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The electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) presents an alternative method for the Haber–Bosch process, and single-atom catalysts (SACs) to achieve efficient NRR have attracted considerable attention in the past decades. However, whether SACs are more suitable for NRR compared to atomic-cluster catalysts (ACCs) remains to be studied. Herein, we have successfully synthesized both the Fe monomers (Fe1) and trimers (Fe3) on nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts. Both the experiments and DFT calculations indicate that compared to the end-on adsorption of N2on Fe1catalysts, N2activation is enhanced via the side-on adsorption on Fe3catalysts, and the reaction follows the enzymatic pathway with a reduced free energy barrier for NRR. As a result, the Fe3catalysts achieved better NRR performance (NH3yield rate of 27.89 μg h–1mg–1cat.and Faradaic efficiency of 45.13%) than Fe1catalysts (10.98 μg h–1mg–1cat.and 20.98%). Therefore, our research presents guidance to prepare more efficient NRR catalysts.

C16H16ClNO, monoclinic, P21/n(no. 14), a= 9.2566 Å, b= 9.2270(7) Å, c= 17.2231(14) Å, β= 103.745(8)°, V= 1428.9(2) Å3, Z= 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0655, wRref(F2) = 0.2113, T = 293 K.

An in-depth analysis on the cooperativity of intermolecular interactions including hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking in 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) crystal was studied. Two quantities, cooperativity rate and energy, were defined to evaluate the nature and strength of cooperativity in a series of clusters diverging from 1D to 3D prototypes. The origin and mechanism of the cooperative effect were settled to demonstrate that the nature of cooperativity is determined by whether the non-covalent interactions compete or promote with each other, which is manifested by the changing trend of electron transfer. There exists obvious cooperative effect in intra-layer and inter-layer structures as they own the equivalent non-covalent interactions, while anti-cooperative effect is also observed if two interactions correlate with each other. On the whole, in the process of crystal formation, the apparent cooperativity is the check and balance of the two effects, which is capable to support a global interaction among all of molecules and contribute to the stabilization of system. Based on the results, one may get a new insight to understand the relationship between non-covalent interactions and low impact sensitivity.

C9H7ClN2OS, monoclinic, P21/n(no. 14), a= 8.3507(3) Å, b= 12.3768(4) Å, c= 10.2340(4) Å, β= 96.857(4)°, V= 1050.17(7) Å3, Z= 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0673, wRref(F2) = 0.2013, T = 296(2) K.

To improve the mechanical properties of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene-1,3,5-triamine (TATB)-based polymer bonded explosives (PBXs), four kinds of polythiourea binders, namely the polyetherthiourea (P1), aliphatic polythiourea (P2), aromatic polythiourea (P3) and silane polythiourea (P4), were prepared and used in the PBXs. These four polythioureas were synthesized via the copolymerization of carbon disulfide (CS2) and diamines with various structures under mild conditions. They were then characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The interfacial binding energy between polythioureas and TATB was calculated via molecular dynamics simulations. The tensile and compression mechanical properties of various PBXs (PBX-Pn, n ​= ​1–4) were studied through Brazilian and compression tests and were then compared with those of the PBX with a conventional fluoro polymer binder (PBX-FP). The results show that the PBX-P1 possessed the strongest interfacial interaction energy and the best mechanical properties among all the prepared PBXs. Its Brazilian strength and strain was 11.0 ​MPa and 0.56%, which was 89% and 256% higher than those of the PBX-FP with the same binder proportion, respectively. Furthermore, PBX-P1 showed excellent compression mechanical properties, with a compression strength of 40.7 ​MPa and a compression strain of 3.53%. Moreover, its Brazilian and compression fracture energy was 600% and 101% higher than those of PBX-FP, respectively, which was beneficial for improving the PBX stability. The results of this study provide a new idea for designing TATB-based PBX with improved mechanical properties using polyetherthiourea binders.

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is regarded as one of the most effective routes to produce H2, but it usually suffers from the lack of the novel design concept of high-efficiency catalysts, especially in neutral condition. Herein, we report an orbital orientation-based theoretical principle for designing efficient single-atom HER catalysts. Through screening 14 catalysts consisting of the transition-metal single atoms doped into TiO2(TM1@TiO2) nanosheets, we demonstrate that the d orbital orientation of TM1–Ti1atomic pairs plays a key role in the regulation of catalytic activities. Among them, Pd1@TiO2is screened out as an excellent HER catalyst in neutral media, where the Pd-dx2−y2orbital tends to be exposed due to the existence of Pd1–Ti1atomic pair and thus promotes OH desorption and the overall hydrogen production. This work provides a new insight through tailoring high-performance orbital catalysts and sheds an orbital-level understanding of the HER mechanism.

The clinical efficacy of neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus chemotherapy remains elusive in localized epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we report interim results of a Simon’s two-stage design, phase 2 trial using neoadjuvant sintilimab with carboplatin and nab-paclitaxel in resectable EGFR-mutant NSCLC. All 18 patients undergo radical surgery, with one patient experiencing surgery delay. Fourteen patients exhibit confirmed radiological response, with 44% achieving major pathological response (MPR) and no pathological complete response (pCR). Similar genomic alterations are observed before and after treatment without influencing the efficacy of subsequent EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in vitro. Infiltration and T cell receptor (TCR) clonal expansion of CCR8+regulatory T (Treg)hi/CXCL13+exhausted T (Tex)locells define a subtype of EGFR-mutant NSCLC highly resistant to immunotherapy, with the phenotype potentially serving as a promising signature to predict immunotherapy efficacy. Informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection in EGFR-mutant NSCLC could help identify patients nonresponsive to neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy. These findings provide supportive data for the utilization of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and insight into immune resistance in EGFR-mutant NSCLC.

Trails induced by air entrainment of bow wave breaking can be observed clearly around an advancing ship, making it prong to be detected and causing reduction in hydrodynamic performance. In breaking bow wave region, different scale of coherent vortex structures related closely to the air entrainment are generated. The formation and evolution of bubble clouds can be accounted partly by the swirling vortex flow of the jet plunging. In this work, high-fidelity simulation of the bow wave breaking around a rectangular thin plate is performed with the in-house code BAMR-SJTU. A Liutex force model is constructed to investigate the interaction between the free surface and vortices, and to explore the possibility of alleviating or controlling the air entrainment. This study is the first attempt to manipulate vortices corresponding to the air entrainment of the bow wave breaking. Some typical vortex structures based on the Liutex vortex identification method and the distribution of the vortex force are presented. Comparison of the vortex structures and the entrapped bubbles is conducted to illustrate the efficiency of Liutex force model in air entrainment control.

Tumor therapeutics often target the primary tumor bulk but fail to eradicate therapy-resistant cancer stem cells (CSCs) in quiescent state. These can then become activated to initiate recurrence and/or metastasis beyond therapy. Here, we identified and isolated chemoradiotherapy-resistant CSCs in quiescent state with high capacity of tumor-initiation and tumorsphere formation from three types of breast tumors in mice. Experiments of knockdown and rescue revealed DEK, a nuclear protein, as essential for CSC activation. Exogenous DEK was then used to trigger quiescence exit of CSCs. ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq showed that DEK directly binds to chromatin, facilitating its genome-wide accessibility. The resulting epigenetic events upregulate the expression of cellular activation-related genes including MYC targets, whereas cellular quiescence-related genes including the p53 signaling pathway are silenced. However, twinned with DEK-induced activation, formerly resistant CSCs were then destroyed by chemotherapy in vitro. In mice, traditional chemoradiotherapy concurrent with the injection of DEK-containing exosomes resulted in eradication of primary tumors together with formerly resistant CSCs without recurrence or metastasis. Our findings advance knowledge of the mechanism of quiescent CSC activation and may provide novel clinical opportunities for removal of quiescence-linked therapy resistance.

Hedge funds are pooled investments that are privately organized and professionally managed by investment managers; they are not widely available to the public. Due to their private nature, hedge funds [...]

Castration of male animals is a common practice in the meat industry aimed at reducing aggressive behavior, preventing unpleasant flavor, and controlling undesirable breeding. For many years, mechanical castration and surgical castration have been practiced to sterilize the animals. However, these castration methods are not humane because of the associated risk of death, pain, and stress. Recently, immunocastration targeting the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG) axis has been reported as an animal-friendly approach that circumvents many of the concerns with conventional castration, and suggested by researches as an alternative to surgical castration. However, there is no compilation of updated information on the use of immunocastration in sheep and goats. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the developmental process from traditional surgical castration to immunocastration and to screen the process of immune targets. It also compares the respective advantages and disadvantages of traditional castration technologies and immunocastration, in particular including analyses in the characteristics, features application and welfare benefits of immunocastration in sheep and goats were also analyzed.

Styrene oxide, an important intermediate, is of great significance in fine-chemical synthesis. Great efforts have been made to design novel catalysts for styrene oxide synthesis by styrene epoxidation reaction (SER). Recently, Co3O4has been considered as an attractive alternative to the noble catalysts for efficient SER. However, there are two potential catalytic sites within Co3O4: tetrahedral Co2+and octahedral Co3+. It is highly desirable to identify the catalytic insight into the geometric sites and engineer highly efficient Co3O4catalysts. Herein, we engineered anisotropic Co3O4(A-Co3O4) nanosheets, which primarily exposed tetrahedral Co2+on the surface. It exhibited an enhanced SER catalytic performance in the styrene oxide yield by a factor of 5.69, compared with site-exposed isotropic Co3O4(I-Co3O4). The CoAl2O4experiment shows that tetrahedral Co2+is more beneficial to trigger SER than octahedral Co3+, thus maintaining the styrene oxide yield. The density functional theory calculation results further show that tetrahedral Co2+is more conducive to the styrene oxide synthesis by comparing the free energy change of the SER rate-determining step. Thus, this work uncovers the site-dependent catalytic essence and paves the way for the implementation of facet engineering toward highly efficient catalysis.

Moiré superlattices formed by graphene-covered Ru(0001) are known as excellent templates for the synthesis of monodispersed transition metal nanoclusters, but an accurate description of the structural evolution at the atomic level is still lacking. Herein, using first-principles calculations, we systematically explore the nucleation and growth of Pt nanoclusters (PtNCs) on such moiré superlattices. Our calculations reveal that, for the nucleation of PtNCs, FCC regions of the moiré superlattices are preferred compared with other regions due to the stronger C-sp3hybridization. Considering different shapes and stacking modes, monolayer PtNCs of regular hexagons and truncated triangles with three atoms removed from each corner and bilayer PtNCs of partially covered second layers with AA stacking are relatively stable. Comparing these stable configurations, we can find out that PtNC with 27 atoms is the critical size where the 2D growth mode will change to the 3D growth mode because of the weakening of Pt–C bonds caused by the inhibition of C-sp3hybridization. Our findings are of significance in revealing the structural evolution of metal nanoclusters on graphene moiré superlattices and other 2D templates.

Spinel lithium manganate (LiMn2O4), a commonly used cathode material for lithium-ion batteries, undergoes unfavorable processes such as irreversible phase transition and Mn2+dissolution during long-term cycling due to the deleterious Jahn-Teller distortion, leading to rapid capacity degradation. Herein, we introduce Hf into LiMn2O4to induce 5d-2porbital coupling and construct a stable Mn–O framework and thus suppressing the Jahn–Teller distortion, ultimately reducing Mn dissolution and the irreversible phase transitions. As a result, the tailored Hf-doped LiMn2O4cathode delivers an extraordinarily high capacity of 119.9 mAh g-1at 1C, superior cyclability with 70.1% capacity retention after 1000 cycles at room temperature, and greatly enhanced rate capability. Furthermore, Hf-doped LiMn2O4also shows good high-temperature tolerance, with 83.4% capacity retention after 400 cycles at 55 °C. This work presents an instructive contribution for constructing stable metal-oxygen framework via the introduction of orbital coupling, thus providing a promising strategy for constructing high-energy-density and high-stability cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

It is highly important to develop ultrastable electrode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs), especially in the low temperature. Herein, we report Fe3+-stabilized Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene (donated as T/F-4:1) as the anode material, which exhibits an ultrastable low-temperature Li-ion storage property (135.2 mA h g−1 after 300 cycles under the current density of 200 mA g−1 at −10 °C), compared with the negligible capacity for the pure Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene (∼26 mA h g−1 at 200 mA g−1). We characterized as-made T/F samples via the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy, and found that the terminated functional groups (-O and -OH) in T/F are Li+ storage sites. Fe3+-stabilization makes -O/-OH groups in MXene interlayers become active towards Li+, leading to much more active sites and thus an enhanced capacity and well cyclic stability. In contrast, only -O/-OH groups on the top and bottom surfaces of pure Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene can be used to adsorb Li+, resulting in a low capacity. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and XPS data confirm that T/F-4:1 holds the highly stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer during the cycling at −10 °C. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further uncover that T/F has fast diffusion of Li+ and consequent better electrochemical performances than pure Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene. It is believed that the new strategy used here will help to fabricate advanced MXene-based electrode materials in the energy storage application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) play critical roles in the physiological function of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), including learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity, through modulating excitatory neurotransmission. Attributed to etiopathology of various CNS disorders and neurodegenerative diseases, GluN2B is one of the most well-studied subtypes in preclinical and clinical studies on NMDARs. Herein, we report the synthesis and preclinical evaluation of two 11C-labeled GluN2B-selective negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) containing N,N-dimethyl-2-(1H-pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyridin-1-yl)acetamides for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Two PET ligands, namely [11C]31and [11C]37(also called N2B-1810 and N2B-1903, respectively) were labeled with [11C]CH3I in good radiochemical yields (decay-corrected 28% and 32% relative to starting [11C]CO2, respectively), high radiochemical purity (>99%) and high molar activity (>74 GBq/μmol). In particular, PET ligand [11C]31demonstrated moderate specific binding to GluN2B subtype by in vitro autoradiography studies. However, because in vivo PET imaging studies showed limited brain uptake of [11C]31(up to 0.5 SUV), further medicinal chemistry and ADME optimization are necessary for this chemotype attributed to low binding specificity and rapid metabolism in vivo.

The article presents an interview with Yi Ding, Business & Growth Development Manager for Eurail. Topics discussed by her includes how rail travel has changed over the years, a number of significant milestones achieved by Eurail, how Eurail is helping travel advisors and some of the changes or new initiatives that people see from Eurail going forward.

Doping in carbon anodes can introduce active sites, usually leading to extra capacity in Li-ion batteries (LIBs), but the underlying reasons have not been uncovered deeply. Herein, the dodecahedral carbon framework (N-DF) with a low nitrogen content (3.06 wt %) is fabricated as the anode material for LIBs, which shows an extra value of 298 mA h g–1during 250 cycles at 0.1 A g–1. Various characterizations and theoretical calculations demonstrate that the essence of the extra capacity mainly stems from non-coplanar sp2/sp3hybridized orbital controlling non-Euclidean geometrical structure, which acts as new Li-ion active sites toward the excess Li+adsorption. The electrochemical kinetics and in situtransmission electron microscope further reveal that the positive and negative curvature architectures not only provide supernumerary Li+storage sites on the surface but also hold an enhanced (002) spacing for fast Li+transport. The sp2/sp3hybridized orbital design concept will help to develop advanced electrode materials.

The detection and study of the rotational motion of space debris, which is affected by environmental factors, is a popular topic. However, relevant research in extremely low-orbit regions cannot be conducted due to a lack of observational data. Here, we fill in the gaps to present the rotational evolution of Tiangong-1 in the 5 months prior to reentry. Derived from the changes in the relative distance of its two corner cube reflectors from satellite laser ranging data, the angular momentum of Tiangong-1, which is relatively stable during observation, deviates from its maximum principal axis of inertia and precesses around the normal direction of the orbital plane due to gravity gradient torque at an angle of $$23.1^\circ \pm\,2.5^\circ$$ 23.1∘±2.5∘ . Requiring consistency with the relationship between the angular momentum and precession rate leads to a solution for the rotation rate, which is thus found to increase. This result cannot be explained by any previously developed torque models. Hence, an atmospheric density gradient torque (ADGT) model that considers the torque generated by the change in atmospheric density with orbital altitude at the satellite scale is proposed to explain the rotational acceleration mechanism of extremely low-orbit objects. The numerical results show that the ADGT model provides a non-negligible ability to explain, but cannot fully describe, the acceleration effect. The data on the rotational evolution of Tiangong-1 can provide an important basis for aerodynamic model improvement by addressing minor factors omitted in previous models.

C21H20FN3O6S, monoclinic, P21/n(no. 14), a= 7.8502(4) Å, b= 7.9892(4) Å, c= 34.9707(19) Å, β= 92.500(1)°, V= 2191.2(2) Å3, Z= 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0502, wRref(F2) = 0.1361, T= 296(2) K.

C19H20NO2, monoclinic, P21(no. 4), a= 6.6936(4) Å, b= 8.8892(6) Å, c= 13.2577(8) Å, β= 97.740(1)°, V= 781.66(8) Å3, Z= 2, Rgt(F) = 0.0387, wRref(F2) = 0.0741, T = 296(2) K.

Silicon–carbon (Si–C) hybrids have been proven to be the most promising anodes for the next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their superior theoretical capacity (∼4200 mAh g–1). However, it is still a critical challenge to apply this material for commercial LIB anodes because of the large volume expansion of Si, unstable solid-state interphase (SEI) layers, and huge internal stresses upon lithiation/delithiation. Here, we propose an engineering concept of multiscale buffering, taking advantage of a nanosized Si–C nanowire architecture through fabricating specific microsized wool-ball frameworks to solve all the above-mentioned problems. These wool-ball-like frameworks, prepared at high yields, nearly matching industrial scales (they can be routinely produced at a rate of ∼300 g/h), are composed of Si/C nanowire building blocks. As anodes, the Si–C wool-ball frameworks show ultrastable Li+storage (2000 mAh g–1for 1000 cycles), high initial Coulombic efficiency of ∼90%, and volumetric capacity of 1338 mAh cm–3. In situTEM proves that the multiscale buffering design enables a small volume variation, only ∼19.5%, reduces the inner stresses, and creates a very thin SEI. The perfect multiscale elastic buffering makes this material more stable compared to common Si nanoparticle-assembled counterpart electrodes.

Cation-deficient two-dimensional (2D) materials, especially atomically thin nanosheets, are highly promising electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage that undergo metal ion insertion reactions, yet they have rarely been achieved thus far. Here, we report a Ti-deficient 2D unilamellar lepidocrocite-type titanium oxide (Ti0.87O2) nanosheet superlattice for sodium storage. The superlattice composed of alternately restacked defective Ti0.87O2and nitrogen-doped graphene monolayers exhibits an outstanding capacity of ∼490 mA h g–1at 0.1 A g–1, an ultralong cycle life of more than 10000 cycles with ∼0.00058% capacity decay per cycle, and especially superior low-temperature performance (100 mA h g–1at 12.8 A g–1and −5 °C), presenting the best reported performance to date. A reversible Na+ion intercalation mechanism without phase and structural change is verified by first-principles calculations and kinetics analysis. These results herald a promising strategy to utilize defective 2D materials for advanced energy storage applications.

CuAlO2thin films were prepared on sapphire substrate by sol-gel method. The influences of annealing temperature, heating rates and annealing time on composition, morphology and photoelectric performance of film were investigated. The results of X-ray power diffraction, scanning electron microscope, transmissivity, and hall parameter tests showed that the CuAlO2phase was relatively pure when the annealing temperature was above 950 °C. The higher the temperature, the higher the peak position. Under the optimal conditions, CuAlO2film exhibited the best transmittance (90%) and the highest conductivity (1.23 S cm−1). On this basis, increasing the heating rate and annealing time was in favor of enlarging the size of the particles and the film grain growth direction tended to be unified.

A static hydrothermal approach was adopted to synthesize nanosized SiO2-ZSM-5 zeolite in the media of F−-OH−with double mineralizers, using tetraethoxysilane, sodium aluminate, and tetrapropylammonium hydroxide as the silicon source, aluminum source, and template agent, respectively. The physical and chemical properties of the synthesized ZSM-5 zeolites were characterized and their catalytic performance was evaluated in the conversion methanol to propene (MTP); the effect of F−/Al2O3molar ratio on the catalytic performance of synthesized H-ZSM-5 was investigated. The results indicate that an increase in the F−/Al2O3molar ratio of the synthesis mixture leads to an increase in the surface content of microcrystalline SiO2, accompanying with a decrease in the relative crystallinity, surface area, pore volume, and acid strength and density. With a F−/Al2O3molar ratio of 12, the SiO2-ZSM-5 zeolite exhibits the best catalytic performance in MTP, with a selectivity of 45% to propene and a propene/ethene (P/E) ratio of greater than 10. It is further hypothesized that the transition state shape selectivity plays an important role in determining the product selectivity in MTP.

Objective The aim of the present study was to determine how many sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) are appropriate for predicting non-SLN metastasis in breast cancer.Methods The association between clinicopathological features and non-SLN metastasis was retrospectively analyzed in 472 patients who underwent axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) following SLN biopsy. Another 251 patients who underwent only SLN biopsy without ALND were analyzed and followed up for 2 years.Results A large tumor size, positive SLN, and HER-2 positivity were independent predictors of non-SLN metastasis. There were significant differences in non-SLN metastasis between patients with one negative SLN and patients with an absence of negative SLNs. There was no significant difference in non-SLN metastasis between patients with one negative SLN and two or more negative SLNs. The recurrence-free survival rate for patients who did not undergo ALND was 99.6% (245/246).Conclusion Surgeons should ensure that the number of SLNs obtained is appropriate. The presence of one negative SLN is enough in SLN biopsy. Considering the invasiveness of the surgery, two or more negative SLNs may be unnecessary.

The article discusses the integration of brittleness evaluation method in the Longmaxi natural gas shale in China. Topics include the importance of brittleness analysis of shale as a prerequisite in establishing fracturing sites, and presents the various factors which serves as the basis for brittleness index including physical properties, rock strength, and the formation structure present in shale. Graphs showing shale brittleness variables, and rock variable stress are also presented.

The magnetic lens (Zumbro lens) is a critical part in proton radiography. Traditionally the matched beam for Zumbro lens in proton radiography is a virtual point source beam, which is not suitable for some cases, such as cylindrical samples. In these cases, a parallel beam is more appropriate. In this paper, a method, which uses quadrupole beamline, is proposed for designing a magnetic lens with parallel beam matched. Theoretical analysis is given. The results show that the matched beam for this lens is indeed parallel beam, while the major merits of Zumbro lens are inherited. Following this method, a theoretical design based on the 11-MeV cyclotron is presented.

In this study, machine learning (ML)-assisted regression modeling was conducted to predict the thermal decomposition temperatures and explore the factors that correlate with the thermal stability of energetic materials (EMs). The modeling was performed based on a dataset consisting of 885 various compounds using linear and nonlinear algorithms. The tree-based models established demonstrated acceptable predictive abilities, yielding a low mean absolute error (MAE) of 31°C. By analyzing the dataset through hierarchical classification, this study insightfully identified the factors affecting EMs’ thermal decomposition temperatures, with the overall accuracy improved through targeted modeling. The SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis indicated that descriptors such as BCUT2D, PEOE_VSA, MolLog_P, and TPSA played a significant role, demonstrating that the thermal decomposition process is influenced by multiple factors relating to the composition, electron distribution, chemical bond properties, and substituent type of molecules. Additionally, descriptors such as Carbon_contents and Oxygen_Balance proposed for characterizing EMs showed strong linear correlations with thermal decomposition temperatures. The trends of their SHAP values indicated that the most suitable ranges of Carbon_contents and Oxygen_Balance were 0.2–0.35 and −65 to −55, respectively. Overall, the study shows the potential of ML models for decomposition temperature prediction of EMs and provides insights into the characteristics of molecular descriptors.

AbstractBackground:The chemokine (C-X3-C motif) ligand 1 (CX3CL1), also called fractalkine (FKN), has recently been reported to be involved in osteoclastogenic process and pathological bone destruction.Objective:This study aimed to investigate the link between serum CX3CL1/FKN levels with disease progression of postmenopausal osteoporotic patients.Methods:A total of 53 women with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP group), 51 postmenopausal non-osteoporotic female patients (PMNOP group) and 50 premenopausal non-osteoporotic healthy women of childbearing age (control group) were enrolled in the study. The bone mineral density (BMD) for all subjects was determined via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, internal trochanter, total hip, greater trochanter and Ward’s triangle. The levels of FKN in the serum were examined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The serum bone resorption markers TRACP-5b, NTX levels, inflammation markers IL-1β and IL-6 as well as oestrogen-2(E2) were also detected in all participants. The visual analogue scores (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) for low back pain were recorded in PMOP females for evaluation of osteoporotic pain and function.Results:FKN levels were significantly higher in postmenopausal osteoporotic patients compared with postmenopausal non-osteoporotic females (139.8 ± 44.3 pg/mL VS 116.5 ± 23.1 pg/mL, p < 0.05) and healthy controls (139.8 ± 44.3 pg/mL VS 109.7 ± 19.4 pg/mL, p < 0.05). Serum FKN concentrations were negatively associated with BMD at femoral neck (r = −0.394, p = 0.004), total hip(r = −0.374, p = 0.006), internal trochanter(r = −0.340, p = 0.013), greater trochanter(r = −0.376, p = 0.006), Ward’s triangle(r = −0.343, p = 0.012), L1–L4 lumbar spine(r = −0.339, p = 0.013) and positively associated with VAS (r = 0.321, p = 0.019) and ODI (r = 0.377, p = 0.005) scores, bone turnover makers (TRACP-5b:r = 0.341, p = 0.012; NTX:r = 0.364, p = 0.007)as well as inflammation markers (IL-1β: r = 0.396, p = 0.003; IL-6:r = 0.355, p = 0.009) in postmenopausal osteoporotic patients.Conclusions:Serum FKN may serve as a novel biomarker for assessing disease progression and a new potential therapeutic target for anti-resorptive treatment in osteoporosis patients.

We introduce a more flexible optogenetics-based mapping system attached on a stereo microscope, which offers automatic light stimulation to individual regions of interest in the cortex that expresses light-activated channelrhodopsin-2 in vivo. Combining simultaneous recording of electromyography from specific forelimb muscles, we demonstrate that this system offers much better efficiency and precision in mapping distinct domains for controlling limb muscles in the mouse motor cortex. Furthermore, the compact and modular design of the system also yields a simple and flexible implementation to different commercial stereo microscopes, and thus could be widely used among laboratories.

The article focuses on a study which explores the use of seepage-stress analysis and shear tests for Liushagang shale formation in China. Among the topics discussed include hydrocarbon capacity of Liushagang, rock matrices and bedding planes of shale, and the importance of porosity tests for Liushagang shale.

Using VAR-DCC-GARCH model, the literature on commodity price was extended by exploring the co-movement between Chinese nonferrous metal prices and global nonferrous metal prices represented by the nonferrous metal prices from London Metal Exchange (LME). The results show that LME nonferrous metals prices still have a greater impact on Chinese nonferrous metals prices. However, the impact of Chinese nonferrous metals prices on LME nonferrous metals prices is still weak except for lead price. The co-movement of nonferrous metal prices between LME and China presents hysteretic nature, and it lasts for 7–8 trading days. Furthermore, the co-movement between LME nonferrous metals prices and Chinese nonferrous metals prices has the characteristics of time-varying, and the correlation of lead prices between LME and China is the more stable than all other nonferrous metals prices.

A series of stable double-terminated UV reactive cationic waterborne polyurethane dispersions was synthesized, while the structure was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy,laser particle size analysis and free NCO root titration; modified by co-monomerhydroxyethyl acrylate with the UV radiation fast curing, the influence of hydroxyethyl acrylate proportion and the polyurethane’s nNCO/nOH(R value) to the thermal properties, mechanical properties and yellowing of the product was investigated. The investigation illustrated the UV-curable cationic waterborne polyurethaneacrylate film effectively forming a semi-interpenetrating network system to achieve rapid curing coating.The results showedthe product cured by WPU dispersion of R=1.5 mixed with equimolar HEA obtained lowyellowing, the maximum breaking strength, high elongation at break, high thermal decomposition temperature, high crystallization temperature of hard segment, low glass transition temperature of soft segment, high degree of phase separation, better overall performance.

the chromosomal counting was carried out with 51 of annual Taiwan alder (Alnus formosana) by the wall degradation and hypotonic flame-drying method, and 6 aneuploid plants has been selected from these seedings. The viable aneuploid chromosome numbers included 2n=52 (No.4),2n=42 (No.19),2n=54(No.21),2n=50(No.24),2n=56,112 (No.25),2n=52(No.33). Subsequently, the ISSR was taken to analyze the genome of these aneuploid plants,and 5 primers were obtained from 57 which could separate 6 aneuploid plants. And the ratio of polymorphism was more than 78.2%.

We propose a scheme for creating coherent atomic superposition states via the technique of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) in a Λ-type system where final states are composed of manifold of levels and the intermediate levels could be more than one level. If the pump pulses and Stokes pulses are kept in the same order of ordinary STIRAP, through the control the delay time between the Stokes pulses and pump pulse, we could create arbitrary superposition states in the manifold of levels.

In this paper a fuzzy logic prediction method is proposed to assess water quality status of a reservoir in northeast China through wireless sensor networks. This model was used to analyze the historical data that were collected monthly by local monitoring stations and predict water quality level. Six water quality parameters of BOD5, COD, fluoride, ammonia, total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN) were monitored from 2011 to 2012. This result indicated that the methodology adopted in this study was basically an attractive alternative, offering a relatively fast algorithm to predict the water quality parameters.

Microwave curing of PU/EP IPN was studied in this paper. Microwave curing IPN was prepared by means of intermittent microwave heating, The results indicates that microwave curing technique can shorten curing time remarkably. The microwave curing and thermal curing IPN have identical structure, tensile property of microwave curing IPN is better than that of thermal curing IPN, Impact strength of thermal curing IPN is slightly higher.

Role mapping is a basic technique for facilitating interoperation in RBAC-based collaborating environments. However, role mapping lacks the flexibility to specify access control policies in the scenarios where the access control is not a simple action, but consists of a sequence of actions and events from subjects and system. In this paper, we propose an attribute mapping technique to establish secure context in multi-domain environments. We first classify attributes into eight types and show that only two types of attributes need to be translated. We second give the definition of attribute mapping technique, and analysis the properties of attribute mapping. Finally, we study how cardinality constraint violation arises and shows that it is efficient to resolve this security violation.

Fault prewarning is important to guarantee the safe and stable operation of Generator Sets (GS). In order to generate prewarnings quickly and accurately before the failures or faults occur in GS, a real-time fault prewarning approach to GS based on dynamic threshold was put forward. This approach was consisted of five steps, that is operating condition (or abnormal event) synchronous, dynamic threshold selection, threshold analysis, fault detection and fault prewarning. The dynamic threshold (closely related to operating condition or abnormal event of GS) was the key of this approach, which can be obtained by means of expertise knowledge discovery. This approach can effectively reduce false positives and false negatives for the faults of GS, whose effectiveness is validated by the applications and practices of Gezhouba power plant.

Overloading the impact on traffic safety,  measuring the deformation of leaf spring form the start, a vehicle load measuring system was designed based on ultrasonic sensors. In this article, the mathematics model of steel plate deformation and load is discussed upon the mechanics principle and obtain the relationship of load and deformation. Processing the data that the ultrasonic sensors measured by single-chip and using temperature sensor to compensate, it comes to the result of vehicle load.According to the test, the system achieved the purpose of real time measurement of vehicle load, and it is useful.

A simple direct analysis in a real time-mass spectrometry (DART-MS) method was developed for the rapid determination of four Sudan dyes (I–IV) in chili powder. Simple liquid extraction by hexane without further clean-up was used for sample preparation. DART parameters were systematically optimized to achieve the best detection performance. A DIP-it sampler was used for automatic sampling. The matrix effect was measured by comparing the limit of detection (LOD) in matrix solution with that in pure organic solution. Eventually, the identification of the Sudan dyes was confirmed by MS/MS results and the LODs for four analytes in matrix solution were ∼0.5 μg mL−1. The method showed good linearity with correlation coefficients (R2) greater than 0.99 for concentrations ranging from 1 to 20 μg mL−1. The whole analytical process could be completed within 15 minutes with good recoveries (88–116%) and satisfactory repeatability (<26%, n= 3).

The effect of biochar on soil respiration (Rs) over one maize-growing season was studied after 5 years of consecutive application in an intensive cropland in the North China Plain. The experiment was carried out in randomly arranged plots with four treatments being evaluated. Three replications were conducted per treatment: a control plot without biochar addition (CK), biochar incorporated at 4.5tha-1year-1 (BC4.5), biochar incorporated at 9.0tha-1year-1 (BC9.0), and incorporated wheat straw (SR). The Rs was determined throughout the growing season of maize in 2012. Soil temperature and moisture were measured simultaneously at 5cm depth. The results showed that the seasonal and diurnal variations of Rs in the four different treatments were approximately equal, and there was a positive correlation between Rs and soil temperature. The Rs values of treatments BC4.5 and BC9.0 were significantly lower than of SR but not CK. Significant correlations between Rs and soil temperature and soil moisture were observed. Soil temperature had a stronger effect on Rs than did soil moisture, and Rs was more sensitive to soil temperature in the biochar treatments than in the SR and CK treatments. The application of biochar and straw increased the soil active organic carbon content, but an obvious relationship between Rs and the soil active organic carbon content was not found.

C17H14Br0.5Cl0.5NO2, monoclinic, P21/n(no. 14), a= 11.7324(5) Å, b= 7.4663(3) Å, c= 17.2211(8) Å, β= 104.890(1)°, V= 1457.87(11) Å3, Z= 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0334, wRref(F2) = 0.0693, T= 296(2) K.

C19H20NO2, monoclinic, P21(no. 4), a= 6.685(5) Å, b= 8.878(7) Å, c= 13.239(9) Å, β= 97.720(2)°, V= 778.75(10) Å3, Z= 2, Rgt(F) = 0.0423, wRref(F2) = 0.0970, T = 296(2) K.

The volcano-shaped relationship is very common in electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (e-NRR) and is usually caused by the competition between the first and last hydrogenation steps. How to break such a relationship to further improve the catalytic performance remains a great challenge. Herein, using first-principles calculations, we investigate a range of transition-metal (TM)-doped Cu-based single-atom alloys (TM1-Cu(111)) as catalysts for e-NRR. When the adsorption of N2on the catalysts is strong enough, the inert N2molecules can be effectively activated for the first hydrogenation step. Meanwhile, the last hydrogenation step is not affected by the scaling relationship and remains easy on all of the catalysts due to the unstable top-site adsorption of NH2, resulting in the break of the volcano-shaped relationship in e-NRR. Thus, only the first hydrogenation step is identified as the potential determining step. Four TM1-Cu(111) catalysts (TM = Re, W, Tc, and Mo) are selected as promising catalysts with limiting potential ranging from −0.38 to −0.56 V, showing outstanding e-NRR activity. Besides, the four catalysts also inhibit the competing hydrogen evolution reaction and long-term stability. Our work provides a guideline for breaking the volcano-shaped relationship in e-NRR and significant in the rational design of highly efficient electrocatalysts.

Since sluggish Li+desolvation leads to severe capacity degradation of carbon anodes at subzero temperatures, it is urgently desired to modulate electron configurations of surface carbon atoms toward high capacity for Li-ion batteries. Herein, a carbon-based anode material (O-DF) was strategically synthesized to construct the Riemannian surface with a positive curvature, which exhibits a high reversible capacity of 624 mAh g–1with an 85.9% capacity retention at 0.1 A g–1as the temperature drops to −20 °C. Even if the temperature drops to −35 °C, the reversible capacity is still effectively retained at 160 mAh g–1after 200 cycles. Various characterizations and theoretical calculations reveal that the Riemannian surface effectively tunes the low-temperature sluggish Li+desolvation of the interfacial chemistry via locally accumulated charges of non-coplanar spx(2 < x< 3) hybridized orbitals to reduce the rate-determining step of the energy barrier for the charge-transfer process. Ex-situ measurements further confirm that the spx-hybridized orbitals of the pentagonal defect sites should denote more negative charges to solvated Li+adsorbed on the Riemannian surface to form stronger Li–C coordinate bonds for Li+desolvation, which not only enhances Li-adsorption on the curved surface but also results in more Li+insertion in an extremely cold environment.