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As the core component of the wind turbine generation gearbox, the gear-rotor-bearing transmission system typically operates in harsh environments, inevitably leading to the occurrence of composite faults in the system, which exacerbates system vibration. Therefore, it is necessary to study the vibration characteristics of wind turbine helical gear-rotor-bearing transmission systems with composite faults. This paper uses an improved energy method to calculate the theoretical time-varying mesh stiffness of a helical gear with a root crack failure. On the premise of considering the time-varying meshing stiffness of the faulty helical gear, the gear eccentric fault, and the nonlinear support force of the faulty bearing, a multi-degree-of-freedom helical gear-rotor-bearing transmission system with compound faults was established by using the lumped parameter method. The dynamic model of the system was solved based on the Runge–Kutta method, and the vibration response of the system under healthy conditions, single faults with gear eccentricity, single faults with tooth root cracks, and coupled bearing composite faults were simulated and analyzed. The results show that the simulation results based on KISSsoft software 2018 version verify the effectiveness of the improved energy method; the existence of single faults and composite faults will cause the fault characteristics in the time domain and frequency domain responses. In this paper, the influence of a single fault and a complex fault on the time domain and frequency domain of the system is mainly discovered through the fault study of the helical rotor-bearing system, and the influence of the fault degree on the vibration of the gear motion system is discussed. The greater the degree of the fault, the more vibration of the system occurs; accordingly, when the system is under the coupling of tooth root crack and bearing fault, there is a significant difference compared with the healthy system and the single fault system. The system vibration has obvious time domain and frequency domain signal characteristics, including periodic pulse impacts caused by gear faults and time domain impact caused by bearing. The fault characteristic frequencies can also be found in the frequency domain. In this paper, the fault study of a helical gear of wind turbine generation provides a reference for the theoretical analysis of the vibration characteristics of the helical gear-rotor-bearing system under various fault conditions, lays a solid foundation for the simulation and subsequent diagnosis of the composite fault signal of the system, and provides help for the fault diagnosis of wind turbine gearboxes in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To characterize focal biomechanical alterations in subclinical keratoconus (SKC) using motion-tracking (MT) Brillouin microscopy and evaluate the ability of MT Brillouin metrics to differentiate eyes with SKC from normal control eyes. Prospective cross-sectional study. Thirty eyes from 30 patients were evaluated, including 15 eyes from 15 bilaterally normal patients and 15 eyes with SKC from 15 patients. All patients underwent Scheimpflug tomography and MT Brillouin microscopy using a custom-built device. Mean and minimum MT Brillouin values within the anterior plateau region and anterior 150 μm were generated. Scheimpflug metrics evaluated included inferior–superior (IS) value, maximum keratometry (K max), thinnest corneal thickness, asymmetry indices, Belin/Ambrosio display total deviation, and Ambrosio relational thickness. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated for all Scheimpflug and MT Brillouin metrics evaluated to determine the area under the ROC curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity for each variable. Discriminative performance based on AUC, sensitivity, and specificity. No significant differences were found between groups for age, sex, manifest refraction spherical equivalent, corrected distance visual acuity, K max , or KISA% index. Among Scheimpflug metrics, significant differences were found between groups for thinnest corneal thickness (556 μm vs. 522 μm; P < 0.001), IS value (0.29 diopter [D] vs. 1.05 D; P < 0.001), index of vertical asymmetry (IVA; 0.10 vs. 0.19; P < 0.001), and keratoconus index (1.01 vs. 1.05; P < 0.001), and no significant differences were found for any other Scheimpflug metric. Among MT Brillouin metrics, clear differences were found between control eyes and eyes with SKC for mean plateau (5.71 GHz vs. 5.68 GHz; P < 0.0001), minimum plateau (5.69 GHz vs. 5.65 GHz; P < 0.0001), mean anterior 150 μm (5.72 GHz vs. 5.68 GHz; P < 0.0001), and minimum anterior 150 μm (5.70 GHz vs. 5.66 GHz; P < 0.001). All MT Brillouin plateau and anterior 150 μm mean and minimum metrics fully differentiated groups (AUC, 1.0 for each), whereas the best performing Scheimpflug metrics were keratoconus index (AUC, 0.91), IS value (AUC, 0.89), and IVA (AUC, 0.88). Motion-tracking Brillouin microscopy metrics effectively characterize focal corneal biomechanical alterations in eyes with SKC and clearly differentiated these eyes from control eyes, including eyes that were not differentiated accurately using Scheimpflug metrics. Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole blood, as one of the most significant biological fluids, provides critical information for health management and disease monitoring. Over the past 10 years, advances in nanotechnology, microfluidics, and biomarker research have spurred the development of powerful miniaturized diagnostic systems for whole blood testing toward the goal of disease monitoring and treatment. Among the techniques employed for whole-blood diagnostics, electrochemical biosensors, as known to be rapid, sensitive, capable of miniaturization, reagentless and washing free, become a class of emerging technology to achieve the target detection specifically and directly in complex media, e.g., whole blood or even in the living body. Here we are aiming to provide a comprehensive review to summarize advances over the past decade in the development of electrochemical sensors for whole blood analysis. Further, we address the remaining challenges and opportunities to integrate electrochemical sensing platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A gate-voltage-modulated strategy was proposed to improve the detection performance of telomerase. We comprehensively investigated the mechanism for the gate-voltage-modulated detection performance by modulating the electrostatic interaction between charges of a single-stranded DNA probe and electrons of the In2O3 channel. This gate-voltage-modulated interaction between the probe and the channel can potentially serve as a universal strategy for high-performance FET biosensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To overcome the subjective limitations and uncertainty of results in the traditional judgment on key areas of chemical hazard monitoring and to improve the scientific selection of important areas of chemical hazard monitoring. Methods Based on the statistical analysis of the factors affecting the importance of chemical hazard monitoring, a scientific quantitative model was constructed to rank the importance of chemical hazard monitoring areas. The index weights of subjective and objective weighting methods were compared by Spearman rank correlation coefficient analysis, and three ranking methods were judged comprehensively by Kendall correlation analysis. In this paper, a spearman -based combined AHP, EWM, and FAHP assignment method (S-AEF) and a Kendall-based W, TOPSIS, and VIKOR integrated ranking method (K -WTV) were proposed to rank the importance of chemical hazard monitoring areas. Results As an example, taking a certain area of a large city as a chemical hazard monitoring area, the similarity between the results calculated by S -AEF combined with the K -WTV method and multiplicative synthesis method, the optimal weighting method, and the game theory weighting method was 0.659, 0.913, and 0.659, respectively, which were larger than the critical value and basically consistent with the judgment of practical experience, which demonstrated the feasibility of this method. Conclusions The proposed method was objective, feasible, applicable, and scientifically reasonable. It can provide a new idea for solving uncertain problems, such as the ranking of the importance of chemical hazard monitoring areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elasto-optic coefficient, which describes the interaction of acoustic waves and light in a medium, allows a contrast mechanism in optomechanics. However, the non-contact measurement is a challenge, limiting the study of some materials such as liquids. We present a high-speed non-contact method based on laser-induced phonons. The elasto-optic coefficients of common liquids are measured with only 10 ms and an averaged relative standard deviation of 1.52%, complementing the rare liquid data. By deciphering Brillouin spectra, the elasto-optic coefficient and viscoelastic parameters can be obtained simultaneously, and the introduction of the elasto-optic coefficient makes the characterization more sensitive. Benefiting from spatially resolved measurement, the elasto-optic coefficient is mapped to provide another contrast mechanism for mechanical imaging and may prove useful to characterize biological cells and tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph-based clustering plays an important role in the clustering area. Recent studies about graph neural networks (GNN) have achieved impressive success on graph-type data. However, in general clustering tasks, the graph structure of data does not exist such that GNN can not be applied to clustering directly and the strategy to construct a graph is crucial for performance. Therefore, how to extend GNN into general clustering tasks is an attractive problem. In this paper, we propose a graph auto-encoder for general data clustering, AdaGAE, which constructs the graph adaptively according to the generative perspective of graphs. The adaptive process is designed to induce the model to exploit the high-level information behind data and utilize the non-euclidean structure sufficiently. Importantly, we find that the simple update of the graph will result in severe degeneration, which can be concluded as better reconstruction means worse update. We provide rigorous analysis theoretically and empirically. Then we further design a novel mechanism to avoid the collapse. Via extending the generative graph models to general type data, a graph auto-encoder with a novel decoder is devised and the weighted graphs can be also applied to GNN. AdaGAE performs well and stably in different scale and type datasets. Besides, it is insensitive to the initialization of parameters and requires no pretraining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph-based clustering plays an important role in the clustering area. Recent studies about graph neural networks (GNN) have achieved impressive success on graph-type data. However, in general clustering tasks, the graph structure of data does not exist such that GNN can not be applied to clustering directly and the strategy to construct a graph is crucial for performance. Therefore, how to extend GNN into general clustering tasks is an attractive problem. In this paper, we propose a graph auto-encoder for general data clustering, AdaGAE, which constructs the graph adaptively according to the generative perspective of graphs. The adaptive process is designed to induce the model to exploit the high-level information behind data and utilize the non-euclidean structure sufficiently. Importantly, we find that the simple update of the graph will result in severe degeneration, which can be concluded as better reconstruction means worse update. We provide rigorous analysis theoretically and empirically. Then we further design a novel mechanism to avoid the collapse. Via extending the generative graph models to general type data, a graph auto-encoder with a novel decoder is devised and the weighted graphs can be also applied to GNN. AdaGAE performs well and stably in different scale and type datasets. Besides, it is insensitive to the initialization of parameters and requires no pretraining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the energy transfer mechanism between Dy3+ ions as well as a new optical ratiometric thermometry strategy in Dy3+ doped CaWO 4 (CaWO 4 :Dy) phosphors. The optimal Dy3+ doping concentration was determined and the electric dipole-dipole interaction among Dy3+ was investigated based on the analysis of the concentration-dependence luminescent properties in CaWO 4 :Dy phosphors. The photoluminescence (PL) of two blue and two yellow emissions produced by Dy3+ transitions from the thermally coupled energy levels (TCLs) of 4I 15/2 /4F 9/2 to the 6H 15/2 ground level and 4I 13/2 metastable level, respectively, exhibited opposite PL behavior with increasing temperature. The luminescence intensity ratio (LIR) between blue and yellow emissions (B/Y) was discovered to have a quantitative relationship with temperature based on the classic thermalized population distribution of TCLs. In comparison to traditional thermometry based on the LIR of two blue emissions, the proposed new ratiometric thermometry based on the LIR of B/Y demonstrated good optical thermometry behavior with extended temperature detection range to cryogenic region, excellent absolute sensitivity, good repeatability, and high accuracy, which can also be applied to other Dy3+ doped materials such as Y 3 Al 5 O 12 and NaYF 4 phosphors using either down- or up-conversion PL of blue and yellow emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Highly graphitized B,N-GQDs were prepared after pyrolysis of 3-APBA at high temperature. • Portable sensor based on B,N-GQD realized colorimetry and portable dual-mode detection. • This detection method has better universality and multi-functional application. In this investigation, blue-emitting graphene quantum dots (B,N-GQDs) were synthesized via a single-step hydrothermal method in an ethanol/water mixture utilizing 3-APBA as the nitrogen and boron sources. These B,N-GQDs showcased a highly graphitized structure, complemented by surface-functionalized boronic acid and amino groups that bestowed upon them remarkable optical attributes and water solubility. Leveraging the interplay of internal filtering and dynamic quenching effects, the sensor demonstrated remarkable selectivity and sensitivity in detecting caffeic acid (CA) within the range of 0–840 μM, achieving a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.63 μM. Moreover, the fluorescent gel microspheres engineered with B,N-GQDs exhibited robust CA sensing capabilities and portability. As such, the application potential of B,N-GQDs expands to encompass drug metabolism monitoring, alongside the assessment of food and environmental safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increase of soil inorganic C (SIC) and total C stocks at 0–60 cm because of organic fertilization. Combination of humic acid and manure as organic fertilizers increases SIC stocks due to direct increase in the concentration of dissolved calcium ions and enzymatic activities and indirectly via decreasing the concentration of dissolved chloride. [Display omitted] • Organic amendments decreased dissolved Cl− content and increased enzyme activity. • Humic acid plus manure increased soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stock at 0–60 cm. • Higher dissolved Ca2+ and β-xylosidase activity directly increased SIC. • Decreased dissolved Cl− indirectly increased SIC through increased soil organic C. Organic amendments are effective in promoting salt leaching, improving availability of nutrients and increasing crop yield in saline soils. However, the effects of the combined application of organic amendments on soil inorganic carbon (SIC) content and its driving mechanisms are unknown. We examined how changes in soil biochemical properties including moisture content, pH value, dissolved ions, soil organic C (SOC), dissolved organic C (DOC), microbial biomass C (MBC), and activities of C- and N-related enzyme due to applying (i) only mineral fertilizers (control; Ctrl) or mineral fertilization in combination with (ii) manure (M); (iii) biofertilizer plus manure (B+M); and (iv) humic acid plus manure (HA+M) modify SIC pool over three years. Organic amendments increased the content of Ca2+ and HCO 3 – ions, but significantly decreased Na+, Cl−, and SO 4 2− at 0–60 cm soil layers compared to Ctrl. Furthermore, the activities of β-glucosidase (BG), Xylanase (BX), Cellobiosidase (CE), and β-1,4-N-Acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG) increased at 0–40 cm soil. Partial least squares path model manifested that organic amendment directly accumulated SIC content by increasing Ca2+ content and the activities of BX and NAG. Additionally, the decrease of Cl− contents under organic amendments favored the increase of MBC and SOC content, which further increased SIC content. Generally, the effects of HA+M were greater than other fertilization managements, which increased the stocks of SIC and total C at 0–60 cm soils by 27 Mg ha−1 and 47 Mg ha−1, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of organic amendments on SIC content is more pronounced below the first 20 cm. Thus, the application of organic amendments is recommended as an appropriate measure to not only improve soil condition for plant growth and SOC accumulation but also to store C as SIC at deeper depths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Vo-rich MnO 2-x /CdS HNRs are first prepared by a facile photodeposition strategy. • In-situ growth of CdS on MnO 2-x enable efficient interfacial charge transfer. • Vo content in MnO 2-x gradually increases in photodeposition process. • Synergistic effects of Vo and Z-scheme system boost O 2 evolution activity. Carrier separation and surface reaction kinetic are two main bottlenecks limiting photocatalytic efficiency of photocatalysts towards an industrial level. In this regard, heterostructures and defects engineering have been proven to be effective strategies for addressing the two issues. However, the integrated construction of heterostructures and defects has been reported rarely. Herein, a facile in-situ photodeposition strategy has been developed to grow CdS nanocrystals on MnO 2-x nanorods with rich oxygen vacancies (V O) as a direct Z-scheme photocatalyst for boosting water oxidation. It has been found that the Cd2+ ions accept photoelectrons from MnO 2-x under irradiation for the in-situ growth of CdS nanocrystals, which enables a close contact between the two components, providing high-speed electron-transport channels for photocatalysis. Meanwhile, the photooxidation half reactions extract surface lattice oxygen, leading to the increase of V O content in MnO 2-x , which supplies abundant active sites for oxygen evolution. Owing to the synergistic effects of V O and Z-scheme systems, the optimized MnO 2-x /CdS photocatalyst displays a dramatically enhanced photocatalytic activity with an O 2 production rate of 779 μmol g-1h-1 under visible-light irradiation without any cocatalysts, which is 2.33 times higher than the bare MnO 2-x. This work reveals the cooperative manipulation of V O and CdS nanocrystals on MnO 2-x for achieving efficient photocatalysis, providing new insights into the construction of high-performance photocatalysts via a combined strategy of Z-scheme heterostructures and surface defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matrix completion, aiming at restoring a low-rank matrix from observed entries, indicates the connection with the subspace clustering due to the low-rank property. However, it is expensive to incorporate subspace learning into the pervasive surrogate of matrix completion, the nuclear norm. In this paper, we design an orthogonal subspace exploration model for matrix completion, which can be easily integrated due to the succinct formulation. Then, we propose a non-convex surrogate with tractable solutions for low-rank matrix completion, so that the subspace exploration can be performed simultaneously. Compared with the existing surrogates (e.g. , nuclear norm, Schatten- p norm, max norm, etc.), the proposed surrogate is differential such that the optimization is still simple even after the subspace exploration is incorporated. Although the surrogate is non-convex, a parameter-free algorithm that is proved to converge into the global optimum is developed. The optimization consists of closed-form solutions so that the orthogonal subspace exploration will not distinctly bring additional costs and the algorithm empirically converges within dozens of iterations. Experiments illustrate the efficiency and superiority of our model. • A tractable orthogonal subspace exploration is designed for matrix completion. • A smooth non-convex surrogate is proposed to replace the classic nuclear norm. • The optimization is proved to converge into the global minimum. • The optimization of surrogate usually converges within dozens of iterations. • The surrogate is expandable so it is still fast with additionl subspace exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally, Graph convolution network (GCN) utilizes the graph convolution operators and the softmax to extract the deep representation and make the prediction, respectively. Although GCN successfully represents the connectivity relationship among the nodes by aggregating the information on the graph, the softmax-based decision layer may result in suboptimal performance in semi-supervised learning with less label support due to ignoring the inner distribution of the graph nodes. Besides, the gradient descent will take thousands of interaction for optimization. To address the referred issues, we propose a novel graph deep model with a non-gradient decision layer for graph mining. Firstly, manifold learning is unified with label local-structure preservation to capture the topological information and make accurate predictions with limited label support. Moreover, it is theoretically proven to have analytical solutions and acts as a non-gradient decision layer in graph convolution networks. Particularly, a joint optimization method is designed for this graph model, which extremely accelerates the convergence of the model. Finally, extensive experiments show that the proposed model has achieved excellent performance compared to the current models. [Display omitted] • Unifying the orthogonal manifold with label local-structure preservation to mine the topological information of the deep embeddings and make more accurate predictions, the novel non-gradient graph decision layer is put forward. • With the assistance of the designed theorems, the non-gradient graph decision layer can be solved with an elegant analytical solution theoretically. • By embedding the analytical solution into the gradient descent, a joint optimization strategy is designed to jointly optimize the graph convolution network and the proposed non-gradient decision layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Excitability of CSH guided waves in steel pipes was studied; • Offset of operating ranges of few-cycle PPM EMATs was identified; • Cause and effects of the offset problem were further analyzed; • Excitability affects the excitation efficiency of CSH guided waves; • It is necessary to pay more attention to the excitability. Circumferential Shear Horizontal (CSH) guided waves provide an effective method for detecting defects like axial cracks and corrosion in pipes. Periodic Permanent Magnet Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (PPM EMATs) are typically used to generate CSH guided waves. However, there is an offset problem to which little attention has been paid. The offset problem refers to the offset of the center (position of maximum energy) of the operating region caused by the variation in the peak frequency of the spatial spectra of PPM with 2 or fewer cycles. Furthermore, the excitability of guided waves is one of the factors that needs to be considered when selecting the excitation parameters of EMATs, but there are still some studies that have not sufficiently addressed this issue. In this paper, the offset problem and the excitability of CSH guided waves were investigated. Firstly, by obtaining the operating regions corresponding to PPM with different cycles, the cause and influences of the offset problem were studied. The results show that the offset in the peak frequency of the spatial spectrum of PPM is the fundamental reason causing the offset problem, and it not only leads to incorrect prediction of the excitation efficiency of guided waves but also affects the selection of the excitation parameters of EMATs. Secondly, finite element simulations and experiments were performed to assess the influence of the excitability on the excitation efficiency of the CSH0 and CSH1 modes in pipes. By analyzing the simulation and experimental results of 2-cycle PPM, as well as the simulation results for PPM with 1 to 5 cycles, the impact of the excitability on the CSH1 mode was confirmed from two perspectives. The final conclusion indicates that an accurate prediction of the amplitudes of CSH guided waves with different modes is only possible through a comprehensively consideration of the operating region of EMAT and the excitability of guided waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) is a family of first-principled thermodynamic models for transcritical multiphase flows, which can accurately capture the phase transitions at high-pressure conditions that are difficult to deal with using other models. However, VLE-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is computationally very expensive for multi-component systems, which severely limits its applications to real-world systems. In this work, we developed a new ISAT-VLE method based on the in situ adaptive tabulation (ISAT) method to improve the computational efficiency of VLE-based CFD simulation with reduced memory usage. We developed several ISAT-VLE solvers for both fully conservative (FC) and double flux (DF) schemes. New methods are proposed to delete redundant records in the ISAT-VLE table and the ISAT-VLE method performance is further improved. To improve the convergence of the VLE solvers, a modified initial guess for equilibrium constant is also introduced. Simulations of high-pressure transcritical two-phase temporal mixing layers and shock-droplet interaction were conducted using the ISAT-VLE CFD solvers. The simulation results show that the new method obtains a speed-up factor approximately from 10 to 60 and the ISAT errors can be controlled within 1%. The shock-droplet interaction results show that the DF scheme can achieve a higher speed-up factor than the FC scheme. The two sets of simulations exhibit the phase separation at high-pressure conditions. It was found that even at supercritical pressures with respect to each component, the droplet surface could still be in a subcritical two-phase state, because the mixture critical pressure is often significantly higher than each component and hence triggers phase separation. In addition, a shock wave could partially or completely convert the droplet surface from a subcritical two-phase state to a single-phase state by raising temperature and pressure. • An in situ adaptive tabulation (ISAT) is developed to accelerate the calculation of vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) by 10-60 times with <1% error. • The isoenergetic/isobaric-isochoric VLE solvers are accelerated using the ISAT-VLE method for the fully conservative/double flux schemes. • To enhance the speed and precision of the ISAT-VLE method, analytical Jacobian matrices are derived and implemented for three VLE flash solvers. • The initial guess of equilibrium constant K i is improved to enhance the overall stability and robustness of the VLE algorithm. • At high pressures, the subcritical two-phase droplet interface could be partially or completely driven into the single-phase region by shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Mixed sowing of Feed rape and Vicia villosa improved soil multifunctionality. • Reducing nitrogen fertilizer with returning green manure will not reduce soil multifunctionality. • Enzyme activities were the main predictors of soil multifunctionality. • Spring wheat yield was significantly correlated with soil multifunctionality. Soil multifunctionality (SMF) and crop production of continuous green manure returning is crucial for sustainable agricultural development. Multiple cropping of green manure after wheat harvest is a typical planting pattern in the Hetao Irrigation District, and maybe substitute nitrogen (N) fertilizer. However, information is scarce about how the green manure affected SMF and crop production under limited nitrogen inputs. A 7-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of green manure types (Feed rape (FR), Vicia villosa (VV), Feed rape, and Vicia villosa mixed sowing (FR + VV)) on soil properties, enzyme activities, SMF, and rotated wheat yield under different N application rates (150 kg N ha−1, N150; no nitrogen, N0). The results showed that FR and FR + VV increased soil active carbon (C) and N fractions by 4.0 %-499.3 % and 11.3 %-147.8 % compared to VV, respectively. Enzyme activities with FR + VV were significantly increased by 13.7 %-82.9 % compared to FR and VV. SMF and CCI (carbon cycling index) were significantly affected by N fertilizer and green manure types, with N0 higher than N150 by two times and FR + VV higher than FR by 1.4–4.3 times and VV by 1.0–6.6 times in 0–20 cm soil layer. Spring wheat yield was significantly affected by N fertilizer and green manure types, with N0 significantly higher than N150 by 5.8 % and FR and FR + VV higher than VV by 8.0 % and 12.5 % under N150, respectively. Partial least squares path model detected that returning of multiple green manure had a significant positive and indirect effect on SMF through enhancing soil enzyme activities, and ultimately contribute to the improvement in wheat yield. In conclusion, the mixed sowing of FR and VV increased soil active C and N fractions and associated enzyme activities, and has the potential to improve the SMF and rotated wheat yield, thereby providing an effective approach to reduce N fertilizer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-view clustering, which utilizes the ample information provided by multiple sources to obtain better performance, has attracted much attention. However, existing clustering algorithms either have no ability to offer confidence for each assignment or suffer from the disturbance of outliers. To address these problems, in this paper, we propose a novel multi-view fuzzy clustering method via transferring softmin to fuzzy models. To obtain fuzzy assignments, we utilize the softmin with temperature and further develop an efficient algorithm to solve the non-convex problem approximately. We also show another explanation for the algorithm from the aspect of the prior distribution of various views. Besides, we design a scalable robust loss function, which interpolates between ℓ 2 -norm and the squared ℓ 2 -norm, to enhance the robustness to outliers. Extensive experiments show the superiority of our model under different clustering metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-Task Learning attempts to explore and mine the sufficient information within multiple related tasks for the better solutions. However, the performance of the existing multi-task approaches would largely degenerate when dealing with the polluted data, i.e., outliers. In this paper, we propose a novel robust multi-task model by incorporating a flexible manifold constraint (FMC-MTL) and a robust loss. Specifically speaking, multi-task subspace is embedded with a relaxed and generalized Stiefel Manifold for considering point-wise correlation and preserving the data structure simultaneously. In addition, a robust loss function is developed to ensure the robustness to outliers by smoothly interpolating between ℓ2,1-norm and squared Frobenius norm. Equipped with an efficient algorithm, FMC-MTL serves as a robust solution to tackling the severely polluted data. Moreover, extensive experiments are conducted to verify the superiority of our model. Compared to the state-of-the-art multi-task models, the proposed FMC-MTL model demonstrates remarkable robustness to the contaminated data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biosensors based on field effective transistor (FET) have aroused tremendous attention in the past few years owning to their huge application in drug discovery, disease diagnosis and environmental monitoring. The FET biosensors possess small volume, high sensitivity at ultra‐low concentration, considerable mechanical strength, as well as excellent stability in solution, which plays a vital role in the point of care testing (POCT) systems. Recent advances have summarized some progress involved in the improvement of morphology and structure of channel materials, the functionalization of organic molecule, the influence of device operation and sensing environment on the detecting performance. However, for FET biosensors, the charge screening phenomena were inevitable in the solution, which seriously degrade the device performance. In this article, we summarize recent advances to overcome debye length limitations for biomolecule sensing based on FET. We will firstly describe the charge screening mechanism, then focous on the strategy to overcome charge screening, including synthesizing special channel materials with crumpled morphology, designing aptamer binding mode, and modulating device measurement. Finally, we discuss the major challenges and perspectives about overcoming debye length limitations of FET biosensors. These summaries provide further insights to realize real‐time, lable‐free, high‐sensitivity FET sensors for medical healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing demand for ecosystem services in regional development has presented significant challenges to environmental sustainability. To alleviate environmental pressure, it is crucial to employ the provincial ecological footprint to gauge regional ecological pressure and research the determinants that contribute to reducing environmental pressure. This underscores the significance of examining and addressing the intricate relationships between ecological resources and regional development. While prior studies often focus on national data, provincial ecological footprints have been relatively ignored. Moreover, scant research exists on the influence of variables such as resource rents and industrial structures. This study employs the ecological footprint model to assess the per capita ecological footprint of Chinese provinces from 1990 to 2020, intending to gauge escalating ecological pressures and pinpoint their drivers. We use spatial panel data analysis to investigate the association among economic growth, natural resource rents, industrial structures and ecological footprint. Leveraging spatial weight matrices, we detected provincial footprint spatial autocorrelation and further analyzed it using the spatial Durbin model. Results underscore that economic growth profoundly shapes the ecological footprint, but an explicit Environmental Kuznets Curve remains elusive. Both natural resource rents and industrial shifts considerably influence the ecological footprint. Distinguishing from earlier non-spatial studies, our research merges spatial panel data analysis, emphasizing the regulatory role of juxtaposing natural resource rents with industrial structure adjustment can decrease the impact of economic growth on the ecological footprint. Advocating robust policies that favor renewables over non-renewables is pivotal, emphasizing the imperative for rigorous environmental standards in sectors shifting to renewables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Soil organic and inorganic C content were higher under organic ameliorants. • Humic acid plus manure alleviated microbial N and P limitation by reducing soil electric conductance. • Humic acid plus manure promoted the positive regulation of soil organic C on inorganic C. • Electric conductance and microbial resource limitation were the main factors affecting soil C content. • Humic acid plus manure is more recommended in saline soil. Fertilization strategies have been widely studied as an effective strategy to improve the structure and fertility of saline soils. However, the effect of the combination of different organic ameliorants on the soil carbon (C) pool is still not clear. We conducted a two-year field experiment to investigate the influences of organic ameliorants on soil organic C (SOC) and inorganic C (SIC) stocks, and enzymatic stoichiometry for both top and subsoil (i.e., 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm) in the semi-arid saline region of Western China. Compared to chemical fertilizer (CK) soils, the content and stock of total C and SOC at 0–40 cm soil layer under organic ameliorant (OM), humus acid plus OM (HA + OM), and biofertilizer plus OM (B + OM) were 9–40% higher, whilst the content and stock of SIC at 0–40 cm soil layer under HA + OM were 18% higher after two years. In addition, soil microorganisms were generally limited by phosphorus (P), and HA + OM reduced microbial P and nitrogen (N) limitations after two years application. Structural equation modeling showed that reduced microbial N and P limitation under HA + OM was mainly directly driven by the decrease in electrical conductivity (EC) content. Redundancy analysis and correlation analysis further confirmed that soil EC and microbial resource limitation were the main factors affecting soil C content. Furthermore, HA + OM promoted the positive regulation of SOC on SIC, which facilitated the formation of SIC content. The higher accumulation of SOC and SIC content under HA + OM were both beneficial to the enhancement of the total C stock in saline soil. Overall, our results provided an effective regime to improve the soil saline and microbial environments, and increase the potential for rapid enhancement of the C stock of saline soil in Northwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first asymmetric total synthesis of cephanolide A, a complex hexacyclic C18 dinorditerpenoid from cephalotaxus sinensis, was achieved. The synthesis features a convergent strategy, which provides a flexible approach to prepare the biogenetically cephalotaxus diterpenoids and structurally related derivatives for biological studies. A mild intramolecular Prins cyclization was developed to construct the central hexahydrofluorenol skeleton (A‐B‐C ring), which relies on the originally proposed hydroacylation strategy. A remote hydroxy group directed hydrogenation was applied to stereospecifically reduce the tetra‐substituted enone unit. A sequence of ring forming steps, including lactonization, cation mediated etherification and Friedel–Crafts cyclization, was efficiently utilized to forge the cage‐like skeleton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first asymmetric total synthesis of cephanolide A, a complex hexacyclic C18 dinorditerpenoid from cephalotaxus sinensis, was achieved. The synthesis features a convergent strategy, which provides a flexible approach to prepare the biogenetically cephalotaxus diterpenoids and structurally related derivatives for biological studies. A mild intramolecular Prins cyclization was developed to construct the central hexahydrofluorenol skeleton (A‐B‐C ring), which relies on the originally proposed hydroacylation strategy. A remote hydroxy group directed hydrogenation was applied to stereospecifically reduce the tetra‐substituted enone unit. A sequence of ring forming steps, including lactonization, cation mediated etherification and Friedel–Crafts cyclization, was efficiently utilized to forge the cage‐like skeleton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine the impact of corneal crosslinking (CXL) performed over the laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) flap using the Standard CXL (S-CXL) protocol or under the flap after flap lift (flap-CXL) on regional corneal stiffness using Brillouin microscopy. Setting: University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, and Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Design: Laboratory ex vivo experiment. Methods: After epithelium debridement, LASIK flaps were created on intact fresh porcine eyes with a mechanical microkeratome. Then, S-CXL (riboflavin applied to the corneal surface followed by 3 mW/cm2 ultraviolet exposure with the flap in place for 30 minutes) or flap-CXL (riboflavin applied to the stromal bed after reflecting the flap followed by the same ultraviolet A exposure with the flap replaced) was performed. Depth profile of stiffness variation and averaged elastic modulus of anterior, middle, and posterior stroma were determined by analyzing Brillouin maps. Each eye served as its own control. Results: The study was performed on 24 fresh porcine eyes. S-CXL had maximal stiffening impact in the anterior most corneal stroma within the LASIK flap (8.40 +/- 0.04 GHz), whereas flap-CXL had lower maximal stiffening impact (8.22 +/- 0.03 GHz) (P <.001) that occurred 249 +/- 34 [mu]m under the corneal surface. S-CXL increased longitudinal modulus by 6.69% (anterior), 0.48% (middle), and -0.91% (posterior) as compared with flap-CXL, which increased longitudinal modulus by 3.43% (anterior, P <.001), 1.23% (middle, P <.1), and -0.78% (posterior, P =.68). Conclusions: The S-CXL technique generated significantly greater stiffening effect in the anterior cornea than a modified protocol with riboflavin administration under the flap (flap-CXL). Minimal stiffening occurred in the middle or posterior cornea with either protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first asymmetric total synthesis of cephanolide A, a complex hexacyclic C18 dinorditerpenoid from cephalotaxus sinensis, was achieved. The synthesis features a convergent strategy, which provides a flexible approach to prepare the biogenetically cephalotaxus diterpenoids and structurally related derivatives for biological studies. A mild intramolecular Prins cyclization was developed to construct the central hexahydrofluorenol skeleton (A‐B‐C ring), which relies on the originally proposed hydroacylation strategy. A remote hydroxy group directed hydrogenation was applied to stereospecifically reduce the tetra‐substituted enone unit. A sequence of ring forming steps, including lactonization, cation mediated etherification and Friedel–Crafts cyclization, was efficiently utilized to forge the cage‐like skeleton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between aquaporin-1 (AQP-1) protein expression in the choroid and choroid thickness (CT) during the recovery of form-deprivation (FD) myopia in guinea pigs. Materials and Methods: Seventy-two guinea pigs were randomly assigned to the normal control (NC) group, FD 21 group (animals wore a latex facemask in the right eye for 21 days to induce FD myopia) and four recovery (REC) groups. Guinea pigs in the REC groups also wore the facemask for 21 days to induce myopia; then, the facemask was removed, and the eye was re-exposed to the normal environment for 12 hours (REC ½ group), 1 day (REC 1 group), 2 days (REC 2 group), and 7 days (REC 7 group). All animals underwent biometric measurements (refraction, axial length, and CT), and the protein expression of AQP-1 in the choroid was determined using western blotting. Results: The protein expression of AQP-1 and CT were significantly decreased in the FD 21 group as compared with those in the NC group (p =.007 and p <.001). Both AQP-1 protein expression and CT gradually increased and peaked in the REC 2 group. Additionally, there were significant differences in AQP-1 protein expression and CT between the REC 2 group and all other groups (all p <.05). We observed a complete recovery in the in REC 7 group as compared with the NC group (p >.05). AQP-1 protein expression was significantly associated with CT (p =.001) in all groups; however, there was a significant negative correlation (p =.029) between AQP-1 protein expression and axial length in the REC groups. Conclusions: AQP-1 protein expression in the choroid was upregulated following recovery of FD myopia in guinea pigs, and these changes correlated with alterations in CT and axial length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel method is reported for the extraction and enrichment of phenylurea herbicides (PUHs) from rice and environmental water samples using MIL-100(Fe)-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles as adsorbents. Fe3O4@MIL-100(Fe) magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were prepared via self-assembly of MIL-100(Fe) NPs on the Fe3O4 surface modified by thioglycolic acid. The prepared Fe3O4@MIL-100(Fe) NPs displayed porosity, a conjugated structure and strong hydrogen bonding ability, which promoted high adsorption toward PUHs. We also showed that Fe3O4@MIL-100(Fe) NPs could adsorb and extract PUHs from environmental water and rice samples. After desorption using acetonitrile, PUH concentration was determined by a high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). The limits of detection (S/N = 3) were 0.037–0.166 ng mL−1 in environmental water samples and 0.127–0.254 ng g−1 in rice samples. The determination coefficients (R2) were in the range of 0.9986–0.9993. The results indicate that the synthesized Fe3O4@MIL-100 (Fe) NPs are stable and effective adsorbents for the magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of PUHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cocatalysts play an important role in converting solar energy into chemical energy for photocatalytic water splitting. Herein, a versatile and efficient cocatalyst based on amorphous Co species (a-Co-E) is synthesized through thermal treatment of a Co–ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid complex in air at 300 °C. Various Bi-based semiconductors loaded with the a-Co-E cocatalyst exhibit an impressively higher photocatalytic O2 evolution rate than their CoOx-loaded counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas systems have been harnessed as powerful genome editing tools in diverse organisms. However, the off-target effects and the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) compatibility restrict the therapeutic applications of these systems. Recently, a Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) variant, xCas9, was evolved to possess both broad PAM compatibility and high DNA fidelity. Through determination of multiple xCas9 structures, which are all in complex with single-guide RNA (sgRNA) and double-stranded DNA containing different PAM sequences (TGG, CGG, TGA, and TGC), we decipher the molecular mechanisms of the PAM expansion and fidelity enhancement of xCas9. xCas9 follows a unique two-mode PAM recognition mechanism. For non-NGG PAM recognition, xCas9 triggers a notable structural rearrangement in the DNA recognition domains and a rotation in the key PAM-interacting residue R1335; such mechanism has not been observed in the wild-type (WT) SpCas9. For NGG PAM recognition, xCas9 applies a strategy similar to WT SpCas9. Moreover, biochemical and cell-based genome editing experiments pinpointed the critical roles of the E1219V mutation for PAM expansion and the R324L, S409I, and M694I mutations for fidelity enhancement. The molecular-level characterizations of the xCas9 nuclease provide critical insights into the mechanisms of the PAM expansion and fidelity enhancement of xCas9 and could further facilitate the engineering of SpCas9 and other Cas9 orthologs. The crystal structures of an evolved Cas9 nuclease, xCas9, in complex with different protospacer adjacent motifs (PAMs) revealed the molecular mechanism for its expanded PAM compatibility and enhanced DNA fidelity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel ratio fluorescence probe of BN-L-CDs@[Ru(bpy) 3 ]2+ was designed. • The ratio fluorescent probes could sensitively detect ATP and CK. • The mechanism is that CK converts ATP to ADP while catalyzing Cr to CrP. • Smart phone platform could distinguish subtle colors for precise detection. Creatine kinase (CK), as an important biochemical index of cardiac injury, is very significant for early and accurate diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction or cardiac arrest. However, the sensitivity and specificity of CK detection still face great challenges. Herein, a ratio fluorescence probe was designed and prepared by electrostatic interaction between boron and nitrogen doped carbon dots (BN-L-CDs) as a response signal and Ru(bpy) 3 Cl 2 ·6H 2 O as independent reference signal. Notably, the BN-L-CDs@[Ru(bpy) 3 ]2+ displayed an ultra-fast fluorescence response to CK in ATP medium and an excellent linear relationship was observed between the concentration of CK and the fluorescence recovery ratio with a detection limit as low as 1.20 U/L. Mechanism investigates demonstrated that the "ON-OFF-ON" progress could be attributed to the formation of the non-luminescent ground state complex BN-L-CDs-ATP by the interaction of BN-L-CDs with ATP and the dissociation of complex under the catalysis of CK, respectively. Besides, the ratio fluorescence probe was further applied to living cell imaging due to its excellent biocompatibility. Importantly, a portable visual sensing platform was developed by combining a ratio fluorescence probe with a mobile phone color recognition application. Therefore, this new sensor provided a new perspective for the convenient monitoring of CK and paved the way for the relevant applications of clinical diagnostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Straw deep returning as an interlayer is a novel practice to enhance soil carbon and nutrients. However, the impact of applying various amounts of straw as an interlayer on soil quality still remain unclear in the saline soil. Therefore, a field experiment was carried out over four years (2015–2018) in Hetao Irrigation District, China. The aim was to evaluate the impact of four straw interlayer rates (i.e., 0, 6, 12, and 18 Mg ha−1) applied at 40 cm depth on soil quality index (SQI) and its relationship to sunflower yield in saline soil. Our results showed that, in comparison to no straw interlayer (CK), straw interlayers applied at rates of 6, 12, and 18 Mg ha−1 improved SQI on average by 2.0, 2.7, and 3.0 times in four years, respectively (p < 0.05). This suggested that straw deep returning as an interlayer improved SQI, especially for middle and high amounts (12 and 18 Mg ha−1). Partial least squares path model (PLSPM) illustrated that the improvement of SQI was due to the high-moisture and low-salt environment created by straw interlayer in the early two years (2015–2016), while the higher soil nutrients released from straw decomposition in the subsequent years (2017–2018). The improvement of SQI contributed to sunflower yield, which was related to the decrease of soil salinity, the increase of soil moisture, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and available nutrients under straw interlayers. The sunflower yield was increased by 8.7–13.4% under straw interlayers (p < 0.05), following the order of 18 = 12 > 6 >0 Mg ha−1. The greater increment of yield was detected during the initial phase of burying straw interlayers, which indicated that straw as an interlayer played a more important role than nutrient supply from straw decomposition. The findings highlighted that appropriate straw return amount (i.e., 12 Mg ha−1) as an interlayer is an economic practice to benefit soil quality and crop yield synchronously in salt-affected soils. [Display omitted] • Straw deep returning as interlayer improved soil quality. • Great soil quality was due to the high moisture and low salt in the first two years. • Great soil quality was due to the higher soil nutrients in the last two years. • The improvement of soil quality significantly increased sunflower yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Super light 3D nanocellulose aerogel foam was built and demonstrated superior oil adsorption capability. Abstract In this work, the concentration effect of both nanocellulose and sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) on the fabrication of a super light 3D hierarchical framework adsorbent nanocellulose aerogel foam (NAF) is exploited through a high speed mechanical foaming and solvent-free method by adding SDS. The results show that the optimal concentration of nanocellulose and SDS for preparation of this 3D NAF/SDS is 0.4 and 0.2 wt%, accordingly. By utilizing unique gridding framework of NAF/SDS, a low density of 1.50 mg cm−3 and high adsorption capacity of 206.79, 194.75 and 145.20 g g−1 towards cyclohexane, ethyl acetate, and vacuum pump oil, accordingly, are achieved in the as-prepared NAF/SDS, which is much higher than that of conventional nanocellulose aerogel (NA) (52.07, 81.12 and 34.52 g g−1, respectively). The results illustrate that this NAF/SDS is a promising candidate for preparing 3D hierarchical network structure from natural polymer cellulose in an environmental control for oil adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The controlling effect of three catch crops (sweet corn, amaranth and sweet sorghum) on nitrate leaching was evaluated. • The fate of N due to three catch crops was simulated via the WHCNS model. • Three catch crops significantly reduced N leaching during the summer fallow season. • Amaranth was recommended to reduce negative environmental impacts. Abstract Chinese intensive greenhouse vegetable systems are characterized by high input of water and nutrients, which are not sustainable. There is an urgent need to explore smart and practical strategies to convert the "high input-low output" systems to "optimal input-output" ones. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different catch crops on reducing nitrate leaching in the vegetable greenhouse during the summer fallow season. A two-year field experiment with three catch crops, i.e., sweet corn (SC), amaranth (A) and sweet sorghum (SG), and no catch crop (CK) were conducted in vegetable greenhouse in Dingzhou city, Hebei province, China. The measured soil water content and inorganic nitrogen (N) content in soil profile, biomass and crop N uptake were used to validate the WHCNS (Soil Water Heat Carbon Nitrogen Simulator) model, soil water movement and nitrate leaching were simulated. The results showed that the catch crops decreased the water drainage by 18.2–29.0% and nitrate leaching by 23.3–42.3% respectively, compared with CK. The water drainage reduction ranked as SC > SG > A, while the nitrate leaching reduction was A > SC > SG. The biomass was SC > SG > A, while the crop N uptake was SC > A > SG. Sweet corn could absorb the residual nitrate in the deep soil layers due to the long root system, while amaranth could absorb most residual nitrate in the surface soil. Amaranth showed greater N-uptake capacity than sweet corn, and the nitrate was mainly accumulated in the surface soil. Planting amaranth as summer catch crop reduced nitrate leaching in the vegetable greenhouses. Our study provides a guideline for selecting effective catch crops in intensive vegetable greenhouses in North China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The search of multifunctional epoxy nanocomposites with both strength and toughness combined with smart features such as electrical conductivity is essential in design of advanced materials. In this work, by utilizing a binary nanofiller strategy, both strength and toughness as well as high electrical conductivity are obtained in epoxy with trace nanopolystyrene grafted with epichlorohydrin (nano g -PS) to facilitate the dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The increased tensile strength (37.6%) and flexural strength (34.4%) are acquired in nano g -PS (0.0677 vol%)/MWCNTs (0.0335 vol%)/epoxy in contrast to pure epoxy. A remarkably improved tensile toughness up to 379.2% and an increased elongation at break up to 208.3% are obtained in this epoxy nanohybrid. The synergistic interactions among nano g -PS, MWCNTs and epoxy matrix as well as the state transition of nano g -PS from glassy state to fluid state provide an improved dispersion of nanofillers which is responsible for the increased electrical conductivity and enhanced mechanical properties. The decreased surface resistivity allows these nanohybrids to sufficiently dissipate surface charges as an antistatic material. This work provides an effective way to disperse carbon nanotubes with small amount of thermoplastic PS to simultaneously strengthen and toughen the thermosetting epoxy while introducing highly conductive function. Graphical abstract Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dinotefuran is a promising neonicotinoid insecticide with chiral structure. In the present study, the stereoselective toxicity of dinotefuran to Daphnia magna (D. magna) was studied. The present result showed that S -dinotefuran inhibited the reproduction of D. magna at 5.0 mg/L. However, both R -dinotefuran and S -dinotefuran had no genotoxicity to D. magna. Additionally, neither R -dinotefuran nor S -dinotefuran had negative influences on the motor behavior of D. magna. However, S -dinotefuran inhibited the feeding behavior of D. magna at 5.0 mg/L. Both R -dinotefuran and S -dinotefuran induced oxidative stress effect in D. magna after exposure. R -dinotefuran significantly activated the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), while S -dinotefuran showed the opposite effect. S -dinotefuran had more obvious activation effect on the acetylcholinesterase (AchE) activity and trypsin activity compared to R -dinotefuran. The transcriptome sequencing results showed that S -dinotefuran induced more DEGs in D. magna , and affected the normal function of ribosome. The DEGs were mainly related to the synthesis and metabolism of biomacromolecules, indicating the binding mode between dinotefuran enantiomer and biomacromolecules were different. Additionally, the present result indicated that the digestive enzyme activity and digestive gene expression levels in D. magna were greatly enhanced to cope with the inhibition of S -dinotefuran on the feeding. [Display omitted] • Both R -dinotefuran and S -dinotefuran had no genotoxicity to D. magna. • S -dinotefuran inhibited the feeding behavior of D. magna at 5.0 mg/L. • S -dinotefuran had stronger influence on ribosome than R -dinotefuran. • S -dinotefuran had activating effect on the digestive capacity of D. magna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a nanocarbon bridged nanomagnetite network (NC-NMN) is developed through the electrospinning of epichlorohydrin functionalized polystyrene ( f -PS), followed by the direct calcination of f -PS and ferric nitrate, which is capable of superfast removing hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from polluted water within only 15 s benefiting from its gridding framework, with an adsorption rate constant of 1.64 g mg −1  min −1 according to the pseudo-second-order kinetics. The well-fitted Langmuir isotherm model indicates a monolayer adsorption for Cr(VI) on NC-NMN. The thermodynamic parameters including negative Δ G ° and positive Δ H ° demonstrate that the Cr(VI) adsorption on NC-NMN is spontaneous and endothermic. The Cr(VI) adsorption retention, which is only 3.8%, is achieved for NC-NMN after five cycles, exhibiting a prominent stability and an excellent recyclability. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), zeta potential and energy-filter transmission electron spectroscopy (EFTEM) results illustrate that both the electrostatic attraction and the network structure of NC-NMN are responsible for the superior Cr(VI) adsorption performance. This work intends to provide a new method for designing the novel structure materials for polluted water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At room temperature, a large negative out-of-plane magnetoresistance (MR), [ R ( H )- R (0)]/ R (0), with a value of −35.76% at magnetic field of 9 T has been obtained in the cobalt ferrite (CoFe 2 O 4 )/polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites with CoFe 2 O 4 loading of 40.0 wt% prepared by surface initiated polymerization (SIP) method, which is strongly related to the weak localization (WL) model in the weak disordered system. The negative MR at room temperature in the CoFe 2 O 4 /PANI nanocomposites exhibits the obvious nanoparticle loading and magnetic field dependent properties. Both thermal activated transport model and Mott variable range hopping (VRH) model are applied to express the electrical transport mechanism for the temperature regimes of 180–290 K and 50–180 K, accordingly. The electrical transport in the CoFe 2 O 4 /PANI nanocomposites obeys the 3D VRH transport mechanism at low temperature range of 50–180 K. The estimated activation energy E g for the CoFe 2 O 4 /PANI nanocomposites with different CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticle loadings of 10.0, 20.0, 40.0, and 60.0 wt% is 61, 63, 65, and 87 meV, respectively. The coating of PANI on the surface of CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticle reveals the significant effect on both the remanence and coercivity of CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduced-order models of the bladed disk of the aero-engine compressor were established by adopting Prestressed component mode synthesis (PCMS) method. The frequency veering characteristics of the tuned bladed disk were analyzed. From the aspect of the strain energy, the forced vibration response of the mistuned bladed disk was analyzed, along with calculation of the contribution degree factors, the localization factors and frequency veering distances, finding the influences of the frequency veering distance, the contribution degree factors and the localization. The results show that frequency veering has significant influence on vibration localization of the mistuned bladed disk; in the region of frequency veering, the degree of vibration localization of the mistuned bladed disk is relatively high; along with the changes of the frequency veering distance, the contribution degree of the strain energy of the blades of localization of the mistuned bladed disk shows the certainty of regularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the relationship between salt-affected soils and their adjacent river systems is critical to address the challenges posed by soil salinization on agricultural production. Among the various biophysical and land management factors linked to soil salinization, few studies have investigated the importance of the distance along the river. Based on the Hetao Irrigation District of the Yellow River Basin, we collected 5314 soil samples and analyzed 17 soil parameters to explore the relationship between salt-affected soils and their distance along the river. Soil salinization was reinforced by the distance along the river, as a trade-off between soil ion accumulation and nutrient regulation. Soil total water-soluble salt content increased by 16.4 mg kg−1 every kilometer, likely due to ions leaching from the soils upstream and partially accumulating in the soils downstream, especially for Cl-, SO 4 2-, and Na+. Greater input and less solubility of Ca2+ based soil amendments, phosphorus fertilizers, and organic materials on the less salt-affected soils upstream may explain the declines in soil Ca2+, available phosphorus, and soil organic matter with distance along the river. With every kilometer along the river, soil exchangeable sodium and cation exchange capacity increased by 8.89 × 10−4 and 1.26 × 10−2 cmol kg−1, respectively, which led to an increase in soil exchangeable sodium percentage by 9.59 × 10−5. The increase in soil exchangeable sodium along the river was mainly due to Na+ accumulation, while soil cation exchange capacity was regulated by soil organic matter and total nitrogen. Soil pH increased by 1.21 × 10−3 per kilometer along the river, associated with the decrease of soil organic matter. Future saline soil amelioration and reutilization initiatives at regional scales may be improved by accounting for the changes in soil physicochemical properties resulting from the distance along the river. [Display omitted] • Relationship between distance along the river (DAR) and soil salinization was evaluated. • 17 soil parameters were investigated based on 5314 soil samples. • Na+ was the key driving factor for soil salinization. • DAR was a fundamental parameter linked to soil salinization. • Reinforced soil salinization with DAR: a trade-off between ions and nutrients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Serum albumin (ALB) and hemoglobin (HGB) are important serum biochemical indices of the nutritional status of patients and are associated with cancer development. We investigated the relationship between ALB and HGB levels and clinicopathologic characteristics of early-stage cervical cancer to determine the influence of ALB and HGB on the prognosis of early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: The clinical data of 560 patients with International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO, 2009) stage IA1-IIA2 cervical cancer from January 2005 to December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. The relationship between serum ALB and HGB levels and clinicopathological characteristics of patients were analyzed. The patients were followed-up for 12–138 months. The effects of ALB and HGB levels on the prognosis were analyzed by Cox regression, log-rank test, and the Kaplan–Meier method. Results: The rate of patients with pelvic lymph node metastasis (PLNM), tumor diameter ≥ 4 cm, lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), and deep stromal invasion was significantly higher in the anemia and hypoalbuminemia group than in the normal group (P < 0.05). The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients in the hypoalbuminemia group and anemia group were significantly lower than that of the normal group (P < 0.05). FIGO stage, tumor diameter, PLNM, depth of stromal invasion, LVSI, the levels of ALB and HGB were risk factors for the prognosis of cervical cancer patients (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Patients with hypoproteinemia and anemia in early-stage cervical cancer are more likely to have higher tumor stage, larger tumor size, PLNM, LVSI, and deep stromal invasion. In addition, patients with hypoproteinemia and anemia have a poorer prognosis than those without the condition. Therefore, it is of great significance to detect the ALB and HGB levels of patients and improve the nutritional status of patients in a timely manner for better prognosis of cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous molecule endowed with diverse biological functions, offering vast potential in the realm of cancer treatment. Considerable efforts have been dedicated to NO-based cancer therapy owing to its good biosafety and high antitumor activity, as well as its efficient synergistic therapy with other antitumor modalities. However, delivering this gaseous molecule effectively into tumor tissues poses a significant challenge. To this end, nano drug delivery systems (nano-DDSs) have emerged as promising platforms for in vivo efficient NO delivery, with remarkable achievements in recent years. This review aims to provide a summary of the emerging NO-driven antitumor nanotherapeutics. Firstly, the antitumor mechanism and related clinical trials of NO therapy are detailed. Secondly, the latest research developments in the stimulation of endogenous NO synthesis are presented, including the regulation of nitric oxide synthases (NOS) and activation of endogenous NO precursors. Moreover, the emerging nanotherapeutics that rely on tumor-specific delivery of NO donors are outlined. Additionally, NO-driven combined nanotherapeutics for multimodal cancer theranostics are discussed. Finally, the future directions, application prospects, and challenges of NO-driven nanotherapeutics in clinical translation are highlighted. [Display omitted] • NO-driven nanotherapeutics offer novel choices for cancer therapy. • Nano-DDS endows NO molecule with pharmaceutical and therapeutic advantages. • NO-driven nanotherapeutics have a bright clinical prospect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this communication, we presented a novel strategy to control the ROP of α-amino acid N-carboxy-anhydrides using the concept of frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs). An FLP intermediate containing an interaction between the bulky borane Lewis acid and the amine groups of the propagation chain end is essential to accomplish the polypeptide synthesis with well-defined structures under mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The N 2 O emissions sub-models from DAYCENT 4.5 were coupled with WHCNS-Veg model. • Soil hydraulic parameters had a relatively higher sensitivity on N 2 O emissions. • The model performed well in modeling N 2 O emissions under different management systems. • The N 2 O emissions in spring-summer season were far higher than the autumn-winter season. • Substituting organic manure for chemical fertilizer could reduce the N 2 O emissions in greenhouse. Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from greenhouse vegetable production systems (GVPS) is helpful to direct carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the performance of the improved WHCNS-Veg model (soil Water Heat Carbon Nitrogen Simulation for Vegetable) in simulating nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions under different GVPS and (ii) analyze the impact of different management systems on N 2 O emissions from the GVPS. Greenhouse vegetable experiments were carried out under different management systems, including conventional (CON), integrated (INT) and organic (ORG), in Quzhou County, Hebei province from 2013 to 2015. Field observations of soil water content, soil nitrate concentration and N 2 O emissions were used to calibrate and validate the WHCNS-Veg model. The sensitivity analysis results showed that the effects of soil hydraulic parameters on N 2 O emissions were higher than those of N transformation and vegetable genetic parameters. The improved WHCNS-Veg model simulated soil water content, soil nitrate concentration and N 2 O emissions well under different GVPS. The average N 2 O emissions in the spring-summer season (16.3 kg N ha−1) were about 2.5 times higher than the autumn-winter season (6.4 kg N ha−1). Among the four seasons, the average N 2 O emissions of CON, ORG and INT were 13.5, 11.3 and 9.3 kg N ha−1, respectively, accounting for 1.4–1.7% of the total fertilizer input. The N 2 O emissions of the INT and ORG systems were 31.1% and 16.3% lower than the CON treatment, respectively. The results indicated that the improved WHCNS-Veg model can be used to simulate and analyze N 2 O emissions under different management systems and substituting organic manure for chemical fertilizer could effectively reduce the N 2 O emissions in the GVPS. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited water resources have severely restricted saline soil amelioration and utilization in the Hetao irrigated area, China. Burying straw interlayer is an effective management for salt-affected soil amelioration. However, little is known whether the straw interlayer could boost soil fertility and improve bacterial community, while reducing irrigation water consumption by 10% in the third and fourth years after application. Therefore, the legacy effect of the combination of straw interlayer and irrigation water reduction was investigated following the three treatments: (i) no straw interlayer plus 100% irrigation (CK); (ii) straw interlayer plus 100% irrigation (SI+W100), and (iii) straw interlayer plus 90% irrigation (SI+W90). SI+W90 significantly increased 0–40 cm soil organic carbon (SOC) content and soil SOC/TN (C/N) ratio than CK by 12% and 13%, respectively. In addition, SI+W90 significantly decreased 0–40 cm soil total nitrogen (TN) and SOC contents by 10% and 8% respectively, but significantly increased 0–40 cm soil C/N ratio by 9%, compared to SI+W100. Furthermore, SI+W100 and SI+W90 significantly increased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria , Bacteroidetes , and Nitrospirae than that of CK, while SI+W90 significantly decreased the relative abundance of Acidobacteria compared to SI+W100, and these bacterial phyla were significantly correlated with 0–40 cm SOC content. Notably, there was no significant correlation between crop yield and soil parameters in 2018 with the relatively low yield, while crop yield was significantly correlated with 0–20 cm SOC content and the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes in 2019 with relatively high yield. These results indicated that both soil fertility and certain bacterial phyla may contribute to yield variation. Therefore, SI+W90 maintained crop yield in the two years. In conclusion, the combination of straw interlayer and irrigation water reduction may be more recommended for agricultural sustainable development under the condition of limited irrigation water supply in the arid and salt-affected regions. [Display omitted] • 100% irrigation with buried straw increased the TN relative to 90% irrigation. • Buried straw with 100% and 90% irrigation considerably increased SOC and affected bacterial community. • 90% irrigation with buried straw was more conducive to increase soil C/N ratio. • 90% irrigation with buried straw was suggested in arid saline soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]