Pathways linking loneliness and depressive symptoms among Chinese adolescents: The mediating role of sleep disturbance.

Background: Despite growing evidence linking loneliness and depressive symptoms, the underlying pathways remain unclear. This study aims to assess the impact of loneliness on depressive symptoms among Chinese adolescents and investigate the potential mediating role of sleep disturbance.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between November and December 2021.

Modic changes in patients with lumbar disc herniation followed more than 1 year after lumbar discectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Modic changes (MCs) are identified as an independent risk factor for low back pain. Different subtypes of MCs vary in their impact on postoperative pain relief. However, consensus on the transformation of postoperative MC fractions in patients with distinct MC subtypes is lacking.

Microplastics in Chinese coastal waters: A mini-review of occurrence characteristics, sources and driving mechanisms.

The oceans are facing global and irreversible pollution from microplastics, and China is not immune. In this mini-review, information on microplastics in four coastal waters of China and the natural and social environment of key basins were compiled. The results showed that microplastics were ubiquitous in the coastal waters, and the abundance and spatial distribution of microplastics varied significantly under different sampling methods.

The frontier of tungsten oxide nanostructures in electronic applications.

Electrochromic (EC) glazing has garnered significant attention recently as a crucial solution for enhancing energy efficiency in future construction and automotive sectors. EC glazing could significantly reduce the energy usage of buildings compared to traditional blinds and glazing. Despite their commercial availability, several challenges remain, including issues with switching time, leakage of electrolytes, production costs, etc.

Comparison of chlorination resistance of biodegradable microplastics and conventional microplastics during the disinfection process in water treatments.

Nowadays, microplastics (MPs) widely exist in the environment, and water treatment plants are important sources of MPs. Chlorine is widely used in the disinfection process in water treatment plants and has strong oxidation, however, the chemical and physical properties changes of MPs during chlorination were unclear. Thus, in this study, based on the actual used chlorine concentrations, different chlorination conditions were simulated to study the variation of MPs after chlorination.

Recent Progress in Multifunctional Graphene-Based Nanocomposites for Photocatalysis and Electrocatalysis Application.

The global energy shortage and environmental degradation are two major issues of concern in today's society. The production of renewable energy and the treatment of pollutants are currently the mainstream research directions in the field of photocatalysis. In addition, over the last decade or so, graphene (GR) has been widely used in photocatalysis due to its unique physical and chemical properties, such as its large light-absorption range, high adsorption capacity, large specific surface area, and excellent electronic conductivity.

Performance and mechanism of Pb and Cd ions' adsorption via modified antibiotic residue-based hydrochar.

This study investigated the hydrochar-based porous carbon prepared by combining the technical route of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) + chemical activation. The hydrochar morphology was adjusted by changing the activation reaction conditions and adding metal salts. Experiments showed that the activation of KHCO significantly increased the specific surface area and pore size of the hydrochar.

Backdoor attacks against distributed swarm learning.

Traditional machine learning approaches often need a central server, where raw datasets or model updates are trained or aggregated in a centralized way. However, these approaches are vulnerable to many attacks, especially by the malicious server. Recently, a new distributed machine learning paradigm, called Swarm Learning (SL), has been proposed to support no-central-server based decentralized training.

Typhoon triggers estuarine heavy metal risk by regulating the multifractal grainsize of resuspended sediment.

The turbulent boundary layer generated by wind in the estuarine surface water serves as a main factor affecting the distribution of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and suspended sediment concentration (SSC). In this study, representative typhoon-induced variation of surface fine SPM (<63 μm) was simulated in the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE) under two time scenarios. Each scenario contained four grainsize SPM fractions named Fraction 1 (<8 μm), Fraction 2 (8-16 μm), Fraction 3 (16-32 μm), Fraction 4 (32-63 μm).

Effect of Preload on the Weld Quality of Ultrasonic Welded Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Nylon 6 Composite.

Ultrasonic welding (UW) of polymeric composites is significant in automobile industry; however, maintaining the perfect contact condition between workpieces is a great concern. In this study, effect of preloading and welding pressure on strengths of UWed 2.3-mm-thick short carbon fiber reinforced nylon6 (C/PA6) joints with poor contact between workpieces was investigated through stress simulation and energy dissipation at the faying interface.

The stabilization of fluorescent copper nanoclusters by dialdehyde cellulose and their use in mercury ion sensing.

In the synthesis of metal nanoclusters (NCs), small molecules are widely used as capping ligands and reducing agents. However, metal NCs are usually sensitive to solvents and aerobic atmosphere and are also prone to oxidation; thus, their photonic properties deteriorate. In this work, 4-aminothiophenol (PATP) was used as a ligand to prepare Cu NCs and their fluorescence, morphology, and electronic states were characterized.

Nano-crystalline cellulose-coated magnetic nanoparticles for affinity adsorption of glycoproteins.

A new core-shell structured nanomaterial based on FeO nanoparticles and 2,3-dialdehyde nanocrystalline cellulose (DAC) coating and its high efficiency in the preconcentration of glycoproteins were described in this work. DAC was obtained after the periodate oxidation of nanocrystalline cellulose to form aldehyde groups; then, FeO nanoparticles were coated with DAC, which were further attached to 4-aminophenylboronic acid (PBA) to form PBA-functionalized magnetic core-shell structured materials (FeO@DAC-PBA). The oxidation of cellulose and the production of sufficient amounts of aldehyde group sites were essential for the preparation of FeO@DAC-PBA used for the affinity adsorption of glycoproteins because the aldehyde groups on DAC allowed DAC to attach to the FeO nanoparticles and bind with PBA, which was active in forming a complex with the glyco sites in glycoproteins.

Carbon Dots with Dual-Emissive, Robust, and Aggregation-Induced Room-Temperature Phosphorescence Characteristics.

Carbon dots (CDs) with dual-emissive, robust, and aggregation-induced RTP characteristics are reported for the first time. The TA-CDs are prepared via hydrothermal treatment of trimellitic acid and exhibit unique white prompt and yellow RTP emissions in solid state under UV excitation (365 nm) on and off, respectively. The yellow RTP emission of TA-CDs powder should be resulted from the formation of a new excited triplet state due to their aggregation, and the white prompt emission is due to their blue fluorescence and yellow RTP dual-emissive nature.

A Facile Approach to Solid-State White Emissive Carbon Dots and Their Application in UV-Excitable and Single-Component-Based White LEDs.

Large-scale applications of conventional rare-earth phosphors in white light-emitting diodes (W-LEDs) are restricted by the non-renewable raw material sources and high energy consumption during the production process. Recently, carbon dots (CDs) have been proposed as promising alternatives to rare-earth phosphors and present bright prospects in white lighting. However, the use of CDs in W-LEDs still has two major obstacles, i.

Preparation of Multicolor Photoluminescent Carbon Dots by Tuning Surface States.

The achievements of multicolor photoluminescent (PL)-emissive carbon dots (CDs), particularly red to near infrared (NIR), are critical for their applications in optoelectronic devices and bioimaging, but it still faces great challenges to date. In this study, PL emission red-shifts were observed when tartaric acid (TA) was added into m-phenylenediamine (mPD) or o-phenylenediamine (oPD) solutions as carbon sources to prepare CDs, i.e.

Improvement of the bonding properties of cassava starch-based wood adhesives by using different types of acrylic ester.

High performance of starch-based wood adhesives (SWAs) is important for their industrial applications. In this study, we designed and demonstrated the use of different types of acrylic ester for improving the bonding performance of SWAs. Results showed that the addition of acrylic ester as the co-monomer showed significantly the bonding capacity and hydrophobicity of SWAs.

Effects of particulate oxidation catalyst on unregulated pollutant emission and toxicity characteristics from heavy-duty diesel engine.

To evaluate the effects of particulate oxidation catalyst (POC) on unregulated pollutant emission and toxicity characteristics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), soot, soluble organic fractions (SOF) and sulphate emissions emitted from a heavy-duty diesel engine retrofitted with a POC were investigated on a diesel bench. The particulate matter (PM) in the exhaust was collected by Teflon membrane, and the PAHs and VOCs were analysed by a gas chromatography/mass spectrometer (GC/MS). The results indicate that the POC exhibits good performance on the emission control of VOCs, PAHs and PM.

Experimental study on the nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter emissions from diesel engine retrofitted with particulate oxidation catalyst.

A particulate oxidation catalyst (POC) was employed to perform experiments on the engine test bench to evaluate the effects on the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM) emissions from diesel engine. The engine exhaust was sampled from both upstream and downstream of the POC. The results showed that the POC increased the ratios of NO2/NOx significantly in the middle and high loads, the ratio of NO2/nitrogen oxides (NOx) increased 4.

The relationship between manganism and the workplace environment in China.

Manganese is a trace element and a cofactor of many enzymes, so it is essential for physiologic functioning, but it is also a neurotoxin at high doses. Manganism is most often caused by occupational exposure. It is manifested by a myriad of signs and symptoms ranging from the neurasthenia syndrome, such as headache and dizziness, to the Parkinson-like syndrome, depending on the blood manganese levels as well as the duration of exposure.