Constructed wetland systems have been widely used in China due to their advantages of good treatment effect, low cost and environmental friendliness. However, traditional constructed wetlands have challenges in application such as deactivation due to filler clogging, difficulty in filler replacement and low adaptability. To address the above problems, this research proposes a modular filler design constructed wetland based on the concept of assembly construction, which can quickly replace the clogged filler without destroying the overall structure of the wetland. Four commonly used fillers were selected and applied to the pilot system of the assembled constructed wetland in this study, in order to investigate the purification effect of the constructed wetland system with different filler module combinations (CW1, CW2, CW3) on the simulated wastewater. The results showed that the filler combination CW1 was the best for the removal of NH4+-N, and for TP and COD, CW2 has the best removal effect. Therefore, the assembled constructed wetland is adjustable and substantially reduces the maintenance cost, which provides technical guidance for its application in engineering.

Lignin deposits formed on the surface of pretreated lignocellulosic substrates during acidic pretreatments can non-productively adsorb costly enzymes and thereby influence the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of cellulose. In this article, peanut protein (PP), a biocompatible non-catalytic protein, was separated from defatted peanut flour (DPF) as a lignin blocking additive to overcome this adverse effect. With the addition of 2.5 g/L PP in enzymatic hydrolysis medium, the glucose yield of the bamboo substrate pretreated by phenylsulfonic acid (PSA) significantly increased from 38 to 94% at a low cellulase loading of 5 FPU/g glucan while achieving a similar glucose yield required a cellulase loading of 17.5 FPU/g glucan without PP addition. Similar promotion effects were also observed on the n-pentanol-pretreated bamboo and PSA-pretreated eucalyptus substrates. The promoting effect of PP on enzymatic hydrolysis was ascribed to blocking lignin deposits via hydrophobic and/or hydrogen-bonding interactions, which significantly reduced the non-productive adsorption of cellulase onto PSA lignin. Meanwhile, PP extraction also facilitated the utilization of residual DPF as the adhesive for producing plywood as compared to that without protein pre-extraction. This scheme provides a sustainable and viable way to improve the value of woody and agriculture biomass. Peanut protein, a biocompatible non-catalytic protein, can block lignin, improve enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency and thereby facilitate the economics of biorefinery.

Based on the scenario of high-penetration distributed photovoltaic connected to an AC/DC distribution network, this paper analyzes the dynamic characteristics of frequency and voltage in a distribution network after the blocking failure of the flexible interconnection channel. In order to enhance the transient stability of the system after the fault, this paper comprehensively considers the active regulation ability of photovoltaic units, and puts forward an emergency coordinated control strategy for a single-ended distribution network with flexible interconnection channel blocking. Firstly, the non-fault channel is overloaded for a short time, then the comprehensive influence of factors such as electrical distance, response time and adjustment cost on the frequency modulation effect of the system is quantitatively evaluated; according to the evaluation results, the photovoltaic and synchronous units are controlled by \"control instead of tripping\", and finally, the high-frequency tripping is carried out, based on the principle of \"photovoltaics first\". After the frequency control is completed, the reactive power optimization model of the system is established, and the improved tabu-particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to solve it, so as to optimize the voltage of the distribution network nodes. Finally, an equivalent simulation model is established to verify the coordinated control strategy.

In the field of second language acquisition, overshadowing and blocking by cue competition effects in classical conditioning affect the learning and expression of human cognitive associations. In this work, a memristive neural network circuit based on neurobiological mechanisms is proposed, which consists of synapse module, neuron module, and control module. In particular, the designed network introduces an inhibitory interneuron to divide memristive synapses into excitatory and inhibitory memristive synapses, so as to mimic synaptic plasticity better. In addition, the proposed circuit can implement six functions of second language acquisition conditioning, including learning, overshadowing, blocking, recovery from overshadowing, recovery from blocking, and long-term effect of overshadowing over time leading to blocking. Overshadowing, which denotes that the more salient stimulus overshadows the learning of the less salient stimulus when two stimuli differ in salience, reduces the associative strength acquired by the less salient stimulus. Blocking, which indicates that pretraining on one stimulus blocks learning about a second stimulus, inhibits the associative strength acquired by a second stimulus. Finally, the correctness and effectiveness of implementing functions mentioned above are verified by the simulation results in PSPICE. Through further research, the proposed circuit is applied to bionic devices such as social robots or educational robots, which can address language and cognitive disorders via assisted learning and training.

There are limited studies on blocking and men who have sex with men (MSM) health outcomes. We need such data in China, to better understand the relationship between Chinese MSM gay app use and health outcomes, thus providing insight on risky sexual behaviors and HIV transmission among Chinese MSM - one of the world\'s largest MSM communities. Blocking someone is when users select a function on an app to prevent another user from contacting them and being blocked is when someone is prevented from contacting another user. We studied the correlates of blocking on the world\'s largest gay dating app among Chinese MSM (N = 208).
We conducted a cross-sectional survey as part of an HIV testing intervention in Guangzhou, China, May-December 2019. Using logistic regression models, we estimated the correlates of blocking (e.g. sociodemographic characteristics, sexual behavior, HIV testing history, social network data).
MSM had a mean age of 27.9 years (SD = 7.1) and median of one sexual partner in the last 3 months. About 62% had blocked someone in their lifetime and 46% had been blocked in their lifetime. Each additional male partner was associated with an 87% (aOR = 1.87, 95%CI = 1.03, 3.40) increased chance of being blocked. Reporting a versatile sexual role was related with a 90% (aOR = 0.10, 95%CI = 0.02, 0.45) decreased likelihood of blocking behavior and an 86% (aOR = 0.14, 95%CI = 0.04, 0.46) reduced chance of being blocked.
Number of male partners may be associated with blocking behavior, with implications for the design of online sexual health interventions.

For the creation of intelligent management systems in hospitals, efficient resource arrangement is essential. Motivated by a real-world scenario in hospitals, we introduce the no-wait two-stage flowshop scheduling problem with the first-stage machine having multi-task flexibility. In this problem, each job has two operations which are processed in order on a two-stage flowshop without preemption and time delay between or on machines. The multi-task flexibility allows the first-stage machine to process the second-stage operations. The goal is to minimize the maximum completion time of all jobs. To the best of our knowledge, this is a pioneering work on this problem. We discover several novel structural properties, based on which we present a linear-time combinatorial algorithm with an approximation ratio 13 8 . This problem and its variants can find many other meaningful applications in modern manufacturing systems, such as the robot cell scheduling with computer numerical control machines or printed circuit boards. The idea behind our algorithm may inspire more practical algorithms.

Claudins (CLDN) are a family of proteins that represent the most important components of tight junctions, where they establish the paracellular barrier that controls the flow of molecules in the intercellular space between epithelial cells. Several types of viruses make full use of CLDN to facilitate entry into cells. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most important pathogens in the swine industry. In this study, we found that CLDN4 functions as an anti-PRRSV factor by blocking its absorption during the early stages of infection. The small extracellular loop (ECL2) of CLDN4 restricted the viral particles outside cells by binding to GP3. A novel function of GP3-mediated regulation of CLDN4 transcription was suggested. CLDN4 can be decreased through downregulating the level of CLDN4 transcription by ubiquitinating the transcription factor, SP1. The mechanism by which highly pathogenic PRRSV infects the epithelium was proposed. Importantly, ECL2 was found to block PRRSV absorption and infection and neutralize the virus. A more in-depth understanding of PRRSV infection is described, and novel therapeutic antiviral strategies are discussed.IMPORTANCE In the present study, the role of CLDN4 in PRRSV infection was studied. The results showed that CLDN4 blocked absorption into cells and restricted extracellular viral particles via the interaction between the CLDN4 small extracellular loop, ECL2, and the viral surface protein GP3. GP3 was found to downregulate CLDN4 through ubiquitination of the transcription factor SP1 to facilitate viral entry. The mechanism by which highly pathogenic PRRSV infects the epithelium is suggested. A novel function of GP3 in regulating gene transcription was discovered. Moreover, ECL2 could block PRRSV absorption and infection, as well as neutralizing the virus in the supernatant, which may lead to the development of novel therapeutic antiviral strategies.

As a kind of transportation in a smart city, urban public bicycles have been adopted by major cities and bear the heavy responsibility of the \"last mile\" of urban public transportation. At present, the main problem of the urban public bicycle system is that it is difficult for users to rent a bike during peak h, and real-time monitoring cannot be solved adequately. Therefore, predicting the demand for bicycles in a certain period and performing redistribution in advance is of great significance for solving the lag of bicycle system scheduling with the help of IoT. Based on the HOSVD-LSTM prediction model, a prediction model of urban public bicycles based on the hybrid model is proposed by transforming the source data (multiple time series) into a high-order tensor time series. Furthermore, it uses the tensor decomposition technology (HOSVD decomposition) to extract new features (kernel tenor) from higher-order tensors. At the same time, these kernel tenors are directly used to train tensor LSTM models to obtain new kernel tenors. The inverse tensor decomposition and high-dimensional, multidimensional, and tensor dimensionality reduction were introduced. The new kernel tenor obtains the predicted value of the source sequence. Then the bicycle rental amount is predicted.

With the release of nanoparticles (NPs) into the subsurface, it is imperative to better understand the fate and transport of NPs in porous media. Three types of stable AuNPs were used as model NPs to investigate the impact of surface coatings (type and coverage) and water velocity on the NP transport in a porous media (column studies). The NPs were electrostatic stabilized citrate AuNPs and sterically stabilized AuNPs with amphiphilic block co-polymer (PVA-COOH) in two particle/polymer ratios (weak vs. strong stabilization). The citrate AuNPs transport was sensitive to ionic changes in the mixing front of the plume, where destabilization occurred, and will therefore depend on the size/type of release. Blocking of deposition sites by aggregates was seen to facilitate transport, whereby a higher flow velocity (larger shadow zone) also resulted in better transport. The polymeric surface coating had great impact with steric repulsion as a main force contributing to the transport of NPs in the porous media. Sufficient polymer coating was crucial to obtain highly unfavorable attachment conditions (very low α) where the enhanced NP mobility was independent of the water velocity (comparable to solute tracer). Without sufficient steric stabilization, the transport and recovery was significantly reduced compared to the solute tracer, but increased with increasing water velocity. This highlights the importance of sufficient surface coating to achieve enhanced mobility, but also the increased risk of spreading to down-gradient receptors. For the (weakly) sterically stabilized NPs, the loss of polymer through ligand exchange with the porous media negates transport.

Rationale: Exosomes are emerging as a promising drug delivery carrier. However, rapid uptake of exosomes by the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) remains an obstacle for drug delivery into other targeted organs, including the heart. We hypothesized that prior blocking of uptake of exosomes by the MPS would improve their delivery to the targeted organs. Methods: Exosomes were isolated from the cell culture medium. Fluorescence-labeled exosomes were tracked in vitro and in vivo by fluorescence imaging. The expression of clathrin heavy chain (Cltc), cavolin1, Pak1 and Rhoa, known genes for endocytosis, were profiled in various cell lines and organs by qPCR. The knockdown efficiency of siRNA against Cltc was analyzed by Western blotting. Exosomecontrol and exosomeblocking were constructed by encapsulating isolated exosomes with siControl or siClathrin via electroporation, while exosometherapeutic was constructed by encapsulating isolated exosomes with miR-21a. Doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity model was used to verify the therapeutic efficiency of the exosome-based miR-21a delivery by echocardiography. Results: Exosomes were preferentially accumulated in the liver and spleen, mainly due to the presence of abundant macrophages. Besides the well-known phagocytic effect, efficient endocytosis also contributes to the uptake of exosomes by macrophages. Cltc was found to be highly expressed in the macrophages compared with other endocytosis-associated genes. Accordingly, knockdown of Cltc significantly decreased the uptake of exosomes by macrophages in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, prior injection of exosomeblocking strikingly improved the delivery efficiency of exosomes to organs other than spleen and liver. Consistently, compared with the direct injection of exosometherapeutic, prior injection of exosomeblocking produced a much better therapeutic effect on cardiac function in the doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity mouse model. Conclusions: Prior blocking of endocytosis of exosomes by macrophages with exosomeblocking successfully and efficiently improves the distribution of following exosometherapeutic in targeted organs, like the heart. The established two-step exosome delivery strategy (blocking the uptake of exosomes first followed by delivery of therapeutic exosomes) would be a promising method for gene therapy.