Loss of ATF3 exacerbates liver damage through the activation of mTOR/p70S6K/ HIF-1α signaling pathway in liver inflammatory injury.

Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) is a stress-induced transcription factor that plays important roles in regulating immune and metabolic homeostasis. Activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) transcription factors are crucial for the regulation of immune cell function. Here, we investigated the mechanism by which the ATF3/mTOR/HIF-1 axis regulates immune responses in a liver ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) model. Deletion of ATF3 exacerbated liver damage, as evidenced by increased levels of serum ALT, intrahepatic macrophage/neutrophil trafficking, hepatocellular apoptosis, and the upregulation of pro-inflammatory mediators. ATF3 deficiency promoted mTOR and p70S6K phosphorylation, activated high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) and TLR4, inhibited prolyl-hydroxylase 1 (PHD1), and increased HIF-1α activity, leading to Foxp3 downregulation and RORγt and IL-17A upregulation in IRI livers. Blocking mTOR or p70S6K in ATF3 knockout (KO) mice or bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) downregulated HMGB1, TLR4, and HIF-1α and upregulated PHD1, increasing Foxp3 and decreasing IL-17A levels in vitro. Silencing of HIF-1α in ATF3 KO mice ameliorated IRI-induced liver damage in parallel with the downregulation of IL-17A in ATF3-deficient mice. These findings demonstrated that ATF3 deficiency activated mTOR/p70S6K/HIF-1α signaling, which was crucial for the modulation of TLR4-driven inflammatory responses and T cell development. The present study provides potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of liver IRI followed by liver transplantation

Energy-Efficient Design of STAR-RIS Aided MIMO-NOMA Networks

Simultaneous transmission and reflection-reconfigurable intelligent surface (STAR-RIS) can provide expanded coverage compared with the conventional reflection-only RIS. This paper exploits the energy efficient potential of STAR-RIS in a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) enabled non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) system. Specifically, we mainly focus on energy-efficient resource allocation with MIMO technology in the STAR-RIS assisted NOMA network. To maximize the system energy efficiency, we propose an algorithm to optimize the transmit beamforming and the phases of the low-cost passive elements on the STAR-RIS alternatively until the convergence. Specifically, we first decompose the formulated energy efficiency problem into beamforming and phase shift optimization problems. To efficiently address the non-convex beamforming optimization problem, we exploit signal alignment and zero-forcing precoding methods in each user pair to decompose MIMO-NOMA channels into single-antenna NOMA channels. Then, the Dinkelbach approach and dual decomposition are utilized to optimize the beamforming vectors. In order to solve non-convex phase shift optimization problem, we propose a successive convex approximation (SCA) based method to efficiently obtain the optimized phase shift of STAR-RIS. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm with NOMA technology can yield superior energy efficiency performance over the orthogonal multiple access (OMA) scheme and the random phase shift scheme

Accelerating Spatial Data Processing with MapReduce

Abstract—MapReduce is a key-value based programming model and an associated implementation for processing large data sets. It has been adopted in various scenarios and seems promising. However, when spatial computation is expressed straightforward by this key-value based model, difficulties arise due to unfit features and performance degradation. In this paper, we present methods as follows: 1) a splitting method for balancing workload, 2) pending file structure and redundant data partition dealing with relation between spatial objects, 3) a strip-based two-direction plane sweep-ing algorithm for computation accelerating. Based on these methods, ANN(All nearest neighbors) query and astronomical cross-certification are developed. Performance evaluation shows that the MapReduce-based spatial applications outperform the traditional one on DBMS

Effect of Functionalized Graphene Oxide with Hyper-Branched Flame Retardant on Flammability and Thermal Stability of Cross-Linked Polyethylene

In this work, GO was functionalized by a hyper-branched flame retardant, which was synthesized by the reaction of N-aminoethyl piperazine and di(acryloyloxyethyl)methylphosphonate. Subsequently, the resultant functionalized GO (FGO) was incorporated into the cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) to enhance the flame retardancy of the matrix. Transmission electron spectroscopy images indicated that FGO exhibited uniform dispersion in XLPE matrix and strong adhesion with the matrix by cross-linking, which improved barrier effect due to reduced heat release and the free radical transfer between the matrix and graphene nanosheets. The incorporation of FGO into XLPE matrix endowed polymer composites with flame retardancy and thermal stability. In addition, the homogeneous dispersion of functionalized GO with a hyper-branched flame retardant in the polymer matrix improved the antioxidation and mechanical properties of XLPE-FGO nanocomposites compared to the XLPE-GO samples, as demonstrated through the oxidative induction temperature and time test, oven aging test and mechanical test. © 2014 American Chemical Society

Research Progress of High Entropy Ceramic Materials

High-entropy materials (HEMs) have better mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties than traditional materials due to their special "high entropy effect". They can also adjust the performance of high entropy ceramics by adjusting the proportion of raw materials, and have broad application prospects in many fields. This article provides a review of the high entropy effect, preparation methods, and main applications of high entropy ceramic materials, especially exploring relevant research on high entropy perovskite ceramics. It is expected to provide reference for the promotion of scientific research and the development of further large-scale applications of high-entropy ceramic materials