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Alice E. Ginsberg's book, "Transgressing Teacher Education: Strategies for Equity, Opportunity, and Social Justice in Urban Teacher Preparation and Practice," sheds light on the discrimination and inequality that still exist in American primary schools, particularly against students of color. Ginsberg explores the origins of this discrimination and suggests specific initiatives to achieve educational equity. She emphasizes the need for culturally relevant curriculum, encouraging teachers to frame their teaching in a way that recognizes and values students' cultural backgrounds. Ginsberg also addresses issues of discipline policies that disproportionately affect students of color and calls for a more democratic and equal school environment. [Extracted from the article]

ABSTRACT The relationship and related mediating mechanism between parental coparenting and adolescent academic engagement have yet to be elucidated during the pandemic. The present study is set to investigate the relationship between parental coparenting and adolescent academic engagement within Chinese families. Then it examines the mediating effects of parent–child communications in relationships. As a part of the national online survey in China, fathers, mothers and adolescents from 700 families across the country participated in the online survey. Both parents reported their coparenting support and conflict, while adolescents rated the level of open and problematic parent–child communication and their own academic engagement. Paternal coparenting conflict was related to adolescent academic engagement through both open and problematic communications. Paternal and maternal coparenting support was related to adolescent academic engagement through the mediating effect of open communication. Maternal coparenting conflict was related to adolescent academic engagement through problematic communication. Moreover, paternal coparenting support was positively directly related to adolescent academic engagement in the overall model. The research findings supported the effects of parental coparenting on adolescent academic engagement through the mediating effects of open and problematic parent–child communication. Paternal coparenting support had a greater impact on adolescent academic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of functional applications of atomic force microscopes is the key to the development of nanotechnology. However, the single probe configuration of the traditional atomic force microscope restricts the realization of different application requirements for the same target area of a single sample, and the replacement of the working probe will lead to the loss of the target area. Here, the design, simulation, fabrication, and application of a unique atomic force microscope dual-probe are presented, which consists of a pair of parallel cantilevers with a narrow gap and a U-shaped hinged probe base. The Integrated Hinged Dual-Probe (IHDP) is developed specifically for fast switching of probes working in limited space and independent and precise manipulation of each probe. The deflection signal sensing of two cantilevers is achieved simultaneously by a single laser beam, and the decoupled independent cantilever deflection signals do not interfere with each other. The switching of the working probe is achieved by a piezoelectric ceramic with a 2 µm stroke and U-shaped hinge structure, which is fast and does not require tedious and repetitive spatial position calibration. By measuring standard grid samples, IHDP exhibits excellent measurement and characterization capabilities. Finally, a working probe switching imaging experiment was conducted on solidified rat cardiomyocytes, and the experimental process and imaging results demonstrated the superiority of IHDP in switching probe scanning imaging of the same target area of a single sample. The two probes of IHDP can undergo arbitrary functionalization modifications, which helps achieve multidimensional information acquisition for a single target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the 1970s to the 2000s, Sweden became the second country after Germany to accept the largest number of asylum seekers among the twenty countries in Europe and North America as well as ranking first of the MIPEX (Migration Integration Policy Index) in a list of thirty-one countries in terms of seven criteria of immigrant policy and practice. As for the former one, because of its Latin suzerain background, Barcelona naturally attracted massive inflows from Latin American countries like Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, and so on, and meanwhile, a copious large number of immigrants from non-European countries like China, Pakistan, Morocco, and the Philippines constituting another diverse social and ethnographic landscape. Keywords: globalization; transnationalism; interculturalism; urban governance; (im-)migration EN globalization transnationalism interculturalism urban governance (im-)migration 1428 1436 9 11/07/23 20231101 NES 231101 White, Bob W. (2018). To positively carry out diversity management, related reports were issued, such as Les aspects multiethniques d'une politique de développement culturel à Montréal and L'immigration et l'intégration: un enjeu québécois, une problématique montréalaise, and the related governmental bodies such as the Commission on the Political and Constitutional Future of Québec, the Bureau d'accueil des nouveaux immigrants (Welcoming Office for New Immigrants), and the Bureau interculturel de Montréal (Montréal Intercultural Bureau) were established in 1988, 1989, and 1991, respectively, to improve the relationship between Montréal's different communities. [Extracted from the article]

Ultrahigh frequency ultrasound (>60 MHz) has emerged as a crucial actuating mechanism for non-contact manipulation, owing to its unique acoustic field properties. The acoustic field traps microparticles mainly via the gradient force of acoustic radiation force (ARF) on the transverse plane, which is up to hundreds of nanonewtons. In theory, directly using ARF can strengthen the manipulation force. Currently, the direct implementation of ARF is restricted to a specific frequency and magnitude range, which lacks a comprehensive and versatile control method. Additionally, it lacks an ARF calibration method that accommodates a wide magnitude and frequency range. We propose a variable frequency pulse width modulation-based control method for ARF, which uses an atomic force microscope microcantilever as a mechanical sensor to calibrate the magnitude and frequency. The precise control of ARF emitted by an 85 MHz transducer was achieved with a resolution of hundreds of piconewtons, magnitude range spanning from nanonewtons to micronewtons, and frequency range of 1 kHz to hundreds of kilohertz. This control method breakthrough holds great promise for expanding the application of ultrahigh frequency ultrasound in noncontact manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) in patients progresses rapidly and can cause multiple organ failures associated with high mortality. We aimed to train a machine learning (ML) model and establish a nomogram that could identify SAP, early in the course of acute pancreatitis (AP). Methods: In this retrospective study, 631 patients with AP were enrolled in the training cohort. For predicting SAP early, five supervised ML models were employed, such as random forest (RF), K‐nearest neighbors (KNN), and naive Bayes (NB), which were evaluated by accuracy (ACC) and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The nomogram was established, and the predictive ability was assessed by the calibration curve and AUC. They were externally validated by an independent cohort of 109 patients with AP. Results: In the training cohort, the AUC of RF, KNN, and NB models were 0.969, 0.954, and 0.951, respectively, while the AUC of the Bedside Index for Severity in Acute Pancreatitis (BISAP), Ranson and Glasgow scores were only 0.796, 0.847, and 0.837, respectively. In the validation cohort, the RF model also showed the highest AUC, which was 0.961. The AUC for the nomogram was 0.888 and 0.955 in the training and validation cohort, respectively. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that the RF model exhibited the best predictive performance, and the nomogram provided a visual scoring model for clinical practice. Our models may serve as practical tools for facilitating personalized treatment options and improving clinical outcomes through pre‐treatment stratification of patients with AP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel strategy for integration of Ag nanoparticle onto the surface of ZIF-8 without the use of any surfactant was reported, where Ag+ was dispersed into the ZIF-8 matrix by competitive coordination first, and then reduced by NaBH4. The resulted 0.8Ag@ZIF-8-RE could be further fabricated as a catalytic filter device with excellent performance for continuous reduction of 4-nitrophenol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparation of Efficient Heterogeneous N -Doped Mesoporous Carbon Single Crystal-Based Ag Catalyst for Mild CO 2 Conversion via an "Impregnation + in-situ reduction" strategy. [Display omitted] Fabrication of efficient heterogeneous catalysts with high turnover frequency (TOF) is intriguing for rapid and scalable CO 2 conversion under mild conditions, but it still faces some challenges due to use of some bulky and irregular supports causing inaccessible inner pores and insufficient utilization of active sites. Herein, using a unique nitrogen-doped mesoporous single-crystal carbon (named IRFC) as a host for loading Ag nanoparticles for the first time, a series of Ag/IRFC catalysts with high TOF (8.7–22.3 h−1) were facilely prepared by a novel "impregnation and in-situ reduction" strategy. The neat morphology and high porosity of IRFC with abundant N species, providing homogeneous surface, adequate space and anchoring sites for Ag immobilization, greatly facilitated the formation of highly-distributed ultrasmall Ag nanoparticles (2.3 nm). Meanwhile, smooth and short diffusion pathways were inherited from the ordered mesopores and small particle sizes of IRFC. Owing to these unparalleled structural features, the Ag/IRFC catalysts exhibited excellent catalytic activity, stability, and generality for mild CO 2 conversion even under diluted conditions. This work not only presents a novel catalyst for mild CO 2 conversion, but also brings some inspirations to designing highly efficient catalysts using well-shaped supporting nanomaterials for direct utilization of low-concentration CO 2 , such as flue gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Extend VL/LL phase boundary tracking algorithms to track VLA/LLA phase boundaries. • Achieve the tracking of VLA/LLA phase boundaries in both PT and Px phase diagrams. • Demonstrate the efficacy of the developed algorithms for five reservoir fluid mixtures. This short communication introduces a phase-boundary tracking method that is tailored to capture the vapor–liquid-aqueous/liquid–liquid-aqueous three-phase boundaries in both pressure–temperature and pressure-composition phase diagrams. This method is applied to several reservoir fluid mixtures that exhibit four-phase vapor–liquid–liquid-aqueous equilibria. Our findings reveal that the phase boundaries identified by this tracking method converge at the apex of the vapor–liquid–liquid-aqueous four-phase region. At this apex, the compositions of the vapor phase and the CO 2 -riched liquid phase become identical, indicating the pinching out of the four-phase region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Nicola Delvino, a Researcher/Advisor on Migrants and Refugees Rights at Amnesty International, migration is a markedly urban phenomenon. Globally, nearly half of the total population of international migrants resides in 10 highly urbanized countries, of which five are in Europe (Delvino, [1], p. 1). European cities and migrants with irregular status: Municipal initiatives for the inclusion of irregular migrants in the provision of services. [Extracted from the article]

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) survive in the bloodstream and then seed and invade to foster tumor metastasis. The arrest of cancer cells is favored by permissive flow forces and geometrical constraints. Through the use of high-throughput microfluidic devices designed to mimic capillary-sized vessels, we applied pressure differences to cancer cells (MCF-7 cell line) and recorded the cell traverse-vessel behaviors. Our results showed that cancer cells transform from a Newtonian droplet state to an adhesion/migration state when cancer cells traverse artificial vessels. To explain these phenomena, a modified Newtonian droplet model was also proposed. These phenomena and the modified model may reveal how CTCs in the blood seed and invade vessels under suitable conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, cancer is a serious health problem. It is unfortunate that current anti-cancer strategies are insufficiently specific and damage the normal tissues. There's urgent need for development of new anti-cancer strategies. More recently, increasing attention has been paid to the new application of ferroptosis and nano materials in cancer research. Ferroptosis, a condition characterized by excessive reactive oxygen species-induced lipid peroxidation, as a new programmed cell death mode, exists in the process of a number of diseases, including cancers, neurodegenerative disease, cerebral hemorrhage, liver disease, and renal failure. There is growing evidence that inducing ferroptosis has proven to be an effective strategy against a variety of chemo-resistant cancer cells. Nano-drug delivery system based on nanotechnology provides a highly promising platform with the benefits of precise control of drug release and reduced toxicity and side effects. This paper reviews the latest advances of combination therapy strategies based on biomedical nanotechnology induced ferroptosis for cancer therapeutics. Given the new chances and challenges in this emerging area, we need more attention to the combination of nanotechnology and ferroptosis in the treatment of cancer in the future. [Display omitted] • Current anti-cancer strategies are lack of specificity and damage normal tissues. • Ferroptosis is an effective strategy against chemo-resistant cancer cells. • Nanotechnology provides of precise control of drug release and reduced toxicity. • Combination therapy based on ferroptosis-induced nano-DDS brings enhanced antitumor effect and has satisfactory safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several factors are associated with the success of deep learning. One of the most important reasons is the availability of large-scale datasets with clean annotations. However, obtaining datasets with accurate labels in the medical imaging domain is challenging. The reliability and consistency of medical labeling are some of these issues, and low-quality annotations with label noise usually exist. Because noisy labels reduce the generalization performance of deep neural networks, learning with noisy labels is becoming an essential task in medical image analysis. Literature on this topic has expanded in terms of volume and scope. However, no recent surveys have collected and organized this knowledge, impeding the ability of researchers and practitioners to utilize it. In this work, we presented an up-to-date survey of label-noise learning for medical image domain. We reviewed extensive literature, illustrated some typical methods, and showed unified taxonomies in terms of methodological differences. Subsequently, we conducted the methodological comparison and demonstrated the corresponding advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we discussed new research directions based on the characteristics of medical images. Our survey aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a solid understanding of existing medical label-noise learning, such as the main algorithms developed over the past few years, which could help them investigate new methods to combat with the negative effects of label noise. [Display omitted] • There exist low-quality annotations with label noise for medical image domain. • Present an up-to-date survey of label-noise learning for medical image analysis. • We review extensive literature, illustrate typical methods and show the unified taxonomies. • Our survey can help researchers and practitioners to investigate new methods to alleviate negative effect of label noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First Chinese tray-meal dataset collected (1185 images, 99 dish categories). • Method developed for dish recognition based on deep learning. • Automatic nutrition estimation method for Chinese tray meals. Tray meal is a popular way of eating in China, and tray-based automatic dietary assessment is important for public health. Relevant research is lacking because public tray meal datasets and suitable methods are unavailable. In this study, we established and published the first Chinese tray meal dataset, the ChinaLunchTray-99. We collected real-world 1185 tray meal images, covering 99 dish categories with corresponding manually annotated bounding box and category-level labels. We developed a new framework for automatic dietary assessment, which consists of dish image recognition, volume estimation and nutrition mapping. First, we demonstrated a tray meal detection model considering feature extraction, anchor scales, and loss function, resulting in a high mean Average Precision of 92.13%. Second, we proposed an automatic method to estimate volume via detection results and tray's information. Finally, nutrients were mapped from the estimated volume. Our research can promote applications of automatic dietary assessment for Chinese tray meals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the irrationality of making a structure subjected to bidirectional ground motions equivalent to an SDOF system, a new approach method is presented in this paper. The ratio between modal participation factors of the two components of the structure is expressed as γ, and the superposition of bidirectional ground motions is regarded as one-directional earthquake excitation for the equivalent SDOF system. Based on this, an energy balance equation is established, and a method used to estimate normalized hysteretic energy (NHE) is proposed. Analysis of the ratio between NHE (γ ≠ 0) and NHE (γ = 0) is suggested in order to analyze the influence of bidirectional ground motions on hysteretic energy demand, and then, "α1 = NHE (γ ≠ 0)/NHE (γ = 0)" is defined, and bidirectional ground motion records for different soil sites are selected for establishing superimposed excitations. In addition, the period range of 0–5 s for the energy spectrum is divided into 6 ranges. In each period range, the means of α1 are defined as α. The curves of α of constant ductility factors for different soil sites are established, in which α is the vertical coordinate and γ is the horizontal coordinate. Through nonlinear response history analysis, the influence of soil types at different sites, the ductility factor, the ratio of modal participation factors, and the period on the values of α are analyzed. According to the analytical results, correction coefficient αs (the simplified value of α) is obtained so that the hysteretic energy demand under bidirectional ground motions can be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Accurately delineating clinical target volumes (CTV) is essential for completing radiotherapy plans but is time‐consuming, labor‐intensive, and prone to inter‐observer variation. Automating CTV delineation has the benefits of both speeding up contouring process and improving the quality of contours. Recently, auto‐segmentation approaches based on deep learning have achieved some improvements. However, unlike organ segmentation, the CTV contains potential tumor spread tissues or subclinical disease tissues, resulting in poorly defined margin interface and irregular shape. It is not reasonable to directly apply the deep learning segmentation algorithms to CTV tasks without considering the unique characteristics of shape and margin. In this work, we propose a novel automatic CTV delineation algorithm based on deep learning addressing the unique shape and margin challenges. Methods: Our deep learning method, called RA‐CTVNet, segments the CTV from cervical cancer CT images. RA‐CTVNet denotes our automatic CTV delineation algorithm based on deep learning with Area‐aware reweight strategy and Recursive refinement strategy. (1) In order to process the whole‐volume CT images and delineate all CTVs in one shot, our method is built upon the popular 3D Unet architecture. We further extend it with robust residual learning and squeeze‐and‐excitation blocks for better feature representation. (2) We propose area‐aware reweight strategy which assigns different weights for different slices. The core is adjusting model's attention to each slice. (3) In terms of the trade‐off between providing performance improvements and meeting the limitations of GPU memory, we exploit a new recursive refinement strategy to address margin challenge. Results: This retrospective study included 462 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer who received radiotherapy from June 2017 to May 2019. Extensive experiments were conducted to evaluate performance of RA‐CTVNet. First, compared to different network architectures, RA‐CTVNet achieved improvements in Dice similarity coefficient (DSC). Second, we conducted ablation study. The results showed that compared to the backbone, area‐aware reweight strategy increased DSC by 3.3% on average and recursive refinement strategy further increased DSC by 1.6% on average. Then, we compared our method with three human experts. Our RA‐CTVNet performed better than two experts while comparably to the third expert. Finally, a multicenter evaluation was conducted to verify the accuracy and generalizability. Conclusions: Our findings show that deep learning is able to offer an efficient framework for automatic CTV delineation. The tailored RA‐CTVNet can improve the quality of CTV contours, which has great potential for reducing the burden of experts and increasing the accuracy of delineation. In the future, if with more training data, further improvements are possible, bringing this approach closer to real clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquid crystalline (LC) organic semiconductors having long‐range‐ordered LC phases hold great application potential in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs). However, to meet real device application requirements, it is a prerequisite to precisely pattern the LC film at desired positions. Here, a facile method that combines the technique of inkjet printing and melt processing to fabricate patterned LC film for achieving high‐performance organic integrated circuits is demonstrated. Inkjet printing controls the deposition locations of the LC materials, while the melt processing implements phase transition of the LC materials to form high‐quality LC films with large grain sizes. This approach enables to achieve patterned growth of high‐quality 2,7‐dioctyl[1]‐benzothieno[3,2‐b][1]benzothiophene (C8‐BTBT) LC films. The patterned C8‐BTBT LC film‐based 7 × 7 OFET array has 100% die yield and shows high average mobility of 6.31 cm2 V−1 s−1, along with maximum mobility up to 9.33 cm2 V−1 s−1. As a result, the inverters based on the patterned LC films reach a high gain up to 23.75 as well as an ultrahigh noise margin over 81.3%. Given the good generality of the patterning process and the high quality of the resulting films, the proposed method paves the way for high‐performance organic integrated devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel distance-dependent volume translation is introduced into PC-SAFT EOS. • The volume-translated PC-SAFT model reproduces critical properties of pure compounds. • Accurate property predictions of pure compounds are achieved over a wide range of T/P. • A generalized volume-translated PC-SAFT EOS is proposed for n -alkanes. In this study, we develop an improved volume-translation model for perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT) equation of state (EOS). The new volume translation model is based on a distance function that measures the distance between the current condition and a critical point. This volume translation model is integrated into a particular version of PC-SAFT, which can exactly reproduce the critical points of pure compounds. The proposed volume-translated PC-SAFT EOS is found to exactly reproduce the critical properties of pure compounds (including critical pressure, critical temperature, and critical molar volume) and yield accurate reproductions of the saturated liquid density, liquid density, and vapor pressure of the selected 39 pure fluids over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, covering the critical and non-critical regions. Overall, the newly developed volume-translated SAFT EOS model yields average absolute percentage deviations (%AADs) of only 0.505, 0.470, and 0.676, in reproducing the saturated liquid density, liquid density, and vapor pressure, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Adsorption-based separation of C 2 H 6 and C 2 H 4 appears to be an energy efficient alternative to the state-of-the-art cryogenic distillation technology, and adsorbent materials selectively bind C 2 H 6 over C 2 H 4 are long-desired due to its capability to obtain high-purity C 2 H 4. In this paper, a series of hyper-crosslinked polymers (HCPs) enriched with micropores was prepared by the reported Friedel-Crafts "knitting" method. We demonstrate that biased adsorption of C 2 H 6 over C 2 H 4 can be obtained over these HCPs. These results were rarely reported on porous polymers before. Both the obtained C 2 H 6 /C 2 H 4 adsorption capacity and selectivity are only slightly lower than several costly metal-organic frameworks. At the same time, we also report adjustment of the micropore size of the HCPs on an angstrom level by simply varying the molar ratio of benzene and FDA in the preparation procedure, this may lead to the development of similar materials for other applications, i.e. adsorption, catalysis, etc. Graphical abstract Hyper-crosslinked polymers prepared by Friedel-Crafts "knitting" from benzene and formaldehyde dimethyl acetal showed unusual biased adsorption of C 2 H 6 over C 2 H 4. fx1 Highlights • C 2 H 4 /C 2 H 6 adsorption performance on HCPs was reported for the first time. • Biased adsorption of C 2 H 6 over C 2 H 4 was achieved on the HCPs. • Adjustment of the micropore size on an angstrom level was achieved. • Friedel-Crafts "knitting" strategy, which is low cost and facile, may lead to broad interests in practical applications such as adsorption, catalysis, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Abstract Developing an effective layer-controllable fabrication technique for two-dimensional materials is crucial, as numerous novel properties are closely related to the varying layers and the artificial nanostructures. To achieve this goal, a novel technique was proposed based on the model between the phase variation and the characteristic parameters of the material. Based on the theoretical estimation and fabrications related to the phase information, cutting with controllable layers and sharp edges was achieved on monolayer and multilayer MoS 2 nanosheets. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of our method and suggest its potential for wide application in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the most nonlinear temperature-dependent volume translation techniques, there is a crossing of isotherms in the pressure-volume (PV) diagram, which leads to thermodynamic inconsistency, gives anomalous prediction of some physical properties and thereby restricts the applicability of the volume translated equation of state (EOS). In this work, a generalized nonlinear temperature-dependent volume translation model is developed for PR EOS to achieve more accurate prediction of the liquid densities for pure components. Based on a criterion we have derived in a prior work, a mathematical constraint is applied when the model parameters are being regressed to match the measured density data; by adopting this criterion, we ensure that no any crossover phenomenon occurs for the new volume translation model over a wide range of pressure and temperature (up close to 100 MPa and 1000 K). The model parameters are determined based on the regression of the density data of 17 non-polar and slightly polar substances. It is shown that the new consistent volume-translated PR EOS improves the accuracy in calculating the liquid density for the 17 substances with an overall absolute average percentage deviation of 1.44%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why Place Matters: A Sociological Study of the Historic Preservation Movement in Otaru, Japan, 1965-2017: Saburo Horikawa (Trans. Kate Dunlop) (2021). And although the highways were ultimately built, the city government began to recognize the value of historic preservation by establishing a "Heritage Section" within the Otaru Port and Industry Department, which attested that the activists' efforts were not for nothing. The author chronicles the major preservation movements, negotiations between residents and the government, and the subsequent port revitalization rooted in urban planning in Otaru in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: The mechanical properties of cells, which are the main characteristics determining their physical performance and physiological functions, have been actively studied in the fields of cytobiology and biomedical engineering and for the development of medicines. In this study, an indentation-vibration-based method is proposed to simultaneously measure the mechanical properties of cells in situ, including cellular mass (m), elasticity (k), and viscosity (c).Methods: The proposed measurement method is implemented based on the principle of forced vibration stimulated by simple harmonic force using an atomic force microscope (AFM) system integrated with a piezoelectric transducer as the substrate vibrator. The corresponding theoretical model containing the three mechanical properties is derived and used to perform simulations and calculations. Living and fixed human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK 293) cells were subjected to indentation and vibration to measure and compare their mechanical parameters and verify the proposed approach. Results: The results that the fixed sample cells are more viscous and elastic than the living sample cells and the measured mechanical properties of cell are consistent within, but not outside of the central region of the cell, are in accordance with the previous studies.Conclusion: This work provides an approach to simultaneous measurement of the multiple mechanical properties of single cells using an integrated AFM system based on the principle force vibration and thickness-corrected Hertz model. Significance: This study should contribute to progress in biomedical engineering, cytobiology, medicine, early diagnosis, specific therapy and cell-powered robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) mechanical-based lithography attracts much attention in nanomanufacturing due to its advantages of low cost, high precision and high resolution. However, debris effects during mechanical lithography often lead to an unstable machining process and inaccurate results, which limits further applications of AFM-based lithography. There is a lack of a real-time debris detection approach, which is the prerequisite to eventually eliminating the influence of the debris, and of a method that can solve the above problems well. The ultrasonic vibration (USV)-assisted AFM has the ability to sense the machining depth in real time by detecting the phase shifting of cantilever. However, whether the pile-up of debris affect the phase response of cantilever is still lack of investigation. Therefore, we analyzed the mechanism of the debris effect on force control mode and investigated the relationship between phase shifting and pile-up of debris. Theoretical analysis and experimental results reveal that the pile-up of debris have negligible effect on phase shifting of cantilever. Therefore, the phase shifting-based method can detect the debris effect on machining depth in force control mode of AFM machining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volume translation is widely adopted in cubic equation of state (CEOS) to achieve more accurate density predictions for pure compounds and mixtures. Previous research reveals that a temperature-dependent volume-translated EOS could result in crossing of pressure-volume isotherms for a pure compound, which leads to an anomalous behavior that the predicted molar volume for a pure component can possibly be lower at a higher temperature at an isobaric condition. Such crossover phenomenon fails to consistently predict the thermodynamic properties of a pure compound, e.g., giving a negative isobaric thermal expansivity. In this study, we develop a concise criterion to judge whether a volume-translated EOS will result in crossover issues, and if so, the extent of the temperature and pressure range over which the crossover phenomenon occurs. The recently proposed volume translations are evaluated on the basis of the developed criterion. For the various types of temperature-dependent volume translations, we obtain the specific temperature/pressure conditions over which there is certainly no crossover phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical properties of two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, black phosphorus, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and tungsten disulfide, exhibit significant dependence on their lattice orientations, especially for zigzag and armchair lattice orientations. Understanding of the atomic probe motion on surfaces with different orientations helps in the study of anisotropic materials. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive model that can describe the probe motion mechanism. In this paper, we report a tribological study of MoS2in zigzag and armchair orientations. We observed a characteristic power spectrum and friction force values. To explain our results, we developed a modified, two-dimensional, stick-slip Tomlinson model that allows simulation of the probe motion on MoS2surfaces by combining the motion in the Mo layer and S layer. Our model fits well with the experimental data and provides a theoretical basis for tribological studies of two-dimensional materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nonlinear temperature-dependent volume translation is introduced into PC-SAFT EOS. • Volume-translated PC-SAFT EOS reproduces critical pressure and critical temperature of CO 2. • Proposed model gives accurate predictions of CO 2 density and vapor pressure. Statistical associating fluid theory (SAFT)-type equations of state (EOSs) have been widely used to model the phase behavior of pure compounds (e.g., carbon dioxide). One issue with the conventional SAFT-type EOSs is that they fail to accurately reproduce the critical pressure and critical temperature of pure compounds. To address this limitation, the three parameters in SAFT-type EOSs (i.e., m , σ , and ε / k) must be adjusted to exactly reproduce the critical temperature and critical pressure of pure compounds, leading to the development of the critical-point perturbed-chain SAFT (CPPC-SAFT). However, this is achieved by sacrificing the accuracy of the liquid-density predictions. As such, a fourth parameter, that is, the volume translation parameter, is indispensable for improving the accuracy of liquid density predictions. In this study, a new nonlinear temperature-dependent volume translation model is introduced into the perturbed-chain SAFT EOS (PC-SAFT EOS) for more accurate prediction of CO 2 density. The newly developed volume-translated and critical-point PC-SAFT EOS (VT-CPPC-SAFT EOS) is found to be superior to the previously developed models, such as the original PC-SAFT (Gross and Sadowski, 2001), CPPC-SAFT (Anoune et al., 2021), and industrialized version of PC-SAFT EOS (I-PC-SAFT) (Moine et al., 2019), because it can provide more accurate density predictions for CO 2 in different phase states. In addition, the VT-CPPC-SAFT EOS accurately reproduces the critical pressure and critical temperature of CO 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bi‐based electrocatalysts have been widely investigated in the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) for the formation of formate. However, it remains a challenge to achieve high Faradaic efficiency (FE) and industrial current densities at low overpotentials for obtaining both high formate productivity and energy efficiency (EE). Herein, we report an Ag−Bi2O3 hybrid nanofiber (Ag−Bi2O3) for highly efficient electrochemical reduction of CO2 to formate. Ag−Bi2O3 exhibits a formate FE of >90% for current densities from −10 to −250 mA ⋅ cm−2 and attains a yield rate of 11.7 mmol ⋅ s−1 ⋅ m−2 at −250 mA ⋅ cm−2. Moreover, Ag−Bi2O3 increased the EE (52.7%) by nearly 10% compared to a Bi2O3 only counterpart. Structural characterization and in‐situ Raman results suggest that the presence of Ag induced the conversion of Bi2O3 from a monoclinic phase (α‐Bi2O3) to a metastable tetragonal phase (β‐Bi2O3) and accelerated the formation of active metallic Bi at low overpotentials (at > −0.3 V), which together contributes to the highly efficient formate formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO2 capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology is a rare option for the large-scale use of fossil fuels in a low-carbon way, which will definitely play a part in the journey towards carbon neutrality. Within the CCUS nexus, CCU is especially interesting because these processes will establish a new "atmosphere-to-atmosphere" carbon cycle and thus indirectly offer huge potential in carbon reduction. This study focuses on the new positioning of CCUS in the carbon neutrality scenario and aims to identify potential cutting-edge/disruptive CCU technologies that may find important application opportunities during the decarbonization of the energy and industrial system. To this end, direct air capture (DAC), flexible metal-framework materials (MOFs) for CO2 capture, integrated CO2 capture and conversion (ICCC), and electrocatalytic CO2 reduction (ECR) were selected, and their general introduction, the importance to carbon neutrality, and most up-to-date research progress are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of cells are of great significance to their normal physiological activities. The current methods used for the measurement of a cell's mechanical properties have the problems of complicated operation, low throughput, and limited measuring range. Based on micropipette technology, we designed a double-layer micro-valve-controlled microfluidic chip with a series of micropipette arrays. The chip has adjustment pressure ranges of 0.03–1 and 0.3–10 kPa and has a pressure stabilization design, which can achieve a robust measurement of a single cell's mechanical properties under a wide pressure range and is simple to operate. Using this chip, we measured the mechanical properties of the cells treated with different concentrations of paraformaldehyde (PFA) and observed that the viscoelasticity of the cells gradually increased as the PFA concentration increased. Then, this method was also used to characterize the changes in the mechanical properties of the differentiation pathways of stem cells from the apical papilla to osteogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid evolution of microelectronics and nanofabrication technologies, the feature sizes of large‐scale integrated circuits continue to move toward the nanoscale. There is a strong need to improve the quality and efficiency of integrated circuit inspection, but it remains a great challenge to provide both rapid imaging and circuit node‐level high‐resolution images simultaneously using a conventional microscope. This paper proposes a nondestructive, high‐throughput, multiscale correlation imaging method that combines atomic force microscopy (AFM) with microlens‐based scanning optical microscopy. In this method, a microlens is coupled to the end of the AFM cantilever and the sample‐facing side of the microlens contains a focused ion beam deposited tip which serves as the AFM scanning probe. The introduction of a microlens improves the imaging resolution of the AFM optical system, providing a 3–4× increase in optical imaging magnification while the scanning imaging throughput is improved ≈8×. The proposed method bridges the resolution gap between traditional optical imaging and AFM, achieves cross‐scale rapid imaging with micrometer to nanometer resolution, and improves the efficiency of AFM‐based large‐scale imaging and detection. Simultaneously, nanoscale‐level correlation between the acquired optical image and structure information is enabled by the method, providing a powerful tool for semiconductor device inspection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In this study, we explored whether and how the indirect effects of father– and mother–adolescent conflict between PIU and academic engagement differ between female and male adolescents. Background: Problematic internet use (PIU) is an important health issue for adolescents. It has been found to be related to severe impairment in their interpersonal relationships (e.g., parent–child relationships) and academic outcomes (e.g., academic engagement), particularly during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Method: A national survey was conducted in diverse regions of the Chinese mainland, and a total of 2,688 adolescents between 10 and 19 years old (52.8% girls, Mage = 14.06 ± 2.47) participated in the study. Correlation and mediation analyses were conducted and were stratified by gender. Results: Multigroup analysis indicated that PIU was similarly and positively associated with father– and mother–adolescent conflict in adolescent boys and girls, whereas only father–adolescent conflict was negatively related to boys' academic engagement and only mother–adolescent conflict was negatively related to girls' academic engagement. Conclusion: These results support the same‐gender matching model in parent–adolescent conflict and expand the same‐gender effect to Chinese culture. Implications: These findings have important implications for understanding the mechanisms of how adolescent PIU impedes academic engagement through parent–adolescent conflict in father–son, father–daughter, mother–son, and mother–daughter dyads, indicating that family interventions focused on father–son and mother–daughter relationships may largely facilitate adolescents' academic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prior studies have emphasized the importance of parents' educational involvement (a type of cognitive involvement) to academic engagement, although little is known about emotional involvement. Aims: This study investigated whether and how different facets of involvement (cognitive vs. emotional, paternal vs. maternal) are differentially related to academic engagement and whether and how the associations among parental involvement, time management and academic engagement vary by adolescents' developmental phases. Samples: The participants of this large national survey were students in elementary, middle and high school across different regions of mainland China. A total of 2687 adolescents (52.7% females, Mage = 14.07 ± 2.47) participated in this study. Methods: Structural equation models and multigroup analysis were conducted. Results: We found that the total effect of paternal and maternal emotional involvement on academic engagement was positive in elementary‐, middle‐ and high school students, and an indirect effect of time management underlying the above paths was found in all three groups. In contrast, the positive effect of maternal cognitive involvement on academic engagement as well as the indirect effects underlying the above pathways was established only in high school students. Conclusions: The findings highlight the necessity of parents' emotional involvement and the consideration of adolescent developmental characteristics in the design of interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been adopted in both industry and academia for high‐fidelity, full‐profile topographic characterization. Typically, the tiny tip of the cantilever and the limited traveling range of the scanner restrict AFM measurement to relatively flat samples (recommend 1 µm). The primary objective of this work is to address these limitations using a large‐range AFM (measuring height >10 µm) system consisting of a novel repairable high aspect ratio probe (HARP) with a nested‐proportional‐integral‐derivative (nested‐PID) AFM system. The HARP is fabricated using a reliable, cost‐efficient bench‐top process. The tip is then fused by pulling the end of the micropipette cantilever with a length up to hundreds of micrometers and a tip diameter of 30 nm. The design, simulation, fabrication, and performance of the HARP are described herein. This instrument is then tested using polymer trenches which reveals superior image fidelity compared to standard silicon tips. Finally, a nested‐PID system is developed and employed to facilitate 3D characterization of 50‐µm‐step samples. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed bench‐top technique for the fabrication of low‐cost, simple HAR AFM probes that facilitate the imaging of samples with deep trenches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application‐oriented growth of patterned organic semiconductor (OSC) thin films with a single domain is a nonnegotiable requirement for the manufacturing of high‐performance organic electronic devices. However, the prevalent selective‐wetting patterning method remains a challenge in controlling the density of nucleation events in microscale spaces, resulting in thin films with high grain boundary density and no preferential orientation spherulites. Herein, a simple double‐blade‐coating printing technique using a combination of wetting‐patterned substrates to produce an array of highly crystalline OSC thin films is developed. Specifically, the approach confines the OSC crystallization on a molecular‐flat water surface in specific areas, enabling a significant reduction in the number of nuclei. Consequently, patterned 2,7‐dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2‐b] benzothiophene (C8‐BTBT) thin films comprising single‐crystal domains are achieved with an exceptionally high yield of 62.5%. The organic field‐effect transistor array developed from such patterns of C8‐BTBT single‐crystalline films exhibits an excellent average mobility of 11.5 cm2 V−1 s−1 which is 12.5‐fold higher compared to that of the reference sample fabricated via conventional single‐blade coating. It is believed that this approach can be widely applied to other soluble organic materials, thereby opening up opportunities for fabricating multicomponent integrated electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machining or patterning ultra-thin films with specified structures are critical challenges. In this work, a novel mode of atomic force microscopy nanomachining is proposed. The phase response of the cantilever is used as the input of feedback control to modulate the machining force to achieve the desired machined depth. The proposed phase mode, overcoming the disadvantages of force mode, is not affected by the debris piled-up and has the ability to sense the interface of an ultra-thin film and predict the machining depth without post-imaging. The effectiveness of the phase mode has been proven by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active region of organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) is usually sensitive to moisture and O2 in the air ambient, which hinders their practical applications. In this study, the effects of air ambient on characteristics of unpassivated 2,8-difluoro-5,11-bis (triethylsilylethynyl) anthradithiophene (dif-TES-ADT) OTFTs are clarified. The device is much more sensitive to H2O vapor than O2, although both of which cause TFT instability. To improve the environmental stability, inkjet-printed passivation of the fluoropolymer CYTOP and UV curing adhesive are compared. It is found that the CYTOP passivation is well compatible with the organic channel while the UV curing adhesive has excellent barrier ability to both H2O vapor and O2. Then CYTOP/UV adhesive bilayer passivation combining advantages of both materials is introduced to achieve stable operation of OTFTs, which can resist saturated H2O vapor and O2 for 25 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced measurement methods are critical for quantifying spatial systole and diastole of cardiomyocytes in heart disease research. However, restricted by traditional microscopic observation and measurement methods, current research on the kinetics of a single cardiomyocyte mainly focuses on the focal plane of the utilized microscope. This paper proposes a novel, non-invasive, multi-point, and high-resolution three dimensional (3D) measuring method based on microsphere tracking, which can be used to analyze the mechanical beating of cardiomyocytes at a single-cell level. An expansion rotation method was proposed to analyze off-focus imaging informatics for characterizing the contractile motion of a single cardiomyocyte, obviating the need for costly and complex equipment to monitor cardiomyocytes' mechanical beating activity. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, a 3D beating curve of a single cardiomyocyte was drawn for the first time, and the actual spatial movement states of cardiomyocytes in different scenarios were recorded. The applicability of the motion characterization method was tested to determine the pharmacological effects of a typical cardiovascular drug, isoprenaline (1 μM and 5 μM). Within 18 days, the 3D beating curves indicated that the motion of cardiomyocytes tends to be smooth and regular during maturation. The findings offer insights into the contractile motion of single cardiomyocytes and a deep understanding of their kinetics at a single-cell level for multiple scenarios. • Brightfield motility cell mechanoresponse measurements for the first time using SiO 2 microsphere sensors. • Simultaneous measurement of the single cardiomyocyte and cardiomyocyte clusters within the same field of view. • Three-dimensional spatial nanoscale beating measurement of cardiomyocytes. • Long-term monitoring of multiple types of cardiomyocytes. • A new generation of potential in vitro cardiomyocyte drug screening platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal rock water immersion softening is common in coal geology, and it is of great significance to effectively control and utilize the process of water immersion softening and fracturing of coal. In this paper, the progressive failure and softening characteristics of coal samples under localized or full water immersion conditions were determined based on the stress-strain and acoustic emission (AE) response under uniaxial compression, and the obtained characteristics were compared to the properties of the as-received coal as a control. The uniaxial compressive strength, axial stiffness, and softening coefficient of the water-immersed coal samples were reduced compared to those of the control, and the softening degree increased with increasing degree of water immersion. Further, the stress threshold values for crack initiation and crack damage and their ratios to the peak stress decreased with increasing softening degree. The crack damage (CD) point marked the beginning of the unstable propagation of visible fractures and the intense evolution of tensile/shear cracks, accompanied by a rapid increase in the AE counts, regardless of whether the coal had been water-immersed or not. For quantitative characterization and identification of softening characteristics, a new comprehensive index and its softening coefficient are proposed considering the stress threshold and volumetric strain at the CD point, and it is applied to the step-by-step fracturing mechanism of softened coal by hydraulic fracturing. The effective utilization of coal softening and fracturing can avoid the harsh conditions imposed by high-pressure water injection in hydraulic fracturing, which alleviate the dynamic disaster of coal and rock to a certain extent. • Study of progressive failure and softening characteristics of water-treated coal. • Expanding the water immersion level significantly enhances the softening degree. • Crack initiation stress threshold value decreases as the softening degree increases. • New index and softening coefficient to quantitatively describe softening degree. • Investigation of softening/rupturing mechanisms of coal during hydraulic fracturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cubic SrFeO 3-δ with higher oxygen vacancy concentration is stabilized via substituting Fe4+ with Al3+, showing much improved ORR electrocatalytic activity and excellent CO 2 tolerance. [Display omitted] • Cubic perovskite SrFeO 3-δ is stabilized with aluminum doping strategy at B-sites. • Aluminum dopant significantly improves exceeding two-fold values of D chem and k chem. • The SFAl0.1 sample shows much improved electrocatalytic activity and CO 2 -tolerance. • DFT calculation results demonstrate the mechanism of enhanced electrochemical performance and CO 2 tolerance. Stabilizing SrFeO 3-δ in cubic structure is of great significance for its application in solid oxide fuel cells. Herein, a rational way is reported to tune the structure and performance of SrFeO 3-δ perovskite as oxygen reduction electrodes by embedding aluminum cation in B-site. Compared with their parent oxide, the obtained stabilized cubic perovskites SrFe 1-x Al x O 3-δ (x = 0.1 and 0.2) show much improved electrocatalytic activity, achieving area specific resistance values of 0.57, 0.15 and 0.34 Ωcm2 at 700 °C in air for SrFeO 3-δ , SrFe 0.9 Al 0.1 O 3-δ and SrFe 0.8 Al 0.2 O 3-δ , respectively. Such improved performance is a result of the exceeding 2-fold increase in oxygen chemical bulk diffusion and surface exchange kinetics due to Al3+ doping. Moreover, favorable CO 2 -resistance is also demonstrated. DFT calculations are carried out to reveal the accelerated oxygen reduction reaction and enhanced CO 2 tolerance. This work indicates an aluminum dopant in B-site may provide a highly attractive strategy for the future development of cathode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An LF-NMR water drop experiment on granular coal is outlined to assess wettability. • The wetting pore size distribution was assessed via the transverse relaxation time. • The effective wetting pore size at 24 h was used to characterize pore wettability. Understanding the pore wetting process is of great significance for determining fluid wetting behavior in porous media such as coal, and for the development and utilization of natural gas reservoirs, however, most studies on the process simplify porous media as glass capillaries, which may lack practical application. To better understand and quantitatively characterize the actual pore wetting process of coals, a new, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) experimental characterization method was developed. The experiment used equal grain sizes of glass beads and coals to yield porous media with variable pores of specific size ranges. LF-NMR was then used to characterize the pore wetting process of a given amount of water in the porous media at different times. Six groups of high-rank coals were also characterized by contact angle experiments to analyze the role of the surface contact angle on pore wetting. The results show that the pore wetting process can be divided into three ideal physical phases: a first touch state, a semi-free water state and an inter-granular diffusion or quasi-static state. The wetting pore size distribution (W-PSD) spectrum obtained by measurement of the transverse relaxation time and the transformation coefficient reflected change in pore size during wetting, with the location of the W-PSD quantified by the equivalent wetting pore size. The equivalent wetting pore size obtained at a final time of 24 h was used to characterize the pore wettability, it was significantly correlated with the surface contact angle with a linearity of up to 0.99. However, the W-PSD or the equivalent wetting pore size is dependent on the surface relaxivity. Overall, the experimental characterization method used in this study is an effective way to study the "black box problem" of the wetting process in porous media, as it is simple and has low sample requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The annotation of brain lesion images is a key step in clinical diagnosis and treatment of a wide spectrum of brain diseases. In recent years, segmentation methods based on deep learning have gained unprecedented popularity, leveraging a large amount of data with high-quality voxel-level annotations. However, due to the limited time clinicians can provide for the cumbersome task of manual image segmentation, semi-supervised medical image segmentation methods present an alternative solution as they require only a few labeled samples for training. In this paper, we propose a novel semi-supervised segmentation framework that combines improved mean teacher and adversarial network. Specifically, our framework consists of (i) a student model and a teacher model for segmenting the target and generating the signed distance maps of object surfaces, and (ii) a discriminator network for extracting hierarchical features and distinguishing the signed distance maps of labeled and unlabeled data. Besides, based on two different adversarial learning processes, a multi-scale feature consistency loss derived from the student and teacher models is proposed, and a shape-aware embedding scheme is integrated into our framework. We evaluated the proposed method on the public brain lesion datasets from ISBI 2015, ISLES 2015, and BRATS 2018 for the multiple sclerosis lesion, ischemic stroke lesion, and brain tumor segmentation respectively. Experiments demonstrate that our method can effectively leverage unlabeled data while outperforming the supervised baseline and other state-of-the-art semi-supervised methods trained with the same labeled data. The proposed framework is suitable for joint training of limited labeled data and additional unlabeled data, which is expected to reduce the effort of obtaining annotated images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]