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Flowering phenology is closely related to plant reproduction, and its response to climate change is obvious; therefore, revealing its influencing factors and interspecific changes has become an important issue in global change ecology and physical geography. Previous studies have reported that interspecific changes in flowering phenology are affected by climatic factors (such as temperature and precipitation) and related to plant functional traits. However, the magnitude of the correlation between functional traits and flowering phenology varies greatly among different regions and climatic zones, and the relationship between them remains unclear. In this study, to explore whether functional traits affect interspecific changes in the flowering phenology of subtropical evergreen broadleaf species, 67 woody species in the Ningbo Botanical Garden were chosen as the study objects. Four types of flowering phenological characteristics (initial flowering time, full bloom time, falling flower time, and duration of the flowering period) were observed. General statistical analyses (i.e., maximum, minimum, mean, coefficient of variation, and frequency) were used to test the distribution patterns of flowering phenology. Four statistical methods (independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance, linear fitting, and generalized linear mixed effect regression models) were used to analyze the differences in flowering phenology between different types (tree vs. shrubs, different types of flower color, and fruit type) and the contributions of different functional traits (i.e., potential maximum tree height, life form, flower color, and fruit type) to the changes in flowering phenology. The results showed that: (1) the initial flowering time, full bloom time, falling flower time, and duration of the flowering period of 67 woody plants were March 28 ± 21.64 d, March 30 ± 27.02 d, April 15 ± 30.78 d, and 23.82 ± 13.31 d, respectively. (2) The initial flowering time and full bloom time of trees were significantly earlier than those of shrubs (P < 0.05); however, no significant difference was observed between them in the falling flower time or duration of the flowering period (P > 0.05). The standard deviation of the flowering phenology of trees was lower than that of shrubs, indicating that the flowering phenology of trees was more stable than that of shrubs. (3) The results of generalized linear mixed-effect regression models showed that the effects of the four functional traits on flowering phenology differed. More specifically, flower color significantly affected falling-flower time (P < 0.01). The falling flower time of colored flowers was earlier than that of white flowers. Life form and potential maximum tree height significantly affected the duration of the flowering period (P < 0.01). Plants with higher potential maximum heights have longer flowering periods. In conclusion, our study indicates that the flowering phenology of 67 woody species in the Ningbo Botanical Garden is affected by functional traits. However, the magnitude of the influence is related to the type of functional trait. Flower color and potential maximum tree height contributed more to interspecific changes in flowering phenology than other functional traits. Our results help us understand the variation in flowering phenology among woody species in subtropical regions and provide a new perspective for the theoretical exploration of phenology.

The identification of a suitable transformation model and the calculation of correlation coefficients constitute essential steps in the simulation a nonstationary and non-Gaussian stochastic process. For stochastic ground motion, its nonstationary and non-Gaussian properties are well-known. In this paper, an easy-to-implement simulation method of a nonstationary and non-Gaussian stochastic process with known time-varying statistical moments is proposed. The approximate transformation model between the nonstationary and non-Gaussian stochastic process and the underlying Gaussian process, which contains the wider range of applicability and the availability of explicit expressions for determining the distribution parameters, is determined. The time-varying correlation coefficient of the underlying Gaussian process is calculated through the proposed interpolation method. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proposed simulation method of the nonstationary and non-Gaussian stochastic ground motion is verified by numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to explore the predictive value of anthropometric measurements in survival and free walking ability of geriatric hip fractures after surgery. Methods: Eight common anthropometric measurements, including arm circumference (AC), waist circumference (WC), thigh circumference (TC), calf circumference (CC), biceps skinfold (BS), triceps skinfold (TS), suprailiac skinfold (SIS), and subscapular skinfold (SSS), were included to identify their predictive value in survival and free walking ability of geriatric hip fractures. The results of anthropometric measurements were compared between patients with different outcomes. Cox and logistics models were established to further identify the predictive value of anthropometric measurements. Results: Comparison among groups indicated that individuals with different outcomes may have significantly different anthropometric measurements. In the Cox analyses based on all individuals, all models proved that the patients with higher AC, as well as CC and BS, may have a lower risk of 1-year mortality. Similarly, in the logistics analysis, AC, CC, and BS were proven to have strong predictive ability for 6-month and 1-year mortality in females and overall individuals. However, the predictive value of the eight common anthropometric measurements in free walking ability is not significant. Conclusion: AC, CC, and BS may have strong predictive ability for 6-month and 1-year mortality in all individuals and females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the clinical treatment of Alzheimer's disease, one of the most important tasks is evaluating its severity for diagnosis and therapy. However, traditional testing methods are deficient, such as their susceptibility to subjective factors, incomplete evaluation, low accuracy, or insufficient granularity, resulting in unreliable evaluation scores. To address these issues, we propose an objective dementia severity scale based on MRI (ODSS-MRI) using contrastive learning to automatically evaluate the neurological function of patients. The approach utilizes a deep learning framework and a contrastive learning strategy to mine relevant information from structural magnetic resonance images to obtain the patient's neurological function level score. Given that the model is driven by the patient's whole brain imaging data, but without any possible biased manual intervention or instruction from the physician or patient, it provides a comprehensive and objective evaluation of the patient's neurological function. We conducted experiments on the Alzheimer's disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset, and the results showed that the proposed ODSS-MRI was correlated with the stages of AD 88.55% better than all existing methods. This demonstrates its efficacy to describe the neurological function changes of patients during AD progression. It also outperformed traditional psychiatric rating scales in discriminating different stages of AD, which is indicative of its superiority for neurological function evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) precursor films were deposited using a water-based solution approach. Subsequently, selenization was performed at different temperatures in the range of 480–610 °C to prepare Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) absorber-layer films. The effects of the selenization temperature on the crystallinity, structure, morphology, and photoelectric properties of CZTSSe thin films, as well as the performance of solar cells constructed using these films, were systematically studied. The absorber-layer films selenized at different temperatures all formed pure-phase CZTSSe and had basically the same film thickness. It was found that application of an optimal selenization temperature can enhance the crystallinity, crystal grain size, and mobility and reduce the resistivity of CZTSSe films. Selenization at 550 °C resulted in the largest grain size (∼μm), the highest crystallinity, the highest mobility (4.29 cm2 V−1 s−1), the lowest resistivity (3.13 × 102 Ω cm), the thinner fine-grained layer, a bandgap value of 1.21 eV, and a Cu-poor, Zn-rich elemental composition [Cu/(Zn + Sn) = 0.85 and Zn/Sn = 1.16]. The power-conversion efficiency was improved from 3.04% in a CZTSSe cell device with an absorber layer selenized at 480 °C to 4.69% in a film selenized at 550 °C. This was mainly due to the improvement of the crystallinity, crystal grain growth, and reduction of the fine-grained layer of the CZTSSe film. These results show that optimizing the selenization temperature is essential for enhancing the performance and the ultimate device efficiency of CZTSSe absorber layers prepared using a water-based solution approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jiapigou gold ore belt is located in the northeastern corner of the wedge‐shaped North China Craton and is hosted by Neoarchean basement gneiss and amphibolite, along with late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic granitoids. In this paper, whole‐rock major and trace element geochemistry together with zircon U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf isotope compositions are reported for Late Permian to Triassic igneous rocks from the gold belt. The dominant population of zircons in all these rocks shows oscillatory growth zoning in CL images, and relatively high Th/U ratios (0.10–5.23) that are indicative of a magmatic origin. Zircon U–Pb data indicate that the igneous rocks formed during two major phases: ca. 252 Ma and ca. 230–213 Ma. Geochemically, the Late Permian (ca. 252 Ma) diorites are high‐K calc‐alkaline in composition and low total Fe2O3, MgO, and CaO contents, and represented by enrichment in LILEs relative to HFSEs and HREEs, all of which are indicative of a postcollision high‐K calc‐alkaline granite affinity. In contrast, the Late Triassic (ca. 230–213 Ma) igneous rocks are mainly quartz syenite porphyries, felsites, and granodiorites, and are variable medium‐ to high‐K calc‐alkaline series and exhibit a negative Eu anomaly with A‐type affinities, indicating an extensional environment. In addition, in situ Hf isotopic analyses of zircons from four dated samples reveal that they have εHf(t) values of −3.0 to +2.2, with two‐stage model (TDM2) ages range from 964 to 1,210 Ma, indicating that they probably originated from the partial melting of a dominantly Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic crustal source. On the basis of the geochemical data and regional geological investigations, we further propose that the Jiapigou gold ore belt in the Late Permian was formed in a postcollisional tectonic setting, whereas an extensional tectonic setting in the Late Triassic that caused lithospheric thinning during a postorogenic event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]