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Based on the Monte Carlo homogenization theory and the finite volume method, a three-dimensional diffusion spatiotemporal dynamics model suitable for the analysis of instantaneous critical accidents was established. The three-dimensional diffusion spatiotemporal dynamics model was coupled with the unsteady state heat transfer model and the radiation cracking bubble model, and the calculation program GETAC-S was upgraded, so that GETAC-S had the ability to analyze the transient state of the solution system under any geometric and material conditions. GETAC-S was verified by the experimental data of TRACY, which was an international transient device, and the results are in good agreement. GETAC-S was used to invert the process of JCO criticality accident in Japan, and the results show that the GETAC-S has the ability to evaluate and retrieve the consequences of critical accidents in complex solution system, which provide theoretical support for the prevention, evaluation and shielding of nuclear critical accidents.

Docetaxel (Doc) plays a crucial role in clinical antineoplastic practice. However, it is continuously documented that tumors frequently develop chemoresistance and relapse, which may be related to polyploid giant cancer cells (PGCCs). The aim of this study was investigate the formation mechanism and biological behavior of PGCCs induced by Doc. Ovarian cancer cells were treated with Doc, and then the effect of Doc on cellular viability was evaluated by MTT assay and microscopic imaging analysis. The biological properties of PGCCs were further evaluated by Hoechst 33342 staining, cell cycle and DNA content assay, DNA damage response (DDR) signaling detection, β-galactosidase staining, mitochondrial membrane potential detection, and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that Doc reduced cellular viability; however, many cells were still alive, and were giant and polyploid. Doc increased the proportion of cells stayed in the G2/M phase and reduced the number of cells. In addition, the expression of γ-H2A.X was constantly increased after Doc treatment. PGCCs showed senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity and an increase in the monomeric form of JC-1. The mRNA level of octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) and krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) was significantly increased in PGCCs. Taken together, our results suggest that Doc induces G2/M cell cycle arrest, inhibits the proliferation and activates persistent DDR signaling to promote the formation of PGCCs. Importantly, PGCCs exhibit a senescence phenotype and express stem cell markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the design requirements of the first stage of the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), the activation performance calculation and analysis of the components in the dual function lead-lithium blanket were performed using a neutron transport design and safety evaluation software system (SuperMC) with the fusion evaluation database JEFF3.2. A coupled burnup and transportation calculation method was used to calculate the radioactivity, residual decay heat, dose rate, and potential biological hazards of each component in the equatorial surface of the fusion reactor at different times after shutdown. The waste disposal problem of the tritium breeding blanket after the decommissioning of the fusion reactor was analyzed according to the relevant nuclear waste disposal standards in the safety and environment assessment of fusion power strategy. Results of the analysis show that under the condition of normal operation of 200 MW for 10 years, all components of the breeding blanket in the CFETR can satisfy simple recycling standards and meet the requirements of the first stage of CFETR radioactive waste treatment after 50 a of cooling.

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) have stimulated extensive attention due to their environmental friendliness and low cost. Unfortunately, the inevitable dendrite growth and corrosion on the zinc (Zn) anode severely hinder the practical application of AZIBs. Herein, an amino acid containing an imidazole group is introduced as an effective additive to address these issues. The dynamic conversion of amino acid and protonated amino acid creates a pH buffer function that regulates solution pH in real time, inhibits hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and eliminates notorious by‐products. In addition, the protonated amino acid is preferentially adsorbed on the Zn anode, preventing contact of the active water with the Zn surface and promoting homogeneous Zn deposition. Thus, the amino acid‐based electrolyte promotes dendrite free plating/stripping with a Coulombic efficiency up to 99.67% and cycle lifetime of 2600 h. In particular, a depth of discharge of up to 87% can be achieved with an ultra‐high areal capacity of 24 mAh cm−2. The developed Zn||CVO full cell also exhibits better electrochemical performance than that without additives. This work provides an effective and convenient approach for safe and efficient Zn‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kinetics and durability of conversion‐based anodes greatly depend on the intrinsic stress regulating ability of the electrode materials, which has been significantly neglected. Herein, a stress dissipation strategy driven by multi‐interface built‐in electric fields (BEFs) and architected structure, is innovatively proposed to design ultrafast and long‐term sodium ion storage anodes. Binary Mo/Fe sulfide heterostructured nanorods with multi‐interface BEFs and staggered cantilever configuration are fabricated to prove our concept. Multi‐physics simulations and experimental results confirm that the inner stress in multiple directions can be dissipated by the multi‐interface BEFs at the micro‐scale, and by the staggered cantilever structure at the macro‐scale, respectively. As a result, our designed heterostructured nanorods anode exhibits superb rate capability (332.8 mAh g−1 at 10.0 A g−1) and durable cyclic stability over 900 cycles at 5.0 A g−1, outperforming other metal chalcogenides. This proposed stress dissipation strategy offers a new insight for developing stable structures for conversion‐based anodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem of unstable output voltage and rapid reduction of efficiency caused by coil misalignment in the wireless charging process of wireless chargers, a hybrid wireless power system with anti-misalignment and constant current (CC) output characteristics is proposed. The system uses a high-order compensation network and a four-coil bipolar (BP) coupler to implement high anti-misalignment and CC output characteristic that is decoupled from the load. By inserting a high-order compensation network, the two overlapping coils in the same side of the transmitter and receiver sides of the BP coupler can be effectively decoupled and the design methodology can be simplified. Moreover, by adjusting the inductance value of the transmitter compensation network, the BP coupler can be made available for the occasions with different equivalent mutual inductance (MI) fluctuation requirements. While the receiver coil is suddenly removed, the system has a self-protection function, which can effectively limit the current flowing through the inverter. The design ideas of the coupler and compensation network are also discussed in this paper. Ultimately, a 1-kW experimental prototype is built to validate the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most prevalent forms of dementia in older individuals. Convergent evidence suggests structural connectome abnormalities in specific brain regions are linked to AD progression. The biological basis underpinnings of these connectome changes, however, have remained elusive. We utilized an individual regional mean connectivity strength (RMCS) derived from a regional radiomics similarity network to capture altered morphological connectivity in 1654 participants (605 normal controls, 766 mild cognitive impairment [MCI], and 283 AD). Then, we also explored the biological basis behind these morphological changes through gene enrichment analysis and cell‐specific analysis. We found that RMCS probes of the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe were significantly altered in AD and MCI, with these differences being spatially related to the expression of AD‐risk genes. In addition, gene enrichment analysis revealed that the modulation of chemical synaptic transmission is the most relevant biological process associated with the altered RMCS in AD. Notably, neuronal cells were found to be the most pertinent cells in the altered RMCS. Our findings shed light on understanding the biological basis of structural connectome changes in AD, which may ultimately lead to more effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for this devastating disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study offers a systematic review of the research on the treatment of waste household appliances in China in the past 20 years. A total of 1123 related articles were selected from the CNKI database from 1998 to 2020 to sort out the hot spots, evolution and frontier trends. The results show that: (1) In the past 20 years, the research on waste household appliances in China has followed the development path of “society-technology-human”, gradually evolving from the macro level to the micro level, and the research in the field of waste household appliances governance has begun to take shape. (2) With the increasing enrichment of research methods and the continuous expansion of research ideas, the research topic breaks through the boundaries of single theory and discipline, and reverse logistics, closed-loop supply chain, recycling behavior, recycling and dismantling technology, etc. have become research hotspots. (3) From the initial study of the management experience of developed countries to the study of recycling management with Chinese characteristics, China’s “Internet + recycling” model is ahead of the international level and has become the latest research hotspot.

Chemotherapy is an important method for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but it can lead to side effects and polyploid cancer cells. The polyploid cancer cells can live and generate daughter cancer cells via budding. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are pluripotent stem cells with repair and regeneration functions and can resist tissue damage caused by tumor therapy. This study is aimed at investigating the effects of MSCs and their derived exosomes on the biological characteristics of polyploid NSCLC cells and the potential mechanisms. We found that MSC conditioned medium (CM), MSCs, and MSC-exosomes had no effect on cell proliferation of the polyploid A549 and H1299 cells. Compared with the control group, MSCs and MSC-exosomes significantly promoted epithelial mesenchymal transformation, cell migration, antiapoptosis, and autophagy in the polyploid A549 and H1299 by activating AMPK signaling pathway, but no significant changes were observed in MSC-CM treatment. These results revealed that MSCs and MSC-exosomes promoted malignant phenotype of polyploid NSCLC cells through the AMPK signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effect of self-support on loneliness, the mediation effect of school belonging, and the moderation effect of self-esteem using a sample comprising 1,126 Chinese mainland primary school students, 621 are boys and 505 are girls, and their mean age was 10.51 years (SD = 1.63, range 8–13). Participants completed questionnaires regarding self-support, loneliness, school belonging and self-esteem. In the model hypothesis, self-support is an independent variable, loneliness is an outcome variable, school belonging is a mediating variable, and self-esteem is a regulatory variable. After controlling the demographic variables, the data were analyzed, and the results showed that: (1) self-support had a significantly negative predictive effect on loneliness; (2) the relation between self-support and loneliness was mediated by school belonging; and (3) the relation between school belonging and loneliness was moderated by self-esteem, supporting the moderated mediation model. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the mediated path make loneliness weaker for pupils with higher levels of self-esteem. These results revealed the formation mechanism of loneliness in primary school students and have certain enlightenment significance for the intervention of loneliness in primary school students. These results revealed the formation mechanism of loneliness among primary school students and have significant implications for interventions against loneliness in the primary school context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some previous studies have explored the impact of family function on school belonging. However, little is known about the parallel mediating relationship underlying them. This study aims to investigate the formation mechanism of school beginning in a sample of Chinese adolescents and examined the parallel mediating role of interpersonal self-support and individual self-support in the link between family function and school belonging. A cross-sectional study was conducted in four schools of the district of Hunan province in China, and 741 students were surveyed using cluster sampling. Family cohesion and adaptability scale (FACES), Adolescent students self-supporting personality scale (SSPS-AS), School belonging scale were applied. The results indicated that interpersonal self-support and individual self-support, together, and uniquely, parallel mediated the relationship between family function and school belonging. It can be concluded that family function not only has direct effects on school belonging but also has indirect effects through interpersonal self-support and individual self-support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the main eco-environmental problems faced by water environment, taking Yanhe River Basin as an example, this paper discusses the theoretical connotation and evaluation calculation method of eco-environmental water consumption. In order to study the eco-environmental water consumption of Yanhe River Basin, a runoff driving factor mining method based on big data analysis is established in this paper. Aiming at the problem that the statistical law and genetic law of runoff change frequently in changing environment, the mining technology method of runoff key driving factors is proposed by combining traditional methods with big data analysis. The characteristic factors that have no significant impact on runoff change are removed, the implicit characteristic factors affecting runoff change are extracted, the driving relationship of hydrological, meteorological, and vegetation characteristic factors on ecological water consumption change is identified, and the key driving factors of ecological water consumption change are extracted, which lays a data foundation for ecological water consumption prediction based on machine learning. The economic water consumption based on eco-environmental water consumption in Yanhe River Basin in the future is predicted (including water demand in three aspects of industry, agriculture, and life); that is, the prediction is to meet the economic water demand on the basis of ensuring that the water consumption of ecological environment will not be occupied, which can effectively ensure the improvement of ecological environment function in Yanhe River Basin and is conducive to the sustainable utilization of water resources in Yanhe River Basin. The research is only based on a small watershed such as Yanhe River Basin, and the purpose of the research is to provide a reference for ecological environment protection and sustainable utilization of water resources in the Loess Plateau, even in the arid, semiarid, and semihumid areas of North China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on interpersonal acceptance–rejection theory, family systems theory, and psychological inflexibility theory, this study aimed to examine the mediating roles of a protective factor (self-esteem) and a risk factor (psychological inflexibility) on the influence of parenting style on adolescent mental health. A sample of Chinese adolescents (n = 916, 46% male, mean age = 14.44 years, SD = 1.84 years) completed the Short Egna Minnen Barndoms Uppfostran, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Depression Subscale of the Youth Self-Report. Results show that the self-esteem and psychological inflexibility play a chain mediating role in the relationship between parenting style and adolescent mental health. Specifically, parental emotional warmth had a positive effect on adolescent mental health through the chain mediating effects of self-esteem and psychological inflexibility. Parental rejection and parental over-protection had negative effects on adolescent mental health by lowering self-esteem but increasing psychological inflexibility. These results provide further guidance in the prevention of and intervention in adolescent mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noise‐induced hearing loss (NIHL) seriously affects the life quality of humans and causes huge economic losses to society. To identify novel genetic loci involved in NIHL, we conducted a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) for this symptom in Chinese populations. GWAS scan was performed in 89 NIHL subjects (cases) and 209 subjects with normal hearing who have been exposed to a similar noise environment (controls), followed by a replication study consisting of 53 cases and 360 controls. We identified that four candidate pathways were nominally significantly associated with NIHL, including the Erbb, Wnt, hedgehog and intraflagellar transport pathways. In addition, two novel index single‐nucleotide polymorphisms, rs35075890 in the intron of AUTS2 gene at 7q11.22 (combined P = 1.3 × 10−6) and rs10081191 in the intron of PTPRN2 gene at 7q36.3 (combined P = 2.1 × 10−6), were significantly associated with NIHL. Furthermore, the expression quantitative trait loci analyses revealed that in brain tissues, the genotypes of rs35075890 are significantly associated with the expression levels of AUTS2, and the genotypes of rs10081191 are significantly associated with the expressions of PTPRN2 and WDR60. In conclusion, our findings highlight two novel loci at 7q11.22 and 7q36.3 conferring susceptibility to NIHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccine is a promising therapy for high-grade gliomas (HGGs); however, its actual effectiveness still remains controversial. This meta-analysis aims to extensively evaluate the efficacy and safety of DC vaccine for HGG patients.Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline, and Web of Science for relevant parallel randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and properly controlled non-randomized studies (NRS) published in English. Two investigators reviewed all the texts and extracted information regarding overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and adverse events (AEs) from eligible studies. Sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses were also conducted.Results: Of 353 suitable studies, 13 studies (three RCTs and ten NRS) involving 944 patients were finally included. Compared to the control therapy group (CT group), the DC group showed better OS and PFS without serious AEs. Subgroup analysis showed that trials designed as NRS obtained better results in the DC group in this study; however, no specific subgroup regarding dosages, cycles or injection routes was found to be superior in the DC group compared to the CT group.Conclusion: DC vaccine can significantly improve OS and PFS, with acceptable toxicity, of HGG patients. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to verify this conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In classical formal concept (Wille’s concept) analysis, a basic theorem about concept lattices is that every concept lattice is a complete lattice and conversely, every complete lattice is isomorphic to a concept lattice. Three-way concept analysis is an extended theory of formal concept analysis. Similarly, three-way concept lattices and three-way rough lattices are also complete lattices. However, unlike the classical case, not every complete lattice arises as a three-way concept lattice (or as a three-way rough concept lattice). In this paper, we focus on characterising those complete lattices which can be represented by three-way concept lattices. In order to achieve this, we first discuss some properties of special elements such as atoms and irreducible elements, and complements of three-way concept lattices. Then we give our main theorem by displaying conditions under which any complete lattice can be realised as a three-way concept lattice. Similar results are discussed and obtained for three-way rough concept lattices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors have developed a system to assist clinicians reliably assess, at an early post-insult stage, the degree of disability the patient will ultimately experience. Physician decision processes offered to date, especially those relative to diagnosis and patient treatment, suffer from the inability to incorporate all useful data on the patient. We present a computational intelligence algorithm based on fuzzy clustering (the theory of fuzzy sets and systems) techniques to aid the physician to evaluate the complete representation of information emanating from the measured kinetic, kinematics and electromyographic data from the patient. The fuzzy clustering technique helps develop membership functions as an optimization task. The calculated membership grades are organized in the form of optimized partition matrix. As the optimization method operates on available data, it attempts to reflect their characteristics in the resulting constructs, e.g. a distribution of the prototypical values of the clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The authors have developed and tested a wearable inertial sensor system for the acquisition of gait features. The sensors were placed on anatomical segments of the lower limb: foot, shank, thigh, and hip, and the motion data were then captured in conjunction with 3D ground reaction forces (GRFs). The method of relational matrix was applied to develop a rule-based system, an intelligent fuzzy computational algorithm. The rule-based system provides a feature matrix model representing the strength of association or interaction amongst the elements of the gait functions (limb-segments accelerations and GRFs) throughout the gait cycle. A comparison between the reference rule-based data and an input test data was evaluated using a fuzzy similarity algorithm. This system was tested and evaluated using two subject groups: 10 healthy subjects were recruited to establish the reference fuzzy rule-base, and 4 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis subjects were used as an input test data; and the grade of similarity between them was evaluated. This similarity provides a quantitative assessment of mobility state of the impaired subject. This algorithmic tool may be helpful to the clinician in the identification of pathological gait impairments, prescribe treatment, and assess the improvements in response to therapeutic intervention. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) methods, we investigated the effects of seven different crop rotation modes on cucumber rhizosphere soil bacterial communities. The bacterial diversity indexes in three growth periods showed that the diversity and evenness indexes of the kidney bean-celery-cucumber rotation were higher than those of the following rotations: tomato-kidney bean-cucumber, tomato-celery-cucumber, kidney bean-tomato-cucumber, cucumber-kidney bean-cucumber, cucumber-celery-cucumber, cucumber-tomato-cucumber, and cucumber-cucumber-cucumber. DGGE profiles of various rhizosphere soils showed six major bacterial populations: Proteobacteria, Sphingobacteria, Flavobacteria, Actinobacteria, Clostridia, and Acidobacteria. The yield of cucumber in the kidney bean-celery-cucumber rotation was higher than in other crop rotations (p<0.05). Cucumber yield was strongly and positively correlated with soil microorganism diversity index (p<0.01), and was also positively correlated with evenness index (p<0.05). Our results suggest that the kidney bean-celery-cucumber rotation is suitable for cucumber cropping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete chloroplast genome (cp) of Parnassia palustris was reported in this study. The cp genome was 148,700 bp in length including two inverted repeats (IRs) of 25,892 bp, which were separated by large single-copy (LSC) and small single-copy (SSC) of 82,175 and 14,741 bp, respectively. The GC content was 37%. The genome encoded 124 functional genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Using the whole chloroplast genome sequences alignment of 8 species from Celastraceae, Oxalidaceae, and Malpighiaceae, the phylogenetic relationship was built. The phylogenetic position of P. palustris was consistent with APG IV. The plastid genome of P. palustris will be useful for developing markers for further studies on resolving the relationship within the genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study to isolate and investigate moderately halophilic bacteria biodiversity from Yuncheng Salt Lake in China and the screening of hydrolytic and antimicrobial activities. Topics mentioned include the previous isolation that identify the genetic and extracellular hydrolytic enzymes, the purpose of the study to characterize ecosystem biodiversity, and the results that show sources of bioactive compounds and biocatalysts for applications in biotechnology.