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The work zone on the urban road network will affect the surrounding road traffic. To represent the influence area of the work zone, the concept of a subnetwork is proposed in this paper. Delineating a suitable subnetwork quantitatively is a challenging problem. To address this issue, the node synthesized indexes (NSI) are deployed as a variability measure that captures both the change of link flow and origin-destination (OD) demand. The inertia-based stochastic user equilibrium with the elastic demand (ISUEED) model is proposed to accurately provide the data of link flow and OD demand for the network with the work zone. Correspondingly, the data of the network without a work zone can be obtained by the stochastic user equilibrium (SUE) model. According to the value of NSI, the initial range of the subnetwork is determined. Finally, the connectivity and compactness can be guaranteed by the modified L-shell algorithm. To demonstrate the performance of the method, two case studies and sensitivity analyses are conducted based on the Braess network and the local road network in Changchun, China. The proposed method is beneficial to reduce the complexity of the traffic model by substituting the entire network with a subnetwork., Author(s): Guanfeng Wang [1]; Hongfei Jia (corresponding author) [1]; Jingjing Tian [1]; Yu Lin [2]; Ruiyi Wu [1]; Zhendong Liu [1]; Heyao Gao [1] 1. Introduction The long-term presence of [...]

Background and Aims: Sarcopenia is associated with poor prognosis, but its role in older patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the impact of sarcopenia on the prognosis of older patients with ICC undergoing hepatectomy. Methods: A total of 363 patients with ICC following hepatectomy from 2015 to 2021 were retrospectively reviewed at five institutions. Sarcopenia was evaluated using skeletal muscle index by computed tomography images. Patients were divided into four subgroups according to sarcopenia and age. Postoperative outcomes including complication, overall survival (OS) and recurrence‐free survival (RFS) were evaluated. Risk factors were identified through univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Results: 302 patients were included in the analysis. The median age was 63 years and there were 128 patients (42.4%) aged over 65 years. 192 patients (63.6%) were diagnosed with sarcopenia, while 180 patients (59.6%) experienced myosteatosis. Older patients experienced a higher incidence of sarcopenia and myosteatosis, and worse postoperative outcomes than younger patients. In the subgroup of patients with sarcopenia, older patients experienced a significant shorter OS than younger patients, which was not observed in patients without sarcopenia. According to the multivariate Cox regression analysis, lymphatic metastasis (p <.001), blood transfusion (p =.004), low serum albumin (p =.051), sarcopenia (p =.024), and myosteatosis (p =.004) were identified as independent risk factors of OS in older patients, meanwhile tumour size (p =.013) and lymphatic metastasis (p <.001) were independent risk factors of RFS. Conclusions: Sarcopenia and myosteatosis have a significant adverse impact on postoperative outcomes in older patients with ICC undergoing hepatectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entertainment venues in China are associated with risky sexual behavior. Most previous studies related to entertainment venues in China have focused on sex workers and commercial sex, but this study addressed sexual health in a sample of the general urban population. A randomly selected sample of market vendors (n = 4,510) from an eastern city was recruited and assessed to examine relationships between entertainment venue visits and sexual risk. Both behavioral (self-reports of unprotected sex) and biomedical (STD test results) measures were used. About 18% of the sample (26.8% of men and 9% of women) reported visiting entertainment venues in the past 30 days. Those who visited entertainment venues were more likely to be male, younger, single, with higher education, and to have more discretionary income. For both men and women, visiting entertainment venues was a significant predictor for unprotected sex and STD infection. Gender differences were observed in predicting unprotected sex and STD infections. Entertainment venues could be potential sites for place-based intervention programs and outreach for the general population.

Soil pollution caused by the residual polyethylene film is a potential threat to agricultural sustainability. Biodegradable films are generally effective alternatives to reduce this pollution. However, soil quality changes responding to continuous biodegradable film mulch are still unclear. To reveal the accumulative effects of biodegradable film mulch on soil quality, we conducted a positioning experiment from 2016 to 2019 in North China Plain (NCP). Four treatments, including transparent polyethylene film mulching (PM), transparent biodegradable film mulching (TM), black biodegradable film mulching (BM), and non-mulching (CK) were employed. The results showed that compared with CK, both BM and TM treatments significantly reduced soil bulk density and increased soil microbial activity and soil enzyme activity; however, BM and TM did not affect soil nutrient content. Compared with CK, BM treatment significantly increased soil quality index (SQI) by 7.2% (in 2019) due to higher soil fertility content and bioactivity; however, TM and PM treatments decreased SQI by 3.2% and 3.8%, respectively. Besides, compared with CK, BM significantly enhanced summer maize grain yield by 30.35%. Therefore, black biodegradable film is a potential alternative to polyethylene film to improve soil quality and maize production in NCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrahigh hydrogen evolution from photocatalytic water splitting using CaTiO3 is difficult due to its low photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. Herein, a facile post-loading strategy was developed for preparing a RuS2@CaTiO3-x heterojunction by anchoring RuS2 on a multi-shelled hollow cube of CaTiO3, which successfully achieved ultrahigh hydrogen evolution through water splitting with the assistance of a photocatalytic biorefinery. After RuS2 anchoring, the utilization of visible light and the separation/migration rate of photo-generated carriers of RuS2@CaTiO3-x enhanced significantly, resulting in a high photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. Correspondingly, the hydrogen evolution rate reached 8140.7 μmol g−1 h−1 in the RuS2@CaTiO3-10 system with the assistance of the photocatalytic selective oxidation of biomass-derived monosaccharides, and it was 45.5- and 4.2-fold greater than those of pristine CaTiO3 and RuS2, respectively. Furthermore, 89.0% yield of lactic acid was obtained in the corresponding system. Electron spin-resonance (ESR) characterization combined with radical capture experiments indicated that ˙OH played a significant role in lactic acid production. Moreover, RuS2@CaTiO3-10 not only exhibits excellent reusability and stability, but also has been successfully used for different biomass-based monosaccharide reforming coupled with water-splitting to co-produce lactic acid and hydrogen. This work sheds light on the development and design of photocatalytic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In winter, some freight trains with composite brake blocks experience unexpected long braking distances, which seriously jeopardizes running safety. The reasons for the long braking distances are still not completely understood, and therefore it is difficult to suggest preventive measures. Up to now, it has not really been studied how a layer of ice that is often found between the brake block and the wheel influences the braking process. To investigate whether ice influences the braking distance, a numerical model is built. Ice thickness, ambient temperature, initial speed, and axle load/brake pressure are parameters that can be varied in the model. Results are checked against available on-track tests. The simulation results show that ice significantly influences the braking distance. The impact of ice on the braking distance increases when the ambient temperature, initial speed, and brake pressure are low, which is consistent with available field test reports. The results also show that a conditioning brake, a high brake pressure and a small clearance between the wheel and brake block can efficiently reduce the impact of ice on the braking distance of freight trains with composite brake blocks in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]