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Abstract Purpose This study explored the effectiveness of a Problem-based Learning (PBL) teaching model on the WeChat public platform for radiation oncology residency training programs. Materials and methods The WeChat PBL program was initiated in 2019. The study recruited student participants, on a voluntary basis, who were in their first and second years of standardized training in radiation oncology. We selected classic and trending issues in radiation oncology as the two main teaching topics. Students in the PBL group searched for relevant literature, summarizing PowerPoint presentations or academic speeches on specific issues published on the professional WeChat public platform after an in-depth review by teachers. The final national standardized training examination scores for resident physicians were used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. The graduation scores of the PBL and non-PBL groups were compared, and a stratified analysis was conducted based on the year of participation to assess the teaching effectiveness of this model. Moreover, questionnaires were administered to evaluate students’ experiences. Results Among the 36 students who joined the study in 2019, 16 (44.0%) voluntarily joined the PBL teaching group. Nine students started teaching PBL in their first year of residency, accounting for 47.4% of that year, and seven started in their second year, accounting for 41.2%. The average graduation scores of the PBL group were superior to those of the non-PBL-focused group for the same grade. The rate of high scores among students in the PBL group (56.3%) was higher than that of students in the non-PBL group (25%). Specifically, first-year residents who joined the PBL group had an average score of 92.3 ± 2.2, significantly higher than their non-PBL counterparts, who scored an average of 88.6 ± 4.6, showing a statistically significant advantage (p = 0.042). All students were satisfied with the PBL WeChat teaching and would recommend the PBL WeChat course to others. Conclusion The PBL residency teaching model on the WeChat platform improved residency scores and garnered student satisfaction.

Abstract With the popularity of the media cloud computing industry, individuals and organizations outsource image computation and storage to the media cloud server to reduce the storage burden. Media images usually contain a large amount of private information. To prevent disclosure of privacy of the image owners, media images are encrypted before uploading to the server. However, this operation will greatly limit the utilization of the image for the user, such as content-based image retrieval. We propose an efficient similarity query algorithm with access control based on Bkd-tree in this paper, in which a searchable encryption scheme is designed for similarity image retrieval, and the encrypted image is used to extract image features by a pre-trained CNN model. The Bkd-tree is utilized to generate an index tree for the image features to speed up retrieval and make it faster than linear indexing. Finally, the security performances of the proposed scheme is analyzed and the performance of this scheme is evaluated by experiments. The results show that the security of the image content and image features can be ensured, and it has a shorter retrieval time and higher retrieval efficiency.

The perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers are key materials for proton exchange membranes (PEMs) and catalyst layers (CLs). Their morphology is profoundly influenced by the chain assembly behavior of PFSA in dispersions. Hence, we combine the characterization techniques of dynamic light scattering (DLS), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) to study the nanostructures of PFSA dispersions, and provide a structure model for diverse PFSA ionomers in water/ethanol solvent. It is seen that PFSA ionomers self-assembly into a rod-like particle in dilute dispersion. As the concentration increases, the primary rod aggregates gradually assemble into a swollen- or Gaussian-network structure. Beyond this feature, we see that different PFSA ionomers show different nanostructures in dispersion. For the long-side-chain (LSC) PFSA ionomers, the 800-LSC PFSA tends to form monodisperse rod-like aggregates that is in a highly ordered arrangement with a rod diameter of 3.16 nm and a length of 28.72 nm. As the equivalent weight (EW) increases to 960, the poor solubility of the main chains in water/ethanol solvents leads to the “end-to-end” assemblies of the primary rod particles and dendritic secondary aggregates. The short-side-chain (SSC) PFSA ionomer that shares the same backbone with 960-LSC PFSA exhibit remarkable mono-dispersity and ordered arrangement of rod-like aggregates in water/ethanol solvents due to the strong electrostatic repulsion.

Abstract The significant role of the cathodic binder in modulating mass transport within the catalyst layer (CL) of fuel cells is essential for optimizing cell performance. This investigation focuses on enhancing the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) through the utilization of a short‐side‐chain perfluoro‐sulfonic acid (SSC‐PFSA) ionomer as the cathode binder, referred to as SSC‐MEA. This study meticulously visualizes the distinctive interpenetrating networks of ionomers and catalysts, and explicitly clarifies the triple‐phase interface, unveiling the transport‐friendly microstructure and transport mechanisms inherent in SSC‐MEA. The SSC‐MEA exhibits advantageous microstructural features, including a better‐connected ionomer network and well‐organized hierarchical porous structure, culminating in superior mass transfer properties. Relative to the MEA bonded by long‐side‐chain perfluoro‐sulfonic acid (LSC‐PFSA) ionomer, noted as LSC‐MEA, SSC‐MEA exhibits a notable peak power density (1.23 W cm−2), efficient O2 transport, and remarkable proton conductivity (65% improvement) at 65 °C and 70% relativity humidity (RH). These findings establish crucial insights into the intricate morphology‐transport‐performance relationship in the CL, thereby providing strategic guidance for developing highly efficient MEA.

Abstract Background Although the association between ambient temperature and mortality of respiratory diseases was numerously documented, the association between various ambient temperature levels and respiratory emergency department (ED) visits has not been well studied. A recent investigation of the association between respiratory ED visits and various levels of ambient temperature was conducted in Beijing, China. Methods Daily meteorological data, air pollution data, and respiratory ED visits data from 2017 to 2018 were collected in Beijing. The relationship between ambient temperature and respiratory ED visits was explored using a distributed lagged nonlinear model (DLNM). Then we performed subgroup analysis based on age and gender. Finally, meta-analysis was utilized to aggregate the total influence of ambient temperature on respiratory ED visits across China. Results The single-day lag risk for extreme cold peaked at a relative risk (RR) of 1.048 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.009, 1.088] at a lag of 21 days, with a long lag effect. As for the single-day lag risk for extreme hot, a short lag effect was shown at a lag of 7 days with an RR of 1.076 (95% CI: 1.038, 1.114). The cumulative lagged effects of both hot and cold effects peaked at lag 0–21 days, with a cumulative risk of the onset of 3.690 (95% CI: 2.133, 6.382) and 1.641 (95% CI: 1.284, 2.098), respectively, with stronger impact on the hot. Additionally, the elderly were more sensitive to ambient temperature. The males were more susceptible to hot weather than the females. A longer cold temperature lag effect was found in females. Compared with the meta-analysis, a pooled effect of ambient temperature was consistent in general. In the subgroup analysis, a significant difference was found by gender. Conclusions Temperature level, age-specific, and gender-specific effects between ambient temperature and the number of ED visits provide information on early warning measures for the prevention and control of respiratory diseases.

Abstract The activation of cyclic GMP‐AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS) and its adaptor, stimulator of interferon genes (STING), is known to reprogram the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment for promoting antitumor immunity. To enhance the efficiency of cGAS‐STING pathway activation, macrophage‐selective uptake, and programmable cytosolic release are crucial for the delivery of STING agonists. However, existing polymer‐ or lipid‐based delivery systems encounter difficulty in integrating multiple functions meanwhile maintaining precise control and simple procedures. Herein, inspired by cGAS being a natural DNA sensor, a modularized DNA nanodevice agonist (DNDA) is designed that enable macrophage‐selective uptake and programmable activation of the cGAS‐STING pathway through precise self‐assembly. The resulting DNA nanodevice acts as both a nanocarrier and agonist. Upon local administration, it demonstrates the ability of macrophage‐selective uptake, endosomal escape, and cytosolic release of the cGAS‐recognizing DNA segment, leading to robust activation of the cGAS‐STING pathway and enhanced antitumor efficacy. Moreover, DNDA elicits a synergistic therapeutic effect when combined with immune checkpoint blockade. The study broadens the application of DNA nanotechnology as an immune stimulator for cGAS‐STING activation.

Background: Climate change has shifted and will continue to alter the patterns of daytime and nighttime temperatures. However, it remains unclear whether hot days and nights, as well as cold days and nights, have varying impacts on mental disorders. Methods: Daily hospital-based data on 1.2 million outpatient visits for mental disorders were obtained from 15 Chinese cities (2011-2015). The index of hot day excess, hot night excess, cold day excess, and cold night excess were used to measure the intensity of hot/cold days and nights. Firstly, a distributed lag non-linear model was used to estimate the risk of mental disorders associated with hot/cold days and nights for each city. Secondly, city-specific estimates were pooled by multivariate meta-analysis to obtain national effect estimates. Thirdly, the attributable fraction of mental disorders was estimated for the nation, genders, age groups, heating methods, and air conditioning penetration rates. Results: Our findings revealed that both hot and cold nights were associated with a higher risk of mental disorders compared to hot and cold days. The attributable fraction of mental disorders was higher for cold (night: 25.74%; day: 19.65%) in contrast to heat (night: 16.91%; day: 7.24%). Males, the elderly, cities using central heating, and cities with low air conditioning penetration rates were vulnerable to cold nights. Conclusions: This nationwide study highlights the adverse effects and significant burden of hot and cold nights on mental disorders. It underscores the potential for mitigating these impacts through the adoption of air conditioning, particularly in southern cities across China.

Abstract Background This meta-analysis was designed to compare the safety and efficiency of remimazolam with those of propofol in patients undergoing gastroscope sedation. Methods We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Ovid, Wanfang Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, SINOMED, and ClinicalTrials.gov for studies that reported on remimazolam versus propofol for gastroscope sedation from establishment to February 25, 2023. The sedative efficiency and the incidence of adverse events were assessed as outcomes. Version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Review Manager 5.4 and STATA 17 were used to perform all statistical analyses. Results A total of 26 randomized controlled trials involving 3,641 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that remimazolam had a significantly lower incidence of respiratory depression (risk ratio [RR] = 0.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.28–0.57; p

The health of watershed ecology is mutually constrained by the sustainable development of the regional economy and society, and health assessment helps to identify the ecological status quo. As one of the “ethnic corridors”, the Bailong River has become a region of human solid interference. Therefore, this study constructed an indicator evaluation system to reflect rivers' natural attributes and functionality by analyzing candidate indicators' sensitivity, principal components, and independence. The weight of the indicators was determined using the Analytic Hierarchy Process combined with expert opinions. The ecological status of the Bailong River was evaluated through field monitoring data, and ecological restoration suggestions were proposed. The results show that Bailong River's comprehensive score is 58.27, indicating sub-health. The constructed evaluation system includes thirteen indicators, of which 53.84% are in an ideal state, 15.39% are healthy, 7.69% are sub-health, 15.39% are unhealthy, and 7.69% are pathological, with weak spatial heterogeneity. The evaluation results of the guidelines show that the state of “cleanliness” and “service” is ideal, “circulation” and “life” are healthy, and “physical structure” is worrying. Based on this, the ecological restoration and protection of the Bailong River in the future should focus on the following aspects: improving methods and theories, restoring the habitat environment of the river, ensuring water quantity, improving water quality, and conserving fish species. This study can provide necessary theoretical support for the ecological restoration of severely disturbed water-deficient rivers and lakes in northern China.

Recently, extreme wildfires occur frequently around the world and emit substantial brown carbon (BrC) into the atmosphere, whereas the molecular compositions and photochemical evolution of BrC remain poorly understood. In this work, primary smoke aerosols were generated from wood smoldering, and secondary smoke aerosols were formed by the OH radical photooxidation in an oxidation flow reactor, where both primary and secondary smoke samples were collected on filters. After solvent extraction of filter samples, the molecular composition of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was determined by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR MS). The molecular composition of dissolved BrC was obtained based on the constraints of DOC formulae. The proportion of dissolved BrC fractions accounted for approximately 1/3–1/2 molecular formulae of DOC. The molecular characteristics of dissolved BrC showed higher levels of carbon oxidation state, double bond equivalents, and modified aromaticity index than those of DOC, indicating that dissolved BrC fractions were a class of organic structures with relatively higher oxidation state, unsaturated and aromatic degree in DOC fractions. The comparative analysis suggested that aliphatic and olefinic structures dominated DOC fractions (contributing to 70.1%-76.9%), while olefinic, aromatic, and condensed aromatic structures dominated dissolved BrC fractions (contributing to 97.5%-99.9%). It is worth noting that dissolved BrC fractions only contained carboxylic-rich alicyclic molecules (CRAMs)-like structures, unsaturated hydrocarbons, aromatic structures, and highly oxygenated compounds. CRAMs-like structures were the most abundant species in both DOC and dissolved BrC fractions. Nevertheless, the specific molecular characteristics for DOC and dissolved BrC fractions varied with subgroups after aging. The results highlight the similarities and differences in the molecular compositions and characteristics of DOC and dissolved BrC fractions with aging. This work will provide insights into understanding the molecular composition of DOC and dissolved BrC in smoke.

Background: Studies have shown that short- and long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) can increase the risk of asthma morbidity and mortality. However, the effect of medium-term exposure remains unknown. We aim to examine the effect of medium-term exposure to size-fractioned PM on asthma exacerbations among asthmatics with poor medication adherence. Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study in China based on the National Mobile Asthma Management System Project that specifically and routinely followed asthma exacerbations in asthmatics with poor medication adherence from April 2017 to May 2019. High-resolution satellite remote-sensing data were used to estimate each participant's medium-term exposure (on average 90 days) to size-fractioned PM (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10) based on the residential address and the date of the follow-up when asthma exacerbations (e.g., hospitalizations and emergency room visits) occurred or the end of the follow-up. The Cox proportional hazards model was employed to examine the hazard ratio of asthma exacerbations associated with each PM after controlling for sex, age, BMI, education level, geographic region, and temperature. Results: Modelling results revealed nonlinear exposure-response associations of asthma exacerbations with medium-term exposure to PM1, PM2.5, and PM10. Specifically, for emergency room visits, we found an increased hazard ratio for PM1 above 22.8 µg/m3 (1.060, 95 % CI: 1.025–1.096, per 1 µg/m3 increase), PM2.5 above 38.2 µg/m3 (1.032, 95 % CI: 1.010–1.054), and PM10 above 78.6 µg/m3 (1.019, 95 % CI: 1.006–1.032). For hospitalizations, we also found an increased hazard ratio for PM1 above 20.3 µg/m3 (1.055, 95 % CI: 1.001–1.111) and PM2.5 above 39.2 µg/m3 (1.038, 95 % CI: 1.003–1.074). Furthermore, the effects of PM were greater for a longer exposure window (90–180 days) and among participants with a high BMI. Conclusion: This study suggests that medium-term exposure to PM is associated with an increased risk of asthma exacerbations in asthmatics with poor medication adherence, with a higher risk from smaller PM.

Abstract Background Epidemiology is considered to be the fundamental science of public health and plays an important role in clinical competence and professional development. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term course for the teaching of epidemiology, which was designed as a community-based class for medical students. Method This course was designed according to Kern’s six-step approach to curriculum development. A total of 75 undergraduates were recruited. Forty-one students were assigned to an experimental group engaged in theoretical teaching and practical courses, while 34 students were assigned to the control group only taking theoretical courses. All participants were asked to complete a pre- and post-course survey and to take a test after completing the course. The scores between the experimental and control groups were compared using the Wilcoxon test. Result The experimental group showed significantly higher self-assessment scores in course understanding (p = 0.0126) and clinical practice skills (p = 0.0005) after completing the course, while no significant difference was observed in the control group. In addition, students in the experimental group reported significantly higher interest (p = 0.0015), stronger learning motivation (p = 0.0113) and a better mastery of epidemiology (p = 0.0167) after completing the course than those in the control group. However, test scores (p = 0.0859) and pass rates (p = 0.1755) demonstrated no statistical significance between the two groups. Conclusion The short-term practical course in epidemiology exerted significantly positive effects on the improvement of student learning enthusiasm, course understanding and clinical practice skills. These findings provide new ideas and statistical evidence for the development of epidemiological instruction. Future studies should explore how to more widely and optimally apply community-based courses to the teaching of epidemiology.

Few work have been performed regarding the quantitative characterization of three-dimensional (3D) pitting corrosion process directly, although the corrosion behaviors and the passivation film stability of metals in various solutions have been studied heavily. The reported work quantitatively characterized the 3D pitting corrosion of the Fe-based amorphous alloy coating (Fe-based AAC) via X-ray micro-computed tomography (X-ray micro-CT) and further elucidated the mechanism of its pitting corrosion. Moreover, the microstructure and electrochemical performance of the Fe-based AAC have also been explored. The results showed that the targeted thermal sprayed Fe43Cr20Mo10W4C15B6Y2 coating was prone to be corroded with the increase of the hydrogen ion concentration, i.e. higher hydrogen ion concentration leads to poorer corrosion performance of the Fe-based AAC. The X-ray micro-CT results revealed that the pits in the Fe-based AAC initially nucleated below the pitting potential, and they also generated in the over-passivation stage. Furthermore, it was found that the corrosive medium does not penetrate into the coating/substrate interface, and the deduced corrosion mechanism from the findings was also discussed.

Abstract Distributed photovoltaics in living environment harvest the sunlight in different incident angles throughout the day. The development of planer solar cells with large light-receiving angle can reduce the requirements in installation form factor and is therefore urgently required. Here, thin film organic photovoltaics with nano-sized phase separation integrated in micro-sized surface topology is demonstrated as an ideal solution to proposed applications. All-polymer solar cells, by means of a newly developed sequential processing, show large magnitude hierarchical morphology with facilitated exciton-to-carrier conversion. The nano fibrilar donor-acceptor network and micron-scale optical field trapping structure in combination contributes to an efficiency of 19.06% (certified 18.59%), which is the highest value to date for all-polymer solar cells. Furthermore, the micron-sized surface topology also contributes to a large light-receiving angle. A 30% improvement of power gain is achieved for the hierarchical morphology comparing to the flat-morphology devices. These inspiring results show that all-polymer solar cell with hierarchical features are particularly suitable for the commercial applications of distributed photovoltaics due to its low installation requirement.

Objectives To assess the association between ambient temperature and diurnal temperature range (DTR) on emergency admissions for hyperventilation syndrome (HVS).Design Distributed lag non-linear model design was used with a lag time to 5 days.Setting Emergency admission data used were from the Beijing Red Cross Emergency Centre (2017–2018).Participants and exposure Cases were those with emergency visits to the Beijing Emergency Center during the period 2017–2018 and who were given the primary outcome indicator defined as HVS according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition code F45.303. Ambient temperature and DTR were used as exposure factors with adjustments for relative humidity, wind speed, precipitation, seasonality long-term trend and day of the week.Main outcome measure We used the minimum emergency visits temperature as a reference to indicate the relative risk with 95% CI of exposure–response for the risk of HVS visits at different temperatures.Results A u-shape was described between ambient temperature and HVS visits, with a minimum risk at 12°C. Moderate heat (23°C) at lag (0–3) days, extreme heat at lag 0 days, had greatest relative risks on HVS visits, with 2.021 (95% CI 1.101 to 3.71) and 1.995 (95% CI 1.016 to 3.915), respectively. A stronger association between HVS visits and temperature was found in women and aged ≤44 years. Notably, the relationship between DTR and HVS visits appeared a reverse u-shaped. Low DTR (4°C) effect appeared at lag (0–1) days with 0.589 (95% CI 0.395 to 0.878), lasting until lag (0–3) days with 0.535 (95% CI 0.319 to 0.897) and was associated with a reduced risk of HVS visits in women and those aged ≤44 years.Conclusions Ambient temperature and DTR were associated with HVS visits, appearing a differentiation in gender and age groups. Timely prevention strategies during high temperatures and control mild changes in temperature might reduce the risk of HVS.

Abstract Hydrogen energy as the next‐generation clean energy carrier has attracted the attention of both academic and industrial fields. A key limit in the current stage is the operation temperature of hydrogen fuel cells, which lies in the slow development of high‐temperature and high‐efficiency proton exchange membranes. Currently, much research effort has been devoted to this field, and very innovative material systems have been developed. The authors think it is the right time to make a short summary of the high‐temperature proton exchange membranes (HT‐PEMs), the fundamentals, and developments, which can help the researchers to clearly and efficiently gain the key information. In this paper, the development of key materials and optimization strategies, the degradation mechanism and possible solutions, and the most common morphology characterization techniques as well as correlations between morphology and overall properties have been systematically summarized.

Abstract Background Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) have been implemented worldwide to suppress the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, few studies have evaluated the effect of NPIs on other infectious diseases and none has assessed the avoided disease burden associated with NPIs. We aimed to assess the effect of NPIs on the incidence of infectious diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and evaluate the health economic benefits related to the reduction in the incidence of infectious diseases. Methods Data on 10 notifiable infectious diseases across China during 2010–2020 were extracted from the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention. A two-stage controlled interrupted time-series design with a quasi-Poisson regression model was used to examine the impact of NPIs on the incidence of infectious diseases. The analysis was first performed at the provincial-level administrative divisions (PLADs) level in China, then the PLAD-specific estimates were pooled using a random-effect meta-analysis. Results A total of 61,393,737 cases of 10 infectious diseases were identified. The implementation of NPIs was associated with 5.13 million (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.45‒7.42) avoided cases and USD 1.77 billion (95% CI 1.18‒2.57) avoided hospital expenditures in 2020. There were 4.52 million (95% CI 3.00‒6.63) avoided cases for children and adolescents, corresponding to 88.2% of total avoided cases. The top leading cause of avoided burden attributable to NPIs was influenza [avoided percentage (AP): 89.3%; 95% CI 84.5‒92.6]. Socioeconomic status and population density were effect modifiers. Conclusions NPIs for COVID-19 could effectively control the prevalence of infectious diseases, with patterns of risk varying by socioeconomic status. These findings have important implications for informing targeted strategies to prevent infectious diseases.

ObjectivesExposure to air pollution has been linked to an increased risk of premature mortality. However, the acute effects of air pollution on the risk of non-accidental mortality have not been extensively researched in developing countries, and the findings thus far have been inconsistent. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between short-term exposure to six pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, O3, and CO) and non-accidental mortality in Beijing, China.MethodsDaily data on non-accidental deaths were gathered from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018. Air pollution data for the same period were collected from 35 fixed-site air quality monitoring stations in Beijing. Generalized additive models (GAM) based on Poisson regression were used to investigate the association between non-accidental mortality in emergency department visits and the daily average levels of air pollutants.ResultsThere were 8,676 non-accidental deaths recorded during 2017–2018. After sensitivity analysis, short-term exposure to air pollutants, particularly gaseous pollutants, was linked to non-accidental mortality. Specifically, for every 10 μg/m3 increase (5 μg/m3 in SO2, 0.5 mg/m3 in CO) of SO2 (lag 04), NO2 (lag 04), O3 (lag 05), and CO (lag 04), the relative risk (RR) values were 1.054 (95% CI: 1.009, 1.100), 1.038 (95% CI: 1.013, 1.063), 1.032 (95% CI: 1.011, 1.054), and 1.034 (95% CI: 1.004, 1.066), respectively. In terms of causes of death, short-term exposure to NO2, SO2, and O3 increased the risk of circulatory mortality. Further stratified analysis revealed that the stronger associations were presented in females for O3 while in males for CO. People aged 65 and over were strongly associated with ambient air pollution.ConclusionsOur study showed that ambient air pollutants were associated with non-accidental mortality. Our findings suggested that efforts to control gaseous pollution should be stepped up, and vulnerable groups should be the focus of health protection education.

Privacy concerns may be caused after uploading images into image hosting platforms. For traditional image encryption, images with rich content and meaning are transformed into noise-like encrypted images without any visual information, which can protect privacy from infringement but at the expense of visual usability. Recently, thumbnail-preserving encryption (TPE) was proposed to balance privacy and usability by preserving the thumbnail unchanged after encrypting. On the other hand, a large number of pseudo-random functions with high computational complexity are utilized in the existing TPE schemes, which makes the encryption and decryption time too long. Motivated by this, we deeply analyze the characteristics of TPE and propose a scheme to organically combine TPE with chaotic systems, which reduces the encryption and decryption time exponentially besides ensuring security. The experiments show that the time cost is reduced dozens of times as well as relatively stable compared with the existing schemes. Meanwhile, encrypted images have high visual quality and can resist some commonly used attacks including differential attack and face detection and the balance between privacy and visual usability is achieved.

In this study, we introduce a detailed protocol for the preparation of DNA-assembled GRS-DNA-copper sulfide (CuS) nanodandelion, a multifunctional theranostics nanoparticle. Using transmission electron microscope (TEM) and dynamic light scattering techniques, we characterize the physicochemical property of DNA-assembled GRS-DNA-CuS nanodandelions and their dissociation property after the first near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. In addition, we systematically monitor the processes of tumor accumulation and uniform intratumoral distribution (UITD) of ultrasmall CuS photothermal agents (PAs), which are dissociated from GRS-DNA-CuS nanodandelions, by Raman imaging and photoacoustic imaging, respectively. The UITD of the dissociated ultrasmall CuS PAs can enhance the therapeutic efficiency of photothermal treatment under the second NIR light irradiation. Overall, this protocol provides a powerful tool to achieve UITD of PAs by explosively breaking the hydrogen bonds of DNA in GRS-DNA-CuS nanodandelions under NIR light irradiation. We expect DNA-assembled nanotheranostics to serve as a robust platform for a variety of biomedical applications related to photothermal therapy in the oncology field. This protocol can increase experimental reproducibility and contribute to efficient theranostics nanomedicine.

Abstract Background Mucinous cystic neoplasm of the Liver is rare tumors with malignant potential that occur in the biliary epithelium. Because of its rare presentation, it is often misdiagnosed before surgery. Case presentation A 63-year-old female patient presented with intermittent upper abdominal pain for three months. Laparoscopic hepatectomy of Segment 7 was conducted based on the preoperative diagnosis of space-occupying lesion in the right lobe of the liver. Postoperative pathology showed a low-grade mucinous cystic neoplasm in the right posterior lobe of the liver. The preoperative CA19-9 level was significantly increased while the postoperative CA19-9 returned to the normal range. Conclusions The diagnosis of mucinous cystic neoplasm of the liver is closely related to the thickening of the cystic wall or the increase of CA19-9, which has great significance and deserves clinical attention.

BackgroundMost studies have focused on the relationship between ambient temperature and stroke mortality, but studies on the relationship between ambient temperature and stroke occurrence are still limited and inconsistent.ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze the effect of ambient temperature and other environmental factors on emergency stroke visits in Beijing.MethodsOur study utilized stroke visit data from the Beijing Red Cross Emergency Medical Center during 2017–2018, and applied a generalized additive model (GAM) as well as a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM), respectively, regarding the direct, lagged, and cumulative effects of ambient temperature alone and with correction for other environmental factors on stroke occurrence.ResultsWith a total of 26,984 emergency stroke patients in 2017–2018, both cold and hot effects were observed and weakened after correction for other environmental factors. Compared to the reference temperature, in the multi-factor model, extreme cold (−10°C) reached a maximum relative risk (RR) of 1.20 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.09, 1.32] at lag 14 days, and extreme hot (30°C) had a maximum RR of 1.07 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.11) at lag 6 days. The cumulative effect of extreme cold reached a maximum of 2.02 (95% CI: 1.11, 3.67) at lag 0–14 days, whereas the cumulative effect of extreme hot temperature is greatest at lag 0–10 days, but no statistically significant effect was found. In addition, ischemic stroke patients, the elderly, and males were more susceptible to the effects of cold temperature.ConclusionsThere is a non-linear relationship between ambient temperature and stroke occurrence, with cold temperature having a greater and longer-lasting impact than hot temperature.

The natural transition in a gas–liquid two-phase boundary layer over an underwater flat plate is studied, taking into account the interphase slip between gas and liquid. An interphase slip model is proposed to determine the dynamic viscosity of the two-phase flow based on the physical origins of fluid viscosity. The model is then applied to laminar flow calculation, instability analysis, transition prediction, and prediction of the spectrum of wall fluctuating pressure in the laminar region. Numerical calculations are conducted for boundary layers for different void fractions, including liquid single-phase flow at a zero void fraction. The results reveal the differences between two-phase and single-phase flows and show that these differences become more obvious as the void fraction increases: (i) the thickness of the two-phase laminar boundary layer becomes less; (ii) the unstable zone becomes larger; (iii) the transition location moves upstream, and the transition advance distance caused by the microbubbles becomes longer and is proportional to the void fraction; (iv) the dangerous frequency becomes higher, and the frequency bandwidth becomes wider; and (v) the wall fluctuating pressure in the laminar region becomes stronger, and its peak frequency becomes slightly higher. As the oncoming flow velocity increases, the transition advance coefficient becomes smaller, and the dangerous frequency becomes higher. The comparison of the results of the interphase slip model and those of the conventional homogeneous flow model implies that the above differences between two-phase and single-phase flows are caused by the interphase slip between gas and liquid.

Efficiency of organic solar cells is determined by the physical properties of donors and acceptors in bulk heterojunction film. The authors optimise quaternary blends to realize a double cascading energy level alignment enabling efficient carrier dissociation and transport, achieving 18% efficiency.

Designing efficient blue perovskite LEDs by using mixed halides perovskite is still a challenge, limited mainly by the phase segregation issue. Here, the authors demonstrate in situ fabrication of quasi-2D CsPbClBr2 nanocrystal films with mixed ligands to overcome the constraint.

The overexpression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters is one of the important mechanisms of multidrug resistance (MDR). Some tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as CM082 might be a potential ABC transporter inhibitor, thus potentially reversing MDR. We used a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-dimethyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay to determine the cytotoxicity and reversal effect of CM082. A xenograft model was established to evaluate the reversal MDR efficacy in vivo. The intracellular accumulation and efflux of ABCG2 substrates were measured by flow cytometry. We investigated the binding sites of ABCG2 via photolabeling ABCG2 with [125I]-iodoarylazidoprazosin (IAAP). Quantitative real-time PCR and western blot were utilized to analyze mRNA and protein expression. We found that CM082 could enhance the efficacy of substrate in ABCG2-overexpressing cells both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, CM082 significantly increased intracellular accumulation of ABCG2 substrates by inhibiting the efflux activity. CM082 stimulated ABCG2 ATPase activity and competed with [125I]-IAAP photolabeling of ABCG2 in a concentration-dependent manner. However, CM082 did not alter ABCG2 expression at protein and mRNA levels or inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) downstream signaling of AKT and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Further research is encouraged to confirm whether CM082 concomitant with anticancer drugs of ABCG2 substrates could improve the clinical outcomes of cancer treatment in cancer patients with ABCG2 overexpression. Keywords: CM082, multidrug resistance, ABCG2

The widespread use of renewable energy resources requires more immediate and effective fire alarms as a preventive measure. The fire is usually weak in the initial stages, which is not conducive to detection and identification. This paper validates a solution to resolve that problem by a flame detection algorithm that is more sensitive to small flames. Based on Yolov3, the parallel convolution structure of Inception is used to obtain multi-size image information. In addition, the receptive field of the convolution kernel is increased with the dilated convolution so that each convolution output contains a range of information to avoid information omission of tiny flames. The model accuracy has improved by introducing a Feature Pyramid Network in the feature extraction stage that has enhanced the feature fusion capability of the model. At the same time, a flame detection database for early fire has been established, which contains more than 30 fire scenarios and is suitable for flame detection under various challenging scenes. Experiments validate the proposed method not only improves the performance of the original algorithm but are also advantageous in comparison with other state-of-the-art object detection networks, and its false positives rate reaches 1.2% in the test set.

The natural transition in flat-plate boundary layers on superhydrophobic surfaces is studied while considering the influence of the leading edge region. A method for calculating basic laminar flow on superhydrophobic surfaces while considering the influence of the leading edge region is proposed, which accurately obtains the flow field in the whole computational domain from the leading edge region to the downstream region with acceptable computational load. The results obtained by this method are compared to those ignoring the influence of the leading edge region, such that this influence can be seen. The influence decreases the thickness of the laminar boundary layers on superhydrophobic surfaces and increases the slip velocity on the wall. The linear stability of the boundary layers is also analyzed. The influence of the leading edge region delays the critical location of flow instability on superhydrophobic surfaces and narrows the unstable zone. The eN method is used to predict the transition locations. The influence of the leading edge region further delays the transition location, and the transition delay effect becomes stronger as the slip length or the oncoming flow velocity increases. Furthermore, a method for predicting the spectrum of wall fluctuating pressure in the laminar flow region over underwater vehicles is proposed. At the downstream region, the amplitude of the wall fluctuating pressure increases and the frequency range decreases. Superhydrophobic surfaces suppress the wall fluctuating pressure, and the influence of the leading edge region enhances this suppression effect.

Mixtures of nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) are prepared to fine‐tune bulk heterojunction (BHJ) thin‐film morphologies. The acceptor phase resulting from these mixtures has unique physical properties with excellent optoelectronic processes that dictate the output of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. Remarkable short‐circuit current densities (JSC) and fill factors (FFs) are achieved due to the formation of better crystalline fibrils that suppress geminate recombination, leading to improved charge transport with enhanced crystallinity and aligned cascading energy levels confirm efficient exciton diffusion and dissociation, yielding more effective exciton recycling. The decreased Urbach energy and suppressed energetic disorder account for the improvement in the open‐circuit voltage (VOC). A maximum power conversion efficiency of 17.86% is obtained, underscoring the importance of using specific material interactions to produce a suitable morphology and manage energy loss, resulting in ideal organic solar cell (OSC) devices.

Abstract The donor/acceptor interaction in non‐fullerene organic photovoltaics leads to the mixing domain that dictates the morphology and electronic structure of the blended thin film. Initiative effort is paid to understand how these domain properties affect the device performances on high‐efficiency PM6:Y6 blends. Different fullerenes acceptors are used to manipulate the feature of mixing domain. It is seen that a tight packing in the mixing region is critical, which could effectively enhance the hole transfer and lead to the enlarged and narrow electron density of state (DOS). As a result, short‐circuit current (JSC) and fill factor (FF) are improved. The distribution of DOS and energy levels strongly influences open‐circuit voltage (VOC). The raised filling state of electron Fermi level is seen to be key in determining device VOC. Energy disorder is found to be a key factor to energy loss, which is highly correlated with the intermolecular distance in the mixing region. A 17.53% efficiency is obtained for optimized ternary devices, which is the highest value for similar systems. The current results indicate that a delicate optimization of the mixing domain property is an effective route to improve the VOC, JSC, and FF simultaneously, which provides new guidelines for morphology control toward high‐performance organic solar cells.

In nonfullerene acceptor- (NFA-) based solar cells, the exciton splitting takes place at both domain interface and donor/acceptor mixture, which brings in the state of mixing phase into focus. The energetics and morphology are key parameters dictating the charge generation, diffusion, and recombination. It is revealed that tailoringthe electronic properties of the mixing region by doping with larger-bandgap components could reduce the density of state but elevate the filling state level, leading to improved open-circuit voltage (VOC) and reduced recombination. The monomolecular and bimolecular recombinations are shown to be intercorrelated, which show a Gaussian-like relationship with VOC and linear relationship with short-circuit current density (JSC) and fill factor (FF). The kinetics of hole transfer and exciton diffusion scale with JSC similarly, indicating the carrier generation in mixing region and crystalline domain are equally important. From the morphology perspective, the crystalline order could contribute to VOC improvement, and the fibrillar structure strongly affects the FF. These observations highlight the importance of the mixing region and its connection with crystalline domains and point out the design rules to optimize the mixing phase structure, which is an effective approach to further improve device performance.

The original composition of Laguocuo Salt Lake was found in the mirabilite area of the 15 °C isothermal phase diagrams of the Li+, Na+, K+//Cl−, SO42−-H2O system. Four phases comprise the isothermal evaporation procedure. The first stage is the unsaturated stage except for carbonate. The second stage is made up of sodium chloride, mirabilite, and borax precipitate simultaneously, where the halogenation rate is 31.58%, and the water loss rate is 68.32%. The penultimate step is the lithium salt precipitation section, where primarily NaCl, Na2SO4·10H2O, and Li2SO4·3Na2SO4·12H2O are formed, where the water loss rate is 91.38%, the halogenation rate is 7.42%, and the salt precipitation rate is 1.20%. The final stage is the eutectoid stage of lithium and potassium salts, where primarily NaCl, Li2SO4·3Na2SO4·12H2O, and 3K2SO4·Na2SO4 precipitate simultaneously. The rates of water loss, halogenation, and salt precipitation are 93.60%, 5.73%, and 0.67%, respectively. NaCl, Li2SO4·3Na2SO4·12H2O, and 3K2SO4·Na2SO4 were all precipitated through dispersion precipitation of borax with the evaporation process following precipitation. The UNIQUAC model was employed to predict the isothermal evaporation at 15 °C. The theoretical calculation and the experimental were in good agreement. The present work can offer a fundamental theoretical framework for the development and use of Laguocuo Salt Lake resources at 15 °C.

Platinum-based catalysts are widely used for efficient catalysis of the acidic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the agglomeration and leaching of metallic Pt nanoparticles limit the catalytic activity and durability of the catalysts and restrict their large-scale commercialization. Therefore, this study aimed to achieve a uniform distribution and strong anchoring of Pt nanoparticles on a carbon support and improve the ORR activity and durability of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Herein, we report on the facile one-pot synthesis of a novel ORR catalyst using metal–nitrogen–carbon (M–N–C) bonding, which is formed in situ during the ion exchange and pyrolysis processes. An ion-exchange resin was used as the carbon source containing R-N+(CH3)3 groups, which coordinate with PtCl62− to form nanosized Pt clusters confined within the macroporous framework. After pyrolysis, strong M-N-C bonds were formed, thereby preventing the leaching and aggregation of Pt nanoparticles. The as-synthesized Pt supported on the N-doped hierarchically porous carbon catalyst (Pt/NHPC-800) showed high specific activity (0.3 mA cm−2) and mass activity (0.165 A mgPt−1), which are approximately 2.7 and 1.5 times higher than those of commercial Pt/C, respectively. The electrochemical surface area of Pt/NHPC-800 remained unchanged (~1% loss) after an accelerated durability test of 10,000 cycles. The mass activity loss after ADT of Pt/NHPC-800 was 18%, which is considerably lower than that of commercial Pt/C (43%). Thus, a novel ORR catalyst with highly accessible and homogeneously dispersed Pt-N-C sites, high activity, and durability was successfully prepared via one-pot synthesis. This facile and scalable synthesis strategy for high-efficiency catalysts guides the further synthesis of commercially available ORR catalysts.

Brachytherapy is one mainstay treatment for lung cancer. However, a great challenge in brachytherapy is radio-resistance, which is caused by severe hypoxia in solid tumors. In this research, we have developed a PEGylated 131I-labeled CuS nanotheranostics (CuS-131I-PEG)-induced “multiple mild-hyperthermia” strategy to reverse hypoxia-associated radio-resistance. Specifically, after being injected with CuS-131I-PEG nanotheranostics, tumors were irradiated by NIR laser to mildly increase tumor temperature (39~40 °C). This mild hyperthermia can improve oxygen levels and reduce expression of hypoxia-induced factor-1α (HIF-1α) inside tumors, which brings about alleviation of tumor hypoxia and reversion of hypoxia-induced radio-resistance. During the entire treatment, tumors are treated by photothermal brachytherapy three times, and meanwhile mild hyperthermia stimulation is conducted before each treatment of photothermal brachytherapy, which is defined as a “multiple mild-hyperthermia” strategy. Based on this strategy, tumors have been completely inhibited. Overall, our research presents a simple and effective “multiple mild-hyperthermia” strategy for reversing radio-resistance of lung cancer, achieving the combined photothermal brachytherapy.

In this paper, inorganic oxide MgO nanoparticles-doped polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films were made from a mixture of the prepolymer, SLC1717 liquid crystal, and MgO nanoparticles by the polymerization induced phase separation (PIPS) process. To observe the effect of MgO concentration, PDLC was dispersed with 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 wt.% MgO. Electro-optical properties of the films have been investigated using LCD parameter meter and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) at room temperature. It is established that MgO nanoparticles affect the microstructure of PDLC films significantly because of the formed agglomerates of MgO nanoparticles. Results show an improvement in the electro-optical properties and a decrease in the driving voltage for doped systems with MgO nanoparticles. When the doping amount of MgO is 0.8 wt.%, the threshold voltage (Vth) is reduced to about 7.5 V. Therefore, MgO-doped PDLC is expected to become an excellent choice in the field of energy-saving.

Abstract RNA interference (RNAi) has potential advantages over other gene therapy approaches due to its high specificity and the ability to inhibit target gene expression. However, the stability and tissue-specific delivery of siRNA remain as the biggest obstacles for RNAi therapeutics. Here, we developed such a system by conjugating gelatin-based nanogels with the nucleolin-targeted AS1411 aptamer and deoxynucleotide-substituted siRNA together (Apt-GS/siRNA) via a disulfide linker to achieve transient docking of siRNA. These Apt-GS/siRNA nanogels demonstrated favorable release of siRNA under reducing conditions owing to disulfide cleavage. Furthermore, this smart system could electively release siRNA into the cytosol in nucleolin-positive cells (A549) by a glutathione-triggered disassembly and subsequently efficient RNAi for luciferase. Besides, disulfide-equipped Apt-GS nanogels showed good biocompatibility in vitro. Taken together, this redox-responsive, tumor-targeting smart nanogels display great potential in exploiting functionalized siRNA delivery and tumor therapy.

Video smoke detection is a promising method for early fire prevention. However, it is still a challenging task for application of video smoke detection in real-world detection systems, as the limitations of smoke image samples for training and lack of efficient detection algorithm. This paper proposes a method based on two state-of-the-art fast detectors, a single-shot multi-box detector, and a multi-scale deep convolutional neural network, for smoke detection using synthetic smoke image samples. The virtual data can automatically offer rich samples with ground truth annotations. However, the learning of smoke representation in the detectors will be restricted by the appearance gap between real and synthetic smoke samples, which will cause a significant performance drop. To train a strong detector with synthetic smoke samples, we incorporate the domain adaptation into the fast detectors. A series of branches with the same structure as the detection branches are integrated into the fast detectors for domain adaptation. We design an adversarial training strategy to optimize the model of the adapted detectors, to learn a domain-invariant representation for smoke detection. The domain discrimination, domain confusion, and detection are combined in the iterative training procedure. The performance of the proposed approach surpasses the original baseline in our experiments.

Abstract Currently, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) mainly depends on precious metal platinum (Pt) catalysts. However, Pt-based catalysts have several shortcomings, such as high cost, scarcity, and poor long-term stability. Therefore, development of efficient metal-free electrocatalysts to replace Pt-based electrocatalysts is important. In this study, we successfully prepared nitrogen- and fluorine-codoped microporous carbon nanofibers (N, F-MCFs) via electrospinning polyacrylonitrile/polyvinylidene fluoride/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PAN/PVDF/PVP) tricomponent polymers followed by a hydrothermal process and thermal treatment, which was achieved for the first time in the literature. The results indicated that N, F-MCFs exhibit a high catalytic activity (E onset: 0.94 V vs. RHE, E 1/2: 0.81 V vs. RHE, and electron transfer number: 4.0) and considerably better stability and methanol tolerance for ORR in alkaline solutions as compared to commercial Pt/carbon (Pt/C, 20 wt%) catalysts. Furthermore, in acidic media, N, F-MCFs showed a four-electron transfer pathway for ORR. This study provides a new strategy for in situ synthesis of N, F-MCFs as highly efficient metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR in fuel cells.

A high-yielding click reaction was used to synthesize a series of highly conjugated, symmetrical, as well as asymmetrical compounds with a benzene core. Cyclic voltammetry and ultraviolet/visible absorption spectroscopy were carried out, and proved that the side groups of the benzene derivatives played an important role in the energy gaps, and affected the third-order non-linear optical response. The maximum absorption wavelength of the series of benzene derivatives showed an obvious red-shift. Moreover, the addition of resilient electron-withdrawing groups significantly narrowed the energy levels as compared with precursors. The third-order nonlinear properties of this benzene derivative were tested by the Z-scan technique. The expected properties of this series of molecules were obtained, and it was found that the series of molecules undergoes a transition from reverse saturable absorption to saturable absorption, which has certain reference significance for a nonlinear optical field.

In recent years, polymers with stimuli-responsive properties have been increasingly reported on due to their diverse applications. However, most of the studies have only focused on the performance of polymers under specific scenarios. The laws of changes in the properties in response to various external stimuli have been less systematically and quantitatively studied. In this paper, we prepared an amphiphilic polymer (PadaMX and PAdaM3QA−X) with temperature-, pH-, ion-, and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD)-responsive properties. According to the cloud point tested by the UV-Vis method, the lower critical soluble temperature (LCST) of PAdaM3QA−10% was more sensitive to a change in pH and less sensitive to a change in ions compared with PadaM3 due to quaternized side chains with a stronger intramolecular mutual repulsion. We then fabricated the coatings with responsive properties by immobilizing the adamantyl groups on β-CD-modified surfaces. The hydrophilicity of the coatings was improved after quaternization, as proven by the water contact angle (WCA) measurement. The antifouling and antibacterial performance was further evaluated via the fluorescence intensity of bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorbed on the surfaces and the spread plate method. A 78.4% BSA desorption rate and a 96.8% sterilization rate were achieved by the PAdaM3QA−10% coating. In summary, this work prepared a multiple-stimuli-responsive amphiphilic copolymer for antifouling and antibacterial functionality via a “resistance–kill–release” mechanism.

Summary: It is challenging to realize high efficiency and stability in perovskite photovoltaics simultaneously. Here, we show supramolecular chemistry using macrocyclic crown ether to prepare high-performance metal-halide perovskite films. Multiple cooperative supramolecular interactions between perovskites and crown ether are built, and superior defect passivation is achieved. A thin crystalline capping layer on top of perovskites is constructed to synergistically passivate the perovskite surface defects and protect the underlying films from environmental damage. The capping layer is confirmed to be a unique two-dimensional (2D) crystal with a highly ordered, high-crystallinity lamellae structure and face-sharing lead-halide octahedral organization, providing surface protection on the perovskite matrix. Lead-halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with supramolecular passivation and a 2D crystal interlayer demonstrated remarkable photovoltaic efficiency and stability improvements, offering a 21.5% efficiency and improved environmental stabilities under moisture, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, and thermal stress. Our work provides a strategy to achieve efficient and stable lead-halide perovskite-based devices by crown ether-induced supramolecular passivation and 2D crystal interlayer protection.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a fatal stroke caused by bleeding in the brain. SAH can be caused by a ruptured aneurysm or head injury. One-third of patients will survive and recover. One-third will survive with disability; one-third will die. The focus of treatment is to stop bleeding, restore normal blood flow, and prevent vasospasm. Treatment for SAH varies, depending on the bleeding's underlying cause and the extent of damage to the brain. Treatment may include lifesaving measures, symptom relief, repair of the bleeding vessel, and complication prevention. However, the useful diagnostic biomarkers of SAH are still limited due to the instability of gene marker expression. To overcome this limitation, we developed a new protocol pairing genes and screened significant gene pairs based on the feature selection algorithm. A classifier was constructed with the selected gene pairs and achieved a high performance.

Aim: To determine the associations between outdoor air pollution and hospital outpatient visits for mental disorders in China. Methods: We obtained data of 111,842 hospital outpatient visits for mental disorders from the largest hospitals of 13 cities, China, between January 01, 2013 and December 31, 2015. We collected air pollutant data including particulate matter ≤2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5), particulate matter ≤10 µm in diameter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) from China National Environmental Monitoring Centre during the same period. We conducted a time-stratified case-crossover design with conditional logistic regression models to determine the associations. Results: A 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and SO2 was associated with a significant increase in hospital outpatient visits for mental disorders on the current day. When stratified by age, sex and season, the effects of PM2.5 and NO2 were robust among different subgroups at lag05 days. PM10 showed positive associations in males, in cold season, and in depression patients. SO2 showed positive associations in males, in cold season, and in anxiety patients. O3 showed positive associations in females, in warm season, and in depression patients. Nearly one sixth hospital outpatient visits for mental disorders can be attributable to NO2. Conclusions: Short-term increase in PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2 and O3 concentrations was significantly associated with exacerbation of mental disorders in China as indicated by increases in hospital outpatient visits. NO2 had more serious health threat than other pollutants in terms of mental disorders. Our findings strongly suggest a need for more strict emission control regulations to protect mental health from air pollution.

In this study, the maximum deformation of micrometer sized droplet of dielectric water-based paint impact onto a flat steel surface and exposed to a constant and uniform electric field was investigated by simulation based on the level-set method within the framework of Navier-Stokes. Upon a series experiments for droplet impacting and spreading of water-based paint on dielectric solid substrate with different initial impacting velocities in external electric field, results demonstrated that the maximum deformation ratio increases with the increase of initial impacting velocity, and can scale as We1/4 where We is the Weber number. The effect of electric field intensity to the final shape of droplet of water-based paint on a hydrophobic surface was investigated. It was found that the eccentricity of droplet can scale as E where E is the electric field intensity, and a prediction model of droplet between the deformation ratio (ξF) of droplet at final equilibrium contact angle and E was presented. Finally, the effect of applied voltage and equilibrium contact angle was studied.

Early detection of smoke having indistinguishable pixel intensities in digital images is a difficult task. To better maintain fire surveillance, early smoke detection is crucial. To solve the problem, we have integrated the principal component analysis (PCA) as a pre-processing module with the improved version of You Only Look Once (YOLOv3). The ordinary YOLOv3 structure has been improved after inserting one extra detection scale at stride-4 specifically to detect immense small smoke instances in the wild. The improved network design establishes a sequential relation between feature maps of lower spatial information and fine-grained semantic information in up-sampled maps via skip connections and concatenation operations. The testing of the improved model is carried out on self-prepared smoke datasets. In digital images, the smoke instances are captured in various complicated environments, for example, the mountains and fog in the background. A principal component analysis (PCA) helps in useful features selection and abandons the involvement of redundant features in the testing of the trained network hence, overcoming the latency at inference stage. In addition, to process small smoke images as positive samples during training, new sizes of anchors are calculated on small smoke data at a specified Intersection over Union (IoU) threshold. The experimental results show the improvement in precision rate, recall rate, and mean harmonic (F1-score) by 2.67, 3.06, and 5.59 percentages. The respective improvements in average precision (AP) and mean average precision (mAP) are 1.66 and 2.78 percentages.

Reasonable regional integrated energy planning is an important prerequisite for the construction of a Near-Zero Carbon Emission Demonstration District (NCEDD). An integrated energy planning scheme that is based on a three-step planning method with the objective of achieving an NCEDD is proposed in this paper. First, the planning objectives should be determined. After that, the planning strategies should be established. Finally, the planning approaches should be proposed according to the previously determined objectives and strategies. A case study considering the integrated energy planning of the Meishan International Near-Zero Carbon Emission Demonstration District (MINCEDD) is investigated to explain the planning method. In addition, the planning results, which are indicated as indexes, are explained, analyzed, and compared to the ones of other districts. The indexes include a proportion of renewable energy to primary energy (73% by 2030 and 108% by 2050), a proportion of renewable power to total power consumption (98% by 2030 and 111% by 2050), and CO2 emission reduction rates (70% by 2030 and 100% by 2050) and are more advanced than other districts in China. This planning scheme and method can provide a reference for the integrated energy planning of NCEDDs in developed urban areas.

Raman imaging yields high specificity and sensitivity when compared to other imaging modalities, mainly due to its fingerprint signature. However, intrinsic Raman signals are weak, thus limiting medical applications of Raman imaging. By adsorbing Raman molecules onto specific nanostructures such as noble metals, Raman signals can be significantly enhanced, termed surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Recent years have witnessed great interest in the development of SERS nanoprobes for Raman imaging. Rationally designed SERS nanoprobes have greatly enhanced Raman signals by several orders of magnitude, thus showing great potential for biomedical applications. In this review we elaborate on recent progress in design strategies with emphasis on material properties, modifying factors, and structural parameters. KEY WORDS: Raman imaging, Surface-enhanced Ramanscattering, Nanoprobes, Architecture, Biomedical application, Enhancement factors, Nanoparticles

GPS radio occultation (RO) technology can fully describe the subtle structure of the ionosphere. This paper discusses the dynamic abnormity observed by the RO data from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC) before the great earthquake case in Concepcion, Chile (27 February 2010, Mw 8.8). Traditional ground-based GPS monitoring was considered as the external conditions and references to the excitation response. Using kriging interpolation, the global Nmf2 map (GNM) was first constructed to study the ionosphere deviation from the normal state. Successively, the ionosphere abnormality in the F2 region (Nmf2), vertical structure (RO profiles), and multiple heights (electron density) of traveling are unfolded. The Nmf2 disturbances in the possibility of seismic influences were excluded from non-seismic noise factors, including the external input (e.g., space weather activity, 15 February) and meteorological events (e.g., lower atmospheric forcing in quiet periods). However, the results show that there were apparent local Nmf2 perturbations for up to 5 h in the epicenter area on 21 and 25 February. The disturbances of the RO profiles and the interaction of other layers of the ionosphere implied the fluctuation signals of prominent long-wavelength fluctuations >50 km in the F layer. The ionospheric fluctuates wildly, and these wave signals considered as the trace of gravity wave propagating upward are mainly distributed at the elevation of 200–300 km. The simultaneous reaction of GNSS TEC further evidenced the potential possibility of acoustic gravity by the COSMIC RO profiles, reflecting the compounding couplings of seismo-ionosphere effects. In terms of the presentation of VLF radiation noise and the aerosol ion clusters, the electromagnetic and chemical channels have been previously completed by DEMETER and Terra/Aqua satellites. These findings implied the great potential of the FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 system (now in the testing phase), with ~5000 soundings to investigate the subtle atmospheric stratification.