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The special width approach lane (SWAL) is a newly proposed unconventional design, whereby a wide approach lane is divided into two narrower lanes. The design entails the use of a single lane by two passenger cars or one heavy vehicle. Such design has been applicated at signalized intersections of Karlsruhe, Germany. This paper focuses on the saturation flow rate analysis since most existing studies on such design rely on the default highway capacity manual (HCM) values. Saturation flow rate data was collected at four SWAL design based signalized intersections with procedural steps of the HCM 2010 using the video camera. The two-sample t-test was performed to explore the potential influencing factors, and then the non-linear regression analysis was conducted to estimate the saturation flow rate of SWAL. The proposed model can effectively depict the saturation flow rate with lane marking, presence of cyclists, and rainfall being the influencing factors. The overall accuracy of the proposed model is about 95%. The results indicate that the three influencing factors are independent of each other. The existence of cyclists and rainfall lead to a decrease in the saturation flow rate, while the lane markings can improve the saturation flow rate. Moreover, the SWAL works well in Karlsruhe, Germany. The model predicts a base saturation flow rate value of 1652 pcu/h/ln, which is plausible with comparison of the base saturation flow rate recommended in the German Highway Capacity Manual.

Plants are constantly exposed to various phytopathogens such as fungi, Oomycetes, nematodes, bacteria, and viruses. These pathogens can significantly reduce the productivity of important crops worldwide, with annual crop yield losses ranging from 20% to 40% caused by various pathogenic diseases. While the use of chemical pesticides has been effective at controlling multiple diseases in major crops, excessive use of synthetic chemicals has detrimental effects on the environment and human health, which discourages pesticide application in the agriculture sector. As a result, researchers worldwide have shifted their focus towards alternative eco-friendly strategies to prevent plant diseases. Biocontrol of phytopathogens is a less toxic and safer method that reduces the severity of various crop diseases. A variety of biological control agents (BCAs) are available for use, but further research is needed to identify potential microbes and their natural products with a broad-spectrum antagonistic activity to control crop diseases. This review aims to highlight the importance of biocontrol strategies for managing crop diseases. Furthermore, the role of beneficial microbes in controlling plant diseases and the current status of their biocontrol mechanisms will be summarized. The review will also cover the challenges and the need for the future development of biocontrol methods to ensure efficient crop disease management for sustainable agriculture.

On 6 February 2023 (UTC), an earthquake doublet, consisting of the Mw 7.8 Pazarcik earthquake and the Mw 7.5 Elbistan earthquake, struck south-central Turkey and northwestern Syria, which was the largest earthquake that occurred in Turkey since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake. The faulting model of this earthquake was estimated based on the coseismic InSAR and GPS displacements. In addition, the best-fitting coseismic faulting model indicates that both the Pazarcik earthquake and the Elbistan earthquake were controlled by predominated left-lateral strike-slip motion, with slip peaks of 9.7 m and 10.8 m, respectively. The Coulomb failure stress (CFS) change suggests that the Pazarcik earthquake has a positive effect in triggering the rupture of the seismogenic fault of the Elbistan earthquake. Furthermore, these two main shocks promoted the occurrence of the Mw 6.3 strong aftershock. Additionally, it is found that the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake doublet increased the rupture risk of the Puturge segment of the EAF fault and the northern segment of the Dead Sea Fault (DSF). It is crucial to note that the northern segment of the DSF has not experienced a large earthquake in several centuries, highlighting the need for heightened attention to the potential seismic hazard of this segment. Finally, a deformation zone adjacent to the DSF was identified, potentially attributed to the motion of a blind submarine fault.

We study the holographic dark energy (HDE) model by using the future gravitational wave (GW) standard siren data observed from the Einstein Telescope (ET) in this work. We simulate 1000 GW standard siren data based on a 10-year observation of the ET to make this analysis. We find that all the cosmological parameters in the HDE model can be tremendously improved by including the GW standard siren data in the cosmological fit. The GW data combined with the current cosmic microwave background anisotropies, baryon acoustic oscillations, and type Ia supernovae data will measure the cosmological parameters Ωm, H0, and c in the HDE model to be at the accuracies of 1.28%, 0.59%, and 3.69%, respectively. A comparison with the cosmological constant model and the constant-w dark energy model shows that, compared to the standard model, the parameter degeneracies will be broken more thoroughly in a dynamical dark energy model. We find that the GW data alone can provide a fairly good measurement for H0, but for other cosmological parameters the GW data alone can only provide rather weak measurements. However, due to the fact that the parameter degeneracies can be broken by the GW data, the standard sirens can play an essential role in improving the parameter estimation.

This study examines the dynamic, nonlinear interactions among foreign direct investment, renewable energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emissions in 27 countries from 1971 to 2021 using a panel threshold vector autoregression (PT-VAR) model. Key findings include: (a) FDI contributes to emission reduction only when GDP growth exceeds a certain threshold. (b) Renewable energy consumption’s impact on reducing carbon emissions is significant only in the long term and depends on the level of economic growth. (c) In countries with high FDI, economic growth aids in reducing CO2 emissions both in the short and long term. In contrast, in low FDI countries, economic growth initially leads to environmental degradation, which lessens as the economy matures. (d) An N-shaped relationship exists between FDI and CO2 emissions in countries with higher renewable energy use in the short to medium term. These findings underscore the intricate relationship between these variables and offer policy insights for sustainable development and climate change mitigation. JEL classifications: C33; F21; O44; Q54 Plain Language Summary A detailed study about understanding how foreign investments, green energy use, economic growth, and carbon pollution interact Why was the study done? This research aimed to explore the dynamics among investments, the adoption of sustainable energy sources, economic development and carbon dioxide emissions. What did the researchers do? I investigated how these factors interplay and whether they have negative impacts on one another in the efforts to combat climate change and foster sustainable progress. I examined data from 27 countries spanning five decades (1971 to 2021) using a approach of the panel threshold vector autoregression (PT-VAR) model. What did the researchers find? Foreign direct investment (FDI) contributes to lowering carbon emissions once a countrys economy surpasses a certain threshold. The advantages of transitioning to renewable energy for reducing carbon footprints are more evident in growing economies. The relationship between foreign investment and carbon emissions forms an N-shape in the short to medium term in countries that use more renewable energy. The carbon emissions have a varying impact depending on the investment and energy consumption levels. What do the findings mean? These findings highlight the complex ways in which economic factors and environmental health interact. They suggest that careful planning and policy-making, considering the level of foreign investment and the state of economic growth, can lead to better environmental outcomes. Essentially, this research provides valuable insights for countries aiming to grow their economies without harming the planet, indicating that it’s possible to achieve economic development and reduce carbon emissions simultaneously with the right strategies.

Conventional altimetry has greatly advanced our understanding of mesoscale eddies but falls short in studying fine-scale eddies (<150 km). The newly launched Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) altimeter, however, with its unprecedented high-resolution capabilities, offers new opportunities to observe these fine-scale eddies. In this study, we use SWOT data to explore these previously elusive fine-scale eddies in the Kuroshio Extension. During SWOT’s fast sampling phase from 29 May 2023 to 10 July 2023, we identified an average of 4.5 fine-scale eddies within each 120 km wide swath. Cyclonic eddies, which are slightly more frequent than the anticyclonic ones (ratio of 1.16), have a similar mean radius of 23.4 km. However, cyclonic eddies exhibit higher amplitudes, averaging 3.5 cm compared to 2.8 cm for anticyclonic eddies. In contrast to the mesoscale eddies detected by conventional altimeters, the fine-scale eddies revealed by SWOT are characterized by smaller sizes and weaker amplitudes. This study offers a preliminary view of fine-scale eddy characteristics from space, highlighting SWOT’s potential to advance our understanding of these dynamic processes. Nonetheless, it also emphasizes the necessity for comprehensive analysis to fully exploit the satellite’s capabilities in monitoring and interpreting complex eddy behaviors.

Based on imprinting theories, we explored how CEOs’ academic experience impacts corporate high-quality development. Using data from Chinese listed companies between 2010 and 2019 and the least squares method, we discovered that CEOs’ academic experience increased corporate high-quality development by increasing corporate value creation and sharing. According to discretionary managerial theory, we further explored the boundaries of CEOs’ academic experience that affects corporate high-quality development. CEOs’ academic experience in corporate high-quality development is more significant when CEOs have power within the enterprise and when the product market is competitive and market-oriented. The results held when Heckman’s, the double-difference method, and the placebo test were used to address the endogeneity problem. Our findings contribute to the literature on the imprinting theory and corporate high-quality development and provide a basis for deciding how governments can promote corporate high-quality development from a corporate micro-decision perspective. Plain language summary Impact of CEO academic backgrounds on high-quality development in Chinese listed companies This study explores how the Academic Experiences of CEOs affect the High-Quality Development in Chinese Listed Companies.

Polysaccharides are a main active substance in Panax ginseng; however, microwave-assisted extraction used to prepare P. ginseng polysaccharides (MPPG) has rarely been reported, and knowledge of the bactericidal activity of P. ginseng polysaccharides remains low. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the extraction of P. ginseng polysaccharides by using two methods—hot water extraction and microwave-assisted extraction—and compare their chemical composition and structure. In addition, their antibacterial and antioxidant activities were also determined. The data implied that P. ginseng polysaccharides extracted by microwave-assisted extraction possessed a higher extraction yield than hot water extraction (WPPG) under optimized conditions, and the actual yields were 41.6% ± 0.09% and 28.5% ± 1.62%, respectively. Moreover, the preliminary characterization of polysaccharides was identified after purification. The WPPG with the molecular weight (Mw) of 2.07 × 105 Da was composed of Man, Rib, Rha, GalA, Glu, Gal, and Arab, and the typical characteristics of polysaccharides were determined by IR spectra. Compared with WPPG, MPPG had a higher Mw, uronic acid content, and Glu content. More importantly, the antioxidant activity of MPPG was higher than WPPG, which was probably ascribed to its highly Mw and abundant uronic acid content. Besides, both of them exhibited high bactericidal activity. These results demonstrate that microwave-assisted extraction is an effective method for obtaining P. ginseng polysaccharides, and MPPG could be applied as an antioxidant and antibacterial agent.

The increasing number of biological applications for black phosphorus (BP) nanomaterials has precipitated considerable concern about their interactions with physiological systems. Here we demonstrate the adsorption of plasma protein onto BP nanomaterials and the subsequent immune perturbation effect on macrophages. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, 75.8% of the proteins bound to BP quantum dots were immune relevant proteins, while that percentage for BP nanosheet–corona complexes is 69.9%. In particular, the protein corona dramatically reshapes BP nanomaterial–corona complexes, influenced cellular uptake, activated the NF-κB pathway and even increased cytokine secretion by 2–4-fold. BP nanomaterials induce immunotoxicity and immune perturbation in macrophages in the presence of a plasma corona. These findings offer important insights into the development of safe and effective BP nanomaterial-based therapies. The formation of a protein corona around nanomaterials is known to have significant effects upon materials in biological applications. Here, the authors report on a study into understanding the protein corona formed on black phosphorus and the implications for interactions with macrophages.

Using a new recently compiled milliarcsecond compact radio data set of 120 intermediate-luminosity quasars in the redshift range 0.46 < z < 2.76 , whose statistical linear sizes show negligible dependence on redshifts and intrinsic luminosity and thus represent standard rulers in cosmology, we constrain three viable and most popular f ( T ) gravity models, where T is the torsion scalar in teleparallel gravity. Our analysis reveals that constraining power of the quasars data ( N = 120 ) is comparable to the Union2.1 SN Ia data ( N = 580 ) for all three f ( T ) models. Together with other standard ruler probes such as cosmic microwave background and baryon acoustic oscillation distance measurements, the present value of the matter density parameter Ω m obtained by quasars is much larger than that derived from other observations. For one of the models considered ( f 1 CDM) a small but noticeable deviation from Λ CDM cosmology is present, while in the framework of f 3 CDM the effective equation of state may cross the phantom divide line at lower redshifts. These results indicate that intermediate-luminosity quasars could provide an effective observational probe comparable to SN Ia at much higher redshifts, and f ( T ) gravity is a reasonable candidate for the modified gravity theory.