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The geomagnetic field (GMF) is crucial for the survival and evolution of life on Earth. The weakening of the GMF, known as the hypomagnetic field (HMF), significantly affects various aspects of life on Earth. HMF has become a potential health risk for future deep space exploration. Oxidative stress is directly involved in the biological effects of HMF on animals or cells. Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance favoring oxidants over antioxidants, resulting in cellular damage. Oxidative stress is a double-edged sword, depending on the degree of deviation from homeostasis. In this review, we summarize the important experimental findings from animal and cell studies on HMF exposure affecting intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), as well as the accompanying many physiological abnormalities, such as cognitive dysfunction, the imbalance of gut microbiota homeostasis, mood disorders, and osteoporosis. We discuss new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying these HMF effects in the context of the signaling pathways related to ROS. Among them, mitochondria are considered to be the main organelles that respond to HMF-induced stress by regulating metabolism and ROS production in cells. In order to unravel the molecular mechanisms of HMF action, future studies need to consider the upstream and downstream pathways associated with ROS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although β-glucan has diverse benefits for fish health, the potential adverse impacts of excessive supplementation are poorly understood. This study investigated the optimal dosage of β-glucan for coral trout and explored the adverse effects of excessive supplementation. The results revealed that moderate β-glucan supplementation (1) significantly enhanced the weight gain rate and specific growth rate (SGR); (2) significantly improved the intestinal villus length (0.10%), muscle thickness (0.05–0.15%), and α-amylase and chymotrypsin activities (0.05–0.15%); (3) significantly increased liver catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), alkaline phosphatase, complement 3, immunoglobulin M (IgM), lysozyme, serum superoxide dismutase, CAT, glutathione peroxidase, GR, total antioxidant capacity, acid phosphatase, complement 4, and IgM activities and significantly reduced malondialdehyde contents; (4) upregulated genes in the liver associated with copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD-1), manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD-2), CAT, GSH-Px1a, ACP6, AKP, LZ-c, IgM, C3, and C4-b. However, 0.20% β-glucan significantly inhibited the growth performance of coral trout compared with 0.10% β-glucan. Thus, 0.10% β-glucan represents the optimal dosage for promoting growth, antioxidant activity, and immune responses in coral trout, while higher β-glucan levels weakened these beneficial effects. With an SGR established by a cubic regression analysis, the optimal level of β-glucan for maximal growth of coral trout is 0.082%. This study provides new insights into the health impacts of β-glucan on fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cushion gas is an indispensable and the most expensive part of underground natural gas storage. Using CO2 injection to provide a cushion gas, not only can the investment in natural gas storage construction be reduced but the greenhouse effect can also be reduced. Currently, the related research about the mechanism and laws of CO2 as a cushion gas in gas storage is not sufficient. Consequently, the difference in the physical properties of CO2 and CH4, and the mixing factors between CO2 and natural gas, including the geological conditions and injection–production parameters, are comprehensively discussed. Additionally, the impact of CO2 as a cushion gas on the reservoir stability and gas storage capacity is also analyzed by comparing the current research findings. The difference in the viscosity, density, and compressibility factor between CO2 and CH4 ensures a low degree of mixing between CO2 and natural gas underground, thereby improving the recovery of CH4 in the operation process of gas storage. In the pressure range of 5 MPa–13 MPa and temperature range of 303.15 K–323.15 K, the density of CO2 increases five to eight times, while the density of natural gas only increases two to three times, and the viscosity of CO2 is more than 10 times that of CH4. The operation temperature and pressure in gas storage should be higher than the temperature and pressure in the supercritical conditions of CO2 because the diffusion ability between the gas molecules is increased in these conditions. However, the temperature and pressure have little effect on the mixing degree of CO2 and CH4 when the pressure is over the limited pressure of supercritical CO2. The CO2, with higher compressibility, can quickly replenish the energy of the gas storage facility and provide sufficient elastic energy during the natural gas production process. In addition, the physical properties of the reservoir also have a significant impact on the mixing and production of gases in gas storage facilities. The higher porosity reduces the migration speed of CO2 and CH4. However, the higher permeability promotes diffusion between gases, resulting in a higher degree of gas mixing. For a large inclination angle or thick reservoir structure, the mixed zone width of CO2 and CH4 is small under the action of gravity. An increase in the injection–production rate intensifies the mixing of CO2 and CH4. The injection of CO2 into reservoirs also induces the CO2–water–rock reactions, which improves the porosity and is beneficial in increasing the storage capacity of natural gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano silica (NS) has been found to have a positive impact on enhancing the microporous structure of Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC). However, there is a lack of effective methods to accurately characterize the regulatory improvement mechanism of NS on the pore structure of UHPC. In this study, our objective is to investigate the influence of NS on various characteristic parameters of the pore structure in UHPC, including porosity, average pore size, box fractal dimension, and multifractal spectral parameters. To analyze these effects, we employ a combination of X- CT image processing techniques and fractal theory. Furthermore, we conducted regression analysis using linear functions to explore the correlation between these parameters and the 28d compressive strength of UHPC. The experimental results demonstrate that NS promotes the refinement of matrix pore size, leading to a denser microstructure of the matrix. Fractal analysis revealed that the pore structure of NS-modified UHPC exhibited favorable fractal characteristics. The fractal dimension and multiple fractal parameters provided complementary insights into the pore structure of NS-modified UHPC from different perspectives. The fractal dimension described the global information, indicating that NS improved matrix defects and reduced the complexity of the pore structure. On the other hand, the multiple fractal parameters supplemented local information, highlighting how the increase in micropores contributed to the heterogeneity of the pore structure. The results of the correlation analysis indicate that the developed mathematical model has a good fit with the 28d compressive strength of UHPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Siganus oramin, as a commercial species, is a well-received table fish in southeastern China. However, valuable reproduction-related data are still scarce. In the present study, gonad transcriptome analysis was first performed using Illumina Novaseq technology. Comparative transcriptome analysis of adult male and female gonads identified a large number of differentially expressed genes. Among them, many reproduction-related genes that play important roles in gonad differentiation and development were found. These data may contribute greatly to the regulation of rabbitfish reproduction. The rabbitfish, Siganus oramin, is a commercially important table fish in southeastern China. However, there have been few studies on its gonad development and reproduction regulation. Comparative transcriptome analysis was first performed on adult male and female gonads of S. oramin. In total, 47,070 unigenes were successfully assembled and 22,737 unigenes were successfully annotated. Through comparative transcriptome analysis of male and female gonads, a total of 6722 differentially expressed genes were successfully identified, with 3528 upregulated genes and 3154 downregulated genes in the testes. In addition, 39 differentially expressed reproduction-related genes were identified. Finally, quantitative real-time PCR was used to validate the expression levels of several differentially expressed genes. These results provide important data for further studying the function of reproduction-related genes and the molecular mechanism regulating gonad development and reproduction in S. oramin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key technology of automated apple harvesting is detecting apples quickly and accurately. The traditional detection methods of apple detection are often slow and inaccurate in unstructured orchards. Therefore, this article proposes an improved YOLOv5s-GBR model for orchard apple detection under complex natural conditions. First, the researchers collected photos of apples in their natural environments from different angles; then, we enhanced the dataset by changing the brightness, rotating the images, and adding noise. In the YOLOv5s network, the following modules were introduced to improve its performance: First, the YOLOv5s model's backbone network was swapped out for the GhostNetV2 module. The goal of this improvement was to lessen the computational burden on the YOLOv5s algorithm while increasing the detection speed. Second, the bi-level routing spatial attention module (BRSAM), which combines spatial attention (SA) with bi-level routing attention (BRA), was used in this study. By strengthening the model's capacity to extract important characteristics from the target, its generality and robustness were enhanced. Lastly, this research replaced the original bounding box loss function with a repulsion loss function to detect overlapping targets. This model performs better in detection, especially in situations involving occluded and overlapping targets. According to the test results, the YOLOv5s-GBR model improved the average precision by 4.1% and recall by 4.0% compared to those of the original YOLOv5s model, with an impressive detection accuracy of 98.20% at a frame rate of only 101.2 fps. The improved algorithm increases the recognition accuracy by 12.7%, 10.6%, 5.9%, 2.7%, 1.9%, 0.8%, 2.6%, and 5.3% compared to those of YOLOv5-lite-s, YOLOv5-lite-e, yolov4-tiny, YOLOv5m, YOLOv5l, YOLOv8s, Faster R-CNN, and SSD, respectively, and the YOLOv5s-GBR model can be used to accurately recognize overlapping or occluded apples, which can be subsequently deployed in picked robots to meet the realistic demand of real-time apple detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Ammonia is a major water quality factor influencing the survival and health of shrimp, among which the gill is the main effector organ for ammonia toxicity. In this study, we explored the toxicity of ammonia stress on the physiological homeostasis in the gills of Litopenaeus vannamei under seawater and low-salinity conditions. This study included four groups, namely the SC group (ammonia-N 0 mg/L, salinity 30‰), SAN group (ammonia-N 10 mg/L, salinity 30‰), LC group (ammonia-N 0 mg/L, salinity 3‰), and LAN group (ammonia-N 10 mg/L, salinity 3‰). The ammonia stress lasted for 14 days. The results show that ammonia stress caused the severe contraction of gill filaments and the deformation or even rupture of gill vessels. Ammonia stress could also influence the redox, ER function, apoptosis, detoxification, energy metabolism, and osmoregulation of the shrimp gills. These results are helpful to analyze the toxicological mechanism of ammonia stress on the seawater- and low salinity-cultured shrimp. Ammonia is a major water quality factor influencing the survival and health of shrimp, among which the gill is the main effector organ for ammonia toxicity. In this study, we chose two types of Litopenaeus vannamei that were cultured in 30‰ seawater and domesticated in 3‰ low salinity, respectively, and then separately subjected to ammonia stress for 14 days under seawater and low-salinity conditions, of which the 3‰ low salinity-cultured shrimp were domesticated from the shrimp cultured in 30‰ seawater after 27 days of gradual salinity desalination. In detail, this study included four groups, namely the SC group (ammonia-N 0 mg/L, salinity 30‰), SAN group (ammonia-N 10 mg/L, salinity 30‰), LC group (ammonia-N 0 mg/L, salinity 3‰), and LAN group (ammonia-N 10 mg/L, salinity 3‰). The ammonia stress lasted for 14 days, and then the changes in the morphological structure and physiological function of the gills were explored. The results show that ammonia stress caused the severe contraction of gill filaments and the deformation or even rupture of gill vessels. Biochemical indicators of oxidative stress, including LPO and MDA contents, as well as T-AOC and GST activities, were increased in the SAN and LAN groups, while the activities of CAT and POD and the mRNA expression levels of antioxidant-related genes (nrf2, cat, gpx, hsp70, and trx) were decreased. In addition, the mRNA expression levels of the genes involved in ER stress (ire1 and xbp1), apoptosis (casp-3, casp-9, and jnk), detoxification (gst, ugt, and sult), glucose metabolism (pdh, hk, pk, and ldh), and the tricarboxylic acid cycle (mdh, cs, idh, and odh) were decreased in the SAN and LAN groups; the levels of electron-transport chain-related genes (ndh, cco, and coi), and the bip and sdh genes were decreased in the SAN group but increased in the LAN group; and the level of the ATPase gene was decreased but the cytc gene was increased in the SAN and LAN groups. The mRNA expression levels of osmotic regulation-related genes (nka-β, ca, aqp and clc) were decreased in the SAN group, while the level of the ca gene was increased in the LAN group; the nka-α gene was decreased in both two groups. The results demonstrate that ammonia stress could influence the physiological homeostasis of the shrimp gills, possibly by damaging the tissue morphology, and affecting the redox, ER function, apoptosis, detoxification, energy metabolism, and osmoregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poor adhesion between the DLC film and rubber restricts its application of seals. Introducing a suitable interlayer can bolster the adhesion of the coating or film. In this study, nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon (N-DLC) emerged as the optimal intermediate layer between rubber and DLC. A series of N-DLC/DLC multilayer films were fabricated via DC magnetron sputtering on nitrile rubber (NBR) substrates, varying the substrate bias voltage (0 V, 100 V, 200 V). A scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the composite film surface was smoother than the DLC film alone. The results of Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated a robust bond between nitrogen and carbon atoms in the composite film, with nitrogen facilitating the conversion of sp3C-C bonds into sp2C=C. Mechanical tests demonstrated that the N-DLC interlayer improved film adhesion and reduced the CoF of the composite film to 0.2–0.3. Specifically, the CoF of the N-DLC/DLC film prepared at 100 V was as low as 0.20, with a wear amount of 1.13 mg. Consequently, the inclusion of the N-DLC interlayer substantially enhanced the mechanical and tribological properties of DLC-coated NBR, rendering this coating highly advantageous for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rabbitfish Siganus oramin is an important naturally caught and aquaculture fish species. Intestinal microbiota can affect the metabolism and immunity of fish, which is closely related to the habitat of the host. In this study, we collected the wild fry S. oramin from a natural sea area, and cultured them in outdoor and indoor ponds, respectively, and investigated the changes in serum biochemical indexes and intestinal microbial community in three different habitats. The results showed that compared with the wild population, the serum total protein content of the outdoor culture population increased significantly. The indoor culture population had significantly higher triglyceride and total cholesterol contents than that of the outdoor culture population. Additionally, the intestinal microbial richness indexes ACE and Chao1 of the cultured population were higher than those of the wild population, especially the indoor culture, but Shannon and Simpson had no obvious changes. The relative abundances of Firmicutes, Spirochaetae and Bacteroidetes increased in the outdoor culture population, but decreased in the indoor culture population; those of Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria were completely the opposite. Some putative beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus, Clostridium sensu stricto 1, and Intestinibacter) and harmful bacteria (Vibrio, Photobacterium, Desulfovibrio, Streptococcus) all decreased in the intestines of the cultured population when compared with the wild population, while Akkermansia and Faecalibacterium were enriched in the outdoor culture population. These results reveal that a change in habitat environment, whether an outdoor or an indoor pond, positively influenced the intestinal microbiota of the rabbitfish, which is beneficial to the healthy culture of the fish from the perspective of microbial community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OVATE family proteins (OFPs) play important roles in plant growth and development, hormone signaling, and stress response pathways. However, the functions of OsOFPs in rice are largely unknown. In this study, a novel gain-of-function rice mutant, Osofp6-D, was identified. This mutant exhibited decreased plant height, erect leaves, reduced panicle size, short and wide seeds, delayed seed germination time, and reduced fertility. These phenotypic changes were attributed to the increased expression of OsOFP6, which was caused by a T-DNA insertion. Complementation of the Osofp6-D phenotype by knockout of OsOFP6 using the CRISPR/Cas9 system confirmed that the Osofp6-D phenotype was caused by OsOFP6 overexpression. In addition, transgenic plants overexpressing OsOFP6 with the 35S promoter mimicked the Osofp6-D phenotype. Cytological observations of the glumes showed that OsOFP6 overexpression altered the grain shape, mainly by altering the cell shape. Hormone response experiments showed that OsOFP6 was involved in the gibberellin (GA) and brassinolide (BR) signaling responses. Further studies revealed that OsOFP6 interacts with E3BB, which is orthologous to the Arabidopsis central organ size-control protein BIG BROTHER (BB). This study further elucidates the regulation mechanism of the rice OFP family on plant architecture and grain shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of three feed additives in a low fish meal diet on growth, antioxidant capacity and intestinal microbiota of Penaeus monodon were studied to enhance the understanding of these effects and to provide basic data and a reference for the formulation and optimization of feed for P. monodon. A total of 630 healthy, homogenous shrimp (4.58 ± 0.05 g) were randomly divided into seven groups with three replicates per group and 30 shrimp per replicate in a breeding barrel (500 L). The additive names and amounts were 0 (CT); vitamin B6, 100 mg/kg (V1); vitamin B6, 200 mg/kg (V2); phytase, 1000 U/kg (P1); phytase, 2000 U/kg (P2); 0.2% yucca extract (Y1); and 0.4% yucca extract (Y2). The experiment lasted 8 weeks. The results showed that compared to CT, V1 and Y1 had a significant increasing tendency toward weight gain (WG) (p < 0.05) and had a significant decreasing tendency in the food conversion ratio (FCR) (p < 0.05). P2 had a significant increasing tendency in α-amylase activity (p < 0.05), and P1 had a significant increasing tendency in total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) (p < 0.05). The next-generation sequencing of intestinal microbiota showed that Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum in the seven groups, accounting for 29.33%, 56.67%, 55%, 45.33%, 73%, 39.33% and 64.33% of the total. Compared to CT, the Proteobacteria was significantly high (p < 0.05) in P2 and Y2, and the Bacteroidota in all other groups decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The functional prediction of FAPROTAX indicated that there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in functional components among all groups. According to growth performance, antioxidant capacity and effects on intestinal microbiota, vitamin B6 (100 mg/kg), phytase (2000 U/kg) and yucca extract (0.2%) can be recommended as additives for the diet of P. monodon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effects of the partial substitution of fish meal with soybean products and chicken meal on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity and intestinal microbiota of Penaeus monodon. A total of 450 healthy, consistent shrimp were randomly divided into five groups, with three replicates per group and 30 shrimp per replicate. The proportion of fish meal substituted with soybean products and chicken meal in the five feed groups was 0% (FM), 40% (40SC), 60% (60SC), 80% (80SC) and 100% (100SC). The experiment lasted for 8 weeks. The results showed that, compared to the FM group, the 40SC and 60SC groups had a decrease in WG and SR, but there was no significant difference (p > 0.05). In contrast, compared to the FM group, the FCR in the 100SC group was significantly increased (p < 0.05), while there was no significant difference among the FM and 40SC, 60SC and 80SC groups (p > 0.05). Compared to the FM group, the ACP in the 80SC and 100SC groups significantly increased (p < 0.05), while the 40SC and 60SC groups had no significant difference (p > 0.05). The AKP in the 100SC group was significantly higher than that in the FM group (p < 0.05), while there were no significant differences among the other four groups (p > 0.05). There were no significant differences in T-AOC and T-SOD among all the treatment groups (p > 0.05). The next-generation sequencing of the intestinal microbiota showed that Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum in the five groups, accounting for 37.67%, 66%, 40%, 40% and 43.33%, respectively. Compared to the FM group, the Fusobacteriota in the other four groups decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The functional prediction of FAPROTAX indicated that no functional components were observed which are harmful to the body. Considering the effects on growth performance, antioxidant capacity and intestinal microbiota, it is feasible to use soybean products and chicken meal to replace 60% of fish meal in the feed of P. monodon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two major concerns of sustainable agriculture are safeguarding food security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Studies on the performance of strip-till with controlled-release blended fertilizer on rainfed maize grain yield, greenhouse gas emissions, and net ecosystem economic budget are scarce in the hilly region of northeast China. In this study, the differences between strip-till (RST) and conventional ridge cropping (CP), straw off-field no-tillage (NT), and no-tillage with straw mulching (RNT) were comparatively investigated in the conventional fertilizer (Sd) mode. And meanwhile, four fertilization modes were also set up under strip-till (RST): conventional fertilization (Sd), controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer blended with normal urea 3:7 (30%Cr), controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer blended with normal urea 5:5 (50%Cr), and no-nitrogen fertilization. We analyzed maize yield, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI), net income and net ecosystem economic budget (NEEB) for different treatments. The results showed that, under conventional fertilizer (Sd) mode, the maize yield of RST increased by 4.2%, 6.0% and 7.2% compared with NT, CP and RNT and the net income increased by 7.0%, 9.7% and 10.0%, respectively. Compared with CP and NT, although RST increased CO2 and N2O emissions, the GHGI of RST was not significantly different from CP and NT, and was 8.0% lower than that of RNT. The NEEB of RST increased by 6.8%, 9.7% and 11.0%, respectively, compared with NT, CP and RNT. Under strip-till, compared with 30%Cr and Sd, the yield of 50%Cr increased by 4.0% and 9.2% and the net income increased by 3.5% and 6.9%, respectively. There was no significant difference in GHGI between 50%Cr and 30%Cr, and 50%Cr decreased by 10.4% compared with Sd. The NEEB of 50%Cr increased by 3.8% and 7.4% compared to 30%Cr and Sd. Strip-till combines controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer blended with normal urea 5:5 (50%Cr) and can be applied as a sustainable strategy to improve the economic efficiency of maize and reduce environmental costs in the hilly region of northeast China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In urban point cloud scenarios, due to the diversity of different feature types, it becomes a primary challenge to effectively obtain point clouds of building categories from urban point clouds. Therefore, this paper proposes the Enhanced Local Feature Aggregation Semantic Segmentation Network (ELFA-RandLA-Net) based on RandLA-Net, which enables ELFA-RandLA-Net to perceive local details more efficiently by learning geometric and semantic features of urban feature point clouds to achieve end-to-end building category point cloud acquisition. Then, after extracting a single building using clustering, this paper utilizes the RANSAC algorithm to segment the single building point cloud into planes and automatically identifies the roof point cloud planes according to the point cloud cloth simulation filtering principle. Finally, to solve the problem of building roof reconstruction failure due to the lack of roof vertical plane data, we introduce the roof vertical plane inference method to ensure the accuracy of roof topology reconstruction. The experiments on semantic segmentation and building reconstruction of Dublin data show that the IoU value of semantic segmentation of buildings for the ELFA-RandLA-Net network is improved by 9.11% compared to RandLA-Net. Meanwhile, the proposed building reconstruction method outperforms the classical PolyFit method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nrg1 (Neuregulin 1) type III, a susceptible gene of schizophrenia, exhibits a critical role in the central nervous system and is essential at each stage of Schwann's cell development. Nrg1 type III comprises double-pass transmembrane domains, with the N-terminal and C-terminal localizing inside the cells. The N-terminal transmembrane helix partially overlaps with the cysteine-rich domain (CRD). In this study, Nrg1 type III constructs with different tags were transformed into cultured cells to verify whether CRD destroyed the transmembrane helix formation. We took advantage of immunofluorescent and immunoprecipitation assays on whole cells and analyzed the N-terminal distribution. Astonishingly, we found that a novel form of Nrg1 type III, about 10% of Nrg1 type III, omitted the N-terminal transmembrane helix, with the N-terminal positioning outside the membrane. The results indicated that the novel single-pass transmembrane status was a minor form of Nrg1 type III caused by N-terminal processing, while the major form was a double-pass transmembrane status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to enhance the automation level and achieve high precision in the ultrasonic strengthening of aviation blade surfaces, this study focuses on investigating the intelligent control strategy and optimizing the machining parameters for robotic ultrasonic surface strengthening. By designing an intelligent compliance control method, the end-effector can achieve the compliant output of contact force. The fuzzy PID control method is used to optimize the regulation performance of the compliant force control system. This compliance control strategy enables the optimization of the compliance device, effectively improving the static and dynamic characteristics of the compliance controller. Based on this, an experimental method (RSM) is designed to analyze the interaction effects of contact force, feed rate, and repetition times on the surface quality of the blade. The optimal combination of robotic strengthening parameters is determined, providing a practical reference for the application of robotic compliance control in the ultrasonic strengthening of aviation blade surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a common engineering practice, the buildings are usually evaluated under the Typical Meteorological Year (TMY), which represents the common weather situation. The warm and cool conditions, however, can affect the building performance considerably, yet building performances under such conditions cannot fully be given by the conventional TMY. This paper gives approaches to constructing the weather data that represents several warm and cool conditions and compares their differences by studying the cumulative cooling demands of a typical building in a hot and humid climate. Apart from the Extreme Weather Year (EWY), the Near-Extreme Weather Year (NEWY) and Common warm/cool Years (CY) data are proposed according to the occurrence distributions of the weather over the long term. It was found that the cooling demands of NEWY and EWY differ by 4.8% from the cooling needs of TMY. The difference between the cooling demands of NEWY and CY for most calendar months can be 20% and 15%, respectively. For the hot months, the cooling demands under NEWY and CY take 7.4–11.6% and 2.3–5.6% differences from those under TMY. The uncertainties of building performance due to the ever-changing weather conditions can be essential to the robustness of building performance evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This prospective study examined the impact of various factors on return to work (RTW) for head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors at 3 and 12 months after treatment. The study included 227 participants aged 65 years or younger. Within 3 months, 92 participants RTW and 30 retired. At 12 months, 80 participants were still working and another 51 participants had RTW. Hindrances to RTW at 3 months were advanced tumour stage (stage III and IV), whereas hindrances at 12 months were oral and larynx cancer. Facilitators of RTW included having a white-collar job, living in a relationship and early tumour stages. The study underscored that disease stage significantly hindered RTW, and work type and having a spouse or partner were nonclinical factors influencing RTW. These findings offer valuable insights for healthcare professionals and policymakers, which can aid in the development of strategies and support systems to enhance the RTW experience for HNC survivors. Striving to return to work is of great importance to many cancer survivors. The purpose of the study is to prospectively investigate the factors that hinder and facilitate return to work (RTW) at 3 and 12 months after the end of treatment in head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors and whether these factors influence the ability to continue working after treatment. Participants (n = 227) aged ≤ 65 years at diagnosis with HNC were included. Data were collected before the start of treatment and at 3 and 12 months after the end of treatment. The Rubin causal model was used for statistical analysis. Within the 3-month follow-up period, 92 participants had RTW and 30 had retired. At the 12-month follow-up, 80 of these participants were still working, another 51 participants had RTW, and five participants working still suffered from cancer. The hindrance to RTW within 3 months was advanced tumour stage (stage III and IV) (p = 0.0038). Hindrances to RTW at the 12-month follow-up were oral cancer (p = 0.0210) and larynx cancer (p = 0.0041), and facilitators were living in a relationship (p = 0.0445) and a white-collar job (p = 0.00267). Participants with early tumour stage (stage I and II) (p = 0.0019) and a white-collar job (p = 0.0185) had earlier RTW. The conclusion is that disease factors were the most important hindrances to RTW, and type of work and living with a spouse or partner were nonclinical factors influencing RTW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of offshore wind turbines continues to rise and their proximity to navigational routes decreases, the risk of collisions between passing vessels and wind turbines increases, thereby presenting serious threats to the safety of personnel and equipment. Given that collisions between floating wind turbines and vessels entail a complex interplay of wind, wave, and mooring loads, this study established a bidirectional fluid-structure coupling simulation methodology based on Star-CCM+ and ABAQUS. Under the combined influences of wind, wave, and mooring loads, the study investigated the dynamic response of floating wind turbines following bow and side impacts from vessels. Analyses were conducted on the structural damage and deformation of floating wind turbines, the transformation of energy during collision processes, and the resultant motion response of the turbines. A sensitivity analysis was performed on parameters such as collision speed, collision angle, wind speed, and wave height. The findings indicate that the amplitude of pitching and heaving motions of the turbine exceed those observed under conditions devoid of collision loads, with the amplitude of motion intensifying with an increase in these parameters. The turbine's floating body absorbed a minimal amount of internal energy, leading to minor damage, with the stress generated predominantly localized in the collision area of the floating body. The impact of a side collision from vessels exerted a larger influence on the structural dynamic response of floating wind turbines. The analysis results indicate that even though the offshore wind turbine structure is not critically damaged by ship impact, the equipment inside may still fail to work due to the high value of acceleration induced by ship impact. The research outcomes can benefit the safety design of offshore wind turbines in engineering practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the expression and prognostic value of TRIM6 in gliomas, the most prevalent primary brain and spinal cord tumors. Our results show that TRIM6 is predominantly overexpressed in glioma tissues and is associated with reduced overall survival, disease-specific survival, and progression-free interval. Furthermore, TRIM6 expression is correlated with WHO grade and primary treatment outcomes. Functional analysis indicates that interactions between cytokines and their receptors play a critical role in the prognosis of glioma patients. A protein-protein interaction network reveals 10 hub genes closely linked to cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction. In vitro experiments demonstrate that silencing TRIM6 impairs the proliferation, invasion, and migration of glioma cells, while overexpressing TRIM6 enhances these abilities. Additionally, TRIM6 expression is positively associated with the abundance of innate immune cells and negatively associated with the abundance of adaptive immune cells. In summary, TRIM6 is significantly upregulated in gliomas and linked to poor prognosis, making it a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. TRIM6 plays a crucial role in promoting cell viability, clonogenic potential, migration, and invasion in glioma cells. It may regulate glioma progression by modulating cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, leading to an inflammatory response and an imbalance in immunomodulation, thereby representing a potential therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to global temperature increases, terraced house (TH) residents face a threat to their health due to poor indoor thermal environments. As buildings are constructed by low-income residents without professional guidance, this study aims to investigate the indoor thermal comfort and energy resilience of THs under the future climate and determine the optimal passive design strategies for construction and retrofitting. By exploring the effects of building envelope structures, adjusting the window-to-wall ratio (WWR) and designing shading devices, EnergyPlus version 22.0 was used to optimize the thermal environment and cooling load of THs throughout their life cycle under future climate uncertainties. Unimproved THs will experience overheating for nearly 90% of the hours in a year and the cooling load will exceed 60,000 kWh by 2100 under the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 8.5 scenario. In contrast, optimization and improvements resulted in a 17.3% reduction in indoor cooling load by increasing shading devices and the WWR, and using building envelope structures with moderate thermal insulation. This study can guide TH design and renovation, significantly reducing indoor cooling load and enabling residents to better use active cooling to combat future overheating environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The learning adaptability of international students is pivotal to the success of sustainable international higher education development. The purpose of this study was to explore what factors affect the learning adaptability of international students in China through structural equation modelling and mediation analysis. The data collected through a questionnaire from the overseas students were analysed, and the reliability and validity were also tested. The findings show that the influencing factors that affect learning adaptability of international students in China comprise seven variables: learning attitude, motivation to study abroad, learning ability, language proficiency, learning environment, teaching management and social relations. In addition, when language proficiency is used as the mediating variable, the motivation to study abroad has a significant positive impact on learning attitudes, with an influence coefficient of 0.185 and an effect proportion of 35%, which is a partial mediator. When social relationships are used as the mediating variable, study abroad motivation has a significant positive impact on learning attitude, with an influence coefficient of 0.058, which is completely mediating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salt mines feature both autochthonous and allochthonous microbial communities introduced by industrialization. It is important to generate the information on the diversity of the microbial communities present in the salt mines and how they are shaped by the environment representing ecological diversification. Brine from Mahai potash mine (Qianghai, China), an extreme hypersaline environment, is used to produce potash salts for hundreds of millions of people. However, halophiles preserved in this niche during deposition are still unknown. In this study, using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and estimation of physicochemical variables, we examined brine samples collected from locations with the gradient of industrial activity intensity and discrete hydrochemical compositions in the Mahai potash mine. Our findings revealed a highly diverse bacterial community, mainly composed of Pseudomonadota in the hypersaline brines from the industrial area, whereas in the natural brine collected from the upstream Mahai salt lake, most of the 16S rRNA gene reads were assigned to Bacteroidota. Halobacteria and halophilic methanogens dominated archaeal populations. Furthermore, we discovered that in the Mahai potash mining area, bacterial communities tended to respond to anthropogenic influences. In contrast, archaeal diversity and compositions were primarily shaped by the chemical properties of the hypersaline brines. Conspicuously, distinct methanogenic communities were discovered in sets of samples with varying ionic compositions, indicating their strong sensitivity to the brine hydrochemical alterations. Our findings provide the first taxonomic snapshot of microbial communities from the Mahai potash mine and reveal the different responses of bacteria and archaea to environmental variations in this high-altitude aquatic ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The downtown cores of many cities are characterized by aged communities that tend to host a relatively high population of elderly retirement residents. The availability and usage of outdoor spaces within these communities play a crucial role in promoting active aging, providing essential locations for rest, activities, and social interaction among the elderly. However, in the planning and design of these spaces, attention is often focused on the safety and mobility requirements of the elderly population, while a lack of research is apparent in the area of elderly-specific preferences for spaces designed for relaxation and communication. In this study, we selected an aging community as the research target and conducted a detailed investigation of the outdoor spaces where the elderly residents gather and build up spontaneously in summer. Our objective was to evaluate the environmental factors influencing the selection of these outdoor spaces by the elderly for relaxation and communication. We analyzed the correlations between these factors and the number of occupants in these spaces and developed predictive models accordingly. The findings indicate that the environmental factors impacting the utilization of outdoor spaces by the elderly during heat periods within the community are, in order of importance: temperature, relative humidity, human traffic flow, and noise levels. These factors include physical and social aspects; temperature is a negative correlation factor affecting the use of outdoor space by the elderly, and the rest are positive correlation factors. This shows that the elderly like to gather and chat in a cool, crowded, and lively environment. Through the data analysis, it was determined that the random forest regression model was the most effective in predicting the number of residents remaining in these spaces. With a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.7958, the model can assist in community update planning and design, help in selecting outdoor spaces, and improve the quality of the outdoor environment. This study discusses the factors influencing the elderly's use of community outdoor space from the physical and social levels, and the prediction model is significant for the optimization of spatial elements and spatial location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the successful experimental synthesis of single-layer metallic 1T-TaS2 and semiconducting 2H-MoS2, 2H-WSe2, we perform a first-principles study to investigate the electronic and interfacial features of metal/semiconductor 1T-TaS2/2H-MoS2 and 1T-TaS2/2H-WSe2 van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) contact. We show that 1T-TaS2/2H-MoS2 and 1T-TaS2/2H-WSe2 form n-type Schottky contact (n-ShC type) and p-type Schottky contact (p-ShC type) with ultralow Schottky barrier height (SBH), respectively. This indicates that 1T-TaS2 can be considered as an effective metal contact with high charge injection efficiency for 2H-MoS2, 2H-WSe2 semiconductors. In addition, the electronic structure and interfacial properties of 1T-TaS2/2H-MoS2 and 1T-TaS2/2H-WSe2 van der Waals heterostructures can be transformed from n-type to p-type Schottky contact through the effect of layer spacing and the electric field. At the same time, the transition from Schottky contact to Ohmic contact can also occur by relying on the electric field and different interlayer spacing. Our results may provide a new approach for photoelectric application design based on metal/semiconductor 1T-TaS2/2H-MoS2 and 1T-TaS2/2H-WSe2 van der Waals heterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing building stock faces the challenge of low energy efficiency and requires renovation and upgrading to meet society′s goals of carbon reduction and sustainable development. This study presents an optimization framework utilizing genetic algorithms to develop robust retrofit plans that balance the need for improved energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness considerations for householders, and uncertainties regarding climate conditions. A case study of an aged residential building in a hot and humid region of China is used to demonstrate the proposed method. The optimization results show a potential energy demand reduction of 81.5%. However, due to the relatively long time required to realize economic benefits from high investments, short-term optimization tends to favor solutions with high energy demand and low primary costs. To effectively reduce carbon emissions, it is recommended to consider the long-term economic benefits of retrofits and prioritize solutions with high energy efficiency. However, it is important to acknowledge that the expensive nature of retrofit investments may pose barriers to residents. Society should provide adequate support and guidance to facilitate residential renovation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different functional areas within general hospitals have varying environmental requirements, with relatively high energy consumption. A comprehensive evaluation of the operational performance's rationality is of great significance in hospitals' energy conservation efforts. This study conducted an annual post-occupancy evaluation of a general hospital located in a hot summer and cold winter area in east of China. Two hundred and seventy-eight valid online satisfaction questionnaires, sixty valid point-to-point questionnaires, indoor environment data of each typical season, and energy consumption data were obtained. The overall indoor environment of the selected hospital met the standard requirements. The results showed that occupant satisfaction was influenced by gender, working hours, and length of stay. The annual energy consumption level of this building was 84.7 kWh/m2, which is significantly lower than that of other public general hospitals in China and general hospitals in developed countries. The energy consumption of the inpatient department was directly related to the hospital days, with an increase of 12.2 kWh/m2 for every 1000 additional hospital days. A new indoor environment quality (IEQ) model and a new comprehensive evaluation model for energy efficiency were established. Overall, the outpatient department exhibited superior performance compared to the inpatient department. These evaluation models can help owners and decision-makers in the identification of environmental performance in hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bionic robots possess inherent advantages for underwater operations, and research on motion control and intelligent decision making has expanded their application scope. In recent years, the application of reinforcement learning algorithms in the field of bionic underwater robots has gained considerable attention, and continues to grow. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of the accomplishments of reinforcement learning algorithms in the field of bionic underwater robots. Firstly, we classify existing reinforcement learning methods and introduce control tasks and decision making tasks based on the composition of bionic underwater robots. We further discuss the advantages and challenges of reinforcement learning for bionic robots in underwater environments. Secondly, we review the establishment of existing reinforcement learning algorithms for bionic underwater robots from different task perspectives. Thirdly, we explore the existing training and deployment solutions of reinforcement learning algorithms for bionic underwater robots, focusing on the challenges posed by complex underwater environments and underactuated bionic robots. Finally, the limitations and future development directions of reinforcement learning in the field of bionic underwater robots are discussed. This survey provides a foundation for exploring reinforcement learning control and decision making methods for bionic underwater robots, and provides insights for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stator structure is one of the main factors affecting the electromagnetic performance of permanent magnet (PM) motors. In this paper, an in-depth study and analysis of how to reduce the cogging torque is carried out from the perspective of the stator structure. According to the theory of cogging torque synthesis, this paper presents a unified calculation formula for different PM motor skewed notch designs. This theory is verified with a 20-pole, 60-slot motor and a 20-pole, 24-slot motor, respectively. The formula worked out proved to be highly applicable. The formula is intended to address how to quickly obtain key data (skew angle, notch depth) in a skewed notch study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there has been an increasing consumption of fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas in both industrial production and daily life. This high demand for non-renewable energy sources has prompted researchers to investigate sustainable and renewable energy alternatives. The development and production of nanogenerators provide a promising solution to address the energy crisis. Triboelectric nanogenerators, in particular, have attracted significant attention due to their portability, stability, high energy conversion efficiency, and compatibility with a wide range of materials. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have many potential applications in various fields, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Additionally, by virtue of their remarkable physical and chemical properties, two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), MXenes, and layered double hydroxides (LDHs), have played a crucial role in the advancement of TENGs. This review summarizes recent research progress on TENGs based on 2D materials, from materials to their practical applications, and provides suggestions and prospects for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus (P) nonpoint source pollution from soil to water is increasing dramatically, leading to the eutrophication of water bodies. Using amendment materials for P retention in soil is a promising strategy for environmental restoration and nonpoint source pollution management. This strategy has attracted significant attention because of its highly effective P retention. This study reviews management strategies of P nonpoint pollution from soil to water, including the basic P forms and accumulation situation in soil and P loss from soil to water. Recent advances in the use of amendment materials, such as inorganic, organic, and composite amendment materials, to mitigate P pollution from soil to water have also been summarized. Environmental risks of reloss of P retention in soil with different soil properties and water conditions have also been investigated. This review improves the understanding of P nonpoint source pollution from soil to water, providing an innovative perspective for the large-scale application of amendment materials to control water eutrophication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) is the most important and popular vessel wall imaging technique for the direct assessment of vessel wall and cerebral arterial disease. It can identify the cause of stroke in high-risk plaques and differentiate the diagnosis of head and carotid artery dissection, including inflammation, Moya Moya disease, cerebral aneurysm, vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage, reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome, blunt cerebrovascular injury, cerebral arteriovenous malformations, and other stenosis or occlusion conditions. Through noninvasive visualization of the vessel wall in vitro, quantified assessment of luminal stenosis and pathological features of the vessel wall can provide clinicians with further disease information. In this report, technical considerations of HRMRI are discussed, and current clinical applications of HRMRI are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the evolution mechanism of freeze–thaw disasters and the role of water in the freezing–thawing cycles of rocks, the macro mechanical indexes and microstructural characteristics of seven different saturation sandstones after certain freeze–thaw cycles were analyzed. Electron microscope scanning, nuclear magnetic resonance, and uniaxial compression tests were employed to study the migration law of water in the rock, the crack growth law, and the damage mechanism during freeze–thaw cycles. The results showed that when the saturation was 85%, the peak load curve of sandstone with different saturation appeared at the minimum point, and the porosity of sandstone reached the maximum. The damage variable increased sharply when the saturation was 75–85%. This proves that 85% saturation is the critical value of sandstone after five freeze–thaw cycles. The water migration freezing model is established, and the migration direction of capillary film water during freezing is micropore → mesopore → macropore. The migration of water is accompanied by the expansion and generation of cracks. Then we study the mechanism and law of crack expansion, and the crack propagation rate is positively related to the theoretical suction. The theoretical suction and theoretical ice pressure increased linearly with the decrease in temperature, which accelerated the crack propagation. The crack propagation rate in decreasing order is Vmacropore > Vmesopore > Vmicropore. The research results can provide a theoretical basis for evaluating the stability of rocks under the action of freeze–thaw cycles in cold regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface subsidence is a serious threat to human life, buildings and traffic in Beijing. Surface subsidence is closely related to human activities, and human activities in Beijing area showed a decreasing trend during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). To study surface subsidence in Beijing before and after the COVID-19 outbreak and its causes, a total of 51 Sentinel-1A SAR images covering Beijing from January 2018 to April 2022 were selected to derive subsidence information by Time Series Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (TS-InSAR). The results of surface subsidence in Beijing demonstrate that Changping, Chaoyang, Tongzhou and Daxing Districts exhibited the most serious subsidence phenomenon before the COVID-19 outbreak. The four main subsidence areas form an anti-Beijing Bay that surrounds other important urban areas. The maximum subsidence rate reached −57.0 mm/year. After the COVID-19 outbreak, the main subsidence area was separated into three giant subsidence funnels and several small subsidence funnels. During this period, the maximum subsidence rate was reduced to −43.0 mm/year. Human activity decrease with the COVID-19 outbreak. This study effectively analysed the influence of natural factors on surface subsidence after excluding most of the human factors. The following conclusions are obtained from the analysis: (1) Groundwater level changes, Beijing's geological structure and infrastructure construction are the main reasons for surface subsidence in Beijing. (2) Seasonal changes in rainfall and temperature indirectly affect groundwater level changes, thereby affecting surface subsidence in the area. (3) The COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 reduced the payload of Beijing's transportation facilities. It also slowed down the progress of various infrastructure construction projects in Beijing. These scenarios affected the pressure on the soft land base in Beijing and reduced the surface subsidence trend to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A laser three-dimensional (3D) projection system is an auxiliary system in intelligent manufacturing. It works with a positioning system in practical applications. This study proposes a calibration method for laser 3D projection systems based on binocular vision. The significance of the binocular vision positioning function for the calibration process was analyzed. Two calibration methods for laser 3D projection systems based on the binocular vision positioning function were proposed. One method involves simplified calculation models and another used data to solve the conversion relationship. The experimental calibration of the projection system was performed using data to directly solve the conversion relationship. The experiment demonstrated the simplicity of the proposed calibration method. The calculation time was less under the 3D laser projection system based on binocular vision. Moreover, the mean calibration error was 0.38 mm at a working distance of 1.8–2.2 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a real-time, versatile Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and object localization system, which fuses measurements from LiDAR, camera, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and Global Positioning System (GPS). Our system can locate itself in an unknown environment and build a scene map based on which we can also track and obtain the global location of objects of interest. Precisely, our SLAM subsystem consists of the following four parts: LiDAR-inertial odometry, Visual-inertial odometry, GPS-inertial odometry, and global pose graph optimization. The target-tracking and positioning subsystem is developed based on YOLOv4. Benefiting from the use of GPS sensor in the SLAM system, we can obtain the global positioning information of the target; therefore, it can be highly useful in military operations, rescue and disaster relief, and other scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remaining useful life (RUL) prediction is vital to provide accurate decision support for a safe power system. In order to solve capacity measurement difficulties and provide a precise and credible RUL prediction for lithium-ion batteries, two health indicators (HIs), the discharging voltage difference of an equal time interval (DVDETI) and the discharging temperature difference of an equal time interval (DTDETI), are extracted from the partial discharging voltage and temperature. Box-Cox transformation, which is data processing, is used to improve the relation grade of HIs. In addition, the Pearson correlation is employed to evaluate the relationship degree between HIs and capacity. On this basis, a local Gaussian function and a global sigmoid function are utilized to improve the multi-kernel relevance vector machine (MKRVM), whose weights are optimized by applying a whale optimization algorithm (WOA). The availability of the extracted HIs as well as the accuracy of the RUL prediction are verified with the battery data from NASA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of rapid urban development and continuous climate change, frequent floods around the world have caused serious economic losses and social problems, which has become the main reason for the sustainable development of cities. Flood disaster risk assessment is an important non-engineering measure in urban disaster prevention and mitigation, and scientific flood disaster risk assessment is the premise and foundation of flood disaster risk management. This paper summarizes the current situation of flood risk assessment by analyzing the international literature in recent 20 years. The mechanism of flood disaster is mainly discussed. The flood disaster assessment methods are summarized, including historical disaster statistics method, multi-criteria index system method, remote sensing and GIS (Geographic Information System) coupling method, scenario simulation evaluation method and machine learning method. Furthermore, the development status of flood risk analysis and forecasting is summarized. Finally, the development trend and direction of flood risk assessment are put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifunctional, integrated, and reusable operating platforms are highly sought after in biochemical analysis and detection systems. In this study, we demonstrated a novel detachable, reusable acoustic tweezer manipulation platform that is flexible and versatile. The free interchangeability of different detachable microchannel devices on the acoustic tweezer platform was achieved by adding a waveguide layer (glass) and a coupling layer (polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer film). We designed and demonstrated the detachable multifunctional acoustic tweezer platform with three cell manipulation capabilities. In Demo I, the detachable acoustic tweezer platform is demonstrated to have the capability for parallel processing and enrichment of the sample. In Demo II, the detachable acoustic tweezer platform with capability for precise cell alignment is demonstrated. In Demo III, it was demonstrated that the detachable acoustic tweezer platform has the capability for the separation and purification of cells. Through experiments, our acoustic tweezer platform has good acoustic retention ability, reusability, and stability. More capabilities can be expanded in the future. It provides a simple, economical, and multifunctional reusable operating platform solution for biochemical analysis and detection systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PbBr2 has recently attracted considerable attention as a precursor for lead halide perovskite-based devices because of its attractive properties. It is known that pressure can modify the chemical and physical properties of materials by altering the distance between atoms in the lattice. Here, a global structure-searching scheme was used to explore the high-pressure structures of PbBr2, whose structures and properties at high pressure are still far from clear. Three new phases of PbBr2 were predicted in the pressure range of 0–200 GPa, and the pressure-driven phase transition sequence of orthorhombic Pnma (0–52 GPa) → tetragonal I4/mmm (52–80 GPa) → orthorhombic Cmca (80–153.5 GPa) → orthorhombic Immm (153.5–200 GPa) is proposed. Electronic calculations indicate a semiconductor-to-metallic transition of PbBr2 in the Cmca phase at ~120 GPa. Our present results could be helpful in improving the understanding of fundamental physical properties and provide insights to modulate the structural and related photoelectric properties of PbBr2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomaterials have attracted attention as a major material for biodegradable and transient electronic devices. In this work, biocompatible gelatin-doped graphene quantum dot films are reported as active layer switching memories with good electrical properties and physical transient properties. Such nonvolatile memory devices have write-once-read-many electrical properties and a concentrated distribution of low-resistance and high-resistance states. It provides a solution for the current obstacle of resistive memory storage and computing integration. Based on the sensitivity of the device to ultraviolet light, the "OR gate" logic operation is completed. Furthermore, the active layer can be dissolved in deionized water within 15 min, and the gelatin substrate-based device can be destroyed immediately in water, indicating the potential biodegradation and physical transient properties of our fabricated device. Biocompatible memory devices are environmentally friendly, sustainable for safe storage, and low-cost, making them ideal for storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planting trees is an effective way to regulate the outdoor thermal environment and combat urban heat islands (UHIs). Tree species and layout can have a considerable effect on, for example, the outdoor shading and wind fields, and finally the distribution of the occupant thermal sensations in outdoor spaces. We studied the influence of common tree species and layouts on the outdoor thermal environment under typical summer and winter weather conditions in the hot–humid areas of China. Each arbor model was established by the physical parameters obtained from field measurements. Physiological equivalent temperature (PET) was used to evaluate the thermal performance of the outdoor environment. The ENVI-met software was validated with field measurements and then used to assess the outdoor thermal environment under typical summer and winter weather conditions. The results showed the following: (1) Without considering the tree species, the difference in maximum PET values for different planting distances in summer and winter was 1.14 and 2.13 °C, respectively. (2) Planting arbors with different planting methods in inactive spaces had little effect on the thermal environment of the surrounding active space. (3) Arbors with high leaf area density (LAD) values performed better in regulating outdoor thermal comfort than arbors with low LAD values. The maximum differences in PET values of different arbors in summer and winter were 0.98 and 1.37 °C, respectively. This study provides practical suggestions for arbor planting in square spaces in the hot–humid areas of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it possesses the capabilities of both anti-contamination and rapid response, the deflector jet servo valve is still confronted with the issue of weak performance robustness, usually manifesting as considerable uncertainty of the product pressure indices. To elaborate on the complex internal mechanism of deflector jet valves and figure out the origins of performance fluctuations, a three-dimensional mathematical model of the deflector jet pilot valve is constructed, in which a series of assumptions are presented to apply specific theorems to different regions of the flow field. Numerical simulations and experiments show that this theoretical system can provide a distinct and logical explanation for both the internal flow distribution and the external performance of the servo valve. On this basis, the causes of performance fluctuations are discussed, concerning the installation error of the deflector and the machining error of the shunt wedge. Calculations show that the latter can bring about remarkable performance variation. Quantificationally, a 10 micron width error of the shunt wedge will induce 7.4% and 3.6% drifts of the receiver pressure and the pressure gain, respectively. However, further analyses confirm that a decrease in the deflector jet distance will lead to dramatic deterioration of the valve's susceptibility to errors. Hence, it is concluded that to enhance the performance robustness of servo valve products, the machining accuracy of the shunt wedge and non-negative errors of the deflector jet distance should both be guaranteed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical transient electronics have attracted more attention as the basis for building green electronics and biomedical devices. However, there are difficulties in selecting materials for the fabricated devices to take into account both biodegradability and high performance. In this paper, a physically transient resistive random-access memory (RRAM) device was fabricated by using egg protein and graphene quantum dot composites as active layers. The sandwich structure composed of Al/EA:GQD/ITO shows a good write-once-multiple-read memory characteristic, and the introduced GQD improves the switching current ratio of the device. By using the sensitivity of GQDs to ultraviolet light, the logic operation of the "OR gate" is completed. Furthermore, the device exhibits a physical transient behavior and good biodegradability due to the dissolution behavior in deionized water. These results suggest that the device is a favorable candidate for the construction of memory elements for transient electronic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot and humid areas experience constant high temperatures and high humidity during summer, causing widespread concern about outdoor thermal discomfort. This paper investigates the effects of landscape design strategies on outdoor thermal environments during typical summer and winter weather conditions in the hot–humid areas of China. The physiological equivalent temperature (PET) is used for evaluating the thermal performance of the proposed outdoor environments. ENVI-met software was validated via field measurements for this study and was used to evaluate the outdoor thermal environment under typical summer and winter weather conditions. Three kinds of common landscape elements were analyzed: tree species, pavement, and water bodies. The results show that (1) by properly arranging landscape elements, the PET can be reduced by up to 1.6 °C in summer without sacrificing relevant thermal comfort during winter. (2) Arbors with high leaf area density (LAD) values performed better than those with a low LAD value for improved outdoor thermal comfort. (3) The influence of pavement on outdoor thermal comfort differs when under conditions with and without shade. This study provides practical suggestions for landscape design in open spaces within hot–humid areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To eliminate the harmonics caused by nonlinear loads, repetitive controllers are widely applied as current controllers for active power filters (APF). In practice, a variation in grid frequency leads to the appearance of a fractional-order delay filter. As a result, the resonant frequency of the repetitive controller will deviate from the fundamental frequency and the controller cannot compensate for harmonics accurately. To solve this problem, an improved frequency-adaptive repetitive controller based on virtual variable sampling (IMFA-VVS-RC) for APF is proposed in this paper. To enhance the system stability margin, the proposed RC introduces an infinite impulse response (IIR) low-pass filter. The proposed RC has a high stability margin at high frequencies due to the low gain of the IIR low-pass filter in the region above the cutoff frequency. In this way, the influence of model uncertainty and parameter uncertainty on system stability are reduced at high frequencies. At the same time, compared with the conventional repetitive controller (CRC), the proposed RC for APF has a better harmonic suppression ability when the frequency varies. Experiments have verified the effectiveness of the scheme adopted for APF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State-of-Health (SOH) prediction of lithium-ion batteries is crucial in battery management systems. In order to guarantee the safe operation of lithium-ion batteries, a hybrid model based on convolutional neural network (CNN)-bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) and attention mechanism (AM) is developed to predict the SOH of lithium-ion batteries. By analyzing the charging and discharging process of batteries, the indirect health indicator (HI), which is highly correlated with capacity, is extracted in this paper. HI is taken as the input of CNN, and the convolution and pooling operations of CNN layers are used to extract the features of battery time series data. On this basis, a BiLSTM depth model is built in this paper to collect the data coming from CNN forward and reverse dependencies and further emphasize the correlation between the serial data by AM to obtain an accurate SOH estimate. Experimental results based on NASA PCoE lithium-ion battery data demonstrate that the proposed hybrid model outperforms other single models, with the root mean square error (RMSE) of SOH prediction results all less than 0.01, and can accurately predict the SOH of lithium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]