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The grain filling rate (GFR) plays a crucial role in determining grain yield. However, the regulatory and molecular mechanisms of the grain filling rate (GFR) in foxtail millet remains unclear. In this study, we found that the GFR of ′Changnong No.47′ (CN47) was significantly higher at 14 DAF (days after flowering) and 21 DAF in comparison to 'Changsheng 13' (CS13). Furthermore, CN47 also exhibited higher a thousand-grain weight and yield than CS13. Therefore, RNA-seq and UHPLC-MS/MS were used to conduct transcriptome and metabolome analyses during two stages of grain filling in both cultivars. Conjoint analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics was adopted in order to analyze the biological processes and functional genes associated with GFR. The results identified a total of 765 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 246 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) at the 14 DAF stage, while at the 21 DAF stage, a total of 908 DEGs and 268 DAMs were identified. The integrated analysis of co-mapped DAMs and DEGs revealed enriched pathways, including flavonoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, tyrosine metabolism, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, and beta-Alanine metabolism, as well as stilbenoid, diarylheptanoid, and gingerol biosynthesis. In order to elucidate their potential functions in the context of GFR, we developed a gene–metabolite regulatory network for these metabolic pathways. Notably, we found that some genes associated with ABC transporters and the plant hormone signal transduction pathway were implicated in auxin transport and signal transduction, highlighting the crucial role of auxin during grain filling. These findings provide initial insights into the regulatory and molecular mechanisms underlying GFR in foxtail millet, as well as offering valuable genetic resources for further elucidation of GFR in future studies. The findings have also established a theoretical basis for improving the efficiency of yield breeding in foxtail millet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium (Cd) is a common environmental pollutant that accumulates mainly in the kidneys and thus endangers the physiological health of aquatic animals. Selenium (Se) is a natural antidote to heavy metals that antagonises heavy metal toxicity and enhances the antioxidant capacity of organisms. Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) can reduce the toxicity of heavy metals through adsorption, reduction and metabolism. Studies have confirmed that the biological synthesis of Se nanoparticles (Bio-SeNPs) using bacterial microorganisms is simple, safe and less toxic than the synthesis of inorganic and organic Se, but the effect on Cd-induced immunosuppression is un-known. One hundred and eighty Bulatmai barbel (Luciobarbus capito: L. capito) plants were randomly divided into control (C), Cd and Cd + Se-enriched L. plantarum groups (S1L1-Cd) and fed for 28 days. The analysis methods included histopathology, test kits, transcriptomics and real-time quantitative PCR. The addition of selenium-enriched L. plantarum significantly attenuated cadmium-induced pathological changes such as glomerular atrophy, detachment of renal tubular epithelial cells, mild swelling, and interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration. Cd stress can lead to significant decreases in RBC, HCT, WBC, LZM, C3, and IgM levels, and the addition of Se-enriched L. plantarum can significantly reverse the changes in these indicators. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 488 DEGs in the Cd groups, 301 of which were upregulated and 187 of which were downregulated. There were 1474 DEGs in the S1L1-Cd group, of which 720 were upregulated and 754 were downregulated. In addition, GO enrichment analysis revealed that the biological regulation of the most differentially expressed genes involved metal ion binding, ATP binding and nucleotide inclusion. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed six of the most enriched pathways: oxidative phosphorylation, Huntington disease, retrograde endocannabinoid signalling, natural killer cell-mediated cyto-toxicity, the IL-17 signalling pathway, and leukocyte transient migration. Moreover, we selected 12 DEGs for qRT-PCR, which showed that the qRT-PCR results were consistent with our RNA-Seq results. Our results suggest that Se-enriched L. plantarum can enhance immunity and alleviate Cd exposure-mediated immunosuppression in L. capito. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous studies have indicated that individuals are confronting a diminished sense of control. Compensatory control theory suggests that individuals strive to mitigate this loss by modifying their behavior. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between self-control and compensatory control change during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the mediating effects of openness and the personal need for structure. Participants completed an online questionnaire consisting of Personal Need for Structure Scale, Self-Control Scale, Openness Scale and Compensatory Control Change Scale. The results showed that the compensatory control change increased after the outbreak. Moreover, a serial mediation was found: openness and the personal need for structure partially mediated the relationship between self-control and compensatory control change. The results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in compensatory control behaviors, especially among those with pronounced self-control. High self-control individuals are found to exhibit greater openness, reducing their personal need for structure, in effect enhancing their compensatory control change. These findings highlight the critical role of self-control in sustaining a sense of control, which is vital for understanding psychological health management in the context of public health events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with purely electrical neuromorphic devices, those stimulated by optical signals have gained increasing attention due to their realistic sensory simulation. In this work, an optoelectronic neuromorphic device based on a photoelectric memristor with a Bi2FeCrO6/Al-doped ZnO (BFCO/AZO) heterostructure is fabricated that can respond to both electrical and optical signals and successfully simulate a variety of synaptic behaviors, such as STP, LTP, and PPF. In addition, the photomemory mechanism was identified by analyzing the energy band structures of AZO and BFCO. A convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture for pattern classification at the Mixed National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) was used and improved the recognition accuracy of the MNIST and Fashion-MNIST datasets to 95.21% and 74.19%, respectively, by implementing an improved stochastic adaptive algorithm. These results provide a feasible approach for future implementation of optoelectronic synapses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steel–UHPC composite bridge decking made of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has been progressively employed to reinforce historic steel bridges. The coordinated force and deformation between the steel deck and UHPC are therefore greatly influenced by the shear stud connectors at the shear interface. Four fatigue push-out specimens of ultra-short studs with an aspect ratio of 1.84 in UHPC were examined to investigate the fatigue properties of ultra-short studs with an aspect ratio below 2.0 utilized in UHPC reinforcing aged steel bridges. The test results indicated that three failure modes—fracture surface at stud shank, fracture surface at steel flange, and fracture surface at stud cap—were noted for ultra-short studs in UHPC under various load ranges. The fatigue life decreased from 1287.3 × 104 to 24.4 × 104 as the shear stress range of the stud increased from 88.2 MPa to 158.8 MPa. The UHPC can ensure that the failure mode of the specimens was stud shank failure. Based on the test and literature results, a fatigue strength design S–N curve for short studs in UHPC was proposed, and calculation models for stiffness degradation and plastic slip accumulation of short studs in UHPC were established. The employment of ultra-short studs in the field of UHPC reinforcing aging steel bridges can be supported by the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flight parameters are crucial criteria for UAV control, playing a significant role in ensuring the safe and efficient completion of missions. Launch force and airspeed information are key parameters in the early and middle stages of flight, serving as important data for monitoring the UAV's flight status. In response to challenges such as weak launch force, low identification rates, small airspeed, and low recognition accuracy in UAVs, a method for identifying UAV flight parameters based on launch force and airspeed is proposed. From the aspect of launch force identification, a recognition method based on a low-g value accelerometer information source is proposed, utilizing a 'multi-level time window + threshold' approach. For airspeed identification, an optimization method for airspeed measurement under the Kalman filter architecture is introduced. A device for airspeed measurement based on pressure sensors is designed, and the recommended installation position is determined through simulation. Furthermore, the feasibility and robustness of the proposed launch force identification and airspeed measurement optimization methods are validated through simulation. Finally, the effectiveness of the design is verified through centrifuge and wind tunnel experiments. This research provides technical support for the identification of the launch force and airspeed measurement in UAVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time evaluation of the damage location and level of rock mass is essential for preventing underground engineering disasters. However, the heterogeneity of rock mass, which results from the presence of layered rock media, faults, and pores, makes it difficult to characterize the damage evolution accurately in real time. To address this issue, an improved method for rock damage characterization is proposed. This method optimizes the solution of the global shortest acoustic wave propagation path in the medium and verifies it with layered and defective media models. Based on this, the relationship between the inversion results of the wave velocity field and the distribution of rock damage is established, thereby achieving quantitative characterization of rock damage distribution and degree. Thus, the improved method is more suitable for heterogeneous rock media. Finally, the proposed method was used to characterize the damage distribution evolution process of rock media during uniaxial compression experiments. The obtained results were compared and analyzed with digital speckle patterns, and the influencing factors during the use of the proposed method are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The removal of pharmaceutical residues from water resources using bio-based materials is very important for human safety and health. Bio-based graphene oxide/chitosan (GO/CS) aerogel microspheres were fabricated with emulsification and cross-linking, followed by freeze drying, and were used for the adsorption of levofloxacin (LOF). The obtained GO/CS aerogel microspheres were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), and thermogravimetry (TG). The effects of GO content, pH value, and temperature on their adsorption capacity were investigated. With the incorporation of 40 wt% GO, the adsorption capacity increased from 9.9 to 45.6 mg/g, and the highest adsorption capacity, 51.5 mg/g, was obtained at pH = 8 and T = 25 °C. In addition, to obtain deeper insight into the adsorption process, the thermodynamics and kinetics of the process were also investigated with four different models of LOF adsorption. The thermodynamic modeling results revealed that LOF adsorption is exothermic, and the kinetic investigation demonstrated that LOF adsorption is generally consistent with a pseudo-first-order rate law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a novel cooling-power-desalination combined cycle for recovering shipboard diesel exhaust heat, integrating a freezing desalination sub-cycle to regulate the ship's cooling-load fluctuations. The combined cycle employs ammonia–water as the working fluid and efficiently utilizes excess cooling capacity to pretreat reverse osmosis desalination. By adjusting the mass flow rate of the working fluid in both the air conditioning refrigeration cycle and the freezing desalination sub-cycle, the combined cycle can dynamically meet the cooling-load demand under different working conditions and navigation areas. To analyze the cycle's performance, a mathematical model is established for energy and exergy analysis, and key parameters including net output work, comprehensive efficiency, and heat exchanger area are optimized using the MOPSO algorithm. The results indicate that the system achieves optimal performance when the generator temperature reaches 249.95 °C, the sea water temperature is 22.29 °C, and 42% ammonia–water is used as the working fluid. Additionally, an economic analysis of frozen seawater desalination as RO seawater desalination pretreatment reveals a substantial cost reduction of 22.69%, showcasing the advantageous features of this proposed cycle. The research in this paper is helpful for waste energy recovery and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In detecting the rotation velocity of an object employing the rotational Doppler effect of vortex beams, atmospheric turbulence can easily cause phase distortion and spiral spectrum dispersion, consequently reducing velocity measurement accuracy. This study combines adaptive optical intelligence algorithms with polarization compensation information to propose a novel approach, the Stokes–Particle swarm optimization Gerchberg–Saxton (Stokes-PSO GS) algorithm, which integrates Stokes polarization information assistance and PSO for GS phase retrieval. The algorithm adjusts the phase and amplitude of the pre-compensated phase screen of the GS algorithm utilizing Stokes information of polarized vortex beam (with lL = 5 and lR = −5) before and after distortion. The PSO is then employed to optimize the pre-compensated phase screen and perform compensations. Simulation results at zS-T = 200 m and C n 2 = 1 × 10−14 m−2/3, demonstrate that the Stokes-PSO GS algorithm exhibits strong stability (small angular spectrum purity deviation, σp, Stokes-PSO GS = 0.005675% < σp, GS = 11.62%), superior optical field recovery (well-recovered Stokes optical field, up to 33.76% improvement in angular spectrum purity), and high-velocity measurement accuracy (25.93% improvement) compared to the GS algorithm. This approach enables precise measurement of the rotation velocity of the vortex beam, demonstrating its potential in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a high-speed level shifter with about 500 V/ns power supply slew immunity. In this designed structure, a narrow pulse-controlled current source is adapted to accelerate the voltage conversion and reduce the power consumption. A Fast-Slewing Circuit speeds up the operation of the level shifter based on the current comparison principle. Edge detection technology is used to filter the generated voltage noise and achieve high dV/dt immunity. The proposed level shifter simulated with the 0.18 μm BCD (bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) process shows fast responses with a typical delay of 1.49 ns and 500 V/ns dV/dt immunity in the 200 V high-voltage application, which only occupies a 0.022 mm2 active area with the 0.18 μm BCD process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser heterodyne detection (LHD) is a key velocimetry technique that provides better accuracy and sensitivity than direct laser detection. However, random phase noise can be introduced by the surface topography of the moving target undulation or atmospheric turbulence during transmission. The random phase noise causes the target echo to undergo decoherence, resulting in degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Here, we propose a novel LHD method based on photon time–domain differential detection. It can infer the heterodyne spectrum of the target echo and the local oscillator light from the time intervals of the photon arrival. The time interval statistic is a relative quantity, which can effectively avoid the effect of random phase noise in LHD. With our method, the SNR of LHD can be improved in application scenarios where the target echo is decoherent. We developed a complete solution model for acquiring the heterodyne spectrum based on photon time–domain differential detection and performed proof-of-principle experiments. The experimental results show that in the presence of random phase noise, the SNR and velocity measurement error of our method are significantly better than that of the conventional method, and the larger the phase noise is, the more the SNR and velocity measurement error of our method are improved. Moreover, along with the increase in phase noise, the SNR of our method is basically unchanged, which also indicates that our method is not affected by random phase noise. This advantage is significant for photon-level weak echoes that require long detection times to be detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though nanomaterials based on carbon have been widely used for the preparation of high-performance polymeric nanocomposites, there are few works focused on the effect of carbon nanoparticle morphology on the performance of corresponding polymer nanocomposites. Therefore, four representative carbon nanoparticles, including fullerene, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and carbon black incorporated poly(styrene-b-isoprene-b-styrene) (SIS) elastomer nanocomposites were fabricated using the solvent casting method. In addition, the effect of carbon nanoparticle morphology on the rheological, mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of the obtained polymeric nanocomposites was systematically investigated. The results showed that the shape of carbon nanoparticles has a different effect on the properties of the obtained elastomer nanocomposites, which lays the foundation of carbon nanoparticle screening for high-performance polymer nanocomposite construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

METTL3, a methyltransferase responsible for N6−methyladenosine (m6A) modification, plays key regulatory roles in mammal central neural system (CNS) development. However, the specific epigenetic mechanisms governing human CNS development remain poorly elucidated. Here, we generated small−molecule−assisted shut−off (SMASh)−tagged hESC lines to reduce METTL3 protein levels, and found that METTL3 is not required for human neural progenitor cell (hNPC) formation and neuron differentiation. However, METTL3 deficiency inhibited hNPC proliferation by reducing SLIT2 expression. Mechanistic studies revealed that METTL3 degradation in hNPCs significantly decreased the enrichment of m6A in SLIT2 mRNA, consequently reducing its expression. Our findings reveal a novel functional target (SLIT2) for METTL3 in hNPCs and contribute to a better understanding of m6A−dependent mechanisms in hNPC proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize the selective separation of L-tyrosine (L-Tyr) and avoid the drawbacks of traditional thermal polymerization, electron beam irradiation polymerization was developed for the fabrication of L-Tyr molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Firstly, L-Tyr MIPs were prepared with methacrylic acid and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and without an initiator. Then, the influence of absorbed dosage and temperature on the adsorption capacity of L-Tyr, as well as the thermodynamic behavior, were investigated. The maximum adsorption capacity of 10.96 mg/g for MIPs was obtained with an irradiation dosage of 340 kGy under 15 °C, and the ΔH0 and ΔS0 of the adsorption process are −99.79 kJ/mol and −0.31 kJ/mol·K, respectively. In addition, the effect of adsorption time on adsorption performance was evaluated under different initial concentrations, and the kinetic behavior was fitted with four different models. Finally, the recognition property of the obtained MIPs was investigated with L-Tyr and two analogues. The obtained MIPs have an imprinting factor of 5.1 and relatively high selective coefficients of 3.9 and 3.5 against L-tryptophan and L-phenylalanine, respectively. This work not only provided an L-Tyr MIP with high adsorption capacity and selectivity but also provided an effective and clean method for the synthesis of MIPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to separate the colloidal in high-turbidity water, a kind of magnetic composite (Fe3O4/HBPN) was prepared via the functional assembly of Fe3O4 and an amino-terminal hyperbranched polymer (HBPN). The physical and chemical characteristics of Fe3O4@HBPN were investigated by different means. The Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra showed that the characteristic absorption peaks positioned at 1110 cm−1, 1468 cm−1, 1570 cm−1 and 1641 cm−1 were ascribed to C–N, H–N–C, N–H and C=O bonds, respectively. The shape and size of Fe3O4/HBPN showed a different and uneven distribution; the particles clumped together and were coated with an oil-like film. Energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) displayed that the main elements of Fe3O4/HBPN were C, N, O, and Fe. The superparamagnetic properties and good magnetic response were revealed by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis. The characteristic diffraction peaks of Fe3O4/HBPN were observed at 2θ = 30.01 (220), 35.70 (311), 43.01 (400), 56.82 (511), and 62.32 (440), which indicated that the intrinsic phase of magnetite remained. The zeta potential measurement indicated that the surface charge of Fe3O4/HBPN was positive in the pH range 4–10. The mass loss of Fe3O4/HBPN in thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) proved thermal decomposition. The –C–NH2 or –C–NH perssad of HBPN were linked and loaded with Fe3O4 particles by the N–O bonds. When the Fe3O4/HBPN dosage was 2.5 mg/L, pH = 4–5, the kaolin concentration of 1.0 g/L and the magnetic field of 3800 G were the preferred reaction conditions. In addition, a removal efficiency of at least 86% was reached for the actual water treatment. Fe3O4/HBPN was recycled after the first application and reused five times. The recycling efficiency and removal efficiency both showed no significant difference five times (p > 0.05), and the values were between 84.8% and 86.9%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated segmentation of carotid lumen-intima boundary (LIB) and media-adventitia boundary (MAB) by deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) from three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) images has made assessment and monitoring of carotid atherosclerosis more efficient than manual segmentation. However, training of CNN still requires manual segmentation of LIB and MAB. Therefore, there is a need to improve the efficiency of manual segmentation and develop strategies to improve segmentation accuracy by the CNN for serial monitoring of carotid atherosclerosis. One strategy to reduce segmentation time is to increase the interslice distance (ISD) between segmented axial slices of a 3DUS image while maintaining the segmentation reliability. We, for the first time, investigated the effect of ISD on the reproducibility of MAB and LIB segmentations. The intra-observer reproducibility of LIB and MAB segmentations at ISDs of 1 mm and 2 mm was not statistically significantly different, whereas the reproducibility at ISD = 3 mm was statistically lower. Therefore, we conclude that segmentation with an ISD of 2 mm provides sufficient reliability for CNN training. We further proposed training the CNN by the baseline images of the entire cohort of patients for automatic segmentation of the follow-up images acquired for the same cohort. We validated that segmentation with this time-based partitioning approach is more accurate than that produced by patient-based partitioning, especially at the carotid bifurcation. This study forms the basis for an efficient, reproducible, and accurate 3DUS workflow for serial monitoring of carotid atherosclerosis useful in risk stratification of cardiovascular events and in evaluating the efficacy of new treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aborycin is a type I lasso peptide with a stable interlocked structure, offering a favorable framework for drug development. The aborycin biosynthetic gene cluster gul from marine sponge-associated Streptomyces sp. HNS054 was cloned and integrated into the chromosome of S. coelicolor hosts with different copies. The three-copy gul-integration strain S. coelicolor M1346::3gul showed superior production compared to the one-copy or two-copy gul-integration strains, and the total titer reached approximately 10.4 mg/L, i.e., 2.1 times that of the native strain. Then, five regulatory genes, phoU (SCO4228), wblA (SCO3579), SCO1712, orrA (SCO3008) and gntR (SCO1678), which reportedly have negative effects on secondary metabolism, were further knocked out from the M1346::3gul genome by CRISPR/Cas9 technology. While the ΔSCO1712 mutant showed a significant decrease (4.6 mg/L) and the ΔphoU mutant showed no significant improvement (12.1 mg/L) in aborycin production, the ΔwblA, ΔorrA and ΔgntR mutations significantly improved the aborycin titers to approximately 23.6 mg/L, 56.3 mg/L and 48.2 mg/L, respectively, which were among the highest heterologous yields for lasso peptides in both Escherichia coli systems and Streptomyces systems. Thus, this study provides important clues for future studies on enhancing antibiotic production in Streptomyces systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar is considered to be the most promising substrate for the preparation of environmentally functional materials. The modification of bamboo char can significantly improve the removal rate of toxic ions from wastewater; however, there are few reports that focus on the radiation grafting method. Here, glyceride methacrylate (GMA) is successfully grafted onto bamboo char through electron beam radiation, followed by amination using the existing epoxide group in diethyltriamine, and finally, treated with hydrochloric acid to obtain protonated diethyltriamine-functionalized bamboo char (CDGBC). The results of IR, TG, XRD, and SEM prove the successful fabrication of a CDGBC biosorbent. The results show that the solution pH has a great effect on the adsorption capacity, and a maximum adsorption capacity of 169.13 mg/g is obtained at pH = 2 for Cr(VI). In addition, the adsorption behavior of Cr(VI) onto CDGBC is demonstrated to obey the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models, and thermodynamic analysis exhibits that Cr(VI) adsorption is an endothermic spontaneous process. A possible adsorption mechanism based on the electrostatic interaction, reduction, and surface complexation is proposed, according to the obtained results. This work confirms that radiation-induced grafting modification can effectively transform biochar into a high-performance adsorbent for Cr(VI) removal, offering a new approach to synthesizing an efficient biosorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In arid and semi-arid regions, rainfall takes on a critical significance to both agricultural and engineering construction activities, and the transport process and driving mechanism of soil water under rainfall conditions are in need of further investigation. To clarify the variations in soil moisture, temperature, and liquid and vapor flux under various rainfall scenarios, the Mu Us Sandy Land was selected as the study region, and a water–vapor–heat transport model was established using the Hydrus-1D software with in situ observed soil and meteorological data. The simulated results were in good agreement with the measured data during both the calibration and validation periods, suggesting that the model was accurate and applicable to the study region. The variations in the selected dry and rainy periods proved the significant effect of rainfall events on soil matric potential, temperature, and driving forces. When rainfall occurred, the hydraulic conductivity for liquid water rose by three to five orders of magnitude, driving the liquid water flow downward. In contrast, the vapor flux played a vital role in soil water movement, accounting for about 15% of the total water flux in the shallow layer when the soil was dry, while it became non-significant during rainy periods due to the reduction in hydraulic conductivity for vapor and the temperature gradient. These results clarified the mechanisms of soil liquid water and vapor movement in arid areas, which could provide scientific support for future studies on vegetation restoration and ecosystem sustainability in ecologically fragile areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In laser active detection, detection performance is affected by optical noise, laser interference, and environmental background interference. Conventional methods to filter optical noise take advantage of the differences between signal and noise in wavelength and polarization. Due to the limitations of traditional methods in the physical dimension, noise cannot be completely filtered out. In this manuscript, a new method of noise filtering based on the spatial distribution difference between the quantum orbital angular momentum beam and the background noise is proposed. The use of beams containing quantum orbital angular momentum can make the signal light have a new physical dimension and enrich the information of emitted light. We conduct a complete theoretical analysis and provide a proof-of-principle experiment. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis results, and there is a signal-to-noise ratio improvement of more than five times in laser active detection. Our method meets the urgent needs of laser active detection and can be applied in the field of high-quality target detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personalized education has been a widely shared goal pursued by Chinese and foreign educators. As the primary method of teacher–student interaction, the importance of personalized questioning is self-evident. Due to a lack of technical support, teachers rely on their teaching experience to ask questions without considering the learning situation of learners. This results in teaching questioning being unable to support learners' learning. These questions are relatively shallow and cannot promote the construction and transfer of learners' knowledge. Cognitive diagnostic technology could diagnose learners' cognitive states and provide services for personalized teaching. Therefore, a personalized teaching questioning strategy based on learners' cognitive structure diagnosis was proposed in this study. Firstly, we diagnosed learners' cognitive structure through usability, distinguishability, and stability. Secondly, we discussed the types of questions that teachers should raise when facing learners in different situations. We also discussed the application of personalized teaching questioning strategies. The experiment took place at M Primary School in Ningxia, China, with the participation of one teacher and ninety-seven fourth-grade students. Seven lessons were observed and videotaped across a range of topics. The study revealed that personalized teaching questioning strategies could improve learners' academic performance and subject literacy. They can also increase the number of teacher questioning, change the depth of teacher questioning content, and expand the scope of questioning subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of magnetic composites in wastewater treatment has become widespread due to their high flocculating characteristics and ferromagnetism. This review provides an analysis and summary of the preparation and application of magnetic composites through controllable assembly for use in wastewater treatment. The applications of magnetic composites include the treatment of dye wastewater, heavy metal wastewater, microalgae suspensions, and oily wastewater. Additionally, the recycling and regeneration of magnetic composites have been investigated. In the future, further research could be focused on improving the assembly and regeneration stability of magnetic composites, such as utilizing polymers with a multibranched structure. Additionally, it would be beneficial to explore the recycling and regeneration properties of these composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The short circuit withstand energy (SCWE) variations, and short circuit withstand time (SCWT) variations, of planar and trench silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) power devices are studied after exposure to a total ionizing dose (TID). The results for ON bias are explored. The SCWE and SCWT are studied for planar and trench SiC MOSFET power devices tested for TID with gamma irradiation. A higher degradation phenomenon for the SCWE and SCWT are observed for the planar SiC MOSFET. The physical mechanisms for these variations are analyzed and confirmed by technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficiency and resilience are two essential challenges that require attention for high-quality development under the new normal. In this research, we measured tourism eco-efficiency using the Super-SBM model with undesirable output about data from 31 provinces in China from 2010 to 2019; economic resilience through the entropy weighted Topsis model; and finally, the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of tourism eco-efficiency and economic resilience. The findings showed that, from 2010 to 2019, the 31 provinces' eco-efficiency values were low, with large and low variances in efficiency values among provinces with an uneven distribution. The economic resilience values of the 31 provinces were relatively low. Still, the economic resilience of each province had been relatively stable over the years, and the pattern of regional distribution of resilience values was generally consistent. The level of coupling coordination between tourism eco-efficiency and economic resilience was low in the 31 provinces, with low coordination type dominating, and the spatiotemporal patterns were the same. Its coupling coordination degree fluctuated and increased, but the increase was minor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the specific recognition performance, imprinted polymers have been widely investigated and applied in the field of separation and detection. Based on the introduction of the imprinting principles, the classification of imprinted polymers (bulk imprinting, surface imprinting, and epitope imprinting) are summarized according to their structure first. Secondly, the preparation methods of imprinted polymers are summarized in detail, including traditional thermal polymerization, novel radiation polymerization, and green polymerization. Then, the practical applications of imprinted polymers for the selective recognition of different substrates, such as metal ions, organic molecules, and biological macromolecules, are systematically summarized. Finally, the existing problems in its preparation and application are summarized, and its prospects have been prospected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The switching characteristics of silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) power devices of different structures were experimented after exposure to a gamma irradiation environment. The experimental results for on-state were studied. The comparisons are shown for SiC MOSFET power devices with planar, trench and double trench structures tested for total ionizing dose (TID). A higher degradation of the switching characteristics was observed for the double trench structure. The physical mechanisms for these switching characteristics variations were analyzed. In addition, they were confirmed by technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The columnar growth trait of apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) is genetically controlled by the Columnar (Co) locus on 10 chromosomes, including several candidate genes. Except for MdCo31, other candidate genes at the Co locus are less elucidated. In this study, a strategy of step-by-step screening was adopted to select 11 candidate genes by experimental cloning, transient expression, and genetic transformation. There existed several SNPs in four genes by sequence alignment in columnar and non-columnar apples. Two genes were detected in the nucleus and three genes in the cell membrane, other genes were located in multiple cellular structures by subcellular location. Ectopic expression demonstrated that more branching occurred in MdCo38-OE by upregulating NtPIN1 and NtGA2ox and enlarged leaves in MdCo41-OE tobaccos by upregulating NtCCDs. Transcripts of MdCo38 and MdCo41 were associated with the Co genotypes in apples. The results indicate that MdCo38 and MdCo41 are involved in the columnar growth phenotype in apple, probably through altering polar auxin transport, active gibberellin levels, and strigolactone biosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ghost imaging is a technique that uses the correlation between reference and signal arms to obtain intensity images of targets. Compared with the existing laser active imaging methods, ghost imaging can improve the signal-to-noise ratio and resolution. In this paper, through the use of the slice difference method, we propose a new scheme that allows a velocity image of moving targets to be obtained. We conduct a complete theoretical analysis and provide a proof-of-principle experiment. The experimental results are in good agreement with those of the theoretical analysis, and a velocity image with 64 × 64 resolution is obtained. This protocol achieves a great increase in the signal-to-noise ratio over what would be achievable using direct imaging. The results show a fully functional instance of velocity imaging, which is a key advancement on the path towards the multi-dimensional information acquisition of moving targets. Our scheme fulfils an urgent need for the detection of moving targets and may thus find use in fields such as target attitude perception and security monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply chain information disclosure is a vital factor for corporate investment efficiency and can signal a corporation's long-term sustainable development. However, little attention has been paid to its significance. In this paper, we investigate how supply chain information disclosure affects corporate investment decisions. Using a sample of Chinese-listed firms, we find that firms that disclose nonfinancial information are more likely to have a high level of investment efficiency. We also identify the mechanism underlying the effect by examining the mediating effect of financial constraints and agency costs. Increasing a firm's supply chain information disclosure can improve its investment efficiency by reducing its financial constraints and agency costs. We further find that this positive impact is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) and firms located in regions with a high degree of marketization. Our findings imply that supply chain information disclosure plays an important role in corporate investment efficiency and sustainable development. Our study emphasizes the importance of nonfinancial information disclosure, contributing to the literature investigating the role of supply chain management in corporate decision-making on sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional methods of estimating soil water content (SWC) are mainly based on in situ measurements at sampling points and remote sensing measurements over an entire region. In view of these methods, cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has received increasing attention in recent years as a mesoscale, noncontact SWC estimation technology that can provide more accurate and timely estimates of SWC over a larger area. In this study, we estimated SWC using both CRNS and soil-mounted detectors in farmland and mountainous areas, and evaluated the accuracy of the estimations at two experimental sites. Ultra-rapid adaptable neutron-only simulation (URANOS) was used to simulate the detection radius and depth of the two experimental sites and to obtain the spatial weights of the CRNS footprint. The results show that the theoretical range of detection was reduced in farmland compared to mountainous areas during the experimental period, suggesting that farmland retained more SWC even with less precipitation. Spatial weights were simulated to calculate the SWC of sampling points, and the weighted and averaged SWC were then correlated with CRNS. The weighting calculation improves the accuracy of CRNS estimations, with a determination coefficient (R2) of 0.645 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.046 cm3·cm−3 for farmland, and reproduces the daily dynamics of SWC. The R2 and RMSE in mountainous areas are 0.773 and 0.049 cm3·cm−3, respectively, and the estimation accuracy of CRNS cannot be improved by the weighting calculation. The estimation accuracy of CRNS is acceptable in both regions, but the mountainous terrain obstructs neutron transmission, causing a deviation between the actual and theoretical neutron footprints in mountainous areas. Thus, the accuracy of SWC estimation is limited in mountainous terrain. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that CRNS is suitable for use in farmland and mountainous areas and that further attention should be given to the effects of topography and vegetation when it is applied in mountainous environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basalt fibers (BFs) are environmentally friendly materials characterized by high strength and good wear resistance, and thus are popular candidates for reinforcing polymers. Herein, polyamide 6 (PA 6), BFs, and the styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene (SEBS) copolymer were melt compounded sequentially to prepare fiber-reinforced PA 6-based composites. The results showed improved mechanical and tribological performances via the incorporation of BFs and SEBS into PA 6. Compared to neat PA 6, an average 83% increase in notched impact strength was achieved for the PA 6/SEBS/BF composites, which is mainly due to the good miscibility between SEBS and PA 6. The tensile strength of the composites, however, was only increased moderately, since the weak interfacial adhesion was not sufficiently efficient to transfer the load from the PA 6 matrix to the BFs. Interestingly, the wear rates of both the PA 6/SEBS blend and the PA 6/SEBS/BF composites were obviously lower than those of the neat PA 6. The PA 6/SEBS/BF composite with 10 wt.% of the BFs exhibited the lowest wear rate of 2.7 × 10−5 mm3/N·m, which was decreased by 95% compared to that of the neat PA 6. The facilitation of forming tribo-film with SEBS and the naturally good wear resistance of the BFs were responsible for the largely decreased wear rate. Moreover, the incorporation of SEBS and BFs into the PA 6 matrix transformed the wear mechanism from adhesive wear to abrasive wear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a hematologic malignancy derived from T cells. Numerous CAR T therapies have been successfully applied to treat hematologic malignancies in the clinic. Nevertheless, there remain several challenges to the extensive application of CAR T cell therapy in T cell malignancies, especially in T-ALL. The main reason for CAR T therapy limitations is that T-ALL cells and normal T cells share antigens, which improves the difficulty of sorting pure T cells, resulting in product contamination, and would lead to CAR T cell fratricide. Thus, we considered creating a CAR on T-ALL tumor cells (CAR T-ALL) to prevent fratricide and eliminate tumor cells. We found that T-ALL cells transduced with CAR would actually commit fratricide. However, CAR T-ALL could kill only tumor cells on T-ALL cell lines, and other types of tumor cells had no killing function after being transferred with CAR. Furthermore, we created CD99 CAR with expression controlled by the Tet-On system on Jurkat cells, which could avoid the fratricide of CAR T-ALL during proliferation, ensuring the controllability of the killing time and effect. Jurkat transduced with a CAR-targeting antigen, which was expressed on other cancer cells, could kill other cancer cell lines, demonstrating that T-ALL cells could be used as tool cells for cancer therapy. Our study supplied a new feasible treatment regimen for cancer treatment in the clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the problems of poor recognition effect, low detection accuracy, many model parameters and computation, complex network structure, and unfavorable portability to embedded devices in traditional tennis ball detection algorithms, this study proposes a lightweight tennis ball detection algorithm, YOLOv5s-Z, based on the YOLOv5s algorithm and Robomater EP. The main work is as follows: firstly, the lightweight network G-Backbone and G-Neck network layers are constructed to reduce the number of parameters and computation of the network structure. Secondly, convolutional coordinate attention is incorporated into the G-Backbone to embed location information into channel attention, which enables the network to obtain location information of a larger area through multiple convolutions and enhances the expression ability of mobile network learning features. In addition, the Concat module in the original feature fusion is modified into a weighted bi-directional feature pyramid W-BiFPN with settable learning weights to improve the feature fusion capability and achieve efficient weighted feature fusion and bi-directional cross-scale connectivity. Finally, the Loss function EIOU Loss is introduced to split the influence factor of the aspect ratio and calculate the length and width of the target frame and anchor frame, respectively, combined with Focal-EIOU Loss to solve the problem of imbalance between complex and easy samples. Meta-ACON's activation function is introduced to achieve an adaptive selection of whether to activate neurons and improve the detection accuracy. The experimental results show that compared with the YOLOv5s algorithm, the YOLOv5s-Z algorithm reduces the number of parameters and computation by 42% and 44%, respectively, reduces the model size by 39%, and improves the mean accuracy by 2%, verifying the effectiveness of the improved algorithm and the lightweight of the model, adapting to Robomaster EP, and meeting the deployment requirements of embedded devices for the detection and identification of tennis balls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phthalocyanines are potentially promising photosensitizers (PSs) for photodynamic therapy (PDT), but the inherent defects such as aggregation-caused quenching effects and non-specific toxicity severely hinder their further application in PDT. Herein, we synthesized two zinc(II) phthalocyanines (PcSA and PcOA) monosubstituted with a sulphonate group in the alpha position with "O bridge" and "S bridge" as bonds and prepared a liposomal nanophotosensitizer (PcSA@Lip) by thin-film hydration method to regulate the aggregation of PcSA in the aqueous solution and enhance its tumor targeting ability. PcSA@Lip exhibited highly efficient production of superoxide radical (O2∙−) and singlet oxygen (1O2) in water under light irradiation, which were 2.6-fold and 15.4-fold higher than those of free PcSA, respectively. Furthermore, PcSA@Lip was able to accumulate selectively in tumors after intravenous injection with the fluorescence intensity ratio of tumors to livers was 4.1:1. The significant tumor inhibition effects resulted in a 98% tumor inhibition rate after PcSA@Lip was injected intravenously at an ultra-low PcSA@Lip dose (0.8 nmol g−1 PcSA) and light dose (30 J cm−2). Therefore, the liposomal PcSA@Lip is a prospective nanophotosensitizer possessing hybrid type I and type II photoreactions with efficient photodynamic anticancer effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we experimentally demonstrate a straightforward-to-implement scheme that enables the rotating velocimetry of a noncooperative target at large deflection angles. This scheme is based upon the combination of digital modal decomposition with the rotational Doppler effect of orbital angular momentum (OAM)-carried light modes. To achieve this, we first theoretically analyzed the tilt effect of a rotating surface on the OAM complex spectra and rotational Doppler spectrum. Our findings validate that the tilted surface causes not only the broadening of OAM power and phase spectra, but also the broadening of the scattered Doppler spectrum. Furthermore, we introduce a compensation phase for tilted OAM light that effectively suppresses the sidebands of the OAM power spectrum, thereby restraining the sideband amplitudes of the Doppler spectrum. As a consequence, the rotating velocimetry can be extended to cover larger tilt angles (as large as 70 degrees) than those of existing systems. Our outcomes have the advantages of providing, in addition to profound insight into the interaction between OAM-carrying light and object motion, potential opportunities for noncontact optical metrology and the telemetry of angular speeds, particularly in meteorological applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the exponential growth of educational data, increasing attention has been given to student learning supported by learning analytics dashboards. Related research has indicated that dashboards relying on descriptive analytics are deficient compared to more advanced analytics. However, there is a lack of empirical data to demonstrate the performance and differences between different types of analytics in dashboards. To investigate these, the study used a controlled, between-groups experimental method to compare the effects of descriptive and prescriptive dashboards on learning outcomes. Based on the learning analytics results, the descriptive dashboard describes the learning state and the prescriptive dashboard provides suggestions for learning paths. The results show that both descriptive and prescriptive dashboards can effectively promote students' cognitive development. The advantage of prescriptive dashboard over descriptive dashboard is its promotion in learners' learning strategies. In addition, learners' prior knowledge and learning strategies determine the extent of the impact of dashboard feedback on learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photon-counting LiDAR encounters interference from background noise in remote target detection, and the statistical detection of the accumulation of multiple pulses is necessary to eliminate the uncertainty of responses from the Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (Gm-APD). The cumulative number of statistical detections is difficult to select due to the lack of effective evaluation of the influence of the background noise. In this work, a statistical detection signal evaluation method based on photon statistical entropy (PSE) is proposed by developing the detection process of the Gm-APD as an information transmission model. A prediction model for estimating the number of cumulative pulses required for high-accuracy ranging with the background noise is then established. The simulation analysis shows that the proposed PSE is more sensitive to the noise compared with the signal-to-noise ratio evaluation, and a minimum PSE exists to ensure all the range detections with background noise are close to the true range with a low and stable range error. The experiments demonstrate that the prediction model provides a reliable estimation of the number of required cumulative pulses in various noise conditions. With the estimated number of cumulative pulses, when the signal photons are less than 0.1 per pulse, the range accuracy of 4.1 cm and 5.3 cm are obtained under the background noise of 7.6 MHz and 5.1 MHz, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) accompanied by cardiac remodeling still lacks effective treatment to date. Accumulated evidences suggest that exosomes from various sources play a cardioprotective and regenerative role in heart repair, but their effects and mechanisms remain intricate. Here, we found that intramyocardial delivery of plasma exosomes from neonatal mice (npEXO) could help to repair the adult heart in structure and function after AMI. In-depth proteome and single-cell transcriptome analyses suggested that npEXO ligands were majorly received by cardiac endothelial cells (ECs), and npEXO-mediated angiogenesis might serve as a pivotal reason to ameliorate the infarcted adult heart. We then innovatively constructed systematical communication networks among exosomal ligands and cardiac ECs and the final 48 ligand–receptor pairs contained 28 npEXO ligands (including the angiogenic factors, Clu and Hspg2), which mainly mediated the pro-angiogenic effect of npEXO by recognizing five cardiac EC receptors (Kdr, Scarb1, Cd36, etc.). Together, the proposed ligand–receptor network in our study might provide inspiration for rebuilding the vascular network and cardiac regeneration post-MI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: The choice of surgical access for 4-level degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) remains controversial, and the clinical and radiological outcomes of anterior surgery using a low-profile cage (Low-P) versus posterior surgery using cervical pedicle screw fixation (CPS) have not been compared. (2) Methods: This is a retrospective controlled study conducted between January 2019 and June 2021 of 72 patients with 4-level DCM who underwent ACDF using a low-profile cage (n = 39) or laminectomy and instrument fusion using CPS (n = 33). The minimum follow-up time was 12 months. The outcomes were C2–7Cobb angle, C2–7sagittal vertical axis (SVA) fusion rate, the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, pain visual analog scale (VAS), neck disability index (NDI), and complications. (3) Results: Both anterior and posterior procedures significantly improved the patients' quality-of-life parameters. Anterior cervical convexity and SVA significantly increased in both groups, but the SVA was greater in the posterior group than in the anterior group (p < 0.001). The C2–7 Cobb angle significantly improved in both groups postoperatively, and at the final follow-up, there was a slight but nonsignificant reduction in cervical lordosis in both groups (p = 0.567). There was a longer operative time, less intraoperative blood loss, and reduced mean hospital stay in the anterior group compared to the posterior group, with two cases of postoperative hematoma requiring a second operation, two cases of axial pain (AP), five cases of dysphagia, two cases of c5 palsy in the anterior group, and four cases of axial pain, and three cases of c5 palsy in the posterior group. According to Bridwell fusion grade, anterior fusion reached grade I in 28 cases (71.8%) and grade II in 10 cases (25.6%) in the anterior group, and posterior fusion reached grade I in 25 cases (75.8%) and grade II in 8 cases (24.2%) in the posterior group. (4) Conclusions: There was no difference between the anterior and posterior surgical approaches for MDCM in terms of improvement in neurological function. Posterior surgery using CPS achieved similar recovery of cervical anterior convexity as anterior surgery with a shorter operative time but was more invasive and had a greater increase in SVA. The use of Low-P in anterior surgery reduced the incidence of dysphagia and cage subsidence and was less invasive, but with a longer operative time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of studies have studied the influence of emotional experience on an individual's estimation performance, but the influence of implicit emotion regulation is still unknown. Participants were asked to complete the following tasks in order: idiom matching task, multiplication computational estimation task (MCE task), gender judgment task (GJ task), and emotional experience intensity assessment task. The words matching task was adopted to achieve the purpose of implicit emotion regulation (implicit reappraisal and implicit suppression). Behavioral results showed that implicit reappraisal and implicit suppression equally contributed to improving an individual's estimation speed (but not ACC (accuracy)). The MCE task related ERP (event-related potential) results showed that the influence of implicit emotion regulation on estimation consisted of two phases. In the first phase (encoding phase), implicit reappraisal both enhanced (larger P1 amplitudes) and weakened (smaller N170 amplitudes) an individual's encoding sensitivity, while implicit suppression enhanced an individual's encoding sensitivity (larger P1 amplitudes). In the second phase (estimation strategies retrieval phase), implicit reappraisal (but not implicit suppression) cost more attention resources (larger LPC2 and LPC3 amplitudes). The present study suggested that both implicit reappraisal and implicit suppression contributed to improving an individual's estimation performance, and the regulation effect of implicit suppression (vs. implicit reappraisal) was better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design, synthesis and application of low-density proppant (LDP) are of great significance for efficient and clean exploitation of low permeability oil and gas. On the basis of a brief introduction of hydraulic fracturing and the application of traditional proppants, this review systematically summarized the polymer application progress in LDP, including coated sand, coated ceramics, coated nutshells, especially for polymer composites based ultra-low density proppant (ULDP). Finally, the existing problems and future development direction are also prospected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precision healthcare aims to improve patient health by integrating prevention measures with early disease detection for prompt treatments. For the delivery of preventive healthcare, cutting-edge diagnostics that enable early disease detection must be clinically adopted. Duplex-specific nuclease (DSN) is a useful tool for bioanalysis since it can precisely digest DNA contained in duplexes. DSN is commonly used in biomedical and life science applications, including the construction of cDNA libraries, detection of microRNA, and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) recognition. Herein, following the comprehensive introduction to the field, we highlight the clinical applicability, multi-analyte miRNA, and SNP clinical assays for disease diagnosis through large-cohort studies using DSN-based fluorescent methods. In fluorescent platforms, the signal is produced based on the probe (dyes, TaqMan, or molecular beacon) properties in proportion to the target concentration. We outline the reported fluorescent biosensors for SNP detection in the next section. This review aims to capture current knowledge of the overlapping miRNAs and SNPs' detection that have been widely associated with the pathophysiology of cancer, cardiovascular, neural, and viral diseases. We further highlight the proficiency of DSN-based approaches in complex biological matrices or those constructed on novel nano-architectures. The outlooks on the progress in this field are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an increase in tracking time, the operating cost of the controller will increase accordingly. Considering the biological applications of Boolean control networks (BCNs), it is necessary to study the control problem of BCNs over finite time. In this paper, we study the output tracking problem of a BCN with disturbance inputs in a given finite time. First, the logical form of BCNs is transformed into an algebraic form using the semi-tensor product (STP) method. Then, the robust output tracking problems of a reference output trajectory and the outputs of a reference system over finite time are transformed into the robust reachability problem of the BCNs. Based on the truth matrix technique, two necessary and sufficient conditions are provided for the trackability of the reference outputs over finite time. Moreover, two algorithms are proposed to design the controllers in the case of the traceable outputs. It should be pointed out that the truth matrix method we used here has some unique features, including its simple computation and concise expression. Finally, two illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the results in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a triple-band wearable monopole antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide (CPW) with an integrated electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) array is proposed. The monopole antenna consists of an asymmetric inverted U-shaped strip, a horizontal branch, and an L-shaped ground stub, which can generate the 2.45/5.8 GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) band and the 3.5 GHz worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) band. To reduce the influence of antenna radiation on the human body, a triple-band 3 × 3 EBG array has been integrated into the back of the monopole antenna. The EBG unit is composed of two rectangular rings and a circular ring, and the operating frequencies correspond to the triple bands of the monopole antenna. In this paper, the impedance and radiation performances of the stand-alone monopole antenna and the integrated antenna are analyzed, and the safety for the human body is evaluated based on specific absorption rate (SAR) values. The proposed triple-band antenna can be used in wearable devices in wireless body area networks (WBANs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performance polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) is highly desirable for a plethora of engineering applications. The incorporation of conductive carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into PEEK can impart electrical conductivity to the otherwise non-conductive matrix, which can further expand the application realm for PEEK composites. However, a number of physical properties, which are central to the functionalities of the composite, are affected by the complex interplay of the crystallinity and presence of the nanofillers, such as CNTs. It is therefore of paramount importance to conduct an in-depth investigation to identify the process that optimizes the mechanical and electrical performance. In this work, PEEK/CNTs composites with different carbon nanotubes (CNTs) content ranging from 0.5 to 10.0 wt% are prepared by a parallel twin-screw extruder. The effects of CNTs content and annealing treatment on the crystallization behavior, mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of the PEEK/CNTs composites are investigated in detail. A non-isothermal crystallization kinetics test reveals a substantial loss in the composites' crystallinity with the increased CNTs content. On the other hand, mechanical tests show that with 5.0 wt% CNTs content, the tensile strength reaches a maximum at 118.2 MPa, which amounts to a rise of 30.3% compared with the neat PEEK sample after annealing treatment. However, additional annealing treatment decreases the electrical conductivity as well as EMI shielding performance. Such a decrease is mainly attributed to the relatively small crystal size of PEEK, which excludes the conductive fillers to the boundaries and disrupts the otherwise conductive networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials with excellent biocompatibility and targeting can be widely used in the biomedical field. Hydrogels are an excellent biomedical material, which are similar to living tissue and cannot affect the metabolic process of living organisms. Moreover, the three-dimensional network structure of hydrogel is conducive to the storage and slow release of drugs. Compared to the traditional hydrogel preparation technologies, ionizing radiation technology has high efficiency, is green, and has environmental protection. This technology can easily adjust mechanical properties, swelling, and so on. This review provides a classification of hydrogels and different preparation methods and highlights the advantages of ionizing radiation technology in smart hydrogels used for biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encouraging advances have been made in the application of microbial mineralization towards fixing and improving desertified sandy soils. However, desert soils in arid areas exhibit high salinity that may limit urease activity and production in microbial strains, thereby affecting the solidification effects of microbial calcium binders in saline soils. In this study, a salt-tolerant microbial strain (A80) that produced urease was identified from saline soils of the Qaidam Basin. The culture conditions of the strain were optimized using single-factor tests and response surface methods to optimize urease yields and activity. The optimal composition of the A80 medium included an inoculation amount of 6.32% (V/V), a yeast extract powder concentration of 15.43 g/L, a glucose concentration of 5.20 g/L, a salinity of 3%, and an incubation temperature of 36 °C. Urease activity increased by 64.80% after using optimized medium. The A80 microbial calcium-cementing agent was also used to solidify saline soils, leading to an increased unconfined compressive strength of the solidified saline soil by 25.70%. Thus, the optimization method resulted in improvements in the cultivation of a salt-tolerant strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modification of polymers can significantly improve the ability to remove rare earth ions from wastewater, but so far few studies have focused on the irradiation-induced grafting method. In this study, a novel magnetic chelating resin for Ce(III) uptake was first synthesized by suspension polymerization of PMMA@Fe3O4 microspheres followed by irradiation-induced grafting of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and subsequent amination with polyethyleneimine (PEI). The FT-IR, SEM, TG and XRD characterization confirmed that we had successfully fabricated magnetic PMMA-PGMA-PEI microspheres with a well-defined structure and good thermal stability. The obtained adsorbent exhibited a satisfactory uptake capacity of 189.81 mg/g for Ce(III) at 318.15 K and an initial pH = 6.0. Additionally, the impact of the absorbed dose and GMA monomer concentration, pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time and initial concentration were thoroughly examined. The pseudo-second order and Langmuir models were able to describe the kinetics and isotherms of the adsorption process well. In addition, the thermodynamic data indicated that the uptake process was spontaneous and endothermic. Altogether, this research enriched the Ce(III) trapping agent and provided a new method for the removal rare earth pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]