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Carbon storage in saline aquifers is a prominent geological method for reducing CO2 emissions. However, salt precipitation within these aquifers can significantly impede CO2 injection efficiency. This study examines the mechanisms of salt precipitation during CO2 injection into fractured matrices using pore-scale numerical simulations informed by microfluidic experiments. The analysis of varying initial salt concentrations and injection rates revealed three distinct precipitation patterns, namely displacement, breakthrough and sealing, which were systematically mapped onto regime diagrams. These patterns arise from the interplay between dewetting and precipitation rates. An increase in reservoir porosity caused a shift in the precipitation pattern from sealing to displacement. By incorporating pore structure geometry parameters, the regime diagrams were adapted to account for varying reservoir porosities. In hydrophobic reservoirs, the precipitation pattern tended to favour displacement, as salt accumulation occurred more in larger pores than in pore throats, thereby reducing the risk of clogging. The numerical results demonstrated that increasing the gas injection rate or reducing the initial salt concentration significantly enhanced CO2 injection performance. Furthermore, identifying reservoirs with high hydrophobicity or large porosity is essential for optimising CO2 injection processes.
Just as councils and assemblies were central to European polities for centuries, the Imperial Examination System (Keju) constituted the cornerstone of state institutions in China. This Element argues that Keju contributed to political stability, and its emergence was a process, not a shock, with consequences initially unanticipated by its contemporaries. The Element documents the emergence of Keju using evidence from early Chinese empires to the end of the Tang Dynasty in the 10th century, including epitaphs and government documents. It then traces the selection criteria of Keju and trends in social mobility over the second millennium, leveraging biographical information from over 70,000 examinees and 1,500 ministers and their descendants. The Element uses a panel of 112 historical polities to quantify Keju's association with country-level political indicators against the backdrop of global convergence in political stability and divergence in institutions. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
In this paper, we complete the proof of the conjecture of Gross and Zagier concerning algebraicity of higher Green functions at a single CM point on the product of modular curves. The new ingredient is an analogue of the incoherent Eisenstein series over a real quadratic field, which is constructed as the Doi-Naganuma theta lift of a deformed theta integral on hyperbolic 1-space.
For binary plug nozzle, the plug cone is exposed to high-temperature mainstream flow, making it one of the nozzle’s high-temperature components. This paper uses the Realizable k-ε turbulence model and the reverse Monte Carlo method to numerically investigate the aerodynamic and infrared radiation characteristics of the plug nozzle. Various slot cooling configurations were adopted to study the nozzle’s infrared radiation in detail. Results indicate that compared to the baseline nozzle, the plug nozzle’s performance is slightly reduced due to the decrease in effective area of flow over the plug cone. Introducing slot cooling at the rear edge provides significant infrared suppression benefits at low detection angles and notably reduces infrared radiation discrepancy with baseline nozzle at high detection angles. The cooling air from slots causes the nozzle jet to exhibit a ‘thermal layered’ feature. With the same total coolant mass flow, the ‘leading edge + trailing edge’ cooling configuration can lower the area-averaged wall temperature of the plug cone by 5.5% – 12.3%. However, its infrared radiation intensity at each detection angle on the pitch detection plane is higher than that of the ‘trailing edge’ configuration. The significance of leading-edge cooling is focused more on thermal protection for the plug. Thus, it is essential to balance coolant mass flow distribution between infrared radiation suppression and thermal protection.
The clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-p) syndrome enables early identification of individuals at risk of schizophrenia and related disorders. We differentiate between the stigma associated with the at-risk identification itself (‘labelling-related’ stigma) versus stigma attributed to experiencing mental health symptoms (‘symptom-related’ stigma) and examine their relationships with key psychosocial variables.
Aims
We compare labelling- and symptom-related stigma in rates of endorsement and associations with self-esteem, social support loss and quality of life.
Method
We assessed stigma domains of shame-related emotions, secrecy and experienced discrimination for both types of stigma. Individuals at CHR-p were recruited across three sites (N = 150); primary analyses included those who endorsed awareness of psychosis risk (n = 113). Paired-sample t-tests examined differences in labelling- versus symptom-related stigma; regressions examined associations with psychosocial variables, controlling for covariates, including CHR-p symptoms.
Results
Respondents reported greater symptom-related shame, but more labelling-related secrecy. Of the nine significant associations between stigma and psychosocial variables, eight were attributable to symptom-related stigma, even after adjusting for CHR-p symptoms.
Conclusions
Stigma attributed to symptoms had a stronger negative association with psychosocial variables than did labelling-related stigma among individuals recently identified as CHR-p. That secrecy related to the CHR-p designation was greater than its symptom-related counterpart suggests that labelling-related stigma may still be problematic for some CHR-p participants. To optimise this pivotal early intervention effort, interventions should address the holistic ‘stigmatising experience’ of having symptoms, namely any harmful reactions received as well as participants’ socially influenced concerns about what their experiences mean, in addition to the symptoms themselves.
To investigate the flame acceleration to detonation in 2.0 and 0.5 mm planar glass combustion chambers, the experiments have been conducted utilising ethylene/oxygen mixtures at atmospheric pressure and temperature. The high-speed camera has been used to record the revolution of flame front and pressure inside the combustion chamber. Different equivalence ratios and ignition locations have been considered in the experiments. The results show that the detonation pressure in the 2 mm thick chamber is nearly three times of Chapman-Jouguet pressure, while detonation pressure in the 0.5 mm thick chamber is only 45.7% of the Chapman-Jouguet value at the stoichiometric mixture. This phenomenon is attributed to the larger pressure loss in the thinner chamber during the detonation propagation. As the value of equivalence ratio is 2.2, the detonation cannot be produced in the 2 mm thick chamber, while the detonation can be generated successfully in the 0.5 mm thick chamber. This phenomenon indicates that the deflagration is easily to be accelerated and transformed into the detonation, due to a larger wall friction and reflection. Besides, the micro-obstacle has been added into the combustor can shorten the detonation transition time and reduces the distance of the detonation transition.
During the investigation of parasitic pathogens of Mytilus coruscus, infection of a Perkinsus-like protozoan parasite was detected by alternative Ray's Fluid Thioglycolate Medium (ARFTM). The diameter of hypnospores or prezoosporangia was 8–27 (15.6 ± 4.0, n = 111) μm. The prevalence of the Perkinsus-like species in M. coruscus was 25 and 12.5% using ARFTM and PCR, respectively. The ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 fragments amplified by PCR assay had 100% homology to that of P. beihaiensis, suggesting that the protozoan parasite was P. beihaisensis and M. coruscus was its new host in East China Sea (ECS). Histological analysis showed the presence of trophozoites of P. beihaiensis in gill, mantle and visceral mass, and the schizonts only found in visceral mass. Perkinsus beihaiensis infection led to inflammatory reaction of hemocyte and the destruction of digestive tubules in visceral mass, which had negative effect on health of the farmed M. coruscus and it deserves more attention.
The cyst nematodes, subfamily Heteroderinae, are plant pathogens of worldwide economic significance. A new cyst nematode of the genus Cactodera within the Heteroderinae, Cactodera xinanensis n. sp., was isolated from rhizospheres of crops in the Guizhou and Sichuan provinces of southwest China. The new species was characterized by having the cyst with a length/width = 1.3 ± 0.1 (1.1–1.6), a fenestral diameter of 28.1 ± 4.3 (21.3–38.7) μm, vulval denticles present; second-stage juvenile with stylet 21.5 ± 0.5 (20.3–22.6) μm long, tail 59.4 ± 2.0 (55.9–63.8) μm long and hyaline region 28.7 ± 2.7 (25.0–36.3) μm long, lateral field with four incisures; the eggshell with punctations. The new species can be differentiated from other species of Cactodera by a longer tail and hyaline region of second-stage juveniles. Phylogenetic relationships within populations and species of Cactodera are given based on the analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS-rRNA), the large subunit of the nuclear ribosomal RNA (28S-rRNA) D2-D3 region and the partial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences here. The ITS-rRNA, 28S-rRNA and COI gene sequences clearly differentiated Cactodera xinanensis n. sp. from other species of Cactodera. A key and a morphological identification characteristic table for the species of Cactodera are included in the study.
This research challenges the conventional wisdom that value-driven protests in China are exceedingly rare and face harsh state repression. Drawing on a hand-coded, multi-source dataset of over 3,100 protests in three Chinese megacities from 2014 to 2016, we identify 67 protests that reveal a hitherto unknown underbelly of everyday, value-driven contention. Qualitatively, we identify three main forms of contentious performances. Quantitatively, we show how value-driven protesters combine non-disruptive tactics with ambitious targets and virtually never extract concessions. Surprisingly, we find that such protests are less often policed and repressed than other protests. They are also never met with violence from non-state actors. We provide three interpretations for the counter-intuitive finding on repression. This study shows that the Chinese state coexists with a non-negligible amount of explicitly regime-critical contention. It adopts a containment strategy, tolerating a certain extent of value-driven performances when the risk of spill-over into wider society is limited.
We systematically study the dissipative anomaly in compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence using direct numerical simulations, and show that the total dissipation remains finite as viscosity diminishes. The dimensionless dissipation rate $\mathcal {C}_{\varepsilon }$ fits well with the model $\mathcal {C}_{\varepsilon } = \mathcal {C}_{\varepsilon,\infty } + \mathcal {D}/R_L^-$ for all levels of flow compressibility considered here, where $R_L^-$ is the generalized large-scale Reynolds number. The asymptotic value $\mathcal {C}_{\varepsilon,\infty }$ describes the total energy transfer flux, and decreases with increase of the flow compressibility, indicating non-universality of the dimensionless dissipation rate in compressible MHD turbulence. After introducing an empirically modified dissipation rate, the data from compressible cases collapse to a form similar to the incompressible MHD case depending only on the modified Reynolds number.
White matter hyperintensities (WMH) is common among the elderly. WMH are associated with accelerated cognitive dysfunction and increased risk for Alzheimer`s disease (AD). Although WMHs play a key role in lowering the threshold for the clinical expression of dementia in AD-related pathology, the clinical significance of their location is not fully understood.
Objectives
The aim of this study was twofold: 1) To investigate the quantitative association between WMH and cognitive function in AD; 2) To investigate whether there is any difference in the association between subclassified WMH and cognitive function in AD.
Methods
A total of 171 patients with AD underwent clinical evaluations including volumetric brain MRI study and neuropsychological tests using the CERAD-K neuropsychological assessment battery. WMH volume was calculated using automated quantification method with SPM and MATLAB image processing software. According to the distance from the lateral ventricular surface, WMH within 3 mm, WMH within 3-13 mm, and WMH over 13 mm were classified as juxtaventricular WMH (JVWMH), periventricular WMH (PVWMH) and deep WMH (DWMH), respectively. WMH volume data was logarithmically transformed because it was right-skewed.
Results
WMH volume in AD was 20.7 ± 18.2 ml. Total WMH volume was associated with poor performance in categorical verbal fluency test (p = 0.008) and word list memory test (p = 0.023). JVWMH volume was associated with poor performances on categorical verbal fluency test (p = 0.013) and forward digit span test (p = 0.037). PVWMH volume was associated with poor performances on categorical verbal fluency test (p = 0.011) and word list memory test (p = 0.021), whereas DWMH volume showed no association with cognitive tests. Total WMH and PVWMH volume were also related to Clinical Dementia Rating scale sum of boxes score (p=0.022).
Image:
Conclusions
Greater JVWMH and PVWMH are related with concurrent impairments in semantic memory and frontal function independent of the hippocampal volume. However, DWMH volume is not associated with any cognitive function. Only PVWMH among subclassified WMH are related to the severity of AD.
Cryogenic carbon capture (CCC) is an innovative technology to desublimate $\text {CO}_2$ out of industrial flue gases. A comprehensive understanding of $\text {CO}_2$ desublimation and sublimation is essential for widespread application of CCC, which is highly challenging due to the complex physics behind. In this work, a lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is proposed to study $\text {CO}_2$ desublimation and sublimation for different operating conditions, including the bed temperature (subcooling degree $\Delta T_s$), gas feed rate (Péclet number $Pe $) and bed porosity ($\psi$). The $\text {CO}_2$ desublimation and sublimation properties are reproduced. Interactions between convective $\text {CO}_2$ supply and desublimation/sublimation intensity are analysed. In the single-grain case, $Pe $ is suggested to exceed a critical value $Pe _c$ at each $\Delta T_s$ to avoid the convection-limited regime. Beyond $Pe _c$, the $\text {CO}_2$ capture rate ($v_c$) grows monotonically with $\Delta T_s$, indicating a desublimation-limited regime. In the packed bed case, multiple grains render the convective $\text {CO}_2$ supply insufficient and make CCC operate under the convection-limited mechanism. Besides, in small-$\Delta T_s$ and high-$Pe $ tests, $\text {CO}_2$ desublimation becomes insufficient compared with convective $\text {CO}_2$ supply, thus introducing the desublimation-limited regime with severe $\text {CO}_2$ capture capacity loss ($\eta _d$). Moreover, large $\psi$ enhances gas mobility while decreasing cold grain volume. A moderate porosity $\psi _c$ is recommended for improving the $\text {CO}_2$ capture performance. By analysing $v_c$ and $\eta _d$, regime diagrams are proposed in $\Delta T_s$–$Pe $ space to show distributions of convection-limited and desublimation-limited regimes, thus suggesting optimal conditions for efficient $\text {CO}_2$ capture. This work develops a viable LB model to examine CCC under extensive operating conditions, contributing to facilitating its application.
In 2017, Brosseau & Vlahovska (Phys. Rev. Lett, vol. 119, no. 3, 2017, p. 034501) found that, in a strong electric field, a weakly conductive, low-viscosity droplet immersed in a highly conductive, high-viscosity medium formed a lens shape, and liquid rings continuously detached from its equatorial plane and subsequently broke up into satellite droplets. This fascinating multiphase electrohydrodynamic (EHD) phenomenon is known as droplet equatorial streaming. In this paper, based on the unified lattice Boltzmann method framework proposed by Luo et al. (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A Math. Phys. Engng Sci, vol. 379, no. 2208, 2021, p. 20200397), a novel lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is constructed for multiphase EHD by coupling the Allen–Cahn type of multiphase LB model and two new LB equations to solve the Poisson equation of the electric field and the conservation equation of the surface charge. Using the proposed LB model, we successfully reproduced, for the first time, the complete process of droplet equatorial streaming, including the continuous ejection and breakup of liquid rings on the equatorial plane. In addition, it is found that, under conditions of high electric field strength or significant electrical conductivity contrast, droplets exhibit fingering equatorial streaming that was unknown before. A power-law relationship is discovered for droplet total charge evolution and a theoretical model is then proposed to describe the droplet radius and height over time. The breakup of liquid rings is found to be dominated by capillary instability, while the breakup of liquid fingers is governed by the end-pinching mechanism. Finally, a phase diagram is constructed for fingering equatorial streaming and ring equatorial streaming, and a criterion equation is established for the phase boundary.
Background: The diagnosis of leptomeningeal metastatic disease has major prognostic implications. We report 13 patients with a radiologically distinct, focal, enhancing leptomeningeal lesion on brain MRI mimicking leptomeningeal metastatic disease. Methods: These patients were assessed at University Health Network between January 2001 and December 2023. Results: Median age was 68 years and 10 patients were women. All patients had brain MRI including contrast-enhanced T2-weighted FLAIR and T1-weighted spin echo sequences. MRI in all patients showed a focal enhancing lesion along the leptomeningeal surface of the brain. The MRI exams were reported as possible metastatic disease for the majority (9/13) of patients. Each lesion was curvilinear rather than sheet-like, and some consisted of multiple connected/branching curvilinear structures with the appearance of abnormal vessels. Some lesions had visible connection with a nearby cortical vein. The lesions were distinct from normal blood vessels. Follow-up contrast-enhanced brain MRI for 8/13 patients at a median of 3.9 years showed all lesions were unchanged over time. Conclusions: We describe a distinct kind of focal, enhancing leptomeningeal lesion on brain MRI that mimics metastatic disease. These lesions are likely a type of low-flow vascular anomaly. Their curvilinear/branching shape and intense enhancement particularly on T2-weighted FLAIR images distinguishes these lesions from tumor.
Real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has been the gold standard for diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but has a lag time for the results. An effective prediction algorithm for infectious COVID-19, utilized at the emergency department (ED), may reduce the risk of healthcare-associated COVID-19.
Objective:
To develop a prototypic prediction model for infectious COVID-19 at the time of presentation to the ED.
Material and methods:
Retrospective cohort study of all adult patients admitted to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) through ED between March 15, 2020, and December 31, 2022, with admission of COVID-19 RT-PCR results. Two prediction models were developed and evaluated using area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) to identify infectious COVID-19 patients (cycle threshold (Ct) of <25).
Results:
Total of 78,687 patients were admitted to SGH through ED during study period. 6,132 of them tested severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 positive on RT-PCR. Nearly 70% (4,226 of 6,132) of the patients had infectious COVID-19 (Ct<25). Model that included demographics, clinical history, symptom and laboratory variables had AUROC of 0.85 with sensitivity and specificity of 80.0% & 72.1% respectively. When antigen rapid test results at ED were available and added to the model for a subset of the study population, AUROC reached 0.97 with sensitivity and specificity of 95.0% and 92.8% respectively. Both models maintained respective sensitivity and specificity results when applied to validation data.
Conclusion:
Clinical predictive models based on available information at ED can be utilized for identification of infectious COVID-19 patients and may enhance infection prevention efforts.
Specimen samples of Crook County montmorillonite and Silver Hill illite, purified and prepared in the Na-form, were imaged under 80% relative humidity using an atomic force microscope. The direct images showed clearly the hexagonal array of hexagonal rings of oxygen ions expected for the basal planes of 2:1 phyllosilicates. Fourier transformation of the digital information obtained by the microscope scanning tip led to an estimate of 5.1 ± 0.3 Å for the nearest-neighbor separation, in agreement with the ideal nearest-neighbor spacing of 5.4 Å for hexagonal rings as derived from X-ray powder diffraction data. The atomic force microscope should prove to be a useful tool for the molecular-scale resolution of clay mineral surfaces that contain adsorbed macromolecules.
Amplification of velocity gradients, a key feature of turbulent flows, is affected by the non-local character of the incompressible fluid equations expressed by the second derivative (Hessian) of the pressure field. By analysing the structure of the flow in regions where the vorticity is the highest, we propose an approximate expression for the pressure Hessian in terms of the local vorticity, consistent with the existence of intense vortex tubes. Contrary to the often used simplification of an isotropic form for the pressure Hessian, which in effect inhibits vortex stretching, the proposed approximate form of the pressure Hessian enables much stronger vortex stretching. The prediction of the approximation proposed here is validated with results of direct numerical simulations of turbulent flows.
Observer rating scales are necessary to evaluate the risk of suicide because individuals at risk for suicide are often unwilling to seek help on their own. Reliability and validity were evaluated for the newly developed Suicide Screening Questionnaire-Observer Rating (SSQ-OR).
Methods:
Preliminary items were assessed by 251 experts online and 25 questions were selected. 328 individuals at high-risk and 661 controls from 12 Crisis Response Centers and 5 university counseling centers were recruited to complete SSQ-OR, Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSSI) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). In a 6 months follow-up, we reached out to 176 participants to ask whether they had experienced a suicidal thought, plan, or attempt since the baseline assessment. Cronbach's 慣, Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman's correlation, factor analyses, Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and logistic regression analysis were used to verify the SSQ-OR.
Results:
Structural validity was supported by a two-factor solution using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Excellent model fit indices for the two-factor structure using exploratory factor analysis were confirmed (RMSEA = 0.033, TLI = 0.980, CFI = 0.983). The SSQ-OR demonstrated strong internal consistency. The concurrent validity based on the correlations with other self-reported indicators of suicidal potential-BSSI and PHQ-9- revealed substantial relationships. The high-risk group was effectively characterized by a cut-off point of 4, with a sensitivity of 0.73 and a specificity of 0.79. The SSQ-OR scores were significant predictors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors within 6 months.
Conclusions:
The SSQ-OR exhibits sound psychometric properties, and could be used as a complement to a self-report or clinical-administered scale to screen suicide risk comprehensively.
Management of primary headache (PHA) varies across emergency departments (ED), yet there is widespread agreement that computed tomography (CT) scans are overused. This study assessed emergency physicians’ (EPs) PHA management and their attitudes towards head CT ordering.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was undertaken with EPs from one Canadian center. Drivers of physicians’ perceptions regarding the appropriateness of CT ordering for patients with PHA were explored.
Results:
A total of 73 EPs (70% males; 48% with <10 years of practice) participated in the study. Most EPs (88%) did not order investigations for moderate-severe primary headaches; however, CT was the common investigation (47%) for headaches that did not improve. Computed tomography ordering was frequently motivated by the need for specialist consultation (64%) or admission (64%). A small proportion (27%) believed patients usually/frequently expected a scan. Nearly half of EPs (48%) identified patient imaging expectations/requests as a barrier to reducing CT ordering. Emergency physicians with CCFP (EM) certification were less likely to perceive CT ordering for patients with PHA as appropriate. Conversely, those who identified the possibility of missing a condition as a major barrier to limiting their CT use were more likely to perceive CT ordering for patients with PHA as appropriate.
Conclusions:
Emergency physicians reported consistency and evidence-based medical management. They highlighted the complexities of limiting CT ordering and both their level of training and their perceived barriers for limiting CT ordering seem to be influencing their attitudes. Further studies could elucidate these and other factors influencing their practice.