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Clarifying how DC bias fields affect the magnetic properties of soft magnetic composites (SMCs) plays a vital role in optimizing the material design of magnetic components. In this paper, composite SMCs composed of FeSi with high DC-bias performance and FeSiAl with low loss were fabricated using the phosphating process. The microstructure and composition of insulating layers have been systematically studied. The dependence of SMC's magnetic properties on FeSi content under different external bias fields has also been explored in detail. The results showed that the density, saturation magnetic flux density and anti-magnetization capability of FeSiAl/FeSi SMCs were gradually improved with increasing FeSi content. In addition, when the bias field exceeds 200 Oe, the sample with 80 wt% FeSi unexpectedly has the lowest core loss. The Maxwell simulation showed that SMCs with higher FeSi content, under the same external bias field, own weaker magnetization states. This indicates that the DC bias field can obviously change the magnetization state of FeSiAl/FeSi SMCs. Meanwhile, the magnetization state can determine the core loss when samples are subjected to greater DC bias excitations. This work would contribute to revealing the relationship between core loss and magnetization state, providing novel insights into the design of SMCs composition for high-power applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible polymer composites with high dielectric constants and low dielectric losses at high frequencies are highly desired in microwave and RF applications. However, a high dielectric constant is often obtained at the expense of flexibility because a high loading of filler is needed. In this work, we synthesize a core-shell structured 1D filler by coating high-dielectric-constant PbTiO 3 onto the surface of low-thermal-expansion-coefficient SiC nanofibers, which are then incorporated into the epoxy matrix together with BaTiO 3 nanoparticles to form the multi-phase BaTiO 3 /SiC@PbTiO 3 /epoxy composite film. A high dielectric constant (35 at 100 Hz and 20 at 5 GHz) and a low dielectric loss (0.023 at 100 Hz and 0.13 at 5 GHz) are achieved as the filling content of SiC@PbTiO 3 and BaTiO 3 is 5.24 wt% and 80 wt%, respectively. Prediction models of the effective dielectric constant of polymer-based composites reveal that a continuous polarization network is constructed in the composites owing to the physical contact between BaTiO 3 and PbTiO 3. The construction of the multi-phase filler provides a feasible way to effectively adjust and improve the dielectric properties of polymer-based composite films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal-type (ENKTL) is a type of rare and distinct entity of non-Hodgkin lymphoma with poor prognosis. It is important to evaluate the early treatment response accurately to decide further treatment strategy. 18F-FDG PET/CT plays an important role in response evaluation and prognostic prediction in some kinds of lymphomas. However, data available regarding patients with ENKTL are limited. Thus, in this prospective study, we analyzed the prognostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in ENKTL. Thirty-four patients with newly diagnosed ENKTL were enrolled in this phase 2 study (NCT02825147, July 7, 2016). The patients received pre-, mid-, and end-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT scans. Deauville score (DS), maximal standardized uptake values (SUVmax), and the change in SUVmax (ΔSUVmax) were recorded for response assessment. The median follow-up period was 42.2 months. The 2-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 82.4% and 73.5%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that Ann Arbor stage (P < 0.002), mid-treatment DS (P = 0.005), mid-SUVmax (P = 0.001), mid-∆SUVmax (P = 0.004), end-treatment DS (P < 0.001), and end-SUVmax (P = 0.014) were prognostic factors for OS. Ann Arbor stage (P = 0.001), mid-treatment DS (P = 0.008), mid-SUVmax (P = 0.029), mid-∆SUVmax (P < 0.001), and end-treatment DS (P =0.021) were of prognostic significance for PFS. Multivariate analysis showed that mid-SUVmax (P = 0.042) and DS at the middle (P = 0.050) and end (P = 0.044) of treatment were significant independent predictors of PFS. 18F-FDG PET/CT is useful for predicting the prognosis of ENKTL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diagnostic value of pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT in early-stage extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) is established, but its prognostic value is still unclear. We conducted 18F-FDG PET/CT-based quantitative and qualitative analysis as well as assessed related clinical parameters in 50 patients with recently diagnosed ENKTL and treated with methotrexate, etoposide, dexamethasone, and pegaspargase (MESA)-based therapy. Patients were followed-up for 38.6 ± 17.8 months. Six patients died of tumor-related disease, and six patients presented with persistence or recurrence. The estimates of the 2-year OS and PFS for the patients were 90.0% (SE: 4.0%) and 82.0% (SE: 5.0%), respectively. Survival curves were obtained using Kaplan–Meier analysis and compared using log rank test. Based on signifiacnt results of univariate analysis, we selected Epstein–Barr virus DNA (EB-DNA), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) for multivariate analysis. Finally, MTV was found to be the significant independent predictor of both OS (p =.038) and PFS (p =.039). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Latent class cluster and random parameters model were integrated to explore factors influencing motorcyclists' injury levels. • Homogeneous clusters help to reveal new information such as important contributing factors hidden in the general model. • Although observations in each cluster are homogeneous in some aspects, heterogeneity was still found in each subgroup. • The proposed model is proved to have great potential for accounting for the source of heterogeneity. Due to the wide existence of heterogeneous nature in traffic safety data, traditional methods used to investigate motorcyclist rider injury severity always lead to masking of some underlying relationships which may be critical for the formulation of efficient safety countermeasures. Instead of applying one single model to the whole dataset or focusing on pre-defined crash types as done in previous studies, the present study proposes a two-step method integrating latent class cluster analysis and random parameters logit model to explore contributing factors influencing the injury levels of motorcyclists. A latent class cluster approach is first used to segment the motorcycle crashes into relatively homogeneous clusters. A mixed logit model is then elaborately developed for each cluster to identify its unique influential factors. The analysis was based on the police-reported crash dataset (2015–2017) of Hunan province, China. The goodness-of-fit indicators and the Receiver Operating Characteristic curves show that the proposed method is more accurate when modeling the riders' injury severities. The heterogeneity found in each homogeneous subgroup supports the application of the random parameters logit model in the study. More importantly, the results demonstrate that segmenting motorcycle crashes into relatively homogeneous clusters as a preliminary step helps to uncover some important influencing factors hidden in the whole-data model. The proposed method is proved to have great potential for accounting for the source of heterogeneity. The injury risk factors identified in specific cases provide more reliable information for traffic engineers and policymakers to improve motorcycle traffic safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Perceived as a minor transportation mode mainly for recreation, cycling and its related safety issues have not been treated as a citywide concern in Hong Kong and have thus received inadequate research efforts. Our study aimed to illuminate the safety challenges faced by cyclists in Hong Kong. Methods: We examined the police crash records from 1998 to 2017 and developed a Bayesian Poisson state space model to evaluate the longitudinal change in traffic injuries to cyclists. We then used quasi-induced exposure to measure the annual relative risk of crash involvement for cycling. Based on an officially published travel characteristics survey, we further measured the risk of injury for cycling per minutes cycled. Results: Between 1998 and 2017, Hong Kong witnessed a more than twofold increase in the number of cyclist injuries, with an average annual increase rate of 5.18% (95% CI: 0.53%–12.77%). By 2017, cyclists were 2.21 (1.82–2.69) times more likely to be involved in traffic crashes than in 1998. Per 10 million minutes, the injury rates for cycling were 28.64 (27.43–29.70) and 42.54 (41.07–44.02) on weekdays during 2001–2003 and 2010–2012. After adjusting for sex and age groups, cyclists were 1.95 (1.43–2.61) times more likely to be injured in 2010–2012 than in 2001–2003. Per minutes traveled, cyclists also sustained significantly higher risks of fatality and injury than pedestrians, private car drivers and passengers, taxi passengers, public bus passengers, and minibus passengers. A comparison of Hong Kong with other regions suggests that Hong Kong is among the most dangerous areas for cycling in terms of fatality rate per minutes cycled. Conclusions: Cyclist injuries have become a substantial public health burden in Hong Kong. A range of countermeasures with proven effectiveness should be promptly implemented to improve the safety of these vulnerable road users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• PrV5W/Ti exhibited superior catalytic activity for NO x and chlorobenzene removal. • More abundant polymeric vanadyl species and crystalline V 2 O 5 existed on PrV5W/Ti. • Chlorobenzene inhibiting NO oxidation to NO 2 resulted in decline of NO x conversion. • Chlorobenzene oxidation was inhibited by the competitive adsorption of NH 3. The V 2 O 5 /TiO 2 catalyst is the most concerned NH 3 -SCR catalytic system for simultaneous removal of NO x and chlorinated volatile organic compounds (Cl-VOCs). There is an urgent need to develop a vanadia-based catalyst with low vanadium loading and excellent low-temperature catalytic performance. In this work, the Pr and W co-doped vanadia-based catalysts were prepared by a simple impregnation method. After the doping of Pr and W, the vanadia-based catalyst exhibited the excellent catalytic activity for NO x reduction and chlorobenzene (CB) oxidation. The more abundant polymeric vanadyl species and crystalline V 2 O 5 were observed on the PrV5W/Ti catalyst, which are contributing to NH 3 -SCR and CB oxidation activity. The redox capability and the amount of surface-active adsorbed oxygen of vanadia-based catalyst were improved markedly, thus promoting NH 3 -SCR and CB oxidation reaction on PrV5W/Ti. This catalyst is promising to be used in the muti-pollutant control reaction of NO x and VOCs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Assessment of the roles of human factors in motorcycle KSI crashes. • The findings help better understand how motorcycle KSI crashes occur. • The findings highlight the top priority of monitoring factors. • The finding provide a new direction for research about motorcyclists' behavior. Although the importance of human factors to crash occurrence has been demonstrated previously, the roles played by human factors in motorcycle killed and severely injured (KSI) crashes have remained unclear. One aim of our study is therefore to empirically determine the relative contribution of illegal behavior to motorcycle KSI crashes, conditional on real-world collisions between motorcycles and motor vehicles. Given that a crash is typically the synthetical result of human, vehicle, roadway, and environmental factors, another aim is to identify high-risk scenarios where inappropriate behavior is more likely to result in severe injuries for motorcyclists through interactions with other related factors. Based on a comprehensive dataset of 4587 police-reported crashes involving motorcycles during 2015–2017 in Hunan province, China, a data mining technique namely classification and regression tree was elaborately employed. Our results demonstrated the illegal behavior of the striking motor-vehicle drivers as one of the most dominant factors contributory to motorcycle KSI crashes, with a normalized importance value of 36.9%. We also confirmed collision object (i.e., collision with heavy or light vehicles) and helmet use of motorcyclists as determinants influencing motorcycle rider injury severities. Two types of extreme high-risk traffic scenarios were identified accordingly. A motorcycle rider was hit at weekends by a heavy motor-vehicle driver who was driving without license, driving a substantial vehicle, speeding, changing lanes illegally or driving in the wrong direction, and a motorcyclist was hit on weekdays by a heavy motor-vehicle driver aged 18–34 or 45–54, who was driving without license, driving a substantial vehicle, speeding, changing lanes illegally or driving in the wrong direction. Our findings are expected to shed more light on a deeper understanding of the illegal driving behavior as causation of motorcycle KSI crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the crash-related severity level of injuries in taxis and quantify the associations between these factors and taxi occupant injury severity. Casualties resulting from taxi crashes from 2004 to 2013 in Hong Kong were divided into four categories: taxi drivers, taxi passengers, private car drivers and private car passengers. To avoid any biased interpretation caused by unobserved spatial and temporal effects, a Bayesian hierarchical logistic modeling approach with conditional autoregressive priors was applied, and four different model forms were tested. For taxi drivers and passengers, the model with space-time interaction was proven to most properly address the unobserved heterogeneity effects. The results indicated that time of week, number of vehicles involved, weather, point of impact and driver age were closely associated with taxi drivers’ injury severity level in a crash. For taxi passengers’ injury severity an additional factor, taxi service area, was influential. To investigate the differences between taxis and other traffic, similar models were established for private car drivers and passengers. The results revealed that although location in the network and driver gender significantly influenced private car drivers’ injury severity, they did not influence taxi drivers’ injury severity. Compared with taxi passengers, the injury severity of private car passengers was more sensitive to average speed and whether seat belts were worn. Older drivers, urban taxis and fatigued driving were identified as factors that increased taxi occupant injury severity in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon emissions growth in the construction industry hinders the achievement of global carbon-neutral target, especially in China. Studies suggest that developing low-carbon technologies is an effective means of achieving the low-carbon transition (LCT) in the construction industry. However, these studies ignore the fact that the LCT is a complex and systemic issue that needs to consider the interaction of technical and non-technical factors. Thus, based on the socio-technical system transition theory, this study identified the influencing factors and constructs a dynamics model to simulate the dynamic changes of the LCT in China's construction industry under different scenarios. The results showed that multi-level factors coordinated to drive the LCT of the construction industry. Environmental factors played a weak role and the effectiveness of government intervention decreased with the transition process. On the contrary, technological and market factors were indispensable drivers and especially played a dominant role during the later stages of the transition. Finally, the LCT pathway of China's construction industry was proposed based on the results. These findings expand the boundary of theoretical research on industrial transition and provide a decision-making reference for the advancement of international carbon-neutral work. [Display omitted] • Carbon emissions in the construction industry hinder China's carbon-neutral target. • The construction industry is characterized by socio-technical system transition. • The interaction mechanism of landscape, regime, and niche level is analyzed. • System dynamics model simulates the dynamics of the low-carbon transition. • The pathway of the low-carbon transition in the construction industry is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear import is a highly selective process that involves the specific recognition of appropriate import signals by suitable receptors. Many nuclear transport pathways are mediated by importin β superfamily members. Among them, IPO4 is a nuclear import receptor for many cargoes. However, its transcriptional regulation remains largely unknown. In the present study, we identified a core region encompassing nt − 118 to + 108 that is necessary for its promoter activity. Transcription factors binding to this region were screened, resulting in the identification of two members of the Ets family, Ets-like transcription factor-1 and GA binding protein, which repress or activate its promoter activity, respectively. Within this promoter region, two Ets binding sites were identified and shown to be required for promoter activity. Ets-like transcription factor-1 and GA binding protein compete with each other to regulate its promoter activity via its downstream Ets binding sites, as evidenced by EMSA and a luciferase reporter assay. Overexpression of Ets-like transcription factor-1 or GA binding protein results in its down-regulation or up-regulation in cells. Therefore, both Ets-like transcription factor-1 and GA binding protein regulate IPO4 transcription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian safety is increasingly recognized as a major public health concern. Extensive safety studies have been conducted to examine the influence of multiple variables on the occurrence of pedestrian-vehicle crashes. However, the explicit relationship between pedestrian safety and road network characteristics remains unknown. This study particularly focused on the role of different road network patterns on the occurrence of crashes involving pedestrians. A global integration index via space syntax was introduced to quantify the topological structures of road networks. The Bayesian Poisson-lognormal (PLN) models with conditional autoregressive (CAR) prior were then developed via three different proximity structures: contiguity, geometry-centroid distance, and road network connectivity. The models were also compared with the PLN counterpart without spatial correlation effects. The analysis was based on a comprehensive crash dataset from 131 selected traffic analysis zones in Hong Kong. The results indicated that higher global integration was associated with more pedestrian-vehicle crashes; the irregular pattern network was proved to be safest in terms of pedestrian crash occurrences, whereas the grid pattern was the least safe; the CAR model with a neighborhood structure based on road network connectivity was found to outperform in model goodness-of-fit, implying the importance of accurately accounting for spatial correlation when modeling spatially aggregated crash data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nkx2-2 homeoprotein is essential for the development of the central nervous system and pancreas. Although the nuclear localization signals of Nkx2-2 have been identified, the responsible transport receptor is still unknown. Here, we demonstrate that imp α1 not only interacts with Nkx2-2 but also transports it into the nucleus in vitro by acting together with imp β1. However, the nuclear import of Nkx2-2 in cells was not inhibited in response to knockdown expression of endogenous imp β1 or over-expression of Bimax2. Furthermore, imp β1 and imp 13, but not imp 4, directly interact with Nkx2-2 and are capable of transporting Nkx2-2 in an in vitro import assay. By GST pull-down assay, we demonstrate that mutation of NLS1 or NLS2 has no effect on interaction with imp α1 or imp 13, but significantly reduced binding to imp β1. Thus, the nuclear import of Nkx2-2 is mediated not only by the classical import pathway but also directly by imp β1 or imp 13. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was performed to investigate the spatially varying relationships between crash frequency and related risk factors. A Bayesian spatially varying coefficients model was elaborately introduced as a methodological alternative to simultaneously account for the unstructured and spatially structured heterogeneity of the regression coefficients in predicting crash frequencies. The proposed method was appealing in that the parameters were modeled via a conditional autoregressive prior distribution, which involved a single set of random effects and a spatial correlation parameter with extreme values corresponding to pure unstructured or pure spatially correlated random effects. A case study using a three-year crash dataset from the Hillsborough County, Florida, was conducted to illustrate the proposed model. Empirical analysis confirmed the presence of both unstructured and spatially correlated variations in the effects of contributory factors on severe crash occurrences. The findings also suggested that ignoring spatially structured heterogeneity may result in biased parameter estimates and incorrect inferences, while assuming the regression coefficients to be spatially clustered only is probably subject to the issue of over-smoothness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) is considered as a valuable way to improve energy efficiency of high-energy-consumption buildings. Sustainable BEER helps integrate sustainable development strategy into existing buildings and retrofit projects. To ensure BEER projects that can fulfill the sustainable development strategy, Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) is one possible market mechanism to deliver energy efficiency projects. Sustainable BEER under the EPC mechanism is a comprehensive system which involves the various demands of sustainable dimensions, performance criteria and groups of project success factors, making multi-criteria decisions become a challenging problem for decision makers. This paper aims to examine the interrelationships of sustainable BEER by focusing on an existing hotel building. EPC mechanism is applied in the case study and an effective Analytic Network Process (ANP) approach is also employed in the research. The result indicates that sustainable BEER in hotel buildings under the EPC mechanism is mainly determined by project control mechanism, available technology, organizing capacity of the team leader, trust, accurate Measurement and Verification (M&V), and team workers' technical skills. Decision makers should dedicate more attention to these aspects. From the research findings, several policy implications are proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Si-modified Mn–Ce oxide catalysts were prepared by a co-precipitation method for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3 (NH3-SCR). The doping of Si can improve significantly the NOx conversion and N2 selectivity of the Mn–Ce oxide catalysts above 150 °C. The catalyst with Mn : Ce : Si = 4 : 5 : 1 molar ratio (Mn4Ce5Si1) showed excellent SCR activity at low temperatures, with NOx conversion above 80% at 110–230 °C. The further acid modification could broaden the operating temperature window of Mn4Ce5Si1, and Mn4Ce5Si1-1%S exhibited higher deNOx efficiency (>90%) from 100 to 260 °C. The Si modification increased the specific surface area and surface acidity, and facilitated the NO/NH3 adsorption, thus enhancing the low-temperature activity through both Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L–H) and Eley–Rideal (E–R) pathways. The N2O production over Mn–Ce oxide catalysts through the L–H mechanism was much lower than via the E–R mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widely adopted techniques for regional crash modeling include the negative binomial model (NB) and Bayesian negative binomial model with conditional autoregressive prior (CAR). The outputs from both models consist of a set of fixed global parameter estimates. However, the impacts of predicting variables on crash counts might not be stationary over space. This study intended to quantitatively investigate this spatial heterogeneity in regional safety modeling using two advanced approaches, i.e., random parameter negative binomial model (RPNB) and semi-parametric geographically weighted Poisson regression model (S-GWPR). Based on a 3-year data set from the county of Hillsborough, Florida, results revealed that (1) both RPNB and S-GWPR successfully capture the spatially varying relationship, but the two methods yield notably different sets of results; (2) the S-GWPR performs best with the highest value of R d 2 as well as the lowest mean absolute deviance and Akaike information criterion measures. Whereas the RPNB is comparable to the CAR, in some cases, it provides less accurate predictions; (3) a moderately significant spatial correlation is found in the residuals of RPNB and NB, implying the inadequacy in accounting for the spatial correlation existed across adjacent zones. As crash data are typically collected with reference to location dimension, it is desirable to firstly make use of the geographical component to explore explicitly spatial aspects of the crash data (i.e., the spatial heterogeneity, or the spatially structured varying relationships), then is the unobserved heterogeneity by non-spatial or fuzzy techniques. The S-GWPR is proven to be more appropriate for regional crash modeling as the method outperforms the global models in capturing the spatial heterogeneity occurring in the relationship that is model, and compared with the non-spatial model, it is capable of accounting for the spatial correlation in crash data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral T cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) is a heterogeneous subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This study aims to better define the prognostic factors and compare the predictive value of the prognostic scores in Chinese patients with PTCL-NOS. One hundred and five patients diagnosed as PTCL-NOS from our institution were retrospectively studied and grouped according to four previously described prognostic scores [International Prognostic Index (IPI), Prognostic Index for PTCL-NOS (PIT), modified PIT (m-PIT), and International PTCL Project (IPTCLP)]. In addition to clinical parameters, peripheral lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia, serum Epstein-Barr virus positivity, and tumor Ki-67 were significantly associated with poor disease outcome. Multivariate analysis revealed that age >60 years, poor performance status, elevated lactic dehydrogenase, and bone marrow involvement were independent adverse variables for survival. All prognostic scores were successful for survival estimation. Risk subgroups in IPI and PIT could be further discriminated by platelet count (IPTCLP factor) and Ki-67 (m-PIT factor), respectively. Together, patient- and tumor-specific characteristics may be incorporated in risk stratification of PTCL-NOS patients. The prognostic scores could be mutually active to improve their predictive value of disease outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Conducting a sensitivity analysis to quantitatively investigate the modifiable areal unit problem in the context of regional safety modeling. [•] The Bayesian spatial model outperforms the Bayesian Poisson-lognormal model in accurately accounting for spatial autocorrelation effects, unbiased parameter estimates, and model performance. [•] Zoning schemes with higher number of zones tend to have increasing number of significant variables, more stable coefficient estimation, smaller standard error, whereas worse model performance. [•] The variables of population density and median household income show consistently significant effects on crash risk and are robust to variation in data aggregation. [•] The MAUP effects may be significantly reduced if we just maintain at about 50% of the original number of zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research analyzes the nonlinear fluid–structure interaction (FSI) of free surface waves with large-scale polymer offshore floating photovoltaics (LPOFPV). The floating structure is modeled as a nonlinear Euler Bernoulli–von Kármán (EBVK) beam coupling with water beneath. The EBVK theory takes the in-plane force into consideration to account for the moderately large deflection slopes in LPOFPV. A multi-time-scale perturbation method leads to hierarchic partial differential equations by introducing the wave steepness squared as the perturbation. The analytical solution of the proposed nonlinear FSI model is obtained up to the second order. Pontoon structures and LPOFPV are studied and compared. The asymptotic solution provides the expressions of the propagating wave through the coupled system and its frequency–amplitude dispersion relation in a closed-form. A property of the solution is that the progressive plane wave through the coupled system remains linear for small dimensionless amplitudes, and features a second order correction for moderately large dimensionless amplitudes. Furthermore, it is also theoretically proven that no resonance occurs in the considered infinite problem. The proposed approach can be extended to the nonlinear coupling between a EBVK beam and Stokes waves. • Nonlinear model for strong hydro-elastics of very large floating structures. • Coupling between the nonlinear Euler Bernoulli–von Kármán beam and Airy waves. • Fully analytical solution based on the multi-time-scale perturbation method. • Comparison between polymer membrane structures and steel pontoon structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• One major challenge of bicycle safety is lack of complete exposure data. • A simultaneous-equation model was proposed to tackle incomplete exposure data. • Our model can reveal link of built environment, cycling levels, and bicycle crashes. • Our model is promising in imputation of missing exposure values. • Ignoring uncertainty in exposure results in biased inferences. One major challenge faced by neighborhood-level bicycle safety analysis is the lack of complete and reliable exposure data for the entire area under investigation. Although the conventional travel-diary surveys, together with the emerging smartphone fitness applications and bike-sharing systems, provide straightforward and valuable opportunities to estimate territory-wide bicycle activities, the obtained ridership suffers inherently from underreporting. We introduced the Bayesian simultaneous-equation model as a sound methodological alternative here to address the uncertainty arising from incomplete exposure data when modeling bicycle crashes. The proposed method was successfully fitted to a crowdsourced dataset of 792 bicycle–motor vehicle (BMV) crashes aggregated from 209 neighborhoods over a 3-year period in Hong Kong. Our analysis empirically demonstrated the bias due to omission of activity-based exposure measures or to the direct use of cycling distance extracted from the travel-diary survey without correcting for incompleteness. By modeling bicycle activities and the frequency of BMV crashes simultaneously, we also provided new evidence that an expansion of bicycle infrastructure was likely associated with a significant increase in cycling levels and a substantial reduction in the risk of BMV crashes, despite a slight increase in the absolute number of BMV crashes. Our approach is promising in adjusting for the uncertainty in raw exposure data, extrapolating the missing exposure values, and untangling the linkage among built environment, bicycle activities, and the frequency of BMV crashes within a unified framework. To promote safer cycling, designated facilities should be provided to consecutively separate cyclists from motor vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the fully nonlinear fluid–structure interaction (FSI) of Large-scale floating photovoltaics (LFPV) in waves. The Euler Bernoulli–von Kármán beam models the structure while potential flow represents the fluid. A set of coupled dynamical equations is established. The fully analytic solution is sought with the unified Stokes perturbation method. The characteristic equation is derived up to third order, which has not been reported in literature before. The expressions obtained from the solution are applied to two typical cases of a pontoon LFPV and a membrane LFPV, with physical parameters from literature. The comparison with literature demonstrates our methodology for the membrane-type in waters of arbitrary depth and pontoon-type in relatively deep waters. [Display omitted] • Fully nonlinear fluid–structure interaction model for large-scale floating photovoltaics. • Fully analytic solution up to third order. • Unified Stokes perturbation method, combining the Stokes expansion and the Poincaré–Lindstedt method. • Good applicability on membrane-type large-scale floating photovoltaics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) is an attractive way toward low carbon buildings through improving energy efficiency of high-energy-consumption existing buildings. Sustainable development strategy has been reaching many spheres of human activities. Sustainable BEER aims to integrate the sustainable development concept into existing buildings and retrofit projects. To ensure BEER projects that can fulfill the sustainable development strategy, a project delivery model is one major consideration and Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) is one possible market mechanism to deliver energy efficiency projects. This paper aims to use Analytic Network Process (ANP) to develop a model for sustainable BEER under the EPC mechanism. Key performance indicators (KPIs) for sustainable BEER in hotel buildings and critical success factors (CSFs) for EPC have been identified based on a set of interview and questionnaire survey previously conducted by the authors. In this study, the relationships among sustainable dimensions, KPIs, and CSFs are identified through a focus group discussion. Finally, an ANP model is built based on the data collected in the group discussion using the SuperDecision software. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] Urbanization is a complex economic and social phenomenon. Recently, rapid urbanization has not only caused rapid economic development in China, it has also posed a major threat to the ecological environment. Therefore, this study aims to determine how urbanization and its internal structure affect ecological efficiency (eco-efficiency) using panel data from China's 30 provinces from 2008 to 2017. First, the eco-efficiencies of 30 provinces in China were calculated using the super slack-based measure model (super-SBM model). Then, the entropy method was used to measure the comprehensive level of urbanization from different dimensions. Finally, the Spatial Durbin model was used to analyze the impact mechanisms of urbanization dimensions and the internal structure effect of each dimension on eco-efficiency. The results show that, from 2008 to 2017, the comprehensive level of China's urbanization in each dimension showed an upward trend, while the average eco-efficiency declined slightly. Further, local eco-efficiency exhibited a negative spatial effect on the surrounding areas. In particular, the local social urbanization level inhibited the eco-efficiency of the surrounding areas, while the local population urbanization level promoted the eco-efficiency of the surrounding areas. Moreover, population and ecological urbanization had significant positive impacts on local eco-efficiency, while social and spatial urbanization had significant negative impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A note on correctly using RP models for out-of-sample crash prediction. • We proposed an analytic solution to include both the means and variances of RP. • Using only the means of RP for out-of-sample prediction results in a downward bias. One challenge faced by the random-parameter count models for crash prediction is the unavailability of unique coefficients for out-of-sample observations. The means of the random-parameter distributions are typically used without explicit consideration of the variances. In this study, by virtue of the Taylor series expansion, we proposed a straightforward yet analytic solution to include both the means and variances of random parameters for unbiased prediction. We then theoretically quantified the systematic bias arising from the omission of the variances of random parameters. Our numerical experiment further demonstrated that simply using the means of random parameters to predict the number of crashes for out-of-sample observations is fundamentally incorrect, which necessarily results in the underprediction of crash counts. Given the widespread use and ongoing prevalence of the random-parameter approach in crash analysis, special caution should be taken to avoid this silent pitfall when applying it for predictive purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Static deflection leads to three changes in the dynamic behavior of a clamped circular plate: stiffening, asymmetry, and softening. • Static deflection effect is isolated in the derived Helmholtz–Duffing equation and parameterized in the linear and quadratic coefficients of the dynamic equations. • The analytical solution of 1-mode vibration provides a mathematical explanation and quick quantification of the static effects. • The analytical solution compares well to the numerical solution of the multi-mode vibration. [Display omitted] Maritime structures in water always experience a mean hydrostatic pressure. This paper investigates the nonlinear vibration of a clamped circular thin plate subjected to a non-zero mean load. A set of coupled Helmholtz–Duffing equations is obtained by decomposing the static and dynamic deflections and employing a Galerkin procedure. The static deflection is parameterized in the linear and quadratic coefficients of the dynamic equations. The effects of the static load on the dynamics, i.e. stiffening, asymmetry and softening, are investigated by means of the numerical solution of the coupled multi-mode system. An analytical solution of the single-mode vibration near primary resonance is derived. The analytical solution provides a theoretical explanation and quick quantification of the influence of the static load on the dynamics. The numerical and analytical results compare well, especially for lower values of the static deflection, confirming the effectiveness of the analytical approach. The proposed analysis method for plate vibration can be applied to other structures such as beams, membranes and combination forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A Bayesian multivariate spatio-temporal interaction model-based approach is proposed on roadway traffic safety. • The spatio-temporal correlations and interactions are incorporated into the crash frequency model. • The overall goodness-of-fit performance is improved. • Significant differences are found between the proposed approach and the naïve ranking approach. • A Bayesian approach based on the multivariate Poisson-lognormal model is provided. Ranking sites with promise is an essential step for cost-effective engineering improvement on roadway traffic safety. This study proposes a Bayesian multivariate spatio-temporal interaction model based approach for ranking sites. The severity-weighted crash frequency and crash rate are used as the decision parameters. The posterior expected rank and posterior mean of the decision parameters are adopted as the statistical criteria. The proposed approach is applied to rank road segments on Kaiyang Freeway in China, which is conducted via programming in the freeware WinBUGS. The results of Bayesian estimation and assessment indicate that incorporating spatio-temporal correlations and interactions into the crash frequency model significantly improves the overall goodness-of-fit performance and affects the identified crash-contributing factors and the estimated safety effects for each severity level. With respect to the ranking results, significant differences are found between those generated from the proposed approach and those generated from the naïve ranking approach and a Bayesian approach based on the multivariate Poisson-lognormal model. Besides, the ranks under the posterior mean criterion are found generally consistent with those under the posterior expected rank criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Currently, clinically available coronary CT angiography (CCTA) derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) is time-consuming and complex. We propose a novel artificial intelligence-based fully-automated, on-site CT-FFR technology, which combines the automated coronary plaque segmentation and luminal extraction model with reduced order 3 dimentional (3D) computational fluid dynamics. A total of 463 consecutive patients with 600 vessels from the updated China CT-FFR study in Cohort 1 undergoing both CCTA and invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR) within 90 d were collected for diagnostic performance evaluation. For Cohort 2, a total of 901 chronic coronary syndromes patients with index CT-FFR and clinical outcomes at 3-year follow-up were retrospectively analyzed. In Cohort 3, the association between index CT-FFR from triple-rule-out CTA and major adverse cardiac events in patients with acute chest pain from the emergency department was further evaluated. The diagnostic accuracy of this CT-FFR in Cohort 1 was 0.82 with an area under the curve of 0.82 on a per-patient level. Compared with the manually dependent CT-FFR techniques, the operation time of this technique was substantially shortened by 3 times and the number of clicks from about 60 to 1. This CT-FFR technique has a highly successful (> 99%) calculation rate and also provides superior prediction value for major adverse cardiac events than CCTA alone both in patients with chronic coronary syndromes and acute chest pain. Thus, the novel artificial intelligence-based fully automated, on-site CT-FFR technique can function as an objective and convenient tool for coronary stenosis functional evaluation in the real-world clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Marginal zone lymphomas (MZLs) comprise a diverse group of indolent lymphoproliferative disorders; however, some patients develop histologic transformation (HT) with rapid progression to aggressive lymphoma. Methods: Forty‐three MZLs with HT (HT‐MZLs), 535 MZLs, and 174 de novo diffuse large B‐cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) without rearrangements of MYC, BCL2, and BCL6 were collected. Among these, 22 HT‐MZLs, 39 MZLs, and 174 DLBCLs were subjected to 148‐gene targeted exome sequencing. The clinicopathologic features of patients who had HT‐MZL and their genetic alterations were compared with those of patients who had MZLs and DLBCLs. Results: All 43 HT‐MZLs corresponded to DLBCLs. No HT‐MZLs harbored BCL2 and MYC and/or BCL6 rearrangements. Bone marrow involvement and higher levels of lactate dehydrogenase were significantly more common in HT‐MZLs than in MZLs. Furthermore, upregulated BCL6, MUM1, C‐MYC, and Ki‐67 expression was observed more frequently in HT‐MZLs than in MZLs. TBL1XR1 was the most frequently altered gene (63.6%) in HT‐MZLs, followed by CCND3 (31.8%), CARD11, ID3, and TP53 (22.7%). A trend toward worse progression‐free survival in patients with TBL1XR1 mutations was observed. Compared with MZLs and non–germinal center B‐cell (GCB) type DLBCLs, significantly higher frequencies of TBL1XR1 and ID3 mutations were identified in HT‐MZLs. PIM1 mutations frequently occurred in DLBCLs and were significantly associated with TBL1XR1 mutations but were mutated less in HT‐MZLs that had TBL1XR1 mutations. Conclusions: The current findings reveal the clinicopathologic and genetic features of HT‐MZLs, suggesting that these tumors might constitute a group distinct from MZL and de novo non–GCB type DLBCL. TBL1XR1 mutations may be considered a predictor of HT in MZL. A majority of marginal zone lymphomas with histologic transformation harbor TBL1XR1 mutations. Marginal zone lymphomas with histologic transformation exhibit immunophenotypic and genetic features that differ from those of marginal zone lymphomas and de novo diffuse large B‐cell lymphomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel stochastic link-based fundamental diagram model was considered for considering speed heterogeneity. • Random-parameter structures were applied to reveal the unobserved heterogeneity. • Two-stage Bayesian inference was proposed for model calibration. • Effects of rainfall intensity on mean speed and speed variance were quantified. This study aims to establish a stochastic link-based fundamental diagram (FD) with explicit consideration of two available sources of uncertainty: speed heterogeneity, indicated by the speed variance within an interval, and rainfall intensity. A stochastic structure was proposed to incorporate the speed heterogeneity into the traffic stream model, and the random-parameter structures were applied to reveal the unobserved heterogeneity in the mean speeds at an identical density. The proposed stochastic link-based FD was calibrated and validated using real-world traffic data obtained from two selected road segments in Hong Kong. Traffic data were obtained from the Hong Kong Journey Time Indication System operated by the Hong Kong Transport Department during January 1 to December 31, 2017. The data related to rainfall intensity were obtained from the Hong Kong Observatory. A two-stage calibration based on Bayesian inference was proposed for estimating the stochastic link-based FD parameters. The predictive performances of the proposed model and three other models were compared using K -fold cross-validation. The results suggest that the random-parameter model considering the speed heterogeneity effect performs better in terms of both goodness-of-fit and predictive accuracy. The effect of speed heterogeneity accounts for 18%–24% of the total heterogeneity effects on the variance of FD. In addition, there exists unobserved heterogeneity across the mean speeds at an identical density, and the rainfall intensity negatively affects the mean speed and its effect on the variance of FD differs at different densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian red-light violations at signalized crossings are an important traffic safety concern, particularly in densely populated cities. In this study, the authors quantitatively investigated the factors associated with pedestrian red-light violations and injury severity resulting from pedestrian–motor vehicle crashes at signalized crossings. Random parameter probit models are used to account for individual-specific heterogeneity that arises from a set of unmeasured factors related to traffic conditions and the pedestrians' physical and mental status. Data for the analysis are based on the historical crash record maintained by the Hong Kong Transport Department. Children younger than age 11 years are not only associated with a higher likelihood of pedestrian red-light violations but also tend to have a higher probability of severe injuries. Factors including summer, dual carriageways with a central traffic island, and pedestrian age of 12 to 25 years are solely related to a higher likelihood of pedestrian red-light violations; meanwhile, variables solely associated with a higher probability of severe injuries include crashes that occur between 22:00 and 06:59, crashes occurring in rainy weather, crashes involving pedestrians older than age 46 years, and bus crashes. Appropriate countermeasures are recommended to curb pedestrian red-light violations and to reduce the injury severity of pedestrian crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trap-related phenomena in the electrical performance of back-gated mechanical exfoliated MoS2 field-effect transistors are investigated in terms of the super linear increase in the drain current under positive gate bias and the shift of transfer curves with gate voltage stress. The super linear increase in drain current is only observed for the MoS2 field-effect transistors in the electron accumulation regime under positive gate bias, which can be attributed to a trap-assisted tunneling effect with S vacancies at the contact interface between metal Ti and MoS2. After thermal annealing of the devices in vacuum at 300 °C for 2 h, the almost complete metallization of Ti contacting with the MoS2 layer leads to the variation of the drain current relationship with drain voltage from a super linear to a linear increase, thus screening the efficacy of the mechanism of defect level assisted electron tunneling. The shift of transfer curves with gate voltage stress (denoted as hysteresis) is attributed to the defects near the interface between MoS2 and SiO2, which is slightly impacted by thermal annealing. The hump effect caused by parasitic transistors is also observed in back-gated mechanical exfoliated MoS2 field-effect transistors. These results further enrich the knowledge of the complex electrical characteristics of MoS2 field-effect transistors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have garnered significant attention due to their high efficiency and low emissions. However, PEMFC always suffers mass transfer and water management in performance improvement. Herein, an integrated gas diffusion layer (GDL) with wavy channel and micro‐tunneled rib is designed and prepared to achieve faster and gentler mass transfer and excellent water management capability by laser engraving. Outstandingly, the new integrated GDL can use the back pressure of air as low as 0 and 50 kPa to respectively achieve 80% and 90% of fuel cell performance realized under pure oxygen. Such high performance is mainly due to the turbulent flow caused by wavy channel and express removing pathway of liquid water provided by micro‐tunneled rib. Moreover, the new integrated GDL also shows wide humidity tolerance from 40% to 100% and a very high specific volume power density of 16,300 W L−1 due to the thin thickness of new integrated GDL. This new integrated GDL is expected to be widely used in PEMFC and other energy conversion devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The safety-in-numbers effects were investigated in an area with low pedestrian activities. • The safety-in-numbers effects were found only at 32 intersections out of 219. • Intersections with the safety-in-numbers effects have relatively higher pedestrian activities. • Intersections without the safety-in-numbers effects have extremely low pedestrian activities. Abstract In previous studies, the safety-in-numbers effect has been found, which is a phenomenon that when the number of pedestrians or cyclists increases, their crash rates decrease. The previous studies used data from highly populated areas. It is questionable that the safety-in-numbers effect is still observed in areas with a low population density and small number of pedestrians. Thus, this study aims at analyzing pedestrian crashes in a suburban area in the United States and exploring if the safety-in-numbers effect is also observed. We employ a Bayesian random-parameter Poisson-lognormal model to evaluate the safety-in-numbers effects of each intersection, which can account for the heterogeneity across the observations. The results show that the safety-in-numbers effect were found only at 32 intersections out of 219. The intersections with the safety-in-numbers effect have relatively larger pedestrian activities whereas those without the safety-in-numbers effect have extremely low pedestrian activities. It is concluded that just encouraging walking might result in serious pedestrian safety issues in a suburban area without sufficient pedestrian activities. Therefore, it is plausible to provide safe walking environment first with proven countermeasures and a people-oriented policy rather than motor-oriented. After safe walking environments are guaranteed and when people recognize that walking is safe, more people will consider walking for short-distance trips. Eventually, increased pedestrian activities will result in the safety-in-numbers effects and walking will be even further safer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The construction industry is characterized by high-energy consumption and intensive-carbon emissions. With the promotion of energy-saving technologies in buildings combined with concerns for global-warming, there has been a gradual shift in energy conservation requirements from the operation stage to the construction stage. This shift is primarily delivered through the use of improved materials and technologies implemented during the building construction stage. Building industrialization is an innovative construction approach that has experienced rapid up-take in China. The use of prefabricated components in building construction is now a key feature of the building industrialization process, and thus warrants greater attention in terms of its energy consumption and carbon emission. This paper utilizes a process-based method to assess carbon emissions during the prefabrication manufacturing process in offsite factories. A life cycle assessment is applied to a case study concerning a prefabricated concrete interior wall board. Carbon sources during the manufacturing process is identified and the carbon emissions are quantified using a factor method. The results show that carbon emissions from the interior prefabricated concrete wallboard of volume 0.609 m3 is 427 kg, with the vast majority of the emissions originating from building materials, at 96.2%. The carbon emissions from electricity consumption constitutes 3.65%, and that from workers make up only 0.16%. The findings of this study offer a carbon emission benchmark for building industrialization, which in turn serve as a solid data foundation for carbon assessment of prefabricated buildings in China. Highlights • Building industrialization is an innovative construction approach. • A process-based method is developed to assess carbon emissions of pre-components. • A life cycle assessment is applied to a case study. • Carbon sources during the manufacturing process is identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China consumes more energy and emits more carbon dioxide than any other country. The building sector accounts for nearly 1/3 of the total national energy consumption in China; thus, it is critical to find a solution for improving buildings’ energy efficiency. Under the market-oriented mechanism, constrained by the energy performance contracting (EPC) mode, energy service companies (ESCOs) play an important role in improving energy efficiency for high-energy-consumption industries, including the building sector. The aim of this study is to determine the strategy for boosting the building ESCO industry. By conducting a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis, this paper presented the status of the building ESCO industry in China and proposed alternative strategies. By utilizing a conventional multi-criteria decision-making method, namely, the Analytic Network Process (ANP), this study provides a quantitative basis to analytically determine the ranking of the factors in SWOT analysis and select the best strategy to promote the development of the building ESCO industry. The results showed that the ANP-SWOT is a viable and highly capable methodology that provides invaluable insights for strategic management decisions in the building ESCO industry, and a set of strategies for promoting ESCO development in the building sector were proposed based on this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(F) Peripheral Treg cells of relapsed or refractory DLBCL patients with current HBV infection before or after lenalidomide plus R-ICE treatment. gl In conclusion, DLBCLs with current HBV infection may refer as a specific entity with aggressive disease course and resistance to immunochemotherapy. Dear Editor, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is an oncogenic virus and a major risk factor for developing hepatocellular carcinoma.[1] Growing evidence also suggests that HBV infection is linked to an increased incidence of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).[1] Among 1925 newly diagnosed DLBCL patients (Figure S1), we revealed that DLBCLs with current HBV infection (HBV-surface-antigen [HBsAg]+), instead of those with previous HBV infection (HBsAg- and antibodies against HBV-core-antigen+), correlated with high-risk clinical features (Table S1), as previously reported.[[2]] The prognostic impact of HBV infection in DLBCL remained controversial in the rituximab era,[[2]] largely due to the relatively small sample size of patients receiving rituximab-containing treatment. Besides, B-cell surface markers for B-cell development[5] were significantly higher in DLBCLs of current HBV infection than in non-HBV infection (Figure 1D). Here, among 1490 patients with R-CHOP treatment, we observed that the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of DLBCLs with current HBV infection were significantly worse than those of non-HBV infection (Figure 1A,B). [Extracted from the article]

To provide evidence-based medicine references for formulating prevention and control policies in plateau areas, we explore the characteristics of anemia patients in Tibet (the plateau areas of China), especially those located at an altitude above 4500 m. We collected clinical data from 379 Tibetan anemia patients over the age of 18 years. We found those female patients accounted for the majority of Tibetan anemia patients. Almost half of the anemia patients aged from 28 to 47 years. The percentage of severe anemia and extremely severe anemia was 45.4% and 2.4%, respectively. 88.7% of patients are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, and 81.5% of patients just graduated from primary school or below. The most common causes of anemia were nutritional anemia, especially iron-deficiency anemia. At high-altitude localities, folic acid-deficiency anemia needs more attention. Overall, this study showed that altitude influences the incidence, severity, and cause of anemia. Peasants and herdsmen, low education levels, young and middle-aged women, and nutrition status should be paid attention to in future anemia control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smaller volume/weight and higher output power/energy density are always the goals of electrochemistry energy devices. Here, a simple strategy is proposed to prepare an integrated gas diffusion electrode (GDE) with high conductivity through skin electroplating. The skin electroplating is the combination of magnetron sputtering and spatial confinement electroplating. The electroplated metal obtained by skin electroplating is uniformly, continuously, and tightly attached to the surface of carbon paper like a layer of skin. Uniform and continuous electroplating metal layer endows the integrated electrode excellent conductivity with the square resistance as low as 27 mΩ sq−1. In application, the self‐breathing fuel cell with 1 cm2 active area can harvest ultrahigh volume specific power density (20.9 kW L−1). Additionally, the weight of the fuel cell stack (23 W) with the integrated electrode is only 20 g, which is only 7% of the commercial stack with the same power. The mass specific power density reaches 1150 W kg−1, which is 15 times of the commercial stack. Outstandingly, the stack can charge 4 mobile phones at the same time. More importantly, the skin electroplating provides an effective strategy to improve the specific power density of other energy devices including Zn‐air batteries, Li‐air batteries, and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of modern urban logistics, the development of door-to-door freight transport through rail–road combined transportation is a necessary approach to achieve modernization and smartness of railroad freight transportation. As the last step of door-to-door rail–road joint transportation, station-to-door transportation determines the quality and efficiency of services. Meanwhile, the operation time of goods assembly is uncertain in the freight center station, freight handling station, and in transit, which largely limits the efficiency of rail–road combined transportation delivery at the stage of station-to-door. To address the aforementioned problems, we proposed a forward-looking matching strategy (FL) that jointly considers the set of goods orders that can be fulfilled in the current decision stage and the set of goods orders that can only be fulfilled in the future stage to improve the matching effect. Then, we built a two-stage stochastic dynamic programming model that jointly considers matching between goods orders and distribution path optimization. At the same time, we simplified the complex model by using a Bayesian approach to update the goods' operation time in real time. Finally, we designed an improved differential evolution algorithm based on order similarity and distribution for solving the optimization. The algorithm we designed reduces 34.69% in transportation cost and 31.37% in waiting time cost compared with the actual delivery plan implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zonal crash prediction has been one of the most prevalent topics in recent traffic safety research. Typically, zonal safety level is evaluated by relating aggregated crash statistics at a certain spatial scale to various macroscopic factors. Another potential solution is from the micro level perspective, in which zonal crash frequency is estimated by summing up the expected crashes of all the road entities located within the zones of interest. This study intended to compare these two types of zonal crash prediction models. The macro-level Bayesian spatial model with conditional autoregressive prior and the micro-level Bayesian spatial joint model were developed and empirically evaluated, respectively. An integrated hot zone identification approach was then proposed to exploit the merits of separate macro and micro screening results. The research was based on a three-year dataset of an urban road network in Hillsborough County, Florida, U.S. Results revealed that the micro-level model has better overall fit and predictive performance, provides better insights about the micro factors that closely contribute to crash occurrence, and leads to more direct countermeasures. Whereas the macro-level crash analysis has the advantage of requirement of less detailed data, providing additional instructions for non-traffic engineering issues, as well as serving as an indispensable tool in incorporating safety considerations into long term transportation planning. Based on the proposed integrated screening approach, specific treatment strategies could be proposed to different screening categories. The present study is expected to provide an explicit template towards the application of either technique appropriately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A power-to-X system based on CO 2 /H 2 O co-electrolysis and trigeneration is assessed. • An exergy-cost-carbon nexus approach based on energy level is constructed. • Cost and carbon intensities of products are obtained in different carbon mechanisms. • Impacts of solar radiation on exergy cost and carbon are studied. • The chain exergy efficiencies of the power-to-X system are 13.73% and 53.19%. The carbon dioxide/water co-electrolysis presents an exciting opportunity for utilizing carbon dioxide alongside renewable energy sources, and the stable hydrocarbon syngas can then be fed into downstream systems to produce power, cooling, and heat for end-users. However, the entire power-to-X system is a complex chain composed of various interconnected parts and segments. Its overall economic and environmental performances remain unclear. To address this gap, this study introduces a novel exergy-cost-carbon approach involving a solar-full-spectrum-driven power-to-X system that relies on the combination of co-electrolysis using solid oxide electrolysis cells and a fuel cell trigeneration system. An exergy-cost-carbon nexus method is developed to reveal their coupling relationships, in which energy levels of streams as allocation principles are employed to distinguish their differences. Using the proposed method, the cost and carbon intensities of syngas and energy products are determined, and these metrics are then compared across various carbon costing models. The validity of this approach is confirmed through a comparison with the conventional exergo-economic method. The co-electrolysis and trigeneration subsystems exhibit exergy efficiencies of 13.73 % and 53.19 %, respectively. The unit exergy costs of syngas and power in the power-to-X system are determined to be 0.261$/kWh and 0.550$/kWh, respectively, based on the given design parameters. When factoring in carbon markets and taxes, these costs decrease by 9.02 % and 6.83 %, respectively. The exergy carbon footprint associated with syngas production is notably low at only 0.070 kg CO 2 -eq/kWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has emerged as a promising novel therapeutic approach. However, primary and secondary resistance to CAR-T cell therapy is commonly encountered in various clinical trials. Despite the comprehensive studies to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance, effective resolution in clinical practice is still elusive. Inadequate persistence and subsequent loss of infused CAR-T cells are proposed major resistance mechanism associated with CAR-T cell treatment failure. Thus, we generated CAR-T cells armored with IL-7 to prolong the persistence of infused T-cells, particularly CD4 + T cells, and enhanced anti-tumor response. IL-7 increased CAR-T-cell persistence in vivo and contributed to the distinct T-cell cytotoxicity profile. Using mass cytometry (CyTOF), we further assessed the phenotypic and metabolic profiles of IL-7-secreting CAR-T cells, along with conventional CAR-T cells at the single-cell level. With in-depth analysis, we found that IL-7 maintained CAR-T cells in a less differentiated T-cell state, regulated distinct metabolic activity, and prevented CAR-T-cell exhaustion, which could be essential for CAR-T cells to maintain their metabolic fitness and anti-tumor response. Our findings thus provided clinical rationale to exploit IL-7 signaling for modulation and metabolic reprogramming of T-cell function to enhance CAR-T cell persistence and induce durable remission upon CAR-T cell therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spreading of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has gravely impacted the world in the last year and a half. Understanding the spatial and temporal patterns of how it spreads at the early stage and the effectiveness of a governments' immediate response helps our society prepare for future COVID-19 waves or the next pandemic and contain it before the spreading gets out of control. In this article, a susceptible-exposed-infectious-removed model is used to model the city-to-city spreading patterns of the disease at the early stage of its emergence in China (from December 2019 to February 2020). Publicly available reported case numbers in 312 Chinese cities and between-city mobility data are leveraged to estimate key epidemiological characteristics, such as the transmission rate and the number of infectious people for each city. It is discovered that during any given time period, there are always only a few cities that are responsible for spreading the disease to other cities. We term these few cities as transmission centers. The spatial and temporal changes in transmission centers demonstrate predictable patterns. Moreover, rigorously designed experiments show that in controlling the disease spread in a city, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) implemented at transmission centers are more effective than the NPI implemented in the city itself. These findings have implications on the control of an infectious disease at the early stage of its spreading: implementing NPIs at transmission centers at early stages is effective in controlling the spread of infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of portable and wearable electronics, safety concerns over flexible energy devices are inevitable. Therefore, it is important to develop energy supplies that are safe for use. In this work, a highly safe, durable, adaptable, and flexible air‐breathing direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is successfully prepared by synthesizing and applying a new composite material with agar gel and wood sponge, that is, a gel/sponge composite. The gel/sponge composite has a high absorption rate, high cyclic performance, high methanol absorption capacity, high energy content, and high flexibility. Moreover, the gel/sponge composite with 1.5% agar gel retains approximately 90% of the methanol solution at a pressure of 29.4 kPa, and the areal energy density of the proposed DMFC approaches 13.7 mWh cm−2. Both the single‐cell and stack of DMFC with the new composite material successfully survive a series of destructive tests, including needle penetration, cutting, and compression. Therefore, it is successfully demonstrated that absorbent materials can greatly boost the safety, adaptability, flexibility, and energy density of air‐breathing DMFCs. Furthermore, this concept shows promise in improving the safety of other fuel cells by using absorbent materials to solidify their gaseous or liquid fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Also, the 2-year OS rate was 67.7% for patients with interim Deauville 5, significantly shorter than that for patients with interim Deauville 1-3 (95.8%, I P i = 0.003, Fig. With a median follow-up of 26.4 (7.5-64.0) months, the 2-year PFS rate was 20.0% for patients with interim Deauville 5, significantly shorter than that for patients with interim Deauville 1-3 (93.4%, I P i < 0.001) or Deauville 4 (69.3%, I P i = 0.012, Fig. However, we noticed that according to the Deauville criteria, all 36 patients are of Deauville 1-4, with clinical outcomes of patients with Deauville 5 remaining unclear. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: To develop a weakly supervised deep learning (WSDL) method that could utilize incomplete/missing survival data to predict the prognosis of extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL) based on pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT results. Methods: One hundred and sixty-seven patients with ENKTL who underwent pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT were retrospectively collected. Eighty-four patients were followed up for at least 2 years (training set = 64, test set = 20). A WSDL method was developed to enable the integration of the remaining 83 patients with incomplete/missing follow-up information in the training set. To test generalization, these data were derived from three types of scanners. Prediction similarity index (PSI) was derived from deep learning features of images. Its discriminative ability was calculated and compared with that of a conventional deep learning (CDL) method. Univariate and multivariate analyses helped explore the significance of PSI and clinical features. Results: PSI achieved area under the curve scores of 0.9858 and 0.9946 (training set) and 0.8750 and 0.7344 (test set) in the prediction of progression-free survival (PFS) with the WSDL and CDL methods, respectively. PSI threshold of 1.0 could significantly differentiate the prognosis. In the test set, WSDL and CDL achieved prediction sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 87.50% and 62.50%, 83.33% and 83.33%, and 85.00% and 75.00%, respectively. Multivariate analysis confirmed PSI to be an independent significant predictor of PFS in both the methods. Conclusion: The WSDL-based framework was more effective for extracting 18F-FDG PET/CT features and predicting the prognosis of ENKTL than the CDL method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As mobile device location data become increasingly available, new analyses are revealing the significant changes of mobility pattern when an unplanned event happened. With different control policies from local and state government, the COVID-19 outbreak has dramatically changed mobility behavior in affected cities. This study has been investigating the impact of COVID-19 on the number of people involved in crashes accounting for the intensity of different control measures using Negative Binomial (NB) method. Based on a comprehensive dataset of people involved in crashes aggregated in New York City during January 1, 2020 to May 24, 2020, people involved in crashes with respect to travel behavior, traffic characteristics and socio-demographic characteristics are found. The results show that the average person miles traveled on the main traffic mode per person per day, percentage of work trip have positive effect on person involved in crashes. On the contrary, unemployment rate and inflation rate have negative effects on person involved in crashes. Interestingly, different level of control policies during COVID-19 outbreak are closely associated with safety awareness, driving and travel behavior, and thus has an indirect influence on the frequency of crashes. Comparing to other three control policies including emergence declare, limits on mass gatherings, and ban on all nonessential gathering, the negative relationship between stay-at-home policy implemented in New York City from March 20, 2020 and the number of people involved crashes is found in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing popularity of prefabricated construction around the world, precast plants face increasingly complex production scenarios. Because it is important for precast components to be delivered on time and assembled according to the planned schedule, it is a common phenomenon to increase production shifts and break the routine production schedule to meet time-pressured orders. But there is still a lack of research on flowshop multi-shift scheduling methods in precast production. To address this issue, a flowshop scheduling optimization model of multi-shift precast production with on-time delivery is established, which is the application in civil engineering. A solution framework and its corresponding optimization processes are designed to avoid a combinatorial explosion of solutions and save solution time, which is contribution in artificial intelligence. The validity of the model is proven using a practical case. The results show that, compared to the conventional scheduling method, the proposed method significantly reduces costs under on-time delivery and stably obtains optimized feasible scheduling schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive and portable microfluidic electrochemical array device (μFED) was developed for the immunoassay of trace amounts of human cardiac troponin I (cTnI), which is an attractive biomarker for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The classical "sandwich" method was adopted for the immunoassay. The capture antibody was immobilized using a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) technique, and the process was reorganized to be compatible with the bonding process. The detection antibody was labeled with alkaline phosphatase (AP) for signal amplification. The performance of the μFED was improved by eliminating the shielding effect of the microelectrode array (MEA) integrated in the μFED. The effects of the interstice and the width of the MEA on the response peak current were analyzed and simulated. The concentration gradient, about 3% of the gradient at the surface, was considered as the criterion for estimation of the optimal interstice between electrodes, and its effectiveness was proved. A stable and miniaturized reference electrode was integrated in the μFED, and its potential deviation was less than 5 mV in 15 min. These efforts resulted in the enhanced immunoassay performance of the μFED. A low limit of detection of about 5 pg/mL was obtained in serum samples, and the response current was proportional to the logarithm of concentration from 50 pg/mL to 1 μg/mL. The immunoassay process was accomplished in 15 min. The μFED was thus qualified and is a promising candidate for point-of-care immunoassay of cTnI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]