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Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a luminescence production technique triggered by electrochemistry, which has emerged as a powerful analytical technique in bioanalysis and clinical diagnosis. During ECL, charge transfer (CT) is an important process between electrochemical excitation and luminescent emission, and dramatically affects the efficiency of exciton generation, playing a pivotal role in the light-emitting properties of nanomaterials. Reticular framework materials with intramolecular/intermolecular interactions offer a promising platform for regulating CT pathways and enhancing luminescence efficiency. Deciphering the role of intramolecular/intermolecular CT processes in reticular framework materials allows for the targeted design and synthesis of emitters with precisely controlled CT properties. This sheds light on the microscopic mechanisms of electro-optical conversion in ECL, propelling advancements in their efficiency and breakthrough applications. This mini-review focuses on recent advancements in engineering CT within reticular frameworks to boost ECL efficiency. We summarized strategies including intra-reticular charge transfer, CT between the metal and ligands, and CT between guest molecules and frameworks within reticular frameworks, which holds promise for developing next-generation ECL devices with enhanced sensitivity and light emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistence reinforces continuous action, which benefits animals in many aspects. Diverse external or internal signals may trigger animals to start a persistent movement. However, it is unclear how the brain decides to persist with current actions by selecting specific information. Using single-unit extracellular recordings and opto-tagging in awake mice, we demonstrated that a group of dorsal mPFC (dmPFC) motor cortex projecting (MP) neurons initiate a persistent movement by selectively encoding contextual information rather than natural valence. Inactivation of dmPFC MP neurons impairs the initiation and reduces neuronal activity in the insular and motor cortex. After the persistent movement is initiated, the dmPFC MP neurons are not required to maintain it. Finally, a computational model suggests that a successive sensory stimulus acts as an input signal for the dmPFC MP neurons to initiate a persistent movement. These results reveal a neural initiation mechanism on the persistent movement. How the brain decides to persist with current action remains unclear. Here, the authors show that a prefrontal circuit utilizes contextual signals to initiate such persistent movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Cancer has become one of the most important causes of human death. In particular, the 5 year survival rate of patients with digestive tract cancer is low. Although chemotherapy drugs have a certain efficacy, they are highly toxic and prone to chemotherapy resistance. With the advancement of antitumor research, many natural drugs have gradually entered basic clinical research. They have low toxicity, few adverse reactions, and play an important synergistic role in the combined targeted therapy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. A large number of studies have shown that the active components of Paris polyphylla (PPA), a common natural medicinal plant, can play an antitumor role in a variety of digestive tract cancers. In this paper, the main components of PPA such as polyphyllin, C21 steroids, sterols, and flavonoids, amongst others, are introduced, and the mechanisms of action and research progress of PPA and its active components in the treatment of various digestive tract cancers are reviewed and summarized. The main components of PPA have been thoroughly explored to provide more detailed references and innovative ideas for the further development and utilization of similar natural antitumor drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerebral oedema is associated with morbidity and mortality after traumatic brain injury (TBI)1. Noradrenaline levels are increased after TBI2–4, and the amplitude of the increase in noradrenaline predicts both the extent of injury5 and the likelihood of mortality6. Glymphatic impairment is both a feature of and a contributor to brain injury7,8, but its relationship with the injury-associated surge in noradrenaline is unclear. Here we report that acute post-traumatic oedema results from a suppression of glymphatic and lymphatic fluid flow that occurs in response to excessive systemic release of noradrenaline. This post-TBI adrenergic storm was associated with reduced contractility of cervical lymphatic vessels, consistent with diminished return of glymphatic and lymphatic fluid to the systemic circulation. Accordingly, pan-adrenergic receptor inhibition normalized central venous pressure and partly restored glymphatic and cervical lymphatic flow in a mouse model of TBI, and these actions led to substantially reduced brain oedema and improved functional outcomes. Furthermore, post-traumatic inhibition of adrenergic signalling boosted lymphatic export of cellular debris from the traumatic lesion, substantially reducing secondary inflammation and accumulation of phosphorylated tau. These observations suggest that targeting the noradrenergic control of central glymphatic flow may offer a therapeutic approach for treating acute TBI.Acute oedema after traumatic brain injury is accompanied by the suppression of glymphatic and lymphatic fluid flow due to excessive systemic release of noradrenaline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel electromagnetic shocking treatment (EST) was put forward to selectively embellish interface microstructure of solid alloy and improve its performance in our previous work. However, considering the nonlinear response characteristic of phase evolution under EST, the effect of precipitates evolution on precipitate and microhardness distribution of Al7075-T73 alloy is worth of attention and still unknown. Herein, microhardness distribution test and TEM characterization of precipitates for Al7075-T73 alloy are carried out to explore the influence mechanism of EST on the precipitate and microhardness distribution. Compared with the received sample, the microhardness distribution turns more homogeneous, while the average microhardness remains basically constant for EST sample. Besides, for EST sample, grain boundary precipitates (GBPs) dissolve and coarsen obviously, while there also exists that the distribution of matrix intragranular precipitates remains basically constant with that of the received sample. Meanwhile, stripy grain boundaries (GBs) can be observed more commonly and GB wetting occurs for EST sample. It indicates that EST promotes nonlinear interface wetting and results in nonlinear phase transition, inducing significant GBPs transformation and then gradient phase transition of precipitates within grain size scale. The resultant gradient phase distribution combined with nonlinear interface bridging promotes a more homogeneous microhardness distribution without losing the mechanical properties of aluminum alloy. This work provides a new understanding about the effect of EST on the microstructure evolution process of solid alloy and is beneficial to the optimization of EST process to improve the service performance of alloys and even finished parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser oscillating welding was employed to fabricate Al-Si coated press-hardened steel (PHS) to improve the element homogeneity in the fusion zone. Laser oscillating welding was employed with various oscillation amplitudes (0 mm, 0.5 mm and 1.3 mm) in this present. Ni foil of 0.06 mm thickness was used as an interlayer between two tailored PHS welded. The weld morphology, elemental profile, microstructure and tensile strength of welded joints were studied. The results showed that full penetration weld without any weld defects were achieved for any oscillation amplitudes, and weld width increased with increasing oscillation amplitudes. With the oscillation amplitudes increased, Ni and Al had an uneven elemental profile due to strong stirring force, but the Ni and Al content in the weld was decreased and Ni had a sharp descent compared to Al element. Only few δ-ferrite was presented in fusion line with the oscillation amplitudes increased to 1.3 mm. The oscillation amplitudes did not have an effect on the tensile properties, which was similar to that of base metal. But if keeping increasing the oscillation amplitudes or reducing the thickness of Ni interlayer, it has a potential risk to form more and more δ ferrite such that deteriorate the mechnical properties of welded joints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing vulnerability to natural hazards is at the heart of hazard risk reduction. However, many countries such as Australia lack measuring systems to quantity vulnerability for hazard risk evaluation. Drawing on 41 indicators from multiple data sources at the finest spatial unit of the Australian census, we re-forged the Cutter's classic vulnerability measuring framework by involving the '4D' quantification of built environment (diversity, design, density and distance), and constructed the first nationwide fine-grained measures of vulnerability for urban and rural locales, respectively. Our measures of vulnerability include five themes—(1) socioeconomic status; (2) demographics and disability; (3) minority and languages; (4) housing characteristics; and (5) built environment—that were further used to assess the inequality of vulnerability to three widely affected natural hazards in Australia (wildfires, floods, and earthquakes). We found the inequality of vulnerability in the affected areas of the three hazards in eight capital cities are more significant than that of their rural counterparts. The most vulnerable areas in capital cities were peri-urban locales which must be prioritised for hazard adaptation. Our findings contribute to the risk profiling and sustainable urban–rural development in Australia, and the broad understanding of place-based risk reduction in South Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the chemo-mechanical influence of injected CO2 on the Morrow B sandstone reservoir and the upper Morrow shale caprock utilizing data from the inverted 5-spot pattern centered on Well 13-10A within the Farnsworth unit (FWU). This study also seeks to evaluate the integrity of the caprock and the long-term CO2 storage capability of the FWU. The inverted 5-spot pattern was extracted from the field-scale model and tuned with the available field observed data before the modeling work. Two coupled numerical simulation models were utilized to continue the study. First, a coupled hydro-geochemical model was constructed to simulate the dissolution and precipitation of formation minerals by modeling three intra-aqueous and six mineral reactions. In addition, a coupled hydro-geomechanical model was constructed and employed to study the effects of stress changes on the caprock's porosity, permeability, and ground displacement. The Mohr–Coulomb circle and failure envelope were used to determine caprock failure. In this work, the CO2-WAG injection is followed by the historical field-observed strategy. During the forecasting period, a Water Alternating Gas (WAG) injection ratio of 1:3 was utilized with a baseline bottom-hole pressure constraint of 5500 psi for 20 years. A post-injection period of 1000 years was simulated to monitor the CO2 plume and its effects on the CO2 storage reservoir and caprock integrity. The simulation results indicated that the impacts of the geochemical reactions on the porosity of the caprock were insignificant as it experienced a decrease of about 0.0003% at the end of the 1000-year post-injection monitoring. On the other hand, the maximum stress-induced porosity change was about a 1.4% increase, resulting in about 4% in permeability change. It was estimated that about 3.3% of the sequestered CO2 in the formation interacted with the caprock. Despite these petrophysical property alterations and CO2 interactions in the caprock, the caprock still maintained its elastic properties and was determined to be far from its failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust in automation plays a leading role in human-automation interaction. As there lack of scales measuring trust in automation in China, the purpose of this study was to adapt the trust between People and Automation Scale (TPAS) into Chinese and to demonstrate its psychometric properties among Chinese adults. A total of 310 Chinese adults were randomly selected as sample 1, and 508 Chinese adults as sample 2. Results of the item analysis revealed that each item had a good quality, and the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the two-factor model with 12 items was the best fitting model. In addition, the TPAS was positively correlated with Interpersonal Trust Scale (ITS), proving good evidence based on relations to other variables to support the TPAS. In sum, the study suggested that the Chinese version of the TPAS could be used as an effective tool to assess trust in automation in the Chinese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To identify the optimal method for endometrial preparation in vitrified single-blastocyst transfer (VSBT) cycles. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study for non-PCOS patients who underwent VSBT cycles from March 2015 to November 2019 in an academic reproductive medical center. A total of 6840 VSBT cycles were enrolled and classified into two groups according to different endometrial preparation methods. Results: The non-PCOS patients who underwent VSBT showed a significantly higher clinical pregnancy rate (61.96% vs 56.85%, p < 0.001) and live birth rate (49.09% vs 39.86%, p < 0.001), as well as a statistically lower early miscarriage rate (12.02% vs 18.08%, p < 0.001) in the natural cycle (NC) group compared with the artificial cycle (AC) group. Multivariable analysis further confirmed that NC was associated with an increased likelihood of clinical pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.852, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.765–0.949, p = 0.004) and live birth (aOR 0.746, 95% CI 0.669–0.832, p < 0.001), but decreased early miscarriage occurrence (aOR 1.447, 95% CI 1.215–1.724, p < 0.001) compared to AC. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that non-PCOS patients could benefit from NC in vitrified blastocyst transfer. Increased clinical pregnancy rate and decreased early miscarriage rate led to a significantly higher live birth rate in NC patients compared with AC with our present protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consensus-based bundle algorithm (CBBA) is a decentralized task allocation algorithm that can produce feasible and conflict-free task assignment solution for multi-UAV system in the search and rescue scenarios. Further considering the new emerging tasks, this paper studies how to realize task reasssignment in the time-sensitive and dynamic environment. Effective task replanning algorithm aims to maximize the score value of task replanning solution when ensuring the timely allocation of the new task. Thus, an extension of CBBA called CBBA with local replanning (CBBA-LR) is proposed to produce reliable task replanning solution with quick response to the new task. Firstly, the capable matrix is adopted in CBBA-LR to denote the capable relationship between UAVs and tasks. Only capable UAVs for the new task are included in the task replanning. Then, the performing time list is introduced to the bid lists. For each UAV, CBBA-LR selects the assigned tasks whose performing times overlap the time window of the new task as the potential reset tasks. The setting of potential reset tasks effectively reduces the number of tasks included in the replanning process. After that, each UAV selects the nearest task to the new task from the potential reset task set as the reset task. Hence, CBBA-LR resets the most likely insert position of the new task from each UAV's path. Finally, CBBA runs based on the reset task schedules to get the task replanning solution. Numerical simulations demonstrate the solution quality and convergence time of CBBA-LR from four perspectives: different time windows of the new task, different locations of the new task, continuous appearance of new tasks and different scales of search and rescue scenarios. The simulation results verify the feasibility and superiority of CBBA-LR compared with other replanning strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an energy crop, sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) receives increasing attention for phytoremediation and biofuels production due to its good stress tolerance and high biomass with low input requirements. Sweet sorghum possesses wide adaptability, which also has high tolerances to poor soil conditions and drought. Its rapid growth with the large storage of fermentable saccharides in the stalks offers considerable scope for bioethanol production. Additionally, sweet sorghum has heavy metal tolerance and the ability to remove cadmium (Cd) in particular. Therefore, sweet sorghum has great potential to build a sustainable phytoremediation system for Cd-polluted soil remediation and simultaneous ethanol production. To implement this strategy, further efforts are in demand for sweet sorghum in terms of screening superior varieties, improving phytoremediation capacity, and efficient bioethanol production. In this review, current research advances of sweet sorghum including agronomic requirements, phytoremediation of Cd pollution, bioethanol production, and breeding are discussed. Furthermore, crucial problems for future utilization of sweet sorghum stalks after phytoremediation are combed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We designed a simple on-chip integrated optical isolator made up of a metal–insulator–metal waveguide and a disc cavity filled with magneto-optical material to enhance the transverse magneto-optical effect through the coin paradox spin–orbit interaction (SOI). The simulation results of the non-reciprocal transmission properties of this optical structure show that a high-performance on-chip integrated optical isolator is obtained. The maximum isolation ratio is greater than 60 dB with a corresponding insertion loss of about 2 dB. The great performance of the optical isolator is attributed to the strong transverse magneto-optical effect, which is enhanced by the coin paradox SOI. Moreover, the enhancement of the transverse magneto-optical effect through the coin paradox SOI is more substantial for smaller azimuthal mode number n. Benefiting from this, the transverse magneto-optical effect remains strong in a wide wavelength range. Additionally, a smaller cavity has a stronger transverse magneto-optical effect in the same wavelength range. Our research provides a new perspective for creating highly integrated magneto-optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]