Search

Consider a credit portfolio with the investments in various sectors and exposed to an external stochastic environment. The portfolio loss due to defaults is of critical importance for social and economic security particularly in times of financial distress. We argue that the dependences among obligors within sectors (intradependence) and across sectors (interdependence) may coexist and influence the portfolio loss. To quantify the portfolio loss, we develop a multi-sector structural model in which a multivariate regular variation structure is employed to model the intradependence within sectors, and the interdependence across sectors is implied in the arbitrarily dependent macroeconomic factors, although, given them, obligors in different sectors are conditionally independent. We establish some sharp asymptotic formulas for the tail probability and the (tail) distortion risk measures of the portfolio loss. Our results show that the portfolio loss is mainly driven by the latent variables and the recovery rate function, and is also potentially affected by the macroeconomic factors and the intradependence within sectors. Moreover, we implement intensive numerical studies to examine the accuracy of the obtained approximations and conduct some sensitivity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Integrated omics analyses outline the cellular and metabolic events of hemp plants in response to salt stress and highlight several photosynthesis and energy metabolism related pathways as key regulatory points. Soil salinity affects many physiological processes of plants and leads to crop yield losses worldwide. For hemp, a crop that is valued for multiple aspects, such as its medical compounds, fibre, and seed, a comprehensive understanding of its salt stress responses is a prerequisite for resistance breeding and tailoring its agronomic performance to suit certain industrial applications. Here, we first observed the phenotype of salt-stressed hemp plants and found that under NaCl treatment, hemp plants displayed pronounced growth defects, as indicated by the significantly reduced average height, number of leaves, and chlorophyll content. Next, we conducted comparative proteomics and metabolomics to dissect the complex salt-stress response mechanisms. A total of 314 proteins and 649 metabolites were identified to be differentially behaving upon NaCl treatment. Functional classification and enrichment analysis unravelled that many differential proteins were proteases associated with photosynthesis. Through metabolic pathway enrichment, several energy-related pathways were found to be altered, such as the biosynthesis and degradation of branched-chain amino acids, and our network analysis showed that many ribosomal proteins were involved in these metabolic adaptations. Taken together, for hemp plants, influences on chloroplast function probably represent a major toxic effect of salinity, and modulating several energy-producing pathways possibly through translational regulation is presumably a key protective mechanism against the negative impacts. Our data and analyses provide insights into our understanding of hemp’s stress biology and may lay a foundation for future functional genomics studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classical model predictive control (MPC) usually aims to minimize the current error at the end of the control period. This method is equivalent to minimizing the current total harmonic distortion (THD) when the control period tends to be infinitely small. However, due to the limitations of hardware in practice, the optimization effect of current THD is not obvious. Aiming at the above problem, an improved double-vector model predictive control method is proposed for the single-phase active-neutral-point-clamped five-level (ANPC-5L) inverter. Two voltage vectors in each control cycle are used in this method to reduce the current THD by minimizing the area enclosed by the actual and reference current. In addition, a capacitor voltage control method is designed for the problem of multiple control objectives coupling in this structure. In this method, an idea of hierarchy is designed for voltage jump and switching transition limits, neutral point (NP) voltage, and flying capacitor (FC) voltage, achieving the effect of weightless factor and good dynamic and static performance. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the sparse estimation problem of regression coefficients in the linear model. Note that the global–local shrinkage priors do not allow the regression coefficients to be truly estimated as zero, we propose three threshold rules and compare their contraction properties, and also tandem those rules with the popular horseshoe prior and the horseshoe+ prior that are normally regarded as global–local shrinkage priors. The hierarchical prior expressions for the horseshoe prior and the horseshoe+ prior are obtained, and the full conditional posterior distributions for all parameters for algorithm implementation are also given. Simulation studies indicate that the horseshoe/horseshoe+ prior with the threshold rules are both superior to the spike-slab models. Finally, a real data analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of variable selection of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adsorption and utilization of Fe(Ⅲ) can be impeded by precipitation in anaerobic reactors. In this study, we investigated whether the bioavailability of Fe(Ⅲ) can be enhanced by EDTA-Fe(Ⅲ), thereby improving the stability of anammox system. Fe(Ⅲ) and EDTA-Fe(Ⅲ) were added to two parallel up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors, respectively. After 186 days of operation, when the nitrogen loading rate (NLR) was 0.8 g-N/L/d, the nitrogen removal rate (NRR) of R2 was stable at 0.675 g-N/L/d, which was higher than that of R1 at 0.557 g-N/L/d. The anammox activity of R2 reached its peak in phase Ⅲ (158.55 ± 4.53 mg-N/g-VSS/d), while the anammox activity of R1 was only 28.37 ± 5.96 mg-N/g-VSS/d. Moreover, in phase Ⅱ-Ⅴ, the bioavailability of Fe(Ⅲ) in R2 was increased by 15.63%, 38.37%, 65.90%, and 39.63%, respectively, compared with R1. The results showed that EDTA-Fe(Ⅲ) can prevent precipitation encasing anammox granular sludge, which can enhance substrate transport and Fe(Ⅲ) adsorption utilization. High throughput sequencing suggested that EDTA-Fe(Ⅲ) could better increase the abundance of anammox bacteria (AnAOB). In conclusion, this research proved that EDTA could increase the bioavailability of Fe(Ⅲ) and thereby ensuring the stability of the reactors. [Display omitted] • EDTA-Fe(Ⅲ) could enhance the bioavailability of Fe(Ⅲ) by 15.63%-65.90%. • EDTA-Fe(Ⅲ) could stabilize the Anammox granule sludge system. • EDTA-Fe(Ⅲ) could facilitate the granulation of Anammox sludge. • EDTA-Fe(Ⅲ) better increase the abundance of Anammox Bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: Owing to their distinctive optical and physical properties, organic‐inorganic hybrid perovskite materials have gained significant attention in the field of electronic devices, especially solar cells. The achievement of high‐performance solar cells hinges upon the utilization of top‐notch perovskite thin films. Nevertheless, the fabrication process involving solutions and the polycrystalline nature of perovskite result in the emergence of numerous defects within the perovskite films, consequently exerting a deleterious influence on the overall performance and stability of the devices. Improving the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells by additive engineering to suppress/passivate defects is a viable approach, which involves hydrogen bond interactions in these device engineering processes. This review explores the intrinsic hydrogen bonds in methylammonium and formamidium lead triiodide, while also considering cation rotations, phase transitions, and stability. Moreover, the review classifies additives into distinct categories, including organic small molecules, polymers, nanodots, classical salts, ionic liquids, and molten salts. The various forms and characterization techniques of hydrogen bonds are discussed, as well as their potential synergistic effects in conjunction with other chemical interactions. Furthermore, this review offers insights into the potential utilization of hydrogen bonds to further enhance the performance and stability of devices. Key Scientists: In 2009, Tsutomu Miyasaka et al. prepared the first perovskite solar cell, which kicked off the research on perovskite light‐absorbing materials. However, the use of liquid electrolytes led to device instability. The transition to all‐solid‐state perovskite solar cells was realized by Nam‐Gyu Park's team in 2012, which was the beginning of high‐efficiency perovskite solar cells. Subsequently, a number of scientists have innovated the preparation ground process. Methods such as two‐step deposition by Michael Grätzel in 2013 and anti‐solvent extraction by Sang II Seok's team in 2014 were instrumental in advancing the development of perovskite. Liyuan Han's team then increased the cell's working area to 1 cm2 without compromising performance, making it possible to compare the performance metrics of perovskite solar cells with those of other types of solar cells on the same scale. Recently, You's team and Pan's team kept updating the world record by obtaining certified efficiencies of 25.6% and 25.8% in 2022 and 2023, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dysregulated ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase (ENPP) family occurs in metabolic reprogramming pathological processes. Nonetheless, the epigenetic mechanisms by which ENPP family impacts NAFLD, also known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), is poorly appreciated. We investigated the causes and consequences of ENPP1 promoter hypomethylation may boost NAFLD using NAFLD clinical samples, as well as revealed the underlying mechanisms using high-fat diet (HFD) + carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4) induced mouse model of NAFLD and FFA treatment of cultured hepatocyte. Herein, we report that the expression level of ENPP1 are increased in patients with NAFLD liver tissue and in mouse model of NAFLD. Hypomethylation of ENPP1, is associated with the perpetuation of hepatocyte autophagy and liver fibrosis in the NAFLD. ENPP1 hypomethylation is mediated by the DNA demethylase TET3 in NAFLD liver fibrosis and hepatocyte autophagy. Additionally, knockdown of TET3 methylated ENPP1 promoter, reduced the ENPP1 expression, ameliorated the experimental NAFLD. Mechanistically, TET3 epigenetically promoted ENPP1 expression via hypomethylation of the promoter. Knocking down TET3 can inhibit the hepatocyte autophagy but an overexpression of ENPP1 showing rescue effect. We describe a novel epigenetic mechanism wherein TET3 promoted ENPP1 expression through promoter hypomethylation is a critical mediator of NAFLD. Our findings provide new insight into the development of preventative measures for NAFLD. [Display omitted] • TET3 Boosts Hepatocyte Autophagy and Impairs Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. • Increasing ENPP1 Promoter Hypomethylation in NAFLD and Hepatocyte Autophagy. • TET3 promoted ENPP1 promoter hypomethylation is a critical mediator of NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nanoindentation test is utilized to measure the hardness and elastic modulus of various components within Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs), including continuous stiffness measurement (CSM) and quasi-static testing. To further characterize the elastic-plastic properties of CMCs, an efficient method is proposed by using backpropagation (BP) neural network inversion, which is based on the relationship between load and depth obtained by the nanoindentation experiment and Abaqus finite element simulation. As part of the analysis, the load-depth (p-h) curve is simplified to six characteristic parameters through the fitting of the experimental results. The pre-estimated elastic-plastic characteristics are utilized to model the nanoindentation test for CMCs. A BP neural network is used to perform deep learning on simulation data, which leads to a network structure that matches the trained parameters of the p-h curve and elastic-plastic properties. The experimental data for fiber is inputted into the network to acquire the elastic-plastic properties required in practice. The accuracy of the proposed method is verified by comparing the inversion results with the simulation outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum dot (QD) color conversion films (QD‐CCFs) are used in ultrahigh definition (UHD) Mini‐LED backlit displays due to their narrow band emission and high color purity. However, their poor light conversion efficiency (LCE) leads to greater film thickness and thus high cost. Herein, this study proposes a local light field control strategy to enhance the LCE of QD‐CCFs using high‐refractive BN nanosheets. The LCEs of the green and red QD‐CCFs can increase from 29.9% and 34.8% to 67.4% and 91.0% after adding BN nanosheets, respectively. Combining the experimental data with the finite‐difference time domain (FDTD) simulations, the enhanced LCEs can be attributed to observably increased blue light absorption and improved light extraction efficiency of the light emitted from QDs. The white Mini‐LEDs, prepared by integrating the optimized QD‐CCFs containing BN nanosheets with blue Mini‐LED chips, show a high luminous efficiency of 70.2 lm W−1, a high external quantum efficiency of 36.2%, and a wide color gamut of 96.3% Rec. 2020 standards. This work provides an interesting idea for designing high‐efficiency QD‐CCFs toward low‐cost UHD Mini‐LED backlit displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterostructure engineering is an effective technology to improve photo-electronic properties of two dimensional layered semiconductors. In this paper, based on first principles method, we studied the structure, stability, energy band, and optical properties of ZnSe/SnSe heterostructure change with film layer. Results show that all heterostructures are the type-II band arrangement, and the interlayer interaction is characterized by van der Waals. The electron concentration and charge density difference implies the electron (holes) transition from SnSe to monolayer ZnSe. By increasing the layer of SnSe films, the quantum effects are weakened leading to the band gap reduced, and eventually show metal properties. The optical properties also have obvious change, the excellent absorption ability of ZnSe/SnSe heterostructures mainly near the infrared spectroscopy. These works suggest that ZnSe/SnSe heterostructure has significant potential for future optoelectronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aging process of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is affected by different operating factors, and its practical application scenarios involve multiple operation conditions. To improve the accuracy and controllability of aging prediction, a mixed recurrent neural network (RNN) model based on Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) and Minimal Gated Unit (MGU) is proposed. The model dynamically adjusts the mixed weights of GRU and MGU throughout the entire training process to obtain the optimal prediction network structure throughout the entire lifecycle. Furthermore, an attention mechanism is incorporated into the mixed gated unit (MIXGU) model. The effectiveness of the MIXGU model is evaluated by utilizing experimental data from static condition, quasi-dynamic condition, and dynamic load cycling conditions. The predictive performance of MGU, GRU, MIXGU, and MIXGU model with attention mechanism (AT-MIXGU) are compared under different operating conditions. The validation results indicate that MIXGU model exhibits superior predictive performance compared to single gated unit, the attention mechanism enhances prediction accuracy. And the AT-MIXGU model demonstrates strong generalization capabilities, and well-suited for accurately predicting PEMFC aging under diverse operating conditions. • An adaptive weight-adjusted mixed gated unit recurrent neural network is proposed. • The attention mechanism is introduced into the mixed gated unit model. • Excellent prediction accuracy is proved under multiple operating conditions. • Validating generalization ability of the model for various application scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The size and condition of the peripheral CD4 T cell population determine the capacity of the immune response. Under homeostatic conditions, the size of the peripheral CD4 T cell population is maintained through turnover and survival. However, the underlying mechanisms remain inadequately understood. Here, we observed a significant decrease in the percentage of CD4 T cells in the periphery following the targeted deletion of the Paxbp1 gene in mouse T cells. In the absence of Paxbp1, naïve CD4 T cells displayed reduced surface interleukin‐7 receptor levels and a decreased capacity to respond to survival signals mediated by interleukin‐7. In addition, naïve CD4 T cells deficient in Paxbp1 demonstrated impaired T cell antigen receptor signalling, compromised cell cycle entry, decreased proliferation, and increased apoptosis following stimulation, all of which contributed to the reduction in the number of peripheral CD4 T cells. Therefore, our study highlights the indispensable role of Paxbp1 in maintaining peripheral CD4 T cell homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incorporation of pentagon‐heptagon pairs into helical nanographenes lacks a facile synthetic route, and the impact of these pairs on chiroptical properties remains unclear. In this study, a method for the stepwise construction of pentagon‐heptagon pairs in helical nanographenes by the dehydrogenation of [6]helicene units was developed. Three helical nanographenes containing pentagon‐heptagon pairs were synthesized and characterized using this approach. A wide variation in the molecular geometries and photophysical properties of these helical nanographenes was observed, with changes in the helical length of these structures and the introduction of the pentagon‐heptagon pairs. The embedded pentagon‐heptagon pairs reduced the oxidation potential of the synthesized helical nanographenes. The high isomerization energy barriers enabled the chiral resolution of the helicene enantiomers. Chiroptical investigations revealed remarkably enhanced circularly polarized luminescence and luminescence dissymmetry factors with an increasing number of the pentagon‐heptagon pairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incorporation of pentagon‐heptagon pairs into helical nanographenes lacks a facile synthetic route, and the impact of these pairs on chiroptical properties remains unclear. In this study, a method for the stepwise construction of pentagon‐heptagon pairs in helical nanographenes by the dehydrogenation of [6]helicene units was developed. Three helical nanographenes containing pentagon‐heptagon pairs were synthesized and characterized using this approach. A wide variation in the molecular geometries and photophysical properties of these helical nanographenes was observed, with changes in the helical length of these structures and the introduction of the pentagon‐heptagon pairs. The embedded pentagon‐heptagon pairs reduced the oxidation potential of the synthesized helical nanographenes. The high isomerization energy barriers enabled the chiral resolution of the helicene enantiomers. Chiroptical investigations revealed remarkably enhanced circularly polarized luminescence and luminescence dissymmetry factors with an increasing number of the pentagon‐heptagon pairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endowing robots with reversible phase transition ability, especially between elastomer and fluid states, can significantly broaden their functionality and applicability. Limited attempts have been made to realize the reversible elastomer–fluid transition. Existing phase transition materials in robotics have over‐hard (≈4 GPa) or over‐soft (≈4 kPa) stiffness in the solid states, which should be further investigated to perform more compliant motions. To address these challenges, a reversible elastomer–fluid transition mechanism enabled by magnetically induced hot melt materials (MIMMs) is presented. The transition principle is explained and material characterizations are conducted. MIMMs‐based metamorphosic robots endow self‐metamorphosing abilities, such as self‐healing, spatial reshaping, self‐division/assembly, and additive manufacturability. When interacting with external environments, MIMMs‐based robots can perform further multifunctional abilities, such as collaborations for structure repairs, swimming by symbiosis with external objects, flowing through a narrow terrain by transiting to fluid, and working with elastomeric structures for stiffness‐variable fluid soft actuators. The proposed elastomer–fluid transitions open a new path for robots to generate more flexible and metamorphosic motions, thereby addressing the cross‐phase transformation challenges that soft robots face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrocatalytic nitrogen (N2) reduction reaction (NRR) presents a sustainable alternative to the Haber–Bosch process for ammonia (NH3) synthesis. Iron phthalocyanine (FePc) is demonstrated as a promising catalyst for the electrocatalytic NRR. However, FePc with planar symmetric Fe‐N4 sites exhibits poor N2 adsorption and activation capabilities, resulting in an unsatisfactory NRR performance. Herein, an axial oxygen coordination strategy is developed to optimize the local electron distribution on FePc for improving N2 adsorption and activation. The as‐obtained FePc‐O‐CP shows a superior NH3 yield rate (59.72 µg h−1 mg−1cat.) and a considerable Faradaic efficiency (13.76%) in 0.1 m HCl. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations verify that the axial oxygen ligand on FePc inhibits the adsorption of H+ and enhances the N2 adsorption and activation, thereby greatly promoting NH3 generation. This work reveals the significance of regulating the local coordination environment of single‐atom catalysts for improving electrocatalytic NRR performance and provides a feasible strategy for the rational design of atomic‐scale active sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern society, luminescence anticounterfeiting plays a key part in information transmission. Nevertheless, most of the present luminescence anticounterfeiting logos are based on static photoluminescence (PL), which is easily counterfeited by substitutes. In this work, a time-dependent dynamic PL material, MgGa 2 O 4 :Eu3+, was successfully prepared. Under a portable 254 nm ultraviolet (UV) lamp irradiation, the PL color of the materials dynamically changes from red to pink to blue. After ceasing the UV irradiation, the blue persistent luminescence (PersL) with different afterglow time and bright was observed. The investigation reveals that the dynamic PL derives from the diverse time-dependent intensities of the MgGa 2 O 4 trap-related emission and the Eu3+ 4f-4f transitions, and the Eu3+ dopant can introduce more traps into the host and consequently manipulate the dynamic PL and the PersL performances. The dynamic luminescent anticounterfeiting properties of the prepared material MgGa 2 O 4 :Eu3+ was investigated by a powder filling method, demonstrating the potential for applications in advanced anticounterfeiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the solutions of a class of noncooperative Kirchhoff-type p (x) -Laplacian elliptic systems with nonlinear boundary conditions, we derive a sequence of solutions utilizing both the variational method and limit index theory under certain underlying assumptions. The novelty of this study is that we verify the (P S) c * condition using another method, diverging from the approaches cited in the previous literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transnasal endoscopic approach is increasingly used for resection of tumors that are located inferiorly and medially within the orbit. However, this usually requires multiple-handed manipulations, which demand a second corridor for an assistant. Here, we introduce a simple transseptal corridor from the contra-nare, to facilitate assistant instrument maneuverability. This simple, minimally invasive skill greatly improves operation efficiency and deserves greater attention in endoscopic orbital surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] As ideal and smart stimuli-responsive materials for soft actuators, artificial muscles, etc., liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) can respond to external stimuli, including heat, light, electricity, magnetism, humidity, etc., and make corresponding deformations. Among these external stimuli, magnetic stimulus is featured by remote and contactless control, fast, precise, extremely strong penetration, safe, easy tunability, and so on. By doping magnetic nanoparticles into LCEs, their actuation and motion can be triggered by magnetic fields or forces untetheredly, remotely, and highly precisely. Therefore, the magnetic nanoparticles endow LCEs with magneto-responsiveness, opening doors to LCEs for many unique potential uses, such as magnetic read-out, magnetic valves, magnetic switches, and so on. This review summarizes recent advances in magneto-responsive LCE nanocomposites. Their fabrication is comprehensively discussed. New properties of magneto-responsive LCEs brought by magnetic nanoparticles are also thoroughly reviewed. Their promising applications are subsequently summarized and explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of sustainable agriculture and biomaterial development, understanding and enhancing plant secondary cell wall formation are crucial for improving crop fiber quality and biomass conversion efficiency. This is especially critical for economically important crops like upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), for which fiber quality and its processing properties are essential. Through comprehensive genome-wide screening and analysis of expression patterns, we identified a particularly high expression of an R2R3 MYB transcription factor, GhMYB52 Like, in the development of the secondary cell wall in cotton fiber cells. Utilizing gene-editing technology to generate a loss-of-function mutant to clarify the role of GhMYB52 Like, we revealed that GhMYB52 Like does not directly contribute to cellulose synthesis in cotton fibers but instead represses a subset of lignin biosynthesis genes, establishing it as a lignin biosynthesis inhibitor. Concurrently, a substantial decrease in the lint index, a critical measure of cotton yield, was noted in parallel with an elevation in lignin levels. This study not only deepens our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying cotton fiber development but also offers new perspectives for the molecular improvement of other economically important crops and the enhancement of biomass energy utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To overcome the overfitting issue of dehazing models trained on synthetic hazy-clean image pairs, recent methods attempt to boost the generalization ability by training on unpaired data. However, most of existing approaches simply resort to formulating dehazing–rehazing cycles with generative adversarial networks, yet ignore the physical property in the real-world hazy environment, i.e., the haze effect varies along with density and depth. This paper proposes a robust self-augmented image dehazing framework for haze generation and removal. Instead of merely estimating transmission maps or clean content, the proposed scheme focuses on exploring the scattering coefficient and depth information of hazy and clean images. Having the scene depth estimated, our method is capable of re-rendering hazy images with different thicknesses, which benefits the training of the dehazing network. Besides, a dual contrastive perceptual loss is introduced to further improve the quality of both dehazed and rehazed images. Comprehensive experiments are conducted to reveal the advance of our method over other state-of-the-art unpaired dehazing methods in terms of visual quality, model size, and computational cost. Moreover, our model can be robustly trained on, not only synthetic indoor datasets, but also real outdoor scenes with remarkable improvement on the real-world image dehazing. Our code and training data are available at: https://github.com/YaN9-Y/D4_plus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we study the existence of the least energy sign-changing solution for the following degenerate Kirchhoff-type problem involving the fractional N/s-Laplacian with logarithmic and both subcritical and critical exponential nonlinearities: \[ \begin{cases} \displaystyle M\left(\int_{\mathbb R^{2N}}\frac{|u(x) - u(y)|^{\frac{N}{s}}}{|x - y|^{2N}}\,{\rm d}x\,{\rm d}y \right)(-\Delta)_{N/s}^s u \\ \quad = |u|^{q-2}u\ln |u|^2 + \mu f(u), & {\rm in}\ \Omega,\\ u=0, & {\rm in}\ \mathbb R^N\setminus \Omega, \end{cases} \] { M (∫ R 2 N | u (x) − u (y) | N s | x − y | 2 N d x d y) (− Δ) N / s s u = | u | q − 2 uln ⁡ | u | 2 + μf (u) , in Ω , u = 0 , in R N ∖ Ω , where $ \Omega \subset \mathbb {R}^N $ Ω ⊂ R N is a bounded domain. The proof is based on constrained variational method, fractional Trudinger–Moser inequality, quantitative deformation lemma and Brouwer's degree theory in Nehari sets. To be more precise, the least energy sign-changing solution is obtained by minimizing the energy functional on the sign-changing Nehari manifold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malicious attack is a potential threat to collision‐free and connectivity‐preserving formation. In this article, a predictor‐based collision‐free and connectivity‐preserving resilient formation control strategy is proposed for a class of multi‐agent systems under sensor deception attacks. The predictor states are constructed to replace original states in the control strategy, and a novel attack compensator is constructed to suppress sensor deception attacks. Prediction errors, instead of compromised errors, are introduced to update weights of radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs). To achieve collision avoidance and connectivity preservation, a transformation function in logarithmic form is introduced. To avoid static and dynamic obstacles, an improved artificial potential function (APF) combined with their velocity information is constructed. Furthermore, to solve the local minimum problem in the combining of transformation function and APF, a virtual force is added. Based on the Lyapunov function, all closed‐loop signals are bounded and collision‐free and connectivity‐preserving formation is achieved. The simulation related to a group of quadrotors verifies the effectiveness of the proposed resilient control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the degree of coupled energy environment (EE) and socioeconomic (SE) coordination is becoming a commonly understood necessity in the process of achieving SDGs. The provinces along the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in China have significant spatial variations in their energy endowment, industrial structure, and ecological environment, and assessing the spatiotemporal evolution and coordination of EE and SE can provide valuable insights into the development trajectory of the area. This work revealed the interaction mechanism between EE and SE and developed a novel coupling coordination analysis framework, which integrated the dynamic deviation maximum method and the improved coupling coordination degree model. The dynamic deviation maximum method is used to evaluate the performance of the EE subsystem and SE subsystem, while the improved coupling coordination degree (CCD) model is used to assess the spatiotemporal effect between EE and SE in the YREB. The results show that the overall development of CCD between EE and SE demonstrated a growing trend over time and forms a spatial pattern of downstream>midstream>upstream. Additionally, the investment intensity of industrial structure and environmental management has a catalytic effect on CCD, whereas industrial pollution emissions, energy consumption, and fixed asset investment intensity have a suppressive effect. These findings can provide valuable insights for decision-making in urban planning, large-scale engineering construction, energy structure transformation, and green low-carbon development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a mixed‐methodology pilot study of a narrative‐mantra multi‐clinician group, which is an integrative systemic and mindfulness‐based intervention, to promote the well‐being of mental health clinicians working at a local child and adolescent mental health service in London, UK. The study also served as a nonclinical sample pilot for a narrative‐mantra multi‐family group trial for adolescents awaiting treatment and their parents. In total, nine clinicians participated in the study: five participants and four controls. Descriptive analyses were conducted on self‐reported measures, GHQ‐12 and SCORE‐15. Slight improvements were found in the clinicians' mental well‐being and their significant relationships. Five global themes emerged from the thematic analysis of a focus group discussion, including 'voices that connect and liberate' and 'connecting ingredients for integration'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the energy‐storage properties of dielectric ceramic capacitors have aroused wide attention; however, most materials exhibiting excellent energy‐storage properties are based on high electric fields, which increase the cost of insulation technology. Herein, the energy‐storage and charge–discharge properties of (1 − x)(0.7Bi0.65Na0.35Fe0.3Ti0.7O3–0.3Sr0.85Bi0.1TiO3)–xNaTaO3 (x = 0.03–0.18, abbreviated as 100xNT) ceramics are investigated. 9NT achieves superior energy‐storage properties under a low electric field of 210 kV/cm, with an energy‐storage density (Wrec) of 3.44 J/cm3 and efficiency (η) of 86.6%. The energy‐storage properties exhibit excellent frequency stability in 3–100 Hz as well as temperature stability between 25 and 175°C. Furthermore, the charge–discharge performance features a high‐power density (PD = 67.04 MW/cm3), and an ultrafast discharge speed (t0.9 = 52 ns). This work paves a new way to explore energy‐storage competitive materials under low electric fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers Bayesian analysis of data from seemingly unrelated regression models whose errors have a distribution that is scale mixtures of normal distributions. A non-iterative Bayesian sampling algorithm is developed to obtain the posterior samples, which eliminates the convergence problems in iterative Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach. The performances of the proposed algorithm are illustrated through simulation studies, and the results show that it appears to outperform the MCMC approach and is time-efficient compared to the existing methods. In the case of outliers, the model selection criteria results indicate that the heavy-tailed SUR models is more robust than the normal SUR models. Also, a real data example is analyzed using the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new mode of knowledge production, known as the 'organic growth pattern', has emerged within the online learning environment. It exhibits several unique features, such as iterative growth, fuelled by collective intelligence, fuzzy complexity, etc. It is more valuable and adaptable to support knowledge innovation within rapidly changing fields. To reveal its new evolutional production pattern and the interaction mechanism of different generative topics, We take a dual perspective of content and behaviour into consideration. A total of 1855 interactive data points were collected from a connectivist massive open online course. The study employed methods, such as latent Dirichlet allocation, content analysis and lag sequential analysis. Results showed that (1) the paths of knowledge innovation were complex and diverse. The process typically began with an ill‐structured question and was driven by collective contribution and cognitive conflict. (2) Knowledge production involved interactive evolution and collaborative growth of multiple generative topics. (3) The four stages of knowledge production were cyclic, with sense‐making acting as a bridge between way‐finding and innovation. Several implications of the findings are recommended to enhance the quality of knowledge growth, such as designing ill‐structured questions, providing discussion activities from easy to difficult, introducing relevant topics, taking advantage of various platforms and mobilizing learners' or participants' quality attention‐related behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a solution to the attitude control problem for a cableless microsatellite with input delay and quantized communication using event-triggered sliding mode control theory. The aim is to reduce the communication burden. The attitude dynamic is developed based on the unit quaternion, taking into account the inertial uncertainties, external disturbance uncertainties, and input delay. Based on the developed model, a sliding mode controller with input delay compensation and quantized input is proposed to ensure that the closed-loop system is uniformly ultimately bounded stable. The hybrid quantizer signal, based on the compensated event-triggered sliding mode controller, is updated only at an inconsecutive discrete instant. Thus, the communication burden can be significantly reduced, and the impact of input delay on the system can be effectively suppressed. The method's stability and effectiveness are ultimately confirmed through numerical simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to asymptotic analysis for a continuous-time risk model with the insurance surplus process and the log-price process of the investment driven by two dependent jump-diffusion processes. We take into account arbitrary dependence between the insurance claims and their corresponding investment return jumps caused by a sequence of systematic factors, whose arrival times constitute a renewal counting process. Under the framework of regular variation, we obtain a simple and unified asymptotic formula for the finite-time ruin probability as the initial wealth becomes large. It turns out that, in the weakly dependent case, the tails of the claims determine the exact decay rate of the finite-time ruin probability while the investment return jumps only contribute to the coefficient of the asymptotic formula; however, in the strongly dependent case, they both produce essential impacts on the finite-time ruin probability which is under-estimated in the weakly dependent case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite record numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) globally, we know little about the causal effects of intergroup contact between migrants and locals in active conflict settings. We conduct a randomized controlled trial of a vocational skills‐training program implemented by Mercy Corps that enrolled 2597 locals and migrants in near equal numbers in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where IDPs face daily prejudice and discrimination. Courses lasting up to 6 months emphasized collaborative learning and soft skills development. We surveyed participants at endline and followed up 8 months later. While the program provided the most sustained duration of intergroup contact (360–720 h) experimentally evaluated to date, we find no evidence of reported behavioral or attitudinal change by locals (N = 1276) toward migrants generally, regardless of classroom demographics or course duration. Our findings suggest that prolonged contact through vocational training programs is insufficient to improve relations in conflict settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conductive polymer composites use elastomers as a matrix for strain sensors. However, elastic polymer composites usually exhibit shoulder peak effects in their resistance response signals, limiting their applicability as strain sensors. In this study, we modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/methyl vinyl silicone rubber (VMQ) by incorporating nanosilica (NSD) to eliminate the shoulder peak effect. The results showed that the addition of a suitable amount of NSD can improve the reconstruction of the conductive network of composite material and eliminated the shoulder peak effect of the composite material in the resistive response signal. The mechanism of eliminating the shoulder peak effect was elucidated, while the mechanical properties of the composite material were improved, which endowed the composite material with excellent strain sensing properties, including sensitivity (GF = 127) and response time (270 ms), and maintained excellent stability and recovery even in 15,000 cycles. These findings highlight the potential of our strain sensor for the real‐time strain monitoring of large‐deformation isolation bearings. Highlights: NSD eliminates shoulder peak effect in MWCNT/VMQ composites.Explained the shoulder peak effect elimination mechanism.NSD enhanced mechanical properties of MWCNT/VMQ composites.MWCNT‐NSD20/VMQ composites have stable resistive strain response properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flagellated microorganisms can swim at low Reynolds numbers and adapt to changes in their environment. Specifically, the flagella can switch their shapes or modes through gene expression. In recent years, efforts have changed to achieve adaptive microswimmers mimicking real microorganisms from traditional rigid microswimmers. However, even though some adaptive microswimmers achieved by hydrogels have emerged, the swimming behaviors of the microswimmers before and after the environment‐induced deformations are not predicted in a systematic standardized way. In this work, experiments, finite element analysis, and dynamic modeling are presented together to realize a complete understanding of these adaptive microswimmers. The multi‐material adaptive microswimmers used in this study are fabricated by photolithography and two‐photon polymerization. The above three parts are cross‐verified proving the success of using such methods, facilitating the bio‐applications with shape‐programmable and even swimming performance‐programmable microswimmers. The newly fabricated microswimmer also shows an improved velocity of 11.8 body lengths per second. Moreover, an application of targeted object delivery using the proposed microswimmer is successfully demonstrated. Finally, cytotoxicity tests are performed to prove the potential for using the proposed microswimmer for biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MG patients were accompanied by cognitive decline. • MG patients have a combination of abnormal brain function and neurometabolites. • First study of investigating neurometabolites in vivo in patients with MG. Whether patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) exhibit cognitive impairment is controversial. Also the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We aimed to investigate alterations in cognitive function, neurometabolite levels, and brain function in patients with MG and to explore the associations between abnormal regional brain functional activity, neurometabolite concentrations in the MPFC and left thalamus, and cognitive activity in patients with MG. Neuropsychological tests, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were performed on 41 patients with MG and 45 race-, sex-, age-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs). The results suggest that MG is accompanied by cognitive decline, as indicated by global cognitive function, visual-spatial function, language, memory, abnormalities in regional brain functional activity, and neurometabolite alterations (including GABA, NAA, and Cho) in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and left thalamus. Cognitive impairment in patients with MG may be related to abnormal regional brain functional activity and changes in neurometabolites, and regional brain functional activity may be modulated by specific neurometabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is a serious threat to human life and social development and the use of scientific methods for cancer prevention and control is necessary. In this study, HQSAR, CoMFA, CoMSIA and TopomerCoMFA methods are used to establish models of 65 imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine derivatives to explore the quantitative structure-activity relationship between their anticancer activities and molecular conformations. The results show that the cross-validation coefficients q2 of HQSAR, CoMFA, CoMSIA and TopomerCoMFA are 0.892, 0.866, 0.877 and 0.905, respectively. The non-cross-validation coefficients r2 are 0.948, 0.983, 0.995 and 0.971, respectively. The externally validated complex correlation coefficients r2pred of external validation are 0.814, 0.829, 0.758 and 0.855, respectively. The PLS analysis verifies that the QSAR models have the highest prediction ability and stability. Based on these statistics, virtual screening based on R group is performed using the ZINC database by the Topomer search technology. Finally, 10 new compounds with higher activity are designed with the screened new fragments. In order to explore the binding modes and targets between ligands and protein receptors, these newly designed compounds are conjugated with macromolecular protein (PDB ID: 1MQ4) by molecular docking technology. Furthermore, to study the nature of the newly designed compound in dynamic states and the stability of the protein-ligand complex, molecular dynamics simulation is carried out for N3, N4, N5 and N7 docked with 1MQ4 protease structure for 50 ns. A free energy landscape is computed to search for the most stable conformation. These results prove the efficient and stability of the newly designed compounds. Finally, ADMET is used to predict the pharmacology and toxicity of the 10 designed drug molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer flooding has achieved considerable success in medium–high permeability reservoirs. However, when it comes to low-permeability reservoirs, polymer flooding suffers from poor injectivity due to the large molecular size of the commonly used high-molecular-weight (high-MW) partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamides (HPAM). Herein, an amphiphilic polymer (LMWAP) with a low MW (3.9 × 106 g/mol) was synthesized by introducing an amphiphilic monomer (Allyl-OP-10) and a chain transfer agent into the polymerization reaction. Despite the low MW, LMWAP exhibited better thickening capability in brine than its counterparts HPAM-1800 (MW = 1.8 × 107 g/mol) and HPAM-800 (MW = 8 × 106 g/mol) due to the intermolecular hydrophobic association. LMWAP also exhibited more significant shear-thinning behavior and stronger elasticity than the two counterparts. Furthermore, LMWAP possesses favorable oil–water interfacial activity due to its amphiphilicity. The oil–water interfacial tension (IFT) could be reduced to 0.88 mN/m and oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions could be formed under the effect of LMWAP. In addition, the reversible hydrophobic association endows the molecular chains of LMWAP with dynamic association–disassociation transition ability. Therefore, despite the similar hydrodynamic sizes in brine, LMWAP exhibited favorable injectivity under low-permeability conditions, while the counterpart HPAM-1800 led to fatal plugging. Furthermore, LMWAP could enhance oil recovery up to 21.5%, while the counterpart HPAM-800 could only enhance oil recovery by up to 11.5%, which could be attributed to the favorable interfacial activity of LMWAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Polyvinyl chloride inhibits carbon nanotube formation until its content is below 5% • Dechlorinating agents mitigate the impact of Cl on carbon nanotube formation. • Red mud, the optimal dechlorination agent, yields 30 wt% carbon with higher quality. • Volatiles undergo catalysis, forming aromatics or aliphatics during dechlorination. The presence of chlorine in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) presents a major challenge for realizing the high-value utilization of real waste plastics. The objective of this research was to develop a chlorine-resistant process for the preparation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from mixed plastics containing PVC. This study investigates the influence of PVC content and various dechlorinating agents (CaO, Na 2 CO 3 , red mud (RM), ZSM-5, Fe-Al 2 O 3 , Fe(OH) 3) on CNTs formation. The results showed that PVC content exceeding 5 % significantly inhibits CNTs formation. Employing dechlorinating agents in the pyrolysis process results in a substantial yield of CNTs from mixed plastics containing 10 % PVC. Among the dechlorinating agents, RM proves to be the most effective, leading to the highest carbon yield (at 30 wt%) and superior CNTs quality. Other dechlorinating agents, except for ZSM-5, yield comparable results, although there were some obvious variations of volatiles. Further investigation of the role of dechlorinating agents from the perspective of volatiles evolution was conducted via Py-GC/MS, and found that the dechlorination agent efficiently absorbs the HCl from mixed plastics pyrolysis, while also exhibiting catalytic and regulatory influence on volatile components. These findings offer valuable insights for the development of a chlorine-resistant process in the preparation of CNTs from mixed plastics that contain PVC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the longitudinal data analysis is used to interpret the balanced Bühlmann credibility model with correlation risk, and the homogeneous credibility estimator is derived. We obtain the restricted maximum likelihood estimators (RMLE) for the structural parameters involved in the credibility factor and show that they are unbiased. In addition, the linear Bayes method is employed to estimate the structural parameters, and the proposed linear Bayes estimators (LBE) appear to outperform RMLE in terms of the mean squared error matrix (MSEM) criterion. Simulation studies show that the proposed LBE performs well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the adaptive tracking control problem of a class of strict feedback nonlinear systems with unknown time‐varying parameters. Note that the recent adaptive method, that is, congelation of variables, is built upon the assumption that the known basis functions are zeros as zero states. To remove this assumption, a novel monotonically increasing function is designed to transform the output tracking error and the backstepping tracking errors into increasing forms, which is integrated into the congelation of variables to design the σ$$ \sigma $$‐modification adaptive tracking control law. It is noted that the proposed form of monotonically increasing function is general, which includes positive proportional functions, exponential functions, and logarithmic functions and so on. To yield the boundedness of increasing tracking errors, a barrier Lyapunov function is designed. The asymptotic convergence of the resulting adaptive tracking system is analyzed in detail. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal contamination of soil has become one of the most important environmental problems worldwide. Heavy metals can affect growth and lead to changes in microbial community composition, which could influence the growth of crops in the soil. In this study, we conducted an experiment to investigate the distribution profile of heavy metals and bacterial communities in soil with the effects of slag and/or water on the top of the soil. Extra heavy metals, acting as selective pressure, led to the loss of sensitive taxa, with tolerant or less sensitive taxa being more abundant in the community. The results showed that the addition of slag on the top of soils did not change the diversity of bacteria but influenced the relative abundance of indigenous members in the community. Water addition, however, improved the homogeneity of the environment vertically in the soil, which consequently led to a lower variation in the bacterial community. This study mimicked the scenario of tailings and abandoned mines in nature, and aimed to study the effects of mines on the soil microbial community with the influence of precipitation on the distribution of heavy metals in the soil. With the effect of precipitation, the transportation of heavy metals in the slag may influence the local bacterial community and subsequently undermine the quality of soil for agriculture. These observations provide evidence of the effects of heavy metals on the soil around abandoned mines without any treatment. Mining causes both heavy metal and water pollution, which may lead to the accumulation of heavy metals in plants and agricultural production. Therefore, it is necessary to take care of tailings with proper procedures instead of exposing them to nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of different levels of compound acidifiers on the growth performance, nonspecific immunity, and serum biochemical indexes of grass carp. A total of 480 grass carps with similar weight were randomly divided into four groups with three replicates in each group and 40 grass carps in each replicate. Grass carp in the control group were fed with basic feed, while grass carp in the experimental group were fed with feed containing 0.1% (0.1% compound acidifier group), 0.2% (0.2% compound acidifier group) and 0.4% (0.4% compound acidifier group), respectively. The trial period was eight weeks. The results showed that compared with the control group, the powder weight, weight gain rate and specific growth rate of grass carp in the 0.2% compound acidifier group increased significantly (P<0.05), while the feed coefficient decreased significantly (P<0.05). The liver-body ratio of grass carp in the 0.1% compound acidifier group and 0.2% compound acidifier group was significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the crude fat content of grass carp muscle in each compound acidifier group increased significantly (P<0.05), and the water content of grass carp muscle in 0.2% compound acidifier group decreased significantly (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the activity of lysozyme (LZM) and the content of triglyceride (TG) in serum of grass carp in the 0.2% and 0.4% compound acidulant groups were significantly increased (P<0.05), and the content of immunoglobulin M (IgM) in serum of grass carp in each compound acidulant group was significantly increased (P<0.05). The serum urea nitrogen (BUN) content decreased significantly (P<0.05), total protein (TP), glucose (GLU) content and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity increased significantly in the 0.2% compound acidifier group (P<0.05). The study indicates that adding the proper amount of compound acidifier in grass carp production can improve growth performance, improve body composition, enhance immunity, and improve some serum biochemical indexes, and the suitable addition level of compound acidifier is 0.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of different energy feed on the growth performance, slaughter performance, meat traits, and amino acid and fatty acid content in muscle of Guizhou black goats. Forty-five 6-month-old Guizhou black goats with body weight of (21.12±1.25) kg were randomly divided into three groups, with three replicates in each group and five goats in each replicate. The corn group, barley group, and wheat group were fed with mixed diets with corn, barley, and wheat as main energy feed, respectively. The pre-test period was seven days, and the formal test period was 90 days. The results showed that the average daily gain of barley group was 180.56 g, which was significantly higher than the other two groups (P<0.05), and the slaughter rate of corn group and barley group was significantly higher than that of wheat group (P<0.05). The drip loss, cooked meat rate, and dry matter content of corn group were the highest, while the crude fat content of wheat group was the highest. Sixteen kinds of amino acids, including seven essential amino acids and nine non-essential amino acids, were detected in mutton of each experimental group. The content of non-essential amino acids in barley group and wheat group was significantly higher than that in corn group (P<0.05). A total of 37 fatty acids were detected in each experimental group, including 17 saturated fatty acids, nine monounsaturated fatty acids, and 11 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The content of saturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids in wheat group was the highest, and the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in barley group was significantly higher than that in corn group and wheat group (P<0.05). The study indicates that barley can improve the growth performance, slaughter performance, and the meat quality is relatively good of Guizhou black goats, which can be used as the main energy feed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Alfvén resonance is an extensively observed phenomenon in astrophysics, playing a crucial role in understanding energy transfer, macroscopic structure, and evolutionary processes within celestial environments such as the magnetospheres of stars, planets, and other astrophysical objects. In this work, we investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of the Alfvén resonance points during the evolution of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) at Earth's dusk-flank magnetopause in numerical MHD simulation. The results show that, there is no appearance of the Alfvén resonance points P A R during the linear phase. In the early nonlinear phase, the Alfvén resonance points P A R , whose duration time is approximately Δ t 1 ∼ 3 t A , looks like the "eyelid" of the KH vortex. During the nonlinear growth phase, the Alfvén resonance points P A R , whose duration time is about Δ t 2 ∼ 6 t A , appear at both the "eyelid" and the outer "corner" of the KH vortex. The Alfvén resonance phenomenon disappears with the decay of KH vortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of plant genetic marker fingerprinting for variety discrimination, it is desirable to identify the optimal marker combinations. We describe a marker combination screening model based on the genetic algorithm (GA) and implemented in a software tool, LociScan. Ratio-based variety discrimination power provided the largest optimization space among multiple fitness functions. Among GA parameters, an increase in population size and generation number enlarged optimization depth but also calculation workload. Exhaustive algorithm afforded the same optimization depth as GA but vastly increased calculation time. In comparison with two other software tools, LociScan accommodated missing data, reduced calculation time, and offered more fitness functions. In large datasets, the sample size of training data exerted the strongest influence on calculation time, whereas the marker size of training data showed no effect, and target marker number had limited effect on analysis speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the heart of the water supply systems, the energy conversion efficiency of the self-priming pumps with built-in injection system under overload conditions is extremely affected by cavitation problems. This study focuses on a typical short-type injection self-priming pump devoted to improve the pump performance, especially to solve the cavitation problem under overload conditions. Through a two-factor, five-level orthogonal test that combines numerical simulation and experimental validation, the influence of key structural parameters within the ejector on cavitation performance and energy characteristics are analyzed. The results demonstrate the high level accuracy of numerical simulation, as indicated by the consistency and small error between the numerical results and the experimental results for head, efficiency, and power under full flow conditions. Regression analysis based on the orthogonal test results reveals significant correlations between the hydraulic performance of the pump and the nozzle throat diameter and nozzle outlet diameter. Under overload conditions, the high-speed jet generated by the injector induces a negative pressure at the effuser and nozzle, leading to cavitation at the effuser throat and nozzle outlet. Employing appropriate structural parameters, particularly the effuser throat diameter and nozzle outlet diameter, proves effective in increasing the operating flow range. This in turn improves the energy characteristics of the entire hydraulic system. The optimal combination identified for the ejector's structural parameters in this study is a nozzle outlet diameter of 8.2 mm and a throat diameter of 18 mm. This provides theoretical insights for the optimal design of short-type jet self-priming pumps, holding practical significance in engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jiama deposit, a significant porphyry‐skarn‐type copper polymetallic deposit located within the Gangdese metallogenic belt in Tibet, China, exemplifies a typical porphyry metallogenic system. However, the mineral chemistry of its accessory minerals remains under‐examined, posing challenges for resource assessment and ore prospecting. Utilizing electron microprobe analysis and LA‐ICP‐MS analysis, this study investigated the geochemical characteristics of apatite in ore‐bearing granite and monzogranite porphyries, as well as granodiorite, quartz diorite, and dark diorite porphyries in the deposit. It also delved into the diagenetic and metallogenic information from these geochemical signatures. Key findings include: (1) The SiO2 content, rare earth element (REE) contents, and REE partition coefficients of apatite indicate that the dark diorite porphyry possibly does not share a cogenetic magma source with the other four types of porphyries; (2) the volatile F and Cl contents in apatite, along with their ratio, indicate the Jiama deposit, formed in a collisional setting, demonstrates lower Cl/F ratios in apatite than the same type of deposits formed in a subduction environment; (3) compared to non‐ore‐bearing rock bodies in other deposits formed in a collisional setting, apatite in the Jiama deposit exhibits lower Ce and Ga contents. This might indicate that rock bodies in the Jiama deposit have higher oxygen fugacity. Nevertheless, the marginal variation in oxygen fugacity between ore‐bearing and non‐ore‐bearing rock bodies within the deposit suggests oxygen fugacity may not serve as the decisive factor in the ore‐hosting potential of rock bodies in the Jiama deposit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electric submersible pump (ESP) is a crucial apparatus utilized for lifting in the oil extraction process. Its lifting capacity is enhanced by the multi-stage tandem structure, but variations in energy characteristics and internal flow across stages are also introduced. In this study, the inter-stage variability of energy characteristics in ESP hydraulic systems is investigated through entropy production (EP) analysis, which incorporates numerical simulations and experimental validation. The EP theory facilitates the quantification of energy loss in each computational subdomain at all ESP stages, establishing a correlation between microscopic flow structure and energy dissipation within the system. Furthermore, the underlying causes of inter-stage variability in ESP hydraulic systems are examined, and the advantages and disadvantages of applying the EP theory in this context are evaluated. Consistent energy characteristics within the ESP, aligned with the distribution of internal flow structure, are provided by the EP theory, as demonstrated by our results. The EP theory also enables the quantitative analysis of internal flow losses and complements existing performance analysis methods to map the internal flow structure to hydraulic losses. Nonetheless, an inconsistency between the energy characterization based on EP theory and the traditional efficiency index when reflecting inter-stage differences is identified. This inconsistency arises from the exclusive focus of the EP theory on flow losses within the flow field, disregarding the quantification of external energy input to the flow field. This study provides a reference for the optimization of EP theory in rotating machinery while deeply investigating the energy dissipation characteristics of multistage hydraulic system, which has certain theoretical and practical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND RESULTS CONCLUSIONS This study explored the denaturation of 11S globulin, a protein known for its diverse functional properties in soy protein applications, at pH 3.0 and pH 10.0, followed by a gradual return to pH 7.0 to facilitate renaturation. It investigated the structural and functional changes during renaturation induced by a change in pH, revealing the stabilization mechanism of 11S globulin.The findings revealed that during pH adjustment to neutral, the denatured soybean 11S globulin – resulting from alkaline (pH 10.0) or acidic (pH 3.0) treatments – experienced a refolding of its extended tertiary structure to varying extents. The particle size and the proportions of α‐helix and β‐sheet in the secondary structure aligned progressively with those of the natural‐state protein. However, for the alkali‐denatured 11S, the β‐sheet content decreased upon adjustment to neutral, whereas an increase was observed for the acid‐denatured 11S. In terms of functional properties, after alkaline denaturation, the foaming capacity (FC) and emulsifying activity index (EAI) of 11S increased by 1.4 and 1.2 times, respectively, in comparison with its native state. The solubility, foamability, and emulsifiability of the alkali‐denatured 11S gradually diminished during renaturation but remained superior to those of the native state. Conversely, these properties showed an initial decline, followed by an increase during renaturation triggered by pH neutralization.This research contributes to the enhancement of protein functionality, offering a theoretical foundation for the development of functional soy protein products and expanding their potential applications. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]