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Bilayer hydrogels composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) and poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide) (P(AAc-co-AAm)) are commonly utilized as anisotropic hydrogels with temperature and pH sensitivity. Nonetheless, PNIPAm is known to possess poor mechanical properties, a slow thermal response, and brittleness, which greatly restricts its application for temperature sensitivity. In order to overcome these limitations, a semi-interpenetrating network (semi-IPN) structure was created by combining PNIPAm with sodium alginate. This structure effectively addressed the issue of PNIPAm’s brittleness, increased its tensile stress, and improved its tensile strain. Notably, a porogen such as sodium carbonate was incorporated to increase the porosity of the thermo-sensitive layer hydrogel, resulting in a faster thermal response rate. The bilayer hydrogel obtained can be used as a bidirectional hydrogel driver with both temperature and pH sensitivity. Mechanical manipulation through temperature changes or pH shifts can cause significant deformation in the hydrogel, making it a promising material for soft actuator applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP) techniques are promising solutions for repairing cracks in reinforced concrete (RC) structures when exposed to a harsh chloride environment. By means of the lattice network method, this study numerically investigates the entire MICP-induced healing process from crack closure to inhibition of chloride transport of the microbial self-healing concrete by coupling the following two models: (1) the crack self-healing model; and (2) chloride diffusion model. The crack self-healing model provides visualization of the reduction of local crack widths induced by MICP. The chloride concentration distribution is quantitatively reflected through the chloride diffusion model. In addition, an empirical formula is employed to represent the relationship between diffusion coefficients of cracks in the chloride diffusion model and the time-varying crack width obtained from the crack self-healing model. The reduction of crack widths and the distribution of chloride within microbial self-healing concrete are determined through numerical calculations. The simulation reliability is validated based on comparisons with the available literature. Simulation results demonstrate that the MICP-induced crack healing effectively impedes chloride transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noisy trapdoor claw-free function (NTCF) is a powerful post-quantum cryptographic tool that can efficiently constrain actions of untrusted quantum devices within a classical–quantum interactive cryptographic model. Although NTCF is powerful, its essence remains a 2-to-1 one-way function (NTCF 2 1 ), which is inefficient in some cryptographic tasks. This raises an intriguing question: Can NTCF be extended to higher dimensions based on standard cryptographic hardness assumptions? Inspired by the extrapolated dihedral cosets, this work focuses on developing many-to-one trapdoor claw-free functions with polynomially bounded preimage sizes. The main results can be summarized as follows: Firstly, we introduce the definition of κ -to-1 NTCF κ 1 where κ is a polynomial integer, and present an efficient construction of NTCF κ 1 assuming quantum hardness of the learning with errors (LWE) problem. Secondly, we illustrate a key application of NTCFs in establishing a reduction from the LWE problem to the dihedral coset problems (DCPs). Specifically, our approach, leveraging NTCF 2 1 (resp. NTCF κ 1 ), reveals a new quantum reduction pathway from the LWE problem to the DCP (resp. an extrapolated version of DCP). This reduction is the core cryptographic analysis tool for studying the resistance of lattice problems against quantum attacks. Finally, we demonstrate that NTCF κ 1 can be further reduced to NTCF 2 1 , thus preserving its usefulness in proofs of quantumness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientifically validating the value of rural heritage and exploring construction wisdom has emerged as a significant challenge in the study of rural settlements worldwide. Rural heritage shows significant differences according to the natural environment, history, culture, and socio-economic factors. However, the assessment of the authenticity and effectiveness of heritage values have yet to be quantified due to the difficulty in obtaining evidence directly from samples. By constructing a multi-dimensional model of villages for quantitative analysis, we proposed a multifaceted spatial visibility analysis method based on individual and combined defense structures to empirically study the remains of eight towers in Moluo village, western China. This study demonstrated that towers serve as regional defense structures and are essential for constructing a comprehensive and effective visual defensive system (VDS) in Moluo village, a typical military defense village. The effectiveness and coverage of the towers vary depending on their location, height, type, and other factors. They form a complementary and synergistic relationship, playing a dual mechanism of public and private, local and overall defense. In summary, this method enables the feasible quantification and analysis of the functional value of rural heritage through landscape visual analysis. It provides a new perspective for studying the authenticity of heritage functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study, carbon fiber as porous media, water and vapor as liquid and gas phases, respectively, the evaporation process of multiphase fluid in carbon fiber was explored based on the pore network model. The Micro-CT technology was adopted to reconstruct the structure of carbon fiber. The applicability of the CFD model adopted in the simulation was validated by experiment. Effect of heating temperature and porosity on the evaporation process was investigated in detail. The study found that at various heating temperatures, fluid temperature increases gradually with time, and tends to be constant when it reaches a certain temperature. When heating temperature is high, the constant temperature is large, the time to arrive the constant temperature is short. The liquid evaporation rate Ve and the heat absorbed by the fluid every 0.5 s Q0.5 increase first, and decrease gradually when a maximum value is reached. When the heating temperature is high, the maximum that Ve and Q0.5 can be obtained is also large, the required time is also short. In porous media with different porosity, fluid temperature rises to an approximate constant. Ve and Q0.5 increase first, and decrease gradually after reaching a certain maximum value. The maximum values of Ve and Q0.5 in porous media with porosity of 0.598 are the largest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) may experience autogenous and drying shrinkage due to a high content of cementitious materials, lower aggregate content, and smaller aggregate size, resulting in concrete cracking and other durability issues. In order to solve these problems, shrinkage-reducing materials have been proposed and studied, such as polypropylene fiber, lightweight fine aggregate, and expansive admixtures. However, investigation of the combined effect of the aforementioned three shrinkage-reducing materials on SCC is still unreported. This study examined the influence of polypropylene fiber (0.05%, 0.1%, 0.15% of the volume of the concrete), prewetted lightweight aggregate (10%, 20%, 40% of the volume of the fine aggregate), and expansive agent (0%, 8% of the cementitious materials weight) on the shrinkage of concrete during a seven-day curing period under two curing conditions, sealed cure and top-surface exposure cure. The results showed that it was more effective to mitigate early age shrinkage by adding lightweight aggregate alone than by adding polypropylene fiber alone. In the sealed cure (S-Cure) condition, adding 10% lightweight aggregate compensated for shrinkage, and 0.1% polypropylene fiber content exhibited the highest shrinkage reduction. With the top-surface exposure cure (TE-Cure) condition, 20% lightweight aggregate compensated for shrinkage, and 0.15% content polypropylene fiber showed the highest shrinkage mitigation. It showed that the shrinkage of concrete, which has low polypropylene (PP) fiber content (0.05% and 0.10%) and no expansive agent added, was decreased with the increase of lightweight aggregate content. At a high content of PP fiber of 0.15%, the incorporation of lightweight aggregate did not exhibit significant influence on shrinkage reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil moisture is an important component of the soil–vegetation–atmosphere terrestrial hydrological cycle and is an important factor affecting terrestrial ecosystems. In the context of extensive vegetation greening on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), it is important to investigate the effect of vegetation greening on soil moisture to maintain ecosystem stability and protect the sustainability of ecological restoration projects. To evaluate the effect of vegetation greening on soil moisture on the TP, the spatial distribution and trends of soil moisture and vegetation on the TP were analyzed using GIMMS NDVI data and ERA5 soil moisture data from 1982 to 2015. The effects of grassland NDVI, precipitation, and temperature on SM were also explored using multiple regression apparent and SEM. The main results are as follows: from 1982 to 2015, both grassland NDVI and SM showed a stable increasing trend. Precipitation was the most important factor influencing SM changes on the TP. In the context that vegetation greening is mainly influenced by temperature increase, vegetation plays a dominant role in SM changes in soil drying and soil wetting zones. In this paper, the climate–vegetation–soil moisture coupling mechanism of grasslands on the TP is investigated, and the related results can provide some theoretical references and suggestions for global ecosystem conservation and the sustainable development of ecological restoration projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclone (TC) translation distance, proportional to its duration and translation speed, basically determines the spatial extent of TC-impacted marine and terrestrial areas. Although a long-term slowdown of TCs has recently been reported, changes in translation distance of TCs over the western North Pacific (WNP) and their driving mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using multiple TC datasets, here we find that the trends are opposite in overland translation distance of landfall WNP TCs over China and excluding China, with the number of landfalls in the two groups being almost the same. However, the increase in overland translation distance of landfall TCs over China is offset by a greater decrease in that excluding China, with the result that the overland translation distance of TCs over the WNP has declined (−4.0% decade−1). The oversea translation distance of TCs over the WNP also shows a decreasing trend (−2.4% decade−1), and thus the genesis-to-demise translation distance of TCs over the WNP has significantly decreased (by 17.7%) during 1961–2019. The shorter duration and reduced translation speed of TCs directly and jointly contribute (by 76.9% and 23.1%, respectively) to their shortened translation distance. The gradual increase in westerly and northerly winds and weaker moisture transport during the days following TC generation tend to inhibit long-distance travel after TC genesis. Declining TC translation distance is likely associated with the long-term increases in genesis potential index and an anomalous cyclonic steering flow over the WNP. Our findings suggest that these changes in TC translation distance may alter regional patterns of TC-related drying and wetting of the WNP. Significance Statement: The spatial extent affected by a tropical cyclone (TC) is largely determined by TC translation distance. For example, TCs passing through marine areas could cool sea surface temperature and modulate local air–sea heat fluxes exchange; TCs with longer translation distances over land are more likely to trigger widespread flooding or terminate droughts in inland areas. Over the western North Pacific (WNP), we find that observational evidence supports opposite trends in overland translation distance of landfall TCs over China and excluding China. Nevertheless, the genesis-to-demise translation distance of TCs shows a significant decline over the WNP during the past six decades. Understanding the impacts of changes in TC translation distance has particular importance given the extensive footprint of TC-related drying and wetting of the marine and terrestrial areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Searching for two-dimensional materials combining both magnetic order and topological order is of great significance for quantum devices and spintronic devices. Here, a class of two-dimensional transition metal borides, TM2B3 (TM = Ti–Ni), with high stability and stable antiferromagnetic (AFM) orders was predicted by using the first-principles method. The result shows that they possess large magnetic anisotropy energy and high critical temperature. Interestingly, Mn2B3 monolayer is confirmed to be AFM Dirac node line semimetal with several Dirac points near the Fermi level. Detailed analysis of the irreducible representations shows that the nodal lines are protected by the horizontal mirror symmetry Mz. Our findings provide an excellent platform for exploring topological and magnetic materials ready for the next generation of spintronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the state estimation problem is investigated for a kind of time-delayed artificial neural networks subject to gain perturbations under the adaptive event-triggering scheme. To avoid wasting resources, the event-triggering scheme is adopted during the data transmission process from the sensors to the estimator where the triggering threshold can be dynamically adjusted. By means of the Lyapunov stability theory, sufficient conditions are provided to ensure that the estimation error dynamics achieves both the asymptotical stability and the l 2 - l ∞ performance. The desired non-fragile estimator gain is parameterised by solving certain matrix inequalities. At last, the usefulness of the proposed event-based non-fragile state estimator is shown via a numerical simulation example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: With the rapid development of global electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and aerospace, lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) have become more and more widely used due to their high property. More and more disasters are caused by battery combustion. Among them, the temperature prediction of LIBs is the key to prevent the occurrence of fire. At present, using surface temperature sensor to measure the temperature of LIBs is the main method. High‐capacity LIB packs used in electric vehicles and grid‐tied stationary energy storage system essentially consist of thousands of individual LIB cells. Therefore, installing a physical sensor at each cell, especially at the cell core, is not practically feasible from the solution cost, space, and weight point of view. So developing a new method for battery temperature prediction has become an urgent problem to be solved. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a widely applied non‐destructive method of characterization of LIBs. In recent years, methods of predicting LIBs temperature by EIS have been developed. The prediction of LIBs temperature based on EIS has the advantages of high real‐time performance and prediction accuracy, and the device is simple and practical. The proposed method has a good development prospect in electric vehicles and other fields and can effectively solve the current problems of LIBs temperature prediction. Therefore, it is urgent to summarize these works to promote the next development. This review summarizes the main methods of using EIS to predict the temperature of LIBs in recent years, including the methods based on the impedance, phase shift, and intercept frequency. The principle and application of various methods are reviewed. The advantages and disadvantages of different methods and the future development direction are discussed. Highlights: Use EIS to quickly and effectively predict the internal temperature changes of LIBs.No hardware temperature sensors and thermal model are required.The methods to predict battery temperature based on impedance, phase shift, and intercept frequency are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the partial-neuron-based finite-time state estimation problem for a class of artificial neural networks with time-varying delays. Measurements information from only a small fractional of the artificial neurons are applied to the state estimation process. The data transmission from the sensor to estimator is implemented via a bit-rate constrained communication channel, and a data encoding–decoding scheme is developed to convert the original analog sensor measurements into certain digital codewords with fewer occupations of the network bandwidth. With the help of the Lyapunov stability theory, sufficient conditions are presented to guarantee the finite-time boundedness of the estimation error and the estimator gain matrix is parameterized in terms of the solution to certain matrix inequalities. Finally, a numerical example is provided to further confirm the effectiveness of the proposed state estimation scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the gain-scheduled state estimation issue is investigated for a kind of complex networks subject to randomly occurring nonlinearities under bit-rate constraints. An array of random variables is introduced to govern the nonlinearities whose occurring probability is a time-varying but bounded value with known upper and lower bounds. A bit-rate constraint model is established and an encoding–decoding mechanism is proposed, under which an upper bound of the decoding error is acquired. The primary purpose of the issue considered in this paper is to design a gain-scheduled state estimator to obtain an estimate of the network state with an acceptable accuracy according to available output measurements. By means of the stochastic analysis and Lyapunov stability theory, a sufficient condition is provided such that the estimation error dynamics achieve the exponentially mean-square ultimate boundedness. The required estimator gain matrix is parameterized by solving a series of matrix inequalities. A numerical simulation is exploited to show the usefulness of the obtained gain-scheduled state estimator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reveal a symbol – "however" that authors are very interested in, but few research studies pay attention to the existing literature. The authors aim to further insight its function. Design/methodology/approach: In this research, the authors selected 3,329 valid comments on articles published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) from 2015 to 2020 as the research objects. The authors showed the length distribution of reviewers' comments. In what follows, the authors analyzed the general distribution of words in comments and reviewer comments' position to understand reviewers' comments qualitatively in word dimension. Specially, the authors analyzed functions of "however" and "but", words that authors are most concerned with. In addition, the authors also discussed some factors, which may be related to "however," that reflect reviewers' praise through regression analysis. Findings: The authors found that there are marked differences in the length of reviewers' comments under different review rounds. By mapping the reviewers' comments to different sections, the authors found that reviewers are deeply concerned to methods section. Adjectives and adverbs in comments written in different sections of the manuscripts also have different characteristics. The authors tried to interpret the turning function of "however" in scientific communication. Its frequency of use is related to reviewers' identities, specifically academic status. More precisely, junior researchers use "however" in praise more frequently than senior researchers do. Research limitations/implications: The linguistic feature and function of "however" and "but" in the reviewers' comments of the rejected manuscripts may be different from accepted papers and also worth exploring. Regrettably, the authors cannot obtain the peer review comments of rejected manuscripts. This point may limit the conclusion of the investigation of this article. Originality/value: Overall, the survey results revealed some language features of reviewers' comments, which could provide a basis of future endeavors for many reviewers in open peer review (OPR) field. Specially, the authors also put forward an interesting symbol to examine the review comments, "however", for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Implementing carbon neutrality and emission peak policies requires a high‐level electric vehicle field. Lithium‐ion batteries have been considered an essential component of electric vehicle power batteries. Effective state of charge (SOC) estimation for lithium‐ion batteries is a critical problem that needs to be addressed at present. With the feature extraction and fitting capability, the neural network can achieve accurate SOC estimation without considering the internal electrochemical state of the battery. This article overviews the definition of SOC and the relationship with battery aging state. Then, by examining recent literature on estimating the SOC of Lithium‐ion batteries using neural network methods, the methods are classified into three categories: feed‐forward neural network method, deep learning method, and hybrid method. The progress of neural network methods in SOC estimation applications is systematically reviewed, including principles, advantages, disadvantages, current status, and estimation errors. Possible recommendations for next‐generation intelligent battery management systems and SOC estimation are also presented. This review's highlighted insights will inspire researchers in the battery field and point the way to developing electric vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solid-liquid flow field is established in the stirred reactor with baffles and draft tube. Mixing time and suspension quality of the flow field are studied. Based on the Eulerian multiphase flow model and RNG k−ε turbulence model, the CFD model is established for the simulation research. By comparing the experimental data of solid concentration distribution and mixing time with the simulated values, it is proved that the CFD model established can be used to study the flow field in the stirred reactor. The effects of stirring speed, liquid viscosity and solid particle size on mixing time and suspension quality are considered. With the increase of stirring speed, mixing time decreases, mixing uniformity is improved. Mixing time decreases first, then increases slightly with the increase of liquid viscosity, and the suspension quality is improved. When the solid particle size increases, mixing time increases rapidly, but the mixing uniformity becomes worse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Burkholderia pseudomallei (B. pseudomallei), as a highly pathogenic organism, causes melioidosis, which is a disease of public health importance in many tropical developing countries. Here, we present and validate a novel detection technique, termed multiple cross displacement amplification combined with nanoparticles-based lateral flow biosensor (MCDA-NB), for identifying B. pseudomallei and diagnosing melioidosis. Results: B. pseudomallei-MCDA targets the TTS1 (Type III secretion system gene cluster 1) to specifically design ten MCDA primers. The nanoparticles-based biosensor (NB) can be combined with B. pseudomallei-MCDA for visually, objective, simply and rapidly reporting reaction results. The optimal amplification conditions of B. pseudomallei-MCDA were 66 °C for 30 min. Assay's sensitivity was 100 fg of genomic DNA in the pure cultures, and the analytical specificity was 100% by the examination of 257 strains, including 228 B. pseudomallei and 29 non-B. pseudomallei. As a result, the whole detection procedure was completed within 50 min, including 15 min for genomic DNA preparation, 30 min for l MCDA reaction, and 2 min for the interpretation of the results visually by biosensor. Conclusions: B. pseudomallei-MCDA assay is a rapid, sensitive and specific method for the detection of B. pseudomallei, and can be used as a potential tool for melioidosis diagnose in basic, field and clinical laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polypropylene (PP) membrane with low porosity and poor hydrophilicity limits the performance of lithium-ion batteries. In mechanism, the function of amorphous structure of precursor film on microporous structure of PP membrane is yet unknown. In this work, the porous and hydrophilic PP/reduced hydroxyl-modified polypropylene (PPrOH) membrane was fabricated by blending esterified-PPOH firstly and then hydrolyzing to introduce the hydrogen bond in amorphous region and avoid phase separation. The results showed that the hydrogen bond was successfully introduced into the amorphous region of PP/PPrOH film and led to an increase of physical crosslinking points. Therefore, a large region of microphase separation emerged in the PP/PPrOH membrane after cold stretching, which resulted in a 45.6 % increase of porosity at maximum compared to the PP membrane. Besides, the hydrophilicity of PP/PPrOH membrane was improved with the blend content exceeding 10 wt%. Eventually, the lithium-ion conductivity of PP/PPrOH-10 membrane enhanced by 37.5 % over the base PP membrane. This work provides a novel perspective for preparing hydrophilic PP membrane with high porosity. [Display omitted] • Introducing hydrogen bond in amorphous of PP film by melt blending with PPrOH. • Hydrogen crosslinking in amorphous results in more region of microphase separation at stretching. • Addition of PPrOH increases porosity by 45.6 % and enhances lithium-ion conductivity by 37.5 % compared to PP membrane. • Crosslinking density in amorphous is positively correlated with porosity of membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sedimentary records indicate that subtropical and mid-latitude East Asia exhibited considerable drying and wetting, respectively, during the mid-Cretaceous, which is considered to be relevant to much higher atmospheric carbon dioxide (p CO 2) concentrations and/or proto-Tibetan Plateau (proto-TP) uplift. In order to explore and compare their roles on the East Asian climate evolution, we conducted simulations of the mid-Cretaceous climate system with different atmospheric p CO 2 levels and varying topographies. The results show that both factors had significant influences on the East Asian climate. As the increase in atmospheric p CO 2 levels from ∼560–1120 ppmv to ∼1120–2240 ppmv, the precipitation increases considerably over mid-latitude East Asia, but only small changes in the subtropical portion of East Asia occur. Simultaneously, the effects of the proto-TP uplift are opposite to those of global warming trend during that period. Generally, it leads to a precipitation decrease over subtropical East Asia, but rather minor changes over mid-latitude East Asia. These changes are qualitatively consistent with the deduction based on the geological records, but the magnitudes of the modeled precipitation changes are relatively smaller. Therefore, we can conclude that the subtropical East Asian drying during the mid-Cretaceous can be partly explained by the proto-TP uplift, while the mid-latitude East Asian wetting was partly due to global warming. However, additional factor(s) also played a significant role in the East Asian climate evolution during the mid-Cretaceous. • East Asian climate evolution was dependent on the latitude of the proto-Tibetan Plateau in the deep past; • Global warming induced wetting at mid-latitude East Asian in the mid-Cretaceous; • The proto-Tibetan Plateau uplift led to drying in the subtropical East Asian in the mid-Cretaceous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is concerned with the joint estimation problem for a class of nonlinear systems with the simultaneous unknown of the system state, the parameter, as well as the input signal. A composite estimation scheme is proposed where the estimator consists of both linear and nonlinear components, under which the estimation performance is improved. The analysis and synthesis issues of the developed estimation algorithm are addressed for both the continuous‐time case and the discrete‐time case. By utilizing the Lyapunov stability theory combined with the singular value decomposition technique, sufficient conditions are established for both continuous‐time and discrete‐time cases to guarantee the convergence of the estimation error, rather than the boundedness in most of the existing literature. To facilitate the algorithm implementation in practical engineering, the Newton–Raphson method is adopted to deal with the feasibility issue for the discrete‐time case. Numerical simulations are provided for both the continuous‐ and discrete‐time cases to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed joint estimation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study, carbon fiber as porous medium, polycarbosilane-xylene solution and air as fluid, the heat and mass transfer in porous media was investigated. CT images of micro pores were obtained by applying Micro-CT technology. Based on the reconstruction model, 3D structure reconstruction was carried out. The surface tension model and contact angle model were introduced to establish the CFD model for simulation, which was verified by experiments. The effects of feed pressure P and liquid viscosity μ on the mass and heat transfer were systematically studied. It was found that under different P , the liquid holdup α , average temperature T and heat Q absorbed by liquid phase increase with time until stable. The larger the P , the smaller the stable values of T and Q. When μ was larger, the breakthrough time was longer, and the time for T and Q to reach stable values was longer. [Display omitted] • Mass and heat transfer of multiphase flow in the porous media was studied. • CT images of pores were obtained by applying Micro-CT technology and optimized. • Structure and meshing were carried out based on reconstruction model. • Surface tension and contact angle models were introduced to establish CFD model. • Effects of feed pressure and liquid viscosity were studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by porous smart gel materials, we designed pH-responsive polymer-modified silica microspheres as liquid chromatography stationary phase materials by a one-step strategy. The free radicals generated by the oxidation of dopamine are used to initiate the cross-linking polymerization of functional monomers. At the same time, the good adhesion of dopamine enables the polymer to be modified on silica. The hydrophilicity of this new stationary phase can change in response to the pH of the mobile phase and the stationary phase has weaker hydrophilicity under acidic (pH = 3.78) mobile phase conditions and stronger hydrophilicity under neutral mobile phase conditions. The hydrophilicity difference of the stationary phase leads to the selectivity difference in separation. To evaluate the chromatographic performance of this new stationary phase, 10 oligosaccharides and 9 nucleosides/bases were separated on this stationary phase. This paper will provide good guidance for us to achieve more pH-responsive hydrophilic/hydrophobic stationary phases in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cracking of concrete induced by rebar corrosion is a main cause for deterioration of reinforced concrete structures especially for those exposed to chloride environment. In all of the parameters influencing the service life of concrete structures, water‐to‐cement ratio is a very important one for it determines the resistance of concrete against chloride aggression and corrosion‐induced damage. In this paper, the parameters in corrosion process influenced by water‐to‐cement ratio of concrete (w/c) are screened all‐round which include concrete tensile strength ft, elastic modulus Ec, porous zone thickness δ0, corrosion current density icorr, critical chloride content Ccr, and chloride diffusion coefficient Dcl. The influences of w/c on the chloride penetration stage and the corrosion damage stage are studied. The first stage is expressed by Fick's second law, and the second stage is calculated using a commonly used analytical model, i.e. the thick‐walled cylinder model. It is found that with the increase of w/c, the change of some parameters (ft↑, Ccr↑, Dcl↓, icorr↓) will induce increase of the service life, while the change of the others (Ec↑, δ0↓) will induce decrease of the service life. The diffusion stage and damage stage both shorten with the increase of w/c, and thus the total service life decreases with the increase of w/c. These results show that the increase of w/c presents a negative effect on the service life of concrete structures in total. In addition, with the increase of w/c, the service life for various concrete cover thicknesses and rebar diameters decrease in a similar tendency. For probability analyses, it is found that the probability density curves under different w/c are almost symmetric but show a little left‐skewed, and the total service life for various w/c fluctuates about 0.6 to 1.0 year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The involvement of aberrantly expressed genes in the pathogenesis and progression of various human malignancies has been widely reported, including clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). This study aimed to identify potential crucial genes in ccRCC and further investigate the role of these genes in ccRCC prognosis. Three gene expression profiles (GSE3, GSE6344 and GSE53000) were downloaded from GEO database. GEO2R was performed to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ccRCC and normal samples. GO analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were applied for the function analysis. The DEGs were mapped into the PPI network, then the hub genes were identified and verified using the ONCOMINE database. Kaplan–Meier plotter was used to evaluate of the prognostic value of the identified hub genes. A total of 113 DEGs were identified from the three gene expression profiles, including 64 up-regulated genes and 69 down-regulated genes. DEGs were observed to be enriched in biological processes related to the progress and pathogenesis of human cancers. According to PPI network, 5 hub genes were collected, including TYROBP, C1QB, ITGB2, CD53 and FCER1G. Among them, CD53 was newly identified, and Kaplan–Meier survival curves suggested that high expression of CD53 was significantly associated with poor survival in ccRCC patients (log-rank P < 0.01). The present results may provide new insight into the understanding of molecular mechanisms and the clinical prognosis of ccRCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of the concrete cracking induced by rebar corrosion is necessary for accurately clarifying the durability and predicting the service life of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. The fact that rust penetration into cracks might decrease corrosion expansion has been realized but not sufficiently investigated. In this paper, a numerical approach in terms of the mesoscopic structure of concrete is used to simulate the corrosion-induced concrete cracking, and the lattice network model to account for rust penetration into cracks is developed by assuming that the movement of rust is driven by moisture convection. The total rust amount is calculated based on Faraday's law, and the rust expansion is transformed to a radial displacement boundary condition for both uniform and nonuniform conditions. Rust penetration is assumed to be a convection process governed by Darcy's law. The proposed model is confirmed by comparing cracking pattern, corrosion pressure, surface crack width, mass ratio of penetrated rust to total rust (ΔWpe/ΔWtotal), and volume ratio of cracks occupied by rust to total cracks (Vrustcrack/Vcracktotal) with available experimental and numerical results. It is found that the distribution and the amount of penetrated rust are closely related to the volume of cracks and the connection of crack networks. Besides, through sensitivity analysis of influencing factors for rust penetration, it is found that a higher dissolved degree of rust in moisture induces a higher ΔWpe/ΔWtotal , but it doesn't influence Vrustcrack/Vcracktotal. A larger relative water content at the concrete-steel interface will induce higher ΔWpe/ΔWtotal and Vrustcrack/Vcracktotal , while the initial relative water content in concrete has no significant difference on either ΔWpe/ΔWtotal or Vrustcrack/Vcracktotal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents atmospheric‐pressure plasma as a novel catalyst‐free pretreatment method for raw wheat straw (RWS) biomass. The work explores the effects of processing parameters, such as milled particle size, moisture content of RWS, and plasma generations, on pretreatment efficiency. To understand the mechanisms behind the enhanced pretreatment efficiency, various analysis techniques were used to analyze the physical and chemical properties of RWS before and after pretreatment. The analysis reveals that plasma pretreatment significantly damages the surface smoothness of RWS and enhances the decomposition of lignocellulosic structures. These effects are primarily attributed to the reactive species generated by the pulsed discharge, rather than the accompanying UV radiation, acidification, or heating actions during plasma pretreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a spring–mass physical model is proposed to study the complex band structure of a one-dimensional parity-time (PT)-symmetric local resonant phononic crystal. By solving the kinetic equations, the analytical solutions of the dispersion relation and effective mass are obtained. As is known, the infinite effective mass would appear at the resonant frequency in a Hermitian system without any gain or loss. Once the balanced gain and loss are added to form a PT-symmetric system, the infinite effective mass would become finite, and the exceptional points can be observed in the subwavelength realm. With the increase in gain and loss, exceptional points would coalesce and form a higher order one. The numerical simulations in a practical structure agree well with the analytical analysis. In addition, the simulated transmission/reflection spectrum and field distribution clearly demonstrate the anisotropic transmission resonances. Our investigation enriches the physical connotation of local resonant phononic crystals in non-Hermitian systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Dopamine-assisted flowing synthesis for immobilization of nano-Cu on ceramic membrane. • Nano-Cu with high loading amount and good dispersity throughout the membrane structure. • Synergistic effect between filtration and nano-Cu catalysis enhances 4-NP reduction. • Excellent stability and antifouling property of the composite membrane. Catalytic membranes containing metal nano-catalysts are effective in removing organic pollutants from wastewater. The relative low catalytic activity of the non-noble metals (such as Cu nanoparticles) presents a challenge for their widespread application. Herein, Cu nanoparticles were in-situ immobilized on ceramic substrate by a dopamine assisted flowing synthesis method to strengthen its catalytic property. Firstly, a precursor solution containing dopamine and Cu2+ was cyclically permeated through the ceramic microfiltration substrate to form a polydopamine coating with chelated Cu2+. Then, Cu nanoparticles were in-situ formed with the aid of NaBH 4. FESEM, EDS, XPS and XRD analyses demonstrate the successful formation of the Cu nanoparticles. The obtained membrane depicts good hydrophilicity and permeability (556.51 L m-2h−1 at 0.1 MPa). In the continuous catalytic degradation under cross-flow filtration mode, the membrane achieves 90.84 % reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and 92.36 % degradation rate of methyl orange (MO). The large amount of Cu nanoparticles immobilized within the membrane pores (form inner-pore microreactors) enhance the catalytic activity of the membrane, resulting in an apparent reaction rate constant of 38.78 min−1 on the permeation side. The composite membrane has good antifouling and easy-cleaning properties (the flux recovery rate is 84.3 %). In long-term experiments, the catalytic degradation rate of MO remains above 96 % throughout 50 cycles, demonstrating good stability. This study provides a novel strategy for developing catalytic membrane with immobilized non-noble metal nanoparticles, which has potential applications in environmental remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of core–shell composite material was prepared and applied as a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) stationary phase. In this work, silica spheres were first modified with a bimetallic central metal–organic framework (ZnCoMOF) by a new strategy of static self-assembled in situ growth. This strategy was beneficial for increasing the electrostatic interaction between the MOF ligand and silica via introducing a sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) group. The ZnCoMOF@silica stationary phase was characterized and evaluated in comparison with amino-modified and bare silica columns in terms of various polar analytes including eight nucleosides and nucleobases, seven carbohydrates, and multiple sulfonamides and antibiotics. The effects of organic solvent concentration, water content, the concentration of the salt and the pH of the buffer solution on the retention time were studied, which demonstrated the typical retention behavior of HILIC on the ZnCoMOF@silica column. Compared with most reported MOF-based stationary phases, the new composite material showed excellent hydrophilic properties and separation efficiency for various polar analytes. Moreover, the obtained stationary phase showed good reproducibility and stability. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the retention time for repeatability was found to range from 0.1% to 0.6%, and the RSD of the retention time for stability was found to range from 0.3% to 0.7%. Furthermore, the column batch-to-batch reproducibility showed excellent preparation reproducibility, which few reported in most previous MOF@silica composite materials. This specific preparation method offers an easy and novel way to manipulate the amount of MOF particles on silica, which extends a universal way to produce various MOF@silica stationary phases by the method of static self-assembled in situ growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In typical well-known cryptosystem, the hardness of classical problems plays a fundamental role in ensuring its security. While, with the booming of quantum computation, some classical hard problems tend to be vulnerable when confronted with the already-known quantum attacks, as a result, it is necessary to develop the post-quantum cryptosystem to resist the quantum attacks. With the purpose to bridge the two disciplines, it is significant to summarize known quantum algorithms and their threats toward these cryptographic intractable problems from a perspective of cryptanalysis. In this paper, we discussed the designing methodology, algorithm framework and latest progress of the mathematic hard problems on which the typical cryptosystems depend, including integer factorization problem, discrete logarithmic problem and its variants, lattice problem, dihedral hidden subgroup problems and extrapolated dihedral coset problem. It illustrated the reason why some cryptosystems such as RSA and ECC are not resistant to quantum attacks, yet some of them like lattice cryptosystems remain intact facing quantum attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle Triassic epoch is the key to understanding the environment changes after the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. The Anisian Badong Formation is a carbonate and siliciclastic succession deposited on the Yangtze Platform, Upper Yangtze Block. In this paper, we use facies analysis combined with sequence stratigraphy of the Badong Formation in the Nashuixi section, Yangtze Block, to discuss the Anisian relative sea-level changes. Microfacies analyses were used to define ten microfacies in four depositional facies zones (tidal flat, restricted platform, restricted to open platform, and open platform) indicating an epeiric platform depositional environment. The lowstand, transgressive, and highstand systems tracts and two sequences were identified. Sequence stratigraphy interpretations indicate that relative sea-level at Nashuixi experienced two rises in the Middle Anisian, which is correlated with those in the Yangtze Block, confirming that sea-level changes during the Anisian were of eustatic origin. However, a distinct regression at Nashuixi occurred in the late Bithynian to IIIyrian while the global sea-level rose, which is likely to be caused by interference from regional tectonics during IIIyrian. The carbon and oxygen isotopic shifts in the Nashuixi section exhibit two negative-values stage in the time near end of Aegean and early Pelsonian, which is well correlated with the global typical sections, indicating two middle Anisian warming events. Our study indicated that the relative sea-level at Nashuixi was controlled by global sea-level change and regional tectonics (Indosinian Orogeny), and the C and O isotopes records respond to global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to reveal impacts of a nuclear power plant on environmental radioactivity and public health since commission in the South China Sea. After long-term monitoring, it turns out that radioactivity in ambient air environment, water, soil, sweet potato, rice, chicken, lamb, butterfish and prawn meet demands of national environment protection standards and food safety standards in China. After 6 years' statistic check of local residents, the top tree diseases before and after the plant's commission remained pulmonary tuberculosis, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, and hepatitis B. Incidence of malignant tumor did not rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 3D solid matrix and pore space models of porous media are established. • A suitable mathematical model for the transport of gas–liquid flow is established. • Feed pressure, surface tension coefficient and contact angle are studied. Ceramic matrix composite of carbon fiber framework reinforced by silicon carbide (Cf/SiC) is a new material with excellent properties. In order to improve its preparation process, the flow of polycarbosilane solution in carbon fiber is studied based on the computational fluid dynamics method. CT images of carbon fiber porous media are obtained by Micro-CT imaging technology and optimized by means of ImageJ software. The 3D solid matrix and pore space models of carbon fiber porous media are established by using Mimics software, and the pore space model is meshed. Using the computational fluid dynamics software Fluent, the VOF multiphase flow model is adopted, the surface tension model and contact angle model are introduced considering the micro-pore effect of porous media, and a suitable mathematical model for the transport of gas–liquid two-phase flow in carbon fiber porous media is established. The validity of CFD mathematical model is verified by comparing experimental data with simulation results. Based on the CFD simulation results, the effects of feed pressure, surface tension coefficient and contact angle on fluid flow are studied. It is found that the larger the feed pressure and contact angle, the more uniform the distribution of liquid phase, pressure and velocity in the medium, which is conducive to the flow of liquid phase in porous media. The larger the surface tension coefficient, the longer the breakthrough time of liquid, and the more uneven the liquid distribution. This study is helpful to understand the law of fluid transport in porous media and provides theoretical basis for the preparation of Cf/SiC composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of Lie theory, Lie groups have attained profound significance in several branches of Mathematics and Physics. In Lie theory, the matrix exponential plays a crucial role between Lie groups and Lie algebras. Meanwhile, as the finite analogue of Lie groups, finite groups of Lie type have potential applications in cryptography due to their unique mathematical structures. In this paper, we first put forward a novel idea of designing cryptosystems based on Lie theory. First of all, combing with discrete logarithm problem and group factorization problem, we proposed several new intractable assumptions based on the matrix exponential in finite groups of Lie type. Subsequently, in analog with Boyen's scheme (Asiacrypt 2007), we designed a public-key encryption scheme based on the non-abelian factorization problem in finite groups of Lie type. Finally, our proposal was proved to be indistinguishable against adaptively chosen-ciphertext attack in the random oracle model. It is encouraging that our scheme also has the potential to resist against Shor's quantum algorithm attack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the stabilization problem is investigated for a class of linear discrete-time systems in a resource-constrained network environment where only the data with finite bits is permitted to transmit. The data transmissions from the sensors to the controller are subject to random packet dropouts. To improve the reliability of the data transmission, a novel dynamical multiple description coding scheme is developed with guaranteed convergence of the decoding error. By recurring to the matrix inequality theory and the stochastic analysis technique, sufficient conditions are established to ensure the stochastic stability of the closed-loop system. Furthermore, a parametric relationship is discovered that characterizes the influences from the packet-dropout probabilities and the encoder parameters on the stability of the closed-loop system. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the validity of the proposed control scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic membranes supported with nano-catalysts have been widely used for wastewater treatment. The traditionally catalyst immobilization methods, such as physical blending, chemical deposition and impregnation et al., involve complex preparation steps. Herein, Ag nanoparticles were in-situ immobilized on a ceramic microfiltration substrate by a mussel-inspired facile metallization process. Firstly, dopamine was deposited onto the substrate (∼200 nm) to form a uniform polydopamine coating. Then, Ag nanoparticles were in-situ metalized and immobilized on the polydopamine decorated ceramic membrane. The preparation conditions were relatively simple without sintering. FTIR, XRD, FESEM and EDS characterizations demonstrate the successful immobilization of the Ag nanoparticles. The obtained membrane exhibits good hydrophilicity and permeability (606.08 L m−2 h−1 at 0.1 MPa). The degradation rate of methyl orange achieves ∼95.6% within 20 min. The apparent reaction rate constant reaches the highest value of 568.1 min−1 at 0.5 MPa, which is several orders of magnitude higher than that of the feed side. The composite membrane can degrade mixed dyes. The catalytic membrane also shows excellent stability and antifouling property. In conclusion, this research provides a convenient and effective way for preparing a kind of composite catalytic membrane with high performance, which has potential applications in environmental remediation. [Display omitted] • Mussel-inspired in-situ metallization and loading of nano-Ag on ceramic membrane. • The optimal mineralization time of nano-Ag is 2 h. • Ag nanoparticles (∼ 12 nm) tightly packs everywhere on the substrate surface. • Superior catalytic activity of the membrane in treating dye wastewater. • Excellent stability and antifouling property of the membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In computational biology, the physical mapping of DNA is a key problem. We know that the double digest problem (DDP) is NP-complete. Many algorithms have been proposed for solving the DDP, although it is still far from being resolved. Results: We present DDmap, an open-source MATLAB package for solving the DDP, based on a newly designed genetic algorithm that combines six genetic operators in searching for optimal solutions. We test the performance of DDmap by using a typical DDP dataset, and we depict exact solutions to these DDP instances in an explicit manner. In addition, we propose an approximate method for solving some hard DDP scenarios via a scaling-rounding-adjusting process. Conclusions: For typical DDP test instances, DDmap finds exact solutions within approximately 1 s. Based on our simulations on 1000 random DDP instances by using DDmap, we find that the maximum length of the combining fragments has observable effects towards genetic algorithms for solving the DDP problem. In addition, a Maple source code for illustrating DDP solutions as nested pie charts is also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objectives High mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) is an important late inflammatory mediator in the body. In recent years, studies have found that it plays an important pathogenic role in various diseases such as sepsis. However, it is unclear whether the genetic variation of the HMGB1 gene is related to the susceptibility to sepsis. This study investigated the relationship between susceptibility and outcome of the HMGB1 gene rs2249825, rs1045411, and rs1360485 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Chinese Han patients with sepsis. Methods The HMGB1 gene rs2249825, rs1045411, and rs1360485 genotypes were detected by the direct sequencing method in 345 patients with sepsis and 345 healthy controls. Serum HMGB1 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The HMGB1 gene rs2249825 and rs1045411 site SNPs were associated with sepsis risk, but the rs1360485 site SNP was not associated with sepsis risk. Subjects with the HMGB1 gene rs2249825 and rs1045411 site mutations had higher serum HMGB1 levels, and patients with mutant genotype sepsis had higher APACHE II scores and lower 30-day survival rates. There were no correlations among the rs1360485 site SNP, sepsis risk, and patient 30-day survival. Conclusion The HMGB1 gene rs2249825 and rs1045411 site SNPs are associated with susceptibility and outcomes of Chinese Han patients with sepsis. The rs2249825 locus C allele and the rs1045411 locus A allele are high risk factors for sepsis and severity in the Chinese Han population, and are associated with adverse outcomes in patients with sepsis. Highlights • The HMGB1 gene rs2249825 and rs1045411 site SNPs are associated with susceptibility and outcomes of Chinese Han patients with sepsis. • Subjects with the HMGB1 gene rs2249825 and rs1045411 site mutations had higher serum HMGB1 levels. • The rs2249825 locus C allele and the rs1045411 locus A allele are high risk factors for sepsis and severity in the Chinese Han population, and are associated with adverse outcomes in patients with sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • ZmSMR4 play a vital role in ecdoreduplication process of maize. • ZmSMR4 controls plant growth and development by regulating endoreduplication level. • Plants escape the adverse environmental by regulating cell cycle. • Cell cycle rugulators can as the potential gene resources for breeding. Abstract Endoreduplication is a key cell cycle variant in the developing maize endosperm and has been associated with cell enlargement and dry matter accumulation. Therefore, identification of the key genes associated with endosperm development and endoreduplication would not only lay the groundwork for understanding the biological process of endoreduplication but also be important for maize breeding. Here, we identified 12 putative endoreduplication-related candidate genes as members of the Zea mays L. SIAMESE-RELATED (ZmSMR) gene family and denoted them ZmSMR1-ZmSMR12. Sequence analysis indicated that all the ZmSMR protein sequences exhibited modest sequence similarity to the SIAMESE gene from Arabidopsis. Further analyses suggested that most ZmSMR genes might be associated with the transition from mitosis to endoreduplication because the expression levels of most ZmSMR genes were upregulated in endosperm cells during the phase of switching to an endoreduplication cell cycle. Additionally, the ZmSMRs responded to various abiotic stresses at the transcriptional level. One member of the ZmSMR gene family, the ZmSMR4 (KY946768) gene, was isolated as the first maize endoreduplication-related gene and has been used to develop transgenic Arabidopsis plants. ZmSMR4 was localized to the nucleus and could interact with ZmCDKA and ZmCDKB. Moreover, ZmSMR4 was able to rescue the multicellular trichome phenotype of Arabidopsis sim mutants and enhanced the endoreduplication levels of transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Arabidopsis plants overexpressing ZmSMR4 not only displayed enhanced leaf margin serrations but also showed several interesting breeding phenotypes, such as early blossoming and fuller seeds. Taken together, our data suggest that the ZmSMR4 gene is plant-specific and functions as a key player in the signalling network that controls plant growth, development and responses to abiotic stress by regulating the transition between the mitotic cycle and endoreduplication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Potash deposits are common in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Tethyan domain, which features the giant potash deposits in the Late Jurassic Central Asian Basin and the Late Cretaceous Khorat Basin of Thailand-Laos. Widespread evaporitic sequences from this interval have been found in some marine and transitional basins within the Chinese continental blocks, such as the Yangtze, Simao and Tarim Blocks, in which, only one small-scale potash deposit had been found in the Late Cretaceous Simao Basin. These evaporites are commonly characterized by depositional cycles that are more frequent than those of other potash basins around the world. It remains debated whether large or giant potash deposits could be formed in Chinese blocks of Tethyan domain, and if so, what mechanism was responsible for the potash formation. To address these issues, we comprehensively review the Meso-Cenozoic drift history and collision dynamics of these Chinese blocks and summarize the formation mechanism, depositional characteristics, and paleoclimate of the evaporite basins in these blocks. These blocks drifted from the Southern Hemisphere and collided and welded together beginning in the late Permian in the Northern Hemisphere. The collisions often commenced in the east and gradually spread to the west of these blocks, resulting in: (1) westward seawater retreat; (2) differential topographic uplift with high topography in the east and low topography in the west and (3) increasingly closed depositional environments in these basins. In addition, these collisions often exerted nearly N-S-oriented principal compressive stress, which resulted in nearly E-W-oriented extension. These forces induced a series of faulted-bounded subsidence belts with N-S-striking extensional sub-basins arranged in an E-W-oriented chain in these blocks. In this chain-like sub-basins system, as sea level rose and seawater flowed from west to east, the western sub-basins acted as evaporative preparatory basins for the eastern basins. As a result, the more eastern sub-basins contained increasingly denser brines, and ultimately potash minerals were commonly deposited in the easternmost sub-basins. Based on the above model of potash formation, we predict that potash deposits may be formed in certain sub-basins in the eastern part of these basins in Chinese Tethyan blocks, which maybe lay a theoretical foundation for China's future exploration of potash deposits. Highlights • Chinese blocks had been in the N subtropical high pressure belt since Triassic. • The cycles showing quite frequent changes of depositional environments. • The collisions of these blocks led to the westward regression of seawater. • Tectonic movements caused the unified lake transformed into sub-basins. • Potash deposits may be formed in the eastern sub-basins on these blocks. Abstract Potash deposits are common in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Tethyan domain, which features the giant potash deposits in the Late Jurassic Central Asian Basin and the Late Cretaceous Khorat Basin of Thailand-Laos. Widespread evaporitic sequences from these intervals have been found in some marine and transitional basins within the Chinese continental blocks, such as the Yangtze, Simao and Tarim blocks, in which, only one small-scale potash deposit had been found in the Late Cretaceous Simao Basin. These evaporites are commonly characterized by depositional cycles that are more frequent than those of other potash basins around the world. It remains debated whether large or giant potash deposits could be formed in Chinese blocks of Tethyan domain, and if so, what mechanism was responsible for the potash formation. To address these issues, we comprehensively review the Meso-Cenozoic drift history and collision dynamics of these Chinese blocks and summarize the formation mechanism, depositional characteristics, and paleoclimate of the evaporite basins in these blocks. These blocks drifted from the Southern Hemisphere and collided and welded together in the beginning of the late Permian in the Northern Hemisphere. The collisions often commenced in the east and gradually spread to the west of these blocks, resulting in: (1) westward seawater retreat; (2) differential topographic uplift with high topography in the east and low topography in the west and (3) increasingly closed depositional environments in these basins. In addition, these collisions often exerted nearly N-S-oriented principal compressive stress, which resulted in nearly E-W-oriented extension. These forces induced a series of faulted-bounded subsidence belts with N-S-striking extensional sub-basins arranged in an E-W-oriented chain in these blocks. In this chain-like sub-basins system, as sea level rose and seawater flowed from west to east, the western sub-basins proximal to the open sea would have precipitated calcium carbonates and calcium sulfates, resulting in a high degree of concentration by the time the brines reached the distal end, i.e. eastern sub-basins. Ultimately, potash minerals were commonly deposited in the easternmost sub-basins. Based on the above model of potash formation, we predict that potash deposits may be formed in certain sub-basins in the eastern part of these basins in Chinese Tethyan blocks, which maybe lay a theoretical foundation for China's future exploration of potash deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the promising information-centric networking (ICN) architectures, NDN has attracted tremendous research attention and effort in the past decade. In particular, security and privacy remain significant concerns and challenges due to the fact that most of the traditional cryptographic primitives are no longer suitable for NDN architecture. For example, the traditional cryptographic primitives aim to secure point-to-point communications, always requiring explicit descriptions of to where or whom the data packets are intended, while network addressing or locating in NDN becomes implicit. To deal with such issues, the recently developed cryptographic primitives such as ABE have been applied to NDN. Also, to efficiently solve the trust-roots problem and seamlessly deploy cryptographic infrastructures, the concept of SDN has been introduced to NDN as well. This tutorial is devoted to exploring the interesting integration between NDN, ABE, and SDN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Dynamic biaxial compressive experiments on SFRC were conducted. • Combined effects of strain rate and steel fiber on dynamic strength were analyzed. • Dynamic strength criterion of SFRC considering stress ratio was proposed. • Model results well agreed with experiments at strain rates from 10−5/s to 10−2/s. Abstract Understanding the biaxial mechanical behavior of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) is of critical significance when the concrete structures are subjected to dynamic loading. This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the dynamic mechanical behavior of SFRC subjected to biaxial compressive loadings. Aiming at the combined effects of steel fiber and strain rate on strength criterion, a series of dynamic biaxial compressive experiments on 100 mm-length SFRC cubic specimens with various steel fiber contents (0%, 1%, 2%, and 3% by volume) were conducted by using a large dynamic triaxial servo-hydraulic testing apparatus. The specimens were loaded by biaxial compression with five stress ratios (i.e. 0:1, 0.25:1, 0.5:1, 0.75:1 and 1:1, respectively) at various strain rates ranging from 10−5/s to 10−2/s. A comprehensive dynamic biaxial strength criterion taking into account the combined effects of uniaxial strength, strain rate and stress ratio was proposed. The effect of steel fiber content and strain rate on the biaxial mechanical behavior of SFRC specimens was discussed, including the failure mode, stress-strain curve, biaxial compressive strength, dynamic strength criterion. It suggested that at given strain rate, the biaxial stress ratio is the major factor dominating the strength increment, and the incorporation of steel fiber has a remarkable enhancement on the strength for all stress ratios. Additionally, the dynamic compressive strengths of SFRC were found to increase with the increase of strain rate, while the failure pattern and dynamic ultimate strength were closely dependent on the magnitude of lateral stress exerted on the specimens. The comparison indicates that the proposed model results of dynamic strength criterion were in good agreement with the experimental data for SFRC specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Large provenance dataset of the Lower Cretaceous are presented. • A transcontinental paleo-river exist in SE Tibet. • Transcontinental river was driven by warm and humid climate. The evolution of fluvial drainage systems reflects interactions of tectonic uplift and climate change. Many previous studies have emphasized how Cenozoic tectonic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau has driven the reorganization of large-scale rivers. However, Cretaceous fluvial drainage configurations of the region are poorly constrained. In this study, we present a comprehensive provenance dataset of Lower Cretaceous deposits in the Lanping and Simao basins in southeast Tibet based on petrology, detrital zircon U-Pb dating and Lu-Hf isotopes. Our results show that the quartz-rich Cretaceous fluvial deposits yield major detrital age modes in the 2400–2600 Ma, 1700–1900 Ma, 750–1000 Ma, 400–490 Ma, and 200–290 Ma periods, and are mainly recycled from older siliciclastic strata exposed in the Southern Qiangtang terrane, Songpan-Garze terrane, Sichuan Basin, and Kangdian Basement. Zircon age clusters of 150–200 Ma and 200–290 Ma yield mostly negative and slightly positive εHf(t) values indicating volcanic detritus supplied from the Yidun Arc and Southern Qiangtang magmatic rocks. Lower Cretaceous fluvial units in the Sichuan, Lanping, Simao, Vientiane, Khorat, and Phuquoc basins share similar detrital zircon age spectra, which we interpret as the existence of a unified fluvial drainage system. We thus propose a transcontinental paleo-river with its headwater from the Southern Qiangtang and Songpan-Garze terranes, and northern Sichuan Basin and flow from Lanping and Simao basins to the Khorat Plateau. We suggest that a warm and humid climate, rather than tectonic uplift, drove rapid erosion rates of the source terranes and establishment of the transcontinental river. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The security of several fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) schemes depends on the intractability assumption of the approximate common divisor (ACD) problem over integers. Subsequent efforts to solve the ACD problem as well as its variants were also developed during the past decade. In this paper, an improved orthogonal lattice (OL)-based algorithm, AIOL, is proposed to solve the general approximate common divisor (GACD) problem. The conditions for ensuring the feasibility of AIOL are also presented. Compared to the Ding–Tao OL algorithm, the well-known LLL reduction method is used only once in AIOL, and when the error vector r is recovered in AIOL, the possible difference between the restored and the true value of p is given. Experimental comparisons between the Ding-Tao algorithm and ours are also provided to validate our improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic membranes containing metal nano-catalyst are widely used in dye wastewater treatment. Comparing to the traditional catalyst loading methods, such as the co-precipitation, the surface grafting, and impregnation et al., hydrothermal method is simple, and the crystals obtained have a uniform distribution and high purity. In this study, CuO nano-catalysts is immobilized on ceramic substrate by hydrothermal method. The prepared membrane is used to activate persulfate (PMS) for the degradation of azo dyes. FTIR, XPS, XRD, and FESEM characterizations prove that CuO is successfully loaded onto the Al2O3 substrate, the optimal loading amount is 0.03 g/cm2. Static degradation experiments show that the composite membrane could degrade 85% of the Congo red within 80 min. In the dynamic degradation process, the degradation efficiency is further improved to a maximum of 96.8% within 80 min, and the permeation flux of catalytic membrane is relatively stable during the degradation process. In long-term experiments, the degradation efficiency still remains at ~ 87% after 4 cycles, indicating good stability. Quenching experiment shows that the main oxidizing radicals are sulfate radical. In conclusion, the prepared membrane can activate PMS efficiently, which has a potential applications in dye wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]