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Abstract It remains a challenge to obtain biocompatible afterglow materials with long emission wavelengths, durable lifetimes, and good water solubility. Herein we develop a photooxidation strategy to construct near-infrared afterglow carbon nanodots with an extra-long lifetime of up to 5.9 h, comparable to that of the well-known rare-earth or organic long-persistent luminescent materials. Intriguingly, size-dependent afterglow lifetime evolution from 3.4 to 5.9 h has been observed from the carbon nanodots systems in aqueous solution. With structural/ultrafast dynamics analysis and density functional theory simulations, we reveal that the persistent luminescence in carbon nanodots is activated by a photooxidation-induced dioxetane intermediate, which can slowly release and convert energy into luminous emission via the steric hindrance effect of nanoparticles. With the persistent near-infrared luminescence, tissue penetration depth of 20 mm can be achieved. Thanks to the high signal-to-background ratio, biological safety and cancer-specific targeting ability of carbon nanodots, ultralong-afterglow guided surgery has been successfully performed on mice model to remove tumor tissues accurately, demonstrating potential clinical applications. These results may facilitate the development of long-lasting luminescent materials for precision tumor resection.

Abstract Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) have emerged as a promising encryption technology, utilizing intrinsic physical identifiers that offer enhanced security and tamper resistance. Multi‐level PUFs boost system complexity, thereby improving system reliability and fault tolerance. However, crosstalk‐free multi‐level PUFs remain a persistent challenge. In this study, a hierarchical PUF system that harnesses the spontaneous phase separation of silk fibroin /PVA blend and the random distribution of silicon‐vacancy diamonds within the blend is presented. The thermodynamic instability of phase separation and inherent unpredictability of diamond dispersion gives rise to intricate random patterns at two distinct scales, enabling time‐efficient hierarchical authentication for cryptographic keys. These patterns are complementary yet independent, inherently resistant to replication and damage thus affording robust security and reliability to the proposed system. Furthermore, customized authentication algorithms are constructed: visual PUFs authentication utilizes neural network combined structural similarity index measure, while spectral PUFs authentication employs Hamming distance and cross‐correlation bit operation. This hierarchical PUF system attains a high recognition rate without interscale crosstalk. Additionally, the coding capacity is exponentially enhanced using M‐ary encoding to reinforce multi‐level encryption. Hierarchical PUFs hold significant potential for immediate application, offering unprecedented data protection and cryptographic key authentication capabilities.

Comparative nutritional analysis of Porphyra yezoensis strains “Jianghai No. 1” and “Sutong No.1” revealed significant differences in crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, crude ash, and total sugar. Both strains contained 16 amino acids, with alanine as the highest and histidine the lowest content. Methionine was determined to be the first limiting amino acid for both strains in both amino acid score and chemical score assessment. They also featured 24 fatty acids, differing notably in four saturated fatty acids and five unsaturated fatty acids. All 12 mineral elements were present, notably differing in sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, and zinc. The “Jianghai No. 1” strain stands out with its nutrient-rich profile, featuring high protein content, low fat, and abundant minerals, which could potentially command higher market prices and generate greater economic benefits due to its superior nutritional, and set a strong foundation for its future large-scale promotion and cultivation.

Abstract Background Bicarbonate Ringer’s (BR) solution is a direct liver and kidney metabolism-independent HCO3 − buffering system. We hypothesized that BR solution would be more effective in improving acid-base equilibrium and more conducive to better liver function than Acetate Ringer’s (AR) solution in conventional orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) patients. Methods Sixty-nine adult patients underwent OLT. Patients in the bicarbonate and acetate groups received BR solution or AR solution as infused crystalloids and graft washing solution, respectively. The primary outcome was the effect on pH and base excess (BE) levels. The secondary outcome measures were the incidence and volume of intraoperative 5% sodium bicarbonate infusion and laboratory indicates of liver and kidney function. Results The pH and absolute BE values changed significantly during the anhepatic phase and immediately after transplanted liver reperfusion in the bicarbonate group compared with the acetate group (all P

Abstract Photochemical glycosylation has attracted considerable attention in carbohydrate chemistry. However, to the best of our knowledge, visible-light-promoted glycosylation via photoactive glycosyl donor has not been reported. In the study, we report a photosensitizer-free visible-light-mediated glycosylation approach using a photoactive 2-glycosyloxy tropone as the donor. This glycosylation reaction proceeds at ambient temperature to give a wide range of O-glycosides or oligosaccharides with yields up to 99%. This method is further applied in the stereoselective preparation of various functional glycosyl phosphates/phosphosaccharides, the construction of N-glycosides/nucleosides, and the late-stage glycosylation of natural products or pharmaceuticals on gram scales, and the iterative synthesis of hexasaccharide. The protocol features uncomplicated conditions, operational simplicity, wide substrate scope (58 examples), excellent compatibility with functional groups, scalability of products (7 examples), and high yields. It provides an efficient glycosylation method for accessing O/N-glycosides and glycans.

BackgroundTuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most severe form of tuberculosis (TB) and can be difficult to diagnose and treat. We aimed to describe the clinical presentation, diagnosis, disease spectrum, outcome, and prognostic factors of patients treated for TBM in China.MethodsA multicenter retrospective study was conducted from 2009 to 2019 enrolling all presumptive TBM patients referred to Xijing tertiary Hospital from 27 referral centers in and around Shaanxi province, China. Patients with clinical features suggestive of TBM (abnormal CSF parameters) were included in the study if they had adequate baseline information to be classified as “confirmed,” “probable,” or “possible” TBM according to international consensus TBM criteria and remained in follow-up. Patients with a confirmed alternative diagnosis or severe immune compromise were excluded. Clinical presentation, central nervous system imaging, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) results, TBM score, and outcome—assessed using the modified Barthel disability index—were recorded and compared.FindingsA total of 341 presumptive TBM patients met selection criteria; 63 confirmed TBM (25 culture positive, 42 Xpert-MTB/RIF positive), 66 probable TBM, 163 possible TBM, and 49 “not TBM.” Death was associated with BMRC grade III (OR = 5.172; 95%CI: 2.298–11.641), TBM score ≥ 15 (OR = 3.843; 95%CI: 1.372–10.761), age > 60 years (OR = 3.566; 95%CI: 1.022–12.442), and CSF neutrophil ratio ≥ 25% (OR = 2.298; 95%CI: 1.027–5.139). Among those with confirmed TBM, nearly one-third (17/63, 27.0%) had a TBM score 60 years) have higher TBM scores or CSF neutrophil ratios, have signs of disseminated/miliary TB, and are at greatest risk of death. In general, more effort needs to be done to improve early diagnosis and treatment outcome in TBM patients.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emission during the sewage treatment process is a serious environmental issue that requires attention. However, the N2O emission in constructed wetlands (CWs) as affected by different nitrogen forms in influents remain largely unknown. This study investigated the N2O emission profiles driven by microorganisms in CWs when exposed to two typical nitrogen sources (NH4+-N or NO3–-N) along with different carbon source supply (COD/N ratios: 3, 6, and 9). The results showed that CWs receiving NO3–-N caused a slight increase in total nitrogen removal (by up to 11.8 %). This increase was accomplished by an enrichment of key bacteria groups, including denitrifiers, dissimilatory nitrate reducers, and assimilatory nitrate reducers, which enhanced the stability of microbial interaction. Additionally, it led to a greater abundance of denitrification genes (e.g., nirK, norB, norC, and nosZ) as inferred from the database. Consequently, this led to a gradual increase in N2O emission from 66.51 to 486.77 ug-N/(m2·h) as the COD/N ratio increased in CWs. Conversely, in CWs receiving NH4+-N, an increasing influent COD/N ratio had a negative impact on nitrogen biotransformation. This resulted in fluctuating trend of N2O emissions, which decreased initially, followed by an increase at later stage (with values of 122.87, 44.00, and 148.59 ug-N/(m2·h)). Furthermore, NH4+-N in the aquatic improved the nitrogen uptake by plants and promoted the production of more root exudates. As a result, it adjusted the nitrogen-transforming function, ultimately reducing N2O emissions in CWs. This study highlights the divergence in microbiota succession and nitrogen transformation in CWs induced by nitrogen form and COD/N ratio, contributing to a better understanding of the microbial mechanisms of N2O emission in CWs with NH4+-N or NO3–-N at different COD/N ratios.

Abstract Advanced sustainable biomedical materials are urgently needed for clinical applications; however, developing biomedical materials with exceptional mechanical and bactericidal properties as well as removable functionalities to reduce unintended secondary injury remains a challenge. Here, we report a biomass‐derived composite consisting of water‐soluble fish gelatin (FG) and antibacterial ZnO@silk fibroin (ZSF) microspheres for potential application as the wound dressing. The ZSF microspheres are embedded in a FG matrix to realize the stretchable, antibacterial, and removable ZSF/FG composites. By introducing glycerin as the plasticizer, ZSF/FG composites deliver a tensile strength of 4.5 MPa and stretchability of 550%. Acting as both the germicide and hydrophile components, ZSF microspheres endow the composites with excellent antibacterial capacity and water solubility. To prevent secondary injury, the ZSF/FG composites can be easily removed from the wounds by simply exposing them to excess water. Additionally, the ZSF/FG composites exhibit favorable biocompatibility and sustain high cell viability of over 100%. The full‐thickness skin wound model on infected mice demonstrated an efficient rate of wound closure and a reduced inflammatory response. The ZSF/FG composite shows promise to hasten the healing of infected wounds and is expected a promising candidate as wound dressing for clinical therapy.

Abstract Advanced antibacterial technologies are needed to counter the rapid emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. Image-guided therapy is one of the most promising strategies for efficiently and accurately curing bacterial infections. Herein, a chemiluminescence (CL)-dynamic/guided antibacteria (CDGA) with multiple reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation capacity and chemiexcited near-infrared emission has been designed for the precise theranostics of bacterial infection by employing near-infrared emissive carbon nanodots (CDs) and peroxalate as CL fuels. Mechanistically, hydrogen peroxide generated in the bacterial microenvironment can trigger the chemically initiated electron exchange between CDs and energy-riched intermediate originated from the oxidized peroxalate, enabling bacterial induced inflammation imaging. Meanwhile, type I/II photochemical ROS production and type III ultrafast charge transfer from CDs under the self-illumination can inhibit the bacteria proliferation efficiently. The potential clinical utility of CDGA is further demonstrated in bacteria infected mice trauma model. The self-illuminating CDGA exhibits an excellent in vivo imaging quality in early detecting wound infections and internal inflammation caused by bacteria, and further are proven as efficient broad-spectrum antibacterial nanomedicines without drug-resistance, whose sterilizing rate is up to 99.99%.

Ta/MgO/NiFe/MgO/Ta anisotropic magnetoresistive thin film sensors, which can be used for magnetic scales, were prepared. To improve the magnetoresistance ratio of the sensors, these sensors were vacuum-annealed with the magnetic field applied, and then, both the static and dynamic magnetoresistive responses of the sensors were obtained. The experimental results have shown that the instability of magnetic anisotropy occurs in the sensors after vacuum-annealing, leading to the significant hysteresis and abnormal output voltage peaks. To investigate the underlying physics, the distribution of the non-uniform demagnetizing field along the width of an anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) strip is considered, and both the static and dynamic responses of the AMR elements have been calculated on the basis of the Stoner–Wohlfarth model. The results have shown that the calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The calculated results have revealed that the angles between the anisotropic field and the external magnetic field are different during the field cyclings of Hmax (maximum magnetic field) to −Hmax and −Hmax to Hmax. The angle difference is up to 6°, leading to different magnetoresistive responses. This paper is helpful for the understanding about the magnetization rotations in magnetic sensors and the manufacturing of sensors.

Replenishing landscape water with reclaimed water has been an effective way to alleviate urban water shortage. In order to investigate the variation of water quality along the pipeline and flow direction in a typical urban landscape river replenished with reclaimed water, relevant water quality indexes were consecutively monitored for 8 months. Concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) all showed a downward trend along the flow direction in reclaimed water effluent pipeline. However, values of turbidity, COD, and chlorophyll a (Chla) were decreased significantly, while concentrations of TN and TP were increased in the mixed area of reclaimed water and river. Furthermore, along Licun River, an upward trend of COD and ammonia-nitrogen (NH4+-N) was observed in summer, while in other seasons, a falling first and then rising trend of COD concentration appeared. The concentration of NH4+-N randomly fluctuated between 0.08 ​mg/L to 2.05 ​mg/L among all seasons, and TN and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3−-N) were below 15 ​mg/L with a downward first and then upward trend in each season. The concentration of TP showed a slightly upward trend (ranging from 0.08 ​mg/L to 0.57 ​mg/L) and Chla was at a relatively low level (0 – 46.32 ​μg/L). The correlation analysis revealed that light intensity, nitrogen and phosphorus were the influential factors of algae growth in river. In addition, the biomass of emergent plants and submerged plants was increased after replenishing with reclaimed water, playing a vital role in the remediation of urban landscape river.

Wafer-scale phase-controlled 2D MoTe2 layers was synthesized for in-situ fabrication of room-temperature high-performance broadband infrared photodetector and device array.

Salivary proteins from mosquitoes have received significant attention lately due to their potential to develop therapeutic treatments or vaccines for mosquito-borne diseases. Here, we report the characterization of LTRIN (lymphotoxin beta receptor inhibitor), a salivary protein known to enhance the pathogenicity of ZIKV by interrupting the LTβR-initiated NF-κB signaling pathway and, therefore, diminish the immune responses. We demonstrated that the truncated C-terminal LTRIN (ΔLTRIN) is a dimeric protein with a stable alpha helix-dominant secondary structure, which possibly aids in withstanding the temperature fluctuations during blood-feeding events. ΔLTRIN possesses two Ca2+ binding EF-hand domains, with the second EF-hand motif playing a more significant role in interacting with LTβR. Additionally, we mapped the primary binding regions of ΔLTRIN on LTβR using hydrogen–deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) and identified that 91QEKAHIAEHMDVPIDTSKMSEQELQFHY118 from the N-terminal of ΔLTRIN is the major interacting region. Together, our studies provide insight into the recognition of LTRIN by LTβR. This finding may aid in a future therapeutic and transmission-blocking vaccine development against ZIKV.

Ultraviolet high-energy photons of phosphorescent carbon dots for antibacterial applications. Herein, the UV phosphorescent CNDs were achieved by decreasing conjugation size and spatial confinement. As a demonstration, the CNDs are used to inactivate gram-negative/positive bacteria.

The advancement of power technology and the improvement of people’s living standards promote the expansion of the power grid scale and the sharp rise in electricity consumption. In the power system, due to the use of various sensors, we can collect a large number of power data (eg. the spatial-temporal information of electric vehicle charging). Usually, such spatial-temporal data is generated in the form of a data stream. The analysis and mining of such data can be widely applied in power equipment condition monitoring and maintenance, user equipment anomaly warning, urban power grid analysis and other scenarios. Among them, the pattern detection of power data plays a key role in power data analysis. Since the power data such as the spatial-temporal information of electric vehicle charging is time-sensitive, it is crucial to perform real-time pattern mining in real-time monitoring systems. However, state-of-the-art pattern detection methods are built on batch mode. Extending such works directly to an online environment tends to result in (1) expensive network cost, (2) high processing latency, and (3) low accuracy results. In this paper, we propose a framework for frequent motion pattern detection of power data in the real-time distributed environment. Through the softmax differentiation function, the power data is filtered to reduce the workload and improve the performance of the framework. At the same time, we propose the concept of historical state matrix to solve the problem that the nodes of each physical partition in a distributed environment can not perceive each other. Extensive experiments are conducted on real dataset and the experimental results show that our pattern detection is about 70% faster than baseline methods, which proves the huge advantage of our approach over available solutions in the literature.

The great uncertainty caused by the high penetration of renewable energy brings severe challenges to the economic dispatch of transmission systems. In this study, a day-ahead economic dispatch model is proposed. The model is based on the coordination framework of transmission and distribution, and it fully considers the response potential of the distribution network. The scenario generation method based on the Copula function is used to describe the uncertainty of the energy output of renewable energy sources such as wind power, and then, the response potential of the distribution network is analyzed. A day-ahead economic scheduling framework for transmission and distribution coordination is proposed, which is solved by a deep reinforcement learning algorithm. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through application to the IEEE 6-bus transmission network and the IEEE 7-bus distribution network.

With the development of renewable energy and the changes in the characteristics of power grid, it is becoming increasingly difficult to balance power supply and demand in space and time. In addition, the requirement for improved dispatching capability of power grid is increasing. Therefore, the potential of flexible load dispatching should be realized, which can promote the large-scale consumption of renewable energy and the construction of new power grid. Based on the analysis of existing load dispatching studies and the differences in the characteristics of domestic and foreign load dispatchings, a technical architecture and several key technologies are proposed for load resources to participate in power grid dispatching under the new situation, i.e., the autonomous collaborative control system of load dispatching. This system implements the multi-layer coordinated control of main, distribution and micro grids (load aggregators). Adjustable load resources are aggregated through an aggregator operation platform and connected with a dispatcher load regulator platform to realize real-time data interaction with dispatching agencies as well as the monitoring, control, and marketing of aggregators. It supports the load resources to participate in network-wide dispatching optimization via continuous power adjustment. Several key technologies such as the control mode, load modeling, dispatching strategy, and safety protection are also elaborated. Through the closed-loop control of orderly charging piles and energy storage clusters in the North China Power Grid, the feasibility of the proposed architecture and key technologies is verified. This route has successively supported multiple adjustable load aggregators to participate in the ancillary services market of North China Power Grid for peak-shaving. Finally, the technical challenges of load resources participating in power grid dispatching under the dual carbon goals are discussed and prospected.

MicroRNA-199a-5p (miR-199a-5p) and -3p are enriched in the myocardium, but it is unknown whether miR-199a-5p and -3p are co-expressed in cardiac remodeling and what roles they have in cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. We show that miR-199a-5p and -3p are co-upregulated in the mouse and human myocardium with cardiac remodeling and in Ang-II-treated neonatal mouse ventricular cardiomyocytes (NMVCs) and cardiac fibroblasts (CFs). miR-199a-5p and -3p could aggravate cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in vivo and in vitro. PPAR gamma coactivator 1 alpha (Ppargc1a) and sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) were identified as target genes to mediate miR-199a-5p in promoting both cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. However, miR-199a-3p aggravated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis through targeting RB transcriptional corepressor 1 (Rb1) and Smad1, respectively. Serum response factor and nuclear factor κB p65 participated in the upregulation of miR-199a-5p and -3p in Ang-II-treated NMVCs and mouse CFs, and could be conversely elevated by miR-199a-5p and -3p. Together, Ppargc1a and Sirt1, Rb1 and Smad1 mediated the pathological effect of miR-199a-5p and -3p by promoting cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, respectively. This study suggests a possible new strategy for cardiac remodeling therapy by inhibiting miR-199a-5p and -3p.

Abstract Viral infection can lead to serious illness and death around the world, as exemplified by the spread of COVID-19. Using irradiation rays can inactive virions through ionizing and non-ionizing effect. The application of light in viral inactivation and the underlying mechanisms are reviewed by the research group of Dayong Jin from University of Technology Sydney.

To achieve reactive voltage control and resolve the problem of photovoltaic in regional grids with high-proportion photovoltaic access, a multi-cycle reactive voltage rolling optimization control method supporting photovoltaic absorption was proposed, and a multi-cycle reactive voltage rolling optimization control framework was constructed based on the sensitivity-based mathematical model of allowed maximum photovoltaic capacity. First, a reactive power optimization model was built day ahead to minimize the actions of the discrete reactive regulating equipment and the resistance of photovoltaic absorption, and the action plan for discrete reactive power regulating equipment was thus determined. After that, with the determined day-ahead control plan for discrete reactive equipment as the constraint, and with the maximization of photovoltaic absorption and improvement of the dynamic reactive reserve margin of the system as the objectives within day, a reactive voltage rolling optimization control model was built for the optimal control plan for the discrete and continuous reactive equipment; the rolling optimization control model performed optimization once every five minutes, with two hours as a cycle. At last, with a regional grid system as a study case, a simulating calculation was carried out and the control effects after optimization by the proposed multi-cycle reactive voltage rolling optimization control method showed that the maximum voltage deviation of two key nodes had been dropped by 34.21% and 45.98%, respectively, the action times of capacitors and the regulation times of main transformers had been reduced by 61.29% and 64%, respectively, the maximum regulation capacity requirement of continuous reactive equipment in photovoltaic stations had been dropped by 62.17%, and the forecast photovoltaic output could be fully absorbed in this system. These findings verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method in improving voltage control and promoting maximum photovoltaic absorption of regional grid. The case study showed that the day-ahead optimization control method could alleviate the large fluctuations of photovoltaics by arranging a discrete reactive power equipment adjustment plan, and the within-day rolling optimization control could adjust the output of continuous reactive power equipment to alleviate short-term random fluctuations of photovoltaics after simulating calculation.

Abstract Previous study found that the solvent extraction efficiency of lipid in microalgae could be greatly improved by washing algae cells before the second time extraction. Based on the "organic solvents–water–organic solvents" method, this research further studied the effect of four solvent systems (acetone, chloroform/methanol, chloroform/methanol/water, dichloromethane/methanol), two types of water treatment (vortex and ultrasonic), three water treatment time gradient (0 s, 30 s, 120 s) on the lipid extraction at three different microalgae growth stages (3rd day, 5th day, 9th day). The results show that the combination of water treatment type, treatment time and solvent is very important to the efficiency of lipid extraction. The total lipid extracted was generally increased by 10–30% after water treatment. Especially under the condition of 120 s vortex water treatment with dichloromethane/methanol as extraction solvent, the total lipid extracted increased by 61.14%. In addition, microalgae cells at different culture stages had different sensitivity to water treatment. In this study, under the combination of chloroform/methanol/water as extraction solvent and vortex water treatment for 120 s, the highest lipid yield was obtained on the ninth day of cell culture, which accounts 47.88% of the cell dry weight (478 mg/g cell dry weight). The changes of cell morphology and structure after water treatment were studied by scanning electron microscope, and it was found that water treatment could seriously destroy the cell membrane damaged by solvent, thus promoting the release of lipids. This study further optimizes the "solvent–water–solvent" lipid extraction method, which neither produces impurities nor damages the lipid quality, and can reduce the amount of organic solvent applied in the classical lipid extraction method with the same lipid yield, so it has a broad application prospect.

Abstract Carbon nanodots (CDs) have emerged as an alternative option for traditional nanocrystals due to their excellent optical properties and low toxicity. Nevertheless, high emission efficiency is a long‐lasting pursuit for CDs. Herein, CDs with near‐unity emission efficiency are prepared via atomic condensation of doped pyrrolic nitrogen, which can highly localize the excited states thus lead to the formation of bound excitons and the symmetry break of the π–electron conjugation. The short radiative lifetimes (

The performance of Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC)-coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is investigated over turbulence channels in underwater wireless optical communications (UWOC). The relation between the bit error ratio (BER) and parameters such as the scintillation coefficient, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), length of LDPC code, and order of OFDM is quantified by simulation. Results show that while the OFDM with subcarrier quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM-OFDM) has slightly better anti-turbulence performance than the OFDM with subcarrier phase shift keying modulation (PSK-OFDM), the LDPC-coded QAM-OFDM has a much better performance than the QAM-OFDM and the LDPC-coded PSK-OFDM, and, at SNR = 12, it decreases the BER by four orders of magnitude compared to the 16QAM-OFDM system when the scintillation coefficient σξ2 = 0.05.

In Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), transcribed data take substantial effort to obtain. It is worthwhile to explore how to selective the samples with more information from un-transcribed datapool to get a better model with the limited cost. Therefore, active learning in ASR becomes a research topic. In this manuscript, we proposed two new methods of active learning. One is Signal-Model Committee Approach (SMCA) and the other is LM-based Certainty Approach (LMCA). These two methods respectively evaluate the information amount of samples from different angles and can be applied together for joint sampling in some scenarios. We conducted many comparative experiments on Listen, Attend and Spell (LAS) model according to different demands. In experiments, we compared our approach with the random sampling and another state-of-the-art committee-based approach: heterogeneous neural networks (HNN) based approach. We examined our approach in CER in Chinese Mandarin speech recognition task. The results show that proposed approach is not only simple to use, but also has the best performance.

Traditional fault tree analysis is an effective tool used to evaluate system risk if the required data are sufficient. Unfortunately, the operation and maintenance data of some complex systems are difficult to obtain due to economic or technical reasons. The solution is to invite experts to evaluate some critical aspect of the performance of the system. In this study, the belief degrees of the occurrence of basic events evaluated by experts are measured by an uncertain measure. Then, a system risk assessment method based on an uncertain fault tree is proposed, based on which two general optimization models are established. Furthermore, the genetic algorithm (GA) and the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) are applied to solve the two optimization models, separately. In addition, the proposed risk assessment method is applied for the leakage risk evaluation of a subsea production system, and the two general optimization models are used to optimize the leakage risk and maintenance cost of the subsea production system. The optimization results provide a theoretical basis for practitioners to guarantee the safety of subsea production system.

Redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) was introduced to China many years ago. In recent years, a breeding boom for C. quadricarinatus has been set off in China due to a breakthrough in key technology of seedling breeding. The size and growth rate of C. quadricarinatus vary greatly between female and male individuals, usually the size and growth rate of male individuals are bigger than that of female individuals. There is usually a certain linkage relationship between the sex traits of crustaceans and their own nutrition. In order to explore the linkage relationship between the sex traits of C. quadricarinatus and its nutritional components, this study measured and analyzed the muscle nutritional components of female and male individuals. The results showed that the meat yield rate of male individuals was significantly higher than that of females (p < 0.05), and the crude fat content was significantly lower than that for females (p < 0.05). The ratios of essential amino acids to total amino acids for females and males were 39.61% and 38.49%, respectively. The ratios of essential amino acids to non-essential amino acids were 79.69% and 75.66%, respectively, which far exceed FAO/WHO standards and both belong to high-quality protein. The total amount of flavor amino acids of male individuals was significantly higher than that of female individuals (p < 0.05). The total amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids and the polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid of males are both significantly higher than that of females (p < 0.05). Studies have shown that there are certain differences in nutrition between male and female individuals. Compared with female individuals, the meat yield rate, crude protein content, and edible value of the muscles of male individuals is higher.

In the field of defect detection in sewers, some researches focus on high accuracy. However, it is challenging for portable on-site devices to provide high performance. This paper proposes a lightweight sewer defect detection model, You Only Look Once (YOLO) v5-Sewer. Firstly, the backbone network of YOLOv5s is replaced with a stacked MobileNetV3 block. Secondly, the C3 module of the neck of YOLOv5s is improved with a C3-Faster module. Thirdly, to compensate for the accuracy loss due to the lightweight network, a channel attention (CA) and convolutional block attention module (CBAM) are added to the proposed method. Finally, the Efficient Intersection over Union (EIOU) is adopted as the localization loss function. Experimental validation on the dataset shows that YOLOv5-Sewer achieves a 1.5% reduction in mean Average Precision (mAP) while reducing floating-point operations by 68%, the number of parameters by 55%, and the model size by 54%, compared to the YOLOv5s model. The detection speed reaches 112 frames per second (FPS) with the GPU (RTX 3070Ti). This model successfully implements a lightweight design while maintaining the detection accuracy, enhancing its functionality on low-performance devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, the convenient one-step electrochemical bromination of glycals using Bu4NBr as the brominating source under metal-catalyst-free and oxidant-free reaction conditions was described. A series of 2-bromoglycals bearing different electron-withdrawing or electron-donating protective groups were successfully synthesized in moderate to excellent yields. The coupling of tri-O-benzyl-2-bromogalactal with phenylacetylene, potassium phenyltrifluoroborate, or a 6-OH acceptor was achieved to afford 2C-branched carbohydrates and disaccharides via Sonogashira coupling, Suzuki coupling, and Ferrier rearrangement reactions with high efficiency. The radical trapping and cyclic voltammetry experiments indicated that bromine radicals may be involved in the reaction process.

Abstract Background The Rapid Assessment of Hearing Loss (RAHL) survey protocol aims to measure the prevalence and causes of hearing loss in a low cost and rapid manner, to inform planning of ear and hearing services. This paper reports on the first field-test of the RAHL in Gao’an County, Jiangxi Province, China. This study aimed to 1) To report on the feasibility of RAHL; 2) report on the estimated prevalence and causes of hearing loss in Gao’an. Methods A cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted in September–October 2018. Forty-seven clusters in Gao’an County were selected using probability-proportionate-to-size sampling. Within clusters, compact segment sampling was conducted to select 30 people aged 50+. A questionnaire was completed covering sociodemographics, hearing health, and risk factors. Automated pure-tone audiometry was completed for all participants, using smartphone-based audiometry (hearTest), at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz (kHz). All participants had their ears examined by an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor, using otoscopy, and probable causes of hearing loss assigned. Prevalence estimates were age and sex standardised to the Jiangxi population. Feasibility of a cluster size of 30 was examined by assessing the response rate, and the proportion of clusters completed in 1 day. Results 1344 of 1421 eligible participants completed the survey (94.6%). 100% of clusters were completed in 1 day. The survey was completed in 4.5 weeks. The prevalence of moderate or greater hearing loss (pure-tone average of 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz of > = 41dBHL in the better ear) was 16.3% (95% CI = 14.3, 18.5) and for any level of hearing loss (pure-tone average of > = 26dBHL in the better ear) the prevalence was 53.2% (95% CI = 49.2, 57.1). The majority of hearing loss was due to acquired sensorineural causes (91.7% left; 92.1% right). Overall 54.0% of the population aged 50+ (108,000 people) are in need of diagnostic audiology services, 3.4% were in need of wax removal (7000 people), and 4.8% were in need of surgical services (9500 people). Hearing aid coverage was 0.4%. Conclusion The RAHL survey protocol is feasible, demonstrated through the number of people examined per day, and the high response rate. The survey was completed in a much shorter period than previous all-age surveys in China. Some remaining challenges included assignment of causes of probable sensorineural loss. The data obtained from this survey can be used to scale-up hearing services in Gao’an.

Nanodiamonds (NDs) have excellent mechanical and optical properties, large surface area, easy bioconjugation and high biocompatibility, which makes them especially appealing for various potential applications. In recent years, NDs have received considerable attention in nanomedicine, and some noteworthy progress has been achieved. This review summarizes the synthetic routes and unique properties of NDs. In addition, the recent progress of NDs in nanomedical applications, including bioimaging, drug delivery and biosensing, is also discussed. We further provide an outlook towards the future developments and applications of NDs.

Coastal lagoons are among the most vulnerable and economically significant ecosystems on Earth. Songkhla Lake, connected with the Gulf of Thailand, is the second largest lake in Southeast Asia and supports the development of the fishery, transportation, and tourism industries in southern Thailand. With increasing anthropogenic disturbances, the lake is facing acute ecological problems and further research is needed. Here, we provide 55-year record of grain size, color reflectance, magnetic susceptibility, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and trace element (As, Hg, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn) concentrations of sediment core SKL8-2 collected from Songkhla Lake. These records reveal a three-stage sedimentary and input history of trace metals under anthropogenic effects: 1) From 1964 to 1982, it was a natural terrigenous input period with a relative reduction environment when the channel connecting Songkhla Lake and the Gulf of Thailand was closed. 2) Trace metal concentrations, organic carbon content, b* value, and magnetic susceptibility changed abruptly in 1982. During 1982–2000, the sources of trace metals were more complex than during 1964–1982 and mainly came from urban wastewater, industrial effluent, and fishery discharge. 3) From 2000 to 2019, contamination signals of Pb, Hg, As, Zn, and Ni emerged in the first decade because of the rapid development and poor sewage treatment around nearby cities.

The authors would like to update the XPS spectrum in Figure 3c [...]

In classical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, inserting the cyclic prefix (CP) is necessary before each symbol to overcome the multi-path effect, which, however, occupies numerous time-frequency radio resources, resulting in hampered spectrum efficiency. To address this issue, in this paper, symbol repetition aware OFDM (SR-OFDM) is developed to lower the overhead of CP. In the proposed SR-OFDM, multiple symbols share the same CP with which we examine that the multi-path channels can also be overcome by a simple single-tap equalization without causing any interference. Moreover, after the discrete Fourier transform at the receiver, different symbols are proved to be separated in the time domain, which is beneficial for lowering the demodulation complexity. Furthermore, it is revealed that the above conclusions still hold even under timing synchronization errors, which makes the proposed SR-OFDM favorable in real systems. Extensive simulations validate the efficacy of our proposed SR-OFDM system under the multi-path channels with or without timing synchronization errors.

The world-wide drive to decrease greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is rapidly changing the mix of fuel resources that are used to generate electricity. The percentage of fossil fuels, especially coal, is declining while the percentage of renewable resources, like wind and solar, is increasing. The generation mix has always depended on the availability of different fuels in different regions, like the availability of hydro or the acceptability of nuclear power, and the recent changes also depend on this geography, like the radiance of the sun or the intensity of the wind. Although these changes will lead to different architectures in the evolving power grid, some trends are already being felt.

Abstract Optical multiplexing attracts considerable attention in the field of information encryption, optical probe, and time‐resolved bioimaging. However, the optical multiplexing based on rare‐earth nanoparticles suffers from heavy metal elements and relatively short lifetimes; sophisticated facilities are thus needed. Herein, time division duplexing based on eco‐friendly carbon nanodots (CNDs) with manipulative luminescence lifetimes is demonstrated. In a single green color emission channel, the luminescence lifetimes of the CNDs can be manipulated from nanosecond level to second level by introducing water, while the lifetime of the CNDs confined by a silica shell stays. Time division duplexing based on the CNDs and CNDs@silica with distinct lifetimes is realized and spatio‐temporal overlapping information is thus resolved. High‐level information encryption using the time division duplexing technology is realized. This work may promise the potential applications of CNDs in multi‐lifetime channels biological imaging, high‐density information storage, and anti‐counterfeiting.

Abstract Background Medical thoracoscopy is considered an overall safe procedure, whereas numbers of studies focus on complications of diagnostic thoracoscopy and talc poudrage pleurodesis. We conduct this study to evaluate the safety of medical thoracoscopy in the management of pleural diseases and to compare complications in different therapeutic thoracoscopic procedures. Methods A retrospective study was performed in 1926 patients, 662 of whom underwent medical thoracoscopy for diagnosis and 1264 of whom for therapeutic interventions of pleural diseases. Data on complications were obtained from the patients, notes on computer system, laboratory and radiographic findings. Chi-square test was performed to compare categorical variables and Fisher’s exact test was used for small samples. Results The mean age was 51 ± 8.4 (range 21–86) years and 1117 (58%) were males. Diagnostic procedure was taken in 662 (34.4%) patients, whereas therapeutic procedure was taken in 1264 (65.6%) patients. Malignant histology was reported in 860 (44.6%) and 986 (51.2%) revealed benign pleural diseases. Eighty patients (4.2%) were not definitely diagnosed and they were considered as unidentified pleural effusion. One patient died during the creation of artificial pneumothorax, and the causes of death were supposed as air embolism or an inhibition of phrenic motoneurons and circulatory system. Complication of lung laceration was found in six patients (0.3%) and reexpansion pulmonary edema was observed in two patients (0.1%). Higher incidence of prolonged air leak was observed in bulla electrocoagulation group, in comparison with pleurodesis group. Moreover, pain and fever were the most frequently complications in pleurodesis group and cutaneous infection in entry site was the most frequently reported complication in pleural decortication of empyema group. Conclusions Medical thoracoscopy is generally a safe and effective method, not only in the diagnosis of undiagnosed pleural effusions, but also in the management of pleural diseases. Mastering medical thoracoscopy well, improving patient management after the procedure and attempts to reduce the occurrence of post-procedural complications are the targets that physicians are supposed to achieve in the future.

Basalt fiber(BF) was modified with chitosan to investigate the influence of the surface modification on biofilm attachment properties. The surface functional groups, composition and morphology were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, the hydrophi-licity of BF was analyzed by contact angle measurement and the biofilm attachment properties were discussed via the microorganism immobilization tests. The results show that the surface-modified basalt fiber (MBF) can be successfully prepared by physical coating method. The surface roughness of MBF is 209.04nm, and the contact angle of MBF is 66.62°. Moreover, the biomass attached on MBF surface is significantly increased and the biofilm is relatively dense and homogeneous. The micro-organism immobilization rate is increased from (129.27±1.23)% to (179.92±2.63)%, thus illustr-ating that surface modification of basalt fiber can significantly improve biofilm attachment properties.

Abstract Biomass as sustainable and renewable resource has been one of the important energy sources for human life. Herein, luminescent nano-biomass dots (NBDs) have been extracted from soybean through ultrasonic method, which endows biomass with fluorescence property. The as-prepared NBDs are amorphous in structure with an average diameter of 2.4 nm and show bright blue fluorescence with a quantum yield of 16.7%. Benefiting from the edible raw materials and heating-free synthesis process, the cytotoxicity test shows that the cell viability still keeps 100% even if the concentration of the NBDs reaches 800 μg/ml, indicating the good biocompatibility of the NBDs. In addition, the fluorescence of the NBDs is very sensitive to Fe3+, which can be used for Fe3+ detection in terms of their health superiority. The limit of detection (LOD) of the proposed sensor was determined as 2.9 μM, which is lower than the maximum allowable level of Fe3+ (5.37 μM) in drinking water.