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An efficient and versatile synthesis of alcohols via transfer hydrogenation from ketones with isopropanol, utilizing [Ni(6,6′‐(OH)2‐2,2′‐bpy)][Br2] under alkaline conditions, has been documented. It was noteworthy that many readily reducible or labile functional groups such as nitro, cyano, and halide, within the same molecular framework, did not undergo any change under the standard reaction conditions. Furthermore, the gram scale transfer hydrogenation reaction was successfully carried out with good yield using a common route with only a single purification by column chromatography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of intelligent substations, inspection robots are widely used to ensure the safe and stable operation of substations. Due to the prevalence of grass around the substation in the external environment, the inspection robot will be affected by grass when performing the inspection task, which can easily lead to the interruption of the inspection task. At present, inspection robots based on LiDAR sensors regard grass as hard obstacles such as stones, resulting in interruption of inspection tasks and decreased inspection efficiency. Moreover, there are inaccurate multiple object-detection boxes in grass recognition. To address these issues, this paper proposes a new assistance navigation method for substation inspection robots to cross grass areas safely. First, an assistant navigation algorithm is designed to enable the substation inspection robot to recognize grass and to cross the grass obstacles on the route of movement to continue the inspection work. Second, a three-layer convolutional structure of the Faster-RCNN network in the assistant navigation algorithm is improved instead of the original full connection structure for optimizing the object-detection boxes. Finally, compared with several Faster-RCNN networks with different convolutional kernel dimensions, the experimental results show that at the convolutional kernel dimension of 1024, the proposed method in this paper improves the mAP by 4.13% and the mAP is 91.25% at IoU threshold 0.5 in the range of IoU thresholds from 0.5 to 0.9 with respect to the basic network. In addition, the assistant navigation algorithm designed in this paper fuses the ultrasonic radar signals with the object recognition results and then performs the safety judgment to make the inspection robot safely cross the grass area, which improves the inspection efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since substations are key parts of power transmission, ensuring the safety of substations involves monitoring whether the substation equipment is in a normal state. Oil leakage detection is one of the necessary daily tasks of substation inspection robots, which can immediately find out whether there is oil leakage in the equipment in operation so as to ensure the service life of the equipment and maintain the safe and stable operation of the system. At present, there are still some challenges in oil leakage detection in substation equipment: there is a lack of a more accurate method of detecting oil leakage in small objects, and there is no combination of intelligent inspection robots to assist substation inspection workers in judging oil leakage accidents. To address these issues, this paper proposes a small object detection method for oil leakage defects in substations. This paper proposes a small object detection method for oil leakage defects in substations, which is based on the feature extraction network Resnet-101 of the Faster-RCNN model for improvement. In order to decrease the loss of information in the original image, especially for small objects, this method is developed by canceling the downsampling operation and replacing the large convolutional kernel with a small convolutional kernel. In addition, the method proposed in this paper is combined with an intelligent inspection robot, and an oil leakage decision-making scheme is designed, which can provide substation equipment oil leakage maintenance recommendations for substation workers to deal with oil leakage accidents. Finally, the experimental validation of real substation oil leakage image collection is carried out by the intelligent inspection robot equipped with a camera. The experimental results show that the proposed FRRNet101-c model in this paper has the best performance for oil leakage detection in substation equipment compared with several baseline models, improving the Mean Average Precision (mAP) by 6.3%, especially in detecting small objects, which has improved by 12%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exercise‐induced microRNA (miRNA) and HIPPO pathways participate in the regulation of skeletal muscle plasticity but their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We aimed to investigate the effect of high‐intensity interval training (HIIT) on miRNA expression and the HIPPO pathway in the skeletal muscle of aging rats to determine its role in the amelioration of muscle aging. Thirty‐six 18‐month‐old female rats were randomly divided into sedentary control (SED, n = 12), moderate‐intensity continuous training (MICT, n = 12), and HIIT (n = 12) groups, with continuous exercise for 8 months. Quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction, immunoblotting, KEGG enrichment, and dual‐luciferase assays were performed on the target skeletal muscle. Compared with the SED group, the MICT and HIIT groups showed a significant trend of improvement in Lee's index and grip strength and a marked increase in skeletal muscle mitochondrial function, apoptosis, antioxidant, and lipolysis‐related protein expression. They also exhibited PI3K/AKT pathway activation and a decrease in expression of HIPPO pathway‐related proteins; 20 miRNAs were differentially expressed and enriched in the exercise group compared with the SED group, including the HIPPO pathway and metabolic pathways. Further analysis of L6 cells confirmed that miR‐182 may target PTEN, which indirectly regulates HIPPO signaling, but not Mob1. the combined application of HIIT and MICT increased the antioxidant and lipolytic capacities of skeletal muscle and improved atrophy of aging skeletal muscle; HIIT was more effective than MICT. This may be related to HIIT‐mediated AKT pathway activation and HIPPO pathway inhibition by miRNAs (miR‐486 and miR‐182). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Si69 and Si75, typical commodities of silane coupling agents, are often employed in tire recipes to work as the bridges connecting silica and polymers, with which rolling resistance and wet traction are enhanced without loss in abrasion resistance. In this article, the reactivities of Si69 and Si75 with silica and various rubbers were theoretically investigated by using density functional theory (DFT). When the agents were coupled with silica, not only the acid+water condition but also the pure acid condition was confirmed to readily trigger the condensation reactions. The corresponding Gibbs free energy barriers were related to the charge distributions of reaction regions. As the agents suffered from the homolysis of central SS bonds, the generated single‐S‐tailer radicals (RS·) showed significantly higher reactivities of both the radical addition and the α‐H transfer reactions with rubbers, due to the stronger radical philicities of the terminal sulfur radicals with larger condensed local softnesses [s0(S)]. When the agents underwent the heterolysis of central SS bonds, the terminal sulfur anions with smaller s−(S) indices, however, facilitated the nucleophilic addition reactions with rubbers. Several derivative indices based on the condensed local softnesses were also proposed here to shed light on the reactivities from the viewpoint of the relationship between energy barriers and electronic characteristics. The above findings pave the way for the design of new kinds of silane coupling agents using computer‐aided techniques, and meanwhile, provide references for the practical application of Si69 and Si75 to the silica/rubbers systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical remote preparation of equatorial states has practical applications but has not been studied before. We first propose a deterministic protocol for two-dimensional equatorial states via a four-qubit cluster state. The sender can asymmetrically transmit the secret state to any one of the three agents who are ranked in terms of their authorities. A set of useful measurement bases is elaborately constructed which plays a key role in the protocol. Then the protocol is generalized to high-dimensional system. Further, taking advantage of cluster state's symmetry, we give a universal protocol with multiple agents. The high-grade agent needs the assistance of the remaining high-grade agents as well as one of the low-grade agents. While the low-grade agent needs the cooperation of all the other agents. The agents' recovery operators are expressed by a general formula which clearly reveals the relationship with the measurement results. Additionally, the impact of two kinds of noise is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By utilizing the non-maximally entangled four-qubit cluster states as the quantum channel, we first propose a hierarchical quantum information splitting scheme of arbitrary three-qubit states among three agents with a certain probability. Then we generalize the scheme to arbitrary multi-qubit states. Hierarchy is reflected on the different abilities of agents to restore the target state. The high-grade agent only needs the help of one low-grade agent, while the low-grade agent requires all the other agents' assistance. The designated receiver performs positive operator-valued measurement (POVM) which is elaborately constructed with the aid of Hadamard matrix. It is worth mentioning that a general expression of recovery operation is derived to disclose the relationship with measurement outcomes. Moreover, the scheme is extended to multiple agents by means of the symmetry of cluster states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an essential component of the ventilation system of nuclear facilities, filters have significant filtration performance for the safety of the environment and personnel. The metal fiber filter has excellent temperature resistance and can still maintain good filtration performance under fire conditions. In the filter design process, it is usually necessary to fold the metal fibrous fabric into a pleated structure to increase the filtration area and improve performance. A numerical simulation method is carried out on the filtration performance of the metal fiber filter, and the complex stacking structure inside the metal fibrous fabric is simulated using the porous zone. It is developed by combining the flow resistance and particle collection efficiency calculation program based on the structural parameters of the fibrous fabric with FLUENT software. The accuracy of the developed simulation method is validated with experimental data. The filtration performance of metal fiber pleated filters is further studied by this method. The results indicate that the influence of the pleat geometries on the collection efficiency of filters can be ignored. Brownian diffusion and interception play a dominant role in the filtration process. As the filtration velocity increases, the Brownian diffusion effect of particles is suppressed, this is the main reason for the decrease in filtration efficiency. With the same geometries, the resistance of rectangular pleats is always smaller than that of triangular pleats. With the same geometries, rectangular pleats have more uniform flow distribution than triangular pleats. • The filtration performance of pleated metal fiber filters with large pleat ratios was studied. • The flow distribution characteristics of rectangular and triangular pleats were compared. • The impact of filtration mechanisms on the efficiency of high-efficiency filters was explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe3+ is a promising dopant for designing near‐infrared (NIR) phosphors due to its broadband emitting, non‐toxic, and inexpensive properties. However, the 4E (4D) and 4E + 4A1 (4G) levels of Fe3+ ions are independent of the crystal‐field parameter, and the spectral regulation has become a huge challenge. Herein, a broadband NIR‐emitting phosphor Ca2.5Hf2.5(Ga, Al)3O12: Fe3+ is successfully developed toward long‐wave ultraviolet (LWUV) light‐pumped NIR phosphor‐converted LED (pc‐LED). Significantly, the excited transition reverse of Ca2.5Hf2.5Ga3O12: Fe3+ can be realized by simply adjusting Fe3+ concentration, which results in the largely enhanced excitation around 410 nm and matches well with the commercial LWUV LED. Moreover, Ca2.5Hf2.5Ga3O12: Fe3+ can exhibit a broadband NIR emission centered at 770 nm with optimized doping content at 0.01 mol%, which are demonstrated to ascribe to Fe3+ occupying both octahedral Hf 4+ and tetrahedral Ga3+ sites. Further, a simple cation modulation strategy is proposed to successfully break the lattice symmetry around Fe3+ ions and largely enhance the NIR‐emission intensity to 200% as much as before. Finally, a NIR pc‐LED is fabricated by employing Ca2.5Hf2.5Ga3O12: Fe3+, Al3+ coating on a 410 nm LED chip, which shows great potential in non‐destructive inspection applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) are attracting increasing attention due to their underlying capability in autonomously undertaking complex maritime tasks in constrained environments. However, the autonomy level of USVs is still limited, especially when being deployed to conduct multiple tasks simultaneously. This paper, therefore, aims to improve USVs autonomy level by investigating and developing an effective and efficient task management algorithm for multi-USV systems. To better deal with challenging requirements such as allocating vast tasks in cluttered environments, the task management has been de-composed into two submissions, i.e., task allocation and task execution. More specifically, unsupervised learning strategies have been used with an improved K-means algorithm proposed to first assign different tasks for a multi-USV system then a self-organising map (SOM) been implemented to deal with the task execution problem based upon the assigned tasks for each USV. Differing to other work, the communication problem that is crucial for USVs in a constrained environment has been specifically resolved by designing a new competition strategy for K-means algorithm. Key factors that will influence the communication capability in practical applications have been taken into account. A holistic task management architecture has been designed by integrating both the task allocation and task execution algorithms, and a number of simulations in both simulated and practical maritime environments have been carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wang et al. first studied hierarchical quantum information splitting of an arbitrary single-qubit state via the χ state as the entangled channel. There exists a hierarchy among the three receivers as far as the power to recover the teleported state is concerned. But the scheme is considered in ideal environment. In this paper, we reinvestigate the scheme in amplitude-damping and phase-damping noises. The fidelity and average fidelity are adopted to quantify the effect of noise. It is found that they are both dependent on the coefficients of the teleported state and the noise parameter. Moreover, we put forward a novel deterministic scheme to realize hierarchical controlled remote preparation of an arbitrary single-qubit state. Comparing with the previous scheme via the χ state, the sender does not need to perform information dividing due to the subtly constructed measurement basis. We also consider the proposed scheme under noisy environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A core-satellite MOF-on-MOF hybrid was designed and synthesized. • Independent intelligent release for multi-agrochemicals was achieved. • The UV resistances of dinotefuran and tebuconazole were 7.0 and 1.9 times higher. • The toxicity of MOF-on-MOF hybrid on zebrafish was 2.3 times lesser. Intelligent delivery formulations of agrochemicals have had a great impact on improving utilization efficiency, reducing chemical usage and easing the risk on the environment. However, constructing smart carriers for multi-agrochemicals to simultaneously control multiple botanic diseases, remains a challenge. In this study, a core-satellite MOF-on-MOF hybrid was designed for intelligent pest and fungus management. Zirconium-based metal–organic framework (UIO) nanoparticles were synthesized as metal–organic framework (MOF) cores to load the insecticide dinotefuran (DNF). Subsequently, a fungicide tebuconazole (Teb) loaded zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) was formed in situ as MOF satellites. The loading contents of DNF and Teb were 6.87% and 8.59%, respectively. DNF released rapidly under alkaline conditions corresponding to the microenvironment of pests, whereas Teb released preferentially under acidic environment. The EC 95 of the MOF-on-MOF hybrid against Exserohilum turcicum was 3.5 times lower than that of Teb alone. After 48 h, the mortality of armyworm treated with 3.0 mg/L MOF-on-MOF hybrid was 87%. The UV resistances of DNF and Teb were 7.0 and 1.9 times higher, respectively, than that of the free pesticides. This work provides a facile technology for precise delivery of multi-agrochemicals, holding substantial promise for sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes a novel mathematical model for computing the plume flow field of a carrier-based aircraft engine. Its objective is to study the impact of jet exhaust gases with high temperature, high speed and high pressure on the jet blast deflector. The working condition of the nozzle of a fully powered on engine is first determined. The flow field of the exhaust jet is then numerically simulated at different deflection angle using the three-dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations and the standard κ - ε turbulence method. Moreover, infra-red temperature tests are further carried out to test the temperature field when the jet blast deflector is at the 45 ∘ deflection angle. The comparison between the simulation results and the experimental results show that the proposed computation model can perfectly describe the system. There is only 8–10% variation between them. A good verification is achieved. Moreover, the experimental results show that the jet blast deflector plays an outstanding role in driving the high-temperature exhaust gases. It is found that 45 ∘ may be the best deflection angle to protect the deck and the surrounding equipment effectively. These data results provide a valuable basis for the design and layout optimization of the jet blast deflector and deck. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gao et al. have studied the controlled remote preparation of arbitrary two- and three-qubit states via the Brown state as the entangled channel. But these schemes are considered in ideal environment. In this paper, we take the scheme of preparing an arbitrary two-qubit state as an example and reinvestigate it in five-type noises: the bit flip, phase flip, bit-phase flip, phase-damping and amplitude-damping noise. The fidelity is adopted to describe how close the output state with the prepared state are. It is found that the fidelity of the output state is dependent on the coefficients of the prepared state and the noise parameter in five-type noises. Interestingly, the fidelity is irrelated to the participators’ measurement results except in the amplitude-damping noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen-bonded polymer complex films with the thickness ranging from 50 nm to 2400 nm were prepared by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEOX) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). The dewetting behavior of PEOX/PAA films under hydrothermal condition was investigated. It was found that the dewetting occurred at solid-liquid interface, and the typical morphologies such as holes, irregular cellular structure, and droplets were observed. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed the initial rupture of the film. Microscopic Raman and infrared (IR) imaging demonstrated that the PEOX and PAA chains remained association during the dewetting process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, Ni 3 C nanoparticles (NPs, 0 D) were for the first time used as H 2 -evolution cocatalysts to modify CdS nanosheets (NSs, 2 D) to achieve the high-efficiency photocatalytic H 2 evolution under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic H 2 -evolution activities of the Ni 3 C/CdS hybrid NSs were tested under 350 W Xe lamp irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm) with a sacrificial agent. The results proved that Ni 3 C NPs were efficient cocatalysts for photocatalytic H 2 evolution over CdS NSs. The CdS-1% Ni 3 C hybrid NSs exhibited the highest photocatalytic H 2 -evolution rates of 357 μmol h −1 in 0.25 M Na 2 S-Na 2 SO 3 and 450.5 umol h −1 in lactic acid, which were approximately 7.76 and 4.79 times higher than that of bare CdS NSs, corresponding to the apparent quantum yields of 7.58% and 8.72% at 420 nm, respectively. Clearly, the Ni 3 C NPs serve as H 2 -evolution electrocatalysts either in acidic or basic media. It is believed that the noble-metal-free Ni 3 C cocatalyst NPs on the surface of CdS NSs can effectively increase the visible-light absorbance, promote the charge carriers separation and transfer, improve the surface H 2 -evolution kinetics, thus achieving the obviously boosted hydrogen evolution. It is hoped that this study could contribute to the further investigation in exploiting the low-priced, high efficiency and environmentally friendly noble-metal-free cocatalysts for photocatalytic H 2 evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ring-opening metathesis polymerization reaction of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) was carried out using Grubbs first generation catalyst. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), dynamic-thermo mechanical analysis (DMA), and Raman spectroscopy were used to investigate the curing behavior of this polymer. The FTIR results showed that DCPD had not cured completely and the polymers were composed of linear and cross-linked polydicyclopentadiene (PDCPD). The DMA test showed that the polymer possesses the glass transition temperature of linear PDCPD and cross-linked PDCPD, which had also proved the FTIR result. Furthermore, in order to explain the strange phenomenon that the band at 3004 cm−1 should have been detected in infrared spectrum, the Raman spectrum of PDCPD was applied to analyze the bonding mechanism of =C–H bond in the process of polymerization. Moreover, the real-time FTIR result cure formula showed that the cure degree increases first then constants trend with cure time of increasing, the cure degree reached the maximum value (96.76%) at 60°C for 192 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By constructing sets of ingenious measurement bases at the sender's and the controller's locations, we devise two schemes to realize the controlled remote preparation of an arbitrary four-qubit χ-state via partially entangled quantum resource. The success probabilities of the proposed schemes are 50 % and 100 %, respectively. It means that the success probabilities are independent of the coefficients of the entangled channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) with hydroxyl-terminated poly(ethylene oxide-co-tetrahydrofuran) (P(EO- co-THF)) polymer networks of various functional molar ratios ( R) and different GAP contents have been prepared through the step-wise curing process. The step-wise curing condition is determined based on the thermodynamic parameters of each simplex elastomer system, which is 45 °C-3d then 60 °C-4d. The mechanical properties of the elastomers have been improved from 1.88 to 2.11 MPa in W = 50% under that condition, which is caused by the formation of the larger-sized mesh structure and in consequence the effective elastic strands increase. Meanwhile, the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) reveals that the glass transition temperatures of the elastomers are approximately −62.42 and −26.96 °C, respectively. Moreover, it can be concluded through DMA that the P(EO- co-THF) domains act as the main crosslinking joints compared with the GAP/N100 domains and thus cause the constrained effect. Combining extension test with DMA results, the network model of the elastomers is depicted. In addition, the thermal stabilities of the blending elastomers have also been studied, and their thermal stabilities meet the requirements of military materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a 2D hybrid CdS nanosheets(NSs)/MoS 2 layered heterojunctions were successfully synthesized by a two-step hydrothermal method and subsequent ultrasonic treatment. The results showed that the loading ultrathin MoS 2 NSs as co-catalysts could significantly boost the photocatalytic H 2 -evolution activity of CdS NSs. It is demonstrated that the optimized 2D CdS NSs/MoS 2 (1.0 wt%) layered heterojunctions could achieve the highest photocatalytic H 2 -evolution activity of 1.75 mmol g −1 h −1 from an aqueous solution containing sulfide and sulfite under visible light, which is 2.03 times as high as that of the pristine CdS NSs. It is believed that the deposition of ultrathin MoS 2 NSs and intimate 2D–2D coupling interfaces are mainly responsible for the excellent H 2 -evolution performance of 2D CdS NSs/MoS 2 layered heterojunctions, owing to the effectively promoted separation and transportation of charge carriers and the enhanced following surface H 2 -evolution kinetics. Interestingly, the lactic acid and formic acid have also been demonstrated to be better sacrificial reagents than the Na 2 S/Na 2 SO 3 , for the photocatalytic H 2 evolution over the 2D CdS NSs/MoS 2 layered heterojunctions. It is hoped that the strategy of 2D–2D interfacical coupling based on CdS NSs can become a general strategy to improve the H 2 -evolution activity over various kinds of conventional semiconductor NSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we proposed a constitutive model for describing the strain rate and temperature dependence of glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) elastomers during the whole deformation process, based on a series of mechanical experiments under various conditions. The experimental results show that the tensile stress is linearly related to the logarithm of the strain ratein the rate range of 0.5500 mm/min, and an obvious thermal softening effect is observed from −40 to 40. The new idea about modeling is that, using five Maxwell elements to describe the rate dependent behavior, the relaxation timefor each unit and the intervals ofbetween units were determined according to the linear region of. For the thermal softening effect, a new approach involving polynomial multiplier-containing temperature function was used to capture the effect clearly. Moreover, a simple, efficient method concerning time-temperature equivalence was put forward to predict the yield stress of the elastomers. By comparisons, our calculated results agree well with the experimental data, demonstrating the feasibility of our model and method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of crowded environment with nano particles are studied for polymer translocation through a small pore. The translocation time τ is simulated by Fokker-Planck equation at different free energy landscapes F and diffusion coefficients of polymer D. The free energy is calculated using the Rosenbluth-Rosenbluth method, and the diffusion coefficient is followed the relation $D \sim \frac {1}{N} e^{-\triangle F}$ . We find that the free energy is dependent on polymer-nanoparticle interaction, size of the nanoparticle, and position of the nanoparticle. The attractive nanoparticles at the trans side can provide a driving force to polymer by lowering the free energy, but the exclusive effect of nanoparticle can raise the free energy of polymer. There exists an optimum interaction that τ is roughly independent on the size and position of nanoparticles. It is found that these effects are related to the conformational change of polymer chain in crowded environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two controlled remote state preparation protocols via the Brown state as the entangled channel are proposed. One prepares an arbitrary two-qubit state, and the other prepares an arbitrary three-qubit state. It is worth mentioning that Hurwitz matrix equation plays a key role in the construction of measurement basis. Comparing with the previous protocols, the novel schemes have no restriction on the coefficients of the prepared state while keeping the same success probability 50 %. It means that the application of the proposed schemes are more extensive in practice. Moreover, we discuss the special complex coefficient ensembles with unit success probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the practicality and safety of a novel explosive dihydroxylamm onium 5,5′-bis (tetrazole)-1,1′-diolate (TKX-50), polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and polychlorotrifluoroe-thylene (PCTFE) were respectively added to the TKX-50, forming the polymer-bonded explosives (PBX). Interfacial and mechanical properties of PBX were investigated through molecular dynamics (MD) method, desensitizing mechanisms of fluorine-polymers for TKX-50 were researched by compression and bulk shear simulations. Results show that the binding energies ( E) between polymers (PVDF or PCTFE) and TKX-50 surfaces all rank in order of (011) > (100) > (010), shorter interatomic distance and the resulted higher potentials lead to higher E on TKX-50/PVDF interfaces than that on PCTFE/TKX-50 interfaces. Compared with TKX-50, the ductility of PBX is improved due to the isotropic mechanical property and flexibility of fluorine-polymers especially the PCTFE. Desensitizing effect of fluorine-polymers for TKX-50 is found under loading condition, which is attributed to the enhanced compressibility and buffer capacity against external pressure in compression, as well as the improved lubricity to reduce the sliding potentials in bulk shear process. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactate dehydrogenase-A(LDH-A) is an important rate-limiting enzyme in the Warburg effect. Survival analysis indicated poor clinical outcomes in MIBC with high LDH-A expression. The results of in vitro experiment indicated that LDH-A promotes MIBC cells proliferation, invasion and migration. The positive relationship between LDH-A expression and CSC/EMT markers was confirmed both in invasive bladder cell line and in 136 MIBC specimens. Thus, we conclude that LDH-A may be a promising target for MIBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the help of the conditional similarity reduction method, a new family of complex wave solutions with q= lx + my + kt + Γ( x, y, t) for the (2+1)-dimensional modified dispersive water-wave (MDWW) system are obtained. Based on the derived solitary wave solution, some novel complex wave localised excitations are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to prepare arbitrary quantum state is the holy grail of quantum information technology. Previous schemes focus on circuit complexity using implicit decomposition schemes for global evolutions and are difficult in quantum experiments because the generation circuit can be completed for given coefficients each time. One protocol is firstly proposed in this paper in order to deterministically generate arbitrary four-qubit states with any coefficients. In order to complete this scheme with present physical techniques, we present an explicit quantum circuit with unknown coefficients of prepared states using elementary quantum gates. The key of our scheme is constructing the Cartan KAK decomposition of special transformations in $$SO(4)$$ and $$SO(8)$$ . And then, this protocol is extended to arbitrary five-qubit states and six-qubit states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two schemes via different entangled resources as the quantum channel are proposed to realize remote preparation of an arbitrary four-particle $$\chi $$ -state with high success probabilities. To design these protocols, some useful and general measurement bases are constructed, which have no restrictions on the coefficients of the prepared states. It is shown that through a four-particle projective measurement and two-step three-particle projective measurement under the novel sets of mutually orthogonal basis vectors, the original state can be prepared with the probability 50 and 100 %, respectively. And for the first scheme, the special cases of the prepared state that the success probability reaches up to 100 % are discussed by the permutation group. Furthermore, the present schemes are extended to the non-maximally entangled quantum channel, and the classical communication costs are calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the effects and mechanisms of inhibiting TRPC6 (a non-selective cation channel) downregulation on rat astrocyte activation and proliferation following spinal cord injury (SCI) by suppressing AQP4 expression. We used HYP9 (TRPC6-specific agonist) and TGN-020 (AQP4-specific inhibitor) to explore the relationship between TRPC6 and AQP4 and their probable protective effects on SCI. Methods: In a rat SCI model, we randomly assigned female Sprague-Dawley rats into the following four groups: Sham, SCI, SCI+HYP9, and SCI+TGN-020. Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining were used to determine protein expression among groups following SCI. TUNEL and immunofluorescence staining were used to identify changes in the rate of apoptosis and the fraction of surviving neurons after SCI. The Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan open-field locomotor scale was used to identify changes in motor function after SCI. In vitro astrocyte scratch model, we first used the CCK8 assay to test the effects of varying doses of HYP9 or TGN-020 on astrocytes and then split the astrocytes into four groups: Con, Scratch, Scratch+HYP9, and Scratch+TGN-020. Western blotting and immunofluorescence were used to identify changes in the expression of target proteins. Results: In vivo and in vitro models, SCI dramatically decreased TRPC6 while considerably upregulating AQP4, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression. However, HYP9 or TGN-020 significantly suppressed activation of astrocytes, promoted neurons survival in the anterior horn of the spinal cords, and benefited the recovery of motor function in the hind limbs of rats following SCI. Interestingly, TRPC6 agonists dramatically suppressed AQP4 overexpression, indicating that the probable mechanism of HYP9 benefiting alleviation of SCI may be connected to AQP4 inhibition and astrocyte activation and proliferation reduction. Conclusion: we discovered for the first time that HYP9 inhibits astrocyte activation and proliferation by inhibiting AQP4 in SCI rats in vivo and in vitro models and that it preserves neuronal survival and functional recovery after SCI. • HYP9 (TRPC6-specific agonist) inhibits astrocyte activation and proliferation in SCI. • TGN-020 (AQP4-specific inhibitor) inhibits astrocyte activation and proliferation in SCI. • HYP9 inhibits AQP4 expression in SCI. • HYP9 or TGN-020 promote neuronal survival in the spinal cord and facilitate recovery of hindlimb motor function in rats after SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critical merits acquired from quantum computation require running in parallel, which cannot be benefited from previous multi-level extensions and are exact our purposes. In this paper, with qutrit subsystems the general quantum computation further reduces into qutrit gates or its controlled operations. This extension plays parallizable and integrable with same construction independent of the qutrit numbers. The qutrit swapping as its basic operations for controlling can be integrated into quantum computers with present physical techniques. Our generalizations are free of elevating the system spaces, and feasible for the universal computation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two novel schemes via different entanglement resources are put forward to remotely preparing a five-qubit Brown-type state with high probabilities. To design the schemes, some useful measurement bases with the aid of Hurwitz matrix equation are constructed, which have no restrictions on the coefficients of the prepared state. Through a four-particle projective measurement and two-step three-particle projective measurement under the novel sets of mutually orthogonal basis vectors, the remote preparation can be realized with the probability 50% and 100% in general case, respectively. To improve the probability, the special ensembles of the prepared state that the success probability reaches up to 100% are discussed for the first scheme by the permutation group. Furthermore, the present schemes are extended to the nonmaximally entangled quantum channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using the (G'/G)-expansion method and the variable separation method, a new family of exact solutions of the (3+1)-dimensional Jimbo--Miwa system is obtained. Based on the derived solitary wave solutions, we obtain some special localized excitations and study the interactions between two solitary waves of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By constructing some useful measurement bases, we put forward two novel schemes via different entanglement resources to realize remote preparation of a six-particle entangled cluster-type state with high probabilities. It is shown that through a three-particle projective measurement and two-step two-particle projective measurement under the novel sets of mutually orthogonal basis vectors, the original state can be prepared with the probability 50 % and 100 %, respectively. And for the first scheme, the special cases of the prepared state that the success probability reaches up to 100 % are discussed by the permutation group. Compared with the previous proposal, the success probabilities of the proposed schemes are greatly improved. Furthermore, the present schemes are extended to the non-maximally entangled quantum channel, and the classical communication costs are calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using a mapping approach and a linear variable separation approach, a new family of solitary wave solutions with arbitrary functions for the (2+1)-dimensional modified dispersive water-wave system (MDWW) is derived. Based on the derived solutions and using some multi-valued functions, we obtain some novel folded localized excitations of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, several new protocols for the controlled remote state preparation (CRSP) by using the Brown state as the quantum channel are proposed. Firstly, we propose a CRSP protocol of an arbitrary two qubit state. Then, the CRSP protocol of an arbitrary three qubit state, which has rarely been considered by the previous papers, is investigated. The coefficients of the prepared states can be not only real, but also complex. To design these protocols, some useful and general measurement bases are constructed, which can greatly reduce the restrictions for the coefficients of the prepared states. The security analysis is provided in detail. Moreover, receiver's all recovery operations are summarized into a concise formula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Two experiments were carried out to study the effects of intraruminal infusions of acetic, propionic or butyric acid and mixtures of these acids with different molar proportions on nitrogen (N) retention in lambs. In Experiment I, 12 lambs (liveweight 21.7±0.4kg), fitted with rumen and abomasum cannulas and nourished by total intragastric infusions, were allocated into three groups and intraruminally infused with isoenergetic amounts of acetic, propionic or butyric acid, as Treatments I, II and III, respectively. In Experiment II, twelve lambs (liveweight 24.9±0.4kg), fitted with rumen and abomasum cannulas and also nourished by intragastric infusions, were allocated into four groups and intraruminally infused with isoenergetic mixtures of acetic, propionic and butyric acid with molar proportions of 10:78:12, 27:65:8, 49:47:4 and 60:38:2, as Treatments I, II, III and IV, respectively. Both energy and N supplied to the lambs in Experiments I and II were kept at the level of 1.2 times of maintenance requirement. The results indicated that no significant difference was found in the N digestibility, N retention or N retention rate of the lambs between different treatments either in Experiment I (P>0.05) or in Experiment II (P>0.05). It was concluded that the N retention of the 4 month old lambs was unchanged by different molar proportions of isoenergetic amount of acetic, propionic or butyric acid and the mixtures of these acids with different molar proportions when both energy and N supply were kept at the level of 1.2 times of maintenance requirement. Further research with higher levels of energy and protein supply, lambs with different age and more lambs for treatments is needed to verify these findings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study simulates the distributions of 13 endemic and near-endemic genera ( Ammopiptanthus, Sympegma, Iljinia, Elachanthemum, Potaninia, Tugarinovia, Kaschgaria, Sarcozygium, Timouria, Zollikoferia, Stilpnolepis, Synstemon and Tetraena) to indicate areas of plant diversity and conservation importance within the eastern Central Asian desert, and to identify the determinant environmental variables contributing to the spatial distribution patterns. Using known distribution localities and 14 environmental variables, the Maxent and Domain species distribution models were employed to map the patterns of geographic distribution. The power of predictability of the models was tested using the receiver operating characteristic method and the jackknife validation approach, according to the different number of species localities available. The estimated richness and the superimposed potential distributions of 13 genera were used to indicate endemic patterns of distribution. The comparison of Maxent and Domain further identified previously unknown areas of endemism and described the distribution for each taxon. Both observed species occurrence and the species occurrence predicted from the Maxent indicated that the eastern Alashan of Inner Mongolia is the most noticeable endemic area, and the northwestern and northern Tarim Basin of Xinjiang is the secondary center of plant diversity. These regions were then prioritized for conservation importance. Potential evapotranspiration ratio and precipitation seasonality played important roles in driving the observed patterns of endemic distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the help of the Maple symbolic computation system and the projective equation approach, a new family of variable separation solutions with arbitrary functions for the (2+1)-dimensional generalized Breor-Kaup (GBK) system is derived. Based on the derived solitary wave solution, some chaotic behaviors of the GBK system are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, by means of similarity transfomations, we obtain explicit solutions to the cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrödinger equation with varying coefficients, which involve four free functions of space. Four types of free functions are chosen to exhibit the corresponding nonlinear wave propagations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analytical solutions in terms of rational-like functions are presented for a (3+1)-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation with time-varying coefficients and a harmonica potential using the similarity transformation and a direct ansatz. Several free functions of time t are involved to generate abundant wave structures. Three types of elementary functions are chosen to exhibit the corresponding nonlinear rogue wave propagations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scheme is proposed for generating a three-dimensional entangled state for two atoms trapped in a cavity by one step via adiabatic passage. In the scheme, the two atoms are always in ground states and the field mode of the cavity excited is negligible under a certain condition. Therefore, the scheme is very robust against decoherence. Furthermore, it needs neither the exact control of all parameters nor the accurate control of the interaction time. It is shown that qutrit entanglement can be generated with a high fidelity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previous studies have shown an excitatory effect of histamine on neurons in two cerebellar nuclei, the fastigial nucleus and the interposed nucleus. Here we investigated action of histamine on the dentate nucleus (DN), another nucleus of the cerebellum, and provided more evidence for motor control by histamine via the cerebellum. Spontaneous unitary discharge of neurons in the DN was extracellularly recorded by use of cerebellar slice preparations. In total 79-recorded neurons, which were from 53 cerebellar slices, 67 neurons (84.8%) had an excitatory response to histamine stimulation, and the rest (15.2%) were not reactive. The histamine-induced excitation of the DN neurons was not blocked by low-Ca2+/high-Mg2+ medium, demonstrating that this effect of histamine was postsynaptic. Triprolidine, an antagonist of histamine H1 receptors, did not block the excitatory effect of histamine, but ranitidine, an antagonist for H2 receptors, blocked the excitatory response to histamine in a concentration-dependent manner. Further, histamine H1 receptor agonist 2-pyridylethylamine did not elicit any response of DN neurons, but H2 receptor agonist dimaprit had an excitatory action on the DN cells and this action was blocked by ranitidine. These results indicate that histamine excites cerebellar DN neurons via histamine H2 receptors. Since the DN receives hypothalamocerebellar histaminergic projections and plays a role in initiation and planning of somatic movement, the postsynaptic excitation of the DN neurons by histamine suggests the possibility that the initiation and planning of movement may be modulated by the histaminergic projections. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Our concern is to remotely prepare a four-particle entangled cluster-type state with high success probabilities. By constructing some useful measurement bases, two novel schemes via different entanglement resources as the quantum channel are designed: one is via an EPR pair and two three-particle GHZ states; the other is via two four-qubit GHZ states. It is shown that through four-particle projective measurements under the novel sets of mutually orthogonal basis vectors, the original state can be successfully prepared with the probabilities and 1, respectively. These schemes are extended to the non-maximally entangled quantum channel. Compared with the previous remote preparation proposal, the success probabilities of the proposed schemes are greatly improved. Furthermore, the classical communication costs of these schemes are calculated to determine the classical resources required. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We propose a deterministic and faithful scheme for realizing the assisted clone of an unknown two-particle entangled state. The first stage of the protocol requires teleportation via maximal entanglement. In the second stage, a novel set of mutually orthogonal basis vectors is constructed. With the assistance of the preparer through a two-particle projective measurement under this basis, a perfect copy of an original state can be produced. Compared with the previous protocols which produce the unknown state and its orthogonal complement state at the site of the sender, our scheme generates the unknown state deterministically. On the other hand, we put forward another assisted clone scheme via nonmaximal entanglement as the quantum channel. A faithful copy of the unknown state can be obtained with a certain probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Following some ideas of the quantum network coding protocol [Phys. Rev. A 76 (2007) 040301], we propose an efficient protocol to transmit two 2-level quantum states crossly over the butterfly network with two non-maximally entangled qubit pairs shared only between two senders. It is shown that both of the receivers can reestablish the initial states with a certain probability. And one classical bit communication can be saved at the bottleneck channel. Moreover, this protocol is generalized to the case of transmitting two multipartite entangled states. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The reaction of AgClO4 with 2-naphthol-5-carboxylic acid (HL) and hexamethylenetetramine (hmt) in the presence of 2,6-dimethylpyridine afforded a photoluminescent three-dimensional (3D) AgI polymer {[Ag6(L)(μ3-hmt)2(μ4-hmt)2(ClO4)](ClO4)4(H2O)}∞ (1), which exhibited an unusual (3,4)-connected (6·7·8)2(4·6·7)2(4·7·8)2(72·8)2(62·7·83)(62·72·8·10) topological network (L =2-naphthol-5-carboxylate). Moreover, the luminescent properties of 1 have been briefly investigated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a model to describe alternating current (AC) conductivity of DNA sequences, in which DNA is considered as a one-dimensional (1D) disordered system, and electrons transport via hopping between localized states. It finds that AC conductivity in DNA sequences increases as the frequency of the external electric field rises, and it takes the form of oac(o) [?] o2 ln2(1/o). Also AC conductivity of DNA sequences increases with the increase of temperature, this phenomenon presents characteristics of weak temperature-dependence. Meanwhile, the AC conductivity in an off-diagonally correlated case is much larger than that in the uncorrelated case of the Anderson limit in low temperatures, which indicates that the off-diagonal correlations in DNA sequences have a great effect on the AC conductivity, while at high temperature the off-diagonal correlations no longer play a vital role in electric transport. In addition, the proportion of nucleotide pairs p also plays an important role in AC electron transport of DNA sequences. For p < 0.5, the conductivity of DNA sequence decreases with the increase of p, while for p [?] 0.5, the conductivity increases with the increase of p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a scheme for transferring an N-atom state between two distant cavities via an optical fiber. The scheme is based on adiabatic passage along a dark state. In the scheme, all the atoms are always in ground state, the field mode of the fiber remains in vacuum state, and the field mode of the cavities being excited can be negligible under certain conditions. Therefore, the scheme is very robust against decoherence. The successful probability of implementing the quantum state transfer increases with increasing number of atoms. Furthermore, the interaction time does not need to be accurately adjusted as long as the adiabaticity condition is fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from an improved mapping approach and a linear variable separation approach, a new family of exact solutions (including solitary wave solutions, periodic wave solutions and rational function solutions) with arbitrary functions for a general (2+1)-dimensional Korteweg de Vries system (GKdV) is derived. According to the derived solutions, we obtain some novel dromion-lattice solitons, complex wave excitations and chaotic patterns for the GKdV system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]