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Single-atom doping plays a vital role in catalysis by maximally taking advantage of atom efficiency. Herein, we report for the first time a new concept of selective single-atom doping with high loading via the crystal-lattice mismatch of a multicomponent hetero-nanostructure. Hetero-nanostructures, with exceptional properties, bring numerous vacancy defects or voids in the hetero-interfaces between the two different components, which can trap more atoms. In this work, single Pt atoms with an ultrahigh loading density of 2.8 wt% are selectively anchored on NiS in a three-dimensional flower-like NiS@Al2O3 heterostructure. This novel strategy can be expanded to a series of transition metal sulfide (TMS, NiS2, CoS2, and MnS) composites with large crystal-lattice mismatch. Pt atom doping remarkably enhances the catalytic performance. The Pt/NiS@Al2O3 exhibits an extremely high catalytic activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction, with a low overpotential of 34 mV and an excellent stability with a 2% increase in overpotential following 120 h under a constant density of 10 mA cm−2.

Lithium manganese oxides are of great interest due to their high theoretical specific capacity for electrochemical energy storage. However, it is still a big challenge to approach its large theoretical limit. In this work, we report that Li2MnO3 nanorods with layered structure as superior performance electrode for supercapacitors. The synthesized Li2MnO3 nanorods possess large specific surface area of 179.5 m2/g. The electrode made of the as-obtained Li2MnO3 nanorods exhibits high specific capacitance of 1129.5 F/g at 2 mV/s in 3 M LiCl electrolyte. Detailed electrochemical analysis shows that diffusion controlled processes contribute most of the relative capacity. First-principles calculations within density functional theory also show that the diffusion of Li+ ions in the lithium layer is much easier than that in the manganese-lithium-oxygen layer. Therefore, the ion flow in lithium layer provides most of the high specific capacitance during charge/discharge. A flexible symmetric supercapacitor is assembled based on Li2MnO3/carbon fabric cloth. Such device demonstrates high specific capacitance, high energy density, high power density and excellent cycling stability. Three supercapacitors in series can efficiently power 288 blue LEDs in parallel for about 11 min. These results indicate that Li2MnO3 nanorods are very promising as super electrode material for supercapacitors.

Aiming at the problems of current image monitoring methods of lubrication oil wear particles, this paper designs and builds a dynamic monitoring system for oil wear particles based on microfluidic microscopic images. A contour-based 3D reconstruction method of debris particle images is proposed. The image sequences of rotating wear particles tracked by a single target are used as data, and the contour of the wear particle is extracted and the data is stored. The minimum area external rectangle method is used to correct the rotation of the particle images for the problem of deflection. And an algorithm based on cylindrical coordinate space conversion is used to convert the discrete contour point data into three-dimensional space. Complete the 3D model reconstruction of microfluidic wear particles. The ability to analyse wear particles in oil online monitoring technology is improved, which also shows new ideas for wear status monitoring and fault diagnosis technology.

Urgent need for waste disposal and renewable energy have opened up promising pathways for renewable and sustainable fuel production to substitute traditional fossil fuels. In this study, catalytic co-pyrolysis of waste paper (WP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as typical municipal solid wastes was experimentally investigated towards hydrogen-rich syngas production. Results indicated the maximum H2 yield (429 μmol·gcat−1·min−1) was obtained with 60% PVC weight ratio under 900 °C which was higher than single component pyrolysis. Higher hydrogen yield (681.76 μmol·gcat−1·min−1) appeared over Fe/CeO2–CaO under the optimal conditions compared to that of Ru/ZSM-5-CaO (445.54 μmol·gcat−1·min−1). From the calculated non-isothermal kinetic parameters, both catalysts could reduce activation energies. Proper porous structure and CaO content in the catalyst could enhance hydrogen production via carbon species fixation.

To determine the effects of linolenic acid (LNA, 18:3n‐3) in oriental river prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense), an 8‐week feeding experiment was conducted using six isonitrogenous and isoenergetic semi‐purified diets containing 0.07 g/kg (control), 7.3 g/kg, 16.6 g/kg, 20.2 g/kg, 27.3 g/kg and 36.3 g/kg LNA. The hepatopancreas lipid content decreased significantly when dietary LNA content was >20.2 g/kg. Fatty acid analysis revealed that the percentage of 18:3n‐3 in the hepatopancreas significantly increased with increasing dietary LNA levels, while 20:5n‐3, 22:5n‐3 and 22:6n‐3 levels in the hepatopancreas decreased in a curvilinear manner as dietary LNA increased. Additionally, qRT‐PCR results revealed that hepatopancreas mRNA expression of acetyl‐CoA carboxylase (ACC) decreased with increasing dietary LNA, while the greatest carnitine palmitoyl transferase‐1(CPT1) mRNA expression was observed in the 2.73 g/kg and 36.3 g/kg groups. Furthermore, hepatopancreas mRNA expression of acyl‐CoA delta‐9 desaturase (SCD) and fatty acyl elongase 6(elovl6) was downregulated when prawns fed the diets containing >20.2 g/kg LNA. These results indicate that dietary 18:3n‐3 could decrease lipid deposition through increased fatty acid β‐oxidation and modulated fatty acid synthesis, and alter fatty acid composition by regulating fatty acyl elongase and fatty acyl desaturase mRNA expression in the M. nipponense.

The adverse effects of hypoxia are confined to biochemical, physiological, developmental and behavioral processes, especially injury of the brain. In this study, a subset of genes in the brain of Takifugu rubripes were analyzed using digital gene expression (DGE) profiles and next-generation sequencing after acute hypoxia. Among 32 differentially expressed genes, 29 were up-regulated and 3 were down-regulated following hypoxia exposure. Using Gene Ontology analysis, it was found that transcription and translation, metabolism, and the stress response were affected by exposure to hypoxia. KEGG analysis revealed that the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway was significantly enriched in hypoxia-exposed T. rubripes. To further confirm the differential expression of genes, quantitative real-time PCR was performed to test six candidate genes, with the following five genes exhibiting the same expression patterns as the sequencing results: Proto-oncogene c-fos, Kruppel-like factor 2, immediate early response 2, proopiomelanocortin A and rhodopsin. This work is the first to identify and annotate genes in T. rubripes affected by hypoxia stress. This investigation provides data for understanding the molecular mechanism of fish adaptation to hypoxia and provides a reference for rationally setting dissolved oxygen levels in aquaculture.

Identifying effective methods to enhance the properties of catalysts is urgent to broaden the scanty technologies, so far. Herein, we synthesized four Co3O4 crystals with different crystal planes and explored the crystal planes’ effects on electrochemical water splitting through theoretical and experimental studies for the first time. The results illustrate that the correlation of catalytic activity is established as {111} > {112} > {110} > {001}. Co3O4 crystals exposed with {111} facets show the highest OER (oxygen evolution reaction) and HER (hydrogen evolution reaction) activities. Upon fabrication in an alkaline electrolyzer, the bifunctional {111}∥{111} couple manifests the highest catalytic activity and satisfying durability for overall water splitting. Density functional theory (DFT) explains that the {111} facet possesses the biggest dangling bond density, highest surface energy, and smallest absolute value of ΔGH*, leading to the enhanced electrocatalytic performance. This work will broaden our v...

Although cigarette smoke (CS) is the primary risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the underlying molecular mechanisms for the significant variability in developing COPD in response to CS are incompletely understood. We performed lung gene expression profiling of two different wild-type murine strains (C57BL/6 and NZW/LacJ) and two genetic models with mutations in COPD genome-wide association study genes (HHIP and FAM13A) after 6 months of chronic CS exposure and compared the results to human COPD lung tissues. We identified gene expression patterns that correlate with severity of emphysema in murine and human lungs. Xenobiotic metabolism and nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2-mediated oxidative stress response were commonly regulated molecular response patterns in C57BL/6, Hhip+/−, and Fam13a−/− murine strains exposed chronically to CS. The CS-resistant Fam13a−/− mouse and NZW/LacJ strain revealed gene expression response pattern differences. The Fam13a−/− strain diverged in gene expression compared with C57BL/6 control only after CS exposure. However, the NZW/LacJ strain had a unique baseline expression pattern, enriched for nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2-mediated oxidative stress response and xenobiotic metabolism, and converged to a gene expression pattern similar to the more susceptible wild-type C57BL/6 after CS exposure. These results suggest that distinct molecular pathways may account for resistance to emphysema. Surprisingly, there were few genes commonly modulated in mice and humans. Our study suggests that gene expression responses to CS may be largely species and model dependent, yet shared pathways could provide biologically significant insights underlying individual susceptibility to CS.

Takifugu rubripes is a classical model organism for studying the role of gonad organogenesis in such physiological processes as fertilization, sex determination, and sexual development. To explicitly investigate the mechanism associated with gonad organogenesis in T. rubripes, we obtained 44.3 million and 55.2 million raw reads from the testis and ovary, respectively, by RNA-seq and from these, 18,523 genes were identified. A total of 680 differentially expressed genes were obtained from comparison transcriptome analysis between the testis and ovary, and of these, 556 genes were up-regulated in the testis, whereas only 124 genes were upregulated in the ovary. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis indicated that many of these genes encode proteins involved in signal transduction and gonad development. We mainly focused on the differentially expressed genes that have the potential to develop into the gonad. The generation of large scale transcriptomic data presented in this work would enrich the genetic resources of T. rubripes, which should be valuable to the comparative and evolutionary studies of teleosts.

To obtain catalysts with remarkable activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), rational design and synthesis of catalysts with rich active sites are very urgent. Herein, we reported, for the first time, V2Se9 nanosheet arrays exposed with the highly active (100) facet as a new efficient catalyst for HER. The highly active but thermodynamically instable (100) facet was converted from V2O5 based on a low crystal-mismatch strategy. Furthermore, conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) acting as a co-catalyst further contributed to the redistribution of charge and reduction of hydrogen adsorption energy. Due to the strong synergistic effect between V2Se9 and PEDOT, the resulting material, noted as V2Se9@PEDOT NSs/NF, exhibited excellent electrocatalytic performance among selenide catalysts, for example, a small overpotential of 72 mV at 10 mA cm–2, a low Tafel slope of 36.5 mV dec–1, and remarkable durability. Simultaneously, density functional theory (DFT) computations proved that the ads...

To assess the influences on growth performance, intestinal Lactobacillus, immune and digestive enzyme activities of juvenile sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus by administrating multiple probiotics. Multiple probiotics (0, 6 × 107 and 9 × 107 CFU g−1) and normal basal feed were mixed thoroughly at different doses of diet (T0, T1, and T2, respectively) and were administered orally to sea cucumbers for 90 days. After the feeding trial, 20 sea cucumbers were randomly sampled from each pond. The results showed that administration of multiple probiotics significantly affected on the growth performance, non-specific immune enzymes, and microbial ecology of the gut of sea cucumbers (P

A 60-day feeding trial was conducted to assess the interactions of dietary leucine (Leu) and isoleucine (Ile) on Japanese flounder. Fish of 2.69 ± 0.04 g were fed experimental diets containing two levels of Leu (2.58 and 5.08% of diet) combined with three levels of Ile (1.44, 2.21, and 4.44% of diet), respectively. After the feeding trial, growth, proximate composition, muscle total amino acid profile, blood parameters, mucus lysozyme activity, and stress tolerance to freshwater were measured. Statistically significant (P

The Sichuan Basin in Southwest China holds the most potential for shale gas exploration and development in China. The assessment of reservoir quality, gas accumulation and completion quality of Silurian Longmaxi marine shale gas is conducted based on detailed mapping of depositional systems and shale properties, analyses of geochemical, mineralgical and petrophysical data, investigation on interactions between tectonics, reservoir quality, shale gas accumulation, completion quality, and production. The results show that the Lower Section of the Lower Silurian Longmaxi marine shale in the southern, southeastern, and eastern parts of the Sichuan Basin is good shale reservoir in terms of high TOC, high maturity, high brittle mineral content, and development of inter-particle and intra-organic matter pores and natural fractures. Petroleum system modeling calibrated by production data reveals shale gas tends to accumulate in broad syncline and anticline in tectonically stable area. Tectonic setting and stress field analyses and hydraulic fracturing simulation and practice imply that the siliceous Longmaxi shale interval in the areas with small far-field horizontal stress are more favorable for hydraulic fracturing to form complex fracture network. The best prospects are likely located in broad syncline and anticline in tectonically stable areas with good reservoir quality, shale gas accumulation and completion quality in the southern and southeastern areas inside the Sichuan Basin.

The effect of seawater pH on blood physiology in juvenile turbot Scophthalmus maximus (Linnaeus, 1758) reared in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) was examined. S. maximus (19.89±0.25 g) were exposed to six pH levels at 6.3±0.2, 6.8±0.2, 7.3±0.2, 7.8±0.2, 8.3±0.2 and 8.8±0.2. Haemoglobin content (HBC) at acidic conditions was higher compared to that under alkaline conditions. The frequency of total nuclear anomalies (FTNA) was high at pH levels below 7.3 or above 8.3. The relationship between FTNA and pH was well described using a quadratic equation. Alkaline phosphatase activity was significantly declined at pH above 8.3, while total superoxide dismutase activity (T-SOD) remained virtually unchanged among all treatments. This study demonstrated that HBC and FTNA can be used as reliable biomarkers to evaluate the effect of pH in aquatic ectotherms from physiological standpoints. Our findings suggest that environmental pH in RAS ranging from 6.8 to 7.8 is appropriate for juvenile turbot aquaculture.

The application of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) shows great potential in the anaerobic biological treatment of acid mine wastewater; therefore, it has attracted much attention. The low pH in acidic wastewater affects the growth and reducing power of SRB. To uncover the mechanism underlying the reduction efficiency of SRB under acidic conditions, in this study, transcriptomic analysis was performed with Desulfovibrio vulgaris ATCC 7757 under three different pH conditions (pH 4.0, 5.5 and 7.0) and in the initial inoculation, logarithmic growth and plateau phases. Our results showed that ATCC 7757 still had biological activity at pH 4.0 and exhibited gene expression patterns at pH 4.0 that were different from those at pH 5.5 and pH 7. Importantly, the gene expression pattern was similar between pH 5.5 and pH 7. Transcriptomic analysis identified differentially expressed genes that affected the growth of ATCC 7757 under pH 7.0 at 22 h compared to 15 h; 196 of these genes were upregulated and 575 were downregulated. These differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in genetic information processing and metabolism. Additionally, we identified 57 candidate genes associated with low-pH tolerance. Adaptation to low pH was reflected by an increase in the expression of genes involved in cell membrane structure and proton transport. The expression of genes involved in the reduction process decreased, including the genes DVU0499 and sat, which encode proteins that affect the sulfate reduction process. Both gene activities were validated by qPCR. Our results will contribute to further promoting the reducing power of SRB in acid mine wastewater and the development of successful bioremediation strategies.

In view of the problems that have not been solved or studied in the previous studies of cascade Energy Storage Operation Chart (ESOC), based on a brief description of the composition, principle, drawing methods, and simulation methods of ESOC, the following innovative work has been done in this paper. Firstly, considering the inconsistency of inflow frequency of upstream and downstream watershed in selecting the typical dry years, a novel optimization model for selecting the overall inflow process considering the integrity of watershed was proposed, which aimed at minimizing the sum of squares of inflow frequency differences. Secondly, aiming at the influence of output coefficients (including number and values) on the results of ESOC, this paper proposed a new method to construct the initial solution of output coefficients and established an optimization model of output coefficients based on progressive optimality algorithms. Thirdly, to the optimization of ESOC with multi-year regulating reservoir, a discrete optimization model of drawdown level was constructed based on the idea of ergodic optimization. On these bases, taking the seven reservoirs in the Yalong River basin of China as an example, the typical dry years considering the inflow frequency inconsistency, the optimal output coefficients of ESOC and the optimal end-of-year drawdown level of a multi-year regulating reservoir (Lianghekou) were obtained, and compared with the previous research results, the ESOC optimized in this paper can increase the total power generation of the cascade system by 9% under the condition that the guaranteed rate did not change much. Furthermore, the difference of the optimal end-of-year drawdown levels between the cascade joint operation and single reservoir operation was discussed for the Lianghekou reservoir at the end of the case study. The obtained results were of great significance for guiding the actual operation of cascade reservoirs.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between osteoporosis and osteoarthritis by analyzing the DNA methylation in osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. The cancellous bone specimens were collected from a total of 12 hospitalized patients and divided into the osteoporosis group (OA), the osteoarthritis group (OP), the osteoporosis combined with osteoarthritis group (OA & OP), and the normal control group (N). The cancellous bone specimens of each group were detected and the differences in gene expression profiles by the MeDIP-chip technique were compared. Compared with Group OA & OP, the methylation levels in Group OA and Group OP were statistically higher, P < 0.05. In the microarray analysis, a total of 1,222 sites occurred hypermethylation. The analysis targeting the differentially expressed genes between Group OA & OP and Group N revealed that group OA and group OP had 4 common genes: PPIL3, NIF3L1, SMTN, and CALHM2. The level of genomic methylation is lower in the patients with osteoporosis and/or osteoarthritis. The common difference between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis is reflected in some specific promoters, which may participate in the processes of diseases through different pathways.

In order to allocate the raw water of the complex water supply system in Shenzhen reasonably, this paper studied the complex network relationship of this large-scale urban water supply system, which consists of 46 reservoirs, 67 waterworks, 2 external diversion water sources, 14 pumping stations and 9 gates, and described each component of the system with the concepts of point, line and plane. Using the topological analysis technology and graph theory, a generalized model of the network topological structure of the urban water allocation system was established. On this basis, combined with the water demand prediction and allocation model of waterworks, a water resources allocation model was established, aiming at satisfying the guaranteed rate of the water supply. The decomposition and coordination principle of the large-scale system and the dynamic simulation technology of the supply-demand balance were adopted to solve the model. The forward calculation mode of controlling waterworks and pumps, and the reverse calculation mode of controlling reservoirs and waterworks were designed in solving the model, and a double-layer feedback mechanism was formed, which took the reverse calculation mode as outer feedback and the reservoir water level constraint or pipeline capacity constraint as inner feedback. Through the verification calculation of the case study, it was found that the proposed model can deal well with the raw water allocation of a large-scale complex water supply system, which had an important application value and a practical significance.

A low-dropout regulator (LDO) with high power supply ripple rejection (PSR) and capacitor-free is presented in this paper. The LDO proposes a PSR enhancement module based on the analysis of the power supply noise transmission path. It uses the Q-reduction circuit to reduce the required on-chip capacitor and the load on the minimum required output. The proposed LDO is implemented in 110nm CMOS process. The simulation results indicate that the total on-chip capacitance required for the designed circuit is 6. 5p. The LDO has a phase margin of more than 6$0^{o}$ in the range of 50uA to 50mA. The optimum PSR of the LDO at low frequency is -109dB. The LDO achieves line and load regulation of 65$\mu$V/V and 0.396$\mu$V/mA respectively.

To evaluate the overuse of antibiotics and to identify the origin of pathogens in the ornamental fish industry, we conducted a field investigation of three representative fish farms in Liaoning province, China. Drug-resistant pathogens in the fishponds and groundwater were isolated and subtyped by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). In total, 33 pathogenic strains, including Aeromonas veronii and five other pathogens, were isolated from diseased fish and from groundwater. MLST revealed that A. veronii obtained from diseased fish in three fish farms can be subtyped into four sequence types, which were also identified in the corresponding groundwater. All of the isolates obtained from diseased fish showed resistance to at least four antibiotics. Notably, Citrobacter freundii JY-17 exhibited resistance to the majority of the antibiotics and was a carrier of a megaplasmid with 15 drug resistance genes. PCR assays targeting β-lactam, kanamycin, macrolide, phenicol, sulfonamide, and trimethoprim resistance genes in the pathogens from the diseased fish and groundwater were also conducted. The results revealed strong correlations between antibiotic treatment and increased antimicrobial resistance in fish pathogens. The results suggested that groundwater is the origin of the pathogens in ornamental fish. Antibiotic treatment of ornamental fish promoted the emergence of resistant pathogens.

How the human brain differs from those of non-human primates is largely unknown and the complex drivers underlying such differences at the genomic level remain unclear. In this study, we selected 243 brain-related genes, based on Gene Ontology, and identified 184,113 DNaseI hypersensitive sites (DHSs) within their regulatory regions. To performed comprehensive evolutionary analyses, we set strict filtering criteria for alignment quality and filtered 39,132 DHSs for inclusion in the investigation and found that 2,397 (~6%) exhibited evidence of accelerated evolution (aceDHSs), which was a much higher proportion that DHSs genome-wide. Target genes predicted to be regulated by brain-aceDHSs were functionally enriched for brain development and exhibited differential expression between human and chimpanzee. Alignments indicated 61 potential human-specific transcription factor binding sites in brain-aceDHSs, including for CTCF, FOXH1, and FOXQ1. Furthermore, based on GWAS, Hi-C, and eQTL data, 16 GWAS SNPs, and 82 eQTL SNPs were in brain-aceDHSs that regulate genes related to brain development or disease. Among these brain-aceDHSs, we confirmed that one enhanced the expression of GPR133, using CRISPR-Cas9 and western blotting. The GPR133 gene is associated with glioblastoma, indicating that SNPs within DHSs could be related to brain disorders. These findings suggest that brain-related gene regulatory regions are under adaptive evolution and contribute to the differential expression profiles among primates, providing new insights into the genetic basis of brain phenotypes or disorders between humans and other primates.

A pre-exploration well was drilled in the Xihu Sag of East China Sea basin, and commercial oil and gas flow had been achieved. But the oil and gas bearing trap had a big depth with low closure height and small area. The resolution of seismic data acquired by towed streamer is low, so it's difficult to obtain seismic velocity precisely. There were great risk and uncertainty in description of the trap and distribution of gas-bearing sandstone, reservoir prediction of sweet spot, direct hydrocarbon indication, and reserves assessment. In consideration of the drilling platform on the trap, seismic acquisition technique of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP were introduced, meanwhile some innovative methods in source, receivers and geometry were applied. Twenty three-component hydrophones were composed as signal receivers which had a sample interval of ten meters in the well, two straight shot lines and two loop shot lines were designed around the drilling platform. Besides, volume and depth of air gun array were optimized, and the sailing route of seismic source vessel was planned properly in order to improve the efficiency of collecting work. The collecting work of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP was accomplished efficiently, and more than seventy kilometers VSP seismic data was achieved. Afterwards, the new data was processed finely in company with zero offset VSP data, so high resolution VSP profiles and accurate seismic velocity were obtained. Reprocess to original seismic data acquired by towed streamer was implemented on the basis of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP data. The quality of normal seismic data was improved through reprocess constrained by walkaway VSP data, and S/N and resolution were much higher than old data. So it would be credible to research the distribution of gas-bearing sandstone and direct hydrocarbon indication using the reprocessed seismic data. It was the first time to use joint acquisition technique of walkaway VSP and walk around VSP in offshore China which was an important breakthrough. High resolution VSP seismic profiles and precise seismic velocity could be acquired, and the data was important basis for refined evaluation of pre-exploration targets. It's very necessary to popularize and utilize these new techniques further.

Background: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy induced pathologic complete response (pCR) is associated with an excellent outcome for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients. However, it is unclear if patients achieving a pCR could further benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT). Methods: This retrospective study recruited consecutive LARC patients who received neoadjuvant therapy and total mesorectal excision from 2010 to 2018. The pCR patients who received different ACT cycles were compared by propensity score matching. Overall survival (OS), disease free survival (DFS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Findings: In total, 1041 consecutive pCR patients (median age, 55.0 years; 56.9% male) were included. Of whom, 303 (29.1%) patients received non-ACT treatment, and 738 patients (70.9%) received fluoropyrimidine-based ACT (range, 1-12 cycles; median, 4 cycles). Specifically, 57.6% of patients (425/738) received 1-4 cycles of ACT, and 42.4% of patients (313/738) received 5 or more cycles of ACT. After 1:3 propensity matching, 712 patients who received ACT were matched to 297 patients who did not receive ACT. The 3-year outcomes (OS, DFS, LRFS, and DMFS) of the ACT and non-ACT subgroups were similar (all P > 0.05). Moreover, the subsets of patients who received different ACT cycle(s) (0 vs. 1-4 cycles and 0 vs. ≥ 5 cycles) also had similar 3-year OS, DFS, LRFS, and DMFS (all P > 0.05). In a stratified analysis, ACT treatment did not improve the survival outcomes (OS, DFS, LRFS and DMFS) of the high-risk patients who with baseline cT3-4 and/or cN1-2 (all P > 0.05). Interpretation: ACT administration could not provide additional survival benefits for neoadjuvant treatment-induced pCR LARC patients, even if is given much more cycles. Particularly, for the baseline high-risk subset patients, a pCR status is a guarantee of excellent outcome and ACT would be unnecessary. Funding Statement: This study was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81872188), International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Grant (No. CRP/CHN16-04_EC), Guangdong Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholar (No. 2014A030306016), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (No. 2017B090901065). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Clinical Ethics Review Committee at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.

E-textiles are of great significance for next-generation wearable electronics. However, the current smart textiles generally have shortcomings such as intricate preparation processes and redundant structure. Here, we have developed a 3D printing method to prepare stretchable elastic fibers with a coaxial core-sheath structure, which consists of conductive core and insulative sheath. The addition of graphene and PTFE particles successfully manipulates the rheological behavior of the PDMS prepolymer and makes it suitable for 3D printing of core-sheath coaxial stretchable fibers. Furthermore, the large-scale and customized manufacturing of stretchable smart textiles has been achieved. Based on triboelectric effect, the core-sheath elastic fiber can perform the function of wearble tactile sensing as e-skin and the smart textile demonstrates the ability of matrix tactile sensing through the interlaced structure of warp and weft. Moreover, the smart textile has many advantages such as washability, breathability, super stretchability and robustness, making it promising for wearable electronics.

With the merits of superior performance and easy implementation, the harmony search (HS), a famous population-based evolutionary method, has been widely adopted to resolve global optimization problems in practice. However, the standard HS method still suffers from the defects of premature convergence and local stagnation in the complex multireservoir operation problem. Thus, this study develops an enhanced harmony search (EHS) method to improve the HS’s search ability and convergence rate, where adaptive parameter adjustment strategy is used to enhance the global search performance of the swarm, while the elite-learning evolutionary mode is used to improve the converge trajectory of the population. To verify its practicability, EHS is applied to solve numerical optimization and multireservoir operation problems. The results show that EHS can produce better results than several existing methods in different cases. For instance, the mean objective of EHS is improved by about 23.9%, 28.7% and 26.8% compared with particle swarm optimization, differential evolution and gravitational search algorithm in 1998–1999 typical runoff case. Hence, an effective optimizer is developed for sustainable ecological operation of cascade hydropower reservoirs in river ecosystem.

Utilization of propane in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is desired for commercial applications. However, the susceptibility of conventional Ni-based anode to coking is still a technical challenge. Developing an efficient catalyst for hydrogen production through partial oxidation of propane is a feasible approach to address this issue. In fact, hydrogen production from propane partial oxidation is profoundly determined by catalyst performance, which further affects the fuel cell efficiency. In this study, a robust and efficient catalyst is developed by incorporating inexpensive TiO2 into Ni-Co/Al2O3 catalyst. The results suggested that an appropriate amount of TiO2 in catalyst support could regulate the interaction between active metal and Al2O3 support therefore inhibiting catalyst carbon deposition and sintering. Also, TiO2 addition is conducive to the catalyst regeneration process by reducing the activation energy of oxidative decarburization. Hydrogen yield was efficiently promoted by the synthesized catalyst. Consequently, under the equivalent hydrogen (160 ml/min) produced over the catalyst, the SOFCs, with a cathode area of 15 cm2, display impressive performance (maximum power density, 404 mW/cm2) and excellent stability. Through cost-benefit analysis, the application of the synthesized catalyst is considered for great advantages in capital and energy saving. Ultimately, this work might offer a novel point of view for developing a low-cost, robust and efficient catalyst towards indirect hydrogen production for SOFCs.

Accident causation models can provide a framework to explain how an accident occurs from various perspectives. In the past, human error has become the main cause of accidents, which is inextricably linked with safety information cognition (SIC). In this study, an accident causation model—SIC-based Accident-causing Model (SICAM) is developed and then a new human reliability analysis methodology—SIC-based human factor analysis (SICHFA) is provided. Three steps are followed to construct the model. First, the role of SIC in the safety information flow (SIF) has been confirmed. Secondly, the mechanism of accident causation based on SIC were addressed, the effect of negative signal noise mainly involved. Thirdly, the influence objects of signal noise on the SIC process (SICP) were classified at information home, cognitive environment, and cognitive object. To demonstrate the viability of SICAM & SICHFA, the electrical fire, which occurred frequently and resulted in serious adverse social impact in recent years, was selected as the case in this study. Results showed that the proposed accident causation model and SICHFA can provide a new approach for preventing & predicting human accidents.

Discriminant coefficient method (DCM) is a traditional method in guiding the cascade reservoirs joint operation, but it cannot be well used directly in the practical application. This paper combined DCM with the cascade reservoirs energy storage operation chart (CRESOC) and proposed a new DCM based drawing model. In addition, three key technologies in the drawing process and one key technology in the practical application were studied emphatically, which can realize the combined utilization of DCM and CRESOC perfectly. In the case study, we took the cascade reservoirs of Li Xianjiang River in southwest China as an instance to study the CRESOC by the proposed drawing model. Compared with the existing single reservoir operation charts, the simulation results show that the CRESOC presents better performance in terms of power generation and assurance rate, especially on the latter, which has a growth of 6.8%. Moreover, in order to eliminate the insufficient of DCM in practical application, the boundary control curves of each reservoir for water storage and water supply were optimized by the proposed optimization technique, and the simulation results show that there is no water abandonment in all the 43 dry seasons after the optimization.

A flexible solid-state supercapacitor based on iron sulfide (FeS 2 ) nanospheres supported on carbon-paper is fabricated, which exhibits excellent electrochemical performance such as, high capacitance of 484 F g −1 at a scan rate of 5 m Vs −1 , good rate capability, and excellent cycling stability (95.7% after 5000 cycles). The supercapacitor achieves high energy density of 44 Wh kg −1 at power density of 175 W kg −1 with high coulombic efficiency (97%). Three charged supercapacitors connected in series can power 12 green-color light-emitting-diodes (LED, 3.0 V, 20 mA) for 5.5 minutes. To understand the detailed electrochemistry, we have carried out both experimental and theoretical investigations. The pseudocapacitive characteristics of the FeS 2 nanospheres are systematically investigated by a single electrode in aqueous electrolyte. According to our structural analysis, the FeS 2 nanospheres have orthorhombic structure, where Fe atoms are surrounded by 6 S atoms to form a FeS 6 octahedron. These octahedrons are connected to form a network structure, which provide tunnels (2.55 × 4.77 A). With all the evidence, we believe that the FeS 2 nanospheres could be a promising material for supercapacitor electrodes.

A 56-d feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary lysine levels on growth performance, intestinal digestive enzymes, and nonspecific immune response of Apostichopus japonicus juveniles. Five semipurified diets were formulated to contain graded levels of lysine (from 0.28 to 2.32% of dry matter). Although no significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed in survival rate, final weight (FW), and body weight gain (BWG), the FW and BWG increased from 0.28 to 1.19% with increasing dietary lysine levels, then showed a declining tendency. Broken-line regression analysis of BWG indicated sea cucumber requires lysine at 0.76% of dry diet. Proximate composition, lysine content of the body wall, and total amino acid profiles were not affected by dietary treatments. Intestinal protease level increased with increasing dietary lysine level from 0.28 to 1.19%, then decreased. Acid phosphatase and superoxide dismutase activities of the sea cucumbers were not affected by various dietary lysine levels; however, significantly (P

Electrochemical properties of alkali ions (Li+, Na+, and K+) intercalating into FeSe have been studied based on first-principles calculations within density functional theory. The intercalation sites of lithium ions are found to be different from sodium and potassium ions due to the small ionic radius of lithium. Calculations of minimum energy path on the diffusions of Li+, Na+, and K+ in FeSe show that the activation energies for those alkali ions increase with their ionic radii. Lithium ions have a rather smaller diffusion barrier of about 0.20 eV, which leads to a bigger diffusion coefficient of about 6.3 × 10 - 6 cm 2 / s . We also show that FeSe has a flat discharging stage at about 1.0 V with lithium ions. These results indicate that XFe2Se2 (X = Li, Na, K) may be potential electrochemical active materials, especially for solid-state electrolyte and supercapacitors.

Purpose This paper aims to develop a new differential evolution algorithm (DEA) for solving the simple assembly line balancing problem of type 2 (SALBP-2). Design/methodology/approach Novel approaches of mutation operator and crossover operator are presented. A self-adaptive double mutation scheme is implemented and an elitist strategy is used in the selection operator. Findings Test and comparison results show that the proposed IDEA obtains better results for SALBP-2. Originality/value The presented DEA is called the integer-coded differential evolution algorithm (IDEA), which can directly deal with integer variables of SALBP-2 on a discrete space without any posterior conversion. The proposed IDEA will be an alternative in evolutionary algorithms, especially for various integer/discrete-valued optimization problems.

The effects of dietary cadmium (Cd) supplementation on growth, antioxidant capacity and accumulation of Cd in tissues (body wall, digestive tracts, and respiratory tree) of sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, exposed to sub-chronic concentrations (0, 10, 50, 100, and 500mg Cd/kg dry weight) of Cd were investigated. In addition, the potential protective effects of vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid, AsA) against the effects of Cd on sea cucumbers were investigated. Sea cucumbers were exposed to dietary Cd for 30 days, after which another group of healthy sea cucumbers was supplied diet supplemented with mixed Cd and AsA for another 30 days. Cd exposure for 30 days resulted in increased Cd accumulation in tissues of sea cucumbers with exposure time and concentration. The order of Cd accumulation in organs was digestive tracts>respiratory tree>body wall. On day 30, the body weight gain (BWG) and specific growth rate (SGR) decreased significantly (P

Aggregation of amyloid β-protein (Aβ) is a major pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Curcumin has been recognized as an inhibitor of Aβ aggregation, but its low water solubility and bioavailability limits its clinical applications. In this work, we conjugated curcumin to hyaluronic acid and drastically improved its solubility and stability. We found that the conjugates self-assembled into nanosized hydrogels that inhibited Aβ fibrillogenesis and mitigated the amyloid cytotoxicity more efficiently than free curcumin. More importantly, we found that there was an optimal curcumin substitution degree, at which the hydrogel exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect. Based on these findings, a mechanistic model was proposed. It suggested that besides the inhibitory effect of the conjugated curcumin, HA provided three synergistic functions. The first is that curcumin encapsulation into nanogels protected cells from the toxicity of free curcumin. The second was an isolation effect of the hydrogel network, which hindered the interactions between Aβ molecules. The third was the counteraction of the hydrophobic binding between Aβ and the conjugated curcumin against the electrostatic repulsion between the like-charged Aβ and HA. The two opposite forces could stretch the conformation of Aβ monomers, slowing down the aggregation and/or leading to off-pathway aggregations. This work offered new insights into the development of more potent nanoparticles for inhibiting Aβ fibrillogenesis and cytotoxicity.

X65, X70, and X80 belong to high grade pipeline steels. Toughness is one of the most important properties of pipeline steels when the pipeline transports the gas or oil, and the means to control toughness is very important for exploring even higher grade pipeline steels. We established the relationship between toughness and crystallographic parameters of high grade pipeline steels by studying the crystallographic parameters of X65, X70, and X80 using EBSD and analyzing Charpy CVN of X65, X70 and X80. The results show that the effective grain size, the frequency distribution of grain boundary misorientation and the ratio of high angle grain boundary to small angle grain boundary are important parameters. The finer the effective grain size, and the higher the frequency distribution of grain boundaries (≥ 50°), the more excellent toughness of high grade pipeline steels will be.

Purpose To develop and evaluate an automatic measurement model for hip joints based on anteroposterior (AP) pelvic radiography and a deep learning algorithm. Methods A total of 1260 AP pelvic radiographs were included. 1060 radiographs were randomly sampled for training and validation and 200 radiographs were used as the test set. Landmarks for four commonly used parameters, such as the center–edge (CE) angle of Wiberg, Tonnis angle, sharp angle, and femoral head extrusion index (FHEI), were identified and labeled. An encoder-decoder convolutional neural network was developed to output a multi-channel heat map. Measurements were obtained through landmarks on the test set. Right and left hips were analyzed respectively. The mean of each parameter obtained by three radiologists was used as the reference standard. The Percentage of Correct Key points (PCK), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Pearson correlation coefficient (r), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and Bland-Altman plots were used to determine the performance of deep learning algorithm. Results PCK of the model at 3 mm distance threshold range was from 87 % to 100 %. The CE angle, Tonnis angle, Sharp angle and FHEI of the left hip generated by the model were 29.8°±6.1°, 5.6°±4.2°, 39.0°±3.5° and 19 %±5 %, respectively. The parameters of the right hip were 30.4°±6.1°, 7.1°±4.4°, 38.9°±3.7° and 18 %±5 %. There were good correlation and consistency of the four parameters between the model and the reference standard (ICC 0.83–0.93, r 0.83–0.93, RMSE 0.02–3.27, MAE 0.02–1.79). Conclusions The new developed model based on deep learning algorithm can accurately identify landmarks on AP pelvic radiography and automatically generate parameters of hip joint. It will provide convenience for clinical practice of measurement.

Salinity is an important abiotic factor for aquatic organisms. In fish, changes in salinity affect physiological responses and alter the immune system. Takifugu rubripes is an important economic marine fish, and mechanisms of T. rubripes adaptation to salinity changes need to be further documented. In this study, a transcriptome sequencing technique was used to analyse genes that were differentially expressed in the T. rubripes gill after low-salinity stress for 30 d, and differential gene expression was further validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). After assembly, 385 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, including 182 upregulated genes and 203 downregulated genes. The DEGs were assigned to Gene Ontology (GO) classes with a total of 1647 functional terms. Most DEGs were assigned to biological process (984; 59.8%) followed by molecular function (445; 27.0%) and cellular component (218; 13.2%). Further KEGG analysis allocated 385 DEGs to 95 KEGG pathways. After q-value correction, 7 pathways (Glycolysis/Gluconeogenesis; Biosynthesis of amino acids; Carbon metabolism; Fructose and mannose metabolism; Pentose phosphate pathway; Metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450; and Glycine, serine and threonine metabolism) remained significant. qPCR results indicated that the transcripts of six selected genes sharply increased after 30 d of low-salinity stress. Low-salinity stress obviously increased SLC39A6, SLC5A9, NKAα1, CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and GSTA expression. In contrast, the genes encoding Aldoaa, GPI, FBP2 and GAPDH exhibited downregulation. In addition, three solute carrier (SLC) genes selected from the DEGs were further studied for differential expression patterns after low-salinity exposure, and the results showed that the SLCs were upregulated in T. rubripes after 72 h of low-salinity exposure. This investigation provides data for understanding the molecular mechanisms of fish responses to low-salinity stress and provides a reference for rationally setting salinity levels in aquaculture.

Accurate monthly runoff prediction plays an important role in the planning and management of water resources. However, owing to climate changes and human activities, natural runoff often contains a variety of frequency components, and existing monthly runoff estimation techniques may fail to capture potential change processes effectively. To overcome this problem, we have developed a hybrid model for monthly runoff prediction. First, observed runoff is decomposed into several subcomponents via variational mode decomposition. Second, support vector machine models based on quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization are adopted to identify the input-output relationships hidden in each subcomponent. Finally, the total output of all submodules is treated as the final forecasting result for the original runoff. Three quantitative indexes are considered to test the performance of the developed models. The monthly streamflow of two reservoirs in China’s Yangtze Valley is considered as the survey target. This area contains the world’s largest hydropower project (Three Gorges Reservoir) and the waterhead of the middle line of Asia's largest inter-basin water transfer project (Danjiangkou Reservoir). Test results indicate that the hybrid model provides better forecasting accuracy compared to several traditional methods (artificial neural networks and extreme learning machines), making it an effective tool for the scientific operation of hydropower reservoirs.

Studies on organic acid metabolism have been mainly concentrated on the fruit, whereas, few have focused on the mechanism of high organic acids content in the fruit of Actinidia eriantha. Fruits of &lsquo, Ganmi 6&rsquo, harvested at eleven developmental periods were used as materials. The components and content of organic acids were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system, the activities of the related enzyme were detected, and gene expression levels were measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Components of ascorbic acid (AsA) and eight kinds of organic acids were detected. These results showed that quinic acid and citric acid were the main organic acids in the fruit of &lsquo, Correlation analysis showed that NADP-Quinate dehydrogenase (NADP-QDH), NADP-Shikimate dehydrogenase (NADP-SDH), and Cyt-Aconitase (Cyt-Aco) may be involved in regulating organic acids biosynthesis. Meanwhile, the SDH gene may play an important role in regulating the accumulation of citric acid. In this study, the activities of NADP-SDH, Mit-Aconitase (Mit-Aco), and NAD-Isocitrate dehydrogenase (NAD-IDH) were regulated by their corresponding genes at the transcriptional level. The activity of Citrate synthase (CS) may be affected by post-translational modification. Our results provided new insight into the characteristics of organic acid metabolism in the fruit of A. eriantha.

Traditional power generation operation of reservoir mainly considers the maximization of power generation and guarantees the stability of the power system. However, blindly considering power generation objectives may ignore its impact on the ecological environment and navigation. A multi-objective optimization operation model considering power generation, ecological and navigation objectives is established in this paper. In order to efficiently solve the model, a new Improved Multi-objective Moth-flame Optimization Algorithm based on R-domination (R-IMOMFO) has been proposed. In order to enhance the ability of Moth-flame Optimization Algorithm (MFO) to overcome falling into the local optimum, it is improved from three aspects: update formula, inspiration of moth linear flight path and flame population update strategy, called improved MFO (IMFO) algorithm. In order to distinguish these individuals who are not dominated by each other in Pareto domination, the R-domination is proposed in combination with reference points. To verify the performance of IMFO and R-domination separately, different evolutionary algorithms and multi-objective mechanisms are combined to generate five new algorithms. Five new algorithms and five state-of-the-art algorithms are tested on the benchmark functions and reservoir operation model. The test results show that the proposed R-IMOMFO algorithm has the ability to obtain a set of solution with good convergence and strong distribution in the optimization operation problem of cascade reservoirs. Finally, the relationships between the objectives of the operation model are explored by the set of solution obtained by R-IMOMFO and the reason for the relationships is analyzed. The operation results show that the ecological demand and navigation demand have obvious contradictory relationships.

Reliable and accurate probabilistic forecasting of wind speed is of vital importance for the utilization of wind energy and operation of power systems. In this paper, a probabilistic spatiotemporal deep learning model for wind speed forecasting is proposed. The underlying wind turbines are embedded into a grid space, which fully expresses the spatiotemporal variation process of the airflow. Thus, advanced image recognition methods can be employed to solve the spatiotemporal wind speed forecasting problem. The proposed model is based on a spatial–temporal neural network (STNN) and variational Bayesian inference. The proposed STNN combines the convolutional GRU model and 3D Convolutional Neural Network and uses an encoding-forecasting structure to generate the spatiotemporal predictions. Variational Bayesian inference is employed to obtain the approximated posterior parameter distribution of the model and determine the probability of the prediction. The proposed model is applied in two real-world case studies in United States. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model significantly outperforms other models in both forecast skill and forecast reliability. The uncertainty estimation is also shown and it demonstrates that the proposed model is able to provide effective uncertainty estimation in both the time level and space level.

This paper presents a video display processor which supports a variety of video formats and integrates multiple advanced functions for image quality improvement, including edge-directed image upscaling, guided image filter (GIF) based detail enhancement and noise reduction, multi-view autostereoscopic 3D processing, etc. By leveraging algorithm and architecture co-design, this work efficiently implements these computational intensive display processing functions in a single chip. The chip is fabricated in GF 55nm CMOS technology, and the core size is 38.71mm2 including 1.8M logic gates and 541KB SRAM. The chip works at the maximum operating frequency of 594MHz with the core supply voltage of 1.2V. The maximum input and output video formats reach up to 4K×2K@60fps.

A 30-days feeding trail was conducted to determine the sensitivity of Carassius auratus to the toxicological effects of elevated dietary Selenomethionine (Se-Met). C. auratus averaging 23.56 ± 1.82 g were exposed to four Se-Met concentrations (mg Se/kg): 0 (Se-Met0), 5 (Se-Met5), 10 (Se-Met10) and 20 (Se-Met20) to estimate the effects on tissue selenium (Se) accumulation, blood biochemical profiles, transcript expression and intestinal microbiota. Se accumulated in the kidney, liver and muscle in a dose-dependent manner and followed this order: kidney > liver > muscle, the highest accumulation were obtained in kidney of Se-Met20 diet after 30 days of feeding. Serum contents of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in fish exposed to Se-Met20 group was significantly highest among Se-Met exposure groups. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentrations in liver were affected by dietary Se-Met exposures. Liver contents of total antioxidant capacity (TAC), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in fish exposure to Se-Met5 group was significantly highest among Se-Met exposure groups. Growth hormone receptor (GHR), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and antioxidant enzyme related genes including glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) expression in liver were down-regulated with the concentration of Se-Met exposure groups. The results of high-throughput sequencing showed that gut microbial communities and hierarchy cluster heatmap analysis were significantly affected by Se-Met exposure. The abundances of Cetobacterium and Vibrio increased while fish exposed to Se-Met20 group. The abundance of Ralstonia increased when the Se-Met exposure dose reached 10 mg Se kg−1. The results suggested that the exposure to elevated dietary Se-Met may result toxic effects in C. auratus.

Probiotic is well known because of its health benefit on the host, including improve growth, treat disease, and enhance immunity. Currently, probiotic has been widely used in aquaculture. However, there is little information about the effect of probiotic on turbot. Therefore, an effort was made to explore the effect of a multi-strain probiotic on growth performance, non-specific immune response, and intestinal health of juvenile turbot, Scophthalmus maximus L. One hundred eighty juvenile turbot (20.04 ± 0.23 g) were randomly divided into three groups (T0, T1, T2), and fed diet were formulated to contain 0%, 1%, and 5% multi-strain probiotic, respectively. Sixty days after the feeding experiment, the growth performance, body composition, enzyme activities, and intestinal microorganism of turbot were analyzed. T2 and T1 showed better growth performance and significant higher (P