Effect of electric fields on tungsten distribution in Na2WO4-WO3 molten salt.

Tungsten coatings have unique properties such as high melting points and hardness and are widely used in the nuclear fusion and aviation fields. In experiments, compared to pure Na2WO4 molten salt, electrolysis with Na2WO4-WO3 molten salt results in a lower deposition voltage. Herein, an investigation combining experimental and computational approaches was conducted, involving molecular dynamics simulations with deep learning, high-temperature in situ Raman spectroscopy and activation strain model analysis. The results indicated that the molten salt system's behaviour, influenced by migration and polarization effects, led to increased formation of Na2W2O7 in the Na2WO4-WO3 molten salt, which has a lower decomposition voltage and subsequently accelerated the cathodic deposition of tungsten. We analyzed the mechanism of the effect of the electric field on the Na2W2O7 structure based on the bond strength and electron density. This research provides crucial theoretical support for the effect of electric field on tungsten in molten salt and demonstrates the feasibility of using machine learning-based DPMD methods in simulating tungsten-containing molten salt systems.

Comprehensive investigation of long non-coding RNAs in an endophytic fungus Calcarisporium arbuscula NRRL 3705.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in eukaryotic cells. However, there is no report of lncRNAs in endophytic fungi Calcarisporium arbuscula. Here, in Calcarisporium arbuscula NRRL 3705, an endophytic fungus predominantly producing mycotoxins aurovertins, the genome-wide identification of lncRNAs was carried out based on RNA-Seq. Totally, 1332 lncRNAs were identified, including 1082 long intergenic noncoding RNAs, 64 long intronic noncoding RNAs and 186 long noncoding natural antisense transcripts. The average length of lncRNA and mRNA were 254 and 1102 bp, respectively. LncRNAs were shorter, with fewer exons and lower expression levels. Moreover, there were 39 up-regulated lncRNAs and 10 down-regulated lncRNAs in the ΔaurA mutant, which lacks the aurovertin biosynthetic enzyme AurA. Interestingly, expression of genes related to the metabolism of linoleic acid and methane were significantly down regulated in the ΔaurA mutant. This study enriches the endophytic fungal lncRNA database and provide a basis for further research.

Investigation on the effect of ulinastatin on the apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells in rats with aortic dissection based on the Sirt1/FoxO3a pathway.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of ulinastatin on the apoptosis and (Sirt1/FoxO3a) pathway of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) in aortic dissection (AD) rats. For this purpose a rat model of aortic dissection (AD) was constructed by giving drinking water containing 0.08% ß-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) to rats, HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes of the aorta in AD rats; the diseased blood vessels of AD rats were taken for primary culture and passage of VSMCs, the morphology of VSMCs was observed, and VSMCs were identify with immunofluorescence staining; VSMCs were treated with culture media containing 0, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000 U/mL ulinastatin, and MTT kit was used to determine the effect of ulinastatin on VSMC proliferation in AD rats; the VSMC of AD rats were divided into blank group (normal culture), ulinastatin group (medium containing 5000 U/mL ulinastatin), Sirt1 inhibitor group (medium containing 1 µmol/L EX527), ulinastatin + Sirt1 inhibitor group (medium containing 5000 U/mL ulinastatin, 1 µmol/L EX527), flow cytometry was used to detect the VSMC apoptosis in each group, WB was used to detect the expression of VSMC apoptosis-related proteins and Sirt1/FoxO3a pathway-related proteins in each group. Findings suggested that the aortic wall of AD rats was thickened, and the dissection false cavity appeared; VSMC mostly presented different shapes such as triangles and stars, the immunofluorescence staining results showed that α-SMA was arranged in the cytoplasm in the form of myofilaments, showing green fluorescence, and the nucleus showed blue fluorescence, and the rate of positive cells was more than 95%; various doses of ulinastatin had a certain inhibitory effect on the proliferation of VSMC, and 5000 U/mL ulinastatin had a higher proliferation inhibition rate; compared with the blank group, the VSMC apoptosis rate, Caspase-3, Bax protein, Sirt1/FoxO3a pathway related protein expression in the ulinastatin group were significantly increased, and the Bcl-2 protein expression was significantly decreased (P<0.05), the VSMC apoptosis rate, Caspase-3, Bax protein, Sirt1/FoxO3a pathway related protein expression in the Sirt1 inhibitor group were significantly decreased, and the Bcl-2 protein expression was significantly increased (P<0.05); compared with the ulinastatin group, the VSMC apoptosis rate, Caspase-3, Bax protein, Sirt1/FoxO3a pathway related protein expression in the ulinastatin + Sirt1 inhibitor group were significantly decreased, and the Bcl-2 protein expression was significantly increased (P<0.05). It was concluded that ulinastatin can inhibit the proliferation of VSMCs in AD rats and promote their apoptosis, which may be achieved by activating the Sirt1/FoxO3a pathway.

Subxiphoid and subcostal arch versus unilateral video-assisted thoracic surgery approaches to thymectomy for myasthenia gravis.

PURPOSE: Thymectomy is an important treatment for myasthenia gravis (MG). We conducted this study to compare the clinical outcomes of the recently introduced subxiphoid and subcostal arch thymectomy (SASAT) approach with those of the standard unilateral video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). METHODS: We analyzed, retrospectively, the perioperative, and long-term outcomes of 179 consecutive MG patients (age 18-65 years), who underwent SASAT or unilateral VATS-extended thymectomy between July, 2012 and May, 2019. RESULTS: All demographic and clinical characteristics were comparable in the two groups. The median surgical time, estimated blood loss, thoracotomy conversion rate, total and chest drainage, and complications did not differ significantly between the groups. The visual analog scale (VAS) score was significantly lower in the SASAT group. Complete stable remission (CSR) was achieved in a significantly larger proportion of the SASAT group patients and was significantly higher in women than in men. The Quantitative MG score was significantly lower in the SASAT group. Patients in the MG Foundation of America Clinical Classification groups I and II achieved better remission rates than those in groups III-V. CONCLUSIONS: SASAT is a safe and feasible MG treatment, which may yield better outcomes than unilateral VATS and improve the quality of treatment.

YAP/STAT3 promotes the immune escape of larynx carcinoma by activating VEGFR1-TGFß signaling to facilitate PD-L1 expression in M2-like TAMs.

Larynx carcinoma (LC) is the most prevalent head and neck cancer among adults. LC xenograft mouse model was generated to verify the effect of VEGF on macrophage polarization and tumor growth in vivo. EdU assay was performed to measure the cell proliferation. Transwell assay was applied to assess cell migration. The expression of YAP and STAT3 was also significantly increased in LC tumor tissues. Moreover, both YAP and STAT3 overexpression in LC cells promoted the proliferation, migration, as well as the secretion of PD-L1 in M2-like TAMs. Mechanistically, the interaction between YAP and STAT3 facilitated the transcription of VEGF. Moreover, with a co-culture system, VEGF secretion in LC cells enhanced PD-L1 expression in M2-like TAMs via activating VEGFR1-TGFß signaling pathway. Furthermore, VEGF secreted from LC cells also promoted the tumor growth of LC in vivo. We revealed that dysregulated YAP/STAT3 activity in LC cells could enhance the secretion of VEGF, which then functioned on M2-like TAMs via activating VEGFR1-TGFßß pathway to promote the expression of PD-L1 and immunosuppressive function of M2-like TAMs. Therefore, VEGF and PD-L1 might have a pivotal crosstalk between M2-like TAMs and LC cells, which provided a novel therapeutic target in regulating the metastasis of LC in future.

Dissociative multi-ionization of N2O molecules in strong femtosecond laser field.

Multi-ionization and subsequent Coulomb explosion (CE) of the N2O molecule irradiated by a linearly polarized 800 nm laser field is investigated by a reaction microscope, where a number of CE channels of N2Oq+ with q ≤ 5 for two-body fragmentation and q ≤ 8 for three-body fragmentation were observed. For two-body CE, by analyzing the internuclear separations extracted from kinetic energy releases (KERs), dissociation branching fractions, and laser intensity dependence, interestingly, we found that fragmentation N2O5+ → N3+ + NO2+ is produced directly from dissociating N2O3+ via non-sequential stairstep ionization, whereas most of the others result from the sequential stairstep ionization. For three-body CE, 25 fragmentation channels of N2Oq+ (q = 3-8) are distinguished in the present charge-encoded multi-photoion coincidence plot, and the concerted fragmentation mechanism is nominated in a typical Dalitz plot. With the help of the numerical computation with the measured KERs and momentum correlation angles, the geometric structures of molecular ions prior to fragmentation are reconstructed, which display the bending motion and simultaneous two-bond stretching before the CE. Increasing of the bond length for high charged N2Oq+ indicates the dominating stairstep ionization in the three-body fragmentation.

Low frequency vibrating magnetic field-triggered magnetic microspheres with a nanoflagellum-like surface for cancer therapy.

BACKGROUND: The magneto-mechanical force killing cancer cells is an interesting and important strategy for cancer therapy. RESULTS: Novel magnetic microspheres composed of a Fe3O4 nanocore, a bovine serum albumin (BSA) matrix, and a rod-like SiO2 nanoshell, which had flagellum-like surface for force-mediated cancer therapy were developed. One such magnetic microsphere (Fe3O4/BSA/rSiO2) at a cancer cell (not leave the cell surface) under a low frequency vibrating magnetic field (VMF) could generate 6.17 pN force. Interestingly, this force could induce cancer cell to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). The force and force-induced ROS could kill cancer cells. The cell killing efficiency of Fe3O4/BSA/rSiO2 exposed to a VMF was enhanced with increasing silica nanorod length, and the microspheres with straight nanorods exhibited stronger cell killing ability than those with curled nanorods. Fe3O4/BSA/rSiO2 triggered by a VMF could efficiently inhibit mouse tumor growth, while these microspheres without a VMF had no significant effect on the cell cycle distribution, cell viability, tumor growth, and mouse health. CONCLUSIONS: These microspheres with unique morphological characteristics under VMF have great potential that can provide a new platform for treating solid tumors at superficial positions whether with hypoxia regions or multidrug resistance.

Preparation of Saccharomyces boulardii powder by spray drying: thermoprotectants optimization and stability evaluation.

Saccharomyces boulardii as the probiotic yeast was widely used in the pharmaceutical, feed and food industries. The influence of skim milk, gelatin, and carbohydrates on the heat resistance of S. boulardii is explored in the article. Response surface methodology was effectively applied to optimize the thermoprotectant composition for S. boulardii during spray-drying. The accelerated test is applied to evaluate its the subsequent storage stability. The results show that the thermoprotectants composition was comprehensively optimized such as: 15.12% skim milk, 1.81% gelatin, and 9.73% trehalose. The highest viability was 17.77%, which was basically the same as the predicted value of 18.21%. The inactivation rate constant of spray-dried powder was k-18 = 1.04 × 10-5 h-1, the quantity of viable cells stored at this temperature for 1 and 10 years was 8.25 × 108 CFU/g and 1.25 × 108 CFU/g, separately. This work provides a thermoprotectants formula for the S. boulardii during the spray drying process.

CBM drilling technical parameter optimization methodology and software development: a case study of LUAN mining area.

Based on the leakage of the coalbed methane (CBM) drilling engineering practice of Luan mining area in China, the author determines the safe drilling fluid density range for the stable borehole wall based on borehole wall collapse and fracture pressure. Such parameters as the drilling fluid hydraulic parameters (including pump pressure, pump power and displacement, nozzle diameter, bit pressure drop, bit hydraulic horsepower, circulation pressure drop, impact force and jet velocity) and drilling parameters (including weight-on-bit, drilling rotary speed, bit tooth wear) in each borehole section are optimized. Taking the lowest drilling cost as the controlling target, the drilling parameter optimization model is designed and solved by the genetic algorithm. Furthermore, a software named "CBM borehole wall stability parameter design and optimization" characterized by visualization and applicable for drilling formation condition, which can be used to design and optimize the borehole drilling technological parameters, is developed. This program includes such modules as drilling fluid density prediction, drilling technology design, database management, user management and help. The developed software is proven to solve the drilling leakage effectively in the No.67 borehole practice, which can help drilling engineers to optimize CBM drilling technological parameters safely and quickly.

Discriminating between sleep and exercise-induced fatigue using computer vision and behavioral genetics.

Following prolonged swimming, Caenorhabditis elegans cycle between active swimming bouts and inactive quiescent bouts. Swimming is exercise for C. elegans and here we suggest that inactive bouts are a recovery state akin to fatigue. It is known that cGMP-dependent kinase (PKG) activity plays a conserved role in sleep, rest, and arousal. Using C. elegans EGL-4 PKG, we first validate a novel learning-based computer vision approach to automatically analyze C. elegans locomotory behavior and an edge detection program that is able to distinguish between activity and inactivity during swimming for long periods of time. We find that C. elegans EGL-4 PKG function impacts timing of exercise-induced quiescent (EIQ) bout onset, fractional quiescence, bout number, and bout duration, suggesting that previously described pathways are engaged during EIQ bouts. However, EIQ bouts are likely not sleep as animals are feeding during the majority of EIQ bouts. We find that genetic perturbation of neurons required for other C. elegans sleep states also does not alter EIQ dynamics. Additionally, we find that EIQ onset is sensitive to age and DAF-16 FOXO function. In summary, we have validated behavioral analysis software that enables a quantitative and detailed assessment of swimming behavior, including EIQ. We found novel EIQ defects in aged animals and animals with mutations in a gene involved in stress tolerance. We anticipate that further use of this software will facilitate the analysis of genes and pathways critical for fatigue and other C. elegans behaviors.

Inhibition of class I HDACs attenuates renal interstitial fibrosis in a murine model.

Renal interstitial fibrosis is the most common of all the forms of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Research has shown that histone deacetylases (HDACs) participate in the process leading to renal fibrosis. However, the effects of class I HDAC inhibitors on the mechanisms of onset and progression of renal interstitial fibrosis are still unclear. Here, we present the effects and mechanisms of action of FK228 (a selective inhibitor of class I HDACs) in the murine model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) and in vitro models. We investigated the antifibrotic role of FK228 in a murine model of UUO. We used two key effector cell populations, rat renal interstitial fibroblasts and renal tubular epithelial cells exposed to recombinant transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-ß1), to explore the mechanistic pathways among in vitro models. The results indicated that FK228 significantly suppressed the production of extracellular matrix (ECM) in both in vivo and in vitro models. FK228 inhibited renal fibroblast activation and proliferation and increased the acetylation of histone H3. We found that FK228 also inhibited the small mothers against decapentaplegic (Smad) and non-Smad signaling pathways. So FK228 could significantly suppress renal interstitial fibrosis via Smad and non-Smad pathways. FK228 may be the basis for a new and effective medicine for alleviating renal fibrosis in the future.

Electric vagal nerve stimulation inhibits inflammation and improves early postoperation cognitive dysfunction in aged rats.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate effects of electric vagal nerve stimulation on early postoperation cognitive dysfunction in aged rats. METHODS: A total of 33 male Sprague Dawley rats were selected and assigned randomly to three groups, control group (C, n = 10), splenectomy group (S, n = 10) and splenectomy+vagal nerve stimulation group (SV, n = 13). Behavior and memory of rats were evaluated by Open Field Test and Morris Water Maze. Levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 in serum were measured by ELISA. The level of TNF-α protein in hippocampus was assessed by Western blotting. rt-PCR was used to detect mRNA expression of NF-κB in hippocampus. RESULTS: During anesthesia/operation, vital life signs of rats were stable. In SV group, vagal nerve stimulation decreased heart rate lower than 10% of basic level and kept it at a stable range by regulating stimulation intensity. After stimulation stop, heart rate returned to the basic level again. This indicated that the model of vagal nerve stimulation was successful. Serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 increased by the operation/anesthesia, but they decreased with vagal nerve stimulation (all P < 0.05). TNF-α protein and mRNA expression of NF-κB in hippocampus were also eliminated by vagal nerve stimulation compared to S group (P < 0.05). Results of Morris Water Maze showed escape latency of postoperation in S group was significantly longer than C group (P < 0.05), and times of crossing platform in S group was lower than that of C group (P < 0.05). Although escape latency of postopration in SV group was shorter than that of S group, there was no significant difference between two groups. Meanwhile there were no significant differences of behavior test in Open Field test between three groups, although vagal nerve stimulation improved partly active explore behavior compared to S group. CONCLUSION: The inflammation caused by operation and general anesthesia was an important reason of early postoperation cognitive dysfunction, and electric vagal nerve stimulation could inhibit the inflammation. Meanwhile, vagal nerve stimulation could ameliorate early postoperation cognitive dysfunction partly, but its protective effects were not enough and should be studied and improved in future.

Synthesis of self-pillared pentasil zeolites without organic templates and seeds.

Self-pillared pentasil (SPP) zeolites have received considerable interest due to their distinctive intergrowth structure, while the precise process and mechanism for the formation of SPP zeolites remain obscure. Herein, SPP zeolites (ZSM-5) have been successfully synthesized by pre-aging an Al-rich gel without employing any organic templates or seeds for the first time. The as-synthesized SPP zeolites possess a notably high external surface area while the micropores for Ar adsorption are partially blocked by excess Na+, which can be fully recovered by Mg2+ or H+ exchange. The crystallization process is monitored and the impacts of synthesis parameters are investigated. The results show that self-pillaring originates from the partial lattice distortion at the intersections of nanosheets, offering a new insight into the self-pillaring process. Typically, with decreasing SiO2/Al2O3 ratio, more crossovers could be observed in the crystals, hinting that self-pillaring predominately occurs at the (101) plane of twins in the ZSM-5 precursor due to Al-rich lattice distortion. Finally, in the catalytic cracking of n-heptane, H-SPP zeolites exhibit superior performance to commercial H-ZSM-5 zeolites due to their abundant Brønsted acid sites arising from a low framework SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of ∼21 and the short diffusion path originating from the house-of-cards structure.

Research on the detection model of mental illness of online forum users based on convolutional network.

Recently, there will be more than 4.62 billion social media users worldwide. A large number of users tend to publish personal emotional dynamics or express opinions on social media. These massive user data provide data support for the development of mental illness detection research and have achieved good results. However, it is difficult for current mental illness detection models to accurately identify key emotional features from a large number of posts issued by users to detect problem users. In view of the fact that the existing models cannot more accurately extract the words with high emotional contribution in the content of user posts, this paper proposes two hierarchical user post feature representation models, named Single-Gated LeakReLU-CNN (SGL-CNN) and Multi-Gated LeakyReLU-CNN (MGL-CNN). We leverage these 2 models to identify users with mental illness in online forums. For all posts published by each user within a certain time span, the model proposed in this paper can identify key emotional features in them and filter out other unimportant information as much as possible. In addition, the addition of gating units in this paper can significantly improve the performance of emotion detection tasks. The experimental results based on the task of RSDD dataset prove that the performance of the model proposed in this paper is superior to that of the existing methods.

System based greenhouse emission analysis of off-site prefabrication: a comparative study of residential projects.

High-story residential structures and off-site prefabrication have been dominant choices in the construction industry. There is a substantial quantity of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by the construction industry. In fact, the construction industry is responsible for 30 percent of all GHG emissions. In this study, we analyse the differences between the conventional technique of building and the off-site prefabricating construction method. First, we evaluate the emissions emitted from key processes during the off-site prefabricating construction. In addition, we analyse the qualitative and quantitative differences between two prefabrication structural systems, namely concrete and steel, which are the two most common structural systems utilised in residential construction projects in China. We examine and analyse four different case studies in order to exemplify the proposed methodology and offer managerial insights.

An experimental investigation on the effect of soluble sugar degradation on the of domestic-source-contaminated soil sites formation and evolution.

The percolation-degradation process of soluble domestic pollution is very important for the evolution of soil properties and the formation of contaminated sites. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of glucose seepage-degradation on the permeability of clay through an indoor percolation test in combination with thermogravimetric measurement with glucose as a representative domestic contaminant soluble sugar. We can conclude that the permeability of clay was significantly impacted by the seepage-degradation of soluble sugar. With a focus on the role of soluble sugars in domestic source pollutants on clay, the formation and evolution of the domestic source contaminated soil site went through three main stages: "generation of domestic source contaminated liquid & formation of S-C zone", "contraction of S-C zone & formation of E-C zone and C zone", and "disappearance of S-C zone & contraction of E-C zone and C zone". The clay permeability decreased, the migration range shrinked, and the pollution level of the clay near the source of the contaminants increased with increasing soluble sugar solution concentration.

Global void ratio of municipal solid waste for compression indices estimation.

Compressibility is one of the important engineering properties of municipal solid waste (MSW) affecting the stability and functionality of a landfill. Although the correlations between MSW properties and compression parameters have been established, they either have low accuracy and small datasets or are only limited to a few specific landfills in a region. In this study, a new method using the initial global void ratio (e0*) of MSW to estimate the compression indices is developed based on a comprehensive MSW dataset. The dataset consists of 124 sets (91 laboratory and 33 field) of MSW compression results obtained from 44 studies in 13 countries with different income levels and climate conditions. We categorized MSW as a ternary mixture with biodegradable (B), reinforcing (R), and inert (I) fractions, and suggested average specific gravity values (Gs,B = 1.20, Gs,R = 1.07, and Gs,I = 2.64), respectively. The e0* values were calculated using the initial dry unit weight (γd,0) and ternary composition of MSW. The correlations between the e0* and the immediate compression index, secondary compression index induced by mechanical creep, and secondary compression index induced by bio-compression of MSW were evidently established. The results are applicable to the MSW with B = 0-79.2 %, R = 0-54.0 %, I = 2.8-100.0 %, and γd,0 = 2.0-14.2 kN/m3. A simple flowchart was established to estimate the compression indices and strains of MSW disposed on in landfills and dumpsites in countries with different income levels.

Green Preparation of Lightweight, High-Strength Cellulose-Based Foam and Evaluation of Its Adsorption Properties.

In recent years, the application scope of most cellulose-based foams is limited due to their low adsorbability and poor recyclability. In this study, a green solvent is used to extract and dissolve cellulose, and the structural stability of the solid foam is enhanced by adding a secondary liquid via the capillary foam technology, and the strength of the solid foam is improved. In addition, the effects of the addition of different gelatin concentrations on the micro-morphology, crystal structure, mechanical properties, adsorption, and recyclability of the cellulose-based foam are investigated. The results show that the cellulose-based foam structure becomes compact, the crystallinity is decreased, the disorder is increased, and the mechanical properties are improved, but its circulation capacity is decreased. When the volume fraction of gelatin is 2.4%, the mechanical properties of foam are the best. The stress of the foam is 55.746 kPa at 60% deformation, and the adsorption capacity reaches 57.061 g/g. The results can serve as a reference for the preparation of highly stable cellulose-based solid foams with excellent adsorption properties.

Masses and size distributions of mechanically fragmented microplastics from LDPE and EPS under simulated landfill conditions.

Landfills contain significant amounts of plastic waste (PW) and microplastics (MPs). However, the contributions of various PW fragmentation processes to the quality and quantity of MPs in landfills are unclear. In this study, LDPE and EPS pieces were mixed with sand to simulate landfilled solid waste, which experienced one-dimensional abiotic compression under vertical stress of 100-800 kPa for 1-300 days. The generated MPs were stained and quantified with a fluorescent microscope. The numbers and masses of the fragmented MPs increase with the increasing compression stress and duration following linear or exponential trends. EPS has a lower stiffness than LDPE, thus generates more MPs under the same compression conditions. Stress-dependent and time-dependent fragmentation mechanisms are distinguished, the former is driven by sand-plastic porosity reduction and the latter is due to microscopic interfacial creep with minimal porosity reduction. Most of the mechanically fragmented MPs have diameters < 100 µm. The MPs size distributions follow an established power-law model, which are dependent on stress, duration, porosity reduction, and fragmentation mechanism. Our results serve as conservative estimations on long-term MPs generation in real landfills, which provide confirmative and quantitative evidence to support the previous studies reporting the varied MPs abundances and properties within landfills.