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Background Host genetic factors that control the production of cytokines, including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), possibly affect susceptibility to many Helicobacter pylori -related diseases. There is a complex interplay between H. pylori infection, the subsequent production of certain cytokines, and H. pylori- related diseases. We conducted a meta-analysis to clarify the association between the IL1B −31C > T polymorphism and H. pylori infection, and possible subsequent pathogenic mechanisms. Methods Published literature contained within PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was used in our meta-analysis. Data were analyzed with the STATA 13.1 software package using pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Egger's regression test, Begg's rank correlation test, and Begg's funnel plot were used to test publication bias. Results A total of 12 case–control studies comprising 5827 subjects (3335 cases and 2492 controls) were available for our meta-analysis. The IL1B −31C > T polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of H. pylori infection in Asian and Latin American population (TT + CT vs . CC, OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.14–1.46; TT vs. CT + CC, OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.09–1.39; TT vs. CC, OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.22–1.67; T allele vs. C allele, OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.10–1.29). A significant association was also found for all genetic models in various subgroups (cancer and no-cancer, hospital- and population-based). Conclusion Our meta-analysis demonstrated that IL1B −31C > T polymorphism might increase H. pylori infection risk in Asian and Latin American population. Further studies with different ethnicities and larger sample size are required to validate this result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A homogeneous co-precipitation method was developed to synthesize well dispersed yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG, Y 3 Al 5 O 12 ) powders. This method ensures the co-precipitation of Y 3+ and Al 3+ , solving the problem of differential precipitation of Y 3+ and Al 3+ in the conventional homogeneous precipitation method. Furthermore, the pH value can be controlled to be a plateau (around 5.2) during the titration process due to the continuous decomposition of the heated urea which can compensate for the pH reduction when adding the mother salts, which is beneficial to the narrow size distribution of the precipitates. Pure YAG nanopowders can be obtained at 900 °C without the formation of impurity phases such as YAM (Y 4 Al 2 O 9 ) or YAP (YAlO 3 ). The resultant YAG powders are well dispersed and have excellent sinterability that can be sintered into transparent ceramics at 1700 °C by vacuum sintering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an analysis of leave and rood morphology, biochemical and proteomics approach as adaptation strategies of the alpine plant Potentilla saundersiana in an altitude gradient. Several plant physiological parameter, including root and leaf architecture, leaf photosynthesis capacity, specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf nitrogen concentration, histology and microscopy, anthocyanin and proline contents, antioxidant enzyme activity assay, in-gel enzyme activity staining, H 2 O 2 and O 2 − content, immunoblotting, auxin and strigolactone content and proteomics analysis were evaluated at five different altitudes. P . saundersiana modulated the root architecture and leaf phenotype to enhance adaptation to alpine environmental stress through mechanisms that involved hormone synthesis and signal transduction, particularly the cross-talk between auxin and strigolactone. Furthermore, an increase of antioxidant proteins and primary metabolites as a response to the alpine environment in P . saundersiana was observed. Proteins associated with the epigenetic regulation of DNA stability and post-translational protein degradation was also involved in this process. Based on these findings, P . saundersiana uses multiple strategies to adapt to the high-altitude environment of the Alpine region. Biological significance The alpine environment, which is characterized by sharp temperature shifts, high levels of ultraviolet radiation exposure, and low oxygen content, limits plant growth and distribution. Alpine plants have evolved strategies to survive the extremely harsh conditions prevailing at high altitudes; however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. The alpine plant Potentilla saundersiana is widespread in the Northwestern Tibetan Plateau. Here we adopted a comparative proteomics approach to investigate the mechanisms by which P . saundersiana withstands the alpine environment by examining plants located at five different altitudes. We detected and functionally characterized 118 proteins spots with variable abundance. Proteins involved in antioxidant activity, primary metabolites, epigenetic regulation, and protein post-translational modification play important roles in conferring tolerance to alpine environments. Furthermore, our results indicate that P . saundersiana modulates the root architecture and leaf phenotype to enhance adaptation to alpine environmental stress. These results provide novel insight into the multiple strategies underlying P . saundersiana adaptation to the high-altitude environment of the Northwestern Tibetan Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of ad-abaxial polarity is an important characteristic of the development of lateral organs in plants. YABBY genes encode higher plant-specific nuclear proteins which play critical roles in promoting abaxial cell fate. IaYABBY2 ( IaYAB2, Genbank accession no. KF250432), isolated from Incarvillea arguta, is a member of YABBY gene family. Sequence characterization and phylogenetic analyses show that IaYABBY2 is a member of the YAB2 subfamily of Arabidopsis thaliana. Subcellular localization analysis indicates that IaYABBY2 is localized in the nucleus. Ectopic expression of IaYABBY2 in Arabidopsis plants resulted in the partial abaxialization of adaxial epidermises of leaves and sepals and development defect of florescence. The transgenic lines also showed higher level of anthocyanin content and photosynthesis capability after differential environment stress. These results indicate that the IaYABBY2 functions in the ad-abaxial polarity, development of shoot apical meristem, and environmental stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• THz spectroscopy and image were employed for detection of tea stalk foreign bodies. • An accuracy of 97.3 % was obtained by AirPLS-KNN model. • THz time domain signals were recommended for qualitative analysis. • The outline of tea stalk could be observed with THz transmittance image. Foreign bodies e.g. tea stalks are easily to mix into tea leaves during picking up tea leaves with machine harvester. Tea stems have become a major physical pollutant for finishing tea products, and they cannot be effectively detected with machine vision in the visible region. In the current study, terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) and imaging was employed to rapidly and non-destructively detect tea stalk foreign bodies in tea leaves. With the input variables of THz time-domain signal and frequency-domain absorption coefficients, the K nearest neighbor (KNN) qualitative discriminant models were developed with combination of baseline correction algorithms of adaptive iteratively reweighted penalized least squares (AirPLS), asymmetric least squares (AsLS), background correction (Backcor) and baseline estimation and denoising with sparsity (BEADS). Results showed that the AirPLS-KNN model with the input vector of THz time-domain signals presented the best performance, with the accuracy rate of prediction and recall rate reaching 97.3% and 0.96, respectively. With 0.2 mm step length of both the X and Y directions, the THz transmission imaging was scanned to obtain the THz image of 150X130 pixel2 whose resolution and imaging duration were 1.09 mm and 4.4 min respectively, so the outline of tea stalks could be well identified. In conclusion, the THz-TDS and imaging technology serves as a new means for non-destructive detection of tea stalk foreign bodies in tea leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymers with different structures and morphology have been extensively used to construct functionalized surfaces for a wide range of applications because the physicochemical properties of polymers can be finely adjusted by their molecular weights, polydispersity and configurations, as well as the chemical structures and natures of monomers. In particular, the specific functions of polymers can be easily achieved at post-synthesis by the attachment of different kinds of active molecules such as recognition ligand, peptides, aptamers and antibodies. In this review, the recent advances in the bioanalytical and biomedical applications of polymer modified substrates were summarized with subsections on functionalization using branched polymers, polymer brushes and polymer hydrogels. The review focuses on their applications as biosensors with excellent analytical performance and/or as nonfouling surfaces with efficient antibacterial activity. Finally, we discuss the perspectives and future directions of polymer modified substrates in the development of biodevices for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Dehydrins are stress proteins involved in plant against environmental stress. [•] The full-length DHN CDS was cloned from S. purpurea, named SpDHN1. [•] Overexpression of SpDHN1 in Arabidopsis plants resulted in enhanced drought resistance. [•] SpDHN1 may be a potential candidate gene for genetic improvement of crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, YAG:Ce microspheres were fabricated by a laser heating method. The microspheres are polycrystalline. The melting of the YAG:Ce powder due to the extremely high temperature provided by the laser heating may account for the fast synthesis of the transparent YAG:Ce microspheres. Due to the temperature gradient during cooling, equiaxed and columnar grains were found inside the microspheres. The equiaxed grains are always located at the outer part of the spheres where large under-cooling was created. However, columnar grains are always found at the inner part of powder where a steep temperature gradient presented during cooling. The average size of the equiaxied crystallites observed from the SEM images is about 5~\mu\m. The columnar crystallites are about 5~\mu\m wide and 20~\mu\m long. In the luminescence investigation, the optimum concentration of Ce^3+ was found to be 2 at%. Furthermore, transparent spheres of other chemical compositions are also possible to be fabricated by this method, indicating its wide range of potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Monoclinic Gd2O3 transparent ceramics with spherical shape were successfully fabricated by a laser heating method. A simple model was used to describe the heating depth and cooling rate during the laser scanning process. The XRD analysis shows that these microspheres exhibit monoclinic structure which is room temperature thermodynamically unstable but kinetically possible due to the fast cooling rate. The SEM images show that these micro-spheres are polycrystalline and composed of randomly oriented Gd2O3 grains about 10 \mum in particle diameter. No cracks, pores or secondary phase were observed at the grain boundary or inside the grains. A close-packed Gd2O3 spheres single layer was designed and prepared, and the in-line transmittance of this layer is about 44% in the visible light range. Pore-free monoclinic Gd2O3 can be transparent due to the slight difference between its ordinary and extraordinary refractive index (ne and no). Another reason for its transparency is the small amount of grain boundaries though which light pass. Medical radiograph needs scintillators with small volume size (to increase the image lateral resolution and minimize optical cross-talking) and good transparency (to avoid severe light scattering and increase signal intensity). Transparent ceramic spheres may provide the possibility to meet those criterions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Highlights: [•] Stearate melting method can synthesize well dispersed fine YAG nanopowders. [•] The method ensures precise Y:Al ratio and cations mixing at atomic level. [•] Pure and dispersed YAG powders can be obtained at low temperature of 750°C. [•] The YAG powders can be sintered into transparent ceramics at 1700°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Highly textured Ca9Co12O28 ceramics have been prepared by hot pressing method. [•] TE properties of the samples show bidimensional anisotropic character. [•] Lattice thermal conductivity is the main thermal transference in the samples. [•] At 600°C the samples have a ZT =0.18 in the direction perpendicular to the hot pressing direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fan-spine magnetic topology is believed to be responsible for many curious features in solar explosive events. A spine field line links distinct flux domains, but direct observation of such a feature has been rare. Here we report a unique event observed by the Solar Dynamic Observatory where a set of hot coronal loops (over 10 MK) connected to a quasi-circular chromospheric ribbon at one end and a remote brightening at the other. Magnetic field extrapolation suggests that these loops are partly tracers of the evolving spine field line. Continuous slipping- and null-point-type reconnections were likely at work, energizing the loop plasma and transferring magnetic flux within and across the fan quasi-separatrix layer. We argue that the initial reconnection is of the “breakout” type, which then transitioned to a more violent flare reconnection with an eruption from the fan dome. Significant magnetic field changes are expected and indeed ensued. This event also features an extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) late phase, i.e., a delayed secondary emission peak in warm EUV lines (about 2-7 MK). We show that this peak comes from the cooling of large post-reconnection loops beside and above the compact fan, a direct product of eruption in such topological settings. The long cooling time of the large arcades contributes to the long delay; additional heating may also be required. Our result demonstrates the critical nature of cross-scale magnetic coupling—topological change in a sub-system may lead to explosions on a much larger scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel and environmentally friendly heterogeneous catalyst has been prepared through the wet impregnation of copper(I) species onto the highly porous chitosan microspheres (CuI/PCMS). This novel CuI/PCMS heterogeneous catalyst with no additional ligands is much better than CuI homogeneous catalysts when applied in Heck reactions. Moreover, the reaction conditions are much milder than those for the similar copper catalysts mediated cross-coupling reactions reported in the literature. PCMS has been demonstrated not only the excellent solid support, but also have many unique functional groups to chelate the copper (I) species to enhance its catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution remote sensing images have been put into the application in remote sensing parsing. General remote sensing parsing methods based on semantic segmentation still have limitations, which include frequent neglect of tiny objects, high complexity in image understanding and sample imbalance. Therefore, a controllable fusion module (CFM) is proposed to alleviate the problem of implicit understanding of complicated categories. Moreover, an adaptive edge loss function (AEL) was proposed to alleviate the problem of the recognition of tiny objects and sample imbalance. Our proposed method combining CFM and AEL optimizes edge features and body features in a coupled mode. The verification on Potsdam and Vaihingen datasets shows that our method can significantly improve the parsing effect of satellite images in terms of mIoU and MPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the approximation of the inversion of windowed Fourier transforms using Riemannian sums. We show that for certain window functions, the Riemannian sums are well defined on L(ℝ), 1 < p < ∞, and tend to the function to be reconstructed as the sampling density tends to infinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effect of nitrate (NO3 −) on lipid peroxidation, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), soluble sugar, and proline accumulation were investigated in cucumber [Cucumis sativus L. cv. ‘Xintaimici’ (salt-tolerant) and ‘Shennongchunwu’ (salt-sensitive)] seedlings treated with 14 (control) and 140 mM NO3 − for seven days. The results showed that excess NO3 − increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and electrolyte leakage in cucumber roots of both cultivars, and the degree of increase was higher in ‘Shennongchunwu’. The activities of SOD, CAT, POD, and APX increased in the roots of ‘Xintaimici’, but decreased in roots of ‘Shennongchunwu’, with respect to the control plants. Compared to the control, the soluble sugar and proline content increased in the cucumber roots of both cultivars, especially in ‘Xintaimici’. These results suggested that ‘Xintaimici’ tolerance to NO3 − stress may partly be due to higher activities of antioxidant enzymes and accumulation of osmotic regulation substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monodispersed yttrium aluminum garnet ( YAG) powders have been synthesized via homogeneous precipitation method from the mixed solutions of yttrium nitrate, aluminum nitrate, and ammonium aluminum sulfate using urea as the precipitant. The molar ratio of aluminum nitrate to ammonium aluminum sulfate has a significant effect on morphology and particle size of the precursor powders. It was found that spherical precursor particles can be obtained when the ratio is 1:1. During the homogeneous precipitation process, aluminum ions precipitate first and form monodispered spherical powders, and then yttrium ions precipitate onto the surface of the existing spheres. Monodispersed spherical YAG particles with 500 nm in diameter were obtained by calcining the precursor powder at 1100°C for 5 h. The so-prepared monodispersed spherical Nd: YAG powders have good sinterability, and can be sintered into transparent ceramics by vacuum sintering at 1650°C for 3.5 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES DOMAIN 29 (LBD29), an important molecule downstream of auxin response factors ARF7 and ARF19, has a critical role in lateral root formation in Arabidopsis thaliana. The cell cycle activation of pericycle cells and their specification triggered by auxin are crucial for the initiation of lateral roots. In this study, we attempted to determine whether LBD29 is involved in auxin signalling and/or cell cycle regulation and to characterize the roles of LBD29 in these processes. Methods The impact of LBD29 on cell cycling progression in pericycle cells was investigated in lbd29 loss-of-function mutant or LBD29-over-expressing plants. The cell cycle was determined by measuring the expression of some cell cycle-related genes using in situ hybridization and quantitative real-time reverse transcription–PCR (qRT-PCR). Furthermore, the cell division in the root explants from either the lbd29 mutant, LBD29-over-expressing plants or the wild type grown in auxin-rich media was also analysed and compared by the distribution of DR5:β-glucuronidase (GUS) in the primordia or by the expression of PIN-FORMED (PIN) members and PLETHROA 1 (PLT1) which represented the auxin response by the pericycle cells. Key Results lbd29 mutation resulted in reduced numbers of lateral roots and primordia, whereas LBD29 over-expression resulted in more lateral root and primordia formation than in the wild type. More importantly, the level of LBD29 expression was found to be positively correlated with the level of expression of cell cycle-related genes and correlated with the numbers of subcellular organelles found in pericycle cells in the maturation zone. In addition, an in vitro experiment using root explants demonstrated that the presence of LBD29 was required for the maintenance of the cell division capacity of the pericycle. Furthermore, LBD29 appeared to modify PIN-dependent auxin signalling in the primordia since there was a correlated association between the expression of PINs, PLT1 and DR5:GUS and the expression of LBD29. Conclusions The ability of LBD29 to regulate lateral root initiation is associated with its maintenance of the cell division capacity of the pericycle in response to auxin and its involvement in the auxin signalling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel multi-SOH functionalized ionic liquid is synthesized and a detailed account of its catalytic activities in acetalization and acetylation is given. The results showed that the ionic liquid is very efficient in the conventional acid-catalyzed reactions with good to excellent yields within a short reaction time. Operational simplicity, small amounts required, low cost of the catalyst, high yields, scalability and reusability are the key features of this methodology, which indicates the high potentialities of the novel ionic liquid to be used in environmentally friendly processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a finite element scheme for the family of time relaxation models, that represent a regularization of Navier-Stokes equations, is developed, analyzed and numerically tested. The proposed finite element scheme combines three ideas: (i) the use of an incompressible filter, for better consistency outside the periodic domains, (ii) a second order accurate linearization for the nonlinear term, that allows to solve only one linear system per time step, and (iii) a stabilization in time term that compliments well the linearization. A complete numerical analysis of the scheme, that includes the computability of its numerical solutions, its stability, and velocity error estimates, is given. This is followed by numerical experiments that confirm the theoretical convergence rates and show the advantage of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: (Gd1−x ,Eu x )2O2SO4 sub-microphosphors were synthesized by homogeneous precipitation method from commercially available Gd2O3, Eu2O3, H2SO4 and (NH2)2CO (urea) starting materials. Fourier transform infrared spectra show that the precursors with different molar ratios of (NH2)2CO to Gd2(SO4)3 (the m value) are mostly composed of gadolinium hydroxyl, carbonate and sulfate groups with some crystal water. X-ray diffraction indicated that the precursor (m =5) can be transformed into pure Gd2O2SO4 phase after heat treated at 900°C for 2h in air. Field emission scanning electron microscope micrographs illustrate that the Gd2O2SO4 phosphor particles (m =5) are quasi-spherical in shape and well dispersed, with a mean particle size of about 300–500nm. Photoluminescence spectroscopy reveals that the strongest emission peak for (Gd1−x ,Eu x )2O2SO4 sub-microphosphors is located at 618nm under 270nm light excitation, which corresponds to the 5D0 → 7F2 transition of Eu3+ ions. The quenching concentration of Eu3+ ions is 5mol% and the concentration quenching mechanism is due to the electric dipole–dipole interaction. Decay study reveals that the 5D0 → 7F2 transition of Eu3+ ions fits with a mono exponential function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades play a key role in plant growth and development as well as biotic and abiotic stress response. To unravel the roles of MAPK in cucumber, its expression in transgenic cucumber plants was reduced by an antisense approach. For this purpose, a 1113bp cDNA fragment of cucumber MAPK gene (CsNMAPK) was expressed in antisense orientation driven by the 35S promoter of cauliflower mosaic virus. The pBI-CsNMAPK plasmid DNA was introduced into cucumber embryo by the pollen-tube pathway method. All seeds were sown in the soil and screened for transformants with kanamycin, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Northern blot and real-time quantitative reverse transcriptative PCR (RT-PCR) analysis. Two independent transgenic plants were obtained and analyzed. The results showed that the transgenic cucumber plants exhibited retarded growth. The transgenic plant height was shorter and the leaves were smaller. Transgenic cucumber plants suppression CsNMAPK were more sensitive to salt stress than the wild-type (WT) plants. The fresh weight of shoot of the transgenic plants decreased more than WT after 50mM NaCl treatment for 7 days. The malondialdehyde (MDA) content was higher, while the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and proline accumulation were lower in the transgenic plants than the WT plants after NaCl stress treatment. The evidence indicated that CsNMAPK was involved in positive regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengence and osmotic adjustment under salt stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Homogeneous precipitation method for synthesizing (Gd0.99,Pr0.01)2O2S sub-microphosphor was developed, using the commercially available Gd2O3, Pr6O11, H2SO4 and (NH2)2CO (urea) as the starting materials. It was found that the as-synthesized precursor is mainly composed of (Gd0.99,Pr0.01)2(OH)2(CO3)(SO4)·nH2O. Pure quasi-spherical shaped (Gd0.99,Pr0.01)2O2S particles can be synthesized by calcining the precursor at a temperature higher than 700°C for 1h in flowing hydrogen. The (Gd0.99,Pr0.01)2O2S particles have a narrow size distribution with a mean grain size of about 300–400nm. Photoluminescence spectra of (Gd0.99,Pr0.01)2O2S under 303nm UV excitation show a green emission at 515nm as the most prominent peak, which corresponds to the 3P0 → 3H4 transition of Pr3+ ions. Decay study reveals that the 3P0 → 3H4 transition of Pr3+ ions in Gd2O2S host lattice has a single exponential decay behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel co-precipitation method for synthesizing (Gd1−x , Pr x )2O2S nano-phosphors was developed, using the commercially available Gd2O3, Pr6O11, H2SO4 and NaOH as the starting materials. This method has the advantage of controllable phosphor particle size and shape, simplicity in processing, low cost, and not involving toxic carbon disulfide or hydrogen sulfide. It was found that the as-synthesized precursor is mainly composed of (Gd1−x , Pr x )2(OH)4SO4·nH2O. By calcining the (Gd1−x , Pr x )2(OH)4SO4·nH2O precursor at a temperature higher than 700°C for 1h in flowing hydrogen, pure quasi-spherical shaped (Gd1−x , Pr x )2O2S particles can be synthesized. The (Gd1−x , Pr x )2O2S particles have a narrow size distribution with a mean grain size of about 20–30nm. UV–vis spectra indicates that the absorption edge of the samples has a blue shift with increasing calcination temperature, while PL spectra of (Gd1−x , Pr x )2O2S under 301nm excitation show a green emission at 511nm as the most prominent peak, which corresponds to the 3P0 → 3H4 transition of Pr3+ ions. The optimal x value is 0.01 for the highest luminescent emission intensity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Linear and nonlinear multivariate regressions were implemented to estimate sugar content of intact Gannan navel orange based on Vis–NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in the wavelength range of 450–1750 nm. Four pre-processing methods, including average smoothing, multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), first and second derivatives, were applied to improve the predictive ability of the models. The models were developed by MLR, PCR, PLS, Poly-PLS and Spline-PLS with MSC pretreatment. Except MLR, the predictive results were insignificant among PCR, PLS, Poly-PLS and Spline-PLS by analysis of variance test at 5% level. The Spline-PLS model was superior to others with of 0.87, RMSEP of 0.47∘Brix and SDR=2.34. The results illustrated Spline-PLS could be applied to deal with nonlinear problem, and Vis–NIR spectroscopy in combination with it, could determine sugar content of intact Gannan navel orange precisely. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A relationship was established between the soluble solid content (SSC) of navel orange fruit determined by destructive measurement and visible–near infrared diffuse reflectance spectra in the wavelength range of 350–1800nm. Multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) and standard normal variate correction (SNV) were applied to the spectra, partial least squares regression (PLSR) and back propagation neural network (BPNN) based on principal component analysis (PCA) were used to develop the models for predicting the SSC of intact navel orange fruit. Thirty-eight unknown samples were used to evaluate the performance of these models. The principal component analysis-back propagation (PCA-BPNN) method with MSC spectral pretreatment obtain the best predictive results, resulting in correlation coefficient, root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP), average difference between predicted and measured values (Bias) of 0.90, 0.68°Brix and 0.16°Brix, respectively. Experimental results indicate that PCA-BPNN is a suitable tool to model the non-linear complex system, with additional advantages over PLSR, and the vis/NIR spectrometric technique can be used for measuring the SSC of intact navel orange fruit, nondestructively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: (Gd1−x ,Eu x )2O2SO4 nano-phosphors were synthesized by a novel co-precipitation method from commercially available Gd2O3, Eu2O3, H2SO4 and NaOH starting materials. Composition of the precursor is greatly influenced by the molar ratio of NaOH to (Gd1−x ,Eu x )2(SO4)3 (the m value), and the optimal m value was found to be 4. Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR) and thermal analysis show that the precursor (m =4) can be transformed into pure (Gd1−x ,Eu x )2O2SO4 nano-phosphor by calcining at 900°C for 2h in air. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation shows that the Gd2O2SO4 phosphor particles (m =4) are quasi-spherical in shape and well dispersed, with a mean particle size of about 30–50nm. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy reveals that the strongest emission peak is located at 617nm under 271nm light excitation, which corresponds to the 5D0 → 7F2 transition of Eu3+ ions. The quenching concentration of Eu3+ ions is 10mol% and the concentration quenching mechanism is exchange interaction among the Eu3+ ions. Decay study reveals that the 5D0 → 7F2 transition of Eu3+ ions has a single exponential decay behavior. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Biaryls were obtained in good to excellent yields from the palladium catalyzed reductive homocoupling reactions of various aryl iodides and bromides in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solution without the need for any additional reducing reagents. Pd(dppf)Cl2 is the most effective among the screened palladium catalysts for the homocoupling reactions. Fluorides, carbonates, acetates and hydroxides can be used as bases at promoting the palladium catalyzed reductive homocoupling of aryl halides in DMSO solution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis shows that the oxidative Pd2+(dppf) species can be reduced into the Pd0(dppf) active species by solvent DMSO molecules to furnish the catalytic cycle, indicating that DMSO plays a dual role as both solvent and reducing reagent. A plausible reaction mechanism has been discussed. Elimination of additional reducing reagents will not only reduce the reaction operation cost, but will also simplify the product separation and purification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A portable near infrared spectroscopy system was developed for assessing the quality of Nanfeng mandarin fruit. One hundred and fifty-three Nanfeng mandarin samples were used to measure the performance of the system. Several pretreatment methods were adopted to process the spectra. Then Support Vector Machine (SVM), Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) and Partial Least Square (PLS) were used to build models for soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), vitamin C and surface color. The best results were obtained by SVM. The correlation coefficient (R) and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) were (0.93, 0.65°Brix), (0.66, 0.09%), (0.81, 2.7mg/100g) and (0.57, 0.81) for SSC, TA, vitamin C and color, respectively. The results demonstrated that the portable near infrared spectroscopy was feasible for determining the Nanfeng mandarin quality nondestructively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by the polyacrylamide gel method with acrylamide as the monomer and N,N′-methylenediacrylamide as lattice agent. The average crystallite sizes of the nickel ferrites annealed at 500, 600 and 800°C are about 10, 30 and 50nm, respectively. Ferrite–polystyrene composites were made by hot pressing, and microwave-absorbing properties of the composites with different contents of 35, 45, 55 and 65wt% ferrite were investigated by testing complex permeability and complex permittivity in the X-band (8.2–12.4GHz) frequency range. All the parameters, ε′, ε″, μ′ and μ″, increase with increasing ferrite content. The reflection losses were calculated based on a model of a single-layered plane wave absorber backed by a perfect conductor. The composite with 65wt% ferrite content shows a minimum reflection loss of −13dB at 11.5GHz with a −10dB bandwidth over the extended frequency range of 10.3–13GHz for an absorber thickness of 2mm. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Al2O3 and Al2O3–ZrO2 ceramic foams with dense cell struts and uniform cell structure were fabricated by centrifugal slip casting using pre-arrayed epispastic polystyrene (EPS) templates. The variation of Zeta potential for Al2O3 and ZrO2 particles with suspension pH was measured. The rheological characteristic of Al2O3 and Al2O3–ZrO2 slurries with up to 50vol.% solid content was investigated. Centrifugal slip casting was performed at various centrifugal accelerations varying from 1118G to 2860G. Segregation phenomenon during centrifugal process was studied and found negligible for highly stable slurry with 50vol.% solid content. Cell struts of the Al2O3 and Al2O3–ZrO2 compacts have high green densities of 63.4% TD and 61.5% TD, respectively. After sintering at 1500°C and 1550°C for 2h, respectively, sintered densities of the struts of the Al2O3 and Al2O3–ZrO2 foams are 98.8% TD and 99.1% TD. Porosity of the ceramic foams can be adjusted by changing the load applied on the EPS spheres during packing. With the increase of porosity from 75.6% to 83.2%, compressive strength of the Al2O3 and the Al2O3–ZrO2 foams decreases from 3.20MPa to 1.78MPa and from 3.80MPa to 2.07MPa, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes a precipitation process for synthesizing nanocrystalline yttria powder and sintering transparent yttria ceramics. Hydroxide precursor of Y2O3 with an approximate composition of Y2(OH)5NO3 ·H2O was synthesized by using ammonia water as precipitant and yttrium nitrate as the starting salt. Employing appropriate striking method and optimum synthetic conditions, yttrium hydroxide with a card-house or spherical structure can be formed. It was found that normal striking derived powders have higher sinterability than reverse striking derived powders. The addition of a small amount of ammonia sulfate in the yttrium nitrate solution reduces the agglomeration and particle size of the produced yttria powders. Nanocrystalline yttria powders (60nm in average size) was obtained by calcining the precursor at 1100°C for 4h. Transparent yttria ceramics were fabricated from the nano Y2O3 powders by vacuum sintering at 1700°C for 4h. In the wavelength of 1000nm, the in-line transmittance reaches 52%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Synthesis of nanocrystalline yttria powder from Y(NO3)3 solution and ammonia water was investigated. It was found that the precursor precipitate is Y2(OH)5(NO3).H2O. The addition of small amount of ammonia sulfate in yttrium nitrate solution can reduce the agglomeration and particle size of the produced yttria powders. Nanocrystalline yttria powder (60 nm in average size) was obtained by calcining the precursor at 1100 °C for 4 h. Using this yttria powder and a commercial ultrafine Al2O3 powder, fully transparent YAG ceramics was fabricated by vacuum sintering at 1700 °C for 4 h through a solid-state reaction method. It was found that the addition of 0.5 wt.% tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) is suitable for the fabrication of transparent YAG ceramics. If the amount of TEOS is less than 0.05 wt.%, abnormal grain growth occurs, and pores are entrapped in the grains. If the amount of TEOS is more than 3 wt.%, large amount of liquid phase is yielded, leaving some residual inclusions at grain boundaries. These are detrimental for the transparency of YAG ceramics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Yttria nanopowders were synthesized using a chemical precipitation method. pH value at the end of the precipitation process has a significant effect on the size and morphology of the precursor and the yttria powders. Under the same calcination condition, the yttria powders made from the precursor obtained at a pH of 8 are smaller in mean particle size and narrower in size distribution than those made from the precursor obtained at a pH of 10. It was found that the optimum calcination temperature is 1000 °C, and the yttria powder obtained is fine (30 nm) and well dispersed. Using the yttria powder, transparent yttria ceramics was produced by vacuum sintering at 1700 °C for 4 h without any additives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Marine object detection has become increasingly important in intelligent underwater robot. Because of color cast and blur in underwater images, features directly extracted from backbone networks usually lack interesting and discriminative characters, that affects performance on marine object detection. To this end, this paper proposes a novel refined marine object detector with attention-based spatial pyramid pooling networks and bidirectional feature fusion strategy to relieve the weakening of features and address marine object detection issues. Firstly, an attention-based spatial pyramid pooling network named as SA-SPPN is proposed to enrich interesting information and extend receptive field on original features extracted from backbone network. Based on enhanced multiple level features, the bidirectional feature fusion strategy is designed to fuse different level features and generate robust feature maps for detection. Specifically, the top-down connection could transfer semantic information from high-level features to enhance low-level features. The bottom-up pathway could extend resolution of high-level features. Furthermore, the cross-layer connections are integrated into both top-down passway and bottom-up passway to carry out multiple branch fusion. On bounding boxes regression phase, the distance-IoU loss is adopted to improve regression speed and accuracy. Finally, this paper conducts series experiments on underwater image datasets and URPC datasets to detect marine objects. The experimental results reveal that our approach could achieve impressive performance and reach 79.64% mAP on underwater image datasets, 79.31% mAP on URPC2019 datasets and 79.93% mAP on URPC2020 datasets, respectively. For standard object detection, the proposed algorithm also could realize notable performance and get 81.9% mAP on PASCAL VOC datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-yielding dairy cows in early lactation often encounter difficulties in meeting the energy requirements essential for maintaining milk production. This is primarily attributed to insufficient dry matter intake, which consequently leads to sustained lipolysis of adipose tissue. Fatty acids released by lipolysis can disrupt metabolic homeostasis. Autophagy, an adaptive response to intracellular environmental changes, is considered a crucial mechanism for regulating lipid metabolism and maintaining a proper cellular energy status. Despite its close relationship with aberrant lipid metabolism and cytolipotoxicity in animal models of metabolic disorders, the precise function of diacylglycerol o-acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) in bovine adipose tissue during periods of negative energy balance is not fully understood, particularly regarding its involvement in lipolysis and autophagy. The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of DGAT1 on both lipolysis and autophagy in bovine adipose tissue and isolated adipocytes. Adipose tissue and blood samples were collected from cows diagnosed as clinically ketotic (n = 15) or healthy (n = 15) following a veterinary evaluation based on clinical symptoms and serum concentrations of BHB, which were 3.19 m M (interquartile range = 0.20) and 0.50 m M (interquartile range = 0.06), respectively. Protein abundance of DGAT1 and phosphorylation levels of unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1), were greater in adipose tissue from cows with ketosis, whereas phosphorylation levels of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were lower. Furthermore, when adipocytes isolated from the harvested adipose tissue of 15 healthy cows were transfected with DGAT1 overexpression adenovirus or DGAT1 small interfering RNA followed by exposure to epinephrine (EPI), it led to greater ratios and protein abundance of phosphorylated hormone-sensitive triglyceride lipase (LIPE) to total LIPE and adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), while inhibiting the protein phosphorylation levels of ULK1, PI3K, AKT, and mTOR. Overexpression of DGAT1 in EPI-treated adipocytes reduced lipolysis and autophagy, whereas silencing DGAT1 further exacerbated EPI-induced lipolysis and autophagy. Taken together, these findings indicate that upregulation of DGAT1 may function as an adaptive response to suppress adipocytes lipolysis, highlighting the significance of maintaining metabolic homeostasis in dairy cows during periods of negative energy balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the dimensionality reduction techniques of hyperspectral image (HSI), band selection (BS) does not change the spectral characteristics and physical meaning of HSIs, which is beneficial to the identification and analysis of surface objects. Recently, many BS methods for target detection have achieved promising results by making full use of the priori spectral features of the target to be detected. Conversely, anomaly detection separates the anomaly based solely on the statistical distribution difference between anomaly and background without any prior information. Therefore, the development of BS for anomaly detection has lagged far behind that of BS for target detection. To this end, this paper proposes a novel BS algorithm dedicated to anomaly detection tasks, named anomaly‐background separation and particle swarm optimization (PSO)‐based BS. Specifically, an anomaly‐background separation framework (ABSF) is established to predetermine a priori knowledge of anomaly distribution. Then, three band prioritization criteria are constructed with the anomaly‐background constraints generated by ABSF. Finally, PSO is used to find the optimal subset of bands in the solution space. The experiments on two real datasets demonstrate that the proposed method yields better detection results and greater stability compared to other BS methods discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The floating toe deformity is classified as a forefoot deformity wherein the distal portion of the toe does not establish touch with the ground, resulting in a suspended or elevated position while the finger is in a relaxed state. At first, it garnered considerable interest as a complication It is worth noting that this condition is particularly common in children under the age of 8, which usually disappears as the individual reaches maturity. Studies have shown that with the aggravation of floating toe deformity, its adverse effects on patients' gait and overall quality of life also increase. Despite the prevalence of floating toe deformity in clinical settings, there is a lack of comprehensive literature investigating its underlying causes and potential preventive strategies. This scope review follows the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta‐analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA‐ScR) statement guidelines for scope reviews. The literature was obtained from various full‐text databases, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Wanfang Database, PubMed, and Web of Science Database. Our search focused on published literature related to floating toes, Weil osteotomy, and distal metatarsal osteotomy, up until March 1, 2023. The literature search and data analysis are conducted by two independent reviewers. If there are any disagreements, a third researcher will participate in the discussion and negotiate a decision. Furthermore, two experienced foot and ankle surgeons conducted a thorough literature analysis for this review. Sixty‐two articles were included. Through the clinical analysis of the structural changes of the forefoot before and after operation, the classification of floating toe was described, the causes of pathological floating toe were summarized, and the possible intervention measures for the disease were put forward under the advice of foot and ankle surgery experts. We comprehensively summarize the current knowledge system about the etiology of floating toe and put forward the corresponding intervention strategy. We recommend that future studies will focus on the improvement of surgical procedures, such as the combination of Weil osteotomy, proximal interphalangeal (PIP) arthrodesis and flexor tendon arthrodesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yttrium oxide is an ideal choice for titanium aluminum alloy melting and casting, its wider use is hindered by sintering challenges and low thermal shock resistance. To address this, we propose a gel casting method for calcium oxide-doped yttrium oxide production. We pretreated yttrium oxide with phosphoric acid to prevented hydrolysis and adjusted the isoelectric point of yttrium oxide to match calcium carbonate's. Anions from calcium carbonate increased slurry solid content (up to 58 vol%) while maintaining low viscosity (57.78 mPa·s at 40 s−1 shear rate). After sintering at 1650 °C for 2 h, the material showed a flexural strength of 78 MPa, with a 90% retention rate after thermal shock test. The introduction of calcium oxide induced lattice distortion, improving mechanical properties by aiding sintering and grain boundary diffusion. XPS and STEM analysis confirmed random replacement of Y3+ by Ca2+ at the C 2 position with 1 wt% doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights This study presents a novel variable thickness nested tube consisting of circular tube and origami tube (VTCO) designed to reduce the initial peak crushing force (PCF) under axial loading while maintaining high energy absorption. The core of this design is to achieve progressive and controlled energy absorption and to reduce peak forces as well as accelerations that can lead to passenger injuries. Nested tube structures were fabricated using short carbon fiber‐reinforced nylon composites through 3D printing technology, and quasi‐static axial compression tests were performed. The results show that equal‐thickness nested tubes consisting of circular tubes and origami tubes (ETCO) perform better in terms of energy absorption and deformation stability compared to circular and origami tubes individually. The further improved VTCO reduced the PCF by 53% and significantly improved the crash force efficiency (CFE) by 54%. The VTCO structure was parametrically investigated by means of a validated finite element model and optimized using the Non‐Symmetric Dominance Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA‐II). The optimization results provide a feasible way to adjust the structural crashworthiness to meet different engineering requirements. This study provides valuable insights into the energy‐absorbing properties of VTCO structures and is an important guide for the application and material development of novel VTCO structures. ETCO offers better energy absorption and stability than circular and origami tubes individually. VTCO is superior to ETCO in reducing PCF and increasing CFE. Multi‐objective optimization using NSGA‐II to balance conflicting crashworthiness indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superhydrophobic surfaces are used in fields such as self-cleaning, anti-corrosion and anti-rust, and electromagnetic shielding because they are not wetted by water droplets. We manipulated the scanning spacing and scanning times of the femtosecond laser to control the surface morphology of alumina ceramics, resulting in the creation of two microstructures: micropillars and microhills. Subsequent heat treatment in an oven at 100 °C for 12 h formed a superhydrophobic surface without additional chemical modification, with a contact angle as high as 171.706°. Experimental results show that the superhydrophobicity of the alumina ceramic surface is due to the micro-nano structure of the ceramic surface under specific laser parameters and the hydroxylation of the alumina ceramic itself combined with organic compounds in the air. In addition, the ceramic still has excellent superhydrophobic properties up to 155° after being left in the air for 35 days and abraded by 800-grit sandpaper for 1 m under a pressure of 2.2kpa. Our work uses a new environmentally friendly method to make alumina ceramic surfaces both wear-resistant and superhydrophobic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phytohormone jasmonate (JA) coordinates stress and growth responses to increase plant survival in unfavorable environments. Although JA can enhance plant UV‐B stress tolerance, the mechanisms underlying the interaction of UV‐B and JA in this response remain unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that the UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 ‐ TEOSINTE BRANCHED1, Cycloidea and PCF 4 ‐ LIPOXYGENASE2 (UVR8‐TCP4‐LOX2) module regulates UV‐B tolerance dependent on JA signaling pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. We show that the nucleus‐localized UVR8 physically interacts with TCP4 to increase the DNA‐binding activity of TCP4 and upregulate the JA biosynthesis gene LOX2. Furthermore, UVR8 activates the expression of LOX2 in a TCP4‐dependent manner. Our genetic analysis also provides evidence that TCP4 acts downstream of UVR8 and upstream of LOX2 to mediate plant responses to UV‐B stress. Our results illustrate that the UV‐B‐dependent interaction of UVR8 and TCP4 serves as an important UVR8‐TCP4‐LOX2 module, which integrates UV‐B radiation and JA signaling and represents a new UVR8 signaling mechanism in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low-cost and power-efficient video surveillance system, named XDMOM, is developed for real-time moving object detection outdoors or in the wild. The novel system comprises four parts: imaging subsystem, video processing unit, power supply, and alarm device. The imaging subsystem, which consists of a dual-spectrum camera and rotary platform, can realize 360-degree and all-day monitoring. The video processing unit uses a power-efficient NVIDIA GeForce GT1030 chip as the processor, which ensures the power consumption of the whole system maintains a low level of 60~70 W during work. A portable lithium battery is employed to supply power so that the novel system can be used anywhere. The work principle is also studied in detail. Once videos are recorded, the single-stage neural network YOLOv4-tiny is employed to detect objects in a single frame, and an adaptive weighted moving pipeline filter is developed to remove pseudo-targets in the time domain, thereby reducing false alarms. Experimental results show that the overall correct alarm rate of the novel system could reach 85.17% in the daytime and 81.79% at night when humans are monitored in real outdoor environments. The good performance of the novel system is demonstrated by comparison with state-of-the-art video surveillance systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable mineral resource supply is necessary for socio-economic development. As the world's leading consumer of mineral resources, China's economic development largely relies on the exploration, exploitation and utilization of mineral resources. This paper explores the interregional supply chains of Chinese mineral resource requirements in 2012 via the multi-regional input–output and structural path analyses. Exergy as a common metric is used for the integrated assessment of mineral resource inputs. Results show that investment is the most crucial final demand category for most provinces' embodied mineral uses. The Construction sector is the biggest user of embodied mineral resources in all 31 provincial regions. Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi providing most mineral resources for other regions have high proportions of interregional mineral resource exports. Developed regions as net importers of embodied resources always have large resource requirements, and Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Shandong and Shanghai are important mineral resource consumers. We further identify critical supply chain paths based on the overall mineral resource linkages through interregional trade. Coal mining → Investment is a typical path for the investment-induced intra-provincial transfer, while Coal mining → Nonmetal products → Construction → Investment is an important path for investment-induced interregional transfer. Coal mining → Electricity power, stream, and hot water production and supply → Consumption is an important path for consumption in intra-provincial and interregional transfers. The regional integrated mineral resource footprint and its critical paths will help policymakers to understand real mineral resource consumption patterns and related supply chain nexus, and to develop targeted resource policies from the consumption-based perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A simple empirical composite fracture model is applied to Al 2 O 3 -Ni laminar composite. • The new composite model defines the degree of micro-cracking and non-linear damage. • The thickness of Ni layers C ch is the most prominent composite microstructure unit. • The model links the bulk "composite" strength f t and toughness K IC. • The empirical model is more suitable than classic linear elastic fracture model for composites. Ceramic-metal laminated composites consisting of alternating ceramic and metal micro-layers can create unique "structural or composite properties" superior to the material properties of individual constituent ceramics and metals. Those unique "composite or structural properties" cannot be adequately modeled by Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) or Strength of Materials (SoM) since both models are limited to homogeneous materials. A recent composite fracture model with an approximate empirical solution is adopted in this study to determine both the "structural or composite" tensile strength and fracture toughness of micro-layered Al 2 O 3 -Ni laminar composites, which were prepared through gel-casting and hot-pressing. This simple empirical model considers the micro-cracking or damage zone in the highly stressed region, e.g. at notch tip, and the most prominent composite microstructure, i.e. the thickness C ch of ductile Ni micro-layers. A linear relation between the maximum fracture loads P max and the equivalent area A e was confirmed with the "structural or composite" tensile strength f t as the slope. The "structural or composite" fracture toughness K IC was then determined by f t and C ch. This simple empirical model can also be used together with normal distribution so that both the mean and 95% reliability band can be predicted. The "structural or composite" properties determined by the simple composite fracture model were compared with rough approximations from LEFM and SoM (both should not be used for composites) so that readers can see the errors if those classic models suitable only to homogeneous materials are used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper matrix composites can be used to address the issue of heat dissipation in electronic devices. Nevertheless, the thermal conductivity (TC) of carbon fiber (CF)/copper (Cu) composites falls significantly below expectations. This is primarily attributed to the challenge of achieving a well-ordered arrangement of CF within the matrix, coupled with the issue of low interfacial bonding strength. A highly effective and uncomplicated approach to fabricate copper matrix composites featuring a "sandwich structure" of Cu-CF-Cu is introduced in this paper. This configuration, achieved through structural design facilitated by hot-press sintering and vacuum suction filtration, exhibited a three-dimensional graphene-like networks (3D-GLNs) and meticulously ordered CF layers over long distances. More importantly, in comparison to pure copper (350 W m−1 K−1), the laminated composite with 40 vol% CF of the CF layer had an in-plane TC of 510 W m−1 K−1, which was approximately 1.5 times greater than that of pure copper. Additionally, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the laminated composite with 45 vol% was 9.98 ppm/K. The in-plane TC of the composite was comparable to that of the graphene/Cu composites with the same content. This underscores the advantages of the structural design, even in cases where the TC of the reinforced phase differs by a factor of two. The aforementioned findings demonstrate that this methodology for developing a unique "sandwich" structure can effectively enhance in-plane TC in CF/metal composites, presenting potential for utilization in electronic packaging requiring efficient directional heat transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Y 2 O 3 and CaO are ideal ceramic materials for precision casting of TiAl alloy, overcoming challenges associated with intricate component removal, such as turbine blades, leveraging the stability of Y 2 O 3 and the water solubility of CaO. To address these challenges, we employed Isobam104 in a novel gel casting method, serving as both a dispersant and a gelling agent. This method enabled us to create a stable Y 2 O 3 –CaCO 3 slurry with high solid content (up to 55 vol%) and low viscosity (101.51 mPa·s at a shear rate of 10 s−1). Following sintering at 1500 °C for 2 h, Y 2 O 3 –CaO composite ceramics were produced. Surprisingly, two distinct characteristics of CaO were noted. One showed a rod-shaped morphology with high chemical reactivity crucial for water solubility, while the other displayed a flat-like feature, forming a well-maintained interface due to its coherent or semi-coherent matching relationship with Y 2 O 3 , thereby providing excellent hydration resistance. Ultimately, we acquired composite ceramics showcasing a 30-day "shelf life" alongside exceptional water solubility. This establishes the theoretical groundwork for storing and employing soluble ceramic cores in the precision casting of TiAl alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pre-treatment methods were compared for prediction of olive DMC using PLSR. • RMSEP was decreased by ca. 35 % using VSN as a pre-treatment. • Model updating was recommended for model transfer. • Results support use of portable NIR for olive DMC estimation. The assessment of dry matter content (DMC) as a surrogate for oil content of single olive fruit was considered in terms of spatial variation in DMC, optimisation of spectral pre-treatments, wavelength range and calibration transfer procedure. There was no consistent variation in DMC from apical to distal end of the fruit. Short wave near infrared spectra (to 1100 nm) were acquired of single fruit using an interactance geometry, with the small size of the fruit resulting in baseline variation between samples. The pre-treatment methods of first derivative (D 1), second derivative (D 2), standard normal variate transformation (SNV), normalized spectral ratio (NSR), variable sorting for normalization (VSN) and their combinations were applied prior to development of partial least squares regression models on DMC. Root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) values were reduced with use of the SNV-VSN-D 2 pre-treatment (by 34 and 35 %) to 0.95 and 0.88 %, for two handheld NIRS instruments, used in prediction of an external set, n = 212. The percentage of the predicted population within the limits of ± 5 % of actual values was 92.5 and 88.7 % for the VSN PLSR models and 83.0 and 77.3 % for the original models, for two instruments, respectively. Variable selection allowed a further improvement in RMSEP values (to 0.93 and 0.87 %) for the two instruments, respectively. For transfer of models between instruments, model updating based on SNV-VSN-D 2 pre-treated spectra resulted in a RMSEP of 1.00 %, compared to 1.79 % for D 2 pre-treated spectra, outperforming the classical calibration transfer methods of piecewise direct standardization (PDS) and spectral space transformation (SST). The results have significance to the practical implementation of NIRS-DMC estimation of olive fruit in field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Temperature correction methods were compared for prediction of mango DMC using PLSR. • A global model should have at least 2.4 % of samples at different temperatures. • EPO was recommended for temperature correction. • EPO based PLSR predictions were correct to 90–110 % of actual value in 92 % of cases. • Results support use of portable NIR in field, with varying sample temperature. Temperature impacts the extent of H bonding in water and thus impacts near infrared (NIR) spectra of fruit and influences the robustness of models between spectra and attributes such as dry matter content (DMC). Temperature correction methods including external parameter orthogonalisation (EPO), generalised least square weighting (GLSW), bias correction, repeatability file, calibration wavelength optimization and global modelling were applied to reduce the impact of sample temperature change on DMC prediction of intact mango fruit using a calibration data set of 1392 samples and a validation set of 660 samples of variable sample temperatures, drawn from 15 populations sourced from separate harvests. All methods except bias correction reduced bias corrected root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and increased coefficient of determination (R2). For a global model, it is recommended that at least 2.4 % of samples in the model be scanned at different temperatures. However, the EPO method is recommended overall, as it returned the lowest RMSEP and highest R2 (1.05 % w/w, and 0.82 compared with the control result of 1.43 % and 0.68, respectively), in prediction of the population with spectra acquired at three temperatures. A residual of ± 0.10×ŷ, where ŷ is the reference value, was associated with a confidence interval of 92.4 and 77.4 % for the EPO corrected and original models, respectively. The results have significance for the practical implementation of NIRS-DMC estimation of fruit in field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a facile and scalable method to synthesize Pt/C catalysts with high Pt loading (10–30 wt.%) using sodium polyacrylate resin (PAANa) as a multifunctional agent. PAANa can absorb H 2 PtCl 6 solution and form a gel, which can be converted into Pt/C catalysts by pyrolysis. PAANa acts as a water absorber, a Pt stabilizer, and a carbon precursor. The optimized catalyst, pyrolyzed at 800 °C with a 20 wt.% Pt loading, demonstrates Pt nanoparticles measuring 3.5 nm in size. It exhibits excellent stability and achieves a low overpotential of 43 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for the hydrogen evolution in alkaline media. The enhanced catalytic activity is due to the combined influence of the nanoscale Pt particles, the higher degree of graphitization, and the porous carbon substrate with a large surface area. We also demonstrate the scalability of the method by producing 100 g of the catalyst in the laboratory. [Display omitted] • Using PAANa as a multifunctional agent solves challenge of synthesizing high Pt loading Pt/C. • Pt/C catalyst demonstrates excellent performance with low overpotential and high stability. • Scalable method enables synthesis of Pt/C (100 g) for potential industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]