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Constructing a cross-border power energy system with multiagent power energy as an alliance is important for studying cross-border power-trading markets. This study considers multiple neighboring countries in the form of alliances, introduces neighboring countries’ exchange rates into the cross-border multi-agent power-trading market and proposes a method to study each agent’s dynamic decision-making behavior based on evolutionary game theory. To this end, this study uses three national agents as examples, constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model, and analyzes the evolution process of the decision-making behavior of each agent member state under the initial willingness value, cost of payment, and additional revenue of the alliance. This research helps realize cross-border energy operations so that the transaction agent can achieve greater trade profits and provides a theoretical basis for cooperation and stability between multiple agents.

In engineering applications, the accuracy of on-load tap changer (OLTC) mechanical fault identification methods based on vibration signals is constrained by the quantity and quality of the samples. Therefore, a novel small-sample-size OLTC mechanical fault identification method incorporating short-time Fourier transform (STFT), synchrosqueezed wavelet transform (SWT), a dual-stream convolutional neural network (DSCNN), and support vector machine (SVM) is proposed. Firstly, the one-dimensional time-series vibration signals are transformed using STFT and SWT to obtain time–frequency graphs. STFT time–frequency graphs capture the global features of the OLTC vibration signals, while SWT time–frequency graphs capture the local features of the OLTC vibration signals. Secondly, these time–frequency graphs are input into the CNN to extract key features. In the fusion layer, the feature vectors from the STFT and SWT graphs are combined to form a fusion vector that encompasses both global and local time–frequency features. Finally, the softmax classifier of the traditional CNN is replaced with an SVM classifier, and the fusion vector is input into this classifier. Compared to the traditional fault identification methods, the proposed method demonstrates higher identification accuracy and stronger generalization ability under the conditions of small sample sizes and noise interference.

Abstract Background Genetic variants in COL4A2 are less common than those of COL4A1 and their fetal clinical phenotype has not been well described to date. We present a fetus from China with an intronic variant in COL4A2 associated with a prenatal diagnosis of severe cerebral encephalomalacia and subdural hemorrhage. Methods Whole exome sequencing (WES) was applied to screen potential genetic causes. Bioinformatic analysis was performed to predict the pathogenicity of the variant. In in vitro experiment, the minigene assays were performed to assess the variant’s effect. Results In this proband, we observed ventriculomegaly, subdural hemorrhage, and extensive encephalomalacia that initially suggested cerebral hypoxic-ischemic and/or hemorrhagic lesions. WES identified a de novo heterozygous variant c.549 + 5G > A in COL4A2 gene. This novel variant leads to the skipping of exon 8, which induces the loss of 24 native amino acids, resulting in a shortened COL4A2 protein (p.Pro161_Gly184del). Conclusion Our study demonstrated that c.549 + 5G > A in COL4A2 gene is a disease-causing variant by aberrant splicing. This finding enriches the variant spectrum of COL4A2 gene, which not only improves the understanding of the fetal neurological disorders associated with hypoxic-ischemic and hemorrhagic lesions from a clinical perspective but also provides guidance on genetic diagnosis and counseling.

Cross-border electricity trade can promote the sustainable development of regional multi-country economies by alleviating the uneven distribution of global energy resources. Hence, designing a reasonable and effective mechanism contributes toward the development of cross-border electricity market. This study established a non-cooperative game model for cross-border electricity trading. Central to our approach is the analysis of multi-participants trading modes influenced by cross-border trading centers. The model distinctively incorporates trading rules and service fees, providing a realistic simulation framework. The results reveal a direct correlation between strategic scope and the dependency of trading strategies on electricity pricing set by trading centers. This research advances the theoretical understanding of game theory application in electricity markets and offers practical insights for policymakers and market operators, particularly in strategizing for price setting and managing cross-border transactions.

The On-Load Tap Changer (OLTC) is the only movable mechanical component in a converter transformer. To ensure the reliable operation of the OLTC and to promptly detect mechanical faults in OLTCs to prevent them from developing into electrical faults, this paper proposes a fault diagnosis method for OLTCs based on a combination of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm and Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LSSVM) with multi-feature fusion. Firstly, a multi-feature extraction method based on time/frequency domain statistics, synchrosqueezed wavelet transform, singular value decomposition, and multi-scale modal decomposition is proposed. Meanwhile, the random forest algorithm is used to screen features to eliminate the influence of redundant features on the accuracy of fault diagnosis. Secondly, the PSO algorithm is introduced to optimize the hyperparameters of LSSVM to obtain optimal parameters, thereby constructing an optimal LSSVM fault diagnosis model. Finally, different types of feature combinations are utilized for fault diagnosis, and the impact of these feature combinations on the fault diagnosis results is compared. Experimental results indicate that features of different types can complement each other, making the OLTC state information carried by multi-dimensional features more comprehensive, which helps to improve the accuracy of fault diagnosis. Compared with four traditional fault diagnosis methods, the proposed method performs better in fault diagnosis accuracy, achieving the highest accuracy of 98.58%, which can help to detect mechanical faults in the OLTC early and reduce the system’s downtime.

Chlorophyll (Chl) content, especially Chl b content, and stomatal conductance (Gs) are the key factors affecting the net photosynthetic rate (Pn). Setaria italica, a diploid C4 panicoid species with a simple genome and high transformation efficiency, has been widely accepted as a model in photosynthesis and drought-tolerance research. The current study characterized Chl content, Gs, and Pn of 48 Setaria mutants induced by ethyl methanesulfonate. A total of 24, 34, and 35 mutants had significant variations in Chl content, Gs, and Pn, respectively. Correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between increased Gs and increased Pn, and a weak correlation between decreased Chl b content and decreased Pn was also found. Remarkably, two mutants behaved with significantly decreased Chl b content but increased Pn compared to Yugu 1. Seven mutants behaved with significantly decreased Gs but did not decrease Pn compared to Yugu 1. The current study thus identified various genetic lines, further exploration of which would be beneficial to elucidate the relationship between Chl content, Gs, and Pn and the mechanism underlying why C4 species are efficient at photosynthesis and water saving.

Objective To evaluate the safety and clinical value of laparoscopic jejunostomy in minimal invasive McKeown esophagectomy. Methods The clinical data of the patients undergoing minimally invasive McKeown esophagectomy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2013 to June 2020 were retrospectively included, and according to postoperative nutritional support they were divided into oral intake group (January 2013 to October 2017) and jejunostomy group (November 2017 to June 2020). The operation time, postoperative hospital stay, complications, perioperative nutritional status and quality of life scores were compared between the two groups. Results A total of 190 patients with esophageal cancer who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled. There were 128 cases in jejunostomy group and 62 cases in oral intake group. Compared with the patients in oral intake group, those in jejunostomy group had shorter postoperative hospitalization time [11(9, 13)d vs. 14(13, 20)d, P < 0.001], the completion rate of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in the jejunostomy group was higher(95.16% vs. 75.00%, P=0.005). The operation time [335(300, 374)min vs. 330(310, 370)min, P=0.750] and the incidence of surgery-related complications(28.13% vs. 35.48%, P=0.748) showed no significant difference between the two groups. The body mass index in jejunostomy group was higher 1 month [(23.3 ± 3.5)kg/m2 vs. (21.7±3.9)kg/m2, P=0.006] and 3 months[(22.6±3.5)kg/m2 vs. (20.6±4.0)kg/m2, P < 0.001] after surgery, and the body weight decreasing rate was lower 1 month [(3.9 ± 2.2)% vs. (10.3±3.5)%, P < 0.001] and 3 months[(6.5±3.1)% vs. (15.7 ± 4.8)%, P < 0.001] after surgery than those in oral intake group. The quality of life symptom scores in both groups were increased and the physical functioning and summary scores were sharply decreased at day 7 after operation, and all scores were improved in different degrees 1 month after operation. Compared with the measurements in oral intake group, the symptom scores (except pain score 1 month after operation) were decreased, and the physical functioning and summary scores were increased in the jejunostomy group 7 days and 1 month after operation (all P < 0.05). Conclusion Compared with oral nutrition, total laparoscopic jejunostomy has greater advantages in postoperative nutritional support and quality of life recovery in patients with esophageal cancer. It is also safe and unlikely to increase surgery-related complications.

During the drilling process, the hydration and expansion of shale are one of the main reasons for wellbore instability, which can lead to stuck drilling and economic losses. A novel shale inhibitor (ADG) was successfully synthesized by thermal polymerization using Acrylamide (AM), Dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride (DMDAAC) and Graphene as raw materials, Ammonium persulfate, and Sodium bisulfite as initiators. In order to study the structural characteristics of ADG, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric loss test (TG), and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test were conducted. Simultaneously, linear swelling test, mud making test, sedimentation test, contact angle test, and montmorillonite (MMT) impregnation test were conducted to evaluate its inhibitory performance. ADG can reduce the expansion height of bentonite test blocks from 6.4 mm to 2.06 mm. After adding ADG, the settling speed can be effectively accelerated, with a settling time of only 15 min and a settling height as low as 60 mm. SEM analysis revealed that ADG had a regular flake-like structure. Compared to conventional shale inhibitors, ADG can increase the contact angle of bentonite test blocks from 26.8° to 46.8°, improving their hydrophobicity. Mechanistic studies suggested that ADG molecules could adsorb on the shale surface and block surface pores, reducing the contact area between shale and water. Additionally, small ADG molecules could penetrate the pore interiors and form hydrophobic films. The dual mechanism of ADG, inhibiting hydration and providing physical blockage, further demonstrated its excellent inhibitory performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design of a high-efficiency spot size converter (SSC) for photonic crystal fiber (PCF) to silicon-based waveguides, utilizing composite optical waveguide structures. The SSC is composed of a series of waveguide cores, with one core progressively widening to enable all cores to collectively serve as a composite input port, while the broader core functions as the output port. Simulation results reveal that the proposed design efficiently facilitates mode and energy transfer between the waveguide and the PCF, achieving a coupling efficiency of up to 93.99% over a length of 66 μm. Additionally, the SSC exhibits polarization insensitivity, with the high circularity of the output beam enhancing vertical alignment tolerance, and maintaining excellent performance over a wide wavelength range. In sum, this SSC demonstrates excellent coupling efficiency and holds significant promise for applications in optical communication systems and optical integrated circuit systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The application of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in the treatment of esophageal cancer needs further exploration. This study aimed to investigate the safety and effectiveness of tislelizumab, an anti-PD-1 antibody, combined with chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LA-ESCC). Methods: In this phase II study, patients with clinical stages of II-IVA (T3-T4 and/or node positive) potentially resectable LA-ESCC were enrolled. Patients received neoadjuvant tislelizumab and chemotherapy every 3 weeks for 4 cycles before surgery and adjuvant tislelizumab for 9 months. The primary endpoint was pathological complete response (pCR) rate. Secondary endpoints included R0 resection, disease free survival (DFS), adverse events (AE), and biomarkers for predicting efficacy. Results: The study included 30 patients. 25 patients completed neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy and underwent surgery, 96% with R0 resection. The pCR and MPR rate was 44% and 52%. The 6-month and 1-year DFS rate was 100% and 75.3%. 43.3% patients experienced severe (grade 3-4) treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) and 5 patients developed severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Further exploration found that a group of peripheral lymphocyte subsets increased significantly after 2 cycles of neoadjuvant therapy in patients who achieved pCR, suggesting the importance of dynamic monitoring of circulating lymphocyte. Conclusions: The combination of perioperative tislelizumab and neoadjuvant chemotherapy has achieved an encouraging pCR rate and demonstrated a manageable safety profile in patients with potentially resectable ESCC. Clinical Trial Registration: https://www.chictr.org.cn/ , identifier ChiCTR2100043772. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Without rapid international action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, climate scientists have predicted catastrophic sea-level rise by 2100. Globally, archaeologists are documenting the effects of sea-level rise on coastal cultural heritage. Here, the authors model the impact of 1m, 2m and 5m sea-level rise on China's coastal archaeological sites using data from the Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics and Shanghai City's Third National Survey of Cultural Relics. Although the resulting number of endangered sites is large, the authors argue that these represent only a fraction of those actually at risk, and they issue a call to mitigate the direct and indirect effects of rising sea levels. Keywords: China, sea-level rise, climate change, cultural heritage, coastal conservation, risk assessment, Introduction Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are causing an unprecedented increase in the rate of sea-level rise (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2019). Depending on the success of efforts by the [...]

Existing model synchronization mechanisms of federated learning (FL) are mostly based on single-layer parameter server architecture,which are difficult to adapt to current heterogeneous wireless network scenarios.There are some problems such as excessive communication load on single-point and poor scalability of FL.In response to these problems,this paper proposes an efficient model synchronization scheme for FL in hybrid wireless edge networks.In a hybrid edge wireless network,edge devices transmit local models to nearby small base stations.After receiving local models from edge devices,small base stations exe-cute the aggregation algorithm and send the aggregated models to the macro base station to update the global model.Considering the heterogeneity of channel performance and the competitive relationship of data transmission on the wireless channel,this paper proposes a new type of grouping asynchronous model synchronization scheme and designs a transmission rate aware channel allocation algorithm.Experiments are carried out on real data sets.Experimental results show that the proposed transmission rate aware channel allocation algorithm in grouping asynchronous model synchronization scheme can reduce communication time by 25%～60% and greatly improve the training efficiency of FL.

Objective To investigate the role of proline-rich protein tyrosine kinase (Pyk2) in angiotensin Ⅱ(Ang Ⅱ)-induced cardiac hypertrophy and the underlying mechanism in rat. Methods Primary rat cardio-myocytes were isolated from rats and randomly divided into control group, Ang Ⅱ induction group (the dose of Ang Ⅱ was 100 nmol/L, cardiomyocytes were stimulated in the cell culture dish for 24 hours), Pyk2 inhibitor PF-431396 group (the dose of PF-431396 was 10 μmol/L, added to the cell culture dish 30 minutes in advance before Ang Ⅱ stimulation) and Ang Ⅱ induction group intervened by PF-431396 (the dose of Ang Ⅱ was 100 nmol/L, the dose of PF-431396 was 10 μmol/L). The size of cardiomyocytes was measured by α-actinin fluorescence staining. RT-qPCR was performed to detect the mRNA level of hypertrophic markers (ANP and β-MHC) in cardiomyocytes. The expressions of p-Pyk2, Pyk2 and p53 in cardiomyocytes were detected by Western blot analysis. Results Ang Ⅱ stimulation increased the surface area of cardiomyocytes and the mRNA level of hypertrophic markers(P＜0.05). In addition, the proteins of p-Pyk2 and p53 were increased(P＜0.05). However, after treatment of Pyk2 inhibitor PF-431396, moycardial hypertrophy was significantly improved and the protein level of Pyk2 and p53 decreased(P＜0.05). Conclusions Pyk2 promotes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in rat induced by Ang Ⅱ through the p53 signaling pathway.

The pumped storage unit has good adjustment characteristics of a fast power response and convenient start and stop, which provides support for the safe and stable operation of the power system. To this end, this paper proposes a fractional order PID (FOPID) optimization control method for the regional load frequency of pumped-storage power plants. Specifically, based on IEEE standards, this paper established a single-region model of pumped storage. Then, a fractional order PID (FOPID) controller was designed, and the parameters of the controller were optimized via using the chaos particle swarm optimization (CPSO) algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by example simulation in the two-zone model of the pumped storage based on IEEE standards. The results of the example show that the proposed method exhibits stronger robustness and stability in the regional load frequency control.

Electrical energy substitution is an important way to achieve the optimization of the energy consumption structure as well as to alleviate environmental problems, and it is also an important source of benefits of the integrated energy system. However, there are few works that study the effects of electrical energy substitution on the construction of the integrated energy system (IES) and electrical energy substitution work without incentives carried out in the IES. To this end, this paper proposed a G1 method with constructing consistency matrix to determine the evaluation index weights for the IES with electrical energy substitution. Specifically, we firstly construct the evaluation index system for the IES including electrical energy substitution indicators, low-carbon indicators, technical indicators and economic indicators as well as their secondary indicators. Then, a tri-level evaluation index system of target-criteria-indicator benefits is established based on pertinent standards and norms, taking the practical operability into account. Finally, a G1-method-constructed consistency judgment matrix is proposed. Compared with the G1 method, it is simple and practical, and the weight calculation results are more in line with the reality, which effectively solves the consistency problem of the judgment matrix. The rationality and feasibility of the proposed weight calculation method are verified by the calculation and analysis of an example.

This paper deals with the problem of integral sliding mode disturbance observer (ISDOB)-based preview repetitive control (PRC) for a class of nonlinear systems subject to external disturbances and nonlinearity. First, an ISDOB-based PRC law is presented to estimate and compensate the exogenous disturbances and nonlinearity. Next, by using a new equality constraint, a continuous-discrete two-dimensional (2D) system is established. Then, the stability of the combined controller-observer system is derived on the basis of a Lyapunov analysis, 2D system theory, and the singular-value-decomposition technique. By solving an linear matrix inequality (LMI), the gains of the controller and state observer can be obtained. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]