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Excess minority carriers create boron-related recombination centers that degrade the efficiency of the non-particle-irradiated silicon solar cells. However, the carrier-induced reactions among the radiation-induced defects are poorly understood for devices exposed to particle radiation. This study investigates the structure, electronic properties, formation and annihilation mechanisms, and diffusion dynamics of the carrier-induced defects in particle-irradiated boron-doped silicon using density-functional modeling and junction spectroscopy. By revisiting the ground-state structures of the boron-di-interstitial clusters (B I 2), we find that the calculated acceptor and donor levels of such defects agree well quantitatively with the carrier-induced deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) hole emission signatures at 0.43 and 0.53 eV above the valence band edge (E v), respectively. We also find that the formation of B I 2 is thermally activated by an energy of 0.50 eV, which we explain theoretically by the reduction of the migration barrier of mono-interstitials to 0.53 eV in the presence of excess minority carriers. Moreover, we discover that the B I 2 are potentially mobile with a migration barrier of 1.18 eV, contrary to the present understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveMethodResultsConclusionsTo assess the efficacy and safety of iguratimod in adult patients with active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial lasted for 28 weeks. Patients with axSpA were randomized 1:1 to receive iguratimod 25 mg twice daily or a placebo. All patients also took celecoxib 200 mg twice daily for the first 4 weeks and on demand from 4 to 28 weeks. The primary endpoints were ASAS20 at 4 weeks and the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) index at 28 weeks. Other assessment variables included ASAS40, ASAS5/6 response rates, Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) scores, and adverse events.In total, 35 patients completed the study and were included for analyses. The median (interquartile range) NSAID index was 43.8 (34.9–51.8) in the iguratimod group, which is significantly lower than 68.9 (42.5–86.4) in the placebo group (p = 0.025). ASAS response rates and changes in disease activity scores were similar between the iguratimod and placebo groups. Patients in the iguratimod group had more improvement in median (interquartile range) SPARCC scores for sacroiliac joints than did those in the placebo group [71% (54–100%) vs 40% (0–52%), p = 0.006]. Iguratimod combined with celecoxib was not associated with a greater risk of adverse effects than was monotherapy with celecoxib. No severe adverse events occurred.In the treatment of active axSpA, iguratimod has a potential NSAID-sparing effect, and may also reduce magnetic resonance imaging-assessed bone marrow oedema in sacroiliac joints. Iguratimod provides an additional treatment option for patients with active axSpA.Clinical trial registration numberChiCTR2000029112, Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (http://www.chictr.org.cn) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The objective of this study was to investigate the protective effects of a peptidoglycan produced by Limosilactobacillus reuteri against aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) induced toxicity in vitro and in vivo in broiler chicks. 2. Toxin adsorption experiments were carried out firstly in vitro. These experiments indicated that the absorption efficiency of the peptidoglycan for AFB1 was 64.3–75.9%. 3. In the in vivo experiments, Hy-Line Brown chicks were fed a diet containing AFB1 at 71.43 µg/kg with and without peptidoglycan supplementation at concentrations of 100, 200, or 300 g/kg feed from 0–42 d of age. 4. The peptidoglycan supplementation in AFB1-contaminated diets resulted in significant improvements in terms of average daily gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, white blood cell count, haemoglobin content, glutathione peroxidase activity, immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgG, IgM and Newcastle disease virus antibody titres (p < 0.05) and diminished liver steatosis. 5. In conclusion, peptidoglycan supplementation alleviated AFB1-induced toxicity through adsorbing toxins and improving growth performance, antioxidant ability, immunity and liver pathological changes in chicks. The optimal supplemental dose was 200 mg/kg in feed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scanning near-field optical microscopy is one of the most effective techniques for spectroscopy of nanoscale systems. However, inferring optical constants from the measured near-field signal can be challenging because of a complicated and highly nonlinear interaction between the scanned probe and the sample. Conventional fitting methods applied to this problem often suffer from the lack of convergence or require human intervention. Here, we develop an alternative approach where the optical parameter extraction is automated by a deep learning network. The network provides an initial estimate that is subsequently refined by a traditional fitting algorithm. We show that this method demonstrates superior accuracy, stability against noise, and computational speed when applied to simulated near-field spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of soyhulls with different particle sizes on the growth performance, blood indices and gut microbiota of yellow feather broilers. 2. Total of 240 healthy, one-day-old, yellow feather broilers were randomly divided into four groups, with six pen replicates within each group and ten birds per pen. The control group birds were fed the basal diet (Control). For the treatment groups, 5% soyhulls with different particle sizes were included in the basal diet. The particle size geometric mean diameters (dgw) of the soyhulls in the three treatment groups were 299.69 μm (LowPS), 489.85 μm (MediumPS) and 734.83 μm (HighPS) with geometric standard deviation (Sgw) 1.75 μm, 1.62 μm and 1.67 μm, respectively. 3. Results showed that the growth performance variables and organ indices were not different among the four groups. The MediumPS group had increased TG, T-CHO, ALT, HDL-C, and GSH-PX levels and decreased T-AOC levels, whereas LowPS and HighPS groups had increased HDL-C and GSH-PX levels (p < 0.05). Microbial diversity analysis showed that the intestinal microbiota of yellow feather broilers mainly included Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Inclusion of 5% soyhulls with different particle size had no effect on alpha diversity indices of caecal microbiota. The HighPS group had significantly higher relative abundance of Firmicutes spp. and lower Bacteroidetes spp. compared with the LowPS and MediumPS group but this was not different from the Control group. The relative abundance of Cyanobacteria spp. was significantly higher in the HighPS group than the other three groups. LEfSe analysis showed that there were more enriched biomarker taxa in the groups with soyhulls than the control group. 4. Overall, the inclusion of soyhulls with different particle sizes had limited effects on growth performance, blood indices and caecal microbiota composition of yellow feather broilers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the electronic and luminescent properties of β-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.42) thin films grown on (0001) sapphire using laser-MBE, with a focus on the evolution of defect energy levels and their impact on surface Fermi level pinning and luminescence. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and cathodoluminescence (CL) have been employed to analyze surface band bending and defect evolution as a function of aluminum content. The results have revealed a pinned Fermi level at 3.6 eV above the valence band maximum despite the increase in the bandgap. The consequent upward band bending has been confirmed by a peak shift in the core level XPS. The defects that lead to the Fermi level pinning effect are attributed to E2*, which is related to a Ga vacancy or Ga vacancy-O vacancy complex. In addition, CL spectroscopy and depth-resolved CL have demonstrated consistent blue and ultraviolet emissions across the Al content range and a similar suppression of electron concentration on blue and ultraviolet emissions in β-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 and β-Ga2O3. Based on the observed evolution of defects with Al content, the blue band emission is attributed to electron transition in the donor–accepter pair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic engineering is commonly used to improve the agronomic traits of crops. However, genetic transformation in pumpkin remains a challenge. Conducting transformation trials, we accidentally created transgenic L1 periclinal chimeras in pumpkins.Using our modified Agrobacterium‐mediated transformation, we generated transgenic L1 periclinal chimeras which have high value in research on development of the meristem.Fluorescence observations of transformed L1 cells enabled us to reveal cell fates. These L1 cells can develop into stomata, epidermal hairs, seed coat, and epidermis of the root, stem, leaf, flower, and fruit. These periclinal chimeras can be propagated vegetatively with minimal risk of transgene flow.This study offers new perspectives on development of the meristem and a promising technique for creating transgenic periclinal chimeras in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodontitis and hepatitis virus infection significantly impact individuals' well-being and are prevalent public health concerns globally. Given the current scarcity of large-scale cross-sectional epidemiological studies, this study seeks to enrich the evidence base by examining the link between these two conditions. A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning the years 2003–2018. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between periodontitis and hepatitis virus infection, adjusting for the potential confounding factors. Subsequently, a stratified analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between periodontitis and hepatitis virus infection based on age, gender, race, marital status, alcohol consumption, smoking status, and the presence of chronic diseases. In this study, which included 5755 participants, there was a positive association between hepatitis virus infection and periodontitis (odds ratio [OR]: 2.609 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.513, 4.499]). Furthermore, a significant association was observed between moderate periodontitis and hepatitis virus infection (OR: 2.136 [95% CI: 1.194, 3.822]), and this association was even stronger for severe periodontitis (OR: 3.583 [95% CI: 1.779, 7.217]). Importantly, this positive association between hepatitis virus infection and periodontitis was consistent across different subgroups. This study presents evidence of a significant association between periodontitis and hepatitis virus infection. These findings highlight the crucial importance of integrating periodontal health and liver health considerations into public health interventions. Further research is necessary to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and develop targeted interventions for effectively managing periodontitis and hepatitis virus infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National-level data on the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in different regions of China is insufficient. This study aimed to compare ROP incidences and care practices in different regions of China and their relationship with regional gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Retrospective cohort study. All infants born at <32 weeks gestational age (GA) and admitted to 70 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020, were enrolled. Hospitals were categorised into three regional groups according to geographical locations and GDP per capita from high to low: Eastern, Central, and Western China. The incidence of death or ROP, and care practices were compared among the groups. A total of 18,579 infants were enrolled. Median GA was 29.9 (interquartile range 28.4–31.0) weeks and birth weight was 1318.1 (317.2) g. The percentage of GA <28 weeks, complete administration of antenatal steroids, and weight gain velocity during NICU stay were highest in Eastern China and lowest in Western China (all P < 0.01). In Eastern, Central, and Western China, the rates of death or any stage of ROP were 33.3%, 38.5%, and 39.2%, respectively (P < 0.01). There were considerable regional disparities in ROP incidence in preterm infants with GA <32 weeks in China. The incidence of death or ROP ranged from high to low in Western, Central, and Eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian re-identification aims to retrieve pedestrians across various cameras and scenes. However, the accuracy of re-identification is often affected by factors such as low-quality images of pedestrians and environmental conditions. Consequently, it is crucial for machine learning models to learn features from multiple dimensions. In response to these challenges, this paper proposes a Multi-Dimensional Attention Feature Fusion (MDAFF) method for pedestrian re-identification based on the NFormer approach. This method enables the model to learn and fuse pedestrian features from multiple dimensions, enriching the expressive power of the feature maps and improving the discrimination among pedestrians. By incorporating a PA module into the ResNeXt network for feature extraction, the model enhances its global perception and integrates pedestrian position information into the feature maps. This increases the model's sensitivity to pedestrian positions and reduces the impact of noise on re-identification accuracy. Furthermore, the method extracts channel and spatial correlations from the fused position feature maps and performs feature fusion, facilitating the fusion of multi-dimensional attention features. This alleviates the influence of varying scenarios and poses on re-identification, thereby enhancing the model's performance. Compared to the Res50+NFormer method, which directly models the relationships among different pedestrians after feature extraction, MDAFF integrates multi-dimensional features into the feature maps, improving the model's expressive power and capturing the relationships among different pedestrians more effectively. The proposed MDAFF method achieves a 1.3% increase in mAP and a 1.9% increase in Rank-1 on the Market1501 dataset, as well as a 1.7% increase in mAP and a 0.5% increase in Rank-1 on the DukeMTMC-reID dataset. Therefore, the MDAFF method effectively improves the accuracy of pedestrian re-identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the acoustic signal of the underwater explosion was taken as the main research object, and the mechanical and acoustic characteristics of the underwater explosion were studied by combining theoretical research with simulation, the propagation law of shock wave and the acoustic characteristics of explosion signal with different explosion depth and charge were obtained. The results show that the underwater explosion has strong acoustic power, high sound pressure level, wide frequency coverage of explosion acoustic signal. In low frequency band, the acoustic power level decays rapidly with the increase of frequency, and its acoustic energy is very high; in higher frequency band, the acoustic power level decays slowly, and its sound energy is relatively low; bubble pulsation has a great influence on the energy distribution of acoustic power level, and the more bubble pulsation times, the greater the proportion of low-frequency energy. The research results of this article can provide a theoretical basis for the research of fuze anti-interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low- behavior of the linearly polarized gluon density in nuclei is studied in the rescaling model at small transverse momentum . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to create an enhanced EPIRISK tool in order to correctly predict COVID-19 severity in various countries. The original EPIRISK tool was developed in 2018 to predict the epidemic risk and prioritise response. The tool was validated against nine historical outbreaks prior to 2020. However, it rated many high-income countries that had poor performance during the COVID-19 pandemic as having lower epidemic risk. This study was designed to modify EPIRISK by reparameterizing risk factors and validate the enhanced tool against different outbreaks, including COVID-19. We identified three factors that could be indicators of poor performance witnessed in some high-income countries: leadership, culture and universal health coverage. By adding these parameters to EPIRISK, we created a series of models for the calibration and validation. These were tested against non-COVID outbreaks in nine countries and COVID-19 outbreaks in seven countries to identify the best-fit model. The COVID-19 severity was determined by the global incidence and mortality, which were equally divided into four levels. The enhanced EPIRISK tool has 17 parameters, including seven disease-related and 10 country-related factors, with an algorithm developed for risk level classification. It correctly predicted the risk levels of COVID-19 for all seven countries and all nine historical outbreaks. The enhanced EPIRSIK is a multifactorial tool that can be widely used in global infectious disease outbreaks for rapid epidemic risk analysis, assisting first responders, government and public health professionals with early epidemic preparedness and prioritising response to infectious disease outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to provide new insights into the mitogenomic data of the intertidal coastal ecosystem species Capitulum mitella from China. The mitochondrial genome of C. mitella was sequenced and compared with other available sequences in the NCBI database to improve the current knowledge of its basic genomics data for future phylogenetic studies. The complete mitogenome of C. mitella from China was 14 915 bp long and encoded 37 genes, including 13 PCGs, two rRNAs, 22 tRNAs, and a control region. A detailed comparison was made with the five available complete mitogenomes of C. mitella. Phylogenetic analyses based on neighbor-joining (NJ) trees were carried out, with 12 species from five families chosen. The results showed that all C. mitella was in the same clade. Additionally, sliding window analyses estimated the sequence diversity for each independent PCG, and genetic distances based on the whole genome were estimated. The research presented here provides essential genomic data for the species of C. mitella and can help future investigations on its phylogenetic history and evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate that large apparent converse flexoelectric properties can be obtained in piezoelectric composites using theoretical approaches. To do so, we first present a numerical homogenization method accounting for all electromechanical terms related to strain and the electric field gradient. We then evaluate the coefficients of the model by numerical simulations on periodic piezoelectric composites. After combining the homogenization approach with topology optimization to enhance the converse properties of the composite, we present numerical results that reveal that the apparent converse flexoelectric coefficients, as well as those associated with the higher order coupling terms involving the electric field gradient, are of the same order as the direct flexoelectric properties of the local constituents. These results suggest that both converse and higher order electromechanical coupling effects may contribute strongly to the flexoelectric response and properties of piezoelectric composites. Finally, we show that it is theoretically possible to obtain optimized designs of composites with apparent converse flexoelectric properties 1–2 orders of magnitude larger than ones obtained with naïve guess designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ICH E9(R1) introduces the estimand framework to strengthen dialogues between sponsors and regulators during drug development. A well-structured benefit-risk assessment (BRA) framework also intends to facilitate communication among stakeholders. However, the estimand in ICH E9(R1) is written mainly from the perspective of a single measure of treatment effect in clinical trials. There is lack of systematic discussion on estimand in the context of BRA. This paper initiates the BRA discussion under the estimand framework. By identifying two types of BRA approaches, we summarize and discuss completed clinical trials, using the estimand language for BRA. Benefits and challenges of using estimand for BRA are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the total risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) using risk prediction models represents a huge improvement in identifying and treating each of the risk factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the China-PAR (Prediction of atherosclerotic CVD risk in China) and Framingham risk score (FRS) in predicting the 10-year risk of CVD in Chinese hypertensive patients. The results of the study can be used to design health promotion strategies. A large cohort study was used to assess the validity of models by comparing model predictions with actual incidence rates. In total, 10,498 hypertensive patients aged 30–70 years in Jiangsu Province, China, participated in the baseline survey that took place between January and December 2010 and were followed up to May 2020. China-PAR and FRS were used to calculate the predicted 10-year risk of CVD. The 10-year observed incidence of new cardiovascular events was adjusted by the Kaplan–Meier method. The ratio of the predicted risk to the actual incidence was calculated to evaluate the effectiveness of the model. The discrimination Harrell's C statistics and calibration Chi-square value were used to evaluate the predictive reliability of the models. Of the 10,498 participants, 4411 (42.02%) were male. During the mean follow-up of 8.30 ± 1.45 years, a total of 693 new cardiovascular events occurred. Both models overestimated the risk of morbidity to varying degrees, and the FRS overestimated to a greater extent. After adjustment for covariates, the results of Cox proportional hazards regression showed that the risk of CVD in the high-risk group was higher than in low-risk group. The degree of discrimination in both models was approximately 0.6, which showed that discrimination was not ideal in the models. In addition, Chi-square calibrations of the two models were <20 in males, which showed that calibration of the models was better for men than women. The China-PAR and FRS models overestimated the risk of CVD for participants in this study. In addition, the degree of discrimination was not ideal, and both models performed better in males than in females in terms of calibration. The results of this study suggest that a more suitable risk prediction model should be established according to the characteristics of the hypertensive population in Jiangsu Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Off-flavor is one of the limiting factors in the quality and commercial acceptability of evening primrose oil (EPO). The results of this study demonstrated that ultraviolet light irradiated with titanium dioxide (UV/TiO2) was able to effectively reduce odorous aldehyde concentrations, which would produce undesired flavors. Specifically, reductions in the E-2-Decenal, 1-octen-3-ol and hexanoic acid in EPO reached 50, 75.2 and 61.4% after a UV/TiO2 process of 5 min, respectively. The odor active values (OAV) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) showed that the result of the 5 min group was similar to that of the original oil. In addition, the physicochemical characteristics of EPO after processing did not change significantly. The result of the aroma profile analysis was consistent with the OAV and HCA results. Therefore, it has been concluded that 5 min UV/TiO2 treatment could degrade some volatile compounds and provide a potential deodorization method for industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the impact of anthocyanin on apoptosis of spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury rats and its regulation on Toll-like receptor 4/cyclooxygenase 2/nuclear factor-kappa B signaling pathway. Sixty healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly separated into sham operation group, model group, anthocyanin low (50 mg/kg), medium (100 mg/kg), high (150 mg/kg) concentration groups, anthocyanin (150 mg/kg)+TAK-242 (10 mg/kg) group, 10 per group, administered at 72 h before surgery. After the experiment, the behavioral score after spinal cord injury was performed; blood was collected to separate serum, and the contents of interleukin-6, interleukin-1 beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha were measured; the rats were sacrificed to separate spinal cord tissue, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling staining was used to detect cell apoptosis, the expression of B-cell lymphoma protein 2-associated X was measured by immunohistochemistry, the expression of toll-like receptor 4, cyclooxygenase 2, p-nuclear factor-kappa B and nuclear factor-kappa B proteins was measured by Western blot. Compared with the sham operation group, the behavioral score and B-cell lymphoma protein 2-associated X expression in the model group were obviously decreased (p<0.05); the apoptosis index, serum interleukin-6, interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha contents, B-cell lymphoma protein expression, toll-like receptor 4, cyclooxygenase 2 protein expression and p-nuclear factor-kappa B/nuclear factor-kappa B in spinal cord tissue were obviously increased (p<0.05). Compared with the model group, the behavioral scores and B-cell lymphoma protein 2-associated X expression in the anthocyanin low, medium and high concentration groups were obviously increased (p<0.05); the apoptosis index, serum interleukin-6, interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha contents, B-cell lymphoma protein 2 expression, toll-like receptor 4, cyclooxygenase 2 protein expression and p-nuclear factor-kappa B/nuclear factor-kappa B in spinal cord tissue were gradually decreased (p<0.05). Compared with the anthocyanin high concentration group, the behavioral score and B-cell lymphoma protein 2-associated X expression in the anthocyanin+TAK-242 group were obviously increased (p<0.05); the apoptosis index, serum interleukin-6, interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha contents, B-cell lymphoma protein 2 expression, toll-like receptor 4, cyclooxygenase 2 protein expression and p-nuclear factor-kappa B/nuclear factor-kappa B in spinal cord tissue were obviously decreased (p<0.05). Anthocyanin can ameliorate cell apoptosis in spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury rats by inhibiting the expression of toll-like receptor 4/cyclooxygenase 2/nuclear factor-kappa B signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'just world hypothesis' is often used to explain victim blame attribution in assault cases, while dark personality traits are known to predict victim-blaming attitudes in sexual harassment situations, but little work has empirically tested these hypotheses within the context of stalking perpetration. Research investigating perceptions toward stalking is also scarce in the Asia region. This study examined whether the prior relationship between the stalking perpetrator and victim, just world beliefs, and Dark Tetrad traits influence judgments of severity of the behavior and perceptions of victim responsibility in a country that does not currently have anti-stalking legislation. Three hundred and thirty university students and general community members in Malaysia read a fictional stalking scenario in which the perpetrator was depicted as a stranger, acquaintance, or ex-partner. Participants evaluated whether the perpetrator's behavior constitutes stalking, requires police intervention, would cause the victim alarm, personal distress, or to fear the use of violence, and can be attributed to the victim's behavior. There were significant differences between the perpetrator-target prior relationship conditions on perceptions of stalking. Just world beliefs, Machiavellianism, and narcissism were positively associated with perceived victim responsibility, while each Dark Tetrad trait had differential associations with perceived severity of the stalking behavior, albeit with small effect sizes. Further regression analyses revealed that belief in a just world was a consistent predictor of perceived victim responsibility. Findings confirm that the individual observer's internal and external factors influence how stalking is perceived, which have implications for victims of stalking and the legal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims Studying the relationship between phenotypic and genetic variation in populations distributed across environmental gradients can help us to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes involved in population divergence. We investigated the patterns of genetic and phenotypic diversity in the European crabapple, Malus sylvestris , a wild relative of the cultivated apple (Malus domestica) that occurs naturally across Europe in areas subjected to different climatic conditions, to test for divergence among populations. Methods Growth rates and traits related to carbon uptake in seedlings collected across Europe were measured in controlled conditions and associated with the genetic status of the seedlings, which was assessed using 13 microsatellite loci and the Bayesian clustering method. Isolation-by-distance, isolation-by-climate and isolation-by-adaptation patterns, which can explain genetic and phenotypic differentiation among M. sylvestris populations, were also tested. Key Results A total of 11.6 % of seedlings were introgressed by M. domestica , indicating that crop–wild gene flow is ongoing in Europe. The remaining seedlings (88.4 %) belonged to seven M. sylvestris populations. Significant phenotypic trait variation among M. sylvestris populations was observed. We did not observe significant isolation by adaptation; however, the significant association between genetic variation and the climate during the Last Glacial Maximum suggests that there has been local adaptation of M. sylvestris to past climates. Conclusions This study provides insight into the phenotypic and genetic differentiation among populations of a wild relative of the cultivated apple. This might help us to make better use of its diversity and provide options for mitigating the impact of climate change on the cultivated apple through breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple cracks interaction is an important topic in fracture mechanics. The related solutions are helpful to understand the failure process and the toughening mechanism of brittle materials. Previous works on the topic were most for homogenous material. In this paper, we extend the analysis and examine the problem of interaction of two coaxial penny-shaped cracks near an arbitrarily graded interface in functionally graded materials (FGMs). The cracks are modelled as circular edge dislocation loops. An efficient dislocation solution for FGMs and Fredholm integral equation technique are used to solve the crack problem. Both exact solution using a system of integral equations and approximate solution by virtue of Kachanov's method are presented. Unlike most existing analytical treatments to the crack problems in FGMs with the assumption of special gradation, i.e., graded shear modulus according to special functions and constant Poisson's ratio, the present method is more flexible since it can consider arbitrarily graded shear modulus and Poisson's ratio. The validity of the present solutions is checked by comparing to existing results in literatures for two stacked penny-shaped cracks in homogenous material and a penny-shaped crack near a graded interface with exponentially graded shear modulus. Finally, a practical example of double cracks interaction in a real epoxy-glass FGM with measured data of material properties is considered. The error due to the assumption of special gradation is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) provides a unique opportunity for the signal readout of magnetic ordering, especially for magnetic insulators. However, the magnitude of SMR signals is quite small, generally lower than one in a thousand, which is a persistent challenge in the field of spintronics. Here, we investigate SMR at room temperature in α-Fe2O3/Pt and γ-Fe2O3/Pt bilayers as well as the α-Fe2O3/Pt/γ-Fe2O3 trilayer, where α-Fe2O3 and γ-Fe2O3 are antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials, respectively. In contrast to the positive SMR in the γ-Fe2O3/Pt bilayer, an unprecedentedly large negative SMR with the magnitude of ∼0.35% is observed in the α-Fe2O3/Pt bilayer due to the spin-flop. The α-Fe2O3/Pt/γ-Fe2O3 trilayer shows features of a combination of positive and negative SMR. A comparative study of SMR in the Fe2O3 family not only enriches spin physics, but also makes Fe2O3 a versatile candidate in spintronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analytical solution describing the electrostatic interaction between particles with inhomogeneous surface charge distributions has been developed. For particles, each carrying a single charge, the solution equates to the presence of a point charge residing on the surface, which makes it particularly suitable for investigating the Coulomb fission of doubly charged clusters close to the Rayleigh instability limit. For a series of six separate molecular dication clusters, center-of-mass kinetic energy releases have been extracted from experimental measurements of their kinetic energy spectra following Coulomb fission. These data have been compared with Coulomb energy barriers calculated from the electrostatic interaction energies given by this new solution. For systems with high dielectric permittivity, results from the point charge model provide a viable alternative to kinetic energy releases calculated on the assumption of a uniform distribution of surface charge. The equivalent physical picture for the clusters would be that of a trapped proton. For interacting particles with low dielectric permittivity, a uniform distribution of charge provides better agreement with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 105 GHz/500 kW/1 s electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) system has been developed on J-TEXT tokamak since 2017. The core component of the ECRH system is a gyrotron manufactured by Gyrotron Complexes Ltd. (GYCOM Ltd.), which generates microwaves of a certain frequency and power. To guarantee safe and stable operation, it is necessary to design a specialized control system. The control system is expected to perform time sequence trigger, protection, signal monitoring, communication, and data acquisition. The hardware is built with real-time processors and data acquisition modules from National Instruments. The control program is realized by LabVIEW. Test results indicate that the control system can commit stable and safe operation of the gyrotron, which guarantees the integrated commissioning tests of the whole ECRH system and ECRH related physics experiments. Under the operation of this control system, the gyrotron can generate microwaves as expected, and the ECRH system is well protected when a fault takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of n = 1 magnetic perturbations (MPs) on prompt fast ion losses in DIII-D has been investigated using the light ion beam probe technique. The effect of normalized beta, β n , and the plasma response to the MPs is studied for several MP spectra. Magnetics data show a strong dependence of plasma response to β n that depends on the phase difference in perturbation coils, Δ ϕ U L . For most phases, the response increases with β n , however, the response is suppressed for phases between 180∘ and 240∘. Experimental data from scintillator based fast ion loss detectors shows that relative fluctuation of lost ions (20%–30% of the steady signal) does not diminish across the L- to H-mode transition for Δ ϕ U L = 240 ∘ , despite the 34% decrease in radial response field and 50% decrease in poloidal response field. Simulations of the DIII-D discharges using M3D-C1 and ASCOT5 find that prompt losses from neutral beam injection in each investigated case hit the first wall at several concentrated locations: the vessel floor, midplane diagnostic ports, vessel ceiling, and inner wall. Simulated losses from co-injection neutral beams are born outside the last closed flux surface, corresponding to radial orbit displacements of 3–6 cm due to the MPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluid tank is an essential facility for experimental research on fluid mechanics. However, owing to the hydrostatic fluid pressure, a fine uniformity of the narrow channel is difficult to be maintained in a tall narrow–channel tank. To address this issue, we proposed a quasi-two-dimensional fluid experimental apparatus based on a "tank-in-tank" configuration and built with an outer tank and an inner tank. The outer tank was cuboid-shaped and used to load the fluid medium, while the inner tank, consisting of two parallel glass plates, was embedded into the outer tank and served as the experimental channel. The hydrostatic pressure acting on the channel was balanced so that a high level of uniformity was maintained over the whole channel. The available height and width of the channel were 2800 and 1500 mm, respectively, while its gap distance could be adaptive from 0 to 120 mm. Experimental research on motion characteristics of circular disks falling in the quasi-2D channel was implemented to investigate the effects of the falling environment and disk geometry. Four distinct falling types were observed, and the wake flow fields of the falling disks were visualized. The Reynolds numbers of falling disks ranged from 400 to 63 000 presently. Chaotic motion and regular motion were demarcated at Re ≈ 30 000. An analytical model was established to predict the final average falling velocity and Reynolds number. Finally, potential directions for future research and improvements to the apparatus were suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlCoCrFeNi high entropy alloy coatings were prepared on CrNi3MoVA steel by electrospark deposition technology, and their tribological behavior at different temperatures was investigated by utilizing a reciprocating friction and wear tester, and SEM, EDS and XRD were used to analyze the morphologies, composition and phase structure of AlCoCrFeNi coating. The results show that the as-deposited coating is composed of a single BCC structure with a hardness of 540±40 HV0.1. The wear resistance of AlCoCrFeNi coating at 600 °C is the best among 300 °C, 600 °C and 800 °C, and its wear rate is only 2.53×10-5 mm³/(N·m), which is one order of magnitude lower than that at the other two temperatures. At 600 °C, the main wear mechanism is oxidation wear, and a continuous compact oxide scale formed on the worn surface, which greatly improves the wear resistance of AlCoCrFeNi coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common task in quality control is to determine a control limit for a product at the time of release that incorporates its risk of degradation over time. Such a limit for a given quality measurement will be based on empirical stability data, the intended shelf life of the product and the stability specification. The task is particularly important when the registered specifications for release and stability are equal. We discuss two relevant formulations and their implementations in both a frequentist and Bayesian framework. The first ensures that the risk of a batch failing the specification is comparable at release and at the end of shelf life. The second is to screen out batches at release time that are at high risk of failing the stability specification at the end of their shelf life. Although the second formulation seems more natural from a quality assurance perspective, it usually renders a control limit that is too stringent. In this paper we provide theoretical insight in this phenomenon, and introduce a heat‐map visualisation that may help practitioners to assess the feasibility of implementing a limit under the second formulation. We also suggest a solution when infeasible. In addition, the current industrial benchmark is reviewed and contrasted to the two formulations. Computational algorithms for both formulations are laid out in detail, and illustrated on a dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to address the problem that the uncontrolled business response process of resourcematching platforms (RMPs), which leads to resource competition. The system dynamics (SD) is applied to obtain optimisation policy of the platform's resource utilisation from a production system. The business transaction system of RMPs is considered as a complex social and economic system. Then the SD simulation model of the business response process of RMPs is established, for which the success rate of demander response and resource utilisation are used as observation indices. Simulations of influencing factors were conducted from the perspective of platform controllability. It is indicated that the decision attributes especially the expected profit and the resource distribution have impacts on the user response, transaction success rate and the resource utilisation; and the influence of decision distribution is more obvious than that of decision attributes. An improvement in each of these factors can promote the response success rate and resource utilisation. These conclusions provide guidance for the coordination of resource competition and resource scheduling of the platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using wavelet analysis and power density spectrum, we investigate two transient quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) observed in MAXI J1535−571 observed with Insight - HXMT. The transient QPOs have a centroid frequency of ∼10 Hz with an FWHM ∼0.6 Hz, and an rms amplitude |$\sim 14{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$|⁠. Energy spectra of QPO and non-QPO regimes are also separated and analysed, and the spectra become softer with higher E cut in the non-QPO regime compared to the QPO regime. Our results suggest that the transient QPOs detected in MJD 58016 and 58017 are still the type-C QPO, and the source remains in its HIMS. The duration of all type-C QPO signals based on wavelet is positively correlated with the mean count rate above ∼10 keV, implying appearance of QPOs in different time-scales should be coupled with the corona. The transient QPO properties could be related to the jet or flares, perhaps the partial ejection of the corona is responsible for the disappearance of the type-C QPO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore whether partial breast irradiation can replace hypofractionated whole breast irradiation and whether the former two are superior to conventional fractionated whole breast irradiation, we conducted a network meta-analysis based on the data from the latest randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy of these radiotherapy modalities. Data from eligible studies were analyzed to determine the published events for ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence, distant metastasis, total deaths, and non-breast cancer-related deaths. In the case of low or high heterogeneity, the fixed-effect or random-effect model was used for statistical analysis respectively. NMA was performed by using the node-splitting model for two-category data among three radiotherapies based on a Bayesian method. A total of 23,418 patients were included in 16 studies. For ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence, both pairwise (OR=1.9; CI95%: 1.2 -2.8; p<0.05) and indirect (OR=1.7; CI95%: 1.2 -2.4; p<0.05) comparison of three radiotherapies by network meta-analysis showed that conventional fractionated whole breast irradiation was significantly better than partial breast irradiation. Indirect comparison of three radiotherapies by network meta-analysis showed that hypofractionated whole breast irradiation was significantly better than partial breast irradiation (OR=1.6; CI95%: 1.0 -2.5; p<0.05). Network and paired meta-analyses found no significant differences in other endpoints among the three radiotherapies. Overall, this network meta-analysis showed that partial breast irradiation was related to the increase of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence compared with hypofractionated or conventional fractionated whole breast irradiation in patients with early-stage breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An ammonia-water absorption refrigerator without distillation column is proposed. • Such cycle can be applied under a very small temperature lift applications. • COP of such cycle is enhanced by 42.6% through heat exchanger network analysis. • The improvement in COP is the combination of different internal heat recoveries. • The payback period of the cycle with optimum COP is 4.28 years. The water content in the refrigerant may undermine the cooling effect in ammonia water absorption refrigeration systems. Distillation column is normally implemented. The use of distillation columns, however, may increase system complexity, especially in practical operation. In fact, the distillation column can be eliminated under particular operating conditions. This paper presented an ammonia water absorption refrigeration cycle without distillation column, which is replaced by two separators and one heater. The resulting vapor is nearly pure with an ammonia mass fraction of 0.998. Heat exchanger network analysis is carried out for searching all the potential heating-saving possibilities. The thermal performance was improved by the combination of solution recirculation and absorption heat recovery, and the results indicated that the thermal performance has been increased by 42.6% than that of the basic cycle at certain working condition. The proposed cycle has limited ranges of working conditions operated under small temperature lifts,and the payback period is 4.28years. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radiation effects of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors based on an Al2O3 gate dielectric were studied using 30 MeV Si heavy ions. To give insights into the types of defects induced by Si ion irradiation in the gate oxide, synergistic experiments involving γ-ray irradiation and Si ion irradiation were carried out. The results revealed that the defects in the as-grown Al2O3 layer were found to be hole trapping centers, whereas Si ion induced new defects were electron trapping centers. The experimental and simulation data of current density-voltage (J-V) curves confirmed that the transmission mechanism of leakage current in the Al2O3 layer was mainly dominated by the Frenkel-Poole mechanism. In detail, the variations of leakage current were mainly due to the attributions of the local built-in electric field-assisted current leakage and the conductive path-assisted current leakage and were found to be dependent on the irradiation condition and Al2O3 thickness. Lastly, the decrease of the gate oxide capacitance of MOS capacitors was attributed to the increase of the series resistance and leakage current in MOS capacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we examine the swelling of nanostructured block copolymer electrolytes immersed in liquid water. A series of sulfonated polystyrene-b-polyethylene-b-polystyrene (S-SES) membranes having the same nominal chemical composition but two different morphologies are prepared by systematic changes in processing. We start with a membrane comprising a mixture of homopolymer polystyrene (hPS) and a polystyrene-b-polyethylene-b-polystyrene (SES) copolymer. hPS is subsequently selectively removed from the membrane and the polystyrene domains are sulfonated to give S-SES membranes. The morphology of the membranes is controlled by controlling ϕv, the volume fraction of hPS in the blended membrane. The morphology of the membranes was studied by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy (cryo-STEM), and cryogenic electron tomography. The overall domain swelling measured by SAXS decreases slightly at ϕv = 0.29; a crossover from lamellar to bicontinuous morphology is obtained at the same value of ϕv. The bicontinuous morphologies absorb more water than the lamellar morphologies. By contrast, the nanodomain swelling of the bicontinuous membrane (120%) is slightly less than that of the lamellar membrane (150%). Quantitative analysis of the STEM images and electron tomography was used to determine the swelling on the hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains due to exposure to water. The hydrophilic sulfonated polystyrene-rich domain spacing increases while the hydrophobic polyethylene domain spacing decreases when the membranes are hydrated. The extent of increase and decrease is not a strong function of ϕv. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the colourful antenna subtraction method, a reformulation of the antenna subtraction scheme for next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) calculations in QCD. The aim of this new approach is to achieve a general and process-independent construction of the subtraction infrastructure at NNLO. We rely on the predictability of the infrared singularity structure of one- and two-loop amplitudes in colour space to generate virtual subtraction terms and, subsequently, we define an automatable procedure to systematically infer the expression of the real subtraction terms, guided by the correspondence between unintegrated and integrated antenna functions. To demonstrate the applicability of the described approach, we compute the full colour NNLO correction to gluonic three-jet production pp(gg) → ggg, in the gluons-only assumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the details of the calculation of the full colour NNLO QCD corrections to jet production observables at the LHC with antenna subtraction. All relevant matrix elements for the process pp → jj at NNLO in full colour are colour-decomposed and given in a Nc and nf expansion, making identification of leading and subleading colour contributions transparent. The colour-ordered antenna subtraction method has previously successfully been used to construct the NNLO subtraction terms for processes with up to five partons or in the leading colour approximation. However, it is challenged by the more involved subleading colour structure of the squared matrix elements in processes with six or more partons. Here, we describe the methods needed to successfully construct the NNLO subtraction terms for the subleading colour contributions to dijet production within the antenna subtraction formalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In plants, members of the large PP2C gene family regulate development, growth, and responses to stress exposure. While the tobacco genome is now readily available, there have been few analyses regarding the evolution, expression, and function of PP2C family genes in tobacco plants. Herein, a genome-wide identification strategy was used to explore PP2C gene structures, motifs, and expression patterns in different Nicotiana tabacum L. tissues, with their expression further being evaluated via real-time PCR under a range of stress conditions. In total, 183 NtPP2C genes were identified within the tobacco genome, and phylogenetic analyses revealed these genes to harbor similar gene structures and conserved motifs, and to be clustered within the same clade. The tissue-specific expression patterns of NtPP2C genes from Clade A were additionally characterized. Notably, NtPP2C11 and NtPP2C12 exhibited the highest levels of expression, while NtPP2C18 and NtPP2C19 transcripts were largely undetectable. Specific NtPP2C genes were found to be upregulated in response to low temperature, salt, and drought treatment conditions. Of these, NtPP2C11 and NtPP2C12 were significantly upregulated in response to these treatments, suggesting that they may play important roles in regulating plant responses to exogenous stressors. Overall, these data provide a robust foundation for further functional analyses of NtPP2C genes in tobacco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millimeter wave systems based on powerful gyrotron can deliver megawatt microwave power, which is an important auxiliary heating method for magnetic confinement fusion devices. Reflective gratings are normally used as quasi-optical polarizers for polarization control of the wave in such systems. Based on the coordinate transformation method, we developed a numerical code to study the broadband polarization strategy. By considering the synthesis of two polarizers, we designed a pair of polarizers in the W band. Calculation results indicated that almost arbitrary polarization can be achieved in a wide frequency range. To verify the design, we set up a low-power test platform and experiments were carried out. The performance of the polarizers was tested from 80 to 105 GHz with a step of 5 GHz. The test results agreed well with the numerical results, indicating that the design is reasonable. With the development of multi-frequency gyrotrons, the study in this paper can be used as a reference for the design of broadband polarizers of multi-frequency millimeter wave systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calculations for processes involving a high multiplicity of coloured particles often employ a leading colour approximation, where only the leading terms in the expansion of the number of colours Nc and the number of flavours nf are retained. This approximation of the full colour result is motivated by the 1/ N c 2 suppression of the first subleading terms and by the increasing complexity of including subleading colour contributions to the calculation. In this work, we present the calculations using the antenna subtraction method in the NNLOjet framework for the NNLO QCD corrections at full colour for several jet observables at the LHC. The single jet inclusive cross section is calculated doubly differential in transverse momentum and absolute rapidity and compared with the CMS measurement at 13 TeV. A calculation for dijet production doubly differential in dijet mass and rapidity difference is also performed and compared with the ATLAS 7 TeV data. Lastly, a triply differential dijet cross section in average transverse momentum, rapidity separation and dijet system boost is calculated and compared with the CMS 8 TeV data. The impact of the subleading colour contributions to the leading colour approximation is assessed in detail for all three types of observables and as a function of the jet cone size. The subleading colour contributions play a potentially sizable role in the description of the triply differential distributions, which probe kinematical configurations that are not easily accessed by any of the other observables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, wavelet analysis is used to study the spectral-timing properties of MAXI J1535–571 observed by the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight -HXMT). Low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are detected in nine observations. Based on wavelet analysis, the time intervals with QPOs and non-QPOs are isolated, and the corresponding spectra with QPOs and non-QPOs are analysed. We find that the spectra with QPOs (hereafter QPO spectra) are softer than those without QPOs (hereafter non-QPO spectra) in the hard intermediate state (HIMS), while in the soft intermediate state (SIMS), the QPO spectra are slightly harder. The disc temperature of the QPO regime is slightly lower during the HIMS, but becomes higher during the SIMS. The cutoff energies of QPO spectra and non-QPO spectra do not show significant differences. The flux ratio of the disc to total flux is higher for the time intervals with non-QPOs than that in the QPO regime. We propose that these differences in the spectral properties between QPO and non-QPO regimes could be explained through the scenario of Lense–Thirring precession, and the reversal of the QPO/non-QPO behaviour between the HIMS and SIMS may be associated with the appearance/disappearance of a type-B QPO, which might originate in the precession of the jet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the forming quality of cross wedge rolling of gear shaft teeth, this paper adopts the single factor research method and uses DEFORM - 3D software to carry out the finite element simulation of the rolling process with different feed rate dies. The results show that the total feed rate of 2,75 mm is the most appropriate, and the tooth top defect of rolled piece gear can be repaired under this condition. The feed rate in the first stage is more important than that in the other stages, and the suitable range of it is 1,0 mm - 1,2 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]