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With the continuous improvement and economic development of China's coal mining industry, research on the characteristics of wastewater discharge has gained attraction in recent years. Ballasted flocculation technology, has been widely used in recent years. However, its effect on the settling velocity of the flocs in wastewater has not been quantified. This study aimed to screen optimal reaction condition for ballasted flocculation and to derive the settling velocity of the ballasted flocs under these conditions. The results showed that, the size of the ballasted material had no significant effect on the turbidity and suspended solids removal rate; however, the settling time was effectively shortened, and the turbidity removal rate could reach more than 95% within 15 s. Owing to the optimization of the reaction conditions, 90% of the flocs sizes were distributed in the 80–200 µm range. Moreover, the difference between the theoretical and the measured value of the ballasted flocculation was small, indicating that the derived formula could effectively quantify the settling velocity of the ballasted flocs under optimal conditions. These findings may serve as a critical reference for the treatment of high-suspended solids in coal mining water and have significant potential for engineering application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The suspended solids in the acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene(ABS) wastewater are in the form of viscous latex, which strengthens the blocking phenomenon of the release device, increases the suspended solids in the return water and reduces the removal effect of the air flotation apparatus. Therefore, we designed a new release device. To achieve the goal of controlling the bubbles in the target diameter and enlarge the hole size as much as possible to reduce blockage, we studied the relationship between the geometry structure and performance of the new, which could be describeed by fixed polynomials. The best demulsification effect could be obtained by the hybrid of the polyferric sulfate and FO4440SSH, and the highest removal rate was 92.51 %. After a long-running in the ABS sewage treatment plant of the petrochemical industry, the removal rate of the new could maintain at a high level(>90 %), and the removal effect was stable. Compared with other release devices that reported in the literatures, the new one had advantages significant in both removal efficiency and operation cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum borate whiskers reinforced Al-12Si composites with Al-12Si alloys were fabricated by squeeze casting. The mechanical properties and fracture behaviors of the bond zone between the composites and Al-12Si alloys were experimentally investigated in the test temperature range from 25 to 350 °C. The tensile results indicated that the bonding state of the bond zone was poor at relative low test temperatures while was improved as temperature rising up to 350 °C. Nano-indentation experiment was conducted at elevated temperature to evaluate the nano-hardness and Young's modulus of the materials. The calculation method of Young's modulus was discussed and the computation results support the relevant conclusions of tensile analysis. The temperatures were found to greatly influence the bond quality between the composites and Al-12Si alloys, which would cause a change of fracture position from the bond zone to the unreinforced Al-12Si alloys with elevated temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, multiplex networks are becoming a research focus in the domain of complex networks. Discovering significant correlations between layers in multiplex networks can provide an insight to their structures. In this study, we propose some methods to measure the dissimilarities of different layers in directed and weighted multiplex networks. The dissimilarity is defined on two levels: node level and layer level. The node dissimilarity is computed based on the distance of the probability distribution of its link weights vectors in different layers; and the layer-level dissimilarity is the weighted sum of the nodes’ dissimilarities. Furthermore, the dissimilarity is disintegrated into the connection-based dissimilarity and the weight-based dissimilarity, which represent the topological structure changes and the link weight changes, respectively. The proposed methods are applied to international trade networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A prediction model of compressive strength considering the internal-curing width. • A method for determining the internal-curing width of water-absorbent polymers. • The internal-curing width of the water-absorbent polymers is about 13 µm. • The compressive strength is mainly related to dosage and volume swelling rate. The water-absorbent polymer will bring large holes and the internal-curing region for cement-based materials. These two effects will bring negative and positive effects on the compressive strength of the cement-based material, respectively. In this paper, a calculation model of the compressive strength of cement-based materials with water-absorbent polymers was proposed considering the influence of the large holes and internal-curing on the compressive strength. A method for determining the internal-curing width of water-absorbent polymers based on backscattering image analysis was established. Based on the internal-curing width, the compressive strength was predicted and compared with the results of experiments. In addition, the influences of the internal-curing width, size, dosage, mass swelling rate, and volume swelling rate of water-absorbent polymers on the compressive strength were analyzed. The results show that the internal-curing width of the water-absorbent polymers with a mass swelling ratio of 4.22 g/g is about 13 µm. Based on the internal-curing width obtained by characterization, the compressive strength obtained by model is 7 % greater than that obtained by experiments. Besides, the influence range of the internal-curing width, size, and mass swelling ratio of the water-absorbent polymers on the compressive strength is between 80 Mpa and 90 Mpa. The influence range of the dosage and the volume swelling rate of the water-absorbent polymers on the compressive strength is between 20 Mpa and 90 Mpa. The compressive strength is mainly related to the dosage and the volume swelling rate of water-absorbent polymers. The larger the dosage and volume swelling rate are, the smaller the compressive strength is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, machine learning models have been employed for prediction in various domains. While the prediction performance has obviously improved, some models have become too complex to understand, and these models are called black-box models. Detecting the feature interactions is a useful technique to gain insight into the structure of black-box models. In this paper, we propose a method based on high dimensional model representation (HDMR) to reveal the structure of prediction models by detecting the feature interactions that are embedded in the models. The HDMR-based method can detect the k -way interactions without any constraints on k and can detect the interactions from both classification and regression models. Moreover, this method is model-agnostic and can detect both global and local interactions. Experiments on some synthetic and real datasets demonstrate that the HDMR-based method can detect feature interactions effectively and improve the model interpretability. • A method is proposed to detect feature interactions from prediction models. • The method can help gain insight into the structure of prediction models. • The method is based on high dimensional model representation. • The method can detect any k -way interaction. • The method can be used for both classification and regression models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It is a fundamental issue to find a small subset of influential individuals in a complex network such that they can spread information to the largest number of nodes in the network. Though some heuristic methods, including degree centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, the k-shell decomposition method and a greedy algorithm, can help identify influential nodes, they have limitations for networks with community structure. This paper reveals a new measure for assessing the influence effect based on influence scope maximization, which can complement the traditional measure of the expected number of influenced nodes. A novel method for identifying influential nodes in complex networks with community structure is proposed. This method uses the information transfer probability between any pair of nodes and the k-medoid clustering algorithm. The experimental results show that the influential nodes identified by the k-medoid method can influence a larger scope in networks with obvious community structure than the greedy algorithm without reducing the expected number of influenced nodes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Preventing customer churn is an important task for many enterprises and requires customer churn prediction. This paper investigates the effects of interpersonal influence on the accuracy of customer churn predictions and proposes a novel prediction model that is based on interpersonal influence and that combines the propagation process and customers’ personalized characters. Our contributions include the following: (1) the effects of interpersonal influence on prediction accuracy are evaluated while including determinants that other researchers proved effective, and several models are constructed based on machine learning and statistical methods and compared, assuring the validity of the evaluation; and (2) a novel prediction model based on interpersonal influence and information propagation is proposed. The dataset used in the empirical study was obtained from a leading mobile telecommunication service provider and contains the traditional and network attributes of over one million customers. The empirical results show that traditional classification models that incorporate interpersonal influence can greatly improve prediction accuracy, and our proposed prediction model outperforms the traditional models. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Time series is a very popular type of data which exists in many domains. Clustering time series data has a wide range of applications and has attracted researchers from a wide range of discipline. In this paper a novel algorithm for shape based time series clustering is proposed. It can reduce the size of data, improve the efficiency and not reduce the effects by using the principle of complex network. Firstly, one-nearest neighbor network is built based on the similarity of time series objects. In this step, triangle distance is used to measure the similarity. Of the neighbor network each node represents one time series object and each link denotes neighbor relationship between nodes. Secondly, the nodes with high degrees are chosen and used to cluster. In clustering process, dynamic time warping distance function and hierarchical clustering algorithm are applied. Thirdly, some experiments are executed on synthetic and real data. The results show that the proposed algorithm has good performance on efficiency and effectiveness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Characterization method is developed according to stereological principle. • The hydration depth of cement particles below 10 µm is about 2 µm. • The error of the characterization results is about 1.07%. The hydration depth is the hydrated thickness of cement particle, which reflects the hydration process. The hydration depths of cement particles with different sizes are different. Understanding and controlling the hydration depth may improve the quality and economy of the cement-based material. In this paper, a method is proposed to characterize the hydration depths of cement particles with different sizes in hardened cement-based materials by combining backscattered electron images and the stereological method. The hydration depths of cement particles in hardened cement paste with a water-cement ratio of 0.35 were characterized at the age of 28 days. The results show that the cement particles below 2 µm are completely hydrated and the hydration depths of cement particles below 10 µm are about 2 µm. In the present case, the characterization method has good accuracy for cement particles below 16 µm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A systematic study was made on the identification and quantitative determination of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in heavy products derived from coal and petroleum with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). After the separation of PAHs by a high-resolution column, identification was made through four methods: (1) the relative retention time (RRT) method, (2) the stop-flow-UV scanning method, (3) the method of fluorescence characteristic index Φ′ and (4) the method of V′ index at different UV wavelengths. For the quantitative determination of the components, methods of external standard (E-X), internal standard (I-N) and external standard-response factors (E-F) were compared. The E-F method was recommended by the present paper. For the determination of quantitative response factors (F) two methods were studied, including the HPLC peak-area method (Peak-area method) and the UV absorbance method using a UV spectrometer (absorbance method). The absorbance method was better and is recommended by the present paper. The F values of 30 PAHs from the two different methods are given. The samples analyzed include a coal tar pitch, a thermal cracking residue oil and a residual oil from ethylene production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Ca-alginate promotes the formations of hydration and self-healing products. • Ca-alginate changes the morphology of calcium carbonate. • The promoted products and ca-alginate are bonded by chemical bonds. Ca-alginate bead is a promising material for self-healing of cement-based materials. However, the influence of ca-alginate beads on the hydration and self-healing of cement is not clear. In this paper, the influence of ca-alginate beads on the formations of hydration and self-healing products of cement was studied. The types, contents, morphologies, and molecular structures of hydration and self-healing products promoted by ca-alginate beads were characterized by applying XRD, XEDS, TG, SEM, and FTIR techniques. The results show that the formation of the hydration and self-healing products are enhanced by ca-alginate beads due to the molecular structure of ca-alginate beads. Besides, the morphologies of the products in the cement matrix and on the surface of ca-alginate beads are different, which is caused by the formation of chemical bonds between the products on the surface of ca-alginate beads and ca-alginate beads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Propose a feature grid-based CNN model, FGCN, on traditional data. • Propose methods of converting instance with form of 1-d vector to feature grid. • The performance of FGCN model has reached the state-of-the-art technique XGBoost. • The positions of features in the grid have little influence on prediction accuracy. • Fully connected layers in CNN give little marginal classification performance. Convolutional neural networks (ConvNets) have been applied to various types of data, including image, text, and speech, but not to traditional data. In this study, traditional data are defined as data whose features have no spatial or temporal dependencies but might have statistical correlations. We construct a feature grid-based ConvNet (FGCN) model for classification tasks on traditional data. The FGCN model is composed of two functional parts: The first is used to convert traditional data in the form of a 1-D feature vector into a 1-D, 2-D, or higher-dimensional feature grid; and the second is a ConvNet classifier for the converted data. The experimental results show that the FGCN model performs well; therefore, it is worth considering this model for classification tasks on traditional data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-component white phosphor is highly desirable to obtain efficient and stable white light-emitting diodes (w-LED). In this paper, a series of Bi3+, Tb3+, and Eu3+ doped Ca 3 LuAl 3 B 4 O 15 (CLAB) luminescent materials were successfully prepared. The structure, morphology, and optical properties of samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometer, scanning electronic microscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively. The synthesized phosphor exhibits strong blue band emission from Bi3+ and intense characteristics line emission from Tb3+ and Eu3+ under ultraviolet (UV) light excitation. The emission color can fine be adjusted by changing the doping content of the three activators. The warm white light of CLAB:0.5%Bi3+,2%Tb3+,0.75%Eu3+ with CIE chromaticity coordinates of (0.3728,0.3166), a CCT of 3671 K, and a Ra index of 87 could be realized under UV light excitation. The fabricated w-LED by combining UV chip with CLAB:0.5%Bi3+,2%Tb3+,0.75%Eu3+ shows excellent thermal stability after high-temperature aging test, implying its promising application in single-phosphor-converted warm w-LEDs. A single-phosphor-converted warm w-LED fabricated by UV chip with CLAB:Bi3+,Tb3+,Eu3+ shows thermally robust properties. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Density functional theory calculations were performed to study the adsorption and dissociation of methane as well as syngas formation over Ni(111) and NiPt(111) aiming to gain insight into the effect of Ni(111) surface alloying on partial oxidation of methane (POM). Results show that Pt-doped Ni(111) surface is beneficial to the adsorption of CH x and H species while unfavorable to the desorption of H 2 . The process of CH → C + H is found to be the rate-limiting step of successive dehydrogenation of methane on NiPt(111). Especially, the processes of CH 4 → CH 3 + H and CH 3 → CH 2 + H proceed more easily on NiPt(111) than on Ni(111). Three potential pathways for CO formation in the POM process were proposed and calculations identified that CH + O → CHO → CO + H are likely to be the main routes for CO formation on Ni(111) with CH + O → CHO as the rate-limiting step. Further calculations reveal that the formation of CO and H 2 may be more difficult on NiPt(111) than on Ni(111). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Microstructure and mechanical properties of SLM-ed and LMD-ed TA15 were compared systematically. • From a point of practical industrial applications, productivity and forming cost of fabricated TA15 samples were evaluated. • A reference for selecting optimized fabrication methods for practical industrial applications was provided considering comprehensive properties. In the present study, Ti-6.5Al-2Zr-1Mo-1V (TA15) alloy, one of the widely used near-α titanium alloys in the field of aeronautical and astronautical, was fabricated by two lasers additive manufacturing technologies, namely selective laser melting (SLM) and laser metal deposition (LMD). Microstructure, mechanical property, productivity, and forming cost of fabricated TA15 samples by these two processes were compared systematically. The results showed that the microstructure of the SLM-ed and LMD-ed samples exhibited differences in terms of crystallographic orientations, grain boundaries, and grain sizes, which was mainly attributed to the distinct thermal histories associated with each process. Such differences resulted in the LMD-ed sample presenting anisotropy, lower tensile strength, and higher elongation compared to the SLM-ed sample. Cost analysis indicated that the forming cost per unit volume of the LMD-ed sample was about half that of the SLM-ed sample. This difference was primally due to the higher productivity of the LMD process (226.1 cm3/h) compared to the SLM process (8.8 cm3/h), as well as the lower power cost of the powder materials (60 vs. 100 $/kg). Furthermore, the forming maximum volume of the LMD process (∼30.38 m3) was about 28 times than that of the SLM process (∼1.08 m3). In conclusion, this study provides a detailed comparison between SLM-ed and LMD-ed TA15 samples. The findings can act as a reference for selecting optimized fabrication methods for practical industrial applications, taking into consideration specific mechanical properties, forming size, and cost requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a prevalent and highly lethal malignant disease. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is crucial in promoting ESCC development. However, the molecular heterogeneity of ESCC and the potential inhibitory strategies targeting EMT remain poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed high-resolution single-cell transcriptome data encompassing 209,231 ESCC cells from 39 tumor samples and 16 adjacent samples obtained from 44 individuals. We identified distinct cell populations exhibiting heterogeneous EMT characteristics and identified 87 EMT-associated molecules. The expression profiles of these EMT-associated molecules showed heterogeneity across different stages of ESCC progression. Moreover, we observed that EMT primarily occurred in early-stage tumors, before lymph node metastasis, and significantly promoted the rapid deterioration of ESCC. Notably, we identified SERPINH1 as a potential novel marker for ESCC EMT. By classifying ESCC patients based on EMT gene sets, we found that those with high EMT exhibited poorer prognosis. Furthermore, we predicted and experimentally validated drugs targeting ESCC EMT, including dactolisib, docetaxel, and nutlin, which demonstrated efficacy in inhibiting EMT and metastasis in ESCC. Through the integration of scRNA-seq, RNA-seq, and TCGA data with experimental validation, our comprehensive analysis elucidated the landscape of EMT during the entire course of ESCC development and metastasis. These findings provide valuable insights and a reference for refining ESCC clinical treatment strategies. • High-resolution single-cell transcriptome data for 209,231 ESCC cells was analyzed. • 87 EMT characteristic molecules were identified. • The expression of EMT characteristic molecules at different stages was heterogeneous. • SERPINH1, a new potential marker for ESCC EMT was identified. • Dactolisib, docetaxel and nutlin could inhibit EMT in ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effects of modification by HNO3 oxidization on the physico-chemical properties of activated carbon fiber (ACF), the adsorption of aniline, pyridine and phenol on ACF and modified ACF, as well as the influence of textural properties on adsorption by comparing ACF with an activated carbon are investigated. The adsorbents are characterized using N2 adsorption, Boehm titration, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed desorption. The pore properties of ACF are not significantly changed by the modification; however, it increases greatly the oxygenated acidic groups on the surface of ACF. The uptake for each aromatic compound by the modified ACF is lower than on ACF. This is mainly due to the decrease of dispersive interaction, more water cluster formed to block entry of compounds into micropores or competition between water and compounds adsorbed onto the surface of ACF because of hydrophilic increase of ACF. The maximum uptake for the aromatic compounds decreases with the increase in aqueous solubility of the adsorbates. K, a Langmuir parameter, is indirectly associated with the surface chemistry of ACF. For the aromatic compounds mentioned, the uptake increases with the micropore volume of carbon materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In bio-neural systems, ionic fluxes dominate the regulation of neuroplasticity. Inspired by such biological strategies, indium-zinc-oxide (IZO) transistors gated by nanogranular SiO 2 electrolyte films were proposed for synaptic behavior emulations. Due to the strong proton/electron coupling effect, the carrier density of IZO channel layer can be effectively tuned by a pH buffer solution on the SiO 2 electrolyte dielectrics. The pH-dependent synaptic responses, such as excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) and paired pulse facilitation (PPF), were discussed in detail based on the surface charging effect. Most importantly, an enhanced pH sensitivity in terms of the relative gain of EPSC amplitude between pH = 4 and pH = 10 was demonstrated by multi-spike trains. Such IZO-based synaptic transistors are promising for low-power neuromorphic sensing systems. Unlabelled Image • Indium-zinc-oxide synaptic transistors gated by SiO 2 electrolyte films were proposed for synaptic behavior emulations. • The pH-dependent synaptic responses were discussed in detail based on the surface charging effect. • The pH sensitivity in terms of relative amplitude gain between pH = 4 and pH = 10 can be enhanced by multi-spike trains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Microbial precipitated calcite was prepared in the absence/presence of Cd. • Calcite was converted to hydroxyapatite (HAP) under mild hydrothermal condition. • The morphology of HAP was controlled by the presence of Cd. • The calcite-HAP conversion significantly enhanced the stability of Cd in solid. Abstract As one of the most toxic heavy elements, humans are mainly exposed to cadmium (Cd) via daily diets and smoking. Calcite can be used as an amendment directly or precipitated in situ based on microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) technology to immobilize Cd in soil with potential release of Cd due to calcite dissolution. Therefore, we converted microbial-induced calcite to less soluble hydroxyapatite and investigated the phase and morphology evolutions of the solids, as well as the immobilized efficiency, distribution and release of Cd. The results showed that the conversion of calcite to hydroxyapatite enhanced Cd removal efficiency up to 1.67% and 33.14% compared to the MICP process and adsorption by calcite, respectively. Accordingly, the released Cd decreased up to 94.10% and 99.96%, respectively. Our findings demonstrated that the conversion of calcite to hydroxyapatite might control the environmental behavior of heavy metals like Cd and can potentially be applied for soil remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the correlations between the enhancement pattern of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and clinicopathologic findings and prognosis, a retrospective study was performed on 197 patients with mass-forming ICC who underwent pre-operative CEUS and surgical resection. The contrast medium we employed in CEUS was SonoVue, which contains microbubbles consisting of sulfur hexafluoride bubbles within a phospholipid shell. This study was approved by the institutional review board with informed consent waived. Patients were classified into an arterial rim-like enhancement group or an arterial non-rim-like enhancement group, and arterial enhancement patterns were correlated with clinicopathologic factors. Overall survival (OS) times were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences between groups were compared with the log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models for OS were used to evaluate the independent prognostic factors. The mean and range of ICC tumor size of the arterial rim-like group (59.41 ± 22.09 mm, 20-100 mm) were similar to those of the arterial non-rim-like group (59.82 ± 30.35 mm, 14-162 mm, p = 0.914). Arterial enhancement patterns were correlated with chronic viral hepatitis or cirrhosis, vascular invasion, lymph node metastasis and single/multiple tumors. A total of 78 patients (39.6%) exhibited arterial rim-like enhancement, and the other 119 patients (60.4%) exhibited arterial non-rim-like enhancement. Arterial enhancement pattern (p = 0.045), vascular invasion (p = 0.005), lymph node metastasis (p = 0.000) and number of tumors (p = 0.001) were independent prognostic factors for OS. The arterial non-rim-like enhancement pattern of ICC on CEUS is an independent prognostic factor for better OS and may offer new information for predicting the prognosis of ICC patients before surgical resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Quartz Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS), due to the strained material and piezoelectric effect of the Quartz Tuning Fork (QTF), the in-plane mode of QTF is generally detected, requiring micron-scale precise and stable optical alignment and convergence. It poses a significant challenge for the use of light sources and has become a bottleneck for practical implementations of QEPAS. In this paper, a ppb-level all-optical off-axis QEPAS gas sensor based on dual-wavelength demodulation of out-of-plane mode is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A dual-wavelength Fabry-Perot (FP) Interferometer with Ellipse Fitting-Differential Cross Multiply (EF-DCM) algorithm is designed and employed to demodulate the out-of-plane mode of off-axis QTF, which is approximately 80 times stronger than the conventional in-plane mode. This work established a novel ultra-sensitive off-axis QEPAS-based hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) sensor with a 1.5 W fiber-amplified near-infrared diode laser. The minimum detection limit and normalized noise equivalent absorption of the developed H 2 S sensor is 74.19 ppb with 1 s integration time and 2.68 × 10−9 W∙cm−1∙Hz−1/2 respectively, beyond previously reported QEPAS-based H 2 S sensors. This technique effectively utilizes the out-of-plane mode of QTF and realizes the simultaneous enhancement of off-axis location and out-of-plane vibration mode detection in QEPAS, allowing a novel approach for the development of ultra-sensitive QEPAS gas sensors with notable practical application prospects. • An out-of-plane vibration mode based QTF was used for off-axis Quartz Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS). • The dual-wavelength FPI demodulation and the EF-DCM algorithm was proposed to detect the QTF surface vibration. • The developed QEPAS system has reduced the requirement of light source, which can match imperfect beam. • The performance of the system was evaluated using a 1.5 W fiber amplified near infrared diode laser. • The one order of magnitude sensitivity improvement was realized compared with traditional off-axis QEPAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical manipulation of charged ions in electrolyte-gated transistors is crucial for enhancing the electric-double-layer (EDL) gating effect, thereby improving their sensing abilities. Here, indium-zinc-oxide (IZO) based thin-film-transistors (TFTs) are fabricated on flexible plastic substrate. Acid doped chitosan-based biopolymer electrolyte is used as the gate dielectric, exhibiting an extremely high EDL capacitance. By regulating the dynamic EDL charging process with special gate potential profiles, the EDL gating effect of the chitosan-gated TFT is enhanced, and then resulting in higher pH sensitivities. An extremely high sensitivity of ∼57.8 mV/pH close to Nernst limit is achieved when the gate bias of the TFT sensor sweeps at a rate of 10 mV/s. Additionally, an enhanced sensitivity of 2630% in terms of current variation with pH range from 11 to 3 is realized when the device is operated in the ion depletion mode with a negative gate bias of −0.7 V. Robust ionic modulation is demonstrated in such chitosan-gated sensors. Efficiently driving the charged ions in the chitosan-gated IZO-TFT provides a new route for ultrasensitive, low voltage, and low-cost biochemical sensing technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly luminescent GdVO 4 :Eu3+/carbon dots (CDs) nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal deposition method for the first time. With the use of dialyzed CDs solution as precursor, the synthetized composite shows negligible emission intensity of CDs. On replacing the dialyzed CDs solution with the crude one, highly luminescent composite can be obtained successfully. Based on the analysis of XPS and FT-IR spectra, one can deduce that the existence of a large amount of citrate anions, ethylenediamine cations and polymer-like CDs in the crude CDs solution make it as nutrient solution of CDs, which can not only facilitate growth of CDs on the surface of GVE, but also greatly prevent nitrogen atoms from falling off the particles during the hydrothermal deposition process. For the dialyzed CDs solution, due to the ions and polymer-like CDs being thoroughly dialyzed, the coated CDs are fragile during hydrothermal deposition process. Besides, the effects of different dosages of ammonia on emission intensities of the two composites are studied. Based on the designable patterns for security application, one can think that the highly luminescent composite is one of the most promising candidates in the anti-counterfeiting field. • Highly luminescent GdVO 4 :Eu3+/CDs nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal deposition method. • The hydrothermal deposition method was used to synthesize highly luminescent composite related to CDs for the first time. • The crude CDs solution was used as precursor, which acts as the nutrient solution of N-CDs. • The nutrient solution can not only facilitate growth of CDs on the surface of GVE, but also greatly prevents nitrogen atoms from falling off the particles during hydrothermal deposition process. • The prepared composite is one of the most promising candidates in the anti-counterfeiting field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High O 2 /CO 2 treatment has shown to promote the wound healing of fresh-cut white mushrooms. However, the mechanism of water migration in wound healing under high O 2 /CO 2 treatment is still ambiguous. In this study, the effects of 80% O 2 + 20% CO 2 treatment before or after cutting on the accumulation of phenolic compounds, phenylpropanoid metabolism, as well as the water status and distribution in fresh-cut white mushrooms were evaluated. The results indicate that compared with the control group, both high O 2 /CO 2 treatments before or after cutting increased the content of phenolic compounds, flavonoids and lignin. Among the high O 2 /CO 2 treatments, the treatment after cutting stimulated the phenylpropanoid pathway, elevated the levels of individual phenols including protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, hydroxybenzoic acid, p -coumaric acid, cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin, catechin, and kaempferol. Additionally, with a longer storage time, the results of low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF NMR) indicate that the amplitude of free water significantly decreased and immobilized while the amplitude of bound water increased in all treatments. The moisture content in fresh-cut white mushroom mainly depends on the free water content. High O 2 /CO 2 treatment after cutting maintained the level of free water inside while decreased the level of free water on the surface of fresh-cut white mushroom. In conclusion, high O 2 /CO 2 treatments after cutting effectively enhanced wound healing by promoting the loss of surface water. Moreover, the wound healing on surface inhibited the water mobility and transformation inside white mushroom slices, this maintaining the quality of fresh-cut white mushrooms. [Display omitted] • High O 2 /CO 2 treatment promotes phyenylpropanoids metabolism and wound healing. • High O 2 /CO 2 treatment increased the accumulation of phenolic compounds. • High O 2 /CO 2 treatment inhibited the water mobility and transformation. • Post-treatment of high O 2 /CO 2 was better in accelerating the secondary metabolism. • The formation of wound healing reduced the water loss in fresh-cut products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aortic coarctation is a life-threatening defect when it occurs with cardiorespiratory failure. Its genetic cause remains unknown. A woman was pregnant twice, both with male fetuses that had partial trisomy 18p, partial monosomy 18q, and aortic coarctation. The syndrome may relate to the aortic coarctation and pulmonary hypoplasia and is life-threatening. ArrayCGH analysis suggested a de novo 17.7Mb deletion of chromosome 18q21.33→qter (58,413,193bp to 76,116,029bp) and a de novo 12.4Mb duplication of chromosome 18pter→p11.21 (1543bp to 12,438,430bp) at the telomeric end of chromosome 18. To the best of our knowledge, the present chromosomal breakpoint with rearrangement has not been previously described. This chromosome aberration may be responsible for this syndrome. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Belief Rule Base (BRB) is an expert system which can handle both qualitative and quantitative information. One of the applications of the BRB is the Rule-base Inference Methodology using the Evidential Reasoning approach (RIMER). Using the BRB, RIMER can handle different types of information under uncertainty. However, there is a combinatorial explosion problem when there are too many attributes and/or too many alternatives for each attribute in the BRB. Most current approaches are designed to reduce the number of the alternatives for each attribute, where the rules are derived from physical systems and redundant in numbers. However, these approaches are not applicable when the rules are given by experts and the BRB should not be oversized. A structure learning approach is proposed using Grey Target (GT), Multidimensional Scaling (MDS), Isomap and Principle Component Analysis (PCA) respectively, named as GT–RIMER, MDS–RIMER, Isomap–RIMER and PCA–RIMER. A case is studied to evaluate the overall capability of an Armored System of Systems. The efficiency of the proposed approach is validated by the case study results: the BRB is downsized using any of the four techniques, and PCA–RIMER has shown excellent performance. Furthermore, the robustness of PCA–RIMER is further verified under different conditions with varied number of attributes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]