Bio-Inspired Optimal Dispatching of Wind Power Consumption Considering Multi-Time Scale Demand Response and High-Energy Load Participation

Bio-inspired computer modelling brings solutions fromthe living phenomena or biological systems to engineering domains.To overcome the obstruction problem of large-scale wind power consumption in Northwest China,this paper constructs a bio-inspired computer model.It is an optimal wind power consumption dispatching model of multi-time scale demand response that takes into account the involved high-energy load.First,the principle of wind power obstruction with the involvement of a high-energy load is examined in this work.In this step,highenergy load model with different regulation characteristics is established.Then,considering the multi-time scale characteristics of high-energy load and other demand-side resources response speed,a multi-time scale model of coordination optimization is built.An improved bio-inspired model incorporating particle swarm optimization is applied to minimize system operation and wind curtailment costs,as well as to find the most optimal energy configurationwithin the system.Lastly,we take an example of regional power grid in Gansu Province for simulation analysis.Results demonstrate that the suggested scheduling strategy can significantly enhance the wind power consumption level and minimize the system’s operational cost.

A COVID-19 Detection Model Based on Convolutional Neural Network and Residual Learning

Amodel that can obtain rapid and accurate detection of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)plays a significant role in treating and preventing the spread of disease transmission.However,designing such amodel that can balance the detection accuracy andweight parameters ofmemorywell to deploy a mobile device is challenging.Taking this point into account,this paper fuses the convolutional neural network and residual learning operations to build a multi-class classification model,which improves COVID-19 pneumonia detection performance and keeps a trade-off between the weight parameters and accuracy.The convolutional neural network can extract the COVID-19 feature information by repeated convolutional operations.The residual learning operations alleviate the gradient problems caused by stacking convolutional layers and enhance the ability of feature extraction.The ability further enables the proposed model to acquire effective feature information at a lowcost,which canmake ourmodel keep smallweight parameters.Extensive validation and comparison with other models of COVID-19 pneumonia detection on the well-known COVIDx dataset show that(1)the sensitivity of COVID-19 pneumonia detection is improved from 88.2%(non-COVID-19)and 77.5%(COVID-19)to 95.3%(non-COVID-19)and 96.5%(COVID-19),respectively.The positive predictive value is also respectively increased from72.8%(non-COVID-19)and 89.0%(COVID-19)to 88.8%(non-COVID-19)and 95.1%(COVID-19).(2)Compared with the weight parameters of the COVIDNet-small network,the value of the proposed model is 13 M,which is slightly higher than that(11.37 M)of the COVIDNet-small network.But,the corresponding accuracy is improved from 85.2%to 93.0%.The above results illustrate the proposed model can gain an efficient balance between accuracy and weight parameters.

Contrasting vegetation changes in dry and humid regions ofthe Tibetan Plateau over recent decades

An overall greening over the Tibetan Plateau(TP) in recent decades has been established through analyses of remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI), though the regional pattern of the changes and associated drivers remain to be explored. This study used a satellite Leaf Area Index(LAI) dataset(the GLASS LAI dataset) and examined vegetation changes in humid and arid regions of the TP during 1982–2012. Based on distributions of the major vegetation types, the TP was divided roughly into a humid southeastern region dominated by meadow and a dry northwestern region covered mainly by steppe. It was found that the dividing line between the two regions corresponded well with the lines of mean annual precipitation of 400 mm and the mean LAI of 0.3. LAI=0.3 was subsequently used as a threshold for investigating vegetation type changes at the interanual and decadal time scales: if LAI increased from less than 0.3 to greater than0.3 from one time period to the next, it was regarded as a change from steppe to meadow, and vice versa. The analysis shows that changes in vegetation types occurred primarily around the dividing line of the two regions, with clear growth(reduction) of the area covered by meadow(steppe), in consistency with the findings from using another independent satellite product. Surface air temperature and precipitation(diurnal temperature range) appeared to contribute positively(negatively) to this change though climate variables displayed varying correlation with LAI for different time periods and different regions.

Application of Bioreactor in Stem Cell Culture

Stem cells (SCs), the undifferentiated biological cells, have the infinite capacity to self-renew and the pluripotent ability to differentiate. SCs and their derived products offer great promise for biomedical applications such as cell therapy, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and drug screening. However, the clinical applications of SCs require a large amount of SCs with high quality and the number of SCs from their tissue resources is very limited. Large-scale expansion is needed to generate homogeneous SCs with good biological characteristics for clinical application. This necessitates a bioreactor system to provide controllable and stable conditions for stem cell (SC) culture. Traditional methods of bioreactor for maintenance and expansion of cells rely on two-dimensional (2-D) culture techniques, leading to loss self-renewal ability and differentiation capacity upon long-term culture. New approaches for SC expansion with bioreactor employ three-dimensional (3-D) cell growth to mimic their environment in vivo. In this review, we summarize the application of bioreactors in SC culture.

MicroRNA-188-5p targeting Forkhead Box L1 promotes colorectal cancer progression via activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling

Objective:MicroRNA-188-5p(miR-188)enhances oncologic progression in various human malignancies.This study aimed to explore its role in colorectal cancer(CRC).Materials and Methods:Human CRC tissues paired with normal tissues,and several CRC cell lines were utilized.Real-time quantitative PCR was applied to measure the expression of miR-188.Overexpression and knockdown were used to access the function of miR-188 and to investigate whether FOXL1/Wnt signaling mediates such function.The proliferation,migration and invasion of cancer cells were evaluated by CCK8,wound-healing and transwell assays,respectively.Whether FOXL1 acted as a direct target of miR-188 was verified by dual-luciferase reporter assays.Results:Levels of miR-188 were upregulated in CRC tissues than in paired-normal tissues,as well as in various CRC cell lines.High expression of miR-188 was strongly associated with advanced tumor stage,accompanied with significant tumor cell proliferation,invasion and migration.It was confirmed that FOXL1 played positive crosstalk between miR-188 regulation and downstream Wnt/β-catenin signaling activation.Conclusions:All findings indicate that miR-188 promotes CRC cell proliferation and invasion through targeting FOXL1/Wnt signaling and could be served as a potential therapeutic target for human CRC in the future.

<i>In Vitro</i>Evaluation of Anticancer Drugs with Kinetic and Static Alternating Cell Culture System

Variable bioreactors have been developed for the evaluation of anti-cancer drug efficacy. The Kinetic and Static Alternating Cell Culture System (KSACCS) combines the advantages of kinetic bioreactors and static cultures to improve cell growth by providing adequate metabolic support while minimizing shear-stress. In the current studies, the KSACCS in the ZYX Bioreactor could significantly increase the sensitivity of lung cancer cells (PLS008) and leukemia cells (HL60) to anticancer drugs Cisplatin and 5-FU by accelerating the apoptosis of cancer cells. It was also shown that excessive agitation of the cells could lead to severe cell damage, which resulted in a diminished sensitivity of anticancer drug evaluation, and co-culture systems tend to reduce the sensitivity of anticancer drug evaluation although it might better mimic in vivo conditions.

Hybrid vibration isolation optimization of a flexible manipulator based on neural network agent model

Segmented Active Constrained Layer Damping(SACLD)is an intelligent vibration-damping structure,which could be applied to the sectors of aviation,aerospace,and transportation engineering to reduce the vibration of flexible structures.Moreover,machine learning technology is widely used in the engineering field because of its efficient multi-objective optimization.The dynamic simulation of a rotational segmental flexible manipulator system is presented,in which enhanced active constrained layer damping is carried out,and the neural network model of Genetic Algorithm-Back Propagation(GA-BP)algorithm is investigated.Vibration suppression and structural optimization of the SACLD manipulator model are studied based on vibration mode and damping prediction.The modal responses of the SACLD manipulator model at rest and rotation are obtained.In addition,the four model indices are optimized using the GA-BP neural network:axial incision size,axial incision position,circumferential incision size,and circumferential incision position.Finally,the best model for vibration suppression is obtained.

Chronic pulmonary bacterial infection facilitates breast cancer lung metastasis by recruiting tumor-promoting MHCII^(hi) neutrophils

Breast cancer can metastasize to various organs,including the lungs.The immune microenvironment of the organs to be metastasized plays a crucial role in the metastasis of breast cancer.Infection with pathogens such as viruses and bacteria can alter the immune status of the lung.However,the effect of chronic inflammation caused by bacteria on the formation of a premetastatic niche within the lung is unclear,and the contribution of specific immune mediators to tumor metastasis also remains largely undetermined.Here,we used a mouse model revealing that chronic pulmonary bacterial infection augmented breast cancer lung metastasis by recruiting a distinct subtype of tumor-infiltrating MHCII^(hi) neutrophils into the lung,which exhibit cancer-promoting properties.Functionally,MHCII^(hi) neutrophils enhanced the lung metastasis of breast cancer in a cell-intrinsic manner.Furthermore,we identified CCL2 from lung tissues as an important environmental signal to recruit and maintain MHCII^(hi) neutrophils.Our findings clearly link bacterial-immune crosstalk to breast cancer lung metastasis and define MHCII^(hi) neutrophils as the principal mediator between chronic infection and tumor metastasis.

Theoretical connection from the dielectric constant of films to the capacitance of capacitors under high temperature

In the process of coping with energy and environmental protection issues,technologies such as energy materials,energy devices,and energy systems have made great progress.With excellent performance,film capacitors play an increasingly important role in energyrelated fields.With the increase of application scenarios and the continuous development of film material technology,it is urgent to establish a better theoretical connection from films to capacitors.First,the main components of the capacitor including the film and the positional relationships among them are given.Then,from the two perspectives of indirect calculation according to the volume and the direct calculation according to the winding process,the equation between the dielectric constant of films and the corresponding capacitance of capacitors is established.Further,the measurement data and error analysis results of the built test platform prove the accuracy and great potential of the proposed calculation methods.In addition,error sources,including film thickness uniformity,are listed.Finally,the challenges faced by the proposed calculation methods and the paths that can be referenced for future research are summarised and discussed.

Advances in air pollution control for vessels in China

Vessel emissions have contributed a great deal to air quality deterioration in China.Hence,the Chinese government has promulgated a series of stringent emission regulations.It is in this context that vessel emission control technology research is in full swing.In particular,during the 13th Five-Year Plan,the air pollution control technology of vessels has greatly improved.Vessel emission control has followed two main governance routes:source emission reduction and aftertreatment technology.Source control focuses on alternative fuels,with two main directions,the development of new fuels and the modification of existing fuels.Moreover,after-treatment technologies have also been developed,including wet desulfurization technology using seawater or alkaline liquids as wet washing liquids and selective catalytic reduction(SCR)for the control of NOx emission.Due to China’s increasingly stringent emissions standards and regulations,work on the development of clean alternative fuels and further upgrading the collaborative application of after-treatment technologies to meet the near-zero-emissions requirements of vessels is still necessary.

Advances in air pollution control for key industries in China during the 13th five-year plan

Industrial development is an essential foundation of the national economy,but the industry is also the largest source of air pollution,of which power plants,iron and steel,building materials,and other industries emit large amounts of pollutants.Therefore,the Chinese government has promulgated a series of stringent emission regulations,and it is against this backdrop that research into air pollution control technologies for key industrial sectors is in full swing.In particular,during the 13th Five-Year Plan,breakthroughs have been made in pollution control technology for key industrial sectors.A multi-pollutant treatment technology system of desulfurization,denitrification,and dust collection,which applies to key industries such as power plants,steel,and building materials,has been developed.High-performance materials for the treatment of different pollutants,such as denitrification catalysts and desulfurization absorbers,were developed.At the same time,multi-pollutant synergistic removal technologies for flue gas in various industries have also become a hot research topic,with important breakthroughs in the synergistic removal of NO_(x),SO_(x),and Hg.Due to the increasingly stringent emission standards and regulations in China,there is still a need to work on the development of multi-pollutant synergistic technologies and further research and development of synergistic abatement technologies for CO_(2) to meet the requirements of ultra-low emissions in industrial sectors.

Technology development and cost analysis of multiple pollutant abatement for ultra-low emission coal-fired power plants in China

The implementation of ultra-low emission(ULE)limits(SO_(2):35 mg/m3,NOx:50 mg/m3,PM:10 mg/m3)promoted the development of flue gas treatment technologies in China.Pollutant control technology development for Chinese coal-fired power plants was summarized and an analysis of the applicability and cost of pollutant control technologies was conducted.Detailed data were collected from 30 ultra-low emission coal-fired units across China.Based on a cost analysis model,the average unit power generation incremental costs were 0.0144and 0.0095 CNY/(kW·hr)for SO_(2)and NOx control technologies,respectively.The unit power generation incremental cost of twin spray tower technology was 7.2%higher than that of dual-loop spray tower technology.The effect of key parameters on operating cost was analyzed.The unit power generation incremental cost increased because of increments in the electricity price for SO_(2)control technology and the price of the reductant in NOx control technology.With high sulfur content or NOx concentration,the unit power generation incremental cost caused by pollutant control increased,whereas the unit pollutant abatement cost decreased.However,the annual operating hours or load increased,thereby leading to a decline in unit power generation incremental cost and unit pollutant abatement cost.

SARS-CoV-2 hijacks cellular kinase CDK2 to promote viral RNA synthesis

The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic has devastated global health.Identifying key host factors essential for SARS-CoV-2 RNA replication is expected to unravel cellular targets for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs which have been quested for the preparedness of future viral outbreaks.Here,we have identified host proteins that associate with nonstructural protein 12(nsp12),the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase(RdRp)of SARS-CoV-2 using a mass spectrometry(MS)-based proteomic approach.Among the candidate factors,CDK2(Cyclin-dependent kinase 2),a member of cyclin-dependent kinases,interacts with nsp12 and causes its phosphorylation at T20,thus facilitating the assembly of the RdRp complex consisting of nsp12,nsp7 and nsp8 and promoting efficient synthesis of viral RNA.The crucial role of CDK2 in viral RdRp function is further supported by our observation that CDK2 inhibitors potently impair viral RNA synthesis and SARS-CoV-2 infection.Taken together,we have discovered CDK2 as a key host factor of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp complex,thus serving a promising target for the development of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp inhibitors.

Corilagin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication by targeting viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2(SARS-CoV-2) has become one major threat to human population health.The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase(RdRp) presents an ideal target of antivirals,whereas nucleoside analogs inhibitor is hindered by the proofreading activity of coronavirus.Herein,we report that corilagin(RAI-S-37) as a non-nucleoside inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp,binds directly to RdRp,effectively inhibits the polymerase activity in both cell-free and cell-based assays,fully resists the proofreading activity and potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection with a low 50% effective concentration(EC50) value of 0.13 μmol/L.Computation modeling predicts that RAI-S-37 lands at the palm domain of RdRp and prevents conformational changes required for nucleotide incorporation by RdRp.In addition,combination of RAI-S-37 with remdesivir exhibits additive activity against antiSARS-CoV-2 RdRp.Together with the current data available on the safety and pharmacokinetics of corilagin as a medicinal herbal agent,these results demonstrate the potential of being developed into one of the much-needed SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics.

A cell-based high-throughput approach to identify inhibitors of influenza A virus

Influenza is one of the most common infections threatening public health worldwide and is caused by the influenza virus.Rapid emergence of drug resistance has led to an urgent need to develop new anti-influenza inhibitors.In this study we established a 293T cell line that constitutively synthesizes a virus-based negative strand RNA,which expresses Gaussia luciferase upon influenza A virus infection.Using this cell line,an assay was developed and optimized to search for inhibitors of influenza virus replication.Biochemical studies and statistical analyses presented herein demonstrate the sensitivity and reproducibility of the assay in a high-throughput format(Z 0 factor value40.8).A pilot screening provides further evidence for validation of the assay.Taken together,this work provides a simple,convenient,and reliable HTS assay to identify compounds with anti-influenza activity.

Supramolecular self-assembly of two-component systems comprising aromatic amides/Schiff base and tartaric acid

The gelating properties and thermotropic behaviors of stoichiometric mixtures of aromatic amides 1,2,and the aromatic Schiffbase 3 with tartaric acid(TA)were investigated.Among the three gelators,2-TA exhibited superior gelating ability.Mixture 2-TA exhibits a smectic B phase and an unidentified smectic mesophase during both heating and cooling runs.The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction revealed the existence of hydrogen bonding and rc-ninteractions in 2-TA systems,which are likely to be the dominant driving forces for the supramolecular selfassembly.Additionally,it was established that all of the studied gel self-assemblies and mesophases possess alamellar structure.The anion response ability of the tetrahydrofuran gel of 2-TA was evaluated and it was found that it was responsive to the stimuli of F,Cl,Br,I,AcO.

Repurposing of berbamine hydrochloride to inhibit Ebola virus by targeting viral glycoprotein

Ebola virus(EBOV)infection leads to staggeringly high mortality rate.Effective and low-cost treatments are urgently needed to control frequent EBOV outbreaks in Africa.In this study,we report that a natural compound called berbamine hydrochloride strongly inhibits EBOV replication in vitro and in vivo.Our work further showed that berbamine hydrochloride acts by directly binding to the cleaved EBOV glycoprotein(GPcl),disrupting GPcl interaction with viral receptor Niemann-Pick C1,thus blocking the fusion of viral and cellular membranes.Our data support the probability of developing anti-EBOV small molecule drugs by targeting viral GPcl.More importantly,since berbamine hydrochloride has been used in clinic to treat leukopenia,it holds great promise of being quickly repurposed as an anti-EBOV drug.

Identification and characterization of loop7 motif and its role in regulating biological function of human APOBEC3G through molecular modeling and biological assay

Human APOBEC3G(h A3G) is a cytidine deaminase which inhibits HIV-1 replication. The HIV-1 accessory protein viral infectivity factor(Vif) counteracts with hA3G by targeting it for proteasomal degradation. In this work, we constructed and optimized molecular models of the hA3G dimer and the h A3G–Vif complex. The molecular modeling study revealed that the loop7 motif of hA3G appears on the interfaces of both the h A3G–Vif complex and the hA3G dimer. Biochemical analysis provided evidence suggesting that binding of Vif to hA3G results in steric blocking of hA3G dimerization, implying that monomeric hA3G serves as a substrate for Vif-mediated degradation.Furthermore, we presented evidence for the important roles of the loop7 motif, especially the central residues within the region, in hA3G dimerization, h A3G–Vif interaction, Vif-mediated hA3G degradation as well as subcellular localization of hA3G. This work highlights a multiple-task interface formed by loop7 motif, which regulates biological function of hA3G, thus providing the feasibility of the strategy of blocking Vif-mediated A3 G degradation by targeting the putative site around loop7.

A highly efficient methodology for the preparation of N-methoxycarbazoles and the total synthesis of 3,3'-[oxybis(methylene)]bis(9-methoxy-9H-carbazole)

A convenient and highly efficient method is described for the synthesis of N-methoxycarbazole derivatives,including those with sterically demanding,benzannulated,or strongly electron-donating or-withdrawing substituents.Various N-methoxycarbazole derivatives were directly prepared in good-to-moderate yields by the Pd_(2)(dba)_(3)CHCl_(3)/9,9-dimethyl-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)xanthene-catalyzed reactions of the corresponding dibromobiphenyl compounds and methoxyamine.Based on this methodology,the first total synthesis of 3,3′-[oxybis(methylene)]bis(9-methoxy-9H-carbazole),an antimicrobial dimeric carbazole alkaloid previously isolated from the stem bark of Murraya koenigii,was achieved in 18% yield over seven steps from 1,2-dibromobenzene.

Photocatalyzed Reverse Polarity Oxidative Povarov Reaction of Glycine Derivatives with Maleimides

An oxidative tandem(4+2)-cyclization/aromatization of N-aryl glycine derivatives with electron-deficient alkenes was first achieved using Ru(bpy)_(3)Cl_(2) as a photocatalyst and TBHP as an oxidant in combination with visible-light irradiation by blue LEDs.One-electron oxidation and the followingα-deprotonation of glycine derivatives affordα-amino alkyl radicals,which were then trapped by electrophilic maleimides.As an atom-economic and efficient method,a variety of pyrrolo[3,4-c]quinoline-1,3-diones have been obtained in good yields under mild reaction conditions.