Supersonic flow over a hollow cylinder/flare with a free-stream Mach number of 2.25 is numerically investigated in this study. Axisymmetric computational fluid dynamics simulations and global stability analysis (GSA) are performed for a wide range of cylinder radii and flare deflection angles. The onset of incipient and secondary separation is delayed as the cylinder radius is decreased due to the axisymmetric effects. The GSA reveals that a decrease in cylinder radius also postpones the emergence of global instability. The GSA results agree well with the results of direct numerical simulations for a supercritical case in the linear stage. The saturated flow exhibits pairs of unsteady streamwise streaks downstream of reattachment. The criterion of the global stability boundary established for supersonic flow over a compression corner (Hao et al., J. Fluid Mech, vol. 919, 2021, A4) is extended to its axisymmetric counterpart.

A walking robot consisting of double Stewarts parallel legs was designed by our research team in the past time, which was mainly used for the transportation of the wounded after the disaster. In order to promote stability of control locomotion and ensure invariably horizontal state of the robot platform in the process of motion, the central pattern generator (CPG) based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) is presented to optimize the kinematic model. The purpose of optimization is to solve the hysteresis problem of displacement variation among the electric cylinders. Moreover, the dynamic model of the robot is established, which can provide mechanical basis for the feedback of control signal and make the robot move stably. The simulation results show that the displacement hysteresis problem of the electric cylinders is solved well. Meanwhile, compared with simulation results based on GA-CPG method, it is demonstrated that the robot motion planned using PSO-CPG method has better motion stability and can avoid the impact of legs landing during the transition phase of the motion cycle. The experimental results show that the platform on the robot can maintain an invariably horizontal state, and the locomotion is more stable. It verifies the feasibility of PSO-CPG model and the correctness of the dynamic model of the parallel mobile rescue robot.

The discharged capillary plasma channel has been extensively studied as a high-gradient particle acceleration and transmission medium. A novel measurement method of plasma channel density profiles has been employed, where the role of plasma channels guiding the advantages of lasers has shown strong appeal. Here, we have studied the high-order transverse plasma density profile distribution using a channel-guided laser, and made detailed measurements of its evolution under various parameters. The paraxial wave equation in a plasma channel with high-order density profile components is analyzed, and the approximate propagation process based on the Gaussian profile laser is obtained on this basis, which agrees well with the simulation under phase conditions. In the experiments, by measuring the integrated transverse laser intensities at the outlet of the channels, the radial quartic density profiles of the plasma channels have been obtained. By precisely synchronizing the detection laser pulses and the plasma channels at various moments, the reconstructed density profile shows an evolution from the radial quartic profile to the quasi-parabolic profile, and the high-order component is indicated as an exponential decline tendency over time. Factors affecting the evolution rate were investigated by varying the incentive source and capillary parameters. It can be found that the discharge voltages and currents are positive factors quickening the evolution, while the electron-ion heating, capillary radii and pressures are negative ones. One plausible explanation is that quartic profile contributions may be linked to plasma heating. This work helps one to understand the mechanisms of the formation, the evolutions of the guiding channel electron-density profiles and their dependences on the external controllable parameters. It provides support and reflection for physical research on discharged capillary plasma and optimizing plasma channels in various applications.

The critical effect of the windward interior angles of elastically mounted trapezoidal bodies on a galloping instability is numerically investigated in this paper using two methodologies of high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations and data-driven stability analysis using the eigensystem realization algorithm. A micro exploration of the dynamical response is processed to understand the mechanism underpinning the structural amplification at the initial stage of the galloping instability and the competition between wake and structural modes. It is observed that very small changes in the windward interior angle of an isosceles-trapezoidal body can provoke or suppress galloping – indeed, a small decrease or increase (low to $1^\circ$) of the windward interior angle from a right angle ($90^\circ$) can result in a significant enhancement and complete suppression, respectively, of the galloping oscillations. This supports our hypothesis that the contraction and/or expansion (viz., fore-aft tapering and/or widening) of the cross-section in the streamline direction has potential influences on galloping triggering from the geometrical perspective. The data-driven stability analysis is also applied to verify and analyse this phenomenon from the perspective of modal analysis. The experimental measurements are also conducted in the wind tunnel to support this hypothesis.

Childhood maltreatment has been suggested to have an adverse impact on neurodevelopment, including microstructural brain abnormalities. Existing neuroimaging findings remain inconsistent and heterogeneous. We aim to explore the most prominent and robust cortical thickness (CTh) and gray matter volume (GMV) alterations associated with childhood maltreatment. A systematic search on relevant studies was conducted through September 2022. The whole-brain coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) on CTh and GMV studies were conducted using the seed-based d mapping (SDM) software. Meta-regression analysis was subsequently applied to investigate potential associations between clinical variables and structural changes. A total of 45 studies were eligible for inclusion, including 11 datasets on CTh and 39 datasets on GMV, consisting of 2550 participants exposed to childhood maltreatment and 3739 unexposed comparison subjects. Individuals with childhood maltreatment exhibited overlapped deficits in the median cingulate/paracingulate gyri simultaneously revealed by both CTh and GM studies. Regional cortical thinning in the right anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri and the left middle frontal gyrus, as well as GMV reductions in the left supplementary motor area (SMA) was also identified. No greater regions were found for either CTh or GMV. In addition, several neural morphology changes were associated with the average age of the maltreated individuals. The median cingulate/paracingulate gyri morphology might serve as the most robust neuroimaging feature of childhood maltreatment. The effects of early-life trauma on the human brain predominantly involved in cognitive functions, socio-affective functioning and stress regulation. This current meta-analysis enhanced the understanding of neuropathological changes induced by childhood maltreatment.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the clinical characteristics of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) PCR re-positivity after recovering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Patients (n = 1391) from Guangzhou, China, who had recovered from COVID-19 were recruited between 7 September 2021 and 11 March 2022. Data on epidemiology, symptoms, laboratory test results and treatment were analysed. In this study, 42.7% of recovered patients had re-positive result. Most re-positive patients were asymptomatic, did not have severe comorbidities, and were not contagious. The re-positivity rate was 39%, 46%, 11% and 25% in patients who had received inactivated, mRNA, adenovirus vector and recombinant subunit vaccines, respectively. Seven independent risk factors for testing re-positive were identified, and a predictive model was constructed using these variables. The predictors of re-positivity were COVID-19 vaccination status, previous SARs-CoV-12 infection prior to the most recent episode, renal function, SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibody levels and white blood cell count. The predictive model could benefit the control of the spread of COVID-19.

To address the shortcomings of existing methods for rotorcraft searching, positioning, tracking and landing on a ship at sea, a dual-channel LIDAR searching, positioning, tracking and landing system (DCLSPTLS) is proposed in this paper, which utilises the multi-pulse laser echoes accumulation method and the physical phenomenon that the laser reflectivity of the ship deck in the near-infrared band is four orders of magnitude higher than that of the sea surface. The DCLSPTLS searching and positioning model, tracking model and landing model are established, respectively. The searching and positioning model can provide estimates of the azimuth angle, the distance of the ship relative to the rotorcraft and the ship's course. With the above parameters as inputs, the total tracking time and the direction of the rotorcraft tracking speed can be obtained by using the tracking model. The landing model can calculate the pitch and the roll angles of the ship's deck relative to the rotorcraft by using the least squares method and the laser irradiation coordinates. The simulation shows that the DCLSPTLS can realise the functions of rotorcraft searching, positioning, tracking and landing by using the above parameters. To verify the effectiveness of the DCLSPTLS, a functional test is performed using a rotorcraft and a model ship on a lake. The test results are consistent with the results of the simulation.

We report a laboratory study on the scattering, energy dissipation and mean flow induced by internal gravity waves incident upon slopes with varying surface roughness. The experiment was performed in a rectangular box filled with thermally stratified water. The roughness of the slope surface, $\lambda$, defined as the height of a roughness element over its base width, and the off-criticality $\gamma =(\alpha -\beta )/\beta$, with $\alpha$ and $\beta$ being the angles of the incident wave and the slope, are used as two control parameters. The distribution of energy dissipation in the direction normal to the slope is found to be more uniform in the rough surface cases. Counter-intuitively, both the maximum value in the dissipation profile and the total energy dissipation near the slope are reduced by surface roughness under most circumstances. The measured peak width (the full width at half-maximum of the peaks) of the dissipation profile is found to be broadened significantly in the rough surface cases. We also observed that there exists a non-zero optimal off-criticality ($\gamma =0.17$ for the present measurement resolution) for the normalized average dissipation and total dissipation, which may be due to the strongest wave energy near the slope at this $\gamma$. Unlike surface roughness, the off-criticality has a small effect on the distribution of energy dissipation. Moreover, surface roughness is also found to change the structure of the scattering-induced mean flow and enhance its strength. The present study provides new perspectives on how the surface roughness on topographic features influences energy dissipation.

Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae) infection is a significant cause of mastitis, resulting in loss of cellular homeostasis and tissue damage. Autophagy plays an essential function in cell survival, defense, and the preservation of cellular homeostasis, and is often part of the response to pathogenic challenge. However, the effect of autophagy induced by S. agalactiae in bovine mammary epithelial cells (bMECs) is mainly unknown. So in this study, an intracellular S. agalactiae infection model was established. Through evaluating the autophagy-related indicators, we observed that after S. agalactiae infection, a significant quantity of LC3-I was converted to LC3-II, p62 was degraded, and levels of Beclin1 and Bcl2 increased significantly in bMECs, indicating that S. agalactiae induced autophagy. The increase in levels of LAMP2 and LysoTracker Deep Red fluorescent spots indicated that lysosomes had participated in the degradation of autophagic contents. After autophagy was activated by rapamycin (Rapa), the amount of p-Akt and p-mTOR decreased significantly, whilst the amount of intracellular S. agalactiae increased significantly. Whereas the autophagy was inhibited by 3-methyladenine (3MA), the number of intracellular pathogens decreased. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that S. agalactiae could induce autophagy through PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and utilize autophagy to survive in bMECs.

Based on the measurements conducted over the landfast sea ice in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica during the sea-ice growth season in 2016, various parameterization schemes in the high-resolution thermodynamic snow/ice model HIGHTSI are evaluated. The parameterization scheme of turbulent fluxes produces the largest errors compared with the parameterization schemes for other surface heat fluxes. However, the sea-ice thickness simulation is most sensitive to the differences in upward longwave radiation at the surface. In addition, the sea-ice thickness simulation during the growth season is highly sensitive to the oceanic heat flux, and a new oceanic heat flux parameterization scheme based on the bulk method is proposed. The new parameterization scheme is tested in a second year, and it significantly improves the model performance relative to the standard configuration when compared against observations. Finally, the seasonal variation in the heat budget and its influence on the sea-ice thickness variation are analyzed. The net shortwave radiation, sensible heat flux and conductive heat flux (the net longwave radiation and latent heat flux) are found to be the surface heat sources (heat sinks) during the growth season. The larger conductive heat flux and the smaller oceanic heat flux can intensify the growth of sea ice.

Nutritional Risk Screening index is a standard tool to assess nutritional risk, but epidemiological data are scarce on controlling nutritional status (CONUT) as a prognostic marker in acute haemorrhagic stroke (AHS). We aimed to explore whether the CONUT may predict a 3-month functional outcome in AHS. In total, 349 Chinese patients with incident AHS were consecutively recruited, and their malnutrition risks were determined using a high CONUT score of ≥ 2. The cohort patients were divided into high-CONUT (≥ 2) and low-CONUT (< 2) groups, and primary outcomes were a poor functional prognosis defined as the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of ≥ 3 at post-discharge for 3 months. Odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the poor functional prognosis at post-discharge were estimated by using a logistic analysis with additional adjustments for unbalanced variables between the high-CONUT and low-CONUT groups. A total of 328 patients (60·38 ± 12·83 years; 66·77 % male) completed the mRS assessment at post-discharge for 3 months, with 172 patients at malnutrition risk at admission and 104 patients with a poor prognosis. The levels of total cholesterol and total lymphocyte counts were significantly lower in high-CONUT patients than low-CONUT patients (P = 0·012 and < 0·001, respectively). At 3-month post discharge, there was a greater risk for the poor outcome in the high-CONUT compared with the low-CONUT patients at admission (OR: 2·32, 95 % CI: 1·28, 4·17). High-CONUT scores independently predict a 3-month poor prognosis in AHS, which helps to identify those who need additional nutritional managements.

To determine whether a potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) surface mitigated by micro-milling would potentially threaten downstream optics, we calculated the light-field modulation based on angular spectrum diffraction theory, and performed a laser damage test on downstream fused silica. The results showed that the downstream light intensification caused by a Gaussian mitigation pit of 800 μm width and 10 μm depth reached a peak value near the KDP rear surface, decreased sharply afterward, and eventually kept stable with the increase in downstream distance. The solved peak value of light intensification exceeded 6 in a range 8–19 mm downstream from the KDP rear surface, which is the most dangerous for downstream optics. Laser damage sites were then induced on the fused silica surface in subsequent laser damage tests. When the distance downstream was greater than 44 mm with a downstream light intensification of less than 3, there were no potential damage threats to downstream optics. The study proves that a mitigated KDP surface can cause laser damage to downstream optical components, to which attention should be paid in an actual application. Through this work, we find that the current manufacturing process and the mitigation index still need to be improved. The research methods and calculation models are also of great reference significance for related studies like optics mitigation and laser damage.

Aggressive behaviour is common in animals and typically has lifetime consequences. As younger males have higher residual reproductive value than older males and lose more from injuries than older males do, the propensity for fighting tends to increase with age in many empirical reports and species. However, fighting patterns in those empirical reports cannot confirm the hypothesis that individuals cannot readily inflict injuries on their opponents. To address this shortcoming, a parasitoid wasp species, Anastatus disparis (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae), was used as an experimental model to explore the characteristics of aggression from a life-history perspective; this wasp exhibits extreme fighting, resulting in contestants experiencing injury and death. Results showed that the energetic costs of fighting to injury significantly shortened life and caused the loss of most mating ability. Inconsistent with general predictions, the frequency and intensity of fighting in A. disparis significantly decreased with male age. Further study results showed significantly more young males were received by and successfully mated with virgin females, and most genes related to energy metabolism were downregulated in aged males. Our study provided supporting evidence that young A. disparis males show more aggression likely because of their resource holding potential and sexual attractiveness decline with age.

A nanoparticle-based drug delivery system is first established by mesoporous silica encapsulating amino acid–intercalated layered double hydroxide (LDH) to construct nanocomposites AA-LDH@MS. The amino acids including phenylalanine (Phe) and histidine (His) with aromatic groups are intercalated into LDH as the cores Phe-LDH and His-LDH. These nanocomposites AA-LDH@MS display multispaces of the interlayer spaces of LDH and porous channels of mesoporous silica to load drugs. Moreover, amino acid molecules provide the interaction sites to improve effectively loading amounts of drugs. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is used as the cargo molecules to observe the delivery in vitro. The results indicate that the maximum loading amounts of drugs are up to 392 mg/g at 60 °C for 12 h in the nanocomposite Phe-LDH@MS. All the nanocomposites exhibit the sustained release of 5-FU at pH 4 and pH 7.4. The Korsmeyer–Peppas model is used to fit the kinetic plot of the drug release in vitro, which concludes that 5-FU release from AA-LDH@MS belongs to Fickian diffusion.

Multidimensional instabilities always develop with time during the process of radiation pressure acceleration, and are detrimental to the generation of monoenergetic proton beams. In this paper, a sharp-front laser is proposed to irradiate a triple-layer target (the proton layer is set between two carbon ion layers) and studied in theory and simulations. It is found that the thin proton layer can be accelerated once to hundreds of MeV with monoenergetic spectra only during the hole-boring (HB) stage. The carbon ions move behind the proton layer in the light-sail (LS) stage, which can shield any further interaction between the rear part of the laser and the proton layer. In this way, proton beam instabilities can be reduced to a certain extent during the entire acceleration process. It is hoped such a mechanism can provide a feasible way to improve the beam quality for proton therapy and other applications.

The antibacterial hydrogels can be widely used in the biomedical area owing to their excellent properties. The main limitation of antibacterial hydrogels is their poor mechanical strength. In this study, the novel hydrogels were fabricated with a mixture of silk fibroin (SF), chitosan (CH), agarose (AG), and silver nanoparticles (SNPs) via facile reaction condition without inorganic substances. The mechanical property of these fabricated hydrogels can be modulated by the concentration of SF or AG. The rheological studies demonstrated enhanced elasticity of CH-doped hydrogels. Because of the presence of CH and Ag in hydrogels, the antimicrobial property against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was exhibited. Cytocompatibility test proved the very low toxic nature of the hydrogels. In addition, these composite hydrogels have a smaller porosity, higher swelling ratio, and good compatibility, indicating their great potential for biomedical application.