Search

Air traffic flow management (ATFM) plays a crucial role in efficient aviation. Most existing studies assume the flight speed as constant throughout the trip, leading to ineffective fixed-speed schedules. To address this issue, we propose a new problem model, which allows variable speed control to improve the flexibility and maneuverability of the management. In addition, we consider two conflicting objectives, which are minimizing the total flight delays and conflicts between flights, where the conflicts depend on the flight 4-D trajectories (3-D position plus time). To solve this new challenging problem, we propose a novel multiobjective evolutionary algorithm with new problem-specific individual representation and search operators. Specifically, the multichromosomes encoding scheme is designed to adapt to different types of operations. Then, to search the huge search space effectively, we develop a hybrid crossover operator that recombines the parents based on their flight routes. Furthermore, to balance the exploration and exploitation, we develop a new mutation strategy to utilize the heterogeneous search potential of different individuals. For exploitation, the knee individual in the Pareto front is improved by a new time shift operator for exploitation, and other nondominated solutions are mutated by fixed-route mutation. For exploration, the dominated solutions are mutated randomly. To verify the effectiveness, we compare it with the real ATFM schedules and the state-of-the-art algorithms on a range of real-world air traffic datasets. Extensive results show that the proposed algorithm can significantly outperform the baselines in generating safe and efficient 4-D trajectories.

In bovine follicular development, the proliferation of bovine granulosa cells affects follicular selection, atresia, and cystic follicle formation. When cystic follicles appear on the ovaries, granulosa cells stop proliferating, resulting in the reduction of granulosa cells layer. In our previous study, the whole transcriptome sequencing revealed that Bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2 (BMPR2) was differentially expressed between cystic and normal follicular granulosa cells. We speculated that long noncoding RNA may act as competing endogenous RNA targeting microRNAs and then regulating the expression of BMPR2and the function of granulosa cells, thereby affecting follicular development and cyst formation. In this study, the results elucidated that long noncoding RNA S100PBP (NONBTAT011846.2) directly bound miR-2285bc, which targeted in the BMPR23′-UTR. miR-2285bc suppresses granulosa cells proliferation by downregulating BMPR2expression. Furthermore, long noncoding RNA S100PBP was silenced by small interfering RNA, and long noncoding RNA S100PBP regulated BMPR2expression by sponging miR-2285bc investigated through cross-verification. When small interfering RNA of long noncoding RNA S100PBP was transfected into granulosa cells, the results revealed similar molecular changes as those transfected with miR-2285bc mimics. Silencing long noncoding RNA S100PBP or overexpressing miR-2285bc altered the expressions of some follicular development-related genes, which could be related to follicular cyst occurrence. In conclusion, our findings support that long noncoding RNA S100PBP regulates the expression of BMPR2 through sponge miR-2285bc, promotes the proliferation of granulosa cells, inhibits their apoptosis, and increases the synthesis and secretion of follicular steroid hormones, thus promoting the development of bovine follicles.Graphical Abstract

As a substrate for the growth of layered MnO2, graphene can increase electron mobility and allow K+to compensate for charge, thus activating dead water molecules between MnO2layers and improving the energy storage capacity of MnO2.

Dynamic fire assessment under many uncertainties make danger level difficult to be evaluated reasonably. This investigation aims to establish a fire danger level dynamic assessment technique, which can be utilized to achieve automatically rules generation of fire assessment and multiple attributes-based fire danger level determination. In the technique, image segmentation with particle swarm optimization is used to generate the rules of fire assessment related to image type data automatically. Evidential reasoning with particle swarm optimization is used to generate the rules of fire assessment related to numeric type data automatically. Then, final fire danger level can be evaluated together with the help of the multi-source heterogeneous data. The main novelty of this investigation is that the developed multiple attributes-based assessment technique is not limited to the specific fire scenario, which is without resort to professional knowledges for determining the rules of fire assessment and training based on mass data in advance. In addition, the results of the case study of a tunnel fire support the ability of the technique, which can be used to achieve the reasonable fire danger level dynamic assessment with only the monitored data at the current time condition.

Introduction: Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), although not all patients respond to traditional IL-17A antibody treatments. QX002N injection, as a new monoclonal antibody targeting IL-17A, has shown potential in treating AS, offering a new treatment option for patients who do not respond well to existing therapies. Methods: A randomized, open, parallel, single-center, phase I study was conducted to assess the pharmacokinetics, safety, and immunogenicity of single doses of QX002N injection administered intravenously (IV) or subcutaneously (SC) to healthy Chinese volunteers. Blood samples were collected at specified time intervals, and then serum concentrations of QX002N were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Pharmacokinetic analysis of the drug concentration–time data showed that the mean maximum observed serum QX002N concentration (Cmax) was 110 and 33.9 µg/ml, respectively. The average area under the drug concentration–time curves from 0 to the time of the last quantifiable concentration (AUClast) were 52,656 and 36,269 µg·h/ml, respectively and the average area under the drug concentration–time curves from 0 to infinity (AUCinf) were 54,867 and 38,194 µg·h/ml, respectively. The absolute bioavailability of QX002N after SC injection was 69.6%. Conclusions: Immunogenicity was assessed and all the subjects in this study were Anti-drug antibody (ADA)-negative, which means no subjects appeared to develop immunogenicity to QX002N. All the results testify to the safety of QX002N injection, which is satisfactory after IV or SC dosing in healthy subjects. Trial Registration: www.chinadrugtirals.org.cn, CTR20220430.

The escalating density of airspace has led to sharply increased conflicts between aircraft. Efficient and scalable conflict resolution methods are crucial to mitigate collision risks. Existing learning-based methods become less effective as the scale of aircraft increases due to their redundant information representations. In this paper, to accommodate the increased airspace density, a novel graph reinforcement learning (GRL) method is presented to efficiently learn deconfliction strategies. A time-evolving conflict graph is exploited to represent the local state of individual aircraft and the global spatiotemporal relationships between them. Equipped with the conflict graph, GRL can efficiently learn deconfliction strategies by selectively aggregating aircraft state information through a multi-head attention-boosted graph neural network. Furthermore, a temporal regularization mechanism is proposed to enhance learning stability in highly dynamic environments. Comprehensive experimental studies have been conducted on an OpenAI Gym-based flight simulator. Compared with the existing state-of-the-art learning-based methods, the results demonstrate that GRL can save much training time while achieving significantly better deconfliction strategies in terms of safety and efficiency metrics. In addition, GRL has a strong power of scalability and robustness with increasing aircraft scale.

With technological breakthroughs, drone deliveries have become increasingly popular, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Driven by both economical benefit and efficiency, drone-truck combined deliveries are in demand. However, it is very challenging to handle the collaboration between trucks and drones. Existing methods for truck-only routing cannot be directly applied, since their solution representations and search operators cannot consider the drone-truck collaborations effectively. In this article, we model the system as traveling salesman problem with drones (TSP-Ds), and propose a new Memetic algorithm named MATSP-D for solving it. Specifically, we design a new drone-truck solution representation and develop new crossover and local search operators under the new representation, which can modify the drone services effectively. MATSP-D conducts exploration by crossover, and exploitation by a variable neighborhood search process. The experimental results show that the proposed MATSP-D significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms for most test instances, especially the large instances with more complex collaborations between the truck and drone. Further analysis verifies the effectiveness of the newly developed local search operators in searching for better-drone-truck collaborations.

Purpose: This paper aims to bridge the topologically protected phenomena in phononic crystals or acoustic metamaterials and a classical civil engineering structure namely viaduct. Viaducts can be designed in the form of a bridge deck supported by a periodic array of columns, piers or arches either over land or water. The previous research on topological beam-support systems focuses on continuous elastic foundations. Comparatively, inspired by the design principles of viaducts, this paper introduces a novel periodic beam-support system and investigates the topological states. Method: The Euler–Bernoulli beam theory and transfer matrix method are employed to theoretically solve the dispersion relation, while the numerical counterpart is obtained by the commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics. Results: Excellent agreement between theoretical and numerical band structures is obtained, where two bandgaps with different mechanisms can be observed. The topologically protected interface mode with great energy localization is obtained. The tunability of interface mode by piezoelectric parameters and the large-area waveguide is demonstrated. Conclusion: Topologically protected interface states with tunable path width induced by alternative point supports are realized. The highly localized wave signals can be further extended to many practical applications such as vibration energy harvesters, and the design principles can provide guidance for other kinds of periodic systems such as photonic crystals.

Dynamic parameterization of the statistical characteristics of structural systems’ measured input and output data is an important task for the digital twin modeling and intelligent risk assessment of transportation infrastructures. Characteristics of mixed skewness probability are common in structural systems, and its extreme value represents the risk state closest to the critical limit. The generalized extreme value mixture model (GEVMM) can consider multiple factors that interfere with each other, based on which the generalized maximum likelihood estimation (GMLE) of full Bayesian is introduced. The proposed GMLE-GEVMM can conduct the modeling of mixed skewness probability (mainly including strong uni-factor and multifactor statistical characteristics) by fusing the prior physical information for each parameter. A reliable paradigm for predicting the dynamic extreme value of practical engineering is presented. The proposed method can overcome the probabilistic modeling problem for complex mixed skewness characteristics and significantly improve the prediction accuracy of the extreme value of probability. The continuous monitoring data from a real bridge is used for validation. The modeling and predicting results verified the proposed methods’ strong applicability and high accuracy for complex probabilistic system input and output characteristics from in-service structures.

Due to their intrinsic structural features, the design and synthesis of a new type of zeolite-like metal–organic frameworks (ZMOFs) is highly desirable but challenging. Herein, solvothermal reactions between an angular dicarboxylate linker and rare-earth (RE) ions afforded two RE-MOFs, namely, Tb-ZMOF-2 and Tb-ZMOF-3, respectively. Structural analyses reveal that Tb-ZMOF-2 encompasses a novel [446482] cage, while Tb-ZMOF-3 contains nonanuclear (i.e., D6R) and hexanuclear (i.e., D4R) RE clusters simultaneously, subsequently resulting in two new zeolitic topologies. Thanks to its high surface area and pore volume, Tb-ZMOF-2 demonstrates considerably high gravimetric and volumetric methane storage working capacities.

[Display omitted]

AbstractThe construction process of Longyan Bridge was constrained by the conditions at the construction site. At the site, the operation of multiple urban arteries (one river, two railways and two highways) cannot be interrupted. Additionally, this single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge is located in a karst area. To accelerate the construction of the bridge, a swivel construction method was adopted for minimal disturbance to the traffic and environment. It was decided to launch the steel box-girder through the cast-in-situpylon without intersecting with the traffic lines and to rotate the asymmetric superstructure by 21° via a spherical swivel system. This method allows construction preparation and implementation in the most efficient way within the available time. This paper elaborates the swivel construction of the bridge where the swivel weight is heaviest (i.e. 2.36×107 kg) in a karst area. The design method for the spherical hinge is presented as an example and validated, in which a simplified method and engineering practice are integrated. Additionally, monitoring and control measures during the rotation process and weighing test are conducted to achieve the stability and safety of the construction. Useful reference describing the swivel construction is provided that can be particularly instructive for future accelerated bridge construction.

Pancreaticobiliary maljunction (PBM) is a well-known high-risk factor for biliary malignant tumors because of constant pancreaticobiliary reflux (PBR). However, the impact of occult pancreaticobiliary reflux (OPR), which is characterized by high bile amylase levels in individuals with anatomically normal pancreaticobiliary junction, on biliary diseases remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between OPR and biliary diseases.

The ductile design principle has been widely adopted in seismic design of structures, so the main structural components are designed to have the dual functions of bearing and energy dissipation under the earthquake. In recent years, the intensity of major earthquakes occurred in China, Chile, New Zealand, and Japan had reached or exceeded the design level of the maximum credible earthquake. In most cases, the designed structures did not collapse and the casualties were small. However, many structures were seriously damaged and must be overhauled or rebuilt, resulting in huge economic losses. Therefore, researchers have paid more attention to the seismic resilient structures. The shear wall can provide an efficient lateral force resisting capacity and has a wide range of applications in building structures. This review firstly summarized the research advances of seismic resilient shear wall structures, mainly from three aspects: high-performance materials, replaceable components, and hybrid structural systems; then, the development of seismic performance analysis, design methods, and engineering applications of seismic resilient shear wall structures were presented; finally, the key issues that need to be explored in the future research were discussed, which was helpful for the wide application of seismic resilient shear wall structures.

Fluidic memristor devices have received tremendous attention for smooth resistance switching in artificial synapses due to the ion migration, concentration polarization, and redox reactions mechanism. Here we provide a novel method of preparing microfluidic memristor with superior stability, robustness, and ultralow cost. The structure of the two-terminal memristor device is Cu/[MMIm][Cl]: H2O/Cu, C5H9N2Cl. The ionic liquid of 1,3-dimethylimidazole chloride salt was used as representative IL to display resistive memory properties in a cylindrical microchannel of a capillary. The fabricated device shows hysteretic and bipolar I–Vcharacteristics of memristor, which can respond to external stimuli, e.g., space length between two electrodes and applied voltage. Meanwhile, this artificial synapse can mimic synaptic plasticity under various pulse stimuli stably and repeatedly, which results in temporary memory behavior. Such device exhibits great potential value in the area of neuromorphic artificial synapses and memory states.

To explore the effect of leaf scorch on chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of walnut leaves, we used the FMS-2pulse-modulated chlorophyll fluorometer to measure parameters of chlorophyll fluorescence. Two walnut varieties were selected (Juglans regia'Wen185' and 'Xinxin2') as test materials. During diurnal variation, the initial fluorescence (Fo) of symptom trees was significantly higher than that of symptomless trees (P< 0.05). While the non-photochemical quenching coefficient (NPQ) of 'Wen185' symptom trees was significantly higher than that of its symptomless counterpart (control) (P< 0.05), the NPQof 'Xinxin2' symptom trees attained the same level as that of the control in the afternoon, with no significant difference. With the prolonged time of the stress and increased severity of the disease, the Foof each symptom tree was higher than that of the control (P< 0.05). The maximum fluorescence (Fm), maximum fluorescence under light (Fm'), maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), and the potential activity of PSII (Fv/Fo) of symptom trees were all significantly lower than the corresponding values of the control (P< 0.05). The decline rate of 'Wen185' symptom trees was smaller than that of 'Xinxin2' plants. CONCLUSION: Leaf scorch damaged the photosynthetic mechanism in leaves of 'Wen185' and 'Xinxin2', reduced the electron transfer efficiency, destroyed the PSII reaction center, and even lost the potential activity, resulting in different degrees of photoinhibition in leaves of symptomatic walnut varieties. Compared to 'Xinxin2', 'Wen185' showed greater adaptability to leaf scorch and improved self-regulation, whereas 'Xinxin2' was more seriously affected by the disease.

Taking Juglans regia‘Xinxin2’, a main economic tree species in southern Xinjiang, China, as the research object, the carbohydrate content and activity of key enzymes of sucrose metabolism in leaves, carpopodium, and fruits on fruit bearing branches during fruit growth and development were studied by adopting the measures of girding and fixed leaf-to-fruit ratio. The results showed that in the entire process of walnut fruit growth and development, the sucrose content in leaves was always higher than other carbohydrate contents, followed by starch, and net photosynthetic rate (Pn) was positively correlated with the contents of sucrose and glucose (P< 0.05) and negatively correlated with starch content (P< 0.01), and the sucrose content was positively correlated with the sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) activity (P< 0.01). In the carpopodium, the sucrose content was consistently higher than that of the other carbohydrates, and the net activity of sucrose decomposing enzyme (acid invertase [AI], neutral invertase [NI]) was always higher than the net activity of the sucrose synthase system (sucrose synthase [SS+], SPS). The glucose content was positively correlated with sucrose content and AI activity (P< 0.01). In the fast-growing period of fruit, the sucrose content in fruit green peel was low, and the fructose content and AI activity were high. During the oil transformation period, the sucrose content in fruit green peel and kernel was high, and the net activity of the sucrose synthase system (SS+, SPS) was greater than that of sucrose-decomposing enzyme (AI, NI). In conclusion, the synthesis rate of assimilates in walnut leaves depends on the Pn of the leaves. Sucrose was the main assimilation product of walnut leaves, followed by starch. High activity of sucrose decomposing enzyme in carpopodium promoted sucrose transport, increased sucrose concentration gradient between source leaf and sink fruit, and promoted sucrose transport to sink fruit. The sucrose unloaded to the fruit was rapidly decomposed into glucose and fructose under the action of highly active AI, which was used for cell division and morphological construction during the rapid growth period of the fruit. The high concentration of sucrose accumulated after the joint action of high-activity SPS and SS+in fruit green peel and high-activity SS+in nut kernel was the basis of nut kernel oil transformation.

BackgroundDiagnosis of a genetic disease and determination of the causative molecular lesion rely on the availability of the disease-associated pedigrees. Microphthalmia is a congenital eye defect due to an insufficiently developed visual system; its prevalence is 1–3 in 10 000 live births.ObjectiveWe analysed a pedigree exhibiting autosomal dominant inheritance of microphthalmia to determine the genetic lesion; used AlphaFold2 to predict the changes in the protein’s 3-Dimensional structure; and compared wild-type and variant proteins in cultured cells or Drosophila model was used to explore the cellular or developmental function of the encoded product.ResultsWe identified a novel missense variation, F52L, in MAB21L1 that is absent in population databases and present exclusively in the individuals diagnosed with microphthalmia in this pedigree. Common structural changes were predicted for the disease-associated variants clustered at amino acids 49–52, and these variant products were also predominantly trapped in the cytoplasm of cultured human lens epithelia. To recapitulate its dominant effect in development, we expressed the Drosophila homologue corresponding to MAB21L1F52Land caused malformation of sensory organs.ConclusionMutations at the residues 49–52 of MAB21L1 compromise eye development. We recommend including MAB21L1in the genetic testing panel for congenital eye disorders.

Introduction: Construction and operation of high-speed trains in railway stations can induce substantial vibrations, resulting in impermissible structure-borne noise (SBN), occasionally causing disruptions for passengers and staff. This issue poses serious challenges in the advancement of novel multi-story high-speed railway stations in large cities. Until now, limited methods have been introduced to predict and evaluate SBN for guiding station design and construction. Besides, the computational speed and accuracy of these methods often fall short of expectations. Objectives: In response to this need, a simulation method for SBN based on Auto CAD, Altair HyperMesh, and MSC Actran software was proposed. Methods: Firstly, numerical models were established for the elevated waiting hall and underground entrance hall of Beijing Fengtai Railway Station. Secondly, field measurements were conducted to validate the reliability of the simulation method by comparing the measured and simulated results. Subsequently, numerical analysis under different conditions was performed to study the transmission characteristics of SBN. Finally, the SBN in the elevated waiting hall and the underground entrance hall were evaluated accordingly. Results: The frequency of the simulated SBN at the elevated waiting hall prominent ranges from 20 to 40 Hz and 125 to 200 Hz, while frequencies at the underground entrance hall exhibit a significant band between 80 and 125 Hz. The peak A-weighted overall SPL under various conditions for the elevated waiting hall is 69.33 dB, while for the underground entrance hall is 71.63 dB. Conclusion: SBN in the elevated waiting hall primarily originates from the elevated track floor, which is different from the underground entrance hall where it stems from the ground track floor. The A-weighted overall sound pressure level (SPL) in the elevated waiting hall satisfies the SBN comfort criteria, whereas the A-weighted overall SPL in the underground entrance hall falls short of the chosen specification. This study enhances the prediction method and understanding of the transmission characteristics of SBN. Consequently, it provides valuable insights for constructing multi-story railway stations with improved comfort in the future.

Two industrial wastes, spent FCC catalyst (sFCCc) and blast furnace ash (BFA), were used as catalysts in the fast pyrolysis of sawdust, and the catalytic pyrolysis reaction characteristics of sawdust in the temperature range of 400–700 °C were explored. The results showed that both catalysts promoted the conversion from liquid products to gaseous products, and the highest gas yield was 52.60% at 700 °C catalyzed by BFA. The sFCCc had stronger deoxygenation activity at 500–600 °C, resulting in higher CO and CO2production in gaseous products. While BFA had higher polycondensation and dehydrogenation activity at 600–700 °C, and promoted the formation of polycyclic aromatic compounds and H2. Pyrolysis oil was mainly composed of phenols. The sFCCc promoted the conversion of methoxy phenol to benzenediol. FT-IR analysis of pyrolysis oil showed that sFCCc promoted the removal of C–O and C=O, resulting in decreased acid and ester compounds and increased CO2yield.

•A Gaussian model and multi-artificial fish swarm fusion algorithm is developed.•The fusion prediction concept of model-driven and data-driven is utilized.•Fire source location and ceiling temperature in tunnel fires can be predicted.•Two full-scale tunnel fire experiments are conducted to support the algorithm.

Introduction: The optimal treatment of choledocholithiasis combined with cholecystolithiasis remains controversial. Common surgical methods vary among endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) followed by laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), laparoscopic transcystic common bile duct exploration (LTCBDE), laparoscopic transductal common bile duct exploration (LCBDE) with or without T-tube drainage. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of surgical methods and to determine the appropriate procedure for patients with cholecystolithiasis combined with choledocholithiasis. Methods: From January 2013 to January 2019, a total of 1555 consecutive patients diagnosed with cholecystolithiasis combined with choledocholithiasis who underwent surgical treatment in Tongji Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Total 521 patients with intrahepatic bile duct stones underwent LC + LCBDE + T-Tube were excluded from the analysis. At last, 1034 patients who met the inclusion criteria were divided into three groups according to their surgical methods: preoperative ERCP + subsequent LC (ERCP + LC group, n= 275), LC + LCBDE + intraoperative endoscopic nasobiliary drainage (ENBD) + primary duct closure (Tri-scope group, n= 479) and LC + laparoscopic transcystic CBD exploration (LTCBDE group, n= 280). Clinical records, operative findings and postoperative follow-up were collected and analyzed. Results: There was no mortality in three groups. Common bile duct (CBD) stone clearance rate was 97.5% in ERCP + LC group, 98.7% in Tri-scope group, and 99.3% in LTCBDE group. There were no difference in terms of demographic characteristics, biochemistry findings and presentations, but the Tri-scope group had the biggest diameter and amount of stones and diameter of CBD, the LTCBDE group had the least CBD stones and the biggest diameter of cystic gall duct (CGD). ERCP + LC group have the longest hospital stay (14.16 ± 3.88 days vs 6.92 ± 1.71 days vs 10.74 ± 5.30 days, P&lt; 0.05), also has the longest operative time than others (126.08 ± 42.79 min vs 92.31 ± 10.26 min, 99.09 ± 8.46 min, P&lt; 0.05). Compared to ERCP + LC group, LTCBDE group and Tri-scope group had lower postoperation-leukocyte, shorter surgery duration and hospital stay (P&lt; 0.05). Compared to the Tri-scope group, the LTCBDE group had the shorter hospital stay, extubation time and operation time and less intraoperative bleeding. There were less postoperative complications in LTCBDE group (1.1%) compared to the ERCP + LC group (3.6%) and Tri-scope group (2.2%). Follow-up time was 6 to 72 months. Four patients in ERCP + LC group and 5 in Tri-scope group reported recurrent stones. Conclusion: All the three surgical methods are safe and effective. Tri-scope approach and LTCBDE approach have superiority to preoperative ERCP + LC. LC + LTCBDE shows priority over Tri-scope approach, but should be performed in selected patients. LC + LCBDE + T-Tube can be an alternative management if the other three procedures were failed. The surgeons should choose the most appropriate surgical procedure according to the preoperative examination results and intraoperative situation.

We present a tunable plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) metamaterial for manipulating the group velocity of terahertz (THz) waves. The metamaterial is composed of metal split rings and photoconductive silicon strips. The strong PIT effect with slowing down THz waves is generated by the bright-bright mode coupling between the high-order plasmon mode and the lattice surface mode via electromagnetic destructive interference. By varying the conductivity of silicon strips, the group slowing performance is dynamically tunable. The group delay can achieve beyond 20 ps with the group index as high as 592, showing the promising application for THz signal manipulation.

Popularization of lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) is still hindered by shuttle effect and volume expansion. Herein, a new modularized sulfur storage strategy is proposed to solve above problems and accomplished viaemploying 100% space utilization host material of cobalt loaded carbon nanoparticles derived from ZIF-67. The modular dispersed storage of sulfur not only greatly increases the proportion of active sulfur, but also inhibits the occurrence of volume expansion. Meanwhile, 100% space utilization host material can greatly improve the conductivity of the cathode, provide a larger electrolyte wetting interface and effectively suppress the shuttle effect. Moreover, loaded cobalt particles have high catalytic activity for electrochemical reaction and can effectively improve the redox kinetics. The cell with new cathode host material carbonized at 650 °C (ZIF-67 (650 °C)) exhibits superior rate performance and can maintain a high specific capacity of 950 mAh/g after 100 cycles at 0.2 C, showing a good cycle stability.

Oxidation behaviors of carbon fiber reinforced SiC matrix composites (C/SiC) are one of the most noteworthy properties. For C/SiC, the oxidation behavior was controlled by matrix microcracks caused by the mismatch of coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) and elastic modulus between carbon fiber and SiC matrix. In order to improve the oxidation resistance, multilayer SiC-Si3N4matrices were fabricated by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) to alleviate the above two kinds of mismatch and change the local stress distribution. For the oxidation of C/SiC with multilayer matrices, matrix microcracks would be deflected at the transition layer between different layers of multilayer SiC-Si3N4matrix to lengthen the oxygen diffusion channels, thereby improving the oxidation resistance of C/SiC, especially at 800 and 1000 °C. The strength retention ratio was increased from 61.9% (C/SiC-SiC/SiC) to 75.7% (C/SiC-Si3N4/SiC/SiC) and 67.8% (C/SiC-SiC/Si3N4/SiC) after oxidation at 800 °C for 10 h.

BackgroundPatients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have variable rates of progression. More accurate prediction of progression could improve selection for clinical trials. Although some variance in clinical progression can be predicted by age at onset and phenotype, we hypothesise that this can be further improved by blood biomarkers.ObjectiveTo determine if blood biomarkers (serum neurofilament light (NfL) and genetic status (glucocerebrosidase, GBAand apolipoprotein E (APOE))) are useful in addition to clinical measures for prognostic modelling in PD.MethodsWe evaluated the relationship between serum NfL and baseline and longitudinal clinical measures as well as patients’ genetic (GBAand APOE) status. We classified patients as having a favourable or an unfavourable outcome based on a previously validated model, and explored how blood biomarkers compared with clinical variables in distinguishing prognostic phenotypes .Results291 patients were assessed in this study. Baseline serum NfL was associated with baseline cognitive status. Nfl predicted a shorter time to dementia, postural instability and death (dementia—HR 2.64; postural instability—HR 1.32; mortality—HR 1.89) whereas APOEe4 status was associated with progression to dementia (dementia—HR 3.12, 95% CI 1.63 to 6.00). NfL levels and genetic variables predicted unfavourable progression to a similar extent as clinical predictors. The combination of clinical, NfL and genetic data produced a stronger prediction of unfavourable outcomes compared with age and gender (area under the curve: 0.74-age/gender vs 0.84-ALL p=0.0103).ConclusionsClinical trials of disease-modifying therapies might usefully stratify patients using clinical, genetic and NfL status at the time of recruitment.

Oncolytic virus is an emerging anti-cancer strategy. However, extracellular matrix (ECM), as a physical barrier, limits virus spread within the tumor. To overcome the obstacle, we constructed a recombinant Newcastle disease virus (NDV) expressing matrix metalloproteinase (MMP8) (NDV-MMP8) using with reverse genetic technology. In vitro, NDV-MMP8 was identified and verified by WB and ELISA. Cell viability was detected by CCK-8 assay. In vivo, we established two liver cancer xenograft models. NDV-MMP8 was injected into the tumor to observe the tumor volume and survival of mice. The changes in extracellular matrix were observed by Masson's trichrome staining. Virus expression in tumor tissues was detected by immunofluorescence assay. The virus titer in tumor tissues was detected by TCID50. Histopathological changes were detected by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. Intratumoral administration of NDV-MMP8 can effectively degrade ECM, promote the spread of the virus within the tumor, and reduce tumor growth rate. Therefore, the method of increasing intratumoral virus accumulation by degradation of the ECM to enhance the oncolytic effect has great potential for clinical application.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text

This paper presents a study of flow ripple reduction method of a spool valves distribution radial piston pump (SVDRPP). Relief chamfers are adopted to prolong and moderate the opening processes of the delivery spool valves, thus to relieve the pressure surges as well as the consequent flow ripples, vibrations and noises. The mathematical model of this method is established and multiple numerical simulations are conducted to analyze the mechanism as well as the effectiveness of this method. According to the simulation results, different relief chamfer angles have varying influences on flow ripple reduction. Remarkable reduction of flow fluctuation from 43.4% to 36% could be achieved, when the relief chamfer angle is set around 30°. Comparisons between the relief chamfer method and the time delay method indicate that the former has better compatibility to the load pressure lower than the rated value; while the latter has better compatibility to the higher load pressure.

Two-dimensional (2D) Ruddlesden–Popper (RP) perovskites are excellent optoelectronic materials due to their natural quantum well structure and enhanced environmental stability. However, the growth of their large-area high-quality thin films is still fundamentally challenging. Herein, a novel gravity-guided growth method is proposed to grow a wafer-scale (∼8 cm2) (PEA)2PbBr4thin films (∼μm) with a centimeter-scale crystal domain on an inclined substrate. A model is established to elucidate the role of gravity in the growth process. It can be concluded that the tip of the precursor solution on an inclined substrate should be preferentially induced to nucleate and crystallize. In addition, the crystallization growth is directionally guided and its velocity increases as the rear contact angle decreases. Experimentally, the controllable inclination angles can optimize the quality and thickness of the films. Moreover, the arrayed photodetectors based on the resulting (PEA)2PbBr4thin films have been demonstrated to have an extremely dark current of 10–12A and good environmental stability. After 100 days of storage in the atmosphere for the unencapsulated samples, there is only a small photocurrent degradation of 18%. This work provides a promising solution for scalable fabrication of the large-area high-quality 2D perovskite thin films that can serve as a good candidate for stable photodetectors.

The Hoek-Brown (HB) strength criterion has been applied widely in a large number of projects around the world. However, this criterion ignores the intermediate principal stress σ2. Many evidences have demonstrated that the rock strength is dependent on σ2. Thus it is necessary to extend the HB criterion into a three-dimensional (3D) form. In this study, the effect of σ2on the strength of rocks is identified by reviewing the true triaxial tests of various rock types reported in the literature. A simple 3D strength criterion is developed. The modified criterion is verified by the true triaxial tests of 13 rock types. The results indicate that the modified criterion can achieve a good fit to most of rock types. It can represent a series of criteria as bvaries. For comparisons, several existing 3D versions of the HB criterion are selected to predict the strengths of these rock types. It is indicated that the proposed criterion works better than other criteria. A substantial relationship between parameter band the unconfined compressive strength is established, which guarantees that the proposed criterion can still work well even in the absence of true triaxial test data.