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Numerous empirical studies have demonstrated that street trees not only reduce dust pollution and absorb particulate matter (PM) but also improve microclimates, providing both ecological functions and aesthetic value. However, recent research has revealed that street tree canopy cover can impede the dispersion of atmospheric PM within street canyons, leading to the accumulation of street pollutants. Although many studies have investigated the impact of street trees on air pollutant dispersion within street canyons, the extent of their influence remains unclear and uncertain. Pollutant accumulation corresponds to the specific characteristics of individual street canyons, coupled with meteorological factors and pollution source strength. Notably, the characteristics of street tree canopy cover also exert a significant influence. There is still a quantitative research gap on street tree cover impacts with respect to pollution and dust reduction control measures within street spaces. To improve urban traffic environments, policymakers have mainly focused on scientifically based street vegetation deployment initiatives in building ecological garden cities and improving the living environment. To address uncertainties regarding the influence of street trees on the dispersion of atmospheric PM in urban streets, this study reviews dispersion mechanisms and key atmospheric PM factors in urban streets, summarizes the research approaches used to conceptualize atmospheric PM dispersion in urban street canyons, and examines urban plant efficiency in reducing atmospheric PM. Furthermore, we also address current challenges and future directions in this field to provide a more comprehensive understanding of atmospheric PM dispersion in urban streets and the role that street trees play in mitigating air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel ionic liquid plasticizer, 1‐methyl‐4‐methoxyethyl‐1,2,4‐triazole dicyanamide ([MMET][DCA]), was synthesized and characterized. The effect of [MMET][DCA] on the viscous flow properties of HTPB was studied, and then the effect of [MMET][DCA] on the mechanical and thermal properties of the HTPB/TDI curing system was further explored. The results show that the hydrogen bond between [MMET][DCA] and HTPB has a significant effect on the viscosity of HTPB. In the HTPB/TDI curing system, when the di(2‐ethylhexyl)adipate (DEHA) was replaced by an equal amount of [MMET][DCA], the glass transition temperature did not change significantly; the tensile strength of the curing system increased from 0.436 MPa to 0.474 Mpa; the elongation at break increased from 506.2 % to 700.4 %, and the decomposition temperature at 5 % and 10 % mass loss increased by 32 °C and 70 °C, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with cardiovascular diseases. In order to investigate the molecular mechanisms of air pollution-induced CVDs toxicity, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were exposed to PM2.5 collected from January, 2016 winter in Beijing, China. We performed RNA sequencing to elucidate key molecular mechanism of PM 2.5-mediated toxicity in HUVECs. A total of 1753 genes, 864 up-regulated and 889 down-regulated, were observed to be differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Among these, genes involved in metabolic response, oxidative stress, inflammatory response, and vascular dysfunction were significantly differentially expressed (log2 FC > 4). The results were validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and Western blot for CYP1B1, HMOX1, IL8, and GJA4. Pathway analysis revealed that DEGs were involved in the biological processes related to metabolism, inflammation, and host defense against environmental insults. This research is providing a further understanding of the mechanisms underlying PM2.5-induced cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To verify the effect of hydrated shale treated by different heat treatment conditions (including heating temperature, heating rate and holding time) on shale gas exploitation efficiency. In this study, uniaxial compression tests were carried out on shale treated under different conditions, and the energy evolution in the process of shale deformation and failure was analysed. According to the energy dissipation and energy accumulation in the process of deformation and failure, the initial porosity, deformation resistance and rock strength of shale sample are discussed and analysed. The results indicate that after high-temperature heating treatment, the initial porosity, ability to resist deformation during elastic deformation stage, and brittleness characteristics of hydrated shale are all improved. The total input energy decreases by 23.16 %, and the peak dissipated energy decreases by 45.89 %, while the proportion of elastic strain energy to total energy in the compaction stage increases by 31.58 %. After thermal treatment, the hydrated shale exhibits increased initial damage, increased rock porosity, and enhanced ability to resist deformation. Therefore, high-temperature heat treatment of hydrated shale is conducted before shale gas exploitation, which enhances both the extraction efficiency and safety during the extraction process. This method is theoretically feasible. • Energy evolution analysis of heat treatment hydration shale deformation process. • The pre-peak input energy is reduced by 19 %, and the reservoir pores are increased. • The post-peak input energy is reduced by 16 %. The brittleness of rock is enhanced. • The ability of shale to resist deformation is enhanced after heat treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) is an important species of turfgrass that is commonly planted on golf courses and landscapes all over the world. It is sensitive to salt stress; however, details relating to its molecular mechanisms of salt resistance are not available. We, therefore, analyzed the changes in growth, antioxidant enzyme activity, and microRNA expression in the callus 1 week after treatment with 200 mM NaCl for 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, 96 h, and 144 h. The results demonstrated that callus growth declined and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance production and cell membrane permeability increased. Treatment with salt increased ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase activity. Changes in the expression levels of microRNAs were observed under salt treatment. The expression of miR162, miR173, miR391, miR408, miR773, and miR857 increased by 70% after 24 h of salt treatment, after which it declined to a level similar to that of the control. The expression level of miR775 and miR827 decreased by 20% after 24 h, and then further decreased by 80% after 144 h. The expression level of miR841 increased by 50% after 24 h of salt treatment, and then stabilized. In contrast, salt treatment increased the expression of the auxin response factors ARF6, ARF8, ARF10, and ARF16 in the callus from 12 to 144 h of salt treatment, during which the expression increased twofold. Gene expression analysis indicated that salt-responsive gene families were regulated by microRNAs in the callus under salinity stress. The activity of antioxidant enzymes is also changing. MiR841 is considered to be a positive regulator of antioxidant enzyme biosynthesis. The present investigation elucidates the manner in which P. pratensis responds to salt stress in the callus, and could be used to inform further studies on the molecular mechanisms of stress tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the cyclic shear-slip performance of a novel prefabricated composite shear stud (PCSS) connector designed for accelerated bridge construction (ABC) of composite structures. An in-depth experimental procedure is employed involving the design and fabrication of four push-out specimens with two different stud configurations. The specimens are then tested under both monotonic and cyclic-to-monotonic loading protocols. Upon completion of the testing phase, a meticulous inspection of the fractography is conducted to delineate and qualify the failure mode of the PCSS connectors. Simultaneously, a comprehensive shear-slip curve is derived from the measured data, enabling a detailed analysis over the mechanical performance. Furthermore, the study calculates a series of deformation-associated indicators from the shear-slip curve, effectively quantifying the ductility, recoverability, and capacity of the PCSS. The test results accentuate a well-deformed and ductile failure mode of the tested PCSS specimens, marked by the stud fracture and crushing of surrounding concrete. This could be attributed to the constraint of vertical plates of the PCSS on the concrete, which improves the capacity and recoverability of the PCSS. Whereas, the performance of the PCSS is also notably influenced by the group nail effect, for which the ductility and per-stud capacity degrade with the increase in the number of studs. Especially, the PCSS specimen exhibits full elastic-to-plastic hysteresis loops under cyclic loads, together with the satisfied ductility, implying an excellent potential of the PCSS to dissipate energy under impact loads. In addition, the PCSS displays a robust stiffness across different cyclic loading blocks. Hence, satisfactory post-damage ductility has still been observed in the PCSS under the monotonic loading after the cyclic loading. In conclusion, this work elucidates the superiority of the PCSS in terms of capacity, ductility, and recoverability, providing a promising basis for their application in the accelerated construction of composite bridges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Biodiversity is an important ecosystem characteristic, and is vital for maintaining ecosystem health and stability. However, biodiversity was often ignored in previous Chinese restoration planning and design due to its complex roles and the unclear mechanisms in providing human well-being. In order to evaluate the response of biodiversity to ecological restoration in terrestrial ecosystems, we assembled biodiversity in different metrics and different organisms and generated a large dataset comprised 2099 observations from 103 published studies to conduct a meta-analysis in China. Our results revealed that the biodiversity of restored ecosystem increased by 43% compared with degraded state, but it was difficult to recover to the natural level across the whole China. The gap between restored and natural ecosystems was about 13%. Ecological restorations have contributed not only to increasing vegetation coverage but also to improving soil environment and habitat quality. The recovery levels of vascular plant, soil microorganism and soil invertebrate were 30%, 73% and 48%, respectively. Biodiversity recovery would be better reflected in enhancing the structure feature (65%) such as plant height and density rather than the diversity feature (18%) such as diversity indices of Shannon and Simpson. Moreover, the response of biodiversity to ecological restoration varied with restoration actions (i.e., initial land use/cover type, restoration approach and restoration age), and the interaction effects among restoration actions significantly impacted biodiversity recovery. Passive approach performed better than active approach for biodiversity recovery. Meanwhile, the magnitude and direction of the impact of ecological restoration on biodiversity greatly altered with environmental conditions (i.e., climate condition and altitude). Our findings could facilitate priority setting and selection of treatment methods for biodiversity recovery during ecological restoration planning and assessment to ensure high effectiveness and sustainability. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Restoration enhanced biodiversity in degraded ecosystems but couldn't recover to natural level. • Restoration improves habitat condition more than vegetation coverage. • Impacts of restoration on biodiversity depended on restoration actions and climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract After high speed development on economics during the past decades, China have accumulated a lot of air environment problems. A lot of studies based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) have been done to measure China's air problem by using monthly or annual data. As the development of real-time air quality monitoring, more valuable daily data should be utilized to evaluate air problem. The present paper constructs a set of DEA models for calculating air quality, in which the integral and zero-sum gain constraints are considered to match the characteristics of daily air monitoring data. An empirical analysis have been done to measure the air quality of 31 main cities in China by using the daily Air Quality Index. There are two main finds as follows. Firstly, all the 31 major cities in China need to do more work to improve air quality, while there are significant differences between the performance of different cities. Secondly, the air quality of Chinese cities has changed over month, the best air quality appeared in August and September while the worst occurred in December and January. Also, we calculate the target values for improving the air quality of Chinese cities. Highlights • Daily Air Quality Index data is used to evaluate air quality in China. • A set of DEA approaches are construct by inserting integral and zero-sum gain constraints. • The air quality of Chinese cities have significant tendency of variation during different months. • Specific values are provided for Chinese cities to improve their air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy is a major cause of heart failure, and there is no effective approach for its prevention or treatment. The Trim family is a recently identified family of E3 ubiquitin ligases that regulate cardiac hypertrophy. Trim65, which is a member of the Trim family, previous studies have not determined whether Trim65 affects cardiac hypertrophy. In this study, the effects of Trim65 on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced cardiac hypertrophy and the underlying mechanisms were investigated. In contrast to C57BL/6 mice, Trim65-knockout (Trim65-KO) mice developed more severe myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis and cardiac dysfunction after being intraperitoneally injected with ISO for 2 weeks. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the autophagic flux was inhibited, mitochondria were swollen, and mitochondrial cristae were lost or decreased in the myocardium of Trim65-KO mice. In vitro studies demonstrated that overexpression of Trim65 inhibited ISO-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy by increasing mitochondrial density and membrane potential, and the Stat1 inhibitor fludarabine attenuated the effect of Trim65 knockdown on ISO-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy by reducing Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and increasing the mitochondrial density and membrane potential. Our findings provide the first link between Trim65 and mitochondria, and we found for the first time that Trim65 inhibits mitochondria-dependent apoptosis and autophagy via the Jak1/Stat1 signalling pathway, ultimately attenuating ISO-induced cardiac hypertrophy; this effect of Trim65 might be mediated via the regulation of Jak1 ubiquitination. Taking these findings together, we suggest that genes that are related to mitochondria-dependent apoptosis and that are associated with Trim65 could be promising therapeutic targets for cardiac hypertrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the direct toxicity of PM2.5 collected from Beijing on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). A Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK8) assay demonstrated that PM2.5 exposure decreased the proliferation of HUVECs in a dose-dependent manner. We also found that PM2.5 exposure induced autophagy in HUVECs, as evidenced by: (1) an increased number of double-membrane vesicles; (2) enhanced conversion and punctuation of the microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3); and (3) decreased levels of the selective autophagy substrate p62 in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, promoting autophagy in PM2.5-exposed HUVECs with rapamycin increased the cell survival rate, whereas inhibiting autophagy via 3-methyladenine significantly decreased cell survival. These results demonstrate that PM2.5 exposure can induce cytotoxicity and autophagy in HUVECs and that autophagy play a protective role against PM2.5-induced cytotoxicity. The findings of the present study imply a direct toxic effect of PM2.5 on HUVECs and provide novel insight into the mechanism of cardiovascular diseases caused by PM2.5 exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding stress always depressed plants survival and growth in flood-affected areas. To explore anatomy and ultrastructure adaptations to hypoxia stress, two full-sib poplar clones differing in flood-tolerance LS1 (flood-tolerant) and LS2 (flood-susceptible) were compared for waterlogging effects on them. The two clones LS1 and LS2 originated from Populus deltoides cv. Lux ex. I-69/55 × P. simonii . Morphological, ecophysiological and growth parameters, as well as anatomy and ultrastructure characteristics of their seedlings were subjected for 15 days to flooding treatment, followed by a three-day drainage and recovery stage. Results showed that flooding stress adversely influenced all characteristics aforementioned in all flooded plants. Compared with LS1, LS2 suffered clearly more severe flood injury during hypoxia and slower recovery ability after drainage, illustrated by morphology, biomass accumulation, gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, root metabolism, and relative membrane permeability and malonaldehyde content of roots. Correspondingly, more pronounced anatomy and ultrastructure damages in leaves and roots were found in flooded LS2 as well, including palisade cell deformation in leaves, as well as serious lysis of cortical parenchyma cells and decompositions of nucleus and organelles in roots. Our results showed that morphological, ecophysiological and growth responses to soil flooding paralleled their anatomy and ultrastructure adaptations in leaves and roots. Stable intercellular and intracellular structures in leaves and roots, especially in the latter, helped the flood-tolerant clone behaved better than the flood-susceptible clone. Roots suffered more severe anatomy and ultrastructure injury than leaves under hypoxia stress. The flood-tolerant clone kept a stable cross-section anatomy with normal aerenchyma and ultrastructure in roots, which enable plant-internal aeration so that maintain aerobic respiration and basic root activities under flooding condition. The flood-susceptible clone was prone to lost normal cross-section anatomy under soil flooding caused by serious cortical parenchyma cell lysis and ultrastructure destruction, which resulted in root disorganization and dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: phosphine; cyclization; coumarin; furanone EN phosphine cyclization coumarin furanone 1587 1592 6 07/31/23 20230815 NES 230815 Graph Furan and tetrahydrofuran heterocycles are distributed widely in nature, and they are also prevalent building blocks in a vast array of pharmaceutically active molecules (Figure 1). [116] Otherwise, coumarin-fused bicyclo[3.2.0]heptenones will be produced via a phosphine-promoted tandem [3+2] cyclization/intramolecular Wittig cyclization performing the reaction in toluene or THF, which has been disclosed in our previous study. [96] Very recently, coumarin-fused cyclopentanones were selectively afforded in moderate to good yields with excellent diastereoselectivities under phosphine catalysis of 3-benzoyl coumarin with alkynone (Scheme 1c). [95] Followed by that, we then discovered an efficient method for the synthesis of coumarin-fused bicyclo[3.2.0]heptenones via phosphine-promoted tandem [3+2] cyclization/intramolecular Wittig cyclization from 3-aroylcoumarin and alkynone (Scheme 1b). [Extracted from the article]

[96] Very recently, coumarin-fused cyclopentanones were selectively afforded in moderate to good yields with excellent diastereoselectivities under phosphine catalysis of 3-benzoyl coumarin with alkynone (Scheme 1c). [116] Otherwise, coumarin-fused bicyclo[3.2.0]heptenones will be produced via a phosphine-promoted tandem [3+2] cyclization/intramolecular Wittig cyclization performing the reaction in toluene or THF, which has been disclosed in our previous study. [95] Followed by that, we then discovered an efficient method for the synthesis of coumarin-fused bicyclo[3.2.0]heptenones via phosphine-promoted tandem [3+2] cyclization/intramolecular Wittig cyclization from 3-aroylcoumarin and alkynone (Scheme 1b). Keywords: phosphine; cyclization; coumarin; furanone EN phosphine cyclization coumarin furanone 1587 1592 6 07/31/23 20230801 NES 230801 Graph Furan and tetrahydrofuran heterocycles are distributed widely in nature, and they are also prevalent building blocks in a vast array of pharmaceutically active molecules (Figure 1). [Extracted from the article]

The Asiatic black bearUrsus thibetanusis one of the least well-known species of mammals, and there have been few studies conducted to investigate its status and feeding behaviour, particularly in the north-western parts of Pakistan. We investigated the food habits and altitudinal distribution of the Asiatic black bear in the Kaghan Valley region of the western Himalayas, Pakistan. We interviewed local villagers (n = 180) about food items consumed by black bears, and collected signs (n = 178) of the presence of black bears at different altitudes. The villagers reported that the black bears predominantly inhabit the forests of Malkandi, Kamalban and Jaraid, and visit agricultural fields located at the edge of the forests. Oak (Quercusspp.), guch (Viburnum cotinifolium), mulberry (Morusspp.), fig (Ficus palmata), pomegranate (Punica granatum) and maize (Zea mays) were confirmed by 160 (89%) interviewees as food items consumed by black bears in the Kaghan Valley. We recovered the remains of 21 types of food items from 53 black bear scats. Dietary analysis showed that maize (22.64%), white mulberry (Morus alba, 16.98%) and maple (Acerspp., 11.32%) were the most frequently identified food items in black bear scats. We recorded shifts in food item selection from month to month. The total volume of crop remains found in scats was 31.38%, which was greater than that of other major food groups.This high volume of agricultural crops in the Asiatic bear diet is a source of continuing human–bear conflict in the region, and is a factor that needs to be taken into consideration when formulating management strategies to protect this International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at visual deformation monitoring for construction scaffold temporary structures, a 3D deformation measurement method based on multi-threaded LiDAR point cloud is proposed. The method consists of two parts, which are point cloud alignment and Scaffold tube axes modeling. Point cloud alignment is performed based on the spatial geometry of the normal vectors and intersection points of homologous feature planes in the scene. The scaffold tube point clouds are extracted using the random sampling consistent principle (RANSAC), and the scaffold tube axes model is further obtained by segmental noise reduction and least-squares fitting. Finally, the 3D deformation monitoring of the scaffold is realized by comparing the tube axes models at different times. The maximum relative error of scaffold deformation is 9.09%. The method provides a new technique for the daily monitoring of construction scaffold groups and can be extended to vehicle-mounted LiDAR applications. • Research on point cloud alignment algorithm based on planar features. • A 3D deformation virtualization monitoring model of scaffolds was developed. • The maximum error in the measurement experiment was 9.09%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyaniline has excellent potential in metal surface protection due to oxidation-reduction reversibility. However, the poor dispersity and endurance of polyaniline limit its further application. Herein, trimethylsilyl-substituted polyaniline (PSiAn) was synthesized and characterized by FTIR and SEM-EDS. Results showed that silanes were successfully linked onto the PANI chains. The fabricated filler exhibits high hydrophobicity and good compatibility in the epoxy matrix. Incorporating PSiAn into epoxy coating has a significant influence to the barrier property, effectively reducing the porosity of coating and interrupting the permeation pathway of aggressive substance. The results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that the |Z| 0.01 Hz of PSiAn/epoxy composite coatings still reached 1010 Ω cm2 after 60-day immersion in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution, which was almost three orders higher than that of the pristine coating. XPS and EIS confirmed the formation of dense complex on alloy surface. It turned out that the synergy between impermeability and passivation effect endowed epoxy coating with excellent corrosion resistance. The long-term effectiveness of anti-corrosion epoxy coating was significantly improved, and a novel approach to preparing a highly hydrophobic filler was proposed. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiological studies have associated high levels of airborne particulate matter (PM) with increased respiratory diseases. In order to investigate the mechanisms of air pollution-induced lung toxicity in humans, human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE) were exposed to various concentrations of particles smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) collected from Beijing, China. After observing that PM2.5 decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, we first used Illumina RNA-seq to identify genes and pathways that may contribute to PM2.5-induced toxicity to 16HBE cells. A total of 539 genes, 283 up-regulated and 256 down-regulated, were identified to be significantly differentially expressed after exposure to 25 μg/cm2 PM2.5. PM2.5 induced a large number of genes involved in responses to xenobtiotic stimuli, metabolic response, and inflammatory and immune response pathways such as MAPK signaling and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, which might contribute to PM2.5-related pulmonary diseases. We then confirmed our RNA-seq results by qPCR and by analysis of IL-6, CYP1A1, and IL-8 protein expression. Finally, ELISA assay demonstrated a significant association between exposure to PM2.5 and secretion of IL-6. This research provides a new insight into the mechanisms underlying PM2.5-induced respiratory diseases in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional efficiency studies using data envelopment analysis (DEA) models considered all input and output variables as continuous, which appears to be unwarranted. Some integer-valued DEA models have been proposed for dealing with the integral constraints in many cases, such as environmental performance measurement, Olympics efficiency assessment, hotel performance evaluation and so on. In existing integer-valued DEA models, the focus is on either input-oriented projection of an inefficient DMU onto the production frontier that aims at reducing input amounts as much as possible while keeping at least the present output levels, or output-oriented projection that maximizes output levels under at most the present input consumption. The present paper develops an integer-valued DEA model that deals with input excesses and output shortfalls simultaneously in a way that maximizes both. An empirical example in the literature is re-examined to compare the DEA model developed here with existing real and integer valued approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stiffening girder of self-anchored suspension bridge (SSB) is subjected to huge axial force because the main cable is directly anchored on the end of the stiffening girder. To obtain a simple model and accurately understand the mechanical behavior of the whole structure in preliminary design, this paper proposed an analytical calculation method considering the combined effects of the main cable-suspender-stiffening girder. On the basis of the deflection theory of the stiffening girder, the relation between the girder shape and the suspender force was explored. The relation between the main cable end force (MCEF) and the suspender force was derived through segmental catenary theory, and iteration method was further improved to avoid the divergence condition. Finally the solution was obtained through satisfying the compatibility condition. The proposed method does not need to iterate manually and can save calculation time. Examples are introduced to verify the applicability of this method, with the result that this method considers the combined effects of the main cable-suspender-stiffening girder, and the finished bridge state satisfies the minimum strain energy of the stiffening girder. Results also indicate that this method has fast convergence speed and high precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Probabilistic crack growth model is established for RD joints with mixed failure modes. • Machine learning tool, Gaussian process regression, is used to boost the simulation. • Effect of mixed failure models is revealed on the fatigue behaviour of RD joints. • Uncertainty is quantified in failure model, fatigue life and crack growth of RD joints. Rib-to-deck (RD) welded joints in orthotropic steel decks (OSDs) of bridges demonstrates two major fatigue failure models, including the toe-to-deck (TTD) cracking and root-to-deck (RTD) cracking. Generally, the sole failure model is employed in the fatigue assessment of RD joints, causing a hot dispute on the dominant failure model. In this paper, the fatigue crack growth (FCG) in RD joints has been evaluated considering uncertainties and mixed failure models. A probabilistic fatigue crack growth (PFCG) model is at first established for the RD joint, in which two crack-like initial flaws are assumed at the weld toe and root of the RD joint. After that, the gaussian process regression is used to assist and boost the PFCG simulation. Then, the PFCG model is implemented on a typical OSD with the random traffic model. Finally, the result of the PFCG model is discussed in detail, including the failure model, fatigue reliability and life prediction, and crack size evolution. It is revealed that both the TTD and RTD cracking models have a notable contribution to fatigue failure and could not be ignored. More crucial, a remarkable reduction can be observed in the fatigue reliability of RD joints when considering mixed failure models. This study not only highlights the influence of mixed failure models on the fatigue performance of welded joints, but also provide an insight into the application of novel machine learning tools in solving the traditional structural issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] EDAHB-PDT induces an early apoptosis in A549 cells. [•] EDAHB-PDT down-regulated PKM2 in A549 cells. [•] Ectopic over-expression of PKM2 attenuated photocytotoxicity of EDAHB. [•] Knockdown of PKM2 expression increased the photocytotoxicity of EDAHB. [•] Down-regulation of PKM2 by EDAHB-PDT modified the aerobic glycolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data envelopment analysis technique has been frequently utilized to assess hotel performance. However, studies that utilize this approach tend to use a self-evaluation method, in which a great number of non-zero weights are selected to maximize the efficiency scores. Aiming at addressing this shortcoming, this study utilizes a peer-restricted, cross-efficiency evaluation approach that does not only eliminate zero weight of the variables during performance evaluation but also reduces the differences between profiles of the weights. Both the peer-restricted, cross-efficiency model and the classic benevolent cross-efficiency approach are applied to measure the efficiency and to provide complete ranking orders for all the international tourists hotels (ITHs) in Taipei between the years of 2008 and 2009. Implications for hotel management in ITHs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: 2-Demethoxy-2,3-ethylenediamino hypocrellin B (EDAHB) is a diamino-substituted hypocrellin B (HB) with high absorption of red light and high quantum yield of both singlet oxygen (1O2) and superoxide anions (). Here we reported the cellular uptake, subcellular location, and cytotoxicity of EDAHB, as well as EDAHB-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficiency, and cell apoptosis. Results showed that EDAHB accumulated in HeLa cells rapidly up to 1h, with a subsequent decrease in the rate of uptake. EDAHB distributed with well-defined spots throughout the cytoplasm of the cells. EDAHB showed a much higher photopotentiation factor than HB. The phototoxicity of EDAHB to HeLa cells occurred via a mitochondria/caspase apoptosis pathway. This study showed EDAHB to be a promising candidate of photosensitizer for anti-tumor PDT. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Traditional efficiency studies using data envelopment analysis (DEA) models considered all resource inputs as homogeneous, which appears to be unwarranted. In this article, we propose an output-oriented, multidivision DEA model considering the heterogeneity of different operating departments in a hotel when measuring its efficiency. Using the data of 21 international tourist hotels (ITHs) in Taipei during 2005–2007, we first measured each hotel's systematic efficiency by maximizing the performance of two different departments (i.e., rooms along with food and beverage) and then we decomposed the systematic efficiency by separately measuring the subsystematic efficiency of each department. Managers of the underperforming ITHs would find the model application and results of this study beneficial in helping them identify the operating department(s) that was causing the inefficiency for the hotel during 2005–2007. As a result, strategies and efforts for tackling the inefficiency could then be proposed by the managers in a more desirable direction. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to elucidate the mechanism of cytotoxicity photoinduced by 2-ethanolamino-2-demethoxy-17-ethanolimino-hypocrellin B (EAHB), a derivative of hypocrellin B (HB), cellular uptake, subcellular localization as well as photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficiency of EAHB, and cell apoptosis photoinduced by EAHB were investigated in HeLa cells by laser confocal fluorescence microscopy, 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assay, flow cytometry, DNA fragmentation on agarose gel, and Western blot. The results showed EAHB was distributed throughout the cytoplasm of the cell, with no detectable penetration into the nucleus. The proportion of dead cells increased with increases in both the dosage of light and the concentration of EAHB. Its phototoxicity to HeLa cells proceeded via apoptosis. The EAHB-PDT treatment induced a cytochrome c release from the mitochondria into the cytosol followed by the activation of both caspase 3 and caspase 9 in HeLa cells. The results suggested that EAHB-PDT treatment induced apoptosis in HeLa cells, and the cellular apoptosis involved a mitochondria-/caspase-dependent mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a test beam model of negative moment region was designed to study its deflection characteristics under over-limit static load and variable amplitude cyclic load scenarios. (1) According to the deflection test results of the test beam under over-limit static load, the load-deflection curve under static load before and after 10000 times of over-limit fatigue load tended to sharply increase in the first place and then slow down afterwards. At the ultimate load, the maximum deflection value of the two was 8.625 mm and 8.76 mm, respectively. The maximum deflection value after 10000 times of over-limit fatigue load increased by 1.57% compared with that before. (2) The deflection test results of the test beam under variable amplitude cyclic load showed that both the total deflection and the residual deflection percentage increased firstly and decreased with the increasing fatigue load times. The total deflection ranged from 4.07–4.3 mm, and the residual deflection percentage was 0.1–1.65%; The residual deflection percentage reached a maximum of 1.65% when the fatigue load times reached 2 million. (3) The deflection test results of the test beam under over-limit variable amplitude fatigue load showed that the maximum residual deflection reached 0.08 mm (maximum residual deflection percentage 1.75%), 0.11 mm (maximum residual deflection percentage 2.30%), 0.16 mm (maximum residual deflection percentage 2.65%) after 1.5, 2 and 3 times over-limit variable amplitude fatigue load was imposed respectively. The maximum deflection did not fluctuate obviously, indicating that the test beam was had sound working performance. (4) In this study, the shear stiffness and fatigue load times were fully considered, the mean value of the ratio of the deformation value to the measured value of the test beam was 0.89, and the standard deviation was 4.86%. When the fatigue load times exceeded 2.8 million, the ratio of the calculated value to the measured value was less than 0.85. In conclusion, the model had its own limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Small punch creep (SPC) tests for SUS304 and Cr5Mo specimens with dimension Ø10mm×0.5mm were performed at different temperatures, load levels and atmospheres. Based on these tests, a finite element model (FEM) combined with modified Kachanov–Rabotnov (K–R) creep damage constitutive equations was established to simulate the ductile and creep damage of the round specimen during the test procedure. The validity of FEM was proved by the comparison of Center deflection–Time data yielded from finite element analysis (FEA) and experiment. Then, effects of sample thickness, load level, ceramic ball diameter, specimen diameter, temperature and protective atmosphere on SPC test were analyzed by experimental investigation and FEA. The results show that five of the six above-mentioned factors (except specimen diameter) influence the rupture time, center deflection, real creep strain and creep damage of SPC specimen strongly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • Vision-based modal parameter identification was assessed for bridge structural health monitoring. • HVS and identification algorithms were developed for structural damage detection. • The superiority of vision-based modal parameters in damage detection was demonstrated. • Improved sensor efficiency and reduced cost responses were demonstrated. Noncontact monitoring using holography can be quite useful in vision-based structural health monitoring owing to its advantages in terms of data visualization and real-time applications. Aimed at exploring the potential of vision-based sensors for structural health monitoring in more general applications, this paper has developed the holographic visual sensor (HVS) with a vision-based modal parameter identification method. This strategy is an extension of the current vision-based techniques and holography. Based on the newly introduced spatial and temporal sequence data measured by HVS, the vision-based modal parameter identification method was proposed and applied to structural health monitoring for the first time. Accordingly, the feature point set describing the geometric morphology of the structural holography and the time-state-space mathematical model of the structural dynamics system was constructed. In this way, the mechanical behavior characteristics could be extracted from serial transient holographic responses following excitation, and the structural modal parameters were then calculated and quantitatively analyzed. Laboratory experiments and field tests were employed for validation based on the comparison between the results determined by the proposed HVS and those determined by conventional, high-precision contact sensors. The developed HVS and identification algorithms were able to visually collect and identify modal parameters at a higher data resolution and provide smoother modal shapes. The proposed method can thus be used to complement and improve existing computer-vision-based measurement techniques and damage detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After incubation with 2-butylamino-2-demethoxy-hypocrellin A (2-BA-2-DMHA), photodynamically induced change in the cytoplasmic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and its effect on cell damage were investigated in human gastric cancer (MGC-803). Fluorescence spectrophotometry measurement indicated that the photosensitization of MGC-803 by 2-BA-2-DMHA caused an increase in intracellular calcium [Ca2+]i, and this increase in [Ca2+]i showed a dependence on the concentration of 2-BA-2-DMHA, light dose and extracellular [Ca2+]e. This phenomenon of intracellular calcium accumulation was further confirmed by using laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). Furthermore, the results from MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis suggested that chelation of extracellular calcium by EGTA or intracellular calcium by BAPTA could inhibit photodynamically induced cell killing, while increase of [Ca2+]i by thapsigargin (TG), a highly specific inhibitor of the Ca2+-ATPase, or by A23187, a calcium ionophore could enhance this action. Meanwhile, the nucleus morphology was also investigated by fluorescence microscopy. The results indicated that the increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration was responsible for 2-BA-2-DMHA photodynamically induced damage to MGC-803. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The electron transfer from singlet states of hypocrellin A (HA) to colloidal TiO2 nanometer-sized particles has been examined by absorption, fluorescence quenching, fluorescence lifetime measurements, laser flash photolysis and pulse radiolysis techniques. Adsorption of HA onto the surface of TiO2 particles extended its absorption spectrum further into the visible region, and the apparent association constant (Kapp) for the association between HA and colloidal TiO2 was 3600 (mol/l)−1 determined by fluorescence quenching method. Fluorescence lifetime measurement was used to elucidate the process of electron transfer from the singlet state of HA to conduction band of TiO2 (Ket=4.26×109 s−1). Laser flash photolysis and pulse radiolysis studies demonstrated formation of the radical cation of HA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Over recent decades, China's economy has continued to develop steadily and rapidly, contributing to a large environmental cost. Therefore, many researchers propose various methods to evaluate environmental efficiency to deal with these serious issues accurately. This paper is the first to evaluate environmental efficiency using a model featuring not only a parallel structure with three component processes (primary, secondary, and tertiary industries) in the first stage but also a sewage treatment process in the second stage. Simultaneously, we propose radial but also nonradial versions of the Environmental Multiple Variable Return to Scale (EMVRS) model. These two models both consider shared inputs as well as shared outputs, and the proportion of the shared inputs and shared outputs utilized in each component process is assumed to be unknown. Additionally, we further analyze the factors influencing environmental efficiency by utilizing the Tobit model. The results when EMVRS is applied to Chinese provinces can be divided into 3 parts: (1) Most provinces do not purify wastewater appropriately contributing to the bad environmental efficiency. (2) The efficiency values of the three industry types are similar or identical to each other in most provinces. (3) The population of people employed negatively impacts environmental efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Green ports are important for addressing global environmental degradation. • 'Intra-group cooperation and out-group competition' improves ports' green efficiency. • Chinese ports' green efficiency is relatively low. • Economic development, regional openness, and others enhance ports' green efficiency. • Pollutants from ports have a significant negative impact on ports' green efficiency. With the current global environmental degradation and energy consumption demands, people are placing great emphasis on studying green ports, including ways to evaluate their green efficiency. However, few studies exist that both quantitatively evaluate the port's green efficiency and consider the competition and cooperation among them. This study introduces a new development mode for port groups: 'intra-group cooperation and out-group competition', which considers the competition and cooperation among ports. Moreover, from a quantitative perspective, the green efficiency of 18 ports in China's five port groups are compared from 2012 to 2016 using the game cross-efficiency and the competition and cooperation cross-efficiency models in a data envelopment analysis (DEA). Furthermore, the factors that influence the ports' green efficiency are analysed using a Tobit regression model, revealing that the green efficiency of Chinese ports are generally low, with numerous problems existing in the ports' green development process. Compared with the current competitive development model among ports, our development model proposed is more conducive to improving the green efficiency of Chinese ports. Moreover, we find that economic development, industrial structure, port throughput (passenger and foreign trade), and regional openness can improve the ports' green efficiency, while nitrogen oxides (NO X) and sulfur oxides (SO X) emissions from ports have a significant negative impact. Finally, to address problems in the green development of ports, a series of green development strategies are proposed to better promote their green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the promotion of urbanization in the past decades, air pollution has become one of the bottlenecks of China's urban development. Kinds of real-time air pollution indicators are recorded by using environmental detection system in China's urban area that produces precious streaming data. The present paper constructs window DEA model to compute the dynamic air quality index after applying hierarchy analysis to resolve the heterogeneity of time varying data. In the section of empirical study, we select the daily data of CO, NO, SO 2 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 since January 2018 to August 2019 for 360 cities in China which includes 1,092,600 streaming data. Our empirical findings indicate that air pollution is heavily serious in most China' cities, in which more than 95% cities have over emitted air pollution by 30% at least. Chinese urban air quality is significantly affected by the change of month and shows an inverse U-shaped curve relationship in year, while the orders of weeks within month or order of days within week is irrelevant. The provinces with the most urban air pollution concentrate in middle China and from a continuous pollution zone with Shanxi as the center. Spatial Distribution Map of urban air quality in China. Time trend of national average urban air quality index. Unlabelled Image • Streaming air pollution data generated by real-time detection system is used to measure China's urban air quality. • More than 95% cities in China need to reduce air pollution emission by at least 30% for becoming pollution-free. • Urban air quality in China shows an inverse U-shaped curve among different months in year. • The most air pollution regions concentrate in middle China and from a continuous pollution zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the progress in light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology, the collection of road point cloud data containing depth information and spatial coordinates has become more accessible. Consequently, utilizing point cloud data for pavement distress detection and quantification emerges as a crucial approach to improving the precision and reliability of road maintenance procedures. This paper aims to automatically detect and visualize pavement distress using LiDAR, deep learning-based 3D object detection method, and building information modeling (BIM). A pavement distress data set is first established using the point cloud data obtained from LiDAR. Then, the 3D object detection network, namely PointPillar, is employed for pavement distress detection, and the detection results will be quantified at a region-level. Finally, pavement BIM model integrating parametrically modeled distress families is built to visually manage the detected distress. After training and validating the model with the pavement distress data set, a detection performance index of recall is 78.5%, mean average precision (mAP) is 62.7%, which is better than other compared point cloud-based methods though the detection performance can be further improved. In addition, a newly untrained section of road is applied for the experiment. The detected distress is integrated in BIM environment for a visual management, providing a better maintenance guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To further improve the precision and efficiency of structural health monitoring technology and the theory of large-scale structures, full-field non-contact structural geometry morphology monitoring is expected to be a breakthrough technology in structural safety state monitoring and digital twins, owing to its economic, credible, high frequency, and holographic advantages. This study validates a proposed holographic visual sensor and algorithms in a computer-vision-based full-field non-contact displacement and vibration measurement. Using an automatic camera patrol experimental device, original segmental dynamic and static video monitoring data of a model bridge under various damage/activities were collected. According to the temporal and spatial characteristics of the series data, the holographic geometric morphology tracking algorithm was introduced. Additionally, the feature points set of the structural holography geometry and the holography feature contours were established. Experimental results show that the holographic visual sensor and the proposed algorithms can extract an accurate holographic full-field displacement signal, and factually and sensitively accomplish vibration measurement, while accurately reflecting the real change in structural properties under various damage/action conditions. The proposed method can serve as a foundation for further research on digital twins for large-scale structures, structural condition assessment, and intelligent damage identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapeutic strategies based on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 2 (LMP2) antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) have been proven to boost LMP2-specific CTL responses in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Such strategies can produce clinical benefits in some patients with NPC. Currently, the major challenge limiting the use of immunotherapy for NPC is its low clinical response rate. The efficacy of immunotherapy based on EBV-LMP2 specific CTLs depends mainly on their cytotoxic activity, but no studies have been conducted to elucidate this activity. In this study, laser confocal scanning microscopy (LCSM) and real-time cell analysis (RTCA) were used to evaluate the killing function and its underlying mechanism of LMP2-specific CTLs. LCSM showed that LMP2-specific CTLs recognize and kill target cells expressing viral escape protein LMP2, and that the killing rate is related to the number of CTLs adhering to the target cells. LMP2-specific CTL-mediated cytotoxicity is rate limited by the time required for effective contact and recognition between CTLs and target cells. RTCA showed that the protective effect of LMP2-specific CTLs required an appropriate effector-to-target ratio, and that LMP2-specific CTLs could not eradicate residual target cells at a low effector-to-target ratio. Moreover, our results revealed that LMP2-specific CTL responses involve two independent but complementary mechanisms: the perforin/granzyme and Fas/FasL pathways. Therefore, we have elucidated, for the first time, the selective cytotoxicity and mechanism by which LMP2-specific CTLs induced by the rAd-LMP2 vaccine kill target cells and have explored the killing mode and several key parameters of killing mediated by LMP2-specific CTLs. Our study will contribute to the knowledge of vaccines targeting EBV-LMP2 and to the improvement of immunotherapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid economic growth and water consumption, the study on measuring the environmental efficiency of water use and wastewater emission has attracted increasing attention. This paper constructs a new non-radial directional distance function to separately scale the performance of water use and wastewater emission in more accurate way, that is also feasible to evaluate the effects of technology heterogeneities on environmental efficiency based on meta-frontier analysis. An application study of 31 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2015 was done after constructing two numerical examples to show the use of models. The empirical results of the study reveal that: (1) There exist significant group-heterogeneity across different areas in China, in which the eastern area performs best while the average technology gap of central and western areas are 51% and 34%; (2) The performance on water use is better than wastewater emission, China's provinces need to produce additional 11.25% desirable outputs and decrease 19.46% wastewater emission based on the input level in 2015. Moreover, this paper calculates the efficiency scores and provides targets for performance improvement for each province in different years. Policy implications indicate that the environmental efficiency of industrial water in China is mostly related to technological heterogeneity in different regions. Therefore, the managers need to set different standards to evaluate the performance of provinces in different areas. • A new non-radial directional distance function is proposed to provide more accurate efficiency score. • Efficiency results are measured to show the performance of water utilization and wastewater treatment of China's industry. • There are significant differences between the performance of eastern, central and western areas in China. • Technical gaps between areas frontier and national frontier are scaled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is great interest in measuring energy efficiency of China's industry using data envelopment analysis (DEA) approaches. This paper proposes a new exponential transformation of undesirable outputs into desirable outputs as part of a DEA approach for calculating environmental efficiency by using all kinds of classic models. Different from the existing transformations, the exponential model should provide a more flexible way to deal with undesirable outputs, allowing the user to adjust the slope and distribution of the transformation function by setting a parameter. A strategy for maximizing the standard variance among the undesirable outputs after transformation is employed in this paper to determine the optimal parameter value for the exponential model. This paper empirically examines the energy performance of sectors in Chinese industry from 2010 to 2014 using the proposed DEA model and the results show that most sectors in Chinese industry have not performed well, especially the sectors concerned with energy extraction. Based on the results of the efficiency evaluation, this paper calculates how can each sector achieve efficiency improvement through energy conservation and emission reduction, and propose specific improvement target values for each sector accordingly. Image 106227 • Alternative approach is constructed to deal with undesirable output in DEA models. • A new transformation is provided to reflect the exponential relationship between desirable and undesirable outputs. • The slope and distribution of data under the new transformation function are controllable. • The new presented approach is applied to measure the performance of 38 industries in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enantiomeric excess (ee) is an essential indicator of chiral drug purification in the pharmaceutical industry. However, to date the ee determination of unknown concentration enantiomers generally involves two separate techniques for chirality and concentration measurement. Here, a whispering‐gallery mode (WGM) based optofluidic microlaser near exceptional point to achieve the ee determination under unknown concentration with a single technique is proposed. Exceptional point induces the unidirectional WGM lasing, providing the optofluidic microlaser with the novel capability to measure chirality by polarization, in addition to wavelength‐based concentration detection. The dual‐parameters detection of optofluidic microlaser empowers it to achieve ee determination of various unknown enantiomers without additional concentration measurements, a feat that is challenging to accomplish with other methods. Featuring the sensitivity enhancement and miniature structure of the WGM sensors, the obtained chiroptical response of the present approach is ≈30‐fold higher than that of the conventional optical rotation‐based polarimeter, and the reagent consumption is reduced by three orders of magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poplar is a major afforestation tree species in flood-prone areas. Here, we compared molecular and physiological responses in the roots of two full-sib poplar clones, LS1 (flood-tolerant) and LS2 (flood-susceptive), subjected to stagnant flooding using transcript and metabolite profiling. LS1 displayed less phenotypic damage and superior leaf gas exchange and plant growth compared with those of LS2. We concluded that three characteristics might contribute to the differences in flood tolerance between LS1 and LS2. First, fermentation was initiated through lactic dehydrogenation in LS1 roots under flooding and subsequently dominated by alcohol fermentation. However, lactic dehydrogenase was persistently active in flooded LS2. Second, 13 differentially expressed genes associated with energy and O2 consumption processes under soil flooding had lower transcript levels in LS1 than those in LS2, which might contribute to better energy-/O2-saving abilities and behaviours in flood-tolerant LS1 than those in flood-susceptible LS2 under hypoxic stress. Third, LS1 possessed increased reactive oxygen species scavenging abilities compared with those of LS2 under edaphic flooding. Our data are a valuable contribution to understanding the mechanisms involved in the flood tolerance of poplar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid economic development of China has intensified the country's many problems. Among them, energy shortage and environmental pollution are two main problems, which highly affects the economic growth and sustainable development. To achieve more rapid green growth, the innovative technology by reusing the environmental wastes has been widely used since doing so not only decreases the environment pollution, but also further brings more natural resource. The present paper establishes a two-stage structure for evaluating the regional green growth and sustainable development in China by calculating the efficiency of "energy saving" and "pollution treatment" separately. Specifically, a set of models based on slack-based measure approach are constructed in which non-discretionary inputs can be calculated in both resource utilization stage and pollution treatment stage. Comparing with the traditional models, the new proposed models can measure the performance of resources saving and pollution treatment with considering the influence of non-discretionary inputs. An empirical application on Chinese 30 regions during 2011–2015 have been done to illustrate the use of our framework and the performance of regional green growth and sustainable development. Based on the efficiency results, we find that the efficiency scores of the provinces in central and northeast area are lower, which is mostly caused by their poor performance on "pollution treatment". Both the environmental efficiency scores and target values for performance improvement are obtained in this paper to enlighten the corresponding decision-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental regulation has been recognized as an important way to directly improve environmental performance or indirectly impact environmental performance through increasing environmental innovation. The present paper constructs an energy and carbon emission total factor productivity index using the Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index and data envelopment analysis. The proposed technique is used to measure the environmental performance of 30 Chinese provinces during the period 2010–2015. The energy and carbon emission total factor productivity measure is divided into a pure technical efficiency index and a technical progress index to provide detailed environmental performance information. Then an ordinary least squares model is adopted to analyse the impact of environmental regulation on environmental innovation operation and environmental performance by hypothesis testing. The empirical results show that environmental regulation and environmental innovation have positive direct effects on environmental performance and that market‐based environmental regulation has a positive indirect effect on environmental performance by increasing environmental innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of nitrogen impurities on the atmospheric pressure helium discharge in Townsend mode is investigated based on a 1D fluid model. The level of nitrogen impurities was varied in the range 0.1–10 000 ppm, in which the discharge exhibits three notable discharge modes, namely multipulse Townsend discharge, single-pulse Townsend discharge, and multipulse glow discharge with the increase in the impurity level. It is found that the influence of nitrogen impurities on helium discharge in the Townsend mode is entirely different from that in the glow mode; the discharge characteristics are different under different nitrogen contents. Under 1 ppm nitrogen content, both the breakdown voltage and discharge current remain unchanged. As the N 2 content increases, the breakdown voltage still remains unchanged but the discharge current decreases. As the N 2 content exceeds 350 ppm, the discharge transits from the Townsend mode into the glow mode, and the breakdown voltage decreases dramatically while the current density increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing amount of resources is being utilized to combat the pollution problem in China. Measuring and improving the efficiency of this resource allocation is an effective way to promote pollution treatment at the present technical level. This paper utilizes a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to attain allocation results based on the zero-sum gain and fixed-sum gain assumptions. We divide all the inputs into discretionary and non-discretionary inputs and construct two models for allocating resources based on the environmental efficiency scores. The new models are applied to calculate the performance and resource allocation scheme of 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2015. Most provinces are inefficient at controlling pollution emission or treating pollution while using the given level of input resources. Based on the production possibility set of each province in 2015, the processing capacity of wastewater and gas could be increased by 1% and 3%, respectively, by reallocating resources for pollution treatment among different provinces. Environmental efficiency scores and resource allocation plans based on various assumptions are obtained in this paper to enlighten the corresponding decision-makers. Image 1 • The paper constructs two resource allocation models based on the DEA approach. • This research considers the allocation of public pollution treatment resources between different sectors. • Two strategies for resource allocation are composed to deal with different conditions relating to resources. • We apply the new models to measure the performance of 30 regions in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• analyze the energy efficiency of Beijing's industrial sectors from 2002 to 2018. • model industry heterogeneity of Beijing's industrial sectors accurately. • low energy efficiency of Beijing's industrial sectors due to management inefficiency. • the energy efficiency of heavy industry is higher than that of light industry. • explore the influencing factors of energy efficiency of Beijing's industrial sectors. Improving energy efficiency is one of the effective means to achieve China's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. As the capital of China, Beijing should improve energy efficiency and has a primary responsibility in achieving the goals. Considering the heterogeneity of industrial sectors, this paper proposes a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to analyze the total factor energy efficiency and its influencing factors of 31 industrial sectors in Beijing from 2002 to 2018. We show that the low energy efficiency of Beijing's industrial sectors, mainly due to management inefficiency, is not conducive to the realization of the goals. Besides, the energy efficiency of heavy industry is higher than that of light industry. The expansion of enterprise scale has a positive impact on energy efficiency, while the property right structure, foreign trade and energy consumption structure have a negative impact on energy efficiency. Finally, we put forward some policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The joint form plays a vital role in the rapid assembly of precast bridge decks for steel–concrete composite bridges. Existing research primarily focuses on studying the shear performance of joints through direct shear tests, which is insufficient to fully reflect the mechanical behavior of joints under the constraint of prefabricated bridge deck panels during actual vehicular traffic. Considering situations such as vehicle loads and external forces acting on precast bridge decks, this study investigates the shear performance of epoxy joints under constraint through an improved shear test. The influence of constraint force, shear key details and interface defects on the shear performance of epoxy joints is investigated. The results reveal that the shear test method employed in this study can realistically reflect the shear performance of epoxy joints in precast bridge decks. Both active and passive constrained epoxy joint specimens exhibited no interface cracks, and their failure modes were identified as shear failure between mid-span supports. Compared with passive constraint, the shear-bearing capacity of epoxy joint specimens under active constraint was increased by 86.1~130.6%. Among the epoxy joint specimens with depth–height ratios of 15/110, 25/110, 35/110 and 45/110, the joint with a depth of 35 mm demonstrated the highest shear strength. Furthermore, the shear performance of epoxy joints significantly deteriorated when the interface defects exceeded 30%, resulting in the failure mode transforming from shear failure to interface failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibromatosis is a rare type of tumor derived from the mesenchymal tissue. This is a benign tumor with infiltrating growth but may invade locally and recur following excision. As one type of fibromatosis, mesenteric fibromatosis (MF) accounts for a mere 8% of cases. Although studies have revealed that the etiology of MF is related to trauma, surgery, hormones, and heredity, the specific etiology of fibromatosis remains unclear. With such low incidence, MF has been rarely reported and tends to be misdiagnosed due to insufficient recognition. In this paper, we describe the cases of two patients with MF who were misdiagnosed with lymph node metastasis and who had previously undergone successful laparoscopic right hemicolectomy. We provide this information in order to broaden the clinical understanding of MF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we report a facile strategy for constructing hybrid coordination configurations by combining functionalized graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with CoPc (CoPc/R-GQDs, with R being –NH2 or –OH) for electrochemical CO2 reduction. Benefiting from the high density of functional groups that can be provided by GQDs and the strong electron-donating property of –NH2, the examined CoPc/NH2-GQDs achieved a 100% faradaic efficiency for CO formation (FECO) at −0.8 to −0.9 V vs. RHE, and high FECO (over 90%) over a wide potential range of 500 mV. This work has presented a novel approach for catalyst design, specifically involving molecular engineering of quantum dots, which can also be applied to other essential electrochemical reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]