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The influence of hypoperfusion on cognition in patients with Moyamoya disease (MMD) is unclear. This study investigated cognitive function changes in MMD patients without stroke and illustrated the relationship between cognitive impairment and hypoperfusion. We prospectively performed a structured battery of seven neurocognitive tests on 115 adult MMD patients without stroke and 82 healthy controls. Hemodynamic assessment was performed using dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced MRI. The best subset regression (BSR) strategy was used to identify risk factors. Global cognition (MoCA), speed of information processing (TMT-A), executive function (TMT-B), visuospatial function (CDT), and verbal memory (CAVLT) were significantly poorer in MMD patients without stroke than in healthy controls. The TMT-B score significantly correlated with cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the bilateral lateral frontal lobes, centrum semiovale, and temporal lobes. The TMT-A and CAVLT scores significantly correlated with CBF in the left centrum semiovale (L-CSO) and temporal lobes. According to the BSR results, age, education, white matter lesions, and hypoperfusion of the L-CSO were risk factors for cognitive impairment. Hypoperfusion leads to multiple cognitive impairments in MMD patients without stroke. The perfusion of particular areas may help evaluate the cognitive function of MMD patients and guide therapeutic strategies.

Surface defect detection is critical for obtaining high-quality products. However, surface defect detection on circular tubes is more difficult than on flat plates because the surface of circular tubes reflect light, which result in missed defects. In this study, surface defects, including dents, bulges, foreign matter insertions, scratches, and cracks of circular aluminium tubes were detected using a novel faster region-based convolutional neural network (Faster RCNN) algorithm. The proposed Faster RCNN exhibited higher recognition speed and accuracy than RCNN did. Furthermore, incorporation of image enhancement in the method further enhanced recognition accuracy.

Background: Intracranial vessel wall enhancement (VWE) on high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) is associated with the progression and poor prognosis of moyamoya disease (MMD). However, the genetic background and risk factors for VWE in MMD have not been investigated. Therefore, this study assessed potential risk factors for VWE in MMD.Methods: We evaluated MMD patients using HRMRI and traditional angiography examinations. The participants were divided into VWE group and non-VWE group based on the presence or absence of VWE on HRMRI. Logistic regression was performed to compare the risk factors for VWE in MMD. The incidence of cerebrovascular events of the different subgroups according to risk factors were compared using KaplanMeier survival and Cox regression.. STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines were followed for reporting our cohort study.Results: We included 283 MMD patients, 84 of whom had VWE on HRMRI. The VWE group had higher modified Rankin Scale scores at admission (P = 0.014) and a higher incidence of ischemia and hemorrhage (P =0.002) than did the non-VWE group. Multiple logistics regression shows risk factors for VWE included the ring finger protein 213 (RNF213) pR4810K variant (OR: 2.01 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08 - 3.76]; P = 0.028), hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy; OR: 5.08 [95% CI, 2.34 - 11.05], P < 0.001), and smoking history (OR, 3.49 [95% CI, 1.08-11.31], P = 0.037). During the follow-up of 63.9 13.2 months (medium 65 months), 18 recurrent stroke events occurred. Cox regression showed that VWE and RNF213 pR4810K variant were risk factors for follow-up stroke. Conclusion: The RNF213 p.R4810K variant is strongly associated with VWE and poor prognosis in MMD. HHcy and smoking are independent risk factors for VWE; both are likely to induce the VWE phenomenon by affecting vascular endothelial function or causing vascular endothelial damage.

BackgroundThe etiology and natural course of moyamoya disease (MMD) remain unknown. This study evaluated the natural course and etiology of MMD using data from the Chinese MMD (C-MMD) cohort study.MethodsThe C-MMD cohort consisted of 6,167 patients with MMD treated at our center over the past 20 years. We analyzed the medical history and laboratory and imaging examination results of the patients at different stages of the disease to identify common features of MMD.ResultsThe median age for symptom onset was 32 years. The age distribution was bimodal; the highest peak was between ages 35 and 45 years, with a smaller peak between ages 3 and 9 years. The female-to-male ratio was 1:1. The disease occurred mainly in the Han people and was rarely observed in minority nationalities. In our cohort, a transient ischemic attack was the most common initial clinical manifestation (46.3%); others included infarction (25.0%), hemorrhage (15.1%), and headache (7.9%).ConclusionsThe C-MMD cohort is currently one of the largest single-center MMD cohorts in the world. This study provides baseline data for future research on the etiology and natural course of MMD.Clinical Trial RegistrationThis study has been registered in the Chinese Clinical trial registry (registration number: ChiCTR2200064160).

Global tea consumption has risen significantly alongside rapid expansion of international trade in recent years. However, few studies have systematically examined the relationship among the major tea markets worldwide. Using weekly data from 2012–2019, this study empirically analyzed the price series of the world's major black tea auction markets. The estimation results showed that these markets are connected, even though heterogeneities vary. This finding holds not only for regional markets but also for international markets. The findings offer important implications for tea-producing countries with millions of smallholder farmers.

Background and objectiveThe natural course and risk factors of moyamoya disease (MMD) associated with unruptured intracranial aneurysms involving stenosed parental arteries are scarcely studied. This study aimed to elucidate the natural course of MMD and its associated risk factors in patients with MMD with unruptured aneurysms.MethodsBetween September 2006 and October 2021, patients with MMD with intracranial aneurysms at our center were examined. The natural course, clinical features, radiological features, and follow-up outcomes after revascularization were analyzed.ResultsThis study included 42 patients with MMD with intracranial aneurysms (42 aneurysms). The age distribution of MMD cases ranged from 6 to 69 years, with four children (9.5%) and 38 adults (90.5%). A total of 17 male and 25 female subjects were included (male-to-female ratio: 1:1.47). The first symptom was cerebral ischemia in 28 cases, and cerebral hemorrhage occurred in 14 cases. There were 35 trunk aneurysms and seven peripheral aneurysms. There were 34 small aneurysms (P = 0.015). Nineteen patients underwent EDAS on the aneurysm side, and nine aneurysms disappeared, while eight patients did not undergo EDAS on the aneurysm side and one aneurysm disappeared.ConclusionThe risk of rupture and hemorrhage of unruptured intracranial aneurysms is low when the parent artery already has stenotic lesions, thus, direct intervention may not be necessary for such aneurysms. The progression of the Suzuki stage of moyamoya disease may play a role in the shrinkage or disappearance of the aneurysms, thereby decreasing the risk of rupture and hemorrhage. Encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS) surgery may also help promote atrophy or even the disappearance of the aneurysm, thus reducing the risk of further rupture and bleeding.

Broadband quantum memory is critical to enabling the operation of emerging photonic quantum technology at high speeds. Here we review a central challenge to achieving broadband quantum memory in atomic ensembles -- what we call the 'linewidth-bandwidth mismatch' problem -- and the relative merits of various memory protocols and hardware used for accomplishing this task. We also review the theory underlying atomic ensemble quantum memory and its extensions to optimizing memory efficiency and characterizing memory sensitivity. Finally, we examine the state-of-the-art performance of broadband atomic ensemble quantum memories with respect to three key metrics: efficiency, memory lifetime, and noise., 40 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Advances in AMO Physics

Spiking neural networks aim to emulate the brain's properties to achieve similar parallelism and high-processing power. A caveat of these neural networks is the high computational cost to emulate, while current proposals for analogue implementations are energy inefficient and not scalable. We propose a device based on a single magnetic tunnel junction to perform neuron firing for spiking neural networks without the need of any resetting procedure. We leverage two physics, magnetism and thermal effects, to obtain a bio-realistic spiking behavior analogous to the Huxley-Hodgkin model of the neuron. The device is also able to emulate the simpler Leaky-Integrate and Fire model. Numerical simulations using experimental-based parameters demonstrate firing frequency in the MHz to GHz range under constant input at room temperature. The compactness, scalability, low cost, CMOS-compatibility, and power efficiency of magnetic tunnel junctions advocate for their broad use in hardware implementations of spiking neural networks., Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables

The unauthorized use of personal data for commercial purposes and the clandestine acquisition of private data for training machine learning models continue to raise concerns. In response to these issues, researchers have proposed availability attacks that aim to render data unexploitable. However, many current attack methods are rendered ineffective by adversarial training. In this paper, we re-examine the concept of unlearnable examples and discern that the existing robust error-minimizing noise presents an inaccurate optimization objective. Building on these observations, we introduce a novel optimization paradigm that yields improved protection results with reduced computational time requirements. We have conducted extensive experiments to substantiate the soundness of our approach. Moreover, our method establishes a robust foundation for future research in this area.

Fast scanning-speed and low-power-consumption are becoming progressively more and more important in realizing high-performance chiplet optical phased arrays (OPAs). Here, we establish an integrated OPA based on thin-film lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) platform to access these outstanding performances. Significantly, a lithium niobate (LN) OPA chip is implemented by 32/48 channels LN waveguides enabled by electro-optic modulations, which showcases the low power consumption (1.11nJ/{\pi}}) and fast operation speed (14.4 ns) promising the advantage of the LNOI platform for integrated OPAs. As results, we experimentally achieved a beam steering with a 62.2{\deg}*8.8{\deg} field of view (FOV) and a beam divergence of 2.4{\deg}*1.2{\deg}. Moreover, by employing sparse aperiodic arrays in waveguides design we obtained a significant reduction of lateral divergence to 0.33{\deg} for the radiation beam. This work demonstrate that remarkable advantage of LNOI platform for power-saving and scalable OPA chips for various applications., Comment: 22 pages,5 figures,conferences added

In this paper, a novel robotic grasping system is established to automatically pick up objects in cluttered scenes. A composite robotic hand composed of a suction cup and a gripper is designed for grasping the object stably. The suction cup is used for lifting the object from the clutter first and the gripper for grasping the object accordingly. We utilize the affordance map to provide pixel-wise lifting point candidates for the suction cup. To obtain a good affordance map, the active exploration mechanism is introduced to the system. An effective metric is designed to calculate the reward for the current affordance map, and a deep Q-Network (DQN) is employed to guide the robotic hand to actively explore the environment until the generated affordance map is suitable for grasping. Experimental results have demonstrated that the proposed robotic grasping system is able to greatly increase the success rate of the robotic grasping in cluttered scenes., has been accepted by IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems 2019

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making a profound impact in almost every domain. One of the crucial factors contributing to this success has been the access to an abundance of high-quality data for constructing machine learning models. Lately, as the role of data in artificial intelligence has been significantly magnified, concerns have arisen regarding the secure utilization of data, particularly in the context of unauthorized data usage. To mitigate data exploitation, data unlearning have been introduced to render data unexploitable. However, current unlearnable examples lack the generalization required for wide applicability. In this paper, we present a novel, generalizable data protection method by generating transferable unlearnable examples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first solution that examines data privacy from the perspective of data distribution. Through extensive experimentation, we substantiate the enhanced generalizable protection capabilities of our proposed method., Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2305.10691

It’s a challenge for detecting the therapeutic targets of a polypharmacological drug from variations in the responsed networks in the differentiated populations with complex diseases, as stable coronary heart disease. Here, in an adaptive, 31-center, randomized, double-blind trial involving 920 patients with moderate symptomatic stable angina treated by 14-day Danhong injection(DHI), a kind of polypharmacological drug with high quality control, or placebo (0.9% saline), with 76-day following-up, we firstly confirmed that DHI could increase the proportion of patients with clinically significant changes on angina-frequency assessed by Seattle Angina Questionnaire (ΔSAQ-AF ≥ 20) (12.78% at Day 30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.86–19.71%, P = 0.0003, 13.82% at Day 60, 95% CI 6.82–20.82%, P = 0.0001 and 8.95% at Day 90, 95% CI 2.06–15.85%, P = 0.01). We also found that there were no significant differences in new-onset major vascular events (P = 0.8502) and serious adverse events (P = 0.9105) between DHI and placebo. After performing the RNA sequencing in 62 selected patients, we developed a systemic modular approach to identify differentially expressed modules (DEMs) of DHI with the Zsummary value less than 0 compared with the control group, calculated by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and sketched out the basic framework on a modular map with 25 functional modules targeted by DHI. Furthermore, the effective therapeutic module (ETM), defined as the highest correlation value with the phenotype alteration (ΔSAQ-AF, the change in SAQ-AF at Day 30 from baseline) calculated by WGCNA, was identified in the population with the best effect (ΔSAQ-AF ≥ 40), which is related to anticoagulation and regulation of cholesterol metabolism. We assessed the modular flexibility of this ETM using the global topological D value based on Euclidean distance, which is correlated with phenotype alteration (r2: 0.8204, P = 0.019) by linear regression. Our study identified the anti-angina therapeutic module in the effective population treated by the multi-target drug. Modular methods facilitate the discovery of network pharmacological mechanisms and the advancement of precision medicine. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01681316).

Recently, Transformer is much popular and plays an important role in the fields of Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Computer Vision (CV), etc. In this paper, based on the Vision Transformer (ViT) model, a new dimensionality reduction (DR) model is proposed, named Transformer-DR. From data visualization, image reconstruction and face recognition, the representation ability of Transformer-DR after dimensionality reduction is studied, and it is compared with some representative DR methods to understand the difference between Transformer-DR and existing DR methods. The experimental results show that Transformer-DR is an effective dimensionality reduction method.

This study examines the role of farmers' risk attitudes toward fertilizer use in cotton production in China. Contradicting previous studies, this paper theoretically shows that the relationship between farmers' risk aversion and fertilizer use is not always monotonic. Field survey data were collected to test this relationship using the Cobb–Douglas production function. Results suggest that when the elasticity of fertilizer use and the probability of achieving the desired effects from fertilizer use are high, risk-averse farmers apply more fertilizer than risk-taking farmers. Conversely, when the elasticity of fertilizer use and the probability of achieving the desired effects are low, risk-taking farmers apply more fertilizer than risk-neutral or risk-averse farmers.

With the acceleration of urbanization, the relationship between an area's population and its economy has become the main indicator of regional differences. Therefore, a comprehensive study of population-economy spatial dispersion changes and their influencing factors will help identify the driving force of population change and economic development. Moreover, it will facilitate measurement of the coupling and coordination relationship between industrial layout and the environment. Accordingly, based on the 2018 population and economic data of Anhui Province, China, this study used a land use impact model to spatialize socioeconomic indicators, and considered the population–economic spatial relationship of Anhui Province with its terrain. By doing so, the study hopes to promote the construction of new urbanization in Anhui Province and provide a reference for the development of central provinces in China. The results indicated that: 1) The predicted population and economic densities of the study area fit well with the actual statistical values, which suggests that the spatialization results could reflect the actual situation of population and economic distribution. Based on the simulation data, the spatial relationship between the population and economy can be divided into three types: leading, lagging, and coordinating. The overall distribution characteristics of the spatial relationship between population and economy in the study area were as follows: in the mountainous area of Southern Anhui, the lag type was dominant, and economic agglomeration lagged behind that of population; in northern Anhui, the coordination type was dominant, and population and economic development were in balance; finally, in central Anhui, the lead type was dominant, and economic agglomeration was greater than population agglomeration. 2) The correlation between terrain factors and the population was higher than that with the economy, with changes in the terrain factors strengthening the influence of terrain on population, compared to on the economy. The areas with an altitude gradient of > 100 m, a slope > 6⁰, and a relief of > 50 m can be considered focus areas, where economic agglomeration lags behind population agglomeration. They are mainly distributed in the core areas of the Dabie Mountains such as Jinzhai County, Huoshan County, Yuexi County, and Taihu County, and the mountainous areas of Southern Anhui, such as Chizhou City, Huangshan City, and Xuancheng City. In the future, efforts should be made to improve the economic level of this area. 3) The spatial relationship between the population and economy had a certain spatial correlation with topography. In general, with an increase in altitude, slope, and topographic relief, the proportion of leading-type areas reduced, while that of lagging-type areas grew, with the proportion of coordinating-type areas remaining stable. Specifically, with a rise in elevation from 0 m to 1,800 m, the proportion of leading-type areas increased from 54.46% to 58.06%, and then decreased to 4.17%; that of lagging-type areas increased from 26.11% to 79.17%; while the ratio of coordinating-type areas remained stable. With an increase in slope from 0⁰ to 60⁰, the proportion of leading-type areas increased from 48.66% to 50.31%, and then decreased to 23.77%; that of lagging-type areas increased from 37.45% to 64.83%; while that of coordinating-type areas remained stable. With a topographic relief increase in fluctuation from 0 m to 450 m, the proportion of leading-type areas decreased from 49.69% to 18.03%, that of lagging-type areas increased from 36.66% to 72.13%, and the proportion of coordinating-type areas remained stable. Combined with the economic development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, the undulating surface characteristics could have a significant barrier effect on agricultural mechanization, reducing the convenience of farming and restricting the development of the primary industry. Moreover, due to the dependence of enterprise profits and industrial layout on location, the secondary and tertiary industries are mostly reluctant to invest in regions with complex terrain. A complex terrain, thus, has a significant impact on infrastructure construction, investment, and industrial layout; hinders the development of the secondary and tertiary industries; and weakens regional economic advantages.

The rapid development of flexible wearable electronics arouses huge demand for low-temperature sintering metal inks applied to temperature-sensitive substrates. The high sintering temperature and easy oxidation limited the application of Cu-based pastes. A two-step method involving liquid co-reduction and heat ripening was developed to synthesize Cu@Sn–Bi core–shell particles. The thickness of Sn–Bi shells can be flexibly adjusted via changing the mass ratio of Cu to Sn–Bi. The volume resistivity of printed circuits using Cu@Sn–Bi pastes solidified at 200 °C was as low as 481 μΩ cm, which increased by 11.8% after an aging process at 190 °C for 6 h. The outstanding stability in a harsh environment would attribute to the effective protection of Sn–Bi alloy shells. This work suggests a new pathway toward the low-temperature bonding and anti-oxidation of Cu particles as conductive fillers, which can be widely applied to the additive manufacturing of flexible wearable electronics.

Amorphous Gallium oxide (Ga

The tourist maps are geographic maps designed for tourists that indicate the narrow course of tour itineraries such as foot routes, automobile or railroad travel routes, or some combination of these. Specialised maps serve as advertisements for tourism and as a means to publicise vacation spots, sightseeing landmarks, and tourist attractions. A good specialised tour map may combine both the functions of guiding tourism and broadening tourists' horizons of regional culture and historical attractions. A usable product can assist people in decision-making process, thus, taking account of users’ requirements to create an ‘Simple Interface’ is the strategy of this map design. This paper introduces the concept of a thematic tour map design that bases on the regeneration of Liverpool Albert Dock, to reveal the scenic spots in the regenerated post-industrial zone of the city. As one of the cultural products developed in the urban regeneration project, this knowledge-oriented map design takes account of human-centred design (HCD) approach, aimed to enhance the user's interactive experience, and add commemorative value to the product. Following the theory of three levels of design: function, form, and user experience (UX). The design focuses not only on: (1) the function of the map, such as illustrating geographic/transportation information and rendering regional cultural/industrial heritage attractions, but also (2) the aesthetic styling of the product to satisfy the commemorative/collection demand of tourists; and in particular, the design emphases (3) to improve the UX through creating an ergonomic user interface (UI). Applying product semantic/semiotics principle, this tourist-centred map design has proposed to create a simple interface of the map, and with the aesthetic form of graphic presentation, thereby, to provide the users an intuitive interaction with the map that enhances the users’ experience. In this map design, the tourist information of the city was highlighted to focus on regional culture and industrial heritage presentation. The contents were categorised into geographic information and knowledge sections. The map consists of Liverpool Attractions, City Centre Map, Mersey Rail Map and Albert Dock History. Having applied the foldable concept and 3D aerial style in the map design, the product helps the users to easily carry and use. In addition, the iconic post-industrial architectures of the dock and the colour of Liverpool urban landscapes were extracted, abstracted, and applied to the map design, aimed to add commemorative value and to reflect Liverpool’s distinctive scenic spots. Having targeted both to satisfy the functional requirements of the users and to introduce necessary/relevant knowledge of the city, this knowledge-oriented thematic map design offers accurate and humanised service, so as to improve the user’s experience in travelling. This paper expects to provide designers or researchers with an example of future map design, through employing the HCD approach to create a knowledge-oriented map with an improved user experience.

Despite the current effort on ship design associated with hull structure, navigational and propulsion, equipment design inadequacy still causes approximately one-third of all maritime accidents [1]. Human-centred design (HCD) can minimise human errors through maritime service design [2]. The core of HCD is to enhance the usability of products/systems and maximise user’s satisfaction. The Human-centred maritime design (HCMD) applies the HCD method in ship bridge design, and enhances OOW performance in vessel operation. Service design is categorised as a sub-category of industrial design [3], a specification and construction process to deliver valuable capacities for actions of a particular user [4]. Contemporary industrial designers increasingly produce concepts/solutions for services rather than physical products [5], which is expected to work across disciplines and understand users, technologies, and business [3]. Taking account of the five vital parts of service design: actors (seafarers), locations (ship bridge), props (interfaces), associates (vessel manufacturers), and processes (operation workflows) [6] in the maritime service industry, a new HCMD will help designers to identify problems, iterate design concepts, and address all dimensions of user’s issues. VR and 3D Game Engine technologies provide an alternative approach for designers to present their design concepts. They enable prototyping and testing (data collection) works to be undertaken easily and with low cost; this was especially significant when the practice of NPD (new product development) took place during the Covid-19 pandemic. Human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) has been adopted in current ship design [2]. The application of physical ergonomics has benefitted the modernisation of ship design to improve seafarers’ workplace conditions. Cognitive ergonomics particularly helps in the user interface design (UI) to reduce seafarers’ cognitive workload. Organisational ergonomics, however, will affect the workflow structure of vessel operations to relieve the pressure on seafarers during the decision-making process [2]. A recently funded project has been undertaken by a multidisciplinary team, seeking a design solution to improve seafarers’ performance reliability at sea. The principles/criteria of maritime service design were developed based on the study of a) human/operator needs; b) the state-of-the-art technologies to improve the seafarer’s work environment; and c) the user experience (UX) in vessel operation. A combination of engineering and design research methods were employed: a systematic review to clarify/address the above research questions; and the field study to investigate current/future requirements of ship bridge design; to map the behavioural human-machine interaction (HMI) and further to develop the design criteria/drivers for the ideation of an ergonomic interface. The NASA-TLX (task load index) assessment method will be used in the validation phase (future work) to assess if the design solution reduced participants’ cognitive workload and enhanced their vessel operation performance. This paper explores the project conducted so far and offers initial findings.

3D human reconstruction from RGB images achieves decent results in good weather conditions but degrades dramatically in rough weather. Complementary, mmWave radars have been employed to reconstruct 3D human joints and meshes in rough weather. However, combining RGB and mmWave signals for robust all-weather 3D human reconstruction is still an open challenge, given the sparse nature of mmWave and the vulnerability of RGB images. In this paper, we present ImmFusion, the first mmWave-RGB fusion solution to reconstruct 3D human bodies in all weather conditions robustly. Specifically, our ImmFusion consists of image and point backbones for token feature extraction and a Transformer module for token fusion. The image and point backbones refine global and local features from original data, and the Fusion Transformer Module aims for effective information fusion of two modalities by dynamically selecting informative tokens. Extensive experiments on a large-scale dataset, mmBody, captured in various environments demonstrate that ImmFusion can efficiently utilize the information of two modalities to achieve a robust 3D human body reconstruction in all weather conditions. In addition, our method's accuracy is significantly superior to that of state-of-the-art Transformer-based LiDAR-camera fusion methods., Comment: Accepted to ICRA2023, Project Page: https://chen3110.github.io/ImmFusion/index.html

This paper takes into consideration a damped harmonic oscillator model with delayed feedback. After transforming the model into a system of first-order delayed differential equations with a single discrete delay, the single stability switch and multiple stability switches phenomena as well as the existence of Hopf bifurcation of the zero equilibrium of the system are explored by taking the delay as the bifurcation parameter and analyzing in detail the associated characteristic equation. Particularly, in view of the normal form method and the center manifold reduction for retarded functional differential equations, the explicit formula determining the properties of Hopf bifurcation including the direction of the bifurcation and the stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions are given. In order to check the rationality of our theoretical results, numerical simulations for some specific examples are also carried out by means of the MATLAB software package.

Loop invariant generation, which automates the generation of assertions that always hold inside loops, has many important applications such as safety analysis, reachability analysis and complexity-bound analysis. However, automated invariant generation for arbitrary loops is an undecidable problem. In this paper, we target at an important category of loops, namely affine loops, which widely exist in many programs but still lack general approach to invariant generation. We, however, provide a sound and complete approach based on matrix algebra to automatically synthesizing inductive invariants in the form of an affine inequality. Specifically, for the situation when the loop guard is tautological (i.e., 'true'), we show that the eigenvalues and their eigenvectors generate all meaningful affine inductive invariants. Moreover, when the loop guard consists of one or more affine inequalities, we solve the invariant generation problem by (i) first establishing through matrix inverse the relationship between the invariants and a key parameter in the application of Farkas' Lemma, then (ii) solving the feasible domain of the key parameter, and finally (iii) showing that the key parameter can be addressed by a finite set of values w.r.t a tightness condition on the constraints for the invariants. Experimental results using existing and new cases show that our approach can generate affine invariants over linear dynamic systems that inherently involve the non-trivial choices (e.g., eigenvalues, boundary points of the feasible domain, etc.) of the key parameter.

Carex agglomerata C. B. Clarke is a sedge with excellent ornamental characters, it is an important ecosystem stabilizer. Here we report the complete chloroplast genome of C. agglomerata to provide a foundation for further phylogenetic studies on the Cyperaceae. The chloroplast (cp) genome is 184,157 bp in size and consists of a large single-copy (LSC) region 106,654 bp in length, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 36,099 bp, two inverted repeats (IR) regions each 20,702 bp. The total GC content of the cp genome is 33.9% with the LSC, SSC, and IR regions 32, 32.5, and 42.9%, respectively. The cp genome contains 128 genes, including 80 protein-coding, 40 tRNA, and eight rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis showed C. agglomerata is in a clade with Carex neurocarpa Maxim and Carex siderosticta Hance. This study provides a basis for further phylogenetic studies of Carex.

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a wide bandgap semiconductor with remarkable chemical and thermal stability, making it a competitive candidate for a variety of optoelectronic applications. In this study, GaN films are grown using a plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) with trimethylgallium (TMG) and NH3 plasma. The effect of substrate temperature on growth mechanism and properties of the PEALD GaN films is systematically studied. The experimental results show that the self-limiting surface chemical reactions occur in the substrate temperature range of 250–350 °C. The substrate temperature strongly affects the crystalline structure, which is nearly amorphous at below 250 °C, with (100) as the major phase at below 400 °C, and (002) dominated at higher temperatures. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra reveals the unintentional oxygen incorporation into the films in the forms of Ga2O3 and Ga-OH. The amount of Ga-O component decreases, whereas the Ga-Ga component rapidly increases at 400 and 450 °C, due to the decomposition of TMG. The substrate temperature of 350 °C with the highest amount of Ga-N bonds is, therefore, considered the optimum substrate temperature. This study is helpful for improving the quality of PEALD GaN films.

It is calculated the effective anisotropic stiffness tensor of the representative volume element in 2.5D woven composites by energy method. The Multi-point constraints are applied to periodic boundary conditions. Compared with the static tensile tests, the validity of present method is verified.

Hemp fiber, as a kind of renewable textile fiber, has evoked much interest due to its excellent properties in various fields. It has been investigated in just one step to finish the process of chemo-enzymatic degumming and modification of hemp fiber, which is done in acetic acidsodium acetate buffer solution containing laccase (6.0 g), hemicellulase (0.3 g) and 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (0.3 g) under a mild condition (pH 5, 50C). The degumming effects of different batches of raw hemp fibers were also discussed. We found that the residual rate, fineness, length and tensile strength of degummed fiber were 15–27%, 9.00–24.00 dtex, 14.00–19.00 cm and 3.8–5.1 cN/dtex, respectively. Meanwhile, some of the oxidized functional groups were introduced into degummed fiber, which improved the moisture absorption and water retention value of the hemp fiber. The hemp fiber treated by this process could be further improved and then applied in the textile industry.

Objectives: To assess the insertion and ventilation of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) classic while using different head positions with or without muscle relaxant. Methods: This is a double-blind randomized clinical trial. Patients scheduled for ureteral calculus surgery at Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai, China were recruited between November 2017 and November 2018. A total of 132 adults were consecutively selected. Patients were randomly divided into 4 groups according to head positioning and muscle relaxant use. An 8-cm-high pillow was used to achieve the sniffing position. The insertion time, initial peak pressure (Ppeak), mean pressure (Pmean) of the airway during intermittent positive pressure ventilation (primary endpoint) and fiberoptic score of the LMA position (secondary endpoint) were evaluated via electronic bronchoscopy through the mask bar. All adverse events were recorded. Results: Data were analyzed by ANOVA, 2-way ANOVA, Chi-squared, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The insertion time required for the first attempt, fiberoptic score, Ppeak and Pmean did not differ among the groups. However, the incidence of adverse events in groups not using muscle relaxant was higher than in those using muscle relaxant. Conclusion: Use of a sniffing position and muscle relaxant slightly eased the insertion of the LMA but did not affect the fiberoptic score or ventilation parameters. Using a muscle relaxant, but not the sniffing position, reduced the incidence of adverse effects.

Transverse compaction and in-plane shear deformartion are the dominative deformation mode for woven preform during forming process. A full finite element model of the 2.5D woven composites has been established by the computed tomography (CT) in this paper. Based on the energy method, the effective orthotropic/anisotropic stiffness coefficientsCijare calculated by performing a finite element analysis (FEA) of this full cell model. Using this model, the effects of the compaction and shear deformation of the 2.5D woven preform on the composites stiffness are investigated in detail. Compared the results of the static tensile tests, the rationality of the model and the method is verified.

Our previous studies have confirmed that luteolin (LU) has a good therapeutic effect on obesity and its complications. However, due to its poor water solubility, the bioavailability is low with limited clinical application. Therefore, the water-soluble solid dispersions (SD) of luteolin were prepared with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (K10, K40K90) by solvent evaporation. The polyvinylpyrrolidone K40 (PVP40) was selected as the ideal carrier to formulate polyvinylpyrrolidone K40-luteolin solid dispersion (PVP40-LU SD), thereby the solubility of luteolin increased about 250 times compared to the pure luteolin, without changing its physical stability and activity. The crystallinity of luteolin was reduced after the formation of solid dispersion, and no strong drug-polymer interactions were observed. This prepared water-soluble luteolin inhibits the polarization of inflammatory macrophages by decreasing the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in vitro. Moreover, it can improve glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity quickly after intraperitoneal injection in mice.

Xanthine oxidase (XO) competes with thiopurine S‐methyltransferase (TPMT) and hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) to metabolize azathioprine (AZA)/6‐mercaptopurine (6‐MP) in vivo. A retrospective investigation was performed to detect the activity of XO in thiopurine curative Chinese inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. We also evaluated whether a relationship between XO activity and incidence of thiopurine‐induced adverse effects (AEs) existed. Clinical data and blood samples were collected from 140 IBD patients before receiving AZA/6‐MP therapy, and the erythrocyte XO activity was measured. The XO activities of all patients were 20.29 ± 4.43 U/g Hb. No sex difference in XO activity was observed (p = .728), and the XO activity showed no difference between the UC and CD patients (p = .082). AEs were observed in 41 (29.3%) patients including leukopenia (26, 18.57%), gastrointestinal intolerance (11, 7.86%), flu‐like symptom (5, 3.57%), alopecia (5, 3.57%), and hepatotoxicity (1, 0.71%). XO activity was significantly lower in the patients with AEs than in those without AEs (18.40 ± 3.73 vs. 21.07 ± 4.48 U/g Hb, p = .001), especially in the patients with leukopenia (18.29 ± 3.68 vs. 21.07 ± 4.48 U/g Hb, p = .004). However, no significant difference in XO activity was found between patients with and without other AEs. Decreased XO activity was observed in the patients who developed flu‐like symptoms (17.58 ± 3.50 U/g Hb) and alopecia (18.67 ± 2.91 U/g Hb) compared to those who did not, although the differences did not reach statistical significance. These findings suggested that patients with low XO expression might have a high risk of thiopurine‐induced toxicity., Xanthine oxidase (XO) competes with thiopurine S‐methyltransferase (TPMT) and hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) to metabolize azathioprine (AZA)/6‐mercaptopurine (6‐MP) in vivo. A retrospective investigation was performed to detect the activity of XO in thiopurine curative Chinese inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. The relationship between XO activity and incidence of thiopurine‐induced adverse effects (AEs) existed was also evaluated. XO activity of 140 IBD patients was 20.29 ± 4.43 U/g Hb. The distribution is normal‐skew (Z = 0.675, p = .752). There was a negative correlation between XO activity and the overall incidence of AEs. Patients with low XO expression might have high risk of thiopurine‐induced toxicity.

The Berry phase, which reveals the intimate geometrical structure underlying quantum mechanics, plays a central role in the anomalous Hall effect. In this work, we observed a sign change of Berry curvatures at the interface between the ferromagnet SrRuO3 (SRO) layer and the SrIrO3 (SIO) layer with strong spin-orbit coupling. The negative Berry curvature at the interface, induced by the strongly spin-orbit-coupled Ir 5d bands near the Fermi level, makes the SRO/SIO interface different from the SRO layer that has a positive Berry curvature. These opposite Berry curvatures led to two anomalous Hall effect (AHE) channels with opposite signs at the SRO/SIO interface and in the SRO layer, respectively, resulting in a hump-like feature in the Hall resistivity loop. This observation offers a straightforward explanation of the hump-like feature that is usually associated with the chiral magnetic structure or magnetic skyrmions. Hence, this study provides evidence to oppose the widely accepted claim that magnetic skyrmions induce the hump-like feature.

Carex agglomerata C. B. Clarke is a sedge with excellent ornamental characters, it is an important ecosystem stabilizer. Here we report the complete chloroplast genome of C. agglomerata to provide a foundation for further phylogenetic studies on the Cyperaceae. The chloroplast (cp) genome is 184,157 bp in size and consists of a large single-copy (LSC) region 106,654 bp in length, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 36,099 bp, two inverted repeats (IR) regions each 20,702 bp. The total GC content of the cp genome is 33.9% with the LSC, SSC, and IR regions 32, 32.5, and 42.9%, respectively. The cp genome contains 128 genes, including 80 protein-coding, 40 tRNA, and eight rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis showed C. agglomerata is in a clade with Carex neurocarpa Maxim and Carex siderosticta Hance. This study provides a basis for further phylogenetic studies of Carex.

A unified formula is used to find the roots of the transcendental characteristic equations for both an integer and fractional -order time delay systems by using Lambert W function solutions. However, the unified formula is applicable only to the special case of time delay systems with repeating poles alone. In the basis, an iteration approach is presented to find the roots of the transcendental characteristic equations in general. It removes the restriction on the repeating poles and time-delay system without zeros. It enables us to apply the presented approach to solve more generalized delay differential equations. Some examples are given to illustrate the proposed method and show that it is effective. It is shown that a certain iteration equation can only find the partial roots of all roots.

75%–96% shipping accidents involved human-error in 2018 [1]. One of the most critical reasons was poor design of controls and lack of proper procedures [2]. It is unclear if ship-bridge design entirely considers user experience (UX). The crews are working in an increasingly time/resource pressured industry. Especially when hazardous scenarios occur, the increased amount of information being processed and decreased available time for decision-making together make it error-prone, adding an extra complexity to UX. Investigating the extent to which design influences human-error and distracts people from task’s reality, this paper evaluates the overlooked aspects of ship-bridge design to understand if it distorts user’s reality in hazardous situations and increases high cognitive loads with complex interfaces. Considering human-centred marine design (HCMD) that deals with end-user, addresses issues by adopting human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) introduced in industrial design, and applying product semantics/semiotics to the bridge design, reducing high cognitive loads with ergonomic interfaces.

Industry restructuring are pressures faced by cities in both the East and West. Some successful Chinese examples do not consider the distinctive characteristics of local and demand for experience from people. Nowadays, people expect more than just function in their chosen environment but benefit from interaction, connection and engaging the senses. Good Human-Centred Emotional Design (HCED) generates not only happiness and but also a sense of security and safety. Empirical case study was used as a means of human-centred research, to explore the contribution of psychological factors in post-industrial sites regeneration. Applying Norman’s concept of three levels of design as a tool, this paper will examine whether the designs offered at current renovation projects satisfy visitors’ expectation, in terms of visceral appearance, experience of interaction with environment and finally the psychological satisfaction of people. Thereby, to clarify how can architectural/environmental psychology and emotional design theory enhance the design.