Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a known risk factor for heart failure (HF), while plant-based dietary patterns may help reduce HF risk. This study examined the combined impact of PM2.5 exposure and a plant-based diet on HF incidence. A total of 190,092 participants from the UK Biobank were included in this study. HF cases were identified through linkage to the UK National Health Services register, with follow-up lasting until October 2022 in England, August 2022 in Scotland, and May 2022 in Wales. Annual mean PM2.5 concentration was obtained using a land use regression model, while the healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI) was calculated using the Oxford WebQ tool based on two or more 24-hour dietary assessments of 17 major food groups. Cox proportional hazard models assessed the associations of PM2.5 and hPDI with HF risk, and interactions were evaluated on additive and multiplicative scales. During a median of 13.4-year follow-up, 4,351 HF cases were recorded. Participants in the highest PM2.5 tertile had a 23% increased HF risk (HR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.14–1.32) compared to those in the lowest tertile. Moderate or high hPDI was associated with reduced HF risk relative to low hPDI. The lowest HF risk was observed in individuals with high hPDI and low PM2.5 exposure, underscoring the protective role of a plant-based diet, particularly in areas with lower PM2.5 levels. A healthy plant-based diet may mitigate HF risk, especially in populations exposed to lower PM2.5 levels.

The cosmic 21 cm signal serves as a crucial probe for studying the evolutionary history of the Universe. However, detecting the 21 cm signal poses significant challenges due to its extremely faint nature. To mitigate the interference from the Earth’s radio frequency interference (RFI), the ground and the ionospheric effects, the Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelength (DSL) project will deploy a constellation of satellites in Lunar orbit, with its high-frequency daughter satellite tasked with detecting the global 21 cm signal from cosmic dawn and reionization era (CD/EoR).We intend to employ the Vari-Zeroth-Order Polynomial (VZOP) for foreground fitting and subtracting. We have studied the effect of thermal noise, thermal radiation from the Moon, the Lunar reflection, anisotropic frequency-dependent beam, inaccurate antenna beam pattern, and RFI contamination. We discovered that the RFI contamination can significantly affect the fitting process and thus prevent us from detecting the signal. Therefore, experimenting on the far side of the moon is crucial. We also discovered that using VZOP together with DSL, after 1080 orbits around the Moon, which takes about 103 days, we can successfully detect the CD/EoR 21 cm signal.

The rise of online voicing and campaigns empowered by digital technologies and online social media is rejuvenating retail investor activism that has been mostly ignored in the traditional offline setting. This article argues that online activism that is initiated by retail investors will affect managerial attention intensity and attention priority on environmental issues, thus promoting green innovation. Using a Chinese-listed companies database with 13,795 firm-year observations over the period from 2011 to 2018, our results confirm that online environmental activism induces corporate green innovation. Online activism is more effective when the retail investor base holds larger shares in total and presents questions with a more intensely negative tone. Additionally, the above-mentioned moderating effects are stronger in digital firms. Our study offers insights into the online patterns of shareholder activism in the digital era and highlights the role of minority voicing in promoting corporate sustainable transformation.

DNA barcoding approaches have been successfully applied for estimating diet composition. However, an accurate quantification in the diets of herbivores remains to be achieved. In the current study, we present a novel methodology that reveals the relationship between the actual proportions (by mass) of each herbage species in the diets and the relative proportions of the ITS2 gene sequences obtained from faecal samples to evaluate the diet composition of sheep in a meadow steppe. Nine common and 12 rare species of plants were employed for formulating 6 diets, along with the addition of feed supplements for improving the growth performance of sheep. Faecal samples were collected for DNA analysis over the period spanning days 7–12. A significant positive correlation (Spearman’s ρ = 0.389) was obtained between the actual proportions (by mass) of the herbage in the diet provided and the relative abundance of ITS2 sequences obtained from the faecal samples. A significant regression coefficient was found between the relative abundance of all common species and their respective herbage mass proportions. The accuracy of the relation equations, evaluated by utilizing the similarity coefficient, showed 84.69% similarity between the actual diet composition and the correct percentage. Taken together, the current study has provided empirical evidence for the accuracy and applicability of ITS2 as a DNA barcode for obtaining quantitative information about the diet composition of sheep grazing in species-rich grasslands.

Temperature is the most significant abiotic factor that affects the growth and behaviour of insects. However, the mechanism by which the olfactory system senses thermal stimulus and combines temperature and chemical signals to trigger certain behavioural outputs is unclear. This study aimed to clarify the mechanism by which environmental temperature affects olfactory perception in Apis cerana cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae). We used quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and western blotting to analyse the expression of AcerOr1 and AcerOr2. We also used electroantennography (EAG) assays to detect bee antennal responses to odorants at different temperatures. The results revealed that the mRNA expression of AcerOr1 and AcerOr2 was significantly influenced by temperature. These genes exhibited both increases and decreases in expression over time, with the most significant differential observed at 25 °C. Protein expression was similarly affected at 2 hours after different temperature treatments. Electroantennography responses from the antennae revealed that six odorant volatiles – N-(4-ethylphenyl)-2-((4-ethyl-5-(3-pyridinyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)thio)acetamide (VUAA1), linolenic acid, eugenol, hexyl acetate, 1-nonanol, and lauroleic acid – had the most dramatic effect at 25 °C. The results indicate that environmental factors affecting the expression of AcerOr1 and AcerOr2 modulate olfactory recognition behaviour in A. cerana cerana, suggesting that changes in environmental temperature can affect bees’ olfactory preferences.

A comprehensive database of emotional prototypicality (EmoPro) scores for 1,122 words in second-language (L2) English was provided and aided in selecting L2 English emotion-label words. EmoPro refers to the degree to which a word clearly represents or conveys an emotion. The results showed that EmoPro was influenced by various factors, including valence, arousal, socialness, age of acquisition (AoA) and concreteness. EmoPro in the L2 context demonstrated its ability to predict naming and lexical decision performance. The similarities observed between EmoPro in the L2 and in the first language (L1) exhibited comparable correlations with other emotional and semantic factors and shared associations with predictors in the L1. This study also serves as a valuable tool for research on L2 emotion words, especially in the selection of prototypical emotion-label words in L2 English.

The safety of human-collaborative operations with robots depends on monitoring the external torque of the robot, in which there are toque sensor-based and torque sensor-free methods. Economically, the classic method for estimating joint external torque is the first-order momentum observer (MOB) based on a physic model without torque sensors. However, uncertainties in the dynamic model, which encompasses parameters identification error and joint friction, affect the torque estimation accuracy. To address this issue, this paper proposes using the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) method to estimate joint external torque without the delicate physical model by utilizing the powerful machine learning ability to handle the uncertainties of the MOB method and improve the accuracy of torque estimation. Using data obtained from the torque sensor to train the BPNN to build up a digital torque model, the trained BPNN can perceive force in practical applications without relying on the torque sensor. In the end, by contrast to the classic first-order MOB, the result demonstrates that BPNN achieves higher estimation accuracy compared to the MOB.

In this paper, a novel dual-mode spherical resonator is proposed. By rotating the coupling irises, perturbations are generated to split the degenerate modes. The proposed filter is cascaded by a dual-mode resonator and two single-mode resonators, which are placed in a rotary way. Four poles appear in three resonators by only changing the rotation angle (φ) without any additional design. It forms the BSCT, generating a transmission zero (TZ) at the upper stopband. Furthermore, by adjusting φ further, the CT coupling topology can be obtained, resulting in a TZ at the lower stopband. Finally, slots are etched on the surface of the resonators for spurious response suppression. With the above methods, the out-of-band selectivity and suppression are greatly improved. For the fast validation, the filter is 3-D printed and measured. As a result, the measured results match well with the simulated ones.

Reducing nitrogen (N) fertilizer application is a sustainable practice in rice production. The effects of reducing N fertilizer input on grain yield and rice quality of early- and late-season dual-use rice (ELDR) in South China remain uncertain. Therefore, a short-term field trial was conducted with a high-yielding ELDR cultivar (Yuehesimiao, YHSM) and a low-yielding ELDR cultivar (Meixiangzhan 2, MXZ). The rice was cultivated with a 20% reduced N application rate (RN2), a 10% reduced rate (RN1) and the conventional N application rate (CN). In the early season, compared to CN, RN2 reduced the grain yield of YHSM and MXZ by an average of 16.1 and 6.6%, respectively, while RN1 lowered YHSM grain yield by 11.2% on average and had no effect on MXZ yield. In addition, RN2 decreased the milling and eating qualities of the two cultivars in the early season, while RN1 did not alter their milling, appearance or eating qualities. In the late season, neither RN2 nor RN1 affected grain yield or rice quality for both cultivars. Therefore, short-term reductions of 10 and 20% in N application could maintain grain yield and rice quality at current N fertilizer application rates in the late season. However, the early-season results only recommended a 10% reduced N fertilizer application rate for low-yielding ELDR cultivars to sustain grain yield and rice quality. The findings of this study can provide a theoretical basis for N management of ELDR in South China.

This study employs direct numerical simulations to examine the effects of varying backpressure conditions on the turbulent atomisation of impinging liquid jets. Using the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, and a volume-of-fluid approach enhanced by adaptive mesh refinement and an isoface-based interface reconstruction algorithm, we analyse spray characteristics in the environments with ambient gas densities ranging from 1 to 40 times the atmospheric pressure under five different backpressure scenarios. We investigate the behaviour of turbulent jets, incorporate realistic orifice geometries and identify significant variations in the atomisation patterns depending on backpressure. Two distinct atomisation types emerge, namely jet-sheet-ligament-droplet at lower backpressures and jet-sheet-fragment-droplet at higher ones, alongside a transition from dilute to dense spray patterns. This variation affects the droplet size distribution and spray dynamics, with increased backpressure reducing the spray's spreading angle and breakup length, while increasing the droplet size variation. Furthermore, these conditions promote distributions that induce rapid, nonlinear wavy motion in liquid sheets. Topological analysis of the atomisation field using velocity-gradient tensor invariants reveals significant variations in topology volume fractions across different regions. Downstream, the droplet Sauter mean diameter increases and then stabilises, reflecting the continuous breakup and coalescence processes, notably under higher backpressures. This research underscores the substantial impact of backpressure on impinging-jet atomisation and provides essential insights for nozzle design to optimise droplet distributions.

When a word is being translated, its immediately adjacent lexical items may impact the translation of the target word. However, the impact of adjacent lexical items on the oral translation of a target word situated in central vision remains unexplored. This behavioral study used a bilingual version of the flanker paradigm to examine the impact of within- and cross-language semantic effects on oral word translation. Unbalanced bilinguals were presented with a central target word that was flanked by two flanking words on either side. The target-flanker relations were manipulated as a function of semantic relatedness (identical, related and unrelated) and language congruency (congruent and incongruent). The task was to orally translate the target word from L1 to L2 (forward translation) in one session and from L2 to L1 (backward translation) in the other while ignoring the flanker words. Results showed faster responses for forward compared to backward translation. Moreover, in within-language (congruent) but not in cross-language (incongruent) contexts, semantic priming effects were observed in both directions of translation, with the effects being larger for backward than forward translation. Additionally, substantial cross-language semantic repetition priming effects were obtained. The findings are discussed within the framework of a two-process account for oral word translation.

This study aims to explore the dynamics of leadership reconfiguration within emergent state-owned enterprises (SOEs), i.e., privately owned enterprises (POEs) that have been acquired by SOEs. From an institutional logic perspective, we argue that the emergence of these SOEs reflects a process in which POEs, previously dominated by market logic, incorporate state logic and transition to a hybrid form. However, this process presents a paradox for emergent SOEs: while a greater extent of reconfiguration of leadership helps them gain greater legitimacy in front of state-related institutional referents, it also results in greater conflicts between members adhering to different logics. To address this paradox, we theorize on the differences in the reconfigurations of the board and top management team (TMT) by respectively connecting their functions to institutional control and agency, two typical forms of institutional power. Our analysis reveals that emergent SOEs tend to experience reconfiguration more in the board while less in TMT. Furthermore, we find that these main effects are moderated by the industrial state-ownership density and acquirees' preacquisition political connections. Our study contributes to the SOE and M&A literature by highlighting the uniqueness of emergent SOEs arising from POE-to-SOE acquisitions. Additionally, we propose a strategy to reconcile legitimation and internal stabilizations during logic hybridizations, thereby contributing to the institutional logic literature.

External seeded free-electron lasers (FELs) have exhibited substantial progress in diverse applications over the last decade. However, the frequency up-conversion efficiency in single-stage seeded FELs, particularly in high-gain harmonic generation (HGHG), remains constrained to a modest level. This limitation restricts its capability to conduct experiments within the ‘water window’. This paper presents a novel method for generating coherent X-ray FEL pulses in the water window region based on the HGHG scheme with multi-stage harmonic cascade. Without any additional modifications to the HGHG configuration, simulation results demonstrate the generation of intense 3 nm coherent FEL radiation using an external ultraviolet seed laser. This indicates an increase of the harmonic conversion number to approximately 90. A preliminary experiment is performed to evaluate the feasibility of this method. The proposed approach could potentially serve as an efficient method to broaden the wavelength coverage accessible to both existing and planned seeded X-ray FEL facilities.

The Northwest Tibet region is defined by several terranes, magmatic belts, basins and sutures, which were primarily shaped by the tectonic activities associated with Proto-, Palaeo- and Neo-Tethys Oceans. However, the basement nature and Precambrian tectonic evolution of the Northwest Tibet region, particularly within the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai terrane, remain largely unknown. The Hongliutan area, located in the northeastern part of the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai terrane, contains a critical sequence of Precambrian metamorphic rock strata. Detailed petrological, geochronological, and geochemical analyses of these metamorphic rocks – including plagioclase schist, quartz schist, amphibolite and nearby leucogranite – reveal the intricate processes of tectonic evolution within the Tianshuihai unit. Combining these findings with previous geochronological results is crucial for re-evaluating the nature of the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai basement and its Precambrian tectonic evolution of the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai basement. Our results reveal the following: (1) the leucogranite and amphibolite, identified as Cambrian igneous rocks, display distinct geochemical signatures indicative of a continental arc origin. These include calc-alkaline characteristics, enrichment in Th, U, Pb, Zr and Hf and depletion in Ba, Nb, Sr and Ti. Their εNd(t) values, close to zero, further support this tectonic setting, with the leucogranite and amphibolite formed at 506 and 522 Ma, respectively. (2) The plagioclase schist and quartz schist are interpreted to be Neoproterozoic volcaniclastic rocks that formed in a rifted (passive) continental margin setting. The quartz schist is particularly rich in detrital zircons, displaying a broad spectrum of 207Pb/206Pb ages, ranging from 901 to 3364 Ma. (3) A significant subset of detrital zircons within the quartz schist exhibits oscillatory zoning, high Th/U ratios and sharp-edged, anhedral-to-subhedral crystal forms, suggesting a derivation from proximal or deep-seated terranes. The concordant U–Pb zircon ages of 2468 and 974 Ma from the quartz schist, along with the 978 Ma age from the inherited zircons in the amphibolite, and the 1.2–2.1 Ga T2DM(Nd) from leucogranite and metamorphic rocks, collectively suggest that the Tianshuihai unit is likely underpinned by a Palaeoproterozoic basement that indicates Neoproterozoic reworking.

Therefore, our findings suggest the presence of a continuous, northwest-southeast trending Palaeoproterozoic basement underlying the entire Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai terrane. An alternative scenario posits that the ancient basement, currently beneath the Tashikuergan terrane, could extend into the Tianshuihai region, potentially indicating a Cambrian continental margin arc interspersed with remnants of older terranes.

The environmental effects of nanoparticles have attracted widespread attention. The removal and recycling of nanoparticles are crucial for both environmental protection and resource reuse. However, current removal and recycling methods are not yet mature, and there is a need to explore inexpensive materials for the efficient removal and recycling of nanoparticles. This study investigates the effects of pyrite species, thermal modification temperature, pH and ionic strength on the adsorption of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by pyrite. The experimental results demonstrate that the adsorption rate of artificially thermally modified pyrite is slightly faster than that of naturally thermally modified pyrite. However, the concentration of Fe ions dissolved from the artificially thermally modified pyrite is higher. Natural pyrite, when thermally modified at 400°C and 500°C, adsorbs 100% of AuNPs within 10 min. The lower the acidity of the system, the faster the adsorption rate. Conversely, an increase in ionic strength decreases the adsorption rate. Artificially thermally modified pyrite primarily adsorbs AuNPs through electrostatic gravitational attraction, which is supplemented by a significant amount of chemisorption. After four recycling cycles, the adsorption and desorption rates of AuNPs using artificially thermally modified pyrite were 92.1% and 94.2%, respectively, indicating excellent adsorption and recovery performance. The results of this study provide a new method for the recycling of nanoparticles and an experimental basis for the further application of thermally modified pyrite in environmental treatments.