Emerging smart design of electrodes for micro-supercapacitors: a review

Owing to high power density and long cycle life, micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) are regarded as a prevalent energy storage unit for miniaturized electronics in modern life. A major bottleneck is achieving enhanced energy density without sacrificing both power density and cycle life. To this end, designing electrodes in a “smart” way has emerged as an effective strategy to achieve a trade-off between the energy and power densities of MSCs. In the past few years, considerable research efforts have been devoted to exploring new electrode materials for high capacitance, but designing clever configurations for electrodes has rarely been investigated from a structural point of view, which is also important for MSCs within a limited footprint area, in particular. This review article categorizes and arranges these “smart” design strategies of electrodes into three design concepts: layer-by-layer, scaffold-assisted and rolling origami. The corresponding strengths and challenges are comprehensively summarized, and the potential solutions to resolve these challenges are pointed out. Finally, the smart design principle of the electrodes of MSCs and key perspectives for future research in this field are outlined

Admissibility of Estimated Regression Coefficients Under Generalized Balanced Loss

There are some discussions concerning the admissibility of estimated regression coefficients under the balanced loss function in the general linear model. We study this issue for the generalized linear regression model. First, we propose a generalized weighted balance loss function for the generalized linear model. For the proposed loss function, we study sufficient and necessary conditions for the admissibility of the estimated regression coefficients in two interesting linear estimation classes.Ведуться дєякі дискусії щодо допустимості оцінєних коєфіцієнтів регресії для збалансованої функції втрат у загальній лінійній моделі. В роботі вивчається ця проблема для узагальненої лінійної моделі регресії. Так, запропоновано узагальнену зважену функцію втрати балансу для узагальненої лінійної моделі. Для вказаної функції втрат ми вивчаємо необхідні та достатні умови допустимості оцінених коефіцієнтів регресії для двох цікавих лінійних випадків оцінювання

Official long-term and short-term strategies for preventing the spread of rumors

Recently, public security incidents caused by rumor spreading have frequently occurred, leading to public panic, social chaos and even casualties. Therefore, how governments establish strategies to restrain rumor spreading is important for judging their governance capacity. Herein, we consider one long-term strategy (education) and two short-term strategies (isolation and debunking) for officials to intervene in rumor spreading. To investigate the effects of these strategies, an improved rumor-spreading model and a series of mean-field equations are proposed. Through theoretical analysis, the effective thresholds of three rumor-prevention strategies are obtained, respectively. Finally, through simulation analysis, the effectiveness of these strategies in preventing rumor spreading is investigated. The results indicate that long-term and short-term strategies are effective in suppressing rumor spreading. The greater the efforts of governments to suppress rumors, the smaller the final rumor size. The study also shows that the three strategies are the best when applied simultaneously. The government can adopt corresponding measures to suppress rumor spreading effectively

Contemporaneous symptom networks and correlates during endocrine therapy among breast cancer patients: A network analysis

BackgroundEndocrine therapy-related symptoms are associated with early discontinuation and quality of life among breast cancer survivors. Although previous studies have examined these symptoms and clinical covariates, little is known about the interactions among different symptoms and correlates. This study aimed to explore the complex relationship of endocrine therapy-related symptoms and to identify the core symptoms among breast cancer patients.MethodsThis is a secondary data analysis conducted based on a multicenter cross-sectional study of 613 breast cancer patients in China. All participants completed the 19-item Chinese version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Endocrine Subscale (FACT-ES). Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to identify significant factors. A contemporaneous network with 15 frequently occurring symptoms was constructed after controlling for age, payment, use of aromatase inhibitors, and history of surgery. Network comparison tests were used to assess differences in network structure across demographic and treatment characteristics.ResultsAll 613 participants were female, with an average age of 49 years (SD = 9.4). The average duration of endocrine therapy was 3.6 years (SD = 2.3) and the average symptom score was 18.99 (SD = 11.43). Irritability (n = 512, 83.52%) and mood swings (n = 498, 81.24%) were the most prevalent symptoms. Lost interest in sex (mean = 1.95, SD = 1.39) and joint pain (mean = 1.57, SD = 1.18) were the most severe symptoms. The edges in the clusters of emotional symptoms (“irritability-mood swings”), vasomotor symptoms (“hot flashes-cold sweats-night sweats”), vaginal symptoms (“vaginal discharge-vaginal itching”), sexual symptoms (“pain or discomfort with intercourse-lost interest in sex-vaginal dryness”), and neurological symptoms (“headaches-dizziness”) were the thickest in the network. There were no significant differences in network structure (P = 0.088), and global strength (P = 0.330) across treatment types (selective estrogen receptor modulators vs. aromatase inhibitors). Based on an evaluation of the centrality indices, irritability and mood swings appeared to be structurally important nodes after adjusting for the clinical covariates and after performing subgroup comparisons.ConclusionEndocrine therapy-related symptoms are frequently reported issues among breast cancer patients. Our findings demonstrated that developing targeted interventions focused on emotional symptoms may relieve the overall symptom burden for breast cancer patients during endocrine therapy

Identification of a novel seed size associated locus SW9-1 in soybean

Published versionSeed size is one of the vital traits determining seed appearance, quality, and yield. Untangling the genetic mechanisms regulating soybean 100-seed weight (100-SW), seed length and seed width across environments may provide a theoretical basis for improving seed yield. However, there are few reports related to QTL mapping of 100-SW across multiple ecological regions. In this study, 21 loci associated with seed size traits were identified using a genome-wide association of 5361 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across three ecoregions in China, which could explain 8.12%–14.25% of the phenotypic variance respectively. A new locus, named as SW9-1 on chromosome 9 that explained 10.05%–10.93% of the seed weight variance was found significantly related to seed size traits, and was not previously reported. The selection effect analysis showed that SW9-1 locus has a relatively high phenotypic effect (13.67) on 100-SW, with a greater contribution by the accessions with bigger seeds (3.69) than the accessions with small seeds (1.66). Increases in seed weight were accompanied by increases in the frequency of SW9-1T allele, with >90% of the bred varieties with a 100-SW >30 g carrying SW9-1T. Analysis of SW9-1 allelic variation in additional soybean accessions showed that SW9-1T allele accounting for 13.83% of the wild accessions, while in 46.55% and 51.57% of the landraces and bred accessions, respectively, this results indicating that the SW9-1 locus has been subjected to artificial selection during the early stages of soybean breeding, especially the utilization of SW9-1T in edamame for big seed. These results suggest that SW9-1 is a novel and reliable locus associated with seed size traits, and might have an important implication for increasing soybean seed weight in molecular design breeding. Cloning this locus in future may provide new insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying soybean seed size traits

DISCUS : an end-to-end solution for ubiquitous broadband optical access

Fiber to the premises has promised to increase the capacity in telecommunications access networks for well over 30 years. While it is widely recognized that optical-fiber-based access networks will be a necessity in the shortto medium-term future, its large upfront cost and regulatory issues are pushing many operators to further postpone its deployment, while installing intermediate unambitious solutions such as fiber to the cabinet. Such high investment cost of both network access and core capacity upgrade often derives from poor planning strategies that do not consider the necessity to adequately modify the network architecture to fully exploit the cost benefit that a fiber-centric solution can bring. DISCUS is a European Framework 7 Integrated Project that, building on optical-centric solutions such as long-reach passive optical access and flat optical core, aims to deliver a cost-effective architecture for ubiquitous broadband services. DISCUS analyzes, designs, and demonstrates end-to-end architectures and technologies capable of saving cost and energy by reducing the number of electronic terminations in the network and sharing the deployment costs among a larger number of users compared to current fiber access systems. This article describes the network architecture and the supporting technologies behind DISCUS, giving an overview of the concepts and methodologies that will be used to deliver our end-to-end network solution

Characterization of garlic oil/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes and application

Garlic oil is a liquid extracted from garlic that has various natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and is believed to be used to prevent and treat many diseases. However, the main functional components of garlic oil are unstable. Therefore, in this study, encapsulating garlic oil with cyclodextrin using the saturated co-precipitation method can effectively improve its chemical stability and water solubility and reduce its characteristic odor and taste. After preparation, the microcapsules of garlic oil cyclodextrin were characterized, which proved that the encapsulation was successful. Finally, the results showed that the encapsulated garlic oil still had antioxidant ability and slow-release properties. The final addition to plant-based meat gives them a delicious flavor and adds texture and mouthfeel. Provided a new reference for the flavor application of garlic cyclodextrin micro-capsules in plant-based meat patties

Epidemiology of birth defects based on a birth defects surveillance system in southwestern China and the associated risk factors

BackgroundBirth defects (BDs) are associated with many potential risk factors, and its causes are complex.ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the epidemiological characteristics of BDs in Guangxi of China and the associated risk factors of BDs.MethodsBDs data of perinatal infants (PIs) were obtained from the Guangxi birth defects monitoring network between 2016 and 2020. Univariate Poisson regression was used to calculate the prevalence-rate ratios (PRR) to explore the changing trends of BDs prevalence by year and the correlation between the regarding of characteristics of BDs (including infant gender, maternal age, and quarter) and BDs. Clinical characteristics of PIs with BDs and general characteristics of their mothers were documented, and Spearman correlation analysis was used to explore the potential associated risk factors of BDs.ResultsBetween 2016 and 2020, 44,146 PIs with BDs were monitored, with an overall BDs prevalence of 121.71 (95% CI: 120.58–122.84) per 10,000 PIs, showing a significant increase trend (PRR = 1.116, 95% CI: 1.108–1.123), especially the prevalence of congenital heart defects (CHDs) that most significantly increased (PRR = 1.300, 95% CI: 1.283–1.318). The 10 most common BDs were CHDs, polydactyly, congenital talipes equinovarus, other malformation of external ear, syndactyly, hypospadias, cleft lip with cleft palate, cleft lip, hemoglobin Bart's hydrops fetalis syndrome (BHFS), and congenital atresia of the rectum and anus. BDs were positively correlated with pregnant women's age (R = 0.732, P < 0.01) and education level (R = 0.586, P < 0.05) and having pre-gestational diabetes mellitus (PGDM)/gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) (R = 0.711, P < 0.01), while when the pregnant women had a family history of a dead fetus (R = −0.536, P < 0.05) and a birth of a fetus with BDs (R = −0.528, P < 0.05) were negatively correlated with BDs.ConclusionA significant increase in the prevalence of BDs was detected between 2016 and 2020 in Guangxi, especially the prevalence of CHDs that most significantly increased. Older maternal age, higher maternal education level, and having PGDM before pregnancy or GDM in early pregnancy were the risk factors for BDs