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Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are emerging, leading-edge, and promising devices for converting ambient vibration energy into electrical energy and power for low-power sensors. However, it is difficult to harvest energy from low-frequency ambient vibrations using conventional TENGs. To solve this issue, in this study, we propose a bow-type TENG with a bistable stiffness feature, which enables the conversion of low-frequency vibration energy into electrical energy with high efficiency. The dynamic model of the bow-type TENG was established based on extended Hamilton's principle and numerically solved to obtain the dynamic responses. Subsequently, a prototype of the bow-type TENG was fabricated and tested to verify the design concept. Moreover, the dependencies of the energy-harvesting performance on the structural parameters were experimentally investigated. The average power had a maximum value of 0.64 mW at 5 Hz in the case of optimal load resistance. The bow-type TENG could power a number of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to display the word "HNU" under low-frequency excitation. Hence, the bow-type TENG can substantially extend the function of harvesting vibration energy from high to low frequencies. [Display omitted] • A bow-type TENG is designed to substantially promote the vibration energy harvesting at low frequency. • The large-amplitude and high-speed interwell oscillations are fulfilled by devising a novel bistable structure for the TENG. • The TENG can gain the largest output power about 0.64 mW under an excitation frequency of 5 Hz. • Increasing potential energy barrier can broaden the frequency bandwidth of high-efficiency energy harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the flight mechanism of dipteran, a novel bionic-dipteran energy harvester (BDEH) was proposed to collect ultralow-frequency vibration energy. Mimicking the skeletal structure of dipteran wing, two flexible beams and two rigid links are hinged together to form a bistable mechanism. Piezoelectric patches attached onto the flexible beams generate electricity as the proof mass is driven to oscillate by base excitations. A lumped-mass-spring model is built for theoretical analysis, which is verified by both finite element simulations and experiments. The dynamic responses of displacement and output voltage are achieved under different conditions, which indicate that the BDEH has the highest efficiency when the system undergoes cross-well vibration pattern. Both light damping and large excitation are beneficial to trigger cross-well vibration and thus enhance energy harvesting efficiency. A rectifier circuit is built to measure output power of the prototype under different excitations. Maximum power of 0.143 mW is generated under cross-well vibration pattern at an excitation frequency of 4 Hz and acceleration of 0.7 g (g = 9.8 m/s2), which implies that the BDEH should be a feasible solution for ultralow-frequency energy harvesting even under low excitation. • A novel bistable energy harvester is proposed by mimicking the dipteran wing. • Ultralow-frequency (4Hz) vibration energy harvesting is fulfilled. • The harvester performs best when undergoing cross-well vibration pattern. • Large-amplitude cross-well oscillation under low excitation is realized. • Light damping and large excitation are beneficial to enhance energy harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The degradation of an solvent-free epoxy coating in 3.5 % NaCl solution was studied by EIS and other tests. • The failure of the coating is mainly caused by physical processes due to many nanoscale defects. • The |Z| 0.01Hz decreases to 1 × 107 Ω cm2 demonstrating a poor protection performance of the coating. • The mathematical formula proposed by Bierwagen is suitable for predicting the lifetime of the coating. The degradation process and electrochemical characteristics of an environment-friendly solvent-free epoxy coating in 3.5 % NaCl solution was investigated by using electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) studies. Combined with open circuit potential (OCP), adhesion tests, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) methods, the failure mechanism of the coating was analyzed. The results show that the failure of the coating is mainly caused by physical processes due to many nanoscale defects providing channels for the diffusion of corrosive media. The low-frequency impedance (| Z | 0.01 Hz) decreases to about 1 × 107 Ω cm2, demonstrating a poor protection performance of the coating, manifested by the coating adhesion decreasing about 50 %–60 % and corrosion products observed on the substrate by SEM. The mathematical formula proposed by Bierwagen is suitable for predicting the service life of the solvent-free epoxy coating combined with a suitable failure criterion. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By anodization and thermal oxidation at 600 °C, an oxide layer on Ti with excellent corrosion resistance in strong acid solutions was prepared. The structural properties of TiO2 films before and after thermal oxidation were investigated with methods of Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical characterization was recorded via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, potentiodynamic polarization and Mott–Schottky methods. XRD results show that a duplex rutile/anatase structure formed after oxidation, and the amount of anatase phase increased as the treatment time was prolonged from 3 to 9 h. XPS analysis indicates that as the thermal oxidation time increased, more Ti vacancies were present in the titanium oxide films, with decreased donor concentration. Longer thermal oxidation promoted the formation of hydroxides of titanium on the surface, which is helpful to improve the passive ability of the film. The anodized and thermally oxidized Ti samples showed relatively high corrosion resistance in 4 M HCl and 4 M H2SO4 solutions at 100 ± 5 °C. The passive current density values of the thermally oxidized samples were five orders of magnitude under the testing condition compared with that of the anodized sample. With the oxidation time prolonged, the passive current density decreased further to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, research in the field of task offloading not only pays attention to the computing performance of computing nodes, but also pays attention to the impact of energy consumption on computing performance. The current multi-core frequency conversion processors mainly use dynamic voltage frequency scaling (DVFS) technology to reduce processor frequency and energy consumption. The most representative is ARM's big.LITTLE which is a heterogeneous processor architecture, with large cores having strong performance and small cores being more energy efficient. In this article, we aim to implement energy-saving task offloading based on the big.LITTLE processor. We regard multi-core and multi-edge clouds as multiple computing nodes with different computing capabilities and express the task offloading problem as a computing resource scheduling problem. We modeled the calculation time and energy consumption through a non-cooperative game and proved that the non-cooperative game is an accurate potential game. The theory proves that non-cooperative games have at least one pure strategy Nash equilibrium point (NEP). We designed an edge cloud multi-user computing resource scheduling algorithm based on big.LITTLE processor (MUCRS). The simulation experiment results show that the MUCRS algorithm can obtain a suitable task offloading scheme, and the time and energy cost are lower than several similar algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degradation process of a red iron oxide epoxy coating on three kinds of metals under a periodic cycling exposure to 3.5 wt% NaCl solution (45 °C 12 h + 25 °C 12 h) was comparatively studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The influence of the metal substrates (carbon steel, brass, and Al alloy) on the protection performance of the coating was analyzed using variations in the electrochemical and chemical parameters. The failure criteria of the coating were discussed. The results show that the coating on the three substrates presents different failure times, with the coating on steel presenting the shortest time and the coating on Al alloy the longest time. The characteristics of metal substrates and their corrosion products influence the coating failure behavior. The corrosion products with loose and hygroscopic properties of steel and brass have promoting effects on the diffusion of water through the coating. The passive film of the Al alloy substrate and the formation of salt film containing Cl− have corrosion-inhibiting effects on the substrate. Evaluation of the coating performance by |Z|0.01Hz should consider the characteristics of the metal substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The development of intelligent nanodrug delivery systems that can visually guide the on-demand quantitative control of drug release has received extensive attention. Herein, two chemotherapeutic drugs, gallic acid and 5-fluorouracil, and Fe(III) were selected to prepare nanomedicine GF-Fe via polyphenol-metal self-assembly and infinite coordination of drug-metal. GF-Fe has good biocompatibility, photothermal properties and photoacoustic (PA) signals. When deferoxamine (DFO) was artificially applied and interacted with GF-Fe, GF-Fe began to disassemble, gallic acid and 5-fluorouracil were gradually released, while the PA signal of the nanomedicine decayed synchronously. Based on this, the relationship between the intensity of the PA signal and the drug release amount was established, so as to realize the precise quantitative control of the drug release in real-time under the guidance of PA imaging. Besides, the combined effect of the two therapeutic drugs in combination with photothermal therapy (PTT) can improve the therapeutic effect, resulting in significant superadditiveness. This nanoplatform constructed by facile synthesis provided good clinical translation potential for the implementation of precise multimodal combination therapy strategies for tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reported facile fabrication of a novel β-Ni(OH) 2 /NiFe 2 O 4 heterostructure composite by KOH alkaline etching three-component NiFeAl-layered double hydroxides (NiFeAl-LDHs) precursor for ethanol oxidation electrocatalysis. Detailed investigation of evolution progress from NiFeAl-LDHs precursor to β-Ni(OH) 2 /NiFe 2 O 4 demonstrated that growth of such composite structure underwent partial dealumination and spontaneous lattice rearrangement of NiFeAl-LDHs to form α-Ni(OH) 2 /NiFeAl-LDHs compound, followed by deep dealumination and topological transformation to produce β-Ni(OH) 2 /NiFe 2 O 4. Compared to NiFeAl-LDHs precursor, β-Ni(OH) 2 /NiFe 2 O 4 heterostructure prepared in 15 M KOH alkaline had enhanced activity (approximately 10 times) for ethanol electrocatalysis , smaller electron transfer resistance of 1.33 Ω, and increased long-term stability. In situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and in situ Raman spectroscopy were further performed to explore reaction mechanism and transformation process of β-Ni(OH) 2 /NiFe 2 O 4 in ethanol electrocatalysis, which verified that the process of electron donating and electron receiving between NiFe 2 O 4 and β-Ni(OH) 2 realized more electron transfer and greatly improved the fuel utilization. [Display omitted] • Preparation of β-Ni(OH) 2 /NiFe 2 O 4 heterostructure by KOH etching LDHs precursor. • Ethanol electrocatalytic performance of the heterostructure is tested. • The enhanced electrocatalytic performance may be resulted by synergistic effect. • The research strategy broadens preparation idea of non-noble metal anode catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new machine learning technique, federated learning has received more attention in recent years, which enables decentralized model training across data silos or edge intelligent devices in the Internet of Things without exchanging local raw data. All kinds of algorithms are proposed to solve the challenges in federated learning. However, most of these methods are based on stochastic gradient descent, which undergoes slow convergence and unstable performance during the training stage. In this paper, we propose a differential adaptive federated optimization method, which incorporates an adaptive learning rate and the gradient difference into the iteration rule of the global model. We further adopt the first-order moment estimation to compute the approximate value of the differential term so as to avoid amplifying the random noise from the input data sample. The theoretical convergence guarantee is established for our proposed method in a stochastic non-convex setting under full client participation and partial client participation cases. Experiments for the image classification task are performed on two standard datasets by training a neural network model, and experiment results on different baselines demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial-robot assisted abrasive cloth wheel polishing blades aim to reduce surface roughness and improve machining consistency of blades. Since the blade is the complex free-form surface, the blade surface after offline programming has "over-polishing," "under-polishing," and machining allowance uneven phenomenon. In this paper, fuzzy impedance force control technology is proposed to solve the precision problem in the blade polishing process. First, the position-based impedance control algorithm is analyzed, and reasonable impedance parameters are obtained based on the actual robot model. Then, the fuzzy variable impedance control combining fuzzy theory and impedance control is proposed to solve the problems of poor trajectory tracking ability and force instability, when the traditional impedance control faces environmental changes and unknown environments. Finally, the simulation platform is built with the help of MATLAB Simulink tool to verify the effectiveness and rationality of the strategy, and the comparative experiment is conducted for robot-assisted abrasive cloth wheel polishing blade under fuzzy variable impedance force control and without force control. The results show that after superimposing the displacement compensation controlled by the fuzzy variable impedance force on the blade surface, the blade surface roughness is below 0.4 μm, the polishing machining allowance is within ± 0.06 mm, and the uniformity and consistency of the blade polishing surface are better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Bio-based microspheres containing reactive aldehyde groups are prepared. • The microspheres can immobilize and controllably release amino acids. • The microspheres containing amino acids demonstrate anti-corrosion effects for metals. • The microspheres can be recycled and reused. Abstract This article reports a novel type of aldehyde-containing microspheres (ACMs) prepared by suspension polymerization using two biomass monomers, syringaldehyde methacrylate (SMA) and eugenol methacrylate (EMA), in which SMA provides aldehyde groups and EMA provides crosslinking structure. The ACMs with spherical morphology and adjustable pore sizes were observed by SEM images. Taking advantage of the reactive aldehyde groups, the ACMs can be used as a carrier for amino acids by forming Schiff-base, thereby leading to a novel type of metal corrosion inhibitor. The novel corrosion inhibitors demonstrate noticeable anticorrosion effects via controlled releasing amino acids. The releasing rate and amount can be tuned by varying pH and temperature. The ACMs can immobilize diverse amino acids (glycine, alanine, leucine), which all perform anticorrosion effects for the examined metals (aluminum, iron, zinc). The ACMs can be reused for at least ten times with little change in immobilizing and releasing amino acids. The present study establishes a facile, powerful strategy for immobilizing amino acids and even other compounds containing amino and hydrazine groups; it also provides a novel class of green corrosion inhibitors for metals with promising practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Pd-Co gradient coating is prepared on stainless steel by simply controlling the electro-deposition current density in the same electrolyte bath. SEM, EDX, XRD, weight loss test and some other methods were used to determine the properties of the Pd-Co gradient coating. The result shows that Co content in the coating increases from about 24 at.% at the substrate/coating interface to about 36 at.% at the outside surface by changing the deposition current density. The coating is uniform, compact and the grain size decreases from the inner interface to the outside surface. Compared with coatings deposited at constant current densities, the Pd-Co gradient coating shows relatively higher micro-hardness, higher adherence strength to the substrate, lower internal stress and lower porosity. As the result, in stirred boiling acetic acid (90 wt%) and formic acid (10 wt%) mixtures containing 0.005 M Br − and solid particles, the gradient coating coated stainless steel samples show quite good erosion-corrosion resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and weight gain tests were performed on carbon fiber/vinyl ester and carbon fiber/bismaleimide composites in 3.5% NaCl solution to study the electrochemical and water absorption behaviors. The microstructure morphology and the flexural property of the composites in the long-term exposure process were analyzed with the scanning electron microscope and four-point bending tests. The results revealed that after long-time immersion (>200 d), the water absorption of the two composites is less than 0.5%. This has little effect on the microstructural integrity, only with slight damage on the fiber/resin interfaces, but results in a significant decrease (about 84%) in the composite flexural property. The variation of the water absorption percentage shows good consistency with that of the resin capacitance (Qc) and is negatively related to the variation of the resin resistance (Rpo) and the low-frequency impedance (|Z|0.01Hz) of the composites. A good linear relationship exists between the variations of phase angles in the middle-frequency range (0.1−10 Hz) and the |Z|0.01Hz. The phase angle at 10 Hz (θ10Hz) may be suggested as a suitable parameter to rapidly evaluate the performance of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites, just like for evaluating the protective performance of polymer-coated metals in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the host-centric TCP/IP network is hard to fulfill the new network requirements, the Information Center Networking (ICN) emerged. The communication mode of ICN increases the volatility and complexity of the traffic, so how to efficiently carry out traffic scheduling of this complex network has undoubtedly become the key and core problem in ICN. Delay and throughput are indispensable indicators to measure the network performance. However, there is no one to synchronously optimize and balance delay and throughput in the existing work. To solve this problem, based on the multi-objective genetic algorithm Non-dominated Sorting-based Algorithm II, we propose Density Sorting-Based Evolutive Algorithm (DSEA) to optimize the delay and throughput at the same time. The simulation results show that, compared with the existing multi-objective genetic algorithms, DSEA has better performance in evaluation indexes Generational Distance, Inverted Generational Distance, Hypervolume, and Pareto front. And it can reduce the delay by 30.01%, improve the throughput by 43.37% under the premise of a good balance between the two indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive algorithms are widely used because of their fast convergence rate for training deep neural networks (DNNs). However, the training cost becomes prohibitively expensive due to the computation of the full gradient when training complicated DNN. To reduce the computational cost, we present a stochastic block adaptive gradient online training algorithm in this study, called SBAG. In this algorithm, stochastic block coordinate descent and the adaptive learning rate are utilized at each iteration. We also prove that the regret bound of O T can be achieved via SBAG, in which T is a time horizon. In addition, we use SBAG to train ResNet-34 and DenseNet-121 on CIFAR-10, respectively. The results demonstrate that SBAG has better training speed and generalized ability than other existing training methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In reinforcement learning, centralized temporal-difference (TD) learning is commonly used to solve the policy evaluation problem. However, the decentralized adaptive variant of the TD learning algorithm has rarely been investigated in multi-agent reinforcement learning. To fill this gap, based on linear function approximation, we propose a decentralized adaptive TD learning algorithm over time-varying networks, referred to as D-AdaTD. We rigorously analyze the convergence performance of D-AdaTD , i.e., the explicit finite-time analysis is established under different step-sizes. Specifically, under constant step-sizes, the average estimated value function can converge to a neighborhood of the optimal value at rate O (1 / (k + 1)) and the estimated parameter of each agent can converge to a neighborhood of the optimal parameter at rate O (ξ k) , where k is the number of iterations and ξ ∈ (0 , 1). Under diminishing step-sizes, the average estimated value function can converge to the optimal value and the average estimated parameter can converge to the optimal parameter at rate O ((1 + log (k + 1)) / k) and O ((1 + log (k + 1)) / (k + 1)) , respectively. In addition, we evaluate the performance of D-AdaTD via simulation experiments, which are commonly insufficient in the existing decentralized temporal-difference learning. The experimental results also validate the effectiveness of D-AdaTD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A S-modified Cu/Cu 2 O by a simple in-situ wet chemical reduction method is obtained for hybrid capacitors. • The S can affect the electronic structure, then promote the electron transfer during the charge/discharge process. • The S can occupy the O sites in Cu 2 O evidenced by DFT calculation, XRD, XPS and XAS measurements. • A high capacity of 669 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 was obtained. Due to the modification of anions, an electron redistribution occurs at the metal ions can affect the electronic structure, and induce excellent specific capacity. Herein, we report an effective and low time-consuming method by in-situ wet chemical reduction at room temperature to construct S-modified Cu/Cu 2 O negative electrode material. Moreover, the sulfur can occupy partial O sites in Cu 2 O to play a crucial role in the electronic structure of the material, demonstrated by DFT calculation, XRD, XPS and XAS measurements. The prepared S-Cu/Cu 2 O samples exhibit excellent electrochemical performance with high specific capacity of 669 mAh·g−1 at 1 A·g−1, even 450 mAh·g−1 at 10 A·g−1. When the materials are composed as pseudo capacity-type cathode//battery-like anode (MnO 2 //S-Cu/Cu 2 O), and (+) battery-type//battery-type (-) (Ni-Cu hydroxide/Cu(OH) 2 /CF//S-Cu/Cu 2 O) hybrid capacitors, they show the energy density of 47.7 and 147.3 Wh·kg−1 at the power density of 636.2 and 800 kW·kg−1, respectively. Otherwise, the flexible MnO 2 //S-Cu/Cu 2 O hybrid capacitor is assembled, which also exhibits good performance at different bending conditions. This work can provide a simple method to prepare the electrode materials via in situ anion modification for high-energy density battery-like energy storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way of heat exchange in the closed wet cooling tower is through the direct contact between the air in the tower and the process water, so as to achieve the purpose of reducing the temperature of the process water. In order to improve the thermal performance of closed wet cooling tower and solve the problem of low heat transfer efficiency, a new elliptical finned tube of cooling tower is proposed, and a mathematical model is established. The process of heat and mass exchange in the tower is studied by numerical method. The effects of wind velocity and spray density on the thermal performance of cooling towers under different structures are analyzed. The results show that the whole velocity field is uniformly distributed, and there is an obvious flow around the cylinder on both sides of the pipe wall, and with the increase of air velocity in the tower, the flow around the cylinder is more obvious, compared with the traditional circular heat exchanger tube, the new elliptical finned tube can significantly improve the thermal performance of the closed wet cooling tower, meet the needs of practical engineering, and reduce the energy consumption of the cooling tower. • Numerical simulation can reveal the thermal performance of closed wet cooling tower. • A new type of heat exchange coil for cooling tower is proposed. • Through numerical simulation, it is proved that the new heat exchanger coil can significantly improve the cooling efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the variations of composition and properties of the passive film on 316 L stainless steel surface in 80°C, 0.5 mol L-1 H2SO4 + 2 mg L-1 NaF solution, is helpful to understand the mechanisms of corrosion resistancethe of plated Pd on 316 L ss. Design/methodology/approach: The variations of composition and properties of the passive film on 316 L stainless steel surface in 80°C, 0.5 mol L-1 H2SO4 + 2 mg L-1 NaF solution after connected to Pd electrode were studied with methods of potential monitor, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and electrochemical impedance spectrum (EIS) measurement. Findings: By connecting to a Pd electrode, the potential of the SS sample increased from the active region to the passive region. By connecting to the Pd electrode, the contents of Cr, Cr(OH)3 and Fe3O4 in passive film increased obviously. With increased Pd/SS area ratio, the Cr(OH)3 content in passive film increased but the Fe3O4 content changed little. The results show that after connecting to Pd the corrosion resistance of the passive film on 316 L stainless steel increases obviously, which may be attributed to the more compact passive film because of higher Cr, Cr(OH)3 and Fe3O4 contents and less point defects in the film. Originality/value: The effects and mechanism of Pd on passivation of SS was studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) method was used to investigate the degradation of four types of organic coating systems, which were brushed on three kinds of metal substrates and applied in various accelerated corrosion environments. Because the change of phase angle in the middle frequency region can effectively reflect the variation of the coating protection performance, with the aid of computer programs, the Pearson correlation, Cosine similarity and Euclidean distance correlation analysis methods were used to deeply analyze the impedance data of total 60 samples from different coating systems, so as to accurately determine the frequencies at which the phase angles present the best correlation with the low-frequency impedance (|Z| 0. 01 Hz). The results indicate that using Pearson correlation coefficient (r) to analyze the impedance data, the top eight ranked frequencies determined are in the range of 0.85 Hz to 41.75 Hz, the variations of phase angles in this range are closely related to that of the |Z| 0. 01 Hz. Based on this, the impedance data of all the samples are furtherly analyzed using Cosine similarity and Euclidean distance methods and the obtained frequencies are 4.52 Hz or 41.75 Hz. The final goal is to establish a rapid evaluation technique based on phase angles at middle frequency range, and promote the field engineering application of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in coating performance evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CuS dispersed on rGO were prepared by ball milling method. • CuS@rGO has the advantages of stable structure and better wettability. • The introduction of rGO provides better electrochemical kinetics for the battery. • The battery with CuS@rGO deliver excellent electrochemical performance. Aqueous hybrid-ion batteries (AHBs) are a potential low-cost, high safety, high operating voltage and high energy density storage devices. A new type of AHBs was proposed. We use a simple, low-cost and energy-saving ball milling method for the synthesis of material that CuS anchored on reduced graphene oxide (CuS@rGO). Aqueous Cu-Al hybrid-ion batteries were prepared with CuS@rGO as cathode, Cu as anode and LiCuAl (LiCl, CuCl and AlCl 3) aqueous solution as electrolyte. The battery produces a reversible capacity of 218.9 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1. At a high current density of 5 A g−1, the capacity can also reach 166.7 mAh g−1 and the battery capacity retention rate is as high as 80 % after 500 cycles. The successfully prepared CuS@rGO has excellent rate capability and strong cycling stability at high current density, which exceeds most reported aqueous and nonaqueous systems of Aluminum-ion batteries. The introduction of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) can accelerate the electron transfer in composites and provide better electrochemical kinetics, so it is conducive to the rapid storage of aluminum ions. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corrosion behaviour of 316L stainless steel (316L SS) in 10% H2SO4 solution (94°C) with various concentrations of NaCl (0–0.085 mol/L) was studied by immersion corrosion test and polarization methods, combined with SEM/EDS, XPS and XRD tests. The influence of NaCl on the corrosion of 316L SS was investigated. The results showed that at lower NaCl contents (0–0.0085 mol/L), the steel presented a general corrosion characteristic with a higher corrosion speed and the corrosion rate increased with the NaCl content. At higher NaCl contents (≥0.017 mol/L), the corrosion rate decreased remarkably due to the protective corrosion products precipitation which contained metallic sulphates and NaHSO4. However, the higher concentration of chloride ions caused micron pitting-like local dissolution on the surface. The addition of Na2SO4 effectively inhibited general corrosion of the steel because of a dense and continuous products layer enriched with more NaHSO4 and metallic sulphates formed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing composite films with good integrity is of great importance for the requirement of effective protection of metal materials. Herein, we report the fabrication of composite films of silica/layered double hydroxide (SiO 2 /LDH) on aluminum substrate by a two-step preparation method, in which MgAl-LDH crystallites were first in situ grown on aluminum surface, then SiO 2 layer was deposited on LDH-coated substrate film by sol-gel dip-coating technique. The rough surface of the as-prepared LDH film has many pore defects in the size of micro meters. After dip-coating with SiO 2 sol-gel, the micropores between LDH crystallites were mostly sealed. The composite films have remarkable anticorrosion property for aluminum metal, in comparison with the single LDH and SiO 2 film. With the increasing of SiO 2 coating times, the protective effect of the composite film strengthens gradually. This could be due to the synergism between the in situ grown LDH film, working as a rigid frame for depositing of SiO 2 sol-gel, and the SiO 2 layer, giving excellent barrier property to the composite film because of its better compactness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inherent micropores and microcracks in the micro-arc oxidation (MAO) film on the surface of Mg-Li alloy limit the corrosion resistance of the film in corrosive environments. In this work, the double-layer micro-arc oxidation/3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (KH560) composite film was prepared on the surface of the LA103Z Mg-Li alloy by MAO and silanization treatments. Based on this, the modification with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) to the KH560 film was studied and the corrosion resistance of the film was investigated. The results show that the silane film prepared is uniform and complete which fills up the micropores and microcracks of the MAO film, enhancing the shielding effect of the film. Moreover, the RGO modification increases the thickness of the KH560 film and the corrosion resistance of the composite film significantly in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. • The silane film fills up the micropores and microcracks of the MAO film, enhancing the shielding effect of the film. • The RGO increases the thickness of the KH560 film and the corrosion resistance of the composite film significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More training samples are able to reveal more possible variation of the illumination, expression and poses and are consequently beneficial for correct classification. However, in real-world applications, there are usually only a limited number of available training samples. Therefore, it is hard to effectively improve the accuracy of face recognition. The symmetry of face is of great importance to face recognition. In this paper, based on the symmetry of the face, the new mirror training samples are first generate new samples. Then the original training samples and the generated symmetry training samples are, respectively, used to perform collaborative representation based classification method. Finally, the scheme of the score level fusion is adopted to integrate the original training samples and symmetrical face training samples for ultimate face recognition by assigning a larger weight to the original training samples. The experimental results show that the proposed method can classify the face with a high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of supercapacitor is often restricted by unsatisfactory performance of negative electrodes and limited voltage window. Herein, the CuS/Fe 2 O 3 nano-heterojunction with O and S vacancies is constructed by calcination and selective sulfurization, and applied as negative electrode for asymmetric supercapacitor devices. Compared with bare Fe 2 O 3 and CuS, the heterojunction and defect endow the hybrid with improved conductivity, exposed full electrochemical active sites and enhanced charge transfer. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the electronic interface reconstruction between CuS and Fe 2 O 3 optimizes the electronic structure and accelerates the electron transport. Therefore, the heterostructured CuS/Fe 2 O 3 exhibits superior supercapacitor negative performance with high capacitance (921 F g-1 at 1 A g-1) and good rate capability. After assembling an asymmetric solid-state supercapacitor (CuS/Fe 2 O 3 //MnO 2 ASC) in a PVA/KOH gel, the device shows a high energy density of 56.6 Wh kg-1 at the power density of 900 W kg-1. In addition, employing polyvinyl alcohol/sodium alginate (PVA/SA/KOH) gel as the electrolyte, a flexible solid-state supercapacitor (CuS/Fe 2 O 3 //MnO 2 SSC) provides 27.8 Wh kg-1 at 900 W kg-1. This work designs and fabricates defect-rich heterojunction between metal sulfide and oxide and provides insights into developing high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors. [Display omitted] • CuS/Fe 2 O 3 was formed via simple calcination and selective sulfurization. • The composite exhibited an oxygen and sulfur vacancies-rich nano heterostructure. • The hybrid presented increased conductivity and electrochemical active sites. • Compared with CuS and Fe 2 O 3 , the composite showed enhanced specific capacitance. • Flexible solid-state supercapacitor showed excellent energy density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pd–Co alloy films were deposited on 316 L stainless steel by electroplating. Scanning electronic microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, weight loss test and polarization test were used to determine the properties of the Pd–Co alloy films. The Pd–Co films show fine grain size, low porosity and obviously high micro-hardness. The Co content in the film can be controlled in a large range from 21.9 at.% to 57.42 at.%. Pd is rich on the Pd–Co film surface, which is benefit to increase the corrosion resistance. In boiling 90% acetic acid plus 10% formic acid mixture with 0.005 M Br − under stirring, the Pd–Co plated stainless steel samples exhibit evidently better corrosion resistance in contrast to Pd plated samples. The good corrosion resistance of the Pd–Co alloy film is explained by the better compactness, the lower porosity, and the obviously higher micro-hardness of the alloy films, which increases the resistance to erosion and retards the development of micro-pores in the film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of CO 2 into value-added products is a hot research topic. Metal copper as an electrochemical catalyst shows activity for generating multi-carbon products in CO 2 electroreduction. Herein, Cu 2 S nanorods/copper mesh (Cu 2 S/CM) is successfully fabricated, and exhibits high performance of CO 2 electroreduction to ethanol. At −0.8 V vs RHE, it achieved the Faraday efficiency (FE) of 13.5%, the partial current density of 13.3 mA cm−2 and the yield of 986.4 μmol L−1 h−1 for ethanol. Experiments and theoretical calculations indicated that the high performance is benefits from the high density of Cu0 and Cu + pairs derived from Cu 2 S/CM during CO 2 electroreduction and an appropriate surface Cu0/Cu + ratio of 0.17. The Cu0–Cu+ sites facilitate the adsorption of key intermediate *CH 2 CHO and decrease the energy barrier of the ethanol pathway. This work provides not only a new comprehension of CO 2 electroreduction with Cu 2 S catalyst but also a design idea based on Cu0–Cu+ sites in Cu/Cu 2 S catalyst. [Display omitted] • Cu 2 S nanorods grown on copper mesh (Cu 2 S/CM) is fabricated for CO 2 electroreduction. • The high yield of 986.4 μmol L−1 h−1 for ethanol was achieved at −0.8 V. • The Cu0–Cu + sites were introduced from Cu 2 S/CM via the in-situ electroreduction. • The high performance is benefits from the high density of Cu0 and Cu + pairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nano-TiO2 modified rare earth composite coatings are prepared on 2024 aluminum alloy by brush plating. The composite coating is composed of mainly Ce(OH)3, Ce(OH)4, CeO2 and TiO2, with less cracks and lower porosity. The addition of nano-TiO2 enhances the adhesive strength of the rare earth coating to Al substrate, results in refined coating grains and increases the micro-hardness of the coating. The nano-TiO2 modification obviously improves the corrosion resistance of the rare earth coating. For the composite coating containing 2% TiO2, both the corrosion current density and the impedance are reduced by more than one order of magnitude in contrast to the values for the pure rare earth coating. The higher barrier ability and increased Ce3+ content in the Ce oxides may explain the increase of the corrosion resistance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Zinc-cobalt–nickel heterostructure electrode prepared by ultrasonic pulse electrodeposition. • The ZCN electrode exhibited a high specific capacitance of 1774F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1. • The asymmetric supercapacitor consisted of ZCN cathode and active carbon anode have high energy and power densities. A zinc-cobalt–nickel (ZCN) heterostructure was directly synthesized on nickel foam using a smart ultrasonic pulse electrodeposition method. The electrochemical results showed that the ZCN heterostructure, in which Zn-doped Co(OH) 2 served as the inner layer and Zn-doped Ni(OH) 2 served as the outer layer, exhibited a high specific capacitance of 1774F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1. It also showed excellent rate capability (91% of capacity retention at 10 A g−1) and good cycling stability (75.21% capacity retention after 1,000 cycles at a high current density of 20 A g−1). Moreover, an asymmetric supercapacitor was designed based on a ZCN cathode and an active carbon anode. The supercapacitor possessed high energy densities (39.6 Wh kg−1 at 400 W kg−1 and 20.3 Wh kg−1 at 6347 W kg−1) and extraordinary cycling stability (85.5% of initial capacity after 1000 cycles at a high current density of 6 A g−1). This ZCN heterostructure therefore has potential applications as a cathode material for supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Preparation of tin-antimony electrode by two-step pulse electrodeposition method. • Improvement of electrocatalysis performance by Fe3+ doped TiO 2 -NTs substrate. • The modified electrode has high catalytic activity and long service life. In this work, we prepared Fe-TiO 2 -NTs/SnO 2 -Sb-Ce electrode by pulse electrodeposition. The surface structure and morphology of the prepared electrode coatings was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). And we use linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), cyclic voltammetry (CV), AC impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and other electrochemical analysis methods to study the electrochemical performance of the electrodes. Additionally, accelerated life tests were performed for different electrodes. The Fe-TiO 2 -NTs/SnO 2 -Sb-Ce electrode has fewer cracks and smaller crystallite particles than conventional TiO 2 -NTs/SnO 2 -Sb electrodes as obtained from the analysis of XRD and SEM. Moreover, compared with TiO 2 -NTs/SnO 2 -Sb electrodes, the Fe-TiO 2 -NTs/SnO 2 -Sb-Ce electrode has a higher oxygen evolution potential of 2.17 V (vs. SCE) and lower charge transfer resistance which decreased by 73.6%. At the same time, capacity for electro-catalytic oxidation degradation of aniline is greatly improved, with the highest removal rate being as high as 90% after electrochemical treatment for 120 min. In addition, the cell voltage remains unchanged during the degradation process within 2 h which indicates that the electrode has good stability. The service life of the Fe-TiO 2 -NTs/SnO 2 -Sb-Ce electrode is 2.2 times longer than that of the TiO 2 -NTs/SnO 2 -Sb electrode according to accelerated life tests. Therefore, the Fe-TiO 2 -NTs/SnO 2 -Sb-Ce electrode has a wide range of application prospects in the field of wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the corrosion behavior of titanium alloys (TA2, TC4, TB6) in a 3 % sulfuric acid flue gas environment using electrochemical tests and microscopic analyses (SEM/EDS, XRD, metallographic microscopy). Results show that TA2 base metal has lower corrosion resistance compared to its weld metal, while TC4 and TB6 exhibit opposite trends. Specifically, TC4 and TB6 base metals have lower corrosion current densities (0.9 and 0.5 μA/cm 2 ) and higher corrosion potentials then their weld metals (1.93 and 2 μA/cm 2 ). In contrast, TA2 base metal showed higher corrosion current density (2 μA/cm 2 ) than its weld metal (0.35 μA/cm 2 ) and HAZ metal (0.16 μA/cm 2 ). Microscopic analyses reveal β phase transitions in TC4 and TB6 weld areas, leading to larger grain sizes and reduced corrosion resistance. Conversely, TA2 retains finer grains post-welding, enhancing its corrosion resistance. These insights clarify weld corrosion effects and provide valuable guidance for industrial applications of titanium alloys, particularly in designing and maintaining titanium alloy chimneys., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper:The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Caigan CHE reports equipment, drugs, or supplies and writing assistance were provided by 10.13039/501100007302Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China. Caigan CHE reports a relationship with Beijing University of Chemical Technology that includes:. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This study explores the compelling antitumor properties of VALD-2, a synthetic Schiff base ligand known for its low toxicity. The focus is on investigating VALD-2's protective role against cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in mice, with a specific emphasis on mitigating oxidative stress and inflammation. The study involves daily intraperitoneal injections of amifostine or VALD-2 over 7 days to establish an AKI model. Subsequently, mice were assigned to normal control, cisplatin group, cisplatin + amifostine group, and cisplatin + VALD-2 10 mg/kg group, cisplatin + VALD-2 20 mg/kg, and cisplatin + VALD-2 40 mg/kg. Kidney injury is assessed through serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Cr) activity assays. Levels of inflammatory factors, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), in kidney tissue of mice were assessed through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The protective effect of VALD-2 is further examined through HE staining to observe pathological changes in kidney injury. The ultrastructural changes of renal cells and tubular epithelial cells were observed by electron microscopy under experimental conditions, indicating the effect of VALD-2 on reversing cisplatin-induced renal injury. The study delves into VALD-2's protective mechanisms against cisplatin-induced kidney injury by using western blot analysis to assess the expression levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in kidney tissues. VALD-2 demonstrates significant improvement in cisplatin-induced AKI, as evidenced by increased BUN and Cr levels. It effectively protects kidney tissue from oxidative damage, enhancing SOD and GSH-Px activities while reducing MDA levels. The study also reveals a decrease in TNF-α and IL-6 levels, supported by ELISA results, and histological findings confirm anti-nephrotoxic effects. Western blot analysis shows an upregulation of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GSH-Px) and a reduction in MDA production. VALD-2 emerges as a promising mitigator of cisplatin-induced AKI, showcasing its ability to enhance oxidative stress-related protein expression. The findings suggest VALD-2 as a potential therapeutic agent for protecting against cisplatin-induced kidney injury., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

With the wide application of laser weapons, the requirements of laser protection technology are becoming more and more strict. Therefore, it is important to find ideal optical limiting (OL) materials to protect human eyes and detectors. In this work, the nonlinear optical responses of gold nanoparticles/porous carbon (Au NPs/PC) nanocomposites prepared by the reduction method were studied using the nanosecond Z-scan technique. Compared with porous carbon, the Au NPs/PC nanocomposites show a lower damage threshold, a bigger optical limiting index and a wider absorption spectrum. The interaction between gold nanoparticles and porous carbon enhances the nonlinear scattering effect of suspended bubbles. These results indicate that Au NPs composites have potential applications in the protection of human eyes and detectors.

This research delves into the influence of H2Valdien derivatives on the proliferation, migration, and apoptosis induction in hepatoma carcinoma cells (HepG2, Huh-7, and SMMC-7721), with a specific emphasis on inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through modulation of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. Utilizing the cell counting kit-8 method, flow cytometry, TUNEL assay, wound healing, and transwell assays, we observed a dose-dependent growth arrest and apoptosis induction in HepG2, Huh-7, and SMMC-7721 cells. Notably, H2Valdien derivatives exhibited a capacity to reduce migration and invasion, impacting the expression of EMT-associated proteins such as N -cadherin, vimentin, and E-cadherin. Mechanistically, these derivatives demonstrated the inhibition of the Hh signaling pathway by inactivating Sonic Hh (Shh) and smoothened proteins. This study underscores the robust antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing effects of H2Valdien derivatives on hepatoma carcinoma cells and elucidates their regulatory role in EMT through modulation of the Hh signaling pathway, providing valuable insights for potential therapeutic interventions., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: There are no conflicts of interest in this article., (© 2024 the author(s), published by De Gruyter.)

Background: EBV-miR-BARTs exhibit significant relevance in epithelial tumors, particularly in EBV-associated gastric and nasopharyngeal cancers. However, their specific mechanisms in the initiation and progression of gastric cancer remain insufficiently explored., Material and Methods: Initially, EBV-miRNA-BART6-5p and its target gene SMAD4 expression were assessed in EBV-associated gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Subsequent transfection induced overexpression of EBV-miRNA-BART6-5p in AGS and MKN-45, and downregulation in EBV-positive cells (SUN-719). The subsequent evaluation aimed to observe their impact on gastric cancer cell proliferation, migration, and glycolytic processes, with the TGF-β/SMAD4 signaling pathway value clarified using a TGF-β inhibitor., Results: EBV-miRNA-BART6-5p exhibits pronounced upregulation in EBV-associated gastric cancer tissues and EBV-positive cells, while its target gene SMAD4 demonstrates downregulated expression. Upregulation of it can promote the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells. Additionally, We found EBV-miRNA-BART6-5p promotes glycolysis of gastric cancer cells. Inhibition of the TGF-β/SMAD4 signaling pathway resulted in suppressed proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells, concomitant with a diminished glycolytic capacity., Conclusion: In this study, we found that EBV-miRNA-BART6-5p can target SMAD4, effectively increasing glycolysis in gastric cancer cells by regulating the TGF-β/SMAD4 signaling pathway, thereby enhancing the proliferation and metastasis of gastric cancer cells. Our findings may offer new insights into the metabolic aspects of gastric cancer., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to report regarding the present study., (© 2024 Zhao et al.)

Acetamiprid is a broad-spectrum neonicotinoid insecticide used in agriculture to control aphids. While recent studies have documented resistance to acetamiprid in several aphid species, the underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptome and metatranscriptome of a laboratory strain of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris, 1776), with reduced susceptibility to acetamiprid after nine generations of exposure to identify candidate genes and the microbiome involved in the adaptation process. Sequencing of the transcriptome of both selected (RS) and non-selected (SS) strains allowed the identification of 14,858 genes and 4938 new transcripts. Most of the differentially expressed genes were associated with catalytic activities and metabolic pathways involving carbon and fatty acids. Specifically, alcohol-forming fatty acyl-CoA reductase (FAR) and acyl-CoA synthetase (ACSF2), both involved in the synthesis of epidermal wax layer components, were significantly upregulated in RS, suggesting that adaptation to acetamiprid involves the synthesis of a thicker protective layer. Metatranscriptomic analyses revealed subtle shifts in the microbiome of RS. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of acetamiprid adaptation by the pea aphid and provide new insights for aphid control strategies.

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious kidney disease with high morbidity and mortality. However, there is no effective clinical treatment strategy. Herein, we developed a CD44 targeting nanoplatform based on HA-assembled melanin NPs covalently coupled with dexamethasone for I/R-induced AKI therapy by alleviating oxidative/inflammatory- induced damage. The constructed HA-MNP-DXM NPs had good dispersion, stability, and broad-spectrum scavenging capabilities against multiple reactive free radicals. Moreover, the NPs could be efficiently internalized and exhibited antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects in CoCl 2 -stimulated renal tubular epithelial NRK-52E cells. Furthermore, the I/R-induced AKI murine model was established to evaluate the in vivo performance of NPs. The results suggested the NPs could specifically target impaired kidneys upon intravenous administration according to NIR-II fluorescence imaging and showed high biosafety. Importantly, the NPs could improve renal function, alleviate oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions, inhibit apoptosis of tubular cells, and restore mitochondrial structure and function, exhibiting excellent therapeutic effects. Further therapeutic mechanism indicated the NPs maintained the cellular/mitochondrial redox balance by modulating the Nrf2 and HO-1 expression. Therefore, the NPs can be a promising therapeutic candidate for the treatment of I/R-induced AKI., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest in this work., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

With the wide application of intense lasers, the protection of human eyes and detectors from laser damage is becoming more and more strict. In this paper, we study the nonlinear optical limiting (OL) properties of porous carbon with a super large specific surface area (2.9 × 10 3 m 2 /g) using the nanosecond Z-scan technique. Compared to the traditional OL material C 60 , the porous carbon material shows an excellent broadband limiting effect, and the limiting thresholds correspond to 0.11 J/cm 2 for 532 nm and 0.25 J/cm 2 for 1064 nm pulses, respectively. The nonlinear scattering experiments showed that the OL behavior was mainly attributed to the nonlinear scattering effect, which is caused by the rapid growth and expansion of bubbles in the dispersion induced by laser irradiation, and the scattered light distribution is consistent with the results of Mie's scattering. These results suggest that porous carbon materials are expected to be applied to the field of laser protection in the future to further protect the human eye and precision optical instruments.

The application of traditional pressure sensors in health monitoring is limited by their initial rigidity. Flexible pressure sensors have thus received extensive attention owing to their excellent device flexibility. In this paper, we demonstrate a method of constructing flexible pressure sensors by inverting porous skeleton nickel foam based on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). MWCNTs and PDMS were mixed to form a composite conductive film, and the mass fraction of MWCNTs was optimized by evaluating the resistance change rate of the composite film. The optimized value of the mass fraction was 5%, which was used to prepare the flexible pressure sensors. The response, hysteresis, and stability of the sensors were further characterized. Pulse signals of humans were detected through flexible sensors, which can be used to evaluate cardiovascular conditions of the human body. These performance characteristics and the application demonstration show that our flexible pressure sensors have good prospects in human health care.

The psychrotroph Pseudomonas fragi D12, which grew strongly under low temperatures, was screened from tundra soil collected from the permanent alpine zone on Changbai Mountain. To mine the genes critical for cold tolerance and to investigate the cold-adaptation mechanism, whole-genome sequencing, comparative genomic analysis, and transcriptome analysis were performed with P. fragi . A total of 124 potential cold adaptation genes were identified, including nineteen unique cold-adaptive genes were detected in the genome of P. fragi D12. Three unique genes associated with pili protein were significantly upregulated at different degrees of low temperature, which may be the key to the strong low-temperature adaptability of P. fragi D12. Meanwhile, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Pseudomonas fragi D12 exhibited different cold-adaptation mechanisms under different temperature changes. When the temperature declined from 30°C to 15°C, the response included maintenance of the fluidity of cell membranes, increased production of extracellular polymers, elevation in the content of compatibility solutes, and reduction in the content of reactive oxygen species, thereby providing a stable metabolic environment. When the temperature decreased from 15°C to 4°C, the response mainly included increases in the expression of molecular chaperones and transcription factors, enabling the bacteria to restore normal transcription and translation. The response mechanism of P. fragi D12 to low-temperature exposure is discussed. The results provide new ideas for the cold-adaptation mechanism of cold-tolerant microorganisms., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Bao, Li, Zhao, Shi, Liu, Zhang, Zhou, Ma, Chen, Zhang and Chen.)

Federated learning is served as a novel distributed training framework that enables multiple clients of the internet of things to collaboratively train a global model while the data remains local. However, the implement of federated learning faces many problems in practice, such as the large number of training for convergence due to the size of model and the lack of adaptivity by the stochastic gradient-based update at the client side. Meanwhile, it is sensitive to noise during the optimization process that can affect the performance of the final model. For these reasons, we propose Federated Adaptive learning based on Derivative Term, called FedADT in this paper, which incorporates adaptive step size and difference of gradient in the update of local model. To further reduce the influence of noise on the derivative term that is estimated by difference of gradient, we use moving average decay on the derivative term. Moreover, we analyze the convergence performance of the proposed algorithm for non-convex objective function, i.e., the convergence rate of 1/nT can be achieved by choosing appropriate hyper-parameters, where n is the number of clients and T is the number of iterations, respectively. Finally, various experiments for the image classification task are conducted by training widely used convolutional neural network on MNIST and Fashion MNIST datasets to verify the effectiveness of FedADT. In addition, the receiver operating characteristic curve is used to display the result of the proposed algorithm by predicting the categories of clothing on the Fashion MNIST dataset.

Rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) is closely related to toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS), apoptosis, and inflammation. Excessive activation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-l (PARP-1) by ROS can cause mitochondrial dysfunction and release of the proapoptotic protein AIF, which triggers an intrinsic PARP-1-dependent cell death program. Considering these characteristics of rhabdomyolysis-induced AKI, we developed a targeting nanodrug delivery platform by loading PJ34 and coupling anti-GPR97 with melanin nanoparticles (GMP nanoparticles) that could realize photoacoustic self-monitoring and triple-collaborative treatment (antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory). The nanoparticles exhibited good dispersibility, solubility, and broad-spectrum ROS scavenging ability. In vitro experiments revealed high biocompatibility of the GMP nanoparticles and strong ability of scavenging multiple toxic ROS, antiapoptotic activity, and anti-inflammatory activity. Because melanin nanoparticles possess inherent photoacoustic (PA) imaging capability, they can not only serve as a drug carrier but also perform self-monitoring for real-time tracking of GMP biodistribution and renal uptake in a murine AKI model through PA imaging. In vivo experiments showed that the GMP nanoparticles could effectively reduce oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammatory response in mice with rhabdomyolysis-induced AKI, and the mechanism of alleviation was verified through western blot experiments. These results indicated that the nanoplatform could realize the targeted delivery and curative effect monitoring under the guidance of PA imaging, which is of great significance for the prevention and treatment of AKI. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: A targeting nanodrug delivery platform was developed by loading PJ34 and coupling anti-GPR97 with melanin nanoparticles (GMP nanoparticles) for photoacoustic self-monitoring and triple-collaborative treatment (antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory) of acute kidney injury (AKI). Further studies indicated that the Keap-1/Nrf2/HO-1 and PARP-1/AIF signaling pathways are involved in the therapeutic mechanisms to alleviate AKI. Immunohistochemical staining and routine blood test confirmed the anti-inflammatory performance of GMP nanoparticles. Compared to exogenous nanomaterials, we used endogenous melanin with broad ROS scavenging capacity as the nanocarrier and antioxidant, which not only overcomes the defects of high specificity, potential toxicity, low loading capacity, and high cost but also shows good biosafety and photoacoustic imaging performance in vivo., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2022 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Lymphatic metastasis plays an important role in malignant tumor invasion. Efficient identification of sentinel lymph node (SLN) is extremely significant for designing therapeutic strategies and assessing prognosis. In this work, we developed a natural cuttlefish melanin nanoprobe for the preoperative and intraoperative evaluation of lymphatic metastasis. The cuttlefish melanin nanoparticle could improve the water-solubility and biocompatibility of the near-infrared-II (NIR-II) dye, and extend the retention time of small molecule dye. The NIR-II imaging results verified that the nanoparticles have a high accumulation, high sensitivity, and high signal-to-noise ratio in the lymphatic system. Moreover, the nanoparticles have obvious naked-eye identification potential due to their natural brownish-black color. Additionally, the nanoparticles can combine with Gd ions to achieve preoperative lymphatic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The results of this study provide a unique approach to effectively identify and accurately remove lymph nodes before operation and during surgery, exhibiting tremendous potential in clinical translation., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Whether extensive intraoperative peritoneal lavage (EIPL) after gastrectomy is beneficial to patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (AGC) is not clear. This phase 3, multicenter, parallel-group, prospective randomized study (NCT02745509) recruits patients between April 2016 and November 2017. Eligible patients who had been histologically proven AGC with T3/4NxM0 stage are randomly assigned (1:1) to either surgery alone or surgery plus EIPL. The results of the two groups are analyzed in the intent-to-treat population. A total of 662 patients with AGC (329 patients in the surgery alone group, and 333 in the surgery plus EIPL group) are included in the study. The primary endpoint is 3-year overall survival (OS). The secondary endpoints include 3-year disease free survival (DFS), 3-year peritoneal recurrence-free survival (reported in this manuscript) and 30-day postoperative complication and mortality (previously reported). The trial meets pre-specified endpoints. Estimated 3-year OS rates are 68.5% in the surgery alone group and 70.6% in the surgery plus EIPL group (log-rank p = 0.77). 3-year DFS rates are 61.2% in the surgery alone group and 66.0% in the surgery plus EIPL group (log-rank p = 0.24). The pattern of disease recurrence is similar in the two groups. In conclusion, EIPL does not improve the 3-year survival rate in AGC patients., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

A Zr 4+ -doped anatase TiO 2 nanotube array electrode was prepared using a process that included Ti anodizing, chemical immersion, and heat treatment. The compositions, microstructure, and electrochemical properties of the prepared electrodes were characterized. The results show that Zr 4+ was successfully introduced into the TiO 2 nanotube array electrodes. Because Zr 4+ was doped into the crystal structure of the TiO 2 and replaced a part of Ti 4+ to form more oxygen vacancies and Ti 3+ , the electrocatalytic activity of the prepared electrodes, for the reduction of L-cystine, was significantly improved.