Selenium (Se) deficiency causes impaired growth of fish skeletal muscle due to the retarded hypertrophy of muscle fibers. However, the inner mechanisms remain unclear. According to our previous researches, we infer this phenomenon is associated with Se deficiency-induced high concentration of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which could suppress the target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) pathway-mediated protein synthesis by inhibiting protein kinase B (Akt), an upstream protein of TORC1. To test this hypothesis, juvenile zebrafish (45 days post fertilization) were fed a basal Se-adequate diet or a basal Se-deficient diet, or them supplemented with an antioxidant (DL-α-tocopherol acetate, designed as VE) or a TOR activator (MHY1485) for 30 days. Zebrafish fed Se-deficient diets exhibited a clear Se-deficient status in skeletal muscle, which was not influenced by dietary VE and MHY1485. Se deficiency significantly elevated ROS concentrations, inhibited Akt activity and TORC1 pathway, suppressed protein synthesis in skeletal muscle, and impaired hypertrophy of skeletal muscle fibers. However, these negative effects of Se deficiency were partly (except that on ROS concentration) alleviated by dietary MHY1485 and completely alleviated by dietary VE. These data strongly support our speculation that Se deficiency-induced high concentration of ROS exerts a clear inhibiting effect on TORC1 pathway-mediated protein synthesis by regulating Akt activity, thereby restricting the hypertrophy of skeletal muscle fibers in fish. Our findings provide a mechanistic explanation for Se deficiency-caused retardation of fish skeletal muscle growth, contributing to a better understanding of the nutritional necessity and regulatory mechanisms of Se in fish muscle physiology.

Turbulence modulation by finite-size particles in homogeneous isotropic turbulence (HIT) has been investigated numerically and experimentally in many studies, but its controlling parameters are not fully clear. In this work, four non-dimensional parameters governing the turbulent modulation by non-settling particles, i.e. $Re_\lambda$ of the background HIT, the particle-to-fluid density ratio $\rho _p/\rho _f$, the relative particle size $d_p/\eta$ and the particle volume fraction $\phi _v$, are identified through dimensional analysis. Then, a parameterization study is conducted based on results from fully resolved direct numerical simulations to investigate the influence of the above non-dimensional parameters on the modulation of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and viscous dissipation rate. Empirical models that quantitatively predict the modulation of TKE and dissipation rate are then developed by fitting in the simulation results. These models are used to examine the turbulence modulation results reported in the literature. The model predictions and the data points of TKE modulation show reasonable agreement, but the model predicting the modulation of dissipation rate needs further deliberation as the credibility of the available data points is currently difficult to assess. The generality and the physics behind these empirical models also require further investigation.

My 5 moments (M5M) was used less frequently among cleaning staff members, suggesting that a poor compliance score in this group may not indicate deficient handwashing. This quasi-experimental study compared hand hygiene compliance (HHC), hand hygiene (HH) moments, and HH time distribution in the control group (no HH intervention; n = 21), case group 1 (normal M5M intervention; n = 26), case group 2 (extensive novel six moments (NSM) training; n = 24), and case group 3 (refined NSM training; n = 18). The intervention’s effect was evaluated after 3 months. The HHC gap among the four groups gradually increased in the second intervention month (control group, 31.43%; case group 1, 38.74%; case group 2, 40.19%; case group 3, 52.21%; p < 0.05). After the intervention period, the HHC of case groups 2 and 3 improved significantly from the baseline (23.85% vs. 59.22%, 27.41% vs. 83.62%, respectively; p < 0.05). ‘After transferring medical waste from the site’ had the highest HHC in case group 3, 90.72% (95% confidence interval, 0.1926–0.3967). HH peak hours were from 6 AM to 9 AM and 2 PM to 3 PM. The study showed that the implementation of an NSM practice can serve as an HHC monitoring indicator and direct relevant training interventions to improve HH among hospital cleaning staff.

The transport phenomena of dust particles have been widely observed in fusion plasmas. In this article, we report the observations of dust fragmentations in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). A dust particle splits into two daughter particles and their motions are recorded before and after the breakup with a fast video camera. The trajectories of the daughter particles in the experiment are consistent with equation-of-motion simulations. The stability of a rotating charged particle in the plasma is briefly discussed.

The current study aims to confirm the positive effects of dietary nano-Se on nutrients deposition and muscle fibre formation in grass carp fed with high-fat diet (HFD) before overwintering and to reveal its possible molecular mechanism. The lipid deposition, protein synthesis and muscle fibre formation in grass carp fed with regular diet (RD), HFD or HFD supplemented with nano-Se (0·3 or 0·6 mg/kg) for 60 d were tested. Results show that nano-Se significantly reduced lipid content, dripping loss and fibre diameter (P < 0·05), but increased protein content, post-mortem pH24 h and muscle fibre density (P < 0·05) in muscle of grass carp fed with HFD. Notably, dietary nano-Se decreased lipid deposition in the muscle by regulating amp-activated protein kinase activity and increased protein synthesis and fibre formation in muscle by activating target of rapamycin and myogenic determining factors pathways. In summary, dietary nano-Se can regulate the nutrients deposition and muscle fibre formation in grass carp fed with HFD, which exhibit potential benefit for improving flesh quality of grass carp fed with HFD.

This study conducts direct numerical simulations of free-streaming turbulence passing over individual fixed particles and particle arrays of different number densities. The purpose is to investigate the changes in the mean particle drag due to turbulent environments and the responsible mechanisms. It is confirmed that turbulent environments significantly enhance the particle drag relative to the standard drag in a uniform flow, and the nonlinear dependency of the drag force on the instantaneous incoming flow velocity is insufficient to explain the enhancement. Two mechanisms of particle–turbulence interactions are found to be responsible for the particle drag enhancements. The first mechanism is the enlarged pressure drops on the particle surface, mainly governed by the large scales in turbulent flows. The second mechanism is the increased viscous stresses on the particle surface, dominated by the small scales that enhance the mixing of the low- and high-speed fluids across the particle boundary layer. In terms of quantitative drag enhancement predictions, more general models accounting for the anisotropy of the turbulence are proposed, which fit well with both the simulation data generated in this study and those reported in the literature. Finally, by measuring the drag forces of laminar and turbulent flows passing over arrays of particles, it is found that the overall particle drag increases with decreasing particle–particle relative gap distance. However, the relative enhancement due to turbulence decreases with the particle–particle relative gap distance.

A new isolated out-of-phase filtering power divider/combiner with high selectivity is presented. Based on a single-layer microstrip, required coupling strength and phase difference are achieved by two pairs of three-line coupled feeding structures. To realize desired bandpass responses, a specific resonator is located between the input and output coupled structures. By connecting a half-wavelength transmission line which is centrally loaded with a grounded resistor between two output ports, high port-to-port isolation is attained. Based on the impedance matrix of coupled three-line structure, theoretical filtering responses are predicted with the specified bandwidth and return loss. For demonstration, a prototype is designed, fabricated, and tested. Both simulated and measured results are displayed to verify the design mechanism.

Coastal eutrophication and hypoxia remain a persistent environmental crisis despite the great efforts to reduce nutrient loading and mitigate associated environmental damages. Symptoms of this crisis have appeared to spread rapidly, reaching developing countries in Asia with emergences in Southern America and Africa. The pace of changes and the underlying drivers remain not so clear. To address the gap, we review the up-to-date status and mechanisms of eutrophication and hypoxia in global coastal oceans, upon which we examine the trajectories of changes over the 40 years or longer in six model coastal systems with varying socio-economic development statuses and different levels and histories of eutrophication. Although these coastal systems share common features of eutrophication, site-specific characteristics are also substantial, depending on the regional environmental setting and level of social-economic development along with policy implementation and management. Nevertheless, ecosystem recovery generally needs greater reduction in pressures compared to that initiated degradation and becomes less feasible to achieve past norms with a longer time anthropogenic pressures on the ecosystems. While the qualitative causality between drivers and consequences is well established, quantitative attribution of these drivers to eutrophication and hypoxia remains difficult especially when we consider the social economic drivers because the changes in coastal ecosystems are subject to multiple influences and the cause–effect relationship is often non-linear. Such relationships are further complicated by climate changes that have been accelerating over the past few decades. The knowledge gaps that limit our quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the human-coastal ocean nexus are identified, which is essential for science-based policy making. Recognizing lessons from past management practices, we advocate for a better, more efficient indexing system of coastal eutrophication and an advanced regional earth system modeling framework with optimal modules of human dimensions to facilitate the development and evaluation of effective policy and restoration actions.

In the present work, direct numerical simulation of a laboratory-scale lean premixed reacting jet in cross-flow was performed to explore the flow–flame structures and turbulence–flame interactions. A jet of lean premixed ethylene–air mixtures (equivalence ratio $\phi = 0.6$) was injected into a hot vitiated cross-flow. Both non-reacting and reacting cases were simulated. It was found that the reacting jet penetrates deeper in the cross-flow with a weaker shear layer compared with the non-reacting one. The wake of the non-reacting and reacting jet is characterized by vertical vortices and recirculation zones, respectively. As for the flame structure of the reacting case, the reaction intensity varies considerably in different flame zones. The heat release rate on the leeward side is higher than that on the windward side, but lower than that of the corresponding laminar flame. The analysis of the turbulence–flame interactions of the reacting case showed that the large local Damköhler number ($Da$) related to reaction-induced dilatations results in an increased tendency of the scalar gradient to align with the most extensive strain rate, which is more evident in the regions with high heat release rate on the leeward side. Negative dilatation regions with positive tangential strain rate and negative normal strain rate are observed on the windward side. High positive dilatations appear on the flame front of the leeward side. The tangential strain rate is negatively correlated with the normal strain rate and curvature. Regions with a high local $Da$ on the windward side correspond with high positive curvature regions.

Rationally higher population density is crucial for seeking a balance that meets lodging resistance and maximizes seed yield in mechanized direct-seeded winter canola. In this study, a split-plot experiment with two cultivars (Huayouza9 and Zhongshuang11) and eleven planting densities (12–105 plants m-2) was conducted in a two-season field experiment to evaluate the high planting density in this cropping system and improve its production efficiency. Seed yield noticeably increased in planting density up to 80 plants m-2 in Zhongshuang11 (2187 kg hm-2) and 60 plants m-2 in Huayouza9 (2943 kg hm-2). The seed yield of Huayouza9 did not differ significantly from the local target seed yield. Higher plant density curtailed the luxurious vegetative growth of individual canola plants at the density of no less than 60–80 plants m-2, and high seed yield was derived from the increased ratio of main raceme and branch seed weight in winter canola. An increase in plant densities contributed to the reinforced sunlight interception at the pod-filling stage, providing a larger canopy photosynthetic area for the rapid growth of more canola pods at higher densities (60–105 plants m-2). Lodging resistance and breaking resistance decreased sharply with the plant density increasing from 12 to 60 plants m-2 while remaining almost steady as it further increased from 60 to 105 plants m-2 for Huayouza9 and Zhongshuang11. Hence, the population density of 60 plants m-2 reached a balance between lodging resistance and maximized seed yield in mechanized direct-seeded winter canola in China.

The highly nonlinear evolution of the single-mode stratified compressible Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) is investigated via direct numerical simulation over a range of Atwood numbers ($A_T=0.1$–$0.9$) and Mach numbers ($Ma=0.1$–$0.7$) for characterising the isothermal background stratification. After the potential stage, it is found that the bubble is accelerated to a velocity which is well above the saturation value predicted in the potential flow model. Unlike the bubble re-acceleration behaviour in quasi-incompressible RTI with uniform background density, the characteristics in the stratified compressible RTI are driven by not only vorticity accumulation inside the bubble but also flow compressibility resulting from the stratification. Specifically, in the case of strong stratification and high $A_T$, the flow compressibility dominates the bubble re-acceleration characters. To model the effect of flow compressibility, we propose a novel model to reliably describe the bubble re-acceleration behaviours in the stratified compressible RTI, via introducing the dilatation into the classical model that takes into account only vorticity accumulation.

During its transition to a market economy, structural inequalities became increasingly apparent across China’s workforce, threatening social harmony. China’s 2008 Employment Contract Law, legislated amid policy debate, was intended to remedy these phenomena. We examine a crucial element of its remit: has its promotion of continuing contracts as against fixed-term employment contracts been effective? This is crucial for improving workers’ rights through secure employment. How have employers responded to this challenge to their prerogatives in terms of hiring and firing? We analysed data from 2007 and 2012 drawn from All-China Federation of Trade Unions surveys, which cover approximately 80,000 individuals. Using institutional theory, we discuss a variety of employer responses. We find that the Employment Contract Law has increased the likelihood of signing continuing contracts among migrant workers, employees in privately owned enterprises, and those with lower professional titles and who are short-term employees – all disadvantaged labour market categories previously. It has also significantly narrowed gaps regarding access to continuing contracts between these categories and matched advantaged ones. There is also evidence that some employers seek to avoid or sidestep compliance through cost-minimising worker engagement strategies.

Shame leads to devaluation of the social self, and thus to a desire to improve self-esteem. Money, which is related to the notion of one’s ability, may help people demonstrate competence and gain self-esteem and respect from others. Based on the perspectives of feelings-as-information and threatened ego, we tested the hypothesis that a sense of shame heightens the desire for money, prompting self-interested behaviors as reflected by monetary donations and social value orientation. The results showed that subjects in the shame condition donated less money (Experiment 1) and exhibited more self-interested choices in the modified decomposed game (Experiment 2). The desire for money as reflected in overestimated coin sizes mediated the effect of shame on self-interested behavior. Our findings suggest that shame elicits the desire to acquire money to amend the threatened social self and improve self-esteem; however, it may induce a self-interested inclination that could harm social relationships.

Intertemporal choices involve tradeoffs between outcomes that occur at different times. Most of the research has used pure gains tasks and the discount rates yielding from those tasks to explain and predict real-world behaviors and consequences. However, real decisions are often more complex and involve mixed outcomes (e.g., sooner-gain and later-loss or sooner-loss and later-gain). No study has used mixed gain-loss intertemporal tradeoff tasks to explain and predict real-world behaviors and consequences, and studies involving such tasks are also scarce. Considering that tasks involving a combination of gains and losses may yield different discount rates and that existing pure gains tasks do not explain or predict real-world outcomes well, this study conducted two experiments to compare the discount rates of mixed gain-loss intertemporal tradeoffs with those of pure gains or pure losses (Experiment 1) and to examine whether these tasks predicted different real-world behaviors and consequences (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 suggests that the discount rate ordering of the four tasks was, from highest to lowest, pure gains, sooner-loss and later-gain, pure losses, and sooner-gain and later-loss. Experiment 2 indicates that the evidence supporting the claim that the discount rates of the four tasks were related to different real-world behaviors and consequences was insufficient.

Two new species of the lichenized genus Lasioloma are described from Asia: Lasioloma longiramosum W. C. Wang & A. Abas (collected from Malaysia), is characterized by a distinct woolly prothallus between dispersed thallus patches, comparatively small, muriform ascospores, long filiform conidia (main branch 22–28 μm in length, the other three branches 65–80 μm) and a foliicolous habitat; L. verrucosum W. C. Wang & X. L. Wei (collected from China), is characterized by a warted thallus, filiform conidia (main branch 22–32 μm in length, the other three branches 50–65 μm) and a corticolous habitat. The placement of both new species was confirmed by a molecular phylogenetic approach based on combined ITS, mtSSU and mtLSU sequences, and both are compared in detail to other similar species of the genus. Our study also revealed that the length of the conidial branches, which has not been explored in previous studies, should be regarded as an important feature for species delimitation in Lasioloma.