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The optimal designing of the hybrid energy system (HES) is a challenging task due to the multiple objectives and various uncertainties. Especially for HES, primarily powered by solar energy, the reference solar radiation data directly impact the result of the optimization design. To incorporate the stochastic characteristics of solar radiation into the sizing process, a data-driven stochastic modeling method for solar radiation is proposed. The method involves two layers of stochastic processes that capture the intraday variation and daily evolution of solar radiation. First, the clearness index (CI) is introduced to describe the radiation intensity at different times. Then, the daily clearness state (DCS) is proposed, based on the statistical indicators of the intraday CI. The Markov model is used to describe the stochastic evolutionary characteristics between different DCSs. The probabilistic distribution of the CI under different DCS is obtained based on the diffusion kernel density estimation (DKDE), which is used for the stochastic generation of the CI at various times of the day. Finally, the radiation profile required for the optimal design is obtained by the stochastic generation of the DCS sequences and the intraday clearness index under corresponding states. A case study of an off-grid solar-powered HES is provided to illustrate this methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/Introduction: Serum asprosin is expected to become a screening indicator in early‐stage diabetic heart disease. The relationship between serum asprosin and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) was studied in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the community. Materials and Methods: A total of 252 elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were recruited from Zhuoma Community Care Station and Chengbei West Street Community Care Service Center in Changzhi City of Shanxi Province from November 2019 to July 2021. Patients were divided into the LVDD group (n = 195) and the non‐LVDD group (n = 57). The t‐test, Mann–Whitney U test, and χ2 test were used to compare indicators between the LVDD group and the non‐LVDD group. Pearson or Spearman correlation analysis was adopted to evaluate the correlation between serum asprosin and other clinical data. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to analyze the influencing factors on LVDD. Results: Compared with patients without LVDD, patients with LVDD had a higher level of low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C), fasting blood glucose (FPG), and asprosin, but a lower level of early diastolic movement speed (A) to diastolic movement velocity (E) (E/A). Asprosin was positively associated with waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), creatinine, triglycerides (P < 0.05), and negatively associated with E/A and high density lipoprotein cholesterol HDL‐C (P < 0.05). The risk of LVDD increased with elevated asprosin levels after adjustment for age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), BMI, FPG, and LDL‐C. Compared with patients in the lowest tertile of serum asprosin (<275.25 pg/mL), a serum level of asprosin between 275.25–355.08 pg/mL [OR (95% CI) is 2.368 (1.169–4.796), P < 0.05] and asprosin >355.08 pg/mL [OR (95% CI) is 2.549 (1.275–5.095), P < 0.05] patients have a higher risk of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. Conclusions: Serum asprosin was positively associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, and the risk of LVDD increased significantly with increased serum levels of asprosin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sequencing the mitochondrial genome has been increasingly important for the investigation of primary mitochondrial diseases (PMD) and mitochondrial genetics. To overcome the limitations originating from PCR-based mtDNA enrichment, we set out to develop and evaluate a PCR-independent approach in this study, named Pime-Seq (PCR-independent mtDNA enrichment and next generation Sequencing). Results: By using the optimized mtDNA enrichment procedure, the mtDNA reads ratio reached 88.0 ± 7.9% in the sequencing library when applied on human PBMC samples. We found the variants called by Pime-Seq were highly consistent among technical repeats. To evaluate the accuracy and reliability of this method, we compared Pime-Seq with lrPCR based NGS by performing both methods simultaneously on 45 samples, yielding 1677 concordant variants, as well as 146 discordant variants with low-level heteroplasmic fraction, in which Pime-Seq showed higher reliability. Furthermore, we applied Pime-Seq on 4 samples of PMD patients retrospectively, and successfully detected all the pathogenic mtDNA variants. In addition, we performed a prospective study on 192 apparently healthy pregnant women during prenatal screening, in which Pime-Seq identified pathogenic mtDNA variants in 4 samples, providing extra information for better health monitoring in these cases. Conclusions: Pime-Seq can obtain highly enriched mtDNA in a PCR-independent manner for high quality and reliable mtDNA deep-sequencing, which provides us an effective and promising tool for detecting mtDNA variants for both clinical and research purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual trial assembly (VTA) using 3D laser scanning as the digital carrier can overcome the shortcomings of time‐consuming and costly physical preassembly. However, its application in large steel structures with bolted connections remains limited. First, this study introduces a novel approach for acquiring multiscale point cloud data of large steel members using terrestrial laser scanners (TLSs) and hand‐held scanner (HHS). This approach considers both the global data and the local details of the steel members. Additionally, a precise registration method based on magnetic 3D targets is proposed for multiscale point clouds, which enables the registration accuracy of multisource point clouds to reach submillimeter precision. Subsequently, a novel algorithm for feature point screening is introduced, which utilizes a dichotomous point cloud grid approach to identify and extract a significant quantity of bolt holes effectively. This approach enables fully automated and fast extraction of the point cloud on the cylindrical inner surface of the holes. Finally, the bounding box and Procrustes analysis approach are employed to perform VTA using the point cloud of the cylindrical bolt holes as the assembled features. The accuracy and feasibility of the above method are verified by a down‐scale modeling experiment and project test, which provide technical support for the VTA of large steel truss structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trunk canker poses a major threat to the production of Chinese hickory tree (Carya cathayensis Sarg.), which is primarily determined by Botryosphaeriaceae. In our previous work, we identified Botryosphaeria dothidea as the predominant pathogen of this disease. However, it is still unclear about corresponding gene families and mechanisms associated with B. dothidea's pathogenicity on Chinese hickory tree. Here, we present a comparative analysis of high-quality genome assemblies of Botryosphaeria dothidea and other isolated pathogens, showing highly syntenic relationships between B. dothidea and its closely related species and the conservative evolution of the Botryosphaeriaceae family. Higher GC contents were found in the genomes of B. dothidea and three other isolated pathogens (Botryshaeria cortices, Botryshaeria fabicerciana, and Botryshaeria qingyuanensis) compared to Macrophomina phaseolina, Neofusicoccum parvum, Diplodia corticola, and Lasiodiplodia theobromae. An investigation of genes specific to or expanded in B. dothidea revealed that one secreted glucanase, one orsellinic acid biosynthesis enzyme, and two MFS transporters positively regulated B. dothidea's pathogenicity. We also observed an overrepresentation of viral integrase like gene and heterokaryon incompatibility proteins in the B. dothidea's genome. In addition, we observed one LRR-domain-containing protein and two Sec-domain-containing proteins (Sec_1 and Sec_7) that underwent positive selection. This study will help to understand B. dothidea's pathogenicity and potential influence on the infection of Chinese hickory, which will help in the development of disease control and ensure the security of Chinese hickory production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bottom water coning is the main reason to reduce the recovery of horizontal bottom water reservoir. By water coning, we mean the oil-water interface changes from a horizontal state to a mound-shaped cone and breaks through to the wellbore. Autonomous inflow control device (AICD) is an important instrument maintain normal production after bottom water coning, however, the resistance increasing ability of the swirl type AICD is insufficient at present, which seriously affects the water control effect. Aiming this problem, this paper designs a multi-stage resistance-increasing and composite type AICD. The separation mechanism of oil-water two phases in this structure, the resistance form of oil-water single phase and the resistance-increasing principle of water phase are analyzed. Establishing the dual-phase multi-stage separation and resistance-increasing model, and verified by measuring the throttling pressure drop and oil-water volume fraction of the AICD, it is found that the composite type AICD has the effect of ICD and AICD at the same time, which can balance the production rate of each well section at the initial stage of production, delay the occurrence of bottom water coning. In the middle and later stages of production, water-blocking can be effectively increased to achieve water control and stable production. After structural sensitivity analysis, the influence law of various structural parameters on the water control performance of composite AICD was obtained. The simulation calculation results show that, compared with the existing swirl type AICD, composite AICD has higher sensitivity to moisture content, the water phase throttling pressure drop is increased by 4.5 times on average. The composite AICD is suitable for the entire stage of horizontal well production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the scan efficiency of thoracic aorta vessel wall imaging using a self-gating (SG)-based motion correction scheme. A slab-selective variable-flip-angle 3D turbo spin-echo (SPACE) sequence was modified to acquire SG signals and imaging data. Cartesian sampling with a tiny golden-step spiral profile ordering was used to obtain the imaging data during the systolic period, and then the image data were subsequently corrected based on the SG signals and binned to different respiratory cycles. Finally, respiratory artifacts were estimated from image-based registration of 3D undersampled respiratory bins that were reconstructed with L1 iterative self-consistent parallel imaging reconstruction (SPIRiT). This method was evaluated in 11 healthy volunteers and compared against conventional diaphragmatic navigator-gated acquisition to assess the feasibility of the proposed framework. Results showed that the proposed method achieved image quality comparable to that of conventional diaphragmatic navigator-gated acquisition with an average scan time of 4 min. The sharpness of the vessel wall and the definition of the liver boundary were in good agreement with the navigator-gated acquisition, which took approximately above 8.5 min depend on the respiratory rate. Further valuation of this technique in patients will be conducted to determine its clinical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transverse synchronization of vertical displacements of all jacking-up points is an important monitoring indicator to replace bearings in assembled multigirder bridges during the jacking phase. Currently, using target paper to identify the 3D coordinates of control points reduces the complexity of monitoring operations and improves the stability of data precision. However, the existing planar target locating methods have low accuracy, inefficiency, and subjectivity, which seriously hinders the construction process of bearing replacement. Accurately obtaining the center coordinates of multiple targets from a point cloud in a short monitoring period remains a challenge. This study proposes a high-precision automated algorithm to extract target center points in low-density point clouds to quickly calculate real target center points. First, we construct a standard point cloud model of the target papers for scanning, including color and geometric features. Then, we extract the measured point cloud of the typical jacking operation phase based on the reflection intensity and size information. Next, we map the intensity values of the measured point cloud into the color channel and register the measured point cloud with its standard point cloud model using the normal vector estimation and colored ICP algorithms. Finally, we extract the center point of the measured targets. Numerical experiments and engineering test results show that the proposed method converges quickly with high precision and good robustness, which saves 91.4% of the time compared with the traditional method. In general, this research can provide effective technical support for 3D laser scanning in monitoring the operation phase of bridge jacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High‐throughput satellite (HTS) is an ideal way to realize cross‐regional massive, multifaceted digital exchange services, and it requires a signal processing module that can be massively multiplexed and has high flexibility. Due to the limitations of the frequency characteristics, microwave integrated circuits are difficult to meet this requirement. One solution to this problem is photonic integrated circuits (PICs). However, full‐size PIC satellite payloads containing main optoelectronic components are extremely challenging to implement on monolithic or hybrid integrated platforms. Here, the study demonstrates a hybrid integrated on‐chip microwave‐photonic satellite repeater with large‐scale multiplexing potential and high flexibility. This is a demonstration of a hybrid integration of a InP/Si3N4 external cavity laser, arrayed InP modulators, and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs), as well as multifunctional Si3N4 signal processors, to fulfill a 1 × 4 Ka‐band repeater module with on‐chip arrayed frequency down‐conversion and outstanding narrowband photonic channelization. When combined with the full‐chip photonic RF repeater, broadband, highly integrated, and cost‐effective communications satellite payloads will become realizable more quickly in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past three decades, considerable efforts have been expended on understanding the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) signaling pathway in leukemia, following the identification of the JAK2V617F mutation in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). The aim of this review is to summarize the latest progress in our understanding of the involvement of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway in the development of leukemia. We also attempt to provide insights into the current use of JAK/STAT inhibitors in leukemia therapy and explore pertinent clinical trials in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unique characteristics, such as high magnetic moment, high Curie temperature, large magnetic crystalline anisotropy, and low cost, make the τ-phase MnAl a promising candidate as the market alternatives which could fill the gap between the rare earth magnets and ferrite magnets. Because at low temperatures the metal will become more brittle, the cryomilling technology may allow the τ-phase MnAl to be broken quickly and introduce few crystal defects, and then obtain better permanent magnetic properties. In this study, the cryomilling technology was used to grind the τ-phase MnAl, and the structural and magnetic properties of the obtained powder sample were investigated. It was found that compared to room-temperature ball milling, the morphology of cryomilled powders is granular and the powder agglomeration is dramatically suppressed at a low temperature, and as a result the larger particles tend to be broken down into smaller ones rather than being agglomerated to larger thin layers. The grain size D reduced continuously from 145 nm to 36 nm when the sample was milled for 120 minutes. The coercivity increased with increasing the cryo-milling time, while the saturation magnetization decreased. The maximum coercivity of up to 4.9 kOe was obtained by cryo-milling for 100 minutes. By the neutron diffraction analysis, it was confirmed that the decrease of the saturation magnetization with increasing milling time is mainly due to the migration of Mn atoms from 1a site to the 1d site and the decrease of Mn atomic magnetic moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oriented by the demands on high-speed and large-load picking up/handling in textile, electronics and other industries, a novel parallel manipulator (PM) achieving SCARA motion was designed. First, the mobility of the PM was obtained by dual space theory. Thereafter, the kinematic model was deduced in detail, and a dynamics model was developed using the Lagrangian formulation. The validity of the above models was verified by ADAMS software. Furthermore, the singularity existing in the workspace was analyzed. Subsequently, a homogeneous Jacobian matrix was constructed by the characteristic length factor, based on which dexterity index was defined. Aiming at the optimal performance in the singularity-free task workspace, a dimensional synthesis model incorporating kinematics and dynamics performance is proposed, which is efficiently tackled by differential evolution (DE) algorithm. The obtained result provides a sound foundation for the development of an engineering prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Users can interact with the advertisements and share their impressions through the review system on short video applications. However, spammers may post false or malicious comments to mislead normal users due to profit-driven reasons, damaging the community's positive atmosphere. In this paper, we introduce a new challenge of spammer detection on short video applications, where the multi-modal information of videos and reviews plays a more critical role than the spam relation graph. Then we propose SPAM-3 , a novel baseline to detect SPAM reviews with M ulti- M odal representation using attentive heterogeneous graph convolution. Our approach balances multi-modal representation fusion and graph relation extraction, enabling fine-grained interaction and generating discriminative features for the spammer classification task. We describe the methodology of dataset construction in detail and reveal the statistical properties of the collected dataset. SPAM-3 outperforms the former baseline models on both private and public benchmarks. Furthermore, we conduct comprehensive ablations and analyses to demonstrate our method. • Introducing a new challenge of spammer detection on short video applications. • Spammer detection data collecting and labeling. • Using heterogeneous graph to fuse multi-modal information and spam relation graph. • Outperforming former baseline models on the collected dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Colonel Blotto game is one of the most classical zero-sum games, with diverse applications in auctions, political elections, etc. We consider the discrete two-battlefield Colonel Blotto Game, a basic case that has not yet been completely characterized. We study three scenarios where at least one player's resources are indivisible (discrete), and compare them with a benchmark scenario where the resources of both players are arbitrarily divisible (continuous). We present the equilibrium values for all three scenarios, and provide a complete equilibrium characterization for the scenario where both players' resources are indivisible. Our main finding is that, somewhat surprisingly, the distinction between continuous and discrete strategy spaces generally has no effect on players' equilibrium values. In some special cases, however, the larger continuous strategy space when resources are divisible does bring the corresponding player a higher equilibrium value than when resources are indivisible, and this effect is more significant for the stronger player who possesses more resources than for the weaker player. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) has been identified as an important cause of cervical myelopathy. However, the biomechanical mechanism between the OPLL type and the clinical characteristics of myelopathy remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different types of OPLL on the dynamic biomechanical response of the spinal cord. A three-dimensional finite element model of the fluid–structure interaction of the cervical spine with spinal cord was established and validated. The spinal cord stress and strain, cervical range of motion (ROM) in different types of OPLL models were predicted during dynamic flexion and extension activity. Different types of OPLL models showed varying degrees of increase in stress and strain under the process of flexion and extension, and there was a surge toward the end of extension. Larger spinal cord stress was observed in segmental OPLL. For continuous and mixed types of OPLL, the adjacent segments of OPLL showed a dramatic increase in ROM, while the ROM of affected segments was limited. As a dynamic factor, flexion and extension of the cervical spine play an amplifying role in OPLL-related myelopathy, while appropriate spine motion is safe and permitted. Segmental OPLL patients are more concerned about the spinal cord injury induced by large stress, and patients with continuous OPLL should be noted to progressive injuries of adjacent level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperative output regulation problem has been studied on the basis of an observer which is capable of estimating the state of the leader system in a distributed fashion. However, in the literature, the convergence rate is at best exponential with infinite settling time. To improve the transient performance of the closed‐loop system, a prescribed‐time distributed control law is synthesized to solve the cooperative output regulation problem for a class of linear multi‐agent systems with external disturbances. Different from existing works, we first design a distributed observer to estimate the state of the dynamic leader in the fixed time which is independent of the initial conditions. The design of such an observer extends the results from a homogeneous multi‐agent system to a heterogeneous one. And then a time‐varying distributed control law is designed on the basis of the parametric Lyapunov function technique. The efficiency of our design has been validated in the control of the lateral directional dynamics of aircraft systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shear stress plays a crucial role in many physiological processes, such as atherosclerosis, angiogenesis, and metastasis. However, how cells respond to static and dynamical shear stresses remains poorly understood. Here, we propose a structure-based cellular model, consisting of cell membrane, cytoplasm, and cytoskeleton, to explore the shear rheology of cells. By simulating the mechanical responses of a single cell under shear stress, we find that this model can reproduce both the universal power-law rheology at small deformations and stress stiffening at large deformations. Besides, the loss moduli of cells at high frequencies exhibit a stronger frequency dependence than the storage moduli. Moreover, we present two master relations: one is between the power-law exponent and cell stiffness; the other is between cell stiffness and external forces. Our results are in broad agreement with experiments. The self-similar hierarchical theory offers a physical explanation of the power-law responses of cells under shear stress. In addition, we consider the geometrical nonlinearity of single filaments to account for the stress stiffening of cells. The present model can be used to examine the effects of shear flow on living cells in physiological environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of dissipativity analysis is discussed for Lur'e systems with two additive time‐varying delays (ATDs) in this paper. Based on the dynamic delay interval (DDI) method, some novel Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functionals (LKFs) are constructed, in which part of Lyapunov matrices are requested to be positive definite. Then strictly dissipativity criteria of Lur'e systems with ATDs are presented in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). As by‐products, the stability criteria of Lur'e systems with ATDs and the systems with ATDs are derived. Finally, several numerical examples are used to illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of these criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The powders of hBN, SiC, and B4C were employed as the raw ingredients to prepare the B4C–SiC–hBN composite ceramics by a vacuum high-pressure sintering method with hBN and SiC contents in the range of 0, 10, and 20 wt.%, respectively. A pin-on-disc testing equipment was used to assess the tribological properties of B4C–SiC–hBN composite ceramics with various hBN and SiC content when sliding against AISI 347 steel immersed in the emulsion. The experiment's findings indicate that the sliding COF of the B4C/AISI 347 steel pair marginally drops as the sliding distance increases. Besides, the sliding COF of the B4C–10 wt.% SiC–20 wt.% hBN/AISI 347 steel pair rapidly declines. By tribopairs of B4C–SiC–hBN composite ceramics against AISI 347 steel under the condition of lubrication by water-based emulsion, the steady-state friction may move into a state of mix lubrication as the hBN concentration rises, improving the tribological performance. The steady-state COF considerably decreases to 0.01 from 0.386 as the hBN and SiC concentration is increased to 20 wt.% and 10 wt.% from zero, showing a decreasing trend for both the B4C–SiC–hBN pin and AISI 347 steel disc samples' COWs. The steady-state friction of tribopairs of B4C–SiC–hBN composite ceramics against AISI 347 steel may enter a state of mixed lubrication in the emulsion. The wear resistance of composite ceramics was improved by the addition of hBN and SiC particles because of their lubricating and reinforcing effects. These findings offer valuable insights into the design and development of advanced composite ceramics for various industrial applications that require improved tribological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asphalt hot regeneration pavement maintenance vehicle is a type of in situ heating waste asphalt special vehicle equipment for mix and regeneration of aged asphalt. When waste asphalt mixture is heated and melted, a lot of organic fumes are typically produced, along with dust from the mixing process. Because of the complex composition of the exhaust gases produced by asphalt hot regeneration pavement maintenance vehicles, it can be difficult to purify and remove them using a single method. In order to effectively purify exhaust gas with complicated compositions, a multistage combined treatment dust removal system structure is presented that includes cyclone sections, spray sections, and adsorption sections. With an emphasis on the cyclone section structure with the dust-gas separation function, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to analyze the internal flow field characteristics, turbulence intensity, tangential velocity, and velocity field vector characteristics. The results reveal that the more symmetrical the distribution of tangential velocity field and static pressure field is, the greater the cyclone dust collector's dust removal efficiency is, the more stable the flow field is, and the lower the turbulence intensity is. Furthermore, the center cyclone's growing speed is adversely connected with dust removal effectiveness. As a result, an antiventuri cyclone dust collector with a scrambling column was designed. When the inlet air speed is 6 m/s, the dust removal efficiency of the improved device is 97.0%, which is 5.1% higher than that of the original device, and when the inlet air speed is 8 m/s, the dust removal efficiency of the improved device is 97.3%, which is 4.16% higher than that of the original device. With the increase of the inlet air speed, the difference between them keeps decreasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maize ear development determines the crop yield, and many important transcription factors (TFs) have been identified to function in this process. However, their transcriptional regulation mechanisms are still elusive. In this study, we generated the genome-wide DNA binding sites for 8 TFs which are known to function or highly expressed in inflorescence by applying the tsCUT&Tag method in maize leaf protoplast. We exposed a regulatory grid of 4 WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) genes and revealed their potential regulatory mechanisms. In addition, a hierarchical regulation network for the determinacy and specification of maize inflorescence meristems were also constructed using the binding profiles of a floral development gene INDETERMINATE FLORAL APEX1 (IFA1) and 3 MADS-box genes. Our study provides an in-depth understanding and new insights of the regulatory mechanisms during maize inflorescence development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WO3:Eu3+ powder was prepared by microemulsion method with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. The prepared WO3:Eu3+ samples were wrapped with SiO2 by a coating method. The WO3:Eu3+@ SiO2 nanocomposites with the core-shell structure were prepared by controlling tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) content (1, 3, 5 and 7%) and water–alcohol ratio (1:3, 1:1.5, 1:1 and 2:1). The structure, morphology and luminescence properties of the prepared WO3:Eu3+@ SiO2 samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and fluorescence spectra. The results show that the prepared WO3:Eu3+@SiO2 nanocomposites are spherical and granular, and the average particle size is below 100 nm. Under the condition of different TEOS contents, the strongest characteristic peak is located at 554 nm in the green light band at the excitation wavelength of 328 nm. Among the different water–alcohol ratio conditions, the prepared WO3:Eu3+@SiO2 nanocomposite has the strongest luminescence intensity at the water–alcohol ratio of 1:3, and the excitation wavelength is 328 nm. The excitation spectra measured at 612 nm have prominent characteristic peaks at 362, 394, 422, 465 and 499 nm, which correspond to the transition of 7F0→5D4, 7F0→5L6, 7F0→5D3, 7F0→5D2 and 7F0→5D1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of a class of neural networks (NNs) with time-varying delay is explored in this work. The characteristics of integral inequalities are considered, and the general stability condition (GSC) of delayed NNs avoiding high-order delay is given in the form of quadratic functions. For the GSC of NNs, under the number of decision variables remains unchanged, the information of time-delay and its derivatives are further excavated by delay-partitioning approach. Meanwhile, the free-moving points are established in each subintervals divided, and the traditional static constraints are transformed into dynamic constraints, which relaxes the feasibility space. Based on these methods, the improved stability criteria are given. Finally, two examples are provided to illustrate the meliority of the method under the same number of decision variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an efficient modified method of characteristics with adjust advection (MMOCAA) domain decomposition method (DDM) is analyzed for solving advection diffusion equations. On each non-overlapping block divided sub-domains, we take two half time steps along x -direction and y -direction, to solve the numerical solutions on each sub-domain at every time interval, respectively. The intermediate numerical solutions in the interiors of sub-domains are first computed by redefining three mass fluxes. Then we compute the other intermediate interior numerical solutions by the weighted scheme from the previous modified solutions. Finally, the interior solutions are computed by the splitting implicit solute-flux coupled scheme while the interface fluxes are computed explicitly by the local multi-point weighted scheme. The conservation, stability and convergence of our schemes are proved strictly. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the theoretical results and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strip casting technique was first used in this work to prepare the Sm2Fe17 parent alloys. Next, the Sm2Fe17N3 powders were synthesized using a gas–solid reaction of Sm2Fe17 powders with N2. Then, the anisotropic Sm2Fe17N3 powders with high performance were prepared by a surfactant-assisted grinding method in gasoline solvent. It was found that the coercivity (iHc) of ground powders increases with decreasing the average particle size (Dm), while the saturation magnetization (Ms) decreases. The maximum value of iHc of 17.5 kOe was obtained at the Dm = 1.3 µm. The ground powders with Dm of 3.1 µm show a remanence ratio (Mr/Ms) over 95% and a maximum energy product [(BH)max] of 35 MGOe. The Sm2Fe17N3 powder exhibited a very high iHc of 36.1 kOe at 10 K. Above 300 K, Sm2Fe17N3 powders mixed with epoxy resin showed a low remanence temperature coefficient of α(RT-100°C) = −0.077% °C−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cranial radiation therapy is one of the most effective treatments for childhood brain cancers. Despite the ameliorated survival rate of juvenile patients, radiation exposure-induced brain neurogenic region injury could markedly impair patients' cognitive functions and even their quality of life. Determining the mechanism underlying neural stem cells (NSCs) response to irradiation stress is a crucial therapeutic strategy for cognitive impairment. The present study demonstrated that X-ray irradiation arrested NSCs' cell cycle and impacted cell differentiation. To further characterize irradiation-induced molecular alterations in NSCs, two-dimensional high-resolution mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics analyses were conducted to explore the mechanism underlying ionizing radiation's influence on stem cell differentiation. We observed that ionizing radiation suppressed intracellular protein transport, neuron projection development, etc., particularly in differentiated cells. Redox proteomics was performed for the quantification of cysteine thiol modifications in order to profile the oxidation-reduction status of proteins in stem cells that underwent ionizing radiation treatment. Via conjoint screening of protein expression abundance and redox status datasets, several significantly expressed and oxidized proteins were identified in differentiating NSCs subjected to X-ray irradiation. Among these proteins, succinate dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] flavoprotein subunit, mitochondrial (sdha) and the acyl carrier protein, mitochondrial (Ndufab1) were highly related to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Huntington's disease, illustrating the dual-character of NSCs in cell differentiation: following exposure to ionizing radiation, the normal differentiation of NSCs was compromised, and the upregulated oxidized proteins implied a degenerative differentiation trajectory. These findings could be integrated into research on neurodegenerative diseases and future preventive strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brain malignancies encompass gliomas and brain metastases originating from extracranial tumours including lung cancer. Approximately 50% of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) will eventually develop brain metastases. However, the specific characteristics of gliomas and lung‐to‐brain metastases (LC) are largely unknown. Methods: We applied single‐cell RNA sequencing to profile immune and nonimmune cells in 4 glioma and 10 LC samples. Results: Our analysis revealed that tumour microenvironment (TME) cells are present in heterogeneous subpopulations. LC reprogramed cells into immune suppressed state, including microglia, macrophages, endothelial cells, and CD8+ T cells, with unique cell proportions and gene signatures. Particularly, we identified that a subset of macrophages was associated with poor prognosis. ROS (reactive oxygen species)‐producing neutrophils was found to participant in angiogenesis. Furthermore, endothelial cells participated in active communication with fibroblasts. Metastatic epithelial cells exhibited high heterogeneity in chromosomal instability (CIN) and cell population. Conclusions: Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the heterogenicity of the tumor microenvironment and tumour cells and it will be crucial for successful immunotherapy development for brain metastasis of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the influence mechanism of the motion accuracy of the air static pressure guide system, this article combines the internal transmission law of the driving part of the table and the coupling analysis of solid damping and micro-scale gas damping and establishes the stepping motor, ball screw, nut, and motion table. The four-degree-of-freedom operation model was used to study the response simulation and dynamic characteristics of the entire table under the influence of various components. Combined with the damping characteristics extracted from the experiment, the influence mechanism of micro-gap solids and gas damping on the motion accuracy of the air-floating table is analyzed, and the optimal structural scheme that can effectively improve the accuracy and stability is proposed to improve the performance of the air-floating table and ultra-precision machine tools, processing accuracy to solve key technical problems in improving nano-machining accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, two spiro‐type compounds are investigated with similar molecular structure and stacking structure. By simply altering the acceptor's heteroatoms, a strategy to enhance room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) performance is presented. The intersystem crossing process can effectively be accelerated by reducing the energy gap between the singlet and triplet states (ΔEST) through adjusting the molecular energy level. Besides, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) is emerging in dilute solution due to such small ΔEST. This is helpful for deeply understanding the mechanism of competition in different radiative decay pathways (RTP and TADF). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rice blast, caused by the hemibiotrophic plant pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, is a devastating disease that threatens rice crop production worldwide. The molecular interactions that underlie the rice-M. oryzae interaction have received much attention. However, genome-wide research focusing on alternative splicing (AS) has not been well-studied in rice—M. oryzae interactions. AS in plants leads to diverse proteomes without an expansion in gene numbers to regulate cellular processes during abiotic or biotic stress. The Pi21 gene negatively regulates rice resistance to M. oryzae infection, and thus the Pi21-RNAi silenced transgenic line (#241) exhibits partial but durable resistance. We compared the AS landscape in #241 and "Nipponbare" (Nip) during interacting with M. oryzae Guy11, and the alternative 3′ splice-site (A3SS) is the most common AS type. GO enrichment analysis of #241-specific differentially alternatively spliced genes (DASGs) revealed that WRKY transcription factors (TFs), bHLH TFs, F-box protein with leucine rich repeats, AAA-type ATPase, and protein kinase were enriched in the GO terms "response to jasmonate acid (JA)" and "ethylene (ET)" at 24 h post-inoculation (hpi). At 48 hpi, one #241-specific DASG, ubiquitin gene (Os08g0295000), was predicted to be involved in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. In silico analysis combined with PCR amplification confirmed that multiple isoforms are produced by Os08g0295000 and a skipped exon (SE) event results in isoform switching during interaction with M. oryzae. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis predicted that Os08g0295000-encoding proteins may interact with SNARE protein Q9LGF8 (Uniprot ID) to cooperatively regulate rice's response to M. oryzae. This study uncovered the AS profile of rice in response to M. oryzae, which will help to explore the linkage between AS and durable rice resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the N-rich proteins (NRPs) gene family play important roles in the plant endoplasmic reticulum stress in response, which can be triggered by plant pathogens' infection. Previous studies of the NRP gene family have been limited to only a few plants, such as soybean and Arabidopsis thaliana. Thus, their evolutionary characteristics in the Oryza species and biological functions in rice defense against the pathogenic fungus Magnaporthe oryzae have remained unexplored. In the present study, we demonstrated that the NRP genes family may have originated in the early stages of plant evolution, and that they have been strongly conserved during the evolution of the Oryza species. Domain organization of NRPs was found to be highly conserved within but not between subgroups. OsNRP1, an NRP gene in the Oryza sativa japonica group, was specifically up-regulated during the early stages of rice-M. oryzae interactions-inhibited M. oryzae infection. Predicted protein-protein interaction networks and transcription-factor binding sites revealed a candidate interactor, bZIP50, which may be involved in OsNRP1-mediated rice resistance against M. oryzae infection. Taken together, our results established a basis for future studies of the NRP gene family and provided molecular insights into rice immune responses to M. oryzae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study discussed a novel self-centering rocking (SCR) bridge system equipped with shape memory alloy (SMA)-based piers, with a particular focus on the benefit of the SCR bridge system in a life-cycle context. The study commences with an introduction of the SCR bridge system; subsequently, a life-cycle loss and resilience assessment framework for the SCR bridge system is presented. Specifically, the seismic fragility, resilience, and life-cycle loss associated with the SCR and conventional bridge systems were addressed. The proposed life-cycle assessment framework was finally applied to two highway bridges with and without SMA washer-based rocking piers, considering the representative hazard scenarios that could happen within the investigated regions. The results revealed that the novel SCR pier bridge system slightly increased the bearing displacement but extensively reduced the pier curvature ductility due to the rocking mechanism. The SCR bridge system kept a lower life-cycle loss level and exhibited more resilient performance than the conventional bridge, especially in the region with higher seismic intensities. Indirect loss can be significantly larger than the direct loss, specifically for the earthquakes with a relatively low probability of occurrence. The SCR bridge system outperformed the conventional system in terms of recovery time, where a quick recovery after an earthquake and drastically decreased the social and economic losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides an important framework for economic, social, and environmental action. A comprehensive indicator system to aid in the systematic implementation and monitoring of progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is unfortunately limited in many countries due to lack of data. The availability of a growing amount of multi-source data and rapid advancements in big data methods and infrastructure provide unique opportunities to mitigate these data shortages and develop innovative methodologies for comparatively monitoring SDGs. Big Earth Data, a special class of big data with spatial attributes, holds tremendous potential to facilitate science, technology, and innovation toward implementing SDGs around the world. Several programs and initiatives in China have invested in Big Earth Data infrastructure and capabilities, and have successfully carried out case studies to demonstrate their utility in sustainability science. This paper presents implementations of Big Earth Data in evaluating SDG indicators, including the development of new algorithms, indicator expansion (for SDG 11.4.1) and indicator extension (for SDG 11.3.1), introduction of a biodiversity risk index as a more effective analysis method for SDG 15.5.1, and several new high-quality data products, such as global net ecosystem productivity, high-resolution global mountain green cover index, and endangered species richness. These innovations are used to present a comprehensive analysis of SDGs 2, 6, 11, 13, 14, and 15 from 2010 to 2020 in China utilizing Big Earth Data, concluding that all six SDGs are on schedule to be achieved by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To increase the energy dissipation capacity and deformation capacity of the beam-column connections, and save space for realizing more architectural functions in the frame structure, a new type of metallic damper is developed that is installed inside the connection area and is convenient to assemble and disassemble. The components and construction procedure of the damper are explained, and according to the analysis on the force transfer mechanism of the beam-column connections equipped with this damper, their deformation capacity and energy dissipation can be greatly improved. To verify the cyclic behavior of the new rotational metallic damper, an experimental study is conducted and the failure process and hysteretic behavior of the test specimens with different damping materials are reported. The load-deformation behavior, bending moment capacity, overstrength, and energy dissipation capacity are analyzed, and it is found that the specimens made of low-yield-point steel BLY160 and high-strength steel Q345GJ have both demonstrated a ductile failure pattern and stable and energy-dissipative hysteretic behavior. The rotational capacity of the damper can be as large as 0.08, and the specimen composed of BLY160 presents a significant strain-hardening phenomenon as its overstrength factor has exceeded 2.0. Both specimens have excellent energy dissipation capacity under large deformations, but the specimen made of BLY160 is more energy-dissipative under small deformations as its yielding strength is much low than Q345GJ. Meanwhile, formulas to calculate the bending moment capacity of the damper are deduced. Subsequently, a numerical investigation is carried out to establish an accurate finite-element model for simulating the cyclic behavior of the damper. Based on the proposed numerical model, the influence of shear or axial forces induced by the connection on the damper is evaluated, and an optimization procedure is conducted to further increase the seismic performance of the rotational damper. In the end, the typical frame substructures with a traditional beam-column connection, with typical metallic dampers, and with the proposed rotational damper are analyzed, and the results show that the rotational damper could more effectively improve the deformation capacity and energy dissipation efficiency of the substructure compared with other dampers. Then, nonlinear time-history analysis is performed on a case-studied structure with and without the rotational damper, and the results prove that the new rotational metallic damper can significantly improve the seismic performance of the structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a simple and straightforward method to reduce dramatically the lifetime of a pure organic thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) material VIA metal coordination is demonstrated. We designed a mononuclear silver complex [Ag(PPh2CH3)(TCzBN-PyPz)]BF4 (1) with a new emissive TCzBN-PyPz ligand. Even though the ligand and the metal complex have very similar emissive efficiencies and maximal peaks, over three orders of magnitude shorter lifetime of 0.59 μs for the complex than 2074 μs for ligand were obtained. Compared to other methods, the present protocol seems to be simple and highly effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Self‐anchored suspension footbridges are widely used in metropolitan area because of their unique shape. Their performance assessment, which is typically performed manually, is labor intensive and prone to error. Developments in three‐dimensional (3D) laser scanning enable the precision and efficiency of quality inspection operations to be improved. This paper presents a new approach for assessing the structural performance of a self‐anchored suspension footbridge in Tianjin using 3D laser scanning. Based on point‐cloud processing and reverse modeling, the deformation of elements can be determined by comparing the difference between two reverse models with a 2‐year interval. The proposed approach establishes a holistic assessment framework using the deformation of elements. Results show that 3D laser scanning is suitable for the performance assessment of self‐anchored suspension footbridges, thereby validating the applicability of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tungsten oxide is widely used in the photolysis of water for hydrogen production, photocatalysis, photoelectric conversion, and electrochromism. Eu3+ doped tungsten trioxide nanoparticles were prepared by hydrothermal method with the addition of sodium tungstate (NaWO4 · 2H2O). Two different samples were obtained at the temperature set at 160 and 180°C. The third sample obtained from ammonium paratungstate ((NH4)10H2(W2O7)6) was used at the temperature of 160°C. The samples' morphology, structure, and optical performance were then observed and analyzed. The results show that a rod-like structure of WO3 : Eu3+ nanoparticle with a monoclinic crystal system can be successfully generated using sodium tungstate. A spherical structure of WO3 : Eu3+ nanoparticle with a triclinic crystal system was prepared using ammonium paratungstate. The finished sample with ammonium paratungstate at a reaction temperature of 160°C has the smallest grain average size of 45.98 nm and Eu3+ ions successfully doped. Under the excitation of different wavelengths, the three samples demonstrate pronounced emission peaks at around 615 nm, corresponding to the 5D0 → 7F2 electronic transition of Eu3+. Using ammonium paratungstate as the tungsten source, the prepared WO3 : Eu3+ nanoparticle at 160°C has the highest luminous intensity. The luminescence intensity of the prepared WO3 : Eu3+ nanoparticle from ammonium paratungstate as a tungsten source is higher than the other two samples obtained from sodium tungstate as a tungsten source at two temperatures. However, the three samples with excitation wavelength λ = 254 nm were monitored at the wavelength of 615 nm. All three samples exhibited the most substantial excitation peaks at about 508 nm, which belonged to the electron transition in 4f of Eu3+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Boundary conditions are crucial for the construction of physical models of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) arches, but the current model updating methods seldom consider boundary conditions and usually necessitate repeated modifications and recalculations of finite element models, which are not efficient enough. Moreover, the current physics-informed neural network (PINN) provides a new approach for solving physical equations through physical constraint merging into the neural network, but it is still limited by complex structures, multiple scales, and unknown physical model engineering problems. Therefore, this paper proposed a boundary recognition method for physically-enhanced machine learning. First, the basic variables of the physical equation and the variables to be optimized were taken as inputs to enhance the neural network's ability to predict the target response. Then, similar to the handling of physical loss constraints in the PINN, the physical loss between the physical model (FE) and the neural network predictions was used to update the parameters. Then, a physical feedback-enhanced neural network (PFENN) meta -model was established, and modified mutation particle swarm optimization (MMPSO) was adopted to optimize the identification of boundary parameters. The identification process involves validation via mutual verification using a finite element model, meta -model, and experimental model. The prediction accuracy is higher than that of classical Kriging, response surface (RS), support vector machine regression (SVR), and neural network (NN) meta -models; additionally, the proposed model has good optimization stability, and reliable optimization results, and its computational efficiency is increased by 4.57 times compared with that of the traditional non-metamodel method. Moreover, the proposed method enhances the accuracy and interpretability of surrogate models by enhancing physical parameters and reducing physical losses, which is suitable for boundary recognition and physical model construction of different structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a physics-inspired contrastive learning paradigm for low-light enhancement, called PIE. PIE primarily addresses three issues: (i) To resolve the problem of existing learning-based methods often training a LLE model with strict pixel-correspondence image pairs, we eliminate the need for pixel-correspondence paired training data and instead train with unpaired images. (ii) To address the disregard for negative samples and the inadequacy of their generation in existing methods, we incorporate physics-inspired contrastive learning for LLE and design the Bag of Curves (BoC) method to generate more reasonable negative samples that closely adhere to the underlying physical imaging principle. (iii) To overcome the reliance on semantic ground truths in existing methods, we propose an unsupervised regional segmentation module, ensuring regional brightness consistency while eliminating the dependency on semantic ground truths. Overall, the proposed PIE can effectively learn from unpaired positive/negative samples and smoothly realize non-semantic regional enhancement, which is clearly different from existing LLE efforts. Besides the novel architecture of PIE, we explore the gain of PIE on downstream tasks such as semantic segmentation and face detection. Training on readily available open data and extensive experiments demonstrate that our method surpasses the state-of-the-art LLE models over six independent cross-scenes datasets. PIE runs fast with reasonable GFLOPs in test time, making it easy to use on mobile devices. Code available [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive brain tumor in adults. In addition to genetic causes, the tumor microenvironment (TME), including stiffening of the extracellular matrix (ECM), is a main driver of GBM progression. Mechano-transduction and the unfolded protein response (UPR) are essential for tumor-cell adaptation to harsh TME conditions. Here, we studied the effect of a variable stiff ECM on the morphology and malignant properties of GBM stem cells (GSCs) and, moreover, examined the possible involvement of the UPR sensor PERK herein. For this, stiffness-tunable human blood plasma (HBP)/alginate hydrogels were generated to mimic ECM stiffening. GSCs showed stiffness-dependent adaptation characterized by elongated morphology, increased proliferation, and motility which was accompanied by F-Actin cytoskeletal remodeling. Interestingly, in PERK-deficient GSCs, stiffness adaptation was severely impaired, which was evidenced by low F-Actin levels, the absence of F-Actin remodeling, and decreased cell proliferation and migration. This impairment could be linked with Filamin-A (FLN-A) expression, a known interactor of PERK, which was strongly reduced in PERK-deficient GSCs. In conclusion, we identified a novel PERK/FLNA/F-Actin mechano-adaptive mechanism and found a new function for PERK in the cellular adaptation to ECM stiffening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we investigated the analytical features of potentiometric immunosensors for detection of alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) in hepatocellular carcinoma at different electrodes, such as carbon fiber microelectrode (CFME) and carbon‐disk electrode (CDE), respectively. To construct such an immunosensor, anti‐AFP capture antibodies were first conjugated covalently onto the activated electrodes through typical carbodiimide coupling. Thereafter, one‐step immunoreaction protocol was successfully introduced to develop a new potentiometric immunoassay upon addition of AFP. Accompanying the antigen‐antibody reaction, the surface charges of the modified electrodes were changed for the readout of electric potential. Results indicated that the linear range of CDE‐based immunosensor was 0.1–100 ng mL−1 AFP, whereas the assay sensitivity by using CFME could be further increased to 3.2 pg mL−1 with the linear range from 0.01 to 500 ng mL−1 AFP. Meanwhile, CFME‐based immunosensor showed high sensitivity, good reproducibility and specificity, and could be utilized for the analysis of human serum specimens with consistent results relative to commercialized ELISA kit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biology and physics underlying glioblastoma is not yet completely understood, resulting in the limited efficacy of current clinical therapy. Recent studies have indicated the importance of mechanical stress on the development and malignancy of cancer. Various types of mechanical stress activate adaptive tumor cell responses that include alterations in the extracellular matrix (ECM) which have an impact on tumor malignancy. In this review, we describe and discuss the current knowledge of the effects of ECM alterations and mechanical stress on GBM aggressiveness. Gradual changes in the brain ECM have been connected to the biological and physical alterations of GBM cells. For example, increased expression of several ECM components such as glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), hyaluronic acid (HA), proteoglycans and fibrous proteins result in stiffening of the brain ECM, which alters inter- and intracellular signaling activity. Several mechanosensing signaling pathways have been identified that orchestrate adaptive responses, such as Hippo/YAP, CD44, and actin skeleton signaling, which remodel the cytoskeleton and affect cellular properties such as cell–cell/ECM interactions, growth, and migration/invasion of GBM cells. In vitro, hydrogels are used as a model to mimic the stiffening of the brain ECM and reconstruct its mechanics, which we also discuss. Overall, we provide an overview of the tumor microenvironmental landscape of GBM with a focus on ECM stiffening and its associated adaptive cellular signaling pathways and their possible therapeutic exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, distributed state and output feedback control law based on the dynamic event-triggered mechanism are proposed to solve the robust cooperative output regulation problem for a class of general linear uncertain multi-agent systems (MASs) subject to external disturbances. The discrete-time control law proposed for each agent is equivalent to a discrete one and thus directly implementable in the digital platform. Our design can handle parametric uncertainties, reject external disturbances and track a dynamic leader while excluding the Zeno phenomenon by providing the existence of a lower bound for inter-event times of each agent, the efficiency of which is illustrated by a numerical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object detection has made tremendous strides in computer vision. Small object detection with appearance degradation is a prominent challenge, especially for aerial observations. To collect sufficient positive/negative samples for heuristic training, most object detectors preset region anchors in order to calculate intersection-over-union (IoU) against the ground-truth data. In this case, small objects are frequently abandoned or mislabeled. In this article, we present an effective dynamic enhancement anchor network (DEA-Net) to construct a novel training sample generator. Different from the other state-of-the-art (SOTA) techniques, the proposed network leverages a sample discriminator to realize interactive sample screening between an anchor-based unit and an anchor-free unit to generate eligible samples. Besides, multi-task joint training with a conservative anchor-based inference scheme enhances the performance of the proposed model while reducing computational complexity. The proposed scheme supports both oriented and horizontal object detection tasks. Extensive experiments on two challenging aerial benchmarks (i.e., Dataset of Object deTection in Aerial images (DOTA) and HRSC2016) indicate that our method achieves SOTA performance in accuracy with moderate inference speed and computational overhead for training. On DOTA, our DEA-Net which integrated with the baseline of RoI-transformer surpasses the advanced method by 0.40% mean-average-precision (mAP) for oriented object detection with a weaker backbone network (ResNet-101 vs. ResNet-152) and 3.08% mAP for horizontal object detection with the same backbone. Besides, our DEA-Net which integrated with the baseline of ReDet achieves the SOTA performance by 80.37%. On HRSC2016, it surpasses the previous best model by 1.1% using only three horizontal anchors. The source code and the training set are made publicly available at https://github.com/QxGeng/DEA-Net. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly active two-dimensional (2D) nanocomposites have been widely concerned in the field of gas sensors because of their unique advantages and synergistic effects. 2D/2D SnO 2 nanosheets/Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanocomposites were synthesized by using layered Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene and uniform SnO 2 nanosheets by hydrothermal method. Characterization results show that the SnO 2 nanosheets are well dispersed and vertically anchored on the layered Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene surface, forming heterogeneous interfaces. Based on the gas-adsorption capabilities and synergistic effects of electronic properties, SnO 2 nanosheets/Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanocomposites show high triethylamine (TEA) gas-sensing performance at low temperature (140 °C). The sensor responses of the nanocomposites and pure SnO 2 nanosheets to 50 ppm of TEA are 33.9 and 3.4, respectively. An enhancement mechanism for SnO 2 nanosheets/Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanocomposites is proposed for highly sensitive and selective detection of TEA at low temperature. The combination strategy of two-dimensional metal oxide semiconductor and multilayer MXene provides a new way for the development of cryogenic gas sensors in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel methods to make synthetic chiral polymers are highly desirable given their potential in a rapidly increasing number of bio‐inspired applications. The enantiospecific sulfur–fluorine exchange (SuFEx) reaction of chiral di‐sulfonimidoyl fluorides (di‐SFs) with diphenols, was used to produce high‐molecular‐weight chiral polymers with configurational backbone chirality. The resulting new class of polymers, polysulfonimidates, can be efficiently produced via this step‐growth mechanism for a wide range of di‐SFs and diphenols, yielding MnPS up to 283 kDa with a typical dispersity Đ around 1.6. The optical activity of the resulting chiral polymers is largely due to the intrinsic asymmetry of the S atoms (configurational chirality). Finally, the enantiospecificity (ee>98 %) of the polymerization reaction was demonstrated by the degradation of a disulfide‐containing polysulfonimidate. This novel route towards configurational main‐chain chirality opens up new approaches towards tailor‐made chiral polymers with precisely defined properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel methods to make synthetic chiral polymers are highly desirable given their potential in a rapidly increasing number of bio‐inspired applications. The enantiospecific sulfur–fluorine exchange (SuFEx) reaction of chiral di‐sulfonimidoyl fluorides (di‐SFs) with diphenols, was used to produce high‐molecular‐weight chiral polymers with configurational backbone chirality. The resulting new class of polymers, polysulfonimidates, can be efficiently produced via this step‐growth mechanism for a wide range of di‐SFs and diphenols, yielding MnPS up to 283 kDa with a typical dispersity Đ around 1.6. The optical activity of the resulting chiral polymers is largely due to the intrinsic asymmetry of the S atoms (configurational chirality). Finally, the enantiospecificity (ee>98 %) of the polymerization reaction was demonstrated by the degradation of a disulfide‐containing polysulfonimidate. This novel route towards configurational main‐chain chirality opens up new approaches towards tailor‐made chiral polymers with precisely defined properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the robust bipartite output regulation problem for a class of linear uncertain multi-agent systems. After formulating the problem, we extend the concept of the virtual regulated output from the unsigned digraph to the signed digraph. Based on the virtual regulated output, we can define a so-called distributed internal model and form a so-called ancillary augmented system. We then show that, under some standard conditions, the problem can be converted into the distributed stabilisation problem of the ancillary augmented system, thus leading to the solvability of the problem. A special case of our result where the digraph is unsigned recovers the solution of the robust cooperative output regulation problem for the same class of linear uncertain multi-agent systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most sensitive and direct indicator of global climate change, the freezing and thawing of the Antarctic ice sheet is of great significance for research on surface mass and energy balance. In this study, four representative regions in Antarctica were selected and correlation analysis, Granger causality testing, and cluster analysis were applied to comprehensively analyze the correlation and response of spatiotemporal variation in freeze-thaw and temperature. The conclusions are as follows. (1) In the Antarctic Peninsula, a phenomenon was demonstrated that the summer shifts rearward. Hotter December and colder March temperatures were observed in the Amery Ice Shelf and Queen Maud Land. (2) The Antarctic Peninsula featured the most severe degree of melting among the four regions, with the largest melt area in the past 30 years appearing during the 2015/2016 season. However, the number of melt days in most areas of the Antarctic Peninsula was observed to have decreased. (3) There is a strong correlation between the freeze-thaw state of the Antarctic ice sheet and temperature, as well as spatial differences among regions, but the data were clustered at different time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]