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Polyethylene mulch film (PEM) is widely utilized in garlic cultivation, significantly enhancing garlic yield. However, the prolonged use of this material leads to serious environmental issues that adversely affect soil health and plant growth. To promote the adoption of biodegradable mulch film (BDM) in garlic cultivation, we investigate the effects of BDMs with thicknesses of 0.006 mm, 0.008 mm, and 0.010 mm on garlic growth and soil properties, comparing them with the commonly used PEM 0.008 mm. The results indicated that the agronomic traits of garlic were significantly improved under both PEM and BDMs compared to no mulching, with yield increases ranging from 75.42% to 90.39%. The highest garlic yield was observed with the BDM 0.008 mm. Most above-ground agronomic traits of garlic did not exhibit significant differences between PEM and BDMs, although a few traits showed slight increases under the BDMs 0.008 mm and 0.010 mm. The quality characteristics of garlic bulbs, including the contents of soluble sugar, vitamin C, and allicin, did not differ significantly between PEM and BDMs. Soil temperature was significantly higher under both PEM and BDMs compared to no mulching. In comparison to PEM 0.008 mm, the application of BDMs 0.006 mm and 0.008 mm significantly enhanced potassium availability in the soil. Furthermore, the activities of catalase, phosphatase, and invertase were notably increased under the BDM 0.008 mm, suggesting that this type of mulch could improve the physicochemical properties of the soil. Additionally, the BDM 0.008 mm remained intact throughout the low-temperature overwintering period, began to partially degrade as temperatures rose in March and April, and exhibited considerable fragmentation during the maturity and harvest periods of garlic. Its degradation rate was well aligned with the growth requirements of garlic. Taken together, these findings suggested that the BDM 0.008 mm is particularly effective, resulting in significant yield increase and an appropriate degradation rate. These results provided a valuable reference for the selection and application of BDM in garlic cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetracycline is often used in treating various diseases or infections, which also leads to severe environmental threats due to its toxicity, durability, and low biodegradation. Meanwhile, although ultrasound (US)-assisted activation of persulfate (PS) is a promising technology for water and wastewater treatment, its reaction mechanism is still not well-defined. Herein, we explored the effect of the enhanced mechanism of ultrasonic activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) on the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). The findings revealed that the US/PMS system was highly effective in degrading TCH, achieving an 83.2% degradation efficiency for a TCH concentration of 10 mg/L within 3 h. Moreover, the combination of radical quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis confirmed the generation of different types of reactive radicals (such as sulfate radical (SO4•−), hydroxyl radical (•OH), superoxide anions (•O2−), and singlet oxygen (1O2)) upon PMS activation under ultrasonic cavitation. Thus, US-assisted activation of persulfate is a more promising strategy for efficient removal of refractory organic contaminants in wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the corrosion and wear characteristics of hot-dip galvanized steel in complex soil environments. The results showed that hot-dip galvanized steel exhibited improved corrosion resistance characteristics. Additionally, the sliding speed was observed to influence both the coefficient of friction (COF) and the state of the worn surface. Moreover, the corrosion resistance of hot-dip galvanized steel declined as the immersion period increased. Following the incorporation of friction behavior, the galvanized layer is prone to accelerated degradation. The wear of the galvanized layer resulted in the failure of its electrochemical protection, creating a pathway for corrosion to occur on the substrate as a result of the coupling effect of corrosion and wear. The use of hot-dip galvanized steel presents challenges when exposed to a tribocorrosion environment for a prolonged period. This study lays the groundwork for future research on the maintenance cycle of industrial structures constructed primarily with hot-dip galvanized steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating new HIV infections is significant yet challenging due to the difficulty in distinguishing between recent and long-term infections. We demonstrate that HIV recency status (recent versus long-term) could be determined from self-report testing history and biomarkers, which are increasingly available in bio-behavioral surveys. HIV recency status is partially observed, given the self-report testing history. For example, people who tested positive for HIV over 1 year ago should have a long-term infection. Based on the nationally representative samples collected by the Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA) Project, we propose a likelihood-based probabilistic model for HIV recency classification. The model incorporates individuals with known recency status based on testing histories and individuals whose recency status could not be determined and integrates the mechanism of how HIV recency status depends on biomarkers and the mechanism of how HIV recency status, together with the self-report time of the most recent HIV test, impacts the test results. We compare our method to logistic regression and the binary classification tree (current practice) on Malawi PHIA data, as well as on simulated data. Our model obtains more efficient and less biased parameter estimates and is relatively robust to potential reporting error and model misspecification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the effect of different surface structures on the aggregation level and interfacial adhesion, nano-Sb2O3 particles were treated with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), silane coupling agent KH550 and their compounds (CTAB + KH550). The surface properties and morphologies of the nano-Sb2O3 particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The aggregation level and interfacial adhesion of nano-Sb2O3 particles within PBT matrix were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and quantitatively evaluated by some semi-empirical parameters including aggregates size (Dagg), real filling degree (Vre), interfacial adhesion ( B ) and aggregated interfacial adhesion (Bagg) from the tensile strength and the Young's modulus measurements. The results showed that the highest interfacial adhesion and lowest aggregation level were obtained for the CTAB + KH550 modified nano-Sb2O3/PBT composites followed by the KH550 modified, CTAB modified and bare nano-Sb2O3/PBT composites, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium wilt of banana, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4), is a widely distributed soilborne disease that poses a serious threat to banana production. Many control measures have been implemented but have not been effective. Here, we evaluated a combined strategy for Fusarium wilt control that involves a biological agent (Bacillus velezensis strain EB1) and a bioactive compound (potassium sorbate). Our results showed that potassium sorbate inhibited Foc TR4 in a dose-dependent manner. Potassium sorbate did not limit the growth of EB1 in vitro; instead, it promoted the growth and antagonistic ability of EB1 by upregulating the expression of antagonism-related genes. In greenhouse experiments, the combined application of EB1 and potassium sorbate significantly reduced the disease index of Fusarium wilt by suppressing fungal growth in the roots and promoting plant growth. Overall, our results demonstrated that potassium sorbate and B. velezensis EB1 can be used together for the sustainable management of banana Fusarium wilt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of electronic packaging technology toward miniaturization, integration, and high reliability, the diameter and pitch of solder joints continue to shrink. Adjacent solder joints are highly susceptible to electrochemical migration (ECM) due to the synergistic effects of high-density electric fields, water vapor, and contaminants. Dust has become one of the non-negligible causal factors in ECM studies due to air pollution. In this study, 0.2 mM/L NaCl and Na2SO4 solutions were used to simulate soluble salt in dust, and the failure mechanism of an Sn-58Bi solder ECM in the soluble salt in dust was analyzed by a water-droplet experimental method. It was shown that the mean failure time of the ECM of an Sn-58Bi solder in an NaCl solution (53 s) was longer than that in an Na2SO4 solution (32 s) due to the difference in the anodic dissolution characteristics in the two soluble salt solutions. XPS analysis revealed that the dendrites produced by the ECM process were mainly composed of Sn, SnO, and SnO2, and there were precipitation products—Sn(OH)2 and Na2SO4—attached to the dendrites. The corrosion potential in the NaCl solution (−0.351 V) was higher than that in the Na2SO4 solution (−0.360 V), as shown by a polarization test, indicating that the Sn-58Bi solder had better corrosion resistance in the NaCl solution. Therefore, an Sn-58Bi solder has better resistance to electrochemical migration in an NaCl solution compared to an Na2SO4 solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of high electrical performance (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN)-based piezoelectric ceramics is critical in environmental protection. In this study, (K0.5Na0.5)(Ti0.2Zr0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Sb0.2)O3 high-entropy ceramics were synthesized via the solid solution method by different sintering temperature. The piezoelectric, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of (K0.5Na0.5)(Ti0.2Zr0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Sb0.2)O3 ceramics were studied. The sample sintered at 990 °C has the best dielectric property, and the dielectric constant is stable in a wide temperature region. The sample sintered at 980 °C have the highest porcelain forming property, the residual polarization intensity is 0.0792 μC/cm2, the activation energies obtained is 0.40 eV. The results confirm that the calcined at 980 °C (K0.5Na0.5)(Ti0.2Zr0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2Sb0.2)O3 ceramics is feasible in the field of electrical application. This work proves a design idea to obtain high electrical performance in KNN-based high-entropy ceramics via composition design by optimizing sintering temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance the application of alkali-activated materials in mine filling, cemented tailings backfill was prepared using slag, fly ash, sodium silicate, and NaOH as primary constituents. The effects of the raw material type and dosage on the backfill were examined through a single-factor experiment. Additionally, response surface methodology (RSM) was utilized to optimize the mixing ratios of the backfill, with a focus on fluidity and compressive strength as key objectives. The evolution of backfill quality and compressive strength under the combined effects of dry–wet and freeze–thaw (DW-FT) cycles was analyzed. The hydration products, microstructure, and pore characteristics of the specimens were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and nitrogen adsorption tests (NATs) across varying cycles. The results demonstrate that the optimal backfill composition includes 47.8% fly ash, 6.10% alkali equivalent, and a 1.44 sodium silicate modulus. The macroscopic behavior of the backfill under DW-FT coupling followed this progression: pore initiation → pore expansion → crack formation → crack propagation → structural damage. After a minor initial increase, the backfill strength steadily decreased. Microscopic analysis revealed that the decline in internal cementation products and the deterioration of pore structure were the primary causes of this strength reduction. Thus, the DW-FT coupling can cause significant erosion of the backfill. The technical solutions presented in this paper offer a reference for solid waste utilization and provide valuable insights into the durability of backfill under DW-FT coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expansive soil is widely distributed and often needs to be improved for engineering and construction needs. Using blast furnace slag and fly ash as precursors and NaOH as an alkali activator, a geopolymer was prepared to solidify expansive soil, and the effect of nano-SiO2 on the compressive strength and water stability of the geopolymer-solidified expansive soil was further studied. The effects of alkali addition ratio, nano-SiO2 addition ratio, and curing agent addition ratio on the unconfined compressive strength and water stability of the cured soil were studied through unconfined compressive strength tests, and the curing mechanism was analyzed by electron microscopy scanning. The experimental results showed that the unconfined compressive strength and water stability of geopolymer-stabilized soil first increased and then decreased with an increase in alkali activator dosage. The optimal dosage of alkali activator was found to be 12.5%. Furthermore, it was found that adding nano-SiO2 can further enhance the strength and water stability of solidified soil. When the content of nano-SiO2 was 3%, the unconfined compressive strength was increased by 15%. With an increase in the content of nano-SiO2 doped polymer (GFNS), the unconfined compressive strength and water stability of the solidified soil showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing, reaching a peak at a content of 20%. The cementitious materials, such as hydrated calcium silicate and hydrated calcium silicate aluminate, generated by the reaction between nano-SiO2 and geopolymer played a role in bonding and filling in the solidified soil. Under the joint action of the two, the structural arrangement between the solidified soil particles became more compact, which improved the strength of the solidified soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infection by the mustard clubroot disease pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae has a significant negative impact on the quality and yield of Chinese mustard (Brassica juncea). At present, screening resistant resources for breeding programs is the most economical and effective method available to control this disease. In this study, we isolated P. brassicae physiological race 4 from Chinese cabbage and examined 483 mustard germplasm resources (193 leaf mustard, 96 stem mustard, and 194 root mustard) from China and abroad to identify resistance to clubroot disease at the seedling stage through irrigation inoculation with the isolated pathogen. The results showed that there were no immune varieties among the tested mustard germplasm, but that there were differences in resistance to clubroot disease among the three mustard types. More than 90% of leaf and stem mustard resources were susceptible to clubroot disease, whereas 38.66% of root mustard resources showed resistance. In total, we detected 4 highly resistant, 9 resistant, and 83 moderately resistant varieties, of which 4 highly resistant, 8 resistant, and 63 moderately resistant varieties were root mustard resources, whereas only 1 resistant and 5 moderately resistant varieties were stem mustard resources, and 15 moderately resistant varieties were leaf mustard resources. In addition, we used seven molecular markers for clubroot disease resistance in Chinese cabbage to detect stem and root mustard resources. The results showed that the marker CRk was detected in 97.87% of stem mustard and 92.49% of root mustard resources. Six markers (Crr1, Crr2, Crr3, CRa, CRb, and CRc) were detected in 18.09%, 7.45%, 2.13%, 6.38%, 12.77%, and 12.77% of stem mustard germplasms, and four markers (Crr1, Crr2, Crr3, and CRc) were detected in 8.09%, 8.67%, 10.40%, and 8.67% of root mustard germplasms, respectively, suggesting that these markers are not suitable for detecting mustard germplasm resistance to clubroot disease. This study provides a technical reference and material support for the breeding of mustard varieties resistant to clubroot disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An examination of the scale of energy trade between China and the countries along the Belt and Road, as well as the terrorist activities in these countries from 2008 to 2019, has been conducted in this study. The spatial and temporal evolution law is revealed through the use of exploratory spatial data analysis. The spatial Durbin model is employed to investigate the impacts and spatial spillover effects of terrorist activities along the Belt and Road on China's energy trade with these countries. The findings of the study are as follows: Spatial clustering is exhibited by the energy scale of China's imports and exports with countries along the routes and terrorist activities along the routes, with energy imports concentrated in West Asia and North Africa, energy exports concentrated in Southeast Asia, and terrorist activities concentrated in West Asia and North Africa, South Asia, and Central Asia. A negative effect on the scale of China's energy imports from the countries along the route is exerted by the terrorism index, and a positive spatial spillover effect is present. The number of terrorist activities and deaths have a negative effect on the scale of China's energy imports from the countries along the route, but there is no spatial spillover effect. The terrorism index does not affect the scale of energy exports from China to countries along the route, but there is a negative spatial spillover effect. There are differences in the spatial spillover effects of the number of terrorist activities and deaths on the scale of China's energy exports. The level of economic development, liner transportation convenience, and energy exports dependence of the countries along the route also significantly influence China's energy trade with these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the inaugural synthesis of a chiral teropyrene achieved through a four‐fold alkyne benzannulation catalyzed by InCl3, resulting in good yields. The product underwent thorough characterization using FT‐Raman and FT‐IR spectroscopies, demonstrating a close agreement with calculated spectra. X‐ray crystallographic analysis unveiled a notable twist in the molecule's backbone, with an end‐to‐end twist angle of 51°, consistent with computational predictions. Experimentally determined enantiomeric inversion barriers revealed a significant energy barrier of 23 kcal/mol, facilitating the isolation of enantiomers for analysis by circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) spectroscopies. These findings mark significant strides in the synthesis and characterization of chiral teropyrenes, offering insights into their structural and spectroscopic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the inaugural synthesis of a chiral teropyrene achieved through a four‐fold alkyne benzannulation catalyzed by InCl3, resulting in good yields. The product underwent thorough characterization using FT‐Raman and FT‐IR spectroscopies, demonstrating a close agreement with calculated spectra. X‐ray crystallographic analysis unveiled a notable twist in the molecule's backbone, with an end‐to‐end twist angle of 51°, consistent with computational predictions. Experimentally determined enantiomeric inversion barriers revealed a significant energy barrier of 23 kcal/mol, facilitating the isolation of enantiomers for analysis by circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) spectroscopies. These findings mark significant strides in the synthesis and characterization of chiral teropyrenes, offering insights into their structural and spectroscopic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a benzofuranone‐derived fluorescent probe BFSF was developed for imaging the sulphite level in living hypoxia pulmonary cells. Under the excitation of 510 nm, BFSF showed a strong fluorescence response at 570 nm when reacted with sulphite. In the solution system, the constructed hypercapnia and serious hypercapnia conditions did not affect the fluorescence response. In comparison with the recently reported probes, BFSF suggested the advantages including rapid response, steady signal reporting, high specificity and low cytotoxicity upon living lung cells. Under a normal incubation atmosphere, BFSF realized the imaging of both exogenous and endogenous sulphite in living pulmonary cells. In particular, BFSF achieved imaging the decrease of the sulphite level under severe hypoxia as well as the recovery of the sulphite level with urgent oxygen supplement. With the imaging capability for the sulphite level in living pulmonary cells under hypoxia conditions, BFSF together with the information herein was meaningful for investigating the anaesthesia‐related biological indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guinier–Preston (GP) zones have an important influence on the improvement of the age-hardening level of alloy. We here prepare six kinds of Mg-6Zn-5Al (ZA65) magnesium alloy samples to investigate the microstructural evolution, precipitation behavior, and strengthening mechanism using an optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and micro-hardness tests. The finding reveals that the GP zones are observed in non-dendritic alloys experiencing pre-aging at 80°C for 24 h, whose formation creates more nucleation sites and accelerate kinetics for precipitated phases. Consequently, the introduced pre-aging has been successful in promoting the increase of the age-hardening level of non-dendritic alloys. The double-aged non-dendritic alloys show a significantly changed microstructure with a high density of long rod-shaped β1′ precipitations, making the age-hardening level of double-aging much better than that of single-aging, and the peak value 90 HV was obtained 4 h in advance, which is an increase of 4 HV compared with that of the direct aged non-dendritic alloy. The strengthening mechanism of non-dendritic alloys is mainly summarized as grain boundary strengthening, GP zone strengthening, and the shearing strengthening of β1′ and β2′ precipitations. Among these, the GP zone strengthening is a fundamental contributor to improving the age-hardening level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) shows great research potential in human neuroscience. However, when it comes to stimulating deeper brain regions, traditional TMS is restricted by the balance between stimulation focalization and stimulation depth. Temporal interference (TI) stimulation offers a new thought to solve the problem. In this paper, we first discussed the principles of TI-TMS and then established the theoretical model of TI-TMS using the head-surrounded spatial array. Next, we specially designed the parametric characterized spatial array (PCS array) suitable for TI-TMS. The proposed PCS array contains eight special-shaped coils that constitute four sets of difference frequency stimulation pairs and are placed around the human head. Distribution characteristics of the temporally interfering electric fields (E-fields) including stimulation intensity, stimulation focalizations on 1D, 2D, and 3D levels, and attenuation ratios in X, Y, and Z directions were obtained using the finite element analysis method. Our results indicate that the proposed PCS array could form an obvious focusing area with strong stimulation at a stimulation depth of 5 cm below the human scalp while the superficial region is under weak stimulation, which effectively combines the advantages of TMS and TI stimulation. Compared to the traditional TMS systems, the TI-TMS with PCS array can realize selective and focalized stimulation in the deep brain and increase the average attenuation ratio of the induced temporally interfering E-fields by more than 1.93 times. A real human head model containing gray matter was also employed in this paper to verify our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preoperatively predicting extensive intraductal component in invasive breast cancer through imaging is crucial for informed decision-making, guiding surgical planning to mitigate risks of incomplete resection or re-operation for positive margins in breast-conserving surgery. This study aimed to characterize intra- and peri-tumor heterogeneity using high-spatial resolution ultrafast DCE-MRI to predict the extensive intraductal component in invasive breast cancer (IBC-EIC) preoperatively. A retrospective analysis included invasive breast cancer patients who underwent preoperative high-spatial resolution ultrafast DCE-MRI, categorized based on intraductal component status (IBC-EIC vs. IBC without EIC). Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to balance clinicopathological covariates between the groups. Personalized kinetic intra-tumor heterogeneity (ITHkinetic) and peri-tumor heterogeneity (PTHkinetic) scores were quantified using clustered voxels with similar enhancement patterns. An image combined model, incorporating MRI features, ITHkinetic, and PTHkinetic scores, was developed and assessed. Of 368 patients, 26.4% (97/368) had IBC-EIC. PSM yielded well-matched pairs of 97 patients each. After PSM, ITHkinetic and PTHkinetic scores were significantly higher in the IBC-EIC group (ITHkinetic: 0.68 ± 0.23; PTHkinetic: 0.58 ± 0.19) compared to IBC without EIC (ITHkinetic: 0.32 ± 0.25; PTHkinetic: 0.42 ± 0.18; p < 0.001). Before PSM, ITHkinetic (0.71 ± 0.20 vs. 0.49 ± 0.28, p < 0.001) and PTHkinetic (0.61 ± 0.18 vs. 0.50 ± 0.20, p < 0.001) scores remained higher in the IBC-EIC group. The Image Combined Model demonstrated good predictive performance for IBC-EIC, with an AUC of 0.91 (95% CI 0.86–0.95) after PSM and 0.85 (95% CI 0.81–0.90) before PSM. Inclusion of ITHkinetic and PTHkinetic scores significantly improved prediction capability. ITHkinetic and PTHkinetic characterization from high-spatial resolution ultrafast DCE-MRI kinetic curves enhances preoperative prediction of IBC-EIC, offering valuable insights for personalized breast cancer management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between ink drops and permeable textiles is complicated but crucial for textile inkjet printing. To address this, a modified model was developed in the current research by employing the volume of fluid method. The capillary force and the flow resistance were taken into account in the momentum equation, enabling the simulation of both spreading and penetration of ink drops upon impacting a textile. The evolutions of drop morphology, pressure distribution, and velocity field were investigated. An interesting finding is the entrapment of air bubbles with higher internal pressure at the intersection of warp and weft yarns due to the flow difference in the axial and radial directions of a yarn. To explore the influence of critical factors, parametric study was further conducted by varying impact velocity, drop diameter, and ink viscosity. Results show that increasing impact velocity enhances both the spreading and penetration of ink drops. The increase in drop diameter leads to a larger maximum spreading ratio but a smaller penetration ratio, as the penetration dynamics in the numerical model is independent of drop size. Additionally, ink drops with a higher viscosity display reduced spreading and penetration within the textile, primarily due to the rise in flow resistance and energy dissipation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel chitosan (CS) functionalized optical fiber sensor with a bullet-shaped hollow cavity was proposed in this work for the trace concentration of Pb2+ ion detection in the water environment. The sensor is an optical fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), which consists of a sequentially spliced bullet-shaped hollow-core fiber (HCF), thin-core fiber, and another piece of spliced bullet-shaped HCF. The hollow-core fiber is caused to collapse by adjusting the amount of discharge to form a tapered hollow cavity with asymmetric end faces. The bullet-like hollow cavities act as beam expanders and couplers for optical fiber sensors, which were symmetrically spliced at both ends of a section of thin core fiber. The simulation and experiments show that the bullet-like hollow-core tapered cavity excites more cladding modes and is more sensitive to variation in the external environment than the planar and spherical cavities. The ion-imprinted chitosan (IIP-CS) film was fabricated with Pb2+ ion as a template and uniformly coated on the surface for specific recognition of Pb2+. Experimental verification confirms that the developed sensor can achieve high-sensitivity Pb2+ ion detection, with a sensitivity of up to −12.68 pm/ppm and a minimum Pb2+ ion detection concentration of 5.44 ppb Meanwhile, the sensor shows excellent selectivity, repeatability, and stability in the ion detection process, which has huge potential in the direction of heavy metal ion detection in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scale and frequency of talent mobility in the world have increased sharply, and the competition for talent has intensified in various regions. This paper mainly studies the spatial mobility characteristics and influencing factors of China's highly educated talents. It found that China's higher education population mobility network has prominent uneven characteristics, the central and eastern regions of China, especially the eastern coastal regions, are the hotspots of the network. The higher education population flows frequently in large cities and regional central areas. The hierarchical structure follows a "north-south division," which is dominated by Beijing and Shanghai, respectively. Geographical distance has a specific hindering effect in this context. Furthermore, the similarity of culture, institutions, customs, and dialect facilitates the mobility of the higher education population. Cities with high economic levels, centralized educational resources, sound infrastructure, and aesthetically appealing environments are also likely to attract more talents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doping is an effective strategy to modulate the dielectric behaviors of microwave absorption (MA) materials, for which the complex permittivity can be manipulated by encoding defect genes in the contracted crystal, while it is seldom illustrated in the magnetic ferrite crystal. Herein, the impact of defect genes on enhancing dielectric polarization in contracted Ba1–2xLaxSmxFe12O19 (LaSm-x) crystals has been investigated by lanthanum–samarium codoping BaFe12O19. It can be found that the MA character can be expressed via dielectric polarization instructed by defect genes, and their encoded amount can be guided through doping of various contents. Profiting from these enhanced point defects, enriched oxygen vacancies, and improved vacancies on the grain boundary, the intensified defect-induced polarization causes the highest dielectric loss angular tangent above 0.5 at most testing bands in LaSm-4 (the largest shrinkage factor of 4.57%). Accordingly, LaSm-4 is awarded for its optimized MA performance, embracing a minimum reflection loss of −62.8 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth of 5.64 GHz at 2.1 mm (12.05–17.69 GHz). This work clarifies the instructive impact of defect genes encoded in ferrites on enhancing polarization loss, providing a promising strategy to strengthen dielectric loss ability in other magnetic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ocean sound speed changes drastically with time and space. It is almost impossible to achieve centimeter-level-precision Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-Acoustic (GNSS-A) positioning without regarding spatio-temporal variations of sound speed. Inspired by the atmospheric delay estimation, we define zenith acoustic delay (ZAD) as the zenith-direction ranging error sourced by the sound speed variations, and then it is decomposed into one temporal component and two horizontal components for the sound speed variations in time and space, respectively. We propose a network solution with the three ZAD components of each seafloor geodetic point as common parameters to be estimated, and then present a piece-wise estimation to characterize their time-varying nature. To remedy the ray bending effect this study is implemented in the context of the ray tracing algorithm based on a reference sound speed profile (SSP). Experimental tests show that the proposed network solution improves ZAD estimation and results in a better position determination as compared to the single-point positioning (SPP) solution. The proposed network solution for a single campaign can achieve a horizontal positioning precision better than 5 cm (1-sigma) for the seafloor geodetic array centroid. The temporal variation of ZAD is up to one meter while the horizontal variations vary within a few decimeters in the time domain and show an azimuthal asymmetry in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering that structured light depth imagers are difficult to use for precision measurements due to their limited measurement accuracy, we propose an innovative method for correcting structural parameters of structured light depth imagers to reduce the depth measurement error caused by structural parameter errors. For the structured light depth imager, the analytical imaging model is established, and the model of depth error caused by structural parameter errors is established based on the analysis of the depth measurement error analysis. Then, structural parameters are corrected according to the depth measurement error analysis and processing based on experimental depth imaging data of the standard reference plane at the maximum depth. As a result, the corrected analytical imaging model and corrected depth measurement values are obtained. Experimental results have demonstrated the success of this proposed method and its simplicity and convenience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examined the causal relationship between economic and innovation performance and the associated lag time within 282 prefecture-level cities in China. With the nighttime light (NTL) intensity representing economic status and 19 indicators comprehensively simulating the innovation performance index (CII), the Granger causality test was applied. The results showed that the temporal lag between economic status and innovation performance varies among cities. The innovation performance of 145 cities showed significant causal relationships with economic development in the ItoN test, and the average time lag was 2.01 years. The economic development of 137 cities also showed significance in innovation performance, with an average time lag of 3.15 years in the NtoI test. The growth rate of economic development and innovation performance has strongly impacted the temporal lag, especially in the ItoN causality test. A bidirectional causality between economic and innovation performance was found in 136 cities, but these cities complete the 'economy-innovation-economy' circle over a long period. Overall, this study concludes that the Granger causality test offers a useful approach to measure the time lag between economic and innovation performance, which can help better implement policies and expand research on economy and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on dynamic monitoring data on China's population, by using complex networks, spatial analysis and mathematical measurement, this study reveals the spatial characteristics and influencing factors of the network of flows of highly educated talents in the Yangtze River Delta region from the national and local perspectives. In the two perspectives, the network has strong isomorphism and certain differences. The in-flow of highly educated talents from cities with high administrative levels and more developed economies to Shanghai constitutes the core of the entire network. From a national perspective, highly educated talents tend to converge to the Yangtze River Delta region. From a local perspective, it was found that these talents cluster towards a limited number of cities in the region. From both perspectives, the flow network has developed into a "core-periphery" progressive hierarchical structure, with Shanghai becoming the sole core city. There is little difference in the influencing factors of talent mobility from both macro and meso perspectives. Highly educated talents would frequently flow between cities with strong economic development levels, and cities with high education level, scientific and technological level, complete infrastructure, and good aesthetics. However, geographical distance still plays a hindering role in the flow of highly educated talents, and factors such as cultural identity, institutional, and social modality differences among regions also have a certain effect on the flow of these talents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrastrong and deep-strong coupling are two coupling regimes rich in intriguing physical phenomena. Recently, hybrid magnonic systems have emerged as promising candidates for exploring these regimes, owing to their unique advantages in quantum engineering. However, because of the relatively weak coupling between magnons and other quasiparticles, ultrastrong coupling is predominantly realized at cryogenic temperatures, while deep-strong coupling remains to be explored. In our work, we achieve both theoretical and experimental realization of room-temperature ultrastrong magnon-magnon coupling in synthetic antiferromagnets with intrinsic asymmetry of magnetic anisotropy. Unlike most ultrastrong coupling systems, where the counter-rotating coupling strength g2 is strictly equal to the co-rotating coupling strength g1, our systems allow for highly tunable g1 and g2. This high degree of freedom also enables the realization of normalized g1 or g2 larger than 0.5. Particularly, our experimental findings reveal that the maximum observed g1 is nearly identical to the bare frequency, with g1/ω0 = 0.963, indicating a close realization of deep-strong coupling within our hybrid magnonic systems. Our results highlight synthetic antiferromagnets as platforms for exploring unconventional ultrastrong and even deep-strong coupling regimes, facilitating the further exploration of quantum phenomena.Deep-strong coupling in hybrid magnonic systems is yet to be explored. Here, the authors unveil unconventional coupling properties in synthetic antiferromagnets. The systems’ high degree of freedom enables a near-realization of deep-strong coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abuse of doxycycline (DC) can lead to residues in animals and water environments, which severely threaten human health; however, currently accepted detection methods are generally complicated and cannot be used for real-time detection. Therefore, developing a method for rapid real-time detection of DC microcontent residues is highly important. Herein, based on the Mach–Zehnder interference, we propose a simple tapered droplet structure fiber sensor with a high detection sensitivity. By modifying the sensing region with a molecularly imprinted polymer film of DC, this sensor realizes the specific detection of DC and has a detection sensitivity of 58.81 pm/ppm for DC in a large concentration range of 0–300 ppm. This sensor can be used to detect DC microcontent in aqueous solutions in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of teamwork in contemporary science has raised new questions about collaboration networks and the potential impact on research outcomes. Previous studies primarily focused on pairwise interactions between scientists when constructing collaboration networks, potentially overlooking group interactions among scientists. In this study, we introduce a higher-order network representation using algebraic topology to capture multi-agent interactions, i.e., simplicial complexes. Our main objective is to investigate the influence of higher-order structures in local collaboration networks on the productivity of the focal scientist. Leveraging a dataset comprising more than 3.7 million scientists from the Microsoft Academic Graph, we uncover several intriguing findings. Firstly, we observe an inverted U-shaped relationship between the number of disconnected components in the local collaboration network and scientific productivity. Secondly, there is a positive association between the presence of higher-order loops and individual scientific productivity, indicating the intriguing role of higher-order structures in advancing science. Thirdly, these effects hold across various scientific domains and scientists with different impacts, suggesting strong generalizability of our findings. The findings highlight the role of higher-order loops in shaping the development of individual scientists, thus may have implications for nurturing scientific talent and promoting innovative breakthroughs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a facile synthesis of regioselectively multi‐functionalized pyrenes through one‐pot reactions. These reactions involve Stille and Suzuki coupling reactions, which are proven effective in forming 1,2,3,6,7,8‐hexaphenylethynylpyrene for the first time. The 1,3,6,8‐tetraphenylethynyl pyrenediboronates are essential in synthesizing multi‐functionalized pyrenes, and the results indicate that the Stille coupling reaction is more effective than the Sonogashira coupling reaction in forming these boronate compounds in good yields. Furthermore, the experimental and theoretical investigations into the photophysical and electrochemical properties of the obtained 1,2,3,6,7,8‐multifunctionalized pyrenes show that the phenylethynyl groups at 2,7‐positions further increase the system conjugation, which is significant in developing new materials with enhanced properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral pesticides have the special chiral structures, so enantioselective biological effects are usually observed in living organisms. Current study used paclobutrazol as a case study and explored the enantioselective degradation and oxidative stress effect on wheat. The results demonstrated that the degradation of R‐paclobutrazol was faster than S‐paclobutrazol significantly and improved the content of MDA and O2− in wheat plants, which proved that the R‐paclobutrazol induced oxidative damage in wheat, showing selective biological effects, and S‐paclobutrazol was friendly to wheat. This study provided a theoretical basis for the selective activity of chiral pesticides and the development of chiral pesticide monomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banana is one of the most important fruits in the world due to its status as a major food source for more than 400 million people. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4) causes substantial losses of banana crops every year, and molecular host resistance mechanisms are currently unknown. We here performed a genomewide analysis of the autophagy-related protein 8 (ATG8) family in a wild banana species. The banana genome was found to contain 10 MaATG8 genes. Four MaATG8s formed a gene cluster in the distal part of chromosome 4. Phylogenetic analysis of ATG8 families in banana, Arabidopsis thaliana, citrus, rice, and ginger revealed five major phylogenetic clades shared by all of these plant species, demonstrating evolutionary conservation of the MaATG8 families. The transcriptomic analysis of plants infected with Foc TR4 showed that nine of the MaATG8 genes were more highly induced in resistant cultivars than in susceptible cultivars. Finally, MaATG8F was found to interact with MaATG4B in vitro (with yeast two-hybrid assays), and MaATG8F and MaATG4B all positively regulated banana resistance to Foc TR4. Our study provides novel insights into the structure, distribution, evolution, and expression of the MaATG8 family in bananas. Furthermore, the discovery of interactions between MaATG8F and MaATG4B could facilitate future research of disease resistance genes for the genetic improvement of bananas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil-rock mixture (S-RM) is widely distributed in some accumulation slopes and commonly used as a backfill material in the field of geotechnical engineering. The mechanical properties of S-RM play a pivotal role in ensuring the stability of geotechnical engineering projects. The discrete element method (DEM), which can construct S-RM’s microstructure model, is an effective tool for studying its mechanical properties. Currently, the most realistic and precise approach for constructing a three-dimensional (3D) microstructure model of S-RM is digital image processing (DIP) technology using computed tomography (CT) scanning device or 3D laser scanning device. However, these devices are very expensive. This study aims to develop an economical and accurate DEM for constructing the 3D microstructure of S-RM using DIP technology with a conventional digital camera. Firstly, a digital camera was used to capture three sets of 2D images on real rock blocks around four circles at different angles. DIP technology was then applied to process the 2D images and construct the refined 3D rock block grid models. Subsequently, the geometric parameters of the grid models were compared with those of the corresponding real rock blocks to validate the accuracy and applicability of this method. The microstructure model of S-RM in the large-scale direct shear test was then established and verified for DEM simulations. Finally, the mechanical properties of S-RM were analyzed based on the evolution of the shear band, the rotation of rock blocks, and the change of contact force chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction to an article titled "3D Vertically Aligned and Interconnected Porous Carbon Nanosheets as Sulfur Immobilizers for High Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries" published in Advanced Energy Materials. The correction addresses errors in several figures and text sections of the original article. The corrected figures and text provide accurate information about the reduction process, discharge capacities, long-term stability, and high-rate capability of the battery. The authors apologize for any inconvenience caused. [Extracted from the article]

The exploration of advanced nickel‐based electrocatalysts for alkaline methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) holds immense promise for value‐added organic products coupled with hydrogen production, but still remain challenging. Herein, we construct ultrathin NiO/Cr2O3 in‐plane heterostructures to promote the alkaline MOR process. Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that NiO/Cr2O3 in‐plane heterostructures enable a favorable upshift of the d‐band center and enhanced adsorption of hydroxyl species, leading to accelerated generation of active NiO(OH)ads species. Furthermore, ultrathin in‐plane heterostructures endow the catalyst with good charge transfer ability and adsorption behavior of methanol molecules onto catalytic sites, contributing to the improvement of alkaline MOR kinetics. As a result, ultrathin NiO/Cr2O3 in‐plane heterostructures exhibit a remarkable MOR activity with a high current density of 221 mA cm−2 at 0.6 V vs Ag/AgCl, which is 7.1‐fold larger than that of pure NiO nanosheets and comparable with other highly active catalysts reported so far. This work provides an effectual strategy to optimize the activity of nickel‐based catalysts and highlights the dominate efficacy of ultrathin in‐plane heterostructures in alkaline MOR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the robust time‐varying formation control problems for a class of higher‐order multi‐agent systems subject to communication delays and heterogeneous uncertainties accounting for not only the parameter perturbations, nonlinearities and external disturbances occurring in the node local dynamics but also the nonlinear couplings in the interconnections of different nodes. For both cases of partially known and unknown time‐varying communication delays, we propose a unified formation control protocol, which incorporates a nominal controller to achieve the desired formation and a compensating signal to restrain the influences of uncertainties. Based on the signal compensation theory and Lyapunov–Krasovskii arguments, sufficient conditions to achieve the desired time‐varying formation are derived in terms of LMI. Thereafter, an explicit expression to describe the formation reference dynamics is yielded. Moreover, an algorithm is concluded to design the presented formation protocol in four steps. It is proven that the formation error can be made as small as desired under the designed controller despite the uncertainties and communication delays. Numerical simulation results are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed control schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clubroot disease, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, poses a significant global threat to cruciferous crops. The epidemic area of clubroot disease is expanding rapidly. In response to this pressing issue, there is a compelling need for the development of clubroot disease-resistant radish cultivars. China boasts an extensive array of radish varieties and germplasm resources. However, a comprehensive assessment of their resistance to clubroot has not yet been carried out, thereby impeding the effective utilization of germplasm and clubroot-resistant breeding. Therefore, it is urgent to systematically evaluate the clubroot resistance of the radish germplasm and identify resistant resources. In this study, clubroot resistance evaluations were conducted on 268 excellent radish varieties derived from 30 provinces in China, as well as seven accessions from Russia, North Korea, France, South Korea, and Germany. The resistance evaluation revealed a diverse range of resistance indices, with a mean disease index (DI) ranging from 0.6 to 58.5, showing significant disparities in clubroot resistance among these radish resources. A total of six accessions were characterized as highly resistant to clubroot, and a further 50 accessions were characterized as resistant. The disease-resistant radishes showed diversity in horticultural traits. Provinces in South China contributed significantly more resistance germplasm than those of North China. These materials are of great value for both genetic investigation and the crop breeding of clubroot resistance. Furthermore, we employed a previously established clubroot-resistance-linked SSR marker to analyze the clubroot-resistant resources. The accessions exhibited dissimilar genetic profiles from known clubroot-resistant germplasm, suggesting their potential status as novel sources of clubroot resistance. Conclusively, these newly identified accessions enriched the genetic diversity within the clubroot-resistant gene pool and may contribute to the future cloning of previously undiscovered clubroot-resistant genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potassium ion batteries (PIBs) have attracted enormous attention due to their low cost and high abundance of potassium resources. Here, self‐hybridized BiOBr0.5I0.5 with a flower‐like structure composed of 2D nanosheets is assembled and used as PIBs anode. According to the systematic theoretical calculations, the unbalanced charge distribution between Br and I atoms induces an intensified internal electric field and a wide van der Waals gap; while the decreasing of electron polarons caused by the hybridized structure improves the stability and electronic conductivity of the system. Moreover, the K+ ion uptake induces an energetic evolution in polaronic states in the BiOBr0.5I0.5 crystal skeleton, whereby the dynamic K+ ion‐halogen atoms correlation in situ forms hole‐like polarons, which substantially promotes K+ ion diffusion kinetics and the corresponding reaction kinetics during charge/discharge processes, imparting significant implications for the design of high‐performance energy storage electrode materials by engineering the interface interaction and electronic structure. Therefore, with this atomic orbital self‐hybridized structure, the K+ ion diffusion kinetics and the corresponding reaction kinetics during the charge/discharge process are both enhanced remarkably, thus enabling a high electrochemical performance of 155 mAh g−1 at 1000 mA g−1 over 4000 cycles in PIBs with the BiOBr0.5I0.5 as the anode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered guest carbon materials could induce interlayer engineering, especially in regulating the interlayer structure and electronic properties of the hosts, leading to high performance in Li‐ion batteries (LIBs). Here, crystalline graphdiyne oxide (GDYO) is successfully inserted into MoS2 gallery via electrostatic self‐assembly. Experimental and theoretical data show that GDYO‐embedding induces interlayer engineering of MoS2 causing (i) enlarged MoS2 interlayer distance (supplying additional Li‐ion diffusion channels and storage sites and mitigating volume change), (ii) creating interfacial electric fields (significantly improving Li‐ion transport kinetics), (iii) limiting the electrochemical products of Mo and soluble lithium polysulfide (MoS2 structure regeneration), and (iv) regulation of the interfacial current density distribution during the electrochemical reaction (uniform Li plating). Moreover, through systematic ex situ and in situ investigations, the triple‐mechanism of Li‐ion storage is thoroughly elucidated in the heterostructure, emphasizing the positive effects of GDYO intercalation on the interfacial and interlayer storage as well as the phase conversion processes. Such a MoS2/GDYO anode exhibits high reversible capacity (≈652.6 mAh g−1 at 2.0 A g−1) and superior cyclic stability of 655.1 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles. GDYO‐induced interlayer engineering based on host–guest chemistry can provide new ideas for designing effective heterostructures for high‐performance energy storage and conversion systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to exclude sodium from the shoot is a crucial feature of salinity tolerance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The plasma membrane sodium/proton exchanger salt-overly-sensitive 1 (SOS1) is a critical Na+ efflux protein in plants. Here, we cloned three homologues of the TaSOS1 gene in bread wheat, designated TaSOS1-A1, TaSOS1-B1 and TaSOS1-D1, respectively, according to the location on group 3 chromosomes 3A, 3B and 3D. Sequence analysis demonstrated that the TaSOS1 deduced protein-contained domains similar to the SOS1 protein, including 12 membrane-spanning regions, a long hydrophilic tail in the C-terminus, the cyclic nucleotide-binding domain, the putative auto-inhibitory domain and the phosphorylation motif. Phylogenetic analysis established the evolutionary relationships between the different copies of this gene in bread wheat and its diploid progenitors, as well as with SOS1 genes from Arabidopsis, rice and Brachypodium distachyon. Analysis of transient TaSOS1-A1::green fluorescent protein expression demonstrated that TaSOS1 was exclusively localized to the plasma membrane. The yeast and Arabidopsis complementary test supported the sodium extrusion function of TaSOS1-A1. Virus-induced gene silencing technology was used to further examine the function of TaSOS1-A1 in bread wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing cross-domain intelligent fault diagnosis algorithms rely on many samples and only consider the global alignment of all faults. It is not practical to obtain numerous fault samples under actual working conditions. Therefore, it is a great challenge to fully utilize the fine-grained information of each type of fault to improve the fault diagnosis performance of the model under few-shot conditions. To ease this challenge, we develop a novel deep subdomain adaptation intelligent fault diagnosis (DSAIFD) model. First, a convolutional neural network is pretrained using the source domain to extract cross-domain invariant features. Second, we propose an effective class center alignment method to facilitate deep subdomain adaptation, which improves the fault diagnosis performance of the model. By combining the class center alignment method with conditional adversarial networks, the proposed model can fully utilize the fine-grained information of subclasses and reduce the distribution discrepancy between two domains. Last, high-confidence samples are selected from the target domain by setting an adaptive threshold. These selected samples are combined with the training samples from the source domain to train a classifier, which alleviates the problem of insufficient sample size. The experiments show that DSAIFD achieves significant results on two validation datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal testing has made a significant and unequalled contribution to important discoveries and advancements in the fields of research, medicine, vaccine development, and drug discovery. Each year, millions of animals are sacrificed for various experiments, and this is an ongoing process. However, the debate on the ethical and sensible usage of animals in in vivo experimentation is equally important. The need to explore and adopt newer alternatives to animals so as to comply with the goal of reduce, refine, and replace needs attention. Besides the ever-increasing debate on ethical issues, animal research has additional drawbacks (need of trained labour, requirement of breeding area, lengthy protocols, high expenses, transport barriers, difficulty to extrapolate data from animals to humans, etc.). With this scenario, the present review has been framed to give a comprehensive insight into the possible alternative options worth exploring in this direction especially targeting replacements for animal models of bacterial infections. There have been some excellent reviews discussing on the alternate methods for replacing and reducing animals in drug research. However, reviews that discuss the replacements in the field of medical bacteriology with emphasis on animal bacterial infection models are purely limited. The present review discusses on the use of (a) non-mammalian models and (b) alternative systems such as microfluidic chip–based models and microdosing aiming to give a detailed insight into the prospects of these alternative platforms to reduce the number of animals being used in infection studies. This would enlighten the scientific community working in this direction to be well acquainted with the available new approaches and alternatives so that the 3R strategy can be successfully implemented in the field of antibacterial drug research and testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the silane coupling agents with 4‐carboxyphenyl (PhCOOH), amino, phenyl, 4‐aminophenyl and 4‐phenylmethylketone were employed to modify the interfaces of the polyimide/SiO2 (PIS) nanocomposites, and the effects of the interfacial structures on the dielectric and the mechanical properties for the PI‐based composites were predicted by molecular dynamics simulation. The results showed that the interface structure with PhCOOH simultaneously elevated the static dielectric permittivity (εs) and Young modulus of the PI‐based composites. Due to enhanced intrinsic polarization of the SiO2 particles and the interface polarization in the composites, the εs of PIS‐PhCOOH composites (6.66) was 28% higher than that of PIS (5.21). Young modulus of PIS‐PhCOOH (5.09 GPa) was higher than that of PIS (3.25 GPa), which was attributed to the increase of the number of hydrogen bonds and non‐bond interaction. In addition, the length of PhCOOH was found to be larger than the thickness of excluded volume region, showing that part of PhCOOH could be embedded into the gaps among PI chains and the interfacial load transfer efficiency was reinforced. These results provided an understanding of the atomic‐scale interfacial structures, which was beneficial for the design and preparation of the nanocomposites with superior dielectric and mechanical performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and low‐cost approach was proposed to fabricate poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and polyimide‐poly(amidic acid) (PI‐PAA) all‐organic hybrid films with excellent dielectric performance by solution casting and thermal imidization process. The results showed that the introduction of PVDF and PAA molecular chains into PI matrix significantly enhanced the dielectric permittivity and energy density of PI‐based composites. The permittivity and energy density of 15 wt% PI‐PAA/PVDF composites were 4.83 at 103 Hz and 5.55 J cm−3, which were 52% and 107% higher than that of PI (3.18 at 103 Hz, 2.68 J cm−3). In addition, the dielectric loss of 15 wt% PI‐PAA/PVDF composites was still maintained at a low level (0.009 at 103 Hz). The molecular dynamics results showed that the polarization strength of composites mainly originated from the intrinsic polarization strength. The intrinsic polarization strength of PI‐PAA/PVDF in the composites was 1010 times higher than interfacial polarization strength, and interfacial polarization was negligible. There was no significant difference between the self‐diffusion coefficients of 15 wt% PI‐PAA/PVDF and PI‐PAA, indicating that the relaxation polarization of polymer molecular chains was suppressed. This work provides an effective way for the preparation of dielectric for all organic high voltage direct current system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multilayer composite structures have significant advantages in antipenetration protection. Problems such as element distortion are more likely to occur when the FEM is used to simulate the heterogeneous composite structure against penetration with large deformation. A coupled smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH)-FEM is proposed to simulate the antipenetration performance of multilayer protective structures under the penetration of high-speed hemispherical-nosed projectiles. The large deformation and broken areas are calculated by the SPH method, which overcomes the problem of element distortion in FEM. In other areas, the FEM is used to improve the calculation efficiency. The results indicated that simulating multilayer plates using the coupled SPH-FEM can achieve the ballistic limit and deformation that agree with the experiment. Moreover, the deformation of single-layer, in-contact double-layer, spaced double-layer, and sandwich target plates with a core layer of water was studied and discussed. The influence of the faceplate and core layer on the penetration resistance performance was discussed in this paper by applying LSDYNA to establish the model of 3D SPH-FEM and calculate the dynamic process. In addition, the relationship between initial-residual velocity, deformation, and damage failure behavior was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hole sowing is a new and efficient cultivation method with few studies. This study investigated the effects of different sowing densities and nitrogen topdressing at the jointing stage on dry matter, quality, and yield under wheat hole sowing to provide a theoretical basis for integrating wheat fertilizer and density-supporting technology. In this study, a two-factor split-plot design was used. The sowing density was the main plot, and four levels were set: D1, D2, D3, and D4 (238, 327, 386, and 386 suitable seeds·m−2). The four sowing levels were sown according to 8 grains/hole, 11 grains/hole, 13 grains/hole, and 16 grains/hole, respectively, with a row spacing of 25 cm and a hole spacing of 13.5 cm; the amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied at the jointing stage was the sub-area, with four levels: N1, N2, N3, and N4 (0, 60, 120, and 180 kg·ha−1). After two years of experimental research, the following main conclusions are drawn: the use of high sowing density and nitrogen topdressing is helpful to improve the dry matter quality of wheat spikes at the maturing stage; the sowing density had significant or highly significant effects on protein content, starch content, and sedimentation value. The yield from 2018–2019 reached a maximum of 8448.67 kg·ha−1 under D4N4 treatment, and the yield from 2019–2020 reached a maximum of 10,136.40 kg·ha−1 under D4N3 treatment. Therefore, the combination of 225 kg·ha−1 sowing density and 120–180 kg·ha−1 nitrogen topdressing at the jointing stage can be used in field production, which can help improve wheat production potential. Similarly, understanding the interaction between wheat hole sowing and different sowing densities and nitrogen topdressing amounts provides a practical reference for high-yield wheat cultivation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]