Explore the vast range of titles available.

\"Competitiveness study at the sub-national level covering all 34 economies and five regions in Greater China Regional development strategies from an academic perspective, with the aim to help achieve sustainable and balanced growth throughout Greater China Asia Competitiveness Institute's other competitiveness studies on ASEAN, Indonesia and India enable cross-country comparisons\"-- Provided by publisher.

Owing to their capability to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) under solar irradiation, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with pre-designable structure and unique architectures show great potentials for water purification. However, the sluggish charge separation, inefficient oxygen activation and poor structure stability in COFs restrict their practical applications to decontaminate water. Herein, via a facile one-pot synthetic strategy, we show the direct conversion of reversible imine linkage into rigid thiazole linkage can adjust the π-conjugation and local charge polarization of skeleton to boost the exciton dissociation on COFs. The rigid linkage can also improve the robustness of skeleton and the stability of COFs during the consecutive utilization process. More importantly, the thiazole linkage in COFs with optimal C 2 p states (COF-S) effectively increases the activities of neighboring benzene unit to directly modulate the O 2 -adsorption energy barrier and improve the ROS production efficiency, resulting in the excellent photocatalytic degradation efficiency of seven toxic emerging contaminants (e.g. degrading ~99% of 5 mg L −1 paracetamol in only 7 min) and effective bacterial/algal inactivation performance. Besides, COF-S can be immobilized in continuous-flow reactor and in enlarged reactor to efficiently eliminate pollutants under natural sunlight irradiation, demonstrating the feasibility for practical application. Linking COFs by rigid thiazole linkages can simultaneously enhance the stability, charge separation efficiency, and oxygen activation capability of COFs, resulting in the excellent photocatalytic degradation performance towards micropollutants in water.

Soybean-urease induced calcite precipitation (SICP) is an effective method for the improvement of sand, which forms a biocemented layer on the desert sand surface to resist erosion induced by the wind. Under this study, field tests were carried out to determine how the SICP approach may enhance the resistance of the desert to wind-induced erosion and the durability of SICP treatment in southeastern margin of Tengger Desert, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China. The experimental results demonstrated that the erosion resistance of desert sand was significantly enhanced due to the SICP treatment, and the improvement effect was enhanced with the increase of the biocement solution concentration and dosage and the number of treatment cycles. Furthermore, it was also found that the resistance of SICP-treated sand to erosion induced by the wind reduced as the development of time reduced. Based on the test results in this paper, larger biocement solution concentration and dosage and multiple treatment cycles are proposed in the areas where severe wind-induced erosion takes place in order to improve the ductility of SICP treatment.

Objectives To evaluate the incidence and risk factors of postoperative pneumonia (POP) in geriatric patients with a hip fracture after surgery, to design a predictive nomogram, and to validate the accuracy of the nomogram. Design Retrospective study. Setting A tertiary hospital affiliated to a medical university. Patients/Participants We retrospectively studied 1285 surgical-treated geriatric patients with a hip fracture from April 2010 to April 2018. Intervention Surgical treatment was performed on the patients of this study. The procedure methods were classified as: total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, percutaneous fixation, intramedullary nail fixation, and plate/screw fixation. Main Outcome Measurement The primary interest of end point of this study is the development of POP during the postoperative period. The postoperative period in this study was defined as the time from 24 hours after surgery to discharge. The diagnostic criteria for pneumonia were set according to the guidelines built by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Thoracic Society (Guidelines for the Management of Adults with Hospital-Acquired, Ventilator-Associated, and Healthcare-Associated Pneumonia, 2005). Potential variables for developing POP were identified using logistic regression analyses initially and were further selected via the method of LASSO. Then the independent risk factors were identified by multivariable regression analyses. A predictive nomogram was built based on the multiple regression model, and the calibration abilities of the nomogram was measured by Harrel C-index, calibration plot and Hosmer–Lemeshow test, respectively. Decision curve analysis was carried out to assess the net benefit due to threshold probability and an on-line questionnaire survey was conducted among the clinicians to assess the applicability of the nomogram coherently. Results Of the 1285 patients, 70 (5.4%) developed POP. COPD, number of comorbidities, ASA classification >2, preoperative dependent functional status and cognitive impairment were identified as independent risk factors of POP. The nomogram built based on the results showed good accordance between the predicted probabilities and the observed frequency. The decision curve analysis confirmed the clinical utility of the nomogram when the threshold probabilities were between 5% and 65% due to the net benefit, while the results of on-line questionnaire among 200 clinicians showed that 91.5% of the participants had a mental threshold of intervention between 5-50%. Conclusion (1). COPD, number of comorbidities, ASA classification >2, preoperative dependent functional status and cognitive impairment are independent risk factors for POP. (2). The nomogram built in this study has a good accordance between the predictive risk and the observational incidence. The results of decision curve and questionnaire among clinicians show well applicability of the nomogram.

This study accounted for and analyzed the carbon emissions of 13 cities in Jiangsu Province from 1999 to 2021. We compared the simulation effects of four models—STIRPAT, random forest, extreme gradient boosting, and support vector regression—on carbon emissions and performed model optimization. The random forest model demonstrated the best simulation performance. Using this model, we predicted the carbon emission paths for the 13 cities in Jiangsu Province under various scenarios from 2022 to 2040. The results show that Xuzhou has already achieved its peak carbon target. Under the high-speed development scenario, half of the cities can achieve their peak carbon target, while the remaining cities face significant challenges in reaching their peak carbon target. To further understand the factors influencing carbon emissions, we used the machine learning interpretation method SHAP and the features importance ranking method. Our analysis indicates that electricity consumption, population size, and energy intensity have a greater influence on overall carbon emissions, with electricity consumption being the most influential variable, although the importance of the factors varies considerably across different regions. Results suggest the need to tailor carbon reduction measures to the differences between cities and develop more accurate forecasting models.

In the present study, we developed an efficient and reproducible protocol for in vitro regeneration and Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation of Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L’Hér. ex Vent. (paper mulberry) using leaf explants from a hybrid genotype. First, we optimized surface sterilization of leaf explants. Treatment with 0.6% (w/v) sodium hypochlorite for 8 min, followed by three rinses with sterile water and blotting on sterile filter paper, yielded a 33.60% explant survival rate and reduced contamination to 35.84%. Second, we refined the co-cultivation step for transformation using A. tumefaciens strain EHA105 carrying pCAMBIA1300-35S-eGFP. Leaf discs were infected for 20 min and co-cultured for 2 days on co-cultivation medium overlaid with sterile filter paper, which limited the overgrowth of A. tumefaciens. After co-cultivation, explants were transferred sequentially to callus induction, shoot induction, shoot multiplication, and rooting media supplemented with 250 mg·L−1 cefotaxime and 200 mg·L−1 Timentin, as well as 5.0 mg·L−1 hygromycin at a concentration that completely suppressed regeneration of non-transformed explants. Meanwhile, after transfer to the callus induction medium, eGFP fluorescence was detected in resistant calli as an initial screening for transformants. The integration and expression of the transgene were further confirmed by PCR and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) after the resistant calli developed into plantlets. Collectively, this streamlined protocol provides a practical platform for functional genomics and genetic improvement of B. papyrifera.

Nanoscale twin boundaries (TBs) effectively restrict the free motion of dislocations by intersecting with other TBs to realize high strength. However, the dislocations parallel to the TBs can glide along the TBs, resulting in detwinning for low strength. Herein, we present a triple-interlocked-nanotwinned (TIT) strategy for overcoming these inherent deficiencies. An Mg-9Li alloy was used as a proof-of-concept. The treated alloy had a large volume fraction of TIT interfaces (65.7%). It not only had a high yield strength of 508.6 MPa (approximately eleven times higher than that of the TIT-free sample) but also offered unprecedented ageing resistance, with a reduction in hardness of 6% after 730 days. The martensite-like phase transformation process concurrently triggers multiple-variant twins to form TIT structures. These TIT nets can effectively prohibit dislocation motion, reduce strengthening anisotropy, and disperse localized stress during the deformation process. This strategy of phase transformation twinning open a gate to fabricate other stronger metallic or ceramic nanotwinned bulk materials. Nanotwinned materials are promising for structural applications. Here, a triple-interlocked-nanotwinned strategy via martensitic transformation is used to overcome intrinsic twin engineering deficiencies and achieve excellent mechanical properties.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of alginate-chitosan microcapsule on viability characteristics of and the ability of microcapsule to remove uranium ion from aqueous solution. The effects of particle size, chitosan molecular weight and inoculum density on viability characteristics were studied using alginate-chitosan microcapsule-immobilized experiments. In addition, the effects of pH, immobilized spherule dosage, temperature, initial uranium ion concentration and contact time on removal of uranium ion were studied using batch adsorption experiments. The results showed that alginate-chitosan microcapsule significantly improved the viability characteristics of and that subtilis/alginate-chitosan microcapsule strongly promoted uranium ion absorption. Moreover, the optimum values of pH was 6; immobilized spherule dosage was 3.5; temperature was 20°C; initial uranium ion concentration was 150 mg/L; contact time was 3 h of uranium ion absorption and the maximum adsorption capacity of uranium ion was 376.64 mg/g.

Numerous microseismic signals are produced by rock mass fracture during earthquakes, geological disasters, or underground excavations. Moreover, a large amount of noise signals are captured during microseismic signal monitoring. Specifically, some noise signals closely resemble microseismic signals, which severely impedes the rapid and accurate detection of the latter and the assessment of geological hazards. Therefore, we propose a precise model for identifying and classifying microseismic signals based on deep learning technology and short-time Fourier transform (STFT) technology. First, the STFT time–frequency analysis reveals the unique characteristics of noise, microseismic, and blasting signals, thereby allowing noise signals that are very similar to microseismic signals in the time domain to be finely distinguished. Second, the introduced attention mechanism focuses the classification on essential signal features. Finally, because tens of thousands of actual monitoring data points are considered, the deep neural network for microseismic classification is trained and tested under complex geological engineering conditions. The results demonstrate that the neural network model has good time–frequency feature extraction ability, and the well-trained model can satisfactorily complete daily classifications. Moreover, the model performs well when classifying similar noise and low-SNR microseismic signals. We believe that this type of signal-processing method, which considers multiple perspectives, can be extended to data processing in many other data-driven fields.

Background LPIN1 -related acute recurrent rhabdomyolysis (RM), first reported in 2008, is an autosomal recessive inherited metabolic disease. In recent years, LPIN1 gene variants have been identified as one of the main causes of severe RM in children in Western countries. The disease is extremely rare in China, and we report a case of acute recurrent RM caused by a novel compound heterozygous LPIN1 variant. Case presentation A 15-year-old Chinese boy presented with myalgia after strenuous exercise, accompanied by transient increases in serum creatine kinase and myoglobin and persistent hyperuricaemia and hyperbilirubinaemia. Genetic analysis using high-throughput genomic sequencing and Sanger sequencing revealed that there was a compound heterozygous variant in the LPIN1 gene of the proband: the paternal c.2047A > G(p.I683V) was an unreported missense variant, and the maternal c.2107_2108 insAGG(p.Q703delin sQE) was an unreported in-frame variant. Conclusions In children with RM, LPIN1 variants should always be considered in the differential diagnosis. The clinical features of our case are atypical, which highlights the importance of an accurate diagnosis by genetic testing. If detected early, the condition may be controlled, and the prognosis may be improved.