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Currently, with the massive generation and transmission of digital images, especially the rapid development of the Internet and mobile Internet industries where images are widely used, the study of reference-free image quality assessment has attracted much attention in academia and practical applications, and is a popular research direction in the field of computer vision. In response to the low performance of existing reference-free image quality assessment algorithms in the face of real distorted images, a reference-free image quality assessment algorithm based on generative adversarial networks is proposed. Firstly, the generator structure is changed, the U-Net structure is improved, and the channel attention mechanism SeNet structure is introduced to update the feature map after down sampling. Secondly, a feature similarity measurement system is incorporated and a dual discriminator structure is used to discriminate multiple groups of images. The FPN structure is combined in the feature extractor to produce a multi-scale feature representation. Experiments are conducted on KonIQ-10k dataset and LIVEC dataset, and the experimental results show that the algorithm exhibits good prediction accuracy as well as good generalization performance in the face of real distorted images.

Background Dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT) is a brief, structured psychodynamic psychotherapy with demonstrated efficacy in treating major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of the study was to determine whether DIT is an acceptable and efficacious treatment for MDD patients in China. Method Patients were randomized to 16-week treatments with either DIT plus antidepressant medication (DIT + ADM; n = 66), general supportive therapy plus antidepressant medication (GST + ADM; n = 75) or antidepressant medication alone (ADM; n = 70). The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) administered by blind raters was the primary efficacy measure. Assessments were completed during the acute 16-week treatment and up to 12-month posttreatment. Results The group × time interaction was significant for the primary outcome HAMD (F = 2.900, df1 = 10, df2 = 774.72, p = 0.001) in the acute treatment phase. Pairwise comparisons showed a benefit of DIT + ADM over ADM at weeks 12 [least-squares (LS) mean difference = −3.161, p = 0.007] and 16 (LS mean difference = −3.237, p = 0.004). Because of the unexpected high attrition during the posttreatment follow-up phase, analyses of follow-up data were considered exploratory. Differences between DIT + ADM and ADM remained significant at the 1-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up (ps range from 0.001 to 0.027). DIT + ADM had no advantage over GST + ADM during the acute treatment phase. However, at the 12-month follow-up, patients who received DIT remained less depressed. Conclusions Acute treatment with DIT or GST in combination with ADM was similarly efficacious in reducing depressive symptoms and yielded a better outcome than ADM alone. DIT may provide MDD patients with long-term benefits in symptom improvement but results must be viewed with caution.

Mount Everest (Qomolangma), the highest mountain on Earth, is an unrivaled natural research platform for understanding multispheric interactions over heterogeneous landscapes. The land–atmosphere interactions in this iconic mountain region have paramount importance for weather and climate predictions at both regional and global scales; however, observing and modeling these interactions is inherently challenging due to the extreme environment. The scarcity of multiscale observations hinders progress in this field. Thus, establishing a comprehensive network to systematically observe the land–atmosphere interactions across multiscales in this unrivaled region, is the basis for gaining a better understanding of weather, climate, and climate change. As one of the 69 national observation and research stations in China, the Qomolangma Special Atmospheric Processes and Environmental Changes (QOMS) observation network of land–atmosphere interactions has been established over the northern slope of Mount Everest since 2005. This network consists of six sites with different underlying surfaces, which significantly improves the observational capabilities for the climate system. These observations have promoted the understanding of land–atmosphere interactions and their impacts on multiscale weather patterns, atmospheric circulations, and climate and have provided data support for informing and guiding model development and remote sensing monitoring. Facing an unprecedented opportunity with enormous development possibilities, we emphasize the considerable potential of these observations for understanding and predicting weather and climate in the Himalayas and beyond. Additionally, we expect to extend the future focus to model–data fusion and to societally relevant applications, such as natural disaster prevention and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Exploration and synthesis of degradable plastics can alleviate and avoid environmental pollution induced by petroleum-based plastics. In this study, a konjac glucomannan (KGM)/zein/PVA ternary blend plastic was successfully prepared by casting. The results showed that, despite the presence of particle aggregation from incompatible components in blend plastic, the addition of KGM and zein improved its compatibility which is consistent with the formation of continuous dark regions and the reduction of roughness average (Ra) results in the AFM characterization. Also, XRD and FT-IR results indicated that the addition of KGM and zein disrupted the molecular and crystalline structure of PVA, induced stretching vibration of alcohol and hydroxyl groups, and crystallinity reduction. In addition, KGM deacetylation (d-KGM) reduced the intramolecular hydroxyl groups, reduced the water absorption and water vapor transmission rate of the blend plastics, and increased the crystallization temperature (Tc) and melting temperature (Tm). Furthermore, the blended plastics exhibited the best tensile strength (TS), elongation at break (E), and elastic modulus (EM) when the proportion of KGM to zein was 9:1. Notably, the blended plastic with KGM and zein added displayed more pores and cracks after soil burial, implying that the lack of degradability of pure PVA plastic was improved.

Coal-based materials were produced by pyrolyzing at 1000 °C. The use of ether-based electrolytes offered advantages, including low solvation enthalpy and viscosity, which resulting material demonstrated a high capacity of up to 325 mA h g−1.

Stimulating maize ear development is an effective way of improving yield. However, limited information is available regarding the regulation of sink strength change from weak to strong at the same position of maize plants. Here, a novel method for stimulating development combined with physiological assays and proteomics was applied to explore the regulation of ear strengthened development.By blocking pollination of the upper ear of maize hybrid Suyu 41, the adjacent lower ear was dramatically stimulated at 4 days after pollination (DAP). Tandem mass tag (TMT)-based proteomics identified 173 differentially expressed proteins (fold change1.2 or0.83, P 0.05) from 7793 total proteins. Gene ontology annotations indicated that several pathways showed noticeable changes, with a preferential distribution to cell wall remodeling, hormone signals and lipid metabolism in the stimulated kernels. Cell wall remodeling was highly mediated by chitinase, exhydrolase II and xyloglucan enotransglucosylase/hydrolase, and accompanied by increased sucrose and glucose content. A series of lipoxygenase proteins were significantly upregulated, causing a significant alteration in lipid metabolism. Hormone signals were influenced by the expression of the proteins involved in indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) transport, zeatin (ZT) biosynthesis and abscisic acid (ABA) signal response, and increased IAA, ZT and ABA content.The critical time for understanding the mechanism by which ear growth is stimulated is 4 DAP. Comparative proteomics and physiological analysis revealed that lipid metabolism enhancement, cell wall remodeling and changes in hormone signaling (IAA, ZT and ABA) were all important in stimulating early ear development. Proper regulation of these pathways may improve ear development, resulting in increased maize yield. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Metal rich-sulfides, with remarkable theoretical capacity, still suffer from the disolving of polysulfides and sluggish kinetics. Electrocatalysts, as the vital meditors, have been applied in Li-S systems with notable improvements, but scarcely explored for ions-storage battery. Herein, for introducting cation-tunable MOx (M=Mn/Fe/Co/Ni) as electrocatalysts, various MoS2@MOx are designed through chemical-precipitation and thermal-treatment manners. Benefitting from the high affinity of MoS2 and MOx, the interfacial chemical bonds Mo-S-M are established, boosting the improvement of ions/electrons transferring and structural integrality. Owing to the evolution of outer orbitals and ionic radius, the capturing and conversion of Li2S8 are tailored in order of Fe2O3>MnO>CoO>NiO. Supported by unique 3d-orbital/ion-radiu and Mo-S-Fe bonds, the ultra-fast ability of MoS2@Fe2O3 remains ∼612 mAh g−1 after 3,000 loops even at 5.0 A g−1, meanwhile delivering ∼800 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 in full-cell. Assisted by detailed kinetic behaviors and theoretical calculations, the redox reaction mechisms are clearly proposed, whilst the reduced Gibbs free energy (-1.25 of Fe2O3) serves crucial roles in the reaction (Li2S8 → Li2S6). This work is expected to shed light on the in-depth understanding of fourth-periods MOx electrocatalysts, and offers more possibilities for designing advanced metal-sulfides electrodes. MoS2 nanosheets uniformly anchored with MOx (M=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) were rationally engineered, accompanied by the establishment of Mo-S-M interfacial chemical bonds. The electrocatalytic abilities of introduced MOx were successfully tailored by the evolution of cationic outer orbitals and ionic radius, inducing the fascinated catalytic conversion behaviors.

The energy-conversion storage systems serve as crucial roles for solving the intermittent of sustainable energy. But, the materials in the battery systems mainly come from complex chemical process, accompanying with the inevitable serious pollutions and high energy-consumption. Natural mineral resources display various merits, such as unique architecture, adsorption capability and rich active sites, which have captured numerous attentions with remarkable advancements. Recently, the minerals compounds, containing 1D structure (halloysites, attapulgites, sepiolite), 2D structure (montmorillonite, vermiculite, molybdenite) and 3D structure (diatomite, pyrites), have been applied in plenty of fields. Aiming at their energy-storage applications, the significant utilizations in electrodes, separators, electrolyte and metal-protection were detailedly reviewed in lithium-ions battery, lithium-sulfur battery, solid-state battery and so on. However, it should be acknowledged that, the simple minerals hardly meet the demand of energy-storage systems, due to their inferior conductivity and less active substances. Thus, series of modified manners are applied for the evolution of phase (from silicate mineral to Si), the incorporating with carbon/polymer and the tailoring of surface traits, which were in-depth discussed as following. The work was expected to summarize the traits about mineral compounds from different architectures, whilst offering significant guidelines for exploring mineral-based materials in energy-storage systems.

As the main byproduct of cotton production, cottonseed yields edible vegetable oil, ruminant feed, and industrial products. We evaluated the individual and interactive effects of elevated air temperature and soil drought on cottonseed yield and nutritional quality using two cotton cultivars, Sumian 15 (heat-susceptible) and PHY370WR (heat-tolerant). The experiment was conducted under three levels of soil relative water content (SRWC): (75 ± 5)%, (60 ± 5)% and (45 ± 5)% and two temperature regimes: ambient temperature (AT, 31.0/26.4 °C, mean daytime/night temperature) and elevated temperature (ET, 33.4/28.9 °C). Cottonseed yield, boll number, seed number, and single-seed weight were lower under combined ET and SRWC(45 ± 5)% than either individual stress or combined stresses in comparison with the control treatment (SRWC(75 ± 5)% under AT). Drought tended to increase oil content and reduce protein content, whereas ET showed almost the opposite effects. Under the combination of ET and soil drought, oil content was still higher than under control, although ET weakened the beneficial effects of drought. For protein, ET offset the negative impacts of mild drought on protein content, but protein content was not increased under SRWC(45 ± 5)%. Each stress or combined stress reduced oil and protein yields under all treatments, owing to declines in cottonseed yields. The combined stress reduced unsaturated fatty acid (UFA)/saturated fatty acid (SFA) and essential amino acid (EAA)/non-essential amino acid (NAA). Compared with PHY370WR, the sensitivity of Sumian 15 to the combined factors was evidenced in the following ways: (1) seed yield, yield components, oil and protein yields were decreased more for Sumian 15 than PHY370WR compared with the control treatment; (2) the combined stresses caused lower oil content, UFA, and UFA/SFA in Sumian 15 than PHY370WR; (3) interaction effects of the combined factors on protein content and EAA/NAA were detected only in Sumian 15.

Anion-rich FePSe3 were successfully prepared, displaying considerable conductivity. Used as SIBs anodes without conductive agents, it showed excellent electrochemical properties at RT/LT, resulted from in situ formation of Cu–(DEGDME)n coordination.

Hierarchical Sb2S3 with N-doped carbon is prepared through thermal interfacial reactions from natural stibnite. Lattice regeneration and interfacial engineering resulted in unique porous structure and enhanced electrochemical performance.

The upper earshoots with higher superiority usually have higher yield potential and higher efficiency. To determine the key period for the asynchronous differentiation of superior and inferior earshoots and how hormones are involved in this process, a two-year experiment was designed using two maize hybrids: Suyu 41 (S41, single-ear hybrid) and AN 101 (A101, double-ear hybrid). The results showed that the lag of lower earshoot differentiation was not only caused by the delay of the differentiation starting time but also related to extension of the duration in spikelet differentiation (stage II) and sexual organ formation stage (stage IV). From 12 days before silking (DBS), the contents of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), zeatin riboside (ZR)+zeatin (ZT), and gibberellic acid (GA3) in both upper and lower earshoots of the two hybrids increased dramatically and then decreased quickly. ABA slightly increased in the two hybrids and then decreased slowly in S41, while it was maintained at a high level in A101. At 8 DBS, i.e., the transition period from floret differentiation to sexual organ formation stage, not only the growth of upper-to-lower earshoot difference (ULED), but also the values for ULED of IAA, ZR+ZT and GA3 were all significantly higher in S41 than in A101. Furthermore, the upper-to-lower hormone ratios IAAU//AAL and (ZR+ZT)U/(ZR+ZT)L were also much higher in the single-ear hybrid than in the double-ear hybrid, while the GA3U/GA3L and ABAU/ABAL had no significant differences. In addition, the time course of ULEDhormone/ULEDearshoot growth rate also suggested that the hormones work in different ways in earshoot superiority/inferiority formation. The delayed differentiation of lower ear shoots was conclusively related to the later initiation of differentiation and the longer durations of specific differentiation stages. Compared with the regulating roles of IAA and ZR+ZT in the key period (8 DBS) of superiority/inferiority differentiation, GA3 seems to be affected earlier, while ABA contributes little to this process.

Owing to its fascinating properties (such as high theoretical specific capacity and considerable conductivity), nickel sulfide (NiS) was investigated comprehensively as an anode material in sodium-ion batteries. However, they still suffered from volume expansion and sluggish kinetics, resulting in serious cycle capabilities. Herein, through controlling the kind of molten salts (Na

Despite the intriguing merits of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) systems, they still suffer from the notorious “shuttling-effect” of polysulfides. Herein, carbon materials with rational tailoring of morphology and pores were designed for strong loading/adsorption with the controlling of energy-storage ability. Through rational tailoring, it is strongly verified that such engineering of evolutions result in variational of sulfur immobilization in the obtained carbon. As expected, the targeted sample delivers a stable capacity of 925 mAh g−1 after 100 loops. Supporting by the “cutting-off” manners, it is disclosed that mesopores in carbon possess more fascinated traits than micro/macropores in improving the utilization of sulfur and restraining Li2Sx (4 ≤ x ≤ 8). Moreover, the long-chain polysulfide could be further consolidated by auto-doping oxygen groups. Supported by in-depth kinetic analysis, it is confirmed that the kinetics of ion/e- transfer during charging and discharging could be accelerated by mesopores, especially in stages of the formation of solid S8 and Li2S, further improving the capacity of ion-storage in Li-S battery. Given this, the elaborate study provide significant insights into the effect of pore structure on kinetic performance about Li-storage behaviors in Li-S battery, and give guidance for improving sulfur immobilization.

BACKGROUND: with the increase of study and life pressure, the number of depressed college students showed an increasing trend year by year, and the drug treatment alone could not achieve a comprehensive recovery of depression patients, so it was more necessary to pay attention to the spiritual treatment. OBJECTIVE: this research aimed to better understand the relationship between college students’ depression and life events, social support, psychological pressure, and coping style, and the influence of systematic family therapy on depression degree, psychological stress, and social adaptability of college students with depression. METHODS: in this study, 105 college students with depression were selected as the research object, and healthy college students were taken as the control group. Through questionnaire, the differences in life events, social support, psychological stress, and coping styles between the groups were compared. The correlation between the degree of depression and various variables were analyzed, and the impact path of each variable on depression was analyzed using the path analysis model. Depression patients were then divided into a conventional group treating with conventional medications and an observation group treating with systematic family interventions. Differences in Hamilton Depression Scale-17, (HAMD-17), CPSS, and Social Adaptive Functioning Evaluation (SAFE) scores were compared and analyzed between the two groups before treatment (T1), during the treatment (T2), and after treatment(T3). RESULTS: there were significant differences in scores of life events, social support, psychological stress, and coping styles between the healthy control group and the depressed patients (P

Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), a natural copper–iron bimetallic sulfide, has shown great promise as an active material for lithium-ion batteries because of its superior electrochemical performance, high ab...

Incivility in U.S. political debates hurts democracy. But uncivil language is more entertaining, exciting, and arousing than civil language. Given the contradictory relationship between people's general aversion and the media attention to popularized incivility, insight can be gained through examining politicians’ language intensity, a relatively common yet scarcely explored phenomenon in political debates. In a preregistered multiple-message experimental design with an original stimulus filmed for this study, participants ( n = 538 registered U.S. voters) watch a debate featuring a real politician (with a real journalist moderating the debate). Participants are randomly assigned to high- or low-intensity language conditions. Inspired by language expectancy theory (LET), a multiple-mediation model is tested, whereby language intensity decreases a politician's trustworthiness through intense language being more uncivil than low-intensity language which is associated with voters’ normative expectancies. Discussion concerns the practical implications for politicians’ debate strategy and theoretical ramifications of LET via communication accommodation theory.

Global climate during the Jurassic has been commonly described as a uniform greenhouse climate for a long time. However, the climate scenario of a cool episode during the Callovian–Oxfordian transition following by a warming trend during the Oxfordian (163.53 to 157.4 Ma) is documented in many localities of the western Tethys. It is still unclear if a correlatable climate scenario also occurred in the eastern Tethys during the same time interval. In this study, a detailed geochemical analysis on the 1060 m thick successions (the Xiali and Suowa formations) from the Yanshiping section of the Qiangtang Basin, located in the eastern Tethys margin during the Callovian–Oxfordian periods, was performed. To reveal the climate evolution of the basin, carbonate content and soluble salt concentrations (SO42−, Cl−) were chosen as climatic indices. The results show that the overall climate patterns during the deposition of the Xiali and Suowa formations can be divided into three stages: relatively humid (~ 164.0 to 160.9 Ma), dry (~ 160.9 to 159.6 Ma), semi-dry (~ 159.6 to 156.8 Ma). A similar warming climate scenario also occurred in eastern Tethys during the Callovian–Oxfordian transition (~ 160.9 to 159.6 Ma). Besides, we clarify that the Jurassic True polar wander (TPW), the motion of the lithosphere and mantle with respect to Earth’s spin axis, inducing climatic shifts were responsible for the aridification of the Qiangtang Basin during the Callovian–Oxfordian transition with a review of the paleolatitude of the Xiali formation (19.7 + 2.8/−2.6° N) and the Suowa formation (20.7 + 4.1/−3.7° N). It is because the TPW rotations shifted the East Asia blocks (the North and South China, Qiangtang, and Qaidam blocks) from the humid zone to the tropical/subtropical arid zone and triggered the remarkable aridification during the Middle-Late Jurassic (ca. 165–155 Ma).

To elucidate the effects of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) on cotton growth and yield, field studies with four N treatments (506, 402.5, 299 and 195.5 kg ha−1 designated as N1, N2, ...

In the regions where crops were mostly produced by smallholder farmers, the analysis of yield gap is difficult due to diverse cultivars, crop managements and yield levels. In order to find an effective method that can reasonably verify the yield gap and the limiting cultivation factors in narrowing yield gaps in areas that are dominanted by smallholder farmers, we worked out a method consisting five progressive procedures as follows: questionnaire investigation of farmer cultivation regime, identification of yield levels and yield gaps, generalization of key cultivation measurements, reconstruction of representative maize populations, and process-based analysis of yield gap. A case study was carried out in Jiangsu Province, China, in which maize is mostly produced by smallholder farmers. A questionnaire investigation of 1 023 smallholder farmers was carried out firstly, then the frequency distribution of maize yield was simulated by an normal distribution function, and then the covering range and average value of the basic yield, farmer yield and high-yield farmer yield levels were calculated out from the equation. Hereby, the yield gaps 1, 2 and 3 were calculated along with the record highest yield from literature and experts, which were 2 564, 2 346 and 2 073 kg ha–1, respectively. Moreover, with the covering range of each yield level, the suveyed farmers belonging to each yield level were grouped together and then their major cultivation measures were traced and generalized. With the generalized cultivation measures, representative maize populations of the four yield levels were reconstructed, and thereby clarifing lots of characters of the populations or single plant of each population with process-based analysis of the reconstructed populations. In this case, the main factors causing the yield gap were plant density, fertilizer application rate, logging caused by hurricane, and damages caused by pests. The case study primarily indicated that this five-step method is feasible and effective in yield gap study, especially in smallholder farmers dominant regions.

Phase-change materials (PCMs) have become as promising elements in silicon photonic systems. We propose an optical buffer device based on vanadium dioxide (VO2) embedded on silicon-on-insulator waveguides with a microring resonator. The upload straight waveguide is for coupling light signal from the input port into VO2 embedded on microring resonator and the download straight waveguide with VO2 films is for coupling the storage signal to the output port. The optical characteristics of optical buffer device under different structural parameters are analyzed by using finite difference mode simulation (MODE). By controlling the phase state of VO2 in two coupling regions, the buffer speed of the device can be up to 0.5 ps and buffer time up to 78.28 ps. The optical buffer based on VO2 is a new way for PCM optical buffer.

Due to its high theoretical capacity (∼280 mA h g−1), lithium vanadium oxide (LiV3O8) is considered a promising electrode material for meeting the demands for a longer battery life. However, it still suffers from an inferior cycling stability and rate properties. Benefitting from the unique traits of rare earth metal La, La-doping was introduced to V-sites, leading to an expansion of the lattice volume and reduced particle size, and bringing about more oxygen defects for fast ion redox reactions. The considerable discharge capacity of optimized La-doped LiV3O8 could reach up to 308 mA h g−1, and the capacity could be kept at 252 mA h g−1 after numerous loops. Supported by a detailed analysis of the capacity curves, an improved redox activity of V5+ was strongly demonstrated. Moreover, compared to the basic materials, an increasing rate capacity located in the low potential range was detected, ascribed to the existence of an oxygen vacancy, enabling a reduction in the energy barrier and a broadening of the energy distribution. Interestingly, La-doping could ultimately improve the capacity and is thus worth further exploration, particularly for the design of advanced cathodic materials.