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In this paper, histidine was applied to treat vanadium-containing wastewater. Several independent experimental parameters, including H2SO4 concentration, dosage of histidine, reaction time and reaction temperature, were investigated and optimized through response surface methodology. The influence on the reduction process decreased in the following order: dosage of histidine > reaction temperature > reaction time. The reduction efficiency could be achieved at 95.77% under the following reaction conditions: H2SO4 concentration of 0.2 mol/L, reaction temperature of 90 °C, dosage of histidine at n(His)/n(V) = 3.6, reaction time of 60 min and stirring rate at 500 rpm. The reduction kinetics was followed successfully with the pseudo-first-order kinetics model and the Ea for reduction of vanadium was calculated to be 25.31 kJ/mol. The reduction kinetics was affected by these factors and the kinetics model could be described by an Equation. This paper provides a versatile strategy for treatment of wastewater containing V(V) and shows a bright tomorrow for wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) contamination poses a significant challenge to breeder egg hatchability and chick health, necessitating the exploration of alternative disinfection methods. This study investigates the potential of phage vB_SPuM_SP02 (SP02) as a novel disinfectant for breeder eggs contaminated with S. Typhimurium SM022. Phage SP02 was isolated from poultry farm effluent and characterized for morphology, biological properties, and genome properties. Experimental groups of specific pathogen-free (SPF) eggs were treated with Salmonella and phage SP02, and efficacy was assessed through hatching rates, chick survival, weight, Salmonella load, immune organ indices, and intestinal flora. Phage treatment effectively eradicated Salmonella contamination on eggshells within 12 h, resulting in increased hatching and survival rates compared to controls. Furthermore, phage treatment mitigated weight loss and tissue Salmonella load in chicks without causing immune organ damage while reducing Salmonella spp. abundance in the intestinal tract. This study demonstrates the potential of phage SP02 as an eco-friendly and efficient disinfectant for S. Typhimurium-contaminated breeder eggs, offering promising prospects for practical application in poultry production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization and industrialization have escalated air pollution into a critical global issue, particularly in urban areas. Urban green infrastructures (GIs), such as parks and street trees, play a vital role in mitigating air pollution through dry deposition, the process by which air pollutants are removed by deposition onto plant surfaces or through plant uptake. However, existing studies on the dry-deposition capacity of urban green spaces are limited in their ability to reflect variations at the tree-species level, hindering comprehensive evaluations and effective management strategies. This study aims to quantitatively assess the dry-deposition capacity of the urban green spaces of Beijing and Shanghai for six major air pollutants in using an improved dry-deposition model and tree-species-specific data. Results showed that Shanghai's urban green spaces had a monthly average dry-deposition rate of 5.5 × 10−6 s m−1, slightly higher than Beijing's rate of 5.3 × 10−6 s m−1. Significant seasonal variations were observed, with summer showing the highest deposition rates due to favorable meteorological conditions. Broad-leaved species such as Zelkova serrata in Beijing and Photinia serratifolia in Shanghai exhibited superior dry-deposition capacities compared to coniferous species. Temperature significantly influenced dry-deposition rates for gaseous pollutants, while particulate-matter deposition was primarily affected by pollutant concentrations. This study provides critical insights into the air = purification functions of urban green spaces and underscores the importance of species selection and strategic green-space planning in urban air-quality management, informing the development of optimized urban-greening strategies for improved air quality and public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The safety and stability of tunnel construction are paramount concerns in tunnel engineering. Traditionally, the assessment of tunnel stability involves evaluating whether tunnel displacement and deformation velocities exceed acceptable thresholds, using specifications and analogical reasoning. However, standardized cautionary indicators often lack adaptability and can result in unnecessary reinforcement and increase economic costs. This study presents a method for determining limit displacement and deformation velocities based on tunnel deformation limit states. Based on the finite difference method, which considers the quality of surrounding rock mass and tunnel geometric configuration, a parametric analysis of these velocities is presented. The vault settlement, relative spandrel displacement, relative hance displacement, and deformation velocity are investigated to establish the thresholds for displacement and deformation velocities. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis using a multivariate adaptive spline regression model is performed to measure the parameter effects on the early allowance values. Finally, a response surface method is developed to estimate the indicators in order to provide criteria for assessing and warning about surrounding rock stability. The obtained results show that the proposed limit state analysis method is effective for providing a standardized criterion for tunnel excavation, and the sensitivity analysis indicates tunnel depth as the most influential factor on tunnel reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-temperature composite phase change materials (HCPCMs) were prepared from solid waste blast furnace slag (BFS) and NaCl-KCl binary eutectic salt to achieve efficient and cost-effective utilization. To ensure good chemical compatibility with chlorine salt, modifier fly ash (FA) was incorporated and subjected to high-temperature treatment for the processing of industrial solid waste BFS, which possesses a complex chemical composition. The HCPCMs were synthesized through a three-step process involving static melting, solid waste modification, and mixing–cold pressing–sintering. Then, the influence of the modification method and the amount of SiC thermal conductivity reinforced material on chemical compatibility and thermodynamic performance was explored. The results demonstrate that the predominant phase of the modified solid waste is Ca2Al2SiO7, which exhibits excellent chemical compatibility with chlorine salt. HCPCMs containing less than 50 wt.% chloride content exhibit good morphological stability without any cracks, with a melting temperature of 661.76 °C and an enthalpy value of 108.73 J/g. Even after undergoing 60 thermal cycles, they maintain good chemical compatibility, with leakage rates for melting and solidification enthalpies being only 6.3% and 0.23%, respectively. The equilibrium was achieved when 40 wt.% of chloride salt was encapsulated upon the addition of 10% of SiC, and the incorporation of SiC resulted in an enhancement of thermal conductivity for HCPCMs to 2.959 W/(m·K) at room temperature and 2.400 W/(m·K) at 200 °C, with an average increase of about 2 times. The cost of the prepared HCPCMs experienced a significant reduction of 81.3%, demonstrating favorable economic performance and promising prospects for application. The research findings presented in this article can offer significant insights into the efficient utilization of solid waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photo-induced peroxymonosulfate (photo-PMS) reaction is a promising route to eliminate antibiotics from waste water. To achieve excellent photo-PMS activity in Mg–Fe layered double hydroxides (LDHs) for tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) degradation under simulative solar-light irradiation, Mg–Fe LDHs-loaded polyacrylonitrile (Mg–Fe/PAN) nanofibers were in-situ prepared via the hydrothermal route. For comparison to the photocatalysis and photo-PMS process, the Mg–Fe/PAN-assisted photo-PMS process exhibited a better elimination activity for TCH elimination. In addition, the photo-PMS activities of Mg–Fe/PAN composites were greatly affected by Mg–Fe LDHs content, TCH concentration, pH, and inorganic salts. Among these Mg–Fe/PAN composites, the optimal MgFe2/PAN with a Mg/Fe molar ratio of 1:2 and a nominal Mg–Fe LDHs content of 2.0 wt. % removed 81.31% TCH solution of 80 mg L−1 TCH within 120 min. This enhanced photo-PMS capacity of MgFe2/PAN was ascribed to the abundant active sites formed by functional groups and oxygen defects for efficient TCH species adsorption and photon capturing, and the tight interface between Mg–Fe LDHs nanoparticles and PAN nanofibers for the rapid separation and transfer of photoinduced e−/h+ pairs. SO4•− and •O2− radicals were vital for the MgFe2/PAN-assisted photo-PMS reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of polymer emulsion, pigment filler, and dispersant on the corrosion resistance of polymer cement-based composite anti-corrosion coatings were investigated in this study. Adhesion loss rate tests and electrochemical tests were conducted on samples. The research results show that optimal corrosion resistance can be achieved with a 45 wt% dosage of emulsion, a 6 wt% dosage of pigment filler, and a 0.30 wt% dosage of dispersant. The bonding properties of bare steel bars, epoxy-coated steel bars, and polymer cement-based composite anti-corrosion coated steel bars with grout were compared. The results show that the polymer cement-based composite anti-corrosion coating can enhance the bonding properties of the samples. Furthermore, the microscopic analysis was conducted on the samples. The results demonstrate that the appropriate addition of emulsion can fill internal pores of the coating, tightly bonding hydration products with unhydrated cement particles. Moreover, incorporating a suitable dosage of functional additives enhances the stability of the coating system and leads to a denser microstructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the current research on the wine grape variety recognition task, it has been found that traditional deep learning models relying only on a single feature (e.g., fruit or leaf) for classification can face great challenges, especially when there is a high degree of similarity between varieties. In order to effectively distinguish these similar varieties, this study proposes a multisource information fusion method, which is centered on the SynthDiscrim algorithm, aiming to achieve a more comprehensive and accurate wine grape variety recognition. First, this study optimizes and improves the YOLOV7 model and proposes a novel target detection and recognition model called WineYOLO-RAFusion, which significantly improves the fruit localization precision and recognition compared with YOLOV5, YOLOX, and YOLOV7, which are traditional deep learning models. Secondly, building upon the WineYOLO-RAFusion model, this study incorporated the method of multisource information fusion into the model, ultimately forming the MultiFuseYOLO model. Experiments demonstrated that MultiFuseYOLO significantly outperformed other commonly used models in terms of precision, recall, and F1 score, reaching 0.854, 0.815, and 0.833, respectively. Moreover, the method improved the precision of the hard to distinguish Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varieties, which increased the precision from 0.512 to 0.813 for Chardonnay and from 0.533 to 0.775 for Sauvignon Blanc. In conclusion, the MultiFuseYOLO model offers a reliable and comprehensive solution to the task of wine grape variety identification, especially in terms of distinguishing visually similar varieties and realizing high-precision identifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning methodologies employed for biomass prediction often neglect the intricate relationships between labels and samples, resulting in suboptimal predictive performance. This paper introduces an advanced supervised contrastive learning technique, termed Improved Supervised Contrastive Deep Regression (SCDR), which is adept at effectively capturing the nuanced relationships between samples and labels in the feature space, thereby mitigating this limitation. Simultaneously, we propose the U-like Hierarchical Residual Fusion Network (BioUMixer), a bespoke biomass prediction network tailored for image data. BioUMixer enhances feature extraction from biomass image data, facilitating information exchange and fusion while considering both global and local features within the images. The efficacy of the proposed method is validated on the Pepper_Biomass dataset, which encompasses over 600 original images paired with corresponding biomass labels. The results demonstrate a noteworthy enhancement in deep regression tasks, as evidenced by performance metrics on the Pepper_Biomass dataset, including RMSE = 252.18, MAE = 201.98, and MAPE = 0.107. Additionally, assessment on the publicly accessible GrassClover dataset yields metrics of RMSE = 47.92, MAE = 31.74, and MAPE = 0.192. This study not only introduces a novel approach but also provides compelling empirical evidence supporting the digitization and precision improvement of agricultural technology. The research outcomes align closely with the identified problem and research statement, underscoring the significance of the proposed methodologies in advancing the field of biomass prediction through state-of-the-art deep learning techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of process mineralogy plays a very important role in the field of mineral processing and metallurgy, in which the measurement of mineral-embedded particle size is one of the main research areas. The manual measurement method using a microscope has many problems, such as heavy workload and low measurement accuracy. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a Gaussian mixture model based on an expectation maximization (EM) algorithm to measure the embedded particle sizes of minerals of polished metal sections. Experiments are here performed on the polished section images of ilmenite and pyrite, and we compared the results with a microscope. The experimental results show that the proposed method has higher precision and accuracy in measuring the embedded particle sizes of metal minerals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot stamping (or press hardening) is a new technology that is widely used in the production of advanced high-strength steel parts for automotive applications. Electrochemical measurements, including potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and accelerated corrosion tests (the neutral salt spray test and periodic immersion test) were conducted on press-hardened samples produced from uncoated (cold-rolled and cold strip production (CSP) hot-rolled) and Al–Si-coated press-hardened steels to elucidate their distinct anti-corrosion mechanisms. The cross-sectional micromorphology and element distribution of three types of press-hardened steels after a neutral salt spray test were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). The corrosion resistance of Al–Si-coated press-hardened steel was found to be significantly diminished following the hot stamping process due to the presence of microcracks and elevated iron content in the coating subsequent to austenitizing heat treatment. On the other hand, the corrosion resistance of uncoated press-hardened sheets produced from cold-rolled and CSP hot-rolled press-hardened steel was found to be proximal due to their nearly identical composition and microstructure (fully martensite) after the hot stamping process. Considering the high efficiency and energy-saving properties of hot-rolled press-hardened steel, it holds the potential to replace cold-rolled and even aluminum–silicon-coated press-hardened steel in automobile manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well recognized that patients with severe obesity exhibit remarkable heterogeneity in response to different types of weight-loss interventions. Those who undergo Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) usually exhibit more favorable glycemic outcomes than those who receive adjustable gastric banding (BAND) or intensive medical intervention (IMI). The molecular mechanisms behind these observations, however, remain largely unknown. To identify the plasma metabolites associated with differential glycemic outcomes induced by weight-loss intervention, we studied 75 patients with severe obesity (25 each in RYGB, BAND, or IMI). Using untargeted metabolomics, we repeatedly measured 364 metabolites in plasma samples at baseline and 1-year after intervention. Linear regression was used to examine whether baseline metabolites or changes in metabolites are associated with differential glycemic outcomes in response to different types of weight-loss intervention, adjusting for sex, baseline age, and BMI as well as weight loss. Network analyses were performed to identify differential metabolic pathways involved in the observed associations. After correction for multiple testing (q < 0.05), 33 (RYGB vs. IMI) and 28 (RYGB vs. BAND) baseline metabolites were associated with changes in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) or glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Longitudinal changes in 38 (RYGB vs. IMI) and 38 metabolites (RYGB vs. BAND) were significantly associated with changes in FPG or HbA1c. The identified metabolites are enriched in pathways involved in the biosynthesis of aminoacyl-tRNA and branched-chain amino acids. Weight-loss intervention evokes extensive changes in plasma metabolites, and the altered metabolome may underlie the differential glycemic outcomes in response to different types of weight-loss intervention, independent of weight loss itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: Endophytic bacteria identified in this research may find potential applications as biofertilizers to improve nutrient utilization in plants. Endophytic bacteria, especially those that participate in nitrogen fixation, play critical roles in supplying essential nutrients for legume plant growth. Despite that there have been numerous investigations targeting bacterial microbiomes in legume roots and nodules, little is known about embryonic bacteria that facilitate plant nutrient utilization after seed germination. Here, we collected and investigated endophytic bacterial microbiome in edible pea (Pisum sativum) embryos using five representative cultivars and a pea sprout (shoot of pea [SHP]) control. Twenty-six nitrogen-fixing bacteria (NFB) were isolated from pea embryos, with three strains found in fresh grain pea (FGP) and snow pea (SP) exhibiting the strongest nitrogenase activity of above 85 nmol C2H4/mL/h. Some NFB isolates are also potassium-solubilizing bacteria (KSB) or phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) utilizing inorganic and/or organic phosphorus. All 26 NFB showed variable levels (0.41 to 7.10 μg/mL) of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) secretion. The nutrient-solubilizing NFB identified in our research are potential targets for biofertilizer development. They could be useful in converting nitrogen, potassium, and/or phosphorus into usable forms for the plants. At the microbiome level, high-throughput 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequencing of 40 bacterial collections from pea embryos generated 4234 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) using 97% identity as the threshold for clustering high-quality effective reads (valid tags). Analysis of OTU annotation results revealed similar species community structures, abundance, and diversity in most samples. Our embryo-derived endophytic bacterial pool provides a microbiome platform for seed dormancy and germination research of edible peas, as well as for digging new biofertilizer resources in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately evaluating the vulnerability of prefabricated components in prefabricated buildings is the basis of scientific management of its supply chain. Thus, a novel vulnerability evaluation method for the suppliers of prefabricated components in the context of prefabricated buildings was proposed in this study. First, a vulnerability evaluation index system was identified and constructed by the pressure–state–response (PSR) model. With the clear logic and strong applicability of PSR, this system, including 18 indexes, was easy to understand and exhibited strong practicability. The weights were then determined via the multiplicative analytic hierarchy process with the expansion of a probabilistic language terminology set (PLTS). PLTS could describe decision information more comprehensively, so the evaluation result is more scientific. Subsequently, the probability of the vulnerability level was superimposed in a parallel bottom-to-top method via the controlled interval and memory (CIM) models, and these were extended by the PLTS. This set handled the uncertain information in the decision-making process more efficiently and accurately, and finally determined the vulnerability distribution. Ultimately, the probability of each vulnerability level was determined by combining the weight information. The reconstruction and resettlement housing construction project of urban shanty towns in the Taohua South Road Community in Xihu District, Nanchang City, was selected as a case study. The case study proves the effectiveness of this method, which has higher resolution and is more convenient for managers to make decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Northridge earthquake, extensive brittle failures on the weld zones of the beam bottom flanges in the rigidity connection of steel special moment frames (SMFs) were detected. One of the primary reasons is the high-tensile strain demand created at the beam bottom flange zones due to positive bending. The weak panel zone of the I-section column exhibits more shear deformation, which promotes and accelerates the brittle fracture of the beam bottom flange weld zones. A box-strengthened panel zone can minimize the shear deformation of the panel zone of the I-section column, which may also reduce the inter-story displacement of steel SMFs and enhance their seismic behavior. In order to investigate this fact, in this research we carried out a model test of a steel frame with a box-strengthened panel zone to examine SMFs' seismic performance and inter-story displacement, as well as testing the contribution of panel zone shear deformation to inter-story drift. Numerical methods were then used to investigate the influence of the axial compression ratio and beam-to-column linear stiffness ratio on the effect of shear deformation on the box-strengthened panel zone. Design recommendations are given based on the research results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce the cost of tools operated in extreme environments, we developed films with excellent corrosion/oxidation resistance. Two high-entropy nitride films, (AlCrSi0.3TiZr)N and (AlCr1.5Si0.3TiZr0.5)N, were deposited using reactive DC magnetron sputtering under different substrate biases. The films exhibited a maximum hardness of 32.5 GPa ((AlCrSi0.3TiZr)N) and 35.3 GPa ((AlCr1.5Si0.3TiZr0.5)N) when deposited at −150 V, corresponding to 27 and 142% increases compared to those deposited at 0 V. This indicates that the bias strengthened (AlCr1.5Si0.3TiZr0.5)N (higher Cr/Zr ratio) more significantly. The enhancement of the mechanical properties was highly correlated with the interstitial point defects and densification of the film microstructures. The corrosion resistance of the films deposited on 6061 Al alloy substrate under different biases was tested in 0.1 M H2SO4. (AlCrSi0.3TiZr)N and (AlCr1.5Si0.3TiZr0.5)N displayed the lowest corrosion currents of 0.75 and 0.19 μA/cm2 when deposited at −100 and −150 V, respectively. These values are two orders of magnitude lower than that of the uncoated substrate. The (AlCr1.5Si0.3TiZr0.5)N film showed better oxidation resistance than the (AlCrSi0.3TiZr)N film and remained partially oxidized after heat treatment at 1000 °C. The (AlCr1.5Si0.3TiZr0.5)N film deposited at −150 V exhibits excellent mechanical properties and corrosion/oxidation resistances, making it suitable for protecting tools operating in harsh environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the SPH method to study snow disasters, including the snow flow model of a vertical water diffusion equation and heat balance equation. The advantage of the SPH method is that it can capture particles' positions, which can be used to track the initial position distribution of hazardous particles. At the same time, a particle modeling method based on pixel value is proposed, which has certain advantages in dealing with the boundary modeling of different materials. In addition, snow disaster prevention and the control of classic embankment and cutting procedures were carried out. The final treatment results showed that the number of snow particles on the subgrade surface was reduced by about 90%. The validity and feasibility of the snow disaster simulation software based on the SPH method are verified by comparison with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas nitriding, as a surface modification technology to improve the wear resistance of workpiece surfaces, is widely used in wind turbine gears, pressure vessel gears, high-precision die casting abrasives, and other areas. However, the gas nitriding time is too long, reaching 40–60 h, which reduces the efficiency of nitriding and hinders the development of gas nitriding. Therefore, various accelerating methods are born accordingly. This review first introduces the basic principle, microstructure, and process parameters of conventional gas nitriding. Then, five common accelerating methods are summarized: process parameter optimization, surface mechanical nano-crystallization, surface-active catalysis, surface pre-oxidation, and surface laser treatment. Then, the effect of acceleration methods on gas nitriding is analyzed for the acceleration mechanism, nitriding behavior, and nitriding efficiency. Finally, the technical economy of the acceleration methods is compared for three aspects: energy consumption, carbon dioxide emission, and cost. And, the technical maturity of the acceleration methods is compared according to technology readiness level (TRL) technology. Based on the above content, the advantages and disadvantages of the five accelerating methods are reviewed, and the concept of a multi-technology collaborative processing acceleration method is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method to investigate the effects of the depth-width ratio of a three-dimensional street valley and wind velocity on the flow field and pollutant spread in street valleys with double-deck elevated bridges. The simulation results indicate that when there is no viaduct, there is only one vortex in the gorge when the depth-width ratio (H/W) is less than 1.5; when it is equal to 1.5, multiple vortices appear. With a double-deck viaduct, the viaduct changes the airflow field and turbulence structure in the valley, creating a primary vortex and multiple secondary vortices. Aiming at the diffusion of pollutants, the changing trend in the horizontal and vertical direction was quantitatively analyzed. The study found that when the aspect ratio increased from 0.8 to 1.5, the CO concentration on the leeward side increased by 40%, and the CO concentration on the windward side increased by four times. When the street width increased from 20 m to 37.5 m, the CO concentration decreased by 30%. The increase in wind speed reduced the CO concentration by 28% on the lee side and 33% on the windward side. This study reveals the general pattern of pollutant dispersion in viaduct-street canyon structures, providing insights into the construction of viaducts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural development of reclaimed coastal areas in Jiangsu Province is significantly hindered by high soil salinity and an inadequate irrigation and drainage infrastructure. Optimizing the layout of subsurface drainage systems has been identified as an effective means of reducing soil salinity, with the proper designation of engineering parameters being crucial. This study applied 12 treatments (T1–T12) consisting of four different spacings of subsurface drainage pipes (6 m, 11 m, 15 m, and no subsurface drainage pipes) and three observation wells at varying distances from the drainage outlet (5 m, 25 m, and 45 m). Results showed that all three subsurface pipe spacing treatments significantly reduced soil salinity compared to natural drainage, with a smaller subsurface pipe spacing treatment leading to better salt-reducing effects. The farther the distance from the measuring point to the drain, the higher the salinity. As the burial depth of the outlet decreased and spacing between the subsurface drainage pipes decreased, the salinization rate of the 0–60 cm soil layer was higher, while the salt accumulation in the 60–80 cm soil layer was more severe. Therefore, a subsurface drainage pipe spacing of 6 m and an outlet burial depth of 40 cm are recommended as more suitable choices to effectively control salt concentration in the soil. The research aimed to provide scientific reference data and technical support for the optimized design of subsurface drainage engineering parameters while promoting efficient desalination of saline-alkali areas worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a kind of double-row reed–nylon net combined sand barrier. Using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method and the Euler–Euler double-fluid model, the new sand fences' windproof effect and airflow features are simulated under different porosities and spacings, and the optimal configuration parameters are selected. The new sand fence has better windproof performance and practical significance than double-row reed and double-row nylon net fences. The new sand fences with a porosity of 0.3–0.4 and spacing of 28 H provide a longer protection range and a better wind protection effect. Considering the serious sand damage in China's Taklamakan Desert, the new fences' impact on sand buildup is examined. The combined sand fences have powerful sand blocking and accumulation effects, even though there is only a small quantity of sand accumulation on the leeward side of the second row. The sand particles primarily settle between sand fences in the center and rear areas. The combination of sand fences made of different materials combines the advantages of both, improves the construction efficiency and service life, and provides a more economical and efficient sand barrier arrangement for the arrangement of wind and sand-blocking facilities around railroads and highways in desert areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quite a lot of engineering friction components serve at high temperatures, and are thus required to have excellent friction and wear resistance. The said study aims to fabricate high-wear-resistance coating on ordinary low-cost materials, achieving the low-cost manufacturing of some high-end friction components that are usually made with expensive solid alloys. The coating was prepared via laser cladding with a sort of widely used Fe-based self-fluxing alloy powder. The chosen substrate material was forged 42CrMo, which is popular in high-temperature friction engineering applications. In order to achieve the best possible high-temperature friction and wear properties, the prepared coating was turned and then ultrasonic burnished. Three samples, i.e., the substrate sample, the cladded sample without burnishing, and the cladded sample with burnishing, were prepared. For the three samples, the surface characteristics and friction properties at a 200 °C temperature were compared and investigated. According to the results, the cladded sample with burnishing exhibited the best surface finishing and friction behavior. Ultrasonic burnishing after cladding led to a further hardness improvement of 15.24% when compared with the cladded sample without burnishing. Therefore, ultrasonic burnishing is an effective low-cost post-treatment method for a wearable coating serving at a high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paddy cultivation in saline soil can rapidly reduce soil salinity, which is an important approach for managing, utilizing, and improving such soils. However, the high salinity of saline soil severely limits the sustainability of paddy production. Adding exogenic organic material to improve soil fertility in saline soil is a key measure for obtaining high-yield, efficient and sustainable cultivation of paddy. This study used a field experiment to explore the influences of different organic materials application on soil desalination and fertility improvement in saline paddy soil. The results showed that the application of dairy manure (DM), sludge vermicompost (SV), and vinegar residue (VR) reduced soil barrier factors, including electrical conductivity (EC) and pH, increased soil fertility, including soil organic carbon (SOC), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P), and promoted paddy growth in saline soil. Specifically, soil EC decreased by 29.0%, 32.9% and 49.4% and paddy biomass increased by 27.7%, 63.7% and 107.6% in DM, SV, and VR-treated soils with the highest application rates, respectively, compared to the control. At an equal carbon application rate, VR was more conducive to decreasing soil EC and pH and increasing paddy biomass. Compared to DM and SV, VR addition resulted in an average decrease of 20.7% and 19.1% in soil EC, respectively, and an average increase of 57.3% and 29.5% in paddy biomass. In addition, soil water-stable aggregates (WSA), SOC, N, and P contents in VR-treated soil were lower than those in DM and SV-treated soils. Correlation and path analysis revealed that there was a significant negative correlation between paddy biomass and soil barrier factors. However, EC in VR-treated soil had a direct negative effect on paddy biomass, while EC in DM and SV-treated soils had an indirect negative effect on paddy biomass. Additionally, the direct contribution of soil pH to paddy biomass was higher with VR (−1.49) than that with DM (−0.21) and SV (0.89). In contrast to DM and SV, the effect of soil WSA on paddy biomass in VR-treated soil was mainly an indirect positive effect, and the direct effect was negative. The corresponding results provided new options and ideas for the efficient utilization of saline soils and high-yield cultivation of paddy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of B4C particle size on the microstructure and mechanical properties of B4C/Al composites, and to provide theoretical guidance for the subsequent thermal processing of composites, B4C/Al composites with varying B4C particle sizes (0.2 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 10 µm) were fabricated using pressureless infiltration. The microstructure of the composites was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the mechanical properties were analyzed by hardness test, three-point bending and high temperature compression. The results indicated that Al3BC and AlB2 were the primary interfacial reaction products in B4C/Al composites, and interface reaction could be alleviated with increasing particle size. B4C/Al composites with larger B4C particle sizes exhibited a relatively uniform and discrete distribution of B4C, while those with smaller B4C particle sizes showed agglomeration of B4C. The Vickers hardness and peak flow stress of B4C/Al composites gradually decreased with the increase of B4C particle size, while the bending strength, flexural modulus, and fracture toughness tended to increase. In addition, when B4C particle size was 10 µm, the composites displayed optimal comprehensive performance with the lowest peak flow stress (150 MPa) and the highest fracture toughness (12.75 MPa·m1/2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of shale gas reservoirs often involves the utilization of horizontal well segmental multi-stage fracturing techniques. However, these reservoirs face challenges, such as rapid initial wellhead pressure and production decline, leading to extended periods of low-pressure production. To address these issues and enhance the production during the low-pressure stage, pressurized mining is considered as an effective measure. Determining the appropriate pressurization target and method for the shale gas wells is of great practical significance for ensuring stable production in shale gas fields. This study takes into account the current development status of shale gas fields and proposes a three-stage pressurization process. The process involves primary supercharging at the center station of the block, secondary supercharging at the gas collecting station, and the introduction of a small booster device located behind the platform separator and in front of the outbound valve group. By incorporating a compressor, the wellhead pressure can be reduced to 0.4 MPa, resulting in a daily output of 12,000 to 14,000 cubic meters from the platform. Using a critical liquid-carrying model for shale gas horizontal wells, this study demonstrates that reducing the wellhead pressure decreases the critical flow of liquid, thereby facilitating the discharge of the accumulated fluid from the gas well. Additionally, the formation pressure of shale gas wells is estimated using the mass balance method. This study calculates the cumulative production of different IPR curves based on the formation pressure. It develops a dynamic production decline model for gas outlet wells and establishes a relationship between the pressure depletion of gas reservoirs and the cumulative gas production before and after pressurization of H10 −2 and H10 −3 wells. The final estimated ultimate recovery of two wells is calculated. In conclusion, the implementation of multi-stage pressurization, as proposed in this study, effectively enhances the production of, and holds practical significance for, stable development of shale gas fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional toolface adjustment of a bent-housing motor is time-consuming and laborious. For the goal of rapid and accurate toolface adjustment, this paper presents an intelligent toolface adjustment method based on the drill string dynamics model and the BP (back propagation) neural network, optimized by a GA (genetic algorithm). Firstly, for the mode of rotating the drill string at the wellhead to change the downhole toolface, the drill string dynamics model is used to calculate the toolface change value. Then, the actual toolface change value is taken as the output data; the calculated toolface change value and the factors that have a significant impact on the change value of the toolface are taken as the input parameters; and the GA-BP neural network is adopted to fit the relationship between the input parameters and the output data. For the mode of changing the toolface by changing the WOB (weight on bit), the WOB change value and other parameters that cause the toolface to change were taken as the input data and the toolface change value was taken as the output data; the relationship between the WOB and the toolface was fitted with the GA-BP neural network. The results show that the prediction of absolute error under the mode of adjusting the toolface by rotating the drill string at the wellhead is within 10.9783°, and the prediction of absolute error under the mode of adjusting the toolface by changing the WOB is within 18.8833°. The intelligent models established under the two modes can meet the requirements of toolface control accuracy. Using the established intelligent prediction model, the toolface can be adjusted to the required value range at one time, which can improve drilling efficiency, and reduce labor intensity and the dependence on the experience of on-site personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fuel vapor concentration is a key parameter for assessing the flammability of aircraft fuel tanks. However, the current research on RP-3 (Rocket Propellant-3) fuel vapor concentration is inadequate. This study categorizes fuel components by the number of carbon atoms and utilizes Raoult's law to estimate the gas–liquid equilibrium relationship of each constituent element under equilibrium conditions. The equilibrium-state model is experimentally validated, and the differences in the constituents and fuel vapor concentrations of RP-3 and Jet-A (Jet Fuel-A) fuels are analyzed. In addition, an empirical correlation between the overall hydrocarbon concentration of RP-3 fuel vapor and the temperature and pressure in the equilibrium state is established, providing a theoretical basis for determining RP-3 fuel vapor concentration in related investigations. Furthermore, a transient prediction model of fuel vapor concentration is developed using the lumped parameter approach that considers the heat exchange among the fuel, gas, wall, and environment. The model's accuracy is confirmed by comparing it to existing literature. Then, the temperature and fuel vapor concentration variation patterns in the fuel tank are calculated and evaluated under two typical flight scenarios. The results show a significant difference between the calculated fuel vapor concentration values obtained through equilibrium-state and transient models. Therefore, in the design of fuel vapor catalytic inerting systems, it is crucial to consider both the equilibrium and transient fuel vapor concentration values rather than relying solely on the former. Throughout the flight envelope, gas phase and fuel phase temperatures in RP-3, Jet-A, and C10H22 fuel tanks exhibit minimal differences. However, significant variations in fuel vapor concentration exist depending on the flight state and envelope. Hence, regarding RP-3 as equivalent to C10H22 is inappropriate. Additionally, fuel vapor concentration is a more suitable metric than fuel temperature for assessing fuel tank flammability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the influence of shield excavation on the surrounding soil, and to control the influence of the shield excavation of the subway tunnel on the surface settlement and the deformation of the surrounding buildings, it is necessary to study the additional stress of the surrounding soil caused by the tunnel shield excavation and the law of surface settlement. Combined with a shield construction project of a subway tunnel, this article uses the Mindlin solution in elastic mechanics to obtain three-dimensional calculation formulas for the additional thrust on the shield cutter head surface and the additional stress and displacement field caused by the friction force between the shield shell and the soil contact interface on the surrounding soil. The Loganathan ground movement pattern is used to determine the soil movement mode. The source–sink method is used to study the formula for calculating the three-dimensional additional stress of the soil around the shield tunnel caused by ground loss. The results show that when the shield is digging, the ground goes through five stages, namely the uplift of the ground before the arrival of the shield cutter head, surface settlement when the shield reaches the surface subsides when the shield tail of the shield passes through, the passage of the shield tail of the shield, surface settlement when the lining is separated from the shield, and consolidation and settlement after the shield passes through. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, amorphous + nanocrystalline Ti-BN mixed powders were obtained through first-step mechanical alloying; subsequently, almost completely amorphous SiBCN-Ti mixed powders were achieved in the second-step milling. The SiBCN-Ti bulk ceramics were consolidated through hot pressing sintering at 1900 °C/60 MPa/30 min, and the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of the as-sintered composite ceramics were investigated using SEM, XRD, and TEM techniques. The as-sintered SiBCN-Ti bulk ceramics consisted of substantial nanosized BN(C), SiC, and Ti(C, N) with a small amount of Si2N2O and TiB2. The crystallized BN(C) enwrapped both SiC and Ti(C, N), thus effectively inhibiting the rapid growth of SiC and Ti(C, N). The sizes of SiC were ~70 nm, while the sizes of Ti(C, N) were below 30 nm, and the sizes of Si2N2O were over 100 nm. The SiBCN-20 wt.% Ti bulk ceramics obtained the highest flexural strength of 394.0 ± 19.0 MPa; however, the SiBCN-30 wt.% Ti bulk ceramics exhibited the optimized fracture toughness of 3.95 ± 0.21 GPa·cm1/2, Vickers hardness of 4.7 ± 0.27 GPa, Young's modulus of 184.2 ± 8.2 GPa, and a bulk density of 2.85 g/cm3. The addition of metal Ti into a SiBCN ceramic matrix seems to be an effective strategy for microstructure optimization and the tuning of mechanical properties, thus providing design ideas for further research regarding this family of ceramic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxygen-consuming inerting technology is expected to be the primary method for suppressing aircraft fuel tank fires and explosions in the next generation, with the catalytic reactor serving as its core component. However, the catalytic properties of the developed catalyst have yet to be thoroughly studied, and a primary reaction kinetic equation is needed to support further investigation of the reactor. Thus, this study focuses on the performance of the developed catalyst for RP-3 fuel vapor, with a test bench built to analyze its reaction kinetic characteristics. Initially, we tested the steady-state variation in the fuel vapor concentration (FVC) with fuel temperature and fitted an empirical equation, providing fundamental data for subsequent experiments. Subsequently, we studied the impact of critical parameters, such as the FVC, oxygen concentration (OC), CO2 concentration, and reaction temperature, on the reaction performance. The results demonstrate that the reaction rate is positively correlated with the FVC, OC, and reaction temperature, while CO2 has no impact on the catalytic reaction characteristics. Finally, a kinetic equation for the developed catalyst is summarized based on the experimental data, providing a fundamental equation for simulating research on the catalytic reactor and the oxygen-consuming inerting system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a large number of bearings in aircraft engines that are subjected to extreme operating conditions, such as high temperature, high speed, and heavy load, and their fatigue, wear, and other failure problems seriously affect the reliability of the engine. The complex and variable bearing operating conditions can lead to differences in the distribution of data between the source and target operating conditions, as well as insufficient labels. To solve the above challenges, a multi-scale attention mechanism-based domain adversarial neural network strategy for bearing fault diagnosis (MADANN) is proposed and verified using Case Western Reserve University bearing data and PT500mini mechanical bearing data in this paper. First, a multi-scale feature extractor with an attention mechanism is proposed to extract more discriminative multi-scale features of the input signal. Subsequently, the maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) is introduced to measure the difference between the distribution of the target domain and the source domain. Finally, the fault diagnosis process of the rolling is realized by minimizing the loss of the feature classifier, the loss of the MMD distance, and maximizing the loss of the domain discriminator. The verification results indicate that the proposed strategy has stronger learning ability and better diagnosis performance than shallow network, deep network, and commonly used domain adaptive models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary orthopedic malignancy and typically affects children and young adults. Its lesions often metastasize to distant sites in the body, such as the lungs. Metastatic OS frequently recurs and has a poor prognosis. Our main objective of this study is to provide new insights into the clinical management of patients with osteosarcoma and to explore the risk factors affecting osteosarcoma metastasis. We established a biological marker consisting of three genes from the perspective of defense response for the first time to predict the prognosis of osteosarcoma and to discover new treatment methods. Our findings have implications for both the clinical management and future research of osteosarcoma. Background: The defense response is a type of self-protective response of the body that protects it from damage by pathogenic factors. Although these reactions make important contributions to the occurrence and development of tumors, the role they play in osteosarcoma (OS), particularly in the immune microenvironment, remains unpredictable. Methods: This study included the clinical information and transcriptomic data of 84 osteosarcoma samples and the microarray data of 12 mesenchymal stem cell samples and 84 osteosarcoma samples. We obtained 129 differentially expressed genes related to the defense response (DRGs) by taking the intersection of differentially expressed genes with genes involved in the defense response pathway, and prognostic genes were screened using univariate Cox regression. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) penalized Cox regression and multivariate Cox regression were then used to establish a DRG prognostic signature (DGPS) via the stepwise method. DGPS performance was examined using independent prognostic analysis, survival curves, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. In addition, the molecular and immune mechanisms of adverse prognosis in high-risk populations identified by DGPS were elucidated. The results were well verified by experiments. Result: BNIP3, PTGIS, and ZYX were identified as the most important DRGs for OS progression (hazard ratios of 2.044, 1.485, and 0.189, respectively). DGPS demonstrated outstanding performance in the prediction of OS prognosis (area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.842 and 0.787 in the training and test sets, respectively, adj-p < 0.05 in the survival curve). DGPS also performed better than a recent clinical prognostic approach with an AUC value of only 0.674 [metastasis], which was certified in the subsequent experimental results. These three genes regulate several key biological processes, including immune receptor activity and T cell activation, and they also reduce the infiltration of some immune cells, such as B cells, CD8+ T cells, and macrophages. Encouragingly, we found that DGPS was associated with sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs including JNK Inhibitor VIII, TGX221, MP470, and SB52334. Finally, we verified the effect of BNIP3 on apoptosis, proliferation, and migration of osteosarcoma cells through experiments. Conclusions: This study elucidated the role and mechanism of BNIP3, PTGIS, and ZYX in OS progression and was well verified by the experimental results, enabling reliable prognostic means and treatment strategies to be proposed for OS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karst depressions are ideal places for building reservoirs and stacking wastes, but karst depressions are mostly located in areas with strong karst development, and there is a problem of karst leakage. The study of karst depression monitoring methods can provide technical support for the construction of reservoirs in karst depressions, and leakage monitoring technology based on distributed temperature sensing (DTS) has the clear advantages of a large measurement range, high precision, continuity, wide distribution, large area, etc. In this paper, a temperature-sensing optical cable is first used to conduct leakage monitoring tests in different soil media, and the temperature change curve in different media is obtained, which verifies the feasibility of the heatable temperature-sensing optical cable to identify leakage in soil media with different moisture contents. Then, for the heatable distributed temperature-sensing optical cable, the variation law of the temperature eigenvalues of the sensing optical cable under different seepage velocities is studied using the layout method wrapped with saturated medium-coarse sand, and the relationship between the seepage rate and the temperature eigenvalues was analyzed. A regression formula for quantitative analysis of leakage velocity was established; finally, the manganese slag silo project in Songtao County in Guizhou Province, China, was used to simulate different leakage conditions on site for testing, and the data were compared and analyzed to obtain the route under different conditions. The temperature distribution law of the seepage section verifies the feasibility of the application of heatable temperature-sensing optical cables in the seepage monitoring of karst depressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gut microbiota is increasingly considered to play a key role in human immunity and health. The aging process alters the microbiota composition, which is associated with inflammation, reactive oxygen species (ROS), decreased tissue function, and increased susceptibility to age-related diseases. It has been demonstrated that plant polysaccharides have beneficial effects on the gut microbiota, particularly in reducing pathogenic bacteria abundance and increasing beneficial bacteria populations. However, there is limited evidence of the effect of plant polysaccharides on age-related gut microbiota dysbiosis and ROS accumulation during the aging process. To explore the effect of Eucommiae polysaccharides (EPs) on age-related gut microbiota dysbiosis and ROS accumulation during the aging process of Drosophila, a series of behavioral and life span assays of Drosophila with the same genetic background in standard medium and a medium supplemented with EPs were performed. Next, the gut microbiota composition and protein composition of Drosophila in standard medium and the medium supplemented with EPs were detected using 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis and quantitative proteomic analysis. Here, we show that supplementation of Eucommiae polysaccharides (EPs) during development leads to the life span extension of Drosophila. Furthermore, EPs decreased age-related ROS accumulation and suppressed Gluconobacter, Providencia, and Enterobacteriaceae in aged Drosophila. Increased Gluconobacter, Providencia, and Enterobacteriaceae in the indigenous microbiota might induce age-related gut dysfunction in Drosophila and shortens their life span. Our study demonstrates that EPs can be used as prebiotic agents to prevent aging-associated gut dysbiosis and reactive oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Night-shift work and sleep disorders are associated with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and circadian rhythm disruption is intrinsically involved. Studies have identified several signaling pathways that separately link two melatonin receptors (MT1 and MT2) to insulin secretion and T2DM occurrence, but a comprehensive explanation of the molecular mechanism to elucidate the association between these receptors to T2DM, reasonably and precisely, has been lacking. This review thoroughly explicates the signaling system, which consists of four important pathways, linking melatonin receptors MT1 or MT2 to insulin secretion. Then, the association of the circadian rhythm with MTNR1B transcription is extensively expounded. Finally, a concrete molecular and evolutionary mechanism underlying the macroscopic association between the circadian rhythm and T2DM is established. This review provides new insights into the pathology, treatment, and prevention of T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a tumor that poses a serious threat to human health, with an extremely low five-year survival rate due to its difficulty in early diagnosis and insensitivity to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. To improve the therapeutic efficiency of HCC, we developed a novel multifunctional nanoplatform (SCF NPs) with an amphiphilic polymer (Ce6-PEG2000-FA) and a multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib. SCF NPs showed superior therapeutical efficiency for HCC due to the synergetic effect of molecular targeted therapy and phototherapy. The Ce6-PEG2000-FA not only serves as a nanocarrier with excellent biocompatibility but also can act as a therapeutic reagent for photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Furthermore, the folic acid group of Ce6-PEG2000-FA enhanced the active targeting performance of SCF NPs. As a multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, sunitinib in SCF NPs can play a role in molecular targeted therapies, including tumor growth inhibition and anti-angiogenesis. In vivo experiments, SCF NPs showed multimode imaging capabilities, which can be used for tumorous diagnosis and intraoperative navigation. Meanwhile, SCF NPs showed outstanding synergetic tumor inhibition ability. Tumors of SCF NPs group with laser radiation were eradicated without any recrudescence after 14 days of treatment. Such theranostic nanoparticles offer a novel therapeutic tactic for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate and efficient management of water and nitrogen is of significance for the intensive production of field-cultivated flowers. To investigate the effects of different irrigation and nitrogen application modes on the growth, development, and nitrogen use of Orychophragmus violaceus, three nitrogen application doses of 120, 160, and 200 kg/ha and three irrigation treatments of 50 + 30 mm (overwintering water and regreening water), 75 + 45 mm, and 100 + 60 mm were implemented. The 15N isotope tracing technique was used to investigate the fertilizer nitrogen use, soil nitrogen residue, and nitrogen balance of Orychophragmus violaceus, and the entropy weight coefficient evaluation model was employed to optimize the water and nitrogen strategy. Results showed that after the application of water and nitrogen, the fresh yield of Orychophragmus violaceus increased by 21.4–49.3%, W2N3 possessed the most obvious effect on promoting yield increase, and the fresh yield reached 31.1 t/ha. The highest plant nitrogen use efficiency (39.1%) was detected in W2N2, but no significant (p > 0.05) difference of nitrogen use efficiency was found between W2N2 andW3N2. After the peak flowering period, 23.8–39.1% of the fertilizer nitrogen was absorbed by the plants, 44.3–59.2% remained in the soil, and 13.7–21.6% was lost via deep seepage, a gaseous state, or other unknown ways. A higher application amount of water or nitrogen increased the risk of nitrogen loss. Among the treatments, W2N2 treatment has the highest entropy weight coefficient evaluation value of 0.905, indicating that W2N2 was the water–nitrogen coupling mode with optimal comprehensive benefits. It was recommended that 75 mm of overwintering water and 45 mm of regreening water combined with a 160 kg/ha nitrogen application amount is the suitable water and nitrogen regulation scheme for Orychophragmus violaceus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulosic ethanol is regarded as a perfect additive for petrol fuels for global carbon neutralization. As bioethanol conversion requires strong biomass pretreatment and overpriced enzymatic hydrolysis, it is increasingly considered in the exploration of biomass processes with fewer chemicals for cost-effective biofuels and value-added bioproducts. In this study, we performed optimal liquid-hot-water pretreatment (190 °C for 10 min) co-supplied with 4% FeCl3 to achieve the near-complete biomass enzymatic saccharification of desirable corn stalk for high bioethanol production, and all the enzyme-undigestible lignocellulose residues were then examined as active biosorbents for high Cd adsorption. Furthermore, by incubating Trichoderma reesei with the desired corn stalk co-supplied with 0.05% FeCl3 for the secretion of lignocellulose-degradation enzymes in vivo, we examined five secreted enzyme activities elevated by 1.3–3.0-fold in vitro, compared to the control without FeCl3 supplementation. After further supplying 1:2 (w/w) FeCl3 into the T. reesei-undigested lignocellulose residue for the thermal-carbonization process, we generated highly porous carbon with specific electroconductivity raised by 3–12-fold for the supercapacitor. Therefore, this work demonstrates that FeCl3 can act as a universal catalyst for the full-chain enhancement of biological, biochemical, and chemical conversions of lignocellulose substrates, providing a green-like strategy for low-cost biofuels and high-value bioproducts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past three years, COVID-19 has become an increasing global health issue. Adaptive immune cells, especially T cells, have been extensively investigated in regard to SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, human health and T cell responses are also impacted by many other pathogens and chronic diseases. We have summarized T cell performance during SARS-CoV-2 coinfection with other viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Furthermore, we distinguished if those altered T cell statuses under coinfection would affect their clinical outcomes, such as symptom severity and hospitalization demand. T cell alteration in diabetes, asthma, and hypertension patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection was also investigated in our study. We have summarized whether changes in T cell response influence the clinical outcome during comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The placenta is an important organ for fetal and maternal health during pregnancy and impacts offspring health late in life. Defects in placental vasculature and trophoblast have been identified in several pregnancy complications. Thus, the detailed molecular profile and heterogeneity of endothelial cells and trophoblasts in placentas will aid us in better understanding placental behaviors and improving pregnancy outcomes. Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was performed to profile the transcriptomics of human placental villous tissues from eleven patients with normal pregnancies in the first and second trimesters (6–16 weeks of gestation). Results: The transcriptomic landscape of 52,179 single cells was obtained, and the cells were classified as trophoblasts, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, erythroid cells, Hofbauer cells, and macrophages. Our analysis further revealed the three subtypes of placental endothelial cells, with distinct metabolic signatures and transcription factor regulatory networks. We also determined the transcriptomic features of the trophoblast subpopulations and characterized two distinct populations of progenitor cells in cytotrophoblasts, which were capable of differentiating to extravillous trophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts, respectively. Conclusions: Our study provided a high-resolution molecular profile of the human placenta between 6 and 16 weeks of gestation. Our data revealed the placental cell complexity and demonstrated the transcriptional networks and signaling involved in placental endothelial and trophoblast differentiation during early pregnancy, which will be a resource for future studies of the human placental development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In this study, an avian pathogenic Escherichia coli phage, named vB_EcoS_GN06, was isolated from sewage. Characterization experiments demonstrated that phage GN06 had wide tolerances of pH and temperature, and the one-step growth experiments showed that the latent time is 60 min, the burst size is 434 PFU/cell, and that phage GN06 has a strong lytic ability and significantly inhibits host in vitro growth and biofilm formation of the bacterium. Based on the whole genome analysis, phage GN06 can be assigned to the genus Tequintavirus and it is safe in the application. In summary, phage GN06 infecting avian pathogenic Escherichia coli GXEC-N22 (O78), may provide alternative materials for future phage therapy. Escherichia coli (O78) is an avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). It can cause perihepatitis, pericarditis, septicemia and even systemic infections in the poultry industry. With the incidence of antibiotic resistance reaching a crisis point, it is important to find alternative treatments for multidrug-resistant infections. The use of phages to control pathogens is a promising therapeutic option for antibiotic replacement. In this study, we isolated a lytic phage called vB_EcoS_GN06 from sewage. It lysed APEC GXEC-N22. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the phage belongs to family Siphoviridae. Phage GN06 has a 107,237 bp linear double-stranded DNA genome with 39.2% GC content and 155 coding sequences. It belongs to the genus Tequintavirus, subfamily Markadamsvirinae. The multiplicity of infection of 0.01 and the one-step growth showed that the latent time is 60 min and the burst size is 434 PFU/cell. Temperature and pH stability tests showed that phage GN06 was stable in the range of 4 °C–60 °C and pH 5–9. GN06 showed significant inhibition of APEC both within the liquid medium and in biofilm formation. These results suggest that phage GN06 has the potential to control bacterial pathogens. Thus, GN06 has the potential to be a new potential candidate for phage therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, most oilfields have entered the high water cut stage of waterflood development. The importance of oil–water separation technology becomes more obvious. Gravity separation is one of the most commonly used treatment techniques for produced fluid. The gravitational separator has a large processing capacity and a wide application range, but its structure is relatively simple and the separation efficiency gradually falls behind to meet current production needs. The key difficulties to improve the separation efficiency are to analyze the flow field and coalescing components inside the separator. Aiming at these difficulties, this paper reports an innovatively designed series-parallel multistage multiphase separation system (MMSS). A horizontal separator is connected in series with a vertical separator, and the vertical separator consists of five discrete pipes connected in parallel. Different coalescing components are then set inside the vertical separator. The separation effect of the MMSS is studied by numerical simulation and laboratory experiments. The oil phase volume distribution cloud diagrams of coalescing components are analyzed by numerical simulation, including semicircle baffle, spiral track plate, four-hole plate and seven-hole plate. Laboratory experiments show that MMSS has a high separation efficiency, and the water content at the oil outlet is 3.0% less than that of the horizontal separator. By observing the shape of oil droplets at the outlet and measuring the oil cut and water cut at the sampling outlet, the separation effect of four coalescent plates is obtained. According to the statistics, when the volumetric flow at the inlet of the separator is 1.5 m3/h, the average particle size of oil drops in the blank pipe, semicircular baffle, four-hole plate, spiral track and seven-hole plate increases in turn. A continuous oil layer appears at the outlet of the vertical separator in the fully open state. The water content at the oil outlet of the semicircular baffle coalescing component is always at a high level under different flow rates. When the inlet volumetric flow rate is less than 1.6 m3/h, the performance of the spiral track coalescing component is better. With the increase of the inlet volumetric flow rate, the separation efficiency of the spiral track is lower than that of the orifice. The results show that the semicircular coalescing component has the worst performance, the spiral track coalescing component is superior at small volumetric flow rates, and the orifice coalescing component is superior at large volumetric flow rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generating differentially private synthetic human mobility trajectories from real trajectories is a commonly used approach for privacy-preserving trajectory publishing. However, existing synthetic trajectory generation methods suffer from the drawbacks of poor scalability and suboptimal privacy–utility trade-off, due to continuous spatial space, high dimentionality of trajectory data and the suboptimal noise addition mechanism. To overcome the drawbacks, we propose DP-CSM, a novel differentially private trajectory generation method using coreset clustering and the staircase mechanism, to generate differentially private synthetic trajectories in two main steps. Firstly, it generates generalized locations for each timestamp, and utilizes coreset-based clustering to improve scalability. Secondly, it reconstructs synthetic trajectories with the generalized locations, and uses the staircase mechanism to avoid the over-perturbation of noises and maintain utility of synthetic trajectories. We choose three state-of-the-art clustering-based generation methods as the comparative baselines, and conduct comprehensive experiments on three real-world datasets to evaluate the performance of DP-CSM. Experimental results show that DP-CSM achieves better privacy–utility trade-off than the three baselines, and significantly outperforms the three baselines in terms of efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, computation offloading has become a research focus since it has the potential to solve the challenges faced when dealing with computation-intensive applications in the Internet of Vehicles (IoVs), especially in the 5G or future network environment. However, major issues still exist and the performance of main metrics can be improved to better adapt to the practical scenarios. This paper focuses on achieving resource- and time-efficient computation offloading in IoVs by boosting the cooperation efficiency of vehicles. Firstly, a fuzzy logic-based pricing strategy is designed to evaluate the cooperation tendency and capability of each vehicle from multiple aspects. Vehicles are encouraged to participate in the offloading process even if they are in a disadvantageous position compared to other vehicles. Secondly, a Max-Min fairness-oriented approach is proposed to find the most suitable offloading decision, and vehicles with poor cooperation capabilities are guaranteed to be treated equally in the offloading. Finally, two heuristic algorithms are presented to solve the problem with applicable complexity and to suit the practical IoV environment. Extensive simulation results prove that the proposed approach achieves remarkable performance improvements in terms of delay, service cost and the resource utilization ratios of vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil with heavy metals' contamination has caused worldwide concern, and there is an increasing interest in the application of washing agents for the remediation of soils with heavy metals' contamination. The review summarizes the recent findings about soil washing with different washing agents. For soil washing technologies, the solubilizing capability, toxicity, and biocompatibility of agents are essential concerns. Washing agents can enhance heavy metals' desorption and removal from soil. Inorganic acids/bases/salts, synthetic surfactants, and synthetic chelators are often limited due to their adverse effects on soil. Biosurfactants, HAs (humic acids), and LMWOA (low-molecular-weight organic acids) are suggested washing agents, but the limitation of their low production needs to be conquered. Moreover, both washing with a mixture agent and sequential washing have often been adopted to improve the overall capacity of the washing agent for decontamination. Mixture washing can obtain the synergetic effect for soil washing and increase washing efficiency. Sequential washing can apply an agent with a high heavy metals removal rate. However, this may cause environmental risks in the early stage, and then remove the washing agent injected in the early stage by the secondary washing stage. Overall, the already known cases reveal the good prospect of soil washing for soil remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a millijoule-level fiber–solid hybrid hundred-picosecond laser system with a stable performance and compact structure. The laser system is based on a master oscillator power amplifier structure containing an all-fiber master oscillator, a quasi-continuous-wave side-pumped Nd:YAG regenerative amplifier, and a double-pass amplifier. By using the filtering effect of fiber Bragg grating and the dispersion characteristics of single-mode fiber stretcher, the spectrum broadening caused by self-phase modulation effect is effectively suppressed. Thus, the gain linewidth of the Yb-doped fiber seed source and Nd:YAG laser amplifiers is accurately matched. The reason for thermally induced depolarization in the solid-state laser amplifier is theoretically analyzed, and a more flexible depolarization compensation structure is adopted in amplifier experiment. Furthermore, the pulse energy of 14.58 mJ and pulse width of 228 ps is achieved at 500 Hz repetition rate. The central wavelength is 1064.1 nm with a 3 dB bandwidth of 0.47 nm. The beam quality factors in the horizontal and vertical directions are 1.49 and 1.51, respectively. This laser system has a simple and compact structure and has a power stability of 1.9%. The high pulse energy and beam quality of this hundred-picosecond laser are confirmed by latter theoretical simulation of copper laser ablation. It is a very practical laser system for material processing and laser-induced damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of the WC content on the surface characteristics and nanoindentation behaviors of WC/Ni-based composite laser-clad coatings. Four NiCrSiBC coatings with WC wt% of 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60%, respectively, were clad on carbon steel substrates using a laser. The morphologies and phase compositions of four clad coatings were comparatively observed. In addition, the hardness and elastic modulus values of the four coatings were measured and quantitatively calculated. As a result, with the increase in WC, the coating grains were more refined. Meanwhile, cracks and WC particle breakage occurred in the 50–60% WC coatings, whereas this was not found in the 30–40% WC coatings. When the WC content increased from 40% up to 50%, the coating hardness and elastic modulus significantly increased. However, a further increase in WC from 50% to 60% did not result in considerable improvement in coating quality but considerably worsened the coating's cracking behavior instead. Therefore, for WC/Ni-based composite coatings, a threshold exists for the WC content, and this value was 50% within the experimental scope of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a novel eutectic nitrate molten salt mixture of the NaNO3-KNO3-Ca(NO3)2 (16:48:36 wt%) ternary system with the significant advantage of low melting temperature was successfully designed and prepared using the static fusion method. Then, its thermal-physical properties, such as the melting point, fusion enthalpy, thermal stability, specific heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, density, and viscosity, were respectively measured by a modified or self-developed experimental device. Meanwhile, for better understanding and evaluating the heat transfer and storage performances of the material, the thermal-physical properties of this studied molten salt were further compared with those of other currently potential nitrate/nitrite systems in concentrating solar power (CSP) applications. The results proved that the newly developed NaNO3-KNO3-Ca(NO3)2 system has excellent thermal-physical properties and flow characteristics. Moreover, the cost analysis also showed the new salt has good economic performance with potential market competitiveness, its price is determined to be only 42.48 ¥/kg. All of these advantages make it a promising candidate material for heat transfer fluid (HTF) and thermal energy storage (TES) in CSP applications. This work is useful and significant for developing new molten salt materials and choosing appropriate media of HTF and TES in CSP plants or other probable thermal power generation facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positron emission tomography (PET) is widely used in the diagnosis of tumors, cardiovascular system diseases, and neurological diseases. Scintillation crystals are an important part of PET scanners; they can convert γ photons into fluorescent photons to obtain their energy, time, and position information. Currently, an important research goal in PET is to find scintillation crystals with better performance. In this work, the principle of scintillation crystals is introduced, and the properties and requirements of scintillation crystals in different PET scanners are analyzed. At present, Lu2(1−x)Y2xSiO5 (LYSO) is the scintillation crystal with the best comprehensive properties. LaBr3 performs even better regarding the timing characteristics and light output; however, LaBr3 has not been used in any PET scanner because of its deliquescence. Detectors made of Gd3(Ga, Al)5O12 (GAGG) exhibit a high depth of interaction (DOI) resolution and have considerable application potential. The application fields of PET are constantly expanding, and its future development aims to achieve high spatial resolution and high sensitivity, which require scintillation crystals with better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To disclose the effect of crystal plane on the adsorption-photocatalytic activity of MnS, octahedral MnS was prepared via the hydrothermal route to enhance the adsorption and photocatalytic efficiencies of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) in visible light region. The optimal MnS treated at 433 K for 16 h could remove 94.83% TCH solution of 260 mg L−1 within 180 min, and its adsorption-photocatalytic efficiency declined to 89.68% after five cycles. Its excellent adsorption-photocatalytic activity and durability were ascribed to the sufficient vacant sites of octahedral structure for TCH adsorption and the feasible band-gap structure for visible-light response. In addition, the band gap structure (1.37 eV) of MnS with a conduction band value of −0.58 eV and a valence band value of 0.79 eV was favorable for the generation of O2−, while unsuitable for the formation of OH. Hence, octahedral MnS was a potential material for the removal of antibiotics from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]