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In this paper, Fe–Cr–C–W surfacing alloys was prepared by adopting arc additive surfacing technology with optimized Cr and W contents in flux-cored wire. The microstructure, hard phase, hardness and wear resistance of surfacing alloys was investigated by optical microscopy, electron microscopy, hardness and wear testing. The results show that with the increase of Cr and W, microstructure of the surfacing alloys changes from full ferrite to martensite, ferrite, retained austenite, carbides and other multiphase such as (Cr, Fe)7C3, WC and Fe2W, etc. The damage behavior gradually changes from severe abrasive wear to abrasive wear and a small amount of adhesive wear. Cr and W can significantly improve the hardness and wear resistance of the surfacing alloys. The surfacing alloys of arc additive manufactured by D4 wire with 5.91% Cr and 0.85%W exhibits good performance with a hardness of 37.9HRC and a wear amount of 0.0011g, which meets the requirements of railway wheels.

Inhomogeneous microstructures and alloy chemistry along the thickness direction can greatly affect the mechanical and corrosion properties of new generation 7xxx aluminum alloy thick plates. The inhomogeneous microstructure, stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance and strength of AA7085 thick plate (160 mm) at T/2, T/4, and surface position using mechanical tests, double cantilever beam (DCB) crack extension tests and electron microscopy experiments. The results show that the ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation of the T/2 position are slightly lower than those of the surface position, but the SCC resistance of the T/2 position is significantly higher than that of the surface position. The reason is that larger discontinuously quench-induced grain boundary precipitates (Q-GBPs), and lower Zn and Mg elemental content of GBPs (including Q-GBPs and age-induced GBPs (A-GBPs)) and grain boundaries (GBs). Furthermore, it is newly found that the mechanical effects of larger-sized low aspect ratio unrecrystallized grains contribute significantly to the excellent SCC resistance of the T/2 position. The large size grain structure makes short-range SCC cracks along the large-angle GB more tortuous at T/2, improving the stress intensity required for sustained crack extension. In addition, the high GB triple junction deflection angle resulting from a low aspect ratio grain structure at T/2 improves the average driving force required for crack extension and drive force reduction after localized crack growth.

Abstract Background Limited data regarding the correlation between oxidative balance score (OBS) and hyperuricemia highlights the necessity for thorough investigations. This study aims to examine the link between OBS, which incorporates dietary and lifestyle factors, and the occurrence of hyperuricemia. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 13,636 participants from the 2007–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The oxidative balance score (OBS) was determined based on four lifestyle factors and sixteen dietary nutrients. We assessed the levels of serum uric acid (SUA) and the occurrence of hyperuricemia as outcomes. Weighted logistic regression and linear models were used for statistical analysis, using Restricted Cubic Splines (RCS) to examine potential nonlinear associations. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity assessments were performed to identify any variations and ensure the robustness of the findings. Results Higher OBS was consistently correlated with decreased SUA levels and a reduced prevalence of hyperuricemia. RCS highlighted a significant negative nonlinear association, particularly in females. Subgroup analysis revealed gender-based differences and interactive correlation, providing additional insights regarding OBS and hyperuricemia relationship. Conclusion This study underscores a robust negative correlation between OBS and SUA levels as well as the incidence of hyperuricemia, emphasizing the importance of dietary and lifestyle factors. Incorporating RCS, subgroup analysis, and sensitivity assessments enhances the depth of our findings, providing valuable insights for further research.

Abstract Radiotherapy (RT) has been reported to induce abscopal effect in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but such phenomenon was only observed in sporadic cases. Here, we demonstrated that subcutaneous administration of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) agonist poly(I:C) could strengthen the abscopal effect during RT through activating tumor cell ferroptosis signals in bilateral HCC subcutaneous tumor mouse models, which could be significantly abolished by TLR3 knock-out or ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1. Moreover, poly(I:C) could promote the presentation of tumor neoantigens by dendritic cells to enhance the recruitment of activated CD8+ T cells into distant tumor tissues for inducing tumor cell ferroptosis during RT treatment. Finally, the safety and feasibility of combining poly(I:C) with RT for treating advanced HCC patients were further verified in a prospective clinical trial. Thus, enhancing TLR3 signaling activation during RT could provide a novel strategy for strengthening abscopal effect to improve the clinical benefits of advanced HCC patients.

Abstract The strain clamps and leading wires are important components that connect conductors on overhead transmission lines and conduct current. During operation, poor contact between these components can cause abnormal overheating, leading to electric failures and threatening power system reliability. Recently, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with infrared thermal imagers for strain clamp and leading wire maintenance has become increasingly popular. Deep learning‐based image recognition shows promising prospects for intelligent fault diagnosis of overheating faults. A pre‐treatment method is proposed based on dynamic histogram equalisation to enhance the contrast of infrared images. The DeepLab v3+ network, loss function, and existing networks with different backbones are compared. The DeepLab v3+ network with ResNet101 and convolutional block attention module added, and the Focal Loss function achieved the highest performance with an average pixel accuracy of 0.614, an average intersection over union (AIoU) of 0.567, an F1 score of 0.644, and a frequency weighted intersection over union of 0.594 on the test set. The optimised Atrous rates has increased the AIoU by 12.91%. Moreover, an intelligent diagnosis scheme for evaluating the defect state of the strain clamps and leading wires is proposed and which achieves a diagnostic accuracy of 91.0%.

Microplastics (MPs) are of increasing concern due to their role as reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and pathogens. To date, few studies have explored the influence of anthropogenic activities on ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) within various riverine MPs, in comparison to their natural counterparts. Here an in-situ incubation was conducted along heavily anthropogenically-impacted Houxi River to characterize the geographical pattern of antibiotic resistome, mobilome and pathogens inhabiting MPs- and leaf-biofilms. The metagenomics result showed a clear urbanization-driven profile in the distribution of ARGs, MGEs and pathogens, with their abundances sharply increasing 4.77 to 19.90 times from sparsely to densely populated regions. The significant correlation between human fecal marker crAssphage and ARG (R2 = 0.67, P=0.003) indicated the influence of anthropogenic activity on ARG proliferation in plastisphere and natural leaf surfaces. And mantel tests and random forest analysis revealed the impact of 17 socio-environmental factors, e.g., population density, antibiotic concentrations, and pore volume of materials, on the dissemination of ARGs. Partial least squares-path modeling further unveiled that intensifying human activities not only directly boosted ARGs abundance but also exerted a comparable indirect impact on ARGs propagation. Furthermore, the polyvinylchloride plastisphere created a pathogen-friendly habitat, harboring higher abundances of ARGs and MGEs, while polylactic acid are not likely to serve as vectors for pathogens in river, with a lower resistome risk score than that in leaf-biofilms. This study highlights the diverse ecological risks associated with the dissemination of ARGs and pathogens in varied MPs, offering insights for the policymaking of usage and control of plastics within urbanization.

Introduction: The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) forms output pathways through projection neurons, inversely receiving adjacent and long-range inputs from other brain regions. However, how afferent neurons of mPFC are affected by chronic stress needs to be clarified. In this study, the effects of chronic restraint stress (CRS) on the distribution density of mPFC dendrites/dendritic spines and the projections from the cortex and subcortical brain regions to the mPFC were investigated. Methods: In the present study, C57BL/6 J transgenic (Thy1-YFP-H) mice were subjected to CRS to establish an animal model of depression. The infralimbic (IL) of mPFC was selected as the injection site of retrograde AAV using stereotactic technique. The effects of CRS on dendrites/dendritic spines and afferent neurons of the mPFC IL were investigaed by quantitatively assessing the distribution density of green fluorescent (YFP) positive dendrites/dendritic spines and red fluorescent (retrograde AAV recombinant protein) positive neurons, respectively. Results: The results revealed that retrograde tracing virus labeled neurons were widely distributed in ipsilateral and contralateral cingulate cortex (Cg1), second cingulate cortex (Cg2), prelimbic cortex (PrL), infralimbic cortex, medial orbital cortex (MO), and dorsal peduncular cortex (DP). The effects of CRS on the distribution density of mPFC red fluorescence positive neurons exhibited regional differences, ranging from rostral to caudal or from top to bottom. Simultaneously, CRS resulted a decrease in the distribution density of basal, proximal and distal dendrites, as well as an increase in the loss of dendritic spines of the distal dendrites in the IL of mPFC. Furthermore, varying degrees of red retrograde tracing virus fluorescence signals were observed in other cortices, amygdala, hippocampus, septum/basal forebrain, hypothalamus, thalamus, mesencephalon, and brainstem in both ipsilateral and contralateral brain. CRS significantly reduced the distribution density of red fluorescence positive neurons in other cortices, hippocampus, septum/basal forebrain, hypothalamus, and thalamus. Conversely, CRS significantly increased the distribution density of red fluorescence positive neurons in amygdala. Conclusion: Our results suggest a possible mechanism that CRS leads to disturbances in synaptic plasticity by affecting multiple inputs to the mPFC, which is characterized by a decrease in the distribution density of dendrites/dendritic spines in the IL of mPFC and a reduction in input neurons of multiple cortices to the IL of mPFC as well as an increase in input neurons of amygdala to the IL of mPFC, ultimately causing depression-like behaviors.

Repetitve nanosecond impulses in gas-insulated metal-enclosed switchgear (GIS) are likely to trigger inside flashover. Interface charges on the spacer in GIS are considered one of the main factors damaging insulation performance and may be induced by overvoltage. For good understanding of insulation failures, accumulation characteristics of charges between SF6 and epoxy spacers under repetitive nanosecond impulses are investigated. It can be found under nanosecond impulses, the charge source in gas volume contributes to interface charge accumulation predominantly. Interface charges will be promoted by impulse number and amplitude. Accumulation processes are analyzed based on runaway electrons mechanism. When impulse amplitude exceeds a threshold value, discharge in the gas volume turns to a runaway mode. A runaway electron leads to the interface charge accumulation. Affected by motion of the runaway electrons, the potential peak gradually moves close to the grounded electrode when impulse amplitude is raised. Meanwhile, increasing impulse number can enhance surface potential. Surface potential will reach saturation eventually. However, memory effect of the repetitive impulse discharge makes the half-peak width of the surface potential at the interface change little. Design of GIS gas-solid insulations can refer to this research.

Due to their spatial and spectral information, hyperspectral images are frequently used in various scientific and industrial fields. Recent developments in hyperspectral image classification have revolved around the use of convolutional neural networks and transformers, which are capable of modeling local and global data. However, most of the backbone networks of existing methods are based on 3-D convolution, which has high complexity in network structure. Moreover, local information and global information are extracted through different modules, and the coupling relationship between the two types of information is weak. To address the above-mentioned issues, we propose a method named main–sub transformer network with spectral–spatial separable convolution method (MST-SSSNet), which includes two key modules: the spectral–spatial separable convolution (SSSC) module and the main–sub transformer encoder (MST) module. The SSSC module uses the proposed spectral–spatial separable convolution, reducing network parameters and efficiently extracting local features. The MST module adds the designed subtransformer in front of the conventional transformer encoder (main transformer). It assists the main-transformer encoder to establish global correlation by learning local information. The WHU-Hi dataset can be used as a benchmark dataset for precise crop classification and hyperspectral image classification research. MST-SSSNet is shown to deliver better classification performance than current state-of-the-art methods on the datasets.

The traditional way of reading through Braille books is constraining the reading experience of blind or visually impaired (BVI) in the digital age. In order to improve the reading convenience of BVI, this paper proposes a low-cost and refreshable Braille display device, and solves the problems of high energy consumption and low latching force existing in existing devices. Further, the Braille display device was combined with the 3D Systems Touch device to develop an active Braille touch-reading system for digital reading of BVI with the help of the CHAI3D virtual environment. Firstly, according to the actual needs of BVI to touch and read the Braille dots, this paper utilizes the beam structure to provide a full latching function for the raised Braille dot without energy consumption. Through theoretical derivation and finite element analysis, the performance of the Braille dot actuator is optimized to provide sufficient feedback force and latching force for finger’s touch-reading. Then, this paper designs a virtual Braille interactive environment based on the CHAI3D, and combines the sense of touch with audio to effectively improve the recognition accuracy and reading efficiency of BVI for Braille through the multi-modal presentation of Braille information. The performance test results of the device show that the average lifting force of the Braille dot actuator is 101.67 mN, the latching force is over 5 N, and the average refresh frequency is 17.1 Hz, which meets the touch-reading needs of BVI. User experiments show that the average accuracy rate of BVI subjects in identifying digitized Braille is 95.5%, and subjects have a high subjective evaluation of the system.

Plasma as the fourth state of matter has attracted great attention for material surface modification, which could induce changes in material microscopic factors, such as defects, phase transitions, crystallinity, and so on. However, the interactions among those microscopic factors and regulation mechanism of macroscopic properties have rarely been investigated. Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide with tunable structure and phase is one of the most promising electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers, which provides a favorable platform for systematically studying the dynamic coupling of its microscopic factors. Herein, we constructed a NaBH4 solution-assisted Ar plasma method to modify the 2H-MoS2 and 1T-WS2 for exploring the regulation mechanism of microscopic factors. For MoS2 and WS2, NaBH4 solution-assisted Ar plasma treatment behaves with different effects on dielectric responses, realizing dynamic coupling of material microscopic factors to collaboratively promote EM losses coupling. Consequently, the MS-D3-0.5 (MoS2, 3 ​kV voltage, 0.5 ​mol ​L−1 NaBH4 solution) displays an optimum effective absorption bandwidth of 8.01 ​GHz, which is 319.4 ​% more than that of MS-raw sample. This study not only reveals the novel mechanism of plasma induced dynamic coupling of microscopic factors for EMW dissipation, but also presents a new method of plasma-dominated surface modification to optimize the EMW absorption performance.

The fatigue performance of Laser Powder Bed Fusion manufactured 316L stainless steel is critical for cyclic loading applications. Additive manufacturing of 316L produces a characteristic microstructure consisting of grains with a fine cellular structure within. This microstructure shows a comparatively high fatigue strength combined with a high defect tolerance. The purpose of this paper is to numerically analyse the local response of this microstructure to cyclic loading and, in particular, the joint action between lack of fusion defects and the surrounding grain structure. The traditional incremental analysis method for polycrystalline alloys is computationally expensive. Therefore, a direct cyclic analysis combined with a phenomenological crystal plasticity model is used in this work to predict the stable cyclic response of the material, resulting in a much lower computational cost. Three statistically equivalent representative volume elements are generated. The considered crystal plasticity parameters are calibrated using experimental tensile stress–strain curves. The comparison with incremental analysis demonstrates the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. The shakedown limit, based on the maximum load that allows the convergent cyclic response, significantly depends on the local grain orientation around lack of fusion defects, revealing a reason for the large scatter in the fatigue strength.

Abstract Hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 2 (HCAR2) belongs to the family of class A G protein-coupled receptors with key roles in regulating lipolysis and free fatty acid formation in humans. It is deeply involved in many pathophysiological processes and serves as an attractive target for the treatment of cardiovascular, neoplastic, autoimmune, neurodegenerative, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases. Here, we report four cryo-EM structures of human HCAR2–Gi1 complexes with or without agonists, including the drugs niacin (2.69 Å) and acipimox (3.23 Å), the highly subtype-specific agonist MK-6892 (3.25 Å), and apo form (3.28 Å). Combined with molecular dynamics simulation and functional analysis, we have revealed the recognition mechanism of HCAR2 for different agonists and summarized the general pharmacophore features of HCAR2 agonists, which are based on three key residues R1113.36, S17945.52, and Y2847.43. Notably, the MK-6892–HCAR2 structure shows an extended binding pocket relative to other agonist-bound HCAR2 complexes. In addition, the key residues that determine the ligand selectivity between the HCAR2 and HCAR3 are also illuminated. Our findings provide structural insights into the ligand recognition, selectivity, activation, and G protein coupling mechanism of HCAR2, which shed light on the design of new HCAR2-targeting drugs for greater efficacy, higher selectivity, and fewer or no side effects.

Abstract Objective To explore the application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of radiation-induced sinusitis (RIS), MRI-based scoring system was used to evaluate the development regularity, characteristics and influencing factors of RIS in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Patients and methods A retrospective analysis was performed by collecting the clinical and MRI data of 346 NPC patients to analyze the characteristics and prognosis of RIS. The predictive model was constructed according to the influencing factors of RIS. Results (1) In the 2-year follow-up after radiotherapy (RT), there was significant change in L-M score in both groups of NPC patients (sinusitis before RT group: p = 0.000 vs. non-sinusitis before RT group: p = 0.000). After 6 months of RT, the L-M scores of the two groups tended to plateau (sinusitis before RT group: p = 0.311 vs. non-sinusitis before RT group: p = 0.469). (2) The prevalence of sinusitis in two groups of NPC patients (without or with sinusitis before RT) was 83% vs. 93%, 91% vs. 99%, 94% vs. 98% at 1, 6 and 24 months after RT, respectively. (3) In the patients without sinusitis before RT, the incidence of sinusitis in maxillary and anterior/posterior ethmoid, sphenoid and frontal sinuses was 87.1%, 90.0%/87.1%, 49.5%, 11.8% respectively, 1 month after RT. (4) A regression model was established according to the univariate and multivariate analysis of the factors related to RIS (smoking history: p = 0.000, time after RT: p = 0.008 and TNM staging: p = 0.040). Conclusion (1) RIS is a common complication in NPC patients after RT. This disorder progressed within 6 months after RT, stabilized and persisted within 6 months to 2 years. There is a high incidence of maxillary sinus and ethmoid sinus inflammation in NPC patients after RT. (2) Smoking history, time after RT and TNM staging were significant independent risk factors for RIS. (3) The intervention of the risk factors in the model may prevent or reduce the occurrence of RIS in NPC patients.

Arterial tree region segmentation from medical images of the brain is an early step in the diagnosis and evaluation of many cerebrovascular diseases. Most of the existing region segmentation methods rely on manual assistance. In this paper, we propose an automatic brain arterial tree partitioning method based on a dual branch connected network (DBCNet), which can partition the arterial tree in time of flight-magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) into six main regions. The branch feature decoupling module and the global and local feature fusion module based on Swin Transformer mechanism were used for DBCNet. The two-step training strategy of localization followed by segmentation was used for training. In this study, 111 cases of TOF-MRA data were used, of which 81 cases as the training set, 20 cases as the validation set, and 10 cases as the test set. The average Dice coefficient of the model on the test set was 74.72% and 95% Haus dorff distance (HD95) was 3.89 mm. Compared with other advanced segmentation networks, the network reported in this paper can segment each major region more accurately with robustness.

Abstract With the combination of 3D printing and electroplating technique, metal-coated resin lattice is a viable way to achieve lightweight design with desirable responses. However, due to high structural complexity, mechanical analysis of the macroscopic lattice structure demands high experimental or numerical costs. To efficiently investigate the mechanical behaviors of such structure, in this paper a multiscale numerical method is proposed to study the effective properties of the metal-coated Body-Centered-Cubic (BCC) lattices. Unlike studies of a similar kind in which the effective parameters can be predicted from a single unit cell model, it is noticed that the size effect of representative volume element (RVE) is severe and an insensitive prediction can be only obtained from models containing multiple-unit-cells. To this end, the paper determines the minimum number of unit cells in single RVE. Based on the proposed method that is validated through the experimental comparison, parametric studies are conducted to estimate the impact of strut diameter and coating film thickness on structural responses. It is shown that the increase of volume fraction may improve the elastic modulus and specific modulus remarkably. In contrast, the increase of thickness of coating film only leads to monotonously increased elastic modulus. For this reason, there should be an optimal coating film thickness for the specific modulus of the lattice structure. This work provides an effective method for evaluating structural mechanical properties via the mesoscopic model.

Abstract We report an experimental realization of a modified counterfactual communication protocol that eliminates the dominant environmental trace left by photons passing through the transmission channel. Compared to Wheeler’s criterion for inferring past particle paths, as used in prior protocols, our trace criterion provides stronger support for the claim of the counterfactuality of the communication. We verify the lack of trace left by transmitted photons via tagging the propagation arms of an interferometric device by distinct frequency-shifts and finding that the collected photons have no frequency shift which corresponds to the transmission channel. As a proof of principle, we counterfactually transfer a quick response code image with sufficient fidelity to be scanned with a cell phone.

Abstract Background Bronchogenic cysts (BCs) are rare and usually asymptomatic malformations detected during imaging examinations. We aimed to investigate the clinical and imaging characteristics of patients with BCs. Methods We retrospectively evaluated patients who received surgery to remove their BCs from January 2015 to January 2019. Their baseline characteristics, clinical information, and imaging results were reviewed. Results Our study included 129 patients, with 57 males and 72 females and a mean age of 42.7 years old. The most common location for BCs was the mediastinum (67 patients, 51.9%). Fewer than half of the patients (53 patients, 41.1%) reported clinical symptoms, with chest pain being the most common (16 patients, 30.2%). Neck BCs were more frequently observed in young patients (P = 0.002) and were more often associated with thyroid cancer (P = 0.007). A computed tomography scan was the most commonly used method to diagnose BCs in the lung and mediastinum, whereas ultrasound was the most commonly used diagnostic method for neck BCs. The characteristic images were well-defined, thin-wall cystic lesions in varying densities. A few lesions showed small, calcified spots along the rim or cavities. Conclusions Although most BCs were found in the mediastinum, their locations could vary in different sex and age groups. Particular attention should be paid to young patients with BCs in the neck to rule out thyroid cancer.

To overcome the dependency of strategies utilizing cell‐free DNA (cfDNA) on tissue sampling, the emergence of sequencing panels for non‐invasive mutation screening was promoted. However, cfDNA sequencing with panels still suffers from either inaccuracy or omission, and novel approaches for accurately screening tumor mutations solely based on plasma without gene panel restriction are urgently needed. We performed unique molecular identifier (UMI) target sequencing on plasma samples and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 85 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients receiving surgical resection, which were divided into an exploration dataset (20 patients) or an evaluation dataset (65 patients). Plasma mutations were identified in pre‐operative plasma, and the mutation variant frequency change (MVFC) between post‐ and pre‐operative plasma was then calculated. In the exploration dataset, we observed that plasma mutations with MVFC

Abstract Background The cellular and molecular dynamics of human prepuce are crucial for understanding its biological and physiological functions, as well as the prevention of related genital diseases. However, the cellular compositions and heterogeneity of human prepuce at single-cell resolution are still largely unknown. Here we systematically dissected the prepuce of children and adults based on the single-cell RNA-seq data of 90,770 qualified cells. Results We identified 15 prepuce cell subtypes, including fibroblast, smooth muscle cells, T/natural killer cells, macrophages, vascular endothelial cells, and dendritic cells. The proportions of these cell types varied among different individuals as well as between children and adults. Moreover, we detected cell-type-specific gene regulatory networks (GRNs), which could contribute to the unique functions of related cell types. The GRNs were also highly dynamic between the prepuce cells of children and adults. Our cell–cell communication network analysis among different cell types revealed a set of child-specific (e.g., CD96, EPO, IFN-1, and WNT signaling pathways) and adult-specific (e.g., BMP10, NEGR, ncWNT, and NPR1 signaling pathways) signaling pathways. The variations of GRNs and cellular communications could be closely associated with prepuce development in children and prepuce maintenance in adults. Conclusions Collectively, we systematically analyzed the cellular variations and molecular changes of the human prepuce at single-cell resolution. Our results gained insights into the heterogeneity of prepuce cells and shed light on the underlying molecular mechanisms of prepuce development and maintenance.

Abstract Quantitative and multiparametric blood analysis is of great clinical importance in cardiovascular disease diagnosis. Although there are various methods to extract blood information, they often require invasive procedures, lack continuity, involve bulky instruments, or have complicated testing procedures. Flexible sensors can realize on-skin assessment of several vital signals, but generally exhibit limited function to monitor blood characteristics. Here, we report a flexible optoacoustic blood ‘stethoscope’ for noninvasive, multiparametric, and continuous cardiovascular monitoring, without requiring complicated procedures. The optoacoustic blood ‘stethoscope’ features the light delivery elements to illuminate blood and the piezoelectric acoustic elements to capture light-induced acoustic waves. We show that the optoacoustic blood ‘stethoscope’ can adhere to the skin for continuous and non-invasive in-situ monitoring of multiple cardiovascular biomarkers, including hypoxia, intravascular exogenous agent concentration decay, and hemodynamics, which can be further visualized with a tailored 3D algorithm. Demonstrations on both in-vivo animal trials and human subjects highlight the optoacoustic blood ‘stethoscope’‘s potential for cardiovascular disease diagnosis and prediction.

Global climate change increasingly impacts agroecosystems, particularly through high-temperature–drought and low-temperature–drought compound events. This study uses ground meteorological and remote sensing data and employs geostatistics, random forest models, and copula methods to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of these events and their impact on winter wheat in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain from 1982 to 2020. High-temperature–drought events increased in frequency and expanded from north to south, with about 40% of observation stations recording such events from 2001 to 2020. In contrast, low-temperature–drought events decreased in frequency, affecting up to 80% of stations, but with lower frequency than high-temperature–drought events. Sensitivity analyses show winter wheat is most responsive to maximum and minimum temperature changes, with significant correlations to drought and temperature extremes. Copula analysis indicates temperature extremes and drought severity are crucial in determining compound event probability and return periods. High-temperature–drought events are likely under high temperatures and mild drought, while low-temperature–drought events are more common under low temperatures and mild drought. These findings highlight the need for effective agricultural adaptation strategies to mitigate future climate change impacts.

China is currently focusing on the cooperative control of air pollution and CO2 emissions, as well as the mitigation of economic policy uncertainty (EPU). By using panel data from 282 cities spanning from 2003 to 2017 and a newly constructed city-level EPU index, a spatial Durbin, two-way fixed-effects model is employed, with the aim of estimating the impact of EPU on the synergistic emissions intensity (SEI) of air pollutants and CO2. Additionally, this paper investigates the potential channels through which EPU influences SEI. It also explores how pressures related to environmental protection and economic development affect the impact of EPU on SEI. The results indicate that a unit increase in EPU will result in a rise in the SEI of local cities, adjacent cities, and total cities by 930.9%, 69,162.7%, and 70,093.6%, respectively. Moreover, the channel analysis suggests that EPU exacerbates SEI by undermining the upgrading of the industrial structure, augmenting industrial structure distortion, and escalating labor market distortion. Furthermore, the effect of EPU on SEI may be lessened by an increase in environmental protection pressure, while an increase in economic development pressure may exert a positive influence. Finally, this paper concludes by recommending that policymakers should prioritize the maintenance and stability of economic policies, facilitate the advancement of the industrial structure, enhance the efficiency of labor resource allocation, and underscore the significance of managing urban air pollution and CO2 emissions.

Abstract Neuropsychiatric disorders are multifactorial disorders with diverse aetiological factors. Identifying treatment targets is challenging because the diseases are resulting from heterogeneous biological, genetic, and environmental factors. Nevertheless, the increasing understanding of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) opens a new possibility in drug discovery. Harnessing our knowledge of molecular mechanisms and structural information of GPCRs will be advantageous for developing effective drugs. This review provides an overview of the role of GPCRs in various neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. Besides, we highlight the emerging opportunities of novel GPCR targets and address recent progress in GPCR drug development.

Abstract To meet the requirements of power grid operation control, constructing an extensive sensor network in the power grid is a future development trend. However, due to the high cost, the difficulty of continuous power supply for a long time, the large amount of energy consumption, and the environmental problems caused by abandoned batteries, the traditional power supply mode based on batteries for sensors is inconsistent with China's goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. It cannot meet the needs of the future grid. Therefore, it is significant to solve the energy supply problem of numerous sensors to promote the construction of new power grid and improve the utilization rate of renewable energy. As an emerging energy harvesting device, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) are suitable for developing self‐powered sensors and powering low‐power sensors due to their mall size, high efficiency, low cost, and environmental friendliness. At the same time, due to the abundant, stable, and widely distributed magnetic field around the equipment in the grid, it can provide continuous excitation for the TENG. Therefore, applying magnetic field energy‐harvesting TENG in the future power grid has a broad development prospect. This paper analyzes the development trend and the crucial problems facing the power grid in the future. We review the research and application of TENG based on the magnetic field in recent years and explain the mechanism of TENG in detail. Finally, the application prospect of TENG in the future power grid has been prospected. This paper can provide a reference for applying magnetic field energy harvesting triboelectric nanogenerators in future power grids.

ObjectivesTo analyze the correlation between heart rate variability (HRV) and palpitation symptoms in female patients with long COVID.MethodsA total of 272 female healthcare workers who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 for the first time in December 2022 at Fuzhou First Hospital affiliated with Fujian Medical University, were selected as study subjects. These subjects were divided into three groups based on their symptoms: a group with palpitations (70 cases), a group without palpitations but with other symptoms (124 cases), and a group consisting of asymptomatic cases (78 cases). The study compared the general information, COMPASS-31 scores, quality of life scores, and HRV parameters among the three groups. Furthermore, it analyzed the factors influencing palpitation symptoms in female patients with long COVID.ResultsCompared to the other two groups, the HRV parameters SDNN, HRVIndex, LF, and TP were significantly reduced in the group with palpitations (p

Gas-insulated equipment (GIE) that utilizes the most potent greenhouse gas sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) as insulation and arc-quenching medium has been widely used in the power industry. Seeking eco-friendly insulating gas with advanced performance for next-generation SF6-free GIE is significant for the “net-zero” goal and sustainable development. In this paper, the utilization, emission, and reduction policies of SF6 around the world were summarized first. Then, we systematically reviewed the latest progress in comprehensive performance evaluation of eco-friendly insulating gas in terms of molecular design, dielectric insulation, arc-quenching, stability and decomposition, materials compatibility, biosafety, etc. Further, the representative applications of eco-friendly insulating gas in medium-voltage, high-voltage GIE as well as relevant maintenance-related technologies were highlighted. Accordingly, the existing challenges and future perspectives were proposed, presenting a roadmap to hopefully steer the development of eco-friendly insulating gas and GIE.

Abstract Existing Siamese trackers usually do not update templates or adopt single‐updating strategies. However, historical information cannot be effectively utilized when using these strategies, and model drift from complex tracking challenges cannot be addressed. To address this issue, a novel tracking framework that learns the model update with local trusted templates is proposed in this paper. The authors propose a complementary confidence evaluation method to select local trusted templates in a sliding window. This provides high‐confidence historical information. The authors also propose a method including linear learning and deep learning to learn to model updates. Different from traditional update strategies, the authors’ method combines non‐linear and linear updates to obtain reliable templates with the most abundant historical information, which solves the complex tracking challenges to a certain extent. Finally, the adaptive fusion response maps of the two strategies determine the final tracking based on the confidence evaluation. Experimental results on NFS, UAVDT, UAV123, UAV20L and VOT2016 show that our method performs favourably when compared with current state‐of‐the‐art methods.

Abstract When simulating the process from elastic–plastic deformation, damage to failure in a metal structure collision, it is necessary to use the large shell element due to the calculation efficiency, but this would affect the accuracy of damage evolution simulation. The compensation algorithm adjusting failure strain according to element size is usually used in the damage model to deal with the problem. In this paper, a new nonlinear compensation algorithm between failure strain and element size was proposed, which was incorporated in the damage model GISSMO (Generalized incremental stress state dependent damage model) to characterize ductile fracture. And associated material parameters were calibrated based on tensile experiments of aluminum alloy specimens with notches. Simulation and experimental results show that the new compensation algorithm significantly reduces the dependence of element size compared with the constant failure strain model and the damage model with the linear compensation algorithm. During the axial splitting process of a circular tubular structure, the new compensation algorithm keeps the failure prediction errors low over the stress states ranging from shear to biaxial tension, and achieves the objective prediction of the damage evolution process. This study demonstrates how the compensation algorithm resolves the contradiction between large element size and fracture prediction accuracy, and this facilitates the use of the damage model in ductile fracture prediction for engineering structures.

Abstract Salient object detection (SOD) in RGB and depth images has attracted increasing research interest. Existing RGB-D SOD models usually adopt fusion strategies to learn a shared representation from RGB and depth modalities, while few methods explicitly consider how to preserve modality-specific characteristics. In this study, we propose a novel framework, the specificity-preserving network (SPNet), which improves SOD performance by exploring both the shared information and modality-specific properties. Specifically, we use two modality-specific networks and a shared learning network to generate individual and shared saliency prediction maps. To effectively fuse cross-modal features in the shared learning network, we propose a cross-enhanced integration module (CIM) and propagate the fused feature to the next layer to integrate cross-level information. Moreover, to capture rich complementary multi-modal information to boost SOD performance, we use a multi-modal feature aggregation (MFA) module to integrate the modality-specific features from each individual decoder into the shared decoder. By using skip connections between encoder and decoder layers, hierarchical features can be fully combined. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our SPNet outperforms cutting-edge approaches on six popular RGB-D SOD and three camouflaged object detection benchmarks. The project is publicly available at https://github.com/taozh2017/SPNet .

This research introduces the Enhanced Scale-Aware efficient Transformer (ESAE-Transformer), a novel and advanced model dedicated to predicting Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT). The ESAE-Transformer merges the Multi-Head ProbSparse Attention mechanism with the established Transformer architecture, significantly optimizing computational efficiency and effectively discerning key temporal patterns. The incorporation of the Multi-Scale Feature Aggregation Module (MSFAM) further refines 2 s input and output timeframe. A detailed investigation into the feature dimensionality was undertaken, leading to an optimized configuration of the model, thereby improving its overall performance. The efficacy of the ESAE-Transformer was rigorously evaluated through an exhaustive ablation study, focusing on the contribution of each constituent module. The findings showcase a mean absolute prediction error of 3.47∘R, demonstrating strong alignment with real-world environmental scenarios and confirming the model’s accuracy and relevance. The ESAE-Transformer not only excels in predictive accuracy but also sheds light on the underlying physical processes, thus enhancing its practical application in real-world settings. The model stands out as a robust tool for critical parameter prediction in aero-engine systems, paving the way for future advancements in engine prognostics and diagnostics.

In the context of ecological protection and strict emissions control, the replacement of traditional energy sources with clean energy has become a new direction for the development of the shipping industry. Bio-oil is beneficial to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollutants. In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost assessment (LCCA) are conducted to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of diesel and bio-oil as fuel for container ships in the Yangtze River mainline. The results show that compared with diesel, the total greenhouse gas emission is 34.58% lower than diesel, and the total cost is 8.22% higher than that of diesel throughout the whole life cycle of these two fuels. Both LCA results and LCCA results show that bio-oil is an ideal clean energy source. In addition, the abundant raw material resources of bio-oil make it a reliable alternative, which is also of great significance.

The Hidden Quantum Markov Model (HQMM) has significant potential for analyzing time-series data and studying stochastic processes in the quantum domain as an upgrading option with potential advantages over classical Markov models. In this paper, we introduced the split HQMM (SHQMM) for implementing the hidden quantum Markov process, utilizing the conditional master equation with a fine balance condition to demonstrate the interconnections among the internal states of the quantum system. The experimental results suggest that our model outperforms previous models in terms of scope of applications and robustness. Additionally, we establish a new learning algorithm to solve parameters in HQMM by relating the quantum conditional master equation to the HQMM. Finally, our study provides clear evidence that the quantum transport system can be considered a physical representation of HQMM. The SHQMM with accompanying algorithms present a novel method to analyze quantum systems and time series grounded in physical implementation.

Summary: Yeast is an essential model organism for studying protein ubiquitination pathways; however, identifying the direct substrates of E3 in the cell presents a challenge. Here, we present a protocol for using the orthogonal ubiquitin transfer (OUT) cascade to profile the substrate specificity of yeast E3 Rsp5. We describe steps for OUT profiling, proteomics analysis, in vitro and in cell ubiquitination, and stability assay. The protocol can be adapted for identifying and verifying the ubiquitination targets of other E3s in yeast.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Wang et al.1 : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics.

The optimization of the ironmaking process for the preparation of high-purity metallic iron has become an important part of the production of the iron and steel industry due to the increasing demand for steel in the modern industry. This article adopted the soluble anode molten salt electrolysis process to prepare a soluble anode with excellent conductivity by mixing Fe2O3 and C in a molar ratio of 1:3, sintering at 1073 K for 6 h. The metal iron was electrolytically deposited on the cathode by applying a constant current of 0.1 A for 6 h in the NaCl-CaCl2 molten salt system. The anode dissolution and cathode deposition mechanisms were analyzed based on the electrolysis U-t curve. The experimental results showed that the presence of C after sintering reduces the impedance value by reducing Fe2O3 to Fe3O4. During the electrolysis process, Fe2+ in Fe3O4 oxidized to Fe3+ and entered the molten salt, migrated to the vicinity of the cathode, and underwent the reduction process of Fe3+-Fe2+-Fe during the cathodic reduction process. The deposited Fe on the cathode exhibited a dendritic crystal structure with a purity of 99.51%.

The construction of the future energy structure of China under the 2050 carbon-neutral vision requires compact direct current (DC) gas-insulation equipment as important nodes and solutions to support electric power transmission and distribution of long-distance and large-capacity. This paper reviews China's 10-year progress in DC gas-insulated equipment. Important progresses in basic research and industry perspective are presented, with related scientific issues and technical bottlenecks being discussed. The progress in DC gas-insulated equipment worldwide (Europe, Japan, America) is also reported briefly.

Abstract CircRNAs have been reported to play crucial roles in tumor progression and recurrence, showing potential as biomarkers in cancer. However, the global abundance of circRNA and their involvement in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development have not been fully explored. Whole transcriptome sequencing was performed on tumor and peritumor from 60 patients with HCC to quantify the expression of circRNAs, and the global circRNA abundance was calculated by circRNA index (CRI). Gene‐set enrichment analysis and weighted gene co‐expression network analysis were used to reveal the biological signaling pathways associated with the global circRNA abundance. The correlation between the global circRNA abundance and the infiltration level of CD8+ T cells was explored by immunohistochemical assays. Small interfering RNA was used to knock down the pre–messenger RNA spliceosome in HCC cell lines to verify the regulation of spliceosome in global circRNA abundance. We found that dysregulation of global circRNA abundance in both tumor and peritumor could lead to worse prognosis. The immunohistochemical assay further revealed that the dysregulation of global circRNA abundance in both tumor and peritumor would obstruct the CD8+ T cells from invading into the tumor, which might explain its correlation with HCC prognosis. We also demonstrated that the spliceosome genes were the main factors to regulate the global circRNA abundance in HCC, and these results were also confirmed by knockdown experiments. Conclusion: This study revealed the association between the global circRNA abundance and patients' prognosis and its underlying mechanism.

Abstract Soil liquefaction is one of the most detrimental forms of earthquake-induced ground failure that can result in catastrophic damage to engineering structures. For the seismic safety evaluation of foundations and high-rise structures, it is the most critical way to assess liquefaction resistance. In this paper, an array number of isotropically consolidated undrained cyclic triaxial tests (CTT) and cyclic hollow cylinder tests (CHCT) have been performed to evaluate soil liquefaction resistance. Thirty-seven isotopically consolidated undrained cyclic triaxial tests and thirty-seven cyclic hollow cylinder tests were run on the uniform medium Monterey No. 0/30 sand and it is with four different percentages of fine content. By using cyclic triaxial and cyclic hollow cylinder tests for evaluating liquefaction resistance, it helps us better understand the relationship between two types of tests on uniform clean Monterey No. 0/30 sand and soil sample with five different percentages of fines content. Four different relative densities of 30%, 45%, 50%, and 60%, two confining pressure of 103 kpa and 207 kpa, and five cyclic stress ratios (0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, and 0.4) have been used for a series of cyclic triaxial tests and cyclic hollow cylinder tests. At the same relative densities of 30% and 60%, the correction factor between CTT and CHCT evaluated ranged from 0.46 to 0.63 on the uniform clean Monterey No. 0/30 sand. Statistical analyses were performed to formulate functional relationships for predicting the correction factor of soil liquefaction resistance between CTT and CHCT tests.

Detection of invading bacteria is key to immunity. Here, the authors report cryo-electron microscopy structures of agonist-bound formyl peptide receptor 1 (FPR1), that reveal structural basis for recognition of bacteria-derived formyl peptides.

Abstract Blood–brain barrier is a pivotal factor to be considered in the process of central nervous system (CNS) drug development, and it is of great significance to rapidly explore the blood–brain barrier permeability (BBBp) of compounds in silico in early drug discovery process. Here, we focus on whether and how uncertainty estimation methods improve in silico BBBp models. We briefly surveyed the current state of in silico BBBp prediction and uncertainty estimation methods of deep learning models, and curated an independent dataset to determine the reliability of the state-of-the-art algorithms. The results exhibit that, despite the comparable performance on BBBp prediction between graph neural networks-based deep learning models and conventional physicochemical-based machine learning models, the GROVER-BBBp model shows greatly improvement when using uncertainty estimations. In particular, the strategy combined Entropy and MC-dropout can increase the accuracy of distinguishing BBB + from BBB − to above 99% by extracting predictions with high confidence level (uncertainty score

Panax notoginseng is one of the most valuable traditional Chinese herbs. The main active ingredients, dammarane-type ginsenosides, show multiple pharmacological activities. Recently, the key UDP-dependent glycosyltransferases (UGTs) involved in the biosynthesis of common ginsenosides have been widely studied. However, only a few UGTs that catalyze ginsenoside formation have been reported. This study further investigated the new catalytic function of 10 characterized UGTs from the public database. PnUGT31(PnUGT94B2) and PnUGT53 (PnUGT71B8)exhibited promiscuous sugar-donor specificity of UDP-glucose and UDP-xylose, which could catalyze the glycosylation of C20-OH sites and elongation of the sugar chain at the C3 and/or C20 sites. We further analyzed the expression patterns in P. notoginseng and predicted the catalytic mechanisms of PnUGT31 and PnUGT53 using molecular docking simulations. Moreover, different gene modules were built to increase the yield of ginsenosides in engineered yeast. The metabolic flow of the proginsenediol (PPD) synthetic pathway was enhanced by LPPDS gene modules based on the engineered strain. The resulting yeast was constructed to produce 1.72 g/L PPD in a shaking flask, but cell growth was significantly inhibited. EGH and LKG gene modules were constructed to achieve high-level production of dammarane-type ginsenosides. The production of G-Rg3 controlled by LKG modules increased 3.84 times (254.07 mg/ L), whereas the G-Rd titer reached 56.68 mg/L after 96 h in shaking flask culture under the control of all modules, both of which yielded the highest values for known microbes.

The impact of water and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([EMIm]Ac) drops on [EMIm]Ac ionic liquid film was studied. The hydrodynamics of the impact of drops on a water liquid film were compared. A higher Weber number contribute to a larger crown rim diameter and height. The variation trend of the crown rim diameter and height with the liquid film thickness differs much according to the drop and film properties. The crown rim diameter and height have an opposite variation trend with the increasing liquid film temperature. The crown rim diameters with different droplet and liquid film properties were almost the same at the early stage of impact of approximately 4 ms, and then the difference became larger at a later stage. The shape of the generated liquid crown was more regular for drops impact on ionic liquid film. The water droplet impact on a water film has the largest liquid crown rim diameter and height, while the ionic liquid droplet impact on the ionic liquid film has the lowest.

BackgroundLiver resection (LR) is considered the mainstay treatment for eligible patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and provides a 5-year overall survival (OS) of 60%–80%. However, the recurrence rate within five years after LR remains high, ranging from 40% to 70%. Recurrence in gallbladder after liver resection is extremely rare. Here, we present a case of isolated recurrence in gallbladder after curative resection of HCC and review the relevant literature. No similar cases have been reported before.Case presentationA 55-year-old male patient was diagnosed with HCC in 2009 and subsequently underwent a right posterior sectionectomy of the liver. In 2015, the patient underwent liver tumor radiofrequency ablation and three transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) procedures in succession for HCC recurrence. In 2019, a gallbladder lesion was detected by computed tomography (CT) without perceivable intrahepatic focus. We performed an en bloc resection of the gallbladder and hepatic segment IVb. The pathological biopsy suggested that the gallbladder tumor was moderately differentiated HCC. The patient survived more than 3 years in good condition, and there were no signs of tumor recurrence.ConclusionsIn patients with isolated gallbladder metastasis, if the lesion can be resected en bloc without remnants, surgery should be the preferred option. Both postoperative molecularly targeted drugs and immunotherapy are expected to improve the long-term prognosis.

Background: Apatinib is a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor used in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). For decades, sorafenib has been a classic first-line treatment option for patients with HCC. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of apatinib versus sorafenib/placebo as first-line treatment for intermediate and advanced primary liver cancer (PLC).Methods: A literature search was performed via PubMed, Web of Science, CENTRAL, Embase, CNKI, VIP, and CBM. Data extraction from databases of other languages is not restricted. The Cochrane risk of bias tool, modified Jadad scale, Newcastle–Ottawa scale (NOS), and non-randomized studies of interventions (ROBINS-I) tool were employed to evaluate methodological qualities in original studies. Influence analysis was applied to assess the reliability of pooled results. Publication bias was evaluated using the funnel plot with Begg’s test and Egger’s test.Results: Seven studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and one clinical controlled trial (CCT) were used for comparing apatinib with placebo, and two retrospective clinical studies (RCSs) were used for comparing apatinib with sorafenib. Apatinib led to higher overall effects in objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and mean survival time (MST) over placebo (RR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.46–2.81, p < 0.0001, I2 = 0%; RR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.04–1.33, p = 0.009, I2 = 45.8%; SMD = 2.63; 95% CI = 1.47–3.78, p < 0.0001, I2 = 92.7%, respectively). Compared to sorafenib, apatinib showed no superiority in ORR and DCR but was inferior in the 6-month and 1-year survival rate (RR = 1.99, 95% CI = 0.85–4.65, p = 0.111, I2 = 68.3%; RR = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.73–1.47, p = 0.840, I2 = 0.0%; RR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.42–0.97, p = 0.036, I2 = 0.0%; RR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.29–0.79, p < 0.0001, I2 = 0.0%, respectively). Apatinib had similar adverse effects over placebo but possessed a greater incidence rate of proteinuria and hypertension over sorafenib.Conclusion: In the first-line setting, apatinib might be an alternative treatment approach for patients with intermediate and advanced PLC. Sorafenib alone showed a better survival rate within 1 year and a lower incidence rate in hypertension and proteinuria than apatinib monotherapy.

Transgenic Bt rice (abbr. Bt rice) has provided a powerful tactics to control the striped stemborer Chilo suppressalis as one key lepidopteran pest in the paddyfields of China. Globally rising carbon dioxide (i.e., CO2) concentration has been predicted to affect the Cry protein contents in plant tissues of Bt rice and thus might affect its control efficiency to target insect pests. To reveal the resistance ability and the corresponding mechanism of C. suppressalis to Bt rice during different growth stage under elevated CO2 (eCO2), we carried out this experiment to measure the Bt toxin contents in Bt rice stems grown under ambient CO2 (aCO2) (400 ppm) and eCO2 (800 ppm) at seedling, tillering and heading stages, and to observe the larval mortality and bioassay the activity of midgut protease and the expression levels of Bt-toxin-receptor genes, aminopeptidases (APNs) in C. suppressalis larvae. Compared with aCO2, eCO2 increased the Bt-toxin content of Bt rice at seedling stage (+6.66%), and decreased that at heading stages (−13.99%), and significantly reduced the Bt-toxin content at tillering stage (−15.21%). And the larval mortality of C. suppressalis was lower as reared with Bt rice stems during tillering stage grown under eCO2 in contrast to aCO2. In addition, eCO2 significantly increased the activity of total protease, tryptase-like enzyme and aminopeptidase of C. suppressalis larvae fed on Bt rice during seedling stage, and significantly reduced the activity of tryptase-like enzyme and aminopeptidase of C. suppressails larvae fed on Bt rice during tillering and heading stages respectively. Moreover, eCO2 significantly increased the expression level of APN1 and APN5 of C. suppressails larvae fed on Bt rice during seedling stage, and significantly reduced the expression level of APN5 of C. suppressalis larvae fed on Bt rice during tillering and heading stages respectively. In summary, the control efficiency of Bt rice to target insect pests under eCO2 showed a downward trend during tillering and heading stages, and especially during tillering stage.

A series of Co-M (M = Fe, Cr, and Mn) catalysts were synthesized by the sol-gel method for soot oxidation in a loose contact mode. The Co-Fe catalyst exhibited the best catalytic activity among the tested samples, with the characteristic temperatures (T10, T50, and T90) of 470 °C, 557 °C, and 602 °C, respectively, which were 57 °C, 51 °C, and 51 °C lower than those of the CoOx catalyst. Catalyst characterizations of N2 adsorption–desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photo-electron spectrometry (XPS), and the temperature programmed desorption of O2 (O2-TPD) were performed to gain insights into the relationships between the activity of catalytic soot oxidation and the catalyst properties. The content of Co2+ (68.6%) increased due to the interactions between Co and Fe, while the redox properties and the relative concentration of surface oxygen adsorption (51.7%) were all improved, which could significantly boost the activity of catalytic soot oxidation. The effects of NO and contact mode on soot oxidation were investigated over the Co-Fe catalyst. The addition of 1000 ppm of NO led to significant reductions in T10, T50, and T90 by 92 °C, 106 °C, and 104 °C, respectively, compared to the case without the NO addition. In the tight contact mode, the soot oxidation was accelerated over the Co-Fe catalyst, resulting in 46 °C, 50 °C, and 50 °C reductions in T10, T50, and T90 compared to the loose contact mode. The comparison between real soot and model Printex-U showed that the T50 value of real soot (455 °C) was 102 °C lower than the model Printex-U soot.

Abstract Identifying the general mechanics behind the equilibration of a complex isolated quantum system towards a state described by only a few parameters has been the focus of attention in non-equilibrium thermodynamics. And several experimentally unproven conjectures are proposed for the statistical description of quantum (non-)integrable models. The plausible eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH), which suggests that each energy eigenstate itself is thermal, plays a crucial role in understanding the quantum thermalization in non-integrable systems; it is commonly believed that it does not exist in integrable systems. Nevertheless, integrable systems can still relax to the generalized Gibbs ensemble. From a microscopic perspective, understanding the origin of this generalized thermalization that occurs in an isolated integrable system is a fundamental open question lacking experimental investigations. Herein, we experimentally investigated the spin subsystem relaxation in an isolated spin–orbit coupling quantum system. By applying the quantum state engineering technique, we initialized the system with various distribution widths in the mutual eigenbasis of the conserved quantities. Then, we compared the steady state of the spin subsystem reached in a long-time coherent dynamics to the prediction of a generalized version of ETH and the underlying mechanism of the generalized thermalization is experimentally verified for the first time. Our results facilitate understanding the origin of quantum statistical mechanics.