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Morphing attacks (MAs) pose a substantial security threat to the Automatic Border Control (ABC) system. While a few morphing attack detection (MAD) methods have been proposed, the face morphing accomplice's facial restoration has not received sufficient attention. Due to the inability to foresee the morphing factor used for a particular morphed image, selecting the appropriate de‐morphing factor becomes a challenging problem in the restoration of the accomplice's facial image. If the morphing factor cannot be chosen reasonably, achieving the desired restoration effect is difficult. Therefore, this paper presents an adaptive de‐morphing factor framework (ADFF) architecture for restoring the accomplice's facial image. By exploiting the morphed images stored in the electronic passport system and the real‐time captured criminal's images, ADFF can effectively restore the accomplice's facial image. Experimental results and analysis show that ADFF can significantly reduce the security threats of MAs on ABC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the passivity-based boundary control for stochastic delay reaction–diffusion systems (SDRDSs) with boundary input–output. Delay-dependent sufficient conditions are obtained in the sense of expectation for SDRDSs by the use of Lyapunov functional method, for the input strict passivity and the output strict passivity, respectively. Then delay-dependent sufficient conditions are presented to ensure the uncertainty SDRDSs to achieve the robust passivity. Moreover, by utilising the techniques of Green formula and Poincare's inequality, the difficulty is handled caused by the boundary input and boundary controller. Besides, the troubles brought by the existence of the stochastic term and uncertain parameters are resolved by stochastic inequality techniques. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to show the validity of our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) caused by Enterovirus type 71 (EV71) is a serious threat to children's health. However, the pathogenic mechanism of EV71 is still unclear. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), some of which bind to miRNA as competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNA) and weaken the silencing effect on the mRNA of downstream target genes, play a key role in regulating the viral infection process. In this study, through experimental verification, we found miR-4443 to be downregulated in cells infected with EV71. Next, by predicting lncRNAs that potentially regulate miR-4443, we found that EV71 infection induced upregulation of lncRNA ENST00000469812 and then further downregulated miR-4443 expression by direct interaction. We also demonstrated that nuclear protein 1 (NUPR1) is one of the target genes of miR-4443 and is involved in the ENST00000469812/miR-4443/NUPR1 regulatory axis. Finally, the ENST00000469812/miR-4443/NUPR1 regulatory axis exhibited a positive effect on EV71 replication. Here, we lay a foundation for exploring the pathogenic mechanism of EV71 and identify potential targets for HFMD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the structural features of arterial blood vessels in yak uterine caruncle and the effects of the expression of vascular regulation‐related factors on angiogenesis in pregnant and non‐pregnant yak uterus. Three‐dimensional specimens of the uterine artery of non‐pregnant and pregnant yaks were produced to observe and measure the distribution characteristics and number of arterial vessels in the uterus and caruncle in the two periods. The uterine caruncle structure was observed and analysed by haematoxylin–eosin staining. The expression features of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin‐1 (Ang‐1) in the uterine caruncle were detected with immunohistochemistry, quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR) and western blotting. The length and number of blood vessels in the caruncle were increased, the degree of curvature was decreased, and the folding was more complicated during pregnancy as compared with that during non‐pregnancy. The immunohistochemical results demonstrated that VEGF and Ang‐1 were mainly expressed strongly in the mucosal epithelial cytoplasm. The glandular lumen of the uterine gland, lymphocytes and the media and adventitia of blood vessels are widely distributed, and they are all positive. VEGF and Ang‐1 mRNA and protein levels were highest in pregnancy, followed by that in the luteal phase and in the follicular phase, and three stages were significantly different (p <.05). These findings provide an anatomical reference and theoretical basis for improving the diagnosis and treatment of yak reproductive disorders and other diseases in high‐altitude and low‐oxygen environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polysaccharide-stabilized emulsions have received extensive attention, but emulsifying activity of polysaccharides is poor. In this study, konjac glucomannan (KGM) and tannic acid (TA) complex (KGM-TA) was prepared via non-covalent binding to increase the polysaccharide interfacial stability. The emulsifying stabilities of KGM-TA complex-stabilized emulsions were analyzed under different TA concentrations and oil fractions. The results indicated that hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic bonds were the main binding forces for KGM-TA complex, which were closely related to TA concentrations. The interfacial tension of KGM-TA complex decreased from 20.0 mN/m to 13.4 mN/m with TA concentration increasing from 0 % to 0.3 %, indicating that TA improved the interfacial activity of KGM. Meanwhile, the contact angle of KGM-TA complex was closer to 90° with the increasing TA concentrations. The emulsifying stability of KGM-TA complex-stabilized emulsions increased in an oil mass fraction-dependent manner, reaching the maximum at 75 % oil mass fraction. Moreover, the droplet sizes of KGM-TA complex-stabilized high-internal-phase emulsions (HIPEs) decreased from 82.7 μm to 44.7 μm with TA concentration increasing from 0 to 0.3 %. Therefore, high TA concentrations were conducive to the improvement of the emulsifying stability of KGM-TA complex-stabilized HIPEs. High oil mass fraction promoted the interfacial contact of adjacent droplets, thus enhancing the non-covalent binding of KGM molecules at the interfaces with TA as bridges. Additionally, the high TA concentrations increased the gel network density in the aqueous phase, thus enhancing the emulsifying stability of emulsions. Our findings reveal the mechanisms by which polysaccharide-polyphenol complex stabilized HIPEs. Therefore, this study provides theoretical basis and references for the developments of polysaccharide emulsifier with high emulsifying capability and high-stability emulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasing nitrogen (N) deposition has altered plant communities globally, however the changes in species abundances with short-term vs. long-term N enrichment remains unclear. Stoichiometric homeostasis, quantified by the homoeostatic regulation coefficient (H) is a key trait predictive of plant species dominance and species responses to short-term global changes. It is unknown whether H changes with N enrichment over time, thereby affecting species responses to long-term N addition. Methods: Here we investigated three representative plant species how species dominance changed to short-term and long-term N addition with a field N addition experiment (2006–2013) in an Inner Mongolia grassland. Changes in species H with long-term N addition were analyzed using a sand culture experiment, and the correlation between species H and species abundances were explored to address the above research gaps. Results: The abundance of Leymus chinensis decreased with short-term N addition, and increased with long-term N addition, while Chenopodium glaucum exhibited the opposite pattern. Cleistogenes squarrosa was only favored by 1-year N addition, and depressed by two or more years of N addition. The H values of L. chinensis and C. glaucum decreased significantly with long-term N addition, but did not change for C. squarrosa. The H values were significantly related with the abundance both in Control and long-term N addition treatments. Conclusion: Species abundance had opposite responses to short-term vs. long-term N addition. The decrease of H suggested the nutrients use strategy became more progressive, which mediated the responses of species abundances to short- and long-term N addition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In this study, we demonstrate that DDX5 serves as a tumor suppressor in the specific context of tongue cancer, which is contrary to its documented oncogenic role in a vast array of cancers. The high expression of DDX5 in tongue cancer is correlated with a better prognosis in clinical patients. The knockdown of DDX5 promotes, while the overexpression of DDX5 inhibits, tongue cancer proliferation, development, and cisplatin resistance. Moreover, we found that the expression of DDX5 in tongue cancer is associated with immune cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. Specifically, the expression of DDX5 is associated with a reduced infiltration of M2 macrophages and an increased infiltration of T cell clusters, which may contribute to anticancer effects in the tumor microenvironment. Our study establishes DDX5 as a valuable prognostic biomarker and an important tumor suppressor in tongue cancer. DEAD-box polypeptide 5 (DDX5), a DEAD-box RNA helicase, is a multifunctional protein that plays important roles in many physiological and pathological processes. Contrary to its documented oncogenic role in a wide array of cancers, we herein demonstrate that DDX5 serves as a tumor suppressor in tongue cancer. The high expression of DDX5 is correlated with better prognosis for clinical tongue cancer patients. DDX5 downregulates the genes associated with tongue cancer progression. The knockdown of DDX5 promotes, while the overexpression of DDX5 inhibits, tongue cancer proliferation, development, and cisplatin resistance. Furthermore, the expression of DDX5 in tongue cancer is associated with immune cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. Specifically, the expression of DDX5 is associated with the reduced infiltration of M2 macrophages and increased infiltration of T cell clusters, which may contribute to anticancer effects in the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we establish DDX5 as a valuable prognostic biomarker and an important tumor suppressor in tongue cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Astrocyte-elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is over-expressed in many cancer cells and has multiple key functions in tumor initiation and progression. Currently, targeted-AEG-1 siRNA is one of the most common techniques to down-regulate AEG-1 expression, but the lack of tumor specificity and available delivery system make it difficult to enter clinical trials. Methods: In this study, we creatively developed an adenovirus-mediated anti-AEG-1 single-chain antibody fragment (ScFv) expression system driven by a tumor specific promoter, and experimented with it in human cervical carcinoma cells to investigate the effect on tumor's proliferation and apoptosis. Results: The results showed that of HeLa and SiHa cells treated with this recombinant anti-AEG-1 ScFv adenovirus not only inhibited cell growth, but induced apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we also observed that the expressions of several apoptosis-related genes like Akt 1 and c-Myc decreased, while NF-κB (p65) and cleaved caspase 3 increased on protein levels in vivo. Conclusion: We concluded that stathmin promoter-driving anti-AEG-1 ScFv adenoviral system may be a breakthrough for its dual-specificity, and serve as an adjuvant tumor specific therapy method in the treatment for human cervical cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haematococcus pluvialis is beneficial to human health and is important for commercial use. However, it seldom prevails in permanent freshwater bodies. Increasing environmental pollutants from anthropogenic activity may threaten the wide distribution of H. pluvialis. Here, we quantified and compared the adverse effects of the common pesticides atrazine, pentachlorophenol, malathion, and 3,5-dichlorophenol and the heavy metals Cu(II), Cr(VI), and Cd(II) on H. pluvialis, Microcystis wesenbergii (a freshwater bloom-forming cyanobacterium), and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata (a standard toxicity test species). We found that H. pluvialis was the species most sensitive to 3,5-dichlorophenol and Cr(VI) exposure and the most tolerant to pentachlorophenol exposure according to IC50, changes in chlorophyll a content, maximum electron transport rates (ETRmax), the quantum efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), and esterase activity. Haematococcus pluvialis was also the species most sensitive to atrazine according to IC50, chlorophyll a, and ETRmax. Overall, our findings suggest that atrazine, 3,5-dichlorophenol, and Cr(VI) are potential factors limiting the distribution of H. pluvialis. We suggest that H. pluvialis can be a potentially useful bioindicator for evaluating pollutants. Furthermore, ETRmax, FDA assay, and flow cytometry can be combined with Haematococcus to test for toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy harvesting provides a promising alternative to batteries and mains used by current wireless devices. However, the power supply in energy harvesting communications becomes dynamic due to the random channels. In this work, the authors study two energy harvesting communications protocols, 'harvest‐store‐use' and 'harvest‐use'. A linear harvester is used to collect energy over multiple time slots for the two protocols. The effective throughput for 'harvest‐store‐use' and the average bit error rate for 'harvest‐use' are derived. Numerical results show that there exists an optimum number of time slots for the 'harvest‐store‐use' protocol to balance the transmission probability and the delay and that the effective throughput approaches an upper limit when the number of time slots increases. Also, for the 'harvest‐use' protocol, one should use a small number of time slots to balance the bit error rate performance and the battery consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Coal brittleness is an important index for evaluating whether coal can be fractured effectively. Coal with high brittleness can form a large complex network after fracturing, and also has better productivity and ultimate recovery. Therefore, accurate evaluation of coal brittleness can provide theoretical guidance for well and layer selection of coal seam fracturing. In this paper, first, uniaxial compression experiments have been carried out. According to the measured stress-strain curves and the core failure form, the brittleness of different coal cores have been analyzed. Considering the damage evolution of coal in loading process, a theoretical evaluation model of coal brittleness has been established based on the statistical damage theory and the energy evolution law of rock failure process. Brittleness indexes of experimental coal cores have been calculated by this model, the calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental results, which proved that the theoretical analysis method of coal brittleness proposed in this paper can be used to analyze the applicability of coal seam fracturing. This paper presents an evaluation method of coal brittleness and establishes a relevant theoretical model. The research results of this study have important academic merits by filling in the blank of theoretical study on the brittleness of coal, and could also further facilitate the field operations of coal fracturing. Highlights • According to measured stress-strain curves and core failure form, the brittleness of different coal cores have been analyzed. • A new theoretical brittleness evaluation model of coal has been established. • Brittleness evaluation model of coal proposed in this paper can be used to analyze the applicability of coal seam fracturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Complete biodegradation and mineralization of pentachlorophenol (PCP), a priority pollutant in water, is challenging for water treatment. In this study, a hydrogen (H 2)-based membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) was applied to treat PCP, along with nitrate and sulfate, which often coexist in contaminated groundwater. Throughout 120-days of continuous operation, almost 100% of up to 10 mg/L PCP was removed with minimal intermediate accumulation and in parallel with complete denitrification of 20 mg-N/L nitrate. PCP initially was reductively dechlorinated to phenol, which was then mineralized to CO 2 through pathways that began with aerobic activation via monooxygenation by Xanthobacter and anaerobic activation via carboxylation by Azospira and Thauera. Sulfur cycling induced by SO 4 2− reduction affected the microbial community: The dominant bacteria became sulfate-reducers Desulfomicrobium, sulfur-oxidizers Sulfuritalea and Flavobacterium. This study provides insights and a promising technology for bioremediation of water contaminated with PCP, nitrate, and sulfate. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Complete dechlorination and mineralization of pentachlorophenol (PCP). • PCP, NO 3 − and SO 4 2− reduction were fueled by exogenous H 2 or endogenous organics. • Sulfur cycling provided extra pathways of electron flow to PCP and NO 3 − reduction. • Phenol can be mineralized through monooxygenative and/or carboxylative activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Several clinical studies have reported the application of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors as treatments for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). This study aims to review the outcomes of these existing studies and to discuss the therapeutic effects of DPP-4 inhibitors on T1DM. Methods. We thoroughly searched the Medline, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases and ClinicalTrials.gov for studies concerning the use of DPP-4 inhibitors in patients with T1DM. Results. In preclinical trials, DPP-4 inhibitors improved the pathogenesis of T1DM. However, only a portion of the studies showed potential efficacy regarding clinical glycemic control and other clinical parameters. From this meta-analysis, pooled data from 5 randomized controlled trials revealed that the additional use of DPP-4 inhibitors resulted in a greater decrease in glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels (0.07%, 95% CI (−0.37%–0.23%)) than insulin monotherapy, although the decrease was not significant. A small decrease in postprandial glucose or insulin consumption was confirmed. Conclusion. Although DPP-4 inhibitors may be beneficial for T1DM, existing studies do not strongly support these positive effects in clinical practice. Further optimized clinical trials are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

p62, a protein capable of binding both ubiquitin and autophagy substrates, is well established as a key regulator in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, there has been accumulating evidence that p62 is also a pivotal regulator in metabolic diseases, such as obesity, T2DM, NAFLD, metabolic bone disease, gout and thyroid disease. This review summarizes the emerging role of p62 on these diseases by considering its functional domains, phenotypes in genetically modified animals, clinically observed alterations, and its effects on downstream metabolic signaling pathways. At the same time, we highlight the need to explore the roles played by p62 in the gastrointestinal environment and immune system, and the extent to which its elevated expression may confer protection against metabolic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuously stirred methane (CH 4 ) and oxygen (O 2 )-based membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) was investigated for removing chromium (Cr) from nitrate (NO 3 − )-contaminated drinking water. Cr(VI) at an initial concentration of 100 μg/L was rapidly reduced to Cr(III) with a removal rate of 89% and a hydraulic retention time of 48 h under normal denitrifying conditions in a methane/oxygen-based MBfR. A microbial community analysis indicated that Comamonadaceae, Cytophagaceae, Hyphomicrobiaceae and Alcaligenaceae were effective denitrifiers, Methylophilaceae and Methylococcaceae were functional methanotrophic bacteria, and Comamonadaceae was a kind of Cr(VI) reducers in the reactor. Cr(VI) was reduced to Cr(III), which precipitated and adsorbed onto the biofilm as Cr(OH) 3 , due to the alkaline produced during denitrification. When the CH 4 pressure increased from 0.02 to 0.03 MPa, the Cr(VI) reduction increased by 40.3%, and the NO 3 − reduction increased by 30.2%. Although the effluent Cr(VI) concentration increased with increasing influent loading, the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) reached the highest level of 99.8% under a high daily loading of 5.76 mg/d. Unlike a H 2 -based MBfR, it is possible to remove Cr from water without post-processing, such as precipitation, in a CH 4 /O 2 -based MBfR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to strike for a balance between the security, efficiency and availability of the data verification in cloud storage, a novel integrity verification scheme based on spatiotemporal chaos is proposed for multiple data copies. Spatiotemporal chaos is implemented for node calculation of the binary tree, and the location of the data in the cloud is verified. Meanwhile, dynamic operation can be made to the data. Furthermore, blind information is used to prevent a third-party auditor (TPA) leakage of the users' data privacy in a public auditing process. Performance analysis and discussion indicate that it is secure and efficient, and it supports dynamic operation and the integrity verification of multiple copies of data. It has a great potential to be implemented in cloud storage services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Nitrogen (N) deposition greatly influences ecosystem processes through the alteration of plant nutrition; however, there is limited understanding about the effects of phosphorus (P) inputs, especially within the backdrop of N deposition. Methods: Here we investigated the plant stoichiometric responses to P addition under both ambient conditions and with N addition in a temperate grassland in Inner Mongolia over a two-year period. Results: The effects of P addition on foliar nutrition and stoichiometric ratios were highly dependent on the presence of N supply, in that P addition showed no significant impacts on foliar N or P concentrations (or pools in community biomass) or N:P under ambient N conditions, but enhanced foliar N in dominant species and foliar P in almost all species (and pools in community biomass) with N addition. These results may be explained by P addition significantly changing the soil properties (soil pH and available P) when applied in combination with N additions. Moreover, there was no biomass response to nutrient additions. Conclusions: Our results suggest that N deposition may enhance the absorption of additional P by plants in semi-arid grasslands, and that P limitation with increased N deposition might be less important for limiting plant growth than previously anticipated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a form of progressive lung disease characterized by chronic inflammation and excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. However, the protein changes in fibrotic ECM during PF and their contribution to fibrosis progression are unclear. Here we show that changes in expression of ECM components and ECM remodeling had occurred in silica-instilled mice. The macrophage-derived glycoprotein nonmetastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB) captured by fibrotic ECM may activate resident normal fibroblasts around the fibrotic foci. Functional experiments demonstrated the activation of fibroblasts in fibrotic ECM, which was alleviated by GPNMB-neutralizing antibodies or macrophage deletion in the ECM of silica-instilled mice. Moreover, the Serpinb2 expression level was increased in fibroblasts in fibrotic ECM, and the expression of CD44 was increased in silica-instilled mice. In conclusion, macrophage-derived GPNMB is trapped by fibrotic ECM during transport and may activate fibroblasts via the CD44/Serpinb2 pathway, thus leading to the further development of fibrosis. Macrophage-derived glycoprotein nonmetastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB) is trapped by fibrotic extracellular matrix in a pulmonary fibrosis model and may activate resident normal fibroblasts, promoting fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterogeneity exists inter- and intratumorally, which might lead to different drug responses. Therefore, it is extremely important to clarify the drug response at single-cell resolution. Here, we propose a precise single-cell drug response (scDR) prediction method for single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. We calculated a drug-response score (DRS) for each cell by integrating drug-response genes (DRGs) and gene expression in scRNA-seq data. Then, scDR was validated through internal and external transcriptomics data from bulk RNA-seq and scRNA-seq of cell lines or patient tissues. In addition, scDR could be used to predict prognoses for BLCA, PAAD, and STAD tumor samples. Next, comparison with the existing method using 53,502 cells from 198 cancer cell lines showed the higher accuracy of scDR. Finally, we identified an intrinsic resistant cell subgroup in melanoma, and explored the possible mechanisms, such as cell cycle activation, by applying scDR to time series scRNA-seq data of dabrafenib treatment. Altogether, scDR was a credible method for drug response prediction at single-cell resolution, and helpful in drug resistant mechanism exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of efficient and durable non‐precious hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts for scaling up alkaline water/seawater electrolysis is highly desirable but challenging. Amorphous‐crystalline (A‐C) heterostructures have garnered attention due to their unusual atomic arrangements at hetero‐interfaces, highly exposed active sites, and excellent stability. Here, a heterogeneous synthesis strategy for constructing A‐C non‐homogeneous interfacial centers of electrocatalysts on nanocages is presented. Isolated PdCo clusters on nanoscale islands in conjunction with Co3S4 A‐C, functioning as a bifunctional site "island‐sea" synergy, enable the dynamic confinement design of metal active atoms, resulting in excellent HER catalytic activity and durability. The hierarchical structure of hollow porous nanocages and nanoclusters, along with their large surface area and multi‐dimensional A‐C boundaries and defects, provides the catalyst with abundant active centers. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the combination of PdCo and Co3S4 regulates the redistribution of interface electrons effectively, promoting the sluggish water‐dissociation kinetics at the cluster Co sites. Additionally, PdCo‐Co3S4 heterostructure nanocages exhibit outstanding HER activity in alkaline seawater and long‐term stability for 100 h, which can be powered by commercial silicon solar cells. This finding significantly advances the development of alkaline seawater electrolysis for large‐scale hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) proves advantageous to IgG in prophylaxis and diagnosis. Quantification of IgY is therefore becoming a topic of interest. Here, we demonstrate a piezoelectric biosensor with carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) as the immobilization matrix. Gelation and hydrophilic nature of CMCS are favored to form a crosslinked matrix for antibody immobilization, and a comparison was made between carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and CMCS to investigate the benefits of such substitution. Calibration from 500 ng/mL to 200 μg/mL was established in buffer with the detection limit (LOD) down to 270 ng/mL, confirming its feasibility. As-prepared biosensor effectively prevents non-specific binding of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme. Each real-time assay took 15 min including sensor regeneration, which can be further reduced to 4 min for signal readout only, ready for both repeated measurements after regeneration and disposable devices. Thus, as-prepared biosensor offers a rapid, label-free and cost-effective approach for IgY quantification. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at degrading the capability of the existing forensic methods in discriminating computer generated and natural facial images, a bidirectional conversion between computer-generated and natural facial images based on generative adversarial network (BDC-GAN) is proposed for anti-forensics in this paper. The generator of BDC-GAN is composed of noise encoding and content encoding. In the noise encoding, three high-pass filters are first utilized to extract the sensor pattern noise of the image, and then the stacked convolution layer is combined to continue encoding. In the content encoding, VGG-19 is truncated and fine-tuned to encode the content of the image. Some stacked convolution layers and adaptive instance normalization layer are used in the decoder. The discriminator uses multi-scale image discriminator. Furthermore, content loss and noise loss are well designed, and hyperparameters are reasonably set to accomplish the bidirectional conversion between two domain images meanwhile retaining the original facial contour. Experimental results and analysis demonstrate that the proposed anti-forensic method can achieve better visual quality and stronger deception ability compared with the existing unidirectional CG facial image anti-forensic methods and bidirectional domain adaptive methods, and its effectiveness is verified by the tests on the existing 9 forensic methods. It reveals that the existing forensic techniques can be bypassed by using adversarial learning, and it will eventually push the performance improvement of the discrimination of computer generated and natural facial images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glass-ceramics with diopside (CaMgSi 2 O 6) as the main crystalline phase were prepared via low-temperature powder sintering method using waste glass and kaolin as starting materials. The effects of kaolin content and sintering temperature on phase composition, micro-structure and properties of as-prepared glass-ceramics were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Research results showed that the addition of kaolin could promote the devitrification of waste glass during sintering. The formation of diopside crystalline phase mainly originated from the decrease of sodium ion contents in glass phase, which was caused by the crystallization of sodium aluminum silicate. Diopside-based glass-ceramics could be achieved under proper combination ratio of waste glass and kaolin, and raising sintering temperature was beneficial to formation of diopside. Glass-ceramics prepared by adding 25 wt% kaolin and sintered at 825 °C for 2 h showed a maximum bending strength of 114.9 MPa and a bulk density of 2.484 g/cm3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at resolving the problem of the irreversibility in some common neural networks for secret data extraction, a novel image steganography framework is proposed based on the generator of GAN (Generative Adversarial Networks) and gradient descent approximation. During data embedding, the secret data is first mapped into a stego noise vector by a specific mapping rule, and it is input into the generator of a GAN to produce a stego image. The data extraction is accomplished by iteratively updating the noise vector using the gradient descent with the generator. When the error is declined within the allowable error, the output image of the generator is approximate to the stego image, and the updated noise vector will also approach to the stego noise vector. Finally, the secret data is extracted from the updated noise vector. Experiments and analysis with WGAN-GP (Wasserstein GAN-Gradient Penalty) show that it can achieve good performance in extraction accuracy, capacity and robustness. Furthermore, the discussions also illustrate its good generalization with different GAN models and image datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracerebroventricular injection and overexpression of Neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) has been shown to induce obesity and glucose metabolism disorder in rodents; however, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism contributing to glucose metabolic disturbance induced by NPY. Recombinant lentiviral NPY vectors were injected into the PVN of rats fed a high fat (HFD) or low-fat diet. 8 weeks later, in vivo intravenous glucose tolerance tests and euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp revealed that insulin resistance of adipose tissue were induced by NPY overexpression with or without HFD. NPY increased food intake, but did not change blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) or lipid levels. However, NPY decreased the expression of pGSK3β, PI3K p85 and pAKTSer473in adipose tissue of rats. In vitro, 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with NPY, NPY Y1 and Y5 receptor antagonists. Glucose consumption and 2-deoxy-D-[3H] glucose uptake were partly inhibited by NPY, while a decrease in PI3K-AKT pathway signaling and a decreased expression of pGSK3α and pGSK3β were observed. Nevertheless, a Y5 receptor antagonist (L-152,804) reversed the effects of NPY on glucose uptake and consumption. These data suggest that long-term over-expression of NPY in PVN contributes to the establishment of adipose tissue insulin resistance, at least partly via the Y5 Receptor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrated energetics are widespread contaminants due to their improper disposal from ammunition facilities. Different classes of nitrated energetics commonly co-exist in ammunition wastewater, but co-removal of the classes has hardly been documented. In this study, we evaluated the catalytic destruction of three types of energetics using palladium (Pd0) nano-catalysts deposited on H 2 -transfer membranes in membrane catalyst-film reactors (MCfRs). This work documented nitro-reduction of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), as well as, for the first time, denitration of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) over Pd0 at ambient temperature. The catalyst-specific activity was 20- to 90-fold higher than reported for other catalyst systems. Nitrite (NO 2 −) released from RDX and PETN also was catalytically reduced to dinitrogen gas (N 2). Continuous treatment of a synthetic wastewater containing TNT, RDX, and PETN (5 mg/L each) for more than 20 hydraulic retention times yielded removals higher than 96% for all three energetics. Furthermore, the concentrations of NO 2 − and NH 4 + were below the detection limit due to subsequent NO 2 − reduction with > 99% selectivity to N 2. Thus, the MCfR provides a promising strategy for sustainable catalytic removal of co-existing energetics in ammunition wastewater. [Display omitted] • Energetics TNT, RDX, and PETN were reductively destroyed in a H 2 -based membrane catalyst-film reactor. • Catalyst-specific activities for RDX and PETN were 20- to 90-fold higher than reported for Pd0NPs in catalyst systems. • NO 2 − released during denitration of RDX and PETN was reductively removed in the membrane catalyst-film reactor. • Continuous operation yielded removals higher than 96% for TNT, RDX, and PETN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outage probability and bit error rate averaged over the distribution of the number of relays in Nakagami- $m$ fading channels are analyzed for full and partial relay selection (RS) schemes. This analysis considers a random number of relays caused by the relay's own on–off traffic. Based on this analysis, optimization of the relaying time is performed, and the optimal values of the relaying time are obtained. Numerical results show that there do exist locally optimal values of the relaying time for different system settings. For average outage probability, the optimal value increases when the threshold increases, the $m$ parameters decrease, or partial selection is used instead of full selection. For an average bit error rate, the optimal value increases when the average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decreases, the $m$ parameters decrease, the number of relays increases, or partial selection is used instead of full selection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The role of Nrf2 in disease prevention and treatment is well documented; however the specific role of Nrf2 in skeletal muscle is not well described. The current study investigated whether Nrf2 plays a protective role in an STZ-induced model of skeletal muscle atrophy. Modulation of Nrf2 through siRNA resulted in a more robust differentiation of C2C12s, whereas increasing Nrf2 with sulforaphane treatment inhibited differentiation. Diabetic muscle atrophy was not dramatically influenced by Nrf2 genotype, since no differences were observed in total atrophy (all fiber types combined) between WT+STZ and KO+STZ animals. Nrf2-KO animals however illustrated alterations in muscle size of Fast, Type II myosin expressing fibers. KO+STZ animals show significant alterations in myosin isoform expression in the GAST. Similarly, KO controls mimic both WT+STZ and KO+STZ muscle alterations in mitochondrial subunit expression. PGC-1α, a well-established player in mitochondrial biogenesis and myosin isoform expression, was decreased in KO control, WT+STZ and KO+STZ SOL muscle. Similarly, PGC-1α protein levels are correlated with Nrf2 levels in C2C12s after modulation by Nrf2 siRNA or sulforaphane treatment. We provide experimental evidence indicating Nrf2 plays a role in myocyte differentiation and governs molecular alterations in contractile and metabolic properties in an STZ-induced model of muscle atrophy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains highly fatal, highlighting the need for improved understanding of signal pathways that can lead to the development of new therapeutic regimens targeting common molecular pathways shared across different AML subtypes. Here we demonstrate that astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is one of such pathways, involving in cell cycle and apoptosis regulation and contributing to enhanced proliferation and chemoresistance in HL-60 and U937 AML cells. The pleiotropic effects of AEG-1 on AML were found to correlate with two novel target genes, Aurora kinase A (AURKA) and Akt1. Down-regulation of AEG-1 by short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) could not only decrease AURKA expression both on mRNA and protein levels but also decrease the levels of pAkt473 and pAkt308 (the active forms of phosphorylated Akt), similar effect as using AURKA inhibitor Tozasertib (VX680). Furthermore, the AEG-1 shRNA-induced malignant phenotype changes could be mitigated by forced overexpression of AURKA through increased Akt1 activation and phosphorylation in AML cells. On the other hand, although exogenous expression of AEG-1 could increase both AURKA and Akt expression levels the simultaneous use of AURKA inhibitor Tozasertib blocked AEG-1's role of up-regulation of Akt expression in ECV304 cells, suggesting that AURKA might be a key mediator of AEG-1 in regulating Akt activation, and a key effector of AEG-1 in maintaining the malignant state of AML. Moreover, knockdown AEG-1 expression also changed the expression levels of PTEN, survivin and stathmin, the genes that have been reported to be involved in the development of several other malignant tumors. Our results provide evidence for AEG-1's carcinogenesis role in AML and reveal a novel functional link between AEG-1 and AURKA on Akt1 activation. AEG-1 can be an important candidate as a drug design target within AURKA signal pathway for more specific killing of AML cells while sparing normal cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent measurements of the surface magnetic fields of classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) and magnetic cataclysmic variables show that their magnetic fields have a complex structure. Investigation of accretion onto such stars requires global three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, where the complexity of simulations strongly increases with each higher-order multipole. Previously, we were able to model disc accretion onto stars with magnetic fields described by a superposition of dipole and quadrupole moments. However, in some stars, like CTTS V2129 Oph and BP Tau, the octupolar component is significant and it was necessary to include the next octupolar component. Here, we show results of global 3D MHD simulations of accretion onto stars with superposition of the dipole and octupole fields, where we vary the ratio between components. Simulations show that if octupolar field strongly dominates at the disc-magnetosphere boundary, then matter flows into the ring-like octupolar poles, forming ring-shape spots at the surface of the star above and below equator. The light-curves are complex and may have two peaks per period. In case where the dipole field dominates, matter accretes in two ordered funnel streams towards poles, however the polar spots are meridionally-elongated due to the action of the octupolar component. In the case when the fields are of similar strengths, both, polar and belt-like spots are present. In many cases the light-curves show the evidence of complex fields, excluding the cases of small inclinations angles, where sinusoidal light-curve is observed and ‘hides’ the information about the field complexity. We also propose new mechanisms of phase shift in stars with complex magnetic fields. We suggest that the phase shifts can be connected with: (1) temporal variation of the star’s intrinsic magnetic field and subsequent redistribution of main magnetic poles; (2) variation of the accretion rate, which causes the disc to interact with the magnetic fields associated with different magnetic moments. We use our model to demonstrate these phase shift mechanisms, and we discuss possible applications of these mechanisms to accreting millisecond pulsars and young stars. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The synergistic antioxidant mechanism of α-tocopherol (vitamin E) with green tea polyphenols, i.e., (−)-epicatechin (EC), (−)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (−)-epicatechin gallate (ECG), (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and gallic acid (GA), was studied by assaying the kinetics of the reaction of α-tocopheroxyl radical with green tea polyphenols by stopped-flow electron paramagnetic resonance, the inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation by these antioxidants, and the decay of α-tocopherol during the peroxidation. It was found that the green tea polyphenols could reduce α-tocopheroxyl radical to regenerate α-tocopherol with rate constants of 0.45, 1.11, 1.31, 1.91, and 0.43 × 102 M−1 s−1 for EC, EGC, ECG, EGCG, and GA, respectively, in sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles. In addition, these second-order rate constants exhibited a good linear correlation with their oxidation potentials, suggesting that electron transfer might play a role in the reaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aiming to reduce the distortion in the existing reversible watermarking for 3D mesh models, this paper generalizes two-dimensional (2D) region nesting to ${n}$ -dimensional space, and proposes a general region nesting based semi-fragile reversible watermarking for authenticating 3D mesh models by combing watermark generation based on vertex projection and mesh topology. For any ${n}$ -dimensional space, each hypercube space is partitioned into several nested watermark sub-spaces, and the watermark is embedded by placing the original vertex and the mapped vertex on a straight line. The watermark is extracted by acquiring the position of the vertices, and its original coordinates can be restored by inverse mapping. Furthermore, a new coordinate system is built for 3D mesh models based on reference vertices to achieve semi-fragility, and the watermarks generated by vertex projection and mesh topology is utilized for integrity authentication. Experimental results and analysis show that the proposed scheme can significantly reduce the distortion, achieve semi-fragility in RST (Rotation, Scaling and Translation) and vertex reordering, identify the tampering type, and accomplish tampering location at vertex level. It has great potential to be applied for content authentication of 3D mesh models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complete mineralization of para-chlorophenol (4-CP), a toxic xenobiotic compound, is challenging for water treatment due to the high energy use of destructive methods. Herein a sustainable hydrogen (H 2)-based membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) is presented in treating 4-CP and NO 3 -. With the increase of 4-CP surface loading, this technology can achieve continuous depletion (> 99%) of up to 100 mg/L 4-CP and 10 mg-N/L NO 3 - with minimal intermediates accumulation. The function of H 2 , the controlling parameter in the H 2 -MBfR, was examined in degrading 4-CP and NO 3 -. H 2 served as the electron donor in fueling the denitrification and dechlorination process. Activated by H 2 , 4-CP can fulfill the 'loop-closing degradation' mediated by the heterotrophic bacteria: the products of 4-CP, served as electron donors, which refuel 4-CP degradation. In addition, H 2 created an anaerobic condition for the biofilm, and in turn, shifted the microbial community and the possible degradation pathways of 4-CP. The absence of H 2 induced the main functional bacteria changed from anaerobic bacteria Thauera to aerobic bacteria Xanthobacter , and further enhanced the genes encoding the enzymes responsible for oxidative dechlorination and aerobic activation of phenol. With no soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) accumulated at the steady state, this technology provides promising visions into complete bioremediation of water containing 4-CP and NO 3 - with no residues. • Parachlorophenol (4-CP) can realize 'loop-closing degradation'. • Complete dechlorination and mineralization of 4-CP without the residual sCOD. • H 2 shifted the microbial community. • Phenol was mineralized to CO 2 through aerobic and/or anaerobic activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel encryption is proposed by using Tromino scrambling and stream encryption. • An adaptive PVO is established and a 2D-PEH is built. • A novel separate RDH for encrypted image is put forward. • It can achieve good capacity and visual quality of the decrypted images. To further improve capacity and reduce distortion, a novel separable reversible data hiding (RDH) scheme for encrypted images based on Tromino scrambling and adaptive pixel value ordering (PVO) is proposed. An image is first partitioned into non-overlapped blocks with three pixels in L shape, and then Tromino scrambling and stream encryption are performed to the blocks in sequence. In the embedding phase, an adaptive pixel value ordering (PVO) scheme is utilized. The differences between the smallest pixel value and the rest two pixel values are calculated, and the pairwise prediction errors corresponding to each block is accumulated to form a two-dimensional prediction error histogram. Subsequently, an adaptive 2D histogram mapping is established for reversible data hiding. Experimental results and analysis show that it is separable and can completely recover the original image. Furthermore, compared with other PVO, the adaptive PVO makes better use of the features of the images after Tromino encryption, it can achieve larger capacity and better visual quality of the decrypted images compared with the existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endocrine disruptors in marine environments represented by estrogens lead to reverse health phenomena. To obtain a more effective way to reflect and detect environmental estrogens pollution, a method was developed to obtain the full-length cDNA coding vitellogenin gene in B. sinensis, induced by 17β-estradiol (E2) solution. We have downloaded 16 fish gene sequences from the NCBI database and designed PCR primers accordingly. Based on the quantitative real-time PCR method (qRT-PCR), we analyze the differences in gene expression under the conditions of different E2 exposure times in the low, middle, and high-dose groups. The full-length cDNA consists of 4738 nucleotides with a reading frame encoding 1540 amino acid residues. In vitro recombinant plasmids were constructed and transferred to E. coli BL21 for vitellogenin expression. Efficient fusion expression was obtained by IPTG at 16°C, and the expressed target protein (680 amino acids, 75 kDa) existed in a soluble state, accounting for more than 25% of the total soluble protein. We prepared monoclonal antibodies using established immunohistochemistry to detect vitellogenin expression sites in sexually mature female fish. Our study shows that the expression sites of Vg in sexually mature female fish are mainly distributed in the fishtail, hepatopancreas, intestine, muscle, ovary, and pronephric kidney. In conclusion, the vitellogenin from B. sinensis could be used as a biomarker of environmental estrogens to achieve rapid detection in the marine environment and the subsequent experiments of development in colloidal gold strips after this research would be established to provide a highly efficient and convenient detection method for environment pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a two-stage optimization strategy to accelerate non-equilibrium ionization (NEI) calculation that is crucial to various high energy astrophysical phenomena, by using methods of MapReduce modeling and GPU acceleration. First, we construct a parallel pipeline based on the MapReduce model that processes massive particles trajectories on a separate mesh decoupled from that has been used by other equations in the multiphysics simulations. Second, we accelerate the calculation of massive NEI equations by taking full advantage of heterogeneous multicore architecture of GPUs. The approach has been prototyped and tested in simulations using FLASH code and AtomDB atomic database. Our results show that the method can improve the end-to-end performance by 3-fold with less computing resources and reduce the overhead significantly. For standalone tests, the GPU-accelerated NEI solver can achieve a maximum 212-fold speedup compared to the CPU-based solver. With the capability to support nonintrusive simulation-time data analysis, our approach can be also applied to other multiphysics processes such as reactive flow simulations. • A parallel pipeline decouples the NEI solver from mesh to reduce the high overhead. • A GPU-based NEI solver accelerates both reactive network construction and ODE solving. • The approach accelerates a simulation by 3 times with less computing resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammalian oogenesis features reliance on the mRNAs produced and stored during early growth phase. These are essential for producing an oocyte competent to undergo meiotic maturation and embryogenesis later when oocytes are transcriptionally silent. The fate of maternal mRNAs hence ensures the success of oogenesis and the quality of the resulting eggs. Nevertheless, how the fate of maternal mRNAs is determined remains largely elusive. RNA‐binding proteins (RBPs) are crucial regulators of oogenesis, yet the identity of the full complement of RBPs expressed in oocytes is unknown. Here, a global view of oocyte‐expressed RBPs is presented: mRNA‐interactome capture identifies 1396 RBPs in mouse oocytes. An analysis of one of these RBPs, LSM family member 14 (LSM14B), demonstrates that this RBP is specific to oocytes and associated with many networks essential for oogenesis. Deletion of Lsm14b results in female‐specific infertility and a phenotype characterized by oocytes incompetent to complete meiosis and early embryogenesis. LSM14B serves as an interaction hub for proteins and mRNAs throughout oocyte development and regulates translation of a subset of its bound mRNAs. Therefore, RNP complexes tethered by LSM14B are found exclusively in oocytes and are essential for the control of maternal mRNA fate and oocyte development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite advances in our understanding of low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs), the fundamental details about the mechanisms of radiation and flare/outburst in hot accretion flow are still largely missing. We have systematically analysed the archival Chandra and NuSTAR X-ray data of the nearby LLAGN M81*, whose L bol ∼ 10−5 L Edd. Through a detailed study of X-ray light curve and spectral properties, we find that the X-ray continuum emission of the power-law shape more likely originates from inverse Compton scattering within the hot accretion flow. In contrast to Sgr A*, flares are rare in M81*. Low-amplitude variation can only be observed in soft X-ray band (amplitude usually ≲2). Several simple models are tested, including sinusoidal-like and quasi-periodical. Based on a comparison of the dramatic differences of flare properties among Sgr A*, M31*, and M81*, we find that, when the differences in both the accretion rate and the black hole mass are considered, the flares in LLAGNs can be understood universally in a magnetohydrodynamical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging adsorption technology shows great potential for Pb2+ removal in the human body because of its high adsorption efficiency and easy operation. However, biosafety concerns in the human body limit the development of adsorbents in integrated lead removal for acute poisoning in humans from the gastrointestinal tract and even the blood. In this work, highly bio‐safe and natural saccharomyces cerevisiae cells are immobilized on the interworking natural regenerated cellulose nanofibers network for integrated lead removal in the human body. High intrinsic biosafety of the aerogel is guaranteed due to the biocompatibility of aerogel composition and the absence of cross‐linking substances. Attributing to the porous structure of cellulose nanofibrous scaffolds, saccharomyces cerevisiae cells are protected from shedding, and considerable loading sites for saccharomyces cerevisiae cells are ensured. Simultaneously, abundant functional groups on the saccharomyces cerevisiae cells exhibit superior adsorption ability with a saturated adsorption capacity of lead ions as high as 107 mg g−1 in the aquatic environment. After adsorption, Pb2+ concentration decreases from 879.70 to 248.53 µg L−1 in the intestinal phase and from 400 to 186.29 µg L−1 (within a safe level) in blood, providing an attractive strategy for detoxification of integrated lead in the human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, there are some problems in the reliability analysis method for gear transmission system of aeronautical turbine starter, such as low accuracy of finite element model, low efficiency of analysis and low accuracy of analysis results. To this end, a reliability analysis method for the gear transmission system of aeronautical turbine starter under multi-constraint is presented. A 3-D model of the gear pair of aeronautical turbine starter is constructed in UG. The model is input into the finite element software for meshing. The gear transmission of aeronautical turbine starter under working conditions is simulated by defining boundary conditions and applying loads, which provides a basis for reliability analysis of gear transmission system of aeronautical turbine starter. The reliability of the gear transmission system of the aeronautical turbine starter is evaluated by the comprehensive evaluation method, and the reliability of the system is evaluated by the contact of the evaluation results. According to the evaluation results, the reliability analysis of the gear transmission system of the aeronautical turbine starter is realized under the condition of multi-constraint. The experimental results show that the proposed method has high analysis efficiency and high analysis accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A series of novel berberine analogs were synthesized, and evaluated for their p300 inhibitory activity. • Structure-activity relationship studies yielded a more potent compound 5d. • Compound 5d specifically decreases H3K18Ac and interferes with the function of histone acetyltransferase. • Compound 5d exhibited good antitumor effects in MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro and in vivo. The protein p300 is a positive regulator of cancer progression and is related to many human pathological conditions. To find effective p300/CBP HAT inhibitors, we screened an internal compound library and identified berberine as a lead compound. Next, we designed, synthesized, and screened a series of novel berberine analogs, and discovered that analog 5d was a potent and highly selective p300/CBP HAT inhibitor with IC 50 values of 0.070 μM and 1.755 μM for p300 and CBP, respectively. Western blotting further proved that 5d specifically decreased H3K18Ac and interfere with the function of histone acetyltransferase. Although 5d had only a moderate inhibitory effect on the MDA-MB-231 cell line, 5d suppressed the growth of 4T1 tumor growth in mice with a tumor weight inhibition ratio (TWI) of 39.7%. Further, liposomes-encapsulated 5d increased its inhibition of tumor growth to 57.8 % TWI. In addition, 5d has no obvious toxicity to the main organ of mice and the pharmacokinetic study confirmed that 5d has good absorption properties in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: The organic solar cells (OSCs) based on block copolymer systems bear the hope of achieving the optimal balance of power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability, but the key index, PCE of this type devices is still low. To improve the efficiency, regulating the thin‐film morphology is always the core engineering, which is usually achieved via two aspects: precursor optimization and post treatments. Herein, we extend our previous success in post treatments (two step annealing) to a novel two‐in‐one annealing tactic, which realizes limited phase separation and well‐connected domain distribution. As a result, the optimal PCE as high as 16.08%, representing the cutting‐edge level of block copolymer based OSCs (notably dopant free). Furthermore, a comprehensive study on all kinds of annealing methods is carried out, including TA, SVA, SVA+TA, TA+SVA and SVTA (the best one), and an in‐depth understanding is demonstrated, with the help of different characterizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of 3-D printing and reverse engineering, the protection of intellectual property of 3-D printed objects is becoming a prominent problem. In order to authenticate 3-D printed objects, an authentication scheme based on printing noise and digital signature is proposed. First, the noises introduced in the 3-D printing and observation are investigated. Thereafter, a special authentication mark is designed for extracting the printing noise. Based on this, a 3-D printed object authentication framework is built and it is composed of two processes—registration and verification. In the registration, the printing noise of the authentication mark is extracted and signed by digital signature. While in the verification, the signature is verified and then the printing noise of the authentication mark is extracted. After that, the extracted printing noise is matched with the one acquired in the registration. Experimental results and analysis show that the proposed scheme can reliably accomplish the authentication of the 3-D printed object with high precision and that it can achieve high security and good robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Thyrotropin-secreting pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are rare pituitary adenomas that are occasionally accompanied by hypersecretion of other anterior pituitary hormones, such as growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL). The clinical, biochemical, and pathological characteristics may represent diverse circumstances. Case presentation: In this report, a 33-year-old female diagnosed with a TSH PitNET co-secreting GH presented no obvious clinical symptoms. The main characteristics were elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), and free thyroxine (FT4) levels accompanied by slightly elevated GH and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detected a pituitary macroadenoma (18 × 16 × 16 mm) with cavernous sinus and suprasellar invasion. Immunohistochemistry revealed diffuse positivity for TSH, strong immunoreactivity for GH, and sporadic positivity for PRL. The electron microscope and double immunofluorescence staining confirmed a plurimorphous plurihormonal adenoma producing TSH, GH, and PRL. After preoperative somatostatin receptor ligand (SRL) treatment and transsphenoidal surgery, the patient achieved temporary clinical and biochemical remission. However, 3 months after surgery, the patient was suspected of having Hashimoto's thyroiditis due to higher thyroglobulin antibody (TGAb), thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb), and thyroid receptor antibody (TRAb) and an enlarged thyroid nodule. During follow-up, thyroid function and TSH slowly transformed from transient hyperthyroidism to hypothyroidism. They were maintained in the normal range by L-T4. Conclusion: In the TSH PitNET, the positive immunohistochemistry for TSH, GH, and PRL translated into hormonal overproduction with TSH and GH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young stellar clusters are believed to inherit the spatial distribution like hierarchical structures of their natal molecular cloud during their formation. However, the change of the structures between the cloud and the young clusters is not well constrained observationally. We select the W40–Serpens South region (∼7 × 9 pc2) of the Aquila Rift as a testbed and investigate hierarchical properties of spatial distribution of young stellar objects (YSOs) in this region. We develop a minimum spanning tree (MST) based method to group stars into several levels by successively cutting down edges longer than an algorithmically determined critical value. A total of 832 YSOs are divided into 5 levels with 23 groups. For describing the hierarchical properties in a controlled way, we construct a set of synthetic source distributions at various fractal dimensions, and apply the same method to explore their group characters. By comparing the Q parameter and the surface density profiles of the observed and the synthetic data, we find that the YSO observation matches spatial patterns from multifractal dimensions. In the periphery region where the molecular clouds are more diffuse, the YSO structure is close to a fractal dimension of 2.0. While in the core regions, the fractal dimensions are close to 1.6 and 1.4 for the W40 and the Serpens South regions, respectively. Therefore, the YSOs may inherit the fractal pattern of the dense part of the molecular clouds, but such pattern dissipates slowly in several Myr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active star-forming regions are excellent laboratories for studying the origins and evolution of young stellar object (YSO) clustering. The W40–Serpens South region is such a region, and we compile a large near- and mid-infrared catalogue of point sources in it, based on deep near-infrared observations of Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) in combination with Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS), and Spitzer catalogues. From this catalogue, we identify 832 YSOs, and classify 15, 135, 647, and 35 of them to be deeply embedded sources, Class I YSOs, Class II YSOs, and transition disc sources, respectively. In general, these YSOs are well correlated with the filamentary structures of molecular clouds, especially the deeply embedded sources and the Class I YSOs. The W40 central region is dominated by Class II YSOs, but in the Serpens South region, half of the YSOs are Class I. We further generate a minimum spanning tree (MST) for all the YSOs. Around the W40 cluster, there are eight prominent MST branches that may trace the vestigial molecular gas filaments that once fed gas to the central natal gas clump. Of the eight, only two now include detectable filamentary gas in Herschel data and corresponding Class I YSOs, while the other six are populated exclusively with Class II YSOs. Four MST branches overlap with the Serpens South main filament, and where they intersect, molecular gas 'hubs' and more Class I YSOs are found. Our results imply a mixture of YSO distributions composed of both primordial and somewhat evolved YSOs in this star-forming region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Levulinic esters, synthesized by the esterification of biomass-derived levulinic acid with various alcohols, is an important chemical that plays an essential role in the fields of biomass fuel additives, organic synthesis, and high value-added products. In the present work, the catalytic esterification of levulinic acid with n-butyl alcohol was selected as a typical model reaction to investigate the catalytic performance of an inexpensive commercial catalyst, titanium oxide nanoparticles. The influences of reaction time, reaction temperature, and catalyst loading on the conversion of levulinic acid to n-butyl levulinate were systematically examined through single-factor experiments. Additionally, the optimization of the reaction conditions was further investigated by a Box–Behnken design in response to the surface methodology. The desired product, n-butyl levulinate, with a good yield (77.6%) was achieved under the optimal conditions (reaction time of 8 h, reaction temperature of 120 °C, and catalyst dosage of 8.6 wt.%) when using titanium oxide nanoparticles as catalysts. Furthermore, it was found that addition of water to the catalytic system facilitated the reaction process, to some extent. This study reveals that the nanosized TiO2 material, as an efficient solid acid catalyst, had good catalytic performance and stability for the esterification of levulinic acid after six consecutive uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose To investigate the clinical characteristics and associated factors of colonic polyps in patients with acromegaly. Methods Clinical characteristics and colonoscopy findings of 86 acromegaly patients who received treatment were retrospectively reviewed, and colonoscopy findings and the correlation with growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary adenoma (GHPA) volume and hormonal/metabolic levels were analyzed. Results The prevalence of colonic polyps in acromegaly patients was 40.7% and increased significantly with advanced age, especially in those ≥50 years. Multiple polyps (62.8%) and colonic polyps in the left colon (54.2%) were detected more frequently. Compared to acromegaly patients without polyps, those with polyps displayed higher insulin-like growth factor-1 × upper limit of normal (IGF-1×ULN) levels (P =0.03). IGF-1 levels and GHPA volumes in patients with polyps showed increasing trends, although the differences were not significant. GH levels were higher in patients with polyps of diameter ≤5 mm than those with polyps of diameter >5 mm (P =0.031). The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that GHPA volumes (OR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.01–1.20; P =0.039) and IGF-1×ULN Q2 levels (OR: 6.51, 95% CI: 1.20–44.60; P =0.038) were independent factors for predicting the risk of colonic polyp occurrence in acromegaly patients. A nomogram was prepared to evaluate the risk of colonic polyps in acromegaly patients. Conclusion The acromegalic patients are a population with a high prevalence of colonic polyps. GHPA volumes and IGF-1×ULN levels may be predictors of colonic polyp occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the type 1 transmembrane glycoprotein B7‐H3 is controversial in tumorigenesis; thus, a better clarification of its involvement in cancer is crucial. In the present study, 79.3% of cervical cancer samples were found to be B7‐H3 positive and the expression of B7‐H3 was positively correlated with the clinical features of the samples. Silencing B7‐H3 using small interfering RNA or blocking it with intracellular ScFv attenuated the malignancy of HeLa cells. By pull‐down assay and liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry in HeLa cells, the glycolytic enzyme ENO1 was found to interact with B7‐H3. Subsequently, the involvement of B7‐H3 in glycolysis was investigated. We observed decreases in the levels of ATP and lactate, as well as c‐Myc and lactate dehydrogenase A, upon B7‐H3 downregulation in HeLa cells. The results of the present study provide evidence for B7‐H3 mediating tumor glycolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the most frequently detected causative agent in hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and is a serious threat to public health in the Asia-Pacific region. Many EV71 vaccines are under development worldwide, and although both inactivated virus vaccines and virus-like particles (VLPs) are considered to be effective, the main focus has been on inactivated EV71vaccines. There have been very few studies on EV71 VLPs. In this study, using a strategy based on HIV gag VLPs, we constructed a gag-VP1 fusion gene to generate a recombinant baculovirus expressing the EV71 structural protein VP1 together with gag, which was then used to infect TN5 cells to form VLPs. The VLPs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, electrophoresis and staining with Coomassie blue, and Western blotting. Mice immunized with gag-VP1 VLPs showed strong humoral and cellular immune responses. Finally, immunization of female mice with gag-VP1 VLPs provided effective protection of their newborn offspring against challenge with a lethal dose EV71. These results demonstrate a successful approach for producing EV71 VP1 VLPs based on the ability of HIV gag to self-assemble, thus providing a good foundation for producing high-titered anti-EV71 antibody by immunization with VLP-based gag EV71 VP1 protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]