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Micro-expression recognition (MER) is an interdisciplinary research task that has attracted attention. This is because MER can be relevant to multiple fields, such as computer vision, psychology, human-computer interaction, and social security. Because the scarcity of databases and difficulty in video semantics understanding, end-to-end MER still faces many challenges. In this study, we propose an MER framework with attention mechanism and region enhancement (MER-AMRE). Attention mechanisms are introduced to enhance the representation performance of the model, which can improve the recognition accuracy. Additionally, we use Euler video magnification in data preprocessing to enhance facial variation areas. AffectNet is leveraged to pretrain a facial region of interest (RoI) feature extractor with attention regions. Finally, we combine the facial RoI features with global facial features to recognize micro-expressions. Extensive experiments on two well-known micro-expression datasets, CASME II and SAMM, verified the robustness and generalization of the proposed MER-AMRE framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government's use of fiscal policy, which includes fiscal income and spending, is crucial in its fight against environmental pollution and climate change. Innovation‐driven has arisen as a new alternative to reconcile economic success with environmental conservation in light of tighter resource restrictions and the suggestion of the Chinese High‐quality Development policy. The paper uses an econometric model to examine the connection between institutional resource consumption efficiency and carbon neutrality, using a data set consisting of Chinese inter‐provincial panel data from 2007 to 2020 as a research sample; fiscal decentralization is also discussed as a potential moderating factor. Collaborative innovation positively boosts ecological efficiency and produces geographical spillovers, and the findings suggest so long as the economic distance is considered. When it comes to increasing ecological efficiency, collaborative innovation plays a more important role than financial decentralization alone. Among these is the improvement of carbon neutrality, which is best achieved via the joint promotion of ecological efficiency and industrial organizations. By reducing the intensity of the positive effect of innovative cooperation on ecological efficiency, the moderating effect suggests that fiscal decentralization is a critical factor in this relationship. Promoting China's ecological efficiency necessitates a fair distribution of local budgetary spending. China should also actively encourage the degree of synergy between institutional resource consumption efficiency and associated institutions to improve eco‐efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapid, practical and scalable method for the reductant and tansition‐metal‐free synthesis of a variety of novel 2,4‐disubstituted tetrahydropyridines and tetrahydroquinolines is disclosed. The method is based upon dearomative functionalization of pyridines or quinolines to generate amino nitrile intermediates as masked iminium ions, which then react rapidly with various Grignard reagents in complete stereocontrol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ag 2 WO 4 -AgI nanoparticles were deposited on TiO 2 nanotube arrays by a SILAR method. • TiO 2 NTs/Ag 2 WO 4 -AgI photoelectrode showed the excellent photoelectrochemical properties. • The active specie and PEC mechanism of TiO 2 NTs/Ag 2 WO 4 -AgI photocatalysts was proposed. The preparation of novel visible-light-driven photoelectrodes is an effective strategy to solve the obstacles of environmental pollution and energy shortage. Here, the ternary semiconductor photoelectrode with high photoelectrochemical performances was designed by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) deposition of Ag 2 WO 4 -AgI nanoparticles on the surface of TiO 2 nanotube arrays (TiO 2 NTs/Ag 2 WO 4 -AgI). The synergistic sensitization of Ag 2 WO 4 -AgI benefited the improvement of the visible light absorption and electron separation. The results indicated that the TiO 2 NTs/Ag 2 WO 4 -AgI photoelectrode showed excellent photoelectric convertion, and produced remarkable visible light photocurrent and photovoltage. Meanwhile, organic dyes (RhB, MO and MB) and heavy metal ions (Cr (VI)) could be rapidly removed by the ternary photocatalyst under solar irradiation. The effective electron transportation and low recombination were main reasons for the excellent photoelectrochemical property. This work describes the fruitful strategy for the design of highly active TiO 2 NTs photoelectrode with siliver based semiconductor co-sensitization toward waste water treatment and photoelectric conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports the invention of di‐ or trifunctionalization of readily available pyridines (including all the pyridine substrates utilized in this paper, such as 3‐cyanopyridine and 3‐chloropyridine) through dearomative functionalization‐oxidative rearomatization under transition‐metal‐ and reductant‐free conditions. Although a two‐step operation is required, the crude product of the first step could be used in the next step directly. Typically, 3‐π‐EWG pyridines undergo difunctionalization, whereas 3‐σ‐EWG pyridines participate in trifunctionalization, affording multisubstituted piperidines. Computational studies provide detailed insights for their distinct reactivity in the title reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality analysis is widely used in occupational aptitude tests and entrance psychological tests. However, answering hundreds of questions at once seems to be a burden. Inspired by personality psychology, we propose a multimodal attention network with Category-based mean square error (CBMSE) for personality assessment. With this method, we can obtain information about one’s behaviour from his or her daily videos, including his or her gaze distribution, speech features, and facial expression changes, to accurately determine personality traits. In particular, we propose a new approach to implementing an attention mechanism based on the facial Region of No Interest (RoNI), which can achieve higher accuracy and reduce the number of network parameters. Simultaneously, we use CBMSE, a loss function with a higher penalty for the fuzzy boundary in personality assessment, to help the network distinguish boundary data. After effective data fusion, this method achieves an average prediction accuracy of 92.07%, which is higher than any other state-of-the-art model on the dataset of the ChaLearn Looking at People challenge in association with ECCV 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two new V-shaped bis-coumarins with the benzophenone-imbedded triptycene and carbazole were synthesized. • These compounds exhibited strong green emission with PLQY of 0.90 and 0.94 in dichloromethane solution. • The device of the compound with the benzophenone-imbedded carbazole showed CE max = 8.94 cd/A, EQE max = 2.66 %. Two new V-shaped bis-coumarins (VBC) with the benzophenone-imbedded triptycene and carbazole, VBC CO-TTC and VBC CO Cz, were synthesized and characterized by NMR (1H and 13C), high resolution mass spectrometry and elemental analysis, and their thermal stabilities and photophysical and electrochemical properties were systematically studied. They exhibited strong green emission with high fluorescence quantum yield of 90.4 % and 93.65 % in dichloromethane solution, respectively. The combination of theoretical research and experimental data revealed the structure-property relationship of the functional groups grafted onto the V-shaped bis-coumarins. Moreover, the doped devices treated with the blend of CBP:VBC derivatives as the emitting layers showed green emission, in which the VBC CO Cz doped devices exhibited an maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE max) of 2.66 %, while the VBC CO-TTC doped devices showed an EQE max of 1.79 %, at the doping concentration of 5 wt%. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two new V-shaped bis-coumarins with the benzophenone-imbedded triptycene and carbazole were synthesized. • These compounds exhibited strong green emission with PLQY of 0.90 and 0.94 in dichloromethane solution. • The device of the compound with the benzophenone-imbedded carbazole showed CE max = 8.94 cd/A, EQE max = 2.66 %. Two new V-shaped bis-coumarins (VBC) with the benzophenone-imbedded triptycene and carbazole, VBC CO-TTC and VBC CO Cz, were synthesized and characterized by NMR (1H and 13C), high resolution mass spectrometry and elemental analysis, and their thermal stabilities and photophysical and electrochemical properties were systematically studied. They exhibited strong green emission with high fluorescence quantum yield of 90.4 % and 93.65 % in dichloromethane solution, respectively. The combination of theoretical research and experimental data revealed the structure-property relationship of the functional groups grafted onto the V-shaped bis-coumarins. Moreover, the doped devices treated with the blend of CBP:VBC derivatives as the emitting layers showed green emission, in which the VBC CO Cz doped devices exhibited an maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE max) of 2.66 %, while the VBC CO-TTC doped devices showed an EQE max of 1.79 %, at the doping concentration of 5 wt%. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: It remains elusive which factors may influence the morbidity and mortality of lung metastasis (LM) in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (LSCC) patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate factors influencing LM and the survival outcomes of LSCC patients with LM.Methods: We identified 10,935 patients with LSCC from 2010 to 2014 using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with the presence of LM. Multivariate cox regression analysis was used to identify covariates associated with increased all-cause mortality in patients with LM.Results: Among 10,935 patients with LSCC, 232 (2.12%) patients had LM. The median survival time of patients with LM was 8 months, and 8.37% of patients survived after 3 years. Patients with age ≥ 60 years old, unmarried status, supraglottis, overlapping lesion of larynx, subglottis, pathological grade III, T4 stage, N1 stage, N2 stage, N3 stage and bone, brain or liver metastases were more likely to have LM. Survival analysis showed that chemotherapy and radiotherapy suggested better survival of LSCC patients with LM while pathological grade IV was associated with an increased all-cause mortality.Conclusion: The incidence of LSCC patients with LM varied by age, married status, and tumor subtypes. LSCC patients with LM had poor survival, and only 8.37% of patients survived after 3 years. However, chemotherapy and radiotherapy were found as independent favorable prognostic factors for survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While remarkable progress has recently been made for the direct C−H‐functionalization of azines, its application is still limited by a lack of accessible functional groups (primarily carbon‐based) and poor regioselectivity. In contrast, C2‐functionalized pyridines and quinolines can be easily synthesized by treating readily available N‐oxides with various reagents under appropriate activation conditions. This review seeks to comprehensively document the available synthetic methods for introducing functional groups at the C2 position of pyridines and quinolines. In this work, we highlight recent developments in the C2‐functionalization of pyridine and quinoline N‐oxides and address both the mechanisms and regioselectivity of the reactions. We also describe the pathways and reactive species involved in these processes and highlight a number of medically relevant nitrogen heteroaromatics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Ag 3 PO 4 /Ag 4 P 2 O 7 nanospheres were deposited on the surface of TiO 2 nanotube arrays by a hydrothermal method. The visible light photocurrent density of TiO 2 NTs/Ag 3 PO 4 /Ag 4 P 2 O 7 was 103.51 μA/cm2 and the photovoltage was −0.19 V/cm2. The TiO 2 NTs/Ag 3 PO 4 /Ag 4 P 2 O 7 showed the optimal photoelectrocatalytic removal efficiencies of methylene blue. Highlights • Ag 3 PO 4 /Ag 4 P 2 O 7 nanospheres were deposited on TiO 2 nanotube arrays/Ti mesh by a hydrothermal method. • The TiO 2 NTs/Ag 3 PO 4 /Ag 4 P 2 O 7 photoelectrode showed the excellent photoelectrochemical properties. • The PEC mechanism of TiO 2 NTs/Ag 3 PO 4 /Ag 4 P 2 O 7 photocatalysts was proposed. Abstract Ag 3 PO 4 /Ag 4 P 2 O 7 nanospheres were deposited on the surface of TiO 2 nanotube arrays/Ti mesh by the hydrothermal method, and the cetyltriethylammnonium bromide (CTAB) addition amount significantly influenced the morphology, phase composition, solar absorption, photoelectric conversion and photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) degradation of methylene blue (MB). The results indicated that the sample prepared with the CTAB addition of 0.025 g showed the optimal visible light photocurrent density (103.51 μA/cm2), photovoltage (−0.19 V/cm2) and PEC efficiency (99.39%) for MB decomposition. The influence factors of PEC performances including external voltage and electrolyte concentration were further explored. Beside, the PEC mechanism of TiO 2 NTs/Ag 3 PO 4 /Ag 4 P 2 O 7 was tentatively proposed. The excellent photoelectrochemical activity of the three dimensional (3D) TiO 2 NTs/Ag 3 PO 4 /Ag 4 P 2 O 7 photoelectrode would drive it prospective applications in solar cells and waste-water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract The Cu 2 O cubes were deposited on the TiO 2 nanotube arrays by the ultrasound-assisted SILAR method. The solar photocurrent density of TiO 2 NTs/Cu 2 O (6) was 1.08 mA/cm2 and the photovoltage was −0.044 V/cm2. The TiO 2 NTs/Cu 2 O (6) showed the optimal photoelectrocatalytic removal efficiencies of methyl orange, rhodamine B, methyl blue and Cr(VI). Highlights • TiO 2 NTs sensitized by Cu 2 O cubes were prepared by the ultrasound-assisted SILAR method. • The TiO 2 NTs/Cu 2 O (6) photoelectrode showed the excellent photoelectrochemical properties. • The PEC mechanism of TiO 2 NTs/Cu 2 O (6) photocatalysts was proposed. Abstract In this paper, Cu 2 O cubes with high photoelectrochemical activities were deposited on the surface of TiO 2 nanotube arrays by the ultrasound-assisted successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The elemental composition and morphology were characterized by XPS and SEM. The TiO 2 NTs/Cu 2 O showed excellent photoelectric conversion and photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) removal of organic dyes and Cr(VI). The results confirmed that the SILAR deposition cycle greatly influenced the visible light response and PEC properties, and the TiO 2 NTs/Cu 2 O (6) prepared with 6 SILAR cycles showed the optimal visible light photocurrent (1.08 mA/cm2), visible light photovoltage (−0.044 V/cm2), solar PEC degradation efficiencies of MO (77.62%), RhB (61.83%) and MB (98.30%), and PEC reduction of Cr(VI) (97.16%). The TiO 2 NTs/Cu 2 O photoelectrodes would show prospective applications in solar cells and waste-water treatment due to the significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the silver-based semiconductor modified TiO 2 nanotube arrays (TiO 2 NTA) for the improved photocatalytic treatment of industrial waste water have been a hot topic. The simple synthesis and environmental application of photocatalysts with excellent photocatalytic ability is still a big challenge. Herein, We reported the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) preparation of Ag 2 O nanoparticles on TiO 2 NTA surfaces. The different deposition cycles were performed to investigate the influence of Ag 2 O deposition amounts on the photoelectrochemical activity. Results revealed that the S-10 fabricated with 10 SILAR cycles had the impressive photocatalytic and photoelectric conversion performances. The visible light photovoltage and photocurrent of S-10 electrode were −0.20 V and 463.2 μA/cm2. Moreover, the photocatalytic degradation efficiencies of MO, RhB and MB dyes achieved 67.40%, 59.19% and 93.89%, respectively. Further increasing the irradiation time, the mineralization degree of organic dyes were improved up to 71.28%, 60.31%, and 92.58% after 6 h solar irradiation. Cr(VI) ions were also dramatically removed by photocatalysts. The remarkable photocatalytic performance of Ag 2 O/TiO 2 NTA would exhibit attractive prospect in the industrial waste water purification. Image 1 • Ag 2 O nanoparticles were deposited on TiO 2 NTA by a SILAR method. • The Ag 2 O/TiO 2 NTA showed the attractive photocatalytic activity. • The active group and photocatalytic mechanism were investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of tetrasubstituted 7-azabenzofurans displays remarkable pan-genotype inhibition of HCV NS5B polymerase. One of them has been identified as a potential clinical candidate. Completely different from the original synthesis of a common and key intermediate for this class of compounds, two novel and improved synthetic approaches are developed. Almost every step of the synthesis has been optimized, including several important but not fully explored transformations, such as radical bromination with methyl pyridine and cyanide substitution with TMSCN. The 7-azabenzofuran core is prepared by an acylation-heterocyclization reaction, using acyl chloride as both the reactant and the activation reagent for the N -oxide substrate. Compared with the BMS synthesis, the overall yield has been tripled, and those harmful or cost-effective synthetic steps have been reduced. Furthermore, a transition-metal-free synthetic method for the construction of 3-cyano substituted 7-azabenzofurans is presented. Image 1 • Two practical synthetic approaches to a common and key intermediate for BMT-052. • 7 steps, total yield: 51%; average yield: 91% per step. • Harmful or cost-effective synthetic steps have been reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bi/Bi 2 O 3 nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of TiO 2 nanotube arrays (TiO 2 NTs) by a simple solvothermal method by changing the C 6 H 12 O 6 concentration. The intimate interface contact of Bi 2 O 3 and TiO 2 NTs formed Z-scheme heterojunction with high visible-light response. The concomitant Bi0 not only accelerated charge carrier transfer, but also improved the visible light absorption by the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). The Z-scheme heterojunction Bi/Bi 2 O 3 /TiO 2 NTs photocatalysts significantly improved the visible light absorption, photocurrent and photocatalytic activity. The visible light photocurrent density and photovoltage achieved 6.42 mA/cm2 and -0.35 V, and the photoelectrocatalytic removal efficiencies of MO and RhB dyes achieved 75% and 80%, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation mechanism was tentatively proposed based on the electron transfer path and photocatalytic data. The enhanced photoelectrochemical performance of Bi/Bi 2 O 3 /TiO 2 NTs was ascribed to synergistic effect of Z-scheme heterojunction interface and LSPR effect of Bi0. Image 1 • Different morphology of Bi 3 O 3 were loaded to TiO 2 NTs surface by simple solvothermal method. • The morphology of Bi 2 O 3 was controlled through changing content of C 6 H 12 O 6. • The heterojunction photocatalysts showed the excellent photoelectric converting and PEC properties. • The PEC mechanism of Z-scheme heterojunction Bi/Bi 2 O 3 /TiO 2 NTs photocatalysts was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]