Search Results (1,091)

Government subsidies can alleviate firms’ financing constraints and facilitate production expansion, but they may also increase pollution emissions. Their environmental consequences depend on the relative effects of production expansion and improvements in environmental efficiency. By matching data from the China Environmental Statistics Database and the China Industrial Enterprise Database, this study examines the relationship between government subsidies and firm-level pollution emissions using firm fixed effects and multidimensional interacted fixed effects. The results reveal a significant positive association between government subsidies and firms’ chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions. This finding remains robust to alternative pollution measures, entropy balancing, double machine learning, and instrumental variable estimation. An examination of firms’ responses shows that government subsidies are associated with higher industrial output, greater resource consumption, and increased wastewater discharge. At the same time, subsidies are associated with lower industrial water use and wastewater discharge per unit of output, as well as higher COD removal rates, suggesting that production expansion and improvements in environmental efficiency may occur simultaneously. Further analysis reveals a significant convex nonlinear relationship between government subsidies and pollution emissions. Firms’ information technology infrastructure weakens the positive relationship, whereas a larger existing capital stock strengthens it. These findings suggest that improvements in resource-use efficiency and pollution abatement may be insufficient to offset the additional emissions associated with production expansion. They highlight a potential trade-off between promoting firm production and controlling pollution through fiscal support, providing firm-level evidence to inform assessments of the environmental consequences of general government subsidies and the design of subsidy policies. Full article

The presence of residual host cell RNA in recombinant plasmid drugs poses potential safety concerns and is subject to strict regulatory limits. Therefore, reliable quantification methods are essential for quality control. This study aims to establish and validate a reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) method for the quantitative detection of residual Escherichia coli host cell RNA in recombinant plasmid drugs. The DNA digestion system was optimized, and three RNA reference materials from different sources (kit-supplied RNA, commercial Thermo Fisher RNA, and self-extracted RNA) were compared. The results for 2-, 4-, and 8-fold diluted samples were comparable. The three reference materials showed comparable electrophoretic band patterns and amplification curves, and they also yielded comparable RNA quantification results for the same samples. After systematic methodological validation of the established RT-qPCR method, it was applied to seven batches of recombinant plasmid drug substances and three batches of in-process intermediates. Notably, residual host cell RNA levels in all tested batches were below 0.2 μg/mg DNA, complying with current national and regional regulatory requirements. Full article

Background/Objectives: Pre-existing anti-Ad5 immunity (PEI) impairs the immunogenicity of intramuscular (IM) Ad5-vectored vaccines. Whether respiratory immunization can better preserve vaccine-induced immunity remains unclear. Methods: We established a murine PEI model to compare immune responses following IM, intranasal (IN), or intratracheal (IT) vaccination with an Ad5-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Results: PEI significantly suppressed serum receptor-binding domain (RBD)-specific IgG and pseudovirus-neutralizing antibody (pNAb) responses and germinal center (GC) B cell responses after IM vaccination. Conversely, systemic antibody responses induced by respiratory immunization were relatively less impaired, with IN vaccination accelerating seroconversion and enhancing early GC B cell activity. Unlike IM vaccination, respiratory immunization induced detectable bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) RBD-specific IgA and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-blocking activity. PEI-associated reductions in BALF IgA and ACE2-blocking activity occurred earlier after IN vaccination but later after IT vaccination. RBD-specific GC B cell responses differed across respiratory immunization, with an early enhancement followed by a late reduction after IN vaccination and a transient reduction around the apparent response peak after IT vaccination. RBD-specific memory B cells (MBCs) were broadly distributed across multiple lymph nodes. PEI-associated differences were limited to specific lymph-node sites and varied according to vaccination routes and time point. Conclusions: PEI suppressed systemic antibody responses after IM but less so after respiratory immunization; IN vaccination enhanced early antibody and RBD-specific GC B cell responses. Respiratory immunization induced mucosal immune responses with distinct kinetics and PEI-associated effects. These findings suggest that respiratory immunization partially mitigates the impact of PEI and provide insights that may inform the selection and optimization of vaccination routes for Ad5-vectored vaccines. Full article

Background: Induction failure (IF) after standard induction chemotherapy is associated with poor outcomes in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (pAML); however, whether established molecular markers such as FLT3-ITD retain prognostic significance across induction response states remains incompletely understood. We characterized the genomic landscape of IF and evaluated the prognostic significance of FLT3-ITD according to induction response. Methods: This multi-cohort study integrated a TARGET discovery cohort (n = 1979) and an independent cohort from the Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (CHCMU; n = 98). Clinical characteristics, somatic mutations, fusion profiles, and gene–gene interaction patterns were compared between patients with and without IF. Multivariable logistic regression identified genomic factors associated with IF, and survival analyses evaluated the prognostic impact of FLT3-ITD according to induction response. Results: IF was associated with inferior OS (overall survival) (pooled HR = 3.24, 95% CI: 2.66–3.95). FLT3 mutations were consistently enriched in IF patients, whereas KIT mutations and favorable core-binding factor fusions were more frequent among non-IF patients. NUP98-NSD1 fusion was strongly enriched in IF patients in the TARGET cohort. Gene interaction analyses revealed reduced recurrent co-mutation patterns among IF patients. FLT3 mutation independently and reproducibly associated with IF. Among patients achieving induction remission, FLT3-ITD remained associated with inferior OS (HR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.06–1.69, p = 0.014), whereas no statistically significant additional prognostic effect was detected among patients with IF. Conclusions: This study characterizes the genomic landscape of IF in pAML and identifies FLT3 mutation as a reproducible marker of induction resistance. Achieving induction remission does not eliminate the adverse prognostic significance of FLT3-ITD, supporting the integration of molecular risk and treatment response in subsequent risk stratification. Full article

The extent of tropical-cyclone winds is essential for assessing marine and coastal hazards, but surface observations remain sparse over the open ocean. Geostationary satellites continuously observe cloud systems, offering complementary spectral and temporal information for estimating wind radii. We present TC-RadiiFormer to jointly estimate the current radii of 34, 50 and 64 kt winds (R34, R50 and R64) in four geographic quadrants from multispectral satellite sequences. The model combines interactions among spectral channels with historical observations at their actual acquisition times, then decodes geographically aligned, ordered radius distributions. Training used 2017–2022 observations, model selection used 2023, and evaluation used 2024 final best-track wind radii across three basins. Three-seed positive-radius mean absolute errors (MAEs) were 13.164, 8.384 and 5.731 nautical miles for R34, R50 and R64. MAE averaged over the three thresholds was 27.1%, 25.4% and 13.0% lower than ResNet-50, Swin V2-T and Swin V2-T with a temporal Transformer, respectively. Matched comparisons supported contributions from multispectral observations, historical information and actual acquisition timing. Spatial and temporal case analyses connected these aggregate improvements to estimates of wind extent and its evolution. These results support joint use of spectral and temporal satellite information for geographically resolved wind-radius estimation. Full article

During the preparation of polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC), Co is often added as a binder, which reduces the material’s heat resistance and catalyzes the transformation of diamond to graphite at high temperatures, thereby reducing the material’s mechanical properties. After the removal of Co, the exposure of holes beside the diamond grains could also affect the wear resistance of PDC. This article provides a new approach for the surface enhancement of PDC, which involves depositing a layer of diamond coating using the hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) method after the removal of Co and investigating the effect of the pretreatment time of PDC on the deposition of diamond. The optimal pretreatment was obtained using the surface morphology, composition, and content of Co for a cross-section of the diamond coatings. A H₂SO₄-H₂O₂ solution was mixed in a ratio of 1:10 as the acid corrosion reagent, and the best etching time was 5 h. When the time was short, the residual amount of Co was high, which affected the quality of the diamond coatings. When the time was long, the area fraction of the substrate was high, and the deposited diamond was not able to easily fill the holes caused by corrosion. Full article

To meet the combined requirements of architectural decorative components for high surface quality, mechanical performance, and water resistance, this study employed hydrophobic and water washing–carbonation treatments to functionalize municipal solid waste incineration fly ash and prepared architectural mirror-finished mortars using different formwork materials. The effects of these treatments on setting time, compressive strength, surface gloss, grayscale value, pull-off tensile strength, water absorption, and pore structure were systematically investigated, while XRD, TG, and NMR were used to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. The results showed that untreated fly ash slightly delayed hydration and reduced strength, whereas water washing–carbonation treatment improved the mechanical performance. The 28 d compressive strength of CWF32 reached 44.7 MPa, only approximately 1.1% lower than that of the reference group. Formwork type had a pronounced effect on the mirror-finished surface, with gloss generally following the order PET > ABS > Fe; CP32 exhibited the highest gloss value of 75 GU. Hydrophobic modification markedly reduced water absorption, with HWF32 exhibiting a final water absorption of only 3.64%, 35.8% lower than that of WF32. NMR results showed that the total porosities of HWF32 and CWF32 decreased to 4.70% and 5.45%, respectively. XRD and TG analyses indicated that hydrophobic modification mainly acted by reducing particle wettability and suppressing water migration, whereas water washing–carbonation treatment enhanced matrix densification by promoting CaCO₃ formation together with micro-filling and heterogeneous nucleation effects. Overall, water washing–carbonation treatment provided greater comprehensive benefits in terms of mechanical performance and mirror-surface quality, whereas hydrophobic modification was more effective in suppressing water transport. From an architectural perspective, combining modified MSWI fly ash with low-roughness PET formwork can produce high-quality mirror-finished surfaces, reduce subsequent repair and finishing, and promote high-value solid-waste utilization for green decorative building materials. Full article

Pipe-joint misalignment in pipe-jacking construction is usually confirmed during final quality inspection, but risk signals related to guide-rail gradient deviation, jacking-force utilization, grouting-volume satisfaction, alignment-correction status, and hydrogeological disturbance accumulate during construction. Conventional inspection can determine whether a joint exceeds the allowable limit, but it cannot sufficiently explain risk sources or guide subsequent control. Taking a nominal diameter of 1500 mm (DN1500) steel pipe-jacking project in Wuhan, China, as the study object, this paper establishes a 12-indicator system covering pipe-end geometry and assembly quality, jacking-construction control, and hydrogeological and environmental response. Comprehensive weights are determined by combining a trapezoidal fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with an improved criterion importance through inter-criterion correlation (CRITIC) approach using game-theory weighting, after which, a finite-interval cloud model is used to distinguish five risk grades. The results show that the combined weights of water head above the pipe crown, guide-rail gradient deviation, stratigraphic mutation and obstacle score, alignment-correction status, and grouting-volume satisfaction were 0.1803, 0.1737, 0.1702, 0.1027, and 0.0889, respectively, identifying these variables as comparatively influential in this case. All ten evaluated pipe joints were classified as very low risk; however, their memberships in the low-risk and medium-risk grades ranged from 0.0318 to 0.0898 and from 0.0070 to 0.0792, respectively. These differences indicate that the continuous membership vector provides additional information beyond the discrete grade label and can support differentiated post-evaluation rechecking. The proposed framework can therefore provide preliminary support for construction risk early warning and differentiated post-evaluation control, while further validation using larger samples and multiple projects is required. Full article

Although video-observed therapy (VOT) boasts substantial potential advantages in tuberculosis (TB) treatment management, insufficient staffing of community healthcare workers leads to inefficient and inadequate video review. The aim of the study was to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered program to assist community healthcare workers by reviewing medication-taking videos, and then validate the program’s performance and effectiveness. We developed a video automatic review program (VARP) using a development dataset of 8000 medication-taking videos, which was partitioned at the participant level into 5781 videos for model training and 2219 videos for internal testing. We evaluated its performance versus community health workers based on TB specialists’ annotations and compared clinical management metrics before and after VARP adoption to verify its effectiveness. VARP combined YOLOv8n-based medication detection with dual-stream RGB and pose-based medication action recognition; the RGB stream used a 3D ResNet-50 backbone, whereas the skeleton stream used a modified 3D ResNet backbone (F₁ = 0.90, 95% CI 0.89–0.91). In an independent post-deployment validation set of 7237 videos, VARP achieved significantly better accuracy (84.7%, 6133/7237 vs. 78.1%, 5653/7237) and specificity (72.7%, 1151/1584 vs. 0%, 0/1584) than community health workers (p < 0.001), with 75.3% (5449/7237) consistent judgments against TB specialists and vastly shorter video processing time (7.72 s vs. 23.12 h, p < 0.001). Compared with standard VOT management (n = 149), the VARP-supported group (n = 158) delivered faster daily monitoring completion (80.4%, 14,842/18,454 vs. 58.0%, 13,124/22,635 within 24 h, p < 0.001) and higher adverse event detection (67.7%, 107/158 vs. 35.6%, 53/149, p < 0.001). AI-powered review of TB medication videos optimizes key community VOT indicators such as review efficiency and assessment consistency, offering a practical, effective solution to address flaws in conventional manual VOT and strengthening routine TB monitoring. Full article

The reciprocating dynamic sealing system is crucial for the operational reliability of aircraft high-pressure hydraulic actuators, particularly for civil aircraft with 21 MPa (e.g., B737, A320) and 35 MPa (e.g., B787, A380) pressure systems, where real-time monitoring and prediction of friction and oil-film thickness are essential for health assessment. This study proposes a novel data-driven predictive framework for dynamic seal performance utilizing a long short-term memory (LSTM) network. A specialized reciprocating seal test rig was developed to acquire high-fidelity multimodal data. By integrating ultrasonic detection, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, and load cells, the simultaneous measurement of oil-film thickness, contact stress, and friction force under high-pressure conditions up to 35 MPa was achieved. The measured oil-film thickness, determined by the sealing gap, provides the physical basis for leakage characterization. An LSTM-based model was then trained on this time-series dataset to predict oil-film thickness and friction force. The results show that the LSTM model achieves a coefficient of determination (R²) above 0.94 and a symmetric mean absolute percentage error (sMAPE) below 2% for both predictions on the test set. Ultimately, this research provides theoretical support for the condition assessment and leakage risk early warning of dynamic seals, advancing the application of artificial intelligence and data-driven methodologies within aviation sealing technologies. Full article

In this paper, we report a novel photocatalytic strategy for hydroamination reactions under mild conditions of room temperature and air atmosphere, in which commercially available tribromomethylphenyl sulfone (TBMS) efficiently drives the highly selective anti-Markovnikov hydroamination of vinylpyridines with diverse aromatic amines under ultraviolet light irradiation. By optimizing the synthetic conditions, moderate to excellent yields were achieved along with good functional group tolerance, and the highest yield of the target product can reach 97%, while aliphatic amines, amines bearing strong electron-withdrawing groups (e.g., -NO₂ and -CN), and sterically hindered ortho-substituted anilines are not compatible with this strategy. On this basis, via deuterium labeling studies and reference experiments, we proposed an aza-Michael-type free radical addition mechanism, which indicated that the activation of the N-H bond of the amines was the rate-determining step. This paper provides a new green and efficient synthetic protocol for hydroamination, which has potential application value in the synthesis of drugs and fine chemicals. Full article

TiC-based cermets are promising candidates for marine wear-resistant components; however, achieving a balance between mechanical performance, erosion–corrosion resistance, and binder cost remains a major challenge. In this work, TiC-xFe-(15-x)Ni (x = 0, 5, 10 and 15 wt.%) cermets were fabricated by vacuum liquid-phase sintering to clarify the influence of Fe/Ni binder composition on the microstructure, mechanical properties, electrochemical behavior, and erosion–corrosion resistance in SiO₂-containing artificial seawater. The results indicate that the Fe content has a significant impact on liquid-phase sintering behavior, thereby affecting the densification of cemented carbides. The combination of TiC-5Fe-10Ni achieved the highest relative density (98.89%), Vickers hardness (1618 HV), and fracture toughness (10.26 MPa·m^1/2), while also exhibiting the lowest corrosion current density in electrochemical corrosion tests. In contrast, TiC-10Fe-5Ni cemented carbide showed the lowest cumulative mass loss in long-term erosion–corrosion tests. Conversely, excessive Fe addition leads to suboptimal performance. The performance improvement is mainly attributed to densification and reduced residual porosity achieved through the optimization of liquid-phase sintering, which provides an effective strategy for designing cost-effective TiC-based composites with balanced mechanical properties and long-term corrosion and erosion resistance. Full article

To overcome the flammability and formaldehyde-emission problems associated with plywood, a novel soy protein-based intumescent flame-retardant adhesive with phosphorus–nitrogen–silicon (P-N-Si) synergism (C@Si@APP) was developed in this study. C@Si@APP was initially prepared by coating silane-modified ammonium polyphosphate with collagen. Subsequently, C@Si@APP was combined with lignin and adenine and incorporated into a soy protein, collagen, and isocyanate (MDI)-based adhesive matrix to fabricate a flame-retardant adhesive for eucalyptus plywood. Cone calorimeter (CONE) analysis demonstrated that the flame-retardant plywood bonded with SPI/C/MDI/C@SiAPP18 achieved the most effective flame-retardant and smoke-suppression performance, and the peak heat release rate, total heat release, and total smoke production were reduced by 23.5%, 20.7%, and 43.9%, respectively, and the release rates of CO and CO₂ were also effectively suppressed. Mechanistic analysis indicated that the enhanced flame retardancy was mainly governed by a condensed-phase mechanism, in which phosphorylation and siloxane crosslinking promoted the formation of a compact and thermally stable char layer that protected the underlying material, whereas a gas-phase contribution involving the dilution of flammable volatiles by non-combustible gases (NH₃, H₂O, and CO₂) and possible radical scavenging by phosphorus-containing species is proposed as a plausible complementary pathway inferred from the TGA-FTIR results and the previous literature. Full article

The influence of mechanical noise on impact identification using fiber Bragg grating (FBG) accelerometers in complex environments remains insufficiently explored and quantitatively characterized. This study investigates how the intensity and propagation path of mechanical noise affect the output stability and impact-detection capability of a self-developed FBG accelerometer. A quantitative evaluation approach is established using wavelength-variation statistics, impact-response amplitude, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Experimental results show that mechanical noise markedly increased the background wavelength fluctuation, with the maximum standard deviation reaching 16.71 pm, approximately 11 times the no-additional-noise value. By contrast, the RMS of the target impact response increased only slightly, from 0.0300 nm to 0.0353 nm, indicating that mechanical noise primarily affects baseline stability rather than the amplitude of the target impact response. Under the highest-intensity disturbance tested, the SNR remained at 22.98 dB, and the impact event remained distinguishable. The proposed multi-indicator approach provides a quantitative characterization of the FBG accelerometer response under different mechanical-noise conditions. A commercial 941B accelerometer was used as an external reference for sensitivity calibration, and its measurements were not used for direct performance comparison with the FBG accelerometer. The results provide experimental evidence of the impact-identification behavior of the proposed sensor under the investigated mechanical-noise conditions. Full article

Background: Glioblastoma is highly heterogeneous, highly invasive, and resistant to temozolomide, with an extremely low 5-year survival rate. The spatial association between polyamine metabolism and ferroptosis remains unclear. Spatial metabolic heterogeneity is a core challenge in glioblastoma treatment. Methods: In this study, 17 patients with primary or recurrent high-grade glioma were included. Spatial metabolomics (n = 9), multiplex immunofluorescence (exploratory experiment n = 10, observational experiment n = 1), flow cytometry (n = 13), and mouse orthotopic models (n = 3) were combined to analyze the characteristics of the polyamine–ferroptosis axis in the para-carcinoma, tumor, and necrotic regions. Results: Differences in the polyamine-metabolism–ferroptosis axis were observed across distinct pathological regions of glioblastoma. Regional differences in polyamine distribution were associated with regional differences that lower lipid-peroxidation signals in the tumor region and higher lipid-peroxidation signals in the necrotic region. Moreover, in glioblastoma patient specimens, lipid-peroxidation-associated signals were detected in immune-cell compartments, alongside immune-cell phenotypic features suggestive of dysfunction, which show correlation with an immunosuppressive microenvironment. At the regional level, enzymes related to polyamine metabolism, namely GLS and SMS, exhibited spatial co-localization trends with lipid-peroxidation markers. Alterations in markers of the GSH-GPX4 and FSP1 antioxidant systems were spatially associated with the tumor-region-specific lipid-peroxidation profile. Partial spatial patterns of polyamine metabolism observed in human samples were partially recapitulated in mouse orthotopic tumor models. Conclusions: Glioblastoma exhibits spatially distinct distribution of the polyamine–ferroptosis-associated molecular signature. Notable correlative spatial features include spermidine and spermine enrichment, altered regional abundance within the glutamine–glutamate metabolic axis, immune-cell lipid-peroxidation-associated signals and immune-cell-dysfunction-related phenotypes, and regional shifts in GSH-GPX4/FSP1-related markers. This study identifies potential targets and provides a correlative spatial framework for region-specific therapeutic investigation, but the establishment of the causal relationship still requires further functional verification. Full article