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Cedirogant is an inverse agonist of retinoic acid‐related orphan receptor gamma, thymus (RORγt) developed for treatment of psoriasis. This study aimed to characterize pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety, and tolerability of cedirogant following a single oral dose in Japanese participants and multiple oral doses in Japanese and Chinese participants. The single doses evaluated in healthy Japanese participants were 75, 225, and 395 mg. The multiple doses evaluated in both healthy Japanese and Chinese participants was 375 mg once daily for 14 days. Cedirogant plasma exposure increased dose proportionally with administration of single doses. Maximum cedirogant plasma concentration was reached within a median time of 4‐5 hours after dosing. The harmonic mean elimination half‐life ranged from 19 to 25 hours. Cedirogant pharmacokinetics were similar between Japanese and Chinese participants. Compared with healthy Western participants in a cross‐study analysis, steady‐state cedirogant plasma exposure was 38%‐73% higher in Japanese or Chinese participants. Ex vivo interleukin‐17 inhibition increased in a dose‐dependent manner and was maximized by 375 mg once‐daily doses. The cedirogant regimens tested were generally well tolerated, and no new safety issues were identified. The results supported enrollment of Japanese and Chinese subjects in subsequent clinical trials for cedirogant.

This study aims to optimize the modification of blast furnace slag and converter slag using dust removal ash as a reducing agent, with the dual goals of enriching cementitious materials and recovering iron resources. The results show that the pulverization effect of the modified slag is optimized when the dust removal ash addition ratio is 14 wt%, the reduction temperature is 1450 °C, and the reduction time is 30 min. Under these conditions, the pulverization and iron recovery rates reached 65.23 % and 60.85 %, respectively. The composition of the reduction-modified product is influenced by the particle size of the reduction product, which in turn affects its phase composition. The main phases of small particles (particle size < 0.150 mm) identified were magnesium rose pyroxene (Ca3Mg(SiO4)2, C3MS2) and dicalcium silicate (γ-Ca2SiO4, γ-C2S). The main phases of large particles (particle size > 0.150 mm) identified were dicalcium silicate (β-Ca2SiO4, β-C2S) and Ca2Fe2O5. Iron primarily exists in the form of an alloy and cementite, while P is dispersed in the iron beads in the form of Fe3P, Fe2P, and Mn2P in a striped configuration.

Mollisol is crucial for solving food security issues, but long‐term excessive application of chemical fertilizers has led to severe Mollisol degradation in Northeast China, especially a rapid decline in soil organic carbon (SOC). In context of the use of crop‐herbage intercropping and straw return as alternatives for some chemical fertilizers, it is important to understand how crop‐herbage intercropping and straw return combined with chemical fertilizers influence labile organic carbon (LOC) fractions that improve SOC. To address this, this study explored how the combined application of maize (Zea maysL.)–Melilotus officinalisintercropping, straw return, and chemical fertilizers affect LOC fractions and mineralized carbon (MC) from the perspective of physical property‐mediated pathways. Thus, a field experiment with six treatments was established in the Songnen Plain of Northeast China: (1) maize monoculture without chemical fertilizers and straw return (CK), (2) maize monoculture with chemical fertilizers and no straw return (CF), (3) maize monoculture with chemical fertilizers and straw return (CFS), (4) maize–M. officinalisintercropping and straw return combined with full application of chemical fertilizers (CFSM), (5) maize–M. officinalisintercropping and straw return combined with half application of chemical fertilizers (1/2CFSM), and (6) maize–M. officinalisintercropping and straw return without chemical fertilizers (SM). The CF and CFS groups had no effect on bulk density and porosity but reduced specific gravity. The CFSM group increased water contents, porosity, LOC fractions, SOC, MC, and CO2release rate and decreased bulk density and specific gravity. Compared with the CF group, the 1/2CFSM group enhanced water contents, microbial biomass carbon, and water‐soluble organic carbon (WSOC) to 6.36%, 17.91%, and 11.6%, respectively. We found that maize–M. officinalisintercropping, straw return, and reducing chemical fertilizers application improved LOC fractions to increase SOC by positively affecting bulk density, specific gravity, and water contents. Further analysis indicated that WSOC was a key determinant of SOC and maize yields. These findings provide a strategy to increase SOC and rehabilitate degraded soils through crop‐herbage intercropping and straw return combined with reducing chemical fertilizers application, which will contribute to a sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture. Intercropping, straw return, and 50% fertilizers increased labile C, organic C, and mineralized C.Bulk density and specific gravity had negative impacts on labile C and organic C.Water contents positively influenced microbial biomass carbon and water‐soluble organic carbon.Porosity and easily oxidized organic carbon had no effect on organic carbon.Water‐soluble organic carbon was a key determinant of organic carbon and maize yields. Intercropping, straw return, and 50% fertilizers increased labile C, organic C, and mineralized C. Bulk density and specific gravity had negative impacts on labile C and organic C. Water contents positively influenced microbial biomass carbon and water‐soluble organic carbon. Porosity and easily oxidized organic carbon had no effect on organic carbon. Water‐soluble organic carbon was a key determinant of organic carbon and maize yields.

In the face of a significant public health event, consumers may either increase their panic buying or decrease their willingness to make purchases. This study focuses on the impact of a significant public health event on offline store sales and consumer consumption, utilizing data from chain convenience stores in Hefei and Wuhu during early 2019 and early 2020 in China. Employing a difference-in-differences model, the study investigates the effect of the significant public health event outbreak on weekly store sales, order numbers, and consumer consumption in terms of product quantities, transaction amount, average amount per order, and transaction frequency. Different from prior literature that finds hoarding behavior of consumers online, the findings of this paper indicate a significant reduction in stores’ offline weekly sales and order numbers, as well as consumers’ offline weekly consumption across the four dimensions, as a result of the significant public health event outbreak. Additionally, employing a mediation model, the study explores the pathway of population mobility through which the significant public health event adversely affects offline consumption. Furthermore, subset analysis is conducted for stores located in different areas and consumers with varying characteristics, revealing that the aforementioned conclusions predominantly apply to stores situated in office areas and residential areas, as well as consumers with either no apparent preference for different product categories or a noticeable preference for food.

Developing a stable, reliable, and industrially compatible method to control hydrophobicity is crucial for separation, transportation, and the generation of special surfaces. An e-HMS-PDMS silica gel nanoparticle coating was prepared using a two-step electron beam irradiation (EBI) process, consisting of (i) grafting of two organic groups onto thiol-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica (HMS-SH) with 10 MeV EBI and (ii) curing of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) onto silicone rubber using the HMS hybrid materials prepared in step i as an additive with 200 keV EBI. The tuneable grafting of functional groups and the surface properties of the silica, which was embedded in the PDMS layer, allowed us to precisely control the hydrophilicity of the PDMS layer by means of altering the grafting gradient of the silica and the loading ratio of the monomers. A diverse range of vinyl-structured monomers can be used in this method, and the selection of suitable monomers is vital in determining the physical properties of the coating layer. The hydrophilicity of the coating can be linearly controlled within a specific range (50° to 155°) by using suitable monomers, allowing for the design of surfaces with specific hydrophilic and hydrophobic requirements.Keywords: Electron beam irradiation; Nanoparticle composite coating; Hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity; Thiol-ene click reaction.

Food security is a strategic priority for a country’s economic development. In China, high-standard farmland construction (HSFC) is an important initiative to stabilize grain production and increase grain production capacity. Based on panel data from 31 sample provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China from 2005–2017, this study explored the impact of HSFC on grain yield using the difference-in-differences (DID) method. The results showed that HSFC significantly increased total grain production, which is robust to various checks. HSFC increased grain yield through three potential mechanisms. First, it could increase the grain replanting index. Second, it could effectively reduce yield loss due to droughts and floods. Last, HSFC could strengthen the cultivated land by renovating the low- and medium-yielding fields. Heterogeneity analysis found that the HSFC farmland showed a significant increase in grain yield only in the main grain-producing areas and balanced areas. In addition, HSFC significantly increased the yields of rice, wheat, and maize while leading to a reduction in soybean yields. The findings suggest the government should continue to promote HSFC, improve construction standards, and strictly control the “non-agriculturalization” and “non-coordination” of farmland to increase grain production further. At the same time, market mechanisms should be used to incentivize soybean farming, improve returns and stabilize soybean yields.

Photovoltaic (PV) power generation technology is an effective approach for alleviating the current energy crisis. However, PV modules are prone to hot-spot faults and shorter service lives because of harsh long-term operating conditions. Therefore, in this study, we propose a bi-branch collaborative training algorithm based on knowledge distillation for PV hot-spot detection systems, focusing on the accuracy and computational efficiency of the algorithm. The proposed approach uses a knowledge distillation model based on a “teacher and student” collaborative training structure to improve detection accuracy while ensuring inference speed. The anchor-free YOLOX detection algorithm is used as the student network to reduce the number of network parameters. This includes a decoupled prediction head designed to improve detection performance. The teacher network first uses a HorNet-based cross-stage partial network (CSPHN)-based backbone network to enhance feature representation ability by capturing higher order spatial interactions. Second, a bi-branch multilevel feature adaptive fusion (BiMAF) module is designed to fuse multiscale features from both global and local perspectives in a parallel manner. Third, a shift contextual transformer (SCT)-based prediction head is adopted to enhance the long-range interaction between cross-scale features, thereby significantly improving the accuracy of the detection algorithm in dense scenes. Finally, comparative experiments are conducted on 13 classical detection algorithms to verify the effectiveness of the proposed detection network. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed system can achieve fast and accurate detection of multiscale hot-spot faults under various harsh conditions, achieving an AP50 metric of 82.2%.

Background: Compared with blind technique, ultrasound (US) transducer-guided technique for radial artery puncture can improve the success rate. However, difficulty in handling US transducer-guided technology is a key limitation to its wider use. The aim of the study was to explore the effect of guide marks on the side of US transducer on the success rate of US transducer-guided radial artery puncture.Methods: In this parallel-group trial, 127 patients undergoing elective liver cancer resection and splenectomy under general anesthesia were randomly allocated to the traditional group or the Intervention group. The traditional group used the conventional US transducer-guided radial artery puncture technology, while the Intervention group used the US transducer-guided radial artery puncture technology with the guide marks on the side of the US transducer probe. The primary observation index was success rate of radial artery cannulation at the first attempt; the secondary observation indices were failure rate of cannulation, location time, and total time for successful cannulation.Results: The successful rate of cannulation in the Intervention group (59 out of 63, 93.6%) was greater than that in the traditional group (50 out of 64, 78.1%, p= 0.01). The posterior wall puncture rate in the Intervention group was lower than that in the traditional group (11.1% vs 32.8%, p= 0.005). The location time in the Intervention group was longer than that in the traditional group (20.1 ± 3.8 vs 16.6 ± 4.0 s, p< .001), while the total cannulation time was significantly shorter (20.7 ± 4.3 vs 32.4 ± 7.4 s, p< 0.001).Conclusion: Using guide marks on the side of US transducer can help improve success rate of US transducer-guided radial artery puncture at the first attempt and reduce the risk of puncture-related complications.

Insulator parallel gaps in a transmission line protect the insulator from arc burn and provide protection from lightning. Detection of insulator parallel-gap faults based on aerial inspection images of transmission lines may be hindered by various factors, such as complex background, scale distortion, and occlusion. In this study, we propose a prior knowledge transfer and attention mechanism network (PKAMNet) to detect faulty insulator parallel gaps. First, the capability of PKAMNet to learn the features of different types of parallel-gap faults is improved by constructing a prior knowledge transfer model based on visual saliency. Owing to the difficulty of effectively expressing the features of the fault target due to the deviation of the shooting angle and complex background of the inspection image, we enhance the feature expression ability of the fault area by embedding the coordinate attention block. Additionally, the parameters of the detection network are simplified, and the modules are optimized to improve detection efficiency. Comparison results on 3-year aerial inspection videos of 500 kV high-voltage transmission lines show that PKAMNet has a high detection accuracy and can ameliorate the phenomenon of missed and erroneous detection caused by insufficient expression of parallel-gap faults.

Cycling stability and safety are two of the main challenges facing lithium metal batteries with metallic lithium as anodes. Quasi-solid-state lithium metal batteries based on gel polymer electrolytes are one of the important development directions for lithium metal batteries addressing those challenges. Herein, we prepare lithiated phosphoryl cellulose nanocrystals (PCNC-Li) as a modification material for poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) gel polymer electrolyte to improve cycling stability and safety of quasi-solid-state lithium metal batteries. The synthesized PCNC-Li tends to form a uniform network structure on the surface of the PVDF membrane, in which the phosphoryl groups grafted regularly on celluloses can regulate the transport of lithium ions. As a result, a more uniform ion flux and more stable lithium anode interface support an obviously improved cycling stability for lithium metal batteries. Moreover, the introduction of the PCNC-Li coating layer makes the modified PVDF membranes have a better thermal stability and an enhanced mechanical strength, which is beneficial for improvement of safety of lithium metal batteries. This work provides a new alternative to fabricating a better composite gel polymer electrolyte for lithium metal batteries.

The difference between training and testing environments is a huge challenge to generalizing reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms. We propose a soft contrastive learning with a coarser approximate $Q$ -irrelevance abstraction for RL (SCQRL) to increase RL generalization. Specifically, we specify the coarser approximate $Q$ -irrelevance abstraction as the feature of the state with a theoretical analysis for better generalization ability. We construct a positive and negative sample selection mechanism based on the $Q$ value for contrastive learning to achieve efficient representation learning. Considering the selection error of positive and negative samples, we design soft contrastive learning and combine it with RL in the form of an auxiliary task to propose SCQRL. The generalization experiments on several Procgen environments demonstrate that SCQRL outperforms the excellent generalized RL algorithm.

Traditional luminescent ionogels often suffer from poor mechanical properties and a lack of recyclability and regeneration, which limits their further application and sustainable development. Herein, a luminescent ionogel with strong mechanical properties and good recyclability has been designed and fabricated by introducing dynamic coordination bonds via in situ one-step crosslinking of acrylic acid in ionic liquid of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate by zinc dimethacrylate. Due to the special crosslinking of dynamic coordination bonds along with the hydrogen bond interaction, the as-prepared ionogel displays excellent stretchability and toughness, good self-adhesiveness, fast self-healability, and recyclability. Interestingly, the obtained ionogels exhibit tunable photoluminescence caused by the crosslink-enhanced emission (CEE) effect from the coordination bonds. Importantly, ionogels can be applied in information storage, information encryption, anti-counterfeiting due to their simple and in situ preparation method, and their special fluorescence performances. Moreover, an ionogel-based wearable sensor has rapid response time and a high gauge factor of 3.22 within a wide strain range from 1 to 700%, which can monitor various human movements accurately from subtle to large-scale motions. This paper offers a promising way to fabricate sustainable functional ionic liquid-based composites with CEE characteristics via an in situ one-step polymerization method.

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by progressive decline in pancreatic β-cell function. Newer agents, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) and dual incretin agonists, can augment β-cell function and delay the need for additional antihyperglycemics. However, the effect on β-cell function ceases after stopping the medications. When combined with intensive lifestyle modifications, higher doses of GLP-1RA than those used for diabetes treatment can be used to induce weight loss. More research is needed on whether the weight loss achieved with GLP1-RA can be sustained after stopping medication and in turn can sustain diabetes remission.

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by progressive decline in pancreatic β-cell function. Studies in adult subjects with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes have reported that intensive insulin therapy followed by various antihyperglycemic medications can delay β-cell decline. However, this improvement is lost after cessation of therapy. In contrast, youth with type 2 diabetes experience a more rapid loss in β-cell function compared with adults and have loss of β-cell function despite being on insulin and other antihyperglycemic medications. In part one of this two-part review, we discuss studies aiming to achieve diabetes remission with insulin and oral antidiabetic medications.

Consumer-based drone applications have been increasing rapidly in recent years. Most of these applications, such as aerial surveillance, crop dusting, and real estate photography rely, on frameworks that are based on the Internet of Things (IoT). Although solutions have been proposed to security issues due to connectivity, physical safety issues have not been sufficiently discussed. To solve one such issue, the conspicuousness of drones during flight, we have proposed an illumination system that can adapt to different weather conditions using an IoT framework. To test the feasibility of our illumination system, we conducted two tests, a power consumption test, and a human-in-the-loop assessment. The power test showed different illumination configurations did affect power consumption. The human-in-the-loop assessment demonstrated the effect of illumination on distance perception and how sunlight levels affected the drone's preferred illumination color. As drones begin to operate in more crowded spaces, such as cities, the need to ensure the safety of the public will be paramount. Through this prototype, we aim to provide designers with guidance on how to consider illumination for safer drone operations. Future studies, we plan to explore using illumination to increase safety and congruence in future application areas, such as delivery.

As an olivine‐based cathode with high discharge platform and theoretical capacity, Li3V2(PO4)3's (LVP's) low conductivity and excessive grain size are the important factors hindering its development in the battery field. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) is a natural and cheap nanotube‐like material with large specific surface area and abundant surface nucleation sites, which can cooperate with conductive carbon layer to solve the deficiency of LVP. In this paper, we design a cathode material for in‐situ growth of LVP on HNTs (LVP@HNTs) and demonstrate that it has the appropriate particle size and the excellent specific surface area in the mass ratio of LVP to HNTs is 2:1. The capacity retention rate of LVP@HNTs‐2 reached almost 100% (97.0 mAh g−1) after 100 cycles at a low rate of 0.5 C. Moreover, its specific discharge capacity is 89.3 mAh g−1at a high rate of 20 C and its capacity retention rate is as high as 90.1% (80.5 mAh g−1) after 5,000 cycles, showing that the LVP@HNTs‐2 has marvelous rate capability and cycle stability. This study provides an innovative strategy for the development of the high‐performance cathode materials with low‐cost, excellent rate capability, and cycle stability of lithium ion batteries. In‐situ growth of LVP on HNTs (LVP@HNTs) as the cathode material for Li‐ion batteries were prepared by sol–gel method. Under the mass ratio of LVP to HNTs is 2:1, its capacity retention rate is as high as 90.1% after 5,000 cycles, showing that the LVP@HNTs‐2 has marvelous rate capability and cycle stability.

Phycocyanin, a type of marine-derived food pigment protein, has been reported to exhibit multiple biological functions, while the function of its potential bioactive peptides is rarely investigated. Previously, a novel phycocyanin-derived bioactive peptide (PCP3: MFDAFTK) was identified in our study. The aim of this study was to further explore its anti-inflammatory function of small intestine based on both intestinal organoids and mice models. The results revealed that PCP3 could significantly ameliorate the inflammatory symptoms induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), as evidenced by the increased intensity and crypt bud numbers of organoids, the decreased levels of inflammatory factor, the promoted expressions of tight junction and intestinal epithelial cell markers, and the reduced oxidative stress levels of organoids. The in vivoexperiments also indicated that PCP3 ameliorated LPS-induced small intestinal inflammation in mice through restoring the physiological form of small intestine, as well as intestinal tight junctions. In addition, pathway analysis suggested that Akt and AMPK/autophagy signaling are involved in the improved process of intestinal inflammation mediated by PCP3. Collectively, this study has laid the foundation for the application of phycocyanin and phycocyanin-derived bioactive peptides in the field of intestinal inflammatory disease, and provides a scientific theoretical basis for the amelioration of intestinal inflammation through functional foods and food derivatives.

Tension Leg Platform (TLP) in deepwater oil and gas field development usually consists of a hull, tendons, and top tension risers (TTRs). To maintain its top tension, each TTR is connected with a tensioner system to the hull. Owing to the complicated configuration of the tensioners, the hull and TTRs form a strong coupled system. Traditionally, some simplified tensioner models are applied to analyze the TLP structures. There is a large discrepancy between their analysis results and the actual mechanism behaviors of a tensioner. It is very necessary to develop a more detailed tensioner model to consider the coupling effects between TLP and TTRs. In the present study, a fully coupled TLP hull-TTR system for hydrodynamic numerical simulation is established. A specific hydraulic pneumatic tensioner is modeled by considering 4 cylinders. The production TTR model is stacked up by specific riser joints. The simulation is also extended to analyze an array of TTRs. Different regular and irregular waves are considered. The behaviors of different cylinders are presented. The results show that it is important to consider the specific configurations of the tensioner and TTRs, which may lead to obviously different response behaviors, compared with those from a simplified model.

In arid and semi-arid environments, desert vegetation plays an important role in preventing soil erosion by wind and helps maintain the stability of desert and oasis ecosystems. Four types of typical desert vegetation, namely Populus euphratica, Haloxylon ammodendron, Nitraria sibirica, and Halostachs caspica, corresponding to different habitats (i.e., river bank, sand dune, desert, and salt marsh) were chosen as the model vegetation in this research. The δ2H and δ18O for rainwater, soil water, and plant water were applied to identify the water sources and quantify the proportions of different water sources used over the entire plant growth period (from March to October). The results showed that the precipitation δ2H and δ18O in the Ebinur Lake basin varied from −142.5‰ to −0.6‰ and from −20.16‰ to 1.20‰, respectively. The largest δ2H and δ18O values occurred in summer and the smallest in winter. The soil water δ2H and δ18O of the four habitats decreased gradually with increasing depth. The δ2H and δ18O values of water extracted from the stems of the four plants had similar variation trends, that is, the maximum was observed in spring and the minimum in summer. Among the four plants, H. caspicahad the highest stable isotopic values in the stem water, followed by N. sibirica, H. ammodendron, and P. euphratica.The water sources and utilization ratios of desert vegetation varied across different growth stages. Throughout the growing period, H. ammodendronmainly used groundwater, whereas the water source proportions used by N. sibiricavaried greatly throughout the growing season. In spring, plants mainly relied on surface soil water, with a contribution rate of 80%–94%. However, in summer, the proportion of deep soil water used was 31%–36%; and in autumn, the proportion of middle soil water used was 33%–36%. H. caspicamainly relied on topsoil water in spring and autumn, and the proportion of soil water in the middle layer slightly increased to 20%–36% in summer. P. euphraticamainly used intermediate soil water in spring with a utilization rate of 53%–54%. In summer, groundwater was the main source, with a utilization rate of 72%–88%, and only 2%–5% came from river water, whereas in autumn, the river water utilization rate rose to 11%–21%. The results indicated that there were significant differences in water use sources during the growing period for desert vegetation in arid areas. This research provides a theoretical basis for understanding water use mechanisms, water adaptation strategies, and vegetation restoration and management in arid areas.

A novel and efficient process for the synthesis of alkyl dithiocarbamates from electrophilic alkenes and tetraalkylthiuram disulfides was presented. The reactions proceed under mild conditions to afford the products in high yields, excellent functional group tolerance and step efficiency. This protocol realizes a pretty interesting methodology for alkyl dithiocarbamates synthesis under a Michael‐type addition progress. A facile protocol for the synthesis of alkyl dithiocarbamatesfrom electrophilic alkenes and tetraalkylthiuram disulfides has been achieved. The method proceeds smoothly under mild conditions without any metal catalysts and has a broad range of functional group tolerance.

Amidation reactions of coumarin‐3‐carboxylic acids under mild conditions have been demonstrated in this work. Tetraalkylthiuram disulfides are utilized as the amidation reagents. This protocol is compatible with a variety of electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing functional groups and provides an attractive strategy for the preparation of coumarin‐3‐carboxamides in moderate to good yields. A synthetic route to construct coumarin‐3‐carboxamidesfrom coumarin‐3‐carboxylic acids with diverse tetraalkylthiuram disulfides in a one‐pot fashion was investigated. This method takes place under mild conditions and is featured with readily available starting materials and broad substrate scope, which shows its practical synthetic value in organic synthesis.

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) materials have been rapidly developed and they provided a wide application on the anode of the batteries, reducing the adverse effect of traditional ion batteries including low capacity, short cycle life, low charging rate and poor safety mainly coming from the use of graphite anode. The current report investigates the anode performances of AlSi, a new 2D material exfoliated from NaAlSi, for Li ion batterys (LIBs) through density functional theory (DFT) calculations and gives quantitative discussions on the Li ion valences, binding energies and open-circuit voltages of 2D AlSi anode. The results indicate that 2D AlSi performs great as a novel anode due to the moderate adhesion to Li and low barrier for ion diffusion. Furthermore, our research results illustrate a broad application prospect on the new anode inventions as well as reducing useless consumption on the batteries by the practice of AlSi anode.

With recent changes by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) opening the possibility of more areas for drones to be used, such as delivery, there will be increasingly more intera ctions between humans and drones soon. Although current human drone interaction (HDI) investigate what factors are necessary for safe interactions, very few has focused on drone illumination. Therefore, in this study, we explored how illumination affects users’ perception of the drone through a distance perception task. Data analysis did not indicate any significant effects in the normal distance estimation task for illumination or distance conditions. However, most participants underestimated the distance in the normal distance estimation task and indicated that the LED drone was closer when it wa s illuminated during the relative distance estimation task, even though the drones were equidistant. In future studies, factors such as the weather conditions, lighting patterns, and height of the drone will be explored.

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in drone usage in both commercial and personal use, due to recent changes in guidelines by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In those guidelines, however, there seems to be very few requirements in terms of illumination requirements, apart from the need to use a visible strob ing anti-collision light for nighttime operations. Hence in this study, wereviewed existing LED illumination systems in off-the-shelf drones to determine what type of configurations they have and how is the LED illumination system generally used. We also introduced a customizable LED illumination system and tested it in a human in the loop study. Our p reliminary findings have revealed that the colors that are preferred by the participants did not match the most used colors in existing LED illumination systems in most off-the-shelf drones. We also observed a possible relationship between the color preferred and the weather conditions.

In this study, Al-Mg-Sc aluminum alloys were fabricated using wire-arc directed energy deposition. The focus of the study was to analyze the microstructure and mechanical properties of these alloys. Comparative analysis was conducted on the samples obtained from the as-deposited and aging treated, respectively. Furthermore, the precipitation process of the second phases and the associated strengthening mechanism were elucidated. The findings revealed that the presence of precipitated Al3(Sc,Zr) particles acted as heterogeneous nucleation nuclei of α-Al, facilitating the formation of equiaxial grains. During the subsequent aging treatment, the secondary Al3(Sc,Zr) particles precipitated directly without transitioning through intermediate phases. Additionally, the experimental results demonstrated that these secondary Al3(Sc,Zr) phases hindered the dislocation movement, leading to enhanced mechanical properties in Al-Mg-Sc alloys through precipitation strengthening. In the horizontal direction, the average ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) were measured as 361 ± 5 MPa, 251 ± 4 MPa, and 281 ± 6 MPa, 179 ± 6 MPa in the vertical direction, respectively. The elongations were found to be 15.8 ± 0.8% and 4.0 ± 0.5% in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. The observed variations in mechanical properties were attributed to the presence of interlayer pores.

In this paper, we provide a survey of recent developments in the fintech (financial technology) industry, focusing on the operational structures, the technologies involved, and the operational risks associated with the new systems. In particular, we discuss payment systems, algorithmic trading, robo-advisory, crowdfunding, and peer-to-peer lending. In the conclusion section, we discuss various promising research directions.

Stretchable ionogels have recently emerged as promising soft and safe ionic conductive materials for use in wearable and stretchable electrochemical devices. However, the complex preparation process and insufficient thermomechanical stability greatly limit the precise rapid fabrication and application of stretchable ionogels. Here, we report an in situ 3D printing method for fabricating high-performance single network chemical ionogels as advanced strain sensors. The ionogels consist of a special cross-linking network constructed by poly(ionic liquid) and hyperbranched polymer (macro-cross-linkers) that exhibits high stretchability (>1000%), superior room-temperature ionic conductivity (up to 5.8 mS/cm), and excellent thermomechanical stability (−75 to 250 °C). The strain sensors based on ionogels have a low response time (200 ms), high sensitivity with temperature independence, long-term durability (2000 cycles), and excellent temperature tolerance (−60 to 250 °C) and can be used as human motion sensors. This work provides a new strategy to design highly stretchable and superior stable electronic devices.

A novel and facile synthesis of aryl benzyl sulfones was accomplished for the first time through copper‐catalyzed decarboxylative reductive sulfonylation reaction between α‐oxocarboxylic acids and aryl sulfonyl hydrazines. The protocol proceeds smoothly under simple conditions, and has the advantages of simple operation, high yields and good functional group compatibility. This approach realizes a conceptually novel methodology for aryl benzyl sulfone synthesis under a decarboxylative reductive progress. A novel and facile protocol for the synthesis of aryl benzyl sulfonesfrom α‐oxocarboxylic acids with aryl sulfonyl hydrazines through decarboxylative reductive sulfonylation via copper catalysis has been achieved. This protocol is compatible with a wide variety of electron‐donating and ‐withdrawing substituents and enables construction of various aryl benzyl sulfones from readily available starting materials.

A highly efficient and simple procedure for the synthesis quinoline‐3‐carboxamides and their analogues via amidation reaction of quinoline‐3‐carboxylic acids with tetraalkylthiuram disulfides has been developed. The reaction proceeds efficiently under simple reaction conditions and features the generality of broad scope of substrates with good yields. This protocol provides a convenient procedure for the synthesis of various aza‐heteroaromatic carboxamides, which is of pharmaceutical interest. A facile and convenient protocol for the synthesis of quinoline‐3‐carboxamidestheir analogues using tetraalkylthiuram disulfides as the amine sources under metal and additive free conditions has been achieved. This method allows the efficient coupling of diverse quinoline‐3‐carboxylic acids with tetraalkylthiuram disulfides through a simply mixing operation.

Anisotropic nanoparticles and their dispersions have attracted much attention because of their distinguished characteristics and promising applications. In this study, the novel liquid crystalline nanocomposite ionogel electrolyte materials based on anisotropic nanoparticles of attapulgite (ATP) have been prepared. The gelation, liquid crystalline (LC) behavior, thermal stability, and ionic conductivity were systematically investigated. Rheological, polarized optical microscopy (POM), and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements demonstrated that these liquid crystalline ionogels showed a two-step mechanism consisting of gelation and subsequent reorganization of the gel. Interestingly, the obtained ionogel electrolytes were very stable and LC gel structures were not destroyed even though the temperature was as high as 200 °C. Furthermore, these ionogels possessed outstanding thermal stability and the decomposition temperature exceeded 400 °C. Remarkably, the LC nanocomposite ionogel electrolytes exhibited high room temperature ionic conductivity and the value still exceeded 1.0 × 10–3S/cm even when the ATP concentration up to 30 wt %. These novel findings are very useful for the fabrication of high temperature resistant electrochemical devices and liquid crystalline nanocomposite materials.