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Iron disulfide (FeS2) is a potentially suitable anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) by virtue of its high theoretical capacity (894 mAh g−1). Unfortunately, the inferior electrical conductivity, sluggish diffusion kinetics, and large volume changes have impeded its practical application. Here, we report a composite material comprising numerous small FeS2 nanoparticles intimately embedded in a porous N-doped carbon framework through high-energy ball milling combined with stepwise post-thermal treatment. The highly porous and robust external carbon framework serves as a conductive substrate and has good strain accommodation for small FeS2 nanoparticles, which can not only boost electron/ion transport ability of the composite but also provide extra active sites for sodium ion storage and maintain the structural integrity of the composite during repeated cycling processes. As a result, the FeS2/PNC electrode achieves high initial Coulombic efficiency of 81%, reversible specific capacities of 530 mA h g−1 with good capacity retentions of 95% after 200 cycles at 1 A g−1 , and a superior rate capability (376 mA h g−1 at 5 A g−1). The promising electrochemical performance and the facile synthesis method make the FeS2/PNC composite a potential candidate material as a SIBs anode for large-scale preparation and application in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, traffic-related sources are considered to be one of the major contributors to air pollutants in urban areas. As the number of motor vehicles increases, the impact of traffic-related air pollutants (TRAPs) on human health has also increased in recent years. People are easily exposed to TRAPs in their daily lives. However, long-term exposure to TRAPs can have adverse health effects. Mobile monitoring is more flexible compared to traditional urban monitoring stations and can effectively obtain the spatial variation characteristics of air pollutants. We mounted a sensor package on an electric bicycle and conducted mobile measurements of CO, NO2 and SO2 on a circular road in the center of Shaoxing, a city in the center of the Yangtze Delta, China. The CO, NO2 and SO2 concentrations were observed to be higher in the morning and evening rush hours, and the three pollutants show different seasonal and spatial variation characteristics. CO concentration was higher in urban arterial and crossroads. NO2 concentration was variable, alternating between high and low concentrations. SO2 concentration was relatively stable and aggregated. This study provides important information on the spatial and temporal variations of TRAPs, which helps commuters understand how to effectively reduce pollutant exposure during personal travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The segmentation and positioning of tea buds are the basis for intelligent picking robots to pick tea buds accurately. Tea images were collected in a complex environment, and median filtering was carried out to obtain tea bud images with smooth edges. Four semantic segmentation algorithms, U-Net, high-resolution network (HRNet_W18), fast semantic segmentation network (Fast-SCNN), and Deeplabv3+, were selected for processing images. The centroid of the tea buds and the image center of the minimum external rectangle were calculated. The farthest point from the centroid was extracted from the tea stalk orientation, which was the final picking point for tea buds. The experimental results showed that the mean intersection over union (mIoU) of HRNet_W18 was 0.81, and for a kernel with a median filter size of 3 × 3, the proportion of abnormal tea buds was only 11.6%. The average prediction accuracy of picking points with different tea stalk orientations was 57%. This study proposed a fresh tea bud segmentation and picking point location method based on a high-resolution network model. In addition, the cloud platform can be used for data sharing and real-time calculation of tea bud coordinates, reducing the computational burden of picking robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Sepsis is the most severe infectious disease with the highest mortality rate, particularly among neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This study retrospectively analyzed the epidemiology, antibiotic resistance profiles, and prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria isolated from blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures in order to evaluate the appropriateness of initial empirical therapy for neonatal sepsis. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in the NICU from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2022. Microbiological data from patients admitted to the NICU were anonymously extracted from the Laboratory of Microbiology database. Neonatal sepsis was classified into two types: early-onset sepsis (EOS), which occurs within the first 72 hours of life, and late-onset sepsis (LOS) for those begins later. Results: A total of 679 bacterial strains, 543 from blood and 136 from CSF, were detected in 631 neonates. Among these, 378 isolates (55.67%) were Gram-positive bacteria, and 301 isolates (44.33%) were Gram-negative bacteria. The most frequently isolated pathogens were Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) (36.52%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (20.47%) and Escherichia coli (13.84%). In EOS, 121 strains were found, CoNS represented the majority (33.88%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (23.97%) and Escherichia coli (8.26%). Early-onset septicemia exhibited 67 (55.37%) MDR bacteria. In LOS, 558 strains were isolated, CoNS represented the majority of pathogens (37.10%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (19.71%) and Escherichia coli (15.05%). Late-onset septicemia showed 332 (59.50%) MDR bacteria. High rates of MDR were found in CoNS (76.21%), carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (66.91%), and MRSA (33.33%). Conclusion: The study revealed an alarming prevalence of MDR strains isolated from neonatal sepsis, emphasizing the necessity of finding effective prevention and treatment measures. Colistin can be used for MDR Gram-negative bacteria, while vancomycin and teicoplanin can be considered treatment therapies for staphylococcal infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A convenient silver-promoted radical cascade aryldifluoromethylation/cyclization of 2-allyloxybenzaldehydes has been developed. Experimental studies disclosed that the addition of aryldifluoromethyl radicals in situ produced from easily accessible gem-difluoroarylacetic acids to unactivated double bonds in 2-allyloxybenzaldehyde was an effective route to access a series of 3-aryldifluoromethyl-containing chroman-4-one derivatives in moderate to good yields under mild reaction conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Obvious volume change and the dissolution of polysulfide as well as sluggish kinetics are serious issues for the development of high performance metal sulfide anodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), which usually result in fast capacity fading during continuous sodiation and desodiation processes. In this work, by utilizing a Prussian blue analogue as functional precursors, small Fe-doped CoS2 nanoparticles spatially confined in N-doped carbon spheres with rich porosity were synthesized through facile successive precipitation, carbonization, and sulfurization processes, leading to the formation of bayberry-like Fe-doped CoS2/N-doped carbon spheres (Fe-CoS2/NC). By introducing a suitable amount of FeCl3 in the starting materials, the optimal Fe-CoS2/NC hybrid spheres with the designed composition and pore structure exhibited superior cycling stability (621 mA h g−1 after 400 cycles at 1 A g−1) and improved the rate capability (493 mA h g−1 at 5 A g−1). This work provides a new avenue for the rational design and synthesis of high performance metal sulfide-based anode materials toward SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A courtyard is an essential space for natural lighting and natural convective ventilation of residential buildings in hot-humid climates. This study focuses on the internal courtyard configuration on the thermal performance of long strip houses (LSH) in the hot-climate area of Hainan Island, China. The aim is to identify the best design parameters for the courtyard to improve thermal comfort in modern LSH design. Appropriate strategies, including Mahoney table, field investigation, and CFD simulation, are used to determine thermal performance. As a result, the design guidelines of the courtyard are proposed to optimize the thermal comfort towards energy saving. The study reveals the spatial characteristics and climate regulation of internal courtyards in traditional LSH. In addition, the simulation results show that the enclosure with a shaded cover and a high ratio of H/D is conducive to thermal environment and ventilation, and the section of contracted shape from bottom to top is a preferred option in the internal courtyard configuration. This study should, therefore, be of value in designing practical projects with an interior courtyard for architects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In this study, we investigated the effects of palmitic acid (PA) on multiple human gastric cancer cell lines and combined them with the results from clinical gastric cancer and paracancerous tissue samples. Our findings demonstrated that PA exerted anti-gastric cancer effects by regulating key molecules in the signal transduction and activation of a transcription 3 (STAT3) protein inhibitor of the activated STAT 3 (PIAS3) signaling pathway. Our results serve as a foundation for further research on the correlation between the anti-gastric cancer activity of PA and the STAT3-PIAS3 signaling pathway. Our results also represent a critical step toward understanding gastric cancer prevention and prognosis and promoting PA supplementation as a gastric cancer treatment. Lipidomic analyses have suggested that palmitic acid (PA) is linked to gastric cancer. However, its effects and action mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of PA on cell proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis in human gastric cancer, as well as the role of p-STAT3 in mediating its effects. The results of the MTT and colony formation assays revealed that PA blocked gastric cancer cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. The EdU-DNA assay indicated that 50 μM of PA could block gastric cell proliferation by 30.6–80.0%. The Transwell assay also confirmed the concentration dependence of PA-induced inhibitory effect on cell invasion. The flow cytometry analysis indicated that PA treatment for 18 h could induce gastric cancer cell apoptosis. The immunohistochemical staining revealed that p-STAT3 levels were higher in the gastric cancer tissues than in the control tissues. We demonstrated that PA treatment for 12 h decreased the expressions of p-STAT3, p-JAK2, N-cadherin, and vimentin, and inhibited the nuclear expression of p-STAT3 in gastric cancer cells. Finally, PA treatment (50 mg/kg) decreased gastric cancer growth (54.3%) in the xenograft models. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that PA inhibits cell proliferation and invasion and induces human gastric cancer cell apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notwithstanding immune checkpoint blocking (ICB) therapy has made eminent clinical breakthroughs, overcoming immunologically "cold" tumors remains challenging. Here, a cascade potentiated nanomodulator AuPtAg‐GOx is engineered for boosting immune responsiveness. Upon 1064 nm laser irradiation, AuPtAg‐mediated mild photothermal therapy (PTT) activates cytotoxic T lymphocytes and reverses the immunogenic "cold" tumor microenvironment. Further, to amplify the thermal sensitivity of tumor cells, glucose oxidase (GOx) is introduced to suppress the production of heat shock proteins, thereby promoting mild photothermal therapy. Complementarily, AuPtAg nanozymes with catalase‐like activity can ameliorate tumor hypoxia, significantly improving the GOx activity. As a result, the combination of AuPtAg‐GOx with self‐augmented photothermal ability and PD‐L1 antibody can further escalate the antitumor efficacy. The AuPtAg‐GOx‐based synergistic starvation therapy, mild PTT, and immunotherapy cascade enhancement therapy strategy can be a favorable tool to effectively kill cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. To investigate the relationship between hypertension status, hippocampus/hippocampal subregion structural alteration, and cognitive performance in subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Methods. All participants were divided into two groups according to blood pressure status: SCD without hypertension and SCD with hypertension. The cognitive assessments and T1-MPRAGE brain MRI were performed to measure the cognitive function and the volume of the hippocampus and hippocampal subregions. Association and mediating/moderating effects were analyzed between the volume of hippocampus/hippocampal subregions and cognitive scores. Results. Compared to the SCD without hypertension, we found (1) increased reaction time (RT) of the Go/No go test, compatible test, and divided attention visual task and (2) decreased volume of the left whole hippocampal/left subiculum/left CA1/left presubiculum/left parasubiculum/left molecular layer HP/left GC-ML-DG/left HATA in SCD with hypertension. There was a significant negative association between the volume of the left GC-ML-DG and Go/No go test RT in SCD without hypertension. A significant moderating effect of hypertension status on the relationship between the volume of the left GC-ML-DG and Go/No go test RT was found. Conclusion. The results suggested that hypertension status affects inhibitory control function and visual divided attention which may be related to the reduction of hippocampus/hippocampal subregion volume in SCD. Limitations. The study has several limitations. First, this study does not include a healthy control group. In further studies, healthy controls may need to assess the interaction between hypertension status and disease status on cognitive function. Second, we defined the hypertension status using with or without hypertension disease. More detailed parameters of hypertension status need to be further studied. Third, our study was a small number of participants/single-center and cross-sectional study, which may hinder its generalization. A large-sample/multicenter, longitudinal study is helpful to comprehensively understand the relationship between hypertension status and cognitive function in SCD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With global warming, the law of climate change is more and more complex, so it is of great significance to analyze the response mechanism of vegetation change to climate change. The Loess Plateau (LP) is a vulnerable area, but we must explore the mechanism between climate and vegetation for decision-makers to make adequate plans to better govern this population-intensive but ecological-fragile area. Our study analyzed the vegetation variation in a long-term period from 1982 to 2015 and its relationship with precipitation and temperature. We innovatively leverage the weighted time-lag method to detect the different contributions of a specific climatic factor from different months to vegetation growth. Moreover, we used such weighted accumulated climatic factors to find the relationships between precipitation/temperature and different types of vegetation. The main findings are as follows: (i) For different degrees of temperature and precipitation, different vegetation has different performance characteristics in different months from 1982 to 2015. Moreover, precipitation is the major driver of vegetation growth in the LP. (ii) The response of vegetation possesses some time-lag effect on climate and exhibits spatial heterogeneity in the LP, which may be related to the characteristics of different climate zones and different vegetation. (iii) The effect of the same climatic factor on different vegetation accounts for a certain proportion of different months in the LP. Climate possesses a cumulative effect in three months on vegetation and different climatic factors have different time lags to the same vegetation type. It has a complicated interaction between vegetation growth and climate change. This paper uses the weighted time-lag method to investigate the relationship between vegetation growth and climatic factors, whilst considering how the time-lag effect can explain the changes that occur in the process of vegetation growth to a large extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interface modification is an important way to get better performance from organic solar cells (OSCs). A natural biomolecular material methionine was successfully applied as the electron transport layer (ETL) to the inverted OSCs in this work. A series of optical, morphological, and electrical characterizations of thin films and devices were used to analyze the surface modification effects of methionine on zinc oxide (ZnO). The analysis results show that the surface modification of ZnO with methionine can cause significantly reduced surface defects for ZnO, optimized surface morphology of ZnO, improved compatibility between ETL and the active layer, better-matched energy levels between ETL and the acceptor, reduced interface resistance, reduced charge recombination, and enhanced charge transport and collection. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OSCs based on PM6:BTP-ec9 was improved to 15.34% from 14.25% by modifying ZnO with methionine. This work shows the great application potential of natural biomolecule methionine in OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of lung cancer is high and about 75% of the patients with lung cancer are found in the middle and advanced stage, which has a limited treatment strategy. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. In this article, we delineate the treatment process of a middle-aged male patient with advanced-stage lung cancer to explain the significance of individualized chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy and surgery. This patient has extensive bone metastasis with PS scores of 2. After nine cycles of preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery, and two cycles of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, the patient achieved complete response (CR) and his PS score was 0. Although there is a standard chemotherapy regimen for lung adenocarcinoma, the treatment effect varies because of individual differences. Comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of patients through a variety of means to develop a precise individualized chemotherapy plan will be a major direction of lung cancer treatment in the future. Additionally, surgical treatment for advanced lung cancer patients after chemotherapy can effectively reduce the primary lesion and prolong the survival time of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, hierarchical hybrid structures based on the combination of semiconductor micro/nanostructures and noble metal nanoparticles have become a hot research topic in the area of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). In this work, two core-satellite nanostructures of metal oxide/metal nanoparticles were successfully introduced into SERS substrates, assembling monodispersed small silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on large polydispersed ZnO nanospheres (p-ZnO NSs) or monodispersed ZnO nanospheres (m-ZnO NSs) core. The p-ZnO NSs and m-ZnO NSs were synthesized by the pyrolysis method without any template. The Ag NPs were prepared by the thermal evaporation method without any annealing process. An ultralow limit of detection (LOD) of 1 × 10−13 M was achieved in the two core-satellite nanostructures with Rhodamine 6G (R6G) as the probe molecule. Compared with the silicon (Si)/Ag NPs substrate, the two core-satellite nanostructures of Si/p-ZnO NSs/Ag NPs and Si/m-ZnO NSs/Ag NPs substrates have higher enhancement factors (EF) of 2.6 × 108 and 2.5 × 108 for R6G as the probe molecule due to the enhanced electromagnetic field. The two core-satellite nanostructures have great application potential in the low-cost massive production of large-area SERS substrates due to their excellent SERS effect and simple preparation process without any template. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Frailty is a multidimensional concept, including physical, cognitive, social, sensorial, psychological, and nutritional phenotypes. Among these phenotypes, cognitive frailty is the most widely investigated, which is related to many adverse health outcomes in older individuals. Whether cognitive frailty is dynamic or how these frail phenotypes interact remains an open issue. We studied the rate of these changes over time and their associated factors in a 6-year follow-up cohort. Methods: A total of 426 Chinese community-living older adults in Dujiangyan aged 65 years or older were involved and followed up in three visits 6 years apart. Frailty and cognitive function were assessed using the FRAIL scale and the Mini-Mental State Examination scale. Demographic information, geriatric syndrome, and social interaction status were studied. Rates of transitions in cognitive frailty states and associated risk factors were studied. We used the stepwise logistic regression model to analyze risk factors. Results: At baseline, 18.8% of participants were only in the physical frailty (PF) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) group, and 0.09% of participants were in the cognitive frailty group. By the end of 6 years, 62 (14.5%) participants had died, and the rates of only PF or MCI group and cognitive frailty group increased to 36.2 and 3.3%, respectively. Also, 199 (46.7%) participants had deteriorated compared with the baseline. The multivariate regression analysis showed that older (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.07 − 1.16, P < 0.001), smoker (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.37 − 3.39, P = 0.001), poor self-evaluation health status (OR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.06 − 3.51, P = 0.033), and malnutrition (OR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.21 − 3.52, P = 0.008) were risk factors for worsening, whereas willing to make new friends (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.38 − 0.96, P = 0.032) was associated with 39% lower chance of deterioration. Conclusion: Cognitive frailty is a dynamically changing state, where transitions may be influenced by multidimensions. Multidimensional monitoring of a wide range of events occurring in aging may be the best way to act early. We hope our study may serve as a starting point for redefining the definition of cognitive frailty by covering different frailty domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) is a major public health problem worldwide with limited effective treatment options. Previous studies have reported methamphetamine-associated alterations in gut microbiota. A potential role of gut microbiota in regulating methamphetamine-induced brain dysfunction through interactions with the host immune system has been proposed, but evidence for this hypothesis is limited. The present study aimed to investigate the alterations in the fecal microbiota and explore its relationship with systemic inflammation in MUD. Fecal samples were obtained from 26 male subjects with MUD and 17 sex- and age- matched healthy controls. Fecal microbial profiles were analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing. Plasma inflammatory markers were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Associations between fecal microbiota, systemic inflammatory markers and clinical characteristics were examined by Spearman partial correlation analysis while controlling for possible confounders. Compared with healthy controls, individuals with MUD showed no difference in fecal microbial diversity, but exhibited differences in the relative abundance of several microbial taxa. At the genus level, a higher abundance of Collinsella , Odoribacter and Megasphaera and lower levels of Faecalibacterium , Blautia , Dorea and Streptococcus were detected in subjects with MUD. More importantly, altered fecal microbiota was found to be correlated with plasma levels of CRP, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-10. The order Lactobacillales , exhibiting lower abundance in participants with MUD, was positively related to the duration of methamphetamine abstinence and the plasma level of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. This study is the first to provide evidence for a link between altered fecal microbiota and systemic inflammation in MUD. Further elucidation of interactions between gut microbiota and the host immune system may be beneficial for the development of novel therapeutic approaches for MUD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study had two aims: to test the effect and the effect size of specific problematic Internet use (SPIU) [online shopping, online pornography, social network site (SNS) usage, and Internet gaming] on generalized problematic Internet use (GPIU) and to reveal the gender differences in GPIU and SPIU for students from the elementary school level to the university level. In total, 5,215 Chinese students (2,303 males, mean age = 16.20 years, range = 10–23 years) from four types of schools (elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, and university) provided self-report data on demographic variables (gender and educational levels), online shopping, online pornography, SNS usage, Internet gaming, and GPIU. After calculations had been controlled for demographic variables, the results indicated that (i) online shopping, online pornography, SNS usage, and Internet gaming positively predicted GPIU—and Internet gaming was the most critical predictor of GPIU—and that (ii) gender differences were revealed in Internet gaming and GPIU in all educational levels, except at senior high school where the gender differences in GPIU were not significant. Significant gender differences were found for online shopping and online pornography for all educational levels above elementary school. These results provided further understanding of the association between GPIU and SPIU and gender differences in PIU, which suggested that gender differences across different educational levels should be considered in interventions of PIU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is recognized as the earliest prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Emerging studies explored the effects of combined physical activity and cognitive training interventions on cognitive ability, psychological well-being, and emotion of older adults with SCD, but the results are now still controversial. Objective. This study systematically evaluated the enhancement effects of the combined physical-cognitive interventions on memory self-efficacy, objective cognitive function, psychological well-being, and emotion of older adults with SCD. Methods. Data sources PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang degree and conference papers database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical (VIP) databases from their inception to 28 February 2020, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Cochrane Library, 2020, Issue 3), and the reference lists of all retrieved articles were searched. Data analysis and bias risk evaluation were conducted in 2020. Two reviewers (SG and YY) independently evaluated the risk of bias of the included studies using the RoB 2 tool. Results. Eleven RCTs involving 1713 participants with SCD (age 68.0 ± 6.1) were included for review and meta-analysis. The interventions in the included studies were physical activity combined with cognitive training. Multiple-modality exercise with mind-motor training, supervised strategy-based memory training sequentially after stationary cycling, Dejian Mind-Body intervention, and physical activity and cognitive stimulation were also practiced. Conclusions. Compared to the active or nonactive control groups, the combined interventions are effective in improving objective cognitive function in SCD which may show the potential value of combined physical-cognitive interventions in improving objective cognitive ability and preventing the conversion of SCD to MCI or AD and no adverse effects. However, owing to the limitations of the included studies, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March of this year, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, and it continues to threaten public health. This global health crisis imposes limitations on daily movements, which have deteriorated every sector in our society. Understanding public reactions to the virus and the non-pharmaceutical interventions should be of great help to fight COVID-19 in a strategic way. We aim to provide tangible evidence of the human mobility trends by comparing the day-by-day variations across the U.S. from January 2020 to early April 2020. Large-scale public mobility at an aggregated level is observed by leveraging mobile device location data and the measures related to social distancing. Our study captures spatial and temporal heterogeneity as well as the sociodemographic variations and teleworking trends regarding the pandemic propagation and the non-pharmaceutical mobility interventions. All metrics adapted capture decreased public movements after the national emergency declaration. The population staying home has increased in all states before the stay-at-home mandates implemented and becomes more stable after the order with a smaller range of fluctuation. The public had been taking active responses, voluntarily staying home more, to the in-state confirmed cases while the stay-at-home orders stabilize the variations. As the estimated teleworking rates also continue to incline throughout the study period, the teleworking trend can be another driving factor for the growing stay-at-home population. We confirm that there exists overall mobility heterogeneity between the income or population density groups. The study suggests that public mobility trends are in line with the government message urging to stay home. We anticipate our data-driven analysis offers integrated perspectives and serves as evidence to raise public awareness and, consequently, reinforce the importance of social distancing while assisting policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To the Editor: Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) was discovered in 2012, during a study to identify new coronaviruses in mammals and birds in Hong Kong (1). In February 2014, this novel [...]

• HDO of m-cresol was studied at 250 °C and 1 atm on Pt/Beta with varying BAS/Pt. • Increasing BAS density increases diffusion constraints of m-cresol and products. • Increasing BAS/Pt ratio reduces both the reaction rate and TOF of HDO. • Products distribution varies due to the combined effects of BAS/Pt and diffusion. • A low BAS/Pt is beneficial for improving stability by reducing coke deposition. Metal/zeolite bifunctional catalysts have been widely explored for hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenolics. However, the effect of acid-metal balance is not clearly understood because it is difficult to decouple this from other effects. In this work, a series of 1 wt.% Pt/Beta catalysts with different Brønsted acid site (BAS) to surface Pt ratios (BAS/Pt) were prepared by varying only the density of BAS, and tested in HDO of m-cresol at 250 °C and atmospheric pressure. Increasing BAS density increases intra-crystallite diffusion constraints of m-cresol/products due to strong chemisorption on BAS, and therefore slows their transportation through BASs toward the Pt sites inside the micropores of zeolite. As a result, both the reaction rate and turnover frequency of HDO are reduced with increasing BAS/Pt ratio. Increasing BAS/Pt ratio increases the yield of ring contraction products but reduces the yields of methylcyclohexane and methylcyclohexanone, because of the increased acid functionality and diffusion constraints of intermediates. A low BAS/Pt ratio is beneficial for improving catalytic stability by reducing coke deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the influence of various molar concentrations of vinylidene fluoride (VDF) on the piezoelectric and acoustic emission (AE) reception performances of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] sensors, we systematically investigated the crystal structures and the dielectric and ferroelectric properties of P(VDF-TrFE) films with different compositions of VDF and TrFE monomers and found that low proportion (<30 mol%) TrFE as a wedge inserted into molecular chains of P(VDF-TrFE) will not only improve the fraction of regular β-phase crystal grains but also decrease the dielectric constant (εr) of these copolymers, which favors the piezoelectric voltage coefficient (g33) of this P(VDF-TrFE) film. As such, a considerable remanent electric polarization (Pr ~ 11.4 μC cm2) under 200 MV/m and a large piezoelectric coefficient (d33 ~ -25 pC/N) are obtained in P(VDF-TrFE) 80/20-mol% films. It is worth noting that a sensor made from P(VDF-TrFE) 80/20 mol% shows an attractive AE reception property of approximately 84 dB, a high signal voltage of above 10 mV from time-domain analysis, and a large signal voltage of above 4 mV from frequency-domain analysis, which are close to standard lead zirconate titanate (PZT) sensors. Considering its unique characters of flexibility, no required stretching, easily shaped, having high thermal Faille temperatures (Tc ~ 135.7 ∘C), etc., P(VDF-TrFE) piezoelectric film is considered a promising material for sensors, actuators, and energy transfer units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the reentry process, the plasma sheath covering the surface of the hypersonic aircraft will cause the amplitude attenuation and phase jitter of the communication electromagnetic waves. Channel parameters such as the electron density and collision frequency of the plasma sheath reflect the changing trend of the plasma sheath, and these parameters can be measured by physical means. However, these parameters cannot directly reflect the change of the channel communication ability and cannot directly serve the design of communication methods in the plasma sheath. Due to the particularity of the plasma sheath, the traditional channel estimation method for Additive White Gaussian Noise channels will no longer be applicable. This paper presents a channel capacity estimation method for dynamic plasma sheath. First, the plasma sheath is equivalent to a discrete input continuous output memoryless channel, and then the channel capacity expression is derived according to Shannon formula. Finally, the channel capacity of the dynamic plasma sheath is estimated by calculating the transition probability density function. The simulation results show that the channel capacity of the dynamic plasma sheath is affected by both the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the dynamic parameters of the plasma sheath. When the electron density is small, the channel capacity is mainly affected by the SNR. As the electron density increases, the dynamic parameters of the plasma sheath gradually become the main factor affecting the channel capacity. This method is a theoretical analysis of the channel capacity when the channel parameters of the plasma channel are known, and it is meaningful for conducting the work of communication methods design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tebuconazole is a widely used fungicide that has been detected in water ecosystems, of which the concentrations may affect the endocrine function of aquatic organisms. At present study, tissue-specific bioaccumulation of tebuconazole was found in ovary of adult zebrafish, indicating a potential risk of endocrine disruption. In order to evaluate the potential endocrine disrupting effects, three life stages (2 hpf (hours post-fertilization) −60 dpf (days post-fertilization), Stage I; 60–120 dpf, Stage II; 180–208 dpf, Stage III) of zebrafish (Danio rerio) were chronically exposed to tebuconazole at the concentrations ranging from 0.05 mg/L to 1.84 mg/L. Result showed that exposed to tebuconazole could lead to a male-biased sex differentiation in juvenile zebrafish and significant decrease of the percentage of germ cells in sexually-mature zebrafish. Egg production was significantly inhibited by 57.8% and 19.2% after Stage II- and Stage III-exposures, respectively. The contents of 17β-estradiol in gonad decreased by 63.5% when exposed to 0.20 mg/L tebuconazole at Stage II and by 49.5% after exposed to 0.18 mg/L tebuconazole at Stage III, respectively. For all stages exposure, reductions in 17β-estradiol/testosterone ratio were observed, indicating an imbalance in steroids synthesis. Additionally, tebuconazole reduced the expression of cy p19a, which was consistent with the decrease of E2 level. In overall, the present findings indicated that, playing as an anti-estrogen-like chemical, tebuconazole inhibited the expression of Cyp19, thereby impairing steroid hormones biosynthesis, leading to a diminished fecundity of zebrafish. Image 1 • Tebuconazole plays as an anti-estrogen endocrine disrupting effects on zebrafish. • Tebuconazole induces a male-biased gonadal differentiation in juvenile zebrafish. • Tebuconazole delays development of germ cells in puberty and adult zebrafish. • Block of E 2 pathway may be the disrupting mechanism caused by tebuconazole. Tebuconazole blocks E2 pathway, thereby leading to a male-biased differentiation in juvenile zebrafish and delaying germ cells development in puberty and adult zebrafish, playing an antiestrogen-like role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Venlafaxine is one of the commonly prescribed antidepressants for major depressive disorder (MDD). Accumulated evidence revealed the involvement of glutamatergic system in the pathophysiology of MDD and antidepressant treatment.  Methods: We recruited 193 MDD patients who have been taking venlafaxine for 6 weeks, and investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GSK-3β and BDNF were associated with treatment response. Nine SNPs were selected randomly depending on association studies. Efficacy of treatment was determined by 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared between responders and nonresponders. Results: After adjusting the false discovery rate, no significant difference was observed between response and nonresponse groups in allele or genotype distributions after venlafaxine treatment for 6 weeks. Conclusion: Our results indicated that genetic variants in the GSK-3β and BDNF may not be associated with treatment response in MDD patients treated with venlafaxine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]