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Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are considered the most efficient technology for the direct conversion of hydrocarbons to electrical energy. Although the commonly used Ni/YSZ cermet materials in SOFCs show excellent electrocatalytic properties in H 2 fuel, they suffer from carbon deposition problem when hydrocarbon fuels are used. In this work, we study the use of Ni 0 · 05 Ru 0.05 -Mo 2 C with a porous nanorod-shaped morphology as an internal reforming catalyst layer for methane-fueled SOFCs to solve the degradation of cell performance due to carbon deposition. The electrochemical performance and coking tolerance of two types of cells with and without the catalyst layer were systematically studied using methane and hydrogen as fuels. With the catalyst layer, the single cell using methane as fuel exhibits an improvement in peak power density by 24%, increasing from 297 to 367 mW cm−2 and there was no diffusion barrier for fuel gases within the cell. Furthermore, the cell can stably run for 100 h in methane at 700 °C. The improvement of electrochemical performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of Ni and Ru sites anchored on the porous Mo 2 C nanorods catalyst based on strong metal-support interactions, promoting the effective catalytic conversion of CH 4 to CO and H 2. This study demonstrates that the integration of a catalyst layer for internal reforming is an effective strategy for the direct use of methane in SOFCs. • Porous Mo 2 C nanorods loaded with Ni and Ru bimetal nanoparticles were prepared. • The NiRu–Mo 2 C nanorods were used as an internal reforming catalyst layer for SOFCs. • The NiRu–Mo 2 C nanorod catalyst layer improves the cell performance in CH 4. • The cell with the catalyst layer shows excellent long-term stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Well-balanced and orderly metabolism is a crucial prerequisite for promoting oogenesis. Involvement of single metabolites in oocyte development has been widely reported; however, the comprehensive metabolic framework controlling oocyte maturation is still lacking. In the present study, we employed an integrated temporal metabolomic and transcriptomic method to analyze metabolism in goat oocytes at GV, GVBD, and MII stages (GV, fully-grown immature oocyte; GVBD, stage of meiotic resumption; MII, mature oocyte) during in vitro maturation, revealing the global picture of the metabolic patterns during maturation. In particular, several significantly altered metabolic pathways during goat oocyte meiosis have been identified, including active serine metabolism, increased utilization of tryptophan, and marked accumulation of purine nucleotide. In summary, the current study provides transcriptomic and metabolomic datasets for goat oocyte development that can be applied in cross-species comparative studies. • Provide the temporal metabolome and transcriptome data resources of goat oocytes. • Multiple omics revealed the characteristics of metabolic patterns during goat oocytes maturation. • Discovered diverse patterns of amino acid metabolism. • Discovered a progressive increase in nucleotide metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High entropy materials are becoming more and more popular in energy storage field of supercapacitors because of their unique structure and modulated functional characteristics, but their low conductivity and instability of electrode structure limit their further electrochemical performance. In this paper, we use polyethylene glycol (PEG) with different molecular weights to modify the surface morphology of the high entropy oxides (FeCoCrMnNi) 3 O 4 in an attempt to improve their supercapacitors performance. The PEG was used as a pore-making agent to prepare porous high entropy oxides powder with a large specific surface area of 92.7559 m2 g−1, providing more active sites and ion transport channels. A high specific capacitance of 204 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and good cycle performance of 60.4 % capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles were obtained. Besides, an asymmetric device with improved energy density of 53 W h kg−1 and the power density of 400.8 W kg−1 were reached via the designed microstructure of the high entropy oxide electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• PM 2.5 has higher mass Hg concentrations and bioavailable Hg fractions than PM 10. • HCl-soluble Hg species dominate in PM while has significant relationship with elemental Hg in PM 2.5. • Oxidation of CFPP-discharged Hg0 is responsible for elevated HCl-soluble Hg species. • Bioavailability and environmental risks of HgP around the ULE-retrofitted CFPP are elevated. Ultra-low emission (ULE) technology retrofits significantly impact the particulate-bound mercury (Hg) emissions from coal-fired power plants (CFPPs); however, the distribution and bioavailability of Hg in size-fractioned particulate matter (PM) around the ULE-retrofitted CFPPs are less understood. Here, total Hg and its chemical speciation in TSP (total suspended particles), PM 10 (aerodynamic particle diameter ≤ 10 µm) and PM 2.5 (aerodynamic particle diameter ≤ 2.5 µm) around a ULE-retrofitted CFPP in Guizhou Province were quantified. Atmospheric PM 2.5 concentration was higher around this ULE-retrofitted CFPP than that in the intra-regional urban cities, and it had higher mass Hg concentration than other size-fractioned PM. Total Hg concentrations in PM had multifarious sources including CFPP, vehicle exhaust and biomass combustion, while they were significantly higher in autumn and winter than those in other seasons (P < 0.05). Regardless of particulate size, atmospheric PM-bound Hg had lower residual fractions (< 21%) while higher HCl-soluble fractions (> 40%). Mass concentrations of exchangeable, HCl-soluble, elemental, and residual Hg in PM 2.5 were higher than those in other size-fractioned PM, and were markedly elevated in autumn and winter (P < 0.05). In PM 2.5 , HCl-soluble Hg presented a significantly positive relationship with elemental Hg (P < 0.05), while residual Hg showed the significantly positive relationships with HCl-soluble Hg and elemental Hg (P < 0.01). Overall, these results suggested that atmospheric PM-bound Hg around the ULE-retrofitted CFPP tends to accumulate in finer PM, and has higher bioavailable fractions, while has potential transformation between chemical speciation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike their eruptive counterparts, plutonic rocks often experience post-cumulus evolution prior to their final solidification. These processes have the potential to exert significant control on the distributions of elements and their isotopic compositions of plutonic rocks. However, our understanding in these effects remains limited, particularly for metal stable isotopes. Here, we carried out high-precision δ65Cu measurements for a suite of primitive to evolved cumulates from the Kane area, 23oN of Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Most mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) exhibit uniformly bulk silicate Earth (BSE)-like δ65Cu of + 0.09 ± 0.08 ‰, indicating limited Cu isotopic fractionation in crustal magma reservoirs prior to melt extraction. However, our new Cu isotopic data on these cumulates show that large Cu isotopic variations (δ65Cu = -0.6 ‰ to + 0.9 ‰) occur in variably evolved cumulates (MgO/total FeO < 3.0), while the most primitive cumulates (MgO/total FeO > 3.0) exhibit BSE-like δ65Cu (+0.06 ± 0.06 ‰). Petrological and geochemical observations indicate limited hydrothermal effects on Kane cumulate Cu isotopes. Modeling results indicate that the variable δ65Cu in Kane cumulates are unlikely to result from magmatic processes during the cumulus stage. Instead, the large Cu isotopic variation in Kane cumulates requires post-cumulus melt evolution involving fractionation between sulfide and intercumulus melts at relatively low temperatures. Textures and mineral chemistry indicate pervasive post-cumulus modifications of Kane cumulates by porous melt flow. Thermodynamic calculations indicate that intercumulus melts persist at temperatures even to 200 °C lower than the initial liquidus temperatures. Our data indicate that lower temperatures in the post-cumulus melt evolution and lower sulfide Ni contents result in lower sulfide-silicate melt Cu isotope fractionation factor (α sulfide-melt), then causing greater Cu isotopic variations in cumulates. We suggest that post-cumulus melt evolution reconcile both the Cu depletion and large Cu isotope fractionation in oceanic cumulates that are unexpected by a simple process of crystal accumulation from MORBs. This study highlights the essential role of post-cumulus evolution in controlling metal budget and their stable isotope fractionation during intra-crustal differentiation, which might also be applied to island arc and continental settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metallurgical solid waste blast furnace water quenched slag (WBFS) was employed as carrier materials to prepare Fe–TiO 2 /WBFS composite photocatalyst using a sol-gel method for improving both the photocatalytic activity and the high-value utilization of metallurgical solid waste. The Fe3+ doping technology was adopted to increase the utilization of solar energy. The influencing factors and photocatalytic activity were systematically evaluated by thermogravimetry/differential thermal analyser (TG-DSC), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, scanning electron microscopy-energy spectrometer (SEM-EDS), X-ray photoelectric spectroscopy (XPS), UV–Vis absorption spectrum and photoluminescence spectra technology through the degradation rate of methylene blue (MB) solution. The results showed that the Fe3+ ions were successfully incorporated into the TiO 2 lattice, which had no effect on the crystalline phase of TiO 2 and expanded the spectral response range of TiO 2 from the ultraviolet region to the visible light region. When the calcination temperature was at 450 °C and the number of Fe–TiO 2 sol loading cycles was two times, the photocatalytic activity of Fe–TiO 2 /WBFS presented the strongest, and the degradation ratio of MB reach the maximum value of 98.9 %. A uniform and dense anatase TiO 2 thin film was wrapped on the surface of WBFS. The photocatalytic activity first improved and then weakened with an increase of calcination temperature, Fe3+ doping amounts and the loading cycles of sol. The TiO 2 film changed from thin to thick and uneven to uniform, until cracking and spalling phenomenon finally occurred with an increase of Fe–TiO 2 sol loading cycle from 1 to 3 times. When the Fe–TiO 2 /WBFS was reused for four times, the degradation rate of MB could still show 67.4 %, being far higher than that of TiO 2 /WBFS of 25.4 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intermetallic compound ZrCo is widely considered a good choice to substitute uranium in storing gaseous tritium. Whereas the storage capacity fading induced by the disproportionation reaction which happens during the hydriding and dehydriding processes becomes the main obstacle to overcome at the present stage. In this work, the effects and mechanism of Ti, Cu, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm substitutions on the anti-disproportionation performance of ZrCo alloy were carefully investigated by combining experiments and first-principles calculations. By the investigation of Zr 1-x Ti x Co (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20), it is confirmed that the increase of Zr–H (8e) bond length and decrease of 8e site size are beneficial to prevent the access of H into the 8e site of ZrCoH 3 , which helps the improvement of anti-disproportionation performance. It has shown that rare-earth elements are preferred to substitute Zr than Co atom in ZrCo and ZrCoH 3 compounds. While alloying rare-earth elements may not contribute significantly to the enhancement of the anti-disproportionation property of ZrCo alloy. Additionally, the charge density distribution and polarized density of states of undoped and doped ZrCoH 3 crystals were clarified. • The anti-disproportionation mechanism of Ti-doped ZrCo alloys were analyzed by combining experiment and simulation. • The bond length of Zr–H (8e) and volume of H (8e) are the key factors affecting the anti-disproportionation performance. • Effects of doping rare-earth elements on the anti-disproportionation behavior of ZrCo alloy was studied in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conducting in-situ measurements of planetary environments is a key scientific goal in the geoscience field for the extraterrestrial exploration, such as the Moon or Mars. Among these measurements, determining the thermal properties of regolith is particularly challenging due to the material's inhomogeneities. In this paper, an active thermal probing technique is proposed, utilizing a transient hot-wire technique with a needle-like probe structure integrated with temperature sensors and a heater. It is capable of measuring in-situ temperature variations and inner heat flux without disturbing the surrounding regolith. In addition, a machine-learning-based method is proposed for inverting in-situ thermophysical properties, including density, thermal conductivity, and heat capacity. An embedded artificial neural network model has been developed and trained with data sets from both finite element simulations and experiments. This machine learning model is capable of efficiently predicting temperature responses for different lunar regolith simulants. For total 12 parameters, the errors of ten cases are less than 10%, and other two cases are 12.23% and 13.17%. Finally, the proposed method is verified by heat measurement experiments under normal pressure and vacuum, and the variation of thermal properties with different compactness is obtained. The proposed probing technique provides novel ideas to measure the in-situ thermal properties of extraterrestrial regolith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The better application of robot technology in space unstructured scenes has become an important research topic. How to adapt to limited workspace and maintain high reliability sampling activities on unstructured surfaces with unknown geometric information and physical features poses high requirements for the implementation of automated sampling missions for extraterrestrial celestial bodies (ECBs). This work introduces a biomimetic adhesion sampler PBAS. It expects to achieve multisite core sampling activities on the unstructured surface of ECBs under astronaut assistance or unmanned automatic operation. Different from previous sampler, the system adopts novel modular structure design and has made improvements to the bionic adhesion mechanism, percussive and drilling mechanism, power transmission and sensing mechanism, and control mechanism. PBAS can firmly adhere to unstructured surfaces and efficiently obtain complete coring samples through penetration and drilling activities. It is compact and lightweight and has high portability, good reusability, excellent efficiency, as well as better performance in automatic sampling operations. Finally, to verify the effectiveness and reliability of the PBAS, a testing apparatus was designed. Relevant tests were conducted outdoors and in the laboratory. The experimental results indicate that PBAS can successfully adhere to surfaces with different characteristics and obtain coring samples with a length exceeding 50 mm. • The operation mode and design criteria of the PBAS system are provided. • Design details and mechanism model are analyzed. • Relevant experimental platform and environment are introdudced. • Preliminary filed test results are presented. • Some discussion and conclusion remarks are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimization of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is a crucial aspect in improving the performance of high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). Through experimental validation, a three-dimensional HT-PEMFC computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was established to simulate the transport of charge, mass, and momentum across various porous layers. A deep neural network (DNN) was designed to quantify the influence of porous layer structures on cells performance and determined the optimal solution of the MEA parameters for different Pt loadings. The training data of DNN were generated using 11 porous layer structural parameters selected via a Monte Carlo method, and their corresponding current densities predicted by the validated HT-PEMFC CFD model. The DNN model showed an average relative error of only 0.76% in predicting current density when compared to CFD simulations. Using a bi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) in conjunction with the DNN model, the optimized cell power densities at a voltage of 0.4 V and Pt loadings of 0.3 mg/cm2 and 0.5 mg/cm2 are 18% and 9% higher than the maximum values reported in the literature, respectively. The proposed approach combining DNN model and GA can serve as a useful guide for the design of HT-PEMFC in practical applications. • HT-PEMFC CFD model is validated by published experimental data. • Data-driven DNN model achieves 0.76% mean relative error for predictions. • DNN model couples with genetic algorithm to optimize porous layer structures. • Cell performance can improve 18% and 9% at Pt loadings of 0.3 and 0.5 mg/cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resistive switching (RS) behavior of multilayered ReRAM devices is typically influenced by two aspects: the intrinsic properties of the dielectric multilayer, and other extrinsic contributions. In this study, we deposited and investigated bi-layered memories incorporating ZnO and HfO 2 dielectrics. Different stacking sequences of the two oxides (ZnO/HfO 2 and HfO 2 /ZnO) were employed to explore the intrinsic contribution of the bilayer microstructure, while different top electrode configurations (Pt and Ti) were utilized to demonstrate the extrinsic impact. All devices exhibit characteristic bipolar RS behavior, showcasing their functionality. But interestingly, the device with a Pt top electrode displays digital RS behavior, while the one with a Ti top electrode exhibits analog RS behavior. The completely different switching types observed during the reset process of the ZnO-HfO 2 hybrid resistive memories are attributed to different interface charge migration process and structural characteristic. And as compared to the tailoring effect of stacking sequences (bilayer microstructure and oxide/oxide interface), the tailoring effect of top electrode configuration (electrode materials and oxide/electrode interface) is much stronger. Based on the latter, the switching ratio can be remarkably improved by at least two orders of magnitude, the reset voltage (energy consumption) can also be significantly reduced, and other discussed switching parameters can also show greater improvement. The comprehensive comparative analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic contributions provides valuable insights for exploring the RS mechanism and optimizing the design of bi-layered memory devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although recent deep learning methods, especially generative models, have shown good performance in magnetic resonance imaging, there is still much room for improvement. Considering that the sample number and internal dimension in score-based generative model have key influence on estimating the gradients of data distribution, we present a new idea for parallel imaging reconstruction, named low-rank tensor assisted k-space generative model (LR-KGM). It means that we transform low-rank information into high-dimensional prior information for learning. More specifically, the multi-channel data is constructed into a large Hankel matrix to reduce the number of training samples, which is subsequently collapsed into a tensor for the stage of prior learning. In the testing phase, the low-rank rotation strategy is utilized to impose low-rank constraints on the output tensors of the generative network. Furthermore, we alternate the reconstruction between traditional generative iterations and low-rank high-dimensional tensor iterations. Experimental comparisons with the state-of-the-arts demonstrated that the proposed LR-KGM method achieved better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel SiC–Si coating with a high amount of net-like distributed Si was fabricated on the graphite substrate by liquid silicon infiltration (LSI) method to improve the oxidation-resistant performance. The mass gain of this LSI coating after 300 h oxidation at 1873 K was only 3.018%, suggesting an excellent static antioxidant property at 1873 K. The detailed oxidation mechanism of this LSI coating was explored in this work. It was found that the high amount of Si with the net-like distribution in this LSI coating promoted the passivation growth of SiO 2 glass layer and prevented the SiO 2 glass from crystallizing into cristobalite. In addition, the Si in this coating retarded the active oxidation and enhanced the coating stability. In contrast, the infiltration (VSI) SiC–Si coating presented an apparent mass loss, and the pack cementation (PC) SiC coating showed the catastrophic failure. The oxidation mechanisms of these two coatings were also discussed against the backdrop of the LSI coating with high antioxidant performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variability exists in the trajectories of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We aimed to identify genetic modulators of clinical progression in AD. We conducted the first genome-wide survival study on AD using a two-stage approach. The discovery and replication stage separately included 1158 and 211,817 individuals without dementia from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and the UK Biobank, respectively (325 and 1103 progressed in average follow-up of 4.33 and 8.63 years, respectively). Cox proportional hazards models were applied with time to AD dementia as the phenotype of clinical progression. A series of bioinformatic analyses and functional experiments was performed to validate the novel findings. We found that APOE and PARL , a novel locus tagged by rs6795172 (hazard ratio = 1.66, p = 1.45 × 10−9), were significantly associated with AD clinical progression and were successfully replicated. The novel locus was linked to accelerated cognitive changes, higher tau levels, and faster atrophy of AD-specific brain structures, which were also verified in UK Biobank neuroimaging follow-up. Gene analysis and summary data–based Mendelian randomization indicated PARL as the most functionally relevant gene in the locus. Expression quantitative trait locus analyses and dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed that PARL expression could be regulated by rs6795172. Three different AD mouse models consistently showed decreased PARL expression accompanied by elevated tau levels, and in vitro experiments revealed that knockdown/overexpression of PARL inversely changed tau levels. Collectively, genetic, bioinformatic, and functional evidence suggests that PARL modulates clinical progression and neurodegeneration in AD. Targeting PARL may potentially modify AD progression and have implications for disease-modifying therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The first single-cell transcriptomic atlases of testes of young and old mice were constructed. • Revealed aging-associated heterogenous differentially expressed genes in mouse testes. • Discovered aging-associated dysregulation of multiple biological processes in mouse testes. • Aging disrupted balance of undifferentiated and differentiated spermatogonia stem cells in spermatogonia. • Aging increased a subtype of aging-specific macrophages. Advanced paternal age of reproduction is an increasing trend, especially in developed countries and areas. This trend results in elevated risks of adverse reproductive outcomes such as reduced fertility rates, increased pregnancy loss, and poor childhood health. Yet, a systematic profiling of aging-associated molecular and cellular alterations in testicular tissue is still missing. We aimed to dissect aging-associated molecular characteristics in testes of mice. Single-cell transcriptomic sequencing and analysis were conducted in testes of young (2 months old) and old mice (24 months old). Immunofluorescences and immunochemistry were used to characterize aging-associated phenotypes and verify single cell sequence results. Here, we constructed the first single-cell transcriptomic atlases of testes of young and old mice. In-depth dissection of aging-dependent transcriptional alterations in specific cell types revealed multiple dysregulated biological processes such as increased 'senescence-associated secretory phenotype' and 'inflammation', which were major aging-associated characteristics. Further analysis of aging-related differentially expressed genes uncovered a disrupted balance of undifferentiated and differentiated spermatogonia stem cells in spermatogonia, indicative of a potential role of spermatogonia stem cells in aging-associated subfertility. Importantly, for the first time, our results identified an increased subtype of aging-specific macrophages, which may contribute to a hostile proinflammatory microenvironment during testicular aging. Taken together, our findings depict the distinct single-cell transcriptional features of the aged mouse testes and provide enormous resources for a comprehensive understanding of the cell-type-specific molecular mechanisms underlying mouse testicular aging, which may shed light on developing novel potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for age-associated male subfertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypocalcemia in dairy cows is associated with a decrease of neutrophil adhesion and phagocytosis, an effect driven partly by changes in the expression of store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE)-related molecules. It is well established in nonruminants that neutrophils obtain the energy required for immune function through glycolysis. Whether glycolysis plays a role in the acquisition of energy by neutrophils during hypocalcemia in dairy cows is unknown. To address this relationship, we performed a cohort study and then a clinical trial. Neutrophils were isolated at 2 d postcalving from lactating Holstein dairy cows (average 2.83 ± 0.42 lactations, n = 6) diagnosed as clinically healthy (CON) or with plasma concentrations of Ca2+ <2.0 mmol/L as a criterion for diagnosing subclinical hypocalcemia (HYP, average 2.83 ± 0.42 lactations, n = 6). In the first experiment, neutrophils were isolated from blood of CON and HYP cows and used to analyze aspects of adhesion and phagocytosis function through quantitative reverse-transcription PCR along with confocal laser scanning microscopy, mRNA expression of the glycolysis-related gene hexokinase 2 (HKII), and components of the SOCE moiety ORAI calcium release-activated calcium modulator 1 (ORAI1 , ORAI2 , ORAI3 , stromal interaction molecule 1 [ STIM1 ], and STIM2). Results showed that adhesion and phagocytosis function were reduced in HYP cows. The mRNA expression of adhesion-related syndecan-4 (SDC4), integrin β9 (ITGA9), and integrin β3 (ITGB3) and phagocytosis-related molecules complement component 1 R subcomponent (C1R), CD36 , tubulinß1 (TUBB1) were significantly decreased in the HYP group. In the second experiment, to address how glycolysis affects neutrophil adhesion and phagocytosis, neutrophils isolated from CON and HYP cows were treated with 2 μ M HKII inhibitor benserazide-d3 or 1 μ M fructose-bisphosphatase 1 (FBP1) inhibitor MB05032 for 1 h. Results revealed that the HKII inhibitor benserazide-d3 reduced phagocytosis and the mRNA abundance of ITGA9 , and CD36 in the HYP group. The FBP1 inhibitor MB05032 increased adhesion and phagocytosis and increased mRNA abundance of HKII , ITGA9 , and CD36 in the HYP group. Finally, to investigate the mechanism whereby SOCE-sensitive glycolysis affects neutrophil adhesion and phagocytosis, isolated neutrophils were treated with 1 μ M SOCE activator thapsigargin or 50 μ M inhibitor 2-APB for 1 h. Results showed that thapsigargin increased mRNA abundance of HKII , ITGA9 , and CD36 , and increased adhesion and phagocytosis in the HYP group. In contrast, 2-APB decreased mRNA abundance of HKII and both adhesion and phagocytosis of neutrophils in the CON group. Overall, the data indicated that SOCE-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ levels affect glycolysis and help regulate adhesion and phagocytosis of neutrophils during hypocalcemia in dairy cows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the existing electrochemical capacitive energy storage electrode materials, the (TiNbTaZrHf)C, (VCrNbMoZr) 2 N, (CoCrFeMnNi) 3 O 4 , (FeCoCrMnMg) 3 O 4 and (FeCoCrMnCuZn) 3 O 4 all have excellent capacitive performance, but the energy density is limited due to the narrow potential window. In order to solve the problem of low energy density of electrochemical supercapacitor, a kind of high-entropy carbides (HEMCs) with broad potential window is designed from generalized analysis of electrochemical window of active elements. This high-entropy carbide contains five active elements of Fe, Co, Cr, Mn and Ni. The prepared HEMC-3 has abundant pores and a specific surface area of 417.8 m2 g−1. The large specific surface area makes the HEMCs have high-rate energy storage performance. Electrochemical tests show that the HEMC-3 presents a potential window of [-1.0, 0.6] versus Hg/HgO, and can obtain a specific capacitance of 169.7 F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1. Due to the designed wide potential window of the prepared HEMCs, the energy density has been greatly improved, which shows a new strategy for developing of electrochemical supercapacitor electrode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ball screw feed system of CNC machine tools is a typical mechatronic motion mechanism. During the operation of the machine tool, not only the dynamic characteristics of the mechanical structure will affect its performance, but also the electrical characteristics of the servo system will affect the movement of the worktable, which will lead to displacement fluctuation and bring adverse effects on the precision of the machine tool and even the quality of the processed parts. Therefore, the electrical system and the mechanical system are strongly coupled to each other due to their high integration. In this paper, the fluctuation of current, torque, and displacement during the motion of the worktable is studied. Firstly, the mechatronic model of the ball screw feed system, which not only consists of all components of the feed system but also takes different nonideal characteristics of each component into consideration, is established to realize the physical simulation of the whole system. Then, with the consideration of the impacts of inverter dead zone, motor cogging torque, rotor mixed-eccentricity, winding asymmetry, and collecting error of feedback current, the frequency components of fluctuations caused by the nonlinear electrical characteristics of inverter and servo motor in the servo drive system are obtained. Finally, the influences of load, feedrate, servo parameters, and dynamic characteristics of mechanical structure on fluctuation are analyzed in the time domain and frequency domain. The phenomenon of displacement fluctuation of the worktable caused by the electrical characteristics of the servo system indicates that it is necessary and meaningful to build the integrated model to study the ball screw feed system from the view of the whole system. • Ball screw feed system integrated model including control system, inverter, motor, mechanical system. • Physical simulation of feed system considering nonlinear electrical characteristics of servo system. • Feed system fluctuation due to nonlinear electrical characteristics of servo system is studied. • Low frequency components of servo system harmonics can pass through mechanical system. • Analysis of impact of load, feedrate, servo parameter, mechanical system dynamic characteristics on fluctuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strontium doped lanthanum cobaltite (LSC, La 1− x Sr x CoO 3−δ) is a promising oxygen electrode material for intermediate temperature solid oxide cells (SOCs) and oxygen membranes. Its application in service is however impeded by its thermodynamic instability. The present work is aiming to identify the phase stability of LSC by thermodynamic modeling of the La-Sr-Co-O system using the CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) method coupled with experiments. The calculated results based on the developed database are validated using experimental data both from literature and the present work. General agreement is achieved between model predictions and experimental results. Other properties of the LSC perovskite, such as oxygen non-stoichiometry and cation distribution, are also calculated and predicted based on the developed La-Sr-Co-O database. These calculations can provide important guidance in designing LSC-based materials for various applications and the established thermodynamic functions can serve as input for further thermodynamic calculations on altered and even more complex perovskites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel hybrid system using geothermal energy and fuel gas in a co-feed structure is proposed. The main objectives include improving the sustainability of a gas turbine cycle associated with a geothermal power plant and reducing carbon emissions. To this end, a novel multi-waste heat recovery process was developed in which the heated airflow in the gas turbine cycle was directed to the geothermal flash cycle to increase the viability of the flash process in this unit. A parallel heat recovery structure then used part of the waste heat from the gas turbine cycle to start a supercritical carbon dioxide cycle and also improve the performance of the geothermal flash cycle. Hence, two organic Rankine cycles were used in the geothermal flash cycle. The other part of the waste heat from the gas turbine cycle was consumed in a cascade framework in a steam Rankine cycle and a desalination plant in combination with a domestic water heater. The defined structure was simulated and a comprehensive study was done from the viewpoints of energy, exergy, environment, and thermoeconomics. This structure reduced the total irreversibility as well as the carbon dioxide emissions compared to the existing literature data. • Proposal of an innovative process based on gas turbine cycle and geothermal energy. • Application of Aspen HYSYS simulation, 4E analysis, and parametric study. • This system produces 121200 kW of power, 30.03 kg s of fresh water, and 205.16 kg s of heat. • Energy and exergy efficiencies and products' unit cost of are 49%, 36%, and 12.79 $ GJ. • CO2 footprints related to the power and all the products are 0.55 and 0.387 kg CO 2 kWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The evolution of the smoldering front shape with airflow rates was revealed. • The quenching and self-sustaining of smoldering can be controlled by airflow rate. • The smoldering model of sewage sludge was established by AEA approach. • The porosity is the most crucial parameter impacting smoldering characteristics. Sewage sludge is a major by-product of wastewater treatment, and its unfavorable properties are frequently a key restriction of disposal technologies, resulting in high costs and ineffective waste management. Smoldering combustion is a new technique for disposing of organic solid waste with high moisture content, which efficiently recovers energy with minimal igniting energy requirements. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of airflow rate on sewage sludge (SS) smoldering combustion by combining experimental and modeling analyses. Results show that air channeling easily forms at the reactor's edge, intensifying the smoldering reaction and forming a concave smoldering front. The minimum airflow rate required for self-sustaining smoldering is 0.3 cm/s. As the airflow rate increases, convective heat transfer becomes dominant over conduction and radiation, resulting in a surge in smoldering temperature and velocity at 0.6 cm/s, followed by a linear increase. The maximum airflow rate at which the smoldering process can propagate stably during SS disposal is 8 cm/s. The expressions of the smoldering characteristics are obtained by using the activation energy asymptotic approach, and the calculated and experimental values show the same trend of variation, with good agreement at low airflow rate conditions. Sensitivity analysis shows that porosity φ is the most crucial parameter affecting smoldering temperature and velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mn-MOF derived MnS was synthesized for heterogeneous PMS activation. • An electron-transfer dominated process was verified in α-MnS/PMS system. • The presence of 1O2 and free radicals promoted the degradation of LVF. • The application potential of α-MnS/PMS system was evaluated. Recently, transition metal sulfides have attracted much attention due to their better catalytic capacities as peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activator than their metal oxide counterparts. However, the systematic studies on PMS activation using transition metal sulfides are still lacking. In this work, manganese sulfide (MnS) materials were synthesized via a MOFs-derived method and utilized for PMS activation to degrade levofloxacin (LVF) in water for the first time. As expected, MnS exhibited remarkable LVF degradation efficiency by PMS activation, which was distinctly higher than Mn 2 O 3. The results of quenching experiments, electro spin resonance identification and electrochemical tests indicated that electron-transfer progress was the dominant mechanism in α-MnS/PMS system. Meanwhile, the presence of 1O 2 and radicals further became the removal of LVF by α-MnS/PMS system into a radical/nonradical coupling process. The superior electrical conductivity of α-MnS than α-Mn 2 O 3 was revealed by DFT calculations, which resulted in the higher catalytic capacity of α-MnS. The result of XPS also indicated the S species in MnS accelerated the recycle of Mn(IV)/Mn(II) and then promoted the generation of radicals. Furthermore, the influence of various environmental conditions on LVF removal and the reusability of α-MnS were also investigated, which demonstrated the high application potential of α-MnS/PMS system. Finally, six possible pathways of LVF oxidation in the system were proposed based on the identified byproducts and their ecotoxicity was evaluated with ECOSAR method. This work promotes the fundamental understanding of PMS activation by α-MnS and provides useful information for practical application of manganese sulfide in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies suggest that improvement in symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is accompanied by changes in neural connectivity, however, few studies have investigated directional (effective) connectivity. The current study assesses treatment-related changes in effective connectivity in youth with PTSD undergoing Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). Functional MRI scans before and after 16 weeks of TF-CBT for 20 youth with PTSD, or the same time interval for 20 healthy controls (HC) were included in the analysis. Structural equation modeling was used to model group differences in directional connectivity at baseline, and changes in connectivity from pre- to post-treatment. At baseline, the PTSD group, relative to the HC group, had significantly greater connectivity in the path from dorsal cingulate to anterior cingulate and from dorsal cingulate to posterior cingulate corticies. From pre- to post-treatment, connectivity in these paths decreased significantly in the PTSD group, as did connectivity from right hippocampus to left superior temporal gyrus. Connectivity from the left amygdala to the lateral orbital frontal cortex was significantly lower in PTSD vs HC at baseline, but did not change from pre- to post-treatment. Although based on a small sample, these results converge with previous studies in suggesting a central role for the dorsal cingulate cortex in PTSD symptoms. The direction of this connectivity suggests that the dorsal cingulate is the source of modulation of anterior and posterior cingulate cortex during trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. • Youth with PTSD compared to controls have greater connectivity from dorsal cingulate to anterior cingulate and posterior cingulate corticies. • From pre- to post-treatment, connectivity in these paths decreased significantly in the PTSD group. • Connectivity from the amygdala to the lateral orbital frontal cortex was significantly lower in PTSD vs HC at baseline, but did not change with treatment. • These results converge with previous studies in suggesting a central role for the dorsal cingulate cortex in PTSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extraction of petroleum and natural gas is often accompanied by a large number of associated gases, especially the high CO 2 content reservoirs facing the emission of a large amount of CO 2. CO 2 methanation is recognized as one of the suitable candidates for CO 2 utilization to reduce the emission of CO 2. Because of the highly exothermic nature of the reaction, however, it is very important to enhance the heat transfer process inside the reactor and inhibit the formation of hot spots. In the fixed bed reactor, the heat transfer in the radial direction is greatly limited compared with that in the axial direction. Thus, this work adopted the radial flow reactor to evaluate the CO 2 methanation process by the means of a numerical model based on OpenFOAM. Four types of radial flow reactor configurations, namely centrifugal Z-type, centrifugal Π-type, centripetal Z-type, and centripetal Π-type, were compared. The fluid flow, heat transfer, and reaction performances for these reactors were discussed under consistent operating conditions. Results show that the centrifugal Π-type structure has the most uniform flow field. In terms of heat transfer and reaction performance, the centripetal Z-type structure is the best among the four radial flow reactor configurations. These findings provide a theoretical basis and technical guidance for designing and developing radial flow reactors. • A CFD model of radial flow reactor was developed for CO 2 methanation. • Four types of radial flow reactor structures were compared. • The structure-performance relationship for radial flow reactor was investigated. • Flow, heat transfer, and reaction performance for radial flow reactor were explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen storage has become one of the key challenges in the advancement of hydrogen utilization technologies during the past decades. Here, we report the excellent capability of single wall phosphorus nanotubes (SW-PNTs) in hydrogen storage by employing classic molecular dynamics simulation. Results demonstrate hydrogen is sequentially stored on both sides of the nanotube framework layer by layer, forming a wreath-like gathering area. The decomposition of free adsorption energy has revealed the wreath-like distribution leads to the enhanced binding of hydrogen via a synergetic contribution from both enthalpy and entropy. In phosphorus nanotubes, the storage performance is found to be strongly affected by the operative temperature and pressure, and the gravimetric storage of hydrogen molecules is estimated to be as high as 16.19 wt% at 77 K and 5 MPa. Our work has identified phosphorus as an efficient candidate for hydrogen storage and may provide an important implication in understanding the interaction between hydrogen and phosphorus materials. [Display omitted] • Hydrogen capacity increases with pressure and decrease with temperature. • H 2 binding to phosphorene nanotube is stronger than to graphene nanotube. • Hydrogen capacity was predicted to be 16.19 wt% at 77 k and 5 MPa in phosphorene nanotube. • Wreath-like and layer-by-layer distribution mechanism enhances the hydrogen capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoporous bioactive glasses have great potential for applications in the field of bone tissue repair due to their excellent biological properties, but effective information on the repair process is not available in a timely manner. Thus, real-time monitoring of mineralization and drug release processes will be beneficial to obtain the degree of healing and optimize the amount and distribution of drugs to improve targeted therapeutic effects. Here, erbium-doped mesoporous bioactive glass microspheres (Er/MBGs) were successfully synthesized by the sol-gel method, and the doping concentration of erbium was selected based on fluorescence, BET, and bioactivity tests. The results showed that 4Er/MBGs not only had the highest luminescence emission, higher specific surface area (418.8 m2/g) and mesopore volume (0.42 cm3/g) but also presented excellent bioactivity. Therefore, 4Er/MBGs were selected for in vitro real-time monitoring of mineralization and drug release. It has been shown that the luminescence intensity of 4Er/MBGs is linearly related to its mineralization degree; As the degree of mineralization increases in vitro , the intensity of the luminescence emission gradually decreases. The results of in vitro drug release monitoring experiments showed that 4Er/MBGs loaded with the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) exhibited great pH responsiveness, and the loaded DOX selectively quenched the green emission of the microspheres. When the drug was released, the green emission recovered stably, and the signal value of the ratio R (I 650 nm/ I 510 nm) of the emission intensity of the red to the green of the microspheres gradually decreased. Monitoring changes in the value of the R signal is instructive for tracking the drug release process. Meanwhile, in vitro antibacterial experiments indicated that 4Er/MBGs had a strong inhibitory effect on E. coli and S. aureus , with antibacterial rates of up to 92.5% and 90.7%, respectively. Collectively, Er/MBGs have potential applications as optically functional materials in bone tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper proposes a double-flash geothermal system with a dual-pressure organic Rankine cycle binary system. To improve the system's performance, the inlet geofluid is preheated via an indirect mode of a solar system, and an Ejector Refrigeration Cycle system is installed to the geofluid's brine line to produce cooling capacity. Comprehensive investigations are performed to select the Dual-pressure Organic Rankine Cycle s working fluid among various pure substances and zeotropic mixtures that refer to choosing the R245ca/R142b. The system presents 12.12 MW net power at the base mode with a 1.87 MW cooling load and 4.88 years payback period. Some main parameters' change effect on the system is studied. The low-pressure steam turbine's exit pressure influences the cooling load and energetic efficiency. The high-pressure turbine's input pressure affects the total exergy destruction and net power higher than the other. The optimum state of the system is obtained through two energy-economic and exergy-economic assessments. The energy-economic assessment provides a higher cooling load of about 5.7 MW and a lower net power of about 10.8 MW with 4.59 years payback period. The exergy-economic assessment represents 12.22 MW net power and a cooling load of about 1.97 MW with 4.77 years payback period. • A novel solar and geothermal dual-source power and cooling system is proposed. • Different pure and zeotropic working fluids are employed to select the best one. • Applying energy, exergy, and economic analyses and multi-objective optimization. • R245ca/R142b is selected as the best working fluid in the DORC subsystem. • 12.12 MW net power and 26.45% exergetic efficiencies are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controllable delivery of persulfate (PS) and the enhancement of oxidative availability of pollutants in in-situ oxidative remediation of low-permeability polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contaminated soil are crucial. To tackle the above challenges, the coupling of Tween 80 solubilization enhanced oxidation of phenanthrene (PHE) in low-permeability soil under electrokinetic remediation (EKR) was proposed. Firstly, batch degradation experiments showed that the addition of Tween 80 significantly inhibited the degradation of PHE in soil under thermally activated PS, as the dosage of Tween 80 increased from 0 % to 1 % with the corresponding removal rate declining from 99.19 % to 40.90 %. Accordingly, in-situ electrokinetic delivery of Tween 80 and PS was regulated in further EKR, intending to reduce unproductive consumption. PS was more uniformly delivered to the whole remediation regions from the cathode chamber by electromigration, while Tween 80 was transported into the soil from the anode chamber by electroosmosis, which made Tween 80 solubilization and PS oxidation achieve synergistic effect. And the total removal rate of PHE reached 64.90 % under this strategy, which had increased by 415.90 % and 8.76 %− 130.14 % compared with only EKR or EKR coupling single enhanced technology, respectively. After further thermal activation of transported PS at 50 ℃ by electrical resistance heating, the total removal rate of PHE increased to 71.58 %. EPR spectrum indicated that SO 4 . - and OH. were responsible for the degradation of PHE. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focuses on developing and evaluating a free-flying space robot equipped with a cable-driven manipulator and an adaptive gripper. First, a transmission joint comprising a pair of gears and pulleys is designed and actuated by motors located in the first link of the manipulator. Afterward, based on the kinematics and dynamics models of the robot, a mission distribution control scheme is proposed for the robot to drive its end-effector to achieve the desired position and attitude for capturing space targets. Furthermore, exploiting this strategy, considerable comparison simulations between two space robots equipped with a traditional manipulator and a cable-driven arm are conducted. Wherein, the goal position and attitude are selected through a uniform sampling method. For the same capture mission, energy consumptions of the base and manipulator as well as state errors of the base are taken as cost functions for performance evaluation. Finally, a planar target capture case study using the adaptive gripper and a spatial motion test with the help of an air-bearing simulator are carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of the presented cable-driven space robot. • A space robot equipped with a cable-driven manipulator with an adaptive gripper is developed. • A mission distribution control scheme is proposed for capturing space targets. • Energy consumptions and state errors are selected as cost functions to evaluate the performance of the presented robot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, small celestial bodies (SCBs) exploration missions have attracted extensive attention. For the purposes of space resource exploitation and earth defense, revealing the formation and evolution of the solar system and exploring the origin of life, sampling return and in situ resource utilization (ISRU) have become the focus of SCBs exploration missions. Based on this background, this paper attempts to comprehensively illustrate the advances in SCBs resources utilization and exploitation technologies. First, the status of the utilization and exploitation of SCBs is summarized. The classification and resource distribution of SCBs are introduced later and focus on the utilization prospects of SCBs resources. From the four aspects of resource prospecting, exploitation, extraction and storage, transfer and transportation, the technical progress of SCBs mining is discussed. Some typical sampling technologies, such as siliceous aerogel, impact projectile, auger drill and excavating mechanism, pneumatic apparatus and wheel brush sampler, cutter and abrasive tool, laser and electromagnetic device, as well as bionic mining technologies inspired by some animals and plants, are reviewed in detail. According to the research of space mining, the critical points and legal issues involved in the utilization and exploitation of SCBs resources are presented, and future development trends are proposed. Finally, the full paper is summarized. • The status of the utilization and exploitation of SCBs is summarized. • The classification and utilization prospects of SCBs resources are introduced. • The technical progress of SCBs sampling and mining is discussed. • The critical points and issues are presented. • Future development trends are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel third-order shear deformable model was developed. • Porous functionally graded graphene platelet reinforced cylindrical panels. • A blast pressure acted on the structures. • Temperature-dependent mechanical responses. In this paper, a novel shear deformable model is developed to investigate the temperature-dependent thermo-mechanical responses of porous functionally graded graphene reinforced composite (FG-GPLRC) cylindrical panels subjected to an initial blast pressure. An improved third order shear deformation theory, which has more rigorous kinematic of displacement, is implemented in the construction of the proposed model. Then, the current model is used to predict the thermo-mechanical responses of the nanocomposite panels made of metal foams reinforced by graphene platelets (GPLs). Lagrange equations are used to derive the governing equations corresponding to thermal buckling as well as the free and forced vibrations of the porous FG-GPLRC cylindrical panels. A Navier-type solution, which is free from computational errors, is implemented. Validation works demonstrate that the present model provides accurate predictions of mechanical responses for composite structures. A comprehensive parameter study is carried out to explore the influences of several key parameters regarding the thermo-mechanical behaviors of the porous FG-GPLRC cylindrical panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most important parts of deep space exploration missions, the sampling technologies of extraterrestrial celestial bodies (ECBs) have attracted the attention and interest of many researchers. As a relatively efficient and convenient sampling technique, drill samplers have been applied in different ECBs exploration missions. Different from the previous drill apparatus, this paper introduces a novel automatic assisted drill system (AADS), which is used to sample the deep layer regolith of ECBs. This drilling system can sample the deep regolith layer under manual assistance or unmanned automatic operation mode. The sampler has improved and designed a segmented detachable coring pipe, drilling pipe and casing pipe. It can largely maintain the layer information in the depth direction of the ECBs regolith and can also automatically change the drill sampling process through the driller change system to improve the sampling efficiency. Finally, an automatic test apparatus was designed, and an experimental platform was established to conduct a drill sampling test for the AADS sampler. The experimental results show that the AADS sampling system can successfully obtain at least 2.4 m depth and 1.1 kg weight simulated regolith samples. • The AADS design details are provided. • The AADS sampling strategy are analyzed. • An automatic test apparatus and experimental platform are introduced. • Preliminary filed test results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We introduce a transformer-based GAN architecture with fewer parameters. • Replace the self-attention mechanism with pooling operations. • Depthwise convolution is added to provide absolute position information for the GAN. • Experimental results show that our proposed GAN model has fewer parameters. Recently, the Transformers have shown great potential in computer vision tasks, such as classification detection, segmentation, and image synthesis, etc. The success of Transformers has been long attributed to the attention-based token mixer. However, the computational complexity of the attention-based token mixer module is quadratic to the number of tokens to be mixed. Therefore, the attention-based token mixer module requires more parameters and will cause a very large amount of computation. As far as image synthesis task is concerned, the attention-based token mixer module increases the computation amount of generative adversarial networks (GANs) based on Transformers. To address this problem, we propose the PFGAN method. The motivation is based on our observation that the computational complexity of pooling is linear to the sequence length, without any other learnable parameters. Based on this observation, we use pooling rather than self-attention as the token mixer. Experimental results on CelebA, CIFAR-10 and LSUN datasets demonstrate that our proposed method has fewer parameters and fewer computational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • M. anisopliae phenylethyl alcohol exerts an avoidance effect to locusts. • M. anisopliae infection elevates the expression of LmOBP11 in locusts. • Treatment with phenylethyl alcohol upregulates LmOBP11 in locusts. • Locust LmOBP11 is involved in the detection of fungal phenylethyl alcohol. • LmOBP11 negatively regulates the locust immune system to benefit fungal infection. Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are a class of small molecular weight soluble proteins that exist as expanded gene families in all insects, acting as ligand carriers mediating olfaction and other physiological processes. During fungal infection, a subset of insect OBPs were shown to be differentially expressed. We tested whether the altered expression of insect OBP s during pathogenic infection plays a role in behavioral or immune interactions between insect hosts and their pathogens. A wide range of techniques including RNAi-directed knockdown, heterologous protein expression, electrophysiological/behavioral analyses, transcriptomics, gut microbiome analyses, coupled with tandem mass spectrometry ion monitoring, were used to characterize the function of a locust OBP in host behavioral and immune responses. The entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae produces the volatile compound phenylethyl alcohol (PEA) that causes behavioral avoidance in locusts. This is mediated by the locust odorant binding protein 11 (LmOBP11). Expression of LmOBP11 is induced by M. anisopliae infection and PEA treatment. LmOBP11 participates in insect detection of the fungal-produced PEA and avoidance of PEA-contaminated food, but the upregulation of LmOBP11 upon M. anisopliae infection negatively affects the insect immune responses to ultimately benefit successful mycosis by the pathogen. RNAi knockdown of LmOBP11 increases the production of antimicrobial peptides and enhances locust resistance to M. anisopliae infection, while reducing host antennal electrophysiological responses to PEA and locust avoidance of PEA treated food. Also, transcriptomic and gut microbiome analyses reveal microbiome dysbiosis and changes in host genes involved in behavior and immunity. These results are consistent with the elevated expression of LmOBP11 leading to enhanced volatile detection and suppression of immune responses. These findings suggest a crosstalk between olfaction and immunity, indicating manipulation of host OBPs as a novel target exploited by fungal pathogens to alter immune activation and thus promote the successful infection of the host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ball milling the powders of Mg-based alloys with transition metal compounds is effective for improving their hydrogen storage performances. In this experiment, the alloys of La 1.7 Y 0.3 Mg 16 Ni + x wt.% TiF 3 (x = 0–10) were prepared through mechanical milling technology. XRD, SEM, HRTEM and granulometry were used to measure the composition and microstructure of alloys. The isothermal hydrogen storage property was measured by a Sievert apparatus. The results reveal that the TiF 3 additive in ball-milled samples transforms into MgF 2 and TiH 2 after the first hydrogen absorption. Adding TiF 3 enhances the crystallinity and reduces the average particle and crystallite sizes of alloys, which is beneficial to accelerating hydriding and dehydriding kinetics. Adding 7 wt% TiF 3 into alloy decreases the dehydrogenation activation energy from 72.2 to 64.0 kJ/mol and improves the hydrogen absorption rate at low temperatures, absorbing 3.50 wt% H in 0.5 min at 323 K. [Display omitted] • La 1.7 Y 0.3 Mg 16 Ni with different TiF 3 additions were prepared by ball milling. • Adding TiF 3 increases crystallinity and decreases average crystallite size of alloys. • MgF 2 and TiH 2 nanocrystals are distributed uniformly on the surface of particles. • 7 wt% TiF 3 -added alloy can absorb 3.50 wt% hydrogen in 0.5 min at 323 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of BeiDou System (BDS) and the fifth generation (5G) system is expected to provide positioning services with high accuracy and reliability. In particular, as an important technique in the 5G system, device-to-device (D2D) communication enables the cooperative positioning for the mobile users (MUs) to offer a large number of redundant measurements, where the received signal strength (RSS) measurement can be exploited due to its easy access and cost-efficiency. However, the RSS measurements cannot be accurately modelled to reflect the propagation distances. In this paper, a robust BDS/5G integrated positioning scheme based on the resilient observation model is proposed. Specifically, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) is exploited to recursively integrate the BDS pseudorange and RSS measurements to estimate the unknown position parameters. We establish a resilient observation model based on the signal propagation model in the 5G network, through which the errors in the RSS measurements are compensated for by the BDS pseudorange measurements. Moreover, the effects of the abnormal errors in both kinds of the measurements are controlled by the robust estimation through automatically adjusting the weights of the measurements. Numerical results show that the proposed resilient observation model can correct part of the errors in the RSS measurements and results in higher positioning accuracy compared to the positioning based on the RSS measurements or the direct integration of both the BDS pseudorange and RSS measurements in different scenarios. The proposed algorithm also outperforms the positioning based on the BDS pseudorange measurements when the visible satellites are not sufficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alumina abrasive has a high polishing rate in the polishing process, but there are issues that need to be addressed with poor dispersion and poor post-polishing surface quality. This study used complexing agents with various numbers of carboxyl groups to prepare a series of alumina slurries. Scanning electron microscope images and zeta potential analysis demonstrated that the complexing agents could effectively increase the absolute value of alumina particles' zeta potential and significantly enhance their dispersibility. Additionally, utilizing the UNIPOL-1502 polishing machine, the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) performance of polishing slurries with complexing agents on sapphire substrates was investigated. According to the findings, as the carboxyl group count rises, material removal initially increases and subsequently declines. The material removal rate using alumina slurry added with complexing agent disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (the number of carboxyl groups is 4) can reach up to about 4.0 μm/h, which is 52% higher than that without complexing agents, while the average surface roughness of 0.96 nm can be obtained, which is 51% less than that without complexing agents. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed that the complexing agents can react with the abrasive particles and sapphire substrates. The friction coefficient test and contact angle test revealed that slurries with complexing agents demonstrated excellent wettability and mechanical action. The sapphire surface becomes smoother as a result of the synergistic effect of chemical etching and mechanical removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen (N) inputs from legume residues over the long-term contribute to improve soil N cycling and the productivity of succeeding plants in species-diverse ecosystems. Litter mixtures enhance soil fertility, thus enhancing biomass production, which in turn creates positive diversity–productivity feedback in the long-term. Positive effects of litter diversity on the composition and diversity of soil organisms increase over time. Residue-borne pathogens and pests gradually accumulate through litter input from monocultures, whereas diverse plant-litter mixtures reduce the incidence and spread of residue-borne pathogens and pests in the long-term. Plant litter can strengthen biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships in both natural and managed ecosystems. Appropriate management of residues from plant mixtures across multiple growing seasons can promote the sustainability of food production systems. Plant biodiversity–productivity relationships become stronger over time in grasslands, forests, and agroecosystems. Plant shoot and root litter is important in mediating these positive relationships, yet the functional role of plant litter remains overlooked in long-term experiments. We propose that plant litter strengthens biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships over time in four ways by providing decomposing detritus that releases nitrogen (N) over time for uptake by existing and succeeding plants, enhancing overall soil fertility, changing soil community composition, and reducing the impact of residue-borne pathogens and pests. We bring new insights into how diversity–productivity relationships may change over time and suggest that the diversification of crop residue retention through increased residue diversity from plant mixtures will improve the sustainability of food production systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable uncertainty remains regarding associations of multiple risk factors with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We aimed to systematically screen and validate a wide range of potential risk factors for AD. Among 502,493 participants from the UK Biobank, baseline data were extracted for 4171 factors spanning 10 different categories. Phenome-wide association analyses and time-to-event analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with both polygenic risk scores for AD and AD diagnosis at follow-up. We performed two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to further assess their potential causal relationships with AD and imaging association analysis to discover underlying mechanisms. We identified 39 factors significantly associated with both AD polygenic risk scores and risk of incident AD, where higher levels of education, body size, basal metabolic rate, fat-free mass, computer use, and cognitive functions were associated with a decreased risk of developing AD, and selective food intake and more outdoor exposures were associated with an increased risk of developing AD. The identified factors were also associated with AD-related brain structures, including the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and inferior/middle temporal cortex, and 21 of these factors were further supported by Mendelian randomization evidence. To our knowledge, this is the first study to comprehensively and rigorously assess the effects of wide-ranging risk factors on AD. Strong evidence was found for fat-free body mass, basal metabolic rate, computer use, selective food intake, and outdoor exposures as new risk factors for AD. Integration of genetic, clinical, and neuroimaging information may help prioritize risk factors and prevention targets for AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aldehyde and ketone compounds are ubiquitous in the air and prone to adverse effects on human health. Cooking emission is one of the major indoor sources. Aiming to evaluate health risks associated with inhalation exposure to aldehyde and ketone compounds, 13 carbonyl compounds (CCs) released from heating 5 edible oils, 3 seasonings, and 2 dishes were investigated in a kitchen laboratory. For the scenarios of heating five types of oil, aldehydes accounted for 61.1%-78.0% of the total emission, mainly acetaldehyde, acrolein and hexanal. Comparatively, heating oil with added seasonings released greater concentrations of aldehyde and ketone compounds. The concentration enhancement of larger molecular aldehydes was significantly greater. The emission factors of aldehyde and ketone compounds for cooking the dish of chili fried meat were much greater compared to that of tomato fried eggs. Therefore, food materials also had a great impact on the aldehyde and ketone emissions. Acetone and acetaldehyde were the most abundant CCs in the kitchen. Acrolein concentrations ranged from 235.18 to 498.71 µg/m3, which was about 100 times greater compared to the guidelines provided by Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). The acetaldehyde inhalation for adults was 856.83-1515.55 µg and 56.23-192.79 µg from exposure to chili fried meat and tomato fried eggs, respectively. This exceeds the reference value of 90 µg/day provided by OEHHA. The findings of this study provided scientific evidences for the roles of cooking emissions on indoor air quality and human health. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parallel imaging is widely used in magnetic resonance imaging as an acceleration technology. Traditional linear reconstruction methods in parallel imaging often suffer from noise amplification. Recently, a non-linear robust artificial-neural-network for k-space interpolation (RAKI) exhibits superior noise resilience over other linear methods. However, RAKI performs poorly at high acceleration rates and needs a large number of autocalibration signals as the training samples. In order to tackle these issues, we propose a multi-weight method that implements multiple weighting matrices on the under-sampled data, named MW-RAKI. Enforcing multiple weighted matrices on the measurements can effectively reduce the influence of noise and increase the data constraints. Furthermore, we incorporate the strategy of multiple weighting matrixes into a residual version of RAKI, and form MW-rRAKI. Experimental comparisons with the alternative methods demonstrated noticeably better reconstruction performances, particularly at high acceleration rates. With only 12.5% of the k-space data is available, the PSNR of MW-RAKI and MW-rRAKI is improved by about 3 dB and 4 dB compared to RAKI and rRAKI, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tm3+/Dy3+ single and co-doped SrO–MgO–B 2 O 3 (SMB) glasses were fabricated via the conventional melt-quenching technique. The thermal stability of the host glass was determined by a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curve. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were measured to characterize the structural properties and vibration features of the as-prepared glasses, respectively. The transmittances of the studied glasses can reach about 90% in the range from 300 to 800 nm. It can be confirmed that Tm3+/Dy3+ single and co-doped SMB glasses can all be efficiently excited by near-ultraviolet (NUV) light through absorption and photoluminescence excitation spectra. Moreover, the emission spectra and fluorescence decay curves confirmed the existence of energy transfer between Tm3+ and Dy3+. The Tm3+/Dy3+ co-doped glasses can both realize tunable emission from blue light to cool white and eventually to warm white light under the excitation of 352, 362, and 365 nm. Furthermore, by using the Inokuti-Hirayama (I–H) model, the energy transfer is testified to be carried out in Tm3+-Dy3+ clusters through the dipole-dipole (d-d) interaction mechanism. More importantly, the thermal stability of Tm3+/Dy3+ co-doped SMB glass was demonstrated by temperature-dependent emission spectra. Overall, these results fully indicate that Tm3+/Dy3+ co-doped SMB glasses have great potential to be used in NUV-based white light-emitting diodes with different requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-uniform shrinkage of SiC precursors will lead to cracking and thus weaken the mechanical properties of the C f /SiC composites. This study used the pressure-assisted gel impregnation method to introduce SiC particles (SiC p) into the carbon fiber preform and combined the PIP technique to fabricate C f /SiC composites. The mechanism of enhancing the mechanical properties of composites was studied. Results showed that SiC p effectively eliminated matrix cracking, and the PyC interface layer inhibited interfacial crack propagation. The combined effect of the two resulted in a significant improvement in the mechanical properties of the composites. Specifically, the maximum flexural strength of the C f /SiC composites was 360.63±26.02 MPa, and the maximum fracture toughness was 8.57±1.82 MPa·m1/2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The relationship between intrinsic molecular structures of phthalocyanine and NIR reflective properties were investigated. • The intrinsic molecular structures including d orbital of the central metal and peripheral substituents. • The model house tests showed a temperature difference of 8.1 °C between PDMS- Pc and pure PDMS films covered chambers. Urban heat island effects are mainly caused by near infrared region (NIR) thermal radiation (700–2500 nm) produced by sunlight. To reduce accumulation of heat, cooling paintings containing NIR reflective pigments is one possible solution. In this research, 4- tert -butyl phthalocyanines were synthesized through environmentally friendly solvent-free methods. The NIR reflective behaviors could be readily tuned through modification of phthalocyanines structures, and it was found out that the distribution state of the electron in d orbit plays a key role in determining the intensity of NIR reflectance. 4- tert- butyl Cu(II) phthalocyanine showed the highest total solar reflectance (73 %) among all synthesized phthalocyanines, and It exhibited good heat resistance, weathering stability. Eventually, the film prepared by mixing polydimethylsiloxane and 4- tert -butyl Cu(II) phthalocyanine (PDMS- Pc) showed a temperature difference of 7.5 °C compared to pure polydimethylsiloxane film in the model house study, demonstrating potential applications as cooling coatings. This cooling coating material can reduce the energy consumption caused by cooling equipment such as air conditioners which will achieve energy conservation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the differences in sleep spindle (SS) characteristics during stage N2 sleep between children with childhood absence epilepsy and healthy controls, and between children with childhood absence epilepsy with or without cognitive impairment. We recruited 29 children (14 females, 15 males, mean age: 8 (2.5) years) with childhood absence epilepsy who did not undergone antiseizure treatments previously and 30 age-matched controls (14 females, 16 males, mean age: 9 (3.0) years). For all patients, data on medical history were collected. Each child was monitored overnight by long-term video electroencephalography and was evaluated by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition. Next, we compared anterior SS characteristics, including density, frequency, cycle length, duration, amplitude, and percentage of sleep stages. The childhood absence epilepsy group exhibited lower spindle density and duration in the first 37.5 min of stage N2 sleep than the control group (P < 0.01). A decrease in spindle density could be observed in the childhood absence epilepsy group with aggravated cognition impairment. The spindle density was substantially lower in the cognitively impaired group than in the cognitively unimpaired group (P < 0.01). No significant differences were observed in SS amplitude, SS frequency, SS cycle length, and the distribution of sleep stages. Reduction in spindle density and duration is associated with the mechanisms underlying childhood absence epilepsy. The deficit in SS density is related with impaired cognition. This deficiency in SSs may be a useful predictive indicator of cognitive impairment in children with absence epilepsy, indicating that SSs may become a useful biomarker and potential adjuvant anti-seizure target for cognitive impairment caused by childhood absence epilepsy. [Display omitted] • The density of sleep spindle in patients with typical CAE are reduced. • The duration of sleep spindle in patients with typical CAE are reduced. • CAE patients with impaired cognition have more deficits in sleep spindle density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of position on regional kyphosis angle (RKA) in patients with kyphosis secondary to symptomatic old osteoporotic thoracolumbar fracture (so-OTLF). The authors evaluated the radiographic data of patients with kyphosis secondary to so-OTLF who underwent posterior corrective fusion surgery in our hospital. The spine sagittal parameters were evaluated in the standing position preoperatively. RKA was measured under standing radiograph, full-length spine computed tomography image in prone position and intraoperative prone X-ray radiograph, respectively. Changes in RKA were compared between groups. Thirty-three patients were included. The average RKAs in the standing position, preoperative prone position, and intraoperative prone position were 46.2°, 31.1°, and 30.5° respectively. RKA decreased significantly from standing to preoperative prone position or intraoperative prone position (P < 0.001). In 93.9% (31/33) of the patients, the difference between preoperative prone RKA and intraoperative prone RKA was within 5°. The changes in RKA from standing to intraoperative prone position in the moderate to severe kyphosis group were significantly greater than those in the mild kyphosis group (P < 0.001). The reductive effect of the intraoperative prone position was greater in patients with moderate to severe kyphosis deformities. RKA in the preoperative prone position was almost the same as the RKA in the intraoperative prone position. Therefore, assessing preoperative full-length spine computed tomography in the prone position helped formulate the plan for corrective surgery in patients with kyphosis secondary to so-OTLF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug plans take different approaches to determining reimbursement prices for generic drugs. One common approach is to set the maximum reimbursement price as a percentage of the price of the interchangeable branded drug. In many countries this percentage depends on the number of generic entrants, a model we call "tiered pricing." This paper seeks to enhance understanding of how to set the tiers. We construct a simple model of tiered pricing and set parameters to match evidence on generic drug costs and the distribution of revenues. Using simulation methods, we then assess different tier structures in terms of total surplus and average drug cost. We find when tiers are bunched tightly together welfare outcomes are poor. Moreover, there are large welfare gains from increasing the number of tiers from one to two, and only small welfare gains from increasing the number of tiers beyond four. The choice of tiers has substantial welfare and cost implications. While it is possible to refine the simulation analysis based on specific market characteristics, an optimal tier structure, such as the one we propose in the paper, should have at least two tiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are highly promising energy conversion devices. However, the performance and efficiency of current SOFC devices are still limited by inadequate oxygen reduction activity in the cathode, which has been recognized as a great challenge for SOFCs to achieve high power output at low operating temperatures. This has stimulated intensive efforts to develop more efficient cathodes for enhanced catalytic oxygen reduction. This article reviews recent advances in design and fabrication of cathodes for efficient SOFCs, with emphasis on (1) engineering cathode microstructures, (2) fabrication techniques to prepare cathode layers, and (3) strategies to address segregation and poisoning issues. [Display omitted] • Recent progress in SOFC cathodes with efficient catalytic O 2 reduction is reviewed. • Design principles of efficient cathodes are summarized. • Engineering microstructures and fabrication techniques of cathodes are discussed. • Critical technical challenges, strategies and solutions in this topic are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]