In this paper, CuCr–Zr alloys prepared by vacuum melting with adding La and Ni elementswere heat-treated and aged, followed by plastic deformation using low-energy cyclic impact tests, to simultaneously improve their mechanical and electrical properties. Results showed that the grain size of the casted Cu–Cr–Zr alloys was significantly reduced after the solid-solution aging and plastic deformation process. There were a lot of dispersed Cr and Cu5Zr precipitates formed in the alloys, and the numbers of dislocations were significantly increased. Accordingly, the hardness was increased from 78 to 232 HV, and the tensile strength was increased from 225 to 691 MPa. Electrical conductivity has not been significantly affected after these processes. The enhancement of overall performance is mainly attributed to the combined effects of solid-solution hardening, fine grain hardening, and precipitation/dislocation strengthening.

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has presented an unprecedented challenge to the health-care system across the world. The current study aims to identify the determinants of illness severity of COVID-19 based on ordinal responses. A retrospective cohort of COVID-19 patients from four hospitals in three provinces in China was established, and 598 patients were included from 1 January to 8 March 2020, and divided into moderate, severe and critical illness group. Relative variables were retrieved from electronic medical records. The univariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression models were fitted to identify the independent predictors of illness severity. The cohort included 400 (66.89%) moderate cases, 85 (14.21%) severe and 113 (18.90%) critical cases, of whom 79 died during hospitalisation as of 28 April. Patients in the age group of 70+ years (OR = 3.419, 95% CI: 1.596–7.323), age of 40–69 years (OR = 1.586, 95% CI: 0.824–3.053), hypertension (OR = 3.372, 95% CI: 2.185–5.202), ALT >50 μ/l (OR = 3.304, 95% CI: 2.107–5.180), cTnI >0.04 ng/ml (OR = 7.464, 95% CI: 4.292–12.980), myohaemoglobin>48.8 ng/ml (OR = 2.214, 95% CI: 1.42–3.453) had greater risk of developing worse severity of illness. The interval between illness onset and diagnosis (OR = 1.056, 95% CI: 1.012–1.101) and interval between illness onset and admission (OR = 1.048, 95% CI: 1.009–1.087) were independent significant predictors of illness severity. Patients of critical illness suffered from inferior survival, as compared with patients in the severe group (HR = 14.309, 95% CI: 5.585–36.659) and in the moderate group (HR = 41.021, 95% CI: 17.588–95.678). Our findings highlight that the identified determinants may help to predict the risk of developing more severe illness among COVID-19 patients and contribute to optimising arrangement of health resources.

Dysregulation in hepatic lipid synthesis by excess dietary carbohydrate intake is often relevant with the occurrence of fatty liver; therefore, the thorough understanding of the regulation of lipid deposition and metabolism seems crucial to search for potential regulatory targets. In the present study, we examined TAG accumulation, lipid metabolism-related gene expression, the enzyme activities of lipogenesis-related enzymes, the protein levels of transcription factors or genes involving lipogenesis in the livers of yellow catfish fed five dietary carbohydrate sources, such as glucose, maize starch, sucrose, potato starch and dextrin, respectively. Generally speaking, compared with other carbohydrate sources, dietary glucose promoted TAG accumulation, up-regulated lipogenic enzyme activities and gene expressions, and down-regulated mRNA expression of genes involved in lipolysis and small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) modification pathways. Further studies found that sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1), a key transcriptional factor relevant to lipogenic regulation, was modified by SUMO1. Mutational analyses found two important sites for SUMOylation modification (K254R and K264R) in SREBP1. Mutant SREBP lacking lysine 264 up-regulated the transactivation capacity on an SREBP-responsive promoter. Glucose reduced the SUMOylation level of SREBP1 and promoted the protein expression of SREBP1 and its target gene stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1), indicating that SUMOylation of SREBP1 mediated glucose-induced hepatic lipid metabolism. Our study elucidated the molecular mechanism of dietary glucose increasing hepatic lipid deposition and found that the SREBP-dependent transactivation was regulated by SUMO1 modification, which served as a new target for the transcriptional programmes governing lipid metabolism.

Data on average iodine requirements for the Chinese population are limited following implementation of long-term universal salt iodisation. We explored the minimum iodine requirements of young adults in China using a balance experiment and the ‘iodine overflow’ hypothesis proposed by our team. Sixty healthy young adults were enrolled to consume a sequential experimental diet containing low, medium and high levels of iodine (about 20, 40 and 60 μg/d, respectively). Each dose was consumed for 4 d, and daily iodine intake, excretion and retention were assessed. All participants were in negative iodine balance throughout the study. Iodine intake, excretion and retention differed among the three iodine levels (P < 0·01 for all groups). The zero-iodine balance derived from a random effect model indicated a mean iodine intake of 102 μg/d, but poor correlation coefficients between observed and predicted iodine excretion (r 0·538 for μg/d data) and retention (r 0·304 for μg/d data). As iodine intake increased from medium to high, all of the increased iodine was excreted (‘overflow’) through urine and faeces by males, and 89·5 % was excreted by females. Although the high iodine level (63·4 μg/d) might be adequate in males, the corresponding level of 61·6 μg/d in females did not meet optimal requirements. Our findings indicate that a daily iodine intake of approximately half the current recommended nutrient intake (120 μg/d) may satisfy the minimum iodine requirements of young male adults in China, while a similar level is insufficient for females based on the ‘iodine overflow’ hypothesis.

The stability of a thin falling film with both surface elasticity and surface viscosities induced by insoluble surfactants on its free surface is studied. Based on the full Navier–Stokes equations and surfactant concentration equation with corresponding boundary conditions, a weighted residual model (WRM) is derived to investigate the long-wave instability of the thin film incorporating the influence of surfactants. The Chebyshev spectral collocation method is employed to solve the linear stability of the film. The results show good agreement between the WRM and full equations. It is found that surface elasticity decreases the temporal growth rate and increases the critical Reynolds number, showing a stabilizing impact on the film. And the surface viscosity effect slightly reduces the growth rate and cutoff wavenumber while it does not alter the critical Reynolds number. Nonlinear travelling wave solutions are obtained using the WRM equations. As the surface elasticity is enhanced, the speed of travelling waves gradually approaches the corresponding linear neutral value, implying that the dispersion effect is damped; and the amplitudes of both fast waves and slow waves are suppressed by surface elasticity. Moreover, the bifurcation diagram of travelling waves is influenced by the surface viscosity, which basically promotes the speed of travelling waves with relatively large wavelengths. As the surface viscosity effect becomes stronger, for fast waves the amplitude of the humps slightly increases while that of the troughs becomes smaller for slow waves.

Conventional alloy design based on a single primary element has reached its limits in terms of performance optimization. An alloy design strategy with multi-principal elements has recently been uncovered to overcome this bottleneck. Multicomponent alloys, generally referred to as high-entropy alloys (HEAs), exhibit many promising properties, especially outstanding mechanical performance at cryogenic, ambient, and elevated temperatures. In this article, we focus on precipitation-hardened HEAs, which are potential candidates for next-generation structural materials, especially at high temperatures. The key issues involved include precipitation behaviors, phase stability, and phase control, all of which provide useful guidelines for further development of high-temperature materials with superior performance. In particular, we address the formation of cellular γ′ precipitates at grain boundaries, which is closely related to the embrittlement of HEAs at intermediate temperatures. Critical issues and design strategies in developing HEAs for high-temperature applications are also discussed.

In response to a series of strikes in south China in 2010, a new model of collective bargaining has emerged, featuring what this article describes as “moderated mobilization.” Distinct from what is typically known as China's quadripartite industrial relations system, whereby workers are separated from the party-state, official trade unions and employers, this model shows workers and enterprise-level trade unions in collaboration with one another. According to our observations from 2012 to 2017, some enterprise unions have successfully mobilized workers throughout the collective bargaining process. These unions are democratically elected by workers and are relatively independent from the official authorities. At the same time, they have “moderated” such mobilization particularly to reduce labour militancy, given the political and institutional constraints within which they must work. The implication of this new model is significant. Although it might be far from solving the quadripartite dilemma, it has signalled an increase in local initiatives among enterprise unions – a previously neglected but pragmatically favourable channel for workers.

The carbon isotope value of ethane in the southern part of the Jingbian gas field is lower than that in the northern part, indicating a carbon isotopic reversal in the southern Jingbian gas field (δ13Cmethane > δ13Cethane). Through comparing the geochemical characteristics of gases in the southern and northern parts of the gas field, the reasons for the carbon isotopic reversal in the southern Jingbian gas field were determined to be high thermal maturity and mixing action. When thermal maturity reaches a critical value, the carbon isotope value of ethane becomes relatively more depleted with thermal maturity. Although the carbon isotope value of methane increases with thermal maturity, the extent is relatively smaller. Finally, the rare phenomenon of δ13Cmethane > δ13Cethane occurs. High thermal maturity leads to the secondary thermal cracking of gases. Mixing of the cracked gases and primary gases also leads to carbon isotopic reversal. Both of the above mechanisms share a common premise, which is high thermal maturity.

In this study, a thermal–elastic–plastic finite element model is proposed to investigate the effect of volume energy density on the temperature field, molten pool size, and residual stress distribution in the selective laser melting (SLM) process of Inconel 718 alloy. A temperature-dependent thermal–mechanical property of materials is considered, as well as the properties conversion between powder layer and solidified alloy. Within the scope of the study parameters, the simulated molten pool size increases with increasing volume energy density and exhibits linear growth relationship, which are validated by the experimental results and show a good agreement. In addition, five scanning strategies are adopted to study the effect of these scanning strategies on the residual stress distribution in this research. The results show that the residual stress distribution of SLM Inconel 718 specimen largely depends on the scanning strategy. Finally, to reveal the mechanism of residual stress formation, the restraint bar model is used to further analyze the formation mechanism of residual stress during the SLM process.

We conducted a 9-d seismic experiment in October 2015 at Laohugou Glacier No. 12. We identified microseismic signals using the short-term/long-term average trigger algorithm at four stations and classified them as long and short-duration events based on waveform, frequency, duration and magnitude characteristics. Both categories show systematical diurnal trends. The long-duration events are low-frequency tremor-like events that mainly occurred during the daytime with only several events per day. These events lasted tens of seconds to tens of minutes and are likely related to resonance of daytime meltwater. The dominant short-duration events mostly occurred during the night time with a peak occurrence frequency of ~360 h−1. Their short-duration (<0.2 s), high frequency (20–100 Hz) and dominance of Rayleigh waves are typical of events for near-surface crack opening. A strong negative correlation between the hourly event number and temperature change rate suggests that the occurrence of night-time events is controlled by the rate of night-time cooling. We estimated the near-surface tensile stress due to thermal contraction at night to be tens of kilopascals, which is enough to induce opening of surface cracks with pre-existing local stress concentrations, although we cannot exclude the effect of refreezing of meltwater produced during the day.

For a multiplier Hopf algebra pairing 〈A,B〉, we construct a class of group-cograded multiplier Hopf algebras D(A,B), generalizing the classical construction of finite dimensional Hopf algebras introduced by Panaite and Staic Mihai [Isr. J. Math. 158 (2007), 349–365]. Furthermore, if the multiplier Hopf algebra pairing admits a canonical multiplier in M(B⊗A) we show the existence of quasitriangular structure on D(A,B). As an application, some special cases and examples are provided.