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The development of clean and sustainable nitrogen-fixing methods has always attracted significant attention for decades. In this work, we investigated a strategy to enhance the N2 photo-fixation performance of titanium dioxide (TiO2) films by leveraging the synergistic effect between photon localization effects and iron (Fe) doping. Introducing Fe ions into TiO2 broadens its light absorption spectrum, making it extend into the visible light range, while improving charge separation capabilities. Our findings revealed that the photocatalytic ammonia generation of Fe-doped TiO2 (FT) catalysts, with a Fe3+ concentration of 6%, could reach up to 1.5 times that of pure TiO2. Besides, the photon localization effect of the SiO2 opal photonic crystals (SOPC) could enhance the light harvesting efficiency of the photocatalysts. By coupling the SOPC layer and nanocrystalline FT films, the N2 photo-fixation performance of FT/SOPC composite membranes was further promoted to 55.6 mmol g-1 h-1. This study offered a promising route for nitrogen fixation using solar energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an important role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) through modulating intestinal inflammation. However, the factors affecting Treg function and plasticity during IBD progression are not thoroughly disclosed. The current study aims to reveal new molecular mechanisms affecting Treg plasticity. Methods: A mouse strain, in which tdTomato and enhanced green fluorescent protein were under the control of the Foxp3 promoter and Il17a promoter, was established and subjected to colitis induction with dextran sulfate sodium. The existence of Tregs and IL-17-expressing Tregs (i.e., Treg/T helper 17 [Th17] cells) were observed and sorted from the spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes, and lamina propria by flow cytometry, followed by measuring Sirtuin2 (Sirt2) expression using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Immunoblotting. Lentivirus-induced Sirt2 silencing was applied to determine the impact of Sirt2 on Treg polarization to Treg/Th17 cells and even Th17 cells. The effect of Sirt2 on Stat3 was analyzed by flow cytometry and immunoblotting. Results: Sirt2 was highly expressed in lamina propria Tregs and it moderately suppressed Foxp3 expression as well as the immunosuppressive function of Tregs. Surprisingly, lentivirus-mediated Sirt2 silencing promoted the generation of Treg/Th17 cells out of Tregs. Sirt2 silencing also enhanced the generation of Th17 cells out of Tregs under the Th17 induction condition. Furthermore, Sirt2 inhibited Th17 induction by suppressing the protein level of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3. Conclusion: Sirt2 suppresses Treg function but also inhibits Treg polarization toward Treg/Th17 cells and Th17 cells. The ultimate effect of Sirt2 on colitis might depend on the balance among Tregs, Treg/Th17 cells, and Th17 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bupleurum jeholense Nakai (Apioideae, Apiaceae), originally found in the Wuling Mountain of China, was initially described as a species but later treated as a variety of B. sibiricum Vest ex Spreng. However, researchers have recently found that it is more closely related to B. chinense DC. In this study, we conducted morphological and phylogenetic analyses as well as chromosome counting to determine the taxonomic status of B. sibiricum var. jeholense (Nakai) Chu. Our results showed that B. sibiricum var. jeholense and B. chinense share common features (i.e., bracteoles 5 and stem solid) that distinguish both from B. sibiricum var. sibiricum. The chromosome number of B. sibiricum var. jeholense was found to be the same as in B. chinense (i.e., 2n = 12), whereas the chromosome number of B. sibiricum var. sibiricum was 64. A phylogenetic tree based on complete chloroplast genome data revealed a close relationship between B. sibiricum var. jeholense and B. chinense. Finally, B. sibiricum var. jeholense and B. chinense were mainly found to differ in plant height, number of stems, and middle stem leaves. Based on this evidence, we propose a new combination: Bupleurum chinense var. jeholense (Nakai) Q.R.Liu & L.H.Wang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification and recording of drilling conditions are crucial for ensuring drilling safety and efficiency. However, the traditional approach of relying on the subjective determination of drilling masters based on experience formulas is slow and not suitable for rapid drilling. In this paper, we propose a drilling condition classification method based on a neural network model. The model uses an improved Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit (BiGRU) combined with an attention mechanism to accurately classify seven common drilling conditions simultaneously, achieving an average accuracy of 91.63%. The model also demonstrates excellent generalization ability, real-time performance, and accuracy, making it suitable for actual production. Additionally, the model has excellent expandability, which enhances its potential for further application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioma is the most common intracranial tumor of the central nervous system in adults; however, the diagnosis of glioma, and its grading and histological subtyping, is challenging for pathologists. The present study assessed serine and arginine rich splicing factor 1 (SRSF1) expression in 224 glioma cases in the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) database, and verified its expression by immunohistochemical analysis of specimens from 70 clinical patients. In addition, the prognostic potential of SRSF1 concerning the survival status of patients was evaluated. In vitro, the biological role of SRSF1 was assessed using MTT, colony formation, wound healing and Transwell assays. The results revealed that SRSF1 expression was significantly associated with the grading and the histopathological subtype of glioma. As determined using a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the specificity of SRSF1 for glioblastoma (GBM) and World Health Organization (WHO) grade 3 astrocytoma was 40 and 48%, respectively, whereas the sensitivity was 100 and 85%. By contrast, pilocytic astrocytoma tumors exhibited negative immunoexpression of SRSF1. Additionally, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that high SRSF1 expression predicted a worse prognosis for patients with glioma in both the CGGA and clinical cohorts. In vitro, the results demonstrated that SRSF1 promoted the proliferation, invasion and migration of U87MG and U251 cells. These data suggested that immunohistochemical analysis of SRSF1 expression is highly sensitive and specific in the diagnosis of GBM and WHO grade 3 astrocytoma, and may have an important role in glioma grading. Furthermore, the lack of SRSF1 is a potential diagnostic biomarker for pilocytic astrocytoma. However, neither in oligodendroglioma and astrocytoma, nor in GBM was an association detected between SRSF1 expression and IDH1 mutations or 1p/19q co-deletion. These findings indicated that SRSF1 may serve as a prognostic factor in glioma cases and could have an active role in promoting glioma progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem of long-distance transportation in the downhole filling process of multi-source coal-based solid waste cemented materials, the flow performance and pipe-line transportation performance of multi-source coal-based solid waste filling mixture were studied by physical experiments and numerical simulation. The main control parameters of the flow characteristics in the tube of the cemented material were determined, and the variation law of resistance along the course during the flow process in the tube was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood-inhabiting fungi are abundant in China, but their distribution is uneven, with more fungi in southwest China and fewer fungi in northwest China. During the investigation of wood-inhabiting fungi in Xinjiang, we collected a large number of specimens. Eight specimens growing on Picea schrenkiana were collected from Tianshan Mountains, and they were described as two new species in Ceriporiopsis and Sidera based on morphological characters and molecular evidence. Ceriporiopsis tianshanensis is characterized by a cream to salmon-buff pore surface, larger pores measuring 1-3 per mm, and broadly ellipsoid basidiospores 5-6.5 × 3-4 µm. Sidera tianshanensis is characterized by annual to perennial basidiocarps, measuring 15 mm thick, pores 5-7 per mm, cream to rosy buff pore surface, and allantoid basidiospores 3-3.5 × 1-1.4 µm. Detailed illustrations and descriptions of the novel species are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective • Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) is secondary to stroke, and is a significant burden for patients, their families and society as a whole. Our study aimed to investigate the predictive value of β-amyloid 42 (Aβ42) and hemoglobin (Hb) in the diagnosis of PSCI. Methods • 120 patients were selected and then assigned to either the PSCI group, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) group or post-stroke cognitive normal (PSCN) group. Baseline data were recorded. Correlation between Aβ42 and Hb and cognitive scores was evaluated. Then, the ability of these indicators to predict PSCI was compared based on logistic regression analysis and ROC curve. Results • Aβ42 and Hb in the PSCI group were lower than in the AD and PSCN groups (P < .05). Compared with AD, hypertension (HTN) and Hb were independent risk factors for PSCI (P < .05), and Aβ42 was a relevant risk factor for PSCI (P = .063). Compared with PSCN, age and Hb posed a threat to the occurrence of PSCI (P < .05). Under the ROC curve, the area under the curve (AUC) of the joint diagnosis of Aβ42 and Hb was 0.7169, specificity was 0.625 and sensitivity reached 0.800. Conclusion • Aβ42 and Hb in patients with PSCI were significantly lower than in the AD and PSCN groups, and were risk factors for PSCI. When the two are combined, the differential diagnosis performance may be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurosecretory cells in the brain produce prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH), which is carried to the corpora allata (CA) by axons running through the brain contralateral hemisphere before being secreted into hemolymph to trigger production and release of ecdysone. PTTH plays an important role in insect growth and metamorphosis, and it can be exploited as a potential target for pest control. Although the function of PTTH has been described in insects, various results have been reported. In this context, the PTTH neuropeptide gene in Spodoptera frugiperda was knocked down or knocked out using RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9, respectively. The development time of larval was significantly prolonged and even death during the larval molting and pupation by knocking out PTTH. However, after silencing 4th instar, pupae's body size increased significantly, but development time was not affected. PTTH is a key gene to regulate ecdysone synthesis and release, and is necessary to coordinate the growth and developmental timing of S. frugiperda. Our study demonstrated that RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 of PTTH could cause different outcomes and hinted the advantages of using both RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 to analyze gene function more comprehensively (than using single technique). The gene sequence structure of PTTH has more conservative characteristics, especially between similar species, which also provides convenience for developing RNAi-based pesticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing beads on the fibers is a promising design, which can give rise to enhanced strength and toughness of polymer matrix composites. In this study, we propose a computational model for fracture of the composites with beaded fibers, in which fiber breakage, plastic deformation of polymer matrix, friction between the bead and matrix, geometric interlocking between the bead and matrix, and debonding of the fiber-matrix, bead-matrix and fiber-bead interfaces are accounted for; calculations are carried out for pullout of beadless and beaded fibers embedded in a polymer matrix. It is found that the strength and toughness of the beaded-fiber reinforced composites are controlled by the synergistic interactions of operative mechanisms involved in fiber pullout. Compared with beadless fibers, beaded fibers enable the development of lower levels of stresses at the fiber-matrix and bead-matrix interfaces, retarding interfacial debonding. The presence of beads activates large plastic deformation of the polymer matrix and promotes geometric interlocking and frictional dissipation, giving rise to the simultaneous improvement of strength and toughness of the composites. It is identified that the polymer matrix with enhanced strain hardening spreads plastic deformation in the matrix and promotes stress transfer from the matrix to the fiber, thereby amplifying strength and toughness simultaneously. The fibers-matrix interface with intermediate strength levels leads to weak pullout resistance. In addition, we show that the low coefficient of friction plays a crucial role in promoting stress transfer from the matrix to fiber, thereby increasing the pullout resistance of beaded fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to examine how aging and modifications of critical acoustic parameters may affect the perception of whispered speech as a degraded signal. Method: Forty Mandarin-speaking adults were included in the study. Part 1 of the study compared the perception of Mandarin lexical tones, vowels, and syllables in older and younger adults in whispered versus phonated speech conditions. Parts 2 and 3 further examined how modification of duration and intensity cues contributed to the perceptual outcomes. Results: Perception of whispered tones was compromised in older and younger adults. Older adults identified lexical tones less accurately than their younger counterparts, particularly for phonated T2 and T3 and whispered T3. Aging also negatively affected the vowel identification of /i, u/ in the whispered condition. Syllable-level accuracy was largely dependent on the accuracy of lexical tones and vowels. Furthermore, reduced duration led to the decreased accuracy of phonated T3 and whispered T2 and T3 but increased accuracy of phonated T4. Reduced intensity lowered the recognition accuracy for phonated vowels /i, ɤ, o, y/ in older adults and /i, u/ in younger adults, and it also lowered the accuracy of whispered vowels /a, ɤ/ in older adults. Contrary to our expectation, increased duration and intensity did not improve older adults' speech perception in either phonated or whispered conditions. Conclusions: The results suggest that aging adversely affected speech perception in both phonated and whispered conditions with more challenges in identifying whispered speech for older adults. While older adults' diminished performance may be potentially due to problems with processing the degraded temporal and spectral information of the target speech sounds, it cannot be simply compensated for by increasing the duration and intensity of the target sounds beyond the audible level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the nonlinear dynamics theory, the stability of the double-delay Lorenz system is investigated at the equilibrium points, and the conditions of the occurrence of Hopf bifurcation are analyzed. The double-delay Lorenz system has more complex dynamic behaviors, and it is applicable to many fields. Firstly, the equilibrium points of the system are calculated. Subsequently, the local stability of the system at the equilibrium points is determined by analyzing the distribution of the roots of the characteristic equation of the system, and the critical values of the time delays for generating Hopf bifurcation are yielded. With the time delays as the bifurcation parameter, the conditions of the existence of Hopf bifurcation in the system under the same and different time delays are analyzed. Lastly, it is confirmed numerically that the conclusions are drawn complying with the theoretical analysis and applied in the field of secure communication to make the encrypted information more secure and difficult to decipher during transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) is expressed in gastrointestinal tract and plays important roles in intestinal motility and visceral hypersensitivity. However, the potential role of TRPA1 in host defense, particularly against intestinal pathogens, is unknown. Here, we show that Trpa1 knockout mice exhibited increased susceptibility to Citrobacter rodentium infection, associated with the increased severity of diarrhea and intestinal permeability associated with the disrupted tight junctions (TJs) in colonic epithelia. We further demonstrated the expression of TRPA1 in murine colonic epithelial cells (CECs) and human epithelial Caco-2 cells both at protein level and transcription level. Using calcium imaging, TRPA1 agonists allyl isothiocyanates (AITC) and hydrogen peroxide were observed to induce a transient Ca2+ response in Caco-2 cells, respectively. Moreover, TRPA1 knockdown in Caco-2 cells resulted in the decreased expression of TJ proteins, ZO-1 and Occludin, and in the increased paracellular permeabilities and the reduced TEER values of Caco-2 monolayers in vitro. Furthermore, inhibition of TRPA1 by HC-030031 in the confluent Caco-2 cells caused the altered distribution and expression of TJ proteins, ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-3, and exacerbated the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced damage to these TJ proteins and actin cytoskeleton. By contrast, AITC pretreatment restored the distribution and expression of these TJ proteins in the confluent Caco-2 cells upon LPS challenge. Our results identify an unrecognized protective role of TRPA1 in host defense against an enteric bacterial pathogen by maintaining colonic epithelium barrier function, at least in part, via preserving the distribution and expression of TJ proteins in CECs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To study the effect of intraspinal injection of dexamethasone (DXMS) on intrapartum fever and maternal and infant outcomes. Methods: A total of 200 puerperal women who gave birth in The Fourth Hospital of Shi Jia Zhuang from May 2020 to September 2021 were randomly selected and randomly divided into two groups: routine group (control group) and study group, with 100 women in each group. The routine group received epidural block anesthesia. In addition to the treatment given to the routine group, mothers in the study group were injected with 5 mg of dexamethasone in the spinal canal through an epidural catheter. Pain, fever, as well as maternal and infant outcomes were evaluated. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in the degree of pain between the two groups, before and 1 h after anesthesia (p > 0.05). However, visual analogue scale (VAS) scores at the end of the first and second stage of labor were significantly lower in the study group (1.76 ± 0.56 and 3.41 ± 0.39, respectively) than in the control group (4.73 ± 0.48 and 6.11 ± 0.63, respectively; p < 0.05). In the control group, 23 puerperal women (23 %) had body temperature ≥ 37.5 oC but < 38 oC, while 19 puerperal women (19 %) had body temperature ≥ 38 oC. There was no statistically significant difference in Apgar scores between the two groups at 1 min and 5 min after delivery (p > 0.05). In the control group, there were 9 (9 %) cases of headache, 5 (5 %) cases of prolonged labor, and 7 (7 %) cases of weak contractions, while the corresponding numbers in the study group were 2 (2 %), 0 (0 %) and 1 (1 %), respectively. Conclusion: The use of intrathecal dexamethasone in women reduced maternal pain and likelihood of fever during labor, with no significant effect on the newborn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dents are one of the most common defects in oil and gas pipelines that can reduce the load-bearing capacity of pipelines. Compound dents have an even greater impact on the load-bearing capacity. This paper summarizes the latest evaluation methods at home and abroad for dented pipelines. The research status of dented pipeline bearing capacity under typical loads such as internal pressure, bending moment, and axial force is presented in terms of experimental data and finite element analysis. The research suggests that the evaluation of residual strength of dented pipeline needs to be combined with finite element simulation. Full-scale tests on dented high-grade steel pipelines with large diameters under complex loads are needed. Parametric analysis should be carried out to comprehensively analyze the influencing factors and laws of pipeline residual strength. A fitting formula for limit load under different working conditions needs to be determined, to lay a foundation for dented pipeline engineering evaluation and residual strength prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On June 8, 2020, a group of economists declared that the U.S. economy entered a recession as the Covid 19 struck the nation, thereby ending the longest economic expansion on record. They concluded that employment, income, and spending peaked in February 2020 and then fell sharply afterward as the coronavirus shut down businesses across the country, marking the start of the downturn after nearly 11 full years of economic growth. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has become the official arbiter of recessions. It broadly defines a recession as “a decline in economic activity that lasts more than a few months.” For that reason, the NBER typically waits longer before making a determination that the economy is in a downturn. In the Covid 19 recession, the NBER did not declare that the economy was in recession until July 19, 2021, a year after it had actually begun. The major objective of this article is designed to discuss four unusual features of the latest recession: 1) the major cause of the recession, 2) the K-shape recovery, and 3) the government rescue effort, and 4) inflation spike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemic stroke is an acute cerebrovascular disease and the third most common cause of death aȻter ischemic heart disease. Increasing attention is being paid to finding effective treatments through traditional medicine. Thus, studying the traditional medicine for the treatment of ischemic stroke is of great importance. Traditional medicine in China includes traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and other ethnic medicines, which is rich in variety and resources. This review first introduces the treatment mechanisms associated with ischemic stroke, such as antioxidant nitrification, antiexcito-toxic, antiapoptotic, anti-inflammatory, antiplatelet and anticoagulation mechanisms. Then, we calculated the frequency of prescription use for ischemic stroke and summarized the treatments for ischemic stroke by investigating 13 drug monographs and standards. We found 192 prescriptions from the traditional medical system for ischemic stroke, including Angong Niuhuang pill, Qishiwei Zhenzhu Pills, Ginkgo biloba leaf, and other traditional Chinese patent medicines and national medicines. There were 398 kinds of traditional medicine, including 301 kinds of plant-based medicines, 54 kinds of animal-based medicines, 28 kinds of mineral based medicines, and 15 kinds of other medicines. We introduced the names, families, medicinal components, traditional uses, phytochemical information, and pharmacological activities of the commonly used Chinese patent medicines and TCMs. In addition, some chemicals were introduced. These medicines may be potential candidates for the treatment of ischemic stroke. This work provides a reference for the research and clinical use of new drugs for ischemic stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyanosporus is a genus widely distributed in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania. It grows on different angiosperm and gymnosperm trees and can cause brown rot of wood. Blue-tinted basidiomata of Cyanosporus makes it easy to distinguish from other genera, but the similar morphological characters make it difficult to identify species within the genus. Phylogeny and taxonomy of Cyanosporus were carried out based on worldwide samples with an emphasis on Chinese collections, and the species diversity of the genus is updated. Four new species, C. flavus, C. rigidus, C. subungulatus and C. tenuicontextus, are described based on the evidence of morphological characters, distribution areas, host trees and molecular phylogenetic analyses inferred from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, the large subunit of nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nLSU), the small subunit of nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nSSU), the small subunit of mitochondrial rRNA gene (mtSSU), the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB1), the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB2), and the translation elongation factor 1-α gene (TEF). Our study expanded the number of Cyanosporus species to 35 around the world including 23 species from China. Detailed descriptions of the four new species and the geographical locations of the Cyanosporus species in China are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lappula sinaica was recently transferred to the monotypic genus Pseudolappula based on phylogenetic studies, while the related species, L. occultata, has remained in the genus Lappula. In this study, morphological, molecular, and palynological evidence supports that L. occultata should be transferred to the genus Pseudolappula. Both L. occultata and P. sinaica share a combination of nutlets features that distinguish them from Lappula: a longer adaxial keel and a linear attachment scar. Phylogenetic analysis based on ITS and trnL-F strongly supports L. occultata as the sister taxon of P. sinaica. In addition, pollen grains of these two species are 3-syncolporate with 3 alternating pseudocolpi, which is significantly different from the grains of Lappula taxa. Based on the above evidence, the new combination Pseudolappula occultata is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy levels, radiative rates, lifetimes, hyperfine structures and Landé gJ -factors for electric-dipole (E1), electric-quadrupole (E2), magnetic-dipole (M1), and magnetic-quadrupole (M2) transitions among the lowest 41 levels belonging to the n = 3 states (1s²2s²2p6)3s²3p³, 3s³p4, and 3s²3p²3d in Rb(XXIII) are calculated through the multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock method. High-accuracy calculations have been performed as benchmarks in the request for accurate treatments of relativity, electron correlation, and quantum electrodynamic effects in multi-valence-electron systems. The calculated energy levels are in excellent agreement with the experimental results and the theoretical ones, wherever available. The calculated values including core-valence correction are found to be in good agreement with other theoretical and experimental values. The present results are reported as benchmarks for future calculations and measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of different mulching treatments, and to serve as a theoretical foundation for mulching practices in pitaya orchards of Hainan, China. In this study, the physicochemical properties, enzyme activity and also the structure and abundance of the soil microbial community were examined after a year's treatment. The results show that black fabric mulch and nature grass mulch significantly improved the soil water content, whereas its pH value was significantly reduced by purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) mulch and black fabric mulch as compared to the control. Nature grass mulch increased soil organic carbon to a greater extent than control, coconut chaff mulch and also nature grass mulch significantly increased the content of alkaline hydrolysis nitrogen, nature grass mulch and black fabric mulch increased the content of available potassium more significantly than purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) mulch and control. Treatments of nature grass mulch and purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) mulch increased the activities of soil enzymes in the soil. The abundance of bacteria was highest in nature grass mulch and purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) mulch, and the four mulch treatments helped to increase the richness of soil fungi more than control. The results show that all these types of mulch improved the characteristics of the soil compared with control, and nature grass mulch provided the best edaphic environment for pitaya orchards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single phase polycrystalline BiFeO3 thin films were grown on three different substrates via chemical solution deposition. Our results indicate that the band gap of as-prepared BiFeO3 films can be tuned (2.02-2.67eV) by the grain size effects caused by the substrates. These BiFeO3 films show good photocatalytic properties by the degradation of Congo red solution under visible-light irradiation (k>400 nm). Additionally, weak ferromagnetic behaviors can be observed at room temperature in all the films, which should be correlated to the destruction of the incommensurate cycloid spin structure of BiFeO3 phase and the coexistence of Fe3+ and Fe2+ as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remains the deadliest pathogenic bacteria worldwide. The search for new antibiotics to treat drug-sensitive as well as drug-resistant tuberculosis has become a priority. The essential enzyme phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase (PheRS) is an antibacterial drug target because of the large differences between bacterial and human PheRS counterparts. In a high-throughput screening of 2148 bioactive compounds, PF-3845, which is a known inhibitor of human fatty acid amide hydrolase, was identified inhibiting Mtb PheRS at Ki ~ 0.73 ± 0.06 µM. The inhibition mechanism was studied with enzyme kinetics, protein structural modeling, and crystallography, in comparison to a PheRS inhibitor of the noted phenyl-thiazolylurea-sulfonamide class. The 2.3-Å crystal structure of Mtb PheRS in complex with PF-3845 revealed its novel binding mode, in which a trifluoromethyl-pyridinylphenyl group occupies the phenylalanine pocket, whereas a piperidine-piperazine urea group binds into the ATP pocket through an interaction network enforced by a sulfate ion. It represents the first non-nucleoside bisubstrate competitive inhibitor of bacterial PheRS. PF-3845 inhibits the in vitro growth of Mtb H37Rv at ~24 µM, and the potency of PF-3845 increased against an engineered strain Mtb pheS-FDAS, suggesting on target activity in mycobacterial whole cells. PF-3845 does not inhibit human cytoplasmic or mitochondrial PheRS in biochemical assay, which can be explained from the crystal structures. Further medicinal chemistry efforts focused on the piperidine-piperazine urea moiety may result in the identification of a selective antibacterial lead compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To investigate the relationship between mean platelet volume (MPV) level and carotid atherosclerosis and prognosis in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods. A retrospectively included 160 patients with acute cerebral infarction classified by TOAST classification as aortic atherosclerosis as the observation group. To analyze the relationship between MPV and carotid atherosclerosis, and use receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to analyze the role of MPV in predicting the prognosis of acute cerebral infarction in the observation group, grouping patients with different MPV by cut-off value, and analyze the differences in factors between the two groups of patients.Results. MPV has a positive correlation with carotid atherosclerosis in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that increased MPV was an independent predictor of poor functional outcome in patients with acute cerebral infarction (Odds Ratio (OR): 6.152, 95% CI: 2.385-13.625, P < 0:01). ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve for MPV to predict poor prognosis was 0.868 (95% CI: 0.787-949, P < 0:01). The cutoff value, sensitivity, and specificity were 12.65, 76.2%, and 87.6%. Compared with patients with MPV < 12:65 at admission, patients with higher MPV levels (MPV ≥ 12:65) at admission have larger infarct size, more severe carotid artery stenosis, poor short-term prognosis, and higher mortality. Conclusion. MPV level is closely related to the degree of carotid atherosclerosis in patients with acute cerebral infarction, and it is also an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with acute cerebral infarction at 3 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3-Phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1) plays a critical role in the development of mammalian brain. Here, we investigated the role of PDK1 in Purkinje cells (PCs) by generating the PDK1-conditional knock-out mice (cKO) through crossing PV-cre or Pcp2-cre mice with Pdk1fl/fl mice. The male mice were used in the behavioral testing, and the other experiments were performed on mice of both sexes. These PDK1-cKO mice displayed decreased cerebellar size and impaired motor balance and coordination. By the electrophysiological recording, we observed the reduced spontaneous firing of PCs from the cerebellar slices of the PDK1-cKO mice. Moreover, the cell body size of PCs in the PDK1-cKO mice was time dependently reduced compared with that in the control mice. And the morphologic complexity of PCs was also decreased after PDK1 deletion. These effects may have contributed to the reduction of the rpS6 (reduced ribosomal protein S6) phosphorylation and the PKCγ expression in PDK1-cKO mice since the upregulation of pS6 by treatment of 3-benzyl-5-((2-nitrophenoxy) methyl)-dihydrofuran-2(3H)-1, the agonist of mTOR1, partly rescued the reduction in the cell body size of the PCs, and the delivery of recombinant adeno-associated virus-PKCγ through cerebellar injection rescued the reduced complexity of the dendritic arbor in PDK1-cKO mice. Together, our data suggest that PDK1, by regulating rpS6 phosphorylation and PKCγ expression, controls the cell body maintenance and the dendritic development in PCs and is critical for cerebellar motor coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of Rapamycin on the proliferation and apoptosis of retinoblastoma cells through the phosphatidylinositol 3-hydroxy kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway were studied. The retinoblastoma Y79 cells were selected and divided into negative control group (NC group), 0.2 μM Rapamycin group and 0.4 μM Rapamycin group. Then the proliferative activity of Y79 cells was detected using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay, the content of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in cells in each group was detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the apoptosis of Y79 cells was detected via terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Moreover, the changes in Y79 cell cycle and apoptosis were determined through flow cytometry, and apoptosis and PI3K/ AKT pathway were detected using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting. It was found that the number of cells and the proliferative activity were significantly reduced in 0.2 μM Rapamycin group and 0.4 μM Rapamycin group. In 0.2 μM Rapamycin group and 0.4 μM Rapamycin group, the content of ROS and MDA was significantly decreased, while that of SOD was notably increased. TUNEL assay and flow cytometry showed that in 0.2 μM Rapamycin group and 0.4 μM Rapamycin group, the number of apoptotic cells was obviously increased, and the cell cycle was basically arrested in S phase. The expression levels of Bcl-2, PI3K and AKT declined in 0.2 μM Rapamycin group and 0.4 μM Rapamycin group, whereas the expression of Caspase 8 increased. Similar results were also obtained in the protein assay. The above results were significantly superior in 0.4 μM Rapamycin group to those in 0.2 μM Rapamycin group. Rapamycin inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of retinoblastoma cells through inhibiting the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic impact of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)--microRNA (miRNA, miR)-BHRF1-1 with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) as well as role of EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 in p53 gene. Materials and Methods Quantitative reverse transcription--polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were used to quantify EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 and p53 expression in cultured CLL. Results p53 aberration was associated with the higher expression level of EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 (p < 0.001) which was also an independent prognostic marker for overall survival (p=0.028; hazard ratio, 5.335; 95% confidence interval, 1.193 to 23.846) in 97 newly-diagnosed CLL patients after adjusted with International Prognostic Index for patients with CLL. We identified EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 as a viral miRNA regulator of p53. EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 repressed luciferase reporter activity by specific interaction with the seed region within the p53 3'- untranslated region. Discordance of p53 messenger RNA and protein expression was associated with high EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 levels in CLL patients and cell lines. EBV-miR-BHRF1- 1 inhibition upregulated p53 protein expression, induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and decreased cell proliferation in cell lines. EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 mimics downregulated p53 protein expression, decreased cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and induced cell proliferation in cell lines. Conclusion This study supported the role of EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 in p53 regulation in vitro. Our results support the potential of EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 as a therapeutic target in EBV-associated CLL with p53 gene aberration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson disease autosomal recessive, early onset 7 (PARK7 or DJ-1) is involved in multiple physiological processes and exerts anti-apoptotic effects on multiple cell types. Increased intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) apoptosis and excessive activation of the p53 signaling pathway is a hallmark of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). However, whether DJ-1 plays a role in colitis is unclear. To determine whether DJ-1 deficiency is involved in the p53 activation that results in IEC apoptosis in colitis, here we performed immunostaining, real-time PCR, and immunoblotting analyses to assess DJ-1 expression in human UC and CD samples. In the inflamed intestines of individuals with IBD, DJ-1 expression was decreased and negatively correlated with p53 expression. DJ-1 deficiency significantly aggravated colitis, evidenced by increased intestinal inflammation and exacerbated IEC apoptosis. Moreover, DJ-1 directly interacted with p53, and reduced DJ-1 levels increased p53 levels both in vivo and in vitro and were associated with decreased p53 degradation via the lysosomal pathway. We also induced experimental colitis with dextran sulfate sodium in mice and found that compared with DJ-1-/- mice, DJ-1-/-p53-/- mice have reduced apoptosis and inflammation and increased epithelial barrier integrity. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of p53 relieved inflammation in the DJ-1-/- mice. In conclusion, reduced DJ-1 expression promotes inflammation and IEC apoptosis via p53 in colitis, suggesting that the modulation of DJ-1 expression may be a potential therapeutic strategy for managing colitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onosma fuyunensis, a new species of Boraginaceae from northern Xinjiang, China, is described and illustrated here. Onosma fuyunensis is similar to O. simplicissima and O. gmelinii; it differs in having a particularly bristly indumentum, unbranched stems, white and yellow corollas, anthers united only at base, and nutlets with a stipitate cicatrix. An updated key to the species of Onosma from Xinjiang and Altai Mountains is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordinated redistribution of sugars from mature "source" leaves to developing "sink" leaves requires tight regulation of sugar transport between cells via plasmodesmata (PD). Although fundamental to plant physiology, the mechanisms that control PD transport and thereby support development of new leaves have remained elusive. From a forward genetic screen for altered PD transport, we discovered that the conserved eukaryotic glucose- TOR (TARGET OF RAPAMYCIN) metabolic signaling network restricts PD transport in leaves. Genetic approaches and chemical or physiological treatments to either promote or disrupt TOR activity demonstrate that glucose-activated TOR decreases PD transport in leaves. We further found that TOR is significantly more active in mature leaves photosynthesizing excess sugars than in young, growing leaves, and that this increase in TOR activity correlates with decreased rates of PD transport. We conclude that leaf cells regulate PD trafficking in response to changing carbohydrate availability monitored by the TOR pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary reason for detecting emerging topics is to reduce researchers' time in finding current related topic while maintaining awareness of current trends in a particular field. Nowadays, the amount of information is growing rapidly, but tracking the development of a research field by manually reading the literature is challenging. This study takes Library and Information Science (LIS) as a case study to present a new method for detecting emerging topics. This novel method could be applied to analyse various types of documents and detect emerging topics automatically. This method utilizes a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model to generate topics and calculate probabilities. It discovers emerging topics by detecting probability burst in consecutive time spans. Association rule mining and lexical similarity computation are adopted to represent the topics. This work tests the method by comparing the results of emerging topics from the LIS data in the baseline paper. The validation demonstrates that the proposed approach is feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is a negative-stranded RNA virus that infects hundreds of plant species, causing great economic loss. Infected Arabidopsis thaliana plants develop symptoms including chlorosis and wilt, which can lead to cell death. From 9 to 15 days after TSWV infection, symptoms progress through a three-stage process of appearance, severity, and death. In this study, deep sequencing technology was first used to explore gene expression in response to TSWV infection in model plant A. thaliana at different symptom development stages. We found that plant immune defense and protein degradation are induced by TSWV infection and that both inductions became stronger over time. The photosynthesis pathway was attenuated with TSWV infection. Cell wall metabolism had a large extent of downregulation while some genes were upregulated. These results illustrate the dynamic nature of TSWV infection in A. thaliana at the whole-transcriptome level. The link between biological processes and subpathway metabolism was further analyzed. Our study provides new insight into host regulatory networks and dynamic processes in response to TSWV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adjoint-based optimization is applied to study the thrust performance of a pitching-rolling ellipsoidal plate in a uniform stream at Reynolds number 100. To achieve the highest thrust, the optimal kinematics of pitching-rolling motion is sought in a control space including the pitching amplitude, the rolling amplitude, and the phase delay between the pitching and rolling motions. A continuous adjoint approach with boundary motion being handled by noncylindrical calculus is developed as a computationally efficient optimization algorithm to deal with large control space with a morphing domain. The comparison between the optimal motion and other reference motions shows a significant improvement of thrust from the increase of the rolling amplitude and an optimal phase delay of 122.6 deg between the pitching and rolling motions. The combination of these two factors impacts the overall thrust performance through their strong effects on the angle of attack, the leading-edge vortex circulation, and the pressure distribution on the plate. Further wake structure analysis suggests that the optimal motion improves its propulsive performance by generating a stronger leading-edge vortex and straightening the wake deflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfacial layer (IL) suppression is a big concern in atomic layer deposition (ALD) of high-k gate dielectrics. We have studied two kinds of surface pretreatments for ALD Al2O3 deposition: surface Al(CH3)3 (TMA) pretreatment (ST) and surface nitridation (SN). High resolution transmission electron microscopy images show that the IL has been effectively suppressed after performing surface pretreatments. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicate that both surface pretreatments are beneficial for compact Al2O3 deposition, however, the sample with SN shows much better interface thermal stability. And electrical characterizations demonstrate that the capacitor with SN exhibits better interface property, lower leakage current, and smaller capacitance-voltage (C-V) hysteresis. Based on transient capacitance measurement (C-t) and C-V measurement with different gate bias sweep ranges, a “shallow level trap” model is proposed to explain well the difference of C-V hysteresis between ST and SN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seagrass meadows (Zostera marina) are important coastal ecosystems with high levels of productivity and biodiversity. They often have high biomass turnover and are susceptible to dislodgment, leading to export of biomass from seagrass beds. In September 2016, two cruises covering a total area of 52 km x 15 km (38°57'1.14"–39° 0'41.28" N, 118°45'23.22"–118°47'6.96" E) found floating Z. marina aggregations along 13 km of the transect in the northernmost area of Bohai Bay, in the Bohai Sea, China. This floating seagrass was 6.3–13.4 km northeast (offshore) of the Caofeidian seagrass bed, which is a large (10 km2) seagrass bed discovered in 2015 in the Bohai Sea, China. The modal length of floating intact shoots (from meristem to longest leaf tip) matched samples from the Caofeidian seagrass bed. The dominant individuals lengths were 40–50 cm, with less than 5% of the total number of individuals found in larger size categories (80–90 and 90–100 cm). We concluded that they originated from the nearby Caofeidian seagrass meadows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxalis corymbosa is an important medicinal and edible perennial herb widely distributed throughout the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of O. corymbosa in different plant parts and seasons. We found that different parts of the plant could be sorted in the following order, shoots > leaves > stems in terms of total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) in four seasons. The highest TPC and TFC appear in shoots during winter, which were 76.63 ± 4.32 mg GAE/g and 71.22 ± 3.61 mg RE/g, respectively. Notably, 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl- hydrazine (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were also different among different parts in four seasons, specifically, in the order of shoots > leaves > stems. And the supreme antioxidant activities [(the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50)] of DPPH and FRAP were 0.07 ± 0.00 mg/mL and 0.08 ± 0.00 mg/mL in shoots, respectively. We found that a good antioxidant potential of neutralization OH radical was higher in shoots and stems, with IC50 of 2.89 mg/mL and 2.59 mg/mL on average, respectively. In addition, the highest protection factor using the Rancimat method was 1.43 ± 0.01 in leaves. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to report such finding in the extracts of Oxalidaceae. Moreover, a strong correlation between TPC, TFC and antioxidant activities was found, which indicated that phenolic compounds were the main components responsible for the antioxidant behavior of O. corymbosa. Consequently, we conclude that the shoots of O. corymbosa may have good oxidation resistance during winter due to its high TPC and TFC. This study demonstrates that O. corymbosa possessed potent antioxidant properties, and could be a valuable natural source of antioxidants used in both medicinal and food industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, an efficient nonlinear state-space reduced-order model (ROM) is introduced. The nonlinear state-space ROM consists of both linear terms and nonlinear terms, the former of which is obtained based on Volterra series theory and eigensystem realization algorithm method, whereas the latter is determined by an output error-minimization procedure. Two approaches are proposed to determine the training signal for identification of the nonlinear terms. Aeroelastic analysis of a weakened wall-mounted AGARD 445.6 wing is conducted and it is demonstrated that 1) the nonlinear state-space ROM can get more accurate unsteady aeroelastic response than traditional linear Volterra-based ROM with computational fluid dynamics coupling with computational structural dynamic as a reference method for comparison; 2) the nonlinear state-space ROM performs well in range of subsonic, transonic, and supersonic; and 3) the nonlinear state-space ROM can better characterize the nonlinear aeroelastic system than traditional linear Volterra-based ROM without the need of identifying second-order Volterra kernels, which thus can be easily applied to solve engineering problems for its concise form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropolonoids are important natural products that contain a unique sevenmembered aromatic tropolone core and exhibit remarkable biological activities. 3,7-Dihydroxytropolone (DHT) isolated from Streptomyces species is a multiply hydroxylated tropolone exhibiting antimicrobial, anticancer, and antiviral activities. In this study, we determined the DHT biosynthetic pathway by heterologous expression, gene deletion, and biotransformation. Nine trl genes and some of the aerobic phenylacetic acid degradation pathway genes (paa) located outside the trl biosynthetic gene cluster are required for the heterologous production of DHT. The trlA gene encodes a single-domain protein homologous to the C-terminal enoyl coenzyme A (enoyl-CoA) hydratase domain of PaaZ. TrlA truncates the phenylacetic acid catabolic pathway and redirects it toward the formation of heptacyclic intermediates. TrlB is a 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonic acid-7-phosphate (DAHP) synthase homolog. TrlH is an unusual bifunctional protein bearing an N-terminal prephenate dehydratase domain and a C-terminal chorismate mutase domain. TrlB and TrlH enhanced de novo biosynthesis of phenylpyruvate, thereby providing abundant precursor for the prolific production of DHT in Streptomyces spp. Six sevenmembered carbocyclic compounds were identified from the trlC, trlD, trlE, and trlF deletion mutants. Four of these chemicals, including 1,4,6-cycloheptatriene-1-carboxylic acid, tropone, tropolone, and 7-hydroxytropolone, were verified as key biosynthetic intermediates. TrlF is required for the conversion of 1,4,6-cycloheptatriene-1-carboxylic acid into tropone. The monooxygenases TrlE and TrlCD catalyze the regioselective hydroxylations of tropone to produce DHT. This study reveals a natural association of anabolism of chorismate and phenylpyruvate, catabolism of phenylacetic acid, and biosynthesis of tropolones in Streptomyces spp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Poor response to chemotherapy leads to the relapse and metastatic progression of tumors. Reprogrammed glucose metabolism is one of the important hallmarks of cancer that facilitates cancer cell survival, proliferation and chemoresistance. However, the precise fate of glucose metabolism and its role in therapy responsiveness in cancers remains largely unexplored. Methods: The glycolytic phenotype of doxorubicin (ADR)-resistant breast cancer cells and their parental cells was assessed by measuring glucose uptake, lactate release, and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR). Protein expression was detected by Western blotting analysis and mRNA expression was detected using q-PCR. Cell survival ratio was determined by the cell counting kit 8 assay. The role of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) in glycolysis, chemoresistance, and the underlying mechanisms were studied by using gene expression microarray and short hairpin RNA-mediated gene knockdown. Results: We found that glycolytic flux are increased in two doxorubicin (ADR)-resistant breast cancer cell lines compared with their parental wild type cells, as demonstrated by increased glucose uptake, lactate release, and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR). By gene expression microarray, we identified FGFR4 as a critical modulator of ADR resistance and enhanced glucose metabolism. Genetic silencing of FGFR4 increased the chemosensitivity and suppressed the enhanced glycolytic flux in ADR-resistant cells. Mechanistically, activation of FGFR4 signaling in ADRresistant cells led to the phosphorylation of FGF receptor substrate 2 (FRS2) and further activated the downstream MAPK/ERK signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of FGFR4-FRS2- ERK signaling pathway significantly blocked the chemoresistant and glycolytic phenotypes of ADR-resistant cells. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that high levels of FGFR4 can increase glucose metabolism and lead to chemoresistance in breast cancer and reveal the mechanistic basis for targeting FGFR4 as a therapeutic opportunity for chemoresistant tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the utility of flow cytometry, karyotype, and a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) panel in screening children for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Methods: Bone marrow morphology, flow cytometry, karyotype, and FISH reports from 595 bone marrow specimens (246 patients) were analyzed. Results: By morphology, 8.7% of cases demonstrated at least unilineage dysplasia and/or increased blasts. Flow cytometry identified definitive abnormalities in 2.8% of cases, all of which had abnormal morphology. Of the 42 cases (7.2%) with acquired karyotypic abnormalities, 26 had no morphologic dysplasia. With a 98.2% concordance between karyotype and MDS FISH, FISH only identified two additional cases, both with low-level (<4%) abnormalities. Peripheral blood count evaluation only identified the absence of thrombocytopenia to correlate with an absence of abnormal ancillary tests. Conclusions: The combination of morphologic evaluation and karyotype with judicious use of flow cytometry and MDS FISH is sufficient to detect abnormalities for these indications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated the use of reclaimed rubber (RR) from waste tires to partially replace the rubber compound (RC) when making wood fiber-rubber composites (WRCs). Ninety panels of WRC containing RR were manufactured with RR contents of 0% to 40%, mixing times of 6 min to 14 min, and vulcanizing temperatures of 150 °C to 170 °C. There were three steps, which were the fiber-rubber mixing, tabletting, and vulcanization molding processes. Four regression equations for the tensile strength, elongation at break, hardness, and rebound resilience as functions of the RR content, mixing time, and vulcanizing temperature were derived, and a nonlinear programming model was developed to obtain the optimum panel properties. It was found that when the RR content was within 20%, the wood fibers were well encapsulated and embedded in the RC/RR blends, and the processability of the WRCs were improved by adding RR. The incorporation of RR into the WRCs increased the average tensile strength and hardness by 33.9% and 2.3%, respectively, while the swelling ratio in toluene and 24-h water absorption were reduced by 13% and 42%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is essential for electric vehicle to equalise the voltages of battery or supercapacitor (SC) cells in series connection. Comparing with other equalisation methods based on energy transfer, Cockcroft-Walton (CW) voltage multiplier brings great benefits to the simplification of equalisation structure. Voltage equaliser formed by voltage multiplier can realise voltage balance automatically without voltage detection and control unit. However, the traditional (CW) voltage multiplier structure has two demerits. One is incapable of realising the voltage balancing for all the cells in series; the other one is the large inrush current of parallel capacitors that reduces the lifetime of the equaliser. To solve these problems, a modified voltage equalisation circuit is proposed. The new equaliser is constituted by a half-bridge frontend and a multiplier backend. The half-bridge generates the alternating voltage, and the multiplier accomplishes the voltage balancing. The operation principles, circuit analysis and parameters calculation are examined in detail. The performance is evaluated by simulation and experimental with three SCs in series. The accordance between simulation and experiment further proves that the voltage balancing is achieved for all the series cells and the inrush current of capacitors is declined at the turning on of power switches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new poroid wood-inhabiting fungal genus, Elaphroporia, typified by E. ailaoshanensis sp. nov., is proposed based on a combination of morphological features and molecular evidence. The genus is characterised by an annual growth habit, resupinate basidiocarps, becoming rigid and light-weight up on drying, a monomitic hyphal system with thick-walled generative hyphae bearing both clamp connections and simple septa, slightly amyloid, CB+ and ellipsoid, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth and IKI-, CB- basidiospores. Sequences of ITS and LSU nrRNA gene regions of the studied samples were generated, and phylogenetic analyses were performed with maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and bayesian inference methods. The phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data of ITS+nLSU sequences showed that Elaphroporia belonged to the residual polyporoid clade and was closely related to Junghuhnia crustacea. Further investigation was obtained for more representative taxa in the Meruliaceae based on ITS+nLSU sequences, in which the result demonstrated that the genus Elaphroporia formed a monophyletic lineage with a strong support (100% BS, 100% BP, 1.00 BPP) and then grouped with Flaviporus and Steccherinum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents design criteria for four-terminal phase-change (PC) RF switches as a function of their dimensions, (heater width, RF gap, and barrier thickness), materials, and connection topology. Reducing heater width is shown to reduce switch actuation power, with this reduction ultimately being limited by the maximum allowed heater current density, as set by projected reliability. Narrower RF gaps are shown to increase switch cut-off frequency FCO, because they decrease on-state resistance more than they increase off-state capacitance. The balance of this increased FCO versus the estimated reduction in power handling as the RF gap shrinks is quantified. Barrier layers of AlN thicker than 200 nm are shown to be sufficient to electrically decouple the switch from the heater trace. Coupling to heater pads can also be significant unless pad sizes are reduced as in a monolithically integrated switch. Finally, it is demonstrated that division of the switch into multiple parallel segments is a viable approach for lowering the heater actuation voltage for CMOS integration. A 12.5% increase in COFF (~1.5 fF) was observed and 35% increase in actuation power at temperature was needed in a two-segment parallel switch, as compared to a single segment switch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the predominant type of lung cancer, and accounts for ~85% of all lung cancer cases. An increasing number of studies suggest that microRNAs (miRs) may be involved in the regulation of NSCLC carcinogenesis and progression. However, the expression and function of miRNA-219 in NSCLC, and its underlying mechanisms of action, remain unknown. In the present study, miR-219 expression in NSCLC tissues and cell lines was determined using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Following transfection with miR-219 mimics, the effects of miR-219 overexpression on NSCLC cell proliferation, migration and invasion were examined. Furthermore, the miR-219 target in NSCLC was investigated. miR-219 was observed to be downregulated in NSCLC tissues and NSCLC cell lines. In addition, miR-219 was demonstrated to function as a tumor suppressor in NSCLC, through inhibiting cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. Furthermore, high mobility group AT-hook 2 (HMGA2) was identified to be a direct target of miR-219 in NSCLC, and downregulation of HMGA2 suppressed NSCLC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. HMGA2 expression was upregulated in NSCLC tissues, and was inversely correlated with miR-219 expression. In conclusion, miR-219 functions as a tumor suppressor and may be important in inhibiting the growth and metastasis of NSCLC cells via directly targeting HMGA2. Therefore, miR-219 may present a potential novel therapeutic target for NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Cellular Electron CryoTomography (CECT) enables 3D visualization of cellular organization at near-native state and in sub-molecular resolution, making it a powerful tool for analyzing structures of macromolecular complexes and their spatial organizations inside single cells. However, high degree of structural complexity together with practical imaging limitations makes the systematic de novo discovery of structures within cells challenging. It would likely require averaging and classifying millions of subtomograms potentially containing hundreds of highly heterogeneous structural classes. Although it is no longer difficult to acquire CECT data containing such amount of subtomograms due to advances in data acquisition automation, existing computational approaches have very limited scalability or discrimination ability, making them incapable of processing such amount of data. Results: To complement existing approaches, in this article we propose a new approach for subdividing subtomograms into smaller but relatively homogeneous subsets. The structures in these subsets can then be separately recovered using existing computation intensive methods. Our approach is based on supervised structural feature extraction using deep learning, in combination with unsupervised clustering and reference-free classification. Our experiments show that, compared with existing unsupervised rotation invariant feature and pose-normalization based approaches, our new approach achieves significant improvements in both discrimination ability and scalability. More importantly, our new approach is able to discover new structural classes and recover structures that do not exist in training data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines distributed patterns of neural activity with reference to two languages in the bilingual brain. It is said that many studies suggests that multiple languages are processed and organized in a single neuroanatomical system in the bilingual brain. However, two languages may involve interleaved but functionally independent neural populations.

The article discusses the records of Omura's whale (Balaenoptera omurai Wada, Oishi, and Yamada, 2003) in the Taiwan Strait in China. Topics include identification of two haplotypes of the cox1 gene in five specimens, the size of numbers of haplotypes and nucleotide substitutions in Omura's whale, and the genetic diversity of the whale.

Bone mass declines with age and its maintenance is tightly linked to osteoblasts (crucial bone-building cells). Although disruption of the peripheral circadian clock is involved in various pathologies including aging-related diseases, evidence regarding how the peripheral clock regulates bone mass remains elusive. In the present study, we aimed to elucidate the effects of Bmal1 (the key activator of the peripheral circadian clock system) knockdown by lentivirus-mediated shRNA on osteoblast differentiation and its related mechanisms. We found that the expression of osteogenic markers, alkaline phosphatase activity, and mineralization were decreased, whereas apoptosis and inflammatory response were increased in Bmal1 knockdown osteoblasts. In addition, Bmal1 knockdown promoted ERK and JNK phosphorylation, as well as mTOR activity, whereas mTOR inhibition by rapamycin abrogated Bmal1 knockdown-mediated effects on osteoblast differentiation and mineralization capacity. Remarkably, Bmal1 knockdown in osteoblasts inhibited GSK3β/β-catenin signaling with decreased β-catenin expression and GSK-3β phosphorylation at serine 9, while GSK3β inhibition with TDZD-8, but not WNT3a or SKL2001, rescued Bmal1 knockdown-induced defects in osteoblast differentiation. Moreover, rapamycin partly nullified the suppression of Bmal1 knockdown on β-catenin expression and GSK-3β phosphorylation. Collectively, overall data indicated that circadian gene Bmal1 regulated osteoblast differentiation and inflammatory response in an mTOR/GSK3β/β-catenin-dependent manner, and thereby may contribute to the mineralization process and bone modeling/remodeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]