"Two zones and three centers" distribution and suitable areas shift of an evergreen oak in subtropical China under climate scenarios.

Understanding the impact of climate change on the geographical distribution of species is a fundamental requirement for biodiversity conservation and resource management. Quercus oxyphylla, an evergreen oak endemic to China, plays a crucial role in maintaining the ecological stability in subtropical regions and high economic value attributed to its dark and high-density heartwood, but the existing resources are close to endangered. Currently, limited knowledge exists regarding its distribution and potential influences of climate change on suitable areas. This study utilized 63 occurrence records and Biomod2 platform, to predict changes in suitable areas for Q. oxyphylla under future climate change. The results revealed that (1) Q. oxyphylla showed a pattern of three disjunctive geographical centers in the eastern subregion of subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest region (IVA): Qinling-Daba Mountains, Nanling Mountains and Wuyi Mountains center. Currently, the highly suitable areas concentrated in two zones divided by the Yangtze River, that is, the northern subtropical evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forest zone (IVAii) and the mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest zone (IVAi). (2) The temperature-related variables, such as annual temperature range (Bio7), the mean diurnal range (Bio2), and annual mean temperature (Bio1), were identified as the key determinants of the distribution pattern. Because of its considerable climatic variations in temperature and water conditions, Q. oxyphylla's habitat displayed a wider climate niche and strong physiological tolerance to climate change. (3) Under future climate scenarios, the suitable area of the species was expected to overall expand with significant regional differences. The suitable area in IVAi was expected to expand significantly northward while that in IVAii was expected to gradually shrink. To address the impact of climate change, it is necessary to develop conservation plans focused around the three distribution centers, implement localized and regional conservation policies, and conduct educational outreach among local people.

The antiangiogenic effect of total saponins of Panax japonicus C.A. Meyer in rheumatoid arthritis is mediated by targeting the HIF-1α/VEGF/ANG-1 axis.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Traditional Chinese herbal medicine Panax japonicus C.A. Meyer has a long history in clinical treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Total saponins of Panax japonicus C.A. Meyer (TSPJs) were extracted from the root of Panax japonicus C.A. Meyer, and its anti-rheumatism mechanism is still unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate whether TSPJs attenuated synovial angiogenesis in RA and explore the potential mechanisms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Potential TSPJs targets involving gene function were predicted by network pharmacology related databases. Bioinformatics analysis and molecular docking technology were used to predict the mechanism of TSPJs in the treatment of RA. The predicted results were validated by cell experiments and a collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mouse model. RESULTS: Bioinformatics analysis results showed that TSPJs may inhibit RA-related angiogenesis through the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathways. In vitro, different doses of TSPJs showed a good inhibitory effect on the tube formation of EA.hy926 cells. The results of the cellular thermal shift assay indicated that TSPJs can bind to the HIF-1α, VEGFA, and angiopoietin-1 (ANG-1) proteins. In vivo, the administration of TSPJs alleviated the symptoms of CIA mice, including the arthritis index, hind paw thickness, and swollen joint count. The histological results demonstrated that TSPJs inhibited inflammation, angiogenesis, bone damage, and cartilage destruction. Furthermore, TSPJs decreased the number of vessels and the expression level of CD31. The mechanistic results revealed that TSPJs decreased the expression of HIF-1α, VEGFA, and ANG-1 in the serum or synovial tissues of CIA mice. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that TSPJs effectively inhibit angiogenesis in RA, and the mechanism may be related to inhibiting the HIF-1α/VEGF/ANG-1 axis.

High-Performance Li-Organic Batteries Based on Conjugated and Nonconjugated Schiff-Base Polymer Anode Materials.

In recent years, organic materials have been increasingly studied as anode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their remarkable advantages, including abundant raw materials, low prices, diverse structures, and high theoretical capacity. In this paper, three types of aromatic Schiff-base polymer materials have been synthesized and examined as anode materials in LIBs. Among them, the polymer [C6H4N = CHC6H4CH=N]n (TTD-PDA) has a continuous conjugated backbone (label as conjugated polymer), while polymers [(CH2)2N=CHC6H4CH=N]n (TTD-EDA) and [C6H4N=CH(CH2)3CH=N]n (GA-PDA) have discontinuous conjugated back-bones (label as nonconjugated polymer). The organic anodes based on TTD-PDA, TTD-EDA, and GA-PDA for LIBs are discovered to represent high reversible specific capacities of 651, 492, and 416 mAh g-1 at a current density of 100 mA g-1 as well as satisfactory rate capabilities with high capacities of 210, 90, and 178 mAh g-1 and 105, 57, and 122 mAh g-1 at current densities of 2 and 10 A g-1, indicating that these Schiff-base polymers are all promising anode materials for LIBs, which broadens the design of organic anode materials with high specific capacity, superior rate performance, and stable cycling stability.

Time-Aware Dual LSTM Neural Network with Similarity Graph Learning for Remote Sensing Service Recommendation.

Technological progress has led to significant advancements in Earth observation and satellite systems. However, some services associated with remote sensing face issues related to timeliness and relevance, which affect the application of remote sensing resources in various fields and disciplines. The challenge now is to help end-users make precise decisions and recommendations for relevant resources that meet the demands of their specific domains from the vast array of remote sensing resources available. In this study, we propose a remote sensing resource service recommendation model that incorporates a time-aware dual LSTM neural network with similarity graph learning. We further use the stream push technology to enhance the model. We first construct interaction history behavior sequences based on users' resource search history. Then, we establish a category similarity relationship graph structure based on the cosine similarity matrix between remote sensing resource categories. Next, we use LSTM to represent historical sequences and Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) to represent graph structures. We construct similarity relationship sequences by combining historical sequences to explore exact similarity relationships using LSTM. We embed user IDs to model users' unique characteristics. By implementing three modeling approaches, we can achieve precise recommendations for remote sensing services. Finally, we conduct experiments to evaluate our methods using three datasets, and the experimental results show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms.

Smart stimuli-responsive strategies for titanium implant functionalization in bone regeneration and therapeutics.

With the increasing and aging of global population, there is a dramatic rise in the demand for implants or substitutes to rehabilitate bone-related disorders which can considerably decrease quality of life and even endanger lives. Though titanium and its alloys have been applied as the mainstream material to fabricate implants for load-bearing bone defect restoration or temporary internal fixation devices for bone fractures, it is far from rare to encounter failed cases in clinical practice, particularly with pathological factors involved. In recent years, smart stimuli-responsive (SSR) strategies have been conducted to functionalize titanium implants to improve bone regeneration in pathological conditions, such as bacterial infection, chronic inflammation, tumor and diabetes mellitus, etc. SSR implants can exert on-demand therapeutic and/or pro-regenerative effects in response to externally applied stimuli (such as photostimulation, magnetic field, electrical and ultrasound stimulation) or internal pathology-related microenvironment changes (such as decreased pH value, specific enzyme secreted by bacterial and excessive production of reactive oxygen species). This review summarizes recent progress on the material design and fabrication, responsive mechanisms, and in vitro and in vivo evaluations for versatile clinical applications of SSR titanium implants. In addition, currently existing limitations and challenges and further prospective directions of these strategies are also discussed.

Regulating the electrical double layer to prevent water electrolysis for wet ionic liquids with cheap salts.

Hydrophobic ionic liquids (ILs), broadly utilized as electrolytes, face limitations in practical applications due to their hygroscopicity, which narrows their electrochemical windows via water electrolysis. Herein, we scrutinized the impact of incorporating cheap salts on the electrochemical stability of wet hydrophobic ILs. We observed that alkali ions effectively manipulate the solvation structure of water and regulate the electrical double layer (EDL) structure by subtly adjusting the free energy distribution of water in wet ILs. Specifically, alkali ions significantly disrupted the hydrogen bond network, reducing free water, strengthening the O-H bond, and lowering water activity in bulk electrolytes. This effect was particularly pronounced in EDL regions, where most water molecules were repelled from both the cathode and anode with the disappearance of the H-bond network connectivity along the EDL. The residual interfacial water underwent reorientation, inhibiting water electrolysis and thus enhancing the electrochemical window of wet hydrophobic ILs. This theoretical proposition was confirmed by cyclic voltammetry measurements, demonstrating a 45% enhancement in the electrochemical windows for salt-in-wet ILs, approximating the dry one. This work offers feasible strategies for tuning the EDL and managing interfacial water activity, expanding the comprehension of interface engineering for advanced electrochemical systems.

Molecular dynamics simulations of electrochemical interfaces.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have become a powerful tool for investigating electrical double layers (EDLs), which play a crucial role in various electrochemical devices. In this Review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the techniques used in MD simulations for EDL studies, with a particular focus on methods for describing electrode polarization, and examine the principle behind these methods and their varying applicability. The applications of these approaches in supercapacitors, capacitive deionization, batteries, and electric double-layer transistors are explored, highlighting recent advancements and insights in each field. Finally, we emphasize the challenges and potential directions for future developments in MD simulations of EDLs, such as considering movable electrodes, improving electrode property representation, incorporating chemical reactions, and enhancing computational efficiency to deepen our understanding of complex electrochemical processes and contribute to the progress in the field involving EDLs.

3D Metrology Using One Camera with Rotating Anamorphic Lenses.

In this paper, a novel 3D metrology method using one camera with rotating anamorphic lenses is presented based on the characteristics of double optical centers for anamorphic imaging. When the anamorphic lens rotates -90° around its optical axis, the 3D data of the measured object can be reconstructed from the two anamorphic images captured before and after the anamorphic rotation. The anamorphic lens imaging model and a polynomial anamorphic distortion model are firstly proposed. Then, a 3D reconstruction model using one camera with rotating anamorphic lenses is presented. Experiments were carried out to validate the proposed method and evaluate its measurement accuracy. Compared with stereo vision, the main advantage of the proposed 3D metrology approach is the simplicity of point matching, which makes it suitable for developing compact sensors for fast 3D measurements, such as car navigation applications.

High-precision anamorphic lens calibration with 3D and 2D calibration targets.

This paper presents a high-precision camera calibration approach for anamorphic lenses. The distortion model for anamorphic lenses is substantially more sophisticated than the distortion model for spherical lenses for the adaption of cylindrical lenses in anamorphic lens attachments. Based on the anamorphic aberration theory and numerical experiments, a polynomial type distortion model is provided for anamorphic lenses, with which high-precision camera calibrations can be achieved using 3D calibration targets. 3D calibration targets are typically limited in size, unable to encompass the whole imaging field of anamorphic lenses. The calibration results using 3D calibration targets tend to be unstable with the increased number of distortion coefficients in the anamorphic distortion model. Thus, after the anamorphic lenses have been calibrated with 3D calibration targets, they are recalibrated with 2D calibration targets that may fill the anamorphic lenses' field of view, resulting in more dependable and exact calibration results. Two anamorphic lenses are calibrated with high precision at the end the paper, which proves the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Lens design for parallel cylindrical anamorphic attachments with finite object distance.

A lens design method for parallel cylindrical anamorphic attachments with finite object distance is provided, which includes paraxial lens design, thin lens design, and thick lens design. The paraxial lens data can be determined from geometric optics. The thin lens design adopts a total of 28 anamorphic aberrations. The anamorphic lens splitting method for each anamorphic lens module is also provided for anamorphic aberration balancing between anamorphic lens modules. With the proposed design method, an anamorphic attachment is designed and manufactured in this paper, which proves the feasibility of the method.

An Electric-Field-Reinforced Hydrophobic Cationic Sieve Lowers the Concentration Threshold of Water-In-Salt Electrolytes.

High-concentration water-in-salt (WIS) electrolytes expand the stable electrochemical window of aqueous electrolytes, leading to the advent of high-voltage (above 2 V) aqueous Li-ion batteries (ALIBs). However, the high lithium salt concentration electrolytes of ALIBs result in their high cost and deteriorate kinetic performance. Therefore, it is challenging for ALIBs to explore aqueous electrolytes with appropriate concentration to balance the electrochemical window and kinetic performance as well as the cost. In contrast to maintaining high concentrations of aqueous electrolytes (>20 m), a small number of hydrophobic cations are introduced to a much lower electrolyte concentration (13.8 m), and it is found that, compared with WIS electrolytes, ALIBs with these concentration-lowered electrolytes possess a compatible stable electrochemical window (3.23 V) and achieve better kinetic performance. These findings originate from the added cations, which form an electric-field-reinforced hydrophobic cationic sieve (HCS) that blocks water away from the anode and suppresses the hydrogen evolution reaction. Meanwhile, the lower electrolyte concentration provides significant benefits to ALIBs, including lower cost, better rate capability (lower viscosity of 18 cP and higher ionic conductivity of 22 mS cm-1 at 25 °C), and improved low-temperature performance (liquidus temperature of -10.18 °C).

Construction of a Hierarchical Micro-/Submicro-/Nanostructured 3D-Printed Ti6Al4V Surface Feature to Promote Osteogenesis: Involvement of Sema7A through the ITGB1/FAK/ERK Signaling Pathway.

Constructing hierarchical hybrid structures is considered a facile method to improve the osseointegration of implants. Herein, a hierarchical micro-/submicro-/nanostructured surface feature of Ti6Al4V implants (3DAT group) was successfully constructed by combining the inherently formed three-dimensional (3D)-printed microscale topography, acid-etched sub-micropits, and anodized nanotubes. Compared with the classical SLA surface, the microscale topography and sub-micropits increased the three-dimensional space for the cell growth and mechanical stability of implants, while the modification of nanotubes dramatically improved the surface hydrophilicity, protein adsorption, and biomineralization. Most importantly, the 3DAT surface feature possessed excellent osteogenic performance in vitro and in vivo, with the involvement of semaphorin 7A (Sema7A) as revealed by RNA-seq through the ITGB1/FAK/ERK signaling pathway. The present study suggested that the hierarchically structured surface design strategy could accelerate the osseointegration rate of 3D-printed Ti6Al4V implants, promising personalized reconstruction of bone defects.

Experimental Study on Chloride Ion Diffusion in Concrete Affected by Exposure Conditions.

The transport mechanism of chloride ions in concrete is relatively complicated since the erosion process is influenced by many factors. To investigate the effect of exposure conditions on the chloride ion diffusion property, three exposure conditions (long-term immersion in static sodium chloride solution, long-term immersion in circulating sodium chloride solution and dry-wet cycles in circulating sodium chloride solution) were considered in chloride ion diffusion experiments. Experimental results indicated that the chloride ion content at a certain depth increased with erosion age. The chloride ions in static sodium chloride solution transported more rapidly than those under dry-wet cycle conditions. Moreover, the chloride ion content of concrete under dry-wet cycles of the circulating sodium chloride solution was slightly higher than that under long-term immersion in the circulating solution. Based on Fick's second law, empirical equations for the chloride diffusion coefficient and chloride content at the surface of concrete were proposed by fitting experimental data, and the values of correlation coefficients of different exposure conditions were suggested. By comparison with the experiment results, it was verified that the calculation formula had better applicability. This method could be used to predict and analyze the chloride ion content under different exposure conditions.

Aqueous interphase formed by CO2 brings electrolytes back to salt-in-water regime.

Super-concentrated water-in-salt electrolytes make high-voltage aqueous batteries possible, but at the expense of high cost and several adverse effects, including high viscosity, low conductivity and slow kinetics. Here, we observe a concentration-dependent association between CO2 and TFSI anions in water that reaches maximum strength at 5 mol kg-1 LiTFSI. This TFSI-CO2 complex and its reduction chemistry allow us to decouple the interphasial responsibility of an aqueous electrolyte from its bulk properties, hence making high-voltage aqueous Li-ion batteries practical in dilute salt-in-water electrolytes. The CO2/salt-in-water electrolyte not only inherits the wide electrochemical stability window and non-flammability from water-in-salt electrolytes but also successfully circumvents the numerous disadvantages induced by excessive salt. This work represents a deviation from the water-in-salt pathway that not only benefits the development of practical aqueous batteries, but also highlights how the complex interactions between electrolyte components can be used to manipulate interphasial chemistry.

Camera calibration for anamorphic lenses with three-dimensional targets.

Anamorphic lenses, with different optical powers along the tangential plane and the sagittal plane, are calibrated in this paper. The imaging model for anamorphic lenses is introduced. Compared with the pinhole model, it has two more intrinsic parameters: the anamorphic distance and the anamorphic angle. The anamorphic lens has two optical centers: one is in the tangential plane and the other is in the sagittal plane. The distance between the two optical centers is the anamorphic distance. The anamorphic angle refers to the angle between the camera coordinates and the pixel coordinates in the CCD plane. Formulas determining the initial value of the anamorphic distance are provided. Two experiments are conducted for the anamorphic lens calibration. As a comparison, the anamorphic lens is calibrated using the anamorphic imaging model and the pinhole model, respectively. The calibration accuracy can be improved remarkably if the anamorphic imaging model is applied, and calibrated results for the anamorphic distance and the anamorphic angle are very stable for different positions of the calibration target, which shows the validity and effectiveness of the anamorphic imaging model for anamorphic lens calibration.

A comparative study of the osteogenic performance between the hierarchical micro/submicro-textured 3D-printed Ti6Al4V surface and the SLA surface.

Three-dimensional (3D) printed titanium and its alloys have broad application prospect in the field of biomedical implant materials, although the biological performance of the original surface should be improved. Learning from the development experience of conventional titanium implants, to construct a hierarchical hybrid topological surface is the future direction of efforts. Since the original 3D-printed (3D hereafter) Ti6Al4V surface inherently has micron-scale features, in the present study, we introduced submicron-scale pits on the original surface by acid etching to obtain a hierarchical micro/submicro-textured surface. The characteristic and biological performance of the 3D-printed and acid-etched (3DA hereafter) surface were evaluated in vitro and in vivo, compared with the conventional sandblasted, large-grit, acid-etched (SLA hereafter) surface. Our results suggested the adhesion, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs), as well as the in vivo osseointegration on 3DA surfaces were significantly improved. However, the overall osteogenic performance of the 3DA surface was not as good as the conventional SLA surface.

Paraxial lens design of double-telecentric anamorphic zoom lenses with variable magnifications or fixed conjugate.

This paper presents a paraxial lens design method for anamorphic zoom lenses with double telecentricity. Four types of such lens systems are provided, which are the Y-X-Y-Y type, the Y-Y-Y-X type, the Y-X-Y-X type, and the Y-X-X-Y type. For each lens type, it can work in two different conditions: (a) the distance between the object and the image is fixed during anamorphic zooming, or (b) the magnifications in the tangential plane and the sagittal plane can be changed independently by changing the interval lens distances. For each condition, given the optical power of each lens component and the design parameters, such as the total length, the magnifications in the tangential plane and the sagittal plane, and the anamorphic ratio, formulas determining the interval distances between lens components, the object position, and the stop position are provided. Eight examples of double-telecentric anamorphic zoom lenses are provided, and all the examples are tested in Zemax, which shows the validity of the proposed design method.

Thin lens aberrations for anamorphic lenses.

This paper provided thin lens aberrations for anamorphic lenses, including the central thin lens aberrations, the central Lagrange invariant shift, the central conjugate shift, and the central pupil shift. Based on thin lens theory and the paraxial lens module, the aberration of the anamorphic lens system can be easily corrected. The central Lagrange invariant shift can be used for aberration correction for an anamorphic zoom lens system. In order to make a concise expression for the central conjugate shift, eight aberration coefficients are introduced: D¯3x, D¯5x, D¯6x, D¯10x, D¯11y, D¯12x, D¯15x, and D¯16y. Similarly, four aberration coefficients are introduced for the central pupil shift: D11x, D¯11x, D16x, and D¯16x. A simulation is conducted that proves numerically the validity of the thin lens aberrations for an anamorphic lens system.

The effects of elevated fibroblast growth factor 23 on mandibular growth in rats.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to elucidate the local effects of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) in on mandibular condylar growth in growing rats. DESIGN: Growing Sprague-Dawley rats received intra-temporomandibular joint injections of phosphate buffer solution (PBS), adenovirus-mediated green fluorescent protein (Ad-GFP) or adenovirus-mediated fibroblast growth factor 23 (Ad-FGF23), which were marked as groups A, B, and C, respectively. In vitro, we treated rat mandibular cartilage chondrocytes with PBS, Ad-GFP, and Ad-FGF23. RESULTS: The mandibular condyles in group C grew smaller sizes than those in the other control groups due to significant differences among the experimental and control groups with the value of C-D, Q-R (P ≤ 0.05), accompanied by diminished bone mass of sub-cartilage condyles via micro CT analysis. Histologically, the length of the hypertrophic zone was diminished and was associated with decreasing chondrocyte proliferation in group C. Quantitative real-time PCR indicated significant decreases in the expression of chondrogenesis marker genes, including Type X collagen (Col X) and SRY-type box 9 (Sox 9). Moreover, elevated Ad-FGF23 suppressed chondrocyte proliferation and the expression of the chondrogenic differentiation markers Col X and Sox 9 of in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Local injection of FGF23 suppressed the development and decreased the bone mass of condyles through the decreasing the formation of condylar cartilage, specifically by regulating condylar cartilage cell viability and chondrogenesis expression.

Enhancing the Osteogenic Differentiation and Rapid Osseointegration of 3D Printed Ti6Al4V Implants via Nano-Topographic Modification.

Personalized precision therapy and rapid osseointegration are the main development directions of dental implants. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is the most promising method to fabricate personalized implants with complex design and structure. Rapid osseointegration guarantees the survival of implants especially at early implant time, and the surface modification via nano-technology is considered as the most effective method to promote osseointegration. Herein, the Ti6Al4V implants were fabricated by 3D-printing method then the nano-topographic surface was constructed on them to improve the biological responses. The results showed that the nano-topographic modification favored the adhesion and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs), accelerating the rapid osseointegration in vivo in rat condyle of femur model. It is reasonable to predict that 3D-printed implants with nano-topographic surface modification have a promising future in orthopedic applications.