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Infrared invisibility has continued to develop in recent decades, triggered by novel physics, advanced fabrication technology and raw materials. However, the quick response of infrared stealth during transmedia (water–air/water–land) movement, which is important in practical scenarios, has not been investigated. Here, we employ the random thermal effect of the interaction between laser and matter to construct a bionic flexible thin-film superhydrophobic infrared invisibility cloak. The average emissivity of invisibility cloak is 0.224 over 8–14 ${{\mu }}\text{m}$, and specular reflectivity at the incident angle of 10 degree is 1.1% over 2.5–16 ${{\mu }}\text{m}$. These characteristics indicate the integrated stealth functionality against active (laser) and passive (thermal) detection, respectively. The contact angle between the cloak and water is 154°, which also indicates its unique cross-media response capability. We also show that the developed infrared stealth cloak is robust to practical (nonideal) manufacturing conditions. Our design strategy expands the concept of infrared stealth to cross-media applications.

The mechanical properties of rolled 7075 aluminum alloy treated by non-isothermal retrogression and re-aging can exceed the traditional peak aging (T6) and isothermal retrogression and re-aging. After non-isothermal retrogression and re-aging (NIA 180/60) treatment, compared with the T6 state alloy, the alloy has obvious grain boundary precipitate-free zone, and the tensile strength is increased from 558 ± 1.2 MPa to 611 ± 1 MPa. The main mechanism leading to the increase of mechanical properties is precipitation strengthening, followed by grain boundary strengthening, which is not related to crystal orientation, dislocation strengthening and solid solution strengthening. During the non-isothermal retrogression and re-aging treatment, the partial dissolution of the existing precipitates (GP zone and η′ phase), the growth of the remaining precipitates and the precipitation of new η′ phase, as well as the secondary precipitation in the re-aging stage, lead to the increase of the size and density of the intragranular precipitates compared with the T6 state alloy, and the maximum precipitation strengthening effect is obtained. This paper also discusses the relationship between performance changes and microstructure, which can provide a reference for optimizing the regression re-aging process.

Background: Vascular access (VA) is known to be critical for the survival of patients on maintained hemodialysis (MHD) treatment. However, the association between VA satisfaction and psychiatric state in MHD patients is still not fully elucidated. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship among VA satisfaction, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and depression in MHD patients with different VA types.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at two dialysis centers with MHD-dependent patients. The Short Form Vascular Access Questionnaire (VAQ) was administered to estimate the level of MHD patients’ satisfaction with their VA. HRQOL was assessed using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Depression was assessed using the Zung’s self-rating depression scale (SDS).Results: Of the total 252 patients, AVF was used by 84.13%, AVG was used by 2.78%, and TCC was used by 13.09%. There was no significant difference in satisfaction and SDS scores by access type in patients with AVF, AVG, and TCC. However, HRQOL was worst in patients with TCC, and highest in the AVF group. Further analysis showed that VAQ scores in the domains of overall and dialysis-related complications exhibited a negative correlation with HRQOL. And SF-36 HRQOL scores, including the total score, PCS and MCS, were all negatively correlated with SDS scores (p< 0.05). The results of multivariable analyses found that VAQ scores in the domains of overall score and physical symptom, and total score of HRQOL influenced the depression.Conclusions: In the present study, no significant difference in satisfaction scores by access type was found in patients with AVF, AVG, and TCC. The HRQOL score was higher in patients with AVF than in those with AVG or TCC. And the result suggested a negative association between HRQOL and depression. Vascular access satisfaction and HRQOL might be risk factors for the presence of depression in MHD patients.

This study combines experiments with finite element simulations to investigate the effects of different forging ratios on the properties and microstructure of high strength steel 40CrNi2Si2MoV. The results indicate that under high forging ratios, the peak of the austenite phase is significantly reduced, while the peak of the martensite phase becomes dominant, accompanied by an increase in dislocation density, strength, and hardness. The uniform distribution of newly formed small-angle martensite grains enhances both strength and plasticity. The excellent strength and toughness of high-strength steel under high forging ratios mainly depend on tempered martensite and retained austenite. The impact toughness of under a high forging ratio increases by nearly 1.23 times compared to the lower forging ratio. Additionally, the ultimate tensile strength increases by 1.02 times, the microhardness rises by 2.25 %, while the elongation decreases by 0.65 %. Fracture morphology analysis reveals that heightened forging ratios not only ensure a more uniform dispersion of carbides within the matrix but also significantly boost crack propagation resistance, thus enhancing the impact toughness of the experimental steel. The study utilizes finite element software to assess the influence of equivalent stress, equivalent strain, temperature fluctuations, and damage progression on the mechanical properties during the forging process. This comprehensive analysis establishes a robust theoretical framework aimed at optimizing both the forging process and subsequent heat treatment structures and properties of high strength steel 40CrNi2Si2MoV.

The radiation dose in computed tomography (CT) examinations is harmful for patients but can be significantly reduced by intuitively decreasing the number of projection views. Reducing projection views usually leads to severe aliasing artifacts in reconstructed images. Previous deep learning (DL) techniques with sparse-view data require sparse-view/full-view CT image pairs to train the network with supervised manners. When the number of projection view changes, the DL network should be retrained with updated sparse-view/full-view CT image pairs. To relieve this limitation, we present a fully unsupervised score-based generative model in sinogram domain for sparse-view CT reconstruction. Specifically, we first train a score-based generative model on full-view sinogram data and use multichannel strategy to form high-dimensional tensor as the network input to capture their prior distribution. Then, at the inference stage, the stochastic differential equation (SDE) solver and data-consistency step were performed iteratively to achieve full-view projection. The filtered back projection (FBP) algorithm was used to achieve the final image reconstruction. Qualitative and quantitative studies were implemented to evaluate the presented method with several CT data. Experimental results demonstrated that our method achieved comparable or better performance than the supervised learning counterparts.

This article investigates the problem of improving control performance during flexible spacecraft maneuvers, hampered by system uncertainties, environmental disturbances, and flexible vibrations. A fixed-time disturbance observer-based prescribed performance predictive control method is proposed. First, a nonlinear second-order fully actuated discrete system model is introduced to characterize the dynamic behavior and nonlinearities of the spacecraft attitude control system. The fixed-time disturbance observer is employed to estimate and compensate for the lumped disturbances. Subsequently, an incremental second-order fully actuated predictive model is established using a Diophantine equation to replace reduced-order equations. Further, an optimal controller is obtained through multistep ahead prediction, which considers constraints on attitude tracking performance and prescribed performance. Additionally, a necessary and sufficient condition is provided to analyze the tracking performance and stability of the closed-loop system. Finally, numerical simulations of flexible spacecraft maneuvering and attitude tracking validate the effectiveness.

Due to limitations in radiation dose or scanning conditions, there are instances where computed tomography (CT) data can only be collected within a restricted scanning angle. However, the use of limited-angle projection data often results in reconstructed images that exhibit significant noise and artifacts, which can significantly impact diagnostic accuracy. Conventional iterative reconstruction algorithms, such as the total variation (TV) algorithm, consume considerable time simulation of the cone beam forward and backward projection processes. Furthermore, these algorithms often struggle to address the challenges of limited-angle reconstruction due to their inherent limitations. To tackle these challenges and achieve superior reconstruction outcomes, we introduce a novel approach known as the cascaded prior-based residual encoder–decoder (Cas-PRED) network. This method employs a multilevel cascaded network as its core architecture, leveraging full-angle CT reconstruction results as prior information to guide the deep learning network’s training process. Our approach consistently delivers superior results compared with the existing reconstruction methods, with impressive performance metrics, including a peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) of 33.69 ± 0.90 dB, a structural similarity index (SSIM) of 0.9557 ± 0.0029, and a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 22.73 ± 1.56 for the result of [0°, 150°] reconstruction, highlighting its effectiveness in enhancing image quality and accuracy.

High measurement accuracy is the reason for the importance of the star sensor as a key instrument in spacecraft navigation systems. However, the existing methods cannot be solved or solved inaccurately when considering the error factor of focal plane tilt and rotation, making it difficult to further improve the accuracy of star sensor measurements. To address this problem, we proposed an on-orbit calibration method for star sensors based on the virtual plane. The optimization algorithm is used to find the coordinates of its projection in the virtual plane using star point coordinates according to the idea of finding the best. Utilizing two sets of coordinates to calibrate the influence factors, including principal point, focal length, focal plane tilt and rotation, and distortion, and determine the attitude angle of the star sensor from the projected coordinates. First, a nonlinear equation system among the star point coordinates, the projection coordinates of the star point on the virtual plane, and the error factor was established based on geometric relationships. Then, particle swarm optimization was adopted to find star point projection coordinates for the calibration and attitude angle determination of the star sensor. To address the problem of solving systems of nonlinear equations and the shortcomings of standard particle swarm optimization, we proposed a method based on space resection for solving systems of nonlinear equations and improved particle swarm optimization. Finally, the simulation results demonstrated that the proposed method requires less data and is highly accurate. The validity of the method is verified by night sky observation.

Two-dimensional Mo2TiC2MXenematerial was synthesized by etching Mo2TiAlC2and then doped into MgH2to tailor its hydrogen storage performance. The initial hydrogen desorption temperature of the Mo2TiC2-doped MgH2was significantly reduced from 330 °C (pristine MgH2) to 187 °C. Isothermal dehydrogenation analysis indicated that the MgH2+9 wt.% Mo2TiC2composite rapidly discharged 6.4 wt.% H2at 300 °C within 4 min. For hydrogenation, the dehydrogenated MgH2+9 wt.% Mo2TiC2uptook 6.5 wt.% H2at 175 °Cwithin 5 min. By calculation, the activation energy for MgH2+9 wt.% Mo2TiC2was calculated to be (135.6±1.9) kJ/mol for the desorption reaction and (46.1±0.2) kJ/mol for the absorption reaction. After 20 cycles, 1.0 wt.% H2was lost for the MgH2+9 wt.% Mo2TiC2composite. Microstructure analysis results showed that the presence of Mo in Mo2TiC2enhanced the thermal stability of MXene and reduced the amount of active Ti during cycling, leading to poorer catalytic effect of the catalyst compared to Ti3C2.

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Infinite dilution activity coefficients (γi∞) of 31 organic solutes (alkanes, cycloalkanes, olefins, aromatics, chlorinated alkanes, alcohols, and other polar organic solutes) in the ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazole thiocyanate ([BMMIM][SCN]) were determined by gas–liquid chromatographic (GLC) method in the temperature range of 313.15–353.15 K. The infinite dilution partial molar excess enthalpies (H̅iE, ∞), entropies (TrefS̅iE, ∞), and Gibbs free energies (G̅iE, ∞) of the organic solutes at the reference temperature T= 298.15 K and the solubility parameters (δ3) of [BMMIM][SCN] were derived from γi∞. The gas–liquid partition coefficients (KL) of solutes at different temperatures were calculated by referring to the densities of [BMMIM][SCN]. The linear free energy relationship solvation model was used to fit the KLvalues, and the KLprediction model was obtained. The selectivity (Sij∞) and capacity (kj∞) of n-hexane (i)/benzene (j) and cyclohexane (i)/benzene (j) at infinite dilution at 323.15 K were calculated. The results were compared with the values of ILs with the thiocyanate anion in the literature.

Circulation Control (CC) realizes rudderless flight control by driving compressed air jet to generate a virtual rudder surface, which significantly improves low detectability. The layout plan of combined control rudder surface is proposed based on the tailless flying wing aircraft. The closed-loop jet actuator system and stepless rudder surface switching control strategy are used to quantitatively study the control characteristics of circulation actuator for pitch and roll attitude through 3-DOF virtual flight test in a wind tunnel with a powered model at wind speed of 40 m/s. The results show that the combined use of circulation actuators can achieve bidirectional continuous and stable control of the aircraft’s pitch and roll attitude, with the maximum pitch rate of 12.3 (°)/s and the maximum roll rate of 21.5 (°)/s; the response time of attitude angular rate varying with the jet pressure ratio is less than 0.02 s, which can satisfy the control response requirements of aircraft motion stability for the control system; the jet rudder surface has a strong moment control ability, and the pitch moment of the jet elevator with a pressure ratio of 1.28 is the same as that of the mechanical elevator with 28° rudder deflection, which can expand the flight control boundary.

In this study, ordered mesoporous carbon materials are prepared to support β-Mo2C catalysts for conversion of Kraft lignin into aromatic monomers. Carbon supports with different porous structures are compared to discuss the critical role of ordered mesopores. The results show a volcano evolution of aromatic monomer yields with the increase in Mo contents over β-Mo2C supported on ordered mesoporous carbon, and a high aromatic yield of 0.576 g/g Kraft lignin is achieved at 280 °C for 3 h for only 10% Mo mass content. Dispersion of β-Mo2C and confinement of ordered mesopores contribute to the highest aromatic yield per unit Mo. The highly dispersed β-Mo2C on the surface of ordered mesoporous carbon exhibits the advances of confined environment and accessibility of lignin fragments to active β-Mo2C, resulting high activity of β-Mo2C for Kraft lignin decomposition.

Existing intelligent driving technology often has difficulty balancing smooth driving and fast obstacle avoidance, especially when the vehicle is in a non-structural environment and is prone to instability during emergencies. Therefore, this study proposed an autonomous obstacle avoidance control strategy that can effectively guarantee vehicle stability based on an Attention-long short-term memory (Attention LSTM) deep learning model with the idea of humanoid driving. First, we designed the autonomous obstacle avoidance control rules to guarantee the safety of unmanned vehicles. Second, we improved the autonomous obstacle avoidance control strategy combined with the stability analysis of special vehicles. Third, we constructed a deep learning obstacle avoidance control based on the Attention-LSTM network model through experiments, and the average relative error of this system was 14.95%. Finally, the stability and accuracy of this control strategy were verified numerically and experimentally. The method proposed in this study can ensure that the unmanned vehicle can successfully avoid obstacles while driving smoothly.

The detection of sinusoidal signals embedded in noise is an important topic in passive sonar signal processing. The performance of existing tone detection techniques is limited by the Doppler frequency shift, which is caused by the relative motion between moving targets and the receiver. In this study, an algorithm based on long-time coherent integration is proposed to achieve robust tonal signal detection under the influence of a Doppler frequency shift. First, the received narrowband signals radiated by moving targets are split into multiple segments through a window-length constraint. The results obtained by applying a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) to the data segments are modeled as a polynomial phase signal in the frequency domain. Then, the polynomial Radon-polynomial Fourier transform (PRPFT) is applied to simultaneously compensate the time-variant frequency drift and phase difference. To avoid the gain loss due to the discretization of the phase difference compensation in PRPFT, a phase compensation factor searching algorithm is proposed. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can provide higher frequency resolution and higher coherent integration gain even in the case of a severe Doppler shift. Furthermore, the results of sea trials demonstrate that the proposed method can perfectly achieve coherent integration for signals with a duration of several hundred seconds under different experimental conditions.

Orius sauteri(Poppius) is an important predator of many economically important insect pests. The mass rearing of O. sauteriis difficult, limiting its application in pest control. Here we assessed the nutritional quality of eggs of Sitotroga cerealella(Olivier), Agrotis ypsilon(Rottemberg), or Spodoptera litura(Fabricius), and their potential for rearing O. sauteriin the laboratory for two generations. Of species tested, S. cerealellaeggs resulted in the highest survival and reproduction of O. sautericompared to the other two lepidopteran species. Eggs of A. ypsilonwere a suitable diet for the nymphal stage, which developed faster on A. ysiloneggs than those of S. cerealellaeggs. Conversely, eggs of S. liturawere not a suitable diet for O. sauteri, and they disrupted the development and reproduction of O. sauteri. Sitotroga cerealellaeggs showed advantages in all the nutritional components evaluated. Orius sauterifed S. lituraeggs contained significantly lower protein levels than those fed on the other eggs tested. Spodoptera lituraeggs significantly enhanced the CAT activity in O. sauteri, which suggests that some components from S. lituraeggs harmed the development and reproduction of O. sauteri. Based on these results, we suggest using a combined diet for mass rearing of the pirate bug, feeding the nymphs and adults with A. ypsiloneggs and S. cerealellaeggs, respectively. This study contributes to the discovery of artificial diets for mass rearing O. sauteriand other Oriusspecies in the future.

The addition of Phase Change Materials (PCM) to the salt gradient solar pond can significantly increase the heat capacity of the solar pond. Paraffin wax has a suitable range of phase transitions temperature and is feasible to be applied in solar pond. However, the poor thermal conductivity of paraffin is detrimental to thermal storage and release. In this study, the heat transfer behavior for the composite PCM of paraffin and steel wires has been studied firstly, the results shows that adding steel wires in paraffin improve the heat transfer performance obviously. With 10wt% adding percent, the maximum of heat transfer coefficient is 18.17 W/m2 °C−1with increment of 18.84 % in melting process; and the maximum is 21.59 W/m2 °C−1with increment of 20.88% during freezing process. Secondly, experiment study has been conducted in an experimental solar pond, with 20 PCM capsule tubes added, adding RT 50 and RT 60 made the day–night temperature differences 2.87 °C and 2.53 °C smaller than that of without any PCM conditions. In this study, adding RT 50 and RT 60 in solar pond achieve 9.34% and 14.13% exergy increments respectively. The study suggested that adding PCM to solar pond improves the quality of the heat energy of solar pond, and further extends the heat application scope of solar pond.

Integrating solar evaporation-driven desalination and electricity production has emerged as a promising approach to alleviate energy crisis and freshwater scarcity. However, there remain huge challenges to achieve high water productivity and steady power generation efficiency. Herein, a compact evaporation-induced water–electricity co-generation device was proposed using a bio-waste squid ink sphere-based cellulose fabric as an evaporator and a silicon nanowires array-based evaporation-driven moist-electric generator. The efficient localized solar thermal heating of the photothermal component leads to significant enhancement in freshwater yield, and the latent heat of vapor condensation is recycled to promote the electricity generation. More notably, the device is capable of harvesting wind energy toward all-weather water and power generation. The fabricated device demonstrated a high evaporation rate of 2.17 kg m–2h–1with a collection rate of 66.7% and a maximum output voltage of 1.48 V under one sun illumination with a wind speed of 4 m s–1. The outdoor experiments display a maximum water evaporation rate of 1.84 kg m–2h–1with a maximum output voltage of 1.35 V even on cloudy days. Such superior performance of a comprehensive device has great potential for sustainable and practical application in freshwater and electricity generation.

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ABSTRACTThis study examined the effects of methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) on ferroptosis during intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) progression. The brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMVECs) were stimulated with oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) and hemin to establish an ICH model. Cell viability was tested using a CCK8 assay. The levels of Fe2+, glutathione, reactive oxygen species, LPO, and MDA were determined using the corresponding commercial kits. Cell death was analyzed using TUNEL and propidium iodide staining. The correlation between METTL3 and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) was analyzed using Spearman’s correlation test and further confirmed using the CHIP assay. Western blotting and RT-qPCR were performed to measure the relative expression levels. Mice were injected with 0.2 units collagenase IV to establish an ICH model in vivo. We found that the Fe2+, reactive oxygen species, LPO, and MDA levels were enhanced, and glutathione was depleted in OGD/H-treated BMVECs as well as in ICH mice. Additionally, cell viability and SLC7A11 protein levels decreased, and cell death and TFR1 protein levels increased in OGD/H-treated BMVECs. METTL3 silencing relieves OGD/H-induced injury in BMVECs. In addition, METTL3 was significantly negatively related to GPX4, which was further confirmed by the CHIP assay. Silencing of METTL3 decreased the N6-methyladenosine levels of GPX4 and increased its mRNA levels of GPX4. GPX4 knockdown neutralized the role of METTL3 in OGD/H-treated BMVECs. These results implied that ferroptosis occurred in the ODG/H-treated BMVECs and ICH mouse models. METTL3 silencing effectively suppressed ferroptosis by regulating N6-methyladenosine and mRNA levels of GPX4.

Methanation of CO2in biogas could realize CO2utilization; meanwhile, the biogas is upgraded. In this study, a methanation catalyst was designed and the system efficiency considering a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) was evaluated. A layered nickel silicate catalyst was synthesized and modified by doping with trace amounts of precious metal Pt and alkaline-earth metal Mg. The conversion of CO2reached 79% with 100% selectivity toward CH4for model biogas with 50 vol % CO2and 50 vol % CH4over the Pt- and MgO-doped Ni/SiO2catalyst at 350 °C. A simulation system consisting of SOEC and methanation of simulated biogas is built with commercial software Aspen Plus. The energy efficiency was analyzed and optimized through a heat exchange network, which achieved about 30% increase in efficiency. The energy utilization efficiency can be greater than 86% when the CO2conversion in biogas is greater than 99% by adjusting the methanation temperature and H2/CO2ratio. The energy efficiency in direct methanation of biogas exceeds 8% higher than that in methanation of CO2separated from biogas.

Solution-phase hydrogen reduction (SpHR) was introduced into V2O3preparation to overcome disadvantages of traditional reduction roasting, which include a long process, high energy consumption, and generation of pollution. The research mainly focuses on ϕ–pH diagrams and kinetics of SpHR. Thermodynamic analysis of ϕ–pH diagrams for the V–H2O system demonstrates that V2O3preparation via SpHR requires a high temperature, a high vanadium concentration, and sufficient hydrogen in acidic solution. Kinetic analyses show that the activation energy of V2O3preparation via SpHR is 38.0679 kJ/mol, indicating that the reduction is controlled by a combination of interfacial chemical reaction and internal diffusion. Effects of H2partial pressure (slope K=0.05246) on the reaction rate is not as significant as the vanadium concentration (K=1.58872). V2O3crystals with a purity of 99.59% and a vanadium precipitation rate of 99.83% were obtained under the following conditions: pH=5–6, c(V2O5)=0.5 mol/L, p(H2)=4 MPa, m(PdCl2)=10 mg, T=250 °C, and t=2.5 h.

A synchronous multi-angle scattered light field measurement system is constructed in this study to overcome issues with current systems in the field of multi-angle remote sensing. A mathematical model of the scattered light field measurement was established. An off-axis catadioptric optical system was designed to satisfy hemispheric spatial scattered light field measurements in a zenith angle range of 68°. The off-axis calibration model was established, and the spatial relationship was calibrated. The measurement accuracy was calibrated via an integrating sphere light source, and the maximum measurement relative error was −3.71%. The scattered light field of the reference diffuse reflective target plate Labsphere Permaflect-50 and 304 stainless steel was simulated under an incident light irradiation range within the zenith angle of −23.5^∘ to +23.5^∘, and synchronous measurement of the multi-angle scattered light field of the sample was realized. The measurement system could provide technical support for building the complex model of multi-angle reflection/radiation from the earth’s surface, multi-angle sensor radiation calibration, and improvement of the physical parameter inversion accuracy of observation targets.

Obesity and its related complications have become increasingly serious social problems that threaten people's lives. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have shown an effective influence on preventing obesity in animal experiments and human clinical trials, but its exact mechanism remains unclear. In this review, LAB and several of its metabolites are taken as the point of penetration. It is aimed to summarize the relationship between obesity and gut microbiota, the efficacy of LAB, and its potential mechanisms of preventing obesity and lipid metabolism. LAB intervention can regulate gut microbiota and improve intestinal permeability which is damaged by a high-fat diet or lipopolysaccharide. Besides  this, some metabolites produced by LAB can be involved in regulating host lipid metabolism-related pathways. Short-chain fatty acids, linoleic acid, and gamma-aminobutyric acid, taken as representatives here, can participate in the regulation through AMP-activated protein kinase or peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor pathway and bowel–brain axis. Therefore, the ingestion of LAB may become a potential adjunctive treatment for obesity in future. The antiobesity effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) connects with several regulatory factors, including intestinal microbiota, intestinal tract, metabolism in adipose tissues, and the central nervous system of the brain. A variety of metabolites derived from LAB may play a crucial regulatory role in the energy and fat metabolism-related signaling pathways of the host, including AMP-activated protein kinase, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, and other classical signaling pathways.

Purpose: Understanding the prevalence and trends of obesity in preschool children is of critical importance for public health policy. Thus, the object of the present study was to assess the prevalence and trends of obesity in Chinese preschool children from 1996 to 2019, and to examine the differences among different population according to year, gender, age, urban/rural and geographical area. Methods: Four online databases (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data Resource System, Weipu Chinese Journal Service Platform and PubMed) were searched for studies published from January 1990 to May 2019 using predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria. Random effects meta-analysis was used to calculate the prevalence of obesity. Results: Forty-three studies with a total of 765,255 Chinese preschool children aged 3–6 years were included in this meta-analysis. The prevalence of obesity in the whole sample was 6.41% (95%CI: 5.74%–7.78%, P&lt; 0.000, I2= 99.79%; obtained after trim-and-fill adjustment). There was no significant difference (P= 0.222) in the prevalence of obesity during five periods (1996–2000, 2001–2005, 2006–2010, 2011–2015, 2016–2019). The obesity prevalence of boys was higher than girls (P= 0.007), and the obesity prevalence increased with age (P= 0.000). In 2006–2010, the prevalence of obesity among urban areas was about three times than that of rural areas (P= 0.001). However, the difference was decreased during 2011–2015 (P= 0.788). In rural areas, the obesity prevalence in 2011–2015 was two times more than that in 2006–2010 (P= 0.005). Geographical area was a strong determinant of heterogeneity for Chinese preschool children (P= 0.001). Conclusion: There was no significant difference of the obesity prevalence among any five-year periods from 1996 to 2019. The prevalence of obesity in boys was higher than girls and increased with age. Though the prevalence of obesity in rural area was lower than the urban area, the speed of the increasing of the prevalence after 2010 in rural area should be noted. Public health intervention such as physical activity promotion and nutrition education should be conducted on preschool children for obesity prevention to promote their healthy development.

Persistent luminescence materials (PLMs) are potential luminescent materials which can remain emitting light after stopping the excitation. PLMs can avoid the autofluorescence of biological tissues, and play an important role in biosensing, targeted imaging and other fields. However, the applications of PLMs are often restricted by their weak persistent luminescence and short decay time after excitation. Doped ions will directly affect the luminescence centers and trap levels of PLMs, thereby leading to great differences in the optical performance of PLMs. Given this, the selection of doped ions to improve the optical performance of PLMs has become a fascinating research direction in recent years. At present, the published reviews mostly focus on the surface modifications and applications of PLMs. However, the influence of doped ions on the structure and optical performance of PLMs is seldom summarized. In this review, the influence of doped ions on the structure and optical performance of PLMs is introduced from three aspects: the type of doped ions, the number of types of doped ions, and the content of doped ions. Furthermore, we highlight recent achievements and mechanisms in the development of PLMs. Finally, we also propose and discuss the future opportunities and current challenges of ion-doped PLMs.

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) Heterodera glycinesis considered as the major constraint to soybean production. GmSHMT08at Rhg4locus on chromosome 08, encoding a serine hydroxylmethyltransferase, is a major gene underlying resistance against H. glycinesin Peking-type soybeans. However, the molecular mechanism underpinning this resistance is less well characterized, and whether GmSHMT08 could interact with proteins in H. glycinesremains unclear. In this study, yeast two-hybrid screening was conducted using GmSHMT08 as a bait protein, and a fragment of a 70-kDa heat shock protein (HgHSP70) was screened from H. glycinesthat exhibited interaction with GmSHMT08. This interaction was verified by both GST pull-down and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. Our finding reveals HgHSP70could be applied as a potential candidate gene for further exploring the mechanism on GmSHMT08-mediated resistance against SCN H. glycines.

BackgroundMultilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) are debilitating degenerative diseases. If conservative treatment is ineffective, surgical options for multilevel CSM and OPLL include laminoplasty (LP) and laminectomy with fusion (LF). In this updated meta-analysis, we aimed to compare the clinical outcomes and complications of both approaches.MethodsWe searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Embase datasets from their inception to 31 March 2020, to identify all eligible studies comparing LP versus LF for multilevel CSM and OPLL. Data were extracted according to predefined endpoints. We summarised data by the random-effects or fixed-effect models, as necessary.ResultsOf 533 eligible studies, 16 were identified, which included 638 patients who underwent LP and 671 patients who underwent LF. No significant differences were observed between preoperative and postoperative scores of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (p=1.0 and 0.20, respectively); Visual Analogue Scale (p=0.24 and 0.89, respectively); sagittal vertical axis ((p=0.16 and 0.87, respectively); Nurick Scale (p=0.59 and 0.17, respectively); and range of motion (p=0.67 and 0.63, respectively). However, total complications were higher for LF compared with LP (p=0.006). A significantly higher incidence of C5 palsy was observed in the LF group (p=0.004). The postoperative Neck Disability Index (NDI) was also higher in the LF group (p<0.001).ConclusionsAlthough LP and LF shared similar clinical improvement, LP had fewer complications, a lower incidence of C5 palsy, and better NDI scores and recovery outcomes than LF. Randomised studies are warranted to validate these findings.

We evaluated antihyperglycemic and anti-obese effects of Panax ginseng berry extract and its major constituent, ginsenoside Re, in obese diabetic C57BL/6J ob/ob mice and their lean littermates. Animals received daily intraperitoneal injections of Panax ginseng berry extract for 12 days. On day 12, 150 mg/kg extract-treated ob/ob mice became normoglycemic (137 ± 6.7 mg/dl) and had significantly improved glucose tolerance. The overall glucose excursion during the 2-h intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test decreased by 46% (P < 0.01) compared with vehicle-treated ob/ob mice. The improvement in blood glucose levels in the extract-treated ob/ob mice was associated with a significant reduction in serum insulin levels in fed and fasting mice. A hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp study revealed a more than twofold increase in the rate of insulin-stimulated glucose disposal in treated ob/ob mice (112 ± 19.1 vs. 52 ± 11.8 µmol * [kg.sup.-1] * [min.sup.-1] for the vehicle group, P < 0.01). In addition, the extract-treated ob/ob mice lost a significant amount of weight (from 51.7 ± 1.9 g on day 0 to 45.7 ± 1.2 on day 12, P < 0.01 vs. vehicle-treated ob/ob mice), associated with a significant reduction in food intake (P < 0.05) and a very significant increase in energy expenditure (P < 0.01) and body temperature (P < 0.01). Treatment with the extract also significantly reduced plasma cholesterol levels in ob/ob mice. Additional studies demonstrated that ginsenoside Re plays a significant role in antihyperglycemic action. This antidiabetic effect of ginsenoside Re was not associated with body weight changes, suggesting that other constituents in the extract have distinct pharmacological mechanisms on energy metabolism. Diabetes 51: 1851-1858, 2002, Diabetes is a major health problem, affecting ~5% of the total population in the U.S. and 3% of the population worldwide. Over 90% of patients with diabetes have type 2 [...]

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Rapeseed contains high levels of glucosinolates (GSLs), playing pivotal roles in defense against herbivores and pests. As their presence in rapeseed reduces the value of the meal for animal feeding, intensive efforts to reduce them produced low-seed GSL cultivars. However, there is no such variety suitable for the south part of Japan. Here, we tested the effects of cold oxygen plasma (oxygen CP) on seed germination and GSL and lipid content, in 3 rapeseed cultivars. According to the cultivars, oxygen CP slightly stimulated seed germination and modified the GSL levels, and decreased GSL levels in Kizakinonatane but increased those in Nanashikibu. In contrast, it negligibly affected the lipid content and composition in the 3 cultivars. Thus, oxygen CP modulated seed GSL levels without affecting seed viability and lipid content. Future optimization of this technique may help optimize rapeseed GSL content without plant breeding.Graphical AbstractGlucosinolates in rapeseeds reduce the meal value. Oxygen plasma decreased or increased its levels in rapeseeds without affecting the lipid levels.

Mn nanoparticles (nano-Mn) were successfully synthesized and doped into MgH2to improve its de/hydrogenation properties. Compared with MgH2, the onset desorption temperature of 10 wt.% nano-Mn modified MgH2was decreased to 175 °C and 6.7, 6.5 and 6.1 wt.% hydrogen could be released within 5, 10 and 25 min at 300, 275 and 250 °C, respectively. Besides, the composite started to take up hydrogen at room temperature and absorbed 2.0 wt.% hydrogen within 30 min at low temperature of 50 °C. The hydrogenation activation energy of MgH2was reduced from (72.5±2.7) to (18.8±0.2) kJ/mol after doping with 10 wt.% nano-Mn. In addition, the MgH2+ 10 wt.% nano-Mn composite exhibited superior cyclic property, maintaining 92% initial capacity after 20 cycles.

To improve grating manufacturing process controllability in scanning beam interference lithography (SBIL), a novel method for exposure dose monitoring and control is proposed. Several zones in a narrow monitoring region are fabricated on a grating substrate by piecewise uniform scanning. Two monitoring modes are given based on the different widths of the monitoring region. The monitoring curve of the latent image diffraction efficiency to scanning velocity is calculated by rigorous coupled wave analysis. The calculation results show that the exposure dose in SBIL can be monitored by the shape change of the monitoring curve, and an optimized scanning velocity can be selected in the monitoring curve to control the exposure dose.

Adjacent segment disc degeneration (ASDD) is one of the long-term sequelae of spinal fusion, which is more susceptible with osteoporosis. As an anti-osteoporosis drug, strontium ranelate (SR) has been reported to not only regulate bone metabolism but also cartilage matrix formation. However, it is not yet clear whether SR has a reversal or delaying effect on fusion-induced ASDD in a model of osteoporosis.

Background: The mortality is significantly higher in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) than in the general population. It is well-known that vascular access (VA) is critical for MHD patients. But the association between VA satisfaction and all-cause mortality in MHD patients is still not clear. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between VA satisfaction and all-cause mortality in MHD patients with a 30-month follow-up.Methods: Two hundred twenty-nine MHD patients in two dialysis centers were enrolled in this observational prospective study. VA satisfaction was assessed using the Short Form Vascular Access Questionnaire (VAQ). Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) score was calculated with Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the influencing factors of all-cause mortality.Results: During the 30-month follow-up period, 35 patients dropped out of the study. Among them, 31 patients died, and 4 patients stopped MHD treatment after renal transplantation. Multivariable analyses showed that the age, VAQ total score, social functioning score and dialysis-related complication score of the VAQ, the total score and MCS of the SF-36 were factors influencing all-cause mortality in MHD patients. The Kaplan-Meier curve further showed that the cumulative survival probability was significantly higher in the MHD patients with VAQ scores <7 at baseline than in patients with VAQ scores ⩾7 (p= 0.031).Inclusion: The present study showed that VA satisfaction was significantly associated with all-cause mortality in MHD patients. These findings suggest that a holistic approach is required for VA choice.

Objective This study was performed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of ultrasound-guided transforaminal nerve block in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation.Methods Sixty patients who underwent treatment for protrusion of a lumbar intervertebral disc in Wangjing Hospital from January 2016 to December 2017 were divided into the study group and the control group. The visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores, the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores of the lumbar vertebra, PRI (pain rating index), and PPI (present pain intensity) were recorded at 30 minutes, 1 week, and 3 months after the operation.Results There were significant differences in the VAS, JOA, PRI, and PPI scores between the study group and control group.Conclusion Ultrasound guidance can improve the efficacy and safety of transforaminal nerve block in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation and shorten the operative duration.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has been demonstrated to predict mortality in patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Vascular access (VA) is critical for MHD patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the change in HRQoL among MHD patients with a 2-year follow-up and to explore the impact of VA satisfaction on HRQoL in this population.Methods: 229 MHD patients in two dialysis centers were included in this observational prospective study. VA satisfaction was assessed using the Vascular Access Questionnaire (VAQ). The 36 Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire was employed to evaluate HRQoL scores. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the influencing factors of HRQoL.Results: A total of 229 MHD patients were enrolled in the study, and 198 individuals (86.46%) completed the 2-year follow-up. HRQoL decreased statistically significantly from baseline to the 2-year follow-up across all dimensions. Multivariable analyses showed that the overall score, social functioning score, dialysis-related complication score of VAQ influenced HRQoL in the study population. Furthermore, HRQoL total scores and scores on the physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) domains were significantly higher in the satisfied VA group than in the dissatisfied group at baseline. After the 2-year follow-up, patients with a higher level of VA satisfaction reported higher HRQoL than patients with lower VA satisfaction.Conclusion: Our data suggested that VA satisfaction was significantly associated with HRQoL in MHD patients. These findings imply that surgeons and nephrologists should incorporate patient satisfaction into VA surgical decision-making.

Outbreaks of short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS), caused by a novel goose parvovirus (NGPV), have occurred in China since 2015. The NGPV, a single-stranded DNA virus, is thought to be vertically transmitted. However, the mechanism of NGPV immune evasion remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the impact of NGPV infection on the Cyclic GMP–AMP synthase (cGAS)–stimulator of interferon genes (STING) signaling pathway in duck embryonic fibroblast (DEF) cells. Our findings demonstrate that NGPV infection stimulates the mRNA expression of cGAS but results in weak IFN-β induction. NGPV impedes the expression of IFN-β and downstream interferon-stimulated genes, thereby reducing the secretion of IFN-β induced by interferon-stimulating DNA (ISD) and poly (I: C). RNA-seq results show that NGPV infection downregulates interferon mRNA expression while enhancing the mRNA expression of inflammatory factors. Additionally, the results of viral protein over-expression indicate that VP1 exhibits a remarkable ability to inhibit IFN-β expression compared to other viral proteins. Results indicated that only the intact VP1 protein could inhibit the expression of IFN-β, while the truncated proteins VP1U and VP2 do not possess such characteristics. The immunoprecipitation experiment showed that both VP1 and VP2 could interact with IRF7 protein, while VP1U does not. In summary, our findings indicate that NGPV infection impairs the host's innate immune response by potentially modulating the expression and secretion of interferons and interferon-stimulating factors via IRF7 molecules, which are regulated by the VP1 protein.

Anti-coagulation is the cornerstone management of acute pulmonary embolism (PE), which is a double-edged sword, as it increases the risk of bleeding. Thus, predicting bleeding risk is necessary. The liver produces most coagulation factors to maintain the coagulation balance. However, the association between liver dysfunction markers and bleeding risk has not been thoroughly investigated.

In this work, a new chemiluminescence (CL) system of Co-Fe prussian blue analogs nanocubes (Co-Fe PBA NCs) that can catalyze luminol to produce strong CL in the absence of H2O2was established. Co-Fe PBA NCs have the property of oxidase-like activity, and it can catalyze the generation of active oxygen radicals in a dissolved oxygen system. Since caffeic acid (CA) can remove reactive oxygen species in the system, a sensitive detection method for CA on a paper-based chip was developed. Under the optimal conditions, this method showed a good linear response to CA in the range of 10–800 ng mL–1 with a limit of 3 ng mL–1. The proposed method had been used for the determination of CA in tea samples. The results may open a new avenue for the catalytic property on luminol CL system without extra oxidants.

An alignment tolerance allocation and alignment method of orthogonal reflectors with high polarization-maintaining characteristics is presented. A geometric optics vector model of orthogonal reflectors is established to derive the propagation vector of the output beam, including pitch angle error of the first mirror, the side-scanning angle of the galvanometer, and rotation angle error of the secondary mirror. The polarization transmission matrix of the orthogonal reflectors is derived based on the 3D polarization ray-tracing algorithm to present the relationship between assembly errors and diattenuation or retardance of the orthogonal reflectors. A calculation example of certain polarization ellipticity error is given to quantitatively distribute the orthogonal mirror assembly error. The optimal side-sway angle selection method of the galvanometer side-sway angle in a laser communication system is presented; further, effective measures to minimize the polarization ellipticity error is put forward.

This study investigated the regime-dependent predictability using convective-scale ensemble forecasts initialized with different initial condition perturbations in the Yangtze and Huai River basin (YHRB) of East China. The scale-dependent error growth (ensemble variability) and associated impact on precipitation forecasts (precipitation uncertainties) were quantitatively explored for 13 warm-season convective events that were categorized in terms of strong forcing and weak forcing. The forecast error growth in the strong-forcing regime shows a stepwise increase with increasing spatial scale, while the error growth shows a larger temporal variability with an afternoon peak appearing at smaller scales under weak forcing. This leads to the dissimilarity of precipitation uncertainty and shows a strong correlation between error growth and precipitation across spatial scales. The lateral boundary condition errors exert a quasi-linear increase on error growth with time at the larger scale, suggesting that the large-scale flow could govern the magnitude of error growth and associated precipitation uncertainties, especially for the strong-forcing regime. Further comparisons between scale-based initial error sensitivity experiments show evident scale interaction including upscale transfer of small-scale errors and downscale cascade of larger-scale errors. Specifically, small-scale errors are found to be more sensitive in the weak-forcing regime than those under strong forcing. Meanwhile, larger-scale initial errors are responsible for the error growth after 4 h and produce the precipitation uncertainties at the meso-β-scale. Consequently, these results can be used to explain under-dispersion issues in convective-scale ensemble forecasts and provide feedback for ensemble design over the YHRB.

The effects of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on improving the biological compatibility and circulation time of nanocarriers are determined by the surface density of PEG on nanoparticles. PEG with high surface density on nanocarriers has greater accumulation in tumor tissues. However, this impairs the release of drugs loaded in the nanoparticles in the tumor tissues. The relations and internal regularities between the controlled stripping of PEG of nanoparticles and its fate and antitumor efficacy in vivoremain unsolved. Redox-sensitive hybrid nanoparticles coated with varied PEG densities were prepared by blending a redox-sensitive polymer of DLPE-SS-MPEG. To keep identical nanoproperties, these nanoparticles were prepared with a similar size distribution of around 100 nm. The effects of controlled stripping of PEG on antitumor activities of nanoparticles were then investigated. As the PEG surface density increased, lower cellular internalization by tumor cells was observed. However, nanoparticles with higher controlled stripping of PEG showed greater accumulation in tumor tissues and advanced antitumor activities in vivo.

Kadsura coccineabelongs to medicinally important genus Kadsurafrom the Schisandraceae family. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and gastroenteric disorders. The initial phytochemical work focused on the identification of some structurally novel and diverse natural products, which turned the attention of many researchers towards this plant. Thus far, 202 compounds have been reported in this plant. Lignans and terpenoids were found as the main chemical constituents of this plant. Some of the triterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids with novel structures are of particular interest for natural product researchers. The isolated compounds of this plant have shown different bioactivities including anti-tumor, anti-HIV, anti-inflammatory, nitric oxide (NO) production inhibitory and other pharmacological effects. This review systematically summarizes all the phytochemical and pharmacological work done so far on K. coccinea, and can be used as a reference for future research on this plant.