Bo Yang

The design and fabrication of advanced counter electrodes (CEs) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are limited by the scarcity of active sites and poor durability. Herein, we report the controlled preparation of a heterostructured nanoreactor CE based on defect-rich N-doped carbon nanoflowers (NCF) encapsulating MoC/MoO2 nano dots (NDs) in a well-defined heterophase (MoC/MoO2-NCF). The MoC/MoO2 NDs were uniformly dispersed on the NCF, and the NCF limited the size of the MoC/MoO2 NDs and prevented their agglomeration, thus maximizing the electrochemically active surface area of MoC/MoO2. Moreover, the synergistic effect between the MoC/MoO2 interface and the N-defects is conducive to the full exposure of the active sites. Furthermore, theoretical calculations revealed that the MoC/MoO2 heterojunction played a unique role in modulating the electronic structure and regulating the …

Caloric restriction (CR) is a well-established dietary intervention known to extend healthy lifespan and exert positive effects on aging-related diseases, including cardiovascular conditions. Sirtuins, a family of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent histone deacetylases, have emerged as key regulators of cellular metabolism, stress responses, and the aging process, serving as energy status sensors in response to CR. However, the mechanism through which CR regulates Sirtuin function to ameliorate cardiovascular disease remains unclear. This review not only provided an overview of recent research investigating the interplay between Sirtuins and CR, specifically focusing on their potential implications for cardiovascular health, but also provided a comprehensive summary of the benefits of CR for the cardiovascular system mediated directly via Sirtuins. CR has also been shown to have …

Listeria monocytogenes (Lm), a foodborne bacterium, can infect people and has a high fatality rate in immunocompromised individuals. Listeriolysin O (LLO), the primary virulence factor of Lm, is critical in regulating the pathogenicity of Lm. This review concludes that LLO may either directly or indirectly activate a number of host cell viral pathophysiology processes, such as apoptosis, pyroptosis, autophagy, necrosis and necroptosis. We describe the invasion of host cells by Lm and the subsequent removal of Lm by CD8 T cells and CD4 T cells upon receipt of the LLO epitopes from major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) and major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II). The development of several LLO-based vaccines that make use of the pore-forming capabilities of LLO and the immune response of the host cells is then described. Finally, we conclude by outlining the several natural substances that …

With the rapid adoption of ORCID in academia, the number of ORCID users has been growing significantly and more informetricians are recognizing the research value of ORCID profiles. However, the reliability of the conclusions in studies based on ORCID profiles is undermined by data quality issues, such as missing items, insufficient coverage of publications, unnormalized institution names, and duplicated registration. To facilitate efficient application of ORCID profiles in informetric research and possibly inspire new improvements to ORCID profile use strategies, this study investigates ORCID data availability on a large scale. The statistical results demonstrate that, due to very limited data verification functions and weak awareness at the users’ end to update their profiles regularly, most ORCID profiles have missing, inaccurate, or outdated information about education or work experience. It is suggested that a …

NUCLEAR REACTIONS 3 He (32 S, α) 31 S, E= 128 MeV; measured reaction products, Eγ, Iγ; deduced γ-ray energies, levels, T 1/2, resonances. Comparison with the shell-model code NuShellX calculations. Modern Markov chain Monte Carlo-based Bayesian statistical techniques. The Doppler Shift Lifetimes (DSL2) facility at the TRIUMF Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC-II) facility.

Open data as an integral part of the open science movement enhances the openness and sharing of scientific datasets. Nevertheless, the normative utilization of data journals, data papers, scientific datasets, and data citations necessitates further research. This study aims to investigate the citation practices associated with data papers and to explore the role of data papers in disseminating scientific datasets. Dataset accession numbers from NCBI databases were employed to analyze the prevalence of data citations for data papers from PubMed Central. A dataset citation practice identification rule was subsequently established. The findings indicate a consistent growth in the number of biomedical data journals published in recent years, with data papers gaining attention and recognition as both publications and data sources. Although the use of data papers as citation sources for data remains relatively rare, there …

The efficient removal of organic pollutants using singlet oxygen (1O2) represents a pivotal advancement in environmental purification. Despite its potential, the controlled generation of 1O2 remains a challenging endeavor. In this study, we present a novel approach whereby methyl/methylene are utilized to modulate the production of 1O2 by tungsten trioxide (WO3), thereby enhancing the photocatalytic degradation of persistent pollutants through deep oxidation. Employing a dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB)-assisted hydrothermal synthesis, we successfully fabricated WO3 capable of generating 1O2. This modified WO3 demonstrates superior performance in the photocatalytic degradation of chloroquine phosphate by facilitating the rapid separation of photo-generated electron-hole pairs, thereby accelerating the degradation process. Furthermore, WO3 augmented with 1O2 exhibits enhanced efficacy in …

Core-periphery structure is commonly observed in diverse real-world networks, where nodes are categorized as core or peripheral nodes by connection patterns. It plays an important role in ensuring potential functionality and intrinsic order in networks. Networks are inevitably suffering from the malicious attacks and random errors, which could lead to the collapse of core-periphery structure, and in turn the performance degradation and even the total instability of network behaviors. Therefore, it is of great significance to rapidly recover such structure after destruction. However, few of the existing works about networks have put emphasis on core-periphery restoration. Here we propose a novel recovery index to characterize and measure the quality for the core-periphery restoration when a disaster happens. Several efficient algorithms guided by our index are devised to provide optimal or near-optimal restoration …

Solar steam generation has gained significant attention as a promising method for clean and sustainable water purification and desalination. The spectral absorption performance of the photothermal conversion material directly affects its thermal conversion efficiency. This research investigates the enhanced near-infrared absorption of Cs0.32WO3 nanoparticles for efficient interfacial solar steam generation. In this study, Cs0.32WO3 nanoparticles were synthesized using a simple co-precipitation and heat treatment method. The synthetic nanoparticles were then incorporated into a porous membrane to create a photothermal conversion material for solar steam generation and their near-infrared absorption properties were characterized. The experimental results demonstrated that the Cs0.32WO3 nanoparticles effectively converted solar energy into heat, resulting in efficient interfacial steam generation. The …

AIM: To explore the clinical effect and significance of preventive surgery for asymptomatic spinal lipomas in children.MATERIAL and METHODS: We retrospectively analysed the clinical data of 168 patients with asymptomatic spinal lipoma from April 2001 to June 2019, Shanghai Department of Neurosurgery, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. The patients were aged from 1.5 months to 15 years (the average age was 7 months), and there were no neurological symptoms, such as pain, incontinence, and/or bilateral lower limb dysfunction, before surgery. The surgical procedure included completely removing the lipomas in subcutaneous and extramedullary tissues of the spinal cord, subtotal resection of intraspinal fat, and separating the spinal cord, including the medullary conus from the dura sac, to release the tethered cord.RESULTS: For the 168 children with spinal lipomas included in the study, complete resection was undertaken for the dorsal spinal lipomas, and subtotal resection was performed for the transitional lipomas. Subcutaneous effusion caused by cerebrospinal fluid leakage occurred in 5 cases after surgery and was cured after multiple punctures and aspiration. Six patients developed mild incontinence immediately after the operation, 5 of whom completely returned to normal within 1 month, and 1 had no relief of symptoms. A total of 159 of the 168 patients were followed up for 3 to 19 years (the median follow-up time was 76 months). Longterm postoperative symptoms were observed in 13 patients (7.7%), including 12 cases of spinal cord retethering and 1 case of lipoma …

We report new rogue wave patterns in the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. These patterns include heart-shaped structures, fan-shaped sectors, and many others, that are formed by individual Peregrine waves. They appear when multiple internal parameters in the rogue wave solutions get large. Analytically, we show that these new patterns are described asymptotically by root structures of Adler–Moser polynomials through a dilation. Since Adler–Moser polynomials are generalizations of the Yablonskii–Vorob’ev polynomial hierarchy and contain free complex parameters, these new rogue patterns associated with Adler–Moser polynomials are much more diverse than previous rogue patterns associated with the Yablonskii–Vorob’ev polynomial hierarchy. We also compare analytical predictions of these patterns to true solutions and demonstrate good agreement between them.

We report new rogue wave patterns whose wave crests form closed or open curves in the spatial plane, which we call rogue curves, in the Davey-Stewartson I equation. These rogue curves come in various striking shapes, such as rings, double rings, and many others. They emerge from a uniform background (possibly with a few lumps on it), reach high amplitude in such striking shapes, and then disappear into the same background again. We reveal that these rogue curves would arise when an internal parameter in bilinear expressions of the rogue waves is real and large. Analytically, we show that these rogue curves are predicted by root curves of certain types of double-real-variable polynomials. We compare analytical predictions of rogue curves to true solutions and demonstrate good agreement between them.

Similar to the cases of anemone jets, two-sided loop solar jets could also be produced by either flux emergence from the solar interior or small scale filament eruptions. Using the high-quality data from the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO), we analyzed a two-sided loop solar jet triggered by the eruption of a small filament in this paper. The jet was occurred in a pre-existing big filament channel. The detailed processes involved in the small filament eruption, the interaction between the erupted filament and the big filament channel, and the launch of the two-sided loop jet are presented. The observations further revealed notable asymmetry between the two branches of the jet spire, with the northeastern branch is narrow and short, while the southern branch is wide and long and accompanied by discernible untwisting motions. We explored the unique appearance of the jet by employing the local potential field extrapolation to calculate the coronal magnetic field configuration around the jet. The photospheric magnetic flux below the small filament underwent cancellation for approximately 7 hours before the filament eruption, and the negative flux near the southern foot-point of the filament decreased by about 56 percent during this interval. Therefore, we proposed that the primary photospheric driver of the filament eruption and the associated two-sided loop jet in this event is flux cancellation rather than flux emergence.

Open data was recognized as essential to prevent and treat pandemic infection through sharing, disseminating, and using relevant information. This study explores how and to what extent open data influenced the response of science to such emergencies from a quantitative perspective. Based on the genetic datasets for viruses associated with Ebola, SARS, MERS, and COVID-19, we analyze the efficiency of data sharing and dissemination from a knowledge flow perspective: "datasets→papers", "datasets→patents", and "datasets→papers→patents". The results showed: (1) From the early Ebola outbreak to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, data sharing has been increasingly open and timely. (2) Basic research and the developments of vaccine and medicine related to the pandemics have increasingly relied on open data, providing more data-driven alternatives. (3) From Ebola to COVID-19, the citation lags of …

In view of the non-uniqueness of modulus selection and the mismatch among the values of various mechanical parameters of the same material in the current asphalt pavement design, typical pavement materials, asphalt mixture (AC), and cement stabilized macadam (CSM) were selected to perform unconfined compressive, direct tensile, bending, and splitting tensile tests. Then, the quantitative matching relationships among the mechanical parameters were established considering the velocity dependence and the different properties of tension and compression. Moreover, the superiority–inferiority of the four test methods was also evaluated by analyzing the stability and change law of test data and the specimens force characteristics. The results show that the difference in tension and compression of strength and modulus was the inherent attribute of the materials, which leads to the non-uniqueness of the …

Energy-saving and environmentally friendly photocatalysis has emerged as a popular research area in response to issues with energy scarcity and environmental degradation. Due to the unique layer-like structure, BiOX (Cl, Br, I) is frequently used in photocatalysis. However, inherent flaws in BiOX, such as an inappropriate band gap and low carrier separation efficiency, restrict its capacity for photocatalysis. Owing to the tunable grouping layer, alloying engineering is employed to optimize the intrinsic properties of BiOX and alloyed BiOX becomes a promising photocatalytic material. This review describes the structure of BiOX, where tunable halogen layers provide favorable conditions for the implementation of alloying engineering to improve intrinsic properties. The article compares the effects and mechanisms of alloying engineering on the optimization of the energy band structure and carrier behavior of BiOX …

Intensive lane-changing (LC) events are one of the great causes that make freeway weaving areas become bottlenecks. This study proposes an approach using vehicle trajectory data to investigate the spatiotemporal distributions of the number of LC events, void occupancies, and throughput variations at the freeway weaving area. Firstly, all LC events are extracted from the cleaned dataset and classified into four types according to the LC vehicles’ origin–destination lanes and LC directions. Secondly, the time and space void occupancies are calculated using the kinematic theory. Thirdly, the throughput variations are identified with the oblique N-curve method. Finally, the spatial and temporal distributions of the LC events, void occupancies, and throughput variations are plotted to analyze their characteristics and relationships. The spatial distributions of different types of LC events indicate that most LC events occur at the surrounding area of the on-ramp entrance. Spatial distributions of time void occupancies show that the time void in the original lanes is quite small while that in the target lanes is much larger. Furthermore, the time void occupancies amplify downstream when considering vehicles traveling on the road. By comparing the temporal distributions of LC events, void occupancies, and throughput variations, there is a lag effect between the large value occurrences of space void occupancy and throughput reduction and that of the LC events, which can conclude a causal relationship between LC events and the occurrences of the space void occupancies and throughput reductions.

PurposeA prevalent condition with a high probability of recurrence, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) necessitates lifetime surveillance. In patients with pathologically confirmed NMIBC, our goal was to create a unique nomogram to predict recurrence after transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT).MethodsOur institution’s 91 NMIBC patients with complete follow-up data between January 2017 and February 2021 were included in the retrospective analysis. The nomogram predicting the 0.5, 1, 2 and 3-year likelihood of recurrence was created using multivariate Cox proportional hazard models to find the significant determinants of recurrence. Using the concordance index (C-index), calibration curves, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and decision curve analyses (DCA), we internally validated the nomogram.ResultsThe significant factors related to NMIBC recurrence were age, blood …

This paper presents the Modified Post-installed Adhesive Anchorage test (MPAA) as a method for evaluating the in-place compressive strength of concrete. It considers various influential factors, including test surface characteristics, concrete strength, anchorage depth, bolt diameter, and rebar location. Additionally, a formula for calculating concrete compressive strength, applicable to various influencing factors, was suggested. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of MPAA in assessing in-place compressive strength of concrete with a high degree of precision. Following pull-out test, the prevalent failure modes observed were vertebral failure and vertebral-bond composite failure. Moreover, diverse concrete strengths, anchorage depths, and rebar locations demonstrated differing impacts on failure modes, while test surface characteristics and bolt diameter exerted less noticeable effects. The pull-out force …

Since the square holes are widely used in many structures and machines, the purpose of this work is to obtain analytical solutions for the three-dimensional (3D) elastic stress field of transversely isotropic functionally graded (FG) infinite plates containing a single square hole with small round corners subjected to far-field loads or on the edges of the holes. Based on the generalized England-Spencer plate theory, material parameters can vary continuously and arbitrarily along the thickness direction of the plate, the solutions are obtained by using the conformal mapping technology combined with the Cauchy integral method. Concentration factors of internal forces Kij around the square hole are explicitly expressed. The obtained explicit expressions of solutions can be validated against the classical two-dimensional (2D) solutions when the material degenerates into an isotropic and homogeneous material. The …