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Abstract Spatial distribution orientations of blocks can cause significant errors in the discrete element model (DEM) calculation of soil-rock mixture (SRM). To avoid this error, spherical harmonic (SH) series whose harmonization degrees fixed at 15 were proposed for block reconstruction. This research refers to the case-history of a deep excavation rift valley spanning from the Mabian to Zhaojue section of the Leshan-Xichang Expressway, mainly containing moderately-weathered silty mudstone, in the Leshan City, Sichuan Province, China. The appropriate degree of finite-term SH series is selected by the volume, surface area. 100 blocks were scanned on site, and sphericity and angularity of the blocks were calculated. The sphericity and angularity of 50 reconstructed blocks were considered for the error analysis of SH method. Moreover, stochastic polyhedron method was considered for comparing different block reconstructions. The maximum block placement angle was defined to control the spatial distribution orientations of the blocks. Large scale direct tests were carried. Numerical simulations of large-scale direct shear tests were conducted to study the influence of the spatial distribution orientations of the blocks on the mechanical properties of the SRMs. The results revealed that the finite-term SH series fixed at 15 accurately reflected the shape characteristics and mechanical behaviors of actual blocks. The spatial distribution orientations of the blocks had a minimal impact on the friction angle and cohesion of SRM constructed through the SH method. The SRMs developed via the SH method exhibited marginal variations in contact force and anisotropy index of contact across diverse block placement strategies. The evolution of coordination number was closer when employing the SH method under varied block placement methods. Blocks reconstructed by the SH method, could mitigate errors in DEM calculation caused by the spatial distribution orientations of the blocks.

In the context of global warming and rapid urbanization, the impacts of heatwaves on urban residents and socioeconomic activities are becoming increasingly pronounced. This study examines the spatiotemporal variations and influencing factors of heatwaves in Chengdu from 1961 to 2019, utilizing methods such as trend analysis, gravity center movement, time series clustering, and GeoDetector. The findings reveal a significant increase in the frequency, duration, and intensity of heatwaves since 1994, with an average rise of 2.14 °C per decade, and a spatial distribution that decreases from east to west. Heatwave intensity is closely linked to temperature and elevation, as well as atmospheric factors such as the intensity of the Western Pacific Subtropical High and the Tibetan High. Notably, despite an increase in blue-green spaces in Chengdu over the past 10 years, heatwave intensity has intensified, indicating that at the city-wide scale, the effects of urbanization and global warming outweigh the climate regulation benefits of blue-green spaces. This research enhances the understanding of urban heatwaves in Chengdu and Southwest China, providing a scientific foundation for effective heatwave risk assessment and climate change adaptation strategies. Furthermore, it offers insights for other megacities confronting similar heatwave challenges.

Reconstructing high-quality images with few measurements has always been a primary goal for single-pixel imaging (SPI). Diffusion models have shown outstanding performance in image generation and have been effectively attempted in image reconstruction for ghost imaging. However, there is still a great deal of space for improvement in the quality of image reconstruction at low sampling rates. Inspired by the proximal gradient descent algorithm (PGD), we propose Diffusion Model with Gradient Descent Module Guiding Reconstruction for Single-Pixel Imaging. The gradient descent module in PGD is utilized for preliminary image reconstruction. The preliminary reconstruction serves as prior information to iteratively constrain the diffusion model, allowing it to generate target images consistent with the training data distribution. Additionally, the strong mapping ability of the diffusion model replaces the traditional proximal operator to accelerate convergence. Full connected sampling and convolutional sampling are proposed as alternative sampling methods to the traditional Gaussian random matrix sampling. Sampling and generation are optimized jointly to capture key image information and improve reconstruction accuracy. Simulations and experiments confirm that our proposed network can significantly improve the quality of image reconstruction at low measurement rates.

Floods are the most destructive, widespread, and frequent natural hazards. The extent of flood events is accelerating in the context of climate change, where flood management and disaster mitigation remain important long-term issues. Different studies have been utilizing data and images from various types of sensors for mapping, assessment, forecasting, early warning, rescue, and other disaster prevention and mitigation activities before, during, and after floods, including flash floods, coastal floods, and urban floods. These monitoring processes evolved from early ground-based observations relying on in situ sensors to high-precision, high-resolution, and high-coverage monitoring by airborne and remote sensing sensors. In this study, we have analyzed the different kinds of sensors from the literature review, case studies, and other methods to explore the development history of flood sensors and the driving role of floods in different countries. It is found that there is a trend towards the integration of flood sensors with artificial intelligence, and their state-of-the-art determines the effectiveness of local flood management to a large extent. This study helps to improve the efficiency of flood monitoring advancement and flood responses as it explores the different types of sensors and their effectiveness.

Systematic research of mineralogical characteristics of spodumene of VIII pegmatite vein in Dangba spodumene deposit are studied by microscopic observation, electron probe micro analysis (EPMA), Laser ablation plasma mass spectrometry（LA-ICP-MS）and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The results show that the main ore mineral is spodumene. The spodumene crystal partical is large, lithium mainly occurs in spodumene, accompanied by niobium and tantalum beneficial components. XRD and LA-ICP-MS analysis show that the purity of spodumene is very high（the average contentof Li2O is 7.84%）and the cell parameters are slightly lower than those of standard cards. The EPMA results show that the content of SiO2 in spodumene was high (65.62%~65.82%), with a small amount of impurities such as Fe and Mn. The contents of Li2O in the pegmatite ore is up to 1.33%. To sum up, the lithium ore has important development and utilization value.

Biofilms are found in many infections in the forms of surface-adhering aggregates on medical devices, small clumps in tissues, or even in synovial fluid. Although antibiotic resistance genes are studied and monitored in the clinic, the structural and phenotypic changes that take place in biofilms can also lead to significant changes in how bacteria respond to antibiotics. Therefore, it is important to better understand the relationship between biofilm phenotypes and resistance and develop approaches that are compatible with clinical testing. Current methods for studying antimicrobial susceptibility are mostly planktonic or planar biofilm reactors. In this work, we develop a new type of biofilm reactor—three-dimensional (3D) microreactors—to recreate biofilms in a microenvironment that better mimics those in vivo where bacteria tend to form surface-independent biofilms in living tissues. The microreactors are formed on microplates, treated with antibiotics of 1000 times of the corresponding minimal inhibitory concentrations (1000 × MIC), and monitored spectroscopically with a microplate reader in a high-throughput manner. The hydrogels are dissolvable on demand without the need for manual scraping, thus enabling measurements of phenotypic changes. Bacteria inside the biofilm microreactors are found to survive exposure to 1000 × MIC of antibiotics, and subsequent comparison with plating results reveals no antibiotic resistance-associated phenotypes. The presented microreactor offers an attractive platform to study the tolerance and antibiotic resistance of surface-independent biofilms such as those found in tissues.

To investigate the sensitivity and significance of different morphological characteristics of plant root systems on vertical pullout resistance, this study considered four main influencing factors: the number of lateral roots, taproot length, the branching angle of the lateral root, and the unit weight of the soil around the root. PC plastic model roots were employed to conduct a vertical pullout orthogonal experiment. A comprehensive μX theoretical analysis method based on the whole root system pullout test was applied for a stress analysis on root segments. Based on the results, the factors affected the vertical pullout resistance of plant root systems in the order of number of lateral roots > taproot length > unit weight of soil around the root > branching angle of the lateral root. When the number of lateral roots increased from 2 to 3, the vertical pullout resistance increased by 64%. Also, when the taproot length increased from 50 to 60 cm, the vertical pullout resistance increased by up to 46%. Furthermore, the unit weight of soil around the roots had a positive linear correlation with vertical pullout resistance. Based on the results, the number of lateral roots and the taproot length were the primary factors affecting the magnitude of the root system’s vertical pullout resistance. When selecting plants for slope protection, plant types with a larger number of lateral roots and longer taproots should be considered as the two most significant factors for achieving a better slope protection methodology.

The extended damp heat and thermal cycling tests were performed on unencapsulated flexible thin-film GaInP/GaAs/InGaAs solar cells to assess the long-term stability. The solar cells were subjected to 85 °C/85% damp heat test for more than 1000 h and 420 cycles of thermal cycling test between −60 °C and 75 °C, respectively. The performance attenuations of flexible solar cells were less than 2% in both cases, which were due to the slow decline of the open-circuit voltage with aging time. The slight decrease in open voltage was attributed to the increase in reverse saturation current due to the enhanced recombination, which was in good agreement with the calculation based on the two-diode model. The good performance of the unencapsulated flexible GaInP/GaAs/InGaAs solar cells in severe environment indicated the stable and reliable device fabrication art in the experiment.

Aboveground transmission oil pipelines can cross debris flow-prone areas. Currently, there are no available methodologies to assess pipeline failure status with the different pipeline arrangements (location, direction, and segment lengths) and different operating conditions. For solving the research gap, this study proposes a novel methodology to simulate the cascade processes of debris flow propagation, the impact of debris flow on pipelines, and pipeline failure. With consideration of different pipeline arrangement and operating conditions. We introduce the polar coordinate system to set up locations and directions scenarios for the first time. Also, we use the 3-D debris flow simulation model (DebrisInterMixing solver in OpenFOAM) coupled with a modified pipeline mechanical model considering operating conditions for the first time. The proposed methodology shows the different trends of pipeline failure probability with the increase of pipeline segment length for the different pipeline locations and directions. The result shows, for the pipelines of 30° the tensile stress has a more moderate increase rate with the increase of pipeline segment length, and the pipeline failure probability keeps 0 at the 5-m location. At 5 m and 15 m locations, the failure probabilities of the pipelines of 60° and 90° start to increase when the segment length is 13–14 m, while for other pipelines the segment length is 17–19 m. The findings of this study can support the decisions of government authorities, stakeholders, and operators for risk assessment, prioritization of hazard mitigation measures and emergency planning, or concerning decisions regarding pipeline siting during the design, routing, construction, operation, and maintenance stage.

The stress of GaInP/GaAs/InGaAs triple‐junction (3J) solar cells with different thicknesses of Cu thin‐film substrates is analyzed. X‐ray diffractometer and metallographic examination show that the unstable as‐deposited Cu film undergoes room‐temperature self‐annealing, which results in grain growth and changes the internal stress of the Cu film over time. A suitable Cu thickness (18 μm) for 3J solar cells is obtained, whose internal stress can offset the stress caused by the epitaxial mismatch. The flexible 3J solar cell with 18 μm Cu film has the lowest curvature of 8.24 m−1 under the combined effect of thermal stress and lattice mismatch stress. The photovoltaic conversion efficiency reaches 35.02% with the open‐circuit voltage of 3.03 V under AM1.5G spectrum. Cu films with a thickness of 14–28 μm have little effect on the optoelectronic properties of the final device. Reducing the curvature of lattice‐mismatched GaInP/GaAs/InGaAs solar cell devices is beneficial for realizing large‐scale flexible solar cell modules.

This study evaluated the effects of defatted superworm (Zophobas atratus) larvae meal (DBWLM) as an alternative protein ingredient for juvenile Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). Six isonitrogenous and isolipidic experimental diets were characterized by replacing 0%, 15%, 30%, 45%, 60%, and 75% fish meal (DBWLM0, DBWLM15, DBWLM30, DBWLM45, DBWLM60, and DBWLM75, respectively) with DBWLM on a w/w basis and feeding them to juvenile shrimp (0.34 ± 0.04 g) for 56 days. The results showed that the replacement of up to 75% fish meal by DBWLM had no negative effect on the growth performance of P. vannamei. The survival of shrimp in the DBWLM30 group was the highest, and the weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, condition factor, and apparent digestibility coefficients of dry matter in the DBWLM15 group were the highest. The substitution of DBWLM for fish meal significantly increased the elasticity of flesh, improved the total content of umami amino acids in flesh (aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, and alanine), promoted lipid metabolism in shrimp, and reduced serum lipid levels. With the increase in DBWLM level, serum acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase activity, and intestinal inflammatory gene expression (IGF-1 and IL-6) were inhibited, malondialdehyde content decreased, and total antioxidant capacity level and superoxide dismutase activity increased significantly. Histological sections of the hepatopancreas showed that when 60% or more fish meal was replaced, the hepatopancreas atrophied and had irregular lumen distortion, but the cell membrane was not damaged. Microbiome analysis showed that the abundance of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes increased and the abundance of Proteobacteria decreased in the DBWLM replacement group, and it was rich in “metabolism”-related functional pathways. It is worth mentioning that the expression of amino-acid-related enzymes was upregulated in the DBWLM15 and DBWLM30 groups, and the DBWLM75 group inhibited the biosynthesis of steroids and hormones. To conclude, the replacement of 15%–45% fish meal with DBWLM can result in better growth and immune status, improved meat elasticity, and reduced inflammation in P. vannamei. However, it is recommended that the replacement level should not exceed 60%, otherwise it will cause atrophy of hepatopancreas cells.

The study area is located in Xiabao Town, Wuxi County, Chongqing City. It belongs to the mountainous area on the edge of the Yudong Basin. It has strong topography, complex geological environment and frequent geological disasters. In order to study the development and distribution of geological hazards and risk zoning in high and steep canyons, this paper selects factors such as elevation, slope, aspect, engineering geological rock group, distance from water system, and distance from folds as the influencing factors for the assessment of geological hazard susceptibility, based on ArcGIS The platform uses the information model to quantitatively evaluate the susceptibility of high-level geological hazards in the high and steep gorge area of Wuxi Ningqiao area. The evaluation model has a high degree of correspondence with the distribution of geological hazards, and the evaluation results have a high degree of credibility. Combined with the vulnerability assessment, the geological disaster risk assessment of the study area was carried out, and finally the geological disaster risk assessment model of the study area was obtained. It provides a scientific basis for the prevention and control of geological disasters in the region, and at the same time has reference significance for the risk assessment of geological disasters and the prevention and control of geological disasters in similar high and steep canyons..

Research on nutrition and feed development for the broodstock of the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, is rare, and a poor broodstock quality is a critical factor restricting the seed supply in shrimp farming. As an essential nutrient for the gonadal development of L. vannamei, one control diet (no phospholipid) and three typical phospholipids (soybean lecithin, egg yolk lecithin, and krill oil) were evaluated in a semipurified diet of 4% phospholipid for a 28-day trial (initial weight 34.7 ± 4.2 g). Dietary phospholipid supplementation significantly promoted the ovarian maturation of female L. vannamei. Compared with soybean lecithin and egg yolk lecithin, krill oil showed the best positive results. Shrimp fed with a diet krill oil has obtained a significantly higher gonadosomatic index, yolk particle deposition, lipid accumulation, and estrogen secretion than from other sources. Ovary lipidomic analysis showed that the krill oil enriched the lipid composition of the ovary. The “glycerophospholipid metabolism” and “sphingolipid metabolism” pathways were significantly varied via topological pathway analysis. Genes and hub genes, with significantly different expression levels, were significantly enriched in the “fatty acid metabolism pathway,” “glycerophospholipid metabolism,” and “arachidonic acid metabolism” pathways by transcriptomic analysis. Correlation analysis of the transcriptome and lipidomics showed that the differential gene “hormone-sensitive lipase-like” (HSL) was positively correlated with various lipids [triglycerides (TG), phosphatidic acid (PA), phosphatidylserine (P), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), glucosylceramide (GlcCer), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), and phosphatidylinositol (PI)] but was negatively correlated with diacylglycerol (DG), lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE), and sphingomyelin (SM). In conclusion, the dietary phospholipids, especially krill oil as a phospholipid source, can promote the development of L. vannamei ovaries by increasing the accumulation of nutrients such as triglycerides and sterols, and the secretion of estrogen or related hormones, such as estradiol and methylfarneside, by affecting the metabolism of glycerol phospholipids and some key fatty acids.

Aiming at the problem of the deformation of the roadway floor plate during the laneway during the retention period, the mechanical model of the roadway floor is established, and the deformation characteristics of the roadway floor and the change law of the bottom drum are studied and analyzed through theoretical calculation and calculus simulation, revealing the instability mechanism of the surrounding rock of the roadway under the stress disturbance environment, and when not affected by the adoption, the roadway forms a certain stress concentration area within the effective range of support. During mining, under the comprehensive action of the original peripheral stress field and the mining stress field, the cliffhanger is unstable under the comprehensive action of the original peripheral stress field and the mining stress field, and the extrusion and stretching effect of the unflapped part of the rock layer above the goaf section of the coal seam is set up along the air, resulting in violent deformation such as the bottom drum, and the rotational sinking of this part of the unflinted rock layer further aggravates the transfer of the overburden load to the surrounding rock of the lane, so that the surrounding rock along the empty lane is subjected to a large additional stress, and the mining stress field plays a leading role, and the mining stress “far field” is the compound stress field, of which the tensile stress is the leading destructive factor. The deformation of the surrounding rock is mainly based on the bottom, and the horizontal stress on the bottom plate along the empty lane is mainly generated by the horizontal strain that occurs after the lower rock layer of the filling body and the coal gang is subjected to the supporting pressure transmitted by the top plate. With the mining of the working surface, the roof of the goaf area is broken and collapsed to form the characteristics of “vertical three belts,” which is affected by the “large support” of the coal body of the working surface and the “small support” of the surrounding rock along the empty roadway, and the pressure relief of the cut roof can make the roof plate along the empty lane change from the “long arm beam” structure when the roof is not cut into the “short arm beam” structure, blocking the lateral stress of the goaf area to the roof plate of the alley and significantly reducing the degree of stress superposition of the roof plate of the alley. The technical means of blasting cutting roof active pressure relief and protective lane are used to block the transmission of lateral support pressure, the roof slate layer is precracked in advance, the sinking of the rock layer is accelerated, the disturbance time is reduced, the vertical stress of the rock layer and the rock layer above it along the empty roadway is reduced, the vertical stress concentration of the roadway is reduced, the stress concentration coefficient is reduced, the degree of damage of the surrounding rock after the top is weakened, the damage range is reduced, and the technical problem of large deformation prevention and control along the bottom drum of the empty alley can be solved. Constructing the mechanical structure model of the top plate of the cut top pressure relief and the uncut top pressure relief along the empty lane, the stress change characteristics of the active protective rock surrounding rock along the hollow top of the cut top pressure relief were calculated, and after the technical scheme of the blasting cut top active pressure relief and protection lane was adopted, the deformation along the empty roadway was significantly weakened, the stability of the surrounding rock of the roadway after the blasting of the cut roof was significantly improved, the maintenance state along the section of the empty roadway was good, and the cross-sectional convergence rate was reduced by 37.3% compared with the original section. Cutting the roof active pressure relief and protective lane can effectively improve the stability of the surrounding rock.

Microfluidic-integrated freestanding membranes with suitable biocompatibility and tunable physicochemical properties are in high demand for a wide range of life science and biological studies. However, there is a lack of facile and rapid methods to integrate such versatile membranes into microfluidics. A recently invented interfacial electrofabrication of chitosan membranes offers an in-situ membrane integration strategy that is flexible, controllable, simple, and biologically friendly. In this follow-up study, we explored the ability to program the physical properties of these chitosan membranes by varying the electrofabrication conditions (e.g., applied voltage and pH of alginate). We found a strong association between membrane growth rate, properties, and fabrication parameters: high electrical stimuli and pH of alginate resulted in high optical retardance and low permeability, and vice versa. This suggests that the molecular alignment and density of electrofabricated chitosan membranes could be actively tailored according to application needs. Lastly, we demonstrated that this interfacial electrofabrication could easily be expanded to produce chitosan membrane arrays with higher uniformity than the previously well-established flow assembly method. This study demonstrates the tunability of the electrofabricated membranes’ properties and functionality, thus expanding the utility of such membranes for broader applications in the future.

Building an aging-friendly city is necessary, considering the unprecedented demographic shift of the aging population. It is necessary to study the built environment conditions surrounding the elderly’s residential areas. This study examines the density, diversity, and design (3D) features around the two typical elderly communities, which are community-based care and the nursing home. Then, the equity analysis is conducted from the social and spatial perspective. We use the 3D framework to measure the built environment around elderly communities. The essential features of an aging-friendly community are used to assess the built environment around the elderly communities. Moreover, we analyze the social and spatial equity of the elderly communities from the facility level and the town level. From the facility level, the 3D features of the elderly communities and the whole communities are compared to identify the social disparity among groups. From the town level, the average values of the 3D features are aggregated to each town, and then the attribute values of the towns are compared to reveal the spatial gaps and spatial mismatch areas. Results found that the spatial distributions of the 3D features around elderly communities present the center-periphery patterns. This study also found that a social disparity exists between the elderly communities and the whole communities. Moreover, there is a spatial mismatch between the diversity of facilities, road connections, and the number of elderly. Towns located in the fringe area are with a high number of elderly, but with a low diversity and road connections. The findings of this study can help planners and decision-makers to optimize the living facilities for old people and inform the gap in planning an aging-friendly city.

China’s development zones have been enjoying a process of dramatic growth and restructuring since the start of the new millennium, which has been extensively documented in the literature. The growth stems from the increased scope and expansion in demand created by China’s economic growth, as well as gradual global economic reconfiguration, which has, in itself, become a factor in advancing the country’s spiraling economic growth. This article examines the trajectory of the growth and restructuring of China’s development zones since 1984, by reviewing critical policies and their measures and effects, as well as academic research in this field, focusing on transitional stages, features and mechanisms. Based on different academic viewpoints, the work sets out a three-pronged conceptual framework composed of institutional transition, industrial evolution and land use transformation to systematize the growth process. In recent years, the restructuring of development zones has come to be considered as a comprehensive and complex issue, and its main challenges arise from factors such as overcoming outdated institutional arrangements, strengthening market participation, promoting high-end industrial agglomeration and breaking the bottleneck of inefficient land use. This article uses a multi-dimensional, logical approach to address the growth of development zones, and examines relevant practices and studies so as to explore the deeply rooted correlations between different dimensions in more depth and to examine the innate and unchanged logic involved in the restructuring of development zones.

Phospholipids have an important antioxidant effect on animals. The effects of different dietary phospholipid sources on the growth, antioxidant activity, immunity, and gut microbiota of female broodstock of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei were investigated. Four isoproteic and isolipid semi-purified diets containing 4% soybean lecithin (SL), egg yolk lecithin (EL), or krill oil (KO) and a control diet without phospholipid supplementation were fed to female broodstock of L. vannamei (34.7 ± 4.2 g) for 28 days. The growth performance, antioxidative capacity, and innate immunity of the female broodstock fed phospholipid supplemented diets were improved regardless of sources compared with the control shrimp. The effects on growth and antioxidant capacity in female shrimp fed the KO diet were highest. The innate immunity of female shrimp fed the EL and KO diets were significantly higher than shrimp fed the SL diet. Dietary phospholipid supplementation increased gut microbiota diversity and richness, and the Chao1 and ACE values in the KO group were significantly higher than in the control group. The richness of Proteobacteria, Photobacterium, and Vibrio decreased, whereas the richness of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes increased in the shrimp fed the KO diet compared with the shrimp fed the SL and EL diets. The interactions of gut microbiota in shrimp fed the KO diet were the most complex, and the positive interaction was the largest among all the treatments. The functional genes of gut microbiota in shrimp fed the KO diet were significantly enriched in lipid metabolism and terpenoid/polyketide metabolism pathways. Spearman correlation analysis showed that Fusibacter had significantly positive correlations with antioxidant activity (total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase), immune enzyme activity (phenoloxidase and lysozyme), and immune gene expression (C-type lectin 3, Caspase-1). All findings suggest that dietary phospholipids supplementation can improve the growth and health status of female L. vananmei broodstock. Krill oil is more beneficial in improving the antioxidant capacity and innate immunity than other dietary phospholipid sources. Furthermore, krill oil can help establish the intestinal immune barrier by increasing the richness of Fusibacter and promote the growth of female shrimp. Fusibacter may be involved in iron metabolism to improve the antioxidant capacity of female shrimp.

Greenspace exposure (GSE) may have a positive impact on mental health. However, existing research lacks a classification analysis of the influence pathways of different GSE on mental health. Meanwhile, the research method is limited to the measurement of the green space ratio (GSR) based on remote sensing data, which ignores people’s real perception of greenspace. This paper aims to further expand the measurement method of GSE, taking Hangzhou, China as an example, and to reveal the influence mechanism of different GSE modes on mental health. We obtained the personal information, mental health, physical activity, and other data of the interviewees through a questionnaire (n = 461). Combined with a remote sensing satellite and the Baidu Street view database, the method of image interpretation and deep learning was used to obtain the GSR, green visual ratio (GVR), and green visual exposure (GVE). The structural equation model is used to analyze the relationship between different variables. The results showed that: (1) GSE has a certain positive effect on mental health; (2) there are differences in the influence mechanism of multiple measures of GSE on mental health—the GVR and GVE measures based on the interaction perspective between human and greenspace make the influence mechanism more complicated, and produce direct and indirect influence paths; and (3) greenspace perception, sense of community, and physical activity can act as mediators, and have indirect effects. Finally, we call for expanding the measurement index and methods of GSE and integrating them into the management and control practices of urban planning to promote the healthy development of communities and even cities.

In this paper, we propose a method to analyze survival data from a clinical trial that utilizes a dynamic randomization for subject enrollment. The method directly accounts for dynamic subject randomization process using a marked point process (MPP). Its corresponding martingale process is used to formulate an equation for estimating the treatment effect size and for hypothesis testing. We perform simulation analyses to evaluate the outcomes of the proposed method as well as the conventional log rank method and re-randomized testing procedure.

Reliable information on the spatiotemporal dynamics of solar radiation plays a crucial role in studies relating to global climate change. In this study, a new backpropagation neural network (BPNN) model optimized with an Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm was developed to generate the ACO-BPNN model, which had demonstrated superior performance for simulating solar radiation compared to traditional BPNN modelling, for Northeast China. On this basis, we applied an intensity analysis to investigate the spatiotemporal variation of solar radiation from 1982 to 2010 over the study region at three levels: interval, category, and conversion. Research findings revealed that (1) the solar radiation resource in the study region increased from the 1980s to the 2000s and the average annual rate of variation from the 1980s to the 1990s was lower than that from the 1990s to the 2000s and (2) the gains and losses of solar radiation at each level were in different conditions. The poor, normal, and comparatively abundant levels were transferred to higher levels, whereas the abundant level was transferred to lower levels. We believe our findings contribute to implementing ad hoc energy management strategies to optimize the use of solar radiation resources and provide scientific suggestions for policy planning.

There is growing evidence that periodontal treatment may affect glycemic control in diabetic patients. And several systematic reviews have been conducted to assess the effect of periodontal treatment on diabetes outcomes. Researches of this aspect are widely concerned, and several new controlled trials have been published. The aim of this study was to update the account for recent findings.A literature search (until the end of January 2014) was carried out using various databases with language restriction to English. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was selected if it investigated periodontal therapy for diabetic subjects compared with a control group received no periodontal treatment for at least 3 months of the follow-up period. The primary outcome was hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and secondary outcomes were periodontal parameters included probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL).Ten trials of 1135 patients were included in the analysis. After the follow-up of 3 months, treatment substantially lowered HbA1c compared with no treatment after periodontal therapy (-0.36%, 95%CI, -0.52% to -0.19%, P

Extracellular matrix microstructure and mechanics are crucial to breast cancer progression and invasion into surrounding tissues. The peritumor collagen network is often dense and aligned, features which in vitro models lack. Aspiration of collagen hydrogels led to densification and alignment of microstructure surrounding embedded cancer cells. Two metastasis-derived breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, were cultured in initially 4 mg/ml collagen gels for 3 days after aspiration, as well as in unaspirated control hydrogels. Videomicroscopy during aspiration, and at 0, 1, and 3 days after aspiration, epifluorescence microscopy of phalloidin-stained F-actin cytoskeleton, histological sections, and soluble metabolic byproducts from constructs were collected to characterize effects on the embedded cell morphology, the collagen network microstructure, and proliferation. Breast cancer cells remained viable after aspiration-ejection, proliferating slightly less than in unaspirated gels. Furthermore, MDA-MB-231 cells appear to partially relax the collagen network and lose alignment 3 days after aspiration. Aspiration-ejection generated aligned, compact collagen network microstructure with immediate cell co-orientation and higher cell number density apparently through purely physical means, though cell-collagen contact guidance and network remodeling influence cell organization and collagen network microstructure during subsequent culture. This study establishes a platform to determine the effects of collagen density and alignment on cancer cell behavior, with translational potential for anticancer drug screening in a biomimetic three-dimensional matrix microenvironment, or implantation in preclinical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two novel porous MOFs, [Zn5(DpImDC)2(DMF)4(H2O)3]·H2O·DMF (JLU-MOF48, H5DpImDC = 2-(3,5-dicarboxyphenyl)-1H-imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylic acid) and [Co5(DpImDC)2(DMF)4(H2O)6]·DMF (JLU-MOF49), have been solvothermally synthesized by using a ligand consisting of a 4,5-imidazoledicarboxylic acid part and an isophthalic acid part. Two compounds have similar structures and connections, but with significant differences in symmetry (monoclinic and orthorhombic) due the cis-trans isomerism in a mononuclear metal node. Moreover, JLU-MOF48 exhibits notable luminescent properties and owns outstanding performance for detecting nitroaromatic explosives, especially for 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (Ksv = 1.0 × 105 M-1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a user-friendly microfluidic device for the study of gradientmediated bacterial behaviors, including chemotaxis. This device rapidly establishes linear concentration gradients by exploiting solute diffusion through porous membranes in the absence of convective flows. As such, the gradients are created rapidly and can be sustained for long time periods (e.g., hours), sufficient to evaluate cell phenotype. The device exploits a unique simple bilayer configuration that enables rapid setup and quick reproducible introduction of cells. Its reusability represents an additional advantage in that it need not be limited to settings with microfluidics expertise. We have successfully demonstrated the applicability of this tool in studying the chemotactic response of Escherichia coli to glucose. When coupled with our recent Python program, quantified metrics such as speed, ratio of tumble to run, and effective diffusivity can be obtained from slow frame rate videos. Moreover, we introduce a chemotaxis partition coefficient that conveniently scores swimming behavior on the single-cell level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two fof-type porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), [Cu2(bdfdpa)(H2O)2]·8DMF·2H2O (JLU-Liu29) and [Cu2(btadpa)(H2O)2]·7DMF·8H2O (JLU-Liu30) (H4bdfdpa = 5,5′-(benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]difuran-2,6-diyl)diisophthalic acid and H4btadpa = 5,5′-(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole-4,7-diylbis(ethyne-2,1-diyl))diisophthalic acid), have been successfully synthesized by using different expanded tetracarboxylate ligands. Both of them exhibit good permanent porosity and high surface areas of 2205 and 1791 m² g-1, respectively. Due to open metal sites, different functional groups, and suitable pore spaces, the two porous MOFs exhibit high adsorption performance for small molecule gases (CO2, CH4, C2H6, and C3H8) and removal of refractory organosulfur compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemotaxis is a phenomenon which enables cells to sense concentrations of certain chemical species in their microenvironment and move towards chemically favorable regions. Recent advances in microbiology have engineered the chemotactic properties of bacteria to perform novel functions, but traditional methods of characterizing chemotaxis do not fully capture the associated cell motion, making it difficult to infer mechanisms that link the motion to the microbiology which induces it. Microfluidics offers a potential solution in the form of gradient generators. Many of the gradient generators studied to date for this application are flow-based, where a chemical species diffuses across the laminar flow interface between two solutions moving through a microchannel. Despite significant research efforts, flow-based gradient generators have achieved mixed success at accurately capturing the highly subtle chemotactic responses exhibited by bacteria. Here we present an analysis encompassing previously published versions of flow-based gradient generators, the theories that govern their gradientgenerating properties, and new, more practical considerations that result from experimental factors. We conclude that flow-based gradient generators present a challenge inherent to their design in that the residence time and gradient decay must be finely balanced, and that this significantly narrows the window for reliable observation and quantification of chemotactic motion. This challenge is compounded by the effects of shear on an ellipsoidal bacterium that causes it to preferentially align with the direction of flow and subsequently suppresses the cross-flow chemotactic response. These problems suggest that a static, nonflowing gradient generator may be a more suitable platform for chemotaxis studies in the long run, despite posing greater difficulties in design and fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel homochiral zeolite-like metal--organic framework (ZMOF), [(Cu4I4) (dabco)2]- [Cu2(bbimb)]·3DMF (JLU-Liu23, dabco = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]-octane, H2bbimb = 1,3-bis(2-benzimidazol)- benzene, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide), has been successfully constructed to host unprecedented DNA-like [Cu2(bbimb)]n polymers with double-helicity. The host--guest chirality interplay permitted the induced formation of an unusual gyroid MOF with homochirality and helical channels in the framework for the first time, JLU-Liu23. Importantly, the enantiomeric pairs (23P, 23M) can be promoted and isolated in the presence of appropriate chiral inducing agents, affording enantioselective separation of chiral molecules as well as small gas molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new metal–organic frameworks(MOFs) based on hetero-O,N donor ligands, (Cu4I4)[Cu2(PDC)2DMF2]2·2DMF·H2O (JLU-Liu15), (Cu4I4)[Cu3(CPNA)3(Dabco)0.5DMF3]·4DMF·4H2O (JLU-Liu16),and (Cu4I4)[Cu3(CPNA)3(H2O)0.5DMF3]·4DMF·4H2O (JLU-Liu17), (H2PDC = pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylicacid, H2CPNA = 5-(4′-carboxylphenyl) nicotinic acid,Dabco = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane), have been solvothermallysynthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-raydiffraction analyses. JLU-Liu15features a (3,4,4)-csqc5588 net, whereas JLU-Liu16and JLU-Liu17are isostructural and possess a new (3,4,4)-c topology. All of thesecompounds are composed of the binodal inorganic Cu2(CO2)4paddlewheel and Cu4I4clustersecondary building units (SBUs). It is worthy to note that the linkagebetween two nearby Cu4I4clusters in JLU-Liu16is μ2-Dabco, which changed to a μ2-water molecule in JLU-Liu17. Furthermore, JLU-Liu15exhibits high CO2adsorption behaviors as well as I2uptake and release features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane functionality in microfluidics is critical for sample separation, concentration, compartmentalization, filtration, pumping, gradient generation, gas-liquid exchange, and other processes. Integration of functional membranes in microfluidics, however, is nontrivial. Here, we report a simple approach for biofabricating freestanding, semi-permeable biopolymer membranes in microfluidics, initiated with intentionally trapped air bubbles caught within specifically designed polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) apertures. Pressure-driven dissipation of air bubbles through the gas permeable PDMS facilitates local and quiescent contact of two oppositely charged polyelectrolyte polysaccharides forming a layered or sandwiched membrane. This polyelectrolyte complex membrane (PECM) is permeable to ions including hydroxyl ions, which further facilitates layer-by-layer assembly of membrane stratum. Assembled membranes that bridge the 40-μm apertures are sufficiently strong to withstand >1 atmosphere hydrostatic pressure. Further, the semi-permeable membranes allow for programmed generation of small molecule gradients while preventing protein efflux. We envision the simplicity of fabrication, which requires no reagents or complicated valving, when coupled with the functional properties of the membrane polysaccharides, will find utility in cell and tissue studies including preclinical drug screening and toxicity analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree of consistency of treatment effects seen across regions within a multiregional clinical trial has important implications for all stakeholders. It can affect the ability of the trial results to be interpreted by the scientific community in an unambiguous manner and can have important ramifications for regulatory decision making. This article is part of a PhRMA team's effort to provide perspective and recommendations on this issue. A companion article from the same team focuses on relevant design considerations, while in this article the focus is on monitoring considerations specific to multiregional trials, on how the final trial results should be presented, and on thought processes that are relevant lo how signals of inconsistency should be investigated and interpreted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of consistency of treatment effect across regions is often a key issue in a multiregional clinical trial (MRCT) because of differences in intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Careful consideration of consistency assessment of treatment effect across regions is necessary at the design stage. This article is part 1 of a cross-industry PhRMA team's effort to provide perspective and recommendations on the issue of regional consistency, with primary focus on design considerations. We argue that given the premise of an MRCT that there is no or limited regional variation, choices of appropriate consistency criteria for assessing regional consistency need to reflect this a priori belief and should not add an additional burden of proving regional consistency in addition to meeting the primary study objectives. The total sample size of the MRCT should be mainly driven by the primary objectives and hypotheses. Appropriate sample size partitioning and distribution across regions may be considered to achieve a target "assurance probability" based upon predefined consistency criteria such as modified PMDA (Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency) methods. Prespecification and documentation of the plan for regional assessment in the protocol are important for interpreting the results. We also encourage communication with health authorities, and acknowledge negotiation may be necessary to reach an agreement, especially when there are region or country-specific interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiregionai clinical trials (MRCTs) present great opportunities but also challenges to the trial community. To address the challenges and fully realize the opportunities, a PhRMA MRCT Cross-Functional Key Issue Team (KIT) was formed in 2008. One of the work streams within the KIT particularly focuses on the assessment of consistency of treatment effects across regions. As the main objective of this work stream, this research explores a number of definitions for consistency assessments. We address the issues primarily for superiority trials with continuous endpoints, then extend briefly to noninferiority trials, random effect models, binary endpoints, and survival endpoints. Computations and simulations are used to study the properties of the proposed definitions, particularly the power for showing consistency. To illustrate applications of the methods, we use a trial example with a continuous endpoint. We discuss considerations for trial design as well as for data analysis. The consistency assessment relies heavily on the definition of regions and the number of regions. We recommend working with health authorities to define region in a manner that is sensible from a practical interpretation standpoint and also makes region consistency assessment a feasible undertaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint industrial development zones have emerged among cities in the Yangtze River Delta region in recent years. Given that such zones involve collaboration between different authorities, this has implications for the practice of urban governance in China. This article examines these processes in relation to the Jiangyin Economic Development Zone in Jingjiang (JZJ) using debates around urban growth coalitions. Two categories of actors, different levels of local government and business sectors, are identified and their interactions in coalition-building are analysed in detail. After tracing the process of coalition formation, this paper argues that growth coalitions can form between two cities involving processes above the urban scale in a globalising era. In addition, a local government-big business coalition, similar to its Western counterparts, is dominating industrial zone construction within Chinese urban growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We surveyed 65 patients age 13 years or older who had been treated for malignant bone tumors and were in remission at least 1 year after limb-sparing surgery (LS) or amputation (AMP) to assess general satisfaction with the surgical outcome and its impact on various areas of functioning. Of 130 eligible patients, 65 responded (61 treated for osteosarcoma, 3 for Ewing's sarcoma, and 1 for mesenchymoma). The median current age of the cohort was 25.8 years (range, 14.2 to 47.5 years). The median time from surgery was 14.2 years (range, 4.0 to 30.4 years) for the AMP group, and 5.5 years (range, 2.0 to 13.8 years) for the LS patients. Questionnaire responses of patients treated with AMP compared to those who had LS surgery showed no significant differences in the impact of the surgical procedure on educational and occupational status, functional limitations, pain intensity and degree of pain interference, emotional distress, interpersonal/social interactions and self-image, rehabilitation experience, and overall satisfaction with the surgical procedure. Functional limitation was significantly related to pain interference, as well as emotional distress, self-image, and interpersonal difficulties for the entire cohort. Our findings highlight procedure-related advantages and difficulties that may potentially enhance decision making regarding the selection of the surgical procedure for individual patients with malignant bone tumors of an extremity [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Programmable 3D cell assembly under physiological pH conditions is achieved using electrodeposited stimuli-responsive alginate gels in a microfluidic device, with parallel sidewall electrodes enabling direct observation of the cell assembly. Electrically triggered assembly and subsequent viability of mammalian cells is demonstrated, along with spatially programmable, multi-address assembly of different strains of E. colicells. Our approach enables in vitrostudy of dynamic cellular and inter-cellular processes, from cell growth and stimulus/response to inter-colony and inter-species signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]