Large-eddy simulations of the unsteady flows around rectangular prisms with chord-to-depth ratios (B/D) ranging from 3 to 12 are carried out at a Reynolds number of 1000. A particular focus of the study is the physical mechanisms governing the global instability of the flow. The coherent structures and velocity spectra reveal that large-scale leading-edge vortices (L vortices) are formed by the coalescence of Kelvin–Helmholtz rollers. Based on dynamic mode decomposition, the interactions between the L vortex and the trailing-edge vortex (T vortex) at different B/D values are revealed. It is found that the phase difference between the L and T vortices is the critical factor promoting a stepwise increase in the Strouhal number with increasing B/D. According to the phase analysis, there are two types of pressure feedback-loop mechanisms maintaining the self-sustained oscillations. When B/D = 4–5, the feedback loop covers the separation region, and the global instability is controlled by the impinging shear-layer instability. When B/D = 3 and 6–12, the feedback loop covers the entire chord, and the global instability is controlled by the impinging leading-edge vortex shedding instability. Self-sustained oscillations of the shear layer still exist after a splitter plate is placed in the near wake, indicating that the T vortex shedding is not essential in triggering the global instability. Nevertheless, with the participation of the T vortex, the primary instability mode may be reselected due to the upper and lower limits of the shedding frequency imposed by the T vortex.

For the omnivorous Cherax quadricarinatus crayfish, plant raw materials can be good alternatives to dietary fish meal (FM). A 56-d feeding trial was conducted in C. quadricarinatus (11·70 (se 0·13) g). Diet with 100 % FM as the protein source was the control. Seven experimental diets were formulated by replacing 75 or 100 % of FM with soyabean meal (SM75, SM100) or cottonseed meal (CM75 and CM100), and a mixture of SM and CM (protein content is 1:1) replacing 50, 75 or 100 % of FM (SC50, SC75 and SC100). Crayfish fed the CM100 and SC100 showed significantly lower weight gain (WG), specific growth rate, trypsin and pepsin activities compared with the control diet. Crayfish in CM100 group showed significantly higher GPx, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase activities and malondialdehyde content than the control. SM100 and CM100 diets can cause slight separation of the peritrophic membrane from the intestinal folds. The pepsin activity of crayfish in SC50 was significantly higher than those in other experimental diets. The highest WG and muscle arginine content were also found in crayfish fed SC50. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Unclassified Enterobacteriaceae and Candidatus Bacilloplasma was significantly higher, but Actinobacteriota was significantly lower in SM100, CM100 and SC100 than in control. Microbiota functional prediction indicated that the relative abundance of ‘cell motility’ pathway in crayfish fed CM100 was significantly decreased compared with the control. In conclusion, only half of the FM can be effectively substituted with a mixture of SM and CM (protein content is 1:1) for C. quadricarinatus.

Everyone faces uncertainty on a daily basis. Two kinds of probability expressions, verbal and numerical, have been used to characterize the uncertainty that we face. Because our cognitive concept of living things differs from that of non-living things, and distinguishing cognitive concepts might have linguistic markers, we designed four studies to test whether people use different probability expressions when faced with animate or inanimate uncertainty. We found that verbal probability is the preferred way to express animate uncertainty, whereas numerical probability is the preferred way to express inanimate uncertainty. The “verbal-animate” and “numerical-inanimate” associations were robust enough to persist when tested with forced-choice response patterns regardless of the information (e.g., equally likely outcomes, frequencies, or personal beliefs) used to construct probabilities of events. When the response pattern was changed to free-responses, the associations were evident unless the subjects were asked to write their own probability predictions for vague uncertainty. Given that the world around us consists of both animate (i.e., living) and inanimate (i.e., non-living) things, “verbal-animate” and “numerical-inanimate” associations may play a major role in risk communication and may otherwise be useful for practitioners and consultants.

Pie charts are often used to communicate risk, such as the risk of driving. In the foreground-background salience effect (FBSE), foreground (probability of bad event) has greater salience than background (no bad event) in such a chart. Experiment 1 confirmed that the displays format of pie charts showed a typical FBSE. Experiment 2 showed that the FBSE resulted from a difference in cognitive efforts in processing the messages and that a foreground-emphasizing display was easier to process. Experiment 3 manipulated subjects’ information processing mindset and explored the interaction between displays format and information processing mindset. In the default mindset, careless subjects displayed a typical FBSE, while those who were instructed to be careful reported similar risk-avoidant behavior preference reading both charts. Suggestions for improving risk communication are discussed.

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.

In this paper, effects of discharge parameters and modulation frequency on the signal of laser-induced fluorescence measurements of ion velocity distribution functions are investigated in the LIF Test Source. A maximum modulation frequency is found for each given set of parameters, beyond which the signal gradually declines. Meanwhile, this maximum modulation frequency occurred consistently at ~1/10 of the theoretical frequency limit and photon counts received by a photomultiplier tube, which indicates that as modulation frequency and the associated per-pulse-excitation-event count decrease, the transition from the macroscopic statistical signal to the microscopic probabilistic signal is a gradual process.

Prolonged parturition duration has been widely demonstrated to be a risk factor for incidence of stillbirth. This study evaluated the supply of dietary fibre on the parturition duration, gut microbiota and metabolome using sows as a model. A total of 40 Yorkshire sows were randomly given diet containing normal level of dietary fibre (NDF, 17·5 % dietary fibre) or high level of dietary fibre (HDF, 33·5 % dietary fibre). Faecal microbiota profiled with 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, SCFA and metabolome in the faeces and plasma around parturition were compared between the dietary groups. Correlation analysis was conducted to further explore the potential associations between specific bacterial taxa and metabolites. Results showed that HDF diet significantly improved the parturition process as presented by the shorter parturition duration. HDF diet increased the abundance of the phyla Bacteroidetes and Synergistetes and multiple genera. Except for butyrate, SCFA levels in the faeces and plasma of sows at parturition were elevated in HDF group. The abundances of fifteen and twelve metabolites in the faeces and plasma, respectively, markedly differ between HDF and NDF sows. These metabolites are involved in energy metabolism and bacterial metabolism. Correlation analysis also showed associations between specific bacteria taxa and metabolites. Collectively, our study indicates that the improvement of parturition duration by high fibre intake in late gestation is associated with gut microbiota, production of SCFA and other metabolites, potentially serving for energy metabolism.

The long-distance stable transport of relativistic electron beams (REBs) in plasmas is studied by full three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Theoretical analysis shows that the beam transport is mainly influenced by three transverse instabilities, where the excitation of self-modulation instability, and the suppression of the filamentation instability and the hosing instability are important to realize the beam stable transport. By modulating the transport parameters such as the electron density ratio, the relativistic Lorentz factor, the beam envelopes and the density profiles, the relativistic bunches having a smooth density profile and a length of several plasma wave periods can suppress the beam-plasma instabilities and propagate in plasmas for long distances with small energy losses. The results provide a reference for the research of long-distance and stable transport of REBs, and would be helpful for new particle beam diagnosis technology and space active experiments.

The aim of our study was to determine the distribution of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes and subgenotypes in ethnic minorities in Yunnan province to provide evidence supporting the theoretical basis for hepatitis B prevention and control. We obtained serum samples and demographic data from 765 individuals reported by Yunnan province who had either acute or chronic HBV infection and were from one of 20 ethnic minority populations: Achang, Bai, Brown, Tibetan, Dai, Deang, Dulong, Hani, Hui, Jingpo, Lahu, Yi, Lisu Miao, Naxi, Nu, Pumi, Wa, Yao, or Zhuang people. We sequenced the HBV DNA and determined the genotypes and subgenotypes of the isolated HBVs. We mapped the genotype and subgenotype distribution by ethnic minority population and conducted descriptive analyses. There were four genotypes among the 20 ethnic groups: genotype B (21.3% of samples), C (76.6%), D (1.8%) and I (0.3%). The most common subgenotype was C1. There were no genotype differences by gender (P = 0.954) or age (P = 0.274), but there were differences by region (P < 0.001). There were differences in genotype distribution (P < 0.001) and subgenotype distribution (P = 0.011) by ethnic group. Genotype D was most prominent in Tibet and most HBV isolates were C/D recombinant viruses. The only two genotype I virus isolates were in Zhuang people. Susceptibility and geographic patterns may influence HBV prevalence in different ethnic populations, but additional research is needed for such a determination.

Supercritical pressure fluids are widely used in heat transfer and energy systems. The benefit of high heat transfer performance and the successful avoidance of phase change from the use of supercritical pressure fluids are well-known, but the complex behaviours of such fluids owing to dramatic thermal property variations pose strong challenges to the design of heat transfer applications. In this paper, the turbulent flow and heat transfer of supercritical pressure $\textrm {CO}_2$ in a small vertical tube influenced by coupled effects of buoyancy and thermal acceleration are numerically investigated using direct numerical simulation. Both upward and downward flows with an inlet Reynolds number of 3540 and pressure of 7.75 MPa have been simulated and the results are compared with corresponding experimental data. The flow and heat transfer results reveal that under buoyancy and thermal acceleration, the turbulent flow and heat transfer exhibit four developing periods in which buoyancy and thermal acceleration alternately dominate. The results suggest a way to distinguish the dominant factor of heat transfer in different periods and a criterion for heat transfer degradation under the complex coupling of buoyancy and thermal acceleration. An analysis of the orthogonal decomposition and the generative mechanism of turbulent structures indicates that the flow acceleration induces a stretch-to-disrupt mechanism of coherent turbulent structures. The significant flow acceleration can destroy the three-dimensional flow structure and stretch the vortices resulting in dissipation.

The effects of early thiamine use on clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between early thiamine administration and clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with AKI. The data of critically ill patients with AKI within 48 h after ICU admission were extracted from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC III) database. PSM was used to match patients early receiving thiamine treatment to those not early receiving thiamine treatment. The association between early thiamine use and in-hospital mortality due to AKI was determined using a logistic regression model. A total of 15 066 AKI patients were eligible for study inclusion. After propensity score matching (PSM), 734 pairs of patients who did and did not receive thiamine treatment in the early stage were established. Early thiamine use was associated with lower in-hospital mortality (OR 0·65; 95 % CI 0·49, 0·87; P < 0·001) and 90-d mortality (OR 0·58; 95 % CI 0·45, 0·74; P < 0·001), and it was also associated with the recovery of renal function (OR 1·26; 95 % CI 1·17, 1·36; P < 0·001). In the subgroup analysis, early thiamine administration was associated with lower in-hospital mortality in patients with stages 1 to 2 AKI. Early thiamine use was associated with improved short-term survival in critically ill patients with AKI. It was possible beneficial role in patients with stages 1 to 2 AKI according to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes criteria.

The present study evaluated effects of dietary supplementation with tryptophan (Trp) on muscle growth, protein synthesis and antioxidant capacity in hybrid catfish Pelteobagrus vachelli♀ × Leiocassis longirostris♂. Fish were fed six different diets containing 2·6 (control), 3·1, 3·7, 4·2, 4·7 and 5·6 g Trp/kg diet for 56 d, respectively. Results showed that dietary Trp significantly (1) improved muscle protein content, fibre density and frequency of fibre diameter; (2) up-regulated the mRNA levels of PCNA, myf5, MyoD1, MyoG, MRF4, IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF-IR, PIK3Ca, TOR, 4EBP1 and S6K1; (3) increased phosphorylation levels of AKT, TOR and S6K1; (4) decreased contents of MDA and PC, and increased activities of CAT, GST, GR, ASA and AHR; (5) up-regulated mRNA levels of CuZnSOD, CAT, GST, GPx, GCLC and Nrf2, and decreased Keap1 mRNA level; (6) increased nuclear Nrf2 protein level and the intranuclear antioxidant response element-binding ability, and reduced Keap1 protein level. These results indicated that dietary Trp improved muscle growth, protein synthesis as well as antioxidant capacity, which might be partly related to myogenic regulatory factors, IGF/PIK3Ca/AKT/TOR and Keap1/Nrf2 signalling pathways. Finally, based on the quadratic regression analysis of muscle protein and MDA contents, the optimal Trp requirements of hybrid catfish (21·82–39·64 g) were estimated to be 3·94 and 3·93 g Trp/kg diet (9·57 and 9·54 g/kg of dietary protein), respectively.

Studies reported the effects of different types and different levels of abstraction of analogical stimuli on designers. However, specific, single visual analogical stimuli on the effects of designers have not been reported. We define this type of stimuli as specific analogical stimuli. We used the extended linkography method to analyze the facilitating and limiting effects of specific analogical stimuli and free association analogical stimuli (nonspecific analogical stimuli) on the students' creativity at different design levels. The results showed that: (1) Advanced students focused on exploring the depth of the design problem while beginning students tended to explore the breadth of the design problem. (2) Nonspecific analogical stimuli enhanced the creativity of beginning students. However, its impact on advanced students is less pronounced. (3) The specific analogical stimuli attract the students into design fixation. Furthermore, it has a more pronounced effect on advanced students. These results illustrate the differences in the effects of specific analogy stimuli on the students at different design levels. It clarifies the use of analogical stimuli in design and the teaching of analogical design methods in design education.

As threats to biodiversity proliferate, establishment and expansion of protected areas have increasingly been advocated in recent decades. In establishing a network of protected areas, recurrent assessments of the biodiversity conservation actually afforded by these areas is required. Gap analysis has been useful to evaluate the sufficiency and performance of protected areas. We surveyed Reeves’s Pheasant Syrmaticus reevesii populations in 2018–2019 across its distribution range in central China to quantify the distribution of habitat suitable for this species. Our goal was to ascertain the current distribution of Reeves’s Pheasant and then identify the gaps in protecting Reeves’s Pheasant of the existing national nature reserve (NNR) network to provide suggestions for improving the conservation of this important species. The existing NNR network encompassed only 17.0% of the habitat suitable for Reeves’s Pheasant. Based on the current distributions of both suitable habitat and NNRs for Reeves’s Pheasant, we suggest most currently unprotected areas comprised moderately suitable habitat for species and should be prioritized in the future. A multiple species approach using Reeves’s Pheasant as a flagship species should be considered to understand the extent of mismatch between the distributions of protected areas and suitable habitat to improve the management effectiveness of NNRs. This case study provides an example of how the development of a conservation reserve network may be based on species distribution and habitat assessments and is useful to conservation efforts in other regions and for other species.