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The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary l-glutamine (Gln) supplementation on the morphology and function of the intestine and the growth of muscle in piglets. In this study, sixteen 21-day-old piglets were randomly divided into two groups: the Control group (fed a basal diet) and the Gln group (fed a basal diet supplemented with 0.81% Gln). Blood, gut, and muscle samples were collected from all piglets on Day 20 of the trial. Compared with the Control group, the supplementation of Gln increased (p < 0.05) the villus height, villus width, villus surface area, and villus height/crypt depth ratio of the small intestine. Furthermore, the supplementation of Gln increased (p < 0.05) total protein, total protein/DNA, and RNA/DNA in both the jejunum and ileum. It also increased (p < 0.05) the concentrations of carnosine and citrulline in the jejunal mucosa, as well as citrulline and cysteine concentrations in the ileum. Conversely, Gln supplementation decreased (p < 0.05) Gln concentrations in both the jejunum and ileum, along with β-aminoisobutyric acid and 1-Methylhistidine concentrations, specifically in the ileum. Subsequent research revealed that Gln supplementation increased (p < 0.05) the mRNA levels for glutathione-S-transferase omega 2 and interferon-β in the duodenum. In addition, Gln supplementation led to an increase (p < 0.05) in the number of Lactobacillus genus in the colon, but a decrease (p < 0.05) in the level of HSP70 in the jejunum and the activity of diamine oxidase in plasma. Also, Gln supplementation reduced (p < 0.05) the mRNA levels of glutathione-S-transferase omega 2 and interferon stimulated genes, such as MX1, OAS1, IFIT1, IFIT2, IFIT3, and IFIT5 in both the jejunum and ileum, and the numbers of Clostridium coccoides, Enterococcus genus, and Enterobacterium family in the colon. Moreover, Gln supplementation enhanced (p < 0.05) the concentrations of total protein, RNA/DNA, and total protein/DNA ratio in the longissimus dorsi muscle, the concentrations of citrulline, ornithine, arginine, and hydroxyproline, and the mRNA level of peptide transporter 1, while reducing the contents of hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde and the mRNA level of glutathione-S-transferase omega 2 in the longissimus dorsi muscle. In conclusion, dietary Gln supplementation can improve the intestinal function of piglets and promote the growth of the longissimus dorsi muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has the most minimal proportion of intermediate service inputs among the input-output datasets encompassing 43 countries and regions within the WIOD database. This study employs a non-parametric estimation methodology to compute the appropriate input levels for two distinct categories of intermediate goods. Furthermore, it evaluates the decline in total factor productivity resulting from distortions in intermediate input. The research findings are as follows: 1) China's producer services exhibit an output elasticity approximately twice that of industrial intermediate goods. However, the input for producer services is only about half of that for the latter. This points to a notable deviation of China's input for producer services from the optimal level. 2) Upon achieving an optimal level of input allocation for intermediates, the entire industry could experience an 11.48% boost in total factor productivity. In particular, the manufacturing sector could witness an impressive surge of 33.91%. 3) A positive correlation is discerned between intermediate input distortions and the import of intermediate products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducted two experiments to investigate the extraction of semantic preview information from the parafovea in Tibetan reading. In Experiment 1, a single-factor (preview type: identical vs. semantically related vs. unrelated) within-subject experimental design was used to investigate whether there is a parafoveal semantic preview effect (SPE) in Tibetan reading. Experiment 2 used a 2 (contextual constraint: high vs. low) × 3 (preview type: identical vs. semantically related vs. unrelated) within-subject experimental design to investigate the influence of contextual constraint on the parafoveal semantic preview effect in Tibetan reading. Supporting the E-Z reader model, the experimental results showed that in Tibetan reading, readers could not obtain semantic preview information from the parafovea, and contextual constraint did not influence this process. However, comparing high- and low-constrained contexts, the latter might be more conducive to extracting semantic preview information from the parafovea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(Na0.5Bi0.5)0.93Ba0.07Ti1 − x(Mn1/3Nb2/3)xO3 ceramics (x = 0–0.02) were prepared, and their structure and property were investigated systematically. (Mn1/3Nb2/3)4+ doping shifts ferroelectric–relaxor transition temperature (TF–R) toward low temperature. Thus, ferroelectric order is suppressed and relaxor behavior is enhanced monotonously, as further evidenced by composition-dependent electrical properties and domain evolution from labyrinthian to nanodomain. As a result, the x = 0.010 ceramic yields a large room temperature field-induced strain of 0.37%, especially the strain is temperature- and frequency-insensitive with a variety of 4.3% and 4.1% in the ranges of 25–125 °C and 0.5–10 Hz, respectively. This work suggests that the low content (Mn1/3Nb2/3)4+ complex cation doping is an alternative method to effectively tune the electrical properties of Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-based ferroelectrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allylamines are important building blocks in the synthesis of bioactive compounds. The direct coupling of allylic C−H bonds and commonly available amines is a major synthetic challenge. An allylic C−H amination of 1,4‐dienes has been accomplished by palladium catalysis. With aromatic amines, branch‐selective allylic aminations are favored to generate thermodynamically unstable Z‐allylamines. In addition, more basic aliphatic cyclic amines can also engage in the reaction, but linear dienyl allylic amines are the major products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allylamines are important building blocks in the synthesis of bioactive compounds. The direct coupling of allylic C−H bonds and commonly available amines is a major synthetic challenge. An allylic C−H amination of 1,4‐dienes has been accomplished by palladium catalysis. With aromatic amines, branch‐selective allylic aminations are favored to generate thermodynamically unstable Z‐allylamines. In addition, more basic aliphatic cyclic amines can also engage in the reaction, but linear dienyl allylic amines are the major products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Belgrade rats have a defect in divalent metal transport 1 (DMT1) with a reduced heart iron, indicating that DMT1 plays a physiological role in non‐transferrin‐bound iron (NTBI) uptake by cardiomyocytes. However, L‐type voltage‐dependent Ca2+ channel (LVDCC) blockers were recently demonstrated to significantly reduce NTBI uptake by cardiomyocytes, implying that LVDCC plays a dominant role in NTBI uptake by cardiomyocytes under iron‐overloaded conditions. These findings led us to hypothesize that the LVDCC blocker‐induced reduction in NTBI uptake might result not only from the inhibition of LVDCC‐mediated NTBI uptake but also from the suppression of DMT1‐mediated NTBI uptake. We therefore investigated the effects of the LVDCC blocker verapamil on NTBI uptake as well as DMT1 expression in H9C2 cells by the measurement of radio‐labeled 55Fe(II), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and western blot analysis. We demonstrated that verapamil induced a significant reduction in NTBI uptake by H9C2 cells but also unexpectedly a remarkable increase rather than decrease in the expression of DMT1 mRNA and protein in H9C2 cells. Our findings imply that the verapamil‐induced reduction in NTBI uptake by H9C2 cells is not associated with DMT1 and also indicate that verapamil stimulates rather than inhibits DMT1 expression and DMT1‐mediated iron uptake by heart cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edge-Integrated Internet-of-Vehicles (IoV) sinks service to edge nodes, which responses quickly to vehicles' requests and alleviates the burden of cloud servers. In such scenario, the entities of IoV need to be mutually authenticated since potential attacks can impersonate edge nodes to send false instructions to vehicles, or impersonate legitimate service subscribers to get free-ride IoV services. Furthermore, due to the high mobility characteristics of vehicles, frequent authentication is required between vehicles and edge nodes. We hope that the authentication process can be conducted efficiently to ensure the continuous service. Existing works cannot balance the security and efficiency well. This is still an issue worthy of discussion. In this article, we propose SEA, a secure and efficient blockchain-assisted authentication scheme for IoV. SEA achieves mutual authentication among vehicles, edge nodes and cloud servers. Specifically, the cloud server is only involved when vehicles are initially authenticated. And edge nodes realize the authentication of vehicles by querying the authentication result recorded by cloud on the blockchain, which significantly reduces the cryptographic computation overhead and eliminates network communication delay. Besides, session keys between any two entities involved are negotiated, which can secure sensitive data of vehicles. Extensive experiments have been conducted to show the security and efficiency of SEA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages contributes greatly to IgA nephropathy (IgAN) progression. This study intended to investigate the underlying mechanism of NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation in the development of IgAN. We examined the expression levels of colorectal neoplasia differentially expressed (CRNDE), NLRP3 inflammasome-related proteins in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and J774A.1 cells and detected inflammatory cytokine levels in the serum of IgAN patients and cell supernatants of in vitro IgAN model. RNA pull-down and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) experiments were conducted to evaluate the interaction between CRNDE and NLRP3. Then, the ubiquitin level of NLRP3 and its binding ability to TRIM family member 31 (TRIM31) were determined. Compared with the control group, the expressions of CRNDE and NLRP3 inflammasome-related proteins in PBMCs and J774A.1 cells and levels of IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-12 in serum of IgAN patients and cell supernatants of IgA-IC-induced J774A.1 cells were all increased. CRNDE silencing down-regulated NLRP3 inflammasome-related proteins and the levels of IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-12 in cell supernatants, while NLRP3 overexpression reversed these effects. Additionally, CRNDE could interact with NLRP3 and promote NLRP3 expression. Furthermore, inhibition of CRNDE reduced NLRP3 protein level and promoted TRIM31-mediated NLRP3 ubiquitination and degradation. CRNDE exacerbates IgA nephropathy progression through restraining ubiquitination and degradation of NLRP3 and facilitating NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensing is one of the important applications of the whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microresonator. Here we consider a model consisting of two WGM microresonators and one fiber waveguide. We show that the system can be near an exceptional point when the two tapers in the fiber waveguide are coupled to the two microresonators in a way that can lead to an unidirectional coupling. We propose a method to measure the weak coupling strength between the two microresonators. Compared to the conventional method, our method operates near an exceptional point and has the ability to measure smaller coupling strength. • An optical model that can achieve exceptional point. • A method to measure the coupling strength between two microresonators. • The measurable coupling strength can be relatively small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of oat lipids on the structural, thermal, rheological, and in vitro digestibility properties of oat starch under heat processing conditions was investigated. X-ray diffraction, fourier infrared spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry revealed the formation of a V-shaped crystal structure between starch and lipid, resulting in enhanced orderliness and enthalpy. Oat lipids decreased the final viscosity and gel strength of oat starch while weakening the trend towards gel network formation. Additionally, oat lipids exhibited enhanced resistance to starch hydrolase, leading to elevated contents of slowly digestible starch and resistant starch. Consequently, this leads to an augmentation in the rate constants for the rapid digestion fraction (k 1) and the slow digestion fraction (k 2). When the lipid content reached 7.50 %, a significant increase of 42.20 % was observed in the maximum digestibility of slow digestion fraction (C ∞2), while a notable decrease of 44.06 % was noted in the maximum digestibility of rapid digestion fraction (C ∞1). The correlation analysis revealed that lipid content, final viscosity, and enthalpy exerted significant influences on in vitro starch digestion. These results demonstrate the substantial impact of lipid content on oat starch structure, subsequently affecting its thermal, rheological, and digestive properties. • Oat starch-lipid complex exhibited a distinctive V-shaped structure. • These exerted an influence on the starch digestibility. • These resulted in a reduction in the gel strength of starch. • These resulted in an enhanced structural order of starch. • These increased the resistant starch content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) increases the risk of worse long-term outcomes in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM). However, the additive effects of T2DM on left ventricular (LV) function in NIDCM remain unclear. Accordingly, we aimed to investigate the impact of comorbid T2DM on LV deformation in NIDCM individuals. Materials and methods: Three hundred forty-two NIDCM patients without T2DM [NIDCM (T2DM−)], 93 with T2DM [NIDCM (T2DM+)] and 80 age- and sex-matched normal controls who underwent cardiac magnetic resonance scanning were included. LV geometry, function, and LV global strains, including peak strain (PS), peak systolic strain rate (PSSR) and peak diastolic strain rate (PDSR) in the radial, circumferential and longitudinal directions, were measured. NIDCM (T2DM+) patients were divided into two subgroups based on the HbA1c level (< 7.0% and ≥ 7.0%). The determinants of reduced LV myocardial strain for all NIDCM individuals and NIDCM (T2DM+) patients were assessed using multivariable linear regression analyses. Results: Compared with normal controls, both NIDCM (T2DM −) and NIDCM (T2DM+) patients exhibited increased LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volume index and decreased LV ejection fraction. LV global strains progressively declined from the normal controls to the NIDCM (T2DM−) group to the NIDCM (T2DM+) group (all p < 0.017), except for radial PDSR and PSSR. Subgroup analysis showed that LV global radial PS and longitudinal PS, PSSR-L and PDSR-L were worse in NIDCM patients with poor glycemic control than in those with good glycemic control (p < 0.017). T2DM was an independent determinant of reduced LV global circumferential PS and longitudinal PS in patients with NIDCM (both p < 0.05). An increased HbA1c level was independently associated with a decreased global radial PS (β = − 0.285, p < 0.01) and longitudinal PS (β = 0.320, p < 0.01) in NIDCM (T2DM+) patients. Conclusions: T2DM has an additive deleterious effect on LV systolic and diastolic function in NIDCM patients. Among NIDCM patients with T2DM, HbA1c was found to be associated with reduced LV myocardial strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) remains the major cause of early mortality after haploidentical related donor (HID) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We aimed to establish a comprehensive model which could predict severe aGVHD after HID HSCT. Methods: Consecutive 470 acute leukemia patients receiving HID HSCT according to the protocol registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03756675) were enrolled, 70% of them (n = 335) were randomly selected as training cohort and the remains 30% (n = 135) were used as validation cohort. Results: The equation was as follows: Probability (grade III–IV aGVHD) = 1 1 + exp - Y , where Y = –0.0288 × (age) + 0.7965 × (gender) + 0.8371 × (CD3 + /CD14 + cells ratio in graft) + 0.5829 × (donor/recipient relation) − 0.0089 × (CD8 + cell counts in graft) − 2.9046. The threshold of probability was 0.057392 which helped separate patients into high- and low-risk groups. The 100-day cumulative incidence of grade III–IV aGVHD in the low- and high-risk groups was 4.1% (95% CI 1.9–6.3%) versus 12.8% (95% CI 7.4–18.2%) (P = 0.001), 3.2% (95% CI 1.2–5.1%) versus 10.6% (95% CI 4.7–16.5%) (P = 0.006), and 6.1% (95% CI 1.3–10.9%) versus 19.4% (95% CI 6.3–32.5%) (P = 0.017), respectively, in total, training, and validation cohort. The rates of grade III–IV skin and gut aGVHD in high-risk group were both significantly higher than those of low-risk group. This model could also predict grade II–IV and grade I–IV aGVHD. Conclusions: We established a model which could predict the development of severe aGVHD in HID HSCT recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging studies have shown that FAT atypical cadherin 1 (FAT1) and autophagy separately inhibits and promotes acute myeloid leukemia (AML) proliferation. However, it is unknown whether FAT1 were associated with autophagy in regulating AML proliferation. AML cell lines, 6-week-old male nude mice and AML patient samples were used in this study. qPCR/Western blot and cell viability/3H-TdR incorporation assays were separately used to detect mRNA/protein levels and cell activity/proliferation. Luciferase reporter assay was used to examine gene promoter activity. Co-IP analysis was used to detect the binding of proteins. In this study, we for the first time demonstrated that FAT1 inhibited AML proliferation by decreasing AML autophagy level. Moreover, FAT1 weakened AML autophagy level via decreasing autophagy related 4B (ATG4B) expression. Mechanistically, we found that FAT1 reduced the phosphorylated and intranuclear SMAD family member 2/3 (smad2/3) protein levels, thus decreasing the activity of ATG4B gene promoter. Furthermore, we found that FAT1 competitively bound to TGF-βR II which decreased the binding of TGF-βR II to TGF-βR I and the subsequent phosphorylation of TGF-βR I, thus reducing the phosphorylation and intranuclear smad2/3. The experiments in nude mice showed that knockdown of FAT1 promoted AML autophagy and proliferation in vivo. Collectively, these results revealed that FAT1 downregulates ATG4B expression via inhibiting TGFβ-smad2/3 signaling activity, thus decreasing the autophagy level and proliferation activity of AML cells. Our study suggested that the "FAT1-TGFβ-smad2/3-ATG4B-autophagy" pathway may be a novel target for developing new targeted drugs to AML treatment. • FAT1 inhibited AML proliferation by decreasing AML autophagy level. • FAT1 weakened AML autophagy level via decreasing ATG4B expression. • FAT1 reduces ATG4B transcription via inhibiting TGFβ-smad2/3 signaling. • FAT1 decreases the phosphorylation of TGF-βR I by competitively binding to TGF-βR II. • Knockdown of FAT1 promoted AML autophagy and proliferation in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyroelectric energy harvesting is considered a highly promising technology for converting low-grade waste heat into electricity, but the practical applications of pyroelectric generators is limited by the their poor energy densities and instability. In this work, we construct SiO 2 networks with low heat capacities in NBT-BZT ceramics. These networks improve the heat transfer (dT/dt) and broaden the pyroelectric temperature region of the composites by reducing heat absorption capacity, thereby leading to high pyroelectric energy density and stability. The temperature range of the NBT-BZT composite with 0.1 wt% SiO 2 for pyroelectric coefficient higher than 20 × 10−4 C m−2 K−1 is increased to 20 °C, This increase results in the high thermostability of energy harvesting. In addition, the NBT-BZT: 0.1 wt% SiO 2 composites show an optimized pyroelectric energy density of 110 u J cm-3, nearly three times that of the pure NBT-BZT ceramics. This work is beneficial for the application of high-performance pyroelectric materials for devices used in energy harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Co-solvent changed the Hansen solubility parameter (HSP) and enhanced lignin solvation. • Co-solvent systems efficiently inhibited the repolymerization of lignin fragments. • The liquid product yield increased from 12.3 % in an aqueous solution to 19.8 % in an H 2 O-THF (v/v: 1/1) system. Efficient low-boiling-point co-solvent systems were developed for the oxidative depolymerization of lignin to high-value platform chemicals, mainly vanillin and lactic acid, using molybdenum (Mo)-based solid oxide catalysts and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) oxidant. The co-solvent, designed with the matching Hansen solubility parameter (HSP) values to lignin, facilitated efficient solvation of lignin. Various factors, including co-solvents, catalyst supports, H 2 O 2 concentrations, and active metals, were detailly investigated. Optimal yields of total liquid products (EA oils: 19.8 %) were obtained in water-tetrahydrofuran (H 2 O-THF) co-solvent systems, increased by 61.0 % compared to that of the sole aqueous solution, employing a MoO 3 /Al 2 O 3 catalyst. Additionally, the oxidized lignin (O-lignin) or EA oils was analyzed using UV–vis, CHN, GPC, and FT-IR techniques. Results indicated that the co-solvent system remarkably inhibited the repolymerization of lignin fragments, and enhanced the oxidative cleavage of lignin side chains. Lastly, a hypothetical mechanism explained the reaction pathway of lignin depolymerization in co-solvent systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new 3D Mn-MOF was prepared with the ligand H 2 L (H 2 L = 5-(pyrazin-2-yl) isophthalic acid) by solvothermal method. Then the Mn-MOF was used as a precursor to synthesize CdS/Mn-MOF composites. The degradation efficiency of Rhodamine B (RhB) by CdS/Mn-MOF (theoretical mass ratio of CdS to Mn-MOF is 1:1) is 98.7% in 60 min, which is 19.7 times and 2.3 times that of Mn-MOF and CdS, respectively. The outstanding performance is owed to the loading of CdS, which significantly broadens the photoresponsive range of Mn-MOF and improves the utilization of visible light. Meanwhile, the heterojunction formed between Mn-MOF and CdS can effectively inhibit the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. Furthermore, the photocurrent intensity of CdS/Mn-MOF(50) is higher than that of Mn-MOF and CdS. The photocatalytic performance of CdS/Mn-MOF(50) also exhibits excellent stability and reusability. In addition, the enhanced mechanism of photocatalytic activity was investigated systematically. A new 3D Mn-MOF was prepared and then the Mn-MOF was used as a precursor to synthesize CdS/Mn-MOF composites. The degradation efficiency of 50% CdS/Mn-MOF composite is up to 98.7% in 60 min, which is 19.7 times and 2.3 times of that of Mn-MOF and CdS. [Display omitted] • A new 3D Mn-MOF was prepared to construct CdS/Mn-MOF composites. • CdS/Mn-MOF(50) can achieve 98.7% degradation efficiency of RhB in 60 min. • CdS/Mn-MOF(50) showed good reusability for photocatalytic degradation of RhB. • The heterojunction between Mn-MOF and CdS can effectively improve the separation of photogenerated carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of intriguing physical results of electronic reconstruction, the metal–insulator transition plays an important role in exploring new electronic devices. In this study, the density functional theory is employed to investigate the metal–insulator transition in (LaTiO3)m/(CaVO3)n superlattices. Herein, three kinds of physical avenues, i.e., stacking orientation, epitaxial strain, and thickness periods, are used to tune the metal–insulator transition. Our calculations find that the [001]- and [110]-oriented (LaTiO3)1/(CaVO3)1 superlattices on SrTiO3 substrate are insulating, while [111]-oriented case is metallic. Such metallic behavior in [111] orientation can also be modulated by epitaxial strain. Besides the structural orientation and strain effect, the highly probable metal–insulator transition is presented in (LaTiO3)m/(CaVO3)n superlattices with increasing thickness. In addition, several interesting physical phenomena have also been revealed, such as selective charge transfer, charge ordering, and orbital ordering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyautoimmunity implicates that some autoimmune diseases share common etiopathogenesis. Some studies have reported an association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and vitiligo; meanwhile, other studies have failed to confirm this association. We performed a systemic review and meta-analysis to examine the association of MS with vitiligo. We searched the MEDLINE and Embase databases on March 8, 2020 for relevant case–control, cross-sectional, and cohort studies. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the risk of bias of the included studies. Where applicable, we performed a meta-analysis to calculate the pooled odds ratio (OR) for case–control/cross-sectional studies and risk ratio for cohort studies with 95% confidence interval (CI). Our search identified 285 citations after removing duplicates. Six case–control studies with 12,930 study subjects met our inclusion criteria. Our meta-analysis found no significant association of MS with prevalent vitiligo (pooled OR 1.33; 95% CI 0.80‒2.22). Analysis of the pooled data failed to display any increase of prevalent vitiligo in MS patients compared with controls. Ethnic and genetic factors may play an important role for sporadically observed associations between MS and vitiligo. Future studies of this association should therefore consider stratification by ethnic or genetic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic classification is a technology for classifying and identifying sensitive information from cluttered traffic. With the increasing use of encryption and other evasion technologies, traditional content- based network traffic classification becomes impossible, and traffic classification is increasingly related to security and privacy. Many studies have been conducted to investigate traffic classification in various scenarios. A major challenge to existing schemes is extending traffic classification technology to a broader space. In other words, most traffic classification work is not universal and can only show great performance on specific datasets. In this article, we present a systematic approach to optimizing feature selection for encrypted traffic classification. We summarize the optional encrypted traffic features and analyze the approaches of feature selection in detail for different datasets. The experimental result demonstrates that our scheme is more accurate and universal than other state-of-the-art approaches. More precisely, our mechanism provides a guideline for future research in the field of traffic classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used ultrasound‐microwave comodification and enzyme modification (cellulase and hemicellulase) methods to extract soluble dietary fibers (SDFs) from black soybean hulls. Moreover, the structure, physical, and chemical properties, as well as the cholesterol‐binding capacity of SDFs before and after modification were analyzed. The average molecular weight of SDFs extracted from raw black soybean hulls was 2.815 × 105 Da. By comparison, the average molecular weight of SDFs from ultrasound‐microwave comodified hulls and enzyme‐modified hulls decreased by 33.21% and 45.29%, respectively. The water‐holding capacity (WHC), water‐swelling capacity (WSC), and oil‐holding capacity (OHC) of the extracted SDFs modified by the ultrasound‐microwave method were 3.79 g/g, 1.39 mL/g, and 1.14 g/g, respectively, a 9.54%, 23.01%, and 17.53% increase from the values of raw SDF. The WHC, WSC, and OHC of SDFs modified via the enzyme method were 3.59 g/g, 1.25 mL/g, and 1.03 g/g, respectively, with a 3.76%, 10.62%, and 6.19% increase when compared to raw SDFs. The cholesterol‐binding capacity of SDFs modified via the ultrasound‐microwave and enzyme methods was 13.82 and 12.34 mg/g, respectively, with an increase of 47.98% and 32.20% when compared to raw SDFs. The changes in structure and physical and chemical properties were shown to be closely related to the significantly improved cholesterol‐binding capacity of the SDFs from modified black soybean hulls. This provides a theoretical basis for subsequent research and development of black soybean hulls products. Practical Application: At present, the black soybean hull, a byproduct of general grains, is usually abandoned, but black soybean hull is rich in dietary fiber. Enzymatic modification and ultrasound‐microwave comodification were used to treat black soybean hull to prepare small molecular weight, highly active soluble dietary fiber. This research is of great significance to the deep processing of black soybean hull and improvement of the economic benefits of black soybean byproducts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the antidiabetic effects of soluble dietary fiber (SDF) from steam explosion-modified black soybean hull in low-dose streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced type 2 diabetic mouses. Male C57/BL6 mouses were divided into 4 groups: control (nondiabetic, no SDF intake), model (diabetes only), metformin (metformin: 100 mg/kg body weight), and SDF (SDF: 600 mg/kg body weight). Four weeks post-SDF treatment, treatment of SDF decreased the weight gain of diabetic mouses, normalised the blood glucose level, and reduced the serum cholesterol, serum insulin, leptin, glucagon-like peptide, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, arteriosclerosis index, aspartate aminotransferase activity, and malondialdehyde. It also increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, adiponectin, glycopeptide peroxidase, superoxide dismutase activity and repaired the pancreatic injury of the diabetic mouses. Our research results show that SDF has the potential for use in type 2 diabetes treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pyroelectric effect provides an efficient route to convert low-grade waste heat into electricity. (Bi 0.5 Na 0.5)TiO 3 -based ceramic is one of the most attractive lead-free pyroelectric candidates due to its high polarization. However, the low breakdown strength (BDS) restricts its ability to achieve a high polarization, hindering the application for thermal energy harvesting based on the Olsen cycle. In this work, by incorporation of AlN into BNT-BZT ceramics to form the BNT-BZT: AlN composites, the BDS is enhanced from 160 kV cm−1 to 260 kV cm−1, leading to a high energy density of 1.54 J cm−3 which is ∼5 times that of the pristine BNT-BZT. The reason for the high energy harvesting performance is due to the addition of AlN that can depress the conductivity of the matrix, resulting in the high BDS that permits high electric fields to be applied on the samples to induce high polarization that changes pronouncedly with temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black soybean hull was subjected to steam explosion (SE) treatment under different conditions to improve the yield and properties of soluble dietary fiber (SDF) extract. Optimal conditions for SE treatment were found to be moisture content of 15%, pressure level of 1.0 MPa, and treatment time of 80 s. Under these conditions, the yield of SDF increased from 10.20% to 17.49%. In addition, structural and functional properties of SDF from untreated and SE-treated black soybean hull were investigated. Soluble dietary fiber extracted from SE-treated hull exhibited lower molecular weight and improved functional properties, such as cholesterol-binding capacity, when compared to SDF extracted from untreated soybean hull. In addition, SDF extracted from SE-treated black soybean hull showed a rough surface structure, while a smooth surface structure was found for SDF extracted from the untreated hull. The obtained results indicate that SE treatment can be successfully used to enhance the yield and the property of yolk cholesterol absorption of SDF adsorption of yolk cholesterol functional properties of SDF from black soybean hull. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyroelectric energy harvesters based on lead-free ceramics cannot meet the requirement for practical applications due to their low energy conversion capacity. In this work, high-performance thermal energy harvesting with the greatly enhanced pyroelectric coefficient and rate of temperature change has been achieved by compositing the zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductor into 0.94Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.06BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (BNT-BZT) ceramic matrixes. The ZnO semiconductor not only provides charge carriers for accelerating the transportation of free charge to improve the pyroelectric coefficient of BNT-BZT: ZnO but also enhances the temperature variation rate dT/dt of the samples because of its high thermal conductivity. Owing to the electrothermal synergetic effect of the ZnO semiconductor, a highly improved energy harvesting performance of the energy density reaching up to 130 μJ cm−3 is achieved, which is over three times compared to that of the pristine BNT-BZT ceramics. This work will provide an effective and facile approach to develop high-performance pyroelectric composite ceramics for thermal energy harvesting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of medical IoT devices, the types and volumes of medical images have significantly increased. Retrieving of medical images is of great importance to facilitate disease diagnosis and improve treatment efficiency. However, it may raise privacy concerns from individuals, since medical images contain patients' sensitive and private information. Existing studies on retrieval of medical data either fail to protect sensitive information of medical images or are limited to a single image data provider. In this article, we propose a blockchain-based system for medical image retrieval with privacy protection. We first describe the typical scenarios of medical image retrieval and summarize the corresponding requirements in system design. Using the emerging blockchain techniques, we present the layered architecture and threat model of the proposed system. In order to accommodate large-size images with storage-constrained blocks, we capture a carefully selected feature vector from each medical image and design a customized transaction structure, which protects the privacy of medical images and image features. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, (1−x)(0.98Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3‐0.02BiAlO3)‐x(Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 (BNT‐BA‐xKNN) lead‐free pyroelectric ceramics were prepared by a solid‐state reaction method. The effect of Na0.5K0.5NbO3 (KNN) content on microstructure, phase transition, and electrical properties of the BNT‐BA‐xKNN ceramics were systematically investigated. The results show that the appropriate content of KNN can induce the formation of the tetragonal structure, which results in the decreased ferroelectric‐antiferroelectric phase transition temperature as a result of the break of long‐range translational symmetry of BNT lattices. Therefore, the ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties of the BNT‐BA‐xKNN near room temperature are improved. The room‐temperature pyroelectric coefficient significantly increases from 3.66 × 10−4 C/m2/K at x = 0 to 8.04 × 10−4 C/m2/K at x = 0.02, making a great contribution to the superior pyroelectric energy harvesting. The output energy density in one cycle of the BNT‐BA‐0.02KNN is 23.32 μJ/cm3, which is twice as high as that of the pristine samples. The enhancement of material properties suggests that the pyroelectric energy harvesting can be efficiently optimized by the adequate control of the phase structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Pyroelectrics are attracting increasing attention because they enable pyroelectric generators to extract energy from low-gradient-temperature heat for portable electronic devices. High pyroelectric coefficient around room temperature is essential for high-performance energy harvesters, which, unfortunately, is only commonly achieved in lead-based ferroelectrics. Herein we report a high room temperature pyroelectric response of 27.2 × 10−4 C m-2 K-1 in 0.94(Bi 0.5 Na 0.5)TiO 3 -0.06Ba(Ti 0.75 Zr 0.25)O 3 lead-free ceramics by modulating the Zr4+/Ti4+ ratio to tune the ferroelectric-relaxor antiferroelectric-like phase transition point to around ambient temperature, whose pyroelectric response is one order of magnitude higher than that of the sample without Zr and even comparable to those of lead-containing pyroelectrics. The theoretical analysis revealed that introduced Zr4+ could incorporate into the TiO 6 octahedral lattices and break the long-range translational symmetry of BaTiO 3 lattices, resulting in the reduction of B-site ion displacement activation energy and transition point of ferroelectric-relaxor antiferroelectric-like phase, giving rise to a pronounced room-temperature pyroelectric effect in BNT-BZT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve long-term repeatability in quantitative analysis of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), a two-point standardization (TPS) method was used to perform a standard procedure on the measured intensities of test samples before quantitative analysis. Based on a self-developed LIBS analyzer, the TPS method was used to measure trace elements such as Mn, Si, Cr, Ni, Cu, Ti, Al, V and Mo in low alloy steel samples. Quantitative validations with six test samples were performed every 24 hours for three days. The results demonstrated that the instrument drift was effectively corrected using the TPS method, and the average relative errors (AREs) of repeated measurements decreased by 45%, 32%, 3%, 16%, 15%, 54%, 11%, 11%, and 91% for Mn, Si, Cr, Ni, Cu, Mo, Al, V, and Ti elements, respectively. The long-term repeatability of quantitative LIBS was improved using the TPS method. The performance of the TPS method for different elements is mainly influenced by the characteristics of test samples, correction samples, experimental conditions, etc. In practice, the TPS method is a very promising way to improve the repeatability of quantitative LIBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exosomes are a group of nano-sized membrane vesicles that transfer proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids to nearby and faraway cells, playing an important role in the intercellular communication within the extracellular environment. Emerging evidences show that exosomes derived from immunocytes, including dendritic cells, T cells, B cells, macrophages, natural killer cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, can play an intimate role in the crosstalk among immunocytes in a tumor microenvironment. In this review, we highlight that under tumor conditions, immune cells and tumor cells can be influenced by immunocyte-derived exosomes, resulting in modifications of their phenotype and function. Thus, a better understanding of exosomes derived from different immunocytes would provide novel strategies in generating effective vaccines or improving treatment efficacy in anticancer therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient acid-hydrolysis method was developed and optimized for the hydrolyses of polysaccharide from Auricularia auricula with the ABTS· scavenging ability as the detective marker. Based on the single factor experimental results, Box-Behnken design (BBD) were applied for the optimization of acid-hydrolysis conditions. The possible antioxidant mechanism of the hydrolyses (AAPs-F) in vivo was performed using the C. elegans model. The acid-hydrolysis conditions were found to be the optimal hydrolyzing time 2.78 h (166.8 min), hydrolyzing temperature 95.04 °C and the acid concentration 14.03 mol/L, respectively. Under the optimal acid-hydrolysis conditions, the ABTS· scavenging ability of AAPs-H was 97.94 ± 0.87%, which was well matched with the predicted value (99.77%) of the BBD model. AAPs-F was the main fraction of AAPs-H separated through Sephadex G-10 as the stationary phase. AAPs-F was a kind of heteropolysaccharide and comprised of glucose, galactose and fucose with the molar ratio of 50:1:2. The molecular weight of AAPs-F was 143.15 kDa. AAPs-F showed a remarkable protective effect to the injury induced by hydrogen peroxide or paraquat ( p < 0.01), and it could up-regulate stress-resistance related enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 109.74% and CAT by 106.84% at concentration of 0.2 mg/mL in C. elegans . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new 3D Tb-MOF was successfully prepared as a dual-functional luminescent sensor for the detection of tetracycline (TC) and Fe3+ with good sensitivity and selectivity, and can be used for visual sensing application. [Display omitted] • A new 3D Tb-MOF ([Tb 2 (L) 3 ]·2H 2 O, H 2 L = 5-(pyrazin-2-yl)isophthalic acid) framework was synthesized and presented high hydrothermal stability. • The MOF was a dual-functional luminescence sensor towards tetracycline (TC) and Fe3+. • The luminescence sensor has good sensitivity, selectivity, and excellent stability. • The strip-shaped film was a visualized luminescence response to TC and Fe3+. Excessive use of tetracycline (TC) or Fe3+ ions aggravates environmental pollution and threatens human health seriously. A water-stable 3D Tb-MOF ([Tb 2 (L) 3 ]·2H 2 O, 1-Tb) is reported by employing H 2 L (5-(pyrazin-2-yl)isophthalic acid) as bridging ligands. The MOF is a dual-functional luminescence sensor for the detection of TC and Fe3+ in aqueous media with good sensitivity and selectivity even in the presence of common pollutants. Moreover, a low limit of detection and a high quenching constant obtained from the linear range for TC and Fe3+ detection are 0.51 μM, 1.47 × 104 M−1 and 0.78 μM, 7.73 × 103 M−1, respectively. The possible quenching mechanism is discussed by PXRD, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, luminescence lifetime, SEM, and XPS in detail. The results showed that the high quenching efficiency is attributed to the competitive absorption of excitation energy mechanism. Furthermore, the MOF was successfully fabricated as a strip-shaped film (1-Tb -PVDF) with a visualized luminescence response under irradiation with a UV lamp, providing a simple tool for the rapid detection of TC and Fe3+ in aqueous solutions. This work provides a new dual-functional material for detecting the TC and Fe3+ in water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flow over object problems are studied by a nodal discontinuous Galerkin-lattice Boltzmann method (NDG-LBM) in this work. Different from the standard lattice Boltzmann method, the current method applies the nodal discontinuous Galerkin method into the streaming process in LBM to solve the resultant pure convection equation, in which the spatial discretization is completed on unstructured grids and the low-storage explicit Runge-Kutta scheme is used for time marching. The present method then overcomes the disadvantage of standard LBM for depending on the uniform meshes. Moreover, the collision process in the LBM is completed by using the multiple-relaxation-time scheme. After the validation of the NDG-LBM by simulating the lid-driven cavity flow, the simulations of flows over a fixed circular cylinder, a stationary airfoil and rotating-stationary cylinders are performed. Good agreement of present results with previous results is achieved, which indicates that the current NDG-LBM is accurate and effective for flow over object problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Other than the food attribute/quality information, the design of food labels involves many other essential factors, such as color that may affect consumer choice decision. How food label color affects the decision process, cognitive effort, and preference when consumers shop for food products remains unknown. This study examined the impact of label colors (red or blue) on consumers' cognitive effort and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for food label attributes when they made choices among products carrying multiple attribute information. Conducting two versions of surveys that feature two different colors of product labels, this study found that red labels led to longer response time in decision-making than do blue labels. While a red label might exert extra cognitive effort on consumers, it also induced consumers to consider more attributes and maintain a relatively stable attendance level when they were faced with many choice tasks. Results also revealed that color significantly affected WTP estimates for certain attribute on food labels. The findings of this study bear important implications regarding food label color design for food retailers and policymakers when they are developing food label programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of a single droplet impact onto a liquid film is numerically studied in this work. A two-dimensional droplet is initially placed above a liquid film and falls freely under gravity together with a given horizontal velocity. To conduct numerical simulations, a hybrid method is adopted, in which the flow field is solved by using the lattice Boltzmann method and the interface is captured by solving the Cahn–Hilliard equation directly. At a fixed value of density ratio of droplet to ambient fluid ( ρ ∗ ), the effects of Bond number (Bo), Weber number (We) and dimensionless liquid film thickness ( H ∗ ) are systematically investigated. Based on the results achieved, it is found that the behavior of resultant splash structure after droplet impact is greatly affected by Bo, We and H ∗ . By increasing Bo and We, a higher right jet can be generated, but it has an opposite influence on the left jet. Moreover, there exists a critical value of H ∗ . When the thickness is lower than the critical value, the right jet height would increase with H ∗ , otherwise, it would decrease with H ∗ . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free-standing Pb 0.85 La 0.1 (Zr 0.65 Ti 0.35 )O 3 (PLZT) ceramic thick films have been prepared via a facile and low-cost self-separating screen printing method for electrocaloric cooling, and the relation among the fabrication processes, phase composition, microstructure, dielectric characteristics, ferroelectric properties and electrocaloric effect (ECE) has been systematically investigated. Compared to the conventional ceramic thick films supported by substrates, the free-standing feature enables the EC cooling of the free-standing PLZT thick films to be fully used for cooling down different thermal loads rather than be futilely absorbed by the substrates. Furthermore, without the mechanical restriction of the substrates, the free-standing PLZT thick films can freely shrink during the high-temperature densification process, leading to their high density and favorable microstructures. Additionally, by introducing an adequate amount of excess PbO, the pyrochlore phase can be removed from the samples to yield high-purity perovskite PLZTs. With the comprehensive improvement in phase composition, microstructure and the elimination of mechanical strain between the active materials and substrates, the free-standing PLZT thick films exhibited an optimized ECE including changes of temperature and entropy of 1.95 °C and 2.09 J kg −1 K −1 , which are almost 3 times that of the samples deposited on the Al 2 O 3 substrates without excess PbO. This work would contribute to the development of ferroelectric ceramics, especially thick films, for practical EC cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A palladium-catalyzed asymmetric intramolecular allylic C−H amination controlled by a chiral phosphoramidite ligand was established for the preparation of various substituted chiral hydropyrimidinones, the precursors of hydropyrimidines, in high yields with high enantioselectivities. In particular, dienyl sodium N-sulfonyl amides bearing an arylethene-1-sulfonyl group underwent a sequential allylic C−H amination and intramolecular Diels-Alder (IMDA) reaction to produce chiral fused tricyclic tetrahydropyrimidinone frameworks in high yields and with high levels of stereoselectivity. Significantly, this method was used as the key step in an asymmetric synthesis of letermovir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A palladium-catalyzed asymmetric intramolecular allylic C−H amination controlled by a chiral phosphoramidite ligand was established for the preparation of various substituted chiral hydropyrimidinones, the precursors of hydropyrimidines, in high yields with high enantioselectivities. In particular, dienyl sodium N-sulfonyl amides bearing an arylethene-1-sulfonyl group underwent a sequential allylic C−H amination and intramolecular Diels-Alder (IMDA) reaction to produce chiral fused tricyclic tetrahydropyrimidinone frameworks in high yields and with high levels of stereoselectivity. Significantly, this method was used as the key step in an asymmetric synthesis of letermovir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microstructured plates, consisting of various conventional and re-entrant cells, are numerically constructed and analyzed for their effective elastic properties under in-plane deformation. The finite element numerical method is adopted. The calculated effective Poisson's ratios of the plates are found to be in the range between −1 and 1, in consistency with the theory of two-dimensional elasticity. Auxetic angles need to be greater than about 20° in order to obtain negative Poisson's ratio. Increasing the auxetic angles reduces the effective pure shear modulus. Elastically anisotropic characteristics of the homogenized plate are analyzed with the calculated effective Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, and pure shear modulus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of chemical structures in natural product mixtures is an important task in drug discovery but is still a challenging problem, as structural elucidation is a time-consuming process and is limited by the available mass spectra of known natural products. Computer-aided structure elucidation (CASE) strategies seek to automatically propose a list of possible chemical structures in mixtures by utilizing chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. However, current CASE tools still cannot automatically solve structures for experienced natural product chemists. Here, we formulated the structural elucidation of natural products in a mixture as a computational problem by extending a list of scaffolds using a weighted side chain list after analyzing a collection of 243,130 natural products and designed an efficient algorithm to precisely identify the chemical structures. The complexity of such a problem is NP-complete. A dynamic programming (DP) algorithm can solve this NP-complete problem in pseudo-polynomial time after converting floating point molecular weights into integers. However, the running time of the DP algorithm degrades exponentially as the precision of the mass spectrometry experiment grows. To ideally solve in polynomial time, we proposed a novel iterative DP algorithm that can quickly recognize the chemical structures of natural products. By utilizing this algorithm to elucidate the structures of four natural products that were experimentally and structurally determined, the algorithm can search the exact solutions, and the time performance was shown to be in polynomial time for average cases. The proposed method improved the speed of the structural elucidation of natural products and helped broaden the spectrum of available compounds that could be applied as new drug candidates. A web service built for structural elucidation studies is freely accessible via the following link (). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel MnO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 heterojunction composite was synthesized via a simple in-situ redox reaction between KMnO 4 and MnSO 4 ·H 2 O adsorbed on the surface of g-C 3 N 4 for the first time. MnO 2 featuring 2D δ-phase layered structure was intimately attached onto the surface of g-C 3 N 4 layers via C O bonding. Notably, the synthesized MnO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst showed substantially enhanced photocatalytic activity in the reduction of CO 2 than pure g-C 3 N 4 and MnO 2 . The highest CO production amount of 9.6 μmol g −1 has been obtained at an optimized loading amount of MnO 2 under 1 h irradiation of a 300 W Xe lamp. The incorporation of narrow band gap MnO 2 on the surface of g-C 3 N 4 enhanced its light harvesting ability. And the solid hetero-interface between MnO 2 and g-C 3 N 4 together with their well matched band structure was favorable for the separation of photo-induced carriers, consequently enhanced its photocatalytic activity. This novel 2D-2D MnO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 heterostructure is expected to have great potentials in CO 2 photoreduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) has been shown to be independently associated with cardiovascular events and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate changes in left ventricular (LV) microvascular perfusion and myocardial deformation in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with and without DPN, as well as to investigate the association between myocardial perfusion and LV deformation. Methods: Between October 2015 and July 2022, one hundred and twenty-three T2DM patients without DPN, fifty-four patients with DPN and sixty age‑ and sex‑matched controls who underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging were retrospectively analyzed. LV myocardial perfusion parameters at rest, including upslope, time to maximum signal intensity (TTM), max signal intensity (max SI), and myocardial strains, including global radial, circumferential and longitudinal strain (GRS, GCS and GLS, respectively), were calculated and compared among the groups with One‑way analysis of variance. Univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to explore the independent factors influencing LV myocardial perfusion indices and LV strains in diabetes. Results: The LV GLS, upslope and max SI were significantly deteriorated from controls, through patients without DPN, to patients with DPN (all P < 0.001). Compared with controls, TTM was increased and LV GRS and GCS were decreased in both patient groups (all P < 0.05). Multivariable regression analyses considering covariates showed that DPN was independently associated with reduced upslope, max SI and LV GLS (β = − 0.360, − 2.503 and 1.113, p = 0.021, 0.031 and 0.010, respectively). When the perfusion indices upslope and max SI were included in the multivariable analysis for LV deformation, DPN and upslope (β = 1.057 and − 0.870, p = 0.020 and 0.018, respectively) were significantly associated with LV GLS. Conclusion: In patients with T2DM, there was more severe LV microvascular and myocardial dysfunction in patients with complicated DPN, and deteriorated subclinical LV systolic dysfunction was associated with impaired myocardial circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomenology theory of ferroelectrics is developed to solve pyroelectric energy conversion performances in Olson cycle by using rotation and coupling of dipoles depending on temperature and electric field. Numerical simulation shows electric field related pathway of cycle. The conversion efficiency of an Olson cycle has a peak at temperature over Curie temperature, which is higher for increased low temperature point. A horary conversion efficiency is developed to compare conversion efficiencies in different temperature range. The conclusion is that the horary efficiency is higher when the low temperature point is higher and the high temperature is lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the design, simulation, and characterization of novel plasmonic interferometric sensors that consist of semicircular grooves and apertures patterned on a gold film. This structure is proposed to form two-arm, three-beam, planar plasmonic interferometers. By combining the proposed plasmonic interferometers with a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical algorithm, we found that the transmission spectrum of the designed plasmonic structures can be readily tailored by changing arm lengths and number of grooves. Based on the principle, the characteristics of refractive index sensing are also demonstrated by simulation. These results show that this simple, efficient, and controllable scheme possesses unique features of high contrast, narrow linewidth, and large amplitude, which is promising for the development of multispectral and extremely compact biochemical sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Slipped’π−πstacking between flexible macrocycle14+(cyclo[2](2,6-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)pyridine)[2](1,4-dimethylene benzene)) and neutral small molecules induce one-dimensional (1D) ‘sandwich’ chain self-assembly. Unlike most of the reportedπ−πstacking system, the 1D “sandwich” chain expands with the direction parallel to stackingπsurfaces on14+and that on molecule2,3,4or5(2 = p-xylene,3 = benzene-1,4-diamine,4 = 4,4′-bipyridine,5= [1,1′-biphenyl]-4,4′-diol). Moreover, theπ−πstacking modes of 1D self-assembly are seriously small molecule adduct dependent. Combined with the other weak interactions (e.g. intermolecular hydrogen bonding), the new substrate design and control strategy can expand the 1D ‘sandwich’ chain (e.g. [14+·4]n) into higher order structure (e.g. two-dimensional (2D) network [14+·4·6]n,6 = hydroquinone) even in large scale (~280 mg). This 2D network structure, which keeps stable under 423 K, shows highly selective gas absorption of CO2over N2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the success of reverse osmosis (RO) for water purification, the molecular-level physico-chemical processes of contaminant rejection are not well understood. Here we carry out non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations on a model polyamide RO membrane to understand the mechanisms of transport and rejection of both ionic and inorganic contaminants in water. While it is commonly presumed that the contaminant rejection rate is correlated with the dehydrated solute size, this approximation does not hold for the organic solutes and ions studied. In particular, the rejection of urea (2.4 Å radius) is higher than ethanol (2.6 Å radius), and the rejections for organic solutes (2.2–2.8 Å radius) are lower than Na + (1.4 Å radius) or Cl − (2.3 Å radius). We show that this can be explained in terms of the solute accessible intermolecular volume in the membrane and the solute-water pair interaction energy. If the smallest open spaces in the membrane's molecular structure are all larger than the solute size including its hydration shell, then the solute-water pair interaction energy does not matter. However, when the open spaces in the polymeric structure are such that solutes have to shed at least one water molecule to pass through a portion of the membrane molecular structure, as occurs in RO membranes, the pair interaction energy governs solute rejection. The high pair interaction energy for water molecules in the solvation shell for ions makes the water molecules difficult to shed, thus enhancing the rejection of ions. On the other hand, the organic solute-water interaction energies are governed by the water molecules that are hydrogen bonded to the solute. While these hydrogen bonds have pair interaction energies that are much larger than that of the non-hydrogen bonded water molecules in the solute solvation shell, they are significantly less than the ion-water pair interaction energy. Thus, organic solutes more easily shed water molecules than ions to pass through the RO membrane. Since urea molecules have more hydrogen-bonding sites than alcohol molecules, urea forms more hydrogen bonds with the membrane polymer chains leading to a higher rejection of urea than occurs for ethanol, a molecule of similar size but with fewer hydrogen bonding sites. These findings underline the importance of the solute's solvation shell and solute-water-membrane chemistry in the context of reverse osmosis, thus providing new insights into solute transport and rejection in RO membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic mechanical responses of the ferroelastic materials under uniaxial straining and temperature cycling are studied via the Landau-type phase field model in two dimensions. The model may exhibit a single-well (doublewell) energy profile when temperature is greater (less) than the critical temperature. Effective negative stiffness in the vicinity of the temperature-induced solid-solid phase transformation is numerically demonstrated through monotonic uniaxial straining on a single-domain ferroelastic under temperature cycling around the Curie temperature. Under sinusoidal uniaxial straining, the effective Young's modulus and damping, as indicated by the enclosed area of the stress-strain curve, may be largely increased due to the phase transition. Our calculated responses here are consistent with experimental data reported in the literature, as well as theoretical results based on the composite theory with inclusions assumed to have negative modulus. No negative stiffness values are directly assigned in our phase field model as the underlying physics of the order parameters, i.e., spontaneous strains, provides effective negative stiffness into the systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to deal with the rapid growth in residential electricity consumption, residential peak-valley pricing (PVP) policies have been implemented in 12 provinces in China. However, being inappropriate, the residential PVP policies have delivered no significant results. The challenge to China's PVP policy research lies in obtaining high-resolution electricity consumption data and modeling residents' behavior. By simulating household electricity load profiles, an electricity price policy response model and a residential PVP policy optimization model, are constructed and applied in this paper to simulate the effect of the current residential PVP policy and optimize the policy. The results show that the peak-shaving capability (represented by the reduction in peak load) of the PVP policy in 11 provinces is less than 3%, while the PVP policy in Gansu Province has increased household electricity bills by about 5.7%. In addition, the optimized PVP can reduce household electricity bills by 3% and reduce peak electricity consumption by about 9%. The 12 provinces should adopt the 3-phase division method and optimize the electricity price in the peak and valley (i.e. off-peak) periods respectively. This paper promotes the research on China's residential PVP policy and provides an effective reference for the design of the PVP policy. • An electricity demand model based on household characteristic is presented. • The peak-shaving effect of the current PVP policy in 11 provinces is less than 3%. • Optimized PVP can significantly reduce peak power usage and increase benefits. • The PVP policy needs to be optimized from the price and time period division. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to deal with the rapid growth in residential electricity consumption, residential peak-valley pricing (PVP) policies have been implemented in 12 provinces in China. However, being inappropriate, the residential PVP policies have delivered no significant results. The challenge to China's PVP policy research lies in obtaining high-resolution electricity consumption data and modeling residents' behavior. By simulating household electricity load profiles, an electricity price policy response model and a residential PVP policy optimization model, are constructed and applied in this paper to simulate the effect of the current residential PVP policy and optimize the policy. The results show that the peak-shaving capability (represented by the reduction in peak load) of the PVP policy in 11 provinces is less than 3%, while the PVP policy in Gansu Province has increased household electricity bills by about 5.7%. In addition, the optimized PVP can reduce household electricity bills by 3% and reduce peak electricity consumption by about 9%. The 12 provinces should adopt the 3-phase division method and optimize the electricity price in the peak and valley (i.e. off-peak) periods respectively. This paper promotes the research on China's residential PVP policy and provides an effective reference for the design of the PVP policy. • An electricity demand model based on household characteristic is presented. • The peak-shaving effect of the current PVP policy in 11 provinces is less than 3%. • Optimized PVP can significantly reduce peak power usage and increase benefits. • The PVP policy needs to be optimized from the price and time period division. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]