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We examined the relation between home literacy environment (HLE), parents' reading skills, and children's emergent literacy skills (pinyin letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and vocabulary) and reading (word reading and reading comprehension) in a sample of 168 Chinese children (Mage = 74.26 months) followed from kindergarten to Grade 1. Results of structural equation modeling showed that code‐related HLE activities and access to literacy resources continued to predict children's emergent literacy skills after controlling for the effects of family's socioeconomic status and both parents' reading skills. Parents' reading skills also exerted a direct effect on children's reading comprehension. These findings suggest that HLE exerts a true environmental effect on children's reading skills that is not due to a genetic confound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractFood festivals play a significant role in driving economic growth and facilitating cultural exploration. However, they also present challenges to sustainability, particularly concerning food waste, which is further exacerbated by the pervasive "Camera Eats First" (CEF) phenomenon. Despite its importance, academic literature has given limited attention to this issue. This study bridges this gap by applying an extended value-attitude-behavior theory to explore food waste behaviors at food festivals, focusing on the moderating role of CEF. Employing partial least squares structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, it develops the Food Festival Consumption Values (FFCVs) model, incorporating factors like food taste, healthiness, appearance, peer influence, and festival atmosphere, tested with data from 452 consumers at the 22nd Macau Food Festival. Findings reveal direct influences of factors such as food taste, healthiness, and festival atmosphere on food waste behavior. However, the mediating and moderating effects of attitudes toward food waste and CEF exhibit mixed results. These results underscore the need for targeted waste reduction strategies, contributing to sustainable food festival management and aligning with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, enhancing policy and stakeholder efforts toward sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exploration of a facile approach to create structurally versatile substances carrying air‐stable radicals is highly desired, but still a huge challenge in chemistry and materials science. Herein, a non‐contact method to generate air‐stable radicals by exposing pyridine/imidazole ring‐bearing substances to volatile cyanuric chloride vapor, harnessed as a chemical fuel is reported. This remarkable feat is accomplished through a nucleophilic substitution reaction, wherein an intrinsic electron transfer event transpires spontaneously, originating from the chloride anion (Cl−) to the cationic nitrogen (N+) atom, ultimately giving rise to pyridinium/imidazolium radicals. Impressively, the generated radicals exhibit noteworthy stability in the air over one month owing to the delocalization of the unpaired electron through the extended and highly fused π‐conjugated pyridinium/imidazolium‐triazine unit. Such an approach is universal to diverse substances, including organic molecules, metal–organic complexes, hydrogels, polymers, and organic cage materials. Capitalizing on this versatile technique, surface radical functionalization can be readily achieved across diverse substrates. Moreover, the generated radical species showcase a myriad of high‐performance applications, including mimicking natural peroxidase to accelerate oxidation reactions and achieving high‐efficiency near‐infrared photothermal conversion and photothermal bacterial inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the transverse indentation test was applied to simulate the damage caused by impact to the carbon fiber‐reinforced plastics (CFRP)/Al hybrid tube, and composites patch repair technology was used to repair the hybrid tube with different damage degrees. The effects of width and ply‐number of the patch on failure behavior and crashworthiness under axial load were investigated. It was concluded that the technology can effectively reduce stress concentration around the indentation and then improve compressive strength. Increasing the ply‐number of the patch can mitigate the failure mode of med‐length collapse of the hybrid tube and can effectively improve the crashworthiness indicators. The optimal repair strategy increased energy absorption by 54.02% and mean crushing force by 53.66%. However, the improvement of failure behavior by the ply‐number is limited by patch width. Acoustic emission and infrared thermography technologies were used to further analyze the damage characteristics and damage evolution of the hybrid tubes in pre‐crushing stage. It was found that the crushing form of the middle collapse tended to produce a more intense acoustic emission response and higher temperature change than that of the end crushing. In engineering practice, it provides a valuable reference for the reasonable repair of composite tubular structures and their hybrid structures. Highlights: Composite repair technology is used for the repair of CFRP/Al hybrid tubes.The effects of ply‐number and width of patch on repair quality are studied.The technology can effectively improve residual crashworthiness of structure.The improvement of failure behavior by ply‐number is limited by patch width.The damage behavior of various crushing forms can be revealed by AE and IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2D ferromagnetic semiconductors are key to next‐generation spintronic devices in the post‐Moore era. The combination of ferromagnetic and optoelectronic properties offers exciting opportunities for advanced multifunctional devices in spin‐optoelectronic applications. Herein, the authors synthesize 2D van der Waals (vdW) CoxSn1‐xS with ferromagnetism and photoresponse through a bottom‐up reaction, which has a high yield compared to typical mechanical exfoliation. Ferromagnetic ordering is realized in 2D vdW semiconductor SnS by Co doping at the Sn sites. Magnetic properties are thoroughly studied at different doping concentrations, and first‐principles calculations are further performed to reveal the magnetism origin and spin interactions. In particular, a low Gilbert damping of 1.69 × 10−3 is obtained in vdW CoxSn1−xS through ferromagnetic resonance. In addition, photodetectors based on CoxSn1−xS quantum dots are demonstrated. These studies establish a promising semiconductor with both ferromagnetic ordering and photoelectric response, which provides unprecedented opportunities in spintronic‐photonic integrated applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microneme protein 2 (MIC2) and MIC2-associated protein (M2AP) play crucial roles in the gliding motility and host cell invasion of Toxoplasma gondii. Complex formation between MIC2 and M2AP is required for maturation and transport from the microneme to the parasite surface. Previous studies showed that M2AP associates with the 6th TSR domain of MIC2 (TSR6), but the detailed interaction remains unclear. In this study, we report crystal structures of M2AP alone and in complex with TSR6. TSR domains have an unusually thin, long structure with a layer of intercalated residues on one side. The non-layered side of TSR6 with hotspot residue His-620 at the center binds to M2AP. Remarkably, we show that TSR6 residue Y602 is dynamic; it equilibrates between being part of the layer (the layered state) and in a flipped-out state in the absence of M2AP. However, when bound to M2AP, Y602 shifts to the flipped-out state. Our findings provide insights into the association and stabilization of MIC2-M2AP complex, and may be used to develop new therapies to prevent infections caused by this parasite. Crystallographic and mutational analyses reveal key amino acid residues involved in the binding of microneme protein 2 (MIC2) to MIC2-associated protein (M2AP) in the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly enantioselective catalytic system for exo‐Diels–Alder reactions was developed based on the newly discovered bispyrrolidine diboronates (BPDB). Activated by various Lewis or Brønsted acids, BPDB can catalyze highly stereoselective asymmetric exo‐Diels–Alder reactions of monocarbonyl‐based dienophiles. When 1,2‐dicarbonyl‐based dienophiles are used, the catalyst can sterically distinguish between the two binding sites, which leads to highly regioselective asymmetric Diels–Alder reactions. BPDB can be prepared as crystalline solids on a large scale and are stable under ambient condition. Single‐crystal X‐ray analysis of the structure for acid‐activated BPDB indicated that its activation involves cleavage of a labile B←N bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly enantioselective catalytic system for exo‐Diels–Alder reactions was developed based on the newly discovered bispyrrolidine diboronates (BPDB). Activated by various Lewis or Brønsted acids, BPDB can catalyze highly stereoselective asymmetric exo‐Diels–Alder reactions of monocarbonyl‐based dienophiles. When 1,2‐dicarbonyl‐based dienophiles are used, the catalyst can sterically distinguish between the two binding sites, which leads to highly regioselective asymmetric Diels–Alder reactions. BPDB can be prepared as crystalline solids on a large scale and are stable under ambient condition. Single‐crystal X‐ray analysis of the structure for acid‐activated BPDB indicated that its activation involves cleavage of a labile B←N bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the role of distal (parents' education, family's income, parents' expectations, and parents' attitudes to the home teaching of literacy) and proximal (formal and informal home literacy environment, access to literacy resources, and extracurricular activities) parental factors in children's early literacy skills and whether the relations vary across affluent and disadvantaged societies in China. Five hundred fifty-three third-year kindergarten Chinese children (Mage = 74.59 months) were recruited from Jining, Luqiao, and Mapo and were assessed on measures of phonological awareness, vocabulary, pinyin knowledge, and word reading. Their parents filled out a questionnaire on their education and income as well as on the frequency of engaging in different home literacy activities, their expectations and attitudes to the home teaching of literacy, and their children's extracurricular activities. Results of multigroup analyses and mediation analyses revealed both direct and indirect effects of both distal and proximal parental factors on emergent literacy skills and word reading. In addition, the models were strikingly similar across the two settings. The findings suggest that the pathways of differential influences from parental factors to children's early literacy skills may be similar across socioeconomic contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Au modified TiO2/In2O3 hollow nanospheres were synthesized by the hydrolysis method using the carbon nanospheres as a sacrificial template. Compared to pure In2O3, pure TiO2, and TiO2/In2O3 based sensors, the Au/TiO2/In2O3 nanosphere-based chemiresistive-type sensor exhibited excellent sensing performances to formaldehyde at room temperature under ultraviolet light (UV-LED) activation. The response of the Au/TiO2/In2O3 nanocomposite-based sensor to 1 ppm formaldehyde was about 5.6, which is higher than that of In2O3 (1.6), TiO2 (2.1), and TiO2/In2O3 (3.8). The response time and recovery time of the Au/TiO2/In2O3 nanocomposite sensor were 18 s and 42 s, respectively. The detectable formaldehyde concentration could go down as low as 60 ppb. In situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS) was used to analyze the chemical reactions on the surface of the sensor activated by UV light. The improvement in the sensing properties of the Au/TiO2/In2O3 nanocomposites could be attributed to the nanoheterojunctions and electronic/chemical sensitization of the Au nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bridge decks need to be routinely inspected to ensure their serviceability, capacity, and safety under current traffic conditions. Traditionally, bridge deck inspection is performed on the ground by having inspectors either visually inspect surface conditions or interpret the acoustic feedback from hammer sounding or chain dragging to determine subsurface conditions. These traditional methods have many limitations, including but not limited to, expensive, labour-intensive, time-consuming, subjective, can exhibit a high degree of variability, requiring specialized staff on a regular basis, and unsafe. Recent advancements in remote sensing, especially small-uncrewed aircraft systems (S-UAS) based airborne imaging techniques and advanced image analysis techniques, have shown promise in improving current bridge deck inspection practices by providing an above-ground inspection method. This research explored the utility of S-UAS-based airborne imaging techniques and image processing techniques to develop a complete aerial data acquisition and analysis system to accurately detect and assess bridge deck wearing surface distresses in a timely and cost-effective manner. As part of the research project, a robust tool was also developed with the aim of being able to detect, extract, and map bridge deck wearing surface distresses with an adequate degree of accuracy while maximizing the ability to assist bridge inspectors with varying expertise. Research results revealed that the developed tool is able to effectively detect and map bridge deck wearing surface distresses at a high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulating the interlayer spacing of vanadium oxides by various pillars has commonly been used for improving zinc‐ion storage performance. However, most of the reported pillars are large and rigid, which sacrifices interlayer free volume, increases the steric hindrance, and results in large volume change. Herein, a layered vanadium oxide with –OH pillars by controllable heat treatment of layered vanadium oxide with rigid NH4+ pillars is prepared. Although the –OH pillars are small‐sized, they can firmly support the interlayers through the covalent bond. In addition, the rotatable –OH pillars can promote Zn‐ion diffusion and accommodate lattice deformation. Compared to the layered vanadium oxide with rigid pillars, the one with rotatable pillars shows a higher rate capability (321 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and 83 mAh g−1 at 20 A g−1) and a better cyclability (93% capacity retention over 2000 cycles at 5 A g−1). Further mechanism studies demonstrate that the rotatable pillars show low‐hindrance and high‐stability to regulate the interlayer structure. It is emphasized that the interlayer microenvironment can not be neglected, but is crucial for advanced electrodes of aqueous zinc‐ion batteries, rather than pursuing larger interlayer spacing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of environmentally friendly near-infrared reflective pigments Bi 2-x Er x MoO 6 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) were synthesized by high temperature solid-state method. The optical and structural characteristics of the synthesized pigment were characterized by ultraviolet–visible–near infrared diffuse reflection spectrum (UV–Vis–NIR spectrum), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The color of the samples changed from milky white to yellow with increasing Er3+ doping concentration. Importantly, the Er3+-doped Bi 2 MoO 6 pigments exhibit high NIR reflectance (ranging from 90.5% to 106.1%) in 700–2500 nm region and which is higher than the NIR reflectance of commercially available bismuth vanadate pigment (80%). Compared with BaSO 4 , Bi 2-0.6 Er 0.6 MoO 6 exhibits 106.1% NIR reflectance and 99.6% NIR solar reflectance. The thermal insulation experiments show that the bottom temperature of the aluminum plate coated with Bi 2 MoO 6 : Er coating decreases by 3 °C compared with that of the TiO 2 coating. Meanwhile, acid and alkali resistance tests show that these pigments may have a well chemically stable in the natural environment. We believe that the samples may have important applications in antisolar irradiation, energy saving and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the earliest forms of remote sensing, aerial photography has been regarded as an important part of the mapmaking process. Aerial photos, especially historical aerial photos, provide significant amount of valuable information for many applications and fields. However, due to limited funding support, most historical aerial photos have not been digitized and georeferenced yet, which substantially limits their utility for today's computer-based image processing and analysis. Traditionally, historical aerial photos are georeferenced with desktop GIS software applications. However, this method is expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. To address these limitations, this research developed a custom-built online georeferencing tool to enable georeferencing digitized historical aerial photos in a web environment, which is able to georeference historical aerial photos in a rapid and cost-effective manner. To evaluate the georeferencing performance, a set of 50 historical aerial photos were georeferenced with not only the developed online georeferencing tool but also two commercial desktop software programs. Research results revealed the custom-built online georeferencing tool provided the highest degree of accuracy while maximizing its accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near-infrared (NIR) emitting LED devices have broad applications. Using a visible light LED chip to excite Cr3+-activated phosphors to obtain NIR light has attracted extensive attention. In this study, a near-infrared luminescent material, Cr3+-doped Sc1−xTaO4, was synthesized by the element substitution method. It demonstrated a long emission wavelength (940 nm) and wide full width at half maximum (FWHM) (186 nm). The morphology, structure and photoluminescence of the samples were investigated using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy techniques. Moreover, the relationship between the NIR emission properties of Cr3+ and the substituted ions in the crystal matrix was studied. Based on this material, we fabricated near-infrared LED devices, which exhibited good near-infrared luminescence properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide every year, and most HCC patients are diagnosed with advanced disease and can only receive systemic treatment. TKIs are the most important components of the systemic treatment of HCC and have both good efficacy and adverse events (AEs).  METHODS: This analysis included 207 patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HCC who received oral treatment with apatinib. We analyzed the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with or without corresponding AEs to evaluate which AEs can predict the efficacy of apatinib.Results: Patients with hand-foot syndrome (HFS; p = 0.005), proteinuria (p = 0.006) and diarrhea (p < 0.001) had significantly better OS than those without corresponding AEs, and the appearance of HFS (p = 0.006) and proteinuria (p = 0.004) was associated with longer PFS.Conclusion: Among all the AEs induced by apatinib in the treatment of advanced HCC, proteinuria could potentially predict PFS, and diarrhea was a potential predictor of OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) remains a global health issue. The characterized virulent M. tb H37Rv, avirulent M. tb H37Ra and BCG strains are widely used as reference strains to investigate the mechanism of TB pathogenicity. Here, we attempted to determine metabolomic signatures associated with the Mycobacterial virulence in human macrophages through comparison of metabolite profile in THP-1-derived macrophages following exposure to the M. tb H37Rv, M. tb H37Ra and BCG strains. Results: Our findings revealed remarkably changed metabolites in infected macrophages compared to uninfected macrophages. H37Rv infection specifically induced 247 differentially changed metabolites compared to H37Ra or BCG infection. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed H37Rv specifically induces tryptophan metabolism. Moreover, quantitative PCR (qPCR) results showed that indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) and tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase 2 (TDO2) which converts the tryptophan to a series of biologically second metabolites were up-regulated in H37Rv-infected macrophages compared to H37Ra- or BCG-infected macrophages, confirming the result of enhanced tryptophan metabolism induced by H37Rv infection. These findings indicated that targeting tryptophan (Trp) metabolism may be a potential therapeutic strategy for pulmonary TB. Conclusions: We identified a number of differentially changed metabolites that specifically induced in H37Rv infected macrophages. These signatures may be associated with the Mycobacterial virulence in human macrophages. The present findings provide a better understanding of the host response associated with the virulence of the Mtb strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Table 3 Putative genes involved in phenylpropanoid pathway in I F. suspensa i HT

Sepsis is a severe immune system reaction to infection and a major cause of ICU-related fatalities. Because of the high mortality, high cost of treatment, and complex aetiology of sepsis, sepsis has a huge impact on healthcare. Some of the health complications in sepsis are abnormal cardiac functions, hypoperfusion, hypotension, tissue damage, multiple organ failure, and ultimately death. Individuals with weak immune systems and chronic medical conditions are highly vulnerable to sepsis. In sepsis, a patient shows the extreme immune response in the initial stage while prolonged immunosuppression in the later stages. Sepsis-driven immunosuppression ushers in death because sepsis cases develop secondary infections postrecovery. The later immunocompromised state in sepsis is attributed myeloid-derived suppressor cell upregulation and reduced immune activity displayed by lymphocytes (lymphocyte anergy). As a result, it is currently suggested that regulating the immune response is a better therapeutic approach than focusing on inflammation to improve the immune system's capacity to fight infections. Moreover, finding novel and accurate prognostic biomarkers that can help in rapid sepsis diagnoses and deciding better therapeutic strategies will significantly lower clinical case mortality rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourists base a significant portion of their decisions on the perception they have of a place, which is formed over a protracted period of time and serves as the foundation for word-of-mouth marketing. It is uncommon to talk about how to include travellers' word-of-mouth into tourism research. At the same time, the perception of a travel place has an impact on the entire travel experience as well as posttravel behaviour. This research investigates the impact of tourist destination image on travellers' word-of-mouth communication, and it builds a model of travellers' tourism awareness word-of-mouth communication based on the dual perspectives of cognition and emotion. The study demonstrates that the age of tourists accounted for the biggest proportion-up to 84.3%-among the three parameters influencing word-of-mouth communication among tourists. Second, the highest percentage for tourists' educational attainment is 61.1%; third, the highest percentage for tourists' occupation is 55.4%, demonstrating that age is the primary factor. The kind and strength of visitors' emotional reactions to the environment at their destination are determined by their emotions and the surrounding environment. Integration, which is reflected in tourists' tolerance and proximity to the destination environment, is the cognitive assessment of their perception of the location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past four decades, remote-sensing data and methodologies have been increasingly used in many fields to improve the efficiency, accuracy, or safety of data collection, and construction management is no exception. In recent years, unoccupied airborne systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, have emerged as an important platform for the collection of remote-sensing data. When coupled with increasingly affordable sensors and automated image processing techniques, UAS have made the application of remote-sensing approaches to myriad construction and civil engineering problems practical and attractive to the point that UAS-based airborne imaging is becoming routine for many construction management tasks. Based on our review of literature, a comprehensive discussion on the use of UAS methodologies for collecting and analyzing data to assist with construction research is much needed. This paper was developed to discuss current best practices in UAS aerial imagery collection and processing for construction research, including defining key terms. In addition, this paper discusses a variety of methods for the analysis of UAS collected aerial imagery for the following tasks: preconstruction planning, material tracking, project progress tracking, safety, as-built documentation, and building/structure inspection. This paper also includes a perspective on the future of UAS for a variety of construction management tasks. This work contributes to the Data Management and Data Science Body of Knowledge by informing construction researchers of the state of the art of UAS data collection and analysis methodologies. This study also provides practitioners with a comprehensive guide to the use of UAS for onsite construction management tasks, which is an essential component of e-Construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical aerial photos are important historical records, and subsequently, they have been widely used in many fields to study the physical and human characteristics of a place. Unfortunately, most historical aerial photos remain un-digitized and un-georeferenced on aging photographic film rolls, which significantly limits their usefulness for research and practice. This article is dedicated to discussing a funded initiative focusing on digitizing, georeferencing, creating metadata, indexing, archiving, and web-publishing New Mexico's historical aerial photos. As part of this initiative, a web application was developed to enable online georeferencing to increase georeferencing productivity, bounding box display to present the ground coverage extent of each historical aerial photo, and spatial search to increase the discoverability and use of historical aerial photos. Based on a set of open standards and open source software and libraries, application programming interfaces for the aforementioned web application were also developed and freely shared with archival and record management organizations across the United States to enable them to develop similar web applications, and ultimately, promoting the access and use of historical aerial photos for various purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pan-sharpening is a pixel-level image fusion process whereby a lower-spatial-resolution multispectral image is merged with a higher-spatial-resolution panchromatic one. One of the drawbacks of this process is that it may introduce spectral or radiometric distortion. The degree to which distortion is introduced is dependent on the imaging sensor, the pan-sharpening algorithm employed, and the context of the scene analyzed. Studies that evaluate the quality of pan-sharpening algorithms often fail to account for changes in geographic context and are agnostic to any specific applications of an end user. This research proposes an evaluation framework to assess the effects of six widely used pan-sharpening algorithms on normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) calculation in five contextually diverse geographic locations. Output image quality is assessed by comparing the empirical cumulative density function of NDVI values that are calculated by using pre-sharpened and sharpened imagery. The premise is that an effective algorithm will generate a sharpened multispectral image with a cumulative NDVI distribution that is similar to the pre-sharpened image. Research results revealed that, generally, the Gram–Schmidt algorithm introduces a significant degree of spectral distortion regardless of sensor and spatial context. In addition, higher-spatial-resolution imagery is more susceptible to spectral distortions upon pan-sharpening. Furthermore, variability in cumulative density of spectral information in fused images justifies the application of an analytical framework to assist users in selecting the most effective methods for their intended application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the evolution and interaction of the Pearcey–Gaussian beam in nonlinear Kerr medium are numerically studied. The results show that the self-focusing effect can suppress the inversion of the Pearcey–Gaussian beam and cause the main lobe and side lobes of Pearcey–Gaussian beam to separate, forming solitons during propagation, while the defocusing effect can retain partially the beam inversion and accelerate its spatial expansion after the inversion. As for the interaction between the Pearcey–Gaussian beams, in self-focusing medium, except for the elastic interaction between the main lobes, the in-phase between them can result in the pattern of periodic collision around the center of coordinate caused by the side lobes, while the out-of-phase can suppress its occurrence. In defocusing medium, the interactions of the in-phase and out-of-phase Pearcey–Gaussian beams show the constructive and destructive interference, respectively. Finally, the influence of the width of Gaussian function in Pearcey–Gaussian beam on the interaction of the two Pearcey–Gaussian beams is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the developmental relationship between cognitive-linguistic skills (nonverbal IQ, vocabulary, phonological awareness, rapid automatised naming [RAN]), home environment factors (direct teaching, shared book reading, access to literacy resources, parents' expectations, family's socioeconomic status [SES]), and pinyin letter knowledge in kindergarten, pinyin reading accuracy at the beginning of Grade 1, and pinyin reading fluency at the middle of Grade 1 in a sample of 159 Chinese children (mean age = 72.70 months). Results showed that phonological awareness, RAN, and direct teaching were associated with pinyin letter knowledge. RAN consistently predicted pinyin reading accuracy and fluency. Moreover, parents' expectations and family's SES predicted pinyin reading indirectly through RAN and direct teaching. These findings suggest that the cognitive-linguistic and home environment predictors of pinyin reading are similar to those for Chinese reading, except that vocabulary and access to literacy resources may be less important for pinyin reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum information encoded in an arbitrary quantum state can be hidden from the reduced subsystem and spread over quantum correlation, which is quantum information masking. In this paper, we discuss the problem of masking quantum information encoded in pure and mixed states, respectively from different perspectives. Firstly, for the masking quantum information encoded in pure states, we expand the maskable non-orthogonal set Q over previous literature. Then, for the masking quantum information encoded in mixed states, we acquire the restricted condition that the information contained in states ρ is masked by the operator S. Finally, we get a signification conclusion by working out a classification on S | 0 ⟩ and S | 1 ⟩ mapping result of masking quantum information encoded in mixed states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ionic liquid-modified molecularly imprinted polymer (IL-MIP) composite with sulfamethazine as a template molecule and methyl acrylic acid and 1-aminopropyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide as functional monomers was successfully synthesized. The achieved IL-MIP was characterized and evaluated in detail and utilized in the extraction and cleanup of sulfonamides (SAs) in poultry egg samples. The results demonstrated that the IL-MIP possessed a broad reorganization toward SAs and could selectively adsorb 21 kinds of SA compounds. Furthermore, the solid-phase extraction column based on the IL-MIP was used in the extraction and cleanup of 21 SAs in eggs, and the confirmatory detection of SAs was performed using ultraperformance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Under optimum conditions, the limits of detection (LODs) for all SAs ranged from 0.1 ng·g−1 to 1.5 ng·g−1, and the LOD of this method was better than those of the existing methods. The recoveries of SA compounds spiked in egg samples ranged from 84.3% to 105.8%, with low relative standard deviations (<15%). The developed method based on the IL-MIP extraction and cleanup was successfully used in the detection of 21 SAs in more than 100 real poultry egg samples. The results indicated that the proposed method was suitable for detecting 21 SAs in poultry eggs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Coal ash and AAEMs have a significant promoting effect on the NH 3 oxidation. • AAEMs promote the decomposition of N 2 O at 800 °C. • Alkali metals (K and Na) only promote the reduction of NO at 600–800 °C. • AAEMs enhance the adsorption capacity of NH 3 on the active site of the coal ash. • A appropriate O 2 concentration should be selected for the power plant. Ammonia as an eco-friendly and carbon-free energy has been greatly concerned at home and abroad. It has been utilized in the ammonia and coal co-firing process, demonstrating robust market viability. Nonetheless, due to the element N within ammonia causing the production of NO x , the catalytic effect and reaction mechanics of AAEMs in coal ash on the NH 3 oxidation remain elusive. In this study, the catalytic effects of AAEMs (K, Ca, Na and Mg) on NH 3 oxidation were investigated through experiments, and the reaction mechanism was elucidated from a microscopic perspective by density functional theory (DFT). The experimental results show that the addition of AAEMs does enhance the oxidation potential of NH 3 during coal and ammonia co-firing process, and promote the transformation of NH 3 to NO, N 2 O and N 2. However, the promotion effect of different AAEMs is different, consequently influencing the selectivity of NH 3 oxidation pathway. At 600–800 °C, alkaline earth metals (Ca and Mg) facilitate the oxidation of NH 3 while alkali metals (K and Na) have the opposite effect. Mg has the highest promoting effect on the conversion of NH 3 to NO at 600–800 °C, but the catalytic effect of K and Na is more dominant from 800 °C to 900 °C. The transformation from NH 3 to N 2 O remains the same, but the catalytic impact of Ca is mostly pronounced. AAEMs can reduce thermal decomposition activation energy of N 2 O, and the decomposition of N 2 O can be promoted at 800 °C. The DFT results indicate that AAEMs can enhance the adsorption capacity of NH 3 on the active site of the coal ash surface, and reduce the activation energy of NH 3 oxidation, thereby accelerating the transformation of NH 3 to other nitrogen-containing species. This study provides new insight into the evidence for the enhanced catalytic effect of AAEMs on NH 3 oxidation during ammonia and coal co-firing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are hazardous to humans, and dietary intake acts as the primary pathway for human exposure to CPs. Takeout food is popular worldwide, but the presence of CPs in takeout food and its packaging is unclear. In this study, the concentrations and distributions of short- and median-chain CPs (SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively) were measured in 97 samples of four categories of takeout food and 33 samples of three types of takeout packaging. The SCCP and MCCP median concentrations for the takeout food samples were 248 and 339, 77.2 and 98.2, 118 and 258, 42.9 and 64.4 ng/g wet weight in meat, starch, half meat/half starch, and vegetables, respectively. Takeout food contained higher concentrations of SCCPs than MCCPs. The dominant SCCP and MCCP congener groups in takeout food were C 10 Cl 6–7 and C 14 Cl 7–8 , respectively. The CP concentrations in takeout food were lower than those in packaging. The SCCP and MCCP median concentrations, respectively, in packaging were 9750 and 245 ng/g in polypropylene, 2830 and 135 ng/g in paper, and 2060 and 119 ng/g in aluminum foil. The concentrations of SCCPs and MCCPs were comparable in aluminum foil, whereas the concentrations of SCCPs were higher than those of MCCPs in polypropylene and paper. Correlations between CP concentrations in the takeout food and packaging indicated that CPs in packaging were potentially an important source of CPs in the takeout food. A dietary exposure risk assessment showed the takeout food posed a low risk for human exposure to CPs; however, high-frequency consumption may pose a health risk. This study clarified the current contamination situation in takeout food in Beijing, China. The resulting data could be used to prevent human exposure to CPs through dietary intake and to facilitate the market's control over the quality of takeout food. • Chlorinated paraffin (CP) concentrations are highest in animal-origin takeout food. • CP concentrations are highest in polypropylene and lowest in aluminum foil. • Shorter carbon chain and lower chlorination CPs are dominant in food and packaging. • CPs in packaging are a potential source for CPs in takeout food. • The human exposure risk to CPs through takeout food intake is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2 O 3 @TiO 2 core-shell nanocubes were successfully prepared via hydrothermal method and subsequent water bath method. The characterization results show that the size of the In 2 O 3 @TiO 2 nanocomposites is 250–350 nm. The In 2 O 3 @TiO 2 nanocomposites based sensor presents excellent sensing response to formaldehyde at ppb level. The response of In 2 O 3 @TiO 2 nanocomposites based sensor to 1 ppm formaldehyde is about 5.3 at room temperature under UV activation, which is three times higher than that of the pure In 2 O 3 based sensor. The response/recovery time of In 2 O 3 @TiO 2 nanocomposites based sensor are 24 s and 52 s, respectively. The involved chemical reactions activated by UV had been investigated by in-situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS). This work proves that core-shell nanocubes combined with UV activation could significantly enhance the sensing properties of the sensors. • Nanocube-shaped In 2 O 3 @TiO 2 heterojunction were prepared using facile hydrothermal method and subsequent water bath method. • The oxidation of formaldehyde on the surface of In 2 O 3 @TiO 2 was studied by in-situ DRIFTS under UV activation at RT. • The In 2 O 3 @TiO 2 based sensor exhibits high response and selectivity to HCHO under UV activation at room temperature. • The detection limit of the seneor is 60 ppb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reintubation is a severe complication during foreign body (FB) removal that uses flexible bronchoscopy. Objective: To investigate the incidence and risk factors for reintubations in children undergoing FB extraction by flexible bronchoscopy in a single center. Design: A retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting: All children with foreign body aspiration at Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from January 2015 to December 2020. Patients: Children with FB removal using a flexible bronchoscopy were enrolled in the trial according to the inclusion criteria. Measurements: Both multivariable and logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the association between characteristic data and reintubations. The results were presented as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: In total, 244 patients met with the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Among those participants, 28 children (11.5%) underwent reintubations after FB removal by flexible bronchoscopy. Independent factors associated with reintubations were identified as operative time ≥ 60 min [OR: 3.68, 95% CI (1.64–8.82)] and ASA ≥ III [OR: 5.7, 95% CI (1.23–26.4)]. Conclusions: Children undergoing FB removal by a flexible bronchoscopy may encounter with a high incidence of postoperative reintubations. Both long operative duration and a severe physical status cause a growing risk of reintubations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to solve the multiscale problems faced by the current classroom student behavior target detection based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) in the wireless network environment. Firstly, the recent reform of Japanese language education is introduced. Secondly, the multiscale problem research of classroom student behavior target detection is discussed. A CNN-based new extraction network is designed based on dilated convolution and pyramid features. An anchor reconstruction algorithm based on improved K-means clustering is presented for the self-made student behavior dataset. Finally, the performance of the designed algorithm is tested. The anchor reconstruction algorithm's mean average precision is 83.2%, and the average intersection over union is 73.7%. The experimental results of this scheme outperform the original single-shot multibox detector and K-means algorithms. Compared with other algorithms, the designed multiscale detection algorithm of classroom student behavior has the best detection effect on Pascal visual object classes (VOC) dataset. The detection accuracy of the entire dataset is 79.8%. Overall, the multiscale detection algorithm for classroom student behavior has a better detection effect on the Pascal VOC dataset and has good generalization ability and robustness. This research can guide students to recognize their class status and make corresponding adjustments to improve their learning efficiency, which has essential research significance and application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence suggests that physiological distress is highly correlated with cancer incidence and mortality. However, the mechanisms underlying psychological challenges‐mediated tumor immune evasion are not systematically explored. Here, it is demonstrated that acute restraint (AR) increases the level of the plasma neuropeptide hormones, kisspeptin, and the expression levels of its receptor, Gpr54, in the hypothalamus, splenic and tumor‐infiltrating T cells, suggesting a correlation between the neuroendocrine system and tumor microenvironment. Accordingly, administration of kisspeptin‐10 significantly impairs T cell function, whereas knockout of Gpr54 in T cells inhibits lung tumor progression by suppressing T cell dysfunction and exhaustion with or without AR. In addition, Gpr54 defective OT‐1 T cells show superior antitumor activity against OVA peptide‐positive tumors. Mechanistically, ERK5‐mediated NR4A1 activation is found to be essential for kisspeptin/GPR54‐facilitated T cell dysfunction. Meanwhile, pharmacological inhibition of ERK5 signaling by XMD8‐92 significantly reduces the tumor growth by enhancing CD8+ T cell antitumor function. Furthermore, depletion of GPR54 or ERK5 by CRISPR/Cas9 in CAR T cells intensifies the antitumor responses to both PSMA+ and CD19+ tumor cells, while eliminating T cell exhaustion. Taken together, these results indicate that kisspeptin/GPR54 signaling plays a nonredundant role in the stress‐induced tumor immune evasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Infection after internal fixation surgery is an orthopedic serious complication which affect the fracture healing. The primary objective of this study was to verify the effects of a Peptide Mel4-coated titanium plate applied in the treatment of infection after internal fixation of open fracture. Materials and methods: Eighty-eight rabbits were intravenously inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa suspensions. Bacterial cultures were obtained from titanium plates at 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th days. Blood samples were collected at 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th days after the infection. Results: Mel4-coated titanium plates have significant inhibitory effects on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P < 0.05), and there are significant differences in serum IL-1 and TNF-α levels (P < 0.05). Conclusion: We suggest that the use of Mel4-coated titanium plates may be a promising way to control postoperative infection of open fracture in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal oxides/hydroxides have attracted great attention as battery‐type electrodes for supercapacitors due to their high theoretical capacitance. However, their poor electrical conductivity and ion transport kinetic severely limit their rate performance, hindering the practical application for high power devices. Herein, a simple co‐precipitation method to synthesize partial substitution of OH– with Cl– in Co, Ni layered hydroxide in saturated NaCl solution is reported. The Cl– substitution significantly increases the interlayer H2O content from 5.3% to 10.2% by changing the polarity of the hydroxide layers, leading to ultrafast ion transport through the Grotthuss behavior. Moreover, the Cl– substitution also changes the electron configuration of Ni and Co, enhancing the electrical conductivity and redox activity. Thanks to the robust electrochemical kinetics, the Ni0.85Co0.15(OH)1.77Cl0.23 shows well‐maintained redox peaks at an ultrahigh scan rate up to 500 mV s–1 and an outstanding rate performance (1076.3 C g–1 at 1 A g–1 and 333.6 C g–1 at 100 A g–1), which are among the best in the previously reported Ni(OH)2 based electrodes. Therefore, this simple anion substitution strategy opens up a new concept for achieving ultrahigh rate battery‐type electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry relies on construction cost indexes to prepare cost estimate benchmarks and develop cost estimates. Subsequently, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private companies routinely publish construction cost indexes for cities. Currently, all construction cost indexes are released in a tabular format for 649 cities across the conterminous United States, which is not effective in illustrating construction cost variations at the national level. This study explored the utility of various established interpolation methods and mapping techniques to visualize construction cost indexes at the national level. Geovisualization techniques such as thematic mapping provide a visual representation of construction cost data in addition to traditional tabular formats. This study explored the utility of Thiessen polygon and inverse distance weighted (IDW) methods to create thematic maps which can be used to interactively visualize construction costs at the national level. A qualitative comparison revealed that the IDW method can produce the most intuitive, interactive, and continuous surface maps to identify dynamic and previously unrecognized patterns. These continuous surface maps allow construction practitioners and academics, real estate developers, and the public to locate the geographic proximity of high or low construction costs while cost change maps allow investors and businesses to identify patterns in changing construction costs over a certain period. This work contributes to the body of knowledge by introducing interpolated maps for visualizing any construction cost-related indexes at a large scale such as the national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies demonstrated that transforming growth factor (TGT) β1 plays an immunosuppressive role in clinical tuberculosis. However, the contribution of TGF-β1 gene polymorphisms to human tuberculosis susceptibility remains undetermined. In this study, we showed that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TGF-β1 gene were associated with increased susceptibility to tuberculosis in the discovery cohort (1533 case patients and 1445 controls) and the validation cohort (832 case patients and 1084 controls), and 2 SNPs located in the promoter region (rs2317130 and rs4803457) are in strong linkage disequilibrium. The SNP rs2317130 was associated with the severity of tuberculosis. Further investigation demonstrated that rs2317130 CC genotype is associated with higher TGF-β1 and interleukin 17A production. The mechanistic study showed that rs2317130 C allele affected TGF-β1 promoter activity by regulating binding activity to nuclear extracts. These findings provide insights into the pathogenic role of TGF-β1 in human tuberculosis and reveal a function for the TGF-β1 promoter SNPs in regulating immune responses during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs) are hazardous industrial chemicals that tend to bioaccumulate in animal-derived foodstuffs through the food supply chain. However, the lack of reliable noninvasive bioindicators hinders the monitoring of farm animal exposure to CPs. In this study, 169 cattle hair samples were collected from beef cattle farms in six Chinese provinces, with further beef, feed, and soil samples being collected in Hebei province. Geographical differences in CP concentrations were observed in the hair samples, and CP concentrations in samples collected from Hebei province decreased in the following order: hair > feed > beef > soil. C 10–11 Cl 6–7 and C 14 Cl 7–8 were the predominant SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively, in all the hair, beef, feed, and soil samples. CP concentrations in hair samples significantly correlated with those in beef, feed, and soil samples, indicating that hair can be used as a bioindicator of cattle exposure to CPs. The possible health risks associated with exposure to CPs through beef consumption, especially for children and high-volume beef consumers, should be further investigated. [Display omitted] • The chlorinated paraffin (CP) contents of cattle hair samples varied geographically. • Higher CP levels were found in hair than in beef, feed, or soil from the same region. • The CP contents of beef, feed, hair, and soil samples correlated significantly. • Hair serves as a noninvasive bioindicator of beef cattle exposure to CPs. • Certain population groups are at risk of CP exposure through beef consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore a method for modifying waste brick powder (WBP) in order to reapply it to rubber products for effective resource recycling. Firstly, we use the auto polymerization of catechol/polyamine (CPA) on the surface of WBP to form a poly catechol/polyamine (PCPA) coating as an intermediate reaction platform. And then the macromolecular modifier, epoxy-functionalized elastomer (ethylene vinyl acetate-glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer) (EVMG), is further grafted onto the PCPA coating to prepare the WBP@EVMG hybrid materials. During the preparation of the WBP@EVMG hybrid materials, a ring-opening reaction between the amine group of PCPA and the epoxy group of EVMG occurs. The NR/WBP@EVMG composites are prepared by mechanical blending. The interfacial interactions between WBP@EVMG and NR are analyzed and verified in detail by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and rubber process analyzer (RPA). It is shown that the modified NR/WBP composites show increased vulcanization rate and better mechanical properties, and the tensile strength, abrasion resistance, cracking strength, and wet slip resistance of NR/WBP@EVMG-15 are increased by 29%, 6%, 16%, and 11%, respectively, compared with that of NR/WBP composites, which provides a unique idea for the reuse of waste brick powder in rubber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A supramolecular solvent (SUPRAS)-based sample preparation method was proposed for the determination of lignans in Schisandra chinensis (S. chinensis) fruit. The optimal conditions were: proportion of hexafluoroisopropanol in SUPRAS: 35% (v/v), solid-to-liquid ratio: 20:1 mg/mL, and vortex time: 30 s. Additionally, simple, rapid, and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry and multiple reaction monitoring was employed to simultaneously quantify seven lignans in S. chinensis. The validation showed that the linearity from 0.01 to 20.83 µg/mL was excellent (all R2 ≥ 0.99). The lowest limits of quantification were from 0.14 to 17.79 ng/mL. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the intra-day retention time and peak area were from 0.12% to 0.21% and 2.35% to 6.41%. The RSD of retention time and peak area for the inter-day precision ranged from 0.17% to 0.32% and 3.83% to 7.39%. The average recoveries (80.21%–114.53%) demonstrated good accuracy for all analytes. The developed procedure was employed to determine lignans in processed and raw S. chinensis fruit. The lignans were concentrated in the seeds and the wine-processed material had the highest content. This study provides a reference for the analysis of S. chinensis fruit for lignans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Iron-ore slag has an inhibitory effect on SNCR at low temperatures and high NSR. • Copper slag has a positive effect on SNCR at low NSR. • Both gas-phase and gas–solid reactions are concerned in IWRA-added groups. • IWRA promote gas–solid ammonia oxidation at low temperatures. • Gas-solid NH 3 oxidation is more sensitive to NH 3 concentration than gas-phase. The rapid development of cement plants necessitates the involvement of IWRA to improve the production performance of cement, which leads to the suppression of SNCR de-NO x process. However, the specific performance and mechanism of iron-rich waste materials on SNCR remain unclear. This study specifically addresses the effects of iron-ore slag (Fe 2 O 3) and copper slag (Fe 3 O 4) on the SNCR de-NO x process using fixed bed reactor in a simulated precalciner atmosphere ranging from 400 to 1000 °C. The results show that iron-ore slag had a strong inhibitory effect on the SNCR de-NO x process at low-medium temperatures (400 ∼ 800 °C), whereas copper slag could promote the NO x reduction reactions under slightly excessive NH 3 /NO ratio (NSR) conditions (NSR = 1.3). Both types of slag exhibited a more significant restraining effect on SNCR as ammonia concentration increased. In addition, the influence of trace elements in IWRA is not significant, which proved IWRA has incomparable substitutability and better economy than traditional catalysts. Consequently, these findings offer theoretical guidance for the subsequent implementation of IWRA in actual cement production processes. Additionally, it is advisable to avoid using Fe 2 O 3 -containing IWRA and ensure that ammonia injection points are positioned in the high-temperature region (900 ∼ 1000 °C) to achieve higher de-NO x efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) in poultry feed and the farm environment might bioaccumulate in poultry eggs. Unlike chickens, which are mostly raised in cages, ducks are commonly raised free range. This would expose ducks to CPs in the environment. However, information on the presence of CPs on duck farms is scarce. In the present study, samples of duck eggs, duck feathers, poultry feed, and soil were collected from 25 duck farms in South China. Forty-eight congener groups of short- and medium-chain CPs (SCCPs and MCCPs) were detected in the samples. Interestingly, relatively high concentrations of SCCPs and MCCPs were found in the duck feathers. The median concentrations of SCCPs and MCCPs in the duck eggs, feathers, feed and soil were: 46 and 18 ng/g wet weight, 2460 and 992 ng/g, 103 and 47 ng/g, and 24 and 10 ng/g dry weight, respectively. The dominant groups of SCCPs and MCCPs were C 10 Cl 6–7 and C 14 Cl 7–8 , respectively. The close relationship between duck feathers and poultry feed indicated that the duck feathers might act as a bioindicator for the exposure of ducks to CPs. The margin of exposure approach was used to assess the health risk, with the results showing that the consumption of duck eggs posed a low risk to different age groups from exposure to SCCPs and MCCPs. [Display omitted] • Higher concentrations of CPs were found in duck feathers than eggs, feed and soil. • The dominant CPs had short carbon chains and low levels of chlorine. • There was a close relationship between CPs in the feathers and feed. • The human exposure risk to CPs through duck egg consumption was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

γ-phase copper(I) iodide (abbreviated to CuI hereafter) with different morphologies is realized through a one-step redox process from I-containing ionic liquid (IL) or poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) precursors at room temperature. The phase composition, morphology, and electronic states of the synthesized CuI samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The resulting CuI products exhibit three different types of morphologies, namely nanocrystals, with an average size of 0.8 ± 0.2 μm, nanoplates, with a thickness of 35.8 ± 0.9 nm, and nanoflowers, with petals with a thickness of 12.2 ± 0.8 nm. Moreover, the as-synthesized CuI samples exhibit gradually diminishing bandgaps and improved photocatalysis performance for the photodegradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation as the thickness decreases. XPS measurements confirm that IL/PILs coupled to the CuI surface, resulting in a further charge transfer between Cu and I. These results conclusively prove that IL/PILs serve as both the reducing agents and assemble as orientation templates in the formation of the CuI nanostructures, and also successfully mediate the functional properties of the samples by changing the surface electronic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the time dimension, this paper analyzes the characteristics of the scale, industrial structure, employment flexibility, and comprehensive employment effects of regional tourism employment based on the three-level criteria of the scope of tourism employment based on the regional Internet of Things. From the spatial dimension, we take the regional city as the basic research unit, adopt multiple indicators, and conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the regional development of regional tourism employment through horizontal and vertical comparisons. This paper uses multiple linear regression analysis to establish the relationship between the development level of the county tourism economy and the influencing factors; in order of magnitude of influence, they are tourism resource endowment, location traffic conditions, and economic development. Using a combination of a single indicator and multiple indicators, the county tourism economy is evaluated and analyzed for differences in time and space. We select the total tourism revenue as an indicator and use methods such as range, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and coefficient to analyze the time difference of the tourism economy in each county. We adopt the Granger causality test and other methods to analyze the factors affecting tourism employment in the area and the growth mode. Through the establishment of a structural model of the tourism employment growth dynamics system, causality test and other methods are adopted to analyze the regional tourism employment influencing factors and growth methods, and the results show that the regional tourism employment growth mode is an investment-driven tourism employment growth mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the complexity of groundwater systems and human activities, fuzzy and random uncertainties are two kinds of uncertain factors that exist widely in groundwater systems. The fuzziness of the variables is usually described by membership functions. When the variables obey different membership functions, the fuzzy risk of adverse events may be different. To explore the influence of the membership function type on the reliability of the estimation results of allowable groundwater drawdown, taking groundwater exploitation in desert oasis areas that have great dependence on groundwater as an example, a fuzzy stochastic coupling model of the allowable groundwater drawdown is established. Using the theory of the cut level λ, fuzzy variables are transformed into random variables to obtain the fuzzy risk. The results show that unlike the random risk, the fuzzy random risk is an interval. The membership functions with a normal distribution and quasi-normal distribution have little effect on the fuzzy risk in the case study. When λ < 0.67, the fuzzy risk interval of the triangle membership function is the largest, and its risk interval maximum value of 98.36% can be obtained at λ = 0.1; however, when λ > 0.8, it has the smallest risk interval of all the membership functions. If the skewness of the design parameters is taken into consideration, the lognormal membership function is a better choice, with a fuzzy random risk of 57.68% at λ = 0.5. The results of this paper can also provide references for groundwater exploitation risk assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To explore the efficacy of long-term use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) on survival time of lung cancer. Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on lung cancer patients. A propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to balance the covariates. Progression-free survival (PFS) was the primary endpoint and overall survival (OS) was the secondary endpoint. Patients who received CHM therapy from the initial date of diagnosis of lung cancer were included in the CHM group. Patients who were not treated with CHM during the same interval were categorized in the control group. A Cox regression model was used to explore the prognostic factors related to lung cancer. Hazard ratios of different subgroups were also analyzed. Results. A total of 1134 patients were included in our study: 761 patients were in the CHM group and 373 patients were in the control group. After PSM, the mPFS and mOS in the CHM group were 70.4 months and 129.1 months, respectively, while the mPFS and mOS in the control group were 23.8 months and 99.7 months, respectively. The results of survival analysis on each stage demonstrated that patients may benefit from the long-term CHM treatment especially for patients with early stage. One-year to ten-year progression-free survival rates in the CHM group were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.001). COX multivariate regression analysis indicated that CHM treatment, female, low age at diagnosis, early tumor stage, and surgery were independent protective factors against recurrence and metastasis of lung cancer. Subgroup analysis showed that CHM treatment could reduce the risk of recurrence and metastasis in each subgroup (p < 0.01). Conclusion. Long-term CHM treatment with the Fuzheng Quxie Formula, which can be flexibly applied in the course of lung cancer treatment, not only has a positive influence on the progression-free survival time of lung cancer patients, but also reduces the risk of recurrence and metastasis of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the dynamic creation of two different geometric quantum discords (GQDs) defined, respectively, via the Hilbert–Schmidt norm (GQD-2) and trace norm (GQD-1) between the two qubits, which are prepared initially in a zero discord two-qubit X-shape state, and subject to a two layers environment that consists of a lossy cavity coupled to the W-coupled lossy cavities. We find that the GQD-2 and GQD-1 exhibit oscillatory behavior in the regime of the strong coupling between the qubit and first-layer cavity environment. And in both the weak and strong coupling regimes, for the greater the number of cavities in the second-layer environment, the GQDs reach their peak value in a larger time and go to zero more slowly. But in the qubit–cavity coupling, the coupling between two nearest neighbor cavities and the decay rate of cavities in the second-layer environment have the opposite effect on the GQDs. Furthermore, the maximum value of GQDs remains unchanged and the steady value increases, or they both decrease, depending on the threshold value of coupling between the two layers environment. Finally, we propose an effective strategy to improve the GQD-2 and GQD-1 by using local filtering operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1 Combination therapy of glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and cell transplant in substantia nigra (SN) and/or striatum may represent a potential therapeutic option for Parkinson's disease (PD). Keywords: GDNF; Cell therapy; Parkinson's disease; Innervation; Neural circuit EN GDNF Cell therapy Parkinson's disease Innervation Neural circuit 1 3 3 07/19/22 20220716 NES 220716 Cell replacement therapy is a viable option for Parkinson's disease (PD) due to a selective loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). [Extracted from the article]

Operating with a conceptual workflow for the appropriate processing of high-spatial resolution small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) data for hydrologic modelling of floodplains during flood events, this research investigated the effects of input data fidelity on hydrologic model generation. A digital surface model (DSM) and co-registered orthophoto mosaic of a stretch of the Drau River in southern Austria was generated. A digital terrain model (DTM) was then approximated from the generated DSM to within a vertical root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 4.65 cm. Horizontal and random metrics of roughness were calculated based on the DSM and then used to determine spatially-varying values of Manning's n coefficient across an observed floodplain. A distributed two-dimensional hydrologic model of a river channel and simulated floodplain was performed using open source hydraulic modelling software. The effectiveness of each roughness metric at multiple pixel resolutions to model significant variations in reported velocity, water surface elevation and depth during a flood event was tested in a controlled sensitivity analysis. Results indicated that accuracy in hydrologic modelling is impacted by image spatial resolution. Research results conclude by emphasizing the importance of context in hydrologic modelling scenarios to effectively meet the needs of end users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]