Search

Single-turn coil (STC) is a destructive pulse magnet aiming at a 100–300 T ultra-high magnetic field. A thermal–electrical coupling model, in which the solid–liquid phase transition process is considered, is proposed. The effects of solid–liquid phase transition on pressure, temperature, and electrical conductivity are investigated. The results show that the compressed and stretched regions coexist simultaneously, and the distribution of both regions changes with time during discharging. Moreover, the region with the highest current density is inside the conductor, since the phase transition reduces the electrical conductivity of the region near the inner surface of STCs. By comparison, the simulation results are highly consistent with the measured data, and the necessity of considering the phase transition process is validated. The results obtained in this work are helpful for understanding the thermodynamic process of STCs during discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Design Methods Results Conclusion Implications for the Profession and/or Patient Care Impact Reporting Method Patient and Public Contribution To identify and reach consensus on dimensions and criteria of a competence assessment instrument for health professionals in relation to the process of evidence‐based healthcare.A two‐round Delphi survey was carried out from April to June 2023.Consensus was sought from an expert panel on the instrument preliminarily established based on the JBI Model of Evidence‐Based Healthcare and a rapid review of systematic reviews of relevant literature. The level of consensus was reflected by the concentration and coordination of experts' opinions and percentage of agreement. The instrument was revised significantly based on the combination of data analysis, the experts' comments and research group discussions.Sixteen national and three international experts were involved in the first‐round Delphi survey and 17 experts participated in the second‐round survey. In both rounds, full consensus was reached on the four dimensions of the instrument, namely evidence‐generation, evidence‐synthesis, evidence‐transfer and evidence‐implementation. In round‐one, the instrument was revised from 77 to 61 items. In round‐two, the instrument was further revised to have 57 items under the four dimensions in the final version.The Delphi survey achieved consensus on the instrument. The validity and reliability of the instrument needs to be tested in future research internationally.Systematic assessment of nurses and other health professionals' competencies in different phases of evidence‐based healthcare process based on this instrument provides implications for their professional development and multidisciplinary team collaboration in evidence‐based practice and better care process and outcomes.This study addresses a research gap of lacking an instrument to systematically assess interprofessional competencies in relation to the process of EBHC. The instrument covers the four phases of EBHC process with minimal criteria, highlighting essential aspects of ability to be developed. Identification of health professionals' level of competence in these aspects helps strengthen their capacity accordingly so as to promote virtuous EBHC ecosystem for the ending purpose of improving global healthcare outcomes.This study was reported in line with the Conducting and REporting of DElphi studies (CREDES) guidance on Delphi studies.No patient or public contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study examined associations between marital adjustment and children's learning behaviors, as well as the potential mediation effects of maternal involvement and parenting on these associations in Chinese contexts. Background: The family is a vital setting for children's early learning behaviors, encompassing self‐efficacy in learning and approaches to learning. Marital adjustment, as well as maternal involvement and maternal parenting, are crucial factors in the family setting. However, there is a paucity of research on the pathway mechanism between these three family factors and children's early learning behaviors. Method: There were 750 mothers of Chinese preschoolers (48.24% girls, Mage = 5.94 years, SD = 1.43) in three provinces—Fujian, Sichuan, and Xinjiang—who participated in the study. Mothers completed questionnaires related to marital adjustment, maternal involvement, maternal parenting, and children's learning behaviors. Structural equation models were estimated to test the hypothesized paths. Results: The results revealed a positive association between higher marital adjustment and improved children's self‐efficacy in learning (β =.10, p =.004) and approaches to learning (β =.15, p <.001), with maternal involvement (for self‐efficacy, β =.25, p <.001; for approaches to learning, β =.23, p <.001) and parenting (for self‐efficacy, β =.25, p <.001; for approaches to learning, β =.31, p <.001) recognized as significant mediators in this relationship. Conclusions: The study indicated that marital adjustment, maternal involvement, and parenting have significant direct and indirect effects on children's early learning behaviors. Implications: Given the research findings, marital adjustment is worth considering when recognizing children's early learning. Furthermore, parents may be encouraged to understand proper involvement and parenting practices with their children. Briefly, these findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge on how family variables are related to children's learning behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of hypersonic vehicles has raised higher requirements for thermal protection materials, which have become the focus of research on how to meet the lightweight and less ablative. Herein, a yttrium silicate‐coated carbon fiber felts (YS‐CFs) reinforced phenolic aerogel‐like (PR) composites were prepared. The YS‐CFs/PR with the addition of 12 % hexamethylenetetramine exhibited low density (0.540 g/cm3), low thermal conductivity (0.145 W/(m⋅K)), and good thermal stability. Specifically, under an oxyacetylene flame examination with 2.44 MW/m2 heated for 120 s, its mass ablation rates (9.833 mg/s) and line ablation rates (5 μm/s) were decreased by 40.8 % and 32.6 %, respectively, compared to others. The results show that the composites with these combined properties can meet the requirements for thermal protection materials in the field of hypersonic vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone age assessment is a common diagnostic method used for abnormal growth and development in children. Despite recent significant advancements in convolutional neural network (CNN)-based intelligent bone age assessment in children, there remains room for improvement in assessment accuracy. Studies have indicated that a dual-path network (DPN) can incorporate different features of a CNN and improve the potential of the model to extract critical features compared to a single structural CNN. Attention mechanisms can also contribute to the enhanced ability of the model to extract channel and spatial features. Therefore, we propose a dual attention dual-path network (DADPN) to improve the accuracy of pediatric bone age assessment. DPN serves as a backbone network in DADPN by incorporating residual and dense connections. DPN was modified using two different attention mechanisms while containing gender information to compensate for physiological differences in bone age between males and females. Experiments were performed using this method with the RSNA Pediatric Bone Age Challenge dataset and compared to nine representative bone age assessment methods. This method achieved an optimal assessment accuracy with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 4.76 months. The experimental results suggest that the DADPN can extract the effective features of pediatric hand bone X-ray images and improve bone age assessment accuracy more than other deep learning methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-workflows are commonly deployed on cloud platforms to achieve efficient computational power. Diverse task configuration requirements, the heterogeneous nature and dynamic electricity price of cloud servers impose significant challenges for economically scheduling multi-workflows. In this paper, we propose a Heuristic Electricity-cost-aware Multi-workflow Scheduling algorithm (HEMS) to search for an optimal scheduling plan which determines the optimal scheduling scheme for each task in each workflow, specifying the server to perform the task with determined resources in specific time. The objective is to minimize the total electricity cost of all servers while satisfying the deadline constraints of all workflows. The HEMS algorithm consists of five components: Workflow Scheduling Sequence Generation, Task Scheduling Sequence Initialization for each workflow, Optimal Scheduling Scheme Determination for each task, initial Task Scheduling Sequence Optimization, and Optimal Scheduling Plan Optimization. Experimental results demonstrate that HEMS consistently achieves the optimal scheduling plan with the lower total electricity cost (saving 54.5–69.1% on average) within slightly longer CPU time for various multi-workflows compared to existing three scheduling approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Quantitative characterization of the time-lag effect between canopy temperature and atmospheric temperature and its controlling factors in the agricultural ecosystem may contribute to a higher inversion accuracy of soil water content using canopy-air temperature information. Methods: Tc of winter wheat were continuously monitored, and the data of such environmental factors as solar radiation (Rs), atmospheric temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH) and soil water content (SWC) were simultaneously collected. Results: Hysteresis existed between Tc and Ta over the diel cycles, and different weather and irrigation levels did not change the direction of the time lag loop. the key driver regulating the diel hysteresis pattern between Tc and Ta varied under different weather: on rainy days, key driver was Rs while on cloudy and sunny days, the key driver was RH. the multiple regression model indicated that together Rs, Ta, RH, and SWC explained 58 ± 10% of the variation of time-lag effect. Path analysis showed on rainy days the key driver (Rs and RH) could enhance the time-lag effect through other indirect factors (Ta and SWC); on cloud days the key driver (RH and SWC) could inhibit the time-lag effect through other indirect factors (Ta); On sunny days this mutual inhibition was further significant. Conclusions: These findings indicated a dynamic process of time-lag effect between Tc and Ta with different weather and different irrigation levels. This study contributes to the understanding of the time-lag effect and its driving factors and this analysis provides the basis for further improvement in monitoring crop water deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the finite-time and fixed-time bipartite consensus problem of multiple Euler–Lagrange systems (MELSs) under directed interaction topologies, considering external disturbances. Two novel distributed hierarchical control algorithms are developed to address the challenging problems. Specifically, a new distributed estimator is designed to estimate the states of agents in finite/fixed-time. Moreover, based on the obtained estimations, the finite/fixed-time controller is presented to accomplish the bipartite consensus of the MELSs in the local control layer. By utilizing Lyapunov stability and the nearest neighbor-interactions theory, sufficient conditions for achieving the designed performance of the MELSs are derived. Simulation examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, a new charm-strange meson, D s 0 (2590) + , was discovered, which is believed to be the D s + (2 1 S 0) . However, its low mass and wide width are challenged by theoretical results. Given the small branching ratio of the current production channel, resulting in a small number of events and large errors, we suggest searching for the D s 0 (2590) + in the B meson nonleptonic decays, B q → D q (∗) D s 0 (2590) + ( q = u , d ), followed by D s 0 (2590) + → D ∗ K . We find that B r (B q → D q (∗) D s 0 (2590) +) × B r (D s 0 (2590) + → D ∗ K) = (2.16 ∼ 2.82) × 10 - 3 is very large, and the result is not sensitive to the mass of D s 0 (2590) + . Due to the large branching ratio, numerous D s 0 (2590) + events are expected. This study is based on the framework of the instantaneous Bethe–Salpeter equation, and the relativistic wave functions used for mesons contain different partial waves. The contributions of the different partial waves are also studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the distributed online optimisation problem is considered in an unknown dynamic environment. Compared with the existing results, an unknown dynamic environment causes the problem to be more challenging. An online optimisation algorithm is designed based on distributed mirror descent and distributed average tracking technology. The analysis of dynamic regret is presented and a bounded regret is obtained. Some simulations are given to verify the validity of the designed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the core idea of the refined method of population spatial distribution is to establish a correlation between the population and auxiliary data at the administrative-unit level and, then, refine it to the grid unit. However, this method ignores the advantages of public population spatial distribution data. Given these problems, this study proposed a partition strategy using the natural break method at the grid-unit level, which adopts the population density to constrain the land class weight and redistributes the population under the dual constraints of land class and area weights. Accordingly, we used the dasymetric method to refine the population distribution data. The study established a partition model for public population spatial distribution data and auxiliary data at the grid-unit level and, then, refined it to smaller grid units. This method effectively utilizes the public population spatial distribution data and solves the problem of the dataset being not sufficiently accurate to describe small-scale regions and low resolutions. Taking the public WorldPop population spatial distribution dataset as an example, the results indicate that the proposed method has higher accuracy than other public datasets and can also describe the actual spatial distribution characteristics of the population accurately and intuitively. Simultaneously, this provides a new concept for research on population spatial distribution refinement methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For further enhance the proton conductivity and long-term performance of the BOPBI (branching ratio of 6%) with rigid triazine structure with large free volume, a large volume of positive polymeric ionic liquid that can be crosslinked is introduce into the system, and then KH-560 crosslinker with 3% quality fraction is introduced into the system. When the CBOPBI-PIL-X membranes are soaked in KOH solution, The proton conductivity of CBOPBI-PIL-X membranes (X = 0%–40%) was great enhanced due to the formation of ion-pairs (X+- H 2 PO 4 −), which can be used as both a proton donor and receptor, providing a binding site for proton transmission. Since the high free volume provided by the branched structure can help the membrane absorb more phosphoric acid, and the unique mechanism of action of PIL can provide new proton transport channels, among these membranes, the ultimate tensile strength (4.68 MPa) of PA-doped CBOPBI-PIL-30% film was great and the membrane can also gain excellent proton conductivity (155.8 mS cm−1 at 180 °C). Due to the addition of KH-560, the Si-O-Si crosslinking network can resist the oxidative free radical attack effectively, which substantially improves the oxidation stability of membranes. After 144 h of testing, all CBOPBI-PIL-X membranes are not broken. And after 240 h of acid retention testing at 160 °C/0% RH condition, the best PA retention ratio of CBOPBI-PIL-X membranes can still reach 83.7%, which can prove that the membranes have excellent performance. Therefore, CBOPBI-PIL-X membranes are expected to be used in high-temperature proton exchange membranes (HT-PEMs). • The conductivity of CBOPBI-PL-30% at 180 °C can reach 155.8 mS cm−1. • All CBOPBI-PL-X films have excellent oxidation stability. • The PA retention rate of the CBOPBI-PIL-X membrane can reach 83.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, online water-soluble inorganic ions were detected to deduce the formation mechanism of secondary inorganic aerosol in Xianyang, China during wintertime. The dominant inorganic ions of sulfate (SO 4 2−), nitrate (NO 3 −), and ammonium (NH 4 +) (the sum of those is abbreviated as SNA) accounted for 17%, 21%, and 12% of PM 2.5 mass, respectively. While the air quality deteriorated from excellent to poor grades, the precursor gas sulfur dioxide (SO 2) of SO 4 2- increased and then decreased with a fluctuation, while nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) and ammonia (NH 3), precursors of NO 3 − and NH 4 +, and SNA show increasing trends. Meteorological factors including boundary layer height (BLH), temperature, and wind speed also show decline trends, except relative humidity (RH). Meanwhile, the secondary conversion ratio shows a remarkable increasing trend, indicating that there was a strong secondary transformation. From the perspective of chemical mechanisms, RH is positively correlated with sulfur oxidation ratios (SOR), nitrogen oxidation ratios (NOR), and ammonia conversion ratios, representing that the increase of humidity could promote the generation of SNA. Notably, SOR and NOR were also positively related to the ammonia. On the one hand, the low wind speed and BLH led to the accumulation of pollutants. On the other hand, the increases of RH and ammonia promoted more formations of SNA and PM 2.5. The results advance our identification of the contributors to the haze episodes and assist to establish more efficient emission controls in Xianyang, in addition to other cities with similar emission and geographical characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractObjectiveMethodsResultsConclusionThis study aims to comprehensively verify the efficacy of Buyang Huanwu Decoction in improving cognitive function in patients with diabetes.Patients clinically diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) assigned to either the placebo group or the Buyang Huanwu Decoction group. After strict screening and exclusions, a total of 156 participants completed the clinical trial, with 76 in the placebo group and 80 in the Buyang Huanwu Decoction group.After treatment, Buyang Huanwu Decoction group showed higher Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores compared to placebo (p < 0.05). Memory and Executive Screening, Boston Naming Test, and Animal Fluency Test scores were also higher in the treatment group (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found in DST and CDT scores (p > 0.05). Trail Making Test scores were lower in the treatment group (p < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of complications (p > 0.05).Patients receiving Buyang Huanwu Decoction treatment demonstrated improvement in cognitive function, showing positive effects and providing preliminary evidence for the role of Buyang Huanwu Decoction in improving cognitive function in patients with diabetes. This suggests its potential for clinical application and further promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Great efforts have been made to boost the performance of electrochemical catalysts by regulating the electronic and geometric structures. However, the electrochemical catalytic properties have entered the bottleneck stage only depend on these methods, especially in alkaline or neutral conditions. It is highly desired to develop new strategy to make robust electrocatalysts. In this study, an atomic Co‐N4 catalyst embedded on nitrogen‐doped 3D hierarchically porous carbon has been prepared via a facile method of calcining the coordination compound. Benefiting from the unique properties of Co single‐atoms, they are coordinated with the heteroatom nitrogen of o‐phenylenediamine and melamine and anchored on the nitrogen‐doped porous carbon carriers. The as‐synthesized Co‐N‐LPC with a maximum Co single‐atom loading of 3.82 wt % features a high specific surface area of 196.6 m2 g−1 and exhibits decently high hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution and alcohol oxidation catalytic activities in 1.0 mol L−1 KOH electrolyte with competitive overpotentials of 131, 318 and 124 mV at 10 mA cm−2 current density respectively. This study offers a cost‐effective electrocatalyst for water splitting or alcohol oxidation that can be used instead of noble metals in various renewable energy storage and conversion applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since tethered cord syndrome (TCS) may lead to neurologic and motor dysfunction, surgeries often are applied to relieve the symptoms. The aim of the research was to explore the current global research trends of TCS surgery. In this article, articles on TCS surgery in the Web of Science Core Collection from 1980 to 2023 were searched. Research trends, countries, institutions, journals, authors, highly cited articles, and key words were analyzed using bibliometric methods. The literature co-citation network was mapped using VOSviewer, and research hotspots and trends were analyzed using CiteSpace. A total of 432 publications were included. The number of publications and related research interest in the field of TCS surgery has increased globally year by year. The United States is the largest contributor (154 publications). The journal Childs Nervous System has the greatest number of publications (48 publications) and the most frequently cited journal is Neurosurgery (973 citations). In network visualization, the institution with the greatest contribution is University of California System (16 publications). Lee JY and Wang KC are the authors with the greatest number of publications (8 publications), and the most frequently cited author is Klekamp J (268 citations). Neurogenic bladder and spina bifida may be the next hot spot in this field. This study will help researchers to identify the mainstream research directions and the latest hotspots in the field of TCS surgery and provide a reference for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the shortcoming of fiber oxidation in a high‐temperature environment and improve the antiablative performance, yttrium silicate is coated on the carbon fibers' surface by the sol‐gel process. In the present work, investigations of the ablation resistance of carbon fiber composites with yttrium silicate coatings (YS‐CFs) prepared by different sol contents and sintering temperatures are reported. The results show that YS‐CFs exhibit excellent ablation resistance in the oxyacetylene test with a heat flow of 1.5 MW/m2. The surface coating of carbon fiber is composed of a mixture of cristobalite, yttrium monosilicate, and yttrium disilicate. The best ceramic coating could be obtained by dipping 20% silica sol and 14% yttrium sol in turn and sintering at 1300°C. In this case, the linear and mass ablation rates reach the minimum values of.667 μm/s and 2.975 mg/s, respectively. YS‐CFs could be used as reinforcements for thermal protection materials in high‐temperature environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between remnant cholesterol (RC) and homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in the context of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) remains an area of ambiguity. This investigation was designed to elucidate the potential association between RC and HOMA-IR in a cohort of American adults diagnosed with MAFLD. Data from 5533 participants were procured from the 2017–2018 US National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) databases. A weighted linear regression model was employed to analyze the association between RC and HOMA-IR in the context of MAFLD. Preliminary analysis revealed that 44.67% of the participants were diagnosed with MAFLD, with a higher prevalence observed in individuals aged 50–64 years (31.84%, p < 0.0001) and in males compared to females (53.48% vs. 46.52%, p < 0.0001). A positive correlation was identified between RC and HOMA-IR in MAFLD patients. The threshold effect analysis model indicated a breakpoint at RC = 30 mg/dl, with a more pronounced positive correlation when RC < 30 mg/dl (β = 0.17, p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis further demonstrated that among all lipid parameters, RC exhibited the largest area under the curve. The study findings suggest a positive correlation between RC and HOMA-IR in MAFLD patients, indicating that elevated RC may serve as an independent risk factor for MAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers seriously impedes the photocatalytic activity of BiVO4. We propose an effective strategy to overcome this by constructing heterostructured BiVO4-{010}/Ag plasmonic photocatalysts by the multi-object synchronous optimization of the microstructure of the BiVO4 matrix including the optimization of the active facets, morphology, and surface defects. A solvothermal method was employed to realize the optimization of BiVO4. The influence of BiVO4 with different microstructures on the construction and photocatalytic performance of BiVO4/Ag were studied. In terms of construction, the degree of exposure of the {010} facet of BiVO4 is a key factor in the thermodynamic process determining the formation of the {010} facet–Ag heterojunction, whereas the degree of exposure of the active facets, morphology, and surface defects of BiVO4 are crucial factors in the dynamic processes. The pseudo-first-order kinetic constant (k) of the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) for FS-BVO {010} under visible light irradiation is 8.8 and 4.8 times that of SS-BVO {010} and SS-BVO, respectively, and 2.8 and 3.8 times that of SS-BVO {010}/Ag and SS-BVO/Ag, respectively. FS-BVO {010} exhibited the second highest photocatalytic performance, primarily attributed to the promotion of the separation and migration of the photogenerated charge, the increased lifetime of the charge carriers, and more active sites. This depended on the multi-object synchronous optimization of the microstructure, including the preferentially exposed {010} facet, the four-star-like morphology with a stair-stepping hierarchical structure, and the {010} facet defect structure. This suggests that the photocatalytic performance of BiVO4 can be improved further by optimizing the microstructure of the BiVO4 matrix than by constructing BiVO4/Ag based on conventional BiVO4. Furthermore, the k value for FS-BVO {010}/Ag is 4.2 times that of FS-BVO {010}. This enhanced photocatalytic performance may be mainly due to the synergistic effect between the optimized microstructure and the {010} facet–Ag Schottky junction, and the surface plasmon resonance effect of the Ag nanoparticles, which can further extend the absorption of light, suppress the recombination of the photogenerated charge, and prolong the lifetime of the charge carriers. ˙O2− and h+ are the dominant active species in the photodegradation of RhB over FS-BVO {010}/Ag and a possible photocatalytic mechanism is proposed. This work provides new insights into constructing efficient photocatalysts based on matched surfaces/interfaces by optimizing the microstructure of a pure semiconductor for utilization in the field of environmental treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores natural direct and joint natural indirect effects (JNIE) of prenatal opioid exposure on neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in children mediated through pregnancy complications, major and minor congenital malformations, and adverse neonatal outcomes, using Medicaid claims linked to vital statistics in Rhode Island, United States, 2008–2018. A Bayesian mediation analysis with elastic net shrinkage prior was developed to estimate mean time to NDD diagnosis ratio using posterior mean and 95% credible intervals (CrIs) from Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. Simulation studies showed desirable model performance. Of 11,176 eligible pregnancies, 332 had ≥2 dispensations of prescription opioids anytime during pregnancy, including 200 (1.8%) having ≥1 dispensation in the first trimester (T1), 169 (1.5%) in the second (T2), and 153 (1.4%) in the third (T3). A significant JNIE of opioid exposure was observed in each trimester (T1, JNIE = 0.97, 95% CrI: 0.95, 0.99; T2, JNIE = 0.97, 95% CrI: 0.95, 0.99; T3, JNIE = 0.96, 95% CrI: 0.94, 0.99). The proportion of JNIE in each trimester was 17.9% (T1), 22.4% (T2), and 56.3% (T3). In conclusion, adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes jointly mediated the association between prenatal opioid exposure and accelerated time to NDD diagnosis. The proportion of JNIE increased as the timing of opioid exposure approached delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the variability in the Hadley circulation (HC) changes is crucial for understanding ocean‐atmosphere interactions. In this study, the variability in the boreal winter HC in the last 4 decades is explored using multiple reanalyzes and model simulations. The results show that regime shift occurred in the leading mode of HC variability. The primary mode of the recent HC is dominated by an equatorially symmetrical pattern, which was considered the second mode in previous studies. The regime shift in HC variability is mainly due to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which explains both the spatiotemporal variation and formation of HC variability. Moreover, the abilities of the models to reproduce HC variability is subject to their ability to simulate ENSO variability, suggesting that the ENSO has become a more important modulator of the HC variability in recent decades, and additional research is warranted to evaluate future climate changes and potential effects on the HC. Plain Language Summary: The Hadley circulation (HC) has significant regulatory impacts on tropical and extratropical interactions. As a thermal‐dynamical circulation, the variability in the HC exhibits a substantial correlation with the underlying thermal conditions. However, strong interdecadal variations have been observed in the tropical sea surface temperature (SST) around 1976/1977, particularly in the SST related to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The HC variability after 1977 is still unknown. We investigate the spatial‐temporal variation in the boreal winter HC during the period of 1980–2020. The results show that the primary dominant mode (EOF1) of the HC presents an equatorially symmetrical structure with ascension around the equator. This pattern corresponds to the second dominant mode in preceding studies. The different result indicates that a regime shift in HC variability has occurred. We find that the formation of EOF1 is due to the enhanced variation in ENSO, which explains the spatial‐temporal variations in EOF1. This result is further confirmed in model simulations, highlighting a more important role of the ENSO on the HC in recent decades. These results deepen our understanding of HC variability and emphasize the important climatic effects of the ENSO, which is of great interest because more severe ENSO events are projected for the future. Key Points: The principal mode of boreal winter Hadley circulation (HC) during recent 4 decades shows a regime shift and is dominated by an equatorially symmetrical patternThe strengthened El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) explains the spatiotemporal variation and regime shift of the HC variabilityModel simulations indicate that their ability to reproduce the ENSO variability is a key factor in determining HC variability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A challenge to many real-world data streams is imbalance with concept drift, which is one of the most critical tasks in anomaly detection. Learning nonstationary data streams for anomaly detection has been well studied in recent years. However, most of the researches assume that the class of data streams is relatively balanced. Only a few approaches tackle the joint issue of imbalance and concept drift. To overcome this joint issue, we propose an ensemble learning method with generative adversarial network-based sampling and consistency check (EGSCC) in this paper. First, we design a comprehensive anomaly detection framework that includes an oversampling module by generative adversarial network, an ensemble classifier, and a consistency check module. Next, we introduce double encoders into GAN to better capture the distribution characteristics of imbalanced data for oversampling. Then, we apply the stacking ensemble learning to deal with concept drift. Four base classifiers of SVM, KNN, DT and RF are used in the first layer, and LR is used as meta classifier in second layer. Last but not least, we take consistency check of the incremental instance and check set to determine whether it is anormal by statistical learning, instead of threshold-based method. And the validation set is dynamic updated according to the consistency check result. Finally, three artificial data sets obtained from Massive Online Analysis platform and two real data sets are used to verify the performance of the proposed method from four aspects: detection performance, parameter sensitivity, algorithm cost and anti-noise ability. Experimental results show that the proposed method has significant advantages in anomaly detection of imbalanced data streams with concept drift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has revolutionized our understanding of cellular heterogeneity and complexity in biological tissues. However, the nature of large, sparse scRNA-seq datasets and privacy regulations present challenges for efficient cell identification. Federated learning provides a solution, allowing efficient and private data use. Here, we introduce scFed, a unified federated learning framework that allows for benchmarking of four classification algorithms without violating data privacy, including single-cell-specific and general-purpose classifiers. We evaluated scFed using eight publicly available scRNA-seq datasets with diverse sizes, species and technologies, assessing its performance via intra-dataset and inter-dataset experimental setups. We find that scFed performs well on a variety of datasets with competitive accuracy to centralized models. Though Transformer-based model excels in centralized training, its performance slightly lags behind single-cell-specific model within the scFed framework, coupled with a notable time complexity concern. Our study not only helps select suitable cell identification methods but also highlights federated learning's potential for privacy-preserving, collaborative biomedical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the reference-based image super-resolution (RefSR) is to reconstruct high-resolution (HR) when a reference (Ref) image with similar content as that of the low-resolution (LR) input is given. In the task, the quality of existing approaches degrades severely when there are several similar objects but different contents. Besides, not all similar information in the reference image is useful for the input image. Therefore, we propose high-to-low-level feature matching and complementary information fusion (HMCF) network for RefSR. The matching strategy adopts high-level to low-level feature matching to distinguish similar objects but different contents according to high-level semantics. The complementary information fusion module utilizes the channel and spatial attention to select the complement information for LR image and keeps the pixel consistency of input and Ref image. We perform extensive experiments to demonstrate that our proposed HMCF obtains the SOTA performance on the RefSR benchmarks and presents a high visual quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is concerned with the spatiotemporal propagation phenomena for a time‐periodic reaction‐diffusion susceptible‐infectious (SI) epidemic model with treatment in terms of the asymptotic speed of spread and periodic traveling waves. First, the asymptotic speed of spread c∗$c^*$ is characterized and the spreading properties of the model are analyzed by combining the periodic principal eigenvalue problem, comparison method, and the uniform persistence idea for a dynamical system. Second, by constructing suitable super‐ and subsolutions for truncation problems corresponding to the traveling wave system, the existence of periodic traveling waves is established via the fixed point theorem twice. It turned out that the asymptotic speed of spread coincides with the minimum wave speed of periodic traveling waves. Finally, via numerical simulation, the effects of some important parameters (such as diffusion rate, treatment rate, etc.) on the spreading speed are discussed, and the asymptotic properties of the periodic traveling waves are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide flooding is one of the main methods used to improve crude oil recovery. It can not only improve oil recovery but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the addition of carbon dioxide makes crude oil become a more complex multiphase fluid; that is, carbon dioxide flooding-produced fluid, in which CO2 and various components in crude oil mass transfer each other. This results in significant changes in the structure and properties of crude oil that increase the hazards associated with its gathering and transportation. Therefore, it is very important to explore the microscopic mechanism for the diffusion mass transfer of CO2 and crude oil in this fluid, especially during its gathering and transportation. In this study, the diffusion mass transfer process of CO2 and crude oil in fluids produced via CO2 flooding is studied using molecular dynamics, and the influences of temperature, gas–oil ratio and water content are explored. Observations of the configuration and dynamic behaviour of the system show that after the system reaches equilibrium, the majority of the CO2 molecules are distributed at the oil–water interface, and CO2 is more prone to diffusing into the oil phase than the water phase. Increases in temperature and water content inhibit, while increases in the gas–oil ratio promote, the diffusion mass transfer of CO2 in the crude oil system. The results of this study reveal the mechanism for the diffusion mass transfer of CO2 and crude oil in fluids produced via CO2 flooding and account for the influence of the water phase, which is consistent with actual production conditions and has certain guiding significance for the safe operation of oil and gas gathering and transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pandemic era, social media has provided the public with a platform to make their voice heard. One of the most important public opinions online during a pandemic is blame. Blame can lead to stigma towards patients as well as potential patients and decrease social cooperation, which might impede prevention and control measures during epidemics. Thus, studying online blame during the early days of COVID‐19 can facilitate the management and control of future pandemics. By analyzing 3791 posts from one of the most popular social media sites in China (Weibo) over the 10 days immediately after COVID‐19 was declared to be a communicable disease, we found that there were four main agents blamed online: Individuals, corporations, institutions, and the media. Most of the blame targeted individual agents. We also found that there were regional‐cultural differences in the detailed types of blamed individual agents, that is, between rice‐ and wheat‐farming areas in China. After controlling influence of distance from the epicenter of Wuhan, there were still stable differences between regions: people in wheat areas had a higher probability of blaming agentic, harmful individuals, and people in rice areas had a higher probability of blaming individuals with low awareness of social norms for preventive health behavior. Findings have implications for preventing and predicting blame across cultures in future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate identification and real-time detection of obstacles have been considered the premise to ensure the safe operation of coal mine driverless electric locomotives. The harsh coal mine roadway environment leads to low detection accuracy of obstacles based on traditional detection methods such as LiDAR and machine learning, and these traditional obstacle detection methods lead to slower detection speeds due to excessive computational reasoning. To address the above-mentioned problems, we propose a deep learning-based ODEL-YOLOv5s detection model based on the conventional YOLOv5s. In this work, several data augmentation methods are introduced to increase the diversity of obstacle features in the dataset images. An attention mechanism is introduced to the neck of the model to improve the focus of the model on obstacle features. The three-scale prediction of the model is increased to a four-scale prediction to improve the detection ability of the model for small obstacles. We also optimize the localization loss function and non-maximum suppression method of the model to improve the regression accuracy and reduce the redundancy of the prediction boxes. The experimental results show that the mean average precision (mAP) of the proposed ODEL-YOLOv5s model is increased from 95.2 to 98.9% compared to the conventional YOLOv5s, the average precision of small obstacle rock is increased from 89.2 to 97.9%, the detection speed of the model is 60.2 FPS, and it has better detection performance compared with other detection models, which can provide technical support for obstacle identification and real-time detection of coal mine driverless electric locomotives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of Immune checkpoint blockade(ICB) therapy and BRAF- and MEK-targeted therapies has reshaped the survival outcomes of the patients with advanced melanoma. PD-1/PD-L1 blockade was an approved strategy in melanoma treatment. Here we design a PD-L1 xCD3 nanobody as a novel bispecific T cell engager (BiTE) in treating PD-L1 overexpression melanoma. BiTE PD-L1 × CD3 Nb was predicted to bind near a large acidic surface on CD3-ε similar to UCHT1-scFv antibody based on alpha-fold and molecular docking. BiTE PD-L1 × CD3 Nb and anti-CD3 Nb retained the ability to activate T cells to produce TNF-α and IFN-γ in a dose-dependent manner. The IC 50 value of BiTE PD-L1 × CD3 Nb was 4.208 μ g/mL. BiTE PD-L1 × CD3 Nb showed obvious cytotoxic activity on both A375WT and A375PD-L1 related to PD-L1 expression level. • A bispecific PD-L1xCD3 nanobody was designed as a novel Bispecific T-cells engager(BiTE). • BiTE PD-L1 × CD3 Nb was predicted to bind near a large acidic surface on CD3-ε similar to UCHT1-scFv antibody based on Alpha-fold and molecular docking. • A specific PD-L1 overexpression A375 cell line was constructed as a humanized melanoma model. • BiTE PD-L1 × CD3 Nb could disrupt PD-1/PD-L1 engagement and activate T cells to produce cytokines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viruses are extremely abundant in soils and have various important ecological implications therein. The quantification and identification of soil viruses are critical for a comprehensive understanding of their abundance, diversity and ecological functions. Herein, we compared three physical dispersion methods (shaking, vortexing and sonicating) and 10 extraction buffers to determine the best protocol for virus extraction from a broad range of soils in the (sub)tropics. A 5-min sonication combined with potassium citrate (AKC) buffer (1% potassium citrate amended with 10% PBS, 5 mM EDTA and 150 mM MgSO4) treatment yielded virus-like particles (VLPs) at a yield one to two orders of magnitude greater than that achieved via other methods, as determined through epifluorescence microscopy (EFM). Using the most successful method, viral abundance in red soils ranged from 2.3 × 107 VLPs g−1 soil to 1.3 × 109 VLPs g−1 soil, with approximately two times more VLPs in paddy soils than in adjacent upland soils. VLP abundance increased with soil water content (R2 = 0.60), soil organic carbon (R2 = 0.70) and bacterial abundance (R2 = 0.69), suggesting that land use strongly affects viral abundance. This comparison clearly showed that extraction methods determine the measured viral abundance to a great extent. Based on our tests of a broad range of physical dispersion methods and chemical solutions, we concluded that a 5-min sonication combined with potassium citrate buffer treatment is the best approach for extracting VLPs from red subtropical soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, new sorting technology of coal and gangue not merely focuses on the identification of coal and gangue, but also emphasizes the fine identification of coal. Therefore, this paper takes the main coal types, including one-third coking coal, gas coal, and gangue in Huainan coalfield as the research object, and proposes a method to identify coal types and gangue. The ADXRD patterns and EDXRD patterns of the samples were obtained through X-ray diffractometer and EDXRD test platform, respectively. The differences between the phase composition and the internal connection between the ADXRD pattern and EDXRD pattern of the samples were discussed, and the conversion of ADXRD pattern to EDXRD pattern of coal and gangue was simulated, the PSO-SVM identification model of coal types and gangue was established. The experimental results show that this method provides a new and effective technical way for coal types and gangue identification, which has important reference significance for fine identification of coal and gangue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An innovative all‐metal self‐support microwave metamaterial absorber (MMA) based on a continuous complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) array frequency selective surface (FSS) is constructed. The CSRR‐based FSS has a selected frequency of 23 GHz and is proved to be polarization insensitive. And the all‐metal MMA has the same response frequency as the FSS, showing convenience in the geometrical scaling process. Additionally, in both transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes, the all‐metal MMA shows stable response at oblique incidences with an incident angle as large as 50°. Along with lightweight, easy fabrication and high cost‐performance ratio, the new proposed all‐metal FSS‐based MMA has good potential to serve in many practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After China's economy entered a “new normal,” their economic development model shifted from an energy‐intensive to an energy‐saving, given that China's electricity and heating industry accounts for about half of the country's energy consumption and carbon emissions. Based on the sample data from 2005 to 2020, this paper adopts the energy consumption method and the extended index decomposition model to explore carbon emissions of the electricity and heating industry in the early and late period of the economic new normal. The results show that: (1) carbon emissions from the electricity and heating industry showed a growing direction in the economic new normal period. However, compared with the early period of economic new normal, the increasing speed of carbon emissions from the electricity and heating industry slowed down significantly in the late period. This point also directly reflects that the extensive development mode of energy utilization has been alleviated after the electricity and heating industry entered the economic new normal. (2) Compared with the early period, the energy structure effect on the emission reduction was enhanced after entering the economic new normal. Meanwhile, the investment efficiency effect has changed from promoting to inhibiting. (3) Compared with the early period, the promotion impact of the investment scale effect on carbon emissions in the electricity and heating industry has no significant change after entering the economic new normal. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that the emission reduction impact of the energy intensity effect is weak. This paper not only provides empirical evidence for evaluating the emission reduction effects of the Chinese electricity and heating industry before and after the economic new normal but also shares policy insights for precise emission reduction in the electricity and heating industry in the later stage of the economic new normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate identification and real-time detection of obstacles have been considered the premise to ensure the safe operation of coal mine driverless electric locomotives. The harsh coal mine roadway environment leads to low detection accuracy of obstacles based on traditional detection methods such as LiDAR and machine learning, and these traditional obstacle detection methods lead to slower detection speeds due to excessive computational reasoning. To address the above-mentioned problems, we propose a deep learning-based ODEL-YOLOv5s detection model based on the conventional YOLOv5s. In this work, several data augmentation methods are introduced to increase the diversity of obstacle features in the dataset images. An attention mechanism is introduced to the neck of the model to improve the focus of the model on obstacle features. The three-scale prediction of the model is increased to a four-scale prediction to improve the detection ability of the model for small obstacles. We also optimize the localization loss function and non-maximum suppression method of the model to improve the regression accuracy and reduce the redundancy of the prediction boxes. The experimental results show that the mean average precision (mAP) of the proposed ODEL-YOLOv5s model is increased from 95.2 to 98.9% compared to the conventional YOLOv5s, the average precision of small obstacle rock is increased from 89.2 to 97.9%, the detection speed of the model is 60.2 FPS, and it has better detection performance compared with other detection models, which can provide technical support for obstacle identification and real-time detection of coal mine driverless electric locomotives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A. hydrophila (Aeromonas hydrophila) is one of the most hazardous pathogenic microorganisms threatening the aquaculture industry and exhibits zoonotic-like characteristics. This study was designed to investigate the differential gene expression and pathway enrichment in the spleen of koi carp (Cyprinus carpio koi) upon A. hydrophila infection. The Illumina NovaSeq 6000 sequencing platform was used to identify 252 DEGs (differentially expressed genes), including 112 upregulated genes and 140 downregulated genes, in the spleens of koi carp challenged with A. hydrophila compared to those in the spleens of koi carp treated with PBS (phosphate-buffered saline). DEGs were shown to be involved in 133 pathways by KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) enrichment analysis. Numerous immunological disease-related pathways, such as the immune defense network for IgA production, Staphylococcus aureus infection, and antigen processing and presentation, were enriched in the DEGs. In addition, the expression levels of 10 randomly screened DEGs, including the inflammatory factor nlrp3 (NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3), cytokine il-8 (interleukin-8), c2 (complement c2), c3 (complement c3), and the lipid mediator cox1 (cyclooxygenase-1), were compared by qPCR. The results showed that six genes, including il-8 , cox1 , and nlrp3 , were upregulated according to both RNA-seq and qPCR validation, while four, including c2 and c3 , showed downregulated expression. This result verified a strong correlation between the RNA-seq and qPCR datasets at the expression level. Moreover, this study provided splenic transcriptome data for koi carp during A. hydrophila infection and provided theoretical support for future drug development. • The immune responses of koi carp to A. hydrophila were described for the first time. • 111,650 unigenes and 252 DEGs were obtained. • Key genes and pathways response to A. hydrophila were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogels with flexible and stretchable properties are ideal for applications in wearable sensors. However, traditional hydrogel-based sensors suffer from high brittleness and low electrical sensitivity. In this case, to solve this dilemma, a macromolecular polyurethane crosslinking agent (PCA) was designed and prepared; after that, PCA and two-dimensional (2D) MXene nanosheets were both introduced into a covalently crosslinked network to enhance the comprehensive mechanical and electrochemical properties of the hydrogels. The macromolecular polyurethane crosslinking agent promotes high-tensile strength and highly stretchable capacity by suitable covalent crosslinking. The optimized hydrogel, which exhibited maximum tensile strength and maximum elongation at break, had results of 1.21 MPa and 644%, respectively. Two-dimensional MXene nanosheets provide hydrogel with high electrical conductivity and strain sensitivity, producing a wearable device for the continuous monitoring of human movements and facial microexpressions. This study demonstrated an efficient structure design strategy for building mechanically tough, highly stretchable, and sensitive dual-mode MXenes-based wearable sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary malignant bone tumor that occurs mainly in adolescents. Researchers are devoting to develop combination therapy methods in a multifunctional nanoplatform for the treatment of osteosarcoma. The results of previous research have shown that up-regulation of miR-520a-3p could induce anticancer effects in osteosarcoma. In order to improve the effect of gene therapy (GT), we attempted to carry miR-520a-3p in a multifunctional vector for comprehensive therapy. Fe2O3 is a type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast that is widely used as a drug delivery agent. When coated with polydopamine (PDA), it can also be used as a photothermal therapy (PTT) agent (Fe2O3@ PDA). To deliver nanoagents targeted to a tumor site, folic acid (FA) conjugated with Fe2O3 @PDA was manufactured as FA-Fe2O3@PDA. FA was chosen as the target molecule to enhance utilization and reduce toxicity of nanoparticles. However, the therapeutic efficacy of FA-Fe2O3-PDA combined with miR-520a-3p has not yet been studied. In this study, we synthesized FA-Fe2O3@PDA-miRNA and investigated the potential of combining PDA regulated PTT and miR-520a-3p regulated GT to kill osteosarcoma cells. The results indicated that down-regulation of interleukin 6 receptor (IL6R) by miR-520a-3p and the photothermal ability of PDA could induce satisfactory anticancer effects in osteosarcoma, and the curative ratio was better than that used alone PTT or GT. Moreover, as a kind of T 2 magnetic contrast, miRNA-Fe2O3@PDA-FA can be used for MRI. These findings indicated that miRNA-Fe2O3@PDA-FA is an effective anti-tumor nanovector for PTT combined with GT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mucormycosis is a rare form of invasive, rapidly progressive and lethal opportunistic fungal infection caused by Mucorales. Although Rhizopus arrhizus (R. arrhizus) is the most commonly isolated Mucorales worldwide, infections caused by Apophysomyces variabilis (A. variabilis) are increasing. Objectives and Methods: We present a case of necrotizing fasciitis caused by A. variabilis in an immunocompetent woman. In order to further understand the characteristics of the strain isolated from the patient, we identified the strain through ITS sequencing, assessed the ability to tolerate salt concentrations and temperature conditions, in addition to performing in vitro drug susceptibility testing against common antifungal agents. Results: The strain showed 98.76% identity with A. variabilis in the NCBI database, and it was found to tolerate higher temperatures and salt concentrations than previously reported strains. The strain was sensitive to amphotericin B and posaconazole, but not to voriconazole, itraconazole, 5‐fluorocytosine and echinocandins. Conclusions: This case indicates that Mucorales caused by A. variabilis should be recognised as an emerging pathogen that can cause a high mortality rate in the absence of prompt diagnosis and proper treatment in China, aggressive surgical debridement combined with prompt and appropriate antifungal treatment may improve outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Receptor‐interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) mediates necroptosis and inflammation in various pathophysiologies, emerging as a pharmacological target for neurodegenerative and inflammatory indications. This phase I, first‐in‐human, placebo‐controlled study evaluated the safety, pharmacokinetics (PKs), and pharmacodynamics (PDs) of GFH312, an RIPK1 inhibitor, in healthy adults. Subjects received GFH312 as a single ascending dose up to 500 mg (part I) or once‐daily repeated doses up to 200 mg for 14 days (part II). PKs were assessed using plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); PDs were assessed by phospho‐RIPK1 levels. Seventy‐six subjects were enrolled between April 2021 and June 2022: 38 (part I) and 19 (part II) received GFH312; 14 and five received placebo, respectively. At least one treatment‐emergent adverse event (TEAE) occurred in 42.1% (part I) and 63.2% (part II) of subjects receiving GFH312, compared with 42.9% and 40.0% of subjects receiving placebo, respectively. The most common TEAE was headache (21.1%). Two treatment‐related TEAEs were reported in part I and four in part II. No serious TEAEs were reported. Systemic absorption was rapid; exposure (area under the concentration‐time curve from time zero to the last measurable concentration and maximum plasma concentration) increased with dose level. The GFH312 CSF concentration post 100 mg single dose was approximately fourfold higher than the half maximal inhibitory concentration of human monocyte‐derived macrophages necroptosis with expected central nervous system penetration. Subjects receiving GFH312 had decreased phospho‐RIPK1 levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells postdose. In conclusion, GFH312 was well‐tolerated and demonstrated RIPK1 inhibition in healthy subjects. Ongoing studies will inform the use of GFH312 in potential indications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying and predicting the distribution of scattered coal and gangue is the premise of locating them. By analyzing the shape of multi-scale coal and gangue, an approach for shape selection and recognition is provided. The issues of independent and adhesion target recognition, adhesion type recognition, and distribution prediction have been resolved. The binary target, circumscribed convex hull, and concave defect images are used to extract a total of 27 shape features. The ReliefF algorithm is employed to select features. The shape recognition model 1 shows the highest adhesion and independent recognition rates of 98.54%. For adhesion kinds, shape recognition model 2 gets the highest recognition accuracy of 92%. According to the experimental findings, the difference between predicted and actual results for the parameters describing the dispersed distribution of targets, such as target number, distribution overlap rate, and distribution density, is less than 4.1%, which is acceptable for use in real-world scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the failure analysis and safety assessment of dissimilar metal welded joints, the mechanical heterogeneity of local regions is usually ignored and limited sampling locations are selected. The mechanical behavior of the crack tip region is the main variables affecting the environmentally assisted cracking behavior, and it is crucial for understanding the impact of mechanical heterogeneity on the local stress-strain state at the crack tip in welded joints. In this study, the effect of mechanical heterogeneity on the local mechanical behavior at the crack tip and on the stress-strain condition at the crack tip front for different crack sizes was investigated through finite-element simulations based on user-defined material subroutines. The local mechanical behavior of an interface region and crack propagation direction with mechanical heterogeneity and a series of initial crack locations were analyzed. The results show that mechanical heterogeneity has a significant effect on the mechanical condition and growth path of cracks at different sampling locations. The interaction between the mechanical heterogeneity around the crack and the crack depth determines the stress and plastic strain in front of the crack tip, which causes a substantial change in the crack growth path. The interface cracks have high stress and plastic strain; thus, the interface is often the weak position where damage occurs. To guarantee a reliable integrity assessment of cracks in mechanically heterogeneous interface regions, local mechanical properties related to crack locations should be determined and utilized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the factors that influence attitudes toward the COVID‐19 vaccine by testing 1872 people across 29 provinces in China. We investigated an individual trait (responsibilism) and two situational factors (a descriptive norm and an injunctive norm). Responsibilism is a version of collectivism that emphasizes tight social ties and responsibilities in close relationships. Responsibilism and perceptions of strong social norms predicted acceptance of the COVID‐19 vaccine. The data also revealed an interplay between responsibilism and social norms. People high in responsibilism accepted the vaccine regardless of social norms. But people low in responsibilism were wary of the vaccine, unless they perceived strong injunctive norms. These findings contribute to the research on psychological factors behind vaccine hesitancy. The findings could help provide a roadmap for public health efforts to encourage vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cholesterol in the circulation is partly driven by changes in feed intake, but aspects of cholesterol metabolism during development of fatty liver are not well known. The objective of this study was to investigate mechanisms of cholesterol metabolism in calf hepatocytes challenged with high concentrations of fatty acids (FA). To address mechanistic insights regarding cholesterol metabolism, liver samples were collected from healthy control dairy cows (n = 6; 7–13 d in milk) and cows with fatty liver (n = 6; 7–11 d in milk). In vitro, hepatocytes isolated from 3 healthy female calves (1 d old) were challenged with or without a mix of 1.2 m M FA to induce metabolic stress. In addition, hepatocytes were processed with 10 µmol/L of the cholesterol synthesis inhibitor simvastatin or 6 µmol/L of the cholesterol intracellular transport inhibitor U18666A with or without the 1.2 m M FA mix. To evaluate the role of cholesterol addition, hepatocytes were treated with 0.147 mg/mL methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD + FA) or 0.147 mg/mL MβCD with or without 10 and 100 µmol/L cholesterol before incubation with FA (CHO10 + FA and CHO100 + FA). In vivo data from liver biopsies were analyzed by 2-tailed unpaired Student's t -test. Data from in vitro calf hepatocytes were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. Compared with healthy cows, blood plasma total cholesterol and plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol content in cows with fatty liver was markedly lower, whereas the hepatic total cholesterol content did not differ. In contrast, compared with healthy controls, the triacylglycerol content in the liver and the content of FA, β-hydroxybutyrate, and aspartate aminotransferase in the plasma of cows with fatty liver were greater. The results revealed that both fatty liver in vivo and challenge of calf hepatocytes with 1.2 m M FA in vitro led to greater mRNA and protein abundance of sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1 (SREBF1) and fatty acid synthase (FASN). In contrast, mRNA and protein abundance of sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 2 (SREBF2), acyl coenzyme A-cholesterol acyltransferase, and ATP-binding cassette subfamily A member 1 (ABCA1) were lower. Compared with the FA group, the cholesterol synthesis inhibitor simvastatin led to greater protein abundance of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein and mRNA abundance of SREBF2 , 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGCR), ACAT2 , and lower ABCA1 and FASN protein abundance. In contrast, compared with the FA group, the cholesterol intracellular transport inhibitor U18666A + FA led to greater total cholesterol concentration and greater protein and mRNA abundance of FASN. Compared with the MβCD + FA group, the addition of 10 µmol/L cholesterol led to greater concentration of cholesteryl ester and excretion of apolipoprotein B100, and greater protein and mRNA abundance of ABCA1 and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein, and lower concentration of malondialdehyde. Overall, a reduction in cholesterol synthesis promoted FA metabolism in hepatocytes likely to relieve the oxidative stress caused by the high FA load. The data suggest that maintenance of normal cholesterol synthesis promotes very low-density lipoprotein excretion and can reduce lipid accumulation and oxidative stress in dairy cows that experience fatty liver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and synthesis of a highly sensitive non-metal surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate with excellent reusable properties is of significant interest because of its vast prospective applications in real-world and complicated detection environments. Here, an efficient non-noble-metal SERS substrate has been developed based on highly ordered arrays of graphene oxide (GO) decorated with ZIF-67 nanoparticles (GO/ZIF-67). Profiting from the synergistic effect of ZIF-67 and GO, the GO/ZIF-67 nanocomposite shows a high performance in terms of sensitivity and reproducibility. The limit of detection obtained from GO/ZIF-67 for rhodamine 6G probe molecules is at the level of 10−10 M, which is lower than previously reported limits for GO (10−8 M) and ZIF-67 (10−7 M) individually. Moreover, the GO/ZIF-67 nanocomposite can be renewed for reuse several times due to the exceptional thermal properties of graphene oxide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scutellaria baicalensis can be used in medicine to detoxify, clear heat, relieve fire and moisten dryness. Scutellaria baicalensis polysaccharide is one of the important active components of Scutellaria baicalensis, which has the functions of anti-oxidation, anti-virus, inhibiting cancer cells, protecting liver, improving body performance and enhancing autoimmunity. Scutellaria baicalensis polysaccharide has many kinds of biological activities and less toxic side effects, so it can be well exploited and utilized. However, the extraction effect of Scutellaria baicalensis polysaccharide is affected by the extraction technology, so the extraction method is very important. In the paper, the extraction, biological activity and function of Scutellaria baicalensis polysaccharide and its application in poultry and aquatic animal breeding are summarized, to provide help for further research and development of Scutellaria baicalensis polysaccharide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of green and safe heavy-rare-earth ionic liquids were obtained using a straightforward method. The stable structures of these ionic liquids, characterized by high-coordinating anions, were confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). These ionic liquids exhibited wide liquid phase intervals and excellent thermal stability. The bidentate nitrato ligands occupied a sufficient number of coordination sites on the lanthanide ions, resulting in the formation of water-free 10-coordination structures. To explain the anomalous melting points observed in these multi-charged ionic liquids, a combination of experimental data and theoretical studies was employed to investigate the relationship between the electrostatic properties and the melting point. The electrostatic potential density per unit ion surface and volume were proposed and utilized for melting point prediction, demonstrating good linearity. Furthermore, the coordinating spheres of the lanthanide ions in these ionic liquids were devoid of luminescence quenchers such as O–H and N–H groups. Notably, the ionic liquids containing Ho3+, Er3+, and Tm3+ exhibited long lifetime near-infrared (NIR) and blue emissions, respectively. The UV-vis-NIR spectra revealed numerous electronic transitions of the lanthanide ions, which were attributed to their unique optical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new inhibition method was proposed for the problem of harmonic of radial electromagnetic force during the operation of the composite magnetic coupler. In order to suppress its radial electromagnetic force, a radial permanent magnet rotor eccentricity method is proposed, and a three‐dimensional finite element model is established. Based on the Maxwell tensor method, the radial electromagnetic force of the composite magnetic coupler is analysed, and the mathematical expression of its radial electromagnetic force is established, Maxwell stress tensor was used to analyse the radial electromagnetic force in a composite magnetic coupler and to establish the mathematical equation for the radial electromagnetic force. In order to suppress the radial electromagnetic force, a method based on rotor eccentricity in a radial permanent magnet was proposed. A prototype of a composite magnetic coupler with a rated power of 5 kW was designed to test its output torque under load. The results showed that the simulated curve was consistent with the tested curve, with a maximum numerical error of 8.9%. The tested values of the output torque before and after eccentricity were compared, and the results showed that the output torque remained basically unchanged after the eccentric structure was adopted and that the torque pulsation was significantly reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, static and dynamic characteristics of a labyrinth seal were studied by fluid–solid–thermal coupling analysis (FSTCA). Deformation and stress distribution of nonmetallic labyrinth seals (i.e., PEEK and PEEK-CA30) were further analyzed to investigate the effects on leakage and rotor stability compared to that of metallic material (i.e., AL alloy). The results show that a higher pressure drop of airflow at the last tooth along the airflow direction suggested a more remarkable energy conversion to kinetic energy. Airflow velocity at the tooth root was obviously lower than that at the tooth tip because of vortex in tooth cavity. Maximum deformation of the seal occurred at tip of the first tooth, while equivalent stress mainly distributed at the root. Both axial and radial deformations led to deformations of seal cavities and upward movements of the teeth, resulting in greater radial clearances. PEEK-CA30 had the lower radial and axial maximum deformations compared to PEEK and AL alloy, which in turns caused a lower leakage with increasing inlet temperature and inlet/outlet pressure ratio and a higher effective damping coefficient under different vortex frequencies, indicating a better seal performance and a better stability of rotor system. The equivalent stress for AL alloy deeply depended on inlet temperature of airflow due to higher elasticity modulus, higher thermal conductivity and higher thermal expansion coefficient, which made the seal more likely to fail under higher inlet temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the stochastic optimization problem with multivariate second-order stochastic dominance (MSSD) constraints where the distribution of uncertain parameters is unknown. Instead, only some historical data are available. Using the Wasserstein metric, we construct an ambiguity set and develop a data-driven distributionally robust optimization model with multivariate second-order stochastic dominance constraints (DROMSSD). By utilizing the linear scalarization function, we transform MSSD constraints into univariate constraints. We present a stability analysis focusing on the impact of the variation of the ambiguity set on the optimal value and optimal solutions. Moreover, we carry out quantitative stability analysis for the DROMSSD problems as the sample size increases. Specially, in the context of the portfolio, we propose a convex lower reformulation of the corresponding DROMSSD models under some mild conditions. Finally, some preliminary numerical test results are reported. We compare the DROMSSD model with the sample average approximation model through out-of-sample performance, certificate and reliability. We also use real stock data to verify the effectiveness of the DROSSM model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photoredox‐mediated iridium(III)/nickel(II)/3‐acetoxyquinuclidine triple‐synergistic catalysis was comprehensively investigated by taking a C(sp3)−C(sp2) bond cross‐coupling as a reaction model using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The synergistic mechanism of the triple catalytic system includes a reductive quenching cycle (IrIII−*IrIII−IrII−IrIII), an organocatalytic cycle, and a nickel catalytic cycle (NiII−NiI−NiIII−[NiIII]⊖−NiII). Electronic process analysis shows that 3‐acetoxyquinuclidine acts as a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) catalyst to regioselectively provide α‐carbon centered radical. Due to more favorable oxidative addition of C−Br to Ni(I) than HAT to avoid the formation of stable Ni(II) species, the generated α‐carbon centered radical prefers to be captured by oxidative addition product Ni(III) to form an unusual [NiIII]⊖C⊕ species when 3‐acetoxyquinuclidine was employed. These theoretical insights not only provide deep electronic process understanding of the photoredox‐mediated iridium(III)/nickel(II) synergistic catalysis, but also clarify the electron‐withdrawing group effect of quinuclidine, which has a potential guiding role for further development of new cross‐coupling reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]