Ambient-Condition Strategy for Production of Hollow Ga_(2)O_(3)@rGO Crystalline Nanostructures Toward Efficient Lithium Storage

Crystallineγ-Ga_(2)O_(3)@rGO core-shell nanostructures are synthesized in gram scale,which are accomplished by a facile sonochemical strategy under ambient condition.They are composed of uniformγ-Ga_(2)O_(3)nanospheres encapsulated by reduced graphene oxide(rGO)nanolayers,and their formation is mainly attributed to the existed opposite zeta potential between the Ga_(2)O_(3)and rGO.The as-constructed lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)based on as-fabricatedγ-Ga_(2)O_(3)@rGO nanostructures deliver an initial discharge capacity of 1000 mAh g^(-1)at 100 mA g^(-1)and reversible capacity of 600 mAh g^(-1)under 500 mA g^(-1)after 1000 cycles,respectively,which are remarkably higher than those of pristineγ-Ga_(2)O_(3)with a much reduced lifetime of 100 cycles and much lower capacity.Ex situ XRD and XPS analyses demonstrate that the reversible LIBs storage is dominant by a conversion reaction and alloying mechanism,where the discharged product of liquid metal Ga exhibits self-healing ability,thus preventing the destroy of electrodes.Additionally,the rGO shell could act robustly as conductive network of the electrode for significantly improved conductivity,endowing the efficient Li storage behaviors.This work might provide some insight on mass production of advanced electrode materials under mild condition for energy storage and conversion applications.

Conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells treats spinal cord injury by inhibiting microglial pyroptosis

Human dental pulp stem cell transplantation has been shown to be an effective therapeutic strategy for spinal cord injury.However,whether the human dental pulp stem cell secretome can contribute to functional recovery after spinal cord injury remains unclear.In the present study,we established a rat model of spinal cord injury based on impact injury from a dropped weight and then intraperitoneally injected the rats with conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells.We found that the conditioned medium effectively promoted the recovery of sensory and motor functions in rats with spinal cord injury,decreased expression of the microglial pyroptosis markers NLRP3,GSDMD,caspase-1,and interleukin-1β,promoted axonal and myelin regeneration,and inhibited the formation of glial scars.In addition,in a lipopolysaccharide-induced BV2 microglia model,conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells protected cells from pyroptosis by inhibiting the NLRP3/caspase-1/interleukin-1βpathway.These results indicate that conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells can reduce microglial pyroptosis by inhibiting the NLRP3/caspase-1/interleukin-1βpathway,thereby promoting the recovery of neurological function after spinal cord injury.Therefore,conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells may become an alternative therapy for spinal cord injury.

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation conditioning regimens and chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy in various diseases

Conditioning regimens employed in autologous stem cell transplantation have been proven useful in various hematological disorders and underlying malignancies;however,despite being efficacious in various instances,negative consequences have also been recorded.Multiple conditioning regimens were extracted from various literature searches from databases like PubMed,Google scholar,EMBASE,and Cochrane.Conditioning regimens for each disease were compared by using various end points such as overall survival(OS),progression free survival(PFS),and leukemia free survival(LFS).Variables were presented on graphs and analyzed to conclude a more efficacious conditioning regimen.In multiple myeloma,the most effective regimen was high dose melphalan(MEL)given at a dose of 200/mg/m2.The comparative results of acute myeloid leukemia were presented and the regimens that proved to be at an admirable position were busulfan(BU)+MEL regarding OS and BU+VP16 regarding LFS.In case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL),BU,fludarabine,and etoposide(BuFluVP)conferred good disease control not only with a paramount improvement in survival rate but also low risk of recurrence.However,for ALL,chimeric antigen receptor(CAR)T cell therapy was preferred in the context of better OS and LFS.With respect to Hodgkin’s lymphoma,mitoxantrone(MITO)/MEL overtook carmustine,VP16,cytarabine,and MEL in view of PFS and vice versa regarding OS.Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients were administered MITO(60 mg/m2)and MEL(180 mg/m2)which showed promising results.Lastly,amyloidosis was considered,and the regimen that proved to be competent was MEL 200(200 mg/m2).This review article demonstrates a comparison between various conditioning regimens employed in different diseases.

Role of outdoor trees on pedestrian wind and thermal conditions around a pre-education building for sustainable energy management

Finding sustainable energy resources is essential to face the increasing energy demand.Trees are an important part of ancient architecture but are becoming rare in urban areas.Trees can control and tune the pedestrian-level wind velocity and thermal condition.In this study,a numerical investigation is employed to assess the role of trees planted in the windward direction of the building complex on the thermal and pedestrian wind velocity conditions around/inside a pre-education building located in the center of the complex.Compared to the previous studies(which considered only outside buildings),this work considers the effects of trees on microclimate change both inside/outside buildings.Effects of different parameters including the leaf area density and number of trees,number of rows,far-field velocity magnitude,and thermal condition around the main building are assessed.The results show that the flow velocity in the spacing between the first-row buildings is reduced by 30%-40% when the one-row trees with 2 m height are planted 15 m farther than the buildings.Furthermore,two rows of trees are more effective in higher velocities and reduce the maximum velocity by about 50%.The investigation shows that trees also could reduce the temperature by about 1℃around the building.

Autophagy and mitophagy as potential therapeutic targets in diabetic heart condition:Harnessing the power of nanotheranostics

Autophagy and mitophagy pose unresolved challenges in understanding the pathology of diabetic heart condition(DHC),which encompasses a complex range of cardiovascular issues linked to diabetes and associated cardiomyopathies.Despite significant progress in reducing mortality rates from cardiovascular diseases(CVDs),heart failure remains a major cause of increased morbidity among diabetic patients.These cellular processes are essential for maintaining cellular balance and removing damaged or dysfunctional components,and their involvement in the development of diabetic heart disease makes them attractive targets for diagnosis and treatment.While a variety of conventional diagnostic and therapeutic strategies are available,DHC continues to present a significant challenge.Point-of-care diagnostics,supported by nanobiosensing techniques,offer a promising alternative for these complex scenarios.Although conventional medications have been widely used in DHC patients,they raise several concerns regarding various physiological aspects.Modern medicine places great emphasis on the application of nanotechnology to target autophagy and mitophagy in DHC,offering a promising approach to deliver drugs beyond the limitations of traditional therapies.This article aims to explore the potential connections between autophagy,mitophagy and DHC,while also discussing the promise of nanotechnology-based theranostic interventions that specifically target these molecular pathways.

Working condition recognition of sucker rod pumping system based on 4-segment time-frequency signature matrix and deep learning

High-precision and real-time diagnosis of sucker rod pumping system(SRPS)is important for quickly mastering oil well operations.Deep learning-based method for classifying the dynamometer card(DC)of oil wells is an efficient diagnosis method.However,the input of the DC as a two-dimensional image into the deep learning framework suffers from low feature utilization and high computational effort.Additionally,different SRPSs in an oil field have various system parameters,and the same SRPS generates different DCs at different moments.Thus,there is heterogeneity in field data,which can dramatically impair the diagnostic accuracy.To solve the above problems,a working condition recognition method based on 4-segment time-frequency signature matrix(4S-TFSM)and deep learning is presented in this paper.First,the 4-segment time-frequency signature(4S-TFS)method that can reduce the computing power requirements is proposed for feature extraction of DC data.Subsequently,the 4S-TFSM is constructed by relative normalization and matrix calculation to synthesize the features of multiple data and solve the problem of data heterogeneity.Finally,a convolutional neural network(CNN),one of the deep learning frameworks,is used to determine the functioning conditions based on the 4S-TFSM.Experiments on field data verify that the proposed diagnostic method based on 4S-TFSM and CNN(4S-TFSM-CNN)can significantly improve the accuracy of working condition recognition with lower computational cost.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first work to discuss the effect of data heterogeneity on the working condition recognition performance of SRPS.

Debaryomyces hansenii supplementation in low fish meal diets promotes growth,modulates microbiota and enhances intestinal condition in juvenile marine fish

Background The development of a sustainable business model with social acceptance,makes necessary to develop new strategies to guarantee the growth,health,and well-being of farmed animals.Debaryomyces hansenii is a yeast species that can be used as a probiotic in aquaculture due to its capacity to i)promote cell proliferation and differen-tiation,ii)have immunostimulatory effects,iii)modulate gut microbiota,and/or iv)enhance the digestive function.To provide inside into the effects of D.hansenii on juveniles of gilthead seabream(Sparus aurata)condition,we inte-grated the evaluation of the main key performance indicators coupled with the integrative analysis of the intestine condition,through histological and microbiota state,and its transcriptomic profiling.Results After 70 days of a nutritional trial in which a diet with low levels of fishmeal(7%)was supplemented with 1.1%of D.hansenii(17.2×10^(5) CFU),an increase of ca.12%in somatic growth was observed together with an improve-ment in feed conversion in fish fed a yeast-supplemented diet.In terms of intestinal condition,this probiotic modu-lated gut microbiota without affecting the intestine cell organization,whereas an increase in the staining intensity of mucins rich in carboxylated and weakly sulphated glycoconjugates coupled with changes in the affinity for certain lectins were noted in goblet cells.Changes in microbiota were characterized by the reduction in abundance of several groups of Proteobacteria,especially those characterized as opportunistic groups.The microarrays-based transcrip-tomic analysis found 232 differential expressed genes in the anterior-mid intestine of S.aurata,that were mostly related to metabolic,antioxidant,immune,and symbiotic processes.Conclusions Dietary administration of D.hansenii enhanced somatic growth and improved feed efficiency param-eters,results that were coupled to an improvement of intestinal condition as histochemical and transcriptomic tools indicated.This probiotic yeast stimulated host-microbiota interactions without altering the intestinal cell organization nor generating dysbiosis,which demonstrated its safety as a feed additive.At the transcriptomic level,D.hansenii pro-moted metabolic pathways,mainly protein-related,sphingolipid,and thymidylate pathways,in addition to enhance antioxidant-related intestinal mechanisms,and to regulate sentinel immune processes,potentiating the defensive capacity meanwhile maintaining the homeostatic status of the intestine.

Improving autoencoder-based unsupervised damage detection in uncontrolled structural health monitoring under noisy conditions

Structural health monitoring is widely utilized in outdoor environments,especially under harsh conditions,which can introduce noise into the monitoring system.Therefore,designing an effective denoising strategy to enhance the performance of guided wave damage detection in noisy environments is crucial.This paper introduces a local temporal principal component analysis(PCA)reconstruction approach for denoising guided waves prior to implementing unsupervised damage detection,achieved through novel autoencoder-based reconstruction.Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed denoising method significantly enhances damage detection performance when guided waves are contaminated by noise,with SNR values ranging from 10 to-5 dB.Following the implementation of the proposed denoising approach,the AUC score can elevate from 0.65 to 0.96 when dealing with guided waves corrputed by noise at a level of-5 dB.Additionally,the paper provides guidance on selecting the appropriate number of components used in the denoising PCA reconstruction,aiding in the optimization of the damage detection in noisy conditions.

The deterministic condition for the ground reaction force acting point on the combined knee valgus and tibial internal rotation moments in early phase of cutting maneuvers in female athletes

Background:Combined knee valgus and tibial internal rotation(VL+IR)moments have been shown to stress the anterior cruciate ligament(ACL)in several in vitro cadaveric studies.To utilize this knowledge for non-contact ACL injury prevention in sports,it is necessary to elucidate how the ground reaction force(GRF)acting point(center of pressure(CoP))in the stance foot produces combined knee VL+IR moments in risky maneuvers,such as cuttings.However,the effects of the GRF acting point on the development of the combined knee VL+IR moment in cutting are still unknown.Methods:We first established the deterministic mechanical condition that the CoP position relative to the tibial rotational axis differentiates the GRF vector’s directional probability for developing the combined knee VL+IR moment,and theoretically predicted that when the CoP is posterior to the tibial rotational axis,the GRF vector is more likely to produce the combined knee VL+IR moment than when the CoP is anterior to the tibial rotational axis.Then,we tested a stochastic aspect of our theory in a lab-controlled in vivo experiment.Fourteen females performed 60˚cutting under forefoot/rearfoot strike conditions(10 trials each).The positions of lower limb markers and GRF data were measured,and the knee moment due to GRF vector was calculated.The trials were divided into anterior-and posterior-CoP groups depending on the CoP position relative to the tibial rotational axis at each 10 ms interval from 0 to 100 ms after foot strike,and the occurrence rate of the combined knee VL+IR moment was compared between trial groups.Results:The posterior-CoP group showed significantly higher occurrence rates of the combined knee VL+IR moment(maximum of 82.8%)at every time point than those of the anterior-CoP trials,as theoretically predicted by the deterministic mechanical condition.Conclusion:The rearfoot strikes inducing the posterior CoP should be avoided to reduce the risk of non-contact ACL injury associated with the combined knee VL+IR stress.

Dynamics of fundamental and double-pole breathers and solitons for a nonlinear Schr¨odinger equation with sextic operator under non-zero boundary conditions

We study the dynamics of fundamental and double-pole breathers and solitons for the focusing and defocusing nonlinearSchr¨odinger equation with the sextic operator under non-zero boundary conditions. Our analysis mainly focuses onthe dynamical properties of simple- and double-pole solutions. Firstly, through verification, we find that solutions undernon-zero boundary conditions can be transformed into solutions under zero boundary conditions, whether in simple-pole ordouble-pole cases. For the focusing case, in the investigation of simple-pole solutions, temporal periodic breather and thespatial-temporal periodic breather are obtained by modulating parameters. Additionally, in the case of multi-pole solitons,we analyze parallel-state solitons, bound-state solitons, and intersecting solitons, providing a brief analysis of their interactions.In the double-pole case, we observe that the two solitons undergo two interactions, resulting in a distinctive “triangle”crest. Furthermore, for the defocusing case, we briefly consider two situations of simple-pole solutions, obtaining one andtwo dark solitons.

Research on shell-side heat and mass transfer with multi-component in LNG spiral-wound heat exchanger under sloshing conditions

The spiral-wound heat exchanger(SWHE) is the primary low-temperature heat exchanger for large-scale LNG plants due to its high-pressure resistance, compact structure, and high heat exchange efficiency. This paper studied the shell-side heat and mass transfer characteristics of vapor-liquid two-phase mixed refrigerants in an SWHE by combining a multi-component model in FLUENT software with a customized multicomponent mass transfer model. Besides, the mathematical model under the sloshing condition was obtained through mathematical derivation, and the corresponding UDF code was loaded into FLUENT as the momentum source term. The results under the sloshing conditions were compared with the relevant parameters under the steady-state condition. The shell-side heat and mass transfer characteristics of the SWHE were investigated by adjusting the component ratio and other working conditions. It was found that the sloshing conditions enhance the heat transfer performance and sometimes have insignificant effects. The sloshing condition is beneficial to reduce the flow resistance. The comprehensive performance of multi-component refrigerants has been improved and the improvement is more significant under sloshing conditions, considering both the heat transfer and pressure drop.These results will provide theoretical support for the research and design of multi-component heat and mass transfer enhancement of LNG SWHE under ocean sloshing conditions.

Oscillation properties of eigenfunctions for Sturm-Liouville problems with interface conditions via Prufer transformation

A class of Sturm-Liouville problems with discontinuity is studied in this paper.The oscillation properties of eigenfunctions for Sturm-Liouville problems with interface conditions are obtained.The main method used in this paper is based on Prufer transformation,which is different from the classical ones.Moreover,we give two examples to verify our main results.

Riemann–Hilbert problem for the defocusing Lakshmanan–Porsezian–Daniel equation with fully asymmetric nonzero boundary conditions

The Riemann–Hilbert approach is demonstrated to investigate the defocusing Lakshmanan–Porsezian–Daniel equation under fully asymmetric nonzero boundary conditions.In contrast to the symmetry case,this paper focuses on the branch points related to the scattering problem rather than using the Riemann surfaces.For the direct problem,we analyze the Jost solution of lax pairs and some properties of scattering matrix,including two kinds of symmetries.The inverse problem at branch points can be presented,corresponding to the associated Riemann–Hilbert.Moreover,we investigate the time evolution problem and estimate the value of solving the solutions by Jost function.For the inverse problem,we construct it as a Riemann–Hilbert problem and formulate the reconstruction formula for the defocusing Lakshmanan–Porsezian–Daniel equation.The solutions of the Riemann–Hilbert problem can be constructed by estimating the solutions.Finally,we work out the solutions under fully asymmetric nonzero boundary conditions precisely via utilizing the Sokhotski–Plemelj formula and the square of the negative column transformation with the assistance of Riemann surfaces.These results are valuable for understanding physical phenomena and developing further applications of optical problems.

Design and high-power testing of offline conditioning cavity for CiADS RFQ high-power coupler

To validate the design rationality of the power coupler for the RFQ cavity and minimize cavity contamination,we designed a low-loss offline conditioning cavity and conducted high-power testing.This offline cavity features two coupling ports and two tuners,operating at a frequency of 162.5 MHz with a tuning range of 3.2 MHz.Adjusting the installation angle of the coupling ring and the insertion depth of the tuner helps minimize cavity losses.We performed electromagnetic structural and multiphysics simulations,revealing a minimal theoretical power loss of 4.3%.However,when the cavity frequency varied by110 kHz,theoretical power losses increased to10%,necessitating constant tuner adjustments during conditioning.Multiphysics simulations indicated that increased cavity temperature did not affect frequency variation.Upon completion of the offline high-power conditioning platform,we measured the transmission performance,revealing a power loss of 6.3%,exceeding the theoretical calculation.Conditioning utilized efficient automatic range scanning and standing wave resonant methods.To fully condition the power coupler,a 15°phase difference between two standing wave points in the condition-ing system was necessary.Notably,the maximum continuous wave power surpassed 20 kW,exceeding the expected target.

Multi-soliton solutions of coupled Lakshmanan-Porsezian-Daniel equations with variable coefficients under nonzero boundary conditions

This paper aims to investigate the multi-soliton solutions of the coupled Lakshmanan–Porsezian–Daniel equations with variable coefficients under nonzero boundary conditions.These equations are utilized to model the phenomenon of nonlinear waves propagating simultaneously in non-uniform optical fibers.By analyzing the Lax pair and the Riemann–Hilbert problem,we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and interactions of solitons of this system.Furthermore,we study the impacts of group velocity dispersion or the fourth-order dispersion on soliton behaviors.Through appropriate parameter selections,we observe various nonlinear phenomena,including the disappearance of solitons after interaction and their transformation into breather-like solitons,as well as the propagation of breathers with variable periodicity and interactions between solitons with variable periodicities.

Tailoring Classical Conditioning Behavior in TiO_(2) Nanowires:ZnO QDs-Based Optoelectronic Memristors for Neuromorphic Hardware

Neuromorphic hardware equipped with associative learn-ing capabilities presents fascinating applications in the next generation of artificial intelligence.However,research into synaptic devices exhibiting complex associative learning behaviors is still nascent.Here,an optoelec-tronic memristor based on Ag/TiO_(2) Nanowires:ZnO Quantum dots/FTO was proposed and constructed to emulate the biological associative learning behaviors.Effective implementation of synaptic behaviors,including long and short-term plasticity,and learning-forgetting-relearning behaviors,were achieved in the device through the application of light and electrical stimuli.Leveraging the optoelectronic co-modulated characteristics,a simulation of neuromorphic computing was conducted,resulting in a handwriting digit recognition accuracy of 88.9%.Furthermore,a 3×7 memristor array was constructed,confirming its application in artificial visual memory.Most importantly,complex biological associative learning behaviors were emulated by mapping the light and electrical stimuli into conditioned and unconditioned stimuli,respectively.After training through associative pairs,reflexes could be triggered solely using light stimuli.Comprehen-sively,under specific optoelectronic signal applications,the four features of classical conditioning,namely acquisition,extinction,recovery,and generalization,were elegantly emulated.This work provides an optoelectronic memristor with associative behavior capabilities,offering a pathway for advancing brain-machine interfaces,autonomous robots,and machine self-learning in the future.

Impact of Initial Soil Conditions on Soil Hydrothermal and Surface Energy Fluxes in the Permafrost Region of the Tibetan Plateau

Accurate initial soil conditions play a crucial role in simulating soil hydrothermal and surface energy fluxes in land surface process modeling.This study emphasized the influence of the initial soil temperature(ST)and soil moisture(SM)conditions on a land surface energy and water simulation in the permafrost region in the Tibetan Plateau(TP)using the Community Land Model version 5.0(CLM5.0).The results indicate that the default initial schemes for ST and SM in CLM5.0 were simplistic,and inaccurately represented the soil characteristics of permafrost in the TP which led to underestimating ST during the freezing period while overestimating ST and underestimating SLW during the thawing period at the XDT site.Applying the long-term spin-up method to obtain initial soil conditions has only led to limited improvement in simulating soil hydrothermal and surface energy fluxes.The modified initial soil schemes proposed in this study comprehensively incorporate the characteristics of permafrost,which coexists with soil liquid water(SLW),and soil ice(SI)when the ST is below freezing temperature,effectively enhancing the accuracy of the simulated soil hydrothermal and surface energy fluxes.Consequently,the modified initial soil schemes greatly improved upon the results achieved through the long-term spin-up method.Three modified initial soil schemes experiments resulted in a 64%,88%,and 77%reduction in the average mean bias error(MBE)of ST,and a 13%,21%,and 19%reduction in the average root-mean-square error(RMSE)of SLW compared to the default simulation results.Also,the average MBE of net radiation was reduced by 7%,22%,and 21%.

Effects of Initial and Boundary Conditions on Heavy Rainfall Simulation over the Yellow Sea and the Korean Peninsula:Comparison of ECMWF and NCEP Analysis Data Effects and Verification with Dropsonde Observation

This study evaluated the simulation performance of mesoscale convective system(MCS)-induced precipitation,focusing on three selected cases that originated from the Yellow Sea and propagated toward the Korean Peninsula.The evaluation was conducted for the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF)and National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP)analysis data,as well as the simulation result using them as initial and lateral boundary conditions for the Weather Research and Forecasting model.Particularly,temperature and humidity profiles from 3D dropsonde observations from the National Center for Meteorological Science of the Korea Meteorological Administration served as validation data.Results showed that the ECMWF analysis consistently had smaller errors compared to the NCEP analysis,which exhibited a cold and dry bias in the lower levels below 850 hPa.The model,in terms of the precipitation simulations,particularly for high-intensity precipitation over the Yellow Sea,demonstrated higher accuracy when applying ECMWF analysis data as the initial condition.This advantage also positively influenced the simulation of rainfall events on the Korean Peninsula by reasonably inducing convective-favorable thermodynamic features(i.e.,warm and humid lower-level atmosphere)over the Yellow Sea.In conclusion,this study provides specific information about two global analysis datasets and their impacts on MCS-induced heavy rainfall simulation by employing dropsonde observation data.Furthermore,it suggests the need to enhance the initial field for MCS-induced heavy rainfall simulation and the applicability of assimilating dropsonde data for this purpose in the future.

Application of the Conditional Nonlinear Local Lyapunov Exponent to Second-Kind Predictability

In order to quantify the influence of external forcings on the predictability limit using observational data,the author introduced an algorithm of the conditional nonlinear local Lyapunov exponent(CNLLE)method.The effectiveness of this algorithm is validated and compared with the nonlinear local Lyapunov exponent(NLLE)and signal-to-noise ratio methods using a coupled Lorenz model.The results show that the CNLLE method is able to capture the slow error growth constrained by external forcings,therefore,it can quantify the predictability limit induced by the external forcings.On this basis,a preliminary attempt was made to apply this method to measure the influence of ENSO on the predictability limit for both atmospheric and oceanic variable fields.The spatial distribution of the predictability limit induced by ENSO is similar to that arising from the initial conditions calculated by the NLLE method.This similarity supports ENSO as the major predictable signal for weather and climate prediction.In addition,a ratio of predictability limit(RPL)calculated by the CNLLE method to that calculated by the NLLE method was proposed.The RPL larger than 1 indicates that the external forcings can significantly benefit the long-term predictability limit.For instance,ENSO can effectively extend the predictability limit arising from the initial conditions of sea surface temperature over the tropical Indian Ocean by approximately four months,as well as the predictability limit of sea level pressure over the eastern and western Pacific Ocean.Moreover,the impact of ENSO on the geopotential height predictability limit is primarily confined to the troposphere.

Impact of wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions on the soil aggregate stability of yellow‒brown soil

Soil aggregate is the basic structural unit of soil,which is the foundation for supporting ecosystem functions,while its composition and stability is significantly affected by the external environment.This study was conducted to explore the effect of external environment(wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions)on the soil aggregate distribution and stability and identify the key soil physicochemical factors that affect the soil aggregate stability.The yellow‒brown soil from the Three Gorges Reservoir area(TGRA)was used,and 8 wetting-drying conditions(0,1,2,3,4,5,10 and 15 cycles)were simulated under 4 acidic conditions(pH=3,4,5 and 7).The particle size distribution and soil aggregate stability were determined by wet sieving method,the contribution of environmental factors(acid condition,wetting-drying cycle and their combined action)to the soil aggregate stability was clarified and the key soil physicochemical factors that affect the soil aggregate stability under wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions were determined by using the Pearson’s correlation analysis,Partial least squares path modeling(PLS‒PM)and multiple linear regression analysis.The results indicate that wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions have significant effects on the stability of soil aggregates,the soil aggregate stability gradually decreases with increasing number of wetting-drying cycles and it obviously decreases with the increase of acidity.Moreover,the combination of wetting-drying cycles and acidic conditions aggravate the reduction in the soil aggregate stability.The wetting-drying cycles,acidic conditions and their combined effect imposes significant impact on the soil aggregate stability,and the wetting-drying cycles exert the greatest influence.The soil aggregate stability is significantly correlated with the pH,Ca^(2+),Mg^(2+),maximum disintegration index(MDI)and soil bulk density(SBD).The PLS‒PM and multiple linear regression analysis further reveal that the soil aggregate stability is primarily influenced by SBD,Ca^(2+),and MDI.These results offer a scientific basis for understanding the soil aggregate breakdown mechanism and are helpful for clarifying the coupled effect of wetting-drying cycles and acid rain on terrestrial ecosystems in the TGRA.