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This study investigates the effects of pH shift combined with ultrasound treatment on the structure and functional properties of tartary buckwheat protein. The results indicate that with ultrasound assistance and pH shift treatment significantly increased the free thiol content of tartary buckwheat protein (P < 0.05). This increase might attributed to protein unfolding, which exposed internal thiols or generated new thiols through disulfide bonds cleavage. When the ultrasonic time was 20 min and the ultrasonic power was 300 W, tartary buchwheat protein exhibited the highest surface hydrophobicity. This indicates that the protein underwent reorganization during the modification process, disrupting aggregates formed by hydrophobic interactions consequently, the protein particle size decreased, exposing more internal hydrophobic groups. In addition, the solubility of tartary buckwheat protein was significantly improved by ultrasonic assisted pH adjustment. Under alkaline pH conditions, the solubility was significantly increased from 63.85% to 103.48%. This treatment also significantly reduced the particle size of buckwheat protein (P

Abstract Renewable energy is essential for power system decarbonization, but extended and unexpected periods of extremely low wind and solar resources (i.e., wind and solar droughts) pose a threat to reliability. The challenge is further exacerbated if shortages of the two occur simultaneously or if they affect neighboring grids simultaneously. Here we present a framework to characterize these events and propose three metrics to comprehensively assess renewable energy quality: resource availability, variability, and extremeness. An examination of long-term data across a vast geographical region shows a strong spatial correlation and temporal coincidence of renewable energy droughts. It also finds a lack of sites that excel in all three quality attributes, which presents a trilemma to investors, system planners, and policymakers. These findings underscore the significance of considering factors beyond mere resource availability and contribute to developing informed strategies for the reliable and sustainable deployment of variable energy resources.

PurposePregnant women with a diagnosis of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) were potentially high-risk but largely ignored study population. We aimed to explore whether gestational thyrotropin levels were associated with progression of DTC.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study at Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing, China from January 2012 to December 2022. We included pregnant women with a pre-pregnancy DTC managed by active surveillance (under-surveillance DTC) or surgical treatment (after-surgery DTC). Dynamic changes of gestational thyrotropin levels across multiple time points were characterized by both statistical (average level, change instability, longitudinal trajectory) and clinical (thyroid dysfunction, thyrotropin suppression, and achievement of thyrotropin suppression target) indicators. Outcomes were clinician-validated progression of DTC, measured separately for patients under surveillance (tumor enlargement or lymph node metastasis) and those after surgery (≥ 3 mm growth in the size of existing metastatic foci, development of new lymph node metastases, ≥ 2 mm growth in the size of existing cancer foci in the contralateral thyroid, or biochemical progression).ResultsAmong 43 and 118 patients with under-surveillance and after-surgery DTC, we observed no evidence of associations between any of the quantitative or clinical indicators of gestational thyrotropin levels and progression-free survival, after a median of 2.63 (IQR: 0.90-4.73) and 4.22 (2.53-6.02) year follow-up, respectively (all P values > 0.05).ConclusionsGestational thyrotropin levels appeared to play a minor role in the progression of under-surveillance or after-surgery DTC. Clinicians might focus on the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes when optimizing thyrotropin levels for pregnant women with a diagnosis of DTC.

BackgroundDifferentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) has been increasingly common in women of reproductive age. However, the evidence remains mixed regarding the association of DTC with adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women previously diagnosed with DTC.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study in the Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing, China between January 2012 and December 2022. We included singleton-pregnancy women with a pre-pregnancy DTC managed by surgical treatment (after-surgery DTC) or active surveillance (under-surveillance DTC). To reduce the confounding effects, we adopted a propensity score to match the after-surgery and under-surveillance DTC groups with the non-DTC group, respectively, on age, parity, gravidity, pre-pregnancy weight, height, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. We used conditional logistics regressions, separately for the after-surgery and under-surveillance DTC groups, to estimate the adjusted associations of DTC with both the composite of adverse pregnancy outcomes and the specific mother-, neonate-, and placenta-related pregnancy outcomes.ResultsAfter the propensity-score matching, the DTC and non-DTC groups were comparable in the measured confounders. In the after-surgery DTC group (n = 204), the risk of the composite or specific adverse pregnancy outcomes was not significantly different from that of the matched, non-DTC groups (n = 816; P > 0.05), and the results showed no evidence of difference across different maternal thyroid dysfunctions, gestational thyrotropin levels, and other pre-specified subgroup variables. We observed broadly similar results in the under-surveillance DTC group (n = 37), except that the risk of preterm birth, preeclampsia, and delivering the low-birth-weight births was higher than that of the matched, non-DTC group [n = 148; OR (95% CI): 4.79 (1.31, 17.59); 4.00 (1.16, 13.82); 6.67 (1.59, 27.90)].ConclusionsDTC was not associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women previously treated for DTC. However, more evidence is urgently needed for pregnant women with under-surveillance DTC, which finding will be clinically significant in individualizing prenatal care.

Abstract In response to the Paris Agreement, a growing number of countries, 123 in total, have committed to carbon reduction targets. While existing research has assessed various policies’ effectiveness in achieving these targets, the potential of the act of goal-setting itself as a policy instrument has been underexplored. Here we leveraged a comprehensive panel dataset spanning 163 countries from 2011 to 2022 and employed a rigorous difference-in-difference model. Empirical findings reveal that both proposing carbon reduction targets and setting higher targets effectively reduce emissions intensity. The mechanism driving the impact of carbon reduction targets on CO2 emissions centers on the level of education, rather than renewable energy capacity, requiring further investigation to the mechanism. Subsequent analysis establishes connections between target levels and renewable energy capacity. Our results advocate for dynamic updates of carbon reduction targets aligned with renewable energy capacity when formulating climate objectives.

Abstract. Background:. Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is commonly diagnosed in women of child-bearing age, but whether pregnancy influences the prognosis of DTC remains controversial. This study aimed to summarize existing evidence regarding the association of pregnancy with recurrence risk in patients previously treated for DTC. Methods:. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus based on the prespecified protocol registered at PROSPERO (CRD42022367896). After study selection, two researchers independently extracted data from the included studies. For quantitative data synthesis, we used random-effects meta-analysis models to pool the proportion of recurrence (for pregnant women only) and odds ratio (OR; comparing the risk of recurrence between the pregnancy group and the nonpregnancy group), respectively. Then we conducted subgroup analyses to explore whether risk of recurrence differed by response to therapy status or duration of follow-up time. We also assessed quality of the included studies. Results:. A total of ten studies were included. The sample size ranged from 8 to 235, with participants’ age at pregnancy or delivery ranging from 28 to 35 years. The follow-up time varied from 0.1 to 36.0 years. The pooled proportion of recurrence in all pregnant patients was 0.13 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.06–0.25; I2: 0.58). Among six included studies reporting response to therapy status before pregnancy, we observed a trend for increasingly higher risk of recurrence from excellent, indeterminate, and biochemically incomplete to structurally incomplete response to therapy (Ptrend 0.05) or the OR of recurrence in studies with a comparison group (P >0.05). Two included studies that focused on patients with distant metastasis also did not show a significant difference in disease recurrence between pregnancy and nonpregnancy groups (OR: 0.51 [95% CI: 0.14–1.87; I2: 59%]). Conclusion:. In general, pregnancy appears to have a minimal association with the disease recurrence of DTC with initial treatment. Clinicians should pay more attention to progression of DTC among pregnant women with biochemical and/or structural persistence. Registration:. PROSPERO, https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/; No. CRD42022367896.

At present, the research on NbC/Fe cluster-reinforced steel-based composite has been proofread, but little attention has been paid to the effect of Nb/C ratio on composites. The effects of different Nb/C ratio (Nb/C = 1:0.5 and 1:1) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the composites were studied by in situ hot pressing sintering, and the internal mechanism is explained by the method of first-principles. For Nb/C = 1:0.5, the transition-zone Laves phase Nb2C, NbC/iron-poor zone, and NbC/iron-rich zone were formed on the outside of the Nb particles. When the Nb/C atomic ratio increased to 1:1, the Nb atoms reacted completely to form NbC, and Nb2C was minimized. For Nb/C = 1:1, the deflections of the three- and five-layer composites increased by 112.34 % and 56.79 %, respectively, compared with those of the corresponding layers of T10 steel. The strengthening mechanism of the composite is load transfer, and the toughening mechanism is crack deflection and “delamination cracking”. A first-principles approach showed that the NbC chemical bonds were mainly strong Nb–C covalent bonds, Nb–Nb metallic bonds, and some Nb–C ionic bonds. The chemical bonding of Nb2C comprised Nb–C covalent bonds, strong Nb–Nb metallic bonds, and a large number of Nb–C antibonding states. The advantages of NbC in terms of its thermodynamic and mechanical properties have also been determined.

The purpose of this study is to explore a method for the high-yield production of hydrogen by pyrolysis and steam reforming of polymer plastics. The developed Fe-based catalyst supported on activated carbon was applied to reactions with polypropylene for hydrogen production. The effects of iron loading (%) in the catalyst, the total catalyst amount, and the water content in the reaction atmosphere on the performance of hydrogen and gas production were investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the hydrogen yield without water added reached 38.73 mmol/gPP, and this yield was significantly improved by adding water into the reaction atmosphere. By optimizing the amount of water added, the hydrogen yield reached 112.71 mmol/gPP. The surface morphology and structural components of the fresh and used catalysts were characterized, and the morphology and quantity of carbon deposition on the catalyst were analysed. The catalytic stability of the 15Fe/AC catalyst was determined by repeating the test 10 times under the optimal reaction conditions. As the reaction time increased, the selectivity of the catalyst for hydrogen decreased and that for hydrocarbons increased. Moreover, the experimental method used in this study had excellent hydrogen production capacity. Thus, this study provided a novel method for the high-efficiency production of hydrogen by pyrolysis and steam reforming of polymer plastics.

HNS-IV (Hexanitrostilbene-IV) is the main charge of the exploding foil initiators (EFI), and the microstructure of the HNS will directly affect its density, flowability, sensitivity, and stability. HNS microspheres were prepared using droplet microfluidics, and the particle size, morphology, specific surface area, thermal performance, and ignition threshold of the HNS microspheres were characterized and tested. The results shown that the prepared HNS microspheres have high sphericity, with an average particle size of 20.52 μm (coefficient of variation less than 0.2), and a specific surface area of 21.62 m2/g (6.87 m2/g higher than the raw material). Without changing the crystal structure and thermal stability of HNS-IV, this method significantly enhances the sensitivity of HNS-IV to short pulses and reduces the ignition threshold of the slapper detonator to below 1000 V. This will contribute to the miniaturization and low cost of EFI.

Ultra-short baseline (USBL) underwater positioning systems are widely used in marine scientific research and ocean engineering. Angle misalignment is a main error that reduces the accuracy of USBL underwater positioning. The conventional angle-calibration method assumes that the transponder position obtained by USBL positioning is an errorless coefficient matrix. However, errors inevitably exist in the estimation of the transponder’s position via USBL positioning, and the precision varies at different epochs. Ignoring the error in the transponder’s position will significantly reduce the precision of the angle misalignment estimation. In this paper, a new angle-calibration method is proposed for precise USBL underwater positioning. The angle alignment model is derived by treating the transponder’s position obtained by USBL positioning as an observation, and the stochastic model is then established according to the bearing angles. Robust estimation is likewise applied to further improve the precision of the angle misalignment estimation. To verify the performance of the proposed method, a sea experiment was performed. The results show that the new method has high calibration accuracy and robustness. The estimation precision of this method is improved by 0.0457°~0.6896° in heading, 0.0125°~0.8072° in roll, and 0.0077°~0.9436° in pitch, compared with that of the conventional angle alignment method.

The widespread dissemination of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) and its drug resistance transfer poses a global public health threat. While previous studies outlined CRKP’s drug resistance mechanism, there is limited research on strategies inhibiting CRKP drug resistance spread. This study investigates the potential of Bifidobacterium longum (B. longum) FB1-1, a probiotic, in curbing the spread of drug resistance among CRKP by evaluating its cell-free supernatant (CFS) for antibacterial activity. Evaluating the inhibitory effect of FB1-1 CFS on CRKP drug resistance spread involved analyzing its impact on drug resistance and virulence gene expression; drug resistance plasmid transfer FB1-1 CFS exhibited an MIC range of 125 μL/mL against CRKP. After eight hours of co-culture, CFS achieved a 96% and 100% sterilization rate at two and four times the MIC, respectively. At sub-inhibitory concentrations (1/2× MIC), FB1-1 CFS reduced the expression of the bla_KPC gene, which is pivotal for carbapenem resistance, by up to 62.13% across different CRKP strains. Additionally, it markedly suppressed the expression of the uge gene, a key virulence factor, by up to 91%, and the fim_H gene, essential for bacterial adhesion, by up to 53.4%. Our study primarily focuses on determining the inhibitory effect of FB1-1 CFS on CRKP strains harboring the bla_KPC gene, which is a critical resistance determinant in CRKP. Furthermore, FB1-1 CFS demonstrated the ability to inhibit the transfer of drug resistance plasmids among CRKP strains, thus limiting the horizontal spread of resistance genes. This study highlights FB1-1 CFS's inhibitory effect on CRKP drug resistance spread, particularly in strains carrying the bla_KPC gene, thus offering a novel idea and theoretical foundation for developing antibacterial drugs targeting CRKP resistance.

IntroductionAs tick-borne diseases rise to become the second most prevalent arthropod-transmitted disease globally, the increasing investigations focus on ticks correspondingly. Factors contributed to this increase include anthropogenic influences, changes in vertebrate faunal composition, social-recreational shifts, and climatic variation. Employing the 16S gene sequence method in next-generation sequencing (NGS) allows comprehensive pathogen identification in samples, facilitating the development of refined approaches to tick research omnidirectionally.MethodsIn our survey, we compared the microbial richness and biological diversity of ticks in Wuwei City, Gansu province, differentiating between questing ticks found in grass and parasitic ticks collected from sheep based on 16S NGS method.ResultsThe results show Rickettsia, Coxiella, and Francisella were detected in all 50 Dermacentor nuttalli samples, suggesting that the co-infection may be linked to specific symbiotic bacteria in ticks. Our findings reveal significant differences in the composition and diversity of microorganisms, with the Friedmanniella and Bordetella genera existing more prevalent in parasitic ticks than in questing ticks (p 0.6. For instance, Francisella restrains the development of 10 other bacteria in parasitic ticks, whereas Phyllobacterium and Arthrobacter enhance colonization across all tick species.DiscussionBy leveraging NGS techniques, our study reveals a high degree of species and phylogenetic diversity within the tick microbiome. It further highlights the potential to investigate the interplay between bacterial genera in both parasitic and questing ticks residing in identical habitat environments.

Cancer receives enduring international attention due to its extremely high morbidity and mortality. Immunotherapy, which is generally expected to overcome the limits of traditional treatments, serves as a promising direction for patients with recurrent or metastatic malignancies. Bacteria-based vectors such as Listeria monocytogenes take advantage of their unique characteristics, including preferential infection of host antigen presenting cells, intracellular growth within immune cells, and intercellular dissemination, to further improve the efficacy and minimize off-target effects of tailed immune treatments. Listeria monocytogenes can reshape the tumor microenvironment to bolster the anti-tumor effects both through the enhancement of T cells activity and a decrease in the frequency and population of immunosuppressive cells. Modified Listeria monocytogenes has been employed as a tool to elicit immune responses against different tumor cells. Currently, Listeria monocytogenes vaccine alone is insufficient to treat all patients effectively, which can be addressed if combined with other treatments, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, reactivated adoptive cell therapy, and radiotherapy. This review summarizes the recent advances in the molecular mechanisms underlying the involvement of Listeria monocytogenes vaccine in anti-tumor immunity, and discusses the most concerned issues for future research.

Summary: As countries pursue power system decarbonization, a well-intentioned strategy being pursued in jurisdictions like China is the strict integration target, often in the form of a curtailment cap. The effects of these curtailment caps have not been systematically studied. Here, we evaluate the effects of these caps on the decarbonization of one provincial power system using a capacity expansion model. Results reveal that curtailment caps yield deleterious effects that do not align with the stated goals of these policies. Capping curtailment significantly increases storage capacity (+43% with a 5% curtailment cap) and reduces renewable capacity (−17%). Even with the increase in flexible storage capacity, the policy still jeopardizes power system reliability by increasing occurrences of over or under generation. It also suppresses power generation from hydropower and reduces energy storage utilization while increasing fossil fuel utilization. Capping curtailment increases economic costs (+6% with a 5% curtailment cap) and CO2 emissions (+7%).

Summary: Solar photovoltaics (PVs) installation would increase 20-fold by 2050; however, considerable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are generated during the cradle-to-gate production, with spatiotemporal variances depending on the grid emission. Thus, a dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) model was developed to assess the accumulated PV panels with a heterogeneous carbon footprint if manufactured and installed in the United States. The state-level carbon footprint of solar electricity (CFEPV-avg) from 2022 to 2050 was estimated using several cradle-to-gate production scenarios to account for emissions stemming from electricity generated from solar PVs. The CFEPV-avg (min 0.032, max 0.051, weighted avg. 0.040 kg CO2-eq/kWh) in 2050 will be significantly lower than that of the comparison benchmark (min 0.047, max 0.068, weighted avg. 0.056 kg CO2-eq/kWh). The proposed dynamic LCA framework is promising for planning solar PV supply chains and, ultimately, the supply chain of an entire carbon-neutral energy system to maximize the environmental benefits.

BackgroundFatigue risk management for pilots has received increasing attention. The existing fatigue management systems have detailed descriptions of the factors and the mutual influences among the factors that affect the dimension of “sleep”, which is one of the most important causes of fatigue. However, the analysis of the influencing factors of the “work” dimension of fatigue causes has not been very detailed or accurate, especially the exploration of the mutual influence among many fatigue-influencing factors in the “work” dimension.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to explore the mutual influence among fatigue-influencing factors related to the “work” dimension in the analysis of pilot fatigue causes.MethodsThis study designed a questionnaire on the dimension of “work” in the causes of pilot fatigue and collected a total of 270 feedback data points from international flight pilots. Based on the questionnaires and data, descriptive statistical analysis, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to explore the influencing factors and their mutual influences on the “work” dimension of pilot fatigue.ResultsThere is a strong, mutual influence relationship among the fatigue causes of long-haul flight pilots – working status, working conditions and working schedules – in the dimension of “work”. The workload only has a strong correlation with the working schedule, and the interaction relationships with the working status or working conditions are weak.ConclusionThis study analyses the mutual influence among the influencing factors of the “work” dimension of pilot fatigue, and we expect to provide empirical data for pilot fatigue risk management and to help improve fatigue risk management systems.

Climate change is a common problem in human society. The Chinese government promises to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and strives to achieve carbon neutralization by 2060. The proposal of the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutralization has led China into the era of climate economy and set off a green change with both opportunities and challenges. On the basis of expounding the objectives and specific connotation of China’s carbon peak and carbon neutralization, this paper systematically discusses the main implementation path and the prospect of China’s carbon peak and carbon neutralization. China’s path to realizing carbon neutralization includes four directions: (1) in terms of carbon dioxide emission control: energy transformation path, energy conservation, and emission reduction path; (2) for increasing carbon sink: carbon capture, utilization, and storage path, ecological governance, and land greening path; (3) in key technology development: zero-carbon utilization, coal new energy coupling, carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), energy storage technology and other key technology paths required to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutralization; (4) from the angle of policy development: Formulate legal guarantees for the government to promote the carbon trading market; Formulate carbon emission standards for enterprises and increase publicity and education for individuals and society. Based on practicing the goal and path of carbon peak and carbon neutralization, China will vigorously develop low carbon and circular economy and promote green and high-quality economic development; speed up to enter the era of fossil resources and promoting energy transformation; accelerate the integrated innovation of green and low-carbon technologies and promote carbon neutrality.©2021 China Geology Editorial Office.

Attractive in plasma physics and fluid dynamics as well as based on Results Phys. 18, 103266 (2020) and Results Phys. 19, 103581 (2020), Results Phys. 42, 105992 (2022) has recommended a (2+1)-dimensional variable-coefficient Sawada-Kotera system, with its Painlevé integrability via the singular manifold shown to require that three variable coefficients reduce to the constants and with certain breathers, lumps and line solitons for the Painlevé-integrable special case constructed. In this Letter, we address that the system could be further investigated along the singular-manifold direction initialized by Results Phys. 42, 105992 (2022). Regardless of the Painlevé integrability but staying with the singular manifold and symbolic computation, we accomplish two auto-Bäcklund transformations and some solitons for the system, with all the variable coefficients hereby existing.

Results Phys. 43, 106048 (2022) has amusingly retrieved some solitonic and other analytic solutions for a shallow water wave equation presented there. In this Letter, we suggest that such an equation be moreover studied in line with Results Phys. 43, 106048 (2022). Employing symbolic computation, for a generalization of that equation, with respect to the displacement and velocity of the water, we construct a family of the similarity reductions, to a known ordinary differential equation. Our results depend on the gravitational force and wave height.

Of current fluid-dynamics interest, Results Phys. 41, 105937 (2022) has presented an extended time-dependent (3+1)-dimensional shallow water wave equation in an ocean or a river, with some solitons, breathers, lump waves and mixed breather-soliton solutions constructed under a certain condition. In this Letter, we call the attention that such a newly-proposed equation deserves more efforts, since that equation is thought to be possibly useful in a variety of the physical situations with an environmental impact, such as the flood, tsunamis as well as other flows in rivers and oceans. With the singular manifold and symbolic computation, we carry out an auto-Bäcklund transformation with some solitons for that equation. Both the Bäcklund transformation and solitons rely on the time-dependent coefficients.

Chinese nouns lack inflection and cannot reflect the quantitative relationship between singular and plural numbers. However, neural processes of picture naming are different from those of words. We assume that Chinese single and plural picture naming is different, and they may involve quantitative processing. Therefore, Experiment 1 was designed by picking picture naming as the task and Chinese as the target language and compared the accuracy, reaction time, and event-related potentials (ERPs) between single and plural picture naming, where two types of pictures were mixed. Although the T-test showed no significant differences in behavioral data, there were differences in ERPs. ERP differences involved two effects: P1 of 160–180 ms and P2 of 220–260 ms in the parietal-occipital lobe. These differences are suggested to reflect the neural differences in quantitative processing. Therefore, Chinese singular and plural picture naming consists of word production and implicit quantitative processing simultaneously. To explore the relationship between the two processings, we added a semantic factor (inanimate vs. animate items) to the quantity factor of Experiment 1 and carried out Experiment 2, with the observation indexes unchanged. There were no significant differences in behavioral data among the four conditions. After variance analysis, ERPs results indicated an interaction between semantic and quantitative factors in the central area at 180–280 ms. In summary, we suggest that Chinese singular and plural picture naming includes two simultaneous neural processing tasks: word production and quantitative processing, which interact in the central area at 180–280 ms.

Short-term frequency regulation is important for the safety and efficiency of power systems based on wind generation units. However, unmodeled dynamics and stochastic disturbances in wind speed and load present a challenge for frequency regulation. This paper offers a frequency regulation scheme that caters for doubly fed induction generator-based wind power units requiring short-term frequency regulation. To this end, a data-driven additive controller is cast into a stochastic framework. Since the survival information potential (SIP) of a random variable has some advantages over information potential, the SIP of frequency deviation is presented in order to simultaneously evaluate droop control and inertial control. Thereafter, the optimal additive control coefficient can be obtained using a particle swarm optimization technique and an arithmetic mean filter. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach over traditional additive control strategies.