Among all the gas disasters, gas concentration exceeding the threshold limit value (TLV) has been the leading cause of accidents. However, most systems still focus on exploring the methods and ...framework for avoiding reaching or exceeding TLV of the gas concentration from viewpoints of impacts on geological conditions and coal mining working-face elements. The previous study developed a Trip-Correlation Analysis Theoretical Framework and found strong correlations between gas and gas, gas and temperature, and gas and wind in the gas monitoring system. However, this framework's effectiveness must be examined to determine whether it might be adopted in other coal mine cases. This research aims to explore a proposed verification analysis approach-First-round-Second-round-Verification round (FSV) analysis approach to verify the robustness of the Trip-Correlation Analysis Theoretical Framework for developing a gas warning system. A mixed qualitative and quantitative research methodology is adopted, including a case study and correlational research. The results verify the robustness of the Triple-Correlation Analysis Theoretical Framework. The outcomes imply that this framework is potentially valuable for developing other warning systems. The proposed FSV approach can also be used to explore data patterns insightfully and offer new perspectives to develop warning systems for different industry applications.
The intrinsic magnetic topological insulatorMnBi2Te4exhibits rich topological effects such as quantum anomalous Hall effect and axion electrodynamics. Here, by combining the use of synchrotron and ...laser light sources, we carry out comprehensive and high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy studies onMnBi2Te4and clearly identify its topological electronic structure. In contrast to theoretical predictions and previous studies, we observe topological surface states with diminished gap forming a characteristic Dirac cone. We argue that the topological surface states are mediated by multidomains of different magnetization orientations. In addition, the temperature evolution of the energy bands clearly reveals their interplay with the magnetic phase transition by showing interesting differences between the bulk and surface states, respectively. The investigation of the detailed electronic structure ofMnBi2Te4and its temperature evolution provides important insight into not only the exotic properties ofMnBi2Te4, but also the generic understanding of the interplay between magnetism and topological electronic structure in magnetic topological quantum materials.
This study aimed to explore the risk factors and etiological characteristics of urinary tract infection (UTI) in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients.
A total of 90 CAPD patients ...with UTI comprised the infection group, while 32 CAPD patients without UTI constituted the control group. The risk factors and etiological characteristics of UTI were analyzed.
Of the 90 bacterial strains isolated, 30 were Gram-positive (33.3%) and 60 were Gram-negative (66.7%). Urinary stones or urinary tract structural changes were more prevalent in the infection group (71.1%) than in the control group (46.9%) (χ² = 6.076, p = 0.018). The proportion of patients with residual diuresis less than 200 ml was higher in the infection group (50%) than in the control group (15.6%) (χ² = 11.533, p = 0.001). The distribution of primary disease differed between the two groups. Patients in the infection group had higher CAPD vintage, levels of triglycerides, fasting blood glucose, blood creatinine, blood phosphorus, and calcium-phosphorus product than those in the control group. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis indicated that residual diuresis less than 200 ml (OR = 3.519, p = 0.039) and urinary stones or structural changes (OR = 4.727, p = 0.006) were independent risk factors for UTI.
Urine cultures of CAPD patients with UTI contained a complex distribution of pathogenic bacteria. Urinary stones or structural changes and residual diuresis less than 200 ml were independent risk factors for UTI.
A dense instead of porous gel polymer electrolyte for lithium ion batteries is reported for the first time. Its host is a renewable and environment friendly polymer, hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC). The ...preparation of HEC membrane is very simple. The membrane is stable up to 280°C, much higher than the melting points of those commercial separators based on polyolefin. The evaporation temperature of the organic electrolyte in the prepared gel polymer electrolytes is up to 75°C. In addition, the gel polymer electrolyte shows good electrochemical performance including high ionic conductivity at room temperature, and a high lithium ion transference number. When tested as separator and electrolyte, a LiFePO4 positive electrode displays satisfactory electrochemical properties including high discharge capacity and stable cycling. These results indicate a very promising direction for a low cost and renewable gel polymer electrolyte for lithium ion batteries.
A dense instead of a porous gel polymer electrolyte with high transference number of Li+ ions and good safety. Display omitted
•A renewable and environment friendly cellulose is used to prepare gel polymer electrolyte.•The preparation process is simple.•The prepared polymer membrane is nonporous and dense instead of porous.•The prepared gel polymer electrolyte shows good electrochemical performance.
The tumor suppressor p53 plays a key role in regulating apoptosis and cell cycle progression. In addition, p53 is implicated in control of cell differentiation in muscle, the circulatory system, ...ocular lens and various carcinoma tissues. However, the mechanisms by which p53 controls cell differentiation are not fully understood. Here we present evidence that p53 directly regulates c-Maf and Prox1, two important transcription factors controlling differentiation in the ocular lens. First, human and murine c-Maf and Prox1 gene promoters contain authentic p53 DNA binding sites. Second, p53 directly binds to the p53 binding sites found in the promoter regions. Third, exogenous p53 induces dose-dependent expression of the luciferase report gene driven by both c-Maf and Prox1 promoters, and p53 binds to both promoters in the ChIP assays. Fourth, in the in vitro differentiation model, knockdown of p53 significantly inhibits lens differentiation which is associated with downregulated expression of c-Maf and Prox1. Finally, in p53 knockout mice, the expression of c-Maf and Prox1 are significantly altered. Together, our results reveal that p53 regulates lens differentiation through modulation of two important transcription factors, c-Maf and Prox1, and through them p53 thus controls expression of various differentiation-related downstream crystallin genes.
A sodium ion conducting gel polymer electrolyte based on poly(vinylidene difluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) porous membrane is reported, which is prepared through a simple phase separation process. ...It exhibits high safety, good mechanical properties and good electrochemical stability. The gel polymer electrolyte provides the sodium ionic conductivity of 0.60mScm−1 at ambient temperature, while the commercial separator (Celgard 2730) offers only 0.16mScm−1. The temperature dependence of the ionic conductivity from 25 to 75°C is consistent with an Arrhenius-behavior. The ionic transference number of sodium ion (tNa+) in the gel polymer electrolyte is 0.30, higher than that (0.17) in the commercial separator. This provides a new direction to improve the safety of sodium ion batteries.
•A sodium ion conducting gel polymer electrolyte is prepared through a simple phase separation process.•It is a porous membrane based on poly(vinylidene difluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene).•The gel polymer electrolyte provides the sodium ionic conductivity of 0.60mScm−1 at ambient temperature.•Its ionic transference number of sodium ion (tNa+) is 0.30, higher than that (0.17) in the commercial separator.
Using (10.087±0.044)×10^{9} J/ψ events collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII storage ring, the processes Λp→Λp and Λover ¯p→Λover ¯p are studied, where the Λ/Λover ¯ baryons are produced ...in the process J/ψ→ΛΛover ¯ and the protons are the hydrogen nuclei in the cooling oil of the beam pipe. Clear signals are observed for the two reactions. The cross sections in -0.9≤cosθ_{Λ/Λover ¯}≤0.9 are measured to be σ(Λp→Λp)=(12.2±1.6_{stat}±1.1_{syst}) and σ(Λover ¯p→Λover ¯p)=(17.5±2.1_{stat}±1.6_{syst}) mb at the Λ/Λover ¯ momentum of 1.074 GeV/c within a range of ±0.017 GeV/c, where the θ_{Λ/Λover ¯} are the scattering angles of the Λ/Λover ¯ in the Λp/Λover ¯p rest frames. Furthermore, the differential cross sections of the two reactions are also measured, where there is a slight tendency of forward scattering for Λp→Λp, and a strong forward peak for Λover ¯p→Λover ¯p. We present an approach to extract the total elastic cross sections by extrapolation. The study of Λover ¯p→Λover ¯p represents the first study of antihyperon-nucleon scattering, and these new measurements will serve as important inputs for the theoretical understanding of the (anti)hyperon-nucleon interaction.Using (10.087±0.044)×10^{9} J/ψ events collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII storage ring, the processes Λp→Λp and Λover ¯p→Λover ¯p are studied, where the Λ/Λover ¯ baryons are produced in the process J/ψ→ΛΛover ¯ and the protons are the hydrogen nuclei in the cooling oil of the beam pipe. Clear signals are observed for the two reactions. The cross sections in -0.9≤cosθ_{Λ/Λover ¯}≤0.9 are measured to be σ(Λp→Λp)=(12.2±1.6_{stat}±1.1_{syst}) and σ(Λover ¯p→Λover ¯p)=(17.5±2.1_{stat}±1.6_{syst}) mb at the Λ/Λover ¯ momentum of 1.074 GeV/c within a range of ±0.017 GeV/c, where the θ_{Λ/Λover ¯} are the scattering angles of the Λ/Λover ¯ in the Λp/Λover ¯p rest frames. Furthermore, the differential cross sections of the two reactions are also measured, where there is a slight tendency of forward scattering for Λp→Λp, and a strong forward peak for Λover ¯p→Λover ¯p. We present an approach to extract the total elastic cross sections by extrapolation. The study of Λover ¯p→Λover ¯p represents the first study of antihyperon-nucleon scattering, and these new measurements will serve as important inputs for the theoretical understanding of the (anti)hyperon-nucleon interaction.
The life extension of current pressurized water reactors and the design of reliable next-generation nuclear reactors call for advanced structural steels that can sustain radiation up to several ...hundred displacements per atom (dpa) at elevated temperatures. Here we performed Fe ion irradiation to 150dpa at 450°C on bulk coarse-grained (CG, with a grain size of ∼2μm) and ultrafine-grained (UFG, with grain size of ∼320nm) T91 steels. Extensive microscopy studies show that fine grains in UFG T91 reduced the density of nanocavities and dislocation loops. The swelling rate in UFG steel is three times lower than that of CG T91 due to the existence of abundant defect sinks, such as high angle grain boundaries and dislocations. A strong surface effect with size dependence was noted during heavy ion irradiation studies. The large deviation of swelling rate from neutron irradiated specimens implies the significance of He concentration and presumably dose rate on swelling in nuclear reactors.
It is well established that the tumor suppressor p53 plays major roles in regulating apoptosis and cell cycle progression. In addition, recent studies have demonstrated that p53 is actively involved ...in regulating cell differentiation in muscle, the circulatory system and various carcinoma tissues. We have recently shown that p53 also controls lens differentiation. Regarding the mechanism, we reveal that p53 directly regulates c-Maf and Prox1, two important transcription factors to control cell differentiation in the ocular lens. In the present study, we present further evidence to show that p53 can regulate lens differentiation by controlling expression of the differentiation genes coding for the lens crystallins. First, the αA and βA3/A1 gene promoters or introns all contain putative p53 binding sites. Second, gel mobility shifting assays revealed that the p53 protein in nuclear extracts from lens epithelial cells directly binds to the p53 binding sites found in these crystallin gene promoters or introns. Third, exogenous wild type p53 induces dose-dependent expression of the luciferase reporter gene driven by different crystallin gene promoters and the exogenous dominant negative mutant p53 causes dose-dependent inhibition of the same crystallin genes. Fourth, ChIP assays revealed that p53 binds to crystallin gene promoters in vivo. Finally, in the p53 knockout mouse lenses, expression levels of various crystallins were found down-regulated in comparison with those from the wild type mouse lenses. Together, our results reveal that p53 directly regulates expression of different sets of genes to control lens differentiation.
We investigated concentrations of Hg, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, As, Ni, and Cr in samples of soil, cereal, and vegetables from Yangzhong district, China. Compared to subsoils, the sampled topsoils are enriched ...in Hg, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As. High levels of Cd and Hg are observed in most agricultural soils. Concentrations of Cr and Ni show little spatial variation, and high Cu, Pb, and Zn contents correspond well to areas of urban development. High As contents are primarily recorded at the two ends of the sampled alluvion. The contents of Cd, Hg, and total organic carbon (TOC) increase gradually to maximum values in the upper parts of soil profiles, while Cr and Ni occur in low concentrations within sampled profiles. As, Pb, Cu, and Zn show patterns of slight enrichment within the surface layer. Compared to data obtained in 1990, Cd and Hg show increased concentrations in 2005; this is attributed to the long-term use of agrochemicals. Cr and Ni contents remained steady over this interval because they are derived from the weathering of parent material and subsequent pedogenesis. The measured As, Cu, Pb, and Zn contents show slight increases over time due to atmospheric deposition of material sourced from urban anthropogenic activity. Low concentrations of heavy metals are recorded in vegetables and cereals because the subalkaline environment of the soil limits their mobility. Although the heavy metal concentrations measured in this study do not pose a serious health risk, they do affect the quality of agricultural products.