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Total factor productivity in the green economy is a major step forward in fostering robust growth in the economy. Urban green total factor productivity (GTFP) may be increased and carbon emissions decreased through the low-carbon transformation of the transportation sector. To analyze how the pilot policy of low-carbon transportation system construction affects urban GTFP, this study builds a DID model and a spatial Durbin model using panel data from 282 Chinese cities between 2006 and 2021. The findings show that low-carbon transportation systems boost urban GTFP. In addition, the mechanism test shows that low-carbon transportation development increases urban GTFP by optimizing urban industrial structure, expediting economic agglomeration, and encouraging technological innovation. Lastly, the geographical correlation test shows that GTFP is geographically associated and that spatial spillover reduces the impact of low-carbon transportation growth on GTFP. The findings affirm the need to vigorously promote low-carbon transportation systems to aid in the achievement of the carbon neutrality target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid China's economic shift to high-quality development, addressing environmental challenges like greenhouse gas emissions and manufacturing pollution, there is a crucial demand for sustainable and eco-friendly development strategies. This study aims to investigate the impact of innovation efficiency in the high-tech industry on carbon emissions. It seeks to explore regional differences, mechanisms, and the influence of energy consumption structures in achieving sustainable development goals. Utilizing data from 30 provinces spanning 2009 to 2020, the study employs the DEA-Malmquist index model, spatial and temporal classification evaluation, and a panel measurement model to assess the efficiency of innovation and development in high-tech industries and their relationship with carbon emissions. The results indicate several key findings: (1) The overall operational efficiency of high-tech industry innovation and development in China is steadily increasing. However, there are distinct characteristics observed among provinces and cities, reflecting diverse input and output types. (2) High-tech industry innovation efficiency significantly contributes to carbon emission reduction, and there is regional heterogeneity in this impact. The central and western regions exhibit greater effects compared to other provinces and cities. (3) The optimization of the energy structure is identified as a mechanism through which high-tech industry innovation efficiency reduces carbon emissions. Moreover, different intervals of high-tech industry innovation efficiency yield varying effects on carbon emissions. This research underscores the importance of fostering high-tech industry innovation efficiency as a means to reduce carbon emissions. It also identifies key areas for future policy development and resource allocation, emphasizing the support needed for low-carbon technology research and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis (AS), the current study aimed to investigate the mechanism underlying the effect of homocysteine (Hcy) on regulating the proliferation, migration and phenotypic transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) via sirtuin-1 (SIRT1)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) through Nedd4-like E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase WWP2 (WWP2). Here, Based on the establishment of ApoE-/- mouse models of high Hcy As and the model of Hcy stimulation of VSMC in vitro to observe the interaction between WWP2 and STAT3 and its effect on the proliferation, migration, and phenotypic transformation of Hcy-induced VSMC, which has not been previously reported. This study revealed that WWP2 could promote the proliferation, migration, and phenotype switch of Hcy-induced VSMC by up-regulating the phosphorylation of SIRT1/STAT3 signaling. Furthermore, Hcy might up-regulate WWP2 expression by inhibiting histone H3K27me3 expression through up-regulated UTX. These data suggest that WWP2 is a novel and important regulator of Hcy-induced VSMC proliferation, migration, and phenotypic transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemically synthetic nanomotors can consume fuel in the environment and utilize the self-generated concentration gradient to self-propel themselves in the system. We study the collective dynamics of an ensemble of sphere dimers built from linked catalytic and noncatalytic monomers. Because of the confinement from the fuel field and the interactions among motors, the ensemble of dimer motors can self-organize into various nanostructures, such as a radial pattern in the spherical fuel field and a staggered radial pattern in a cylindrical fuel field. The influence of the dimer volume fraction on the self-assembly is also investigated and the formed nanostructures are analyzed in detail. The results presented here may give insight into the application of the self-assembly of active materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the clinical application of moist wound dressings in wound care for patients with the tracheostomy. Background: Tracheostomy patients may suffer from many complications. Moist dressings have been proposed to lower complication rates for patients with the tracheostomy. Design: A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐analyses (PRISMA) checklist‐guided meta‐analysis of randomised and controlled clinical trials. Method: In this meta‐analysis, two reviewers independently searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI and Wanfang databases for controlled clinical trials (CCTs) comparing the use of moist dressings and gauze for tracheostomy patients. The reviewers screened studies according to the inclusion criteria and extracted data from published reports independently. The outcome of site infection and pressure ulcer incidence, the frequency of dressing changes and wound closing time were evaluated by random‐effects or fixed‐effects meta‐analysis. Results: After the screening, ten studies including 1,220 participants were eligible for analysis. The result showed that the incidence of site infection and pressure ulcer was significantly reduced in the moist dressings group compared with the gauze group. Moist dressings were also associated with significant reductions in the frequency of dressing changes and wound closing time. These results were assessed as moderate‐ to low‐quality evidence. Conclusion: Moist dressings seem to be beneficial to tracheostomy patients, giving a lower incidence of site infection and pressure ulcers as well as shorter wound closing times and lower dressing change frequency. More high‐quality trials are needed to support this finding. Relevance to clinical practice: The findings offer clinicians an assessment of and evidence for the efficacy of moist dressings, which may be a superior option for patients with a tracheotomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The surface of an orthopaedic implant plays a crucial role in determining the adsorption of proteins and cell functions. A detailed comparative study has been made of the in vitro osteoblast responses to coarse‐grained (grain size: 500 μm), ultrafine‐grained (grain size: 100 nm), coarse‐porous (pore size: 350 nm), and fine‐porous (pore size: 155 nm) surfaces of Ti‐20Mo alloy. The purpose was to provide essential experimental data for future design of orthopaedic titanium implants for rapid osseointegration. Systematic original experimental data was produced for each type of surfaces in terms of surface wettability, cell morphology, adhesion, growth, and differentiation. Microscopic evidence was collected to reveal the detailed interplay between each characteristic surface with proteins or cells. Various new observations were discussed and compared with literature data. It was concluded that the coarse‐porous surfaces offered the optimum topographical environment for osteoblasts and that the combination of ultrafine grains and considerable grain boundary areas is not an effective way to enhance cell growth and osteogenic capacity. Moreover, pore features (size and depth) have a greater effect than smooth surfaces on cell growth and osteogenic capacity. It proves that cells can discern the difference in pore size in the range of 100–350 nm. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 2020–2033, 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver film over nanospheres (AgFON) have been prepared by depositing Ag thin film onto the self-assembled monolayer arrays of polystyrene nanospheres with vacuum magnetron sputtering method. The surface morphologies and optical properties have been characterized by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and ultraviolet-visible near-infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) spectrophotometer. AgFON was used as substrate to detect the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of malachite green (MG) and melamine (MA). It was found that the AgFON substrate presented outstanding performance that the Raman enhancement factor was calculated to be as large as 9.76 × 10. The minimum limit for MG was down to 10 mol/L with a good linear response range from 10 to 10 mol/L. In addition, this substrate showed excellent ability to recognize MA molecules with a detection limit of 0.1 mg/L. A good linearity ( r = 0.9887) was obtained in the concentration range of 2-100 mg/L. Furthermore, the AgFON substrate exhibited good uniformity with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 9.01 % and good reproducibility with RSD of 8.60 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the accuracy of MRI features in differentiating the pathological grades of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PNENs). A total of 31 PNENs patients were retrospectively evaluated, including 19 cases in grade 1, 5 in grade 2, and 7 in grade 3. Plain and contrastenhanced MRI was performed on all patients. MRI features including tumor size, margin, signal intensity, enhancement patterns, degenerative changes, duct dilatation and metastasis were analyzed. Chi square tests, Fisher's exact tests, one-way ANOVA and ROC analysis were conducted to assess the associations between MRI features and different tumor grades. It was found that patients with older age, tumors with higher TNM stage and without hormonal syndrome had higher grade of PNETs (all P<0.05). Tumor size, shape, margin and growth pattern, tumor pattern, pancreatic and bile duct dilatation and presence of lymphatic and distant metastasis as well as MR enhancement pattern and tumor-topancreas contrast during arterial phase were the key features differentiating tumors of all grades (all P<0.05). ROC analysis revealed that the tumor size with threshold of 2.8 cm, irregular shape, pancreatic duct dilatation and lymphadenopathy showed satisfactory sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing grade 3 from grade 1 and grade 2 tumors. Features of peripancreatic tissue or vascular invasion, and distant metastasis showed high specificity but relatively low sensitivity. In conclusion, larger size, poorlydefined margin, heterogeneous enhanced pattern during arterial phase, duct dilatation and the presence of metastases are common features of higher grade PNENs. Plain and contrast-enhanced MRI provides the ability to differentiate tumors with different pathological grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gold (Au) nanocap arrays and hollow gold nanocap particles were prepared by dip-coating technique combined with wet chemical reduction method, and followed by sonication and dissolution of the silica colloidal template. The surface morphologies and optical properties of the obtained samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope, and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, respectively. Gold nanocap arrays and hollow gold nanocap particles were used as substrates to detect the surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectra of malachite green and methylene blue (MB), respectively. It was found that the gold nanocap arrays had higher enhancement ability than hollow gold nanocap particles, with enhancement factor of 1.3 × 105and 3.5 × 103, respectively. In addition, gold nanocap arrays exhibited excellent reproducibility with a relative standard deviation of less than 5% and about 10% across a single substrate and between different substrates, respectively. The minimum detection limit for MB adsorbed on hollow gold nanocap particles was down to 0.01 µM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenolic resin (PF) and molybdic acid–modified phenolic (Mo-PF) have been synthesized and developed and combined with polyfluo wax (PFW) to fabricate PF-PFW and Mo-PF-PFW composite coatings. The effects of applied load and sliding speed on the tribological properties of the phenolic composite coating were evaluated using a block-on-ring wear tester. Compared to the PF composite coating, the Mo-PF displayed a lower friction coefficient and a higher wear life under all tested conditions. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) investigation showed that the Mo-PF composite coating had a smooth worn surface after the friction test, and a continuous and uniform transfer film was formed on the surface of the counterpart ring. The improved tribological properties of Mo-PF composite coating resulted from its enhanced thermal properties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The sub-binary systems Al-Ti, Ti-V, and Al-V are reviewed and adopted from the previous assessments, the thermodynamic analysis of the Al-Ti-V ternary system is performed by the CALPHAD approach, and a set of self-consistent thermodynamic parameters of the ternary system are obtained. Furthermore, the isothermal sections of this system at 1073 K, 1173 K, 1273 K, 1373 K, and 1473 K (800 °C, 900 °C, 1000 °C, 1100 °C, and 1200 °C) and the ternary invariant equilibria are calculated and compared with the corresponding experimental data, and all are in good agreement with most of the experimental results. Thus, the optimized thermodynamic parameters in this study may provide more accurate guidance to develop the new alloys involving it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The α + β-type Ti-4.5Al-6.9Cr-2.3Mn alloy has been theoretically designed on the basis of assessment of the Ti-Al-Cr-Mn thermodynamic system and the relationship between the molybdenum equivalent and mechanical properties of titanium alloys. The alloy is successfully prepared by the split water-cooled copper crucible, and its microstructures and mechanical properties at room temperature are investigated using the OM, SEM, and the universal testing machine. The results show that the Ti-4.5Al-6.9Cr-2.3Mn alloy is an α + β-type alloy which is consistent with the expectation, and its fracture strength, yield strength, and elongation reach 1191.3, 928.4 MPa, and 10.7 pct, respectively. Although there is no strong segregation of alloying elements under the condition of as-cast, the segregation of Cr and Mn is obvious at the grain boundary after thermomechanical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality epi-MgO buffer layers under different O2/Ar pressure ratios are fabricated by rf magnetron sputtering on textured IBAD-MgO templates. Under the total deposition pressure remaining constant (14 Pa), the effect of changing the ratio of O2/Ar pressure from 1:4 to 3:2 on the microstructure and surface morphology of epi-MgO films is studied. The microstructure and morphology of epi-MgO are fully characterized by x-ray diffraction, atom force microscope and scanning electron microscope. The best texture quality of epi-MgO with an out-plane Δω value of 1.8° and an in-plane ΔΦ value of 5.22° are obtained under the ratio of O2/Ar pressure 3:2. Further, the surface morphology indicates that the surface of epi-MgO is smooth with rms surface roughness about 4.7 nm at O2/Ar pressure ratio 3:2. After that, GdBa2Cu3O7–δ (GBCO) layers are deposited on the CeO2 cap layer buffered epi-MgO/IBAD-MgO templates to assess the efficiency of such a buffer layer stack. The critical current density of GBCO films (thickness of 200 nm) is higher than 3 MA/cm2, indicating that epi-MgO/IBAD-MgO is promising for depositing superconducting layers with a higher critical current density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colloidal silver nanoparticles were prepared by a simple chemical reduction method. The effect of L-cysteine on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering activity of colloidal silver nanoparticles was investigated by using malachite green as a probe molecule. It was found that the surface-enhanced Raman scattering activity of colloidal silver nanoparticles was improved tremendously with the help of L-cysteine. The possible reasons for this enhancement effect were given. Specifically, in silver colloidal solution, no surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectrum of malachite green was observed at a relatively low concentration (≤2.5 × 10−5 mol/L). However, well-resolved and high-quality surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectra of malachite green were successfully obtained after the addition of L-cysteine to silver colloids, and the minimum detection limit for malachite green was down to 10−8 mol/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to overcome the weakness of large ZigBee node, complex network and high cost in the harsh environment, a design of wireless sensor network node based on super low power consumption MCU MSP430 and RF chip CC2430 is proposed, and RF front-end CC2591 is used to improve the trans-mission power and receive sensitivity, thus extending the transmission distance. The test results show that the stability of the system is improved and network coverage is increased because of the MCU and the RF front-end [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper nanocap arrays, consisting of a SiO2 core with a Cu cap, were prepared by chemical synthesis combined with physical evaporation technique. The obtained samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared spectrophotometer. The copper nanocap arrays were found to exhibit tunable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption peaks that were red-shifted as the ratio of the SiO2 core diameter to the Cu cap thickness increased. While the cap thickness varied between 20 nm and 50 nm, the SPR peak shifted from 1650 nm to 1230 nm. While the core diameter varied between 140 nm and 400 nm, the longitudinal SPR peak shifted from 1243 nm to 1830 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motion of spiral waves in excitable media driven by a weak pacing around the spiral tip is investigated numerically as well as theoretically. We presented a Bifurcations diagram containing four types of the spiral motion induced by different frequencies of pacing: rigidly rotating, inward-petal meandering, resonant drift, and outward-petal meandering spiral. Simulation shows that the spiral resonantly drifts when the frequency of pacing is close to that of the spiral rotation. We also find that the speed and direction of the drift can be efficiently controlled by means of the strength and phase of the local pacing, which is consistent with analytical results based on the framework of the weak deformation approximation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis B virus ( HBV)-associated nephropathy is not a rare manifestation of HBV infection; this could result in diagnostic confusion and the possible misidentification of a diabetic patient with albuminuria. We present the first published case of a HBV-associated nephropathy occurring in a patient with diabetes. The patient was a 24-year-old man who was admitted to hospital with 4 days of generalized swelling and oliguria. He had a 3-year history of weight loss, and a 1-year history of polydipsia and polyuria before the symptoms of generalized swelling and oliguria appeared. Laboratory tests showed a fasting blood sugar of 15.1 mmol/L and glycated hemoglobin of 18.1%. The 24-h urine protein excretion was 2807.8 mg and serum albumin was 19.1 g/L. The diagnosis of HBV-associated nephropathy was confirmed by serological evaluations of HBV antigen and antibodies, immunohistochemical evidence of HBV-related antigens, and immune complexes in renal biopsies. The decreased proteinuria was observed after antiviral therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the relationship between starch hydrolysis and Monascus pigments (MPs) production, the α-amylase gene (AOamyA) from Aspergillus oryzae was heterologously expressed in Monascus ruber CICC41233, and we obtained a positive transformant named Monascus ruber Amy9. In M. ruber Amy9, the α-amylase activities were 6.65- and 4.26-fold higher at 72 h and 144 h, respectively, than those in the parent strain with the glucose as solo carbon medium. Surprisingly, in the MPs fermentation medium with rice powder as solo material, M. ruber Amy9 completely degraded starch at 48 h, while 43.93 and 7.29 mg/mL starch remained at 48 and 144 h, respectively, in the parent strain. Monascus ruber Amy9 accelerated starch hydrolysis, which enhanced biomass and also increased total MPs by 132% after 144 h. Compared with M. ruber CICC41233, the relative gene expression levels, as determined by a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, of acl2 encoding ATP-citrate lyase subunit 2, pks encoding polyketide synthase, and fasB encoding the fatty acid synthase beta subunit increased by 33.14, 145.18, and 32.15%, respectively, after 144 h in M. ruber Amy9. The up-regulated expression of these key genes in MPs synthesis contributed to the large increase in MPs production. This interesting work provided us with a new idea and a new target for the study of the MPs production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]