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The Jurassic Da'anzhai Member in the Sichuan Basin is a stratigraphic unit characterized by widespread mudstone and hybrid sedimentation. It comprises various lithofacies types and sedimentary structures, including massive structure, laminated structure, mud rip-up clasts and erosion surfaces. By means of detailed analysis of core, logging, thin sections, scanning electron microscope, XRD and XRF data, six lithofacies types are identified in the Da'anzhai Member, and the genetic mechanisms of these lithofacies such as sandy debris flow, turbidity current, bioclastic flow and still water sedimentation are analyzed based on the characteristics of lithofacies. A complete third-order cycle was identified in the LA 1 and RA 1 well based on the variation in the value of gamma ray, bioclastic content as well as lithofacies characteristics. The paleo-sedimentary environment of Da'anzhai Member of Sichuan Basin is reconstructed on the basis of geochemical proxies such as Sr/Cu, Ca/(Ca + Fe), V/(V + Ni), V/Cr, Ti, Al, Al/(Al + Fe) and Fe/Mn. Different sedimentary environments in the Da'anzhai Member controlled the characteristics of lithofacies distribution and the lake level (water depth) primarily controlled the scale and frequency of the development of hybrid sedimentation and mudstone. During the early and late sedimentary periods of the Da'anzhai Member, the climate was arid, water salinity was high, reducing conditions were weak, and the water body was deep. Sediments such as sandy and bioclastic materials in shallow areas were transported to deeper areas through gravity flows under the influence of sudden events like earthquakes, floods or storms and interbedded with still water mudstones. In the middle period of the Da'anzhai Member, the climate was humid, water salinity was low, reducing conditions were strong, and the water body remained deep. A large amount of deep-water mudstone developed in this period, with gravity flow deposits appearing as thin layers. Finally, the comprehensive sedimentary model of the study area is completed based on this characteristics. • Six lithofacies types were identified based on a petrological characterization study. • Lithofacies characteristics were analyzed, identifying sedimentary processes: gravity and still water depositions. • Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Da'anzhai Member was performed , analyzing its influences on sedimentary characteristics and lithofacies distribution. • Sedimentary model of Da'anzhai Member was established from petrological, genesis, and paleoenvironmental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing active cooling strategies has become an essential topic in thermal protection due to the increasing structural thermal protection requirements for hypersonic aircraft with higher Mach numbers. This paper proposes a design method for the transpiration cooling structure, taking the isothermal wall as the design target and the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the transpiration matrix and the porosity of the porous medium as the design parameters. The method can achieve the reverse design of the porosity of the transpiration matrix and homogenize the temperature gradient of the surface of porous media. The numerical analysis shows that the porosity design method for pressure difference-controlled transpiration cooling proposed in this research can be used to optimize the porosity design of porous media and achieve maximum utilization of the coolant flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Urinary incontinence is a common and distressing condition affecting women worldwide. However, urinary incontinence during pregnancy was less studied. The study aims to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of urinary incontinence during pregnancy, its impact on health-related quality of life as well as associated help-seeking behavior.Methods: Eligible women were enrolled in the obstetric wards of a tertiary maternity hospital. Urinary incontinence, generic and specific health-related quality of life were assessed using the International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF), the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2), Urogenital Distress Inventory short form (UDI-6) and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire short form (IIQ-7), respectively. Multiple logistic regression and multiple linear regression analysis were used to examine risk factors of urinary incontinence during pregnancy and the impact of incontinence on health-related quality of life of pregnant women, respectively.Results: A total of 1243 women were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of urinary incontinence during pregnancy was 52.0%. Most women suffered from mild or moderate incontinence. Five risk factors were identified by multiple logistic regression. Urinary incontinence before pregnancy was the strongest predictor for incontinence during pregnancy (OR = 4.178, 95% CI = 2.690-6.490), followed by history of vaginal birth, coffee consumption, childhood enuresis and history of urinary tract infection. Urinary incontinence had significant impact on health-related quality of life during pregnancy. Only 14.8% of pregnant women sought professional help for urinary symptoms.Conclusions: Urinary incontinence was highly prevalent in pregnant women, with a broad detrimental effect on health-related quality of life. Five factors were confirmed to be associated with increasing the risk of developing urinary incontinence during pregnancy. The help-seeking behavior during pregnancy was discouraging. Targeted interventions are warranted to facilitate the prevention of urinary incontinence and improvement of health-related quality of life in pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has overwhelmed healthcare systems across the world. Along with the medical team, clinical pharmacists played a significant role during the public health emergency of COVID-19. This study aimed to explore the working experience of clinical pharmacists and provide reference for first-line clinical pharmacists to prepare for fighting against COVID-19.Methods: A qualitative study based on descriptive phenomenology was employed with face-to-face and audio-recorded interviews to study the working experience of 13 clinical pharmacists (including two clinical nutritional pharmacists). All interviews were transcribed verbatim, and the interview data were analyzed thematically using NVivo software.Results: Four themes emerged from interview data, including roles of clinical pharmacists, working experiences of clinical pharmacists, psychological feelings of clinical pharmacists, and career expectations of clinical pharmacists.Conclusions: The results contributed to a deeper understanding of the clinical pharmacists' work experiences in COVID-19 and offered guidance to better prepare clinical pharmacists in participating in a public health crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dodecylamine dialdehyde starch (DASDA) is synthesized with corn starch, sodium periodate, and dodecylamine, and its structure, particle morphology, crystal structure, and thermal properties are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. Antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus suggests that minimum inhibitory concentrations of DASDA against E. coli and S. aureus are 0.31 and 0.63 mg mL−1, and the antibacterial effect against E. coli is better than that against S. aureus. The antibacterial activity is effectively improved with the increase of amino content of DASDA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in the composition of cellulases would lead to different adsorption characteristic which is a key factor in the process of enzymatic hydrolysis treatment of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) and MFC film preparation. The main purpose of this research was to study how complex cellulase (D cellulase) and endocellulase (R cellulase) with different composition and dosages (Cellulase dosage per gram of pulp, U/g) affect the performances of MFC and MFC film properties. Herein, D cellulase and R cellulase with different dosages were compared to treat bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp (BHKP) for MFC preparation. Enzyme activity and adsorption properties of the two cellulases were comprehensively studied. Meanwhile, the performances of MFC and MFC film were investigated. As a result, D cellulase possessed higher adsorption ratio than R cellulase, but R cellulase demonstrated higher adsorption rate than D cellulase. The crystallinity index (CrI), specific surface area (SSA) and morphology of MFC were tuned by the combination of two cellulases at different dosages. Among them, the CrI of MFC treated by two cellulases increased, respectively, and both reached the maximum when the enzyme dosage was 10 U/g. Elongation at break (E) and tensile strength (TS) of MFC film treated by R cellulase decreased continuously which maintained excellent physical strength at low cellulase dosage compared with D cellulase. According to their respective minimum oxygen permeability coefficients, the MFC film obtained by R cellulase pretreatment possessed the better barrier property compared with MFC film pretreated by D cellulase. In general, this work shows that low-cost R cellulase, which allows MFC film to have good performances at low enzyme dosages, is more suitable than D cellulase for BHKP pretreatment to prepare MFC film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of poly (amino acid) with zwitterionic character was prepared for surface coating to avoid protein adsorption, by modifying the poly (aspartic acid) side chain with tertiary amine groups. An interesting and facile procedure is described with starts with polysuccinic acid which is followed by ring-opening with amino functions and finally hydrolysis of the remaining succinic acid groups achieving the polyaspartic acid structure as backbone. The degree of cationic tertiary amino group was easily varied by the degree of ring-opening with amines. The materials show isoelectric point between pH 4 and 9, have a typical zwitterionic character, and can be used to coat negatively as well as positively charged surfaces, depending on composition. The protein adsorption behavior is thus pH dependent and was studied with various proteins mainly available in blood. The adsorption test proved that a significant reduction of protein adsorption could be found for fibrinogen and albumin, and this protein-repellent behavior is strongly dependent on the amount of the absorbed polymer (adsorbed at pH = 7.4). This is a nice additional contribution to polymers with zwitterionic character used as coating reducing nonspecific protein adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is a common pathogen in multiple animal species, particularly in pigs. However, PRV infection in humans is rare and, to the best of our knowledge, PRV has never been isolated from human cases before. Methods Four acute encephalitis cases in humans were confirmed as PRV infection based on clinical symptoms, laboratory diagnosis, and metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were collected and applied for virus isolation. Etiological and genetic characteristics of this PRV human isolate were further determined. Results The patients manifested respiratory dysfunction and acute neurological symptoms. The mNGS revealed PRV-specific nucleotide sequences in patients' CSF samples (7–6198 reads and 0.2446%–80.58% coverage). The PRV envelope glycoprotein B antibody, glycoprotein E antibody, and neutralizing antibody were positively detected. For the first time, a PRV strain, designated hSD-1/2019, was isolated and identified from a CSF sample, and transmission electron microscopy revealed that hSD-1/2019 had typical morphology similar to that of swine PRV. Phylogenetic analysis illustrated that hSD-1/2019 was genetically closest to those PRV variant strains currently circulating in pigs in China, and this strain showed similar etiological characteristics to Chinese PRV variant strains, while different from Chinese classical strain. Moreover, hSD-1/2019 showed high pathogenicity and induced acute neurological symptoms in pigs. Conclusions A PRV strain was isolated from an acute human encephalitis case. This isolate showed close phylogenetic relationships and similar etiological characteristics to Chinese PRV variant strains, implying the great risk of PRV transmission from pigs to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of metamorphic testing (MT) research works focused on the generation and application of metamorphic relations (MRs). There is no clear conclusion about the relationship between test case generation methods and performance of MT. In this article, we introduce a novel method based on adaptive random testing (ART) and MR for MT test case generation. It proposes a family of algorithms for MT test cases generation, named as MT based ART (MT-ART). Three distances are measured to generate the next MT test case. In order to verify the performance of this method, series of experiments on four programs with different numbers of inputs are introduced. The results show that MT-ART performs better than other ART algorithms not only in test effectiveness, but also in test efficiency and test coverage. Based on this article, the following conclusions can be drawn: first, considering the effectiveness of MRs and test cases in MT may lead to better results. In this way, most of the existing research can be improved by this method. This is the most important contribute of our research. Second, not only the source test cases, but also the follow-up test cases can improve the performance of MT. Therefore, they should be considered together during the process of the next test case generation. Third, the average distance performs better than the max distance and the minimum distance in metamorphic test case selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Naotic dissepiments are special structures of rugose corals, characterized by a column of distally arched plates at peripheral parts of thick septa or within the cystozone. In this study, naotic‐dissepimented colonial rugose corals Gyanyimaphyllum crassiseptatum and Ipciphyllum naoticum and their associated microfacies were documented from the Late Permian Gyanyima section in Tibet, southwestern China. The morphology of the Gyanyima naotic‐dissepimented corals is cerioid massive forms or fasciculate forms with connected individuals, with broken skeletons. Between coral colonies and/or skeletons, the interspaces are occupied by highly fragmented bioclasts and sparry calcite. These biotic and sedimentary characteristics suggest that the Gyanyima naotic‐dissepimented corals could have developed in high water‐energy environments above fair‐weather wave‐base. This implies that the development of naotic dissepiments was probably related to an enhanced hydrodynamic force. According to a review on the Permian naotic‐dissepimented rugose corals in China, they are mainly composed of massive colonial forms with a few fasciculate colonial and solitary forms. Current available data indicate that they could occur in bioclastic grainstones and oncoid limestones with eroded skeletons, which also support a conclusion that naotic dissepiments formed in turbulent environments. Based on the ontogenic studies on naotic‐dissepimented rugose corals, naotic dissepiments occur sporadically in the neanic stage and are well developed but not permanently and uniformly in adult stage. Furthermore, different species in the same genus have different degrees of development of naotic dissepiments, which might imply that naotic dissepiments are not suitable to be an important taxonomic character in higher than species level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dusk feeding is practised probably to satisfy the energy requirement during night. However, little is known on the changes with clock gene expressions during this feeding behaviour. In our present study, the linkage of clock gene expressions and feeding behaviour in dusk feeding was investigated in laying hens under two lighting programs: the conventional lighting program (Control) with a light period from 05:00 AM to 21:00 PM and a dark period from 21:00 PM to 05:00 AM; or the shifted lighting program group (SLP) with a light period from 02:00 AM to 18:00 PM and a dark period from 18:00 PM to 02:00 AM. The gene expression‐related appetite and circadian rhythm were investigated in hypothalamus and proventriculus at 1, 3 and 5 h before scotophase. The results demonstrated that dusk feeding was synchronously shifted with altered lighting program, dusk feeding was observed from 5 h before scotophase in both groups. The expressions of anorexigenic gene proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and cocaine‐ and amphetamine‐regulated transcript (CART) were downregulated (p < 0.05) during dusk feeding and changed in pace with lighting program. The expressions of clock gene period 2 (Per2) and cryptochrome 1 (Cry1) in hypothalamus were downregulated (p < 0.05) during dusk feeding and shifted by lighting program. In the proventriculus, ghrelin expression was decreased (p < 0.05) during dusk feeding by lighting program. In conclusion, the expressions of clock genes Per2 and Cry1 are linked with the downregulated expressions of anorexigenic genes, POMC and CART, and in turn the augmented feed intake at dusk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the overall outcomes and complications of transvaginal mesh (TVM) placement for the management of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) with different meshes with a greater than 10-years of follow-up.Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients with POP who underwent prolapse repair surgery with placement of transvaginal mesh (Prolift kit or self-cut Gynemesh) between January 2005 and December 2010. Baseline of patient characteristics were collected from the patients' medical records. During follow-up, the anatomical outcomes were evaluated using the POP Quantification system, and the Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) was used to assess the response of a condition to therapy. Overall postoperative satisfaction was assessed by the following question: "What is your overall postoperative satisfaction, on a scale from 0 to 10?". Relapse-free survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves.Results: In total, 134 patients were included. With a median 12-year (range 10-15) follow-up, 52 patients (38.8%) underwent TVM surgery with Prolift, and Gynemesh was used 82 (61.2%). 91% patients felt that POP symptom improved based on the PGI-I scores, and most satisfied after operation. The recurrence rates of anterior, apical and posterior compartment prolapse were 5.2%, 5.2%, and 2.2%, respectively. No significant differences in POP recurrence, mesh-associated complications and urinary incontinence were noted between TVM surgery with Prolift versus Gynemesh.Conclusions: Treatment of POP by TVM surgery exhibited long-term effectiveness with acceptable morbidity. The outcomes of the mesh kit were the same as those for self-cutmesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Minimally invasive surgery for early cervical cancer is debated. We developed this new vaginal-assisted gasless laparoendoscopic single-site radical hysterectomy for early cervical cancer, and we aimed to evaluate the feasibility and safety of this surgical procedure and observe the early oncologic outcomes. Methods: From January 2019 to August 2020, patients with early cervical cancer who underwent vaginal-assisted gasless laparoendoscopic single-site radical hysterectomy were studied retrospectively. The clinical characteristics, pathologic outcomes, perioperative outcomes, and follow-up details of the patients were recorded. Results: Forty-eight patients underwent vaginal-assisted gasless laparoendoscopic single-site radical hysterectomy were included, 14 (29.2%) with stage IB1, 13 (27.1%) with stage IB2, 7 (14.6%) with stage IB3, 10 (20.8%) with stage IIA1, and 4 (8.3%) stage with IA2. The mean age at diagnosis was 50.4 (range 28–72) years old. The mean operative time was 237.3 min (range 162–393), and the mean estimated blood loss was 246.5 ml (range 80–800). No intraoperative complications occurred, and there were no patients who were readmitted. Histological types were distributed as follows: squamous cell carcinoma 72.9%, adenocarcinoma 10.4%, and adenosquamous cell carcinoma 16.7%. There were 2 patients (4.2%) with positive nodes, 20 patients (41.7%) with positive lymphovascular space invasion, and 2 patients (4.2%) with positive parametria. Twenty-eight patients (58.3%) received adjuvant therapy after the operation. With a mean follow-up of 17.7 months (range 6–26), there were no recurrent cases, and 11 patients (22.9%) suffered lower limb lymphoedema. Conclusions: The vaginal-assisted gasless laparoendoscopic single-site radical hysterectomy might be a feasible technique for early cervical cancer, with promising short-term oncological outcomes and safety. A prospective study with more patients and longer follow-up periods should be performed to further evaluate the safety and oncological outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proteins interact with each other to play critical roles in many biological processes in cells. Although promising, laboratory experiments usually suffer from the disadvantages of being time-consuming and labor-intensive. The results obtained are often not robust and considerably uncertain. Due recently to advances in high-throughput technologies, a large amount of proteomics data has been collected and this presents a significant opportunity and also a challenge to develop computational models to predict protein–protein interactions (PPIs) based on these data. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of the recent efforts that have been made towards the development of effective computational models for PPI prediction. The survey introduces the algorithms that can be used to learn computational models for predicting PPIs, and it classifies these models into different categories. To understand their relative merits, the paper discusses different validation schemes and metrics to evaluate the prediction performance. Biological databases that are commonly used in different experiments for performance comparison are also described and their use in a series of extensive experiments to compare different prediction models are discussed. Finally, we present some open issues in PPI prediction for future work. We explain how the performance of PPI prediction can be improved if these issues are effectively tackled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) for blood screening has been previously performed in some countries to determine NAT yields. The current study sought to explore the non-discriminating reactive NAT yields using individual-NAT (ID-NAT) and characteristics of HBV NAT yields through a 10-year retrospective analysis in Zhejiang, China.Methods: Blood donations were analyzed using individual-NAT mode by the transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) method. Supplementary HBV serological tests were performed using chemiluminescent immunoassay, and HBV viral load assay was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Follow-up studies were performed in partial donors with low HBV viral loads.Results: Non-discriminating reactive NAT yields and HBV NAT yields varied in different years. The yields ranged from 853.73 per million to 2018.68 per million and 624.60 per million to 1669.50 per million, respectively. In the 476 NAT yields, 19 were probable window periods (WP), 33 probable occult hepatitis B virus infections (OBIs), 409 were confirmed OBIs and 15 were chronic HBV infections. ID-NAT results were categorized in four groups, and the findings showed that the levels of HBV DNA viral loads were different in the four different groups (χ2 = 275.02, p < 0.01). HBV viral load distribution was significantly different between anti-HBs positive and anti-HBc positive samples (χ2 = 49.429, p < 0.01). Notably, only 42.03% donors were NAT repeated positive in the 138 repeat donors' follow up tests.Conclusion: NAT screening of blood donations can reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HBV infections. Positive proportions of anti-HBs and anti-HBc are correlated with the HBV viral load level. However, low level of viral load donors pose risks in HBV NAT assays, and show fluctuating state for HBV viral load and leads to non-repeated NAT results during follow up studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The utilisation of on-farm crop residues to ameliorate soil acidity is thought to be more cost-effective than other organic materials such as animal manures. In addition, using NO3− as the form of N can induce rhizosphere alkalinisation due to the excess uptake of anions over cations by plant roots. Methods: A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of four commonly-used brown manures, field pea, oats, vetch and wheat in combination with two Ca(NO3)2 levels (64 and 191 mg N kg− 1) in improving wheat growth in two acid soils varying in Al3+ concentration and pH buffer capacity. Results: All amendments increased plant growth and soil pH, and decreased Al concentration in Sodosol (pH buffer capacity, 23 mmolc kg− 1 pH− 1), with legume residues (field pea and vetch) being more effective than cereal residues (oat and wheat). Application of Ca(NO3)2 alone was less effective in ameliorating soil acidity in both Sodosol and Dermosol due to poor root growth and hence lower NO3−-N uptake (< 18 %). However, higher rates of Ca(NO3)2 further increased pH (by 0.12 units) in Sodosol when combined with wheat and oat residues with decreased Al3+, increased root growth and NO3−-N uptake. Conclusions: The capacity of Ca(NO3)2 to ameliorate soil acidity was reduced with legume residues, when it was not the main N source for plant growth. The combined application of Ca(NO3)2 and low-N crop residue (C/N > 52) could act as an alternative to costly lime or off-farm products in ameliorating soil acidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a clean energy resource, coalbed methane (CBM) has drawn worldwide attention. However, the CBM reservoir has strong adsorption capacity and low permeability and thus requires stimulation. As a means to stimulate coalbed methane recovery, thermal injection faces geological and economic challenges because it uses conventional conductive heating (CH) to transfer heat. Realized by the conversion of the electromagnetic energy into the thermal energy, microwave heating (MH) may be a sound stimulation method. Although previous research suggested that MH had potential as a stimulation method for coalbed methane recovery, it is not clear if MH is superior to CH for enhancing coalbed methane recovery. This paper compares the effect of MH and CH on methane desorption from coal using purpose-built experimental equipment. To compare the MH and CH experimental results, the desorption temperature for each CH desorption test was set to the maximum temperature reached in the correlative MH desorption test. The results show that although the cumulative desorbed volume (CDV) of methane under MH was less than that desorbed by CH in the initial desorption stage, the final total CDV under MH for the three different power settings was ~ 12% to ~ 21% more than that desorbed by CH at the same temperatures. CH and MH both change the sample's microstructure but MH enlarges the pores, decreases methane adsorption, promotes methane diffusion, and improves permeability more effectively than CH. Rapid temperature rise and the changes in the coal's microstructure caused by MH were the main reasons for its superior performance. These findings may provide reference for selecting the most appropriate type of heating for thermal injection assisted coalbed methane recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the time-varying dynamic characteristics of thin-walled milling, an optimization method of thin-walled milling control parameters based on the ANFIS system is proposed. Firstly, the control system strategy design and equipment selection construction were carried out, and the fuzzy inference model was built based on matlab platform; Subsequently, the fuzzy inference model of the thin-walled workpiece milling process was obtained by collecting fuzzy inference training data set of and the ANFIS system training. The proportional control coefficient of the controller was optimized based on the input and output relation of the model. Finally, the dynamic response and surface roughness of the controlled thin-walled panel milling process before and after optimization were obtained through cutting experiments, and the effectiveness of the ANFIS method to optimize the control parameters and the reliability of the fuzzy reasoning model were verified through analysis of the reasoning results. The results show that the ANFIS system can predict the vibration response performance of the target by setting the input and output reasonably, and optimize the related variable parameters according to the predicted results, so as to make the thin-wall milling system more stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has experienced dramatic warming in summer mean temperature since the early 1990s, leading to precipitation variation across the region. We have studied the variation of rainy‐season (April–September) precipitation in eastern China during 1961–2016. Overall, we found that rainy‐season precipitation increased in the south and decreased in the north during 1992–2016 (PII) compared to 1961–1991 (PI). By defining rainfall‐belt indices of intensity and central location, we found that the southern rainfall‐belt during the main rainy‐season tends to produce much more‐intense precipitation during PI relative to PII, in contrast to the northern rainfall‐belt, which tends to have less‐intense precipitation during PII. Despite some fluctuations, the central positions of neither the northern nor the southern rainfall‐belts exhibit a statistically significant difference between the two periods. Unlike during PI, during PII, there is an obvious anticyclone over the Lake Baikal region. This anticyclone has caused anomalous north winds flowing from north‐central to southwestern China, leading to weakening of the northward moisture transport. Also, regions such as northeastern, north‐central, and southwestern China have been controlled by negative geopotential height anomalies and weak vertical air‐motion anomalies, resulting in drying from north to southwestern China. At the same time, the enhanced water‐vapour convergence in the southeastern coastal region of China favours increased precipitation there. These processes working in concert created the drying‐north–wetting‐south pattern in the main rainy‐season during 1961–2016. The change in rainfall‐belt intensity in eastern China has also shown a close relationship with the change in vapour transport from low latitudes. The weakened land‐sea thermal difference in the East Asia–Northwest Pacific region, which has weakened water‐vapour and atmospheric circulation, has also played a role in the change of rainfall‐belt intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cas14a may recognize and randomly cleave ssDNAs without protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequence restriction to benefit nucleic acid sensing. However, the sensitivity of individual Cas proteins is limited. Herein a protocol based on entropy-driven circuit (EDC) and Cas14a/sgRNA (EDC-Cas14a) was developed to achieve dual signal amplification of miRNA. The target can continuously catalyze the reaction of EDC to generate multiple ssDNA activators, which triggers the trans-cleavage of Cas14a to cleave reporters and achieves 2nd signal amplification. The background signal is effectively reduced by adjusting the number of bases in the EDC. Therefore, two parts of the protocol can coexist in a system without interfering with each other. EDC significantly improves the sensitivity and specificity of Cas14a/sgRNA. A 100-fold improvement on sensitivity was achieved with a limit of detection of 2.1 pM. The specificity of EDC-Cas14a was characterized by outstanding distinguishing capability of miRNA-10b and its counterpart with one-base mismatch. EDC-Cas14a can be readily adjusted to detect various miRNAs by simply manipulating EDC modules. Eventually, the promising assay performances of EDC-Cas14a was demonstrated by the detection of miRNA-10b in serum and cell lysate to provide a general approach for sensitive assay of miRNA biomarker in molecular diagnosis. • One-pot detection of miRNA was established by coupling entropy-driven circuit (EDC) and Cas14a. • A 100-fold improvement on sensitivity was achieved after introduction of EDC. • None of protospacer adjacent motif restrictions makes the design more flexible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• FG exhibits excellent energy absorption under quasi-static and dynamic compression. • Higher FG density enhances energy absorption but also increases peak strength. • FG with 20% GBFS exhibits superior energy absorption and load transfer. • Rising strain rate greatly increases peak strength but minor effect on plateau stress. • Proposed DIF reasonably predicts peak strength of FG under different strain rates. To assess the potential for substituting foam concrete with low-carbon foamed geopolymer (FG) in the field of structural protection, a series of quasi-static and dynamic compression tests were conducted. These tests aimed to examine the mechanical performance and energy absorption of FG while considering the factors of FG density, granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) replacement rate, and water–solid ratio. Additionally, supplementary investigations involving XRD analysis, indentation tests, X-CT scanning, and 3D reconstruction techniques were conducted to explore the influence of GBFS replacement rate on the energy absorption of FG in terms of base material properties and internal pore structure. The results of the quasi-static compressive tests showed that increasing the FG density and reducing the water–solid ratio had a positive effect on energy absorption, however, it also resulted in a notable increase in peak strength. Increasing the GBFS replacement rate not only enhanced the load-bearing capacity but also increased the extent of spalling damage, thus FG with a moderate GBFS replacement rate of 20% demonstrated superior performance in terms of energy absorption and load transfer. Under dynamic compression, all specimens predominantly experienced vertical splitting failure. However, with increasing loading velocity, crushing failure emerged at the two ends of the specimens, particularly in the case of low-density specimens. As the loading velocity increased, the specimen exhibited a significant increase in peak strength, demonstrating a notable strain rate effect, however, the energy absorption of the specimen remained relatively stable without significant alterations. In addition, a simplified DIF was proposed to predict the peak strength of FG with varying densities and two distinct GBFS replacement rates under different strain rates. It provided some valuable insights into the potential application of FG in the field of structural protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel acyl chloride monomer 5-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-1,3-benzenedicarbonyl dichloride (PIPC) featuring a rigid pyrrolidinyl group was proposed as an organic phase monomer to fabricate reverse osmosis (RO) membranes possessing exceptional water permeability and NaCl rejection via a two-step interfacial polymerization method. First, m -phenylenediamine (MPD) in the aqueous phase solution polymerized with PIPC in the first organic phase solution to form the much looser polyamide. After that the remaining MPD continued to diffuse to polymerize with trimesoyl chloride in the second organic phase solution to form the denser polyamide. The pyrrolidinyl group had steric hindrance effects and formed hydrogen bond with MPD, leading to decreasing the thickness significantly and increasing surface roughness of the separating layer. When the PIPC amount was 0.08 wt%, the PIPC-based RO membrane displayed optimal permselectivity with water flux increasing by 84.20 % compared to the original RO membrane (from 20.38 L·m−2·h−1 to 37.54 L·m−2·h−1) whereas retaining high NaCl rejection with 98.59 %. The PIPC-based RO membrane exhibited steady water flux and NaCl rejection within 120 h of filtration, as well as improved antifouling performance. Thus, preparation of the highly permeable RO membrane could be rationally achieved by the novel acyl chloride monomer with a rigid pyrrolidinyl group. [Display omitted] • The novel monomer PIPC was used to prepare RO membrane by a two-step IP method. • PIPC influenced the diffusion rate of MPD via hydrogen bonds and steric hindrance. • The PIPC-based membrane presented rougher surface and thinner PA layer. • Permeability of PIPC-based membrane was obviously enhanced without losing NaCl rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate the function and mechanisms of PAR2 in preadipocyte differentiation. This study found that the expression level of PAR2 was increased during 3T3-L1 mouse preadipocyte differentiation towards adipocytes. In addition, PAR2 overexpression significantly stimulated the expression of adipogenic proteins including ACC1, PPARγ, and SREBF1. Moreover, PAR2 overexpression increased the content of triglyceride (TG) in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Knockdown of PAR2 suppressed 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis. Mechanistically, PAR2 promoted 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation and TG production through activation of the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway and MAT2A gene expression. The research sheds light on the adipogenic effects of PAR2 and its underlying mechanisms. Thus, PAR2 may have therapeutic significance for obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to address the problem of low ability of intelligent medical auxiliary diagnosis (IMAD), an IMAD based on improved decision tree is proposed. Firstly, the constraint parameter model of IMAD is constructed. Secondly, according to the physiological indexes of IMAD, the independent variables and dependent variables of auxiliary diagnosis are constructed, the quantitative recurrent analysis of IMAD is carried out by using regression analysis method, the data analysis model of IMAD is constructed, and the adaptive classification and recognition of IMAD are carried out. Finally, the attribute feature quantity of IMAD with pathological characteristics is extracted, and the improved decision tree model is used to realize intelligent medical auxiliary, assist in the optimal decision of diagnosis, and realize the effective classification and recognition of pathological characteristics. The results show that this method has better decision-making ability and better classification performance for IMAD, which improves the intelligence and accuracy of intelligent medical auxiliary diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to address the problem of low ability of intelligent medical auxiliary diagnosis (IMAD), an IMAD based on improved decision tree is proposed. Firstly, the constraint parameter model of IMAD is constructed. Secondly, according to the physiological indexes of IMAD, the independent variables and dependent variables of auxiliary diagnosis are constructed, the quantitative recurrent analysis of IMAD is carried out by using regression analysis method, the data analysis model of IMAD is constructed, and the adaptive classification and recognition of IMAD are carried out. Finally, the attribute feature quantity of IMAD with pathological characteristics is extracted, and the improved decision tree model is used to realize intelligent medical auxiliary, assist in the optimal decision of diagnosis, and realize the effective classification and recognition of pathological characteristics. The results show that this method has better decision-making ability and better classification performance for IMAD, which improves the intelligence and accuracy of intelligent medical auxiliary diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies, and it's expected that the CRC burden will substantially increase in the next two decades. New biomarkers for targeted treatment and associated molecular mechanism of tumorigenesis remain to be explored. In this study, we investigated whether PDCD6 plays an oncogenic role in colorectal cancer and its underlying mechanism. Methods: Programmed cell death protein 6 (PDCD6) expression in CRC samples were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. The prognosis between PDCD6 and clinical features were analyzed. The roles of PDCD6 in cellular proliferation and tumor growth were measured by using CCK8, colony formation, and tumor xenograft in nude mice. RNA-sequence (RNA-seq), Mass Spectrum (MS), Co-Immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and Western blot were utilized to investigate the mechanism of tumor progression. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) were performed to determine the correlation of PDCD6 and MAPK pathway. Results: Higher expression levels of PDCD6 in tumor tissues were associated with a poorer prognosis in patients with CRC. Furthermore, PDCD6 increased cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, RNA-seq showed that PDCD6 could affect the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway. PDCD6 interacted with c-Raf, resulting in the activation of downstream c-Raf/MEK/ERK pathway and the upregulation of core cell proliferation genes such as MYC and JUN. Conclusions: These findings reveal the oncogenic effect of PDCD6 in CRC by activating c-Raf/MEK/ERK pathway and indicate that PDCD6 might be a potential prognostic indicator and therapeutic target for patients with colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All‐inorganic lead halide perovskites are promising candidates for optoelectronic applications. However, fundamental questions remain over the component interaction in the perovskite precursor solution due to the limitation of the most commonly used solvents of N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Here, we report an interaction tailoring strategy for all‐inorganic CsPbI3−xBrx perovskites by involving the ionic liquid solvent methylammonium acetate (MAAc). C=O shows strong interaction with lead (Pb2+) and N−H⋅⋅⋅I hydrogen bond formation is observed. The interactions stabilize the perovskite precursor solution and allow production of the high‐quality perovskite films by retarding the crystallization. Without the necessity for antisolvent treatment, the one‐step air‐processing approach delivers photovoltaic cells regardless of humidity, with a high efficiency of 17.10 % along with long operation stability over 1500 h under continuous light illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All‐inorganic lead halide perovskites are promising candidates for optoelectronic applications. However, fundamental questions remain over the component interaction in the perovskite precursor solution due to the limitation of the most commonly used solvents of N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Here, we report an interaction tailoring strategy for all‐inorganic CsPbI3−xBrx perovskites by involving the ionic liquid solvent methylammonium acetate (MAAc). C=O shows strong interaction with lead (Pb2+) and N−H⋅⋅⋅I hydrogen bond formation is observed. The interactions stabilize the perovskite precursor solution and allow production of the high‐quality perovskite films by retarding the crystallization. Without the necessity for antisolvent treatment, the one‐step air‐processing approach delivers photovoltaic cells regardless of humidity, with a high efficiency of 17.10 % along with long operation stability over 1500 h under continuous light illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work on the cascading failure of networks with dependence groups assumes that the number of nodes in each dependence group is equal. In this paper, we construct a model on interdependent networks with dependence groups against cascading failure. The size of dependence group is supposed to obey the Poisson Distribution and the Truncated Normal Distribution, respectively. By applying the tools of mean-field approximation and the generating function techniques, the cascading model is theoretically analyzed and the theoretical solutions are nearly consistent with the simulation values. Besides, we define three kinds of coupling preferences based on node degree, i.e. assortative coupling, disassortative coupling and random coupling. The connection between layers is no longer one-to-one correspondence of nodes, but fully connection of some groups. In addition, some factors affecting the network robustness are discussed and extensive simulations are realized on two-layer BA networks. The simulation results show that the coupling preference has influence on the network robustness and the network with dependence groups obeying the Truncated Normal Distribution performs better than the Poisson Distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate in vitro activity of the novel β-lactamase boronate inhibitor taniborbactam (VNRX-5133) combined with cefepime or meropenem against 500 urinary Gram-negative bacilli.Methods: Cefepime/taniborbactam and 14 comparators were tested by broth microdilution or agar dilution methods. A total of 450 Enterobacteriaceae and 50 Pseudomonas aeruginosa were selected from 2017 to 2019 based on different β-lactamase-producing or resistance phenotypes. For carbapenem-non-susceptible isolates, the modified carbapenem inactivation method (mCIM), EDTA-CIM (eCIM) and amplification of carbapenemase genes were performed. For NDM-producing isolates and those with cefepime/taniborbactam MICs >8 mg/L, the MICs of meropenem/taniborbactam and/or mutations in PBP3 were investigated.Results: Taniborbactam improved cefepime activity with the same efficiency as avibactam improved ceftazidime activity against 66 KPC-2 producers, 30 non-carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae and 28 meropenem-susceptible P. aeruginosa. However, cefepime/taniborbactam exhibited more potent activity than ceftazidime/avibactam against 56 ESBL-producing, 61 AmpC-producing, 32 ESBL and AmpC co-producing, 87 NDM-producing and 21 MBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae predicted by phenotypic mCIM and eCIM, 82 Enterobacteriaceae that were susceptible to all tested β-lactams and 22 carbapenem-non-susceptible P. aeruginosa. A four-amino acid 'INYR' or 'YRIN' insertion, with or without a one/two-amino acid mutation in PBP3, may have caused cefepime/taniborbactam MICs >8 mg/L among 96.6% (28/29) of the NDM-5-producing Escherichia coli, which accounted for the majority of isolates with cefepime/taniborbactam MICs >8 mg/L (76.1%, 35/46).Conclusions: Taniborbactam's superior breadth of activity, when paired with cefepime or meropenem, suggests these β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations could be promising candidates for treating urinary tract infections caused by ESBL and/or AmpC, KPC or NDM-producing Enterobacteriaceae or P. aeruginosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe3O4 nanoparticles, used as peroxidase mimetics, exhibit splendid future in the biomedical field. However, the functionalization on Fe3O4 nanoparticles always goes with the loss of superparamagnetism and decrease in peroxidase-activity. Here, we synthesized green polyethylene glycol (PEG)-functionalized magnetic/N-trimethyl chitosan (CS) hybrid nanoparticles (Fe3O4@PAA/TMC/PEG NPs) with improved water dispersibility, superparamagnetism, high saturation magnetization and well peroxidase-like activity. The functionalized coating was divided in two steps, one involved a cross-linked PEG/PAA/CS middle layer to protect the nanocrystal Fe3O4 from oxidization, the other was a hydrophilic PEG/TMC outer layer improving the water dispersion, biocompatibility, as well as supplying positive quaternary ammonium groups for a potential increase of cell binding efficiency. The structure, composition and morphology of Fe3O4@PAA/TMC/PEG NPs were characterized by TEM, FT-IR spectroscopy, DLS, zeta potential measurement, respectively. Thermal performance was characterized by TGA, and the peroxidase-like mimics activity was tested by TMB·2HCl colour development experiments. The magnetic property of the as-prepared hybrid nanoparticles was first confirmed by VSM, and then proved by the bacterial pathogens adsorption, especially at ultralow pathogen concentration. Particularly, with an external magnet, the Fe3O4@PAA/TMC/PEG NPs, combined cationic quaternary ammonium groups and peroxidise-mimetic catalytic activity, were tested for antibacterial effect by plating method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the improved genetic algorithm and the BP neural network, the financial data analysis model is built on the basis of the data research problem in the financial industry, especially the stock market economy. Genetic algorithm (GA) is a bionic algorithm that simulates the evolutionary mechanism of "natural selection and survival of the fittest." Through a suitable fitness function, it enables the high-quality individuals to inherit the next generation with a larger probability. Using this method to select variables, we can optimize the variables that affect the stock price and effectively solve the selection problem of the input layer variables of the neural network. On the basis of genetic algorithm, a new GA-BP model based on genetic algorithm and neural network is proposed, and it is applied to the prediction and analysis of securities price or trend in the securities intelligence analysis system. By selecting the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 index data, the model based on genetic algorithm is used to carry out the experiment, and the experimental results show that the method can effectively reduce the number of variables while ensuring the accuracy of the prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new FRET probe has been prepared for ratiometric fluorescence detection of hydroxyl radicals. It has been successfully used for detecting mitochondria-localized drug activation in living cells and imaging endogenous hydroxyl radicals in zebrafish gastrointestinal (GI) tracts under normal culturing conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: The causes of recurrence of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) are sufficiently understood. However, few studies are available evaluating reoperation for recurrence of POP. This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of LeFort colpocleisis for recurrent POP. Methods: We reviewed data from patients with recurrent POP who underwent LerFort colpocleisis at a center between March 2012 and April 2017. Quality of life was assessed using the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory Questionnaire (PFDI-20) scores. The Patient Global Impression of Improvement scale (PGI-I) was used to assess self-perceived success and subjective measures of satisfaction. The Clavien-Dindo classification (CD) was used to assess the safety of the procedure. Chi-square and paired t-tests were used to compare the same patients before and after treatment in the follow-up. Results: Twenty-six patients with recurrent POP after previous prolapse surgery underwent LeFort colpocleisis. Most of these patients had at least one comorbidity. The mean age (years) was 71.8 (7.3). The mean time to recurrent POP was 5.602 (3.643) years. There were no intraoperative bladder lesions or rectal lesions. At mean follow-up of 33.1 months, all patients had no recurrence (< stage 2), significant resolution of awareness of prolapse (P < 0.05), and significantly improved satisfaction on PGI-I after surgery. Minor complications were classified as CD II level in four cases (15.4%). Conclusion: This study suggests that LeFort colpocleisis is feasible and safe for recurrent POP, especially in older women with comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a technique for accelerating coalbed methane (CBM) desorption to increase extraction efficiency using microwaves. Methane desorption experiments with and without real-time microwave loading (ML) were carried out in the laboratory. To avoid high temperatures in the samples, ML was employed via two modes; continuous ML (CML) with low power and discontinuous ML (DML) with high power. The results show that total desorption volumes were increased from 1.87 to 3.26 times under CML and from 1.91 to 4.13 times under DML. The desorption rate using CML decreased smoothly like the rate without ML but the desorption rate was higher. The DML caused the desorption rate to increase rapidly and sharp peaks were evident on its desorption rate graph. For DML, the maximum desorption rate increased by a factor of 10.8. Kinetic analysis indicated that both CML and DML increased the diffusion coefficient and reduced diffusion attenuation. For the same microwave output energy, DML with short-term microwave bursts with high power has a better stimulating effect on methane desorption than CML. That ML significantly enhances methane desorption indicates that ML can greatly improve CBM productivity, and thus it has the potential to become a new CBM stimulation technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capacity of coal to adsorb methane is greatly affected by temperature and, in recent years, temperature-dependent adsorption has been studied by many researchers. Even so, comprehensive conclusions have not been reached and conflicting experimental results are common. This paper reviews the current state of research regarding the temperature-dependent adsorption of methane in coal and catalogs the conclusions from experiments conducted on that subject by 28 researchers, as published between 1995 and 2017. Probability theory and statistics are used to show that the conclusion generally accepted by most researchers is that the amount of methane adsorbed by coal decreases with increasing temperature. It is highly likely that the Langmuir volume decreases as the temperature rises, and it is also probable that the Langmuir pressure increases at higher temperatures. Equations are presented that express the relationships between methane adsorption, Langmuir volume, Langmuir pressure, and temperature. Future research should be directed toward determining the relationship between Langmuir pressure and temperature. The results of the study presented herein provide a theoretical basis for predicting the gas content in coal seams and improving the efficiency of coalbed methane development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solidago canadensis is one of the most destructive invasive plants in the East of China, yet nothing is known about its photosynthetic ability at the molecular level. In order to examine the mechanism aiding invasion from the photosynthetic and molecular perspective, transcriptome sequencing and de novo assembly of S. canadensis and its congener S. decurrens (native, non-invasive species) were compared in a bioassay experiment. Results showed that S. canadensis has higher biomass and net photosynthetic rates than those of the native plant, S. decurrens (P < 0.05). Based on RNA-seq data, the genes which are closely related to light absorption and electron transfer in S. canadensis were observed to be up-regulated compared with those from S. decurrens, including the process of photosystems I and II, such as PsbP, PsbQ, Psb27, PsbW, PsaG, PetE, and light-harvesting complexes (LHCs). The RT-qPCR verification results of key genes were similar to those from transcriptome. Therefore, our results might partly explain the successful invasion of S. canadensis in China at the level of transcriptome, leading to its enhanced photosynthetic capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds and Aims The rhizosphere priming effect (RPE) has been explained from the perspective of microbial responses to root exudates and nutrient availability. This study introduced a chemical process that could also contribute to RPE: root exudates (organic acid ligands) could liberate mineral-protected carbon (C) in soil for microbial degradation. Methods Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) near-isogenic lines varying in citrate efflux were grown for 6 weeks in a C4 soil supplied with either low (10 μg g–1) or high P (40 μg g–1). Total below-ground CO2 was trapped and partitioned for determination of soil organic C decomposition and RPE using a stable isotopic tracing technique. Mineral dissolution was examined by incubating soil with citric ligand at a series of concentrations. Key Results High P increased RPE (81 %), shoot (32 %) and root biomass (57 %), root-derived CO2-C (20 %), microbial biomass C (28 %) and N (100%), soil respiration (20 %) and concentrations of water-extractable P (30 %), Fe (43 %) and Al (190 %), but decreased inorganic N in the rhizosphere. Compared with Egret-Burke, wheat line Egret-Burke TaMATE1B with citrate efflux had lower inorganic N, microbial biomass C (16 %) and N (30 %) in the rhizosphere but greater RPE (18 %), shoot biomass (12 %) and root-derived CO2-C (low P 36 %, high P 13 %). Egret-Burke TaMATE1B also had higher concentrations of water-extractable P, Fe and Al in the rhizosphere, indicating the release of mineral-protected C. In addition, citrate ligand facilitated Fe and Al release from soil, with their concentrations rising with increasing ligand concentration and incubation time. Conclusions While high P supply increased microbial growth and RPE possibly due to higher total root exudation, citrate efflux from the root might have facilitated the liberation of mineral-bound C, leading to the higher RPE under Egret-Burke TaMATE1B. Mineral dissolution may be an important process that regulates RPE and should be considered in future RPE research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deep-placement of nutrient-rich organic amendments in poorly-structured subsoils can improve subsoil structure and increase grain yields, but its widespread adoption by farmers is limited by the availability and cost of animal manures, the current choice of amendment. Three glasshouse experiments investigated the effectiveness of dried field pea (Pisum sativum L.) shoots (green chop), as green manure, on wheat growth in three subsoils with contrasting soil chemical and physical properties. The growth of wheat plants was greatly suppressed when the green chop was placed in Sodosol and Chromosol subsoils. In contrast, there was a twofold increase in shoot biomass in response to the addition of green chop to Vertosol. Three allelopathic compounds, pisatin, anhydropisatin, and maackian, were identified at higher concentrations in the extracts of remaining green chop residues in the Sodosol and Chromosol, compared to the Vertosol, directly supporting phytotoxicity as the cause of observed inhibitory effects of green chop in these soils. The persistence of the phytotoxicity in the Sodosol might be attributed to its poor aeration caused by poor structure or compaction. Nevertheless, pre-incubation led to microbial decomposition of the allelochemicals in the Sodosol, though at a much slower rate than in the Vertosol. Further studies are needed to determine the time period required for the disappearance of the phytotoxic effects in soils with different physico-chemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rugose corals described in this study were collected from the Gyanyima section in the Ngari region of southwestern Tibet (Xizang) and are assigned to three genera and 11 species, including a new genus and seven new species: Waagenophyllum (Waagenophyllum) ngariense He, 1990; W. (W.) elegantulum He in Luo et al., 1989; W. (W.) minutum Zhao, 1981; W. (W.) tachtabulasicum Ilyina, 1997; W. (W.) gyanyimaense n. sp., W. (W.) intermedium n. sp., Waagenophyllum (Liangshanophyllum) clisicolumellum n. sp., Ipciphyllum naoticum n. sp., I. floricolumellum n. sp., I. zandaense n. sp., and Gyanyimaphyllum crassiseptatum n. gen. n. sp. Ontogeny and intraspecific variation are given special attention when describing and discussing these taxa. Coral reefs, with Waagenophyllum as the major skeletal reef builder, occur in several horizons in the uppermost part of the section. The accompanying foraminifers indicate the rugose coral fauna is a late Permian Changhsingian age. Therefore, this is possibly one of the latest Permian rugose coral reefs in the world known up to now. UUID: http://zoobank.org/b9e621cb-197d-4208-8267-14d62f382a1b [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the performance of Beijing Climate Center's Climate System Model (BCC_CSM) is analysed in terms of China summer rainfall prediction, especially its capability to reproduce the spatial structure and temporal variation of the leading modes of empirical orthogonal function decomposition. Results show that the BCC_CSM has predictability for the summer mean rainfall pattern, namely, reproducing more rainfall in South China and maritime area, and less rainfall in North China and inland area. The model can reproduce the spatial pattern of the first two leading modes of observed summer rainfall; however, it fails to show correct interannual variability of the first two principle components, which may lead to a low skill in summer rainfall anomaly prediction over most parts of China. The leading mode‐based correction (LMC) method is then applied for the post processing procedure to correct prediction errors. Cross validation confirms that the LMC method can integrate the historical spatial pattern information of observed summer rainfall with the original model prediction, making the corrected model output better reflect spatial structure of the leading modes and their interannual variation. Compared with the original model output, the positive temporal correlation coefficient area for the corrected China summer rainfall anomalies is thus increased, and the average spatial correlation coefficient during 1991–2015 is improved from −0.01 before the correction to 0.17. The LMC method shows its potential for improving the prediction skill of BCC_CSM, which can be used in operational prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This meta-analysis provided stronger evidence that women with PCOS undergoing IVF are at increased risk of adverse clinical outcomes. • Sufficient studies make it possible to explore the heterogeneity sources using subgroup analyses • Larger number of included studies enhanced the statistical power for rare adverse outcomes This meta-analysis aimed to study whether pregnancy-related outcomes and complications differed between patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and those with other causes of infertility who had undergone IVF. A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library and Chinese databases was carried out to identify relevant studies published before July 2018. Outcomes were expressed as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were also conducted. Twenty-nine studies were identified for inclusion. Women with PCOS had higher risks of miscarriage (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.04–1.91), ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OR 4.96, 95% CI 3.73–6.60), gestational diabetes mellitus (OR 2.67, 95% CI 1.43–4.98), pregnancy-induced hypertension (OR 2.06, 95% CI 1.45–2.91), preterm birth (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.25–2.04) and large-for-gestational-age babies (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.01–4.37). Women with PCOS showed similar rates of clinical pregnancy, multiple pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, small for gestational age and congenital malformations, and a higher live birth rate, compared with women without PCOS. This study provides an update on and comprehensive evidence to support the observation that despite the fact that PCOS patients achieve a better live birth rate, physicians should continue to consider them to be at high risk of adverse pregnancy-related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The addition of fresh substrates can alter the decomposition of the native soil organic matter, referred to as the priming effect (PE). It is a crucial process within the cycling of soil organic carbon (C) and believed to be regulated by nitrogen (N) input. However, the direction and magnitude of this N effect on the PE are complex due to the involvement of various factors following N addition into the soil. This review synthesizes the key factors driving the responses of the PE to N addition from the perspective of C-substrate quantity and quality, N addition rates and forms, soil properties including organic C stability, N availability, electrical conductivity, pH and pH buffer capacity. The temporal change in the N effect on the PE is also discussed. In studies observing a suppressive effect of N addition on the PE, the role of N addition in directly suppressing microbial community metabolism (e.g., osmotic stress and low pH) has been largely ignored. We propose the application of multi-omics techniques to examine the relationship between microbial functional traits and soil C cycling through the PE and its response to N addition, as well as the application of spatial omics and imaging techniques in exploring the connection between in-situ soil C distribution and the PE and its response to N addition. Such studies can potentially elucidate how elevated atmospheric CO2 may affect the PE and thus soil C stock via increasing plant C input and regulating nutrients sources for plant uptake under N inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the impact of vacuum (VC) and ultrasound (US) treatments during osmotic hydration (OD) at 25 °C on the impregnation of calcium into apple tissues. The VC and US treatments were applied in two modes: a) VC or US at the first 10 min of the OD process and b) treatment with 10-min intervals during OD. Under the experimental conditions used in this study, the results revealed that the interval ultrasound treatment was the most effective in enhancing mass transfer and calcium uptake among all the treatments. It exhibited the highest efficiency in moisture removal and calcium uptake, resulting in a calcium content of 3,644.19 μg/g dry basis, over 18 times higher than that found in fresh apples. The calcium content in OD-treated apple slices remained well-preserved after hot air finish drying. Additionally, the samples treated with VC and US exhibited high total phenol content and antioxidant capacity, suggesting their ability to retain bioactive compounds in the apple slices. Overall, this study highlights the efficacy of VC and US treatments during OD in promoting calcium impregnation into apple tissues, with the interval ultrasound treatment yielding the most favorable results in terms of calcium uptake, moisture removal, and nutrient preservation. • Osmotic dehydration (OD) is an effective method for calcium fortification of apples. • Pulse ultrasound in OD was the most effective in enhancing calcium content in apples. • Calcium content in OD-treated apple slices was well-preserved after hot air drying. • OD apple slices have exhibited high total phenol content and antioxidant capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To dissipate a large amount of blast energy as well as realize a reasonable load transfer to the beam and column instead of the vulnerable wall in the frame structure, this study employs a novel double-layered system to protect the infilled vulnerable masonry wall to resist blast loads. The system comprises a sacrificial cladding directly exposed to the blast to dissipate energy and connectors to facilitate load transfer and mitigation. Based on the quasi-static compressive test on the connector, the field blast test on the sacrificial cladding and frame structure with an infilled masonry wall, their respective numerical models are established and validated with ANSYS/LS-DYNA, which facilitates the model establishment of the frame structure protected by the double-layered system subjected to blast load. The numerical results indicate that the system effectively mitigates the damage to the masonry wall and reduces the load transferred to the frame compared to that without protection. However, large bending deformation of the sacrificial cladding may still result in collision damage to the vulnerable wall which makes it difficult to be applied in engineering practice. To improve the protective performance of the double-layered system and reduce the possibility of the occurrence of a collision between the sacrificial cladding and the wall, several measures, including connector layout optimization, rear plate strengthening with stiffeners, and appropriate connector height determination have been proposed. The numerical results demonstrate that installing connectors at four edges, adding 5 × 5 stiffeners on the rear surface of the sacrificial cladding, and appropriately designing the height of the connector can significantly enhance the double-layered system's protective performance, which has practical significance in protecting vulnerable masonry wall in frame structure from blast loads. • A double-layered system is employed to protect masonry wall subjected to blast. • The system with merits of energy dissipation and reasonable load transfer. • The system with connector at four edges is superior to that at opposite edges. • Adding stiffeners can improve the protective performance of double-layered system. • Height of the connector affects allowable and maximum deformation of cladding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, CoSe 2 /NC composites with stable dodecahedral structures were prepared by a simple one-step carbonization-selenization method using ZIF-67 as the precursor, and the effect of annealing time on their morphology and properties was investigated. SEM and TEM characterization results showed that the material with an annealing time of 1 h had the most stable framework structure and complete selenization. Under a three-electrode system with 2.0 M KOH as the electrolyte, CoSe 2 /NC-1 possesses a high capacity of 554.4F/g at 1 A/g and excellent cycling stability (92% capacity retention after 21,000 cycles). In addition, a flexible solid-state supercapacitor was assembled with CoSe 2 /NC-1 as the positive electrode and AC as the negative electrode. The power density was 800 W/Kg at 1 A/g, and the cycling stability was tested at 91.53% after 6000 cycles at 2 A/g. The flexible solid-state supercapacitors were tested for suppleness, and their voltage could still reach 1.6 V with stable specific capacity and light up LED bulbs when measured at 0°, 90° and 180°. Undoubtedly, the CoSe 2 /NC-1 material prepared in this study exhibits promising electrochemical characteristics, making it a viable candidate for implementation in flexible solid-state supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern intelligent power grid provides an efficient way of managing energy supply and consumption while facing numerous security threats at the same time. Both natural and man-made events can cause power system disturbance. Therefore, it is important for operators to identify the specific causes and types of disturbance in the power system to make decisions and respond appropriately. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes an attack detection model for power system based on machine learning that can be trained by using information and logs collected by phasor measurement units (PMUs). We carry out feature construction engineering, and then send the data to different machine learning models, in which random forest is chosen as the basic classifier of AdaBoost. The model is evaluated using open-source simulated power system data, which consists of 37 power system event scenarios. Finally, we compare the proposed model with other models by using different evaluation metrics. As the experimental results demonstrate that this model can achieve accuracy rate of 93.91% and detection rate of 93.6%, higher than eight recently developed techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stanozolol (STAN) is an androgenic and anabolic steroid medication used for the treatment of anemia, osteoporosis, and hereditary angioedema. This weakly basic compound possesses two energy-equivalent tautomers. These tautomeric forms and neutral/cationic states of STAN allow the presence of diverse intermolecular interactions in its crystalline complexes. Two salts and five cocrystals of STAN have been reported with acidic guest molecules. Here, five novel crystalline complexes of STAN with benzoic acid derivatives, 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DBA), 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHA), 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid (PHA), and gallic acid (GA), were successfully prepared. The molecular states of STAN and supramolecular synthons in these solid forms were disclosed via the solved single crystal structures and the 13C solid state NMR spectra. Additionally, all the new anhydrous crystalline phases demonstrated favourable thermal stability and physical stability against hydration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]