The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) causes novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP). Given that approved drug repurposing becomes a common strategy to quickly find antiviral treatments, a collection of FDA-approved drugs can be powerful resources for new anti-NCP indication discoveries. In addition to synthetic compounds, Chinese Patent Drugs (CPD), also play a key role in the treatment of virus related infections diseases in China. Here we compiled major components from 38 CPDs that are commonly used in the respiratory diseases and docked them against two drug targets, ACE2 receptor and viral main protease. According to our docking screening, 10 antiviral components, including hesperidin, saikosaponin A, rutin, corosolic acid, verbascoside, baicalin, glycyrrhizin, mulberroside A, cynaroside, and bilirubin, can directly bind to both host cell target ACE2 receptor and viral target main protease. In combination of the docking results, the natural abundance of the substances, and botanical knowledge, we proposed that artemisinin, rutin, glycyrrhizin, cholic acid, hyodeoxycholic acid, puerarin, oleanic acid, andrographolide, matrine, codeine, morphine, chlorogenic acid, and baicalin (or Yinhuang Injection containing chlorogenic acid and baicalin) might be of value for clinical trials during a 2019-nCov outbreak.

This paper presents an efficient topology optimization approach considering fail-safe requirements in the framework of the solid isotropic material with penalization method. Existing methods either are computationally extremely expensive or do not consider fail-safe requirements in the optimization. The current approach not only obtains the fail-safe optimization structure, but also significantly improves the computational efficiency of fail-safe topology optimization. In this method, the worst-case compliance is considered to minimize as the optimization objective, using the Kreisselmeier–Steinhauser function to approximate the non-differentiable max-operator. The sensitivity is derived by the adjoint method, and a general fail-safe optimality criteria method is developed to update design variables. The damage scenarios greatly reduces in the process of failsafe strategy optimization by employing the density-based filter method. Finally, the effectiveness and computational efficiency of this method for fail-safe optimization is verified by several numerical examples.

For planetary gear has the characteristics of small volume, light weight and large transmission ratio, it is widely used in high speed and high power mechanical system. Poor working conditions result in frequent failures of planetary gear. A method is proposed for diagnosing faults in planetary gear based on permutation entropy of Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise (CEEMDAN) Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) in this paper. The original signal is decomposed into 6 intrinsic mode functions (IMF) and residual components by CEEMDAN. Since the IMF contains the main characteristic information of planetary gear faults, time complexity of IMFs are reflected by permutation entropies to quantify the fault features. The permutation entropies of each IMF component are defined as the input of ANFIS, and its parameters and membership functions are adaptively adjusted according to training samples. Finally, the fuzzy inference rules are determined, and the optimal ANFIS is obtained. The overall recognition rate of the test sample used for ANFIS is 90.75%, and the recognition rate of gear with one missing tooth is relatively high. The recognition rates of different fault gears based on the method can also achieve better results. Therefore, the proposed method can be applied to planetary gear fault diagnosis effectively.

In Qinglong ore field, paleo-oil reservoir is found to be associated with antimony deposits, and they have close genetic relationship. In this study, aromatics geochemistry of paleo-oil reservoir bitumen was studied to further discuss the thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) reaction and the mechanism of antimony mineralization. A total of 124 aromatic compounds were identified by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis in bitumen samples, including abundant phenanthrene series, dibenzothiophene series, fluoranthene series, chrysene series, and a small number of fluorene series, naphthalene series, dibenzofuran series, biphenyl series, triaromatic steroid series. Aromatic parameters such as trimethylnaphthalene index (TMNr), methylphenanthrene index (MPI), methylphenanthrene distribution fraction (MPDF, F1 and F2), methyldibenzothiophene parameter (MDR), C28TAS-20S/(20R+20S), and benzofluoranthene/benzo[e]pyrene indicate Qinglong paleo-oil reservoir is in over maturity level. The abundance of phenanthrene and chrysene aromatic compounds and a small amount of naphthalene series, benzofluoranthene, fluoranthene, pyrene, anthracene, retene, perylene and biphenyl suggest that the parent material of the paleo-oil reservoir was mainly low aquatic organisms, mixed with a small amount of higher plant. The detected a certain number of compounds, such as retene, triaromatic steroid series and perylene, the ternary diagram of DBF–DBT–F and binary plot of Pr/Ph–DBT/P, DBT/(F+DBT)–DBF/(F+DBF) and Pr/Ph–DBT/DBF reveal that the source rock of the paleo-oil reservoir was formed in the marine environment of weak oxidation and weak reduction. The comprehensive analysis shows that the Qinglong paleo-oil reservoir originated from Devonian source rocks, just like other paleo-oil reservoirs and natural gas reservoirs in the Nanpanjiang basin. Abundant dibenzothiophene series were detected, indicating that the paleo-oil reservoir underwent a certain degree of TSR reaction. We believe that the paleo-gas reservoir formed by the evolution of paleo-oil reservoir participated in antimony mineralization, that is, hydrocarbon organic matter acted as reducing agent and transformed SO42− in oilfield brine into H2S through TSR, providing reduced sulfur and creating environmental conditions for mineralization.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) derived from organic fertilizers may increase soil phosphorus (P) availability. However, the frequently observed correlation between soil P availability and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content has led to an excessive focus on DOC content at the expense of DOM properties. The present study investigated the influence of DOM characteristics on soil P availability by using a 6-year field experiment and microcosms of P sorption in paddy soil. Our results showed that partial replacement of chemical P fertilizer with manure or crop straw increased P fertilizer-use efficiency, even when decreasing chemical P input by 34 %, compared to normal chemical fertilization. The microcosm experiment demonstrated that DOM properties, rather than total DOC content, determine soil P sorption capacity, despite the significant correlation between DOC content and P availability observed in the field experiment. Manure-DOM exerted stronger inhibitory effects on P sorption than straw-DOM, and high molecular weight (HMW)-fractionated DOM exerted stronger inhibitory effects on P sorption than low-molecular-weight-fractionated DOM by 16-20%. The mechanism was rooted in the HMW DOM with unique characteristics (e.g., strong aromaticity, hydrophobicity, abundant humic-like components, carboxyl groups, and benzene ring structures) competing for soil P sorption sites (e.g., reduction in specific surface area and micropore volume), decreasing the soil surface charge (e.g., zeta potential), and thereby suppressing P sorption in paddy soil. Our study points out a promising avenue for regulating organic matter properties with organic fertilization to improve P use efficiency in agricultural soils.

NiFe alloy nanoparticles/graphene oxide hybrid (NiFe/GO) was prepared for electrochemical glucose sensing. The as-prepared NiFe/GO hybrid was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicated that NiFe alloy nanoparticles can be successfully deposited on GO. The electrochemical glucose sensing performance of the as-prepared NiFe/GO was studied by cyclic voltammetry and amperometric measurement. Results showed that NiFe/GO modified glassy carbon electrode had sensitivity of 173 μA mM⁻¹cm⁻² for glucose sensing with a linear range up to 5 mM, which was superior to commonly used Ni nanoparticles. Furthermore, high selectivity for glucose detection can be achieved by NiFe/GO. All the results demonstrated that NiFe/GO hybrid was promising for using in electrochemical glucose sensing.

The layout of deep chamber for coal-gangue separation (DCCS) based on the horizon of the weak stratum can affect the stability of its surrounding rocks. First, the work summarized the main structural characteristics of DCCS. Similar simulation tests were performed to analyze the deformation and failure law of surrounding rocks of DCCS under different horizons of the weak stratum. Then, 60 numerical simulation schemes were designed by considering the lateral pressure coefficient and the thickness and horizon of the weak stratum. A comprehensive evaluation method was proposed for the stability of surrounding rocks. The optimal layout methods of the DCCS were determined based on the thickness and horizon of the weak stratum in different ground stress fields. If the thickness of the weak stratum was large and lateral pressure coefficient λ < 0.6 or λ > 1, the stability of surrounding rocks was optimal to arrange the side of DCCS along the weak stratum. When 0.6 ≤ λ ≤ 1, the optimal approach for controlling surrounding rocks was to position the floor of DCCS along the weak stratum. If the thickness of the weak stratum was small and λ<0.6 or λ>1, the stability of surrounding rocks was optimal to arrange the side of DCCS near roof along the weak stratum. When 0.6 ≤ λ ≤ 1, the optimal approach for controlling surrounding rocks was to arrange the side of DCCS near the floor along the weak stratum. The results can provide an important theoretical reference for the spatial layout and support design of DCCS.

Although the Slicing Method (SM) is effective for calculating the volume of point cloud objects (PCOs), it is restricted in terms of applicability and practicability because of a certain contingency and directional defects. The Co-Opposite-Direction Slicing Method (CODSM) proposed in this paper is an improved method for calculating PCO volume by increasing parallel (co-opposite-direction) observation and considering the two-way mean as the result. This method takes full advantage of the mutual offsetting of random errors and the compensation of systematic directional errors, which can effectively overcome (or mitigate) the effect of random errors and reduce the effect of systematic errors in SM. In this paper, two typical objects, a cone model and a stone lion base, are the examples for calculating PCO volume using CODSM. The results show that CODSM has all the inherent advantages of SM and effectively weakens the volatility of random errors and the directionality of systematic errors from SM. Therefore, CODSM is a robust configuration upgrade of SM.

Plant endophytic fungi and rhizosphere soil fungi are often reported as biocontrol agents against plant pathogens or with plant growth promotion potential. Four treatments were performed in field and greenhouse experiments where cucumber plants were inoculated with Trichoderma harzianum and Fusarium oxysporum in 2022. The roots, stems and leaves of cucumber plants and their rhizosphere soil were collected twice individually from the field and greenhouse for isolation of cucumber endophytic and rhizosphere soil fungi. All 74 genera and 1275 fungal strains were sequenced by rDNA ITS. The PDA media yielded the highest number of genera isolated from cucumber plants, rhizosphere soil and both compared to other media. There were no significant differences among the 4 media for the isolation of cucumber endophytic fungi. The best media for isolating fungi from roots and stems were MRBA and PDA, respectively. PDA and CZA had higher isolation efficiency for the rhizosphere soil fungi than MRBA. The 28 fungal genera had high isolation efficiency, and the endophytic Trichoderma strains were best isolated by MEA. It is suggested that PDA can be used as a basic medium, and different media can be considered for specific fungal genera.

Aluminum wire is a common material for wire bonding due to its resistance to oxidation and low price. It does not melt when becoming a free air ball (FAB) during the electronic flame-off (EFO) process with wettability, and is applied by wedge bonding. This study used 20μm Zn-Coated Al-0.5wt.%Si (ZAS) wires to improve the FAB shape after the EFO process, while maintaining stability of the mechanical properties, including the interface bonding strength and hardness. In order to test circuit stability after ball bonding, the current-tensile test was performed. During the experiment, it was found that 80nm ZAS with wire bonding has lower resistance and higher fusing current. For the bias tensile test, the thicker Zn film diffused into the Al-Si matrix easily, after which the strength was reduced. The ball-bond interfaces had no change in their condition before and after the bias. Accordingly, ZAS could be a promising candidate for ball bonding in the future.

In the permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive system, the unwilling and ear-piercing vibro-acoustics caused by high-frequency sideband harmonics becomes unacceptable in the electric vehicle application. In this paper, a modified space vector pulse-width modulation (SVPWM) technique implemented with hybrid carrier frequency modulation (HCFM) is provided to reduce the sideband current harmonic components and vibro-acoustic responses. The principle and implementation of the proposed HCFM technique are firstly presented, in which the fixed carrier frequency is improved with the sawtooth and random signal-based coupling modulation based on the rotor position. For verification, the experiment tests are carried out on a prototype 12/10 PMSM and microcontroller unit. The effectiveness of the HCFM technique can hence be confirmed, in which the sideband vibro-acoustics reduction shows more effectively than that in conventional random PWM. The proposed approach may provide a new route in noise-cancelling and electromagnetic compatibility for the electric drive powertrain.

Motivated by empirical observations, we propose a possible extension of Gibrat's law. By applying it into the random growth theory of income distribution (Gabaix, 2009), we find that the income distribution is described by a generalized Pareto-type distribution (GPD) with three parameters. We observe that there is a parameter /elta in the GPD that plays a key role in determining the shape of income distribution. By using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, we empirically show that, for typical market-economy countries, /elta is close to 0 significantly, such that the income distribution is characterized by a two-class pattern in which the bottom 90% of the population is approximated by an exponential distribution and the richest 1%~3% is approximated by an asymptotic power law. However, we empirically find that, for China both in planned economy period and in early stages of market reformation (from 1978 to 1990), /elta is significantly deviated from 0, such that the bottom of the population no longer conforms to an exponential distribution.

A high step-up DC-to-DC converter that integrates an isolated transformer and a switched-clamp capacitor is presented in this study. The voltage stress of the main power switch should be clamped to 1/4 V by using the turn ratio and switched-clamp capacitor of an isolated transformer to achieve a high voltage gain. In addition, a passive clamp circuit is employed reduce voltage stress on the main power switch. The energy of the leakage inductor can be recycled by the clamp capacitor because of the passive clamp circuit, thereby improving the power converter efficiency. The converter consists of one isolated transformer, one main switch, three capacitors, and four diodes. Operating principle and steady-state analyses are also discussed. Finally, a 24-V-input voltage to 200-V-output voltage and a 150 W output power prototype converter are fabricated in the laboratory. The maximum efficiency of the converter is 95.1 at 60 W.

The nonlinear dynamics exhibited by aircraft flying at high angle of attack (AOA) pose great challenges to the design of flight control. The control design based on nonlinear dynamic inversion (NDI) is to reversely find the required control input based on the current nonlinear dynamics of the aircraft and the control objectives to be achieved. Since it is derived from the nonlinear dynamics of the aircraft, a single NDI controller can cover the entire flight envelope without the need for controller switching or gain scheduling. This paper employs the layered structure of the flight control loop to implement the NDI controller through the combination of aerodynamic control and thrust vectoring control (TVC). The resulting NDI controller is applied to an experimental F-16 installed with TVC to verify its high AOA maneuverability in the post-stall region. The verification simulation shows that the experimental F-16 under the NDI control can effectively track the high AOA command and successfully demonstrate the Herbst maneuver by performing the heading reversal with 70° AOA.

Taiwan developing offshore wind power to promote green energy and self-electricity production. In this study, a Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) was set up at Chang-Hua development zone one on the sea and 10km away from the seashore. At Lidar location, WRF (3.33km & 2km grid lengths) model and WAsP were used to simulate the wind speed at various elevations. Three days mean wind speed of simulated results were compared with Lidar data. From the four wind data sets, developed five different comparisons to find an error% and R-Squared values. Comparison between WAsP and Floating Lidar was shown good consistency. Lukang meteorological station 10 years wind observations at 5m height were used for wind farm energy predictions. The yearly variation of energy predictions of traditional and TGC wind farm layouts are compared under purely neutral and stable condition. The one-year cycle average surface heat flux over the Taiwan Strait is negative (-72.5 (W/m2) and 157.13 STD), which represents stable condition. At stable condition TGC (92.39%) and 600(92.44%), wind farms were shown higher efficiency. The Fuhai met mast wind data was used to estimate roughness length and power law exponent. The average roughness lengths are very small and unstable atmosphere.

Controlling the selectivity of detonation initiation reaction of explosive is a Holy Grail, and it seems to be an “idiot's daydream”, by strengthening external electric field, to reduce the explosive sensitivity. The effects of external electric fields on the initiation reactions in NH2NO2∙∙∙NH3, a model system of the nitroamine explosive with alkaline additive, were investigated at the MP2/6-311++G(2d,p) and CCSD/6-311++G(2d,p) level. The concerted effect in the intermolecular hydrogen exchange is characterized by an index of the imaginary vibrations. Due to the weakened concerted effects by the electric field along the −x-direction opposite to the “reaction axis”, the dominant reaction changes from the hydrogen exchange to 1,3-intramolecular hydrogen transference with the increase of the field strengths. Furthermore, the stronger the field strengths, the higher the barrier heights become, indicating the lower sensitivities. Therefore, by strengthening the field strength and adjusting the orientation between the field and “reaction axis”, not only can the reaction selectivity be controlled, but also the sensitivity can be reduced, in particular under a super-strong field. Thus, a traditional concept, which the explosive is dangerous under the super-strong external electric field, is broken theoretically. Compared to the neutral medium, the low sensitivity of the explosive with alkaline can be achieved under the stronger field. Employing atoms in molecules, reduced density gradient and surface electrostatic potentials, the origin of the reaction selectivity and sensitivity change is revealed. This work provides a new idea to the technical improvement for adding the external electric field into the explosive system.

Coalbed Methane(CBM) production enhancement for single wells is a big problem to CBM industrialization. Low production is due to insufficient gas generation by thermogenic. Luckily, Biogenic gas was found in many areas and its supply is assumed to improve coalbed methane production. Therefore, microbial simulation experiment will demonstrate the effectiveness of the assumption. From microbial simulation experiment on different coal ranks, it is found that microbes can use coals to produce biogas under laboratory conditions. With different temperatures for different experiments, it turns out that the gas production at 35 ℃ is greater than that at 15℃,indicating that 35℃ is more suitable for microbes to produce gas. According to quantitative experiments, adding exogenous nutrients or exogenous bacteria can improve CBM production. Moreover, the production enhancement ratio can reach up to 115% under the condition of adding exogenous bacterial species, while the ratio for adding nutrients can be up to 144%.

In order to make full use of the complementarity of existing navigation systems to improve the navigation and positioning accuracy, this paper investigates the visual/INS integrated navigation system based on the factor graph optimization (FGO) algorithm. In the traditional visual/INS integrated navigation system, there is often the problem of image blurring due to the rapid change of light and shadow captured by the vision sensor and the attitude change of the carrier, which leads to the decrease of the positioning accuracy of the combined navigation system. Therefore, this paper firstly introduces Retinex algorithm and BID algorithm to carry out the design of image de-blurring method; then implements the visual/INS integrated navigation algorithm based on the factor graph optimization method; finally, the experimental scheme is designed, comparative experiments are carried out, and the researched method is verified by using the public dataset. The experimental results show that the combined navigation algorithm realized in this paper has high accuracy, and its positioning accuracy is improved by 40% compared with visual positioning.

The black hole (BH) phenomenon is an intraluminal restenotic lesion. It was identified by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) after intracoronary brachytherapy and drug-eluting stent implantation. Despite the similarity in the mode of action of brachytherapy and drug-eluting stent implantation, the BH phenomenon appears to be uncommon after drug-eluting stent implantation. Specifically, the BH phenomenon is better identified by OCT than by IVUS. Herein, we present a case of in-stent restenosis with suspected BH phenomenon on IVUS confirmed by OCT.

A simple design of an ultrathin six-band polarization-insensitive terahertz perfect metamaterial absorber (PMMA) composed of a metal cross-cave-patch resonator (CCPR) placed over a ground plane was proposed and investigated numerically. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the average absorption peaks are up to 95% at six resonance frequencies with high quality-factors (>65). In addition, the absorption properties can be kept stability for both normal incident transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) waves. The physical mechanism behind the observed high level absorption is illustrated by the electric and power loss density distributions. The different absorption mainly originates from the higher order multipolar and multipolar plasmon resonance of the structure, which are sharp different to the most previous studies of the PMMAs. Furthermore, the resonance absorption of the PMMA can be tunable by varying the geometric parameters of the unit cell.

A simple design of an ultrathin six-band polarization-insensitive terahertz perfect metamaterial absorber (PMMA) composed of a metal cross-cave-patch resonator (CCPR) placed over a ground plane was proposed and investigated numerically. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the average absorption peaks are up to 95% at six resonance frequencies with high quality-factors (>65). In addition, the absorption properties can be kept stability for both normal incident transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) waves. The physical mechanism behind the observed high level absorption is illustrated by the electric and power loss density distributions. The different absorption mainly originates from the higher order multipolar and multipolar plasmon resonance of the structure, which are sharp different to the most previous studies of the PMMAs. Furthermore, the resonance absorption of the PMMA can be tunable by varying the geometric parameters of the unit cell.

Apple latent spherical virus (ALSV) is widely used as a virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) vector for function genome study. However, the application of ALSV in soybean is limited by the resistance of many varieties. In this study, the genetic loci linked to the resistance of a resistant soybean variety Heinong 84 was mapped by high-throughput sequencing‒Bulk Segregation Analysis (HTS‒BSA) using a hybrid population crossed from Heinong 84 and a susceptible variety Zhonghuang 13. Results showed that the resistance of Heinong 84 to ALSV is controlled by two genetic loci located on chromosome 2 and 11, respectively. Cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences (CAPS) markers were developed for identification and genotyping. Inheritance and biochemical analyses suggest that the resistance locus on chromosome 2 plays a dominant dose-dependent role, while the other locus contributes a secondary role in resisting ALSV. The resistance locus on chromosome 2 might encode a protein that can directly inhibit viral proliferation, while the secondary resistance locus on chromosome 11 may encode a host factor required for viral proliferation. Together, these data reveal novel insights on the resistance mechanism of Heinong 84 to ALSV, which will benefit for the application of ALSV as a VIGS vector.

On 17 October 1947, Niels Bohr was made a knight of the Order of the Elephant by the King of Denmark in view of his outstanding achievements and contributions to science. Bohr designed his own coat of arms that featured a pattern of Yin and Yang (Tai Chi symbol) to symbolize the wave-particle complementarity. However, Bohr’s Yin-Yang diagram (YYD) was neither drawn based on the principles of quantum mechanics, nor did it originate from the traditional Taoist YYD. Scientists still have doubts about the legitimacy of using YYD as the icon of the wave-particle complementarity, because the YYD belonging to quantum mechanics itself is unknown so far. This article reports the YYDs existing in quantum mechanics and justifies the role of YYD in the wave-particle duality by showing that any system, whether classical or quantum, has an ideal YYD as long as it satisfies Bohr’s principle of complementarity (BPC). The deviation of a deformed YYD from the ideal YYD indicates the extent to which a real system satisfies BPC. This article constructs the quantum YYD by the complex quantum trajectory of a particle tunneling via a step barrier, which displays the continuous transition between the wave behavior and the particle behavior. It appears that the YYD designed by Bohr in his coat of arms resembles the YYD generated by tunneling motion, not only in appearance but also in the governing equation.

Two-dimensional (2D) bismuth oxyhalides (BiOX) have attracted much attention as potential optoelectronic materials. Expecting for their application diversity, we herewith systematically investigate the tunable properties of 2D BiOX by using first principles calculations. Their electronic and optical properties can be modulated by changing the number of monolayers, applying strain, and/or varying the halogen composition. The bandgap shrinks monotonically and approaches the bulk value, the optical absorption coefficient increases, and the absorption spectrum redshifts, as the layer number of 2D BiOX increases. Carrier transport property can be improved by applying tensile strain, and the ability of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution can be obtained by applying compressive strain. General strain engineering will be effective in linearly tune the bandgap of BiOX in a wide strain range. Strain together with halogen composition variation can tune the optical absorption spectrum to be on demand in the range from visible to ultraviolet. It suggests that that 2D BiOX materials have potential serving as tunable novel photodetectors, can be used to improve clean energy techniques, and are prospective in the field of flexible optoelectronics.

As the penetration of renewable energies increases, their acceptance of the power grid system is becoming an important issue. In the case of South Korea, a 22.9kV transformer is frequently utilized to reduce the power loss of the generated renewable energy transmission, so the power quality at the point of common connection (PCC) is inevitably influenced by the nonlinearity of the transformer and the uncertainty of the inductance and resistance of the transmission line. In this paper, we present a point of common connection voltage-modulated direct power control (PCCVM-DPC) system that enhances power quality at the PCC. First, we present the mathematical dynamics of active and reactive power at the PCC side, which contains the step-up transformer’s nonlinearity, the grid voltage harmonics, and the parameter uncertainties. By analyzing the disturbance terms of the PCCVM-DPC system, we present the disturbance observer (DOB) for the PCCVM-DPC system. To assess the efficacy of our approach, we perform comparative studies of the PCCVM-DPC without DOB and PCCVM-DPC with DOB by constructing the simulation environment based on the commercial step-up transformer and ESS inverter datasheet. We have validated that the active and reactive power control performance of the PCCVM-DPC with DOB outperforms the PCCVM-DPC without DOB from the observation that the current total harmonic distortion reduced by more than 40% compared to the PCCVM-DPC without the DOB.

The incidence of right-turning pedestrian accidents is increasing in South Korea. Most of the accidents occurred when the larger vehicle was turning right, and the main cause of the accidents was found to be the driver's limited field of vision. After these accidents, the government has implemented a series of institutional measures with the objective of preventing such accidents. However, despite the institutional arrangements in place, pedestrian accidents continue to occur. We focused on the many limitations that autonomous vehicles, like humans, can face in such situations. To address this issue, we propose a right-turn pedestrian collision avoidance system by installing a LiDAR sensor in the center of the intersection to facilitate pedestrian detection. Furthermore, the urban road environment is considered, as this provides the optimal conditions for the model to perform at its best. During this research, we collected data on right-turn accidents using the CARLA simulator and ROS interface and demonstrated the effectiveness of our approach in preventing such incidents. Our results suggest that the implementation of this method can effectively reduce the incidence of right-turn accidents in autonomous vehicles.

It has been empirically observed that the upper tail of the firm size distribution follows either the Pareto distribution or the Zipf distribution, with both patterns being explained by Gibrat’s law (Gabaix, 1999). This article analyzed firm revenue data from China, spanning from 2005 to 2013, to examine the whole range of the firm size distribution. Our empirical analysis revealed that firm revenue data over these years is well fitted by a three-parameter generalized Pareto distribution, with the fitted parameters indicating a dichotomy: The size distribution of large-sized firms, namely the upper tail, is asymptotically characterized by a Pareto distribution or a Zipf distribution, whereas the size distribution of smaller and medium-sized firms is approximated by an exponential distribution. This finding suggests that Gibrat’s law should be extended to account for the emergence of a generalized Pareto distribution.

Urbanization and industrialization processes in Mongolia have been significant and rapid for the last half-century. During this period, changes in political and economic systems, growth in the population, and the occasional harsh climate conditions were subject to fluctuations in the natural resource usage. The total Ecological Footprint (EF) in Mongolia has increased from 6.8 million global hectares (gha) in 1961 to 14.6 million gha in 2012. However, Biocapacity (BC) has decreased from 50.6 million gha in 1961 to 39.0 million gha in 2012. The study shows that grazing land Footprint and carbon uptake land Footprint are the two major contributors of the recent intensified use of biological resources. To ensure stable economic development and sustainable use of natural resources, environmental planning is required to consider both the population’s pressure on the environment and the ecosystem’s regeneration capacity, simultaneously. We have proposed a few possible strategies for sustainable utilization of grazing land Footprint and carbon Footprint. For grazing land Footprint, efficient management of both herding practice and number of animals should be considered. In case of carbon Footprint, it is estimated that with the improved combustion efficiencies of coal-based power plants and the maximum use of renewable energy, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in Mongolia can be reduced up to 30% compared to the base line business as usual case in 2030.

In Taiwan, mountainous areas account for approximately two-thirds of the total area. The steep terrain and concentrated rainfall during typhoons cause landslides, which pose a considerable threat to mountain settlements. Therefore, models for analyzing rainfall-induced landslide hazards are urgently required to ensure adequate land use in mountainous areas. In this study, focusing on Pingtung County in southern Taiwan, we developed a landslide hazard index (IRL) to land use. Using FORMOSA-2 and SPOT-5 satellite images, data were collected before and after four typhoons (one in 2009 and three in 2013). The ArcGIS random tree classifier was used for interpreting satellite images to explore surface changes and disasters, which were used to analyze slope disturbances. The product of the maximum 3-h rolling rainfall intensity and effective accumulated rainfall was used as a rainfall trigger index (IRT). Considering environmental and slope disturbance factors, an index of slope environmental strength potential (ISESP) was developed through logistic regression (LR). Landslide hazard to land use was estimated using IRT and ISESP. The average coefficient of agreement (Kappa) was approximately 0.71 (medium to high accuracy); the overall accuracy of slope environmental strength potential analysis was approximately 80.4%. At a constant ISESP, IRT increased with the increasing hazard potential of rainfall-induced landslides. Furthermore, IRT and ISESP were positively correlated with landslide occurrence. When large ISESP values occur (e.g., fragile environment and high land development intensity), small IRT values may induce landslides.

Laminopathies are a spectrum of diseases caused by LMNA mutations. In familial partial lipodystrophy of Dunnigan (FPLD), LMNA plays role in the differentiation and development of adipocytes and lipid metabolism. Changes in LMNA predict not only the differentiation of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) but also the transformation of cancer cells. Hence, our in-depth study aimed to identify the molecular connection between disordered lipid metabolism and hepatic carcinogenesis. We first discovered significant positive correlations between pLMNA and two key rate-limiting enzymes in de novo fatty acid synthesis, acetyl-CoA-carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and fatty acid synthase (FASN), in the liver tissue but not in adipose tissue of obese model rats. Moreover, LMNA knockdown (KD) in rat AD-MSCs prevented the differentiation and maturation of adipocytes. To clarify the mechanistic relationship with lipogenesis, gain- and loss-of-function experiments in which functional changes and the related molecular pathways were investigated in a normal hepatocyte line (7701 cells). Adenosine 5'-monophosphate activated protein kinase α (AMPKα) was found to be activated by abnormalities in the LMNA structure under conditions of LMNA deletion, farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI) treatment and LMNA mutations associated with clinical FPLD pathogenic phenotype. Active AMPKα could directly phosphorylate ACC1 and thus inhibit lipid synthesis but induced glycolysis in both HCC cells and normal cells. The HCC cells could not survive with LMNA knockout (KO) or even KD. Lonafarnib (an FTI) combined with low-glucose conditions significantly decreased the proliferation of HepG2 and MHCC cells by inhibiting glycolysis and the maturation of prelamin A.

The adapted Posner spatial cue-target paradigm was used to explore the relationship between exogenous temporal attention caused by rhythm and endogenous and exogenous spatial attention. The study was divided into two experiments. In Experiment 1, 33 participants used arrow cues to orient endogenous spatial attention and rhythm to orient exogenous temporal attention. In Experiment 2, with 29 participants, exogenous spatial attention was directed by highlighting the cue box. Exogenous temporal attention was directed by rhythm. Experiment 1 indicated that RTs were faster for attended targets than the unattended. The main effect of temporal attention was significant, with RTs being faster for synchrony and late compared to early. RTs were faster for late compared to synchrony. The main effect of stimulus repetition was significant, with faster RTs for targets when the rhythmic cue consisted of five compared to four. The interaction between spatial attention and temporal attention was not significant. Experiment 2 demonstrated that exogenous spatial attention only exhibited IOR under early four stimulus repetitions. The main effect of temporal attention was significant, with RTs being faster for synchrony and late compared to early. The main effect of stimulus repetition was significant, with faster RTs for targets when the rhythmic cue consisted of five compared to four. The interaction between spatial attention and temporal attention was significant. The results indicated that rhythmic temporal attention supported foreperiod effects. Exogenous temporal attention and endogenous spatial attention independently affect behavior, while exogenous temporal attention and exogenous spatial attention mutually influenced behavior.

The Silk Road pattern (SRP) and Circumglobal teleconnection pattern (CGT) are two well-known teleconnection patterns along the Eurasian westerly jet during boreal summer, which are often regarded as one teleconnection pattern. In view of the distinct features of the SRP/CGT on the interannual (IA) and interdecadal (ID) timescales, the present study investigates the linkages and differences between the SRP and CGT on the two timescales. On the IA timescale, the SRP and CGT feature a similar circumglobal wave train structure with strong and significant centers over Eurasia, but show clear independences. Specifically, the SRP and CGT illustrates largely the mid-/high-latitude-related and tropics-related parts of the Northern Hemisphere upper-tropospheric circulation variations, respectively. Also, the CGT shows a stronger connection to the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) heating and El Niño–Southern Oscillation than the SRP, which makes the CGT more like a tropical-forcing-driven atmospheric mode but the SRP more like an internal atmospheric mode. The linkages and differences between them are associated with their asymmetry relationship during their positive and negative phases, which are attributed mainly to the asymmetry impact of the ISM heating/cooling on the Eurasian circulations. On the ID timescale, the SRP and CGT are characterized by a coherent two-wave train structure over Eurasia, and feature more like the same teleconnection pattern, which are associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. The present findings on the linkages and differences between the SRP and CGT are helpful to understand the variability and prediction of the SRP and CGT.

Genetic engineering technology offers opportunities to improve many important agronomic traits in crops, including insect-resistance. However, genetically modified (GM) exogenous proteins in edible tissues of transgenic crops has become an issue of intense public concern. To advance the application of GM techniques in maize, a Cre/loxP-based strategy was developed for manipulating the transgenes in green tissues while locking it in non-green tissues. In the strategy, the site-specific excision can be used to switch on or off the expression of transgenes at specific tissues. In this work, two basic transgenic maize named KEY carrying the Cre gene and LOCK containing the Vip3A gene with a blocked element, were obtained based on their separate fusion gene cassettes. The expression level and concentration of Vip3A were observed with high specific accumulation in green tissues (leaf and stem), and only a small amount in root and kernel tissues in the KEY × LOCK hybrids. The insect-resistance of transgenic maize against two common lepidopteran pests, Ostrinia furnacalis and Spodoptera frugiperda, was assessed in the laboratory and field. The results indicated that the hybrids possessed high resistance levels against the two pests, with mortality rates above 73.6% and damage scales below 2.4 compared with the control group. Our results suggested that the Cre/loxP-mediated genetic engineering approach has a competitive advantage in GM maize. Overall, findings from this study are significant for providing a feasible strategy for transgenes avoiding expression in edible parts and exploring novel techniques toward the biosafety of GM plants.

This paper provides attempts to formalize Hayek’s theory of knowledge. It has been theoretically shown that exponential income distribution is a spontaneous order of the well-functioning market economy. We show that this theoretical result is supported by the empirical evidence from the United Kingdom and China. In particular, we empirically show how the income structure of China evolved towards an exponential distribution after the market-oriented economic reformation. Furthermore, we strictly prove that, if the income structure of an economy obeys an exponential distribution, the income summation over all households leads to an aggregate production function with Hicks-neutral-like technical progress, in which the technology factor is exactly equal to society’s information stock that is a result of combining all of decentralized decisions.

Objective: Scaphoid fractures, particularly occult and non-displaced fractures, are difficult to detect using traditional X-ray methods due to their subtle appearance and variability in bone density. The study proposes a two-stage CNN approach to detect and classify scaphoid fractures using anterior-posterior (AP) and lateral (LA) X-ray views for more accurate diagnosis. Methods: The study emphasizes the use of multi-view X-ray images (AP and LA views) to improve fracture detection and classification. The multi-view fusion module helps integrate information from both views to enhance detection accuracy, particularly for occult fractures that may not be visible in a single view. The proposed method includes two stages that are stage 1: Detect the scaphoid bone using Faster R-CNN and Feature Pyramid Network (FPN) for region proposal and small object detection. The detection accuracy for scaphoid localization is 100% with Intersection over Union (IoU) scores of 0.8662 for AP views and 0.8478 for LA views. And stage 2: Perform fracture classification using a ResNet backbone and FPN combined with a multi-view fusion module to combine features from both AP and LA views. This stage achieves a classification accuracy of 89.94%, recall of 87.33%, and precision of 90.36%. Results: The proposed model performs well in both scaphoid bone detection and fracture classification. The multi-view fusion approach significantly improves recall and accuracy in detecting fractures compared to single-view approaches. In scaphoid detection, both AP and LA views achieved 100% detection accuracy. In fracture detection, using multi-view fusion, the accuracy for AP views reached 87.16%, and for LA views, it reached 83.83%. Conclusion: The multi-view fusion model effectively improves the detection of scaphoid fractures, particularly in cases of occult and non-displaced fractures. The model provides a reliable, automated approach to assist clinicians in detecting and diagnosing scaphoid fractures more efficiently.

The Range–Doppler (R-D) model is extensively employed for the geometric processing of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. Refining the sensor motion state and imaging parameters is the most common method for achieving high-precision geometric processing using the R-D model, comprising a process that involves numerous parameters and complex computations. In this study, we introduce a novel approach to improve the positioning accuracy of the R-D model, implementing a low-order polynomial to compensate for the original imaging errors without altering the initial positioning parameters. We also design low-order polynomial compensation models with different parameters. The models are evaluated on various SAR images from different platforms and bands, including spaceborne TerraSAR-X and GF3-C images, manned airborne SAR-X images, and unmanned aerial vehicle-mounted miniSAR-Ku images. Furthermore, image positioning experiments involving the use of different polynomial compensation models and various numbers and distributions of Ground Control Points (GCPs) are conducted. The experimental results demonstrate that geometric processing accuracy comparable to that of the classical rigorous positioning method can be achieved even when applying only an affine transformation model to the images. Compared to classical refinement models, however, the proposed image-compensated R-D model is much simpler and easy to implement. Thus, this study provides a convenient, robust, and widely applicable method for the geometric positioning processing of SAR images, offering a potential approach for the joint-positioning processing of multi-source SAR images.

We show that an exponential income distribution will emerge spontaneously in a peer-to-peer economic network that shares the publicly available technology. Based on this finding, we identify the exponential income distribution as the benchmark structure of the well-functioning market economy. However, a real market economy may deviate from the well-functioning market economy. We show that the deviation is partly reflected as the invalidity of exponential distribution in describing the super-low income class that involves unemployment. In this regard, we find, theoretically, that the lower-bound u of exponential income distribution has a linear relationship with (per capita) unemployment compensation. In this paper, we test this relationship for the United Kingdom from 2001 to 2015. Our empirical investigation confirms that the income structure of low and middle classes (about 90% of populations) in the United Kingdom exactly obeys exponential distribution, in which the lower-bound u is exactly in line with the evolution of unemployment compensation.

Aim: We estimated the correlation between serum bilirubin concentrations and insulin resistance in advanced maternal age without diabetes mellitus. Method: The cross-sectional study involved consecutive 50 women of advanced maternal age without diabetes mellitus, and insulin resistance (IR) was diagnosed according to the homeostatic model assessment insulin resistant (HOMA-IR) formula and the cut-off point was set to more than 2.5. Serum bilirubin and HOMA-IR were compared between the IR (+) and IR (-) groups. Results: We found that serum bilirubin levels in the IR subjects were significantly decreased compared to those without IR (p = 0.0252). Serum bilirubin concentrations were negatively correlated with the weight and the fasting insulin concentrations in all subjects (r=−0.282, p=0.047, r=-0.424, p=0.002). Additionally, serum bilirubin had a negatively correlation with HOMA-IR (r = -0.410, p = 0.003) in all subjects. The multiple linear regression analysis found that serum total bilirubin levels were independently correlated with HOMA-IR (beta = -0.392, p= 0.015) in these subjects. Conclusions: The study demonstrated that serum bilirubin concentrations had negatively correlation with insulin resistance in advanced pregnant women without diabetes mellitus, and decreased serum bilirubin may forebode increased gestational diabetes mellitus risk in our study population.

The fluorine-less noble-gas containing anions OBONgO- and OCNNgO-have been studied by correlated electronic structure calculation and density functional theory. The obtained energetics indicates that for Ng = Kr and Xe, these anions should be kinetically stable at low temperature. The molecular structures and electron density distribution suggests that these anions are stabilized by ion-induced dipole interactions with charges concentrated on the electronegative OBO and OCN groups. The current study shows that in additional to the fluoride ion, polyatomic groups with strong electronic affinities can also form stable noble-gas containing anions of the type X-...NgO.

Long-haul COVID-19 illness first gained widespread recognition among social support groups and later in scientific and medical communities. This illness is mysterious as it affects COVID-19 survivors at all levels of disease severity, even younger adults and children. While the precise definition may be lacking, the defining symptoms are fatigue, dyspnea, and headache that last for months after hospital discharge. The less typical symptoms may include cognitive impairments, chest and joint pains, myalgia, smell and taste dysfunctions, cough, mood changes, and gastrointestinal and cardiac issues. Presently, there is limited literature discussing the possible pathophysiology, risk factors, and treatments in long-haul COVID-19, which the current review aims to address. In brief, long-haul COVID-19 may be driven by long-term lung and brain damage and unresolved inflammation from multiple sources. The associated risk factors may include female sex, more than five early symptoms, early dyspnea, and specific biomarkers like D-dimer. While only rehabilitation training has been useful for long-haul COVID-19, therapeutics repurposed from mast cell activation syndrome, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, and pulmonary fibrosis also hold potential. In sum, this review hopes to provide the current understanding of what is known about long-haul COVID-19.

As motor capacity and rated voltage increase, the demand for motor insulation also increases. Additionally, the electric field distribution at the end of a large-scale hydro generator is extremely non-uniform, and corona discharge readily occurs. This destroys the main insulation, which significantly affects the service life of electrical machinery. Thus, the regulation of the electric field concentration at the end of a large-scale hydro generator needs to be addressed. There are many problems in resistance–capacitance chain model research. Particularly, these models cannot accurately reflect the insulation, corona structure, and electric field distribution in electrical machinery. Additionally, the corner electric field and loss distributions cannot be obtained, leading to a higher calculation error. The electric field distribution at the motor end and the loss distribution were analyzed using the finite-element method. First, by applying the basic principles of electric circuits and electromagnetic field theory, we calculated the electric field distribution at the stator bar end. Second, a 3D model of the stator bar was built using Creo Parametric, yielding a model that is more closely related to the prototype wirebar model. Then, the potential, electric field, and loss distributions around the stator bar were simulated by using COMSOL simulation software. The effects of the circular arc corner, nonlinearity coefficient, anti-corona coating length, and resistivity of the stator bar on the electric field distribution at the motor end were explored.

Scaffoldings play a critical role as temporary structures in supporting construction processes. Accidents at construction sites frequently stem from issues related to scaffoldings, including insufficient support caused by deviations from the construction design, insecure rod connections, or absence of cross bracing, which result in uneven loading and potential collapse, leading to casualties. In this study, we introduce a deep-learning-based, augmented reality (AR)-enabled system called scaffolding assembly deficiency detection system (SADDS) to assist field inspectors in identifying deficiencies in scaffolding assemblies. Inspectors have the flexibility to utilize SADDS through various devices, such as video cameras, mobile phones, or AR goggles (i.e., Microsoft HoloLens 2), for automated detection of deficiencies in scaffolding assemblies. The training test yielded satisfactory results, with a mean average precision of 0.89 and individual precision values of 0.96, 0.82, 0.90, and 0.89 for “qualified” frames and frames with the “missing cross-tie rod,” “missing lower-tie rod,” and “missing footboard” deficiencies, respectively. Field tests conducted at two construction sites demonstrated improved system performance compared to that in the training test. However, these field tests also revealed certain limitations of the SADDS system.

Resection of malignant lesions in the oral and maxillofacial area causes functional and morphological defects. To recover from these defects, reconstruction surgery is needed such as a primary closure or a flap. There are advantages and disadvantages to the method of using the primary closure and the flap, and the choice of procedure is entirely up to a surgeon. The purpose of this study is to evaluate availability of primary closure in patients. For 10 years from January 2010 to May 2020, patients who recovered using flaps after removing malignant lesions from the oral cavity and those who closed the lesion using primary closure were investigated. The investigation was conducted by searching the database of the hospital. There were 85 patients who removed malignant lesions in the oral and maxillofacial area, and among them 16 patients closed the soft tissue defects using primary closure. Operation time, histologic types, stages, wound status, and period of hospitalization according to the patients' medical records were investigated retrospectively. Between the staging and the primary closure, statistically significant differences were observed between stage I and stage II patients in 13 patients using the primary closure. (P=0.046). Statistically significant differences were identified between operation time and primary closure, with an average of 4.02 hours (P=0.015). The average period of hospitality for patients who underwent primary closure was 13.4 days, compared to 26.7 days for those who underwent flap surgery. This difference was statistically significant (P=0.0003). This study evaluated the use of primary closure in patients who underwent resection of malignant lesions in the oral and maxillofacial area. Although the majority of patients underwent reconstruction with flaps, our results showed that primary closure can be a viable option for certain patients with early-stage lesions. Therefore, oral and maxillofacial surgeons should carefully consider various evaluation criteria and select appropriate reconstruction methods to optimize functional and aesthetic outcomes for each patient.

GaN ultraviolet photodetector with metal-semiconductor-metal structure is achieved by growing on a periodic trapezoid column-shape patterned sapphire substrate using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Under 5-V reverse bias, the photodetector fabricated on such patterned sapphire substrate exhibits a lower dark current, a higher photocurrent, and a 476 % enhancement in the maximum responsivity as compare with those of the photodetector fabricated on conventional flat sapphire substrate. It is also found that the much larger UV-to-visible rejection ratio and the fact that responsivity drops in a smaller cut-off region are observed from photodetector fabricated by using a periodic trapezoid column-shape patterned sapphire substrate. These phenomena may all be attributed to the reduction of threading dislocation density and the improved quality of GaN film, as well as the internal reflection and/or scattering effect on the interface between GaN film and the periodic trapezoid column-shape pattern of the substrate.

Heavy metals contamination in groundwater often occurs in various industrial processes. Stud-ies have confirmed that polysulfide could reduce hexavalent chromium to trivalent chromium, achieving the effect of in-situ stabilization. For other heavy metals contamination in groundwa-ter, whether polysulfide also had a stabilizing ability to achieve in-situ remediation. This re-search focused on heavy metals except for chromium that often contaminated in groundwater, including lead, nickel, zinc, copper, and cadmium to explore the feasibility of using calcium polysulfide (CaSx) as an in-situ stabilization technology for these heavy metals contamination groundwater. Results showed that CaSx had a great removal efficiency for heavy metals lead, nickel, zinc, copper, and cadmium. However, for nickel, zinc, copper and cadmium, when CaSx was added excessively, complexes would be formed, causing the result of re-dissolve and this would also reduce the removal efficiency. Since it is difficult to accurately control the dosage of agents for in-situ groundwater remediation, the concentration of re-dissolved nickel, zinc, cop-per, and cadmium may not be able to meet the groundwater control standards. CaSx had high lead removal efficiency, and it would not cause re-dissolution due to excessive CaSx dosing. CaSx can be used as an in-situ stabilization technique for lead contaminated groundwater.

Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs), a new category of contaminants in limelight, is a major issue of global concern. The pervasive nature of CECs and its harmful effects, such as cancer, reproductive disorders, neurotoxicity etc., make the situation alarming. The perilous nature of CECs lies in the fact that even very small concentration of CECs can cause great impacts on living beings. It also has a nature of bioaccumulation. Thus, it is the ultimate need to have efficient sensors for detection of CECs to ensure safe living environment. Electrochemical sensors are an efficient platform for CEC detection as they are highly selective, sensitive, stable, reproducible, and prompt, and can detect very low concentrations of analyte. Major classes of CECs are pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, personal care products, endocrine disruptors, newly registered pesticides, and disinfection by-products. This review focusses on CECs, including their sources and pathways, health effects caused by them, and electrochemical sensors as reported in literatures under each category for the detection of major CECs.

Introduction: Treating elbow fracture-dislocation is a challenge, especially in the situation of basal-coronoid trans-ulnar fracture. The study ams to explain whether or not the minimal invasive surgery (MIS) would be feasible in elbow dislocation with coronoid fracture. Materials & Methods: At Taipei Veterans General Hospital, patients who had elbow dislocations with coronoid process fractures underwent single one surgeon’s MIS techniques which included the fluoroscopy-guided ulnar anteromedial (FGUAM) approach in the stage of reducing coronoid process. When there is a proximal ulnar fracture, the posterior incision should be necessary, followed by the incision over the lateral or medial elbow in treating radial fractures or ligament injuries. Results: The Flow Diagram about approach recommendation was established in base of defining MIS as not to do cross-plane dissection. Anteriorly rigid fixation for the coronoid process was also emphasized. Conclusions: MIS can be achieved by multiple limited surgical incisions. However, if there is an unstable ulnar metaphysis or ligament avulsion fracture, the posterior approach has to be extended and the so-called MIS fails to be established.

Enveloped viruses represent a significant category of pathogens that cause serious diseases in animals. These viruses express envelope glycoproteins that are singularly important during infection of host cells by mediating fusion between the viral envelope and host cell membranes. Despite low homology at protein levels, three classes of viral fusion proteins have, as of yet, been identified based on structural similarities. Their incorporation into viral particles is dependent upon their proper sub-cellular localization after being expressed and folded properly in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). However, viral protein expression can cause stress in the ER, and host cells respond to alleviate the ER stress in the form of the unfolded protein response (UPR); the effects of which have been observed potentiating or inhibiting viral infection. One important arm of UPR is to elevate the capacity of the ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) pathway, which is comprised of host quality control machinery that ensures proper protein folding. In this review, we provide relevant details regarding viral envelope glycoproteins, UPR, ERAD, and their interactions in host cells.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of rhizome extract of Dioscorea batatas (Dioscoreae Rhizoma, Chinese Yam) and its bioactive compound, allantoin, on myoblast differentiation and mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle cells. Yams were extracted in water and the extract was analyzed by HPLC. The expression of C2C12 myotubes differentiation and mitochondrial biogenesis regulators were determined by reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR or Western blot. The glucose levels and total ATP contents were determined by glucose consumption, glucose uptake and ATP assays, respectively. Treatment with yam extract (1 mg/mL) and allantoin (0.2 and 0.5 mM) significantly increased of MyHC expression compared with non-treated myotubes. Yam extract and allantoin significantly increased the expression of mitochondrial biogenesis regulating proteins, PGC1?, Sirt-1, NRF-1, and TFAM, as well as the phosphorylation of AMPK and ACC in C2C12 myotubes. Furthermore, yam extract and allantoin significantly increased the glucose uptake levels and the ATP contents. Finally, HPLC analysis revealed that the yam extract contained 1.53% of allantoin. Yam extract and allantoin, stimulated myoblast differentiation into myotubes and increased energy production through upregulation of mitochondrial biogenesis regulators. These findings indicate that yam extract and allantoin can help to prevent the skeletal muscle dysfunction through stimulation of energy metabolism.

The BAFF-APRIL system is crucial for the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by promoting B cell survival, differentiation and the maintenance of humoral autoimmunity. Here, we investigated the relationship of BCMA expression on B cell subsets with its ligands BAFF and APRIL, together with soluble BCMA, and with clinical and serologic variables in a cohort of 100 SLE patients (86 under conventional and 14 under belimumab therapy) and 30 healthy controls (HC) using multicolor flow cytometry and ELISA. We found that BCMA expression in SLE patients was significantly increased on all B cell subsets compared to HCs, with all examined components of the BAFF-APRIL system being upregulated. BCMA expression was significantly increased on switched and unswitched memory B cells compared to naïve B cells, both in HCs and SLE. BCMA expression on B cells correlated with plasmablast frequencies, serum anti-dsDNA antibodies and complement consumption, while soluble BCMA correlated with plasmablast frequency, highlighting its potential as clinical biomarker. Belimumab treatment significantly reduced BCMA expression on most B cell subsets and soluble TACI, and contributes to the inhibition of almost the entire BAFF-APRIL system and restoration of B cell homeostasis. These results provide insights into the complex dysregulation of the BAFF-APRIL system in SLE and highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting its components, particularly BCMA, in addition to its use as biomarker for disease activity.

There always exist steel cuttings, holes and cracks at the interfaces in the explosive composite plate. Multi-pass friction stir processing (M-FSP) is proposed in this research to optimize the interface microstructure and the interface connection for 1060Al/Q235 explosive composite plate. Results show that the microstructures of 1060Al after M-FSP are fine and uniform owing to the strong stirring effect and recrystallization. Micro-defects formed by the explosive welding can be repaired by the M-FSP. However, M-FSP can also form tunnel defects in the aluminum, especially when the passes are one and two. The melting block and the melting lump in the composite plates are easy to become source of crack. The shear strengths and the bending properties for the 1060Al/Q235 explosive composite plate after M-FSP are the best when the passes are three, with the tool rotation speed of 1200rpm and the forward speed of 60mm/min. The optimized interfaces for the explosive composite plate after M-FSP are mainly by the metallurgical bondings, with a certain thickness and are discontinuous. Therefore, the crack extension stress is the largest and the mechanical properties are the best.

Applied talent is not only a builder of human civilization but also a promoter of economic development. They not only need systematic and solid engineering theoretical knowledge but also rich engineering practical experience. Applied undergraduate colleges are the cradle for cultivating applied talent and shoulder the important mission of cultivating various types of applied talent for society. With the rapid development of higher education, the number of applied undergraduate institutions has sharply increased, but the quality of applied talent cultivated by them has shown a significant decline, which greatly restricts the pace of industrial development in the world. This article proposes a new concept of promoting the "three certificates" (graduation certificate, degree certificate, and skill certificate) education model in applied undergraduate colleges, which is of great significance for the country to cultivate composite talents with the ability of "product design, production management, and product processing" at the same time.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of genetic engineering, the advent of CRISPR-Cas technologies has catalyzed a paradigm shift, empowering scientists to manipulate the genetic code with unprece-dented accuracy and efficiency. Despite the remarkable capabilities inherent to CRISPR-Cas sys-tems, recent advancements have witnessed the integration of small molecule to augment their functionality, introducing new dimensions to the precision and versatility of gene editing applica-tions. This review delves into the synergy between CRISPR-Cas technologies and small molecule drugs, elucidating the pivotal role of chemicals in optimizing target specificity and editing efficiency. By examining a diverse array of applications, ranging from therapeutic interventions to agricultural advancements, we explore how the judicious use of chemicals enhances the precision of CRISPR-Cas-mediated genetic modifications. In this review we emphasize the significance of small molecule drugs in fine-tuning the CRISPR-Cas machinery, which allows researchers to exert meticulous con-trol over the editing process. We delve into the mechanisms through which these chemicals bolster target specificity, mitigate off-target effects, and contribute to the overall refinement of gene edit-ing outcomes. Additionally, we discuss the potential of chemical integration in expanding the scope of CRISPR-Cas technologies, enabling tailored solutions for diverse genetic manipulation challenges. As CRISPR-Cas technologies continue to evolve, the integration of small molecule drugs emerges as a crucial avenue for advancing the precision and applicability of gene editing techniques. This re-view not only synthesizes current knowledge but also highlights future prospects, paving the way for a deeper understanding of the synergistic interplay between CRISPR-Cas systems and chemical modulators in the pursuit of more controlled and efficient genetic modifications.

In the TANGO study, the long-term noninferior efficacy of switching to dolutegravir/lamivudine (DTG/3TC) compared to continuing tenofovir alafenamide–based regimens was demonstrated in treatment-experienced adults with HIV. However, there is limited real-world data comparing the effectiveness and safety of bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (BIC/FTC/TAF) and DTG/3TC in Asia. This retrospective observational study, conducted at a designated HIV-care hospital from March 2019 to January 2023, aimed to address this gap. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data, including HIV viral loads and lipid profiles, were collected and analyzed. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with HIV RNA <50 copies/mL at week 48 in both groups, utilizing a snapshot, per-protocol–exposed population. A total of 1086 patients were included, with 511 in the DTG/3TC group and 575 in the BIC/FTC/TAF group. At week 48, 98% of patients in the DTG/3TC group and 94% in the BIC/FTC/TAF group achieved HIV RNA <50 copies/mL (p <0.01). Logistic regression analysis identified risk factors for detectable viral loads at week 48, including HIV RNA >100,000 copies/mL (AOR 5.13, 95% CI 1.42–18.53), low-level viremia (AOR 3.91, 95% CI 1.07–14.25), and record of virologic failure ≥2 times (AOR 4.21, 95% CI 1.64–10.85) before the switch. Furthermore, no significant difference was found between the DTG/3TC and BIC/FTC/TAF regimens (AOR: 1.51, 95% CI 0.70–3.24). In conclusion, the study demonstrates that the effectiveness and safety profiles of DTG/3TC and BIC/FTC/TAF were comparable in treatment-experienced adults with HIV, particularly among those with undetectable viral loads at baseline.

AI advances integrate generative design tools in architecture, providing architects with sophisticated design options. It enables the creation of intricate, high-performing projects by exploring diverse design possibilities with AI and algorithms. Generative AI and generative design empower architects to create better-performing, sustainable, and efficient design solutions and explore diverse design possibilities. This paper leverages multimodal generative AI to enhance design creativity by combining textual and visual inputs. Blockchain technology converts design metadata into NFTs, ensuring secure, authentic, and traceable data storage. The framework addresses data ownership, legal adherence, and client-architect collaboration and is entirely scalable for digital design authentication. This research exemplifies the pragmatic fusion of Generative AI and blockchain technology applied in architectural design for more transparent, secure, and effective results. This study provides a strategy that uses generative AI technologies to achieve an efficient and creative workflow in the early stages of architectural design.

This paper discovers that current variational principle and Noether theorem for different physics systems with (in)finite freedom systems have missed the double extremum processes of the general extremum functional that both is deduced by variational principle and is necessarily taken in deducing all the physics laws, but these have not been corrected for over a century since Noether's proposing her famous theorem, which result in the crisis deducing relevant mathematical laws and all physics laws. This paper discovers there is the hidden logic cycle that one assumes Euler-Lagrange equations, and then he finally deduces Euler-Lagrange equations via the equivalent relation in the whole processes in all relevant current references. This paper corrects the current key mistakes that when physics systems choose the variational extreme values, the appearing processes of the physics systems are real physics processes, otherwise, are virtual processes in all current articles, reviews and (text)books. The real physics should be after choosing the variational extreme values of physics systems, the general extremum functional of the physics systems needs to further choose the minimum absolute extremum zero of the general extremum functional, otherwise, the appearing processes of physics systems are still virtual processes. Using the double extremum processes of the general extremum functionals, the crisis and the hidden logic cycle in current variational principle and current Noether theorem are solved. Furthermore, the new mathematical and physical double extremum processes and their new mathematical pictures and physics for (in)finite freedom systems are discovered. This paper gives both general variational principle and general Noether theorem as well as their classical and quantum new physics, which would rewrite all relevant current different branches of science, as key tools of studying and processing them.

Ganoderic Acid (GA), a major bioactive compound isolated from an oriental medicinal mushroom, i.e. Ganoderma tsugae, has traditionally been found to have significant medicinal properties. As a result of GA's poor solubility in water, formulation poses several challenges. Additionally, the traditional method of administering it via alcohol always results in unfavorable patient side effects. In order to overcome these problems, Ganoderma Tsugae extracts obtained by ethanol extraction were encapsulated in nanodispersions by ultrasonic cavitation and solvent evaporation to maximise bioavailability. Resultant nanodispersions contained Ganoderic acid in a hydrophobic core with a mean particle size of no more than 200 nm and a very narrow particle distribution. An analysis of the interactions between the control variables and the process optimisation was conducted using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Based on the results of the experiment, it was found that the particle size of nanodispersions was influenced by the Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance (HLB) number and the evaporation temperature. Moreover, the physical stability of micellar systems is generally determined by the organic phase within them. Regarding formulation stability, the zeta average of the nanodispersions remained virtually unchanged in solutions with different pH levels and short-term storage (14 days) at room temperature. Overall, it has been demonstrated that Ganoderic acid nanodispersions can be efficiently generated by combining ultrasound cavitation and solvent evaporation.

This paper presents a comprehensive study on the application and optimization of automotive thermoelectric generators (ATEGs), focusing on the crucial role of heat exchangers in enhancing energy conversion efficiency. Recognizing the substantial waste of thermal energy in internal combustion engines, our research delves into the potential of TEGs to convert engine waste heat into electrical energy, thereby improving fuel efficiency and reducing environmental impact. We meticulously analyze various heat exchanger designs, assessing their influence on the TEG's output power under different exhaust gas flow rates and temperatures. Furthermore, we explore the impact of TEG material properties on the overall energy conversion effectiveness. Our findings reveal that specific heat exchanger designs significantly enhance the efficiency of waste gas heat exchange, leading to an improved performance of the TEG system. We also highlight the importance of thermal insulation in maximizing TEG output. This study not only contributes to the ongoing efforts to develop more sustainable and efficient vehicles but also provides valuable insights into the practical application of thermoelectric technology in automotive engineering. Through this research, we aim to pave the way for more environmentally friendly transportation solutions, aligning with global efforts to reduce fossil fuel dependence and mitigate environmental pollution.

Despite UAV multi-target detection exhibits considerable developmental potential worldwide, it suffers distinct challenges compared with traditional tasks in this field. These challenges include insufficient feature extraction capabilities for small targets, limited capabilities for multi-dimensional feature fusion, as well as constraints on hardware computation parameters. Especially in mission scenarios such as disaster detection, these challenges will be further amplified. Consequently, this paper introduces SSE-YOLO, an innovative YOLO framework algorithm specially designed to address these challenges. To enhance the model's feature extraction capability, we employ the SPDConv module to replace the original Conv in the backbone section, utilizing depth-separable convolution instead of traditional convolution pooling. Concurrently, we eliminate the SPPF module at the bottom and address a new Separate Kernel Attention Pyramid Pooling (SKAPP) module, substantially enhancing the feature fusion capability at the model's core. Moreover, to address the challenge of multi-dimensional feature fusion, we replace the Concat module of the neck and head with E-BiFPN, transmitting feature information from the backbone to the lower network through four CBS blocks, which effectively resolves the issue of lost contextual information in the model. Meanwhile, SSE-YOLO undergoes ablation experiments on the VisDrone2019 dataset to evaluate its effectiveness against alternative methods, and experimental results illustrate the model's exceptional precision in detecting UAV targets. In comparison to models with comparable experimental accuracy, SSE-YOLO requires remarkably fewer parameters. On the VisDrone2019-DET-test-dev dataset, SSE-YOLO enhances mAP by 17.3%, with a 42.5% reduction in the parameter amounts. Therefore, the proposed method effectively tackles the challenge of reconciling low parameters and high accuracy, presenting a novel pathway for deep learning-based UAV multi-target detection.

Due to the fact that abrasive media can deform flexibly in abrasive flow machining (AFM) making this method easily to polish the complex holes and the curved surface of the hard machining shapes. Although abrasive media dominate the polishing behavior in AFM process, the mechanism of the abrasive media are not easy to understand because of the high viscous gels, therefore, many finishing works need lots of time to design AFM process. Power laws of the abrasive gels is studied here to evaluate the non-Newtonian flow of abrasive gels in complex holes polishing firstly, at the mean time different abrasive gels are utilized to finish the complex holes to follow the results by non-Newtonian flow calculation. Moreover, traditional AFM has difficulty to achieve a uniform roughness of radial distribution in the complex holes polishing because of the non-uniform abrasive forces. So a helical passageway is proposed to create a multiple motion of abrasive medium and to obtain the even surface of the complex holes in AFM process.

This paper discovers that current canonical variational principle and canonical Noether theorem of (in)finite freedom systems for different physics systems have neglected doublet extreme value processes of the general extreme value functional that both is derived by variational principle and is necessarily be taken in deriving all ( quantum ) physics laws in phase space, but which have not been done for over one century since Noether's showing her distinguished theorem, which lead to the crisis deriving all (quantum) physics laws (necessary) in phase space. We discover there is the hidden logic cycle that people assume canonical equations, and then they finally deduce canonical equations by the equivalent relation in the whole processes in all current references. We correct the current key mistake concepts that when physics systems take the variational extreme values, the appearing processes of the physics systems are real physics processes, otherwise, are virtual processes in all current references. The real physics should be what after taking the physics systems' variational extreme values, the physics systems' general extremum functional needs to further take the general extremum functional's minimum absolute extremum zero, otherwise, the appearing processes of physics systems still are virtual processes. Conservation current equations and conservation currents, in phase space, of general canonical variational principle and general canonical Noether theorem are, respectively, deduced for the first time. Using the general extremum functionals' doublet extreme value processes, the hidden logic cycle and the crisis in current canonical variational principle and current canonical Noether theorem are solved. Consequently, the new mathematical pictures, classical and quantum new physics in phase space and the new mathematical and physical doublet extremum processes for (in)finite freedom systems are discovered. General canonical variational principle and general canonical Noether theorem naturally are given, which would rewrite all the different sciences in phase space, as key tools of studying and dealing with them.

A total internal reflection photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based on hexagonal core is proposed for gas sensing in a specific wavelength range. The higher sensitivity and lower confinement loss were realized by the structure of the proposed PCF consists of two layers with circular holes rotated hexagonally around a core region and six slotted air-hole in the cladding based on numerical analysis. The simulation results show that the enhancement of the relative sensitivity has been done by enhancing the diameter of the hexagonal shape air-hole cladding (d1) and the hexagonal arranged holes around the central solid core (d0) in this design. Also, the confinement loss has been reduced by enhancing the ratio of length to width of slotted holes (l/w) and decreasing the cladding air-hole diameters (d1). As the refractive index increases, the wavelength shifts toward the long wavelength. And in a certain temperature range, the transmission characteristics of the device does not change with the temperature. The results are helpful for designing high performance PCF for gas sensing applications.

Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, and its two major types, esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) present a severe global public health problem with an increasing incidence and mortality. Established risk factors include smoking, alcohol consumption, and dietary habits, but recent research highlights the substantial role of oral microbiota in EC pathogenesis. This review explores the intricate relationship between microbiome and esophageal carcinogenesis, focusing on eight significant mechanisms: chronic inflammation, microbial dysbiosis, production of carcinogenic metabolites, direct interaction with epithelial cells, epigenetic modifications, interaction with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), metabolic changes, and angiogenesis. Certain harmful bacteria, such as Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum, are specifically implicated in sustaining irritation and tumor progression through pathways including NF-κB and NLRP3 inflammasome. Additionally, the review explores how microbial byproducts, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), contribute to DNA harm and disease advancement. Furthermore, the impact of reflux on microbiota composition and its role in esophageal carcinogenesis is evaluated. By combining epidemiological data with mechanistic understanding, this review underscores the potential to target microbiota-immune system interplay for novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies to prevent and treat esophageal cancer.

Sympatric distribution and temporal overlap of cryptic zooplankton species pose a challenge to the framework of the niche differentiation theory and the mechanisms allowing competitor coexistence. We applied the methods of phylogenetic analysis, DNA taxonomy and statistical analysis to study the temporal distribution patterns of cryptic B. calyciflorus species, an excellent model, in three lakes, and to explore the putative mechanisms for their seasonal succession and temporal overlap. The results showed that in the warm-temperate Lake Yunlong, B. fernandoi and B. calyciflorus s.s. underwent a seasonal succession, which was largely attributed to their differential adaptation to water temperature. In the subtropical Lake Jinghu, B. fernandoi, B. calyciflorus s.s. and B. dorcas exhibited both seasonal succession and temporal overlap. Seasonal successions were largely attributed to their differential adaptation to temperature, and temporal overlap resulted from their differential responses to algal food concentration. In the tropical Lake Jinniu, B. calyciflorus s.s. persisted throughout the year, and overlapped with B. dorcas for 5 months. Temporal overlap resulted from their differential responses to copepod predation. These results indicated that the temporal distribution pattern of cryptic B. calyciforus species and the mechanism allowing competitor coexistence vary with different climate zones.

This paper studies a model of dynamic compensation and capital structure with managerial traits. We show that Optimistic manager perceives equity as more undervalued than debt, while, confident manager perceives debt as more undervalued than equity. Managerial risk aversion mitigates manager’s bias. The risk aversion of the optimistic manager has a convex effect on the optimal coupon. There exists the level of risk aversion eliminating the bias on the leverage. The managerial optimist has an ambiguous effect on the owner’s bankruptcy level. The risk aversion has a convex effect on the owner’s bankruptcy level. The optimistic/confident manager underestimates the credit spread. The risk aversion has convex effect on the credit spread. In contrast to rational manager, the optimistic/confident manger has higher level of effort. The risk aversion has a negative effect on the effort.

The sustainable development of resource-based cities has long been a focal point for both governmental policies and academic research. A wealth of academic literature identifies the 'resource curse' as a critical barrier to sustainable development in these urban areas. Despite extensive studies, a consensus on effective strategies to circumvent or resolve this challenge remains elusive. Recent empirical data reveals a noticeable pattern of economic growth differentiation in China's resource-based cities. Why do some resource-based cities experience economic decline while others achieve sustainable economic growth? Therefore, this paper analyzes the reasons for the divergence of economic growth in resource cities from the perspective of heterogeneity. The results of the study show that the phenomenon of the resource curse is conditional, and the heterogeneity of demo-graphic changes, geographic location and institutional environment has a significant impact on the economic growth of resource cities. These factors are investigated to elucidate the observed diversification and heterogeneity in the economic growth of resource-based cities. Building upon this analysis, the paper proposes a framework for differentiated sustainable development pathways tailored to the unique contexts of these cities. This approach not only contributes to the current understanding of the 'resource curse' but also offers novel insights for future research aiming to adopt a more nuanced and context-specific perspective in examining sustainable urban development.

Gibberella ear rot (GER) caused by Fusarium graminearum (teleomorph Gibberella zeae) is one of the most destructive diseases in maize that severely reduces grain yield and contaminates several potential mycotoxins. However, few efforts had been devoted to dissect the genetic basis of maize GER resistance. In the present study, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted in a maize association panel consisting of 303 diverse inbred lines. The phenotypes of GER severity were evaluated using kernel bioassay across multiple time points in the laboratory. Then, three models including fixed and random model circulating probability unification model (FarmCPU), general linear model (GLM) and mixed linear model (MLM), were conducted simultaneously in GWAS to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with GER resistance. A total of four individual significant association SNPs with the phenotypic variation explained (PVE) ranging from 3.51 to 6.42% were obtained. Interestingly, the peak SNP (PUT-163a-71443302-3341) with the greatest PVE value, was co-localized in all models. Subsequently, 12 putative genes were captured from the peak SNP that several of these genes were directly or indirectly involved in disease resistance. Overall, these findings contribute to understand the complex plant-pathogen interactions in maize GER resistance. The regions and genes identified herein provide a list of candidate targets for further investigation, in addition to the kernel bioassay that can be used for evaluating and selecting elite germplasm resources with GER resistance in maize.

The success of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analysis hinges on the precision and robustness of the calibration model. Shallow learning (SL) algorithms like partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) often fall short in capturing interrelationships between adjacent spectral variables, and the analysis results are easily affected by spectral noise, which dramatically limits the breadth and depth application of NIRS. Deep learning (DL) methods, with their capacity to discern intricate features from limited samples, are progressively integrated into NIRS. In this paper, two discriminant analysis problems including wheat kernels and Yali pears were used as examples, and several representative calibration models to research the robustness and effectiveness of the model. Additionally, this article proposed a near-infrared calibration model, which is based on gramian angular difference field and coordinate attention convolutional neural networks (G-CACNN). The research results show that, compared with SL, spectral preprocessing has a smaller impact on the analysis accuracy of consensus learning (CL) and DL, and the latter has the highest analysis accuracy in the modeling results of using the original spectrum. The accuracy of G-CACNN in two discrimination tasks is 98.48% and 99.39%, respectively. Finally, This research compared the performance of various models under noise to evaluate the robustness and noise resistance of the proposed method.

Catastrophic mass flows originating from the high mountain cryosphere often cause hazard cascades. With increasing human activities in the alpine region and the sensitivity of glaciers, snow and permafrost to climate warming, the cryospheric hazard risks tend to be more active in the Tibetan Plateau(TP). The remoteness and inaccessibility of high mountain regions make the remote sensing technology the most effective approach for monitoring and investigating the cryospheric hazards. Exploring the evolution process and impact of ice avalanches and subsequent hazards are crucial to understand drivers and nature of mass flow process chain in order to prevent and mitigate potential hazard consequences. In this study, the glacier and ice-rock avalanches occurred in Arutso and Sedongpu basins in Tibet were investigated on the basis of Sentinel-2 time-series images and in-situ investigation, the evolution process of these events were reconstructed, and impacts and driving factors were analyzed. The massive Chamoli rock-ice avalanche occurred in February 2021 in the western Himalayas was also reviewed using using same methods. The study shows that Arutso glacier No. 53 (Arutso-53) avalanche completely melted away in July 2018 after two years from occurrence to final disappearance, while Arutso glacier No. 50 (Arutso-50) avalanche completely melted by the end of August 2023 after lasting for seven years. Four large-scale ice-rock avalanche and debris flow events in the Sedongpu basin in 2017 and 2018 not only had significant impacts on the river flow, landscape and geomorphologic shape in the basin, but also caused serious disasters in the basin and downstream. In March 2021, a small-scale ice-rock avalanche and debris flow event occurred again in the Sedongpu basin. The glacier and ice-rock avalanches occurred in Tibet area were mainly induced by climate warming, heavy precipitation and seismic activity, which acting on specific topographic and geomorphic structure of glacier properties in the high mountain regions. Catastrophic hazard events originating from the high-elevation glacier and ice-rock collapses in the mountain cryosphere and subsequent hazard cascades in the TP and Himalayas highlight the importance of mountain hazard monitoring, early warning systems and sustainable mountain development.

It has been well known that the exponential distribution is the only continuous distribution that has the memoryless property. Here, we observe that, if the exponential distribution dominates an economy as a probability distribution of income acquisition, then the memoryless property imposes equal opportunities on agents in this economy to acquire earnings. Based on this observation, we propose to identify the emergence of an exponential income distribution as a potential necessary condition for guaranteeing the equality of opportunity. Together with other conditions (such as social and economic mobility), it would promote equal opportunities for income acquisition among citizens. Empirically, we employ the latest data available from four representative market-economy countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and China) to demonstrate that the exponential distribution is a stylized feature of the income structure of the low- and middle-income class, which occupies the great majority of populations. By contrast, the top income classes in these countries obey the Pareto distribution. To validate the relationship between exponential distribution and equal opportunity, we empirically show how the income structure of the low- and middle-income class in China (from 1978 to 2015) evolved towards an exponential distribution after the market-oriented economic reformation.

To ensure consumers can purchase high-quality rice, accurate identification of rice varieties is particularly important. Methods: This article conducts research based on machine learning algorithms from the perspectives of image, spectrum, and spectrogram fusion. Six types of hyperspectral image data of rice were preprocessed using convolutional smoothing (SG) and multiple scatter correction (MSC). Texture information of the images was extracted using gray-level co-occurrence matrix. Spectra, texture, and spectrogram data were fused into a new matrix. Spectral, texture, and spectrogram fusion data were used as inputs for the model, and support vector machines (SVM), logistic regression (LR), and K-nearest neighbors (KNN) classification models were constructed and compared. Results: From the classification results, the spectrogram fusion classification performance was better than classification models using only spectra or texture. Conclusion: The research results showed that the accuracy of SVM and LR classification models exceeded 90%, and the LR model performed the best, effectively classifying rice varieties.

Abstract: High step-up voltage gain nonisolated DC-DC converter have attracted much attention in photovoltaic, fuel cells and other renewable energy system applications. In this paper, by combining input current ripple-free boost cell with coupled-inductor voltage-doubler cell, an input current ripple-free high voltage gain nonisolated converter is proposed. In addition, passive lossless clamp circuit is adopted to recycle the leakage inductor energy and to reduce the voltage spike across the power switch. By utilizing voltage-doubler cell consisting of diode and capacitor, the voltage stress of switch is further reduced and the resonance between the leakage inductor and the stray capacitor of the output diode is eliminated. A low switch-on-resistance low-voltage-rated MOSFET can therefore be employed to reduce the conduction loss and cost. The reverse recovery loss of output diode is reduced, and the efficiency of converter can be improved. Furthermore, the proposed converter can achieve nearly zero input current-ripple and make the design of electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter easy. Steady state analysis and operation mode of the converter is performed. Finally, experimental results are presented to verify the analysis results of the proposed converter.

Background: Particulate matter and urban air pollution affect the human body and can lead to death. Epidemiological studies should consider the exposure to pollutants and the diverse responses of individuals depending on their sensitivity to the pollutants. Methods: In this study, air pollution measurements were obtained hourly at measuring stations operated by the national and local governments to increase the reliability of the measured values. A β-ray absorption method was used to analyze the measurements of fine dust and determine the particulate matter content. Results: The air pollution data were log-converted to enable the comparison of data from different time periods. The comparison was made, focusing on the period of Seoul's fine dust policy. As a result, the cancer incidence rate also decreased after the policy. The data on individual characteristics were obtained from a survey of Seoul citizens conducted from 2015 to 2016 and using indicators such as the quality of life and social trust of Seoul citizens. Concludions: The survey on the living environment and residence indicated that 80% of the heads of households were men. Women had a greater dissatisfaction than men with the residential, economic, and social environments. The survey questions on well-being were related to the internal and external environment such as air pollution, noise, and fine dust.

We present a distributed optical-fiber temperature sensor with enhanced sensitivity based on an Al-coated fiber using the Rayleigh backscattering spectra (RBS) shift in optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR). The Al-coated sensing fiber with a higher thermal expansion coefficient compared to silica produces a strain-coupled shift in the RBS under an increase in temperature. This effect leads to an enhanced temperature sensitivity of the distributed measurement scheme. Our results revealed that the temperature sensitivity obtained using the Al-coated fiber in OFDR was ~56% higher relative to that of a single-mode fiber. Moreover, the minimum measurable temperature recorded was 1 °C with a spatial resolution of 5 cm.

Purpose: Intervertebral disc is a leading avascular organ in the body. Hence, it may utilize autophagy and apoptosis to alive in unfavorable condition like stress and mechanical force. But excessive force and stress is a key cause to intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). Purpose of this study is to identify, external fixator (EF) and saline injection (SI) may induce autopahgy and apoptosis mediated nucleus pulposus (NP) cells death in rat tail’s disc and which method is better for studying autophagy and apoptosis. Methods: Sixteen 9-week-old male Sprague–Dawley rat tails were treated with 0.9% saline and EF (two-cross kirschner wires) for 6 weeks and 12 weeks as well. Treated discs were dissected for checking out participation of autopahgy and apoptosis to intervertebral disc degradation (IVDD). For identifying them, we performed H&E staining, Masson’s trichrome staining, and Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for LC3, Beclin-1and P62 as well as MMP-2, MMP-3 and TIMP-1.Furthermore, we performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)to check out autophagy related gene expression (beclin-1, LC3 and P62) and apoptosis related gene expression (MMP-2, MMP-3 and TIMP-1) respectively. Results: More insidious nucleus pulposus (NP) cell degeneration was indentified in (EF) group than in (Ctrl) control group. And rate of degradation was elevated with increasing duration of compression, but SI group cannot distinguish the margin of AF and NP cells. Highest along with lateral expression was found for LC3, Beclin-1, and P62 of both groups. Up-regulated and central expression was observed for MMP-2, MMP-3 and TIMP-1 of both groups, although SI group cannot recognize the margin between NP and AF cells. Utmost autophagy related gene expression was identified in EF group than in SI group. Besides, maximum autophagy accumulating materials was found in EF group than in SI group. And it was amplified along with increasing the duration of compression. Highest, apoptotic gene expression was observed in SI group, whereas, EF group showed lowest expression. Conclusion: External fixator (EF) method was better to study autophagy and apoptosis because it enhanced IVDD after compression which is actively linked with autophagy and apoptosis. Degeneration process was conversely proportional along with duration of compression. On contrary, saline injection (SI) could not distinguish AF and NP cell border.

For the elimination of radio-frequency interference (RFI) in a passive microwave radiometer, the threshold level is generally calculated from the mean value and standard deviation. However, a serious problem that can arise is an error in the retrieved brightness temperature from a higher threshold level owing to the presence of RFI. In this paper, we propose a method to detect and mitigate RFI contamination using the threshold level from statistical criteria based on a spectrogram technique. Mean and skewness spectrograms are created from a brightness temperature spectrogram by shifting the 2-D window to discriminate the form of the symmetric distribution as a natural thermal emission signal. From the remaining bins of the mean spectrogram eliminated by RFI-flagged bins in the skewness spectrogram for data captured at 0.1-s intervals, two distribution sides are identically created from the left side of the distribution by changing the standard position of the distribution. Simultaneously, kurtosis calculations from these bins for each symmetric distribution are repeatedly performed to determine the retrieved brightness temperature corresponding to the closest kurtosis value of three. The performance is evaluated using experimental data, and the error in the retrieved brightness temperature is observed to be less than approximately 3 K from a window with a size of 100 × 100 time-frequency bins according to the RFI levels and cases.

The integration of robotic devices into healthcare settings for rehabilitation purposes represents a rapidly advancing field with significant benefits for both therapists and patients. However, standalone robot systems face limitations such as inefficient processing of patient data and logistical challenges for patients, such as travel time to rehabilitation centers. To address these shortcomings, this paper proposes the integration of cyber-physical systems into rehabilitation robotics. Cyber-physical systems leverage network connectivity and real-time data processing to enhance the efficiency and convenience of robot-based rehabilitation. By seamlessly integrating sensors, actuators, and computational algorithms, cyber-physical rehabilitation systems empower therapists to more effectively treat patients by providing actionable insights derived from comprehensive data analysis. This enables therapists to tailor treatment plans precisely to each patient’s unique needs, ultimately leading to improved outcomes. Additionally, cyber-physical rehabilitation systems facilitate remote monitoring and intervention, allowing therapists to oversee patient progress and make timely adjustments to treatment protocols without the need for in-person visits. This not only saves patients valuable time and resources but also ensures continuity of care, particularly for individuals residing in remote or underserved areas. Furthermore, cyber-physical rehabilitation systems enable collaborative decision-making by facilitating communication and information sharing among healthcare professionals, further enhancing the quality and efficacy of rehabilitation services. In summary, integrating cyber-physical systems into rehabilitation robotics represents a significant advancement in leveraging technology to optimize patient care and outcomes, promising to revolutionize rehabilitation therapy.

The intense motion of a ship can greatly impacts the comfort of crew members and the safety of the vessel. Therefore, accurately estimating and predicting ship attitudes has become an important issue. This paper introduces the latest development in functional deep learning model called DeepOnet. It takes wave height as input and ship motion as output, using a cause-to-result prediction approach. The modeling data used in this study is sourced from publicly available experimental data from the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research. Firstly, parameters system tuning was conducted for the neural network's hyperparameters to determine the appropriate combination of parameters. Secondly, the DeepOnet model for wave height and multi-degree-of-freedom motion was established, and the influence of increasing time steps on prediction accuracy was examined. Finally, a comparison was made between the DeepOnet model and the classical time series model LSTM. It was found that the DeepOnet model had a 10-fold improvement in accuracy for roll and heave attitudes. Moreover, as the forecast duration increased, the advantage of DeepOnet showed a trend of strengthening. As a functional prediction model, DeepOnet provides a new promising tool for very short-term prediction of ship motion.

This chapter aims to construct a relatively complete, universal, and highly reliable road surface state monitoring and perception system through the research of the A1 contact road reconstruction project of an international airport (hereinafter referred to as the “airport”). The system design is based on on-the-spot investigation, theoretical analysis, and engineering practice, using vibrating string type and resistive strain sensors as sensing means, real-time high-frequency signal acquisition technology as the guide, 4G router for wireless communication technology as the media, and storage technology for monitoring system based on server storage terminals. In combination with engineering background, aircraft motion state, main landing gear configuration, sensor selection and evaluation, and other major factors, the actual monitoring information needs of the plane are fully taken into account, as well as the difference in sensor information types, and the system design is carried out by stratification and classification.

The microbiota of human breast milk (HBM) contributes to infant gut colonization; however, whether bacterial extracellular vesicles (EVs) are present in HBM or might contribute to this process remains unknown. In the present study, we characterized the HBM microbiota of healthy Korean mothers and measured the key bacteria likely affecting infant gut colonization by analyzing both the microbiota and bacterial EVs. A total of 22 HBM samples were collected from lactating mothers. The DNA of bacteria and bacteria-derived EVs was extracted from each sample. Gene analysis was performed using Illumina MiSeq. Firmicutes accounted for the largest portion among the phyla, followed by Proteobacteria, Bacteroides, and Actinobacteria in both bacteria and bacterial EV samples. At the genus level, Streptococcus (25.1%) and Staphylococcus (10.7%) were predominant in bacterial samples, whereas Bacteroides (9.1%), Acinetobacter (6.9%), and Lactobacillaceae(f) (5.5%) were prevalent in bacterial EV samples. Several genera including Bifidobacterium were significantly positively correlated between the two samples. Our findings reveal the diverse bacterial communities in HBM of healthy lactating mothers and suggest the presence of key bacteria with metabolic activity in HBM and that EVs derived from these bacteria may contribute to the vertical transfer of gut microbiota from mother to infant.

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.

The effects of chemical composition and solidification rate on the solidification behavior of high-Cr white irons were investigated through directional solidification. Increasing the solidi-fication rate in hypoeutectic alloys caused the finer dendrite arm spacing as expected. The eutec-tic structure which formed in the interdendritic region comprised of M7C3 and austenite, how-ever, secondary dendrite arms of hypoeutectic alloys contained a few M7C3 particles that solidi-fied prior to the eutectic structure. The transition from cellular to dendritic solidification oc-curred at a solidification rate between 50 µm/s and 100 µm/s in a near eutectic alloy. In the near eutectic alloy with cellular solidification, a directionally arrayed in-situ composite of M7C3/austenite formed within the cell. Speckle-like feature appeared in the intercellular region due to M23C6 carbide precipitation during subsequent cooling after freezing. Like dendrite arm spacing in hypoeutectic alloys, the inter-speckle spacing and the inter-fibre spacing became finer with increasing solidification rate in the cellular solidification range.

A space charge density wireless measurement system based on the idea of distributed measurement is proposed for collecting and monitoring the space charge density in an ultra-high-voltage direct-current (UHVDC) environment. The proposed system architecture is composed of a number of wireless nodes connected with space charge density sensors and a base station. The space charge density sensor based on atmospheric ion counter method is elaborated and developed, and the ARM microprocessor and Zigbee radio frequency module are applied. The wireless network communication quality and the relationship between energy consumption and transmission distance in the complicated electromagnetic environment is tested. Based on the experimental results, the proposed measurement system demonstrates that it can adapt to the complex electromagnetic environment under the UHVDC transmission lines and can accurately measure the space charge density.

In order to study the performance of a new type of cement-based grouting material under the coupling effect of freezing-thawing cycle and sulfate attack, experiments were designed and carried out. The damage mechanism of the material under the coupling effect of freezing-thawing and Na2SO4 solution was analyzed by measuring the mass change, relative dynamic elastic modulus, compressive strength loss and microstructure of the new grouting material. With increasing freeze-thaw cycles, mass loss and compres-sive strength loss of the sample in 15% Na2SO4 solution gradually increase, and the relative dynamic elastic modulus gradually decreases. During a 30-cycle freeze-thaw cycle, the mass loss rate, compressive strength loss rate, and relative dynamic elastic modulus of the sample are 4.17%, 24.59%, and 84.3%, respectively, showing good corrosion resistance and frost resistance durability. Microscopic analysis showed that SO42- caused the decomposition of C-S-H gel in the sample and the formation of Gypsum, and the widening of crack width aggravated the internal deterioration, indicating that the material deterioration rate increased under the dual-factor coupling effect.

Knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) are professional services that create new added value by creating, accumulating, and disseminating new knowledge. When it comes to conducting business involving new technology, KIBS play the roles of innovator, user, and producer of new technology that has led to technological innovation. This study aimed to determine the role of KIBS as a tool for innovation in a country’s economic system. Specifically, the degree and role of their impact on the Korean economy were analyzed and compared for the entire KIBS sector, T-KIBS (a new technology-based professional service), P-KIBS (a traditional professional service), and every subsector. For this purpose, the demand-inducement model, supply inducement model, and interlinkage effects method were applied using the 2019 input-output table published in 2022. The analysis showed that the indirect production inducement effect of the entire KIBS industry on other industries was 0.800 KRW, the indirect added value inducement effect was 0.330 KRW, and the supply disruption effect was 1.144 KRW. For T-KIBS, the indirect production inducement effect was 0.687 KRW, the indirect added value inducement effect was 0.272 KRW, and the supply disruption effect was 0.730 KRW. For P-KIBS, the indirect production inducement effect was 1.472 KRW, the indirect added value inducement effect was 0.646 KRW, and the supply disruption effect was 2.657 KRW. Finally, regarding the economic ripple effect of the KIBS subsector, legal and management support services and advertisements corresponding to P-KIBS showed higher figures than the T-KIBS subsectors in all sectors, including production inducement, the added value inducement effect, and the supply disruption effect. These results revealed that in the South Korean economic system, KIBS contribute to production and value addition across all industrial sectors. It is apparent that the absence of supply significantly disrupts other industries. Furthermore, production inducement effects are evenly distributed among all the KIBS subsectors in the secondary and tertiary sectors, while the value-added effects have a greater impact on the tertiary sector. In terms of the supply shortage effects, the secondary sector experiences a more significant impact. This underscores the crucial role of KIBS in sustaining and enhancing overall economic activity in South Korea. This study is significant in that it not only investigated KIBS as an industry group using the advantages provided by industry linkage analysis but also examined and compared detailed subsectors, thereby elaborately evaluating the influence relationship between KIBS and other industries. Therefore, the results presented in this study are expected to be useful for fostering the KIBS industrial sector and establishing economic innovation policies using KIBS.

Static and dynamic analysis of website security risks is generally used for website security meas-urements. The website security measurements method recently proposed includes similarity hash-based website security risk analysis and machine learning-based website security risk anal-ysis. In this study, a method that can be performed through information disclosed on the Internet was proposed to measure the risk of a website. DNS information, IP information, and website history information are required to measure the risk of a website. In addition, global traffic rank-ing, malicious code distribution history, and HTTP access status can be checked in the website history information. In this study, information related to the security risk of websites in a total of 2,000 domains was collected and analyzed in 1,000 normal and malicious domains. Through the experiment results, 11 open information collection items were selected to measure the security risk of the website. This study presented the possibility of using public information collection to measure website security risk.

The objective of the this study was to reduce the benzo[a]pyrene-induced hepatotoxicity method in herbal medicine products and to give proof that neferine, daidzein, genistein possess antihepa-totoxic effects. B[a]P which classified as a group 1 carcinogen and metabolized to B[a]P-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE) causes mutagenic DNA addition products. The reduc-tion of BPDE-DNA adduct formation by B[a]P-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE) was derived by benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). In HepG2 cells, B[a]P exhibited toxicity and substance treatment of the cells with B[a]P with neferine in lotus and daidzein, genistein in soybean reduced the BPDE-DNA ad-ducts level. The level of B[a]P-metabolites in the substance treatment of the cells was presented that BPDE levels were reduced by neferine in lotus and daidzein, genisten in soybean. These results suggest that neferine in lotus and daidzein, genistein in soybean prevent B[a]P-induced hepato-toxicity for BPDE-DNA adduct formation.

Session-based recommendations which aim to predict subsequent user-item interaction based on historical user behavior during anonymous sessions can be challenging tasks. Two main challenges need to be addressed and improved: (1) How to analyze these sessions to accurately and completely capture users’ preferences, and (2) how to identify and eliminate any interference caused by noisy behavior. Existing methods have not adequately addressed these issues since they either neglected the valuable insight that can be gained from analyzing consecutive groups of items or failed to take these noisy data in sessions seriously and handled them properly, which can jointly impede recommendation systems from capturing users’ real intentions. To address these two problems, we designed a multi-order semantic denoising (MSD) model for session-based recommendations. Specifically, we grouped items of different lengths as varying multi-order semantic units to mine the user’s primary intention from multiple dimensions. Meanwhile, a novel denoising network was designed to alleviate the interference of noisy behavior and provide a more precise session representation. The result of extensive experiments on three real-world datasets demonstrated that the proposed MSD model exhibited improved performance compared with existing state-of-the-art methods in session-based recommendation.

Due to their independent structure, piping, and access, townhouses offer great flexibility in floor plan changes and high spatial autonomy, making them the mainstream housing type in Taiwan. This study focuses on row houses and examines 2022 completion cases in Kaohsiung City. It collects floor plans from 14 newly constructed buildings, totaling 227 units, and analyzes spatial dimensions including facade width, depth, habitable room, staircases, bathrooms, and total floor area for each case. The objective of this study is to examine the spatial layout of row houses in Kaohsiung City, with the aim of providing reference for future planning and design of such structures. The study resulted showed that 81.8% of the row houses analyzed have a total floor area per unit ranging from 136 to 192 m², a facade width between 4.1 and 6.38 meters, and a building depth from 7.67 to 12.68 meters. In addition, low negative correlation between facade width and total floor area, a high positive correlation between building depth and total floor area, and a moderate negative correlation between facade width and building depth. The spatial distribution within these houses includes 78% allocated to habitable room, 13.1% to staircases, and 8.7% to bathrooms. The total area of habitable room and bathrooms increases with the total floor area of the building. However, the total area of staircases remains almost constant as the area of habitable room increases. Furthermore, the most common location for staircase planning is the rear-right (RB) position, while the least common is the rear-left (LB) position. Among various staircase types, the C-shaped staircase has the largest average area per floor and the highest average proportion. Conversely, the I-shaped staircase has the smallest average area and the lowest average proportion. The U-shaped staircase is the most frequently planned, whereas the C-shaped staircase is the least frequently used.

In this work, optimal consumption and investment strategies are derived for risk-averse investors under the 4/2 stochastic volatility class of models. We work under an expected utility (EUT) framework and consider a Constant Relative Risk Aversion (CRRA) investor, who might also be ambiguity-averse. The corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) and HJB-Isaacs (HJBI) equations are solved in closed-form for a subset of the parametric space and under some restrictions on the portfolio setting, for complete markets. Conditions for proper changes of measure and well defined solutions are provided. These are the first analytical solutions for the 4/2 stochastic volatility model and the embedded 3/2 model for the type of excess returns established in .

This study examines the negative impacts of dark stores on the urban environment from three perspectives: land use, transportation, and streetscape. It is conducted on B-Mart, a representative dark store in South Korea. First, in terms of land use, we find that dark stores that function as logistics facilities conflict with the surrounding land use. Second, by analyzing the location of dark stores and the hourly traffic volume of delivery vehicles, we find that the impact on the surrounding transportation infrastructure and pedestrian traffic is not as significant as previously claimed. However, during the transportation and loading process of the dark store, several problems such as traffic violations, illegal parking, and illegal loading were observed, posing a risk to nearby vehicles and pedestrians. Third, in terms of streetscapes, the location of dark stores on the ground floor of buildings can harm streetscapes. The current urban planning system in South Korea does not clearly define the status and function of dark stores, making it unclear how to manage them. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify their legal definition and introduce urban planning and design guidelines that are consistent with their appropriate location and appearance.

Concerns regarding the safety of ethoxyquin (EQ) have gradually increased, highlighting the necessity of identifying safer and more effective antioxidants for use in animal feed. This study investigates the effects of a compound antioxidant (CA) as an alternative to ethoxyquin on feed oxidative stability, growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal health in broilers. A total of 351 one-day-old Arbor Acres Plus male broilers were randomly assigned to three treatments with nine replicates of 13 birds each. The experimental treatments included: CON group (basal diet), EQ group (basal diet + 200 g/ton EQ at 60% purity), and CA group (basal diet + 200 g/ton compound antioxidant, which comprises 18% butylated hydroxytoluene, 3% citric acid, and 1% tertiary butylhydroquinone). The experiment lasted for 21 days. Compared to the control group, supplementation with CA significantly reduced the acid value, peroxide value, and malondialdehyde content in the feeds after storage. Moreover, CA supplementation significantly decreased feed intake and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) without affecting weight gain of boilers, while also improving liver antioxidant capacity (increased T-AOC and SOD levels), intestinal antioxidant capacity (increased CAT, HO-1, and GPX7 protein expression), and enhancing the duodenal villus height-to-crypt depth ratio and jejunal villus height. Additionally, CA treatment reduced intestinal barrier permeability (decreased diamine oxidase activity and D-lactate levels), potentially by promoting the expression of Occludin, ZO-1, and Mucin2 protein. Furthermore, the addition of CA elevated the protein levels of NF-κB p50 along with its inhibitory factors, IκB and NF-κB p105, in the intestines of broilers, thereby enhancing immune regulatory capacity. This supplementation also led to an increased abundance of beneficial gut microorganisms, including Lactobacillus, Alistipes, Candidatus Arthromitus, and Turicibacter. In comparison to the EQ group, CA supplementation enhanced feed oxidative stability, decreased the FCR, and improved the intestinal morphology, barrier functions, and inflammatory status in broilers. These findings suggest that this compound antioxidant may serve as a healthier and more effective alternative to ethoxyquin.

This paper presents a piezoresistive pressure sensor with a shield layer for improved stability. Compared with the conventional piezoresistive pressure sensors, p-type piezoresistors are covered by an n-type shield layer, which is formed by ion implantation. The proposed pressure sensors have been successfully fabricated by bulk micromachining techniques. The impact of electrical field on piezoresistors is studied by simulation. The temperature drift of the pressure sensor has been investigated by both simulation and experimental measurement. Characteristics of developed pressure sensors are tested from -40 C to 125 C. A sensitivity of 0.022 mV/V/KPa and a maximum non-linearity of 0.085% FS are measured for the fabricated sensor in a pressure range of 1 MPa. The temperature coefficients of resistance of shielded piezoresistors are found to be smaller than those of un-shielded ones. It is demonstrated that the shield layer is able to reduce the drift caused by electrical field and ambient temperature variation.

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 paper gives both a general canonical quantum gravity theory and the general canonical quantum gravity theories of the Universe and general black hole, and discovers the relations reflecting symmetric properties of the standard nonlinear gravitational Lagrangian, which are not relevant to any concrete metric models. This paper concretely shows the general commutation relations of the general gravitational field operators and their zeroth, first, second and third style, respectively, of high order canonical momentum operators for the general nonlinear system of the standard gravitational Lagrangian, and then has finished all the four styles of the canonical quantization of the standard gravity.

Hemangioblasts give rise to endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which also express the cell surface markers CD133 and C-kit. They may differentiate into the outgrowth endothelial cells (OECs) that control neovascularization in the developing embryo. Reduced levels of EPC in circulation have been linked to human cardiovascular disorders, according to numerous studies. Furthermore, preeclampsia and senescence have been linked to levels of EPCs produced from cord blood. Uncertainties surround how preeclampsia affects the way EPCs function. It is reasonable to speculate that preeclampsia may have an impact on the function of fetal EPCs during the in utero period; however, given the present literature's suggestion that maternal vasculopathies, including preeclampsia, damage fetal circulation. Additionally, the differentiation potential and general activity of EPCs may serve as an indicator of the health of the fetal vascular system since they promote neovascularization and repair during pregnancy. Thus, the purpose of this review is to compare, through assessment of their quantity, differentiation potency, angiogenic activity, and senescence, the angiogenic function of fetal EPCs obtained from cord blood for normal and pregnancy problems. This will shed light on the relationship between the angiogenic function of fetal EPCs and pregnancy complications, which could have an effect on the management of long-term health issues like metabolic and cardiovascular disorders in offspring with abnormal vasculature development.

The study provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the existing key policies and considerations in Taiwan's Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs), with the objective of providing useful evidence-based insights for formulating new effective environmental-friendly policies and promoting the existing policies. The study adopts a mixed research methodology that entails the combination of qualitative and quantitative research methodological frameworks. The primary source of the quantitative data for the study is the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) which provides variable data on OECMs and a component of databases of the Protected Planet Initiative (PPI) which is the joint product of UNEP and IUCN, managed by UNEP-WCMC and the IUCN working with governments, communities and collaborating partners. The qualitative methodological framework for the research adopted a technical systematic review approach based on the three-step framework for systematic reviews that involved planning, conducting and reporting the review. The review was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The sources that were included in the review included scientific research materials that focused on the policies related to OECMs. Taiwan has a total of 92 individual areas that are designated as national protected areas (PAs) and OECMs and formally recognized by the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). Out of the 92 designated areas, only seven are managed by the Construction and Planning Agency while the remaining 85 areas are managed by the Forestry Bureau. In terms of designation, 37 areas are designated as major wildlife habitats, 21 areas are designated as nature reserves, 20 areas are designated as wildlife refuges, eight areas are designated as national parks and six areas are designated as forest reserves. The primary themes that were identified were associated with marine spatial planning, environmental impact assessment (EIA) and marine scientific research and included biodiversity, protected area consideration, geographically defined areas, coastal resources and marine ecosystems. Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) have not been widely implemented yet, but most countries, including Taiwan, are increasingly aligning their existing policies with the strategies outlined in the OECMs policies to achieve large area-based conservation targets and reduce biodiversity loss.

Using data-driven models to solve predictive maintenance problems has been prevalent for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). However, such models fail to solve two tasks that OEMs are interested in: (1) Making the well-built failure prediction models working on existing scenarios (vehicles, working conditions) adaptive to target scenarios. (2) Finding out the failure causes, furthermore, determining whether a model generates failure predictions based on reasonable causes. This paper investigates a comprehensive architecture towards making the predictive maintenance system adaptive and interpretable by proposing (1) an ensemble model dealing with time-series data consisting of a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network and Gaussian threshold to achieve failure prediction one week in advance and (2) an online transfer learning algorithm and a meta learning algorithm, which render existing models adaptive to new vehicles with limited data volumes. (3) Furthermore, the Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations (LIME) interpretation tool and super-feature methods are applied to interpret individual and general failure causes. Vehicle data from Isuzu Motors, Ltd., are adopted to validate our method, which include time-series data and histogram data. The proposed ensemble model yields predictions with 100% accuracy for our test data on engine stalling problem and is more rapidly adaptive to new vehicles with smaller error following application of either online transfer learning or the meta learning method. The interpretation methods help elucidate the global and individual failure causes, confirming the model credibility.

Oil-Gan, also known as emblica, is the fruit of the genus Phyllanthus emblica L. The fruits of these trees are high in nutrients and have excellent effects on health care and development values. There are many methods for the management of diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, there is a lack of effective drugs for treating DN from throughout the disease course. The primary aim of this study was to examine the protective effects (including urine analyses, the measurement of inflammatory cytokine levels, and histological examination) and mechanisms of action of an ethyl acetate extract of P. emblica (EPE) on db/db mice, an animal model of diabetic nephropathy, as well as a secondary aim of examining the expression levels of protein kinase Cα (PKCα) in the kidney and its downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibrosis gene transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) by Western blot analyses. Eight db/m C57BLKS/J mice were used as the control group. Forty db/db mice were randomly divided into five groups. Treatments included vehicle, EPE1, EPE2, EPE3 (at doses of 100, 200, or 400 mg/kg EPE), or the comparative drug aminoguanidine for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of treatment, blood samples were collected for analyses of blood glucose, insulin, and HbA1c levels, and pancreatic and kidney tissues were dissected for histological analyses. The present study indicated that the administration of EPE to db/db mice effectively controlled hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia by markedly lowering blood glucose, insulin, and glycosylated HbA1c levels. Administration of EPE to db/db mice decreased the levels of BUN and creatinine both in blood and urine and reduced urinary albumin excretion and the albumin creatine ratio (UACR) in urine. Moreover, EPE treatment decreased the blood levels of inflammatory cytokines, including kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), and NLR family pyrin domain containing (NLRP3). Our findings showed that EPE not only had antihyperglycemic effects but also improved renal function in db/db mice. Histological examination of the kidney by immunohistochemistry indicated that EPE can improve kidney function by ameliorating glomerular morphological damage following glomerular injury; alleviating proteinuria by upregulating the expression of nephrin, a biomarker of early glomerular damage; and inhibiting glomerular expansion and tubular fibrosis. Moreover, the administration of EPE to db/db mice increased the expression levels of p- PKCα/t-PKCα but decreased the expression levels of VEGF and renal fibrosis biomarkers (TGF-β1, collagen IV, p-Smad2, p-Smad3, and Smad4), as shown by Western blot analyses. These results implied that EPE as a supplement has a protective effect against renal dysfunction through the amelioration of insulin resistance as well as the suppression of nephritis and fibrosis in a DN model.

Under the guidance of our previous achievements, and in order to extend this small molecular library. In current work, other 21 novel structures of thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidines containing isoxazole-moiety (1a-1u) were firstly synthesized and the cytotoxicity to A549, HCT116 and MCF-7 cell lines was evaluated using the MTT method. The results showed that most target compounds exhibited good to excellent cytotoxicity to A549, HCT116 and MCF-7 cell lines, especially 6-Methyl-4-{[3-(4-chlorophenyl)-isoxazol-5-yl-]-methoxy-}-thieno[2,3-d]-pyrimidine (1e) exhibited a broad-spectrum and the most potent cytotoxicity to A549, HCT116 and MCF-7 cell lines (IC50s: 2.79, 6.69 and 4.21×10^-3 μM, respectively) as compared with the reference drug gefitinib (IC50s: 17.90, 21.55 and 20.68 μM, respectively). 1e can be seen as the best drug candidates for development of anticancer drugs.