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Renewable electricity shows immense potential as a driving force for the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) in production of formate (HCOO−) at industrial current density, providing a promising path for value‐added chemicals and chemical manufacturing. However, achieving high selectivity and stable production of HCOO− at industrial current density remains a challenge. Here, we present a robust Bi0.6Cu0.4 NSs catalyst capable of regenerating necessary catalytic core (Bi−O) through cyclic voltammetry (CV) treatment. Notably, at 260 mA cm−2, faradaic efficiency of HCOO− reaches an exceptional selectivity to 99.23 %, maintaining above 90 % even after 400 h, which is longest reaction time reported at the industrial current density. Furthermore, in stability test, the catalyst was constructed by CV reconstruction to achieve stable and efficient production of HCOO−. In 20 h reaction test, the catalyst has a rate of HCOO− production of 13.24 mmol m−2 s−1, a HCOO− concentration of 1.91 mol L−1, and an energy consumption of 129.80 kWh kmol−1. In situ Raman spectroscopy reveals the formation of Bi−O structure during the gradual transformation of catalyst from Bi0.6Cu0.4 NBs to Bi0.6Cu0.4 NSs. Theoretical studies highlight the pivotal role of Bi−O structure in modifying the adsorption behavior of reaction intermediates, which further reduces energy barrier for *OCHO conversion in CO2RR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is not a welfare protocol for horses reared for meat production in semi-extensive systems. The aims of the study were to develop a specific welfare protocol suitable to be applied at pasture and on stable; and to evaluate whether the welfare items were influenced by the farming system (pasture vs stable). 52 non-animal-based measures (N-ABMs) and 14 animal-based measures (ABMs), classified into 6 thematic areas (training, feeding, facilities, ABMs, biosecurity, health management) were selected by a focus group. The protocol was applied on a total of 429 Catria horses located across 26 pastures during the warm seasons and on 7 stables during the cold seasons. Differences obtained within each horse-unit were calculated by using the diversity index (VARNC) and the distance from the ideal (dfi) index. Chi-square test was used for comparing the relative frequencies (%) of the answers (pasture vs stable). Most the welfare items were classified as adequate in both pasture and stable, yet differences were found within 'training' (p = 0.02) and 'feeding' (p < 0.01) areas in relation to the welfare items 'inspection of the animals' and 'feeding management'. Weaknesses of both pasture and stable were represented by some welfare items in the 'health management' and 'biosecurity' areas. After proper validation, the welfare protocol developed in the present study could help to fill the existing gap of knowledge on horse welfare assessment for semi-extensive system systems, providing support for official control of veterinarians and enabling the identification of key weakness to address preventive interventions. HIGHLIGHTS: A welfare protocol suitable for pasture and stable was developed Key weakness can be identified to address preventive interventions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A celebrated result of Gromov ensures the existence of a contact structure on any connected, non-compact, odd-dimensional Lie group. In general, such structures are not invariant under left translation. The problem of finding which Lie groups admit a left-invariant contact structure resolves to the question of determining when a Lie algebra g is contact; that is, admits a one-form φ ∈ g ⁎ such that φ ∧ (d φ) k ≠ 0. In full generality, this remains an open question; however we settle it for the important category of the evocatively named seaweed algebras by showing that an index-one seaweed is contact precisely when it is quasi-reductive. Seaweeds were introduced by Dergachev and Kirillov who initiated the development of their index theory – since completed by Joseph, Panyushev, Yakimova, and Coll, among others. Recall that a contact Lie algebra has index one – but not characteristically so. Leveraging recent work of Panyushev, Baur, Moreau, Duflo, Khalgui, Torasso, Yakimova, and Ammari, who collectively classified quasi-reductive seaweeds, our equivalence yields a full classification of contact seaweeds. We remark that since type-A and type-C seaweeds are de facto quasi-reductive (by a result of Panyushev), in these types index one alone suffices to ensure the existence of a contact form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation of gel foams with high stability for inhibiting coal spontaneous combustion remains a huge challenge. In this paper, a highly stable gel foam (SCTH) was developed by introducing nano-hydroxyapatite (HAP) into gel foam system (sodium alginate/calcium L-lactate/tannic acid/composite forming agent). The effects of HAP on the foam performances of SCTH were analyzed. The results showed that HAP could improve the stability of SCTH by forming hydrogen bonds, metal ion bonds with the system and interfacial barriers. After 100 days, SCTH without HAP had only 44.8% of the foam volume remaining. The SCTH with 1.2 wt% HAP had 80% of the volume remaining. In addition, the SCTH had better safety. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the SCTH could improve the maximum weight loss rate temperature, and increase the residual weight of the coal after thermal decomposition. The coal temperature-programmed oxidation experiment showed that the SCTH could increase the temperature of coal entering the rapid oxidation stage from 120 to 190°C, and the CO inhibition rate was 85.3% at 200°C. Fire suppression experiment showed that the SCTH could reduce the temperature of burning coal by 81.9% within 10 min, thus achieving rapid fire suppression. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that the SCTH could more effectively reduce the total content of C=O and -COO in coal and block the chain cycle reaction of coal. This work presents a new design idea for using multifunctional nanoparticles to prepare highly stable gel foams with excellent inhibition performance of coal spontaneous combustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract.Conditional least squares estimation is often employed to infer an integer-valued AR(1) model and its convergence rate and asymptotic variance differ for the stable and nearly unstable cases. This article adopts a random weighted bootstrap method to provide a unified interval estimation and hypothesis test regardless of the underlying process being either stable or nearly unstable. A simulation study confirms the good finite sample performance of the proposed inference. We also apply it to test for a unit root test in a COVID-19 dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that super-hydrophobic materials have a wide application prospect. However, many methods for preparing super-amphiphobic coatings are too complicated or have poor stability, which limits the practical application of super-amphiphobic materials. In this paper, a stable and durable super-amphiphobic coating is prepared on the fabric surface via a simple sol-gel method. The water and vegetable oil contact angles of this coating are 160.5 ± 0.8° and 154.8 ± 2.6°, respectively. Specifically, the super-amphiphobic coating is prepared by grafting nano-silica on the surface of the fabric by a simple sol-gel method, and then grafted 1H, 1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane (FAS-17) as a hydrophobic modifier. After various chemical and mechanical stability tests, including concentrated ammonia solution soaking, saturated sodium hydroxide solution soaking, concentrated salt solution soaking, and THF soaking with stirring, the coating still maintains hydrophobicity. And the coating has excellent air permeability, which is expected to have great potential in the field of special protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major challenges in QLED research is improving the stability of the devices. In this study, we fabricated all inorganic quantum-dot light emitting diodes (QLEDs) using hafnium oxide (HfOx) as the hole transport layer (HTL), a material commonly used for insulator. Oxygen vacancies in HfOx create defect states below the Fermi level, providing a pathway for hole injection. The concentration of these oxygen vacancies can be controlled by the annealing temperature. We optimized the all-inorganic QLEDs with HfOx as the HTL by changing the annealing temperature. The optimized QLEDs with HfOx as the HTL showed a maximum luminance and current efficiency of 66,258 cd/m2 and 9.7 cd/A, respectively. The fabricated all-inorganic QLEDs exhibited remarkable stability, particularly when compared to devices using organic materials for the HTL. Under extended storage in ambient conditions, the all-inorganic device demonstrated a significantly enhanced operating lifetime (T50) of 5.5 h, which is 11 times longer than that of QLEDs using an organic HTL. These results indicate that the all-inorganic QLEDs structure, with ITO/MoO3/HfOx/QDs/ZnMgO/Al, exhibits superior stability compared to organic-inorganic hybrid QLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latent fingerprint imaging is a crucial tool for national security and crime recognition, requiring environmentally sustainable, nontoxic materials. To address this need, we have developed a green fluorescence‐emitting material, THCHO, that binds effectively to latent fingerprints, enabling clear, high‐resolution visualization. The solution produces strong green fluorescence that highlights fingerprint imprints with exceptional detail and contrast. The material is applicable across various substrates, making it efficient for on‐site visualization. The synthesized organic conjugated material THCHO rapidly visualizes precise fingerprint substructures within 5 s using a simple spray method. It maintains high contrast and low interference across different substrates, such as glass, aluminum foil, plastic, and ironware, even in diverse backgrounds. Additionally, the THCHO material demonstrates high stability, retaining its fluorescence imaging capabilities for up to 35 days and after water washing. This is the first report of using a conjugated organic thiophene material for latent fingerprint fluorescence imaging, suggesting potential applications in other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problem of limited types of brassicamidopropyl dimethylamine neutralizer, organic acids were selected as protonation reagents to prepare new cationic O/W emulsification systems, which also were used to conduct stability and viscosity tests, liquid crystal characteristics and efficacy evaluation. The results showed that compared with aspartic and glutamic acid protonation reagents, the emulsification systems containing glycolic acid, gluconolactone, mandelic acid presented better performances in terms of centrifugal and long-term stability tests, liquid-crystal display and exfoliation. The study demonstrated that combining organic acid and brassicamidopropyl dimethylamine to build a mild cationic emulsification system with strong exfoliating and anti-inflammatory effects has great significance for cosmetics development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The saccade is one of the eye movements that resulted in the creation of the saccadic model. This work is grounded in the basic principles of the saccadic system, which are burst neurons and a resettable integrator model. Considering the possibility of strengthening the saccadic model based on its fundamental model, we introduce a replacement function for use in the burster equation that explains the preservation of the on response's form and also considers the off response. The new model is a two-dimensional map containing slow and fast variables with a new burster function, which solves the lack of differentiability of the primary function at the equilibrium point. By applying time series approaches and phase portraits, the mechanisms underlying the generation of spikes and spike bursts in the behavior of the new model are revealed. The present research's other main focus is to determine the geometry of the slow manifold for the newly developed system. Specifically, we examine the dynamics around an equilibrium point and the geometry of a slow manifold by using Fenichel's theorem. In addition, we use the center manifold theory to describe some dynamical characteristics of the center manifold that the slow manifold matches. Finally, this study aims to figure out the effects of geometric singular perturbations on this fast-slow burster equation, which finds dynamical behaviors such as being uniformly asymptotically stable and locally attractive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inclusion of lead in the Champion perovskite material MAPbI3 is a detrimental factor in the commercialization of lead based perovskite solar cells. This is mainly due to the toxicity of lead and also due to degradation of MAPbI3 in ambient condition into hazardous chemicals which are toxic to the environment [1]. Due to these factors, though the Hybrid Organic Inorganic Lead based PSCs exhibit excellent photovoltaic effect and photo conversion efficiency (PCE), yet numerous theoretical and experimental studies have been done to replace lead with suitable elements such as Sn, Ge, Bi etc. This research work focusses on replacing Pb from MAPbI3, with different wt% of Bi such as 1%, 2%, 4% and 8% and analyzing its effect on the stability and efficiency of the PSC. These solutions of Bi doped perovskite are coated on the FTOs and are fabricated under room ambient condition in the sandwich structure. The results exhibit lower efficiency of Bismuth doped PSCs but it shows remarkable stability comparable to that of MAPbI3.

Efficient, low-cost photocatalysts with mild synthesis conditions and stable photocatalytic behavior have always been the focus in the field of photocatalysis. This study proves that non-quantum-dot Cs2PbI2Cl2-based materials, created by a simple method, can be successfully employed as new high-efficient photocatalysts. The results demonstrate that two-dimensional Cs2PbI2Cl2 perovskite can achieve over three times higher photocatalytic performance compared to three-dimensional CsPbBr3 perovskite. Moreover, the photocatalytic performance of Cs2PbI2Cl2 can be further improved by constructing a heterojunction structure, such as Cs2PbI2Cl2/CsPbBr3. Cs2PbI2Cl2 can connect well with CsPbBr3 through a simple method, resulting in tight bonding at the interface and efficient carrier transfer. Cs2PbI2Cl2/CsPbBr3 exhibits notable 5-fold and 10-fold improvements in photocatalytic performance and rate compared to CsPbBr3. Additionally, Cs2PbI2Cl2/CsPbBr3 demonstrates superb stable catalytic performance, with nearly no decrease in photocatalytic performance after 7 months (RH = 20% ± 10, T = 25 °C ± 5). This study also reveals that the photocatalytic process based on Cs2PbI2Cl2/CsPbBr3 can directly oxidize organic matter using holes, without relying on the generation of intermediate reactive oxygen species from water or oxygen (such as ·OH or ·O2−), showcasing further potential for achieving high photocatalytic efficiency and selectivity in anhydrous/anaerobic catalytic reactions and treating recalcitrant pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' emotional exhaustion is related to various detrimental outcomes, such as work absenteeism, intention to quit, impaired instructional quality, and lower student motivation. Since emotional exhaustion becomes evident as early as teacher training at university, the question is whether it would be possible to identify an individual disposition to this burnout symptom in student teachers. Accordingly, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of the genesis, stability, and trajectories of change of emotional exhaustion. In the present study, we have disentangled different components of longitudinal stability in emotional exhaustion by applying STable, AutoRegressive Trait, and State models to two longitudinal samples of German student teachers (Sample 1: N = 4,510; Sample 2: N = 2,034). Over the timespan of up to 6 years, we found that completely stable sources (Sample 1: 35%; Sample 2: 37%) and slowly changing factors (Sample 1: 46%; Sample 2: 36%) in student teachers' emotional exhaustion accounted for much of the total variance in interindividual differences; occasion-specific factors and measurement error accounted for the remaining variation (Sample 1: 23%; Sample 2: 30%). This variance composition applied equally to male and female students and indicated that student teachers' emotional exhaustion comprises a stable component but is predominantly characterized by malleable parts due to systematically changing and occasion-specific sources of variance. Our findings about the stability of emotional exhaustion contribute to the trait-state debate of psychological characteristics and point out that intervention measures should be employed at an early stage to mitigate the negative consequences of burnout in subsequent career steps. Educational Impact and Implications Statement: Emotional exhaustion among teachers is a major educational concern because it is negatively associated with individuals' health, absenteeism, turnover, and teaching quality. Therefore, it is crucial to gain more knowledge about the development of teachers' emotional exhaustion, specifically about the extent to which this characteristic is stable or malleable and changing over time among student teachers. Results from two panel studies surveying German student teachers through their university studies for up to 6 years showed that emotional exhaustion is partly stable but also changes over time. These findings offer a broader theoretical understanding of the malleability of emotional exhaustion and can be utilized to design and implement tailored prevention and intervention measures early in teachers' careers during university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suppose that B is a separable stable C^*-algebra with real rank zero, stable rank one and (\mathrm {K}_0(B), \mathrm {K}_0^+(B)) is weakly unperforated in the sense of Elliott [Internat. J. Math. 1 (1990), no. 4, pp. 361–380]. Let A be a unital simple separable nuclear \mathrm {C}^*-algebra. We show that B has the corona factorization property and any unital extension of A by B is absorbing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Plant Production is the property of Egyptian National Agricultural Library (ENAL) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background Increasing mortality and morbidity of coronary artery disease (CAD) highlight the emerging need for novel noninvasive markers such as circulating microRNAs (miRNAs). Objective To evaluate the circulating levels of miR-126-3p, miR-210-3p, let-7g-5p, and miR-326, and their associations with known contributors to CAD, in CAD subgroups. Methods We divided the cohort into 4 groups: non-CAD controls (≤30% stenosis; n = 55), and patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP; n = 48), unstable AP (UAP; n = 46), and myocardial infarction (MI; n = 36). The circulating levels of miR-126-3p, miR-210-3p, let-7g-5p, and miR-326 were determined using TaqMan Advanced miRNA Assays in serum specimens. Results Circulating miR-126-3p levels were lower in the MI and UAP groups, compared with the non-CAD group, whereas miR-210-3p circulating levels were lower in the MI group than others. The levels of circulating let-7g-5p were shown to be useful for distinguishing UAP from MI, and there were substantial differences in circulating let-7g-5p levels between the UAP and MI groups. Moreover, lipid levels and ratios were lower in individuals with high circulating miR-126-3p and miR-210-3p levels. Conclusions The study results suggest that circulating miR-126-3p, miR-210-3p, and let-7g-5p are differentiated between different clinical presentations of CAD and associated with lipid levels, which are important risk factors and determinants of CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimation of the average treatment effect is one of the crucial problems in clinical trials for two or multiple treatments. The covariate‐adaptive randomization methods are often applied to balance treatment assignments across prognostic factors in clinical trials, such as the minimization and stratified permuted blocks method. We propose a model‐free estimator of average treatment effects under covariate‐adaptive randomization methods, which is least square adjustment for the estimator of outcome models. The proposed estimator is not only applicable to the case of binary treatment, but also can be extended to the case of multiple treatment. The proposed estimator is consistent and asymptotically normally distributed. Simulation studies show that the proposed estimator and Ye's estimator are comparable, and it performs better than Bugni's estimator when the outcome model is linear. The proposed estimator has some advantages over targeted maximum likelihood estimator, Bugni's estimator and Ye's estimator in terms of the standard error and root mean squared error when the outcome model is nonlinear. The proposed estimator is stable for the from of outcome model. Finally, we apply the proposed methodology to a dataset that studies the causal effect promotional videos mode on the school‐age children's educational attainment in Peru. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To construct the eukaryotic cell translation initiation factor 4A3 (EIF4A3) short hairpin RNA (shRNA) lentiviral vector, and to establish the Neuro-2a-EIF4A3-shRNA stable transfection cell line. Methods: The EIF4A3 gene sequence was retrieved from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database; the PCR identification primers were designed and synthesized, and connected to the lentiviral GV493 vector digested with EcoR I and Age I enzymes to construct the GV493-EIF4A3-shRNA lentiviral plasmid; PCR method was used to screen the positive clones, which were sequenced for the identification; the GV493 empty plasmid and GV493-EIF4A3-shRNA recombinant plasmid were transfected into the HEK293T cells, regarded as GV493 control lentivirus and GV493- EIF4A3-shRNA lentivirus, respectively. After 48 h of transfection, the lentiviruses were collected for packaging and the viral titer was determined. The Neuro-2a cells were divided into blank group, GV493 control group, and GV493-EIF4A3 shRNA group. The Neuro-2a cells in blank group were untreated, and the Neuro-2a cells in GV493 control group and GV493-EIF4A3 shRNA group were infected with the respective lentiviruses at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 100. The infected Neuro-2a cells were selected by 10 mg·L-1 puromycin, and the growth status and green fluorescence expression of the Neuro-2a cells in various groups were observed under fluorescence microscope; real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting methods were used to detect the expression levels of EIF4A3 mRNA and protein in the Neuro-2a cells in various groups. Results: The PCR sequencing results showed that the gene sequence of the GV493-EIF4A3-shRNA recombinant plasmid was consistent with the designed EIF4A3-shRNA sequence, indicating successful construction of the GV493-EIF4A3 lentiviral vector. The fluorescence microscope observation results showed that there was strong fluorescence expression and good growth status in the HEK293T cells, confirming successful lentiviral packaging. The viral titers for GV493 control lentivirus and GV493-EIF4A3-shRNA lentivirus both were 2×108 TU·mL-1. The growth status of the Neuro-2a cells in GV493 control group and GV493-EIF4A3 shRNA group was good, and they expressed green fluorescence, indicating successful construction of the stable transfection cell line. The RT-qPCR results showed that compared with blank group and GV493 control group, the expression level of EIF4A3 mRNA in the cells in GV493-EIF4A3 shRNA group was significantly decreased (P<0. 01). The Western blotting results showed that the specific bands was at a relative molecular mass of 49 000, indicating successful EIF4A3 protein expression in the Neuro-2a cells. Compared with blank group and GV493 control group, the expression level of EIF4A3 protein in the cells in GV493-EIF4A3 shRNA group was significantly decreased (P<0. 01). Conclusion: The GV493-EIF4A3-shRNA lentiviral vector is succfssfully constructed, and the Neuro-2a-EIF4A3-shRNA stable transfection cell line is established; the results provide the reference for the study of the effect of EIF4A3 on the intracranial atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic–inorganic hybrid dielectric nanomaterials are vital for OTFT applications due to their unique combination of organic dielectric and inorganic properties. Despite the challenges in preparing stable titania (TiO2) nanoparticles, we successfully synthesized colloidally stable organic–inorganic (O-I) TiO2 hybrid nanoparticles using an amphiphilic polymer as a stabilizer through a low-temperature sol–gel process. The resulting O-I TiO2 hybrid sols exhibited long-term stability and formed a high-quality dielectric layer with a high dielectric constant (κ) and minimal leakage current density. We also addressed the effect of the ethylene oxide chain within the hydrophilic segment of the amphiphilic polymer on the dielectric properties of the coating film derived from O-I TiO2 hybrid sols. Using the O-I TiO2 hybrid dielectric layer with excellent insulating properties enhanced the electrical performance of the gate dielectrics, including superior field-effect mobility and stable operation in OTFT devices. We believe that this study provides a reliable method for the preparation of O-I hybrid TiO2 dielectric materials designed to enhance the operational stability and electrical performance of OTFTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, the editorial team for the Journal of Popular Music Education (JPME) introduces the first issue of the journal's eighth volume (2024). The authors provide a summary of the JPME contents from the previous year (2023, volume 7) and highlight the two Special Issues from that volume. One Special Issue was a belated 25th anniversary response to Paul Théberge's landmark book, Any Sound You Can Imagine, and the other was dedicated to contemporary considerations around music technology pertaining to popular music education. The authors acknowledge the privilege of publishing and of engaging in scholarship amidst a world in turmoil. They then look forward to conferences taking place in 2024, including the first gathering of the Association for Popular Music Education outside of the United States, in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the summer. The editorial closes by outlining the topic foci of two forthcoming JPME Special Issues in 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the interesting problems in arithmetic dynamics is to study the stability of polynomials over a field. A polynomial f (z) ∈ ℚ [ z ] is stable over ℚ if irreducibility of f (z) implies that all its iterates are also irreducible over ℚ , that is, f n (z) is irreducible over ℚ for all n ≥ 1 , where f n (z) denotes the n -fold composition of f (z). In this paper, we study the stability of f (z) = z d + 1 c for d ≥ 2 , c ∈ ℤ ∖ { 0 }. We show that for infinite families of d ≥ 3 , whenever f (z) is irreducible, all its iterates are irreducible, that is, f (z) is stable. Under the assumption of explicit a b c -conjecture, we further prove the stability of f (z) = z d + 1 c for the remaining values of d. Also for d = 3 , if f (z) is reducible, then the number of irreducible factors of each iterate of f (z) is exactly 2 for | c | ≤ 1 0 1 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescent proteins (FPs) are versatile biomarkers that facilitate effective detection and tracking of macromolecules of interest in real time. Engineered FPs such as superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP) and superfolder Cherry (sfCherry) have exceptional refolding capability capable of delivering fluorescent readout in harsh environments where most proteins lose their native functions. Our recent work on the development of a split FP from a species of strawberry anemone, Corynactis californica, delivered pairs of fragments with up to threefold faster complementation than split GFP. We present the biophysical, biochemical, and structural characteristics of five full‐length variants derived from these split C. californica GFP (ccGFP). These ccGFP variants are more tolerant under chemical denaturation with up to 8 kcal/mol lower unfolding free energy than that of the sfGFP. It is likely that some of these ccGFP variants could be suitable as biomarkers under more adverse environments where sfGFP fails to survive. A structural analysis suggests explanations of the variations in stabilities among the ccGFP variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Vitiligo is a complex dermatosis with an uncertain etiology, variable clinical presentations, an unpredictable course and prognosis, and difficult to treat. Surgical intervention is recommended for patients with a stable, nonprogressive vitiligo. Dermoscopy can detect the subtle changes in the pigmentary pattern and aid in the diagnosis of evolving lesions. This study was undertaken to measure the stability of the disease by classifying the patients as clinically stable and active and observing dermatological parameters. Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate assess the correlation between the clinical and dermoscopic features in stable and active cases of vitiligo. Materials and Methods: Forty patients of vitiligo. Clinical VIDA score and six lesional and perilesional dermoscopic parameters were analyzed. Statistical analysis was done to determine their correlation. Results: Altered pigment network (91.6%) was the most observed dermoscopic feature followed by perifollicular depigmentation (66.7%) in clinically unstable patients and altered pigment network (87.5%) followed by leucotrichia (68.8%) was seen in clinically stable patients. However, vascularity and Koebner's phenomena failed to produce the same. Conclusion: Lesional and perilesional dermoscopic examination together for the above four parameters (pigmentary network, perifollicular changes, perilesional hypopigmentary macules, and leucotrichia) will produce reliable diagnostic approach for differentiating patients as clinically stable or unstable along with clinical VIDA score.

M Patrick Witvliet,1,2 E Karin Arkenbout,3 Pieter W Kamphuisen1,4 1Department of Internal Medicine, Tergooi Medical Center, Hilversum, the Netherlands; 2Department of General Practice, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 3Department of Cardiology, Tergooi Medical Center, Hilversum, the Netherlands; 4Department of Vascular Medicine, Amsterdam UMC location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsCorrespondence: M Patrick Witvliet, Department of Internal Medicine, Tergooi Medical Center, Laan van Tergooi 2, 1212 VG, Hilversum, the Netherlands, Tel +31 205664271, Email m.p.witvliet@amsterdamumc.nlBackground: The coronary artery calcium (CAC) score can be used to increase (CAC score > 0) or decrease (CAC score = 0) the likelihood of coronary artery disease (CAD). We compared the CAC score with the pre-test probability (PTP) for CAD (low, intermediate, and high). Furthermore, we compared the CAC score with exercise electrocardiography (ECG) and compared both tests with coronary angiography.Methods and Results: We retrospectively identified patients with angina and/or dyspnea for whom CAC score was used to increase or decrease the likelihood of CAD. Of 882 patients, majority had low (45%) or intermediate (44%) PTP. Patients with higher PTP had significantly higher CAC scores (Cramer’s V = 0.29, p < 0.0001). Most patients (57%) had a CAC score of zero, especially those with low (73%) and intermediate (49%) PTP. However, 20% of patients with high PTP had CAC score of zero. Higher CAC scores were observed in patients with abnormal exercise ECG, but association was weak and not significant (Cramer’s V = 0.13, p = 0.08). Moreover, more than 40% of patients with an abnormal exercise ECG had CAC score of zero. Higher CAC scores were associated with more severe abnormalities on coronary angiography (Cramer’s V = 0.43, p < 0.0001), whereas there was no association between results of exercise ECG and coronary angiography (Cramer’s V = 0.11, p = 0.91).Conclusion: CAC score can be used in addition to PTP to increase or decrease the likelihood of CAD, and it might be more useful than exercise ECG in the diagnostic work-up of chest pain.Keywords: coronary artery disease, cardiovascular disease, CT, risk factors, angina, stable

CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, and I) perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) have been recognized as potential optoelectronic materials due to their excellent optical characteristics. However, their poor stability limits their further practical application, and research on their stability improvement mainly concentrated on green-emitted CsPbBr3 PNCs. Herein, high-stable red, green, and blue three-primary color CsPbX3-nanocrystal/SiO2 (PNC/SiO2) luminescent composites have been synthesized by a simple high-temperature melt-crystallization method, which did not use any solvent or ligand. The sintering conditions for PNC/SiO2 composites were optimized according to the X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence (PL) spectra, which ensured the composite structures and achieved higher PL quantum yield. The optimized red, green, and blue composites can remain at 99%, 90%, and 82% PL intensity after 15 heating loops, performing good thermal stability. To check the application potential, the optimized composites were fabricated as red, green, and blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), showing high color purity to consist of a wide color gamut. The red, green, and blue LEDs remained at 83%, 82%, and 96% emission intensity and kept their color coordinates after a long working duration, showing excellent stability. The excellent stability and relatively higher color purity of the PNC/SiO2 composites indicate their great potential for commercial background display applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are various factors that lead to lake eutrophication. Taking Yanming Lake as the research object, this paper discusses the effect of five different sediment particle sizes (0. 08, 0. 15, 0. 30, 0. 425 and 1. 00 mm) on phosphorus nutrients through laboratory tests and the influence of sediment on the release of phosphorus nutrients. The test results show that the changes of the five forms of phosphorus increases with the increase of particle size of sediment. Under different sediment particle size, the time required for the same form of phosphorus to reach a stable release is the same. However, different forms of phosphorus show different release laws, and the time required to achieve a stable release is also different. The curve fitting shows that the optimal fitting functions of total phosphorus (TP), dissolved total phosphorus (DTP), dissolved active phosphorus (SRP) and particulate phosphorus (PP) content and sediment particle size are all logarithmic function. The best fit function of dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) content and sediment particle size is a linear function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the low long‐term stability and high toxicity, high‐efficiency perovskite solar cells are yet to be commercialized. Therefore, it is imperative to find a reliable and environmentally benign alternative perovskite light harvester. Herein, the study presents a non‐toxic double perovskite light harvester based on Cs2AgSbX6 (where X = Cl, Br, and I) as a substitute, which can render both high efficiency and long‐term durability. The optoelectronic properties of the Cs2AgSbX6 double perovskite light harvesters are investigated with the Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package (CASTEP) software package that is committed to density functional theory (DFT). The bandgap (indirect) tunability of Cs2AgSbX6 double perovskite light harvesters and associated changes in the density of states (DOS) are explored. The obtained results are further loaded as input to the SCAPS‐1D software package to assess the potential of Cs2AgSbX6 double perovskite solar cells. With the FTO/AZnO/Cs2AgSbX6/MoO3/rear contact device structure, the thickness and bulk defect density of the Cs2AgSbX6 light harvester have superior control over the performance of the double perovskite solar cells. The highest theoretical efficiency of ≈29.9% is estimated for the Cs2AgSbI6 light harvester. Additionally, the effectiveness of several prospective back electrodes is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Veterinaria is the property of University of Sarajevo, Veterinary Faculty and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article deals with the qualitative analysis of a general class of difference equations. That is, we examine the periodicity nature and the stability character of some non-linear second-order difference equations. Homogeneous functions are used while examining the character of the solutions of introduced difference equations. Moreover, a new technique available in the literature is used to examine the periodic solutions of these equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: As the third generation new battery, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has increased from 3.8% in 2009 to 25.8% currently certified, which fully shows that they have great research value and development prospect. As one of the main components of high‐efficiency PSCs, hole transport materials (HTMs) play an important role in extracting and transporting holes and inhibiting charge recombination. However, commonly used HTMs require doping, and the hygroscopicity and corrosiveness of the dopants will destroy the stability of PSCs and hinder their commercialization. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop dopant‐free HTMs. In this review, the dopant‐free HTMs in recent six years are reviewed and summarized systematically, including organic small molecules, polymers and cross‐linkable materials. We focus on the design of the molecular cores and discuss their structure–property correlation, conductivity, and photovoltaic performance. Finally, how to design an ideal HTM is summarized. We hope that this review can provide reference for the development of low‐cost and dopant‐free HTMs to prepare efficient and stable PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: As the third generation new battery, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has increased from 3.8% in 2009 to 25.8% currently certified, which fully shows that they have great research value and development prospect. As one of the main components of high‐efficiency PSCs, hole transport materials (HTMs) play an important role in extracting and transporting holes and inhibiting charge recombination. However, commonly used HTMs require doping, and the hygroscopicity and corrosiveness of the dopants will destroy the stability of PSCs and hinder their commercialization. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop dopant‐free HTMs. In this review, the dopant‐free HTMs in recent six years are reviewed and summarized systematically, including organic small molecules, polymers and cross‐linkable materials. We focus on the design of the molecular cores and discuss their structure–property correlation, conductivity, and photovoltaic performance. Finally, how to design an ideal HTM is summarized. We hope that this review can provide reference for the development of low‐cost and dopant‐free HTMs to prepare efficient and stable PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domesticated horses are often housed in individual stables for long periods where physical contact with conspecifics is not possible. Although common, this form of stable design is known to be detrimental to horse welfare. This study investigated the impact of short-term stabling (1-hour bouts) on behavioral expression using three stable conditions: a full wall, a barred window wall, and a half wall between paired horses in a within-subjects design study (N = 18). A mixed model (restricted maximum likelihood) was used to account for both stable condition and individual horse within the model. Behaviors influenced by stable design were those relating to vigilance and social affiliation. Horses spent a greater proportion of the observation time standing alert when in the full wall stable compared to the half wall stable (P = 0.009). The opposite is true of time spent standing and resting (P < 0.001). Compared to the window wall alone, horses in the half wall stable performed significantly more contact-seeking behaviors (P = 0.021). Horse owners often perceive stable design unimportant if only used for short periods of time, with the majority of their time budget spent at pasture with conspecifics. These results indicate that, even during short bouts of stabling, horses were more relaxed when stable design allowed them to engage in social behaviors with conspecifics and more vigilant when stable design left them physically isolated from conspecifics. [Display omitted] • Vigilance behavior in horses is influenced by stable design even when stabling duration is short. • Horses expressed more alert behaviors when isolated from conspecifics. • In contrast they performed more affiliative and relaxation behaviors when contact was possible. • Horses chose to actively engage in social behaviors when physical contact was possible in a stable. • This was despite being at pasture together for the other 23hrs of the day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a variational problem for hypersurfaces in a wedge in the Euclidean space. Our wedge is bounded by a finitely many hyperplanes passing a common point. The total energy of each hypersurface is the sum of its anisotropic surface energy and the wetting energy of the planar domain bounded by the boundary of the considered hypersurface. An anisotropic surface energy is a generalization of the surface area which was introduced to model the surface tension of a small crystal. We show an existence and uniqueness result of local minimizers of the total energy among hypersurfaces enclosing the same volume. Our result is new even when the special case where the surface energy is the surface area.

As a free-ranging, social species, the housing of horses (Equus caballus) may limit their opportunity to display natural behaviour, compromising well-being. This review records and presents studies that have investigated horse housing design, evaluates the location and number of studies carried out to date, and reports the methods used to assess impact on equine well-being. A Boolean search was conducted in two databases: Web of Science and Scopus, filtered according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, resulting in 60 peer-reviewed papers for evaluation. Key findings are that a significant amount of work to date has been carried out in Europe and the USA, and the frequency of horse housing studies has steadily increased over the last 33 years, with 52% of them occurring in the last eight years. Health and welfare measures indicate benefits of housing horses in more natural management systems, particularly with conspecifics. Generally, the studies reviewed were only conducted in the short term, therefore future research should aim to increase the length of time over which housing is evaluated, particularly to ensure studies continue beyond an adaptation period. The review also highlights a requirement for more standardised methodology in housing welfare evaluation to allow for more meaningful comparisons to be made. Studies seeking to improve horse welfare in existing housing systems, in the face of limited space or other management constraints, are of high value to the end user and are encouraged. The studies reviewed here represent a significant and diverse body of work from which gaps in knowledge and future research directions can be determined.

To compare the efficacy of plain x-ray images and computed tomography (CT) to assess the morphology of the lateral wall (LW) component of intertrochanteric (IT) femur fractures and determine predictors of early fixation failure.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingLevel-one trauma center.Patients/participantsOne hundred forty-two adult patients with IT fractures treated with either a sliding hip screw (SHS) or a cephalomedullary nail (CMN) who had both pre-op plain x-ray images and CT scans with at least 6 weeks of follow-up were reviewed.InterventionPreoperative CT scan and plain radiographs of the affected hip.Main outcome measurementsLateral wall assessment based on plain x-rays versus CT imaging in relation to implant failure.ResultsOne hundred forty-two patients met inclusion criteria, 105 patients treated with a CMN, and 37 with a SHS. There was a poor correlation between the assessment of the LW on plain x-ray images and CT scans. Failures in the SHS group were significantly associated with all CT measurements (P

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite materials continue to attract significant interest due to their optoelectronic application. However, the degradation phenomenon associated with hybrid structures remains a challenging aspect of commercialization. To overcome the stability issue, we have assembled the methylammonium lead bromide nano islands (MNIs) on the backbone of poly-3-dodecyl-thiophene (PDT) for the first time. The structural and morphological properties of the MNI-PDT composite were confirmed with the aid of X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies, Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The optical properties, namely absorption studies, were carried out by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The fluorescent behavior is determined by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The emission peak for the MNI-PDT was observed at 536 nm. The morphology studies supported by FESEM indicated that the nano islands are completely covered on the surface of the polymer backbone, making the hybrid (MNI-PDT) stable under environmental conditions for three months. The interfacial interaction strategy developed in the present work will provide a new approach for the stabilization of hybrids for a longer time duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We establish a stability theorem for geometric separating flows on metric spaces, which may or may not be compact. Notably, this result extends Thomas' stability theorem (Proc London Math Soc. 45:479–505 1982). To prove our theorem, we employ set-valued analysis (Aubin and Frankowska, 1990). We give some applications of our result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To identify (i) the prevalence of meeting the endpoints of 'stable periodontitis' (probing pocket depth [PPD] ≤ 4 mm, bleeding on probing [BoP] < 10%, no BoP at 4 mm sites), 'endpoints of therapy' (no PPD > 4 mm with BoP, no PPD ≥ 6 mm), 'controlled periodontitis' (≤4 sites with PPD ≥ 5 mm), 'PPD < 5 mm' and 'PPD < 6 mm' at the start of supportive periodontal care [SPC]) and (ii) the incidence of tooth loss in relation to not meeting these endpoints within a minimum of 5 years of SPC. Materials and Methods: Systematic electronic and manual searches were conducted to identify studies where subjects, upon completion of active periodontal therapy, entered into SPC. Duplicate screening was performed to find relevant articles. Corresponding authors were contacted to confirm inclusion and retrieve required clinical data for further analyses to assess the prevalence of reaching endpoints and incidence of subsequent tooth loss, if available, within at least 5 years of SPC. Meta‐analyses were carried out to evaluate risk ratios for tooth loss in relation to not reaching the various endpoints. Results: Fifteen studies including 12,884 patients and 323,111 teeth were retrieved. Achievement of endpoints at baseline SPC was rare (1.35%, 11.00% and 34.62%, respectively, for 'stable periodontitis', 'endpoints of therapy' and 'controlled periodontitis'). Less than a third of the 1190 subjects with 5 years of SPC data lost teeth—a total of 3.14% of all teeth were lost. Statistically significant associations with tooth loss, at the subject‐level, were found for not achieving 'controlled periodontitis' (relative risk [RR] = 2.57), PPD < 5 mm (RR = 1.59) and PPD < 6 mm (RR = 1.98). Conclusions: An overwhelming majority of subjects and teeth do not achieve the proposed endpoints for periodontal stability, yet most periodontal patients preserve most of their teeth during an average of 10–13 years in SPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The portmanteau test has been popular for diagnostic checking in time series models. Asymptotic properties of portmanteau tests have been exhaustively studied for real-valued time series model though, similar results for integer-valued autoregressive (INAR) models are not well documented, nevertheless. In view of this, we investigate the asymptotic behaviour of the Box-Pierce and Ljung-Box portmanteau tests in an INAR model. It turns out that these tests are chi-squared distributed asymptotically under mild conditions regardless of the process being stable or nearly unstable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Roman dominating function (RDF) on a graph G is a function f:V(G)→{0,1,2} such that every vertex with label 0 has a neighbor with label 2. A vertex u with f(u)=0 is said to be undefended if it is not adjacent to a vertex with f(v)>0. The function f:V(G)→{0,1,2} is a weak Roman dominating function (WRDF) if each vertex u with f(u)=0 is adjacent to a vertex v with f(v)>0 such that the function f′:V(G)→{0,1,2} defined by f′(u)=1, f′(v)=f(v)-1 and f′(w)=f(w) if w∈V-{u,v}, has no undefended vertex. A graph G is said to be Roman domination stable upon edge addition, or just γR -EA-stable, if γR(G+e)=γR(G) for any edge e∉E(G). We extend this concept to a weak Roman dominating function as follows: A graph G is said to be weak Roman domination stable upon edge addition, or just γr -EA-stable, if γr(G+e)=γr(G) for any edge e∉E(G). In this paper, we study γr -EA-stable graphs, obtain bounds for γr -EA-stable graphs and characterize γr -EA-stable trees which attain the bound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Railway Construction Technology is the property of Railway Construction Technology Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Idiopathic slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) is a known disorder in pre/adolescent children with vague hip/knee pain. We wished to study the demographic differences between stable varus, unstable varus, and valgus idiopathic SCFEs using a retrospective review over a 10-year period of SCFE children seen at a tertiary children's hospital. Standard demographic data was collected, and radiographs were measured to determine the Southwick angle and status of the tri-radiate cartilage. There were 190 patients; 138 had stable varus SCFEs, 45 unstable varus SCFEs, and 7 valgus SCFEs. All unstable SCFEs were varus, and all valgus SCFEs were stable. There were significant differences between the three groups by age at diagnosis, sex, race, SCFE severity, weight percentile, and duration of symptoms. The average age at diagnosis was 11.0 ± 1.2, 11.8 ± 1.8, and 12.3 ± 1.7 years for the valgus, unstable varus, and stable varus groups (p = 0.019), and similarly, SCFE severity was 25° ± 15°, 48° ± 18°, and 35° ± 19° (p = 0.0002) for the three same groups. Patients with valgus SCFEs were mostly female (86%) compared to the stable varus (39.9%) and unstable (47%) groups (p = 0.05) and mostly non-White (86%) (0.011). The duration of symptoms was 4.1 ± 4.1, 2.3 ± 5.0, and 4.5 ± 5.0 months for the valgus, unstable varus, and stable varus groups (p = 0.00005). These three types of idiopathic SCFEs demonstrated differences by age at diagnosis, sex, race, weight percentile, and duration of symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work is to investigate the multi-dimensional Black-Scholes partial differential equation with variable coefficients numerically. The problem is of practical importance due to option pricing at the presence of multi assets. Since by increasing the dimension, the curse of dimensionality restricts the computations, the proposed solver will be constructed based on sparse arrays. Toward this goal, fourth-order finite difference approximations on graded meshes are introduced and then employed through semi-discretization. Then a sixth-order Runge-Kutta solver is employed for finding the resolution of the derived set of ordinary differential equations. The stability of the proposed scheme is furnished in detail as well. Numerical testings are given to uphold the accuracy and efficacy of the proposed procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose and analyse a mathematical model of the transmission dynamics of cholera incorporating awareness programs to study the impact of socio-media and education on cholera outbreaks. These programs induce behavioural changes in the population, which divide the susceptible class into two subclasses, aware individuals and unaware individuals. We first provide a basic study of the model. We compute the Disease-Free Equilibrium (DFE) and derive the basic reproduction number R 0 0 that determines the extinction and the persistence of the disease. We show that there exists a threshold parameter ξ such that when R 0 0 ≤ ξ < 1 , the DFE is globally asymptotically stable, but when ξ ≤ R 0 0 < 1 , the model exhibits the phenomenon of backward bifurcation on a feasible region. The model exhibits one endemic equilibrium locally stable when R 0 0 > 1 and in that condition the DFE is unstable. Various cases for awareness proportions are performed using the critical awareness rate in order to measure the effect of awareness programs on the infected individuals over time. The results we obtained show that the higher implementation of strategies combining awareness programs and therapeutic treatments increase the efficacy of control measures. The numerical simulations of the model are used to illustrate analytical results and give more precision on critical values on the controls actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CoFe/Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 S@NS-CNTs/CC exhibits an ultralow overpotential of 110 mV at 10 mA•cm−2 and a stable operation for 300 h at a large current density of 500 mA•cm−2. DFT calculations reveal that bimetal components, the build-in interfacial potential and surface chemical reconstruction can adjust Fermi levels to optimize the thermodynamic formation of O* to OOH*, thus enhancing the intrinsic activity. [Display omitted] • CF/CFS@NS-CNTs/CC achieves with an ultralow overpotential of 110 mV at 10 mA•cm−2. • Stable operation for 300 h at 500 mA•cm−2 and 788 h for Zn-air battery. • The stability is due to carbon layer and binding force between catalyst and matrix. • The property is due to interface electronic interaction and surface reconstruction. The realization of durable and efficient oxygen evolution reactions (OER) at large current densities and low overpotentials is of significant importance but remains a great challenge. In this study, a CoFe/Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 S@NS-CNTs/CC (CF/CFS@NS-CNTs/CC) heterogeneous structure was fabricated by isolating CoFe/Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 S (CF/CFS) particles locked in nitrogen/sulfur codoped carbon nanotubes (NS-CNTs). Appreciable oxygen evolution reaction activity and durability was achieved with an ultralow overpotential of 110 mV at 10 mA•cm−2. The operation was stable for 300 h at a current density of 500 mA•cm−2. The structure was then assembled into a zinc-air battery (ZAB), which delivered a high power density of 194 mW•cm−2, a specific capacity of 837.3 mAh•g Zn -1, and stable operation for 788 h without obvious voltage attenuation and altered morphology. The electronic interactions were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which revealed that both the bimetal components and the synergistic effect at the interface stimulated the transfer of Co and Fe sites to higher chemical valence states. Theoretical calculations indicated that the synergistic effect of the bimetal components, build-in interfacial potential, and surface chemical reconstruction adjusted the Fermi level to optimize the thermodynamic formation of O* to OOH*, thus enhancing the intrinsic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]