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BACKGROUND RESULTS CONCLUSION This study aims to quantify the impacts of chilling at the grain filling stage on rice yield and grain quality. A factorial experiment with four levels of temperature and duration of chilling treatments at the early and late grain filling stages was conducted in 2017, 2018 and 2019.Per 10 °C·day increase in the accumulated cooling degree day at the early and late grain filling stages, the rice emergence–maturity duration was delayed by 0.8% (0.6%) and rice yield decreased by 2.2% (1.7%). Chilling at the early grain filling stage decreased the rice heading rate, while chilling at the late grain filling stage increased rice amylose but decreased protein content. For chilling treatment at the early grain filling stage, rice yield and grain quality were mainly correlated with seed‐setting rate, whereas for chilling treatment at the late grain filling stage the rice yield and grain quality were mainly correlated with 1000‐grain weight.This study improved the understanding of how chilling at the grain filling stages affects rice phenology, yield and grain quality, providing a theoretical basis for maintaining rice yield while ensuring grain quality. The results could be used to guide the rice‐growing community in combating chilling at grain filling stages. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In China, high-grain diets for ruminants due to forage scarcity cause metabolic disorders. Yeast culture promotes rumen health by stabilizing microbial composition and enhancing nutrition and immunity. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was mainly to investigate the effect of the addition of two different species of yeast culture on goat production performance, rumen fermentation profile, microbial balance, and immunity under high-grain conditions. The results indicated that the incorporation of yeast culture into a high-grain diet significantly enhanced the production performance of goats, augmented their immunity, and stabilized the rumen environment. However, different types of yeast cultures acted by different mechanisms. The results provide a reference for the rational application of yeast culture in production. It is a common practice among farmers to utilize high-grain diets with the intention of promoting ruminant growth. However, this approach bears the risk of inducing rumen disorders and nutrient metabolism diseases. Yeast culture (YC) showed advantages in ruminant applications. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of adding two different types of YC to high-grain conditions on production performance, rumen fermentation profile, microbial abundance, and immunity in goats. A total of 30 male goats with similar body condition were randomly distributed into 3 dietary treatments with 10 replicates per treatment as follows: basic diet group (CON); basic diet + 0.5% yeast culture 1 (YC1) group; basic diet + 0.5% yeast culture 2 (YC2) group. The trial lasted for 36 days. The results demonstrated that dietary YC supplementation led to an increase in the average daily gain and a reduction in feed intake and weight gain ratio in goats. It increased the apparent digestibility of crude protein, NDF, and ADF (p < 0.05). The serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α in the control group were significantly higher than those of the YC groups (p < 0.05). The serum concentrations of Immunoglobulin (Ig)A and IgG in the control group were significantly lower than those in the YC groups (p < 0.05). The rumen concentration of microbial protein (MCP) in the control group was significantly lower than that in the YC groups (p < 0.05). There was a negative correlation between the concentration of IL-10 and Bacteroidota, Spirochaetota, and Succinivibrio, while there was a positive correlation between concentrations of IL-10 and Firmicutes. Nevertheless, discrepancies were observed in the impact of the two different types of YC on the physiological and biochemical indicators of the animals. The concentration of triglyceride in the YC1 group was significantly higher than that of the CON and YC2 groups, while the concentration of urea in the YC2 group was significantly higher than that of the CON and YC1 groups (p < 0.05). At the phylum level, the addition of YC2 to the diet significantly increased the relative abundance of Bacteroidota and Fibrobacterota and significantly decreased Firmicutes compared to the control. At the genus level, the addition of YC1 to the HGD significantly reduced the relative abundance of Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, while the addition of YC2 to the HGD significantly increased the relative abundance of Prevotellace-ae_UCG-001, Fibrobacter, and Prevotellaceae_UCG-003 (p < 0.05). The addition of YC significantly improved growth performance, increased nutrient digestibility, beneficially manipulated ruminal fermentation and microbial diversity, and improved immune function. The choice of yeast cultures can be customized according to specific production conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Transportation is an inevitable part of the raising process of goats. During transportation, animals are subjected to 'transport stress' due to limited space, bumpy roads, lack of feed and drinking water, and other stimuli. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of how transport stress affects goats, we conducted our experimental studies. Sixteen healthy goats were selected, and these goats were transported at a speed ranging from 35 to 45 km/h for 20 h. We measured changes in the physiological indexes, blood physiological indexes, biochemical indexes, rumen fermentation indexes, and rumen microbial structure composition of goats before and after transportation. Our experimental findings revealed that continuous transportation for a duration of 20 h can induce a severe stress response in goats, leading to compromised immune function, diminished antioxidant capacity, escalated inflammatory response, and altered rumen fermentation indices. However, they did not reveal any significant impact on the structure and composition of the rumen microbiota. The objective of this experiment was to delve into the impacts of transportation on goats. Sixteen healthy goats were selected as experimental animals; these goats were transported at a speed ranging from 35 to 45 km/h for 20 h. The changes in the physiological indexes, blood physiological indexes, biochemical indexes, rumen fermentation indexes, and rumen microbial structure composition of goats before and after transportation were measured. The results showed that after transportation, the contents of IgM, IgA, IgG, and Thyroxine decreased very significantly, while the contents of propionic acid, Hemoglobin and Epinephrine significantly increased, and the contents of VFA, acetic acid, butyric acid, isobutyric acid, isovaleric acid, LPS, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, Major Acute Phase Protein, protein carbonyl, and cortisol increased very significantly. There was no significant difference in α-diversity and β-diversity, and the relative abundance of rumen microorganisms was not significantly different at either phylum or genus levels. The experimental findings revealed that continuous transportation for a duration of 20 h can induce a severe stress response in goats, leading to compromised immune function, diminished antioxidant capacity, escalated inflammatory response, and altered rumen fermentation indices. However, the experiment did not reveal any significant impact on the structure and composition of the rumen microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Porphyrin-based POPs with different heteroatoms were constructed. • N and S heteroatoms were embed into the backbone structure. • PS 2 F showed high Hg2+ capacity of 1049 mg/g. • Functional groups play more important role in heavy metal adsorption. Development of novel sulf-functionalized porous organic polymers (POPs) for Mercury (II) (Hg2+) removal is of great significant, but the adsorbents always suffered by the low adsorption capacity, stability, and efficiency for the reason that the common construction of functionalized POPs from the functionalized monomers or post-functionalization of the POPs always sacrifice the porosity. In this paper, porphyrin-based POPs with different heteroatoms were constructed through the aldehyde monomer (benzene, 2,5-thiophenedicarboxaldehyde and thieno[3,2- b ]thiophene-2,5-dicarboxaldehyde) and pyrrole according to the Adler-Longo method. In this way, nitrogen (N) in pyrrole and sulfur (S) in thiophene structures were embed into the backbone structure of the polymers. The functional structures not only act as the linking building block into the stable cross-linking structure, but also offer abundant uncovered functional sites for Hg2+ adsorption, resulting the porphyrin-based POPs high Hg2+ capacity (1049 mg/g), removal efficiency (more than 99.9%), good reusability and selectivity for its highest heteroatoms contents. The adsorption mechanism confirmed the cooperative coordination of N in porphyrin and S in thiophene with Hg2+. This work confirmed the functional groups play more important role in heavy metal adsorption, and the embedded functional sites into backbone also promotes the stability and the adsorption performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of high concentration diet (HCD) supplementation with Dimethyl Silicone Oil (DSO) to prevent frothy rumen bloat in goats. The treatments were control group (group C, feeding HCD) and test group (group T, feeding HCD supplemented with 0.1%DSO). The results showed that compared with the group C, the ruminal pH value, Microbial Crude Protein content of group T was extremely significantly higher (p < 0.01), the levels of acetic acid and propionic acid were significantly (p < 0.05) and extremely significantly (p < 0.01) lower in group T, respectively. The foam production and foam strength of the rumen fluid in the group T was extremely significantly lower (p < 0.01), the viscosity was extremely significantly (p < 0.01) higher than those of group C. The total gastrointestinal apparent digestibility of various nutrients, the rumen microbial relative abundance at the phylum level and genus level were not significantly different (p > 0.05). The results indicated that the supplementation of 0.1% DSO in HCD can significantly eliminate foam of the rumen fluid, and didn't disturb the ruminal microorganisms, no negatively affect on digestibility of nutrients in goats, thereby has the application prospect of preventing frothy rumen bloat. The gas produced by rumen fermentation is wrapped in foam and cannot be discharged is the root cause of frothy bloat induced by a high concentration diet. In the present study, the feasibility of dietary supplementation with Dimethyl Silicone Oil (DSO) to prevent frothy bloat was preliminarily evaluated. The results indicated that DSO can significantly eliminate foam of the rumen fluid, and has not negatively effect on the ruminal microorganisms and the digestibility of nutrients in goats, thereby has the application prospect of preventing frothy bloat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybeans are rich in high-quality protein and raw materials for producing hundreds of chemical products. Consequently, soybean cultivation has gained widespread prevalence across diverse geographic regions. Soybean breeding necessitates the development of early-, standard-, and late-maturing cultivars to accommodate cultivation at various latitudes, thereby optimizing the utilization of solar radiation. In the practical process of determining the maturity of soybean breeding materials within the breeding field, the ripeness is assessed based on three critical criteria: pod moisture content, leaf color, and the degree of leaf shedding. These parameters reflect the crown structure, physicochemical parameters, and reproductive organ changes in soybeans during the maturation process. Therefore, methods for analyzing soybean maturity at the breeding plot scale should match the standards of agricultural experts to the maximum possible extent. This study presents a hyperspectral remote sensing approach for monitoring soybean maturity. We collected five periods of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based soybean canopy hyperspectral digital orthophoto maps (DOMs) and ground-level measurements of leaf chlorophyll content (LCC), flavonoids (Flav), and the nitrogen balance index (NBI) from a breeding farm. This study explores the following aspects: (1) the correlations between soybean LCC, NBI, Flav, and maturity; (2) the estimation of soybean LCC, NBI, and Flav using Gaussian process regression (GPR), partial least squares regression (PLSR), and random forest (RF) regression techniques; and (3) the application of threshold-based methods in conjunction with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)+LCC and NDVI+NBI for soybean maturity monitoring. The results of this study indicate the following: (1) Soybean LCC, NBI, and Flav are associated with maturity. LCC increases during the beginning bloom period (P1) to the beginning seed period (P3) and sharply decreases during the beginning maturity period (P4) stage. Flav continues to increase from P1 to P4. NBI remains relatively consistent from P1 to P3 and then drops rapidly during the P4 stage. (2) The GPR, PLSR, and RF methodologies yield comparable accuracy in estimating soybean LCC (coefficient of determination (R2): 0.737–0.832, root mean square error (RMSE): 3.35–4.202 Dualex readings), Flav (R2: 0.321–0.461, RMSE: 0.13–0.145 Dualex readings), and NBI (R2: 0.758–0.797, RMSE: 2.922–3.229 Dualex readings). (3) The combination of the threshold method with NDVI < 0.55 and NBI < 8.2 achieves the highest classification accuracy (accuracy = 0.934). Further experiments should explore the relationships between crop NDVI, the Chlorophyll Index, LCC, Flav, and NBI and crop maturity for different crops and ecological areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Northeast China, the frequency and intensity of chilling events has been increasing continuously, which places regional rice production at an increasing risk for yield loss. Previous studies have shown that continuous chilling at the tillering, booting and flowering stages could reduce rice grain yield. However, the effects of intermittent chilling at different growth stages on rice yield have rarely been reported. In this study, we conducted a temperature‐controlled experiment on rice plants at the tillering, booting and flowering stages, with both continuous and intermittent chilling treatments at two chilling temperatures and four chilling durations. The results showed that rice grain yield was most affected by chilling at the booting stage, followed by chilling at the flowering stage and least affected by chilling at the tillering stage. For per 1 day increase in chilling duration, the continuous (intermittent) chilling treatment at T1 (11°C/12°C/12°C) at the tillering, booting and flowering stages decreased the grain yield per plant by 1.0%, 6.0% and 2.9% (0.9%, 2.7% and 1.6%), respectively. For per 10°C·day increase in cooling degree days, the continuous (intermittent) chilling treatment at the booting stage decreased the grain yield per plant, spikelet fertility, grain number per spike and thousand grain weight by 10.7%, 7.9%, 5.4% and 1.6% (5.6%, 1.5%, 4.4% and 1.2%), respectively. While the continuous (intermittent) chilling treatment at the flowering stage decreased the grain yield per plant and spikelet fertility by 4.9% and 3.9% (2.8% and 3.2%), respectively. Our study is complementary to the current knowledge gap concerning the mechanism of chilling‐induced yield losses for rice. In particular, the results of this study could be used to (a) modify the chilling effects algorithms in rice models to improve the simulation accuracy in rice yields and (b) target the genetic features to breed new rice varieties with greater cold tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Herein, the covalently connected core–shell metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)@covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) hybrid materials were successfully constructed by coating the stable COF-OH shell on the NH 2 -MIL-125 core. The introduction of the NH 2 -MIL-125 core endowed the hybrid materials with high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area (S BET) and abundant unsaturated metal sites. And the coating of COF-OH shell endowed the hybrid materials outstanding physicochemical stability and visible-light response, and suitable band gaps. Moreover, the thickness of the COF-OH shell was carefully adjusted according to the feeding amount of NH 2 -MIL-125. Impressively, the electron transfer pathway in the formed heterostructure was clarified and it was proven that a type-II heterojunction was generated between the MOFs and the COFs. The formed stable C N covalent bonds in the interfacial layer was beneficial to the photogenerated electron transfer and the electron-hole pairs separation, which greatly enhanced the CO 2 photocatalytic reduction. The product NH 2 -MIL-125@COF-3 exhibited the highest CO yield of 22.93 μmol·g−1·h−1, about 2 times higher than NH 2 -MIL-125 (11.82 μmol·g−1·h−1) and 3 times greater than COF-OH (7.26 μmol·g−1·h−1). This work can provide helpful ideas for the careful design of the novel MOFs@COFs hybrid materials as well as useful exploration for the CO 2 photocatalytic reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A quantification method is proposed to calculate the flow rate distribution of microchannel heat exchangers. • Liquid and vapor mass flow rates are calculated with the method, and it shows how refrigerant is distributed in the inlet header. • The potential of improving the heat capacity of the evaporator with uniform distribution is calculated and discussed. Maldistribution of fluid among the ports reduces the heat capacity of a microchannel heat exchanger. It is essential to understand the maldistribution mechanism to optimize the design of the heat exchanger. Quantification of the distribution helps analyze the maldistribution issue. This study proposes a method to quantify the flow distribution and capacity potential in the microchannel heat exchangers by integrating a microchannel heat exchanger model and infrared thermography. The method calculates the liquid and vapor mass flow rate at the inlet of each microchannel tube by comparing the wall temperature of a heat exchanger from simulation and the infrared image. The method is validated with tests of a 49-tube horizontal microchannel evaporator with R134a. The exit region of the top tubes has an extremely high surface temperature, which forms a superheat region. More liquid flows to the tubes located at the center of the heat exchanger. The total mass flow rate is low when the tube has a long superheat region. The heat capacity of the tested evaporator has 9.6–21.3% improvement potential when uniformly distributed. When the refrigerant outlet superheats of the evaporator is lower, the improvement potential is higher. In the superheat region, the heat flux is much lower than the average value. This quantification method provides a tool for a more profound investigation of the maldistribution issue of a microchannel evaporator, and it can be expanded to heat exchangers with different structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planting and harvest scheduling is a crucial part of crop production due to its significant impact on other factors such as balancing the capacities for harvest, yield potential, sales price, storage, and transportation. Corn planting and harvest scheduling is challenging because corn hybrids have different planting windows, and, subsequently, inaccurate planting and harvest scheduling can result in inconsistent and unpredictable weekly harvest quantities and logistical and productivity issues. In the 2021 Syngenta Crop Challenge, participants were given several large datasets including recorded historical daily growing degree units (GDU) of two sites and provided with planting windows, required GDUs, and harvest quantities of corn hybrids planted in these two sites, and were asked to schedule planting and harvesting dates of corn hybrids under two storage capacity cases so that facilities are not over capacity in harvesting weeks and have consistent weekly harvest quantities. The research problem includes determining the planting and harvest scheduling of corn hybrids under two storage capacity cases: (1) given the maximum storage capacity, and (2) without maximum storage capacity to determine the lowest storage capacity for each site. To help improve corn planting and harvest scheduling, we propose two mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) models and a heuristic algorithm to solve this problem for both storage capacity cases. Daily GDUs are required for planting and harvest scheduling, but they are unknown at the beginning of the growing season. As such, we use recurrent neural networks to predict the weekly GDUs of 70 weeks and consider this as the predicted GDU scenario to solve this problem. In addition, we solve this problem considering all given 10 historical GDU scenarios from 2010 to 2019 together for both storage capacity cases to include historical GDUs directly to our model rather than using predicted GDUs. Our extensive computational experiments and results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed methods, which can provide optimal planting and harvest scheduling considering deterministic GDU scenario and uncertainties in historical GDU scenarios for both storage capacity cases to provide consistent weekly harvest quantities that are below the maximum capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asthma is an important non-communicable disease worldwide. DNA methylation is associated with the occurrence and development of asthma. We are aimed at assuring differential expressed genes (DEGs) modified by aberrantly methylated genes (DMGs) and pathways related to asthma by integrating bioinformatics analysis. Methods: One mRNA dataset (GSE64913) and one gene methylation dataset (GSE137716) were selected from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Functional enrichment analysis was performed using GeneCodies 4.0 database. All gene expression matrices were analyzed by Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) software. STRING was applied to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network to find the hub genes. Then, electronic validation was performed to verify the hub genes, followed by the evaluation of diagnostic value. Eventually, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was utilized to detect the expression of hub genes. Results: In total, 14 hypomethylated/high-expression genes and 10 hypermethylated/low-expression genes were obtained in asthma. Among them, 10 hub genes were identified in the PPI network. Functional analysis demonstrated that the differentially methylated/expressed genes were primarily associated with the lung development, cytosol and protein binding. Notably, HLA-DOA was enriched in asthma. FKBP5, WNT5A, TM4SF1, PDK4, EPAS1 and GMPR had potential diagnostic value for asthma. Conclusion: The project explored the pathogenesis of asthma, which may provide a research basis for the prediction and the drug development of asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvesting is an important method used to control the overproduction of Potamogeton crispus in lakes. A three-year comparative field study was performed in a eutrophic lake (harvested area) and its connected lake (non-harvested area) to determine the effects of harvesting on the phosphorus (P) composition and environmental factors in the water and sediment. Results revealed that harvesting significantly reduced the dissolved total P and dissolved organic P (DOP) and increased the alkaline phosphatase activity and particulate P (PP) in the water. No significant differences were detected in the water total P (TP), soluble reactive P, chlorophyll-a, pH, and dissolved oxygen between the harvested and non-harvested areas. Sediment TP and organic P (OP) were significantly reduced in the harvested area. Harvesting changed the P composition in the water. In the non-harvested area, P was mainly formed by DOP (40%) in the water body, while in the harvested area, PP was the main water component (47%). Harvesting increased the proportion of inorganic P (IP) in the sediment and decreased the proportion of OP. In the water, the IP to TP ratio in the non-harvested and harvested areas were 58.26% and 63.51%, respectively. Our results showed that harvesting changed the P composition in the water and sediment. In the harvesting of submerged vegetation, our results can serve as a reference for the management of vegetation-rich lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chilling is a major constraint on rice production in mountainous regions of the tropics and in the temperate rice‐growing zones of the world. In this study, our goal is to quantify the impacts of chilling at the tillering phases on rice growth and grain yield. In 2017 and 2018, we conducted a factorial chilling treatment at four temperatures (T1, T2, T3 and T4) and four duration days (D2, D4, D6 and D8) on rice plants at the early, middle and late tillering phases. The results showed that chilling at the tillering phases delayed rice growth period. The rice grain yield slightly increased with decrease in chilling temperature but significantly decreased with increase in chilling duration at the tillering phases. For the chilling treatment at T1 (lowest temperature), the D2 (shortest duration) had positive effects on rice yield, while the D8 (longest duration) had adverse effects on rice yield. The middle and late tillering phases were the critical growth phases for rice spike numbers formation, with the increase in temperature and duration, the rice spike numbers per plant significantly decreased. The decrease in chilling temperature and increase in chilling duration both decreased rice thousand‐grain weight under chilling treatments at tillering phases. The prolongation of days from emergence to flowering led to increase in rice aboveground biomass per plant and allocation index of stem; however, the decrease in days from flowering to maturity led to reduction in allocation index of panicle and grain yield under chilling treatments at tillering phases. This study could help farmers to better understand the impacts of chilling on rice growth and yield, especially for rice that are prone to chilling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In nowadays transportation networks, many multimodal itineraries are possible when traveling from an origin to a destination. Due to the plurality of alternatives, the choice of an option is difficult for the user. In this paper, we propose a novel decision support system to help users in that task. Our method ranks itineraries according to users' preferences and trip profile based on a fuzzy logic system that transforms the itineraries' characteristics and user's preferences into a real number score. Unlike classical systems from Multiple Attribute Decision Making, we take into account the uncertainty both in the evaluation of the attributes and in the relative importance of those attributes. From an itinerary ranking point of view, our fuzzification methods enable to take into account user's general preferences and preferences in the context of the current trip, hence using the complete alternative set to evaluate a single solution. Finally, the new defuzzification method scores the itineraries, which enables to build a connex transitive order on the solution set. Dependence in alternative evaluation and connex transitive order are scarcely used together for itinerary ranking. The proposed decision support system is generic and could be adapted to many decision criteria, depending on the application. An example, with several relevant ones, is presented through this work. To assess our method, we benchmark it against rankings from real persons obtained by the bias of two surveys. The results show that the rankings generated by the fuzzy logic system are convincing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquid metals have excellent thermal properties such as low vapor pressure, high thermal conductivity, low dynamic viscosity, and a wide range of temperatures in which they maintain liquid state. Some scholars have investigated the application of liquid metal heat exchangers. However, there is still potential for further exploration of the applicable temperature range of a liquid metal heat exchanger. In this paper, a liquid lithium-air shell-and-tube heat exchanger with a liquid lithium inlet temperature of 1473 K was designed. The heat transfer performance characteristics were studied via numerical and experimental methods. Furthermore, the numerical results were compared with the theoretical calculation results. The maximum relative differences were determined to be acceptable for the outlet temperatures, the tube and total heat transfer coefficient. The experimental temperatures for different monitoring points were compared with the steady state simulation results of the basic case. The relative errors were in the range of 0.1 % to 7.5 % for most of the temperature monitoring points. The findings of this study could offer crucial insights into the design of thermal management systems for many areas, such as the aerospace, nuclear engineering and shipbuilding industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularity of electronic devices, absorption-dominated multilayered electromagnetic shielding materials are increasingly attractive due to the effective decrease of second pollution compared to the traditional homogeneous electromagnetic shielding materials. However, the design of multilayered structure and strong interface adhesion of functional composite while keeping light weight and practical use is not readily to realize. Therefore, we propose herein a double-layer aerogel/foam composite electromagnetic shielding composite. The absorption layer is made by a nanocellulose (CNF)@waterborne polyurethane (WPU) aerogel, in which magnetic nano iron tetraoxide (Fe 3 O 4) joined with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to optimize the impedance matching. The reflection layer is a chemically silver-plated foam (AF) used to reflect the transmitted electromagnetic waves through its strong electrical conductivity, improving the overall ability of electromagnetic waves shielding and achieving enhanced electromagnetic shielding performance. The two layers are strongly combined by the adhesion of WPU without the use of adhesives. When the mass ratio of CNTs to Fe 3 O 4 of 2:1 and the total mass fraction of 5 wt%, the EMI shielding efficiency of the composites reaches 62.81 dB in the X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) at the thickness of 4 mm and the maximum value reaches a remarkable 76.63 dB at 1.17 GHz. The specific SE value of SSE/t reaches 1744.72 dB cm2 g−1. Thanks to the effect of AF layer, the average reflectivity is only 0.141, demonstrating an absorption-dominated shielding mechanism. In addition, the as-prepared composite material is remarkably flexible and deformation-resistant, with a density of only 0.0913 g cm−3 and can withstand approximately 85,000 times its own weight. • Modulation of impedance matching by doping iron tetraoxide into carbon nanotubes. • Through simple pouring and one-step freeze-drying to construct double-layer structures. • Combining two loss mechanisms to achieve a leap in shielding performance. • Effective reduction of secondary electromagnetic pollution through absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countless RGB cameras are ubiquitously distributed in our daily lives, serving to perceive and depict the diverse colors of the world. Reconstructing hyperspectral images (HSI) from these trichromatic cameras emerges as a promising solution to address the limitations of existing, costly hyperspectral imaging systems. The performance of HSI reconstruction relies heavily on the camera spectral response (CSR). Thus, designing a better CSR and putting it into practice is the critical issue for RGB-based HSI reconstruction. However, the CSR curves designed in the existing works are overly random, making them challenging to manufacture directly. Additionally, the designed CSR curves require modifications to the camera hardware, resulting in the loss of RGB imaging functionality. In this paper, we propose a hyperspectral imaging system, which involves enhancing the CSR curve of existing RGB cameras and preserving RGB imaging functionality by adding a learnable physics-based spectral filter. Specifically, we first parameterize the spectral filter transmittance as a function of the filter thicknesses, based on the physical constraints of the multilayer interference principle. Then, we propose a joint optimization framework in which the thicknesses of the filter and the hyperspectral reconstruction network are optimized. In this manner, the thicknesses of the filter are obtained and used to manufacture the filter directly. Finally, we construct a prototype and verify the benefits of our spectral filter design method through experiments including both synthetic data and real images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses uncertainty in a transportation network by proposing a trilevel optimization model, which improves resiliency against uncertain disruptions. The goal is to minimize the total travel time by designing a resilient transportation network under uncertain disruptions and deterministic origin-destination demands. The trilevel optimization model has three levels. The lower level determines the network flow, and the middle level assesses the network's resiliency by identifying the worst-case scenario disruptions that could lead to maximal travel time. The upper-level takes the system perspective to expand the existing transportation network to enhance resiliency. We also propose a formulation for the network flow problem to significantly reduce the number of variables and constraints. Two algorithms have been developed to solve the trilevel model. The results of solving the highway network in Iowa show that the trilevel optimization model improves the total travel time by an average of 41%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hereditary basis and identification of novel genes of heading date have significant implications for japonica rice improvement in northeast China, especially in Heilongjiang province. A re‐sequenced recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the cross between Lijiangxintuanheigu (LTH) and Shennong 265 (SN265) was used to detect the genetic basis for the RIL in 2017 and 2018. Fourteen heading date quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including nine in 2017 and thirteen in 2018, were detected with a linkage map containing 2,818 bin markers. They were distributed on chromosomes 3, 4, 6 and 9–11 with 9.34%–25.26% phenotypic variations. The QTLs qHD3a, qHD4a, qHD4b, qHD4c, qHD9b, qHD10, qHD11c and qHD11d were identified in both years. The qTRS1, qTRS3a (qHD3a), qTRS3b (qHD3b) and qTRS9 (qHD9a) alleles from LTH and the qTRS4 allele from SN265 were identified by controlling the temperature responsiveness in the RIL population. The explained phenotypic variation in these five QTLs varied from 14.52% to 26.31%. In order to accurately determine the difference in heading date under different temperature conditions, the RILs and two parents were grown in a phytotron. Four QTLs controlling temperature responsiveness were identified on chromosomes 3, 6 and 9, including qTRS3a (qHD3a), qTRS3b (qHD3b), qTRS6 and qTRS9 (qHD9a). In a different environment, qTRS3a (qHD3a), qTRS3b (qHD3b) and qTRS9 (qHD9a) were detected. A comparison of chromosomal locations between the QTLs detected in this study and heading date genes previously cloned indicated that DTH3, Hd16, RFL, HAF1, Ehd2 and RBS1 might be candidate genes for them. The four major heading date genes (Hd1, Ghd7, Ghd7.1 and Ghd8) affecting ecogeographical adaptation were sequenced between SN265 and LTH. SN265 carried a functional Hd1 haplotype, a weak functional Ghd7 haplotype, a weak functional Ghd7.1 haplotype and a weak functional Ghd8 haplotype. LTH also carried functional Hd1 haplotype, a weak functional Ghd7 haplotype, a non‐functional Ghd7.1 haplotype and a non‐functional Ghd8 haplotype. The combinations of the Hd1, Ghd7, Ghd7.1 and Ghd8 alleles in SN265 and LTH largely defined their short heading date under long‐day conditions. The selection of heading date gene combinations with functional Hd1 alleles and non‐functional alleles or weak functional alleles of Ghd7, Ghd7.1 and Ghd8 would be an effective way to improve japonica rice with proper heading days in Northeast China. The novel QTLs detected in this study could also become a valuable source for designing the appropriate heading date in Northeast China japonica rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel weighted matrix based on the local diffusion process is defined. • The discrimination and correlation are integrated with an additive manner. • The rank of the projection matrix is not limited by the class number. • The sparse solutions are obtained by solving the underdetermined linear equations. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) is an unsupervised representation learning technique to correlate multi-view data by learning a set of projection matrices. Being complementary with CCA, many discriminant methods are proposed to extract discriminative features of multi-view data by introducing the supervised class information. However, the learned projection matrices in these methods are mathematically constrained to be equal rank to the class number, and thus cannot represent the original data comprehensively. In this paper, we propose a general multi-view information fusion technique, named sparse additive discriminative canonical correlation analysis (SaDCCA). On one hand, SaDCCA is equipped with a strong degree of discrimination by defining a new affinity matrix that reflects the high-order characteristics of intra-class and the separability of inter-class. On the other hand, SaDCCA can exploit the correlation among multi-view data by maintaining the spirit of CCA. The discrimination among classes and the correlation among views are integrated in an additive manner. To obtain the sparse solutions, we first establish the relationship between the objective function and the underdetermined linear system equations, and then obtain the ℓ 1 -norm solution by accelerated Bregman iteration with matrix form. SaDCCA has no rank constraint on the projection matrices and is capable to provide accurate recognition performance. Experiments conducted on some publicly available datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploiting the prior information is fundamental for image reconstruction in computational hyperspectral imaging (CHI). Existing methods usually unfold the 3D signal as a 1D vector and then handle the prior information among different dimensions in an indiscriminative manner, which inevitably ignores the high-dimensionality nature of the hyperspectral image (HSI) and thus results in poor reconstruction performance. In this paper, we propose a high-order tensor optimization based reconstruction method to boost the quality of CHI. Specifically, we first propose an adaptive dimension-discriminative low-rank tensor recovery (ADLTR) model to exploit the high-dimensionality prior of HSI faithfully. In the ADLTR model, we utilize the 3D tensors as the basic elements to fundamentally preserve the structure information in the spatial and spectral dimensions, introduce a dimension-discriminative low-rankness model to fully characterize the prior in the basic elements, and propose a weight estimation strategy by adaptively exploiting the diversity in each dimension. Then, we develop an optimization framework for the CHI reconstruction by integrating the structure prior in ADLTR with the system imaging principle, which is finally solved via the alternating minimization scheme. Extensive experiments on both synthetic and real data demonstrate that our method outperforms state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop yield prediction is crucial for global food security yet notoriously challenging due to multitudinous factors that jointly determine the yield, including genotype, environment, management, and their complex interactions. Integrating the power of optimization, machine learning, and agronomic insight, we present a new predictive model (referred to as the interaction regression model) for crop yield prediction, which has three salient properties. First, it achieved a relative root mean square error of 8% or less in three Midwest states (Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa) in the US for both corn and soybean yield prediction, outperforming state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms. Second, it identified about a dozen environment by management interactions for corn and soybean yield, some of which are consistent with conventional agronomic knowledge whereas some others interactions require additional analysis or experiment to prove or disprove. Third, it quantitatively dissected crop yield into contributions from weather, soil, management, and their interactions, allowing agronomists to pinpoint the factors that favorably or unfavorably affect the yield of a given location under a given weather and management scenario. The most significant contribution of the new prediction model is its capability to produce accurate prediction and explainable insights simultaneously. This was achieved by training the algorithm to select features and interactions that are spatially and temporally robust to balance prediction accuracy for the training data and generalizability to the test data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter devises a generalized eigenanalysis methodology for time-delayed networked microgrids (NMs) incorporating heterogeneous delays. The main contributions include: 1) it devises a universal delayed dynamic model for NMs under distributed control; 2) it quantifies the impacts of heterogeneous delays on NMs stability through an ODE-SOD-based eigensolver; 3) it offers insights into the effects of cyber and physical interconnections on NMs’ stability performance. The efficiency and efficacy of the delayed eigananalysis are thoroughly validated on our high-fidelity, real-time RTDS models for NMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Three levels performance metrics for UAV swarm resilience evaluation are proposed. • The process and algorithm of UAV swarm resilience evaluation considering resource supplementation are established. • A simulation scenario of UAV swarm confrontation is established to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. • The effects of supplementation quantity, speed, and threshold on resilience are analyzed at the application level. In open-resource environments, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms typically dynamically supplement and replace UAVs in the event of mission loss. During this process, there is a high degree of uncertainty and volatility regarding mission reliability. Solving the problem of resilience evaluation of the multidimensional characteristics of UAV swarms under resource supplementation is important to ensure the highly reliable operation of UAV swarms. In this study, we examined the impact of resource supplementation on the resilience of UAV swarms with respect to the resilience characteristics associated with the multidimensional topological features of the swarm. The mathematical concept of resilience and the specific characteristics of the UAV swarm were analyzed. By combining the two, a three-layer metric framework for UAV swarm resilience evaluation was proposed. On this basis, by considering the impact of resource supplementation, a resilience evaluation method was established using the theories of complex networks, flow networks, and multi-agent system simulation. Finally, a comparative and orthogonal-experiment case study was conducted with a UAV swarm confrontation scenario. The important factors and optimal benefits of the resilient recovery were analyzed based on the quantity, speed, and threshold of resource supplementation to guide the use of UAV swarms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product lifetime prediction is challenging when the product is subject to a time‐varying operational environment. Most of the existing studies use some functions to explicitly specify the relationship between degradation parameters and environmental conditions so as to reveal how the degradation process evolves over time. However, in many applications, the assumptions needed for establishing these functions cannot be validated in engineering practice or they cannot accurately model the entire underlying degradation mechanism. In contrast to previous work, the focus of our study is placed on product degradation prognosis by implementing an ensemble learning method. This method combines the stochastic process modeling approach and the machine learning approach, taking advantage of these approaches to gain a more accurate and stable degradation prediction. The proposed method is demonstrated by some simulation examples and by a case study of lithium‐ion battery accelerated degradation test. Both the simulation study and the real case verify the superiority of the proposed method. The case study indicates that the ensemble learning method can further help to effectively manage the energy storage and energy distribution of battery packs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research was conducted to evaluate the connection between the true digestibility of Phosphorus (TDP) in diet and bacterial community structure in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of goats. Twenty-eight Nubian goats were chosen and metabolic experiment was conducted to analyze TDP of research animals. Eight goats were grouped into the high digestibility of phosphorus (HP) phenotype, and another 8 were grouped into the low digestibility of phosphorus (LP) phenotype. And from the rumen, abomasum, jejunim, cecum and colon content of the goats, bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicons were sequenced. In the rumen 239 genera belonging to 23 phyla, in abomasum 319 genera belonging to 30 phyla, in jejunum 248 genera belonging to 36 phyla, in colon 248 genera belonging to 25 phyla and in cecum 246 genera belonging to 23 phyla were noticed. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the TDP and the abundance of Ruminococcaceae_UCG-010, Ruminococcus_2, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, Selenomonas_1 and Prevotella in the rumen, Lachnospiraceae_ND3007_group, Saccharofermentans, Ruminococcus_1, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, Lachnospiraceae_XPB1014_group and Desulfovibrio in the abomasum, Prevotella, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Fibrobacter, Desulfovibrio and Ruminococcus_2 in the jejunum, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014 in the colon, and Desulfovibrio in the cecum. Present research trial recommended that the community of gastrointestinal microbiota is a factor affecting TDP in goats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Propose a low rank embedded multiple features learning method for audio-visual emotion recognition. • Integrate the discriminant subspace learning and joint low-rank model in a uniform optimization problem. • Conduct extensive experiments on three audio-visual emotion datasets, which demonstrates the superiority of our method. Audio–visual emotion recognition is a challenging problem in the research fields of human–computer interaction and pattern recognition. Seeking a common subspace among the heterogeneous multi-modal data is essential for audio–visual emotion recognition. In this paper, we study the subspace learning for audio–visual emotion recognition by combing the similarity of intra-modality and the correlation of inter-modality. First, we enforce a low-rank constraint on the self-representation of the features in the subspace to exploit the structural similarity of intra-modality. It is based on a key observation that each modality and the corresponding features usually lie in a low-dimensional manifold. Second, we propose a joint low-rank model on the representation of inter-modality to keep consistency across different modalities. Finally, the intra-modality similarity and inter-modality correlation are integrated within a unified framework, for which we develop an efficient computational algorithm to pursue the common subspace. Experimental results on three typical audio–visual emotion datasets demonstrate the superior performance of our method on audio–visual emotion recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intumescent flame retardant system (IFR) was composed of ammonium polyphosphate (APP), pentaerythenol (PER) and melamine (MEL) to examine the ratio and the amount of flame retardant on the mechanical properties and flame retardant properties of vulcanized natural rubber latex. The thermal stably was analyzed by thermo gravimetric analyzer and the dispersing effect of flame retardant in latex was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the vulcanized latex film added PER and MEL had good mechanical properties but poor flame-resistance properties while the vulcanized latex film added APP and IFR had good flame-resistance properties but poor mechanical properties. SEM showed that APP had poor with the rubber. Thermal gravimetric analyst showed that the modified NR vulcanized latex film had better flame retardant properties than non-modified NR vulcanized latex film. The flame retardant effect of IFR-modified vulcanized latex film was the best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Epistasis, which is the phenomenon of genetic interactions, plays a central role in many scientific discoveries. However, due to the combinatorial nature of the problem, it is extremely challenging to decipher the exact combinations of genes that trigger the epistatic effects. Many existing methods only focus on two-way interactions. Some of the most effective methods used machine learning techniques, but many were designed for special case-and-control studies or suffer from overfitting. We propose three new algorithms for multi-effect and multi-way epistases detection, with one guaranteeing global optimality and the other two being local optimization oriented heuristics. Results The computational performance of the proposed heuristic algorithm was compared with several state-of-the-art methods using a yeast dataset. Results suggested that searching for the global optimal solution could be extremely time consuming, but the proposed heuristic algorithm was much more effective and efficient than others at finding a close-to-optimal solution. Moreover, it was able to provide biological insight on the exact configurations of epistases, besides achieving a higher prediction accuracy than the state-of-the-art methods. Availability and implementation Data source was publicly available and details are provided in the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoporous titanium nanoparticles (MTN) have always been a concern and are considered to have great potential for overcoming antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In our study, MTN modified with functionalized UV-responsive ethylene imine polymer (PEI) was synthesized. The characterization of all products was performed by different analyses, including SEM, TEM, FT-IR, TGA, XRD, XPS, and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. The typical antibacterial drug berberine hydrochloride (BH) was encapsulated in MTN-PEI. The process exhibited a high drug loading capacity (22.71 ± 1.12%) and encapsulation rate (46.56 ± 0.52%) due to its high specific surface area of 238.43 m2/g. Moreover, UV-controlled drug release was achieved by utilizing the photocatalytic performance of MTN. The antibacterial effect of BH@MTN-PEI was investigated, which showed that it could be controlled to release BH and achieve a corresponding antibacterial effect by UV illumination for different lengths of time, with bacterial lethality reaching 37.76% after only 8 min of irradiation. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the nanoparticles have also been studied. The MIC of BH@MTN-PEI was confirmed as 1 mg/mL against Escherichia coli (E. coli), at which the growth of bacteria was completely inhibited during 24 h and the concentration of 5 mg/mL for BH@MTN-PEI was regarded as MBC against E. coli. Although this proof-of-concept study is far from a real-life application, it provides a possible route to the discovery and application of antimicrobial drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel bifunctional core–shell Zr-MOFs@COFs hybrids materials were prepared. • The pore structure, heteroatom content, the optical properties of the hybrids can be precisely regulated. • The hybrid materials had high S BET (1301 m2·g−1), V total (0.94 cm3·g−1) and heteroatom content (13.38%). • The hybrid materials exhibited much higher CO 2 uptake (170 mg·g−1) than Zr-MOFs and COFs. • Excellent photocatalytic oxidation amine coupling with conversion and selectivity up to 99%. Herein, the covalent organic frameworks (COFs) were chemically bonded to the surface of the Zr-based metal–organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs), and a series of novel core–shell MOFs@COFs hybrids were prepared. The coating of the COFs not only increases the stability of Zr-MOFs, but also generates new micropores in the interface layer and provides abundant N/S atoms. Additionally, the chemical structure, pore structure, and band gap of the resulting hybrids can be effectively adjusted by changing the monomers of the COFs. The produced hybrid, namely M@COF-SF, exhibits high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (1301 m2·g−1), pore volume (0.94 m3·g−1), and heteroatom content (13.38%), endowing it excellent CO 2 capture (170 mg·g−1) at 273 K/1.0 bar. Particularly, the introduced thiophene skeleton in the COFs greatly improves the optical properties of the produced hybrid, enabling it to increase the separation performance of electron hole pairs by Z-type electron transfer. Resultantly, it performs well in the photocatalytic oxidative amine coupling with the conversion and the selectivity up to 99%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Novel bifunctional thiophene-based COFs were constructed. • N/S heteroatoms were loaded in the skeleton of the COFs backbone. • The structures of the COFs were well adjusted by adjusting of the monomers. • COF-S1 exhibited remarkable I 2 vapor uptake of 7.74 g/g. • COF-S2 exhibited high Hg2+ adsorption capacity of 834 mg/g. Novel bifunctional thiophene-based COFs were constructed according to Schiff base reaction between tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)-ethane and 2,5-thiophenedicarboxaldehyde/ thieno[3;2-b]thiophene-2,5-dicarboxaldehyde. The loading of N/S heteroatoms in the skeleton not only take the COFs abundant functional groups, but also elevate the stability of the functional groups, and avoid the blocking of the pores from the post-functionlization of functional groups. The thiophene-based COFs all showed good crystalline structure, high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area (S BET), pore volume (V total), and N/S content, indicative of the COFs good performance in Hg2+ adsorption and I 2 vapor capture. Especially, the COF-S1, which showed high S BET of 2133 m2/g and V total of 1.672 cm3/g, exhibited a relative high I 2 vapor capacity of 7.74 g/g. Although COF-S2 showed lower S BET (1430 m2/g) and V total (1.186 cm3/g), the higher N/S content make COF-S2 higher Hg2+ adsorption capacity of 834 mg/g. The COFs also showed outstanding adsorption selectivity and good recyclability. This work provides guidance for the design and preparation of multi-functional adsorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a novel hybrid imaging system to acquire 4D high-speed hyperspectral (HSHS) videos with high spatial and spectral resolution. The proposed system consists of two branches: one branch performs Nyquist sampling in the temporal dimension while integrating the whole spectrum, resulting in a high-frame-rate panchromatic video; the other branch performs compressive sampling in the spectral dimension with longer exposures, resulting in a low-frame-rate hyperspectral video. Owing to the high light throughput and complementary sampling, these two branches jointly provide reliable measurements for recovering the underlying HSHS video. Moreover, the panchromatic video can be used to learn an over-complete 3D dictionary to represent each band-wise video sparsely, thanks to the inherent structural similarity in the spectral dimension. Based on the joint measurements and the self-adaptive dictionary, we further propose a simultaneous spectral sparse (3S) model to reinforce the structural similarity across different bands and develop an efficient computational reconstruction algorithm to recover the HSHS video. Both simulation and hardware experiments validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that hyperspectral videos can be acquired at a frame rate up to 100fps with commodity optical elements and under ordinary indoor illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of the analysis of survey archaeobotany samples from the Sushui valley. This provides evidence for changes over time for a region in the proportions of crops, especially rice versus millets. In addition, the composition of samples, both grouped by period and considered on a sample-by-sample basis, are considered as representing routine crop-processing waste, from which it is suggested that typical patterns of routine crop processing (after storage) can be inferred. These patterns, in turn, imply something about processing prior to storage and the social organization of agricultural production, suggesting the hypothesis that crop-processing patterns diversified during the emergence of complex societies with some sites with larger scale practices while others were focused on the household level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Conventional genomic selection approaches use breeding values to evaluate individual plants or animals and to make selection decisions. Multiple variants of breeding values and selection approaches have been proposed, but they suffer two major limitations. First, selection decisions are not responsive to changes in time and resource availability. Second, selection decisions are not coordinated with related decisions such as mating and resource allocation. We present three new genomic selection approaches that attempt to address these two limitations, which were designed by engineering students in a class project at Iowa State University. Compared with previous approaches using the same data set from the literature, two of these engineering approaches were found to be comparable to the state of the art, and the third one significantly dominated all the previous approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decomposition rate of Potamogeton crispus and its rates of phosphorus (P) release and sedimentation were quantified during natural senescence in a microcosm experiment. The decay of P. crispus was characterized by an exponential model with a mean mass loss coefficient (k) of 0.05 day−1. During the first 10 days, the rapid decomposition phase, k was 0.068 day−1. The rates of P release and total P sedimentation, as well as the dissolved total P, soluble reactive phosphorus, dissolved organic phosphorus, and particulate phosphorus, were quantified throughout the 30-day study period. The nitrogen (N) and P contents of P. crispus increased whereas the carbon (C) content and the C:N, C:P, and N:P ratios decreased near the end of the decomposition phase. In addition, the pH, dissolved oxygen, and redox potential decreased during the rapid release of P. The results indicated that the rate of mass loss was slower from dried plants than from senescent plants. The rapid decomposition rate, which was associated with a high rate of P release, suggests that much of the accumulated P will eventually be returned to the aquatic ecosystem. These data illuminate the mechanisms of decomposition and suggest a strategy of reducing eutrophication by harvesting P. crispus prior to its senescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the natural graphene-structure in the raw asphaltene material, a graphene-polyurethane sponge (GPU) oil-absorption material was prepared via a facile and inexpensive route of dip-coated sponge carbonization, which used low-value petroleum asphlatene as the dip-coating reagent and polyurethane sponges as the template. The GPU presents high hydrophobic and super oleophilic properties, as well as the excellent oil absorption performance. And its chloroform absorption capacity could reach 123 times its original mass, which is significantly higher than that of most reported oil absorbents. Furthermore, the GPU exhibits good recyclability. It has the promising applications in the pollution control of spilt oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temperature fluctuations induced by incomplete mixing of coolants with different temperature may cause thermal fatigue at the components of the lead-based reactor core outlet. Thus the accurate analysis of the phenomenon is very crucial for reactor safety operation. In this paper, the temperature fluctuations of the lead-based reactor core outlet were simulated by using large eddy simulation (LES) method in the simplified core outlet models. In order to analyze the temperature fluctuation sensitivity for the fuel assembly design parameters, such as the fuel assembly size and the gap between two adjacent fuel assemblies, five geometry models were constructed with different fuel assembly design parameters. The time histories of temperature fluctuations at different monitoring points on the center of three fuel assemblies were obtained. Then the amplitudes and the power spectrum density (PSD) of temperature fluctuations were analyzed, in order to compare temperature fluctuations of different geometry models at the same locations of core outlet. Finally the distribution characteristics of core outlet temperature fluctuations were obtained in axial directions, and the temperature fluctuation sensitivity with fuel assembly parameters was also analyzed based on the amplitudes, PSD and the normalized root-mean square temperature analysis. It is found that the temperature fluctuation intensity is enhanced with the increase of the gap size between adjacent fuel assemblies and the opposite edge width of each fuel assembly. The analysis results could provide important references for optimized design and engineering guidance of lead-based reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter presents a novel approach for simultaneous depth and spectral imaging with a cross-modal stereo system. Two images of the target scene are captured at the same time: one compressively sampled hyperspectral measurement and one panchromatic measurement. The underlying hyperspectral cube is first reconstructed by leveraging the compressive sensing theory, during which a self-adaptive dictionary is learned from the panchromatic measurement to facilitate the reconstruction. The depth information of the scene is then recovered by estimating a disparity map between the hyperspectral cube and the panchromatic measurement through stereo matching. This disparity map, once obtained, is used to align the hyperspectral and panchromatic measurements to boost the hyperspectral reconstruction in an iterative manner. Through hardware experiments, for the first time to our knowledge, we demonstrate a snapshot system that allows for simultaneous depth and spectral imaging. The proposed system is capable of recording depth and spectral videos of dynamic scenes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bernoulli data (pass/fail), lifetime data, and degradation data are commonly encountered in product reliability assessment. Oftentimes these data are collected from different sources (such as field use, accelerated tests, history, and so on), and it is desirable to utilize these heterogeneous data within one computational framework to provide a comprehensive evaluation of product reliability. In this paper, three Bayesian inference models are proposed to establish the relationship among pass/fail-type Bernoulli data, lifetime data, and degradation data, and to integrate them to solve relevant problems and improve the accuracy of reliability prediction. The proposed methods are demonstrated by a synthetic example and two real examples. The evaluation results can be used for formulating product development strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leveraging the compressive sensing (CS) theory, coded aperture snapshot spectral imaging (CASSI) provides an efficient solution to recover 3D hyperspectral data from a 2D measurement. The dual-camera design of CASSI, by adding an uncoded panchromatic measurement, enhances the reconstruction fidelity while maintaining the snapshot advantage. In this paper, we propose an adaptive nonlocal sparse representation (ANSR) model to boost the performance of dual-camera compressive hyperspectral imaging (DCCHI). Specifically, the CS reconstruction problem is formulated as a 3D cube based sparse representation to make full use of the nonlocal similarity in both the spatial and spectral domains. Our key observation is that, the panchromatic image, besides playing the role of direct measurement, can be further exploited to help the nonlocal similarity estimation. Therefore, we design a joint similarity metric by adaptively combining the internal similarity within the reconstructed hyperspectral image and the external similarity within the panchromatic image. In this way, the fidelity of CS reconstruction is greatly enhanced. Both simulation and hardware experimental results show significant improvement of the proposed method over the state-of-the-art. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Prediction of days suitable for fieldwork is important for understanding the potential effects of climate change and for selecting machinery systems to improve efficiency in field operations and avoid soil damage. Yet, we lack predictive models to inform decision-making at scale. We filled this knowledge gap by developing and testing five new workability models. One model follows soil moisture-based methods (APSIM), one uses simple rain and temperature thresholds, and three follow machine learning techniques (Random Forest, Decision Table, Neural Network). We parameterized the models using USDA survey data from Iowa, USA and evaluated their temporal and spatial prediction over twelve US Corn Belt States and different time periods using multiple statistical indexes and sensitivity analysis. The models operate at a 5-arcminute resolution. Results indicated that the simple rule model, the Decision Table model, and the process-based model predicted field workable days with an agreement index of 0.88, 0.86, and 0.84, respectively for the testing datasets (n = 22,671), and hence were deemed sufficient for future use. The selected models are better suited for large timespan evaluations of workability (monthly to annual, normalized root mean square error, nRMSE = 8 to 15%)) than weekly predictions (nRMSE = 21%). The machine learning models tended to cluster their predictions around a mean value and were about 50% less responsive to precipitation than the process-based or rule-based models. We concluded that simple approaches are more robust to be applied at scale than complex approaches with many data input requirements. The developed models enhance our capacity to predict climate change impacts on workability, a valuable indicator for decision-making and overall sustainability. [Display omitted] • Five scalable workability models were developed and thoroughly evaluated in the US Corn Belt • Three models (simple rule, decision table, APSIM) are recommended for regional scale assessments • The models are best suited for monthly to annual workability predictions • The models adequately simulated temporal and spatial aspects of workability in the validation datasets • Models had different sensitivities to rain, thus a multi-model ensemble is suggested for future climate change predictions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmission planning is typically faced with a wide range of uncertainty including growth in demand, renewable energy generation and fuel price. The restructuring of the electric power industry, the drive for energy independence and the push for a cleaner environment have led to additional sources of uncertainty in all aspects of power system operations and planning. The more decentralized decision-making implicates uncertainty in future generation investment and retirement of existing units. Such uncertainties are among the biggest challenges in transmission planning in power systems. However, existing approaches in the literature do not fully address this problem. In this paper, we construct a new robust transmission planning model representing generation investment and retirement uncertainty more realistically to improve the quantification and visualization of uncertainty and the impacts of environmental policies. With this model, we can manage the impacts of uncertainty in the time, the size and the location of candidate generation additions as well as the retirement of units. The corresponding algorithm we develop takes advantage of the structural characteristics of the model so as to obtain a computationally efficient solution methodology. We present an extensive numerical study on the WECC 240-bus system and illustrate the effectiveness of our approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Thermal striping is one of great safety concerns for liquid metal cooled fast reactor, and its detailed analysis is thus very important for reactor design and operation. In this paper, large eddy simulation (LES) approach was employed for the accurate simulation of temperature fluctuations for thermal striping in double jet model by using FLUENT. The normalized amplitudes of temperature fluctuations of lead and Lead–Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) were obtained. Then in order to compare temperature fluctuations of lead-based reactor and that of sodium cooled reactor, the same calculation of sodium was also performed. Moreover, the power spectrum density (PSD) of temperature fluctuation of lead, LBE and sodium was analyzed by using MATLAB for investigating the dominant frequencies of temperature fluctuation of the three fluids. It is concluded that both amplitudes and frequencies of lead-based materials fluctuations are larger compared with that of sodium temperature fluctuations, and thermal striping should thus be paid more attention to in lead-based reactor than sodium cooled reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rumen microbial communities play important roles in feed conversion and the physiological development of the ruminants. Despite its significance, little is known about the rumen microbial communities at different life stages after birth. In this study, we characterized the rumen bacterial and the archaeal communities in 11 different age groups (7, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 360, 540 and 720 days old) of a crossbred F1 goats (n = 5 for each group) by using an Illumina MiSeq platform targeting the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. We found that the bacterial communities were mainly composed of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria across all age groups. The relative abundance of Firmicutes was stable across all age groups. While changes in relative abundance were observed in Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria, these two phyla reached a stable stage after weaning (day 90). Euryarchaeota (82%) and Thaumarchaeota (15%) were the dominant phyla of Archaea. Crenarchaeota was also observed, although at a very low relative abundance (0.68% at most). A clear age-related pattern was observed in the diversity of bacterial community with 59 OTUs associated with age. In contrast, no age-related OTU was observed in archaea. In conclusion, our results suggested that from 7 days to 2 years, the ruminal microbial community of our experimental goats underwent significant changes in response to the shift in age and diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel, simple, one-step method of synthesizing vanillin and vanillic acid from eugenol has been developed. The method uses ligand- and additive-free Co(OAc)2 ⋅ 4H2O as catalyst and molecular oxygen as oxidant to achieve catalytic process without isomerizing eugenol. Extensive screening efforts were used to optimize eugenol to obtain vanillin and vanillic acid. Under optimal conditions, the reaction provided vanillin and vanillic acid with 68.5 % and 15.2 % yields, respectively. Apart from the desired products, coniferyl alcohol 9-methyl ether and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamaldehyde as two intermediates were also detected in the reaction process. Level changes of all compounds over time were presented in the reaction. The reaction pathway from eugenol to vanillic acid was validated by conducting several control experiments. Furthermore, a possible reaction mechanism dominated by a circular redox reaction from Co(III) and Co(II) species was proposed. This method offers a potentially practical alternative for manufacturing vanillin and vanillic acid efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess potential phosphorus removal, we utilized Potamogeton crispus to determine the effects of calcium addition on phosphorus removal. Plastic film was used to block material exchange between the overlying water and the sediment, and we compared the experimental results with long-term monitoring results of Yimeng Lake, which contained a dense population of P. crispus. The results revealed that the first 10–40 days constituted a period of rapid P decrease, as P. crispus could effectively remove the phosphorus in the water through coprecipitation of CaCO 3 –P. The treatment groups indicated that P. crispus released calcium into the overlying water, and after the addition of calcium ions, P. crispus showed increased phosphorus removal efficiency in the water. Total phosphorus (TP) and P/Ca content increased with increasing pH in the treatment groups, and the TP and pH declined as the calcium content increased in the treatment groups. Long-term field observations showed that the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio in the coprecipitates was dependent on the pH during the crystallization process. Thus, water calcium driven by P. crispus plays an important role in the phosphorus cycle of water, due to P. crispus assisted precipitation. This study revealed the effect of P. crispus on the water purification, the migration and transformation of Ca and P in sediment and overlying water under the condition of sediment calcium addition, so as to provide a theoretical basis for the ecological restoration of shallow lakes eutrophication. [Display omitted] • Compared with the data of indoor experiment and field investigation. • In lakes with higher calcium concentrations, pH was the key factor controlling the P concentration. • The increase of calcium ion improved the removal efficiency of phosphorus in water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically simulate second-harmonic generation (SHG) in collagen under linearly polarized focused laser beam. With this model, the effects of numerical aperture (NA) and refractive index dispersion on SHG emission have been investigated. Dispersion properties of collagen are significant under incident wavelength in the visible range. Our results show that the efficient SHG is obtained by controlling the NA, and the higher NA is a necessity when the dispersion effect is considered. Our theoretical simulation results provide useful clues for experimental study of microscopic SHG emission in collagen excited by focused beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel covalently connected core–shell NH 2 -UiO-66@Br-COFs hybrid materials was prepared. • Abundant ultramicropores were generated at the core–shell interface. • The hybrid materials had high S BET (966 m2·g−1), V total (0.655 cm3·g−1) and V ultra (0.157 cm3·g−1). • The hybrid materials exhibited much higher CO 2 uptake (169.5 mg·g−1) than NH 2 -UiO-66 and Br-COFs. • The hybrid materials exhibited good I 2 vapor adsorption capacity (3.73 g·g−1). Metal organic frameworks (MOFs)@covalent organic frameworks (COFs) (MOFs@COFs) hybrid materials not only combine the advantages of MOFs and COFs, but the possible synergistic effect at the MOFs-COFs interface can improve the performance of the hybrid materials greatly. Herein, the Br-COFs shell was in-situ grown on the surface of the NH 2 -UiO-66 core by Schiff-based reaction and a kind of novel covalently connected core–shell NH 2 -UiO-66@Br-COFs hybrid materials were prepared accordingly. Unique structure was generated at the core–shell interface which could be effectively adjusted by the coating amount of Br-COFs. In particular, abundant ultramicropores were generated at the interfacial layers as compared with NH 2 -UiO-66 and Br-COFs, and the maximum ultramicropore volume (V ultra) was up to 0.157 cm3·g−1. These produced ultramicropores at the core–shell interface made a great positive contribution to the CO 2 capacity and the maximum CO 2 capacity of the hybrid materials was measured to be 169.5 mg·g−1 at 273 K and 1.0 bar, outperformed the corresponding single MOF and COF. Additionally, the highest I 2 vapor uptake of the hybrid materials was determined to be 3.73 g·g−1 and it increased with the increase of the coating amount of Br-COFs. This work presents the successful regulation of the adsorption performance by the rational fabrication of novel hybrid MOFs@COFs interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]