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Objective: To compare the ability to depict MRI features of hepatobiliary agents in microvascular infiltration (MVI) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during different stages of dynamic enhancement MRI. Materials and methods: A retrospective study included 111 HCC lesions scanned with either Gd-EOB-DTPA or Gd-BOPTA. All cases underwent multiphase dynamic contrast-enhanced scanning before surgery, including arterial phase (AP), portal venous phase (PVP), transitional phase (TP), delayed phase (DP), and hepatobiliary phase (HBP). Two abdominal radiologists independently evaluated MRI features of MVI in HCC, such as peritumoral hyperenhancement, incomplete capsule, non-smooth tumor margins, and peritumoral hypointensity. Finally, the results were reviewed by the third senior abdominal radiologist. Chi-square (χ2) Inspection for comparison between groups. P < 0.05 is considered statistically significant. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate correlation with pathology, and the area under the curve (AUC) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated. Results: Among the four MVI evaluation signs, Gd-BOPTA showed significant differences in displaying two signs in the HBP (P < 0.05:0.000, 0.000), while Gd-EOB-DTPA exhibited significant differences in displaying all four signs (P < 0.05:0.005, 0.006, 0.000, 0.002). The results of the evaluations of the two contrast agents in the DP phase with incomplete capsulation showed the highest correlation with pathology (AUC: 0.843, 0.761). By combining the four MRI features, Gd-BOPTA and Gd-EOB-DTPA have correlated significantly with pathology, and Gd-BOPTA is better (AUC: 0.9312vs0.8712). Conclusion: The four features of hepatobiliary agent dynamic enhancement MRI demonstrate a good correlation with histopathological findings in the evaluation of MVI in HCC, and have certain clinical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A collaborative assessment approach, including impact index of comprehensive quality (IICQ), food pollution index (FPI), and single factor pollution index (PI), was used to simultaneously select priority metal pollutants and assess metal contamination status in the plastic-shed soil (PSS)-vegetable system of the industrial towns situated in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Overall, significant Cr increment as well as Cd and Cu pollution in PSS existed, which was related to anthropogenic activities, especially industrial wastewater irrigation. The evaluation using PI and FPI demonstrated that priority metal pollutants were Cu and Cd in PSS while Cr and Cd in vegetables. Additionally, the estimation using IICQ method revealed that 23.3% and 13.3% of the sampling sites were sub-moderately and heavily contaminated by metals, respectively. These sites especially with heavy pollution need priority pollution management. These data will be beneficial to metal pollution control in PSS-vegetable system around industrial areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LHPP has been shown to be a new tumor suppressor, and has a tendency to be under-expressed in a variety of cancers. Oncolytic virotheray is a promising therapeutics for lung cancer in recent decade years. Here we successfully constructed a new recombinant oncolytic adenovirus GD55-LHPP and investigated the effect of GD55-LHPP on the growth of lung cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that LHPP had lower expression in either lung cancer cells or clinical lung cancer tissues compared with normal cells or tissues, and GD55-LHPP effectively mediated LHPP expression in lung cancer cells. GD55-LHPP could effectively inhibit the proliferation of lung cancer cell lines and rarely affected normal cell growth. Mechanically, the oncolytic adenovirus GD55-LHPP was able to induce stronger apoptosis of lung cancer cells compared with GD55 through the activation of caspase signal pathway. Notably, GD55-LHPP also activated autophagy-related signal pathway. Further, GD55-LHPP efficiently inhibited tumor growth in lung cancer xenograft in mice and prolonged animal survival rate compared with the control GD55 or PBS. In conclusion, the novel construct GD55-LHPP provides a valuable strategy for lung cancer-targeted therapy and develop the role of tumor suppress gene LHPP in lung cancer gene therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to investigate the turbulent flow structures around the submarine model and evaluate the effect of the yaw angle on the turbulent flow characteristics. The large eddy simulation based on the boundary data immersion method is used to investigate. The computational domain consists of 1.2×108 uniformly distributed Cartesian orthogonal grid nodes to capture the basic flow characteristics around the model. The pressure coefficient, friction coefficient and wake velocity distribution are in good agreement with the experimental data. Three different types of vortex structures were mainly captured around the model, including horseshoe vortex, sail tip vortex and crossflow separation vortex. With the increase of the yaw angle, the asymmetry of the horseshoe vortex and the tip vortex gradually increases, and the vortex strength of the vortex leg on the windward of the horseshoe vortex and the vortex strength of the tip vortex also increase gradually. For the crossflow separation vortex, the flow separation zone gradually expands and migrates downstream with the increase of the yaw angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective is to study the vortical structural behaviors of a transient pitching hydrofoil and their effects on the hydrodynamic performance. The pitching motion of the hydrofoil is set to pitch up with an almost constant rate from 5° to 15° and then back to 5°, with the Reynolds number 4.4×105 and the frequency 2 Hz. The results show that the main coherent structures around the pitching hydrofoil include small-scale laminar separation bubble (LSB), large-scale second vortex (SV) and trailing edge vortex (TEV) which are all vortical. The relationship between the vortical structure and the lift is investigated with the finite-domain impulse theory. It indicates that the major part of the lift is contributed by the LSB, whereas the shedding and the formation of the SV and TEV cause the fluctuation of the lift. The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method is applied to capture the most energetic modes, revealing that the LSB mode occupies a large amount of energy in the flow field. The dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) method accurately extracts the dominant frequency and modal characteristics, with the first mode corresponding to the mean flow, the second mode corresponding to the LSB structure and the third and fourth modes corresponding to the vortex shedding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the governing equation of acoustic gravity waves is derived. Based on the governing equation, acoustic-gravity waves induced by a cylinder horizontally moving under water are investigated. Strong anisotropy phenomena are observed from the frequency spectra of the acoustic-gravity waves. According to the results, a set of line spectra, which are approximately two sets of continuous spectra, can be observed in the spectrum of the acoustic-gravity wave. A semi-analytic solution for the acoustic-gravity wave generated by the moving vortex pair in two-dimensional space is obtained with Green’s function to analyze the characteristic frequencies of the spectrum. The far-field solution of acoustic-gravity waves in three-dimensional space is asymptotically analyzed to explain phenomena observed from the frequency spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study evaluated the performance of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)–based fusion radiomics models (MMFRs) to predict telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutation status and progression-free survival (PFS) in glioblastoma patients. Methods: We retrospectively analysed 208 glioblastoma patients from two hospitals. Quantitative imaging features were extracted from each patient's T1-weighted, T1-weighted contrast-enhanced, and T2-weighted preoperative images. Using a coarse-to-fine feature selection strategy, four radiomics signature models were constructed based on the three MRI sequences and their combination for TERT promoter mutation status and PFS; model performance was subsequently evaluated. Subgroup analyses were performed by the radiomics signature of TERT promoter mutation status and PFS to distinguish patients who could benefit from prolonged temozolomide chemotherapy cycles. Results: TERT promoter mutation status was best predicted by MMFR, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.816 and 0.812 for the training and internal validation sets, respectively. The external test set also achieved stable and optimal prediction results (AUC, 0.823). MMFR better predicted patient PFS compared with the single-sequence radiomics signature in the test set (C-index, 0.643 vs 0.561 vs 0.620 vs 0.628). Subgroup analyses showed that more than six cycles of postoperative temozolomide chemotherapy were associated with improved PFS for patients in class 2 (high TERT promoter mutation and high survival rates; HR, 0.222; 95% CI, 0.054 − 0.923; p = 0.025). Conclusion: MMFR is an effective method to predict TERT promoter mutations and PFS in patients with glioblastoma. Moreover, subgroup analysis could differentiate patients who may benefit from prolonged TMZ chemotherapy cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil natural attenuation capacity (NAC) is an important ecosystem service that maintains a clean environment for organisms in the soil, which in turn supports other services. However, spatially varying indicator weights were rarely considered in the traditionally-used soil NAC assessment model (e.g., ecosystem-service performance model) at the point scale. Moreover, in the spatial simulation of soil NAC, the traditionally-used geostatistical models were usually susceptible to spatial outliers and ignored valuable auxiliary information (e.g., land-use types). This study first proposed a novel soil NAC assessment method based on the ecosystem-service performance model and moving window-entropy weight method (MW-EW) (NACMW-EW). Next, NACMW-EW was used to assess soil NAC in a typical area in Guixi City, China, and further compared with the traditionally-used NACtra and NACEW. Then, robust sequential Gaussian simulation with land-use types (RSGS-LU) was established for the spatial simulation of NACMW-EW and compared with the traditionally-used SGS, SGS-LU, and RSGS. Last, soil NAC’s spatial uncertainty was evaluated based on the 1000 realizations generated by RSGS-LU. The results showed that: (i) MW-EW effectively revealed the spatially varying indicator weights but EW couldn’t; (ii) NACMW-EW obtained more reasonable results than NACtra and NACEW; (iii) RSGS-LU (RMSE = 0.118) generated higher spatial simulation accuracy than SGS-LU (RMSE = 0.123), RSGS (RMSE = 0.132), and SGS (RMSE = 0.135); and (iv) the relatively high (P[NACMW-EW(u) > 0.57] ≥ 0.95) and low (P[NACMW-EW(u) > 0.57] ≤ 0.05) threshold-exceeding probability areas were mainly located in the south and east of the study area, respectively. It is concluded that the proposed methods were effective tools for soil NAC assessment at the point and regional scales, and the results provided accurate spatial decision support for soil ecosystem service management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physics informed neural network (PINN) has become a promising method for solving partial differential equations (PDEs). The loss function of PINN is a weighted sum of multiple items. This makes it easy to fall into local optima, especially the gradient pathologies when solving high frequency problems. The value of penalty coefficients has a crucial impact on the prediction results. Therefore, a new PINN with adaptive penalty coefficients iteratively optimized by biased multiobjective coevolutionary algorithm (BC-PINN) is presented. In BC-PINN, a two-stage optimization mechanism is used to search for parameters of neural network and penalty coefficients respectively. This method involves constructing the fitness function of penalty coefficients based on the biased dominance ranking by data item and regularization item. Compared with the previous works of others, the accuracy of fitting the initial conditions and boundary conditions is considered to be given priority, which is more conducive to PINN converging to the particular solution of PDE. In addition, the set of penalty coefficients is divided into multiple populations to improve the optimization efficiency through coevolutionary algorithm. The empirical results show that: (1) Our method can improve the gradient pathologies and effectively capture the high-frequency features. (2) Compared to the original PINN, it reduces the MSE by 1–6 orders of magnitude in our benchmark functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micron- and submicron-sized droplets have extensive applications in biomedical diagnosis and drug delivery. Moreover, accurate high-throughput analysis requires a uniform droplet size distribution and high production rates. Although the previously reported microfluidic coflow step-emulsification method can be used to generate highly monodispersed droplets, the droplet diameter (d) is constrained by the microchannel height (b), d ≳ 3 b , while the production rate is limited by the maximum capillary number of the step-emulsification regime, impeding emulsification of highly viscous liquids. In this paper, we report a novel, gas-assisted coflow step-emulsification method, where air serves as the innermost phase of a precursor hollow-core air/oil/water emulsion. Air gradually diffuses out, producing oil droplets. The size of the hollow-core droplets and the ultrathin oil layer thickness both follow the scaling laws of triphasic step-emulsification. The minimal droplet size attains d ≈ 1.7 b , inaccessible in standard all-liquid biphasic step-emulsification. The production rate per single channel is an order-of-magnitude higher than that in the standard all-liquid biphasic step-emulsification and is also superior to alternative emulsification methods. Due to low gas viscosity, the method can also be used to generate micron- and submicron-sized droplets of high-viscosity fluids, while the inert nature of the auxiliary gas offers high versatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Mechanica Sinica is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Amorphous nanomaterials with long-range disordered structures could possess distinct properties and promising applications, especially in catalysis, as compared with their conventional crystalline counterparts. It is imperative to achieve the controlled preparation of amorphous noble metal-based nanomaterials for the exploration of their phase-dependent applications. Here, we report a facile wet-chemical reduction strategy to synthesize various amorphous multimetallic Pd-based nanomaterials, including PdRu, PdRh, and PdRuRh. The phase-dependent catalytic performances of distinct Pd-based nanomaterials towards diverse catalytic applications have been demonstrated. Specifically, the usage of PdRu nanocatalysts with amorphous and crystalline face-centered cubic (fcc) phases can efficiently switch the ring-opening route of styrene oxide to obtain different products with high selectivity through alcoholysis reaction and hydrogenation reaction, respectively. Moreover, when used as an electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the synthesized amorphous PdRh nanocatalyst exhibits low overpotential and high turnover frequency values, outperforming its crystalline fcc counterpart and most of the reported Pd-based HER electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, metal-containing nanomaterials have attracted increasing interests owing to their intriguing physicochemical properties and various promising applications. Recent research has revealed that the phase of metal-containing nanomaterials could significantly affect their properties and functions. In particular, nanomaterials with amorphous phase, which possess long-range disordered atomic arrangements, and the amorphous/crystalline heterophase nanostructures comprised of both amorphous and crystalline phases, have exhibited superior performance in various applications, e.g., catalysis and energy storage. In this review, a brief overview of the recent progress on the wet-chemical synthesis and applications of amorphous and amorphous/crystalline heterophase metal-containing nanomaterials has been provided. Subsequently, on the basis of different categories of metal-containing nanomaterials, including metals, metal alloys, and metal compounds, their synthetic routes and promising applications will be highlighted. Finally, current challenges and some personal perspectives in this emerging research field will be proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral techniques are promising alternatives to traditional methods of investigating potentially toxic metal(loid) contamination. In this study, hyperspectral technology combined with partial least squares regression (PLSR) and extreme learning machine (ELM) established estimation models to predict the contents of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and tin (Sn) in multi-media environments (mine tailings, soils and sediments) surrounding abandoned mineral processing plants in a typical tin-polymetallic mineral agglomeration in Guangxi Autonomous Region. Four spectral preprocessing methods, Savitzky-Golay (SG) smoothing, continuum removal (CR), first derivative (FD) and continuous wavelet transform (CWT), were used to eliminate noise and highlight spectral features. The optimum combinations of spectral preprocessing and machine learning algorithms were explored, then the estimation models with best accuracy were obtained. CWT and CR were excellent spectral pretreatments for the hyperspectral data regardless of the applied algorithms. The coefficients of determination (R2) of estimation models for the best accuracy of various metals (loid) are as follows: Cu (CWT-ELM:0.85), Zn (CR-PLSR:0.93), As (CWT-ELM: 0.86), Cd (CR-PLSR: 0.89), Pb (CWT-PLSR: 0.75) and Sn (CR-ELM: 0.81). In contrast, ELM models had higher accuracy with R2 > 0.80 (except Cd and Pb). In conclusion, ELM-based spectral estimation models are able to predict metal (loid) concentrations with high accuracy and efficiency, providing a potential new combinatorial approach for estimating toxic metal contamination in multi-media environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-wavelength region of the near-infrared-IIb (NIR-IIb, 1,500–1,700 nm) imaging window has become an ideal window for in vivo imaging due to the suppressed photon scattering and near-zero autofluorescence of biological tissues. Therefore, it is necessary to develop fluorescent probes with excellent fluorescence performance and stability for NIR-IIb fluorescence imaging. In this work, zinc-doped silver telluride quantum dots (Zn:Ag2Te QDs) with bright fluorescence in the NIR-IIb window were synthesized. The introduction of Zn dopants inhibited crystal defects and reduced non-radiative transitions. Therefore, the quantum yield and fluorescence lifetime of Zn:Ag2Te QDs were significantly improved. In addition, Zn-doping increased the number of ligands on the surface of QDs, thus enhancing the colloidal stability of Zn:Ag2Te QDs. Moreover, the PEGylated Zn:Ag2Te QDs with high absolute quantum yield realized noninvasive imaging of cerebral vascular of mouse with high resolution able to distinguish blood capillary, which could be utilized to monitor the brain condition of mice after traumatic brain injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review the recent development in constructing higher-order topological band insulators under strong periodic drivings. In particular, we focus on various approaches in formulating the anomalous Floquet topological invariants beyond (quasi-)static band topology, and compare their different physical consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although hydroxyapatite (HAP) can prominently lower Cd uptake by celery from Cd-polluted soil, its high application rates in reality may lead to high cost and potential environmental risk. Therefore, we aimed to clarify whether combined amendments of HAP and another low-cost material (hydrated lime, corn straw-derived biochar, or zeolite) with reduced application rate of each single amendment could significantly decrease Cd transfer in soil-celery-human system without side effect on celery growth through a pot experiment. Results revealed that adding biochar, HAP, zeolite, or combined amendments had no obvious side effect on celery growth, while adding 0.3% hydrated lime significantly decreased fresh edible celery yield by 69.0%. Conversely, adding 0.5% HAP + 0.05% hydrated lime increased fresh edible celery yield by 39.8%. Additionally, adding HAP, zeolite, or hydrated lime rather than adding biochar effectively decreased total and bioaccessible Cd in edible celery. Similarly, HAP + hydrated lime and HAP + zeolite were much more efficient than HAP + biochar in lowering Cd transfer in soil-celery-human system. The total and bioaccessible Cd in edible celery were even reduced by over 50.0% after adding HAP + hydrated lime or HAP + zeolite at low rates. Considering the effects on celery growth and Cd transfer, HAP + hydrated lime and HAP + zeolite have the potential in remediating soil Cd contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Injury poses heavy burden on public health, accounting for nearly 8% of all deaths globally, but little evidence on the role of climate change on injury exists. We collect data during 2013-2019 in six provinces of China to examine the effects of temperature on injury mortality, and to project future mortality burden attributable to temperature change driven by climate change based on the assumption of constant injury mortality and population scenario. The results show that a 0.50% (95% confident interval (CI): 0.13%–0.88%) increase of injury mortality risk for each 1 °C rise in daily temperature, with higher risk for intentional injury (1.13%, 0.55%–1.71%) than that for unintentional injury (0.40%, 0.04%–0.77%). Compared to the 2010s, total injury deaths attributable to temperature change in China would increase 156,586 (37,654–272,316) in the 2090 s under representative concentration pathways 8.5 scenario with the highest for transport injury (64,764, 8,517–115,743). Populations living in Western China, people aged 15–69 years, and male may suffer more injury mortality burden from increased temperature caused by climate change. Our findings may be informative for public health policy development to effectively adapt to climate change. Injury poses heavy burden on public health, but little evidence on the potential role of climate change on injury exists. Here, the authors collect data during 2013-2019 in six provinces of China to estimate the associations between temperature and injury mortality, and to project future mortality burden attributable to temperature change driven by climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To establish a rapid and highly sensitive assay for tumor-associated trypsinogen-2 (TAT-2) based on the time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay (TRFIA) and evaluate its potential clinical value in patients with lung cancer. The double-antibody sandwich method was used in detecting TAT-2 antigen concentrations, and two types of TAT-2 antibodies (coating antibodies and Eu3+ labeled antibodies) were used. A TAT-2–TRFIA method was then established, evaluated, and used in detecting the serum TAT-2 levels of healthy subjects and patients with lung cancer. The linear range of the TAT-2–TRFIA method was 1.53–300 ng/mL, the intra-assay coefficient of variation (CV) were between 1.67% and 8.42%, and the inter-assay CV were between 4.29% and 11.44%. The recovery rates of TAT-2–TRFIA were between 99.17% and 107.06%. The cross-reactivities of trypsin and T-cell immunoglobulin mucin 3 were 0.02% and 0.82%, respectively. The serum TAT-2 levels of patients with lung cancer were higher than those of healthy subjects (P < 0.001). Combined with TAT-2, the sensitivity and specificity of CEA and CA-125 for lung cancer improved significantly. Conclusion: We successfully established a highly sensitive TAT-2–TRFIA method, which was able to facilitate the timely diagnosis of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Obesity not only affects physical and mental conditions, but also influences cognitive function. Endocrine hormones may influence the risk of obesity and severe obesity. Our study investigated the influences of changes in levels of endocrine hormones on cognitive function in patients with obesity and severe obesity. Methods: We used the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) to evaluate cognitive function in the groups of healthy control (HC), obesity (OB), and severe obesity (SOB). We detected the levels of endocrine hormones and cortisol at 8:00 am in the three groups. We statistically analyzed differences in cognitive function and levels of endocrine hormones among the three groups, and performed linear correlation analysis of cortisol level and cognitive function. Using mediation analysis, we assessed the influences of body mass index (BMI) on endocrine levels and cognitive function. Results: Our findings revealed that OB and SOB groups exhibited a lower level of cortisol than HC group. Among the three groups, we found significant differences in verbal learning (F = 4.433, P = 0.014), social cognition (F = 4.778, P = 0.010), and total cognition (F = 2.989, P = 0.008). After post hoc Bonferroni correction, we noted that SOB group had worse scores in the above-mentioned three areas than OB and HC groups. Moreover, except for working memory and visual cognition, we identified that the degree of cognitive impairment in SOB group was more severe than that in OB group. In our study, mediation analysis showed a mediating effect of BMI on cortisol level and verbal learning. We also found correlations between cortisol level and attention/alertness (r = 0.277, P = 0.003), between cortisol level and verbal learning (r = 0.205, P = 0.030), and between BMI and verbal learning (r = − 0.192, P = 0.043). Conclusion: In our study, patients in both OB and SOB groups experienced a widespread cognitive impairment. We also found that patients with severe obesity had more severe cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment could be mediated by abnormal cortisol metabolism, and BMI could be a mediating factor in regulation of cortisol level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Mechanica Sinica is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Long-term weight loss effect of bariatric surgeries for patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) remains controversial since factors like postoperative home care intensity may impact the outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of home care intensity on long-term weight loss effect of bariatric surgery in patients with PWS. Methods: This was a prospective observational study on patients with PWS undergoing bariatric surgery and patients were enrolled from July 2015 to December 2016. Detailed information of patients' weight and behaviors was recorded by caregivers postoperatively. The intensities of home care applied to patients were classified into four categories (high, moderate, low, and very low) according to the records. Results: Six cases (3 males, 3 females) were enrolled in this study with LSG (n = 2), RYGB (n = 3), and LSG-DJB (n = 1) as their primary operation. The mean BMI of these participants was 46.78 ± 11.63 kg/m2, and the mean age was 17.66 ± 6.59 years. All patients had at least 5 years of follow-ups, and the %EWL were 51.57 ± 23.36%, 64.54 ± 18.97%, 35.34 ± 36.53%, 19.45 ± 41.78%, and − 4.74 ± 71.50% in the half, first, second, third, and fifth year after surgery respectively. Two patients with high-intensity home care achieved a %EWL of 70.57 ± 8.86% in the fifth year after surgery. Conclusions: Overall long-term weight loss of bariatric surgery for patients with PWS was not found through the follow-ups. Two patients with high-intensity home care maintained weight loss at the fifth-year follow-up, suggesting a pivotal role of high-intensity home care in long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery in patients with PWS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to establish a time-resolved fluorescent immunoassay (TRFIA) for the detection of serum Galectin-3 (Gal-3) and apply this method to evaluate the clinical significance of serum Gal-3 in predicting Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy (IMN) progression. The Gal-3-TRFIA was established using the double antibody sandwich method, with the capture antibodies coated on a 96-well microplate and the detection antibodies chelated with Europium (III) (Eu3+). Serum Gal-3 was detected in 81 patients with IMN and 123 healthy controls to further evaluate the value of the Gal-3 in staging of IMN. The sensitivity of the Gal-3-TRFIA assay was 0.85 ng/mL, and the detection range was 0.85–1000 ng/mL. The Gal-3 intra-batch and inter-batch coefficients of variation were 3.45% and 5.12%, respectively. The correlation coefficient (R) between the Gal-3-TRFIA assay and commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits was 0.83. The serum Gal-3 concentration was higher in patients with IMN (65.57 ± 55.90 ng/mL) compared to healthy controls (16.29 ± 9.91 ng/mL, P < 0.0001). In this study, a wide detection range Gal-3-TRFIA assay was developed using lanthanide (Eu3+) chelates for the detection of Gal-3 concentrations in serum. Gal-3 concentration is elevated in patients with IMN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic recrystallization (DRX), precipitation and texture evolution of the ZK60 alloy sheets rolled at 300 °C with different strain rates were studied, and the effects of texture on the plasticity were also clarified. The DRX grain sizes at five strain rates (5–25 s−1) are 1.4 μm, 1.2 μm, 1.8 μm, 2.4 μm and 2.8 μm, respectively, while the DRX volume fractions are 35.8%, 75.0%, 82.0%, 88.0% and 93.0%, respectively. The maximum intensity values of the (0002) texture are 7.91, 8.22, 7.64, 5.76 and 5.34 at five strain rates, respectively. The strongest (0002) texture is observed at the strain rate of 10 s−1, which is related to the relatively low DRX volume fraction and the precipitation density. The tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) increases firstly and then decreases, while the elongation (EL) gradually increases with increasing the strain rate, suggesting that the plasticity of the alloy sheet can be improved by decreasing the basal texture intensity and increasing the dispersion degree of the basal texture. The optimal comprehensive mechanical properties are obtained at the strain rate of 10 s−1, with UTS of 358 MPa, YS of 291 MPa and EL of 21.5%. The DRX grain sizes at five strain rates (5–25 s−1) are 1.4 μm, 1.2 μm, 1.8 μm, 2.4 μm and 2.8 μm, respectively, while the DRX volume fractions are 35.8%, 75.0%, 82.0%, 88.0% and 93.0%, respectively. The maximum intensity values of the (0002) texture are 7.91, 8.22, 7.64, 5.76 and 5.34, respectively. The tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) increases firstly and then decreases, while the elongation (EL) gradually increases with increasing the strain rate, and the optimal comprehensive mechanical properties are obtained at 10 s−1, with UTS of 358 MPa, YS of 291 MPa and EL of 21.5% [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper experimentally investigates the pressure fluctuation induced by the unsteady attached cavitating flow, with special focus on the quasi-periodic cloud cavitation. A simultaneous sampling method is adopted for the synchronous measurement of the wall pressure signals and the cavitating flow images in a convergent-divergent channel. The results show that the pressure fluctuation is composed of three parts, the flow noise, the low-frequency fluctuation, and the cavity collapse induced impulse, and the pressure evolution of the quasi-periodic cloud cavitation is well consistent with the cavitation evolution. The statistical analysis of the pressure fluctuation shows that, when σ > 1.01, the probability density function (PDF) is nearly in the normal distribution, implying the randomness of the pressure fluctuation, when 0.84 < σ < 0.91, the PDF has a much larger variance than when σ > 1.01, when σ < 0.84, the PDF becomes narrow and asymmetric. In addition, the variance and the average value of the pressure indicate that the fluctuation intensity increases downstream along the cavity and reaches the maximum at the cavity closure and it also increases with the decrease of the cavitation number. The spectral analysis shows that the low-frequency pressure fluctuations mainly consist of two dominant components, the cavity shedding induced fluctuation and the lock-in fluctuation. The cavity shedding induced frequency decreases with the decrease of the cavitation number but the lock-in frequency is kept nearly constant. According to the spectral analysis of the cavity area fluctuation and the modal analysis of the flow system, the lock-in is possibly caused when the fluctuation frequency of the cavity volume approaches the natural frequency of the flow system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD), a chronic neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by sensorimotor and cognitive deficits. Previous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies found abnormal DTI metrics in white matter bundles, such as the corpus callosum, cingulate, and frontal-parietal bundles, in PD patients. These studies mainly focused on alterations in microstructural features of long-range bundles within the deep white matter (DWM) that connects pairs of distant cortical regions. However, less is known about the DTI metrics of the superficial white matter (SWM) that connects local cortical regions in PD patients. To determine whether the DTI metrics of the SWM were different between the PD patients and the healthy controls, we recruited DTI data from 34 PD patients and 29 gender- and age-matched healthy controls. Using a probabilistic tractographic approach, we first defined a population-based SWM mask across all the subjects. Using a tract-based spatial statistical (TBSS) analytic approach, we then identified the SWM bundles showing abnormal DTI metrics in the PD patients. We found that the PD patients showed significantly lower DTI metrics in the SWM bundles connecting the sensorimotor cortex, cingulate cortex, posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and parieto-occipital cortex than the healthy controls. We also found that the clinical measures in the PD patients was significantly negatively correlated with the fractional anisotropy in the SWM (FASWM) that connects core regions in the default mode network (DMN). The FASWM in the bundles that connected the PPC was significantly positively correlated with cognitive performance in the PD patients. Our findings suggest that SWM may serve as the brain structural basis underlying the sensorimotor deficits and cognitive degeneration in PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiotherapy is an important therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment through direct damage to cancer cells and augmentation of antitumor immune responses. However, the efficacy of radiotherapy is limited by hypoxia-mediated radioresistance and immunosuppression in tumor microenvironment. Here, we construct a stabilized theranostic nanoprobe based on quantum dots emitting in the near-infrared IIb (NIR-IIb, 1,500–1,700 nm) window modified by catalase, arginine–glycine–aspartate peptides and poly(ethylene glycol). We demonstrate that the nanoprobes effectively aggregate in the tumor site to locate the tumor region, thereby realizing precision radiotherapy with few side-effects. In addition, nanoprobes relieve intratumoral hypoxia and reduce the tumor infiltration of immunosuppressive cells. Moreover, the nanoprobes promote the immunogenic cell death of cancer cells to trigger the activation of dendritic cells and enhance T cell-mediated antitumor immunity to inhibit tumor metastasis. Collectively, the nanoprobe-mediated immunogenic radiotherapy can boost the abscopal effect to inhibit tumor metastasis and prolong survival. Hypoxia and immunosuppression contribute to tumor resistance to radiotherapy (RT). Here the authors design a nanoprobe based on NIR-IIb emitting quantum dots for image-guided RT and modified with catalase to relieve hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment, enhancing the precision and efficacy of RT and promoting anti-tumor immune responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-medium system, involving tailing area (tailings, surrounding soils and water) and downstream agricultural area (river water, sediments and farmland soils), was conceived to evaluate the pollution status of potential toxic elements (PTEs, including Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, Pb, Cr and Cd) and environmental risks in a tin-polymetallic mine area southwest China. The results indicated that tailings exhibited representative enrichment and combination characteristics of Sn, Cu, Ni, Fe, As, Pb and Cr compared to surrounding soils. Acid mine drainage (AMD) from tailings and other mining-related sources greatly affected river water and farmland soils, resulting in soil acidification and accumulation of Sn, As, Cu and Pb in paddy soils. Overall, potential ecological risks posed by tailings and river sediments, and pollution risks from Cu, As and Pb in farmland should be concerned. Therefore, effective measures should be urgently taken to prevent PTEs and AMD into surrounding environmental media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid assessment of heavy metal (HM) pollution in mining areas is urgently required for further remediation. Here, hyperspectral technology was used to predict HM contents of multi-media environments (tailings, surrounding soils and agricultural soils) in a mining area. The correlation between hyperspectral data and HMs was explored, then the prediction models were established by partial least squares regression (PLSR) and back propagation neural networks (BPNN). The determination coefficients (R2), root mean squared error and ratios of performance to interquartile range (RPIQ) were used to evaluate the performance of the models. Results show that: (1) both PLSR and BPNN had good prediction ability, and (2) BPNN had better generalization ability (Cu (R2 = 0.89, RPIQ = 3.05), Sn (R2 = 0.86, RPIQ = 4.91), Zn (R2 = 0.74, RPIQ = 1.44) and Pb (R2 = 0.70, RPIQ = 2.10)). In summary, this study indicates that hyperspectral technology has potential application in HM estimation and soil pollution investigation in polymetallic mining areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on the impact of the mining of metal-bearing minerals on surrounding soil mainly focused on single or a few areas. However, these studies' results cannot provide effective making-support for soil pollution control in large-scale areas, especially in cross-provincial scale. This study first collected 78 literature before 2020 on soil heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) affected by the mining of metal-bearing minerals in Southwest China. Then, the geo-accumulation index, ecological risk, and health risk were assessed based on the extracted heavy metal data. Results showed that As, Cd, Hg, and Pb should be selected as the preferentially controlled heavy metals; Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces should be selected as the preferentially concerned areas; children should be given priority attention. The results provided more effective decision support for reducing heavy metal pollution in the areas affected by the mining of metal-bearing minerals in Southwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulation and transfer of Cd by Sonchus asper intercropped with a legume crop, Vicia faba were determined via 112Cd as a tracer to assess the potential of Sonchus asper as a hyperaccumulator. In this study, Sonchus asper and Vicia faba were planted side by side in soils amended with arbuscular mycorrhizae, and 112Cd was applied to either Sonchus asper or Vicia faba planted soils while the neighboring plant received 112Cd across a nylon net impermeable to the roots. Mean concentration of 112Cd in the shoot of Sonchus asper was 7.0 times higher than Vicia faba. The translocation factor of 112Cd in Sonchus asper were 39 and 400 times higher than in Vicia faba under the 112Cd direct and indirect treatments, respectively. The results suggested that the intercropping of Sonchus asper as a hyperaccumulator with Vicia faba, might be a feasible approach for phytoremediation of Cd contaminated soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the high cropping index and substantial agricultural inputs in greenhouse vegetable production systems (GVP), the environmental problems caused by heavy metals in GVP are becoming increasingly serious. A systematic investigation of heavy metals accumulation was carried out in GVP located in Jingyang, Shaanxi, China. The accumulation of Cd and Hg was assessed to be more significant than that of other elements in these GVP soils. The pollution load index (PLI) confirmed that 98.9% of the soil samples showed a moderate level of pollution. Additionally, the potential ecological risk index (RI) values indicated that 63.7 and 14.3% of the area was at moderate and high ecological risk, respectively. In assessing the human health risks associated with vegetable consumption, the highest target hazard quotient (THQ) was that for As, followed by Cu > Cd > Zn > Pb > Hg > Cr. Although the hazard index (HI) values were below 1 except for three sample sites in the study area, the 95% quantile of forecasted HI values was 1.22. More attention should be devoted to heavy metal pollution in GVP products. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was used to identify the sources of the heavy metals. Cu and Zn accumulation were the results of fertilizer overuse; the parent material was the primary source of the As, Pb, and Cr; and the sources of Cd and Hg were inorganic fertilization and industrial emissions, respectively. Effective measures should be implemented to reduce future ecological and health risks in GVP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have investigated the associations between diurnal temperature rage (DTR) and mortality, but little evidence has been available regarding the association of DTR with years of life lost (YLL). The aim of this study was to examine the association of DTR with YLL rate, and quantify life loss per death caused by DTR in China. Daily meteorological and death data were collected from 364 locations in China during 2006–2017. First, we calculated daily YLL rate. Then, the distributed lag nonlinear model was applied to estimate the associations of DTR with YLL rate in each location, and multivariable meta-analysis was conducted to pool the location-specific estimates. Finally, we calculated the attributable fractions of DTR on YLL rate and average life loss per death to estimate the mortality burden caused by DTR. Subgroups analyses were conducted by region, age, sex and cause of death. A J-shaped association of DTR with YLL rate was identified in China. The minimum YLL-rate DTR (MYDTR) was 3.7 °C nationwide. The overall AF of DTR in China was 6.40% [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.95–8.86%], and AFs caused by DTR were higher in females, the elderly and south China. An average of 0.96 years (95%CI 0.57–1.35) life loss per death was attributable to DTR nationwide, and life losses per death attributed to DTR were higher in female, young population, and south China. AF and life loss per death caused by DTR were much higher in cold season than that in warm season. Both high DTR and low DTR increased YLL rate in China. Mortality burdens of DTR were much higher in cold season than warm season. The effects of DTR were modified by region, demography and cause of death. Our findings suggest that vulnerable population should be protected when daily temperature change rapidly, especially in cold season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of lignocellulosic materials for extracting functionalized cellulose nanocrystals (FCNs) in a green and sustainable method under mild conditions is limited owing to the strong hydrogen bonding in cellulose. A facile, green, and high-efficient avenue was developed to produce FCNs with high yield through the mechanochemistry synergetic effect of recyclable p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA)-catalyzed deep eutectic solvent (PDES) and microwave- solvothermal (MWS). FCNs with a high charge density of 1.59 e nm−2, a crystallinity of 81%, a better thermostability and dispersibility were obtained at a high yield of 87.6% by the one-step processing. The PDES could be easily recycled, and thus was beneficial to cost reduction and waste liquor treatment. Generated FCNs could be used to develop functional bionanocomposites due to their enhanced effect. When a loading of 1 wt% FCNs was added into gelatin matrix, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the bionanocomposites increased 188 and 131%, respectively, suggesting their remarkable stress transfer potential. Thus, the study demonstrates a green and cost-effective approach for the mass production of FCNs, contributing to strong potential in building high-performance bionanocomposites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purposes: Establishing accurate geochemical baselines by normalization procedures (NP) is important for distinguishing contaminated soils from the uncontaminated ones. In the areas with intensive anthropogenic influences, geochemical baselines are easily affected by the contaminated soils. The commonly used least squares method is not robust enough because it is sensitive to outliers, resulting in distorted regression relationship. A novel robust regression method, which can diminish the influences of outliers proposed, is proposed for defining more accurate geochemical baselines and the source of trace metals. Methods: Zhangjiagang County, which is under with intensive anthropogenic influences and high pollution risks, was selected as the study area. Trace metal data obtained from subsoils were used as normalizers, and SMDM-estimators were used in the robust regression for defining the geochemical baselines and the sources of trace metals in this area. Results: The robust statistical method can successfully be applied in normalization procedures for defining soil geochemical baselines. The SMDM robust regressions reduced the influence of outliers, building a more reasonable regression fitted to data points for the selected trace metals in topsoil and subsoil. Subsoil trace metals are less affected than topsoil, so they can be used as normalizers to replace general elemental normalizers. Conclusions: It is found that the geochemical baselines defined by the novel robust regression method proposed in this study can fully reflect the natural variability of soil trace metals. Moreover, this method can also apparently reduce the effects of outliers on statistical analysis, improving the accuracy of geochemical baselines in the areas with intensive anthropogenic influences and high pollution risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permeable pavement is an effective means for stormwater runoff control and pollutant removal. However, relatively few studies have examined the characteristics of permeable brick and corresponding permeable pavement system (PPS). In this work, the permeable pavement systems consisted of surface permeable brick layer (concrete or ceramic) with structural layer (including a cement mortar layer, a permeable concrete layer, and a gravel layers) were selected as typical cases to assess their permeability and runoff pollutant removal performance by laboratory experiments. The results indicated that PPS had obvious outflow hysteresis effect. The PPS with ceramic brick layer reached the saturation flow rate earlier and showed larger outflow rate than that with concrete brick layer. Both types of PPSs had a relatively high efficiency (83.8–95.2%) in removing suspended solids (SS) in stormwater runoff mainly due to the interception and filtration of the surface brick layer, whereas the structural layer of the PPS played a vital role in the removal of total phosphorus (TP). The percentage of total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency via ceramic brick layer accounted for via corresponding PPS was obviously larger than that of concrete brick layer. The PPS also displayed a certain chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal ability: around 14.0–27.0% for concrete type and 20.9–28.9% for ceramic type. Subsequently, a multi-objective evaluation model was implemented based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to identify the optimal scheme in relation to four indices: permeability, environmental benefit, compressive strength, and comprehensive economic cost. The results showed, insofar, the ceramic PPS is preferred with a better economic performance. Our study attempts to select optimal designs of PPS and provides insight into the permeable capacity and the efficiency of pollutant removal in PPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current kidney organoids model development and diseases of the nephron but not the contiguous epithelial network of the kidney's collecting duct (CD) system. Here, we report the generation of an expandable, 3D branching ureteric bud (UB) organoid culture model that can be derived from primary UB progenitors from mouse and human fetal kidneys, or generated de novo from human pluripotent stem cells. In chemically-defined culture conditions, UB organoids generate CD organoids, with differentiated principal and intercalated cells adopting spatial assemblies reflective of the adult kidney's collecting system. Aggregating 3D-cultured nephron progenitor cells with UB organoids in vitro results in a reiterative process of branching morphogenesis and nephron induction, similar to kidney development. Applying an efficient gene editing strategy to remove RET activity, we demonstrate genetically modified UB organoids can model congenital anomalies of kidney and urinary tract. Taken together, these platforms will facilitate an enhanced understanding of development, regeneration and diseases of the mammalian collecting duct system. Here, the authors model the collecting duct system in kidneys by taking ureteric bud (UB) progenitor cells from both mouse and human primary tissues, as well as from hESC and hiPSC to generate organoids, which can model congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vortex-induced vibration may lead to a premature failure of hydraulic mechanical systems, especially under the resonance condition in the torsional mode. To predict the structural fatigue life, a careful consideration of the dynamic response to the hydraulic excitations is essential in the design phase. This study focuses on the numerical investigation of the relationship between the flow velocity, the added mass and the hydrodynamic damping, particularly, with respect to a Donaldson-type hydrofoil, vibrating in the first torsional mode. A two-way fluid-structure interaction (FSI) method is used to predict above two parameters. The flow velocity is in the range of 0 m/s–20m/s. To evaluate the hydrodynamic damping ratio, an identification method is proposed, based on a modified version of the logarithmic decay method. The relative deviations of the simulated natural frequencies and hydrodynamic damping ratios as compared with the experimental data for the first torsional modes, are within 8.1% and 16.6%, respectively. The analysis results show that the added mass coefficient for the first torsional mode is in the range of 1.59–1.86, and is around 44% of that for the first bending mode. The trends of the boundary layer thickness and the wake width against the reduced velocity are found to be opposite to that of the hydrodynamic damping ratio. The theoretical equation for predicting the hydrodynamic damping ratio is modified, which is shown to be more reliable due to its consideration of the velocity independent hydrodynamic damping phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) possess outstanding properties, such as biodegradability, hydrophilicity, large specific surface areas, and are low in cost. A highly stable and sensitive humidity sensor based on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was prepared using CNCs as the sensing film. To investigate the impact of CNCs loading on the sensor performance, a series of humidity-sensitive performance tests, including linearity, response and recovery times, repeatability, hysteresis characteristics, selectivity, and long-term stability tests, was conducted. The experimental results indicated that the humidity sensor with CNCs loading of 2 μg (QCM-2) exhibited excellent logarithmic linearity, high sensitivity (32.35 Hz/% relative humidity (RH)), excellent reversible behavior, and long-term stability at a RH of 11–84%. The contact angle of QCM-2 was 12.5°, revealing its suitable hydrophilicity. Thus, we demonstrate that CNCs are great prospects for potential application in humidity sensors with high performance and low cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive materials had attracted much attention by virtue of their ability to employ abundant light sources to adapt their properties remotely and spatially in which development of novel NIR light-responsive fillers was the key factor. In this work, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were coated with polydopamine (PDA) to endow these plant-derived nanofillers with good light absorption properties. In this work, PDA@CNC was incorporated into the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) matrix to fabricate PDA@CNC/PNIAPM nanocomposite hydrogels with controllable performance in response to NIR stimuli. The PDA@CNC would not only serve as a reinforcement agent to mechanically toughen the hydrogels but also integrate considerable photothermal effect into the same system. As a result of fast NIR responsiveness and easily tailored photothermal properties, the 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) release behavior of the nanocomposite hydrogels could be remotely controlled with the assistance of a NIR laser. Besides, the nanocomposite hydrogel with Ag nanoparticles immobilized PDA@CNC (Ag/PDA@CNC) was demonstrated as a novel catalyst to tune the reduction rate of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) upon NIR irradiation. Taken together, the modified CNCs would be alternative functional nanofillers for the construction of NIR light-responsive materials with controllable performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust and ultralight biofoams had been successfully prepared using readily available and biocompatible cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) as the matrix. The γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) was first added into the CNFs suspension to act as a crosslinker to form covalent linkages between cellulose chains. Then the gelatin was incorporated into the networks via reacting with the epoxy groups on GPTMS and forming hydrogen bonding with CNFs. The content of gelatin had a significant influence on the properties of the obtained foams. With the introduction of a small amount of gelatin, the foams exhibited significantly enhanced mechanical properties and stability in water in comparison with the CNF foams without GPTMS and/or gelatin. The foams containing the appropriate ratio of gelatin to CNFs possessed the high porosity (99.16%), ultralow density (0.0077 g/cm3), good mechanical properties, and abundant functional groups (hydroxyl and carboxylate groups). These features made it an ideal adsorbent toward methylene blue (MB) and the maximum adsorption capacity could reach up to 430.33 mg/g. Additionally, the cationic MB could be removed from the mixed cationic/anionic dye solutions with high selectivity, possibly due to the strong electrostatic interactions between MB and the adsorbent. Furthermore, the recycling test demonstrated the good reusability of this biofoam. Therefore, this work provides an environmentally benign method to fabricate robust CNF-based foams, which can be considered as green adsorbents for the treatment of water pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a common environmental problem in China, trace metal accumulation and contamination in soils of greenhouse vegetable production (GVP) may pose significant health risk via oral ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact to vegetable farmers and children playing in greenhouse fields. Thus, bioaccessibility and health risk of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb in GVP soils collected from 13 GVP farms or bases near industrial areas of the Yangtze River Delta, China, were investigated as a case study. The results suggested that both GVP and industrial discharges contributed a lot to accumulation or contamination especially of Zn and Cd in soil, which subsequently increased their bioaccessible concentrations. In addition, soil acidification caused by GVP also increased bioaccessible Cr and Ni concentrations in soil of the Anthrosols study area. However, the health risk assessment of metals in GVP soil through inhalation and oral ingestion considering metal bioaccessibility suggested no non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks to both farmers and children. In contrast, there was potential carcinogenic risk within acceptable level posed by Cr in GVP soil through dermal contact to farmers and children. This indicates that both GVP and industrial activities had limited effect on health risk of trace metals in GVP soil via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. However, the carcinogenic risk posed by Cr, which mainly originated from natural sources, still cannot be negligible. Overall, the results will provide valuable information for decision-makers to develop reasonable strategies and guidelines for risk management of trace metals in GVP soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs) are important near infrared (NIR) luminescent materials with tunable and strong emission covering a broad NIR region. However, their optical properties are quite sensitive to air, water, and high temperature due to the surface oxidation, thus limiting their applications in optoelectronic devices and biological imaging. Herein, a cation-doping strategy is presented to make a series of high-quality Zn-doped PbS QDs with strong emission covering whole second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1,000-1,700 nm). First-principle calculations confirmed that Zn dopants formed dopant states and decreased the recombination energy gap of host PbS. Notably, the Zn dopants significantly improved the quantum yield, photoluminescence lifetime and thermal stability of PbS QDs. Moreover, the PEGylated Zn-doped PbS QDs emitting in the NIR-llb window (1,500-1,700 nm) realized the noninvasive imaging of cerebral vascular of mouse with high resolution, being able to distinguish blood capillary. This material not only provides a new tool for deep tissue fluorescence imaging, but is also promising for the development of other NIR related devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterogeneous lamellar structure composed of a mixture of coarse crystal layer and fine crystal layer can improve the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the metal. To obtain high-performance aluminum alloy with heterogeneous lamellar structure, high-pressure torsion experiments have been carried out at 360, 380 and 400 °C. The results of tensile test and electrochemical corrosion test show that the strength of the alloy increases from 682.46 to 781.03 MPa and the polarization resistance increases from 42.91 to 81.12 kΩ cm2 with the increase in deformation temperature. It can be inferred from optical microscopy and transmission electron microscope observations that the strength of the alloy increases with increasing temperature. This is because the geometrically necessary dislocations at the interface increase during the stretching process, which in turn increases the back stress. Moreover, the enhancement of chemical corrosion resistance can be attributed to the decreased volume fraction of grain boundaries, which results in an increase in the compactness of the passivation film in the corrosive environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies numerical methods to investigate the non-spherical bubble collapse near a rigid boundary. A three-dimensional model, with the mass conservation equation reformulated for considering the compressibility effect, is built to deal with the coupling between the pressure and the flow velocity in the momentum and energy equations and to simulate the temporal evolution of the single bubble oscillation and its surrounding flow structure. The investigations focus on the global bubble patterns and its schlieren contours, as well as the high-speed jet accompanied when the bubble collapses and the counter jet is generated in the rebound stage. The results show that the robust pressure waves emitted due to the bubble collapse lead to substantial changes of the flow structures around the bubble, especially the formation of the counter jet generated in the rebound stage. Furthermore, compared with the high-speed jet when the bubble collapses, the counter jet in the rebound stage emits the momentum several times greater in the magnitude and in diametrically opposite direction at the monitoring point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freezing of gait (FOG), a disabling symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), severely affects PD patients' life quality. Previous studies found neuropathologies in functional connectivity related to FOG, but few studies detected abnormal regional activities related to FOG in PD patients. In the present study, we analyzed the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) to detect brain regions showing abnormal activity in PD patients with FOG (PD-with-FOG) and without FOG (PD-without-FOG). As different frequencies of neural oscillations in brain may reflect distinct brain functional and physiological properties, we conducted this study in three frequency bands, slow-5 (0.01-0.027 Hz), slow-4 (0.027-0.073 Hz), and classical frequency band (0.01-0.08 Hz). We acquired rs-fMRI data from 18 PD-with-FOG patients, 18 PD-without-FOG patients, and 17 healthy controls, then calculated voxel-wise ALFF across the whole brain and compared ALFF among the three groups in each frequency band. We found: (1) in slow-5, both PD-with-FOG and PD-without-FOG patients showed lower ALFF in the bilateral putamen compared to healthy controls, (2) in slow-4, PD-with-FOG patients showed higher ALFF in left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and lower ALFF in right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) compared to either PD-without-FOG patients or healthy controls, (3) in classical frequency band, PD-with-FOG patients also showed higher ALFF in ITG compared to either PD-without-FOG patients or healthy controls. Furthermore, we found that ALFF in MFG and ITG in slow-4 provided the highest classification accuracy (96.7%) in distinguishing PD-with-FOG from PD-without-FOG patients by using a stepwise multivariate pattern analysis. Our findings indicated frequency-specific regional spontaneous neural activity related to FOG, which may help to elucidate the pathogenesis of FOG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debottlenecking is highly desirable to increase the production throughput for the oil sands industry. In this work, the bottleneck identification and capacity expansion problem is solved through optimization techniques. In the proposed debottlenecking procedure, first-principles method and Gaussian process modeling approach are applied to build process models. Depending on the type of process model used, the optimization problem is solved either as a parametric linear programming problem or as a nonlinear optimization problem. By solving the optimization problem, the bottlenecks can be identified and the necessary capacity expansion for process units for bottleneck removal is reported. The proposed method is demonstrated through applications in oil sands production process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrient surplus in intense production system such as plastic greenhouse vegetable production (PGVP) may affects soil degradation and further influences sustainable utilization. In this study, we analyzed nutrient balance of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) in PGVP and measured soil fertility properties, pH and electrical conductivity (EC) in the North, the Middle and the South of Shaanxi Province, northwestern China. Considerable nutrient surplus was found in PGVP systems, and the average nutrient balance of N, P and K were 1407.0, 682.9 and 1169.1 kg ha−1 season−1, respectively. Soil organic matter, total N, total P, total K, available P and available K in PGVP soil were 27%, 49%, 42%, 3%, 200% and 54% greater than those levels in open fields, respectively. Average pH value in greenhouse soil was 0.53 lower than that in open field, and EC value in greenhouse soil (547.11 μS cm−1) was more than triple that in open fields (157.14 μS cm−1). Soil acidification and secondary salinization has occurred in PGVP. Soil P/K ratio in PGVP systems reflected that nutrient surplus in the South (0.080) and the Middle (0.077) were greater than those in the North (0.061). The differences in nutrient accumulation rate and soil pH changes among different regions were the comprehensive results affecting by both fertilization and soil types. We deduced that fertilization in PGVP in Shaanxi Province was excessive, which may further accelerate soil nutrient accumulation, acidification and secondary salinization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive greenhouse vegetable production (GVP) has increased the pollution risk of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soils. This study examined the accumulation, sources, and potential ecological risk of six PTEs (Cu, Zn, As, Ni, Pb, and Cr) in soil under two GVP (solar greenhouse (SG) and round-arched plastic greenhouse (RAPG)) systems by portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF) and conventional laboratory analysis. The results indicated that all PTE concentrations were lower than their corresponding thresholds in GVP soils, presenting a low potential ecological risk in both GVP soils according to risk indices (RI ≤ 40.67). As, Ni, Pb, and Cr were not significantly accumulated in both GVP soils. Although Cu and Zn accumulated in both GVP soils, their accumulation extents in SG soil were both greater than that in RAPG soil. Cu and Zn were mainly originated from anthropogenic activities based on multivariate statistical analysis, which were greatly associated with excessive manure application. Overall, pXRF can identify the accumulation difference of PTEs between the two GVP soils, which is generally consistent with conventional laboratory analysis. Hence, pXRF can be a promising alternative to conventional laboratory analysis for rapid assessment of PTEs accumulation, sources, and the potential ecological risk in the two GVP soils. Although PTEs had a low ecological risk, Cu and Zn accumulation in SG soil was increased with the planting years. Therefore, rational application of livestock manure containing high levels of Cu and Zn should inspire strategies to mitigate the environmental risk in GVP soils, especially in SG soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]