Cis-1,4-polyisoprene latex (IRL) is the best alternative to natural rubber latex (NRL), and can help to avoid human allergic reactions caused by proteins in NRL. The mechanical properties of IRL are inferior to those of NRL, however. To address this issue, a novel strategy was developed using an in situ solution emulsification to prepare a latex composite incorporating sodium montmorillonite (Na-Mnt). The properties of the latex film prepared were investigated. The dispersion state of the Mnt in the latex composites and the morphology of the resulting composite films were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, the mechanism of Mnt reinforcement of IRL is described comprehensively. The results showed that the Mnt/IRL latex composites prepared were stable and excellent films were formed, similar to those of NRL. The current research provided an effective method for preparing high-performance composite films suitable for use in high-end medical applications.

Data on epidemiology trends of paediatric tuberculosis (TB) are limited in China. So, we investigated the clinical and epidemiological profiles in diagnosed TB disease and TB infection patients at Beijing Children’s Hospital. Of 3 193 patients, 51.05% had pulmonary TB (PTB) and 15.16% had extrapulmonary TB (EPTB). The most frequent forms of EPTB were TB meningitis (39.05%), pleural TB (29.75%), and disseminated TB (10.33%). PTB patients were significantly younger and associated with higher hospitalization frequency. Children aged 1–4 years exhibited higher risk of PTB and TB meningitis, and children aged 5–12 years had higher risk of EPTB. The proportion of PTB patients increased slightly from 40.9% in 2012 to 65% in 2019, and then decreased to 17.8% in 2021. The percentage of EPTB cases decreased from 18.3% in 2012 to 15.2% in 2019, but increased to 16.4% in 2021. Among EPTB cases, the largest increase was seen in TB meningitis. In conclusion, female and young children had higher risk of PTB in children. TB meningitis was the most frequent forms of EPTB among children, and young children were at high risk of TB meningitis. The distribution of different types of EPTB differed by age.

Direct numerical simulations of temporally developing mixing layers have been performed to investigate the effects of compressibility on statistics and structures near the interfaces of high- and low-speed large-scale structures (LSSs), covering a range of convective Mach numbers from $M_c=0.2$ to $1.8$ and Taylor Reynolds numbers up to 290. The interfaces of LSSs are directly defined by the isosurface of zero fluctuating streamwise velocity. The characteristic velocity jump at the interfaces grows rapidly in the transition stage and then decreases until reaching a gradual self-similar stage. The evolution of velocity jump is evidently delayed as the convective Mach number increases. The interface layer is formed by the shearing motion of neighbouring LSSs. A small vortical motion characterized by the Kolmogorov scale is induced in the interface layer by shear-dominated outer regions. The strengths of outer shearing motion and central vortical motion are greater at the leading edge, but smaller at the trailing edge, which is also reflected in a larger velocity jump at the leading edge. As the convective Mach number increases, the small-scale vortical structure is obviously suppressed by compressibility. At high convective Mach number $M_c=1.8$, the compressive shear-dominated outer regions are linked with a sheet-like structure passing through the centre of the expansion region corresponding to a small-scale vortical structure. The compressibility and shearing strength near the interface are highly dependent on the interface orientation.

In this paper, a novel tunable dual-band bandpass filter (BPF) with independently controlled passbands and constant absolute bandwidth (CABW) is proposed. The CABW passbands of designed dual-band BPF are obtained using manageable electric and magnetic mix coupling. Furthermore, the multiple transmission paths from the input port to the output port are extended for extra transmission zeros, which results in modified selectivity of the proposed dual-band BPF. The tunability and switchability of the developed filter can be implemented by introducing a single bias voltage of varactors for each band. For the tunable dual-band BPF, the simulated results show that the center frequency (CF) of the first passband varies from 2.38 to 2.68 GHz, and the CF of the second passband varies from 3.28 to 3.88 GHz, while 3-dB absolute bandwidths are 101 ± 7 MHz and 98 ± 4 MHz, respectively. Moreover, the two passbands of the filter can also be independently switched by removing the voltage imposed on the varactor CV1 and CV2. The measured results agree well with simulated results, which verify the design theory.

Previous studies have revealed an association between dietary factors and atopic dermatitis (AD). To explore whether there was a causal relationship between diet and AD, we performed Mendelian randomisation (MR) analysis. The dataset of twenty-one dietary factors was obtained from UK Biobank. The dataset for AD was obtained from the publicly available FinnGen consortium. The main research method was the inverse-variance weighting method, which was supplemented by MR‒Egger, weighted median and weighted mode. In addition, sensitivity analysis was performed to ensure the accuracy of the results. The study revealed that beef intake (OR = 0·351; 95 % CI 0·145, 0·847; P = 0·020) and white bread intake (OR = 0·141; 95 % CI 0·030, 0·656; P = 0·012) may be protective factors against AD. There were no causal relationships between AD and any other dietary intake factors. Sensitivity analysis showed that our results were reliable, and no heterogeneity or pleiotropy was found. Therefore, we believe that beef intake may be associated with a reduced risk of AD. Although white bread was significant in the IVW analysis, there was large uncertainty in the results given the wide 95 % CI. Other factors were not associated with AD in this study.

All-fiber coherent beam combiners based on the self-imaging effect can achieve a near-perfect single laser beam, which can provide a promising way to overcome the power limitation of a single-fiber laser. One of the key points is combining efficiency, which is determined by various mismatches during fabrication. A theoretical model has been built, and the mismatch error is analyzed numerically for the first time. The mismatch errors have been numerically studied with the beam quality and combining efficiency being chosen as the evaluation criteria. The tolerance of each mismatch error for causing 1% loss is calculated to guide the design of the beam combiners. The simulation results are consistent with the experimental results, which show that the mismatch error of the square-core fiber is the main cause of the efficiency loss. The results can provide useful guidance for the fabrication of all-fiber coherent beam combiners.

The aims of this study were to examine the spillover effects of violent attacks, coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) exposure, and their interactions on health professionals’ mental health, and the role of organizational support in their relationships in China. A two-phase survey data (n = 10,901) before and after the first outbreak of COVID-19 was integrated with regional macro data on the number of lawsuit cases of violent attacks and COVID-19 cases. Three studies were designed to isolate the general spillover impact of violent attacks on the mental health of health professionals, how COVID-19 affects the mental health of health professionals, and whether organizational support moderates the relationship between violent attacks and mental health through econometric regressions. Violent attacks and COVID-19 are negatively associated with the mental health of health professionals, and the outbreak of COVID-19 adversely deteriorates the spillover effects of violent attacks. Physicians, not nurses, are the most affected group. Better perceived support from hospitals can significantly mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19, violent attacks, and their interactions on the mental health of health professionals. COVID-19 deteriorates the adverse effects of violent attacks on the mental health of health professionals, while better organizational support is helpful to mitigate these effects.

The three-child policy constitutes a hotly debated socio-political issue in China. Upon its announcement, many Chinese citizens have ridiculed the move on social media. Adopting the cognitive mediation model and the influence of presumed influence theory, this study examines how social media exposure to three-child policy-related news and discussions could affect the Chinese public’s attitudes toward the policy. The online survey results show that social media exposure negatively predicts supportive opinion via cognitive elaboration and three types of perceived negative effects of the policy (i.e., perceived negative effects on self, on the public, and on females) in serial. It also finds that institutional trust moderates the relationship between cognitive elaboration and policy support. Only among people with high institutional trust, there is a positive effect of social media exposure on supportive opinion through cognitive elaboration.

During the Neolithic and Bronze Age, goods and ideas moved between Central Asia and the Chinese Central Plain via north-western China. While the crops, animals and technologies exchanged are well documented, the local and social bases of these interactions are poorly known. Here, the authors use petrographic analysis of ceramic sherds from Gansu Province, China, to document the local production of pottery vessels and their circulation between sites. Individual vessel forms are associated with multiple paste recipes indicating the production of similar products by different communities of practice. It is argued the circulation of these vessels forged inter-community relationships. In aggregate, these local networks underpinned longer-distance exchange between Central and East Asia.

During pregnancy, a variety of psychological and physical changes occur in women, which may have different impacts on risk decision-making involving different processes systems. Based on the dual-process theories of decision-making, using the Columbia Card Task (CCT) as the experimental paradigm, which can trigger deliberative versus affective decision-makings respectively, this study recruited 240 pregnant women and non-pregnant women aged 20-40 as the experimental group and control group respectively, investigated how pregnancy impacted on women’s risk decision-making, as well as the possible roles played by a series of psychological factors (impulsivity; sensation seeking; emotional state) and physiological factors (gestational age; human Chorionic Gonadotropin, hCG; progesterone) in the above process. The results were as follows: (a) Compared with non-pregnant women, pregnant women tended to choose fewer cards, indicating a higher risk aversion consistent with a more conservative strategy, both in cold and hot CCTs; in both cold and hot CCTs, compared with pregnant women in the second trimester of pregnancy, pregnant women in the first and the third trimesters of pregnancy had a higher risk aversion tendency. (b) Pregnant women had lower levels of all dimensions of sensation seeking than did non-pregnant women, pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy had lower levels of Disinhibition (DIS) and Boredom Susceptibility (BS) of sensation seeking than pregnant women in the first and the second trimesters of pregnancy, but there was no significant difference in levels of emotional state or impulsivity between pregnant woman and non-pregnant women. (c) DIS of sensation seeking played a fully mediating role in the impact of pregnancy on hot CCT performance. (d) Both hCG and progesterone levels were negatively correlated with pregnant women’s hot CCT performances. (e) Positive emotion played a partial mediating role in the effect of progesterone on hot CCT performance of pregnant women.

In social interactions, people frequently encounter gain (i.e., all outcomes aregains from the status-quo) or loss (all outcomes are losses from the status-quo)social dilemmas, where their personal interests conflict with social interests.We ask whether there are any behavioral differences in social interactions whenit comes to gains and losses. Using the Prisoner’s Dilemma games, inthree studies we observed that participants were less cooperative in the lossdomain than in the gain domain. This effect was robust, not moderated by payoffamount (Study 1), cooperation index (Study 1), domain comparison (Studies 1 and2), and personal loss aversion (Study 3). Social motive and belief explainedthis effect: compared to the gain domain, participants in the loss domainaroused more pro-self motive and less prosocial motive, and showed strongerbeliefs that their partner would defect, which led them to cooperate less. Thesefindings suggest that gain and loss domains affect individual motivation andbelief, subsequently affecting strategic choices in social dilemmas.

With the rapid development of the national economy, the demand for electricity is also growing. Thermal power generation accounts for the highest proportion of power generation, and coal is the most commonly used combustion material. The massive combustion of coal has led to serious environmental pollution. It is significant to improve energy conversion efficiency and reduce pollutant emissions effectively. In this paper, an extreme learning machine model based on improved Kalman particle swarm optimization (ELM-IKPSO) is proposed to establish the boiler combustion model. The proposed modeling method is applied to the combustion modeling process of a 300 MWe pulverized coal boiler. The simulation results show that compared with the same type of modeling method, ELM-IKPSO can better predict the boiler thermal efficiency and NOx emission concentration and also show better generalization performance. Finally, multi-objective optimization is carried out on the established model, and a set of mutually non-dominated boiler combustion solutions is obtained.

Due to the lack of research between the inner layers in the structure of colonic mucous and the metabolism of fatty acid in the constipation model, we aim to determine the changes in the mucous phenotype of the colonic glycocalyx and the microbial community structure following treatment with Rhubarb extract in our research. The constipation and treatment models are generated using adult male C57BL/6N mice. We perform light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to detect a Muc2-rich inner mucus layer attached to mice colon under different conditions. In addition, 16S rDNA sequencing is performed to examine the intestinal flora. According to TEM images, we demonstrate that Rhubarb can promote mucin secretion and find direct evidence of dendritic structure-linked mucus structures with its assembly into a lamellar network in a pore size distribution in the isolated colon section. Moreover, the diversity of intestinal flora has noticeable changes in constipated mice. The present study characterizes a dendritic structure and persistent cross-links have significant changes accompanied by the alteration of intestinal flora in feces in models of constipation and pretreatment with Rhubarb extract.

This study examined the influences of coated folic acid (CFA) and coated riboflavin (CRF) on bull performance, nutrients digestion and ruminal fermentation. Forty-eight Angus bulls based on a randomised block and 2 × 2 factorial design were assigned to four treatments. The CFA of 0 or 6 mg of folic acid/kg DM was supplemented in diets with CRF 0 or 60 mg riboflavin (RF)/kg DM. Supplementation of CRF in diets with CFA had greater increase in daily weight gain and feed efficiency than in diets without CFA. Supplementation with CFA or CRF enhanced digestibility of DM, organic matter, crude protein, neutral-detergent fibre and non-fibre carbohydrate. Ruminal pH and ammonia N content decreased and total volatile fatty acids concentration and acetate to propionate ratio elevated for CFA or CRF addition. Supplement of CFA or CRF increased the activities of fibrolytic enzymes and the numbers of total bacteria, protozoa, fungi, dominant fibrolytic bacteria and Prevotella ruminicola. The activities of α-amylase, protease and pectinase and the numbers of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens and Ruminobacter amylophilus were increased by CFA but were unaffected by CRF. Blood concentration of folate elevated and homocysteine decreased for CFA addition. The CRF supplementation elevated blood concentrations of folate and RF. These findings suggested that CFA or CRF inclusion had facilitating effects on performance and ruminal fermentation, and combined addition of CFA and CRF had greater increase in performance than CFA or CRF addition alone in bulls.

The effect and the mechanism of high glucose on fish muscle cells are not fully understood. In the present study, muscle cells of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) were treated with high glucose (33 mM) in vitro. Cells were incubated in three kinds of medium containing 5 mM glucose, 5 mM glucose and 28 mM mannitol (as an isotonic contrast) or 33 mM glucose named the Control group, the Mannitol group and the high glucose (HG) group, respectively. Results showed that high glucose increased the ADP:ATP ratio and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), induced the release of cytochrome C (CytC) and cell apoptosis. High glucose also led to cell glycogen accumulation by increasing the glucose uptake ability and affecting the mRNA expressions of glycogen synthase and glycogen phosphorylase. Meanwhile, it activated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), inhibited the activity of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway and the expressions of myogenic regulatory factors (MRF). The expressions of myostatin-1 (mstn-1) and E3 ubiquitin ligases including muscle RING-finger protein 1 (murf-1) and muscle atrophy F-box protein (mafbx) were also increased by the high glucose treatment. No difference was found between the Mannitol group and the Control group. These results demonstrate that high glucose has the effects of inducing apoptosis, increasing glycogen accumulation and inhibiting protein synthesis on muscle cells of olive flounder. The mitochondria-mediated apoptotic signalling pathway, AMPK and mTOR pathways participated in these biological effects.