Strength and plasticity improvement induced by strong grain refinement after Zr alloying in selective laser-melted AlSiMg1.4 alloy

In order to enhance the mechanical properties of the selective laser-melted(SLM) high-Mg content AlSiMg1.4 alloy,the Zr element was introduced.The influence of Zr alloying on the processability,microstructure,and mechanical properties of the alloy was systematically investigated through performing microstructure analysis and tensile testing.It was demonstrated that the SLM-fabricated AlSiMg1.4-Zr alloy exhibited high process stability with a relative density of over 99.5% at various process parameters.Besides,the strong grain refinement induced by the primary Al3Zr particle during the melt solidification process simultaneously enhanced both the strength and plasticity of the alloy.The values for the yield strength,ultimate tensile strength,and elongation of the SLM-fabricated AlSiMg1.4-Zr were(343±3) MPa,(485±4) MPa,and(10.2±0.2)%,respectively,demonstrating good strengthplasticity synergy in comparison to the AlSiMg1.4 and other Al-Si-based alloys fabricated by SLM.

The genetic basis and improvement of photosynthesis in tomato

Photosynthesis is one the most important chemical reaction in plants,and it is the ultimate energy source of any living organisms.The light and dark reactions are two essential phases of photosynthesis.Light reaction harvests light energy to synthesize ATP and NADPH through an electron transport chain,and as well as giving out O_(2);dark reaction fixes CO_(2) into six carbon sugars by utilizing NADPH and energy from ATP.Subsequently,plants convert optical energy into chemical energy for maintaining growth and development through absorbing light energy.Here,firstly,we highlighted the biological importance of photosynthesis,and hormones and metabolites,photosynthetic and regulating enzymes,and signaling components that collectively regulate photosynthesis in tomato.Next,we reviewed the advances in tomato photosynthesis,including two aspects of genetic basis and genetic improvement.Numerous genes regulating tomato photosynthesis are gradually uncovered,and the interaction network among those genes remains to be constructed.Finally,the photosynthesis occurring in fruit of tomato and the relationship between photosynthesis in leaf and fruit were discussed.Leaves and fruits are photosynthate sources and sinks of tomato respectively,and interaction between photosynthesis in leaf and fruit exists.Additionally,future perspectives that needs to be addressed on tomato photosynthesis were proposed.

Seismic isolation design and resilience improvement of railway station considering the influence of near-fault pulse-like ground motions

To improve the resilience of railway stations,a typical station was selected as the research object,and an isolation design was introduced.Twenty-four groups of near-fault pulse-like ground motions were selected.The seismic resilience of the no-isolation railway stations(NIRS)and the isolation railway stations(IRS)were compared to provide a numerical result of the improvement in resilience.The results show that in the station isolation design,the station's functional requirements and structural characteristics should be considered and the appropriate placement of isolation bearings is under the waiting room.Under the action of a rare earthquake,the repair cost,repair time,rate of harm and death of the IRS were decreased by 8.04 million,18.30 days,6.93×10^(-3)and 1.21×10^(-3),respectively,when compared to the NIRS.The IRS received a seismic resilience grade of three-stars and the NIRS only one-star,indicating that rational isolation design improves the seismic resilience of stations.Thus,for the design of stations close to earthquake faults,it is suggested to utilize appropriate isolation techniques to improve their seismic resilience.

Deterioration Reason and Improvement Measure of the Retarding Effect of Protein Retarder on Phosphorus Building Gypsum

The retarding effect of protein retarder on phosphorus building gypsum(PBG)and desulfurization building gypsum(DBG)was investigated,and the results show that protein retarder for DBG can effectively prolong the setting time and displays a better retarding effect,but for PBG shows a poor retarding effect.Furthermore,the deterioration reason of the retarding effect of protein retarder on PBG was investigated by measuring the pH value and the retarder concentration of the liquid phase from vacuum filtration of PBG slurry at different hydration time,and the measure to improve the retarding effect of protein retarding on PBG was suggested.The pH value of PBG slurry(<5.0)is lower than that of DBG slurry(7.8-8.5).After hydration for 5 min,the concentration of retarder in liquid phase of DBG slurry gradually decreases,but in liquid phase of PBG slurry continually increases,which results in the worse retarding effect of protein retarder on PBG.The liquid phase pH value of PBG slurry can be adjusted higher by sodium silicate,which is beneficial to improvement in the retarding effect of the retarder.By adding 1.0%of sodium silicate,the initial setting time of PBG was efficiently prolonged from 17 to 210 min,but little effect on the absolute dry flexural strength was observed.

Integrating artificial intelligence and high-throughput phenotyping for crop improvement

Crop improvement is crucial for addressing the global challenges of food security and sustainable agriculture.Recent advancements in high-throughput phenotyping(HTP)technologies and artificial intelligence(AI)have revolutionized the field,enabling rapid and accurate assessment of crop traits on a large scale.The integration of AI and machine learning algorithms with HTP data has unlocked new opportunities for crop improvement.AI algorithms can analyze and interpret large datasets,and extract meaningful patterns and correlations between phenotypic traits and genetic factors.These technologies have the potential to revolutionize plant breeding programs by providing breeders with efficient and accurate tools for trait selection,thereby reducing the time and cost required for variety development.However,further research and collaboration are needed to overcome the existing challenges and fully unlock the power of HTP and AI in crop improvement.By leveraging AI algorithms,researchers can efficiently analyze phenotypic data,uncover complex patterns,and establish predictive models that enable precise trait selection and crop breeding.The aim of this review is to explore the transformative potential of integrating HTP and AI in crop improvement.This review will encompass an in-depth analysis of recent advances and applications,highlighting the numerous benefits and challenges associated with HTP and AI.

Integrated multi-scale approach combining global homogenization and local refinement for multi-field analysis of high-temperature superconducting composite magnets

Second-generation high-temperature superconducting(HTS)conductors,specifically rare earth-barium-copper-oxide(REBCO)coated conductor(CC)tapes,are promising candidates for high-energy and high-field superconducting applications.With respect to epoxy-impregnated REBCO composite magnets that comprise multilayer components,the thermomechanical characteristics of each component differ considerably under extremely low temperatures and strong electromagnetic fields.Traditional numerical models include homogenized orthotropic models,which simplify overall field calculation but miss detailed multi-physics aspects,and full refinement(FR)ones that are thorough but computationally demanding.Herein,we propose an extended multi-scale approach for analyzing the multi-field characteristics of an epoxy-impregnated composite magnet assembled by HTS pancake coils.This approach combines a global homogenization(GH)scheme based on the homogenized electromagnetic T-A model,a method for solving Maxwell's equations for superconducting materials based on the current vector potential T and the magnetic field vector potential A,and a homogenized orthotropic thermoelastic model to assess the electromagnetic and thermoelastic properties at the macroscopic scale.We then identify“dangerous regions”at the macroscopic scale and obtain finer details using a local refinement(LR)scheme to capture the responses of each component material in the HTS composite tapes at the mesoscopic scale.The results of the present GH-LR multi-scale approach agree well with those of the FR scheme and the experimental data in the literature,indicating that the present approach is accurate and efficient.The proposed GH-LR multi-scale approach can serve as a valuable tool for evaluating the risk of failure in large-scale HTS composite magnets.

Post-operative morbidity after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and resection for gallbladder cancer: A national surgical quality improvement program analysis

BACKGROUND Gallbladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the biliary tract.Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy(NACT)has improved overall survival by enabling R0 resection.Currently,there is no consensus of guidelines for neoadjuvant therapy in gallbladder cancer.As investigations continue to analyze the regimen and benefit of NACT for ongoing care of gallbladder cancer patients,we examined American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program(NSQIP)database to determine if there was higher morbidity among the neo-adjuvant group within the 30-day post-operative period.We hypothesized patients who underwent NACT were more likely to have higher post-operative morbidity.AIM To investigate the 30-day post-operative morbidity outcomes between patients who received NACT and underwent surgery and patients who only had surgery.METHODS A retrospective analysis of the targeted hepatectomy NSQIP data between 2015 and 2019 was performed to determine if NACT in gallbladder cancer increased the risk for post-operative morbidity(bile leak,infection rate,rate of converting to open surgery,etc.)compared to the group who only had surgery.To calculate the odds ratio for the primary and secondary outcomes,a crude logistic regression was performed.RESULTS Of the 452 patients,52 patients received NACT prior to surgery.There were no statistically significant differences in the odds of morbidity between the two groups,including bile leak[odds ratio(OR),0.69;95%confidence interval(95%CI):0.16-2.10;P=0.55],superficial wound infection(OR,0.58;95%CI:0.03-3.02;P=0.61),and organ space wound infection(OR,0.63;95%CI:0.18-1.63;P=0.61).CONCLUSION There was no significant difference in the risk of 30-day post-operative morbidity between the NACT and surgery group and the surgery only group.

Anti-aging performance improvement and enhanced combustion efficiency of boron via the coating of PDA

Boron is an ambitious fuel in energetic materials since its high heat release values,but its application is prohibited by low combustion efficiency and oxidization during storage.The polydopamine(PDA)was introduced into boron particles,investigating the impact of PDA content on the energetic behavior of boron.The results indicated that the PDA coating formed a fishing net structure on the surface of boron particles.The heat release results showed that the combustion calorific value of B@PDA was higher than that of the raw boron.Specifically,the actual combustion heat of boron powder in B@10%PDA increased by 38.08%.Meanwhile,the DSC peak temperature decreased by 100.65℃under similar oxidation rate compared to raw boron.Simultaneously,the B@PDA@AP and B@AP composites were prepared,and their combustion properties were evaluated.It was demonstrated that B@10%PDA@AP exhibited superior performance in terms of peak pressure and burning time,respectively.The peak pressure is 12.43 kPa more than B@AP and burning time is 2.22 times higher than B@AP.Therefore,the coating of PDA effectively inhibits the oxidization of boron during storage and enhances the energetic behavior of boron and corresponding composites.

Al-CeO_(2)-Mg refiner on grain refinement,cast fluidity and mechanical properties of AZ91 alloy

Grain refinement is a satisfying method to enhance the comprehensive performance of Mg alloys,and using grain refiners to improve the quality of Mg castings has become a common practice in the current casting industry.In this study,the effects of Al-CeO_(2)-Mg grain refiner addition on microstructure,cast fluidity,and mechanical properties of AZ91 alloy were systemically investigated by OM,SEM,DSC,TEM,sand Archimedean spiral mold fluidity test,and tensile test.The results show that the Al-CeO_(2)-Mg grain refiner has a remarkable effect on as-cast AZ91 alloy including notable grain refinement,enhancement of cast fluidity,and improvement of tensile properties.The average grain size of AZ91 alloy is refined by 63%with 1.0wt.%Al-CeO_(2)-Mg grain refiner.Meanwhile,the casting flow length of the as-cast AZ91 alloy is increased from 332 mm to 440 mm.The improvement of cast fluidity is attributed to the decreased liquidus temperature,shortening of solid-liquid two-phase temperature range,and refinement of microstructure.

Enhancing Private Healthcare Effectiveness in Lagos State, Nigeria: An Overview of the Effect of Quality Improvement Initiatives and Implications for Sustainable Healthcare Delivery

Background: Nigeria, a nation grappling with rapid population growth, economic intricacies, and complex healthcare challenges, particularly in Lagos State, the economic hub and most populous state, faces the challenge of ensuring quality healthcare access. The overview of the effect of quality improvement initiatives in this paper focuses on private healthcare providers in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study assesses the impact of donor-funded quality improvement projects on these private healthcare facilities. It explores the level of participation, perceived support, and tangible effects of the initiatives on healthcare delivery within private healthcare facilities. It also examines how these initiatives influence patient inflow and facility ratings, and bring about additional benefits and improvements, provides insights into the challenges faced by private healthcare providers in implementing quality improvement projects and elicits recommendations for improving the effectiveness of such initiatives. Methods: Qualitative research design was employed for in-depth exploration, utilizing semi-structured interviews. Private healthcare providers in Lagos involved in the SP4FP Quality Improvement Project were purposively sampled for diversity. Face-to-face interviews elicited insights into participation, perceived support, and project effects. Questions covered participation levels, support perception, changes observed, challenges faced, and recommendations. Thematic analysis identified recurring themes from interview transcripts. Adherence to ethical guidelines ensured participant confidentiality and informed consent. Results: Respondents affirmed active involvement in the SP4FP Quality Improvement Project, echoing literature emphasizing private-sector collaboration with the public sector. While acknowledging positive influences on facility ratings, respondents highlighted challenges within the broader Nigerian healthcare landscape affecting patient numbers. Respondents cited tangible improvements, particularly in staff management and patient care processes, validating the positive influence of quality improvement projects. Financial constraints emerged as a significant challenge, aligning with existing literature emphasizing the pragmatic difficulties faced by private healthcare providers. Conclusions: This study illuminates the complex landscape of private healthcare provision in Lagos State, emphasizing the positive impact of donor-funded quality improvement projects. The findings provide nuanced insights, guiding policymakers, healthcare managers, and practitioners toward collaborative, sustainable improvements. As Nigeria progresses, these lessons will be crucial in shaping healthcare policies prioritizing population well-being.

Introduction of Western Medicines into China and Improvement on Decoctions during Modern China

During the late Qing dynasty(1840 A.D.-1912 A.D.),a large quantity of Western medicines entered China,which continuously impacted the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)market and revealed the shortcomings of Chinese medicines.Some personages in the TCM community followed the trend of learning from the West,and attempted to reform TCM,with the improvement on decoction becoming an important aspect of this effort.Through debates and trials,the improvement on decoction underwent three stages of conceptual evolution:“taking Chinese medicines as the foundation and referring to the dosage forms of Western medicines”,“introducing Western techniques to serve the preparation of decoctions”and“integrating the theories of TCM and Western medicine to improve decoctions”.The study highlights the effective complementarity between modern TCM and Western medicine in the field of pharmacy,and provides valuable experience and support for the reevaluation of the value of TCM in contemporary society.

Effect of addition temperature on dispersion behavior and grain refinement efficiency of MgO introduced into Mg alloy

The effect of addition temperature of MgO particles(MgOp)on their dispersion behavior and the efficiency of grain refinement in AZ31 Mg alloy was investigated.In addition,the grain refinement mechanism was systematically studied by microstructure characterization,thermodynamic calculation,and analysis of solidification curves.The results show that the grain size of AZ31 Mg alloy initially decreases and then increases as the MgOp addition temperature is increased from 720 to 810℃,exhibiting a minimum value of 136μm at 780℃.The improved grain refinement efficiency with increasing MgOp addition temperature can be attributed to the reduced Mg melt viscosity and enhanced wettability between MgOp and Mg melt.Furthermore,a corresponding physical model describing the solidification behavior and grain refinement mechanism was proposed.

Data-driven diagnosis of high temperature PEM fuel cells based on the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy: Robustness improvement and evaluation

Utilizing machine learning techniques for data-driven diagnosis of high temperature PEM fuel cells is beneficial and meaningful to the system durability. Nevertheless, ensuring the robustness of diagnosis remains a critical and challenging task in real application. To enhance the robustness of diagnosis and achieve a more thorough evaluation of diagnostic performance, a robust diagnostic procedure based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and a new method for evaluation of the diagnosis robustness was proposed and investigated in this work. To improve the diagnosis robustness: (1) the degradation mechanism of different faults in the high temperature PEM fuel cell was first analyzed via the distribution of relaxation time of EIS to determine the equivalent circuit model (ECM) with better interpretability, simplicity and accuracy;(2) the feature extraction was implemented on the identified parameters of the ECM and extra attention was paid to distinguishing between the long-term normal degradation and other faults;(3) a Siamese Network was adopted to get features with higher robustness in a new embedding. The diagnosis was conducted using 6 classic classification algorithms—support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), logistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), and Naive Bayes employing a dataset comprising a total of 1935 collected EIS. To evaluate the robustness of trained models: (1) different levels of errors were added to the features for performance evaluation;(2) a robustness coefficient (Roubust_C) was defined for a quantified and explicit evaluation of the diagnosis robustness. The diagnostic models employing the proposed feature extraction method can not only achieve the higher performance of around 100% but also higher robustness for diagnosis models. Despite the initial performance being similar, the KNN demonstrated a superior robustness after feature selection and re-embedding by triplet-loss method, which suggests the necessity of robustness evaluation for the machine learning models and the effectiveness of the defined robustness coefficient. This work hopes to give new insights to the robust diagnosis of high temperature PEM fuel cells and more comprehensive performance evaluation of the data-driven method for diagnostic application.

Research on Soil Conservation and Improvement Technology in Zhaoyang District

The environment of tobacco-growing soil directly affects the yield and quality of tobacco leaves.In order to solve problems of tobacco-growing soil degradation,low organic matter content and unbalanced soil nutrient supply and promote sustainable and healthy development of tobacco production,this paper comprehensively discussed conservation and improvement techniques of tobacco-growing soil based on existing problems in Zhaoyang District,aiming to provide reference for tobacco-growing soil conservation.

Effects of Microbial Fertilizers on Soil Improvement and Wheat Growth Characteristics in Saline-alkali Land

[Objectives]This study was conducted to further enrich the research on saline-alkali land improvement,and explore the effects of biological bacterial fertilizers containing Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus velezensis HM-3 in saline-alkali land improvement and crop growth promotion.[Methods]Wheat was planted in saline-alkali land in Huanghua City,Hebei Province,and a mixed application experiment was carried out using biological agents from Hemiao Biotechnology Co.,Ltd.[Results]Compared with the field of control check(CK),water-soluble salts and pH value in the experimental fields decreased,and living bacteria count in the soil increased.Meanwhile,the economic characters of wheat in the experimental fields showed excellent performance,with yields increasing by 39.09%and 27.49%compared with the CK.It could be seen that the application of biological bacterial fertilizers achieved obvious effects of improving saline-alkali soil and increasing wheat yield.[Conclusions]In this study,the effects of biological bacterial fertilizers on saline-alkali land and wheat growth characters were clarified,providing some technical support and theoretical guidance for wheat planting in Huanghua saline-alkali land.

Modification and Experimental Verification of the Performance Improvement of Domestic Dehumidifiers

After optimizing the compressor design,condenser tube diameter,and tube row arrangement,air supply volumetric flow rate,and refrigerant charge of the domestic dehumidifier.The optimized design schemes were obtained from the original combinations by non-dominated sorting,and the optimized design schemes were experimentally verified under three environmental conditions according to the test method of T/CAS 342-2020 to obtain a complete idea of dehumidifier multi-component improvement.The results show that the dehumidifying capacity of Scheme 5 is slightly increased by 2.5%at 27℃/60%RH,and its energy factor is significantly increased by 24.6%.When the air supply volumetric flow rate was increased from 210 to 268 m^(3)·h^(-1),the air supply temperature was reduced by 1.7℃,improving comfort.Under environmental conditions with higher dehumidification demand,i.e.,at 35℃/90%RH,the energy factor of Scheme 4 can reach 4.3 L·kW^(-1)·h^(-1),which is 34.4%higher than the original scheme,and the gap is further widened.The application of the 5 mm tube diameter condenser in dehumidifiers reduces the amount of refrigerant charge by 25.9%,reduces the cost by 7.5%,and strengthens the heat transfer effect and the homogeneity of the two-phase mixing,which shows the great application potential.

The Current Situation and Improvement of Informatization Construction in Universities in the Era of Digital Education—Taking the Nanchong Campus of Southwest Petroleum University as an Example

Digitization of education is an important component of Digital China Strategy. China is deeply implementing the digitalization of education strategy, promoting educational reform and innovation, and accelerating the construction of a learning society and a learning country where everyone can learn, learn everywhere, and learn at all times [1]. As the cradle and gathering place of talent cultivation, universities should be at the forefront of educational informatization construction. As a comprehensive energy university in the northeastern region of Sichuan, the Nanchong Campus of Southwest Petroleum University plays an irreplaceable role in the local economic development. This article summarizes the current situation of educational informatization construction on this campus and proposes suggestions for its improvement path, providing constructive reference opinions for the development of similar universities.

Empowerment Mechanisms and Empirical Evidence of Payment Technology in Capacity Expansion and Quality Improvement of Residents’Consumption

The time-varying difference-in-difference model is used to identify the impact of payment technology on residents’consumption,and the moderation effect analysis method is used to identify its mechanism.It is found that payment technology promotes consumption capacity expansion and quality improvement(CEQI)through three pathways of alleviating liquidity constraints,reducing transaction costs and weakening the payment of pain.The parallel and serial mechanisms of the three are further explored.The effect of payment technology on the CEQI of residents’consumption shows obvious heterogeneity due to differences in urban and rural household registration and financial literacy.Based on the empirical research results and the national conditions of China,targeted policy recommendations are proposed from the demand side,the supply side and the technological side.

A REFINEMENT OF THE SCHWARZ-PICK ESTIMATES AND THE CARATHéODORY METRIC IN SEVERAL COMPLEX VARIABLES

In this article,we first establish an asymptotically sharp result on the higher order Fréchet derivatives for bounded holomorphic mappings f(x)=f(0)+∞∑s=1Dskf(0)(x^(sk))/(sk)!:B_(X)→B_(Y),where B_X is the unit ball of X.We next give a sharp result on the first order Fréchet derivative for bounded holomorphic mappings F(X)=F(0+)∞∑s=KD^(s)f(0)(x^(8)/s!):B_(X)→B_(Y),where B_(X)is the unit ball of X.The results that we derive include some results in several complex variables,and extend the classical result in one complex variable to several complex variables.

The Criminal Governance Model of Domestic Violence and Its Legislative Improvement

Domestic violence is a serious threat to the basic human rights of family members,especially victimized women.In order to effectively prevent domestic violence,the criminal law needs to respond in an appropriate and timely manner.However,the traditional criminal governance model suffers from the problem of the lagging involvement of public power.At the same time,the public-private partnership governance model,based on the personal safety protection order system stipulated in the Anti-domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China,is also flawed in its institutional design and specific implementation.The criminal governance model for domestic violence should be guided by the view of positive criminal law,and the governance path should be furtheroptimized from two aspects:strengthening the foundation of the public-private cooperation governance model and deepeningthe criminal-civil interface.This will help to fully protect the legitimate rights and interests of victims of domestic violence.