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Doubly resonant sum frequency generation (DR-SFG) serves as a potent characteristic technique for probing the electronic spectra and vibronic coupling of molecules on surfaces. In this study, we successfully developed a novel infrared (IR)–white light (WL) DR-SFG spectroscopy based on narrowband IR and tunable broadband WL. This novel method was employed to explore the excitation spectrum and vibronic couplings of sub-monolayer Rhodamine 6G molecules. Our findings elucidate that the xanthene skeleton vibrational modes exhibit strong coupling with the S0–S1 electronic transition. Notably, we observed not only the 0–0 transition of the S0–S1 electronic continuum but also the 0–1 transition, a first time observation in the realm of DR-SFG spectroscopy. This advanced DR-SFG spectroscopy methodology facilitates a more sensitive examination of electronic spectra and the coupling between electronic transitions and vibrational modes, heralding a significant advancement in the understanding of molecular interactions on surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the use of chromium-promoted dearomative hydrocyanoalkylation in organic synthesis. The authors emphasize the versatility of the cyano group and the potential for using simple alkylnitriles as cost-effective sources. They acknowledge the challenges of dearomatization reactions and the limited range of current methods. The authors present their own research on the efficient dearomative hydrocyanoalkylation of chromium-bound (hetero)arenes using simple alkylnitriles, with a focus on optimizing reaction conditions. This research has the potential to expand the scope of dearomative hydrocyanoalkylation reactions and provide new synthetic building blocks. Additionally, the article discusses a new method for synthesizing complex cyclohexadiene compounds using a chromium-mediated reaction. The authors demonstrate the broad applicability of the reaction by successfully synthesizing various arenes and heteroarenes with different substituents and functional groups. They also extend the methodology to include the synthesis of deuterated cyclohexadienes and the transformation of the products into more structurally complex compounds. The authors highlight the potential applications of this method in the synthesis of bioactive natural products and alkaloids. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate whether acellular dermal matrix (ADM) grafts could prevent Frey's syndrome (FS) and improve esthetic scores following parotidectomy. Methods: From January 2015 to December 2019, 175 patients underwent parotidectomy. We divided the patients into two groups: the ADM group and the control group. We included in each group 30 patients according to a propensity score matched analysis. Results: FS was subjective in 1 patient (3%) from the ADM group and 9 patients (30%) from the control group (P =0.015). Patients in the ADM group had a subjective esthetic score of 6.1 + 1.7 compared with 5.2 + 1.7 in the control group. The subjective esthetic score for patients in the ADM group was higher than that for patients in the control group (P =0.040). Conclusion: The present clinical study suggests that ADM grafts are effective in preventing FS and improving esthetic scores after parotidectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document discusses the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning with sensor technologies. It highlights the applications of AI and deep learning in various fields such as healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and environmental monitoring. The document also provides a summary of twelve research articles and reviews that explore the integration of AI and deep learning with sensor data for different purposes, including lung cancer screening, reinforcement learning, point cloud sampling, anomaly detection, human activity recognition, semantic segmentation, face recognition, audio super-resolution, industrial control systems, traffic flow prediction, weed detection, and medical diagnostics. These contributions demonstrate the potential of AI and deep learning in optimizing sensor data utilization and solving complex real-world problems. [Extracted from the article]

This paper describes hybrid fiber's influence on the crack permeability of cracked concrete exposed to freeze–thaw cycles. A permeability setup and a laser-scanning setup have been designed to measure the crack permeability and the fractured surface roughness of cracked hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete, containing polypropylene fiber and steel fiber, under a splitting tensile load. The results show that, when the effective crack width of the specimens is less than 25 μm, the rough crack surface significantly reduces the concrete's crack permeability. As the crack width increases, the effect of the concrete crack surface on crack permeability gradually decreases, and the crack permeability of the concrete is closer to the Poiseuille flow model. The permeability parameter α derived from the Poiseuille flow model is effective for assessing the crack permeability of concrete. Compared to the modified factor ξ of crack permeability, the permeability parameter α can effectively evaluate and quantify the development trend of crack permeability within a certain range of crack widths. The permeability parameter α of SF20PP2.3, subjected to the same freeze–thaw cycles, decreases by 16.3–94.8% compared to PP4.6 and SF40, and SF20PP2.3 demonstrates a positive synergistic effect on the crack impermeability of cracked concrete. The crack impermeability of SF40PP2.3, subjected to the same freeze–thaw cycles, lies between that of PP6.9 and SF60. The roughness of crack surface (X) and the crack permeability (Y) are highly correlated and follow an exponential curve (Y = 1.0415 × 107·e−6.025·X) in concrete. This demonstrates that hybrid fibers enhance crack impermeability by increasing the crack surface roughness. Furthermore, the combination of polypropylene fiber and steel fiber effectively promotes the formation of micro-cracks and facilitates the propagation of multiple cracks in the concrete matrix. This combination increases the head loss of water flow through the concrete and decreases the crack permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the effects of macro fibers on permeability and crack surface topography of layered fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) specimens with different layering ratios under uniaxial tensile load. The crack permeability of layered FRC specimens is investigated by a self-designed permeability setup. The topographical analysis of crack surfaces is investigated by a custom-designed laser scanning setup. The results show that when the fiber volume content and layering ratio of the FRC layer are constant, the tensile toughness of layered FRC specimens depends on the proportion of steel fiber in macro fibers, and with an increase in the proportion of steel fiber, the tensile toughness of layered FRC specimens increases. For the layered FRC specimens, the crack permeability is much lower than that of the normal concrete (NC) specimen. A significant positive synergistic effect on crack impermeability can be achieved by the combination of steel fiber and polypropylene fiber in the SF80PP2.3 specimen. The crack surface roughness parameter (Rn) values of the NC layer in layered FRC specimens are all higher than those of the NC specimen, and the crack surface Rn of the FRC layer in layered FRC specimens is higher than that of the unlayered FRC specimens. This can effectively increase the head loss of cracks and reduce the crack permeability of layered FRC specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforced ultra‐high‐performance concrete (UHPC) structural elements have become increasing popular in research and industry communities. In this paper, uniaxial tension tests were conducted to study the effects of fiber type, fiber length, and fiber content on tensile behavior of FRP grid reinforced UHPC plates (FGRUPs). Additionally, the microstructure analysis of specimens was conducted using scanning electron microscopy. Test results reveal that carbon FRP (CFRP) grid can substantially enhance the tensile performance of UHPC under tension: (1) the FGRUPs exhibit a post‐crack strain‐hardening behavior while the UHPC plates exhibit a post‐crack strain‐softening behavior; (2) the FRP grid enhances the cracking stress of UHPC specimens (except for plates with 1% basalt fibers) and the stiffness of the second segment of the stress–strain curve, and substantially enhances the ultimate tensile stress UHPC specimens. Also, the cost‐effectiveness analysis indicates that plates containing 1% of 12 mm length PE fibers have a highest cost efficiency index. Finally, a modified tensile stress–strain model for FGRUPs is proposed and verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a space-time Galerkin spectral method for the time fractional Fokker–Planck equation. This approach is based on combining temporal Müntz Jacobi polynomials spectral method with spatial Legendre polynomials spectral method. Based on the well-posedness and regularity for the re-scaled problem of a linear model problem which reflects the main difficulty for solving the equivalent equation (i.e. the time fractional convection-diffusion equation): the singularity of the solution in time, we explain in detail why we use the Müntz polynomials to approximate in time. The well-posedness and stability of the discrete scheme as well as its continuous problem are established. Moreover, the error estimation of the space-time approach is derived. We find that the proposed method can attain spectral accuracy regardless of whether the solution of the original equation is smooth or non-smooth. Numerical experiments substantiate the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bearing resistance provided by the geogrid's transverse ribs is a non-negligible aspect of the strength mechanism in mobilizing the geogrid–soil interface. Therefore, studying its influence on the response mechanism of geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures under cyclic loading is crucial. The stereoscopic geogrids were manufactured using 3D printing technology by quantitatively thickening the transverse ribs of planar geogrids. To investigate the cyclic hysteresis relationship and stress–dilatancy phase-transformation characteristics of the stereoscopic geogrid–coarse particle interface, cyclic direct shear tests were conducted. Additionally, a discrete element method (DEM) was employed to study the evolution of shear bands and fabric anisotropy at the interface under cyclic loading. The results of the study indicate that the stress–displacement phase angle of the stereoscopic geogrid in the horizontal direction of cyclic shear is smaller compared to the planar geogrid. Furthermore, thickening the transverse ribs decreases the stress–dilatancy phase-transformation angle of the interface. The thickness of the interface shear band in the stereoscopic geogrid is greater than that of the planar geogrid. Moreover, as the transverse-rib thickness increases, the principal direction of the average normal contact force and average tangential contact force under cyclic loading also increases. • Highlights the macroscopic and mesoscopic behavior of the 3D printed stereoscopic geogrid–coarse grain interface under cyclic shearing. • Comparing the interface stress–dilatancy phase-transformation angle of planar geogrids and stereoscopic geogrids. • The effect of transverse-rib thickness on the evolution of shear band and fabric anisotropy was quantified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile one‐pot microwave‐assisted synthesis of pyrazolopyrimidines and pyrazolothiazoles was developed by reacting 5‐amino‐4‐thiocyanato‐pyrazoles with Vilsmeier Reagent (PBr3/foramide). The reaction gave the corresponding pyrazolopyrimidines as major products in good yields (61–85 %) and pyrazolothiazoles as minor products (11–23 % yields). The plausible reaction mechanism was proposed to account for the transformation of pyrazolopyrimidines and pyrazolothiazoles through two paths A and B. In path A, the reaction leading to the formation of pyrazolopyrimidines proceeded through four sequential steps, including acidic catalyzed cascade dethiocyanation/cyclization, Vilsmeier reaction, ring expansion, and deamination. The formation of the pyrazolothiazole in path B was caused by the nucleophilic heterocyclization reaction involving the sulfur nucleophilic reaction of thiocyanate (R−SC≡N) and the departure of a cyanamide. Based on the experimental results, we observed that the path A for the formation of pyrazolopyrimidines was more favorable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the variations of the physical-mechanical properties of the surrounding rock in coupled thermal and acidic groundwater erosion environment, from the perspective of its micro-structure, is crucial for ensuring the safety and long-term sustainability of rock engineering (e.g., tunnels, slopes, shafts). In this study, the relationship between the mechanical behavior and microstructure evolutions of red sandstone from the southern part of Jiangxi Province, China, under thermal and chemical erosion treatments is experimentally investigated. The results show that the micro-structure of red sandstone is dominated by micropores, accounting for about 60% when the heating temperature is lower than 700 °C. 700-800 °C is the temperature range in which the internal pore structure of red sandstone is remarkably changed, and the proportion of macropores, mesopores, and cracks grows gradually, whereas the proportion of micropores shows a declining trend. Both tensile strength and P-wave velocity show a significant decrease subjected to high temperatures beyond 700 °C and acid solution erosion. The internal microstructure of red sandstone shows a large number of trans-granular cracks due to thermal stress and mineral reaction, while the erosion by acid solution causes a large increase of secondary pores. In addition, the micro-structural changes were further elaborated by the variations of mineral element (Si and O) content tested by the Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). To sum up, the fundamental mechanism governing the degradation of macroscopic physical properties and tensile strength involves mineral phase transitions and ion exchanges induced by the combined effects of temperature and acid solution erosion, leading to the damage of the microstructure and the development of cracks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of endovenous microwave ablation (EMA) and high ligation and strippingn (HLS) of the great saphenous vein (GSV) in the treatment of varicose veins. Methods: We included 182 patients in each EMA and HLS groups. Follow-up outcomes included AVVQ, VCSS, chronic venous insufficiency questionnaire-14 (CIVIQ14) score, clinical recurrence rate of varicose vein treatment, and patient satisfaction during the 1-year follow-up period. Results: At the 1-year follow-up, no significant difference was found in the clinical recurrence rate of varicose veins between the EMA and HLS groups (p =.75). The duration of the operation and the length of hospital stay for patients in the EMA group was shorter than that for the HLS group (p <.01). The Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire (AVVQ), Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS) score, and ecchymosis were lower for patients who underwent EMA surgery (p <.01). Conclusion: Our research results confirm that EMA improves patients' quality of life with lower limb varicose veins, with EMA showing higher patient satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A CdSiO3:Tb3+ deep trap phosphor was prepared by a sol–gel method. The structural information of the prepared phosphors was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optical properties of the Tb3+-doped CdSiO3 nanophosphors were investigated by fluorescence spectrophotometry. The afterglow time was more than 10.3 h in the case of Tb3+ doping. The stress–strain of this elastomer was enhanced after the phosphor was compounded with PDMS, and the energy release in the trap was accelerated under external force after applying stress to it, and this composite elastomer may possess mechanoluminescent properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Fruits of commercial Garcinia genus have been used for centuries in subtropic and tropic areas. However, large amounts of their seeds and included kernels are generally discarded as wastes or treated as low‐value agricultural products due to lack of appropriate processing technologies. The kernels have considerable values as sources of specialty fats and liposoluble bioactive compounds. Typical Garcinia seed fats for commercial purposes are mainly kokum (Garcinia indica) butter, mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) seed fat and yellow mangosteen (Garcinia xanthochymus). These fats contained special sn‐1,3‐disaturated‐2‐unsaturated triacylglycerols, especially StOSt, POSt, StLSt and PLSt (P, palmitic acid; St, stearic acid; O, oleic acid and L, linolic acid), which are quite different from the triacylglycerol structure in common vegetable oils. Their improved usages in chocolate fats, trans‐free shortenings, dressings, salad and cooking oils, oleogels and antioxidants were concluded in this review. The health benefits contributed by their functional micronutrients (e.g. tocopherols, phytosterols, polyphenols and flavonoids) were further discussed to expand their application in functional foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Sb and As concentrations in surface water, sediment, and pore water were studied. • As was more likely to bind to sediments than Sb according Log K d value. • The bioavailability of As was higher than that of Sb in sediment. • It is necessary to evaluate contamination and ecological risk with multiple indices. • The release of Sb/As from sediment at the river-lake junction has a potential threat. As typical metalloid toxic elements widely distributed in environmental media, the geochemical behaviour of antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) affects environmental safety. We selected the surface waters and sediments at the river-lake junction of Dongting Lake as the research objects, analysed the concentration and chemical partitioning of Sb and As, assessed its contamination and ecological risk levels, and discussed its sources and potential influencing factors. The concentrations of dissolved Sb and As in surface waters were low (< 5.46 µg/L), and the concentrations of Sb and As in surface sediments were 2.49-22.65 mg/kg and 11.10-136.34 mg/kg, respectively. Antimony and As in sediments were mainly enriched in the fraction of residues, but the proportion of As in bioavailability was significantly higher than that of Sb. Although the contamination level of Sb was higher than that of As, the risk assessment code (RAC) showed that the ecological risk level of As was higher than that of Sb. Rainwater erosion and mining activities (in the midstream of Zijiang River) were the main contaminated sources of Sb, while As was affect mainly by rainwater erosion. The contamination and ecological risk of Sb in the inlet of the Zijiang River should receive considerable attention, while those of As in the inlet of the Xiangjiang River should also be seriously considered. This study highlights the need for multi-index-based assessments of contamination and ecological risk and the importance of further studies on the environmental behaviour of metalloids in specific hydrological conditions, such as river-lake junctions. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Resistance can develop during treatment of advanced endometrial cancer (EC), leading to unsatisfactory results. Fanconi anemia complementation group D2 (Fancd2) has been shown to be closely related to drug resistance in cancer cells. Therefore, this study was designed to explore the correlation of Fancd2 with EC resistance and the mechanism of Fancd2. Methods: Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression of Fancd2 in EC tissues and cells. EC cells (Ishikawa) and paclitaxel-resistant EC cells (Ishikawa/TAX) were transfected to knock down Fancd2. In addition, the ferroptosis inhibitor Ferrostatin-1 was adopted to treat Ishikawa/TAX cells. The sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents was observed via 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and inhibitory concentration (IC)50 was calculated. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured by flow cytometry, the activity of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the levels of glutathione (GSH) and Fe2+ in cells were detected by corresponding kits, and protein expression of solute farrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) was obtained through western blot. Results: Compared with the normal tissues and endometrial epithelial cells, Fancd2 expression was significantly increased in EC tissues and Ishikawa cells, respectively. After knock-down of Fancd2, Ishikawa cells showed significantly increased sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. Besides, compared with Ishikawa cells, the levels of ROS, the activity of MDA, and the levels of GSH and Fe2+ were significantly decreased in Ishikawa/TAX cells, while the expression levels of SLC7A11 and GPX4 were significantly increased. Knock-down of Fancd2 significantly increased the ferroptosis levels in Ishikawa/TAX cells, but this effect could be reversed by Ferrostatin-1. Conclusion: Fancd2 increases drug resistance in EC cells by inhibiting the cellular ferroptosis pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of anomalies, such as leaks, blockages and deteriorated sections, in underground water pipe networks and long transmission mains is a challenging problem. This paper proposes a novel method for anomaly detection in targeted pipe sections embedded within any complex pipe system. In the proposed approach, persistent hydroacoustic waves generated simply by opening a side-discharge valve are sent into the pipe system through existing access points, such as hydrants and air valves. Pressure measurements are required only at existing access points that bracket the pipe section of interest. A signal deconvolution process was developed to transfer the complex waveforms of the measured hydroacoustic waves into a deconvolution trace, which consists of impulse response functions (IRFs) of the pipe. Mathematical models that link the spikes in the deconvolution trace to the anomalies existing in the pipe system were derived to identify and localize these anomalies. Numerical validation was undertaken on three different pipe configurations: two single-pipe systems, and a pipe network. Experimental validation was conducted on a laboratory copper pipe network connected to the municipal water distribution system in which a simulated leak was localized accurately. The results demonstrate that the proposed technique (1) is easy to implement (it uses only valves and single pressure transducers connected to existing access points), (2) is able to detect and locate anomalies accurately for targeted pipe sections in complex pipe systems, and (3) is tolerant of background pressure fluctuations and noise that naturally occur in real water distribution systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have used first-principles density-functional theory calculations to determine the structural, electronic and optical properties of four known ZnO phases (B1, F m 3 ¯ m ), (B2, P m 3 ¯ m ), (B3, F 4 ¯ 3 m ), (B4, P 6 3 m c ) and three predicted phases of ZnO modification (GeP, I4mm), (5–5, P 6 3 / m m c ), (NiAs, P 6 3 / m m c ). The difference of data calculated by LDA and LDA + U has been compared. In addition, the calculated ground state energies and structural parameters of these phases are in consistent with the reported theoretical and experimental results. We have discussed the band structures, densities of states and chemical bonding of the seven types. Further, we have compared the calculated values of the dielectric function of the B4 phase with the experimental values. In addition, the optical constants of the seven types of ZnO have been calculated by LDA + U and LDA, respectively, the results obtained by the two methods are compared and analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unsatisfactory electrochemical performance of Zn metal batteries (ZMBs) caused by uncontrollable Zn dendrite growth and detrimental parasitic reactions has significantly hindered their large‐scale applications. Herein, periodic hemispherical structures with a preferential exposure of Cu (100) crystal plane are designed and obtained using facile photolithography, which is followed by wet etching treatment. An exposed zincophilic Cu (100) crystal plane with low nucleation barriers acts as the preferred deposition site to induce homogeneous Zn deposition. Additionally, the periodic hemispherical structure with an enlarged surface area not only suppresses the Zn dendrite growth by reducing the local current density, but also synergistically buffers the volume expansion during the cycling process. As a result, the as‐prepared faceted Cu hemispherical electrodes achieve ultra‐stable Coulombic efficiency of over 99.9% for 1500 cycles at a current density of 5 mA cm−2. This work has significant potential for the rational design of dendrite‐free Zn anodes to boost their potential for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Some studies have reported that the prognosis of total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) for early‐stage cervical cancer (CC) is worse than that of open surgery. And this was associated with the use of uterine manipulator or not. Therefore, this study retrospectively analyzes the efficacy and safety of TLH without uterine manipulator combined with pelvic lymphadenectomy for early‐stage CC. Methods: Fifty‐eight patients with CC (stage IB1‐IIA1) who received radical hysterectomy from September 2019 to January 2020 were divided into no uterine manipulator (n = 26) and uterine manipulator group (n = 32). Then, clinical characteristics were collected and intraoperative/postoperative related indicators were compared. Results: Patients in the no uterine manipulator group had significantly higher operation time and blood loss than in the uterine manipulator group. Notably, there was no significant difference in hemoglobin change, blood transfusion rate, number of pelvic nodules, anal exhaust time, complications and recurrence rate between the two groups. Additionally, patients in the uterine manipulator group were prone to urinary retention (15.6%) and lymphocyst (12.5%), while the no uterine manipulator group exhibited high probability of bladder dysfunction (23.1%) and urinary retention (15.4%). Furthermore, the 1‐year disease‐free survival rate and the 1‐year overall survival rate were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the efficacy and safety of TLH with or without uterine manipulator combined with pelvic lymphadenectomy in the treatment of patients with early‐stage CC. However, the latter requires consideration of the negative effects of high operation time and blood loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and efficient one‐pot oxidation synthesis of N‐1‐piperidonyl amides was successfully developed through the double oxidation of hydrazides (involving hydrazonium formation, azodioxy‐carbonyl compounds generation, and α‐carbon oxidation) by using meta‐chloroperbenzoic acid (mCPBA). The convenient oxidation method was also extended to Rimonabant analogue. The lactam oxidized Rimonabant analogue was first successfully synthesized for demonstrating the construction and characterized by NMR spectroscopic methods and the single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction study (ORTEP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of points across a chromatographic peak has long been recognized as a key determinant of the accuracy and precision of the measured peak area. In LC–MS-based quantitation experiments in drug discovery and development, the "rule-of-thumb" has been to use 15 or more points. This "rule" is based on the literature describing chromatographic methods where the goal was to achieve the lowest possible imprecision in the measurements, especially when unknown analytes are being detected. Restricting methods to the requirement of at least 15 points across a peak can be detrimental to the development methods that fully optimize the signal-to-noise ratio for the assay using longer dwell times and/or transition summing. This study aims to show that 7 points across the peak for peaks that are 9 s or less wide provide more than sufficient accuracy and precision for drug quantitation studies. Data from simulated Gaussian curves using a sampling interval of 7 points across the peak gave peak area calculations within 1% of the expected total peak area using the Trapezoidal and Riemann rules and 0.6% for the Simpson rule. Low and high concentration samples (n = 5) were assayed using three different LC methods on three different days on two different instruments (API5000 and API5500). The difference in peak area (%ΔPA) and relative standard deviation of the peak areas (%RSD) was less than ∼5%. No significant difference was observed from the data that were obtained from different sampling intervals, different peak widths, different days, different peak sizes, and different instruments. Three core analytical runs were performed on three different days. In each core run, the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ, n = 5), low quality control (LQC, n = 5), middle quality control (MQC, n = 5), and high-quality control samples (HQC, n = 5) were processed and run simultaneously with a standard curve. The range of the intra- and interday accuracy and precision for 3 core runs was 98.0–105% and 0.9–3.0% for 7 data points and 97.5–105% and 0.8–4.3% for 17 data points, respectively. No significant difference was observed for the different sampling intervals. The results show a sampling interval of 7 points for peaks up to 9 s wide is sufficient to define a peak accurately and precisely for drug quantitation studies in drug discovery and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epileptic seizure is a chronic central nervous system disorder which is characterized by transient event of abnormal and excessive neuronal discharge in the brain. Electroencephalogram (EEG) records the neurological activity in the brain which is commonly used for the identification of epilepsy. However, visual screening of EEG recordings is time consuming, tedious and subjective. Hence, automatic seizure detection becomes urgent in clinical application. Relevant technique in this filed has been developed rapidly with the employment of machine learning and signal processing tools. In this study, we propose a novel method for automatic epileptic EEG identification based upon dual Q-factor signal decomposition derived from tunable Q-factor wavelet transform (TQWT), fast and adaptive multivariate empirical mode decomposition (FA-MVEMD) and neural networks. First, EEG signals are decomposed into high- and low-resonance components using both high-Q-factor and low-Q-factor TQWT jointly. Second, FA-MVEMD decomposes the high- and low-Q-factor components into scale-aligned intrinsic mode components (IMFs). The first two IMFs of the high- and low-Q-factor components are extracted, which contain most of the EEG signals' energy and are considered to be the predominant IMFs. The properties associated with the nonlinear EEG system dynamics are preserved in the predominant IMFs which demonstrate significant difference in EEG system dynamics between normal (healthy), interictal and ictal EEG signals. Third, neural networks are then used to model, identify and classify EEG system dynamics with the predominant IMFs as the input. Finally, experiments on Bonn EEG database are included to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method. The overall average accuracy for binary classification, ternary classification and five-class classification is reported to be 98.54 % , 99.18 % and 97.84 % , respectively, by using tenfold cross-validation. In comparison with other state-of-the-art methods, our algorithm illustrates superior performance, which can serve as a potential candidate for the automatic EEG seizure detection in the clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structures, phase transition, mechanical properties, dynamic stability, and electronic properties of SnO polymorphs (α, γ, herzenbergite, B1, and B2 phases) under pressure have been studied using the first‐principles calculations. The obtained structural parameters are in agreement with the available data. According to the enthalpy–pressure curves of SnO, the pressure‐induced phase transitions are verified to be from α to γ at 0.94 GPa and from B1 to B2 at 49.1 GPa, respectively. The calculated elastic constants indicate that B2 and γ are unstable under zero pressure. With increasing pressure, there is stability–instability transition for B1, whose transition pressure is 20.6 GPa, respectively. Moreover, a range of mechanical stability is from 5.5 to 10.8 for α phase and from 3.4 to 14.3 GPa for γ phase. The corresponding elastic modulus has been analyzed under pressures. With regard to elastic anisotropy, a variety of methods are taken to analyze it and the causes of various anisotropic characters are explained. Phonon dispersions show the same dynamic stability of SnO with the mechanical stability. In addition, the density of states and charge density all reflect that the interactions between Sn and O elements are enhanced with the increasing pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a general strategy for chemo‐ and regioselective 1,2‐reduction of chromium‐bound arenes was developed, thus providing rapid access to 1,3‐cyclohexadienes. Selective arene activation via π‐complexation along with the use of mild hydride Ph3SiH can overcome the inherently low reactivity of arene π‐bonds while tolerating various reduction‐sensitive functional groups. Its versatility further enables a regiodivergent deuteration. Using different sequences of (non)deuterated hydride and acid reagents, the deuterated positions as well as the degrees of deuterium incorporation can be controlled precisely, which leads to a large and previously inaccessible chemical space for 1,3‐cyclohexadiene isotopologues. A reasonable mechanism was proposed based on intermediate capture and control experiments. The synthetic value of this selective 1,2‐reduction was demonstrated in the formal total synthesis of (±)‐galanthamine and (±)‐lycoramine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a general strategy for chemo‐ and regioselective 1,2‐reduction of chromium‐bound arenes was developed, thus providing rapid access to 1,3‐cyclohexadienes. Selective arene activation via π‐complexation along with the use of mild hydride Ph3SiH can overcome the inherently low reactivity of arene π‐bonds while tolerating various reduction‐sensitive functional groups. Its versatility further enables a regiodivergent deuteration. Using different sequences of (non)deuterated hydride and acid reagents, the deuterated positions as well as the degrees of deuterium incorporation can be controlled precisely, which leads to a large and previously inaccessible chemical space for 1,3‐cyclohexadiene isotopologues. A reasonable mechanism was proposed based on intermediate capture and control experiments. The synthetic value of this selective 1,2‐reduction was demonstrated in the formal total synthesis of (±)‐galanthamine and (±)‐lycoramine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first work that incorporates recent advancements in "explainability" of machine learning (ML) to build a routing obfuscator called ObfusX. We adopt a recent metric—the SHAP value—which explains to what extent each layout feature can reveal each unknown connection for a recent ML-based split manufacturing attack model. The unique benefits of SHAP-based analysis include the ability to identify the best candidates for obfuscation, together with the dominant layout features which make them vulnerable. As a result, ObfusX can achieve better hit rate (97% lower) while perturbing significantly fewer nets when obfuscating using a via perturbation scheme, compared to prior work. When imposing the same wirelength limit using a wire lifting scheme, ObfusX performs significantly better in performance metrics (e.g., 2.2 times more reduction on average in percentage of netlist recovery). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), a member of the α-coronavirus genus, can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration in piglets. Neonatal piglets infected with PEDV have a mortality rate as high as 100%. PEDV has caused substantial economic losses to the pork industry. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which can alleviate the accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in ER, involves in coronavirus infection. Previous studies have indicated that ER stress could inhibit the replication of human coronaviruses, and some human coronaviruses in turn could suppress ER stress-related factors. In this study, we demonstrated that PEDV could interact with ER stress. We determined that ER stress could potently inhibit the replication of GⅠ, GⅡ-a, and GⅡ-b PEDV strains. Moreover, we found that these PEDV strains can dampen the expression of the 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), an ER stress marker, while GRP78 overexpression showed antiviral activity against PEDV. Among different PEDV proteins, PEDV non-structural protein 14 (nsp14) was revealed to play an essential role in the inhibition of GRP78 by PEDV, and its guanine-N7-methyltransferase domain is necessary for this role. Further studies show that both PEDV and its nsp14 negatively regulated host translation, which could account for their inhibitory effects against GRP78. In addition, we found that PEDV nsp14 could inhibit the activity of GRP78 promotor, helping suppress GRP78 transcription. Our results reveal that PEDV possesses the potential to antagonize ER stress, and suggest that ER stress and PEDV nsp14 could be the targets for developing anti-PEDV drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CO2 hydrogenation to free formic acid is an interesting topic, and low‐cost and high‐performance catalysts are highly desirable. This work presents a simple and green strategy to prepare high‐performance Ru catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation using cellulose and phytic acid composite (CPC) as support to complex with Ru(III). The CPC support prepared with assistance of 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl imidazolium chloride exhibits porous structure with abundant free −OH and −PO4 groups that can complex with Ru(III). The CPC complexed Ru catalyst (e. g., CPC‐Ru‐1) showed much higher activity for CO2 hydrogenation to formic acid in 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl imidazolium acetate than the reported heterogeneous Ru catalysts. Especially, CPC‐Ru‐1 with 0.094 wt% Ru afforded formic acid in selectivity >99 % with a turnover number around 1.8×104 and an initial production rate of 15.21 mol ⋅ g−1 ⋅ h−1 within the first 2 h at 120 °C. This catalyst is recyclable and stable without obvious activity loss after 5 runs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pipe wall condition assessment is critical for targeted maintenance and failure prevention in water distribution systems. This paper proposes a spatially distributed pipeline condition assessment technique using persistent hydraulic transient waves of a small magnitude (microtransient waves), with a focus on the detection and reconstruction of extended and irregular pipe wall anomalies (e.g., nonuniform blockages and internal or external corrosion that is distributed along a short extent of the pipe). For an extended and irregular anomaly, a pipe's response to any incident waves will be complex and impose challenges in interpretation. To identify the complex response patterns, an optimization technique has been developed using a differential evolution algorithm to separate the directional impulse response functions (IRFs) and then to differentiate the anomaly-induced response in a directional IRF from noise. A layer-peeling method is then applied to the directional IRF to reconstruct the pipe impedances, which are related to the localized wave speed and pipe wall thickness. Numerical verifications have been conducted on a pipe with a deteriorated section that is assumed to have a constant internal diameter but varying wave speeds along its length (simulating a section with nonuniform external corrosion and wall thinning). The results show that the nonuniformly deteriorated section can be successfully detected and accurately reconstructed using the techniques proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pursuit of high energy density enables lithium metal batteries (LMBs) to become the research hotpot again. However, the safety concerns including easy leakage and inflammability of the liquid electrolyte and the performance deterioration due to the uncontrollable Li dendrites growth in liquid electrolyte limit the further development of LMBs. Gel electrolyte, the most promising alternative for the commercial liquid electrolyte, is expected to solve the dilemma faced by the liquid electrolyte because of its higher safety, good flexibility and adaptability to the electrode and high ionic conductivity comparable to that of liquid electrolyte. Deeply understanding the characteristics and the role of the gel electrolyte in LMBs is of great importance to achieve superior electrochemical performance of LMBs. In this review, we comprehensively introduce the chemical fundamental of the gel electrolyte. On this basis, the modification strategies and the recent progress of the gel electrolyte for LMBs are systematically reviewed and particularly highlighted, which are categorized based on composition regulation, structural design and functional design. We endeavor to provide guidance for the rational design of the gel electrolyte with superior properties for LMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a new Fe-rich carbon composite derived from iron-poisoned waste resin (WRC) was successfully prepared via pyrolysis-activation to remove phosphate from wastewater. The physicochemical properties of WRC were characterized using multiple characterization tools. The results showed that the WRC had a large specific surface area and was rich in metal loading for adsorption. Batch and fixed-bed experiments investigated the adsorption performance of WRC. The maximum adsorption capacity calculated from the Langmuir model was 17.43 mg/g at 298 K. Kinetics experiments showed that the adsorption of phosphate by WRC accorded with pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The WRC could maintain excellent adsorption performance in a wide pH range of 2–12, suitable for various wastewater conditions. Meanwhile, the WRC had well anti-interference of common anions and humic acids on phosphate adsorption and WRC reuse performance. The mechanisms of phosphate adsorption by WRC were confirmed to be electrostatic attraction, ligand exchange and Lewis acid-base interaction. Fixed bed experiments were conducted for dynamic treatment of synthetic wastewater and actual wastewater, and the results indicated that WRC had potential application prospect. This study provides an economically feasible method for the phosphate removal from wastewater and achieves the reuse of waste resin. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transient behavior of pipe systems is typically simulated using water hammer models [such as the method of characteristics (MOC)], or rigid water column (RWC) models depending on whether the hydraulic transition is fast or gradual. In this paper, an elastic water column (EWC) model for analyzing hydraulic transients in pipe networks is formulated using a novel graph-theoretic approach. The new method of modeling a network with a state-space representation inherits the advantages of the RWC model, such as its high computational efficiency and potential to integrate with modern control theory and signal analysis algorithms. Meanwhile, the proposed method incorporates water compressibility and is therefore significantly more accurate than the standard RWC models, and is shown to be equivalent to MOC models below a critical frequency. Another advantage of the new model is its elegantly simple formulation for an arbitrarily configured pipe network. The accuracy of the model was validated numerically on 6- and 51-pipe networks. The simulated results of the 51-pipe network demonstrate that the transient pressures in a large-scale pipe network dominate in the low-frequency range where the EWC model has high accuracy. These results demonstrate the utility of the proposed method to provide a flexible solution to optimize accuracy and efficiency for simulating hydraulic transient events in pipeline networks. The EWC model has great potential to be combined with other control and signal analysis techniques because of its state-space representation of a water network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sol–gel phase transition in ionic thermoelectrical (i‐TE) materials induces large rapid change in viscosity and ionic transport process and is thus expected to yield a drastic variation in thermoelectric properties, crucial in low‐grade waste heat harvesting and wearable electronic applications. In this study, four types of i‐TE materials are prepared and examined. For the first time, a large rise in the thermopower by 6.5 times during the sol–gel transition of poloxamer/LiCl system is observed, an even greater ionic figure of merit by ≈23 times. The phenomenon is found to be universal as the large variation in thermopower is confirmed in the other transitional materials. The study further reveals the mechanism and proposes a model that deals with the whole process. Finally, six factors influencing the huge variation of the thermopower during the phase‐transition are probed and light is shed on the possible gigantic changes of thermopower during the phase transition. A possible route is uncovered to design and control the desired thermoelectric performances of materials, which can lead to a new sight in tunable i‐TE devices for low‐heat energy harvesting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precision of the traditional satellite remote sensing image denoising model cannot deal well with some precise production scenes. To solve this problem, this research proposes an improved remote sensing image processing model, in which the dual tree complex wavelet transform (DTCWT) method is used to conduct multiscale decomposition of the impact, and the fourth-order differential equation is used to denoise the decomposed complex high-frequency subband information, and then the denoised subbands are reconstructed into the denoised image. Through these two advanced signal-processing methods, the quality of reconstructed signals is improved and the noise content of various types is greatly reduced. The experimental results show that the normalized root mean square error of the denoising model designed in this study after training convergence is 0.02. When the noise variance is 0.030, the structure similarity, peak signal to noise ratio, and normalized signal to noise ratio are 0.74, 25.3, and 0.76, respectively, which are better than all other comparison models. The experimental data prove that the satellite remote sensing image data denoising model designed in this study has better denoising performance, and has certain application potential in high-precision satellite remote sensing image big data processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicle (EV) has been widely used in our life, one of the key technologies is the batteries, power accumulator battery test system (PABTS), which is initiated for evaluating the performance of the EV batteries, has been used in many battery-manufacture companies. The parallel operation of the PABTS forms a dc-microgrid, owing to the low inertia of the dc-link capacitance, the charging and discharging tests of the batteries can easily cause dc-bus voltage fluctuations, which may jeopardize the system stability. To increase the system inertia and achieve good system stability, a fractional-order model-predictive-control (FOMPC) and fractional-order virtual-inertia-control (FOVIC) strategy (namely, FOMPC-FOVIC method) is proposed for the bidirectional grid-connected converter. First, the fractional-order virtual inertial link is used to replace the integral-order virtual inertial link, which significantly improves the system stability. Second, combined with fractional-order model-predictive-control, virtual dc current compensation is proposed to further suppress the dc-bus voltage fluctuations. Finally, the fractional-order discrete state-space equation of the virtual inertial link is derived, and the cost function design and its optimal solution are elaborated. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed FOMPC-FOVIC scheme, experimental results indicate that the proposed method is superior to the existing methods in terms of inertial support and dc-bus voltage regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single-stage wireless power transfer (WPT) system based on the switching control capacitor (SCC) is proposed in this paper. Using the SCC instead of an ordinary capacitor gives the WPT system, an additional control degree of freedom. The proposed robust WPT system has a constant power (CP) output characteristic under a wide range of load resistance and coupling coefficient variations by adjusting the conduction angle of the SCC. When compared with constant current (CC) charging, CP charging can shorten the charging time and promote battery cycle life. Moreover, a primary side control method is proposed. It only needs to sample the primary current to identify the reflected impedance, which avoids wireless communication. When combined with the control strategy, the condition of zero-voltage switching (ZVS) is derived. Finally, a 125-W experimental prototype is built to verify the performance of the proposed method. Experimental results demonstrate that stable CP charging can be maintained during coil movement and load changes. In addition, soft switching is implemented in all situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphor-converted white laser diode (WLD) is considered as a promising light source in next-generation high-brightness lighting. However, the WLD suffers from low optical quality in luminous efficacy and color rendering. In this work, we fabricated a high-quality WLD by a blue laser-driven a tricolor phosphor-in-glass (PiG) film-on-sapphire (PIGS). The tricolor PiGS was prepared by sintering a green/yellow/red phosphor glass film on a sapphire substrate. The optical quality of tricolor PiGS-WLDs were optimized by adjusting the phosphor ratio. At the phosphor ratio of 9:6:1, the PiGS-WLD achieves high optical quality with a luminous flux of 362.1 lm, a color rendering index (CRI) of 80.3, and a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 4590 K at a laser power of 2.4 W. The PiGS-WLD has the highest luminous efficacy of 154.5 lm/W at 3.15 W. Furthermore, the PiGS-WLD displays excellent color stability with small CCT and CRI deviation under various laser powers and continuous excitation. The surface temperature of PiGS-WLD is stable at 104 °C due to the high thermal conductivity of sapphire substrate. Therefore, this study provides a stable and high-quality laser-driven white light source for high-brightness lighting and display. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the current paper is to study the phase portraits and bounded and singular traveling wave solution of the stochastic nonlinear Biswas–Arshed equation by using the "three-step method" of Professor Li's method together with the phase orbit of planar dynamical system. Firstly, by employing the traveling wave transformation, the stochastic nonlinear Biswas–Arshed equation is simplified into deterministic nonlinear ordinary differential equation. Secondly, phase portraits of the stochastic nonlinear Biswas–Arshed equation are plotted by analyzing the planar dynamic system of the nonlinear ordinary differential equation. Finally, the bounded and singular traveling wave solutions of the stochastic nonlinear Biswas–Arshed equation are constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The power of selection and phenotypic plasticity of seven rice grain yield (GY) traits was dissected using DNA markers and 226 Minghui86 introgression lines (ILs) phenotyped across four contrast environments of long‐day versus short‐day and drought versus irrigated conditions. Linkage mapping identified 77 main‐effect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) plus 15 groups of epistatic QTLs affecting the GY traits. By characterizing genomic introgression patterns of the donor alleles in ILs selected for high‐ and low‐trait values based on replicated progeny testing across each of the four environments and for high‐ and low‐GY across nine different environmental scenarios, 246 QTLs affecting the seven yield traits were identified. Genetic drag from tight repulsive linkage of genes with opposite effects on the same traits was detected in 45 cases involving 90 (35.8%) QTLs, indicating its wide presence in superior Chinese hybrid parents. The demonstrated selective introgression strategy, including the developed ILs plus the genetic information on the associations of introgressed donor alleles with the yield traits in the ILs would provide a useful platform for future breeding by design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: At present, there are two techniques which are widely applied clinically; the midline and the paramedian. Both methods are difficult for clinicians when treating the elderly. The aim of this work is to explore the feasibility of an ultrasound-assisted modified paramedian technique for spinal anesthesia in the elderly. This would provide clinicians with a new and easy-to-operate technique. Methods: A total of 150 elderly patients who were scheduled for urology surgery under spinal anesthesia in our hospital were randomly divided into three groups (n = 50): (i) midline technique group (group M), (ii) paramedian technique group (group P), and (iii) modified paramedian technique group (group PM). All spinal anesthesia were performed by the same second-year resident. Results: Compared with groups M and P, group PM had significantly higher first-attempt success rate (P < 0.05, especially in patients aged 65-74 years), fewer attempts (P < 0.05), and higher patient satisfaction score (P < 0.05). Compared with group M, the time taken to perform spinal anesthesia and the number of needle redirections were significantly reduced in group PM (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between groups PM and P. There were also no statistically significant differences in the cases of inconsistency between ultrasound-assisted and landmark-guided location of intervertebral space, the time taken to ultrasound-assisted location, the onset time to pain block at T10, the incidence of hypotension, anesthesia effect and the incidence of headache, lower back pain, or nausea and vomiting, within 24 h after surgery. Conclusions: The modified paramedian technique in spinal anesthesia for elderly patients can significantly improve the first-attempt success rate, reduce both the number of attempts and procedure time, and minimize tissue damage during the operation. Compared with the traditional techniques, the modified paramedian technique combines the advantages of both the midline and the paramedian methods, and is easy to learn. It is worthy of further research and application. Trial registration: Prospectively registered at the China Clinical Trial Registry, registration number ChiCTR2100047635, date of registration: 21/06/2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renal cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors with high mortality, and kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is the most common type of renal cancer. We attempted to evaluate the clinical and prognostic significance of Apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1) mRNA and protein in KIRC patients. Clinical data along with RNA-sequencing data were downloaded from UCSC Xena. The Human Protein Atlas database was searched to reveal APOA1 protein expression profiles in KIRC and normal renal tissues. The TIMER database was applied to determine the correlations of APOA1 with immune cells and PD-1 and PD-L1 in KIRC. Ninety-one cases of KIRC patients and 93 healthy controls from our hospital were enrolled for clinical validation. Levels of APOA1 mRNA in KIRC tissues (N = 535) are not only lower than the levels in normal renal tissues (N = 117), but also in paired normal renal tissues (N = 72). High expression of APOA1 mRNA at the time of surgery was correlated with worse overall survival (OS) (HR 1.66; p = 0.037) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR 1.65; p = 0.047), and APOA1 DNA methylation was linked to worse OS (HR 2.1; p = 0.001) rather than DFS (HR 1.12; p = 0.624) in KIRC patients. Concentrations of preoperative serum APOA1 protein were markedly decreased in KIRC patients compared to healthy controls (p < 0.01), and low levels of APOA1 protein predicted less favorable OS than those with high levels (HR = 2.84, p = 0.0407). APOA1 negatively correlated with various immune cell infiltrates and PD-L1 expression (r = − 0.283, p = 2.74e−11) according to the TIMER database. Low levels of APOA1 mRNA at the time of surgery predict favorable survival in KIRC patients. Our results provide insights to identify a novel prognostic index with great clinical utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, there are some problems in the research of curriculum ideological and political quality evaluation, such as insufficient theme attention, insufficient theoretical research, incomplete data collection, and so on. This study aims to use the BP neural network in the ideological and political quality evaluation system so that the system can more comprehensively and accurately reflect the actual situation of students and point out the direction for the development of students' ideological and political education. The construction of this system can provide a very considerable and accurate way for the quality evaluation of ideological and political education of college students and especially solves the problems of human subjective, factor errors, and the setting of evaluation index weights in the evaluation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new isocoumarin, penicimarin N (1), along with five known compounds (2-6), were isolated from the mangrove-derived fungus Penicillium sp. TGM112. The structure of 1 was elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic data analysis, and the absolute configuration of 1 was determined by comparison of their circular dichroism (CD) spectra with the literature. The structures of known compounds were determined by comparison with the literature data. All the isolated compounds were examined for their antioxidant and α-glucosidase activities. Compound 1 showed strong antioxidant activity with the IC50 value of 1.0 mM, and 1 also exhibited moderate inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase with the IC50 value of 620 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Radiation exposure is inherently involved in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), which could cause radiation-induced injury to endoscopists with long-term exposure. Nonradiation ERCP has been applied to pregnant patients. Conceivably, the same techniques could be used to benefit endoscopists. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of nonradiation-to-endoscopist (NRE) ERCP, compared with standard ERCP. Methods: A retrospective, single-center study was conducted from August 2010 to December 2015. Patients aged 18–90 years and with choledocholithiasis (< 15 mm) or distal biliary stricture were eligible. Pre-ERCP evaluation with magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography was mandatory. To overcome selection bias, we performed 1:2 match using propensity score matching (PSM) between NRE and standard groups. The primary endpoint was overall ERCP success rate. Secondary endpoints were cannulation success rate, stone clearance rate, complication rate, and duration of hospitalization. Results: A total of 329 patients met inclusion criteria. After PSM, 73 patients were included in the NRE group and 146 in the standard group. The ERCP overall success rate for NRE and standard groups was equivalent (94.5% vs. 93.2%, P = 0.70). There was no difference in cannulation success rates between the two groups (95.6% vs. 97.8%, P = 0.39). A total of 88.3% of patients in the NRE group and 93.9% of patients in the standard group had stones cleared at initial ERCP (P = 0.57). No difference in overall stone clearance rate between the two groups (95.0% vs. 93.9%, P = 0.77) was found after second ERCP. The complication rate (1.4% vs. 1.4%, P = 1.00) and hospital duration (8.3 ± 5.1 vs. 10.2 ± 8.8 days, P = 0.07) were not different between the two groups. Conclusion: Although technically demanding, NRE-ERCP is both safe and feasible in selected patients compared with standard ERCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In nature, some flaws (such as fissures, joints, weak surfaces, and faults, etc.) are pre‐existed in the rock masses, which have been proved an important influence on the mechanical properties of rock masses. In this paper, a three‐dimensional (3D) joint model of a fractured specimen is built by means of the computed tomography (CT) scanning technic and digital image processing. The model shows three joints exist in the specimen: an essential joint which can be found from the specimen surface and two extra‐essential joints can only be detected from the 3D joint model. The 3D joint model is integrated into 3D particle flow code (PFC3D) to build a jointed numerical specimen and triaxial compression tests under different confining pressures are simulated. The results show that the linear phase of the stress‐strain curve is more significant under larger confining pressure. The peak strength of the jointed specimen increases linearly with the confining pressure. In addition, the peak strength of the jointed specimen shows highly consistency with the residual strength of the corresponding intact specimen. For both the intact and jointed specimen, Young's modulus increases nonlinearly with the confining pressure, and remains constant after confining pressure reaching 20 MPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adsorbent of weak magnetic La(OH) 3 modified platanus biochar (La-MB) was synthesized for phosphate (P) removal by iron lanthanum sequential modification method for the first time. Compared with synchronous modification method, La-MB had higher P adsorption capacity and similar magnetic separation property. The performance of La-MB was evaluated in terms of adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics, coexisting competitive substances, regenerative ability, and it as fixed-bed column filler to remove P from actual wastewater. The results showed that La-MB had a monolayer P adsorption capacity of 116 mg/g in the pH range of 3.0–9.0 at 35 ℃ with the contact time of 45 min, and the adsorption capacity was higher than most La-modified magnetic adsorbents. The coexisting SO2– 4 , NO- 3 and Cl- had no effect, while the HCO- 3 , CO2– 3 and humic acid interfered with the removal of P due to competition for active sites on the surface of La-MB. Moreover, approximately removal efficiency of 97% was remained after three adsorption-desorption cycles in 1.0 mol/L NaOH eluent, which showed the outstanding stability and cyclic utilization. The maximum treatment bed-volumes (BV) under influent flow rates of 0.5 mL/min, 1.0 mL/min and 1.5 mL/min were 3050 BV, 2000 BV and 1100 BV, respectively. The characterization results of zeta potential, FTIR and XPS revealed that the P adsorption of La-MB was dominated by ligand exchange, inner sphere complexation and electrostatic attraction. All results indicated that La-MB could serve as a promising adsorbent for the efficient removal of P from actual wastewater. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid capacity decay of LiCoO 2 (LCO) at high operating voltage is primarily attributed to severe interface/structure degradation. Surface coating has been recognized as an effective strategy for enhancing the interface/structure stability of LCO. To achieve a balance between effective protection and fast Li+ transport, the selection of suitable coating materials is crucial. In this study, a composite coating layer comprising La 2 O 3 and ZrO 2 was prepared using a simple solid-phase method. The resulting LCO coated with this La 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 layer (LCO@LaZr) showed significantly improved electrochemical performance. After 200 cycles at 1 C, LCO@LaZr demonstrated a higher capacity retention of 90.3% compared to uncoated LCO (46.5%). Furthermore, LCO@LaZr exhibited superior rate capability, achieving a high capacity of 165.6 mAh g−1 at 10 C, while uncoated LCO delivered a lower capacity of 113.7 mAh g−1. The La 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 coating enhanced the performance of LCO through a "three-in-one" strategy. La 2 O 3 reduced the Li+ diffusion barrier, thereby promoting Li+ transport, while ZrO 2 improved the surface/interface stability of the cathode. Moreover, the continuous and uniform La 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 layer effectively prevented direct contact between the cathode and the electrolyte, thereby suppressing undesirable side reactions. This study presents an efficient strategy for the surface coating of high-energy density cathodes. [Display omitted] • A La 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 composite surface coating was prepared for LiCoO 2. • The La 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 coating greatly improved the electrochemical performance of LiCoO 2. • A "three-in-one" strategy was proposed for the mechanism of La 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 coating. • La 2 O 3 reduced the Li+ diffusion barrier and ZrO 2 enhanced the cathode stability. • The continuous La 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 layer served as a physical barrier to protect LiCoO 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel PINN-based method for transient analysis in pipe networks. • An elastic water column model is employed to simplify the network modelling. • Hydraulic transient physics is integrated with measured data. • Pressure heads at unmonitored locations in a network can be estimated. Reconstructing transient states presents significant challenges, particularly within complex pipe networks. These challenges arise due to nonlinear behaviours, inherent uncertainties in the system, and limitations in data availability. This work proposed a novel approach employing Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINN) to reconstruct transient states in pipe networks, even with limited sensor data. To integrate the complex topology of pipe network systems into neural networks, the method integrates the PINN framework with an efficient elastic water column (EWC) model which can be simply formulated across diverse pipe network configurations. The results showed the proposed PINN method can accurately reconstruct the pressure and flow variation at unmonitored locations, even provided with noisy data at a limited number of locations. One of its advantages lies in its ability to effectively capture extreme values that hold potential significance for pipe infrastructure, providing a promising avenue for pipe failure analysis and enhanced safety management. Laboratory experiments have also been conducted to validate the efficacy and reliability of this method, thus further underlining its potential for real-world applications. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key of the multi-objective optimization of injection molding processes lies in achieving a balance between the accuracy of the surrogate model and the multiple objectives while taking the diversity and interdependence of process parameters into consideration. However, the sampling process for building high-precision surrogate models requires a large number of sample points, resulting in high modeling costs for other regions. Moreover, the selection of Pareto fronts often relies solely on the magnitudes of objective values, without considering the uncertainties associated with the information. To address these issues, this research proposes a novel multi-objective optimization method for injection molding process parameters, using hierarchical sampling and integrated entropy weighting. The method introduces a unique hierarchical sampling approach to enhance the accuracy of the surrogate model in injection molding, with a specific focus on critical components. Additionally, our method incorporates entropy calculations for multiple objective defect value parameters during the multi-objective optimization process, enhancing the rationality of the optimization process. The proposed method is utilized to optimize the injection molding parameters of a thin-walled propeller blade. The result shows that our surrogate model fits well and exhibits superior performance compared to the response surface method in optimizing multiple objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]