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The fabrication of high‐performance perovskite solar cells on high‐haze fluorine‐doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates with superior light‐trapping capabilities necessitates a highly conformal electron transport layer at the bottom interface. Herein, a conformal low‐temperature processable all‐SnO2‐based electron transport layer (ETL) is successfully developed on high‐haze FTO by well‐anchoring a polyacrylic acid‐stabilized quantum dot‐SnO2 layer onto an atomic layer deposited SnO2 layer with a dense hydroxyl surface. The obtained ETL demonstrates excellent capabilities in simultaneously homogenizing the surface contact potential distribution, blocking hole transport, and suppressing non‐radiative recombination. Consequently, a champion device is achieved that delivers a remarkable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of up to 24.97%, with VOC × FF reaching 87.09% of the Shockley‐Queisser limit at a bandgap of 1.54 eV, which is the highest value among the ALD SnO2‐based PSCs. The homogeneous ETL further enabled the fabrication of a 1 cm2 PSC with a PCE of 23.18% and only a 10 mV loss in VOC compared to smaller‐area PSCs, showcasing its potential for large‐scale commercial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of modal identification for variable thickness quartz plates is to ascertain their dominant operating mode, which is essential for examining the vibration of beveled quartz resonators. These beveled resonators are plate structures with varying thicknesses. While the beveling process mitigates some spurious modes, it still presents challenges for modal identification. In this work, we introduce a modal identification technique based on the energy method. When a plate with variable thickness is in a resonant state of thickness–shear vibration, the proportions of strain energy and kinetic energy associated with the thickness–shear mode in the total energy reach their peak values. Near this frequency, their proportions are the highest, aiding in identifying the dominant mode. Our research was based on the Mindlin plate theory, and appropriate modal truncation were conducted by retaining three modes for the coupled vibration analysis. The governing equation of the coupled vibration was solved for eigenvalue problem, and the modal energy proportions were calculated based on the determined modal displacement and frequency. Finally, we computed the eigenvalue problems at different beveling time, as well as the modal energies associated with each mode. By calculating the energy proportions, we could clearly identify the dominant mode at each frequency. Our proposed method can effectively assist engineers in identifying vibration modes, facilitating the design and optimization of variable thickness quartz resonators for sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyradical cages are of great interest because they show very fascinating physical and chemical properties, but many challenges remain, especially for their synthesis and characterization. Herein, we present the synthesis of a polyradical cation cage 14⋅+ through post‐synthetic oxidation of a redox‐active phenothiazine‐based Pd2L4‐type coordination cage 1. It′s worth noting that 1 exhibits excellent reversible electrochemical and chemical redox activity due to the introduction of a bulky 3,5‐di‐tert‐butyl‐4‐methoxyphenyl substituent. The generation of 14⋅+ through reversible electrochemical oxidation is investigated by in situ UV/Vis‐NIR and EPR spectroelectrochemistry. Meanwhile, chemical oxidation of 1 can also produce 14⋅+ which can be reversibly reduced back to the original cage 1, and the process is monitored by EPR and NMR spectroscopies. Eventually, we succeed in the isolation and single crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis of 14⋅+, whose electronic structure and conformation are distinct to original 1. The magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate the predominantly antiferromagnetic interactions between the four phenothiazine radical cations in 14⋅+. We believe that our study including the facile synthesis methodology and in situ spectroelectrochemistry will shed some light on the synthesis and characterization of novel polyradical systems, opening more perspectives for developing functional supramolecular cages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyradical cages are of great interest because they show very fascinating physical and chemical properties, but many challenges remain, especially for their synthesis and characterization. Herein, we present the synthesis of a polyradical cation cage 14.+ through post‐synthetic oxidation of a redox‐active phenothiazine‐based Pd2L4‐type coordination cage 1. It′s worth noting that 1 exhibits excellent reversible electrochemical and chemical redox activity due to the introduction of a bulky 3,5‐di‐tert‐butyl‐4‐methoxyphenyl substituent. The generation of 14.+ through reversible electrochemical oxidation is investigated by in situ UV/Vis‐NIR and EPR spectroelectrochemistry. Meanwhile, chemical oxidation of 1 can also produce 14.+ which can be reversibly reduced back to the original cage 1, and the process is monitored by EPR and NMR spectroscopies. Eventually, we succeed in the isolation and single crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis of 14.+, whose electronic structure and conformation are distinct to original 1. The magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate the predominantly antiferromagnetic interactions between the four phenothiazine radical cations in 14.+. We believe that our study including the facile synthesis methodology and in situ spectroelectrochemistry will shed some light on the synthesis and characterization of novel polyradical systems, opening more perspectives for developing functional supramolecular cages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we utilized the deep convolutional neural network D-LinkNet, a model for semantic segmentation, to analyze the Himawari-8 satellite data captured from 16 channels at a spatial resolution of 0.5 km, with a focus on the area over the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea (32°-42°N, 117°-127°E). The objective was to develop an algorithm for fusing and segmenting multi-channel images from geostationary meteorological satellites, specifically for monitoring sea fog in this region. Firstly, the extreme gradient boosting algorithm was adopted to evaluate the data from the 16 channels of the Himawari-8 satellite for sea fog detection, and we found that the top three channels in order of importance were channels 3, 4, and 14, which were fused into false color daytime images, while channels 7, 13, and 15 were fused into false color nighttime images. Secondly, the simple linear iterative super-pixel clustering algorithm was used for the pixel-level segmentation of false color images, and based on super-pixel blocks, manual sea-fog annotation was performed to obtain fine-grained annotation labels. The deep convolutional neural network D-LinkNet was built on the ResNet backbone and the dilated convolutional layers with direct connections were added in the central part to form a string-and-combine structure with five branches having different depths and receptive fields. Results show that the accuracy rate of fog area (proportion of detected real fog to detected fog) was 66.5%, the recognition rate of fog zone (proportion of detected real fog to real fog or cloud cover) was 51.9%, and the detection accuracy rate (proportion of samples detected correctly to total samples) was 93.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new stochastic model updating method based on the homotopy surrogate model (HSM) and Bayesian sampling. As a novel intrusive surrogate model, the HSM is established by the homotopy stochastic finite element (FE) method. Then combining the advanced delayed‐rejection adaptive Metropolis–Hastings sampling technology with HSM, the structural FE model can be updated by uncertain measurement modal data. The numerical results show that the updating effectiveness of the proposed method is better than that of the Bayesian methods with the non‐intrusive surrogate models, such as stochastic response surface model and Kriging model. Compared to the Bayesian method with the intrusive second‐order perturbation model, the updating results of the proposed method are more accurate, especially when the fluctuation of the uncertain measured data is large and the stiffness of the structure significantly changes. The model updating results of a cable‐stayed bridge show that the statistic modal properties of the updated bridge model have a very good agreement with the uncertain measurement modal data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: A novel macrocycle based on conformation‐adaptive and electron‐rich dihydrophenazine was designed and synthesized. On the one hand, the macrocycle showed host‐guest interactions with tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) driving by charge transfer interaction between them. Meanwhile, host‐guest complexation was accompanied by fluorescence quenching and conformational change of the macrocycle. On the other hand, the oxidation of the macrocycle resulted in its diradical cation analogue and induced the release of the guest molecule TCNQ, thereby accomplishing reversible binding dynamics. Therefore, this work well illustrates the chemical and structural versatility of dihydrophenazine in the synthesis of macrocycles and their host‐guest chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph clustering is an essential task in data analysis. Recently, there has been a notable trend in the application of deep learning in graph clustering. However, it is worth noting that existing deep graph clustering methods primarily focus on the topological information of nodes while overlooking the use of attribute information in the learned feature representations. In addition, they do not address the consistency of the space distribution in attribute and structure clustering results. To tackle these critical issues, a novel structured deep graph clustering network with consistency constraint (CC-DGC) is proposed. The network first constructs an autoencoder to learn and transmit hierarchical attribute information to the graph autoencoder (GAE). Subsequently, the GAE integrates the received hierarchical attribute information with extracted topological information to generate enhanced clustering representations. Moreover, this paper designs a consistency constraint module to promote consistency between the autoencoder and the GAE by optimizing the cluster space distributions they produce. Finally, the feature extraction and clustering classification processes are synchronized and optimized in a self-supervised manner within a unified framework. Extensive experiments illustrate that the proposed CC-DGC demonstrates superiority over the state-of-the-art deep graph clustering methods on five benchmark datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of convolutional neural networks (CNNs), deep learning-based face super-resolution (FSR) approaches have achieved remarkable results in recent years. However, existing FSR methods often rely on face prior knowledge, which greatly increases network complexity and computation. In this paper, we propose DAFNet, a dual attention fusion-based FSR network comprising numerous face attention fusion modules (FAFMs). FAFM is a residual structure containing attention mechanism, which is divided into feature branches and attention branches. The feature branch introduces an hourglass block to extract multi-scale information, while the attention branch incorporates channel attention and spatial attention in series. This design ensures that the network prioritizes important information and effectively recovers detailed facial features. Luminance-chrominance error loss and gradient loss are introduced to guide the training process. Additionally, adversarial loss and perceptual loss are incorporated to enhance the recovery of visually realistic face images. Notably, our method can produce clear faces at a high-scale factor of eight times without relying on any facial prior information, effectively reducing network complexity. Quantitative and qualitative experiments conducted on the CelebA and Helen datasets underscore the effectiveness of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ternary copolymerization is a cost‐effective and time‐saving approach to improve device performance and batch stability of polymer donors. However, the structure of the ternary polymer donor obtained by the traditional one‐pot polymerization is vague due to the different monomer reaction order, which has a great influence on the absorption, crystallization, molecular stacking, and device performance. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain terpolymers with definite structures, and systematically study the differences in device properties of polymers with different sequence structures. Herein, three terpolymers D1, D2, and D3 are developed. Random copolymer D3 is obtained via the traditional one‐pot method while alternating copolymer donor D1 and block copolymer D2 are synthesized by stepwise polymerization. Because the block copolymer D2 possess periodic sequence distribution and retains the excellent properties of the two polymer matrix very well, the D2‐based device shows enhanced tightened π‐face‐on molecular stacking, distinguished efficient exciton dissociation, and decreased energy loss. As a result, the D2:L8‐BO‐based polymer solar cells achieve one of a record power conversion efficiency of 19.03%. The work demonstrates changing the sequence structure of the polymers to synthesize well‐defined structures polymer donors not only maintains the features of polymer matrix, but also combines the advantages of ternary copolymerization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To establish a health emergency competency evaluation index system for public health personnel, so as to provide a theoretical basis for building a health emergency team. Methods The competency index was screened and the evaluation index frame was established by literature research method, expert association commercial method and Delphi method. The analytic hierarchy process was used to calculate the weight value of the importance of indicators at all levels, and the evaluation index system was formed. Results A total of 21 experts were invited to conduct letter inquiries, and the recovery rate of the two rounds of expert letter inquiries was 100%. The Cronbach's a coefficients of the expert letter consultation form were 0.968 and 0.963, expert authority level 0.865, Kendall's W coordination coefficient in 2 rounds of correspondence suggested that experts had a high consistency (P < 0.05) . The evaluation index system of public health personnel's competency in health emergency work included 3 first-level indicators, 11 second-level indicators and 68 third-level indicators. The weights of the first-level indicators are respectively health emergency literacy (0.517 4), professional literacy (0.336 1) and personal literacy (0.146 6). Conclusion Good health emergency literacy is the basis for public health personnel to respond to public health emergencies. The weight of each index in this index system is determined by Delphi method and analytic hierarchy process, and the results are scientific and reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the efficiency of multi-coil data compression and recover the compressed image reversibly, increasing the possibility of applying the proposed method to medical scenarios. A deep learning algorithm is employed for MR coil compression in the presented work. The approach introduces a variable augmentation network for invertible coil compression (VAN-ICC). This network utilizes the inherent reversibility of normalizing flow-based models. The aim is to enhance the readability of the sentence and clearly convey the key components of the algorithm. By applying the variable augmentation technology to image/k-space variables from multi-coils, VAN-ICC trains the invertible network by finding an invertible and bijective function, which can map the original data to the compressed counterpart and vice versa. Experiments conducted on both fully-sampled and under-sampled data verified the effectiveness and flexibility of VAN-ICC. Quantitative and qualitative comparisons with traditional non-deep learning-based approaches demonstrated that VAN-ICC carries much higher compression effects. The proposed method trains the invertible network by finding an invertible and bijective function, which improves the defects of traditional coil compression method by utilizing inherent reversibility of normalizing flow-based models. In addition, the application of variable augmentation technology ensures the implementation of reversible networks. In short, VAN-ICC offered a competitive advantage over other traditional coil compression algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel nonlinear tuned mass damper (TMD) with pre-strained SMA helical springs, referred to as SMAS-TMD, is proposed to reduce the dynamic responses of a single floor frame. This proposed SMAS-TMD damper is mainly composed of a mass block and two pre-strained superelastic SMA helical springs. First, a new force–displacement model of the SMA springs is developed by considering a proposed two-dimensional constitutive model of the SMA material, which is confirmed by tension tests. Then a dynamic model of the single floor frame with the SMAS-TMD damper is built, and the parameter design method of the proposed damper is provided. The vibration reduction performance of the new damper is studied numerically and is testified by the experiments. Finally, the robustness of the SMAS-TMD damper against the variation of structural frequency is analyzed. The study results show that the simulated dynamic responses of the frame are in good agreement with those of the vibrating table tests. Because the pre-strained SMA springs can quickly enter into the energy dissipation phase, the proposed SMAS-TMD has better performance of vibration reduction than the TMD with no pre-strained SMA springs. And the proposed damper can effectively suppress the detuning phenomenon often appearing in the classic optimal TMD. Therefore, this new damper will be a competitive damper for reducing the structural vibration in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a set of CuFe 1-x Y x O 2 (x = 0–0.02) specimens were synthesized using the conventional high-temperature solid-state reaction method, and the impact of Y3+ doping on the microstructure and magnetic properties of CuFeO 2 ceramics was investigated. The introduction of Y3+ ions in place of Fe3+ ions induced alterations in the microstructure of CuFeO 2 , leading to lattice distortion. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the presence of impurity phases in the CuFe 1-x Y x O 2 series samples at high doping concentrations (x ≥ 0.015). In contrast, low doping concentrations (x ≤ 0.0125) exhibited a singular copper-iron ore structure. The microstructures of the ceramic samples were examined using SEM, findings suggest that the presence of high concentrations of dopants hinders the formation of ceramic samples with high density. XPS analysis reveals that the introduction of a low concentration of Y3+ dopant does not impact the oxidation state of Cu and Fe. Raman spectroscopy results indicate that the doping process weakens the vibration mode of CuFe 1-x Y x O 2 ceramic samples. Additionally, measurements conducted using the PPMS demonstrate that the serial samples undergo two consecutive magnetic phase transitions at temperatures of 16K and 11K. The magnetization versus M − H curve of the doped sample exhibits both antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic behavior. The increase in magnetic susceptibility can be attributed to the greater magnetic moment of doped Y3+ compared to Fe3+. Consequently, the magnetic transformation of the sample is influenced by various factors, including lattice distortion, alterations in ion valence states, variations in microscopic defect types, and modifications in magnetic interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a subgrid-sparse-grad-div method for incompressible flow problem was proposed, which is a combination of the subgrid stabilization method and the recently proposed sparse-grad-div method. The method maintains the advantage of both methods: (i) It is robust for solving incompressible flow problem with dominance of the convection, especially when the viscosity is too small. (ii) It can keep mass conservation. Therefore, the method is very efficient for solving incompressible flow. Moreover, based on the Crank–Nicolson extrapolated scheme for temporal discretization, and mixed finite element in spatial discretization, we derive the unconditional stability and optimal convergence of the method. Finally, numerical experiments are proposed to validate the theoretical predictions and demonstrate the efficiency of the method on a test problem for incompressible flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hard carbon is a promising anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to its abundance. However, it exhibits low reversible capacity and slow kinetics if inappropriate microstructural features are developed during synthesis. Herein, N/S co-doped phenolic resin-based hard carbon microspheres are prepared by a scalable strategy, and the electrochemical performance is assessed both in half cells and full cells. We demonstrate that the expanded interlayer spacing, the increased active sites, and the enhanced capacitive behavior result in the enhanced reversible capacity and promoted kinetics for Na+ storage. The sample with appropriate doping amount exhibits an initial charge capacity of 536.8 mAh g−1 at 50 mA g−1 and maintains 445.9 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at a current density of 1 A g–1 in a Na-metal half cell. Coupled with a carbon-coated Na4Fe3(PO4)2P2O7 (NFPP) cathode, the full cell exhibits a capacity of 92.5 mAh g−1 after 90 cycles, with a capacity retention of 91.6%. This work provides a facile and scalable method for synthesizing high-performance hard carbon anode materials for SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the discovery that water can trigger a peculiar nuclear reaction and produce energy. Cavitation may induce unusual reactions through implosion of water vapor bubbles. Many of this research has been published formally or informally. We have conducted experiments using two reactor types made from multiple-pipe heat exchanger and found that the heat exchange process of water produces peculiar excess heat and abnormally high pressure leading to rupture of the reactor. Recently, we have tested another eight reactors. Interestingly, these reactors produce non-condensable gas. We suspected that they include 22Ne and CO2. We used a mass spectrometer (MS) to analyze 14 gas samples collected from 8 reactors, including ten samples showing a coefficient of performance COPx > 1.05 (with excess heat) and four having COPx < 1.05 (without excess heat). Several methods were adopted to identify the gas content. For CO2 identification, two methods are employed. For 22Ne identification, three methods are employed. All the results confirm that isotope 22Ne and regular CO2 really exist in the output gas from reactors determined to have excess heat. We conjecture a possible mechanism to produce 22Ne and CO2 and find out that 12C and isotope 17O are the intermediate. They finally form isotope gases containing 17O, including H2O-17 (heavy-oxygen water), isotope O2 (16O–17O), and isotope CO2 (12C–16O–17O). In the excess heat producing reactors, all these gasses were detected by MS in the absence of 20Ne and 21Ne. The observed isotope gases produced from reactors having excess heat verifies that water can trigger a peculiar nuclear reaction and produce energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peer victimization (PV) is one of the major causes of non-suicidal self-injury. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), peer victimization, social anxiety, and mobile phone addiction are significantly related; however, the interaction mechanism and effect of sex differences remain to be determined. Objective: Herein, we investigated the relationship between peer victimization and NSSI among Chinese high school students. We also explored the chain mediating roles of social anxiety and mobile phone addiction and the regulatory role of sex. The findings of this study provide insights for theoretical interventions based on internal mechanisms. Method: A self-reported survey of 14,666 high school students from Sichuan County was conducted using a peer victimization scale, NSSI scale, social anxiety scale, and mobile phone addiction scale. A self-administered questionnaire was used to capture sociodemographic information. Results: Peer victimization, social anxiety, and mobile phone addiction were positively correlated with NSSI. Peer victimization had significant direct predictive effects on NSSI (95% CI: 0.341, 0.385) and significant indirect predictive effects on NSSI through social anxiety (95% CI: 0.008, 0.019) or mobile phone addiction (95% CI: 0.036, 0.053). Peer victimization had significant indirect predictive effects on NSSI through social anxiety as well as mobile phone addiction (95% CI: 0.009, 0.014). The first stage (predicting the effect of peer victimization on NSSI) and the third stage (predicting the effect of mobile phone addiction on NSSI) were both moderated by sex. Conclusions: Peer victimization could directly predict NSSI and indirectly predict NSSI through social anxiety and mobile phone addiction. Thus, social anxiety and mobile phone addiction exhibited chain mediating effects between peer victimization and NSSI in high school students; moreover, sex might be involved in the regulation of the mediation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variations with respect to perspective, lighting, weather, and interference from dynamic objects may all have an impact on the accuracy of the entire system during autonomous positioning and during the navigation of mobile visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) robots. As it is an essential element of visual SLAM systems, loop closure detection plays a vital role in eradicating front-end-induced accumulated errors and guaranteeing the map's general consistency. Presently, deep-learning-based loop closure detection techniques place more emphasis on enhancing the robustness of image descriptors while neglecting similarity calculations or the connections within the internal regions of the image. In response to this issue, this article proposes a loop closure detection method based on similarity differences between image blocks. Firstly, image descriptors are extracted using a lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN) model with effective loop closure detection. Subsequently, the image pairs with the greatest degree of similarity are evenly divided into blocks, and the level of similarity among the blocks is used to recalculate the degree of the overall similarity of the image pairs. The block similarity calculation module can effectively reduce the similarity of incorrect loop closure image pairs, which makes it easier to identify the correct loopback. Finally, the approach proposed in this article is compared with loop closure detection methods based on four distinct CNN models with a recall rate of 100% accuracy; said approach performs significantly superiorly. The application of the block similarity calculation module proposed in this article to the aforementioned four CNN models can increase the recall rate's accuracy to 100%; this proves that the proposed method can successfully improve the loop closure detection effect, and the similarity calculation module in the algorithm has a certain degree of universality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrates and asphaltene-resin-wax deposits are increasingly concerned as a terrible problem in the field of offshore oil and gas production and transportation. The rheological property of propane gas hydrate in the water-in-asphaltene-resin-wax deposit (W/ARWD) emulsion was in situ characterized by experiments in a stress-controlled rheometer with particular focus on the effects of pressure, emulsion component ratio, and deposit composition. Results demonstrated that the higher pressure could accelerate hydrate formation and aggregation in a shorter time, and exhibit more obvious shear-thinning behavior of hydrate slurry. The emulsion component ratio was positive correlation with the hydrate slurry viscosity and the yield stress, was negative correlation with the hydrate crystallization time. Asphaltene and wax occupied more nucleation sites on water droplets and formed physical barriers to hinder the hydrate crystallization. The promoting effect of resin on hydrate crystallization was stronger than inhibiting effect. With the increase of asphaltene, resin, and wax contents, the yield stress of hydrate slurry gradually increased, and the effect of wax on the yield stress was stronger than asphaltene and resin, which was associated with the multiple effects of capillary bridge between hydrate particles and spatial network of wax crystals. Furthermore, the coupling effect of pressure, emulsion component ratio, and deposit composition on the rheological properties of hydrate slurry had been studied. This study is significant in that it can helpfully support the development of subsea multiphase flow assurance in petroleum production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of ethanol and acetaldehyde to 1,3-butadiene has been an emerging process to produce key chemicals. The preparation of highly efficient catalysts and the understanding of reaction mechanism are current research priority. Herein, mesoporous silica framework confining zirconia (Zr-HMS) was prepared and act as catalyst for 1,3-butadiene production from ethanol and acetaldehyde. The prepared catalysts were characterized by Low-angle X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, N2 physical adsorption-desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and UV–vis spectra. It has been shown that the Zr-HMS exhibits similar textural properties to supported catalyst (ZrO2/HMS). However, regardless of their comparable activities, higher 1,3-butadiene selectivity is obtained over Zr–HMS, which can be due to the different active zirconia species in two catalysts. Mesoporous framework confining character of Zr-HMS can achieve uniformly dispersed zirconia species. Further investigation toward the reaction process has presented new viewpoints for formation and consumption of some typical intermediates and byproducts, which will help to understand the reaction mechanism and construct efficient catalysts for conversion of ethanol and acetaldehyde to 1,3-butadiene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We deal with the barotropic compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations in three-dimensional (3D) bounded domain with slip boundary condition and vacuum. By a series of a priori estimates, especially the boundary estimates, we prove the global well-posedness of classical solution and the exponential decay rate to the initial-boundary-value problem of this system for the regular initial data with small energy but possibly large oscillations. The initial density of such a classical solution is allowed to contain vacuum states. Moreover, it is also shown that the oscillation of the density will grow unboundedly with an exponential rate when the initial state contains vacuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A new approach namely Plate-Beam theory was employed to perform the investigation into the lateral torsional buckling (LTB) performance of high strength steel (HSS) rectangular hollow section (RHS) beam-columns. Firstly, the total strain energy corresponding to the LTB failure mode of the beam-columns was established, and then the equilibrium differential equation was developed, through the variation of energy functional. Based on the Plate-Beam theory, the equivalent restrained torsional rigidity (warpage constant) that can simultaneously accounted for the secondary warping effect was derived, and the formulation process did not involve any sectoral coordinate operation. The deducing process of the total strain energy of RHS beam-columns was further discussed and recommended to describe the torsion performance of composite and irregular thin-walled members. Based on the FE program verified against test data and theoretical solution, the accuracy of the provisions of HSS RHS beam-columns given in Eurocode3 and GB50017-2017 was assessed. The comparison of numerical program against codified design provisions revealed that the resistance prediction in Eurocode3 was still serviceable for HSS RHS beam-columns, in conjunction with the torsional rigidity according to the Plate-Beam theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lateral stability is vital to vehicle handling stability and traffic safety. It is also a crucial factor for the path-tracking ability of the vehicle in the intelligent transportation system (ITS). Most of the research focuses on vehicles with an Ackerman steering system. The ASV (articulated steering vehicle) has a lower steering radius. Thus, it is widely used in some special vehicles, such as mining and construction vehicles. The ASV has weaker lateral stability than the vehicle with an Ackerman steering system. To improve the stability of an ASV, the nonlinear lateral dynamic model is established and validated by field test. With the lateral dynamic model, the steering characteristic of the ASV is analyzed. Based on the stability criteria analysis, the vehicle sideslip angle and angular velocity phase portrait are chosen as the stability indicator. An integrated AASS (active articulated steering system) DYC (direct yaw control) controller based on the adaptive MPC (model predictive control) method is designed according to the track on the phase plane. The double lane-change and 0.7 Hz sine with dwell maneuver are initiated based on the integrated vehicle dynamic model. The results suggest that the provided controller has a better stability performance than the current antiwindup PID control algorithm. It lays a good foundation for the vehicle safety and path tracking of ASV in the ITS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uniaxial trackers are widely employed as the frame for solar photovoltaic (PV) panel installation. However, when used in sloping terrain scenarios such as mountain and hill regions, it is essential to apply a solar-tracking strategy with the sloping factors considered, to eliminate the shading effects between arrays and reduce the electricity production loss due to terrain changes. Based on a uniaxial tracker on the sloping terrain of a PV farm located in Ningxia, this study established a uniaxial solar-tracking strategy for sloping terrain by integrating a spatial projection model with a dynamic shadow assessment method. In the proposed strategy, the optimal tilt angle of the PV array and related desirable adjustment are identified taking into consideration major parameters such as the shadow area ratio S and the average solar irradiance intensity G. A tool underpinned by Matlab Simulink has also been developed to realize the proposed solar-tracking strategy. With the input of a simulated ramp signal β and the dynamically changed time parameters, the tracking angle of PV arrays over the simulated duration is accurately predicted, followed by a series of experimental validations conducted on the winter solstice and a typical sunny day (15 September). Moreover, the study also explored the terrain impacts on solar tracking by comparing the sloping terrain and flat terrain applications. The analytic and experimental results indicate that (a) the maximum value of the G(β) function could serve as the input to identify the optimal tracking angle; (b) the application of the flat terrain tracking (FTT) strategy in sloping terrain would result in a reduction of average solar irradiance intensity harvested by the PV arrays with varying degrees; (c) in the context of an east–west −7° sloping terrain, compared with the FTT strategy, the sloping terrain tracking (STT) strategy enabled anti-shading tracking, and then increased the daily PV electricity yield by 0.094 kWh/kWp, which is around 1.48% of the daily energy production; (d) given a measurement with annual scale, the STT strategy could cause a 1.26% increase in the energy harvesting with a flat uniaxial PV array on a −7° slope terrain, achieving an annual increase of 25.16 kWh/kWp. The experimental comparative analysis validated the precision of the proposed solar-tracking model, which has far-reaching significance for achieving automatic solar-tracking of PV modules, as well as improving the capacity and efficiency of PV systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we aim to build the mathematical model for delaminated composite plates resting on elastic foundation by means of improved layerwise theory and finite element implementation for free vibration analysis. The proposed model takes into account the transverse normal and shear deformation of the elastic foundation so as to investigate their effect on the dynamic characteristics of delaminated plates. The four-node plate element is used for the finite element formulations with Langrage interpolation functions for in-plane structural unknowns and Hermite cubic interpolation functions for out-of-plane structural unknowns. The delamination is simulated by means of Heaviside unit step functions allowing for the discontinuity of displacement fields. The effects of both longitudinal locations and interfacial locations of delamination are investigated. The results show that when the delamination located closer to the clamped end and at the middle plane, it has much more severe influence on its natural frequencies. The foundation parameters also have significant effect on the natural frequencies and frequency shift due to delamination. Different layup stacking sequences are also considered in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an operator‐splitting (or a fractional‐step) finite element method is proposed for the numerical solution of the time‐dependent natural convection problem. We first analyze the time‐discrete fractional‐step scheme, which decouples the considered system into three subproblems, and each subproblem can be solved more easily than the original one. Under some mild regularity assumptions, the stability and error estimates for the velocity and the temperature are established rigorously. In addition, a full discrete fractional‐step scheme based on the time‐discrete scheme is proposed and the rigorous error analysis is presented. We derive the temporal–spatial error estimates of O(Δt+h)$$ \mathcal{O}\left(\Delta t+h\right) $$ for the velocity and the temperature in the discrete space l2H1∩l∞L2$$ {l}^2\left({H}^1\right)\cap {l}^{\infty}\left({L}^2\right) $$ under the constraint Δt ≥ Ch. Numerical experiments are performed to confirm the theoretical predictions and demonstrate the efficiency of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millimeter wave (MMW) communication, noted for its merit of wide bandwidth and high-speed transmission, is also a competitive implementation of the Internet of Everything (IoE). In an always-connected world, mutual data transmission and localization are the primary issues, such as the application of MMW application in autonomous vehicles and intelligent robots. Recently, artificial intelligence technologies have been adopted for the issues in the MMW communication domain. In this paper, MLP-mmWP, a deep learning method, is proposed to localize the user with respect to MMW communication information. The proposed method employs seven sequences of beamformed fingerprints (BFFs) to estimate localization, which includes line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) transmissions. As far as we know, MLP-mmWP is the first method to apply the MLP-Mixer neural network to the task of MMW positioning. Moreover, experimental results in a public dataset demonstrate that MLP-mmWP outperforms the existing state-of-the-art methods. Specifically, in a simulation area of 400 × 400 m 2 , the positioning mean absolute error is 1.78 m, and the 95th percentile prediction error is 3.96 m, representing improvements of 11.8% and 8.2%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Computational protein sequence design has been widely applied in rational protein engineering and increasing the design accuracy and efficiency is highly desired. Results Here, we present ProDESIGN-LE, an accurate and efficient approach to protein sequence design. ProDESIGN-LE adopts a concise but informative representation of the residue's local environment and trains a transformer to learn the correlation between local environment of residues and their amino acid types. For a target backbone structure, ProDESIGN-LE uses the transformer to assign an appropriate residue type for each position based on its local environment within this structure, eventually acquiring a designed sequence with all residues fitting well with their local environments. We applied ProDESIGN-LE to design sequences for 68 naturally occurring and 129 hallucinated proteins within 20 s per protein on average. The designed proteins have their predicted structures perfectly resembling the target structures with a state-of-the-art average TM-score exceeding 0.80. We further experimentally validated ProDESIGN-LE by designing five sequences for an enzyme, chloramphenicol O -acetyltransferase type III (CAT III), and recombinantly expressing the proteins in Escherichia coli. Of these proteins, three exhibited excellent solubility, and one yielded monomeric species with circular dichroism spectra consistent with the natural CAT III protein. Availability and implementation The source code of ProDESIGN-LE is available at https://github.com/bigict/ProDESIGN-LE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tended to clarify the role of miR‐126 in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell biological behaviors in vitro, containing cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis. miRNA expression microarray related to NSCLC was accessed from gene expression omnibus (GEO) database and subjected to differential analysis using the "limma" package. Real‐time quantitative PCR was conducted to assess the expression of miR‐126 in NSCLC cell lines. wIn vitro experiments including 3‐(4,5‐dimethyl‐2‐thiazolyl)‐2,5‐diphenyl‐2‐H‐tetrazolium bromide (MTT), wound healing assay, Transwell, and flow cytometry assay were used for evaluating the effect of miR‐126 on cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis. Additionally, target mRNA for miR‐126 was predicted and further validated by bioinformatics analysis and dual‐luciferase reporter assay, respectively. It suggested that miR‐126 was significantly down‐regulated in NSCLS based on the expression microarray, and similar expression trend was exhibited in cancer cell lines. In the meantime, overexpression of miR‐126 was found to result in inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion while promotion of cell apoptosis, with reductions in protein expression of AKT2 and phosphorylated HK2 (p‐HK2) as well. AKT2, identified to be a direct target of miR‐126 in NSCLC as judged by dual‐luciferase reporter assay. Additionally, overexpression of AKT2 was observed to have the ability of elevating p‐HK2 protein expression and reversing the effect of miR‐126 on NSCLC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Given the above findings, we can see that miR‐126 exerts its role in NSCLC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis with the aid of AKT2/HK2 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the influence of concrete strength, diameter, cover thickness, anchorage length, and stirrups ratio on the bonding performance of the HSCR rebar in concrete are experimentally investigated. A nonlinear FE model for simulating the bond performance between HSCR and concrete is established and validated, and the influencing parameters are parametrically investigated. Moreover, the applicability of the ultimate bond strength model for HSCR-concrete is comparatively discussed, and a new model is proposed and validated to give relatively accurate prediction. Based on the proposed model, the anchorage reliability analysis is conducted, the influencing parameters as well as their variation on the reliability of bond strength are discussed, and the reliable anchorage length is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MAPK-interacting kinases 1 and 2 (MNK1/2) have generated increasing interest as therapeutic targets for many cancers with little known in osteosarcoma. This study evaluated the efficacy of eFT508, a highly selective inhibitor of MNK1/2, as single drug alone and in combination with paclitaxel in preclinical models of osteosarcoma. EFT508 is active against multiple osteosarcoma cell lines via inhibiting growth, survival and migration. It also demonstrates anti-osteosarcoma selectivity with much less toxicity on normal osteoblastic than osteosarcoma cells. Consistent with in vitro findings, eFT508 at non-toxic dose significantly arrested tumor growth in mice throughout the whole duration of treatment. Mechanistically, eEFT508 is highly effective in blocking eIF4E phosphorylation and eIF4E-mediated protein translation. Combination index shows that eFT508 and paclitaxel is synergistic in osteosarcoma cells. Our findings highlight the therapeutic value of MNK1/2 inhibition and suggest eFT508 as a promising candidate for the treatment of osteosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional medical agents for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) with some adverse effects no longer meet the needs of the public. In this study, the prognosis-related hub genes of osmanthus-targeted therapy for OSCC were predicted and analyzed by network pharmacology and molecular docking. Osmanthus was extracted using the ethanol reflux method and osmanthus-loaded PVP/PVA (OF/PVP/PVA) hydrogel was prepared by electron beam radiation. The molecular structure, crystal structure and microscopic morphology of hydrogels were observed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. OSCC cells CAL-27 were cultured with OF/PVP/PVA hydrogel at different concentrations of extract to discover cell proliferation by MTT assay. The scratching test and JC-1 staining were used to observe the migration and mitochondrial membrane potential. Through experimental exploration, we found that a total of six prognosis-related targets were predicted, which are PYGL, AURKA, SQLE, etc., and osmanthus extract had good binding activity to AURKA. In vitro, except for proliferation inhibition, OF/PVP/PVA hydrogel prevented cell migration and changed the mitochondrial membrane potential of CAL-27 cells at a concentration equal to or greater than 50 μg/mL (p < 0.05). The addition of autophagy inhibitor chloroquine and 3-methyladenine weakened the migration inhibition of hydrogel (p < 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the results of experimental observation of wind pressure on low-rise buildings in three typical mountain forms through wind tunnel experiments. This research focuses on the distribution change in fluctuating wind pressure coefficients with slope gradient. The variation of power spectra and wind pressure's probability distribution at representative measuring points with the slope gradient were also included. No obvious variation trend for the fluctuating wind pressure coefficient was identified on the windward side. When the slope gradient was 90°, there was just a slight change in distribution or value of the fluctuating wind pressure coefficient on the left. However, the coefficient on the leeward decreased and then increased, while on the roof, it gradually decreased. Furthermore, the experiments showed that the fluctuating wind pressure's distribution in the middle of windward eaves and at the leeward eaves was significantly affected by the slope gradient. At 0° wind angle, the wind pressure probability density distribution gradually changes from symmetric to asymmetric at the measuring points of windward eaves and side centers when the slope gradient increases, which shows that the wind pressure probability density distribution changes from non-Gaussian to Gaussian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The ca.750 Ma I-type granitic melts formed in a back-arc setting from water-fluxed melting. • Thermodynamic modeling shows I-type melts can be formed at 725–875 °C, 9 kbar, 2.0–3.5 wt.% H 2 O. • Asthenosphere upwelling from slab rollback caused underplating of hydrous basaltic magmas. • Water content was crucial in generating granitic rocks of various compositions in a continental arc. Water is crucial in generating granitic systems; however, its role (i.e., dehydration, low to high water-fluxed melting) in granitic magmatism in continental arcs remains unsettled and poorly understood. Neoproterozoic arc-related igneous rocks are uncovered along the western margin of the Yangtze Block, presenting a complex compositional array ideal for deciphering the influence of water content within the continental arc and its geodynamic significance. The Jinping granites, in the Ailaoshan zone, are emplaced at 750 ± 4 Ma, as determined by zircon U-Pb dating. These medium to coarse-grained granites consist predominantly of plagioclase, quartz, K-feldspar, muscovite, and biotite. Characterized by high SiO 2 (71.2–73.5 wt%), alkalis (K 2 O+Na 2 O=7.54–9.56 wt%) and low Fe 2 O 3 T (1.01–1.66 wt%), MgO (0.53–0.85 wt%), and CaO (0.15–0.93 wt%) concentrations, they exhibit high-K calc-alkaline signatures. The negative correlation between P 2 O 5 and SiO 2 , alongside the positive correlation between Rb and Y, typifies the Jinping granites as I-type granites. Low La/Nb (1.96–3.43) and Nb/Ta (8.57–11.3) ratios, but high Th/La (0.28–0.46) and Zr/Sm (30.5–47.7) ratios, as well as whole rock ε Nd(t) (−0.4 to +1.3) and zircon ε Hf(t) values (+5.25 to +8.53) of the studied granites are similar to synchronous mafic rocks at the western margin of the Yangtze Block. These features suggest partial melting origin from the mafic lower crust. Thermodynamic modeling posits that the Neoproterozoic Ailaoshan I-type granitic rocks may have formed through water-fluxed melting (2.0–3.5 wt% H 2 O) under medium pressure conditions (9 kbar). It is postulated that slab rollback could have prompted water (as hydrous melt or fluids) release from hydrous minerals in the underlying cumulate mafic rocks, subsequently triggering water-fluxed melting in the lower crust. In contrast, high water-fluxed melting-generated adakitic granites with low K 2 O/Na 2 O ratios (<0.8) in the region, spatially and temporally associated with the Jinping granites, reflect higher water content in the deeper crust. This supports the notion that water was conveyed from depths to surface, facilitating the conversion of adakitic rocks into I-type granites as water content diminished. Thus, water content within the lower crust plays a pivotal role in the genesis of granitic rocks with varied compositions in a continental arc setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perianal embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) is a rare disease with a poor prognosis. There are few reported cases of this disease, and specific clinical manifestations are lacking; therefore, making an early diagnosis before surgery is challenging. In November 2014, a 30-year-old man was admitted to Xiaoshan Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University due to severe left perianal pain. Ultrasonography revealed a multilocular perianal abscess, and an emergency perianal abscess incision and drainage were performed. However, pathology combined with immunohistochemistry confirmed an ERMS. The patient did not receive postoperative radiotherapy or chemotherapy and died of multiple metastases and multiple organ failure 6 months later. Perianal ERMS is highly malignant and rare, and can easily be misdiagnosed as a perianal abscess. Clinicians must enhance their knowledge and improve preoperative diagnostic tests to prevent misdiagnoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aircraft surface defect (ASD) detection is crucial for ensuring flight safety. Addressing challenges such as large-scale variations, irregular shapes, and sample imbalance in ASD detection, this paper proposes a ASD-YOLO network based on YOLOv5. ASD-YOLO incorporates several enhancements to improve recognition capabilities. Firstly, a new deformable convolutional feature extraction module (DCNC3) is designed to better learn defects of different shapes, which is combined with a global attention mechanism (GAM) to pay more attention to defects region information. Secondly, the feature representation of small defects is bolstered by the contextual enhancement module (CEM). Lastly, to alleviate sample imbalance problem, we introduce an exponential sliding average weight function (EMA-Slide). Experimental results on two datasets show improvements in mean Average Precision (mAP) by 5.7% and 3.4%, respectively, surpassing mainstream algorithms and offering a novel approach to ASD detection. • We propose ASD-YOLO, a novel network improving detection of small, irregular defects. • We propose a DCNC3 module to extract and fuse features of irregular defects. • We use global attention to focus the network on damage features and reduce noise. • We employ a CEM module to merge local and global info, enhancing defect features. • We design a exponential sliding weight function to alleviate sample imbalance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epimedium , a traditional Chinese medicine commonly used as a dietary supplement, contains polysaccharides and flavonoids as its main bioactive ingredients. In this study, a neutral homogeneous polysaccharide (EPSN-1) was isolated from Epimedium brevicornu Maxim. EPSN-1 was identified as a glucan with a backbone of →4)-α-D-Glc p -(1→, branched units comprised α-D-Glc p -(1→6)-α-D-Glc p -(1→, β-D-Glc p -(1→6)-β-D-Glc p -(1→ and α-D-Glc p -(1→ connected to the C6 position of backbone. The conformation of EPSN-1 in aqueous solution indicated its potential to form nanoparticles. This paper aims to investigate the carrier and pharmacodynamic activity of EPSN-1. The findings demonstrated that, on the one hand, EPSN-1, as a functional ingredient, may load Icariin (ICA) through non-covalent interactions, improving its biopharmaceutical properties such as solubility and stability, thereby improving its intestinal absorption. Additionally, as an effective ingredient, EPSN-1 could help maintain the balance of the intestinal environment by increasing the abundance of Parabacteroides, Lachnospiraceae UGG-001, Anaeroplasma, and Eubacterium xylanophilum group , while decreasing the abundance of Allobaculum, Blautia, and Adlercreutzia. Overall, this dual action of EPSN-1 sheds light on the potential applications of natural polysaccharides, highlighting their dual role as carriers and contributors to biological activity. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study found notable distinctions in the visual, somatomotor, dorsal network, as well as in the DMN, frontoparietal network, and cerebellum when comparing EC and EO states. • The graph theory analysis revealed that the weakened degree and functional connectivity in the SFG and the MCC among StD individuals. The SFG and the MCC connections were correlated with perceived stress. • The functional connectivity between the SFG and the SFGmed was discovered to modulate the relationship between perceived stress and StD. Perceived stress is an acknowledged risk factor for subthreshold depression (StD), and fluctuations in perceived stress are thought to disrupt the harmony of brain networks essential for emotional and cognitive functioning. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between eye-open (EO) and eye-closed (EC) states, perceived stress, and StD. We recruited 27 individuals with StD and 33 healthy controls, collecting resting state fMRI data under both EC and EO conditions. We combined intrinsic connectivity and seed-based functional connectivity analyses to construct the functional network and explore differences between EC and EO conditions. Graph theory analysis revealed weakened connectivity strength in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and right median cingulate and paracingulate gyrus (MCC) among participants with StD, suggesting an important role for these regions in the stress-related emotions dysregulation. Notably, altered SFG connectivity was observed to significantly relate to perceived stress levels in StD, and the SFG connection emerges as a neural mediator potentially influencing the relationship between perceived stress and StD. These findings highlight the role of SFG and MCC in perceived stress and suggest that understanding EC and EO states in relation to these regions is important in the neurobiological framework of StD. This may offer valuable perspectives for early prevention and intervention strategies in mental health disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its stringent stereospecificity, D‐amino acid oxidase (DAAO) has made it very easy to synthesize L‐amino acids. However, the low activity of the wild‐type enzyme toward unnatural substrates, such as D‐glufosinate (D‐PPT), restricts its application. In this study, DAAO from Rhodotorula gracilis (RgDAAO) was directly evolved using a hydrophilicity‐substitution saturation mutagenesis strategy, yielding a mutant with significantly increased catalytic activity against D‐PPT. The mutant displays distinct catalytic properties toward hydrophilic substrates as compared to numerous WT‐DAAOs. The analysis of homology modeling and molecular dynamic simulation suggest that the extended reaction pocket with greater hydrophilicity was the reason for the enhanced activity. The current study established an enzymatic synthetic route to L‐PPT, an excellent herbicide, with high efficiency, and the proposed strategy provides a new viewpoint on enzyme engineering for the biosynthesis of unnatural amino acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its stringent stereospecificity, D‐amino acid oxidase (DAAO) has made it very easy to synthesize L‐amino acids. However, the low activity of the wild‐type enzyme toward unnatural substrates, such as D‐glufosinate (D‐PPT), restricts its application. In this study, DAAO from Rhodotorula gracilis (RgDAAO) was directly evolved using a hydrophilicity‐substitution saturation mutagenesis strategy, yielding a mutant with significantly increased catalytic activity against D‐PPT. The mutant displays distinct catalytic properties toward hydrophilic substrates as compared to numerous WT‐DAAOs. The analysis of homology modeling and molecular dynamic simulation suggest that the extended reaction pocket with greater hydrophilicity was the reason for the enhanced activity. The current study established an enzymatic synthetic route to L‐PPT, an excellent herbicide, with high efficiency, and the proposed strategy provides a new viewpoint on enzyme engineering for the biosynthesis of unnatural amino acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camellia chekiangoleosa is a popular variety of Oil-camellia that has high oil production and ornamental value. Microsatellite (SSR) markers are the preferred tool for the molecular marker-assisted breeding of C. chekiangoleosa. By focusing on the problems of the low development efficiency of polymorphic SSR markers and the lack of available functional markers in Oil-camellia, we identified 97,510 SSR loci based on the full-length transcriptome sequence of C. chekiangoleosa. An analysis of SSR characteristics showed that mononucleotide (51.29%) and dinucleotide (34.36%) SSRs were the main repeat types. The main SSR distribution areas based on proportion covered were ordered as follows: 5'UTR > 3'UTR > CDS. By comparing our data with those in databases such as GO and KEGG, we obtained functional annotations of unigene sequences containing SSR sites. The data showed that the amplification efficiency of the SSR primers was 51.72%, and the development efficiency of polymorphic SSR primers was 26.72%. Experiments verified that dinucleotide and pentanucleotide SSRs located in UTR regions could produce more polymorphic markers. An investigation into the genetic diversity of several C. chekiangoleosa populations also suggested that the developed SSR markers had higher levels of polymorphism. This study will provide a reference and high-quality markers for the large-scale development of functional SSR markers and genetic research in Oil-camellia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the distribution and flow pattern of foam in the wellbore during the process of foam drainage and gas recovery, A coupled model of gas and foam flow in wellbore was established. The distribution characteristics of foam in the wellbore during the process of foam drainage and gas recovery were analyzed through experiments. The concept of foaming efficiency and bubble carrying efficiency were introduced, and the drainage time and liquid accumulation time of foam drainage gas recovery in wellbore were calculated. The research results show that: In the process of foam drainage, there are two states of heterogeneous foam flow and homogeneous foam flow in the wellbore. Under the influence of the high flow rate of natural gas in the wellbore, the migration rate of bubbles near the wellbore is slow. High gas yield and low bubble density are beneficial to the rapid initiation of foam. Due to the double influence of gas carrying force and gravity, bubbles will show relatively complex motion characteristics, and the fluid level height in the wellbore is linearly related to time under different influencing factors in the process of gas well drainage. The research in this article is of great significance for precise drainage of foam drainage gas recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High molecular weight poly(amide-imide)s containing cardo structures were readily prepared by a supported palladium-catalyzed carbonylation polymerization of diiodo imide monomers, aromatic diamines containing cardo groups, and carbon monoxide. Polycondensation reaction proceeded effectively in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) at 100 °C in the presence of a bidentate phosphino-modified magnetic nanoparticles-anchored palladium complex [2P-Fe3O4@SiO2-PdCl2] as catalyst and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5,4,0]-7-undecene (DBU) as base under 1 atm of CO, yielding a series of new poly(amide-imide)s with inherent viscosities up to 0.95 dL/g. All the polymers obtained were easily soluble in some strong polar aprotic organic solvents and could be cast into transparent, flexible and tough films from their DMAc solutions. These cardo poly(amide-imide)s displayed high thermal stability with the glass transition temperatures ranging from 237 to 265 °C, the temperatures at 5% weight loss ranging from 433 to 475 °C in nitrogen. These PAI films also exhibited good mechanical behavior and high optical transparency. The present method provides the flexibility of incorporating different ratios of imide and amide groups in the polymer backbone in a controlled manner and eliminates the possibility of postpolymerization curing due to the imide moiety being preformed. Importantly, the supported palladium catalyst can be conveniently separated from the polymer by simply using an external magnetic field and recycled at least 8 times without apparent loss of catalytic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic diradicaloids usually display an open-shell singlet ground state with significant singlet diradical character (y0) which endow them with intriguing physiochemical properties and wide applications. In this study, we present the design of an open-shell nitrogen-centered diradicaloid which can reversibly respond to multiple stimuli and display the tunable diradical character and chemo-physical properties. 1a was successfully synthesized through a simple and high-yielding two-step synthetic strategy. Both experimental and calculated results indicated that 1a displayed an open-shell singlet ground state with small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔES−T = −2.311 kcal mol−1) and a modest diradical character (y0 = 0.60). Interestingly, 1a was demonstrated to undergo reversible Lewis acid-base reaction to form acid-base adducts, which was proven to effectively tune the ground-state electronic structures of 1a as well as its diradical character and spin density distributions. Based on this, we succeeded in devising a photoresponsive system based on 1a and a commercially available photoacid merocyanine (MEH). We believe that our studies including the molecular design methodology and the stimuli-responsive organic diradicaloid system will open up a new way to develop organic diradicaloids with tunable properties and even intelligent-responsive diradicaloid-based materials. The electronic structures and open-shell diradical character of organic diradicaloids endow them with potentially useful optical, electronic and magnetic properties. Here, an open-shell nitrogen-centered diradicaloid is reported and shown to readily react with Lewis and Brønsted acids to form acid-base adducts, allowing for tuning of ground-state electronic structure, diradical character and spin density distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Ex vivo liver resection and autotransplantation (ELRA) has shown promising outcomes in treating end-stage hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (AE). However, the actual benefits and risks remain unclear. This study aims to analyze the benefits and risks of ELRA. Methods This retrospective cohort analysis included 228 patients with end-stage hepatic AE who underwent ELRA or nonsurgical treatment between 2014 and 2020. Propensity score matching was used. Long-term survival was compared in the matched cohorts using Kaplan-Meier curves generated with the log-rank test. Short-term mortality in entire cohort was predicted based on the nonsurgical group, and the interaction between the predicted mortality risk and observed mortality was tested. Risk factors for postoperative major morbidity in the ELRA group were evaluated using logistic regression analyses. Results The long-term overall survival of the ELRA group was superior to that of the nonsurgical group (82.1% vs 19.1%, 5-year survival). Regarding short-term outcomes, the basic risk of 12-month mortality exerted a significant effect on the benefit of ELRA in entire cohort (per 1%, odds ratio, 1.043; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.007–1.082; P  = .021). Patients with a predicted 12-month mortality risk >75% would significantly benefit from ELRA. Combined resection (hazard ratio [HR], 3.32; 95% CI: 1.01–10.99; P  = .049) and overall surgery time (per hour, HR, 1.41; 95% CI: 1.09–1.82; P  = .009) were identified as independent risk factors for postoperative major morbidity. Conclusions ELRA was significantly beneficial in selected patients with end-stage AE compared with nonsurgical treatment. The timing of conducting ELRA remarkably affected the short-term risk of mortality and should be carefully determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural arc‐shaped bamboo laminated lumber (ABLL) maintained the natural structure of bamboo material. It had significance for its various applications in bamboo industry. This article took the thickness (T) and width (W) of the ABLL as the research object. The first mathematical model determined the relationship among the size of the bamboo tubes, the number of divisions and the thickness (T) of the ABLL. In order to avoid forming incomplete arc‐shaped bamboo corners during the process of sawing of ABLL into square lumber, we used Mathlab analysis to obtain the appropriate numbers of divisions were 4–6 parts. Moreover, the thickness (T) of ABLL was found to be 37–62 mm. The second mathematical model determined the relationship between the size of the equal‐arc shaped bamboo split and the width (W) of ABLL. The proposed mathematical models provided a grading basis for the material selection in the processing of ABLL, optimized the utilization of bamboo, and was of great significance for high‐quality preparation of ABLL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental studies have suggested benzophenone-3 (BP-3), a sunscreen ingredient, may have endocrine-disrupting properties. A cohort of girls were recruited at ages 6–7 years and returned semi-annually for pubertal maturation staging, provided blood for serum hormone analyses [estradiol, estrone, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S)], and urine to measure BP-3 concentrations. We found a significant negative linear association between amount of reported sunscreen use and testosterone levels at the onset of puberty (N = 157, adjusted β = −0.0163, 97.5% CI:-0.0300,-0.0026). The 2nd quartile of the BP-3 biomarker had earlier thelarche compared to the 1st quartile (N = 282, adjusted HR = 1.584, 97.5% CI:1.038,2.415). Results suggest that higher report of sunscreen use may be associated with lower testosterone levels at thelarche and a non-linear relationship between the BP-3 urinary biomarker and onset of puberty, although the clinical significance of the finding is limited and may be a random effect. Improved methods of BP-3 exposure characterization are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]