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The fatigue behaviors of high-strength bearing steel were investigated with rotating bending fatigue loading with a frequency of 52.5 Hz. It was revealed that the high-strength steel tended to initiate at interior non-metallic inclusions in a very high-cycle fatigue regime. During fractography observation, it was also seen that the inclusion acting as a failure-originating site was seldom smaller than 10 μm. Moreover, prior austenite grains could also act as the originating source of failure when inclusion was absent. The crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM) was adopted to simulate the residual stress distribution around non-metallic inclusions of different sizes under different loading amplitudes. The accumulated plastic strain around the inclusion suggested that the existence of inclusion may reduce material strength and lead to more fatigue damage. The value of accumulated plastic strain around different inclusion sizes also resembled the crack nucleation or propagation of the materials. The simulation results also indicated that inclusions smaller than 5 μm had little influence on fatigue lifetimes, while inclusions larger than 10 μm had a significant influence on fatigue lifetimes.

Firstly, a method for measuring the risk aversion of investors was proposed based on the prospect theory. Secondly, under a sole hypothetical condition in which the risk aversion degree for different assets is the same in a market, the pricing of discrete European options was given based on the objective probability. Thirdly, it was proven that the European option price obtained was a non-arbitrate price. And then, both for the binomial tree, which is a complete market, and for the trinomial tree, which is an incomplete market, pricing European options were discussed by implementing the method provided in this paper. Lastly, an illustration is used to demonstrate how to estimate preference parameters from market data and how to calculate options prices. The result states that the method in this paper is the same as the traditional risk-neutral methods in a complete market, but it is different from the traditional risk-neutral methods in an incomplete market, and more, the price obtained in this paper is affected by the objective probability and also contains the risk attitude of the investors.

The digital image correlation method (DICM) has been applied to similar material simulation experiments for rock-like materials, to overcome the weakness of traditional measurements, for example, data discontinuous. In this paper, the movement and fracturing process of the overlying strata during excavation are observed and studied, and the distributions of stress, strain, and deformation in the overlying strata are obtained based on similar material simulation. The DICM is applied to improve the testing method and to optimize the discontinuity of testing points; of course, the difference of rock deformation in the overlying strata during excavation is considered. Full-field deformation and strain are analyzed by the DICM. To verify the accuracy of the DICM, results obtained from the DICM, numerical simulation and similar material simulation, are compared. The DICM can reflect the characteristics of locality and randomness of rock-like materials more real than numerical simulation, and comparing with similar material simulation, it can directly reproduce the movement and fracturing process of the overlying strata during full-field excavation. It shows that, the DICM is entirely feasible to using in the large scale full-field deformation measurement on complex rock structure, and it is of theoretical importance for testing for rock-like materials.

Abstract The presence of noncanonical open reading frames within lncRNAs (long non-coding RNAs) suggests their potential for translation, yielding various functional peptides or proteins. However, the existence and specific roles of these products in gastric cancer remain largely unclear. Here we identify the HOXA10-HOXA9-derived small protein (HDSP) in gastric cancer through comprehensive analysis and experimental validation, including mass spectrometry and western blotting. HDSP exhibits high expression and oncogenic roles in gastric cancer. Mechanistically, HDSP blocks TRIM25-mediated ubiquitination and degradation by interacting with MECOM, leading to MECOM accumulation and enhanced SPINK1 transcription-a gene promoting cancer via the EGFR signaling pathway. Furthermore, MECOM fosters HOXA10-HOXA9 transcription, establishing a feedback loop activating SPINK1-EGFR signaling. HDSP knockdown inhibits tumor growth in a PDX (patient-derived xenograft) model, and infusion of an artificially synthesized HDSP peptide as a neoantigen enhances immune cell-mediated anti-tumor efficacy against gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo. These findings propose HDSP as a potential therapeutic target or neoantigen candidate for gastric cancer treatment.

Highlights High-quality large-area perovskite films are prepared using a solid–liquid two-step film formation method combined with CsBr modification for the buried interface and Urea additive for perovskite crystallization. The inverted perovskite solar modules’ performance is enhanced to 20.56% in 61.56 cm2 with improved stability.

Free-standing electrode materials provide many desirable properties for electrochemical energy storage devices due to their light weight, good conductive capacity, excellent mechanical strength, high energy/power density and extraordinary electrochemical stability. Particularly, carbonaceous matrix nanomaterials, such as graphene materials, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, carbon papers and carbon cloths, play important roles in the free-standing electrodes, including serving as conducting network skeleton, loading electrochemically active material, enhancing mechanical toughness and flexibility, and preventing the structural damage during charge/discharge processes. In this review, we give a systematic overview of the state-of-the-art research progress on carbonaceous matrixes-based free-standing electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage, from synthesis methods, structural design, to important applications in flexible energy storage devices including lithium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, sodium-ion batteries, lithium-oxygen batteries, and supercapacitors for each class of matrix-based electrode materials. In particular, the structure design strategies utilizing the advantages of free-standing matrixes to address the existing issues and improve the electrochemical and mechanical performance of energy storage devices are discussed in detail. At the end, we also discuss the challenges and demonstrate the prospective for the future development of such materials for advanced flexible energy storage devices.

Abstract Chronic stress-induced anxiodepression is a common health problem, however its potential neurocircuitry mechanism remains unclear. We used behavioral, patch-clamp electrophysiology, chemogenetic, and optogenetic approaches to clarify the response of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to stress, confirmed the structural connections between the LH and mPFC, and investigated the role of the LH–mPFC pathway in chronic stress-induced anxiodepression symptoms. Unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) caused anxiodepression-like behaviors, including anxiety, anhedonia, and despair behaviors. We discovered that the activity of the LH and mPFC was both increased after restraint stress (RS), a stressor of UCMS. Then we found that the orexinergic neurons in the LH predominantly project to the glutamatergic neurons in the mPFC, and the excitability of these neurons were increased after UCMS. In addition, overactivated LH orexinergic terminals in the mPFC induced anhedonia but not anxiety and despair behaviors in naive mice. Moreover, chemogenetically inhibited LH–mPFC orexinergic projection neurons and blocked the orexin receptors in the mPFC alleviated anhedonia but not anxiety and despair behaviors in UCMS-treated mice. Our study identified a new neurocircuit from LH orexinergic neurons to mPFC and revealed its role in regulating anhedonia in response to stress. Overactivation of LHOrx-mPFC pathway selectively mediated chronic stress-induced anhedonia. In normal mice, the LHOrx-mPFC pathway exhibits relatively low activity. However, after chronic stress, the activity of orexinergic neuron in LH is overactivated, leading to an increased release of orexin into the mPFC. This heightened orexin concentration results in increased excitability of the mPFC through OX1R and OX2R, consequently triggering anhedonia.

In this work, Daylily Stalks derived N doped carbon material (N-DSC) with a high specific surface area was firstly prepared by a chemical activation method, and then cubic Cu2O nanoparticles were combined with the prepared N-DSC to obtain N-DSC/Cu2O composite as the catalyst for the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC) antibiotics under visible light. It is found that the obtained composite had higher photocatalytic activity than pure Cu2O. Particularly, 25 wt% N-DSC/Cu2O composite showed the highest photocatalytic performance with 95 % of TC degradation within 100 min and more excellent stability. Combined with various characterizations, it is confirmed that carbon bonds should be conducive to the separation of photoelectron and hole, and the carbon layer with an excellent electrical conductivity on Cu2O can reduce the charge transfer resistance between N-DSC and Cu2O, thereby improving the absorption of visible light and enhancing the photocatalytic activity. Moreover, it is considered that the synergistic effect of photo-generated electron pair in Cu2O and N-DSC could promote the photodegradation efficiency of N-DSC/Cu2O composite. In addition, the active species capture experiment confirmed that •OH and •O2− should be the main active species for TC degradation under visible light. This study is expected to provide a novel low-cost photocatalysts for pollutants removal.

In this work, to efficiently utilize waste fruit and low-rank coal for the hydrogen (H2)-rich syngas production, steam co-gasification of banana peel (BP) and brown coal (BC) was studied in a fixed-bed reactor. The results showed that the gasification rate of BC was highly enhanced after mixing it with BP and the obvious synergistic effect was observed in all investigated three mixing weight ratios (i.e., 1:1, 1:4, 4:1), resulting in a higher carbon conversion as well as a H2-rich gas production yield for the co-gasification. However, the extent of promotion by synergistic effect was affected by the reaction temperature, mixing ratio, and steam amount. It was found that the high potassium (K) species content in the BP provided the catalytic effect not only on water–gas shift reaction but also on tar reforming/cracking, thereby enhancing the gasification of BC. In addition, it is confirmed that steam should be an important factor to promote the synergistic effect and H2-rich gas production.

Introduction: The typical functionality of astrocytes was previously shown to be disrupted by Parkinson's disease (PD), which actively regulates synaptic neurotransmission. However, the morphological changes in astrocytes wrapping glutamatergic synapses in the striatum after dopamine (DA) neuronal degeneration is unclear. Methods: We utilized a range of methodologies, encompassing the 6-hydroxydopamine (6OHDA)-induced PD model, as well as techniques such as immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) to delve into the consequences of DA neuronal degeneration on the morphological attributes of perisynaptic astrocytes. Results: Our findings demonstrated a notable rise in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) + astrocyte density and an upregulation in GFAP protein expression within the striatum due to DA neuronal degeneration, coincided with the enlargement, elongation, and thickening of astrocyte protuberances. However, the expression levels of glutamate transporter 1 (GLT1) and glutamine synthetase (GS), which are related to glutamate–glutamine cycle, were significantly reduced. Double immunofluorescence and IEM results indicated that different proportions of vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGlut1)+ and vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (VGlut2) + terminals were wrapped by astrocytes. Additionally, DA neuronal degeneration increased the percentage and area of VGlut1+ and VGlut2+ terminals wrapped by GFAP + astrocytes in the striatum. Furthermore, we noted that DA neuronal degeneration increased the percentage of VGlut1+ and VGlut2+ axo-spinous synapses wrapped by astrocytes but had no effect on axo-dendritic synapses. Conclusion: Hence, perisynaptic astrocytes wrapping striatal glutamatergic synapses exhibit substantial morphological and functional alterations following DA neuronal degeneration making them a potential target for therapeutic interventions in PD.

The assessment of energy performance in smart buildings has emerged as a prominent area of research driven by the increasing energy consumption trends worldwide. Analyzing the attributes of buildings using optimized machine learning models has been a highly effective approach for estimating the cooling load (CL) and heating load (HL) of the buildings. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) is used as the basic predictor that undergoes optimization using five metaheuristic algorithms, namely coati optimization algorithm (COA), gazelle optimization algorithm (GOA), incomprehensible but intelligible-in-time logics (IbIL), osprey optimization algorithm (OOA), and sooty tern optimization algorithm (STOA) to predict the CL and HL of a residential building. The models are trained and tested via an Energy Efficiency dataset (downloaded from UCI Repository). A score-based ranking system is built upon three accuracy evaluators including mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), root mean square error (RMSE), and percentage-Pearson correlation coefficient (PPCC) to compare the prediction accuracy of the models. Referring to the results, all models demonstrated high accuracy (e.g., PPCCs >89%) for predicting both CL and HL. However, the calculated final scores of the models (43, 20, 39, 38, and 10 in HL prediction and 36, 20, 42, 42, and 10 in CL prediction for the STOA, OOA, IbIL, GOA, and COA, respectively) indicated that the GOA, IbIL, and STOA perform better than COA and OOA. Moreover, a comparison with various algorithms used in earlier literature showed that the GOA, IbIL, and STOA provide a more accurate solution. Therefore, the use of ANN optimized by these three algorithms is recommended for practical early forecast of energy performance in buildings and optimizing the design of energy systems.

Abstract In practical engineering, whilst estimating the jacking force of rectangular pipe jacking using an empirical formula, the results obtained from said formula deviate from reality and manifest inadequate engineering guidance. The equations governing the applied force during the installation of rectangular pipe jacking have been derived for various contact states involving the interaction between the pipe, slurry, and soil. The distinct stress conditions in the pipe jacking process as well as the shear-friction mechanism between the pipe and the surrounding soil have been taken into account. The displacement control method is introduced to simulate the pipe–slurry–soil contact friction during the pipe jacking process in FLAC3D. Additionally, the pipe jacking behavior, pipe–slurry–soil contact frictional force, and variation law of the jacking force are also simulated. Mutual verification was carried out using the results obtained from field monitoring, numerical and theoretical. The findings are as follows: the established equations for calculating pipe jacking force are highly applicable across various conditions of pipe–slurry–soil contact, and the outcomes derived from theoretical formulas align remarkably well with those obtained through field monitoring and numerical simulation. During the jacking process, the sidewalls exhibit initial partial sliding followed by a complete movement as the jacking force intensifies and subsequently diminishes, eventually attaining stability during the behavior adjustment phase. Moreover, the bottom pipe–soil contact is the most common situation in actual construction.

A novel poly(ether block amide) (PEBA) based solid-state polymer electrolyte (SPE) was prepared using a casting method, in which 20wt% lithium (Li) bis-(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles were used as the Li salt and solid plasticizer, respectively. In the case of addition of 3wt% Al2O3 nanoparticles, ion conductivity of the obtained PEBA 2533–20wt% LiTFSI-3wt% Al2O3 SPE was 3.57 × 10−5 S cm−1 at 25 °C. Furthermore, the Li symmetrical battery assembled with it showed excellent cycling stability (1000 h) at 0.1 mA cm−2. While, the assembled all-solid-state Li/PEBA 2533–20% LiTFSI-3wt% Al2O3/LiFePO4 (areal capacity: 0.15 mAh cm−2) battery maintained 94.9% of the maximal capacity (133.9 mAh g−1@0.1 mA cm−2) at 60 °C even after 650 cycles with a superior average coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.84%. By using X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS), self-aggregation layer (SAL) of polyamide 12 (PA12) of PEBA 2533 was discovered, which should contribute to promoting the robustness of lithium fluoride (LiF) enriched solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer. In addition, it is considered that the state of interface between SPE and cathode should be the cause of voltage polarization of the full cell.

As a new type of green solvent with non-volatility, high thermal stability, high conductivity and various adjustable properties, ionic liquid (IL) has been widely used in the capture and electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2). To date, many studies have been made to investigate CO2 capture by using different types of ILs and CO2 electrochemical reduction (CO2ER) with ILs as either electrolyte or other catalytic active components. Some structure–activity relationships between the structure and adsorption or catalytic properties of ILs have been found. Herein, the absorption performances and mechanisms of conventional ILs, amino-functionalized ILs, non-amino functionalized ILs and supported ILs for CO2 capture, as well as the performances and action mechanisms of ILs as the electrolyte, electrolyte additive, and/or electrode modifier in the process of CO2ER are summarized. Many researches indicate that the unique interaction between the anion or cation of IL and CO2 has a significant contribution to promote the absorption and conversion of CO2. However, the ILs used for CO2 capture and electrochemical reduction should be further explored. Especially, a more in-depth investigation of the adsorption and catalytic mechanisms with the help of quantum chemical calculation, molecular simulation, and in situ characterization techniques is necessary. It is expected to design and develop more efficient ILs used for CO2 capture and conversion on a large scale.

Soybean can serve as an efficient carbon and nitrogen source for in-situ fabrication of efficient composite electrocatalysts with conductive nitrogen-doped carbon (N-C) material. In this study, the iron-doped cobalt nitride/phosphide (Fe-Co3N/CoP) nanosheet was composited with a conductive N-C material by using soybean as C and N source, as well as NH3 as additional nitrogen source. During the nitridation process of Fe-Co3N, N-C bond was formed as a newly generated Co(Fe)-N-C active sites. Therefore, it fabricates a good microscopic contact interface between the catalyst and carbon material for charge transfer. Besides, the introduction of Fe-CoP by partially phosphating Fe-Co3N further improved the OER activity due to the high catalytic activity of Co sites with high valence state. As a result, the obtained electrocatalyst exhibited overpotentials as low as 285 and 390 mV for supporting 10 and 100 mA/cm−2 current densities. This work indicates that the design of materials with good interfaces could be an effective approach for the preparation of electrocatalysts for water electrolysis.

Abstract Background It has been known that ABO blood groups are linked to the phenotypes of certain diseases; however, and the relationship between ABO blood groups and postoperative pain have not been extensively studied, especially in children. This study was to investigate whether there would be an association between the four major ABO blood groups and postoperative pain, as indicated by the differences in pain scores and rescue fentanyl requirements among blood groups in children after adenotonsillectomy. Methods A total of 124 children, aged 3–7 years, ASA I or II, and undergoing elective adenotonsillectomy were enrolled in the study. Postoperative pain was evaluated using the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale (CHEOPS) and the rescue fentanyl requirement in post anesthesia care unit (PACU) was analyzed. Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) score and the duration of PACU were recorded. The postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) within 24 h were documented. Results Among four blood type groups, no significant differences were observed regarding surgery time, and the gaps of fentanyl given at the anesthesia induction and the first rescue fentanyl injection in PACU. However, patients from AB and B blood groups had significantly higher pain score at initial CHEOPS assessment and consequently, higher consumption of rescue fentanyl during PACU stay. A significantly higher percentage of patients had received > 1 μg/kg rescue fentanyl. Higher PAED scores were also observed in AB and B blood groups. Conclusion Paediatric patients with AB and B blood type had higher postoperative CHEOPS pain score and required significantly more fentanyl for pain control than those with A and O blood type after T&A. The initial scores of PAED in patients with AB and B blood type were also higher than that in patients with A and O blood type.

Direct conversion of syngas from those non-petroleum carbon resources to higher alcohols are very attractive due to the process simplicity with low energy consumption. However, the reaction always suffers from low yield as well as low selectivity. Herein, effective increase of higher alcohols proportion in the product is realized by direct conversion of syngas over electronically-modulated ZnO semiconductor via Cu doping. It is considered that the lower Fermi level and narrower band gap of catalysts by embedding Cu2+ into ZnO lattice could facilitate donor reaction by boosting the process for the reactants to obtain electrons on the catalyst surface for the formation of CHx species and carbon chain growth, in which the Cu doping on ZnO lattice play important role in the promotion of CO adsorption. As a result, 4 mol% Cu doped ZnO exhibits a highest C2+OH/ROH fraction of 48.1%. Selectivity of catalysts from straight chain alcohol is better than from branch chain alcohol, which is different from promoted Cu/ZnO based catalyst. However, over-doping of Cu (7 mol%) on ZnO results in the aggregation Cu species on ZnO surface, leading to a sharp decrease of higher alcohols proportion to 3.2%. The results shed light on the nature that a direct correlation between semiconductor Fermi level and synthesis of higher alcohols, and the semiconductor-based catalysts mainly accelerate the hydrogenation reactions by enhancing thermally excited electron transfer.

Currently, CO2 conversion and utilization have become a key to mitigate the global warming. In this study, a novel separate-type autothermal dry reforming of methane (S-ATDRM) system is proposed and simulated, in which the methane dry reforming combined with methane partial oxidation is performed in a circulating fluidized bed with exergy recuperation to eliminate the negative effect of the products of CH4 partial oxidation on the DRM reaction and further improve the CO2 conversion efficiency. The results demonstrate that this S-ATDRM system can achieve an exergy efficiency of 84.7 %, and about 1055.7 kW of exergy can be recuperated from the process for crude syngas cooling and reapplied for pre-heating of feedstocks of CO2, O2 and CH4. It is found that the largest exergy destruction in this system occurs in the partial oxidation reactor, which occupies ca. 45.6 % of the whole exergy loss. Comparing with the conventional ATDRM system, although the exergy of S-ATDRM system is decreased by approximately 0.3 %, the CO2 conversion is substantially increased by about 11.3 %.

The effective conductivity of a composite containing cylindrical fibers of graded materials has been theoretically investigated. Typical graded profiles were considered and the response to an applied electric field was studied in detail. The effective conductivity of the composites was calculated based on the analytic solution for an isolated graded fiber inclusion in the dilute limit. A composite containing fibers of graded shells was considered, which is a useful model to simulate the effect of a general graded conductivity profile. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Clinical studies have shown that social defeat is an important cause of mood-related disorders, accompanied by learning and memory impairment in humans. The mechanism of mood-related disorders has been widely studied. However, the specific neural network involved in learning and memory impairment caused by social defeat remains unclear. In this study, behavioral test results showed that the mice induced both learning and memory impairments and mood-related disorders after exposure to chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). c-Fos immunofluorescence and fiber photometry recording confirmed that CaMKIIα expressing neurons of the piriform cortex (PC) were selectively activated by exposure to CSDS. Next, chemogenetics and optogenetics were performed to activate PC CaMKIIα expressing neurons, which showed learning and memory impairment but not mood-related disorders. Furthermore, chemogenetic inhibition of PC CaMKIIα expressing neurons significantly alleviated learning and memory impairment induced by exposure to CSDS but did not relieve mood-related disorders. Therefore, our data suggest that the overactivation of PC CaMKIIα expressing neurons mediates CSDS-induced learning and memory impairment, but not mood-related disorders, and provides a potential therapeutic target for learning and memory impairment induced by social defeat.

Abstract Transition‐metal‐based layered double hydroxides (TM‐LDHs) nanosheets are promising electrocatalysts in the renewable electrochemical energy conversion system, which are regarded as alternatives to noble metal‐based materials. In this review, recent advances on effective and facile strategies to rationally design TM‐LDHs nanosheets as electrocatalysts, such as increasing the number of active sties, improving the utilization of active sites (atomic‐scale catalysts), modulating the electron configurations, and controlling the lattice facets, are summarized and compared. Then, the utilization of these fabricated TM‐LDHs nanosheets for oxygen evolution reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction, urea oxidation reaction, nitrogen reduction reaction, small molecule oxidations, and biomass derivatives upgrading is articulated through systematically discussing the corresponding fundamental design principles and reaction mechanism. Finally, the existing challenges in increasing the density of catalytically active sites and future prospects of TM‐LDHs nanosheets‐based electrocatalysts in each application are also commented.

Fast pyrolysis of biomass is an attractive way to produce bio-oil since it can convert most of biomass components directly into liquid fuel. However, the bio-oils obtained from such a fast pyrolysis process always have highly complex oxygenated compounds with high viscosity, serious corrosivity, and rather instability. Thus, before the raw bio-oils are used as fuel or chemical feedstock, they must be upgraded, especially deoxygenated. Cracking of bio-oils over porous solid catalysts such as zeolite-based catalysts at ambient pressure is considered one of effective ways for the bio-oil upgrading, especially in which hydrogen gas is not necessary. Herein, zeolite-based catalysts (mainly HZSM-5 based catalysts) for the upgrading of pyrolysis bio-oils are critically reviewed. The effects of porous structure, acidity and other parameters including biomass type, biomass/catalyst ratio and operation temperature on cracking activity, selectivity, stability and deactivation are summarized. While, the proposed mechanisms on the bio-oil upgrading over the zeolite-based catalysts and the possibility for the application of the developed catalysts in the industrial process are discussed. Furthermore, the main strategies including metal modification, construction of zeolites with a hierarchical structure and synthesis of special morphologies with hollow structure or core/shell structure and nanosheet structures for the improvement of deoxygenation property performance are introduced. It is expected to provide a guidance for the design and fabricate more excellent zeolite-based catalysts and their application for high-quality bio-oil production from fast biomass pyrolysis.

Abstract Background Senior medical students feel unprepared for surgical procedures and care for surgery patients when they begin their internship. This study sought to introduce and evaluate a surgical boot camp training for senior medical students. Methods A 44-h surgical boot camp program of lectures on clinical practice simulation, anatomical dissections, and simulated operation on cadavers was designed, implemented, and evaluated during the 2018 to 2019 academic year. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess students’ perceptions of the content, delivery, and self-confidence. The mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (mini-CEX) and the Operative Performance Rating System were used to assess skills essential to good clinical care and to facilitate feedback. Results Over 93% of the students were satisfied with the surgical boot camp, training equipment, and learning materials provided. After six sessions of training, 85.3% reported gaining self-confidence and performed better in some surgical procedures such as major gastrectomy. The mini-CEX scores suggested significant improvement in the students’ clinical skills, attitudes, and behaviors (P

The purpose of this study is to alter the biomass of Sargassum sp. into elective fills and high valuable biomaterials in a hydrothermal process at 200oC for 90 minutes, using ZnCl2 and CaCl2 activating agents, withChClas a catalyst. This method generatedthree primaryoutputs: hydrochar, bio-oil, and gasproducts. ChCl to water ratio varies from 1:3, 1:1, and 3:1. The hydrochar yield improved when the catalyst ratio was increased, but the bio-oil and gas yield declined. The highest hydrochar yields were 76.95, 63.25, and 44.16 percent in ZnCl2, CaCl2, and no activating agent samples, respectively.The porosity analysis observed mesopore structures with the most pore diameters between 3.9-5.2 nm with a surface area between 44.71-55.2. The attribute of interaction between activator and catalyst plays a role in pore formation. The hydrochar products with CaCl2 showed the best thermal stability. From the whole experiment, the optimum hydrochar yield (76.95%), optimum surface area (55.42 m2 g-1), and the increase in carbon content from 21.11 to 37.8% were achieved at the ratio of ChCl to water was three, and the activating agent of ZnCl2. The predominant bio-oil components were hexadecane, hexadecanoic, and 9-octadecenoic acids, with a composition of 51.65, 21.44, and 9.87%, respectively the remaining contained aromatic alkanes and other fatty acids. The findings of this study reported that adding activating agents and catalysts improve hydrochar yield and characteristics of hydrochar and bio-oil products, suggesting the potential of hydrochar as a solid fuel or biomaterial and bio-oil as liquid biofuel

Direct electrolytic splitting of seawater for the production of H2 using ocean energy is a promising technology that can help achieve carbon neutrality. However, owing to the high concentrations of chlorine ions in seawater, the chlorine evolution reaction always competes with the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the anode, and chloride corrosion occurs on both the anode and cathode. Thus, effective electrocatalysts with high selectivity toward the OER and excellent resistance to chloride corrosion should be developed. In this critical review, we focus on the prospects of state-of-the-art metal-oxide electrocatalysts, including noble metal oxides, non-noble metal oxides and their compounds, and spinel- and perovskite-type oxides, for seawater splitting. We elucidate their chemical properties, excellent OER selectivity, outstanding anti-chlorine-corrosion performance, and reaction mechanisms. In particular, we review metal oxides that operate at high current densities, near industrial application levels, based on special catalyst design strategies.

A novel green pectin-driven sol-gel with an auto-combustion route was successfully applied for the synthesis of manganese oxide catalysts, which exhibited superior catalytic performance for low-temperature combustion of toluene compared to those cases using manganese oxide catalysts synthesized by traditional citric acid and glycine-driven sol-gel routes. The characterization results showed that the MnOx-P catalyst synthesized by the present method exhibited a unique hierarchical mesoporous structure with lower crystallinity and smaller grain size, leading to abundant active species and defect structures. Comparing with the catalysts synthesized by those traditional sol-gel methods, the MnOx-P catalyst had excellent low-temperature reducible performance and better oxygen mobility, which is considered to be resulted from the specific interaction of chelation and calcination processes. In addition, the MnOx-P catalyst exhibited satisfactory long-term stability and water tolerance during catalytic toluene combustion process.

A method based on the measurement of out-of-plane displacement by the phase-shifting digital speckle pattern interferometry is proposed to detect the edge of internal defects. The out-of-plane displacement is scanned by the scanning method of gradient streamlines first, which can provide paths through the defect edge with the best signal-to-noise ratio everywhere. Then, continuous wavelet transform (CWT) combined with the weighted structural intensity of the wavelet maxima is applied to detect the hidden singularities of the gradient streamlines that form the defect edge later. Moreover, the weighted structural intensity method is optimized to adapt to the detection of the hidden singularity by CWT. The results of theory, simulation, and experiments agree well, and the proposed method is efficient in internal defect detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyrolysis technology has received increasing attention in recent years due to its great potential in the field of low-rank coal clean and efficient conversion. Since pyrolysis reaction is very fast and prone to overreaction, the downer-type reactor is considered as a pyrolyzer due to its unique plug flow reactor characteristics. However, the low solids holdup, which is not beneficial for the fast heat transfer, limits its industrial application. Thus, how to realize high-density operation is crucial to the successful application of the downer reactor. Herein, the definition and strategies of high-density operation in the downer were introduced at first. And then, considering the increasing influence of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the fluidization industry, the state-of-the-art progress in downer simulation was reviewed, in which the newly developed drag models for downers were carefully discussed and compared. Also, to help prediction of the pyrolysis behaviors, the widely used pyrolysis kinetic models were systematically summarized. Combined with the potential of the downer in the field of coal pyrolysis, the relevant research progress of hot-state simulation of the downer pyrolyzer were introduced and analyzed. Finally, the suggestions on how to carry out follow-up work were given. It is expected that this review could give a better understanding for designing and optimizing downer pyrolyzer.