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Purpose: Desmoplastic fibroma (DF) is an uncommon intermediate bone tumor rarely involving the skull with unidentified pathogenesis. We report the first case of pediatric temporoparietal cranial desmoplastic fibroma (DF) with a CTNNB1 gene mutation and review the previous literature. Case presentation: A 3-year-old boy had a firm, painless mass on the right temporoparietal region for 22 months. The cranial CT scan showed isolated osteolytic destruction in the outer plate and diploe of the right temporoparietal bone. Gross total resection of the lesion and cranioplasty were performed. After that, a growing epidural hematoma was observed so another operation was performed to remove the artificial titanium plate. Postoperative pathology indicated a DF diagnosis and molecular pathology suggested a missense mutation in exon 3 of the CTNNB1 gene (c.100G > A,p.Gly34Arg). Conclusion: Pediatric cranial DF is rare and easy to be misdiagnosed before operation. For cranial DF, lesion resection can be performed and perioperative management should be strengthened. Mutations in the CTNNB1 gene might be one of the molecular pathologic features of DF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotic residues have been found to have potentially harmful effects on ecological and human health. Carbon nitride-based photocatalysts have widely focused on antibiotic photocatalytic degradation. Herein, we prepared Fe-modified g-C3N4 nanorod bunches (FCNBs) using chemical vapor co-deposition. Specifically, through the process of calcination, a blend of urea and chlorophyllin sodium iron salt underwent an intriguing transformation, resulting in the integration of Fe into the framework of the g-C3N4 nanorod cluster. The resulting photocatalyst exhibited remarkable stability and superior dispersibility. The prepared FCNBs had a unique structure, which was beneficial for increasing light absorption. Furthermore, the Fe species formed a chemical coordination with the g-C3N4 matrix, thereby altering the electronic structure of the matrix. This modification facilitated charge transfer, prolonged the carrier lifetime, and enhanced light absorption, all of which significantly increased the photocatalytic activity. The oxytetracycline degradation efficiency of FCNBs was 82.5%, and they demonstrated outstanding stability in cycle trials. This work introduces a promising photocatalyst for the degradation of antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymeric membrane ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) have been widely used in environmental monitoring. However, in complicated marine environments, marine biofouling usually becomes a sticky problem for these electrodes. Herein, for the first time, a novel maintenance-free antifouling potentiometric marine sensor based on a self-polishing coating (SPC) is proposed. The SPC is synthesized by using the seeded emulsion polymerization method based on the triisopropylsilyl methacrylate monomer as the regulator of the self-renewal rate. This coating can be simply modified onto the electrode surface by drop-casting. The silyl acrylate side groups of the obtained SPC on the sensor surface can be hydrolyzed in the marine alkaline medium. The shear movement of seawater driven by sea waves, wind, gravity, or vibration removes the leftover (fouled) brittle polymer backbone and thus the fouling marine microorganisms. As a proof-of-concept experiment, a polymeric membrane Ca2+-ISE is chosen as a model. Compared to the unmodified electrode, the SPC-coated Ca2+-ISE exhibits remarkable improved antifouling properties in terms of superior anti-adhesive abilities towards marine microorganisms, such as bacterial cells and algae and excellent long-term stability even in the presence of high levels of marine microorganisms. Since no additional manual maintenance is required for maintaining the antifouling abilities of the sensor, the proposed self-polishing sensor may lay an important foundation for construction of unattended long-term potentiometric monitoring systems in real marine environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymeric membrane ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) have been widely used in environmental monitoring. However, in complicated marine environments, marine biofouling usually becomes a sticky problem for these electrodes. Herein, for the first time, a novel maintenance-free antifouling potentiometric marine sensor based on a self-polishing coating (SPC) is proposed. The SPC is synthesized by using the seeded emulsion polymerization method based on the triisopropylsilyl methacrylate monomer as the regulator of the self-renewal rate. This coating can be simply modified onto the electrode surface by drop-casting. The silyl acrylate side groups of the obtained SPC on the sensor surface can be hydrolyzed in the marine alkaline medium. The shear movement of seawater driven by sea waves, wind, gravity, or vibration removes the leftover (fouled) brittle polymer backbone and thus the fouling marine microorganisms. As a proof-of-concept experiment, a polymeric membrane Ca2+-ISE is chosen as a model. Compared to the unmodified electrode, the SPC-coated Ca2+-ISE exhibits remarkable improved antifouling properties in terms of superior anti-adhesive abilities towards marine microorganisms, such as bacterial cells and algae and excellent long-term stability even in the presence of high levels of marine microorganisms. Since no additional manual maintenance is required for maintaining the antifouling abilities of the sensor, the proposed self-polishing sensor may lay an important foundation for construction of unattended long-term potentiometric monitoring systems in real marine environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid tin halides with formamidinium cations become a promising candidate for eco‐friendly solar cells, which achieves the best photovoltaic performance among various lead‐free perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Unfortunately, the low quality of perovskite layers and the oxidation of Sn2+ ions degrade the performance of devices, leading to an obviously lower power conversion efficiency (PCE) compare to hybrid lead halides. Additive engineering is a facile strategy for improving the quality of perovskite layers. In this work, the 2‐aminopyrazine (APZ) additive is investigated for depositing FA0.8PEA0.2SnI2.8Br0.2 layers, and corresponding PSCs are examined. It is found that the melting point of APZ additives drops below the annealing temperature of perovskite layers by the intermolecular interaction with formamidinium iodide (FAI). The melt phase at the grain boundaries encourages the diffusion of ions in the annealing process, leading to an improved quality of perovskite layers. And the formation of APZ‐SnI2 complex also inhibits the oxidation of Sn2+ ions. Consequently, the defect density and the recombination are significantly reduced in PSCs, resulting in an increase of PCEs from 11.4% to 13.0% and a simultaneous improvement of device stability. This work demonstrates a strategy for improving tin‐based PSCs based on melt assisted annealing and coordination interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pixel-level classification of very-high-resolution images is a crucial yet challenging task in remote sensing. While transformers have demonstrated effectiveness in capturing dependencies, their tendency to partition images into patches may restrict their applicability to highly detailed remote sensing images. To extract latent contextual semantic information from high-resolution remote sensing images, we proposed a gaze–saccade transformer (GSV-Trans) with visual perceptual attention. GSV-Trans incorporates a visual perceptual attention (VPA) mechanism that dynamically allocates computational resources based on the semantic complexity of the image. The VPA mechanism includes both gaze attention and eye movement attention, enabling the model to focus on the most critical parts of the image and acquire competitive semantic information. Additionally, to capture contextual semantic information across different levels in the image, we designed an inter-layer short-term visual memory module with bidirectional affinity propagation to guide attention allocation. Furthermore, we introduced a dual-branch pseudo-label module (DBPL) that imposes pixel-level and category-level semantic constraints on both gaze and saccade branches. DBPL encourages the model to extract domain-invariant features and align semantic information across different domains in the feature space. Extensive experiments on multiple pixel-level classification benchmarks confirm the effectiveness and superiority of our method over the state of the art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe ionization of benzene (C6H6) through helium low-temperature plasma (He-LTP) offers a promising solution to the pervasive issue of its pollution in our daily lives. This study aimed to optimize the conditions for generating specific compounds, namely M+ and [M + 30]+, during the ionization of benzene in low-temperature plasma (LTP) with determination by mass spectrometry (MS). When the discharge voltage is 2.5 kV, a sample gas to discharge gas flow rate ratio of 2:3 is the best condition for generating M+ ions. When the discharge voltage is 3.5 kV, the gas flow rate ratio of 1:3 is the most suitable for generating [M + 30]+ ions. The LTP exhibits optimal ionization efficiency at a total gas flow rate of 40 mL/min. Additionally, we conducted a comparative analysis on the optical emission of benzene in the LTP which revealed the generation of free radicals associated with N, H, and O. The produced nitroso radical (ON•) combines with ionized benzene to yield the [M + 30]+ ion, identified to be nitrosobenzene. Notably, 95% conversion was achieved in the transformation from benzene to nitrosobenzene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing fluorescence switching as functional system is highly desirable for potential applications in the fields of light-responsive materials or devices. Attempt to construct fluorescence switching system tend to focus on the high fluorescence modulation efficiency, especially in solid state. Herein, a photo-controlled fluorescence switching system was constructed with photochromic diarylethene and trimethoxysilane modified zinc oxide quantum dots (Si–ZnO QDs) successfully. It was verified by the measurement of modulation efficiency, fatigue resistance as well as theoretical calculation. Upon irradiation with UV/Vis lights, the system exhibited excellent photochromic property and photo–controlled fluorescence switching performance. Furthermore, the excellent fluorescence switching characters could also be realized in solid state and the fluorescence modulation efficiency was determined to be 87.4%. The results will provide new strategies to the construction of reversible solid-state photo-controlled fluorescence switching for the application in the fields of optical data storage and security labels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has prompted closer cooperation in aquatic products trade between China and Vietnam. Studying the aquatic trade situation and export trade growth dynamics of China and Vietnam can help clarify the aquatic trade relationship between China and Vietnam and promote the sustainable development of bilateral aquatic trade cooperation. This paper analyzes the trade growth dynamics of aquatic products exported from China and Vietnam from 2002 to 2020 using the ternary marginal method. The trade growth pattern of aquatic products exported from China to Vietnam is "both quantity and price growth," and the trade growth pattern of aquatic products exported from Vietnam to China is "quantity growth mainly, extensive growth supplemented." The two countries have apparent differences in the growth dynamics of aquatic products export trade. Moreover, there is a higher complementarity when exporting Vietnam's aquatic products to China than China's aquatic products to Vietnam. Based on these, analyze the factors affecting the growth dynamics of Vietnam's aquatic products export to China: Vietnam's economic development level negatively affects the price index and quantity index of Vietnam's aquatic products exported to China, and Vietnam's aquatic product output affects the price index. China's trade freedom positively affects the price index and negatively affects the quantity index. Finally, this paper put forward suggestions to promote the sustainable development of bilateral aquatic products trade between China and Vietnam to facilitate the formulation of relevant policies between the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-air batteries rely on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for their operation. However, the ORR is kinetically slow, necessitating the use of Pt-based catalysts, which is hindered by their high cost and limited availability. Consequently, considerable efforts have been dedicated to developing metal-free catalysts for the ORR. Among these, heteroatom-doped carbons have emerged as promising candidates by manipulating their composition and microstructure. Inspired by the ancient "Pharaoh's snakes" reaction, this study utilized sugar, melamine, and a polymerizable ionic liquid as precursors to prepare heteroatom-doped carbons with the desired composition and structure. The resulting carbon catalyst exhibited an onset potential and half-wave potential in a 0.1 M KOH electrolyte that was comparable to those of a commercial Pt/C 20 wt.% catalyst, with values of 0.97 and 0.83 VRHE, respectively. Furthermore, the catalyst demonstrated excellent stability, retaining 93% of its initial current after a 10,800-s test. To evaluate its practical application, the synthesized carbon was employed as the cathode catalyst in a Zn-air battery, which achieved a maximum power density of 90 mW cm−2. This study, therefore, presents a simple yet effective method for producing metal-free heteroatom-doped carbon ORR catalysts used in various energy conversion and storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational design of polymer structures at the molecular level promotes the iteration of high‐performance photocatalyst for sustainable photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production from oxygen and water, which also lays the basis for revealing the reaction mechanism. Here we report a benzoxazine‐based m‐aminophenol‐formaldehyde resin (APFac) polymerized at ambient conditions, exhibiting superior H2O2 yield and long‐term stability to most polymeric photocatalysts. Benzoxazine structure was identified as the crucial photocatalytic active segment in APFac. Favorable adsorption of oxygen/intermediates on benzoxazine structure and commendable product selectivity accelerated the reaction kinetically in stepwise single‐electron oxygen reduction reaction. The proposed benzoxazine‐based phenolic resin provides the possibility of production in batches and industrial application, and sheds light on the de novo design and analysis of metal‐free polymeric photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational design of polymer structures at the molecular level promotes the iteration of high‐performance photocatalyst for sustainable photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production from oxygen and water, which also lays the basis for revealing the reaction mechanism. Here we report a benzoxazine‐based m‐aminophenol‐formaldehyde resin (APFac) polymerized at ambient conditions, exhibiting superior H2O2 yield and long‐term stability to most polymeric photocatalysts. Benzoxazine structure was identified as the crucial photocatalytic active segment in APFac. Favorable adsorption of oxygen/intermediates on benzoxazine structure and commendable product selectivity accelerated the reaction kinetically in stepwise single‐electron oxygen reduction reaction. The proposed benzoxazine‐based phenolic resin provides the possibility of production in batches and industrial application, and sheds light on the de novo design and analysis of metal‐free polymeric photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing polymeric photocatalysts at the molecular level to modulate the photogenerated charge behavior is a promising and challenging strategy for efficient hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) photosynthesis. Here, we introduce electron‐deficient 1,4‐dihydroxyanthraquinone (DHAQ) into the framework of resorcinol‐formaldehyde (RF) resin, which modulates the donor/acceptor ratio from the perspective of molecular design for promoting the charge separation. Interestingly, H2O2 can be produced via oxygen reduction and water oxidation pathways, verified by isotopic labeling and in situ characterization techniques. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations elucidate that DHAQ can reduce the energy barrier for H2O2 production. RF‐DHAQ exhibits excellent overall photosynthesis of H2O2 with a solar‐to‐chemical conversion (SCC) efficiency exceeding 1.2 %. This work opens a new avenue to design polymeric photocatalysts at the molecular level for high‐efficiency artificial photosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing polymeric photocatalysts at the molecular level to modulate the photogenerated charge behavior is a promising and challenging strategy for efficient hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) photosynthesis. Here, we introduce electron‐deficient 1,4‐dihydroxyanthraquinone (DHAQ) into the framework of resorcinol‐formaldehyde (RF) resin, which modulates the donor/acceptor ratio from the perspective of molecular design for promoting the charge separation. Interestingly, H2O2 can be produced via oxygen reduction and water oxidation pathways, verified by isotopic labeling and in situ characterization techniques. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations elucidate that DHAQ can reduce the energy barrier for H2O2 production. RF‐DHAQ exhibits excellent overall photosynthesis of H2O2 with a solar‐to‐chemical conversion (SCC) efficiency exceeding 1.2 %. This work opens a new avenue to design polymeric photocatalysts at the molecular level for high‐efficiency artificial photosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, deep learning is involved to comprehend thermoacoustic instability more deeply and achieve early warning more reliably. Flame images and pressure series are acquired in model combustors. A total of seven data domains are obtained by changing the combustor structural parameters. Then, the pre-trained model TIPE (Thermoacoustic Image-Pressure Encoder), containing an image encoder with ResNet architecture and a pressure encoder with transformer architecture, is trained through the contrastive self-supervised task of aligning the image and pressure signals in the embedding space. Furthermore, transfer learning in thermoacoustic instability prediction is performed based on k-nearest neighbors. Results show that the pre-trained model can better resist the negative effect caused by class imbalance. The weighted F1 score of the pre-trained model is 6.72% and 2.61% larger than supervised models in zero-shot transfer and few-shot transfer, respectively. It is inferred that the more generic features encoded by TIPE result in superior generalization in comparison with traditional supervised methods. Moreover, our proposed method is insensitive to the thresholds of determining thermoacoustic states. Principal component analysis reveals the physical interpretability preliminarily through the connection between feature principal components and pressure fluctuation amplitudes. Finally, the key spatial region of flame images and temporal interval of pressure series are visualized by class activation map and global attention scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite observations have revealed strong land surface "greening" (i.e., increases in vegetation greenness or leaf area index (LAI)) in the Northern Hemisphere over the past few decades. European terrestrial ecosystems are a greening hotspot, but how they respond to land surface greening, climate change, CO2 fertilization, land use and land cover change (LULCC) and other factors is unclear. Here, we assessed how these interacting factors might be combined to alter terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) throughout Europe during the period of 2001 to 2016 using a process-based Farquhar GPP model (i.e., FGM). We found a more productive European terrestrial ecosystem and most of the GPP enhancement in Europe was explained by increases in LAI (62%) and atmospheric CO2 concentration (29%). Spatially, the spatial signature of the LAI and GPP trends both suggested widespread (72–73% of the vegetated area) greening phenomena across Europe, among which 23.7% and 13.3% were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The interannual trend of GPP estimated by the FGM (0.55% yr−1) was reasonable compared with other GPP products (0.47% yr−1 to 0.92% yr−1) and the observed LAI increasing rate (0.62% yr−1). FGM factorial simulations suggested that land surface greening (+35.5 Pg C yr−2, p < 0.01), CO2 fertilization (+16.9 Pg C yr−2, p < 0.01), temperature warming (+3.7 Pg C yr−2, p < 0.05), and enhanced downwards solar radiation (+1.2 Pg C yr−2, p > 0.05) contributed to the GPP enhancement, while the enhanced vapour pressure deficit (−5.6 Tg C yr−2, p < 0.01) had significant negative impacts on GPP, especially in 2006 and 2012, when extreme droughts struck south-eastern Europe. Meanwhile, approximately 1.8% of the total area of Europe experienced LULCC from 2001 to 2016 and LULCC exerted a small but significant (−1.3 Tg C yr−2, p < 0.01) impact on GPP due to decreases in the total number of vegetated pixels (−159 pixels yr−1). Although the LULCC effect was negative, the largest increase occurred in forested land (+0.9% of total area). In addition, the increasing trends for the annual mean LAI (0.01 m2 m−2 yr−1, p < 0.001) and total GPP (22.2 Tg C yr−2, p < 0.001) of forests were more significant and higher than those of other vegetation types, suggesting that European forests may continue to play important roles in combating climate change in the future with long-lasting carbon storage potential. These results provide the first systematic quantitative analysis of the driving force of enhanced gross carbon assimilation by European ecosystems by considering variations in leaf physiological traits with environmental adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Operating condition modulation plays a key role in the startup process of practical gas turbine applications. The present article investigates the operating condition modulations of a centrally staged swirl burner regarding the flame stabilization and thermoacoustic instability, in which the roles of pilot and main flames have been distinguished. The global characteristic of thermoacoustic instabilities during operating condition modulations has been explored in a wide operating range by incrementally increasing equivalence ratios in the pilot stage ( ϕ p ) and main stage ( ϕ m ). Transitions of stability regimes under self-excited conditions have been observed with increasing ϕ m and show difference with ϕ p = 1.1–1.3. Two modes of stable flame stabilizations under un-excited conditions have been identified with ϕ m variation, including pilot and staged flames. Their main difference is the varied attachment of flame roots along pilot shear layers and main shear layer. At self-excited conditions, three different instability modes have been revealed with increasing ϕ m , i.e., pilot mode, hybrid mode, and staged mode. The periodic interaction between the pilot flame and the main stage stream is shown to be necessary for sustaining a large-scale convective motion of pilot flame to trigger strong thermoacoustic instabilities in pilot and staged modes. For the hybrid mode, the periodic attachment of the main flame root has suppressed the convective motion and, thus, caused weakened thermoacoustic couplings. The present investigation reveals the unique and various interactions between pilot and main flames during operating condition modulations, which can assist startup design in practical centrally staged combustion systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are foreseen to constitute promising airborne communication devices as a benefit of their superior channel quality. But UAV-to-ground (U2G) communications are vulnerable to eavesdropping. Hence, we conceive a sophisticated physical layer security solution for improving the secrecy rate of multi-antenna aided U2G systems. Explicitly, the secrecy rate of the U2G MIMO wiretap channels is derived by using random matrix theory. The resultant explicit expression is then applied in the joint optimization of the MIMO transceiver and the UAV location relying on an alternating optimization technique. Our numerical results show that the joint transceiver and location optimization conceived facilitates secure communications even in the challenging scenario, where the legitimate channel of confidential information is inferior to the eavesdropping channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Color is one of the important indicators affecting the quality of fermented pepper sauces, and it is closely related to carotenoid composition. This study systematically analyzed the changes in carotenoids and related physiochemical indices during the fermentation of yellow lantern pepper sauce. The CIELab color values indicated that L* and C* displayed a significant decreasing trend during fermentation. After 35 days of fermentation, the total carotenoid content significantly reduced from 3446.36 to 1556.50 μg/g DW (p < 0.05), and the degradation rate was 54.84%. Among them, the total content of carotene decreased by 56.03% during fermentation, whereas the degradation rate of xanthophylls and their esters was 44.47%. According to correlation analysis, violaxanthin myristate and lutein played a pivotal role in L*, a *, b *, chroma (C*), and yellowness index (YI). Moreover, PCA analysis indicated that lactic acid and acetic acid were the important qualities affecting the stability of pigment in fermented yellow lantern pepper sauce, which might also be the inducement of the color change. This work gives additional information concerning the discoloration of yellow lantern pepper sauce during fermentation and provides theory evidence regulating and improving the sensory qualities of yellow lantern pepper sauce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bulinus globosus, the main intermediate snail host of Schistosoma haematobium. The increased contacts between Africa and China could even lead to large-scale dissemination of B. globosus in China. Temperature is the key factor affecting fresh-water snail transmission. This study predicted potential risk of colonization of B. globosus in the mainland of China under climate change. Methods: We investigated minimum and maximum temperatures for B. globosus eggs, juveniles and adult snails kept under laboratory conditions to find the most suitable range by pinpointing the median effective temperatures (ET50). We also assessed the influence of temperature on spawning and estimated the accumulated temperature (AT). The average air temperatures between 1955 and 2019 in January and July, the coldest and hottest months in China, respectively, were collected from national meteorological monitoring stations and investigated in a geographic information system (GIS) using empirical Bayesian Kriging to evaluate the theoretical possibility for distribution of B. globosus in southern China based on temperature. Results: The effective minimum temperature (ET50min) for eggs, juveniles, adult snails and spawning were 8.5, 7.0, 7.0, 14.9 °C, respectively, with the corresponding maximum values (ET50max) of 36.6, 40.5, 40.2 and 38.1 °C. The AT was calculated at 712.1 ± 64.9 °C·d. In 1955, the potential B. globosus distribution would have had a northern boundary stretching from the coastal areas of Guangdong Province and Guangxi Autonomous Region to southern Yunnan Province. Since then, this line has gradually moved northward. Conclusions: Annual regeneration of B. globosus can be supported by the current climate conditions in the mainland of China, and a gradual expansion trend from south to north is shown in the study from 2015 to 2019. Thus, there is a potential risk of colonization of B. globosus in the mainland of China under climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prediction models are used to prevent and prepare for corresponding events according to various types of data generated in production. Aiming at the problems of lower predictive accuracy and slower convergent speed of the existing prediction models, a prediction model based on fireworks algorithm (FWA) and long short-term memory (LSTM) is proposed to predict time-related data. Firstly, we establish the interconnection structure model of the hidden layer nodes in the LSTM. Then, considering the diversity and concurrency of the group, we optimize the hyperparameters combination of LSTM. Finally, we improve FWA by adding three mutation operators (Gaussian mutation operator, Cauchy mutation operator, and discrete mutation operator). Based on the enhanced FWA, we achieve a better optimization effect by increasing the diversity of hyperparameters combination. The experimental results show that the performance of the proposed LSTM-enhanced FWA model has been significantly improved by comparing to the existing LSTM and LSTM-GS models. The mean absolute error (MAE) is reduced by 38.49% and 17.79%, respectively; the root mean squared error (RMSE) is reduced by 29.47% and 19.28%, respectively; and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) is reduced by 36.67% and 26.92%, respectively. MAE and MAPE represent the degree of deviation between the predicted value and actual value, and RMSE well reflects the precision. This means that the proposed LSTM-enhanced FWA model is better than existing LSTM and LSTM-GS models because all three types of error are reduced, meanwhile three kinds of error better reflect accuracy and precision of error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-bifurcation behaviors of staged swirl flames fueled with methane at atmospheric pressure are experimentally investigated by varying the global equivalence ratio ( ϕ glo ). Based on the characteristics of measured pressure oscillations and the associated results of phase space reconstruction, recurrence plots, and synchrosqueezing-transform-based time-frequency analysis, the multi-bifurcation behaviors of this thermoacoustic system with four different stability regimes have been identified. With incremental increase in ϕ glo from 0.55 to 0.79, these four stability regimes follow the sequence of a quiet mode (Regime I), the first limit cycle with moderate oscillations (Regime II), an intermediate state with intermittent bursts of multi-modes (Regime III), and the second limit cycle with much stronger oscillations (Regime IV). The flame dynamics in Regimes II and IV undergoing limit cycle oscillations are compared. The flame structure in Regime II displays an attached twin-flame structure, the same as that observed in Regime I. However, a large-scale periodic convective motion is found in Regime IV, which is identified to be the main thermoacoustic driving factor in the local Rayleigh index maps. Further experiments are carried out by continuously increasing ϕ glo to examine the synchrosqueezing-transform spectra of transient processes during the two bifurcations. The present investigation is instrumental in obtaining a fundamental understanding of nonlinearity and multi-bifurcation of thermoacoustic instabilities in centrally staged swirl combustors, which is vital in guiding the early stage design and developing detection/control strategies in practical low-emission combustion systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N,N′-dioctyl-N,N′-di-dodecyl-3-oxapentane-1,5-diamide ((DdO)2DGA) is a novel unsymmetrical diglycolamide. Herein, we analyzed the third phase formation and extraction behavior of trivalent actinides and lanthanides with (DdO)2DGA in kerosene. Moreover, FT-IR and UV/Vis spectra of the extracted phase of Nd(III) with (DdO)2DGA were analyzed. The third phase is not formed by the extraction of Nd(III) with 0.10 mol/L (DdO)2DGA at 298 K. The metal ion distribution ratios increase with increased acidity and extractant concentration. Moreover, thermodynamic analysis demonstrates that the extraction is an exothermic reaction with ΔH = − 64.94 kJ/mol and ΔS = − 144.42 J/(mol·K). Both slope and spectroscopic analysis suggest that the extracted species is Nd(NO3)3·3(DdO)2DGA and the change in the acidity or extractant concentration will not change the extracted species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluid injection-induced earthquakes have been a scientific and social issue of wide concern, and fluid pressurization rate may be an important inducement. Therefore, a series of stepwise and conventional injection-induced shear tests were carried out under different fluid pressurization rates and effective normal stresses. The results show that the magnitude of fluid pressure is the main factor controlling the initiation of fracture slipping. The contribution of fluid pressure heterogeneity and permeability evolution on the initiation of fracture slipping is different with the increase of fluid pressurization rate. When the fluid pressurization rate is small, permeability evolution plays a dominant role. On the contrary, the fluid pressure heterogeneity plays a dominant role. The increase of fluid pressurization rate may lead to the transition from creep slip mode to slow stick-slip mode. Under the laboratory scale, the fluid pressure heterogeneity causes the coulomb failure stress to increase by about one times than the predicted value at the initiation of fracture slipping, and the coulomb stress increment threshold of 1.65 MPa is disadvantageous to the fracture stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the sole impact of blinding patients and outcome assessors in acupuncture randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on treatment effects while considering the type of outcome measures. Methods: We searched databases for the meta‐analyses on acupuncture with both blinded and non‐blinded RCTs. Mixed‐effects meta‐regression models estimated the average ratio of odds ratios (ROR) and differences in standardized mean differences (dSMD) for non‐blinded RCTs versus blinded mixed‐effects meta‐regression model. Results: The study included 96 meta‐analyses (1012 trials). The average ROR for lack of patient blinding was 1.08 (95% confidence intervals 0.79–1.49) in 18 meta‐analyses with binary patient‐reported outcomes. The average ROR for lack of outcome assessor blinding was 0.98 (0.77–1.24) in 43 meta‐analyses with binary subjective outcomes. The average dSMD was −0.38 (−0.96 to 0.20) in 10 meta‐analyses with continuous patient‐reported outcomes. The average dSMD was −0.13 (−0.45 to 0.18) in 25 meta‐analyses with continuous subjective outcomes. The results of the subgroup analysis were consistent with the primary analysis findings. Conclusions: Blinding of participants and outcome assessors does not significantly influence acupuncture treatment efficacy. It underscores the practical difficulties of blinding in acupuncture RCTs and the necessity to distinguish between trials with and without successful blinding to understand treatment expectations' effects. Enhancing blinding procedures' quality and assessment in future research is crucial for improving RCTs' internal validity and reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spray characteristics of aviation kerosene are critical to the performance of gas turbine combustors. Actual gas turbine combustors are mainly operated at high temperatures and high-speed airflow environments, whereas almost all research on spray characteristics in high-speed airflow is limited to room temperature in the literature. In this paper, the spray characteristics of aviation kerosene from a pressure-swirl nozzle are investigated experimentally in the airflow temperature range of 313–500 K and the airflow speed range of 108–136 m/s. The information on spray characteristics such as droplet flux, velocity, and diameter was obtained by phase Doppler anemometry. Planar Mie scatter was performed to obtain the information on the concentration distribution of spray. The results show that the droplet flux, velocity, concentration, and Sauter mean diameter ( D 32 ) change significantly with airflow temperatures. In special, D 32 in the center recirculation zone shows an increasing trend with increasing airflow temperature. The difference in the change of D 32 along the propagation direction at elevated airflow temperatures is mainly due to the difference in evaporation processes. It was found that the evaporation models of a droplet that existed in literature do not predict well the D 32 variation of spray in this experiment. A new spray evaporation model considering turbulence and fuel vapor fraction is proposed, which significantly reduces the prediction errors of variation in D 32 in this experiment. This paper can provide experimental data and preliminary theoretical references for subsequent investigation of spray characteristics in high-speed airflow with elevated temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The contribution of this study is concluded as follows: • 1) A VSC-MTDC model considering the cable characteristics is established. The cable model could characterize mutual coupling. • 2) A robust damping strategy that incorporates the H∞ mixed sensitivity method and accounts for disturbance uncertainty is proposed. • 3) It can handle diverse operating conditions and uncertainty perturbation. It also delivers excellent steady-state and transient performance. Multi-terminal direct current transmission based on voltage source converter (VSC-MTDC) has become an ideal solution for long distance offshore wind farm access systems. However, the integration of VSC-MTDC with offshore wind farms is vulnerable to various disturbances, which can lead to instability. To address this issue, this paper presents a robust damping control for VSC-MTDC in offshore applications that accounts for disturbance uncertainty. First, a small-signal VSC-MTDC model is developed considering the coupling characteristics of the cable, and the DC cable model is suitable for both unipolar and bipolar structures. Secondly, the key parameters affecting the oscillation mode are analyzed. On this basis, the paper proposes a robust damping strategy that adapts to the changing operating conditions of the system without impairing steady-state performance, while enhancing transient performance. Finally, the paper builds a VSC-MTDC with offshore wind farms on MATLAB/Simulink to validate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed scheme. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy exhibits better robustness and suppression ability under multiple types of disturbances compared to traditional additional damping control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A photochromic microcapsule with diarylethene as the core and PMMA as the wall materials was prepared successfully. The photochromic microcapsules could be printed on cotton fabrics and had excellent photochromic properties, fatigue resistance, soap resistance, acid and alkali resistance. [Display omitted] • A photochromic microcapsule was prepared with diarylethene as the core material and PMMA as the wall material. • The photochromic microcapsule exhibited excellent photochromic property with high fatigue resistance. • The photochromic microcapsule could be applied to cotton fabric with screen printing technique. Photochromic compounds have been widely used in many fields due to their excellent properties. However, their properties would degrade significantly, due to the influence of environmental factors, such as oxygen, pH, and so on. Using microencapsulation technology to protect them was one of the ways to maintain their original good performance. Herein, photochromic microcapsule with poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as shell material and photochromic diarylethene as core material was prepared by the solvent evaporation method. The results showed that the prepared microcapsule had uniform particle size, smooth surface, tight coating, excellent photochromic sensitivity, and outstanding fatigue resistance. In addition, the photochromic microcapsule was printed on cotton fabric by adhesive, which also showed excellent reversible photochromic properties, soap washing resistance, and acid and alkali resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel photo-controlled solid-state fluorescence switching based on carbon dots (CDs) and diarylethene was designed and constructed. It was characterized by TEM, XRD, XPS, and FT-IR. The polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was used to disperse the CDs and prevent its fluorescence quenching due to aggregation. The fluorescence switching not only had excellent modulation efficiency, but also exhibited good photochromic properties. Upon irradiation with UV light, the fluorescence modulation efficiency was determined to be 96.3%. The mechanism of the reversible fluorescence modulation was attributed to the FRET between the CDs (energy donor) and the closed-ring diarylethene (energy acceptor). This work suggests the strategy of constructing solid-state fluorescence switching is feasible, and will provide new ways for the potential application of CDs and diarylethene. A solid-state fluorescence switching was designed and constructed with carbon dots (CDs) and diarylethene, and the fluorescence switch is dispersed into PMMA films to achieve the solid-state fluorescence switching of CDs. [Display omitted] • A solid-state fluorescence switching based on carbon dots (CDs) and diarylethene was designed and constructed. • The reversible fluorescent switching behavior of the DT-CDs system was UV/vis lights controlled process based on the FRET. • The PMMA was used to disperse the CDs and inhibit its fluorescence quenching caused by its aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the start-up process of practical gas turbine applications, the modulation of operating condition, especially the variation of global equivalence ratios (ϕ g l o), could cause the variations of stability regimes. The above process is accompanied by the increase of total air flow rates ( m ̇ a i r) when approaching the stable operation condition, and thus the effect of this parameter should also be considered in the operating condition modulation process. This work presents an experimental investigation into the transitions of thermoacoustic modes and flame dynamics in a centrally-staged swirl combustor over a range of ϕ g l o and m ̇ a i r. The present thermoacoustic system exhibits two transitions of thermoacoustic modes with ϕ g l o variation, showing distinct characteristics of pressure oscillation (p ′) and flame structures. To further explore the detailed variation of p ′ characteristics and its link to flame dynamics during two transitions, a nonlinear dynamic analysis of p ′ including its phase and recurrence plots as well as a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) study have been conducted. The thermoacoustic network analysis and local Rayleigh index analysis have clarified the mode transition mechanism with varying ϕ g l o and m ̇ a i r. The present results can provide a guideline for quantifying the stability regimes of fuel-flexible combustors during the operating condition modulation processes. • Transitions of thermoacoustic modes and flame dynamics are characterized. • Effects of equivalence ratios and air flow rates on the transitions are examined. • Transient processes during different transitions are observed. • Transient mechanisms of thermoacoustic modes and couplings are elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notorious polysulfide shuttle and sluggish kinetics seriously challenge the commercialization process of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, even though their addictive theoretical energy density and specific capacity. Herein, a MOF-808-derived Ce-doped ZrOF (Ce-ZrOF) composite is constructed by the impregnation of Zr-based MOF-808 film with Ce salt and carbonization as an efficacious polysulfide inhibitor in Li-S batteries, which is anchored on carbon cloth. With a hierarchical porous structure, sufficient adsorption sites and Ce-doping, the proposed structure is qualified for efficaciously trapping polysulfides through adsorption. Meanwhile, the metal Ce and oxygen vacancies facilitate the catalytic conversion of polysulfides, enabling the accelerated redox kinetics. Based on the above synergistic effect, the developed interlayer delivers a high initial capacity of 1048 mAh g−1 with a durable cyclability of a limited decay of 0.025% per cycle for 500 cycles under 1 C, a considerable rate performance of 744 mAh g−1 at 5 C and an outstanding area capacity of 9.6 mAh cm−2 with the high sulfur loading (10.8 mg cm−2). • A MOF-808-derived Ce-doped ZrOF composite is developed. • The composite is anchored on carbon cloth and used as an interlayer material. • This interlayer can efficaciously adsorb polysulfide and catalyze their conversion. • The interlayer delivers impressive cycle and high sulfur loading performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1α,25(OH) 2 VD 3 is the most active form of vitamin D 3 in animals, and it plays an important role in regulating mineral metabolism and reproduction. In this study, 140 crossbred gilts (Landrace × Yorkshire) were selected, randomly divided into four groups, and fed with a commercial diet supplemented with 0, 1, 2, and 4 μg/kg of 1α,25(OH) 2 VD 3 in the form of 1α,25(OH) 2 VD 3 -glycosides. The mammary gland tissues were sampled from sows on day 114 of gestation. The production data of sows in each group were analyzed, and the colostrum quality was evaluated. Differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) in the mammary tissues were identified by tandem mass tag (TMT) technique and were verified by Western blot and parallel reaction monitoring (PRM). The results showed that 4 μg/kg 1α,25(OH) 2 VD 3 -glycosides significantly promoted the piglet birth weight, weaning weight, colostrum quality, and lactation ability of primiparous sows. The proteomics analysis showed that of the identified 53,118 peptides, 48,868 were unique peptides. A total of 5029 DAPs were identified, of which 4292 DAPs contained quantitative information. Our data indicated that 1α,25(OH) 2 VD 3 was involved in the regulation of the mammary gland development and lactation in a dose-dependent manner through multiple pathways during gestation of primiparous sows. The mammary gland is an important lactation organ of female mammals. Our research aims to reveal the effect of dietary supplementation with 1α,25(OH) 2 VD 3 on mammary gland development and lactation of primiparous sow. This study identified potential signaling pathways and DAPs involved in regulating the mammary gland development and lactation in sows. Our findings provides theoretical basis for improving the fecundity of sows. [Display omitted] • Feed supplementation with 1α,25(OH) 2 D 3 improved reproductive performance of sows. • Differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) were identified by TMT-based proteomics. • 1α,25(OH) 2 D 3 may regulate mammary gland development by multiple signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A Zr-based continuous MOF-808 membrane was developed on carbon nanotube film. • MOF-808 membrane was used as ion-selective interlayer material for Li-S batteries. • MOF-808 membrane can selectively block polysulfides and promote their conversion. • The Li-S batteries deliver impressive cycle stability and rate capability. The shuttle effect of polysulfides is the most critical challenge impeding the practical process of lithium-sulfur batteries. Herein, we report a continuous crystalline zirconium-based MOF-808 membrane that prepared on carbon nanotube film through a facial in-situ hydrothermal method, which is to be employed as multifunctional interlayer material in lithium-sulfur batteries. The growth characteristics of MOF-808 membrane and its applicability to lithium-sulfur batteries are detailedly investigated. With appropriate pore size and good electrolyte wettability, the as-prepared MOFs membrane can serve as an ion-selective barrier that efficaciously blocks polysulfides while allowing the rapid transport of lithium ions through sieving effect. Moreover, the redox kinetics is also accelerated by the MOF-808 membrane. Consequently, with the employment of the as-prepared interlayer, lithium-sulfur batteries deliver a durable cycle stability with a limited decay of merely 0.03 % per cycle over 500 cycles at 1 C, and an excellent rate capability of 707.3 mAh g−1 under 5 C. The strategy proposed here would advance the development of continuous MOFs membrane in the field of rechargeable batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MnBi2Te4 can generate a variety of exotic topological quantum states, which are closely related to its special structure. We conduct comprehensive multiple-cycle high-pressure research on MnBi2Te4 by using a diamond anvil cell to study its phase transition behaviors under high pressure. As observed, when the pressure does not exceed 15 GPa, the material undergoes an irreversible metal–semiconductor–metal transition, whereas when the pressure exceeds 17 GPa, the layered structure is damaged and becomes irreversibly amorphous due to the lattice distortion caused by compression, but it is not completely amorphous, which presents some nano-sized grains after decompression. Our investigation vividly reveals the phase transition behaviors of MnBi2Te4 under high pressure cycling and paves the experimental way to find topological phases under high pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An AIE fluorescent probe (TPh-PyBz- β -gal) was designed and synthesized for β -gal detection based on a novel AIE fluorophore and receptor unit D -galactose residue connected by glycosidic bond. The probe exhibited selective and sensitive turn-on fluorescent responses toward β -gal with detection limit reaching to 0.22 U/mL in aqueous environment. After studied from measured data, we proposed that a possible recognition mechanism probably resulted from the cleavage of glycosidic bond along with obviously increasing fluorescent signal at 606 nm. Meanwhile, TPh-PyBz- β -gal showed low cytotoxicity, and could be successfully used for β -gal imaging in cells. An AIE fluorescent probe (TPh-PyBz- β -gal) was designed and synthesized for β -gal detection based on a novel AIE fluorophore and receptor unit D -galactose residue connected by glycosidic bond. The probe exhibited selective and sensitive turn-on fluorescent responses toward β -gal with detection limit reaching to 0.22 U/mL in aqueous environment. After studied from measured data, we proposed that a possible recognition mechanism probably resulted from the cleavage of glycosidic bond along with obviously increasing fluorescent signal at 606 nm. Meanwhile, TPh-PyBz- β -gal showed low cytotoxicity, and could be successfully used for β -gal imaging in cells. [Display omitted] • A novel AIE fluorescent probe with ICT effect was developed for selective and sensitive detection of β -gal. • The recognition mechanism could be from the cleavage of glycosidic bond along with increasing fluorescent signal at 606 nm. • The fluorescent probe shows low cytotoxicity, and can be successfully applied for β -gal imaging in living cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel DES based on phenylphosphinic acid was used to leach NCM cathode materials. • Leaching efficiencies for Li, Ni, Co, and Mn were>93%. • The coordination configurations of metals in the leaching solution were revealed. • Compared to the other DESs, the leaching conditions were milder and safer. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) play an important role in efficient recovery of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this study, we proposed an efficient and safe method by using a choline chloride-phenylphosphinic acid DES as a lixiviant for the leaching of LiNi x Co y Mn z O 2 (NCM) cathode active materials of spent LIBs. The leaching conditions were optimized based on the leaching time, liquid–solid ratio, and leaching temperature. Under optimal experimental conditions, the leaching efficiencies of Li, Co, Ni, and Mn reached 97.7 %, 97.0 %, 96.4 %, and 93.0 %, respectively. The kinetics of the leaching process were well-fitted using the logarithmic law equation. The apparent activation energies for Li, Co, Ni, and Mn have been reported to be 60.3 kJ/mol, 78.9 kJ/mol, 99.3 kJ/mol, and 82.1 kJ/mol, respectively. UV–visible spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared analysis revealed that the coordination configurations of Ni and Co in the leaching solution were octahedral and tetrahedral, respectively. In addition, the P O bond in phenylphosphinic acid was involved in coordination during leaching. This finding may provide an effective and safe approach for leaching valuable metals from spent LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flame structures and thermoacoustic instabilities of centrally-staged swirl flames fueled with methane at atmospheric pressure are experimentally investigated by varying the stratification ratio (SR) and covering four different partially-premixed modes, namely fully-premixed main and pilot stages, fully-premixed-pilot/partially-premixed-main stages, partially-premixed-pilot/fully-premixed-main stages, and partially-premixed main and pilot stages. The flame structures in the quiet cases at SR = 0–3 are studied, and three basic flame types can be defined with increasing SR: the lifted flame, the attached twin-flame, and the V-shaped flame. The above basic flame structures show deviations in different partially-premixed modes. The links between flame structures and thermoacoustic instabilities are investigated in the unstable cases by exciting thermoacoustic instabilities with higher thermal power at increased global equivalence ratio. The results show that the partial premixing in the main stage excites stronger thermoacoustic instabilities and thus leads to different flame structures. Simplified thermoacoustic network analysis is also conducted to provide an insight into the nature of thermoacoustic instabilities in the three basic flame structures summarized in the unstable cases. The present investigation reveals the effect of partially-premixed modes on flame structures and thermoacoustic instabilities, which can guide the early-stage design and the development of instability control strategies in practical combustion systems. • Flame structures in different partially-premixed modes are compared. • The partial-premixing in the pilot stage benefits the overall flame stabilization. • Links between flame structures and thermoacoustic instabilities are investigated. • The partial-premixing in the main stage drives strong thermoacoustic instabilities. • The nature of instabilities in different flame structures is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the effect of the exit geometry of the main stage on thermoacoustic instabilities in a model combustor with a dual-swirl layout. In practical combustors, the main stage has a much larger airflow than the pilot stage, therefore dominating the aerodynamics of the global flame. In this paper, six different geometries of the main-stage exit are designed to cover the common styles in engineering applications. Their effects on thermoacoustic instability and flame shape are examined experimentally. Sudden transitions from the attached flame to the blurred flame are found in most of the exit geometries, excluding the outer-rough case. This transition of flame shape triggers the onset of strong thermoacoustic oscillation, leading to a jump in the pressure fluctuation amplitude. Frequency drop and the acoustic mode shift are also found at the transition point. Flame dynamics are further analyzed using the dynamic mode decomposition method. It is concluded that the outer-rough case has the best thermoacoustic stability within the tested range. The mechanisms of the observed phenomena are analyzed by measuring the reacting flow fields. It is found that the increased roughness of the outer wall can prevent the flame shape transition and the onset of thermoacoustic instability, possibly due to the weakened vortex structures and strain rate in the outer shear layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FYCO1, an autophagy adaptor, plays an essential role in the trafficking toward the plus-end of microtubules and the fusion of autophagosomes. Autophagic dysfunction is involved in numerous disease states, including cancers. Previous studies have implicated FYCO1 as one of the critical genes involved in the adenoma to carcinoma transition, but the biological function and mechanism of FYCO1 in carcinogenesis remain unclear. This study aims to elucidate the role and mechanism of up- and downregulation of FYCO1 in mediating tumor effects in HeLa cells. Functionally, FYCO1 promotes cellular migration, invasion, epithelial–mesenchymal transition, invadopodia formation, and matrix degradation, which are detected through wound healing, transwell, immunofluorescence, and Western blot approaches. Interestingly, the data show that although FYCO1 does not affect HeLa cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution, nor vessels' formation, FYCO1 can block the apoptotic function. FYCO1 inhibits cleavage of PARP, caspase3, and caspase9 and increases Bcl-2/Bax ratio. Then, we used CK666, an Arp2/3 specific inhibitor, to confirm that FYCO1 may promote the migration and invasion of HeLa cells through the CDC42/N-WASP/Arp2/3 signaling pathway. Taken together, these results provide a new insight that FYCO1, an autophagy adaptor, may also be a new regulator of tumor metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we report on two different GJA8 variants related to congenital eye anomalies in two unrelated families, respectively. GJA8 (or Cx50) encoding a transmembrane protein to form lens connexons has been known as a common causative gene in congenital cataracts and its variants have recently been reported related to a wide phenotypic spectrum of eye defects. We identified two GJA8 variants, c.134G>T (p.Try45Leu, W45L) detected in a cataract family by Sanger sequencing and c.281G>A (p.Gly94Glu, G94E) found in a family with severe eye malformations including microphthalmia by whole-exome sequencing. These two variants were absent in healthy population and predicted deleterious by bioinformatic analysis. Furthermore, we compared the expression in cell lines between these mutants and the wildtype to explore their potential mechanism. Cell counting kit-8 assay showed that overexpression of either W45L or G94E decreased cell viability compared with wild-type Cx50 and the control. A lower protein level in W45L found by western blotting and fewer punctate fluorescent signals showed by fluorescence microscopy suggested that W45L may have less protein expression. A higher G94E protein level and abundant dotted distribution indicated that G94E may cause aberrant protein degradation and accumulation. Such results from in vitro assays confirmed the impact of these two variants and gave us a hint about their different pathogenic roles in different phenotypes. In conclusion, our study is the first to have the functional analysis of two GJA8 variants c.134G>T and c.281G>A in Chinese pedigrees and explore the impact of these variants, which can help in prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling as well in basic studies on GJA8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavior recognition of model animals such as mice, rats, and monkeys, is of great significance in medical research and vital in the development in medicines or drugs. Studies of the animal's responses to specific stimulations consisted of visual imaging methods that was easily affected by cage lighting conditions and shooting angle. In this study, we designed a behavior classification system that focused on object-floor contact features extracted from touch images of the frustrated total internal reflection injected with infrared lights. A mouse behavioral dataset (IMBD) was then established, and a support vector machine was applied to conduct this classification. To improve its performance, an improved particle swarm optimization was proposed for the optimization of parameters. Based on IMBD and the support vector machine, we tested different feature extraction methods and classifiers. The system performance of the current study showed more accuracy and efficacy compared with performance of other prevalent particle swarm optimizations. Our study resulted in a recognition rate of up to 94.37% for individual behavior. The average rate of behavioral recognition for all tested mice reached 83.09%. The results suggested that foot contact features of mice were more effective than regular video features in behavior recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Freeze-thaw perturbation led to enhanced qCO 2 as less CO 2 emitted from even less SMBC. • First thawed layer and coarse aggregates experienced more intensified freeze-thaw. • Lagged freezing and fine aggregates preserved microbes from cryogenic perturbation. • Coarse aggregates survived with higher F/B ratio but lower CO 2 emissions after freeze-thaw. • Fine aggregates were more resilient to freeze-thaw with lower F/B ratio and stable CO 2. Currently available investigations often fail to adequately recognize that soil does not freeze or thaw instantly nor uniformly, but unidirectionally and progressively. Unidirectional freeze-thaw can re-organize soil physio-, chemical- and biological-properties across layers as well among aggregates, thus posing far-reaching yet undervalued impacts on soil carbon biogeochemical cycling, especially in eroding settings. In this study, a Mollisol was refilled into soil columns, and respectively experienced complete freeze-thaw (i.e., no layer distinguished), and progressive freeze-thaw (i.e., from outer layer T1, to inner core T3). After thawing, all soils were fractionated into six size classes, and each size class was then incubated at 10℃ over 7 days to measure daily CO 2 emission rate. Our results show that: (1) The soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) was generally reduced by 25 % after freeze-thaw, but only the finest aggregates ≤ 32 μm maintained comparable CO 2 emission rates. (2) The inner core T3 thawed last and survived with significantly more SMBC and CO 2 , but lower respiratory quotient (qCO 2), than the outer layer T1 thawed first. (3) The fine aggregates survived with more SMBC and total CO 2 emissions, but significantly lower qCO 2 and smaller ratios of fungal to bacterial biomass carbon, than the coarse aggregates. The disproportionally less respiratory carbon losses (i.e., lower qCO 2) in T3 was probably because the lagged freezing and thus weakened water-ice phase changes in the inner core helped to better preserve the soil microbes. The fungal-dominant coarse aggregates were very responsive to freezing and evidently more respiratory active, whereas the fine aggregates were more resilient as the enhanced freezing point depression and the thus prolonged unfrozen state, fostering a better microbial survival with bacteria-dominant communities and robust basal respiration. Although limited to controlled simulation, this study may help to disentangle the role of unidirectional freeze-thaw in perturbing slope-scale soil carbon biogeochemical cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe sense of immersion provided by overlying computer-generated graphics over actual items is one of augmented reality’s distinguishing features. It is affected by multiple factors such as the user interface orientation in the virtual physical hybrid space. There have been many studies on realistic graphic rendering and multimodal interaction in augmented reality. Few studies, however, have systematically investigated the influence of the user interface orientations, more specifically the user-based orientation (UO) and object-based orientation (OO), on various aspects of immersion. We developed the UO and OO user interface prototypes and evaluated the sense of immersion in terms of engagement, engrossment, and overall immersion. The results showed that the user interface orientations in augmented reality had a significant influence on users’ perceived engagement and engrossment, whereas there was no significant difference in overall immersion. Particularly, compared to the OO user interfaces, the UO user interfaces exhibited higher perceived usability and slower focus of attention switching. Generalising implications for alternative augmented reality are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of catalysts supported by polyoxometalates (POMs) with green oxidative desulfurization activity is an important research topic in oil refining. In this paper, a nano-sized H-β zeolite support was modified by tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and tetrabutyl titanate (TBOT) to form a microporous–mesoporous structure. On this basis, the modified H-β zeolite was used as a support to load POMs with different structures. The characterization results of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption–desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy showed that POMs had been successfully loaded onto the support, and the skeleton structures of POMs and zeolites were maintained. The introduction of POMs significantly improved the ODS performance of bulky organic sulfides, especially benzothiophene (BT). The order of catalytic oxidative desulfurization activity of POMs with different structures was: Keggin > Sandwich ≈ Anderson > monovacant Dawson > Dawson > MoO3. Under the optimum reaction conditions: T = 50 °C, t = 1 h, moil : mcatalyst = 35 : 1, and n(O) : n(S) = 13 : 1, the oxidation conversion of BT and dibenzothiophene over the catalyst supported by phosphotungstic acid (HPW) reached 99.9%. The role of titanium active species, peroxide polyoxometalate, and titanium–silicon composite oxides in improving the oxidative removal of organic sulfides was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • An effective one-step method with learning-to-normalize deep representations. • Focal loss is adopted to focus on hard samples that are not easily handled by re-ID. • Gradient centralization is introduced to improve the generalization performance. The task of person search is to search for the target pedestrian in the scene images with the given query image, which means to perform detection and re-identification at the same time. In this paper, we propose a one-step method to jointly handle the two subtasks of person search using an end-to-end framework. The proposed framework contains the feature learning module and the multi-task learning module. We explore the performance of learning-to-normalize deep representation on the feature learning module, which allows the network to achieve normalizer selection on each normalization layer. To solve the imbalance problem of hard-to-classify examples, we introduce the focal loss in the multi-task learning module. Besides, we adopt the gradient generalization centralization technique, which makes the training process more stable and enhances the generalization ability of the model. We present extensive experiments on two benchmark datasets, i.e., CUHK-SYSU and PRW. Experimental results prove that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art one-step methods and has a competitive performance compared with two-step methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: Cheap metal (Fe, Mn, and Co)‐catalyzed hydroamination of alkenes has been an attractive method for synthesis of amines because of biocompatibility of metal, excellent Markovnikov selectivity and chemoselectivity. However, most reports are limited to unsaturated nitrogen sources (nitric oxide, azos, azides, cyano, etc.), for which aminated products are very limited. Notably, while used widely for fluorinating reaction, N‐fluorobenzenesulfonimide (NFSI) as amine source for hydroamination has seldom been reported. Here we developed a cobalt‐catalyzed intermolecular hydroamination of unactivated alkenes using NFSI as nitrogen source under mild conditions. The reaction exhibits excellent chemo‐ and regio‐selectivity with no hydrofluorination or linear‐selectivity products. Notably, the reaction proceeded with excellent yield even though the amount of Co(salen) catalyst was reduced to 0.2 mol%. Recently, a similar work was also reported by Zhang and coworkers (ref. 19). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing evidence has confirmed that immunoglobulins (Igs) can be expressed in non-B cells. Our previous work demonstrated that mesangial cells and podocytes express IgA and IgG, respectively. The aim of this work was to reveal whether proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTECs) express Igs. High-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) detected Igs in a small number of PTECs, and then we combined nested PCR with Sanger sequencing to detect the transcripts and characterize the repertoires of Igs in PTECs. We sorted PTECs from the normal renal cortex of two patients with renal cancer by FACS and further confirmed their identify by LRP2 gene expression. Only the transcripts of the IgG heavy chain were successfully amplified in 91/111 single PTECs. We cloned and sequenced 469 VHDJH transcripts from 91 single PTECs and found that PTEC-derived IgG exhibited classic VHDJH rearrangements with nucleotide additions at the junctions and somatic hypermutations. Compared with B cell-derived IgG, PTEC-derived IgG displayed less diversity of VHDJH rearrangements, predominant VH1-24/DH2-15/JH4 sequences, biased VH1 usage, centralized VH gene segment location at the 3′ end of the genome and non-Gaussian distribution of the CDR3 length. These results demonstrate that PTECs can express a distinct IgG repertoire that may have implications for their role in the renal tubular epithelial-mesenchymal transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the lithological, sedimentological and geochemical characteristics of Lower Jurassic strata (Ziliujing Formation) in the Sichuan Basin to identify the lithofacies and understand the depositional environments and differences in organic matter accumulation of these nonmarine fine-grained sediments. Based on mineralogy and petrology, rock types were recognized, with mudstones, siltstones, and limestones being the most common. Rock types, sedimentary structures, biota, and well log data were used to define and characterize 17 lithofacies and the following five facies associations of the fine-grained sediments: (1) delta front; (2) clastic lakeshore; (3) clastic shallow lake; (4) clastic semi-deep lake; and (5) carbonate lake. The content of total organic carbon ranges between 0.04% and 3.84%, with an average of 0.74%. The organic matter primarily consists of Type Ⅲ kerogen. Major processes inferred from the lithofacies analyses include suspension, biogenic, and storm deposition. On the basis of facies associations, redox, climate and salinity conditions, biotic productivity, and terrigenous input, a total of six depositional environments are proposed: (I) high-productivity low-oxygen swamp (II) low-oxygen semi-deep lake (III) high-oxygen semi-deep lake (IV) high-oxygen shallow lake (V) deep-water low-oxygen semi-deep lake and (VI) high-salinity low-oxygen shallow lake. The nonmarine environments changed frequently, unlike more stable environments. The development of bivalves in the shallow lake is suggested to be related to high salinity caused by dry climate, together with limited terrigenous input. Organic-rich nonmarine fine-grained sediments in the Ziliujing Formation formed in swamp and semi-deep lake with settings under reducing conditions, in a humid climate, with relatively high terrigenous input. Results of the study may help us to understand the deposition of nonmarine organic-rich fine-grained Lower Jurassic sediments in southwest, China. • A total of 17 lithofacies and five facies association were identified. • Major depositional processes include suspension, biogenic and storm depositions. • The nonmarine fine-grained rocks were deposited in six depositional environments. • The accumulation of organic matter is controlled by paleoenvironmental conditions. • The organic-rich sediments were mostly developed in swamp and semi-deep lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-scale vehicle detection is an important application in the field of object detection, and Feature Pyramid Network (FPN) is an important means to deal with multi-scale object detection tasks. However, baseline method is the common method used in most of the existing network structure, which represents the input image information by selecting one from the output layer of FPN, and discard other layers. This not only limits the performance of the network structure, but also performs poorly when dealing with the problem of excessive scale differences. To solve this problem, a novelty candidate region aggregation network (CRAN) is proposed in this paper. The candidate regions of different feature layers are effectively aggregated to improve the network generalization performance. Specifically, calculate the similarity between different feature layers through a feature quality score module, and use this as a quantity factor to determine the number of candidate regions reserved for the corresponding feature layer. Finally, they are aggregated into a more comprehensive candidate region group. Further, in order to improve the detection efficiency of small objects, an area cross entropy loss function is proposed. It makes the model pay more attention to small targets by adding a monotonic decrease based on the area. Finally, the proposed CRAN and the area cross entropy loss function are applied to the advanced detectors. The experimental results in the KITTI and UA-DETRAC datasets show that this method has good performance on vehicle objects in different scenarios, and can meet the requirements of practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]