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Abstract The post-dynamic recrystallization behavior of ultrafine-grained (UFG: 0.44 μm) cp-Ti under annealing, room temperature (RT) monotonic and cyclic loading was investigated across a range of temperatures and deformation rates wherever appropriate. By characterizing the grain and boundary structures, it was confirmed that recrystallization and grain growth occurred due to annealing (≥ 600 °C) and R = − 1 fatigue at RT. There was a noticeable 30 deg aggregation in misorientation distribution, along with the increased grain size. However, the hypothetical correlation between 30 deg aggregation and Σ13a or the other characteristic coincidence site lattice boundaries was found to be weak. The fatigue-induced grain growth is particularly intriguing for two reasons. First, the large monotonic deformation with low strain rate cannot trigger grain growth. Second, fatigue sharpened the basal intensity around the ND and caused a weaker texture component close to TD (load axis along the LD, perpendicular to the TD–ND plane). By contrast, high-temperature annealing only strengthened the UFG processing induced basal pole but without affecting its location. Novel insights into this fatigue-induced texture evolution in UFG cp-Ti has been provided. The lattice rotation during fatigue can be attributed to the combined effect of activation of prismatic $$ \langle a\rangle $$ ⟨ a ⟩ slip parallel to LD, and basal $$ \langle a\rangle $$ ⟨ a ⟩ slip perpendicular to it. The theoretically calculated stress to activate dislocation slip by assuming a non-equilibrium grain boundary state lent support to the above assertion. Moreover, the TEM observation evidently showed the characteristics of dislocation cross-slip and multiple slip in the grain interior. Graphical Abstract

Up to now, few studies pay attention on the effects of crab burrowing on soil properties of newly formed mudflats. However, this information is important to protect and manage the new-formed area. Therefore, a field observation was carried out to investigate the effects of crab burrowing on soil properties of newly formed mudflats in the Yellow River Delta. Crab burrow parameters and soil properties were measured at three fixed locations. Results indicated that crab burrowing greatly affected soil texture, but not soil nutrient. Soil textural feature was changed from clay to silt by significantly increasing the proportion of sand (+3.82%) and decreasing the proportion of clay (–4.76%). Crab burrowing showed significantly negative effects on soil bulk density, pH, soil salinity, and proportion of clay (p 0.05). Overall, crab burrowing had distinct positive effects on surface soil properties, especially the soil texture. These results suggest that crab burrowing would improve surface soil conditions, which in turn would stimulate other life processes and promote the stability of newly formed wetlands.

Three-dimensional (3D) well-crystallized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), M-THBQ (M = Fe, Co, Mn, THBQ = tetrahydroxybenzoquinone), are synthesized and characterized. Their structures are determined as cubic cell in the group of Pm-3 from powder X-ray diffraction data, and their properties of electronic, magnetic and spectroscopic are also investigated. They are all semiconductors, and Fe-THBQ exhibits the air-stable n-type thermoelectric characteristic as its Seebeck coefficient reaches -130 μV K-1, and the electrical conductivity is 2.7 x 10-4 S cm-1 at 300 K. Additional, M-THBQ are paramagnetic, and the value of Weiss constant of Fe-THBQ is -219.37 K, indicating the existence of robust intramolecular antiferromagnetic exchanges. Meanwhile, they display strong absorption bands in the range of 220 to 1000 nm, suggest M-THBQ could have the potential to become photoabsorbers, and Fe-THBQ exhibits a narrow bandgap of 0.63 eV according to the ultraviolet absorption edge spectrum. The successful preparation of M-THBQ enriches the family of 3D magnetic conductive MOFs.

In the past two decades, the supratidal wetland in the Yellow River Delta experienced severe saline-alkalization and vegetation degradation. Restoration with enclosure-freshwater release mode has prevailed since 2002. This method presented some positive effects, but need a massive freshwater supply. Furthermore, the subsequent formed single Phragmites australis vegetation weakened the bird habitation function. In this study, we developed another restoration mode based on microtopography modification. The core idea of the mode is to enhance micro-habitat heterogeneity thus improve the water resource temporal-spatial distribution and shape more niches. An ecological restoration program was designed and implemented since May, 2015. The monitoring data from July, 2015 to December 2017 showed that, with no extra artificially drained freshwater released, the soil salinity decreased by 15.4% to 30.8%. The area of bare land decreased while that vegetation and water surface increased, resulting in relative even land cover composition, habitat heterogeneity increased and thus the bird biodiversity improved. This mode is more ecological and water cost-effective and is suitable to restore the degraded saline-alkalized supratidal wetlands. However, long-term comprehensive monitoring is essential to evaluate the restoration effect. Many detailed parameters for topography modification need further optimized.

Pore structure parameters are significant for investigating the diffusion properties of volatile organic compounds from building materials. Traditional characterization methods could provide ether surface morphology or some pore parameters of the material, which could not comprehensively reflect the overall information. X-ray tomography, as an advanced nondestructive method, can not only characterize the three-dimensional structure characteristics but also comprehensively measure pore parameters of materials. This study applied X-ray tomography to systematically analyze the geometry and volatile organic compound emission paths of medium-density fiberboard. The three-dimensional structures of pores and materials were reconstructed respectively. The isolated pores and connective pores were extracted to indicate the pore connectivity, and skeletonization was simultaneously applied, allowing visualization of the volatile organic compound diffusion paths. The porosity was 54.67%, and 99.91% of the pores were connective pores. The tortuosity was 2.07, and the fractal dimension was 2.605, indicating the heterogeneity and self-similarity of pore structures. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the two-dimensional morphology of the material, and mercury intrusion porosimetry was applied to analyze the pore parameters. The results were consistent with that of X-ray tomography, and their coupling with X-ray tomography could comprehensively characterize the structures and parameters of indoor building materials, which could contribute significantly to future research on volatile organic compound emission mechanisms and building physics.

BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has produced a significant health burden worldwide, especially in patients with cardiovascular comorbidities. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the impact of underlying cardiovascular comorbidities and acute cardiac injury on in-hospital mortality risk.MethodsPubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched for publications that reported the relationship of underlying cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension and myocardial injury with in-hospital fatal outcomes in patients with COVID-19. The ORs were extracted and pooled. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity.ResultsA total of 10 studies were enrolled in this meta-analysis, including eight studies for CVD, seven for hypertension and eight for acute cardiac injury. The presence of CVD and hypertension was associated with higher odds of in-hospital mortality (unadjusted OR 4.85, 95% CI 3.07 to 7.70; I2=29%; unadjusted OR 3.67, 95% CI 2.31 to 5.83; I2=57%, respectively). Acute cardiac injury was also associated with a higher unadjusted odds of 21.15 (95% CI 10.19 to 43.94; I2=71%).ConclusionCOVID-19 patients with underlying cardiovascular comorbidities, including CVD and hypertension, may face a greater risk of fatal outcomes. Acute cardiac injury may act as a marker of mortality risk. Given the unadjusted results of our meta-analysis, future research are warranted.

Based on retrieved results of literature and patents related to international wetland ecological restoration, the current status and development of ecological restoration techniques for degraded wetlands in both China and international states were analyzed synthetically. The results showed that the United States was the pioneering country in studies on the wetland ecological restoration, while China began to pay widespread attention from 2000. Compared to the international developed countries, the start time of concern for wetland ecological restoration in China was about 10 years later. The phytoremediation and engineering restoration were the most popular among all the wetland ecological restoration techniques. Besides the United States, the number of publications increased most quickly in China since 2004. The Louisiana State University published most of the researching findings among the international institutions related to wetland ecological restoration. The Chinese Academy of Sciences was the most important institution for wetland restoration study in China. The analysis of the wetland ecological restoration practice in China and international states indicated that the study and application of combined bioremediation techniques would receive more attention for wetland ecological restoration in the future.

Oxidative cracking, which combines catalytic oxidation and cracking reactions, represents a promising approach to reduce the energy and carbon intensities for light olefin production from naphtha. The need to co-feed gaseous oxygen with hydrocarbons, however, leads to significant COx formation and safety concerns. The cost and energy consumption associated with air separation also affects its economic attractiveness. In this study, we investigated a redox oxidative cracking (ROC) scheme and evaluated perovskites (La0.8Sr0.2FeO3 and CaMnO3) and Na2WO4-promoted perovskite (La0.8Sr0.2FeO3@Na2WO4 and CaMnO3@Na2WO4) as the redox catalysts for ROC. CaMnO3@Na2WO4 redox catalyst shows high activity, selectivity, and stability for light olefin production from cyclohexane. Operated under a redox oxidative cracking (ROC) scheme, CaMnO3@Na2WO4 enhances the catalytic cracking of cyclohexane, while showing high selectivity towards hydrogen combustion with its built-in, active lattice oxygen. Over three-fold increase in olefin yield compared to thermal cracking and 35% yield increase compared to conventional O2-cofeed oxidative cracking were achieved. Low energy ion scattering (LEIS), X-ray photoelectric spectroscopy (XPS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated a core-shell structure, where a molten Na2WO4 layer covers the CaMnO3 core. Na2WO4 modifies the oxygen donation behavior of CaMnO3 and provides a catalytically active surface for cyclohexane activation. In-situ XRD revealed that CaMnO3@Na2WO4 exhibited excellent structural stability and regenerability. The transformation of Mn4+ ↔ Mn3+ ↔ Mn2+ in CaMnO3, facilitated by reversible phase transition to (Ca/Mn)O solid solution, is responsible for the lattice oxygen donation and uptake during redox cycles. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements further confirmed that the oxygen species were transported through the molten Na2WO4 layer to participate in ROC. These findings offer mechanistic insights to design effective redox catalysts for hydrocarbon valorization using the chemical looping strategy.

In this paper, fluorosilicone oligomer and its curing agent are used as the main film-forming materials, and fluorosilicone POSS is added to reduce the surface energy of the composites to prepare a coating with certain anti-sticking effect. The changes of molecular structure before and after the reaction were obtained by infrared spectroscopy. The contact angle and anti-sticking property of the coating surface were studied by changing the content of POSS containing fluorine. It was found that the contact angle of fluorine-containing POSS reached 98.7° when the content of fluorine-containing POSS was 3 Wt.%. With the increase of POSS content, the anti-sticking force of composites changed little, but with the increase of the contact time of tape, the anti-sticking force showed an increasing trend.

The dynamic status near the surface of a catalyst can significantly affect the catalytic process, because the overall reaction rate depends on the mass velocity of product attachment and reactant detachment. As a dominant diffusion mechanism, molecular diffusion is known as a slow process that inhibits the fast contact between the reactants and the heterogeneous catalyst, which depresses catalytic conversion efficiency. Herein, we report a strategy that can break such a stagnant layer to facilitate the mass transport toward the catalyst surface, wherein Pd nanocubes (NCs) encapsulated in soft metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheets are used as catalysts for the hydrogenation reactions. The soft MOF supports render deformable features to enhance mass transport across the Pd NCs, which is vital to enhance the catalyst performance. In combination with numerical simulations, we identify the deformable MOF driven by the shear force of flowing fluid to increase dye adsorption and catalytic conversion by 5- and 3-fold, respectively, as compared to a counterpart system containing nondeformable MOFs. The catalytic efficiency presents a volcano-type trend with the length-to-spacing ratio of MOF nanosheet being designed and reaches the maximum with a length-to-spacing ratio of 2:1. This technique provides unique opportunities to design a proof-of-concept self-propelled catalysis on the basis of a greater mechanistic understanding of heterogeneous catalytic reactions.

In this paper, the forward–backward splitting method for the minimization of the sum of two functions have been extended to Banach spaces. The regularization term of the forward–backward splitting method is constructed by the norm with p-power. We prove the functional values of the sequences generated by this method converge with an asymptotic rate $$n^{1-p}$$ to the optimal value of the problem and establish the linear convergence under an error bound assumption.

Conjugated polymer (CP) films with high molecular order are attractive in polymeric optoelectronics, but challenging. Herein, we adopt a facile strategy including synergetic polymerization and self-assembly for crystalline CP films at a dynamic air/water interface. With poly(2,5-dihexyloxy-1,4-phenylenebutadiynylene) (poly-DHO-PBD) as one case shown from poly(butadiynylene) derivatives, large-area two-dimensional (2D) crystalline poly-DHO-PBD films with sizes of hundreds of micrometers and thicknesses down to tens of nanometers are successfully obtained from its 1,4-diethynyl-2,5-bis(hexyloxy)benzene (DEBHB) monomers by optimizing the interfacial Glaser-type reaction conditions, which can also be extended for the synthesis of four other poly(butadiynylene) derivatives. The high-quality crystalline CP films demonstrate efficient charge transport performance and excellent stability in electronic devices. This result opens a new avenue for preparing 2D crystalline CP films and would motivate increasing related lines of research on more complex functional CPs towards high performance polymeric optoelectronic devices and fundamental studies.

We examined the effects of channel diversion of Yellow River on the content and stoichiometry of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the organs of reeds (stem, leaf, rhizome and fibrous root) and soils in three typical在黄河三角洲选取3种典型的芦苇湿地群落为对象,即:故道区(1996年改道的黄河故道河岸带芦苇群落)、新生区(现行黄河河岸带新生芦苇群落)和潮水区(远离新旧河道但受潮汐影响的潮滩芦苇群落),研究黄河改道对3种生境芦苇各器官(茎、叶、根状茎、须根)和土壤剖面碳(C)、氮(N)、磷(P)含量变化及化学计量特征的影响。结果表明: 故道区芦苇叶片C、N、P含量最高,新生区叶片N、茎C、根茎P含量最高,潮水区叶片N、茎C和P含量最高。3种生境芦苇叶片C含量(409.48 g·kg

Previous research showed that ALG3 was associated with several cancers, but the function of ALG3 in bladder cancer (BC) was yet unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative expression of ALG3 in BC tissues and corresponding normal tissues and the relationship between the relative expression of ALG3 and clinical outcome in bladder cancer patients.In this study, the expression of ALG3 in bladder cancer was detected by immunochemistry. In order to determine the cell proliferation and migration ability more accurately, we performed colony forming assay, MTT assay and wound healing migration assay. The role of ALG3 on tumor growth and metastasis was explored by animal modelALG3 was expressed higher in bladder cancer than that in the normal tissues (Silencing ALG3 plays a critical role in bladder cancer development and growth. It inhibits bladder cancer cells growth

Xin Huang,1,&ast; Yuan Liu,2,&ast; Bo Guan,1 Wenyi Yang,1 Shasha Sun,1 Jiakun Luo,1 Yukun Luo,3 Jian Cao,1 Yujiao Deng3 1Department of Cardiology, The Second Medical Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Emergency, The Second Medical Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Ultrasound, The First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yujiao Deng, Department of Ultrasound, The First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, People’s Republic of China, Email dengyujiao301@163.com Jian Cao, Department of Cardiology, The Second Medical Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, People’s Republic of China, Email caojiantougao@163.comAim: To evaluate the left ventricular (LV) systolic function in elderly with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE) and two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (STI).Methods: Forty NSTEMI and forty STEMI patients after undergoing percutaneous coronary artery intervention (PCI) were enrolled. The myocardial segments were supplied by the infarct-related artery (Myo-IRA) which were indicated by the selective coronary arteriography (SCA). The LV end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), end-systolic volume (LVESV), stroke volume (LVSV) and ejection fraction (LVEF) were acquired by 4D LV Volume Tom Tec. LV longitudinal peak systolic strain (LPSS), radial peak systolic strain (RPSS), circumferential peak systolic strain (CPSS) of Myo-IRA segments, LV rotational peak degree in the base (rot-base) and in the apex (rot-apex), and twist were acquired by strain analysis software. Forty older healthy individuals were included as normal controls.Results: The LVEF of the NSTEMI and STEMI patients at 1 week after PCI were significantly lower (P< 0.05), then, this parameter was improved in both groups after 3 months, but was still significantly lower than that of the controls (P< 0.05). The LPSS, RPSS, CPSS of the Myo−IRA segments, rot−Base, rot−Apex and twist in both groups were significantly lower than those in the controls. The LPSS and CPSS of the Myo-IRA segments, rot−Base, rot−Apex and twist in NSTEMI patients were obviously higher than those in STEMI patients in 1 week and 3 months after PCI (P< 0.05). After 3 months, the RPSS of NSTEMI patients was improved notably and was obviously higher than that of STEMI patients (P< 0.05). All these values in STEMI and NSTEMI patients were improved after 3 months, apart from LPSS in STEMI patients (P> 0.05), but were still significantly lower than those in the controls (P< 0.05).Conclusion: RT-3DE and STI can sensitively assess LV systolic function with different extents of transmural damage.Keywords: echocardiography, acute myocardial infarction, left ventricular systolic function, elderly

In this study, we sought to investigate the association between N6-methyladenosine (mFirst, the clinical data and the transcriptomes of 530 patients with ccRCC were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The expression patterns of mAmong the 13 mFollowing TCGA data-mining, different molecular subtypes of ccRCC based on m

A new wheeled rolling robot is designed based on planar 3-RRR parallel mechanism and spoke wheel with variable diameter, by adjusting the 3-DOF outputs of the planar 3-RRR parallel mechanism, the deformation and rolling motion of the rolling robot are realized, the rotation output of the parallel mechanism realizes the differential change of the diameter of the two supporting wheels of the rolling robot, and the moving output of the parallel mechanism changes the mass distribution of the system, so that the rolling robot can complete the forward, backward, turning and other motions. Based on the introduction of the performance parameters, driving system, variable diameter wheel configuration and motion mechanism of the rolling robot, the eccentric driving torque is analysis and the existing space of the eccentric torque is given, so as to further complete the selection of the driving motor of the robot. This article analysis three typical motions of robots and its performance parameters, such as straight movement, turn movement, climbing exercise, and builds a simple prototype under laboratory conditions to verify the feasibility of the three movements.

Microbial infections has become a great threat to human health and one of the main risks arises from direct contact with the surfaces contaminated by pathogenic microbes. Developing long-lasting antimicrobial materials becomes an urgent need. Herein, a kind of hexagonal column interpenetrated spheres (HCISs) are fabricated by non-covalent assembly of plant gallic acid with quaternary ammonium surfactants. Different from one-time burst release of conventional antimicrobial agents, the HCIS acts like a "antimicrobial molecular bank" and releases the antimicrobial ingredients in a multistage way, leading to long-lasting antimicrobial performance. Taking advantage of strong hydrophobicity and adhesion, HCISs are applicable to various substrates and endowed with anti-water washing property, thus showing high in vitro antimicrobial efficiency ( > 99 %) even after being used for 10 cycles. Meanwhile, HCISs exhibit broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi, and have good biocompatibility with mammalian cells. Such a low-cost and portable long-lasting antimicrobial agent meets the growing anti-infection demand in public spaces.

Lichao Fan,1,&ast; Bo Guan,2,&ast; Moxin Cheng,1,&ast; Chang Liu,3 Yao Tian,1 Ran Li,1 Yu Chen1 1Department of Tuberculosis, Shenyang Tenth People’s Hospital, Shenyang Chest Hospital, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, 110044, People’s Republic of China; 2Geriatric Cardiology Department of the Second Medical Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shenyang Tenth People’s Hospital, Shenyang Chest Hospital, Shenyang, 110044, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yu Chen, Email yuchensyxk@163.comObjective: Using TB-LAMP for diagnosing pediatric PTB, however, still requires systematic evaluation. Here, we evaluated TB-LAMP performance alone and in combination with conventional assays for diagnosing PTB in Chinese children, using mycobacterial culture or CCRS (the composite clinical reference standard) as references.Design or Methods: BALF samples were collected at Shenyang Tenth People’s Hospital from 251 children susceptible to TB infection with indications for fiberoptic bronchoscopy.Results: When mycobacterial culture was the reference, TB-LAMP used alongside smear microscopy doubled sensitivity for detecting pediatric PTB compared with smear microscopy alone (82.5% vs 40.0%). When CCRS was the reference, AFB microscopy, MTB culture, and TB-LAMP had sensitivities of 16.5%, 30.1%, and 51.1%, respectively, and specificities of 98.2%, 100.0%, and 99.1%. Combining MTB culture with TB-LAMP gave a sensitivity of 61.1% and specificity of 96.6%. TB-LAMP identified 39.3% and 43.2% of cases with negative MTB culture or AFB microscopy results.Conclusion: TB-LAMP using BALF samples provided faster results, allowing early and accurate PTB diagnosis. Our findings provide insights for optimizing diagnostic algorithms for pediatric PTB.Keywords: child, pulmonary tuberculosis, diagnosis, loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid

Automatic image segmentation of surgical instruments is a fundamental task in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, which greatly improves the context awareness of surgeons during the operation. A novel method based on Mask R-CNN is proposed in this paper to realize accurate instance segmentation of surgical instruments.A novel feature extraction backbone is built, which could extract both local features through the convolutional neural network branch and global representations through the Swin-Transformer branch. Moreover, skip fusions are applied in the backbone to fuse both features and improve the generalization ability of the network.The proposed method is evaluated on the dataset of MICCAI 2017 EndoVis Challenge with three segmentation tasks and shows state-of-the-art performance with an mIoU of 0.5873 in type segmentation and 0.7408 in part segmentation. Furthermore, the results of ablation studies prove that the proposed novel backbone contributes to at least 17% improvement in mIoU.The promising results demonstrate that our method can effectively extract global representations as well as local features in the segmentation of surgical instruments and improve the accuracy of segmentation. With the proposed novel backbone, the network can segment the contours of surgical instruments' end tips more precisely. This method can provide more accurate data for localization and pose estimation of surgical instruments, and make a further contribution to the automation of robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery.

The wide application of agricultural greenhouses globally has brought economic benefits; however, it has also led to many environmental problems. The timely and accurate acquisition of greenhouse areas and distribution is valuable for authorities seeking to optimize regional agricultural management and mitigate environmental pollution. Automatic extraction of the greenhouses from high spatial resolution remote sensing (RS) imagery based on deep learning can reduce labor costs and improve operational efficiency to have better application prospects. In this paper, we propose a multi-channel fused fully convolutional network (FCN) optimized by the optimal scale object-oriented segmentation results for agricultural greenhouse extraction from high spatial resolution RS imagery. First, to make full use of remote sensing feature images of target objects and to not increase the complexity of the deep learning network, we constructed a decision-level fusion FCN network that can simultaneously input multiple remote sensing images for preliminary extraction of greenhouse. Second, to address a defect in the classical FCN network causing the easy loss of ground object details, we optimized the preliminary extraction results from FCN by the results of object-oriented segmentation. Finally, the optimized greenhouse extraction results were processed by the mathematical morphology, and the final extraction results were obtained. The experimental results demonstrate that: (1) Multi-channel fused FCN model could use the unique spectral characteristics of different ground objects. (2) Optimized initial extraction results from FCN based on the optimal scale object-oriented segmentation results could fully maintain the edge details of the greenhouse. Experimental results show that the proposed method can extract the greenhouse effectively. The precision and F value of our proposed method are 92.68% and 0.94.

This study aimed to investigate the role of C-reactive protein (CRP) in atrial fibrillation (AF) from epidemiological and genetic perspectives.Individual-level data from the Kailuan cohort recruited between 2006 and 2017 were included. Serum CRP levels were measured at baseline and at biennial follow-up visits, and incident AF was ascertained from biennial 12-lead ECG assessment and medical records. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association between baseline CRP levels or cumulative exposure to CRP and incident AF. A meta-analysis including nine prospective cohort studies and our current study was also conducted. Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was performed to evaluate the aetiological role of CRP in AF. In our observational study (n = 86,424), high baseline CRP levels (3 mg/L), compared with low CRP (1 mg/L), were not significantly associated with AF risk (HR: 1.18; 95% CI: 0.99-1.40). High cumulative exposure to CRP (HR: 1.49; 95%CI: 1.01-2.21) was significantly associated with an increased risk of AF. Our meta-analysis suggested a positive association between elevated CRP levels and incident AF (relative risk: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.14-1.42). However, no significant association between genetically determined CRP and AF risk was observed in the MR analysis.Evidence from observational studies suggested that elevated serum CRP levels were positively associated with incident AF, while the causal effects of CRP on AF were not supported by the MR analysis.URL: https://www.chictr.org.cn; Unique identifier: ChiCTR-TNRC-11001489.

Two-dimensional (2D) carbon materials, such as graphene, have attracted particular attention owing to the exceptional carrier transport characteristics that arise from the unique π-electron system in their conjugated carbon network structure

We consider a class of fully nonlinear second order elliptic equations on Hermitian manifolds closely related to the general notion of $\bfG$-plurisubharmonicity of Harvey-Lawson and an equation treated by Sz\'ekelyhidi-Tosatti-Weinkove in the proof of Gauduchon conjecture. Under fairly general assumptions we derive interior estimates and establish the existence of smooth solutions for the Dirichlet problem as well as for equations on closed manifolds.

Conventional ultrafine-grains can generate high strength in Mg alloys, but significant tradeoff of corrosion resistance due to inclusion of a large number of non-equilibrium grain boundaries. Herein, an ultrafine-grain structure consisting of dense ultrafine twins is prepared, yielding a high strength up to 469 MPa and decreasing the corrosion rate by one order of magnitude. Generally, the formation of dense ultrafine twins in Mg alloys is rather difficult, but a carefully designed multi-directional compression treatment effectively stimulates twinning nucleation within twins and refines grain size down to 300 nm after 12-passes compressions. Grain-refinement by low-energy twins not only circumvents the detrimental effects of non-equilibrium grain boundaries on corrosion resistance, but also alters both the morphology and distribution of precipitates. Consequently, micro-galvanic corrosion tendency decreases, and severe localized corrosion is suppressed completely. This technique has a high commercial viability as it can be readily implemented in industrial production., Conventional ultrafine grains can generate high-strength Mg alloys, but non-equilibrium grain boundaries deteriorates their corrosion resistance. Here, the authors present ultrafine grained Mg alloys with dense twins that display high strength and reduced corrosion rate by one order of magnitude.

Water, considered as a universal solvent to dissolve salts, has been extensively studied as liquid electrolyte in electrochemical devices. The water/ice phase transition at around 0 °C presents a common phenomenon in nature, however, the chemical and electrochemical behaviors of ice have rarely been studied. Herein, we discovered that the ice phase provides efficient ionic transport channels and therefore can be applied as generalized solid-state ionic conductor. Solid state ionic conducting ices (ICIs) of Li+ , Na+ , Mg2+ , Al3+ , K+ , Mn2+ , Fe2+ , Co2+ , Ni2+ , Cu2+ , and Zn2+ , frozen from corresponding sulphate solutions, exhibit ionic conductivities ranging from ≈10-7 S cm-1 (Zn2+ ) to ≈10-3 S cm-1 (Li+ ) at temperatures spanning from -20 °C to -5 °C. The discovery of ICIs opens new insight to design and fabrication of solid-state electrolytes that are simple, inexpensive, and versatile.

The cyclic deformation behaviour and microstructural stability of severe plastic deformation processed bulk nanostructured (ultrafine-grained, UFG) commercially pure cp-Ti were investigated by using in situ neutron diffraction combined with R = −1 high-cycle-fatigue (HCF) loading at room and cryogenic temperatures. The UFG microstructure was created by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and multi-direction forging (MDF). A considerable continuous grain growth was revealed by neutron diffraction for MDF cp-Ti fatigued at 25 °C, as opposed to that at −200 °C. The same HCF fatigue loading at 25 °C only caused very limited grain growth for ECAP cp-Ti. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the grain growth. Further confirmation of the room-temperature HCF fatigue-induced grain growth was obtained by transmission Kikuchi diffraction based analysis. Novel insights into fatigue induced grain growth mechanism in UFG cp-Ti are thus provided: (i) the thermally activated process plays an important role in grain growth during the room-temperature HCF fatigue; (ii) Continuous dynamic recrystallisation is responsible for the grain growth and dislocation slip or twinning is not essential to trigger such a grain growth; (iii) the anisotropic grain growth behaviour in {0002} grain family can be reconciled by accepting that these grains accumulated highly stored energy during initial severe plastic deformation and the subsequent recrystallisation nucleation occurred at these highly deformed regions.

The high texture dependence of a Hall–Petch slope (k) for Mg alloys has been frequently reported. Several important equations used to calculate k have been previously developed, and although they seem to work well for fcc and bcc materials, they often fail to predict the highly texture-dependent k in Mg alloys. A new equation based on the dislocation pile-up model was developed in this study. The validity of this new equation was tested through a comparison of the predicted k values with the experimental values as well as the calculations from older equations. The results indicate that the new equation can achieve an accurate prediction for several previously reported texture effects on k, whereas the k values predicted by the older equations often exhibit a clear deviation. The reasons for this were analyzed and discussed. The strong deformation anisotropy for Mg alloys leads to a complex texture effect on k, including the effects from both external and internal stresses. Both effects are well expressed in the new equation. In contrast, the old equations consider the external stress effect, but do not express well the internal stress effect. In addition, the old equations consider only the predominant deformation mode. However, our results indicate that the activation of a portion of another deformation mode other than the predominant one plays an important role in the k value. In the new equation, all possible deformation modes and their fractions are considered in the calculation. Using the important parameters of the new equation, the mechanisms for several texture effects on k as previously reported were discussed and new understandings were obtained.

The host immune response to bone biomaterials is vital in determining scaffold fates and bone regeneration outcomes. The nanometer-scale interface of biomaterials, which independently controls physical inputs to cells, regulates osteogenic differentiation of stem cells and local immune response. Herein, we fabricated biomimetic hierarchical intrafibrillarly mineralized collagen (HIMC) with a bone-like staggered nanointerface and investigated its immunomodulatory properties and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) recruitment during endogenous bone regeneration. The acquired HIMC potently induced neo-bone formation by promoting CD68+CD163+ M2 macrophage polarization and CD146+STRO-1+ host MSC recruitment in critical-sized bone defects. Mechanistically, HIMC facilitated M2 macrophage polarization and interleukin (IL)-4 secretion to promote MSC osteogenic differentiation. An anti-IL4 neutralizing antibody significantly reduced M2 macrophage-mediated osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. Moreover, HIMC-loaded-IL-4 implantation into critical-sized mandible defects dramatically enhanced bone regeneration and CD68+CD163+ M2 macrophage polarization. The depletion of monocyte/macrophages by clodronate liposomes significantly impaired bone regeneration by HIMC, but did not affect MSC recruitment. Thus, in emulating natural design, the hierarchical nanointerface possesses the capacity to recruit host MSCs and promote endogenous bone regeneration by immunomodulation of macrophage polarization through IL-4.

For the first time, proton conductors BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.1Yb0.1O3−δ (BZCYYb) and La2Ce2O7 (LCO) are combined to create an interface active and steam-tolerant electrolyte for high-performance proton-con...

We study a general class of fully nonlinear elliptic equations of second order on Hermitian manifolds. We derive a priori estimates and prove some existence results for these equations. In particular, we prove interior estimates for the complex Hessian, which in general do not hold for other types of equations. We apply our results to draw geometric conclusions on conformal deformations of the mixed Chern–Ricci forms, a notion we introduced in the article. Our work is motivated by the close connections of these equations to problems in non-Kahler geometry, and the fact that there have been increasing interests in fully nonlinear pde's beyond the complex Monge–Ampere equation from complex geometry.