MePCMs (microencapsulated phase change materials) with covalently bonded SiO sub(2)/polymer hybrid as shell were fabricated via Pickering emulsion polymerization stabilized solely by ...organically-modified SiO sub(2) particles. Morphology and core-shell structure of these microcapsules were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thermal properties of microencapsulated 1-dodecanol were determined using DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) and TGA (thermal gravimetric analysis). The results indicate that mass ratio of St (styrene)/DVB (divinylbenzene)fdodecanol has great effect on the morphology, inner structure, microencapsulation efficiency and durability of resultant MePCMs. When ratio of St/DVB/dodecanol was 5/1/12, dodecanol content of as much as 62.8% is obtained and the utility efficiency of dodecanol reaches 9.4.2%. The prepared MePCMs present good durability and thermal reliability. 2.2% of core material leached away the microcapsule after suspended in water for 10 days and 5.8% of core material leached after 2000 accelerated thermal cycling. Our study demonstrated that Pickering emulsion polymerization is a simple and robust method for the preparation of MePCMs with polymer-inorganic hybrids as shell.
Heat shock transcription factorA2 (HsfA2) is a key regulator in response to heat stress in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), and its heat shock (HS)-induced transcription regulation has been ...extensively studied. Recently, alternative splicing, a critical posttranscriptional event, has been shown to regulate HS-inducible expression of HsfA2; however, the molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate a new heat stress-induced splice variant, HsfA2-III, is involved in the self-regulation of HsfA2 transcription in Arabidopsis. HsfA2-III is generated through a cryptic 5' splice site in the intron, which is activated by severe heat (42°C-45°C). We confirmed that HsfA2-III encodes a small truncated HsfA2 isoform (S-HsfA2) by an immunoblot assay with anti-S-HsfA2 antiserum. S-HsfA2 has an extra leucine-rich motif next to its carboxyl-terminal truncated DNA-binding domain. The biological significance of S-HsfA2 was further demonstrated by its nuclear localization and heat shock element (HSE)-binding ability. In yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), the leucine-rich motif can inhibit the transcriptional activation activity of S-HsfA2, while it appears not to be required for the truncated DNA-binding domain-mediated binding ability of S-HsfA2-HSE. Further results reveal that S-HsfA2 could bind to the TATA box-proximal clusters of HSE in the HsfA2 promoter to activate its own transcription. This S-HsfA2-modulated HsfA2 transcription is not mediated through homodimer or heterodimer formation with HsfA1d or HsfA1e, which are known transcriptional activators of HsfA2. Altogether, our findings provide new insights into how HS posttranscriptionally regulates HsfA2 expression. Severe HS-induced alternative splicing also occurs in four other HS-inducible Arabidopsis Hsf genes, suggesting that it is a common feature among Arabidopsis Hsfs.
A novel temporal subgridding technique is proposed for the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to solve two-dimensional Maxwell’s equations of electrodynamics in the TEz mode. Based on the ...subgridding FDTD algorithm with a separated spatial and temporal interface, our method focuses on the temporal subgridding region, as it is the main source of late-time instability. Different from other subgridding algorithms that work on the interpolation between coarse and fine meshes, our method stabilizes the solution by using iterative updating equations on the temporal coarse–fine mesh interface. This new method presents an alternative approach aimed at improving the stability of the subgridding technique without modifying the interpolation formulas. We numerically study the stability of the proposed algorithm via eigenvalue tests and by performing long-term simulations. We employ a refinement ratio of 2:1 in our study. Our findings indicate the stability of the conventional temporal subgridding FDTD algorithm with a magnetic field (Hz) interpolation. However, when electric fields (Ex and Ey) are utilized in interpolation, late-time instability occurs. In contrast, the proposed iteration-based method with an electric field interpolation appears to be stable. We further employ our method as the forward problem solver in the Through-the-Wall Radar (TWR) imaging application.
Abstract
Introduction
Patient engagement, encompassing both patient experience and opportunities for involvement in care, has been associated with increased patient satisfaction and the overall ...quality of care. Despite its importance, there is limited knowledge regarding patient engagement in the transition from nondialysis‐dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD) to dialysis‐dependent treatment. This systematic review employs meta‐ethnography to synthesize findings from qualitative studies examining patients' experiences of engagement during this transition, with the aim of developing a comprehensive theoretical understanding of patient engagement in the transition from nondialysis‐dependent CKD to dialysis.
Methods
A systematic search of six databases, namely the Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Scopus, Embase, PubMed and Web of Science was conducted to identify eligible articles published between 1990 and 2022. Meta‐ethnography was utilized to translate and synthesize the findings and develop a novel theoretical interpretation of ‘patient engagement’ during the transition to dialysis.
Results
A total of 24 articles were deemed eligible for review, representing 21 studies. Patient engagement during a transition to dialysis was found to encompass three major domains: psychosocial adjustment, decision‐making and engagement in self‐care. These three domains could be experienced as an iterative and mutually reinforcing process, guiding patients toward achieving control and proficiency in their lives as they adapt to dialysis. Additionally, patient engagement could be facilitated by factors including patients' basic capability to engage, the provision of appropriate education, the establishment of supportive relationships and the alignment with values and resources.
Conclusions
The findings of this review underscore the necessity of involving patients in transitional dialysis care, emphasizing the need to foster their engagement across multiple domains. Recommendations for future interventions include the provision of comprehensive support to enhance patient engagement during this critical transition phase. Additional research is warranted to explore the effects of various facilitators at different levels.
Patient or Public Contribution
The studies included in our review involved 633 participants (547 patients, 14 family members, 63 healthcare providers and 9 managers). Based on their experiences, views and beliefs, we developed a deeper understanding of patient engagement and how to foster it in the future.
Nowadays, with the wide installation of distributed energy resources and independent energy storage systems, prosumers as a new type of electricity market entity have emerged. Since numerous ...prosumers can significantly impact the carbon emission of the power grid, this paper proposes an improved carbon emission flow method for the power grid with prosumers. This method can accurately clarify the detailed distribution of electrical carbon emission flow in power grids. First, based on the power flow, prosumers’ impacts on the electrical carbon emission are quantified from three aspects that include the carbon emission sources, the network flow, and the indirect carbon emission individuals. Then, an improved power carbon emission flow model is proposed, in which the complex carbon emission intensity of prosumers is derived emphatically. Finally, case studies based on the IEEE 30-bus system verify the feasibility of the proposed method. This method provides a measurement basis for further research considering electrical carbon emissions.
•Analyzing prosumers’ impacts on the CEF by direct emission source, network flow, and indirect emission individual.•Proposing an improved CEF model to measure the carbon emissions of the demand side, especially for prosumers.•Quantifying the complex CEI of prosumers with multiple DERs by combining the GCEI of DERs and historical CEF information.
•Children with influenza B were more likely to have lower respiratory tract infections.•Children with influenza A had more other serious symptoms.•Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, C-reactive protein ...(CRP), and serum amyloid A (SAA) performed differently among children with influenza A and B.•Increased levels of SAA and CRP were related to severity of influenza A.•Elevated SAA levels may reflect the degree of influenza B infection.
The clinical values of C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) to distinguish non-severe from severe influenza in children are rarely reported.
Baseline characteristics and laboratory results were collected and analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used for combined detection of indicators for children with influenza, and scatter-dot plots were used to compare the differences between non-severe and severe influenza.
Children with influenza B had more bronchitis and pneumonia (P < 0.05) and children with influenza A had more other serious symptoms (P = 0.015). Lymphocyte count, neutrophil count, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), CRP, and SAA performed differently among children with influenza A and B. Joint detection of SAA and other indicators could better separate healthy children from children with influenza than single indicator detection. The CRP and SAA levels of children with severe influenza B infection and SAA levels of children with severe influenza A infection were significantly elevated compared with children with non-severe influenza (P < 0.05).
SAA and CRP could be potential indicators in distinction and severity assessment for children with influenza; however, age should be taken into account when using them in children with influenza B.
Bulky sp
2
-carbon Schwarzites with negative Gaussian curvature are promising structures for practical applications due to their unique properties such as high surface area, large porosity, and ...stability against graphitization. Herein, a comprehensive study on the tension, compression and shear mechanical characteristics of seven triply periodic carbon Schwarzite foams with distinct topologies is performed using reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. All carbon Schwarzites exhibit unique thermal and mechanical properties that are markedly dictated by the topology. One of the structures presents a negative thermal expansion coefficient. Under uniaxial tension, the temperature is able to play a positive or negative role in the tensile stiffness, and there is no apparent positive relationship between tensile strength and mass density. Subjected to compression and shear loads, carbon Schwarzites can fail due to brittle fracture, and uniform and stepwise structural instabilities. Both compression- and tension-negative Poisson's ratios are revealed to originate from a curvature-flattening deformation mechanism. Analysis of the crush force efficiency, the stroke efficiency and the energy-absorption demonstrates that carbon Schwarzites are effective energy-absorbers. This study provides a fundamental understanding of the relationship between the topology and mechanical properties of carbon Schwarzites for designing 3D graphitic nanostructures with good mechanical performances.
Carbon Schwarzites exhibit unique mechanical characteristics that are dominated by their topologies, rather than the mass density.
In this paper, we explore the iterated Crank–Nicolson (ICN) algorithm for the one-dimensional peridynamic model. The peridynamic equation of motion is an integro-differential equation that governs ...structural deformations such as fractures. The ICN method was originally developed for hyperbolic advection equations. In peridynamics, we apply the ICN algorithm for temporal discretization and the midpoint quadrature method for spatial integration. Several numerical tests are carried out to evaluate the performance of the ICN method. In general, the ICN method demonstrates second-order accuracy, consistent with the Störmer–Verlet (SV) method. When the weight is 1/3, the ICN method behaves as a third-order Runge–Kutta method and maintains strong stability-preserving (SSP) properties for linear problems. Regarding energy conservation, the ICN algorithm maintains at least second-order accuracy, making it superior to the SV method, which converges linearly. Furthermore, selecting a weight of 0.25 results in fourth-order superconvergent energy variation for the ICN method. In this case, the ICN method exhibits energy variation similar to that of the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method but operates approximately 20% faster. Higher-order convergence for energy can also be achieved by increasing the number of iterations in the ICN method.
Miq., one of the three original plants of TCM ASARI RADIX ET RHIZOMA, is a perennial herb distributed in central and eastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. Methyleugenol has been considered ...as the most important constituent of
volatile oil, meanwhile asarinin is also employed as the quality control standard of ASARI RADIX ET RHIZOMA in Chinese Pharmacopeia. They both have shown wide range of biological activities. However, little was known about genes involved in biosynthesis pathways of either methyleugenol or asarinin in
plants. In the present study, we performed de novo transcriptome analysis of plant tissues (e.g., roots, rhizomes, and leaves) at different developmental stages. The sequence assembly resulted in 311,597 transcripts from these plant materials, among which 925 transcripts participated in 'secondary metabolism' with particularly up to 20.22% of them falling into phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway. The corresponding enzymes belong to seven families potentially encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), trans-cinnamate 4-monooxygenase (C4H),
-coumarate 3-hydroxylase (C3H), caffeoyl-CoA
-methyltransferase (CCoAOMT), cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), and eugenol synthase (EGS). Moreover, 5 unigenes of DIR (dirigent protein) and 11 unigenes of CYP719A (719A subfamily of cytochrome P450 oxygenases) were speculated to be involved in asarinin pathway. Of the 15 candidate CADs, four unigenes that possessed high FPKM (fragments per transcript kilobase per million fragments mapped) value in roots were cloned and characterized. Only the recombinant AsCAD5 protein efficiently converted
-coumaryl, coniferyl, and sinapyl aldehydes to their corresponding alcohols, which are key intermediates employed not only in biosynthesis of lignin but also in that of methyleugenol and asarinin. qRT-PCR revealed that AsCAD5 had a high expression level in roots at three developmental stages. Our study will provide insight into the potential application of molecular breeding and metabolic engineering for improving the quality of TCM ASARI RADIX ET RHIZOMA.
Clathrate hydrates find diverse significant applications including but not limited to future energy resources, gas storage and transport, gas separation, water desalination, and refrigeration. ...Studies on the nucleation, growth, dissociation, and micro/nanoscale properties of clathrate hydrates that are of utmost importance for those applications are challenging by experiments but can be accessible by molecular simulations. By this method, however, identification of cage structures to extract useful insights is highly required. Herein, we introduce a hierarchical topology ring (HTR) algorithm to recognize cage structures with high efficiency and high accuracy. The HTR algorithm can identify all types of complete cages and is particularly optimized for hydrate identification in large-scale systems composed of millions of water molecules. Moreover, topological isomers of cages and
× guest@cage can be uniquely identified. Besides, we validate the use of HTR for the identification of cages of clathrate hydrates upon mechanical loads to failure.
PDF
