Search

High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) can quickly vary its power to damp power system angle oscillation. To handle the uncertainties of the faults and the system model, it is necessary to estimate the real-time linearized model of the AC/DC Hybrid system. This leads to two problems: Firstly, after the fault, the HVDC will quickly evolve to a steady state and, therefore, result in an unobservable control matrix. Secondly, the HVDC power should not exceed its stable range limited by the post-fault system. To address the above issues, the main novelties are as follows: First, this paper proposes a novel system identification method to handle that case when there is no control input excitation. Second, this paper presents a control strategy that fully considers the real-time stability constraints of the HVDC. More specifically, this paper estimates the system matrix and the control matrix separately. Based on the linearized model of the AC/DC hybrid system, the control matrix is calculated using the sensitivities of the active powers of the generators concerning those of the HVDC. Then, the system matrix is estimated using measures of the power angle and frequency. Finally, by processing the local voltage and current measurements, the system-side Thevenin equivalent parameters on the HVDC connecting point are estimated in real time and the regulating bound of the HVDC is determined. According to the linearized model and the HVDC power bound, a model predictive control strategy is used to damp the oscillation. Simulation results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

Memtranstor (MT) is proposed as a complement to the concept of memory element, which is conceived based on a direct correlation between magnetic flux $\varphi $ and charge $q$ . The electrical characteristics of MT is different from other memory elements, which enables MT to have more application scenarios. Thus, we design a floating MT emulator containing a constitutive DC control voltage $v_{\mathrm {s}}$ to mimic a hardware MT. In this emulator, the inverse memtranstance $(M_{T}^{-1})$ can be directly measured and divided into two different states, namely, State 1: $M_{T}^{-1}$ is always positive or always negative, State 2: $M_{T}^{-1}$ is either positive or negative. We propose a control method of changing the direction and magnitude of the electric field of $v_{\mathrm {s}}$ to achieve these two different states. For the proposed MT emulator, we also analyze typical nonlinear characteristics of pinched hysteresis loops (PHLs) and the variation of $M_{T}^{-1}$ under different $v_{\mathrm {s}}$ and sinusoidal excitation frequencies. The correctness and feasibility of the emulator have been systematically validated through theoretical analysis, PSPICE simulation, and hardware experiments. To further demonstrate the potential application of MT, we verify artificial synaptic plasticity of the MT emulator by experiments. The experiments results show that MT emulator can resemble long-term potentiation and long-term depression. The proposed MT emulator has a certain reference value for future research of MT-based nonlinear dynamics and can facilitate MT-based application research.

A parallel task can always be modelled as a directed acyclic graph (DAG), where sequential instruction blocks are modelled as vertices and data dependencies or resource constraints are modelled as edges. We propose a new federated scheduling algorithm for arbitrary-deadline sporadic DAG tasks, assuming that the exact structures of DAG tasks are unknown before runtime. Federated scheduling algorithms are a class of algorithms that can efficiently schedule DAG tasks by assigning several processors exclusively to each task. Existing studies have shown the advantages of federated scheduling, which include increasing the analytical schedulability and minimising the scheduling overhead. We are particularly focused on the scheduling of any task with a deadline longer than its release period; in this case, multiple jobs generated by the task could run concurrently. For such tasks, our algorithm is different from most federated scheduling algorithms in that it assigns dedicated processors to each job instead of letting jobs released by the same task share processors. The main idea is to increase the analytical schedulability by avoiding interference between jobs. The simulation results show that our algorithm outperforms existing algorithms when the exact structures of tasks are unknown before runtime.

Chiral boronic esters are a class of versatile building blocks. We describe herein an asymmetric nickel-catalyzed borylative coupling of terminal alkenes with nonactivated alkyl halides. The success of this asymmetric reaction is ascribed to the application of a chiral anionic bisoxazoline ligand. This study provides a three-component strategy to access α- and β-stereogenic boronic esters from easily accessible starting materials. This protocol is characterized by mild reaction conditions, wide substrate scope and high regio- and enantioselectivity. We also showcase the value of this method in simplifying the synthesis of several drug molecules. Mechanistic studies suggest that the generation of enantioenriched boronic esters bearing an α-stereogenic center results from a stereoconvergent process, while the enantioselectivity-controlling step in the generation of boronic esters with a β-stereocenter is switched to the olefin migratory insertion step due to coordination of an ester group.

With the rapid development of flexible wearable electronic products, flexible all graphene-based supercapacitors (FGSCs) with reduced graphene oxide rGO//graphene oxide (GO)//rGO structure have attracted substantial attention due to their unique structures and energy storage mechanism. However, restricted by design idea and preparation technology, improvement of capacitance performance for the FGSCs is not obvious recently. Herein, we demonstrate that an interface integration strategy of constructing the high-performance FGSCs with compact structure. Hydroquinone (HQ)-modified rGO (HQ-rGO) films (electrode materials) and sulfuric acid-intercalated GO films (electrolyte/separator) are assembled into the FGSCs utilizing hydrogen bonding and capillary contractility. The HQ further improves the electrochemical capacitance of electrode materials. The synergistic effect of the hydrogen bonding and capillary contractility guarantees compact and stable structure of the device. The resulting FGSCs exhibit an excellent areal capacitance of 804.6 mF cm−2(@2 mA cm−2) and 441 mF cm−2(@30 mA cm−2), and their highest energy and power densities can achieve 109.5 μWh cm−2and 21,060 μW cm−2, respectively. These performances are superior to other all-in-one graphene-based SCs reported. Therefore, the construction technology of the FGSCs is a promising for developing all graphene-based SCs with high-performance.

Byline: Long. Peng, Kehan. Yu, Yong. Li, Weidong. XiaoHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with gastric metastasis is seldom reported. It is extremely easy to misdiagnose for primary gastric cancer with liver metastasis, [...]

Byline: Long. Peng, Yi. Tu, Yong. Li, Weidong. Xiao Low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma (LGMS) is a malignant tumor with myofibroblastic differentiation, which frequently occurs in the oral cavity and extremities. Here, [...]

Liquid loading presents a formidable challenge for mature gas wells, often resulting in substantial economic losses. Traditional research has predominantly centered on the analysis of gas-liquid two-phase flow within the wellbore to predict critical gas velocity or rate, aiding in identifying the onset of liquid loading. This study introduces a fully coupled compositional wellbore-reservoir simulator designed to detect liquid loading in both vertical and inclined gas wells. Leveraging the drift-flux model to evaluate flow pattern transitions, this simulator employs pressure or rate constraints at the wellhead as boundary conditions. It comprehensively captures the flow dynamics in both the wellbore and reservoir, unveiling significant changes in gas production rate, water production rate, gas velocity, flow regime, and the reserved position of the liquid film under liquid-loaded conditions. Moreover, the accumulation of liquid at the bottom hole leads to increased reservoir pressure and gas saturation near the wellbore. The simulator predicts a typical unstable production period, emphasizing its crucial role in implementing effective strategies to mitigate liquid loading. This paper investigates the capability of the coupled wellbore-reservoir model to characterize transient liquid loading phenomena from a systematic perspective. The proposed model can function as a real-time tool for predicting the status of liquid loading in gas wells.

Comparative and pan-genomic analyses of the endophytic fungus Pezicula neosporulosa(Helotiales, Ascomycota) from needles of the relict fir, Abies beshanzuensis, showed expansions of carbohydrate metabolism and secondary metabolite biosynthetic genes characteristic for unrelated plant-beneficial helotialean, such as dark septate endophytes and ericoid mycorrhizal fungi. The current species within the relatively young Pliocene genus Peziculaare predominantly saprotrophic, while P. neosporulosalacks such features. To understand the genomic background of this putatively convergent evolution, we performed population analyses of 77 P. neosporulosaisolates. This revealed a mosaic structure of a dozen non-recombining and highly genetically polymorphic subpopulations with a unique mating system structure. We found that one idiomorph of a probably duplicated mat1-2gene was found in putatively heterothallic isolates, while the other co-occurred with mat1-1locus suggesting homothallic reproduction for these strains. Moreover, 24 and 81 genes implicated in plant cell-wall degradation and secondary metabolite biosynthesis, respectively, showed signatures of the balancing selection. These findings highlight the evolutionary pattern of the two gene families for allowing the fungus a rapid adaptation towards endophytism and facilitating diverse symbiotic interactions.

The phase behavior, the number and type of phases, in atmospheric particles containing mixtures of hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is important for predicting their impacts on air pollution, human health, and climate. Using a solvatochromic dye and fluorescence microscopy, we determined the phase behavior of 11 HOA proxies (O/C = 0–0.29) each mixed with 7 different SOA materials generated in environmental chambers (O/C 0.4–1.08), where O/C represents the average oxygen-to-carbon atomic ratio. Out of the 77 different HOA + SOA mixtures studied, we observed two phases in 88% of the cases. The phase behavior was independent of relative humidity over the range between 90% and <5%. A clear trend was observed between the number of phases and the difference between the average O/C ratios of the HOA and SOA components (ΔO/C). Using a threshold ΔO/C of 0.265, we were able to predict the phase behavior of 92% of the HOA + SOA mixtures studied here, with one-phase particles predicted for ΔO/C < 0.265 and two-phase particles predicted for ΔO/C ≥ 0.265. The threshold ΔO/C value provides a relatively simple and computationally inexpensive framework for predicting the number of phases in internal SOA and HOA mixtures in atmospheric models.

Understanding how organisms adapt to extreme living conditions is central to evolutionary biology. Dark septate endophytes (DSEs) constitute an important component of the root mycobiome and they are often able to alleviate host abiotic stresses. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial association between the DSE Laburnicola rhizohalophilaand its host, the native halophyte Suaeda salsa, using population genomics. Based on genome-wide Fst (pairwise fixation index) and Vst analyses, which compared the variance in allele frequencies of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and copy number variants (CNVs), respectively, we found a high level of genetic differentiation between two populations. CNV patterns revealed population-specific expansions and contractions. Interestingly, we identified a ~20?kbp genomic island of high divergence with a strong sign of positive selection. This region contains a melanin-biosynthetic polyketide synthase gene cluster linked to six additional genes likely involved in biosynthesis, membrane trafficking, regulation, and localization of melanin. Differences in growth yield and melanin biosynthesis between the two populations grown under 2% NaCl stress suggested that this genomic island contributes to the observed differences in melanin accumulation. Our findings provide a better understanding of the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the adaptation to saline conditions of the L. rhizohalophila–S. salsasymbiosis.

Terahertz coded-aperture imaging relies on sequential coding and sampling. Its capturing speed is limited by the switching rate of the coded-aperture antenna; therefore, it is not suitable for capturing moving targets. In this paper, we focus on imaging for moving targets using the terahertz coded-aperture imaging technique. An incoherent detection array is adopted to replace sequential sampling by spatial sampling, therefore improving the capturing speed significantly. Then, a signal processing method based on phase retrieval and image enhancement is proposed to reconstruct targets with improved quality. Numerical experimental results verify the effectiveness of the method.

Metal oxide redox system characterized open-loop operation, high energy density, and high reversibility, which is one of the most promising thermochemical energy storage technologies for the next-generation concentrated solar power plants. Most of the previous studies focused on the material properties, while the energy storage performance of oxide monolithic bodies, such as energy storage density and heat storage/release rate, has rarely been reported. In this paper, a novel and effective method for the improvement of the energy storage performance of oxide honeycombs with multi-scale composite pores is proposed and presented. Methyl cellulose and four common biomass materials, including bagasse, loofah, juniper leaf, and pine needle, were used as pore-forming agents for oxide honeycombs. The pyrolysis of methyl cellulose forms small-scale pores in the honeycomb bodies and contributes the major pore volume. The biomass templates further optimize the pore characteristics, all biomass-templated Co3O4-based honeycomb bodies have higher total pore volume and permeability than that of biomass-free honeycomb body. The honeycomb with 2.5 wt% pine needle achieves the highest energy storage density, with an average of 694.62 kJ/kg during the second to fifteenth cycles. In addition, the honeycomb containing 7.5 wt% pine needle has the highest energy store/release rate. Biomass-templated Co3O4-based honeycomb shows a high crushing strength, and there are no obvious cracks and structural deformations on its surface after 15 thermal cycles. The findings demonstrate that the methyl cellulose and biomass template method can effectively optimize the pore structure and energy storage properties of the oxide honeycombs, thereby expanding the application prospects of Co3O4-based honeycombs in thermochemical energy storage.

Removing excess phosphate from environmental water is extremely important to reduce eutrophication. In this study, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were utilized as biological templates, and the SA-La-X was synthesized by calcination with lanthanum modification. Some characterization techniques were used to confirm the impregnation of La on the surface of mesoporous silica aerogel (SA). The obtained aerogels SA-La-5, 10, and 25 had large specific surface areas (262.69, 251.23, and 197.18 m2g–1), and average pore sizes of aerogels SA-La-5, 10, and 25 were 5.14, 4.85, and 4.71 nm, respectively. The results manifested that sample SA-La-5 with the molar ratio of Si/La of 5:1 presented the maximum adsorption capacity of 42.08 mg g–1. Meanwhile, SA-La-X exhibited less La leaching, good stability, and strong selectivity for phosphate. Through the adsorption isotherm, the phosphate adsorption over SA-La-X samples followed the Langmuir model, and the kinetic experiment demonstrated that the adsorption process fitted the pseudo-second-order models. The phosphate adsorption mechanism of SA-La-X was detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and it was found that the binding mechanism of the adsorbent and phosphorus included electrostatic adsorption, surface precipitation, and ligand exchange. Among them, electrostatic and ligand exchange were considered to be the main ways to selectively adsorb phosphate at pH 3.0. At the same time, the prepared SA-La-X with a cylindrical shape was easy to separate without causing secondary pollution to the water system, which would be the promising adsorbent for phosphate adsorption in the water environment to reduce eutrophication.

A closed loop two-phase thermosiphon is supposed as an effective heat transfer unit for improving the heat transfer in the latent heat storage devices, which has a simple structure and natural circulation. An experimental study and theoretical analysis were conducted to evaluate the heat transfer performance. The effects of height difference, filling ratio, and condenser temperature were investigated relative to changes in pressure and evaporator temperature. The results indicate that heat transfer performance is improved with an increase in height difference and a decrease in condenser temperature. Meanwhile, a closed loop thermosiphon with medium filling ratios of 44.5% and 49.9% shows the best heat transfer performance. Furthermore, the subcooling phenomenon occurs at large filling ratios of 68.1% and 67.1% and the superheating phenomenon occurs at small filling ratios of 27.3% and 31.1%.

There are some anthraquinones, anthraquinones and flavonones in Sennae Foliumwhich exhibited significant acidity, such as sennoside A/B and sennoside C/D. The current strategies used in separating these components are mainly based on conventional column chromatography which is time consuming, laborious and costly. This study is aimed at exploring a method of precipitation extraction of acid components in Sennae Folium. Using alkaloid as a “hook”, it is reasonable to use the principle of “acid-alkali complexation” to "fish" the acidic components in Sennae Folium.

AbstractObjectives:This study aimed to review the diagnostic value of mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) for heart failure (HF) in patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) with acute dyspnoea.Methods:Relevant studies were searched on the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, with publication date limited to 30 March 2018. Literature identification, quality assessment, data extraction, synthesis, and statistical analysis were performed by standard meta-analysis methods. Individual and pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated.Results:A total of eight studies were retrieved, involving 1562 HF patients and 2249 non-HF patients. The sensitivity for each included study ranged from 80 to 97%, with a pooled sensitivity of 90% (95% CI: 88–91%), while the specificity ranged from 37 to 86%, with a pooled specificity of 68% (95% CI: 66–70%). The pooled PLR for included studies was 2.88(95% CI: 2.12–3.93), with a pooled NLR of 0.16 (95% CI: 0.11–0.24), and a pooled DOR of 18.97 (95% CI: 11.73–30.68).Conclusions:With a decent sensitivity, MR-proANP is a useful biomarker for correctly identifying HF in patients with acute dyspnoea.

Some fungal accessory chromosomes (ACs) may contribute to virulence in plants. However, the mechanisms by which ACs determine specific traits associated with lifestyle transitions along a symbiotic continuum are not clear. Here we delineated the genetic divergence in two sympatric but considerably variable isolates (16B and 16W) of the poplar-associated fungus Stagonosporopsis rhizophilae. We identified a ∼0.6-Mb horizontally acquired AC in 16W that resulted in a mildly parasitic lifestyle in plants. Complete deletion of the AC (Δ16W) significantly altered the fungal phenotype. Specifically, Δ16W was morphologically more similar to 16B, showed enhanced melanization, and established beneficial interactions with poplar plants, thereby acting as a dark septate endophyte. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis showed that AC loss induced the upregulation of genes related to root colonization and biosynthesis of indole acetic acid and melanin. We observed that the AC maintained a more open status of chromatin across the genome, indicating an impressive remodeling of cis-regulatory elements upon AC loss, which potentially enhanced symbiotic effectiveness. We demonstrated that the symbiotic capacities were non-host-specific through comparable experiments on Triticum– and Arabidopsis–fungus associations. Furthermore, the three isolates generated symbiotic interactions with a nonvascular liverwort. In summary, our study suggests that the AC is a suppressor of symbiosis and provides insights into the underlying mechanisms of mutualism with vascular plants in the absence of traits encoded by the AC. We speculate that AC-situated effectors and other potential secreted molecules may have evolved to specifically target vascular plants and promote mild virulence.

In protein–ligand binding, only a few residues contribute significantly to the ligand binding. Quantitative characterization of binding free energies of specific residues in protein–ligand binding is extremely useful in our understanding of drug resistance and rational drug design. In this paper, we present an alanine scanning approach combined with an efficient interaction entropy method to compute residue-specific protein–ligand binding free energies in protein–drug binding. In the current approach, the entropic components in the free energies of all residues binding to the ligand are explicitly computed from just a single trajectory MD simulation by using the interaction entropy method. In this approach the entropic contribution to binding free energy is determined from fluctuations of individual residue–ligand interaction energies contained in the MD trajectory. The calculated residue-specific binding free energies give relative values between those for ligand binding to the wild type protein and those to the mutants when specific results mutated to alanine. Computational study for the binding of two classes of drugs (first and second generation drugs) to target protein ALK and its mutant was performed. Important or hot spot residues with large contributions to the total binding energy are quantitatively characterized and the mutation effect for the loss of binding affinity for the first generation drug is explained. Finally, it is very interesting to note that the sum of those individual residue-specific binding free energies are in quite good agreement with the experimentally measured total binding free energies for this protein–ligand system.

Repeat hepatectomy plays a key role in recurrent hepatic tumors. However, it is still unknown whether laparoscopic hepatectomy is suitable for recurrent liver cancers. The aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of laparoscopic repeat hepatectomy (LRH) compared with open repeat hepatectomy (ORH).

We used a single particle mass spectrometry to online detect chemical compositions of individual particles over four seasons in Guangzhou. Number fractions (Nfs) of all the measured particles that contained oxalate were 1.9%, 5.2%, 25.1%, and 15.5%, whereas the Nfs of Fe-containing particles that were internally mixed with oxalate were 8.7%, 23.1%, 45.2%, and 31.2% from spring to winter, respectively. The results provided the first direct field measurements for the enhanced formation of oxalate associated with Fe-containing particles. Other oxidized organic compounds including formate, acetate, methylglyoxal, glyoxylate, purivate, malonate, and succinate were also detected in the Fe-containing particles. It is likely that reactive oxidant species (ROS) via Fenton reactions enhanced the formation of these organic compounds and their oxidation product oxalate. Gas-particle partitioning of oxalic acid followed by coordination with Fe might also partly contribute to the enhanced oxalate. Aerosol water content likely played an important role in the enhanced oxalate formation when the relative humidity is >60%. Interactions with Fe drove the diurnal variation of oxalate in the Fe-containing particles. The study could provide a reference for model simulation to improve understanding on the formation and fate of oxalate, and the evolution and climate impacts of particulate Fe.

Accurate and efficient computation of protein–protein binding free energy remains a grand challenge. In this study, we develop a new strategy to achieve efficient calculation for total protein–protein binding free energies with improved accuracy. The new method combines the recently developed interaction entropy method for efficient computation of entropic change together with the use of residue type-specific dielectric constants in the framework of MM/GBSA to achieve optimal result for protein–protein binding free energies. The new strategy is shown to be computationally efficient and accurate than that using standard MM/GBSA methods in which the entropic computation is performed by the normal model approach and the protein interior is represented by the standard dielectric constant (typically set to 1), both in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency. Our study using the new strategy on a set of randomly selected 20 protein–protein binding systems produced an optimal dielectric constant of 2.7 for charged residues and 1.1 for noncharged residues. Using this new strategy, the mean absolute error in computed binding free energies for these 20 selected protein–protein systems is significantly reduced by more than 3-fold while the computational cost is reduced by more than 2 orders of magnitude, compared to the result using standard MM/GBSA method with the normal mode approach. A similar improvement in accuracy is confirmed for a test set consisting of 10 protein–protein systems.

Extensive experimental studies on the heat transfer characteristics of two rows of aligned jet holes impinging on a concave surface in a wing leading edge were conducted, where 50000 ≤ Rej ≤ 90000, 1.74 ≤ H/d ≤ 27.5, 66° ≤ α ≤ 90°, and 13.2 ≤ r/d ≤ 42.03. The finding was that the heat transfer performance at the jet-impingement stagnation point with two rows of aligned jet holes was the same as that with a single row of jet holes or the middle row of three-row configurations when the circumferential angle of the two jet holes was larger than 30°. The attenuation coefficient distribution of the jet impingement heat transfer in the chordwise direction was so complicated that two zones were divided for a better analysis. It indicated that: the attenuation coefficient curve in the jet impingement zone exhibited an approximate upside-down bell shape with double peaks and a single valley; the attenuation coefficient curve in the non-jet impingement zone was like a half-bell shape, which was similar to that with three rows of aligned jet holes; the factors, including Rej, H/dand r/d, affected the attenuation coefficient value at the valley significantly. When r/dwas increased from 30.75 to 42.03, the attenuation rates of attenuation coefficient increased only by 1.8%. Consequently, experimental data-based correlation equations of the Nusselt number for the heat transfer at the jet-impingement stagnation point and the distribution of the attenuation coefficient in the chordwise direction were acquired, which play an important role in designing the wing leading edge anti-icing system with two rows of aligned jet holes.

In order to find lead compound with anti-HBV activity from peroxo-bridged diosgenin derivatives obtained with Eosin Y as the photosensitizer.

Although robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy (RPD) has been successfully performed since 2003, its advantages over open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) are still uncertain. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare the clinical outcomes of RPD to those of OPD. A systematic literature review was performed to identify RPD versus OPD comparative studies published between January 2003 and January 2016. Intraoperative outcomes, post-operative outcomes and oncologic safety were evaluated. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and weighted mean differences (WMDs) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated using fixed-effect or random-effect models. Nine non-randomized observational clinical studies involving 680 patients met the inclusion criteria and involved 245 RPDs and 435 OPDs. The overall complication rate was significantly lower in RPD (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.47–0.91, P= 0.012), as well as the margin positivity rate (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.20–0.77, P= 0.006), the wound infection rate (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.06–0.53, P= 0.002) and the length of hospital stay (WMD = −6.00, 95% CI −9.80 to −2.21, P= 0.002). There was no significant difference in the following: the number of lymph nodes harvested; the operation time; the reoperation rate; the incidence of delayed gastric emptying, bile leakage, pancreatic fistula and clinically significant pancreatic fistula; and mortality. The mean conversion rate was 7.3% (range 0–14%). According to the results of this meta-analysis, RPD is as safe and efficient as OPD and is even favourable in terms of margin-negative resection, overall complication and wound infection rates and length of hospital stay. Given that there have not yet been any high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the evidence is still limited. Additional prospective, multi-centre RCTs are needed to further define the role of the robotic technique in PD.

Robot assisted rehabilitation training is a promising tool for post-stroke patients’ recovery, and some new challenges are imposed on robot design, control, and clinical evaluation. This paper presents a novel upper limb rehabilitation robot that can provide safe and compliant force feedbacks to the patient for the benefits of its stiff and low-inertia parallel structure, highly backdrivable capstan-cable transmission, and impedance control method in the workspace. The “assist-as-needed” (AAN) clinical training principle is implemented through the “virtual tunnel” force field design, the “assistance threshold” strategy, as well as the virtual environment training games, and preliminary clinical results show its effectiveness for motor relearning for both acute and chronic stroke patients, especially for coordinated movements of shoulder and elbow.

Bentonite has been purified by suspension method and sodiumed with sodium carbonate, and then modified with polyaniline. Finally, characterized by the polarizing microscope, the X-ray diffractometer(XRD) and Fourier infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), in order to determine the optimal preparation technology of polyaniline/bentonite. And the optimal preparation of PAn/MMT is used to research the adsorption dynamics analysis on phenol. The result shows that the sodium ion enters into the bentonite interlayer through ion exchange; When the dosage of bentonite is 5 g, the dosage of FeCl3·6H2O is 2.7 g, the dosage of aniline is 46.5 g, and the dosage of DBSA is 3.26 g, its layer spacing of modified bentonite is 2.823nm, increaseing 1.600nm than the first, so the hydrophobicity and separation effects of the modified bentonite get greatly improvement. And the dosage of PAn/MMT is 0.1 g and the initial concentration of phenol、P-nitrophenol、o-cresol is 10 mg/L, their adsorption rates reach to 51.50%, 80.56%, 62.93%, more high than the sodium bentonite under the same conditinns. It indicates that the modified bentonite is more suitable for the adsorption of benzene homologs.

Peritoneal fibrosis progression is regarded as a significant cause of the loss of peritoneal function, markedly limiting the application of peritoneal dialysis (PD). However, the pathogenesis of peritoneal fibrosis remains to be elucidated. Tissue-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) change their molecular cargos to adapt the environment alteration, mediating intercellular communications and play a significant role in organ fibrosis. Hence, we performed, for the first time, four-dimensional label-free quantitative liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry proteomic analyses on EVs from normal peritoneal tissues and PD-induced fibrotic peritoneum in mice. We demonstrated the alterations of EV concentration and protein composition between normal control and PD groups. A total of 2339 proteins containing 967 differentially expressed proteins were identified. Notably, upregulated proteins in PD EVs were enriched in processes including response to wounding and leukocyte migration, which participated in the development of fibrosis. In addition, EV proteins of the PD group exhibited unique metabolic signature compared with those of the control group. The glycolysis-related proteins increased in PD EVs, while oxidative phosphorylation and fatty acid metabolism-related proteins decreased. We also evaluated the effect of cell-type specificity on EV proteins, suggesting that mesothelial cells mainly cause the alterations in the molecular composition of EVs. Our study provided a useful resource for further validation of the key regulator or therapeutic target of peritoneal fibrosis.

A set of hot deformation experiments 6082 aluminum alloy were carried out on the Gleeble-3500 thermal simulation machine. The true stress-strain curves were obtained in the condition of temperatures 425 ̊C,450 ̊C,475 ̊C and 500 ̊C, strain rate 0.01s-1, 0.1s-1, 1s-1 and 10s-1. At the low strain rate (0.01s-1, 0.1s-1), true stress-strain curves exhibited typical work hardening and flow softening features, but at the high strain rate (1s-1, 10s-1), true stress-strain curves just exhibited typical work hardening. The peak stress of current alloy decreased with temperature and increased with strain rate, which can be represented by a hyperbolic sine equation using the Zener-Hollomon parameter (Z). The processing map was calculated and analyzed according to dynamic materials mode (DMM). The processing map showed the reasonable hot working region of 6082 aluminum ally.

We use a single‐particle aerosol mass spectrometer coupled with a ground‐based counterflow virtual impactor to measure the chemical compositions of individual submicron fog droplet residues. This is the first report on single particle mass spectrometry measurements of fog droplet residual particles at ground level in an urban area. We show that most of the fog droplet residues were composed of elemental carbon (EC) (67.7%), followed by K‐rich (19.2%) and mineral dust/metal (12.3%) particles. The predominance of EC‐containing particles demonstrated that these particles could be effective fog nuclei and highlights the important influence of anthropogenic emissions on regional climate system. Compared with interstitial and ambient aerosols, nitrate was enhanced, sulfate was depressed, and ammonium‐ and organics‐containing particles were hardly found in the fog droplet residues during fog events, suggesting that dust and metal particles containing nitrate may be preferentially activated and that ammonium and organics may not play important roles in fog formation in Guangzhou. We also present direct observational evidence that trimethylamine and hydroxymethanesulfonate are not found within fog droplet residues, although we previously observed enhanced gas‐to‐particle partitioning of these compounds by fog processing. Additionally, higher fraction or intensities of [K]+, [Fe]+, and [SiO3]−were found in fog droplet residues than in ambient and interstitial particles. The first report of single‐particle mass spectrometry measurements of fog droplet residues at ground levelMost fog droplet residues are composed of elemental carbonTrimethylamine and hydroxymethanesulfonate are not found in the fog droplet residues

A large-scale meta-analysis of 14 genome-wide association studies has identified and replicated a series of susceptibility polymorphisms for coronary artery disease (CAD) in European ancestry populations, but evidences for the associations of these loci with CAD in other ethnicities remain lacking. Herein we investigated the associations between ten (rs579459, rs12413409, rs964184, rs4773144, rs2895811, rs3825807, rs216172, rs12936587, rs46522 and rs3798220) of these loci and CAD in Southern Han Chinese (CHS). Genotyping was performed in 1716 CAD patients and 1572 controls using mass spectrography. Both allelic and genotypic associations of rs964184, rs2895811 and rs3798220 with CAD were significant, regardless of adjustment for covariates of gender, age, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, blood lipid profiles and smoking. Significant association of rs12413409 was initially not observed, but after the adjustment for the covariates, both allelic and genotypic associations were identified as significant. Neither allelic nor genotypic association of the other six polymorphisms with CAD was significant regardless of the adjustment. Our results indicated that four loci of the total 10 were associated with CAD in CHS. Therefore, some of the CAD-related loci in European ancestry populations are indeed susceptibility loci for the risk of CAD in Han Chinese.

The hot deformation behavior of the homogenized Al–3.2Mg–0.4Er aluminum alloy was investigated at 573–723 K under strain rates of 0.001–1 s−1. On the basis of compression experimental results, an accurate phenomenological constitutive equation that coupled the effects of strain rate, deformation temperature and strain was modeled. Furthermore, a kinetic model of dynamic recrystallization and processing map were also presented. The results show that the flow stress of the studied Al–3.2Mg–0.4Er alloy can be predicted accurately using the proposed constitutive model. The evolution of microstructure and the volume fraction of dynamic recrystallization can be described exactly in terms of S-curves with the proposed kinetic model. Moreover, the processing maps for hot working at different strains were constructed, suggesting the optimum processing conditions for this alloy are 573 K, 0.001 s−1and 723 K, 0.001–0.1 s−1.

The La-Co substituted Sr1-xLaxFe12-xCoxO19(x=0-0.5) ferrites with appropriate Bi2O3additive were prepared by conventional sintering method and microwave sintering method at low sintering temperatures compatible with LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramics) systems, and their sintering behavior was chiefly investigated, including the crystal structure, saturation magnetization Ms, magnetic anisotropy field Ha, intrinsic coercivity Hci, and Curie temperature TC. Experiment results clearly showed that the pure M-type crystal phase was successfully obtained when the La-Co substitution amount xdid not exceed 0.3. However, the single M-type phase structure transformed to multiphase structure with further increased x, where the M-type phase coexisted with the non-magnetic phase such as α-Fe2O3phase, La2O3phase, and LaCoO3phase. Appropriate La-Co substitution improved the Ms(>62 emu/g), Ha(>1400 kA/m), and Hci(>320 kA/m) for the ferrites with xvarying from 0.1 to 0.3, but the TCdecreased with increasing substitution amount. Moreover, the microwave sintered ferrites could provide larger Hciand similar Mscompared with the conventional sintered ferrites.

As the prevalence of embedded systems in various fields has spread, real-time operating systems (RTOSs) have been widely used for many years satisfying real-time requirements and a multitasking design. The use of RTOS adds additional overhead to a system, which should be deliberately considered and evaluated in some critical systems. This paper presents a qualitative and quantitative comparison between an open-source RTOS (FreeRTOS V8.0.0) and a commercial one (¿C/OS-III). Both RTOS use a preemptive multitasking kernel, with additional support for round robin scheduling. We aim to benchmark and evaluate their performance and behaviour, including seven performance tests and two behaviour tests. Comparing the measurement results shows that the commercial µC/OS-III does not behave much better than FreeRTOS. Furthermore, we discovered that the priority changing function of µC/OSIII does not behave correctly in some circumstances. Although FreeRTOS has no such problem in the latest version, it still has a problem with its dynamic memory management.

A intercalated TiO2 photocatalyst loaded bentonite was prepared by sol-gel method. The effect of reaction time, reaction temperature,the amount of butyl titanate and other process parameters on prepared material of degradation of methyl orange,as well as the relationship between the concentration of methyl orange on degradation process and illumination time were discussed by single factor method.The results showed : the first absorbance of the intercalated TiO2 photocatalyst loaded bentonite material was 0.342 and the average absorbance was respectively 0.7402 through 5 washing after the intercalated TiO2 photocatalyst loaded bentonite irradiated at UV-irradiation 1.5h to 20mg/L methyl orange.

Montmorillonite intercalated polyaniline material was prepared by Situ polymerization method,the effects ofinitiator content, polymerization time, temperature and other parameters on the adsorption Cu2+ of prepared material were discussed by single-actor method and the montmorillonite loaded copper ions-polyaniline was obtained. Finally an anti-corrosion coating was prepared with montmorillonite loaded copper ions-polyaniline as filler.The results showed that montmorillonite intercalated polyaniline had the best adsorption characteristics on Cu2+ and its light transmission rate reached 100% when the montmorillonite was 2g, the initiator (ammonium persulfate) was 0.1g, the temperature was 80°C, and the polymerization time was 2h. The prepared anti-corrosion coating had good corrosion resistance and its hardness was 90, its adhesive force reached level 1 when mass fraction of filler was 10% in total.

α-Fe/montmorillonite (MMT) magnetic material was successfully prepared by the in-situ pillared-reduction method. The composite material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), laser particle size analyzer and other instruments. The magnetic property was researched by saturation magnetization. The results showed that: when 0.1mol/L hydroxyl-Fe was added as pillared agent, hydroxyl-Fe and cation of the MMT exchanged, leading to the inter-layer spacing expanded to 1.41nm and reached saturated pillared point. MMT interlayer hydroxyl-Fe was completely restored to α-Fe grains of 116nm when reducing agent was 0.2mol/L and produced α-Fe/MMT composite material. The average particle size of the composite was 5.529μm, the specific saturation magnetization was 0.812emu/g (9×103A/moutside magnetic field) and exhibited ferromagnetism.

Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3 and Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3/Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 double-layered thin films were fabricated via sol-gel process on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates. The influence of Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 buffer layer on microstructure and electrical properties of Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3 thin films were investigated in detail. Well-saturated P-E hysteresis loops can be obtained in Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3 films with Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 buffer. The remnant polarization (2Pr) of the double-layered thin films is 112 μC/cm2. The coercive field (2Ec) of double-layered films is 672 kV/cm, which is much lower than that of the Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3 thin films. The leakage current density of Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3/Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 double-layered thin films is 4.12×10-5 A/cm2.

The concept of spray-type packed bed thermal energy storage (medium and high temperature thermal energy storage, from 200 °C to 350 °C, Alumina pellets+T66 fluid) has been proposed in our previous investigation. Its low-cost and high-efficiency shows its promising application prospect. Further investigation of the new concept is carried out both numerically and experimentally in this paper. First, the “charging-standby-discharging” cycle of a pilot spray-type packed bed is investigated experimentally. Second, the dynamic liquid holdup of the spray-type packed bed is correlated with the experiment data and is applied to build the mass balance equations. Based on the energy balance equations and mass balance equations, a three-phase one-dimensional transient model for the spray-type packed bed is established. Results from the experiment confirms the correctness of the numerical model. Based on the model, the liquid holdup of the packed bed during the “charging-standby-discharging” cycle is studied. At last, sensitivity analysis was carried out to study the influence of the parameters of the “charging-standby-discharging” process on the thermal performance of the spray-type packed bed. Values of these parameters can be found to achieve the best thermal performance of a spray-type packed bed.

AbstractHexagonal 1D AlN whiskers were synthesized by direct nitridation of aluminum and alumina. The effect of the atmosphere was investigated based on thermodynamic calculation. A green body compacting alumina with different particle size in between 44–420 μm in graphite crucible was found to be favorable for the large-scale synthesis of AlN at 1650 °C for 3 h in flowing nitrogen atmosphere. XRD result indicated that hexagonal AlN phase with high purity has been successfully synthesized. SEM and TEM analysis indicated that the whiskers possessed uniform morphology with 100–200 nm in diameter and length up to microns. The formation mechanism was further proposed based on the experimental results.

The creep of concrete in the construction process of deformation influential, especially in the cantilever pouring construction, short age of concrete, creep effect more apparent. Meaning for cantilever construction of Bridges, creep analysis must be properly considered section at different time of loading values and the concrete ages of different segments. In this paper, based on the viscoelastic problem of cantilever construction of concrete creep analysis method, analyzes the deflection of cantilever construction process of a rigid-frame bridge, and compared with the actual measured value.

Air separation experiments were conducted in a hollow fiber membrane module under various working conditions. Effects of working temperature and working pressure on separation coefficient and pressure drop were investigated when the mass fraction of oxygen in the nitrogen-rich gas was 2%, 5% and 12%, respectively. It is revealed that high temperature working and storage (100°C) of the hollow fiber membrane module could help to obtain higher separation coefficients for the 2% and 5% oxygen concentrations and when the oxygen concentration of the nitrogen-rich gas was 12%, the result was opposite. For the pressure drop, the low temperature working and storage (-55°C) working conditions led to lower values. Furthermore, low working pressure (an 11 km height pressure) is helpful to gain higher separation coefficient and not favorable to obtain lower pressure drop.