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In this study, we employ a Random Forest approach to estimate sea ice thickness (SIT) using Fengyun-3E (FY-3E) and Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) data. This method relies on four input parameters: incidence angle (θ), reflectivity (Γ), sea ice salinity (S), and sea ice temperature (T). In addition, FY-3E can receive both Global Positioning System (GPS) and Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) reflected signals. Evaluation for the Arctic region based on data spanning from October 2022 to April 2023 reveals that the proposed models trained on GPS and BDS signals from FY-3E achieve high consistency and low error. Take GPS signals as an example, coefficients of determination are 0.97 and 0.91 and mean absolute errors are 0.019 m and 0.032 m for the training and test sets, respectively. In general, SIT inversion based on GPS signals slightly exhibits a higher accuracy than that based on BDS signals, but both approaches display high performances. The areas with the highest accuracy of SIT estimation based on GPS and BDS signals are the Shelikhov Bay and the Okhotsk Sea, followed by the Bering Sea and the Bering Strait. We conclude that machine learning and data fusion are effective for SIT estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposing a waxy crude oil to an electric field represents an emerging environmentally sound strategy for improving the cold flowability of oil. However, a substantial knowledge gap still exists regarding the quantitative relationship between the viscosity reduction and treatment parameters (field strength, treatment time, the volume of treated oil, etc.). This study endeavors to investigate the physical essence of the effect of these treatment parameters on the viscosity reduction and its duration. It was found when subjected to electric fields of varying strengths (0.5–5 kV/mm) for sufficient time, a same maximum viscosity reduction of approximately 40% can be achieved regardless of the applied field strength. Further research has elucidated that the factor determining the viscosity reduction is energy input, rather than the field strength as was reported previously, and the inputted energy may work in three stages: first, it works for initiating a decrease in viscosity. Subsequently, the continued energy input further reduces the oil viscosity and ultimately achieves a maximum reduction at that temperature. Then further inputted energy enhances the duration of the viscosity reduction. Fundamentally, the inputted energy density, i.e., the inputted energy per unit volume/mass of the oil, is the essential factor. These new findings facilitate further understanding of the negative electrorheological effect and its mechanism of crude oil and may help for the development of electric treaters for reducing crude oil viscosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to report the most current data on the incidence and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) associated with osteoarthritis in China from 1990 to 2019. Publicly available modelled data from Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019 were used. The incidence and DALY, due to osteoarthritis in China, stratified by sex, trends of associated risk factors, assess the age, period, and cohort effects on the long-term trends of osteoarthritis incidence and DALY in China from 1990 to 2019. We found that the age-standardized incidence and DALY rates of osteoarthritis in China are higher than the average levels in Asia, Africa, and Oceania. In 2019, the number of cases of osteoarthritis in China was 10,681,311, an increase of 132.66% compared with 1990. the DALY of osteoarthritis in China was 4,724,885 person-years, which was 159.70% higher than that in 1990. In 2019, the incidence and DALY rates of osteoarthritis in China was 750.96/100,000,332.19/100,000. High body-mass as risk factors for osteoarthritis DALY with the population attributable proportion (PAF) increasing steadily from 1990 to 2019. The incidence and DALY rates of three types of osteoarthritis from high to low are osteoarthritis knee, osteoarthritis hand, and osteoarthritis hip. Age–period–cohort model showed that the incidence rate of osteoarthritis in China shows a trend of increasing first and then decreasing with age; concurrently, the DALY rate of osteoarthritis in China increased with age. For the period effect, we found that the period rate ratio (RR) of osteoarthritis incidence and DALY rates kept increasing in the cohort born before 2005–2009, and then, it was gradually reduced by year of birth in the cohort born after 2005–2009. As for cohort effect, the cohort RR of incidence rate of osteoarthritis almost has no change, while the cohort RR of DALY rate of osteoarthritis kept increasing from 1990 to 2019. The burden and impact of osteoarthritis in China are substantial and are increasing. Adopting suitable control and preventive community measures to reduce modifiable risk factors is needed to reduce the current and future burden of osteoarthritis in China. Key Points • This paper analyzes the disease burden of osteoarthritis in China for the first time and discusses the influence on the disease burden of osteoarthritis from the perspectives of age, period, and cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The objective of this study is to investigate whether there is a correlation between a high TyG index (serum triglyceride glucose index) and higher mortality rates among patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). Methods This study utilized a single-center retrospective cohort as the basis for its methods.. From January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2015, a total of 519 PD patients kept under observation until December 31, 2018. There searchers employed the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards modelsto examine the correlation between TyG index levels and mortality. Results Over a period of 40.5 months, 104 (20.0%) individuals with Parkinson's disease passed away, with 55 (52.9%) of these deaths attributed to cardiovascular disease (CVD). The serum median TyG index at baseline was 8.44 (6.48, 11.94). Through Cox regression analysis subject to the adjustments of such parameters as gender, age, body mass index ( BMI), presence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin, serum albumin, serum Ferritin, total cholesterol, renal residual function(RRF), An increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 2.22,95%CI: 1.43 - 3.44, P < 0.001) and CVD mortality (HR = 2.50,95%CI: 1.34 - 4.65, P = 0.004) was observed with a higher baseline TyG index (8.44). A comparable impact was observed in the correlation between the average TyG index over time (TA-TyG index) and both all-cause mortality and CVD mortality. (HR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.25 - 2.90, P = 0.003; HR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.14 - 3.70, P = 0.017, respectively). Conclusion PD patients with a higher serum TyG index have a greater risk of all-cause mortality and mortality related to cardiovascular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Compared to hydrogen production through pure water photocatalysis, the direct utilization of seawater for hydrogen production aligns better with the principles of sustainable development. Seawater, however, contains impurity ions like Na+ and Cl−, which pose higher demands on photocatalysts. It is widely acknowledged that RuO 2 and TiO 2 demonstrate excellent stability in seawater. Consequently, this study focuses on the model system of RuO 2 -modified TiO 2 for investigating hydrogen production in simulated seawater. TiO 2 /RuO 2 nanofibers (NFs) were synthesized via a one-step electrospinning method, ensuring intimate contact between the two components. The hydrogen production activity of TiO 2 /RuO 2 NFs in simulated seawater nearly matches that in pure water. Remarkably, RuO 2 serves as an oxidation cocatalyst, effectively scavenging holes from the valence band of TiO 2 and enhancing the separation efficiency of electrons and holes. Interestingly, Cl− ions, similar to RuO 2 , contribute to reducing excess holes. This study lays the groundwork for future research into hydrogen production from seawater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microstructure evolution of 2196 Al-Li alloy during aging was investigated by microhardness test, transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis and in situ resistivity measurement. The results showed that the resistivity of the 2196 Al-Li alloy during aging rapidly decreased during the first few hours, and then gradually increased after reaching the minimum value, which is temperature−dependent. The microstructure of the alloy was dominated by the δ′ phase after aging at 160 °C for 2 h while the T1 phase could hardly be seen until it had been aged for 16 h. As the aging time went on, significant ripening appeared for the δ′ phase while typical growth could be observed for the T1 phase. The increase in the resistivity of the 2196 Al-Li alloy during aging was attributed to the stronger electron scattering capacity of the T1 precipitation and the coupling effect between the T1 and δ′ phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hot deformation behavior and flow stress characteristics of experimental 26CrMo7S steel were analyzed using a thermal simulator under a range of conditions, including a strain rate range of 0.01~10 s−1, a temperature range of 850~1250 °C, and a maximum deformation amount of 70%. The Arrhenius constitutive model was built for the corresponding conditions, and the model's accuracy was verified through error analysis. Additionally, hot processing maps were constructed to analyze the processing zone of the steel under different hot deformation conditions. Finally, the microstructure of the processing zones was observed and verified using the electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). The results indicate that the interaction of work hardening and dynamic softening influences the hot deformation behavior of 26CrMo7S steel. The Arrhenius constitutive equation with a value of the correlation coefficient (r = 0.99523) accurately predicts the flow behavior of 26CrMo7S steel under different strains. The optimal processing zone obtained with the hot processing maps is within a deformation range of 1010~1190 °C and a strain rate range of 0.01~10−1.5 s−1, and the obtained microstructure is in good agreement with the analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the risk factors related to vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VaIN) severity. This retrospective study included patients with histologically confirmed VaIN diagnosed at Hubei Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital, China, between January 2017 and October 2021. The primary outcomes were persistence, remission, progression, and recurrence. Multiple ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors of VaIN severity. A total of 175 patients were included, 135 (77.1%) with VaIN 1, 19 (10.9%) with VaIN 2, and 21 (12%) with VaIN 3. Patients with VaIN 3 were older than those with VaIN1 2 (P < 0.001). The ratio of patients with concomitant cervical lesions increased with VaIN grade (23.7%, 47.4%, and 47.6% for VaIN 1, 2, and 3, respectively). The proportion of patients with intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 3 increased with the VaIN grade (3.1%, 44.5%, and 80% for VaIN 1, 2, and 3, respectively, respectively; all P < 0.001). In patients with VaIN 1, 19.4% had regression (spontaneous regression in 90.5%) and 80.6% underwent laser ablation (regression in 93.1%). In patients with VaIN 2 and 3, 3.1% showed no regression, 53.1% underwent laser ablation (regression in 76.4%), and 73.8% underwent excision (regression in 78.7%). Age (OR = 1.05, 95 %CI: 1.01–1.10, P = 0.010) and concomitant cervical lesion (OR = 6.99, 95 %CI: 2.31–21.12, P = 0.001) were independent risk factors for the severity of VaIN. Age and cervical lesions might be the risk factors for VaIN severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Wax molecules crystallize at ambient temperature, causing the crude oil to become a dispersed system, which poses challenges in the flow assurance of pipelines. Improving the cold flowability of crude oil is the fundamental solution to tackle these problems. Applying an electric field to waxy oil may markedly improve its cold flowability. The adhesion of charged particles on wax particles' surface under the electric field has been demonstrated as the essential mechanism of the electrorheological effect. However, the correlation between the accumulated charged particles and the induced viscosity reduction has not been explored quantitatively. In this study, the viscosity and impedance of four crude oils before and after electric treatment were measured. The conductivity changes of the oils' continuous phase were obtained by an equivalent circuit model. And then, the charged particles' concentration before and after electric treatment was calculated by the Stokes equation. The results showed there is a positive correlation between viscosity reduction and charged particle concentration reduction in the continuous phase. Importantly, this correlation is also quantitatively applicable to the results of ten different waxy oils which has been published. This study provides a quantitative basis for the mechanism of electrorheological behavior of waxy oils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with the rapid development of technology, artificial intelligence (AI) security issues represented by adversarial sample attack have aroused widespread concern in society. Adversarial samples are often generated by surrogate models and then transfer to attack the target model, and most AI models in real-world scenarios belong to black boxes; thus, transferability becomes a key factor to measure the quality of adversarial samples. The traditional method relies on the decision boundary of the classifier and takes the boundary crossing as the only judgment metric without considering the probability distribution of the sample itself, which results in an irregular way of adding perturbations to the adversarial sample, an unclear path of generation, and a lack of transferability and interpretability. In the probabilistic generative model, after learning the probability distribution of the samples, a random term can be added to the sampling to gradually transform the noise into a new independent and identically distributed sample. Inspired by this idea, we believe that by removing the random term, the adversarial sample generation process can be regarded as the static sampling of the probabilistic generative model, which guides the adversarial samples out of the original probability distribution and into the target probability distribution and helps to boost transferability and interpretability. Therefore, we proposed a score-matching-based attack (SMBA) method to perform adversarial sample attacks by manipulating the probability distribution of the samples, which showed good transferability in the face of different datasets and models and provided reasonable explanations from the perspective of mathematical theory and feature space. Compared with the current best methods based on the decision boundary of the classifier, our method increased the attack success rate by 51.36% and 30.54% to the maximum extent in non-targeted and targeted attack scenarios, respectively. In conclusion, our research established a bridge between probabilistic generative models and adversarial samples, provided a new entry angle for the study of adversarial samples, and brought new thinking to AI security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the current coronavirus (COVID-19) situation around the world, we may have to face a long-term battle with coronavirus. It is necessary to prepare and stay resilient with some other techniques to improve air quality in buildings, especially in clinics and hospitals. In this paper, we have developed Ultraviolet-C (UVC) light-emitting diode (LED) modules which can be implemented in air ducts in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system for airborne disinfection. An LED module is designed with LED panels as the basic unit so that it is easy to scale up to accommodate for air ducts with different sizes. Both experiments and simulations are carried out to study its disinfection performance. The results show that more than 76% and 85% of the pathogen can be inactivated within 60 and 90 min, respectively, in a meeting room with a volume of 107 m3 by using one LED module. Simulations for two LED modules show that the disinfection efficacy is more than two times compared to that of one LED module. In addition to the pathogen used in the experiments, the disinfection performance of the LED module for inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 virus based on the literature is investigated numerically. It shows that more than 99.70% of pathogens receive UV dose larger than 4.47 J/m2, leading to an almost 89.10% disinfection rate for SARS-CoV-2 virus within one hour using the two LED modules in the same meeting room. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep disorders are common among pregnant females. However, its association with postpartum depression (PPD) is unknown. We aimed to assess if sleep disorders during pregnancy increase the risk of PPD by a systematic review. The databases of PubMed, CENTRAL, ScienceDirect, Embase, and Google Scholar were searched for studies reporting the association between any type of sleep disorder during pregnancy and the risk of PPD. Effect sizes were pooled in a random-effects model. Sixteen studies with data of 12,614 women were included. Meta-analysis indicated that sleep disorders during pregnancy resulted in a statistically significant increased risk of PPD (OR: 2.36 95% CI: 1.72, 2.32). The overall result had high heterogeneity (I2 = 84%). Sub-group analysis based on study location (Asian vs Western), sample size (> 500 vs < 500), depression scale, and PPD assessment time did not change the results. However, we found that only poor sleep quality but not insomnia was associated with PPD. The risk was also increased only with sleep disorders measured in the 3rd trimester but not for the 1st and 2nd trimesters. Evidence suggests that sleep disorders during pregnancy may increase risk of PPD. The risk is high for sleep disorders occurring in the 3rd trimester. Based on these findings, there is a need for thorough screening and subsequent corrective measures to ensure adequate and quality sleep among pregnant females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cervical cancer is linked with the constitutive activation of growth factors and gene mutations-induced pro-survival signaling pathways. Herein, we purposed to explore the possible molecular mechanism of Foxo3a-mediated DNMT3B in the proliferation and migration of cervical cancer cells via mediating the PTEN promoter methylation. Foxo3a expression in cervical cancer was tested by qRT-PCR and western blot experiments. The cervical cancer cell biological functions with overexpression of Foxo3a were evaluated by CCK-8 assay, Transwell experiment, and flow cytometry, respectively. MS-PCR was utilized for testing the PTEN methylation levels, and ChIP experiment was implemented for evaluating the enrichment of DNMT3B in the PTEN promoter region and the binding of Foxo3a and DNMT3B. The PTEN methylation and interference with Foxo3a expression were performed in cervical cancer cells, and then their impacts on cervical cancer cell biological functions were observed. FOXO3a was expressed at a low level in cervical cancer, and its overexpression contributed to a reduction in cell proliferative, migratory and invasive capabilities, and an elevation in apoptosis rate. Foxo3a blocked its methylation with the PTEN promoter by repressing DNMT3B activity. Upon treatment with methyltransferase inhibitor (5-aza-dc), the malignant phenotypes of cervical cancer cells were diminished. 5-aza-dc neutralized the impacts of silencing Foxo3a on malignant phenotypes. This research underlines that Foxo3a blocks its methylation with the PTEN promoter by inhibiting DNMT3B activity, which subsequently impedes cervical cancer cell progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium dodecyl sulfonate and rape pollen were selected as soft and hard templates to induce ZnO formation under hydrothermal conditions, respectively. In the preparation process, zinc acetate was used as a zinc source, while urea was used as an alkali source. The precursors were calcined in the muffle furnace to obtain ZnO powders with good crystallinity. The resulting products were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that both templates could mediate the morphology and structure of ZnO crystals. Moreover, the porous cocoon-like ZnO particles induced by rape pollen showed better photocatalytic degradation performance of methylene blue than that of sodium dodecyl sulfonate. A possible formation mechanism of cocoon-like ZnO crystals is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Euonymus microcarpus (Oliv.) Sprague, is a species of evergreen shrub of the genus Euonymus, family Celastraceae. Here, we extracted the genomic DNA from the leaves of E. microcarpus and constructed a paired-end library. The chloroplast genome of E. microcarpus was generated with the high-throughput sequencing by the illumina Hiseq X Ten platform and de novo assembly. The chloroplast genome had a quadripartite structure, containing a long single copy region with a size of 85,386 bp and a short single copy region with a size of 18,456 bp, separated by two inverted repeat regions of 26,850 bp. The chloroplast genome contained 133 genes identified in total, including 87 potential protein-coding genes, 38 transfer RNA genes, and eight ribosomal RNA genes. A total of 282 simple sequence repeats and 63 long repeats were found. Furthermore, the phylogenetic relationships inferred that E. microcarpus is sister to E. japonicus and E. schensianus. A comparison of the structure of the chloroplast genomes of eight Euonymus species suggests a nucleotide variability of the junction sites and a higher divergence of non-coding regions, compared to the coding regions. The original findings of the study serves as a good reference for chloroplast genome assembly and a valuable foundation for the genetic diversity and evolution of E. microcarpus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper studies the combination of random forest (RF) and classical statistical modeling. We propose two algorithms: RF cluster + ridge and RF regression + ridge, in which the RF reduces overfitting and has a good anti-noise ability. The ridge regression can effectively handle the correlated data by the ridge penalty. To test the performance of the proposed techniques, we model and track the S&P 500 index. Index tracking aims to replicate the returns of an index fund and is very popular in finance. We compare the performance of the proposed methods with those of several existing methods. The portfolio obtained by each technique is quantified using the tracking error. We find that this combination always has higher accuracy. Empirical results show that the proposed methods are qualified for index funds. Our findings shed light on the synthesis of machine learning and statistical modeling techniques and provide an effective practice of this combination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• GNPs can reduce the viscosity and weaken the structural strength of waxy oil. • Dosage and doping temperature are the primary factors influencing the GNPs' efficacy. • The cold flowability improvements might be attributed to GNPs' nano-templating effect. Waxy crude oil exhibits poor cold flowability and complex rheological behavior at ambient temperature, posing a series of flow assurance challenges for its production and transportation. In this paper, the effects of graphene nanoparticles (GNPs) at various dosages and doping temperatures on the cold flow behaviors, such as yield stress and moduli as well as apparent viscosity, of a waxy crude oil were systematically investigated. The results indicate that the cold flowability of the waxy crude oil could be improved with an increasing GNPs dosage from 0 to 200 ppm. However, the GNPs' efficacy cannot be further improved beyond the dosage of 200 and up to 500 ppm. Doping temperature is another primary factor influencing the GNPs' efficacy. The apparent viscosity gradually decreases with the doping temperature increase from the wax appearance temperature (WAT) to the wax dissolved temperature (WDT). However, further improvement of efficacy is not observed by the continued increase of doping temperature above the WDT. Microscopy, impedance, and X-ray diffraction results indicate that GNPs could accumulate on wax particle surfaces, acting as the nano-templating effect, and thus weaken the attraction among the wax particles, which may contribute to the cold flowability improvement of waxy crude oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing nonpoint-source pollution and improving soil quality by applying best management practices (BMPs) on sloping farmland are essential for ensuring water environmental safety and sustainable agricultural development. However, little is known about the accumulative effect of the long-term application of BMPs on reducing pollution and improving soil quality in major land use types of sloping farmland in watersheds. We conducted a nine-year field experiment for citrus orchard and cropland of sloping farmland in the Three Gorges Reservoir area of China. The treatment settings for the citrus experimental plots were as follows: (1) citrus intercropped with white clover (WC), (2) citrus orchard soil mulched with straw (SM), (3) citrus intercropped with Hemerocallis flava contour hedgerows (HF) and (4) conventional citrus planting pattern (C-CK). The treatment settings for the crop experimental plots were as follows: (1) wheat-peanut rotation intercropped with Toona sinensis contour hedgerows (TS), (2) wheat-peanut rotation intercropped with alfalfa contour hedgerows (AF), (3) ryegrass-sesame rotation (RS) and (4) conventional wheat-peanut rotation (W-CK). We found that compared with C-CK and W-CK, (1) runoff, sediment, total nitrogen and total phosphorus losses were reduced by 18.0 %, 66.1 %, 35.6 % and 40.2 %, respectively, in WC; by 22.4 %, 61.2 %, 43.9 % and 52.4 %, respectively, in SM; by 25.4%, 69.5 %, 52.0 % and 58.1 %, respectively, in HF; by 45.1 %, 73.7 %, 64.6 % and 66.0 %, respectively, in TS; by 41.8 %, 67.4 %, 59.3 % and 60.8 %, respectively, in AF; and by 24.1 %, 42.9 %, 39.3 % and 40.3 %, respectively, in RS; (2) the soil quality index values of the BMP treatments increased; and (3) the application of these BMPs did not significantly affect yield or product value. We suggest the application of these BMPs on sloping farmland to (1) efficiently reduce total runoff, total sediment, and soil total nitrogen and total phosphorus losses; (2) improve soil quality; and (3) have no significant effect on output, of which the BMP HF applied to citrus orchard and the BMP TS applied to cropland are the most effective. • Clarified accumulative effects of long-term application of best management practices for two major land use types. • Best management practices reduce the runoff, sediment, and soil nutrient losses of the land use types. • Best management practices improve the soil quality without reducing the output of the land use types. • The optimal best management practices for the two major land use types in the watershed are selected. • This study is essential for identifying the optimal best management practices for watershed sloping farmland use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gelled waxy crude oils can be considered as an elasto-viscoplastic material, exhibiting the transition from linear to nonlinear viscoelasticity. The LAOStress measurements have rarely been applied in the crude oil rheology literature to investigate the nonlinear viscoelasticity. In this study, we present results of the nonlinear viscoelastic characteristics under LAOStress by a series of analytical methods of Fourier transform rheology, Chebyshev strain decomposition, Lissajous curves analysis, energy dissipation calculation, viscoelastic measures quantification, and Pipkin diagram interpretation. Both the elastic and viscous nonlinearities were found to be first strengthened before yielding and subsequently weakened after yielding with the increase in imposed stress amplitude σ0, and a more striking nonlinear response can be captured when using a lower angular frequency ω. However, the defined viscoelastic measures and energy dissipation characteristics continue to keep getting more significant with increasing σ0, even after structural fracture. The results of Lissajous curves analysis reflect that a lower applied ω is more favorable for the structural nonlinear destruction and thus flowability enhancement of interlocking waxy network. The Pipkin diagrams were finally plotted to represent the nonlinear rheological signatures to an oscillatory input, showing a higher measured yield stress under a higher imposed ω. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil moisture (SM), an important variable in water conversion between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems, plays a crucial role in ecological processes and the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems. Analyzing and exploring SM's processes and influencing factors in different permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) can better serve the regional ecological security, disaster warning, water management, etc. However, the changes and future trends of SM on the QTP in recent decades are uncertain, and the main factors affecting SM are not fully understood. The study used SM observations, the Global Land Evapotranspiration Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) SM products, meteorological and vegetation data, Mann–Kendall test, Theil–Sen estimation, Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD), and correlation methods to analyze and explore the characteristics and influencing factors of SM change in different permafrost regions of the QTP. The results show that: (1) At the pixel scale, GLEAM SM products can better reflect SM changes in the QTP in the warm season. The seasonal permafrost region is closer to the real SM than the permanent region, with a median correlation coefficient (R) of 0.738, median bias of 0.043 m3 m−3, and median unbiased root mean square errors (ubRMSE) of 0.031 m3 m−3. (2) The average SM in the QTP warm season increased at a rate of 0.573 × 10−3 m3 m−3 yr−1 over the recent 40 years, and the trend accelerated from 2005–2020. In 64.31% of the region, the soil was significantly wetted, mainly distributed in the permafrost region, which showed that the wetting rate in the dry region was faster than in the wet region. However, the wetting trend does not have a long-term continuity and has a pattern of "wetting–drying-wetting" on interannual and decadal levels, especially in the seasonal permafrost region. (3) More than 65% of the SM wetting trend on the QTP is caused by temperature, precipitation, and vegetation. However, there is apparent spatial heterogeneity in the different permafrost regions and vegetation cover conditions, and the three factors have a more substantial explanatory power for SM changes in the seasonal permafrost region. With the global climate change, the synergistic SM–Climate–Vegetation effect on the QTP tends to be more evident in the seasonal permafrost region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of information collection technology, the data that people need to deal with are also increasing, which brings problems such as isomerization of data types, poor data quality, and fast data generation speed. At present, as an important method of data fusion technology, data fusion method based on deep learning has become an effective way of data fusion under the background of big data, which has important research significance. There is a problem with heterogeneous data types between time series data and text data, and it is difficult to fuse them effectively by traditional data fusion methods. In order to make full use of the information contained in text data and improve the accuracy of time series prediction, this paper proposes a data fusion model based on FC-SAE. In this model, GloVe and CNN are used to extract the features of text data, FC neural network is used to extract the potential features of time series data, and then, the SEA model is used to fuse the data, which fully discovers the relationship between data and greatly improves the prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reasonably construct a new type of NiTiO 3 /Fe 2 P to modify porous perovskite materials and use simple high-temperature phosphating treatments. The results showed that the optimal hydrogen production performance of NiTiO 3 /Fe 2 P reached 299.00 μmol in 5 h, which is 3.68 times that of pure Fe 2 P. The existence of metal-organic framework materials as supporting materials facilitates the dispersed growth of NiTiO 3 and Fe 2 P, and avoids the aggregation of nanorods and particles. The introduction of perovskite porous nanorods is the reason for the enhanced light absorption capacity of composite materials. In addition, transition metal phosphide Fe 2 P as a co-catalyst can serve as an electron trapping center to receive electrons from NiTiO 3. Photoluminescence spectroscopy and electrochemical experiments have confirmed that transition metals have good conductivity and can effectively enhance the separation and transfer of carriers. Density functional theory calculations are used to calculate the band structure and density of states of NiTiO 3 and Fe 2 P. In conclusion, this study provides a new idea for improving the photocatalytic activity of perovskite materials by modifying porous nanorod NiTiO 3 with derivatives of MOF materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demographic information and overall survival (OS) of patients with cervical cancer (CC) (pathological stage: IA–IIA) were extracted from the TCGA database. A univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was performed to identify methylation markers significantly associated with the OS of patients in the training dataset. Then such a prognostic classifier was tested on the validation set and all subgroups. The Kaplan–Meier analysis and ROC analysis were performed to detect the ability to discriminate between patients with different risks and different OS. A DNA methylation signature which contained five genes was found to be significantly associated with the OS of CC patients by the Cox regression analysis in the training dataset. Such a signature could efficiently distinguish the patients into two risk groups with significantly different OS in both datasets. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed it had high sensitivity and specificity. Moreover, such a prognostic model also could be effectively applied to different subgroups, including groups of different ages, tumour sizes, histologic types, etc. A 5-DNA methylation signature identified by this study may act as a novel prognostic indicator for early-stage CC, and it may be helpful for the timely diagnosis and intervention of CC at pathological stages IA–IIA. What is already known on this subject? Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most common gynaecological malignant tumours. What the results of this study add? This study constructed a risk model based on a 5-DNA methylation signature for early-stage CC patients' survival prediction. What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Methylated markers have the potential to discriminate patients of different risks and different OS. Our results may shed new light on the early diagnosis and intervention, and potential therapeutic targets for CC patients at pathological stages IA–IIA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in realistic facial manipulation techniques have led to a growing interest in forgery detection due to security concerns. The presence of source-dependent information in both the forged images and the learned representations inevitably confuses the detector. To alleviate this issue, we present a Feature Disentangling and Multi-view Learning (FDML) framework to distill forgery-relevant intrinsic features from entangled information in a progressive manner, i.e., from image-level to feature-level. Towards image-level, the input image is first transformed into two complementary views, one using learnable filters to adaptively mine subtle frequency-aware clues, and the other using a novel data augmentation operation called SceneMix to weaken source-specific factors. The intermediate features output from these two branches are fully integrated through a trainable two-branch Hybrid Attention Module (HAM), guiding the effective performance of fused features. For feature-level, to automatically separate forgery-relevant features from source-relevant features and reduce the interference of irrelevant factors in decision making, two feature disentangling schemes are proposed, and finally only forgery-relevant features are used for prediction, which greatly improves the detection performance. Extensive experiments show that our framework achieves competitive performances compared with state-of-the-art works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • FeNi-based heterostructure was synthesized on a nickel foam by a simple dip-coating method at room temperature. • The heterostructure presented flower-like formed by nanosheets. • FeNi-H/NF exhibited outstanding catalytic active for hydrogen evolution reaction. • The heterostructure showed large ECSA and synergistic effect for HER. The FeNi-based heterostructure was synthesized on a nickel foam by a simple dip-coating method with zero-energy consumption at room temperature. The obtained heterostructure is flower-like and has high-performance for electrocatalyzing the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). On the FeNi-based heterostructure, the overpotential was only 228 mV at a current density of 100 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH, and can maintain 10 h stability with chronoamperometry test. The outstanding catalytic activity was attributed to the unique structure with a large electrochemical active surface area and the synergistic effect between different transition metal elements. This research afforded a new way to design low-cost and high-performance HER electrocatalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients requiring low-dose warfarin are more likely to suffer bleeding due to overdose. The goal of this work is to improve the feedforward neural network model's precision in predicting the low maintenance dose for Chinese in the aspect of training data construction. We built the model from a resampled dataset created by equal stratified sampling (maintaining the same sample number in three dose-groups with a total of 3639) and performed internal and external validations. Comparing to the model trained from the raw dataset of 19,060 eligible cases, we improved the low-dose group's ideal prediction percentage from 0.7 to 9.6% and maintained the overall performance (76.4% vs. 75.6%) in external validation. We further built neural network models on single-dose subsets to invest whether the subsets samples were sufficient and whether the selected factors were appropriate. The training set sizes were 1340 and 1478 for the low and high dose subsets; the corresponding ideal prediction percentages were 70.2% and 75.1%. The training set size for the intermediate dose varied and was 1553, 6214, and 12,429; the corresponding ideal prediction percentages were 95.6, 95.1%, and 95.3%. Our conclusion is that equal stratified sampling can be a considerable alternative approach in training data construction to build drug dosing models in the clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qi191 Au deposit is a newly discovered granite-hosted Au deposit in the Qiyugou Au orefield, located in the southern margin of the North China Craton (NCC). Gold ore bodies are hosted by both the Qi191 hornblende monzogranite and the Taihua Complex and are composed of disseminations and sparse veins. K-feldspar, quartz-sericite, and sericite-chlorite alteration formed outward from the center to the periphery of the mineralized granite. Principal ore minerals include galena, pyrite, and chalcopyrite, with minor sphalerite, hematite, pyrrhotite, gold, famatinite, and hessite. The Qi191 Au deposit formed over four successive stages of hydrothermal mineralization: a quartz stage (I), a quartz-pyrite-galena stage (II), an economic quartz-calcite-galena-pyrite stage (III), and a quartz-calcite stage (IV). The Qi191 hornblende monzogranite yields a SIMS zircon U–Pb age of 131.3 ± 1.0 Ma. Hydrothermal sericite yields a plateau 40Ar–39Ar age of 132.9 ± 1.4 Ma, which is consistent with the zircon U–Pb age, suggesting that the Qi191 Au deposit is generically related to the hornblende monzogranite. Trace element contents and S isotopic compositions of sulfides indicate that metals and S entered the hydrothermal fluid as pulses. The equilibrium temperature of S and the isotopic compositions of S–Pb reflect a magmatic source. Gold mainly precipitated as native gold in a relatively acidic and reducing environment. This work suggests that further exploration for magmatic hydrothermal gold deposits in the Qiyugou and more widely in the southern margin of the NCC should target hornblende monzogranites such as the Qi191 and Qi189 granitoids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camellia oleifera Abel. is an economically important plant for edible oils. To investigate the importance of wild bee abundance at different canopy and spatial scale for fruit set of Camellia oleifera, we evaluated the relationship of bee abundance with fruit set using yellow pan trap, with additional focus on distance and wild bee abundance counts at a farm in China for 2 years. We found that yellow traps collected 95% more individual bees than the second‐best (pink) trap colour. Looking across canopy positions, the number of wild bees (including Colletes gigas, Andrena camellia, Andrena striata, Andrena hunanensis and Andrena chekiangensis) varied significantly in each year. The fruit set also varied significantly based on canopy position. In 2018, there was with an average fruit set of 34.13% in the lower canopy, 54.30% in the middle canopy and 47.41% in the upper canopy. In 2019, fruit set was 29.67% in the lower canopy, 54.15% in the middle canopy and 47.36% in the upper canopy. Comparing inter‐annual changes, only the fruit set and number of bees in the low canopy showed significant differences between 2018 and 2019. Fruit set and wild bee abundance were positively correlated in all canopy layers in each year, and there was an interactive effect between canopy and bee abundance on fruit set. Across 205 trees, growth indicators, crown size and tree height, increased significantly from 2018 to 2019, but the fruit set did not increase with the significant increase in the number of flowers. From the spatial perspective, wild bee abundance and fruit set were positively correlated, but fruit set was negatively correlated with distance from a large bee nesting aggregation nearby. Among the variables investigated, bee abundance seems to have the strongest influence on fruit set in C. oleifera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MoSe 2 @Co 3 O 4 with excellent photocatalytic properties was prepared by simple hydrothermal and physical mixing methods. Combined with other characterizations such as XRD, XPS, photoelectrochemical characterization experiments and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra, the possible hydrogen production mechanism was proposed. The Fermi level of Co 3 O 4 is closer to the valence band. In contrast, MoSe 2 ′s Fermi level is closer to the conduction band position. The electrons in the CB of Co 3 O 4 are transferred to the CB of MoSe 2 to participate in the reaction under the action of the built-in electric field. During the past several years, transition metal compounds have shown high activity in the field of photocatalysis. Therefore, the MoSe 2 @Co 3 O 4 with excellent photocatalytic properties through simple hydrothermal and physical mixing methods was prepared. This composite material was composed of n -type semiconductor MoSe 2 and p-type semiconductor Co 3 O 4. After optimizing the loading of Co 3 O 4 , the optimal hydrogen production can reached 7029.2 μmol g-1h−1, which was 2.34 times that of single MoSe 2. In addition, some characterization methods were used to explore the hydrogen production performance of the composite catalyst under EY sensitized conditions. Among them, the UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra suggests that MoSe 2 @Co 3 O 4 exhibits stronger visible light absorption performance than the single material. Fluorescence performance and photoelectrochemical characterization experiments further prove that, the special structure formed by MoSe 2 and Co 3 O 4 and the existence of p-n heterojunction effectively accelerate the separation and transfer of carriers meanwhile inhibit the recombination probability of electron-hole pairs. Combined with other characterizations such as XRD, XPS, SEM and BET, the possible hydrogen production mechanism was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paraffin molecules in crude oil crystalize and precipitate out as the oil cools, resulting in a sharp increase in oil viscosity and further the gelation of the oil. The waxy crude oil gel exhibits complex rheological behaviors, such as viscoelasticity, yield stress, and thixotropy, posing challenges to the flow assurance of pipelines. Previous studies have verified that applying a high-voltage electric field to a flowing liquid oil can significantly reduce its viscosity. In this work, the electrorheological behaviors of waxy crude oil gel are explored by a stress-controlled rheometer equipped with in situ DC electric field manipulation. It is reported for the first time that the gel structure can be significantly weakened upon the application of an electric field for a duration of not less than 10 s, with the yield stress, storage modulus, loss modulus, and apparent viscosity reduced by up to 90%. In addition, the gel structure fracture is observed to transit from brittle-like to ductile-like. A stronger structure weakening effect can be obtained at a higher field strength and lower temperature. The structure weakening effect induced by the electric field can be maintained for a certain period of time after the removal of the electric field, with a recovery of yield stress and moduli less than 10% in 48 h. We hold the view that the electrorheological behaviors of waxy oil should be attributed to the weakened attraction between wax particles induced by the electric field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has focused attention on airborne transmission of viruses. Using realistic air flow simulation, we model droplet dispersion from coughing and study the transmission risk related to SARS-CoV-2. Although this model defines most airborne droplets as 8–16 µm in diameter, we infer that larger droplets of 32–40 µm in diameter may potentially be more infectious due to higher viral content. Use of face masks is therefore recommended for both personal and social protection. We found social distancing effective at reducing transmission potential across all droplet sizes. However, the presence of a human body 1 m away modifies the aerodynamics so that downstream droplet dispersion is enhanced, which has implications on safe distancing in queues. At 1 m distance, we found that an average of 0.55 viral copies is inhaled for a cough at median loading, scalable up to 340 copies at peak loading. Droplet evaporation results in significant reduction in droplet counts, but airborne transmission remains possible even under low humidity conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Organic-inorganic hybrid 2D membrane constructed by Dopa micocapsule and MXene. • Enhanced solvent flux and stability of hybrid membrane compared to Dopa membrane. • Contribution of MXene oxidation to the chelation with Dopa and membrane stability. • Evaluation of membrane stability by both swelling and accelerated failure test. Two Dimensional membranes, which are usually constructed by inorganic nanosheets, have shown great potentials in efficient separation of low-molecular-weight chemicals. In this study, a novel type of organic–inorganic hybrid two-dimensional membrane is designed and prepared by co-assembly of a two-dimensional organic building block, Dopa thin-walled microcapsule, and a typical inorganic nanosheet, MXene. The introduction of MXene not only increases the distance between adjacent Dopa microcapsules and improves the solvent flux of the membrane, but also improves the structural stability by modulating the chelation strength of MXene with the Dopa microcapsules. The optimal Dopa/MXene composite membrane shows good performance in the field of organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN), with a flux of 723 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 for methanol and reactive black rejection of more than 90%. All the Dopa/MXene hybrid membranes show better stability than MXene lamellar membranes and MXene/Dopa hybrid membranes (where Dopa microcapsule is inserted into MXene membrane), demonstrating the advantages of organic species in enhancing interfacial adhesion. More interestingly, since the chelation between Dopa and MXene mainly depends on the presence of TiO 2 in MXene, the oxidation of MXene, which often raises concerns of instability, herein is found to further increase the rejection and stability of Dopa/MXene hybrid membranes with only slight decrease of solvent flux. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying a high-voltage electric field to waxy oil can significantly reduce its viscosity near the pour point, and the viscosity recovers gradually after the removal of the electric field. The impact of shear, which is an inevitable occurrence during oil pipeline transportation, on the durability of viscosity reduction remains inadequately explored. In this study, four waxy crude oils were subjected to electric fields with various strengths, and the effect of shear on the viscosity and impedance of treated oils was evaluated. The results revealed that a higher field strength promotes the accumulation of more colloidal particles (asphaltenes and resins) on wax particle surfaces, resulting in longer maintenance of viscosity reduction. Shear exhibited a contrasting impact on electrically-treated oils' viscosity: it hastened the disappearance of the modification effect of oils with low liquid phase viscosity and small colloidal particle size, but preserved the viscosity reduction of oils with high liquid phase viscosity and large colloidal particle size. Further investigation revealed that shear disrupted the interconnection between colloidal particles and wax particles, and promoted the collision and adhesion of free-moving colloidal particles with wax particles. The competition between these two effects determined the effect of shear on the viscosity of treated oils. • Higher field strength resulted in a longer maintenance of viscosity reduction. • Shear exhibited a contrasting impact on the viscosity of electrically-treated oils. • The state of charged colloidal particles under shear determined the shear effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the health risks associated with red meat as listed by the World Health Organization, the work presented in this article aimed to elucidate the interaction between 5′-CMP–supplemented feed and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) in experimental animals in vivo. 5′-CMP was added to the diet of 90-, 180-, and 270-day-old Xiang pigs, and after 30 days, the Neu5Gc contents, physicochemical parameters, and free amino acid contents of muscle and internal viscera were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection. The mechanism by which 5′-CMP affects Neu5Gc contents was investigated using molecular docking. Results show that 5′-CMP significantly decreased the Neu5Gc content in 180-day-old Xiang pigs (P < 0.05) but had no effect on the Neu5Gc contents in 90- and 270-day-old Xiang pigs. Umami amino acids were significantly increased in 180-day-old Xiang pigs. In the 90- and 270-day-old pigs, histidine increased by 10.38 and 17.87%, respectively. The other free amino acids were either reduced or not affected. Moreover, the 5′-CMP–supplemented diet did not affect the physicochemical parameters of the longissimus muscle in the Xiang pigs. 5′-CMP could occupy almost all the sialyltransferase active-site residues but not His302 and showed inhibition of the sialyltransferase activity. The results provided an experimental basis for the subsequent reduction of Neu5Gc in red meat before slaughter. Intervention with 5′-CMP to modify Neu5Gc contents in Xiang pigs of different ages is discussed. This study aims to discover an effective method for reducing the risk of chronic disease. The inhibition mechanism of 5′-CMP on sialyltransferase and CMAH was explored by molecular docking. The addition of 5′-CMP to feed did not affect the processed-meat characteristics of Xiang pigs. 5′-CMP provides a novel tactic for reducing Neu5Gc content in red meat before slaughter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient and stable NiTiO3/MoS2−P photocatalyst was prepared with means of hydrothermal and calcination. After optimization, the maximum hydrogen production of the composite sample reached 337.82 μmol in 5 h. After phosphating NiTiO3 nanorods and MoS2, the original structure of 3D nanorods and 2D nanosheets was maintained, which forms a tight interface between the two materials. In addition, the heterojunction established in the NiTiO3/MoS2−P composite material resulted in good separation of electrons and holes, thereby improving the photocatalytic efficiency under light conditions. Efficient charge transfer efficiency was also confirmed in photoelectrochemical experiments. Furthermore, photoluminescence spectroscopy experiments have confirmed that the formation of heterojunction between the two semiconductors increases the carrier lifetime of the composite catalyst and has efficient separation efficiency. SEM, TEM, BET, UV‐vis DRS and other series of characterization methods were used to characterize the prepared materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

· Demonstrated theoretical inconsistency in recent three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical lattice Boltzmann models. · Verified Lorentz force model requirements to simultaneously recover the Maxwell stress tensor and mass conservation. · Continuity violation impacts density, velocity, and field variations in pressure-driven and closed channel flows. · Incorrect Maxwell stress tensor impacts velocities and induced fields in flows with magnetic pressure gradients. · A theoretically consistent and easily implementable model eliminates spurious errors in a broad range of flows. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) was first developed for two-dimensional (2D) flows. The magnetic component of the Lorentz force is obtained from the divergence of the Maxwell stress tensor, which is recovered by an appropriate modification to the LBM equilibrium distribution function for the solution of the velocity field. Although this method has subsequently been applied to three-dimensional (3D) flows, we show that several common modifications of the 3D equilibrium distribution function cannot simultaneously recover the Maxwell stress tensor and conserve mass exactly. Our study brings attention to this theoretical issue since such inconsistent models have been used in recent 3D LBM MHD simulations. Both requirements can be simultaneously satisfied by incorporating an additional model term to the 3D equilibrium distribution function. Three variants of Hunt's flow in a rectangular channel are considered to illustrate the undesirable consequences of using inconsistent models: 1) flow driven by a pressure difference, 2) flow driven by an external body force, and 3) inclusion of a streamwise gradient in magnetic pressure. While spurious errors were observed using inconsistent models due to the violation of mass conservation or inaccuracy in the Maxwell stress tensor, the consistent model always achieves the correct solutions in these cases and is recommended for 3D MHD simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CoAl-LDH has a larger specific surface area than ZCS nanoparticles, which makes ZCS evenly dispersed and inhibits its aggregation. The uniform dispersion of the ZCS nanoparticles exposes more active sites and facilitates the catalyst reaction. In addition, the 2D heterostructure formed by ZCS and CoAl-LDH is beneficial to the increase of hydrogen production. CoAl-LDH and Zn x Cd 1-x S (ZCS) were successfully assembled. By studying the microstructure of the catalysts, it was found that the agglomerated ZCS nanoparticles were equably dispersed on the hexagonal plate-like CoAl-LDH surface. The increase of the specific surface area of the composite catalyst further proves that the agglomeration state of ZCS nanoparticles has been improved. When the mass of the introduced CoAl-LDH is 20% of the ZCS, the maximum hydrogen production after the optimization is 1516 μmol/5h, which is about 6.9 times that of pure ZCS. UV–vis DRS in the range of 250–800 nm proved that the visible light absorption intensity of the composite is enhanced compared to pure materials. Electrochemical and photoluminescence experiments proved that the heterostructure formed between ZCS and CoAl-LDH accelerates photoelectron transfer and inhibits the recombination of electrons and holes. In addition, possible mechanisms of the sample were explored by UV–vis DRS and Mott-Schottcky. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, C@Zn x Cd 1-x S/Co 3 O 4 catalyst which with high hydrogen production activity was prepared and the catalyst was characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, Uv–vis DRS characterization. After two-step modification, the light absorption intensity of C@Zn x Cd 1-x S and C@Zn x Cd 1-x S/Co 3 O 4 showed an increasing trend compared with pure Zn x Cd 1-x S, such phenomenon was beneficial to the visible light absorption and utilization of photocatalyst. In addition, Mott-Schottky proved that Zn x Cd 1-x S catalyst formed p-n heterojunction with Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles, which further demonstrated that the modification of Zn x Cd 1-x S by Co 3 O 4 was successful. And the hydrogen production of C@Zn x Cd 1-x S/Co 3 O 4 (30%) (1405.1 μmol) was 6.9 times that of pure Zn x Cd 1-x S. The improvement of photocatalytic performance can be attributed to that carbon particles accelerate the storage and transfer of electrons, and the formation of p-n heterojunction between Co 3 O 4 and Zn x Cd 1-x S promotes the separation of photogenerated carriers effectively. In this study, the introduction of amorphous carbon and Co 3 O 4 promoted the transfer and separation of electrons and holes greatly, thereby inhibited the recombination of carriers and provided the favorable conditions for the preparation of highly efficient and stable photocatalysts. • Novel C@Zn x Cd 1-x S/Co 3 O 4 composite is prepared. • The effective separation and transport of photogenerated charge is obtained. • p-n heterostructure effectively promotes carrier separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Effect of electrical treatment on structure of waxy gel was firstly investigated. • Structural strength of waxy gel can be weakened after electrical treatment. • Treatment temperatures needs to be lower than WAT to obtain changes on gel. • Lower temperature and higher field strength favor better treatment effect. • Electrical treatment has no influence on the phase equilibrium of wax in crude oil. Waxy crude oil presents poor flowability and complicated rheological behaviors near and below its gelation temperature. In recent years, high voltage direct current electric field has emerged as a novel approach to significantly reduce the viscosity of waxy crude oil below its wax appearance temperature, but the effect of electrical treatment on the structural behaviors of gelled waxy crude oil remains unknown. In the present study, the viscoelasticity, yielding behavior, and thixotropy of gelled waxy crude oil experienced electrically-treatment were investigated over a range of electrical field strength of 0–0.8 kV/mm and treatment temperature between the wax appearance temperature and the pour point. We demonstrate for the first time that the structural strength of gelled waxy crude oil can be significantly weakened after electrical treatment below its wax appearance temperature. The magnitude of the reduction increases with the electric field strength increasing and treatment temperature decreasing. However, no significant influence was found on the wax appearance temperature, wax disappearance temperature, and the amount of precipitated and dissolved wax, revealing the phase equilibrium of wax in crude oil not affected. The investigation of the wax crystal microscopy shows that the wax crystals in the electrically-treated waxy gels are generally larger, and have larger aspect ratio and boundary box fractal dimension, which indicates that the size and morphology of wax crystals are varied by the influence of the electrical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Huacheng Square is located at the core node of Zhujiang New Town, the new central axis of Guangzhou. It is a typical case in Guangzhou in the plant landscape. Taking Huacheng Square for example, this study investigates and analyzes the landscape in the entrance space of Huacheng Square from the aspects of plants, waterscapes, landscape ornaments and facilities and pavements, and summaries the stratified mixed plant configuration pattern of the entrance space of Huacheng Square, with a view to providing references for landscape design in other parts of Guangzhou and even South China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camouflaged object detection (COD) aims to identify camouflaged objects hiding in their surroundings, which is a valuable yet challenging task. The main challenge is that there are ambiguous semantic biases in the camouflaged object datasets, which affect the results of COD. To address this challenge, we design a counterfactual intervention network (CINet) to mitigate the influences of ambiguous semantic biases and obtain accurate COD. Specifically, our CINet consists of three key modules, i.e., texture-aware interaction module (TIM), context-aware fusion module (CFM), and counterfactual intervention module (CIM). The TIM is designed to extract the refined textures for accurate localization, the CFM is proposed to fuse the multi-scale contextual features to enhance the detection performance, and the CIM is presented to learn more effective textures and make unbiased predictions. Unlike most existing COD methods that directly capture contextual features through the final loss function, we develop a counterfactual intervention strategy to learn more effective contextual textures. Extensive experiments on four challenging benchmark datasets demonstrate that our CINet significantly outperforms 31 state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Quinoa porridge is becoming popular among Asian for its nutritional values; hence, it is important to understand its aroma characteristics. RESULTS: Volatile compounds in porridge of 30 quinoa varieties were determined by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry combined with headspace‐solid phase micro‐extraction. In total, 53 volatile compounds were detected and grouped into 14 alkanals, four alcohols, seven ketones, 10 alkanes, 10 acids and esters, and eight heterocycles. The relative content of alkanes (22.97%), acids and esters (44.33%) was comparatively high, although alkanals (11.75%) may dominate the aroma. Most of the compounds were similar with respect to types and numbers, although they varied in amount, whereas 11 compounds varied significantly among different varieties. The 30 varieties could be divided into eight groups based on the concentrations of volatile compounds, although the same varieties would be divided into four groups if based on the relative odour activity values of twelve variable aroma compounds. CONCLUSION: Nine compounds were identified as the main contributors to the quinoa porridge aroma, including hexanal, 1‐octen‐3‐ol, 2‐pentylfuran, nonanal, (E,E)‐2,4‐decadienal and 6,10‐dimethyl‐5,9‐undecadien‐2‐one. Heptanal, benzeneacetaldehyde and decanal may play roles in harmonizing the overall aroma. It is also interesting to note that 6,10,14‐trimethyl‐2‐pentadecanone, with a slightly fatty aroma, showed a high content in all varieties. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By means of DSC, test of flow parameters, and microscopic observation, this paper studied the relation between the influence on the low temperature flow properties and that on the waxy crystal of the PPD-treated crude oil due to different final temperature of dynamic cooling. It has been experimental confirmed that the influence caused by the final temperature of dynamic cooling on low temperature flow properties and waxy crystal vary from the different final temperature of dynamic cooling. With this temperature increases, the depressive effects first get worse, then improved and finally kept nearly unchanged at higher temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The constitution model and microstructure of 2A97 Al-Li alloy during thermal deformation were investigated. The thermal deformation behavior was dominated by the interaction between work hardening and dynamic softening. The constitution model was constructed to predict the rheology behavior, in which Zener-Holloman equation with a fifth-order polynomial was set to describe the effect of various strains on the material parameters. Processing maps displayed to exist two unstable domains in microstructure (one domain with the temperature range from 300 °C to 370 °C and the strain rate range from 100.5 s−1 to 10s−1, and the other with the temperature range from 380 °C to 500 °C and the strain rate range from 0 s−1 to 10 s−1). Microstructural characteristics of dynamic recovery (DRV) and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) in the stable domain and local rheology in the unstable domain were observed, respectively. The dynamic precipitation (DPN) of T 1 phases and the interaction between dislocations and Al 20 Cu 2 Mn 3 and Al 3 Zr phases were concluded by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), which was the first experimental evidence for the DPN in 2A97 Al-Li alloy. All these confirmed the occurrence of the continuous dynamic recrystallization during thermal deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: High energy batteries urgently required to power electric vehicles are restricted by a number of challenges, one of which is the sluggish kinetics of cell reactions under low temperatures. A novel approach is reported to improve the low temperature performance of high energy batteries through rational construction of low impedance anode and cathode interface films. Such films are simultaneously formed on both electrodes via the reduction and oxidation of a salt, lithium difluorobis(oxalato) phosphate. The formation mechanisms of these interface films and their contributions to the improved low temperature performances of high energy batteries are demonstrated using various physical and electrochemical techniques on a graphite/LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 battery using 1 m LiPF6‐ethylene carbonate/ethyl methyl carbonate (1/2, in weight) baseline electrolyte. It is found that the interface impedances, especially the one on the anode, constitute the main obstacle to capacity delivery of high energy batteries at low temperatures, while the salt containing fluorine and oxalate substructures used as additives can effectively suppress them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystal facets engineering is an effective means to improve the gas sensing performance of metal oxides and has become a research hotspot recently. However, research on crystal facets engineering are mainly focused on single metal oxides semiconductor, there are still very limited report about the crystal facets engineering on the semiconductor p-n heterostructures. In the present study, NiO/SnO 2 p-n heterostructures were constructed by wrapping SnO 2 nanocrystals exposing different crystal facets with 2D porous NiO nanosheets networks. It was found that the heterostructures with coexisted SnO 2 {221} and {110} crystal facets displayed a significantly improved triethylamine sensing performance with a high response value of 78.5 towards 100 ppm triethylamine, together with ultrafast response characteristics (< 3 s), excellent stability and selectivity. The related mechanism was described through theoretical calculation. On the one hand, {221} crystal facets had higher activity and provided more active sites for the surface adsorption of triethylamine. On the other hand, the strong electron interaction between {110} facets and NiO was favorable for efficient electron transfer in interface, which further enhanced the gas sensing activity of heterostructures. This study provides a new idea for improving the gas sensing performance of metal oxide heterostructures through collaborative optimization of surface and interface. [Display omitted] • Rutile SnO 2 nanocrystals with tunable crystal facets were prepared facilely. • Three typical crystal facets ({221}, {110} and co-existed) were exposed. • The p-n heterostructures were constructed by combined the faceted SnO 2 with 2D NiO. • The heterostructures showed outstanding triethylamine sensing performance. • The relationship between sensing activity and surface/interface property was studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Rice is a special crop, and its production differs from that of other crops because it requires a thin layer of water coverage for a long period. The calculation of the water footprint of rice production should differ from that of other crops owing to the rice growing process. This study improved the calculation of blue and grey water footprints of rice production and analyzed the variations in the water footprints for rice production under different rainfall years in Jilin Province. RESULTS: In the drought year, the green water footprint was the lowest and the blue water footprint was the highest among the three years, while in the humid year, the green water footprint was the highest and the blue water footprint was not the lowest. The areas with higher water footprints were found in the east and west regions of Jilin Province, while the areas with lower water footprints were found in the middle east and middle regions of Jilin Province. CONCLUSION: Blue water was the primary water resource for rice production, although more precipitation provided the highest green water in the humid year; also, the spatial distributions of water footprints were not the same under different rainfall years. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that optimization problem model has many applications arising from matrix completion, image processing, statistical learning, economics, engineering sciences, and so on. And convex programming problem is closely related to variational inequality problem. The so-called alternative direction of multiplier method (ADMM) is an importance class of numerical methods for solving convex programming problem. When analyzing the rate of convergence of various ADMMs, an error bound condition is usually required. The error bound can be obtained when the isolated calmness of the inverse of the KKT mapping of the related problem holds at the given KKT point. This paper is to study the isolated calmness of the inverse KKT mapping onto the mixed variational inequality problem with nonlinear term defined by norm function and indicator function of a convex polyhedral set, respectively. We also consider the isolated calmness of the inverse KKT mapping onto classical variational inequality problem with equality and inequality constrains under strict Mangasarian-Fromovitz constraint qualification condition. The results obtained here are new and very interesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemically active biofilm is necessary for the electron transfer between bacteria and anodic electrode in microbial fuel cells and selecting the type of anodic electrode material that favours formation of electrochemically active biofilm is crucial for the microbial fuel cell operation. We report a new finding that the interaction of anodic binder with bacteria plays more important role than its hydrophilicity for forming an electrochemically active biofilm, which is emphasized by applying poly(bisphenol A-co-epichorohydrin) as an anodic binder of the microbial fuel cell based on carbon nanotubes as anodic electrode and Escherichia coli as bacterium. The physical characterizations and electrochemical measurements demonstrate that poly(bisphenol A-co-epichorohydrin) exhibits a strong interaction with bacteria and thus provides the microbial fuel cell with excellent power density output. The MFC using poly(bisphenol A-co-epichorohydrin) reaches a maximum power density output of 3.8 W m −2 . This value is larger than that of the MFCs using polytetrafluoroethylene that has poorer hydrophilicity, or polyvinyl alcohol that has better hydrophilicity but exhibits weaker interaction with bacteria than poly(bisphenol A-co-epichorohydrin). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the constructive role of internal noise in mesoscopic system has attracted much attention. Because the external noise is also unavoidable, it is more practical to study the influence of internal noise with the existence of external noise in these systems. By constructing a mesoscopic stochastic model of a cell system, we discussed the influence of internal noise on the detection of hormonal signal with the existence of external noise. Results have found that internal noise can play a constructive role when external noise intensity is at some regions ( D  < 1.0 and D  > 1.16), so that the cell system can effectively detect the weak hormonal signal through intracellular calcium spikes. This phenomenon is different from the results found previously, where it was found that internal noise always played a destructive role except for at very small external noise intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]