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Evidence regarding the role of chronic low-grade inflammation in the progression of cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) and cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) is currently limited. This prospective cohort study, utilising data from the UK Biobank, included 273,804 adults aged 40–69 years initially free of CMD at baseline. CMM was defined as the coexistence of two or more CMDs, such as coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and stroke. The aggregated inflammation score (INFLA-score), incorporating C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, platelet count and granulocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, quantified chronic low-grade inflammation. Absolute risks (ARs), hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) assessed the association of increased INFLA-score with the risk of CMMs and CMDs. The accelerated failure time model explored the effect of INFLA-score on the time to CMM onset, and a restricted cubic spline characterised the dose-dependent relationship between INFLA-score and CMM risk. After a median follow-up of 166.37 months, 13,755 cases of CMM were identified. In quartiles with increasing INFLA-score levels, CMM ARs were 4.41%, 4.49%, 5.04% and 6.01%, respectively; HR increased by 2%, 15% and 36%, respectively, compared to the lowest quartile. The INFLA-score and CMM risk relationship was nonlinear (P for nonlinear < 0.001), exhibiting a significant risk trend change at a score of 9. For INFLA-score < 9, CMM risk increased by 1.9% for each 1-point increase; for INFLA-score ≥ 9, the risk increased by 5.9% for each 1-point increase. Additionally, a higher INFLA-score was associated with an earlier onset of CMM (P < 0.001). Compared to the first INFLA-score quartile, the AFT model revealed adjusted median times to CMM occurrence were 2.92, 6.10 and 13.19 months earlier in the second, third and fourth quartile groups, respectively. Chronic low-grade inflammation is associated with a higher risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity and earlier onset among middle-aged and older adults. Monitoring and screening the INFLA-score in adults without CMDs may improve early prevention of CMM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), traditional surgical instruments without sensing capability cannot perceive accurate operational forces during the task, and such drawbacks can be largely intensified when sophisticated tasks involving flexible and slender arms with small end-effectors, such as in gastrointestinal endoscopic surgery (GES). In this study, we propose a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) piezoresistive 3-axial tactile sensor for GES forceps, which can intuitively provide surgeons with online force feedback during robotic surgery. The MEMS fabrication process facilitates sensor chips with miniaturized dimensions. The fully encapsulated tactile sensors can be effortlessly integrated into miniature GES forceps, which feature a slender diameter of just 3.5 mm and undergo meticulous calibration procedures via the least squares method. Through experiments, the sensor's ability to accurately measure directional forces up to 1.2 N in the Z axis was validated, demonstrating an average relative error of only 1.18% compared with the full-scale output. The results indicate that this tactile sensor can provide effective 3-axial force sensing during surgical operations, such as grasping and pulling, and in ex vivo testing with a porcine stomach. The compact size, high precision, and integrability of the sensor establish solid foundations for clinical application in the operating theater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fixed-wing UAVs (FW-UAVs) are empowered to handle diverse civilian and military missions, but sensor failure scenarios are constantly rising. Rapid advancement in deep learning methods currently proposes state-of-the-art solutions for fault detection of UAVs. However, most recent deep learning-based detection models suffer from model size, high computational complexity, and high-power consumption, which are challenging for small-sized FW-UAVs with limited battery backup and computational power. Therefore, to overcome these problems, this article introduces a lightweight CNN model built on prior work combined with the LSTM-AM framework to obtain accurate fault detection of FW-UAVs with low power consumption and fast computations. First, lightweight CNN architecture aims to minimize computational complexity while maintaining high accuracy in fault detection. The LSTM model merged with Attention Mechanism (AM), allows the architecture to obtain temporal dependencies and concentrate on essential features for enhanced fault detection accuracy. The combined version of lightweight CNN, LSTM, and AM commits to more reliable and efficient fault detection in FW-UAV applications, improving UAV drones' overall performance and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weathered rock (especially granite) slopes are prone to failure under the action of rainfall, making it necessary to study the response of weathered rock slope to rainfall infiltration for landslide prevention. In this study, a series of model tests of weathered rock slope under different conditions were conducted. The matric suction, volumetric water content, earth pressure and deformation of slope were monitored in real time during rainfall. The response of the slope to rainfall infiltration, failure process and failure mode of slope under different conditions were analyzed, and the early warning criterion for the failure of weathered rock slope caused by rainfall was studied. The results show that the slope deformation evolution process under rainfall condition was closely related to the dissipation of matric suction. When the distribution of the matrix suction (or water content) of slope met the condition that the resistance to sliding of the slip-mass was overcome, the displacement increased sharply and landslide occurred. Three factors including rainfall process, lithologic condition and excavation condition significantly affect the response of weathered rock slope to rainfall. It can be found from the test results under different conditions that compared with intermittent rainfall condition, the rainfall intensity and infiltration depth were smaller when the slope entering accelerated deformation stage under the condition of incremental rainfall. The accumulated rainfall when weathered clastic landslide occurring was greater than that of weathered granite, which results in greater disaster risk. The excavation angle and moisture distribution of a slope were the main factors affecting the stability of a slope. In addition, the evolution processes and critical displacement velocities of slopes were studied by combining the deformation curves and matrix suction curves, which can be used as reference for early warning of rainfall-induced weathered rock landslide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skillful subseasonal forecasts are crucial for various sectors of society but pose a grand scientific challenge. Recently, machine learning-based weather forecasting models outperform the most successful numerical weather predictions generated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), but have not yet surpassed conventional models at subseasonal timescales. This paper introduces FuXi Subseasonal-to-Seasonal (FuXi-S2S), a machine learning model that provides global daily mean forecasts up to 42 days, encompassing five upper-air atmospheric variables at 13 pressure levels and 11 surface variables. FuXi-S2S, trained on 72 years of daily statistics from ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis data, outperforms the ECMWF's state-of-the-art Subseasonal-to-Seasonal model in ensemble mean and ensemble forecasts for total precipitation and outgoing longwave radiation, notably enhancing global precipitation forecast. The improved performance of FuXi-S2S can be primarily attributed to its superior capability to capture forecast uncertainty and accurately predict the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), extending the skillful MJO prediction from 30 days to 36 days. Moreover, FuXi-S2S not only captures realistic teleconnections associated with the MJO but also emerges as a valuable tool for discovering precursor signals, offering researchers insights and potentially establishing a new paradigm in Earth system science research. This paper introduces FuXi-S2S, a machine-learning model that outperforms conventional numerical weather prediction models at subseasonal timescales globally, extending the skillful Madden–Julian Oscillation prediction form 30 days to 36 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum lock-in amplifiers have been proposed to extract an alternating signal from a strong noise background. However, due to the typical target signal has unknown initial phase, it is challenging to extract complete information about the signal's amplitude, frequency, and initial phase. Here, we present a general protocol for achieving a quantum double lock-in amplifier by employing two quantum mixers operating under orthogonal pulse sequences. To demonstrate the practical implementation, we discuss the experimental feasibility using a five-level double-Λ coherent population trapping system with Rb atoms. Here, each Λ structure acts as a quantum mixer, and two applied dynamical decoupling sequences serve as orthogonal reference signals. Notably, the system significantly reduces the total measurement time by nearly half and mitigates time-dependent systematic errors compared to conventional two-level systems. Furthermore, our quantum double lock-in amplifier is robust against experimental imperfections. This study establishes a pathway to alternating signal measurement, thereby facilitating the development of practical quantum sensing technologies. In analogy to the classical double lock-in amplifier, this work presents a general protocol for achieving a quantum double lock-in amplifier to extract complete information about the signal's amplitude, frequency, and initial phase. The realization of the quantum double lock-in amplifier is illustrated using a five-level double-Λ coherent population trapping system as an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yangtze River Valley (YRV) experienced an unprecedented heatwave in midsummer of 2022. Still, the detailed physical processes involved in the influence of abnormal large-scale atmospheric circulation on the heatwave remain unexplored. Here, we show that the positive meridional gradient of anomalous atmospheric moisture at the middle-lower troposphere and associated extreme dry air advection over the YRV are vital prerequisites for forming the 2022 YRV heatwave. The 2022 YRV heatwave is dominated by interannual variability, contributing 72.7% to the total temperature anomalies. Diagnosis of the surface heat budget equation indicates that the surface cloud radiative forcing is the most critical process in driving the 2022 YRV heatwave, which is dominated by the positive surface short-wave cloud radiative forcing associated with the suppressed precipitation and the middle-low clouds. The suppressed precipitation is induced by the vertical dynamical processes of anomalous moisture advection caused by the abnormal descending flows over the YRV, which are driven by the negative advection of anomalous latent heat energy by climatological meridional wind (anomalous dry air advection) according to the atmospheric moist static energy equation. Simulations from the Lagrangian model FLEXPART further indicate that the moisture anomaly over the north of YRV mainly originated from the surface evaporation in the YRV, implying that there is a positive land-air feedback during the life cycle of the YRV heatwave. Our study enriches the mechanism understanding of the 2022 YRV heatwave from the perspective of surface energy budget and land-air feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work explores the shear and extensional rheology of immiscible multi-micro/nanolayered systems comprising low-density polyethylene (LDPE) paired with polystyrene (PS) and polycarbonate (PC) obtained from forced-assembly multilayer coextrusion. Firstly, miscible multilayer references based on LDPE/LLDPE layers were prepared with their miscibility characterized by shear and elongational measurements. Their strain hardening behaviors were found to be intricately linked to the number of layers and confinement. Secondly, for immiscible LDPE/PS and LDPE/PC multilayers with symmetric (50/50) and asymmetric (10/90) compositions, negative deviation of complex viscosities from neat polymers was highlighted because of the heightened confinement of LDPE chains by PS or PC and reduced entanglements at polymer–polymer interfaces. Intriguingly, LDPE/PC systems exhibited no strain hardening irrespective of layer configuration, while the geometric confinement imposed by PS layers facilitated interactions between single chains with long-chain branching (LCB), leading to strain hardening under specific conditions. Furthermore, the extensional viscosities were predicted using the Macosko model (C.W. Macosko et al. Journal of Rheology. 63 2019), accurately describing the behavior of 1024 layered films for both asymmetric (10/90) LDPE/PS and LDPE/PC systems, but not for 32 layers due to a limited number of interfaces. This study provides insights into quantifying interfacial tension properties in micro/nano-layered systems with high mismatched viscoelastic polymers, shedding light on their strain hardening properties in the presence of increased interfacial area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles (EVs) have garnered significant attention as a vital driver of economic growth and environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, ensuring the safety of high-energy batteries is now a top priority that cannot be overlooked during large-scale applications. This paper proposes an innovative active protection and cooling integrated battery module using smart materials, magneto-sensitive shear thickening fluid (MSTF), which is specifically designed to address safety threats posed by lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) exposed to harsh mechanical and environmental conditions. The theoretical framework introduces a novel approach for harnessing the smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) methodology that incorporates the intricate interplay of non-Newtonian fluid behavior, capturing the fluid-structure coupling inherent to the MSTF. This approach is further advanced by adopting an enhanced Herschel-Bulkley (H-B) model to encapsulate the intricate rheology of the MSTF under the influence of the magnetorheological effect (MRE) and shear thickening (ST) behavior. Numerical simulation results show that in the case of cooling, the MSTF is an effective cooling medium for rapidly reducing the temperature. In terms of mechanical abuse, the MSTF solidifies through actively applying the magnetic field during mechanical compression and impact within the battery module, resulting in 66% and 61.7% reductions in the maximum stress within the battery jellyroll, and 31.1% and 23% reductions in the reaction force, respectively. This mechanism effectively lowers the risk of short-circuit failure. The groundbreaking concepts unveiled in this paper for active protection battery modules are anticipated to be a valuable technological breakthrough in the areas of EV safety and lightweight/integrated design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that an N-complex of modules C is FP-injective if and only if C is N-exact and Z n i (C) is an FP-injective module for each i = 1 , 2 , ⋯ , N and each n ∈ Z by virtue of Gaussian binomial coefficients. Applications of this result go in three directions. Firstly, over a coherent ring, we prove that a bounded above N-complex C is FP-injective if and only if C is N-exact and C n is an FP-injective module for each n ∈ Z . Secondly, we obtain some examples of FP-injective N-complexes for some fixed integer N. Finally, we give a characterization of coherent rings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: Feedback-regulation system is established between single Pt sites and MoS2 supports The Pt1-MoS2-def can expand the electron transfer path from single Pt sites to whole Pt-MoS2 supports in SO2 gas atmosphere. The Pt1-MoS2-def sensors exhibit high SO2 responses and extremely low limit of detection (3.14% to 500 ppb SO2) at room temperature. The Pt1-MoS2-def sensors array can realize real-time monitoring of SO2 for plant growth. Reasonably constructing an atomic interface is pronouncedly essential for surface-related gas-sensing reaction. Herein, we present an ingenious feedback-regulation system by changing the interactional mode between single Pt atoms and adjacent S species for high-efficiency SO2 sensing. We found that the single Pt sites on the MoS2 surface can induce easier volatilization of adjacent S species to activate the whole inert S plane. Reversely, the activated S species can provide a feedback role in tailoring the antibonding-orbital electronic occupancy state of Pt atoms, thus creating a combined system involving S vacancy-assisted single Pt sites (Pt-Vs) to synergistically improve the adsorption ability of SO2 gas molecules. Furthermore, in situ Raman, ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy testing and density functional theory analysis demonstrate the intact feedback-regulation system can expand the electron transfer path from single Pt sites to whole Pt-MoS2 supports in SO2 gas atmosphere. Equipped with wireless-sensing modules, the final Pt1-MoS2-def sensors array can further realize real-time monitoring of SO2 levels and cloud-data storage for plant growth. Such a fundamental understanding of the intrinsic link between atomic interface and sensing mechanism is thus expected to broaden the rational design of highly effective gas sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In relation to the Shifu Road Station project on Line 4 of the Shenyang Metro in China, a small-pipe roof-beam method for constructing subway stations is presented. First, a numerical simulation was performed to optimize the supporting parameters of the proposed method and determine the design scheme. Subsequently, the deformation of the pipe roof and surface settlement during the construction process were investigated. Finally, the surface settlement attributed to the excavation was studied through field monitoring, and the proposed method was compared with other methods. The results show that an increase in the pipe-roof spacing has little effect on the surface settlement and pipe-roof deformation. The bearing capacity of the pipe roof can be efficiently utilized once the flexural stiffness reaches 2EI, and the flexural stiffness is not the dominant factor controlling the deformation. The essential stages in controlling surface settlement are the excavations of the transverse pilot tunnels and the soil between them. The final settlement value of the ground was 24.1 mm, resulting in a reduction in the construction period by at least five months while satisfying the control requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is proverbial that the rheological properties of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) are disparate because of their different molecular microstructures due to the unlike methods of polymerization. In this work, multiple characterizations including Size-Exclusion Chromatography (SEC) coupled with low-angle light scattering and viscosmeter, 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Crystallization Elution Fractionation (CEF) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) were conducted to get detailed information of branching on different LDPEs and LLDPEs. It was found that, in our case, LDPEs possessed higher molecular weight and greater amounts of long-chain branching (LCB) in comparison with LLDPEs. The Chemical Composition Distribution (CCD) of each LLDPE sample depends strongly on the catalyst used. LLDPE produced by Z-N catalyst exhibited broad short-chain branching (SCB) distribution (less uniform composition distribution), whereas LLDPE obtained by metallocene catalyst showed more uniform microstructure. Unlikely, the two LDPEs displayed wider but unimodal distribution corresponding to the free-radical polymerization mechanism. Both linear and nonlinear rheological results were strongly influenced by the presence of LCB. LDPEs in this work exhibited higher zero shear-viscosity, higher values of storage modulus, longer relaxation times, and higher activation energy comparing to LLDPEs. The presence of LCB leads to more pronounced strain hardening behavior in the elongational flow which is neglected in LLDPE. The molecular structures of linear and branched PEs were consistent with the rheological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities play a fundamental role in policy decision-making processes, necessitating the availability of city-level population projections to better understand future population dynamics and facilitate research across various domains, including urban planning, shrinking cities, GHG emission projections, GDP projections, disaster risk mitigation, and public health risk assessment. However, the current absence of city-level population projections for China is a significant gap in knowledge. Moreover, aggregating grid-level projections to the city level introduces substantial errors of approximately 30%, leading to discrepancies with actual population trends. The unique circumstances of China, characterized by comprehensive poverty reduction, compulsory education policies, and carbon neutrality goals, render scenarios like SSP4(Shared Socioeconomic Pathways) and SSP5 less applicable. To address the aforementioned limitations, this study made three key enhancements, which significantly refines and augments our previous investigation. Firstly, we refined the model, incorporating granular demographic data at the city level. Secondly, we redesigned the migration module to consider both regional and city-level population attractiveness. Lastly, we explored diverse fertility and migration scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LiDAR is one of the main sensors for 3D object detection in autonomous driving. LiDAR has the advantages of high precision and high resolution, but as the distance increases, the points it acquires become sparse, resulting in uneven sampling points and hindering the feature extraction of discrete objects. Current 3D object detection methods using LiDAR ignore the sparse features of the original LiDAR point cloud, resulting in low classification accuracy over small object detection, hindering the development of autonomous driving technology. To address this problem, we propose point cloud Sparse Detection Network (PCSD), an end-to-end two-stage 3D object detection framework. First, PCSD uses a data augmentation algorithm to preprocess the KITTI dataset, then uses voxel point centroids to locate voxel features, and then uses a point sparsity-aware RoI grid pooling module to aggregate local voxel features. Finally, we improve the confidence of the final bounding box by using voxel features with the original point cloud sparse features. Experimental evaluation on the challenging KITTI object detection benchmark shows significant improvements, especially in pedestrian and cyclist classification accuracy improved by 13.22% and 9.33%, respectively, demonstrating the feasibility and applicability of our work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence laws of two different rolling processes on the microstructures and properties of 6016 aluminum alloys in rolling, T4, T4P states, and aging are studied, respectively. The microstructures under different rolling processes are also analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The results indicate that during the cold rolling process, compared with B alloy, A alloy generated small initial grains. The small initial grains will increase the deformation resistance, and the strength and hardness of A alloy are better after rolling, but with poor plasticity. After solution treatment, A alloy generated small grains with recrystallization, the hardness, plasticity, and formability of A alloy in T4 state are better than B alloy after solution treatment and natural aging. A alloy is more sensitive to aging response, and artificial aging occurs during the pre-aging process. The proportion of large Angle grain boundaries in A alloy is large but with small dislocation density, uneven distribution, and small texture content. This makes A alloy have better strength and hardness in T4P and poor plasticity and formability than B alloy after solution treatment, pre-aging and natural aging. However, the strength and hardness of A alloy are also smaller than that of alloy B after artificial aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The winter precipitation over South China (SCWP) can exert great impacts on the local ecosystem and human livelihood. Previous studies suggested that the inter-annual variability of SCWP can be affected by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) via the Northwest Pacific anticyclone (NWPAC). The present study investigates the role of the India–Burma Trough (IBT) in mediating the teleconnection between ENSO and the SCWP. During the El Niño mature winter, the slowdown of Walker circulation is evident over the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO). The low-level easterly wind anomaly is pronounced from the warm pool to the western TIO, which turns into the westerly wind anomaly over the northern TIO basin and then enhances IBT. Meanwhile, the Kelvin wave in the upper troposphere stimulated by El Niño propagates eastward toward Indian Ocean and induces the tropospheric warming over TIO. The resultant increase of the meridional temperature gradient leads to the southward shift of the westerly jet stream which favors the strengthening of IBT and the increase of SCWP. It is further shown that the IBT change is unclear in La Niña. This nonlinear feature can be largely attributed to the asymmetry in both ENSO amplitude and ENSO-related circulation anomalies. The present findings highlight the role of IBT, in addition to the well-known NWPAC, in bridging ENSO and SCWP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the application scope of LIDAR has been continuously expanding, especially in object detection. Yet existing LIDAR-based methods focus on detecting vehicles on regular roadways. Scenarios with a higher prevalence of pedestrians and cyclists, such as university campuses and leisure centers, have recently received limited attention. To solve this problem, in this paper we propose a novel detection algorithm named SecondRcnn, which is built upon the SECOND algorithm and introduces a novel two-stage detection method. In the first stage, it utilizes 3D sparse convolution on the voxel LIDAR points to learn feature representations. In the second stage, regression is employed to refine the detection bounding boxes generated by the Region Of Interest pooling network. The algorithm was evaluated on the widely used KITTI data set and demonstrated significant performance improvements in detecting pedestrians (4.61% improvement) and cyclist (6.5% improvement) compared to baseline networks. Our work highlights the potential for accurate object detection in scenarios characterized by a higher presence of pedestrians and cyclists. Advancing the use of LIDAR in the field of 3D detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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It is widely believed that extensions of the minimal Higgs sector is one of the promising directions for resolving many puzzles beyond the Standard Model (SM). In this work, we study the unitarity bounds on the models by extending the two-Higgs-doublet model with an additional real or complex Higgs triplet scalar. By noting that the SM gauge symmetries SU(2)L × U(1)Y are recovered at high energies, we can classify the two-body scattering states by decomposing the direct product of two scalar multiplets into their direct sum of irreducible representations of electroweak gauge groups. In such state bases, the s-wave amplitudes of two-body scalar scatterings can be written in the form of block-diagonalized scattering matrices. Then the application of the perturbative unitarity conditions on the eigenvalues of scattering matrices leads to the analytic constraints on the model parameters. Finally, we numerically investigate the complex triplet scalar extension of the two-Higgs-doublet model, finding that the perturbative unitarity places useful stringent bounds on the model parameter space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interfacial debonding between the active layer and the current collector has been recognized as a critical mechanism for battery fading, and thus has attracted great efforts focused on the related analyses. However, much still remains to be studied regarding practical methods for suppressing electrode debonding, especially from the perspective of mechanics. In this paper, a pre-strain strategy of current collectors to alleviate electrode debonding is proposed. An analytical model for a symmetric electrode with a deformable and limited-thickness current collector is developed to analyze the debonding behavior involving both a pre-strain of the current collector and an eigen-strain of the active layers. The results reveal that the well-designed pre-strain can significantly delay the debonding onset (by up to 100%) and considerably reduce the debonding size. The critical values of the pre-strain are identified, and the pre-strain design principles are also provided. Based on these findings, this work sheds light on the mechanical design to suppress electrode degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adherence to COVID-19 protective measures is lowest for young people and males. The current study investigated characteristics associated with adherence to COVID-19 protective measures among male youth during the early months of the pandemic. Method: The study used data from a prospective cohort study among male youth with baseline assessment in 2015/2016 and follow-up measurements in 2019 and summer 2020. Attrition-weighted multivariable ordinal logistic and log-binomial regression models were used to assess factors associated with adherence to overall and specific adherence measures, respectively. Results: Among 571 male youth (mean age 18.5), overall adherence was higher for those who were older (OR: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.03–1.30), non-White (OR: 1.96; 95% CI: 1.20–3.32), and residing in an urban area (OR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.46–3.01). Overall adherence was lower for those who had a history of being drunk (OR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.42–0.99). For outdoor mask-wearing, adherence was higher for youth with attention-deficit disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (RR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.16–1.97) and lower for youth who currently used tobacco products (RR: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.21–0.70). Before a statewide mask mandate was issued, non-White youth were more likely to report wearing masks in outdoor spaces than their non-Hispanic White peers (RR: 2.34; 95% CI: 1.75–3.23). Conclusion: The study identified demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors associated with adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviors among male youth. The findings illustrate characteristics that could be leveraged for targeted preventive efforts during the ongoing pandemic and future outbreaks in a low-compliance group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large amount of environmental point cloud data can be provided by light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors. The raw points collected by the LiDAR is disordered and unstructured. It is a challenge to design algorithms to extract features from the raw points. In this paper, we propose the LiDAR point semantic segmentation net (LPSS Net), which is a dual-attention mechanism point cloud segmentation algorithm. First, the LPSS Net extracts point cloud features from the raw points, which uses the self-attention mechanism in the transformer mechanism. Second, in order to suppress irrelevant information in the features and focus on essential information, we propose a novel strategy, which designs a 3D channel attention mechanism in the encoding part. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of the algorithm by extensive experiments conducted on Semantic3D and SemanticKITTI. A high OA of 90.6% and a mIoU of 71.5% on the Semantic3D data set indicate the feasibility of the algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant RNA modification in mammalian cells and the best-studied epitranscriptomic mark. Despite the development of various tools to map m6A, a transcriptome-wide method that enables absolute quantification of m6A at single-base resolution is lacking. Here we use glyoxal and nitrite-mediated deamination of unmethylated adenosines (GLORI) to develop an absolute m6A quantification method that is conceptually similar to bisulfite-sequencing-based quantification of DNA 5-methylcytosine. We apply GLORI to quantify the m6A methylomes of mouse and human cells and reveal clustered m6A modifications with differential distribution and stoichiometry. In addition, we characterize m6A dynamics under stress and examine the quantitative landscape of m6A modification in gene expression regulation. GLORI is an unbiased, convenient method for the absolute quantification of the m6A methylome. The m6A modification is mapped transcriptome-wide at single-base resolution in mammalian cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of interactions between proteins and surfactants is of relevance in a diverse range of applications including food, enzymatic detergent formulation, and drug delivery. In spite of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-induced unfolding has been studied in detail at the protein level, deciphering the conformation-activity relationship of a recombinant γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (BlrGGT) from Bacillus licheniformis remains important to understand how the transpeptidase activity is related to its conformation. In this study, we examined the enzyme catalysis and conformational transition of BlrGGT in the presence of SDS. Enzymatic assays showed that the transpeptidase activity of BlrGGT was greatly affected by SDS in a concentration-dependent manner with approximately 90% inactivation at 6 mM. Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of SDS-treated samples clearly revealed that the heterodimeric enzyme was apparently dissociated into two different subunits at concentrations above 2 mM. The study of enzyme kinetics showed that SDS can act as a mixed-type inhibitor to reduce the catalytic efficiency of BlrGGT. Moreover, the t1/2 value of the enzyme at 55 °C was greatly reduced from 495.1 min to 7.4 min in the presence of 1 mM SDS. The I3/I1 ratio of pyrene excimer fluorescence emission changed around 3.7 mM SDS in the absence of BlrGGT and the inflection point of enzyme samples was reduced to less than 2.7 mM. The Far-UV CD spectrum of the native enzyme had two negative peaks at 208 and 222 nm, respectively; however, both negative peaks increased in magnitude with increasing SDS concentration and reached maximal values at above 4.0 mM. The intrinsic fluorescence spectra of tryptophan further demonstrated that the SDS-induced enzyme conformational transition occurred at approximately 5.1 mM. Tween 20 significantly suppressed the interaction of BlrGGT with SDS by forming mixed micelles at a molar ratio of 1.0. Taken together, this study definitely promotes our better understanding of the relationship between the conformation and catalysis of BlrGGT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Top: 100×, bottom: 200× magnification; (c) FISH results detected no human X/Y signals in any lesion cells Given the limited quantity of MSCs in human tissues, extensive ex-vivo cell expansion is required to magnify this population. Because fortuitously the human MSCs donor was female but the recipient mouse was male, the sample was then analyzed to identify human cell X/Y copy number with XY FISH, but no human X/Y signals were observed in any lesion cell. [Extracted from the article]

In recent years, the application of LIDAR has become much more extensive, especially in object detection. While laser researches have encouraging performance in detection, they are typically based on a single modality, being unable to collect information from other modalities. In this paper, we introduce a late fusion way to fuse data from LIDAR and RGB camera. For the disorder of laser, we introduce polynomial functions into the 3D network, which enable the network to take higher-order moments of a given shape into account. Considering the geometric and semantic consistency, we fuse point clouds and images to generate more accurate 3D and 2D detection results. Finally, we address the weaknesses of the intersection over union in the fusion network, employing a generalized version as both a new loss and a new metric. The experimental evaluation of the challenging KITTI object detection benchmark shows significant improvements, especially in the birds' eye view, which shows the feasibility and applicability of our work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variation of the effective modulus of silicon composite electrodes, which is a fundamental feature to analyze the coupled mechanical–electrochemical behavior of Si-based electrodes in high-capacity lithium-ion batteries, remains qualitatively controversial. To clarify the contradictory experimental results, numerical modeling of a representative volume element with silicon particles, carbon-binder domains (CBDs), and pores has been performed for the lithiation process. The key parameters for modulus variation were identified and evaluated. A mesostructure change is proposed to be a crucial mechanism that affects the modulus variation, and silicon softening is another key mechanism. Silicon softening and the decreasing CBD volume fraction collectively result in a decrease in the effective modulus of the composite, whereas an increase in the silicon volume fraction along with a decrease in porosity has the opposite effect. The findings of this work provide an in-depth and fundamental understanding of the mechanical properties of silicon composite electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present work, the effect of Ge substitution for Mn on crystal structure and martensitic transformation was carefully investigated in magnetic shape memory Ni50Mn36−xGexSn14 (x = 0, 1) alloys. From X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, it can be found that each sample possesses cubic austenitic structure (L21) at room temperature and the main peak (220) shifts to higher degree with Ge doping, indicating that the cell volume of austenitic phase shrinks. With Ge content increasing, martensitic transformation (MT), temperature shifts to higher temperature region and the difference of magnetization between martensitic and austenitic phases (ΔM) also increases. In addition, the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) and phase transition strain (ΔL/L) were investigated in Ni50Mn35GeSn14 alloy. The maximal magnetic entropy change (ΔSm) associated with martensitic transition is 3.9 J·kg−1·K−1 with applied magnetic field change of 5 T and the maximal ΔL/L reaches 0.18% in this alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of slope rock masses is influenced by freeze-thaw cycles in cold region, and the mechanism of stability deterioration is not clear. In order to understand the damage and progressive failure characteristics of rock masses under the action of freezing and thawing, a model test was conducted on slope with steep joint in this study. The temperature, frost heaving pressure and deformation of slope rock mass were monitored in real-time during the test and the progressive failure mode was studied. The experimental results show that the temperature variations of cracking and the rock mass of a slope are different. There are obvious latent heat stages in the temperature-change plot in the crack, but not in the slope rock masses. The frost heaving effect in the fracture is closely related to the constraint conditions, which change with the deformation of the fracture. The frost heaving pressure fluctuates periodically during freezing and continues to decrease during thawing. The surface deformation of the rock mass increases during freezing, and the deformation is restored when it thaws. Freeze-thaw cycling results in residual deformation of the rock mass which cannot be fully restored. Analysis shows that the rock mass at the free side of the steep-dip joint rotates slightly under the frost heaving effect, causing fracture propagation. The fracture propagation pattern is a circular arc at the beginning, then extends to the possible sliding direction of the rock mass. Frost heaving force and fracture water pressure are the key factors for the failure of the slope, which can cause the crack to penetrate the rock mass, and a landslide ensues when the overall anti-sliding resistance of the rock mass is overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential cold dwell fatigue failure in the titanium components of gas turbine engines is still a troublesome industrial issue. Based on small-scale laboratory specimens tangentially extracted from a disc forging of IMI834, the influences of dwell period and microstructural conditions on dwell sensitivity have been investigated. The fatigue fracture features and deformation mechanisms were characterized using SEM, XCT and TEM. EBSD was utilized to examine the microtexture of representative locations in the disc. The results demonstrated that large differences in dwell sensitivity of the IMI834 disc depended on dwell time and crystal orientation distribution. A significant dwell effect generated in the bimodal microstructure was attributed to the intense planar slip and relatively high intensity of major texture component (5.95 times the random level), where a dwell time of 120 s was basically enough for the effect to reach a saturation. For the location with low dwell sensitivity, extending the hold time would further increase the dwell debit and strain accumulation, which was manifested in enhancing planar slip density. The quantitative influence of crystal orientation, texture intensity and dwell time have been experimentally revealed, and the results could be useful when assessing and optimizing the dwell performance of large size parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central China summer precipitation (CCSP) is of great importance to the people's livelihood of this densely populated region, including the agriculture, ecosystems, water resources, economies, and health. Based on the observed precipitation, sea surface temperature (SST), and atmospheric reanalysis datasets, the present study investigates the effects of El Niño in the developing stage on the CCSP during 1960–2014. The results show that the CCSP anomalies exhibit significant negative correlations with the El Niño-related SST anomalies in both the simultaneous summer and the following winter, implying that the developing El Niño is important for modulating the CCSP. However, this climatic teleconnection of El Niño is unstable, with an obvious interdecadal change around the late 1980s. Specifically, the negative correlation is not statistically significant in the previous epoch before the late 1980s (1960–1988), but dramatically strengthens since the late 1980s (the post epoch for 1989–2014). Such an interdecadal change is closely associated with the change of the El Niño-related SST anomaly pattern. Compared to the previous epoch, the central Pacific El Niño occurs more frequently in the post epoch, leading to an interdecadal shift of the maximum warm SST anomalies from the eastern Pacific to the central Pacific. The resultant westward extension of the atmospheric circulation responses induces an anomalous low-level cyclone covering South China in the post epoch. It would prevent the southwest monsoon from delivering the moisture to the north and hence reduce the CCSP. While, in the previous epoch, the anomalous cyclone locates east of South China, exerting insignificant influence on the CCSP. This work highlights a strengthening effect of El Niño on the CCSP since the late 1980s, with great implications for the regional seasonal climate prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there are various schemes of quantum secure direct communications that have been studied. Most of these protocols commit themselves to accomplishing two goals: increasing the coding rate and expanding the range of quantum direct communications. Here in this study, a quantum secure communication protocol using the sending-or-not-sending strategy is proposed, which significantly enhances the communication distance. Numerical simulation results show that although the misalignment error e opt increases as large as 45 % , the protocol can still achieve a distance of approximately 350 km. Although the long-distance single-photon inference is involved in decoy windows, it is not required to use this technology in signal windows established for secret message transmission. Moreover, the security of the protocol against collective attacks is analyzed based on Wyner’s wiretap channel theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, China had released various environmental regulations in order to respond climate change and corresponding environmental issues. However, due to imbalanced economic development and industrial structure, different Chinese regions had different enforcement levels on environmental regulations, which led to the regional transfer of pollution-intensive industries. To study the regional disparities on carbon emission transfer, this paper used the propensity score matching–difference in differences method (hereinafter abbreviated as "PSM-DID") to evaluate the mechanism between carbon trading pilot policies and the transfer of pollution-intensive industries. Panel data on 30 Chinese provinces were used to test the validity of the "pollution haven hypothesis," covering the period of 2010–2018. The empirical results showed that under the constraints of established environmental regulation, the pilot policy promoted the transfer of pollution-intensive industries to a certain extent and verified the "pollution haven hypothesis"; the proportion of the secondary sector and energy industry in the pilot areas had been reduced after the pilot policy; on the contrary, the technical level and the economic development level of the pilot provinces and cities had been further improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemotherapy combined with photothermal therapy, a promising strategy for cancer treatment, has a high potential to control drug release and improve therapeutic efficacy. Inspired by this, a pH/NIR dual-responsive drug delivery system (DOX/HMSN@PDA-HA nanoparticles, simplified as DHPH NPs) based on hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) was designed for targeted therapy of tumor, by self-coating polydopamine-modified hyaluronic acid (HA-PDA) layer. Doxorubicin (DOX) was loaded into HMSNs for chemotherapy, while HA-PDA coating acted as photothermal therapy agent with tumor-targeted capability. Characterizations suggest that DHPH nanoparticles have been successfully constructed with excellent drug loading capacity (36.91%) and satisfactory photothermal conversion efficiency (25.74%). Furthermore, in vitro results indicate that DHPH nanoparticles could precisely target human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cells and effectively suppress the tumor cells growth under 808 nm laser irradiation (2 W cm−2). Therefore, this study presents a feasible strategy for developing efficient platform for tumor-targeted chemo-photothermal therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hippo/YAP pathway controls cell proliferation through sensing physical and spatial organization of cells. How cell-cell contact is sensed by Hippo signaling is poorly understood. Here, we identified the cell adhesion molecule KIRREL1 as an upstream positive regulator of the mammalian Hippo pathway. KIRREL1 physically interacts with SAV1 and recruits SAV1 to cell-cell contact sites. Consistent with the hypothesis that KIRREL1-mediated cell adhesion suppresses YAP activity, knockout of KIRREL1 increases YAP activity in neighboring cells. Analyzing pan-cancer CRISPR proliferation screen data reveals KIRREL1 as the top plasma membrane protein showing strong correlation with known Hippo regulators, highlighting a critical role of KIRREL1 in regulating Hippo signaling and cell proliferation. During liver regeneration in mice, KIRREL1 is upregulated, and its genetic ablation enhances hepatic YAP activity, hepatocyte reprogramming and biliary epithelial cell proliferation. Our data suggest that KIRREL1 functions as a feedback regulator of the mammalian Hippo pathway through sensing cell-cell interaction and recruiting SAV1 to cell-cell contact sites. How cell-cell contact is sensed by Hippo pathway is poorly understood. Here, the authors show that KIRREL1 functions as a feedback regulator of the mammalian Hippo pathway by sensing cell-cell interaction and recruiting SAV1 to cell-cell contacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The atmospheric oxidation of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) yields sulfuric acid and methane sulfonic acid (MSA), which are key precursors to new particles formed via homogeneous nucleation and further cluster growth in air masses. Comprehensive experimental and theoretical studies have suggested that the oxidation of DMS involves the formation of the methylthio radical (CH3S•), followed by its O2-oxidation reaction via the intermediacy of free radicals CH3SOx• (x = 1–4). Therefore, capturing these transient radicals and disclosing their reactivity are of vital importance in understanding the complex mechanism. Here, we report an optimized method for efficient gas-phase generation of CH3S• through flash pyrolysis of S-nitrosothiol CH3SNO, enabling us to study the O2-oxidation of CH3S• by combining matrix-isolation spectroscopy (IR and UV–vis) with quantum chemical computations at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pV(X + d)Z (X = D and T) level of theory. As the key intermediate for the initial oxidation of CH3S•, the peroxyl radical CH3SOO• forms by reacting with O2. Upon irradiation at 830 nm, CH3SOO• undergoes isomerization to the sulfonyl radical CH3SO2• in cryogenic matrixes (Ar, Ne, and N2), and the latter can further combine with O2 to yield another peroxyl radical CH3S(O)2OO• upon further irradiation at 440 nm. Subsequent UV-light irradiation (266 nm) causes dissociation of CH3S(O)2OO• to CH3SO2•, CH2O, SO2, and SO3. The IR spectroscopic identification of the two peroxyl radicals CH3SOO• and CH3S(O)2OO• is also supported by 18O- and 13C-isotope labeling experiments. The atmospheric oxidation of dimethyl sulfide affects the Earth's climate, but the intricate pathways of this complex reaction are still not fully described. Here, the authors use an optimized flash pyrolysis method for gas-phase generation of the methylthio radical to study its O2-oxidation via matrix-isolation spectroscopy, and unambiguously identify two peroxyl radical intermediates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We simulate the mechanical–chemical coupling during delithiation and relaxation of a cathode in a solid-state lithium-ion battery. Contact loss at the interface between the active particle and the solid electrolyte is considered. Uphill diffusion is observed during delithiation and relaxation. This phenomenon is explained by analyzing the total chemical potential and its two components. Contact loss at the interface greatly influences the stress and stress gradient in the active particle. As delithiation continues, the stress and stress gradient grow considerably, and the mechanical part of the total chemical potential becomes dominant over the chemical part of it. In the latter stage of delithiation, the influence of the incomplete interfacial constraint on the stress becomes dominant, while the effect of the concentration gradient becomes negligible. After relaxation, the concentration and stress gradients increase in a particle with contact loss. The influence of the degree of contact loss on the mechanical–chemical coupling is investigated. The overall tensile stress in the active particle increases with decreasing contact loss, causing a sharp decrease in local concentration. We also check the effect of the elastic modulus of the solid electrolyte on the coupling of the active material. A rigid solid electrolyte with a higher elastic modulus more strongly restricts the active particle, leading to a higher tensile stress, a larger stress gradient, and a greater concentration gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas drainage through underground boreholes is the main method for gas control and utilization in soft high gassy seam. However, this method has technical problems including shallow drilling depth, low drilling efficiency, and frequent engineering accidents. This paper proposes a prismatic grooved drill pipe. To verify its slag discharge effect, a numerical model of the slag discharge of the borehole collapse area was established. Furthermore, the running time, velocity, and static pressure of the drill cuttings in the borehole were tracked and analyzed. The research results show that the prismatic grooved drill pipe forms three slag discharge channels in the collapse area. This improves the slag discharge efficiency and reduces the probability of clogging in the collapse area. These, in turn, can effectively overcome the influence of the collapsed hole on the drilling. The prismatic grooved drill pipe was used in the Xinyuan Coal Mine. The field test results show that (1) the slag discharge effect was good, (2) the drill pipe did not get stuck or broken during drilling, (3) the average borehole depth attained a design depth of 130 m, and (4) the deepest borehole was 200 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prelithiation has been intensively investigated in high-capacity lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the optimization of prelithiation degrees for long service life of LIBs still remains a challenge. The positive efffect of prelithiation on suppressing degradation of LIBs, besides directly pursuing the high first Coulomb efficiency which has been widely reported in the literature, is revealed and discussed based on an analytical model focusing on the interfacial delamination in electrodes. For full charge-discharge cycling, well-designed prelithiation can effectively suppress the delamination and reduce the debonding size by approximately 25%, compared with the case without prelithiation. For the strategy combining partial charge-discharge cycling and prelithiation, the largest reversible capacity without debonding can be significantly improved by approximately 100% with well-designed prelithiation. This work is expected to provide a prelithiation design principle and further improve the mechanical stability of LIB electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a hexactinellid sponge new to science, Walteria demeteraesp. nov., which was collected from the northwestern Pacific seamounts at depths of 1 271–1 703 m. Its tubular and basiphytous body, extensive lateral processes, numerous oval lateral oscula which are irregularly situated in the body wall, the presence of microscleres with oxyoidal, discoidal and onychoidal outer ends, and the absence of anchorate discohexasters, indicate it belongs to the genus Walteria of family Euplectellidae, which is also supported by molecular phylogenetic evidence from 18S, 28S, 16S rRNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences. The unique morphotype, which is structured by a thin and rigid framework of body wall and lateral processes consisting of diactins, characterizes it as a new species. Local aggregations of individuals of this new species coupled with their associated macrofauna in the Suda Seamount are reported, highlighting its functional significance in providing biogenic microhabitats in the deep sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seamounts are vulnerable ecosystems in the deep sea and can be heavily impacted by human activities, such as bottom fishing and deep-sea mining. The species composition and distribution patterns of benthic fauna is key information for the designation of marine protected areas and environmental management plans. Three contracts for cobalt-rich crust exploration have been granted to China, Japan and Korea in the Northwest Pacific Ocean by the International Seabed Authority. However, our knowledge of benthic biodiversity in this area is extremely insufficient. During 2013–2020, eight Chinese Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association (COMRA) cruises were conducted to investigate the benthic assemblages of nine seamounts in this region. In this study, 191 ophiuroids collected from seamounts in the Northwest Pacific were identified into 29 species in 11 families. Ophiacanthidae and Euryalidae were the two most dominant families with 12 and 6 species, respectively. Ophiotomidae and Ophiopyrgidae were represented by two species each, while seven families were represented by only one species. Four species were widely distributed among 4–5 seamounts, and 17 species were found only at a single site. An integrated regional taxonomic dataset of Ophiuroidea was generated and analyzed. A total of 23 and 14 species were obtained from the Magellan Seamount Chain (MSC) and the Marcus-Wake seamounts (MWS), respectively, with 8 species shared between the two seamount groups. The individual-based rarefaction curves did not reach an asymptote, suggesting that the sampling effort was inadequate for either the entire region or each single seamount. Most species distributed in a narrow depth range, and the species composition was different between water depths above and below 2 000 m. Our results greatly improve the understanding of megafaunal biodiversity from seamounts in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, and highlight the necessity of further surveys to provide more robust information for environmental protection and management in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many seamounts are covered with cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, and are increasingly attracting interest for the potential extraction of valuable mineral resources from deep seabed environments. However, the impacts of potential mining activities on the vulnerable seamount ecosystem remain unclear. To enhance the understanding of connectivity in benthic invertebrate populations in the Northwest Pacific, several seamounts were surveyed and biological samples collected. In the present study, the ophiuroid species Ophioplinthaca defensor is reported for the first time from four deep seamounts in the Northwest Pacific, and described, providing more detailed morphological diagnosis characters. To assess the population structure of the species between and within seamounts, two mitochondrial markers (COI and 16S) were sequenced. In total, 20 haplotypes from 32 COI sequences and 8 haplotypes from 37 16S sequences were recovered. The star-shaped TCS networks and non-significant pairwise population differences reveal the absence of distinct population structures between and within seamounts. In addition, the O. defensor population seemed to have undergone a demographic expansion in history. This is the first study on the genetic population structure of a benthic invertebrate from seamounts in the Northwest Pacific, and this results suggest a potentially high, long distance dispersal capacity in O. defensor between seamounts, which could inform the development of the Regional Environmental Management Plans for the cobalt-rich crust seamounts in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]