A highly compressive effect would suppress the mixing of the shear layer in a convex wall jet. The spanwise distributed protrusions at the nozzle lip are employed to achieve mixing enhancement in this study. The mixing characteristics and enhancement mechanisms are numerically investigated by the delayed detached-eddy simulation method based on the two-equation shear-stress transport model. A widely applicable flow spatiotemporal analysis method, called proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), is used to gain further insight into the dynamical behaviours of the flow instability mode. The results reveal that the centrifugal effect maintains and amplifies the initial perturbations induced by the spanwise distributed heterogeneities, resulting in forced streamwise vortices. The instabilities induced by the streamwise vortices significantly increase the growth rate of the jet half-width and the shear layer vorticity thickness. The spanwise wavelength of the streamwise vortices is consistent with the spanwise distributed forced excitation. In addition, the spanwise meandering motion of the streamwise vortices is observed, which is usually associated with the streamwise travelling wave. This is further confirmed by the POD analysis of the spanwise velocity fluctuation in both stream-radial and stream-span sections. Also, the spatial distributions of the POD modes with the highest energy provide information on the secondary instability modes. Both sinuous and varicose types of disturbances are observed in the unforced jet, whereas the forced jet seems to be dominated by the sinuous type instability, which is more easily excited than the varicose type instability. Moreover, the turbulence intensity in the forced jet is also significantly enhanced as expected due to the earlier and stronger streamwise vortices and associated instabilities. The enhanced turbulent characteristics of the highly compressible condition tend to be isotropic, whereas in the unforced jet, it is anisotropic due to the strong compressibility suppressing the spanwise turbulent fluctuations.

We explored the transmission mechanisms of corporate fraud and its punishments within social network communities. Using fraud triangle theory and trust triangle theory, we hypothesize four transmitting channels of how fraud commission and detection are affected by peers’ fraud and punishment. Based on Chinese listed corporations from 2008 to 2018, we first construct and detect interlocked social network communities with a community-detecting algorithm, and then examine hypotheses using a bivariate probit model with partial observability. Our findings indicate that peer-concealing and -hinting effects exist within social network communities. The peer-concealing effect decreases the likelihood of being detected when committing fraud, for those with more and closer fraudulent peers. The peer-hinting effect increases the likelihood of being detected when committing fraud, for those with more and closer punished peers. There is no evidence to support peer-contagion and vicarious-punishment effects. Thus, an improved understanding of the transmission mechanism of corporate fraud commission and detection within communities is provided to prevent and detect corporate fraud. In addition, stakeholders and regulators should be aware of the deviant subculture and social distancing in social network communities.

Choline plays a crucial role in hepatic lipid homeostasis by acting as a major methyl-group donor. However, despite this well-accepted fact, no study has yet explored how choline’s methyl-donor function contributes to preventing hepatic lipid dysregulation. Moreover, the potential regulatory role of Ire-1α, an ER-transmembrane transducer for the unfolded protein response (UPRer), in choline-mediated hepatic lipid homeostasis remains unexplored. Thus, this study investigated the mechanism by which choline prevents hepatic lipid dysregulation, focusing on its role as a methyl-donor and the involvement of Ire-1α in this process. To this end, a model animal for lipid metabolism, yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) were fed two different diets (adequate or deficient choline diets) in vivo for 10 weeks. The key findings of studies are as follows: 1. Dietary choline, upregulated selected lipolytic and fatty acid β-oxidation transcripts promoting hepatic lipid homeostasis. 2. Dietary choline ameliorated UPRer and prevented hepatic lipid dysregulation mainly through ire-1α signalling, not perk or atf-6α signalling. 3. Choline inhibited the transcriptional expression level of ire-1α by activating site-specific DNA methylations in the promoter of ire-1α. 4. Choline-mediated ire-1α methylations reduced Ire-1α/Fas interactions, thereby further inhibiting Fas activity and reducing lipid droplet deposition. These results offer a novel insight into the direct and indirect regulation of choline on lipid metabolism genes and suggests a potential crosstalk between ire-1α signalling and choline-deficiency-induced hepatic lipid dysregulation, highlighting the critical contribution of choline as a methyl-donor in maintaining hepatic lipid homeostasis.

A single-shot measurement of electron emittance was experimentally accomplished using a focused transfer line with a dipole. The betatron phase of electrons based on laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is energy dependent owing to the coupling of the longitudinal acceleration field and the transverse focusing (defocusing) field in the bubble. The phase space presents slice information after phase compensation relative to the center energy. Fitting the transverse size of the electron beam at different energy slices in the energy spectrum measured 0.27 mm mrad in the experiment. The diagnosis of slice emittance facilitates local electron quality manipulation, which is important for the development of LWFA-based free electron lasers. The quasi-3D particle-in-cell simulations matched the experimental results and analysis well.

The supersonic jet over a convex wall is numerically investigated using the delayed detached-eddy simulation method based on the two-equation shear-stress transport model. The current study focuses on instabilities, turbulent statistics and the influence of compressibility effects. A widely applicable data-driven modal decomposition approach, called dynamic mode decomposition is used to gain further insight into the dynamical behaviours of the flow. The results demonstrate that streamwise vortices caused by the centrifugal force play significant roles in shear layer instabilities. The spanwise modulation of the streamwise vortices induces inflection points in the flow, resulting in secondary shear layer instability. This instability, which is sustained by the side-to-side sway of the streamwise vortices to obtain energy from the mean flow, dominates the rapid growth of the shear layer and turbulent stresses in the growth region. In the self-similar region, there is not only self-similarity of velocity profiles, but also self-similarity of normalized turbulent stresses. The compressibility effect significantly inhibits the growth of the shear layer and the formation of large-scale streamwise vortices. The investigation of turbulent stresses in the self-similar region with increasing convective Mach number indicates that the compressibility effect enhances turbulence anisotropy.

In this study, basing on the level-set and point-particle methods, we have developed a numerical methodology for simulating the dynamics of colloidal droplets under flow conditions in which the particle–particle, particle–interface and particle–fluid interactions are all taken into account efficiently. By using this methodology, we have determined the essential role of particle-laden interfaces in the deformation of colloidal droplets in simple shear flow with relatively low particle concentrations. Generally, adsorbed particles strongly enhance the deformability of the whole droplet, which is principally attributed to the particle-induced reduction of the effective surface tension. Systematic simulations are performed to reveal the detailed roles of interparticle interactions and particle surface coverage in the deformation of particle-covered droplets. Most importantly, we find the promotion effect of adsorbed particles on the droplet deformation cannot be completely included via the effective capillary number characterizing the particle-induced overall reduction of the effective surface tension, which is particularly obvious at high particle coverage. We propose two potential reasons for this surprising phenomenon, i.e. the convection-induced non-uniform distribution of adsorbed particles over the droplet surface and the particle-induced reduction of the droplet surface mobility, which have not been discussed yet in previous numerical and experimental studies of particle-covered droplets in shear flow.

ABSTRACT IMPACT: Novel adipokines like tetranectin help explain why some people progress from obesity to diseases like diabetes, atherosclerosis, and dislipidemia OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Obesity has an established association with diabetes, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis. Preventing progression from obesity to insulin resistance requires understanding of the regulatory mechanisms involved in the loss of insulin sensitivity. Adipose tissue is well known to function as an endocrine organ that produces many kinds of adipokines. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Blood sample analysis from human patients and mice was used to determine associations between tetranectin and obesity. Samples were tested with a monoclonal anti-tetranectin antibody for detection with western blot. A tetranectin mutant knock out mouse line was compared to wild type littermates on high fat diet for 4 months. Insulin tolerance tests and glucose tolerance were used to determine progression to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Histological analysis of metabolic tissue was used to demonstrate adipocyte hypertrophy and liver steatosis. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In the current study, we report the identification and initial characterization of a novel adipokine tetranectin. Tetranectin, which is coded by the C-type lectin domain family 3 member B (CLEC3B) gene, is ubiquitously expressed in various mouse tissues, whereas it is highly enriched in white adipose tissue. We found that the serum level of tetranectin was much higher in both obese and diabetic patients. Knocking out the tetranectin gene in mice protected against glucose intolerance in males but reduced insulin and glucose tolerance in females, without effects on food intake and body weight for either sex. Mechanistically, tetranectin targets liver tissues and its deficiency increases lipid accumulation in hepatocytes in females. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: We have identified a novel adipokine which mediates a different metabolic crosstalk among tissues to maintain systemic glucose and lipid metabolism in different genders. Further investigation of tetranectin’s function could yield a new target for precise therapeutic treatment for obesity and its associated metabolic diseases in different genders

Continuous hBN films have been grown by means of a radio-frequency-sputtering technology, and their material properties have been investigated. The prepared hBN films can achieve good smoothness in a large area. The surface morphologies and compositions of the hBN films on Si substrate and Al film have been characterized, indicating that there is no difference. The 101-phase peak of hBN film is the strongest, and the optical band gap of the fabricated film is 5.84 eV. An attempt on the fabrication of the hBN based resistive switching (RS) device has been made by using an Ag/hBN/Al structure, leading to the observation of a clear and stable RS behavior. The device exhibits a resistance window (high-resistivity state/low-resistivity state) of around 102, and the RS behaviors of hBN film prepared by sputtering were first observed. It has been found that the opening voltage for the device is changed when a different cycle voltage is applied because of the built-in electric field increasing with the increase of applied cycle voltage. The mechanism of the RS behavior has been analyzed, which lay a foundation for the application of hBN as RS material in resistive random access memory to improve the storage density.

Limited literatures report the management of congenital left atrial appendage aneurysm (LAAA) which is extremely rare. Chest X-ray firstly showed an enlarged left cardiac silhouette for a 3-year-old patient with pneumonia. Echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging confirmed a large cyst attached to the left atrium. Aneurysmectomy was performed through lateral thoracotomy using step-by-step method and under the guidance of transoesophageal echocardiography. We aim to show the safety and efficacy of this approach applied to children associated with congenital LAAA.

Electric-powered disposable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have wide applications due to their advantages in terms of long time flight and load capacity. Thus, improving their endurance has become an important task to enhance the performance of these UAVs. To achieve this, we investigated a battery dumping strategy which splits the battery into several packs that are used and dumped in sequence to reduce the dead weight. The Peukert effect is also considered. In this paper, the sensitivity analysis method was employed to analyse the endurance benefits for different battery weight ratios, Peukert constants and capacities, quantitatively. The results show that the endurance benefits are significantly affected by all three parameters. For ideal batteries, the endurance can be improved by 20% and 28% respectively when employing a double-pack or triple-pack battery strategy (for a battery weight ratio of 0.4), but these benefits will fall rapidly if the Peukert constant exceeds 1.0 or the battery weight declines. Besides, the endurance will be 10% longer if the lift coefficient rather than the velocity remains constant after the battery packs are dumped at a Peukert constant of 1.2.

Hydrogen is a promising alternative fuel for efficient energy production and storage, with water splitting considered one of the cleanest, environmentally friendly, and sustainable approaches to generate hydrogen. Electrochemically catalyzed water splitting plays an important role in energy conversion for the development of hydrogen-based energy sources. Porphyrin and macrocycle derivatives are versatile and can electrochemically catalyze water splitting efficiently. Because of the significance of molecule activation of electrochemical water splitting, this article covers recent progress in hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions catalyzed by porphyrin and macrocycle derivatives.

Self-assembly techniques are powerful and efficient methods for the synthesis of nanoscale materials. Using these techniques and their combination with other bottom-up fabrication processes, materials with hierarchical features can be produced with form and function in multiple length scales. We synthesize multifunctional nanoparticles through surfactant-assisted noncovalent interactions using nanoparticle building blocks. Self-assembly of these nano-building blocks results in functional materials that exhibit well-defined morphologies and hierarchical architectures for a wide range of applications. Hierarchically structured porphyrin nanocrystals can be synthesized through surfactant micelle-confined noncovalent interactions of photoactive porphyrins. We can amplify the intrinsic advantages of individual photoactive porphyrins by engineering them into well-defined active nanostructures. Through kinetic control, these nanocrystals exhibit precisely defined size, shape, and spatial arrangement of the individual porphyrins, which facilitates intermolecular mass and energy transfer. These self-assembly techniques provide remarkable flexibility to design morphologies and architectures that produce desirable properties for practical applications including photocatalysis, photodegradation, and phototherapy.

Photocatalytic hydrogen production from water is a facile and clean approach to convert rich solar energy into chemical fuel. Developing efficient and robust catalysts to accelerate water-splitting speed is key. Porphyrins exist widely in green plants and are a key photosensitizer to absorb and transfer light energy to other parts of the photosynthesis system of plants. They are considered an ideal model to construct artificial photocatalysts for hot-carrier-mediated hydrogen production. This article discusses recent achievements in constructing porphyrin-based photocatalysts for hydrogen production, including porphyrin molecules, self-assembled porphyrins, metal–organic frameworks, conjugated porphyrin polymers, and hybrid nanomaterial-based photocatalysts. The design and synthesis principles, structure–property relationships, as well as urgent issues to be solved in the future for every type of photocatalyst are also discussed.

The self-assembly of optically active building blocks into functional nanocrystals as high-activity photocatalysts is a key in the field of photocatalysis. Cobalt porphyrin with abundant catalytic properties is extensively studied in photocatalytic water oxidation and CO2 reduction. Here, we present the fabrication of cobalt porphyrin nanocrystals through a surfactant-assisted interfacial self-assembly process using Co-tetra(4-pyridyl) porphyrin as building block. The self-assembly process relies on the combined noncovalent interactions such as π-π stacking and axial Co-N coordination between individual porphyrin molecules within surfactant micelles. Tuning different reaction conditions (temperature, the ratio of co-solvent DMF) and types of surfactant, various nanocrystals with well-defined 1D to 3D morphologies such as nanowires, nanorods and nano hexagonal prism were obtained. Due to the ordered accumulation of molecules, the nanocrystals exhibit the properties of the enhanced capability of visible light capture and can conduce to improve the transport and separation efficiency of the photogenerated carriers, which is important for photocatalysis. Further studies of photocatalytic CO2 reduction are being performed to address the relationship between the size and shape of the nanocrystals with the photocatalytic activity.