We consider the stability of laminar high-Reynolds-number flow through a planar channel formed by a rigid wall and a heavy compliant wall under longitudinal tension with motion resisted by structural damping. Numerical simulations indicate that the baseline state (with Poiseuille flow and a flat wall) exhibits two unstable normal modes: the Tollmien–Schlichting (TS) mode and a surface-based mode which manifests as one of two flow-induced surface instabilities (FISI), known as travelling wave flutter (TWF) and static divergence (SD), respectively. In the absence of wall damping the system is unstable to TWF, where the neutrally stable wavelength becomes shorter as the wall mass increases. With wall damping, TWF is restricted to long wavelengths through interaction with the most unstable centre mode, while for wall damping greater than a critical value the system exhibits an SD mode with a two branch neutral stability curve; the critical conditions along the upper and lower branches are constructed in the limit of large wall damping. We compute the Reynolds–Orr and activation energy descriptions of these neutrally stable FISI by continuing the linear stability analysis to the following order in perturbation amplitude. We find that both FISI are primarily driven by the working of normal stress on the flexible wall, lower-branch SD has negative activation energy, while upper-branch SD approaches zero activation energy in the limit of large wall damping. Finally, we elucidate interaction between TS and TWF modes for large wall mass, resulting in stable islands within unstable regions of parameter space.

Patients with cirrhosis experience worse health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and attempts are warranted further exploration of modifiable factors to improve HRQoL. Data on the impact of malnutrition risk on HRQoL among cirrhosis are limited; thus, we aimed to strengthen understanding by clarifying the relationship between nutritional status and low HRQoL in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Consecutive inpatients with cirrhosis attending our department within a tertiary hospital were studied. Generic health profiles and malnutrition risk were evaluated by the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) and Royal Free Hospital-Nutritional Prioritizing Tool (RFH-NPT) score, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine association of malnutrition risk with low HRQoL. In this cohort of 364 patients with median age of 64 years and 49·5 % male, 55·5 % of the study population reported impairment pertinent to HRQoL in at least one dimension in terms of the EQ-5D. Moreover, malnutrition risk (RFH-NPT score: β coefficient = −0·114, P = 0·038) was proved to be independently associated with poor HRQoL in multiple analysis, after adjustment for significant variables like age, BMI and markers of decompensation. Notably, we found that health dimensions representing physical function (i.e. mobility, self-care and usual activities) are substantially affected, while malnourished patients reported less frequencies of complaints in other domain such as anxiety/depression. In conclusion, the risk of malnutrition assessed by the RFH-NPT score is independently associated with low HRQoL. It is operational to improve HRQoL by identifying patients at high malnutrition risk and providing timely nutrition treatment.

One novel trend in reducing aero-engine noise is to utilize the silent flight mechanism of owls by applying perforations on fan stator vanes. Consequently, the establishment of relevant theoretical models is of particular interest. The current efforts made in this regard are just targeting the features based on two-dimensional models without including the three-dimensionality. In this paper, we present a three-dimensional solution for acoustic scattering by annular perforated cascades, and the dipole source corresponding to the unsteady pressure loading on the vanes is identified as the dominant sound source. By the singularity method, the acoustic response is obtained with the soft boundary condition applied on the vane surfaces. It is found that considerable noise reduction can be achieved for rotor–stator interaction with a modest uniform porosity, and accordingly two mechanisms are proposed to understand the effect of porosity on propagating sound. The first is that the perforations allowing a normal velocity across the vane reduce the unsteady loading induced by the incident disturbances. The second is that the three-dimensional interactions among the dipole sources at different positions are also dampened by the soft boundaries, thus the distribution of the unsteady pressure loading on the vanes will also change significantly compared to hard-vane cases. Non-uniform distributions of porosity are investigated further, indicating that perforations in the vane upstream area are more effective in reducing propagating noise. Our method is fully three-dimensional and capable of investigating non-uniform porosity, and thus is able to provide useful guidance for future soft vane designs.

Fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 (FNDC5) is a transmembrane protein and the precursor of irisin, which serves as a systemic exerkine/myokine with multiple origins. Since its discovery in 2012, this hormone-like polypeptide has rapidly evolved to a component significantly involved in a gamut of metabolic dysregulations and various liver diseases. After a decade of extensive investigation on FNDC5/irisin, we are still surrounded by lots of open questions regarding its diagnostic and therapeutic values. In this review, we first concentrated on the structure–function relationship of FNDC5/irisin. Next, we comprehensively summarised the current knowledge and research findings regarding pathogenic roles/therapeutic applications of FNDC5/irisin in the context of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, fibrosis, liver injury due to multiple detrimental insults, hepatic malignancy and intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. Moreover, the prominent molecules involved in the underlying mechanisms and signalling pathways were highlighted. As a result, emerging evidence reveals FNDC5/irisin may act as a proxy for diagnosing liver disease pathology, a sensitive biomarker for assessing damage severity, a predisposing factor for surveilling illness progression and a treatment option with protective/preventive impact, all of which are highly dependent on disease grading and contextually pathological features.

Over-the-rotor liner exhibits the potential to further attenuate turbofan noise, but the physics involved remain to be explored. In this paper, a three-dimensional coupled singularity method is proposed to investigate the flow-acoustic coupling effects of axially overlapping annular rotor and finite-length liner in subsonic flow. The formulation adopts the orthogonal basis expansion of the generated disturbances in terms of the hard-walled duct modes. The sound scatterings at the rotor and the liner are then characterized, respectively, by the underdetermined dipole and monopole distributions. We derive a simultaneous solution to the coupled unsteady rotor and liner responses, which ensures that the resultant perturbed field satisfies both the impermeable boundary condition on the blade surfaces and the impedance boundary condition on the lined wall. The effect of a perforated porous-material liner on the wake–rotor interaction tones is investigated. The analysis reveals that for the sound field of varying mode and frequency characteristics, moving the inlet liner to the over-the-rotor location generally leads to limited loss or even an increase of upstream sound absorption, along with additional acoustic benefits in the aft duct. The flow-acoustic coupling between the axially overlapping rotor and liner is shown to alleviate significantly the unsteady blade loading and meanwhile intensify the fluid particle oscillation through the acoustically treated wall. Sound source reduction and sound dissipation enhancement are thus identified as the governing noise attenuation mechanisms. Finally, we extend the analysis to provide insights into the effectiveness of over-the-rotor acoustic treatment with shortened axial length.

The mumps resurgence has frequently been reported around the world in recent years, especially in many counties mumps vaccines have been widely used. This study aimed to describe the spatial epidemiological characteristics of mumps in Jiangsu, and provide a scientific basis for the implementation and adjustment of strategies to prevent and control mumps. The epidemiological characteristics were described with ratio or proportion. Spatial autocorrelation, Tango's flexible spatial scan statistics, and Kulldorff's elliptic spatiotemporal scan statistics were applied to identify the spatial autocorrelation, detect hot and cold spots of mumps incidence, and aggregation areas. A total of 172 775 cases were reported from 2004 to 2020 in Jiangsu. The general trend of mumps incidence is declining with a bimodal seasonal distribution identified mainly in summer and winter, respectively. Children aged 5–10 years old are the main risk group. A migration trend of hot spots from southeast to northwest over time was found. Similar high-risk aggregations were detected in the northwestern parts through spatial-temporal analysis with the most likely cluster time frame around 2019. Local medical and health administrations should formulate and implement targeted health care policies and allocate health resources more appropriately corresponding to the epidemiological characteristics of mumps.

Anaemia is a global public health problem affecting women worldwide, and reproductive-age women are at increased risk. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study analysing the prevalence of overall anaemia and anaemia according to severity in Chinese pre-pregnant women to update current knowledge on anaemia epidemiology. Based on the National Free Preconception Check-up Projects supported by the Chinese government, 5 679 782 women participating in this project in 2017 were included in the present study. The cyanmethemoglobin method was applied to assess Hb concentrations. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were applied for associated factors. The prevalence of anaemia among Chinese pre-pregnant women was 21·64 % (mild: 14·10 %, moderate: 7·17 % and severe : 0·37 %). The prevalence of overall and severe anaemia was the highest in Tibet and the lowest in Beijing among thirty-one provinces. Women’s age, region, ethnic origin, educational level, occupation and pregnancy history were all correlated with anaemia. Women with B blood type (adjusted OR (aOR) = 0·89), higher BMI (overweight: aOR = 0·84; obesity: aOR = 0·70) and alcohol consumption (aOR = 0·69) were less likely to have anaemia, while those with rhesus negative blood type (aOR = 1·10), history of anaemia (aOR = 2·60), older age at menarche (aOR = 1·19), heavy menstrual blood loss (aOR = 1·39), longer menstrual period (aOR = 1·09) and shorter menstrual cycle (aOR = 1·08) were more likely to suffer from anaemia. Meat or egg eaters were not significantly associated with severe anaemia. Anaemia is of moderate public health significance among Chinese pre-pregnant women. Interventions should be considered to prevent anaemia to the greatest extent possible to avoid potential harm in this population.

The molten-salt method was used to synthesize CaBi2Ta2O9 (CBTa) powder, and the influence of temperature on the structure and micromorphology of products was investigated using X-ray diffraction and the scanning and transmission electron microscope. The results showed that highly crystalline CBTa nanoplates exhibit single orthorhombic symmetry and could be obtained in the temperature range of 850–900 °C. Among which, the nanoplates prepared at 900 °C have optimal properties (average grain size of 1.7 μm and uniform size distribution). Above 900 °C, various CaO–Ta2O5 binary compounds, Bi2O3, and BiTaO4 formed due to the decomposition of CBTa and subsequent reactions of decomposition products, transforming plate-like grains to cuboid nano-particles with a small amount of prismatic grains. Possible reaction mechanisms at different synthesizing temperature were proposed. This work provides a method for the preparation of template grains to synthesize textured CaBi2Ta2O9 high-temperature piezoelectric ceramics by the template grain growth method.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite, which can infect almost all warm-blooded animals, including humans, leading to toxoplasmosis. Currently, the effective treatment for human toxoplasmosis is the combination of sulphadiazine and pyrimethamine. However, both drugs have serious side-effects and toxicity in the host. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the discovery of new anti-T. gondii drugs with high potency and less or no side-effects. Our findings suggest that lumefantrine exerts activity against T. gondii by inhibiting its proliferation in Vero cells in vitro without being toxic to Vero cells (P ≤ 0.01). Lumefantrine prolonged mice infected with T. gondii from death for 3 days at the concentration of 50 μg L−1 than negative control (phosphate-buffered saline treated only), and reduced the parasite burden in mouse tissues in vivo (P ≤ 0.01; P ≤ 0.05). In addition, a significant increase in interferon gamma (IFN-γ) production was observed in high-dose lumefantrine-treated mice (P ≤ 0.01), whereas interleukin 10 (IL-10) and IL-4 levels increased in low-dose lumefantrine-treated mice (P ≤ 0.01). The results demonstrated that lumefantrine may be a promising agent to treat toxoplasmosis, and more experiments on the protective mechanism of lumefantrine should be undertaken in further studies.

Evidence has suggested that honey intake has a beneficial impact on glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Whether these findings apply to adults with prediabetes is yet unclear. The aim of the present study was to examine whether honey intake is associated with a lower prevalence of prediabetes. A cross-sectional study was performed in 18 281 participants (mean age 39·6 (sd 11·1) years; men, 51·5 %). Dietary intake was assessed through a validated 100-item FFQ. Prediabetes was defined according to the American Diabetes Association criteria: impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance or raised glycosylated Hb. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between honey consumption and prediabetes. As compared with those who almost never consumed honey, the multivariable OR of prediabetes were 0·94 (95 % CI 0·86, 1·02) for ≤3 times/week, 0·77 (95 % CI 0·63, 0·94) for 4–6 times/week and 0·85 (95 % CI 0·73, 0·99) for ≥1 time/d (Pfor trend < 0·01). These associations did not differ substantially in sensitivity analysis. Higher honey consumption was associated with a decreased prevalence of prediabetes. More large prospective cohort studies are needed to investigate this association.

The vortex sound interaction in acoustic resonance induced by vortex shedding from a cylinder in a flow duct is numerically studied based on a nonlinear physical model, which consists of three meshless sub-models describing the vortex shedding, sound generation and propagation within the duct. In addition, the acoustic particle velocity near the separation point of the shear layer is solved and added onto the Kutta condition of the vortex shedding, which takes the acoustic feedback effect into consideration and makes the vortex sound interaction bi-directional. The predicted results of resonant frequency and amplitude are found to be in conformity with previous experiment data, especially, a continuous description of the onset–sustain–cease of lock-in phenomenon is well captured. The lock-in phenomenon is depicted as a vigorous competition between the vortex shedding frequency $(f_{s})$ and the inherent frequency of the acoustic $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$-mode $(f_{a})$. The mutual capturing behaviour of these two frequencies is dominated by $f_{a}$. Moreover, $f_{s}$ cannot always be locked onto $f_{a}$ within the whole lock-in region, which is in marked contrast to the previous understanding. In this aspect, two lock-in regions, the synchronous region and the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$-mode dominant region, are defined according to the relevance of $f_{s}$ and $f_{a}$. The maximum resonant sound appears at the end of the synchronous region. The present model not only predicts the proper characteristics of frequency lock-in as observed in experiments, but also helps to provide a more detailed understanding of the underlying lock-in mechanism.

As a source of competitive advantages for firms, innovation has boosted scholars’ interest in the identification of its main determinants from the perspective of organizational culture. However, there is a lack of research on innovation cultures in the context of emerging markets. Based on survey data from 433 manufacturing firms (331 Chinese firms and 102 Vietnamese firms), this study addresses this research gap using a hierarchical regression analysis to explore the impact of organizational innovation culture on firms’ new product performance and to examine the moderating effects of institutional environments and organizational cohesion on this relationship. We find that there are positive relationships between organizational innovation culture and firms’ new product performance. In contrast to recent research on organizational cohesion, we report that organizational cohesion has both a direct, positive effect on new product performance and a positive moderating role in organizational innovation culture and firms’ new product performance. Furthermore, regarding the institutional environment in the context of emerging markets, we find that the effects of organizational innovation culture on firms’ new product performance are stronger in China than in Vietnam. Therefore, this paper enriches organizational culture research by providing a multidimensional theoretical framework and extends institutional theory in the context of emerging markets by examining the moderating effect of institutional environments on the relationship between organizational innovation culture and firms’ new product performance in both China and Vietnam.

Many important scientific and technical problems are best addressed using multiple, microscopy-based analytical techniques that combine the strengths of complementary methods. Here, we provide two examples from biomedical challenges: unravelling the attachment zone between dental implants and bone, and uncovering the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease. They combine synchrotron-based scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) with transmission electron microscopy ((S)TEM), electron tomography (ET), EELS tomography, and/or atom probe tomography (APT). STXM provides X-ray absorption based chemical sensitivity at mesoscale resolution (10–30 nm), which complements higher spatial resolution electron microscopy and APT.

Late Carboniferous magmatism in the Chinese Altai provides an important view of geodynamic processes active during crustal growth in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). In this study, five representative peraluminous granite plutons from the Chinese Altai were selected for systematic geochronological, geochemical and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic analyses (Table 1). These granites were emplaced between 449 and 327 Ma in an active subduction zone, and have moderate to high SiO2 (66.54–76.13 wt%), moderate Na2O+K2O (6.27–7.66 wt%), and high Al2O3 contents (12.43–16.18 wt%). All granite samples in this study showed significant decoupling of the Nd and Hf isotope systems. Results show negative εNd(t) values (−3.3 to −0.9), and predominantly positive εHf(t) values (+0.24 to +8.01, n=57) except for a few negative εHf(t) values (−7.44 to −0.03, n=9), high Mg# values (28.69–53.33), high Nd/Hf ratios (4.26–43.57), and enrichment of large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs; e.g. Pb, Th, and U), suggesting that the granites were derived from the partial melting of oceanic sediments and the associated mantle wedge, with fractionation of plagioclase, K-feldspar and biotite. In situ zircon Hf isotopic analyses yield negative εHf(t) values from −30.6 to −13.7 for the zircon xenocrysts. The U–Pb ages and Hf isotopic ratios of these zircon xenocrysts were probably inherited from oceanic sediments. Zircon saturation temperatures suggest that these peraluminous granites were emplaced at 537–765°C. We propose that: (1) the Nd isotopic system more faithfully reflects the source of peraluminous magmas in the Chinese Altai than the Hf isotopic system, and (2) the oceanic sediment recycling was an important process during continental growth in the CAOB.

Variable stiffness can improve the capability of human–robot interacting. Based on the mechanism of a flexible rack and gear, a rotational joint actuator named vsaFGR is proposed to regulate the joint stiffness. The flexible gear rack can be regarded as a combination of a non-linear elastic element and a linear adjusting mechanism, providing benefits of compactness. The joint stiffness is in the range of 217–3527 N.m/rad, and it is inversely proportional to the 4th-order of the gear displacement, and nearly independent from the joint angular deflection, providing benefits of quick stiffness regulation in a short displacement of 20 mm. The gear displacement with respect to the flexible gear rack is perpendicular to the joint loading force, so the power required for stiffness regulating is as low as 14.4 W, providing benefits of energy saving. The working principles of vsaFGR are elaborated, followed by presentation on the mechanics model and the prototype. The high compactness, great stiffness range and low power cost of vsaFGR are proved by simulations and experiments.

Biological hydrogel is important in drug delivery system and tissue engineering. In this paper, we prepared a series of biological hydrogels with N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan (CS) and oxidized safflower and ligusticum wallichii polysaccharide-II (oxidized SLWP-II). Morphological analysis indicated the N,O-carboxymethyl CS/oxidized SLWP-II hydrogels (CSLHs) had porous interior structures, pore diameter ranged from tens to hundreds of micrometers. In vitro release test showed, with proportion of N,O-carboxymethyl CS to oxidized SLWP increasing from 1:1 to 1:3, cumulative release of bovine serum albumin decreased from 99 to 82%. In vitro cytotoxicity study showed that the developed hydrogels were not cytotoxic during one week of culturing with WI-38 cells, and they have a role in promoting cell proliferation. So the N,O-carboxymethyl CS/oxidized safflower and ligusticum wallichii polysaccharide-II hydrogels might have potential application in the drug delivery system and tissue engineering.