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Abstract According to the serious problem of sulfur dioxide pollution, montmorillonite is one of the effective ways in gas pollution control because of its excellent absorption properties. One of the fundamental questions is to fully understand sulfur dioxide absorption mechanism of montmorillonite. In this study, using the first-principle methods, we studied the adsorption characteristics of Ca-montmorillonite in the presence of $$\hbox {SO}_{{2}}$$ SO 2 . The adsorption energy and elasticity constants as a function of the adsorption capacity were also studied. The calculated results show that bridge site is the most stable adsorption site for $$\hbox {SO}_{{2}}$$ SO 2 with the adsorption energy of − 140 meV. As adsorbent, Ca-montmorillonite is a clay with layer-structure, most of bond lengths(such as Al–O, Mg–O, Si–O, and H–O) does not obviously change. As adsorbed gas, the O–S–O bond angle of adsorbed $$\hbox {SO}_{2}$$ SO 2 change from $$119.50^\circ$$ 119 . 50 ∘ to $$115.32^\circ$$ 115 . 32 ∘ . The volume and adsorption energies of Ca-montmorillonite almost increase linearly with increasing $$\hbox {SO}_{{2}}$$ SO 2 adsorption. By calculating the montmorillonite elasticity constants under different adsorption capacity, we found that the elasticity constant C33 which perpendicular to the crystal face, with the maximum changes from 450 to 326 GPa. In addition, Young’s modulus,bulk modulus and shear modulus significantly decrease with the increasing adsorption. The calculated results will not only help to understand the physical and chemical of montmorillonite but may also provide theoretical guidance for dealing with the problem of gas pollution.

Abstract Fish-inspired motion is an important research area with many applications in real-world tasks such as underwater vehicles or robotic fish control design. Owing to robust, smooth, and coordinated oscillatory signals generated by Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) for locomotion control of robots with multiple degrees of freedom, CPGs are the most versatile solution for robotic control systems, especially in robotic fish. However, tuning central pattern generator parameters is difficult for complex mechanical system designs. Besides, most current CPG-based methods only consider one aspect (e.g., speed), which widens the gap between theory and practice in robotic fish design. Also, it may affect the practical applicability of the designed motion model to a certain extent. This paper addresses this problem by constructing a multi-objective evolutionary design of a central pattern generator network to control the proposed biomimetic robotic fish. A new CPG model is proposed to help biomimetic robotic fish swim efficiently. In addition, an efficient multi-objective evolutionary algorithm proposed in our previous work is also applied to assist the biomimetic robotic fish in obtaining faster-swimming speed, good stability of the head, and higher propulsive efficiency simultaneously. Considering that the result of multi-objective optimization is a set of non-dominated solutions rather than a solution, a screening method based on fuzzy theory is adopted to assist decision-makers in selecting the most appropriate solution. Based on this, the control model of biomimetic robotic fish is constructed. The proposed control model is simulated and compared with seven well-known algorithms and a series of robotic fish designs. After that, the proposed control model is validated with extensive experiments on the actual biomimetic robotic fish. Simulations and experiments demonstrate the proposed control model’s effectiveness and good performance, especially when the control model has been applied to the real biomimetic robotic fish.

Posterior cingulate cortex (area 23, A23) in human and monkeys is a critical component of the default mode network and is involved in many diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, autism, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia. However, A23 has not yet identified in rodents, and this makes modeling related circuits and diseases in rodents very difficult. Using a comparative approach, molecular markers and unique connectional patterns this study has uncovered the location and extent of possible rodent equivalent (A23~) of the primate A23. A23 ~ but not adjoining areas in the rodents displays strong reciprocal connections with anteromedial thalamic nucleus. Rodent A23 ~ reciprocally connects with the medial pulvinar and claustrum as well as with anterior cingulate, granular retrosplenial, medial orbitofrontal, postrhinal, and visual and auditory association cortices. Rodent A23 ~ projects to dorsal striatum, ventral lateral geniculate nucleus, zona incerta, pretectal nucleus, superior colliculus, periaqueductal gray, and brainstem. All these findings support the versatility of A23 in the integration and modulation of multimodal sensory information underlying spatial processing, episodic memory, self-reflection, attention, value assessment and many adaptive behaviors. Additionally, this study also suggests that the rodents could be used to model monkey and human A23 in future structural, functional, pathological, and neuromodulation studies.

The research progress in dynamically vulcanized polyurethane/silicone rubber thermoplastic elastomer was summarized from the aspects of raw material selection, processing technology and compatibilizer with 20 references.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is expected to soon become the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States. This may be due to the rising obesity prevalence, which is a recognized risk factor for PDAC. There is great interest in deciphering the underlying driving mechanisms of the obesity-PDAC link. Visceral adiposity has a strong correlation to certain metabolic diseases and gastrointestinal cancers, including PDAC. In fact, our own data strongly suggest that visceral adipose tissue inflammation is a strong promoter for PDAC growth and progression in a genetically engineered mouse model of PDAC and diet-induced obesity. In this review, we will discuss the relationship between obesity-associated adipose tissue inflammation and PDAC development, with a focus on the key molecular and cellular components in the dysfunctional visceral adipose tissue, which provides a tumor permissive environment.

We examined the impact of statins on Yes-associated Protein (YAP) localization, phosphorylation and transcriptional activity in human and mouse pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells. Exposure of sparse cultures of PANC-1 and MiaPaCa-2 cells to cerivastatin or simvastatin induced a striking re-localization of YAP from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and inhibited the expression of the YAP/TEAD-regulated genes Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF) and Cysteine-rich angiogenic inducer 61 (CYR61). Statins also prevented YAP nuclear import and expression of CTGF and CYR61 stimulated by the mitogenic combination of insulin and neurotensin in dense culture of these PDAC cells. Cerivastatin, simvastatin, atorvastatin and fluvastatin also inhibited colony formation by PANC-1 and MiaPaCa-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, the hydrophilic statin pravastatin did not exert any inhibitory effect even at a high concentration (10 μM). Mechanistically, cerivastatin did not alter the phosphorylation of YAP at Ser127 in either PANC-1 or MiaPaCa-2 cells incubated without or with neurotensin and insulin but blunted the assembly of actin stress fiber in these cells. We extended these findings with human PDAC cells using primary KC and KPC cells, (expressing KrasG12D or both KrasG12D and mutant p53, respectively) isolated from KC or KPC mice. Using cultures of these murine cells, we show that lipophilic statins induced striking YAP translocation from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, inhibited the expression of Ctgf, Cyr61 and Birc5 and profoundly inhibited colony formation of these cells. Administration of simvastatin to KC mice subjected to diet-induced obesity prevented early pancreatic acini depletion and PanIN formation. Collectively, our results show that lipophilic statins restrain YAP activity and proliferation in pancreatic cancer cell models in vitro and attenuates early lesions leading to PDAC in vivo.

ObjectiveTo report rapid pathogen isolation and identification, virulence gene detection and pathogen tracing for a suspected cholera epidemic. MethodsFour stool and four anal swab specimens were collected from 8 diarrhea patients in an overseas tour group and 13 anal swab specimens were also collected from 13 other members of the tour group on October 21, 2018. Rapid detections of the specimens were conducted with Filmarray system and real-time PCR rapid identification and culture methods were used, respectively, for the specimens. VITEK-2 automatic microbial identification instrument and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing were used for bio-identification of the isolated strains. Virulence genes were analyzed with real-time PCR. ResultsVibrio parahemolyticus (VP) was isolated from 11 of the specimens. Molecular typing of PFGE showed that the 11 VP stains were highly homologous, indicating that the epidemic was resulted from the infection of a same VP strain. ConclusionCombined utilization of multiple laboratory detections is of important value for rapid diagnosis, pathogen identification and tracing in epidemiological investigation on cholera epidemics.

Abstract The development of optical organic nanoparticles (NPs) is desirable and widely studied. However, most organic dyes are water-insoluble such that the derivatization and modification of these dyes are difficult. Herein, we demonstrated a simple platform for the fabrication of organic NPs designed with emissive properties by loading ten different organic dyes (molar masses of 479.1–1081.7 g/mol) into water-soluble polymer nanosponges composed of poly(styrene-alt-maleic acid) (PSMA). The result showed a substantial improvement over the loading of commercial dyes (3.7–50% loading) while preventing their spontaneous aggregation in aqueous solutions. This packaging strategy includes our newly synthesized organic dyes (> 85% loading) designed for OPVs (242), DSSCs (YI-1, YI-3, YI-8), and OLEDs (ADF-1–3, and DTDPTID) applications. These low-cytotoxicity organic NPs exhibited tunable fluorescence from visible to near-infrared (NIR) emission for cellular imaging and biological tracking in vivo. Moreover, PSMA NPs loaded with designed NIR-dyes were fabricated, and photodynamic therapy with these dye-loaded PSMA NPs for the photolysis of cancer cells was achieved when coupled with 808 nm laser excitation. Indeed, our work demonstrates a facile approach for increasing the biocompatibility and stability of organic dyes by loading them into water-soluble polymer-based carriers, providing a new perspective of organic optoelectronic materials in biomedical theranostic applications.

Metallocene-based phosphines are compounds with potential use in catalysis. Here, the authors report the electrochemical regioselective functionalization of group 8 metallocenes with phosphine oxides; over 60 examples of phosphorylated (benzo)ferrocenes and ruthenocenes can be accessed via this method without the need for a preinstalled directing group.