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Abstract Rural pollution is largely caused by the accumulation of waste biomass, such as livestock manure and crop straw, which is extremely difficult to dispose of due to the simultaneous need to non-destructively treat metal and organic matter. Untreated fecal waste fluxes have contributed to more than 870,000 sanitation-related deaths annually worldwide. The existing disposal methods are accompanied by large amounts of energy and resource consumption and GHG emissions, which are not conducive to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Herein, we pioneer a new approach to sustainable resource utilization by subjecting unprocessed livestock manure to a Dual-Reaction-Center (DRC) Fenton-like catalyst directly through the ordered bonding of intrinsic metal-organic species via an in situ 2-stage calcination-annealing process with zero emissions and zero pollution. The directional electron transfers along with the generated metal cation–π interactions during the resourcelized process led to the formation of electron-rich/-poor microregions. Through triggering by a small amount of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the removal of refractory pollutants reaches 100% within a very short time in this system, which also shows a long-term purification effect on actual wastewater, accompanied by the utilization of intrinsic energy from the pollutants and dissolved oxygen. This study is expected to advance the resource utilization of rural waste and the sustainable development of environmental factors.

Abstract While therapies such as chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy, sacituzumab govitecan, and PARP inhibitors are available for metastatic TNBC, on disease progression after these therapies, the mainstay of therapy is chemotherapy. Apatinib is a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has promising anti-angiogenesis and antitumor activity for TNBC. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of adding apatinib to chemotherapy in patients with advanced TNBC with failed first/second-line treatment. A total of 66 patients were randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, to receive vinorelbine or vinorelbine with apatinib in 28-day cycles. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), overall response rate (ORR) and safety. 33 received apatinib plus vinorelbine and 32 received vinorelbine (1 was withdrawal). Median PFS was significantly longer in the apatinib plus vinorelbine group than in the vinorelbine group (3.9 months vs. 2.0 months; hazard ratio, 1.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06 to 3.11; P = 0.026). Median OS was 11.5 months with apatinib plus vinorelbine and 9.9 months with vinorelbine (HR,1.01; 95% CI, 0.51 to 1.97; P = 0.985). The ORR was 9.1% in the apatinib plus vinorelbine group and 6.3% in the vinorelbine group (P = 0.667). The most common treatment-related hematologic grade 3–4 adverse events in apatinib plus vinorelbine group, were leukopenia, granulocytopenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia. no treatment-related nonhematologic grade 4 adverse events or treatment-related deaths were observed. Collectively, adding apatinib to vinorelbine shows a promising benefit in PFS compared to vinorelbine monotherapy, with an excellent toxicity profile, warranting further exploration.

Abstract Background The information technology has developed rapidly with the evolution of internet environment transformed from requiring computer skills for information searching to self-managing health data and applying information. Therefore, a more diverse range of eHealth skills is required and these skills are referred as eHealth literacy. However, most eHealth literacy studies focused mainly on information searching skills. Little is known about eHealth usage behaviors of college students in this day and age. Objectives This study aimed to investigate how Chinese college students engage with eHealth tools and to determine the elements of their eHealth literacy. Methods A purposive sample of 18 Chinese college students was recruited for in-depth interviews. Interviewees included three males and three females of each city (Beijing, Wuhan and Putian) from sports, medical, and non-health-related majors. Conventional content analysis was applied for data analysis. Results The eHealth usage of different-major-students were compared and profiled by three themes of Expectance, Usage pattern and Perception. In Expectances, non-health major students applied eHealth only for urgent health need, sport major students used it to monitor health while medical major students, as frequent users for searching health database. In Usage pattern, purposes of eHealth for personal, practical and theoretical were identified for non-health major, sport major and medical major groups, respectively. In Perceptions, sport students felt more curious about eHealth than the other groups who perceived either fear (non-health students) or skeptical (medical students). By compiling those themes, the whole picture of eHealth usage was emerged. Based on that, the current study identified the related skills using the trilogy of Web 1.0 to 3.0, and derived a conceptual framework for eHealth literacy in the present day. Conclusions The current study obtained a comprehensive understanding of eHealth usage and a framework of eHealth literacy required for Chinese college students. And it gives a clearer look at web 3.0 related eHealth behaviors.

Solving maximum matching problems in bipartite graphs is critical in fields such as computational biology and social network analysis. This study introduces HybridGNN, a novel Graph Neural Network model designed to efficiently address complex matching problems at scale. HybridGNN leverages a combination of Graph Attention Networks (GATv2), Graph SAGE (SAGEConv), and Graph Isomorphism Networks (GIN) layers to enhance computational efficiency and model performance. Through extensive ablation experiments, we identify that while the SAGEConv layer demonstrates suboptimal performance in terms of accuracy and F1-score, configurations incorporating GATv2 and GIN layers show significant improvements. Specifically, in six-layer GNN architectures, the combinations of GATv2 and GIN layers with ratios of 4:2 and 5:1 yield superior accuracy and F1-score. Therefore, we name these GNN configurations HybridGNN1 and HybridGNN2. Additionally, techniques such as mixed precision training, gradient accumulation, and Jumping Knowledge networks are integrated to further optimize performance. Evaluations on an email communication dataset reveal that HybridGNNs outperform traditional algorithms such as the Hopcroft–Karp algorithm, the Hungarian algorithm, and the Blossom/Edmonds' algorithm, particularly for large and complex graphs. These findings highlight HybridGNN's robust capability to solve maximum matching problems in bipartite graphs, making it a powerful tool for analyzing large-scale and intricate graph data. Furthermore, our study aligns with the goals of the Symmetry and Asymmetry Study in Graph Theory special issue by exploring the role of symmetry in bipartite graph structures. By leveraging GNNs, we address the challenges related to symmetry and asymmetry in graph properties, thereby improving the reliability and fault tolerance of complex networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we adopt a low-temperature sustainable plasma treatment approach for the fabrication of ferroelectric memory devices. From our experimental results, we found that the ferroelectric polarization characteristics of HfAlO _x ferroelectric device could be further improved by using low-temperature nitrogen plasma treatment on bottom TiN electrode for surface modification. The low-temperature nitrogen plasma treatment on TiN bottom electrode not only prevent electrode oxidation, but also lowers the generation of defect traps at the interface between ferroelectric HfAlO _x and TiN bottom electrode during high-temperature ferroelectric annealing process. Besides, the nitrogen-treated bottom electrode also can improve bias-stress induced instability and cycling endurance of HfAlO _x ferroelectric devices due to the effective suppression of randomly distributed defect traps or oxygen vacancies near the surface of bottom electrode.

The hot deformation behavior of TA32 titanium alloy in the temperature range of 650–850 °C and strain rate range of 0.0001–0.1 s−1 was studied by isothermal hot tensile tests conducted on an electronic universal testing machine equipped with an environmental chamber. The effects of temperature and strain rate on the flow stress of TA32 were investigated. Moreover, a back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) model was developed to predict the flow stress at elevated temperatures and three-dimensional (3-d) thermal processing maps. The results show that the three-layer BP-ANN model can precisely predict the flow stress as the correlation coefficient reaches 0.99365 and the mean relative error is 1.15621%. The 3-d thermal processing maps demonstrate that the lower strain rate, higher temperature, and larger strain lead to higher power dissipation efficiency and better formability. And it shows a flow instability tendency at lower temperatures and higher strain rates. Based on the 3-d thermal processing maps and microstructure analysis, the optimized temperature range and strain rate range for TA32 hot forming were 770–830 °C and 0.0001–0.00015 s−1.

Regular fish chorusing during spring and summer makes the underwater soundscape in the Eastern Taiwan Strait more complex and predictable than in autumn and winter, suggesting that acoustic surveys may help monitor ecosystem health.

BackgroundUnderstanding geospatial impacts of multi-sourced influencing factors on the epidemic of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) is of great significance for formulating disease control policies tailored to regional-specific needs, yet the knowledge is very limited. We aim to identify and further quantify the spatiotemporal heterogeneous effects of environmental and socioeconomic factors on HFMD dynamics.MethodsWe collected monthly province-level HFMD incidence and related environmental and socioeconomic data in China during 2009-2018. Hierarchical Bayesian models were constructed to investigate the spatiotemporal relationships between regional HFMD and various covariates: linear and nonlinear effects for environmental covariates, and linear effects for socioeconomic covariates.ResultsThe spatiotemporal distribution of HFMD cases was highly heterogeneous, indicated by the Lorenz curves and the corresponding Gini indices. The peak time (R2 = 0.65, P = 0.009), annual amplitude (R2 = 0.94, PConclusionsOur study highlights the importance of refined spatial and temporal data, as well as environmental and socioeconomic information, on HFMD transmission dynamics. The spatiotemporal analysis framework may provide insights into adjusting regional interventions to local conditions and temporal variations in broader natural and social sciences.

Introduction Given the ageing epidemic of tuberculosis (TB), China is facing an unprecedented opportunity provided by the first clinically approved next-generation TB vaccine Vaccae, which demonstrated 54.7% efficacy for preventing reactivation from latent infection in a phase III trial. We aim to assess the population-level health and economic impacts of introducing Vaccae vaccination to inform policy-makers.Methods We evaluated a potential national Vaccae vaccination programme in China initiated in 2024, assuming 20 years of protection, 90% coverage and US$30/dose government contract price. An age-structured compartmental model was adapted to simulate three strategies: (1) no Vaccae; (2) mass vaccination among people aged 15–74 years and (3) targeted vaccination among older adults (60 years). Cost analyses were conducted from the healthcare sector perspective, discounted at 3%.Results Considering postinfection efficacy, targeted vaccination modestly reduced TB burden (~20%), preventing cumulative 8.01 (95% CI 5.82 to 11.8) million TB cases and 0.20 (0.17 to 0.26) million deaths over 2024–2050, at incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of US$4387 (2218 to 10 085) per disability adjusted life year averted. The implementation would require a total budget of US$22.5 (17.6 to 43.4) billion. In contrast, mass vaccination had a larger bigger impact on the TB epidemic, but the overall costs remained high. Although both preinfection and postinfection vaccine efficacy type might have a maximum impact (>40% incidence rate reduction in 2050), it is important that the vaccine price does not exceed US$5/dose.Conclusion Vaccae represents a robust and cost-effective choice for TB epidemic control in China. This study may facilitate the practice of evidence-based strategy plans for TB vaccination and reimbursement decision making.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases characterized by cognitive deficits and dementia. AD entails predominant pathological characteristics including amyloid beta (Aβ) plaque formation, neurofibrillary entanglements, and brain atrophy, which gradually result in cognitive dysfunctions. Studies showed that these pathological changes are found in a myriad of brain structures, including the claustrum (CLA), a nucleus that penetrates deeply into the brain and is extensively interconnected to various brain structures. The CLA modulates many aspects of cognitive functions, with attention, executive function, visuospatial ability, language, and memory in particular. It is also implicated in multiple neuropsychiatric disorders, of which one worthy of particular attention is AD-related cognitive impairments. To inspire novel AD treatment strategies, this review has summarized the CLA functionality in discriminative cognitive dysfunctions in AD. And then propose an array of potential mechanisms that might contribute to the cognitive impairments caused by an abnormal CLA physiology. We advocate that the CLA might be a new promising therapeutic target in combination with existing anti-AD drugs and brain stimulation approaches for future AD treatment.

The stable structure and toxic effect of refractory organic pollutants in wastewater lead to the problem of high energy consumption in water treatment technology. Herein, we propose a synergistic purification of refractory wastewater driven by microorganisms and surface microelectric fields (SMEF) over a dual-reaction-center (DRC) catalyst HCLL-S8-M prepared by an in situ growth method of carbon nitride on the Cu-Al2O3 surface. Characterization techniques demonstrate the successful construction of SMEF with strong electrostatic force over HCLL-S8-M based on cation-π interactions between metal copper ions and carbon nitride rings. With the catalyst as the core filler, an innovative fixed bed bioreactor is constructed to purify the actual kitchen-oil wastewater. The removal efficiency of the wastewater even with a very low biodegradability (BOD5/COD = 0.33) can reach 60% after passing through this bioreactor. An innovative reaction mechanism is revealed for the first time that under the condition of a small amount of biodegradable organic matter, the SMEF induces the enrichment of electric active microorganisms (Desulfobulbus and Geobacter) in the wastewater, accelerates the interspecies electron transfer of intertrophic metabolism with the biodegradable bacteria through the extracellular electron transfer mechanism such as cytochrome C and self-secreted electron shuttle. The electrons of the refractory organic pollutants adsorbed on the surface of the catalyst are delocalized by the SMEF, which can be directly utilized by microorganisms through EPS conduction. The SMEF generated by electron polarization can maximize the utilization of pollutants and microorganisms in wastewater and further enhance degradation without adding any external energy, which is of great significance to the development of water self-purification technology.

Summary: Pollution and resource waste caused by the improper disposal of livestock manure, and the threat from the release of emerging contaminants (ECs), are global challenges. Herein, we address the both problems simultaneously by the resourcelized conversion of chicken manure into porous Co@CM cage microspheres (CCM-CMSs) for ECs degradation through the graphitization process and Co-doping modification step. CCM-CMSs exhibit excellent performance for ECs degradation and actual wastewater purification under peroxymonosulfate (PMS) initiation, and show adaptability to complex water environments. The ultra-high activity can maintain after continuous operation over 2160 cycles. The formation of C-O-Co bond bridge structure on the catalyst surface caused an unbalanced electron distribution, which allows PMS to trigger the sustainable electron donation of ECs and electron gain of dissolved oxygen processes, becoming the key to the excellent performance of CCM-CMSs. This process significantly reduces the resource and energy consumption of the catalyst throughout the life cycle of production and application.

Abstract Offshore windfarms have recently emerged as a renewable energy solution. The effects of pile‐driving and long‐term impacts of operational noises on fish chorusing still, however, remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the variations of fish chorusing intensity and duration during the construction (2016) and operational phases (2017–2018) of a windfarm at the Eastern Taiwan Strait (ETS). At the ETS, two types of fish choruses (Types 1 and 2) were found to repeat over a diurnal pattern. In the 2 days after the pile driving, Type 1 chorusing showed lower intensity and longer duration, while Type 2 chorusing exhibited higher intensity and no changes in its duration. During the operational phases in 2017 and 2018, both choruses were longer in duration (2–3 h for Type 1; 0.5–1 h for Type 2). The intensity of Type 1 chorus increased by 5–10 dB, but no significant variation was recorded for Type 2. Our findings document, for the first time, different behavioral responses of two chorusing types exposed to pile‐driving and windfarm noise pressure. Fish choruses have been associated with several behavioral functions. Deviation from a regular pattern might affect fish reproductive success, cause migration, augmented predation, or physiological alterations. Because offshore windfarms installations are growing in magnitude and capacity worldwide, this study provides essential insights for policymakers and constitutes an important reference for assessing the effects of noise from pile driving and windfarms on fishes.

Abstract Background Older adults are at a higher risk from COVID-19. Individual preventive behaviors including frequent hand washing, mask wearing, and social distancing play important roles in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 in the community. This study aimed to identify the determinants of three preventive behaviors of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic by using an Integrated Social Cognition Model. Methods Using a prospective study design, 516 Chinese older adults from Hubei province of China (mean age = 67.55 years, SD = 6.60, 57.9% females) completed two online questionnaire surveys. The demographics, social cognition constructs (motivational self-efficacy, risk perception, attitude, subjective norm, health knowledge, intention, volitional self-efficacy, planning, action control) and three preventive behaviors were measured during the first-wave online survey from 18 May 2020 to 7 June 2020. One month later, three preventive behaviors were measured again during the second-wave online survey. Data were analyzed by structural equation modelling. Results Models showed attitude, motivational self-efficacy and subjective norm were consistent predictors of intention, motivational self-efficacy was a consistent predictor of volitional self-efficacy, planning and volitional self-efficacy were consistent predictors of action control, and health knowledge was a consistent predictor of behaviors across all three preventive behaviors. In addition, mediating relationships were found in the model of hand washing behavior. In particular, planning (β = .109, p = .042) and action control (β = .056, p = .047) mediated between volitional self-efficacy and hand washing respectively. Action control also mediated between planning and hand washing (β = .087, p = .044). Moreover, the inclusion of past behaviors in three models attenuated most of the structural relations. Conclusions The current study’s findings basically supported the Integrated Social Cognition Model and identified key modifiable determinants of preventive behaviors. Based on this model, future interventions aiming to promote COVID-19 preventive behaviors among older adults are warranted.

This study aims to compare the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) with semen quality in men from couples with primary and secondary infertility. Semen samples were collected from 133 men who requested fertility evaluation. Seminal tract infection with Ureaplasma spp. (UU), Mycoplasma hominis (MH), Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) was assessed by PCR-based diagnostic assays. Among all patients, the prevalence of STIs was higher in men from couples with primary infertility than that in men from couples with secondary infertility (39.7% vs 21.7%, P = 0.03). The prevalence of UU was 28.8% and 13.3% in men from couples with primary and secondary infertility, respectively. Men from couples with primary infertility were more likely to be positive for UU than men from couples with secondary infertility (P = 0.04). Regarding the UU subtype, the prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uuu) and Ureaplasma parvum (Uup; including Uup1, Uup3, Uup6, and Uup14) did not differ between the two groups. No associations between the prevalence rates of MH, MG, and CT were found in men from either infertility group. A lower sperm concentration was associated with STI pathogen positivity in men with primary infertility according to the crude model (P = 0.04). The crude and adjusted models showed that semen volume (both P = 0.03) and semen leukocyte count (both P = 0.02) were independently associated with secondary infertility. These findings suggest the importance of classifying the type of infertility during routine diagnosis of seminal tract infections.

Large numbers of microbes can be present in seminal fluid, and there are differences in the semen microbiota between normal and abnormal semen samples. To evaluate the semen microbiota in patients with leukocytospermia, 87 seminal fluid samples, including 33 samples with a normal seminal leukocyte count and 54 samples with leukocytospermia, were obtained for a cross-sectional analysis. Twenty samples with a normal seminal leukocyte count had normal sperm parameters (Control group), and 13 samples with a normal seminal leukocyte count were from asthenozoospermia patients (Ast group). However, 32 samples with leukocytospermia were from asthenozoospermia patients (LA group), and only 22 samples with leukocytospermia had normal sperm parameters (Leu group). The 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing method was used to sequence the microbiota in the seminal fluid, and multiple bioinformatics methods were utilized to analyze the data. Finally, the results showed that the worse sperm parameters were observed in the leukocytospermia-related groups. Semen microbiota analysis found that there was increased alpha diversity in the leukocytospermia-related groups. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were the primary phyla in the seminal fluid. Two microbiota profiles, namely, Lactobacillus-enriched and Streptococcus-enriched groups, were identified in this study. The majority of the samples in the groups with a normal seminal leukocyte count could be categorized as Lactobacillus-enriched, whereas the majority of the leukocytospermia samples could be categorized as Streptococcus-enriched. Our study indicated that males with leukocytospermia have worse sperm parameters and a different semen microbiota composition compared to males with a normal seminal leukocyte count.