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As the Wind blows over the ocean surface, the generated waves are the primary factor affecting the microwave backscatter of the remote sensing radar. In addition, there are also some influencing factors, such as rainfall, which is the best-known atmospheric phenomenon. This paper proposes a wind and rain backscatter model whose angle of incidence is from 1 to 6 deg. The model is developed by considering the influence of ocean surface wind, atmospheric rain attenuation, rain volume backscatter and interactions between raindrops and ocean surface. The wind-induced component of the model adopted a quasi-specular theoretical model for the isotropic rough surface of Gaussian statistics. Rain attenuation is expressed as a coefficient of the model, and rain volume backscatter is expressed as a function of the rain volume backscattering coefficient, the thickness of precipitation layer and the incidence angle. Interactions between raindrops and ocean surface are complicated and deduced from the collocated dataset from the Precipitation Radar onboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Based on the collocated dataset, the result shows the proposed model can estimate reasonably accurate estimates surface backscatter within wind speeds range from 8 to 18 m s−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the constrained judicialization of environmental governance in China. It starts by quantitatively describing the judicialization of environmental protection in China over the past decade, including both its progresses and the suppressions that it faced, and shows that environmental courts have had virtually no tangible impact on reducing pollution levels. It then attempts to rationalize the observed patterns by answering two questions. First, why does the government choose to empower the courts when it possesses a rich set of other regulatory tools in environmental protection? This choice can be attributed to both the central government’s needs to curb local protectionism, as well as the local governments’ incentives to promote legitimacy. Second, to the extent that courts can contribute to environmental governance, why does the government impose tight controls over environmental litigation? This can be explained by the government’s deep-rooted wariness of class lawsuits and other collective actions, as well as the judiciary’s inherent conflicts with the flexibility required by a regulatory regime. In addition, the judiciary’s limited capacity also impedes the judicialization of environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a stereo camera system, a new diagnostic for the safety factor of the core plasma based on the pellet ablation trail is applied on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). In EAST discharge No. 128 874, a shattered pellet injection system is applied to inject a shattered neon pellet into the EAST. Since the strong magnetic field in tokamaks binds the ablated pellet material, the orientation of the pellet ablation trail is the same as the local magnetic field direction. Thus, from the three-dimensional reconstruction result of the pellet ablation trail, the local safety factor q can be obtained. The motional Stark effect (MSE) diagnostic is applied to determine the safety factor q profile in this shot. The determined safety factor q results for this new diagnostic are in quantitative agreement with those from the MSE diagnostic with the mean relative difference of only 6.8%, confirming the effectiveness of this new diagnostic of the safety factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superalloy microholes resulting from electrical discharge drilling (EDD) can have recast layers and microcracks on the machined surfaces. In this study, the abrasive water flow polishing (AWFP) of superalloy microholes machined by EDD was investigated. The recast layer and surface roughness resulting from the EDD process were evaluated through orthogonal experiments. The machining mechanism of AWFP was analyzed. The effects of AWFP parameters were investigated experimentally. The results show that the material removal rate and surface roughness at the hole exit were better than those at the entrance for one-directional fluid flow during the process. Garnet abrasives achieved better polished roughness and a lower material removal rate than alumina abrasives. The taper angle of the target holes changed slightly from positive to negative after AWFP. The corner edge was slightly rounded on the fluid inlet side. Using a bidirectional fluid resulted in better dimensional uniformity and surface roughness at the entrance and exit. This study verified that AWFP can remove the recast layer and microcracks on the hole wall caused by EDD and reduce the surface roughness from an initial Ra of 5.7 μm to an Ra of 0.6 μm. • The AWFP of superalloy microholes produced by EDD was investigated for the first time. • AWFP with bidirectional fluid can achieve better dimensional uniformity and roughness than that with single direction fluid. • The hole taper caused by EDD can be reduced 50% after bidirectional AWFP. • The AWFP can effectively remove the recast layer and microcracks on the hole wall caused by EDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micro- and small-sized cooling holes of turbine blades must be polished to remove the thermal barrier coating (TBC) blockage before service. To date, no effective methods have been developed to remove this blockage, except for manual polishing using grinding needles. In this study, the removal of hole blockages from a superalloy material is investigated using a low-pressure abrasive water jet (AWJ) process for the first time. Based on an analysis of the processing mechanism, the kinetic energy threshold for a particle-to-crack TBC is approximate 3.55 nJ. Garnet particles with size of 10 μm and speed of ≥ 60 m/s can theoretically damage the TBC material. For vertical holes, the hole-blocked material near the entrance can be eroded rapidly. For inclined holes, the hole-blocked material at the trailing edge has a much greater volume and length and requires a longer time to remove. Using relatively larger jet size increases the material removal rate of the blockage, however, resulting in a broader hole entrance. When applying a relatively larger standoff distance, the capability of the AWJ in removing the blockage was enhanced owing to the more dispersed distribution of abrasives in the jet. The blockage ratio can be reduced from 60% to approximately 25% after 90 s of AWJ processing. Furthermore, the impingement of abrasives can remove the recast layer from the hole wall caused by electrical discharge drilling prior to coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical study was conducted on the interaction of bubbles with different diameters and arrangements in shear-thinning viscoelastic fluids using OpenFOAM. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) method combined with the surface tension model was used to track the gas–liquid interface, and the rheological properties of the fluid were characterized with the Giesekus model. The numerical results are corresponded with the previous references, verifying the correctness of the simulation method. The influences of the initial bubble diameter, horizontal spacing, and arrangement on the motion state of three parallel bubbles were studied in detail. The flow pattern of the bubble rising was analyzed and compared with the motion state of parallel unequal double bubbles. As the diameter of the bubbles increases, the interaction among three equal size bubbles is changed from coalescence to detachment. Changing the diameter of one of the bubbles will significantly affect the movement of the larger diameter bubble, which is due to the enhancement in kinetic energy. The final state of some arrangement ways is consistent with the phenomenon of unequal double bubbles. The shear thinning effect, the velocity difference between bubbles, and the flow field around bubbles are considered the main reasons that decide the interaction between bubbles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed an efficient and green method for isolating and purifying lignin from black liquor (BL) using deep eutectic solvents (DESs). After the short and mild process (700 W microwave-assisted, 100 °C, DES: BL 1:5 (v: v), 30 min) using optimized DES (lactic acid (LA): choline chloride (ChCl) 10:1, molar ratio), the yield and purity of lignin obtained from 100 mL BL was 1.58 g and 88.12%, respectively, which was more efficient than the results of 1.18 g and 78.54% of the conventional process. Furthermore, more than 95% of initial results were obtained after three cycles. The composition and structure of DESs and conventionally purified lignin were slightly different. The solvent costs for both processes were also evaluated, showing that the DES process has great potential to replace traditional bulky and environmentally unfriendly procedures for lignin isolation and purification and to help develop new strategies for the potential added value of lignin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both positive and negative ions of N3O2 have been observed in various experiments. The neutral N3O2 was predicted to exist either as a weakly bound NO·N2O complex or a covalent molecule. The rovibrational spectrum of the NO(X2Π)–N2O complex has been measured for the first time in the 5.3 µm region using distributed quantum cascade lasers to probe the direct absorption in a slit-jet supersonic expansion. The observed spectrum is analyzed with a semi-rigid asymmetric rotor Hamiltonian for a planar open-shell complex, giving a bent geometry with an a-axis–NO angle of about 21.9°. The vibrationally averaged 2A′–2A″ energy separation is determined to be ε = 144.56(95) cm−1 for the ground state, indicating that the electronic orbital angular momentum is partially quenched upon complexation. Geometry optimizations of the complex restricted to a planar configuration at the RCCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory show that the 2A″ state is more stable than the 2A′ state by about 110 cm−1 and the N atom of NO points to the central N atom of N2O at the minimum of the 2A″ state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports experimental observation of rotating plasma discharges in a coaxial structure at a frequency of 2.45 GHz and under atmospheric pressure. In contrast to other cases, the discharge in our case spins without external static magnetic field or moving electrodes. Its formation and impact factors are experimentally explored. Results show that the rotating discharge, especially the peculiarities of its rotation velocity, is attributed to the combined action of gas flow and electromagnetic field intensity between the conductors. Raising the electromagnetic field intensity or reducing the gas flow rate in appropriate ranges can result in a notable increase of the rotation speed. Experiments also demonstrate that the rotation properties are independent of the coaxial dimensions. This article is supposed to provide a new thinking and guidelines for inducing rotating discharge in a coaxial structure without electrodes moving or external magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rovibrational spectrum of the Ne–NO(X2Π) open-shell complex has been measured in the 5.3 µm region using distributed feed-back quantum cascade lasers to probe the direct absorption in a slit-jet supersonic expansion. Three P-subbands (P′ ← P″: 1/2 ← 1/2, 3/2 ← 1/2, and 5/2 ← 3/2) were observed, where P is the projection of the angular momentum J along the inertial a-axis of the complex. The hyperfine structure due to the nuclei spin of 14N (I = 1) was partially resolved in the P′ ← P″: 1/2 ← 1/2 and 3/2 ← 1/2 subbands. The observed mid-infrared spectrum of Ne–NO (X2Π) together with the previously reported microwave spectrum was analyzed using a modified semirigid asymmetric rotor Hamiltonian for a planar open-shell complex. The band origin is located at 1876.0606(97) cm−1, which is blue-shifted from that of the NO monomer by only 0.0888 cm−1. The complex shows strong structural relaxation upon excitation of the overall rotation and the internal rotation of the NO subunit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of cement dosage (percentage by dry soil weight) and initial moisture content (wo) on cement stabilized soft estuarine clay were investigated by effective integration of multi-quantitative analyses, including quantitative X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermalgravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) test and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with image processing. These quantitative analyses are highly complementary, which greatly improved the scientificalness of this research. The results revealed that the strength development of cement stabilized soft estuarine clay with varying cement dosages, and initial moisture content was ascribed to the combined influence of both soil fabric improvement and cementation bonding enhancement. The increase of wo resulted in larger clay particle spaces, which can counteract the enhancement of soil structure due to the rising hydration products. The hydration degrees of samples with fixed cement dosage but different wo are quite similar, while clay particle spaces were enlarged with an increase of initial moisture content. Thus, the same quantity of hydration products may bind more soil particles when pores are small at lower wo , thus increasing unconfined compressive strength (UCS). Furthermore, BET and quantitative SEM results illustrate that hydration degree plays a dominant role in the development of intra-aggregate pores (<0.2 μm), while wo affects inter-aggregate pores (0.2 μm–2 μm) more. Construction of buildings and infrastructure on marginal ground is becoming more common due to rapid urbanization and population growth. These phenomena has led to the utilization and development of coastal and estuarine plains surrounded by relatively softer and weaker soils that require improvement or strengthening before being constructed upon. One such ground improvement method is termed deep soil mixing (DSM), which involves mixing cement with the in situ weak soils to increase the soil strength so that the ground can sustain the weight of the buildings or infrastructure. This manuscript presents a novel interpretation based on the results from advanced laboratory tests to succinctly explain the complex chemical reactions that occur when cement is mixed with soft soils having varying characteristics. It is envisaged that this evidence-based explanation will help engineers and scientists bring to life land that was previously deemed unsuitable for construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work has shown that convolutional networks can be substantially deeper, more accurate, and efficient to train if they contain shorter connections between layers close to the input and those close to the output. In this paper, we embrace this observation and introduce the Dense Convolutional Network (DenseNet), which connects each layer to every other layer in a feed-forward fashion. Whereas traditional convolutional networks with $L$ L layers have $L$ L connections—one between each layer and its subsequent layer—our network has $\frac{L(L+1)}{2}$ L (L + 1) 2 direct connections. For each layer, the feature-maps of all preceding layers are used as inputs, and its own feature-maps are used as inputs into all subsequent layers. DenseNets have several compelling advantages: they alleviate the vanishing-gradient problem, encourage feature reuse and substantially improve parameter efficiency. We evaluate our proposed architecture on four highly competitive object recognition benchmark tasks (CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, SVHN, and ImageNet). DenseNets obtain significant improvements over the state-of-the-art on most of them, whilst requiring less parameters and computation to achieve high performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials that emit in the near‐infrared (NIR) region are at the forefront of both research and industry, mainly due to their wide applications in national security, nondestructive bioimaging, long‐wave communications, and photothermal conversion for medical care. As a key member of the luminescent materials family, metal halide perovskites have been intensively demonstrated to emit light in ultraviolet and visible regions. However, NIR‐emitting perovskites suffer from severe limitations, such as low photoluminescence quantum yield and poor chemical/optical stability, thereby preventing them from practical applications. Herein, the synthesis and growth of Cs2MoCl6 and Cs2WCl6 perovskite single crystals with ultrahigh chemical and optical resistance to heat, moisture, polar solvents, and high‐energy radiation is reported. Upon ultraviolet or blue excitation, these lead‐free single crystals emit light beyond 1100 nm, the longest wavelength ever reported for perovskite hosts. Mechanistic studies indicate that self‐trapped excitons are responsible for the NIR emission. The authors fabricate optoelectronic devices using these single crystals and demonstrate their broad applications in noninvasive palm vein imaging, night vision, and nondestructive food analysis. These results may stimulate research in the development of high‐efficiency NIR perovskite phosphors for fast, accurate biometric identification and food inspection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rovibrational spectrum of the Ar–NO open-shell complex has been measured in the 5.3 µm region using distributed feed-back quantum lasers to probe the direct absorption in a slit-jet supersonic expansion. Five P-subbands, namely, P ′ ← P ″ : 1 / 2 ← 3 / 2,1 / 2 ← 1 / 2,3 / 2 ← 1 / 2,5 / 2 ← 3 / 2 , and 7 / 2 ← 5 / 2 , are observed, with J up to 15.5. The hyperfine structure due to the nuclei spin of 14N (I = 1) can be partially resolved in the P ′ ← P ″ : 1 / 2 ← 3 / 2,1 / 2 ← 1 / 2 , and 3 / 2 ← 1 / 2 subbands. The fine structure of the observed spectrum is analyzed using a modified semi-rigid rotor Hamiltonian [W. M. Fawzy and J. T. Hougen, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 137, 154–165 (1989)] and an empirical Hamiltonian [Y. Kim and H. Meyer, Int. Rev. Phys. Chem. 20, 219–282 (2001)] separately. The hyperfine structure can be simulated successfully by including hyperfine terms to the semi-rigid rotor Hamiltonian. A linear J-dependence of the angle between the inertial a-axis of the complex and the intramolecular axis of the NO subunit is also introduced in order to model the strong structure relaxation effect in the P = 1/2 state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present herein is the currently largest catecholato‐based aluminum oxo clusters. By adjusting the amount of auxiliary 3, 5‐dimethylpyrazole ligands, the synthesis of aluminum oxo clusters (AlOCs) (AlOC‐86) to high nuclearity AlOCs (AlOC‐88) were successfully achieved. Such synthetic strategy is applicable to imidazole ligands and new compounds (AlOC‐87 and AlOC‐89) were obtained. Single crystal analysis shows that AlOC‐86 and AlOC‐87 are hexanuclear clusters made up of two edge‐sharing tetrahedral clusters. The nuclearity of compounds AlOC‐88 and AlOC‐89 is doubled and they are S‐shape dodecanuclear AlOCs. The aggregation of such clusters is attributed to the labile sites on the two ends of the hexanuclear clusters. In addition, open aperture (OA) Z‐scan measurements results indicate that these compounds exhibit manifest reverse saturation absorption (RSA) response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All‐inorganic CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are expected to form semitransparent or top‐cell of tandem solar cells with Cu(In,Ga)Se2 or crystalline silicon solar cells owing to their outstanding environmental tolerance and wide bandgap. However, the commonly solution‐processed CsPbBr3 perovskite films usually suffer from inferior film quality. Herein, we propose antisolvent assisted crystallization method to prepare CsPbBr3 films by multi‐step spin‐coating process. During the spin‐coating step, the underlying PbBr2 layer is treated with anisole antisolvent in different amount of 0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 μl, respectively, and heated at 80 °C for 30 min. Thus, CsPbBr3 films with high crystallinity, less grain boundaries and good coverage are prepared. The champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of devices based on antisolvent treatment reaches 6.5 %, compared to that of devices without antisolvent treatment (PCE 4.97 %). Moreover, the devices treated with antisolvent without encapsulation exhibit good stability under ambient conditions. The antisolvent assisted crystallization provides an effective route for improving the quality of CsPbBr3 films and promotes the commercialization of all‐inorganic CsPbBr3 PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robotic surgery can provide less surgical trauma than conventional surgery, but differences between robotic and thoracoscopic surgery for atrial septal defect (ASD) repair are not well documented. To explore whether ASD can be repaired by thoracoscopic surgery or robotic surgery, which procedure is less invasive, and the difference in outcomes between these two procedures, this article studies 160 patients undergoing ASD repair at our institution. Sixty-five patients underwent total thoracoscopic surgery and 95 patients underwent total endoscopic robotic surgery. Propensity score matching yielded 64 well-matched patient pairs. Surgical data and early postoperative outcomes between the two matched groups were analyzed and compared. The results show that thoracoscopic and robotic surgery to repair ASD are both safe and reliable, and the early curative effect is good. However, regardless of similar complication rates, robotic surgery has a shorter time, less postoperative drainage, and faster recovery than thoracoscopic surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass publicity of court decisions in China, this article argues, is part of the larger trend of the Chinese judiciary becoming increasingly centralized. The transparency reform enables the Supreme People's Court to control the information reporting process within the judicial hierarchy and rein in local courts through public scrutiny. Interestingly, local courts responded strategically, making disclosure far poorer than required. Meanwhile, the central government has dispatched more cadres to local courts, and these cadres are associated with more than a 10 percent higher disclosure rate of judicial decisions, suggesting that centralization of personnel is adopted to effectively implement the centralized policy. The transparency reform, coinciding with reforms in other domains, embodies an important shift toward a more centralized judicial sector in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Clinical heterogeneity in major depressive disorder likely reflects the range of etiology and contributing factors in the disorder, such as genetic risk. Identification of more refined subgroups based on biomarkers such as white matter integrity and lipid-related metabolites could facilitate precision medicine in major depressive disorder. Methods: A total of 148 participants (15 genetic high-risk participants, 57 patients with first-episode major depressive disorder and 76 healthy controls) underwent diffusion tensor imaging and plasma lipid profiling. Alterations in white matter integrity and lipid metabolites were identified in genetic high-risk participants and patients with first-episode major depressive disorder. Then, shared alterations between genetic high-risk and first-episode major depressive disorder were used to develop an imaging x metabolite diagnostic panel for genetically based major depressive disorder via factor analysis and logistic regression. A fivefold cross-validation test was performed to evaluate the diagnostic panel. Results: Alterations of white matter integrity in corona radiata, superior longitudinal fasciculus and the body of corpus callosum and dysregulated unsaturated fatty acid metabolism were identified in both genetic high-risk participants and patients with first-episode major depressive disorder. An imaging x metabolite diagnostic panel, consisting of measures for white matter integrity and unsaturated fatty acid metabolism, was identified that achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.86 and had a significantly higher diagnostic performance than that using either measure alone. And cross-validation confirmed the adequate reliability and accuracy of the diagnostic panel. Conclusion: Combining white matter integrity in corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus and corona radiata, and unsaturated fatty acid profile may improve the identification of genetically based endophenotypes in major depressive disorder to advance precision medicine strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effects of Y2O3 addition on the magnetic properties, microstructure and magnetization reversal behavior of Sm(Co0.79Fe0.09Cu0.09Zr0.03)7.68 magnet were investigated. By addition of Y2O3, the coercivity was increased from 21.34 kOe to 27.42 kOe at 300 K and from 5.14 kOe to 6.27 kOe at 823 K. A magnet with a maximum magnetic energy product of 9.86 MGOe at 823 K was obtained. With the interdiffusion of Y and Sm after appropriate addition, the Cu content within the cell boundary phase close to the oxide was detected to be nearly twice as high as that away from the oxide. We report for the first time that a collection of lamellar phases were formed on both sides of the inserted oxide, providing a strong pinning field against magnetic domain wall motion based on in-situ Lorentz TEM observation. Furthermore, the ordering process of the original magnet was delayed after Y2O3 addition, resulting in the refinement of cellular structure, which can also enhance the domain wall pinning ability of cellular structures based on micromagnetic simulation. However, excessive addition of Y2O3 led to large Cu-rich phase and Zr-rich impurity phase precipitated at the edge of the oxide, resulting in the destruction of cellular structures and a significant reduction in coercivity. This study provides a new technical approach to regulate the microstructure of Sm2Co17 type magnets. Addition of Y2O3 is expected to play a significant role in improvement of high temperature magnetic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • FCDI effectively removes Cr (VI) from wastewater using CNT incorporated AC flow-electrode at lower voltage. • Coexisting ions have minimal impact on Cr (VI) removal efficiency. • FCDI transforms hazardous Cr (VI) to less toxic Cr (III) form. • CNT incorporation improves the contact efficiency and accelerates charge transfer between AC particles. The contamination of wastewater with hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI) poses significant health and environmental risks. To alleviate this challenge, our research explores the potential of flow electrodes capacitive deionization (FCDI) technique, an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly approach, for Cr (VI) removal and detoxification. We incorporated varying weight loadings of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into activated carbon (AC) flowable electrodes, and assessed the system's performance under different operational conditions. Our findings revealed that by adding just 1.5 wt% CNT to AC and applying a voltage of 0.9 V, the current response increased 3.4 times compared to that of pure AC flowable electrode, resulting in a remarkable Cr (VI) removal efficiency of 99.5 %. This study also revealed that the presence of high concentrations of co-existed chloride ions (Cl−) did not significantly influence the efficiency of Cr (VI) removal. Incorporation of CNT in AC flow electrodes reduced the inter-tube aggregation and enhanced the contact efficiency between the AC particles, forming a connecting percolation network and enhancing the conductivity of the slurry electrodes for Cr (VI) removal. In addition to Cr (VI) removal, FCDI technique transformed extremely dangerous Cr (VI) to less toxic Cr (III) from 5.4 to 49.8 % during multiple cycles. In summary, we presented an innovative, efficient, eco-friendly approach for Cr (VI) removal and detoxicity by using CNTs incorporated electrodes, underscoring the potential FCDI technology in heavy metal disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The dissolution difficulty in metal chlorine solution followed the order of HgSO 4 < HgO < HgS. • NaCl, KCl, CeCl 3 , MnCl 2 , AlCl 3 , CaCl 2 , FeCl 3 , and CuCl 2 solutions could react with HgSO 4 to generate HgCl 2. • MnCl 2 , AlCl 3 , CaCl 2 , FeCl 3 , and CuCl 2 solutions could react with HgO to produce HgCl 2. • Only CuCl 2 could react with HgS to produce HgCl 2. • CuCl 2 solution could protect active site of metal oxide adsorbents and avoid the reduction of HgCl 2 to Hg 2 Cl 2. Washing regeneration of Hg adsorbent not only has good economic benefits, but also effectively avoids the secondary pollution of Hg caused by the accumulation or landfill of used Hg adsorbents. The common Hg-containing substances on used Hg adsorbent are HgS, HgO, HgSO 4 , and HgCl 2 , which requires the solution to be able to react with insoluble HgS, HgO, and HgSO 4 to produce easy-soluble HgCl 2. Considering the characteristics of containing Cl ion and oxidation capacity, metal chloride solution was chosen for washing regeneration of Hg adsorbent. In this study, the reaction between HgS, HgO, HgSO 4 and metal chlorine solutions including NaCl, KCl, CeCl 3 , MnCl 2 , AlCl 3 , CaCl 2 , FeCl 3 , and CuCl 2 were separately studied using thermodynamic calculation software (FactSage 5.2). The subsequent supporting experiments were also conducted for verifying the correctness of thermodynamic calculation. The results showed that without the input of external energy, all the NaCl, KCl, CeCl 3 , MnCl 2 , AlCl 3 , CaCl 2 , FeCl 3 , and CuCl 2 solutions could react with HgSO 4 to generate HgCl 2. While only MnCl 2 , AlCl 3 , CaCl 2 , FeCl 3 , and CuCl 2 solutions could react with HgO to produce HgCl 2 , and only CuCl 2 solution could react with HgS to produce HgCl 2. The leaching and dissolution difficulty in metal chlorine solution followed the increasing order of HgSO 4 < HgO < HgS. Finally, the feasibility of the precipitation method using NaOH solution for separating Hg2+ was verified by combining the thermodynamic calculation results, characterization and tests (ICP-OES and Hg-XPS) results. Considering CuCl 2 was the only solution that could react HgS, HgO, and HgSO 4 to produce HgCl 2 , and could protect active site of common metal oxide for Hg removal, as well as had a good oxidation ability for avoiding the reduction of HgCl 2 to insoluble Hg 2 Cl 2 , CuCl 2 solution was finally determined as the suitable solution for washing regeneration of Hg adsorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Magnetic luffa sponge derived graphene aerogel incorporated with CuFe 2 O 4. • Aerogels with excellent superhydrophobic stability and high surface area. • High adsorption capacity and selectively with excellent recyclability. • Magnetic control technology for continuous oil–water separation. In this study, a novel magnetic composite material comprising luffa sponge derived graphene aerogel embedded with hollow CuFe 2 O 4 nanospheres (LGN) is successfully synthesised for the first time by a clean and low-cost one-step solvothermal electrostatic co-assembly method. The resultant LGN aerogel exhibits superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties with the water and oil contact angles of 162.1° and 0°, respectively, along with magnetic properties characterized by the saturation magnetization of 51.6 emu/g, and a large specific surface area of 218.8 m2/g. The saturation sorption capacity of LGN for organic solvents/oil is found to be in the range of 47.6–86.8 g/g, exhibiting an excellent oil/water emulsion separation ability. Through the capillary action, oil and organic solvents spontaneously penetrate into the interior of the aerogel, while the superhydrophobic surface prevents water from entering, thereby enabling the separation of oil and water. These characteristics enable the real-time sorption of organic pollutants from water, with the capability of exhausted sorbent being regenerated. Notably, even after 20 sorption-volatilisation cycles, the saturated sorption capacity of LGN remains high at the 92.2 % of the initial value, demonstrating a remarkable recycling performance. In addition, LGN can exhibit an oriented sorption performance by controlling the applied magnetic field, enabling sorbent recycling even under extreme environmental conditions. Such an effective strategy offers a new route to high value utilisation of biomass waste with significant potential in the field of oil spill treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The influence of gasification medium on Hg0 release and oxidation were elucidated. • The inhibition and promotion of gasification products on Hg0 oxidation were explained. • The advantages and disadvantages of common OC on Hg0 oxidation were summarized. • The effects of reaction temperature and reactor configuration on Hg0 release and oxidation were introduced. • Appropriate H 2 O(g) content, OC with weak adsorption and strong oxidation capacity, and suitable AR temperature were suggested. Chemical looping combustion (CLC) of coal can effective achieve the capture and storage of CO 2 , reduce the emission of NO x , and realize the energy cascade utilization. During the process of CLC, mercury (Hg) will release from coal and enrich in gas. If Hg has not been effectively treated, it will not only cause the serious harm to human body and environment, but also affect the purification and storage of CO 2 by mixing with CO 2 , as well as lead to the corrosion of equipment, which highlights the importance of Hg removal in CLC. This review summarized the influence and mechanism of gasification medium (signal CO 2 , signal H 2 O vapor, as well as mixture of CO 2 and H 2 O vapor), gasification products (CO, H 2 , NH 3 , HCl, and H 2 S), oxygen carrier (single metal oxides of Fe 2 O 3 , MnO 2 , Co 3 O 4 , CuO, and CeO 2 , CaSO 4 , mixed OC, and natural-ores OC), reaction temperature, as well as reactor configuration in fuel reactor and air reactor on the release, oxidation, and transfer of Hg in CLC of coal. Based on these above, several suggestions about the selection of appropriate H 2 O(g) content to minimize the release of Hg and promote the oxidation of Hg0, the selection of OC with weak adsorption capacity and strong oxidation performance, the preparation and application of Cu, Mn, Co spinel structured oxides for promoting the catalytic oxidation of Hg0 in CLC high-temperature furnace, and the choice of an appropriate air reactor temperature to maximize the oxidation of Hg0 in the AR and reduce the escape of Hg from the AR outlet were provided for promoting the removal of Hg for CLC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work developed a strategy for rapid microwave-assisted refining of eucalyptus wood in 30 min using a ternary DES (lactic acid: choline chloride: polyethylene glycol 400, 10:1 + 5%) with an excellent delignification rate of 89.73%. The test of Kamlet−Taft solvatochromic parameters of DESs shows that the acidity and polarity of the solution greatly influence the delignification rate. The polyethylene glycol 400 increased the solubility of lignin in the solvent, improved the delignification rate, and protected cellulose from degradation. The gel permeation chromatography, 2D-HSQC NMR, and 31P NMR analysis show that the lignin obtained after DES treatment had low molecular weight, small polydispersity index, and relatively rich content of β-O-4 and phenolic hydroxyl groups, which has great application potential in high-value-added products from lignin. At the same time, the main products of the simulated reaction of the lignin model compound were monophenols and Hibbert ketone, and the possible reaction mechanism of changes in lignin during treatment was given. Our study lays a foundation for applying DES in biomass refining and the high-value utilization of lignin. [Display omitted] • Sustainable lignin isolation method from eucalyptus wood using non-toxic solvent, 89.73% delignification in 30 min. • This mild method required no high pressure, long reaction times or complex equipment. • The DES lignin had properties suitable for applications with low Mw, narrow PDI, and high phenolic content. • The study comprehensively examined solvent functional group and K-T parameter effects on treatment. • The reaction mechanism was proposed based on the simulated reaction of lignin model compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Atmospheric degradation performance of passive coating on tinplate is studied by EIS. • Two models for passive coating failure have been proposed based on EIS data fitting. • The proposed failure models correspond well to findings by SIMS characterizations. • EIS measurement has a great potential in degradation evaluation of passive coatings. Understanding the atmospheric exposure induced degradation of passive coating is of substantial importance in gaining information regarding degradation behavior of the coating itself and its protection effect to underlying substrate. In this work, the structural evolution of a pre-engineered passive Cr 2 O 3 coating on tinplate under atmospheric exposure conditions has been interpretated based on EIS responses to structural evolution of the passive coating. Results indicate that the EIS data interpretation by graphical method can accurately provide parameters of coating thickness δ and CPE parameter n that are associated with structural evolution and corrosion resistance of the passive coating. Following the evolutions in δ and n , two degradation patterns be determined. The first relates an initial degradation in outer layer under high humidity condition and then the failure of inner layer. The second relates an initially moderate but then an excessive growth in the inner layer under high temperature condition, which results in a structural heterogeneity in the inner layer and thus the degradation in corrosion resistance. Such evolutions correspond well to the result by SIMS characterizations. Therefore, EIS measurement can provide an accurate and detailed evaluation on degradation behavior of a passive coating under atmospheric exposure conditions, and it is believed to have a great potential in industrial practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical jet machining usually applies a very small standoff distance (SOD) between nozzle and workpiece in order to achieve a high anode dissolution rate. However, this small machining gap can cause intensive stray corrosion and secondary dissolution during the process, and consequently result in worse machining localization. This study investigated machining localization in abrasive-assisted electrochemical jet machining of SiCp/Al composites using large SOD. The analysis shows that using large SOD is expected to reduce stray corrosion of the matrix in the initial phase of the machining, and thereafter avoid secondary dissolution due to preventing the nozzle from re-contacting with reflected jet flow in the further phases. The experimental results agreed well with the analysis in processing 20%-SiCp/Al and 45%-SiCp/Al composites using the SOD ranged between 2 and 8 mm. It was found that the achieved entrance size significantly reduced with increases of the SOD, regardless of electrolyte type, processing time and abrasive concentration. The achieved aspect ratio due to relatively larger SOD will exceed that due to smaller SOD after a longer processing time. The investigation suggests that better machining localization can be obtained using relatively larger SOD and longer processing time compared to using usual narrow SOD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological polyampholytes are ubiquitous in living organisms with primary functions including serving as transporters for moving chemical molecular species across the cell membranes. Synthetic amphoteric macromolecules that can change their phase states depending on the environment to simulate some properties of natural polyampholytes are of great interest. Here, the implementation of synthetic pseudo polymeric ampholytes is explored with ion‐recognition‐triggered conformational change. The phase transition behaviors of the ion‐recognition‐creative polyampholytes that contain deprotonated carboxylic acid groups as negative charges and 18‐crown‐6 units for forming positively charged host–guest complexes are systematically investigated. The ion‐recognition‐triggered phase transition behaviors of pseudo polyampholytes significantly depend on cation species and concentrations. Only those specific ions such as K+, Ba2+, Sr2+ and Pb2+ ions that can form 1:1 host–guest complexes with 18‐crown‐6 units in polymers enable control over conformational change like that of traditional pH‐dependent polyampholytes. By regulating the content of carboxylic acid groups to match the content of ion‐recognized positive charges provided by the host–guest complexes, the pseudo polyampholytes are more sensitive to the recognizable cations. Such ion‐recognition‐triggered amphoteric characteristics make the pseudo polyampholytes act like biological proteins, nucleic acids, and enzymes as molecular transporters, genetic code storage, and biocatalysts in artificial systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrast-enhanced MR angiography (MRA) is a critical technique for vascular imaging. Nevertheless, the efficacy of MRA is often limited by the low rate of relaxation, short blood-circulation time, and metal ion-released potential long-term toxicity of clinical available Gd-based contrast agents. In this work, we report a facile and efficient strategy to achieve Gd-chelated organic nanoparticles with high relaxivity for T1-weighted MRA imaging. The Gd-chelated PEG-TCPP nanoparticles (GPT NPs) have been engineered composite structured consisting of Gd-chelated TCPP and PEG. The spherical structure of TCPP offers more chemical sites for Gd3+ coordination to improve the relaxivity and avoid leakage of the Gd3+ ions. The synthesized GPT NPs exhibit a high relaxation rate of 35.76 mM− 1 s− 1 at 3.0 T, which is higher than the rates for most reported MR contrast agents. Therefore, GPT NPs can be used for MRA with much stronger vascular signals, longer circulation time, and high-resolution arterial vascular visualization than those using clinical MR contrast agents at the same dose. This work may make the T1 MRI contrast agents for high-resolution angiography possible and offer a new candidate for preclinical and clinical applications of MR vascular imaging and vascular disease diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to develop eco-friendly composite dust suppressants to mitigate the adverse impact of coal mine dust on worker health and the environment. An environmentally friendly dust suppressant with bonding and wetting effects was prepared by combining modified pectin as a binder and a non-toxic surfactant as a wetting agent. Optimal ratios of sodium carboxylate ethoxylate sulfate (LMES), isomeric alcohol ethoxylate (XL-70), and modified pectin were determined through experiments. The modified pectin exhibited stronger wetting properties on coal powder due to its increased hydrophilicity. Wetting performance tests confirmed its excellent performance. Film-forming and scanning electron microscope tests demonstrated the dust suppressant's ability to bond with coal dust, resulting in a smooth surface and closely connected particles. Environmental tests showed its non-toxicity and degradability. Spraying dust reduction tests revealed a significant average increase of 40.51 % in dust reduction rate compared to water spraying, effectively lowering dust concentration. These findings have practical implications for the development of eco-friendly composite dust suppressants and controlling underground dust in coal mines, benefiting worker health and environmental sustainability. • A dust suppressant was developed using modified pectin and a non-toxic, non-corrosive surfactant, demonstrating its environmentally friendly nature. • The dust suppressant exhibited outstanding wetting capabilities, effectively penetrating and covering coal dust particles. • The dust suppressant effectively bonded with coal dust, resulting in a smooth surface and tightly connected particles. • The dust suppressant proved to be non-toxic to plants and readily degradable, with minimal impact on the environment. • The dust suppressant outperformed water spraying in dust reduction tests, significantly reducing coal dust concentration in underground coal mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct mechanical characterization of silicon carbide fibers in extreme hypersonic aerothermal environment is critical to the development of next‐generation inflatable thermal protection systems that could enable delivery of large payloads to planetary surfaces. In this article, we report direct measurements of tensile properties in Hi‐Nicalon silicon carbide fibers exposed to high‐temperature argon plasma exceeding 1100°C using an in situ mechanical testing system integrated into a 30‐kW inductively coupled plasma torch chamber simulating the hypersonic atmospheric entry conditions. As a comparison, ex situ tensile tests were performed on virgin Hi‐Nicalon silicon carbide fibers in both ambient air and vacuum conditions. In situ thermal and optical imaging was used to obtain a real‐time resolution of the thermo‐mechanical events occurring on the fibers during the high‐temperature argon plasma exposure. It is found that the high‐temperature tensile strength of Hi‐Nicalon fiber tows exposed to argon plasma is 0.74 ± 0.19 GPa, which denotes a 59% reduction from the virgin fiber strength in ambient air (1.81 ± 0.19 GPa). Fractographic characterization by scanning electron microscopy shows that the substantial degradation of tensile strength in Hi‐Nicalon fibers results from a reduction of fiber cross‐section due to active surface attack from high‐temperature argon plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress–time avalanches of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber–reinforced concrete during flexure were investigated based on high temporal resolution signals in this study. Stress drops were extracted based on measurements collected at 100 kHz and modeled as avalanches using the mean field model. Two types of avalanches were observed during flexure of PET fiber beams, i.e., small avalanches collapsed on the scaling regime and large avalanches beyond the regime. The measured stress drop profiles of small avalanches in the scaling regime agreed with predictions from the mean field theory that has been used to model avalanches. When the peak stress was reached after the fracture of bottom concrete, the postpeak avalanche size could exceed the avalanche size at the bottom fracture. Findings from this study could provide essential clues to the understanding of fiber-reinforced concrete during bending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the transport of small dusts as well as their evolution property along their trajectories, the NDS module is developed under the BOUT++ framework, a highly desirable C++ code package to perform parallel plasma fluid simulations with an arbitrary number of equations in three-dimensional curvilinear coordinates. Due to the severe dust ablation in fusion plasmas, the dust size would decrease from micrometer to nanometer, resulting in impurities. Small dusts in the simulations here are specified as tungsten spheres with the radii on or below the order of submicrometer. The Rayleigh limit is included in the charging process when the dust is ablated to the droplet phase. The simulation results from the NDS module show that a 200 nm radius spherical tungsten dust originated from upper divertor region of EAST Tokamak is ablated completely due to the intense heating from the incoming plasma inside the core region, well consistent with the CCD footage of EAST shot # 81459. It is also found that the magnetic field dominates the dust transport when the dust radius is below 100 nm during the ablation along the trajectory. Our simulations predict that a 10 nm radius spherical tungsten dust injected from the inner midplane is well constrained by the magnetic field, and it reaches the inner divertor target with a velocity on the order of km/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health emergency that has caused worldwide concern. The mental health of medical students under the COVID-19 epidemic has attracted much attention. This study aims to identify subgroups of medical students based on depression and anxiety and explore the influencing factors during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Methods: A total of 29,663 medical students were recruited during the epidemic of COVID-19 in China. Depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed using Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD7) respectively. Latent class analysis was performed based on depression and anxiety symptoms in medical students. The latent class subtypes were compared using the chi-square test. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine associations between identified classes and related factors. Results: In this study, three distinct subgroups were identified, namely, the poor mental health group, the mild mental health group and the low symptoms group. The number of medical students in each class is 4325, 9321 and 16,017 respectively. The multinomial logistic regression results showed that compared with the low symptoms group, the factors influencing depression and anxiety in the poor mental health group and mild mental health group were sex, educational level, drinking, individual psychiatric disorders, family psychiatric disorders, knowledge of COVID-19, fear of being infected, and participate in mental health education on COVID-19. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that latent class analysis can be used to categorize different medical students according to their depression and anxiety symptoms during the outbreak of COVID-19. The main factors influencing the poor mental health group and the mild mental health group are basic demographic characteristics, disease history, COVID-19 related factors and behavioural lifestyle. School administrative departments can carry out targeted psychological counseling according to different subgroups to promote the physical and mental health of medical students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the association between perceived stress and depression among medical students and the mediating role of insomnia in this relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from March to April 2020 in medical university. Levels of perceived stress, insomnia and depression were measured using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). The descriptive analyses of the demographic characteristics and correlation analyses of the three variables were calculated. The significance of the mediation effect was obtained using a bootstrap approach with SPSS PROCESS macro.Results: The mean age of medical students was 21.46 years (SD=2.50). Of these medical students, 10,185 (34.3%) were male and 19,478 (65.7%) were female. Perceived stress was significantly associated with depression (β=0.513, P < 0.001). Insomnia mediated the association between perceived stress and depression (β=0.513, P < 0.001). The results of the non-parametric bootstrapping method confirmed the significance of the indirect effect of perceived stress through insomnia (95% bootstrap CI =0.137, 0.149). The indirect effect of insomnia accounted for 44.13% of the total variance in depression.Conclusions: These findings contribute to a better understanding of the interactive mechanisms underlying perceived stress and depression, and elucidating the mediating effects of insomnia on the association. This research provides a useful theoretical and methodological approach for prevention of depression in medical students. Findings from this study indicated that it may be effective to reduce depression among medical students by improving sleep quality and easing perceived stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to counteract the demagnetization caused by eddy current loss, widespread attention has been devoted to increasing the resistivity of permanent magnets. We prepared 2:17-type SmCo magnets doped with different ZrO2 contents and investigated the influence of the ZrO2 content on the magnetic properties and resistive anisotropism. The results showed that not only was the resistivity of the magnet improved, but, in addition, the coercivity of the magnet was significantly increased. The microstructure was studied with TEM, which showed that ZrO2 doping was able to cause a decrease in the lamellar phase density and the growth of cellular structures. The increased grain boundaries and Sm2O3 phases were favorable to the improvement of resistivity. The decrease of the lamellar phases caused a narrowing of the resistive anisotropism. The additional Cu in the center of the cellular boundaries was the main reason for the enhancement of Hcj. However, an excessive amount caused an increase of the Zr6(FeCo)23 phase and a deterioration of the cellular structure, thereby leading to a decrease in coercivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposed a new solution to do the plasma cleaning under low pressure based on a domestic microwave oven. A conical bottle was placed in the oven according to the electric field distribution calculated by finite element method and Helmholtz equation. A vacuum pump was employed to make a low pressure environment in the bottle to generate plasma. Experiments demonstrated that discharges in the domestic microwave oven under low pressures from 100 Pa to 300 Pa can be easily triggered and maintained when the working gases were argon and air. The lower the pressure was, the easier to trigger and generate plasma, and the more uniform the plasma inside the conical bottle was. Experiments also found that this low-pressure Ar plasma generated in the domestic microwave oven can efficiently clean up the oils on the metallic sheets or glass substrates without damaging them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The single individual capability and insufficient endurance of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have always been problems in power inspection operations. This article is based on the new development needs of UAV inspection and proposes a new model of multi-UAVs collaborative inspection. On this basis, this article studies the decoupling and intelligent matching technology between airports and UAVs, task merging and splitting technology in complex multi-task situations, and proposes a safety inspection strategy for multi-UAVs collaborative operations to ensure the safety of operations in the multi-UAVs multi-nests collaborative inspection mode. Finally, a complete multi-UAV, multi-nests collaborative inspection strategy is constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of electrical discharge machining (EDM) on thermal barrier coating (TBC) in a two-step drilling of nickel-based superalloy has been studied. The TBC was coated on the superalloy using electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD). Simulation result shows that the temperature at TBC/metal interface increases with pulse-on time and peak current. The temperature will exceed the melting point of the coating material when using relatively large pulse energy. Experimental result reveals that large pulse-on time or high peak current caused defect such as cracking at coating sidewall and delamination at the TBC/metal interface. For EDM drilling holes with inclined angle, the leading edge had worse condition of debris evacuation, and consequently caused secondary discharge which resulted in melt and spalling of the coating material. In addition, relatively larger pulse-on time and greater peak current might result in greater thermal stress gradient at the interface and subsequently lead to cracking or spalling at the coating layer. Therefore, process conditions of short pulse-on time, longer pulse-off time, and small peak current are recommended for EDM drilling of the EB-PVD coated nickel-based superalloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The novel washing regeneration methods for AC using CuCl 2 solution was proposed and verified. • CuCl 2 solution showed excellent performance on eluting Hg-containing compounds on spent AC. • Elution process restored the well-developed pore structure and reactive functional groups of AC. • CuCl 2 -AC showed a higher (above 99%) and more stable Hg removal performance than raw AC. • Hg-containing compounds on spent CuCl 2 -AC were mainly easy-soluble HgCl 2. Mercury pollution in syngas has received increasing attention. Regeneration of AC can reduce the cost and avoid Hg secondary release effectively. The performance of CuCl 2 solution on AC regeneration was studied combining fixed-bed reactor, Hg-TPD, and characterization tests (BET, SEM-EDS, XPS, and FT-IR). Hg adsorption on AC in N 2 mainly followed physisorption. There was a synergistic contribution of HCl and H 2 S on Hg removal, in which HCl promotion was stronger than H 2 S. The main Hg-containing compounds on AC in HCl were HgCl 2 and HgO, in H 2 S were HgO and HgS. The well-developed pore structure of AC enhanced Hg adsorption while inhibited the elution of Hg-containing compounds. CuCl 2 solution exhibited an excellent synergy in the elution of Hg-containing compounds and the impregnation modification of AC, which not only eluted the Hg-containing compounds, restored the well-developed pore structure, and recovered the reactive oxygen-containing functional groups effectively, but also brought in Cu and Cl for promoting Hg removal by generating Hg-Cu and HgCl 2 respectively. The best impregnation content of CuCl 2 was 10% that exhibited higher (above 99%) and more stable Hg removal efficiency than raw AC, and the dominant Hg-containing compound was easy-soluble HgCl 2 , proving the practicability of CuCl 2 solution on AC regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effects and mechanisms of CO, H 2 , NH 3 and HCl on HgS and HgO generation in H 2 S atmosphere were respectively clarified. • The species and stability of Hg-containing products in H 2 S + CO, H 2 S + H 2 , and H 2 S + NH 3 , and H 2 S + HCl were respectively determined. • The feasibility of adjusting the syngas components and modifying by CuCl 2 impregnation for promoting the solution washing regeneration were respectively evaluated. • The effect and promotional mechanism about the impregnation modification of CuCl 2 were respectively determined. Inhibiting the generation of insoluble HgO and HgS, as well as promoting the generation of HgCl 2 can significantly contribute to the solution washing regeneration of adsorbent for Hg removal in syngas. In this study, CeO 2 -MnO 2 /TiO 2 (Ce-Mn/Ti) was chosen as the Hg adsorbent, the fixed-bed test, Hg-TPD, and characterization test (including BET, SEM-EDS, and XPS) were conducted. Firstly, the effects of different concentrations of CO, H 2 , NH 3 , and HCl on the generation of HgS, HgO, and HgCl 2 on adsorbent was investigated. Although the increase of CO, H 2 , and NH 3 concentration can inhibit the generation of HgS and HgO to different extents, and the increase of HCl concentration can promote the production of HgCl 2 , but they will also lead to the increase in Hg concentration to varying degrees, indicating the adjustment on syngas components and concentrations is not a feasible method. Subsequently, the effects of different concentrations of modification reagent with CuCl 2 were studied. The optimal impregnation ratio of CuCl 2 was determined as 10%, in which the Hg removal efficiency in H 2 S atmosphere could reach over 97%, and almost of the Hg-containing product was easy-soluble HgCl 2. The great advantage of impregnation modification of CuCl 2 is attributed to the uniform and dense distribution of CuCl 2 , as well as the strong activity of CuCl 2 itself towards Hg0 oxidation to HgCl 2. The impregnation modification of CuCl 2 can significantly improve the Hg removal efficiency, inhibit the generation of HgS and HgO, and promote the generation of HgCl 2 , which is verified as a feasible method to improve the solution washing regeneration of Hg adsorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer immunotherapy has been demonstrated as a promising therapeutic strategy in clinic owing to its unique advantages. However, although more and more immunotherapeutic agents have been approved for clinical use to activate the immune system, they also could interfere with the homeostatic role of immune system at non-target sites after systemic administration, which may be associated with fatal side effects such as lifelong autoimmune diseases. Thus, it is desirable to develop local delivery systems that could be applied at the targeted sides and engineered to locally control the pharmacokinetics of various immunotherapeutics, including small molecules, macromolecules or even cells. Advancements in biomaterials, biotechnology, nanomedicine and engineering have facilitated the development of local delivery systems for enhanced cancer immunotherapy. This review will summarize the recent advances in developing different local delivery systems and discuss how these delivery systems could be designed to regulate the release behavior of different immunotherapeutics to sustainably stimulate the systemic immune system, effectively and safely inhibiting the cancer recurrence and metastasis. Furthermore, we will discuss how biomaterials-assisted local delivery systems would contribute to the development of cancer immunotherapy, together with their challenges and potential of clinical translation. Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, three kinds of SnO2 precursors were comparatively investigated for low temperature solution-processed SnO2 films as electron transport layers (ETL) of CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells (PSCs). It was found that the precursor state and solvent type played an important role on the crystallinity and film-forming performance of SnO2. All-inorganic hole-transport-layer-free planar CsPbBr3 PSCs with an architecture of FTO/SnO2/CsPbBr3/carbon were fabricated. The best-performing device with SnO2 as ETL by reflux condensation sol spin-coating technique delivered a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 6.27%, with a short-circuit current density of 7.36 mA cm − 2 , an open-circuit voltage of 1.29 V, and a fill factor of 65.9%. It was comparable to the highest PCE record 6.7% of the device with the same structure based on TiO2-ETL so far. Moreover, the CsPbBr3 devices without encapsulation exhibited good stability after being stored under ambient conditions with a relative humidity of ∼ 4 0 % at room temperature over 1000 h and 60 ∘ C for 720 h, respectively. The results promise the commercial potential of CsPbBr3 PSCs using reflux condensation low-temperature solution-processed SnO2 as ETLs for flexible polymer photovoltaic applications. In this work, all-inorganic hole-transport-layer-free planar CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells with an architecture of FTO/SnO2/CsPbBr3/carbon were fabricated. Three kinds of SnO2 derived from different precursors were compared to study the effects on the photovoltaic performance of the CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diverse evidence has suggested that the gut microbiome is closely associated with overall human health. Modulation of the gut microbiome through nutritional intervention is recognized as a robust and attainable strategy to prevent disorders/diseases and improve human health. However, universal dietary recommendations demonstrated to have different, sometimes even opposite, effects due to the considerable inter-individual variability between subjects, especially in the gut microbiome. Hence, implementation of personalized nutrition or other treatment strategies have been suggested to tackle the individuality problem. A first step into this direction includes the stratification of subjects into specific groups based on their gut microbiome. The gut microbiome could serve as a pool of potential biomarkers for distinguishing "responders" and "non-responders" to specific treatments, which subsequently can be used to classify subjects with ambition to increase treatment efficacy. In this review, we explain the need for human gut microbiome stratification, introduce the concepts and show with specific examples potential options of microbiome-based stratifications. Finally, we propose a strategy for how microbiome-based stratification can be introduced to obtain improvements in dietary efficacy that can be implemented in real-life settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development and performance optimization of a parallel computing infrastructure for an unstructured-mesh global model (GRIST; Global-to-Regional Integrated forecast SysTem). The focus is on three major aspects that facilitate rapid iterative development, including parallel computing, index optimization and an efficient group I/O strategy. For parallel computing, the METIS tool is used for the partition of the global mesh, which is flexible and convenient for both the quasi-uniform and variable-resolution simulations. The scaling tests show that the partition method is efficient. To improve the cache efficiency, several mesh index reordering strategies are investigated to optimize the performance of the indirect addressing scheme used in the stencil calculations. The numerical results show that the indexing strategies are able to speed up the calculations, especially for running with a small number of processes. To overcome the bottleneck of poor I/O efficiency for the high-resolution or massively parallel simulations, a group parallel I/O method is implemented and proven to be of high efficiency in the numerical experiments. Altogether, these three aspects of the parallel computing toolkits are encapsulated in a few interfaces, which can be used for general parallel modelling on unstructured meshes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infantile haemangioma (IH) is a benign vascular tumour type that occurs in 3-10% of infants. In the present meta-analysis, previous studies comparing clinical outcomes, including the recovery rate and haemangioma activity score (HAS), adverse effects and relapse rates, were compared between patients treated with atenolol and those treated with propranolol for IH. A systematic search in various databases, including Medline, Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar from inception until July 2019 was performed. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the quality of published trials. A meta-analysis with a random-effects model and reported pooled mean differences (MD) or odds ratios (OR) with 95% CIs was performed. In total, 8 studies including 608 participants were analyzed. Only 2 studies were randomized controlled trials, while the majority of studies had low or unclear bias risks. Except for the response to medication (pooled OR=1.49; 95% CI, 0.85-2.18), all other outcomes (HAS, adverse reactions and relapse rate) were better for the atenolol group than the propranolol group. Atenolol resulted in better HAS (pooled MD=0.16; 95% CI, -0.42 to 0.73). Propranolol had more adverse reactions (pooled OR=2.17; 95% CI, 0.93-5.06) and a higher relapse rate (pooled OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 0.44-6.41) when compared to atenolol. However, these findings were not statistically significant. The results of this analysis suggest that atenolol may be non-inferior to propranolol and may offer advantages, including lower adverse reactions and relapse rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dust poses a serious threat to tokamak operation and safety. It is important to study the behaviour of dust grains under tokamak's discharge conditions, which depends heavily on their size and charge. Existing simulations mainly address issues on dust grains with radii larger than 1 μm, in which case, the drift effect due to electromagnetic fields can be safely ignored. For nanometer scale dust grains, however, the drift effect becomes significant and a new model based on guiding‐centre system needs to be established. In this work, the NDS has been done under BOUT++ framework. The simulation contains two parts. Part one, NDS evaluates the charging and ablation processes of the dust grains. In the second part, the guiding‐centre orbits of dust particles are tracked in tokamak plasmas, whose parameters are obtained from BOUT++, a highly desirable C++ code package for performing parallel plasma fluid simulations with an arbitrary number of equations in 3D curvilinear coordinates. The orbit of nanodust dynamics is described by guiding centre equations for simplicity, and these equations are numerically solved by conventional fourth‐order Runge Kutta method. Simulations provide results such as trajectories and evolutions of dust particles with different sizes and velocities for different tokamak geometries. Results show tungsten dust grains with a radius of a few nanometers launched from outer midplane will oscillate before totally ablated in C‐Mod. The oscillation in this case is driven by the ion drag force. Larger Nanodust with a radius of 100 nm, on the contrary, cannot be completely constrained by the electromagnetic field. The high plasma temperature and density in the seperatrix region causes severe dust ablation, resulting in total ablation within several ms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we address the multiple-choice machine comprehension (MC) problem in natural language processing. Existing approaches for MC are usually designed for general cases; however, we specially develop a novel method for solving the multiple-choice MC problem. We take the inspiration generative adversarial networks (GANs) and first propose an adversarial framework for multiple-choice oriented MC, named McGAN. Specifically, our approach is designed as a GAN-based method that unifies both generative and discriminative MC models. Working together, the generative model focuses on predicting relevant answer given a passage (text) and a question; the discriminative model focuses on predicting their relevancy given an answer-passage-question set. Based on the competition via adversarial training in a minimize-maximize game, the proposed method takes advantages from both models. To evaluate the performance, we test our McGAN model on three well-known datasets for multiple-choice MC. Our results show that McGAN can achieve a significant increase in accuracy compared to existing models based on all three datasets, and it consistently outperforms all tested baselines, including state-of-the-art techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose Deeply Supervised Object Detectors (DSOD), an object detection framework that can be trained from scratch. Recent advances in object detection heavily depend on the off-the-shelf models pre-trained on large-scale classification datasets like ImageNet and OpenImage. However, one problem is that adopting pre-trained models from classification to detection task may incur learning bias due to the different objective function and diverse distributions of object categories. Techniques like fine-tuning on detection task could alleviate this issue to some extent but are still not fundamental. Furthermore, transferring these pre-trained models across discrepant domains will be more difficult (e.g., from RGB to depth images). Thus, a better solution to handle these critical problems is to train object detectors from scratch, which motivates our proposed method. Previous efforts on this direction mainly failed by reasons of the limited training data and naive backbone network structures for object detection. In DSOD, we contribute a set of design principles for learning object detectors from scratch. One of the key principles is the deep supervision, enabled by layer-wise dense connections in both backbone networks and prediction layers, plays a critical role in learning good detectors from scratch. After involving several other principles, we build our DSOD based on the single-shot detection framework (SSD). We evaluate our method on PASCAL VOC 2007, 2012 and COCO datasets. DSOD achieves consistently better results than the state-of-the-art methods with much more compact models. Specifically, DSOD outperforms baseline method SSD on all three benchmarks, while requiring only 1/2 parameters. We also observe that DSOD can achieve comparable/slightly better results than Mask RCNN + FPN (under similar input size) with only 1/3 parameters, using no extra data or pre-trained models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of different sintering time on the microstructure and high-temperature magnetic properties of Sm(Co0.79Fe0.09Cu0.90Zr0.03)7.68 magnets were studied. As the sintering time increased from 0.5 to 2 h, the room temperature coercivity increased from 30.50 to 32.25 kOe, while the coercivity at 823 K decreased from 5.20 to 4.69 kOe. The microstructure and element distribution were analyzed by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscopy. The average grain size increased obviously from 17.86 to $71.21~\mu \text{m}$ , which was beneficial to the increase in coercivity for less grain boundary regions. For solution-treated magnets, 1:7H, 2:17H, Zr6Co23, and minor 2:17R phases are formed in both magnets. More cubic Zr6Co23 phase and 2:17H phase appeared as the sintering time increased. Cellular structure was observed in both magnets. Furthermore, more Cu content was distributed in the cell boundary phase due to higher density of lamellar phase in magnets with shorter sintering time. The change in Cu distribution altered the coercivity mechanism from repulsive pinning to attractive pinning, which could be the reason for the different high-temperature magnetic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]