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Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure is associated with negative emotions in adolescents, but the association between SHS exposure and negative emotions has been understudied, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Hence, we studied the association between SHS exposure and negative emotions among 12-15-year-old non-smoking adolescents from 63 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).We calculated the pooled prevalence of SHS exposure, loneliness, and anxiety in 12-15-year-old non-smoking adolescents. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate country-specific associations between SHS exposure and negative emotions, after adjusting for important confounders. Meta-analyses were performed to evaluate the overall, regional, and country-income level pooled associations.Of the adolescents included in the analysis, 34.88 % had less than daily SHS exposure and 13.41 % were exposed to SHS daily. The overall prevalence of loneliness and anxiety in the adolescents was 10.51 % and 8.95 %, respectively. Exposure to SHS in the past 7 days was associated with loneliness and anxiety, with odds ratios (95 % confidence intervals) of 1.15 (1.09-1.21) and 1.24 (1.17-1.31), respectively. These positive associations were observed in girls, but not in boys. In addition, there was a positive dose-response relationship between the day of exposure to SHS and loneliness and anxiety.The GSHS data were obtained from a self-report questionnaire and the participants were only adolescents in school.Our study revealed a positive association between SHS exposure and negative emotions among non-smoking adolescents from LMICs.

The spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has decreased the willingness to choose public transport where travellers are more likely to be infected due to intensive passenger flow, in which case it is hard to attract passenger volume if the subjective well-being of travellers is not improved. However, the traditional measurement of travel evaluation may be not applicable to the context of the pandemic and it is necessary to analyse the changes in the internal mechanisms of travel well-being to avoid the loss of passengers. Based on structural equation modelling, this paper explored the internal relationship between the constructs of travel well-being and emphasised the significance of taking psychological factors into consideration in the post COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that travel satisfaction with the anti-pandemic related service quality of public transport is related to overall travel well-being, which can be used as a key part of well-being measurement scale design in the future. The results also indicate that, due to negative mood on the affective level induced by COVID-19, travel satisfaction on the cognitive level is not directly but indirectly related to travel choice behaviour through overall travel well-being. Compared to travel satisfaction, travel well-being is more extensive and covers travel satisfaction to some extent. Therefore, instead of studying travel satisfaction simply, taking travel well-being as the dependent variable to identify shortages existing in public transport will provide a more accurate perspective for policymakers in the post COVID-19 pandemic.

In this paper, we establish the global existence of strong solution to the chemotaxis-shallow water system with vacuum in a bounded domain Ω ⊂ R 2 provided that the initial data is partially small. We first get a new blow-up criterion and then we use bootstrap argument to obtain the global existence of strong solution.

In the present research, structural representation, phase transition, and dielectric characteristics of Ta5+ ionic substituted Co0.5Ti0.5(Nb1-xTax)O4 (x = 0–1) ceramics were thoroughly investigated. Combined with the changes of diffraction peaks in the X-ray diffraction spectra, such as (002) and (101) crystalline planes near 20°, and the evolutionary trend of the strongest peak in the Raman spectra, a phase transition from rutile to trirutile structure at x = 0.6 was confirmed, suggesting the emergence of structural evolution. Thus, the structural evolution showed a significant impact on the dielectric characteristics, as evidenced by the weakening of the dielectric polarizability with the increasing amount of Ta5+ ion, which led to a reduction in the dielectric constant; the dielectric loss is also closely related to the packing fraction (PF) arising from the structural changes. Additionally, infrared and THz time-domain spectroscopy revealed that the dielectric losses in the microwave band were originated from the oscillatory absorption of structural phonons and supported that the effects of structural evolution on the intrinsic dielectric properties due to the introduction of Ta5+ ion.

This paper employs regression discontinuity design to estimate the impact of heating modes on residents’ energy consumption, energy efficiency gap, and energy usage behavior, using the Chinese Residential Energy Consumption Survey (CRECS). We find that district heating increases total energy consumption and total heating expenditure. However, energy consumption and expenditure per unit of district heating are lower than self-heating, which means a positive energy efficiency gap between district heating and self-heating. With the estimates, we construct a model of household heating expenditure. The counterfactual simulation shows that district heating expenditure would be reduced by more than 35% if the heating fee is charged based on actual usage. We suggest government provide a quantity-based district heating service by implementing a two-part tariff pricing strategy.

NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2 and CUC2) transcription factors play critical roles in plant development and abiotic stress responses, and aquaporins have diverse functions in environmental stress responses. In this study, we described the salt-induced transcriptional responses of ThNAC12 and ThPIP2;5 in Tamarix hispida, and their regulatory mechanisms in response to salt stress. Using yeast one-hybrid (Y1H), chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and dual-luciferase reporter assays, we identified that ThNAC12 directly binds to the NAC recognition sequence (NACRS) of the ThPIP2;5 promoter and then activates the ThPIP2;5 expression. Subcellular localization and transcriptional activation assays demonstrated that ThNAC12 was a nuclear protein with a C-terminal transactivation domain. Compared with the corresponding control plants, transgenic plants overexpressing ThNAC12 exhibited enhanced salt tolerance and displayed increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging capability and antioxidant enzyme activity levels under salt stress. All results suggested that overexpression of ThNAC12 in plants enhanced salt tolerance through modulation of ROS scavenging via direct regulation of ThPIP2;5 expression in T. hispida.

Developing low-cost and highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with excellent methanol tolerance is crucial for the commercialization of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). In this work, we construct single Fe atoms anchored on N,S-codoped graphene (Fe1/NSG), where the S atom in the second coordination sphere of the Fe catalytic center regulates the electronic structure of the Fe center and stabilizes the ∗OOH intermediate in the ORR. Thanks to the optimal adsorption of O2 intermediates and the isolated Fe active sites, as probed by in situ infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory, Fe1/NSG exhibits high ORR activity with a half-wave potential of 0.90 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a super anti-methanol capability. The DMFC with the Fe1/NSG cathode is able to deliver a peak power density as high as 198 mW cm−2, outperforming the reported DMFCs assembled using non-precious-metal-based cathode catalysts. Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Ministry of Education (MOE) Published version This work was supported by funds from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 22075195), the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1: RG4/20 and RG2/21 and Tier 2: MOET2EP10120- 0002, and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research: AME IRG A20E5c0080.

The development of dual inhibitors of HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase is an attractive strategy for multi-target therapeutic of AIDS, which may be privileged in delaying the occurrence of drug resistance. We herein designed a novel kind of dual inhibitors with benzofuran or indole cores. Biological results showed that a number of inhibitors displayed significant activity against both HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase. Among which, inhibitor 10f exhibited a good correlation with an approximate ratio of 1: 2 between the two enzymes. Furthermore, the dual inhibitors illustrated similar potency against both the wild-type virus and drug-resistant mutant. In addition, the molecular dynamic simulation studies verified the dual actions of such inhibitors.

Auxin response factors (ARFs) play an important role in modulating plant growth and development processes by regulating the expression of auxin-responsive genes. However, the modes of action of ARFs in birch (Betula platyphylla) remain largely unknown. In this study, fifteen ARF genes were identified in the birch (B. platyphylla) genome. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the 15 BpARF genes were unevenly distributed on 7 chromosomes. The 15 BpARF proteins clustered into 6 groups, and all of them contained ARF and B3 motifs. The cis-acting elements present within the promoters of the BpARF genes were mostly related to stress resistance. Expression analysis revealed that most of the BpARF genes were significantly upregulated or downregulated in response to drought treatment in at least one organ. In particular, the expression of BpARF1 was significantly induced by drought stress. The function of BpARF1 was further studied via a transient transformation system. Under drought stress conditions, compared with vector control plants, BpARF1 RNA interference (RNAi)-inhibited plants presented reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, enhanced peroxide (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, increased ascorbic acid (AsA) and proline contents, and reduced electrolyte leakage and water loss rates. Conversely, BpARF1 overexpression plants displayed the opposite physiological changes. These results suggest that the silencing of BpARF1 can improve the drought tolerance of B. platyphylla.

This work presents a study on hypothetical drop accident of the core barrel assembly in a pressurized water reactor, in which structural dynamic responses of the secondary support structure and the reactor pressure vessel during impact are investigated numerically. The analysis results are conservative enough by considering the drop impact accident in an air environment. And the tensile test was conducted for the Inconel 690 material of secondary support structure in order to input real material property in simulations. During the impact, the peak impact force and impact velocity of the falling core barrel assembly are respectively 19,881 kN and 0.627 m/s. With respect to stress distributions, peak magnitudes of effective stress and maximum principal stress are both concentrated at the top edge of connection location between the secondary support structure and the reactor pressure vessel. For both of these components, their effective stresses exceed the corresponding yield strengths while the maximum principal stresses are less than their ultimate tensile strengths, indicating that they deform plastically in this drop impact accident. The impact energy absorbed by the reactor pressure vessel is much larger than that by the secondary support structure. With respect to a single support key, the first and second peak strain energy are concentrated in the connection location and contact location respectively while the free end is almost unaffected. And three concerned through-thickness paths are defined for stress linearization in which membrane stress and bending stress are separated. Stress results meet the design criteria of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code with respect to stress limits, indicating that both of the secondary support structure and the reactor pressure vessel maintain their structural integrity following drop impact of the core barrel assembly. This investigation makes a contribution to the safety analysis of the pressurized water reactor.

Combinatorial problems are a fundamental research subject of theoretical computer science, and for a general graph many combinatorial problems are NP-hard and even #P-complete. Thus, it is interesting to seek or design special graphs for which these difficult combinatorial problems can be exactly solved. In this paper, we study some combinatorial problems for the Farey graphs, which are translated from Farey sequences and have received considerable attention from the scientific community. We determine exactly the domination number, the independence number, and the matching number. Moreover, we derive exact or recursive solutions to the number of minimum dominating sets, the number of dominating sets, the number of maximum independent sets, the number of independent sets, the number of maximum matchings, as well as the number of matchings. Finally, we obtain explicit expressions for the number of acyclic orientations and the number of root-connected acyclic orientations. Since the considered combinatorial problems have found wide applications in diverse fields, such as network science and graph data miming, this work is helpful for deepening our understanding of the applications for these combinatorial problems.

To evaluate the relative contributions of β-cell function and insulin sensitivity on the deterioration of glucose tolerance from OGTT in patients with endogenous CS.We retrospectively analyzed the data of 60 patients with CS and determined the glucose metabolism and β-cell function through OGTT. Their general characteristics were retrieved. A series of parameters for assessing insulin sensitivity and β-cell function was calculated. The logistic regression model was used to investigate insulin sensitivity and β-cell function contributions on incident diabetes.Of the 60 patients with CS, 10 (16.7%), 21 (35%), and 29 (48.3%) were classified as CS/ normal glucose tolerance (NGT), CS/prediabetes, and CS/diabetes mellitus (DM). Compared with the HCs, the CS/NGT patients had higher HOMA-IR and lower ISI-Matsuda but with a compensatory increase in HOMA-β. Significant decreasing trends were observed in HOMA-β, AUCImpairment of the β-cell function had a more profound effect on incident diabetes than decreased insulin sensitivity. An approach based on an OGTT has utility for diagnosing dysglycaemia and β-cell dysfunction in patients with CS.

Based upon the preliminary design of enhancing genetic barrier to drug-resistant viral mutants by maximizing hydrogen-bonding or other van der Waals contacts, we have designed, synthesized and biologically evaluated a new class of HIV-1 protease inhibitors with phenol derived P2 ligands and nitro or halogens in P2' ligands. Results indicate that a majority of inhibitors exhibit robust enzyme inhibitory with IC

We presented the fabrication, characterization, and testing of high-performance and low-power gas sensor toward ethanol. Herein, [5,15-diphenylporphyrinato] nickel (DPPNi) (1) and [5,15-bis(ferrocenylethynyl)-10,20-diphenylporphyrinato] nickel (FcDPPNi) (2) was synthesized. Intermolecular π-π interaction in cooperation with the solvent-solute interaction led to the formation of micro-sheets and micro-flowers for compounds 1 and 2 by solution-vapor annealing method. When applied as gas sensors, both the micro-sheets and micro-flowers exhibited excellent gas sensitivity, good stability and selectivity for ethanol at room temperature. Under the same measurement conditions, the micro-flowers gas sensors revealed lower detection limit and faster recovery times than those for micro-sheets gas sensors, which indicated the effect of the molecular structures and molecular packing mode on tuning the gas sensing performance. The results represented the first example of single-component metalloporphyrin micro-structures for ethanol sensing. Meanwhile, this paper provided a convenient, low cost method for the mass production of low-power gas sensors.

In this paper, we consider the large time behavior of solution for the chemotaxis-shallow water system in two-dimension by the method of frequency decomposition. First, we construct the Green's function of the linearized system and get the corresponding estimates for low frequency part. Then, we introduce an energy method we named ‘double cycle method’ to get the decay rate for high frequency part. Due to the dissipative mechanism of this system, the high frequency part decays faster than the low frequency part.

Organolead halide perovskite with excellent optoelectronic properties, which endows its potential applications in versatile optoelectronic device including solar cells and photodetectors. In spite of great efforts made on the perovskite photodetectors, novel device configurations based on perovskite films have to be explored to further improve the performance. Here, we present perovskite photodetectors enabled by a novel metal (Al)–oxide–semiconductor (perovskite) (MOS) structure. The unique photodetector can work on a wide voltage range and exhibits extreme characteristics with a pA-scale dark current, and a high detectivity (>1014 Jones). Both ultralow dark and light currents enable the small power consumption output ∼nW under 2 mW cm−2 at 2 V. The C–V data analysis proves that the charge carriers are accumulated at the oxide/perovskite interface, which leads to the reduction of the conduct band offset. At a low voltage the current transport behaviors for the MOS structure photodetectors are dominated by the Ohm’s Law, while at a high voltage, the main mechanism is Schottky emission which is demonstrated by temperature-dependence I–V measurements. Our results strongly propose the use of perovskite based photodetectors with a unique MOS structure in the application of optoelectronic devices.

The design of a new class of bifunctional Fe-N/C electrocatalysts with oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reacton (OER) activity is still a big challenge. In this work, hollow chain-like nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs)/iron carbide (Fe3C) hybrid electrocatalysts (FN-B-800) is prepared by annealing of poly-vinylpyrrolidone (PVP), ferric chloride (FeCl3·6H2O), and melamine mixture. The resulting electrocatalysts shows very high ORR activity with the limiting current density of 5 mA cm−2 at a speed of 1600 rpm, which is larger than that of Pt/C. Furthermore, half-wave potential (E1/2) and onset potential of FN-B-800 are close to commercial Pt/C catalyst. Most importantly, the tolerance to fuel cell molecules (e.g., methanol) and the stability of FN-B-800 are surpasses to commercial Pt/C catalysts. Meanwhile, the FN-B-800 also exhibits an excellent OER catalytic performance. The outstanding bifunctional electrocatalytic activities of the FN-B-800 hybrids are attributed to effectively doped N sites and high active Fe-NX sites, which are synchronously constructed on carbon substrate, leading to enhancing the overall electrochemical performance.

Cobalt vanadates and their composites have drawn tremendous attention because of their outstanding cycling stability. Rational design of 3D micro/nano-structures using a facile strategy has a promising potential for supercapacitor applications. Herein, we propose a 3D porous Co2V2O7·3.3H2O microflowers electrode as a cathode for pseudocapacitor via a simple co-precipitation technology. The resultant Co2V2O7·3.3H2O with microflowers structure exhibits a high specific capacitance of 351 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1, and an ultralong cycle lifetime with 103% capacitance retention after 30,000 cycles. An asymmetric supercapacitor device is also successfully assembled consisting of Co2V2O7·3.3H2O cathode and rGO anode. The optimized ACS device with a potential window of 0–1.5 V delivers a high energy density and an excellent cycle lifetime. These superior electrochemical properties will render the 3D porous Co2V2O7·3.3H2O microflowers material as an attractive material for promising application in energy storage systems.