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Real-time monitoring of wind turbine performance degradation can improve the economics and safety of wind farms. Normal operational data can accurately reflect the generation performance of a wind turbine and in the wind-speed coordinate system these normal data constitute the "main power band". This paper invokes a Dirichlet Process Gaussian Mixture Model (DPGMM) to cluster operational data in each horizontal power bin, and the number of Gaussian components can be determined automatically. The confidence ellipses of Gaussian components can be used to identify the contour of the main power band which is then used as baseline performance model. In the monitoring phase, Mahalanobis distance is used to judge whether new monitoring data lies outside the contour of main power band and thus should be labeled as degraded operational data. When the proportion of such data exceeds a set value in a sliding window, a wind turbine performance degradation alarm is triggered. Degradation degree and rate can quantitatively measure the severity of performance degradation. For an industrial performance degradation case caused by gearbox oil over temperature, the method proposed timely gives alarm only 12 points (2 h) later than the first degraded operational data appears and is proved to be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the low-frequency vibro-acoustic characteristics of a finite locally resonant (LR) plate. A dynamic model of the finite LR plate consisting of periodic arrays of beam-like resonators attached to a thin aluminum plate with simply supported boundary conditions is established, and the average vibration response and radiated efficiency are theoretically determined by using modal-superposition and harmonic-balance methods. In addition, the study investigates the influence of the parameters and number of additional resonators on the vibro-acoustic performance of the finite LR plate. Finally, a vibration experiment of a finite plate with 8 × 10 uniformly distributed beam-like resonators validates the theoretical analysis results. The numerical and experimental results show that the finite LR plate has a low-frequency bandgap that can suppress the vibration and radiated noise of the structure, and the bandgap position is close to the resonance frequency of resonators. The position and performance of bandgaps can be influenced by changing the parameters and number of resonators. The experimental results show a bandgap ranging from 370 to 425 Hz, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction. The finite LR plates proposed in this study can find potential applications in the attenuation of low-frequency vibration and noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems, it is usually challenging to find high-quality solutions in polynomial time. Designing either an exact algorithm or an approximate algorithm for these problems often requires significantly specialized knowledge. Recently, deep learning methods have provided new directions to solve such problems. In this paper, an end-to-end deep reinforcement learning framework is proposed to solve this type of combinatorial optimization problems. This framework can be applied to different problems with only slight changes of input, masks, and decoder context vectors. The proposed framework aims to improve the models in literacy in terms of the neural network model and the training algorithm. The solution quality of TSP and the CVRP up to 100 nodes are significantly improved via our framework. Compared with the best results of the state-of-the-art methods, the average optimality gap is reduced from 4.53% to 3.67% for TSP with 100 nodes and from 7.34% to 6.68% for CVRP with 100 nodes when using the greedy decoding strategy. Besides, the proposed framework can be used to solve a multi-depot CVRP case without any structural modification. Furthermore, our framework uses about 1/3 ∼ 3/4 training samples compared with other existing learning methods while achieving better results. The results performed on randomly generated instances, and the benchmark instances from TSPLIB and CVRPLIB confirm that our framework has a linear running time on the problem size (number of nodes) during training and testing phases and has a good generalization performance from random instance training to real-world instance testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A published counterexample motivates us to correct one of our theorems in the previously published work in Wu and Guo (J Optim Theory Appl 169:705–712, 2016). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a fractional order (FO) impedance model for lithium-ion batteries and a method for model parameter identification. The model is established based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). A new hybrid genetic–fractional beetle swarm optimization (HGA-FBSO) scheme is derived for parameter identification, which combines the advantages of genetic algorithms (GA) and beetle swarm optimization (BSO). The approach leads to an equivalent circuit model being able to describe accurately the dynamic behavior of the lithium-ion battery. Experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, yielding voltage estimation root-mean-squared error (RMSE) of 10.5 mV and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.6058%. This corresponds to accuracy improvements of 32.26% and 7.89% for the RMSE, and 43.83% and 13.67% for the MAE, when comparing the results of the new approach to those obtained with the GA and the FBSO methods, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borehole cataloguing is an important task in geological drilling. Traditional manual cataloguing provides the stratification of underground boreholes based on changes in core lithology. This paper proposes a novel borehole cataloguing method using a drilling process monitoring (DPM) system. This DPM cataloguing method stratifies a borehole according to the drilling speed through the rock. A 102 m borehole was drilled and cored in Baota district, Yan'an city, Shaanxi Province, China. The rock-breaking response parameters of the drill bit displacement, drill rod rotation speed and inlet pipe and outlet pipe oil pressures were monitored throughout the drilling process, and the drilling depth-penetration rate curve during the net drilling process was obtained. The changes in drilling speed show that the DPM cataloguing can identify the depths of the layer interfaces of the borehole and describe the stratification. The interface depth values obtained by DPM have little difference from the interface depth values obtained by manual cataloguing, and the errors are between −0.04% and 4.29%. From the DPM stratification results, the engineering quality evaluation of the rock mass can be realized without coring. DPM is fast, convenient, accurate, can greatly improve the efficiency of existing catalogues, and can be applied to scientific research in any underground space. DPM is a measurement-while-drilling technology. According to DPM data, the operating state of a drilling rig and the parameter changes while drilling can be obtained in situ and in real time throughout the drilling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The single-cell platform provided revolutionary way to study cellular biology. Technologically, a sophistic protocol of isolating qualified single cells would be key to deliver to single-cell platform, which requires high cell viability, high cell yield and low content of cell aggregates or doublets. For musculoskeletal tissues, like bone, cartilage, nucleus pulposus and tendons, as well as their pathological state, which are tense and dense, it’s full of challenge to efficiently and rapidly prepare qualified single-cell suspension. Conventionally, enzymatic dissociation methods were wildly used but lack of quality control. In the present study, we designed the rapid cycling enzymatic processing method using tissue-specific enzyme cocktail to treat different human pathological musculoskeletal tissues, including degenerated nucleus pulposus (NP), ossifying posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and knee articular cartilage (AC) with osteoarthritis aiming to rapidly and efficiently harvest qualified single-cell suspensions for single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq). Results: We harvested highly qualified single-cell suspensions from NP and OPLL with sufficient cell numbers and high cell viability using the rapid cycling enzymatic processing method, which significantly increased the cell viability compared with the conventional long-time continuous digestion group (P < 0.05). Bioanalyzer trace showed expected cDNA size distribution of the scRNA-seq library and a clear separation of cellular barcodes from background partitions were verified by the barcode-rank plot after sequencing. T-SNE visualization revealed highly heterogeneous cell subsets in NP and OPLL. Unfortunately, we failed to obtain eligible samples from articular cartilage due to low cell viability and excessive cell aggregates and doublets. Conclusions: In conclusion, using the rapid cycling enzymatic processing method, we provided thorough protocols for preparing single-cell suspensions from human musculoskeletal tissues, which was timesaving, efficient and protective to cell viability. The strategy would greatly guarantee the cell heterogeneity, which is critical for scRNA-seq data analysis. The protocol to treat human OA articular cartilage should be further improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present work, we extend LĂĽscher formula-like formalism to few-body system in a uniform magnetic field with Dirichlet boundary conditions. As a signature of non-trivial topological systems, the energy spectrum of topological edge states show up in the gap between allowed energy bands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opinion dynamics and network topology have received considerable attention. More recently, a growing number of researchers have considered the dynamics of opinions on coevolving networks instead of on static networks. We present an individual preference model in a social network whose initial topology is a directed graph with small-world properties: agents synchronously each select a neighbor to unidirectionally visit and average the opinions between them and their respective neighbors. Guided by a preference for either relative homophily or heterophily, an agent probabilistically visits one of her neighbors, severs the connection, and subsequently, with some probability, rewires a link to a neighbor of that initial neighbor. Moreover, we perform the widely used agent-based computational modeling and simulation to study opinion dynamics and the network structure evolution. We have shown that opinions in some simulations can directly come to an agreement and in other simulations, they have to experience both stabilization process and consensus process. As conservatism increases, stabilization slows down, and the consensus probability decreases. In our model, relative homophily mitigates the clustering phenomenon and ensures that all agents always reach an agreement, while relative heterophily significantly increases the consensus probability in the stabilized state. Furthermore, the social network in our article eventually displays characteristics that are similar to those of scale-free networks and serendipity plays a part in the creation of opinion leaders. Even if the so-called opinion leader ceases to voice opinions or exits the social network, all agents in the network remain capable of achieving consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TiO 2 has been widely studied in photocatalytic VOCs oxidation but its photocatalytic activity is still unsatisfied due to poor visible light absorption, serious charge recombination and weak toluene adsorption. Herein, a composite catalyst (TiO 2 /ZSM-5) was constructed between TiO 2 and hierarchical ZSM-5 by ball milling for photocatalytic toluene oxidation. The optimal composite catalyst exhibited the toluene degradation efficiency of 91.08 %, which was 2.7 and 1.3 times than those of TiO 2 and TiO 2 /commercial ZSM-5. It showed that the strong interaction between TiO 2 and hierarchical ZSM-5 was established via the formation of Ti-O-Si bond, which decreased the band gap from 3.08 to 0.55 eV when compared with TiO 2 and was helpful for the enhanced charge separation. In addition, the mesoporous volume of hierarchical ZSM-5 was regulated by a dual-template method, making the mesoporous volume increased from 0.23 to 0.38 cm−3 g−1 when compared with TiO 2 /commercial ZSM-5, which improved the toluene adsorption capacity from 0.12 to 0.16 cm−3 g−1. DFT calculation further indicated that the energy barrier of toluene oxidation and ring-opening reaction was reduced in the presence of hierarchical ZSM-5. This work provided a new catalyst design method to improve the photocatalytic activity by the synergy action of TiO 2 and ZSM-5. [Display omitted] • TiO 2 /hierarchical ZSM-5 catalyst was used for photocatalytic toluene oxidation. • Visible light absorption was improved due to the strong interaction. • The charge transfer and mesoporous volume greatly affects photocatalytic activity. • The energy barrier of toluene oxidation and ring-opening reaction was reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corrosion of metallic Bipolar Plates (BPs) has become a key bottleneck in the practical application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Environmental factors inside the PEMFCs significantly accelerate the degradation of electrical conductivity and durability of metallic BPs. In this work, we investigated the corrosion behavior and conductive properties of amorphous carbon coating (a-C) coated SS316L in a simulated PEMFC environment at various operating temperatures. The results showed that the corrosion current density (I corr) of a-C varied in a range of 2.3–8.7 nA/cm2 when subjected to a temperature range of 40–80 °C. Additionally, the interfacial contact resistance increased from 4.36 to 9.56 mΩ/cm2 with a rise in temperature. The reasons could be ascribed to two aspects. First, the a-C maintained the good chemical stability of sp2/sp3 bonds regardless of temperature changes, favoring remarkable anti-corrosion and good conductivity. Second, the higher temperatures intensified the penetration of corrosive species, accelerating the dissolution process of a-C coated SS316L and leading to substantial corrosion failure. [Display omitted] • a-C coatings were fabricated on SS316L by a hybrid magnetron sputtering technique. • a-C coated SS316L enhanced corrosion resistance and interfacial conductive resistance in a simulated PEMFCs condition. • Increasing operating temperature slightly sacrificed the protective capability of a-C due to dissolution of metallic ions. • Strongly chemical stability of a-C favored long-term durability at high running temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a fully coupled model for a backward bent duct buoy oscillating water column (BBDB-OWC) wave energy converter (WEC) is established, with the consideration of strong transient nonlinear interactions among ocean waves, BBDB hull motion, mooring system, internal water column oscillation, aerodynamics, turbine rotation and the damping effect of the generator. The model is validated by comparison with experimental results, and then used to investigate the transient characteristics and periodic average performance of the WEC under regular wave conditions. The differences in transient hydrodynamic characteristics and air pressure-flow rate relationship between the fully coupled model and the orifice model are compared. The transient characteristics of an impulse turbine under reciprocating and transient airflows are studied. And the effect of wave period, wave height and load torque coefficient on the average performance of the WEC is investigated. • A fully coupled wave-to-electricity model for a BBDB-OWC WEC is established. • Hydrodynamics between the fully coupled model and orifice model are compared. • Transient performance of impulse turbine using fully coupled model is investigated. • Effect of wave conditions and load coefficient on BBDB performance is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • β-CD was modified with maleic anhydride to reduce its grafting hindrance. • The mass transfer resistence of BPA adsorption on PP-g-MAH-β-CD was explored. • A theoretical maximum saturated adsorption capacity of 169.06 mg/g was obtained. • PP-g-MAH-β-CD showed nearly unchanged BPA adsorption capacity in 15 cycles. A large amount of soluble beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was immobilized on polypropylene non-woven fabric (PP) by radiation and chemical grafting to obtain PP-g-MAH-β-CD, which can effectively adsorb bisphenol A (BPA) in water. A longer chemical chain was grafted by β-CD through the pre-modification, which effectively reduced the steric hindrance of further grafting reaction and made the grafting degree of β-CD on PP fabric higher. In addition, the adsorption mass transfer resistance of fabrics with different grafting degrees was calculated according to non-equilibrium thermodynamics to explore the effect of grafting degree on adsorption. The characterization results confirmed the successful preparation of PP-g-MAH-β-CD. The theoretical maximum saturated adsorption capacity of PP-g-MAH-β-CD was 146.55 mg/g. PP-g-MAH-β-CD was easy to recycle, and the adsorption capacity did not decrease significantly after 15 cycles of adsorption and desorption experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analytical, numerical, and experimental investigation on the transverse vibrations of a finite beam with periodically arrayed beam-like resonators was carried out. A continuous-discrete model of the finite locally resonant beam was established by employing the "mass-spring- mass" subsystem. The analytical solution of the coupling vibration equations was derived based on the modal superposition method, and the analytical expression of average velocity response and vibration transmissibility were given. Then, the minimum periodic number of different units which could result in a bandgap was determined. Finally, the bandgap of a finite locally resonant beam was confirmed by a vibration experiment on a simply supported beam with twelve uniformly distributed beam-like resonators. The numerical and experimental results show that finite locally resonant beams have low-frequency bandgaps like infinite locally resonant beams, and the bandgap position is close to the resonance frequency of resonators. In addition, for a beam with a different type of locally resonant units, the minimum number of units that can generate the bandgap is nearly the same. Within considered frequency ranges, the experimental results are consistent with the theoretical results, meaning that the transverse vibration in locally resonant beams could be substantially attenuated. The conclusions may be supported to the application of locally resonant theory to control low-frequency vibration and radiation noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses. Fluid-filled lungs due to the disease result in painful breathing difficulties and reduced oxygen intake. Effective diagnosis is critical for appropriate and timely treatment and improving survival. Chest X-rays (CXRs) are routinely used to screen for the infection. Computer-aided detection methods using conventional deep learning (DL) models for identifying pneumonia-consistent manifestations in CXRs have demonstrated superiority over traditional machine learning approaches. However, their performance is still inadequate to aid in clinical decision-making. This study improves upon the state of the art as follows. Specifically, we train a DL classifier on large collections of CXR images to develop a CXR modality-specific model. Next, we use this model as the classifier backbone in the RetinaNet object detection network. We also initialize this backbone using random weights and ImageNet-pretrained weights. Finally, we construct an ensemble of the best-performing models resulting in improved detection of pneumonia-consistent findings. Experimental results demonstrate that an ensemble of the top-3 performing RetinaNet models outperformed individual models in terms of the mean average precision (mAP) metric (0.3272, 95% CI: (0.3006,0.3538)) toward this task, which is markedly higher than the state of the art (mAP: 0.2547). This performance improvement is attributed to the key modifications in initializing the weights of classifier backbones and constructing model ensembles to reduce prediction variance compared to individual constituent models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: A sequence of images can be taken after the application of acetic acid during a colposcopic examination of the uterine cervix to capture the dynamic visual variations due to the aceto-whitening reaction on the cervical epithelium. Automated analyis of these changes require spatial alignment of the apparent change in the cervix location in the image sequence due to patient movement or imaging device repositioning. We developed a new self-supervised RGB-colored deep learning-based image registration method to automatically align the images that does not require a manually-provided reference standard. We also fine-tuned a transformer-based segmentation network to evaluate the result of our registration method which achieved 12.62% higher in Dice/IoU scores in cervix boundary detection compared to the unregistered images. During a colposcopic examination of the uterine cervix for cervical cancer prevention, one or more digital images are typically acquired after the application of diluted acetic acid. An alternative approach is to acquire a sequence of images at fixed intervals during an examination before and after applying acetic acid. This approach is asserted to be more informative as it can capture dynamic pixel intensity variations on the cervical epithelium during the aceto-whitening reaction. However, the resulting time sequence images may not be spatially aligned due to the movement of the cervix with respect to the imaging device. Disease prediction using automated visual evaluation (AVE) techniques using multiple images could be adversely impacted without correction for this misalignment. The challenge is that there is no registration ground truth to help train a supervised-learning-based image registration algorithm. We present a novel unsupervised registration approach to align a sequence of digital cervix color images. The proposed deep-learning-based registration network consists of three branches and processes the red, green, and blue (RGB, respectively) channels of each input color image separately using an unsupervised strategy. Each network branch consists of a convolutional neural network (CNN) unit and a spatial transform unit. To evaluate the registration performance on a dataset that has no ground truth, we propose an evaluation strategy that is based on comparing automatic cervix segmentation masks in the registered sequence and the original sequence. The compared segmentation masks are generated by a fine-tuned transformer-based object detection model (DeTr). The segmentation model achieved Dice/IoU scores of 0.917/0.870 and 0.938/0.885, which are comparable to the performance of our previous model in two datasets. By comparing our segmentation on both original and registered time sequence images, we observed an average improvement in Dice scores of 12.62% following registration. Further, our approach achieved higher Dice and IoU scores and maintained full image integrity compared to a non-deep learning registration method on the same dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a progressive fibrosing disease, characterized by excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) and remodeling of the lung architecture, which finally result in respiratory failure. Currently, there is no satisfactory treatment for PF， therefore, the development of effective agents is urgently needed. Lotus plumule, the green embryo of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., a plant of the Nymphaeaceae family, is a traditional Chinese food with exceptional nutritional value and its extracts exert prominent anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate the inhibitory effects of lotus plumule extracts (LPEs) on bleomycin (BLM)-induced PF in mice. Therefore, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, RT-PCR, and western blot analysis were performed. The histopathological examination demonstrated that LPEs could obviously decrease the degree of alveolitis, deposition of ECM and the production of collagen I (Col-I) in the pulmonary interstitium. In addition, the results showed that LPEs markedly alleviated the expression of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Additionally, the content of Col-I and hydroxyproline (HYP) was also attenuated. In conclusion, LPEs could ameliorate the BLM-induced lung fibrosis, thus suggesting that LPEs could serve as a potential therapeutic approach for PF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coupled-channel two-particle systems bound by a harmonic trap are discussed in the present paper. Under assumption of short-range interactions, the formula that relates the energy levels of such trapped systems to phase shifts and inelasticity of coupled-channel reactions can be obtained in a closed form. The present paper may set some groundworks toward extracting scattering amplitudes of inelastic nuclear reactions from ab initio calculations of discrete levels of many-nucleon systems in a harmonic trap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly efficient cobalt-catalyzed homocoupling of terminal alkynes with di- tert -butyldiaziridinone as the oxidant has been developed. The protocol tolerates a wide array of terminal alkynes, both activated and unactivated alkynes, to afford the corresponding conjugated 1,3-diynes. The mild reaction conditions further allow late-stage homocoupling of alkynes derived from complex natural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In ocean-bottom node (OBN) seismic exploration, a ghost is a common interference wave that affects the accuracy of seismic data interpretation. Receiver de-ghosting can be achieved using dual-sensor summation technology, which employs a hydrophone and geophone to collect seismic signals. The differences between the two receivers cause the polarities of the ghost wave signals to be opposite; therefore, the ghost waves can be eliminated by adding these receivers. However, there are differences between the actual data obtained from the hydrophone and geophone with regard to frequency, phase, and amplitude, thereby preventing them from being directly summated. Therefore, the frequency, phase and amplitude of both data records must be matched for consistency before dual-sensor summation can be conducted. In addition, some noise and ghosts will remain during data processing, resulting in a reduction in the signal-to-noise ratio of the data, making it necessary to adopt noise and residual ghost suppression methods. In this study, a wavelet analysis was newly introduced to the dual-sensor summation process. Specifically, the wavelet spectrum whitening method was proposed for the frequency matching of dual-sensor data, and the nonlinear wavelet transform threshold method of the wavelet denoising method was applied to suppress the noise and residual ghost. On this basis, a new dual-sensor process flow in OBN seismic exploration was developed. The feasibility and effectiveness of the method were verified using actual data. The method proposed in this study will help to improve the accuracy of future data processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The G-code for CNC machining of free-form surfaces is usually composed of continuous line segments. The sudden change of velocity direction at the corner of adjacent line segments will cause the vibration of the machine tool, eventually affecting the machining quality. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel smoothing method for line segments based on the real-time transformation of interpolation points (SSTI). Firstly, this method generates a smoothing interval on the line-segment path, which centered on the current original interpolation point. Secondly, a smoothed interpolation point corresponding with the current interpolation point is obtained, by a transformation according to the line-segment path in the smoothing interval. Finally, to ensure the machining accuracy, the smoothing error of the smoothed interpolation point is checked and controlled. Compared with conventional smoothing methods, the SSTI method has no special requirements on the original line-segment path, such as the length of line segments, the angle of corners, and the quantity of endpoints. Simulation and experimental results show that the SSTI method proposed in this paper has good adaptability to different types of line-segment paths, and the smooth optimization can be achieved under the premise of ensuring machining accuracy. The proposed method offers an effective trajectory-optimization strategy for the CNC machining of continuous line-segment path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We propose an attention developmental network to recognize multiscale faces in cluttered backgrounds without face detectors. • We propose the synapse maintenance mechanism for the attention area to further remove background pixels. • The proposed method performs more than 13% of accuracy improvement over bionic and ResNet-based networks. The human vision system can efficiently recognize multiscale objects in cluttered backgrounds. The scheme can be achieved with a visual attention mechanism by concentrating visual resources to the saliency area while ignoring other task-irrelevant areas. However, in the computer vision community, when recognizing multiscale faces in cluttered backgrounds, object detection modules are necessary to locate face regions and reduce the influence of complex backgrounds on the recognition model, which inevitably increases the computational complexity. Motivated by the human vision system, this study proposes the attention developmental network to recognize multiscale faces without using face detectors. A top-down attention mechanism is used to teach the network to focus on the face areas and ignore the backgrounds. An attention-based synapse maintenance mechanism is also introduced to further suppress the background pixels and improve the accuracy of face recognition. Comparative experiments show that our method can attain at least 13% of accuracy improvement over bionic neural networks and ResNet-based recognition networks on the same model scale with less training epochs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the effects of different diluents on the propagation characteristics of H 2 /CO/air mixture turbulent premixed flames, a series of experiments were carried out in a turbulent premixed flame experimental system. The effects of turbulence intensity (0.49–1.31 m/s), dilution gas content (10%, 20%, and 30%), hydrogen fraction (50%, 70%, and 90%), and equivalence ratio (0.6, 0.8, and 1.0) on the turbulent premixed flame were studied. The results show that with the increase in hydrogen fraction or turbulence intensity or equivalence ratio, the S T and u t increase at the same radius. Compared with N 2 dilution, CO 2 dilution showed a more obvious inhibition effect on S T. With the increase of Ka , S T;35mm /u' gradually decreased, and the extent of S T;35mm /u' decrease gradually became smaller. As the intensity of turbulence increases or the hydrogen fraction increases, the slope of S T,35mm /u' with Da/Le gradually decreases. In the turbulence intensity range of this experiment, the u t,35mm / μ l under nitrogen dilution condition has a larger floating range. The growth rate of u t,35mm / μ l at a low equivalence ratio is significantly higher than that at a high equivalence ratio. • Effect of diluent content on the turbulent flame propagation speed was studied. • Relationship between Ka and S T,35mm /u' of syngas/air mixture flame was evaluated. • Effect of u' , φ and X H2 on flame propagation characteristics were studied. • Effect of Da and Ze on the turbulent burning velocity was analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimization-oriented exponential-polynomial-closure (OEPC) method is extended and investigated to analyze stochastic nonlinear oscillators under multiple excitations, with the purpose of obtaining probabilistic solutions for the corresponding system. The presented method extends the original EPC projection procedure for solving the FPK equation by minimizing an objective function, which is defined as the spatial integration of the weighted square residual error. Using the exponential polynomial function, the parameters within it can be located by seeking the minimum of the objective function. In this paper, the novel method has been tested with four examples of strong nonlinearities raised by polynomial nonlinear terms and parametric excitations. The results provide adequate evidence that the OEPC approach delivers notably improved accuracy compared to the Gaussian closure method and demonstrates superior efficiency compared to Monte Carlo simulation. The OEPC method presents a viable alternative for investigating stochastic nonlinear oscillators. • Conducted probabilistic analysis for the system under multiple excitations. • Guaranteed solution accuracy in both unimodal and multimodal distributions. • Presented a novel method applicable to strongly nonlinear stochastic systems. • Established an objective function for solving Fokker–Planck–Kolmogorov equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gallium-based liquid metal alloys (LMs) have promising prospects as circuit components for flexible electronics, while, their high surface tension is now challenging for wetting of LMs on polymer surfaces and further patterning. In this study, we prepared functional Cu thin films on PDMS to enhance wettability of EGaIn liquid metal, using metal reaction-enhanced wetting. By adjusting the deposition pressure for Cu film deposition and introducing silicon-bound PDMS, both surface characteristics and microstructures of the Cu films change greatly. The corresponding contact angle of EGaIn can be tuned from 19° to 79.5°. The folded texture of the Cu film surface reduces the actual contact area, leading to an increase in the contact angle. The higher I (111) /I (200) ratio in the Cu films improves the surface wettability, probably due to the fact that the (111)-phase orientation promotes the formation of CuGa 2 reaction products. This tunable wettability of LMs is expected to improve the performance of flexible electronic devices. • Cu films with various microstructures were deposited on PDMS and PDMS with rigid Si substrate comparatively. • The microstructure of Cu changed the contact Angle of EGaIn from 19° to 79.5°. • The wettability of EGaIn was determined by the degree of chemical reaction between Cu and Ga. • The larger actual contact area and higher I (111) /I (200) ratio in the Cu film favored the wettability of EGaIn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass table in the deformed relativistic Hartree–Bogoliubov theory in continuum (DRHBc) with the PC-PK1 density functional has been established for even- Z nuclei with 8 ≤ Z ≤ 120 , extended from the previous work for even–even nuclei (Zhang et al. (DRHBc mass table collaboration), At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 144, 101488 (2022)). The calculated binding energies, two-nucleon and one-neutron separation energies, root-mean-square (rms) radii of neutron, proton, matter, and charge distributions, quadrupole deformations, and neutron and proton Fermi surfaces are tabulated and compared with available experimental data. A total of 4829 even- Z nuclei are predicted to be bound, with an rms deviation of 1.433 MeV from the 1244 mass data. Good agreement with the available experimental odd–even mass differences, α decay energies, and charge radii is also achieved. The description accuracy for nuclear masses and nucleon separation energies as well as the prediction for drip lines is compared with the results obtained from other relativistic and nonrelativistic density functional. The comparison shows that the DRHBc theory with PC-PK1 provides an excellent microscopic description for the masses of even- Z nuclei. The systematics of the nucleon separation energies, odd–even mass differences, pairing energies, two-nucleon gaps, α decay energies, rms radii, quadrupole deformations, potential energy curves, neutron density distributions, and neutron mean-field potentials are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new oleanane triterpene saponin 1 was isolated from Ligularia veitchiana. The structure of compound 1 was elucidated as olean-12-en-6β,16β,28-triol 3-O-β-D-glucuronopyranoside by spectroscopic data (1H, 13C NMR, HMBC, HSQC, COSY, and NOSEY) and chemical evidence. Additionally, compound 1 presented phytotoxic effect on the growth of lettuce at 200 ppm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicle (EV) carsharing operation is facing major challenge to balance the increasing user demand with insufficient vehicle availability and station capacity. Previous researchers mainly focus on reallocating EVs in limited stations and discrete periods through operator-oriented strategies, while containing scant study of dynamic pricing scheme that can benefit supply-demand balance and service profitability in continuous operation periods. Therefore, this paper proposes a multistage simulation-optimization-integrated methodology framework for adaptively incentivizing users based on dynamic price subsidy (DPS). In stage I, Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) is used to determine the real-time supply-demand distributions from user historical data. In stage II, a novel user-oriented reallocation optimization model is established to maximize the operation profit based on the obtained SUMO results. To obtian feasibile solutions, an improved immune genetic algorithm is developed to effectively solve the model. The real-world case study in Shanghai shows that, compared with other benchmark methods, the proposed methodology can significantly increase the daily profit from 78981 RMB to 89506 RMB and improve the system balance from 78.1 % to 94.5 %. Sensitivity analysis and cost-benefit analysis show that the user-oriented DPS can reduce operation cost and order waiting time, while promoting EV utilization within different user populations. • A novel user-oriented EV carsharing reallocation strategy based on dynamic price subsidy (DPS) is proposed. • A multistage simulation-optimization-integrated methodology framework is established to effectively perform user-oriented reallocation and obtain real-time supply-demand distributions. • Real-world case study shows that daily maximum profit has improved to 89506 RMB and system balance has increased up to 94.5 % under DPS. • Cost-benefit analysis shows that the proposed DPS can reduce cost and order waiting time, while promoting EV utilization. • Feasible implications are given to relevant carsharing stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Noble-metal-free catalyst obtained using MOFs precursors for highly efficient imine synthesis. • An excellent TOF value of 105 h−1 is superior to other non-noble-metal catalysts. • Imine synthesis is realized under mild reaction temperature at 40 °C. • CuInS 2 / C composite catalyst offers the promising practical application for imine synthesis. The self-coupling reaction of primary amines is an efficient method for obtaining imines, which are important components in the organic synthesis of medicines, pesticides, and fine chemical products. However, this reaction often requires the utilization of noble metals as catalysts to achieve high yields. Therefore, it is both desirable and challenging to explore efficient noble-metal-free catalysts. In this study, a composite catalyst of CuInS 2 / C with a regular octahedral shape and porous framework was synthesized using the HKUST-1 as precursor. The CuInS 2 / C catalyst exhibited effective catalytic activity in the self-coupling synthesis of imines under mild conditions, achieving a turnover frequency (TOF) of 105 h−1, which surpasses other non-noble metal catalysts. Mechanism investigations revealed that the excellent catalytic performance of CuInS 2 / C was attributed to its Cu(I) center and porous structure. The former generates radicals, while the latter enhances the transport of substrates and products, facilitating imine synthesis. Importantly, the CuInS 2 / C catalyst could be reused at least four times and applied in gram-scale experiments, demonstrating promising practical applications. This research presents a direct approach to developing noble-metal-free and highly efficient composite catalysts for imine synthesis using MOFs as precursors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better constrain the mechanisms of interactions between different types of melts and mantle peridotites in the upper mantle of the big mantle wedge, we studied petrology, mineral chemistry, and temperatures recorded by major element and rare earth element (REE) for mantle xenoliths from the Wangqing area in the eastern part of northeastern China, and compared these data with those for xenoliths from the adjacent Jiaohe and Shuangliao areas. The Wangqing xenoliths, including olivine clinopyroxenite, wehrlite, orthopyroxenite, and websterite, generally contain clinopyroxene that is surrounding or replacing olivine. Mineral compositions of the xenoliths from northeastern China vary along melt–peridotite reaction trends, where the Wangqing xenoliths have lower mineral Mg#'s (77–85 in olivine and 81–87 in clinopyroxene) than the Jiaohe and Shuangliao peridotite and pyroxenite xenoliths. In addition, clinopyroxenes in the Wangqing samples have moderately elevated rare earth element contents and (La/Yb) N and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7035–0.7046), within the range of those for clinopyroxenes in the Jiaohe and Shuangliao samples. The REE temperatures of the Wangqing samples (1024–1253 °C) are higher than those of the Jiaohe and Shuangliao samples (844–1120 °C). Based on the differences in mineral chemistry and temperature, we conclude that the Jiaohe and Shuangliao peridotites and pyroxenites were mainly derived from lithospheric mantle accreted from carbonated regions of the asthenosphere, whereas the Wangqing wehrlites and pyroxenites were formed by reaction of lithospheric mantle peridotites with hot carbonated silicate melts. These results provide evidence for two different types interactions between of carbonate-related melts and mantle peridotite, which are important for understanding the chemical evolution of the upper mantle in the big mantle wedge of northeastern Asia. • Pyroxenite and wehrlite can be formed by two types of melt-peridotite reaction in the upper mantle. • REE temperature and mineral chemistry of xenolith reveal reaction mechanisms. • Accretion of carbonated asthenosphere yields low temperature and high mineral Mg#. • Silicate metasomatism in lithosphere yields high temperature and low mineral Mg#. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirteen previously undescribed iridoids (1 – 13), together with five known iridoids (14 – 18) were isolated from the roots and rhizomes of Valeriana jatamansi Jones. Their structures with absolute configurations were elucidated by analysis of MS, NMR, optical rotation and their experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism spectra. All of the isolated compounds were tested for their protective effects against α-hemolysin-induced cell death in A549 cells. Compounds 14 , 16 and 17 showed moderate protective effects, and compounds 15 and 18 showed weak protective effects. Eighteen iridoids including thirteen previously undescribed ones were isolated from Valeriana jatamansi Jones and some of them exhibited protective effects against α-hemolysin-induced cell death in A549 cells. [Display omitted] • Thirteen previously undescribed iridoids were isolated from Valeriana jatamansi. • Compounds 1 and 2 were unique iridoids with isovaleroxy at C-1 and C-3. • Compounds 14 , 16 and 17 showed moderate protective effects against α-hemolysin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • EGCG @ BSP/ HA MNs can be administered in situ for the treatment of acne vulgaris. • The microneedle backing material with DE adsorbs pus for simple debridement, effectively preventing secondary infections. • The microneedle body material is natural polysaccharide with good biocompatibility, dissolving and releasing EGCG rapidly. • EGCG is a natural polyphenol with highly effective antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Acne vulgaris is a common inflammatory skin disease associated with Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), with serious physical and psychological effects on patients. Conventional topical use of antibiotics is not effective due to the skin barrier and oral administration can adversely affect the intestinal flora. Microneedle is a novel type of localized drug delivery system that noninvasively breaks through the stratum corneum barrier and effectively enhances the transdermal absorption of drugs. Here, Bletilla striata polysaccharide (BSP)/Hyaluronic acid (HA) loaded Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was used as the microneedle body to easily penetrate the epidermis and enhance antibacterial ability. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and Diatomaceous earth (DE) are used as the microneedle backing to absorb pus and bacterial debris, prevent re-infection of bacteria and promote skin healing. Compared to traditional antibiotics, the excellent skin permeability of EGCG@BSP/HA MNs studied here can improve the efficacy and solve side effects and drug resistance. In vivo studies in mice models induced by P. acnes showed that this microneedle could effectively reduce skin swelling, inhibit bacterial growth and reduce the levels of TNF-α, IL-8 and MMP-2. In summary, this study provides an ideal antimicrobial drug delivery system for the treatment of acne vulgaris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan and 2013 Mw 6.7 Lushan earthquakes ruptured the central and southern segments of the Longmenshan thrust belt on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, respectively. The ∼M 7 Tianquan earthquake in 1327 is also thought to have occurred on the southern segment with effects spatially overlapping those of the Lushan earthquake, but the deformation style and seismogenic mechanism of the segment remain poorly understood. Satellite image interpretation, field investigations, and trenching reveal that the Shuangshi-Dachuan fault (SDF) on the southern segment displaces landforms, dips southeast, and is dominated by thrust motion with a left-lateral strike-slip component. The latest and penultimate events along the fault occurred in 1085–1457 CE and 1215 BCE-104 CE, respectively. Some ancient landslides exits along the fault, and one of them formed close to 703 ± 17 yr BP. The ages of the latest event and of the landslide agree well with the occurrence of the Tianquan earthquake, indicating that the earthquake was most likely generated by the SDF. Magnetotelluric imaging and the aftershock belt of the Lushan earthquake show that the Longmen Shan forms a wedge-shaped high-resistivity body protruding eastward. The SDF corresponds well to the east-dipping upper electrical boundary of the wedge-shaped body and is interpreted as a shallow backthrust; the seismogenic fault of the Lushan earthquake corresponds to the west-dipping lower boundary and is interpreted as a blind thrust fault. The left-lateral slip component of the SDF may be a response to the lateral extension of the weak lower crust. • The Shuangshi-Dachuan fault is a shallow backthrust of the Longmenshan thrust belt. • The Shuangshi-Dachuan fault (SDF) hosted the 1327 Tianquan earthquake. • The 2013 Lushan earthquake occurred on a blind thrust fault located under the SDF. • The SDF and the blind thrust fault correspond to the electrical structure boundary. • The electrical structure boundary had a controlling effect on the earthquakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The relationship between the active-reactive current injection and the converter's voltage at the point of common coupling in resistive-reactive system is derived. • The optimal/suboptimal voltage support methods are proposed for multi-terminal MMCs in resistive-reactive AC/DC hybrid distribution networks under sufficient/insufficient power. • The causes and propagation routs of zero-sequence circulating currents among networks with different neutral grounding types are revealed. • Zero-sequence circulating current elimination methods for transformerless MMCs with different FRT capabilities in multi-voltage-level AC/DC hybrid distribution networks are proposed. In AC/DC hybrid distribution networks (HDNs), when asymmetric grounding faults occur, transformerless multiterminal modular multilevel converters (MMCs) should achieve three key targets of fault ride-through (FRT): 1) limiting the unbalanced fault currents; 2) injecting currents to support grid voltages in case of disconnection from grids; and 3) eliminating the zero-sequence circulating currents (ZSCCs) from fault networks through MMCs to nonfaulted networks. However, in medium voltage-level HDNs, the line impedances are mainly resistive-inductive, and traditional current injection methods are no longer effective. Moreover, in neutral nondirect grounding networks with multiple AC voltage levels, the voltages of nonfaulted phases rise, and it is difficult for MMCs to achieve fault current control. To solve the above issues, this manuscript proposes a multi-target FRT strategy. First, negative-sequence current controllers are used to eliminate the negative-sequence fault currents. Then, to support the positive-sequence voltages of grids, optimal and suboptimal active-reactive current references based on the line impedance ratios are proposed. To help transformerless MMCs with low modulation indices eliminate zero-sequence circulating currents, two zero-sequence voltage compensation modes and an improved zero-sequence current eliminator are proposed. Finally, the proposed fault current control is verified in MATLAB/Simulink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The mechanism of the screen surface overcoming moist material adhesion was investigated. • The spatial distribution law of material during screening was evaluated. • The synergistic effect mechanism of multi-parameters was revealed. In mineral beneficiation, screening is critical for classifying materials. There are problems with low screening efficiency and adhesion and accumulation of material during the screening process of moist material. So, the process of enhancing the classification of moist material by an elastic screen surface with variable vibration intensity (ESSVVI) was investigated in this paper. The feeding speed of material was optimized during screening, and the synergistic effect of multi-parameters was further investigated by response surface methodology (RSM). The results showed that this screen surface could achieve elastic screening with variable vibration intensity, effectively overcome the moist material adhesion, and resolve the issue of material accumulation. The screening efficiency reached the maximum at 10.00 t·h−1·m−2 feeding speed. The impacts of screen body amplitude, frequency, and feeding speed on elastic screening performance with variable vibration intensity were found significant, and there were significant interactions among these parameters. This work can provide a reference to enhance the classification of moist material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blade ice accretion endangers the safety of wind turbines located at high altitudes with a humid climate, particularly during winter. Timely detection of ice accretion facilitates appropriate regulation of the wind turbine, including shut down, to ensure safety. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the impact of ice accretion on wind turbine performance and relevant operational parameters. Rotor speed, output power and ambient temperature are selected as variables that can facilitate the detection of blade ice accretion. The XGBoost method is used to accurately construct normal behavior models for output power and rotor speed respectively, and the model errors (Mean Absolute Percentage Error, MAPE) can be as low as 0.53%. A Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT) is introduced to analyze the model prediction residuals and thus identify any abnormal changes to output power and rotor speed. If significant changes are detected when the ambient temperature is below zero, an ice accretion alarm is triggered. Using real blade ice accretion data, a case study demonstrates that the proposed blade ice detection method can give blace icing alarm 5 h in advance and offers sufficient time to gurantte the safety of wind turbine. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultrasonic Lamb wave total focusing method (TFM) only uses the amplitude of the defective scattered signal for virtual focused imaging, while ignoring the phase information of the scattered signal and the dispersion characteristics of the Lamb wave, resulting in low imaging resolution and easily produced artefacts in imaging. To solve this problem, an ultrasonic Lamb wave imaging method based on phase coherence is proposed in this paper and the sign coherence factor (SCF) in the full matrix scattering signal is extracted. Moreover, the method uses the SCF to weight the amplitude of the full matrix scattering signal, suppresses the side lobes of the defect echo signal and the Lamb wave dispersion effect, improves the ultrasonic Lamb wave imaging resolution and weakens the artefacts. Finally, single- and multiplehole defects in aluminium plates are detected for experimental validation using an ultrasonic phased array. The array performance indicator and signal-to-noise ratio are used as indicators for quantitative assessment of imaging performance. The results show that compared with the TFM imaging, the SCF imaging can effectively suppress the noise and scattered signal side lobes, improve the array performance indicator (API) by 69.1% and improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by 73.9%. In addition, the SCF imaging can effectively weaken the interference of scattered signals between multiple through-hole defects, resulting in fewer artefacts in imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrofracturing technology has become successful in enhancing the permeability of shale gas reservoirs. However, given the geological complexity in the subsurface, considerable challenges remain in quantitatively analyzing the hydrofracture geometry and understanding the anisotropic fracture process. To investigate, we conducted hydrofracturing tests through a horizontal borehole in shale core samples to simulate a horizontal fracturing stimulation. Based on the X-ray computed tomography scanning and fracture geometry reconstruction results, a new quantification method was established to evaluate the effect of bedding inclination and stress contrast on hydrofracturing efficiency. We concluded that the complex fracture network with higher stimulation index could be created at bedding inclinations of 0°–30° and stress contrast of 10 MPa. In this scenario, the fracturing process presented distinctive stages of fracture initiation, propagation, thoroughgoing failure, and stable seepage. The main fracture propagation in arrester mode would require higher fluid pressure, generate a complex fracture pathway, and a larger amount of acoustic emission amplitude, energy, and events. Also, the time from fracture initiation to physical breakdown was relatively long due to the branching of the main fracture into the weak beddings. With the increase in bedding inclination, the fracturing mode gradually changed from arrester to short transverse. The fracturing process was becoming instant, which was accompanied by a lower breakdown pressure, short acoustic emission response, and simple fracture geometry. The understanding of anisotropic fracture process and evaluation method are of interest in shale reservoir fracturing engineering and academic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, the scaled‐up manufacturing and efficient drug loading of exosomes are two existing challenges limiting the clinical translation of exosome‐based drug delivery. Herein, a facile magnetic extrusion method is developed for preparing endosome‐derived vesicles, also known as exosome mimetics (EMs), which share the same biological origin and similar morphology, composition, and biofunctions with native exosomes. The high yield and consistency of this magnetic extrusion method help to overcome the manufacturing bottleneck in exosome research. Moreover, the proposed standardized multi‐step method readily facilitates the ammonium sulfate gradient approach to actively load chemodrugs such as doxorubicin into EMs. The engineered EMs developed and tested here exhibit comparable drug delivery properties as do native exosomes, and potently inhibit tumor growth by delivering doxorubicin in an orthotopic breast tumor model. These findings demonstrate that EMs can be prepared in a facile and scaled‐up manner as a promising biological nanomedicine for cancer drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial wastewater may have a long-time effect on the environment and human life as it goes underground and causes serious pollution continuously. To have a well understanding of the migration of such wastewater is a basic task for industrial wastewater treatment as well as industrial design. To study the migration mechanism of industrial wastewater in rock formations, the governing equations such as mechanics, seepage, heat, and mass transfer are reviewed, referenced, and proposed. The thermal (T)-hydraulic (H)-mechanical (M) coupled model of the multimedia of matrix-fault and matrix-fracture-fault is established. The influence of the fault and the fractures on the pressure distribution and contaminant migration is analyzed. The influence of fault length, width, dip angle, permeability, and temperature of wastewater on contaminant migration is parametrically studied. The following results can be obtained. (1) The fracture quantitively affects the concentration distribution, while the fault dominates the concentration distribution and contaminant migration. (2) The migration of the contaminants can be geometrically divided into 3 zones along the direction of the fault: the saturation zone, the rapid diffusion zone, and the concentration decrease zone. (3) There is a peak of the concentration along the bottom of the model. The position of the peak is the projection of the endpoint of the fault. (4) The fault length has the most significant effect on contaminant accumulation. The temperature of the wastewater has the minimum effect on the contaminant accumulation. (5) The accumulation of concentrations can be divided into 2 stages, the slow growth stage (before 20 years) and the rapid growth stage (after 20 years). The main channel of contaminant migration in the slow growth stage is a fault. During the rapid growth stage, the contaminants penetrate through the rock matrix as well as the fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional blood vessels are crucial to wound healing, and faster vascularization means faster tissue repair to some extent. Increasing numbers of pro-vascularization wound coverings are being developed and studied. Moreover, mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix can guide the behaviour of related cells to some degree. Studies have shown that the mechanical range of 1–7 kPa contributes to the differentiation of stem cells into endothelial cells and thus to the process of wound vascularization. Unfortunately, the regulatory mechanics of vascularizing wound coverings have been poorly studied. Silk fibroin (SF) has attracted much attention because of its good biocompatibility, degradability and adjustable mechanical properties. In this paper, silk scaffolds with mechanical properties of 2 kPa and 5.9 kPa were prepared by adjusting the mechanics of silk scaffolds in terms of freezing temperature and aligned structure. The mechanical properties of the 5.9 kPa aligned silk scaffold (ASS) showed good vascularization ability. By adjusting the intermediate conformation and physical structure of Silk fibroin (SF), the mechanical strength of the silk scaffold could be increased, enabling us to better understand the mechanical regulation mode. At the same time, the aligned structure of the aligned silk scaffold (ASS) promoted the migration and proliferation of cells related to wound repair to a certain extent. By adjusting the mechanical properties and physical structure of the material, an aligned silk scaffold with vascularization function was constructed, providing more possibilities for faster wound repair. • In this paper, silk scaffolds with mechanical properties of 2 kPa and 5.9 kPa were prepared by adjusting the mechanics of silk scaffolds in terms of freezing temperature and aligned structure. • By adjusting the intermediate conformation and physical structure of Silk fibroin (SF), the mechanical strength of the silk scaffold could be increased. • By adjusting the mechanical properties and physical structure of the material, an aligned silk scaffold with vascularization function was constructed, providing more possibilities for faster wound repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Terrestrial Water Resources Satellite (TWRS) campaign is a planned Chinese candidate satellite mission, and a one-dimensional synthetic aperture technology will be used, resulting in variant incidence angles for collecting synchronous active-passive observations at L-band, which would make brightness temperature (Tb) downscaling especially challenging when aiming to improve the spatial resolution of soil moisture measurements. In this study, two active-passive Tb downscaling algorithms, the time-series regression (TSR) and spectral analysis (SA) algorithms, are assessed comprehensively based on airborne experimental datasets. The results with data collected during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02) showed that both approaches could provide a reliable downscaled Tb at the same incidence angle. Based on the ground and airborne active-passive observations under variant incidence angles from the Soil Moisture Experiment in the Luan River (SMELR) it can be shown that the linear relationship between Tb and σ is still robust under the case of variant incidence angles, and Tb (both h- and v-pol) is better correlated to σvv for most cases than σhh. Both downscaling approaches can be applied to active-passive observations under varying incidence angles. Moreover, SA method performed better than the TSR method according to the lower RMSE values and higher correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective isolation of phosphoproteins is of great significance in biological applications. Herein, titanium dioxide‐functionalized dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles are prepared via a post‐grafting method for selective capture of phosphoproteins. The fabricated nanoparticles possess a unique central‐radial pore structure with a surface area of 666.66 m2/g and a pore size of 22.2 nm. The high‐binding affinity of TiO2 with the phosphate groups facilitates the selective adsorption of phosphoproteins. Moreover, the open central‐radial pore structure endows the dendritic mesoporous nanoparticles with better adsorption performance toward phosphoproteins with respect to the commercial titanium dioxide nanoparticles and titanium dioxide‐functionalized conventional mesoporous silica nanoparticles by providing more accessible affinity sites. At pH 2, an adsorption capacity of 157.2 mg/g is derived for β‐casein. The feasibility of the as‐prepared dendritic material in real biological sample assay is demonstrated by the selective isolation of phosphoproteins from defatted milk, as illustrated by sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strong metal–support interactions (SMSI) between metal and its support have been regarded as a valid approach to enhance the catalytic performance; however, the extent to which exploration of electronic state regulation affects catalytic performance of alcohol oxidation reactions (AOR) has been rarely reported. In this paper, PdAg nanoparticles loaded on a N-doped carbon substrate with controlled nitrogen content (PdAg@NxC, x representing the nitrogen contents) was synthesized through a seeded synthesis strategy for alkaline AOR. Results show that the electronic state of PdAg nanoparticles was significantly modified after nitrogen doping in the carbon support. Experimental and theoretical results indicate that with increasing nitrogen content, the degree of electronic state regulation becomes increasingly significant. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the increased degree of SMSI promotes OH* adsorption on the PdAg surface and weakens the binding between catalyst and CO*. As a result, the PdAg@N15.3C with the highest N content exhibits excellent AOR performance, achieving a MA/SA of 10.8 A mgPd−1/13.2 mA cm−2 and 3.8 A mgPd−1/4.7 mA cm−2 on the EOR and MOR, respectively. Moreover, due to the changes in the adsorption energy of key intermediates on PdAg nanoparticles, the onset oxidation potential of PdAg@N15.3C shows a negative shift of 180 mV compared to PdAg@C as revealed by CO stripping analysis, signifying an increase in the CO tolerance. Our study demonstrates the influence of the SMSI effect between the active center and the support on the catalytic performance for AOR and presents a pathway to achieve high AOR performance through SMSI engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psocodean species are emerging as significant sanitary and stored‐product pests, posing threats to human health and global food security. Out of an estimated 10 000 species, the whole genome sequences of only 4 species have been published. Genomic resources are crucial for establishing effective pest control and enhancing our understanding of the evolution of psocodean species. In this study, we employed Illumina and PacBio sequencing along with Hi‐C scaffolding techniques to generate a chromosome‐level genome assembly for the parthenogenetic booklouse Liposcelis bostrychophila. The assembled genome of this booklouse measures 291.67 Mb in length and comprises 9 chromosomes. Notably, the genome of L. bostrychophila exhibits a high level of heterozygosity and features a distinctive nonhomologous chromosome. This heterozygous characteristic of the parthenogenetic booklouse genome may arise from high mutation rates, based on genomic variations analysis across multiple generations. Our analysis revealed significantly expanded gene families, primarily associated with the detoxification and feeding habits of L. bostrychophila. These include integument esterases (ESTs), ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes and gustatory receptors (GRs). The high‐quality genome sequence of L. bostrychophila provides valuable resources for further study on the molecular mechanisms of stress resistance. It enables researchers to identify crucial functional genes and facilitates research on the population genetics, evolution and phylogeny of booklice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings are effective in protecting the key components of marine equipment and can greatly improve their short-term performance (1.5~4.5 h). However, the lack of investigation into their long-term (more than 200 h) performance cannot meet the service life requirements of marine equipment. Here, three multilayered DLC coatings, namely Ti/DLC, TiCx/DLC, and Ti-TiCx/DLC, were prepared, and their long-term corrosion resistance was investigated. Results showed that the corrosion current density of all DLC coatings was reduced by 1–2 orders of magnitude compared with bare 316L stainless steel (316Lss). Moreover, under long-term (63 days) immersion in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, all DLC coatings could provide excellent long-term corrosion protection for 316Lss, and Ti-TiCx/DLC depicted the best corrosion resistance; the polarization resistances remained at ~3.0 × 107 Ω·cm2 after immersion for 63 days, with more interfaces to hinder the penetration of the corrosive media. Meanwhile, during neutral salt spray (3000 h), the corrosion resistance of Ti/DLC and TiCx/DLC coatings showed a certain degree of improvement because the insoluble corrosion products at the defects blocked the subsequent corrosion. This study can provide a route to designing amorphous carbon protective coatings for long-term marine applications in different environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractCollaborative learning is widely applied in practical education due to its high efficiency and positive effectiveness. Virtual reality (VR) has driven the development of collaborative learning with its immersive and interactive characteristics. Task allocation, as the first step in initiating collaboration when applying VR to collaborative learning, plays a crucial role. However, it has not received enough attention and lacks in-depth research. Therefore, we first analyzed the characteristics of VR collaborative learning and found that considering the influence of five key factors on tasks allocation can improve learning outcomes. Consequently, we constructed a model applicable to VR collaborative learning. Subsequently, we proposed a two-way task allocation strategy that balances the interaction between learners’ intentions and the requirements of tasks. Then, by invoking an improved sparrow search algorithm for optimization calculations, the assignment results were automatically computed after going through three stages. Finally, evaluation experiments were conducted to validate the feasibility and correctness of our model and strategy by comparing them with other methods. The results indicate that compared to conventional collaborative learning, VR collaborative learning yields better learning outcomes. Moreover, our strategy demonstrates higher learning efficiency and better learning effects compared to using self-negotiation and Agent-based strategies for assigning VR collaborative tasks, providing a valuable reference for the continuous exploration of this scientific issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to comprehensively explore the nutrition and gait of AD patients at different stages and the relationship between them. Methods: A total of 85 AD patients were consecutively enrolled in this cross‐sectional study and divided into the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD (AD‐MCI) and the dementia due to AD (AD‐D) groups. Demographic information, nutritional status, and gait performance were compared between the two groups, and the correlation between nutritional status and gait performance was subsequently analyzed by Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses. Results: The AD‐D group had lower scores on Mini‐Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and MNAm scales, lower levels of urea nitrogen, folic acid, and vitamin B12 in blood, and higher homocysteine level than those in the AD‐MCI group (all p < 0.05). The AD‐D group had slower step speed, shorter step length, and shorter stride length than those in the AD‐MCI group (all p < 0.05). AD patients with decreased scores of MNA and MNAm scales, and declined levels of urea nitrogen and vitamin B12 in blood had reduced gait speed and gait cadence, and prolonged step length time and stride length time, whereas homocysteine showed the almost opposite results (all p < 0.05). In the AD‐MCI group, the score of scale was negatively correlated with the coefficient of variation (CV) of stride length, and the folic acid level was negatively correlated with the CV of stride length and cadence (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: AD patients at the dementia stage had worse nutritional status and gait performance than those at the MCI stage, which was associated with worse global cognition and activities of daily living. Poorer nutritional status was associated with higher gait variability in patients at the MCI stage and with poorer gait performance in patients at the dementia stage. Early identification and intervention of patients with nutritional risk or malnutrition may improve gait performance, thus reducing the risk of falling and cognitive decline, as well as the mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasing evidence has indicated that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a role in various diseases. However, the influence of circRNAs in nephritis remains unknown. Methods: Microarray analysis and RT-qPCR were used to detect the expression of circRNA. Type I IFN were administrated to RMC and HEK293 cells to establish a nephritis cell model. CCK-8, MTT assay, and flow cytometry were used to assess cell proliferation, viability, and apoptosis of cells. Bioinformatics analysis and dual luciferase reporter assay detect the interaction of circ_0007059, miRNA-1278, and SHP-1. Glomerulonephritis was performed in a mouse model by administration of IFNα-expressing adenovirus. IHC staining showed the pathogenic changes. Results: In the present study, the expression of circ_0007059 in type I interferon (IFN)-treated renal mesangial cells (RMCs), lupus nephritis (LN) specimens, and HEK293 cells was downregulated compared with that in normal healthy samples and untreated cells. Circ_0007059 overexpression resulted in increased cell proliferation, cell viability, apoptosis, and inflammation-associated factors (CXCL10, IFIT1, ISG15, and MX1) in RMCs and HEK293 cells. In addition, circ_0007059 overexpression significantly restored cell proliferation and viability and inhibited IFN-induced apoptosis. Further, the increased expression resulted in reduced inflammation and the downregulation of CXCL10, IFIT1, ISG15, and MX1 in RMCs and HEK293 cells. Circ_0007059 serves as a sponge for miR-1278 so that the latter can target the 3′-untranslated region of SHP-1. Overexpressed circ_0007059 inhibited miR-1278 expression and elevated SHP-1 expression, subsequently reducing STAT3 phosphorylation. Meanwhile, miR-1278 was upregulated and SHP-1 was downregulated in LN samples and IFN-treated cells. The restoration of miR-1278 counteracted the effect of circ_0007059 on viability, apoptosis, and inflammation as well as on SHP-1/STAT3 signaling in RMCs and HEK293 cells. We also investigated the role of SHP-1 overexpression in IFN-treated RMCs and HEK293 cells; SHP-1 overexpression resulted in a similar phenotype as that observed with circ_0007059 expression. Conclusions: The study indicates that circ_0007059 protects RMCs against apoptosis and inflammation during nephritis by attenuating miR-1278/SHP-1/STAT3 signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dibenzyls are essential building blocks that are widely used in organic synthesis, and they are typically prepared by the homocoupling of halides, organometallics, and ethers. Herein, we report an approach to this class of compounds using alcohols, which are more stable and readily available. The reaction proceeds via nickel-catalyzed and dimethyl oxalate assisted dynamic kinetic homocoupling of benzyl alcohols. Both primary and secondary alcohols are tolerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]