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Abstract The outbreak of jellyfish blooms poses a serious threat to human life and marine ecology. Therefore, jellyfish detection techniques have earned great interest. This paper investigates the jellyfish detection and classification algorithm based on optical images and deep learning theory. Firstly, we create a dataset comprising 11,926 images. A MSRCR underwater image enhancement algorithm with fusion is proposed. Finally, an improved YOLOv4-tiny algorithm is proposed by incorporating a CBMA module and optimizing the training method. The results demonstrate that the detection accuracy of the improved algorithm can reach 95.01%, the detection speed is 223FPS, both of which are better than the compared algorithms such as YOLOV4. In summary, our method can accurately and quickly detect jellyfish. The research in this paper lays the foundation for the development of an underwater jellyfish real-time monitoring system.

To solve the problem of internal surface cracking problem during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP), this study modified a conventional die. The dies before and after modification were compared and analyzed by using DEFORM-3D software. Finally, a modified ECAP die was manufactured to investigate the effect of different number of pressed passes on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the solution-treated Mg93.5Zn2.5Y2.5Mn1Ti0.5 alloy. The results show that the volume fraction of dynamically-recrystallized grains continuously increases while the volume fraction of W phase continuously decreases with the increase of pressed passes. The size of recrystallized grains initially decreases and then increases, reaching the minimum after 6 pressing passes. The basal texture of (0002) initially decreases, then increases and finally decreases, and the basal texture of 6-pass pressed sample displays the strongest texture. The yield strength and tensile strength of the alloy increase initially and then decrease, while the elongation increases continuously. After 6 pressing passes, the alloy exhibits excellent comprehensive mechanical properties, with a yield strength of 251 MPa, a tensile strength of 340 MPa and an elongation of 26.1%.

Abstract Breast cancer is the most common malignant cancer in women worldwide. Cancer metastasis is the major cause of cancer-related deaths. BCKDK is associated with various diseases, including proliferation, migration, and invasion in multiple types of human cancers. However, the relevance of BCKDK to the development and progression of breast cancers and its function is unclear. This study found that BCKDK was overexpressed in breast cancer, associated with poor prognosis, and implicated in tumor metastasis. The downregulation of BCKDK expression inhibited the migration of human breast cancer cells in vitro and diminished lung metastasis in vivo. BCKDK perturbed the cadherin-catenin complex at the adherens junctions (AJs) and assembled focal adhesions (FAs) onto the extracellular matrix, thereby promoting the directed migration of breast cancer cells. We observed that BCKDK acted as a conserved regulator of the ubiquitination of cytoskeletal protein talin1 and the activation of the FAK/MAPK pathway. Further studies revealed that BCKDK inhibited the binding of talin1 to E3 ubiquitin ligase-TRIM21, leading to the decreased ubiquitination/degradation of talin1. In conclusion, identifying BCKDK as a biomarker for breast cancer metastasis facilitated further research on diagnostic biomarkers. Elucidating the mechanism by which BCKDK exerted its biological effect could provide a new theoretical basis for developing new markers for breast cancer metastasis and contribute to developing new therapies for the clinical treatment of breast cancer patients.

Abstract It is well-known in optics that the spectroscopic resolution of a diffraction grating is much better compared to an interference device having just two slits, as in Young’s famous double-slit experiment. On the other hand, it is well known that a classical superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) is analogous to the optical double-slit experiment. Here we report experiments and present a model describing a superconducting analogue to the diffraction grating, namely an array of superconducting islands positioned on a topological insulator film Bi0.8Sb1.2Te3. In the limit of an extremely weak field, of the order of one vortex per the entire array, such devices exhibit a critical current peak that is much sharper than the analogous peak of an ordinary SQUID. Therefore, such arrays can be used as sensitive absolute magnetic field sensors. A key finding is that the device acts as a superconducting diode, controlled by magnetic field.

Abstract Current progress in two-dimensional (2D) materials explorations leads to constant specie enrichments of possible advanced materials down to two dimensions. The metal chalcogenide-based 2D materials are promising grounds where many adjacent territories are waiting to be explored. Here, a stable monolayer Ni3TeO6 (NTO) structure was computationally predicted and its stacked 2D nanosheets experimentally synthesized. Theoretical design undergoes featuring coordination of metalloid chalcogen, slicing the bulk structure, geometrical optimizations and stability study. The predicted layered NTO structure is realized in nanometer-thick nanosheets via a one-pot shape-controlled hydrothermal synthesis. Compared to the bulk, the 2D NTO own a lowered bandgap energy, more sensitive wavelength selectivity and an emerging photocatalytic hydrogen evolution ability under visible light. Beside a new 2D NTO with the optoelectrical and photocatalytic merits, its existing polar space group, structural specification, and design route are hoped to benefit 2D semiconductor innovations both in species enrichment and future applications.

Abstract Background Vaccination is proved to be one of the most effective and efficient way to prevent illness and reduce health inequality. Studies about association between vaccination inequalities in the childhood and awareness of basic public health services program among internal migrants in China are lacking. In this study, we aimed to explore the association between migrants’ vaccination status between 0 and 6 years old and their awareness of the National Basic Public Health Services (BPHSs) project in China. Methods We included 10,013 respondents aged 15 years old or above of eight provinces from 2017 Migrant Population Dynamic Monitoring Survey in China, a nationwide cross-sectional study. Univariate and multivariable logistic regressions were used to assess vaccination inequalities and the awareness of public health information. Results Only 64.8% migrants were vaccinated in their childhood, which is far below the goal of national requirement of 100% vaccination. This also indicated the vaccination inequalities among migrants. Female, the middle-aged, married or having a relationship, the highly educated and the healthy population had higher awareness of this project than others. Both univariate and multivariate logistic regressions showed greatly significant association between vaccination status and some vaccines. Specifically, after adding convariates, the results showed that there were significant associations between the vaccination rates of eight recommended vaccines in the childhood and their awareness of BPHSs project (all p values

Abstract Introduction China has implemented Basic Public Health Service (BPHS) in 2009, aiming to improve the health status of the people, and the content of service includes implying health education for residents. As an important group of people, the migrants can easily become main reason for major infectious diseases such as HIV between different provinces, but the effect of receiving health education is still unknown for migrants. Therefore, the health education of China’s migrant population has received widespread attention. Methods This study used the data of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) from 2009 to 2017, and evaluated the trend of HIV health education acceptance rate of different migrant groups across the country (n = 570,614). Logistic regression model was used to test the influencing factors of HIV health education rate. Results: The study found that the overall HIV health education rate of Chinese migrants decreased from 2009 to 2017, and different types of migrants showed different trends. The proportion of migrants aged 20–35 who receive education fluctuates, and ethnic minorities, western regions, and migrants with high education were more likely to receive HIV health education. Conclusion: These findings identify when implementing health education for migrants, we can carry out more education for specific groups to promote the health equity of the migrant population.

Abstract Background In recent years, accumulating evidences have revealed that influenza A virus (IAV) infections induce significant differential expression of host long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), some of which play important roles in the regulation of virus-host interactions and determining the virus pathogenesis. However, whether these lncRNAs bear post-translational modifications and how their differential expression is regulated remain largely unknown. In this study, the transcriptome-wide 5-methylcytosine (m5C) modification of lncRNAs in A549 cells infected with an H1N1 influenza A virus was analyzed and compared with uninfected cells by Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-Seq). Results Our data identified 1317 upregulated m5C peaks and 1667 downregulated peaks in the H1N1 infected group. Gene ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses showed that the differentially modified lncRNAs were associated with protein modification, organelle localization, nuclear export and other biological processes. Furthermore, conjoint analysis of the differentially modified (DM) and differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs identified 143 ‘hyper-up’, 81 ‘hypo-up’, 6 ‘hypo-down’ and 4 ‘hyper-down’ lncRNAs. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that these DM and DE lncRNAs were predominantly associated with pathogen recognition and disease pathogenesis pathways, indicating that m5C modifications could play an important role in the regulation of host response to IAV replication by modulating the expression and/or stability of lncRNAs. Conclusion This study presented the first m5C modification profile of lncRNAs in A549 cells infected with IAV and demonstrated a significant alteration of m5C modifications on host lncRNAs upon IAV infection. These data could give a reference to future researches on the roles of m5C methylation in virus infection.

By establishing oxy-fuel combustion, direct water injection and waste heat recovery within conventional diesel engine, the compression ignition-internal combustion Rankine cycle (CI-ICRC) concept can be realized. It is capable of achieving ultra-high thermal efficiency and low emission. There have been studies on DWI timing in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) mode, but no systematic researches within CI-ICRC. Therefore, a prototype CI-ICRC engine is established in this work, the cycle performance (including in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate, brake thermal efficiency, etc.) and emission characteristics under different DWI timings are compared. The prototype engine was operated at 800 r/min. DWI temperature, pressure and duration are kept constant at 433 K, 35 MPa and 2 ms. The results indicate that DWI before combustion is more effective in reducing combustion intensity. The optimum DWI timing within this study is 320℃A, while the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) reaches the maximum of 46.6 % with a coefficient of variation close to 1 %. NOx and soot emissions are optimized but CO and HC emissions slightly increased with the utilization of DWI. The experimental results can provide guidance for future CI-ICRC engine optimization, and can also be utilized in providing reference information for DWI utilization within other novel internal combustion engine (ICE) concepts.

Understanding spatial and temporal heterogeneity in ecosystems is essential to forecasting the effects of environmental changes. Freshwater microbes, including cyanobacteria, play a crucial role in food-web structures and biochemical processes, yet can exhibit substantial heterogeneity through space and time. They also act as powerful indicators of natural and human-induced stress due to their high metabolic and rapid response to environmental change. The formation of cyanobacteria blooms can be particularly important due to the potential production of toxins that are harmful to humans and wildlife. While high water temperatures and high nutrients are largely recognized as triggers of cyanobacterial bloom formation, there is growing evidence of the role of its associated microbiome in bloom formation. The inability to accurately forecast cyanobacteria blooms is challenged by uncertainty in the degree to which microbial diversity, and bloom forming taxa in particular, exhibit spatial heterogeneity and how spatial heterogeneity varies seasonally or between lakes spanning the trophic gradient. Here, we used long-read sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to quantify variations in microbial spatiotemporal dynamics over the course of an ice-free season between two lakes that varied substantially in trophic status. Our results showed that the microbial community composition of eutrophic Chautauqua Lake was seasonally and spatially structured; however, during bloom events we observed lower diversity and a homogeneous community dominated by Microcystis and enriched with Gammaproteobacteria. In oligotrophic Lake George, seasonality rather than the basin of origin played a major role in structuring the microbial community; however, there was a significant difference between basins when controlling for the temporal effect and was linked to a South-to-North anthropogenic gradient. This study provides a solid foundation for exploiting long-read sequencing of prokaryotes and couples sequencing with traditional water quality monitoring to assess microbial dynamics (e.g., cyanobacteria bloom microbiome) and the effect of local and global stressors.

Oral lichen planus (OLP), a T-lymphocyte-mediated disease of the oral mucosa, has a complex pathogenesis that involves a number of factors. The disease is characterized by recurrent episodes and requires continuous follow up, and there is no curative treatment available. Erosive lichen planus, among others, has a risk of malignant transformation and requires standardized treatment to control its progression. Different clinical subtypes of oral lichen planus require appropriate treatment. Pharmacological treatments are the most widely available and have the greatest variety of options and a number of novel pharmacological treatments are presented as highlights, including JAK enzyme inhibitors. The second is photodynamic therapy, which is the leading physiological treatment. In addition, periodontal treatment and psychological treatment should not be neglected. In this review, we briefly discuss the most recent developments in therapies for oral lichen planus after summarizing the most widely used clinical treatments, aiming to provide different proposals for future clinical treatment.

Prostatic cancer (PCa) is a common malignant neoplasm in men worldwide. Most patients develop castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) after treatment with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), usually resulting in death. Therefore, investigating new therapeutic targets and drugs for PCa patients is urgently needed. Nuclear Dbf2-related kinase 1 (NDR1), also known as STK38, is a serine/threonine kinase in the NDR/LATS kinase family that plays a critical role in cellular processes, including immunity, inflammation, metastasis, and tumorigenesis. It was reported that NDR1 inhibited the metastasis of prostate cancer cells by suppressing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and decreased NDR1 expression might lead to a poorer prognosis, suggesting the enormous potential of NDR1 in antitumorigenesis. In this study, we characterized a small-molecule agonist named aNDR1, which specifically bound to NDR1 and potently promoted NDR1 expression, enzymatic activity and phosphorylation. aNDR1 exhibited drug-like properties, such as favorable stability, plasma protein binding capacity, cell membrane permeability, and PCa cell-specific inhibition, while having no obvious effect on normal prostate cells. Meanwhile, aNDR1 exhibited good antitumor activity both in vitro and in vivo. aNDR1 inhibited proliferation and migration of PCa cells and promoted apoptosis of PCa cells in vitro. We further found that aNDR1 inhibited subcutaneous tumors and lung metastatic nodules in vivo, with no obvious toxicity to the body. In summary, our study presents a potential small-molecule lead compound that targets NDR1 for clinical therapy of PCa patients.

Abstract Bioinsecticides and transgenic crops based on the bacterial pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) can effectively control diverse agricultural insect pests, nevertheless, the evolution of resistance without obvious fitness costs has seriously eroded the sustainable use of these Bt products. Recently, it has been discovered that an increased titer of juvenile hormone (JH) favors an insect host (Plutella xylostella) to enhance fitness whilst resisting the Bt pathogen, however, the underlying regulatory mechanisms of the increased JH titer are obscure. Here, the involvement of N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification in modulating the availability of JH in this process is defined. Specifically, it is found that two m6A methyltransferase subunit genes, PxMettl3 and PxMettl14, repress the expression of a key JH‐degrading enzyme JH esterase (JHE) to induce an increased JH titer, mitigating the fitness costs associated with a robust defense against the Bt pathogen. This study identifies an as‐yet uncharacterized m6A‐mediated epigenetic regulator of insect hormones for maintaining fitness during pathogen defense and unveils an emerging Bt resistance‐related m6A methylation atlas in insects, which further expands the functional landscape of m6A modification and showcases the pivotal role of epigenetic regulation in host‐pathogen interactions.

IntroductionCoronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is the most common cardiac surgical procedure. The prognosis of revascularization via CABG is determined by the patency of the used grafts, for which an intact endothelium is essential. The degree of ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), which occurs during the harvest and implantation of the grafts, is an important determinant of graft patency. Preconditioning with aspirin, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug has been shown to reduce the functional and molecular damage of arterial grafts in a rodent model. Studies have found that the zinc-aspirin complex may be able to exert an even better protective effect in pathological cardiovascular conditions. Thus, our aim was to characterize the protective effect of zinc-aspirin complex on free arterial grafts in a rodent model of revascularization.MethodsDonor Lewis rats were treated with either zinc-aspirin, aspirin, or placebo (n = 8) for 5 days, then the aortic arches were harvested and stored in cold preservation solution and implanted heterotopically in the abdominal cavity of the recipient rats, followed by 2 h of reperfusion. There was also a non-ischemia-reperfusion control group (n = 8). Functional measurements using organ bath and histomorphological changes using immunohistochemistry were analyzed.ResultsThe endothelium dependent maximal vasorelaxation was improved (non-transplanted control group: 82% ± 3%, transplanted control group: 14% ± 2%, aspirin group: 31% ± 4%, zinc-aspirin group: 52% ± 4%), the nitro-oxidative stress and cell apoptosis decreased, and significant endothelial protection was shown in the groups preconditioned with aspirin or zinc-aspirin. However, zinc-aspirin proved to be more effective in the reduction of IRI, than aspirin alone.DiscussionPreconditioning with zinc-aspirin could be a promising way to protect the function and structural integrity of free arterial grafts, thus improving the outcomes of CABG.

In this study, the FTIR spectrometer-based rotating double-sided reflective mirror (RDRM) is presented. By introducing the RDRM and corner reflector, an optical path difference (Opd) is generated between the two separated light beams. The instrument is highly stable. Spectral restoration is achieved by the scale, which is precalculated using a laser interferogram. This method suppresses the influence of non-linearity and inherent errors on the restored spectrum. We elaborate on this principle through a theoretical analysis and simulation. Based on a set of design parameters, we successfully restored the spectrum with spectral resolution of 0.25 cm−1 through scale in the case of error (average is –13.88 μm and the mean square deviation is 5.7 μm). The relative spectral mean square error (SMSE) is 0.0013 and the spectral correlation coefficient (SCC) is 0.9997.

Understanding residents' perceptions of ecosystem services (ESs) is important for modern ecosystem management. However, these perceptions are often overlooked in managing nature reserves, leading to decreased residents' participation in policy implementation. This study proposes to investigate the perceptions and ecological concepts contained in ESs among residents using a questionnaire survey. The results showed that: (1) Residents prioritize supporting services and they value “leisure and recreation” the most, followed by “air purification” and “habitat for animals and plants”. (2) Perceptions of different ESs have significant spatial differences, and distance significantly affects residents' perceptions. (3) Most types of ESs are significantly correlated with each other, and indigenous ecological concept has a profound impact on their perceptions. (4) Education and livelihood play a positive effect on the perceptions of ESs, while nationality, gender, age, distance, and relief show a negative influence. Improving education levels, establishing community rules and regulations, strengthening humans and nature connections, using ecological indigenous concepts in environmental management, and integrating residents' perceptions into regional development planning are some suggested solutions. This research study provides valuable insights into incorporating residents' perceptions and indigenous knowledge into ecological management and policy development at local and regional levels.

Objective: Despite the widespread use of doxorubicin (DOX) in chemotherapy, it can cause cardiotoxicity, which severely limits its potential clinical use. CYP2J2-derived epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) exert cardioprotective effects by maintaining cardiac homeostasis. The roles and latent mechanisms of EETs in DOX cardiotoxicity remain uncertain. We investigated these aspects using mouse tissue and cell culture models. Methods: C57BL/6J mice were injected with rAAV9-CYP2J2 or a control vector via the caudal vein. A five-week intraperitoneal course of DOX (5 mg/kg per week) was administered. After pretreatment with 14,15-EET, H9C2 cells were treated for 24-h with DOX, to use as a cell model to verify the role of EETs in cardiotoxicity in vitro. Results: CYP2J2 overexpression mitigated DOX-induced cardiotoxicity, as shown by the diminished cardiac injury marker levels, improved heart function, reduced oxidative stress, and inhibition of myocardial apoptosis in vivo. These protective roles are associated with the enhancement of antioxidant and anti-apoptotic abilities and the activation of the AMPK pathway. 14,15-EET suppresses DOX-induced oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and apoptosis in H9C2 cells. AMPK knockdown partially abolished the cardioprotective effects of 14,15-EET against oxidative damage and apoptosis in DOX-treated cells, suggesting that AMPK is responsible for EET-mediated protection against cardiotoxicity. Conclusion: CYP2J2-derived EETs confer myocardial protection against DOX-induced toxicity by activating the AMPK pathway, which reduces oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and apoptosis.

Abstract For the process of photovoltaic conversion in organic solar cells (OSCs) and quantum‐dot solar cells (QDSCs), three of four steps are determined by exciton behavior, namely, exciton generation, exciton diffusion, and exciton dissociation. Therefore, it is of great importance to regulate exciton behavior in OSCs and QDSCs for achieving high power conversion efficiency. Due to the rapid development in materials and device fabrication, great progress has been made to manage the exciton behavior to achieve prolonged exciton diffusion length and improved exciton dissociation in recent years. In this review, we first introduce the parameters that affect exciton behavior, followed by the methods to measure exciton diffusion length. Then, we provide an overview of the recent advances with regard to exciton behavior investigation in OSCs and QDSCs, including exciton lifetime, exciton diffusion coefficient, and exciton dissociation. Finally, we propose future directions in deepening the understanding of exciton behavior and boosting the performance of OSCs and QDSCs.

BackgroundsThe extended duration of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) can impact the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the efficacy of immunotherapies by interacting with immune cells that have infiltrated the tumor microenvironment (TME).Methods and resultsThe study utilized a training cohort of 364 HCC patients with complete information from The Cancer Genome Atlas Program (TCGA) database, and a validation cohort of 231 HCC patients from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) database. The genes related to ERS exhibiting a strong correlation with overall survival (OS) were identified using univariate Cox regression analysis. A 13-gene predictive signature was then produced through the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression approach. The data revealed that the ERS-associated gene signature effectively stratified patients into high- or low-risk groups regarding OS in both the training and validation cohorts (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.00029, respectively). Using the multivariate method, it is still an independent prognostic factor in both the training and validation cohorts (P < 0.001 and P = 0.008, respectively). Moreover, several metabolic pathways were identified to be enriched among the 13 genes in the predictive signature. When the ERS-associated gene signature was combined with the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, the ERS nomogram performed better than either the gene signature or the TNM stage alone (C-index values: 0.731, 0.729, and 0.573, respectively). Further analysis revealed that patients in the high-risk group exhibited increased infiltration of immune cells. Additionally, GP6 was downregulated in HCC tissues among these signature genes (P < 0.05), which was related to poor OS.ConclusionsThe data suggest that this novel ERS-associated gene signature could contribute to personalized cancer management for HCC. Moreover, targeting GP6 inhibition might be a potential method for HCC therapy.

Gliomas are one of the most common primary malignant tumours of the central nervous system (CNS), of which glioblastomas (GBMs) are the most common and destructive type. The glioma tumour microenvironment (TME) has unique characteristics, such as hypoxia, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and tumour neovascularization. Therefore, the traditional treatment effect is limited. As cellular oxidative metabolites, ROS not only promote the occurrence and development of gliomas but also affect immune cells in the immune microenvironment. In contrast, either too high or too low ROS levels are detrimental to the survival of glioma cells, which indicates the threshold of ROS. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of ROS production and scavenging, the threshold of ROS, and the role of ROS in the glioma TME can provide new methods and strategies for glioma treatment. Current methods to increase ROS include photodynamic therapy (PDT), sonodynamic therapy (SDT), and chemodynamic therapy (CDT), etc., and methods to eliminate ROS include the ingestion of antioxidants. Increasing/scavenging ROS is potentially applicable treatment, and further studies will help to provide more effective strategies for glioma treatment.

ABSTRACTAccurate and near-real-time crop mapping from satellite imagery is crucial for agricultural monitoring. However, the seasonal nature of crops makes it challenging to rely on traditional machine learning methods and previous samples generated within specific domains. In this study, we improved the histogram matching method for color correction of multi-temporal images and tested the performance and prediction classification accuracy of three semantic segmentation models based on weak samples. Classification experiments were conducted for nine categories in two cities in Henan province from 2019 to 2022 using 10 m resolution Sentinel-2 images with different feature selection schemes. We trained the models using classified and recorrected results in four selected sites in 2019 and 2020, and designed experiments to assess the performance of the improved histogram matching method and verify the transferability of semantic segmentation models across regions and years. The experimental results showed that the UNet++ model with feature selection and improved histogram matching methods outperformed other models, such as DeepLab V3+ and UNet, in crop classification transfer cases, with better model performance and higher classification accuracy. The UNet++ model without training samples achieved optimal overall accuracy, Kappa coefficient, and mean F1-score values from 2019 to 2022, exceeding 87%, 82%, and 65%, respectively. Moreover, the representative error of weak samples and prediction classification results were analyzed to improve the model robustness. As an application of transfer-learning in crop mapping, the proposed model effectively addressed the classification problem of multispectral satellite imagery with missing labels.

Abstract With the power conversion efficiency of binary polymer solar cells dramatically improved, the thermal stability of the small-molecule acceptors raised the main concerns on the device operating stability. Here, to address this issue, thiophene-dicarboxylate spacer tethered small-molecule acceptors are designed, and their molecular geometries are further regulated via the thiophene-core isomerism engineering, affording dimeric TDY-α with a 2, 5-substitution and TDY-β with 3, 4-substitution on the core. It shows that TDY-α processes a higher glass transition temperature, better crystallinity relative to its individual small-molecule acceptor segment and isomeric counterpart of TDY-β, and a more stable morphology with the polymer donor. As a result, the TDY-α based device delivers a higher device efficiency of 18.1%, and most important, achieves an extrapolated lifetime of about 35000 hours that retaining 80% of their initial efficiency. Our result suggests that with proper geometry design, the tethered small-molecule acceptors can achieve both high device efficiency and operating stability.

In this paper, the mechanoelectrochemical effect on the electrochemical corrosion of 316 L austenitic stainless steel was investigated by theoretical, experimental and simulated methods. The modified piecewise formula φa,eq=φa,eq0−ΔPmVmzF−TRzFln(KN0εp+1) for calculating the strain on anode equilibrium potential of austenitic stainless steel was proposed. It is demonstrated that the corrosion current increases from 8.03×10−6A⋅cm−2 to 28.38×10−6A⋅cm−2 within 20% strain, especially within 10%, which is in better agreement with the experimental results. This modification not only made the physical meaning of parameters clearer, simplified the formula, but also made the calculation results more accurate. Moreover, the localized galvanic corrosion caused by non-uniform deformation had been verified by finite element model. The results revealed that the non-uniform strain at the initial stage of strain (εp

[Objective] The effects of different long-term vegetation restoration types on differences of soil surface infiltration and water storage in the loess gully region of Western Shanxi Province were studied in order to screen and enhance the ecological benefits of natural vegetation restoration as well as artificial vegetation restoration in Loess Plateau in the future, thereby providing a scientific reference for an in-depth understanding of the ecological benefits of vegetation restoration. [Methods] We measured infiltration in the top 30 cm of soil under four types of restored vegetation (Pinus tabulaeformis pure forest, Robinia pseudoacacia pure forest, Platycladus orientalis pure forest, natural forest). We also measured soil physical and chemical properties such as soil bulk density and mechanical composition, and monitored soil moisture dynamics in the four types of restored vegetation in the loess hilly-gully region. We calculated soil water storage and analyzed differences due to vegetation type, and conducted correlation analysis and principal component analysis. Three soil infiltration models were then fitted to the measured processes in order to compare their suitability for use in vegetation restoration areas of the loess hilly-gully region. Differences in soil infiltration and water storage between different vegetation restoration types were also determined. We also evaluated the ability of the models to supplement and improve the surface soil water infiltration pattern under different vegetation restoration types in the Loess Plateau region. [Results] ① Natural forest was more effective in improving the physical properties of the 0—30 cm surface soil compared with pure planted forests. Natural forest had greater water content and better water retention, and planted forests were more effective in improving the infiltration capacity of the soil in the study area compared with natural forest. ② The stable infiltration rate of soil under different vegetation types from largest to smallest followed the order of natural forest > Robinia pseudoacacia pure forest > Pinus tabulaeformis pure forest > Platycladus orientalis pure forest (for the 0—10 cm layer); Pinus tabulaeformis pure forest > Robinia pseudoacacia pure forest > Platycladus orientalis pure forest > natural forest (for the 10—20 cm layer); Pinus tabulaeformis pure forest > Robinia pseudoacacia pure forest > Platycladus orientalis pure forest > natural forest (for the 20—30 cm layer); ③ The Horton model performed better than the Kostiakov and Philip models in fitting soil infiltration in the study area (R2=0.94), and will be helpful in better understanding the soil infiltration pattern in the study area. ④ The main physical characteristics affecting soil infiltration rate were soil bulk density, soil organic carbon, soil water storage capacity and soil clay particle content. [Conclusion] There were significant differences in soil infiltration properties due to different long-term vegetation restoration types. Compared with long-term replanted forests, the long-term natural forest had greater vegetation restoration benefits, and could effectively improve soil quality and enhance soil water retention capacity for the Loess Plateau.

Excessive copper concentration in the soil will cause certain harm to human body and the environment, so it is of great significance to explore the inversion of heavy metal copper content. In this study, 43 soil samples in the typical iron tailings area of Tangshan were taken as examples, and the reflectance spectrum and content information of copper in the soil were measured at the same time. After a variety of spectral transformations, the correlation analysis method (CA) and the continuous projection method (SPA) were carried out. The characteristic wavebands of soil copper content were selected, and then the inversion model of copper content was established using multiple linear regression (MLR) and partial least square regression (PLSR) algorithms, and the inversion results of various spectral data were obtained. The results show that the spectrum data after the second-order differential processing has the best inversion effect. Among the two inversion models of CA-PLSR and SPA-MLR, the inversion accuracy of SPA-MLR is relatively accurate; after the second-order differential spectrum transformation te SPA-MLR model has more advantages in estimating soil copper content.

Abstract Background Drought has become a major environmental problem affecting crop production. Members of the WRKY family play important roles in plant development and stress responses. However, their roles in mint have been barely explored. Results In this study, we isolated a drought-inducible gene McWRKY57-like from mint and investigated its function. The gene encodes a group IIc WRKY transcription factor, McWRKY57-like, which is a nuclear protein with a highly conserved WRKY domain and a C2H2 zinc-finger structure, and has transcription factor activity. Its expression levels were examined in different tissues of mint and under the treatment of mannitol, NaCl, abscisic acid, and methyl jasmonate. We found that McWRKY57-like overexpression in Arabidopsis significantly increased drought tolerance. Further studies showed that under drought stress, McWRKY57-like-overexpressing plants had higher chlorophyll, soluble sugar, soluble protein, and proline contents but lower water loss rate and malondialdehyde content than wild-type plants. Moreover, the activities of antioxidant enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase were enhanced in McWRKY57-like transgenic plants. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the drought-related genes AtRD29A, AtRD29B, AtRD20, AtRAB18, AtCOR15A, AtCOR15B, AtKIN2, and AtDREB1A were upregulated in McWRKY57-like transgenic plants than in wild-type Arabidopsis under simulated drought conditions. Conclusion These data demonstrated that McWRKY57-like conferred drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis by regulating plant growth, osmolyte accumulation and antioxidant enzyme activities, and the expression of stress-related genes. The study indicates that McWRKY57-like plays a positive role in drought response in plants.

Abstract Within the general framework of using spontaneous CP violation to solve the strong CP problem, we construct a variant Nelson-Barr model in which the Standard Model (SM) quark contribution to the strong CP phase is cancelled by new heavy QCD-charged fermions. This cancellation is ensured by choosing conjugate representations for the new colored states under the same global flavor symmetry of SM quarks. Choosing the global flavor symmetry to be that of minimal flavor violation, we suppress higher-order corrections to the strong CP phase to well below current experimental constraints. More than two dozen massless Goldstone bosons emerge from spontaneous flavor symmetry breaking, which yield strong astrophysical constraints on the symmetry breaking scale. In the early universe, the Goldstone bosons can be thermally produced from their interactions with the heavy colored fermions and contribute to ∆N eff at a measurable level. As a function of reheating temperature, the predicted ∆N eff shows an interesting plateau behavior we dub the “flavor stairway”, which encodes information about the SM quark flavor structure.

The transmission distance of satellite IoT is much further than terrestrial IoT, resulting in a signifi cant power loss on the transmission link.Thus the received signal power at a receiver will be signifi cantly lower.Combining a high-performance FEC coding and LoRa modulation with a signifi cant spreading factor enables reliable communication at very low signal-to-noise ratios.However, LoRa modulation dramatically decrease spectral effi ciency as the spreading factor increases.An interleaved LoRa transmission scheme that could achieved high spectral effi ciency with a low bit error rate (BER) was proposed.Firstly, a non-coherent soft demodulation algorithm was presented for LoRa and the corresponding performance comparison with the use of Turbo and LDPC codes.Then proposed a soft demodulation algorithm for interleaved-LoRa transmission.Simulation results showed that Turbo coded interleaved-LoRa system outperformed the uncoded system by about 4 dB at a BER=10-5, which was equivalently to a 55%~57% improvement on communication distance in free space.Furthermore, the spectral effi ciency was improved by approximately 23% compared to the existing Turbo-LoRa scheme.

Ferroelectric (FE) phase transition with a large polarization change benefits to generate large electrocaloric (EC) effect for solid-sate and zero-carbon cooling application. However, most EC studies only focus on the single-physical factor associated phase transition. Herein, we initiated a comprehensive discussion on phase transition in Pb0.99Nb0.02[(Zr0.6Sn0.4)1−xTix]0.98O3 (PNZST100x) antiferroelectric (AFE) ceramic system under the joint action of multi-physical factors, including composition, temperature, and electric field. Due to low energy barrier and enhanced zero-field entropy, the multi-phase coexistence point (x = 0.12) in the composition–temperature phase diagram yields a large positive EC peak of maximum temperature change (ΔTmax) = 2.44 K (at 40 kV/cm). Moreover, the electric field–temperature phase diagrams for four representative ceramics provide a more explicit guidance for EC evolution behavior. Besides the positive EC peaks near various phase transition temperatures, giant positive EC effects are also brought out by the electric field-induced phase transition from tetragonal AFE (AFET) to low-temperature rhombohedral FE (FER), which is reflected by a positive-slope boundary in the electric field–temperature phase diagram, while significant negative EC responses are generated by the phase transition from AFET to high-temperature multi-cell cubic paraelectric (PEMCC) with a negative-slope phase boundary. This work emphasizes the importance of phase diagram covering multi-physical factors for high-performance EC material design.

Abstract As a charged black hole reaches its extremal state via Hawking radiation, quantum effects become important for its thermodynamic properties when its temperature is below a mass gap scale. Using AdS2/CFT1 correspondence and solutions for the corresponding Schwarzian action, we calculate the black hole greybody factors including the quantum effects. In the low temperature limit, the greybody factors scale as T 2s+3/2 with s the radiated field spin. Hence, the Hawking radiation of a near-extremal charged black hole (NEBH) is dominated by emitting scalar particles including the Higgs boson. Time evolution of an NEBH is also calculated and shows a stochastic feature. For an NEBH lighter than around 108 times the Planck mass, its temperature at the current universe is below the mass gap scale and is universally tens of GeV, which is important if one searches for primordial (hidden) charged black holes.