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Ongoing efforts to improve sheep reference genome assemblies still leave many gaps and incomplete regions, resulting in a few common failures and errors in genomic studies. Here, we report a 2.85-Gb gap-free telomere-to-telomere genome of a ram (T2T-sheep1.0), including all autosomes and the X and Y chromosomes. This genome adds 220.05 Mb of previously unresolved regions and 754 new genes to the most updated reference assembly ARS-UI_Ramb_v3.0; it contains four types of repeat units (SatI, SatII, SatIII and CenY) in centromeric regions. T2T-sheep1.0has a base accuracy of more than 99.999%, corrects several structural errors in previous reference assemblies and improves structural variant detection in repetitive sequences. Alignment of whole-genome short-read sequences of global domestic and wild sheep against T2T-sheep1.0identifies 2,664,979 new single-nucleotide polymorphisms in previously unresolved regions, which improves the population genetic analyses and detection of selective signals for domestication (for example, ABCC4) and wool fineness (for example, FOXQ1).

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive impairments. Despite the limited efficacy of current treatments for AD, the 1,2,4-oxadiazole structure has garnered significant attention in medicinal chemistry due to its potential impact on mGluR1 and its association with AD therapy. In this study, a series of novel 1,2,4-oxadiazole derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for the neuroprotective effects in human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells. Among all the derivatives tested, FO-4-15(5f) existed the lowest cytotoxicity and the highest protective effect against H2O2. Based on these in vitro results, FO-4-15was administered to 3×Tg mice and significantly improved the cognitive impairments of the AD mice. Pathological analysis showed that FO-4-15significantly reduced Aβ accumulation, Tau hyper-phosphorylation, and synaptic impairments in the 3×Tg mice. Dysfunction of the CaMKIIα/Fos signaling pathway in 3×Tg mice was found to be restored by FO-4-15and the necessity of the CaMKIIα/Fos for FO-4-15was subsequently confirmed by the use of a CaMKIIα inhibitor in vitro. Beyond that, mGluR1 was identified to be a potential target of FO-4-15, and the interaction of FO-4-15and mGluR1 was displayed by Ca2+flow increase, molecular docking, and interaction energy analysis. The target of FO-4-15was further confirmed in vitro by JNJ16259685, a nonselective inhibitor of mGluR1. These findings suggest that FO-4-15may hold promise as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

Growing evidence has linked extreme temperature with neuropsychiatric disorders under climate warming with frequent extreme heat events over the past decades, while cognitive performance in relation to heat exposure remains largely unstudied, particularly in populations at high vulnerability to climate risks (e.g., China). Based on five survey waves of a nationwide dynamic cohort (2011–2020), we analyzed 47,825 cognitive test records from 14,729 respondents aged 45+ years across 126 Chinese cities. Global cognitive performance and its two dimensions (episodic memory and mental status) was measured using standardized questionnaires. Temperature exposure prior to cognitive tests was assessed using both average temperatures and heat days exceeding predefined temperature thresholds. Linear mixed-effects models were utilized to examine the relationship between high temperature exposure and cognitive function. This study revealed consistent evidence for heat-related declines in global cognitive performance and episodic memory across multiple exposure-window analyses, while robust associations were observed solely during prolonged exposure periods (more than 90 d) for mental status. For each 1-°C rise in annual mean temperature within 1 year prior to investigation, cognitive scores declined by 0.058 (95% CI: −0.079, −0.037) points for global performance, 0.033 (95% CI: −0.048, −0.018) points for episodic memory, and 0.025 (95% CI: −0.038, −0.013) points for mental status, respectively. Similar findings were seen in analyses using heat exposure days defined by multiple temperature percentiles, linking per 10-d increase in heat duration to reduced global cognitive scores ranging from −0.142 (95% CI: −0.214, −0.070) to −0.168 (95% CI: −0.254, −0.082). Despite varied evidence by heat exposure metrics and cognitive dimensions, stratified analyses suggested possibly higher susceptibility among females, less-educated, and urban-dwelling residents to heat-related cognitive impairment. These results provided suggestive evidence for the role of exposure to heat in triggering cognitive impairment in middle-aged and older individuals. This finding may be crucial in developing public health strategies for managing climate change risks of neurobehavioral disorders in a healthy aging society.

Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in China. Affecting more than 40% of the world’s population, Helicobacter pyloriis a major risk factor for gastric cancer. While previous clinical trials indicated that eradication of H. pyloricould reduce gastric cancer risk, this remains to be shown using a population-based approach. We conducted a community-based, cluster-randomized, controlled, superiority intervention trial in Linqu County, China, with individuals who tested positive for H. pyloriusing a 13C-urea breath test randomly assigned to receiving either (1) a 10-day, quadruple anti-H. pyloritreatment (comprising 20 mg of omeprazole, 750 mg of tetracycline, 400 mg of metronidazole and 300 mg of bismuth citrate) or (2) symptom alleviation treatment with a single daily dosage of omeprazole and bismuth citrate. H. pylori-negative individuals did not receive any treatment. We examined the incidence of gastric cancer as the primary outcome. A total of 180,284 eligible participants from 980 villages were enrolled over 11.8 years of follow-up, and a total of 1,035 cases of incident gastric cancer were documented. Individuals receiving anti-H. pyloritherapy showed a modest reduction in gastric cancer incidence in intention-to-treat analyses (hazard ratio 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.74–0.99), with a stronger effect observed for those having successful H. pylorieradication (hazard ratio 0.81, 95% confidence interval 0.69–0.96) than for those who failed treatment. Moderate adverse effects were reported in 1,345 participants during the 10-day treatment. We observed no severe intolerable adverse events during either treatment or follow-up. The findings suggest the potential for H. pylorimass screening and eradication as a public health policy for gastric cancer prevention. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry identifier: ChiCTR-TRC-10000979.

We present a periodic array of graphene nanoribbons (PAGnRs) that can greatly control the Purcell factor of an emitter nearby. The influences of nanoribbon width W and location offset d of the emitter on Purcell factor enhancement are studied using the standard Green’s function derived analytic method and effective medium theory in this article. The dispersion relationships of the proposed structure show that nonlocal effects cannot be ignored for low incident frequencies, small structure feature sizes, or short location offsets of the emitter. Therefore, a comparison is made between the local and nonlocal Purcell factors at different nanoribbon widths W and location offset d to see their performances in emission enhancement. The proposed Purcell emission control of an emitter in PAGnRs can offer important support for the design of quantum devices on the nanoscale.

ABSTRACTTo determine the clinical efficacy of Zuqing Xu ‘Wuduling’ powder for snake injury on the swelling of the affected limb bitten by Agkistrodon halys. Sixty-five patients with Agkistrodon halysbite were assigned to a treatment group (n = 35) or control group (n = 30). The treatment group was additionally given ‘Wuduling’ powder dressing locally based on the therapy to the control group with conventional Western medicine. Clinical efficacy and improvement of traditional Chinese medicine symptoms and signs in the two groups were evaluated. The treatment group showed a notably higher cure rate than the control group. After 3 days of therapy, the swelling and pain of the affected limb in the treatment group were greatly alleviated. Additionally, after 7 days of therapy, the swelling and pain of the affected limb in the treatment group were more greatly alleviated, and those in the control group were also alleviated. The comparison of the two groups during the same period showed more obvious alleviation of swelling and pain in the treatment group than that in the other. Moreover, the treatment group experienced notably shorter disappearing time of swelling and pain than the control group. After treatment, the levels of CRP, TBIL, Cr, ALT, AST, BUN, CK, LDH and CK-MB in both groups declined notably, with notably lower levels of them in the treatment group than those in the other. Zuqing Xu ‘Wuduling’ powder for snake injury can substantially alleviate the swelling and local pain of affected limbs bitten by Agkistrodon halys.

The large open circuit voltage (VOC) loss and phase segregation are two main obstacles hindering the development of wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Even though substantial progress has been made through crystallization regulation and surface modification on perovskite, the mechanism of VOCloss and phase segregation has rarely been studied. In this paper, we first investigate the halide ions distribution along the out-of-plane direction and find the initial inhomogeneous distribution of halide ions during the crystallization process is an important reason. It leads to the formation of an unfavorable potential well in PSCs, resulting in VOCloss as well as generation of strong strain exacerbating phase segregation. Through introducing melatonin (MT) into perovskite precursors, a homogeneous distribution of halide anions is realized due to the well-regulated crystallization. Consequently, the treated PSCs exhibit an optimized power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22.88% with a VOCloss as low as 0.38 V, which are the best values for wide-bandgap PSCs up to now.

The corrosion behavior of Ti−6Al−4V fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) in simulated spent fuel reprocessing environment was investigated. The microstructure and corrosion resistance of SLM Ti−6Al−4V alloy were characterized by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction and electrochemical tests. It can be found that SLM Ti−6Al−4V alloy has a better corrosion resistance than the cast counterpart in 6 mol/L hot nitric acid with oxidizing ions. Further analysis indicates that SLM Ti−6Al−4V alloy exhibits α'+βmicrostructure with smaller grain size and higher grain boundary density in comparison to the cast counterpart, and a higher β-Ti phase content with uniform distribution is also observed in SLM alloy, which is conducive to enhancing its passivation ability in nitric acid with oxidizing ions, contributing to an improved corrosion resistance. It is indicated that SLM Ti−6Al−4V alloy has the potential to be used in spent fuel reprocessing process.

In this work, phase transitions of the non-Hermitian tetramerized Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (TSSH) chain are investigated by periodically introducing the non-Hermitian on-site imaginary potentials U1=(iγ1,iγ2,−iγ1,−iγ2)or U2=(iγ1,−iγ2,−iγ1,iγ2), with γ1and γ2being the imaginary-potential strengths. Numerical results show that these imaginary potentials induce the topologically nontrivial transitions of the topological properties of the TSSH chain in different ways. Namely, U1only modifies the two-fold degenerated topologically nontrivial region, without affecting the other topological phases. By contrast, U2can reduce the topologically trivial region and modify the four-fold degenerated topologically nontrivial region by introducing the new topological phase transition. Moreover, when the imaginary potentials are influenced by the Anderson disorder, the bulk states display obvious localization. Disordered U2leads to the widening of the topologically nontrivial regions. Based on these results, we believe this work provides insights into the influences of on-site imaginary potentials on the topological properties of non-Hermitian TSSH structures.

abstract:Yu yan is a way of argumentation and writing style, and has a history of over two thousand years in China. In the twentieth century, yu yan has developed into a literary genre similar to fable. This article argues that the two sets of Chinese translations of The Canterbury Tales by Sun Yuxiu and Lin Shu provide an important point to examine the shifting understanding of yu yan, and they reflect the Chinese cultural conflicts during the socially transitional period in the early twentieth century. These translations possess important features of a transformed fable and developed yu yan. They are creations as well as translations, to which the translators add their political and social expectations while moralizing. By exploring briefly the definitions of yu yan and fable, and studying the translations of the tales, their source texts, and the translators' biographies, this article attempts to illustrate that the translators do not regard yu yan and fable as equivalent literary terms, and they put emphasis on the native Chinese literary traditions and cultural values in the process of Chinese literary modernization.

ABSTRACTA comprehensive durability evaluation system for road cooling coating had not yet been constructed. Aimed at this objective, different new road cooling coatings were prepared based on a variety of [...]

Capacitively-Coupled Instrumentation Amplifiers (CCIAs) are widely used as AC-coupled, low-noise amplifiers in many multi-channel, area-intensive sensor interface applications. However, the need for a trade-off between the front-end gain and CCIA area, imposed by the input capacitance, restricts the miniaturization of such sensors. We propose a Complementary Transimpedance Boosting (CTB) technique to relieve this challenging gain versus area trade-off. The proposed CTB applies to both the DC and AC paths of a CCIA. CTB also reduces AC gain degradation, suppressing low-side gain peaking of the frequency response without significantly increasing input-referred noise. The Gain-Noise-Area Efficiency (GNA) and Gain-Power-Area Efficiency (GPA) factors are also introduced for holistic comparisons with other front-end amplifiers regarding noise, gain, and power consumption. CTB-based CCIAs (CTB-CCIA) are fabricated in $0.18~\mu $ m CMOS, with the highest single-stage AC gain of 289 V/V achieved. Occupying only 0.011 mm2, a conventional CCIA with the same area will have $14.4\times $ less gain while requiring at least two stages. The CTB-CCIA has a competitive NEF of 4.92 within a signal bandwidth of 0.21 Hz – 8.7 kHz, suitable for multi-channel applications.

Herein, the effect of selenium engineered nanomaterials (Se ENMs) on soybean photosynthesis and fatty-acid synthesis by regulating ferredoxin (Fd) and iron–sulfur (Fe/S) protein synthesis and acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) activity was explored. The fresh weight and dry weight of shoots was increased by 63.7% and 62.5%, respectively, and the fresh weight and dry weight of roots was increased by 182.5% and 161.1%, respectively, through the foliar application of Se ENMs (0.1 mg L−1). This is due to the fact that soybean plants utilize selenium (Se) to synthesize a greater amount of Fd and Fe/S proteins, which contain Se, resulting in an acceleration of the electron transport rate (ETR) during the photosynthesis process. Meanwhile, the content of fatty acids, including palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid, arachidic acid, and oil (triglycerides), was increased by 50.6%, 47.2%, 57.6%, 56.7%, 84.0%, 32.5%, and 50.4%, respectively, in soybean seeds upon exposure to Se ENMs. The specific mechanism is that Se ENMs can enhance the activity of the rate-limiting ACC enzyme and upregulate the expression of DGAT genes in the soybean lipid synthesis pathway as well as the expression of FAD2-1A, FAD2-1B, and FAD3Bgenes in the fatty acid desaturation process. Moreover, the content of beneficial nutrient elements (Fe and Se) in soybean seeds was significantly increased. These results demonstrated the beneficial effects of Se ENMs on soybean growth and nutrient quality, suggesting their potential use as a fertilizer to improve crop quality in sustainable agriculture.

Micro-coordinate metrology is currently limited when the probing system works on the microscale, especially when measuring high aspect ratio microstructures with horizontal internal dimensions below $100~\mu \text{m}$ due to the oversized probe ball tip and short stylus length. The accuracy and reliability of the measurement are also influenced by the surface interface effects. To solve these existing problems, we developed a nano precision probing system with a micro monolithic tungsten ball tip. Initially, the surface interaction effects during the tip-surface approaching tests are investigated. On this basis, the probe was designed to use surface interaction forces as the triggering force. The sensing principle of the optimized optic lever light paths is investigated and analyzed to acquire the isotropic sensitivity. The elastic mechanism with isotropic stiffness suitable for small triggering forces is designed through ANSYS software. The modeling of the probe and the mechanical design as well as the assembly of the micro stylus are reported. Experimental tests demonstrate that the probe can operate in a noncontact mode with 1-nm resolution, and the repeatability is better than 16 nm. The permissible measurement range is $\pm 10~\mu \text{m}$ in the $x$ - and $y$ -axes and $10~\mu \text{m}$ in the $z$ -axis. The comprehensive uncertainty of the probing system is 16 nm. The probe is also verified by measuring a micro hole and a microgroove. The developed probing system is well-suited for high aspect ratio microstructure measurements with horizontal internal dimensions below $100~\mu \text{m}$ .

Epilepsy tracking System-on-Chips (SoC) usually perform patient-specific classification to deal with the patient-to-patient seizure pattern variation from a surface electroencephalogram (EEG). However, the patient-specific classifier training requires the EEG signals from the target patients a priori, which involves costly and time-consuming hospitalization for the inpatient data collection. To address this issue, this paper presents a patient-independent epilepsy tracking SoC that is trained with pre-existing databases and can be directly deployed to the target patients without collecting their data and performing cumbersome patient-specific training beforehand. The proposed SoC adopts a Seizure-Cluster-Inception Convolutional Neural Network (SciCNN) Neural Processor (SNP) to reduce SRAM access rate by 179.05× with the Kernel-Wise Pipeline (KWP). The 22-Ch. SoC achieves event-based sensitivity of 90.3%/90.4%/83.3% and specificity of 93.6%/95.7%/88.6% on unseen patients from CHB-MIT database/EU database/local hospital patient, respectively.

Benefiting from the crystal field alteration and electron redistribution on the active Fe sites, the ORR and Zn-air battery performance of Fe-N-C catalysts can be signifiantly enhanced by introducing moderate ultra-small Fe2O3nanoclusters.

Chloroethenes (CEs) as common organic pollutants in soil could be attenuated via abiotic and biotic dechlorination. Nonetheless, information on the key catalyzing matter and their reciprocal interactions remains scarce. In this study, FeS was identified as a major catalyzing matter in soil for the abiotic dechlorination of CEs, and acetylene could be employed as an indicator of the FeS-mediated abiotic CE-dechlorination. Organohalide-respiring bacteria (OHRB)-mediated dechlorination enhanced abiotic CEs-to-acetylene potential by providing dichloroethenes (DCEs) and trichloroethene (TCE) since chlorination extent determined CEs-to-acetylene potential with an order of trans-DCE > cis-DCE > TCE > tetrachloroethene/PCE. In contrast, FeS was shown to inhibit OHRB-mediated dechlorination, inhibition of which could be alleviated by the addition of soil humic substances. Moreover, sulfate-reducing bacteria and fermenting microorganisms affected FeS-mediated abiotic dechlorination by re-generation of FeS and providing short chain fatty acids, respectively. A new scenario was proposed to elucidate major abiotic and biotic processes and their reciprocal interactions in determining the fate of CEs in soil. Our results may guide the sustainable management of CE-contaminated sites by providing insights into interactions of the abiotic and biotic dechlorination in soil.

Chromoblastomycosis is a fungal disease presented with local warty papule, plaque, and verrucous nodules. In addition, the incidence and drug resistance of chromoblastomycosis are increasing each year worldwide. Photodynamic therapy is a promising method to treat mycoses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of new methylene blue (NMB)-induced PDT on multidrug-resistant chromoblastomycosis in vitro. We isolated one wild-type strain pathogen from one clinical patient diagnosed with chromoblastomycosis for over 27 years. The pathogen was identified by histopathology, the morphology of fungal culture, and genetic testing. Drug susceptibility testing was performed on the isolate. It was cultured with logarithmic growth phase spore in vitro and incubated with different concentrations of NMB for 30 min, and received illumination by red light-emitted diode with different light doses. After photodynamic treatment, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were conducted. The pathogen was Fonsecaea nubica, and it was resistant to itraconazole, terbinafine, amphotericin B, voriconazole andcaspofungin. At the same NMB concentration, the sterilization efficiency of NMB-photodynamic therapy (PDT) on F. nubicaincreased with increasing light intensity; F. nubicawas completely killed at 25 µmol/L NMB with a light dose of 40 J/cm2or 50 µmol/L NMB and light doses of ≥ 30 J/cm2. SEM and TEM observed ultrastructural changes after PDT. NMB-PDT inactivates the survival of multidrug-resistant F. nubicain vitro; it therefore has the potential to become an alternative or adjuvant treatment for refractory chromoblastomycosis.

Since limb bleeding has been well managed by extremity tourniquets, the management of exsanguinating torso hemorrhage (TH) has become a hot issue both in military and civilian medicine. Conventional hemostatic techniques are ineffective for managing traumatic bleeding of organs and vessels within the torso due to the anatomical features. The designation of noncompressible torso hemorrhage (NCTH) marks a significant step in investigating the injury mechanisms and developing effective methods for bleeding control. Special tourniquets such as abdominal aortic and junctional tourniquet and SAM junctional tourniquet designed for NCTH have been approved by FDA for clinical use. Combat ready clamp and junctional emergency treatment tool also exhibit potential for external NCTH control. In addition, resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) further provides an endovascular solution to alleviate the challenges of NCTH treatment. Notably, NCTH cognitive surveys have revealed that medical staff have deficiencies in understanding relevant concepts and treatment abilities. The stereotypical interpretation of NCTH naming, particularly the term noncompressible, is the root cause of this issue. This review discusses the dynamic relationship between TH and NCTH by tracing the development of external NCTH control techniques. The authors propose to further subdivide the existing NCTH into compressible torso hemorrhage and NCTH’ (noncompressible but REBOA controllable) based on whether hemostasis is available via external compression. Finally, due to the irreplaceability of special tourniquets during the prehospital stage, the authors emphasize the importance of a package program to improve the efficacy and safety of external NCTH control. This program includes the promotion of tourniquet redesign and hemostatic strategies, personnel reeducation, and complications prevention.

The high-temperature operation of the AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) and direct-coupled FET logic (DCFL) inverters, NOR gates, and NAND gates are demonstrated. The ${p}$ -GaN-gate HEMTs which are used as drivers in DCFL circuits exhibit proper E-mode operation with a relatively stable threshold voltage ${V}_{\text {TH}}$ (drift −0.31 V) and high electron mobility $\mu $ of 587 cm2/ $\text{V}\cdot \text{S}$ at 300 °C. The fabricated logic gates have a small switching time at room temperature (RT). As the temperature increases to 300 °C, these logic gates exhibit a slight increase in switching time, wherein the fall time and rise time of the inverter from room temperature to 300 °C increases from 16 ns to 129 ns and 128 ns to $0.864~\mu \text{s}$ , respectively. The logic gates herein exhibit accurate and stable operation at 300 °C. Furthermore, the reason for the switching time increase at high temperature is revealed from the perspective of devices.

A new high-precision and low-frequency 3-D accelerometer that utilizes a symmetrical parallel vibration-sensing mechanism and a low cross-axis sensitivity high-precision 3-D sensing system is proposed in this study. The parameters of the vibration-sensing mechanism were determined by theoretical modeling and simulation analysis, and the performance of the 3-D accelerometer was tested experimentally. The dynamic response characteristics of the accelerometer were first determined using kinetic modeling, which showed reasonable amplitude–frequency and phase–frequency characteristics in the frequency range below 10 Hz. The accelerometer was calibrated using the comparison method. The sensitivities of the accelerometer in ${X}$ -, ${Y}$ -, and ${Z}$ -axes are 25.3, 25.3, and 21.1 V/g, respectively, with a cross-axis sensitivity of less than 1%. The resolutions of the accelerometer in the ${X}$ -, ${Y}$ -, and ${Z}$ -axes were 48, 45, and $50 \mu \text{g}$ , respectively. The proposed accelerometer with high sensitivity and high resolution can be widely used for low-frequency microvibration measurements in engineering applications.

A two-dimensional (2-D) accelerometer is a commonly used sensor for detecting horizontal vibrations. However, their low-frequency response characteristics are limited by high cross-axis sensitivity and low resolution. To address this challenge, this study proposes a new 2-D optical accelerometer based on a symmetric 2-D vibration pickup unit and a high-sensitivity 2-D angle sensor modified from a DVD pickup head. The parameters of the symmetrical 2-D pickup unit were determined through modeling and simulation, and the performance of the accelerometer was tested experimentally. Experimental data show that the accelerometer has good low-frequency response characteristics in the range from 1 to 10 Hz, sensitivity is better than 2.5 V/(m/ $\text{s}^{2}$ ), cross-axis sensitivity is less than 0.075 V/(m/ $\text{s}^{2}$ ), and the resolution is better than 0.4 mm/ $\text{s}^{2}$ . Moreover, the sources of uncertainty of the accelerometer were analyzed in detail, and the synthetic uncertainty of the accelerometer was analyzed based on experiments. Compared with conventional techniques in this area, the proposed 2-D optical accelerometer has featured the advantages, such as high accuracy and low cross-axis sensitivity, and can be widely used for low-frequency vibration monitoring in engineering applications.

Allium vegetable components have antibacterial, antioxidative, and immune modulation properties, thus potentially exhibiting antitumor effects. Despite evidence from case-control studies, prospective studies linking allium vegetables with gastric cancer (GC) have been sparse.

In this brief, a scaled In $_{{0}.{17}}$ Al $_{{0}.{83}}\text{N}$ /GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) was fabricated on sapphire substrate with 47-nm ${T}$ -gate length, 300-nm source–drain distance, and selective area regrown $\text{n}^{+}$ -GaN. The device exhibits cutoff frequencies ${f}_{\text {T}}/{f}_{\text {max}}$ of 190/301 GHz, which gives a record sqrt ( ${f}_{\text {T}} \times {f}_{\text {max}}{)}$ = 239 GHz among reported Ga-polar GaN-on-sapphire HEMTs. The device shows a maximum current density, a peak external direct current transconductance, and an ${I}_{\text {on}}/{I}_{\text {off}}$ ratio of 1.45 A/mm, 610 mS/mm, and $2.9\times 10^{6}$ , respectively. Drain-induced barrier lowering of 75 mV/V is measured at ${I}_{\text {ds}}$ = 1 mA/mm between ${V}_{\text {ds}}$ = 1 V and 5 V. The three-terminal OFF-state breakdown voltage is 14.7 V. The effective electron velocity of the 2-D electron gas (2DEG) under the gate foot is estimated to be $1.4\times 10^{7}$ cm/s. These characteristics of this Ga-polar millimeter wave (mm-wave) GaN-on-sapphire HEMT are comparable with those state-of-the-art counterparts on SiC substrates.

Determining the competition between the {110}⟨111⟩, {112}⟨111⟩ and {123}⟨111⟩ slip systems in body-centered cubic (BCC) metals is important to understand their mechanical properties. In this paper, the unstable stacking fault energy (γus) and Peierls stress (σp) of the three slip systems of a series of BCC metals are calculated in order to evaluate the competition among them. We find that γusof BCC metals is proportional to (B+G)/a2/3, where B, Gand aare the bulk modulus, shear modulus and lattice constant, respectively. The calculations of γuss predict that the {110}⟨111⟩ dislocation slip is prior to the {112}⟨111⟩ and {123}⟨111⟩ slips, however, γusmay not be used to identify the priorities of the latter two slips because γuss of these two slip systems are too close to each other. According to σps, the mobility of dislocations decreases in the sequence of {110}⟨111⟩, {112}⟨111⟩, {123}⟨111⟩ for all the metals considered except for K. Noticeably, it is shown that γusand σpare not monotonically related to each other.

N-p-n AlGaN/GaN heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) on sapphire substrates with high current gain $\beta $ of 129, low specific ON-resistance ( ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}}{)}$ of 0.28 $\text{m}\sf \Omega \cdot $ cm2 and high current density ${J}_{C}$ of ~15 kA/cm2 (if normalized to emitter area, ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}} \sim 0.15 \text{m}\sf \Omega \cdot \text{m}^{{2}}$ and ${J}_{C} \sim 28.4$ kA/cm2) have been demonstrated. The analysis of component of ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}}$ yields the collector resistance is ~5.2% of the total ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}}$ , showing the low ON-resistance advantage of GaN HBTs. The open-base avalanche breakdown voltage (BVCEO) is ~160 V. High-temperature performance of GaN HBT is also evaluated. The ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}}$ is reduced as temperature increasing in the range of 25 °C–100 °C due to enhanced hole concentration in the base layer. The cutoff frequency ( ${f}_{T}{)}$ of greater than 4 GHz is determined at ${V}_{\text {CE}} =$ 9 V. These results dominate that GaN HBTs have been anticipated to become a new technology for next-generation power switches and RF power amplifier circuit.

ABSTRACT This paper presents a new type of material that can be used in many construction fields, especial]y for strengthening beams OF bridge girders and retrofitting structural concrete elements. This [...]

AbstractObjective:Noncompressible torso hemorrhage (NCTH) is a major challenge in prehospital bleeding control and is associated with high mortality. This study was performed to estimate medical knowledge and the perceived barriers to information acquisition among health-care workers (HCWs) regarding NCTH in China.Methods:A self-administered and validated questionnaire was distributed among 11 WeChat groups consisting of HCWs engaged in trauma, emergency, and disaster rescue.Results:A total of 575 HCWs participated in this study. In the knowledge section, the majority (87.1%) denied that successful hemostasis could be obtained by external compression. Regarding attitudes, the vast majority of HCWs exhibited positive attitudes toward the important role of NCTH in reducing prehospital preventable death (90.4%) and enthusiasm for continuous learning (99.7%). For practice, fewer than half of HCWs (45.7%) had heard of NCTH beforehand, only a minority (14.3%) confirmed they had attended relevant continuing education, and 16.3% HCWs had no access to updated medical information. The most predominant barrier to information acquisition was the lack of continuing training (79.8%).Conclusions:Knowledge and practice deficiencies do exist among HCWs. Obstacles to update medical information warrant further attention. Furthermore, education program redesign is also needed.

Given the difficulties of degrading benzotriazole (BTA), this study used a one-pot hydrothermal method to prepare α-Fe2O3/Cu2O (FC) composites for photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) degradation of BTA. The characterization of FC structure showed that Cu2O in cubic crystals was loaded with circular sheets of Fe2O3. Owing to this structure, FC showed efficient PEC degradation of BTA when exposed to ultraviolet light. The experimental results demonstrated that FC efficiently degraded BTA. When the PEC degradation continued for 60 min, 100% degradation of BTA was achieved because FC enhanced the photoelectron-hole separation and the separation and transfer of articulated carriers. High performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry showed that intermediates formed during the PEC degradation of BTA. Finally, various pathways for degradation of BTA were postulated. This FC-based PEC system provides a harmless and effective method for degradation of BTA.

Background: Little is known about the long-term effects of garlic or micronutrient supplementation on total, HDL, and LDL cholesterol in disease-free persons. Objective: We aimed to assess the effects of long-term supplementation with garlic and micronutrients and of short-term amoxicillin and omeprazole treatment on serum total, HDL, and LDL cholesterol in a rural Chinese population. Design: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2 x 2 x 2 and 2 x 2 factorial study of precancerous gastric lesions in 3411 subjects in Linqu County, Shandong Province, China. Thirty-four subjects were randomly selected from each of 12 treatment strata. Sera were analyzed at 3.3 and 7.3 y to measure effects on total, HDL, and LDL cholesterol after 2-wk twice-daily treatment with 1 g amoxicillin and 20 mg omeprazole and supplementation throughout the study with 1) 2 capsules twice daily, each containing 200 mg aged garlic extract and 1 mg steam-distilled garlic oil, or 2) twice-daily micronutrient capsules containing 250 mg vitamin C, 100 IU vitamin E, and 37.5 mg selenium. Results: Regressions adjusted for covariates indicated increases of 0.22 mmol total cholesterol/L (P = 0.01) and 0.19 mmol LDL/L (P = 0.02) after 7.3 y of micronutrient supplementation, but no effect of garlic supplementation or short-term amoxicillin and omeprazole treatment. Conclusions: In this rural Chinese population with low meat intake and moderate cholesterol concentrations, long-term garlic supplementation had no effect on lipid profiles, whereas micronutrient supplementation was associated with small but significant increases in total and LDL-cholesterol concentrations at 7.3 y. KEY WORDS Cholesterol, blood lipids, garlic supplementation, vitamin supplementation, cardiovascular disease, Helicobacter pylori antibiotic therapy, China

Background: Randomized trials have yielded mixed results on the effects of treatment for Helicobacter pylori and little information on the effects of vitamins or garlic supplements on precancerous gastric lesions. We conducted a randomized trial to test the effects of one-time H. pylori treatment and long-term vitamin or garlic supplements in reducing the prevalence of advanced precancerous gastric lesions. Methods: Most of the adults aged 35-64 years in 13 randomly selected villages in Linqu County, Shandong Province, China, were identified and given baseline endoscopies in 1994. In 1995, 3365 eligible subjects were randomly assigned in a factorial design to three interventions or placebos: amoxicillin and omeprazole for 2 weeks in 1995 (H. pylori treatment); vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium for 7.3 years (vitamin supplement); and aged garlic extract and steam-distilled garlic oil for 7.3 years (garlic supplement). Subjects underwent endoscopies with biopsies in 1999 and 2003, and the prevalence of precancerous gastric lesions was determined by histopathologic examination of seven standard biopsy sites. The 3365 eligible randomized subjects represented 93.5% of those with baseline endoscopy and included all baseline histologic categories except gastric cancer. Only 0.18% had normal gastric mucosa. Logistic regression was used to estimate the intervention effects on the odds of advanced precancerous gastric lesions, and t-tests were used to assess effects on histologic severity. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: H. pylori treatment resulted in statistically significant decreases in the combined prevalence of severe chronic atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, or gastric cancer in 1999 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.62 to 0.95) and in 2003 (OR = 0.60; 95% CI = 0.47 to 0.75), and had favorable effects on the average histopathologic severity and on progression and regression of precancerous gastric lesions in 2003. H. pylori treatment did not reduce the combined prevalence of dysplasia or gastric cancer. However, fewer subjects receiving H. pylori treatment (19/1130; 1.7%) than receiving placebo (27/1128; 2.4%) developed gastric cancer (adjusted P = .14). No statistically significant favorable effects were seen for garlic or vitamin supplements. Conclusion: H. pylori treatment reduces the prevalence of precancerous gastric lesions and may reduce gastric cancer incidence, but further data are needed to prove the latter point. Long-term vitamin or garlic supplementation had no beneficial effects on the prevalence of precancerous gastric lesions or on gastric cancer incidence.

Pseudomonas aeruginosautilizes a type III secretion system (T3SS) to directly inject effector proteins into host cells, leading to severe acute infections. Here, we present a protocol for detecting the T3SS-mediated cytotoxicity of P. aeruginosausing the A549 cell line. We describe the steps for the preparation of the A549 cell line and P. aeruginosastrains, cell seeding, bacterial culture, infection, and cytotoxicity assay. Additionally, we provide detailed procedures for data analysis.

Objective: The hypothesis that human cocaine users lose vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) protein was tested in striatal samples from cocaine users and age-, sex-, and postmortem interval-matched comparison subjects. Method: Striatal samples were retrieved at autopsy; immunoblot assays were then performed by using a highly specific VMAT2 antibody. Striatal radioligand binding to VMAT2 was assessed with dihydrotetrabenazine ([3H]DTBZ) and dopamine levels employing high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: Cocaine users displayed a marked reduction in VMAT2 immunoreactivity as well as reduced [[sup.3]H]DTBZ binding and dopamine levels. It did not appear that the reduction in VMAT2 immunoreactivity was related to ethanol use, but dopamine levels were lower in subjects with only ethanol diagnoses. Subjects suffering from cocaine-induced mood disorders displayed a greater loss of VMAT2 immunoreactivity that approached significance. Conclusions: Human cocaine users lose VMAT2 protein, which might reflect damage to striatal dopamine fibers. These neuronal changes could play a role in causing disordered mood and motivational processes in more severely dependent patients.

Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is a rare and life-threatening hemorrhagic event in patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). However, its mortality and related risk factors remain unclear. Herein, we conducted a nationwide multicenter real-world study of ICH in adult ITP patients. According to data from 27 centers in China from 2005 to 2020, the mortality rate from ICH was 33.80% (48/142) in ITP adults. We identified risk factors by logistic univariate and multivariate logistic regression for 30-day mortality in a training cohort of 107 patients as follows: intraparenchymal hemorrhage (IPH), platelet count ≤10 × 109/L at ICH, a combination of serious infections, grade of preceding bleeding events, and Glasgow coma scale (GCS) level on admission. Accordingly, a prognostic model of 30-day mortality was developed based on the regression equation. Then, we evaluated the performance of the prognostic model through a bootstrap procedure for internal validation. Furthermore, an external validation with data from a test cohort with 35 patients from 11 other centers was conducted. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the internal and external validation were 0.954 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.910-0.998) and 0.942 (95% CI, 0.871-1.014), respectively. Both calibration plots illustrated a high degree of consistency in the estimated and observed risk. In addition, the decision curve analysis showed a considerable net benefit for patients. Thus, an application (47.94.162.105:8080/ich/) was established for users to predict 30-day mortality when ICH occurred in adult patients with ITP.

N-Acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) and diffusible signal factor (DSF) molecules are two families of widely conserved quorum sensing (QS) signals. Quorum quenching (QQ) via enzymatic inactivation of QS signals is a promising strategy of biocontrol. In the search for biocontrol agent quenching both AHL and DSF signals, it has been recently identified that DSF-quenching biocontrol agent Pseudomonassp. HS-18 contains at least three genes (aigA, aigB, and aigC) encoding AHL-acylases displaying strong AHL-acylase activities on various AHLs. Among them, AigA and AigC presented broad-spectrum enzyme activity against AHLs, while AigB preferred longer AHLs. Interestingly, transcriptional expression of aigCcould be significantly induced by AHL signals. Heterologous expression of aigA–C in Burkholderia cenocepaciaand Pseudomonas aeruginosaresulted in drastically decreased AHL accumulation, virulence factor production, biofilm formation, motility, and virulence on plants. Significantly, the two types of QQ mechanisms in HS-18 showed a strong and much desired synergistic effect for enhanced biocontrol potency against AHL- and DSF-dependent pathogens.

Objective: Previous human postmortem experiments have shown an abnormally high number of dopamine uptake sites in the striatum of chronic cocaine users, which might contribute to cocaine withdrawal symptoms such as depression and suicidality. Previous inconsistencies in results were perhaps related to selective radioligand affinity changes or a coexisting loss of dopamine neurons. Method: In the present study, binding of the cocaine analog [3H]WIN 35428 to the dopamine transporter was assayed in postmortem striatal samples from 15 cocaine-using subjects and 15 matched comparison subjects to determine whether there were differences in number of binding sites or in affinity. Binding to the vesicular monoamine transporter, a measure of total dopaminergic terminals, was also assessed by using the radioligand (+)-[3H]dihydrotetrabenazine (DTBZ). Results: Striatal [3H]WIN 35428 binding sites were significantly more numerous in the cocaine users: the mean [B.sub.max] value was 9.0 fmol bound/[[micro]gram]g protein (SD = 2.8) for the cocaine users but only 6.0 (SD = 1.7) for the comparison subjects. Severity of chronic cocaine use was significantly related to [3H]WIN 35428 binding level. [3H]DTBZ binding was significantly lower in the cocaine users (mean = 330 nCi/mg, SD = 42) than in the comparison subjects (mean = 374, SD = 68). Conclusions: The present results confirm that cocaine users have a high number of dopamine transporter binding sites on dopaminergic neurons, despite an apparent low number of total dopamine terminals. These abnormalities may contribute to the abnormalities in subjective experience and behavior characteristic of chronic cocaine abusers.

At present, methanol is one of the most basic organic chemical raw materials and energy storage media. With the development of chemical technology and energy storage technology, its application becomes more and more extensive, and the methanol market prospects are unlimited. Industrial-scale methanol is generally prepared by using synthesis gas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide as raw materials and reacting under a certain pressure, temperature, and catalyst. Therefore, the development of the methanol industry largely depends on the development of catalysts and the improvement of their performance. Metal catalysts are mainly used in the industry for reaction. This article reviews several metal catalysts used to synthesize methanol from syngas. Copper-based and iron-based catalysts are widely used, and the emerging rhodium and its ligand catalysts exhibit good catalytic performance in low-temperature catalysis. In the future, the scientific research team will focus on in-depth research on preparation methods, active centers, catalytic reaction kinetics, durability, metal ligands, raw material prices, etc., to lay a solid foundation for the industrial application of syngas to methanol in advance.

Spontaneous emission control of emitters holds great promise for applications in photonics and quantum optics. As a definition of the spontaneous emission lifetime of an atom or molecule, the Purcell factor of an emitter coupled with graphene controlled by a static magnetic field was studied. The results show that the Purcell factor can be effectively enhanced by applying an external magnetic field to graphene at low terahertz frequency. By analyzing the dispersion relations of graphene and the Purcell factor of an emitter nearby it, we find that the emitter-graphene interactions are most influenced by nonlocal effects at the low frequency, especially at a short emitter-graphene distance. The coupling between the emitter and the magnetic biased graphene becomes stronger under nonlocal effects, leading to a strong enhancement of the emission of the emitter. More specifically, the nonlocal Purcell factor can increase by orders of magnitude when the applied magnetic field is 10 T compared to the local model at a very short distance. The bias of the applied magnetic field extends a new path for the realization of Purcell factor modulation based on graphene-emitter interaction, and it may provide a promising application value for the design of the photo-magnetic-based quantum devices.

Due to the oxygen storage and release properties, cerium zirconium mixed oxides are recognized as the key material in automotive three-way catalysts. To reveal the effects of co-precipitation temperature on structure, physical and chemical properties of multi-doped cerium zirconium mixed oxides, a series of La and Y doped cerium zirconium mixed oxides (CZLYs) were synthesized via a co-precipitation method, and the physical and chemical properties of CZLYs were systemically characterized by XRD, N2adsorption–desorption, TEM, XPS, oxygen storage capacity (OSC) and hydrogen temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR). The results show that co-precipitation temperature is an important parameter to influence the crystal size, oxygen storage capacity and thermal stability of CZLYs. When the co-precipitation temperature was 60 °C, the best redox properties and thermal stability of CZLYs were obtained. After thermal treatment at 1100 °C for 10 h, the specific surface area and oxygen storage capacity of the corresponding aged sample were 15.42 m2/g and 497.7 μmol/g, respectively. In addition, a mechanism was proposed to reveal the effects of co-precipitation temperature on the structure and properties of CZLYs.

Objective: Earlier platelet and postmortem brain studies have found alterations in serotonin transporter function in ethanol-abusing human subjects. The present investigation tested the hypothesis that brain serotonin transporter function is altered in chronic users of ethanol and cocaine, which might be related to a common serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism. Method: Serotonin transporter binding sites, serotonin transporter mRNA levels, and serotonin transporter promoter variants were quantified in postmortem samples from a group of human subjects who had been ethanol users or cocaine users and then compared to those of a matched group of comparison subjects. Quantitative autoradiographic and in situ hybridization assays were performed in midbrain samples that contained the dorsal and median raphe nuclei (the location of serotonin cell bodies that innervate the forebrain). Results: There was a significant overall cocaine-by-ethanol-by-genotype interaction. Dorsal raphe[(125)]CIT binding to the serotonin transporter was lower in cocaine users than in comparison subjects. In addition, serotonin transporter binding and serotonin transporter mRNA levels varied significantly by genotype. It was also found that serotonin transporter binding in subjects with either the short or heterozygote genotype was significantly higher in the ethanol-user subjects. Conclusions: Serotonin transporter binding sites were regulated in a region-specific and substance-specific pattern, which was not simply a local response to functional blockade. Also, a reciprocal relationship appeared to exist between cocaine and ethanol effects in the dorsal raphe, which may have interesting clinical implications for dual-diagnosis patients. It is possible that serotonin transporter promoter genotype may play a complex role in chronic ethanol dependence.

Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) plays a vital industrial role globally. The factors influencing the stability of zeolite Y in the presence of iron contaminants remain one of the most important topics related to catalyst design. By using a range of spectroscopic techniques, including XRD, 27Al MAS NMR, STEM, 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and synchrotron XAS, the role of iron contaminants in the degradation and crystal transformation of USY zeolite was investigated in this study. The results of XRD and 27Al MAS NMR show that, for the USY zeolite, the dramatic collapse of its crystal structure occurs above 1000 °C, which is mainly due to the removal of the framework aluminum and its transformation to non-framework aluminum upon thermal heating. In contrast, for the iron-contaminated USY zeolite, the framework aluminum is rapidly removed at 900 °C, and the non-framework aluminum formed subsequently migrates to the surroundings of the iron atom. At 1000 °C, the non-framework aluminum transforms into sillimanite, a component containing iron and silicon with a low specific surface area and non-catalytic activity. The results of STEM mapping show that the introduction of iron promotes the migration of non-framework aluminum and the formation of large clusters around iron. The XANES and MS analyses suggest that the Fe in the USY zeolites is mainly in the form of Fe(iii) with an isomer shift of about 0.30(5) mm s−1, and that the valence state of iron increases with increasing calcination temperature. EXAFS results confirm the substitution of Fe atoms for Al in the sillimanite frame and the newly formed Fe–Si has an Fe–Si bond length of 3.3 Å. These results should shed light on the iron poisoning issues in FCC units.

This research addresses the asphalt smoke emission in the process of asphalt pavement construction. The nano-graphene oxide (GO)/tourmaline composites were prepared to alleviate the asphalt smoke emission and improve the construction environment. The macrocharacteristics and micromorphology of the composites were analyzed, and their optimal preparation process was determined. Using material microanalysis methods, such as X-ray diffractometer, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, the structural characteristics and material composition of the composites were studied. The adsorption properties of the composites on asphalt smoke were clarified. It will provide technical support for the improvement of infrastructure construction environment. The results show that 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane is superior than hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide in surface modification of tourmaline. During the composite process, surface modifiers and GO had no significant effect on the structure of tourmaline. GO could enhance the adsorption properties of tourmaline on asphalt smoke. When the GO content was 1.5 wt%, the improvement was the largest, which is 17.42%. At that time, the emission-reduction rate of asphalt smoke reached 41.11%.

Background: Stomach cancer is generally thought to evolve through a series of gastric mucosal changes, but the determinants of the precancerous lesions are not well understood. Purpose: Our purpose was to assess risk factors for intestinal metaplasia and gastric dysplasia arising from chronic atrophic gastritis in a general population at high risk for stomack cancer. Methods: A population-based gastroscopic screening of more than 3000 residents was conducted in a county in China with one of the world's highest rates of stomach cancer. Information on the lifestyle and other characteristics of the participants was obtained by interview, and responses were compared between those in whom the most advanced gastric lesion was dysplasia or intestinal metaplasia versus those with chronic atrophic gastritis. Results: Cigarette smoking was found to nearly double the risk of transition to dysplasia and to be a mild risk factor for intestinal metaplasia. Smoking accounted almost entirely for the 55% higher prevalence of dysplasia among men than among women. Risk of transition to dysplasia had a weak association with several dietary factors and was increased among those participants with a family history of stomach cancer and with blood type A. Conclusions: The finding provide strong evidence for a role of tobacco consumption and offer clues to other environmental and genetic factors involved in the process of gastric carcinogenesis. [J Natl Cancer Intl 84:1261-1266, 1992]

This study aims to investigate the effects of C1q-like 1 (C1QL1) on the growth and migration of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cells and the underlying mechanism. The expression of C1QL1 in LUAD tissues and its prognostic value were analyzed using the data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. To investigate the function of C1QL1, loss-of-function and gain-of-function assays were conducted in Calu-3 cells and LTEP-a-2 cells, respectively. Cell growth was evaluated by CCK-8 and colony formation assays. Transwell assays were performed to assess cell invasive and migratory abilities. qRT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to detect RNA and protein expression, respectively. Firstly, we found that C1QL1 was highly expressed and predicted poor outcomes in LUAD patients from TCGA database. Moreover, the mRNA and protein expression levels of C1QL1 were higher in LUAD cells than that in normal lung cells. Results of functional experiments illustrated that depletion of C1QL1 restrained the growth, invasion and migration of Calu-3 cells, meanwhile over-expression of C1QL1 presented the opposite results in LTEP-a-2 cells. Furthermore, we discovered that down-regulation of C1QL1 elevated the protein level of E-cadherin and reduced the protein levels of N-cadherin, Vimentin and Snail in Calu-3 cells, whereas over-expression of C1QL1 led to the opposite outcomes in LTEP-a-2 cells. Our data indicated that C1QL1 functioned as a crucial driver in LUAD cell growth and motility, which might be achieved by modulating epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). These consequences are of important relevance for the design of therapeutic strategies for LUAD.

A melt-cast Duan-Zhang-Kim (DZK) mesoscopic reaction rate model is developed for the shock initiation of melt-cast explosives based on the pore collapse hot-spot ignition mechanism. A series of shock initiation experiments was performed for the Comp B melt-cast explosive to estimate effects of the loading pressure and the particle size of granular explosive component, and the mesoscopic model is validated against the experimental data. Further numerical simulations indicate that the initial density and formula proportion greatly affect the hot-spot ignition of melt-cast explosives.

The bread wheat genome harbors a high content of repetitive DNA, which is amenable to detection and characterization using fluorescence in situhybridization (FISH) karyotyping. An integrated genetic map was derived from a recombinant inbred population bred from a cross between a synthetic hexaploid wheat and a commercial Chinese bread wheat cultivar, based on 28 variable FISH sites and >150 000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci. The majority (20/28) of the variable FISH sites were physically located within a chromosomal region consistent with the genetic location inferred from that of their co-segregating SNP loci. The eight exceptions reflected the presence of either a translocation (1R/1B, 1A/7A) or a presumptive intra-chromosomal inversion (4A). For eight out of the nine FISH sites detected on the Chinese Spring (CS) karyotype, there was a good match with the reference genome sequence, indicating that the most recent assembly has dealt well with the problem of placing tandem repeats. The integrated genetic map produced for wheat is informative as to the location of blocks of tandemly repeated DNA and can aid in improving the quality of the genome sequence assembly in regions surrounding these blocks.

CaO- and MgO-rich fly ash derived from low-grade coals is typically discarded due to its incompatibility with existing large-scale valorisation technologies. This study demonstrates the potential of such low-grade fly ash as a substitute for flux and MgO sources in the iron-ore sintering process, a critical step in producing feedstock to yield ∼1 Gt/yr of crude steel globally. In situX-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the supply of fine MgO particles from fly ash via thermal decomposition. Aligned with other MgO sources, fly ash suppressed the formation of calcium ferrites while increasing spinel content. Notably, the addition of fly ash enhanced the physical strength of sinter tablets due to the high reactivity of the MgO particles, which is in marked contrast to the detrimental effect of conventional MgO sources. Removal of sulphur from the fly ash further augmented the physical strength of the tablets by enhancing the reactivity of MgO. Further, detrimental elements for sintering, i.e., Na, K, P, and Cl, were negligible in the fly ash. These findings highlight the potential role of fly ash in supplying MgO without compromising the physical strength of the sinter, offering insights into sustainable steel production.