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During 2010 to 2020, Northeast Pacific (NEP) sea surface temperature (SST) experienced the warmest decade ever recorded, manifested in several extreme marine heatwaves, referred to as "warm blob" events, which severely affect marine ecosystems and extreme weather along the west coast of North America. While year-to-year internal climate variability has been suggested as a cause of individual events, the causes of the continuous dramatic NEP SST warming remain elusive. Here, we show that other than the greenhouse gas (GHG) forcing, rapid aerosol abatement in China over the period likely plays an important role. Anomalous tropospheric warming induced by declining aerosols in China generated atmospheric teleconnections from East Asia to the NEP, featuring an intensified and southward-shifted Aleutian Low. The associated atmospheric circulation anomaly weakens the climatological westerlies in the NEP and warms the SST there by suppressing the evaporative cooling. The aerosol-induced mean warming of the NEP SST, along with internal climate variability and the GHG-induced warming, made the warm blob events more frequent and intense during 2010 to 2020. As anthropogenic aerosol emissions continue to decrease, there is likely to be an increase in NEP warm blob events, disproportionately large beyond the direct radiative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to prepare epoxy/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)/glass fiber (GF) composites (EPGs) with the unique characteristics of low friction and high wear resistance based on triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC). The tribological properties of composites with different filler ratios under different working conditions were systematically studied. At the maximum filler content of 40 wt% PTFE, the minimum coefficient of friction (COF) and wear rate reached 0.079 and 0.45 - 10°6 mm³/N-m. The hardness decreased by 44.2% and the density increased by 18.3%. The worn surfaces and transfer films were observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The increasing tendency of velocity and amplitude is beneficial to reduce the carbon-rich region and further enhance the formation of transfer films. It is proved that the tribological properties of TGIC-based epoxy composites are higher than those of other types of epoxy composites. This study offers great insight into the tribological applications of TGIC-based epoxy composites. Highlights • Epoxy/PTFE/GF composites (EPGs) were prepared using TGIC as the base material. • EPGs have good mechanical and tribological properties. • The COF of EPG3 reaches 0.079 and the wear rate becomes 0.45 x 10°6 mm3/(N-m). • The increasing tendency of velocity and amplitude is beneficial to reduce the carbon-rich region and further enhance the formation of transfer films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context • Researchers have associated insomnia with many disorders, making insomnia a serious public health issue in China. Sleep quality in older adults isn’t well characterized in China. Objective • The study intended to explore the sleep quality and subjective duration of sleep in a community-dwelling older population in China and identify potential risk factors for poor sleep. Design • The research team performed a cross-sectional survey using the convenience sampling method. Setting • The study took place in a community in Wuhu, Anhui, China in 2015. Participants • Participants were 1075 members of the community from Wuhu city. Outcome Measures • The research team collected self-reported information on sleep quality. Results • The overall prevalence of self-reported insomnia among older adults were 40.8%. The prevalence of insomnia in females, 259 (59.00%), was significantly higher than in males, 180 (41.00%), with P=.00. For income status, the prevalence of insomnia was significantly higher for participants with less than 10 000 RMB per year income for a family, 191 participants (43.51%), than for participants with higher family incomes, with P=.00. For marital status, the prevalence of insomnia was significantly higher for the widowed participants, 121 participants (24.56%), with P=.01. Conclusions • Sleep quality for females, low-income families, and widowed people were significantly worse than for people in other categories among older adults in China. Older adults in China need proper interventions for the factors causing poor sleep hygiene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To promote high-quality economic development, China continues to strengthen its network infrastructure, but it is unclear how this affects the regional ecosystem. To clarify the impact direction, based on the weekly data of river pollution in China from 2004 to 2018, this paper regards the Broadband China (BC) strategy as a quasi-natural experiment and uses a difference-in-difference (DID) model for empirical analysis. The study found that network infrastructure construction significantly exacerbates river pollution. After a series of robustness tests, such as the placebo test and propensity score matching DID (PSM-DID), this research conclusion still holds. The impact of network infrastructure construction on river pollution is more visible in economically developed regions as well as cities with a higher level of digital economy development. The mechanism analysis confirms that during the sample period, network infrastructure construction led to secondary industry agglomeration but did not have a significant impact on innovation ability or environmental regulation, thus leading to the continuous intensification of river pollution. This paper not only provides empirical evidence for the study of the environmental effects of network infrastructure construction but also provides suggestions on how to better weigh the relationship between economic development and the environment in the digital economy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a connection problem of the first Painlev\'e equation (PI), trying to connect the local behavior (Laurent series) near poles and the asymptotic behavior as the variable t tends to the negative infinity for real PI functions. We get a classification of the real PI functions in terms of (p, H) so that they behave differently at the negative infinity, where p is the location of a pole and H is the free parameter in the Laurent series. Some limiting-form connection formulas of PI functions are obtained for large H. Specifically, for the real tritronqu\'ee solution, the large-n asymptotic formulas of pn and Hn are obtained, where pn is the nth pole on the real line in the ascending order and Hn is the associated free parameter. Our approach is based on the complex WKB method (also known as the method of uniform asymptotics) introduced by Bassom et al. in their study on the connection problem of the second Painlev\'e transcendent [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal., 143 (1998), pp. 241--271]. Several numerical simulations are carried out to verify our main results. Meanwhile, we obtain the phase diagram of P\I solutions in the (p, H) plane, which somewhat resembles the Brillouin zones in solid-state physics. The asymptotic and numerical results obtained in this paper partially answer Clarkson's open question on the connection problem of the first Painlev\'e transcendent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To deeply understand the effects of support properties on the performance of Mo-based slurry-phase hydrocracking catalysts, four Mo-based catalysts supported on amorphous silica alumina (ASA), γ-Al2O3, ultra-stable Y (USY) zeolite and SiO2 were prepared by the incipient wetness impregnation method, respectively, and their catalytic performances were compared in the vacuum residue (VR) hydrocracking process. It is found that the Mo/ASA catalyst exhibits the highest VR conversion among the different catalysts, indicating that both the appropriate amount of acid sites, especially B acid sites and larger mesoporous volume of ASA can enhance the VR hydrocracking into light distillates. Furthermore, Mo catalysts supported on the different supports show quite different product distributions in VR hydrocracking. The Mo/ASA catalyst provides higher yields of naphtha and middle distillates and lower yields of gas and coke compared with other catalysts, it is attributed to the highest MoS2 slab dispersion, the highest sulfuration degree of Mo species, and the most Mo atoms located at the edge sites for the Mo/ASA catalyst, as observed by HRTEM and XPS analyses. These features of Mo/ASA are beneficial for the hydrogenation of intermediate products and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to restrict the gas and coke formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive dataset from 594 fracturing wells throughout the Duvernay Formation near Fox Creek, Alberta, is collected to quantify the influences of geological, geomechanical, and operational features on the distribution and magnitude of hydraulic fracturing-induced seismicity. An integrated machine learning-based investigation is conducted to systematically evaluate multiple factors that contribute to induced seismicity. Feature importance indicates that a distance to fault, a distance to basement, minimum principal stress, cumulative fluid injection, initial formation pressure, and the number of fracturing stages are among significant model predictors. Our seismicity prediction map matches the observed spatial seismicity, and the prediction model successfully guides the fracturing job size of a new well to reduce seismicity risks. This study can apply to mitigating potential seismicity risks in other seismicityfrequent regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Periampullary diverticulum (PAD) may make the performance of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients with choledocholithiasis more difficult and may increase complication rates. The present study evaluated the effects of PAD on first-time ERCP in patients with choledocholithiasis. Methods: Outcomes were compared in patients with and without PAD and in those with four types of PAD: papilla located completely inside the diverticulum (type I), papilla located in the inner (type II a) and outer (type II b) margins of the diverticulum; and papilla located outside the diverticulum (type III). Parameters compared included cannulation time and rates of difficult cannulation, post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) and perforation. Results: The median cannulation times in patients with types I, II a, II b, III PAD and in those without PAD were 2.0 min, 5.0 min, 0.67 min, 3.5 min, and 3.5 min, respectively, with difficult cannulation rates in these groups of 7.4%, 31.4%, 8.3%, 18.9%, and 23.2%, respectively. The rates of PEP in patients with and without PAD were 5.3% and 5.1%, respectively. Four patients with and one without PAD experienced perforation. Conclusions: The division of PAD into four types may be more appropriate than the traditional division into three types. Cannulation of type I and II b PAD was easier than cannulation of patients without PAD, whereas cannulation of type II a PAD was more challenging. PAD may not increase the rates of PEP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast cancer is a serious threat to women's health with high morbidity and mortality. The development of more effective therapies for the treatment of breast cancer is strongly warranted. Growing evidence suggests that targeting glucose metabolism may be a promising cancer treatment strategy. We previously identified a new glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) inhibitor, DC-5163, which shows great potential in inhibiting tumor growth. Here, we evaluated the anticancer potential of DC-5163 in breast cancer cells. Methods: The effects of DC-5163 on breast cancer cells were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Seahorse, glucose uptake, lactate production, and cellular ATP content assays were performed to examine the impact of DC-5163 on cellular glycolysis. Cell viability, colony-forming ability, cell cycle, and apoptosis were assessed by CCK8 assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, and immunoblotting respectively. The anticancer activity of DC-5163 in vivo was evaluated in a mouse breast cancer xenograft model. Results: DC-5163 suppressed aerobic glycolysis and reduced energy supply of breast cancer cells, thereby inhibiting breast cancer cell growth, inducing cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase, and increasing apoptosis. The therapeutic efficacy was assessed using a breast cancer xenograft mouse model. DC-5163 treatment markedly suppressed tumor growth in vivo without inducing evident systemic toxicity. Micro-PET/CT scans revealed a notable reduction in tumor 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT uptake in the DC-5163 treatment group compared to the DMSO control group. Conclusions: Our results suggest that DC-5163 is a promising GAPDH inhibitor for suppressing breast cancer growth without obvious side effects. 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT PET/CT can noninvasively assess the levels of glycolysis and proliferation in tumors following treatment with DC-5163. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance light absorption in the visible region for the utilization of sunlight, eight mixed-valence polynuclear CuI/CuII clusters have been synthesized for evaluating their photothermal conversion performance. They are fabricated considering the ligand's electron density distribution inhomogeneity using 1,2,3-triazole (3N) or tetrazole (4N) and different mono-phosphine ligands. We report here the synthesis, crystal structure, characterization, optical properties, and photothermal conversion performance of these clusters. X-ray crystal structures reveal that those pentanuclear clusters are neutral clusters with octahedrally- coordinated copper(II) ion being surrounded by four tetrahedrally coordinated copper(I) ions. Interestingly, with the introduction of the mixed-valence centers, these compounds show additional light absorption centers in 350-600 nm via the IVCT transition mechanism, compared with our previously reported Cu(II) compounds. These clusters show excellent photothermal conversion performance, with an average equilibrium temperature (~60 °C) and a temperature increment (~40 °C), which are also superior to Cu(II) complexes (the average equilibrium temperature ~55 °C). This work proves that it is possible to design and prepare new polynuclear mixed-valence CuI/CuII clusters for achieving high-performance photothermal conversion materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the limited supply and pressure margin in the air system, a cooling technique providing efficient heat transfer with lower flow loss is highly desirable for gas turbine blades. Microscale ribs have promised to be a potential cooling candidate. In this work, large eddy simulations are implemented to reveal the scale effect of micro ribs on the near-wall turbulent transport in a cooling channel. Considering a mechanistic study and practical applications, both single-rib and rib-array arrangements are studied with a wide range of dimensionless viscous-scaled rib heights involving the entire boundary layer. The results indicate that the rib-induced destruction and regeneration of coherent structures are, respectively, responsible for the weakened momentum transport and enhanced heat transport in the near-wall region. Using tiny ribs, regenerated quasi-streamwise vortices are mainly located in the buffer layer. The resulting turbulence burst greatly enhances wall heat transfer while keeping a lower flow loss due to the weak form drag. Regenerated hairpin vortices using tall ribs are activated in the log-law layer and intensively interact with mainstream. Along with improved wall heat transfer, the significant form drag results in a remarkably high flow loss. Accordingly, heat transfer and flow loss show different dependencies on the rib height, which contributes to an optimum height interval of ribs (e+ = 20–40) located in the high buffer and low log-law layer for maximizing the overall performance. Furthermore, for the rib-array scheme, adequate inter-rib spacing is essential to achieve turbulence regeneration for enhancing near-wall heat transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nephrotic syndrome, a common kidney disease syndrome in children, has triggered extensive clinical research to identify safe and effective treatments. Qingxin Lianzi Drink, as a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, has been paid more and more attention in the treatment of nephrotic syndrome in children. Its main ingredients include Shilotus meat, scutellaria skullcap and ground bone skin, etc. These ingredients have the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and water, and nourishing liver and kidney. In the treatment of nephrotic syndrome in children, Qingxin Lianzi Drink can play a role in many ways: first, it can inhibit inflammatory response, reduce glomerular inflammatory damage, relieve proteinuria and other symptoms; Secondly, the ingredients such as stone lotus meat can promote the excretion of waste and water in the body, reduce edema and edema and other symptoms; Finally, scutellaria and other ingredients can nourish liver and kidney and promote the recovery of liver and kidney function. At present, a large number of studies have found that Qingxin Lianzi Drink has obvious effect on chronic kidney disease. In addition, Qingxin Lianzi Drink as a natural therapy, compared with traditional western medicine treatment, more safe, natural and effective, has been widely concerned. Therefore, Qingxin Lianzi Drink in the treatment of children with nephrotic syndrome of the mechanism of action and efficacy evaluation of the study is of great significance. In this paper, combining the pathogenesis and treatment status of nephrotic syndrome in children, the mechanism of Qingxin Lianzi Drink in the treatment of nephrotic syndrome is explored, which can better understand its effectiveness in the treatment of nephrotic syndrome in children, and provide scientific basis for its application in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding nanodiamond structures is of great scientific and practical interest. It has been a long-standing challenge to unravel the complexity underlying nanodiamond structures and to resolve the controversies surrounding their polymorphic forms. Here, we use transmission electron microscopy with high-resolution imaging, electron diffraction, multislice simulations, and other supplementary techniques to study the impacts of small sizes and defects on cubic diamond nanostructures. The experimental results show that common cubic diamond nanoparticles display the (200) forbidden reflections in their electron diffraction patterns, which makes them indistinguishable from new diamond (n-diamond). The multislice simulations demonstrate that cubic nanodiamonds smaller than 5 nm can present the d-spacing at 1.78 Å corresponding to the (200) forbidden reflections, and the relative intensity of these reflections increases as the particle size decreases. Our simulation results also reveal that defects, such as surface distortions, internal dislocations, and grain boundaries can also make the (200) forbidden reflections visible. These findings provide valuable insights into the diamond structural complexity at nanoscale, the impact of defects on nanodiamond structures, and the discovery of novel diamond structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the leakage between the teeth of the twin-screw pump and improve the working performance, it is necessary to reduce the clearance between the teeth; In this paper, the end face profile equation of A-type screw rotor is derived by coordinate transformation method, the end face profile is generated based on MATLAB software, and the cusp and curve of the profile are optimized by arc transition method; The changes of pressure field and velocity field in the fluid domain of screw rotor before and after optimization are analyzed by finite element method; Taking the twin-screw pump as the research object, the fluid-structure coupling analysis and calculation of the master and slave screw rotors are carried out. The modal analysis of the screw without prestress and under the action of prestress is carried out respectively. Through the simulation calculation, the first six modal vibration shapes of the screw are taken, and the results of the two different states are compared. The results show that when the working pressure difference is 2 MPa, the maximum pressure after optimization increases by 1% compared with that before optimization. With the continuous increase of center distance, the maximum pressure of flow field fluctuates slightly up and down; The maximum velocity after optimization is 3.5 % lower than that before optimization. The comparison results show that the frequency of the screw rotor increases with the increase of the modal order of the screw rotor without prestress. The frequencies of the second and third orders are similar, and the amplitudes of the first and fourth orders are similar. After the fluid-structure coupling force is applied, the change trends of the modal frequencies of each order are basically the same, but the magnitudes of the frequencies and amplitudes change. The amplitude of the main and driven screw rotors under the fluid-structure interaction decreases rapidly in the third-order vibration mode and is lower than the amplitude without prestress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the relayed hyperpolarization for zero-field nuclear magnetic resonance. It discusses inductive and noninductive detection of SABRE-Relay–enhanced NMR signals. It also provides the demonstration of the parahydrogen-based SABRE (signal amplification by reversible exchange)–Relay method used in generating hyperpolarized analysis for Zero- to ultralow-field nuclear magnetic resonance (ZULF NMR).

A novel atmospheric pressure plasma microjet (APPμJ) array is proposed to realize maskless parallel micropatterned etching of materials. Due to applying microfabrication technology, the dimension and distance of multiple jets in an array can be adjusted at a micro/nanoscale. However, interactions among multiple jets often lead to inconsistency of microjets and nonuniformity of sample etching. In this study, a 1 × 2 APPμJ array with 90-μm nozzles and varying jet-to-jet distance is developed. The effects of different operating factors on the consistency of the APPμJ array are investigated. The experiment results show that the consistency of the microjet array and uniformity of sample etching can be greatly improved by optimizing operating parameters, such as applied voltage, gas flow rate, and jet-to-jet distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A multi-parameter optimization method is developed based on the simplified conjugate-gradient algorithm. • Heights of perturbation ribs in turbine blade internal cooling are optimized at various conditions. • All of the optimal designs possess a hierarchically nonuniform characteristic. • The design direction is provided for perturbation elements involving turbulent flow heat transfer. Owing to the limited cold-air amount and pressure in supply systems, high-efficient heat transfer with low-level friction loss is highly desired for cooling units of a turbine blade. To exploit the potential improvement of hierarchically arranged ribs in cooling passages proposed previously, multi-parameter optimizations for rib arrangements are implemented by integrating the simplified conjugate-gradient algorithm with the turbulent flow and heat transfer model. Rib heights as design variables are optimized with various performance indices as objective functions at a fixed Re. The optimizations confirm that using the wall temperature difference and Nu as the objective function, respectively, a limited heat transfer improvement is achieved with a greatly increased friction loss. Taking the overall performance factor as the objective function, different optimal designs at different constraint conditions possess hierarchical characteristics. A significant friction loss reduction of 52.1%, 54.7%, and 54.8%, is achieved with a moderate heat transfer loss of 10.9%, 7.0%, and 2.3%. Despite different thermal and friction performances, their overall performances are consistent with a remarkable increase of 13.9%, 21.2%, and 27.3%. Finally, the optimization strategy coupling the multi-parameter optimization and hierarchical scheme is confirmed as effective for enhancing the thermohydraulic performance of convective heat transfer systems with perturbation elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the oncology field. However, a significant number of patients do not respond, at least partly due to the lack of preexisting anti-tumor T-cell immunity. Therefore, it is emergent to add an immune-priming step to improve efficacy. Here, we report a combined approach consisting of intratumoral administration of pro-inflammatory allogeneic dendritic cells (AlloDCs) and systemic treatment with αCTLA-4 that can drastically improve the anti-tumor efficacy compared to αCTLA-4 monotherapy. When evaluated in mice with large established CT-26 tumors, monotherapy with αCTLA-4 neither delayed tumor progression nor improved mice survival. However, combination treatment of AlloDCs and αCTLA-4 drastically improved the effectiveness, with 70% of mice being cured. This effect was T cell-dependent, and all survived mice rejected a subsequent tumor rechallenge. Further investigation revealed an immune-inflamed tumor microenvironment (TME) in the combination treatment group characterized by enhanced infiltration of activated antigen-presenting endogenous DCs and CD8+ T cells with a tissue-resident memory (TRM) phenotype (CD49a+CD103+). This correlated with elevated levels of tumor-specific CD39+CD103+CD8+ T cells in the tumor and "tumormatching" NKG2D+CD39+CX3CR1+CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood. Moreover, splenocytes from mice in the combination treatment group secreted significantly higher IFN-γ upon stimulation with the peptide from the endogenous CT-26 retroviral gp70 (model neoantigen), confirming the induction of a tumorspecific CD8+ T-cell response. Taken together, these data indicate a strong anti-tumor synergy between AlloDCs and αCTLA-4 that warrant further clinical investigation with the corresponding human AlloDC product (ilixadencel) for patients receiving αCTLA-4 therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of sodium phosphorothioate complexes are shown to have electrochemical properties attractive for sodium-sulfur battery applications across a wide operating temperature range. As cathode materials, they resolve a long-standing issue of cyclic liquid-solid phase transition that causes sluggish reaction kinetics and poor cycling stability in conventional, room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries. The cathode chemistry yields 80% cyclic retention after 400 cycles at room temperature and a superior lowtemperature performance down to 260 °C. Coupled experimental characterization and density functional theory calculations revealed the complex structures and electrochemical reaction mechanisms. The desirable electrochemical properties are attributed to the ability of the complexes to prevent the formation of solid precipitates over a fairly wide range of voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glazing units are indispensable for a variety of buildings and their thermal behavior has significant effects on improving indoor thermal comfort and decreasing energy consumption. Recently, the double glazed windows that are filled with phase change material (PCM) have been considered as potential glazing units. Therefore, the dynamic thermal behavior of the PCM-filled double glazing unit is investigated in this work. A three-layer glass-PCM-glass model considering coupled conduction-solar radiationphase change is established. Effects of physical parameters of the PCM on the thermal behavior of the PCM-filled glazing unit are examined thoroughly. The results indicate that the filling of PCM can affect heat transfer within the glazing unit significantly by reducing solar energy entering the indoor room through the window. When the glass-PCM-glass model is adopted, the transmitted solar energy can be reduced by 78.82 W/m2. Optical parameters (especially absorption coefficient) of the PCM have significant impact on the thermal behavior of glazing units: the larger the absorption coefficient is, the less solar energy will enter indoors, and the larger will be the temperature fluctuation. For different absorption coefficients, the maximum temperature difference on the interior surface can reach 3.57°C. Thermal properties of the PCM also have significant impact on the thermal behavior of glazing units. Decreasing the thermal conductivity or increasing the latent heat of the PCM can reduce the temperature fluctuation of the glazing windows. Selecting a reasonable melting temperature can make full use of the heat storage capacity of PCM. Thus, this study can provide a reference for how to apply PCM into a transparent envelope in buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drying kinetics, color, and texture changes in different drying temperatures of jujubes were investigated in this study. With the increase of temperature, the drying time reached a minimum (140 min) at 80℃. At the temperature of 40℃, the retention of the original color was the greatest (ΔE = 1.66); similar results were also reflected by the measured pulp browning (4.186 ± 0.350 Abs/g) and 5-HMF (0.517 ± 0.044 mg/g). After drying, the fruit hardness decreased to 55.91%–86.59% of the initial (2,543.2 ± 181.4 g). SEM showed that the HAD temperature exceeded 60℃ and the pulp tissue sharp dramatically, causing the fruit to harden. Affected by drying temperature and polygalacturonase, WSP increased in drying, whereas CSP and NSP showed the opposite trend, and they were significantly correlated with the texture of fruits. The results expanded our understanding of the jujube drying process and provided guidance for controlling the quality of jujube during HAD processing. Practical applications The drying method of jujube fruit in China is special, which is a combination of air drying and hot air drying. However, discoloration, shrinkage, and other quality deterioration occurred during the drying process, significantly affecting the quality of jujube fruit. In this study, semi-air-dried jujubes were used to investigate the color and texture during hot air drying. These results will provide valuable information to the pilot or industrial scale processors and also served as an operational guide for the jujube fruit drying process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel hierarchical scheme of rib arrangements is proposed for turbine blade internal cooling. • Various representative rib configurations are considered to implement the hierarchical scheme. • The improvement achieves greatly-reduced friction loss and low-level heat transfer deterioration. • Heat transfer details and turbulent flow structures are analyzed to reveal the underlying physics. • The feasibility and generality of the hierarchical scheme are verified comprehensively. Turbulators, such as ribs, dimples, and pin-fins, play a vital role in the internal cooling efficiency of turbine blades. As a typical turbulator, various rib configurations using a uniform arrangement scheme have indicated high heat transfer enhancement but the friction loss is simultaneously subject to a great increase. In this work, a novel hierarchical arrangement scheme of ribs is developed aiming to improve the cooling efficiency. Adopting the uniform scheme as a baseline, the hierarchical scheme is implemented for six representative rib configurations (including transverse ribs, angled ribs, V-shaped ribs, inverted V-shaped ribs, M-shaped ribs, and inverted M-shaped ribs) and evaluated for its feasibility and generality. For different cooling designs, turbulent flow and heat transfer of the ribbed cooling channel are studied by three-dimensional numerical simulations based on the finite volume method with a constructed turbulence model. It is found that for all rib configurations, the hierarchical scheme can remarkably reduce the friction loss as desired, especially for the inverted V-shaped rib with a reduction of up to 50%. Due to the occurrence of flow separation, secondary flows offered by transverse ribs are characterized by a two-dimensional recirculation vortex behind the rib. For other rib configurations, secondary flows present a typical three-dimensional characteristic including the downwash flows along the inclined rib leg and the longitudinal vortices. The usage of the hierarchical scheme with small ribs strongly suppresses these secondary flows, which contributes to the significant decrease in form drag loss. Meanwhile, using the hierarchical scheme produces a slight heat transfer deterioration commonly, which is because the constrained secondary vortices weaken the turbulent mixing and convection heat transfer. Significantly, for the two W-shaped ribs, the limited secondary vortices but fully developed under the hierarchical scheme achieve a higher heat transfer enhancement. Finally, for all considered ribs, the hierarchical scheme can improve the overall performance factor of (Nu / Nu 0)/(f / f 0)1/3 by more than 10%, and up to 21.15% for the V-shaped rib. Adjusting design variables, including the decreasing ratio of the rib size and the initial rib size, the hierarchical scheme still provides even higher performance enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of relative position of two rows of film holes on film cooling performance was experimentally and numerically investigated on each side (suction side and pressure side) of rotating blade leading edge. The film cooling performance was measured by pressure sensitive paint and phase-locked techniques. The numerical simulation was also employed to improve the understanding of flow filed. The first row of film holes is fixed at α 1 = ±10° downstream of stagnation line and is followed by the second row of holes with staggered arrangement. The span-wise relative positions between two rows of holes, P 2 /P 1 , are ranged from 1/4 to 3/4. Meanwhile, the stream-wise location of second row of holes is varied from α 2 = ±25° to ±40°. Five blowing ratios ranged from 0.5 to 2.0 are also employed. The results indicate that the effect of relative position of two rows on film cooling is different on the two sides of leading edge. On the suction side, the relative position between two rows of holes significantly affects the interaction between the adjacent jets from two rows, which determines the distribution and value of film cooling effectiveness. When it comes to the leading edge pressure side, closer distance between two adjacent holes in two rows produces better film cooling performance. Meanwhile, the effect of relative position between two rows of holes is mainly located in the near hole region. • The film cooling effectiveness on the typical blade leading edge is measured using PSP technique under rotational condition. • The effects of relative positions of two rows of film holes on film cooling performance are investigated. • Different variation of film cooling effectiveness on each side of leading edge regions are observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) was found to be induced in the context of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) before. This study further investigates its role in the development of SAH-induced early brain injury (EBI). Firstly, rats were randomly divided into Sham and SAH groups for analysis of temporal patterns and cellular localization of TREM-1. Secondly, TREM-1 intervention was administrated to produce Sham, vehicle, antagonist and agonist groups, for analyzing TREM-1, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) and NF-κB expressions at 24 h post-modeling, and EBI assessment at 24 h and 72 h. Thirdly, TLR4 inhibitor (TAK-242) was exploited to produce Sham, Sham+TAK-242, SAH, and SAH + TAK-242 groups to analyze the effects of TLR4 inhibition on TREM-1 induction and EBI evaluation at 72 h. Fourthly, the relationship of soluble TREM-1 (sTREM-1) levels in cerebrospinal fluid of SAH patients with Hunt-Hess grades were explored. The results showed that TREM-1 increased in the brain after experimental SAH (eSAH) early at 6 h and peaked at 48 h, which was found to be located in microglia and endothelial cells. TREM-1 inhibition attenuated EBI associated with TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB suppression, while enhancement had the opposite effects. Contrarily, TLR4 inhibition prevented TREM-1 induction and ameliorated EBI. In addition, sTREM-1 levels in SAH patients positively correlated with Hunt-Hess grades. Overall, the present study provides new evidence that TREM-1 increases dynamically in the brain after eSAH and it is located in microglia and endothelial cells, which may aggravate EBI by interacting with TLR4 pathway. And sTREM-1 in patients might act as a monitoring biomarker of EBI, providing new insights for future studies. • TREM-1 is dynamically increased in brain and mainly located in microglia and endothelial cells after eSAH. • TREM-1 aggravates EBI by interacting with TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway. • sTREM-1 in CSF of SAH patients may act as a monitoring biomarker of EBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]