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Dissipation tests after piezocone penetration are used widely to estimate the consolidation behaviour of cohesive soils. Interpretation of dissipation tests is complicated in intermediate soils, such as in silts and silty clays, since the accumulated pore pressures and the subsequent dissipation response are affected by the partially drained conditions. The influence of partial drainage on dissipation response is investigated using a large-deformation finite-element approach within the framework of effective stress analysis. The numerical approach is validated by comparison with the existing centrifuge tests where dissipation tests were performed after undrained and partially drained penetrations. The numerical results provide insights to quantify the effects of drainage conditions, including distribution of pore pressures prior to dissipation and then the operative coefficient of consolidation, ch, against various penetration velocities. The time corresponding to a given degree of dissipation is found to be increased with reducing normalised penetration velocity, as the gradients of normalised pore pressures are reduced in the radial direction before dissipation. The ratio between ch and the coefficient of consolidation can be described through a unique backbone curve. A new approach estimating the coefficient of consolidation from a dissipation test following partially drained penetration is proposed for practical applications.

YiFan Wu,1,&ast; Yun Hui,2,&ast; Fang Liu,2 Huan Chen,2 KeHan Liu,1 QiYing Chen,2 YiFan He,1 Nan Hong,2 WenLiang Yan,2 QingTao Kong,2 Hong Sang1,2 1Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210002, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Dermatology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210002, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: QingTao Kong; Hong Sang, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 025-80860092, Email kongqingtao2008@163.com; sanghong@nju.edu.cnBackground: The frequent coexistence of obesity and metabolic syndrome in patients with Androgenetic alopecia (AGA), may indicate a common pathogenetic pathway with adipokines being a possible implicating cytokine.Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the changes in serum levels of adipokines, insulin resistance, vitamin D status and their relationship with AGA, and the relationship between serum levels of adipokines and insulin resistance.Methods: 80 male patients with AGA were selected as the experimental group and 60 healthy males served as the control group. Both the AGA group and healthy control group were divided into 2 groups according to the presence or absence of insulin resistance (IR): the IR group and the NIR group. Serum levels of leptin, adiponectin, resistin, visfatin, insulin and 25(OH)D were evaluated in all subjects.Results: Compared with the control group, AGA patients showed higher serum levels of leptin and lower adiponectin/leptin (Adpn/Lep) ratio (P< 0.05), and both were positively correlated with the severity of the disease. Compared with the AGA NIR group, serum leptin levels were increased in the AGA IR group (P< 0.05). AGA IR group and AGA NIR group possessed lower Adpn/Lep ratio when compared with the healthy IR group and healthy NIR group respectively (P< 0.05). The multi-factor logistic regression analysis results showed decreased Adpn/Lep level and increased leptin level as risk factors for AGA. AGA Patients had lower vitamin D levels than healthy controls (P< 0.05).Conclusion: Patients with AGA show an imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory adipokines, and probably be involved in AGA pathogenesis. Insulin resistance may influence levels of adipokines, but the present findings cannot indicate insulin resistance plays a role in the onset of AGA. The insufficiency and deficiency of vitamin D are common health concern in our subjects and may be involved in the dysfunction of adipocytes and the development of AGA.Keywords: androgenetic alopecia, adipokines, leptin, vitamin D

Sliding ferroelectricity (SFE) found in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials, such as BN and transition-metal dichalcogenides bilayers, open an avenue for 2D ferroelectric materials. The multiferroic coupling in 2D SFE materials is expected to bring about new concepts for spintronic memory devices. Here, using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that the recently-synthesized MnSe multilayers [ACS Nano 15, 13794 (2021)] have large reversible out-of-plane electric polarization (~10.6 pC/m) and moderate interlayer sliding barriers superior to the existing 2D SFE materials. More interestingly, the intrinsic electric polarization is also accompanied by nonzero net magnetic moments whose direction is dependent on the electric polarization direction and thus can be switched by interlayer sliding. Additionally, both the SFE and magnetoelectric coupling can be effectively regulated by external strain and/or hole doping. Our findings suggest the potential of MnSe multilayers in 2D multiferroic and spintronic applications.

A superhydrophilic core@shell heterostructure nanorod-integrated electrode (CS–NS/NF) was prepared by an in situ conversion method, which showed excellent hydrogen evolution performance at high current density.

Microplastics have been proven to be one of the critical environmental pollution issues. Moreover, microfibers, the most prominent form of microplastics in the environment, have likewise attracted the attention of various countries. With the increase in global population and industrialization, the production and use of fibers continue to increase yearly. As a result, a large number of microfibers are formed. If fiber products are not used or handled correctly, it will cause direct/indirect severe microfiber environmental pollution. Microfibers will be further broken into smaller fiber fragments when they enter the natural environment. Presently, researchers have conducted extensive research in the identification of microfibers, laying the foundation for further resourcefulness research. This work used bibliometric analysis to review the microfiber contamination researches systematically. First, the primary sources of microfibers and the influencing factors are analyzed. We aim to summarize the influence of the clothing fiber preparation and care processes on microfiber formation. Then, this work elaborated on the migration in/between water, atmosphere, and terrestrial environments. We also discussed the effects of microfiber on ecosystems. Finally, microfibers' current and foreseeable effective treatment, disposal, and resource utilization methods were explained. This paper will provide a structured reference for future microfiber research.

Previous falls and fear of falling (FoF) are risk factors that affect older adults’ daily activities. However, it remains unclear about their combined effects on functional limitations. Using Round 1 (R1) and Round 2 (R2) data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, we examined whether falls and FoF in R1 independently and jointly predict functional limitations in R2 and the moderating role of demographic factors in this relationship among community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older. Previous falls and FoF were ascertained by asking participants whether they had fallen down in the last year and worried about falling in the last month. Functional limitations included any difficulties with mobility, self-care, or household activities. Poisson regression models were used to analyze data. Of 5,956 participants, 16.4% had falls only, 14.3% had FoF only, 14.5% had both, and 54.8% had neither. In the full adjusted model, those who experienced concurrent falls and FoF had a higher risk of functional limitations than those without falls and FoF (Mobility: Incidence risk ratio, IRR=1.44, 95% CI: 1.33-1.57; Self-care: IRR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.20-1.38; Household tasks: IRR=1.32, 95% CI: 1.21-1.44), as well as those with falls only (Mobility: IRR=1.32, 95% CI: 1.21-1.44; Self-care: IRR=1.26, 95% CI: 1.17-1.35; Household tasks: IRR=1.18, 95% CI: 1.08-1.29) and FoF only (Mobility: IRR=1.38, 95% CI: 1.27-1.51; Self-care: IRR=1.26, 95% CI: 1.17-1.35; Household tasks: IRR=1.31, 95% CI: 1.20-1.43). The findings suggest that strategies to improve falls and FoF together could potentially help prevent functional limitations.

Mechanisms of emissions, especially electrochemiluminescence (ECL), for graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are poorly understood, which makes near-infrared (NIR)-emitting GQDs difficult to create. To explore this poorly understood NIR ECL, two GQDs, nitrogen-doped GQDs (GQD-1) and nitrogen- and sulfur-doped ones (GQD-2), were prepared by a simple one-step solvothermal reaction with similar core structures but different surface states. The GQDs were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Photoluminescence results, with a comparable quantum efficiency of 13% to strong luminophores in aqueous media, suggested a mechanism that the emission mainly depends on the core structure while slightly adjusted by the heteroatom doping. ECL of GQD-2 dispersed in aqueous media with K2S2O8 as the coreactant was measured by means of ECL-voltage curves and ECL spectroscopy, demonstrating strong NIR emissions between 680 and 870 nm, with a high ECL efficiency of 13% relative to that of the Ru(bpy)32+/K2S2O8 system. Interestingly, ECL is generated by surface excited states emitting light at a much longer wavelength in the NIR region. The easily prepared GQD-2 has several advantages such as low cost and quite strong NIR-ECL in aqueous media, with which wide applications in biodetection are anticipated.

Purpose Esophageal submucosal gland duct adenocarcinoma (ESGDAC) is an extremely rare histological variant of esophageal epithelial malignant tumors. To date, only few cases of ESGDAC have been reported. No comprehensive molecular analysis of ESGDAC has been conducted. This study focusses on the whole-exome sequencing (WES) to identify somatically acquired mutations and signatures of somatic mutations in ESGDAC. Methods Immunohistochemical analysis and whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed in 3 ESGDAC genomes.Results In this study, we summarized the clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical characteristics of patients with ESGDAC, we first performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) to summarize WES coverage statistics for each patient. We also examined cancer predisposition genes, ESGDAC-associated driver genes, and significantly mutated genes (SMGs). WES revealed TP53 as a SMG in ESGDAC. Conclusion We studied the tumor mutation profiling for the development of future targeted therapies for ESGDAC.

Modeling and formulation of a delayed cyber-physical power system (DCPPS) are the basis of small-signal stability analysis and control synthesis of the system. First, a logic describing the interconnections between various systems of delayed differential algebraic equations (DDAEs) and delayed differential equations (DDEs) is established. It clearly shows the transformation of the most general DDAEs of the non-index-1 Hessenberg form to the widely used DDEs with finite terms of actual delays. Second, the DDAE model of the index-1 Hessenberg form is formulated in detail for DCPPS, which features in preserving the inherent sparsity in system's augmented state matrix. Exploiting the sparsity guarantees the scalability in stability analysis and controller design of a large DCPPS. Third, three delay merge properties are presented with complete proofs, which indicate that the feedback and control delays in one control loop can be treated as one single time delay. The properties facilitate modeling and formulating DCPPS. Last, numerical studies are carried out on a real-life large DCPPS with wide-area damping controllers embedded. Test results validate the correctness of the presented theoretical backgrounds.

Crystallization-induced emission enhancement (CIEE) was demonstrated for the first time for electrochemilunimescence (ECL) with two new benzosiloles. Compared with their solution, the films of the two benzosiloles gave CIEE of 24 times and 16 times. The mechanism of the CIEE-ECL was examined by spooling ECL spectroscopy, X-ray crystal structure analysis, photoluminescence, and DFT calculation. This CIEE-ECL system is a complement to the well-established aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) systems. Unique intermolecular interactions are noted in the crystalline chromophore. The first heterogeneous ECL system is established for organic compounds with highly hydrophobic properties.

Neighbor discovery and the power of sensors play an important role in the formation of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and mobile networks. Many asynchronous protocols based on wake-up time scheduling have been proposed to enable neighbor discovery among neighboring nodes for the energy saving, especially in the difficulty of clock synchronization. However, existing researches are divided two parts with the neighbor-discovery methods, one is the quorum-based protocols and the other is co-primality based protocols. Their distinction is on the arrangements of time slots, the former uses the quorums in the matrix, the latter adopts the numerical analysis. In our study, we propose the weighted heuristic quorum system (WQS), which is based on the quorum algorithm to eliminate redundant paths of active slots. We demonstrate the specification of our system: fewer active slots are required, the referring rate is balanced, and remaining power is considered particularly when a device maintains rendezvous with discovered neighbors. The evaluation results showed that our proposed method can effectively reschedule the active slots and save the computing time of the network system.

Location data are among the most widely used context data in context-aware and ubiquitous computing applications. Many systems with distinct deployment costs and positioning accuracies have been developed over the past decade for indoor positioning. The most useful method is focused on the received signal strength and provides a set of signal transmission access points. However, compiling a manual measuring Received Signal Strength (RSS) fingerprint database involves high costs and thus is impractical in an online prediction environment. The system used in this study relied on the Gaussian process method, which is a nonparametric model that can be characterized completely by using the mean function and the covariance matrix. In addition, the Naive Bayes method was used to verify and simplify the computation of precise predictions. The authors conducted several experiments on simulated and real environments at Tianjin University. The experiments examined distinct data size, different kernels, and accuracy. The results showed that the proposed method not only can retain positioning accuracy but also can save computation time in location predictions.