Continuous Reduction Research Articles

Integrating green manure and fertilizer reduction strategies to enhance soil carbon sequestration and crop yield: evidence from a two-season pot experiment

The excessive use of chemical fertilizers in agricultural production has led to diminishing returns, necessitating alternative methods to enhance soil fertility and reduce fertilizer dependency. One promising approach is the integration of leguminous green manure, which improves soil structure, enhances nutrient cycling, and supports sustainable farming practices. However, the application of green manure in systems with continuous fertilizer reduction remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating the effects of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers (N-P) by up to 24% in conjunction with multiple cropping of soybean green manure on soil fertility, organic carbon fractions, and wheat yield. The research employed a pot experiment conducted over two wheat-growing seasons (March 2021 to July 2022) at an experimental station in Baoji, China. Treatments included CK (control, no fertilizer), CF (conventional fertilizer), and reduced N-P fertilizer applications by 6% (RF6), 12% (RF12), 18% (RF18), and 24% (RF24). Key findings revealed that RF12 had no significant impact on wheat grain yield compared to CF. The incorporation of soybean green manure significantly improved soil alkaline nitrogen by 22.3% and available phosphorus by 30.7%, while high-labile organic carbon (H-LOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) increased by 34.5 and 29.6%, respectively. Additionally, a notable increase of 12.4% in soil organic carbon content was observed, suggesting enhanced carbon sequestration potential. This study provides valuable insights into sustainable agricultural practices by demonstrating that incorporating leguminous green manure alongside moderate fertilizer reduction can maintain crop yield, improve soil nutrient availability, and increase organic carbon content, thus supporting reduced reliance on chemical fertilizers and promoting long-term soil fertility and carbon sequestration.

Continuous cropping of Patchouli alters soil physiochemical properties and rhizosphere microecology revealed by metagenomic sequencing

Continuous cropping (CC) profoundly impacts soil ecosystems, including changes in soil factors and the structure and stability of microbial communities. These factors are interrelated and together affect soil health and plant growth. In this research, metagenomic sequencing was used to explore the effects of CC on physicochemical properties, enzyme activities, microbial community composition, and functional genes of the rhizosphere soil of patchouli. We found that this can lead to changes in various soil factors, including the continuous reduction of pH and NH4+-N and the unstable changes of many factors. In addition, S-PPO enzyme activity increased significantly with the cropping years, but S-NAG increased in the first 2 years and decreased in the third cropping year. Metagenomic sequencing results showed that CC significantly changed the diversity and composition of rhizosphere microbial communities. The relative abundance of Pseudomonas and Bacteroides decreased substantially from the phylum level. At the genus level, the number of microbial genera specific to the zero-year cropping (CK) and first (T1), second (T2), and third (T3) years decreased significantly, to 1798, 172, 42, and 44, respectively. The abundance of many functional genes changed, among which COG0823, a gene with the cellular process and signaling functions, significantly increased after CC. In addition, NH4+-N, S-CAT, S-LAP, and SOC were the main environmental factors affecting rhizosphere-dominant microbial communities at the phylum level, while pH, SOC, and AK were the key environmental factors affecting rhizosphere functional genes of Pogostemon cablin. In summary, this study showed the dynamic changes of soil factors and rhizosphere microorganisms during CC, providing a theoretical basis for understanding the formation mechanism and prevention of CC obstacles and contributing to the formulation of scientific soil management and fertilization strategies.

Causes of death among older children and adolescents (5–19 years) in the Magu Health and Demographic Surveillance Study, Tanzania, 1995–2022

ABSTRACT Background Population data on mortality and causes of death among 5–19-year-olds are limited. Objectives To assess levels, trends, and risk factors of cause-specific mortality and place at death among 5–19-year-olds in Tanzania (1995–2022). Methods Using longitudinal data from the Magu Health and Demographic Surveillance System in northwest Tanzania, we identified leading causes of death among 5–19-year-olds from verbal autopsy interviews, using physician review and a Bayesian probabilistic model (InSilicoVA). We analyzed trends in cause and place of death using three periods: 1995–2004, 2005–2014 and 2015–2022, and assessed risk factors in a Cox-proportional hazards model. We compared the results with children aged 1–4 years and global estimates for Tanzania. Results Between 1995 and 2022, communicable disease mortality decreased by 73%, similar to the 76% decline among 1–4-year-olds. This decline in communicable disease mortality drove all-cause mortality declines of 43% and 48% among 5–14- and 15–19-year-olds, respectively. Non-communicable diseases and injuries gained importance, with their relative share of all deaths increasing from 15% in 1995–2004 to 58% in 2015–2022. Mortality risks were significantly higher among boys (particularly for injuries), those residing in rural areas (for non-communicable diseases), and those from the poorest households (for communicable diseases). By 2015–2022, 48% of 5–14 and 42% of 15–19-year-olds died in health facilities, up from 25% in 1995–2002. Conclusions Since 1995, the decline in communicable disease mortality drove a major all-cause mortality reduction among 5–19-year-olds. Further progress will depend on continued reduction in communicable disease mortality, particularly among the poorest, and effectively addressing non-communicable and injury mortality.

Efficacy of copper-impregnated antimicrobial surfaces against Clostridioides difficile spores.

Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is one of the most common causes of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Elimination of C. difficile spores is difficult as they are resistant to common hospital-grade disinfectants. Copper-impregnated surfaces provide continuous reduction of multiple pathogens, potentially lowering the risk of infections. This manuscript aims to evaluate the efficacy of copper-impregnated surfaces on C. difficile spores. Control (no copper) coupons and copper coupons containing 20% copper-oxide were inoculated with C. difficile spore loads ranging from 105 to 107 spores, with or without 5% fetal bovine serum soil load. After 4 hours of contact time, the C. difficile spores were recovered, plated on C. difficile growth media, and colony forming units were counted. The efficacy of copper (log10 kill) was estimated using a Bayesian latent variables model. After 4 hours, unsoiled copper bedrail and copper table coupons at mean spore inoculation resulted in a 97.3% and 96.8% reduction in spore count (1.57 and 1.50 log10 kill, respectively). That of soiled bedrail and table coupons showed a 91.8% and 91.7% reduction (1.10 and 1.10 log10 kill, respectively). Copper coupons can substantially reduce C. difficile spores after 4 hours, but results vary depending on the initial spore concentration and presence or absence of organic material. Higher initial spore loads or excess organic material may prevent spores from contact with copper surfaces, thus decreasing kill efficacy. Continuous sporicidal effect of copper-impregnated surfaces may decrease spore burden and help prevent transmission of spores.

Two mixed-valent cerium oxo clusters: synthesis, structure, and self-assembly.

Studies on cerium oxo clusters (CeOCs) are not only significant for understanding the redox and hydrolysis behaviors of Ce(III/IV) ions but also crucial for the rational synthesis of novel clusters and nanoceria with specific Ce(III)/Ce(IV) ratios. Here, two sets of reactions were conducted using cerium nitrate and H2O2-oxidized cerium nitrate, resulting in the formation of two distinct mixed-valent CeOCs [CeIII 4CeIV 10O14(OH)2(PhCO2)22(DMF)6] (Ce14) and [CeIII 2CeIV 22O28(OH)8(PhCO2)30(DMF)4] (Ce24C). These two clusters exhibit different structures and Ce(III)/Ce(IV) ratios, demonstrating the critical role of cerium oxidation states and the occurrence of redox reactions in cluster formation. Ce14 is the first tetradecanuclear CeOC with a novel structure, whereas Ce24C differed in its Ce(III)/Ce(IV) ratio, protonation levels of O atoms, and ligands from previously reported 24-nuclear CeOCs. Furthermore, various techniques were employed to investigate the formation process of these two clusters. X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) revealed that the white precipitates formed during the preparation of Ce14 contain Ce(III) ions, while the reddish-brown precipitates formed during the preparation of Ce24C contain a mixture of Ce(III) and Ce(IV) ions. These two precipitations were individually dissolved in N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF). The evolution of solution color and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectra over time revealed the gradual oxidation of partial Ce(III) ions by oxygen in the solution of the white precipitation. As Ce(IV) ions increased in this solution, time-resolved small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data demonstrated the self-assembly of the Ce14 clusters after 4days. In contrast, SAXS data and UV-Vis spectra revealed the rapid assembly of Ce24C clusters within 2h due to the initial coexistence of Ce(IV) and Ce(III) ions in the DMF solution of the reddish-brown precipitation. The continued reduction of partial Ce(IV) ions in this solution does not affect Ce24C clusters' formation and stability. Our studies expand the family of CeOCs and enhance our understanding of the effects of cerium's oxidation states on cluster formation.

Insight into the codon usage patterns and adaptation of Tembusu Virus.

Since its emergence in 2010, Tembusu virus (TMUV) has rapidly spread across poultry populations in Asia, leading to substantial economic losses in these areas. Here, we investigate the codon usage patterns (CUPs) underlying TMUV's adaptation and evolutionary dynamics within host environments. Phylogenetic and compositional analyses consistently classify TMUV into four evolutionary lineages-Clusters 1, 2, 3, and ancestral TMUV-with Cluster 2 emerging as the dominant lineage. Codon adaptation index (CAI) analysis reveals that this lineage of TMUV show best adapted to the CUPs of duck than other lineages, underscoring the role of natural selection in shaping viral evolution, a finding in line with evidence that CUPs in the TMUV genome is predominantly shaped by natural selection. Furthermore, TMUV exhibits markedly higher adaptation to the CUPs of poultry hosts (duck, goose, and chicken) compared to potential host humans or vector mosquito. Thus, species-specific adaptability to the host environment may be a reason account for the distinct infectivity and clinic outcome of TMUV acted on hosts. Analysis of dinucleotide distribution reveals significant suppression of CpG and UpA dinucleotides in the TMUV genome, reflecting adaptive pressures to evade vertebrate immune responses. During transmission, TMUV shows increasing alignment with host CUPs and a continuous reduction in CpG dinucleotides, potentially enhancing its fitness within host microenvironments. This work advances our understanding of the basic biology underlying TMUV epidemiology, pathogenicity, and species-specific adaptation.

A lotus-inspired triphase continuous CO2 photo-thermal reduction system with wide applicability and tunable interface environment

A lotus-inspired triphase continuous CO2 photo-thermal reduction system with wide applicability and tunable interface environment

Comparison of awake respiratory control versus sleep obstructive sleep apnea endotypes.

Most approaches to advance simplified physiology-based precision medicine strategies for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) focus on sleep parameters (i.e., OSA endotypes). However, wakefulness physiology measures can also provide prediction insight for certain OSA therapies, yet their relationship with sleep parameters has not been extensively investigated. This study aimed to investigate potential relationships between awake ventilatory control parameters and sleep OSA endotypes and their potential to predict changes in OSA severity with morphine. Data were acquired from a randomized, crossover trial that investigated the effects of morphine versus placebo on OSA severity and underlying mechanisms. Here, awake ventilatory chemoreflex testing before overnight polysomnography was compared with direct measures of sleep respiratory control (e.g., hypercapnic ventilatory responses and loop gain) and OSA endotypes during a separate overnight physiology study [pharyngeal critical closure pressure (Pcrit), muscle responsiveness via genioglossus intramuscular electromyography, and arousal threshold via epiglottic pressure catheter to transient continuous positive airway pressure reductions]. Twenty-one men with OSA completed both study arms. During placebo, 1) awake chemosensitivity correlated with Pcrit (r = 0.726, P = 0.001), 2) arousal threshold correlated with awake CO2 ventilatory response threshold (r = -0.467, P = 0.047) and basal ventilation (r = -0.500, P = 0.029). Awake chemosensitivity and Pcrit also correlated with the apnea-hypopnea index (P < 0.001) during placebo. Awake chemosensitivity was predictive of changes in OSA severity with morphine (r = -0.535, P = 0.013). In conclusion, awake measures of respiratory control are related to physiological endotypes, such as airway collapsibility and arousal threshold during sleep and OSA severity. Awake ventilatory chemosensitivity has the best potential to predict changes in OSA severity with morphine.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Both awake ventilatory control measures and OSA endotypes measured during sleep have reported potentials in endotyping/phenotyping OSA, although no randomized, controlled trial has compared/linked between the two techniques. From a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled crossover trial, we found that awake measures of respiratory control are related to physiological endotypes such as airway collapsibility and arousal threshold during sleep and OSA severity. Awake ventilatory chemosensitivity has the best potential to predict changes in OSA severity with morphine.

Paleomagnetic Imprints of Sulfate Reduction Pathways in Continental Shelf Sediments: Organoclastic Versus Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane

AbstractMarine continental shelf sediments with high deposition rates may provide useful archives of rapid geomagnetic secular variation as long as the primary magnetization is not altered substantially by diagenesis. To quantify the effects of sulfate (SO42‐) reduction, which is a dominant early diagenetic process in such sediments, on paleomagnetic recording, we analyzed four 6‐m long sediment cores from the eastern Mediterranean shelf. Two cores did not reach the methanogenic zone and are characterized by continuous organoclastic sulfate reduction (OSR), while the other two have a distinctive shallow sulfate‐methane transition zone (SMTZ). Age models based on 28 radiocarbon ages indicate steady deposition rates with spatially varying age spans, which suggest that different parts of the shelf stopped accumulating sediments at different times during the Holocene. The upper sediment column in all cores is dominated by detrital titanomagnetite and biogenic magnetite. OSR‐affected sediments record continuous (titano) magnetite dissolution, which resulted in steady magnetic susceptibility and remanence decreases. For cores that reach the methanogenic zone, similar behavior is observed at or above the STMZ, but magnetic properties stabilize at greater depths. Paleomagnetic directions in these sediments are more coherent, with better agreement with geomagnetic models than sediments affected by OSR. We suggest that methane‐rich sediments with a shallow SMTZ and high sedimentation rates can better preserve primary paleomagnetic signals than OSR‐dominated sediments due to a lack of dissolved sulfide in the main methanogenic zone, and that a susceptibility decline with depth should be a warning sign for paleomagnetic studies.

Attacking medical images with minimal noise: exploiting vulnerabilities in medical deep-learning systems.

A change in the output of deep neural networks (DNNs) via the perturbation of a few pixels of an image is referred to as an adversarial attack, and these perturbed images are known as adversarial samples. This study examined strategies for compromising the integrity of DNNs under stringent conditions, specifically by inducing the misclassification of medical images of disease with minimal pixel modifications. This study used the following three publicly available datasets: the chest radiograph of emphysema (cxr) dataset, the melanocytic lesion (derm) dataset, and the Kaggle diabetic retinopathy (dr) dataset. To attack the medical images, we proposed a method termed decrease group differential evolution (DGDE) for generating adversarial images. Under this method, a noise matrix of the same size as the input image is first used to attack the image sample several times until the initial adversarial perturbation s0 is obtained. Next, a subset s1 is randomly picked from the initial adversarial perturbation s0 that is still able to cause the samples to be misclassified by the classifier. A new subset s2 is subsequently randomly selected from the adversarial perturbation subset s1, which can still cause the adversarial samples to be misclassified by the classifier. Finally, the adversarial perturbation subset sn with the minimum number of elements is obtained by continuous reduction of the number of perturbed pixels. In this study, the DGDE method was used to attack the images of the cxr dataset, the derm dataset, and the dr dataset; and the minimum number of pixels required to be considered a successful attack was 11, 7, and 7, respectively, while the maximum number of pixel changes was 55, 35, and 21, respectively. The average number of pixel changes was 30, 18, and 11, respectively, in the cxr dataset, the derm dataset, and the dr dataset, respectively, while the percentages of the average number of pixel changes among the total number of pixels of the image were 0.0598%, 0.0359%, and 0.0219, respectively. Unlike the traditional differential evolution (DE) method, the proposed DGDE method modifies fewer pixels to generate adversarial samples by introducing a variable population number and a novel crossover and selection strategy. However, the success rate of the initial attack on different image datasets varied greatly. In future studies, we intend to identify the reasons for this phenomenon and improve the success rate of the initial attack.

Effective control of intrinsic impurities using n = 1 resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) in EAST H-mode plasma

Since 2021, EAST tokamak has been operated with full tungsten divertors. Tungsten accumulation has been frequently observed in NBI-heated H-mode discharges, resulting in the degradation of plasma confinement performance. Control of tungsten impurity is thus critical for the maintenance of high-confinement plasmas. In this work the impact of the n = 1 resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) on the behavior of intrinsic low- and high-Z impurities in EAST H-mode discharges are experimentally studied, utilizing high-performance extreme ultraviolet spectroscopic diagnostics. In the dedicated discharge, ELM mitigation, ELM suppression, H-L back transition, RMP penetration occurs in succession with increasing RMP current (IRMP). When IRMP is below the threshold for H-L back transition, IRMP_H-L = 2.29 kA, increasing influx of C2+ and C3+ ions and decreasing influx of C4+ and C5+ ions are observed simutaneously with enhancement of the RMP field. This opposite time behavior in the influx of C4+ and C3+ ion is then observed to be magnified during the RMP penetration phase. It indicates a impurity screening layer formed between the locations where C4+ and C3+ ions distribute during RMP application based on our previous analysis (W.M. Zhang et al 2024 Nucl. Fusion 64 086004). A large step of increase in C4+ influx after H-L back transition indicates C4+ ion mainly located at bottom of pedestal. A higher RMP coil currents threshold capable of impurity screening is found for high-Z impurity ions of Cu25+, Mo30+, W42+, i. e. 0.53–––0.75 kA, than that for C4+ and C5+, i. e. 0.33 kA. Meanwhile, it is found that comparing to C4+ and C5+ ions the decontamination effect by this impurity screening layer is more efficient for these high-Z impurity ions in plasma core region, e.g. up to 70 % reduction in the impurity density, leading to a significant reduction of radiation power. Furthermore, the continuous reduction of core high-Z impurities level both in ELM mitigation and suppression phase proved that this impurity decontamination effect by RMP field is dominant over the impact of ELM activity to core high-Z impurities transport since tungsten is frequently observed to accumulate during original ELM-free phase. Experimental results from this work would contribute to further understanding of the underlying mechanism how the RMP field impacts the impurity transport

Study on the influence of primary peak temperature on the microstructure and impact properties of heat affected zone of a 1000 MPa grade hydropower steel

ABSTRACT The microstructure of various zones in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of 1000 MPa grade ultra-high-strength steel were investigated by welding thermal simulation. The results showed that the grain sizes were smallest at 950°C, when it was at the fine grain section in HAZ. The continuous reduction in grain size was due to the recovery and recrystallization. Samples subjected to thermal cycles at lower than 950°C exhibited high impact absorption energy of more than 100 J, with distinct fibrous zones and shear lips on the fracture surfaces, indicative of high impact toughness. However, the impact toughness of samples from the CGHAZ, which underwent thermal cycles at higher than 1100°C, decreased significantly to about 10 J, with the fracture surfaces showing macroscopic brittle fracture features and covered entirely by cleavage planes. Microstructural analysis revealed that coarse grains and brittle martensite were the primary causes of embrittlement in the CGHAZ.

Influence of Process Parameters on Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to C2+ Products

With an increasing concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, greenhouse gas emissions must be mitigated to prevent further global warming. A promising technology to achieve this goal is the electrochemical reduction of CO2. Thereby, CO2 is converted to value-added chemicals using renewable electrical energy. Ethylene or ethanol are valuable C2+ products, which may be synthesized with copper based catalysts. However, many studies lack control of temperature and CO2 excess factors as well as the application of industrially relevant current densities above 200 mA cm-2. Additionally, recent literature proposes benefits of pulsed operation as opposed to static operation. Pulsed operation employing gas diffusion electrodes at elevated current densities must be studied in more detail to assess the full potential of dynamic operation. This work demonstrates the continuous electrochemical reduction of CO2 to C2+ products at industrially relevant conditions. Current densities from 100 mA cm-2 to 400 mA cm-2 are applied to an electrochemical flow cell with a geometrical electrode area of 25 cm2. CuO nanoparticles were deposited on gas diffusion layers as catalyst via automated ultrasonic spray-coating. Throughout electrolysis experiments, constant electrolyte temperatures of 20 °C or 40 °C and constant CO2 excess factors of 2 or 5 are maintained. In contrast to statically applied current, pulsed current experiments focus on enhanced CO2 mass transfer to the catalyst layer. Throughout static electrolysis, an increase in Faradaic efficiency from 30 % to 60 % for C2+ products is observed when the current density is increased from 100 mA cm-2 to 400 mA cm-2. This is attributed to a more alkaline pH in the catalyst layer caused by high current densities which is favorable to produce C2+ products. Furthermore, it was found that an electrolyte bulk temperature of 20 °C increases the Faradaic efficiency for C2+ products compared to experiments conducted at 40 °C. We hypothesize that this is due to less intermediate desorption from the catalyst. Furthermore, the reduction of CO2 excess leads to an increase in Faradaic efficiency for C2+ products. The highest Faradaic efficiency to C2+ products was found at 400 mA cm-2 with an electrolyte bulk temperature of 20 °C at a CO2 excess factor of 2. Additionally, the influence of pulsed current on the yield of C2+ products was investigated and different pulsing procedures were tested. The results show that pulsed current operation reduces the parasitic hydrogen evolution. However, the C2+ formation was not increased compared to static operation in an electrochemical flow cell at high current densities. In summary, this work shows how different process parameters influence the product distribution in electrochemical CO2 reduction on a CuO catalyst to improve the selectivity towards C2+ products. This is a further step towards a sustainable process to produce platform chemicals.

Electrocatalytic Reduction of Simulated Industrial CO2 and CO Mixtures: Revising Chronoamperometry to Enable Selective Gas Mixture Reduction via Cyclic Voltammetry

The reduction of carbon oxide mixtures remains underexplored despite advances in the electrocatalytic reduction of pure CO2 or CO. A novel approach for the electrocatalytic reduction of carbon oxide mixtures was developed and optimized through the controlled application of cyclic voltammetry (CV). This method, serving as an alternative to conventional chronoamperometry, ensures a continuous reduction reaction by cycling between the optimized reduction potentials of CO2 (−1.4 V) and CO (−1.6 V). The approach resulted in a significant increase in production efficiency, ranging from 25% to 40% for predominant products (HCOOH and C2H4).The methodology involved the use of CV to conduct reduction reactions within a defined negative potential window, ensuring a continuous reduction process throughout the entire cycling. This led to an enhanced performance, dependent on the scan rate of cycling, revealing plausible correlations with mass transfer and electrode surface dynamics. Furthermore, the findings indicated that the selectivity towards HCOOH and C2H4 is closely related to the CO2/CO ratios of gas sources, providing insight into the potential for modulating selectivity of industrial gas reduction for improved product quality and customization.This novel approach of electrocatalytic reduction of carbon oxide mixtures proves to have high universality and potential for industrial applications. The method not only achieves increased efficiency in the production of key products but also offers the ability to modulate selectivity based on gas source ratios. This research provides a new perspective for improved product efficiency and customization in industrial gas reduction processes, making it highly valuable for development of green and renewable energy technologies.Ref.[1] W.Q. Chen, J.L.C. Foo, L.Y. Ge, A. Veksha, W.-P. Chan, Y. Shen, G. Lisak, Electrocatalytic reduction of simulated industrial CO2 and CO mixtures: Revising chronoamperometry to enable selective gas mixture reduction via cyclic voltammetry, Chemical Engineering Journal 487 (2024) 150602. Figure 1

SLDPSO-TA: Track Assignment Algorithm Based on Social Learning Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization

In modern circuit design, the short-circuit problem is one of the key factors affecting routability. With the continuous reduction in feature sizes, the short-circuit problem grows significantly in detailed routing. Track assignment, as a crucial intermediary phase between global routing and detailed routing, plays a vital role in preprocessing the short-circuit problem. However, existing track assignment algorithms face the challenge of easily falling into local optimality. As a typical swarm intelligence technique, particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a powerful tool with excellent optimization ability to solve large-scale problems. To address the above issue, we propose an effective track assignment algorithm based on social learning discrete particle swarm optimization (SLDPSO-TA). First, an effective wire model that considers the local nets is proposed. By considering the pin distribution of local nets, this model extracts and allocates more segments to fully leverage the role of track assignment. Second, an integer encoding strategy is employed to ensure that particles within the encoding space range correspond one-to-one with the assignment scheme, effectively expanding the search space. Third, a social learning mode based on the example pool is introduced to PSO, which is composed of other particles that are superior to the current particle. By learning from various objects in the example pool, the diversity of the population is improved. Fourth, a negotiation-based refining strategy is utilized to further reduce overlap. This strategy intelligently transfers and redistributes wire segments in congested areas to reduce congestion across the entire routing panel. Experimental results on multiple benchmarks demonstrate that the proposed SLDPSO-TA can achieve the best overlap cost optimization among all the existing methods, effectively reducing congestion in critical routing areas.

Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis from Dilute Gaseous Nitric Oxide Reduction at Ambient Conditions

Converting gaseous nitric oxide (NO) to ammonia (NH3) is important because of its environmental and industrial implications. The electrochemical transformation of nitrogen (N2) to NH3 faces several challenges, including a slow reaction rate and low Faradaic efficiency (FE). This study presents an innovative approach by integrating NO elimination and NH3 production by electrochemical gaseous NO reduction reaction (NORR) under ambient conditions. Co and Mo-based catalysts were investigated for the continuous reduction of diluted NO gas (1%) to NH3 within a proton exchange membrane (PEM) cell under ambient conditions. In electrochemical NORR tests conducted without a catholyte, CoMo-NC demonstrated notable NORR performance, achieving an NH3 yield rate of 23.2 × 10−10 mol s−1 cm−2 at −2.2 Vcell and FENH3 of 94.6% at −1.6 Vcell, along with enhanced durability. Notably, this performance represents one of the highest FENH3 achievements for electrochemical gas-phase NO reduction at room temperature.

Effect of temperature on permeability of mudstone subjected to triaxial stresses and its application

In order to prevent leakage of pyrolysed oil and gas and the release of contaminants from the top and bottom strata, it is essential to carry out a comprehensive study of the seepage behaviour of these strata under high temperature triaxial stress conditions. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of effective strategies for the containment and integrity monitoring of subsurface reservoirs and storage environments. Mudstone, serving as both the upper and lower strata, offers an effective barrier due to its inherently low permeability. In order to explore the change rule of mudstone sealing performance under high temperature triaxial stress, an air-heated low permeability rock mass air permeability measurement system is used to measure the ground stress buried 500 m deep and the temperature variation characteristics of mudstone permeability on the roof and floor of Jimsar oil shale in Xinjiang under 100 °C. It was found that the permeability of stressed mudstone decreased with the temperature rising up to 100 °C. The primary factor influencing the outcome was the thermal expansion of the mudstone. The magnitude of the drop value was contingent upon the triaxial stresses that could potentially be induced by the application of significant tensile forces, resulting in a relatively minor drop value. The average hydraulic radius of pore in the mudstone was also calculated, which also exhibited continuous reduction as heating up to 100 °C and the degree of reduction could reach 68%. The capacity, that prevent oil & gas and contaminant from moving cross strata as a barrier, would be strengthened when the mudstone strata from roof and floor experienced the temperature low than 100 °C. The barrier performance of mudstone as a pollutant migration barrier layer to gas pollutant migration during in-situ heat injection mining of oil shale was further evaluated.

Association of Ruxolitinib Cream Initiation With Continued Reduction in Use of Other Topical Treatments, Oral Corticosteroids, and Biologics for Atopic Dermatitis

The objective of this analysis was to examine the impact of ruxolitinib cream on the use of other treatments for atopic dermatitis (AD). This study used claims data from the Healthcare Integrated Research Database (HIRD®) to identify new users of ruxolitinib cream from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. The index date was the date of the first claim for ruxolitinib cream. The baseline period was the 6-month period before the index date, and the follow-up period was 12 months after the index date, which was divided into months 1–6 and months 7–12. Use of other topical and systemic therapies for AD were descriptively analyzed. Among 556 ruxolitinib cream users with follow-up data, the mean number of ruxolitinib cream fills in the overall 12-month follow-up period was 2.1 (SD, 1.77; range, 1–12). The mean (SD) patient age was 40.3 (17.32) years. In months 1–6 and 7–12, 39.9% and 37.4% of patients were treated with ruxolitinib cream monotherapy, respectively; 72.5% and 73.9% of patients did not receive a new class of AD treatment during the respective follow-up periods. Topical corticosteroid use in patients was reduced from 53.4% at baseline to 31.3% in months 1–6 and 26.6% in months 7–12. Topical calcineurin inhibitor use decreased from 14.9% at baseline to 5.2% in months 1–6 and 5.0% in months 7–12. Similarly, topical phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor use decreased from 6.7% at baseline to 3.4% in months 1–6 and 1.6% in months 7–12. The mean cumulative prednisone-equivalent dose was also reduced from 83.9 mg during the baseline period to 58.0 mg for months 1–6 and 47.3 mg for months 7–12. For patients who did not receive AD biologic therapy during the baseline period (n=431), 92.3% in months 1–6 and 91.4% in months 7–12 continued to remain off AD biologic therapy. Among patients who received AD biologics at baseline (n=125), 16.0% did not receive them in months 1–6 and 26.4% did not receive them in months 7–12. In conclusion, following initiation of ruxolitinib cream, there was a continued reduction in use of other topical therapies and oral corticosteroids for AD. Most biologic-naive patients (&gt;90%) avoided biologics in the 12 months following ruxolitinib cream initiation. Approximately 1 in 4 patients who had biologic treatment during baseline did not continue biologic use in months 7–12. This 12-month analysis confirms earlier 6-month findings that indicated treatment with ruxolitinib cream may reduce the use of other topical therapies, oral corticosteroids, and biologics in patients with AD. (Funding, Incyte Corporation)

Benchmarking for a New Railway Accident Classification Methodology and Its Database: A Case Study in Mexico, the United States, Canada, and the European Union

Rail accidents have decreased in recent years, although not significantly if measured by train accidents recorded in the last six years. Therefore, it is essential to identify weaknesses in the implementation of security and prevention systems. This research aims to study the trend and classification of railway accidents, as well as analyze public databases. Using the business management method of benchmarking, descriptive statistics, and a novel approach to the Ishikawa diagram, this study demonstrates best practices and strategies to reduce accidents. Unlike previous studies, this research specifically examines public databases and provides a framework for developing the standardization of railway accident causes and recommendations. The main conclusion is that the proposed classification of railway accident causes, and its associated database, ensures that agencies, researchers, and the government have accessible, easily linkable, and usable data references to enhance their analysis and support the continued reduction of accidents.

Southerly winds and rapid sea ice reductions along the Sea of Okhotsk coast of Hokkaido

The Sea of Okhotsk, between northern Japan and Siberia, is the southernmost sea region of the Northern Hemisphere with seasonal sea ice cover. During early spring, occasional rapid reduction in sea ice cover observed in the southern Sea of Okhotsk can lead to anomalously early disappearance of sea ice along the Hokkaido coast (northern Japan). This study investigated the atmospheric and oceanic processes leading to rapid reduction in sea ice in the southern Sea of Okhotsk during early spring. We detected six events of subseasonal continued reduction in sea ice cover in March between 1993 and 2019. Strong southerly winds with marked thermal advection and moisture transport over northern Japan were observed in five of the six events. The passage of extratropical cyclones brought warm moist air from the south, which led to drifting and melting of sea ice by changing the surface wind speed and surface heat budget in the southern Sea of Okhotsk. The perturbation in sensible heat flux attributable to warm air advection contributed substantially to sea ice reduction, whereas longwave radiation played a secondary role. In addition to the atmospheric processes, an enhanced Soya Current also transports heat from the Sea of Japan, possibly contributing to the sea ice melt. The initial sea ice reduction leads to further sea ice loss through ice–albedo feedback, resulting in prolonged sea ice reductions for 1–2 weeks.