Estimates of extreme water level return periods in river systems are crucial for hydraulic engineering design and planning. Recorded historical water level data of Taiwan’s rivers are not long enough for traditional frequency analyses when predicting extreme water levels for different return periods. In this study, the integration of a one-dimensional flash flood routing hydrodynamic model with the Monte Carlo simulation was developed to predict extreme water levels in the Danshuei River system of northern Taiwan. The numerical model was calibrated and verified with observed water levels using four typhoon events. The results indicated a reasonable agreement between the model simulation and observation data. Seven parameters, including the astronomical tide and surge height at the mouth of the Danshuei River and the river discharge at five gauge stations, were adopted to calculate the joint probability and generate stochastic scenarios via the Monte Carlo simulation. The validated hydrodynamic model driven by the stochastic scenarios was then used to simulate extreme water levels for further frequency analysis. The design water level was estimated using different probability distributions in the frequency analysis at five stations. The design high-water levels for a 200-year return period at Guandu Bridge, Taipei Bridge, Hsin-Hai Bridge, Da-Zhi Bridge, and Chung-Cheng Bridge were 2.90 m, 5.13 m, 6.38 m, 6.05 m, and 9.94 m, respectively. The estimated design water levels plus the freeboard are proposed and recommended for further engineering design and planning.

The adaptive identification method developed to evaluate the parameters of the Bouc-Wen hysteresis (BWH). The adaptive approach based on the use of adaptive observers. We synthesize adaptive identification algorithms using the second Lyapunov method. The boundedness of adaptive system processes shown in coordinate and parametric spaces. We prove exponential dissipativity of processes in an adaptive system. Estimating method proposed for signaling uncertainty in the system.

This paper studied the dynamic characteristics of the deployment process of the replaceable interface mast and the vibration generated at the end of the mast. The interface is discretized by the absolute nodal coordinate thin shell element with gradient reduction, and the three-dimensional motion of the reconfigurable rigid body module is described by the natural coordinate method. The dynamic equations of the interface and the reconfigurable module without external constraints are established by the principle of virtual work. Finally, the dynamic models of each part are assembled into the dynamic model of the mast system deployment process through the system constraint equation. According to the established dynamic model of the mast system deployment process, the dynamic behavior changes of the replaceable interface mast are analyzed. At the same time, the differences in the deployment behavior of the replaceable interface mast under different system configuration schemes, flexible interface geometric parameters, and different driving laws are studied and compared. It provides guidance for the scheme configuration of the mast system, the structural design of the interface, and the deployment motion planning of the mast. According to the physical prototype and the assembly of the mast system model, the deployment process of the replaceable interface mast is experimentally analyzed. It shows that the established dynamic model of the mast system can correctly analyze the dynamic characteristics of the deployment behavior of the replaceable interface mast, which provides a reference for the design and behavior analysis of the mast system.

To reveal the influence of variables such as entrepreneurial learning, entrepreneurial inspiration, and incubation resources on students' entrepreneurial intentions in vocational colleges, this study took vocational colleges in Zhejiang Province, a province with a strong entrepreneurial climate in China, as an example. The study used a questionnaire to obtain data, and 614 valid questionnaires were collected from seven vocational colleges. The study divided entrepreneurship education into three dimensions: entrepreneurial learning, entrepreneurial inspiration, and incubation resources, and used structural equation modeling to investigate the influence of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions while introducing entrepreneurial efficacy as a mediating variable to examine the influence mechanism of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions of higher education students. The results showed that entrepreneurial learning, entrepreneurial inspiration, incubation resources, and entrepreneurial efficacy were all significantly and positively correlated with entrepreneurial intentions and that entrepreneurial efficacy mediated between the two dimensions of entrepreneurship education (entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurial inspiration) and entrepreneurial intentions. Therefore, to enhance the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in vocational institutions, we should stimulate students' sense of entrepreneurial efficacy, strengthen their entrepreneurial learning and inspire them to start their businesses. In turn, university incubation resources can be developed and utilized to enhance students' entrepreneurial confidence and intentions.

This paper first discusses a fractional-order Liu system of order as low as 2.7 and shows its chaotic characteristics by carrying out numerical simulations such as Lyapunov exponents, bifurcation diagrams and phase portraits. Then, by using the topological horseshoe theory and computer-assisted proof, the existence of chaos in the system is verified theoretically. Finally, the fractional-order system is implemented on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and the results obtained show that the fractional-order Liu system is indeed chaotic.

To study the coupling mechanism and dynamic response of the end-face movable gear trans-mission system under complex excitation, a specific configuration of end-meshing movable gear reduction mechanism was used to achieve predetermined rigid thrust transmission and mis-matched gear meshing functions, which solved the inherent defects of traditional harmonic gear mechanism thin-wall flexible wheel easy to be damaged by fatigue. Considering the phenomenon of elastic deformation of live teeth accompanied by significant changes in meshing characteristics in the transmission process of end-meshing harmonic reducer, the influence of dynamic meshing parameters, live tooth deformation, time-varying stiffness of tooth meshing, and time-varying backlash on nonlinear dynamic performance was explored, as well as the mechanism of mul-ti-parameter coupling on transmission performance. The nonlinear dynamics model of the end-meshing harmonic reducer is established to solve the chattering prediction problem. Finally, a comprehensive test bed for the transmission system of harmonic reducer with meshing type with adjustable characteristic end was built to verify the correctness of the theoretical model and provide the theoretical and technical basis for exploring the optimal parameter selection of pas-sive vibration suppression problem.

A three-dimensional, unstructured grid, hydrodynamic and suspended-sediment transport model (i.e., SELFE-SED) was developed to simulate temporal and spatial variations of suspended sediment and was applied to the subtropical subalpine Tsuei-Feng Lake (TFL) of Taiwan. The model was validated with measured water level and suspended‑sediment concentration in 2009, 2010, and 2011. The overall model simulation results are in quantitative agreement with the observational data. The validated model was then applied to explore the most important parameter that affects the suspended-sediment concentration and to investigate the effect of wind stress on the mean current and suspended‑sediment distribution in this shallow lake. Modeling results of sensitivity analysis reveal that the settling velocity is a crucial parameter and erosion rate is less important in the suspended-sediment transport model. Remarkable lake circulation was found based on the strength of wind speed and wind direction. Strong wind would result in higher mean current in the top layer and suspended-sediment distribution in the top and bottom layers. This study demonstrated that the wind stress played a significant influence on mean circulation and suspended-sediment transport in a shallow lake.

For improving the tracking accuracy and model switching speed of maneuvering target tracking in nonlinear systems, a new algorithm named interacting multiple model fifth-degree spherical simplex-radial cubature filter (IMM5thSSRCKF) is proposed in this paper. The new algorithm is a combination of the interacting multiple model (IMM) filter and fifth-degree spherical simplex-radial cubature filter (5thSSRCKF). The proposed algorithm makes use of Markov process to describe the switching probability among the models, and uses 5thSSRCKF to deal with the state estimation of each model. The 5thSSRCKF is an improved filter algorithm, which utilizes the fifth-degree spherical simplex-radial rule to improve the filtering accuracy. Finally, the tracking performance of the IMM5thSSRCKF is evaluated by simulation in a typical maneuvering target tracking scenario. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has better tracking performance and quicker model switching speed when disposing maneuver models compared with IMMUKF, IMMCKF and IMM5thCKF.

A large amount of accurate river cross-section data is indispensable for predicting river stages. However, the measured river cross-section data are usually sparse in the transverse direction at each cross-section as well as in the longitudinal direction along the river channel. This study presents three algorithms to resample the river cross-section data points in both the transverse and longitudinal directions from the original data. The resampled cross-section data based on the linear interpolation satisfactorily maintains the topographic and morphological features of the river channel, especially in the meandering river segment. A two-dimensional (2D) high-resolution unstructured-grid hydrodynamic model was used to assess the performance of the original and resampled cross-section data on a simulated river stage under low flow and high flow conditions. The simulated river stages are significantly improved using the resampled cross-section data based on the linear interpolation in the tidal river and non-tidal river segments. Furthermore, the performance of the 2D and three-dimensional (3D) models on the simulated river stage was also evaluated using the resampled cross-section data. The results indicate that the 2D and 3D models reproduce similar river stages in both tidal and non-tidal river segments under the low flow condition. However, the 2D model overestimates the river stages in both the tidal and non-tidal river segments compared to the 3D model under the high flow condition. The model sensitivity was implemented to investigate the influence of bottom drag coefficient and vertical eddy viscosity on river stage. The results reveal that bottom drag coefficient has a minor impact on river stage, but the vertical eddy viscosity is insensitive to river stage.

An automated discharge imaging system (ADIS), a non-intrusive and safe approach, was developed for measuring river flows during flash flood events. ADIS consists of dual cameras to capture complete surface images in the near and far fields. Surface velocities are accurately measured using the Large Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV) technique. The stream discharges are then obtained from the depth-averaged velocity (based upon an empirical velocity-index relationship) and cross-section area. The ADIS was deployed at the Yu-Feng gauging station in Shimen Reservoir upper catchment, northern Taiwan. For a rigorous validation, surface velocity measurements were conducted using ADIS/LSPIV and other instruments. In terms of the averaged surface velocity, all measured results were in good agreement with small differences, i.e., 0.004 to 0.39 m/s and 0.023 to 0.345 m/s when compared to those from acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and surface velocity radar (SVR), respectively. The ADIS/LSPIV was further applied to measure surface velocities and discharges during typhoon events (i.e., Chan-Hom, Soudelor, Goni, and Dujuan) in 2015. The measured water level and surface velocity both showed rapid increases due to flash floods. The estimated discharges from ADIS/LSPIV and ADCP were compared, presenting good consistency with correlation coefficient R = 0.996 and normalized root mean square error NRMSE = 7.96%. The results of sensitivity analysis indicate that components till (τ) and roll (θ) of the camera are most sensitive parameter to affect the surface velocity using ADIS/LSPIV. Overall, the ADIS based upon LSPIV technique effectively measures surface velocities for reliable estimations of river discharges during typhoon events.

Looking at different operating climatic conditions, the electrical behavior predicting photovoltaic modules gets very important. For the estimation of output power from photovoltaic (PV) plants this is a very essential and basic aspect. In this paper, the relationship between the I-V curve and the irradiation spectrum is discussed by combining the single diode model. An explicit elementary analytical model with two defined shape parameters is discussed and improved with three approximations and second order Taylor expansion. Then, the explicit elementary analytical model is investigated under varying conditions leveraging the four parameters I_ph, I₀, R_s and R_sh from the single diode model. The relationship between the physical parameters and the condition parameters are discussed and applied to extract the shape parameters at different scenarios. Considering the aging effect, the process of calculation to predict the I-V curve under different splitting spectra is simplified as follow: (1) two shape parameters are gotten from the I-V data at measurement reference conditions (MRC); (2) the short circuit current, open circuit voltage and shape parameters under any splitting spectrum can be calculated based on the relationship provided in article; (3) the performance of PV panel can be predicted with parameters. The validation of this model was experimentally proven leveraging monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic module with different splitting films. Results showed that the model accurately predicts the I-V characteristics for the examined PV modules at different irradiance spectra and cell temperatures. Moreover, the presented model performs superior compared to other investigated models when looking at accuracy and simplicity.

The apparent metal-insulator transition (MIT) in two-dimension (2D) was discovered by Kravchenko et al. [1] more than two decades ago in strongly interacting 2D electrons residing in a Si-metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (Si-MOSFET). Its origin remains unresolved. Recently, low magnetic field reentrant insulating phases (RIPs), which dwell between the zero-field (B=0) metallic state and the integer quantum Hall (QH) states where the Landau-level filling factor υ > 1, have been observed in strongly correlated 2D GaAs hole systems with large interaction parameter rs (~20-40) and high purity. A new complex phase diagram was proposed, which includes zero field MIT, low magnetic field RIPs, integer QH states, fractional QH states, high field RIPs and insulating phases (HFIPs) with υ < 1 in which the insulating phases are explained by the formation of Wigner crystal. Furthermore, evidences of new intermediate phases were reported. All contribute to the further understandings of the puzzle. This review article serves the purpose of summarizing those recent experimental findings and theoretical endeavors, to foster future research efforts.

The Woka-Cuona rift zone, situated in the easternmost portion of southern Tibet, displays complex geological conditions. It consists of three distinct grabens or half grabens, spanning the Himalayan and Gangdese terranes from south to north. Examining the distribution patterns and genetic mechanism of the geothermal system in the Woka-Cuona rift zone holds significant guidance for studying the genetic mechanisms of geothermal systems and the production and utilization of ge-othermal resources in the rift zones of southern Tibet. Based on the geological conditions of the study area, the mechanism of rift formation and the distribution characteristics of geothermal water in the three distinct grabens were analyzed through data collection, ground surveys, geochemical analysis, and isotope analysis. Alongside topographic, drainage, and structural features, the Woka-Cuona rift zone was subdivided into four zones from north to south - Woka, Qiongduojiang, northern Cuona, and southern Cuona grabens. Additionally, the study investigated the geochemical char-acteristics, recharge sources, and water-rock interactions of geothermal water in different zones, providing a scientific foundation for subsequent geothermal energy production.

Single-layer core corrugated sandwich panels generally consist of a corrugated core and two layers of panels, while multi-layer core corrugated sandwich panels are formed by stacking multiple layers of panels with multiple layers of core layers. In this study, integrated multilayer core corrugated sandwich panels with different shapes of corrugated cores (triangular, trapezoidal, and rectangular) and the different number of core layers were fabricated using 3D printing technology, and the mechanical behavior of such multilayer core corrugated sandwich panels under quasi-static three-point bending was investigated using experiments and numerical simulations. The effects of core shape and number of core layers on the bending deformation process, damage mode, load carrying capacity, and bending energy dissipation capacity of multilayer core sandwich panels are discussed. Parametric design of multilayer triangular core corrugated sandwich panels was also carried out by finite element software ABAQUS. It was found that a new multilayer corrugated sandwich panel with a multi-layer core is better than the single core shape multilayer corrugated sandwich panel in terms of bending load capacity, energy dissipation capacity and deformation capacity can be obtained through the combination design of different core shapes.

Topology optimization is a pioneering design method that can provide various candidates with high mechanical properties. However, the high-resolution for the optimum structures is highly desired, normally in turn leading to computationally intractable puzzle, especially for the famous Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP) method. In this paper, an efficient and high-resolution topology optimization method is proposed based on the Super-Resolution Convolutional Neural Network (SRCNN) technique in the framework of SIMP. The SRCNN includes four processes, i.e. refining, path extraction & representation, non-linear mapping, and reconstruction. The high computational efficiency is achieved by a pooling strategy, which can balance the number of finite element analysis (FEA) and the output mesh in optimization process. To further reduce the high computational cost of 3D topology optimization problems, a combined treatment method using 2D SRCNN is built as another speeding-up strategy. A number of typical examples justify that the high-resolution topology optimization method adopting SRCNN has excellent applicability and high efficiency for 2D and 3D problems with arbitrary boundary conditions, any design domain shape, and varied load.

To have a better protection, strong toughness and good flexibility, all lives and plants must have skins, similarly, all books should have covers. In this paper, considering interlayer friction as a perturbation, we formulate a hardcover-book-like laminated plates with internal friction. For a quasi-static problem, detail analysis on the bending response and energy dissipation are carried out for a three-point-supported plates. Our numerical investigations show that the hardcover is more essential than the core layers in terms of bending response, and the energy dissipation within per loading-unloading cycle can be made to vary by a considerable amount. The central goal of studying is not only to predict the bending deformation of the book-like-plates, but also as a representative case to help finding some clue on the universal behaviours of multilayered architectures with internal friction.

Cold chain logistics of Agricultural Products demand forecasting can provide the scientific basis for the country to formulate logistics strategy, which further promotes the development of social economy and the improvement of living standards in China. In this paper, a new mathematical combined model is proposed to Agricultural Products Demand. Shandong, one of a China’s province, serves as the main producer and distributor of agricultural products. Based on the index system created from multiple related factors influencing cold chain logistics demand of agricultural products in Shandong, this paper employs principal component analysis to reduce the dimension of various indexes and predicts principal components with time series. Thereafter, multiple linear regression model and neural network model were constructed to forecast the cold chain logistics demand of agricultural products in Shandong, and their combined forecast models were compared. What's more, the paper provides insight for reference and decision-making concerning the development of cold chain logistics industry of agricultural products in Shandong province.

Following the occurrence of a typhoon, quick damage assessment related to residents can facilitate quick dispatch of house repair and disaster insurance works. Employing a deep learning method, this study used aerial photos of the Chiba prefecture obtained following the Typhoon Faxai in 2019 to automatically detect and evaluate the roof damage. This study comprised three parts: training deep learning model, detecting the roof damage using trained model, and classifying the level of roof damage. The detection object comprised roof outline, blue tarps, and roof completely destroyed. The roofs were divided into three categories: roof without damage, roof with blue tarps and roof completely destroyed. the F value obtained using the proposed method was higher than those obtained using other methods. In addition, it can be further divided into 5 levels from level 0 to 4. Finally, the spatial distribution of the roof damage was analyzed using ArcGIS tools. The proposed method is expected to provide certain reference for the real-time detection of the roof damage after the occurrence of a typhoon.

A typhoon-induced storm surge is considered one of the most severe coastal disasters in Taiwan. However, the combination of the storm surge and the astronomical tide called the storm tide can actually cause extreme flooding in coastal areas. This study implemented a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model to account for the interaction between tides and storm surges on the coast of Taiwan. The model was validated with observed water levels at Sauo Fish Port, Hualien Port, and Chenggong Fish Port under different historical typhoon events. The model results are in reasonable agreement with the measured data. The validated model was then used to evaluate the effects of the typhoon's intensity, bathymetric change, and the combination of the typhoon’s intensity and bathymetric change on the maximum storm tide and its distribution along the east coast of Taiwan. The results indicated that the maximum storm tide rises to 1.92 m under a typhoon with an intensity of a 100-year return period. The maximum storm tide increased from a baseline of 1.26 m to 2.63 m for a 90% bathymetric rise at Sauo Fish Port under the conditions of Typhoon Jangmi (2008). The combination of the intensity of a typhoon with a 100-year return period and a 90% bathymetric rise will result in a maximum storm tide exceeding 4 m, 2 m, and 3 m at Sauo Fish Port, Hualien Port, and Chenggong Fish Port, respectively. We also found that the distribution of the maximum storm tide on the east coast of Taiwan can expand significantly subject to the bathymetric rise.

The statistical technique, the multiple regression model, is employed to analyze the relationship between the dependent variable and several independent variables. The multicollinearity problem is one of the assumptions in the multiple regression model that occurred in the relationship among independent variables. The ordinal least square is the standard method to evaluate parameters in the regression model, but the multicollinearity problem affects the unstable estimator. The Liu regression is proposed to approximate the Liu estimators based on the Liu parameter to overcome multicollinearity. For this paper, we have proposed the modified Liu parameter to estimate the biasing parameter in scaling options to compare the ordinal least square estimator with two modified Liu parameters and six standard Liu parameters. The performance of the modified Liu parameter is considered with the generating independent variables from the multivariate normal distribution in the Toeplitz correlation pattern as the multicollinearity data, where the dependent variable is obtained from the independent variable multiplied with a coefficient of regression and with the error from the normal distribution. The mean absolute percentage error is computed as an evaluation criterion of estimation. For application, the Hepatitis C patients dataset is a real dataset to investigate the benefit of the modified Liu parameter. Through the simulation and real dataset, it can be seen from the results that the modified Liu parameter outperforms the other Liu parameters and the ordinal least square estimator. It can recommend the user for estimating parameters by using the modified Liu parameter when the independent variable exits the multicollinearity problem.

Concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) members have been widely used in the field of civil engineering due to their advanced superior mechanical properties. However, internal defects such as concrete core voids and interface debonding are likely to weaken the load-carrying capacity and stiffness of these members, which affects safety and serviceability of CFST structures. Visualizing the inner defects of concrete core in CFST members have been a critical need in civil engineering construction, a travel time tomography (TTT) is introduced to quantitatively identify and visualize the sizes and positions of CFST members in this paper. Moreover, a parameter analysis is performed to investigate the relationship between TTT imaging qualities and influence factors, e.g. inversion parameters, defect sizes and positions. The effectiveness and accuracy of the TTT algorithm are verified by several numerical examples and the results demonstrate that TTT can identify the sizes and positions of concrete core void defects in CFST members efficiently and several inversion parameters including model weighting matrix and inversion grid size really pose a significant impact on the imaging results of CFST members. In addition, several optimum parameters are recommended to benefit the future study of the promising TTT approach for CFST members.

More than 110 countries including 500 cities worldwide have set the goal of reaching carbon neutrality. Heating contributes to most of the residential energy consumption and carbon emissions. The green energy transition of fossil-based heating systems is needed to reach the emission goals. However, the heating systems vary in energy source, heating technology, equipment location, and these complexities make it challenging for households to compare heating systems and make decisions. Hence, a decision support tool that provides a generalized ranking of individual heating alternatives is proposed for households as decision-makers to identify the optimal choice. This paper presents an analysis of 13 heating alternatives and 19 quantitative criteria in technological, environmental, and financial aspects, combines ideal solution based Multi-Criteria Decision Making with 6 weighting methods and 4 normalization methods, and introduces ensemble learning with a fuzzy membership function derived from Cauchy distribution to finalize the final ranking. The robustness of the proposed method is verified by 3 sensitive analyses from different aspects. Air to water heat pump, solar heating and direct district heating are the top three rankings in the final result under Danish national average data. A framework is designed to guide the decision-makers apply this ranking guideline with their practical feasible situations.

BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis B infected with Hepatitis B virus remains a major health concern worldwide. Despite standard interferon-α and nucleotide analogues have been shown to reduce the deterioration of liver disease among chronic hepatitis B patients, covalently closed circular DNA was still difficult to eradicate. METHODS: A literature search of Pubmed and Web of science was performed with the following key words: ‘CRISPR’, ‘CRISPR/Cas9’, ‘hepatitis B’, ‘HBV’, ‘chronic hepatitis B’ and ‘HBV cccDNA’. The information about CRISPR/Cas9 for the treatment of HBV cccDNA or hepatitis B was reviewed. RESULTS: CRISPR/Cas9 could treat hepatitis B through suppressing or clearing HBV cccDNA with different gRNAs. CONCLUSION: With the emergence of CRISPR/Cas9 (the RNA-guided clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats, CRISPR) editing technology, clearance of hepatitis B virus and better prevention of liver carcinoma seemed to be possible.

Aeromagnetic compensation plays a vital role in geomagnetic navigation and has received considerable attention throughout last few decades. Classical aeromagnetic compensation methods based on the Tolles–Lawson (T-L) model are mainly aimed at permanent, induced, and eddy-current magnetic interferences of aircraft platform, which ignores other stray magnetic field interference on the platform including the interferences caused by on-board electronic (OBE) systems. In order to cooperate with TL model, magnetometers are usually required to be installed on the extension rod outside the cabin, which is widely applied to geophysical magnetic survey. In order to ensure safety and reduce the cost of platform modification in geomagnetic navigation, it’s necessary to place magnetometers inside the cabin. It also further exacerbates the magnetic interferences and improves the difficulty of magnetic compensation. In this paper, a modified aeromagnetic compensation method is proposed, and the in-cabin OBE interferences are respectively modelled to be proportional to the currents and their temporal variations of different electronic devices. To ensure that modified model adapts to strong OBE interference in the cabin, a cut-off frequency determination method based on curvature calculation and a feature selection method based on correlation calculation are proposed. The cut-off frequency determination method helps to select passband filter which suitable for in-cabin OBE interference. The feature selection method can help to effectively select current and voltage inputs for modified model. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) is adopted to reduce multicollinearity which is intensified by the extension of OBE interferences in coefficient-estimating. Experiments on public dataset are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, and the best compensation result achieved 1.71nT of root mean square error (RMSE).

Castleman disease (CD) rarely presents with obstructive jaundice, which poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the management of the disease. A 40-year-old man was referred to our hospital for emergent management of upper abdominal pain. An abdominal mass was removed, and the postoperative pathology showed retroperitoneum CD, which was subsequently managed by adjuvant therapy of combination chemotherapy and steroids. One month later, a biliary metal stent was placed due to the presentation of obstructive jaundice. After approximately 3 months, the patient experienced another episode of obstructive jaundice, and SpyGlass DS cholangioscopy (Boston Scientific, Natick, Mass, USA) was performed via the biliary track for biopsy, which pathologically showed biliary malignancies. Radiofrequency ablation was performed with a probe (EMcision, Montreal, Canada), and another uncovered metal stent was placed within the existing metal stent. No stent occlusion occurred during a 6-month follow-up period. In conclusion, CD rarely presents with obstructive jaundice, and a combination of radiofrequency ablation with metal stent implantation under cholangioscopy can prolong the stent patency time and the survival time of patients.

It is well established that the reaction cycles involving some halogenated alkanes (so-called ozone-depleting substances, ODS) contribute to the depletion of ozone in the stratosphere, thus causing the Montreal Protocol (initially signed in 1987) and later amendments. The Protocol called for the scheduled phase-out of ODS, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), hydrochloro-fluorocarbons (HCFC), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), halon, methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3), me-thyl chloride (CH3Cl), and even hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). In view of the urgent importance of ozone layer protection to the globally ecological environment, the Taiwan government took regulatory actions on reducing ODS consumption since 1993 by the joint-venture of the central competent authorities. Under the regulatory requirements and the industry’s efforts by adopt-ing the alternatives to ODS and abatement technologies, the phase-out of some ODS (i.e., CFC, CCl4, halon, and CH3CCl3) have been achieved prior to 2010. The consumptions of HCFCs and methyl chloride have been significantly declined over the past three decades (1993-2022). However, HFC emission indicated a V-type variation during the period. Due to the local pro-duction and extensive use of HFC in Taiwan, its emissions increased from 663 kilotons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) in 1993 to 2,330 kilotons of CO2eq in 2001, and then decreased to 373 kilotons of CO2eq in 2011. Since then, the emissions of HFC largely used as the alternatives to ODS showed an upward trend, increasing to 1,555 kilotons of CO2eq in 2022. To be in compliance with the Kigali Amendment (KA-2015) to the Montreal Protocol for mitigating global warming, the Taiwan government has taken regulatory actions in reducing the consumption of some HFC substances with high global warming potential (GWP) under the authorization of the Climate Change Response Act in 2023, aiming at the baseline consumption in 2024 by 80 % reduction by 2045.

The bilateral trade relationship between PRC and ASEAN is close. As early as 2012, China has been the largest trading partner of ASEAN, and ASEAN has also taken the place of the United States as PRC’s second largest trading partner in 2019.This paper uses the theory of ecological population evolution, selects the total import and export volume of PRC and the ten ASEAN countries from 2000 to 2019 as the data sample, studies the bilateral trade relations between PRC and the ten ASEAN countries, analyzes the competition and symbiotic relationship of bilateral trade between PRC and the ten ASEAN countries and the possibility of trade friction according to the results, and proposes corresponding improvement strategies. According to the results of the population evolution competition model, China has a competitive relationship with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, which is most likely to cause trade friction. China has a biased relationship with Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, which is more likely to cause trade friction. On this basis, in order to further strengthen the trade relations between PRC and the ten ASEAN countries, this paper puts forward policy suggestions on improving infrastructure, strengthening independent innovation, seeking cooperation fields and actively investing abroad.

Generally, when cognitive radio users are in Underlay mode, through the analysis of the electromagnetic spectrum in time, frequency, space, and field of multiple dimensional data accounts for judging the inherent correlation of the radio spectrum used/idle state, this is the realization of cognitive radio users (secondary users, SUs) efficient access to the foundation of the limited spectrum resources. Therefore, how to efficiently use of spectrum status of each SU implementation of reception multidimensional combination forecasting is the core of this paper addressing the problem. In this paper, we propose a deep-learning hybrid model called TensorGCN-LSTM based on the tensor data structure. The model treats SUs deployed at different spatial locations under the same frequency and the spectrum status of SUs themselves under different frequencies in the task area as nodes and constructs two types of graph structures. Graph convolutional operations are used to sequentially extract corresponding spatial-domain and frequency-domain features from the two types of graph structures. Then, the long short-term memory (LSTM) model is used to fuse the spatial, frequency, and temporal features of the cognitive radio environment data. Finally, the prediction task of the spectrum distribution situation is accomplished through fully connected layers. Specifically, the model constructs a tensor graph based on the spatial similarity of SUs' locations and the frequency correlation between different frequency signals received by SUs, which describes the electromagnetic wave's dependency relationship in spatial and frequency domains. LSTM is used to capture the electromagnetic wave's dependency relationship in the temporal domain. To evaluate the effectiveness of the model, we conducted ablation experiments on LSTM, GCN, GC-LSTM, and TensorGCN-LSTM models using simulated data. The experimental results show that our model achieved better prediction performance in RMSE, and the correlation coefficient R2 of 0.8753 also confirmed the feasibility of the model.

Oral cancer ranks sixth among Taiwan's top 10 cancers, and most patients with poor prognosis acquire metastases. The essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) has been found to diminish many cancer properties. However, the anti-cancer activity of ALA in oral cancer has yet to be determined. Migration and invasion assays confirmed OSCC cells' EMT capabilities, whereas flow cytometry and Western blotting identified the molecular pathways. ALA dramatically reduced cell growth in a concentration dependent manner, according to the findings. Low concentrations of ALA (100 or 200 μM) inhibit colony formation, expression of Twist and EMT-related proteins, expression of MMP2/-9 proteins and enzyme activity, as well as cell migration and invasion. Treatment with high concentrations of ALA (200 or 400 μM) greatly increases JNK phosphorylation and c-jun nuclear accumulation, then upregulates the FasL/caspase8/caspase3 and Bid/cytochrome c/caspase9/caspase3 pathways, leading to cell death. Low concentrations of ALA inhibit SAS and GNM cell migration and invasion by suppressing Twist and downregulating EMT-related proteins, or by decreasing the protein expression and enzyme activity of MMP-2/-9, whereas high concentrations of ALA promote apoptosis by activating the JNK/FasL/caspase 8/caspase 3-extrinsic pathway and the Bid/cytochrome c/caspase 9 pathway. ALA demonstrates potential as a treatment for OSCC patients.

Oil and petroleum are strategic resources of great importance to national security. Petroleum and hydrothermal gold deposits may form together, with similar evolutionary trends in their formation, migration, and enrichment. Petroleum reservoirs and gold deposits are closely coupled under certain geological conditions. The solubility of gold in crude oil and its forms of occurrence are important in determining the mechanisms of interaction between gold and petroleum and in facilitating the recovery of gold from gold-bearing petroleum. In this study, the occurrence of gold in crude oil from the Linnan Depression in the Bohai Bay Basin, China, was studied using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Concentrations of gold in crude oil from the Linpan and Shanghe oilfields averaged 44.5 ppb, which is well above the minimum concentration required for hydrothermal gold mineralization. Gold has an affinity with carbon, oxygen, and sulfur, and its concentration in crude oil is positively correlated with total acid and sulfur contents. We speculate that gold may exist in crude oil as complexes with organic acids or thiols, with crude oil thus being a transport medium for gold.

We explored the trends and the diversity of the mortality and risk factors of age-standardized cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cerebrovascular disease (CBD) from 2000 to 2020 in five advanced Asian countries, including China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) report. Overall, the CVD mortality rates decreased gradually in all five Asian countries. Singapore had the highest rates before 2011, but Taiwan replaced Singapore as the nation of the highest mortality rates after 2012. Additionally, South Korea had the highest CBD mortality rates before 2016, while Taiwan experienced a peak in 2011 and remained high thereafter. The absolute difference (AD) and relative difference (RD) for CVD mortality rates showed clear declining trends in all five countries, with South Korea and China displaying the highest reductions, respectively. It is noteworthy that overweight and obesity exhibited an increasing trend in all these five Asian countries, with China demonstrating the highest AD and RD. Except for Taiwan, where a negative association of r=-0.732 was observed, CVD mortality was positively associated with CBD, hypertension, and DM mortality in all other four countries, therefore, further investigation into these relationships are needed.

The steel grid structure with bolted ball joints is gaining popularity in offshore platforms and aquaculture cages, but the corrosion resistance of these joints is a critical safety concern. This article introduces an innovative method to enhance the sealing performance of bolted ball joints, preventing seawater ingress and corrosion. The approach involves creating a sealed surface within the contact gap between the sleeve and connecting components. Circular grooves and sealing washers are added to both ends of the sleeve. A two-dimensional finite element analysis model of the bolted ball joint with the sealing structure was created using SOLIDWORKS and ANSYS. The study analyzes the sealing gasket's contact pressure at various compression levels and evaluates its performance with bubble tests for air tightness. Research results show a linear relationship between contact pressure and compression rate, with a sealing pressure of 5.95MPa achieved at a 14% compression rate. This simple, cost-effective sealing method effectively prevents corrosion from seawater, making it ideal for marine environments.

The goal of this lab is to look at how the characteristics of cementitious materials are affected by bending loads combined with dry and wet cycles of sulfate. In this paper, three sets of specimens with different water–cement ratios were designed. This study applied 20% and 40% of the ultimate bending load as a continuous bending load to the cementitious material specimens for a sulfate erosion test. It was discovered that the specimens' porosity, flexural strength, and compressive strength all tended to improve initially before declining as the cementitious material was degraded in the sulfate solution aged. The flexural strength of the cementitious materials declined as the bending load increased, and their internal sulfate ion concentration rose. A transport model of sulfate ions in cementitious materials under the coupling effect of bending load and sulfate erosion was created by combining the improved version of Fick’s second law and chemical reaction kinetics. The simulation results show that the ion transport properties of sulfate ions in cementitious materials are in accordance with the experimental laws. These research results formed the basis of the unified standards for the coupling of load dry and wet cycle systems, as well as evaluating the durability of cementitious materials under corrosive environments.

Cylindrical Fe-6.5wt.% Si bars with 7.5 mm in diameter were successfully fabricated from as cast ingot through three rolling stages within 10 passes: rough rolling at 850–900 °C and 8–10 m/min, medium rolling at 800–850 °C and 10–15 m/min, and finish rolling at 800–850 °C and 12–18 m/min. The evolution of microstructure, texture and ordered structure, and the mechanical property are investigated. The results showed that the grains were refined by the hot bar rolling. Area fractions of the {100}<011> oriented grains and the {011}<100> oriented grains decreased to 0 during the hot bar rolling. Whereas, the {100}<001> component, the {011}<211> component and the {112}<110> component increased, and γ fiber with {111}<110> component was dominant. DO₃ ordered phase were suppressed, and B2 ordered domains were refined after the hot bar rolling. Ductility of the as rolled bar was higher than that of the rotary swaged bar, due to the absence of the DO₃ ordered phase and the fine grains in the rolled bar. Hence, the hot bar rolling technology is an excellent process to fabricate the Fe-6.5wt.% Si bars.

The long-term use of fertilizers and pesticides in conventional cultivation has resulted in a decrease in soil productivity and vegetable yields in greenhouses. However, only a limited number of studies have explored the impacts of organic cultivation on greenhouse soil. Specifically, there is a scarcity of research examining the alterations in soil aggregate mediated organic carbon and microbial communities, which are known to enhance soil productivity. This study investigated the properties of soil aggregates, including the levels of organic carbon fractions, microbial community, and enzyme activity with the three aggregate classes microaggregates (&lt;0.25 mm), small macroaggregates (2-0.25 mm) and large macroaggregates (&gt;2 mm). These investigations were conducted under three different cultivation methods in a greenhouse: conventional cultivation (CC), integrated cultivation (IC), and organic cultivation (OC) in greenhouse. The results showed that (1) OC and IC promoted the formation of small macro-aggregates and enhanced aggregate stability compared to CC, (2) SOC in the three size fractions of OC increased by 98.99%-92.06% compared to CC; EOC increased by 98.47%-117.59%; POC increased by 138.59%-208.70%; MBC increased by 104.71%-230.61%; DOC increased by 21.93%-40.90%, respectively; (3) Organic cultivation significantly increased enzyme activity in all three particle size aggregates and increased the relative abundance of bacteria in micro-aggregates as well as the relative abundance of fungi in small macro-aggregates. Structural equation model (SEM) analysis revealed that organic farming practices fostered the development of smaller macro-aggregates, elevated microbial and enzyme activities within soil aggregates, and facilitated the conversion of soil nutrients and carbon sequestration. consequently, this led to an increase in soil organic carbon content and improved vegetable yield in greenhouse environments. In conclusion, the soil carbon content and vegetable yield are enhanced through long-term organic cultivation in greenhouses, primarily by increasing the proportion of small macro-aggregates.

Pancreatitis and alcoholic pancreatitis are serious health concerns, and there is an urgent need for effective treatment strategies. Alcohol is a known etiological factor for pancreatitis, including acute pancreatitis (AP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP). Excessive alcohol consumption induces many pathological stress responses; of particular note is endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and adaptive unfolded protein response (UPR). ER stress results from the accumulation of unfolded/misfolded protein in the ER and is implicated in the pathogenesis of alcoholic pancreatitis. Here we summarize the possible mechanisms by which ER stress contributes to alcoholic pancreatitis. We also discuss potential approaches targeting ER stress and UPR for developing novel therapeutic strategies for the disease.

Abstract：The brain often switches freely between focused attention and divergent thinking, and the default mode network (DMN) is activated during brain rest. The discovery, function and characteristics of default mode network all indicate that learning does not stop when the brain "rests". Mental disease can lead to dysfunctional default mode networks, which affects learning adversely. Therefore, default mode network plays an important role in learning. Neural activities such as β-wave rhythm regulation, "subconscious" divergence mode initiation, hippocampal function and neural replay occur during default mode, which also explain that "rest" promotes learning. This paper reveals the role and neural mechanism of default mode network in learning from the neural level, discusses the essential role default mode network plays in learning, and default mode network enables rest to promote learning.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mental illness with a heavy social burden, but its underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics is providing new insights into the heterogeneous pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of MDD by revealing multi-parametric biomarker signatures at the metabolite level. In this comprehensive review, recent developments of MS-based metabolomics in MDD research are summarized from the perspective of analytical platforms (liquid chromatography-MS, gas chromatography-MS, supercritical fluid chromatography-MS, etc.), strategies (untargeted, targeted, and pseudotargeted metabolomics), key metabolite changes (monoamine neurotransmitters, amino acids, lipids, etc.), and antidepressant treatments (both western and traditional Chinese medicines). Depression sub-phenotypes, comorbid depression, and multi-omics approaches are also highlighted to stimulate further advances in MS-based metabolomics in the field of MDD research.

To determine promethazine (PMZ) and its metabolites promethazine sulfoxide (PMZSO) and monodesmethyl-promethazine (Nor1PMZ) in swine muscle, fat, kidney, and liver, a sample preparation and high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis method were established and validated. The sample was extracted with 0.1% formic acid-acetonitrile, and the extract was purified with acetonitrile-saturated n-hexane. After concentration by rotary evaporation, the extract was re-dissolved in 0.1% formic acid-water and acetonitrile (80:20, v/v). The HPLC-MS/MS column used was a Waters Symmetry C18 (100 mm × 2.1 mm i.d., 3.5 μm), with 0.1% formic acid-water and acetonitrile as the mobile phase, and the target compounds were determined by positive ion scan and multiple reaction monitoring. PMZ and Nor1PMZ were quantified with deuterated promethazine (PMZ-d6) as the internal standard, while PMZSO was quantified by external standard method. The limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) of PMZ and PMZSO in muscle, liver, and kidney spiked samples were 0.05 μg/kg and 0.1 μg/kg, respectively, while those of Nor1PMZ were 0.1 μg/kg and 0.5 μg/kg, respectively. The LOD and LOQ of analytes in fat spiked sample were 0.05 μg/kg and 0.1 μg/kg, respectively. The sensitivity of this method reaches or exceeds its presented in previous reports. The analytes PMZ and PMZSO showed good linearity within the range of 0.1 μg/kg to 50 μg/kg, while Nor1PMZ showed good linearity within the range of 0.5 μg/kg to 50 μg/kg, with correlation coefficients (r) greater than 0.99. The recoveries of the target compounds in the sam-ples were between 81.73% and 107.17%, and the precision ranged from 1.78% to 10.47%. This study developed for the first time an HPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of PMZ and its metabolites PMZSO and Nor1PMZ in four swine edible tissues, comprehensively covered target tissues of monitoring object, which is applicable for monitoring veterinary drug residues in ani-mal-derived foods and ensuring food safety.

The productivity of forests is often considered to be limited by the availability of phosphorus (P). Knowledge of the role of organic and inorganic P in humid subtropical forest soils is lacking. In this study, we used chemical fractionation and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to characterize the form of P and its distribution in undisturbed perhumid Chamaecyparis forest soils. The toposequence of transects was investigated for the humic layer from summit to footslope and lakeshore. The clay layer combined with a placic-like horizon in the subsoil may affect the distribution of soil P because both total P and organic P (Po) contents in all studied soils decreased with soil depth. In addition, Po content was negatively correlated with soil crystalline Fe oxide content, whereas inorganic P (Pi) content was positively correlated with soil crystalline Fe oxide content and slightly increased with soil depth. Thus, Pi may be mostly adsorbed by soil crystalline Fe oxides in the soils. Among all extractable P fractions, the NaOH-Po fraction appeared to be the major component, followed by NaHCO3-Po; the resin-P and HCl-Pi fractions were lowest. In addition, we found no typical trend for Pi and Po contents in soils with topographical change among the three sites. From the 31P-NMR spectra, the dominant Po form in soils from all study sites was monoesters with similar spectra. The 31P-NMR findings were basically consistent with those from chemical extraction. Soil formation processes may be the critical factor affecting the distribution of soil P. High precipitation and year-round high humidity may be important in the differentiation of the P species in this landscape.

In an effort to enhance the efficiency and safety of open-pit mines, this study explores the optimization of end slope road parameters and slope structures, specifically focusing on unmanned driving lanes.A significant aspect of the study is the development of a truck trajectory offset model, which considers the different reaction times between automated sensors and human drivers in adapting to environmental changes. To test these concepts, the study uses numerical simulations to confirm the stability of the proposed end slope designs. Using Victory West Mine No. 1 as a case study, the research determines the optimized width for unmanned driving lanes and the maximum angle for safe steepening of end slopes. The findings indicate that the optimized unmanned lane width for NTE240 mining dump trucks is 1743 mm, allowing for a 2-degree increase in the slope angle at the south end slope. This optimization leads to a steep mining stripping volume of 3.2735 million m³ and a coal output of 2.49628 million tons, maintaining a stripping ratio of 1.31m³/t. These results demonstrate that the unmanned driving road width optimization not only ensures slope safety but also significantly boosts the economic benefits of steep mining in open-pit mines.

The dual-station Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) system can overcome the physical limitations imposed by the baseline of single-station dual-antenna InSAR. It provides greater flexibility and can enhance elevation measurement accuracy through a well-designed baseline configuration.Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with dual-station InSAR, with relatively low cost and high flexibility, are useful for mapping and land resource exploration. However, due to challenges including spatiotemporal synchronization and motion errors, there are limited reports on UAV-borne dual-station InSAR. This paper proposes a comprehensive method for processing data from small UAV-borne dual-station InSAR by integrating two-way synchronization chain signals. The proposed method includes compensation for time and phase synchronization errors, trajectory refinement with synchronized chain and Position and Orientation System (POS) data, high-precision dual-station InSAR imaging and interferometric processing. Height inversion results based on the proposed method is also provided, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method and improving interferometric accuracy at calibration points from 0.66 meters to 0.42 meters.

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an active sensor that uses microwave for sense, it is unrestricted by weather and illumination conditions, and it can observe targets all day and weather. Aircraft targets are important monitoring objects in military and civilian fields, and how to efficiently detect and recognize aircraft targets is an important topic in the field of SAR image interpretation. Based on the features of SAR images, such as complex background, high resolution, and multi-scale, we proposed an improved method based on YOLOv5s. Firstly, this paper proposed the structure of the multi-scale receptive field and channel attention fusion, which is applied to the shallow layer of the backbone of YOLOv5s, it can adjust the weights of the multi-scale receptive field during the training process to enhance the extraction ability of feature information. Secondly, we proposed four de-coupled detection heads to replace the original part in YOLOv5s, which can improve the efficiency and accuracy of SAR image interpretation for small targets. Thirdly, in the case of the limited amount of SAR images, this paper proposed multi methods of data augmentation, which can enhance the diversity and generalization of the network. Fourthly, this paper proposed the K-means++ to re-place the original K-means to improve the network convergence speed and detection accuracy. Finally, Experiments demonstrate that the improved YOLOv5s can enhance the accuracy of SAR image interpretation by 9.3%, and the accuracy of small targets is improved more obviously, reaching 13.1%.

Optical fiber sensors based on tapered optical fiber (TOF) structure have attracted a considerable amount of attention from researchers due to the advantages of simple fabrication, high stability, diverse structures, and have great potential for applications in many fields such as physics, chemistry and biology. Compared with ordinary optical fibers, TOF with their unique structural characteristics significantly improve the sensitivity and response speed of fiber-optic sensors and broaden the application range. This review presents an overview of the latest research status and characteristics of fiber-optic sensors and TOF sensors. Then the working principle of TOF sensors, fabrication schemes of TOF structures, novel TOF structures in recent years, and the growing emerging application areas are described. Finally, the development trends and challenges of TOF sensors are prospected. The objective of this review is to convey novel perspectives and strategies for the performance optimization and design of TOF sensors based on fiber-optic sensing technologies.

A case-crossover study examined how PM_2.5 from Asian Dust Storms (ADS) affects the number of emergency room (ER) admissions for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and respiratory diseases (RDs). Our data indicated that PM_2.5 concentration from ADS was highly correlated with ER visits for CVDs and RDs. The odds ratios (OR) increased by 2.92 (95% CI: 1.22-5.08) and 1.86 (95% CI: 1.30-2.91) per increase 10 µg/m³ in PM_2.5 levels, for CVDs and RDs, respectively. A 10 µg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 from ADSs was significantly associated with increase in ER visits for CVDs among those 65 years of age and older (an increase of 2.77 in OR) and for females (an increase of 3.09 in OR). In contrast, PM_2.5 levels had a significant impact on RD ER visits among those under 65 years of age (OR=1.77). The risk of ER visits for CVDs increased on the day when the ADS occurred in Taiwan and the day after (lag 0 and lag 1); the corresponding risk increase for RDs only increased on the fifth day after the ADS (lag 5). In Taiwan’s late winter and spring, the severity of ER visits for CVDs and RDs increases. Environmental protection agencies should employ an early warning system for ADS to reduce high-risk groups’ exposure to PM_2.5.

According to research, we have learned that Mg and TiO2 are new types material of marine protective coatings. We found that the addition of Mg can improve the performance of Zn-Al coating passivation film, and TiO2 has excellent photocatalytic self-cleaning performance. In this paper Zn-Al pseudo alloy coating was prepared by cold spray technique, and Zn-Al-Mg-TiO2 pseudo alloy composite coating was prepared by adding Mg and nano-TiO2. The effects of Mg and TiO2 to the marine protective properties of Zn-Al coatings were studied by friction and wear test, dynamic salt water corrosion test, electrochemical test, scanning electron microscope(SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS) and super deep scene 3D microscope. The results show that the addition of Mg and nano-TiO2 not only fills the gap of the coating and improves the density of the coating, but also generates grid-like flocculent corrosion products on the surface of the coating which can gather other corrosion products to improve the density of corrosion products, reduce the friction coefficient and corrosion rate of the coating surface, effectively prevent the invasion of Cl- in solution, and improve the wear and corrosion resistance of the coating.

With the rapid development of MEMS (Micro-electro-mechanical Systems) fabrication technologies, manifolds microelectrodes with various structures and functions have been designed and fabricated for applications in biomedical research, diagnosis and treatment through electrical stimulation and electrophysiological signal recording. The flexible MEMS microelectrodes exhibit multi-aspect excellent characteristics beyond stiff microelectrodes based on silicon or SU-8, which comprising: lighter weight, smaller volume, better conforming to neural tissue and lower fabrication cost. In this paper, we mainly reviewed key technologies on flexible MEMS microelectrodes for neural interface in recent years, including: design and fabrication technology, flexible MEMS microelectrodes with fluidic channels and electrode-tissue interface modification technology for performance improvement. Furthermore, the future directions of flexible MEMS microelectrodes for neural interface were described including transparent and stretchable microelectrodes integrated with multi-aspect functions and next-generation electrode-tissue interface modifications facilitated electrode efficacy and safety during implantation. Finally, the combinations among micro fabrication techniques with biomedical engineering and nanotechnology represented by flexible MEMS microelectrodes for neural interface will open a new gate to human lives and understanding of the world.

Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) overestimates wind shear in some atmospheric stable conditions, i.e. Richardson number $R_f<0.25$. The overestimated wind shear that leads to an under-predicted friction wind speed and a lower ambient turbulence intensity for a given hub-height reference wind speed and a given roughness length, could influence wake modeling of a wind turbine. This work investigates the side effects of the breakdown of MOST on wake modeling under stable conditions and makes some modifications to the flow similarity functions to eliminate these side effects. Based on a field measurement in a wind farm, we firstly show that MOST predicts a larger wind shear for the atmospheric stability parameter $\zeta>0.1$ and proposes new flow similarity functions without constraining $R_f$ to limit the overestimated wind shear by MOST. Next, different turbulence models based on MOST and a modified one based on the new similarity functions are investigated through numerical simulations. These turbulence models are combined with the actuator disk model (AD) and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS) to model wind turbine wakes under stable conditions. As compared to measurements, numerical results show that turbulence models based on MOST result in larger wake deficits and slower wake recovery rate with a square root of the mean-squared-error (RSME) of wake deficit in the range of 0.07-0.18. This overestimated wake effect is improved by applying the new similarity functions and the RSME of wake deficit is averagely reduced by 0.05. Finally, we check the role of the under-predicted turbulence intensity playing in the larger wake deficit predicted by models based MOST. Additional numerical simulations using the modified turbulence model are carried out, in which the roughness length is reduced to impose a hub-height ambient turbulence intensity equivalent to the MOST case. Simulation results show that reducing turbulence intensity enhances wake effects, however, it cannot reproduce the large wake deficit predicted by models based on MOST, which suggests that the overestimated wake effect by MOST could be also related to the overestimated wind shear.

In order to realize the sustainable utilization of water resources and the sustainable development of economy, the evaluation index system of water use efficiency system and economic development system was constructed. Entropy weight method and comprehensive evaluation method were adopted to determine the index weights and conduct comprehensive evaluation for the two systems. The coupling coordination model was used to calculate the coupling degree, coordination degree and coupling coordination degree of the two systems. The annual coupling stage and coupling coordination intensity of the two systems were analyzed and determined. The results showed that the comprehensive evaluation values of both water use efficiency system and economic development system in Jinan City increased greatly from 2008 to 2017, and showed a changing trend of ups and downs. The two systems were in the antagonistic stage, and were gradually approaching the running-in stage, indicating that they were in the state of common development. The coupling coordination degree of the two systems gradually increased in waves, progressed from the moderately to the highly coordinated coupling. In the future, if the water control path appropriate to Jinan City can be explored actively, the water-saving kinetic energy of economic development can be increased constantly, and the linkage effect between economic development and water resources utilization can be given full play to, the two systems will be in the orbit with the benign interaction and healthy harmonious development.

Structure/material requires simultaneous consideration of both its design and manufacturing processes to dramatically enhance its manufacturability, assembly and maintainability. In this work, we present a novel design framework for structure/material with requested mechanical performances in virtue of the compelling properties of topological design and origami techniques. The framework comprises four procedures, including topological design, unfold, reduction manufacturing, and fold. Topological design method, i.e. Solid Isotropic Material Penalization (SIMP) method, serves to optimize the structure to achieve preferred mechanical characteristics and origami technique is exploited to make the structure rapidly and easily fabricated. Topological design and unfold procedures can be conveniently completed in a computer; then, reduction manufacturing, i.e. cutting, is performed to remove materials from the unfolded flat plate; the final structure is finally obtained by folding the plate of the previous procedure. A series of cantilevers, consisting of origami with parallel creases and Miura-ori (usually regarded as a metamaterial), made of paperboard are designed with least weight and required stiffness by using the proposed framework. The findings here furnish an alternative design framework for engineering structures which could be better than 3D printing technique, especially for large structures made of thin metal materials.

In this paper, a novel integrated high precision vacuum microelectronic accelerometer is put forward based on the theory of field emission, the accelerometer consists of sensitive structure and interface ASIC. The sensitive structure has a mass of a cathode cone tips array, a folded beam, an emitter electrode and a feedback electrode. The sensor is fabricated on a double side polished (1 0 0) N-type silicon wafer, the tips array of cathode are shaped by wet etching with HNA (HNO3, HF and CH3COOH) and metalized by TiW/Au thin film. The structure of sensor is released by ICP process finally. The interface ASIC was designed and fabricated based on the P-JFET high voltage bipolar process. The accelerometer is tested through static field rollover test, and the test results show the integrated vacuum microelectronic accelerometer has good performances, which sensitivity is 3.081V/g and non-linearity is 0.84% in the measuring range of −1g~1g.

Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberry and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. There are now no effective control techniques available except for fungicide sprays, which may directly impact consumers. Biological control is becoming an alternative method for the control of plant diseases to replace or decrease the application of traditional synthetic chemical fungicides. Trichoderma is widely used as a biological agent for controlling strawberry root rot. In order to provide resources for screening the highly effective biocontrol fungus for controlling strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, the biocontrol mechanism,the control effects of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 against strawberry root rot and growth-promoting effects on strawberry seedlings were investigated by plate culture, microscopy observation and root drenching methods.The results showed that CMT10 had obvious competitive, antibiotic and hyperparasitism effects on Neopestalotiopsis clavispora CMGF3. The CMT10 could quickly occupy nutritional space, and the inhibition rates of CMT10 against CMGF3 in confrontation culture on 7 d was 65.49%. The inhibition rates of volatile metabolite and fermentation metabolite produced by CMT10 against CMGF3 were 79.67% and 69.84%, respectively. The mycelium of strain CMT10 can act as hyperparasites by making contacting, winding and penetrating hyphae of CMGF3. Pot experiment showed that the biocontrol efficacy of CMT10 on strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora was 63.00%. CMT10 had obvious promotion effect on strawberry growth, the plant height, root length, total fresh weight, root fresh weight, stem fresh weight and root dry weight, with the promotion rates were 20.09%, 22.39%, 87.11%, 101.58%, 79.82% and 72.33%, respectively. Overall, this study showed the ability of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 to control strawberry root rot and their potential to develop as novel biocontrol agents to replace chemical fungicides for eco-friendly, sustainable agriculture.

14-Deoxy-11,12-didehydroandrographolide (deAND), a diterpenoid in Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees, acts as a bioactive phytonutrient that can treat many diseases. To investigate the protective effects of deAND on reducing fatty liver disease, male mice were fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet without or with 0.05% and 0.1% deAND supplementation. Cholesterol accumulation, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities in liver and liver injury were evaluated after deAND treatment. The results show that deAND treatment for 7 weeks reduced plasma alanine aminotransferase activity and lowered hepatic cholesterol accumulation, tumor nuclear factor-α, and histological lesions. 0.1% deAND treatment reduced HFHC diet-induced apoptosis by lowering the caspase 3/pro-caspase 3 ratio. After 11-weeks of deAND treatment, increased NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), capase-1, and interleukin-1β protein levels in liver were suppressed by deAND treatment. In addition, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) mRNA expression, heme oxygenase-1 protein expression, and the activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase were increased in mice fed the HFHC diet. However, those activities of antioxidant enzymes or proteins were also upregulated by 0.1% deAND treatment. Furthermore, deAND treatment tended to lower hepatic lipid peroxides. Finally, deAND treatment reversed the depletion of hepatic glutamate level induced by HFHC diet. These results indicate that deAND may ameliorate HFHC diet-induced steatohepatitis and liver injury by increasing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

Polysaccharide from Ficus carica L. (FCP) exert multiple biological activities, as a biological macromolecule, the available knowledge about the specific structures and mechanisms of biological activity of purified 'Brunswick' fig polysaccharide is currently limited. In the present study, by chemical purification and characteristics identified via specific instruments, and then the impact of FCP on the immunomodulation activity in vitro and in vivo was examined. Structural char-acteristics showed that the molecular weight of the FCP was determined to be 127.5 kDa, the primary monosaccharides present in the FCP were galacturonic acid (GalA), arabinose (Ara), galactose (Gal), rhamnose (Rha), glucose (Glc), and xylose (Xyl) at a ratio of 0.321:0.287:0.269:0.091:0.013:0.011. Based on the investigation of in vitro immunomodulatory ac-tivity, FCP was found to stimulate the production of NO, TNF-α, and IL-6 and increased the pi-nocytic activity of macrophages. Further analysis revealed that FCP activated macrophages by interacting with toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Moreover, the in vivo test results indicate that FCP showed significant increase serum pro-inflammatory factors in immunosuppressed mice. Overall, this study suggests that FCP has the potential to be utilized as a novel immunomodulator in the pharmaceutical and functional food industries.

Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) was most important flame retardant in Expanded Polystyrene foam and Extruded Polystyrene foam in the past forty years in the world. China was the major producer and user of HBCD, and the total HBCD production was about 0.3 million tons. Although HBCD has been completely banned in China in 2021 because of its long-range transport, bioaccumulation and toxicity, there's still a lot of residues in environment. Therefore, we reviewed multiple studies concerning the distribution of HBCD in diverse environmental matrices, such as air, dust, soil, water, sediment and biota. Results revealed that HBCD levels in different environments in China present a geographical variation and were at high level compared with other countries. In all environmental media, relatively high HBCD concentrations have been found in industrial and urban areas. Industrialization and urbanization are two important factors that influence the concentration and distribution of HBCD in the environment. In terms of isomer, γ-HBCD was the dominant isomer in soil, water, and sediment, while in the biota, α-HBCD was the predominant isomer.

Side-scan sonar (SSS) detection is a key method in applications such as underwater environmental security and subsea resource development. The use of acoustic images for seabed target detection has gradually become a mainstream underwater detection method. However, many existing detection approaches primarily concentrate on tracking the evolution path of optical image object detection tasks, resulting in complex structures and limited versatility. To tackle this issue, we introduce a pioneering Dual-Domain Multi-Frequency Network (D2MFNet) meticulously crafted to harness the distinct characteristics of SSS image detection. In D2MFNet, aiming at the underwater detection requirements of small scenes, we introduce a novel method for optimize and improve the detection sensitivity of different frequency ranges and propose a Multi-Frequency Combined Attention Mechanism (MFCAM). This mechanism amplifies the relevance of dual-domain features across different channels and space. Moreover, recognizing that SSS images can provide richer insights after frequency domain conversion, we introduce a Dual-Domain Feature Pyramid Network (D2FPN). By incorporating frequency domain information representation, D2FPN significantly augments the depth and breadth of feature information in underwater small datasets. Our methods are seamlessly designed for integration into existing networks, offering plug-and-play functionality with substantial performance enhancements. We have conducted extensive experiments to validate the efficacy of our proposed techniques, and the results showcase their state-of-the-art performance. MFCAM improves the mAP by 16.9% in the KLSG dataset and 15.5% in the SCTD dataset. The mAP of D2FPN was improved by 8.4% in the KLSG dataset and by 9.8% in the SCTD dataset. We will make our code and models publicly available at https://dagshub.com/estrellaww00/D2MFNet.

Concrete cracks and local damage can affect the bond performance between concrete and steel bars, thereby reducing the durability of reinforced concrete structures. Compared with general concrete crack repair methods, biomineralization repair not only has effective bonding capabilities but is also particularly environmentally friendly. In view of this, this study aimed to apply biomineralization technology to repair damaged fiber-reinforced lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC). Two groups of LWAC specimens were prepared. The control group used lightweight aggregates (LWAs) without bacterial spores and nutrient sources, and the experimental group used LWAs containing bacterial spores and nutrient sources. These specimens were first subjected to compression tests and pull-out tests, respectively, and thus were damaged. After the damaged specimen healed itself in different ways for 28 days, secondary compression and pull-out tests were conducted. The self-healing method of the control group involved placing the specimens in an incubator. The experimental group was further divided into experimental group I and experimental group II. The self-healing method of experimental group I was the same as that of the control group. The self-healing method of experimental group II involved soaking the specimen in a mixed solution of urea and calcium acetate for two days, and then taking it out and placing it in an incubator for two days, with a cycle of four days. The test results showed that, compared with the control group specimens, the relative bond strength ratio of the experimental group II specimens increased by 17.9%. Moreover, the EDS and XRD analysis results confirmed that the precipitate formed at the crack was calcium carbonate, which improved the compressive strength and bond strength after self-healing. This indicates that the biomineralization maintenance method used in experimental group II is more effective.

Limited knowledge is available about the association between autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and precocious puberty. Our study examined the association between the two medical conditions, and the effect modification by sex and neuropsychiatric comorbidities in a nationwide population. To compare the risk of precocious puberty between ASD and non-ASD cases, we conducted Cox regression analysis, using ASD as exposure and time-to-precocious puberty as outcome. We adjusted for sex, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), tics disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorder, intellectual disability, and epilepsy. We performed a moderation analysis to examine the potential moderating effects by sex or comorbidities. Patients with ASD were prone to have precocious puberty, with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.80 (95% CI: 1.61-2.01). For the effect modification, sex, specifically females, moderated the association between ASD and precocious puberty, with relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) 7.35 (95% CI 4.90-9.80). No significant effect modification was found for any of the comorbidities within the scope of additive effect modification. We found that patients with ASD were prone to precocious puberty, regardless of sex or comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders. Girls with ASD are at particularly higher risk to develop precocious puberty.

Cost-efficient catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and methanol oxidization reaction (MOR) is of great importance for industrial application. The alloying of platinum with cheap transition metal offers a great opportunity to reduce cost and enhance the electro-catalytic performance. Herein, we report a simple and green route to synthesize porous Pt-Cu catalysts, where Pt-Cu solid particles were first produced by using cuprous chloride (CuCl) nanoparticles as the template, followed by a dealloying treatment to obtain final porous product. The porous alloy nanoparticles show higher catalytic activity and superior stability for HER and methanol oxidation reaction, which is beneficial from the porous structure and synergetic effect between Pt and Cu.

Dry eye syndrome (DES) has become increasingly prevalent due to the prolonged use of digital devices in modern society. Individual supplementation with lutein or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) demonstrated potential benefits for eye health. This study aimed to investigate the effects of lutein plus DHA complex supplementation on DES, visual function, and memory in healthy individuals. Thirty-four participants, aged 40~60 years, received lutein/DHA complex supplements (containing 10 mg free-form lutein, 200 mg DHA, 30 mg red algae extract (astaxanthin), phosphatidylserine, and vitamin A) for 12 weeks. Ophthalmological examinations and memory tests were carried out, and a questionnaire was administered at weeks 0, 6, and 12 of the study. After 12 weeks of the intervention, the tear break-up time had significantly increased, and intraocular pressure (IOP) had significantly decreased. This suggests that lutein/DHA complex supplementation may reduce the IOP and offer potential benefits for DES, as indicated by improved tear stability.

The menopausal transition often accompanies distressing manifestations, including vasomotor symptoms, sleep disruptions, and depressive syndrome. Omega-3 fatty acids have emerged as a potential intervention to alleviate these symptoms. This review aimed to comprehensively assess the impact of omega-3 supplementation on vasomotor symptoms, sleep quality, and depression among postmenopausal women. We conducted a systematic search focusing on randomized control trials across the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, and SCOPUS databases from inception to August 2023. Among the initial pool of 163 studies, 9 studies met the inclusion criteria and were incorporated into this review. Four studies suggested potential benefits of omega-3 intake for improving hot flashes and night sweats. Sleep quality outcomes displayed heterogeneity across the studies. Incorporating diverse scales such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-21, the Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 for depression outcomes, the review found inconclusive evidence on omega-3's impact on depression. Overall, the combined analysis of these studies did not provide substantial evidence to support the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids in improving vasomotor symptoms, sleep quality, and depression. Further well-designed RCTs with larger participant groups are crucial to validate and generalize these results.

Wearable assistant devices play an important role in daily life for people with disabilities. Those who are hearing impaired may face dangers while walking or driving on the road. The major danger is their inability to hear warning sounds from cars or ambulances. Thus, the goal of this study is to develop a wearable assistant device for the hearing impaired to recognize emergency vehicle sirens on the road using edge computing. An EfficientNet-based fuzzy rank-based ensemble model was proposed to classify seven audio sounds, including human vocalizations and emergency vehicle sirens. This model was embedded in an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense development board. The audio files were respectively obtained from the CREMA-D dataset and Large Scale Audio dataset of emergency vehicle sirens on the road, with a total number of 8756 files. The seven audio sounds included neutral vocalization, anger vocalization, fear vocalization, happy vocalization, car horn sound, siren sound, and ambulance siren sound. The audio signal was converted into a spectrogram by the short-time Fourier transform as the feature. When one of the car horns, sirens, or ambulance sirens was detected, the wearable assistant device presented alarms through vibration and messages on the OLED panel. The performances of the EfficientNet-based fuzzy rank-based ensemble model in offline computing achieved an accuracy of 97.1%, precision of 97.79%, sensitivity of 96.8%, and specificity of 97.04%. In edge computing, the results were an accuracy of 95.2%, precision of 93.2%, sensitivity of 95.3%, and specificity of 95.1%. Thus, the proposed wearable assistant device has the potential benefit of helping the hearing impaired avoid traffic accidents.

Predators are dependent on the capture of prey to meet their energetic and nutritive requirements, imposing a regime of predation risk. Consequently, prey experience both consumptive and non-consumptive effects. Non-consumptive effects may manifest through altered growth and ontogenetic trajectories of prey species, a dynamic modulated by olfactory or other sensory cues from predators. Bactrocera dorsalis Hendel represents a great invasive threat to global horticulture. While earlier research has primarily centered on the consumptive interactions between B. dorsalis and its natural enemies, the potential consequences of non-consumptive interactions on the development of B. dorsalis have been overlooked. In this study, we investigated the impact of predation risk effects, induced by both visual exposure to the predatory mantis Hierodula patellifera Serville and its associated odor, on the life history traits of B. dorsalis. Female B. dorsalis demonstrated reduced development time in the presence of isolated H. patellifera or H. patellifera odor, yet evidenced significantly increased fecundity. Conversely, males displayed no significant change in development time. Additionally, neither female nor male body weight at death was significantly influenced by predation risk from isolated predators or predator odor. These results indicated adaptive developmental strategies of B. dorsalis when faced with risks from predators and highlight the important role of predator odor, which has the potential to lay the groundwork for improving biological control efforts and innovative approaches within pest control.

Curcumin is the main secondary metabolites of Curcuma longa and other Curcuma spp, and has been reported to have some potential in preventing and treating some physiological disorders. This study investigated the effect curcumin in inhibiting high-fat diet and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in rats. Twenty-six male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (170-190 g) were randomly divided into a standard food pellet diet group (Control group), a high-fat diet and streptozotocin group (HF+STZ group), and a high-fat diet combined with curcumin and STZ group (HF+ Cur +STZ group). Compared with the HF+STZ group, the HF+Cur+STZ group exhibited significantly reduced fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), alanine aminotransferase (AST) and aspartate transaminase (ALT) levels, and liver coefficients; in the livers of these rats, the expression of malondialdehyde (MDA) and Bax was downregulated, whereas that of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Bcl-2 was upregulated. Moreover, the liver histology of these rats was improved and resembled that of the control rats. These results suggest that curcumin prevents high-fat diet and STZ-induced hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia, mainly via anti-oxidant and anti-apoptotic mechanisms in the liver.

Construction using earth materials demonstrates ecological sustainability using locally sourced natural materials and environmentally friendly demolition methods. In this study, the environmental impact of adding cement to soil materials for rammed-earth farmhouse construction in rural China was investigated and comparatively simulated using the One Click LCA database, focusing on the conflict between sustainability objectives and the practical aspects of cement addition. By analyzing how the addition of cement aligns with local construction practices and by addressing the debate surrounding the inclusion of cement in rammed earth construction, our objective is to provide insights into achieving a balance between the environmental impact and the pragmatic considerations of using cement in earthen building practices. Three local structure scenarios are evaluated via simulations: a cement-stabilized rammed earth wall, a fired brick wall, and a localized reinforced concrete frame structure. The quantitative environmental impacts are assessed, and the qualitative differences in adaptation, economic sustainability, and other factors are examined in the context of present-day development in rural China. The results show that the use of cement-stabilized rammed earth wall-supported structures is associated with higher embodied carbon emissions compared to structures supported by reinforced concrete frames and enclosed by brick walls; however, these emissions are lower than those for brick wall-supported structures, while effectively meeting the structural requirements. In addition, the use of cement-stabilized earth for perimeter walls simplifies material management and disposal throughout the building's life cycle, and the cost-effectiveness of cement has been found to be substantially greater than that of reinforced concrete frames and brick structures, improving economic viability and social acceptability, especially among low-income communities in rural areas.

In this paper, a novel permanent magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance machine (PMASynRM) with rare-earth PMs and ferrite magnets is proposed. The performance of PMASynRM is discussed with respected to the different magnet ratio of rare-earth PMs and ferrite magnets. Some characteristics including the flux density, output torque, cogging torque, output power, power factor, torque ripple, loss, efficiency, and demagnetization are calculated by 2-D finite element analysis (FEA). The analysis results show that the excellent performance can be obtained by using hybrid magnet of rare-earth PMs and ferrite magnets with the suitable magnet ratio, and provide some desirable cost-performance trade-off.

The research fills the policy research gap for the women entrepreneurship and sustainability performance for examining key successful factors. Previous women entrepreneurship research fails to offer policy recommendations. The research purpose is to investigate these factors affect women entrepreneurship capabilities and sustainability performance by using SEM analysis and making policy recommendation. This research employs online and mail survey and obtains 175 women entrepreneur sample. The study finds that family support and motivation have positive effect on women entrepreneurship capabilities and sustainability performance. Barriers have no effect on performance. Hopefully, the research can provide the guidance to contribute to women’s entrepreneurship opportunities for achieving SDGs. Policy recommendation and managerial implication are discussed in the article.

The application of Virtual Reality in a driving simulation is not novel, yet little is known about the use of this technology by senior populations. The effects of age, sex, control device (joystick or handlebar), and task type on wayfinding proficiency using a virtual reality (VR) driving simulation were explored. The driving experimental model involved 96 randomly recruited participants, including 48 young people and 48 seniors (split evenly by gender in each group). The experimental results and statistical analyses indicate that in a VR driving scenario task type significantly affected VR driving performance. Navigational scores were significantly higher for the straight (easy) task than for the curved (difficult) task. The aging effect was the main reason for significant and interacting effects of sex and control device. It was found that interactions between age and sex difference indicated that the young group exhibited better wayfinding performance than the senior group, and in the young group males had better performance than females. Similarly, interactions between age and control device indicated that the handlebar control device type resulted in better performance than the joystick device in the young group, but no difference was found in the senior group due to age or learning effects. Findings provide an understanding of the evaluation of the interface designs of navigational support systems, taking into consideration any effects of age, sex, control device, and task type within three-dimensional VR games and driving systems. With a VR driving simulator, seniors can test drive inaccessible products, such as electric bicycles or cars, using a computer at home.

Background: Lung cancer is still the most lethal malignancy in the world from the report of Cancer Statistics in 2021. Platinum-based chemotherapy combined immunotherapy is the first-line treatment in lung cancer patients. However, the 5-year survival rate always affected by the adverse reaction and drug resistance caused by platinum-based chemotherapy. DNA damage and repair system is one of the important mechanisms which can affect the response to chemotherapy and clinical outcome in lung cancer patients. Objective: The objective of this study is to find the relationship between the polymorphisms of DNA repair genes with the prognosis in platinum-based chemotherapy in lung cancer patients. Patients and Methods: We performed genotyping in 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of Excision Repair Cross-Complementation group (ERCC) genes and X-ray Repair Cross-Complementing (XRCC) genes of 345 lung cancer patients by Sequenom MassARRAY. We used Cox proportional hazard models, state and plink to analyze the associations between SNPs and the prognosis of lung cancer patients. Results: We found that the ERCC5 rs873601 was associated with the overall survival time in lung cancer patients treat by platinum-based chemotherapy (p=0.031*). We also discovered that the polymorphisms in rs873601 was significantly associated with the prognosis in age more than 55 years, Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) and smoking patients, Long Intergenic Non-protein Coding RNA (PNKY) rs2444933 in age less than 55 years, SCLC, metastasis and stage III/IV/ED patients, Short Tau Inversion Recovery (STIR1) rs3740051 in SCLC and metastasis patients, PNKY rs1869641 in SCLC patients, XRCC5 rs1051685 in non-metastasis patients, respectively. Conclusion: The ERCC5 rs873601(G>A) maybe a valuable biomarker for predicting the prognosis in lung cancer patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Statements and Declarations: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

According to many research groups, high glucose induces over production of superoxide anions, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in general is the link between high glucose levels and the toxicities seen at cellular levels. Respiratory complex anomalies could lead to the production of ROS. Calcium [Ca2+], at physiological levels serves as a second messenger in many physiological functions. Accordingly, mitochondrial calcium [Ca2+]m overload leads to ROS production which could be lethal to the mitochondria through various mechanisms. The F1F0-ATPase (ATP syn-thase or complex V) is the enzyme that is responsible for catalyzing the final step of oxidative phosphorylation. It does so by coupling the translocation of protons in the mitochondrial in-termembrane space and shuttling them to the mitochondrial matrix for ATP synthesis to take place. Mitochondrial complex V T8993G mutation specifically blocks the translocation of protons across the intermembrane space thereby blocking ATP synthesis leading to Neuropathy, Ataxia and Retinitis Pigmentosa Syndromes (NARP). This study seeks to explore the possibility of [Ca2+]m overload mediating the pathological roles of high glucose in defective respiratory chain mediated mitochondrial stress. The NARP cybrids are the in vitro experimental models for the cells with F1FO-ATPase defects, these cells harbor 98% of mtDNA T8993G mutation. Their coun-terparts 143B osteosarcoma cell lines are the parental cell lines used for comparisons. We uncov-ered that, NARP cells mediated and enhanced the death of the cells (apoptosis) when incubated with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and high glucose respectively as depicted by the MTT assay of cell viability. Furthermore, using the fluorescence probe-coupled laser scanning confocal imag-ing microscopy, NARP cells significantly enabled mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) formation and enhanced the depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). Elucidating the mechanisms of sugar enhanced toxicity on mitochondria would help in the fu-ture to alleviate the symptoms of patients associated with (NARP) syndromes.

Since China’s economic reform launched in the late 1970s, rural industrial parks (RIPs) have played a crucial role in the rise of the manufacturing industry in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), transforming the former agricultural land into a location of world-famous factories. However, as China has put forward higher requirements for economic development and stricter control measures for environmental pollution, RIPs with low-end industries and low efficiency present an urgent need for renovation and upgrade. By analyzing the spatial and socioeconomic cross-sectional dataset of rural industrial parks in Nanhai District of Foshan City, this paper attempts to classify the existing industrial parks into groups and propose corresponding redevelopment strategies. The results of the spatial analysis show that the spatial distribution of rural industrial parks is closely related to their location and transportation conditions. Failure of the market has resulted in large tracts of advantageous land being taken up by inefficient industrial parks. Cluster analysis and overlay analysis are used evaluate the difficulty of redevelopment and divide the industrial parks into three clusters: retained RIPs, medium-term-removed RIPs, and near-term-removed RIPs. It is shown that some of the industrial parks are still in good form while the majority need substantial reconstruction. Taking economic and institutional factors into consideration, the authors put forward that different strategies should be adopted for the future renovation of medium-term-removed and near-term-removed RIPs.

Atmospheric stability affects wind turbine wakes significantly. High-fidelity approaches such as large eddy simulations (LES) with the actuator line (AL) model which predicts detailed wake structures, fail to be applied in wind farm engineering applications due to its expensive cost. In order to make wind farm simulations computationally affordable, this paper proposes a new actuator disk model (AD) based on the blade element method (BEM) and combined with Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS) to model turbine wakes under different atmospheric stability conditions. In the proposed model, the upstream reference velocity is firstly estimated from the disk averaged velocity based on the one-dimensional momentum theory, and then is used to evaluate the rotor speed to calculate blade element forces. Flow similarity functions based on field measurement are applied to limit wind shear under strongly stable conditions, and turbulence source terms are added to take the buoyant-driven effects into consideration. Results from the new AD model are compared with field measurements and results from the AD model based on the thrust coefficient, the BEM-AD model with classical similarity functions and a high-fidelity LES approach. The results show that the proposed method is better in simulating wakes under various atmospheric stability conditions than the other AD models and has a similar performance to the high-fidelity LES approach however in much lower computational cost.

Autophagy is a highly conserved self-degradation process involving the degradation and recycling of cellular components and organelles. Although the involvement of autophagy in metabolic changes during fruit ripening has been preliminarily demonstrated, the variations in autophagic flux and specific functional roles in fruit ripening remain to be elucidated. In this study, we analyzed the occurrence of autophagy during tomato fruit ripening. The results revealed differential expression of SlATG8 family member during tomato fruit ripening. Transmission electron microscopy observations and dansylcadaverine (MDC) staining confirmed the presence of autophagy at the cellular level in tomato fruits. Furthermore, the overexpression of SlATG8f induced the formation of autophagosomes, increased autophagic flux within tomato fruits, effectively enhanced the expression of ATG8 proteins during the color transition phase of fruit ripening, thereby promoting tomato fruit maturation. This overexpression also led to the accumulation of vitamin C (VC) and soluble solids while reducing acidity in the fruit. Collectively, our findings highlight the pivotal role of SlATG8f in enhancing tomato fruit ripening, providing insights into the mechanistic involvement of autophagy in this process. This research contributes to a better understanding of key factors regulating tomato fruit quality and offers a theoretical basis for tomato variety improvement.

Technology can be seen everywhere and has been integrated into our lives.We are always using technology and enjoying the convenience brought by technology. However, physical retailers and e-commerce companies are also gradually adopting advanced technologies. Technology improves the purchasing environment and purchasing experience. Virtual reality and augmented reality have been hotly discussed in recent years. Technology, although virtual reality and augmented reality technology have not yet matured, it can be said that they will in the future It has great development potential. Virtual reality and augmented reality are also beginning to sprout in the retail industry. However, research on the acceptance of the use of virtual reality and augmented reality in the apparel shopping process is still lacking because This study explores how usefulness, ease of use, hedonicity, customer experience, customer engagement and satisfaction. To influence customer loyalty, this study adopted questionnaire survey and convenience sampling methods, and collected a total of 308 valid questionnaires. The analysis method used confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model to verify the research hypothesis relationship. The results of this study found. Hedonic has a significant impact on customer loyalty, while usefulness, ease of use, customer experience, customer engagement and satisfaction Satisfaction does not have a significant impact on customer loyalty. This study explains the academic contribution of the research results. The practical implications in marketing are put forward, and specific suggestions and directions for future research are given.

To facilitate the promotion and application of the whole process engineering consulting (WPEC) model, the transmission mechanism of influencing factors in WPEC's promotion and application is investigated. It identifies and categorizes the influencing factors within the framework of "external environment-project factors-stakeholders", systematically organizing and summarizing ten primary categories and thirty-eight secondary influencing factors of WPEC's promotion and ap-plication. Utilizing the complex network analysis method, a network of influencing factors in the promotion and application of WPEC is constructed. The network is then converted into three binary networks based on weight, which are subjected to structural analysis and motif analysis. On this basis, the transmission mechanism of influencing factors in WPEC's promotion and applica-tion and its causations are explored.

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been identified as one of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Due to its massive production (over 700,000 tons per year) and the extensive use of BPA-based plastics (i.e., polycarbonate and epoxy resin) in Taiwan, it was thus included into a toxic substance by the Ministry of Environment. This work surveyed the updated information about the production of BPA and its environmental distributions in Taiwan over the past decade. Furthermore, the regulatory strategies and countermeasures for managing the environmental risks of BPA by the Taiwan government were summarized to show the cross-ministerial efforts under the relevant acts, including the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act (TCCSCA), the Food Sanitation Management Act (FSMA) and the Commodity Inspection Act (CIA). The findings showed that most of the monitoring data showed far below the acceptable risks. However, the people may pose an adverse threat to the aquatic environment and human health via ecological and food chains. In addition, some countermeasures were further recommended to echo the international actions on environmental endocrine disruptors in recent years.

Rapid and accurate detection of road cracks is of great significance for road health monitoring, but currently this work is mainly completed through manual site surveys. Low-altitude UAV remote sensing can obtain images with centimeter or even subcentimeter ground resolution, which provides a new efficient and economical approach for rapid crack detection. Nevertheless, crack detection networks face challenges such as edge blurring and misidentification due to the heterogeneity of road cracks and the complexity of the background. To address these issues, we propose a real-time edge reconstruction crack detection network (ERNet) which adopts multi-level information aggregation to reconstruct crack edges and improve the accuracy of segmentation between the target and background. To capture global dependencies across spatial and channel levels, we propose an efficient bilateral decomposed convolutional attention module (BDAM) that combines depth separable convolution and dilated convolution to capture global dependencies across spatial and channel levels. To enhance the accuracy of crack detection, we use a coordinate-based fusion module that integrates spatial, semantic, and edge reconstruction information. In addition, we propose an automatic measurement of crack information for extracting the crack trunk and its corresponding length and width. Experimental results demonstrate that our network achieves the best balance between accuracy and inference speed.

CdZnTe (CZT) is a new type of compound semiconductor that has emerged in recent years. Compared to other semiconductor materials, it possesses an ideal bandgap, high density, and high electron mobility, rendering it an excellent room-temperature composite semiconductor material for X-ray and γ-ray detectors. Due to the exceptional performance of CZT material, detectors manufactured using it exhibit high energy resolution, spatial resolution, and detection efficiency. They also have the advantage of operating at room temperature. CZT array detectors, furthermore, demonstrate outstanding spatial detection and three-dimensional imaging capabilities. Researchers worldwide have conducted extensive studies on this subject. This paper, building upon this foundation, provides a comprehensive analysis of CZT crystals and CZT array detectors, summarizes existing research to offer valuable insights for envisioning new detector methodologies.

With the COVID-19 pandemic now ongoing for close to a year, people all over the world are still waiting for a vaccine to become available. The initial focus of accelerated global research and development efforts to bring a vaccine to market as soon as possible was on novel platform technologies that promised speed but had limited history in the clinic. In contrast, recombinant protein vaccines, with numerous examples in the clinic for many years, missed out on the early wave of investments from government and industry. Emerging data are now surfacing suggesting that recombinant protein vaccines indeed might offer an advantage or complement to the nucleic acid or viral vector vaccines that will likely reach the clinic faster. Here, we summarize the current public information on the nature and on the development status of recombinant subunit antigens and adjuvants targeting SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Determining the general-name-derived semantic relationships between geographic names often requires consulting many geographic name documents for verification. In geographic name translation and geographic name knowledge graphs, this method cannot meet the needs of large-scale extraction of general-name-derived semantic relationships between geographic entities. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a general-name derivation relation recognition method based on Prompt learning and Semantic Spatiotemporal Distribution Attention Feature Fusion (SSD-AFF). This method adopts a pipe-based relationship recognition strategy. First, the Prompt learning method is adopted to form a general-name derivation pattern with the general-name-derived geographical name category and the original geographical name category as the prompt word, and then the derivation pattern is combined with the geographical name as the input of the model so that the recognition problem of the general-name derivation of the geographical name can be transformed into a classification problem using the bidirectional language model. Then, by analyzing the characteristics of the semantic association and geographical spatio-temporal distribution between the general-name-derived geographical name and the original geographical name, the semantic spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of the general-name-derived geographical name are constructed. Finally, the network model based on the semantic spatio-temporal distribution Attention Feature Fusion (SSD-AFF) is used to distinguish the general-name-derived semantic relationships. The experimental results show that the proposed method has good performance. It can effectively mine the general-name-derived semantic relations between the vector data of geographical entities and has important application value in geographical name translation and geographical name knowledge maps.

Short video addiction refers to a psychological dependency on short video applications, characterized by an intense attachment and an inability to control usage, leading to typical addiction symptoms. While its definition bears similarities to substance addiction, significant differences also exist. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), published in 2013, short video addiction has not yet been officially classified as an addiction disorder. To facilitate more in-depth and standardized research on short video addiction, it is essential to synthesize and organize existing studies on its theoretical foundations and mechanisms.

Practical applications of CsPbX3 nanocrystals (NCs) are limited by their poor stability. The formation of heterojunction between CsPbX3 NCs and oxides is an effective means to protect perovskite from polar solvents and other external factors. Significantly improving the stability and photocatalytic properties of the core/shell perovskite is very important for its application in photoelectric and photocatalytic technology. Here, we report the synthesis of asymmetrical CsPbBr3/TiO2 core-shell heterostructure NCs at single particle level by hot injection liquid phase synthesis and sol-gel method, where each CsPbBr3 NCs is partially covered by titanium dioxide. It is shown that the type II arrangement is generated at the heterogeneous interface, which greatly facilitates the separation of electron-hole pairs and increases the carrier transport efficiency. More crucial, due to the protection of titanium dioxide shell, the product has higher long-term stability in humid air compared with bare CsPbBr3 NCs. The asymmetrical core-shell heterostructure prepared in this study not only improves the stability of CsPbX3 NCs, but also provides some ideas for optoelectronic device applications and TiO2-based photocatalysts.

This study uses a mass-spring-damping system to simulate the repeated strain of liquefaction cyclic triaxial tests. The two results are compared in this paper to understand the feasibility of the mass-spring-damping system developed in this paper and the feasibility of future research on this related topic and development potential. The main factors affecting this mode's repeated strain are the spring coefficient k and the external force Q0. The spring coefficient has an inverse relationship but does not increase in multiples. The external force has a direct proportional relationship but does not increase the result- a non-multiple increase. When the pore water pressure of the liquefied cyclic triaxial test specimen rises, it will cause the specimen to liquefy, decreasing effective stress, shear modulus G, and damping ratio D, causing an increase in strain. The shear modulus and damping ratio are related to the spring coefficients k and c. Both are variables that change with time. This article takes an original thin-tube specimen at point A in the Yunlin area in Taiwan as a testing example. Through Mathematica software, it can be obtained that the mass m=1kg, the spring coefficient k=244e-0.1t kgf/cm, and the damping coefficient c=0.739e-0.257t kgf-s/cm and external force Q0=10.1sin2πt kg; Finally, this study selected the original thin-tube specimens from four locations in the Yunlin area, and simulated the repeated strain amount of the cyclic triaxial test specimens through a spring-damping system. The results show that the spring-damping system is feasible for simulated cyclic triaxial tests because the model is simple and the parameters are easy to understand and obtain, which also shows the extensibility of this model. Preliminary results of the research show that this model can further simulate the repeated strain obtained by cyclic triaxial tests without considering the increased trend in pore water pressure and the decrease in effective stress during cyclic loading.

Researches on the runoff and sediment reduction effects of soil and water conservation measures are being on the rise, which is of great significance for carrying out strategic on soil and water conservation in the Yellow River Basin. Through the analysis of various soil and water conserva-tion measures, runoff, sediment, and rainfall datas in the Sanchuan River Basin from 1960 to 2019, we use the lagrange multiplier method to determining the threshold year of soil and water con-servation measures on runoff and sediment processes. The preliminary conclusion is as follows: The trend of flood season rainfall and annual rainfall in the Sanchuan River Basin is consistent. The 10-year average rainfall in each periods indicates that before 2000, it gradually decreased and then significantly increased. The 10-year average runoff showed a gradual decrease before 2010, followed by a sudden increase, while the 10-year average sediment has shown a decreasing trend years by years, especially after the centralized treatment period. Terrace and dam measures show a trend of first decreasing, then increasing, and then approaching stability during different treat-ment periods, while the trend of forest and grass measures is slightly decreasing and then in-creasing rapidly. The runoff and sediment reduction effects of various soil and water conservation measures during different treatment periods indicate that the runoff reduction effect reached its peak in 2005, while the sediment reduction benefit reached its best in 2015. Based on the compre-hensive benefits of runoff and sediment regulation, 2015 are considered as the threshold year for various soil and water conservation measures, with each measure areas being 4.86 × 104, 17.91 × 104, 1.20 × 104, and 0.83 × 104hm2, respectively. The research results will have certain reference significance for the high-quality development of soil and water conservation in the Yellow River Basin.

A SARS-CoV receptor-binding domain (RBD) recombinant protein was developed and manufactured under current good manufacturing practices in 2016. The protein known as RBD219-N1 when formulated on Alhydrogel®, induced high-level neutralizing antibodies and protective immunity with minimal immunopathology in mice after a homologous virus challenge with SARS-CoV (MA15 strain). In this report, we examined published evidence in support of whether the SARS-CoV RBD219-N1 could be repurposed as a heterologous vaccine against Coronavirus Infectious Disease (COVID)-19. Our findings include evidence that convalescent serum from SARS-CoV patients can neutralize SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, a review of published studies using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) raised against SARS-CoV RBD and that neutralize the SARS-CoV virus in vitro, finds that some of these mAbs bind to the receptor-binding motif (RBM) within the RBD, while others bind to domains outside this region within RBD. This information is relevant and supports the possibility of developing a heterologous SARS-CoV RBD vaccine against COVID-19, especially due to the finding that the overall high amino acid similarity (82%) between SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 spike and RBD domains is not reflected in RBM region (59%). However, the high similarity (94%) in the region outside of RBM offers the potential of conserved neutralizing epitopes between both viruses.

The electronic structural evolution of LLM-105 crystal and the (101) plane of LLM-105 crystal under different pressures is investigated by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations and the surface properties of seven low-Miller-index planes of LLM-105 crystal were investigated in this study. The result demonstrates that the surface energy of (101) plane of LLM-105 is much smaller when compared with other low-Miller-index planes of LLM-105.In order to further investigate the stability of crystal structure and (101) plane of LLM-105 under different pressures, a series of pressures ranged from 0 GPa to 55 GPa were applied during the DFT calculation, and the result shows that the electronic structures of LLM-105 crystal and the (101) plane changed with the increase of external pressure and the evolution process of (101) plane is different from that of LLM-105 crystal structure.

Edvard Munch, a founder of Expressionism was pre-occupied with depicting his subjective experience and the most prolific painter of self-portraits since Rembrandt. Based on evidence that faces and self-related images are more salient than other objects it is plausible that self-portraits, in which the subject and object are the same, reflect the artist’s state of mind. Although he suffered from a variety of physical and psychological illness Munch was not diagnosed with any specificity in his lifetime. Posthumous diagnoses include schizophrenia, anxiety, bipolar and other disorders. Recent research has revealed altered visual perception in such patients. The present study empirically analysed three stylistic elements of Munch’s painted self-portraits and portraits: contrast, colour and fractal dimension and his painted productivity, to determine if variations correlate with critical life events and if so whether they indicate states of mind. It found significant increases in contrast and colour brightness and persistent high complexity during critical periods supporting the conclusion that Munch is diagnostically best described as suffering from early onset schizophrenia and comorbid social anxiety disorder.

Many have speculated that events of personal and financial loss in Rembrandt’s life caused depression and that this is revealed by examination of his self-portraits particularly those painted in old age. Some report detecting various physiological diseases associated with aging, including vision impairment, which may have affected his mood and work. Aging and neurodegenerative disease which often accompanies it, are both associated with depression. Recent advances in imaging and computer technology make it possible to empirically examine changes in artistic style which can contribute to understanding artists’ physical and mental health. In the current study changes in contrast, colour and fractal dimension were measured in the entire corpus of Rembrandt’s painted self-portraits and portraits to determine whether changes in style indicate depression or disease. Productivity was also examined as an indirect indicator. Given the high salience attributed to self-images, it also examined whether differences in style could be detected between self-portraits and portraits of related and unrelated others. The results indicate that it is unlikely that Rembrandt suffered from unipolar or bipolar depression, age-related cognitive decline, or neurodegenerative disease. The data are consistent with someone experiencing episodes of low mood consistent with normal grieving and adversity followed by resilient recovery. There is evidence of a gradient in saliency and complexity between self-portraits and related and unrelated portraits, of a less formal style in portraits of related others and of a ‘late’ style identified by leading art historians consistent with macular degeneration. The results are also consistent with an association of aesthetic preference with mid-level fractal values tending towards the Golden Mean long associated with beauty in nature and in art.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is an etiological agent of hand foot and mouth disease and can also cause neurological complications in young children. However, there are no approved drugs to treat EV71 infections. In this study, we conducted an antiviral drug screening by using a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug library. We identified five drugs that showed dose-dependent inhibition of viral replication. Sertraline was further characterized because it exhibited the most potent antiviral activity with the highest selectivity index among the five hits. The antiviral activity of sertraline was noted for other EV serotypes. The drug’s antiviral effect is not likely associated with its approved indications as an antidepressant and its mode-of-action as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. The time-of-addition assay revealed that sertraline inhibited an EV71 infection at the entry stage. We also showed that sertraline partitioned into acidic compartments, such as endolysosomes, to neutralize the low pH levels. In agreement with the findings, the antiviral effect of sertraline could be relieved greatly by exposing virus-infected cells to extracellular low-pH culture media. Together, we have identified an FDA-approved antidepressant with the new indication for the broad-spectrum EV inhibition by blocking viral entry through the alkalization of the endolysosomal route.

In recent years, the rapid development of computer-aided planning and design technology has provided a new perspective for the study of complex problems such as the generation of architectural complex forms. This study focuses on how to apply parameterization technology to analyze and articulate traditional spatial form composition rules, aiming to minimize reliance on subjective human judgment in the protection and renewal design of the historical style of traditional villages. It aims to establish digital generative design tools to address the challenges of accurately inheriting and innovatively utilizing historical and cultural information in traditional settlements. It introduces how to rely on parameterization technology to analyze the spatial form composition rules, parameter extraction rules, and spatial reconstruction rules of traditional villages, facilitating the complete process from spatial features to parameterization rules, and then to the application of computational methods to deduce spatial features. It also includes case studies demonstrating the application of parameterization technology tools for village protection and explores the role of generative design tools in preserving the spatial style of these settlements.

Keywords: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, baculovirus surface display vectors, neutralizing antibody, IFN-γ, IL-4.

3D Zernike moments based on 3D Zernike polynomials have been successfully applied to the field of voxelized 3D shape retrieval and have attracted more attention in biomedical image processing. As the order of 3D Zernike moments increases, both computational efficiency and numerical accuracy decrease. Due to this phenomenon, a more efficient and stable method for computing high-order 3D Zernike moments was proposed in this study. The proposed recursive formula for computing 3D Zernike radial polynomials combines the recursive calculation of spherical harmonics to develop a voxel-based algorithm for the calculation of 3D Zernike moments. The algorithm was applied to the 3D shape Michelangelo's David with a size of 150×150×150 voxels. As compared to the method without additional acceleration, the proposed method uses a group action of order sixteen orthogonal group and saving unnecessary iterations, the factor of speed-up is 56.783±3.999 when the order of Zernike moments is between 10 and 450. The proposed method also obtained an accurate reconstructed shape with the error rate (normalized mean square error) of 0.00 (4.17×10^-3) when the reconstruction was computed for all moments up to order 450.

The task of weakly supervised point cloud semantic segmentation has received widespread attention and also has been widely used in autonomous driving, robotics, and modern industries. Due to the high dimensionality and large volume of point cloud data, many technical difficulties appeal to weakly supervised semantic processing, especially segmentation. However, weakly-supervised schemes usually provide only partial labelling information of the underlying point cloud data and thus need to effectively extract local features, geometric information, and contextual relationships only using these limited labelled data for supervised learning. To improve weakly-supervised semantic segmentation, we propose a novel segmentation network through the boundary-based feature aggregation based on a K-NN algorithm with down-sampling operation, and also introduce the smoothness loss and Siamese loss for effective segmentation. The experiments on public datasets demonstrate that our presented segmentation method exceeds most of the existing fully supervised and weakly-supervised methods in terms of mIoU. Specifically, our network has high segmentation accuracy on the labels of objects with similar geometrical structures, such as ceiling, wall, floor, chair and table, reaching 91.2%, 98.8%, 83.3%, 75.3% and 80.2%, respectively. Extensive experiments also illustrate its robustness, effectiveness, and generalization of the proposed weakly supervised segmentation network.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) monolayers exhibit unique valleytronics properties due to the dependency of the coupled valley and spin state at the hexagonal corner of the first Brillouin zone. Precisely controlling valley spin-polarization via manipulating the electron population enables its application in valley-based memory or quantum technologies. This study uncovered the uncompensated spins of the antiferromagnetic oxide (NiO) serving as the ferromagnetic (FM) order to induce valley spin-polarization in molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) monolayers via the magnetic proximity effect (MPE). A spin-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy (SR-PL) was employed to observe MoS₂, where the spin-polarized trions appear to be responsible for the MPE, leading to a valley magnetism. Results indicate that local FM order from the uncompensated surface of NiO could successfully induce significant valley spin-polarization in MoS₂ with the depolarization temperature approximately at 100 K, which is relatively high compared to related literature. This study reveals new perspectives and potential of AFM materials in the field of exchange-coupled van der Waals heterostructures.

In this paper, the performance of Cu-(In,Ga)-S2 (CIGS2) solar cells with adjusting composite CGI-ratio absorber is explored and compared through an improved three-stage co-evaporation technique. For co-evaporating CIGS2 absorber as a less toxic alternative to Cd-containing film, we analyse the effect of the CGI-ratio stoichiometry and crystallinity, and explore its opto-electric sensing characteristic of individual solar cell. The results of this research signify the potential of high-performance CIGS2-absorption solar cells for photovoltaic (PV)-module industrial applications. For the optimal CIGS2-absorption film (CGI=0.95), the Raman main-phase signal (A1) falls at 291 cm-1, which is excited by the 532-nm line of Ar+-laser. Using photo-luminescence (PL) spectroscopy, the corresponding main-peak bandgaps measured is 1.59 eV at the same CGI-ratio film. Meanwhile, the best conversion efficiency (=3.212%) and the average external quantum efficiency (EQE=51.1% in the visible-wavelength region) of photo-electric properties were achieved for the developed CIGS2-solar cells (CGI=0.95). The discoveries of this CIGS2-absorption PV research provide a new scientific understanding of solar cells. Moreover, this research undeniably contributes to a major advancement towards practical PV-module applications and can help more to build an eco-friendly community.

In most countries, the incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is no more than 1 per 100,000 for both men and women; however, it is much higher for men and women in Taiwan. The use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment of NPC and its treatment-related side effects has been increasing. The National Health Insurance (NHI) covers 99.6% of Taiwan’s residents. In the present population-based cohort study, we aimed to investigate the pattern of utilization of Chinese herbal products (CHPs) for NPC from 2001 through 2011 in Taiwan. We identified a total of 30294 patients with newly diagnosed NPC from the Registry for Catastrophic Illnesses Patient Database (RCIPD). Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis were employed to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for CHP utilization. From 2001 through 2011, 17816 patients aged ≥20 years were newly diagnosed with NPC. Of these, 4749 patients used TCM outpatient services for NPC treatment. TCM users were more likely to be women, young, residents of Central Taiwan, and white-collar workers. The most commonly prescribed formula CHP was Gan-Lu-Yin, followed by Xin-Yi-Qing Fei-Tang and Shan-Shen-Mai-Men-Dong-Tang. The most commonly prescribed single CHP was Hedyotis diffusa, followed by Radix Scrophulariae and Radix Ophiopogonis. These findings provide information regarding personalized therapies for NPC and can promote further clinical experiments and pharmacological research on CHPs for NPC treatment in Taiwan. Further well-designed randomized controlled studies and basic mechanistic studies should assess the safety and effectiveness of CHPs for NPC treatment.

In the context of rapid urbanization, the spatiotemporal patterns of socio-economic exposed to high seismic hazard in large cities lacks quantitative assessment, thus, it is difficult to understand the evolution of earthquake catastrophe risk there. In this paper, exposure change rate, and absolute and relatively exposure indices were proposed to quantitatively study the changes of spatiotemporal exposure to high seismic hazard in urban areas of large cities (i.e., permanent residents in urban areas more than 1 million) in Chinese mainland, using a set of multi-temporal population, GDP, and built-up datasets and a seismic hazard zoning map. The results show that, 64 out of 78 large cities are entirely or partially located in high seismically hazardous zones. Although the urban areas of large cities in high seismically hazardous zones (HSHUAs) cover only 1.73% (167177 km²) of mainland China, their share of population, GDP, and built-up land amounted to 18.14%, 30.24% and 24.55%, respectively, in 2015. Unprecedented urbanization has led to a dramatic exposure growth in HSHUAs between 1990 and 2015. The population, GDP, and built-up land in HSHUAs increased by 110 million people (with an average annual growth rate of 2.37%), 273.71 trillion USD(average annual growth rate of 11.15%), and 10593 km2 (average annual growth rate of 2.02%), respectively. HSHUAs experienced much faster population and GDP growth than the whole country, while relatively slower growth in built-up land. Exposure growth in HSHUAs also was varied for different types of large cities. Megacities had a higher proportion of increased GDP and population in HSHUAs, induced by industry and population agglomeration. Whereas, Type II large cities had a higher proportion of increased built-up land in HSHUAs, driven mainly by urban sprawl. Our analysis indicates that, for large cities under rapid urbanization, it is an urgent need to strengthen resilient urban planning, renewal and construction.

The need for cross-modal retrieval (CMR) among users is growing because of the swift advancements in computer vision and natural language processing. Promoting home operating systems is greatly aided by the openKylin home operating system. It is focused on enhancing the functionality of the operating system with safe and dependable operating technologies. Practical implications abound for integrating computer vision research into home operating systems. A multimodal retrieval approach based on openKylin is presented to improve the usability of text search graphs, audio, and video. The overview of pertinent domestic and international research is the main topic of this article. This technological advancement. It then offers details on the design, implementation procedure, and final implementation outcomes for demonstration. The works of natural operations show that this strategy has excellent accuracy and performance.

Microbiota-based strategies are a novel auxiliary therapeutic and preventative way of moderating chronic kidney disease. Lactobacillus mixture (Lm) was previously demonstrated to exert a renal-protective function in the CKD mice model. The efficacy of probiotics in pet foods is a relatively new area of study, and thus verifying the potential health benefits is necessary. This study evaluated the efficacy of Lm treats in feline CKD and elucidated the mechanisms underlying host-microbe interactions. CKD cats (2 and 3 stages) were administrated probiotic pet treats daily (10 g) for 8 weeks. The results demonstrated that during the eight weeks of Lm administration, creatinine was reduced or maintained in all cats with CKD. Similarly, gut-derived uremic toxins (GDUT), IS, and TMAO were significantly downregulated in the serum (confidence intervals = 90%). The life quality of the cats also improved. Feline gut microbiome data, KEGG pathway, and renal function indicator analyses revealed the possible mechanisms involved in modulating CKD feline microbial composition. Further regulation of the microbial functions in amino acid metabolism after Lm administration contributed to downregulating deleterious IS, PCS, and TMAO. The current study provides potential adjuvant therapeutic insights into probiotic pet foods or treats for pets with CKD.

This paper examines certain implications from the literature on Tiebout’s model of local gov-ernment service provision, particularly Hamilton’s extension of the model to include local control of land use and property taxation. Our empirical analysis focuses on the use of fiscal zoning to lower property tax rates, a topic that has not been addressed in the extensive Tiebout literature. Using data for over 100 municipalities in the Miami, Florida, metropolitan area, we specify property tax rates as a function of fiscal zoning measures, other municipal characteristics, and tax mimicking. We conclude that single-family zoning is by far the most important variable ex-plaining municipal property tax rates.