in NSCLC patient-derived xenograft mouse models. The anti-tumor activity of CO-BERA let-7c/miR-124 was associated with the suppression of RAS and CDK6 expression, and enhancement of apoptosis. These results support the concept to use single ncRNA agent for dual-targeting and offer insight into developing new RNA therapeutics for the treatment of lethal NSCLC.

As an important part of Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage, Chongming Biandan Opera has high inheritance value. With the emergence of interesting and interactive cultural communication methods, the dissemination of intangible cultural heritage among the youth groups dominated by college students has been hindered, which causes a gap during the process of inheriting of this culture. In the context of digitization, the emergence of new communication carriers based on WeChat mini programs has altered the previous transmission methods of oral and personal teaching, and broadened the scope and channels of intangible cultural heritage transmission.

Additional file 1. Supplementary table. Functional categories of selected genes differentially expressed in the HTR8/Svneo cells AQP3-shRNA and CON-shRNA.

The development of society, the increase of people's income and other factors have driven the upgrading of tourism consumption.In recent years, with the rapid development of social new media, there are more and more ways to spread culture, and the innovative development of cultural derivatives has become one of the important links. Excellent cultural derivatives can greatly improve the status of culture in social groups and establish regional cultural brands. Due to the impact of modern new technologies and new models, the design of cultural derivatives is also facing new opportunities and challenges in integrating historical features, creating scale experience and providing good services. As to the problems and insufficiency in derivatives innovation and development, this study takes Shanghai History Museum (SHM) culture derivatives design as an example, by adopting evaluation principle and Semantic Differential Method, to evaluate viewers feedback in products, interactive, service, brand four dimensions on the basis of investigation and questionnaire research. With the integration of the above principles, this study defines cultural derivative design with a new logic, clarifies the development paradigm of cultural heritage inheritance and innovation, to improve the realistic value of cultural heritage.

In the current competitive environment, design no longer serves scale competition, but serves innovation competition. If a city wants to build an innovative city, it must carry out industrial transformation. in the past, a large number of Chinese manufacturing industries have been pursuing scale competition in a rough way, which can not adapt to the current competition environment. Especially in some regions that rely on traditional manufacturing industries to develop their economy. The project of “Design for Country” is a social innovation plan with the goal of promoting the transformation and upgrading of regional economy, which is driven by the government and led by enterprises and universities. This paper introduces the guiding ideology of “Design for Country” in different stages in the ten-year practice process, explains the theoretical evolution reason of the project in the process of exploring the economic transformation and upgrading scheme in underdeveloped areas with cases study.

Introduction: Although viruses have generally been considered as pathogens ever since their discovery, recent research has revealed that they might assume a more important role in the survival and ...

Problem Does aquaporin 3 (AQP3) affect the migration and invasion of human extravillous trophoblast (HTR8/Svneo) cells? Method of study A lentivirus infection system was used to construct stable cell lines with either AQP3 knockdown or overexpression. RT-PCR and western blotting were used to verify the efficiencies of AQP3 knockdown or overexpression in HTR8/Svneo cells at mRNA and protein levels, respectively. Cell Counting Kit-8 and flow cytometry assays were used to detect the influence of AQP3 knockdown or overexpression on proliferation and apoptosis of HTR8/Svneo cells. In addition, wound healing and Transwell invasion assays were used to detect the effects of AQP3 knockdown or overexpression on migration and invasion capabilities of HTR8/Svneo cells. An Agilent gene chip was used to screen for significant differentially expressed genes after AQP3 knockdown. Finally, mechanisms by which AQP3 influences the migration and invasion of HTR8/Svneo cells were explored using bioinformatic analysis. Results Compared with controls, migration and invasion capabilities of HTR8/Svneo cells were significantly reduced after AQP3 knockdown, and significantly increased after AQP3 overexpression. Subsequent bioinformatic analysis of gene chip expression profiles indicated downregulation of genes related to adhesion such as PDGF-B, as well as signaling pathways (such as PIK3/AKT, NF-κB, and TNF) after AQP3 knockdown. Conclusions AQP3 could significantly promote migration and invasion capabilities of human extravillous trophoblasts, it may mediate embryo invasion and adhesion to endometrium by regulating PDGF-B, PIK3/AKT signaling pathways, although this requires further verification.

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are an excellent tool for theranostics, and are widely used in nanomedical applications. The biosafety of GQDs has received abundant attention, but their latent toxicological mechanisms remain inadequately understood. To investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying graphene-mediated changes, quantitative proteomics and untargeted lipidomics were integrated. We discovered that glutathione peroxidase 4 as a key regulator of ferroptosis, was down-regulated at the protein level by GQDs. Lipidomics profiling with features of ferroptosis was identified in GQDs-treated RAW264.7 macrophages. Furthermore, GQDs exposure was associated with reduced levels of GSH and increased lipid peroxidation. Overexpression of GPX4 in RAW264.7 cells and pre-treatment of a ferroptosis inhibitor Ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1) not only suppressed cell death, but also alleviated lipid peroxidation. Taken together, our results indicated that GQDs exposure induced ferroptosis in RAW264.7 macrophages, and provided essential data for biosafety evaluations of GQDs.

NOS-NO system activity is closely correlated with ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and NOS subtypes were suggested to play different roles in IRI. In this work, the activity of serum NOS, NO levels, and ischemic necrosis after reperfusion in rabbit with AMI at different time was studied. We also explored the NOS-NO system activity changes and its correlation with myocardial ischemia and necrosis. It shows that after reperfusion in rabbits with AMI, NO-NOS system activities present different changes at each time point due to inactivation of NO and iNOS activation, and different experimental animals, ischemia-reperfusion degree, and length of time will also lead to different research results. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct dynamic observation on animals from different species at multi-temporal point under the state of NOS-NO system activities, and simultaneously detect inflammatory factor, MDA, and SOD indexes. Therefore, it is a must to conduct relevant drug research studies to make NOS-NO system activities maintain the level in favor of ideal myocardial ischemia reperfusion.

A network design of a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) with multiple recovery modes under fuzzy environments is studied in this article, in which all the cost coefficients (e.g., for facility establishment, transportation, manufacturing and recovery), customer demands, delivery time, recovery rates and some other factors that cannot be precisely estimated while designing are modeled as triangular fuzzy numbers. To handle these uncertain factors and achieve a compromise between the two conflicting objectives of maximizing company profit and improving customer satisfaction, a fuzzy bi-objective programming model and a corresponding two-stage fuzzy interactive solution method are presented. Applying the fuzzy expected value operator and fuzzy ranking method, the fuzzy model is transformed into a deterministic counterpart. Subsequently, Pareto optimal solutions are determined by employing the fuzzy interactive solution method to deal with the conflicting objectives. Numerical experiments address the efficiency of the proposed model and its solution approach. Furthermore, by comparing these results with the CLSC network design in deterministic environments, the benefits of modeling the CLSC network design problem with fuzzy information are highlighted.

The side effects of platinum-based chemotherapy are important factors limiting the survival of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. Current research suggests that pyroptosis is involved in this process. However, how this mechanism can be used to reduce side effects has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we reported that GSDME was expressed at higher levels in normal tissues than in cancerous tissues in OSCC patients and was the main cause of platinum-based side effects. In an OSCC xenograft model, the inflammatory status and GSDME expression were increased after cisplatin chemotherapy. Cellular experiments showed that higher expression of GSDME was associated with less chemoresistance to cisplatin. A subsequent study demonstrated that cisplatin treatment promotes the maturation of caspase-3, triggers GSDME-mediated pyroptosis and induces cell death. When the amino acid sequence of GSDME cleaved by caspase-3 was mutated, cellular death and pyroptosis induced by cisplatin were significantly inhibited. Moreover, application of vitamin D during cisplatin-based chemotherapy could successfully inhibit GSDME cleavage and pyroptotic cell death in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, our study revealed that vitamin D can inhibit caspase-3-mediated GSDME cleavage and thus reduce normal tissue pyroptosis, relieving chemotherapeutic side effects. Inhibition of systemic GSDME during chemotherapy is currently unachievable. Vitamin D supplementation during chemotherapy in OSCC patients might be able to reduce the process described above and benefit patients. However, additional follow-up clinical studies are needed.

This article reports on a noninvasive approach in detecting and following-up individuals who are at-risk or have an existing COVID-19 infection, with a potential ability to serve as an epidemic control tool. The proposed method uses a developed breath device composed of a nanomaterial-based hybrid sensor array with multiplexed detection capabilities that can detect disease-specific biomarkers from exhaled breath, thus enabling rapid and accurate diagnosis. An exploratory clinical study with this approach was examined in Wuhan, China, during March 2020. The study cohort included 49 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 58 healthy controls, and 33 non-COVID lung infection controls. When applicable, positive COVID-19 patients were sampled twice: during the active disease and after recovery. Discriminant analysis of the obtained signals from the nanomaterial-based sensors achieved very good test discriminations between the different groups. The training and test set data exhibited respectively 94% and 76% accuracy in differentiating patients from controls as well as 90% and 95% accuracy in differentiating between patients with COVID-19 and patients with other lung infections. While further validation studies are needed, the results may serve as a base for technology that would lead to a reduction in the number of unneeded confirmatory tests and lower the burden on hospitals, while allowing individuals a screening solution that can be performed in PoC facilities. The proposed method can be considered as a platform that could be applied for any other disease infection with proper modifications to the artificial intelligence and would therefore be available to serve as a diagnostic tool in case of a new disease outbreak.

We report ultrafast quasiparticle (QP) dynamics of TaAs, from which we obtain its electron-phonon coupling (EPC) strength. Two relaxation components with lifetimes ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\mathrm{fast}}=0.48\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ps}$ and ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\mathrm{slow}}=250\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ps}$ are observed, each of which exhibits a smooth temperature dependence. Furthermore, we carry out a fluence-dependence investigation, based on which the quantitative analysis of the fast relaxation component yields a constant EPC strength \ensuremath{\lambda} with $\ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremath{\langle}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}^{3}\ensuremath{\rangle}/{\ensuremath{\langle}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}\ensuremath{\rangle}}^{2}\ensuremath{\approx}5.2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{p}{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. In addition, our rotational polarization angle experiment demonstrates that the QP ultrafast dynamics is nearly isotropic under the given excitation geometry. Our investigation of the EPC strength accounts for the so far relatively rarely explored medium fluence regime, which can be generalized to various types of quantum materials.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a disease that is characterized by abnormal epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and persistent inflammatory injury, with high mortality and poor prognosis, but the current therapies are accompanied by certain adverse side effects. In this study, we investigated the role of galangin (GA), an anti-inflammatory and anti-tumoral phytochemical extracted from galangal, in preventing and curing bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis and the underlying mechanism. Histopathological staining confirmed that GA dramatically moderated bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. Compared with the vehicle treatment, GA treatment inhibited the expression of vimentin and increased the expression of E-cadherin. The expression of α-Smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), which is a myofibroblast marker, was also suppressed. In addition, GA diminished the increase in the numbers of CD4+CD69+ and CD8+CD69+ T cells and dendritic cells induced by bleomycin, and reduced the residence of inflammatory cells in the lung tissues. Notably, GA inhibited the TGF-β1-induced EMT and fibroblast differentiation in vitro, which further confirmed the potential protective effect of GA on pulmonary fibrosis. Taken together, our results suggest that GA exerts a beneficial effect on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis by attenuating EMT and inflammatory damage and may have prevent potential of pulmonary fibrosis.

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is considered to be a prime candidate with the potential to replace biomedical metallic materials as an orthopedic and dental implant on account of its elastic modulus similar to that of human cortical bone. Unfortunately, its biomedical application is impeded by the bioinert surface property and inferior osteogenic activity. In this work, phosphate groups were incorporated onto the PEEK surface through a single-step UV-initiated graft polymerization of vinylphosphonic acid. Diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRFTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that phosphate groups were successfully introduced onto the PEEK surface without apparently altering its surface topographical feature and roughness. Water contact angle measurements diclosed the increasing hydrophilia after surface phosphonation. In vitro cell adhesion, spreading, proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity, extracellular matrix mineralization, and real-time PCR analyses showed enhanced adhesion, spreading, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 osteoblast on the surface-phosphorylated PEEK. An in vivo biological evaluation in the rabbit tibiae proximal defect model by means of a histological analysis confirmed that the surface-phosphorylated PEEK had improved bone-implant contact. The obtained results indicate that enhanced osteogenic activity to surface-phosphorylated PEEK, which gives positive information of its potential applications in orthopedic and dental implants.

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a promising alternative for biomedical metallic implants in orthopedic and dental applications because its elastic modulus is similar to that of bone. However, PEEK is a bioinert material that cannot be integrated with host bone. Our previous study showed surface phosphonation enhanced the osteogenic activity of PEEK. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the density of phosphonate groups on the bioactivity of PEEK. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and water contact angle measurement confirmed the successful grafting of different densities of phosphonate groups to the PEEK surface using a one-step ultraviolet-initiated graft polymerization method. Atomic force microscopy revealed that the surface treatment did not significantly alter the surface topography and roughness.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a highly prevalent lung disease worldwide and imposes increasing disease burdens globally. COPD is characterized by irreversible airflow obstruction. Emphysema is one of the primary pathological features causing the irreversible decline of pulmonary function, while the precise mechanisms behind emphysema remain unclear. Reticulocalbin 3 (Rcn3) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen protein localized in the secretory pathway of living cells. We have reported that Rcn3 in type II alveolar epithelial cell (AECIIs) plays a critical role in perinatal lung development and bleomycin-induced lung injury-repair. Since is associated with alveolar epithelial disruption, Rcn3 might be involved in the development of emphysema during COPD. Materials and Methods : We examined Rcn3 expression in lung specimens from patients (44 COPD patients and 26 non-COPD control patients) undergoing lung lobectomy or pneumonectomy. Mouse models of COPD and emphysema were established by cigarette smoke (CS) exposure and intratracheal installation of pancreatic porcine elastase (PPE), respectively. Rcn3 expression was detected in the lung tissues from these mice. Furthermore, conditional knockout (CKO) mice with Rcn3 deletion specific to AECIIs, were used to explore the role of Rcn3 in PPE-induced emphysema progression. Rcn3 protein expression in lung tissues were evaluated by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Rcn3 mRNA expression in lung tissues was detected by qPCR.Results : Compared with non-COPD patients, Rcn3 expression was significantly increased in the lung specimens from COPD patients. Rcn3 expression was also significantly up-regulated in the lung tissues from COPD mice and emphysematous mice. Moreover, selective ablation of Rcn3 in AEC IIs significantly alleviated severity of the mouse emphysema in response to intratracheal installation of PPE.Conclusions: Our data, for the first time, indicated that Rcn3 in AECIIs might play a role in modulating the progression of emphysema, and thus be involved in the development of COPD. Suppression of Rcn3 expression in AECIIs may have a beneficial effect on COPD.This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81641004).

Chemoresistance is a major cause of cancer progression and the mortality of cancer patients. Developing a safe strategy for enhancing chemosensitivity is a challenge for biomedical science. Recent studies have suggested that vitamin D supplementation may decrease the risk of many cancers. However, the role of vitamin D in chemotherapy remains unknown. We found that vitamin D sensitised oral cancer cells to cisplatin and partially reversed cisplatin resistance. Using RNA-seq, we discovered that lipocalin 2 (LCN2) is an important mediator. Cisplatin enhanced the expression of LCN2 by decreasing methylation at the promoter, whereas vitamin D enhanced methylation and thereby inhibited the expression of LCN2. Overexpression of LCN2 increased cell survival and cisplatin resistance both in vitro and in vivo. High LCN2 expression was positively associated with differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and T staging and predicted a poor prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. LCN2 was also associated with post-chemotherapy recurrence. Moreover, we found that LCN2 promoted the activation of NF-κB by binding to ribosomal protein S3 (RPS3) and enhanced the interaction between RPS3 and p65. Our study reveals that vitamin D can enhance cisplatin chemotherapy and suggests that vitamin D should be supplied during chemotherapy; however, more follow-up clinical studies are needed.

Much effort is devoted to develop agents with superior photoacoustic/photothermal properties for improved disease diagnosis and treatment. Herein, a new fused two isoindigo (DIID)-based semiconducting conjugated polymer (named PBDT-DIID) is rationally designed and synthesized with a strong near-infrared absorption band ranging from 700 to 1000 nm. Water-dispersing nanoparticles (NPs) of PBDT-DIID are prepared with good biocompatibility and a rather high photothermal conversion efficiency (70.6%), as the active excited-state intramolecular twist around the central double bonds in DIID permits most of the absorbed excitation energy flow to heat deactivation pathway through internal conversion. The photoacoustic signal can be further magnified by incorporation of polylactide (PLA) in the NP core to confine the generated heat of PBDT-DIID within NPs. The resultant doped NPs show excellent performance in photoacoustic imaging-guided photothermal therapy in an orthotopic 4T1 breast tumor-bearing mouse model. It is also found that the photothermal effect of the PBDT-DIID NPs is safe and quite efficacious to highly improve the root canal treatment outcome by heating the 1% NaClO solution inside the root canal upon 808 nm laser irradiation in a human extracted tooth root canal infection model.

A novel electrochemically enhanced homogeneous-heterogeneous catalytic system was constructed by placing the prepared heterogeneous catalyst (CoFe2O4/NF) in parallel between the anode and the cathode for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to remove levofloxacin (LVF) in this work. Over 90% of LVF could be effectively removed by the constructed system after 40 min's degradation. And the electrical energy consumption was only 2.51 kWh/m3, which was lower than 54.5% of the traditional electrochemical advanced oxidation process. Besides, the system broadened the response range of pH and overcame the inhibitory effect of alkaline conditions on degradation. These activities were mainly due to the high generation ability of free radical (SO4·-, ·OH and O2·-) and non-radical (1O2). And the SO4·- was found to be the main radical for LVF degradation. The high SO4·- generation ability was demonstrated to be resulted from the dual effects of synergy of CoFe2O4/PMS and enhancement of electrochemistry in EC/CoFe2O4/PMS system. In detail, electrochemistry could effectively promote the continuous circulation of Co2+/Co3+ and Fe2+/Fe3+ redox cycles on the surface of CoFe2O4 to enhance the activation of PMS, thereby generating SO4·-. This work can provide a promising and cost-effective approach to construct highly efficient organic pollutant degradation system.

Reticulocalbin 3 (Rcn3) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen protein localized to the secretory pathway. We have reported that Rcn3 plays a critical role in alveolar epithelial type II cell maturation during perinatal lung development, but its biological role in the adult lung is largely unknown. In this study, we found marked induction of Rcn3 expression in alveolar epithelium during bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, which is most obvious in alveolar epithelial type II cells (AECIIs). To further examine Rcn3 in pulmonary injury remodeling, we generated transgenic mice to selectively delete Rcn3 in AECIIs in adulthood. Although Rcn3 deletion did not cause obvious abnormalities in the lung architecture and mechanics, the exposure of Rcn3-deleted mice to bleomycin led to exacerbated pulmonary fibrosis and reduced lung mechanics. These Rcn3-deleted mice also displayed enhanced alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) apoptosis and ER stress after bleomycin treatment, which was confirmed by in vitro studies both in primary AECIIs and mouse lung epithelial cells. Consistently, Rcn3 deficiency also enhanced ER stress and apoptosis induced by ER stress inducers, tunicamycin and thapsigargin. In addition, Rcn3 deficiency caused blunted wound closure capability of AECs, but not altered proliferation and bleomycin-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition process. Collectively, these findings indicate that bleomycin-induced upregulation of Rcn3 in AECIIs appears to contribute to AECII survival and wound healing. These observations, for the first time, suggest a novel role of Rcn3 in regulating pulmonary injury remodeling, and shed additional light on the mechanism of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

This study investigated sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) observed during periods of elevated hydrocarbon concentrations adjacent to a cold heavy oil extraction area in Alberta, Canada. Elevated total hydrocarbon (THC) concentrations were observed during the early morning hours and were associated with meteorological conditions indicative of gravitational drainage flows. THC concentrations were higher during the colder months, an occurrence likely promoted by a lower mixing height. On the other hand, other VOCs had higher concentrations in the summer; this is likely due to increased evaporation and atmospheric chemistry during the summer months. Of all investigated VOC compounds, alkanes contributed the greatest in all seasons. A source apportionment method, positive matrix factorization (PMF), was used to identify the potential contribution of various sources to the observed VOC concentrations. A total of five factors were apportioned including Benzene/Hexane, Oil Evaporative, Toluene/Xylene, Acetone and Assorted Local/Regional Air Masses. Three of the five factors (i.e., Benzene/Hexane, Oil Evaporative, and Toluene/Xylene), formed 27% of the reconstructed and unassigned concentration and are likely associated with emissions from heavy oil extraction. The three factors associated with emissions were comparable to the available emission inventory for the area. Potential sources include solution gas venting, combustion exhaust and fugitive emissions from extraction process additives. The remaining two factors (i.e., Acetone and Assorted Local/Regional Air Mass), comprised 49% of the reconstructed and unassigned concentration and contain key VOCs associated with atmospheric chemistry or the local/regional air mass such as acetone, carbonyl sulphide, Freon-11 and butane.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), which is based on photodynamic therapy (PDT), is a new cancer treatment modality. Unlike PDT, which has poor tissue penetration, ultrasound can penetrate deeply into tissues and largely target tumor tissue to mediate the cytotoxicity of sonosensitizers. We hypothesize that, similar to PDT, SDT may perform effectively as a cancer vaccine. Thus, we developed a therapeutic strategy to explore whether SDT can eliminate primary tumors, inhibit metastases, and prevent tumor relapse. In the present study, we found that HiPorfin (HPD)‐induced SDT killed tumor cells, promoted calreticulin expression on the cell surface and elicited immune responses. Meanwhile, we observed that SDT induced functional antitumor vaccination and abscopal effects in H22 tumor‐bearing mice. Furthermore, this strategy conferred an immunological memory, which could protect against tumor recurrence after the elimination of the initial tumor. These results showed important effects of SDT on immune responses.

Mg-doped Li1.2-xMgxMn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 cathode materials were prepared by a molten salt method. Our results showed that the introduction of NaCl is rather important and will provide a fusion environment, which not only leads to an evenly distribution of the transition metals within the cathode materials but is also helpful for the formation of a unique two dimensional (2D) nano structures. Mg doping results in a structural variation of the cathode materials, leading to a continuous increase of the capacity at the first dozen cycles. Although Mg doping can significantly improve the rate capability, the cycling stability, and the capacity retention of the cathode materials, a large Mg doping amount (>6%) will cause the formation of impurity phases, which in turn reduce the electrochemical performance of the materials. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement showed that the charge transfer resistance was reduced significantly due to Mg doping, and 4% Mg-doped sample exhibits promising lithium diffusion kinetics and rate capability.

Constructive solid geometry (CSG) is a technique to create a complex 3D object by using boolean operators to combine simple primitives. However, it is very challenging to obtain programs from 3D models, the inverse of the constructing process. In this Letter, the authors propose a generative recursive network for the inverse problem, which is composed of several kinds of specially designed sub-networks to get CSG programs directly from the input 3D model. Compared with previous methods, the authors' method can deal with various lengths and structures of programs, does not limit to specific primitives and can generate programs of very similar structures with the input.

By using only glyoxal instead of formaldehyde to prepare environment-friendly amino resin for wood adhesives is a hot topic in the wood industry. However, the existing reports on UG resin present a poor bonding performance, and especially an almost complete absence of water resistance. Thus, to explore new synthetic processes to prepare UG resins with good water resistance is a work of considerable interest. In this work a novel formulation is developed by reacting hexamethylene diamine (H) and urea (U) via first deamination and then polymerization with glyoxal (G) to obtain HUGs green resins. These resins were used to prepare well bonded wood panels. The effect of different H/U ratios on resin performance was also investigated. At a H/U molar ratio of 1, the HUG resin presents the best performance, dry strength, 24h wet strength, and 63℃ hot water soaking wet strength of the plywood bonded with it, these being respectively 1.18MPa, 1.70MPa, 0.92MPa respectively. This means that the HUG resin has potential as an industrial adhesive to replace urea-formaldehyde or melamine-urea- formaldehyde resins in the production of wood composites.

Poor rate capability and voltage decaying have been challenging for high energy/power density Li-rich Mn-based oxide (LMO) cathodes, restricting their application to a certain extent. Herein, a trace Bi-doping is introduced to mediate the release of O2 and ameliorate the transmission of electrons. As a result of appropriate Bi-doping, voltage fading is mitigated and cyclability is considerably enhanced. However, the common drawbacks between pristine and modified materials revealed the residual issues of cathode. That is, the slow kinetic Li2MnO3 phase is account for the poor rate capability of LMO and further restricted the capacity contribution of LMO due to the sandwiched position of LiMO2 phase in the two phase system. As further activation on the Li2MnO3 phase exhibited enhanced cyclability, this research can be a guideline for optimized LMO via focusing on the properties of Li2MnO3 component.

A novel molybdenum disulfide/carbon (MoS2/C) nanocomposite is synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method using glucose as a carbon source and Pluronic F127 as promoting agent in presence of MoS2 nanoparticles and followed by carbonization. Pluronic F127 is used as an essential agent which inhibits the spontaneous formation of carbon microspheres during the hydrothermal reaction. The composite electrode exhibits excellent cycling stability and rate capability, delivering a reversible capacity of 882.6 mA h g−1 at a current density of 50 mA g−1 and a capacity retention of 82.8% after 100 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g−1. At a higher current density of 300/500 mA g−1, it still retains a capacity of 603.6/461.6 mA h g−1 respectively, as compared to 295.6/228.4 mA h g−1 for the pristine MoS2 electrode. The composite shows favorable electrochemical kinetics compared with pristine MoS2 due to the incorporation of homogenous conductive carbon layer and its nanostructured morphology.

A series of BaLi2− x Na x Ti6O14 (0≤ x ≤2) compounds as lithium storage materials were synthesized by a facile solid-state method. X-ray diffraction Rietveld refinement shows that the Bragg positions correspond to the BaLi2Ti6O14, indicating a successful preparation. The Na+ ions doped BaLi2-Ti6O14 compounds have larger unit-cell volume than the pristine one because ionic radius of Na+ ion is 55% larger than that of Li+ ion. SEM shows that the BaLi2− x Na x Ti6O14 ( x =0, 0.5 and 1) powders show similar irregular shaped particles between 500 and 1000 nm. However, BaLi2− x Na x Ti6O14 ( x =1.5 and 2) powders show similar rod-like shape. CV reveals that the passivating film is mainly formed during the first insertion process, and the solid electrolyte interface film on the surface of BaLi2− x Na x Ti6O14 (0≤ x ≤2) is formed below 0.7 V in the first cycle. Compared with other samples, BaLi0.5Na1.5Ti6O14 exhibits higher reversible capacity, better rate capability and superior cyclability. BaLi0.5Na1.5Ti6O14 delivers the delithiation capacities of 162.1 mA h g−1 at 50 mA g−1, 158.1 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1, 156.7 mA h g−1 at 150 mA g−1, 152.2 mA h g−1 at 200 mA g−1, 147.3 mA h g−1 at 250 mA g−1 and 142 mA h g−1 at 300 mA g−1, respectively. An interesting thing is that BaNa2Ti6O14 as anode also shows an acceptable electrochemical performance. All these improved electrochemical performances of BaLi0.5Na1.5Ti6O14 are attributed to the lowest polarization and the highest lithium ion diffusion coefficient among all samples. Hence, BaLi0.5Na1.5Ti6O14 with excellent cycling performance, simple synthesis route and wide discharge voltage range can be a possible anode candidate for lithium-ion batteries.

Pristine LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 and FePO4-coated one with Fd-3m space groups were prepared by a sol-gel method. The structure and performance were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) rietveld refinement, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) mapping, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and charge-discharge tests, respectively. The lattice parameters of all samples almost remain the same from the Rietveld refinement, revealing that the crystallographic structure has no obvious difference between pristine LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 and FePO4-coated one. All materials show similar morphologies with uniform particle distribution with small particle size, and FePO4 coating does not affect the morphology of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 material. EDS mapping and HRTEM show that FePO4 may be successfully wrapped around the surfaces of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 particles, and provides an effective coating layer between the electrolyte and the surface of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 particles. FePO4 (1 wt%)-coated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode shows the highest discharge capacity at high rate (2 C) among all samples. After 80 cycles, the reversible discharge capacity of FePO4 (1 wt%) coated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 is 117 mAh g−1, but the pristine one only has 50 mAh g−1. FePO4 coating is an effective and controllable way to stabilize the LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4/electrolyte interface, and avoids the direct contact between LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 powders and electrolyte, then suppresses the side reactions and enhances the electrochemical performance of the LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4.

Metastasis is a major cause of mortality for cancer patients and remains as the greatest challenge in cancer therapy. Driven by multiple factors, metastasis may not be controlled by the inhibition of single target. This study was aimed at assessing the hypothesis that drugs could be rationally combined to co-target critical DNA, RNA and protein molecules to achieve "saturation attack" against metastasis. Independent actions of the model drugs DNA-intercalating doxorubicin, RNA-interfering miR-34a and protein-inhibiting sorafenib on DNA replication, RNA translation and protein kinase signaling in highly metastatic, human osteosarcoma 143B cells were demonstrated by the increase of γH2A.X foci formation, reduction of c-MET expression and inhibition of Erk1/2 phosphorylation, respectively, and optimal effects were found for triple-drug combination. Consequently, triple-drug treatment showed a strong synergism in suppressing 143B cell proliferation and the greatest effects in reducing cell invasion. Compared to single- and dual-drug treatment, triple-drug therapy suppressed pulmonary metastases and orthotopic osteosarcoma progression to significantly greater degrees in orthotopic osteosarcoma xenograft/spontaneous metastases mouse models, while none showed significant toxicity. In addition, triple-drug therapy improved the overall survival to the greatest extent in experimental metastases mouse models. These findings demonstrate co-targeting of DNA, RNA and protein molecules as a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of metastasis.

Background Secernin-1 (SCRN1) is a regulator of exocytosis in mast cells. Recently, SCRN1 has been reported to be correlated with the prognosis of colorectal cancer and gastric cancer but its functional effects on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear. Our aim was to explore the expression pattern and the migration and invasion effects of the newly identified SCRN1 in OSCC. Methods Western blotting (WB) was used to measure SCRN1 expression in human OSCC tissue samples and OSCC cell lines. Then, the effects of SCRN1 on OSCC cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis were analyzed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and transwell assays. The secretion of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 in SCRN1 knockdown OSCC cells and vector cells was investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression levels of TGF-β, Smad3 and phosphorylated Smad3 (p-Smad3) in SCRN1 knockdown OSCC cells and vector cells were measured by WB. Results The expression of SCRN1 was significantly elevated in the OSCC tissues and cell lines. Furthermore, SCRN1 knockdown attenuated the proliferation, migration and invasion of SCC15 and HSC3 cells. SCRN1 knockdown reduced the secretion of MMP-9 from HSC3 and SCC15 cells, but the secretion of MMP-2 did not obviously change. Additionally, SCRN1 knockdown reduced the expression of TGF-β and p-Smad3 in HSC3 and SCC15 cells. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that SCRN1 is upregulated in OSCC. Further studies demonstrated that SCRN1 promotes proliferation, invasion and metastasis of OSCC cells via TGF-β/Smad3 signaling.

Increasing concerns for sustainable development have motivated the study of closed-loop supply chain network design from a multidimensional perspective. To cope with such issues, this paper presents a general closed-loop supply chain network comprising various recovery options and further formulates a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming model considering enterprise profit and service level simultaneously. Within this model, market segmentation is also considered to meet real-world operating conditions. Moreover, an &epsilon, constraint method and two interactive fuzzy approaches are applied to find a global optimum for this model together with the decisions on the numbers, locations, and capacities of the facilities, as well as the material flow through the network. Ultimately, numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the viability and effectiveness of both the proposed model and solution approaches.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fibrotic interstitial pneumonia that causes pulmonary tissue damage and functional impairment. To investigate the effects of cryptotanshinone on pulmonary fibrosis, the expression of NIH/3T3, HPF, and rat primary pulmonary fibroblasts was measured and found to be inhibited by CPT in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, and the upregulation of α-SMA expression in NIH/3T3 and HPF cells, which had been stimulated by TGFβ-1, was decreased after CPT administration. We observed that CPT could reverse the increase in α-SMA expression and vimentin and the decrease in E-cad expression in A549 cells, which had been induced by 5 ng/mL TGFβ-1, indicating that CPT has inhibitory effects in the EMT process. A BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis model was established in C57BL/6 mice. The lung coefficient and hydroxyproline content increased significantly in the BLM-induced group and were decreased in the CPT-treated group. The expression levels of collagen-I and α-SMA and the phosphorylation level of Stat3 were significantly increased, and CPT treatment decreased these levels. Furthermore, the results from the flow cytometry analysis indicated that, in lung tissues, the frequencies of MDSCs, macrophages, DCs and T cells were considerably increased in the BLM-induced group, while CPT treatment reduced these immunocyte populations.

When a carrier-based aircraft equipment system based on a mission is in operation, a complex network is composed of reconnaissance and warning systems, command and control systems, fire strike systems, information countermeasures systems, combat evaluation system and integrated safeguard systems. From the view of complex network to analyze the carrier aircraft equipment system, the authors can find flexible features in the system in operation. This is of great significance for the analysis of combat effectiveness of the carrier-based aircraft equipment system.

Antimicrobial lipids have been recognised as broad-spectrum antibacterial agents. They can directly act on and lyse bacterial cell membrane, and inhibit bacterial growth through a range of mechanisms. Antimicrobial lipids include free fatty acids, monoglycerides, cholesteryl ester, sphingolipids and etc., with the first two being the most extensively studied. Their application is usually hindered by the low solubility of the compounds themselves, and nano-sized lipid-based carriers can endow druggability to these antimicrobial agents for they improve lipid solubility and dispersion in aqueous formulations. Nano-carriers also possess advantages in overcoming drug resistance. In this review we will discuss different kinds of antimicrobial lipids in nano-sized carriers for antibacterial delivery. CAL02 as a promising infection-controlling liposome consisted of cholesterol and sphingomyelin will also be included for it's a unique anti-infection approach, which signifies that the underlying antibacterial roles antimicrobial lipids needs to be further addressed. With the global emergence of antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial lipids formulated in nano-carriers might provide a novel alternative in combatting infectious diseases.

Constructing advanced anode materials with suitable operational potential and high energy density toward metal ion batteries is of significance for next-generation batteries. Carbon-coated porous Sb

Nowadays, flooding is one kind of hazard that usually occurred all over the world, which brings enormous damage to human life and property. In order to decrease the harm of flooding, the image edge detection techniques have been used to monitoring the state of flood area in the real-time in this paper. The processing time of the method is a key point that should be considered, which related to the timeliness of the flood monitoring system. And the accuracy of the predicted flood area is also the standard that can be used for evaluation. The experimental results have been affected by the changing of the parameters of each algorithm and the method that has the highest accuracy and lowest processing time have been expected one. According to the results, Canny edge detection has the best performance, which has been considered for implementation on the real hardware in the future for the outdoor environment.

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the most common cancers with high metastatic potential, explaining why identifying new drug candidates that inhibit tumour metastasis is an urgent need. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological activities of pectolinarigenin (PEC, a natural flavonoid present in Cirsium chanroenicum) in CRC in vitro and in vivo and to determine its underlying mechanism of action. Here, we observed that treatment with PEC could inhibit cell viability and induce apoptosis in cancer cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The occurrence of apoptosis was associated with activation of caspase-3 and Bax and decreased expression of Bcl-2. In addition, PEC markedly impaired CRC cell migration and invasion by downregulating the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-9) and phosphorylated-Stat3Tyr705. Moreover, our studies showed that PEC inhibited abdominal metastasis models of murine colorectal cancer. In addition, histological and immunohistochemical analyses revealed a decrease in Ki67-positive cells, MMP9-positive cells and p-Stat3Tyr705 cells upon treatment with PEC compared to control samples. Furthermore, PEC reduced the number of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the blood and tumours, which was accompanied by the increased infiltration of CD8+T cells in the blood. Taken together, our findings suggested that PEC could be used as a natural drug to inhibit CRC metastasis.

Background Junction plakoglobin (JUP) is an important cell-cell junction protein. Recently, its deregulation has been correlated with the initiation and progression of various malignancies. Our aim was to investigate the expression of JUP in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its correlation with prognosis and to further study the effects of JUP on the proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion of OSCC cells. Methods We detected JUP expression in 273 OSCC specimens using immunohistochemistry. We assessed the correlation of JUP expression with clinicopathologic parameters and patient survival by Cox regression. Then, expression levels of JUP in normal oral keratinocytes (NOKs) and OSCC cell lines were detected by Western blotting and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Next, we used HSC3 cells to study the effect of JUP on tumor cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion by using cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry, and transwell assays, respectively. Results Cox regression showed that high expression of JUP was related to the poor prognosis of OSCC patients. Western blotting and qPCR assays showed that the expression level of JUP in OSCC cell lines was higher than that in NOKs. Overexpression of JUP promoted the proliferation, metastasis, and invasion of HSC3 cells and inhibited apoptosis, while the opposite was observed after JUP knockdown. Conclusion This study initially revealed that JUP was overexpressed in OSCC, and that JUP promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OSCC cells and inhibited apoptosis. Moreover, high expression of JUP could be used as a potential prognostic marker of OSCC.

Shear thickening liquid (STF) is a reversible phase change material that can realize “liquid-solid” transformation when subjected to high-speed impact shear, and return to the liquid state after impact disappearance. Combined with high-performance fiber, it can be made into a “liquid protection device”. STF/ high-performance fiber composite materials are flexible and lightweight with intelligent mechanical response and energy absorption mechanism . This article introduces the ballistic-resistant mechanism and properties of STF/ high-performance fiber composites. Various factors affecting ballistic impact property are also discussed to better understand the ballistic impact process and the reaction mechanism of materials. Different characterization methods of ballistic properties have also been considered to provide some new ideas for the research, development, and application of flexible and intelligent ballistic materials with high responsiveness.

This study reveals the preparation of shear thickening fluid (STF) impregnate ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber flexible composites with different areal densities of UHMWPE fabric. STF was prepared using SiO2 nanoparticles and polyethylene glycol solution (PEG). The drop weight impact test was carried out to investigate the damage effect and energy absorption mechanism of STF/UHMWPE flexible composites under low-velocity impact with various incident velocities. The results manifested that STF/UHMWPE flexible composites exhibited similar softness compared with pure fabric, but the impact resistance was significantly higher than that of pure fabric. The impact resistance was at least 4.4 times higher than that of pure fabric. The composites with various parameters had a little fracture. The fabric deformation was the main energy absorption mechanism, and the friction between impact head and nanoparticles dissipated a small amount of impact energy.

Accurate 3D reconstruction of the defective part is critically important for repairing defects in the human skull. After investigating the feasibility of 3D convolution neural network (CNN)-based approach, DeepMedic CNN is chosen for repairing defects of the human skull. Training set of 3D CNN model is produced by randomly segmenting the initial 3D model of the skull which come from a whole CT scan of a healthy person. The 3D CNN model was evaluated using a computer-simulated 3D skull model containing the defective part, and in vivo patient. The results showed that based on 160 groups of computer-simulated 3D CT data, the average dice similarity coefficient (DSC), sensitivity (SE) and Hausdorff distance (HD) are 89.31%, 91.81%, and 25.9%, respectively. These quantitative indexes showed that the proposed method is able to do a reliable bone structure predication. For in vivo patient, the obtained model is also able to generate a suitable 3D bone model for the data under consideration. This approach could increase the computational efficiency of the repairing process without the need for segmentation and reconstruction of the skull, and thereby has potential applications to motivating further accurate repairing of defects of skull.