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Lamination is the predominant and widely developed sedimentary structure in mudstones. Similar to organic pores in shale gas reservoirs, the inorganic pores in the laminae of shale oil reservoirs are equivalently important high-quality reservoir spaces and flow channels. The laminae characteristics are strongly heterogeneous, being controlled by both deposition and diagenesis. However, the origin of this diversity is poorly understood. A detailed examination of cores, thin sections, and scanning electron microscopy analyses were conducted on the lacustrine mudstone of the Qingshankou Formation in the Songliao Basin to study the influence of deposition and diagenesis on laminae characteristics and their relationship to reservoir quality. Three types of laminae are mainly developed, namely thick siliceous laminae, thin siliceous laminae, and thin siliceous and argillaceous mixed laminae. Deposition controls the type and distribution of laminae. The thin siliceous and argillaceous mixed laminae are controlled by climate-driven seasonal flux variations. The thick siliceous laminae and thin siliceous laminae are controlled by bottom current or gravity-driven transport processes due to increased terrestrial input. The thin siliceous laminae have the optimum reservoir properties, followed by the thin siliceous and argillaceous mixed laminae, while the thick siliceous laminae have the worst properties. Diagenesis controls the pore evolution of the laminae. Different laminae have different paths of diagenesis. The thin siliceous laminae are mainly cemented by chlorite, preserving some primary porosity. The clay mineral content of the thin siliceous and argillaceous mixed laminae is high, and the primary pores are mainly destroyed by the strong deformation of the clay minerals during compaction. The thick siliceous laminae are intensely cemented by calcite, losing most of the porosity. The present study enhances the understanding of reservoir characteristics in laminae and provides a reference for shale oil exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new isoindolin-1-ones (1 and 2), were isolated from the stems of Nicotiana tabacum (a cultivar of sun-cured tobacco with high resistance to black shank diseases, which originated from Huize local sun-cured tobacco by ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenesis). Their structures were elucidated using spectroscopic methods, including extensive 1D and 2D NMR techniques. Interestingly, both compounds showed high antibacterial activity with bacteriostatic diameter within the range 18.2 ± 1.4–25.8 ± 2.2 mm against five pathogenic strains, and they have the potential values for use as an antiseptic agent for Heat Not Burning cigarette-tipping paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new aromatic sesquiterpenes, 7-isopropyl-2,2,5-trimethyl-2H-chromene (1) and 7-isopropyl-5- (methoxymethyl)-2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromene (2), were isolated from the leaves of Nicotiana tabacum (a mutant tobacco for vitamin E synthesis gene knockout by CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing). Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods, including extensive 1D and 2D NMR techniques. Interestingly, compounds 1 and 2 have a weak bean fragrance, and they have the potential value for use as an essence for Heat Not Burning (HNB) cigarettes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable evidence suggests that insulin resistance is closely linked to Parkinson's disease (PD), leading to agents aiming at treating diabetes can be regarded as new neuroprotective strategies in PD, notably glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1). However, the extremely short half‐life of GLP‐1 due to degradation by the ubiquitous proteolytic enzyme limits its clinical application. In this study, we engineered the recombinant integrant probiotic strain Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) to create a strain EcN‐GLP‐1 that effectively delivers the heterologous GLP‐1 molecule. Subsequently, we assessed its neuroprotective effects on 1‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1, 2, 3, 6‐tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)‐induced PD mice. We demonstrated that EcN‐GLP‐1 treatment could improve motor deficits, increase tyrosine hydroxylase‐positive neurons, suppress microglia and astrocyte activation, reduce brain and colon inflammation, and ameliorate colonic barrier function damaged by MPTP induction. Meanwhile, we confirmed that the oral administration of EcN‐GLP‐1 could restore the disturbance of gut microbiota in the MPTP‐induced PD mice, by reducing the relative abundances of Akkermansia and Oscillospira, and increasing the level of Prevotella in the gut. These results support further development of an engineered probiotic platform in which production of GLP‐1 for gut‐brain disorders, such as PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underwater imaging and image processing techniques have recently attracted increasing attention in underwater target detection, archaeology, resource exploration, etc. However, the captured underwater images usually suffer from colour deviation (blue, green, yellow, etc.) and detail blurring problems due to the light absorption, light scattering effects, noises and target occlusions in the water. To solve the above two degradation problems, we propose an underwater image restoration method with multi-scale shallow feature extraction and detail enhancement network. Specifically, we develop a multi-scale shallow feature extraction module to address local detail blurring and alleviate colour deviation issues. Additionally, we design a local detail enhancement module based on an encoder-decoder structure. Quantitative and qualitative experiment results indicate that the proposed method outperforms recently reported state-of-the-art deep-learning-based underwater image restoration methods on four public underwater image datasets. Besides, we implement many ablation experiments to validate the effectiveness of each module in the proposed network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomically thin InSe is a promising semiconductor that possesses exceptional plasticity, high electron mobility, and wide bandgap tunability, which are thought to be highly sensitive to interlayer coupling. Since the interlayer vibration modes can provide direct access to the interlayer coupling strength, in this study, we systematically investigated the interlayer modes in few-layer InSe using low-frequency Raman spectroscopy. We found that the commonly used linear chain model (LCM), which treats the single layer as a rigid entity, is inadequate in accurately describing the frequencies of interlayer shear modes in InSe due to the influence of weak in-plane intralayer In–In bonding. This issue can be addressed with a modified model that accounts for both the in-plane interlayer coupling between InSe layers and the in-plane intralayer interaction within InSe layers. However, the out-of-plane intralayer In–In bonding is strong enough so that it has negligible impact on the frequency of the interlayer layer-breathing modes, which can be well understood by the LCM. Our study reveals how the weak intralayer bonding in two-dimensional materials gives a non-negligible contribution to the corresponding interlayer vibrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method to optimize a conformational pathway through a space of well-chosen reduced variables is employed to advance our understanding of protein conformational equilibrium. The adaptively biased path optimization strategy utilizes unrestricted, enhanced sampling in the region of a path in the reduced-variable space to identify a broad path between two stable end-states. Application to the inactivation transition of the Src tyrosine kinase catalytic domain reveals new insight into this well studied conformational equilibrium. The mechanistic description gained from identifying the motions and structural features along the path includes details of the switched electrostatic network found to underpin the transition. The free energy barrier along the path results from rotation of a helix, αC, that is tightly correlated with motions in the activation loop (A-loop) as well as distal regions in the C-lobe. Path profiles of the reduced variables clearly demonstrate the strongly correlated motions. The exchange of electrostatic interactions among residues in the network is key to these interdependent motions. In addition, the increased resolution from an all-atom model in defining the path shows multiple components for the A-loop motion and that different parts of the A-loop contribute throughout the length of the path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To overcome the disadvantages of small and random samples in static detection, this paper presents a study on dynamic measurements of solid particles in jet fuel using large samples. In this paper, the Mie scattering theory and Lambert-Beer law are used to analyze the scattering characteristics of copper particles in jet fuel. We have presented a prototype for multi-angle scattered and transmitted light intensity measurements of particle swarms in jet fuel which is used to test the scattering characteristics of the jet fuel mixture with 0.5–10 μm particle sizes and 0–1 mg/L concentrations of copper particles. The vortex flow rate was converted to an equivalent pipe flow rate using the equivalent flow method. Tests were conducted at equivalent flow rates of 187, 250 and 310 L/min. Through numerical calculations and experiments, it has been discovered that the intensity of the scattering signal decreases as the scattering angle increases. Meanwhile, both the scattered light intensity and transmitted light intensity would vary with the particle size and mass concentration. Finally, the relationship equation between light intensity and particle parameters has also been summarized in the prototype based on the experimental results, which proves its detection capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiferroic materials have garnered significant attention in recent years due to their unique magnetoelectric coupling effect. However, it is difficult to directly switch the magnetization/polarization directions of conventional solid multiferroic materials under the action of an applied electric/magnetic field, limiting the enhancement of the magnetoelectric coupling coefficient. In this study, CoFe2O4 (CFO) nanoparticles with an average size of 52.27 nm were prepared using the chemical co-precipitation method, and Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 (BST) nanoparticles with an average size of 66.10 nm were prepared via the sol–gel method. On this basis, CFO–BST multiferroic fluids were created through ball milling, and the effect of viscosity on the magnetoelectric properties was investigated. It was found that viscosity is positively correlated with the settling stability of the fluids. With increasing viscous resistance and stability, the magnetic dielectric response of the multiferroic fluids increases at first and then decreases. The highest magnetic dielectric response (3.9%) was observed for fluids with a viscosity of 1000 mPa s. Furthermore, it was discovered that the multiferroic fluids exhibited an obvious switching effect when subjected to a discontinuous magnetic field. Additionally, the polarization intensity of the multiferroic fluids was found to increase initially before decreasing with increasing viscosity. The multiferroic fluids with a viscosity of 1000 mPa s achieved a magnetoelectric coupling coefficient of 89.8 V (cm Oe)−1 when subjected to an applied magnetic field of 91 Oe due to their good stability and suitable viscosity. This investigation implies that multiferroic liquids may have potential application in information storage and new capacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of cucurbit[n]urils to control the photochemical reactions of styrylpyridine salts has become a new strategy in supramolecular chemistry. In an aqueous solution, styrylpyridine derivatives (CHP) can form supramolecular complexes of the 1 : 2 and 2 : 1 type with cucurbit[8]uril (Q[8]) and cucurbit[7]uril (Q[7]), respectively. Given the photosensitivity of the CHP, the C＝C bond of the CHP undergoes a cis-trans isomerization reaction and a [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction under 365 nm UV irradiation in an aqueous solution. After binding with Q[8], the photo-induced [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction rate of the CHP is greatly increased, while after binding with Q[7], the C＝C bond of the CHP only undergoes a cis-trans isomerization reaction, i.e. no further photo-induced [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction occurs. Competitive experiments demonstrated that CHP is more inclined to combine with Q[7], and thus when Q[7] and Q[8] coexist in the system, the inhibition of the [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of CHP by Q[7] is not disrupted. The characteristics of this supramolecular catalysis and supramolecular protection make it applicable to catalyze or inhibit reactions required under specific circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few-shot visual recognition aims to identify novel unseen classes with few labels while learning generalized prior knowledge from base classes. Recent ideas propose to explore this problem in an unsupervised setting, i.e. , without any labels in base classes, which reduces the heavy consumption of manual annotations. In this paper, we build upon a self-supervised insight and propose a novel unsupervised learning approach that joints Invariant and Consistent (InCo) representation for the few-shot task. For the invariant representation operation, we present a geometric invariance module to construct the rotation prediction of each instance, which learns the intra-instance variance and improves the feature discrimination. To further build consistency representation of inter-instance, we propose a pairwise consistency module from two contrastive learning aspects: a holistic contrastive learning with historical training queues, and a local contrastive learning for enhancing the representation of current training samples. Moreover, to better facilitate contrastive learning among features, we introduce an asymmetric convolutional architecture to encode high-quality representations. Comprehensive experiments on 4 public benchmarks demonstrate the utility of our approach and the superiority compared to existing approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Postballoon expansion is considered as an appropriate procedure for adequate stent expansion for coronary bifurcation lesions. Two postballoon expansion procedures are currently recommended: proximal optimization technique (POT)/side/POT and POT/kiss/POT. However, the effects of the two postballoon expansion treatments are different. There is a lack of biomechanical study to quantify the difference. Purpose: It is recognized that biomechanical factors influence the occurrence of Major Cardiovascular Adverse Events (MACE), which includes recurrent angina pectoris, acute myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease death. The current paper evaluated the two postexpansion strategies and quantified biomechanical parameters to provide a basis for clinical decisions. Methods: Based on the CT angiography (CTA) data of a patient diagnosed with coronary bifurcation lesions, a personalized coronary bifurcation lesion model was constructed, and the surgical procedure after two expansions was simulated. The POT/side/POT and POT/kiss/POT expansion procedures were analyzed from the perspective of biomechanics through finite element analysis. The biomechanics factors, including the percentage of stent malapposition and stent occlusion at the side branch (SB) opening, the stent ellipse index of proximal main vessel (PMV) segment, the minimum lumen area of the stent vessel segment and the stress distribution of the vessel wall, were used to quantify clinician concerns about factors affecting patient outcomes. The factors include stent adhesion, SB open stent occlusion, poor stent deformation, patency effect of vessel stenosis, and vessel wall damage. Results: Both postexpansion procedures were successfully simulated. The malapposition rate during POT/side/POT was larger (1.2% vs. 0.42%) and stent occlusion at the SB opening from the cross‐section perpendicular to the SB opening after the POT/side/POT procedure was 0.20%, compared with 0.00% after POT/kiss/POT. POT/kiss/POT produced a larger PMV segment stent ellipse index. Minimum lumen area after POT/side/POT was 5.6 mm2 and after POT/kiss/POT 5.9 mm2. POT/kiss/POT produces an effect of greater vascular stress than POT/side/POT. Conclusion: Numerical simulations provide a quantitative analysis to inform clinicians of the differences between preoperative planning and surgical procedures. Biomechanical analysis of the differences between the two postexpansion strategies found that the POT/kiss/POT procedure resulted in better stent fit, less occlusion of the SB open stent and better vascular patency but also resulted in poor stent deformation and caused greater vessel wall stress. The current study informs rationales for clinical understanding of postexpansion strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the power transfer limit (Pmax) of wind power plants (WPPs) under the weak grid condition. It is pointed out that the impact of different grid parameters and grid configurations on Pmax cannot be fully reflected by the short-circuit ratio (SCR), but can be readily captured by voltage sensitivity (∂Q/∂V). Hence, ∂Q/∂V turns out to be a more appropriate metric for the assessment of Pmax compared with the SCR. Based on this insight, the voltage control of the WPP is suggested to be implemented at the bus with the highest ∂Q/∂V to maximize the power transfer capability. Moreover, a dynamic voltage control is further added at the turbine level to improve the disturbance rejection capability of the WPP as well as its dynamic robustness against grid strength variations. Finally, simulation and field test results are given to demonstrate the theoretical analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed control method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a multi-scale underwater image enhancement method with an optimized homomorphic filter and a RGB color correction algorithm. The proposed method includes three steps. First, an optimized homomorphic filter was developed to reduce the interference of underwater impurities on the image. The interference of impurity particles on the image is reduced, and a preliminarily optimized image can be obtained. Then, a multi-scale image enhancement algorithm is designed to enhance the color of underwater images. Finally, considering the color bias of the image, an RGB correction algorithm is proposed to correct the color of the image and further improve the image quality. Using public and simulated datasets, extensive qualitative and quantitative experiments are implemented to demonstrate the enhanced results of underwater images under different turbidity and the competitive performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underwater imaging technique is a crucial tool for humans to develop, utilize, and protect the ocean. We comprehensively compare the imaging performance of twenty-four ghost imaging (GI) methods in the underwater environment. The GI methods are divided into two types according to the illumination patterns, the random and orthogonal patterns. Three-group simulations were designed to show the imaging performance of the twenty-four GI methods. Moreover, an experimental system was built, and three-group experiments were implemented. The numerical and experimental results demonstrate that the orthogonal pattern-based compressed sensing GI methods have strong antinoise capability and can restore clear images for underwater objects with a low measurement number. The investigation results are helpful for the practical applications of the underwater GI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the light absorption and scattering by water, the underwater image quality is often severely degraded. To solve this problem, we propose an underwater image restoration method that uses level adjustment and colour equalization algorithms to obtain high-quality underwater images. A human visual perception-based underwater imaging model is first built to generate images with high contrast and rich colours. Then, a level adjustment algorithm is developed to improve the brightness of the image. Finally, a colour equalization algorithm is designed to filter the local characteristics and achieve image brightness, colour, and contrast adjustment with nonlinear and filtered local characteristics. Extensive numerical and experimental results show that the proposed method can improve the underwater images and is superior to the recently reported methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adverse events induced by drug-drug interactions are a major concern in the United States. Current research is moving toward using electronic health record (EHR) data, including for adverse drug events discovery. One of the first steps in EHR-based studies is to define a phenotype for establishing a cohort of patients. However, phenotype definitions are not readily available for all phenotypes. One of the first steps of developing automated text mining tools is building a corpus. Therefore, this study aimed to develop annotation guidelines and a gold standard corpus to facilitate building future automated approaches for mining phenotype definitions contained in the literature. Furthermore, our aim is to improve the understanding of how these published phenotype definitions are presented in the literature and how we annotate them for future text mining tasks. Results: Two annotators manually annotated the corpus on a sentence-level for the presence of evidence for phenotype definitions. Three major categories (inclusion, intermediate, and exclusion) with a total of ten dimensions were proposed characterizing major contextual patterns and cues for presenting phenotype definitions in published literature. The developed annotation guidelines were used to annotate the corpus that contained 3971 sentences: 1923 out of 3971 (48.4%) for the inclusion category, 1851 out of 3971 (46.6%) for the intermediate category, and 2273 out of 3971 (57.2%) for exclusion category. The highest number of annotated sentences was 1449 out of 3971 (36.5%) for the "Biomedical & Procedure" dimension. The lowest number of annotated sentences was 49 out of 3971 (1.2%) for "The use of NLP". The overall percent inter-annotator agreement was 97.8%. Percent and Kappa statistics also showed high inter-annotator agreement across all dimensions. Conclusions: The corpus and annotation guidelines can serve as a foundational informatics approach for annotating and mining phenotype definitions in literature, and can be used later for text mining applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adverse events induced by drug-drug interactions are a major concern in the United States. Current research is moving toward using electronic health record (EHR) data, including for adverse drug events discovery. One of the first steps in EHR-based studies is to define a phenotype for establishing a cohort of patients. However, phenotype definitions are not readily available for all phenotypes. One of the first steps of developing automated text mining tools is building a corpus. Therefore, this study aimed to develop annotation guidelines and a gold standard corpus to facilitate building future automated approaches for mining phenotype definitions contained in the literature. Furthermore, our aim is to improve the understanding of how these published phenotype definitions are presented in the literature and how we annotate them for future text mining tasks. Results: Two annotators manually annotated the corpus on a sentence-level for the presence of evidence for phenotype definitions. Three major categories (inclusion, intermediate, and exclusion) with a total of ten dimensions were proposed characterizing major contextual patterns and cues for presenting phenotype definitions in published literature. The developed annotation guidelines were used to annotate the corpus that contained 3971 sentences: 1923 out of 3971 (48.4%) for the inclusion category, 1851 out of 3971 (46.6%) for the intermediate category, and 2273 out of 3971 (57.2%) for exclusion category. The highest number of annotated sentences was 1449 out of 3971 (36.5%) for the "Biomedical & Procedure" dimension. The lowest number of annotated sentences was 49 out of 3971 (1.2%) for "The use of NLP". The overall percent inter-annotator agreement was 97.8%. Percent and Kappa statistics also showed high inter-annotator agreement across all dimensions. Conclusions: The corpus and annotation guidelines can serve as a foundational informatics approach for annotating and mining phenotype definitions in literature, and can be used later for text mining applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adaptive virtual impedance (VI) control emerges as an attractive solution to limit the current of grid-forming voltage-source converters (GFM-VSCs) during grid faults. Yet, the adaptive VI-based current limitation relies on the detection of the current magnitude, which introduces nonlinear dynamics that challenges the controller parameters tuning of GFM-VSCs. This article develops the small-signal model of GFM-VSCs with adaptive VI-based current limitation, from which, the dynamic impact of the adaptive VI is explicitly revealed. Considering such impact, a holistic controller parameters tuning method for GFM-VSC is proposed to guarantee the small-signal stability of the system. Simulation and experimental tests are performed to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis and the proposed parameters tuning method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single infrared (IR) image super‐resolution methods can help to reduce the cost and difficulty in manufacturing IR sensors for the imaging system. However, the deep learning‐based image SR methods need to build a complex network and thus consume a lot of computational power, which limits the application of SR technology on devices with low computing resources in practice. To solve this problem, the authors present a lightweight multi‐path feature fusion network (MFFN) for the single infrared (IR) image SR. A multi‐path feature fusion block (MFFB) is developed to extract and fuse multiple and discriminative features in a recursive feedback way. Specifically, the multiple features are refined via the linear feature extraction branch, shared‐source residual feature extraction branch, and channel attention branch in MFFB. Finally, the authors reconstruct the high‐resolution IR images from the low‐resolution counterpart based on the refined multiple features. The experimental results demonstrate that MFFN achieves high‐quality single infrared image SR and shows superiority over previous methods for several scale factors (e.g. ×2, ×3, and ×4). MFFN has potential applications in the mobile infrared imaging system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal oxide materials show promise for application in photoelectrocatalytic conversion due to their inherent advantages involving positive reactive surface, improved light absorption capability, efficient charge separation yield, and fast charge transport channels. The unique electrical and optical properties of metal oxide based photoelectrodes have a great effect on their performance in solar cells, photoelectrocatalysis, and photocatalysis. It has been reported that the presence of defects on grain boundaries, oxygen vacancy, doping strategy, and heterojunction play a vital role in both the efficiency and durability of their photoelectric application. However, the intrinsic mechanisms at the atomic level remained unclear, which require more in‐depth understanding in terms of theoretical analysis. In this Review, we emphatically introduce the recent advances and current challenges of metal oxide‐based photoelectrodes for photoelectrocatalytic application, beneath the structure‐activity relationship of metal oxide catalysts. Then, we give a summary of the state‐of‐the‐art research in the preparation and application for the metal oxide based composite materials. Finally, we discuss key aspects, which should be addressed for design and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A super-resolution image restoration method for the microlens array imaging system is proposed. • A maximum a posteriori probability algorithm is developed to recover the super-resolution image. • A two-step gray transformation algorithm is designed to enhance the super-resolution image. • The proposed method possesses excellent performance and has wide potential applications. Microlens array (MLA) has been widely applied in optical imaging fields. However, the existing MLA imaging system (MLAIS) often suffers the problems of low imaging resolutions and luminance contrast due to the limitation of the sensor size and microlens aperture. To address these problems, we propose a super-resolution (SR) image restoration method for the microlens array imaging system (MLAIS). The proposed method uses an Otsu-Kmeans gravity-based center extraction method to segment the image captured by MLAIS into many sub-images and an enhanced correlation coefficient-based approach to align the sub-images. A maximum a posteriori probability algorithm is developed to recover the SR image from the aligned sub-images. A two-step gray transformation algorithm is designed to enhance the SR image. Numerical simulations and practical experiments are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, and its SR restoration performance is evaluated by comparing the results with classical and state-of-the-art methods. The results indicate that the proposed method can achieve high-quality SR image restoration for the MLAIS, and its SR performance is better than the comparison methods. The proposed method may find applications in multispectral SR imaging, remote sensing SR imaging, muti-sensor SR imaging, and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiferroic composite ceramics xNi0.15Cu0.25Zn0.6Fe2O4-(1-x) Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.9 and 1) were prepared by combining chemical co-precipitation method with sol–gel method; the microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric, magnetic and multiferroic properties were comparatively investigated. XRD results show that all the specimens have obvious bi-phases structure. The grains with larger size are magnetic phase Ni0.15Cu0.25Zn0.6Fe2O4(NCZF), while that of smaller size can be attributed to ferroelectric phase Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3(BCZT). The dielectric constant of the sample with x = 0.6 is the largest at low frequency but the specimen x = 0.2 has the highest value of dielectric constant in high-frequency region. When x = 0.9, the ceramic has the largest loss, while it presents the lowest loss value when x = 0.3. The height of the peak decreases with increase in the frequency, and the position of the peak moves to higher temperature range with the decrease in x. The dielectric loss increases sharply with temperature, especially when x = 0.9, when the temperature is higher than 300 °C, the dielectric loss reaches hundreds of times under low frequency. Al samples present apparent ferroelectric hysteresis loops, but further characterization shows that the hysteresis may be attributed to leakage current. The remnant polarization(Pr) and coercive field(Ec) do not monotonically change with x, Pr is 0.1576 μC/cm2 at 2 kHz when x = 0.6. The magnetization monotonically changes with the x, indicating that there is a strong interfacial interaction between the two phases. Under the action of an external magnetic field of 1 mT, the magnetoelectric (ME) coupling is the strongest (relative polarization change 37%) when x = 0.2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter proposes a passivity-based dual-loop vector voltage and current control method for grid-forming voltage-source converters (GFM-VSCs). A passive output impedance of GFM-VSC is guaranteed in both the voltage control mode and the current-limiting mode with a wide range of time delay. The frequency-domain analysis, simulation and experimental tests validate the effectiveness of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general methods to detect the RNA of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in clinical diagnostic testing involve reverse transcriptases and thermostable DNA polymerases. In this study, we compared the detection of SARS-CoV-2 by a one-step real-time RT-PCR method using a heat-resistant reverse transcriptase variant MM4 from Moloney murine leukemia virus, two thermostable DNA polymerase variants with reverse transcriptase activity from Thermotoga petrophila K4 and Thermococcus kodakarensis KOD1, or a wild-type DNA polymerase from Thermus thermophilus M1. The highest performance was achieved by combining MM4 with the thermostable DNA polymerase from T. thermophilus M1. These enzymes efficiently amplified specific RNA using uracil-DNA glycosylase (UNG) to remove contamination and human RNase P RNA amplification as an internal control. The standard curve was obtained from 5 to 105 copies of synthetic RNA. The one-step real-time RT-PCR method's sensitivity and specificity were 99.44% and 100%, respectively (n = 213), compared to those of a commercially available diagnostic kit. Therefore, our method will be useful for the accurate detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression affects a significant portion of the global population and has emerged as one of the most debilitating conditions worldwide. Recent studies have explored the relationship between depression and the microbiota of the intestine, revealing potential avenues for effective treatment. To evaluate the potential alleviation of depression symptoms, we employed a depression C57BL/6 mice model induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). We administered Lactiplantibacillus plantarum JYLP-326 and conducted various animal behavior tests, including the open-field test (OFT), sucrose preference test (SPT), and tail-suspension test (TST). Additionally, we conducted immunohistochemistry staining and analyzed the hippocampal and colon parts of the mice. The results of the behavior tests indicated that L. plantarum JYLP-326 alleviated spontaneous behavior associated with depression. Moreover, the treatment led to significant improvements in GFAP and Iba1, suggesting its potential neuroprotective effects. Analysis of the hippocampal region indicated that L. plantarum JYLP-326 administration upregulated p-TPH2, TPH2, and 5-HT1AR, while downregulating the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. In the colon, the treatment inhibited the TLR4-MyD88-NF-κB pathway and increased the levels of occludin and ZO-1, indicating improved intestinal barrier function. Additionally, the probiotic demonstrated a regulatory effect on the HMGB1-RAGE-TLR4 signaling pathway. Our findings demonstrate that L. plantarum JYLP-326 exhibits significant antidepressant-like effects in mice, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic approach for depression through the modulation of gut microbiota. However, further investigations and clinical trials are required to validate its safety and efficacy for human use. • L. plantarum JYLP-326 ameliorates depressive behaviors in CUMS-induced mice. • It enhances hippocampal neurogenesis and reduces inflammation. • It strengthens the intestinal barrier and modulates immune responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Organic matter content in lacustrine mudstones has a rhythmic variation. • Time series analysis reveals robust 100 kyr short eccentricity and 38 kyr obliquity cycles. • The rhythmic variation was controlled by orbitally-paced depositional environment change. • High organic carbon content occurs at the eccentricity and obliquity maxima. Astronomical forcing has an important effect on organic matter enrichment in marine mudstones, but this effect remains poorly constrained in lacustrine mudstones. Here, we investigate the astronomical control of organic matter enrichment in lacustrine black mudstone from the first member of the Qingshankou Formation in the Songliao Basin. Detailed mineralogical, lithological, geochemical, and cyclostratigraphic studies were carried out. The results show that there are high-frequency variations in the organic matter content in the mudstones of the Qingshankou Formation. The upper and lower sections are further divided according to the organic matter content level and the variation frequency. The organic matter content in the lower section is high, up to 6.08 wt%, with long-period variation and individual cycles around 10 m. The organic matter content in the upper section is relatively low, the highest organic matter content is only 2.91 wt%, with short-period variation and individual cycles mostly less than 5 m. Cyclostratigraphic studies indicate that significant astronomical signals are recorded in the mudstone stratigraphy. 100 kyr short eccentricity and 38 kyr obliquity strongly control the variation of organic matter content in the lower and upper sections, respectively. Organic matter enrichment has a closely synchronized phase relationship with paleoproductivity, preservation conditions, and dilution indicators. Astronomical cycles influence the depositional conditions of organic matter enrichment by controlling climate change, which eventually forces organic matter enrichment. At high values of eccentricity and obliquity, enhanced insolation, monsoon, precipitation, and river runoff caused lake expansion, increased input of terrestrial nutrients, and increased bottom water reduction conditions, which are conducive to organic matter enrichment. On the contrary, the depositional conditions for organic matter enrichment become poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Innovative soil addition in composting to reduce nitrogen loss. • Lou soil (LS) and gray desert soil (GDS) reduced N 2 O and increased TN content. • LS and GDS enhanced nitrogen fixation by enriching Corynebacterium and Ureibacillus. • LS and GDS reduced N 2 O emission by inhibiting nor B and nor C genes enrichment. Nitrogen loss is a significant factor limiting the quality of compost products. This work examined the composting of cattle manure and wheat straw in combination with soil quantifying composting performance, microbial communities and nitrogen metabolism. Compost combined with lou soil (LS), gray desert soil (GDS) and acidic purple soil (APS) had increased in total nitrogen content of 74.4, 39.0 and 48.1 %, respectively, surpassing the control (CK) by at least 24.5 %. In comparison to CK (207 mg/kg), the LS, GDS and APS treatments had N 2 O emissions lowered by 15.7, 13.2 and 3.5 %, respectively. These results show that LS and GDS additions can effectively lower greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen loss. The addition of these soils also enriched specific ammonification bacteria, thereby facilitating nitrogen metabolism throughout the composting process. With LS, the relative abundances of ammonification bacteria, such as Corynebacterium and Ureibacillus , increased by 156 and 141 %, respectively, whereas with GDS, the increases were 108 and 133 %, respectively. Also, the addition of LS and GDS decreased nitrogen loss during composting by increasing the enrichment of nitrification genes and decreasing the enrichment of denitrification genes (norB and norC) to a certain extent. This work provides a novel, cost-effective and sustainable technique for enhancing composting, as well as valuable insights into the critical function of different soil-mediation in reducing nitrogen loss and greenhouse gas emissions during composting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Slurry is used to enhance nitrogen removal with an optimal HRT of 12 h. • Hydrogenophaga and Filimonas are confirmed as the key pollutant removal bacteria. • Hydraulic shear stress inhibits gene enrichment in carbon and nitrogen metabolism. • Microbial community under the condition of HRT 6 h has the highest pathogenic risk. Insufficient carbon sources in low-carbon wastewater have consistently hindered nitrogen removal performance. This work utilized slurry after anaerobic digestion as an additional carbon source, and the optimal hydraulic retention time (HRT) parameters were obtained through adjustment. The findings revealed that, under HRT conditions of 24–12 h, the discharge standards of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) could be met. It had been proven that HRT 12 h was the more cost-effective parameter for application in WWTPs, and the removal efficiencies for COD, NH 4 +-N, NO 3 –-N, and TN reached impressive levels of 82.43%, 95.24%, 77.49%, and 86.70%, respectively. However, the HRT 6 h struggled to achieve efficient wastewater treatment. Mechanistic analysis demonstrated that shortening the HRT resulted in considerably higher microbial richness, diversity, and evenness, causing notable shifts in microbial community structure. Additionally, a shortened HRT reduced the enrichment abundance of key bacterial phyla (Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes) and genera (Hydrogenophaga , Filimonas , Meganema) that played an important role in nitrogen and organic matter removal. Furthermore, a shortened HRT increased hydraulic shear forces, impeding the enrichment of carbon and nitrogen metabolism pathways, and reducing the abundance of essential genes associated with glycolysis (H K , pfkA , FBA , GAPDH) and nitrogen metabolism processes (narG, narH, narI , norB , nirS , nosZ). It was noteworthy that the microbial community under the HRT 6 h condition carried the highest risk of microbial pathogenicity. This work revealed the optimal parameters, and carbon and nitrogen metabolism mechanism of wastewater treatment systems with slurry as a carbon source for the first time, and provided novel ideas and insights for low-carbon wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In turbine engines, there is a clearance between the rotating blade and the stationary casing. The flow in the tip gap, which is mostly transonic, has a significant impact on the overall thrust and safety performance of the engine. This study aims at elucidating the mechanism of flow establishment in a simplified tip gap model. In this study, the basic structure and pressure distribution of the transient flow field in the gap region are first determined via schlieren techniques and pressure measurements, respectively. Based on these results, we develop a rapid modeling technique of the flow field and analyze the similarities between gap flows with different aspect ratios. As demonstrated by this study, the gap flow can be established within 0.65 s and the entire process comprises five stages. The increase in the downstream pressure and relative fluid viscosity in the gap are found to significantly influence the shock wave structures. Similarities are observed between flow fields in different gaps when the width-to-height ratio is small. With a large width-to-height ratio, the viscosity of the fluid dominates and the corresponding flow fields exhibit no similarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter proposes a passivity-based current control (CC) scheme for voltage-source converters, featuring a virtual-flux-based damper and a passive output admittance with a wide range of time delay involved in the CC loop. The admittance modeling and experimental tests validate the effectiveness of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-degree-of-freedom (multi-DOF) nanopositioning stages (NPSs) have rapidly growing applications in the spatial micro-/nano-machining and manipulation. Compliant parallel mechanisms (CPMs) demonstrate advantages to achieve a large output stiffness and high payload. A four-DOF NPS based on six-branched-chain CPMs is proposed in this paper. First, a mechanism design approach is introduced. One primary vertical DOF is generated using three parallel-kinematic lever amplifiers. A three-revolute-revolute-revolute mechanism acts as the kinematic configuration to produce three secondary planar DOFs. Three types of single-axis and one type of double-axis notch flexure hinges (NFHs) are employed to realize the nanoscale displacement/movement guiding, transferring, and decoupling. Second, a stiffness modeling approach is derived. Combined with exact compliance matrices of 54 NFHs and 95 flexible beams, a four-DOF high-efficiency stiffness model of the six-branched-chain CPM is built. The calculation procedure of the whole input/output stiffnesses and coupling ratios takes 12.06 ms. Simulation and prototype test results validate the calculation accuracy. For example, the maximum calculation deviation of input stiffnesses is verified to be 4.52% and 8.18%, respectively. The two proposed approaches contribute to the statics parameter optimization of spatial multi-DOF NPSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differing from synchronous generators, there are lack of physical laws governing the synchronization dynamics of voltage-source converters (VSCs). The widely used phase-locked loop (PLL) plays a critical role in maintaining the synchronism of current-controlled VSCs, whose dynamics are highly affected by the power exchange between VSCs and the grid. This article presents a design-oriented analysis on the transient stability of PLL-synchronized VSCs, i.e., the synchronization stability of VSCs under large disturbances, by employing the phase portrait approach. Insights into the stabilizing effects of the first- and second-order PLLs are provided with the quantitative analysis. It is revealed that simply increasing the damping ratio of the second-order PLL may fail to stabilize VSCs during severe grid faults, whereas the first-order PLL can always guarantee the transient stability of VSCs when equilibrium operation points exist. An adaptive PLL that switches between the second-order and the first-order PLL during the fault-occurring/-clearing transient is proposed for preserving both the transient stability and the phase-tracking accuracy. Time-domain simulations and experimental tests, considering both the grid fault and the fault recovery, are performed, and the obtained results validate the theoretical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Msn2/Msn4-family zinc finger transcription factors play important roles in stress response in yeast. However, some members of this family show significant functional divergence in different species. Here, we report that in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, the Msn2/Msn4-like protein Mhy1 is a key regulator of yeast-to-hypha dimorphic transition but not stress response. Both MHY1 deletion and overexpression affect filamentation. In contrast, YlMsn4, the other Msn2/Msn4-like protein, regulates tolerance to acid-induced stress. We show that MHY1 has an unusually long (about 3800 bp) promoter featuring an upstream located enhancer and a double stress response element (STRE) motif, the latter of which mediates Mhy1's regulation on its own transcription. Transcriptome profiling conducted in wild-type strain, mhy1Δ mutant and MHY1-overexpressing mutant revealed about 100 genes that are highly differentially expressed (≥ 5-fold) in each of the 2 mutants compared to the wild-type strain. The largest group of genes downregulated in mhy1Δ mutant encodes cell wall proteins or enzymes involved in cell wall organization, suggesting that Mhy1 may regulate dimorphic transition by controlling these cell wall genes. We confirmed that the genes YALI0C23452, YALI0C15268 and YALI0B09955 are directly regulated by Mhy1. We also characterized the Mhy1 consensus binding site as 5′-WNAGGGG-3′ (W = A or T; N = A, T, G or C). These results provide new insight in the functions of Msn2/Msn4-family transcription factors in fungi and the mechanism by which Mhy1 regulates dimorphic transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co0.1Cu0.9Fe2O4 (CCFO) and Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 (BST) particles were respectively prepared by chemical coprecipitation and hydrothermal method, then CCFO/BST composite liquid was synthesized by distributing surface modified CCFO and Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 particles into insulating silicone oil. Effects of volume fraction (ϕv = 1%, 2%, 5% and 10%) on the microstructure, dielectric, ferroelectric and magnetoelectric coupling effect were comparatively investigated. XRD showed that the pure phase of CCFO and BST particles was successfully prepared. CCFO/BST composite particle shows ferromagnetic behavior due to the contribution of magnetic phase CCFO. The dielectric constant of CCFO/BST composite liquid is about 1/25 of the composite particles, and the dielectric constant value of the composite liquid decreases with increasing the volume fraction because the permittivity of silicone oil is far smaller than that of CCFO/BST composite particles. The relative change of dielectric constant of composite liquid under the action of external magnetic field is greater than that of composite particle due to its mobility of particles in liquid. The values of remnant polarization (Pr), coercive field (Ec) and leakage current of CCFO/BST composite liquid increase monotonically with increasing volume fraction, while excessive volume fraction may result in abnormal phenomenon because of the agglomeration of particles. Magnetic field-induced chain structure of the composite liquid has been observed under a light microscope at a magnification of 200. The maximal magnetoelectric (ME) coupling coefficient is about 89.78 V/(cm Oe), which is obtained in the CCFO/BST composite liquid when the volume fraction is 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A visible-light-induced radical cascade cyclization of aryl isonitriles and cyclobutanone oxime esters for the synthesis of cyclopenta[b]quinoxalines has been accomplished for the first time. The key to the success of this process was the integration of the in situ-formed nitrile radical followed by the cascade radical isonitrile/nitrile insertion-cyclization. The easy introduction of substituents for both substrates and the high functional group tolerance of the reaction make it an efficient strategy to give various quinoxaline derivatives in moderate to good yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to study the roleof microRNA (miR)‐181b and its target TIMP3 in the development of diabetic nephropathy (DMN) via inhibiting the apoptosis of mesangial cells. Real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) was adopted to compare the miR‐181b expression between subjects with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and normal control. In addition, luciferase assays were utilized to explore the regulatory relationship between TIMP3 and miR‐181b. Real‐time PCR and densitometry analysis were conducted to measure the levels of TIMP3 mRNA/protein in DMN or in cells treated by miR‐181b inhibitors, miR‐181b mimics, and TIMP3 siRNA. And the 3‐(4,5‐dimethythiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was adopted to study the effect of miR‐181b on cell survival and apoptosis. miR‐181b expression was much higher in the DN group, and the results of computational analysis identified TIMP3 as a miR‐181b target. The luciferase activity of cells transfected with wild‐type TIMP3 and mutant2 TIMP3 was significantly reduced, whereas the luciferase activity of cells transfected with mutant1 TIMP3 was evidently higher. Furthermore, a negative regulatory relationship was established between TIMP3 and miR‐181b expression with a correlation efficient of −0.5351. The levels of TIMP3 mRNA/protein expression were apparently increased in the DN group. In addition, the treatment of cells with miR‐181b mimics and TIMP3 siRNA remarkably lowered the levels of TIMP3 mRNA/protein, whereas the transfection of cells with miR‐181b inhibitors notably elevated the expression of TIMP3 mRNA/protein. miR‐181b promoted the survival of cells and inhibited their apoptosis. The miR‐181b expression was related to the development of DMN and could be used as a prognosis biomarker of DMN in the patients with DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imaging distance plays an essential role in image formation in computational ghost imaging (CGI). Uncertain or unknown imaging distance often leads to the deterioration of the image quality or, even worse, to the failure of imaging. Here we present a CGI technique that provides high-quality image reconstruction in an uncertain distance environment. We propose a method to generate a stable speckle field, where the size of the field remains invariant and the field does not distort during light transmission, and find that the use this field removes the constraint imposed by the imaging distance. We experimentally and numerically verify the performance of the technique by applying it to a single-detector CGI system. The results show that the proposed technique provides excellent imaging performance, even when the imaging distance is uncertain, and can be extended to existing computational-based ghost-imaging schemes. • A computational ghost imaging technique is proposed. • The technique can realize image reconstructions with an uncertain distance. • A method is developed to generate a stable speckle field. • The technique can be extended to existing computational-based ghost-imaging schemes. • The technique possesses excellent performances and wide potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The power synchronization control (PSC) has been increasingly used with voltage-source converters (VSCs) connected to the weak ac grid. This paper presents an in-depth analysis on the transient stability of the PSC-VSC by means of the phase portrait. It is revealed that the PSC-VSC will maintain synchronization with the grid as long as there are equilibrium points after the transient disturbance. In contrast, during grid faults without any equilibrium points, the critical-clearing angle (CCA) for the PSC-VSC is identified, which is found equal to the power angle of the unstable equilibrium point of the postfault operation. This fixed CCA facilitates the design of power system protection. Moreover, it is also found that the PSC-VSC can still resynchronize with the grid after around one cycle of oscillation, even if the fault-clearing angle is beyond the CCA. This feature reduces the risk of system collapse caused by the delayed fault clearance. These findings are corroborated by simulations and experimental tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the paradigm of magnetoelectric multiferroic materials, BiFeO3 (BFO) has potential applications in spintronics, memory devices, sensors, and actuators. However, its large leakage current and small magnetism at room temperature restrict its practical applications. It is demonstrated that the substitutions of Bi by alkali earth elements at A‐site of BFO can significantly reduce the leakage current and enhance the remanent magnetization of BFO. In this work, Ba‐doped BFO nanoparticles Bi1‐xBaxFeO3 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) were synthesized via molten salt route. X‐ray diffraction patterns revealed that with increasing the Ba‐doped content the formation of the impurity phase was depressed and the rhombohedral distortions of these nanoparticles were suppressed, as confirmed by Raman spectra. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal that the Fe element in the nanoparticles exists in the dual valence states of Fe3+ and Fe2+, and two kinds of oxygen atoms (lattice oxygen atoms and the adsorbed oxygen atoms) exist in the nanoparticles. With increasing the Ba‐doped content, the content ratios of Fe3+ to Fe2+ ions were generally increased, whereas the oxygen vacancy concentrations were decreased. The average particle sizes of the Ba‐doped BFO nanoparticles were decreased as compared with that of nondoped BFO nanoparticles. In contrast, the room temperature magnetization of the Ba‐doped BFO nanoparticles was greatly enhanced by Ba‐substitution, as confirmed by the M‐H loops. At room temperature, the remanent magnetization and coercive field of the Bi0.8Ba0.2FeO3 nanoparticles were 0.51 emu/g and 1130 Oe, respectively. Furthermore, the leakage current density was reduced by one order of magnitude at x = 0.2 and the dielectric properties are also improved by Ba‐substitution. The improvements on the remanent magnetization, leakage current density as well as dielectric properties of the Ba‐doped BFO nanoparticles make them promising candidates for spintronics and dielectric energy storages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the experimental extraction of ballistic transport parameters of high-performance Germanium Nanowire nMOSFETs (Ge NWTs) with lengths ${L}_{\text {NW}} = {40}$ –100 nm, width ${W}_{\text {NW}} = {40}$ nm, and height ${H}_{\text {NW}} = {10}$ nm using temperature-dependent measurements. The extracted contact resistivity ($\rho {c}$) and sheet resistance (Rsh) imply that parasitic series resistance (${R}_{\text {SD}}$) of fabricated Ge NWTs is affected by $\rho _{c}$ of the metal-nGe (${3.42} \times {10}^{-{5}}\,\,\Omega \cdot \text {cm}^{{2}}$ at 292 K), which decreases with the increase in temperature. Ballistic efficiency (BE) is found to be 22%–47% at 292 K depending on the dimension of the device. It decreases with increased temperature and increases with ${L}_{\text {NW}}$ scaling down to 40 nm. The transition region with fluctuating BE is observed near ${L}_{\text {NW}} = {50}$ –60 nm, where the electron transport enters deeper into bthe allistic regime. BE is found to be sensitive to temperature and drops from 58% (170 K) to 37% (390 K) for ${L}_{\text {NW}} = {40}$ -nm Ge NWT. Therefore, in order to maintain the high ballisticity of the devices, it is important to optimize the device structure and eliminate the self-heating effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter, published in the Journal of Translational Medicine, discusses the potential role of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) in the development of acquired aplastic anemia (AA). The authors conducted a study using single-cell RNA sequencing to analyze the expression of HERVs in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) and T cells in AA patients. They found that certain HERVs were overexpressed in specific cell clusters, and these HERVs may affect the transcriptional landscape of HSPCs and upregulate human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), potentially leading to immune damage by T lymphocytes. The study suggests that HERVs may serve as triggering antigens for AA, providing a new perspective on the pathogenesis of the disease. [Extracted from the article]

Swine wastewater is highly polluted with complex and harmful substances that require effective treatment to minimize environmental damage. There are three commonly used biological technologies for treating swine wastewater: conventional biological technology (CBT), microbial electrochemical technology (MET), and microalgae technology (MT). However, there is a lack of comparison among these technologies and a lack of understanding of their unique advantages and efficient operation strategies. This review aims to compare and contrast the characteristics, influencing factors, improvement methods, and microbial mechanisms of each technology. CBT is cost-effective but has low resource recovery efficiency, while MET and MT have the highest potential for resource recovery. However, all three technologies are affected by various factors and toxic substances such as heavy metals and antibiotics. Improved methods include exogenous/endogenous enhancement, series reactor operation, algal-bacterial symbiosis system construction, etc. Though MET is limited by construction costs, CBT and MT have practical applications. While swine wastewater treatment processes have developed automatic control systems, the application need further promotion. Furthermore, key functional microorganisms involved in CBT's pollutant removal or transformation have been detected, as have related genes. The unique electroactive microbial cooperation mode and symbiotic mode of MET and MT were also revealed, respectively. Importantly, the future research should focus on broadening the scope and scale of engineering applications, preventing and controlling emerging pollutants, improving automated management level, focusing on microbial synergistic metabolism, enhancing resource recovery performance, and building a circular economy based on low-cost and resource utilization. [Display omitted] • The resource recovery potential of different biotechnologies were compared. • The practical application progress and cost were emphasized. • The degree of automation of swine wastewater treatment process was emphasized. • The microbial mechanism of swine wastewater treatment was reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A deep learning-based image super-resolution restoration method for MIIS is presented. • A multiscale feature distillation residual network is designed for the IR image SR restoration. • MFDRB is developed for the channel feature distillation operation and feature extraction. • The proposed method achieves the SR IR image restoration for MIIS. • The proposed method has wide potential applications. Mobile infrared imaging system (MIIS) has important applications in the areas of the military affairs, medical diagnosis, and industrial detection. However, MIIS usually suffers the problems of the low resolution, low contrast, and noise interference. To solve these problems, we propose a deep learning-based image super-resolution restoration method for the MIIS. We design a multiscale feature distillation residual network to retain image features at various stages during the training process. The network uses dilated convolution to expand the receptive field and outputs the super-resolution (SR) infrared image with a sub-pixel method. Many infrared images that are captured by a MIIS are used for experiments. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method can realize the infrared image SR restoration and performs outstandingly against the four recently published SR methods both in visual quality and indicator performance. The proposed method is helpful for the practical applications of the MIIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) is an intelligent composite material and has been widely used in various fields such as vibration reduction and sensing. MRE has an excellent magnetorheological effect through the chaining of its internal magnetic particles. Current studies on MREs mainly focus on the preparation of materials and characterization of mechanical properties. However, very few studies have been conducted on the mechanism of magnetic particle motion during MRE curing. Based on the silicone rubber-based MRE, the motion mechanism of magnetic particles during curing was explored through numerical simulation. First, we analyzed the magnetic force and viscous force of magnetic particles in MRE and discussed the equations of motion of magnetic particles under applied magnetic field. Further, we established a uniform magnetic field model through the finite element method and simulated the motion of two magnetic particles under the magnetic field. Finally, we discussed the effects of particle distribution angles, particle radii, applied magnetic field strength, and distance between particles on particle velocity and displacement. The results show that the distance between particles has the greatest influence on the motion of magnetic particles, and the size of the distance between particles will affect the contact time of the particles, thus affecting the chain formation of magnetic particles in the MRE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single‐crystalline perovskite BaTiO3 (BTO) nanorods were synthesized by (BaTi2O5‐template) molten salt synthesis (MSS) methods. The effects of process parameters (eg, calcination temperature, reaction time, molten salt content, as well as different phase structures of TiO2 and barium oxides) on the formation of BTO nanorods and their structural characteristics were systematically investigated. The BTO nanorods synthesized at 800°C for 5 hours by MSS method with the molar salt ratios of BaCO3:TiO2 (anatase):NaCl:KCl equal to 1:1:60:60, exhibited smooth and clean surfaces through their lengths. Their diameters were in the range of 130‐200 nm with average length of 5 μm. Large‐scale amount of BTO nanorods was synthesized by BaTi2O5‐template MSS method at 650°C with molar salt ratios of BaC2O4:BaTi2O5 (template):NaCl:KCl equal to 1:1:60:60. The BTO nanorods successfully retained the one‐dimensional morphology of the BaTi2O5 templates and their lengths were in the range of 5‐10 μm with an average diameter of ~300 nm. The single‐crystalline nature of individual BTO nanorod was revealed by its selected area electron diffraction patterns and high‐resolution TEM images. The BTO nanorods exhibited good optical properties with optical bandgaps in the range of 2.5‐2.6 eV. Such optical bandgaps make the present BTO nanorods promising candidates for ferroelectric photovoltaic devices. Dielectric properties of the BTO nanorods synthesized by MSS method were comparatively investigated with the BTO nanorods synthesized by the BaTi2O5‐template MSS method. It is found that the later BTO nanorods exhibit better dielectric properties and their synthesized temperature is also much lower than the former ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of spatiotemporally varying tectonic forcing in the development of stratigraphic patterns along passive margins and continental rift basins has been recognized for decades, but the exact nature of the stratigraphic response is still debated. This study develops a coupled tectonic‐stratigraphic numerical model with a fixed absolute lake level and constant climate conditions to quantify the signatures of spatiotemporally varying tectonic forcing on the stratigraphic record. This model consists of a three‐dimensional rift basin with a range of geomorphic features and produces a number of well‐recognized stratigraphic patterns, which are commonly interpreted to be caused by lake‐/sea‐level or climate fluctuations. This study demonstrates that the shoreline and grain‐size front are decoupled through the adjustment of the depositional slope and sediment dispersal under spatiotemporally varying tectonic forcing, especially in underfilled basins. Under such a decoupled situation, the pathway of the migrating subsidence centre correlates with the pathway of the grain‐size front, a result of competition between spatiotemporally varying tectonic forcing and autogenic sediment transport. The model results also highlight the significance of three‐dimensional variability in the stratigraphic response to tectonic forcing, which may be overlooked or misinterpreted and suggests a high degree of uncertainty in re‐establishing the base‐level cycles from the stratigraphic record alone. Moreover, spectral analysis of the modelled stratigraphy and tectonic forcing suggests that low‐frequency tectonic signals are more likely to be recorded in the stratigraphy with a lag time, whereas high‐frequency tectonic signals are likely to be shredded, mixed with autogenic signals, or buffered through sediment‐routing systems. Finally, quantitative measurements of the stratigraphic architecture of the Nanpu sag in the Bohai Bay Basin, China are used to tune the numerical model of this study to illustrate how to evaluate the role of tectonic forcing on the development of characteristic stratigraphic sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A device for detecting the microorganisms in water with a freeform lens is developed. The main components of the device include a water channel, a light-emitting diode (LED) light source, and a freeform lens. The freeform lens which plays a key role in the device is designed with a predefined light intensity distribution using a double freeform surface design method. Different from the traditional methods, during the construction of the lens, the mapping is established by an incident-emergent angle relation. As an example, a model of the device is designed. Monte Carlo ray tracing simulations are implemented to verify optical performance of the device. Installation error analyses on the LED source are also conducted. The results demonstrate that the device can generate a uniform illumination pattern at the arbitrary depth of the water and is feasible for the microorganism detection in water. Additionally, the results also show that the lens can achieve the uniform illumination without the influence of the illumination distance. An optical efficiency greater than 82% is obtained for the designed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug metabolites (DMs) are critical in pharmacology research areas, such as drug metabolism pathways and drug‐drug interactions. However, there is no terminology dictionary containing comprehensive drug metabolite names, and there is no named entity recognition (NER) algorithm focusing on drug metabolite identification. In this article, we developed a novel NER system, DrugMetab, to identify DMs from the PubMed abstracts. DrugMetab utilizes the features characterized from the Part‐of‐Speech, drug index, and pre/suffix, and determines DMs within context. To evaluate the performance, a gold‐standard corpus was manually constructed. In this task, DrugMetab with sequential minimal optimization (SMO) classifier achieves 0.89 precision, 0.77 recall, and 0.83 F‐measure in the internal testing set; and 0.86 precision, 0.85 recall, and 0.86 F‐measure in the external validation set. We further compared the performance between DrugMetab and whatizitChemical, which was designed for identifying small molecules or chemical entities. DrugMetab outperformed whatizitChemical, which had a lower recall rate of 0.65. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]