A pressure-sensitive rheological origin of high friction angles of granular matter observed in NASA–MGM project

An abnormally high peak friction angle of Ottawa sand was observed in(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) NASA–(Mechanics of Granular Materials) MGM tests in microgravity conditions on the space shuttle. Previous investigations have been unsuccessful in providing a constitutive insight into this behavior of granular materials under extremely low effective stress conditions. Here, a recently proposed unified constitutive model for transient rheological behavior of sand and other granular materials is adopted for the analytical assessment of high peak friction angles. For the first time, this long-eluded behavior of sand is attributed to a hidden rheological transition mechanism, that is not only rate-sensitive, but also pressure-sensitive. The NASA–MGM microgravity conditions show that shear-tests of sand can be performed under abnormally low confining stress conditions. The pressure-sensitive behavior of granular shearing that is previously ignored is studied based on the μ(I) rheology and its variations. Comparisons between the model and the NASA microgravity tests demonstrate a high degree of agreement. The research is highly valid for pressure-sensitive and rate-dependent problems that occur during earthquakes, landslides, and space exploration.

Locally Enhanced Flow and Electric Fields Through a Tip Effect for Efficient Flow‑Electrode Capacitive Deionization

Low-electrode capacitive deionization(FCDI)is an emerging desalination technology with great potential for removal and/or recycling ions from a range of waters.However,it still suffers from inefficient charge transfer and ion transport kinetics due to weak turbulence and low electric intensity in flow electrodes,both restricted by the current collectors.Herein,a new tip-array current collector(designated as T-CC)was developed to replace the conventional planar current collectors,which intensifies both the charge transfer and ion transport significantly.The effects of tip arrays on flow and electric fields were studied by both computational simulations and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy,which revealed the reduction of ion transport barrier,charge transport barrier and internal resistance.With the voltage increased from 1.0 to 1.5 and 2.0 V,the T-CC-based FCDI system(T-FCDI)exhibited average salt removal rates(ASRR)of 0.18,0.50,and 0.89μmol cm^(-2) min^(-1),respectively,which are 1.82,2.65,and 2.48 folds higher than that of the conventional serpentine current collectors,and 1.48,1.67,and 1.49 folds higher than that of the planar current collectors.Meanwhile,with the solid content in flow electrodes increased from 1 to 5 wt%,the ASRR for T-FCDI increased from 0.29 to 0.50μmol cm^(-2) min^(-1),which are 1.70 and 1.67 folds higher than that of the planar current collectors.Additionally,a salt removal efficiency of 99.89%was achieved with T-FCDI and the charge efficiency remained above 95%after 24 h of operation,thus showing its superior long-term stability.

Late effects of the treatment of childhood cancer

Excellent progress has been made in the last few decades in the cure rates of pediatric malignancies,with more than 80%of children with cancer who have access to contemporary treatment being cured.However,the therapies responsible for this survival can also produce adverse physical and psychological long-term outcomes,referred to as late effects,which appear months to years after the completion of cancer treatment.Research has shown that 60%to 90%of childhood cancer survivors(CCSs)develop one or more chronic health conditions,and 20%to 80%of survivors experience severe or life-threatening complications during adulthood.Therefore,understanding the late side effects of such treatments is important to improve the health and quality of life of the growing population of CCSs.

Microstructural evolution during the progressive transformation-induced plasticity effect in a Fe-0.1C-5Mnmedium manganese steel

The microstructural evolution of a cold-rolled and intercritical annealed medium-Mn steel(Fe-0.10C-5Mn)was investigated during uniaxial tensile testing.In-situ observations under scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy,and X-ray diffraction analysis were conducted to characterize the progressive transformation-induced plasticity process and associated fracture initiation mechanisms.These findings were discussed with the local strain measurements via digital image correlation.The results indicated that Lüders band formation in the steel was limited to 1.5%strain,which was mainly due to the early-stage martensitic phase transformation of a very small amount of the less stable large-sized retained austenite(RA),which led to localized stress concentrations and strain hardening and further retardation of yielding.The small-sized RA exhibited high stability and progressively transformed into martensite and contributed to a stably extended Portevin-Le Chatelier effect.The volume fraction of RA gradually decreased from 26.8%to 8.2%prior to fracture.In the late deformation stage,fracture initiation primarily occurred at the austenite/martensite and ferrite/martensite interfaces and the ferrite phase.

Wafer‑Scale Vertical 1D GaN Nanorods/2D MoS_(2)/PEDOT:PSS for Piezophototronic Effect‑Enhanced Self‑Powered Flexible Photodetectors

van der Waals(vdW)heterostructures constructed by lowdimensional(0D,1D,and 2D)materials are emerging as one of the most appealing systems in next-generation flexible photodetection.Currently,hand-stacked vdW-type photodetectors are not compatible with large-areaarray fabrication and show unimpressive performance in self-powered mode.Herein,vertical 1D GaN nanorods arrays(NRAs)/2D MoS_(2)/PEDOT:PSS in wafer scale have been proposed for self-powered flexible photodetectors arrays firstly.The as-integrated device without external bias under weak UV illumination exhibits a competitive responsivity of 1.47 A W^(−1)and a high detectivity of 1.2×10^(11)Jones,as well as a fast response speed of 54/71μs,thanks to the strong light absorption of GaN NRAs and the efficient photogenerated carrier separation in type-II heterojunction.Notably,the strain-tunable photodetection performances of device have been demonstrated.Impressively,the device at−0.78%strain and zero bias reveals a significantly enhanced photoresponse with a responsivity of 2.47 A W^(−1),a detectivity of 2.6×10^(11)Jones,and response times of 40/45μs,which are superior to the state-of-the-art self-powered flexible photodetectors.This work presents a valuable avenue to prepare tunable vdWs heterostructures for self-powered flexible photodetection,which performs well in flexible sensors.

Novel Methodologies for Preventing Crack Propagation in Steel Gas Pipelines Considering the Temperature Effect

Using the software ANSYS-19.2/Explicit Dynamics,this study performedfinite-element modeling of the large-diameter steel pipeline cross-section for the Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent gas pipeline with a non-through straight crack,strengthened by steel wire wrapping.The effects of the thread tensile force of the steel winding in the form of single rings at the crack edges and the wires with different winding diameters and pitches were also studied.The results showed that the strengthening was preferably executed at a minimum value of the thread tensile force,which was 6.4%more effective than that at its maximum value.The analysis of the influence of the winding dia-meters showed that the equivalent stresses increased by 32%from the beginning of the crack growth until the wire broke.The increment in winding diameter decelerated the disclosure of the edge crack and reduced its length by 8.2%.The analysis of the influence of the winding pitch showed that decreasing the distance between the winding turns also led to a 33.6%reduction in the length of the straight crack and a 7.9%reduction in the maximum stres-ses on the strengthened pipeline cross-section.The analysis of the temperature effect on the pipeline material,within a range from-40℃ to+50℃,resulted in a crack length change of up to 5.8%.As the temperature dropped,the crack length decreased.Within such a temperature range,the maximum stresses were observed along the cen-tral area of the crack,which were equal to 413 MPa at+50℃ and 440 MPa at-40℃.The results also showed that the presence of the steel winding in the pipeline significantly reduced the length of crack propagation up to 8.4 times,depending on the temperature effect and design parameters of prestressing.This work integrated the existing methods for crack localization along steel gas pipelines.

Relationship between parenting stress and behavioral and emotional problems in preschool children: A mediation effect analysis

BACKGROUND Emotional reactions,such as anxiety,irritability,and aggressive behavior,have attracted clinical attention as behavioral and emotional problems in preschool-age children.AIM To investigate the current status of family rearing,parental stress,and behavioral and emotional problems of preschool children and to analyze the mediating effect of the current status of family rearing on parental stress and behavioral/emo-tional problems.METHODS We use convenience sampling to select 258 preschool children in the physical examination center of our hospital from October 2021 to September 2023.The children and their parents were evaluated using a questionnaire survey.Pearson's correlation was used to analyze the correlation between child behavioral and emotional problems and parental stress and family rearing,and the structural equation model was constructed to test the mediating effect.RESULTS The score for behavioral/emotional problems of 258 preschool children was(27.54±3.63),the score for parental stress was(87.64±11.34),and the score for parental family rearing was(31.54±5.24).There was a positive correlation between the behavioral and emotional problems of the children and the“hostile/mandatory”parenting style;meanwhile,showed a negative correlation with the“support/participation”parenting style(all P<0.05).The intermediary effect value between the family upbringing of parents in parental stress and children's behavior problems was 29.89%.CONCLUSION Parental family upbringing has a mediating effect between parental stress and behavioral and emotional problems of children.Despite paying attention to the behavioral and emotional problems of preschool-age children,clinical medical staff should provide correct and reasonable parenting advice to their parents to promote the mental health of preschool-age children.

Variations in quantifying patient reported outcome measures to estimate treatment effect

In the practice of healthcare,patient-reported outcomes(PROs)and PRO measures(PROMs)are used as an attempt to observe the changes in complex clinical situations.They guide us in making decisions based on the evidence regarding patient care by recording the change in outcomes for a particular treatment to a given condition and finally to understand whether a patient will benefit from a particular treatment and to quantify the treatment effect.For any PROM to be usable in health care,we need it to be reliable,encapsulating the points of interest with the potential to detect any real change.Using structured outcome measures routinely in clinical practice helps the physician to understand the functional limitation of a patient that would otherwise not be clear in an office interview,and this allows the physician and patient to have a meaningful conver-sation as well as a customized plan for each patient.Having mentioned the rationale and the benefits of PROMs,understanding the quantification process is crucial before embarking on management decisions.A better interpretation of change needs to identify the treatment effect based on clinical relevance for a given condition.There are a multiple set of measurement indices to serve this effect and most of them are used interchangeably without clear demarcation on their differences.This article details the various quantification metrics used to evaluate the treatment effect using PROMs,their limitations and the scope of usage and implementation in clinical practice.

The asymptotic field of mode Ⅰ quasi-static crack growth on the interface between a rigid and a pressure-sensitive material

A mechanical model of the quasi-static interface of a mode I crack between a rigid and a pressure-sensitive viscoelastic material was established to investigate the mechanical characteristic of ship-building engineering hi-materials. In the stable growth stage, stress and strain have the same singularity, ie （σ, ε） ∝ r^-1/（n-1）. The variable-separable asymptotic solutions of stress and strain at the crack tip were obtained by adopting Airy＇s stress function and the numerical results of stress and strain in the crack-tip field were obtained by the shooting method. The results showed that the near-tip fields are mainly governed by the power-hardening exponent n and the Poisson ratio v of the pressure-sensitive material. The fracture criterion of mode I quasi-static crack growth in pressure-sensitive materials, according to the asymptotic analyses of the crack-tip field, can be viewed from the perspective of strain.

Numerical Simulation of Liquid-Solid Coupling in Multi-Angle Fractures in Pressure-Sensitive Reservoirs

This study clarifies the seepage characteristics of complex fractured pressure-sensitive reservoirs,and addresses a common technological problem,that is the alteration of the permeability degree of the reservoir bed(known to be responsible for changes in the direction and velocity of fluid flows between wells).On the basis of a new pressuresensitive equation that considers the fracture directional pressure-sensitive effect,an oil-gas-water three-phase seepage mathematical model is introduced,which can be applied to pressure-sensitive,full-tensor permeability,ultralow-permeability reservoirs with fracture-induced anisotropy.Accordingly,numerical simulations are conducted to explore the seepage laws for ultralow-permeability reservoirs.The results show that element patterns have the highest recovery percentage under a fracture angle of 45°.Accounting for the pressure-sensitive effect produces a decrease in the recovery percentage.Several patterns are considered:inverted five-seven-and nine-spot patterns and a cross-row well pattern.Finally,two strategies are introduced to counteract the rotation of the direction of the principal permeability due to the fracture directional pressure-sensitive effect.

Pressure-sensitive plasticity of lithiated silicon in Li-ion batteries

Lithiation-induced plasticity is a key factor that enables Si electrodes to maintain long cycle life in Li-ion batteries. We study the plasticity of various lithiated sili-con phases based on first-principles calculations and iden-tify the linear dependence of the equivalent yield stress on the hydrostatic pressure. Such dependence may cause the compression-tension asymmetry in an amorphous Si thin film electrode from a lithiation to delithiation cycle, and leads to subsequent ratcheting of the electrode after cyclic lithiation. We propose a yield criterion of amorphous lithi-ated silicon that includes the effects of the hydrostatic stress and the lithiation reaction. We further examine the micro-scopic mechanism of deformation in lithiated silicon under mechanical load, which is attributed to the flow-defects mediated local bond switching and cavitation. Hydrostatic compression confines the flow defects thus effectively strength-ens the amorphous structure, and vice versa.

240 nm AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet micro-LEDs:size effect versus edge effect

240 nm AlGaN-based micro-LEDs with different sizes are designed and fabricated.Then,the external quantum efficiency(EQE)and light extraction efficiency(LEE)are systematically investigated by comparing size and edge effects.Here,it is revealed that the peak optical output power increases by 81.83%with the size shrinking from 50.0 to 25.0μm.Thereinto,the LEE increases by 26.21%and the LEE enhancement mainly comes from the sidewall light extraction.Most notably,transversemagnetic(TM)mode light intensifies faster as the size shrinks due to the tilted mesa side-wall and Al reflector design.However,when it turns to 12.5μm sized micro-LEDs,the output power is lower than 25.0μm sized ones.The underlying mechanism is that even though protected by SiO2 passivation,the edge effect which leads to current leakage and Shockley-Read-Hall(SRH)recombination deteriorates rapidly with the size further shrinking.Moreover,the ratio of the p-contact area to mesa area is much lower,which deteriorates the p-type current spreading at the mesa edge.These findings show a role of thumb for the design of high efficiency micro-LEDs with wavelength below 250 nm,which will pave the way for wide applications of deep ultraviolet(DUV)micro-LEDs.

Element Analysis of Instrumented Sharp Indentations into Pressure-sensitive Materials

Finite element analysis was carried out to investigate the conical indentation response of elastic-plastic solids within the framework of the hydrostatic pressure dependence and the power law strain hardening. A large number of 40 difierent combinations of elasto-plastic properties with n ranging from 0 to 0.5 and σy/E ranging from 0.0014 to 0.03 were used in the computations. The loading curvature C and the average contact pressure Pave were considered within the concept of representative strains and the dimensional analysis.Dimensionless functions associated with these two parameters were formulated for each studied value of the pressure sensitivity. The results for pressure sensitive materials lie between those for Von Mises materials and the elastic model.

Engineering Strategies for Suppressing the Shuttle Effect in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur(Li–S)batteries are supposed to be one of the most potential next-generation batteries owing to their high theoretical capacity and low cost.Nevertheless,the shuttle effect of firm multi-step two-electron reaction between sulfur and lithium in liquid electrolyte makes the capacity much smaller than the theoretical value.Many methods were proposed for inhibiting the shuttle effect of polysulfide,improving corresponding redox kinetics and enhancing the integral performance of Li–S batteries.Here,we will comprehensively and systematically summarize the strategies for inhibiting the shuttle effect from all components of Li–S batteries.First,the electrochemical principles/mechanism and origin of the shuttle effect are described in detail.Moreover,the efficient strategies,including boosting the sulfur conversion rate of sulfur,confining sulfur or lithium polysulfides(LPS)within cathode host,confining LPS in the shield layer,and preventing LPS from contacting the anode,will be discussed to suppress the shuttle effect.Then,recent advances in inhibition of shuttle effect in cathode,electrolyte,separator,and anode with the aforementioned strategies have been summarized to direct the further design of efficient materials for Li–S batteries.Finally,we present prospects for inhibition of the LPS shuttle and potential development directions in Li–S batteries.

Roles of the ocular pressure, pressure-sensitive ion channel, and elasticity in pressure-induced retinal diseases

The intraocular pressure inside the human eye maintains 10–21 mmHg above the atmospheric pressure.Elevation of intraocular pressure is highly correlated with the retinopathy in glaucoma,and changes in the exterior pressure during mountain hiking,air traveling,and diving may also induce vision decline and retinopathy.The pathophysiological mechanism of these pressure-induced retinal disorders has not been completely clear.Retinal neurons express pressure-sensitive channels intrinsically sensitive to pressure and membrane stretch,such as the transient receptor potential channel(TRP)family permeable to Ca^2+and Na^+and the two-pore domain K channel family.Recent data have shown that pressure excites the primate retinal bipolar cell by opening TRP vanilloid 4 to mediate transient depolarizing currents,and TRP vanilloid 4 agonists enhance the membrane excitability of primate retinal ganglion cells.The eyeball wall is constructed primarily by the sclera and cornea of low elasticity,and the flow rate of the aqueous humor and intraocular pressure both fluctuate,but the mathematical relationship between the ocular elasticity,aqueous humor volume,and intraocular pressure has not been established.This review will briefly review recent literature on the pressure-related retinal pathophysiology in glaucoma and other pressure-induced retinal disorders,the elasticity of ocular tissues,and pressure-sensitive cation channels in retinal neurons.Emerging data support the global volume and the elasticity and thickness of the sclera and cornea as variables to affect the intraocular pressure level like the volume of the aqueous humor.Recent results also suggest some potential routes for TRPs to mediate retinal ganglion cell dysfunction:TRP opening upon intraocular pressure elevation and membrane stretch,enhancing glutamate release from bipolar cells,increasing intracellular Na^+,Ca^2+concentration in retinal ganglion cells and extracellular glutamate concentration,inactivating voltage-gated Na^+channels,and causing excitotoxicity and dysfunction of retinal ganglion cells.Further studies on these routes likely identify novel targets and therapeutic strategies for the treatment of pressure-induced retinal disorders.

Evaluation of the intracellular lipid-lowering effect of polyphenols extract from highland barley in HepG2 cells

Active ingredients from highland barley have received considerable attention as natural products for developing treatments and dietary supplements against obesity.In practical application,the research of food combinations is more significant than a specific food component.This study investigated the lipid-lowering effect of highland barley polyphenols via lipase assay in vitro and HepG2 cells induced by oleic acid(OA).Five indexes,triglyceride(TG),total cholesterol(T-CHO),low density lipoprotein-cholesterol(LDL-C),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),and alanine aminotransferase(ALT),were used to evaluate the lipidlowering effect of highland barley extract.We also preliminary studied the lipid-lowering mechanism by Realtime fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction(q PCR).The results indicated that highland barley extract contains many components with lipid-lowering effects,such as hyperoside and scoparone.In vitro,the lipase assay showed an 18.4%lipase inhibition rate when the additive contents of highland barley extract were 100μg/m L.The intracellular lipid-lowering effect of highland barley extract was examined using 0.25 mmol/L OA-induced HepG2 cells.The results showed that intracellular TG,LDL-C,and T-CHO content decreased by 34.4%,51.2%,and 18.4%,respectively.ALT and AST decreased by 51.6%and 20.7%compared with the untreated hyperlipidemic HepG2 cells.q PCR results showed that highland barley polyphenols could up-regulation the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes such as PPARγand Fabp4.

Rockburst criterion and evaluation method for potential rockburst pit depth considering excavation damage effect

Excavation-induced disturbances in deep tunnels will lead to deterioration of rock properties and formation of excavation damaged zone(EDZ).This excavation damage effect may affect the potential rockburst pit depth.Taking two diversion tunnels of Jinping II hydropower station for example,the relationship between rockburst pit depth and excavation damage effect is first surveyed.The results indicate that the rockburst pit depth in tunnels with severe damage to rock masses is relatively large.Subsequently,the excavation-induced damage effect is characterized by disturbance factor D based on the Hoek-Brown criterion and wave velocity method.It is found that the EDZ could be further divided into a high-damage zone(HDZ)with D=1 and weak-damage zone(WDZ),and D decays from one to zero linearly.For this,a quantitative evaluation method for potential rockburst pit depth is established by presenting a three-element rockburst criterion considering rock strength,geostress and disturbance factor.The evaluation results obtained by this method match well with actual observations.In addition,the weakening of rock mass strength promotes the formation and expansion of potential rockburst pits.The potential rockburst pit depth is positively correlated with HDZ and WDZ depths,and the HDZ depth has a significant contribution to the potential rockburst pit depth.

Experimental study on the effect of water absorption level on rockburst occurrence of sandstone

To investigate the mechanism of rockburst prevention by spraying water onto the surrounding rocks,15 experiments are performed considering different water absorption levels on a single face.High-speed photography and acoustic emission(AE)system are used to monitor the rockburst process.The effect of water on sandstone rockburst and the prevention mechanism of water on sandstone rockburst are analyzed from the perspective of energy and failure mode.The results show that the higher the ab-sorption degree,the lower the intensity of the rockburst after absorbing water on single side of sand-stone.This is reflected in the fact that with the increase in the water absorption level,the ejection velocity of rockburst fragments is smaller,the depth of the rockburst pit is shallower,and the AE energy is smaller.Under the water absorption level of 100%,the magnitude of rockburst intensity changes from medium to slight.The prevention mechanism of water on sandstone rockburst is that water reduces the capacity of sandstone to store strain energy and accelerates the expansion of shear cracks,which is not conducive to the occurrence of plate cracking before rockburst,and destroys the conditions for rockburst incubation.

“Buckets effect”in the kinetics of electrocatalytic reactions

In this study,we systematically investigated the effect of proton concentration on the kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)on Pt(111)in acidic solutions.Experimental results demonstrate a rectangular hyperbolic relationship,i.e.,the ORR current excluding the effect of other variables increases with proton concentration and then tends to a constant value.We consider that this is caused by the limitation of ORR kinetics by the trace oxygen concentration in the solution,which determines the upper limit of ORR kinetics.A model of effective concentration is further proposed for rectangular hyperbolic relationships:when the reactant concentration is high enough to reach a critical saturation concentration,the effective reactant concentration will become a constant value.This could be due to the limited concentration of a certain reactant for reactions involving more than one reactant or the limited number of active sites available on the catalyst.Our study provides new insights into the kinetics of electrocatalytic reactions,and it is important for the proper evaluation of catalyst activity and the study of structureperformance relationships.

High responsivity photodetectors based on graphene/WSe_(2) heterostructure by photogating effect

Graphene, with its zero-bandgap electronic structure, is a highly promising ultra-broadband light absorbing material.However, the performance of graphene-based photodetectors is limited by weak absorption efficiency and rapid recombination of photoexcited carriers, leading to poor photodetection performance. Here, inspired by the photogating effect, we demonstrated a highly sensitive photodetector based on graphene/WSe_(2) vertical heterostructure where the WSe_(2) layer acts as both the light absorption layer and the localized grating layer. The graphene conductive channel is induced to produce more carriers by capacitive coupling. Due to the strong light absorption and high external quantum efficiency of multilayer WSe_(2), as well as the high carrier mobility of graphene, a high photocurrent is generated in the vertical heterostructure. As a result, the photodetector exhibits ultra-high responsivity of 3.85×10~4A/W and external quantum efficiency of 1.3 × 10~7%.This finding demonstrates that photogating structures can effectively enhance the sensitivity of graphene-based photodetectors and may have great potential applications in future optoelectronic devices.