Exploration on the Construction of Digital Content Security Course under the Background of "New Engineering Disciplines"

According to the development and construction of the "new engineering disciplines", the training requirements for talents and the construction of digital content security course are discussed in this paper. Based on the current development situation, this paper clarifies the tightness of digital content security and the development of "new engineering disciplines". The digital content security course has both a complete frontier theoretical system and close correlation with various new engineering disciplines. Combining these two characteristics, this paper proposes three aspects of construction: comprehensive social resources, the formation of a new curriculum teaching system, and the creation of a digital content security gold course; further introduction of school-enterprise cooperation, promotion of the combination of production and education, practical and targeted activities; training of students’ ability to master and apply digital content security and promotion of the construction of applied undergraduate programs

Why Are PPP Projects Stagnating in China? An Evolutionary Analysis of China's PPP Policies

The Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model has significantly contributed to global infrastructure and public service provision. The evolution of the PPP model closely aligns with policy directives. China’s PPP policy evolution has included five stages: budding (1986–2000), fluctuating (2001–2008), steady (2009–2012), expanding (2013–2018), and stagnating (2019–present). This study em-ploys bibliometric analysis and co-word analysis to examine 407 policies enacted by the Chinese government from 1986 to 2018. By extracting policy text keywords at various stages and constructing a co-word network matrix, this study delineates the distinctive characteristics of Chinese PPP policies across different epochs. It can be found that critical areas such as “government credit”, “contract spirit”, and “power supervision” are still underappreciated. The challenges confronting China’s PPP model are multi-faceted, stemming from policy gaps that have led to substantial project difficulties. Although the government proposed a new mechanism for franchising in 2023, the new mechanism is only for new PPP projects, and the difficulties of existing PPP projects have not been solved. This study advocates for enhancements in project bankability, regulatory clarity, institutional environment improvement, contract spirit defense, and the development of the PPP-REITs model to address these issue

Facile synthesis of a nickel sulfide (NiS) hierarchical flower for the electrochemical oxidation of H2O2 and the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR).

The synthesis of a novel hierarchical flower-like NiS via a solvothermal method for the electrochemcial oxidation of H2O2 on a carbon paste electrode with high catalytic activity for the (MOR) in an alkaline medium has been reported. Novel nickel sulfide (NiS) hierarchical flower-like structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and transmission electron microscopy. A carbon paste electrode was modified with the as-prepared hierarchical flower-like NiS, resulting in a high electrocatalytic activity toward the oxidation of H2O2. The NiS-modified electrode was used for H2O2 sensing, which was achieved over a wide linear range from 0.5 μMto1.37mM(I/μA =-0.19025 + 0.06094 C/mM) with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.3 μM and a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 0.8 μM. The hierarchical flower-like NiS also exhibited a high electrocatalytic activity for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in an alkaline medium with a high tolerance toward the catalyst-poisoning species generated during the MOR. The MOR proceeded via the direct electrooxidation of methanol on the oxidized NiS surface layer because the oxidation peak potential of the MOR was more positive than that of the oxidation of NiS

Atomic-layer molybdenum sulfide optical modulator for visible coherent light

Coherent light sources in the visible range are playing important roles in our daily life and modern technology, since about 50% of the capability of the our human brains is devoted to processing visual information. Visible lasers can be achieved by nonlinear optical process of infrared lasers and direct lasing of gain materials, and the latter has advantages in the aspects of compactness, efficiency, simplicity, etc. However, due to lack of visible optical modulators, the directly generated visible lasers with only a gain material are constrained in continuous-wave operation. Here, we demonstrated the fabrication of a visible optical modulator and pulsed visible lasers based on atomic-layer molybdenum sulfide (MoS 2), a ultrathin two-dimensional material with about 9-10 layers. By employing the nonlinear absorption of the modulator, the pulsed orange, red and deep red lasers were directly generated. Besides, the present atomic-layer MoS 2 optical modulator has broadband modulating properties and advantages in the simple preparation process. The present results experimentally verify the theoretical prediction for the low-dimensional optoelectronic modulating devices in the visible wavelength region and may open an attractive avenue for removing a stumbling block for the further development of pulsed visible lasers

Slit2N and Robo4 regulate lymphangiogenesis through the VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 pathway

Background: Signaling through vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF–C) and VEGF receptor 3 (VEGFR-3) plays a central role in lymphangiogenesis and the metastasis of several cancers via the lymphatics. Recently, the Slit2/Robo4 pathway has been recognized as a modulator of vascular permeability and integrity. Signaling via the Robo receptor inhibits VEGF-mediated effects; however, its effects on lymphatic endothelial cell function have not been well characterized. Results: We found that pretreatment with Slit2N, an active fragment of Slit2, inhibited VEGF-C-mediated lung-derived lymphatic endothelial cell (L-LEC) proliferation, migration, and in vitro tube formation. Slit2N induced the internalization of VEGFR-3, which blocked its activation, and inhibited the activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway by VEGF-C in L-LECs. Moreover, we found that inhibition of VEGF-C-induced effects by Slit2N was Robo4-dependent. Conclusion: These results indicate that Slit2N/Robo4 modulates several key cellular functions, which contribute to lymphangiogenesis, and identify this ligand-receptor pair as a potential therapeutic target to inhibit lymphatic metastasis of VEGF-C-overexpressing cancers and manage lymphatic dysfunctions characterized by VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 activation

Nonlinear optical response of Au nanorods for broadband pulse modulation in bulk visible lasers

Due to the lack of suitable optical modulators, directly generated Pr3+- and Dy3+-doped bulk visible lasers are limited in the continuous-wave operation; yet, pulsed visible lasers are only sparingly reported recently. It has been theoretically predicated that Au nanorods could modulate the visible light operation, based on the nonlinear optical response of surface plasmon resonance. Here, we demonstrate the saturable absorption properties of Au nanorods in the visible region and experimentally realized the pulsed visible lasers over the spectral range of orange (605nm), red (639nm), and deep red (721nm) with Au nanorods as the optical modulator. We show that Au nanorods have a broad nonlinear optical response and can serve as a type of broadband, low-cost, and eco-friendly candidate for optical switchers in the visible region. Our work also advocates the promise of plasmonic nanostructures for the development of pulsed lasers and other plasmonic devices

Analysis of gut microbiota and immune-related genes during sea cucumber (<em>Apostichopus japonicus</em>) response to dietary supplementation with <em>Codonopsis pilosula</em>

The gut microbiota composition of sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicas) was investigated using high-throughput sequencing techniques. The mRNA expression of complement component 3 and lysozyme genes was evaluated using quantitative fluorescence PCR. Sea cucumbers were fed with a basal diet (control group) and an experimental diet supplemented with Codonopsis pilosula (experimental group) for 30 days. The results showed that the alpha diversity of the gut microbiota was changed in different indices, including Chao1, the abundance-based coverage estimator, the Shannon index, and Good's coverage. Dietary C. pilosula promoted the proliferation of the Flavobacteriaceae family of the Proteobacteria phylum and reduced the relative abundance of the Verrucomicrobiaceae family of the Verrucomicrobia phylum. We concluded that dietary C. pilosula supplementation could alter the network interactions among different microbial functional groups by changing the ecological network's microbial community composition and biological evolution. A positive effect on A. japonicus immune responses in the gut was seen via increasing the mRNA expression of the complement component 3 and lysozyme genes. It seems to happen via modulating the balance in gut microbiota

Empagliflozin alleviates atherosclerotic calcification by inhibiting osteogenic differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells

SGLT-2 inhibitors, such as empagliflozin, have been shown to reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular events and delay the progression of atherosclerosis. However, its role in atherosclerotic calcification remains unclear. In this research, ApoE−/− mice were fed with western diet and empagliflozin was added to the drinking water for 24 weeks. Empagliflozin treatment significantly alleviated arterial calcification assessed by alizarin red and von kossa staining in aortic roots and reduced the lipid levels, while had little effect on body weight and blood glucose levels in ApoE−/− mice. In vitro studies, empagliflozin significantly inhibits calcification of primary vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and aortic rings induced by osteogenic media (OM) or inorganic phosphorus (Pi). RNA sequencing of VSMCs cultured in OM with or without empagliflozin showed that empagliflozin negatively regulated the osteogenic differentiation of VSMCs. And further studies confirmed that empagliflozin significantly inhibited osteogenic differentiation of VSMCs via qRT-PCR. Our study demonstrates that empagliflozin alleviates atherosclerotic calcification by inhibiting osteogenic differentiation of VSMCs, which addressed a critical need for the discovery of a drug-based therapeutic approach in the treatment of atherosclerotic calcification