Microseismic (MS) event locations are vital aspect of MS monitoring technology used to delineate the damage zone inside the surrounding rock mass. However, complex geological conditions can impose significantly adverse effects on the final location results. To achieve a high-accuracy location in a complex cavern-containing structure, this study develops an MS location method using the fast marching

Carbapenem resistance presents a major challenge for the global public health network, as clinical infections caused by carbapenem-resistant organisms (CRO) are frequently associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Ceftazidime–avibactam (CAZ–AVI) is a novel cephalosporin/β-lactamase inhibitor combination offering an important advance in the treatment of CRO infections. CAZ–AVI has been reported

The water sector needs to address viral-related public health issues, because water is a virus carrier, which not only spreads viruses (e.g., via drinking water), but also provides information about the circulation of viruses in the community (e.g., via sewage). It has been widely reported that waterborne viral pathogens are abundant, diverse, complex, and threatening the public health in both developed

Cell rotation is one of the most important techniques for cell manipulation in modern bioscience, as it not only permits cell observation from any arbitrary angle, but also simplifies the procedures for analyzing the mechanical properties of cells, characterizing cell physiology, and performing microsurgery. Numerous approaches have been reported for rotating cells in a wide range of academic and industrial

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are considered to be ideal and promising cell sources for various applications such as regenerative medicine and drug screening. However, effective mass production systems for the stable supply of desired numbers of iPSCs are yet to be developed. This review introduces the various approaches that are currently available for stable iPSC production. We start by

The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and concerns about several other pandemics in the 21st century have attracted extensive global attention. These emerging infectious diseases threaten global public health and raise urgent studies on unraveling the underlying mechanisms of their transmission from animals to humans. Although numerous works have intensively discussed the cross-species

There is a lack of high-quality, large-scale, real-world evidence from patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), especially in China. It remains unclear whether efforts to improve the quality of care for mCRC would improve patient survival outcomes in real-world practice. On the basis of an intelligent big-data platform, we established a large-scale retrospective cohort of mCRC patients. We

We aimed to develop a disease risk comorbidity index (DRCI) based on disease risk index (DRI) and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation-Specific Comorbidity Index (HCT-CI) in patients receiving haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT). We identified the prognostic factors of disease-free survival (DFS) in a training subset (n = 593), then assigned a weighted score using these

In this article, an omnidirectional dual-polarized antenna with synergetic electromagnetic and aerodynamic properties is propounded for high-speed diversity systems. The propounded antenna comprises a probe-fed cavity for horizontally polarized radiation and a microstrip-fed slot for vertical polarization. Double-layer metasurfaces are properly designed as artificial magnetic conductor boundaries with

In modern transportation, pavement is one of the most important civil infrastructures for the movement of vehicles and pedestrians. Pavement service quality and service life are of great importance for civil engineers as they directly affect the regular service for the users. Therefore, monitoring the health status of pavement before irreversible damage occurs is essential for timely maintenance, which

The construction of a lunar base and habitation on the Moon has always been on researchers’ minds. Building materials used in in situ lunar resources are of great significance for saving expensive space freight. In this study, a new type of lunar soil simulant named Beihang (BH)-1 was developed. The chemical mineral composition and microstructure of BH-1 closely resemble those of real lunar soil, as

Soyang Lake is the largest lake in South Korea, bordering Chuncheon, Yanggu, and Inje in Gangwon Province. It is widely used as an environmental resource for hydropower, flood control, and water supply. Therefore, we conducted a survey of the floodplain of Soyang Lake to analyze the sediments in the area. We used GPS data and aerial photography to monitor sediment deposits in the Soyang Lake floodplain

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) isolates are recognized as one of the most severe threats to public health. However, the population structure and genetic characteristics of CPE isolates among bloodstream infections (BSIs) are largely unknown. To address this knowledge gap, in this study, we included patients with clinically significant BSIs due to Enterobacterales isolates, recruited

Fresh fruits are highly valued by consumers worldwide, owing to their delicious flavors, abundant nutrients, and health-promoting characteristics, and as such, fruits make up an important component of a healthy diet. The postharvest quality and safety of fresh fruit involve complex interactions among the fruit, environmental factors, and postharvest pathogens. Efficient regulation of fruit senescence

Carbohydrates, which are mostly present in sugar, starch, and fiber, are one of the main ingredients of food and the primary source of energy in the human diet. Among these three main sources, starch stands out as one of the most abundant reserves of carbohydrates. Investigating starch would not only enhance our understanding of the functionality of starch in the human body but also aid in the design

Irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) is chronic intestinal dysfunction with diarrhea and other complicated clinical symptoms, and it has a great impact on the daily life and mental state of patients. Some studies have reported that ingestion of probiotics can significantly alleviate a variety of intestinal diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the IBS-D-alleviating effects

One-dimensional (1D) Pt-based electrocatalysts demonstrate outstanding catalytic activities and stability toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Advances in three-dimensional (3D) ordered electrodes based on 1D Pt-based nanostructure arrays have revealed great potential in addressing the mass transfer and durability challenges of Pt/C nanoparticle electrodes for developing high-performance proton

Biomass is plant or animal material that stores both chemical and solar energies, and that is widely used for heat production and various industrial processes. Biomass contains a large amount of the element hydrogen, so it is an excellent source for hydrogen production. Therefore, biomass is a sustainable source for electricity or hydrogen production. Although biomass power plants and reforming plants

As an alternative to conventional encapsulation concepts for a double glass photovoltaic (PV) module, we introduce an innovative ionomer-based multi-layer encapsulant, by which the application of additional edge sealing to prevent moisture penetration is not required. The spontaneous moisture absorption and desorption of this encapsulant and its raw materials, poly (ethylene-co-acrylic acid) and an

This study presents a connected vehicles (CVs)-based traffic signal optimization framework for a coordinated arterial corridor. The signal optimization and coordination problem are first formulated in a centralized scheme as a mixed-integer nonlinear program (MINLP). The optimal phase durations and offsets are solved together by minimizing fuel consumption and travel time considering an individual

Waste plastics, such as waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) beverage bottles and waste rubber tyres are major municipal solid wastes, which may lead to various environmental problems if they are not appropriately recycled. In this study, the feasibility of collectively recycling the two types of waste into performance-increasing modifiers for asphalt pavements was analyzed. This study aimed to investigate

Secondary amyloid A amyloidosis, a lethal complication, is induced when acute or chronic infection coexists with over-secretion of the serum amyloid A 1 (SAA1) protein and deposition in key internal organs. Previously, using the whole-exome sequencing method, we identified a novel deleterious mutation SAA1.2 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. However, the role of SAA1 in RA pathogenesis and its

Since the 1990s, continuous technical and scientific advances have defied the diffraction limit in microscopy and enabled three-dimensional (3D) super-resolution imaging. An important milestone in this pursuit is the coherent utilization of two opposing objectives (4Pi geometry) and its combination with super-resolution microscopy. Herein, we review the recent progress in 4Pi nanoscopy, which provides

Interactions involving chemical reagents, solid particles, gas bubbles, liquid droplets, and solid surfaces in complex fluids play a vital role in many engineering processes, such as froth flotation, emulsion and foam formation, adsorption, fouling, and anti-fouling phenomena. These interactions at the molecular, nano-, and micro scale significantly influence and determine the macroscopic performance

Electrochemical methods are environmentally friendly and have unique advantages in the synthesis of organic chemicals. However, their implementation is limited due to the complex transport problems posed by traditional electrochemical reactors. Recently, the application of microreaction technology in electrosynthesis studies has reduced the transport distance of ions and increased the specific surface

In this study, the support effects on the Pd-catalyzed semi-hydrogenation of acetylene have been investigated from the structural and kinetic perspectives. According to the results of kinetic analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction, temperature-programmed hydride decomposition, and in situ X-ray diffraction measurements, using carbon nanotubes as support

Crystallization is a fundamental separation technology used for the production of particulate solids. Accurate nucleation and growth process control are vitally important but difficult. A novel controlling technology that can simultaneously intensify the overall crystallization process remains a significant challenge. Membrane crystallization (MCr), which has progressed significantly in recent years

Over the past 30 years, additive manufacturing (AM) has developed rapidly and has demonstrated great potential in biomedical applications. AM is a materials-oriented manufacturing technology, since the solidification mechanism, architecture resolution, post-treatment process, and functional application are based on the materials to be printed. However, 3D printable materials are still quite limited

Additive manufacturing plays a vital role in the food, mechanical, pharmaceutical, and medical fields. Within these fields, medical additive manufacturing has led to especially obvious improvements in medical instruments, prostheses, implants, and so forth, based on the advantages of cost-effectiveness, customizability, and quick manufacturing. With the features of precise structural control, high

Prostheses and orthoses are common assistive devices to meet the biomechanical needs of people with physical disabilities. The traditional fabrication approach for prostheses or orthoses is a material-wasting, time-consuming, and labor-intensive process. Additive manufacturing (AM) technology has advantages that can solve these problems. Many trials have been conducted in fabricating prostheses and

Craniomaxillofacial reconstruction implants, which are extensively used in head and neck surgery, are conventionally made in standardized forms. During surgery, the implant must be bended manually to match the anatomy of the individual bones. The bending process is time-consuming, especially for inexperienced surgeons. Moreover, repetitive bending may induce undesirable internal stress concentration

China has become the world’s largest producer and consumer of energy, and ranks first in its wind and solar power installation capacity. However, increasingly serious wind and solar curtailment in China has significantly hindered the development and utilization of renewable energy. To address problems in the consumption of renewable energy, this paper analyzes four key factors affecting the capacity

The problem of effluent total nitrogen (TN) at most of the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China is important for meeting the related water quality standards, even under the condition of high energy consumption. To achieve better prediction and control of effluent TN concentration, an efficient prediction model, based on controllable operation parameters, was constructed in a sequencing batch

Staphylococcus (S.) aureus is a leading human pathogen capable of producing severe invasive infections such as bacteremia, sepsis, and endocarditis with high morbidity and mortality, exacerbated by the increasingly widespread antibiotic resistance exemplified by methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA). S. aureus pathogenesis is fueled by the secretion of toxins—such as the membrane-damaging pore-forming

Rapid prototyping methods for the design and fabrication of polymeric labs-on-a-chip are on the rise, as they allow high degrees of precision and flexibility. For example, a microfluidic platform may require an optimization phase in which it could be necessary to continuously modify the architecture and geometry; however, this is only possible if easy, controllable fabrication methods and low-cost

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide pandemic. Hospitalized patients of COVID-19 suffer from a high mortality rate, motivating the development of convenient and practical methods that allow clinicians to promptly identify high-risk patients. Here, we have developed a risk score using clinical data from 1479 inpatients admitted to Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, China (development cohort)

This paper presents a vision-based crack detection approach for concrete bridge decks using an integrated one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) method in the image frequency domain. The so-called 1D-CNN-LSTM algorithm is trained using thousands of images of cracked and non-cracked concrete bridge decks. In order to improve the training efficiency, images

The need for the separation of azeotropic mixtures for the production of high-end chemicals and resource recovery has spurred significant research into the development of new separation methods in the chemical industry. In this paper, a green and sustainable method for azeotrope separation is proposed based on a chemical-looping concept with the help of reversible-reaction-assisted distillation. The

External short circuit (ESC) of lithium-ion batteries is one of the common and severe electrical failures in electric vehicles. In this study, a novel thermal model is developed to capture the temperature behavior of batteries under ESC conditions. Experiments were systematically performed under different battery initial state of charge and ambient temperatures. Based on the experimental results, we

Tephritid flies threaten the production of fruits around the world. In the Americas, populations of the genus Anastrepha are monitored with trapping networks as part of pest management programs. Here, we report the formulation of male Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) pheromones, (±)-anastrephin and (±)-epianastrephin, into a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) polymer-based lure ready for trap deployment. The PVC

Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture by gas-separation membranes has become increasingly attractive due to its high energy efficiency, relatively low cost, and environmental impact. Polyvinylamine (PVAm)-based facilitated transport (FT) membranes were developed in the last decade for CO2 capture. This work discusses the challenges of applying PVAm-based FT membranes from materials to processes for post-combustion

Cancer cell separation is highly desirable for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Besides biochemical methods, engineered platforms are effective alternatives for sorting carcinoma cells from normal cells based on their unique properties in responding to the physical changes of the surrounding microenvironment. In this work, three-dimensional (3D) biomimetic scaffold platforms were developed to separate

The latest member of the azole family, the pentazolate or cyclo-N5−, has received increased attention since its first mass-spectral detection by Christe et al. in 2002. As it is carbon- and hydrogen-free, the pentazolate anion can release large amounts of energy while simultaneously decomposing to environmentally friendly nitrogen gas. Due to these attractive qualities, cyclo-N5− and related compounds

The purpose of this study was to investigate the physicochemical properties and bioactivities of rice beans (Vigna umbellata) fermented by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. The fermentation conditions were optimized on the basis of the fibrinolytic activity. Under the optimal fermentation conditions, the fibrinolytic activity reached a maximum of 78.0 FU∙g−1 (4890 IU∙g−1, fibrin plate method). The contents

Rapid global population growth has caused an increasing need for products containing protein. Meat products are the most common high-protein food source, but impact the environment, cause animal welfare issues, and raise public health concerns. Consumer health and food safety are paramount to the food industry. Both the scientists and food industry are actively seeking plant proteins to substitute

It is difficult to identify suspected cases of atypical patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and data on severe or critical patients are scanty. This retrospective study presents the clinical, laboratory, and radiological profiles, treatments, and outcomes of atypical COVID-19 patients without respiratory symptoms or fever at onset. The study examined ten atypical patients out of 909

The detection of abnormal regions in complex structures is one of the most challenging targets for underground space engineering. Natural or artificial geologic variations reduce the effectiveness of conventional exploration methods. With the emergence of real-time monitoring, seismic wave velocity tomography allows the detection and imaging of abnormal regions to be accurate, intuitive, and quantitative

The clinical application of lung ultrasound (LUS) in the assessment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia severity remains limited. Herein, we investigated the role of LUS imaging in COVID-19 pneumonia patients and the relationship between LUS findings and disease severity. This was a retrospective, observational study at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, on 48 recruited patients with COVID-19 pneumonia

Polysaccharides are widely present in herbs with multiple activities, especially immunity regulation and metabolic benefits for metabolic disorders. However, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Functional metabolomics is increasingly used to investigate systemic effects on the host by identifying metabolites with particular functions. This study explores the mechanisms underlying the

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)—the third in a series of coronavirus infections—has caused a global public health event in the 21st century, resulting in substantial global morbidity and mortality. Building on its legacy of managing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), China has played a key role in the scientific community by revealing the viral

Rapid metastasis to vital organs such as the lung, liver, and brain is responsible for the vast majority of pancreatic cancer deaths. Liver metastasis of pancreatic cancer accounts for the high mortality rate in patients. Exosomes derived from pancreatic cancer cells tend to be enriched in proteins that are anchored to the cell membrane, supporting the reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment and

This study provides new insights into the comparison of cable-stayed and extradosed bridges based on the safety assessment of their stay cables. These bridges are often regarded as identical structures owing to the use of inclined cables; however, the international standards for bridge design stipulate different safety factors for stay cables of both types of bridges. To address this misconception