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TiO2–Y2O3–ZrO2 composite ceramics exhibit excellent abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, and high-temperature resistance, making them vital structural-functional materials in ceramics and refractories. The key to preparing high-quality TiO2–Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powders lies in controlling the agglomeration rate, which can be optimized by choosing an appropriate drying method. This study utilized microwave drying techniques to dehydrate TiO2–Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powders. It was found that the average drying rate is proportional to initial masses, initial moisture contents and microwave heating powers. To describe the drying process, four models—the Quadratic, Wang and Singh, Modified Page, and Page—were employed. The best model for the drying process was the Modified Page model. The specimens were analyzed to assess the alterations in the samples pre and post-drying by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The findings revealed that microwaves can hasten the drying process of TiO2–Y2O3–ZrO2 and enhance its spread. Utilizing Fick's second law, the effective diffusion coefficient was ascertained, showing an inverse proportionality to the sample mass, and a proportionality to the microwave heating power and initial moisture content. Using the Arrhenius exponential model, it was ascertained that the microwave drying process's activation energy stands at 13.81834 W/g. This paper demonstrates that microwave drying effectively achieves efficient drying and lays the theoretical and experimental groundwork for the microwave heating and drying of other powdered materials.

Zirconia composite ceramic materials are popular for their many excellent properties. In this study, nTi-3Y–ZrO2 composite ceramics were produced by the mechanical alloying-microwave sintering method with different Ti-doping amounts and microwave sintering temperatures. The sample's phase composition, stability rate, lattice parameters, micromorphology, relative density, and grain size are characterized. The results showed that when the sintering temperature is 1200 °C, the samples with different doping amounts are mainly mixed crystalline structures with tetragonal and cubic phases, and the stability rate remains above 90 %. As TiO2 doping increases, the lattice parameters a(Å) and b(Å)first increase and then decrease, while the lattice parameter c (Å) shows an overall increasing trend. Raman data demonstrated that the increase in Ti content promoted the generation of tetragonal phase zirconia. The average grain size is 61.33 nm, 76.23 nm, 58.77 nm, 63.35 nm, and 68.99 nm, respectively. The increase in doping is also accompanied by a narrowing of the grain size distribution, which increases the sintering activity of the sample. In addition, the relative densities of the samples were 67.85 %, 73.94 %, 84.25 %, 84.87 %, and 77.54 %, respectively, showing a gradual increasing trend overall. When the microwave sintering temperature is 1200 °C, and the doping amount is 5Ti–3Y–92Zr, the performance of the sample is superior to other groups. The preparation of nTi-3Y–ZrO2 composite ceramics can provide certain ideas for preparing ceramic materials with excellent performance in various aspects.

Background The prevention and prediction of sudden cardiac death (SCD) present persistent challenges, prompting exploration into common genetic variations for potential insights. T-box 5 (TBX5), a critical cardiac transcription factor, plays a pivotal role in cardiovascular development and function. This study systematically examined variants within the 500-bp region downstream of the TBX5 gene, focusing on their potential impact on susceptibility to SCD associated with coronary artery disease (SCD-CAD) in four different Chinese Han populations. Methods In a comprehensive case-control analysis, we explored the association between rs11278315 and SCD-CAD susceptibility using a cohort of 553 controls and 201 SCD-CAD cases. Dual luciferase reporter assays and genotype-phenotype correlation studies using human cardiac tissue samples as well as integrated in silicon analysis were applied to explore the underlining mechanism. Result Binary logistic regression results underscored a significantly reduced risk of SCD-CAD in individuals harboring the deletion allele (odds ratio = 0.70, 95% CI [0.55–0.88], p = 0.0019). Consistent with the lower transcriptional activity of the deletion allele observed in dual luciferase reporter assays, genotype-phenotype correlation studies on human cardiac tissue samples affirmed lower expression levels associated with the deletion allele at both mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, our investigation revealed intriguing insights into the role of rs11278315 in TBX5 alternative splicing, which may contribute to alterations in its ultimate functional effects, as suggested by sQTL analysis. Gene ontology analysis and functional annotation further underscored the potential involvement of TBX5 in alternative splicing and cardiac-related transcriptional regulation. Conclusions In summary, our current dataset points to a plausible correlation between rs11278315 and susceptibility to SCD-CAD, emphasizing the potential of rs11278315 as a genetic risk marker for aiding in molecular diagnosis and risk stratification of SCD-CAD.

Abstract In eukaryotes, the dynamic assembly of microtubules (MT) plays an important role in numerous cellular processes. The underlying mechanism of GTP triggering MT assembly is still unknown. Here, we present cryo-EM structures of tubulin heterodimer at their GTP- and GDP-bound states, intermediate assembly states of GTP-tubulin, and final assembly stages of MT. Both GTP- and GDP-tubulin heterodimers adopt similar curved conformations with subtle flexibility differences. In head-to-tail oligomers of tubulin heterodimers, the inter-dimer interface of GDP-tubulin exhibits greater flexibility, particularly in tangential bending. Cryo-EM of the intermediate assembly states reveals two types of tubulin lateral contacts, “Tube-bond” and “MT-bond”. Further, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations show that GTP triggers lateral contact formation in MT assembly in multiple sequential steps, gradually straightening the curved tubulin heterodimers. Therefore, we propose a flexible model of GTP-initiated MT assembly, including the formation of longitudinal and lateral contacts, to explain the nucleation and assembly of MT.

Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder has emerged as a vital structural and functional material in ceramic applications owing to its remarkable performance including wear resistance, temperature resistance, and corrosion resistance. Agglomeration during the drying process is the other key issue that needs to be resolved, which improving the quality of zirconia powder becomes crucial in reducing industrial expenses. This study focuses on investigating the influence of modern microwave heating technology on the drying kinetics of Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder. The experimental results revealed that the average drying rate of Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder increased with sample water content, microwave heating power, and sample mass. Four kinetic fitting models, namely Page, Wang and Singh, Quadratic Model, and Modified Page, were employed to analyze the experimental data for Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder with a mass of 20 g, initial water content of 7.5%, and the microwave heating power is 480 W. Among these models, the Modified Page model demonstrated the best fit and effectively described the drying kinetics of Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder. The Modified Page model successfully captured the kinetics across varying masses, microwave heating powers, and initial water content. FT-IR spectroscopy was employed to describe the material before and after microwave drying. The results exhibited a significant reduction in water molecule content in the Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder after microwave drying, thus confirming the high efficiency and rapidity of the microwave drying procedure. This research provides comprehensive experimental data and offers a theoretical foundation for the industrial application of microwave-enhanced drying of Y2O3–ZrO2 ceramic powder.

Estimating and monitoring chlorophyll content is a critical step in crop spectral image analysis. The quick, non-destructive assessment of chlorophyll content in rice leaves can optimize nitrogen fertilization, benefit the environment and economy, and improve rice production management and quality. In this research, spectral analysis of rice leaves is performed using hyperspectral and fluorescence spectroscopy for the detection of chlorophyll content in rice leaves. This study generated ninety experimental spectral datasets by collecting rice leaf samples from a farm in Sichuan Province, China. By implementing a feature extraction algorithm, this study compresses redundant spectral bands and subsequently constructs machine learning models to reveal latent correlations among the extracted features. The prediction capabilities of six feature extraction methods and four machine learning algorithms in two types of spectral data are examined, and an accurate method of predicting chlorophyll concentration in rice leaves was devised. The IVSO-IVISSA (Iteratively Variable Subset Optimization–Interval Variable Iterative Space Shrinkage Approach) quadratic feature combination approach, based on fluorescence spectrum data, has the best prediction performance among the CNN+LSTM (Convolutional Neural Network Long Short-Term Memory) algorithms, with corresponding RMSE-Train (Root Mean Squared Error), RMSE-Test, and RPD (Ratio of standard deviation of the validation set to standard error of prediction) indexes of 0.26, 0.29, and 2.64, respectively. We demonstrated in this study that hyperspectral and fluorescence spectroscopy, when analyzed with feature extraction and machine learning methods, provide a new avenue for rapid and non-destructive crop health monitoring, which is critical to the advancement of smart and precision agriculture.

Al2O3–ZrO2 composite ceramic is a significant structural material and functional material, and the preparation of high-quality Al2O3–ZrO2 powder is a key step to meeting practical application requirements. The major factor affecting the quality of Al2O3–ZrO2 powder is the drying effect. This paper uses modern microwave drying technology to dry Al2O3–ZrO2 powder. The result was indicative that the average drying rate increases with initial moisture content, initial mass, and microwave heating power. Four dynamic models were applied to fit the empirical data of Al2O3–ZrO2 powder under different pretreatment conditions, the Modified Page model can precisely delineate the Al2O3–ZrO2 microwave drying procedure. To evaluate the changes in samples before and post-drying, the specimens were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. These results demonstrate that microwaves can accelerate the drying of Al2O3–ZrO2 and improve its dispersion. Fick's second law calculates the effective diffusion coefficient. When the initial moisture content of Al2O3–ZrO2 was 5.6%, the microwave heating power is 560 W, and the initial quality is 15 g, the effective diffusion coefficient of Al2O3–ZrO2 is 0.006361 m2/s. Based on the relevance of the microwave power and activating energy, the activating energy of microwave drying Al2O3–ZrO2 was calculated, which is −34.80 g/W. This paper provides basic study data and theory instructions for microwave drying technology in drying Al2O3–ZrO2 even the drying process in green metallurgy.

The Fe3GeTe2 monolayer, a ferromagnetic topological candidate with a high Curie temperature of 130 K, has recently garnered considerable interest. We investigated the impact of strain on the electronic, magnetic, and topological properties of the Fe3GeTe2 monolayer using density functional theory calculations. Our results showed that the Fe3GeTe2 monolayer was an itinerant ferromagnet with a high spin polarization of 69.93% and out-of-plane easy magnetization. Tensile strain had no profound impact on the anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC). However, when applying a compressive biaxial strain of −3%, the AHC at the Fermi level was dramatically enhanced to 1.62 e2/h, which is much larger than that of the bulk (0.7 e2/h) and bilayer (1.5 e2/h) material. The large AHC nearly coincided with the singularity of the energy bands near the M point. Our results highlight the potential of using strain engineering to control and optimize the properties of two-dimensional topological materials.

Walton and Welsh proved that if a co-loopless regular matroid M does not have a minor in {M(K(3,3)),M∗(K5)}, then M admits a nowhere zero 4-flow. Lai, Li and Poon proved that if M does not have a minor in {M(K5),M∗(K5)}, then M admits a nowhere zero 4-flow. We prove that if a co-loopless regular matroid M does not have a minor in {M((P10)¯3 ),M∗(K5)}, then M admits a nowhere zero 4-flow where (P10)¯3 is the graph obtained from the Petersen graph P10by contracting 3 edges of a perfect matching. As both M(K3,3) and M(K5) are contractions of M((P10)¯3), our result extends the results of Walton and Welsh and Lai, Li and Poon.

Wannanhua (WH) is a pig breed indigenous to Anhui Province, China. This breed has a high intramuscular fat (IMF) content, making it an ideal model for investigating lipid deposition mechanisms in pigs. IMF content is one of the main indicators of meat quality in pigs and is regulated by multiple genes and metabolic pathways. Building upon our prior transcriptomic investigation, the present study focused on the longissimus dorsi muscle tissue of Wannanhua (WH) pigs in the rapid fat-deposition stages (120 and 240 days of age). Employing 4D label-free quantitative proteomic analysis, we identified 106 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). Parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) technology was used to verify the DEPs, and the results showed that the 4D label-free results were reliable and valid. Functional enrichment and protein–protein interaction analyses showed that the DEPs were mainly involved in the skeletal-muscle-associated structural proteins, mitochondria, energy metabolism, and fatty acid metabolism. By integrating transcriptomic data, we identified seven candidate genes including ACADL, ACADM, ANKRD2, MYOZ2, TNNI1, UCHL1, and ART3 that play a regulatory role in fat deposition and muscle development. These findings establish a theoretical foundation for future analyses of lipid deposition traits, contributing to potential enhancements in pig meat quality during breeding and advancing the selection process for Chinese indigenous breeds.

Abstract Objectives To identify the major complications independently associated with unfavorable outcomes in right‐sided large hemisphere infarction (RLHI) patients. Methods We retrospectively enrolled consecutive patients admitted within 24 h with the diagnosis of RLHI. The unfavorable outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of 4–6 at 3 months. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the major complications independently associated with 3‐month unfavorable outcomes. Results Of the 171 cases with RLHI included, 126 (73.7%) had unfavorable outcomes at 3 months: A total of 64 (37.4%) cases died, and 62 (36.3%) lived with severe disability. Stroke‐related complications occurred in 168 (98.2%) patients during hospitalization. The five most common stroke‐related complications were pulmonary infection (75.4%), electrolyte disorder (61.4%), hypoalbuminemia (49.1%), malignant brain edema (MBE) (48.5%), and hemorrhagic transformation (48.0%). RLHI patients with unfavorable outcomes had more frequent MBE (58.7% vs. 21.4%, p

The observation of magnetic ordering in atomically thin CrI_{3} and Cr_{2}Ge_{2}Te_{6} monolayers has aroused intense interest in condensed-matter physics and material science. Studies of van de Waals two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials are of both fundamental importance and application interest. In particular, exciton-enhanced magneto-optical properties revealed in CrI_{3} and CrBr_{3} monolayers have expanded the understanding of exciton physics in 2D materials. Unlike CrI_{3} and CrBr_{3}, with out-of-plane magnetization, CrSBr has an in-plane magnetic moment, therefore providing a good opportunity to study the magnetic linear dichroism and high-order magneto-optical effects. Here, based on the many-body perturbation method within density-functional theory, we have studied quasiparticle electronic structure, exciton, and optical properties in CrSBr monolayer. A strongly bounded exciton has been identified with the first bright exciton located at 1.35 eV, in good agreement with an experiment of photoluminescence [Wilson et al., Nat. Mater. 20, 1657 (2021)1476-112210.1038/s41563-021-01070-8]. Strong contrast in the optical absorption is found between the electric fields lying along the in-plane two orthogonal directions. In accordance with a typical and realistic experimental setup, we show that the rotation angle of linear polarized light, either reflected or transmitted, could be comparable with those revealed in black phosphorene. Such large linear dichroism arises mainly from the anisotropic in-plane crystal structure. The magnetic contribution from the off-diagonal component of dielectric function to the linear dichroism in CrSBr is negligible. Our findings not only have revealed the excitonic effect on the optical and magneto-optical properties in 2D ferromagnet CrSBr, but also have shown its potential applications in 2D optics and optoelectronics.

In the hydrometallurgical process of zinc production, the residue from the leaching stage is an important intermediate product and is treated in a Waelz kiln to recover valuable metals. To ensure optimal results during the Waelz kiln process, it is necessary to pre-treat the residues by drying them first due to their higher water content. This work studies the residue’s drying process using microwave technology. The study results indicate that microwave technology better removes the residue’s oxygen functional groups and moisture. The dehydration process’s effective diffusion coefficient increases as the microwave’s heating power, the initial moisture content, and the initial mass increase. The Page model is appropriate for imitating the drying process, and the activation energy of the drying process for the residues is −13.11217 g/W. These results indicate that microwave technology efficiently dries the residues from the leaching stage. Furthermore, this study provides a theoretical basis and experimental data for the industrial application of microwave drying.

The importance of work stress on newcomers’ organizational socialization has been a topic of substantial interest. However, the impact mechanism of different stressors on newcomers’ organizational socialization is still in the early stages of theory development. This study, based on the theory of the dual work stress model, explored how to challenge stressors and hindrance stressors impact newcomers’ organizational socialization via the mediation of job crafting. Based on the empirical data from 247 newcomers, we found that challenge stressors positively affected newcomers’ organizational socialization; on the contrary, hindrance stressors would result in negative influences. In addition, leader-member exchange enhanced the positive effect of challenge stressors on newcomers’ job crafting and further moderated the indirect influence of challenge stressors on newcomers’ organizational socialization via job crafting. These findings provide a practical guide for organizations to apply stress management and promote newcomers’ socialization.

The high-risk stroke populations are significantly associated with an increased risk of stroke or other vascular events. Although proven primary and secondary stroke prevention medications are available, persistent use is required to be effective. However, the persistence of drug therapy and its association with outcomes in the high-risk stroke population have received limited study in China. Hence, according to the China National Stroke Screening Survey (CNSSS) program in 2015, we performed this multicenter population-based cross-sectional survey and prospective cohort study in Sichuan of southwestern China. The residents aged ≥ 40 years volunteered to participate in a face-to-face survey in 8 communities. Subjects with at least three of eight stroke-related risk factors or a history of stroke were defined as high-risk stroke population. The interviewers recorded individuals' medications at a face-to-face survey, and all the high-risk stroke population was followed up for 4.7 years. The persistence of antihypertensives, hypoglycemics, lipid-lowering medications, and antithrombotics for stroke was evaluated. The primary outcome was new stroke. Secondary outcomes included new composite vascular events of stroke, myocardial infarction, and death during follow-up periods. Among 16,892 participants, 2,893 (17.1%) participants were high-risk stroke population and 2,698 (93.3%) participants completed to follow-up. The 4.7-year persistence of therapy rate of antihypertensives, hypoglycemics, lipid-lowering medications, and antithrombotics was 38.0%, 39.9%, 43.9%, and 59.8%, respectively. The total persistence of therapy rate for antihypertensives, hypoglycemics, lipid-lowering medications, and antithrombotics was 47.6% (136/286) in patients with hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and stroke at the same time. During the 4.7-year follow-up, there were 118 (4.4%) new ischemic stroke, 24 (0.9%) hemorrhagic stroke, 53 (2.0%) myocardial infarctions, and 33 (1.2%) deaths. After adjusting for the covariates, 4.7-year persistence of antihypertensives, hypoglycemics, lipid-lowering therapy, antithrombotics, and total persistence was independently associated with less new ischemic stroke and less new composite vascular events. Thus, more effective public education and efforts to understand and enhance the persistence of drug therapy are crucial to improve population health and decrease stroke and other vascular events for the high-risk stroke population.

Metal thiophosphates have recently received increasing research interest, thanks to their diversity in regard to metal cation occupation within the P–S scaffold, which produces a broad array of functional properties. Among them, In4/3P2S6 belongs to a special case as regards the ordering of metal cations and vacancy sites, whose physical properties remain largely unexplored, especially in the atomically thin limit. In this work, we undertake a comprehensive investigation on the thickness-dependent optical and vibrational properties of In4/3P2S6 from the bulk scale down to a few-layer flakes. Both optical birefringence and anisotropic photoelectric response are observed, which are closely linked to the monoclinic symmetry of the crystal lattice. The vanishing of Raman, absorption, and photoluminescence intensities at about three to four layers signifies the enhanced structural disorder and lattice incoherence when approaching the monolayer limit. Before reaching this critical thickness, phonon softening due to weakened interlayer coupling and bandgap widening due to quantum confinement are accompanied by thickness reduction. These findings shed light on a general understanding of the finite size effect on the physical properties of metal thiophosphates and deliver possible device applications by exploiting the property of optical anisotropy.

Objective: To investigate the incidence, clinical and genetic characteristics of pediatric lymphoma patients of China with inborn errors of immunity (IEI)-related gene mutations, which have not been fully studied. Method: From Jan. 2020 to Mar. 2023, IEI-related genetic mutations were retrospectively explored in 108 children with lymphomas admitted to Beijing Children's Hospital by NGS. Genetic rule and clinical characteristics as well as treatment outcomes were compared between patients with or without IEI-related gene mutations. Results: A total of 17 patients (15.7 %) harbored IEI-associated mutations, including 4 cases with X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome (XLP), 3 cases had mutations in tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily 13B (TNFRSF13B), 2 cases with Activated p110 syndrome (APDS). Patients with IEI all had alteration of immunocompetence with decreased levels of immunoglobulin and lymphocyte subsets. Recurrent infection existed in 41.2 % of patients. The 18-month event-free survival (EFS) and the overall response rate (ORR) of patients with IEI are significantly lower than those without IEI (33.86% vs. 73.26 %, p = 0.011; 52.94% vs. 87.91 %, p = 0.002, respectively). In addition, patients with IEI had a higher progression disease (PD) rate of 23.5 % than those without IEI of 4.4 % (p = 0.006). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that IEI-associated lymphomas were much more common than originally appreciated in pediatric lymphomas, and those were insensitive to treatment and more likely to progress or relapse. The genomic analysis and a thorough review of the medical history of IEI can be used to distinguish them from pediatric lymphomas without IEI, which are beneficial for the early diagnosis and direct intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the efficacy and safety of a small-volume-plasma artificial liver support system (ALSS) in the treatment of acute-onchronic liver failure (ACLF). A retrospective analysis was performed. All ACLF patients received ALSS of plasma exchange & double plasma molecular absorb system (PE+DPMAS) treatment, and successfully completed this treatment. Patients were divided into small-volume and half-volume plasma groups. We compared the changes of the indicators on liver function, kidney function, blood coagulation function, and blood ammonia level before and after PE+DPMAS treatment; we compared the short-term and long-term curative effects between small-volume and half-volume plasma groups; and the factors influencing Week 4 and Week 12 mortality of ACLF patients were analyzed. The Week 4 improvement rates were 63.96 % and 66.86 % in the smallvolume and half-volume plasma groups, respectively. The Week 12 survival rates in the small-volume-plasma and half-volume plasma groups were 66.72 % and 64.61 %, respectively. We found several risk factors affecting Week 4 and Week 12 mortality. Kaplan-Meier survival curves suggested no significant difference in Week 4 and Week 12 survival rates between the small-volume and half-volume plasma groups (P=0.34). The small-volumeplasma PE+DPMAS treatment could effectively reduce bilirubin and bile acids, and this was an approach with high safety and few complications, similar to the half-volume-plasma PE+DPMAS treatment. The small-volume-plasma PE+DPMAS has the advantage of greatly reducing the need for intraoperative plasma, which is especially of importance in times of shortage of plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]