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Ion back-diffusion hinders the practical application of conventional flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI) under long-term operational conditions. To address this challenge, the present study integrated cation intercalation deionization (CID) with FCDI. A novel PFCDI-CID system was developed by utilizing a modified Prussian blue analogues owing to their enhanced rheological and electrochemical properties. The PFCDI-CID system achieved a high charge efficiency of 89.77% and an energy-normalized removal salt of 0.69 mol kJ−1 in single-cycle (SC) mode with the flow electrodes mass fraction of 2% and a desalinized water chamber-to-concentrated saline water chamber ratio of 2:1. Furthermore, under continuous operation for 12 h in SC mode, the PFCDI-CID system maintained stable desalination performance within the first 2 h. Over an extended duration, the average charge efficiency of the PFCDI-CID system was maintained at 88.44%, with an average energy-normalized removal salt of 0.65 mol kJ−1. The mechanism revealed that the desalination process involving the Prussian blue analogues primarily involves Na+ intercalation, accompanied by a small amount of electro-sorption process. This system exhibits the characteristics of conventional FCDI while enabling desalination and concentration of simulated saline water during brine discharge, thereby mitigating the impact of ion back-diffusion and broadening the application scope of FCDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have suggested that the perceived built environment is shaped by the objective built environment and influences human physical activity. However, the empirical examination of this pathway remains scant. Addressing this gap, our study investigates whether the built environment affects leisure-time physical activity through its impact on the perceived built environment, utilizing data collected from 760 residents in Fuzhou, China. Structural Equation Modeling results reveal a modest correlation between objective and perceived built environment elements, with the objective built environment being a stronger predictor of leisure-time physical activity. Notably, perceived recreational facilities significantly mediate the relationship between objective recreational facilities and leisure-time physical activity, accounting for 15% of the variance in physical activity due to objective recreational facilities. This mediation effect is consistent across subpopulations, irrespective of residential self-selection biases. These results highlight the imperative for urban planning and policy to extend beyond mere spatial allocation of amenities to enhancing both the actual and perceived accessibility of these facilities, thus underlining the study's profound implications for public health and urban development strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex-curved parts made of superalloy, advanced ceramics, and other difficult-to-machine materials are frequently used in the aerospace field. The harsh environmental conditions place very high demands on their surface quality. Precision machining of the complex-shaped parts is facing great challenge. Furthermore, it is impossible to accurately control the contact state between the curved surface and the abrasive tool with the increased shape complexity, which will produce unpredictable grinding issues, e.g., surface scratches, grinding burns, and surface/subsurface cracks. To bridge the gap, a high-shear and low-pressure intelligent precision grinding system has been developed. A 9-axis motion which integrates a 6-axis industrial robot and a three-dimensional precision motion table is completed to adjust adaptively according to the shape of the complex-curved surface. A super elastic composite abrasive tool (SECAT) that attains high-shear and low-pressure grinding modes has been developed to improve surface quality. Its contact state with the complex-curved workpiece is kept stable by the closed-loop feedback of the 6-dimensional force signal. Experimental investigations of the newly developed system are demonstrated using the Inconel 718 alloy and zirconia ceramics workpieces. The surface roughness of both workpieces is quickly reduced to a nanometer level within several grinding strokes. Both the grinding efficiency and the surface quality are considerably improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon carbide fiber reinforced silicon carbide matrix (SiCf/SiC) composite is the key cladding material of nuclear fuel, which determines the safety and reliability of nuclear fuel storage and transportation. The replacement of its storage and transportation scenario needs to be completed by the manipulator, but the application of SiCf/SiC wear, fracture, and nuclear leakage in the snatching process of brittle-flexible-rigid contact in the irradiation environment has been seriously restricted due to unclear understanding of the damage mechanism. Therefore, the effects of irradiation dose and clamping load on the friction characteristics of the contact interface between SiCf/SiC clad tube are studied in this paper, and the effects of irradiation parameters and clamping force on the static friction coefficient of the contact interface between the clad tube and flexible nitrile are obtained. Based on the Greenwood-Williamson tribological model, a numerical model of the shape and structure of the contact micro-convex at the micro-scale of the clamping interface is constructed by introducing the multi-surface integral, and finally verified by experiments. The research results show that there is a unique "Irradiation suppression zone" under the clamping condition of SiCf/SiC cladding tube under the nuclear irradiation environment, and the growth of static friction coefficient slows down until stagnates after irradiation reaches a certain extent (600 kGy), and there will be a decline when the irradiation dose continues to increase, among which the clamping force of 15.2 N within the irradiation interval of 1,000 kGy can meet the safety of nuclear environment operation. The results of this paper can provide an important theoretical basis and application guidance for the safe operation of SiCf/SiC cladding tubes in the storage and transportation clamping process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatty acid vesicles (FAVs), with their unique bionic structure, play a crucial role in models for protocells, food manufacturing, and drug delivery systems. However, FAVs are highly sensitive to changes in pH, which imposes strict constraints on their development in food and medicine. Therefore, in this study, the pH window of vesicles formed by oleic acid (OA) was migrated and expanded by introducing a nonionic surfactant, Tween80 (TW80), which resulted in a more stable pH environment for FAVs. Acid–base titration combined with particle size confirmed that different ratios of TW80 and OA expanded the pH window from 8.2–10 to 1.99–7.49, as determined by potential and turbidity. The intermolecular forces of TW80/OA composite vesicles were determined by infrared spectroscopy. Vitamin C (VC) was used as a model drug, and the TW80/OA/VC vesicles showed an encapsulation rate of 48.87% and a drug-loading capacity of 13.13% at a VC concentration of 1 mg/mL, pH = 5.5, and T = 25 °C. The vesicles were also found to have a high VC concentration and a high drug loading capacity. The in vitro release experiments demonstrated that the TW80/OA/VC vesicles could accomplish the drug release process in a physiological environment. The results of in vitro free radical scavenging experiments showed that the TW80/OA/VC vesicles could maximize the scavenging rate of DPPH free radicals up to 97.61%. This study can provide a fundamental theoretical basis for applying drug carrier vesicles in cosmetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The addition of methanol holds significant potential for enhancing the spray atomization of biodiesel, particularly at high altitudes. The aim of this work is to use experiments and CFD methods to study the effects of methanol addition to biodiesel in different ratios (0 %, 10 %, and 20 % in volume) on the spray characteristics, and compare the differences of those spray and evaporation characteristics under diesel working conditions between various altitudes. The experimental results show that biodiesel/methanol blends have shorter spray tip penetration and larger cone angle compared to biodiesel under non-vaporizing conditions. However, the impact of methanol on the spray characteristics decreases with increased injection pressure. Simulation results show that, at high altitudes, biodiesel/methanol blends have shorter liquid penetration but little change in gas penetration than biodiesel. Sauter mean diameter (SMD) decreases with increasing methanol ratio, furthermore, this trend becomes more pronounced at higher altitudes. The evaporation rate of blends increases with the rise in the methanol ratio; nevertheless, this promotional effect diminishes with increasing altitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The processing of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays an important role in the clinical application, which usually has the function of "increasing efficiency and reducing toxicity". Polygonum multiflorum (PM) has been reported to induce hepatotoxicity, while it is believed that the toxicity is reduced after processing. Studies have shown that the hepatotoxicity of PM is closely related to the changes in chemical components before and after processing. However, there is no comprehensive investigation on the chemical changes of PM during the processing progress. In this research, we established a comprehensive method to profile both small molecule compounds and polysaccharides from raw and different processed PM samples. In detail, an online two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry (2D-LC/Q-Orbitrap MS) was utilized to investigate the small molecules, and a total of 150 compounds were characterized successfully. After multivariate statistical analysis, 49 differential compounds between raw and processed products were screened out. Furthermore, an accurate and comprehensive method for quantification of differential compounds in PM samples was established based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/Q-Orbitrap-MS (UHPLC/Q-Orbitrap-MS) within 16 min. In addition, the changes of polysaccharides in different PM samples were analyzed, and it was found that the addition of black beans and steaming times would affect the content and composition of polysaccharides in PM significantly. Our work provided a reference basis for revealing the scientific connotation of the processing technology and increasing the quality control and safety of PM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the effects of biodiesel-methanol blends on the performance and emissions of diesel engine at an altitude of 2400 m, were investigated experimentally and using response surface methodology (RSM). The RSM models were developed using experimental data. Methanol ratio, injection pressure (IP) and injection timing (IT) were selected as the input parameters, while power output, brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and smoke emissions were chosen as the response parameters. The desirability approach of the RSM was used to optimize the methanol ratio and injection system parameters for improved engine performance and lower emissions at high alitiude. The optimum values of input parameters were 95.27 MPa of IP, 15.13 BTDC of IT and 17.32 % methanol ratio, and the corresponding responses of power output, BSEC, NOx and smoke with a high desirability of 0.767 were 23.7 kW, 9.94 MJ/kWh, 7.08 g/kWh NOx and 0.020 g/kWh, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presenile cataract is a relatively rare type of cataract, but its genetic mechanisms are currently not well understood. The precise identification of these causative genes is crucial for effective genetic counseling for patients and their families. The aim of our study was to identify the causative gene associated with presenile cataract in a Chinese family. In February 2020, a four-generation pedigree of presenile cataract patients was recruited at the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University. One patient and her healthy husband from the family underwent whole exome sequencing. The variant was validated through sanger sequencing, and co-segregation analysis was conducted in all family members to assess its pathogenicity. Molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) was used to analyze the conformation of both the wild type and pathogenic mutant loci p.Y153H of CRYBA2. We identified presenile cataract in the pedigree, which follows an autosomal-dominant pattern of inheritance. The family includes five clinically affected patients who all developed presenile cataract between the ages from 24 to 30. We confirmed the pathogenicity of a heterozygous missense variant (NM_057093:c.457T >C) in CRYBA2 within this family. The affected amino acid demonstrates high conservation across species. Subsequent sanger sequencing confirmed co-segregation of the disease in all family members. MDS analysis revealed that the p.Y153H mutant disrupted hydrogen bond formation between Y153 and R193 within the two β-strands of the fourth Greek key domain, leading to destabilization of the βA2-crystallin. In conclusion, a novel causative mutation (NM_057093:c.457T>C) in CRYBA2 might contribute to autosomal dominant presenile cataract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infiltration of CD4 + T cells was found in brain tissue samples from PD patients, suggesting their involvement in developing central nervous system (CNS) disease. The idea of the gut-brain axis further corroborates intestinal T cells' activation as the central immune response initiation. However, the specific factors and molecular pathways regulating intestinal T-cell activation are unclear. We used the GSE156287 and GSE145814 datasets from the GEO database to analyze and obtain the miRNAs, which are aberrantly expressed in intestinal CD4 + T cells in PD patients and predict their regulatory target mRNAs. Further, combined with the GSE174473 dataset of CD4 + T cells sequencing in PD patients, we finally clarified the aberrant genes expressed in CD4 + T cells from the intestine of PD patients and constructed a miRNA-mRNA regulatory network. The highlight of our findings showed pathways, networks, biological functions, and key molecules potentially involved in the miRNA-mediated functional effects in CD4 + T cell from the intestine of PD patients. The hsa-miR-3180-3p mediated CBX8, etc. were determined as most effective in enhancing T cell survival. PEG10, etc. regulated by hsa-miR-20a-3p targets were possibly involved in T cell differentiation. The JPT2 regulated by hsa-miR-1281 were involved in influencing T cell infiltration. The discovery of this interaction between miRNA and mRNA in CD4 + T cell has important implications for understanding the intestinal initial of PD pathological molecular and anti-inflammation of T cell activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Traditional research methods have limited the application of anterior tibial artery perforator flap due to incomplete knowledge of the perforator. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of three-dimensional digitalized virtual planning of free anterior tibial artery perforator flap for repairing soft tissue defects in extremities. Methods: A total of 11 patients with soft tissue defects in extremities were included. The patient underwent computed tomography angiography (CTA) of bilateral lower limbs, and then the three-dimensional models of bones, arteries, and skin were constructed. Septocutaneous perforators with appropriate length and diameter were selected to design anterior tibial artery perforator flaps in software, and the virtual flaps were superimposed onto the patient's donor site in a translucent state. During the operation, the flaps were dissected and anastomosed to the proximal blood vessel of the defects as designed. Results: Three-dimensional modeling showed clear anatomical relationships between bones, arteries, and skin. The origin, course, location, diameter, and length of the perforator obtained during the operation were consistent with those observed preoperatively. Eleven anterior tibial artery perforator flaps were successfully dissected and transplanted. Postoperative venous crisis occurred in one flap, partial epidermis necrosis occurred in another flap, while the remaining flaps completely survived. One flap was treated with debulking operation. The remaining flaps maintained aesthetic appearance, which did not affect the function of the affected limbs. Conclusions: Three-dimensional digitalized technology can provide comprehensive information on anterior tibial artery perforators, thus assisting in planning and dissecting patient-specific flaps for repairing soft tissue defects in extremities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the distributed H ∞ consensus problem for a first-order multiagent system where both cooperative and antagonistic interactions coexist. In the presence of external disturbances, a distributed control algorithm using local information is addressed and a sufficient condition to get the H ∞ control gain is obtained, which make the states of the agents in the same group converge to a common point while the inputs of each agent are constrained in the nonconvex sets. Finally, a numerical simulation is exhibited to illustrate the theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collaborative optimization of workshop layout and scheduling is key to realizing the efficient and orderly operation of manufacturing systems. To satisfy the low-entropy development mode and the urgent need for secondary development of enterprises, this study investigates the issue of collaborative optimization of workshop layout and scheduling by coupling and integrating their internal linkage. The low-entropy indexes of collaborative optimization of workshop layout and scheduling were analyzed, and the makespan, processing quality loss, and production cost were considered to be the optimization objectives. Accordingly, a low-entropy collaborative mathematical model of workshop layout and scheduling was constructed. Based on a multi-objective genetic algorithm for differential cell processes, an agent structure was introduced, and a new mutation strategy was designed. Considering the environmental disturbance factors, an agent cellular automata and differential evolution (ACADE) algorithm was proposed for solving the layout and scheduling coordination. Moreover, a case study was conducted, which provided basic theoretical methods and technical support for the coordinated optimization of workshop layout and scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ternary compounds with an immiscible pair of elements are relatively unexplored but promising for novel quantum materials discovery. Exploring what third element and its ratio that can be added to make stable ternary compounds out of an immiscible pair of elements remains a great challenge. In this work, we combine a machine learning (ML) method with ab initio calculations to efficiently search for the energetically favorable ternary La-Co-Pb compounds containing immiscible elements Co and Pb. Three previously reported structures are correctly captured by our approach. Moreover, we predict a ground state La3CoPb compound and 57 low-energy La-Co-Pb ternary compounds. Attempts to synthesize La3CoPb via multiple techniques produce mixed or multi-phases samples with, at best, ambiguous signals of the predicted lowest-energy La3CoPb and the second lowest-energy La18Co28Pb3 phases. The calculated results of Gibbs free energy are consistent with experiments, and will provide very useful guidance for further experimental synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The barotropic compressible Navier–Stokes system subject to the Navier-slip boundary conditions in a general two-dimensional bounded simply connected domain is considered. For initial density allowed to vanish, the global existence of strong and weak solutions is established when the shear viscosity is a positive constant and the bulk one proportional to a power of the density with the power bigger than one and a third. It should be mentioned that this result is obtained without any restrictions on the size of initial value. To get over the difficulties brought by boundary, on the one hand, Riemann mapping theorem and the pull-back Green's function method are applied to get a pointwise representation of the effective viscous flux. On the other hand, since the orthogonality is preserved under conformal mapping due to its preservation on the angle, the slip boundary conditions are used to reduce the integral representation to the desired commutator form whose singularities can be cancelled out by using the estimates on the spatial gradient of the velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physically vitrifying amorphous single-element metal requires ultrahigh cooling rates, which are still unachievable for most of the closest-packed metals. Here, we report a facile chemical synthetic strategy for single-element amorphous palladium nanoparticles with a purity of 99.35 at.% ± 0.23 at.% from palladium—silicon liquid droplets. In-situ transmission electron microscopy directly detected the solidification of palladium and the separation of silicon. Further hydrogen absorption experiment showed that the amorphous palladium expanded little upon hydrogen uptake, exhibiting a great potential application for hydrogen separation. Our results provide insight into the formation of amorphous metal at nanoscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate spectral measurement and wavelength determination are fundamental and vital for many fields. A compact spectrum analyzer with high performance is expected to meet the growing requirements, and speckle-based spectrum analyzer is a potential solution. The basic principle is based on using the random medium to establish a speckle-to-wavelength mapping relationship for spectrum reconstruction. This article introduces current speckle-based spectrum analyzers with different schemes and reviews recent advances in this field. Besides, some applications by using speckle-based spectrum analyzers are also introduced. Finally, the existing challenges and the future prospects of using speckle for spectrum recovery are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusion: A simplified single-end Rayleigh/Brillouin hybrid distributed sensing system is proposed and experimentally demonstrated, which can simultaneously measure static parameters and dynamic parameters by integrating BOTDA for static parameters and φ-OTDR for dynamic parameters. Although there is an interaction between Rayleigh and Brillouin processes, a high-performance hybrid system is realized by carefully designing parameters considering the two kinds of influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromagnetic linear actuators are widely used as drives in gas regulating valve, which is the key factor to determine the performance of the gas valve. In order to improve the performance of Electromagnetic direct-drive gas valve (EMDGV), a compound controller for non-repetitive point-to-point motions was proposed in this paper, combining with the advantages of Active disturbance rejection control (ADRC), Time-optimal control (TOC) and Sliding mode control (SMC). Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method has the characteristics of fast response and high precision, and can achieve soft landing control. The response time is less than 8 ms, the control accuracy is 0.02 mm, and the seating velocity is within 0.04 m/s. The proposed method also has strong robustness to actuator parameter variation and good anti-disturbance ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centromere protein A (CENP-A) is a histone H3 like protein, and it plays a very important role in chromosomal segregation during mitosis and meiosis. The analyses on the exon-intron organization of the Cenp-A gene in representative genomes revealed that multiple intron gain and loss events have occurred during the evolution of Cenp-A gene in opisthokonta (common ancestor of fungi and animals). Moreover, our results revealed that at least two positions were conserved in the intron gain and loss events during the evolution of the Cenp-A gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]