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To identify wine grape cultivars (Vitis vinifera) with superior color properties for wine production, the anthocyanin composition and color characteristics of fourteen cultivars and their wines were investigated. Grapes and wines from ‘Dornfelder’, ‘Dunkelfelder’, and ‘Malbec’ cultivars exhibited significantly higher total phenolic contents. At harvest, ‘Dornfelder’ grapes and wines exhibited the highest total anthocyanin contents, with values of 249.94 mg/kg in grapes and 1686.76 mg/L in wines, significantly higher than other cultivars. PCA and PLS-DA analyses identified malvidin-3-O-(trans-6-O-coumaryl)-glucoside as a common differential metabolite in both grapes and wines across all cultivars. Correlation analysis revealed that non-acylated anthocyanins (r = 0.68) have a more significant impact than acylated anthocyanins (r = 0.28) on color chromatic diversity in grapes and wines (P

ObjectiveThis study investigates the causal relationship between moderate to vigorous physical activity and cognitive performance.MethodsGenetic loci strongly related to moderate to vigorous physical activity from genome-wide association studies were used as instrumental variables. These were combined with genetic data on cognitive performance from different Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) to conduct a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis. The primary analysis used inverse variance weighting within a random effects model, supplemented by weighted median estimation, MR-Egger regression and other methods, with results expressed as Beta coefficient.ResultsThis study selected 19 SNPs closely related to physical activity as instrumental variables. The multiplicative random-effects Inverse-Variance Weighted (IVW) analysis revealed that moderate to vigorous physical activity was negatively associated with cognitive performance (Beta = −0.551; OR = 0.58; 95% CI: 0.46–0.72; p

Heavy metal residues in natural ecosystems have emerged as a significant global environmental problem requiring urgent resolution. Because these elements are non-biodegradable, organisms can accumulate excessive levels of heavy metal elements into their tissues. Previous studies suggest that prolonged exposure to heavy metal enrichment poses comprehensive toxicity to various organs in vertebrates. However, few studies have focused on elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying the hepatotoxic effects of heavy metal enrichment in Chiroptera. In this study, 10 Hipposideros armiger individuals were dissected from Yingde City (YD, relatively pollution-free) and Chunwan City (CW, excessive heavy metals emission). Environmental samples were also obtained. To investigate the mechanism of heavy metal toxicity in bat livers, we employed a combination of multi-omics, pathology, and molecular biology methods. Our results revealed significant enrichment of Cd and Pb in the bat livers and food sources in the CW group (P

Ethnopharmacological relevanceDanggui Buxue decoction (DBD) is a traditional Chinese herbal formula. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the combination of Astragali Radix (AR) and Angelica sinensis (AS) is a classic prescription of tonifying qi and enriching blood. DBD has the functions of hematopoietic, immune enhancement and inflammation inhibition, usually used to treat qi and blood deficiency symptoms.Aim of the studyCyclophosphamide (CY) can inhibit humoral and cellular immunity, leading to the overall immune disorder of the body, resulting in immunosuppressive (IS). Pre-laboratory studies confirmed the immunomodulatory effects of DBD, but its mechanisms have not been thoroughly studied. In this study, the main purpose was to determine the effects of DBD on the immune function and intestinal mucosal barrier function of IS mice induced by CY, and initially explored the immunomodulatory mechanism of DBD.Materials and methods100 g of AR and 20 g of AS were accurately weighed and 0.5 g/mL of the DBD was obtained by boiling, filtration and rotary evaporation. Then, mice in the DBD group were administered 5 g/kg of DBD by gavage, positive group were administered 40 mg/kg of levamisole hydrochloride, whereas those in the control and model groups were given the corresponding volume of normal saline by gavage for 1 week. At the end of the experiment, blood, spleen, thymus, ileum and cecum contents of all the experimental mice were collected aseptically. IS mouse model induced by intraperitoneal injection of 80 mg/kg CY for three consecutive days. Pathomorphology was used to observe the physical barrier of the intestine, flow cytometry to detect splenic lymphocytes, immunohistochemistry to determine the content of intestinal barrier-associated proteins, ELISA to measure the secretion of ileal SIgA, qRT-PCR to detect the mRNA expression of immune-related genes in the intestine, and high-throughput sequencing and analysis of cecum contents.ResultsDBD alleviated spleen tissue damage and restored impaired immune functions, such as increased thymus index and CD4+/CD8+ subsets of spleen lymphocytes. In addition, DBD could increase ileum villi length and the ratio of villi length to crypt depth (V/C), and decrease crypt depth. Moreover, DBD administration up-regulated the expression of ZO-1, Occludin, Claudin-1, MUC-2 mRNA in ileum. And the secretions of sIgA and ZO-1 in ileum were also significantly improved. Furthermore, the administration of DBD can increase the diversity of gut microbiota, improve the composition of intestinal flora and increase the relative abundance of beneficial genus, such as Bacteroides.ConclusionDBD alleviated CY-induced immune damage by decreasing the ratio of spleen index to CD4+/CD8+ of T lymphocyte subsets. And the intestinal barrier function of mice was by improves improving the intestinal morphology of the ileum and up-regulating the expression levels of ZO-1, MUC-2 and SIgA. DBD regulates CY-induced gut microbiota dysregulation in mice by increasing species diversity and richness, regulating the phylum, class and order levels of Bacteroidetes.

Abstract Undeniably, cancer immunotherapies have expanded the spectrum of cancer treatment, however, some patients do not respond to immunotherapies. This scenario is no different for lung cancer, whose two main types, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), still pose a serious clinical challenge. Adoptive T-cell therapies (ATC), which primarily include cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell therapy, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy and γδ-T-cell therapy, strengthen the patient’s immune system in combating cancer. Combining ATC with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) further enhances the effectiveness of this approach to eradicate cancer. With a particular emphasis on CIK cell therapy, which recently completed 30 years, we highlight the role of the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in NSCLC and SCLC. Besides, we provide insights into the potential synergies of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors with adoptive T-cell immunotherapy in reshaping the treatment paradigm for lung cancer.

Abstract With the development of the economy and society, we are faced with the dual challenges of energy demands and environmental pollution. As one of the important marine renewable energies, wave energy is widely distributed and abundant, and has considerable applications in various fields. Oscillating body wave energy converter (WEC) is most popular among WECs; its energy conversion efficiency is thus one of the key issues for practical large‐scale applications. This article establishes a new model of the float and vibrator under different motion conditions, conducts simulation training, and then solves the displacement and velocity at different times, and finally optimizes the maximum output power and optimal damping coefficient. Simulink calculation is one of the most effective tools including neural networks, which allows us to achieve intelligent training and simulation. The obtained data imply that the maximum output power could be 8.102 W when the corresponding linear damping is 21,000 N s/m and the rotation damping is 95,000 N s/m. The article takes into account the pitching motion of the float, providing a more realistic model and obtaining optimal power absorbing efficiency. The obtained results could be the potential reference data in practically setting up the wave energy conversion systems.

Water sealing performance is important for underground water-sealed oil storage (UWSOS). The key issues concerning water sealing performance mainly include the permeability of fractured rock mass (FRM), water-sealed safety (WSS), water curtain performance, and prediction and control of water inflow. This paper reviews the progress of above four key issues on water sealing performances. First, the permeability of an FRM is the basis of water sealing performance, and several commonly used permeability test methods and spatial variation characteristics of permeability are outlined. Second, the current water sealing criteria are compared, and the evaluation methods of WSS are summarized. Third, the design parameters and efficiency evaluation of water curtain systems (WCSs) are introduced. The water inflow of oil storage caverns (OSCs) can reflect the water sealing effect, and the prediction methods and control measures of water inflow are also summarized. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the current research are discussed, and the potential research directions are pointed out, such as optimization of water sealing criteria and FRM model, quantitative evaluation of WCS efficiency, accurate prediction of water inflow, and improvement of grouting technology.

Summary: China has promoted campus soccer for over a decade due to its potential health benefits. The study aimed to explore soccer knowledge (SK), soccer attitude (SA), soccer practice (SP), and health status among Chinese freshmen and sophomore undergraduates who had received campus soccer education. Of the 7419 participants, 1,069 were valid and included in the analysis. Structural equation modeling (SEM) results indicated SK is positively associated with SA (p

IntroductionA multitude of findings from cell cultures and animal studies are available to support the anti-cancer properties of cannabidiol (CBD). Since CBD acts on multiple molecular targets, its clinical adaptation, especially in combination with cancer immunotherapy regimen remains a serious concern.MethodsConsidering this, we extensively studied the effect of CBD on the cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell immunotherapy approach using multiple non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells harboring diverse genotypes.ResultsOur analysis showed that, a) The Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel Subfamily V Member 2 (TRPV2) channel was intracellularly expressed both in NSCLC cells and CIK cells. b) A synergistic effect of CIK combined with CBD, resulted in a significant increase in tumor lysis and Interferon gamma (IFN-g) production. c) CBD had a preference to elevate the CD25+CD69+ population and the CD62L_CD45RA+terminal effector memory (EMRA) population in NKT-CIK cells, suggesting early-stage activation and effector memory differentiation in CD3+CD56+ CIK cells. Of interest, we observed that CBD enhanced the calcium influx, which was mediated by the TRPV2 channel and elevated phosphor-Extracellular signal-Regulated Kinase (p-ERK) expression directly in CIK cells, whereas ERK selective inhibitor FR180204 inhibited the increasing cytotoxic CIK ability induced by CBD. Further examinations revealed that CBD induced DNA double-strand breaks via upregulation of histone H2AX phosphorylation in NSCLC cells and the migration and invasion ability of NSCLC cells suppressed by CBD were rescued using the TRPV2 antagonist (Tranilast) in the absence of CIK cells. We further investigated the epigenetic effects of this synergy and found that adding CBD to CIK cells decreased the Long Interspersed Nuclear Element-1 (LINE-1) mRNA expression and the global DNA methylation level in NSCLC cells carrying KRAS mutation. We further investigated the epigenetic effects of this synergy and found that adding CBD to CIK cells decreased the Long Interspersed Nuclear Element-1 (LINE-1) mRNA expression and the global DNA methylation level in NSCLC cells carrying KRAS mutation.ConclusionsTaken together, CBD holds a great potential for treating NSCLC with CIK cell immunotherapy. In addition, we utilized NSCLC with different driver mutations to investigate the efficacy of CBD. Our findings might provide evidence for CBD-personized treatment with NSCLC patients.

Abstract This study adopts a new approach, SHapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP), to diagnose the table tennis matches based on a hybrid algorithm, namely Long Short-Term Memory–Back Propagation Neural Network (LSTM–BPNN). 100 male singles competitions (8535 rallies) from 2019 to 2022 are analyzed by a hybrid technical–tactical analysis theory, which hybridizes the double three-phase and four-phase evaluation theories. A k-means cluster analysis is conducted to classify 59 players’ winning rates into three levels (high, medium, and low). The results show that LSTM–BPNN has excellent performance (MSE = 0.000355, MAE = 0.014237, RMSE = 0.018853, and $${\mathrm{R}}^{2}$$ R 2 = 0.988311) compared with six typical artificial intelligence algorithms. Using LSTM–BPNN to calculate the SHAP value of each feature, the global results find that the receive-attack and serve-attack phases of the ending match have essential impacts on the mutual winning probabilities. Finally, case applications show that the SHAP can directly obtain each feature importance on one or more matches, which is more objective and reliable than the traditional simulation method. This research explores an innovative way to understand and analyze matches, and these results have implications for the performance analysis of table tennis and related racket sports.

The present study aimed to explore whether water flow velocity could affect the swimming ability and overall energy metabolism of wild Amur grayling (Thymallus grubii). Swimming performance was assessed by measuring critical swimming speed (Ucrit), burst speed (Uburst), and oxygen consumption rate (MO2) based on the stepped velocity test method. Our results showed that the absolute values of Ucrit and Uburst tended to increase with body length. In contrast, the relative values of Ucrit and Uburst tended to decrease and increase, respectively. MO2 in Amur grayling was elevated with increasing velocity, suggesting relatively high swimming efficiency. We also measured the biochemical indices related to energy metabolism. Lactate dehydrogenase, hexokinase, and pyruvate kinase activities significantly increased (p < 0.05). Hepatic glycogen, glucose, and muscle glycogen contents decreased with the increasing trend of velocity (p < 0.05), the lactic acid contents of the blood and muscles increased significantly with the increase in velocities (p < 0.05), and changes in creatine phosphate content showed no significant difference (p > 0.05). The results not only denote the relationship between body size and swimming speed but also show the effects of water flow velocity on energy metabolism in Amur grayling. The results provide basic data for the construction of fish passage.

Nowadays, cardiovascular illnesses are among the leading causes of death in the world. Thus, many studies have been performed to diagnose and prevention of these diseases. Studies show that the computational hemodynamic method (CHD) is a very effective method to control and prevent the progression of this type of disease. In this computational paper, the impression of five non-Newtonian viscosity models (nNVMs) on cerebral blood vessels (CBV) is investigated by CHD. In this simulation, blood flow is supposed steady, laminar, incompressible, and non-Newtonian. The parameters of Nusselt number (Nu), dimensionless temperature (θ), pressure drop (Δp), and dimensionless average wall shear stress (DAWSS) are also investigated by considering the effects of heat generated by the body. Utilizing the FVM and SIMPLE scheme for pressure–velocity coupling is a good approach to investigating CBVs for five different viscosity models. In the results, it is shown that the θ and Δp+ increase with increasing Reynolds number (Re) in the CBVs. By enhancing the Re from 90 to 120 in the Cross viscosity model, the Δp+ changes about 1.391 times. The DAWSS grows by increasing the Re in all viscosity models. This increase in DAWSS leads to an increasing velocity gradient close to the cerebral vessel wall.

Abstract Background Detecting early‐stage lung cancer is critical to reduce the lung cancer mortality rate; however, existing models based on germline variants perform poorly, and new models are needed. This study aimed to use extreme gradient boosting to develop a predictive model for the early diagnosis of lung cancer in a multicenter case–control study. Materials and Methods A total of 974 cases and 1005 controls in Shanghai and Taizhou were recruited, and 61 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate the association between signal SNPs and lung cancer risk. Logistic regression (LR) and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithms, a large‐scale machine learning algorithm, were adopted to build the lung cancer risk model. In both models, 10‐fold cross‐validation was performed, and model predictive performance was evaluated by the area under the curve (AUC). Results After FDR adjustment, TYMS rs3819102 and BAG6 rs1077393 were significantly associated with lung cancer risk (p

Abstract Objectives Foot‐and‐mouth disease (FMD) is an economically important animal disease because of the speed of its transmission. Routine vaccination may not be effective; RAM can be considered as a potential facilitator for this. Present study was designed to evaluate the effects of feeding different treatment of the RAM in different days on the immune responses in mice immunised with FMDV type O vaccine. Material and methods In experiment 1, 50 ICR mice were randomly divided into five groups with 10 animals in each group, and the basic diet containing 1% Crush of RAM for 1‐week ad libitum feeding period, 1% Crush of RAM for 6‐week ad libitum feeding period, 1% Decoction of RAM for a 1‐week ad libitum feeding period, 1% Decoction of RAM for a 6‐week ad libitum feeding period, respectively. Blood samples were collected 2 weeks after boosting for measurement of FMDV‐specific IgG level and the IgG subclasses, lymphocyte proliferation as well as production IL‐5 and IFN‐γ. In experiment 2, four groups mice were fed basic diet and basic diet containing 5% Decoction of RAM for 2‐, 4‐ and 6‐day ad libitum feeding periods, respectively. Then we collected blood samples for detecting IgG and IgG subclasses, splenocytes for lymphocyte proliferation as well as production IL‐5 and IFN‐γ, and tissue samples of small intestine for sIgA. Results The results indicated that 1% Decoction of RAM for a 1‐week ad libitum feeding period group and 5% Decoction of RAM for 2‐, 4‐ and 6‐day ad libitum feeding period group enhance the FMDV‐specific immune responses significantly. Conclusions Taken together, the results demonstrate that doses and feeding time of RAM are important to affect the immune responses.

Abstract For underground water-sealed oil storage, the spatial variability of the surrounding rock has a significant impact on the water-sealed effect of a water curtain system. This study presents a methodology for the probabilistic analysis of water curtain performance in underground oil storage, considering the spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity of the surrounding rock based on field data. Anisotropic random fields representing the spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity were established through spatial statistical analysis of field data and introduced into the finite element model of underground oil storage for water-sealed reliability analysis. The water-sealed performance of different water curtain system schemes was studied using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). The results showed that the difference between the horizontal spatial correlation and the vertical spatial correlation of the surrounding rock has a significant impact on the water-sealed effect of the water curtain system. An excessively large pressure of water curtain boreholes provided a small contribution to improving water curtain performance. The distance between the water curtain holes and the caverns had the less significant affecting the water-sealed reliability of the storage cavern. Finally, the optimal design of the water curtain system is discussed. This study provides valuable insights and a theoretical basis for the optimisation of water curtain system design parameters for underground water-sealed oil storage.

Head and neck cancer (HNC) ranks as the sixth most prevalent type of cancer globally and accounts for about 4% of all types of cancer. Among all HNC, most are head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with clinical therapies that include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and multimodal treatments. In recent years, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell immunotherapy has significantly transformed the therapeutic approaches for leukemia and lymphoma and has garnered increased attention as a potential treatment for a wide range of cancers. However, CAR-T immunotherapy in solid tumors, especially HNSCCs, lags significantly behind due to the paucity of tumor-specific antigens, high levels of tumor heterogeneity, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, the risk of treatment-related toxicities and off-target adverse events in HNSCCs. The objective of this review is to explore the advancement of CAR-T cell therapy in the treatment of HNSCCs. We aim to outline the targeted antigens in HNSCCs, highlight the challenges and potential solutions, and discuss the relevant combination therapies. Our review presents a comprehensive overview of the recent developments in CAR-T cell therapy for HNSCCs, and provides valuable insights into future research avenues.

Previous studies have demonstrated that CUX1 could contribute to the proliferation of DPCs in vitro, but the upstream transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of CUX1 remain largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate the upstream transcriptional regulators of CUX1 to enhance our comprehension of the mechanism of action of the CUX1 gene in ovine DPCs. Initially, the JASPAR (2024) software was used to predict the upstream target transcription factors for the CUX1 gene. Subsequently, through RT-qPCR and a double luciferase reporter assay, the interaction between SP1, KROX20, and CUX1 was established, respectively. The results indicated that SP1 and KROX20 were two highly reliable upstream transcription regulators for the CUX1 gene. Additionally, we found that SP1 promoted the proliferation of DPCs by overexpressing SP1 in DPCs, and KROX20 inhibited the proliferation of DPCs by overexpressing KROX20 in DPCs. These findings are also consistent with the transcriptional regulation of CUX1 by SP1 and KROX20, respectively. This study suggests that the effect of DPC proliferation in vitro by CUX1 may regulated by the transcription factors SP1 and KROX20.

Underground water-sealed oil storage caverns constructed in island environments is a promising approach for expanding oil storage caverns. However, few researchers have studied the risks of seawater intrusion and the distribution characteristics of intrusion interfaces in large underground water-sealed oil storage caverns in island environments. In this paper, we established a visualized physical simulation platform to investigate the characteristics and control measures of seawater intrusion in single fracture of rock masses within island underground water-sealed oil storage caverns. In addition, the effects of the excavation of caverns, the distance between the cavern and coast, fracture width, seawater level, oil storage stage, water curtain, and water injection pressure were evaluated. The results show that excavation of oil storage caverns carries the risk of seawater intrusion. Specifically, reducing the distance between the oil storage caverns and the coast, increasing the fracture width, and raising the seawater level all contribute to accelerated seawater intrusion into the caverns. However, the vertical water curtain can effectively inhibit seawater intrusion, and increasing the injection pressure of vertical water curtain can avoid the risk of seawater intrusion into the caverns. The research results provide an experimental basis for the study of seawater intrusion in underground oil storage caverns in island environments.

Meshing clearance is one of the key factors affecting the transmission performance of cycloid-pin planetary drive such as load capacity，frictional power，vibration and noise. By using the principle of mesh between cycloidal gear and pins，the analysis model is well built for analyzing contact force and frictional power loss of cycloid gear and pin considering meshing clearance. By introducing comparisive coefficient，the influence of meshing clearance on contact force and frictional power of cycloid-pin pair is described. The analysis results show that the meshing clearance will significantly change the number of pins in the contact，thus changing the peak of contact force and frictional power loss，the increase of meshing clearance will lead to a significant rising of the peak contact force，but the frictional power loss will be slightly reduced. This method can provide a simple theoretical method for evaluating the influence of initial and worn clearance on contact characteristics of cycloid-pin pair.

Abstract The identification of open-pit mine water sources is of great significance in preventing water disasters. Combined with hydrochemistry and multivariate statistical analysis, this paper systematically analyzed the hydraulic connections between aquifers and the complex seepage water sources in the pit and roadway of Dagushan iron mine through qualitative analysis and quantitative calculation. According to the hydrochemical characteristics of the study area, the causes of seepage water at different positions in the mining area were reasonably explained. The results show that there is a possible hydraulic connection or similar source of water body between the bedrock fissure aquifer and the eluvium pore aquifer. The water seepage of 2# roadway mainly comes from bedrock fissure aquifer in the north of mining area. The reason for serious water seepage in the 3# roadway and the western side of the pit is that the fault connects the shallow alluvial pore aquifer and bedrock fissure aquifer. The source of water on the southern side pit comes from the river and groundwater on the southern side of the mine. The results presented here provide significant guidance for the management of mine water seepage problems.

Abstract Background Improving feedlot performance, carcase weight and quality is a primary goal of the beef industry worldwide. Here, we used data from 3408 Australian Angus steers from seven years of birth (YOB) cohorts (2011–2017) with a minimal level of sire linkage and that were genotyped for 45,152 SNPs. Phenotypic records included two feedlot and five carcase traits, namely average daily gain (ADG), average daily dry matter intake (DMI), carcase weight (CWT), carcase eye muscle area (EMA), carcase Meat Standard Australia marbling score (MBL), carcase ossification score (OSS) and carcase subcutaneous rib fat depth (RIB). Using a 7-way cross-validation based on YOB cohorts, we tested the quality of genomic predictions using the linear regression (LR) method compared to the traditional method (Pearson’s correlation between the genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) and its associated adjusted phenotype divided by the square root of heritability); explored the factors, such as heritability, validation cohort, and phenotype that affect estimates of accuracy, bias, and dispersion calculated with the LR method; and suggested a novel interpretation for translating differences in accuracy into phenotypic differences, based on GEBV quartiles (Q1Q4). Results Heritability (h2) estimates were generally moderate to high (from 0.29 for ADG to 0.53 for CWT). We found a strong correlation (0.73, P-value

The attainment of a well-crystallized photo-absorbing layer with minimal defects is crucial for achieving high photovoltaic performance in polycrystalline solar cells. However, in the case of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), precise control over crystallization and elemental distribution through solution processing remains a challenge. In this study, we propose the use of a multifunctional molecule, α-amino-γ-butyrolactone (ABL), as a modulator to simultaneously enhance crystallization and passivate defects, thereby improving film quality and deactivating nonradiative recombination centers in the perovskite absorber. The Lewis base groups present in ABL facilitate nucleation, leading to enhanced crystallinity, while also retarding crystallization. Additionally, ABL effectively passivates Pb2+ dangling bonds, which are major deep-level defects in perovskite films. This passivation process reduces recombination losses, promotes carrier transfer and extraction, and further improves efficiency. Consequently, the PSCs incorporating the ABL additive exhibit an increase in conversion efficiency from 18.30% to 20.36%, along with improved long-term environmental stability. We believe that this research will contribute to the design of additive molecular structures and the engineering of components in perovskite precursor colloids.

At present, there are many excellent cultivars of raspberry worldwide with different fruit colors, such as yellow, red, purple and black. Anthocyanin accumulation is responsible for flower and fruit coloration in plants. Anthocyanins belong to flavonoids which are natural pigments widely distributed in plants. The MYB transcription factor (TF) plays a vital regulatory role in the metabolic pathway of anthocyanins. Here, RoMYB10, an R2R3-MYB in black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.), was isolated. The basic physical and chemical properties, conserved motif distribution, evolutionary relationship and subcellular localization were analyzed for the RoMYB10 encoded amino acid sequence. The contents of anthocyanin were determined in four different colored raspberry fruits by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The expression levels of MYB10 genes in various tissues and fruits at different developmental stages of the four different colored raspberries were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). The results showed that the contents of anthocyanin and the expression levels of the MYB10 gene were the highest in black raspberry. Moreover, the expression of MYB10 in the fruit was significantly higher than in other tissues, especially in ripe and mottled fruits. When ectopic overexpression of RoMYB10 occurred in tobacco, the expression levels of the RoMYB10 gene and total anthocyanin contents in transgenic tobacco plants were significantly higher than those in wild-type (WT) plants. In addition, overexpression of RoMYB10 up-regulated the key genes in the anthocyanin biosynthesis, such as NtCHS, NtCHI, NtF3H, NtANS and NtUFGT. Our study suggests that RoMYB10 is involved in the regulating of anthocyanin biosynthesis in raspberry and has potential as a molecular tool for manipulating biosynthesis of anthocyanins in fruits using metabolic engineering.

This paper presents an unconditionally stable integration method, which introduces a linearly implicit algorithm featuring an explicit displacement expression. The technique that is being considered integrates one Newton iteration into the mean acceleration method. The stability of the proposed algorithm in solving equations of motion containing nonlinear restoring force and nonlinear damping force is analyzed using the root locus method. The objective of this investigation was to assess the accuracy and consistency of the proposed approach in contrast to the Chang method and the CR method. This is achieved by analyzing the dynamic response of three distinct structures: a three-layer shear structure model outfitted with viscous dampers, a three-layer shear structure model featuring metal dampers, and an eight-story planar frame structure. Empirical evidence indicates that the algorithm in question exhibits a notable degree of precision and robustness when applied to nonlinear dynamic problem-solving.

In our previous study of Hu sheep hair follicles, we found that CRABP2 was highly expressed in DPCs, which suggested that CRABP2 may influence the number of DPCs. In the present study, we aimed to understand the effect of CRABP2 in Hu sheep dermal papilla cells (DPCs). First, we explored the influence of CRABP2 on the ability of Hu sheep DPCs’ proliferation. Based on the results obtained from some experiments, such as CCK-8, EDU, qPCR, and Western blot experiment, we found that the overexpression of CRABP2 facilitated the proliferation of DPCs compared to the negative control group. Then, we also detected the effect of CRABP2 on the Wnt/β-catenin pathway based on the important function of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in hair follicles. The results showed that CRABP2 could activate the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in DPCs, and it rescues the proliferation of DPCs when the Wnt/β-catenin pathway was inhibited. In summary, our findings indicate that CRABP2 is a vital functional gene in the proliferation of Hu sheep DPCs. Our study will be of great use for revealing the roles of CRABP2 in the hair follicles of Hu sheep.

Sulfide solid electrolytes (e.g., lithium thiophosphates) have the highest room-temperature ionic conductivity (∼10−2 S cm−1) among solid Li-ion conductors so far, and thus have attracted ever-increasing attention for high energy-density and safety all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). However, interfacial issues between sulfide electrolytes and electrodes have been the main challenges for their applications in ASSBs. The interfacial instabilities would occur due to side reactions of sulfides with electrodes, poor solid-solid contact, and lithium dendrites during charge/discharge cycling. In this review, we analyze the interfacial issues in ASSBs based on sulfide electrolytes, and in particular, discuss strategies for solving these interfacial issues and stabilize the electrode-electrolyte interfaces. Moreover, a perspective of the interfacial engineering for sulfide-based ASSBs is provided.

BackgroundCancer heterogeneity poses a serious challenge concerning the toxicity and adverse effects of therapeutic inhibitors, especially when it comes to combinatorial therapies that involve multiple targeted inhibitors. In particular, in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a number of studies have reported synergistic effects of drug combinations in the preclinical models, while they were only partially successful in the clinical setup, suggesting those alternative clinical strategies (with genetic background and immune response) should be considered. Herein, we investigated the antitumor effect of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells in combination with ALK and PD-1 inhibitors in vitro on genetically variable NSCLC cell lines.MethodsWe co-cultured the three genetically different NSCLC cell lines NCI-H2228 (EML4-ALK), A549 (KRAS mutation), and HCC-78 (ROS1 rearrangement) with and without nivolumab (PD-1 inhibitor) and crizotinib (ALK inhibitor). Additionally, we profiled the variability of surface expression multiple immune checkpoints, the concentration of absolute dead cells, intracellular granzyme B on CIK cells using flow cytometry as well as RT-qPCR. ELISA and Western blot were performed to verify the activation of CIK cells.ResultsOur analysis showed that (a) nivolumab significantly weakened PD-1 surface expression on CIK cells without impacting other immune checkpoints or PD-1 mRNA expression, (b) this combination strategy showed an effective response on cell viability, IFN-γ production, and intracellular release of granzyme B in CD3+ CD56+ CIK cells, but solely in NCI-H2228, (c) the intrinsic expression of Fas ligand (FasL) as a T-cell activation marker in CIK cells was upregulated by this additive effect, and (d) nivolumab induced Foxp3 expression in CD4+CD25+ subpopulation of CIK cells significantly increased. Taken together, we could show that CIK cells in combination with crizotinib and nivolumab can enhance the anti-tumor immune response through FasL activation, leading to increased IFN-γ and granzyme B, but only in NCI-H2228 cells with EML4-ALK rearrangement. Therefore, we hypothesize that CIK therapy may be a potential alternative in NSCLC patients harboring EML4-ALK rearrangement, in addition, we support the idea that combination therapies offer significant potential when they are optimized on a patient-by-patient basis.

Background: Elabela (ELA) is a newly identified endogenous ligand of apelin receptor (APJ) which has been confirmed to be implicated in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Previous experiments have revealed the critical role of ELA in eliciting vasodilation and lowering blood pressure. However, the role of plasma ELA levels in hypertensive patients and its relationship with vascular function have not been investigated. Method: Thirty-one patients with essential hypertension (EH) and 31 age-matched healthy subjects as controls were recruited in the study. Plasma ELA concentration and vascular function parameters including brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) were measured. Results: We observed remarkably lower plasma ELA concentration in hypertensive patients as compared with controls (1.29 ± 0.56 ng/ml vs. 1.79 ± 0.55 ng/ml; P = 0.001). Linear correlation analysis showed that ELA was negatively correlated with systolic blood pressure (r = −0.388, P = 0.002) and diastolic blood pressure (r = −0.321, P = 0.011) and positively correlated with FMD (r = 0.319, P = 0.011). There was no statistically significant relationship between ELA and baPWV (r = 0.234, P = 0.067). Stepwise multiple linear analysis also identified a close association of plasma ELA levels with endothelial function. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates for the first time that circulating ELA levels are reduced in patients with EH. The fall in endogenous ELA levels may be involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension-related vascular damage.

Ammonia is a major harmful gas in the environment of livestock and poultry. Studies have shown that excessive ammonia inhalation has adverse effects in pig heart. However, the mechanism of ammonia-induced cardiac toxicity in pigs has not been reported. L-selenomethionine is a kind of organic selenium (Se) which is easily absorbed by the body. Therefore, in this study, twenty-four 125-day-old pigs were randomly divided into 4 groups: C (control) group, A (ammonia) group, Se group (Se content: 0.5 mg kg−1), and A (ammonia) + Se group. The mechanism of ammonia-induced cardiotoxicity and the alleviating effect of L-selenomethionine were examined. The results in the A group showed as follows: a large number of myocardial fiber edema and cytoplasmic bleakness were observed in the heart; a large number of mitochondrial autophagy were observed; ATP content, ATPase activities and hematological parameters decreased significantly; Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) markers (GRP78, IRE1α, ATF4, ATF6, and CHOP) were significantly induced in the mRNA and protein levels; PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway was activated; and autophagy key genes and proteins (Beclin-1, LC3, ATG3, and ATG5) were significantly up-regulated. The results of comparison between the A + Se group and the A group were as follows: the degree of edema of cardiac muscle fiber in the A + Se group was somewhat relieved; the level of mitochondrial autophagy decreased; ATP content and ATPase activities increased significantly; the mRNA and protein levels of ERS markers were significantly down-regulated; the expression level of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway was decreased; and the mRNA and protein levels of key autophagy genes were decreased. However, the changes of these indexes in the A + Se group were still significantly different from those in the C group. Our results indicated that L-selenomethionine supplementation inhibited ammonia-induced cardiac autophagy by activating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, which confirmed that L-selenomethionine could alleviate the cardiac injury caused by excessive ammonia inhalation to a certain extent. This study aims to enrich the toxicological mechanism of ammonia and provide valuable reference for future intervention of ammonia toxicity.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) F17 is one of the most common pathogens causing diarrhea in farm livestock. In the previous study, we accessed the transcriptomic and microbiomic profile of E. coli F17-antagonism (AN) and -sensitive (SE) lambs; however, the biological mechanism underlying E. coli F17 infection has not been fully elucidated. Therefore, the present study first analyzed the metabolite data obtained with UHPLC-MS/MS. A total of 1957 metabolites were profiled in the present study, and 11 differential metabolites were identified between E. coli F17 AN and SE lambs (i.e., FAHFAs and propionylcarnitine). Functional enrichment analyses showed that most of the identified metabolites were related to the lipid metabolism. Then, we presented a machine-learning approach (Random Forest) to integrate the microbiome, metabolome and transcriptome data, which identified subsets of potential biomarkers for E. coli F17 infection (i.e., GlcADG 18:0-18:2, ethylmalonic acid and FBLIM1); furthermore, the PCCs were calculated and the interaction network was constructed to gain insight into the crosstalk between the genes, metabolites and bacteria in E. coli F17 AN/SE lambs. By combing classic statistical approaches and a machine-learning approach, our results revealed subsets of metabolites, genes and bacteria that could be potentially developed as candidate biomarkers for E. coli F17 infection in lambs.

Ammonia is an acknowledged environment pollutant in atmosphere with irritating smell. Previous studies have shown that excessive ammonia has toxic effects on farm animals and humans. However, the detail toxicity mechanism of ammonia to pigs is still unknown so far. In order to clarify the mechanism of ammonia toxicity, we established a porcine exogenous ammonia poisoning model and assessed the effects of ammonia on the gut-brain axis by transcriptome sequencing, histological observation and chemical analysis. Our results showed that after 30 d of ammonia exposure, 578 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 407 DEGs were obtained in the hypothalamus and jejunum, respectively. These DEGs were enriched into Gene Ontology terms associated with inflammation, oxidative metabolism, apoptosis, and the highly expressed genes among these DEGs were verified by real-time quantitative PCR. The content of glutathione and the activities of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase were significantly decreased, while malondialdehyde content was increased after ammonia exposure. Corticotropin releasing factor, substance P, 5-hydroxytryptamine and ghrelin contents in serum elevated significantly. Furthermore, pathologic observation in the ammonia group revealed infiltration of lymphocytes in the hypothalamus and significant decrease of jejunal epithelial cells. Our results indicated that ammonia exposure mediated changes in transcriptional profiles, pathological damage, oxidative stress and brain-gut peptide of the pig jejunum and hypothalamus, and induced the imbalance of the brain-gut axis through the “oxidative stress-inflammation-apoptosis” interaction network. Our study not only provides a new perspective for the toxicity assessment of ammonia, but also enriches the toxicology mechanism of ammonia.

BackgroundThe 5-year survival rate of patients with lung cancer in China is less than 20% and predicting their prognosis is challenging. We investigated the association between a common non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs7214723, in the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase 1 (CAMKK1) gene and the prognosis of patients with lung cancer.MethodsGenomic DNA was extracted from the blood samples of 839 patients with lung cancer, recruited from Changhai Hospital (n = 536) and Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences (n = 352), and genotyped using the SNPscan technique. The association between patient prognosis and the genotypic data for CAMKK1 was analyzed using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for multiple potential confounders. The CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing system was used to introduce point mutations in the CAMKK1 rs7214723 of A549 and NCI-H358 cells. Subsequently, Cell proliferation and migration ability were assessed with the Cell Counting Kit-8 and scratch assay. The Annexin V-FITC apoptosis detection kit was used to detect cell apoptosis.ResultsThe CAMKK1 rs7214723 recessive CC genotype conferred significantly better overall survival (CC vs. TT + TC: adjusted hazard ratio = 0.78, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-1.00, P = 0.049) than the TT + TC genotypes. Stratified analysis showed that the CAMKK1 rs7214723 CC genotype and recessive CC genotype conferred a significantly decreased risk of death in patients who were male, had a smoking history, or had stage III + IV cancer, compared with the TT and TT + TC genotypes. Relative to the TT + TC genotypes, the rs7214723 recessive CC genotype was also associated with a decreased risk of death in patients aged < 60 years (CC vs. TT + TC: adjusted hazard ratio = 0.59, 95% CI, 0.37-0.93, P = 0.024) and patients with squamous cell carcinoma (CC vs. TT + TC: adjusted hazard ratio = 0.65, 95% CI, 0.44-0.98, P = 0.038). Remarkably, CRISPR/Cas9-guided single nucleotide editing demonstrated that CAMKK1 rs7214723 T > C mutation significantly inhibits cell proliferation and migration and promotes cell apoptosis.ConclusionsCAMKK1 SNP rs7214723 may be a significant prognostic factor for the risk of death among patients with lung cancer.

Sox18 is a developmental gene that encodes transcription factors. It has been indicated as be a key gene affecting the growth and development of hair follicles, in which dermal papilla cells (DPCs) have been demonstrated to play an important role through their ability to induce the formation of hair follicles. Pre-laboratory studies have found that Sox18 is differentially expressed in the dermal papilla cells of different pattern types of Hu sheep. We speculated that Sox18 plays an important role in the dermal papilla cells of Hu sheep. In our study, we analyzed the effect of Sox18 on the induction ability of DPCs in order to elucidate the function and molecular mechanism of Sox18 in the DPCs of Hu sheep. We first identified the expression of Sox18 in the DPCs of Hu sheep by immunofluorescence staining. We then used alkaline phosphatase staining, cell morphology observations and RT-PCR to detect the effect of Sox18 on the induction of DPCs after overexpression of or interference with Sox18. We also used RT-PCR, WB and immunofluorescence staining to detect the effect of Sox18 on the Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway in DPCs. We found that Sox18 was specifically expressed in the DPCs of Hu sheep, and that Sox18 could enhance the alkaline phosphatase activity in the DPCs of Hu sheep and accelerate cell agglutination. The results of RT-PCR revealed that Sox18 promoted the mRNA expression of Versican, HHIP and FGFRI, and inhibited the mRNA expression of BMP4 and WIF1. Further studies showed that Sox18 promoted the expression of β-catenin and activated the Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway in DPCs. When the Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway of DPCs was activated, the induction ability of DPCs was enhanced. Overall, we believe that Sox18 could enhance the induction ability of DPCs in Hu sheep and regulate the induction ability of DPCs through the Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway.

A self-standing, flexible and lithium dendrite growth-suppressing composite gel polymer electrolyte membrane was designed for the use of room-temperature lithium ion batteries. The multi-functional composite semi-interpenetrating polymer network (referred to as “Cs-IPN”) electrolyte membrane was fabricated by combining a UV-cured ethoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylate (ETPTA) macromer with alumina nanoparticles in the presence of liquid electrolyte and thermoplastic linear poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The polymer electrolyte membrane exhibits a semi-interpenetrating polymer network structure and a higher room temperature ionic conductivity, which impart the electrolyte with a significant cycling (120 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles) and a remarkable rate (137 mAh g−1 at 0.1 °C, 130 mAh g−1 at 0.5 °C, 119 mAh g−1 at 1 °C and 100 mAh g−1 at 2 °C) performance in Li/LiFePO4 battery. More importantly, the polymer electrolyte possesses superior ability to inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites, which makes it promising for next generation lithium ion batteries. Keywords: Gel polymer electrolytes, Semi-interpenetrating polymer network, UV-Cured reaction, Ionic conductivity, Lithium ion batteries

The lithium metal is a promising anode material for batteries; however, the growth of dendrite and its instability against moisture are two technical challenges. Here the authors address both issues by introducing a bifunctional layer consisting of hydrophobic graphite fluoride and lithium fluoride.

Ammonia (NH3) is a major gaseous pollutant in livestock production and has adverse effects on production, health and welfare of animals. The liver is one of the target organs of NH3, and excessive NH3 inhalation can induce liver damage. However, the toxicity assessment of NH3 on pig liver and its mechanism have not been reported yet. Recently, transcriptome analysis has become a major method to study the toxic mechanism of pollutants in environmental toxicology. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the effects of excessive NH3 inhalation on the liver of fattening pig through chemical analysis, ELISA, transcriptome analysis and real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). Our results showed that the transcriptome analysis database of fattening pig liver under excessive NH3 exposure, and 449 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (including 181 up-regulated DEGs and 168 down-regulated DEGs) were found. Some genes associated with the 3 Gene Ontology (GO) terms (liver function, immune, antioxidant defense) were validated by quantitative real-time PCR. In addition, the activities of GPT and GOT in NH3 group were significantly increased by 63.5% and 37.4% (P

Machine learning (ML) methods have shown promising results in identifying genes when applied to large transcriptome datasets. However, no attempt has been made to compare the performance of combining different ML methods together in the prediction of high feed efficiency (HFE) and low feed efficiency (LFE) animals. In this study, using RNA sequencing data of five tissues (adrenal gland, hypothalamus, liver, skeletal muscle, and pituitary) from nine HFE and nine LFE Nellore bulls, we evaluated the prediction accuracies of five analytical methods in classifying FE animals. These included two conventional methods for differential gene expression (DGE) analysis (t-test and edgeR) as benchmarks, and three ML methods: Random Forests (RFs), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and combination of both RF and XGBoost (RX). Utility of a subset of candidate genes selected from each method for classification of FE animals was assessed by support vector machine (SVM). Among all methods, the smallest subsets of genes (117) identified by RX outperformed those chosen by t-test, edgeR, RF, or XGBoost in classification accuracy of animals. Gene co-expression network analysis confirmed the interactivity existing among these genes and their relevance within the network related to their prediction ranking based on ML. The results demonstrate a great potential for applying a combination of ML methods to large transcriptome datasets to identify biologically important genes for accurately classifying FE animals.

Pavement texture characteristics can reflect early performance decay, skid resistance, and other information. However, most statistical texture indicators cannot express this difference. This study adopts 3D image camera equipment to collect texture data from laboratory asphalt mixture specimens and actual pavement. A pre-processing method was carried out, including data standardisation, slope correction, missing value and outlier processing, and envelope processing. Then the texture data were calculated based on texture separation, texture power spectrum, grey level co-occurrence matrix, and fractal theory to acquire six leading texture indicators and eight extended indicators. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyse the correlation of different texture indicators. The distinction vector based on the information entropy is calculated to analyse the distinction of the indicators. High correlations between ENE (energy) and ENT (entropy), ENT and D (Minkowski dimension) were found. The CON (contrast) has low correlations with HT (macro-texture power spectrum area), ENT and D. However, the differentiation of ENE and HT is more prominent, and the differentiation of the CON is smaller. ENE, ENT, CON and D indicators based on macro-texture and the corresponding original texture have strong linear correlations. However, the microtexture indicators are not linearly correlated with the corresponding original texture indicators. D, WT (micro-texture power spectrum area) and ENT exhibit high degrees of numerical concentration for the same road sections and may be more statistically helpful in distinguishing the characteristics of the pavement performance decay of the road sections.

Hysteresis is one of the main factors affecting the measurement accuracy of TMR sensors, especially in dynamic measurements. The commonly used Preisach hysteresis compensation model has some problems, such as complex modeling and difficulty in accurately measuring the step time, resulting in low accuracy in dynamic measurements. In this paper, considering the distribution characteristics of the conversion time of the hysteresis operator in dynamic measurements, a dynamic hysteresis model based on the probability estimation of the hysteresis operator and its conversion time is proposed. Compared with the existing methods, this method only needs to calculate the distribution of the sensor hysteresis operator to realize the calculation of hysteresis characteristics without a physical model or fitting algorithm. It has good generalization performance and a corresponding fast speed. In the test of two typical TMR sensors, compared with the transmission Preisach model, the maximum error of this method is reduced by 46.7%, the variance can be reduced by 90.2%, and the average value can be reduced by 65.1%.

Ammonia (NH3) is a major pollutant in livestock houses and atmospheric environment. It has been demonstrated that NH3 can cause a series of damage to animals and human. However, toxicity evaluation of NH3 on farm animals was rarely reported, especially in the intestinal microflora. Therefore, in this study, twenty-four 125-day-old fattening pigs were randomly divided into 4 groups: control group, NH3 group (88.2 mg m−3

Both computed tomography (CT) and notched semicircular bend (NSCB) tests are performed for coals with high and medium bursting proneness to extract the scientific expression of pore-fracture and its influence mechanism on the tensile failure behavior. The acoustic emission (AE) parameters in the sample during loading and failure are monitored, and the influence mechanism of pore-fracture on tensile failure behavior of coal is analyzed. The result illustrates that the spatial distribution feature of the pore-fracture in coals with high and medium bursting proneness is extremely different. The deformation and failure mode of the coals are affected by many factors, loading mode, notch depth and width, mechanical properties of matrix and minal, spatial distribution feature of pore-fracture, etc. The influence of primary pore-fracture in the coal on the extension and penetration of the secondary fracture could be divided into two types: bifurcation and promotion, which would cause different local damage in the sample and affect the final failure mode. The feature of acoustic emission parameters indicates that the deformation and failure process of a sample under loading could be divided into four stages: compaction stage, elastic deformation stage, displacement plastic growth stage, and post peak failure stage, which is the result of comprehensive action of many factors. The evolution process of secondary fracture is accompanied by the dissipation of elastic strain energy and the intensification of internal damage of coal, which reflects the failure process of coal.

In order to study the compressive deformation and energy evolution characteristics of concrete under dynamic loading, impact compression tests with impact velocities of 5, 6, and 7 m/s were carried out on concrete samples with aggregate volume ratios of 0, 32%, 37%, and 42%, respectively, using a split Hopkinson pressure bar test apparatus. The broken concrete pieces after destruction were collected and arranged. The fractal characteristics of fragmentation distribution of concrete specimens with different aggregate rates under impact were discussed, and the roughness of the fragment surface was characterized by the fractal dimension of the broken fragment and the crack surface energy was calculated. In addition, the analytical equation of the fractal dimension of the broken fragment and the crack surface energy was established. The relationship between the specimen energy absorption and the crack surface energy was compared and analyzed. The results show that the concrete specimens are mainly tensile split failure modes under different impact speeds. The fractal dimension, absorption energy, and crack surface energy all increase with the increase in impact speed and decrease with the increase in the aggregate rate. When the aggregate rate is different, the effective utilization rate of the absorbed energy is the largest when the aggregate content is 37%. The surface energy of the crack can be used to estimate the concrete dynamic intensity.

The current formula of critical hydraulic gradient is not adapted to solve critical hydraulic gradient of cohesive soil. Assume that the seepage failure mode of the cohesive soil foundation was cylindrical or inverted circular truncated cone, based on the calculation formula of the critical hydraulic gradient of Terzaghi, the analytical formula of the critical hydraulic gradient considering the influence of the shear strength of the soil was derived. Then, the seepage failure process of the clay layer was simulated numerically, and the effects of the clay layer thickness, failure radius, and shear strength indexes on the critical hydraulic slope were analyzed. The comparison results show that the numerical test results are in good agreement with the calculated results of the new formula. In addition, the critical hydraulic gradient of sandy loam and loess under different working conditions was studied severally by a self-made permeation failure instrument. The results show that the critical hydraulic gradient decreases with the increase of soil thickness and failure radius, and the maximum error between the test and the corresponding formula results is no more than 16%.

An ultraviolet (UV) photodetector based on hydrothermally processed ZnO nanorods (ZnO NRs) decorated by gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) was demonstrated to exhibit extraordinary optoelectronic properties. Due the implementation of Au NPs, the UV responsivity and specific detectivity reached 70 A/W and 3.41 $\times$ 1012 cm Hz1/2 W−1, respectively, which were enhanced by approximately four times at an excitation wavelength of 365 nm compared with those of pristine ZnO NRs. Moreover, such photodetector shows good flexibility as well due to the mica substrate, which maintains almost constant performances under different bending radii of curvature and repeatable bending test more than 200 cycles. The photodetector also exhibits good transparency, giving it the potential of integration with other light photodetectors. In addition, a schematic band-diagram and the accompanying finite-difference time-domain analysis were performed to reveal the electron transfer and electric field distribution of ZnO NRs decorated with Au NPs. Our results revealed that the noble metal modified plasmon-enhanced ZnO NRs photodetector with high responsivity, low cost has a great potential for application in manufacturing flexible and transparent integrated optoelectronics.

Tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) sensors have broad application prospects because of their high sensitivity and small volume. However, the inherent hysteresis characteristics of TMR affect its applications in high accuracy scenarios. It is essential to build a model to describe the attributes of hysteresis of TMR accurately. Preisach model is one of the popular models to describe the behavior of inherent hysteresis for TMR, whereas it presents low accuracy in high-order hysteresis reversal curves. Furthermore, the traditional Preisach model has strict congruence constraints, and the amount of data seriously affects the accuracy. This paper proposes a hysteresis model from a probability perspective. This model has the same computational complexity as the classic Preisach model while presenting higher accuracy, especially in high-order hysteresis reversal curves. When measuring a small amount of data, the error of this method is significantly reduced compared with the classical Preisach model. Besides, the proposed model’s congruence in this paper only needs equal vertical chords.

Abstract This study reports an acupuncture needle modified with an iron-porphyrin functionalized graphene composite (FGPC) for real-time monitoring of nitric oxide (NO) release in acupoints of rats. A gold film was first deposited to the needle surface to enhance the conductivity. The FGPC was prepared via hydrothermal synthesis, and subsequently applied to the tip surface of acupuncture needle by electrochemical deposition method. The functionalized needle enabled a specific and sensitive detection of NO based on the favorably catalytic properties of iron-porphyrin and the excellent conductivity of graphene. Amperometric data showed that the needle achieved not only a low detection limit down to 3.2 nM in PBS solution, but also a satisfactory selectivity. Interestingly, the functionalized needle could be inserted into the acupoints of rats for real-time monitoring of NO in vivo. It was found that a remarkable response to NO was respectively obtained in different acupoints when stimulated by L-arginine (L-Arg), revealing that the release of NO was detectable in acupoints. We expect this work would showcase the applications of acupuncture needle in detecting some important signaling molecules in vivo, and exploring the mechanism of acupuncture treatment.

A low-density parity-check (LDPC)-coded free space optical (FSO) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system over aggregated exponentiated Weibull (EW) fading channels with pointing errors considered is investigated. On the basis of the probability density function and cumulative distribution function of the composite channel gain, the analytical expressions of average bit error rate (ABER) of this FSO-OFDM system with on-off keying, K-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and phase shift keying (PSK) modulation schemes are derived by using generalized Gauss-Lagurre quadrature rule, respectively. Monte Carlo simulations are provided to verify the validity of these three expressions. Furthermore, LDPC codes are applied in the simulation to improve the ABER performance. The results show that the ABER performance of 16-QAM-OFDM is better than that of the 16-PSK-OFDM system over composite EW fading channels, regardless of the turbulence strengths. For the modulation schemes involved, the degradation due to the increase of atmospheric turbulence strength for turbulence only scenario is more severe when compared with pointing errors included case. The study also demonstrates that significant coding gain improvement can be achieved by LDPC codes over EW fading channels, especially under strong turbulence condition. With pointing errors, more coding gain can be obtained when the jitter increases or beamwidth decreases.

A ferroelectric thin film transistor (Fe-TFT) based on annealing-free hafnium zirconium oxide (HfZrO) is demonstrated in this paper. Indium zinc oxide was used as channel semiconductor. The as-deposited 30-nm HfZrO film implemented as gate dielectric was proved to be crystallized with a mixture of monoclinic, tetragonal, and orthorhombic phases and showed ferroelectricity naturally. Thus, high temperature annealing process was avoided. The transfer characteristic of this Fe-TFT was demonstrated with operating voltage that was smaller than 3 V, memory window about 1 V, and small subthreshold slope (SS) about 82 mV/dec. The charge trapping phenomenon in this device was explored by characterizing the transfer curves with different ranges of gate voltages. This HfZrO-based device with low processing thermal budget and small SS has high potential for Fe-TFT memory which can be used in oxide semiconductor-based systems and applications.