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Amazon forests have experienced frequent and severe droughts in the past two decades. However, little is known about the large-scale legacy of droughts on carbon stocks and dynamics of forests. Using systematic sampling of forest structure measured by LiDAR waveforms from 2003 to 2008, here we show a significant loss of carbon over the entire Amazon basin at a rate of 0.3 ± 0.2 (95% CI) PgC yr −1 after the 2005 mega-drought, which continued persistently over the next 3 years (2005–2008). The changes in forest structure, captured by average LiDAR forest height and converted to above ground biomass carbon density, show an average loss of 2.35 ± 1.80 MgC ha −1 a year after (2006) in the epicenter of the drought. With more frequent droughts expected in future, forests of Amazon may lose their role as a robust sink of carbon, leading to a significant positive climate feedback and exacerbating warming trends. Forests of the Amazon Basin have experienced frequent and severe droughts in recent years with significant impacts on their carbon cycling. Here, using satellite LiDAR samples from 2003 to 2008, the authors show the long-term legacy of these droughts with persistent loss of carbon stocks after the 2005 drought.

This study proposed deep learning-based ultrasonic nondestructive testing for porosity evaluation of additively manufactured components. First, porosity mechanisms according to additive manufacturing (AM) processing conditions were studied using traditional scanning acoustic microscopy and optical microscopy. Second, correlations between ultrasonic properties and porosity content were analyzed. The correlation results showed that the increased porosity content resulted in a decreased ultrasonic velocity and increased ultrasonic attenuation coefficient. Third, various levels of porosities were evaluated using a deep learning model based on a fully connected deep neural network that was trained on raw ultrasonic signals measured in the AM samples. After training, the testing performance of the trained model was evaluated. Additionally, the generalization performance of the pre-trained model was assessed using newly fabricated AM samples that were not used for training. The results showed that the porosity content evaluated by the pre-trained model matched well with that measured via traditional scanning acoustic microscopy, thus demonstrating the feasibility of deep learning-based ultrasonic nondestructive testing for porosity evaluation of additively manufactured components.

Purpose The Clareon PanOptix (CNWT) IOL is a newer trifocal IOL made from a glistening-free hydrophobic acrylic material incorporating hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). While its predecessor (TFNT) has established clinical outcomes, long-term data. This study aimed to evaluate the refractive and visual outcomes during a 1-year follow-up after CNWT implantation in one eye, with a different type of refractive multifocal or extended depth of focus IOL in the contralateral eye (mix- and match setting). Method This was a retrospective, single-arm case series conducted at the single eye clinic, Seoul, Republic of Korea. The study included patients who underwent cataract surgery with mix-and-match IOL implantations, receiving a CNWT in one eye. Data were collected from the eyes with a CNWT. Monocular uncorrected distance visual acuity (UCDVA), corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), uncorrected near visual acuity (UCNVA), and manifest refraction were analyzed from measurements taken at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. Rates and causes of secondary surgical intervention, such as IOL exchange and toric IOL axis readjustment, were also investigated. Statistical analysis involved Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests for normality and t-tests for comparisons, with p  <.05 considered significant. Results Data from 897 eyes (out of 1282 initially screened) with continuous measurements and no secondary interventional surgeries were included in the primary monocular visual acuity and refractive analysis. UCDVA of LogMAR 0.0 or better increased from 50.91% at 1 month to 85.95% at 12 months. CDVA of LogMAR 0.0 or better improved from 89.52% at 1 month to 98.1% at 12 months. At 12 months, 94.09% of eyes achieved UCNVA of LogMAR 0.1 or better. A slight mean hyperopic shift (+ 0.07D) was observed up to 12 months. Toric CNWT IOLs were used in 71.0% of these eyes, with 88.07% achieving manifest refractive astigmatism of ≤ -0.75D at 12 months. Overall, 85 out of 1282 eyes (6.63%) underwent secondary surgery: 4.45% for IOL exchange and 2.18% for toric IOL axis readjustment. Post-reoperation, UCDVA and UCNVA significantly improved. Conclusions The new hydrophobic acrylic trifocal IOL (CNWT) with HEMA demonstrated significant improvements in visual acuity and stable refractive outcomes over one year in a mix-and-match setting. The use of toric CNWT IOLs effectively reduced astigmatism. These findings suggest that this IOL is a reliable option for enhancing visual quality and reducing spectacle dependency in this specific implantation context. Despite the low rate of reoperations, the results underscore the ongoing need for advancements in biometric measurements and IOL power calculation formulas to further minimize such interventions.

Alloys are recently receiving considerable attention in the community of rechargeable batteries as possible alternatives to carbonaceous negative electrodes; however, challenges remain for the practical utilization of these materials. Herein, we report the synthesis of germanium-zinc alloy nanofibers through electrospinning and a subsequent calcination step. Evidenced by in situ transmission electron microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy characterizations, this one-dimensional design possesses unique structures. Both germanium and zinc atoms are homogenously distributed allowing for outstanding electronic conductivity and high available capacity for lithium storage. The as-prepared materials present high rate capability (capacity of ~ 50% at 20 C compared to that at 0.2 C-rate) and cycle retention (73% at 3.0 C-rate) with a retaining capacity of 546 mAh g −1 even after 1000 cycles. When assembled in a full cell, high energy density can be maintained during 400 cycles, which indicates that the current material has the potential to be used in a large-scale energy storage system. Alloy anode materials are receiving renewed interest. Here the authors show the design of Ge-Zn nanofibers for lithium ion batteries. Featured by a homogeneous composition at the atomic level and other favorable structural attributes, the materials allow for impressive electrochemical performance.

During 2016-2018, we collected 3,193 ticks from rural areas in South Korea to investigate the prevalence of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV). We detected SFTSV in ticks at an infection rate (IR) of 11.1%. We noted increases in the human IR associated with the monthly SFTSV IR in ticks.

Harsh environments and confined spaces require that nondestructive inspections be conducted with robotic systems. Ultrasonic guided waves are well suited for robotic systems because they can provide efficient volumetric coverage when inspecting for various types of damage, including cracks and corrosion. Shear horizontal guided waves are especially well suited for robotic inspection because they are sensitive to cracks oriented perpendicular or parallel to the wave propagation direction and can be generated with electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) and magnetostrictive transducers (MSTs). Both types of transducers are investigated for crack detection in a stainless steel plate. The MSTs require the robot to apply a compressive normal force that creates frictional force coupling. However, the coupling is observed to be very dependent upon surface roughness and surface debris. The EMATs are coupled through the Lorentz force and are thus noncontact, although they depend on the lift off between transducer and substrate. After comparing advantages and disadvantages of each transducer for robotic inspection the EMATs are selected for application to canisters that store used nuclear fuel.

Simona Aimar proposes the bold thesis that dispositional ascriptions are semantically equivalent to possibility claims. She goes on to deal with some apparent counterexamples to her thesis by suggesting that dispositional ascriptions and the corresponding possibility claims interact with the context differently. I will argue, though, that Aimar’s suggestion doesn’t hold water. I will argue further that this poses a serious problem for Aimar’s possibility conception of dispositions.

Directed energy deposition (DED) is a metal additive manufacturing (AM) technique that can create new products or repair damaged ones by depositing molten metal powders with a high-power source. However, defects such as spherical gas pores or irregularly shaped lack-of-fusion pores can occur during the DED process, and it is necessary to evaluate those defects to ensure the stability of the DED process and to improve the quality of DED products. This work studied scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) using metalworking fluids—cutting oil and anti-rust oil—as coupling media to characterize the internal and interfacial defects in DED components. Water as generally used in SAM was also tested as a reference and its results were compared with those of the fluids. First, the physical properties of each coupling medium were measured, and then its acoustic attenuation coefficient was calculated based on Stokes’ law of sound attenuation. Second, the capability for defect detection was evaluated using drilled holes in an aluminum specimen, using each coupling medium. Finally, the internal and interfacial porosities of the DED specimens were characterized using SAM. The experimental results showed that the coupling performance of the cutting oil was similar to that of water, while that of the anti-rust oil was clearly degraded because that oil caused high attenuation of ultrasonic waves. These comparison results suggest that it would be better to inspect metal DED components using SAM with cutting oil.

The incident second harmonic wave is a problematic issue for the precise measurement of the acoustic nonlinearity parameter. This paper proposes a compensation method to remove the effect of the incident second harmonic component in the measurement of the absolute acoustic nonlinearity parameter using the calibration method. For this, the second harmonic component detected by the receiving transducer is considered as the sum of the component due to material nonlinearity and the component included in the incident signal and a numerical calculation model is developed as a function of the propagation distance. In the model, the factors related to the material nonlinear parameter and the magnitude of the incident second harmonic component are unknown and these are determined by finding a value that best matches the experimental data according to the change in the propagation distance; compensation for the incident second harmonic component is then achieved. The case where the phase of the second harmonic wave due to material nonlinearity is opposite to that of the fundamental wave is also considered. To verify the validity of the proposed method, fused silica and aluminum alloy Al6061-T6 specimens with different thicknesses corresponding to the propagation distance are tested. The experimental results show that the nonlinear parameters changed significantly according to the propagation distance before compensation but were very stable after compensation. Additionally, the average values of the nonlinear parameter are 11.04 in the fused silica, which is within the literature value range (10.1 to 12.4), and that for the Al6061-T6 is 6.59, which is close to the literature value range (4.5 to 6.12).

Solanum nigrum , known as black nightshade, is a medicinal plant that contains many beneficial metabolites in its fruit. The molecular mechanisms underlying the synthesis of these metabolites remain uninvestigated due to limited genetic information. Here, we identified 47,470 unigenes of S. nigrum from three different tissues by de novo transcriptome assembly, and 78.4% of these genes were functionally annotated. Moreover, gene ontology (GO) analysis using 18,860 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed tissue-specific gene expression regulation. We compared gene expression patterns between S. nigrum and tomato ( S. lycopersicum ) in three tissue types. The expression patterns of carotenoid biosynthetic genes were different between the two species. Comparison of the expression patterns of flavonoid biosynthetic genes showed that 9 out of 14 enzyme-coding genes were highly upregulated in the fruit of S. nigrum . Using CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene editing, we knocked out the R2R3-MYB transcription factor SnAN2 gene, an ortholog of S. lycopersicum ANTHOCYANIN 2 . The mutants showed yellow/green fruits, suggesting that SnAN2 plays a major role in anthocyanin synthesis in S. nigrum . This study revealed the connection between gene expression regulation and corresponding phenotypic differences through comparative analysis between two closely related species and provided genetic resources for S. nigrum.