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Anaplasma (formerly Ehrlichia) phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Neorickettsia (formerly Ehrlichia) sennetsu are intracellular vector-borne pathogens that cause human ehrlichiosis, an emerging infectious disease. We present the complete genome sequences of these organisms along with comparisons to other organisms in the Rickettsiales order. Ehrlichia spp. and Anaplasma spp. display a unique large expansion of immunodominant outer membrane proteins facilitating antigenic variation. All Rickettsiales have a diminished ability to synthesize amino acids compared to their closest free-living relatives. Unlike members of the Rickettsiaceae family, these pathogenic Anaplasmataceae are capable of making all major vitamins, cofactors, and nucleotides, which could confer a beneficial role in the invertebrate vector or the vertebrate host. Further analysis identified proteins potentially involved in vacuole confinement of the Anaplasmataceae, a life cycle involving a hematophagous vector, vertebrate pathogenesis, human pathogenesis, and lack of transovarial transmission. These discoveries provide significant insights into the biology of these obligate intracellular pathogens. © 2006 Dunning Hotopp.

A comprehensive study utilizing first-principles calculations has examined the heterogeneous nucleation of TiN on Al2O3 in steel and the impact of alloying elements on this process. Additionally, the study delved into how this nucleation affects local corrosion activity. The findings indicate that alloying elements such as Cr, Mn, Mo, and V tend to concentrate at the Al2O3 (0001)/TiN (001) interface, enhancing the interface's stability, thereby favoring the heterogeneous nucleation of TiN on Al2O3. Consequently, the nucleation leads to the formation of interfaces, namely Al2O3 (0001)/TiN (001) and TiN (100)/bcc-Fe (100), which are less prone to adsorbing chloride ions, replacing the Al2O3(0001)/bcc-Fe (110) interface that can stably adsorb chloride ions, consequently reducing the adsorption of chloride ions at grain boundaries. Moreover, it is difficult for Cr atoms to incorporate into the TiN structure, while Ti atoms readily replace Cr in CrN. TiN exhibits a lower formation energy compared to CrN, and the precipitation of TiN mitigates the formation of Cr-depleted zones, thereby inhibiting local corrosion.

A henge-like metaring (HMR) is proposed for improving the radiation pattern roundness of monopole antennas off-center mounted on a finite ground by localizing the radiation from the monopole and suppressing the scattering by the ground. The improved patterns enhance uniform coverage of multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The study reveals that the radiation pattern of an off-center monopole is distorted by the asymmetric ground currents excited by both the feed and the radiation of the monopole. The distorted radiation patterns severely degrade wireless communication link quality. The HMR, composed of an annular array of mushroom unit cells, simultaneously functions as an electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) and a radiator, and encircles the monopole to form a henge monopole antenna (HMA). The HMR as an EBG is used to suppress the ground currents outside the HMR analyzed by an equivalent circuit model. The HMR as a radiator is designed to decouple the monopole from the ground with its elevated radiation pattern using characteristic mode analysis. As examples, two prototypes of single and four off-center MIMO HMAs are designed and investigated in the 2.45-GHz band. Simulated and measured results show that the single HMA and each of the four HMAs achieve the un-roundness of the radiation pattern at θ = 65° plane lower than 2 dB and 3 dB in the 2.45-GHz band. As a result, near the radiation nulls, the SNR is improved by 6 dB. The compact construction and efficient current suppression facilitate the application of HMAs in multi-antenna systems above a finite ground with uniform coverage and reliable connections.

Background: Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is a major contributor to urban pollution and varies sharply at the street level, posing a challenge for air quality modeling. Traditional land use regression models combined with data from fixed monitoring stations may be unable to predict and characterize fine-scale TRAP, especially in complex urban environments influenced by various features. This study aims to estimate fine-scale (50 m) concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NO and NO₂) in Hong Kong using a deep learning (DL) structured model. Methods: We collected data from mobile air quality sensors on buses and crowd-sourced Google real-time traffic status as a proxy for real-time traffic emissions. Our DL model was compared with existing machine learning models to assess performance improvements. Using an interpretable machine learning method, we hierarchically evaluated the global, local, and interaction effects for different features. Results: Our DL model outperformed existing machine learning models, achieving R2 values of 0.72 for NO and 0.69 for NO₂. The incorporation of traffic status as a key predictor improved model performance by 9% to 17%. The interpretable machine learning method revealed the importance of traffic-related features and their pairwise interactions. Conclusion: The results indicate that traffic-related features significantly contribute to TRAP and provide insights and guidance for urban planning. By incorporating crowd-sourced Google traffic information, we assessed traffic abatement scenarios that could inform targeted strategies for improving urban air quality.

Background ICU patients have a high incidence of VTE. The American College of Chest Physicians antithrombotic practice guidelines recommend assessing the risk of VTE in all ICU patients. Although several VTE risk assessment tools exist to evaluate the risk factors among hospitalized patients, there is no validated tool specifically for assessing the risk of VTE in ICU patients. Methods A retrospective corhort study was conducted between June 2018 and October 2022. We obtained data from the electronic medical records of patients with a variety of diagnoses admitted to a mixed ICU. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the independent risk factors of VTE. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to analyse the predictive accuracy of different tools. Results A total of 566 patients were included, and VTE occurred in 89 patients (15.7%), 62.9% was asymptomatic VTE. A prediction model (the ICU-VTE prediction model) was derived from the independent risk factors identified using multivariate analysis. The ICU-VTE prediction model included eight independent risk factors: history of VTE (3 points), immobilization ≥4 days (3 points), multiple trauma (3 points), age ≥70 years (2 points), platelet count >250 × 10 3 /μL (2 points), central venous catheterization (1 point), invasive mechanical ventilation (1 point), and respiratory failure or heart failure (1 point). Patients with a score of 0–4 points had a low (1.81%) risk of VTE. Patients were at intermediate risk, scoring 5–6 points, and the overall incidence of VTE in the intermediate-risk category was 17.1% (odds ratio [OR], 11.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.2-29.4). Those with a score ≥7 points had a high (44.1%) risk of VTE (OR, 42.6; 95% CI, 16.4-110.3). The area under the curve (AUC) of the ICU-VTE prediction model was 0.838, and the differences in the AUCs were statistically significant between the ICU-VTE prediction model and the other three tools (ICU-VTE score, Z = 3.723, P

Phosphorus (P) is a crucial macronutrient for plant growth and development, and low-Pi stress poses a significant limitation to maize production. While the role of the SPX domain in encoding proteins involved in phosphate (Pi) homeostasis and signaling transduction has been extensively studied in other model plants, the molecular and functional characteristics of the SPX gene family members in maize remain largely unexplored. In this study, we identified six SPX members, and the phylogenetic analysis of ZmSPXs revealed a close relationship with SPX genes in rice. The promoter regions of ZmSPXs were abundant in biotic and abiotic stress-related elements, particularly associated with various hormone signaling pathways, indicating potential intersections between Pi signaling and hormone signaling pathways. Additionally, ZmSPXs displayed tissue-specific expression patterns, with significant and differential induction in anthers and roots, and were localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm. The interaction between ZmSPXs and ZmPHRs was established via yeast two-hybrid assays. Furthermore, overexpression of ZmSPX1 enhanced root sensitivity to Pi deficiency and high-Pi conditions in Arabidopsis thaliana. Phenotypic identification of the maize transgenic lines demonstrated the negative regulatory effect on the P concentration of stems and leaves as well as yield. Notably, polymorphic sites including 34 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and seven insertions/deletions (InDels) in ZmSPX1 were significantly associated with 16 traits of low-Pi tolerance index. Furthermore, significant sites were classified into five haplotypes, and haplotype5 can enhance biomass production by promoting root development. Taken together, our results suggested that ZmSPX family members possibly play a pivotal role in Pi stress signaling in plants by interacting with ZmPHRs. Significantly, ZmSPX1 was involved in the Pi-deficiency response verified in transgenic Arabidopsis and can affect the Pi concentration of maize tissues and yield. This work lays the groundwork for deeper exploration of the maize SPX family and could inform the development of maize varieties with improved Pi efficiency.

Cargo terminals, as pivotal hubs of mechanical activities, maritime shipping, and land transportation, are significant sources of air pollutants, exhibiting considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity due to the complex and irregular nature of emissions. This study employed a high-density air sensor network with 17 sites across four functional zones in two Shanghai cargo terminals to monitor NO and NO2 concentrations with high spatiotemporal resolution post sensor data validation against regulatory monitoring stations. Notably, NO and NO2 concentrations within the terminal surged during the night, peaking at 06:00 h, likely due to local regulations on heavy-duty diesel trucks. Spatial analysis revealed the highest NO concentrations in the core operational areas and adjacent roads, with significantly lower levels in the outer ring, indicating strong emission sources and limited dispersion. Employing the lowest percentile method for baseline extraction from high-resolution data, this study identified local emissions as the primary source of NO, constituting over 80% of total emissions. Elevated background concentrations of NO2 suggested a gradual oxidation of NO into NO2, with local emissions contributing to 32–70% of the total NO2 concentration. These findings provide valuable insights into the NO and NO2 emission characteristics across different terminal areas, aiding decision-makers in developing targeted emission control policies.

Pollution data were collected at five schools in Hong Kong using low-cost, sensor-based monitors both indoors and outdoors during two consecutive high pollution episodes. The pollutants monitored included NO2, O3, PM2.5, and PM10, which were also used as input to a health risk communication protocol known as Air Quality Health Index (AQHI). CO2 was also measured simultaneously. The study aimed to assess the relationship between indoor pollutant concentrations and AQHI levels with those outdoors and to evaluate the efficacy of building operating practices in protecting students from pollution exposure. The results indicate that the regular air quality monitoring stations and outdoor pollutant levels at schools exhibit similar patterns. School AQHI levels indoors were generally lower than those outdoors, with PM10 levels showing a larger proportional contribution to the calculated values indoors. NO2 levels in one school were in excess of outdoor values. CO2 monitored in classrooms commonly exceeded indoor guidelines, suggesting poor ventilation. One school that employed air filtration had lower indoor PM concentrations compared to other schools; however, they were still similar to those outdoors. O3 levels indoors were consistently lower than those outdoors. This study underscores the utility of on-site, sensor-based monitoring for assessing the health impacts of indoor and community exposure to urban air pollutants. The findings suggest a need for improved ventilation and more strategic air intake placement to enhance indoor air quality.

Air pollutants from traffic make an important contribution to human exposure, with pedestrians likely to experience rapid fluctuation and high concentrations on the pavements of busy streets. This monitoring campaign was on Hennessy Road in Hong Kong, a densely populated city with deep canyons, crowded footpaths and low wind speeds. Kerbside NOx concentrations were measured using electrochemical sensors with baseline correction and subsequently deconvoluted to determine concentrations at 1-s resolution to study the dispersion of exhaust gases within the first few metres of their on-road source. The pulses of NOx from passing vehicles were treated as segments of a Gaussian plume originating at the tailpipe. The concentration profiles in segments were fit to a simple analytical equation assuming a continuous line source with R2 > 0.92. Least squares fitting parameters could be attributed to vehicle speed and source strength, dispersion, and sensor position. The width of the plume was proportional to the inverse of vehicle speed. The source strength of NOx from passing vehicles could be interpreted in terms of individual emissions, with a median value of approximately 0.18 g/s, but this was sensitive to vehicle speed and exhaust pipe position. The current study improves understanding of rapid changes in pollutant concentration in the kerbside environment and suggests opportunities to establish the contribution from traffic flow to pedestrian exposure in a dynamic heavily occupied urban microenvironment.

Cancer cell lines are essential in cancer research, yet accurate authentication of these cell lines can be challenging, particularly for consanguineous cell lines with close genetic similarities. We introduce a new Cancer Cell Line Hunter (CCLHunter) method to tackle this challenge. This approach utilizes the information of single nucleotide polymorphisms, expression profiles, and kindred topology to authenticate 1389 human cancer cell lines accurately. CCLHunter can precisely and efficiently authenticate cell lines from consanguineous lineages and those derived from other tissues of the same individual. Our evaluation results indicate that CCLHunter has a complete accuracy rate of 93.27%, with an accuracy of 89.28% even for consanguineous cell lines, outperforming existing methods. Additionally, we provide convenient access to CCLHunter through standalone software and a web server at https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/cclhunter.

The development of antenna technology has always been restricted by its essential physical limits, but the advancement of artificial structures with unique electric properties, namely metamaterials, offers great opportunities for improving the performance of existing antenna designs and introducing new functions. This article introduces the concepts of "metamaterials" and "metasurfaces". The design of metasurfaces and metasurface antennas is introduced in detail with the example of the microwave meta-lens. The latest progress in the research and development (R&D) of microwave metantenna technology, namely metamaterial and metasurface based antennas, is then briefly summarized. More importantly, the article offers thoughts on future key topics of microwave meta-antenna R&D.

Abstract Gliomas, the most lethal brain tumors, often exhibit resistance to conventional chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. This study reveals that sertindole, a potent dopamine D2 receptor antagonist primarily designed as an antipsychotic medication for schizophrenia, effectively inhibits glioma progression. Our findings demonstrate that sertindole suppresses the proliferation of U251 and U87 tumor cells, impedes cell cycle progression in vitro, and curtails xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Moreover, we present compelling evidence demonstrating the ability of sertindole to enhance the cellular response to the chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide both in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, our findings reveal that sertindole effectively suppresses the self‐renewal capacity and expression of stemness‐associated genes, such as Nanog and Sox2, in glioma tumor cells and glioma stem cells. A mechanistic investigation demonstrated that sertindole enhances the formation of autophagosome–lysosome complexes while concurrently impeding autophagic flux through the inhibition of lysosomal hydrolytic enzymes CTSD and CTSB, ultimately resulting in decreased growth of tumor cells. In conclusion, our findings suggest that sertindole has the potential to develop into a potent antiglioma therapeutic agent.

Spray cooling is an effective heat dissipation technology and is widely used in the heat dissipation of encapsulated structures, but most of the research has only focused on the heat transfer performance itself and has lacked the analysis of surface stress and deformation. In this paper, a thermal stress coupling model was established under spray conditions, and the influence of spray parameters such as the spray height, spray flow, and nozzle inclination on heat transfer, surface stress, and deformation were studied. The result indicated that the lower the surface temperature, the smaller the stress and deformation. What is more, there was an optimal spray height (15 mm) to achieve the best heat transfer, and the surface stress and deformation were also minimal at the same time which the values were 28.97 MPa and 4.24 × 10−3 mm, respectively. The larger the spray flow rate, the better the heat transfer effect and the smaller the surface stress and deformation. When the spray flow rate was 24.480 L/h, the minimum values of surface stress and deformation were 25.42 MPa and 3.89 × 10−3 mm, respectively. The uniformity of surface stress distribution could be effectively improved with the increase in flow rate. Compared to 10 and 15 degree nozzle inclination, when the nozzle was perpendicular to the cooling surface, the surface stress and deformation were minimal.

In this work, a lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for studying microchannel gas flow is developed in the multi-flow regime. In the LBM, by comparing previous studies’ results on effective viscosity in multi-flow regimes, the values of the rarefaction factor applicable to multi-flow regions were determined, and the relationship between relaxation time and Kn number with the rarefaction factor is given. The Kn number is introduced into the second-order slip boundary condition together with the combined bounce-back/specular-reflection (CBBSR) scheme to capture the gas flow in the multi-flow regime. Sensitivity analysis of the dimensionless flow rate to adjustable parameters using the Taguchi method was carried out, and the values of adjustable parameters were determined based on the results of the sensitivity analysis. The results show that the dimensionless flow rate is more sensitive to j than h. Numerical simulations of Poiseuille flow and pulsating flow in a microchannel with second-order slip boundary conditions are carried out to validate the method. The results show that the velocity profile and dimensionless flow rate simulated by the present numerical simulation method in this work are found in the multi-flow regime, and the phenomenon of annular velocity profile in the microchannel is reflected in the phases.

The study of yield traits can reveal the genetic architecture of grain yield for improving maize production. In this study, an association panel comprising 362 inbred lines and a recombinant inbred line population derived from X178 × 9782 were used to identify candidate genes for nine yield traits. High-priority overlap (HPO) genes, which are genes prioritized in a genome-wide association study (GWAS), were investigated using coexpression networks. The GWAS identified 51 environmentally stable SNPs in two environments and 36 pleiotropic SNPs, including three SNPs with both attributes. Seven hotspots containing 41 trait-associated SNPs were identified on six chromosomes by permutation. Pyramiding of superior alleles showed a highly positive effect on all traits, and the phenotypic values of ear diameter and ear weight consistently corresponded with the number of superior alleles in tropical and temperate germplasm. A total of 61 HPO genes were detected after trait-associated SNPs were combined with the coexpression networks. Linkage mapping identified 16 environmentally stable and 16 pleiotropic QTL. Seven SNPs that were located in QTL intervals were assigned as consensus SNPs for the yield traits. Among the candidate genes predicted by our study, some genes were confirmed to function in seed development. The gene Zm00001d016656 encoding a serine/threonine protein kinase was associated with five different traits across multiple environments. Some genes were uniquely expressed in specific tissues and at certain stages of seed development. These findings will provide genetic information and resources for molecular breeding of maize grain yield.

The translation behaviors of oscillating bubbles are closely related to the polymerizations and dispersions between them, which are crucial for the ultrasonic cavitation effect. In this study, six types of translational motion of bubbles with a wide range of sizes (2–100 μm) in the R01-R02 plane are investigated. Our results demonstrate that in addition (to the 2nd order harmonic), the 1/2 order subharmonic can change the bubble pairs from the three states of the attraction, stable after attraction, and repulsion to that of the repulsion, coalescence, and attraction, respectively. Furthermore, within the range of the main resonance radius and the 1/2 order subharmonic resonance radius, the chaotic bubble pairs with alternating attractive and repulsive forces appear in the region between the coalescence pairs and stable pairs after attraction. Finally, the corresponding physical mechanisms of the chaotic translational motions are also revealed.

It is difficult to measure the friction torque of bearing parts in practice. In order to study the variation law of the friction torque of rolling-sliding bearings and the influence of the structure parameters on it， the simulation analysis of rolling-sliding bearings is carried out by using Abaqus software to guide the structural design of the new bearing. The results show that the friction torque of the rolling-sliding bearing is from small to big， then to small， finally to stable. And the starting friction torque of the rolling-sliding bearing increases with the increase of the radial clearance and decreases with the increase of the clearance between the roller and the slider， the starting friction torque between the slider and the inner ring increases with the increase of the inner arc radius of the slider， the starting friction torque between the slider and the outer ring decreases with the increase of the outer arc radius of the slider. And after stable motion， the friction torque of the rolling-sliding bearing decreases with the increase of the radial clearance and the clearance between the roller and the slider， and the friction torque between the slider and the inner ring increases with the increase of the inner arc radius of the slider， and the friction torque between the slider and the outer ring decreases with the increase of the outer arc radius of the slider.

Abstract Background There is substantial evidence that Eucalyptus for nitrogen (N) absorption and increasing the growth benefit from the introduction of N-fixing species, but the underlying mechanisms for microbially mediated soil N cycling remains unclear. Methods We investigated the changes of soil pH, soil water content (SWC), soil organic carbon (SOC), total N (TN), inorganic N (NH4 +-N and NO3 −-N), microbial biomass and three N-degrading enzyme activities as well as the biomass and N productivity of Eucalyptus between a pure Eucalyptus urophylla × grandis plantation (PP) and a mixed Dalbergia odorifera and Eucalyptus plantation (MP) in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Results Compared with the PP site, soil pH, SWC, SOC and TN in both seasons were significantly higher at the MP site, which in turn enhanced microbial biomass and the activities of soil N-degrading enzymes. The stimulated microbial activity at the MP site likely accelerate soil N mineralization, providing more available N (NH4 +-N in both seasons and NO3 −-N in the wet-hot season) for Eucalyptus absorption. Overall, the N productivity of Eucalyptus at the MP site was increased by 19.7% and 21.9%, promoting the biomass increases of 15.1% and 19.2% in the dry-cold season and wet-hot season, respectively. Conclusion Our results reveal the importance of microbially mediated soil N cycling in the N absorption on Eucalyptus. Introduction of D. odorifera enhances Eucalyptus biomass and N productivity, improve soil N availability and increased soil C and N concentration, which hence can be considered to be an effective sustainable management option of Eucalyptus plantations.

A deficiency in the macronutrient phosphate (Pi) brings about various changes in plants at the morphological, physiological and molecular levels. However, the molecular mechanism for regulating Pi homeostasis in response to low-Pi remains poorly understood, particularly in maize (Zea mays L.), which is a staple crop and requires massive amounts of Pi. Therefore, in this study, we performed expression profiling of the shoots and roots of maize seedlings with Pi-tolerant genotype at both the transcriptomic and proteomic levels using RNA sequencing and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ). We identified 1944 differentially expressed transcripts and 340 differentially expressed proteins under low-Pi conditions. Most of the differentially expressed genes were clustered as regulators, such as transcription factors involved in the Pi signaling pathway at the transcript level. However, the more functional and metabolism-related genes showed expression changes at the protein level. Moreover, under low-Pi conditions, Pi transporters and phosphatases were specifically induced in the roots at both the transcript and protein levels, and increased amounts of mRNA and protein of two purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) and one UDP-sulfoquinovose synthase (SQD) were specifically detected in the roots. The new insights provided by this study will help to improve the P-utilization efficiency of maize.

Obesity is resulted from energy surplus and is characterized by abnormal adipose tissue accumulation and/or distribution. Adipokines secreted by different regional adipose tissue can induce changes in key proteins of the insulin signaling pathway in hepatocytes and result in impaired hepatic glucose metabolism. This study aimed to investigate whether exenatide affects key proteins of IRS2/PI3K/Akt2 signaling pathway in hepatocytes altered by the different regional fat depots. Six non-obese patients without endocrine diseases were selected as the research subjects. Their subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT)were co-cultured with HepG2 cells in the transwell chamber. In the presence or absence of exenatide, adipokines content in the supernatant of each experimental group was detected by ELISA. In addition, HepG2 cells in each co-culture group with and without insulin were collected, and the expression of key proteins IRS2, p-IRS2(S731), PI3K-p85, Akt2, and p-Akt2(S473) was detected by western blotting (WB). The results showed that the adipokines IL-8, MCP-1, VEGF, and sTNFR2 in the supernatant of HepG2 cells induced by different regional adipose tissue were significantly higher than those in the HepG2 group, and VAT released more adipokines than SAT. Furthermore, these adipokines were significantly inhibited by exenatide. Importantly, the different regional fat depot affects the IRS2/PI3K/Akt2 insulin signaling pathway of hepatocytes. Exenatide can up-regulate the expression of hepatocyte proteins IRS2, PI3K-p85, p-Akt2(S731) inhibited by adipose tissue, and down-regulate the expression of hepatocyte proteins p-IRS2(S731) promoted by adipose tissue. The effect of VAT on the expression of these key proteins in hepatocytes is more significant than that of SAT. But there was no statistical difference in the expression of Akt2 protein among each experimental group, suggesting that exenatide has no influence on the expression of Akt2 protein in hepatocytes. In conclusion, exenatide may improve hepatic insulin resistance (IR) by inhibiting adipokines and regulating the expression of key proteins in the IRS2/PI3K/Akt2 pathway.

Gliomas account for 75% of all primary malignant brain tumors in adults and are associated with high mortality. Mounting evidence has shown that NCAPG2 is differentially expressed in various cancers. However, the prognostic value and immune functions of NCAPG2 in low-grade glioma (LGG) remain unresolved. In the present study, we revealed that NCAPG2 was up-regulated in LGG, and its higher expression was associated with adverse clinical outcomes and poor clinical characteristics, including WHO grade, IDH mutation, 1p/19q codeletion, and primary therapy outcome. The results of the Cox regression analysis revealed that NCAPG2 was an independent factor for the prognosis of low-grade glioma. Meanwhile, we also established a nomogram based on NCAPG2 to predict the 1-, 3-, or 5-year survival in LGG patients. Furthermore, we found that Copy number variation (CNV) and DNA hypomethylation results in its overexpression in LGG. In addition, functional annotation confirmed that NCAPG2 was mainly involved in the immune regulation and WNT signaling pathways. Finally, we determined that increased expression of NCAPG2 was correlated with infiltration levels of various immune cells and immune checkpoint in LGG. Importantly, we found that NCAPG2 was highly expressed in glioma stem cells lines and knockdown of NCAPG2 significantly inhibited the self-renewal ability of GSC. This is the first study to identify NCAPG2 as a new potential prognostic biomarker and characterize the functional roles of NCAPG2 in the progression of LGG, and provides a novel potential diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker for LGG in the future.

Extra spindle pole bodies-like 1 (ESPL1), a cysteine endopeptidase, plays a vital role in chromosome inheritance. However, the association of ESPL1 with prognosis and immune infiltration in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has not yet been explored. Here, we analyzed the expression level, prognostic values, diagnostic value, and immune infiltration level in LUAD using various databases. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assays were used to detect the expression of ESPL1 in LUAD tissues and cell lines. In this study, we found that ESPL1 was upregulated in LUAD and a higher expression of ESPL1 was correlated with unfavorable prognosis in LUAD. Meanwhile, Cox hazard regression analysis results suggested that ESPL1 may be an independent prognostic factor for LUAD. Moreover, we demonstrated that ESPL1 expression was significantly correlated with immune infiltration of Th2 and dendritic cells in LUAD. We also confirmed that DNA copy number amplification and DNA hypo-methylation were positively correlated with ESPL1 expression in LUAD. Additionally, DNA copy number amplification was significantly associated with adverse clinical outcomes in LUAD. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) confirmed that ESPL1 was mainly involved in the DNA replication and glycolysis signaling pathway. Finally, we revealed that ESPL1 was highly expressed in LUAD tissues and cell lines. Knockdown of ESPL1 significantly inhibited cell migration and the invasion abilities of LUAD. Our study comprehensively confirmed that ESPL1 expression may serve as a novel prognostic biomarker for both the clinical outcome and immune cell infiltration in LUAD.

Abstract N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent, abundant and conserved internal cotranscriptional modification in eukaryotic RNAs, especially within higher eukaryotic cells. m6A modification is modified by the m6A methyltransferases, or writers, such as METTL3/14/16, RBM15/15B, ZC3H3, VIRMA, CBLL1, WTAP, and KIAA1429, and, removed by the demethylases, or erasers, including FTO and ALKBH5. It is recognized by m6A-binding proteins YTHDF1/2/3, YTHDC1/2 IGF2BP1/2/3 and HNRNPA2B1, also known as “readers”. Recent studies have shown that m6A RNA modification plays essential role in both physiological and pathological conditions, especially in the initiation and progression of different types of human cancers. In this review, we discuss how m6A RNA methylation influences both the physiological and pathological progressions of hematopoietic, central nervous and reproductive systems. We will mainly focus on recent progress in identifying the biological functions and the underlying molecular mechanisms of m6A RNA methylation, its regulators and downstream target genes, during cancer progression in above systems. We propose that m6A RNA methylation process offer potential targets for cancer therapy in the future.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are tumor-associated biological molecules and have been found to be implicated in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). LncRNA-AP000695.2 (ENSG00000248538) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that is widely increased in many tumor types including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, the aberrant expression profile, clinical significance, and biological function of AP000695.2 in human lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) need to be further investigated. This study mines key prognostic AP000695.2 and elucidates its potential role and molecular mechanism in regulating the proliferation and metastasis of LUAD. Here, we discovered that AP000695.2 was significantly upregulated in lung adenocarcinoma tissues compared with healthy adjacent lung tissue and higher in LUAD cell lines than in normal human bronchial epithelial cell lines. A higher expression of AP000695.2 was positively correlated with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics, and AP000695.2 served as an independent prognostic indicator for the overall survival, disease-free survival, and progression-free survival in patients with LUAD. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis revealed the significant diagnostic ability of AP000695.2 (AUC = 0.838). Our in vivo data confirmed that AP000695.2 promotes the proliferation, migration, and invasion of LUAD cells. GSEA results suggested that AP000695.2 co-expressed genes were mainly enriched in immune-related biological processes such as JAK-STAT signaling pathway and toll-like receptor signaling pathway. Single-sample GSEA analysis showed that AP000695.2 is correlated with tumor-infiltrating immune cells in lung adenocarcinoma. Our findings confirmed that AP000695.2 was involved in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma, providing a novel prognostic indicator and promising diagnostic biomarker in the future.

A full-passband linear-phase band-pass filter (BPF) equalized with negative group delay circuits (NGDC) is proposed. The NGDCs are utilized to suppress the salient group delay at the edge of the passband of the traditional BPF for achieving the full-passband linear-phase characteristic. To obtain input- and output-port impedance matching, two BPFs loading NGDCs are center symmetrically configured by Wilkinson power dividers. To verify the design concept, a 3-order full-passband linear-phase BPF is designed and fabricated. From the measured results, the GD fluctuation is reduced by 74% from 0.57 to 0.15 ns, return loss is better than 10 dB, and the insertion loss variation is less than 3 dB within the frequency range from 2.142 to 2.804 GHz. The proposed BPF achieves a flat group delay in the whole passband and realizes the full-passband linear-phase characteristic.

Six new polyoxypregnane glycosides, marstenacisside F1–F3 (1–3), G1–G2 (4–5) and H1 (6), as well as 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-6-deoxy-3-O-methyl-β-D-allopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-D-oleandropyranosyl-11α,12β-di-O-benzoyl-tenacigenin B (7), were isolated from the roots of Marsdenia tenacissima. Their structures were established by an extensive interpretation of their 1D and 2D NMR and HRESIMS data. Compounds 1–7 were tenacigenin B derivatives with an oligosaccharide chain at C-3. This was the first time that compound 7 had been isolated from the title plant and its 1H and 13C NMR data were reported. Compounds 4 and 5 were the first examples of C21 steroid glycoside bearing unique β-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-glucopyranose sugar moiety. All the isolated compounds were evaluated for anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting nitric oxide (NO) production in the lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 cells. The results showed that marstenacisside F1 and F2 exhibited significant NO inhibitory activity with an inhibition rate of 48.19 ± 4.14% and 70.33 ± 5.39%, respectively, at 40 μM, approximately equal to the positive control (L-NMMA, 68.03 ± 0.72%).

The bubble-collapse strength is closely related to the ultrasonic cavitation effect. The enhanced effect of collapse strength of a dual-frequency driven bubble is one of the mechanisms underlying the synergistic effect of dual-frequency excitation. In this paper, the growth rate of bubble-collapse strength is defined as:G=(Rmax,d′-Rmax,s′)/Rmax,s′, where Rmax,s′and Rmax,d′are the bubble maximum oscillation radius under single- and dual-frequency exciting, respectively. The enhanced region I (below the main resonances line), II (above the main resonances line) and III (around the diagonal line) concerning to the bubble-collapse strength in f1-f2 plane are analyzed. The results show that the enhanced effect of bubble-collapse strength is implicated in the acoustic pressure, bubble equilibrium radius and pressure amplitude ratio. This paper could be helpful for optimizing the dual-frequency operation from the perspective of bubble radial dynamics.

Despite the improvement in technologies for the production of alternative fuels (AFs), and the needs for using more AFs for motor vehicles for the reductions in air pollution and greenhouse gases, the number of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) in the global transportation sector has not been increasing significantly (there are even small drops for adapting some AFs through the projections) in recent years and even in the near future with projections to 2050. And gasoline and diesel fuels will remain as the main energy sources for motor vehicles. After reviewing the latest advantages and disadvantages of AFVs, including flexible-fuel, gas, electric, hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric vehicles, it is found that the higher price of AFVs, compared to that of gasoline and diesel vehicles, might be one of the main barriers for their wider adoption. But on the other hand, there is the “chicken and egg” problem. Because people mostly do not select AFVs due to their higher price and sometimes their less infrastructure availability compared to those of gasoline and diesel vehicles, however, governments and AFVs manufacturers claim that the insignificant demand volume and less interest by people to purchase them, is one of the main reasons for a higher price and less infrastructure availability of AFVs. So, what should we do for adopting AFVs? This review shows that there are two very important and fundamental points that might cause a rise in the demand and usage of AFVs, rather than waiting for the reduction in AFVs prices. Those points are car salespeople's and people's knowledge about AFVs and the environmental issues, and their encouragement to accept and use AFVs. Although the AFVs are available on the market for many years, many people around the world have no/less/old/wrong knowledge about the current AFVs. Thus, most of these people reject these vehicles for usage, even when their important parameters such as purchase price, operating cost, driving range, and fuel availability be the same (or close) as those of gasoline or diesel vehicles. Detailed information, examples, and recommendations to the increases in people's knowledge and encouragement are presented in this review.

The physical parameters are important factors affecting the bubble-collapse strength. In this paper, single factor analysis and multiple regression analysis are applied to study the relationship among the physical parameters and bubbles maximum dimensionless radius (Rmax). There is a very weak linear correlation between the density, viscosity, sound velocity, surface tension, saturated vapor pressure and Rmax, respectively. Furthermore, the regression models based on two types of machine-learning algorithms, namely random forest and neural network, are established to predict the bubble-collapse strength affected by combined physical parameters, the results show that all of them are feasible and efficient. In addition, the viscosity and surface tension have obvious influence on the collapse strength, and the influence of density and sound velocity are the least. Those results are helpful in understanding the bubble-collapse strength under different host liquids published in previous researches.

Abstract Background Epidemiological observations have demonstrated that ambient fine particulate matter with d p

Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) was monitored using a mobile sensor network on 125 urban taxis in Shanghai (November 2019/December 2020), which provide real-time patterns of air pollution at high spatial resolution. Each device determined concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and PM2.5, which characterised spatial and temporal patterns of on-road pollutants. A total of 80% road coverage (motorways, trunk, primary, and secondary roads) required 80–100 taxis, but only 25 on trunk roads. Higher CO concentrations were observed in the urban centre, NO2 higher in motorway concentrations, and PM2.5 lower in the west away from the city centre. During the COVID-19 lockdown, concentrations of CO, NO2, and PM2.5 in Shanghai decreased by 32, 31 and 41%, compared with the previous period. Local contribution related to traffic emissions changed slightly before and after COVID-19 restrictions, while changing background contributions relate to seasonal variation. Mobile networks are a real-time tool for air quality monitoring, with high spatial resolution (~200 m) and robust against the loss of individual devices.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and malignant primary brain tumor. Glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) not only initiate and sustain uncontrolled cell proliferation but also resistant to conventional clinical therapies including temozolomide (TMZ) dependent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, implying that there is an urgent need to identify new therapeutic strategies especially specific targeting GSCs. Here, we provide evidence showing that ivacaftor commonly applied in cystic fibrosis therapy acts as a potent inhibitor for GSCs maintenance. We found that ivacaftor promotes cellular apoptosis in vitro and represses patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumor growth in vivo. In addition, we demonstrate that ivacaftor decreases stemness marker gene expressions of GSCs, including CD133, CD44, and Sox2. In summary, our findings reveal that ivacaftor inhibits glioblastoma progression via specifically eliminating GSCs, which opens a new avenue for GBM clinical therapy in the future.

Background. Soil contamination by hexavalent chromium is becoming a main environmental concern in China. This study developed a sewage sludge biochar modified by FeSO4 (CHBC) as a new reductant for Cr(VI)-contaminated soil. The effectiveness of CHBC-stabilized Cr(VI)-contaminated soil was investigated. Methods. Typical industrial Cr(VI)-contaminated soil in China was chosen as the medium. The total and Cr(VI) contents of the contaminated soil were 1014.6 and 973.5 mg/kg, respectively. The effectiveness of the Cr(VI)-contaminated soil stabilized by CHBC was investigated by the leaching test (US EPA method 1312), the simplified bioaccessibility extraction test (US EPA 2007 protocol and British Geological Survey), alkaline digestion (US EPA method 3060A), sequential extraction (BCR sequential extraction procedure), X-ray diffraction, and the risk assessment code test. Results. Results show that CHBC substantially reduced the leachability and Cr(VI) content of the contaminated soil. The leachability and content of Cr(VI) were lower than the thresholds of the Environmental Quality Standards of Soil in China for civil reuse and the China Environmental Quality Standards of surface water for civil use when the soil was stabilized with 10% dosage of CHBC. Conclusion. CHBC is highly efficient in stabilizing Cr(VI) and can effectively reduce the leachability and bioavailability of Cr in contaminated soil and thus feasible for stabilizing Cr(VI)-contaminated soil and shows potential for application in the field.

This paper presents a new type of miniaturized base station antenna array, which consists of a metal reflector, six upper-band dipoles, and a couple of ladder sidewalls, operating over 1.71-2.69 GHz (DCS/PCS/UMTS/LTE). Meanwhile, this paper also proposes a novel miniaturized phase shifter with one input and five outputs to enable the antenna array to achieve electrical downtilt (0°-10°) in the operating frequency band. Three different sidewalls are applied in the proposed antenna array to compare their performance. Simulated results demonstrate that the antenna array with ladder sidewalls can achieve an excellent performance, and this proposed phase shifter also has good electrical properties to help the proposed antenna array realize downtilt. The proposed antenna array and phase shifter are fabricated and measured, and the measured results show that the antenna array has good radiation characteristics, including low-voltage standing wave ratio (31 dB), low third-order passive intermodulation (3 30 dB), and high cross-polarization discrimination at ±60° azimuth (>11.5 dB) in all frequency bands and electrical downtilt angles. The proposed antenna array exhibits an acceptable gain of 15 ± 1.1 dBi across the operational frequency band.

Busy street canyons can have a large flow of vehicles and reduced air exchange and wind speeds at street level, exposing pedestrians to high pollutant concentrations. The airflow tended to move with vehicles along the canyon and the 1-s concentrations of NO, NO2 and CO were highly skewed close to the road and more normally distributed at sensors some metres above the road. The pollutants were more autocorrelated at these elevated sensors, suggesting a less variable concentration away from traffic in the areas of low turbulence. The kerbside concentrations also showed cyclic changes approximating nearby traffic signal timing. The cross-correlation between the concentration measurements suggested that the variation moved at vehicle speed along the canyon, but slower vertically. The concentrations of NOx and CO were slightly higher at wind speeds of under a metre per second. The local ozone concentrations had little effect on the proportion of NOx present as NO2. Pedestrians on the roadside would be unlikely to exceed the USEPA hourly guideline value for NO2 of 100 ppb. Across the campaign period, 100 individual minutes exceeded the guidelines, though the effect of short-term, high-concentration exposures is not well understood. Tram stops at the carriageway divider are places where longer exposures to higher levels of traffic-associated pollutants are possible.