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SUMMARY: Flavan‐3‐ols are prominent phenolic compounds found abundantly in the young leaves of tea plants. The enzymes involved in flavan‐3‐ol biosynthesis in tea plants have been extensively investigated. However, the localization and associations of these numerous functional enzymes within cells have been largely neglected. In this study, we aimed to investigate the synthesis of flavan‐3‐ols in tea plants, particularly focusing on epigallocatechin gallate. Our analysis involving the DESI‐MSI method to reveal a distinct distribution pattern of B‐ring trihydroxylated flavonoids, primarily concentrated in the outer layer of buds. Subcellular localization showed that CsC4H, CsF3′H, and CsF3′5′H localizes endoplasmic reticulum. Protein–protein interaction studies demonstrated direct associations between CsC4H, CsF3′H, and cytoplasmic enzymes (CHS, CHI, F3H, DFR, FLS, and ANR), highlighting their interactions within the biosynthetic pathway. Notably, CsF3′5′H, the enzyme for B‐ring trihydroxylation, did not directly interact with other enzymes. We identified cytochrome b5 isoform C serving as an essential redox partner, ensuring the proper functioning of CsF3′5′H. Our findings suggest the existence of distinct modules governing the synthesis of different B‐ring hydroxylation compounds. This study provides valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying flavonoid diversity and efficient synthesis and enhances our understanding of the substantial accumulation of B‐ring trihydroxylated flavan‐3‐ols in tea plants. Significance Statement: Our work reveals the mechanism of flavonoid diversity and efficient synthesis in tea plants from the perspective of metabolon. Different metabolons modules provide a new perspective on the scientific problem of why tea plants accumulate high levels of EGCG. The discovery of obligate electron shuttle proteins provides new directions for improving metabolic engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deep fertilization is effective for improving crop yield and fertilizer use efficiency. However, its impact on mechanized direct‐seeded rapeseed and the optimal fertilization depth are poorly understood. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the fertilization depth effect on mechanized direct‐seeded rapeseed growth. Five treatments were designed: surface broadcast fertilizer, no fertilization, and fertilizer banded placement at soil depths of 5 (D5), 10 (D10), and 15 cm (D15). Results: Compared with surface broadcast fertilizer, deep fertilization generally increased seed yield and partial factor productivity by 11.0%, agronomic efficiency (AE) by 22.7%, and recovery efficiency (RE) by 79.2% due to the increase of root mass density (16.8%), plant height (8.6%), height of the first branch (10.6%), stem diameter (22.4%), shoot biomass (16.1%), and shoot nitrogen (35.7%), phosphorus (29.7%), and potassium (26.2%) uptake. D10 had the highest seed yield, oil yield, fertilizer use efficiency, and economic benefits at different fertilization depth treatments. Compared with D5 and D15 respectively, D10 increased seed yield by 5.4% and 46.0%, oil yield by 7.7% and 50.5%, partial factor productivity by 5.4% and 46.0%, AE by 9.0% and 99.5%, RE of nitrogen by 48.9% and 34.9%, RE of phosphorus by 83.1% and 38.0%, and RE of potassium by 57.5% and 32.5%. The economic benefits of D10 were CNY 867.31 ha−1 and CNY 4864.23 ha−1 higher than D5 and D15 respectively. Conclusion: Considering rapeseed growth and its economic benefits, this study shows that 10 cm is an appropriate placement depth with regard to mechanized direct‐seeded winter rapeseed production. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buccal titanium plate fixation is a common method for repairing mandibular defects. However, the method presents certain problems: the requirement of a large volume of titanium plate, a large number of fixation screws, a lengthy duration of the surgical operation, and exposure of the fixation plate which easily causes wound infection. In this study, a new base-fixation system was designed. Mandibular reconstruction was performed using the three-dimensional reconstruction package Mimics. In order to compare the newly designed base-fixation system and the common buccal-fixation system, the stress distributions and the displacement distributions of the whole model under two loading conditions were studied, based on the finite element analysis package ANSYS. The safety of the base-fixation titanium plate was evaluated. The results showed that although the maximum stress of the base-fixation titanium plate was higher than that of the buccal-fixation titanium plate, it was still less than the yield strength of titanium. Therefore, under the condition of applying 300 N of vertical occlusal loading, the base-fixation titanium plate displayed superior fixation ability without permanent deformation (and concomitant fixation failure). The results of the fatigue simulation analysis showed that the safety factor of the base-fixation titanium plate in the working state was 3.8 (>1.0), indicating that its fatigue performance met the application requirements. Compared with traditional buccal fixation, the novel base-fixation system has obvious advantages, suggesting its suitability as a new treatment method for clinical mandibular defect reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Stem cells are used as an alternative treatment option for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) due to their regenerative potential, but they are subject to low retention rate in the injured myocardium. Also, the diseased microenvironment in the injured myocardium may not provide healthy cues for optimal stem cell function. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we prepared a novel human-derived cardiac scaffold to improve the functional behaviors of stem cells. METHODS: Decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds were fabricated by removing cells of human-derived cardiac appendage tissues. Then, bone marrow c-kit+ progenitor cells from patients with congenital heart disease were seeded on the cardiac ECM scaffolds. Cell adhesion, survival, proliferation and cardiac differentiation on human cardiac decellularized ECM scaffold were evaluated in vitro. Label-free mass spectrometry was applied to analyze cardiac ECM proteins regulating cell behaviors. RESULTS: It was shown that cardiac ECM scaffolds promoted stem cell adhesion and proliferation. Importantly, bone marrow c-kit+ progenitor cells cultured on cardiac ECM scaffold for 14 days differentiated into cardiomyocyte-like cells without supplement with any inducible factors, as confirmed by the increased protein level of Gata4 and upregulated gene levels of Gata4, Nkx2.5, and cTnT. Proteomic analysis showed the proteins in cardiac ECM functioned in multiple biological activities, including regulation of cell proliferation, regulation of cell differentiation, and cardiovascular system development. CONCLUSION: The human-derived cardiac scaffold constructed in this study may help repair the damaged myocardium and hold great potential for tissue engineering application in pediatric patients with CHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to propose a new splitting mixed finite element method (MFE) for solving viscoelastic wave equations and give convergence analysis. First, by introducing two new variables q=ut\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$q=u_t$$\end{document} and σ=A(x)∇u+B(x)∇ut\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\varvec{\sigma }=A(x)\nabla u+B(x)\nabla u_t$$\end{document}, a new system of first-order differential-integral equations is derived from the original second-order viscoelastic wave equation. Then, the semi-discrete and fully-discrete splitting MFE schemes are proposed by using the MFE spaces and the second-order time discetization. By the two schemes the approximate solutions for the unknowns u, ut\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$u_t$$\end{document} and σ\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\sigma $$\end{document} are obtained simultaneously. It is proved that the semi-discrete and fully-discrete schemes have the optimal error estimates in L2\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$L^2$$\end{document}-norm. Meanwhile, it is proved that the fully-discrete SMFE scheme based on the Raviart-Thomas mixed finite element spaces and the uniform rectangular mesh partitions is super convergent. Finally, numerical experiments to compute the L2\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$L^2$$\end{document} errors for approximating u, q and σ\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\varvec{\sigma }$$\end{document} and their convergence rates are presented, and the theoretical analysis on error estimates and convergence is then confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Root‐zone hole fertilization has a positive impact on enhancing crop production and fertilization efficiency. However, a suitable spacing for hole fertilization in rapeseed cultivation is unclear. To explore an adaptive hole spacing for improving rapeseed yield and fertilization efficiency, field experiments were conducted. Four spacings of hole fertilization were designed: 10 (FD10), 20 (FD20), 30 (FD30) and 40 cm (FD40), using no fertilization (F0) and deep‐banded placement of fertilizer (DBP) as controls. The burial depth was 10 cm for FD and DBP treatments. RESULTS: Compared to DBP, hole fertilization impacted soil microenvironment, crop growth and yield components, resulting in a significant increase of 28.4% in seed yield and 25.6% in oil yield. Seed yield in FD20 (4345.43 kg ha−1) increased by 4.3%, 9.4% and 15.1% compared to FD10, FD30 and FD40, respectively. Fertilizer partial factor productivity under FD20 was 4.2%, 8.6% and 13.9% greater than FD10, FD30 and FD40, respectively; whereas the increase for agronomic efficiency was 6.0%, 12.7% and 21.0%, and the increase for N recovery efficiency was 39.5%, 52.5% and 62.9%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Fertilization with a hole spacing of 17 cm is a promising practice to maintain high production and fertilization efficiency when cultivating rapeseed. These results provide a theoretical foundation and scientific basis for improving rapeseed productivity and fertilizer utilization. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone marrow-derived stem/progenitor cells have been utilized for cardiac or vascular repair after ischemic injury, but they are subject to apoptosis and immune rejection in the ischemic site. Multiple scaffolds were used as delivery tools to transplant stem/progenitor cells; however, these scaffolds did not show intrinsically antiapoptotic or anti-inflammatory properties. Decellularized aortic scaffolds that facilitate cell delivery and tissue repair were prepared by removing cells of patient-derived aortic tissues. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed cells attached well to the scaffold after culturing for 5 days. Live/dead staining showed most seeded cells survived at day 7 on a decellularized aortic scaffold. Ki67 staining demonstrated that decellularized aortic scaffold promoted proliferation of bone marrow-derived CD34+ progenitor cells. Apoptosis of CD34+ progenitor cells induced by H2O2 at high concentration was significantly alleviated in the presence of decellularized aortic scaffolds, demonstrating a protective effect against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, decellularized aortic scaffolds significantly reduced the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-8, GM-CSF, MIP-1β, GRO-α, Entoxin, and GRO) concurrently with an increase in anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2 and TGF-β) released from CD34+ progenitor cells when exposed to H2O2 at low concentration. Finally, neovascularization was observed by H&E and immunohistochemical staining 14 days after the decellularized aortic scaffolds were subcutaneously implanted in nude mice. This preclinical study demonstrates that the use of a decellularized aortic scaffold possessing antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties may represent a promising strategy for cardiovascular repair after ischemic injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is one of the most common types of lung cancer, which affects the life and health of patients. The role of ATP-binding cassette subfamily A member 3 (ABCA3) in the occurrence and development of LUAD is unclear; therefore, ABCA3 expression in LUAD and other tumors was analyzed in the present study. In addition, ABCA3 expression in patients with LUAD and their survival were analyzed using a public database. ABCA3 co-expressed genes were identified and their enriched pathways were analyzed. Furthermore, ABCA3 expression was knocked down in LUAD cell lines. The proliferation, invasion and migration of cells, and the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), were studied through cytological and molecular biology experiments. Compared with that in normal lung tissues, ABCA3 expression was significantly reduced in tumor tissues. Patients with low ABCA3 expression had a markedly worse overall survival compared with those with high ABCA3 expression. Notably, abnormal ABCA3 expression has been observed in a variety of tumors. Subsequently, multiple pathophysiological pathways enriched by ABCA3 and its co-expressed genes were explored. Furthermore, the malignant behavior of tumor cells was enhanced when ABCA3 expression was knocked down, and the EMT process was activated after ABCA3 expression was knocked down. In conclusion, as a tumor suppressor gene, ABCA3 serves a protective role in the development of tumors, and may have a potential role in clinical applications, and thus, is worthy of further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with new energy analysis of the two dimensional Maxwell's equations and the symmetric energy‐conserved splitting finite difference time domain (EC‐S‐FDTD) method with the periodic boundary (PB) condition. New energy identities of the Maxwell's equations in terms of H1 and H2 norms are proposed and interpreted by considering the physical meanings of the H1 and H2 semi‐norms in the identities. It is found from these new identities that the first and second curls of the electromagnetic fields are conserved in terms their magnitudes. By the energy methods, the numerical energy identities of the symmetric EC‐S‐FDTD method are derived and shown to converge to the continuous energy identities of the Maxwell's equations. This proves that the symmetric EC‐S‐FDTD scheme is unconditionally stable and energy conserved in the discrete H1 and H2 norms. Also by the energy methods, it is proved that the symmetric EC‐S‐FDTD method with PB condition is of second order (super) convergence in the discrete H1 and H2 norms. Numerical experiments are carried out and confirm the analysis on energy conservation, stability and super convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vinyl carbazole (VK) grafted polyethylene (VK-g-LDPE) was prepared using melting method in the rheometer in this paper. The electrical properties of ethylene carbazole grafted polyethylene with different content of vinyl carbazole were studied. The results show that with the increase of VK content, the inhibition of internal space charge the breakdown field strength and the volume resistivity of VK-g-LDPE increase first and then decrease, compared with those of pure LDPE. When the VK content is 12.6%, the space charge inhibition of VK-g-LDPE material is the best, which decreases by 94.8%. When the VK content is 13.5%, the breakdown field strength is 50.24 kV/mm, which increases by 62.9%. When the content of VK is 10.1 %, the volume resistivity is 4.53 X 1015 Ω * m, which is 2.7 times of original value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two silane compounds, i.e., ((chloromethyl)phenylethyl)trimethoxysilane (Ph-Si) and 3-chloropropyltriethoxysilane (Pr-Si), are employed as covalent crosslinkers to fabricate high temperature proton exchange membranes based on polybenzimidazole (PBI) in order to better understand the correlation between the structure and the property of the crosslinked membranes. All the crosslinked PBI membranes display longer morphology durability over the neat PBI membrane toward the radical oxidation. The crosslinked membranes with the crosslinker containing a rigid group of phenylene (PBI-Ph) show superior acid doping level, high conductivity, and excellent mechanical strength simultaneously, comparing to those with the crosslinker having a flexible alkyl chain (PBI-Pr) and the pristine PBI based membrane. The technical feasibility for using as high temperature proton exchange membranes is demonstrated by the acid doped crosslinked PBI-Ph membranes via fuel cell tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a new method to reduce the error in the splitting finite-difference method of Maxwell’s equations. By this method two modified splitting FDTD methods (MS-FDTDI, MS-FDTDII) for the two-dimensional Maxwell equations are proposed. It is shown that the two methods are second-order accurate in time and space and unconditionally stable by Fourier methods. By energy method, it is proved that MS-FDTDI is second-order convergent. By deriving the numerical dispersion (ND) relations, we prove rigorously that MS-FDTDI has less ND errors than the ADI-FDTD method and the ND errors of ADI-FDTD are less than those of MS-FDTDII. Numerical experiments for computing ND errors and simulating a wave guide problem and a scattering problem are carried out and the efficiency of the MS-FDTDI and MS-FDTDII methods is confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, renewable diphenolic acid was used to prepare reactive phosphorus-containing epoxy monomer (PCDGEDP) and its chemical structure was characterized by FTIR, H-NMR and P-NMR spectra. Subsequently, PCDGEDP was reacted with diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) to obtain phosphorus-containing PCDGEDP/DDM thermoset. The performances of corresponding thermoset in terms of thermal stability, mechanical property, combustion performance and fire behavior have been investigated in detail. It is worth noting that phosphorus-containing PCDGEDP/DDM thermoset showed high glass transition temperature (127 °C), good thermal stability with high mass residue (16.1 % at 700 °C) as well as good mechanical properties. Meanwhile, phosphorus-containing PCDGEDP/DDM thermoset exhibited improved flame retardant property with UL-94V-0 grade and high LOI value (29.6 %). Moreover, incorporating reactive phosphorus-containing epoxy monomer PCDGEDP into epoxy network can significantly decrease the heat release rate, total heat release, smoke produce rate, total smoke release and therefore enhance the fire safety of epoxy thermoset during combustion. It is implying that incorporating rigid phenyldiphosphate structure into epoxy molecular backbone can impart flame retardancy and smoke suppression properties to epoxy thermoset. It is tightly related to its higher phosphorus content (3.3 %) and higher mass residue (18.53 %) of phosphorus-containing PCDGEDP/DDM thermoset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In real-time collaborative graphical editing systems, bitmap-based graphical editing systems are particularly special and practically useful ones, and Do and Undo/Redo operations are intricate problems in this field. However, existing researches on graphical editing systems are quite scanty. In this paper, based on Multi-version strategy, we propose a new approach to solve the Do and Undo/Redo consistency maintenance problems with due consideration of three possible cases: all-causal, all-independent and causal-independent-mixed operations. Compared with previous collaborative algorithms, the algorithms proposed in this paper support Do and Undo/Redo operations without requiring additional space. In addition, two example analyses are also given to prove the algorithms' effectiveness separately. Furthermore, the time complexity of the two algorithms is both O(n). Finally, a system prototype called bitmap-based Co-Graphical Editor is implemented to verify them realistically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In real-time collaborative environments, address space transformation strategy can be used to achieve consistency maintenance of shared documents. However, as for the execution of compound operations, they are firstly decomposed into primitive operations, the relationships between the referencing objects and referenced objects are lost during the decomposition process. Besides, the Undo operations in this environment are targeted at compound operations, but not decomposed basic ones. However, the traditional algorithms take primitive operation as the manipulation unit, thus leading to semantic inconsistencies of compound Undo operations. This paper appends two history buffers to maintain the relationships between the original operations and the decomposed ones and introduces “Retrace-Undo-VT-Redo-Retrace” strategy to realize the consistency maintenance of compound operations. Also, this paper introduces the version-decomposition strategy, describes the main algorithms of the compound Undo operations and analyses the validity of the strategy. Case analysis is given to show the effectiveness of the strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Series CuO/SnO 2 composites for selectively sensing BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylol) designed by a principle of catalytic oxidation were synthesized. The sensing materials were prepared by a facile microwave-assisted approach. The composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). TEM results reveal that the as-prepared SnO 2 are nanoscaled porous particles. For 3 mol% CuO/SnO 2 composite, the existence of CuO nanoparticles is proved by EDS and HRTEM. Gas sensing results of side-heating sensors display that the CuO/SnO 2 composites sensors compared with pristine SnO 2 sensor have much better responses to BTEX rather than other VOCs such as ethanol, acetone, methanol, formaldehyde and ammonia. Among these CuO/SnO 2 composites, the sensor based on 3 mol% CuO/SnO 2 composite has the best selectivity and sensitivity for BTEX. At the optimal working temperature of 280 °C, the response value of the sensor to 50 ppm BTEX are more than 6 times. Excellent gas sensitive performance of 3 mol% CuO/SnO 2 based sensor to BTEX belongs to the addition of catalyst CuO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coordination polymers (CPs) with tunable structures and properties have been extensively explored in a variety of fields. In this work, we demonstrated the potential of stimuli-responsive CPs as a host of integrating enzymes to construct a portable immunoassay. By employing terbium ion (Tb3+) as a metal node and guanine monophosphate (GMP) as a bridge ligand, an alkaline phosphatase (ALP)-responsive Tb/GMP CPs was fabricated, which allows amyloglucosidase (GA) to be integrated to form GA@Tb/GMP composite. Owing to the size-selectivity of Tb/GMP CPs as a host, the loaded GA was physically isolated from its substrate starch. However, Tb/GMP CPs is highly sensitive to ALP, which can hydrolyze the phosphate group of GMP to destroy the structure of Tb/GMP CPs, leading to the release of GA from GA@Tb/GMP composite. The released GA can digest starch to produce glucoses and give a measured signal by personal glucose meter (PGM). This finding leads to a PGM-based portable immunoassay for the quantitative analysis of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and satisfactory results with a detection limit of 0.28 ng/mL have been achieved. The successful determination of CEA in serum samples demonstrates its potential in practical application. We believe that this work can provide a remarkable insight for the rational design of stimuli-responsive CPs for a wide of applications. [Display omitted] • The responsive characteristic of Tb/GMP to alkaline phosphatase was demonstrated. • The loaded amyloglucosidase was physically isolated from its substrate starch by Tb/GMP. • The presence of alkaline phosphatase results in the produce of PGM signal. • A PGM-based portable immunoassay was developed for carcinoembryonic antigen detection. • The PGM immunoassay is highly sensitive and selective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous rhombohedral In2O3 (corundum-type In2O3, rh-In2O3) with a morphology of uniform nanoflowers was fabricated by using a mild, facile solvent-thermal method. The formation mechanism and transformation of phase were studied. The results revealed that the precursors were transformed from In(OH)3 to InOOH with an increase in reaction time. The phase transformation was attributed to the stability of the InOOH phase at small crystal volume, less water molecules and small pH value, which in turn led to the formation of metastable rh-In2O3. The optimal working temperature of the sensor based on porous rh-In2O3 nanoflowers was proved to be 280 °C, corresponding to chemisorbed oxygen analysis based on a temperature changeable XPS, further demonstrating the surface resistance controlled gas sensing mechanism of In2O3. The sensor exhibited an enhanced response and rapid response/recovery toward ethanol vapour, which was ascribed to hierarchical porous structures and more active defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquefied lignin-based polyol (LBP) was successfully obtained by liquefying calcium lignosulphonate with a polyhydroxy alcohol mixture, which can substitute 30 % petroleum-based polyether polyol to prepare rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF). In an effort to reduce the flammability and smoke release from RPUF, liquefied LBP in combination with commercial flame retardant polyol (FRP), polyurethane microencapsulated ammonium polyphosphate (MAPP) and organically modified layered double hydroxide (OLDH) were used to fabricate halogen-free flame retardant RPUF nanocomposite. The influences of incorporating LBP, FRP, MAPP and OLDH into RPUF on the thermal conductivity, mechanical property, thermal performance, flame retardancy and fire behaviors of RPUFs were comprehensively investigated. It is noteworthy that simultaneously incorporating LBP, FRP, MAPP and OLDH into RPUF can significantly improve the mechanical property, thermal performance, flame retardancy and fire behavior of RPUF. The improved flame retardancy and fire behavior of RPUF are attributable to combined effects among LBP, FRP, MAPP and OLDH in gas phase and condensed phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous corundum-type In 2 O 3 (rhombohedra In 2 O 3 , rh-In 2 O 3 ) nanosheets with unique shoeprint morphology are fabricated successfully by a facile, template-free solvent-thermal method. The products are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), photoluminescence (PL) and N 2 adsorption–desorption. The response of the porous rh-In 2 O 3 nanosheets sensor to 50 ppm NO 2 is about 164, and the response/recovery times are not exceeding 5 s and 14 s, respectively. Porous lamellar structure could increase the number of the active sites and speed up the gas transportation, which is helpful for the enhancement of the response and rapid adsorption/desorption. The effect of morphology on the gas sensing responses is investigated. Compared with the nonporous rh-In 2 O 3 nanosheets sensor, the porous rh-In 2 O 3 nanosheets sensor exhibits significantly enhanced sensing performances toward NO 2 . Porous rh-In 2 O 3 nanosheets sensors show a long-term stability, which might be ascribed to the avoidance of aggregation of the nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microencapsulated intumescent flame retardants were successfully prepared by in situ polymerization technology and their structures were characterized by FTIR spectra, SEM microphotographs, and TG analyses. Microencapsulated treatments on expandable graphite (EG) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) increased the expanded volume of EG and improved the water resistance of APP. After incorporation of microencapsulated intumescent flame retardants into RPUF, the prepared rosin-based rigid polyurethane foam possessed more uniform cell structure and higher compressive strength than incorporation of the same amount of intumescent flame retardants. It is attributable to improved interfacial adhesion and stress transfer between microencapsulated intumescent flame retardants and RPUF matrix. Simultaneously, after incorporation of microencapsulated intumescent flame retardants into RPUF, the prepared rosin-based rigid polyurethane foam possessed better flame retardancy and fire behavior than incorporation of the same amount of intumescent flame retardants. It is attributed to better synergistic effect between microencapsulated expandable graphite and ammonium polyphosphate in gas and condensed phases. Furthermore, synergistic flame retardant rosin-based rigid polyurethane foam nanocomposite was successfully fabricated by adjusting the appropriate ratio of microencapsulated intumescent flame retardants and organically modified layered double hydroxide. The LOI value and the specific compressive strength for filled MEG/MAPP/OLDH foam increased about 36.4 and 1.7 % compared with neat RPUF. The cone calorimetry measurement showed that the average heat release rate, total heat release, average smoke production rate, average rate of smoke release, average specific extinction area, total smoke release, and CO/CO mass ratio of filled MEG/MAPP/OLDH foam decreased about 23.2, 20.2, 50.0, 48.3, 35.4, 33.0, and 21.3 % compared with neat RPUF, respectively. Therefore, using microencapsulated intumescent flame retardants and organically modified layered double hydroxide are promising strategies for simultaneously improving the flame retardancy, mechanical property, and fire behavior of rigid polyurethane foams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electronic nose (E-nose) has been used to characterize five types of strawberry juices based on different processing approaches (i.e., Microwave Pasteurization, Steam Blanching, High Temperature Short Time Pasteurization, Frozen–Thawed, and Freshly Squeezed). Juice quality parameters (vitamin C and total acid) were detected by traditional measuring methods. Multivariate statistical methods (Principle Component Analysis, Linear Discriminant Analysis, Multiple Linear Regression, and Partial Least Squares Regression) and neural networks (Extreme Learning Machine (ELM), Learning Vector Quantization and Library Support Vector Machines) were employed for qualitative classification and quantitative regression. ELM showed best performances on classification and regression, indicating that ELM would be a good choice for E-nose data treatment. Results provide promising principles for the elaboration of E-nose which could be used to discriminate processed juices and to predict juice quality parameters based on appropriate algorithms for the beverage industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Styrene-functional hyperbranched viologen (SHBV2+) was successfully synthesized and characterized in detail by FTIR,1H NMR, and XPS spectra, respectively. Subsequently, it was cured by visible light to obtain cross-linked hyperbranched viologen film. It is noteworthy that cross-linked SHBV2+film possessed better photochromic and electrochromic performances. After UV illumination for 60 s, the cross-linked SHBV2+film can swiftly change its color from pale yellow to deep bluish violet, whereas the absorbance of SHBV2+film at 610 nm did not change significantly and was still retained about 0.423 after 20 coloring/bleaching cycles. The single-type SHBV2+EC device can undergo reversible color change in response to the alternate external voltages of −2.0 V and 2.0 V, respectively, while the changes in optical transmission and charge density of EC device at 550 nm did not deteriorate significantly and still remained about 48.2% and 13.85 mC·cm−2after 10 coloring/bleaching cycles. Furthermore, single-type SHBV2+PEC device possessed better optical writing and electrical erasing performances. After 10 repeated writing/erasing cycles, the contrast did not decrease significantly and still remained about 48.0%, while the electrical erasing time did not deteriorate significantly and remained about 22.0 s. This device can realize rapid storage, modulation, and erasing of optical information. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Halogen-free flame-retarded rosin-based rigid PIR foam nanocomposites have been successfully prepared by in-situ polymerization, which were based on renewable rosin polyester polyol, halogen-free flame retardants (such as expandable graphite and diethyl ethylphosphonate) and organically-modified nanoclay (such as organically-modified montmorillonite or organically-modified layered double hydroxide). The morphology, thermal conductivity, mechanical property, thermal stability, flame retardancy and fire behavior of PIR foam nanocomposites were comprehensively investigated. Furthermore, potential synergistic effect between organically-modified nanoclay and flame retardants on improving the flame retardancy and fire behavior of rosin-based rigid PIR foam has been investigated in detail. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy studies confirmed that exfoliated structure of OMMT or OLDH in PIR-FR45-OMMT2.0 or PIR-FR45-OLDH3.0 nanocomposite. The flammability and compressive strength tests showed that PIR-FR45-OMMT2.0 and PIR-FR45-OLDH3.0 nanocomposites possessed significantly improved flame retardancy and slightly enhanced mechanical property compared with neat PIR foam. At the same time, PIR-FR45-OMMT2.0 and PIR-FR45-OLDH3.0 nanocomposites possessed relatively low thermal conductivity, which can meet requirement of engineering applications as insulating material. Furthermore, commonly OMMT showed no synergistic effect with flame retardants when dealing with fire behavior. However, OLDH showed synergistic effect with flame retardants on improving the flame retardancy and fire behavior of rosin-based rigid PIR foam. The reason is that OLDH can promote the formation of reinforced char layer, provide an effective barrier against heat and oxygen, release noncombustible gases, and simultaneously effectively suppress smoke and gases during the combustion process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] The halogen-free flame retardant rosin-based rigid polyurethane foams had been prepared. [•] The flame retardant RPUF possessed lower thermal conductivity and higher compressive strength. [•] The flame retardancy and fire behavior of rosin-base RPUF had been significantly improved. [•] EG, MPP and LDH have synergistic effect on improving the fire behavior of rosin-based RPUF. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The energy-conserved splitting finite-difference time-domain (EC-S-FDTD) method has recently been proposed to solve the Maxwell equations with second order accuracy while numerically keep the L2 energy conservation laws of the equations. In this paper, the EC-S-FDTD scheme for the 3D Maxwell equations is proved to be energy-conserved and unconditionally stable in the discrete H1 norm. The EC-S-FDTD scheme is of second-order accuracy both in time step and spatial steps, which suggests the super-convergence of this scheme in the discrete H1 norm. And the divergence of the electric field of the EC-S-FDTD scheme in the discrete L2 norm is second-order accurate. Numerical experiments confirm our theoretical analysis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Cut size is regarded as an important indicator for evaluating the classification performance of turbo air classifiers. However, traditional methods of cut size calculation by theoretical analysis have some deviations. In this paper, a new strategy was introduced to determine the cut size using the FLUENT discrete phase model (DPM) coupled with material experiments. The simulation results revealed that: the closer the feeding point position approached the inner edge of annular region, the shorter the time the particle moved into the area between the two neighboring blades of the rotor. The same small diameter particles which were fed at three different positions in annular region could all enter into the area between the two neighboring blades of the rotor, and ultimately were discharged by the fine powder outlet. When air inlet velocity was 8m/s, rotor cage rotary speed was 800r/min, the cut size of talcum powder could be calculated as 30–40μm, and the cut size of quartz sand powder could be calculated as 40–50μm. When rotor cage rotary speed was 1200r/min, the cut size of talcum powder could be calculated as 20–30μm, and the cut size of quartz sand powder could be calculated as 30–40μm. The contrastive experiments of material classification were in good agreement with simulation results. Simulation method provides a new method to determine the cut size of a turbo air classifier, as well as provides a reference method to study the cut size of various types of classifier. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

R2R3-MYB, bHLH, and WD40 proteins have been shown to control multiple enzymatic steps in the biosynthetic pathway responsible for the production of flavonoids, important secondary metabolites in Camellia sinensis. Few related transcription factor genes have been documented. The presence of R2R3-MYB, bHLH, and WD40 were statistically and bioinformatically analyzed on 127,094 C. sinensis transcriptome unigenes, resulting in identification of 73, 49, and 134 genes, respectively. C. sinensis phylogenetic trees were constructed for R2R3-MYB and bHLH proteins using previous Arabidopsis data and further divided into 27 subgroups (Sg) and 32 subfamilies. Motifs in some R2R3-MYB subgroups were redefined. Furthermore, Sg26 and Sg27 were expanded compared to Arabidopsis data, and bHLH proteins in C. sinensis were grouped into nine subfamilies. According to the functional annotation of Arabidopsis, flavonoid biosynthesis in C. sinensis was predicted to include R2R3-MYB genes in Sg4 (6), Sg5 (2), and Sg7 (1), as well as bHLH genes in subfamily 2 (2) and subfamily 24 (5). The wide evolutionary gap prevented phylogenetic analysis of WD40s; however, a single gene, CsWD40-1, was observed to share 80.4 % sequence homogeny with AtTTG1. Analysis of CsMYB4-1, CsMYB4-2, CsMYB4-3, CsMYB4-4, CsMYB5-1, and CsMYB5-2 revealed the interaction motif [DE]Lx2[RK]x3Lx6Lx3R, potentially contributing to the specificity of the bHLH partner in the stable MYB-bHLH complex. Full-length end-to-end polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative reverse transcriptase (qRT)-PCR were used to validate selected genes and generate relative expression ratio profiles in C. sinensis leaves by developmental stage and treatment conditions, including hormone and wound treatments. Potential target binding sites were predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystal phase transition and isothermal crystallization kinetics of bupropion hydrobromide is studied by thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffractometry, and scanning electron microscopy. As well known, bupropion hydrobromide has two stable polymorphic forms, form I and form II, during the production. Here it is found that form II will convert into form I with thermal treatment. Avrami exponent n is evaluated to be around 2.0 in the range 170°C-190°C, which indicates that the phase transition is a process of one-dimensional nucleation growth. This viewpoint is also confirmed by microscope morphology study. In addition, phase-transition active energy is calculated to be 239.4 kJ/mol, which means that a high energy barrier needs to be overcome to start up the phase transition. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 101:3091-3095, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) is a commercially important crop valued for its secondary metabolites. Different cultivation methods affect tea quality by altering the biosynthesis of flavonoids. Shade can effectively improve the quality of tea beverages by causing reduction of the concentration of flavonoids, the main compounds that contribute to astringency, in the leaves. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of shade on flavonoid biosynthesis in relation to expression of the flavonoid pathway genes in tea leaves. Our data revealed that shade had notable effects on both flavonoid (including catechins, O-glycosylated flavonols and proanthocyanins (PAs)) and lignin biosynthesis, but had no significant effect on anthocyanin accumulation. Among all the detected compounds, the concentration of PAs and O-glycosylated flavonols in shaded leaves changed more than other compounds, decreasing 53.37% and 43.26%, respectively, compared to the sunlight-exposed leaves. Expression of phenylalanine ammonialyase (PAL), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H), flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase (F3′H), dihydroflavonol reductase (DFR) and anthocyanidin reductase1 (ANR1) was notably correlated with the concentration of PAs in leaves, and expression of chalcone synthase (CHS) and flavonoid 3′,5′-hydroxylase (F3′5′H) was remarkably correlated with the concentration of O-glycosylated flavonols. It is suggested that polymerization of catechins and glycosylation of flavonols might be key pathways of flavonoid metabolism in tea leaves affected by shade treatment. Regarding phenolic acids, a marked increase in concentration in shaded leaves and negative correlation with lignin accumulation suggests that phenolic acids might compete for the same substrate with lignins and flavonoids in tea leaves under different illumination conditions. Further investigations are required to understand the relationship between phenolic acids and other flavonoid compounds in tea plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) is a commercially important crop that is valued for its secondary metabolites. Light is an important environmental parameter that regulates plant growth and development and influences the phenylpropanoid metabolism in plants. To investigate the molecular mechanism by which light regulates phenylpropanoid metabolism, we established light-induced suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) cDNA libraries of tea calli. A total of 265 clones from the library were selected, sequenced, and analyzed in this study. Nine diverse ESTs involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis were detected in the library. A new CsDFR gene (CsDFR2), higher increment of the expression activated by light than the previously reported CsDFR gene (CsDFR1), was cloned. The key phenylpropanoid compounds and representative genes expression analysis implied that light could be effective for activation of the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids. Compared to the darkness control, levels of lignins, catechins, and PAs were increased 3.46, 3.00, and 1.21-fold, in light-induced calli, respectively. And lignin biosynthesis genes, involved in CCoAOMT, HCT and CCR, were identified in the light-induced SSH library. Therefore it was assumed that lignins might be the main phenylpropanoid metabolites activated by light in tea calli. In addition, our researches found that catechins, as the main secondary metabolites, significantly decreased in the tea calli compared to those in tea mature leaves, While PAs (polymer of catechins) in calli did not decrease compared to mature leaves. The data suggest that polymerization reaction might be the main pathway of flavonoid metabolism in tea callus. The SSH library established in this study represents a valuable resource for better understanding the mechanisms of light-induced secondary metabolism in tea plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Operations in CoAutoCAD systems are either single-step or step-wise. Single-step operations (such as Line, Box, etc.) are completed in one step, while step-wise operations (such as Mirror, Array, etc.) take several continuous or discrete steps and in some scenarios (such as Copy–Paste), and the number of steps may not be known beforehand. Therefore, during the execution process, the intention of step-wise operations may be violated by concurrent operations coming from remote sites. This paper investigates the problem of intention violation and proposes to maintain the semantic intention of operations by introducing a novel approach called CLAF (Check Last Avoid Future) to solve previous violations while avoiding future violations using newly-updated document status. To infer the execution formats of causally-ready operations, VT transformation function is introduced to extend the GOTO algorithm so as to reflect the influence of one operation on another. An integrated example analysis is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our strategy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we consider splitting methods for Maxwell''s equations in two dimensions. A new kind of splitting finite-difference time-domain methods on a staggered grid is developed. The corresponding schemes consist of only two stages for each time step, which are very simple in computation. The rigorous analysis of the schemes is given. By the energy method, it is proved that the scheme is unconditionally stable and convergent for the problems with perfectly conducting boundary conditions. Numerical dispersion analysis and numerical experiments are presented to show the efficient performance of the proposed methods. Furthermore, the methods are also applied to solve a scattering problem successfully. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of the present work was to investigate changes of serum erythropoietin (Epo) during cisplatin (DDP)-or 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu)-induced anemia in rats. Anemia was induced with single intravenous (IV) injection of DDP of 8 mg/kg body weight or 5-Fu of 150 mg/kg body weight. Serum Epo, hemoglobin (Hb), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentration, and reticulocyte (Ret) counts were measured 7, 21, 35, and 49 days after administration of the anticancer drugs. The changes of renal tissue were examined by light microscope. A single injection of 5-Fu decreased Ret counts and Hb concentration and increased serum Epo levels. No evident morphological abnormalities were found by light microscopy in 5-Fu-treated rats. A single injection of DDP decreased Ret counts and Hb concentration and increased BUN. Serum Epo was decreased 7 days but was increased 21 days after DDP treatment; however, serum Epo elevation was modest. Pathological examination revealed that DDP caused significant renal damage in rats. These results suggest that in 5-Fu-induced anemia, the elevated serum Epo level was due to the feedback response to anemia. In DDP-induced anemia, the elevated serum Epo level was low in relation to the level of anemia, and DDP-induced nephrotoxicity might be the main cause of changes of serum Epo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although intestinal smooth muscle cells (ISMCs) play an important role in the remodeling of the intestinal structure, considerably less is known about the molecular mechanisms that mediate the development and growth of ISMCs. A possible reason for this lag is the lack of cell lines that recapitulate ISMCs in vivo. Methods: In this study, we separated the primary ISMCs from the rat intestinal tract and integrated the Simian Vacuolating virus 40 Large T antigen (SV40 LT) gene into the genome of the primary ISMC to construct an immortalized cell line named ISMC‐Hc. Key Results: ISMC‐Hc proliferated persistently without any signs of senescence up to 50 passages and without neoplasticity. Analysis of the genome isolated from ISMC‐Hc confirmed that the SV40LT gene recombined in the genome, and mRNA reverse transcription PCR suggested that SV40LT could be expressed normally. In addition, ISMC‐Hc had few morphological differences compared with the primary ISMC. Furthermore, ISMC‐Hc showed the expression of the specific protein markers (alpha‐smooth muscle actin and desmin) through immunofluorescence analysis. Further studies showed that ISMC‐Hc had enhanced contractility and expressed the glial‐derived neurotrophic factor, nerve growth factor, ciliary neurotrophic factor, and leukemia inhibitory factor after co‐stimulation with IL‐1 beta and TNF‐alpha. Conclusions and Inferences: ISMC‐Hc showed characteristics similar to that of primary ISMC and can be used as an in vitro model to explore the cellular and molecular mechanisms of ISMC. Additionally, the immortalized ISMCs could help investigate the basic functional mechanisms of intestinal diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Hydrolyzable tannins (HTs), a class of polyphenolic compounds found in dicotyledonous plants, are widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries because of their beneficial effects on human health. Although the biosynthesis of simple HTs has been verified at the enzymatic level, relevant genes have not yet been identified. Here, based on the parent ion‐fragment ion pairs in the feature fragment data obtained using UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐/MS/MS, galloyl phenolic compounds in the leaves of Camellia sinensis and C. oleifera were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Correlation analysis between the transcript abundance of serine carboxypeptidase‐like acyltransferases (SCPL‐ATs) and the peak area of galloyl products in Camellia species showed that SCPL3 expression was highly correlated with HT biosynthesis. Enzymatic verification of the recombinant protein showed that CoSCPL3 from C. oleifera catalyzed the four consecutive steps involved in the conversion of digalloylglucose to pentagalloylglucose. We also identified the residues affecting the enzymatic activity of CoSCPL3 and determined that SCPL‐AT catalyzes the synthesis of galloyl glycosides. The findings of this study provide a target gene for germplasm innovation of important cash crops that are rich in HTs, such as C. oleifera, strawberry, and walnut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimuli-responsive hydrogel has been emerged as a popular tool for chemical sensing due to its unique mechanical properties. In this work, we fabricated an ascorbic acid (AA)-responsive alginate hydrogel for the visual detection of alkaline phosphatase (ALP). This alginate hydrogel (RhB@Alg/Fe3+) was crosslinked with Fe3+, and rhodamine B (RhB) was encapsulated into the hydrogel as an indicating reagent to assistant visual detection. Because of the weak affinity of Fe2+ to alginate, the presence of reductive AA can trigger the dissolution of RhB@Alg/Fe3+ to give an observable red color in the sol solution. On this basis, by using ascorbic acid 2-phosphate as a substrate of ALP, which can be hydrolyzed by ALP to produce AA, the gel-sol transition process of RhB@Alg/Fe3+ was further modulated by ALP. This finding leads to a simple visual method for ALP detection with a low detection limit of 0.37 mU/mL and an excellent selectivity over other proteins. Compared with conventional colorimetric assays, this visual sensor shows the distinct advantages of simple fabrication, cost-effectiveness and easy to implement. We believe that this study can provide a new insight into the fabrication of responsive alginate hydrogel for promising applications in chemical sensing and biomedical fields. Image 1 • A simple visual method for ALP detection was developed. • Alginate/Fe3+ hydrogel was demonstrated with the responsive ability to ascorbic acid. • Ascorbic acid can trigger the gel-sol transition of alginate/Fe3+ hydrogel. • RhB was employed as an indicating reagent for ALP detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) is a water-soluble polysaccharide extracted from Lycium barbarum. LBP exhibits potential pharmacological activity, including anti-cancer activities. However, so far, the effect of LBP in combination with cisplatin (DDP) on the proliferation of human alveolar adenocarcinoma cell line (A549) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been reported. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of LBP combined with DDP on the proliferation of A549 cells. Materials and Methods: The cells were divided into four groups: control group, DDP group, LBP group, and LBP and DDP combined group and Three parallel experiments were set up in each group. The survival rate of A549 cells and the effects of DDP and LBP alone or in combination was detected using the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was determined by xanthine oxidase method. The content of glutathione (GSH) was determined by colorimetry. The content of malondialdehyde (MDA) was determined by thiobarbituric acid method. The apoptosis, cell cycle phase, and the level of reaction oxygen species (ROS) formed were detected by flow cytometry. The expression of apoptosis-related proteins such as Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase-3 and cell cycle–related proteins namely, CDK4, cyclin D1, and p-Rb were detected via Western blot analysis. Results: DDP (≥ 6 mg/L) and LBP (≥ 8 mg/L) alone significantly inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells (P < 0.01), and LBP combined with DDP significantly enhanced the inhibitory effect on the proliferation of A549 cells (P < 0.01). DDP significantly reduced the activity of SOD and the level of GSH (P < 0.01), and significantly increased the level of MDA and ROS (P < 0.01). Compared with DDP group, the activity of SOD and the content of GSH and MDA in LBP and DDP combined group did not change significantly (P > 0.05), but the content of ROS decreased significantly (P < 0.01). DDP and LBP, alone and in combination, significantly promoted the cellular apoptosis (P < 0.01). They also significantly downregulated the expression of Bcl-2 and upregulated the expression of Bax and caspase-3, and the level of Bax/Bcl-2 was significantly increased (P < 0.01). DDP blocked the A549 cells in S phase, whereas LBP blocked the cells in G2/M phase. DDP and LBP combination significantly downregulated the expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins namely, CDK4, cyclin D1, and p-Rb (P < 0.05). Conclusion: LBP in combination with DDP inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells, and this combined effect is related to the expression of apoptosis-related proteins and the regulation of cell cycle mediated by cyclin D1-CDK4-Rb pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Use of driver seat belts and availability and functionality of passenger seat belts in a convenience sample of 231 Beijing taxis were examined in the months prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Driver and front passenger seat belt use was mandated in China from 2004 to help address the growing public health crisis of road trauma. Results from observations made by in-vehicle passengers revealed that 21.2% of drivers were correctly wearing a belt, approximately half were not, and one third were using the belt in a non-functional way. Over 3/4 of this sample of taxi drivers were unrestrained while working. The percentage of functionally available belts was higher for front than rear passengers (88.3% and 22.9%, respectively). This low rate of belt availability in rear seats calls into question the preparedness of the fleet to cater for the safety needs of foreign visitors to China, particularly those from countries with high levels of restraint use. Factors influencing the use/misuse of seat belts in China remain largely unexplored. Results of this pilot study support further investigations of barriers to using injury prevention mechanisms such as seat belts in less motorised countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Flavonoids are major polyphenol compounds in plant secondary metabolism. The hydroxylation pattern of the B-ring of flavonoids is determined by the flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase (F3'H) and flavonoid 3′,5′-hydroxylase (F3′5′H). In this paper, one CsF3 ′ H and two CsF3 ′ 5 ′ Hs (CsF3 ′ 5 ′ Ha and CsF3 ′ 5 ′ Hb) were isolated. The phylogenetic tree results showed that F3′H and F3′5′Hs belong to the CYP75B and CYP75A, respectively. The Expression pattern analysis showed that the expression of CsF3 ′ 5 ′ Ha and CsF3 ′ 5 ′ Hb in the bud and 1st leaf were higher than other tissues. However, the CsF3 ′ H had the highest expression in the 4th and mature leaf. The correlation analysis showed that the expression of CsF3 ′ 5 ′ Hs is positively associated with the concentration of B-trihydroxylated catechins, and the expression of CsF3 ′ H is positively associated with the Q contentration. Heterologous expression of these genes in yeast showed that Cs F3′H and Cs F3′5′Ha can catalyze flavanones, flavonols and flavanonols to the corresponding 3 ′ , 4 ′ or 3 ′ , 4 ′ , 5 ′ -hydroxylated compounds, for which the optimum substrate is naringenin. The enzyme of Cs F3′5′Hb can only catalyze flavonols (including K and Q) and flavanonols (DHK and DHQ), of which the highest activities in catalyzing are DHK. Interestingly, The experiment of site-directed mutagenesis suggested that two novel sites near the C-terminal were discovered impacting on the activity of the Cs F3′5′H. These results provide a significantly molecular basis on the accumulation B-ring hydroxylation of flavonoids in tea plant. Unlabelled Image • The CsF3 ′ H and CsF3 ′ 5 ′ Hs (CsF3 ′ 5 ′ Ha and CsF3 ′ 5 ′ Hb) genes related with B-ring of flavonoids were cloned from Camellia sinensis, and the function, optimum aubstrates, and key amino acid sites of these P450 enzymes were analysised in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea is an important cash crop that is often consumed by chewing pests, resulting in reduced yields and economic losses. It is important to establish a method to quickly identify the degree of damage to tea plants caused by leaf‐eating insects and screen green control compounds. This study was performed through the combination of deep learning and targeted metabolomics, in vitro feeding experiment, enzymic analysis and transient genetic transformation. A small target damage detection model based on YOLOv5 with Transformer Prediction Head (TPH‐YOLOv5) algorithm for the tea canopy level was established. Orthogonal partial least squares (OPLS) was used to analyze the correlation between the degree of damage and the phenolic metabolites. A potential defensive compound, (‐)‐epicatechin‐3‐O‐caffeoate (EC‐CA), was screened. In vitro feeding experiments showed that compared with EC and epicatechin gallate, Ectropis grisescens exhibited more significant antifeeding against EC‐CA. In vitro enzymatic experiments showed that the hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (CsHCTs) recombinant protein has substrate promiscuity and can catalyze the synthesis of EC‐CA. Transient overexpression of CsHCTs in tea leaves effectively reduced the degree of damage to tea leaves. This study provides important reference values and application prospects for the effective monitoring of pests in tea gardens and screening of green chemical control substances. Summary statement: Based on deep learning and targeted metabolomics, a model was established and (‐)‐epicatechin‐3‐O‐caffeoate (EC‐CA) was screened to have the function of defense against chewing pests, and hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT) was identified as a substrate promiscuity that could efficiently catalyze the synthesis of EC‐CA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen isotope gases expelled from nuclear fusion reactors can be purified by a process combining catalytic deoxygenation and cryogenic adsorption (77.4 K). In the present work, a novel purification process design is proposed. The experimental result shows that the oxygen volume fraction of the purified hydrogen isotopes is below 0.1 × 10 − 6 with the nitrogen volume fraction less than 1 × 10 − 6 . And it was discovered that the waste amount of hydrogen isotopes after purification is only 100–300 ppm which occupies just 10–30% of the amount of nitrogen impurity through the theory calculation. Therefore, the impurity content of hydrogen isotopes is removed sufficiently by the combined process and the proposed process for purification of the exhaust gases expelled from nuclear fusion reactors can be used as an alternative to the traditional method. • Impurities are removed in hydrogen isotopes. • Catalytic deoxygenation & cryogenic absorption is combined treating impurities. • DX-30 shows a good adsorption property (77.4 K) for N 2 in hydrogen isotopes. • The hydrogen isotopes loss occupies only 10%–30% of the amount of N 2 impurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• EKRS is constructed by concept similarity and space mapping between CRD and IR. • the new concept set is formed after sorting by shortest path between concepts. • the higher similarity and the better conceptual aggregation in EKRS. • the structure is simple and the computational complexity is much lower in EKRS. • the EKRS has good stability in dealing with different concept sets. The semantic analysis method of structured big data generated based on human knowledge is important in expert recommendation systems and scientific and technological information analysis. In these fields, the most important problem is the calculation of concept similarity. The study aims to explore the spatial mapping relationship between the general knowledge base and the professional knowledge base for the application of the general knowledge map in professional fields. With the core resource database (CRD) as the main body of the general knowledge and the institutional repository (IR) as the main body of the professional knowledge, the conceptual features of institutional expert knowledge were firstly abstracted from IR and inferred from small-scale datasets and the mathematical model was established based on the similarity of text concepts and related ranking results. Then, a two-set concept space mapping algorithm between CRD and IR was designed. In the algorithm, the more granular concept nodes were extracted from the information on the shortest paths among concepts to obtain a new knowledge set, the Expert Knowledge Recommendation System (EKRS). Finally, the simulation experiment was carried out with open datasets to verify the algorithm. The simulation results showed that the algorithm reduced the structural complexity in the calculation of large datasets. The proposed system model had a clear knowledge structure and the recommended accuracy of the text similarity was high. For small-scale knowledge base datasets with different sparsity, the system showed the stable performance, indicating the better convergence and robustness of the algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Special WO 2 nanoparticle anchored hollow carbon spheres were developed. • It involves in situ polymerization, heat treatment, soaking, and high-temperature decomposition reduction. • WO 2 /HCN/S composites exhibit high stable capacity and superior rate performance. • High electrochemical performance is due to hollow structure and catalytic-active sites of WO 2. Lithium–sulfur battery has drawn considerable attention because of its high theoretical capacity and density, but poor electrical conductivity, volume expansion, and slow redox reactions in lithium–sulfur batteries limit their commercial applications. Hollow carbon nanospheres (HCN) loaded with tungsten dioxide (WO 2) nanoparticles were prepared using polystyrene spheres as templates via in situ polymerization, heat treatment, soaking, and high-temperature decomposition reduction. The composites possessed a hollow spherical structure, which can alleviate the volume change of sulfur and anchored the polysulfides. The anchored WO 2 nanoparticles with abundant oxygen vacancies can generate many active sites and accelerate the electrochemical reaction kinetics. Therefore, the WO 2 /HCN/S cathode exhibited 593.5 mAh g−1 over 300 cycles at 1.0 A g−1 with a capacity decay rate of 0.15 % per cycle. This study provides a feasible solution for fabricating high performance cathode for lithium-sulfur battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]