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Existing studies on the employment effect of environmental regulations focus exclusively on regulated sectors, but labour demand in unregulated sectors can also be affected in a general equilibrium framework. Using the designation of Key Cities for Air Pollution Control in 2001 in China as a quasi-experiment, we employ PSM and DDD methods and find that the policy lowers employment in emission-intensive polluting firms, but it also increases employment in labour-intensive non-polluting firms, providing evidence of relocation of workers from regulated to unregulated industries. Evidence from city-level aggregate data suggests that the overall employment effect is minimal, and no evidence is found to suggest that workers move from the manufacturing sector to the services sector. The results are robust to a host of robustness checks. The finding implies that the job-killing effect of environmental regulations is over-stated, and non-polluting industries are not suitable comparison units in previous DID literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rate of aging population and declining fertility are very rapid. The role of demographic transition in the development of the manufacturing industry remains controversial. We construct a heterogeneous DSGE model that includes demographic dividends to simulate and analyze the impact of demographic transition on the expansion and upgrading of manufacturing industry. Besides, we conduct empirical research using China's provincial-level panel data from 2003 to 2020. The results reveal that, first, the recession of the first demographic dividend characterized by a decrease in labor supply has suppressed the expansion of manufacturing scale, but promoted structural upgrading; second, the second demographic dividend can promote the growth of output in various manufacturing industries, especially advanced manufacturing; third, receiving the second demographic dividend can offset the negative effect from recession of the first demographic dividend on manufacturing industry. However, the negative impact currently suffered by China's manufacturing industry cannot be fully compensated for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the variability of train loads, soil properties, and other factors, the cumulative settlement of high-speed railway soft soil subgrade induced by cyclic trains holds strong randomness and evolutionary characteristics. Thus, the prediction of cumulative settlement and assessment of the subgrade status is important to ensure the safety of high-speed trains. For this purpose, a vehicle-track-subgrade interaction model is established for calculating the dynamic stresses of the subgrade, and then the cumulative settlement and its evolution characteristics are predicted. Furthermore, the direct probability integral method (DPIM) is introduced to implement the uncertainty quantification and reliability assessment of cumulative settlement, especially spatial distribution, 3D-probability density function and the variation of reliability index with load cycles. A comparison between Monte Carlo method and DPIM is performed to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of stochastic analysis with respect to cumulative settlement. The sensitivity and reliability assessment of the cumulative settlement under the cases of different speed, train load and soil strength are investigated by numerical examples to illustrate the robustness of the proposed method. The results show that cumulative settlement is most sensitive to soil strength, followed by train axle loads. Besides, a reliability assessment method proposed in this work, which considers cumulative settlement, provides guidance for the design and maintenance of subgrade in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal cancer (EC), particularly esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), is characterized by high incidence and poor prognosis worldwide, necessitating novel therapeutic approaches like immunotherapy. This review explores the impact of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) on ESCC, especially focusing on PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors. Our literature search, conducted across databases including PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE, from January 2010 to December 2023, aimed at identifying advancements, challenges, and future directions in the use of immunotherapy for ESCC. We provide a detailed analysis of clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of ICIs as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy for locally advanced ESCC. Our findings highlight the significant survival benefits offered by ICIs, albeit with varying efficacy across patient populations, emphasizing the need for precise biomarkers to tailor treatment strategies. The integration of immunotherapy into the ESCC treatment paradigm represents a significant shift, improving survival outcomes. Future research should focus on optimizing combination therapies and novel immunotherapeutic agents, incorporating genetic and tumor microenvironment analyses to enhance patient selection and treatment efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a dynamic procedural model to understand the day-to-day evolution of road traffic and risky mode choice behaviour. We embed a modified Bureau of Public Roads function and a queueing model into a dynamic traffic flow model to estimate information on travel time and in-vehicle crowding. Then, the estimated information is fed into a risky mode choice model, with the joint consideration of intra- and inter-individual risk attitude heterogeneity. In order to reflect what may be happening in the real market, we establish a close loop with individuals' mode choice behaviours shaped by their travel experiences and historical information, the induced impact on traffic flow, and more importantly, the feedback and interplay between them. Our model delivers realistic and robust results, in which risk attitudes play the most prominent role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient method for the synthesis of indolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines using calcium carbide as an alkyne source, 2-(2-bromophenyl)-1H-indoles as starting materials, and copper as a catalyst is described. The target products are synthesized via Sonogashira cross-coupling/nucleophilic addition tandem reactions. The advantages of this protocol include the use of inexpensive and easy-to-handle solid alkyne source instead of flammable and explosive gaseous acetylene, cheap and readily available raw materials, wide range of substrates, and simple reaction procedure. The method can also be extended to gram scale. In addition, the desired product can also be obtained by one-pot three-component reaction of phenylhydrazine hydrochlorides, o-bromoacetophenones and calcium carbide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health problems leads to serious disease burden among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). The study aimed at measuring the mental disorders-caused burden of disease based on PLHIV in mainland China. The data used was from the national HIV/AIDS case reporting system, life expectancy (LE) and LE-eliminated suicide were evaluated by the life-table method. The total YLLs and YLLs caused by suicide in each age group were calculated. The disability weights were estimated by the scale of depression symptoms (CES-D) from the multi-center cross-sectional survey, then calculated the corresponding YLDs as a burden of mental illness among PLHIV. Results showed that the LE had been prolonged by implementing antiviral therapy for PLHIV. The proportion of YLLs caused by suicide was the highest (5·46%) in the 15–24 age group. The YLDs in the 25–34 age group were the highest. The YLLs caused by suicide in males were higher than those in the same age group of females. The YLDs and YLLs were higher in heterosexual-infected PLHIV than in homosexual-infected PLHIV, except for YLLs in the 25–34 age group. In summary, this study first provided localized data on the disease burden caused by mental health problems among PLHIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The additional deformation of slab track structure subject to arbitrary soil deformation, and subsequently the dynamic deformation coordination between the track and the soil due to a moving vehicle are of significant importance in the analysis of vehicle-track-soil (VTS) interactions. In this work, the finite element modeling and numerical iterative method are presented to compile a simulation program to reveal the deformation coordinated process of slab track-soil interaction reasonably, where the contact-separation relationship at the slab track-soil interface, the interlayered gap between slab track and soil surface, and additional track deformation are derived as additional geometric excitations of VTS interaction system. In numerical studies, different slab track types considering the unit and the longitudinal connected base plates are taken as illustrative and comparative examples, where the deformation coordinated mechanism of slab track-soil interaction and its influence on vehicle-induced vibrations are clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the existing permanent load equilibrium method, influence matrix method and adaptive control method, a distributed algorithm and control method for the cable forces of hybrid laminated girder cable-stayed bridges is proposed. The method uses the permanent load equilibrium approach to initially determine the permanent load cable forces, then adjusts it based on the influence matrix of the main girder displacement, and finally combines the calculation of finite element software to determine the cable forces that satisfy the internal force requirements of each member of the hybrid laminated girder cable-stayed bridge under the joint action of permanent load and live load. Through adjusting the cable force of an actual bridge, it can be found that this method is highly efficient in calculation, and the efficiency and accuracy of control of the cable forces are high, ensuring that the cable forces and alignment of the bridge structure after completion are in line with the design expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the association between speech and facial features with depression, anxiety, and apathy in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Speech and facial expressions of 319 MCI patients were digitally recorded via audio and video recording software. Three of the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) were evaluated by the Public Health Questionnaire, General Anxiety Disorder, and Apathy Evaluation Scale, respectively. Speech and facial features were extracted using the open-source data analysis toolkits. Machine learning techniques were used to validate the diagnostic power of extracted features. Different speech and facial features were associated with specific NPS. Depression was associated with spectral and temporal features, anxiety and apathy with frequency, energy, spectral, and temporal features. Additionally, depression was associated with facial features (action unit, AU) 10, 12, 15, 17, 25, anxiety with AU 10, 15, 17, 25, 26, 45, and apathy with AU 5, 26, 45. Significant differences in speech and facial features were observed between males and females. Based on machine learning models, the highest accuracy for detecting depression, anxiety, and apathy reached 95.8%, 96.1%, and 83.3% for males, and 87.8%, 88.2%, and 88.6% for females, respectively. Depression, anxiety, and apathy were characterized by distinct speech and facial features. The machine learning model developed in this study demonstrated good classification in detecting depression, anxiety, and apathy. A combination of audio and video may provide objective methods for the precise classification of these symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology for automatically generating 3D models of individual shrubs from point clouds acquired by Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) devices. The creation of accurate 3D models for shrubs holds significant value for ecological studies. The shrub modelling is more challenging compared to other tree modelling tasks, due to the presence of substantial noise and fuzzy branch structures. To address these challenges, our approach first partitions the input point cloud into two categories: branches and others. This point segmentation process effectively eliminates interference of leaves and noise, thereby enhancing the visibility of branch skeletons. Then, we construct a triangulation network using the branch points and establish a minimum spanning tree (MST) based on this network. Serving as the initial skeleton representation of the plant, the MST preserves the essential topological structures of the branches. Within the extracted MST, we implement a recursive trimming technique to eliminate redundant branches by merging adjacent points and edges, ultimately consolidating the skeleton structure. Finally, we employ an adaptive cylinder fitting algorithm that relies on robust principal component analysis (RPCA) to generate the model. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method are demonstrated via experiments on different datasets, with an average fitting error of 1.13 cm, indicating that our approach can achieve high accuracy in modelling individual shrubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misallocation of factors of production has been recently viewed as a promising explanation accounting for the large difference in total factor productivity (TFP) across countries. This article differs from previous studies by concentrating on interregional capital misallocation and by focusing on the role of fiscal decentralization in shaping misallocation. Using a city level panel data set, we measure intra-provincial and inter-city capital misallocation in China over 2003–2018. The empirical results based on provincial level panel data suggest that fiscal decentralization can lower inter-city capital misallocation while revenue decentralization performs better than expenditure decentralization. We further find that this positive effect is more significant and much larger when it is the market rather than government intervention that is driving the flow of capital. The results are robust to subsample regressions, IV estimations, spatial autoregressions and alternative measurement of interregional misallocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive photoelectrochemical biosensor was constructed for the detection of chlorpyrifos. The sensor was prepared on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode using photoelectric material bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE). It is found that the photocurrent of ITO/BiVO4 electrode was largely dependent on its treatment temperature. The highest anodic photocurrent response of the ITO/BiVO4 photoelectrode was obtained after the treatment at 300°C. The thiocholine, produced in the catalytic reaction at ITO/BiVO4/AChE electrode surface, can greatly enhanced the anodic photocurrent. In addition, the adsorption of chlorpyrifos on the surface of the AChE caused a decrease in the intensity of the photocurrent. Under the optimisation of experimental conditions, the decrease of the photocurrent showed a good linear range from 1 pM to 10 nM under irradiation of visible light. The detection limit is calculated as 0.25 pM with a 10% inhibition rate. The ITO/BiVO4/AChE photoelectrode exhibited high sensitivity, acceptable stability and good reproducibility. The biosensor can be provided to the potential applications for detection of pesticide residues in food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive photoelectrochemical biosensor was constructed for the detection of chlorpyrifos. The sensor was prepared on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode using photoelectric material bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE). It is found that the photocurrent of ITO/BiVO4 electrode was largely dependent on its treatment temperature. The highest anodic photocurrent response of the ITO/BiVO4 photoelectrode was obtained after the treatment at 300°C. The thiocholine, produced in the catalytic reaction at ITO/BiVO4/AChE electrode surface, can greatly enhanced the anodic photocurrent. In addition, the adsorption of chlorpyrifos on the surface of the AChE caused a decrease in the intensity of the photocurrent. Under the optimisation of experimental conditions, the decrease of the photocurrent showed a good linear range from 1 pM to 10 nM under irradiation of visible light. The detection limit is calculated as 0.25 pM with a 10% inhibition rate. The ITO/BiVO4/AChE photoelectrode exhibited high sensitivity, acceptable stability and good reproducibility. The biosensor can be provided to the potential applications for detection of pesticide residues in food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melittin, a naturally occurring polypeptide found in bee venom, has been recognized for its potential anti-tumor effects, particularly in the context of lung cancer. Our previous study focused on its impact on human lung adenocarcinoma cells A549, revealing that melittin induces intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst and oxidative damage, resulting in cell death. Considering the significant role of mitochondria in maintaining intracellular redox levels and ROS, we further examined the involvement of mitochondrial damage in melittin-induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells. Our findings demonstrated that melittin caused changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), triggered mitochondrial ROS burst (Figure 1), and activated the mitochondria-related apoptosis pathway Bax/Bcl-2 by directly targeting mitochondria in A549 cells (Figure 2). Further, we infected A549 cells using a lentivirus that can express melittin-Myc and confirmed that melittin can directly target binding to mitochondria, causing the biological effects described above (Figure 2). Notably, melittin induced mitochondrial damage while inhibiting autophagy, resulting in abnormal degradation of damaged mitochondria (Figure 5). To summarize, our study unveils that melittin targets mitochondria, causing mitochondrial damage, and inhibits the autophagy-lysosomal degradation pathway. This process triggers mitoROS burst and ultimately activates the mitochondria-associated Bax/Bcl-2 apoptotic signaling pathways in A549 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer (Araliaceae) is a tonic herb used in ancient Asia. This study investigated the antifatigue effect of P. ginseng on chronic fatigue rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control, model and EEP (ethanol extraction of P. ginseng roots) (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) groups (n = 8). The rats were subcutaneously handled with loaded swimming once daily for 26 days, except for the control group. The animals were intragastrically treated with EEP from the 15th day. On day 30, serum, liver and muscles were collected, and the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway was evaluated. The swimming times to exhaust of the rats with EEP were significantly longer than that without it. EEP spared the amount of muscle glycogen, hepatic glycogen and blood sugar under the chronic state. In addition, EEP significantly (p < 0.05) decreased serum triglycerides (1.24 ± 0.17, 1.29 ± 0.04 and 1.20 ± 0.21 vs. 1.58 ± 0.13 mmol/L) and total cholesterol (1.64 ± 0.36, 1.70 ± 0.15 and 1.41 ± 0.19 vs. 2.22 ± 0.19 mmol/L) compared to the model group. Regarding the regulation of energy, EEP had a positive impact on promoting ATPase activities and relative protein expression of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Our results suggested that EEP effectively relieved chronic fatigue, providing evidence that P. ginseng could be a potential dietary supplement to accelerate recovery from fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is implementing a structural tax reduction policy to upgrade the structure of household consumption and promote the development of high-tech industry. This article constructs a heterogeneous NK-DSGE (New Keynesian - Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium) model to study the effects of tax reduction policies on consumption upgrading and the development of high-tech industry. The tax categories involved in this model are divided into demand-side tax and supply-side tax. We build two indexes to measure the consumption structure and the development of high-tech industry. It is found that reducing high-tech enterprise income tax would upgrade the consumption structure and promote the development of high-tech industries in the short term. Reducing low-tech enterprise income tax would achieve similar effects in the medium and long term. Moreover, tax such as consumption tax, labour income tax and capital income tax reduction policies can upgrade the consumption structure and promote the development of high-tech industry in the long term. Finally, this article finds that when the elasticity of labour substitution is smaller, reducing high-tech enterprise income tax is more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonlinear Lamb waves are sensitive to closed micro cracks and have a great potential for the detection of damage to prevent the catastrophic failure of entire structure. A five-stage closed micro crack localisation method based on time of flight (ToF) of the second harmonic Lamb waves is proposed in this research. The first step is frequency analysis of the received signals to ensure the generation of second harmonic wave. The second step is to extract second harmonic wave component in frequency range. The third step is to obtain wave signals in time domain. The fourth step is to extract ToF of second harmonic wave. The fifth step is to locate damage with ToFs. The method provides an effective strategy based on wavelet transform to extract the second harmonic Lamb waves from the dynamic response signals for the detection of closed micro crack. The numerical and experimental results indicate that the proposed method can accurately locate the closed micro crack in plate-like metallic and composite structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly (ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) is one of the most promising engineering plastics in aerospace engineering because of their reliable mechanical properties under various conditions. However, next-generation engineering plastics also call for more comprehensive outputs, such as higher thermal conductivity and antiwear performances. Boron Nitride Nanotubes (BNNT) have been proven to have outstanding physical properties as additives to the resin of the composites. In this article, the influence of BNNT additives on the PEEK resin is studied to provide a more insightful understanding of the development of BNNT-reinforced engineering plastics in the future. It has been found that the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) between BNNT and PEEK is 151% higher than carbon nanotube reinforcements., and amino groups (–NH2) modified BNNT can further improve the IFSS value by 14%. This mechanical improvement is further evaluated, and the molecular mechanisms are explained with an atomistic resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is associated with quality of life and all-cause mortality in the end-stage renal disease population. This study aims to identify biomarkers and reveal the underlying mechanisms of EDS in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. A total of 48 nondiabetic continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients were assigned to the EDS group and the non-EDS group according to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was used to identify the differential metabolites. Twenty-seven (male/female, 15/12; age, 60.1 ± 16.2 years) PD patients with ESS ≥ 10 were assigned to the EDS group, while twenty-one (male/female, 13/8; age, 57.9 ± 10.1 years) PD patients with ESS < 10 were defined as the non-EDS group. With UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS, 39 metabolites with significant differences between the two groups were found, 9 of which had good correlations with disease severity and were further classified into amino acid, lipid and organic acid metabolism. A total of 103 overlapping target proteins of the differential metabolites and EDS were found. Then, the EDS–metabolite–target network and the protein–protein interaction network were constructed. The metabolomics approach integrated with network pharmacology provides new insights into the early diagnosis and mechanisms of EDS in PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high temperature environment makes the buckling of composite laminated plate happen earlier. Further weight savings can be achieved once the plate has a favorable postbuckling stiffness. This study aims to address this issue by developing a ROM-driven lamination optimization to maximize the buckling and postbuckling performance of compressed plates under initial temperature field. The reduced-order model(ROM) constructed using the improved Koiter theory is reformulated to be suitable for thermal-mechanical buckling problems. A linear subspace of the force space is represented to be the span of the mechanical load, the thermal load and a set of predefined perturbation loads. The thermal load related to the initial temperature field is constant during the increase of in-plane compressive load. An independently additional degree of freedom corresponding to the thermal load is implemented into the construction of the reduced-order model. The buckling and postbuckling performance can be extracted from the solution of reduced-order model, and then subsequently selected as inputs to achieve the optimal laminate. The main novelty of this work is to achieve the thermal-mechanical buckling and postbuckling optimization, benefitting from the highly efficient single run of thermoelastic geometrically nonlinear analysis. Various numerical examples have been selected to validate the performance of the proposed method, considering the influences of length-to-width ratio, α1/α2, ply number and nonuniform temperature field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the synthesis, microstructure and electrical properties of a new Ba4SrBiTi3Nb7O30 ceramic. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the sample crystallizes into tungsten bronze structure, and the space group is P4bm. The electrical measurement results show that Ba4SrBiTi3Nb7O30 exhibits good dielectric and ferroelectric properties. The temperature-dependent dielectric permittivity indicates that the transition temperature of the prepared Ba4SrBiTi3Nb7O30 sample is around Tm ≈ 250K. With increasing the frequency, the dielectric peak moves to a lower temperature. Below 250 K, obvious polarization current can be detected, corresponding to the formation of spontaneous ferroelectric polarization. These results indicate the relaxor ferroelectric behavior of Ba4SrBiTi3Nb7O30 ceramic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is an important basic polymer, which was used widely in variety of fields. Due to its high crystallinity, compact structure and strong surface hydrophobicity, PET has prominent resistance to biodegradation. In recent years, microplastics, especially polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics, was considered as serious threaten to ecosystems. In this study, alkali-resistant bacteria were used as whole-cell catalysts to try to improve the biodegradation of PET microplastics by increasing the bio-interfacial activity of the polymer substrate. Surfactants were applicated to enhance interfacial activation of enzyme and PET interactions. And an integrated strategy was constructed based on alkali resistant bacteria to catalysis the hydrolysis of PET. The results showed that Tween 20 had the most obvious promoting effect among the four interfacial biocatalysts on biological-chemical combined hydrolysis of PET microplastics with whole-cell biocatalysts in alkaline environment. Obvious etching and fracture were observed on the PET fibre surface after biodegradation in presence of surfactant. The weight loss rate of PET substrate can reach 11.04% after 5 days of biodegradation. Thus, this research provides a promising method for efficient degradation of PET microplastics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether teacher expectations had significant effects on ethnic minority students' second language and foreign language learning in senior high schools. The participants of this study were 52 teachers and 836 ethnic minority students from 10 senior high schools in southwest China. Data of teacher expectations for students' second language achievement, teacher expectations for students' foreign language achievement, students' prior achievement in a standardized test of the second language and foreign language at the beginning of senior high school, and students' achievement in a standardized test of the second language and foreign language at the end of senior high schools were collected respectively. Regression analysis showed that with students' prior achievement being controlled, 1) teacher expectations had significant effects on ethnic minority students' foreign language learning, but 2) teacher expectations were not closely related to ethnic minority students' second language learning, suggesting a moderation effect of the subject. Implications for expectancy theories and multilingual instructions are further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic received widespread media attention, and global financial markets reacted strongly to the pandemic shocks. It is, therefore, worthwhile to detect the influence of media hype about COVID-19 and the pandemic index on stock market price returns. Utilising a newly developed non-linear ARDL model, our empirical outcomes show that the direct effect of the COVID-19 pandemic index on sectoral stock market returns is generally weak and significant only in the Energy, Financials, and Health Care sectors. In contrast to the direct effect of the COVID-19, we find that the media hype index pronouncedly affects sectoral stock market returns, with a significant negative effect in most sectors and with asymmetry. The dynamic asymmetric causality test has been applied for robustness check, where there is time-varying asymmetric causality from media hype to sectoral stock markets. These findings help investors with different investment horizons in emerging markets understand sector-level stock price dynamics and formulate investment strategies during the pandemic. Furthermore, market regulators should consider asymmetric effects over time when formulating strategies and making policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the environmental tax reform implemented in 2018 in China as a quasi-experiment, this paper employs PSM, DID, and DDD methods to investigate the causal impact of environmental tax on air pollution. Viewing those provinces that choose to set a higher tax rate than the original pollution fee rate as the treatment group and provinces that do not increase the tax rate as the control group, this paper provides robust evidence that the environmental tax reform is effective in reducing PM2.5 and SO2 concentration level, while the effect is smaller and inconsistent for NO2. A back-of-the-envelope welfare analysis suggests that a 1-unit increase in the environmental tax rate is associated with a reduction of 5,616 in total deaths and a welfare gain of $28.256 billion in 2005 USD for all Chinese households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(–)-5-Methylmellein (1) and its new dimer (2) were isolated from cultures of the basidiomycete Inonotus sinensis. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic methods including UV, IR, HR-EI-MS, 1D NMR and 2D NMR. The structure of Compound 2 was determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis. Compound 2 was tested for the cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dermatophagoides farinae (Astigmata: Pyroglyphidae) occurs in both homes and storage environments. The species produces biochemically diverse allergens that cause allergic reactions and seriously endanger human health. Habitat diversity can lead to divergent adaptive selection and reduced gene flow, thereby increasing genetic drift; both factors contribute to genetic differentiation. However, there is a lack of research concerning the genetic diversity and differentiation of D. farinae in different habitats. In this study, the genetic diversity and differentiation of D. farinae populations in different habitats were studied using the mitochondrial cytochrome b (Cytb) gene, the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, and the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Both pillow cores (ZX) and dormitory (SS) habitats had higher haplotype diversity than the flour mill (MF) habitat. The reasons for this phenomenon are likely to be food availability as well as differences in temperature and humidity among habitats. There was significant genetic differentiation (Fst > 0.05, P < 0.05) between the ZX and MF and between the MF and SS habitats, but there was no significant genetic differentiation between the ZX and SS habitats (Fst < 0.05, P > 0.05) based on both Cytb and COI genes, reflecting the difference between mitochondrial and nuclear genes. The low level of gene flow observed for ZX-MF and MF-SS and the gene flow between the ZX and SS habitats supported the above results. A haplotype network and a neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree showed that individuals from the ZX and SS habitats occurred in two clades without a clear distribution boundary, indicating that the genetic structure was not correlated with the habitat distribution. This research is the first genetic analysis of D. farinae in different habitats. The study can improve our understanding of the population genetics of D. farinae in different habitats and aid in the development of more effective management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's public diplomacy has experienced profound changes since the new leadership came to power. The outdated diplomatic principle of 'hide our capacities and bide our time' was gradually replaced by an emerging narrative about 'China's ideas' and 'China's wisdom'. China's economic and social development is reflected in its unique governance model. In theory, good governance is expected to enhance soft power overseas, but China's growing influence is controversially mediated as sharp power. This study scrutinises if and how Beijing is promoting its political ideas as the key pillar of its soft power portfolio and how Australia mediated China's intended narrative. A comparative framing analysis of China's media and in-depth interviews with 18 Australian experts outlines Beijing's ambitions and the dilemma of China's soft power. This research sheds new light on the interplay between domestic governance and soft power by examining the congruity between China's projection and Australia's interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drooping process of the Xuesaitong dropping pills (XDPs) was optimized based on quality by design concept. Meanwhile, a machine vision (MV) technology was creatively introduced in this study to predict the critical quality attributes (CQAs) rapidly and accurately. This study improves the understanding of dropping process, and has reference value for the guidance of pharmaceutical process research and industrial production. The study mainly consisted of three stages: the first stage involved the prediction model to establish and evaluate the CQAs, and the second stage involved assessing the quantitative relationships between critical process parameters (CPPs) and CQAs by the mathematical models that were established through the Box–Behnken experimental design. Finally, a probability-based design space for the dropping process was calculated and verified according to the qualification criteria of each quality attribute. The results show that the prediction accuracy of the random forest (RF) model was high and met the analysis requirements, and the CQAs of dropping pills can meet the standard by running in the design space. The MV technology developed in this study can be applied to the optimization process of the XDPs. In addition, the operation in the design space can not only ensure the quality of XDPs to meet the criteria, but also help to improve the consistency of XDPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between the oral microbiome and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate such an association among Chinese older adults. Participants without dementia were recruited from the community. A battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to evaluate the cognitive function. The diagnosis of MCI was based on Peterson’s criteria. The non-stimulated saliva was collected to extract sequences of the oral microbiome. Forty-seven MCI and 47 cognitively normal participants were included. There was significant difference in alpha diversity and insignificant difference in beta diversity between the two groups of participants. Compared with the cognitively normal group, Gemella haemolysans and Streptococcus gordonii were two significantly decreased species while Veillonella unclassified_Veillonella and Fusobacterium sp._HMT_203 were two significantly increased species in the MCI group. The richness of Gemella haemolysans presented the best discriminate value for MCI with the AUC (Area Under Curve) of 0.707, a cut-off value of 0.008 for relative abundance, the sensitivity of 63.8% and specificity of 70.2%. The dysbiosis of oral microbiome and relative abundance of Gemella haemolysans was significantly associated with MCI. Further studies were needed to develop new treatment strategies targeting the oral microbiome for cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind turbine tower (WTT) is a vital part of wind energy development, which gains huge momentum globally over the past decades. In this study, an ingenious solution is provided with the proposed performance-based design framework for the WTTs. To represent the performance of the wind projects, an intuitive variable, i.e., the expected lifetime profit, is considered as the performance index. The fragility functions were used to probabilistically incorporate the uncertainties from the characteristics of natural hazards, the structural capacity estimations, the variations in geometric irregularities of towers, etc. The lifetime profit were roughly estimated based on the structural performance associated with the existing economic data collected from the current WTT projects. Furthermore, with a hypothetical case study, this paper presents a solution to improve the structural performance using the proposed methodology. The influences of the initial costs as well as the operation and maintenance costs on the profit were also investigated. The final profit and the profit-operating time curves were provided, which are valuable references to the designers, the owners and the insurers of the wind farm projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The great potential of variable stiffness laminates in maximizing buckling load is obvious over straight fiber laminates, however the optimum design of such VAT laminates which has much more design variables and larger computational efforts, is still a challenge even for the modern computational method and capability. In addition, the postbuckling performance and the correlations with buckling resistance still need to be further studied for VAT laminates. This work proposes an enhanced reduced-order model based on the improved Koiter perturbation theory for buckling and postbuckling analysis of variable stiffness composite plates. The VAT laminas composed by "two-segment" fibers and "four-segment" fibers are considered, respectively, in construction of the reduced-order finite element model. The nonlinear prediction for initial postbuckling response of VAT laminate can be achieved, by solving the small-scaled reduced-order model. The nonlinear buckling load, postbuckling stiffness and postbuckling stiffness residual factor, are accurately and efficiently extracted from the initial postbuckling predictor, and then subsequently to be selected as inputs to the GA based optimization process for the design of VAT laminates. Extensive numerical investigations validate that the proposed method can find a combination of several varied angle fiber layers with constant thicknesses such that the combination results in an optimal stiffness distribution and provides a more favorable structural performance in both buckling and postbuckling regime for different demands of structure design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly selective monoethynylation of isatins using solid calcium carbide as a surrogate of gaseous acetylene was described. A series of multifunctional compounds, 3-ethynyl-3-hydroxyindolin-2-ones, were efficiently synthesized at room temperature through a one-step procedure. The salient features of this protocol are the use of inexpensive and easy-to-handle solid alkyne sources instead of inflammable and explosive acetylene gas, the use of commercially available substrates, mild reaction conditions, and simple workup procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to appraise the performance of the steel pipe pile performance in harbor engineering. The load transfer mechanism and pile-soil interaction could not be clearly understood using the traditional measurement. In this case, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and Brillouin optical time domain reflectometry (BOTDR) were applied simultaneously at an open-ended steel pipe pile field test in Ganyu Port, China. Results showed that the fiber optic sensing system accurately measured the axial force, side friction, and bearing behaviors of open-ended steel pipe piles based on strain data. During the pile driving stage, the system captured the bending deformation and eccentric load on the upper part of the pile above the mud surface, identifying the relatively large tensile strain at the final stage of driving. For the static load test, the strain and resistance distribution obtained by sensing systems suggested that 80% of pile compression was concentrated in the upper 20 m, and the maximum force was observed at the location of soil surface. The precision of high strain dynamic tests is limited for complex field conditions and model's parameters-setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone marrow biopsy, the gold standard for the diagnosis of multiple myeloma (MM), has main limitation of the invasiveness. Here, we explored the diagnostic and prognostic values of circulating miR-1246 in patients with MM. Ninety MM patients and 30 healthy donors (control group) were recruited in this study. The expression of miR-1246 in the peripheral blood samples was detected using qPCR. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the diagnostic value of miR-1246 in MM. The Kaplan–Meier survival analyze was performed to evaluate the prognostic value of miR-1246. The expression level of serum miR-1246 from newly diagnosed MM patients was significantly higher than that of the control group. Circulating miR-1246 level was decreased after treatment in remission patients, but remained high levels in relapsed patients (P < 0.05). ROC analysis demonstrated that miR-1246 showed a high diagnostic value in MM with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.952, the sensitivity of 87%, and the specificity of 95% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.902-1.007; P < 0.001]. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that the progression-free survival (PFS) (14.0 months vs. 26.5 months, P = 0.045) and overall survival (OS) (20.5 months vs. 55.5 months, P = 0.014) were significantly shorter in patients with high miR-1246 expression as compared with those in patients with miR-1246 low expression. Multiple Cox regression model analysis showed that circulating miR-1246 was an independent prognostic factor for PFS (HR 2.786, 95% CI: 1.420–5.467, P = 0.003) and OS (HR 2.995, 95% CI: 1.166–7.689, P = 0.023) in MM patients. This study demonstrates that circulating miR-1246 level is elevated in MM patients, which shows high values in the diagnosis and prognosis prediction in patients with MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To disclose the possible dynamic behaviours of vehicle-track systems subject to an entire railway network, random vibration analysis is of great concern in railway engineering due to the system geometric and parametric uncertainties. In this work, an emphasis is therefore put on the highly efficient simulation and numerical analysis of track geometry excitation and its induced system uncertain behaviours. Considering the spatial variability, frequency coherence and constant evolution of track irregularities, the random analysis of track irregularities belongs to a big data analysis scope. By introducing practical tools of power spectral density (PSD), frequency coherence analysis and correlated variable random simulation method, a strategy for obtaining representative and realistic track irregularity PSD samples is proposed. Besides, the modelling method of vehicle-track interactions, where versatile programming tactics to couple the track slab and subgrade elements with incompatible elemental sizes, is introduced. By combining the simulation methods of track irregularities and vehicle-track dynamic interaction, the dynamic performance of vehicle-track systems can be evaluated efficiently, and the full view of system dynamics is revealed with probabilistic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hygro-thermo-mechanical behavior of a ultra-high strength steel (UHSS) gasket under radial mechanical loads is investigated. By adopting an appropriate displacement function, the displacement, strain, and stress distributions of UHSS gasket are solved by an analytical method. Numerical examples are carried out to discuss the influence of various factors to the hygro-thermo-mechanical behavior of UHSS gasket. Results show that changes of temperature, mechanical loads, and geometric shape will obviously affect the displacement, strain, and stress fields, whereas for a steady-state moisture field within a relative short period, the change of moisture condition rarely influence displacements, strains, and stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19) could be sources of anxiety among pregnant women and health care workers, which might affect the decision making on the mode of delivery. The aim of this study was to explore whether the cesarean section rates had significantly increased after the outbreak of COVID-19. We analyzed the labor data with cesarean rates in a tertiary maternity center during COVID-19 epidemic months from January to March in 2020, compared with pre-epidemic parallel months in 2019 by using Z-score test for proportions. Even though none of the staff or patient suffered with COVID-19 in the hospital, we found the cesarean section rates slightly increased in a non-infected population after the outbreak of COVID-19. Obstetricians should beware of the possible effects of COVID-19 on the mode of delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The progress of research on urban land use (ULU) classification is slow primarily because of the complexity of urban scenes with strong presence of human activities and the phenomenon of one ULU presenting multiple urban scenes. To improve the accuracy of ULU classification based on high-resolution remote sensing images, a weighted split-flow network (WSNet) with K-fold cross validation (K-CV) and hierarchical multitasking is proposed in this study. The split-flow strategy and attention module are applied to optimize the learning ability of the WSNet, K-CV is used to strengthen the robustness of the WSNet, and the hierarchical multitasking can address one ULU presenting different scenes. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, two datasets and verification data were used to conduct experiments of model training and evaluation, respectively. The results show that on ImageNet-1K and the Urban dataset, the WSNet is superior to the other models. Furthermore, on the Urban dataset, the results of the WSNet with hierarchical multitasking and K-CV were significantly improved in all metrics compared with the WSNet, and the accuracy indicator reached 92.17%. Additionally, the effectiveness of WSNet with hierarchical multitasking and K-CV was also confirmed in the verification experiment. Therefore, the proposed method can effectively improve the performance of ULU classification of high-resolution remote sensing images and provide technical support for urban management and decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a liquid crystal (LC) leaky-wave antenna (LWA) is presented with fixed-frequency beam-scanning property operating in millimetre-wave band. Two rows of periodic-perturbation stubs (PPSs) structure are employed on both sides of a microstrip line to generate radiation. The undesirable open stop-band (OSB) that deteriorates the broadside radiation of the LWA can be avoided, and a satisfactory broadside radiation is realised, by introducing a specific offset between the two rows of the PPSs, which is different from the existing methods and is fully studied in this paper. Furthermore, since LC material with tunable dielectric constant is loaded on the antenna substrate, the phase constant of the LWA can be manipulated by applying a controllable biasing voltage from 0 V to 20 V. Therefore, fixed-frequency beam scanning can be realised. The presented LWA is fabricated and measured, and the antenna performances have been verified by the measured results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the social-ecological perspective, this longitudinal study investigated the potential moderating effect of gender in the relationships among Machiavellianism, popularity goals, and cyberbullying involvement (i.e. victimization, perpetration) among adolescents from China, Cyprus, India, and the United States. There were 2,452 adolescents (Mage = 14.85; SD =.53; 13–16 years old; 49.1% girls) from China, Cyprus, India, and the United States included in this study. They completed surveys on Machiavellianism, popularity goals, and cyberbullying victimization and perpetration during the fall of 2014 (Time 1). One year later, during the fall of 2015, adolescents completed surveys on cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. Findings revealed that Machiavellianism and popularity goals were both associated positively with Time 2 cyberbullying victimization and perpetration for all adolescents. The associations between Machiavellianism and Time 2 cyberbullying perpetration and between popularity goals and Time 2 cyberbullying perpetration were stronger for Chinese and Indian boys than girls. Opposite patterns were found for popularity goals and Time 2 cyberbullying perpetration for adolescents from the United States. Gender did not moderate any of the associations for Cypriot adolescents or for Time 2 cyberbullying victimization. The social-ecological perspective provides a useful understanding of how various contexts influence bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two undescribed disubstituted pyridine derivatives irpexidines A and B (1 and 2) and two undescribed alkylfuran derivatives irpexins K and L (3 and 4) were isolated from fermentation broth of Irpex lacteus. Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic methods. The pyridine derivatives from this fungus were reported for the first time. The new compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against Hela cancer cell and inhibitory activity on NO production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]