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Aerogel, characterized by its ultra-low density, high specific surface area, and low thermal conductivity, is a typical porous material. The polyimide (PI) aerogel, incorporating electrospun nanofibers, has garnered significant interest due to its exceptional benefits in flexibility and thermal insulation. Traditional models of thermal property prediction are unsuitable for PI nanofiber aerogel due to its high porosity (>90%) and fiber randomness. This study focuses on constructing a computational micro-mechanical model incorporating stochastic nanofibers to predict the macroscopic thermal properties of polyimide nanofiber aerogel. Fractal analysis of thermal conductivity is conducted, leveraging the self-similarity inherent in porous media. A stochastic fiber generation algorithm is proposed to simulate the random spatial distribution of nanofibers. By controlling the number, size and degree of regularity, a versatile finite element model (FEM) is established with air matrix and fiber elements. Adjustable regularity of fiber distribution and fiber agglomeration effect are achieved to reflect the realistic conditions of nanofiber microstructures. Finite elements of fiber and matrix are coupled via Voronoi tessellation, and the effective thermal conductivity (ETC) is calculated. In comparison with experimental results of self-prepared PI aerogel samples via freeze-drying procedure, the predicted values possess an average error of 1.45% for samples of different densities, demonstrating a satisfactory accuracy of the model.

Abstract Background Viral myocarditis (VMC) is a disease resulting from viral infection, which manifests as inflammation of myocardial cells. Until now, the treatment of VMC is still a great challenge for clinicians. Increasing studies indicate the participation of miR-29b-3p in various diseases. According to the transcriptome sequencing analysis, miR-29b-3p was markedly upregulated in the viral myocarditis model. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of miR-29b-3p in the progression of VMC. Methods We used CVB3 to induce primary cardiomyocytes and mice to establish a model of viral myocarditis. The purity of primary cardiomyocytes was identified by immunofluorescence. The cardiac function of mice was detected by Vevo770 imaging system. The area of inflammatory infiltration in heart tissue was shown by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The expression of miR-29b-3p and DNMT3A was detected by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT–PCR). The expression of a series of pyroptosis-related proteins was detected by western blot. The role of miR-29b-3p/DNMT3A in CVB3-induced pyroptosis of cardiomyocytes was studied in this research. Results Our data showed that the expression of miR-29b-3p was upregulated in CVB3-induced cardiomyocytes and heart tissues in mice. To explore the function of miR-29b-3p in CVB3-induced VMC, we conducted in vivo experiments by knocking down the expression of miR-29b-3p using antagomir. We then assessed the effects on mice body weight, histopathology changes, myocardial function, and cell pyroptosis in heart tissues. Additionally, we performed gain/loss-of-function experiments in vitro to measure the levels of pyroptosis in primary cardiomyocytes. Through bioinformatic analysis, we identified DNA methyltransferases 3A (DNMT3A) as a potential target gene of miR-29b-3p. Furthermore, we found that the expression of DNMT3A can be modulated by miR-29b-3p during CVB3 infection. Conclusions Our results demonstrate a correlation between the expression of DNMT3A and CVB3-induced pyroptosis in cardiomyocytes. These findings unveil a previously unidentified mechanism by which CVB3 induces cardiac injury through the regulation of miR-29b-3p/DNMT3A-mediated pyroptosis.

ABSTRACTThe presence of airborne allergenic pollen causes a variety of immune reactions and respiratory diseases, threatening human life in severe cases. Climate change is exacerbating the allergenic pollen-induced health risks and adding a significant economic burden to societies. Despite the pressing threats, vital health-related information is not available to the public to date, and the reshaping of future geographic allergenic pollen patterns remains unknown. To help establish a critical allergenic pollen forecasting capacity, a systematic review was conducted and three promising future directions were identified: (1) resolving heterogeneous urban plant species distribution and phenology using fine-resolution satellite constellations; (2) acquiring ancillary information about allergenic pollen and patient symptoms from emerging geospatial big data, such as social media; (3) deciphering the coupled effect of climate change and urbanization on future geographic patterns and phenology of allergenic species. On this basis, we recommend an optimized workflow that combines real-time pollen monitoring networks with high-resolution vegetation information and weather forecast systems, comprehensively considering the production and diffusion process of pollen to establish advanced prediction models. By focusing on critical knowledge gaps, this review provides much needed insight to propel the allergenic pollen forecasting research and eventually benefit the management of urban public health.

The rapid mapping of co-seismic landslides is essential for emergency management and loss assessment. Deep learning algorithms generally follow a supervised learning workflow, where the trained model is used to predict landslides in surrounding areas, achieving landslide mapping with high accuracy. For a new study area landslide extraction task, the performance of the model trained on a specific dataset will be greatly reduced due to the varying data distribution of co-seismic landslides. Considering the urgent need for large-scale co-seismic landslide mapping, we developed a generalized deep learning-based landslide identification method. First, a new model—ResU-SENet is developed to generate semantic segmentation maps of landslides. The proposed model adaptively emphasizes the channel-wise weights of the input data. Three multidomain models are then designed by combining annotated landslide samples from two different domains to improve the model generalization ability. Finally, the trained models are applied directly to completely unknown domains to test model generalizability. Experiments in Iburi and Jiuzhaigou showed that the proposed model yielded the recall values of 5.93% and 7.51% higher than ResU-Net. The adoption of multidomain models effectively reduced the number of new training samples required by 50% and maintained a similar identification performance as if trained entirely with new samples. Applying the models trained by Jiuzhaigou and Iburi samples directly to Palu, the F1-score under the ResU-SENet model reached 0.6875. Moreover, the connections between model generalization and data distribution was demonstrated. This work could provide a fast response for future large-scale co-seismic landslide mapping.

Abstract Nanoscale polymeric thin films are widely used in diverse modern applications, where a satisfactory mechanical performance is a requirement to their full functionality. The mechanical response of polymer films is strongly affected by the size effects under nanoconfinement; however, the mechanism of such response in terms of molecular configurations and chain conformations has yet to be determined. In this work, we reveal the conformational origin of the stiffening behavior of crosslinked polymeric nanofilms via coarse-grained molecular dynamics and tailored experiments. We find that the biaxial modulus changes follow the alteration of polymer conformations, decoupled from size and thickness. We propose a theory to quantitatively link the elastic properties of the polymers to the distribution of their chain end-to-end distances, predicting a stiffening effect on uncoiled chains. Finally, we use such insight to obtain several PDMS nano-films of the same thickness but with a variability of two orders of magnitudes in their moduli.

Abstract Disruptions of key food and fertilizer exports from Russia and Ukraine have exposed many countries to challenges accessing some commodities since these countries’ war began. We evaluated the short-term, external, and direct impacts of disruptions of six food commodities and three types of fertilizer supplies from Russia and Ukraine on food access for all trading partners of the two countries by applying a set of trade and socioeconomic indicators. We found that the external food supplies of 279 countries and territories were affected to varying degrees; 24 countries—especially Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Mongolia—are extremely vulnerable because they depend almost entirely on a variety of food imports from Russia and Ukraine. Access to fertilizers was affected in 136 countries and territories, particularly Estonia (potassic fertilizer), Mongolia (nitrogenous fertilizers), Kazakhstan (mixed fertilizers), and Brazil, the United States, China, and India (all types of fertilizers). An integrated assessment of countries’ import types, purchasing power parity per capita, and populations indicated that the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Pakistan are most vulnerable to such supply disruptions. Development of research into diversification and decentralization strategies for food access is needed to guide stable food supply policies.

Abstract Transport infrastructure allows society to function. Such systems continuously improve through manufacturing transformation and technology upgrading. However, its metabolism mechanism of material degradation and quantities from consumption to obsolescence remains unclear. Here we estimate the recycling potential of typical large-scale public transport vehicles (LPTV) in China, in particular, predicting the end-of-life quantity of railway and aviation equipment between 2000 and 2050. Their total recycling potential has been experiencing rapid growth. The total obsolescence mass in 2020 exceeded 33 million tons, and it is expected to reach another 74 million tons by 2050, roughly twice the amount in 2020. By 2050, waste LPTV in China will contain at least 72 million tons of steel, 838 kilotons of aluminum, 2539 tons of titanium, and 223 tons of neodymium. We also compare waste LPTV to e-waste and end-of-life private vehicles. Interestingly, their growth of generation quantity indicates a distinct industry succession from an industrial ecological perspective.

Type Icn supernovae (SNe Icn) are a newly detected, rare subtype of interacting stripped-envelope supernovae that show narrow P Cygni lines of highly ionized carbon, oxygen, and neon in their early spectra due to the interactions of the SNe ejecta with dense hydrogen- and helium-deficient circumstellar material (CSM). It has been suggested that SNe Icn may have multiple progenitor channels, such as the explosion of carbon-rich Wolf–Rayet stars or the explosion of stripped-envelope SNe, which undergo binary interactions. Among the SNe Icn, SN 2019jc shows unique properties, and previous work inferred that it may stem from the ultrastripped supernova, but other possibilities still exist. In this work, we aim to simulate the light curves from the explosions of oxygen-neon and carbon-oxygen double white dwarf (WD) merger remnants and to further investigate whether the corresponding explosions can appear as some particular SNe Icn. We generate the light curves from the explosive remnants and analyze the influence of different parameters on the light curves, such as the ejecta mass, explosion energy, mass of ^56 Ni, and CSM properties. Comparing our results with some SNe Icn, we found that the light curves from the explosions of double WD merger remnants can explain the observable properties of SN 2019jc, from which we infer that this special SN Icn may have a different progenitor. Our results indicate that double WD merger may be an alternative model in producing at least one of the SNe Icn.

Generative design for materials has recently gained significant attention due to the rapid evolution of generative deep learning models. There have been a few successful generative design demonstrations of molecular-level structures with the help of graph neural networks. However, in the realm of macroscale material structures, most of the works are targeting two-dimensional, ungoverned structure generations. Hindered by the complexity of 3D structures, it is hard to extract customized structures with multiple desired properties from a large, unexplored design space. Here we report a novel framework, a multi-objective driven Wasserstein generative adversarial network (WGAN), to implement inverse designs of 3D structures according to given geometrical, structural, and mechanical requirements. Our framework consists of a WGAN-based network that generates 3D structures possessing geometrical and structural features learned from the target dataset. Besides, multiple objectives are introduced to our framework for the control of mechanical property and isotropy of the structures. An accurate surrogate model is incorporated into the framework to perform efficient prediction on the properties of generated structures in training iterations. With multiple objectives combined by their weight and the 3D WGAN acting as a soft constraint to regulate features that are hard to define by the traditional method, our framework has proven to be capable of tuning the properties of the generated structures in multiple aspects while keeping the selected structural features. The feasibility of a small dataset and the scalability of the objectives of other properties make our work an effective approach to provide fast and automated structure designs for various functional materials.

In order to study the effects of different cementitious materials (such as slag(SL), fly ash (FA), and red mud (RM)) on the mechanical and shrinkage properties of geopolymer, the autogenous and dry shrinkage experiment of geopolymer mortar sample developed by single or mixed mixing of SL, FA, and RM were carried out. The flexural and compressive strengths were tested. The failure mode was analyzed. The relationship between ultimate shrinkage strain and compressive strength was also studied. The test results show that: the geopolymer made by sale FA or RM has lower strength, but it has larger shrinkage deformation; The double mixed SL-RM and SL-FA geopolymer has higher compressive strength, rapid chemical reaction, and compact structure; The autogenous shrinkage is slightly less than dry shrinkage. The shrinkage strain has linear relation with compressive strength. The RM-SL based geopolymer is an ideal geopolymer, because of its maximum flexural and compressive strength (5MPa, 36 MPa). and minimun autogenous and drying shrinkage strains.

Mutations of the FBN1 gene lead to Marfan syndrome (MFS), which is an autosomal dominant connective tissue disorder featured by thoracic aortic aneurysm risk. There is currently no effective treatment for MFS. Here, we studied the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the phenotypic transformation of human smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and whether a mitochondrial boosting strategy can be a potential treatment. We knocked down FBN1 in SMCs to create an MFS cell model and used rotenone to induce mitochondrial dysfunction. Furthermore, we incubated the shFBN1 SMCs with Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) to assess whether restoring mitochondrial function can reverse the phenotypic transformation. The results showed that shFBN1 SMCs had decreased TFAM (mitochondrial transcription factor A), mtDNA levels and mitochondrial mass, lost their contractile capacity and had increased synthetic phenotype markers. Inhibiting the mitochondrial function of SMCs can decrease the expression of contractile markers and increase the expression of synthetic genes. Imposing mitochondrial stress causes a double-hit effect on the TFAM level, oxidative phosphorylation and phenotypic transformation of FBN1-knockdown SMCs while restoring mitochondrial metabolism with CoQ10 can rapidly reverse the synthetic phenotype. Our results suggest that mitochondria function is a potential therapeutic target for the phenotypic transformation of SMCs in MFS.

It has been widely accepted that mass-accreting white dwarfs (WDs) are the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae (SNe) or electron-capture supernovae. Previous work has shown that the accretion rate could affect the elemental abundance on the outer layers of CO WDs, and therefore affect the observational characteristics after they exploded as SNe Ia. However, it has not been well studied how elemental abundance changes on the outer layers of He-accreting ONe WDs as they approach the Chandrasekhar mass limit. In this paper, we investigated the evolution of He-accreting ONe WDs with MESA. We found that a CO-rich mantle will accumulate beneath the He layers resulting from the He burning, after which the ignition of the CO-rich mantle could transform carbon into silicon (Si). The amount of Si produced by carbon burning is strongly anticorrelated with the accretion rate. As the ONe WD nearly approaches the Chandrasekhar mass limit ( M _ch ) through accretion, it is likely to undergo accretion-induced collapse, resulting in the formation of a neutron star.

Procuring food enriched with diverse nutrients is pivotal for maintaining a robust immune system. However, the food system is now unprecedentedly globalized and faces challenges arising from climate change, pandemics, and political unrest. This study aims to illuminate the gap in exploring the adequacy and distribution equity of nutrition supplies in response to potential trade fluctuations and restrictions on agrifood within China’s local agriculture endowments. Also, it seeks to identify the role of trade in contributing to these indices. Accordingly, we analyzed the distribution of nutrients in agrifood categories from production to consumption and assessed the adequacy and distribution equity of corresponding available nutrition supply from the local food provision system in terms of meeting residents’ nutritional requirements, across China, and compared with those in the practical market. The local self-supply system showed that 12 out of 31 provinces have difficulty achieving an iron supply with 11% to 108% deficiencies. Except for iron, 52% (folate)–90% (vitamin B12) of agricultural output was available for diet provisioning nationwide. While food trade emerges as a crucial factor in enhancing secure and equitable nutrition supply, risks associated with micronutrient deficiencies necessitate careful consideration in current global circumstances. Our analysis explored a regional pool of nutrient information in supplements to the conventional food profile in China and could implicate better knowledge toward healthier food supplies and tailored improvements for achieving a resilient nutrition supply.

Machine learning approaches (ML) based on data-driven models are conducive to accelerating the assessments of the martensitic transformation peak temperature (Tp) of TiZrHfNiCoCu high entropy shape memory alloys (HESMAs) over a huge composition space. In this work, an interpretable machine learning workflow was established through dataset construction, feature selection, modeling and validation, and model interpretation. We identified a set of key feature combinations closely related to Tp, by exploiting Pearson correlation selection, univariate feature selection, and forward feature elimination. The established ML model was then used to estimate the Tp of three newly synthesized alloys, with their prediction relative errors of less than 3 % in comparison with the experimental measurements. The behaviors of our ML model were interpreted by the Shapley Additive exPlainations (SHAP) approach, demonstrating the crucial role of CV22 (Allred Rochow electronegativity) in the prediction of Tp. In addition, the ML model in combination with our designed interpretation strategy was further used to investigate the effects of alloying elements on the Tp, which showed that the TiZrHfNiCoCu HESMAs with 9 ≦ Co (mol%) ≤ 10 and 15 ≦ Cu (mol%) ≤ 17 have pronounced positive effects on Tp.

Abstract Background Acute heart failure and cardiogenic shock remain highly morbid conditions despite prompt medical therapy in critical care settings. Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) is a promising therapy for these patients, yet remains managed with open-loop control. Continuous measure of cardiac function would support and optimize MCS deployment and weaning. The nature of indwelling MCS provides a platform for attaining this information. This study investigates how hysteresis modeling derived from MCS device signals can be used to assess contractility changes to provide continuous indication of changing cardiac state. Load-dependent MCS devices vary their operation with cardiac state to yield a device–heart hysteretic interaction. Predicting and examining this hysteric relation provides insight into cardiac state and can be separated by cardiac cycle phases. Here, we demonstrate this by predicting hysteresis and using the systolic portion of the hysteresis loop to estimate changes in native contractility. This study quantified this measurement as the enclosed area of the systolic portion of the hysteresis loop and correlated it with other widely accepted contractility metrics in animal studies (n = 4) using acute interventions that alter inotropy, including a heart failure model. Clinical validation was performed in patients (n = 8) undergoing Impella support. Results Hysteresis is well estimated from device signals alone (r = 0.92, limits of agreement: − 0.18 to 0.18). Quantified systolic area was well correlated in animal studies with end-systolic pressure–volume relationship (r = 0.84), preload recruitable stroke work index (r = 0.77), and maximum slope of left ventricular pressure (dP/dt max) (r = 0.95) across a range of inotropic conditions. Comparable results were seen in patients with dP/dt max (r = 0.88). Diagnostic capability from ROC analysis yielded AUC measurements of 0.92 and 0.90 in animal and patients, respectively. Conclusions Mechanical circulatory support hysteretic behavior can be well modeled using device signals and used to estimate contractility changes. Contractility estimate is correlated with other accepted metrics, captures temporal trends that elucidate changing cardiac state, and is able to accurately indicate changes in inotropy. Inherently available during MCS deployment, this measure will guide titration and inform need for further intervention.

It is highly demanding and challenging to maximise the stiffness of the interpenetrating phase composites (IPCs) while still keeping their isotropy. In this paper, the elastic properties of IPCs reinforced by three different types of regular lattice fibre networks are investigated by computer simulation and analytical methods. The numerical results indicate that the larger the difference between the Poisson’s ratios and the smaller the difference between the Young’s moduli of the constituent materials, the larger the Young’s moduli of these IPCs are. It is also found that structural hierarchy can enhance the stiffness of these IPCs by 30%. In addition, the three types of IPCs have Zener anisotropy factors in the range of 1.0±0.04 in most cases, could have an almost isotropic Young’s modulus two times larger than the Voigt limit, and a Poisson’s ratio with a positive or negative or zero value. Moreover, they are easy to manufacture, their Young’s moduli are in general 1.0–3.0 times those of the conventional particle or short fibre reinforced composites and other types of IPCs including those reinforced by the triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) shells, and the type of IPCs with the largest Young’s modulus has been identified.

The resource utilization of cyanide tailings has significant environmental and economic benefits. The efficient recovery of gold from low-grade cyanide tailings containing 1.71 g/t Au was performed by a chlorination roasting–flotation process. The effects of roasting temperature, calcium chloride, internal coke, external coke, copper sulfide concentrate, and kaolin on the recovery rate of concentrate, gold grade, and sorting efficiency were investigated. The optimized process parameters were as follows: 16 wt% calcium chloride dihydrate, 6 wt% internal carbon, 1 wt% external carbon, 9 wt% copper sulfide concentrate, 2 wt% kaolin, and roasting temperature of 730 °C. The sorting rate, gold grade, and recovery rate of gold concentrate can reach 88.48%, 33.46 g/t, and 76.7%, respectively, and the gold grade of tailings was as low as 0.17 g/t. In the matte phase, gold can be enriched in the form of gold grains. Therefore, through chlorination roasting, the trapped gold can be released and deposited on the surface of the matte phase due to the transformation from hematite to magnetite. The gold-deposited metal sulfide can be effectively recycled through flotation. These results have potential guiding significance for the efficient recovery of gold from cyanide tailings.

Crude steel production in China exceeds 1 billion tons per year, and steel slag production accounts for 10%–15% of the crude steel mass. Although slag presents certain hydration activity, it is still difficult to be used as a building material because the particles contain a large amount of active calcium oxide and magnesium oxide, which are easy to hydrate and expand besides presenting low stability. The heap stock is increasing at a rate of 80 Mt/a because of the limitation of application scenarios. Moreover, every 1 ton of crude steel is associated with an emission of 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), which becomes a greenhouse gas, because it cannot be reused at the moment. In this investigation, CO2 was used to cure steel slag particles, and the coupling mineralization reaction between them was used to convert active calcium oxide and magnesium oxide in steel slag into carbonate forms and, thus, allow the processing of steel slag particles into fine building aggregate. Two particle size ranges of 0.6–2.36 and 2.36–4.75 mm were selected as representative particle sizes. Mineralization was carried out under a temperature of 25 °C, relative humidity of 75%, a CO2 concentration of 20%, and a time of 24 h. The carbon fixation rate of steel slag was 9.68%. The quality of steel slag fine aggregate as a product met the GB/T 14684-2011 construction sand grade II standard. The application of this technology is expected to improve the stability of steel slag particles, the utilization rate as a building material, and the resource utilization level of CO2. It is expected to realize the full, high-value-added resource utilization of steel slag and CO2 absorption and solve the supply shortage problem of fine aggregate for construction in China, which has potential economic and environmental benefits.

The slow development of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting mainly results from the inefficient separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers. Herein, we fabricated a core-shell nanostructure by loading MgAl-layered double hydroxide (MgAl-LDH) nanofilms on the surface of TiO2 nanorods with a simple dip-coating method. The PEC performance was adjusted by controlling the immersion time, and TiO2/MgAl-LDH photoanode with an immersion time of 8 h achieved an optimal photocurrent density of 1.16 mA cm−2, which is 116 times that of TiO2. The improved interfacial charge transfer and reduced recombination loss of photogenerated electron-hole pairs account for the excellent performance.

A novel modification method of stainless-steel electrode for reduction of sulfur dioxide to prepare sulfur was reported. Sulfur dioxide can spontaneously react with modified stainless-steel electrode at a rate of 12.77 mA/cm2 to produce sulfur under acidic conditions without additional energy. Evidence was found for the destruction of passive film on the stainless-steel surface in the process of modification which leads to the open circuit potential of stainless-steel electrode shift negatively to the reduction potential range of sulfur dioxide. When modified stainless steel was used as cathode in electrolysis, the contributions of impressed current and redox reaction made the sulfur yield up to 88% within 3 hours.

To meet the requirements on industrial robots concerning their fast-moving pick-and-place or obstacle avoidance, this article puts forward a novel high-speed and smooth transfer control algorithm for spatial elliptic trajectory - an modified S-shaped acceleration/deceleration (ACC/DEC) control algorithm based on a piecewise continuous jerk curve in order to achieve the smooth motion at a high speed. Through mathematical modeling and interpolation point algorithm of spatial elliptic trajectory, the interpolation point information can be obtained. Then, using the speed look-ahead algorithm, the optimal speed at the switching point can be calculated during the trajectory transfer. According to the analysis on the experiment and simulation results of a sorting case, the velocity curve turned out to be smoother and the run time decreased by 33.69%. In this way, this transfer algorithm can guarantee the smooth motion of industrial robots and also improve the motion efficiency significantly.

Herein, we report a facile template-free solvothermal chemical method to synthesize the hierarchical hollow CuSbS2 microspheres. The results show that the hollow microspheres with the diameter of ~800–900 nm are comprised of nanoflakes. The morphologies of CuSbS2 can be modulated rationally by adjusting the reaction parameters and the possible formation mechanism of hollow CuSbS2 microspheres with PSS (poly (sodium-p-styrenesul-fonate)) and PEG (polyethylene glycol) is studied. Moreover, the hollow CuSbS2 microspheres exhibits a photocurrent density of 0.063 mA/cm2 and an IPCE value of 32.42%, indicating that the CuSbS2 nanocrystals have potential in photoelectrochemical conversion device applications.

Polysaccharide is one of the main active ingredients of Polygonatum kingianum, which has been proven to regulate the balance of gut microbiota. For the first time, this study focused on the regulation of polysaccharides from Polygonatum kingianum (PS) on Lactobacillus faecis, a specific probiotic in the intestinal tract. PS effectively promoted the biomass, biofilm and acetic acid production in L. faecis 2-84, and enhanced quorum sensing (QS) signaling. The characteristics of gene sequence were analyzed using genomics approaches, and L. faecis 2-84 was found to encode 18 genes that are closely related to QS and 10 genes related to short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Additionally, transcriptome and proteome analysis demonstrated that PS could promote the QS system of L. faecis by enhancing the transcription of oppA gene and expression of oppD protein. PS also regulated the production and metabolism of SCFAs of L. faecis by upregulating the expression of ldh and metE gene and adh2 protein, and downregulating the expression of mvK gene. In conclusion, it was speculated that PS could affect intestinal SCFAs production by affecting the QS system and SCFAs production in L. faecis. The present study implied that PS might have a role in promoting the growth of intestinal probiotics, where the QS system and SCFAs might be two of the important mechanisms for the probiotic activity of PS.

The Yellow River basin (YRB) has played an important role in the forming of Chinese civilization. Located in the upper reaches of the YRB and the southeastern edge of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), the Gannan Plateau (GP), which consists of mainly alpine and mountain ecosystems, is one of the most important water conservation areas for the Yellow River and recharges 6.59 billion cubic meters of water to the Yellow River each year, accounting for 11.4% of the total runoff of the Yellow River. In the past 30 years, due to climate change and intense human activities, the GP is facing increasing challenges in maintaining its ecosystem integrity and security. Vegetation is a central component of the terrestrial ecosystem and is also key to maintaining ecosystem functioning and services. To form sound ecological restoration projects for the GP and the upper reaches of the YRB in general, this study assesses the trend in FVC (Fractional Vegetation Cover) and its drivers across the GP by integrating high-resolution satellite remote sensing images and meteorological data from 2000 to 2020. Results showed that the mean value of FVC for the entire GP between 2000 and 2020 was 89.26%. Aridity was found to be the main factor that determined the spatial distribution of FVC, while ecosystem type exhibited the secondary effect with forests having the highest FVC within each aridity class. From 2000 to 2020, the FVC in 84.11% of the study area did not exhibit significant change, though 10.32% of the study area still experienced a significant increase in FVC. A multi-factor analysis revealed that precipitation surpassed temperature as the main driver for the FVC trend in semi-arid and semi-humid areas, while this pattern was reversed in humid areas. A further residual analysis indicated that human activities only played a minor role in determining the FVC trend in most naturally vegetated areas of the study area, except for semi-arid crops where a significant positive role of human influences on the FVC trend was observed. The findings highlight the fact that aridity and vegetation types interact to explain the relative sensitivity of alpine and mountain ecosystems to climate trends and human influences. Results from this study provide an observational basis for better understanding and pattern prediction of ecosystem functioning and services in the GP under future climate change, which is key to the success of the national strategy that aims to preserve ecosystem integrity and promote high-quality development over the entire YRB.

Conventional cancer treatments, such as surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, have achieved significant progress in cancer therapy. Nevertheless, some limitations (such as toxic side effects) are still existing for conventional therapies, which motivate efforts toward developing novel theranostic avenues. Owning many merits such as easy surface modification, unique optical properties, and high biocompatibility, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs and GNPs) have been engineered to serve as targeted delivery vehicles, molecular probes, sensors, and so on. Their small size and surface characteristics enable them to extravasate and access the tumor microenvironment (TME), which is a promising solution to realize highly effective treatments. Moreover, stimuli-responsive properties (respond to hypoxia and acidic pH) of nanoparticles to TME enable GNPs’ unrivaled control for effective transport of therapeutic cargos. In this review article, we primarily introduce the basic properties of GNPs, further discuss the recent progress in gold nanoparticles for cancer theranostics, with an additional concern about TME stimuli-responsive studies.

The systematic residual errors present in multibeam echo-sounding data cause the areas of overlap between adjacent swaths to become distorted. A method is proposed in this paper to reduce the residual error of multibeam sounding data through empirical mode decomposition (EMD) based on cubic Bessel interpolation. Numerical experiments confirm that the discrepancy in the overlap between two swaths is significantly reduced after applying EMD improved by cubic Bessel interpolation compared with both the original water depth data and with data processed using conventional EMD based on cubic spline interpolation. The mean square error of the improved method is decreased by 67% and 29% compared with that of the original and conventional EMD cases, respectively. Therefore, EMD with cubic Bessel interpolation can efficiently reduce the residual error of multibeam echo-sounding data.

Thermal ablation has been adopted as one of the most common cancer treatment approaches in medical surgery. By increasing the temperature (>50 °C) on the cells, the cells are destroyed because of denaturation. Herein, an ultrathin Archimedean spiral pattern heater/sensor technology is introduced which can perform ablation by attaching conformally onto the organs for precise heating and temperature sensing. In the heater mode, the heater temperature is linearly proportional to the input joule heating power up to 400 mW. In the sensor mode, the temperature of the conformal metal wire is also linearly related to the resistance by the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). The conformal heater to perform ex vivo ablation on the porcine liver is utilized. By further integrating the devices with robotic palm and perform heat‐and‐sense interactions, a human–machine interface (HMI) apparatus is demonstrated which can be potentially applied in surgical robots or other tactile stimulation systems.

The cooling effect of turbine vane is of great importance for ensuring thermal protection and economic operation of gas turbines. This study aims to reveal the influence mechanism and performance of impingement cooling and heat transfer within a turbine guide vane cavity. Then, a turbine guide vane cavity with a complex pin fins structure is numerically investigated at a multi-hole impingement by comparison with experiment verification. The results show that the larger the Reynolds number is, the larger the average Nusselt number is on the upper and lower surfaces of the cavity. The average Nusselt number increased on the upper and lower surfaces as the impingement hole diameter increased. Comparing 1 impingement hole with 16 ones, the average Nusselt number of the lower surface of the latter is 553.9% larger than that of the former. Furthermore, the average Nusselt number of the lower surface for pin fin height of 3 mm is only improved by 11.2% for pin fin height of 24 mm. The heat transfer effect near the impingement holes is better than that far away from the impingement holes. In particular, it is recommended to have 14 impingement holes with a hole diameter of 7.2 mm, as well as circular pin fins with a height of 3 mm and spacing of 25.8 mm. In addition, the entropy generation distribution in impingement cooling is analyzed. This study can provide a reference to enhance the turbine vane cooling performance by optimization design.

The mineral composition of copper–cobalt ores is more complex than that of copper sulfides, and it is also difficult to discard tailing efficiently in primary flotation for the fine-grained disseminated of ore. In this work, a mineral liberation analyzer (MLA) was employed to study the characteristics of minerals. As a significant mineralogical characteristic, the liberation degree of useful mineral aggregates was determined after grinding, and a correlation was established between the ore grinding size and mineralogical characteristics. The results showed that the adopted ore occurred in sulfide form. However, the particle size of the mineral’s monomer was fine grained, whereas its aggregate was coarse. The sulfide mineral aggregate obtained after primary grinding was selected as the recovery object, and its mineralogical characteristics, such as liberation degree and particle size, were investigated to promote total recovery in primary flotation. The copper–cobalt sulfide concentration was obtained at the following optimal conditions: the grinding size of −0.074 mm (65%), the aggregate’s liberation degree of 67%, a collector dosage of 50 g·t−1, a collector combination of 35% aerofloat + 65% butyl xanthate, a pH of 8.5, and 2# oil (a terpineol type foaming agent) dosage of 60 g·t−1. The recovered rough Cu and Co concentrates were 89.45% and 88.03%, respectively. Moreover, the grades of Cu and Co were 13.4% and 4.81%, respectively, with 85.07% of the ore weight discarded as tailing. The consideration of sulfide aggregates instead of singeral minerals mineralogy characters in primary grinding and primary flotation provides an effective theoretical guide for the sorting of sulfide minerals and reduction in the power consumption of grinding.

While the successful reclamation of coal post-mining land sites in Indonesia has been evaluated, no cost-benefit analysis has been carried out on the reclamation of mined land, and the impact of the reclamation work has not been determined. The results of this case study indicate that reclamation work is not an emission-free process, but that the benefits delivered from this work are considerable. It was found that the emissions involved at the coal mined reclamation in Indonesia were 25.4–26.6 t-CO2/ha, with topsoil management and land preparation contributing over 98% of the total emissions (9.5 t-CO2/ha and 16 t-CO2/ha, respectively). The ability of the trees on the reclaimed land to absorb CO2 emissions was calculated to be 26.4 t-CO2/ha, with the amount of oxygen produced calculated to be as much as 143 t-O2/ha of oxygen. The economic value of the ecosystem services delivered by reclamation was over USD 27,750/ha. This is higher than the USD 8642–9417/ha cost of establishing the reclamation work. Improvements to reclamation work could be designed mining and reclamation plans with attention paid to reducing fuel consumption, and therefore, reducing CO2 emissions. Furthermore, law enforcement and transparency, human resource development, and community participation are strongly required.

Due to the dynamic process of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) caused by turbulence and large rotor inertia, variable-speed wind turbines (VSWTs) cannot maintain the optimal tip speed ratio (TSR) from cut-in wind speed up to the rated speed. Therefore, in order to increase the total captured wind energy, the existing aerodynamic design for VSWT blades, which only focuses on performance improvement at a single TSR, needs to be improved to a multi-point design. In this paper, based on a closed-loop system of VSWTs, including turbulent wind, rotor, drive train and MPPT controller, the distribution of operational TSR and its description based on inflow wind energy are investigated. Moreover, a multi-point method considering the MPPT dynamic process for the aerodynamic optimization of VSWT blades is proposed. In the proposed method, the distribution of operational TSR is obtained through a dynamic simulation of the closed-loop system under a specific turbulent wind, and accordingly the multiple design TSRs and the corresponding weighting coefficients in the objective function are determined. Finally, using the blade of a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 1.5 MW wind turbine as the baseline, the proposed method is compared with the conventional single-point optimization method using the commercial software Bladed. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Cronobacter sakazakii, an important Gram‐negative foodborne pathogen, can cause neonatal meningitis and sepsis with high rates of infection and death. Gene ESA_RS15745 encodes a sugar transporter protein, which is not only essential for osmotic pressure maintenance during bacterial growth and reproduction but also associated with their desiccation tolerance, motility, and biofilm formation. Here, a mutant strain of ESA_RS15745 (ΔESA_RS15745) and the complementation strain (cpESA_RS15745) were constructed using a suicide vector knockout and gene complementation. ΔESA_RS15745 was found to have a decrease in its ability to transport maltose and trehalose and resist desiccation, whereas an increase in the ability of motility and biofilm formation, implying that ESA_RS15745 may positively regulate sugar transport and desiccation tolerance and negatively regulate motility and biofilm formation. To further investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the function of related genes, RNA‐seq was performed to explore the differentially expressed genes in the mutants. RNA‐seq results showed the upregulation of 114 genes (mainly including those regulating chemotaxis and flagellar motility) and the downregulation of 22 genes (mainly including those regulating sugar transport). qRT‐PCR analysis supported the RNA‐seq results and showed that ESA_RS15745 may influence the dehydration tolerance though decreasing the intracellular trehalose content and negatively regulate the motility though the chemotactic signaling pathway. In addition, the biofilm formation of C. sakazakii should also be speculated to negatively regulate by ESA_RS15745 by consuming the extracellular carbohydrates concentration and then downregulating the intracellular cyclic diguanosine monophosphate. This study offers a reference for comprehending the molecular mechanism of gene ESA_RS15745 in C. sakazakii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]