A high-energy pulsed vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) solid-state laser at 177 nm with high peak power by the sixth harmonic of a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) amplifier in a KBe2BO3F2 prism-coupled device was demonstrated. The ultraviolet (UV) pump laser is a 352 ps pulsed, spatial top-hat super-Gaussian beam at 355 nm. A high energy of a 7.12 mJ VUV laser at 177 nm is obtained with a pulse width of 255 ps, indicating a peak power of 28 MW, and the conversion efficiency is 9.42% from 355 to 177 nm. The measured results fitted well with the theoretical prediction. It is the highest pulse energy and highest peak power ever reported in the VUV range for any solid-state lasers. The high-energy, high-peak-power, and high-spatial-uniformity VUV laser is of great interest for ultra-fine machining and particle-size measurements using UV in-line Fraunhofer holography diagnostics.

We investigate numerically the spreading dynamics of a bubble coming into contact with a smooth solid substrate in a viscous liquid. The substrate is partially wettable, and the singularity of the moving contact line is relieved by adopting the Navier-slip model. The Stokes equations are solved by employing a boundary element method coupled with adaptive mesh refinement. This allows us to realize sufficiently small slip lengths down to $O(10^{-5})$ in dimensionless form, which is crucial to resolve the local interface structures at the early stage of spreading. The results show that the early-stage spreading of the bubble is always characterized by the growth and propulsion of a dewetting liquid rim close to the contact line, while the macroscopic interface remains unchanged. The evolution of the contact line and the morphology of the rim depends on the wettability and the slip length, and a parametric investigation is performed. Based on mass conservation, a relation between the rim size and the spreading radius is established. We also propose an analytical prediction of the temporal variation in the contact line radius at the early stage of spreading, which is found to follow a logarithmically corrected linear relation rather than a pure power law. Moreover, the early stages of bubble spreading are qualitatively similar for two-dimensional and axisymmetric configurations.

We present a high-energy, hundred-picosecond (ps) pulsed mid-ultraviolet solid-state laser at 266 nm by a direct second harmonic generation (SHG) in a barium borate (BaB2O4, BBO) nonlinear crystal. The green pump source is a 710 mJ, 330 ps pulsed laser at a wavelength of 532 nm with a repetition rate of 1 Hz. Under a green pump energy of 710 mJ, a maximum output energy of 253.3 mJ at 266 nm is achieved with 250 ps pulse duration resulting in a peak power of more than 1 GW, corresponding to an SHG conversion efficiency of 35.7% from 532 to 266 nm. The experimental data were well consistent with the theoretical prediction. To the best of our knowledge, this laser exhibits both the highest output energy and highest peak power ever achieved in a hundred-ps/ps regime at 266 nm for BBO-SHG.

Applying non-accident critical events (NACEs) as an alternative measuring method to assess ship collision risk has become popular in recent years. NACEs has shown temporal features in different waters. This study uses the quaternion ship domain method to identify NACEs around the Yangtze Estuary and adjacent coastal waters from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) data in October 2019. The results indicate that NACEs show different temporal features in estuaries and coastal waters. The relationship between tides, channel types and ships is discussed. In addition, we established a statistical method for the occurrence time of NACEs and the state of tides according to the half-tide level and the nearest time. The outcomes of this study provide a direction for exploring the relationship between NACEs and environmental conditions, which is also instructive for the study of the causes of ship accidents.

Several Drosophila species (Diptera: Drosophilidae) have become serious economic pests of berry and soft-skinned stone fruits around the world. Prominent examples are Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), D. melanogaster (Meigen), D. hydei (Sturtevant), and D. immigrans (Sturtevant). Information on the biology and ecology of Drosophila is important for a better understanding of these important fruit pests and, ultimately, for fruit protection. In this study, the gut bacteriomes of these four Drosophila species were surveyed and the differences among bacterial communities were characterised. The 16S rRNA genes of gut microbes were sequenced by Illumina MiSeq technology (Illumina, San Diego, California, United States of America), followed by α-diversity and β-diversity analyses. The results show that bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae (Kluyvera and Providencia; phylum Proteobacteria) dominated all four Drosophila species. Specific dominant gut bacterial communities were found in each Drosophila species. The dominant families in D. melanogaster and D. suzukii were Enterobacteriaceae, Comamonadaceae, and Acetobacteraceae. In the intestine of D. hydei, Enterobacteriaceae had a proportion of 56.99%, followed by Acetobacteraceae, Spiroplasmataceae, and Bacillales Incertae Sedis XII. In D. immigrans, besides Enterobacteriaceae, Alcaligenaceae, Flavobacteriaceae, Xanthomonadaceae, Comamonadaceae, and Sphingobacteriaceae also had high relative abundance. These data expand current knowledge about the putative function related to gut microbes – for example, the metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, inorganic ions, lipids, and secondary metabolites. This knowledge provides a basis for further metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic investigations.

The Dayao Paleolithic site, located in Inner Mongolia on the eastern margin of China's vast northwestern drylands, was a lithic quarry-workshop utilized by Pleistocene human migrants through the region. Determining the age of this activity has previously yielded controversial results. Our magnetostratigraphic and OSL dating results suggest the two artifact-bearing paleosols are correlated with MIS 5 and 7, respectively. Correlating paleoclimatic data with marine δ18O records leads us to conclude that two sandy gravel layers containing many artifacts in the lower part of the Dayao sequence were formed during MIS 9 and 11, if not earlier. Our results reveal that the earliest human occupation at the Dayao site occurred before ca. 400 ka during a relatively warm and moist interglacial period, similar to several subsequent occupations, documenting the earliest and northernmost archaeological assemblage yet reported in China's arid northwest. We conclude that the northward and southward displacements of the East Asian summer monsoon rain belt during past interglacial-glacial cycles were responsible for the discontinuous human occupation detected at the Dayao site. The penetration of this precipitation regime into dryland ecologies via the Huanghe (Yellow River) Valley effectively created a corridor for hominin migration into China's arid northwest.

A novel hyper-redundant manipulator named RT1 is presented in this paper. The key feature of RT1 is that all degrees of freedom (DOF) are actuated with only one motor, via specially designed hinge bar universal joints. The mechanism of RT1 which includes a special hinge bar universal joint, bend structure and motion diversion structure is described. RT1 is a discrete manipulator; the discrete working space is described, and the parameter optimization for kinematical redundancy resolution is also studied. In selecting the unit increment of joints angles as an optimizing parameter, the criterion used is to alter the design parameter as little as possible during the manipulator’s motion from the initial to the expected position.

In this research, a dynamic model is first established based on screw theory and the principle of virtual work for a bilaterally symmetrical hybrid robot. By combining a novel composite error (NCE) with second-order nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode (SONFTSM) control method, a NCE-based SONFTSM dynamic control method is further presented to guarantee better trajectory tracking performance and synchronization performance simultaneously. The asymptotic convergence of proposed errors and the stability of the proposed control method have been proved theoretically. Finally, the simulation and experiment are implemented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control method.

Interception by plant canopies during wind dispersal can affect the final destination of diaspores. However, how the interaction of wind speed, canopy type and diaspore attributes affects interception of diaspores by the plant canopy has rarely been studied. We investigated canopy interception for 29 species with different diaspore attributes, six canopy types and six wind speeds in controlled experiments in a wind tunnel. Shrub canopy interception of diaspores were controlled by wind speed and diaspore attributes, but the latter had a greater influence on canopy interception than the former. At low wind speed, diaspore wing loading had a large influence on canopy interception, whereas at high wind speed, diaspore projection area had a large influence. The chance of canopy interception at a particular wind speed was additionally affected by the type of canopy. This study increases our knowledge of the dispersal process, corrects the previous understanding of diaspore dispersal potential and improves the theoretical basis for predicting spatial pattern and dynamics of plant populations.

We study the axisymmetric evolution of a liquid film on a solid sphere governed by gravity, capillarity and viscous forces. The lubrication equations established in spherical coordinates are numerically solved using finite elements and local similarity solutions are obtained. Results show that the evolution behaves differently at early and late stages. At the early stage, the interface evolves in such a way that the capillary effect can be ignored. At the late stage, there emerge four zones from top to bottom: a thin film, a ridge ring, a dimple ring and a pendant drop. Each zone is governed by the balance of different forces, and hence is characterized by an individual physical mechanism. Consequently, the pendant drop is quasi-static, and the film thicknesses of other regions follow different scaling laws. The position of the dimple remains unchanged at the late stage.

We conducted a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCT) to examine the effects of strawberry interventions on cardiovascular risk factors. We searched multiple databases including PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus to identify eligible studies published before 19 May 2019. The endpoints were blood pressure, total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, TAG, fasting blood glucose, endothelial function and inflammatory factors. Pooled analyses were performed using random- or fixed-effects models according to a heterogeneity test. We also conducted sub-group analyses by baseline endpoint levels. We included eleven RCT in this meta-analysis (six for blood pressure, seven for lipid profile, seven for fasting blood glucose and six for C-reactive protein (CRP)). Overall, the strawberry interventions significantly reduced CRP levels by 0·63 (95 % CI −1·04, −0·22) mg/l but did not affect blood pressure, lipid profile or fasting blood glucose in the main analyses. Our analysis stratified by baseline endpoint levels showed the strawberry interventions significantly reduced TC among people with baseline levels >5 mmol/l (−0·52 (95 % CI −0·88, −0·15) mmol/l) and reduced LDL-cholesterol among people with baseline levels >3 mmol/l (−0·31 (95 % CI −0·60, −0·02) mmol/l). There was little evidence of heterogeneity in the analysis and no evidence of publication bias. In summary, strawberry interventions significantly reduced CRP levels and may improve TC and LDL-cholesterol in individuals with high baseline levels.

Older adults have more health-care needs and higher financial burdens but fewer income resources compared to other age groups in China. Meanwhile, substantial inequalities exist between rural and urban older adults in terms of welfare benefits level, access to health care, quality of care and financial resources to pay for health-care services. Using 2011–2013 panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and a difference-in-differences methodology, this study examined the association between the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and health-related quality of life among older adults in China. To distinguish the dynamic of CHE and generate rigorous estimates, we categorised the older adults into four groups: CHE entry group, non-CHE group, CHE exit group and CHE persistent group. Overall, we found that entry into CHE was associated with poorer physical and mental health for both rural and urban older adults, but this association was more consistent and robust for physical than for mental health. Exiting CHE was found to have a weak and sporadic positive association with physical and mental health across rural and urban areas. The results suggest that financial resources and social services are needed in China to support older adults who experience CHE persistently or periodically to help improve their health outcomes.

Nickel-rich layered oxide LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 suffers from severe structural instability and irreversible capacity loss during cycling due to cation disorder of Li+ and Ni2+. To solve this problem, the precursor Ni0.8Co0.1Mn0.1(OH)2 and well-ordered LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode materials were successfully synthesized via controlled crystallization and high-temperature solid-state methods. The structure, morphology, and electrochemical performance of the precursor and LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 powders were investigated. The results show that the precursor Ni0.8Co0.1Mn0.1(OH)2 is made of sphere-like particles composed of needle-like primary crystal and LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 possesses a perfect layered structure with low Li/Ni disorder. Electrochemical data demonstrate that the material rate capabilities are 203.3, 187.7, 170.4, and 163 mA h/g from 0.1C to 10C, respectively. The capacity retention is 87.9% after 100 cycles at 1C, even the cut-off voltage was increased to 4.5 V. The high discharge capacity and outstanding cycling life can be attributed to the merits of a perfect crystal lattice with low Li/Ni disorder, fast lithium ion transport, and relatively low charge transfer resistance.

Endometrial injury is an important cause of intrauterine adhesion (IUA), amenorrhea and infertility in women, with limited effective therapies. Recently, stem cells have been used in animal experiments to repair and improve injured endometrium. To date, our understanding of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) in endometrial injury repair and their further therapeutic mechanisms is incomplete. Here, we examined the benefit of ADSCs in restoration of injured endometrium by applying a rat endometrial injury model. The results revealed by immunofluorescence showed that green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labelled ADSCs can differentiate into endometrial epithelial cells in vivo. At 30 days after ADSCs transplantation, injured endometrium was significantly improved, with increased microvessel density, endometrial thickness and glands when compared with the model group. Furthermore, the fertility of rats with injured endometrium in ADSCs group was improved and had a higher conception rate (60% vs 20%, P = 0.014) compared with the control phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) group. However, there was no difference in the control group compared with the sham group. In addition, expression levels of the oestrogen receptor Eα/β (ERα, ERβ) and progesterone receptor (PR) detected by western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were higher in the ADSCs group than in the PBS group. Taken together, these results suggested that ADSC transplantation could improve endometrial injury as a novel therapy for IUA.

This study aimed to determine whether increased carotenoids intake was associated with reduced risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We performed a cross-sectional analysis using data from Tongji Maternal and Child Health Cohort study. The dietary carotenoids intake of 1978 pregnant women was assessed using a researcher-administered FFQ before undertaking an oral glucose tolerance test at 24–28 weeks. Multivariate logistic and linear regression analyses were used to obtain the effect estimates. Participants in the highest quartile of lycopene intake showed a lower risk of GDM (OR 0·50; 95 % CI 0·29, 0·86; Pfor trend = 0·007) compared with those in the lowest quartile; each 1 mg increase in lycopene consumption was associated with a 5 % (95 % CI 0·91, 0·99; Pfor trend = 0·020) decrease in GDM risk. No significant association was found between α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein/zeaxanthin intake and GDM risk. Multiple linear regression analysis suggested an inverse association between lycopene intake and fasting blood glucose (FBG) (Pfor trend < 0·001); each 1 mg increase in lycopene intake was associated with 0·005 (95 % CI 0·002, 0·007; Pfor trend < 0·001) mmol/l decrease in FBG. Interaction analysis indicated consistent effect on each age or pre-BMI subgroup; however, a stronger protective effect of lycopene intake against GDM was observed among primigravid women (OR 0·20; 95 % CI 0·07, 0·55 in the highest v. the lowest quartile of intake; Pfor interaction = 0·036). In conclusion, dietary lycopene intake was mainly assumed via reducing FBG to decrease GDM risk, and the protection was relatively increased among primigravid women.

Novel NiMoO4-integrated electrode materials were successfully prepared by solvothermal method using Na2MoO4·2H2O and NiSO4·6H2O as main raw materials, water, and ethanol as solvents. The morphology, phase, and structure of the as-prepared materials were characterized by SEM, XRD, Raman, and FT-IR. The electrochemical properties of the materials in supercapacitors were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, constant current charge–discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. The effects of volume ratio of water to ethanol (W/E) in solvent on the properties of the product were studied. The results show that the pure phase monoclinic crystal NiMoO4 product can be obtained when the W/E is 2:1. The diameter and length are 0.1–0.3 µm and approximately 3 µm, respectively. As an active material for supercapacitor, the NiMoO4 nanorods material delivered a discharge specific capacitance of 672, 498, and 396 F/g at a current density of 4, 7, and 10 A/g, respectively. The discharge specific capacitance slightly decreased from 815 to 588 F/g with a retention of 72% after 1000 cycles at a current density of 1 A/g. With these superior capacitance properties, the novel NiMoO4 integrated electrode materials could be considered as promising material for supercapacitors.

The Hu–Wen era saw significant expansions in social policies in China. How did these policy changes affect income inequality, and did they leave a progressive legacy? Using the China Household income Project (CHIP) 2002, 2007 and 2013 data, this article offers empirical evidence to answer these questions. We find that these social policy changes indeed led to some convergence of the divided urban–rural–migrant social welfare systems and helped curtail the growing income inequality driven by market forces. Measured as the share in household final income, the size of urban social benefits decreased, while those for rural residents and rural-to-urban migrants increased from 2002 to 2013. Social benefits – especially pensions – reduced income inequality in all three groups, although to a much smaller extent for rural residents and migrants as compared to their urban peers. Rural residents also gained from agricultural and livelihood subsidies through the “Building a new socialist countryside” initiative.