Heteroepitaxial growth of ZnO branches selectively on TiO2 nanorod tips with improved light harvesting performance

A seeded heteroepitaxial growth of ZnO nanorods selectively on TiO2 nanorod tips was achieved by restricting crystal growth on highly hydrophobic TiO2 nanorod film surfaces. Intriguing light harvesting performance and efficient charge transport efficiency has been found, which suggest potential applications in photovoltaics and optoelectronics

Multi-messenger Study of Galactic Diffuse Emission with LHAASO and IceCube Observations

With the breakthrough in PeV gamma-ray astronomy brought by the LHAASO experiment, the high-energy sky is getting richer than before. Lately, LHAASO Collaboration reported the observation of a gamma-ray diffuse emission with energy up to the PeV level from both the inner and outer Galactic plane. In these spectra, there is one bump that is hard to explain by the conventional cosmic-ray transport scenarios. Therefore, we introduce two extra components corresponding to unresolved sources with exponential-cutoff-power-law (ECPL) spectral shape, one with an index of 2.4, and 20 TeV cutoff energy, and another with index of 2.3 and 2 PeV cutoff energy. With our constructed model, we simulate the Galactic diffuse neutrino flux and find our results are in full agreement with the latest IceCube Galactic plane search. We estimate the Galactic neutrino contributes of $\sim 9\%$ of astrophysical neutrinos at 20 TeV. In the high-energy regime, as expected most of the neutrinos observed by IceCube should be from extragalactic environments.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, comments are welcome, accepted by PR

Assessment of Severe Accident Depressurization Valve Activation Strategy for Chinese Improved 1000 MWe PWR

To prevent HPME and DCH, SADV is proposed to be added to the pressurizer for Chinese improved 1000 MWe PWR NPP with the reference of EPR design. Rapid depressurization capability is assessed using the mechanical analytical code. Three typical severe accident sequences of TMLB’, SBLOCA, and LOFW are selected. It shows that with activation of the SADV the RCS pressure is low enough to prevent HPME and DCH. Natural circulation at upper RPV and hot leg is considered for the rapid depressurization capacity analysis. The result shows that natural circulation phenomenon results in heat transfer from the core to the pipes in RCS which may cause the creep rupture of pipes in RCS and delays the severe accident progression. Different SADV valve areas are investigated to the influence of depressurization of RCS. Analysis shows that the introduction of SADV with right valve area will delay progression of core degradation to RPV failure. Valve area is to be optimized since smaller SADV area will reduce its effect and too large valve area will lead to excessive loss of water inventory in RCS and makes core degradation progression to RPV failure faster without additional core cooling water sources

Using an extended LMDI model to explore techno-economic drivers of energy-related industrial CO2 emission changes:A case study for Shanghai (China)

Although investment and R&D activities can exert significant effects on energy-related industrial CO2 emissions (EICE), related factors have not been fairly uncovered in the existing index decomposition studies. This paper extends the previous logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) decomposition model by introducing three novel factors (R&D intensity, investment intensity, and R&D efficiency). The extended model not only considers the conventional drivers of EICE, but also reflects the microeconomic effects of investment and R&D behaviors on EICE. Furthermore, taking Shanghai as an example, which is the economic center and leading CO2 emitter in China, we use the extended model to decompose and explain EICE changes. Also, we incorporate renewable energy sources into the proposed model to carry out an alternative decomposition analysis at Shanghais entire industrial level. The results show that among conventional (macroeconomic) factors, expanding output scale is mainly responsible for the increase in EICE, and industrial structure adjustment is the most significant factor in mitigating EICE. Regardless of renewable energy sources, the emission-reduction effect of energy intensity focused on by the Chinese government is less than the expected due to the rebound effect, but the introduction of renewable energy sources intensifies its mitigating effect, partly resulting from the transmission from the abating effect of industrial structure adjustment. The effect of energy structure is the weakest. Although all the three novel factors exert significant effects on EICE, they are more sensitive to policy interventions than conventional factors. R&D intensity presents an obvious mitigating effect, while investment intensity and R&D efficiency display an overall promotion effect with some volatility. The introduction of renewable energy sources intensifies the promotion effect of R&D efficiency as a result of the "green paradox" effect. Finally, we propose that CO2 mitigation efforts should be made by considering both macroeconomic and microeconomic factors in order to achieve a desirable emission-reduction effect

Epidemiological characteristics of acute drug poisonings in Shanghai from 2019 to 2021

BackgroundAcute drug poisonings are increasing year by year and have become the leading cause of acute poisoning in Shanghai in recent years, and the related prevention and control work is faced with a tough situation. ObjectiveTo understand the composition of drugs leading to acute poisonings and describe the epidemiological tendency of reported acute drug poisonings in Shanghai. MethodsWe collected registered acute drug poisoning case information from the Shanghai Health Information System under Shanghai Health Statistics Center, including demographic characteristics and clinical diagnosis. There were totally 86476 cases reported from 2019 to 2021. The distributions of drugs and victims were described by year. Incidence tendency of acute drug poisonings was analyzed by chi-square test and the analysis focused on analgesic, hypnotics, and antidepressant drug-associated poisonings. Spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed by GeoDa1.20 through calculating global and local Moran's I. ResultsThere was an ascendant tendency in both case count (22132 cases in 2019, 29071 cases in 2020, and 35273 cases in 2021) and crude morbidity (0.89‰ in 2019, 1.21‰ in 2020, and 1.46‰ in 2021) of patients who received outpatient service or emergency treatment for acute drug poisonings from 2019 to 2021 in Shanghai. The top 3 kinds of acute poisoning drugs were analgesics, hypnotics, and antidepressants. The morbidity rates of acute drug poisonings associated with antidepressants (χ2=2700.15, P 60 years age group for the 3 years (male morbidity rate was 0.40‰-1.03‰, and female morbidity rate was 0.66‰-0.81‰). Regarding the causes of poisonings, accidental poisoning and exposure was the main cause in the ≤ 17 years groups (male constituent ratio was 57.64%-67.12%, and female constituent ratio was 55.27%-68.27%); suicide (male constituent ratio was 20.28%-43.51%, and female constituent ratio was 25.18%-52.02%) had a higher percentage than accidental poisoning and exposure (male constituent ratio was 16.97%-23.62%, and female constituent ratio was 12.76%-17.63%) in the 18-59 years age groups; accidental poisoning and exposure (male constituent ratio was 24.38%-45.18%, and female constituent ratio was 32.69%-38.11%) had a higher percentage than suicide (male constituent ratio was 12.35%-14.02%, and female constituent ratio was 11.92%-12.31%) in the > 60 years age group. The spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that the distribution of acute poisoning cases caused by analgesics, hypnotics, or antidepressants was not random. It was mostly positive spatial clustering. The high-morbidity area was always in the outer-ring circle, especially in Xuhui, Changning, and Jing'an districts, which suggested a high-high cluster pattern. ConclusionIn view of the increasing morbidity rate of acute drug poisoning cases in Shanghai in this study, it is urgent to take prevention and control actions. We should plan further studies and different strategies toward different victims with distinct drug poisoning characteristics and areas with high morbidity rates

Enlarging Regional Disparities in Energy Intensity within China

As energy saving and emission reduction become a global action, the disparity in energy intensity between different regions is a new rising problem that stems a country's or region's energy-saving potential. Here we collect China's provincial panel data (1995–2017) of primary and final energy consumption to evaluate China's unequal and polarized regional pattern in energy intensity, decompose the inequality index into contributing components, and investigate possible driving factors behind the unequal pattern both regionally and structurally, for the first time. The results show that China's interprovince disparities in energy intensity increase and are exacerbated by the enlarging disparities in energy intensity between the least developed and most developed regions of China. The causes for this phenomenon are as follows: (i) rather loose regulatory measures on mitigating coal consumption; (ii) inferior energy processing technology in areas specializing in energy-intensive industries; (iii) increasing interregional energy fluxes embodied in trade; and (iv) separate jurisdictions at provincial administrative levels. These factors can synthetically result in unintended spillover to areas with inferior green technologies, suggesting an increasingly uneven distribution of energy-intensive and carbon-intensive industries and usage of clean energy. The results reveal the necessities of regional coordination and cooperation to achieve a green economy

Combined helical tomotherapy and Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery for high-grade recurrent orbital meningioma: a case report

Orbital meningioma is a rare type of orbital tumor with high invasiveness and recurrence rates, making it extremely challenging to treat. Due to the special location of the disease, surgery often cannot completely remove the tumor, requiring postoperative radiation therapy. Here, we report a case of an elderly male patient with right-sided proptosis, visual impairment, and diplopia. Imaging diagnosis revealed a space-occupying lesion in the extraconal space of the right orbit. Pathological and immunohistochemical examination of the resected tumor confirmed it as a grade 3 anaplastic meningioma. Two months after surgery, the patient complained of right eye swelling and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed a recurrence of the tumor. The patient received helical tomotherapy (TOMO) in the postoperative tumor bed and high-risk areas within the orbit with a total dose of 48Gy. However, there was no significant improvement in the patient’s right eye swelling, and the size of the recurrent lesion showed no significant change on imaging. Gamma knife multifractionated stereotactic radiosurgery (MF-SRS) was then given to the recurrent lesion with 50% prescription dose 13.5Gy/3f, once every other day. An imaging diagnosis performed 45 days later showed that the tumor had disappeared completely. The patient’s vision remained unchanged, but diplopia was significantly relieved after MF-SRS. We propose a new hybrid treatment model for recurrent orbital meningioma, where conventional radiation therapy ensures local control of high-risk areas around the postoperative cavity, and MF-SRS maximizes the radiation dose to recurrent lesion areas while protecting surrounding tissues and organs

Effects of Thinning Intensities on Soil Infiltration and Water Storage Capacity in a Chinese Pine-Oak Mixed Forest

Thinning is a crucial practice in the forest ecosystem management. The soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity of pine-oak mixed forest under three different thinning intensity treatments (15%, 30%, and 60%) were studied in Qinling Mountains of China. The thinning operations had a significant influence on soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity. The soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity in different thinning treatments followed the order of control (nonthinning): <60%, <15%, and <30%. It demonstrated that thinning operation with 30% intensity can substantially improve soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity of pine-oak mixed forest in Qinling Mountains. The soil initial infiltration rate, stable infiltration rate, and average infiltration rate in thinning 30% treatment were significantly increased by 21.1%, 104.6%, and 60.9%, compared with the control. The soil maximal water storage capacity and noncapillary water storage capacity in thinning 30% treatment were significantly improved by 20.1% and 34.3% in contrast to the control. The soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity were significantly higher in the surface layer (0~20 cm) than in the deep layers (20~40 cm and 40~60 cm). We found that the soil property was closely related to soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity