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Abstract To ensure the real‐time operation safety of electric vehicles (EVs), it is essential to diagnose the fault in a battery pack timely and accurately. In this paper, with considering driving condition, a battery voltage fault diagnosis method is proposed based on the real‐world operation data of EVs with a high sampling frequency. Firstly, based on driving behaviour, the driving condition of EVs is classified into four categories, and accordingly, the operation process is divided into four segments. The influencing mechanism of driving condition on battery voltage is revealed by detailed analysis on extracted operation segments. Secondly, four BP neural network (BPNN)‐based voltage prediction models are developed, respectively, for the four kinds of driving conditions. Based on the statistical analysis of prediction error and the comparison with other voltage prediction models, the superiority and stability of the four well‐trained BPNN models are verified. Thirdly, the voltage abnormity levels and thresholds for fault diagnosis are set considering driving condition differences. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified using the actual operational data. The verification results show that the proposed method can achieve good voltage prediction and fault diagnosis for EVs under various driving conditions during the entire operation process.

Wind velocity is usually assumed to obey a stationary stochastic process in wind engineering, and this may cause significant bias in describing extremely severe strong wind such as typhoons and thunderstorms. To take into account the non-stationary characteristics of extreme wind, a novel evolutionary power spectral density (EPSD) model is proposed, and the spectral representation method (SRM) is introduced to simulate the whole process of strong winds. Firstly, the wavelet transform (WT) method is adopted to capture the three-dimensional time-varying properties of the low-frequency mean winds, and the associated turbulence features, including turbulent intensity, gust factor, probability density function, and power spectrum, are analyzed in depth. Secondly, the measured horizontal EPSD of strong winds are estimated. Thirdly, the performance of the proposed EPSD model is validated. Finally, the whole process of non-stationary strong winds are simulated and discussed. The results show that the proposed EPSD models are in good agreement with the measured EPSD, and the time-frequency features of the power spectrum of the simulated winds are well reproduced, which provides a powerful tool for large eddy simulation and wind engineering studies under non-stationary extreme wind climate.

Despite much research in the field of island biogeography, mechanisms regulating insular diversity remain elusive. Here, we aim to explore mechanisms underlying plant species-area relationships in two tropical archipelagoes in the South China Sea. We found positive plant species-area relationships for both coral and continental archipelagoes. However, our results showed that different mechanisms contributed to similar plant species-area relationships between the two archipelagoes. For coral islands, soil nutrients and spatial distance among communities played major roles in shaping plant community structure and species diversity. By contrast, the direct effect of island area, and to a lesser extent, soil nutrients determined plant species richness on continental islands. Intriguingly, increasing soil nutrients availability (N, P, K) had opposite effects on plant diversity between the two archipelagoes. In summary, the habitat quality effect and dispersal limitation are important for regulating plant diversity on coral islands, whereas the passive sampling effect, and to a lesser extent, the habitat quality effect are important for regulating plant diversity on continental islands. More generally, our findings indicate that island plant species-area relationships are outcomes of the interplay of both niche and neutral processes, but the driving mechanisms behind these relationships depends on the type of islands.

Shale formations often contain a high proportion of clay minerals, which, upon contact with drilling fluid, undergo hydration expansion. This leads to wellbore instability, a problem that poses significant challenges globally. This study aims to investigate the variation of mechanical properties of shale with respect to hydration time. We employ an empirical model that relates shale strength parameters to the time of drilling through geological formations. Additionally, we consider both shear failure along the wellbore boundary and shear sliding along bedding planes in the analysis. We establish a predictive model for wellbore instability in shale formations. The model quantitatively analyzes the variation of wellbore collapse pressure with drilling time. The research findings indicate that, when the influence of bedding is considered, both the wellbore collapse pressure and the optimal well trajectory undergo significant changes, in addition, for some wellbore trajectories, the collapse pressure can increase by more than 30%. Therefore, it is essential to account for the influence of bedding in wellbore stability analysis in shale formations. As the bedding dip angle changes, both the numerical values and distribution range of wellbore collapse pressure and the optimal well trajectory change noticeably. Changes in bedding dip direction, however, do not affect the numerical values of collapse pressure but do influence the distribution region of the optimal well trajectory. Thus, in wellbore trajectory design within shale formations, it is crucial to determine the orientation of bedding and adjust the well trajectory accordingly to enhance wellbore stability. Furthermore, shale hydration does not impact the optimal well trajectory for a block, but with prolonged hydration, the minimum drilling fluid density required to maintain wellbore stability gradually increases. This suggests that hydration intensifies the weakening effect on bedding plane strength. The research results are helpful to understand the effect of hydration on shale wellbore stability and ensure shale wellbore stability during drilling cycle.

Introduction: We aimed to modify the LR-5 strategy to improve the diagnostic sensitivity for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk patients while maintaining specificity. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 412 patients with 445 liver observations who underwent preoperative gadolinium ethoxybenzyl DTPA (GD-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced MRI followed by surgical procedures or biopsies. All observations were classified according to LI-RADS v2018, and the classifications were adjusted by modifying major features (MF)(substituting threshold growth with a more HCC-specific ancillary features (AF): presence of blood products within the mass, arterial phase hyperenhancement (APHE) was interpreted with hypointensity on precontrast imaging- isointensity in arterial phase (AP) and extending washout to transitional phase (TP)(2 min)). The specificity, sensitivity, and positive predictive value (PPV) were assessed to compare LR-5 (definitely HCC) diagnostic efficacy between LI-RADS version 2018 and modified LI-RADS. Results: Apart from nonenhancing “capsule”, the interreader agreement of MFs and HCC-specific AFs between the two readers reached substantial or excellent ranges (κ values ranging from 0.631 to 0.911). According to LI-5 v2018, the specificity, sensitivity and PPV of HCC were 90.74%, 82.35%, and 98.17%, respectively. Based on a more HCC-specific AF, signal intensity in AP and TP (2 min), the sensitivity of the three modified strategies were 86.19%, 93.09%, 96.67% (P .05) Conclusion: Further investigation into the efficacy of threshold growth as a MF is warranted. By utilizing GD-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI, enhancing the sensitivity of the modified LR-5 category may be achieved without compromising specificity and PPV in diagnosing HCC among high-risk patients.

Abstract Background Persistent cough is one of the most frequent complications following lung cancer surgery. To promote optimal recovery, we conducted a study to investigate the trajectories of coughing symptoms and their impact on quality of life (QOL), as well as to identify potential risk factors of persistent cough after pulmonary resection (CAP). Methods This prospective observational study assessed patients who underwent pulmonary resection for lung tumor at two medical centers in China. Persistent CAP was evaluated before surgery, at discharge, and 1, 3, and 6 months following surgery using visual analog scale (VAS), cough symptom score (CSS), and Leicester Cough Questionnaire in Mandarin Chinese (LCQ‐MC). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore independent risk factors for persistent CAP. Results Of the 506 enrolled patients, 130 patients were diagnosed with persistent CAP with an incidence of 25.69%. Compared to the noncough group, patients with persistent CAP reported significantly higher VAS (p

In this study, the authors propose a model, called the Daily Downward Shortwave Radiation Random Forest Model over Rugged Terrain (DSRMT), to accurately calculate the downward shortwave radiation over a terrain without bright surface on clear days at a daily scale (DSRdaily−rugged). It was built by using the random forest method based on the comprehensive samples from CERES4_SYN1deg_Ed4A within 17 typical mountainous regions. DSRMT could directly estimate DSRdaily-rugged from the instantaneous direct and diffuse solar radiation on a flat surface during 10:30–14:30hrs on each day by comparing with the terrain factors from a digital elevation model, broadband albedo from the Global Land Surface Satellite, and ancillary information. The in-situ validation results showed that it generally delivered superior performance in estimating DSRdaily-rugged at any time during 10:30–14:30hrs, especially at noon, yielding a validated root mean-squared error (RMSE) of 24.90–29.22 Wm−2 and mean absolute error (MAE) of 19.16–22.94 Wm−2, and the average weighted DSRdaily-rugged were usually more accurate with the RMSE and MAE of 21.63 and 17.14 Wm−2. Overall, DSRMT was found to deliver satisfactory performance because of its high accuracy, robustness, ease of implementation, and efficiency, so it has the strong potential to be widely used in practice.

Land surface all-wave net radiation (Rn) is crucial in determining Earth's climate by contributing to the surface radiation budget. This study evaluated seven satellite and three reanalysis long-term land surface Rn products under different spatial scales, spatial and temporal variations, and different conditions. The results showed that during 2000-2018, Global Land Surface Satellite Product (GLASS)-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) performed the best (RMSE=25.54 Wm-2, bias=−1.26 Wm-2), followed by ERA5 (the fifth-generation of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast Reanalysis) (RMSE=32.17 Wm-2, bias=−4.88 Wm-2) and GLASS-AVHRR (Advanced Very-High-Resolution Radiometer) (RMSE=33.10 Wm-2, bias=4.03 Wm-2). During 1983-2018, GLASS-AVHRR and ERA5 ranked top and performed similarly, with RMSE values of 31.70 and 33.08 Wm-2 and biases of −4.56 and 3.48 Wm-2, respectively. The averaged multi-annual mean Rn over the global land surface of satellite products was higher than that of reanalysis products by about 10∼30 Wm-2. These products differed remarkably in long-term trends variations, particularly pre-2000, but no significant trends were observed. Discrepancies were more frequent in satellite data, while reanalysis products showed smoother variations. Large discrepancies were found in regions with high latitudes, reflectance, and elevation which could be attributed to input radiative components, meteorological variables (e.g., cloud properties, aerosol optical thickness), and applicability of the algorithms used. While further research is needed for detailed insights.

Single-layer brazed cubic boron nitride (CBN) abrasive tools exhibit numerious advantages, such as high abrasive bonding strength, a large chip storage space, and good sharpness, and have been widely used to machine various difficult-to-cut materials in the aerospace field. However, the problems have to be faced, including uneven filler layer thickness, numerous pores inside the interface area, resulting in a significant reduction in bonding strength between the bonding alloys and the abrasive, and the eventual service life reduction of tools. In this paper, ultrasonic vibration-assisted brazing is proposed to improve the bonding strength of abrasive grains. Results show that for ultrasonic vibration-assisted brazing, the filler alloy spreads more evenly, and the size of internal pores is smaller. In particular, the number of pores in the same area is reduced by 75%, and the shear force of a single CBN abrasive is increased by 27.7%. After the grinding trials with Ti-6Al-4V alloys using brazed CBN tools, the normal and tangential grinding forces are reduced by 4.1%～19.6% and 8.3%～26.4%, respectively, as well as the declination of the grinding temperature by 5.3%～17.9% once employing ultrasonic vibrations into induction brazing processes. Additionally, the ultrasonic vibration-assisted brazed tools show a significant reduction in large-block breakage at the same material removal volume, indicating the more excellent wear-resistance ability and longer service life of the tools.

Constructing heterostructures in particulate reinforced titanium matrix composites (PRTMCs) to evade the strength-ductility trade-off dilemma is much more difficult than in metals. Here, we proposed a novel and controllable strategy of simple powder assembly to fabricate bimodal-grained PRTMCs, this customized strategy makes coarse grains (CGs) surrounded by ultrafine-grained (UFG) matrices, conferring a superior strength-ductility combination not achievable by their traditional homogeneous counterparts. We found that such heterostructures appear to promote storage of mostly dislocations in CGs and accumulation near the CG/UFG boundaries. Moreover, hybrid reinforcements also activate multiple hardening mechanisms, inducing high ductility.

Vinegar is used as fermented condiment and functional food worldwide. Vinegar contains many nutrients and bioactive components, which exhibits health benefits. In this study, the potential effects of Shanxi aged vinegar (SAV) on gut microbiome and metabolome were explored in normal mice. The levels of inflammatory factors were significantly decreased in SAV-treated mice. Immunoglobulin, NK cells and CD20 expression were significantly increased after SAV administration. In addition, SAV intake altered gut microbiota structure by up-regulating Verrucomicrobia, Akkermansia, Hungatella and Alistipes, and down-regulating Firmicutes, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group and Oscillibacter. The differential metabolites were mainly included amino acids, carbohydrates and bile acids. Furthermore, after SAV intake, Verrucomicrobia, and Akkermansia closely impacted the related gut metabolites. These alterations of gut microbiota-related metabolism further modulated some immunoregulatory and inflammatory factors, and confer potential health benefits. Our results imply that vinegar consumption has beneficial effects on regulating gut microbiome and metabolome.

Abstract Background Patients with pulmonary nodules (PNs) often suffer from the psychological burden of their disease and trap in sleep problems. This is insufficiently identified and addressed in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological distress and sleep quality among PN patients and identify potential risk or protective factors for sleep quality. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study, which included 731 PN patients who visited the thoracic clinic of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital. Each participant completed a structured questionnaire consisting of demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The reliability of the HADS (Cronbach’s α = 0.944) and PSQI (Cronbach’s α = 0. 0.757) in this study was satisfactory. Results A total of 328 patients (44.9%) had PSQI global scores > 5, indicating poor quality of sleep. Age ≥ 50 years (OR 1.88, 95% CI 1.35–2.58; P

Abstract Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)—the simplest and most common silicone compound—exemplifies the central characteristics of its class and has attracted tremendous research attention. The development of PDMS‐based materials is a vivid reflection of the modern industry. In recent years, PDMS has stood out as the material of choice for various emerging technologies. The rapid improvement in bulk modification strategies and multifunctional surfaces has enabled a whole new generation of PDMS‐based materials and devices, facilitating, and even transforming enormous applications, including flexible electronics, superwetting surfaces, soft actuators, wearable and implantable sensors, biomedicals, and autonomous robotics. This paper reviews the latest advances in the field of PDMS‐based functional materials, with a focus on the added functionality and their use as programmable materials for smart devices. Recent breakthroughs regarding instant crosslinking and additive manufacturing are featured, and exciting opportunities for future research are highlighted. This review provides a quick entrance to this rapidly evolving field and will help guide the rational design of next‐generation soft materials and devices.

ZSM-5 zeolite is a kind of high-value-added porous aluminosilicate zeolite. The use of the coal gasification slag utilization process by-product desilication liquid as a silicon raw material to replace the current raw materials such as water glass will help reduce production costs and achieve high-value utilization of solid waste. ZSM-5 zeolites for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) adsorption were prepared by a one-step hydrothermal method using the desilication solution prepared from coal gasification slag as the main silicon source and sodium source. The effects of crystallization reaction time, the crystallization temperature, the Na2O/SiO2 molar ratio, and the SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratio on the relative crystallinity and the specific surface area of the ZSM-5 zeolite were investigated and optimized. The optical reaction conditions were as follows: a crystallization time of 12 h, a crystallization temperature of 170 °C, a Na2O/SiO2 molar ratio of 0.2, and a SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratio of 200. The optimal ZSM-5 zeolite synthesized is hexagonal, with regular grains, a relative crystallinity of 101.48%, a specific surface area of 337.48 m2·g−1, and a pore volume of 0.190 cm3·g−1. And the optimal ZSM-5 zeolite was composed of SiO2 content of 97.52 wt%, Al2O3 content of 1.58 wt%, Na2O content of 0.33 wt%, and SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratio of 104.93. Na2O/SiO2 molar ratio is 0.0033. The results of static adsorption experiments show that the static adsorption capacities of ZSM-5 zeolite for p-xylene, benzene, toluene, and butyl acetate were 118.85, 69.98, 68.74, and 95.85 mg·g−1, respectively, which can effectively adsorb VOCs. The synthetic process of the ZSM-5 zeolite is a simple preparation process and short in synthesis time. The results of this study not only help to realize the high-value utilization of silicon components in solid waste, but also provide an economical and effective way to synthesize VOCs adsorption materials.

Background: Intestinal pathogens are associated with xenotransplantation tolerance and rejection. However, changes in the gut microbiota in patients who have undergone peripheral nerve xenotransplantation and their association with immune rejection have not yet been reported. Objective: We aimed to explore intestinal microbes and their metabolites at different time points after peripheral nerve transplantation to provide new insight into improving transplant tolerance. Methods: A peripheral nerve xenotransplantation model was constructed by suturing the segmented nerves of Sprague Dawley rats to those of C57 male mice using xenotransplantation nerve bridging. Fecal samples and intestinal contents were collected at three time points: before surgery (Pre group; n = 10), 1 month after transplantation (Pos1 m group; n = 10), and 3 months after transplantation (Pos3 m group; n = 10) for 16S DNA sequencing and nontargeted metabolome detection. Results: Alpha diversity results suggested that species diversity was significantly downregulated after peripheral nerve xenotransplantation. There were six gut flora genera with significantly different expression levels after xenotransplantation: four were downregulated and two were upregulated. A comparison of the Pre vs. Pos1 m groups and the Pos1 m vs. Pos3 m groups revealed that the most significant differentially expressed Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes metabolite pathways were involved in phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis, as well as histidine metabolism. Metabolites with a strong relationship to the differentially expressed microbial flora were identified. Conclusion: Our study found lower gut microbiome diversity, with increased short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing and sulfate-reducing bacteria at 1 month post peripheral nerve xenotransplantation, and these were decreased at 3 months post-transplantation. The identification of specific bacterial metabolites is essential for recognizing potential diagnostic markers of xenotransplantation rejection or characterizing therapeutic targets to prevent post-transplant infection.

The all-wave net radiation (Rn) at the land surface represents surface radiation budget and plays an important role in the Earth's energy and water cycles. Many studies have been conducted to estimate from satellite top-of-atmosphere (TOA) data using various methods, particularly the application of machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL). However, few studies have been conducted to provide a comprehensive evaluation about various ML and DL methods in retrieving. Based on extensive in situ measurements distributed at mid-low latitudes, the corresponding Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) TOA observations, and the daily from the fifth generation of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis 5 (ERA5) used as a priori knowledge, this study assessed nine models for daily estimation, including six classic ML methods (random forest -RF, adaptive boosting - Adaboost, extreme gradient boosting -XGBoost, multilayer perceptron -MLP, radial basis function neural network -RBF, and support vector machine -SVM) and three DL methods (multilayer perceptron neural network with stacked autoencoders -SAE, deep belief network -DBN and residual neural network -ResNet). The validation results showed that the three DL methods were generally better than the six ML methods except XGBoost, although they all performed poorly in certain conditions such as winter days, rugged terrain, and high elevation. ResNet had the most robust performance across different land cover types, elevations, seasons, and latitude zones, but it has disadvantages in practice because of its highly configurable implementation environment and low computational efficiency. The estimated daily values from all nine models were more accurate than the corresponding Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) product.

BackgroundThis meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of minimally invasive surgery [MIS, including robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)] and open thoracotomy (OT) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with N2 disease.MethodsWe searched online databases and studies from the creation of the database to August 2022, comparing the MIS group to the OT group for NSCLC with N2 disease. Study endpoints included intraoperative outcomes [e.g., conversion, estimated blood loss (EBL), surgery time (ST), total lymph nodes (TLN), and R0 resection], postoperative outcomes [e.g., length of stay (LOS) and complication], and survival outcomes [e.g., 30-day mortality, overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS)]. We estimated outcomes using random effects meta-analysis to account for studies with high heterogeneity (I2 > 50 or p < 0.05). Otherwise, we used a fixed-effect model. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) for binary outcomes and standard mean differences (SMDs) for continuous outcomes. Treatment effects on OS and DFS were described by hazard ratio (HR).ResultsThis systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 studies on MIS vs. OT for NSCLC with N2 disease included 8,374 patients. Compared to OT, patients that underwent MIS had less estimated blood loss (EBL) (SMD = – 64.82, p < 0.01), shorter length of stay (LOS) (SMD = −0.15, p < 0.01), higher R0 resection rate (OR = 1.22, p = 0.049), lower 30-day mortality (OR = 0.67, p = 0.03), and longer overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.61, P < 0.01). The results showed no statistically significant differences in surgical time (ST), total lymph nodes (TLN), complications, and disease-free survival (DFS) between the two groups.ConclusionCurrent data suggest that minimally invasive surgery may provide satisfying outcomes, a higher R0 resection rate, and better short-term and long-term survival than open thoracotomy.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier: CRD42022355712.

In second or foreign language (L2) research and education, learners’ development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is of prime importance. In practice, more attention is devoted to language-culture reciprocity, in the sense that language puts cultural reality into words and is dynamically shaped by culture (Mirzaei and Forouzandeh, 2013). This has in turn led to increased emphasis being put on teaching language for ICC. Responding to Byram and Masuhara’s (2013) call to make the language-intercultural communication link explicit, the volume under review aims to provide a sound theoretical background and a thorough review of research on intercultural communication, while also presenting the application of theory to L2 pedagogical practice.

The present work is devoted to the role of boundary layer turbulence on the spectral characteristics of fluctuating wind loads on large aspect-ratio rectangular prisms. Seven rectangular rigid models with different side ratios (1/4~4) were created, and simultaneous pressure experiments were conducted under the boundary layer turbulence flows. Using the measured data, the power spectrums of the fluctuating aerodynamic forces were calculated, and then, the spectral characteristics under different turbulent boundary layer flows were analyzed. In contrast to the typical power spectrum model, the main factors affecting the spectral characteristics of the fluctuating aerodynamic loads are presented and discussed in this study. The power spectrum of the rectangular prism was significantly impacted by the turbulent wind field, primarily because higher turbulence intensity levels result in a lower spectral peak and a wider spectral bandwidth, which also redistributes spectral energy. In particular, the effect on the spectral properties of across-wind fluctuating loads was stronger, and the turbulent disturbance modified the lateral separation flow structure, causing the reattachment phenomenon to occur earlier on rectangular prisms with small side ratios, which effectively altered the spectral properties. Thus, a normalized across-wind fluctuating wind load spectrum model is proposed, taking into account the effects of incoming turbulence, the side ratio, vortex shedding, separation reattachment flow-induced spectral bandwidth changes, and high-frequency fluctuations.

Floating wind turbines are sensitive to hurricane events. Since the turbine rotors are parked and the blades are feathered during hurricanes, the aerodynamic loads due to boundary-layer winds are relatively small compared to the hydrodynamic loads due to sea surface elevations. Hence, accurate modeling of the hurricane wave loads is crucial to ensure the safety of floating wind turbines. During a hurricane, large wave heights with severe flow separation make it inaccurate to use either linear panel method-based models (without nonlinear consideration associated with fluid viscosity) or Morison equation-based models (without unsteady consideration associated with fluid memory). Efforts have been made to advance simulation schemes of hurricane wave loads on spar-type floating wind turbines. This study systematically compares and assesses the efficacy of six hydrodynamic models available in the literature along with a newly proposed model. The ability of these seven hydrodynamic models to capture nonlinear and/or unsteady effects is investigated. As a demonstration example, the wave loads on a spar-type wind turbine are calculated using these seven models to highlight the underlying role of each simulation scheme in accurately acquiring the dynamic responses of this type of offshore floating structure in severe hurricane seas. It is found that the nonlinear viscous term in the Morison equation and hybrid model serves as an important nonlinear damping mechanism. The reduction of the low-frequency wave load and added mass in the modified hybrid model collectively leads to larger displacements compared to those based on the hybrid model. While the displacements based on the stretching method and Rainey’s equation are similarly larger than those based on the Morison equation, their nonlinear wave loads are much smaller than those in FNV theory.

Measurement(s) The all-wave net radiation Technology Type(s) fusion method

Designing heterogeneous solid surface frustrated Lewis pair (ssFLP) catalyst for hydrogenation is a new challenge in catalysis. Here, the authors show the ssFLP can be constructed on layered AlOOH for hydrogenation reactions under mild conditions.

Summary: Despite the unique switching characteristics of CO2-responsive foaming, its stability remains questionable. In this protocol, we describe steps to synthesize a stable CO2-responsive foam by adding the preferably selected hydrophilic nanoparticle N20 into the surfactant C12A. We detail the selection of the most suitable nanoparticles for the surfactant by measuring the foaming volume and half-life of the dispersion. The protocol can be extended to manufacture with other types of responsive foams (e.g., light responsive foams, magnetic responsive foams).For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Li et al. (2022).1 : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics.

Secondary aluminum dross (SAD) refers to hazardous waste from secondary aluminum refinement. It contains a large amount of aluminum nitride and fluorides that cause serious environmental pollution for direct discharge and hinder the resource utilization of SAD. However, it is difficult to remove nitride and fluoride simultaneously for their complicated phases. In this paper, the catalytic hydrolysis of SAD using NaOH as a catalyst to remove nitrides and fluorides synchronously was investigated systemically through single factor and response surface experiments. In addition, the chemical speciation and transformation of nitrides and fluorides were analyzed systematically. The catalytic hydrolysis removal mechanism was summarized. The optimal conditions for catalytic hydrolysis were established as follows: reaction temperature 96.60 °C; reaction time 2.85 h; liquid-solid ratio 9.28 mL/g and catalyst addition 12.62 wt %; and removal efficiency of nitrides and fluorides reached 99.03% and 81.93%, respectively. The mechanism of nitrides removal was that aluminum nitride was hydrolyzed to Al(OH)3 and NH3. NaOH reacting with Al(OH)3 covering on the surface of AlN and the rapid escape of NH3 promoted the hydrolysis of AlN under the catalysis of NaOH. The mechanism of fluorides removal was that the encapsulated fluoride particles were opened by catalytic hydrolysis to be dissolved in the solution. In this research, nitrides and fluorides were removed efficiently and synchronously. The hydrolysis residues can be used to prepare polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and ceramic materials. The hydrolysate can be prepared NH3·H2O by evaporative in alkaline solution. Then the solution without NH4+ was prepared Al(OH)3 by precipitation of adjusting pH value using HCl. And the remained liquid after removing NaAlO2 was used to prepare refining agent by evaporative crystallization. The work in this paper was beneficial for the utilization of SAD.

Abstract. Background:. Since the diagnostic value of aldosterone to renin ratio (ARR) calculated by plasma renin concentration (PRC) or plasma renin activity (PRA) is still inconclusive, we conducted a meta-analysis by systematically reviewing relevant literature to explore the difference in the diagnostic efficacy of ARR calculated by PRC or PRA, so as to provide guidance for clinical diagnosis. Methods:. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library from the establishment of the database to March 2021. We included studies that report the true positive, false positive, true negative, and false negative values for the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism, and we excluded duplicate publications, research without full text, incomplete information, or inability to conduct data extraction, animal experiments, reviews, and systematic reviews. STATA 15.1 was used to analyze the data. Results:. The pooled results showed that ARR (plasma aldosterone concentration [PAC]/PRC) had a sensitivity of 0.82 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.78–0.86), a specificity of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.92–0.95), a positive-likelihood ratio (LR) of 12.77 (95% CI: 7.04–23.73), a negative LR of 0.11 (95% CI: 0.07–0.17), and symmetric area under the curve (SAUC) of 0.982, respectively. Furthermore, the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of ARR (PAC/PRC) was 180.21. Additionally, the pooled results showed that ARR (PAC/PRA) had a sensitivity of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.86–0.95), a specificity of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.90–0.93), a positive LR of 7.30 (95% CI: 2.99–17.99), a negative LR of 0.10 (95% CI: 0.04–0.26), and SAUC of 0.976, respectively. The DOR of ARR (PAC/PRA) was 155.52. Additionally, we conducted a subgroup analysis for the different thresholds (

Anisotropic plasmonic surface supports elliptic, hyperbolic and even flattened polaritons, which is quite interesting for the diffractionless and highly collimated propagation of infrared light at the nanoscale. However, direct real-space near-field observation of anisotropic plasmons as well as frequency dependent topological transitions in natural materials have not been realized. In this paper, we theoretically investigate real-space anisotropic plasmons in WTe2 thin films by using a phenomenological cavity model, anisotropic near-field plasmonic images with specific interference patterns and isofrequency curves in momentum space have been demonstrated. Due to the frequency selective forbidden of plasmons along b axis, a topological transition from the elliptic to the hyperbolic regime is manifested. Moreover, the plasmons as well as topological transition present significant electrostatic-gating tunability. Our studies provide new insights into WTe2 based plasmonic components for the manipulation of plasmon propagation, which capable of tailoring anisotropic two-dimensional light confinement in the far-infrared regime and can be applied to investigate other anisotropic materials.

Summary: CO2-responsive foaming has been drawing huge attention due to its unique switching characteristics in academic research and industrial practices, whereas its stability remains questionable for further applications. In this paper, a new CO2-switchable foam was synthesized by adding the preferably selected hydrophilic nanoparticle N20 into the foaming agent C12A, through a series of analytical experiments. Overall, the synergy between cationic surfactants and nanoparticles with a contact angle of 37.83° is the best. More specifically, after adding 1.5 wt% N20, the half-life of foam is 14 times longer than that of pure C12A foam. What’s more, the C12A-N20 solution is validated to own distinctive CO2-N2 switching features because very slight foaming degradations are observed in terms of the foaming volume and half-life time even after three cycles of CO2-N2 injections. This study is of paramount importance pertaining to future CO2 foam research and applications in energy and environmental practices.

Rosa rugosa is a famous Chinese traditional flower with high ornamental value and well environmental adapt ability. The cultivation of new colorful germplasms to improve monotonous flower color could promote its landscape application. However, the mechanism of flower color formation in R. rugosa remains unclear. In this study, combined analyses of the chemical and transcriptome were performed in the R. rugosa germplasms with representative flower colors. Among the identified anthocyanins, cyanidin 3,5-O-diglucoside (Cy3G5G) and peonidin 3,5-O-diglucoside (Pn3G5G) were the two dominant anthocyanins in the petals of R. rugosa. The sum content of Cy3G5G and Pn3G5G was responsible for the petal color intensity, such as pink or purple, light- or dark- red. The ratio of Cy3G5G to Pn3G5G was contributed to the petal color hue, that is, red or pink/purple. Maintaining both high relative and high absolute content of Cy3G5G may be the precondition for forming red-colored petals in R. rugosa. Cyanidin biosynthesis shunt was the dominant pathway for anthocyanin accumulation in R. rugosa, which may be the key reason for the presence of monotonous petal color in R. rugosa, mainly pink/purple. In the upstream pathway of cyanidin biosynthesis, 35 differentially expressed structural genes encoding 12 enzymes co-expressed to regulate the sum contents of Cy3G5G and Pn3G5G, and then determined the color intensity of petals. RrAOMT, involved in the downstream pathway of cyanidin biosynthesis, regulated the ratio of Cy3G5G to Pn3G5G via methylation and then determined the color hue of petals. It was worth mentioning that significantly higher delphinidin-3,5-O-diglucoside content and RrF3’5’H expression were detected from deep purple-red-flowered 8-16 germplasm with somewhat unique and visible blue hue. Three candidate key transcription factors identified by correlation analysis, RrMYB108, RrC1, and RrMYB114, might play critical roles in the control of petal color by regulating the expression of both RrAOMT and other multiple structural genes. These results provided novel insights into anthocyanin accumulation and flower coloration mechanism in R. rugosa, and the candidate key genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis could be valuable resources for the breeding of ornamental plants in future.

The pectin methylesterases (PMEs) play multiple roles in regulating plant development and responses to various stresses. In our study, a total of 121 PME genes were identified in the tobacco genome, which were clustered into two groups based on phylogenetic analysis together with Arabidopsis members. The investigations of gene structure and conserved motif indicated that exon/intron and motif organizations were relatively conserved in each group. Additionally, several stress-related elements were identified in the promoter region of these genes. The survey of duplication events revealed that segmental duplications were critical to the expansion of the PME gene family in tobacco. The expression profiles analysis revealed that these genes were expressed in various tissues and could be induced by diverse abiotic stresses. Notably, NtPME029 and NtPME043, were identified as homologues with AtPME3 and AtPME31, respectively. Furthermore, NtPME029 was highly expressed in roots and the over-expression of the NtPME029 gene could promote the development of roots. While NtPME043 could be induced by salt and ABA treatments, and the over-expression of the NtPME043 gene could significantly enhance the salt-stress tolerance in tobacco. Overall, these findings may shed light on the biological and functional characterization of NtPME genes in tobacco.

Background: To study the pathogenesis of steroid-induced femoral head osteonecrosis, an ideal animal model is very important. As experimental animals, mice are beneficial for studying the pathogenesis of disease. However, there are currently few mouse models of steroid-induced femoral head osteonecrosis, and there are many questions that require further exploration and research.Purposes: The purpose of this study was to establish a new model of osteonecrosis in mice using angiotensin II (Ang II) combined with asparaginase (ASP) and dexamethasone (DEX) and to study the effects of this drug combination on femoral head osteonecrosis in mice.Methods: Male BALB/c mice (n = 60) were randomly divided into three groups. Group A (normal control, NC) was treated with physiological saline and given a normal diet. Group B (DEX + ASP, DA) was given free access to food and water (containing 2 mg/L DEX) and subjected to intraperitoneal injection of ASP (1200 IU/kg twice/week for 8 weeks). Group C (DEX + ASP + Ang II, DAA) was treated the same as group B, it was also given free access to food and water (containing 2 mg/L DEX) and subjected to intraperitoneal injection of ASP (1200 IU/kg twice/week for 8 weeks), but in the 4th and 8th weeks, subcutaneous implantation of a capsule osmotic pump (0.28 mg/kg/day Ang II) was performed. The mice were sacrificed in the 4th and 8th weeks, and the model success rate, mouse mortality rate, body weight, blood lipids, coagulation factors, histopathology, and number of local vessels in the femoral head were evaluated.Results: DAA increased the model success rate [4th week, 30% (DA) vs. 40% (DAA) vs. 0% (NC); 8th week, 40% (DA) vs. 70% (DAA) vs. 0% (NC)]. There was no significant difference in mortality rate between the groups [4th week, 0% (DA) vs. 0% (DAA) vs. 0% (NC); 8th week, 5% (DA) vs. 10% (DAA) vs. 0% (NC)]. DAA affected mouse body weight and significantly affected blood lipids and blood coagulation factors. DAA reduces the number of blood vessels in the femoral head and destroys the local blood supply.Conclusion: Angiotensin II combined with asparaginase and dexamethasone can obviously promote the necrosis of femoral head and provide a new idea for the model and treatment of osteonecrosis.

As professional football stadiums continue to grow in popularity worldwide, fans are able to watch the game in closer proximity, but the design of professional football stadiums to shorten the distance between fans and the playing field also exacerbates the impact of the home advantage on the referee’s decision to call a penalty. Studies have confirmed the existence of the home advantage and found that experienced referees can reduce the impact of this interference, but the neural mechanisms behind this phenomenon have not been adequately investigated. In this study, we designed a soccer referee decision making task based on a home field effect scenario in a real soccer game, and used event-related potentials (ERPs) to compare the decision making and EEG differences between individuals with different experience levels when faced with foul actions under spectator noise interference. The experiments showed that individuals with different experience levels triggered a significant ERN EEG component when performing the penalty decision task under the home field effect factor, suggesting that the interference of the home field effect may lead referees to correct their previous decision-making behavior patterns in the penalty decision and reduce unfavorable calls against the home team. In contrast, referees with officiating experience elicited smaller ERN amplitudes compared to other subjects, suggesting that experience factors may inhibit this tendency to change behavioral patterns. This study suggests that in response to the increasing trend of professional football stadiums, policy makers should place more emphasis on enhancing the experience level of referees in the training of referees to ensure the fairness of the game.

The extreme shallow-water waves during a tropical cyclone are often simplified to solitary waves. Considering the lack of simulation tools to effectively and efficiently forecast wave forces on coastal box-girder bridges during tropical cyclones, this study investigates the impacts of solitary waves on box girders and accordingly develops a fast prediction model for solitary wave forces. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are used to simulate the hydrodynamic forces on the bridge deck. A total of 368 cases are calculated for the parametric study by varying the submergence coefficients (Cs), relative wave heights (H/h) and deck aspect ratios (W/h). With the CFD simulation results as the training datasets, an artificial neural network (ANN) is trained utilizing the back-propagation algorithm. The maximum wave forces first increase and then decrease with the Cs, while they monotonically increase with H/h. For relatively large H/h and small Cs values, the relationship between the maximum wave forces and W/h presents strong nonlinearities. The observed correlation coefficients between the ANN predictions and the CFD results for the vertical and horizontal wave forces are 98.6% and 98.1%, respectively. The trained ANN-based model shows good prediction accuracy and could be used as an efficient model for the tropical cyclone risk analysis of coastal bridges.

With the rapid increase in bridge spans, the mitigation of risk to flutter (aeroelastic instability) is of critical importance in the design of long-span bridges, especially considering the more frequent intense hurricanes under climate change. Although the strong nonlinearities of the aeroelastic (self-excited) forces in wind–bridge interactions can be well captured through either numerical simulations or experimental tests, both are expensive and time consuming. Hence, it is important to develop an efficient reduced-order model for the simulations of nonlinear aeroelastic forces on the bridge decks. This study proposes a reduced-order model based on the long short-term memory (LSTM) network to simulate the nonlinear aeroelastic forces on bridge decks with various leading edges, and thus rapidly predict the corresponding post-flutter behaviors of long-span bridges. To generate the training datasets, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was employed to simulate the nonlinear aeroelasticities of bridge decks with a wide range of leading-edge configurations and wind speeds. Trained on the high-fidelity CFD datasets, the LSTM network takes the motion of a bridge deck, leading-edge angles and wind speeds as inputs and outputs the nonlinear aeroelastic forces on the bridge decks. A hybrid loss function utilizing the prediction errors of both aeroelastic forces simulated by the LSTM network and the bridge deck responses calculated by the Newmark-β algorithm was introduced into the training process to improve the network performance. The prediction results of the trained LSTM model were compared with the CFD simulations, which demonstrated that the nonlinear aeroelastic forces of the bridge deck with various leading edges can be accurately and efficiently acquired by the proposed LSTM model.

Abstract The BEPCII project is for upgrading the Beijing Electron Positron Collider to reach a higher luminosity. The cryogenic system has been firstly designed and deployed in BEPCII, which provides cooling capacity for SRF cavities, SCQ and SSM. The cryogenic control system consists of Siemens PLC for the refrigerator control and “PLC + IOC” for superconducting device control. The BEPCII machine commissioning with beam started in October 2006. This paper describes the design and the development of the cryogenic control system.

Background Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are capable to inflame the tumor microenvironment (TME) and elicit infiltrating tumor-specific T cell responses. However, OV treatment negatively alters the cancer-immune set point in tumors to attenuate the antitumor immune response, which suggests the necessity of dissecting the immune landscape of the virus-treated tumors and developing novel strategies to maximize the potential of OVs. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the single-chain variable fragment (scFv)-armed OVs targeting PD-1 on the TME, and ultimately overcome localized immunosuppression to sensitize tumors to immunotherapies.Methods A tumor-selective oncolytic herpes simplex virus vector was engineered to encode a humanized scFv against human PD-1 (hPD-1scFv) (YST-OVH). The antitumor efficacy of YST-OVH was explored in multiple therapeutic mouse models. The neurotoxicity and safety of YST-OVH were evaluated in nonhuman primates. The precise dynamics in the TME involved in YST-OVH treatment were dissected using cytometry by time-of-flight (CyTOF).Results The identified hPD-1scFv showed superior T-cell activating activity. Localized delivery of hPD-1scFv by YST-OVH promotes systemic antitumor immunity in humanized PD-1 mouse models of established cancer. Immune profiling of tumors using CyTOF revealed the enhanced antitumor effect of YST-OVH, which largely relied on CD8+ T cell activity by augmenting the tumor infiltration of effector CD8+ T cells and establishment of memory CD8+ T cells and reducing associated CD8+ T cell exhaustion. Furthermore, YST-OVH treatment modified the cancer-immune set point of tumors coupled to coexpression of CTLA-4 and TIM-3 on exhausted CD8+ T cells and high levels of CTLA-4+ Treg cells. A combination approach incorporating anti-CTLA-4 or anti-TIM-3 further improved efficacy by increasing tumor immunogenicity and activating antitumor adaptive immune responses. Moreover, this therapeutic strategy showed no neurotoxicity and was well tolerated in nonhuman primates. The benefit of intratumoral hPD-1scFv expression was also observed in humanized mice bearing human cancer cells.Conclusion Localized delivery of PD-1 inhibitors by engineered YST-OVH was a highly effective and safe strategy for cancer immunotherapy. YST-OVH also synergized with CTLA-4 or TIM-3 blockade to enhance the immune response to cancer. These data provide a strong rationale for further clinical evaluation of this novel therapeutic approach.

Selective hydrogenation of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) to 5-Methylfurfural using H2 as reductant is very attractive, but remains challenging. Here, the authors report that isolated single atomic catalysts can catalyze the reaction efficiently with selectivity >99% at complete conversion of HMF.

Localized actuation is an important goal of nanotechnology broadly impacting applications such as programmable materials, soft robotics, and nanolithography. Despite significant recent advances, actuation with high temporal and spatial resolution remains challenging to achieve. Herein, we demonstrate strongly localized photoactuation of polymer pens made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and surface-functionalized short carbon nanotubes based on a fundamental understanding of the nanocomposite chemistry and device innovations in directing intense light with digital micromirrors to microscale domains. We show that local illumination can drive a small group of pens (3 × 3 over 170 μm × 170 μm) within a massively two-dimensional array to attain an out-of-plane motion by more than 7 μm for active molecular printing. The observed effect marks a striking three-order-of-magnitude improvement over the state of the art and suggests new opportunities for active actuation.

Mullite–cordierite ceramic saggar is a necessary consumable material used in the synthesis process of LiCoO2 that is easily eroded during application. In our study, we systematically investigated the characteristics and surface corrosion behavior of waste saggar samples. We divided the cross sections of waste saggar into the attached layer, hardened layer, permeability layer, and matrix layer. Then, we examined the high-temperature solid-state reactions between saggar powder and lithium carbonate or cobalt oxide to identify erosion reactants correlating with an increase in the number of recycled saggars. The results of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometric analysis (TOF-SIMS) prove that the maximum erosion penetration of lithium can reach 2 mm. However, our morphology and elemental distribution analysis results show that the erosion penetration of cobalt was only 200 μm. When enough lithium carbonate reacted, lithium aluminate and lithium silicate were the main phases. Our X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) analysis results show that the change in phase volume before and after the reaction, including the generation of oxygen and carbon dioxide gas, led to the internal crack expansion of the material–saggar interface. Our results can contribute to improving saggar and upgrading waste saggar utilization technology.

Gas shales from the Wufeng-Longmaxi Formation in Anchang syncline in northern Guizhou area of Sichuan Basin are stable in distribution and can be classified as type I shale gas reservoir with great resource potential. The exploration and development of shale gas in Anchang syncline have achieved great progress. However, the enrichment rule and accumulation pattern of shale gas in Anchang syncline are still not clear at the present. Gas pressure in the Wufeng-Longmaxi Formations shales in Anchang syncline is normal. The maximum tested gas production in the field ranges from 18,000 to 58,000 m3/d. However, gas production of shale wells varies greatly even in the same platform. In order to understand the shale gas enrichment and accumulation and improve the effective development of shale gas in this area, comparative analyses on the geological characteristics and preservation conditions of gas reservoirs in several typical wells were carried out from the perspective of geology, petrophysics, geophysics, and well logging. Results show that shale gas in Anchang syncline has the characteristics of accumulating in both deep central position and gently wings. Tectonic preservation condition is the key factor to high gas production in Anchang area. The hydrological conditions, syncline structure, fault distribution, and cap rock quality comprehensively control the gas pressure and gas bearing capacity of shale reservoir. According to these factors, an accumulation model of shales with normal gas pressure is established: syncline controls the distribution of gas reservoir; fault controls the boundary of the reservoir; preservation conditions controls gas capacity. The results are benefit for the rolling exploration and development of shale gas in Anchang area, and are important for the development of normal pressure shale gas in northern Guizhou area.

Selective hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived aromatic alcohols to value-added chemical or fuel is of great importance for sustainable biomass upgrading, and hydrodeoxygenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) is one of the most attractive reactions. Achieving the conversion of HMF to DMF using H2 at ambient temperature is challenging. In this work, we used PdCu nanoalloys to catalyze the selective hydrodeoxygenation reaction of HMF to DMF using H2 as the reducing agent. The reaction path and the product selectivity are governed by the crystallographic phase of the PdCu nanoalloys. It was discovered that body-centered cubic (BCC) PdCu nanoalloys supported on activated carbon (AC) exhibited outstanding performance with 93.6% yield of DMF at room temperature (PdCu/AC-BCC). A combination of experimental and density functional theory (DFT) studies showed that the tilted adsorption modes of furanic intermediates on PdCu-BCC nanoalloy surfaces accounted for the high selectivity of DMF; however, furan ring was activated on PdCu face-centered cubic (FCC) nanoalloy surfaces. Furthermore, PdCu/AC-BCC could also catalyze the hydrodeoxygenation of other aromatic alcohols at room temperature while maintaining the aromatic structures. This work opens the way for selective hydrodeoxygenation of the aromatic alcohols at room temperature with the aromatic ring intact. Public summary: • Selectively cleaving of C–O bonds in lignocellulosic biomass is very difficult. The PdCu nanoalloys can catalyze the selective hydrodeoxygenation reaction of HMF to DMF • The PdCu nanoalloys with specific crystallographic phases can improve the selectivity of hydrodeoxygenation reaction • The body-centered cubic (BCC) PdCu nanoalloys exhibited outstanding performance with 93.6% yield of DMF at room temperature • PdCu/AC-BCC could also catalyze other aromatic alcohols at room temperature

Camera pose optimization is the basis of geometric vision works, such as 3D reconstruction, structure from motion, and visual odometry. A pose optimization method based on learned metrics is proposed to improve the optimization convexity. The neural network was designed and trained based on the collected datasets, respectively. The network inputs pairwise patches and outputs the Euclidean distance of its center. This distance is involved in the residual calculation of Gauss-Newton, and the Jacobian corresponding to this distance can be analytically solved. The simulation verified convergence and generalization of the designed network. The accuracy and robustness of the proposed pose optimization compared with intensity- and feature-based optimizations are also verified.

Species mean trait values are the common currency of current trait-based community ecology, in which species are approximated by a set of constant mean trait values and are assumed to be passively selected by abiotic and biotic filters according to these values. However, species mean trait values can respond to both species interactions and the environmental context. Do such responses in traits subsequently alter the effect of filters on communities? Can we benefit by incorporating the responses of species mean trait values in trait-based community assembly? We tested the responses of mean values of four key functional traits to reduced light and interspecific competition in a two-year common garden experiment, using 1,584 seedlings of 11 tree species. We quantified the changes in interspecific trait differences, community-weighted means (CWM), and functional diversity (FD) and compared these to their corresponding changes under the assumption of constant mean trait values. Species mean values of most examined traits underwent substantial changes (mean = 18 ± 3%) to shading and interspecific competition treatments, but the direction and extent of these responses varied among traits and species, resulting in significant changes in interspecific trait differences, CWM and FD. Considering these trait responses largely improved our ability to identify these effects of low light and interspecific competition on CWM and FD. Further, we showed that strong abiotic filters could promote trait divergence if trait responses were considered, but that this pattern would be obscured if species mean trait values were considered as constant. Consequently, incorporating the responses of species mean trait values, e.g. using multiple mean values for a trait of a species in a heterogeneous environment, into the current trait-based community ecology offers us a more accurate, sensitive, and time-saving way to identify the underlying ecological mechanisms.

Climate changes and underlying surface of the watershed have affected the evolution of streamflow to a different degree. It is of great significance to quantitatively evaluate main drivers of streamflow change for development, utilization, and planning management of water resources. In this study, the Huangshui River basin, a typical basin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, was chosen as the research area. Huangshui is the largest first-class tributary in the upstream of the Yellow River. Based on the Budyko hypothesis, streamflow and meteorological datasets from 1958 to 2017 were used to quantitatively assess the relative contributions of changes in climate and watershed characteristics to streamflow change in research area. The results show that the streamflow of Huangshui River basin shows an insignificant decreasing trend; the sensitivity coefficients of streamflow to precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and watershed characteristic parameter are 0.5502, −0.1055, and −183.2007, respectively. That is, 1 unit increase in precipitation would induce an increase of 0.5502 units in streamflow, and 1 unit increase in potential evapotranspiration would induce a decrease of 0.1055 units in streamflow, and an increase of 1 unit in the watershed characteristic coefficient would induce a decrease of 183.2007 units in streamflow. The streamflow decreased by 20.48 mm (13.59%) during the change period (1994–2017) compared with that during the reference period (1958–1993), which can be attributed to watershed characteristic changes (accounting for 73.64%) and climate change (accounting for 24.48%). Watershed characteristic changes exert a dominant influence upon the reduction of streamflow in the Huangshui River basin.

Wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.), as a kind of functional fruit, has various nutritional and bioactive components, which exhibit healthy benefits. However, wolfberry is not easy to preserve, and the intensive processing of wolfberry needs to be developed. In the present study, the changes in the phytochemical and bioactive compounds, as well as the antioxidant properties of wolfberry, were evaluated in the brewed processes. We found that the sugar contents were significantly decreased, and the total acids values were significantly increased during the fermentation processes. The sugar and fat contents were low in the wolfberry fruit vinegar after fermentation, which is of benefit to human health. In addition, amino acids were examined during the fermentation processes, and histidine, proline, and alanine were found to be the main amino acids in vinegar. The total phenolics and flavonoids contents were significantly increased by 29.4% and 65.7% after fermentation. 4-Hydroxy benzoic acid, 3-hydroxy cinnamic acid, and chlorogenic acid were the primary polyphenols in the wolfberry fruit vinegar. Moreover, the antioxidant activity of wolfberry fruit vinegar was significantly increased compared with that of wolfberry fruit after the fermentation processes. Polysaccharides and polyphenolics were strongly correlated with the antioxidant activity during the fermentation processes. The findings suggest that wolfberry fruit vinegar has a high antioxidant capability, and could be a beneficial food in the human diet.

Electromagnetic field confinement is significant in enhancing light-matter interactions as well as in reducing footprints of photonic devices especially in Terahertz (THz). Polaritons offer a promising platform for the manipulation of light at the deep sub-wavelength scale. However, traditional THz polariton materials lack active tuning and anisotropic propagation simultaneously. In this paper, we design a graphene/α-MoO3 heterostructure and simulate polariton hybridization between isotropic graphene plasmon polaritons and anisotropic α-MoO3 phonon polaritons. The physical fundamentals for polariton hybridizations depend on the evanescent fields coupling originating from the constituent materials as well as the phase match condition, which can be severely affected by the α-MoO3 thickness and actively tuned by the gate voltages. Hybrid polaritons propagate with in-plane anisotropy that exhibit momentum dispersion characterized by elliptical, hyperboloidal and even flattened iso-frequency contours (IFCs) in the THz range. Our results provide a tunable and flexible anisotropic polariton platform for THz sensing, imaging, and modulation.

Abstract It has been increasingly recognized that plant traits and their intraspecific variation play pivotal roles in determining how ecosystem structure and function respond to a changing environment. Yet, it remains unclear how and which plant traits regulate the assembly process and thus affect ecosystem structure and function under climate changes. Here, we selected six steppe sites with snow fences along a precipitation gradient in inner Mongolia. We measured traits including plant height and leaf carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations. We incorporated intraspecific trait variation to quantify the strength of external filters (assembly processes outside the community at a larger spatial scale), the strength of internal filters (assembly processes within the local community), and functional redundancy (the number of species having a similar function to an ecosystem). We applied these assembly rules to explain the changes in biodiversity and productivity in response to changing precipitation. We found that increased rainfall reduced plant carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorous (P) concentrations, but did not affect plant height. High snowfall increased phosphorous concentration, but did not affect other traits. Latent variable models identified climate (rainfall) and soil nutrient conditions (soil total N and P content) were more important than external filtering processes in predicting species richness. However, external filtering processes were the most important predictor of productivity. More specifically, we found with the increase in steppe productivity, the strength of the external filtering on leaf N increased and on plant height decreased, leading to leaf N converging into a small range but broadening the range of plant height. The internal filters had no significant effects on species richness or productivity. Additionally, we found that low precipitation reduced functional redundancy. We emphasize that intraspecific trait‐variation drives plant productivity and richness responses to precipitation changes by regulating community assemblage. Our finding also underlines the importance to separate the contributions of different functional traits in regulating the responses of ecosystem structure and function to climate changes.

Biochar has received much attention as a strategy to enhance soil carbon (C) sequestration and mitigate climate change. Previous studies found that the feedstock and pyrolysis temperature can largely determine biochar properties, which in turn, impact the stability of native soil organic matter (SOM) and soil microorganisms. The Schima superba and Cunninghamia lanceolata are two tree species widely distributed in the subtropical region of southern China, but how the biochars from these two species influence the soil C sequestration and microbial communities of plantation remain poorly understood. In this study, we produced biochars from these two different feedstocks (13C-labeled S. superba and C. lanceolata litters) at three pyrolysis temperatures (350°C, 550°C, 750°C), then added them to the soils from C. lanceolata plantation, and maintained the experiments at 25°C for 112 days. We found both C mineralization and soil microbial community structures were strongly, but inconsistent, affected by biochar feedstock and pyrolysis temperature. The C. lanceolata biochar triggered the negative priming effect faster and greater compared with the S. superba biochar amendment. Biochars produced at 550°C showed the most significant negative priming effect during the whole incubation period, regardless of the different feedstocks. The cumulative amount of CO2 derived from biochars was significantly decreased with pyrolysis temperature (p < 0.05), indicating that biochars prepared at higher temperatures were more stable in the soil. Further, the soil microbial community structure was only affected by biochar pyrolysis temperature rather than biochar feedstock and their interaction. Together, our results reveal that biochar feedstock and pyrolysis temperature may play more important roles in dictating the priming effect than the structure of microbial community for C. lanceolata plantation. Overall, we concluded that the biochars prepared at 550°C could rapidly decrease the turnover of native SOM in a short term and biochar amendment has the potential to be a management practice for soil C sequestration in the C. lanceolata plantation.

For efficient and environmentally friendly removal of nitrate from groundwater, biochar-based nanoscale zerovalent iron composites were prepared, where biochar was derived from pine sawdust at 4 different pyrolysis temperatures. The results show that biochar with different pyrolysis temperatures played a great role in both nitrate removal efficiency and nitrate conversion rate to nitrogen gas for the prepared composites. Specifically, the composite with biochar pyrolyzed at 500 °C, ZB12-500, showed the best performance in both nitrate removal and conversion to nitrogen gas. With an initial solution pH from 5 to 10, ZB12-500 maintained high removal efficiencies varying from 97.29% to 89.04%. Moreover, the conversion of nitrate to nitrogen gas increased with the initial nitrate concentration, and it reached 31.66% with an initial nitrate concentration of 100 mg/L. Kinetics analysis showed that the nitrate removal process fit well with a two-compartment first-order kinetic model. Meanwhile, the test of nitrate removal by ZB12-500 in synthetic groundwater showed that HCO3− and SO42− limited nitrate removal but improved nitrate conversion to nitrogen gas. Furthermore, the nitrate removal mechanism suggested that biochar could facilitate electron transfer from zero valent iron to nitrate, which led to high nitrate removal efficiency. In addition, the interaction of ferrous ions and the quinone group of biochar could increase the nitrate conversion to nitrogen gas. Therefore, this study suggests that ZB12-500 is a promising alternative for the remediation of nitrate-contaminated groundwater.

Wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) is a nutritious and medicinal fruit, and deeply processed products of wolfberry needs to be improved. In this study, nutrition, bioactive compounds, and hepaprotective activity were explored in wolfberry vinegar (WFV). The contents of nutrients including total sugar and protein in WFV samples were 2.46 and 0.27 g/100 mL, respectively. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents in WFV were 2.42 mg GAE/mL and 1.67 mg RE/mL, respectively. p-Hydroxybenzoic acid and m-hydroxycinnamic acid were the main polyphenols in WFV. The antioxidant activity of WFV were 20.176 mM Trolox/L (ABTS), 8.614 mM Trolox/L (FRAP), and 26.736 mM Trolox/L (DPPH), respectively. In addition, WFV treatment effectively alleviated liver injury by improving histopathological changes and reducing liver biochemical indexes in CCl4-treated mice. WFV alleviated oxidative damage by inhibiting oxidative levels and increasing antioxidant levels. These results suggest that WFV can be utilized as a functional food to prevent oxidative liver injury.

Aqueous zinc ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSCs) have emerged and are regarded as promising candidates for energy storage due to their environmental friendlessness and cost‐effectiveness. However, the development of a satisfying positive electrode with high performance still poses challenges. Herein, a hierarchical porous carbon with a fast‐ion‐transport feature is rationally reported via a facile template modification strategy. By adjusting the content of the template, the physiochemical characteristics and microstructures of carbon can be reasonably optimized. As proof of concept, the produced carbon electrode can deliver a high specific capacitance of 294.8 F g−1 at a current density of 0.2 A g−1, long cycling stability with ≈100% capacitance retention over 20 000 cycles, and a maximum power density of 13.2 kW kg−1 at 30.8 W h kg−1. Significantly, a superior areal capacitance of 3390 mF cm−2 is offered with a mass loading of 21 mg cm−2. When coupled with a unique antifreezing hydrogel electrolyte, the constructed quasi‐solid‐state ZHSC can not only endure −15 °C, but also exhibits outstanding durability and an ultralow self‐discharging rate, demonstrating its potential prospect for extreme conditions. This work may bring light on the preparation of carbon materials and the fabrication of multifunctional devices.