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The decrease in mechanical properties of high-strength steel after welding is an important issue affecting the wide application of high-strength steel. Air-hardening steel is a high-strength steel suitable for lower body structural parts such as subframes. Its application process involves welding, hot forming and other processes. The present work investigates the microstructure and mechanical properties of the air-hardening steel laser welded joint that is air-cooled after hot forming in the two-phase zone (800 °C). The microstructure was characterized by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results show that during hot forming, the welded joint transforms from martensite to ferrite and acicular martensite, and the base metal transforms from ferrite to polygonal martensite and ferrite. The difference in martensite morphology between the welded joint and the base metal is attributed to the nucleation positions of austenite. The structural evolution of the welded joint and the base metal is accompanied with the annihilation and reproduction of dislocations, which results in significant changes in hardness. The hardness value dropped from the highest 430 HV to 271 HV in the welded joint, while increased from the lowest 184 HV to 203 HV in the base metal. After hot forming, the tensile strength of the welded sample is reduced by only 36 MPa, and the total elongation is slightly decreased by about 1.5% compared with the unwelded sample. The welded joint and the base metal have similar plastic deformation capabilities, since the acicular martensite in the welded joint displays good plastic deformation ability, and the dislocation density of the welded joint and the base metal is similar. Overall, the microstructure and dislocation density of the air-hardening steel welded joint after hot forming are similar to those of the base metal, which is responsible for the good mechanical prope, QC 20240703

The immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated promising clinical efficacy across various tumor types, yet the percentage of patients who benefit from them remains low. The binding affinity between antigens and HLA-I/TCR molecules plays a critical role in antigen presentation and T-cell activation. Some computational methods have been developed to predict antigen-HLA or antigen-TCR binding specificity, but they focus solely on one task at a time. In this paper, we propose UnifyImmun, a unified cross-attention transformer model designed to simultaneously predicts the binding of antigens to both HLA and TCR molecules, thereby providing more comprehensive evaluation of antigen immunogenicity. We devise a two-phase progressive training strategy that enables these two tasks to mutually reinforce each other, by compelling the encoders to extract more expressive features. To further enhance the model generalizability, we incorporate virtual adversarial training. Compared to over ten existing methods for predicting antigen-HLA and antigen-TCR binding, our method demonstrates better performance in both tasks. Notably, on a large-scale COVID-19 antigen-TCR binding test set, our method improves performance by at least 9% compared to the current state-of-the-art methods. The validation experiments on three clinical cohorts confirm that our approach effectively predicts immunotherapy response and clinical outcomes. Furthermore, the cross-attention scores reveal the amino acids sites critical for antigen binding to receptors. In essence, our approach marks a significant step towards comprehensive evaluation of antigen immunogenicity.

This paper studied the effects of the superheating degree and cooling intensity on the solidification structure of CP 780 slab. The results indicated that the equiaxed crystal ratio decreases with the increase of superheating degree and the cooling intensity. When the superheating degree increases from 15 to 25°C, the equiaxed crystal ratio drops sharply. While the equiaxed crystal ratio decreases slightly with an increasing superheating degree from 25°C to 55°C. It is further revealed that the superheating degree has a greater effect on the equiaxed crystal ratio compared with the influence of cooling intensity. Quantitative analysed the relationship among the equiaxed crystal ratio, the superheating degree and cooling intensity is in line with the Extreme 2D model. The accuracy of the model performance can reach 97.6% when predicting the equiaxed crystal ratio of CSP-CP 780 during CSP process., QC 20230705

As the latest advancements in natural language processing, large language models (LLMs) have achieved human-level language understanding and generation abilities in many real-world tasks, and even have been regarded as a potential path to the artificial general intelligence. To better facilitate research on LLMs, many open-source LLMs, such as Llama 2 and Falcon, have recently been proposed and gained comparable performances to proprietary models. However, these models are primarily designed for English scenarios and exhibit poor performances in Chinese contexts. In this technical report, we propose YAYI 2, including both base and chat models, with 30 billion parameters. YAYI 2 is pre-trained from scratch on a multilingual corpus which contains 2.65 trillion tokens filtered by our pre-training data processing pipeline. The base model is aligned with human values through supervised fine-tuning with millions of instructions and reinforcement learning from human feedback. Extensive experiments on multiple benchmarks, such as MMLU and CMMLU, consistently demonstrate that the proposed YAYI 2 outperforms other similar sized open-source models.

This paper proposes a stabilising model predictive control (MPC) scheme with preview information of disturbance for nonlinear systems. The proposed MPC algorithm is able to not only reject disturbance by making use of disturbance preview information as necessary, but also take advantage of the disturbance if it is good for a control task. This is realised by taking into account both the task (e.g. reference trajectory) and disturbance preview in the prediction horizon when performing online optimisation. Conditions are established to ensure recursive feasibility and stability under the disturbance. First the disturbance within the horizon is augmented with the state to form a new composite system and then the stage cost function is modified accordingly. With the help of input-to-state stability theory, a terminal cost and a terminal constraint are constructed and added to the MPC algorithm with preview to guarantee its recursive feasibility and stability under a pre-bounded disturbance. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MPC algorithm.

Cold regions involve hydrological processes that are not often addressed appropriately in hydrological models. The Cold Regions Hydrological Modelling platform (CRHM) was initially developed in 1998 to assemble and explore the hydrological understanding developed from a series of research basins spanning Canada and international cold regions. Hydrological processes and basin response in cold regions are simulated in a flexible, modular, object-oriented, multiphysics platform. The CRHM platform allows for multiple representations of forcing data interpolation and extrapolation, hydrological model spatial and physical process structures, and parameter values. It is well suited for model falsification, algorithm intercomparison and benchmarking, and has been deployed for basin hydrology diagnosis, prediction, land use change and water quality analysis, climate impact analysis and flood forecasting around the world. This paper describes CRHM’s capabilities, and the insights derived by applying the model in concert with process hydrology research and using the combined information and understanding from research basins to predict hydrological variables, diagnose hydrological change and determine the appropriateness of model structure and parameterisations.

Jisheng Dong,* Li Li,* Xing Fang, Mousheng Zang Department of Orthopedics, The Second People’s Hospital of Hefei, The Affiliated Hefei Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, 230011, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Mousheng ZangDepartment of Orthopedics, The Second People’s Hospital of Hefei, The Affiliated Hefei Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 246, Heping Road, Yaohai District, Hefei, Anhui, 230011, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-551-62203555Email Zangmousheng7901@163.comObjective: Exosome-encapsulated microRNAs (miRNAs) are being considered as either diagnostic or predictive markers in different types of diseases. Here, we discussed the effects of exosome-encapsulated miR-127-3p from bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) on osteoarthritis (OA).Methods: BM-MSCs and primary chondrocytes were isolated from Sprague Dawley rats. IL-1β was utilized to treat chondrocytes to mimic an OA in vitro model, and exosomes extracted from BM-MSCs were utilized to treat chondrocytes so as to verify their protective effects on OA. Through online website prediction and experiments confirmation, we found the most significantly enriched miRNA in exosomes and elucidated the effect of this miRNA on the therapeutic effect of exosomes by interfering with its expression. Also, the genes targeted by the miRNA and the involved pathway were also found through bioinformatics analysis and experimental research, thereby probing into the protective mechanism of exosomes on chondrocytes.Results: Exosomes derived from BM-MSCs restricted the IL-1β-induced chondrocytes damage. miR-127-3p was found to be enriched in exosomes, and the protective effect of exosomes was reversed by miR-127-3p inhibition. miR-127-3p targeted CDH11, and overexpressed CDH11 in chondrocytes weakened the therapeutic effect of exosomes. IL-1β treatment resulted in th

We quantified effects of future climate warming on temperature and stability in a variably stratified, hypereutrophic reservoir with large fluctuations in water level by calibrating a 2-D model (CE-QUAL-W2, version 3.7.1, Portland State University, Portland, USA) of reservoir hydrodynamics using a time series (1992 to 2011) of inflow and air and water temperature. The model was then forced with increased air temperature projected by an ensemble of climate models that accounted for complex local topography and seasonality, with greater warming in summer. Warming increased annual evaporation rates by 2.6 to 7.9%. Water temperature increased by 0.44 (whole-reservoir; p < 0.05), 0.47 (epilimnion; p < 0.01), and 0.30 °C (hypolimnion; p < 0.05) per 1 °C increase in air temperature. Thickness of the epilimnion and hypolimnion diminished, with expansion of the metalimnion. Schmidt stability correlated with mean water depth over a wide range of depths (3.9 to 8.1 m; Adj. R2 = 0.91 to 0.93; p < 0.001). Increased air temperature increased mean annual stability by 6.1 to 23.6 J m−2 when depth was large and the reservoir stratified, but when depth was low (due to combined low inflow and, in preceding years, high withdrawals), inhibiting stratification, then water temperatures increased evenly (and more) throughout the vertical profile so change in mean annual stability was near zero (−0.1 to 1.1 J m−2). Combined effects of reservoir management (volume, timing, and elevation of water withdrawal) and climate warming (temperature of air and benthic sediment) can impact the hydrodynamic regime differently under variably stratified conditions with implications for release of phosphorus from sediment and vertical transport of phosphorus to the euphotic zone.

We quantified effects of future climate warming on temperature and stability in a variably stratified, hypereutrophic reservoir with large fluctuations in water level by calibrating a 2-D model (CE-QUAL-W2, version 3.7.1, Portland State University, Portland, USA) of reservoir hydrodynamics using a time series (1992 to 2011) of inflow and air and water temperature. The model was then forced with increased air temperature projected by an ensemble of climate models that accounted for complex local topography and seasonality, with greater warming in summer. Warming increased annual evaporation rates by 2.6 to 7.9%. Water temperature increased by 0.44 (whole-reservoir; p < 0.05), 0.47 (epilimnion; p < 0.01), and 0.30 °C (hypolimnion; p < 0.05) per 1 °C increase in air temperature. Thickness of the epilimnion and hypolimnion diminished, with expansion of the metalimnion. Schmidt stability correlated with mean water depth over a wide range of depths (3.9 to 8.1 m; Adj. R2 = 0.91 to 0.93; p < 0.001). Increased air temperature increased mean annual stability by 6.1 to 23.6 J m−2 when depth was large and the reservoir stratified, but when depth was low (due to combined low inflow and, in preceding years, high withdrawals), inhibiting stratification, then water temperatures increased evenly (and more) throughout the vertical profile so change in mean annual stability was near zero (−0.1 to 1.1 J m−2). Combined effects of reservoir management (volume, timing, and elevation of water withdrawal) and climate warming (temperature of air and benthic sediment) can impact the hydrodynamic regime differently under variably stratified conditions with implications for release of phosphorus from sediment and vertical transport of phosphorus to the euphotic zone.

This paper describes ESM-SnowMIP, an international coordinated modelling effort to evaluate current snow schemes, including snow schemes that are included in Earth system models, in a wide variety of settings against local and global observations. The project aims to identify crucial processes and characteristics that need to be improved in snow models in the context of local- and global-scale modelling. A further objective of ESM-SnowMIP is to better quantify snow-related feedbacks in the Earth system. Although it is not part of the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6), ESM-SnowMIP is tightly linked to the CMIP6-endorsed Land Surface, Snow and Soil Moisture Model Intercomparison (LS3MIP).

This paper describes ESM-SnowMIP, an international coordinated modelling effort to evaluate current snow schemes, including snow schemes that are included in Earth system models, in a wide variety of settings against local and global observations. The project aims to identify crucial processes and characteristics that need to be improved in snow models in the context of local- and global-scale modelling. A further objective of ESM-SnowMIP is to better quantify snow-related feedbacks in the Earth system. Although it is not part of the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6), ESM-SnowMIP is tightly linked to the CMIP6-endorsed Land Surface, Snow and Soil Moisture Model Intercomparison (LS3MIP).

We quantified effects of future climate warming on temperature and stability in a variably stratified, hypereutrophic reservoir with large fluctuations in water level by calibrating a 2-D model (CE-QUAL-W2, version 3.7.1, Portland State University, Portland, USA) of reservoir hydrodynamics using a time series (1992 to 2011) of inflow and air and water temperature. The model was then forced with increased air temperature projected by an ensemble of climate models that accounted for complex local topography and seasonality, with greater warming in summer. Warming increased annual evaporation rates by 2.6 to 7.9%. Water temperature increased by 0.44 (whole-reservoir; p < 0.05), 0.47 (epilimnion; p < 0.01), and 0.30 °C (hypolimnion; p < 0.05) per 1 °C increase in air temperature. Thickness of the epilimnion and hypolimnion diminished, with expansion of the metalimnion. Schmidt stability correlated with mean water depth over a wide range of depths (3.9 to 8.1 m; Adj. R2 = 0.91 to 0.93; p < 0.001). Increased air temperature increased mean annual stability by 6.1 to 23.6 J m−2 when depth was large and the reservoir stratified, but when depth was low (due to combined low inflow and, in preceding years, high withdrawals), inhibiting stratification, then water temperatures increased evenly (and more) throughout the vertical profile so change in mean annual stability was near zero (−0.1 to 1.1 J m−2). Combined effects of reservoir management (volume, timing, and elevation of water withdrawal) and climate warming (temperature of air and benthic sediment) can impact the hydrodynamic regime differently under variably stratified conditions with implications for release of phosphorus from sediment and vertical transport of phosphorus to the euphotic zone.

We quantified effects of future climate warming on temperature and stability in a variably stratified, hypereutrophic reservoir with large fluctuations in water level by calibrating a 2-D model (CE-QUAL-W2, version 3.7.1, Portland State University, Portland, USA) of reservoir hydrodynamics using a time series (1992 to 2011) of inflow and air and water temperature. The model was then forced with increased air temperature projected by an ensemble of climate models that accounted for complex local topography and seasonality, with greater warming in summer. Warming increased annual evaporation rates by 2.6 to 7.9%. Water temperature increased by 0.44 (whole-reservoir; p < 0.05), 0.47 (epilimnion; p < 0.01), and 0.30 °C (hypolimnion; p < 0.05) per 1 °C increase in air temperature. Thickness of the epilimnion and hypolimnion diminished, with expansion of the metalimnion. Schmidt stability correlated with mean water depth over a wide range of depths (3.9 to 8.1 m; Adj. R2 = 0.91 to 0.93; p < 0.001). Increased air temperature increased mean annual stability by 6.1 to 23.6 J m−2 when depth was large and the reservoir stratified, but when depth was low (due to combined low inflow and, in preceding years, high withdrawals), inhibiting stratification, then water temperatures increased evenly (and more) throughout the vertical profile so change in mean annual stability was near zero (−0.1 to 1.1 J m−2). Combined effects of reservoir management (volume, timing, and elevation of water withdrawal) and climate warming (temperature of air and benthic sediment) can impact the hydrodynamic regime differently under variably stratified conditions with implications for release of phosphorus from sediment and vertical transport of phosphorus to the euphotic zone.

Cement bitumen emulsion asphalt (CBEA) is obtained by mixing bitumen emulsion, cement, aggregates and filler at ambient temperature. CBEA is thought to be a promising substitute for hot mix asphalt because of its low environmental impact and cost-effectiveness. Disadvantages of this material are the long time required to reach its full strength and the inadequate understanding of the hardening mechanisms. This study aims at accelerating the development of mechanical properties of CBEA by using rapid-hardening cements while at the same time gaining a deeper understanding of the role of cement in CBEA. With this purpose, cold mix asphalt mixtures with cationic and anionic emulsions and different types of cement (ordinary Portland, calcium sulfoaluminate and calcium aluminate cement) were studied by means of isothermal calorimetry, measurements of water evaporation and Marshall tests. The results indicate that both anionic and cationic bitumen emulsions may affect the initial hydration rates of the cements used but have no significant influence on their degree of hydration after a few days. The addition of calcium sulfoaluminate and calcium aluminate cement to CBEA leads to mechanical properties after 1-day curing similar to those obtained with Portland cement after 1-week curing. Cement hydration dominates the strength gain, especially for rapid-hardening cements, and the type of cement influences both the amount of bound water and the rate of water evaporation from the CBEA., QC 20160128

The human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum goes through a complex life cycle, including a roughly 48-hour-long intraerythrocytic developmental cycle (IDC) in human red blood cells. A better understanding of the metabolic processes required during the asexual blood-stage reproduction will enhance our basic knowledge of P. falciparum and help identify critical metabolic reactions and pathways associated with blood-stage malaria. We developed a metabolic network model that mechanistically links time-dependent gene expression, metabolism, and stage-specific growth, allowing us to predict the metabolic fluxes, the biomass production rates, and the timing of production of the different biomass components during the IDC. We predicted time- and stage-specific production of precursors and macromolecules for P. falciparum (strain HB3), allowing us to link specific metabolites to specific physiological functions. For example, we hypothesized that coenzyme A might be involved in late-IDC DNA replication and cell division. Moreover, the predicted ATP metabolism indicated that energy was mainly produced from glycolysis and utilized for non-metabolic processes. Finally, we used the model to classify the entire tricarboxylic acid cycle into segments, each with a distinct function, such as superoxide detoxification, glutamate/glutamine processing, and metabolism of fumarate as a byproduct of purine biosynthesis. By capturing the normal metabolic and growth progression in P. falciparum during the IDC, our model provides a starting point for further elucidation of strain-specific metabolic activity, host parasite interactions, stress-induced metabolic responses, and metabolic responses to antimalarial drugs and drug candidates., Pub. in Molecular BioSystems, v10, p2526-2537, 2014.

Quality descriptions are parts of the key tasks of geodetic data processing. Systematic errors should be detected and avoided in order to insure the high quality standards required by structural monitoring. In this study, the iterative closest point (ICP) method was invested to detect systematic errors in two overlapping data sets. There are three steps to process the systematic errors: firstly, one of the data sets was transformed to a reference system by the introduction of the Gauss–Helmert (GH) model. Secondly, quadratic form estimation and segmentation methods are proposed to guarantee the overlapping data sets. Thirdly, the ICP method was employed for a finer registration and detecting the systematic errors. A case study was casted in which a dam surface in Germany was scanned by terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) technology. The results indicated that with the conjugation of ICP algorithm the accuracy of the data sets was improved approximately by 1.6 mm.

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1. 1. The apparent Young's modulus and elastic strain of commercial purity iron increased by 0.11% and 12.9%, respectively, during aging after severe charging. 2. 2. The increase of apparent Young's modulus of commercial purity iron during aging after charging was nearly equal to that after artificial partial stress relaxation. That is to say, hydrogen does not significantly change the Young's modulus associated with the interatomic cohesive force of commercial purity iron, even during aging after severe charging. © 1986.

1. 1. The apparent Young's modulus and elastic strain of commercial purity iron increased by 0.11% and 12.9%, respectively, during aging after severe charging. 2. 2. The increase of apparent Young's modulus of commercial purity iron during aging after charging was nearly equal to that after artificial partial stress relaxation. That is to say, hydrogen does not significantly change the Young's modulus associated with the interatomic cohesive force of commercial purity iron, even during aging after severe charging. © 1986.

1. 1. The apparent Young's modulus and elastic strain of commercial purity iron increased by 0.11% and 12.9%, respectively, during aging after severe charging. 2. 2. The increase of apparent Young's modulus of commercial purity iron during aging after charging was nearly equal to that after artificial partial stress relaxation. That is to say, hydrogen does not significantly change the Young's modulus associated with the interatomic cohesive force of commercial purity iron, even during aging after severe charging. © 1986.

931-017, Unmanaged construction stormwater runoff can pose a risk for the quality of downstream water bodies. Temporary sediment control practices are designed to capture sediment particles and reduce the turbidity of discharge; however, commonly used practices have limited performance in capturing fine-sized sediment particles. Flocculants can be introduced to construction stormwater runoff to enhance the performance of sediment control practices by increasing the settling velocity of suspended materials. This research study explored practical methods to enhance guidance for proper selection, use, and application of flocculants in construction stormwater management through (1) a state of the practice survey, (2) soil assessments, (3) bench-scale experiments, (4) flume experiments, and (5) intermediate-scale flume and large-scale evaluations. In total, 14 different products were used for bench-scale experiments. Best performing products for unique soils were identified with a match test study, which ranked products based on their performance.

Formal guidance for estimation of time of concentration (critical storm duration) for watersheds characterized as having limited topographic slope is provided in this product. Limited topographic slope watersheds are those watersheds having main-channel slopes less than about 0.3 percent or 0.003 dimensionless. Cleveland and others (2011) explains that this choice of threshold slope is intended to provide a smooth transition from typical to low slope conditions. Main-channel slope S(0) is computed as the change in elevation from the watershed divide to the watershed outlet divided by the curvilinear distance of the main channel (primary flow path) between the watershed divide and the outlet (Roussel and others, 2005). The authors emphasize that there is ambiguity in the meaning of low slope watersheds and the primary objective of this project is for objective mitigation for conditions in which the engineer computes S(0) → 0 (slope effectively vanishing). The guidance described in this product is an adaptation and extension of the supplement in Roussel and others (2005, pp. 33–34). That supplement is extended here to watersheds with limited topographic slope. Such watersheds are predominant in the High Plains and Coastal Regions of Texas.

0-4553, The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) currently uses the Rational method for development of design peak flow rates for its highway storm drainage design. Watersheds for which it is used have drainage areas less than 200 acres. The Rational method is an "instantaneous" peak discharge method that is popular due to its simplicity. The Rational method assumes a linear relation between rainfall rate for the time of concentration of the watershed and peak instantaneous discharge. The drawback of the Rational method, however, is that the time distribution and accumulation of flow cannot be precisely accounted for through each node (inlet) and run (conduit) of the system. Instead, the accumulated effects of all contributing sub-basins and branches are assumed to be “lumped” into a single equivalent basin when designing or analyzing each successive node or run. Use of peak discharge values also limits the hydraulic design and analysis of the system to the assumption of simple steady-state flow conditions. While this may result in a simple design process, the inability to consider unsteady flow and the inherent storage available in these systems may result in the missed opportunity to develop more cost-effective designs. Simple steady-state flow assumptions may also be inadequate to address the complex hydraulics that could be associated with the need to include non-traditional hydraulic features, such as in-line water quality basins. Therefore, the proposed study is intended to be the first phase in evaluating TxDOT procedures for storm drain design, not only in terms of the adequacy of current TxDOT practice relative to new directions in the field, but also in anticipation of the need to evaluate more complex features that might be required by changes in water quality regulations. The study is accomplished by completing two tasks: (1) a literature review to synthesize both the technical approach (Rational method versus other hydrological methods) and modeling effor

Project 0¿6382, Equations to estimate timing parameters for a watershed contain watershed slope as a principal parameter and, estimates are usually inversely proportional to topographic slope. Hence as slope vanishes, the estimates approach, infinity. The research identified, from literature, data, modeling, and physical experiments, the dimensionless, topographic slope where “low-slope” behavior should be assumed., Alternate timing equations based from parametric studies using the Diffusion Hydrodynamic Model (DHM) were, developed. A slope-offset approach was explored and is suggested as an adaptation of current technology. The, offset value suggested is 0.0005 and an illustrative example is presented in this report. The dimensionless slope, suggested for consideration of alternate approaches is 0.003., The researchers found that current streamgaging techniques are not well suited to low-slope hydrologic studies and, different measuring methods are suggested.