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In this letter, a single-fed satellite terminal antenna is proposed for vehicular application, which features abrupt circular polarization sense reversal at adjacent frequencies and is capable of being flush-mounted with the metallic platform. The antenna is first constructed using pixel structures and is to be regulated through reactive loading. Subsequently, the design challenges are framed as a multiobjective optimization problem and solved using the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm III (NSGA-III). As a result of optimization, the proposed antenna operates with left-hand circular polarization and right-hand circular polarization characteristics at 1.98 GHz to 2.01 GHz and 2.17 GHz to 2.20 GHz, respectively, which corresponds to the uplink and downlink bands for the TianTong system. Additionally, it can cover GPS L1 and L5 bands with linear polarization to provide precise dual-frequency satellite navigation. The proposed design is a promising candidate for modern vehicular satellite antennas.

In this letter, a self-decoupling method is proposed for multi antenna systems based on the identification and suppression of coupling modes. Coupling modes are first identified by characteristic mode analysis, with the coupled power due to each mode quantitatively monitored for the first time. Together with the modal weighting coefficients, the coupling modes to be suppressed are determined. Antennas are then adjusted to break the high-coupling modes without affecting the radiating modes, leading to enhanced isolations. An example involving two identical side-by-side metasurface-based patch antennas with extremely close proximity (0.014λ0) is given. By etching slits at the proper locations of the antennas, the coupling modes have been effectively suppressed without compromising the primary radiation. As a result, the isolations between the antennas are significantly improved by more than 15 dB without additional decoupling structures. The patterns are restored as well. Measurements have been conducted on the antenna systems, showing the feasibility of the self-decoupling method.

This article presents designs of 3-D microwave absorbers with synthesizable absorptive performance. The synthetic procedure is investigated based on the unified equivalent transmission line (TL) model, which theoretically supports different performances. According to the desired absorptive performance, including the normalized absorptive resistance (NAR) and fractional bandwidth (FBW), the impedance parameters in the equivalent model can be easily obtained from the closed-form calculation. For demonstration, two prototypes are structurally developed and their different absorptive performances are measured. Each prototype element is designed with a single-layered 3-D structure consisting of composite TLs and only one loaded resistor. The measurements are in close agreement with the synthesized and simulated results, demonstrating an FBW of 99.0% (from 4.95 to 14.66 GHz) for absorber-A with a smaller NAR of 0.53. Absorber-B with a larger NAR of 1.25 obtains a measured FBW of 84.3% (from 5.76 to 14.16 GHz). These two absorbers realize in-band absorption ratios of 92.4% and 93.0% on average. In addition, efficient absorption can be obtained within 45° oblique incidence. Therefore, such a type of the proposed 3-D microwave absorber with synthesizable absorptive performance is indeed a promising candidate to customize electromagnetic wave absorption.

This article presents a class of simultaneous transmitting and reflecting pattern manipulation structures (STAR PMS) using 3-D transmission-line-based elements. First of all, the 3-D element is realized by compositing slotlines and microstrip lines together, which obtains a transmitting channel and a reflecting channel. To analyze the operating principle of the proposed element, an equivalent transmission line (TL) model is established, corresponding to the receiving structure and transmitting (or reflecting) structure in each channel. In this way, the transmission and reflection characteristics of our element can be designed with good independence, accuracy, and flexibility through the use of the synthesis method. Then, such elements are quasi-periodically arranged in a transverse plane, where the transmission and reflection phases of each element are adjusted according to the desired performance by virtue of the true-time-delay line. As such, the pattern of transmitted and reflected waves can be simultaneously manipulated. To verify our proposed design concept, a prototype is finally implemented from element synthetic design and simulation to array fabrication and testing. Measured results show a transmitting angle of ( $\theta _{t}$ = 150° and $\phi _{t}$ = 90°) and a reflecting angle of ( $\theta _{r}$ = 30° and $\phi _{r}$ = 90°) within the operating bandwidth of 74.3% (from 5.5 to 12 GHz), where the highest efficiencies for transmitting and reflecting manipulation are 32.2% and 36.7%, respectively. Therefore, the proposed STAR PMS can be viewed as one of the potential candidates for achieving full space electromagnetic (EM) environment reshaping in future wireless networks.

This article presents the synthesis, design, and implementation of wideband 3-D transmitting/reflecting pattern manipulation structures (PMSs). Firstly, the design of the basic element is systematically investigated. Based on our established equivalent transmission line model, the basic element is synthesized and designed with a simple 3-D structure to effectively convert spatial waves into guided waves under prescribed performances. Then, two basic elements are antipodally placed and electrically connected by a true-time delay line, forming a transmitting element. In this way, the spatial wave can nearly perfectly propagate through the transmitting element with a manipulated transmission phase. Employing this type of element, a wideband 3-D transmitting PMS is designed for the directing angle of (θt = 40°, φt = 90°). In addition, the reflecting element is constructed by introducing the short-circuited true-time delay line in a basic element. After that, a wideband 3-D reflecting PMS is accomplished for a pointing angle of (θr = 40°, φr = 90°). Finally, these two PMSs are implemented with fabrication and testing. Measurements agree well with simulations, proving our proposed design concept. Within the operating bandwidth of 64.9% in fraction (6.5–12.75 GHz) for the transmitting PMS, the simulated and measured average efficiencies are higher than 82.5% and 77.8%, respectively. For the reflecting PMS, an operating bandwidth of 70.1% in fraction (6.25–13.0 GHz) is realized, where the in-band average efficiencies for simulation and measurement reach 82.5% and 77.4%, respectively. Therefore, the proposed wideband 3-D transmitting/reflecting PMS has been evidently confirmed and can be potentially employed as a promising selection to manipulate the radio wave for future networks.

Wireless networking of bioelectronic devices holds immense potential for physiological sensing and modulation. However, the human body presents formidable challenges to achieving efficient wireless communication due to signal obstruction, absorption, and reflection. In this article, we propose a textile-integrated side-fed phased surface to overcome these challenges and enable efficient networking between wearable and implantable bioelectronic devices. The planar phased surface design with side-fed configuration allows for seamless integration with textile spoof surface plasmon (SSP) networks on clothing to effectively direct wireless signals from wearables toward the implants, thereby overcoming the limitations associated with conventional methods. We describe the procedure for designing the textile-integrated phased surface for operation in the 2.4–2.5-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band and validate its functionality by full-wave simulations and experimental measurements. Using an adult pig, we experimentally demonstrate a 35-dB enhancement of wearable-to-implant wireless transmission at a depth of 3 cm and a distance of 25 cm. These results highlight the potential of clothing to exploit textile-integrated microwave devices to enhance the integration of technology into daily life.

This article presents a method to design and implement pattern manipulation surfaces (PMSs) with polarization rotation by employing a patch-microstrip line-patch (PMP) structure. The polarization-rotation PMSs (PRPMSs) receive plane waves from different angles and reradiate polarization-rotated plane waves to a wanted direction. The impedance transforming characteristic of the patch under different incident angles between spatial wave to guided wave is studied with an equivalent circuit model (ECM). All the parameters in the ECM are obtained through one full-wave simulation with periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) under normal incidence in CST. The polarization rotation ability is realized by converting TM10 mode to TM01 mode on the patch through a microstrip line. The polarization conversion ratio (PCR) of the PMS with different incidences, scan angles, and polarizations is modeled by the ECM. Then, PRPMS elements with different microstrip line lengths are studied for phase tuning. The relationship between the microstrip line length and the phase shift is calculated via ECM and verified via full-wave simulation, both of which show that a continuous phase shifting range of 360° can be easily provided. In this way, the scattered waves can be steered in an arbitrarily prescribed direction. To validate the design concept under different incident angles, three PRPMS prototypes with the main beam steered to 0°, 30°, and 50° are fabricated and tested. Measured normalized RCS results agree well with the calculated and simulated ones, which verifies the validity of the proposed ECM and the PRPMS. Therefore, the proposed PRPMS is a promising method for future smart radio environments (SREs).

This article proposes a novel design concept of 3-D transmitting pattern manipulation structures (PMSs) using slotline bandpass filter (BPF) elements. First, the parallel-coupled slotline is utilized to synthetically design a slotline element by employing the equivalent transmission line model. Then, two types of elements are designed to implement the proposed PMS. The element-I with a variable transmission phase is realized by adjusting the resonant frequency of slotline structure, while keeping the transmission magnitude almost equal to 0 dB within an operating bandwidth of 13.2%. The element-II is obtained by connecting two element-Is in series for a larger range of transmission phase with an operating bandwidth of 10.3%. After that, two 3-D transmitting PMSs (PMS-I with $8\times20$ elements and PMS-II with $10\times30$ elements) are obtained by quasi-periodically arranging element-I and element-II, respectively. Finally, two prototypes of PMS-I and PMS-II are fabricated and tested to validate our design concept. Measurements and simulations agree well with each other, showing the desired transmission angles of ( $\theta _{I}=10^{\circ }$ and $\phi _{I}$ = 90°) for PMS-I and ( $\theta _{II}=20^{\circ }$ and $\phi _{II}$ = 90°) for PMS-II with the highest efficiencies of 92.8% and 88.9%. Therefore, the proposed 3-D transmitting PMS can be evidently used as a promising candidate to form the transmission waves for the future smart radio environment.

A unified strategy toward asymmetric divergent syntheses of nine C8-ethano-bridged diterpenoids A1–A9(candol A, powerol, sicanadiol, epi-candol A, atisirene, ent-atisan-16α-ol, 4-decarboxy-4-methyl-GA12, trachinol, and ent-beyerane) has been developed based on late-stage transformations of common synthons having ent-kaurane and ent-trachylobane cores. The expeditious assembly of crucial advanced ent-kaurane- and ent-trachylobane-type building blocks is strategically explored through a regioselective and diastereoselective Fe-mediated hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) 6-exo-trig cyclization of the alkene/enone and 3-exo-trig cyclization of the alkene/ketone, showing the multi-reactivity of densely functionalized polycyclic substrates with πC═Cand πC═Osystems in HAT-initiated reactions. Following the rapid construction of five major structural skeletons (ent-kaurane-, ent-atisane-, ent-beyerane-, ent-trachylobane-, and ent-gibberellane-type), nine C8-ethano-bridged diterpenoids A1–A9could be accessed in the longest linear 8 to 11 steps starting from readily available chiral γ-cyclogeraniol 1and known chiral γ-substituted cyclohexenone 2, in which enantioselective total syntheses of candol A (A1, 8 steps), powerol (A2, 9 steps), sicanadiol (A3, 10 steps), epi-candol A (A4, 8 steps), ent-atisan-16α-ol (A6, 11 steps), and trachinol (A8, 10 steps) are achieved for the first time.

Bolted joints widely exist in the field of the national defense industry. However, its nonlinear stiffness degradation will occur under tangential load which may lead to the reliability reduction. According to Coulomb friction theory, the pressure distribution is the key in the tangential degradation of bolted joints. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the pressure distribution of bolted joints. Firstly, we established a threaded bolt model and two simplified models. Secondly, the accuracy of the three models describing the contact area is verified, and the influence of preload and material properties on the contact radius is analyzed. Thirdly, we compared the pressure distribution of the three models, and results show that the smooth bolt model is more suitable for pressure analysis. Finally, the accuracy of several different functions to characterize the pressure distribution of bolted joints is analyzed, and results indicated that the Fernlund function is optimal. This paper provides a feasible simplified bolt model for finite element analysis, and the optimal pressure distribution function can be applied in the tangential stiffness degradation modeling.

As prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, identifying potential prognostic biomarkers is crucial. In this study, the survival information, gene expression, and protein expression data of 344 PCa cases were collected from the Cancer Proteome Atlas (TCPA) and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to investigate the potential prognostic biomarkers. The integrated prognosis-related proteins (IPRPs) model was constructed based on the risk score of each patients using machine-learning algorithm. IPRPs model suggested that Elevated RAD50expression (p= 0.016) and down-regulated SMAD4expression (p= 0.017) were significantly correlated with unfavorable outcomes for PCa patients. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and western blot (WB) analysis revealed significant differential expression of SMAD4and RAD50protein between tumor and normal tissues in validation cohort. According to the overall IHC score, patients with low SMAD4(p< 0.0001) expression and high RAD50expression (p= 0.0001) were significantly correlated with poor outcomes. Besides, expression of SMAD4showed significantly negative correlation with most immune checkpoint molecules, and the low SMAD4expression group exhibited significantly high levels of LAG3(p< 0.05), TGFβ(p< 0.001), and PD-L1(p< 0.05) compared with the high SMAD4expression group in the validation cohort. Patients with low SMAD4expression had significantly higher infiltration of memory B cells (p= 0.002), CD8 + T cells (p< 0.001), regulatory T cells (p= 0.006), M2-type macrophages (p< 0.001), and significantly lower infiltration of naïve B cells (p= 0.002), plasma cells (p< 0.001), resting memory CD4 + T cells (p< 0.001) and eosinophils (p= 0.045). Candidate proteins were mainly involved in antigen processing and presentation, stem cell differentiation, and type I interferon pathways.

The electrocatalytic oxidation of alcohols is a potentially cost-effective strategy for the synthesis of valuable chemicals at the anode while simultaneously generating hydrogen at the cathode. For this approach to become commercially viable, high-activity, low-cost, and stable catalysts need to be developed. Herein, we demonstrate an electrocatalyst based on earth-abundant nickel and sulfur elements. Experimental investigations reveal the produced NiS displays excellent electrocatalytic performance associated with a higher electrochemical surface area (ECSA) and the presence of sulfate ions on the formed NiOOH surface in basic media. The current densities reached for the oxidation of ethanol and methanol at 1.6 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) are up to 175.5 and 145.1 mA cm–2, respectively. At these high current densities, the Faradaic efficiency of methanol to formate conversion is 98% and that of ethanol to acetate is 81%. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate the presence of the generated sulfate groups to modify the electronic properties of the NiOOH surface, improving electroconductivity and electron transfer. Besides, calculations are used to determine the reaction energy barriers, revealing the dehydrogenation of ethoxy groups to be more favorable than that of methoxy on the catalyst surface, which explains the highest current densities obtained for ethanol oxidation.

ABSTRACTTribbles homolog 3 (TRIB3), a pseudokinase that regulates multiple intracellular signaling pathways, has been reported to promote the growth of multiple tumors. However, its role in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remains unelucidated. We evaluated the role of TRIB3 in ccRCC using publicly available data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and analyzed its relationship with the tumor microenvironment; moreover, we used gene knockout and overexpression techniques to detect the effects of TRIB3 on the biological behavior of ccRCC cells. RT-qPCR and western blotting were used to detect transfection efficiency, and the invasiveness of ccRCC cells was determined by Transwell migration assays. We found that TRIB3 overexpression was significantly associated with increased grade, stage, and distant metastasis, positively correlated with ccRCC invasiveness, and also an independent risk factor for overall survival (OS). In addition, 361 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to TRIB3 were identified. Functional enrichment analysis showed that DEGs were mainly enriched in humoral immune responses, collagen-containing extracellular matrix, and serine hydrolase activity. Immune landscape characterization revealed that TRIB3 expression was significantly and negatively associated with CD8+T and hematopoietic stem cells, whereas it was positively associated with NK T and macrophage M1 cells. Single-cell sequencing showed that localization and binding targets of TRIB3 mainly involved monocytes/macrophages and CD4+and CD8+T cells. Overall, our study revealed that elevated TRIB3 expression represents a promising prognostic marker for ccRCC patients and may play a key role in tumor microenvironment modulation.

Alternative splicing (AS) in the tumor biological process has provided a novel perspective on carcinogenesis. However, the clinical significance of individual AS patterns of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has been underestimated, and in-depth investigations are lacking. We selected 76 ACC samples from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) SpliceSeq and SpliceAid2 databases, and 39 ACC samples from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC). Prognosis-related AS events (PASEs) and survival analysis were evaluated based on prediction models constructed by machine-learning algorithm. In total, 23,984 AS events and 3,614 PASEs were detected in the patients with ACC. The predicted risk score of each patient suggested that eight PASEs groups were significantly correlated with the clinical outcomes of these patients (p< 0.001). Prognostic models produced AUC values of 0.907 in all PASEs’ groups. Eight splicing factors (SFs), including BAG2, CXorf56, DExD-Box Helicase 21 (DDX21), HSPB1, MBNL3, MSI1, RBMXL2,and SEC31B, were identified in regulatory networks of ACC. DDX21was identified and validated as a novel clinical promoter and therapeutic target in 115 patients with ACC from TCGA and FUSCC cohorts. In conclusion, the strict standards used in this study ensured the systematic discovery of profiles of AS events using genome-wide cohorts. Our findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the landscape and underlying mechanism of AS, providing valuable insights into the potential usages of DDX21for predicting prognosis for patients with ACC.

ABSTRACTExtracellular vesicles (EVs) long RNAs (exLRs) have been shown to be indicators for the diagnosis and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC); however, the dynamic changes of exLRs during perioperative period and their cellular sources in CRC remains largely unknown. In this study, exLR sequencing (exLR-seq) was performed on plasma samples from three CRC patients at four time points (before surgery [T0], after extubation [T1], 1 day after surgery [T2], and 3 days after surgery [T3]). Bioinformatics approaches were used to investigate the profile and biofunctions of exLRs and their cellular sources. Greater than 12,000 mRNAs and 2,000 lncRNAs were reliably detected in each exLR-seq sample. Compared with T0, there were 110 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in T1, 60 DEGs in T2, and 50 DEGs in T3. A total of 11 DEGs were found at all three time points and were related to membrane potential. In addition, compared to T0, 22 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELRs) were found in T1, 19 DELRs in T2, and 38 DELRs in T3. Moreover, only three DELRs were detected at all three time points. Interestingly, EVs from CD8 + T cells, CD4+ memory T cells and NK cells decreased after surgery and the absolute quantity of EVs from immune cells were reduced as well. In summary, this study was the first to characterize the dynamic changes of exLRs during perioperative period and the cellular sources. These findings established the foundation for further studies involving the effects of these dynamically changed exLRs on CRC.

Purpose: The early diagnosis of liver fibrosis is crucial for the prevention of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. As gold standard for staging liver fibrosis, liver biopsy is an invasive procedure that carries the risk of serious complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the residual neural network (ResNet), a non-invasive methods, for staging liver fibrosis using plain CT images. Methods: This retrospective study involved 347 patients subjected to liver CT scanning and liver biopsy. For each patient, we selected three axial images adjacent to the puncture location in the eighth or ninth inter-space on the right side. After processing and enhancement (rotation, translation, and amplification), these images were used as input data for the ResNet model. The model used a fivefold cross-validation method. In each fold, the images of approximately 80% of the total sample size (278 patients) were used for training the ResNet model, the other 20% (69 patients) were used for testing the trained network, with the liver biopsy pathology results as gold standard. The proportion of patients in each fibrosis stage was equal for training and test groups. The final result was the mean of the fivefold cross-validation in the test group. The performance of the ResNet model was evaluated for the test group by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: For the ResNet model, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for assessing cirrhosis (F4), advanced fibrosis (F3 or higher), significant fibrosis (F2 or higher), and mild fibrosis (F1 or higher) was 0.97, 0.94, 0.90, and 0.91, respectively. Conclusions: The ResNet model analysis of plain CT images exhibited high diagnostic efficiency for liver fibrosis staging. As a convenient, fast, and economical non-invasive diagnostic method, the ResNet model can be used to assist radiologists and clinicians in liver fibrosis evaluations.

Originating in Japan, “boys love” (BL) manga and fiction that focus on romantic or homoerotic male-male relationships are considered by most of their writers, readers, and scholars to be primarily by women and for women and are purposely differentiated from gay fiction and manga by both commentators and practitioners. However, BL's increasing interweaving with homosexuality and sexual minorities in China requires scholars to reread and redefine BL practice in its Chinese context. This article discusses some of the recent transformations of the BL genre in China, examines the significant role female practitioners have played in indigenizing BL, and ultimately points to the trend of consciously writing and reading BL through a homosexual lens. By reflexively constructing “gayness” in BL works, these practices have also created a peer-led educational space on nonnormative sexuality and gender identity. The author also examines how BL “poaches” official and mainstream cultures, resulting in their considering BL the primary fictional vehicle of homosexuality. She therefore suggests that the trend of conflating BL with homosexuality and the deliberate homosexualization of BL in both texts and real life have ultimately extended the cultural identity of BL, as well as its political meaning, and in practice have created a porous culture that welcomes gender diversity and helps increase the visibility of the gay community, revealing a significant social and cultural shift that cannot be ignored or reversed.

Sal-like protein 4 (SALL4) is a C2H2 zinc finger transcription factor (TF) with two naturally occurring isoforms; SALL4A and SALL4B. It is typically detected in fetal tissues and silenced in most normal adult tissues. It is therefore intriguing that SALL4 is aberrantly re-expressed in about one-third of almost all primary human malignancies, presumably by demethylation dependent mechanisms. Direct evidence of the causative role of SALL4 in cancer has been demonstrated in SALL4 transgenic mice, which developed myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and/or liver tumors. Loss-of-function studies by SALL4 knock-down using shRNA showed cell growth inhibition and death in leukemias and solid tumors in culture and in in vivoxenotransplants.

As an alkaline industrial solid waste with a porous structure, semi-coke ash can have adverse effects on the environment if accumulated or buried in large quantities. The research group has previously used this material in combination with NaNO3to prepare a shape-stable phase change composite. Building upon the previous research team, this work manufactured the shape-stable phase change composite by cold-compression hot-sintering method using NaNO3as the phase change material, semi-coke ash as the skeleton material and an innovative addition of expanded graphite as the thermal conductivity enhancer to enhance thermal conductivity of phase change material. Then, key thermal performance, mechanical strength, chemical compatibility, microscopic morphology, economic efficiency and emission reduction capacity were investigated. Results demonstrated that the sample SS2 with 0.5 wt% expanded graphite performed best, which also presented a mechanical strength of 113.82 MPa, a thermal conductivity of 1.844 W/(m·K), and an excellent thermal energy storage density of 424.91 J/g between 100–400 °C; Both the thermal performance and mechanical strength of sample SS2 decreased to some extent after the heating/cooling cycles; The semi-coke ash, expanded graphite, and NaNO3showed excellent chemical compatibility while both the thermal energy storage cost (0.022 ¥/kJ) and the raw material carbon emissions (1041 kg) of producing per ton sample SS2 in this work were far below traditional shape-stable phase change materials.

Electrochemical oxidation is considered as a promising technology for wastewater treatment. In this work, a novel rotating multielectrodes reactor (RMER) has been developed to intensify the electrochemical oxidation process of phenol simulated wastewater. Apart from the electro-oxidation function, the anodes in RMER act as a rotational disturbance promoter to deal with the problem of the bubble curtain. Experimental results in RMER showed that the phenol degradation rate of a rotating anode at 300 rpm was 1.45 times that of static anode. Compared with a static anode, the mass transfer coefficient of the RMER with rotational anode increased by 110%. Bubble behavior was investigated by a visualization method, showing that the increase of the anode effective area was one of the main factors to enhance the phenol degradation efficiency. RMER displays bright prospects in the application of wastewater treatment.

Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is often diagnosed late and exhibits poor prognosis. Limited data are available on potential non-invasive biomarkers for disease monitoring. Here, we investigate the proteomic profile of plasma in 362 UTUC patients and 239 healthy controls. We present an integrated tissue-plasma proteomic approach to infer the signature proteins for identifying patients with muscle-invasive UTUC. We discover a protein panel that reflects lymph node metastasis, which is of interest in identifying UTUC patients with high risk and poor prognosis. We also identify a ten-protein classifier and establish a progression clock predicting progression-free survival of UTUC patients. Finally, we further validate the signature proteins by parallel reaction monitoring assay in an independent cohort. Collectively, this study portrays the plasma proteomic landscape of a UTUC cohort and provides a valuable resource for further biological and diagnostic research in UTUC.

X-ray fluorescence microtomography (μXFCT) is a nondestructive analytical technique and has been widely used to nondestructively detect and quantify the elemental composition and distributions in samples. Usually, synchrotron radiation X-rays are used for μXFCT, due to its high flux density. In this paper, a laboratory-source-based μXFCT system was developed, in which a polycapillary lens is employed to focus the X-ray beam and improve the flux density. The maximum likelihood expectation maximization algorithm was used to reconstruct the computed tomography slices at a limited number of projections. The experimental results demonstrated that the developed system could reveal the elemental distribution inside the test sample, with an elemental sensitivity of 1000 ppm.

Using a large sample of Chinese family firms and nonfamily firms, we examine whether family ownership is associated with higher or lower levels of real earnings management (REM). On the basis of the agency and stewardship theories, we develop two competing hypotheses. Our findings are consistent with the prediction of the stewardship theory that family firms engage in lower levels of real activities manipulation relative to nonfamily firms. Specifically, family businesses are less likely to accelerate sales, over-produce, cut discretionary expenditures, or engage in more than one real activities manipulation. In our analyses, we control for a number of firm properties and fixed effects. Further analysis suggests that the negative association between family ownership and real activities manipulation is more prominent for young family firms than for mature family firms. Our results are robust to different measures of family firms, alternative measures of REM, and potential endogeneity.

The current study is to observe the effect of the locking system strengthened by biomimetic mineralized collagen putty for the treatment of senile proximal humeral osteoporotic fractures. From January 2012 to December 2015, 80 cases of senile patients with osteoporotic proximal humeral fractures were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, each group with a total of 40 cases. The control group was simply treated with locking plate. The observation group was treated with locking plate in combination with biomimetic mineralized collagen putty. The therapeutic effect thereby was observed. The excellent and satisfactory rate was 90% in observation group and was 72.5% in control group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (χ2= 5.3312, P < 0.05). The fracture healing time was 11.82 ± 3.62 weeks in observation group and 19.78 ± 5.46 weeks in control group. The shoulder joint function score was 89.63 ± 8.12 in observation group and 76.92 ± 8.18 in control group. There was significant difference between the two groups (t = 7.1272; 12.7834, P < 0.05). The complication rate was 10% in the observation group and 32.5% in the control group (χ2= 7.3786, P < 0.05). Locking system strengthened by biomimetic mineralized collagen putty has advantages such as accelerating healing of senile proximal humeral fracture, improving the therapeutic effect, reducing the complications. As one of the optimal internal fixation method, it provides a new option for better treatment of senile osteoporotic fracture.

Phosphorescent 4-morpholineethanesulfonic acid-capped Mn-doped ZnS (MES-MnZnS) quantum dots were developed for sensitively and selectively detecting l-tyrosine (l-Tyr) in human urine. l-Tyr can effectively quench the phosphorescence of MES-MnZnS even at low concentration levels. The mechanism of phosphorescence quenching is ascribed to electron transfer from MES-MnZnS QDs to l-Tyr. Under optimal conditions, the phosphorescent probe allowed a highly sensitive detection of l-Tyr with a wide linear range of 0.5–100 μM and a low detection limit of 0.22 μM. The developed method offers good selectivity over other compounds and was applied to determine l-Tyr in real urine samples with quantitative spike recoveries from 96.7% to 106.2%.

High-sulfur and low-grade pyritc cinders are the waste products of sulfuric acid manufacturing plants. Many valuable components, such as iron oxide, are contained in pyrite cinders and difficult to be separated and purified just via the high temperature roasting process. Considering this, an innovative method including water-washing, aqua regia leaching, hydrothermal alkali activation and acid-washing was developed. And the effects of different parameters on recovery efficiency of iron oxide were systematically investigated. The optimum parameters were proposed as follows: water rinse-leaching at room temperature for 5 — 20 min, and melting at 160 °C for 2. Oh with NaOH (concentration of 30 mass%), followed by leaching with aqua regia solution (3. 0 vol. %) for 1. 0 h. After the treatment, the content of iron oxides increased from 54. 3 to 96. 0 mass% with the recovery rate exceeding 85%. Meanwhile, calcium sulphate was recovered as the high value-added products by alkali extraction liquid. Furthermore, the phase transformation and microstructure of the samples in the process were studied by physicochemical methods to reveal the separation mechanisms of different components in the pyrite cinders.

AbstractPhosphorus recovery through crystallization has been widely recommended for wastewater treatment. Polytetrahydrofuran wastewater was subjected to lab-based solventing-out crystallization to investigate methanol and ethanol as phosphorus recovery extractants. Extractant species, dosage, reaction time, and pH were measured to determine the optimum extractant and parameters for phosphorus recovery. The results show that the phosphorus recovery rates from raw wastewater were 88 and 93% with methanol and ethanol as extractants, respectively, at 30 mg/L extractant dosage, 2 h reaction time, and pH 6.7. Phosphorus recovery rate reached 99% under the following optimum reaction conditions: pH level, 9.0; optimum ethanol dosage, 20 mg/L; and reaction time, 5 min. The crystals were identified as Na2HPO4through X-ray diffraction, and 97% Na2HPO4mass fraction was detected through ion chromatography. Most crystals had no crystal water. Two ethanol recovery cycles were determined via the ethanol recovery experiment on the supernatant after crystallization.

A combined shading system (CSS) consisting of a beam stop and a pinhole is proposed to be used between an ellipsoidal monocapillary (EM) and a conventional laboratory x-ray source to obtain an adjustable hollow-cone output beam for different experiments with no need for changing the EM. The CSS can change the incident x-ray beam on the EM by adjusting the position of the beam stop and the pinhole, with the corresponding change of the output beam of the EM. In this study, the adjustable hollow-cone output x-ray beam of an 80-mm-long EM with a CSS was studied in detail with a laboratory Cu x-ray generator with a focal spot diameter of 50 μm. The adjustable range of the focal spot size of the EM was from 8.6 to 58.7 μm. The adjustable range of the gain of the focal spot of the EM was from 0 to 1350. The beam divergence of the hollow-cone output beam of the EM ranged from 6 to 16.75 mrad. The illumination angle of the hollow-cone output beam of the EM ranged from 0 to 5.95 mrad. In addition, the potential application of the proposed adjusting method in testing the performance of the EM is briefly discussed.

Combining molecularly targeted agents and chemotherapeutics is an emerging strategy in cancer treatment. We engineered sub-50 nm diameter diblock copolymer nanoparticles (NPs) that can sequentially release wortmannin (Wtmn, a cell signaling inhibitor) and docetaxel (Dtxl, genotoxic anticancer agent) to cancer cells. These NPs were studied in chemoradiotherapy, an important cancer treatment paradigm, in the preclinical setting. We demonstrated that Wtmn enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of Dtxl and increased the efficiency of radiotherapy (XRT) in H460 lung cancer and PC3 prostate cells in culture. Importantly, we showed that NPs containing both Wtmn and Dtxl release the drugs in a desirable sequential fashion to maximize therapeutic efficacy in comparison to administering each drug alone. An in vivotoxicity study in a murine model validated that NPs containing both Dtxl and Wtmn do not have a high toxicity profile. Lastly, we demonstrated that Dtxl/Wtmn-coencapsulated NPs are more efficient than each single-drug-loaded NPs or a combination of both single-drug-loaded NPs in chemoradiotherapy using xenograft models. Histopathological studies and correlative studies support that the improved therapeutic efficacy is through changes in signaling pathways and increased tumor cell apoptosis. Our findings suggest that our nanoparticle system led to a dynamic rewiring of cellular apoptotic pathways and thus improve the therapeutic efficiency.

To evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of the retrograde perfusion technique in kidney transplantation.

The Ordovician fissure-cavern carbonate reservoirs of Tarim Basin have relatively large production thickness, long completion intervals and serious heterogeneity problems, former studies about physical parameters for fractured intervals of acid fracturing cannot be well presented through mean algorithm method. This paper uses mean square deviation method to acquire the values of the main influencing factors of acid fracturing, then optimizes the physical characteristics of the fractured intervals. The BP neural network simulation has been adopted to get the optimal BP neural network structure model. In Tarim, this study has simulated 20 wells before acid fracturing using the decision software which compiled by the optimum neural network construction. Comparative analysis has been made through application examples, the coincident rate of mean algorithm is 75%, compared with the 90% of mean square deviation method. Therefore, during the target selection for acid fracturing of heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs with long open hole intervals, it’s significant to use mean square deviation method to optimize physical parameters of reservoirs.

Implement a checkpoint mechanism in the system of loaded BLCR project, to set up checkpoints on the progress which need a quick recovery. The router can receive and save the checkpoint files sent by the other system. When the process need to quickly migrate to the other machines, to use the checkpoint files to recover, ensure the process runs on the other computer from a previous running state. In this way can save a lot of time and resources, and can meet the need of many applications.

As a mechanical component, sensor can detect spatial information. Sensor technology has been widely used in national defense, aerospace, industrial inspection and automated production areas and so on. However, the sensor calibration device cannot meet the demand of the development of the sensor. In this paper, a multi-functional force loading device, which is of good technical performance, reliable operation, wide measurement range and simple measurement method, and a six-dimensional force sensor calibration method are described.

At high altitudes, 330 kV dampers usually have corona discharges on their weights, which affects the lives of the surrounding residents. To suppress the corona, optimizing the structures of the dampers is a recommended measure to reduce the electric field intensities on their weights. In this paper, three-dimensional computational models of 330 kV FDN dampers were constructed to calculate the electric field distributions on their weights, based on finite element method (FEM). The structure of the small end was optimized to reduce the electric field strength on its surface. When the radius was increased from 25 to 35 mm, the maximum electric field intensity could be decreased from 2987 V/mm to 2390V/mm. According to the results, new dampers were manufactured to test their corona characteristics. The test results show that the new dampers can prevent corona discharge at altitudes below 3500 m.

The change rule of characteristics of activated sludge in urban sewage treatment by activated sludge process were investigated at low temperature of 15°C~3°C.The results showed that with the temperature decreased, average particle size and dehydrogenase activity showed a trend of decrease; sludge settlement ratio and sludge volume index and sludge extracellular polymeric substance showed a trend of increase.

To find out the influence of particle shape on the force situation and sampling efficiency of the drilling tool, the discrete element method is employed to build the lunar regolith model and simulate the interaction between soil and drilling tool. A three-dimensional contact model is introduced to represent the impact between particles. To make sure the validity of the model, a triaxial-test is conducted to optimize the micro-parameters of the model. Then, the model is employed to the simulation of drilling process. From the computational simulation results, conclusions can be made: the particle shape will change the interlocking between particles, and the strip particles have the largest interlocking which makes the force situation largest and the sampling efficiency smallest.

For the high real-time demands of multi-sensor target tracking system, a global optimum data association algorithm based on time constraint is presented. Firstly, the statistical distance between measurement and prediction center of the track is calculated. An optimal association model among all measurements and all tracks is founded. Then, an improved auction algorithm is proposed to solve the association model. Multi-time auction is conducted in the constrained time, and the optimal solution is obtained by comparing the value of objective function. Simulation shows that the proposed method has a perfect association performance in the constrained time.

Biomass ash (cattle manure ash, CMA) is a waste which comes from combustion cattle manure to gain heat and electric energy. Aim reducing the emission of carbon dioxide that comes from cement production in the period of realizing the Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of China. emission of carbon dioxide of biomass (cattle manure) combustion, the chemical propriety of the biomass (cattle manure) ash and the CMAs present situation of application in concrete are studied in the paper. the result indicate that the biomass ash (CMA) replacing some cement in concrete is feasibility, the analysis will provide basic data for generalizing biomass ash (CMA) application in the concrete.

n order to improve the efficiency of NC machining programming, and realize the rapid establishment of blank model or middle blank model, a geometrical modeling method of process driven by typical process model was put forward. This method is based on the typical process for the establishment of typical process model, to establish a mapping between modeling operation and machining process ontology, and format model mapping rules. In the process geometrical modeling of the high similarity parts, by calling the typical process model mapping rules, can generate process models automatically. A enterprise disc type parts typical process as an example is used to verify the proposed method.

To deal with the complete description and quick search for 3D process instruction publishing, a three-section process information description method was presented based on the features of process data. First, a three-section description model for 3D process instruction publishing is established according to the application type and data structure. Subsequently, an abstract matrix representation method is provided to express 3D process information, then the specific contents of the abstract matrix is analyzed and an instantiated matrix is given. Finally, an illustrative example is used to explain an application of the proposed approach.

At the sewage temperatures of 7-15°C, it used biological video microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to detect activated sludge morphology, miniature animals and flora species in northern winter sewage treatment plant. The results showed that activated sludge had dense floc with sharp edge, and was bigger at the temperatures of 13 and 15°C than at the temperatures of 7, 9 and 11°C. When the autumn and winter seasons were alternate and the sewage temperature was instability, the edge of the floc was slightly fuzzy and there was a small amount of free bacteria in activated sludge floc. The study had also shown that the temperature was higher, the type of sludge miniature animal and flora species were richer.

There are many genotypes and varieties in the citrus family. Currently, citrus classification systems have significant divergences in varieties of species, and subgenus classification as well. In this study, near-infrared spectroscopy technique was used to acquire spectral information on the surface of citrus fruits. Cluster analysis was consequently conducted to identify citrus genotypes. Results indicated that the combination of 9-point moving average smoothing and multiplicative scattering correction was optimal for preprocessing spectral data. In the spectral range of 1,180–1,220 nm, the cumulative reliability of the first two principal components were greater than 99.4%, and sweet oranges were clustered into an independent class. In 1,280–1,320 nm, systematic clustering performed better than principal component clustering, and all other sour oranges, except Goutoucheng, were clustered into a single clade. With dimensions reduction, the cumulative reliability of first five principle components in full band of 1,000–2,350 nm reached up to 99.1%. Using principal component cluster analysis, pomelo and loose-skin mandarin were clustered together; sweet and sour oranges were clearly separated. Pomelo being clustered with loose-skin mandarin, implies that they may have a hybrid origin; Jiaogan Mandarin, Daoxian yeju Mandarin, Goutoucheng sour oranges, and Zhuhongju sour tangerine were clustered with sweet orange, which implies old varieties may contain similar characteristic matters as sweet orange; Given that Jinlong lemon and Ranpour lime were clustered with sour orange, they were proved to originated from sour orange. The study indicates the great potential of spectral analysis for citrus genotype identification and classification.

In order to instruct on-site workers to accomplish the assembly job fast and exactly, improve the assembly quality and efficiency, we proposed a management method for assembly technical annotation in 3D assembly instruction. This method maps 3D technical annotations to assembly operation and assembly time based on time sequence granularity, achieves the goal of showing assembly technical annotations based on assembly process. We demonstrated the effectiveness of this method with a satellite antenna feed components assembly process instance. The instance shows that this method can mark assembly technical annotations based on assembly process, and show the annotations in time sequence but not in assembly space. This will help on-site assembly workers to understand the assembly order fast and unambiguously, finish the assembly operations correctly.

Involute straight bevel gear pair often appears the phenomenons of meshing interference, impact and "end contact" in the course of meshing. Usually, symmetrical crowning is adopted to improve above phenomenons, however, due to the influence of complicated tooth loads and other complicated factors, the symmetrical crowned gear may not reach a good modification effect. In this paper, we adopt target variable curvature crowning according to the specific conditions of bevel gears in order to obtain good modification effect, nevertheless, because of the complexity of the variable curvature crowning, the conventional method of using space spherical involute stretch and sweep standard gear model to remove tooth surface materials has been unable to meet the accurate requirements of the variable curvature crowned model, at the same time, this method can not realize parametric modeling of modification bevel gear. Therefore, this paper puts forward an easy to realize parametric modeling method of accurate variable curvature crowning for involute straight bevel gear based on ANSYS/LS-DYNA, Imageware, Matlab and Solidworks. This method can realize the accurate modeling for variable curvature crowned involute straight bevel gear and ensure the accuracy of modification gears and follow-up finite element simulation, meanwhile, it provides theoretical basis for parametric modeling of variable curvature crowned involute straight bevel gear. Finally, the superiority of variable curvature crowning is tested through numerical simulation under specific conditions.

High voltage overhead line icing thickness directly affects the safety operation of transmission lines, how to realize line icing monitoring has been a hot research issue in recent years, the continuous up and downhill terrain transmission line is regarded as the main research object, according to the wire suspension point inclination angle and insulator strings offset angle the detection method of calculating line icing thickness was proposed, based on the inclination angle and the inclination of wire suspension insulator icing thickness calculation mathematical model was developed, simulation research was conducted with MATLAB GUI interface, the efficiency of this method for line icing thickness detection is proved.

The dynamic model of lunar soil was established by discrete element method and the 0-50cm depth lunar soil dug by straight shovel collector was simulated. According to the simulating result, the collectors variation in load under the condition of variable density of lunar soil is analyzed. Meanwhile, with the simplification of particle diameter and particle shape in discrete element model it shows how the simplified model influences the result, which proves that the acting force to collector increases with the increasing of the collectors depth, and it is directly proportional to depth. Meanwhile, it is unnecessary to consider the change of particle shape if the depth is within 10cm, while it is necessary for the deep dig process.

In order to improve the accuracy of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) description and the clarity of on-site guidance for aircraft MRO job card, a publishing method for aircraft 3D MRO job card based on aircraft 3D model was proposed. This method can show the disassembly and assembly simulation process with dynamic viewpoint navigation technology to conform to the observation habit of human, and separately show technical requirements from different MRO disciplines and operation tasks with multi-view 3D annotation method, and finally, transforms the MRO order into 3D portable job card file based on lightweight model and releases it to MRO site. The MRO instance of aircraft right wing shows that this method can generate intuitive, accurate and non-ambiguous MRO process description, improve the quality and efficiency of aircraft MRO.