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With the development of the social economy and the deepening understanding of cancer, cancer has become a significant cause of death, threatening human health. Although researchers have made rapid progress in cancer treatment strategies in recent years, the overall survival of cancer patients is still not optimistic. Therefore, it is essential to reveal the spatial pattern of gene expression, spatial heterogeneity of cell populations, microenvironment interactions, and other aspects of cancer. Spatiotemporal transcriptomics can help analyze the mechanism of cancer occurrence and development, greatly help precise cancer treatment, and improve clinical prognosis. Here, we review the integration strategies of single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics data, summarize the recent advances in spatiotemporal transcriptomics in cancer studies, and discuss the combined application of spatial multiomics, which provides new directions and strategies for the precise treatment and clinical prognosis of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blocking the interaction between programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) by directly targeting the PD-L1 dimer has emerged as a hot topic in the field of cancer immunotherapy. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a natural product, has been demonstrated binding to the PD-L1 dimer in our previous study, but has a weaker binding capacity, moreover, EGCG is located at the end of the binding pocket of the PD-L1 dimer. The inhibitor fragment 1 (FRA) lies at the other end. So, we proposed that the introduction of FRA might be able to improve the binding ability. To illuminate this issue, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was performed in the present study. Binding free energy calculations show that the binding affinity is significantly increased by 17 kcal/mol upon the introduction of FRA. It may be due to the energy contributions of emerging key residues ATyr56, AMet115, BTyr123, AIle54 and the enhanced contributions of initial key residues ATyr123 and BVal68. Binding mode and non-bonded interaction results indicate that FRA_EGCG (EGCG in combination with FRA) binds to the C-, F- and G-sheet of the PD-L1 dimer. Importantly, the introduction of FRA mainly strengthened the nonpolar interactions. The free energy landscape and secondary structure results further show that FRA_EGCG can interact with the PD-L1 dimer more stably. These data demonstrated here provide the theoretical basis for screening two or more natural products with additive inhibitory effect on this pathway and therefore exerting more effective anticancer immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a global context where sustainable growth is imperative, understanding carbon emissions in significant regions is essential. Henan Province, being a vital region in China for population, agriculture, industry, and energy consumption, plays a crucial role in this understanding. This study, rooted in the need to identify strategies that not only meet China's broader carbon neutrality objectives but also offer insights regarding global sustainability models, utilizes the STIRPAT model combined with scenario analysis. The aim was to forecast carbon emission trajectories from 2020 to 2060 across the key industries—electricity, steel, cement, transportation, coal, and chemical—that are responsible for over 80% of the total emissions in Henan. The findings suggest a varied carbon peak timeline: the steel and cement industries might achieve their peak before 2025, and the transportation, coal, and chemical sectors might achieve theirs around 2030, whereas that of the power industry could be delayed until 2033. Significantly, by 2060—a landmark year for Chinese carbon neutrality ambitions—only the electricity sector in Henan shows potential for zero emissions under an extreme scenario. This study's results underscore the importance of region-specific strategies for achieving global carbon neutrality and offer a blueprint for other populous, industrialized regions worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper introduces a hybrid explicit–implicit topology optimization method for shell-infill composite structure design. The proposed approach effectively combines the advantages of the explicit Moving Morphable Component (MMC) method, which describes structural topology only using a set of geometric parameters, and the implicit Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP) method, which offers greater design freedom for characterizing the structural features. Compared to the existing methods for shell-infill structure design, the proposed approach can obtain optimized shell-infill structures with complex infill topology without resorting to complex filtering/projection operations. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HECW1 belongs to ubiquitin ligase (E3) HECT family, and is found to be involved in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. However, the function of HECW1 in cervical cancer (CC) remains unknown. Clinical analysis showed that HECW1 is significantly decreased in CC tumor tissues. Ectopic expression of HECW1 suppressed cell growth, promoting cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in CC cells, while downregulation of HECW1 reversed these trends, impeded proliferation and accelerated cell cycle progression of CC cells. Overexpressing of HECW1 reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and the protein expression of voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1). In addition, upregulation of HECW1 inhibited nuclear β-catenin accumulation, downregulated β-catenin/TCF/LEF-mediated transcriptional activity and the expression of downstream gene c-Myc, whereas inhibition of HECW1 received opposite results. Further results confirmed HECW1 affects the protein expression of dishevelled-1 (DVL1), a potent activator of Wnt/β‐catenin, and inhibition of HECW1 inhibited the ubiquitination of DVL1, upregulating its expression. Inhibition of DVL1 restrained the promotion effect of HECW1 suppression on cell proliferation. In vivo experiments also verified that HECW1 suppression promoted the tumor formation of CC cells. Summary, we demonstrated that HECW1 inhibits CC cell proliferation and tumor formation by downregulating DVL1 induced Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway activation. [Display omitted] • HECW1 is significantly decreased in the tumor tissues of cervical cancer. • Ectopic expression of HECW1 impedes cell proliferation and induces cell apoptosis. • HECW1 inhibits the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. • HECW1 interacts with DVL1. • HECW1 promotes the ubiquitination process of DVL1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paeonol, a major ingredient isolated from Moutan Cort, has various pharmacological effects. Our previous studies have shown that paeonol can exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory therapeutic effects on ethanol-induced experimental gastric ulcer (GU). Therefore, in this study, we designed two GU models in rats induced by pyloric ligation (PL) and acetic acid and evaluated the protective effects of paeonol and gastroretention tablets of paeonol (GRT-Ps; 24, 48, and 96 mg/kg) on GU in rats and the effect of paeonol (48 mg/kg) on the intestinal flora. In vivo experiments showed that paeonol or GRT-Ps remarkably reduced gastric mucosal damage in a dose-dependent manner in the different types of models and improved the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and the malondialdehyde (MDA) content. And in fact, the sustained-release effect of GRT-Ps is more conducive to the improvement of GU compared with the rapid clearance of free drugs. In the PL-induced model, gastric secretion parameters, that is, pH and total acid, showed significant differences compared with the model group. In addition, paeonol treatment can improve the richness and diversity of the intestinal flora and increase the amount of beneficial bacteria, such as Lactobacillus. Paeonol and its stable sustained-release tablet GRT-Ps can promote ulcer healing by inhibiting oxidative stress and regulating the intestinal flora. This study can provide basis for the clinical treatment of GU with paeonol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes hemorrhagic fever in domestic and wild pigs. The continued spread of the virus in Africa, Europe and Asia threatens the global pig industry. The lack of an effective vaccine limits disease control. ASFV has evolved a variety of encoded immune escape proteins and can evade host adaptive immunity, inducing cellular inflammation, autophagy, or apoptosis in host cells. Frequent persistent infections hinder the development of a viral vaccine and impose technical barriers. Currently, knowledge of the virulence-related genes, main pathogenic genes and immunoregulatory mechanism of ASFV is not comprehensive. We explain that ASFV invades the host to regulate its inflammatory response, interferon production, antigen presentation and cellular immunity. Furthermore, we propose potential ideas for ASFV vaccine target design, such as knocking out high-virulence genes in ASFV and performing data mining to identify the main genes that induce antiviral responses. To support a rational strategy for vaccine development, a better understanding of how ASFV interacts with the host and regulates the host's response to infection is needed. We review the current knowledge about ASFV targeting of host innate and adaptive immunity and the mechanisms by which the affected immune pathways are suppressed. • Characteristics of the innate and adaptive immune system in pigs. • ASFV inhibits IFN production to escape from innate immunity and CD4+ and CD8+ to escape from adaptive immunity. • Prospects and directions for multiple forms of ASFV vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Supercritical water-NaCl system were simulated by combining MD and QM. • The dissolution process and hydration structure of NaCl in SCW were analyzed. • The free energy of dissolution under different solvent models was calculated. • The deposition mechanisms of NaCl was explored from the aspect of solvated shell. The dissolution characteristics and microscopic dissolution process of salt in supercritical water (SCW) are the fundamental influence of scale formation. In this paper, molecular dynamics (MD) and quantum mechanics (QM) were used to study the solubility and solvation structure of sodium chloride in supercritical water. The potential mean force (PMF), radial distribution function (RDF) and coordination number (CN) indicate that the solubility of sodium chloride in SCW decreases with the increase of temperature and the decrease of density. As the system density decreases from 0.3 g/cm3 to 0.1 g/cm3 and the temperature increases from 600 K to 900 K, the CN of water molecules in the solvation shell decreases from 2.89 to 1.01, which is consistent with the trend of the experimental results. The electrostatic potential distribution and intermolecular interaction of the solvation shell around Na+ were obtained by QM method. The solution free energy of Na+–3H 2 O in implicit solvent was obtained. In the condition range of this study, when the temperature is the lowest and the dielectric constant is the largest, the free energy of dissolution is the smallest, which is −0.0991 a.u. This study will lay a foundation for the study of salt deposition in SCW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease that is difficult to cure, with rising incidence in recent decades. Probiotics have become a new strategy for UC treatment. In this study, we chose 2 new multisource probiotics, Lactobacillus plantarum ZDY2013 from acid beans and Bifidobacterium bifidum WBIN03 from infant feces, and a mixture of both, to investigate the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect on H2O2-induced oxidative damage in a HT-29 cell model and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced UC in mice. Compared with the model group, the general relative indices results showed L. plantarum ZDY2013 and B. bifidum WBIN03 have a significant effect on DSS-induced UC in mice, by downregulating the pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., TNF-α) and upregulating antioxidant factors (e.g., SOD1, SOD2, GPX2) at the transcriptional level. By means of high-throughput sequencing (16S V3-V4) and systematical bioinformatics analyses, we found that colitis may be associated with the changes in intestinal flora, especially Firmicutes and Bacteroides. Administration of L. plantarum ZDY2013 increased the abundance of Lactobacillus animalis, whereas B. bifidum WBIN03 increased the abundance of Lachnospiraceae bacterium COE1. Our results revealed that a supplement of L. plantarum ZDY2013 and B. bifidum WBIN03 remit UC through modification of gut microbiota to regulate oxidative stress and inflammatory mediators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparing technical disclosure documents has always been a labor-intensive task in the site management practice of current OCS (Overhead Contact System) project construction, and the overall information level of construction management is not high. As a result, the technical disclosure documents are of poor quality, which significantly affects the effective play of technical documents in guiding construction activities. In view of the above limitations, this paper proposes a text-generation method for OCS engineering technical disclosure based on a knowledge element model. By investigating the characteristics of OCS engineering technical knowledge, a representation model is established to model the technical knowledge from multiple sources, such as case data, standard specifications, and design data. As OCS engineering is highly standardized, we propose a case-rule hybrid reasoning model for the reuse of OCS engineering case knowledge. The mining and utilization of earlier engineering technical knowledge are made possible by similar retrieval of precedent situations and adaptive rules modification. Finally, we suggest an automatic text-generating technique based on a configuration template for new building projects. The knowledge element model is converted into a technical disclosure document expressed in natural language using a two-level mapping process. The cantilever installation project is used as an illustration for empirical research, and relevant practitioners are invited to carry out a manual review by questionnaire from the perspectives of topic relevance, topic integrity, topic word implication, sentence smoothness, sentence continuity, and information volume. At the same time, standard assessment metrics such as BLEU and ROUGE are employed to compare with the neural network-based text generation approach. The outcomes demonstrate that the strategy suggested in this paper can generate technical disclosure text that performs well. Overall, its text integrity and readability may satisfy on-site management's demands and help on-site management lessen the workload of technical management staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Catalytic effects of K and Ca on lignin pyrolysis were explored. • C β -O homolytic reaction dominates the initial depolymerization of dimers. • Potassium and calcium additives are beneficial to the formation of phenol. • The C β -O homolytic reaction is further enhanced by both potassium and calcium. • Ca2+ is more conducive to the concerted decomposition of side chains than K+. In this work, to investigate the catalytic effects of potassium and calcium additives on lignin pyrolysis, two β-O-4 type model compounds for lignin containing different oxygen-containing functional groups (a carbonyl group or a hydroxyl group) on C α were prepared, and their catalytic fast pyrolysis experiments were carried out on Py-GC/MS. Furthermore, the possible catalytic mechanism of potassium and calcium additives is further investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The experimental results show that the addition of potassium acetate and calcium acetate is beneficial to the formation of phenol, while the promotion effect of potassium addition is stronger than that of calcium addition. Moreover, considering the contributions of temperature and activation entropy ΔS‡, the activation Gibbs free energy ΔG‡ is required as the basis to explain the pyrolysis mechanism of lignin. It is determined that the C β -O homolytic reaction performs the most favorable in the initial depolymerization of both dimers. By comparing the ΔG‡, it is confirmed that the addition of K+ and Ca2+ are beneficial to the C β -O homolytic reaction and further promote the conversion of the intermediate to phenol. Furthermore, the different effects of K+ and Ca2+ additives are compared on the side chains cleavage through homolytic reaction and concerted decomposition. The calculation results show that K+ is more conducive to the simple homolytic reaction, while Ca2+ is more conducive to the concerted decomposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to effectively combat the effects of global warming, all sectors must actively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a sustainable and substantial manner. Sector coupling has emerged as a critical technology that can integrate energy systems and address the temporal imbalances created by intermittent renewable energy sources. Despite its potential, current sector coupling capabilities remain underutilized, and energy modeling approaches face challenges in understanding the intricacies of sector coupling and in selecting appropriate modeling tools. This paper presents a comprehensive review of sector coupling technologies and their role in the energy transition, with a specific focus on the integration of electricity, heat/cooling, and transportation, as well as the importance of hydrogen in sector coupling. Additionally, we conducted an analysis of 27 sector coupling models based on renewable energy sources, with the goal of aiding deciders in identifying the most appropriate model for their specific modeling needs. Finally, the paper highlights the importance of sector coupling in achieving climate protection goals, while emphasizing the need for technological openness and market-driven conditions to ensure economically efficient implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • An in situ and semi-quantitative analysis tool was proposed for char evolution. • The effects of chemical reactions and physical migration were separated. • The 'char rearrangement' of cellulose pyrolysis consists of four stages. • The climax stage after the DTG peak performed homogeneous devolatilization. • KCl and CaCl 2 altered the order of dehydration and 'char devolatilization'. A combination of in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy, perturbation-correlation moving-window two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (PCMW2D) and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS) was used to reveal the catalytic mechanism of KCl and CaCl 2 on cellulose char evolution during slow pyrolysis. Pretreatments of the one-dimensional spectra ensure the semi-quantitative analysis of the evolution of functional groups in pyrolysis char, which invoked principal component analysis followed by a Butterworth filter for denoising and extended multiplicative scatter correction. Through the differential processing of the absolute changes, the char evolution product was divided into 'char rearrangement' and 'char devolatilization' processes containing a high contribution from chemical reactions and physical migration, respectively. The 'char rearrangement' of cellulose pyrolysis consists of four stages, i.e. the budding, development, climax and decline stages, which were dominated by H-bond network reconfiguration, the consumption of C–O–C and OH, homogeneous devolatilization and aromatization, respectively. The uppermost influence of the two salts on the pyrolysis is the relationship alteration of C–O–C cleavage, dehydration reactions and 'char devolatilization'. For neat, KCl-loaded and CaCl 2 -loaded cellulose, the unsaturated bonds were formed in the light reaction intermediate, heavy reaction intermediates and cellulose chain, respectively. Especially, the cleavage of most C–O–C following dehydration reactions conduced a shoulder peak in the differential thermogravimetry curve before the maximum weight loss rate of CaCl 2 -loaded sample. Due to the alteration, the pyrolysis was advanced but slowed down by the high content of unsaturated bonds in char. This study provides a powerful tool for the in situ semi-quantitative analysis of char evolution during the non-catalytic and catalytic thermo-chemical conversion of solid fuels and waste, and the results benefit to both biomass pyrolysis mechanism revelation and industrial production of biochar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Effects of critical factors on lignin pyrolysis are summarized. • Estimated energies by different DFT methods for the initial reactions are compared. • Effects of different inherent metals with different existing forms are summarized. • Kinetic modeling is discussed on structure representation and reaction network. • Recommendations are suggested for experimental and simulation research on lignin pyrolysis. This work comprehensively reviews the pyrolysis of lignin from the aspects of mechanism, modeling, and effects of inorganic species. Initially, the lignin general pyrolysis characteristics are described in detail. The effect of lignin isolation methods on pyrolysis characteristics and product distribution, together with the interactions between the lignin and holocellulose are considered. Then, the depolymerization mechanism of lignin, i.e. homolytic reaction and concerted decomposition, as well as the conversion mechanism of propionic acid side-chain and oxygen-containing functional groups in monomers, aree discussed. Moreover, three main types of zero-dimension models of lignin pyrolysis, viz. lumped kinetic models, network models, and mechanistic models are reviewed with the special attention paid to the structure representation and reaction network. Influences of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, and transition metals on the lignin pyrolysis are concluded from four aspects, including metal-catalyzed lignin pyrolysis experiments, metal minerals migration and transformation, quantum chemical simulation calculations, and the modeling. Finally, challenges and prospects are discussed in the last section of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a novel method for designing gradient-varying lattice structures based on explicit topology optimization. The proposed method employs a set of Moving Morphable Components (MMC) and NURBS-based partitioned coordinate mapping (PCM) functions to describe material distribution within the design domain and control points grid in the parametric space for local control of the lattice structure within each subdomain, thereby generating diverse microstructure topologies in different regions while being able to ensure clear structural boundaries and high-order smooth connections between adjacent microstructures. Since the optimization parameters include only the explicit geometric parameters of the components and the perturbation coefficients of the mapping function, the number of design variables is substantially smaller compared to existing algorithms. The proposed method can efficiently generate graded lattice structures for various loading conditions and graded-infill structures. Numerical results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial eruptions of solar filaments are the typical representatives of solar eruptive behavior diversity. Here we investigate a typical filament partial eruption event and present integrated evidence for the configuration of the pre-eruption filament and its formation. The Chinese H α Solar Explorer H α observations reveal a structured Doppler velocity distribution within the pre-eruption filament, where distinct redshift only appeared in the eastern narrow part of the southern filament region and then disappeared after the partial eruption, while the northern part dominated by blueshift remained. Combining the Solar Dynamics Observatory and Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory observations, together with nonlinear-force-free-field modeling results, we verify that there were two independent material flow systems within the preflare filament, whose magnetic topology is a special double-decker configuration consisting of two magnetic flux ropes (MFRs) with opposite magnetic twist. During the formation of this filament system, continuous magnetic flux cancellation and footpoint motion were observed around its northern end. Therefore, we propose a new double-decker formation scenario: that the two MFRs composing such a double-decker configuration originated from two magnetic systems with different initial connections and opposite magnetic twist. Subsequent magnetic reconnection with the surrounding newly emerging fields resulted in the motion of the footpoint of the upper MFR to the region around the footpoint of the lower MFR, thus leading to the eventual formation of the double-decker configuration consisting of two MFRs with similar footpoints but opposite signs of magnetic twist. These results provide a potential way to determine unambiguously the progenitor configuration of a partially eruptive filament and reveal a special type of double-decker MFR configuration and a new double-decker formation scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a three-dimensional explicit geometrically nonlinear topology optimization method is developed. Moving morphable voids (MMVs) are used to describe the optimized structures, which enjoy the advantages of fewer design variables and seamless integration with CAD system. Furthermore, attributing to the decoupling between the description of topology and finite element analysis, redundant degree of freedoms in the void regions are directly removed during mechanical analysis, and this could significantly alleviate the mesh distortion of weak elements and also improve the computational efficiency of finite element analysis in the finite deformation regime. Numerical examples verify the effectiveness of the developed method and reveal that: (1) the finite deformation has a significant influence on the optimal topology of the three-dimensional structures both for single and multiple load cases; (2) the optimized geometrically nonlinear structures may take advantage of large displacements and small strains for achieving a minimized end compliance; (3) the critical load factor should be evaluated to guarantee the validity of the optimized structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Subcutaneous injection of biopharmaceutical agents or microparticles is challenging due to issues with low injection efficiency and high residual amounts. This study aimed to determine the important factors affecting the injectability of microparticle delivery systems, establish a suitable injection system with lower injection force and higher discharge rate, and eventually develop a reliable injectability evaluation system for injectable microparticle delivery systems in vitro and in vivo. The effects of various parameters, including particle size, injection speed, concentration of microspheres suspension, vehicle viscosity, needle length and gauge were evaluated by measuring the injection force and discharge rate. The characteristics of microparticles and rheological measurement of the suspension systems were studied. A design of experiment approach was utilized to evaluate the interaction between the microsphere suspension, vehicle viscosity and needle gauges. Both in vitro sieve tests and in vivo tests in rats were conducted to evaluate injectability. The in vitro test results showed that the vehicle viscosity and injection speed have varying effects on discharge rate and injection force, respectively. Particle size and needle gauge have substantial influence on injectability, larger particle size and smaller needle gauges resulting in poor injectability, while the needle gauge was found to have the greatest influence on injectability. Levonorgestrel (LNG) microsphere and glass bead were relatively uniform spherical, the glass bead had extremely smooth surface; while mesoporous silica had irregular shape. The settling rate of glass bead was the fastest, which was about 18 times faster than the LNG microsphere. The CMC-Na had a poor interaction with the LNG microspheres, glass bead and mesoporous silica and showed basically Newtonian behavior in the shear rate range of 0.1 s−1–100 s−1. When shear rate increased to more than 100 s−1, no obvious shear thinning behavior was observed. CMC-Na formed a nodule structure with whether LNG microspheres or the glass beads, which were much lower than that with the mesoporous silica in static state, among which the glass beads were the weakest. The viscosity of the suspension increased with the rising of the volume fraction of particles. Fundamentals of hydrodynamics in capillaries were referenced, such as Navier-Stokes Law equation, Krieger-Dougherty (K-D) equation, Hagen-Poiseuille equation. The best results achieved was using a suspension concentration of 120–240 mg /mL and a viscosity of 60 cP at 20 °C with 23-gauge needles. The optimized conditions were verified in vivo tests. It was proven that the LNG microsphere suspension had a good injectability when injected into subcutaneous tissue of rats. The injection system of injectable microparticle delivery system with lower injection force and higher discharge rate was established and the evaluation method was suitable for the injectability evaluation both in vivo and in vitro. Improved injectability would promote the clinical translation of microparticle delivery systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored underground biomethanation as a means to achieve carbon neutrality and promote carbon circular utilization by methanating CO2 and hydrogen-rich industrial waste gas in depleted natural gas reservoirs (MECHIG). This approach not only aids the development of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies, but also effectively processes industrial waste gas, thereby reducing pollutant emissions. In order to verify the feasibility of the MECHIG concept, this study builds upon the analysis of the MECHIG process overview and employs the net present value (NPV) analysis method to investigate its economic viability. Additionally, the study conducts a sensitivity analysis on six factors, namely methanation efficiency, facility site investment, hydrogen content in waste gas, natural gas prices, operation and maintenance (O&M) investment, and CO2 capture and injection prices. The results indicate the following: (1) Under the baseline scenario, the NPV of the MECHIG concept is approximately CNY 5,035,100, which suggests that the concept may be economically viable. (2) The fluctuation in natural gas prices has the most significant impact on NPV, followed by facility site investment and methanation efficiency. In contrast, the variations in hydrogen content in waste gas, O&M investment, and CO2 capture and injection prices have relatively smaller effects on NPV. (3) To ensure the economic feasibility of the concept, the acceptable fluctuation ranges for the factors of methanation efficiency, facility site investment, hydrogen content in waste gas, natural gas prices, O&M investment, and CO2 capture and injection prices are −16.78%, 5.44%, −32.14%, −4.70%, 14.86%, and 18.56%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RGB-D salient object detection (SOD) is usually formulated as a problem of classification or regression over two modalities, i.e. , RGB and depth. Hence, effective RGB-D feature modeling and multi-modal feature fusion both play a vital role in RGB-D SOD. In this paper, we propose a depth-sensitive RGB feature modeling scheme using the depth-wise geometric prior of salient objects. In principle, the feature modeling scheme is carried out in a Depth-Sensitive Attention Module (DSAM), which leads to the RGB feature enhancement as well as the background distraction reduction by capturing the depth geometry prior. Furthermore, we extend and enhance the original DSAM to DSAMv2 by proposing a novel Depth Attention Generation Module (DAGM) to generate learnable depth attention maps for more robust depth-sensitive RGB feature extraction. Moreover, to perform effective multi-modal feature fusion, we further present an automatic neural architecture search approach for RGB-D SOD, which does well in finding out a feasible architecture from our specially designed multi-modal multi-scale search space. Extensive experiments on nine standard benchmarks have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed approach against the state-of-the-art. We name the enhanced learnable Depth-Sensitive Attention and Automatic multi-modal Fusion framework DSA 2 Fv2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explicit topology optimization methods have received ever-increasing interest in recent years. In particular, a 188-line Matlab code of the two-dimensional (2D) Moving Morphable Component (MMC)-based topology optimization method was released by Zhang et al. (Struct Multidiscip Optim 53(6):1243-1260, 2016). The present work aims to propose an efficient and easy-to-extend 256-line Matlab code of the MMC method for three-dimensional (3D) topology optimization implementing some new numerical techniques. To be specific, by virtue of the function aggregation technique, accurate sensitivity analysis, which is also easy-to-extend to other problems, is achieved. Besides, based on an efficient identification algorithm for load transmission path, the degrees of freedoms (DOFs) not belonging to the load transmission path are removed in finite element analysis (FEA), which significantly accelerates the optimization process. As a result, compared to the corresponding 188-line 2D code, the performance of the optimization results, the computational efficiency of FEA, and the convergence rate and the robustness of optimization process are greatly improved. For the sake of completeness, a refined 218-line Matlab code implementing the 2D-MMC method is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light bridges (LBs) are among the most striking substructures in sunspots, where various activities have been revealed by recent high-resolution observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). Based on the variety of their physical properties, we classified these activities into four distinct categories: transient brightening (TB), intermittent jet (IJ), type-I light wall (LW-I), and type-II light wall (LW-II). In IRIS 1400/1330 Ă... observations, TBs are characterized by abrupt emission enhancements, and IJs appear as collimated plasma ejections with a width of 1â€"2 Mm at some LB sites. Most observed TBs are associated with IJs and show superpositions of some chromosphere absorption lines on enhanced and broadened wings of C ii and Si iv lines, which could be driven by intermittent magnetic reconnection in the lower atmosphere. LW-I and LW-II are wall-shaped structures with bright fronts above the whole LB. An LW-I has a continuous oscillating front with a typical height of several Mm and an almost stationary period of 4â€"5 minutes. On the contrary, an LW-II has an indented front with a height of over 10 Mm, which has no stable period and is accompanied by recurrent TBs in the entire LB. These results support that LW-IIs are driven by frequent reconnection occurring along the entire LB due to large-scale magnetic flux emergence or intrusion, rather than the leakage of waves producing LW-Is. Our observations reveal a highly dynamical scenario of activities above LBs driven by different basic physical processes, including magnetoconvection, magnetic reconnection, and wave leakage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, the combination of fly ash and silica fume, or fly ash and blast furnace slag were used as the composite mineral admixtures in cement paste. The autogenous shrinkage and the pore structure of the hardened cement paste with mineral admixtures were tested, and the relationship of the autogenous shrinkage and pore structure also was discussed. The results indicate that fly ash can reduce the autogenous shrinkage, and silica fume can increase the autogenous shrinkage, and the effect of blast furnace slag is between the two above; although both silica fume and blast furnace slag can weaken the porosity and the mean diameter of cement paste, and increase the volumetric percentage of pores whose diameter is between 5 and 50nm and pore specific surface, silica fume is better than blast furnace slag in changing the pore structure. The relationship between the autogenous shrinkage and volumetric percentage of pores whose diameter is between 5 and 50nm is obviously proportional. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

African swine fever (ASF) is an acute, hemorrhagic, and highly contagious disease caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV). The mortality rate of acute infection up to 100% have posed an unprecedented challenge of the swine industry. Currently no commercial antiviral drug is available for the control and treatment of ASFV. The structural resolution of ASFV virions reveals the details of ASFV morphogenesis, providing a new perspective for the research and promotion of the development of ASFV vaccines. Although the architecture of ASFV have been solved via cryo‐EM, the structural details of four of the five viral layers remain unclear (except the outer capsid). In this study, we resolved the crystal structure of the ASFV core shell protein p15. The secondary structural elements of a protomer include four α‐helix structures and six antiparallel β‐strands. Further analysis revealed that ASFV p15 forms disulfide‐linked trimers between the Cys9 from one protomer and Cys30 from other protomer. Additionally, the nucleic acid‐binding property was characterized by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Two critical amino acid Lys10 and Lys39 have been identified which is essential to the nucleic acid‐binding affinity of ASFV p15. Together, these findings may provide new insight into antiviral drug development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, an explicit three-dimensional (3D) topology optimization approach is presented for multi-material composite structures accounting the finite deformation effect. The proposed method employs different sets of 3D Moving Morphable Voids (MMVs) to identify each phase material, resulting in explicit geometric descriptions of the optimized composite structures and a reduction in the number of design variables. The decoupling between the topology description and finite element analysis of composite structures enables the removal of redundant degrees of freedom, thereby mitigating the convergence issue of finite deformation analysis caused by low-density elements and leading to significant computational savings. Numerical experiments of composite structures with two- and three-phase materials are optimized to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. The results demonstrate that, under finite deformation, the distribution of each phase material in optimized 3D composite structures is significantly affected by the amplitude of external loads, and the optimized layout could be quite different from its counterpart under small deformation assumption. • An explicit 3D topology optimization method is developed for composite structures with finite deformation. • The redundant DOFs removal technique is extended to solve the convergence issue and improve efficiency of FEA. • Optimized structures composed of 2- and 3-phase materials illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of micro-nano sensor technology provides a new method for structural health monitoring. This study focuses on the application of buckypaper (BP) thin film sensors for continuous monitoring of strain and crack evolution in metallic structures. The buckypaper (BP) sensor was prepared by using commercial multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) through dispersion, vacuum filtration and other processes. It has the advantages of high sensitivity, wide detection range and good stability. The BP sensor also has good compatibility with epoxy resin. Thus, epoxy resin was used as the adhesive, and the BP sensor was used to monitor the strain and crack growth of the aluminum alloy sheet (2024-T3). In the structural health monitoring test, strain gauges were used for comparison. Through the electrical monitoring of the BP sensor, the strain field measured by the sensor was consistent with the measurement of the strain gauge. The BP sensor can be used to monitor the crack growth information of metal structures. The results highlight the great potential and robustness of the proposed BP thin-film sensor for online structural health monitoring of metal structures. [Display omitted] • Buckypaper film sensor was fabricated by a simple and efficient process. • High-sensitivity buckypaper film sensors can be integrated with metal. • Monitor micro deformation caused by external loads. • Monitor crack growth of aluminum alloy sheet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecotropic viral integration site 1 (EVI1) is an oncogenic transcription factor, which is abnormally expressed in myeloid leukemia and other several solid cancers. It is associated with short survival as well as anticancer drug resistance. Autophagy is a protective mechanism that promotes cancer cell growth and survival under stressed conditions including clinical drug treatment. Here evidences are provided that EVI1 induces autophagy and mediated drug resistance in myeloid leukemia cells. Both knockdown using RNAi and pharmacological inhibition of autophagy significantly increase sensitivity to cytotoxic drug treatment in EVI1high cells. Mechanistic studies revealed that EVI1 regulated autophagy by directly binding to autophagy-related gene autophagy related 7 (ATG7) promoter and transcriptionally upregulating its expression. Notably, ATG7 expression was positively correlated with EVI1 in bone marrow mononuclear cells from myeloid leukemia patients. Acute myeloid leukemia patients with high level of EVI1 are associated with unfavorable overall survival, which was aggravated by simultaneous high expression of ATG7 in these patients. Furthermore, ChIP and firefly luciferase reporter assay identified an EVI1-binding site at 227 upstream promoter region of ATG7 which regulated its transcription. In addition, enforced expression of EVI1 also increased intracellular reactive oxygen species and ATG7 mRNA levels as well as autophagy activity, whereas the increase was attenuated after treatment with reactive oxygen species scavenger, suggesting the involvement of reactive oxygen species in EVI1-induced autophagy. These findings demonstrate that EVI protects myeloid leukemia cell from anticancer drug treatment by inducing autophagy through dual control of ATG7. These results might present a new therapeutic approach for improving treatment outcome in myelogenous leukemia with EVI1high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mushroom Phellinus linteus (" Sanghuang " in Chinese) is a popular medicinal polypore used to treat several disorders through its various biological functions. Inonotus sanghuang is claimed to produce general immune-potentiating and strengthening, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-microbial properties, but its effect on acute lung inflammation and oxidative stress are not clearly understood. To determine the effect and mechanism of the polyphenols-rich ethyl acetate fraction from wild I. sanghuang extract (ISE) on acute lung injury (ALI) induced by bleomycin (BLM), female C57BL/6 mice were fed ISE (0%, 0.15% or 0.6% in diet) for 4 weeks prior to challenge with BLM. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from lung, spleen and lung tissues were collected on day 3 after BLM challenge for histological, oxidative stress, molecular and biochemical analysis. ISE supplementation improved pathological features in lung injury scores and reduced lung wet-to-dry ratios. Moreover, ISE reduced inflammatory cell infiltration and the pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in BALF, decreased the MPO activity and the MDA level and increased the SOD, CAT and GSH-Px activities in lung tissue homogenates. Further mechanism analysis demonstrated that dietary ISE inhibited NF-κB signal. Finally, peripheral immune function analysis showed that ISE had less effect on immune response including splenocyte producing inflammatory cytokines and T cell proliferation except for IL-1β and IL-2. Our findings indicate the possibility that dietary ISE attenuates ALI induced by BLM through correcting the inflammation and oxidation balance at least in part via inhibiting NF-κB signal in vivo , suggesting that ISE might be a valuable medicinal food effective in improving lung injury. Mushroom Phellinus linteus (" Sanghuang " in Chinese) is a popular medicinal polypore and has been reported to have benefits for health. Current study showed that supplementation with a polyphenols-rich extract from wild Inonotus Sanghuang could inhibit lung inflammation and edema via anti-oxidation and anti-inflammatory effects in mice, which might be mediated at least in part via inhibiting NF-κB signal. Unlabelled Image • ISE may attenuate acute lung injury in bleomycin-treated mice. • ISE may reduce the pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress in lung tissues. • This inhibitory effect of ISE might be mediated by downregulation of NK-κB signal. • ISE has less immune-modulating effects in BLM-treated mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the influence mechanism of soy protein and its hydrolysates (under three different degree of hydrolysis) on formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) formation in roasted pork. The results showed that 7S and its hydrolysates significantly inhibited the formation of quinoxaline HAAs, and the maximum inhibitory rate of MeIQx, 4,8-MeIQx, and IQx was 69%, 79%, and 100%, respectively. However, soy protein and its hydrolysates could promote the formation of pyridine HAAs (PhIP, and DMIP), its content increased significantly with the increase in the degree of hydrolysis of the protein. The content of PhIP increased 41, 54, and 165 times with the addition of SPI, 7S, and 11S at 11% degree of hydrolysis, respectively. In addition, they promoted the formation of β-carboline HAAs (Norharman and Harman), in a manner similar with that of PhIP, especially the 11S group. The inhibitory effect on quinoxaline HAAs was probably correlated with DPPH radical scavenging capacity. Nevertheless, the promotive effect on other HAAs might be related to the high levels of free amino acids and reactive carbonyls. This research may provide recommendation for the application of soy protein in high-temperature meat products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Excessive proliferation and migration of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) play an important role in the occurrence and development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). miR-143/145 was reported to be up-regulated in the animal models and PAH patients, and deletion of miR-143/145 cluster prevented the development of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension, but its underlying mechanism has not been elucidated. Methods qRT-PCR and Western blot were performed to detect the expressions of miR-143/145 and ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) in PAH patients and PASMCs under hypoxic conditions. Cell proliferation and migration were assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 and wound-healing assay, respectively. Luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation were conducted to confirm the interaction between miR-143/145 and ABCA1. Hypoxia-induced PAH rat model was established to confirm the functions of miR-143/145 in the pathogenesis of PAH and its underlying mechanism in vivo. Results miR-143 and miR-145 were up-regulated and ABCA1 was down-regulated in PAH patients and PASMCs under hypoxic conditions for different time, as well as hypoxia-induced PAH rats. miR-143/145 inhibition and ABCA1 overexpression suppressed hypoxia-induced proliferation and migration in PASMCs. ABCA1 was identified as a direct target of miR-143/145 in PASMCs. Moreover, ABCA1 partially reversed miR-143/145-mediated promotion of hypoxia-induced cell proliferation and migration in PASMCs. Furthermore, in vivo experiments confirmed that inhibition of miR-143/145 prevents hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary vascular remodeling by targeting ABCA1. Conclusion miR-143/145 promoted hypoxia-induced proliferation and migration of PASMCs by targeting ABCA1, contributing to better understanding of the mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of PAH. Highlights • miR-143 and miR-145 were significantly up-regulated in PAH patients and hypoxia-treated PASMCs. • Inhibition of miR-143/145 suppressed hypoxia-induced proliferation and migration in PASMCs. • ABCA1 was a direct target of miR-143/145 in PASMCs. • ABCA1 overexpression impeded hypoxia-induced proliferation and migration in PASMCs. • ABCA1 partially reversed miR-143/145-mediated promotion of cell proliferation and migration in PASMCs exposed to hypoxia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the anti- H elicobacter pylori activity of L actobacillus plantarum ZDY2013 was investigated and L actobacillus rhamnosus GG was used as a positive control. The anti- H. pylori mechanism in vitro was also examined. Results revealed that either the viable cells or supernatant of L. plantarum ZDY2013 could suppress the growth or urease activity of H. pylori. The inhibitory effects of L. plantarum ZDY2013 were relatively higher than those of L. rhamnosus GG (P < 0.05), and such effects might be a result of their lactic acid production (e.g., 51.105 ± 0.097 mmol/L for L. plantarum ZDY2013 and 33.113 ± 0.063 mmol/L for L. rhamnosus GG). The anti-adhesion capacity of L. plantarum ZDY2013 against H. pylori was also stronger than that of L. rhamnosus GG in terms of inhibition, competition, and displacement. Among these inhibitory strategies, competition exhibited the best performance, with an inhibition ratio of 92.65%. Upon inhibition and anti-adhesion, the cells and supernatant of L. plantarum ZDY2013 significantly strengthened the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, but attenuated the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α in AGS cells induced by H. pylori SS1. Remarkably, the supernatant of ZDY2013 achieved a relatively higher anti-inflammatory effect than that exerted by its cells. With excellent lactic acid yield and antagonistic and anti-inflammatory effects against H. pylori SS1 infection, L. plantarum ZDY2013 shows potential to be used as a probiotics candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The pressure monitoring range of mxene sensor reaches MPa level. • A distributed pressure measurement scheme for bolt structure interface is proposed. • Early warning monitoring of bolt looseness was achieved in vibration environment. • The results provide a reliable solution for industrial applications. Mxenes can be used in a variety of applications due to their multifunctional chemical properties. It has received increasing attention as a piezoresistive sensor. However, the stability and pressure monitoring range of the reported MXene sensors are limited, thereby limiting these scalability and effectiveness. In contrast, this paper presents a conductive MXene/FPC based pressure sensor overcomes the aforementioned shortcoming in that its pressure monitoring range and stability are improved by one order of magnitude. Therefore, this study aims to validate the use of MXene sensor for detecting bolt loosening. First, the mechanical properties of MXene were tested, including pressure test, vibration test and so on. The mechanical parameters of MXene are obtained. Secondly, the bolt structure embedded with MXene sensor is tested by torque loading and bolt looseness monitoring under vibration environment. The experimental results show that it has a linear pressure monitoring range of 0−120Mpa, the sensitivity of the sensor is up to 1.3 Mpa −1, and can remain stable after more than 63,000 cycles. Through monitoring the change of resistance ΔR/R 0 , the pressure of bolt pre tightening force transmitted to the joint surface can be accurately sensed. In the vibration environment, when the excitation frequency is 20 Hz, the bolt structure resonates, and ΔR/R 0 increases from 0.28 to 0.6; when the bolt looses in about 100 s, the ΔR/R 0 increases from 0.3 to 0.68 indicates that MXene can respond to bolt loosening in time. Thus, the sensor can be used in the whole life health monitoring of bolted structure completely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banxia Xiexin Decoction (BXD), an ancient TCM prescription originating from Treatise on Febrile Diseases (Shang Han Lun) of the Han Dynasty, has been widely used in modern clinical practice, especially for gastrointestinal diseases, including ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the modern decoction method of BXD differs from that of the original method. Thus, an exploration of the influence of the different decoction methods on the pharmacological effects is interesting and significant. This study aimed to systematically compare the pharmacological effects of extracts of BXD on TNBS induce UC rats that were prepared by different methods, the ancient method and the modern method. The findings may provide important information for the further mechanical exploration of the classical prescription, contributing to the rational application and enhancing the understanding of BXD in modern applications or scientific research. Fifty-four SD rats were randomly divided into the following nine groups at n = 6/group: control group; model group; salicylazosulfapyridine group; BXD ancient extraction method's low-dose group (BXD-AED-L, 3.6 g BXD-AED/kg), medium-dose group (BXD-AED-M, 7.2 g BXD-AED/kg), and high-dose group (BXD-AED-H, 14.4 g BXD-AED/kg); and BXD modern extraction method's low-dose group (BXD-MED-L, 1 g BXD-MED/kg), medium-dose group (BXD-MED-M, 2 g BXD-MED/kg), and high-dose group (BXD-MED-H, 4 g BXD-MED/kg). All the groups, except the control group, were rectally injected with 70 mg/kg ethanol solution containing TNBS (2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid) to establish the UC models. The pharmacological evaluations including disease activity index, colon weight index, macroscopic and histological evaluation of colon damage, and inflammatory cytokine levels (IL-4, IL-10, IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6)were measured. In the network pharmacology analysis, the "herbs-components-targets-disease" network was constructed and visually analyzed with which the targets with a strong correlation with UC were screened out. The results showed that both BXD-AED and BXD-MED might alleviate the severity of UC with different degrees according to the majority of indices that were evaluated. At similar doses, the BXD-AED groups performed better compared with the BXD-MED groups. With the assistance of the network pharmacology analysis, some key active components (quercetin, baicalein, wogonin, and baicalin) related to the anti-UC/inflammation were screened out. The contents of the components in BXD-AED were higher than those in BXD-MED. The joint results of the study indicated that BXD, an ancient TCM compound prescription, is an effective drug candidate for the modern treatment of UC. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]