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Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF)-based electroluminescence (EL) devices adopting a host/guest strategy in their emitting layer (EML) are capable of realizing high efficiency. However, TADF emitters composed of donor and acceptor moieties as guests dispersed in organic host materials containing a donor and/or an acceptor are subject to donor–acceptor (D–A) interactions. In addition, electron delocalization between neighboring emitter molecules could form different species of aggregates. Here, we investigate the effects of intermolecular interacting emission species on the optoelectronic properties of sky-blue/green/red (sB/G/R) TADF emitters as guests using poly(biphenyl-Si/Ge) grafted with various donor moieties as hosts. We found the presence of guest/guest exciplex (Dg/Ag)*, host/guest exciplexes (Dh/Ag)*, and aggregates through the exploration of interactions between neighboring TADF guest molecules and between host and TADF-guest molecules. The nonradiative 3(Dh/Ag)* (ΔEST≈ 0.5 eV) could increase the internal conversion rate (kIC) and reduce delayed luminescence, and both of them could cause a decrease in PLQY. The luminescence of 3(Dh/Ag)* may have a positive or negative effect on PLQY depending on its triplet energy. As the singlet and triplet energies of (aggregate)* are lower than those of (ICT)*, energy transfer from (ICT)* to (aggregate)* could occur. The low PLQY nature of (aggregate)* means that it is more likely to cause quenching in device emission. The emissions from (Dh/Ag)* and (aggregate)* are found to have increased full width at half-maximum and lead to lower emission color purity. Such intermolecular interactions should also occur in host/guest (TADF) systems and nondoped TADF emitter systems and thus are important factors for the molecular design of the TADF emitter and/or its accompanying host for high device efficiency and emission color purity.

Granular hydrogels, formed by jamming microgels suspension, are promising materials for three-dimensional bioprinting applications. Despite their extensive use as support materials for embedded bioprinting, the influence of the particle’s physical properties on the macroscale viscoelasticity on one hand and on the printing performance on the other hand remains unclear. Herein, we investigate the linear and nonlinear rheology of κ-carrageenan granular hydrogel through small- and large-amplitude oscillatory shear measurements. We tuned the granular hydrogel’s properties by changing the stiffness (soft, medium, stiff) and the packing density of the individual microgels. Characterizations in the linear viscoelasticity regime revealed that the storage modulus of granular hydrogels is not a simple function of microgel stiffness and depends on the microgel packing density. At larger strains, increasing the microgel stiffness reduced the energy dissipation of the granular beds and increased the solid–fluid transition point. To understand how the different rheological properties of granular support materials influence embedded bioprinting, we examined the printing fidelity and cellular filament shrinkage within the granular beds. We found that microgels with low packing density diminished the printing quality, while stiff microgels promoted filament roughness. In addition, we found that highly packed stiff microgels significantly reduced the postprinting contraction of cellular filaments. Overall, this work provides a comprehensive knowledge of the rheology of granular hydrogels that can be used to rationally design support beds for bioprinting applications with specific characteristics.

Magnetic helical microrobots have attracted considerable attention in navigation control. However, the performance of microrobots is negatively affected by time-varying uncertain perturbations and obstacles, at the microscale. In this study, we present a navigation control scheme for accurately guiding the helical microrobot to targeted positions in dynamically changing environments. To efficiently plan smooth paths, a search-based algorithm with pruning rules is implemented to quickly find collision-free waypoints and design an optimal method with spatial and dynamic constraints for obtaining smooth paths globally. Velocity gain and potential fields are integrated to develop an emergency local motion replanning method for addressing random obstacles that suddenly appear in the preset path. In order to attain microrobot system dynamic linearization and achieve precise path following of a helical microrobot, a robust control strategy that integrates geometric and model-free controllers in a complementary manner is presented. The geometric controller as a feedforward controller, responsible for managing path information and generating guidance laws. In contrast, the model-free controller operates as a feedback controller, specifically designed to rapidly address position deviation. Meanwhile, we employ an observer to compensate for disturbances. Experimental results of precise motion control in both static and dynamic environments demonstrate the effectiveness of this navigation control scheme, which is promising for moving with high accuracy in cluttered and dynamic living enclosed environments. Note to Practitioners—This paper was motivated by the problem of the navigation control of magnetic microrobots in dynamic environment. The existing navigation control methods of microrobots mainly focus on the static environment, which is challenging to meet the emergency obstacle avoidance requirements in the cluttered environment with low Reynolds number. In addition, the conventional path following control always ignores the nonlinearity of the microrobot system, resulting in insufficient following accuracy. In this work, a novel navigation control method for microrobots is proposed, which can guide microrobots to accurately follow dynamically planned paths in cluttered environments without collision. Simulations and experiments validate the performance of the proposed navigation control method using helical microrobots. The proposed navigation control method paves the way for a better understanding of advanced navigation control method for magnetic microrobots.

Seismic waves traversing the inner core in a direction parallel to Earth’s rotation axis arrive faster than waves travelling in the equatorial plane. These observations have been explained in terms of a transversely isotropic inner-core model with a fast symmetry axis parallel to the rotation axis. In recent years, more complex models of the inner core have been developed containing strong regional variations such as hemispheres, isotropic layers and an innermost inner core, most of which assume spatially variable transverse isotropy with a fixed symmetry axis. Here we instead explain the travel times of inner-core-sensitive seismic waves in terms of tilted transverse isotropy, in which the magnitude of transverse isotropy is fixed, but the orientation of the symmetry axis is allowed to vary spatially. This model, derived from seismic tomography, fits travel time data and spatially variable fixed-axis models, yet requires fewer parameters. It features a central inner core with a strong alignment of the fast symmetry axis in the direction of Earth’s spin axis and two shallow caps beneath the Mid-Atlantic and the Indian Ocean/Indonesia regions with symmetry axes tilted towards the equatorial plane. This model indicates the potential for varying crystal orientations within the inner core, which would constrain inner-core dynamics.

Pulse harmonic analysis is a quantitative and objective methodology within traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) used to evaluate pulse characteristics. However, interpreting pulse wave data is challenging due to its inherent complexity. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review and comparison of existing human pulse wave harmonic analysis methods to elucidate their patterns and characteristics.

Data selection can be used in conjunction with adaptive filtering algorithms to avoid unnecessary weight updating and thereby reduce computational overhead. This paper presents a novel correntropy-based data selection method as an alternative to conventional data selection mechanisms based on squared error values. We developed a variable correntropy sensing algorithm to maximize the instantaneous correntropy function for the Gaussian kernel function to mitigate the impact of impulse noise and other forms of noise that can be disregarded in data selection. The proposed data selection mechanism can be implemented with any adaptive filtering algorithm. In simulations, the proposed method (implemented with the least mean squared algorithm) outperformed comparable error-based data selection schemes in terms of hit rate and miss rate, and the resulting weight updating ratio was close to the expected weight updating ratio.

Spasticity is a common complication for patients with stroke, but only few studies investigate the relation between spasticity and voluntary movement. This study proposed a novel automatic system for assessing the severity of spasticity (SS) of four upper-limb joints, including the elbow, wrist, thumb, and fingers, through voluntary movements. A wearable system which combined 19 inertial measurement units and a pressure ball was proposed to collect the kinematic and force information when the participants perform four tasks, namely cone stacking (CS), fast flexion and extension (FFE), slow ball squeezing (SBS), and fast ball squeezing (FBS). Several time and frequency domain features were extracted from the collected data, and two feature selection approaches based on recursive feature elimination were adopted to select the most influential features. The selected features were input into five machine learning techniques for assessing the SS for each joint. The results indicated that using CS task to assess the SS of elbow and fingers and using FBS task to assess the SS of thumb and wrist can reach the highest weighted-average F1-score. Furthermore, the study also concluded that FBS is the optimal task for assessing all the four upper-limb joints. The overall result shown that the proposed automatic system can assess four upper-limb joints through voluntary movements accurately, which is a breakthrough of finding the relation between spasticity and voluntary movement.

The destruction of Iron I Megiddo in the early 10th century BCE was a momentous event in the history of the southern Levant. It marked an abrupt break in the long cultural development of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. Despite extensive field research, essential questions related to this event remain unanswered, especially regarding the processes that took place in the city immediately before its destruction. In this article, findings from recent excavations in the south-eastern sector of the mound, where a detailed Iron I stratigraphic sequence was explored, are reported. In addition, finds from two nearby areas previously excavated were re-evaluated, focusing mostly on contextual aspects of the osteological data. This study sheds light on the deterioration of the city in the decades preceding its final demise, and suggests that the event was caused by human agents rather than a natural disaster. It also hints that in its last days, Megiddo may have been besieged, which explains the peculiar re-appearance of intra-mural burials at the site. The case of Iron I Megiddo provides a high-resolution snapshot of actions taken by the inhabitants of a Near Eastern city on the eve of a major crisis.

Quantum sensing using local defects in solid-state systems has gained significant attention over the past several years, with impressive results demonstrated both in academia and in industry. Specifically, using large volume and high-density ensembles for beyond state-of-the-art sensitives is of clear interest. A major obstacle for achieving such record sensitivities is associated with the need to realize strong, homogeneous driving of the sensor defects. Here, we focus on high-frequency microwave sensing using nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond and develop a modified split-ring resonator design to address this issue. We demonstrate enhanced drive strengths and homogeneities over large volumes compared with previous results, with prospects for enabling the desired sensitivities. We reach Rabi frequencies of up to 18-MHz with an efficiency ratio of $2~\text {Gauss}/\sqrt {\text {Watt}}$ , along with an inhomogeneity of < 0.7% in a volume of 0.1 mm3. This structure also has a narrow form factor that allows for efficient optical coupling and fluorescence collection.

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of brachial plexus birth palsy (BPBP) in a large, single cohort and stratify clinical 1-year outcomes. Study design: A cohort study of all births occurring at a single institution between 2011 and 2015. Hospital discharge papers were analyzed, and structured telephone interviews were conducted. Results: Among 76,000 livebirths, 98 (0.13%) cases of BPBP were diagnosed. Of cases who fully responded to interview (66/98), at 3 months of age 77% infants made a complete recovery, and by 1 year of age an additional 20% had recovered completely. Only 3% of infants had residual longer-term neurological deficits. Conclusions: Predictors of a longer course of recovery were the presence of shoulder dystocia (p&lt; 0.04) and right-sided palsy (p&lt; 0.02). Birth weight, neonatal head circumference, and sex were not correlated with outcome. Future reports of BPBP should differentiate between infants showing early recovery from those with true BPBP.

BackgroundCollateral circulation is an important determinant of outcome in people with acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion (LVO).ObjectiveTo explore the impact of the circle of Willis (CW) anatomical characteristics ipsilateral to the occlusion site, particularly the posterior communicating artery (PComA) and the A1-portion of the anterior cerebral artery (A1-ACA), on stroke outcomes in a cohort of patients with LVO and middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion, undergoing endovascular thrombectomy (EVT).MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study performed in a comprehensive tertiary stroke center. The study population consisted of consecutive patients with LVO with proximal MCA occlusion (M1) between June 2016 and April 2021, undergoing EVT. Demographic, clinical, and imaging information was extracted from patient files. Patency and diameters of ipsilateral A1-ACA and PComA were manually measured on admission CT angiography images in the core laboratory.ResultsOne hundred and five patients with LVO comprised the study cohort, mean age 72.3 years, 43.8% were male, mean National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score at admission 15.2. The cohort was grouped according to CW vessel characteristics. On univariate analysis, a well-developed PComA was associated with lower rates of hemorrhagic transformation (1.8% vs 14.3%, P=0.01) and a trend towards lower mortality rates (8.9% vs 20.4%, P=0.08).On multivariable regression analysis a well-developed PComA emerged as an independent predictor for survival (aOR=0.09, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.4 for survival at discharge, P=0.009, aOR=0.22, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.8 for survival at 90 days, P=0.02).ConclusionsIn a cohort of patients with LVO due to M1 occlusion undergoing EVT, a well-developed PComA was associated with significantly lower hemorrhagic transformation rates, a trend towards better functional outcomes, and independently predicted survival. Larger studies are needed to understand the differential effect of CW collateral conduits on stroke outcome and evaluate the practicality of incorporating such factors in the clinical decision-making process prior to EVT.

We developed an ankle-worn gait monitoring system for tracking gait parameters, including length, width, and height. The system utilizes ankle bracelets equipped with wide-angle infrared (IR) stereo cameras tasked with monitoring a marker on the opposing ankle. A computer vision algorithm we have also developed processes the imaged marker positions to estimate the length, width, and height of the person’s gait. Through testing on multiple participants, the prototype of the proposed gait monitoring system exhibited notable performance, achieving an average accuracy of 96.52%, 94.46%, and 95.29% for gait length, width, and height measurements, respectively, despite distorted wide-angle images. The OptiGait system offers a cost-effective and user-friendly alternative compared to existing gait parameter sensing systems, delivering comparable accuracy in measuring gait length and width. Notably, the system demonstrates a novel capability in measuring gait height, a feature not previously reported in the literature.

Further developing the idea of combining spatial diversity and parallel cancellation (PC) scheme together for mitigating intercarrier interference (ICI), we develop both 4x1 and 4x2 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) architectures with two-pair two-path PC schemes. First, the two-path PC scheme is integrated with the space-time-frequency (STF) block code OFDM transceiver to develop 4x1 and 4x2 STFPC-OFDM architectures in downlink. Given the same bandwidth efficiency and the same symbol size in modulation for transmission, the bit error rate (BER) of 4x1 and 4x2 STFPC-OFDM systems at a full-rate outperforms that of 4x1 and 4x2 STF-OFDM systems at a half-rate using both QPSK and 16-QAM modulations in high-speed mobile channels. This two-pair STFPC-OFDM architecture provides both diversity and block coding gains to mitigate ICI and lower BER. Additionally, the total number of computational requirements for the full-rate 4x1 STFPC-OFDM transceiver is half that of the rate half 4x1 STF-OFDM transceiver. Moreover, the orthogonal Walsh–Hadamard (WH) transform is employed as a pre-coder to develop 4x1 and 4x2 WHSTF-OFDM and WHSTFPC-OFDM systems. The BER of WHSTFPC-OFDM systems at a full-rate outperforms that of WHSTF-OFDM systems at a half-rate in QPSK and 16-QAM modulations. The 4x1 and 4x2 WHSTFPC-OFDM schemes are simple and can be generalized to multiple input and multiple output (MIMO), such as 4x4 and 4x8 MIMO-OFDM ones. They may serve as basic modules for the fifth generation, and future broadcast systems.

Objectives: To examine gender-related differences in the presentation, management, and outcomes of patients admitted to the emergency department ED with ureteral stones.Methods: Retrospective analysis of all patients admitted to the ED at our institution, found to have a ureteral stone on CT. Clinical, laboratory, imaging parameters, and outcomes were collected.Results: 778 patients were admitted with ureteral stones between January 2018 and December 2020. 78% (n= 609) were males and 22% (n= 169) were females. The mean ages were 49.4 (SD 14.4) and 51.6 (SD 15.7) in males and females, respectively (p= 0.08). Female patients presented with a higher body temperature (p= 0.01), pulse rate (p< 0.0001), nausea and vomiting (p< 0.0001), elevated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) (p= 0.002) compared to males. The prevalence of elevated serum creatinine was higher in males (p< 0.0001). Alpha-blockers were recommended on discharge in 54.8% (334) of males, compared to only 29.6% (50) of females (p< 0.0001). Spontaneous stone expulsion was significantly higher in males compared to females (p= 0.01).Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that gender does effect presentation and outcome of patients presenting with renal colic. Females were found to have elevated infectious parameters, more nausea and vomiting and a higher incidence of positive urine cultures. Males admitted to the ED were found to have significantly higher serum creatinine levels. Medical expulsive therapy (MET) with alpha-blockers was prescribed significantly less in female patients, which may have resulted in a lower spontaneous stone expulsion rate.

ABSTRACTHuman activities have significantly accelerated the translocation of species outside their native range with severe consequences for global biodiversity. Freshwater crayfish are a particularly successful group of invasive species, as exemplified by the increasingly widespread marbled crayfish Procambarus virginalisLyko, 2017. A significant portion of crayfish populations has regenerating or missing claws. At the same time, claws play important roles in crayfish feeding and intraspecific interactions, altering their ability to invade new areas and impact native communities. Here, using functional response analyses, we combined laboratory experiments and modeling to investigate whether the number of claws on marbled crayfish modulates its ecological impact (focusing on predation rate) as well as its intraspecific interactions via population dynamic modeling. We found that the number of claws did not affect the marbled crayfish’s functional response type (hyperbolic type II), attack rates, or handling times when preying on chironomid larvae. Rates of partial prey consumption were overall low (<2%), and claw number had a significant effect on the partial consumption rate of prey, which tended to increase with the number of claws and prey density. The presence of multiple intraspecific predators influenced marbled crayfish non-trophic behavior, with antagonistic effects prevalent between crayfish pairs regardless of claw status. Moreover, the impact of multiple predators was prey density-dependent, with the highest levels of antagonism shown at the lowest prey density across crayfish groups. Our findings indicate that the ecological influence of invasive crayfish remains unchanged by the number of claws, highlighting the escalating, context-independent threat these species pose to freshwater ecosystems.

A better understanding of irreversible prognoses in palliative care is crucial for improving patients’ quality of life and their sense of dignity. We examined whether measurements of meridian electrical conductance can noninvasively and objectively predict survival time in a hospice patient population.

Earlier this month, I wrote an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times titled 'No, Israel isn't a country of privileged and powerful white Europeans.' I speak from experience: I am [...]

ABSTRACT Systems and methods are described for monitoring temporal and spatial moisture content changes in clay embankments using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) imaging. The methodology is based upon development of [...]

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) expects the subcarriers to be orthogonal. However, the factors, such as residual carrier frequency, offset time variations due to Doppler shift or phase noise leads to a loss in the orthogonality between subcarriers and results in inter-carrier interference (ICI). Further developing the parallel cancellation (PC) scheme to mitigate the ICI of OFDM systems, the authors expand this OFDM symbol-based PC scheme into a space-time (ST) coded system. This simple space-time parallel cancellation (STPC) scheme is a technique that combines the useful properties of ST and PC schemes together. Computer simulations indicate that OFDM systems using the STPC scheme outperform the regular PC and ST systems in slow and fast frequency selective fading channels, specifically at a high signal-noise ratio (SNR). Furthermore, the error floor of the STPC-OFDM system is significantly lower than that of the regular ST systems without increasing computational load.

Objectives: To examine differences in the presentation, management, and outcomes of patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) with ureteral stones, with prior history of urolithiasis compared to patients with a first stone event.Patients and Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients who visited the ED that were found to have a ureteral stone on CT. Patients were stratified into two groups: without history of urolithiasis (Group 1) and with history of urolithiasis (Group 2).Results: Between 2018 and 2020, 778 patients were admitted with ureteral stones. Patients in group 1 presented with a higher mean serum creatinine (p= 0.02), larger mean stone size (p< 0.0001), and a higher proportion of proximal ureteral stones (p< 0.0001) than patients in group 2. The 30 day readmission rate was significantly higher in group 1 (p= 0.02). Spontaneous stone expulsion was higher in group 2 (p< 0.0001), whereas the need for endourological procedures was higher in group 1 (p< 0.0001). On multivariable analysis serum creatinine (OR 0.264, 95% CI 0.091–0.769, p= 0.01) and stone size (OR 0.623, 95% CI 0.503–0.771, p< 0.0001) were associated with a lower spontaneous stone expulsion rate. History of prior endourological procedures (OR 0.225, OR 0.066–0.765, p= 0.01) was associated with a higher spontaneous stone expulsion rate.Conclusions: Our data suggests that patients who are first time stone formers present with larger and more proximal ureteral stones, with a lower likelihood of spontaneous stone expulsion and a subsequent need for surgical intervention. Previous stone surgery and not previous stone expulsion was found to be a predictor for spontaneous stone passage.

Flowering plants have evolved numerous intraspecific and interspecific prezygotic reproductive barriers to prevent production of unfavourable offspring1. Within a species, self-incompatibility (SI) is a widely utilized mechanism that rejects self-pollen2,3to avoid inbreeding depression. Interspecific barriers restrain breeding between species and often follow the SI × self-compatible (SC) rule, that is, interspecific pollen is unilaterally incompatible (UI) on SI pistils but unilaterally compatible (UC) on SC pistils1,4–6. The molecular mechanisms underlying SI, UI, SC and UC and their interconnections in the Brassicaceae remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that the SI pollen determinant S-locus cysteine-rich protein/S-locus protein 11 (SCR/SP11)2,3or a signal from UI pollen binds to the SI female determinant S-locus receptor kinase (SRK)2,3, recruits FERONIA (FER)7–9and activates FER-mediated reactive oxygen species production in SI stigmas10,11to reject incompatible pollen. For compatible responses, diverged pollen coat protein B-class12–14from SC and UC pollen differentially trigger nitric oxide, nitrosate FER to suppress reactive oxygen species in SC stigmas to facilitate pollen growth in an intraspecies-preferential manner, maintaining species integrity. Our results show that SRK and FER integrate mechanisms underlying intraspecific and interspecific barriers and offer paths to achieve distant breeding in Brassicaceae crops.

Objectives: To examine the age-related differences in the presentation, management, and outcomes of patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) with ureteral stones.Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis of all patients who visited the ED at a single institution that were found to have a ureteral stone on CT. Clinical, laboratory, and imaging parameters were collected, including outcomes. Patients were subdivided into age groups: 18–30, 31–50, 51–70, and >70 years.Results: Between January 2018 and December 2020, 778 patients were admitted to the ED with a ureteral stone. About 78% (609) were males and 22% (169) were females. The mean ages were 49.4 (SD 14.4) and 51.6 (SD 15.7) in males and females, respectively (p= 0.08). Patients in the 36–50 age group, had significantly higher visual analogue scale (VAS) scores (p< 0.0001). Patients older than 70 years old presented with significantly higher serum creatinine levels (p< 0.0001), C-reactive protein (CRP) (p< 0.001) and leukocyte levels (p= 0.002). These patients were also found to have significantly larger stones (mean size of 6.2 mm (SD 4.8) (p< 0.0001)) and underwent percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL) in significantly higher numbers (56.3% vs 43.8%, (p< 0.0001)). Less than half of the patients older than 50 years were given medical expulsive therapy (MET) with alpha-blockers, compared to more than 50% in the other age groups (p= 0.002). Spontaneous stone expulsion was noted in 70.2% of the 18–35-year group, 62.4% of the 36–50-year-old group, 51.8% of the 51–70-year-old group, and 37% of the >70-year-old group (p< 0.0001). The ED re-admission rates at 7 and 30 days were not significantly different among all age groups.Conclusions: Our data suggests that older patients presented with larger stones, elevated inflammatory markers and creatinine and were more likely to require surgical intervention. The spontaneous stone expulsion rate was inversely associated with age.

A novel transformer combiner structure for watt-level CMOS power amplifier design is presented in this brief. The proposed active skewered transformer (AST) utilizes the slab inductor as the secondary winding and overcomes the quality factor degradation issue when input cells are increased. Slab inductor has been previously used in the distributed active transformer (DAT) as the primary winding and achieved superior passive efficiency for the transformer combined CMOS power amplifier. However, we find that the slab inductor could be more beneficial as the secondary winding when we are aiming for higher output power from the CMOS power amplifier. The full-wave EM simulation has been performed and shows the advantage of AST over the conventional series-combining transformers (SCTs). Finally, a 2.4GHz CMOS power amplifier is designed based on the AST structure and fabricated in 0.18um CMOS process. The measured output power and power-added efficiency of the proposed power amplifier satisfying LTE specification with 5/20MHz bandwidth are recorded as 26.0/25.0dBm and 24.0/20.9%, respectively.

This article presents a robust model predictive control (R-MPC)-based scheduling approach for electric vehicle (EV) charging service at a station with power supply from a photovoltaic (PV) system and grid. The designed algorithm aims to maximize the operational revenue while handling high power loads in the grid, intermittent solar power supply, charging demands uncertainties, and online computational burdens. To this end, the scheduling problem is formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear program (MINLP) with solar power generation and charging demands models embedded. The time-of-use price is employed for cost calculation. The resulting optimization problem then can be further simplified as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP). The proposed R-MPC is evaluated in the IEEE-13 node test feeder with simulated power load profiles and real charging demands data for demonstrations. The results show that R-MPC achieves near-optimal profit and meets all charging requests even under high uncertainties.

In this paper, we prove that a mean system utilization smaller than one is a necessary condition for the feasibility of real-time systems. Such systems are defined as stable. Stable systems have two distinct states: a transient state, followed by a steady-state where the same distribution of response times is repeated infinitely for each task. We prove that the Liu and Layland theorem holds for stable probabilistic real-time systems with implicit deadlines, we provide an analytical approximation of response times for each of those two states and a bound of the instant when a real-time system becomes steady.

The studies in this volume display the complexity of human and animal bonds, contributing to the deconstruction of the dichotomy expressed in Western academic traditions between humans and nature. With the goal of contributing to current interdisciplinary debates about the interactions between humans and other animals through the lens of the ancient Near East, this issue opens a space for interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars who explore how ancient societies interacted with their environs, how they experienced and perceived other animals, and how we can grasp a better understanding of the impact other animals had on human societies.

By the Late Bronze and Iron Ages in the southern Levant, livestock animals were the dominant meat source, and wild animals constituted a very small supplementary proportion of economy. As a result, wild animals often receive limited attention in studies of these periods. This article aims to examine the role of wild animals based on a large body of published zooarchaeological data. By studying temporal changes in species presence and frequencies, the study tracks the local diminution in several wild species; reveals a clear preference for hunting deer in sites of the Iron Ages, regardless of changes in local landscape; and shows that various other wild animals can be correlated to assemblages that are identified with Egyptian presence. Based on these observations and with correlation to historic events and cultural changes, wild animals’ roles in the economic and symbolic world of past societies are discussed.

AbstractThe generation and control of large amplitude plasma gratings and other plasma structures is of paramount importance for the realization of plasma photonics. Autoresonant excitation of such structures by means of chirped amplitude-modulated lasers has been recently discussed and analyzed theoretically. Here we discuss the parameter space for the realization of such a scheme and describe the laser system that was built towards this goal. We also expand our earlier theoretical study to account for the more realistic case of a moderately focused laser beam, instead of the simplified plane wave approximation.

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As a queer Jew of color, I greeted the Women's March with great pride and hope when it was first started. The promise that seemed to inhere in a political [...]

Depression and anxiety are major global health burdens. Although SSRIs targeting the serotonergic system are prescribed over 200 million times annually, they have variable therapeutic efficacy and side effects, and mechanisms of action remain incompletely understood. Here, we comprehensively characterise the molecular landscape of gene regulatory changes associated with fluoxetine, a widely-used SSRI. We performed multimodal analysis of SSRI response in 27 mammalian brain regions using 310 bulk RNA-seq and H3K27ac ChIP-seq datasets, followed by in-depth characterisation of two hippocampal regions using single-cell RNA-seq (20 datasets). Remarkably, fluoxetine induced profound region-specific shifts in gene expression and chromatin state, including in the nucleus accumbens shell, locus coeruleus and septal areas, as well as in more well-studied regions such as the raphe and hippocampal dentate gyrus. Expression changes were strongly enriched at GWAS loci for depression and antidepressant drug response, stressing the relevance to human phenotypes. We observed differential expression at dozens of signalling receptors and pathways, many of which are previously unknown. Single-cell analysis revealed stark differences in fluoxetine response between the dorsal and ventral hippocampal dentate gyri, particularly in oligodendrocytes, mossy cells and inhibitory neurons. Across diverse brain regions, integrative omics analysis consistently suggested increased energy metabolism via oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial changes, which we corroborated in vitro; this may thus constitute a shared mechanism of action of fluoxetine. Similarly, we observed pervasive chromatin remodelling signatures across the brain. Our study reveals unexpected regional and cell type-specific heterogeneity in SSRI action, highlights under-studied brain regions that may play a major role in antidepressant response, and provides a rich resource of candidate cell types, genes, gene regulatory elements and pathways for mechanistic analysis and identifying new therapeutic targets for depression and anxiety.

We suggest a cooperative mechanism in alkaline medium, where the Ag(I) sites in Ag2S drive the water dissociation step and the formed hydrogen subsequently recombines on the defective MoS2shell.

Objective: Safe and effective anticoagulation is essential for hemodialysis patients who are at high risk of bleeding. The purpose of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of two-stage regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) combined with sequential anticoagulation and standard calcium-containing dialysate in intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) treatment. Methods: Patients at high risk of bleeding who underwent IHD from September 2019 to May 2021 were prospectively enrolled in 13 blood purification centers of nephrology departments, and were randomly divided into RCA group and saline flushing group. In the RCA group, 0.04 g/mL sodium citrate was infused from the start of the dialysis line during blood draining and at the venous expansion chamber. The sodium citrate was stopped after 3 h of dialysis, which was changed to sequential dialysis without anticoagulant. The hazard ratios for coagulation were according to baseline. Results: A total of 159 patients and 208 sessions were enrolled, including RCA group (80 patients, 110 sessions) and saline flushing group (79 patients, 98 sessions). The incidence of severe coagulation events of extracorporeal circulation in the RCA group was significantly lower than that in the saline flushing group (3.64% vs. 20.41%, P&lt;0.001). The survival time of the filter pipeline in the RCA group was significantly longer than that in the saline flushing group ((238.34±9.33) min vs. (221.73±34.10) min, P&lt;0.001). The urea clearance index (Kt/V) in the RCA group was similar to that in the saline flushing group with no statistically significant difference (1.12±0.34 vs. 1.08±0.34, P=0.41). Conclusions: Compared with saline flushing, the two-stage RCA combined with a sequential anticoagulation strategy significantly reduced extracorporeal circulation clotting events and prolonged the dialysis time without serious adverse events.

A computer vision method was developed to automatically measure wrist flexion and extension from a 2-D video for occupational health and safety research. Marker-less tracked skeletal joints of the elbow, wrist, and hand estimated the wrist flexion/extension angle between the hand and forearm. Based on the estimated angles, wrist posture was classified as flexion (palmar bending), neutral (no bending), or extension (dorsal bending) for each cycle of hand movement. Applying to a set of laboratory videos of a simulated repetitive motion task, we demonstrated the feasibility of using this algorithm for assessing the state of hand activities during manual work. Tested on 1464 frames from 61 recorded videos for 16 participants, the algorithm achieved an average performance of 72.40% correct, per-class accuracy. The sensitivity and specificity for flexion were 66.16% and 91.47%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for extension were 77.12% and 89.72%, respectively. This compared favorably against a previously reported consistency rate of 57% between human analyst estimates and wrist electrogoniometer measured wrist flexion/extension angles. We also applied this technique to 262 video frames of hand flexion instances selected from industrial field video data. For these videos, the average correct per-class accuracy was 76.03% in comparison to human observers. The sensitivity and specificity for flexion were 69.23% and 94.17%, respectively, and the sensitivity and specificity for extension were 91.95% and 80.57%, respectively.

Background: Current evidence suggest that 25%–33% of stroke-survivors develop post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI). The licensed drug Maraviroc, a CCR5-antagonist, is postulated to act via a neuroprotective mechanism that may offer the potential of preventing progression to vascular dementia. Our hypothesis: Maraviroc may have the potential to augment learning skills and cognitive performance by affecting synaptic plasticity, along with neuro-inflammatory modulation in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) and PSCI.Design: MARCH is a multi-center, double-blind randomized-control Phase-II trial of Maraviroc 150 or 600 mg/day versus placebo for 12-months in five stroke centers in Israel. Included are patients diagnosed with recent (1–24 months) subcortical stroke who experience mild PSCI and have evidence of white matter lesions and SVD on neuroimaging.Outcomes: Primary outcomes: 1. Change in cognitive scores. 2. Drug related adverse events. Secondary outcomes: change in functional and affective scores, MRI-derived measures, inflammatory markers, carotid atherosclerosis, cerebrospinal-fluid biomarkers in a sub-study. A sample size of 60 in each treatment group and 30 in the placebo group (total – 150 participants) provides 80% power between the treatment and the placebo groups.Conclusions: The results of this work could lead to a novel, readily available, therapeutic avenue to reduce PSCI, and possibly other pathologies. This study will test safety and effectiveness of Maraviroc in limiting cognitive deterioration and/or post stroke cognitive impairment in patients with cerebral small vessel disease.Schedule: First-patient first-visit was May 2021. Recruitment to complete in 2023, follow-up to complete in 2024.

illus, This article is an abridged version of the minister's speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on 5 June 2011

The role of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in contextual fear conditioning (CFC) is debated. Several studies demonstrated that blocking adult hippocampal neurogenesis in rodents impairs CFC. while several other studies failed to observe an impairment. We sought to determine whether different CFC methods vary in their sensitivity to the arrest of adult neurogenesis. Adult neurogenesis was arrested in mice using low-dose, targeted x-irradiation, and the effects of irradiation were assayed in conditioning procedures that varied in the use of a discrete conditioned stimulus, the number of trials administered, and the final level of conditioning produced. We demonstrate that irradiation impairs CFC in mice when a single-trial CFC procedure is used bur not when multiple-trial procedures are used, regardless of the final level of contextual fear produced. In addition, we show that the irradiation-induced deficit in single-trial CFC can be rescued by providing preexposure to the conditioning context. These results indicate that adult hippocampal neurogenesis is required for CFC in mice only when brief training is provided. Keywords: dentate gyrus, memory, learning, hippocampus, postnatal neurogenesis, contextual fear conditioning DOI: 10.1037/a0020081

The data obtained from different regions of Taiwan is employed to determine the impact of regional diversity on the national unemployment. The national unemployment rate is shown to significantly reduce with an increase in the regional diversity.

A 2x2 space-time (ST) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system is proposed with parallel cancellation (PC) two-path transmission to form a 2x2 STPC system. The 2x2 STPC-OFDM systems mitigate the inter-carrier interference (ICI) in the mobile channels with a better BER than that of a 2x2 ST-OFDM system. The design is switchable between two operation modes: either high data rate with ST-OFDM or high reliability with STPC in mobile fading channels having lower bit error rate (BER). Furthermore, a generalized STPC architecture is designed with multiple receiver antennas. It offers higher diversity order and better BER. Two orthogonal transforms, such as Zadoff-Chu transform (ZCT) and Walsh–Hadamard transform (WHT), are employed as the precoder to enhance the BER further. Although the proposed STPC-OFDM systems require two-path transmission with the cost of reducing bandwidth efficiency, simulations show that the proposed 2x2 STPC-OFDM systems are robust to various channel environments and have a better BER performance for fair data rate comparison with 2x2 ST-OFDM.

It’s critical to design a robust wireless communication system that achieves an improved bit error rate (BER) in mobile channels. In this paper, a 2x2 space-time (ST) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system is proposed with conjugate cancellation (CC) two-path transmission scheme. The 2x2 STCC-OFDM system features in the excellent inter-carrier interference (ICI) mitigation in the mobile channels with a better BER than that of a conventional 2x2 ST-OFDM system. Five orthogonal transforms are employed as the precoder to enhance the BER further, such as Zadoff-Chu transform (ZCT), slant transform (ST), discrete Hartley transform (DHT), Haar transform (HT), and Walsh–Hadamard transform (WHT). ZCT row wise precoder provide the lowest peak-to-average power ratio and good BER performance. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed STCC-OFDM systems are robust to various channel environments Although the STCC-OFDM systems improve BER with the cost of reducing bandwidth efficiency when compared to a ST-OFDM, they can be compensated by a higher QAM constellation size.

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of frequency domain transformations applied to convolutional neural networks (CNN) to model and predict unlabeled shark behavior in the open ocean with GPS position data. The frequency domain-based CNN networks are compared against the time domain CNN to contrast the two CNN architectures. The shark behavior data were obtained through two datasets where tri-axis accelerometer data were collected from live sharks. The first dataset was from the CSULB Shark Lab and consisted of labeled shark behavior into four shark behavioral categories. The second dataset used in this study was unlabeled and recorded from sharks in the open ocean and had GPS positioning data and depth data points. Findings show that the CNN architecture based on the frequency domain slightly outperforms time-based CNNs for classifying California horn shark behavior. Through spectral density analysis, prominent features are extracted and allow for distinguishing the shark behaviors.