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Objectives To compare the available evidence of the effectiveness of single blastocyst stage transfer against the effectiveness of single cleavage stage embryo transfer. Study design A systematic research based on Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library was performed until May 2, 2020 to identify all relevant studies. The Cochrane Collaboration’s Review Manager (RevMan) 5.0.2 software was used for statistical analysis. Results Five randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in analysis, involving 1784 patients in total, who were divided into 2 groups, which were the single blastocyst stage transfer (SBT) group of 932, and the single cleavage stage transfer (SCT) group of 852. Our meta-analysis concluded that SBT group had a significantly higher clinical pregnancy rate (RR 1.26; 95%CI: 1.14–1.39), ongoing pregnancy rate (RR 1.19; 95%CI: 1.05–1.35) and delivery rate (RR 1.4; 95%CI: 1.13–1.75) than SCT group during the fresh transfer. While miscarriage rate (RR 0.93; 95% CI: 0.66–1.33), multiple pregnancy rate (RR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.51–2.45) and ectopic pregnancy rate (RR, 0.5; 95% CI: 0.13–1.90) between two groups showed no significant difference. However, the SCT group contained notably more cryopreserved embryos than the SBT group. (RR −0.68, 95% CI: −0.95 to −0.41). Conclusions Our results indicate that single blastocyst stage transfer is associated with higher ongoing pregnancy rate and delivery rate comparing to single cleavage stage transfer in the clinical practice. Due to the low quality of the evidence of the primary outcomes, other higher-quality lager RCTs are necessary before a fully informed decision is made.

Sulfide solid electrolytes (e.g., lithium thiophosphates) have the highest room-temperature ionic conductivity (∼10−2 S cm−1) among solid Li-ion conductors so far, and thus have attracted ever-increasing attention for high energy-density and safety all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). However, interfacial issues between sulfide electrolytes and electrodes have been the main challenges for their applications in ASSBs. The interfacial instabilities would occur due to side reactions of sulfides with electrodes, poor solid-solid contact, and lithium dendrites during charge/discharge cycling. In this review, we analyze the interfacial issues in ASSBs based on sulfide electrolytes, and in particular, discuss strategies for solving these interfacial issues and stabilize the electrode-electrolyte interfaces. Moreover, a perspective of the interfacial engineering for sulfide-based ASSBs is provided.

A porous material composed of nano-columnar Tetra-β-(4-nitro) yttrium phthalocyanine (TNY-Pc) with a sandwich-type layered structure is synthesized and characterized as a negative electrode for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy measurement confirmed that the sandwich layer structure has a stable interlayer spacing of 3.07 A. The TNY-Pc negative electrode is stable during charge/discharge, and the lithium cell with the TNY-Pc negative electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 730 mAh g−1 with a high initial coulombic efficiency of 96%; the capacity remains 610 mAh g−1 after 1150 cycles. The cell shows a good rate performance with a capacity of 370 mAh g−1 at 3 A g−1. The XRD, TEM and XPS analysis results suggest that N=O double bond on a substituted nitro group of phthalocyanine ring and C=C double bond on phthalocyanine conjugate structure are the two major contributors to the large capacity of lithium intercalation.

Beef colour is essential to consumer acceptability with dark muscle colours being problematic. Dark meat has less light scattering but the mechanisms are unknown. We hypothesise that three mechanisms are responsible for decreased light scattering in dark meat, namely (i) larger lateral separation of myofilaments, (ii) decreased optical protein density in the I-band and (iii) decreased denaturation of sarcoplasmic proteins. Nineteen beef longissimus thoracis muscles, divided into 'light', 'medium' and 'dark' colour groups, were assessed for light scattering by reflectance confocal microscopy, sarcomere length, and myofilament lattice spacing by small-angle X-ray diffraction. Dark muscles had a longer lattice spacing, shorter sarcomeres and wider muscle fibre diameters compared to lighter colour groups, indicating that the transverse spacing of muscle fibres that occurs post-mortem, with pH decline, is central to light scattering development. Dark muscles also had more degradation of the Z-disc and higher sarcoplasmic protein activities, which could impact on the optical density and contribute to lower light scattering.

Purpose Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and the predominant risk factor for its development is smoking. Thymidylate synthase (TYMS) is a key enzyme in DNA synthesis that catalyzes the conversion of deoxyuridine monophosphate to dTMP. Rs931794, a single nucleotide polymorphism located in the TYMS gene, was suggested to be associated with cancer risk. Methods To analyze the interaction between rs3819102 and environmental factors on the risk of lung cancer in a Chinese population, single nucleotide polymorphismscan was used to genotype this polymorphism in 974 lung cancer cases and 1005 control subjects. Results The frequencies of TT, CT, and CC genotypes of TYMS rs3819102 were 61.8%, 32.9%, and 5.3% in controls, and 53.8%, 38.4%, and 7.8% in cases, respectively. Compared with the TT genotype, the CT (odds ratio [OR], 1.380; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.131-1.683), and CC (OR, 1.786; 95% CI, 1.213-2.644) genotypes were associated with an increased risk of lung cancer after adjustment for age, gender, smoking status, and family history. The C allele of rs3819102 is the risk allele for lung carcinogenesis in a dominant model (OR, 1.435; 95% CI, 1.188-1.735). In a stratified analysis, the risk effects of both the CT and CC genotypes of rs3819102 were more evident in subgroups of smokers and people without a family history of cancer. Conclusion The rs3819102 polymorphism in TYMS might increase susceptibility to environmental factors and contribute to the risk of lung cancer. The C allele is a risk allele in lung carcinogenesis.

Poor oral health status may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, whether a specific association exists between tooth loss and hypertension is inconclusive. Accordingly, a quantitative systematic review was conducted to investigate the relationship between tooth loss and hypertension.Systematic search, data analysis and quality assessment were conducted on relevant literature published in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Libraries until October 2021. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used as effect size to evaluate the association between tooth loss and hypertension. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses were performed to identify whether difference was associated with study-level factors.Of the 56 studies selected, 28 studies in 16 different countries involving 1,224,821 individuals were eligible for the systematic review. After adjustment for confounding factors, individuals with tooth loss had a higher risk for hypertension (OR 1.20; 95%CI 1.10-1.30, IThe results suggest a bidirectional association between tooth loss and hypertension. Future longitudinal prospective studies are required to establish causality between tooth loss and hypertension.Subjects with severe tooth loss should be carefully monitored for the manifestation of hypertension. The oral health status of hypertensive patients should also be meticulous maintained to prevent unwarranted tooth loss.

Due to the abundance of sodium sources and relatively high safety, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are considered as a promising candidate for next-generation large-scale energy storage systems. However, currently the lack of suitable anode materials is limiting the development of SIBs. Metal oxides (MOs) which have the advantage of rich material sources and high theoretical capacity have attracted lots of attention as anode for SIBs in scientific community. Nevertheless, due to the low conductivity, large volumetric change during charge/discharge process of SIBs, the material often demonstrates unsatisfactory cycling stability and capacity rate. Construction of material composites through incorporation of graphene to MOs with tailored nanostructure and composition has demonstrated promising performance in SIBs. In this review, we attempt to provide a comprehensive summary of the research development on the low-cost metal oxides/graphene composites (MOs/G) as anode materials for SIBs. The characteristics of different morphology, composition, crystal phases of MOs/G composites and their electrochemical properties in SIBs are demonstrated. The correlation of the morphological and structural properties of the MOs materials with their performance in SIBs is discussed. This timely review sheds light on the path towards achieving cost effective, safe SIBs with high energy density and long cycling life using MOs/G as anode materials.

Solid-state electrolytes provide excellent electrochemical stability, mechanical strength and safety as compared to conventional liquid electrolytes for lithium ion batteries. Recent developments of polymer electrolytes mixed with nanofillers have enhanced ionic conductivity and stability owing to the interaction between nanoscale fillers and polymer matrix/lithium salt. However, the agglomeration of the nanofillers limits the concentration of the filler, thereby preventing the composite electrolyte from further improving the conductivity and stability. In this study, we first report three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured garnet framework as 3D nanofillers for composite polymer electrolyte. The well-percolated structure of garnet framework enables a high weight ratio of 62 wt% in composite electrolyte and improves conductivity to 8.5 × 10−5 S cm−1 at 25 °C with ~ 10−3 S cm−1 at 60 °C. The excellent conductivity and high garnet content of composite electrolyte also lead to enhanced electrochemical and thermal stability as well as interfacial stability with lithium metal. Our 3D interconnected garnet framework design represents a useful strategy for developing high-performance composite polymer electrolytes for next-generation lithium batteries.

Garnet electrolytes having a room-temperature Li+ conductivity of 10−3 S cm−1 suffer from adsorbents that prevent wetting by a lithium anode; formation and growth of lithium-anode dendrites into grain boundaries and a huge interfacial resistance to anode plating and stripping result. A thin coating of a garnet surface by a Li+-conducting polymer with a transfer number of 0.9 is shown to suppress dendrite formation and to reduce greatly the interfacial resistance. A coulombic efficiency near 100% with a single thin polymer coat can provide Li/garnet/LiFePO4 all-solid-state cell with a long cycle life.

Background Conventional hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines fail to induce protective antibody titers in 5–10% of immune-competent vaccines. Therefore, safe and effective HBV vaccines are still clinically needed. Methods In this study, we developed a plasmid DNA vaccine encoding CD317 single-chain fragment variable (α317scFv) linked with the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and detected the humoral and cellular immune responses elicited by this vaccine in BALB/c mice. Results Vaccination with this fusion DNA vaccine in BALB/c mice induced more robust antiviral T cell and antibody immunity against HBsAg. Compared with mice vaccinated with control vaccine encoding HBsAg, the level of serum-circulating anti-HBsAg antibody (HBsAb) was nearly double in fusion DNA-vaccinated mice. More interesting, splenic lymphocytes isolated from fusion DNA-vaccinated mice showed more potent proliferation and IFN-γ production after being re-stimulated with recombinant HBsAg in vitro. And not only that, the cytotoxicity of fusion DNA vaccine-sensitized splenocytes was ∼3-fold higher than that of controls. Conclusion Taken together, our results reveal that the fusion DNA vaccine can induce more effective immunological protection against HBV, and is a promising candidate for preventing HBV infection.

Practical, high-yield mesoporous organic polymer (MOP) spheres were successfully synthesized by a novel self-template method, which can be used as fillers to prepare poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based polymer electrolytes membranes. The result shows that both the electrical conductivity and lithium-ion conductivity of PEO-based electrolytes can be improved effectively by adding the MOP filler. The electrolyte membranes are mechanically robust, thermally stable to over 270 °C, and can effectively block dendrites penetrating from metallic-lithium anode to cathode. The Li+ transfer conductivity of composite electrolyte membrane increases to 4.4 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 63 °C. All-solid-state LiFePO4/MOP-PEO-LiTFSI/Li cell shows excellent cycling (144 mAh g−1 after 300 cycles) and rate (167 mAh g−1 at 0.2 C, 170 mAh g−1 at 0.5 C, 160 mAh g−1 at 1 C and 145 mAh g−1 at 2 C) performance.

Synthesis of α-MnO2 nanorods grown on porous graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) sheets via a facile hydrothermal treatment gives a porous composite exhibiting higher activity for an air cathode than the individual component of α-MnO2 or porous g-C3N4 for both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The porous g-C3N4/α-MnO2 composite also exhibits better performance in a Li-air battery than pure α-MnO2 or XC-72 carbon catalysts, which includes superior discharge capacity, low voltage gap and high cycle stability. The α-MnO2 nanorods catalyze the OER and the porous g-C3N4 sheets catalyze the ORR.

Summary Lithium-ion batteries with high energy density are being intensively pursued to meet the ever-growing demand for energy storage. However, the increase in energy density often comes with an elevated instability of electrode materials, causing major concerns about the reliability and safety of lithium-ion batteries. Here, we report a strategy for stabilizing cathode materials by modulating the vacant lattice sites on the particle surface. Using the high-voltage Li[Ni0.5Mn1.5]O4 as an example, we demonstrate that introduction of a 10-nm epitaxial surface layer with Al3+ in the empty 16c octahedral sites of the spinel Li[Ni0.5Mn1.5]O4 suppresses structural degradation during cycling by increasing the surface stability without interfering with the Li+ diffusion around the Al3+ sites. Control of the Al3+ concentration in the surface region was shown to be a facile process. The process was shown to stabilize long-term cycling of Li[Ni0.5Mn1.5]O4 to 5 V versus Li+/Li0.

Composite polyethylene-oxide/garnet electrolytes containing LiTFSI as the lithium salt have a Li+ conductivity σLi > 10−4 S cm−1 at 55 °C and a low plating/stripping impedance of a dendrite-free Li-metal anode; they have been developed for a safe solid-state Li-metal rechargeable battery. Composites consisting of “ceramic-in-polymer” to “polymer-in-ceramic” that are flexible and mechanically robust are fabricated by hot-pressing. Safe pouch cells with a remarkable flexibility have been fabricated. Solid-state LiFePO4|Li batteries with electrolytes of “ceramic-in-polymer” and “polymer-in-ceramic” deliver excellent cycling stability with high discharge capacities (139.1 mAh g–1 with capacity retention of 93.6% after 100 cycles) and high capacity retention (103.6% with coulombic efficiency of 100% after 50 cycles) at 0.2 C and 55 °C. Both kinds of electrolytes can be applied to solid-state lithium batteries.

Summary Transition metal oxide catalysts with high oxygen reduction activity and durability are highly desirable for use in fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Herein we report, for the first time, the oxygen reduction activity of hollow porous spinel AB 2 O 4 microspheres, where A = Zn 2+ and B = Mn 3+ and/or Co 3+ (i.e., ZnMn x Co 2−x O 4 ). Among them, ZnMnCoO 4 ( x = 1) microspheres exhibit the best oxygen reduction activity with a half-wave-potential only 50 mV lower than that of the Pt/C counterpart and an excellent durability in the alkaline solution. Importantly, the electronic transition of Co 3+ ions from low-spin state in commercial Co 3 O 4 catalyst to a mixed high-spin and low-spin state in ZnMnCoO 4 catalyst was found to weaken the Co 3+ -OH bond and facilitate the O 2− /OH − displacement. The density functional theory calculation substantiated that ZnMnCoO 4 displayed a more favorable binding energy with O 2 and oxygenated species, thereby enabling the fast reaction kinetics in the oxygen reduction reaction process.

In order to study the effect of typhoons on the accumulated deformation of monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines, a series of 1-g laboratory model tests with a geometrical scale of 1:100 were carried out. Through the horizontal static and cyclic loading tests of a stiff pile embedded in a medium dense sand deposit, the relationship between the accumulated rotation of the pile and the number of loading cycles under different loading conditions was obtained. The results show that the final accumulated rotation is mainly caused by the typhoon load series and is not affected by the loading sequence. Based on these results, a method is presented to predict the accumulated rotation of the monopile foundation during its service life, and a case study of a 6 MW wind turbine supported by a monopile at a water depth of 30 m in sand is conducted by using the method. The results show that the permanent accumulated rotation of the monopile throughout the design life is mainly contributed by cyclic loading induced by typhoons and the contribution of cyclic loading with small amplitudes can be ignored.

Ammonia is an acknowledged environment pollutant in atmosphere with irritating smell. Previous studies have shown that excessive ammonia has toxic effects on farm animals and humans. However, the detail toxicity mechanism of ammonia to pigs is still unknown so far. In order to clarify the mechanism of ammonia toxicity, we established a porcine exogenous ammonia poisoning model and assessed the effects of ammonia on the gut-brain axis by transcriptome sequencing, histological observation and chemical analysis. Our results showed that after 30 d of ammonia exposure, 578 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 407 DEGs were obtained in the hypothalamus and jejunum, respectively. These DEGs were enriched into Gene Ontology terms associated with inflammation, oxidative metabolism, apoptosis, and the highly expressed genes among these DEGs were verified by real-time quantitative PCR. The content of glutathione and the activities of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase were significantly decreased, while malondialdehyde content was increased after ammonia exposure. Corticotropin releasing factor, substance P, 5-hydroxytryptamine and ghrelin contents in serum elevated significantly. Furthermore, pathologic observation in the ammonia group revealed infiltration of lymphocytes in the hypothalamus and significant decrease of jejunal epithelial cells. Our results indicated that ammonia exposure mediated changes in transcriptional profiles, pathological damage, oxidative stress and brain-gut peptide of the pig jejunum and hypothalamus, and induced the imbalance of the brain-gut axis through the "oxidative stress-inflammation-apoptosis" interaction network. Our study not only provides a new perspective for the toxicity assessment of ammonia, but also enriches the toxicology mechanism of ammonia.

Sodium manganese hexacyanoferrate (NaMnHCF) with low cost and high energy density is a promising cathode in Na-ion batteries (NIBs); however, the Jahn-teller effect of Mn3+ and large amounts of Fe(CN)64− defects significantly reduces the cycling life of the battery. Here, we introduce a chemically less soluble and structurally more stable layer to the NaMnHCF surface with a simple ion-exchange method to mitigate the irreversible structural change and side reactions associated with both the low-spin FeII/FeIII and the high-spin MnII/MnIII redox. The NaMnHCF cathode treated in Cu2+ solution shows much better cycling stability (80 vs. 30 mA h g−1 after 1000 cycles at 1 C) and rate performance than the unmodified NaMnHCF. The as-proposed chemical ion-exchange is a well-compatible and low-cost technology to realize surface modification of NaMnHCF and other hexacyanoferrates, which is of great significance for the development of high-performance NIB cathodes.

Flexible gas sensing is attracting more attention with the development of machine learning and Internet of Things (IoT). Herein, we report flexible and foldable high-performance hydrogen (H2) sensor on all textiles substrate-fabricated by inkjet–printing of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and its application to wearable environmental sensing. The inkjet-printing process provides the advantages of the compatibility with various substrates, the capability of non-contact patterning and cost-effectiveness. The sensing mechanism is based on the catalytic effect of palladium (Pd) nanoparticles (NPs) on the wide bandgap rGO, which allows facile adsorption and desorption of the nonpolar H2 molecules. The graphene textile gas sensor (GT-GS) demonstrates about six times higher sensing response than the graphene polyimide membrane gas sensor due to the large surface area of the textile substrate. An analysis of the temperature influence on the GT-GS shows better H2 gas response at room temperature than at high temperature (e.g., 120 °C). In addition, with the machine learning-enabled technology and triboelectric-textile to power IoT (temperature and humidity for gas calibration), H2 is well identified for wearable applications with a robust mechanical performance (e.g., flexibility and foldability).

Genome-wide association mapping and genomic predictions of phenotype of individuals in livestock are predominately based on the detection and estimation of additive genetic effects. Non-additive genetic effects are largely ignored. Studies in animals, plants, and humans to assess the impact of non-additive genetic effects in genetic analyses have led to differing conclusions. In this paper, we examined the consequences of including non-additive genetic effects in genome-wide association mapping and genomic prediction of total genetic values in a commercial population of 5,658 broiler chickens genotyped for 45,176 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. We employed mixed-model equations and restricted maximum likelihood to analyze 7 feed related traits (TRT1 - TRT7). Dominance variance accounted for a significant proportion of the total genetic variance in all 7 traits, ranging from 29.5% for TRT1 to 58.4% for TRT7. Using a 5-fold cross-validation schema, we found that in spite of the large dominance component, including the estimated dominance effects in the prediction of total genetic values did not improve the accuracy of the predictions for any of the phenotypes. We offer some possible explanations for this counter-intuitive result including the possible confounding of dominance deviations with common environmental effects such as hatch, different directional effects of SNP additive and dominance variations, and the gene-gene interactions' failure to contribute to the level of variance.

Nano energy 83, 105841 (2021). doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.105841, Rechargeable potassium (K) batteries are a promising next-generation technology for low-cost grid scale energy storage applications. Nevertheless, the undesirable interfacial instabilities originating from the interplay between the employed separators and electrodes largely compromise the battery’s performance, and the underlying mechanism of which remains elusive. Herein, the interfacial stability between three types of commercial separators (Celgard 2325, Celgard 2400 and GF/D) and the K electrodeposits is investigated in K|K symmetric cells via in-situ Synchrotron X-ray tomography technique. It is demonstrated that the cell built with a Celgard 2400 separator can achieve a stable cycling performance due to its high mechanical strength and integrity along the thickness direction, thus alleviating the K dendrites growth. In contrast, a GF/D membrane of low mechanical cohesion and excessive porosity is found to be easily deformed and filled with deciduous potassium dendritic aggregates during battery cycling. Similarly, the tri-layer Celgard 2325 separators, which are weakly bonded by interlaminar forces, are found to be severely delaminated by the overgrowth of K dendrites. Furthermore, it is revealed that the delamination failure behaviors of Celgard 2325 is driven by the local stress induced by the spatially and heterogeneously formed "dead" K dendrites. Our work provides direct visualization of morphological evolvement of the separators in presence of potassium dendrites in K|K symmetric cells and highlights the significance of mechanical cohesion, porosity distribution and mechanical integrity of separators in dictating the battery’s performance under realistic battery operation conditions. As a result, these discoveries provide an in-depth understanding that is needed to design next-generation high performance separators to mitigate the formation of potassium dendrite in KMBs., Published by Elsevier, Amsterdam [u.a.]

Shockwaves generate instantaneous high pressures, which could affect meat shelf-life or quality. This study assessed microbiological counts, pH, drip, cook and moisture loss and texture of striploin (longissimus lumborum) and brisket (pectoralis profundus) treated with electrical shockwave (25 kV, 8 pulses) and subsequently stored (−0.5 °C) for 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 weeks. Shockwave did not affect total viable counts (p>0.05), with all samples considered microbiologically acceptable ( 0.05). Shockwave × storage time increased moisture losses in striploin (p

Two-dimensional bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) ultrathin nanoplates with a thickness of 10–20 nm are synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. The as-prepared product is explored as an anode material for sodium-ion batteries for the first time. It shows BiOCl ultrathin nanoplates with two very suitable discharge voltage plateaus (0.6 V and 0.4 V) for sodium ion batteries. Furthermore, a two-step sodiation mechanism including an intercalation reaction and a conversion reaction is proposed. This work reveals a novel electrode material for sodium-ion batteries beyond conventional materials (such as transition metal oxides, carbon materials and alloys) and encourages more researchers to further investigate BiOCl.

Since its invention, alumina ceramics have been extensively investigated for potential various applications. However, their intrinsic brittle nature is still an insurmountable obstacle when they are applied as structural components. This paper provides a simple routs to prepare ductile alumina based composites with the addition of chopped carbon fiber (Csf/Al2O3-BN). Effects of fiber length and sintering temperature on the microstructure, phase composition, mechanical properties together with fracture behavior were systematically investigated. The results showed that composites with mixed fiber lengths of 12 mm and 1 mm exhibited homogeneous microstructure and striking enhancement in mechanical performances compared with composites with other fiber length. With the increase in sintering temperature from 1500 °C to 1650 °C, interfacial bonding strength increased and interface state converted from mechanical interlocking at 1500 °C into chemical bonding at 1650 °C. Chemical reaction in the composites degraded carbon fiber properties, which resulted in the decrease in mechanical performance of the composites.

We examine the effects of a multinational firm's subsidiary operations in offshore financial centers (OFCs) on bank loan contracting terms. Using a propensity score matched cross-country sample of firms with and without OFC subsidiaries, we find that firms with OFC subsidiaries receive less favorable loan terms than firms without OFC subsidiaries. The results from a difference-in-differences analysis and an analysis of a firm's mutation from a non-OFC firm to an OFC firm support the causal effect of offshore operations on the unfavorable loan terms. Furthermore, focusing on firms with OFC subsidiaries, we find that the intensity of offshore operations affects loan terms unfavorably. We also find that the unfavorable effect is more pronounced for more opaque firms and for firms that are headquartered in countries or jurisdictions with weaker legal enforcement. Our findings indicate that banks view offshore operations of borrowers as a credit risk-increasing factor.

Herein, binder-free Co 3 O 4 @NiCoAl-layered double hydroxide (Co 3 O 4 @LDH) core-shell hybrid architectural nanowire arrays were prepared via a two-step hydrothermal synthesis route. LDH nanosheets possessing a large electroactive surface area uniformly dispersed on the surface of Co 3 O 4 nanowires were successfully fabricated allowing for fast electron transport that enhances the electrochemical performance of LDH nanosheets. Co 3 O 4 @LDH nanowire arrays of 2 to 1.5 molar ratio (Co 3 O 4 :LDH) exhibit high specific capacitance (1104 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 ), adequate rate capability and cycling stability (87.3% after 5000 cycles), attributed to the synergistic effect between the robust Co 3 O 4 nanowire arrays and LDH nanosheets.

Inertial motion sensors located on the animal have been used to study the behaviour of ruminant livestock. The time window size of segmented signal data can significantly affect the classification accuracy of animal behaviours. To date, there have been no studies evaluating the impact of a mixture of time window size features on the accuracy of animal behaviour classification. In this study, data was collected from accelerometers attached to the neck of 17 Merino sheep over a period of two days. We also recorded a ground truth dataset of behaviour recordings (grazing, ruminating, walking, and standing) over the same time period, We then investigated the ability of three machine learning (ML) approaches, Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA), to accurately classify sheep behaviour. Our results clearly show that simultaneous inclusion of features derived from time windows of mixed sizes, ranging from 2 to 15 s, significantly improved the behaviour classification accuracy, in comparison to those determined from a single unique time window size. Of the three ML methods applied here, the RF approach yielded the best results. Together our results show that including features obtained from mixed window sizes improved the classification accuracy of sheep behaviours.

A base population containing broad genetic variation provides a fundamental resource for a successful genetic improvement program. Here, we assess quantitative data on growth traits taken from the base population of Pacific white shrimp. Body weight was scored at two ages (BW1 and BW2) from 2752 and 2452 individuals, representing 89 full-sib families. Estimated heritabilities (h2 ± SE) for BW1, BW2 and survival (S) were 0.52 ± 0.09, 0.44 ± 0.07, and 0.01 ± 0.02, respectively. The genetic correlation between growth traits (BW1 and BW2) was 0.95, a result significantly different from zero. Genetic correlations between survival and body weight were low however, 0.26 (S vs BW1) and 0.18 (S vs BW2), respectively. The SA_1 strain from South Asia showed the best performance for both growth rate and survival in the test tank systems. High heritability estimates for growth traits confirm that a substantial component of additive genetic variance is available for growth in our L. vannamei culture line families in China prior to imposing genetic selection to improve relative productivity.

Room-temperature sodium-sulfur battery has attracted more and more widespread attention on account of the low cost, high capacity and reliable efficiency. Nevertheless, how to further improve sulfur reactivity and high-rate cycling performance remains challenging. Herein, carbon-wrapped nanocobalt anchored on graphene aerogel is fabricated to resolve low sulfur reactivity, conductivity and the large volumetric expansion during the charge/discharge process. The novel sulfur composite cathode shows up an initial discharge capacity of 572.8 mAh g−1 at 5C with an extremely low average capacity fading of 0.01% per cycle from 200 to 1000 cycles. Significantly, the cathode is also used for assembling solid-state Na/S batteries, with an initial discharge capacity of 484.9 mAh g−1 at 0.5C and a retainion capacity of 226 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles. This outstanding performance is ascribed to the electrocatalytic effects of the nanocobalt and the conductive and flexible graphene aerogel, which can effectively enhance chemical reaction kinetics and accommodate the fast volume change.