Solar Ring Mission: Building a Panorama of the Sun and Inner-heliosphere

Solar Ring (SOR) is a proposed space science mission to monitor and study the Sun and inner heliosphere from a full 360{\deg} perspective in the ecliptic plane. It will deploy three 120{\deg}-separated spacecraft on the 1-AU orbit. The first spacecraft, S1, locates 30{\deg} upstream of the Earth, the second, S2, 90{\deg} downstream, and the third, S3, completes the configuration. This design with necessary science instruments, e.g., the Doppler-velocity and vector magnetic field imager, wide-angle coronagraph, and in-situ instruments, will allow us to establish many unprecedented capabilities: (1) provide simultaneous Doppler-velocity observations of the whole solar surface to understand the deep interior, (2) provide vector magnetograms of the whole photosphere - the inner boundary of the solar atmosphere and heliosphere, (3) provide the information of the whole lifetime evolution of solar featured structures, and (4) provide the whole view of solar transients and space weather in the inner heliosphere. With these capabilities, Solar Ring mission aims to address outstanding questions about the origin of solar cycle, the origin of solar eruptions and the origin of extreme space weather events. The successful accomplishment of the mission will construct a panorama of the Sun and inner-heliosphere, and therefore advance our understanding of the star and the space environment that holds our life.Comment: 41 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, to be published in Advances in Space Researc

Saturated Resin Ectopic Regeneration by Non-Thermal Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma

Textile dyes are some of the most refractory organic compounds in the environment due to their complex and various structure. An integrated resin adsorption/Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma regeneration was proposed to treat the indigo carmine solution. It is the first time to report ectopic regeneration of the saturated resins by non-thermal Dielectric Barrier Discharge. The adsorption/desorption efficiency, surface functional groups, structural properties, regeneration efficiency, and the intermediate products between gas and liquid phase before and after treatment were investigated. The results showed that DBD plasma could maintain the efficient adsorption performance of resins while degrading the indigo carmine adsorbed by resins. The degradation rate of indigo carmine reached 88% and the regeneration efficiency (RE) can be maintained above 85% after multi-successive regeneration cycles. The indigo carmine contaminants were decomposed by a variety of reactive radicals leading to fracture of exocyclic C=C bond, which could cause decoloration of dye solution. Based on above results, a possible degradation pathway for the indigo carmine by resin adsorption/DBD plasma treatment was proposed

Comparison of post-chemoradiotherapy pneumonitis between Asian and non-Asian patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysisResearch in context

Summary: Background: Pneumonitis is a common complication for patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer undergoing definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT). It remains unclear whether there is ethnic difference in the incidence of post-CRT pneumonitis. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched for eligible studies from January 1, 2000 to April 30, 2023. The outcomes of interest were incidence rates of pneumonitis. The random-effect model was used for statistical analysis. This meta-analysis was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023416490). Findings: A total of 248 studies involving 28,267 patients were included. Among studies of CRT without immunotherapy, the pooled rates of pneumonitis for Asian patients were significantly higher than that for non-Asian patients (all grade: 66.8%, 95% CI: 59.2%–73.9% vs. 28.1%, 95% CI: 20.4%–36.4%; P < 0.0001; grade ≥2: 25.1%, 95% CI: 22.9%–27.3% vs. 14.9%, 95% CI: 12.0%–18.0%; P < 0.0001; grade ≥3: 6.5%, 95% CI: 5.6%–7.3% vs. 4.6%, 95% CI: 3.4%–5.9%; P = 0.015; grade 5: 0.6%, 95% CI: 0.3%–0.9% vs. 0.1%, 95% CI: 0.0%–0.2%; P < 0.0001). Regarding studies of CRT plus immunotherapy, Asian patients had higher rates of all-grade (74.8%, 95% CI: 63.7%–84.5% vs. 34.3%, 95% CI: 28.7%–40.2%; P < 0.0001) and grade ≥2 (34.0%, 95% CI: 30.7%–37.3% vs. 24.6%, 95% CI: 19.9%–29.3%; P = 0.001) pneumonitis than non-Asian patients, but with no significant differences in the rates of grade ≥3 and grade 5 pneumonitis. Results from subgroup analyses were generally similar to that from the all studies. In addition, the pooled median/mean of lung volume receiving ≥20 Gy and mean lung dose were relatively low in Asian studies compared to that in non-Asian studies. Interpretation: Asian patients are likely to have a higher incidence of pneumonitis than non-Asian patients, which appears to be due to the poor tolerance of lung to radiation. Nevertheless, these findings are based on observational studies and with significant heterogeneity, and need to be validated in future large prospective studies focusing on the subject. Funding: None

Applications of Metal–Organic Frameworks and Their Derivatives in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Highlights The electrochemical techniques utilizing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)-based catalysts for converting CO2 into chemical species are discussed. The structure–activity relationship of MOF-based catalysts in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reactions is thoroughly reviewed The challenges and opportunities of large-scale applications of MOF-based materials in electrochemical CO2 reduction reactions are discussed, and possible directions for the future development of MOFs and their derivatives are outlined

The enhanced x-ray timing and polarimetry mission – eXTP: an update on its scientific cases, mission profile and development status

The enhanced x-ray timing and polarimetry mission (eXTP) is a flagship observatory for x-ray timing, spectroscopy and polarimetry developed by an international consortium. Thanks to its very large collecting area, good spectral resolution and unprecedented polarimetry capabilities, eXTP will explore the properties of matter and the propagation of light in the most extreme conditions found in the universe. eXTP will, in addition, be a powerful x-ray observatory. The mission will continuously monitor the x-ray sky, and will enable multi-wavelength and multi-messenger studies. The mission is currently in phase B, which will be completed in the middle of 2022