Reducing drag under high turbulence is a critical but challenging issue that has engendered great concern. This study utilizes hydrophilic tips in superhydrophobic (SHP) grooves to enhance the stability of plastron, which results in a considerable drag reduction ($DR$) up to 62 %, at Reynolds number ($Re$) reaching $2.79 \times 10^{4}$. The effect of the spacing width $w$ of the microgrooves on both $DR$ and flow structures is investigated. Experimental results demonstrate that $DR$ increases as either microgroove spacing $w$ or $Re$ increases. The velocity fields obtained using particle image velocimetry indicate that the air-filled SHP grooves induce a considerable wall slip. This slip significantly weakens the intensity of Taylor rolls, reduces local momentum transport, and consequently lowers drag. This phenomenon becomes more pronounced with increasing $w$. Furthermore, to quantify the multiscale relationship between global response and geometrical as well as driving parameters, $DR\sim (w, \phi _s, Re)$, a theoretical model is established based on angular momentum defect theory and magnitude estimate. It is demonstrated that a decrease in the surface solid fraction can reduce wall shear, and an increase in the groove width can weaken turbulence kinetic energy production, rendering enhanced slip and drag reduction. This research has implications for designing and optimizing turbulent-drag-reducing surfaces in various engineering applications, such as transportation and marine engineering.

Growing evidence indicates a link between diet and depression risk. We aimed to examine the association between an inflammatory diet index and depression utilising extensive data from UK biobank cohort. The energy-adjusted dietary inflammation index (E-DII) was calculated to quantify the potential of daily diet, with twenty-seven food parameters utilised. The E-DII scores were classified into two categories (low v. high) based on median value. To mitigate bias and ensure comparability of participant characteristics, propensity score matching was employed. To ascertain the robustness of these associations, sensitivity analyses were conducted. Subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate the consistency of these associations within different subpopulations. Totally, 152 853 participants entered the primary analyses with a mean age of 56·11 (sd 7·98) years. Employing both univariate and multivariate logistic regression models, adjustments were made for varying degrees of confounding factors (socio-demographics, lifestyle factors, common chronic medical conditions including type 2 diabetes and hypertension). Results consistently revealed a noteworthy positive correlation between E-DII and depression. In the context of propensity score matching, participants displaying higher E-DII scores exhibited an increased likelihood of experiencing incident depression (OR = 1·12, 95 % CI: 1·05, 1·19; P = 0·000316). Subgroup analysis results demonstrated variations in these associations across diverse subpopulations. The E-value for the point-estimate OR calculated from the propensity score matching dataset was 1·48. Excluding individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or hypertension, the findings consistently aligned with the positive association in the primary analysis. These findings suggested that consumption of a diet with higher pro-inflammatory potential might associated with an increase of future depression risk.

Ferula sinkiangensis K.M. Shen is a threatened medicinal plant endemic to Xinjiang, China, with a small population size and a narrow distribution range. We assessed the status of this species with respect to its population age structure, the level of threat and extinction risk. Only one population remains, in Yining County, Xinjiang. We conducted field surveys of the population in 2022 and 2023, counting 2,033 and 1,515 individuals, respectively, in 144 sample quadrats. We assessed the age structure of the population by counting the number of basal leaves of each individual. The frequency distribution had an inverted J-shape, indicative of a relatively stable age structure. However, the number of mature individuals was small, raising concerns about the risk of genetic drift and inbreeding. This species is also threatened by habitat destruction and inappropriate collection practices. We recommend that F. sinkiangensis is categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List on the basis of criteria B2ab(iii), C2a(i) and D.

Flowering plants depend on some animals for pollination and contribute to nourish the animals in natural environments. We call these animals pollinators and build a plants-pollinators cooperative model with impulsive effect on a periodically evolving domain. Next, we define the ecological reproduction index for single plant model and plants-pollinators system, respectively, whose threshold dynamics, including the extinction, persistence and coexistence, is established by the method of upper and lower solutions. Theoretical analysis shows that a large domain evolution rate has a positive influence on the survival of pollinators whether or not the impulsive effect occurs, and the pulse eliminates the pollinators even when the evolution rate is high. Moreover, some selective numerical simulations are still performed to explain our theoretical results.

Power scaling in conventional broad-area (BA) lasers often leads to the operation of higher-order lateral modes, resulting in a multiple-lobe far-field profile with large divergence. Here, we report an advanced sawtooth waveguide (ASW) structure integrated onto a wide ridge waveguide. It strategically enhances the loss difference between higher-order modes and the fundamental mode, thereby facilitating high-power narrow-beam emission. Both optical simulations and experimental results illustrate the significant increase in additional scattering loss of the higher-order modes. The optimized ASW lasers achieve an impressive output power of 1.1 W at 4.6 A at room temperature, accompanied by a minimal full width at half maximum lateral divergence angle of 4.91°. Notably, the far-field divergence is reduced from 19.61° to 11.39° at the saturation current, showcasing a remarkable 42% improvement compared to conventional BA lasers. Moreover, the current dependence of divergence has been effectively improved by 38%, further confirming the consistent and effective lateral mode control capability offered by our design.

As an important component of prehistoric subsistence, an understanding of bone-working is essential for interpreting the evolution of early complex societies, yet worked bones are rarely systematically collected in China. Here, the authors apply multiple analytical methods to worked bones from the Longshan site of Pingliangtai, in central China, showing that Neolithic bone-working in this area, with cervid as the main raw material, was mature but localised, household-based and self-sufficient. The introduction of cattle in the Late Neolithic precipitated a shift in bone-working traditions but it was only later, in the Bronze Age, that cattle bones were utilised in a specialised fashion and dedicated bone-working industries emerged in urban centres.

Warm ice at temperatures close to the pressure melting point is often encountered in deep ice-core drilling. The heat generated by rotary cutting can melt ice chips, which seriously threatens the safety of drilling if the chips refreeze on the drill bit or barrel. Lowering the cutting heat is an effective method to reduce the melting of ice chips. In this study, a general theoretical model was established based on heat transfer theory and the cutting mechanism to calculate and analyze the cutter temperature during the circulation of the drilling fluid. The model was validated by a series of experiments, which demonstrated reasonable agreement between the calculated data and experimental results, with a maximum error of <16%. The factors that contribute to the rise in the cutter temperature during warm ice drilling were investigated. Results suggest that the drilling fluid has excellent cooling performance, and its type and flow rate have minimal impact on the cutter temperature. To mitigate the cutter temperature rise, maximizing the rake angle and thermal conductivity of the cutter, while minimizing the rotation speed of the drill bit, cutting depth, cutter width and friction coefficient between the ice and cutter is recommended.

The reading the mind in the eyes test (RMET) – which assesses the theory of mind component of social cognition – is often used to compare social cognition between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. There is, however, no systematic review integrating the results of these studies. We identified 198 studies published before July 2020 that administered RMET to patients with schizophrenia or healthy controls from three English-language and two Chinese-language databases. These studies included 41 separate samples of patients with schizophrenia (total n = 1836) and 197 separate samples of healthy controls (total n = 23 675). The pooled RMET score was 19.76 (95% CI 18.91–20.60) in patients and 25.53 (95% CI 25.19–25.87) in controls (z = 12.41, p < 0.001). After excluding small-sample outlier studies, this difference in RMET performance was greater in studies using non-English v. English versions of RMET (Chi [Q] = 8.54, p < 0.001). Meta-regression analyses found a negative association of age with RMET score and a positive association of years of schooling with RMET score in both patients and controls. A secondary meta-analysis using a spline construction of 180 healthy control samples identified a non-monotonic relationship between age and RMET score – RMET scores increased with age before 31 and decreased with age after 31. These results indicate that patients with schizophrenia have substantial deficits in theory of mind compared with healthy controls, supporting the construct validity of RMET as a measure of social cognition. The different results for English versus non-English versions of RMET and the non-monotonic relationship between age and RMET score highlight the importance of the language of administration of RMET and the possibility that the relationship of aging with theory of mind is different from the relationship of aging with other types of cognitive functioning.

Here, we report the generation of MeV alpha-particles from H-11B fusion initiated by laser-accelerated boron ions. Boron ions with maximum energy of 6 MeV and fluence of 109/MeV/sr@5 MeV were generated from 60 nm-thick self-supporting boron nanofoils irradiated by 1 J femtosecond pulses at an intensity of 1019 W/cm2. By bombarding secondary hydrogenous targets with the boron ions, 3 × 105/sr alpha-particles from H-11B fusion were registered, which is consistent with the theoretical yield calculated from the measured boron energy spectra. Our results demonstrated an alternative way toward ultrashort MeV alpha-particle sources employing compact femtosecond lasers. The ion acceleration and product measurement scheme are referential for the studies on the ion stopping power and cross section of the H-11B reaction in solid or plasma.

The effects of magnetic vortex acceleration (MVA) are investigated with two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations by laser interaction with near-critical density (NCD) plasma inside a hollow conical plasma. Energetic and collimated proton beams can be accelerated by a longitudinal charge-separation field. Energetic protons with a peak energy of 220 MeV are produced in PIC simulations. Compared with a uniform NCD plasma, both the cutoff energy and collimation of proton beams are improved remarkably. Furthermore, the influence of different gap sizes of cone tip is taken into account. For optimizing magnetic vortex acceleration, the gap size of the cone tip is suggested to match the focal spot size of laser pulse.

Mineral-microbe interactions are widespread in a number of environmental processes such as mineral weathering, decomposition, and transformation. Both clay minerals and silicate-weathering bacteria are widely distributed in nature, and the latter contribute to weathering, diagenesis, and mineralization of major rock-forming minerals. The purpose of this study was to observe changes in the chemical composition and structure, especially the phase transformation, of smectite after processing by a silicate-weathering bacterium. The interaction between Bacillus mucilaginosus and bentonite was studied using custom culture media. Results from Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry revealed that the bacterium promoted release of Si and Al from solid bentonite to solution. Concomitantly, the Ka nd Fe contents of the mineral increased as shown by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results. After interaction with the bacterium, the montmorillonite underwent a possible structure transformation to smectite, as indicated by the emergence of a new weak peak (d = 9.08 Å) shown by X-ray diffraction patterns. The mineralogical changes were also demonstrated by the decrease in the specific surface area of the mineral from 33.0 to 24.0 m2/g (these lower values for SSA of bentonite are related to the particle size of the smectite examined (120-160 mesh) and the weakened absorption bands in Al-O-H and Si-O-Si vibrations by Micro Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The morphology changes in the bacteria observed by environmental scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy revealed an obvious growth of the flagella in the presence of bentonite.

Obeticholic acid (OCA), a farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist, has been demonstrated to ameliorate the histopathological characteristics of liver damage. Nonetheless, the systemic safety profile of OCA with regard to reproduction and development remains poorly understood. In the present study, we conducted a dose–response experiment by administering OCA at doses of 5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, or 20 mg/kg through tube feeding to investigate its effect on reproductive development and fertilization rate in both male and female mice. Furthermore, we evaluated the levels of protein and mitochondrial function in the placenta through western blot, qPCR, and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg OCA doses significantly reduced the rate of placental implantation (P < 0.05). Also, OCA increased maternal body weight. In addition, OCA increased levels of FXR and TGR5 and produced changes in oxidative stress levels (P < 0.05). Mitochondrial activity result found that 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg of OCA significantly reduced the mitophagy autosomes/nucleus compared with the normal control group (P < 0.05). What is more, there was no significant difference in sperm count after OCA intervention in either C57BL/10 mice or BALB/c mice. Overall, we demonstrated that OCA treatment protected against placental implantation by suppressing placental oxidative stress and mitochondrial activity.

HIV-1 molecular surveillance provides a new approach to explore transmission risks and targeted interventions. From January to June 2021, 663 newly reported HIV-1 cases were recruited in Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, China. The distribution characteristics of HIV-1 subtypes and HIV-1 molecular network were analysed. Of 542 successfully subtyped samples, 12 HIV-1 strains were identified. The main strains were CRF08_BC (47.0%, 255/542), CRF01_AE (17.0%, 92/542), CRF07_BC (17.0%, 92/542), URFs (8.7%, 47/542), and CRF85_BC (6.5%, 35/542). CRF08_BC was commonly detected among Zhaotong natives, illiterates, and non-farmers and was mostly detected in Zhaoyang County. CRF01_AE was frequently detected among married and homosexual individuals and mostly detected in Weixin and Zhenxiong counties. Among the 516 pol sequences, 187 (36.2%) were clustered. Zhaotong natives, individuals aged ≥60 years, and illiterate individuals were more likely to be found in the network. Assortativity analysis showed that individuals were more likely to be genetically associated when stratified by age, education level, occupation, and reporting area. The genetic diversity of HIV-1 reflects the complexity of local HIV epidemics. Molecular network analyses revealed the subpopulations to focus on and the characteristics of the risk networks. The results will help optimise local prevention and control strategies.