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La–Cr coating was applied to SUS 430 steel using magnetron sputtering for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) interconnects. The coated steel was then thermally exposed to air at 800 °C for 5 weeks. The results showed the formation of a LaCrO 3 layer on top of a Cr 2 O 3 sub-layer on the coated steel. The LaCrO 3 layer not only inhibited the growth of the Cr 2 O 3 layer but also effectively retained out-migrating Cr species. After 5 weeks of exposure, the La–Cr coated steel achieved a surface scale area specific resistance (ASR) of 33.912 mΩ cm2. The thermally developed LaCrO 3 from the sputtered La–Cr coating shows promise for SOFC interconnects application. • A La–Cr coating was applied to SUS 430 stainless steel using DC magnetron sputtering. • LaCr coated steel was subjected to thermal exposure in air at 800 °C to form a LaCrO 3 coating. • LaCr coated SUS 430 was exposed at 800 °C for 5 weeks. • LaCrO 3 layer has significantly suppressed the growth of Cr 2 O 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Whole genome DNA sequencing (WGS) was performed on bone marrow transplantation physician items. • WGS identified thousands of unique bacteria, DNA viruses, fungi, and bacteriophages. • Antimicrobial resistance elements were identified on all items tested. • Stethoscopes contained the greatest frequency of antibiotic resistance genes. Hospital acquired infections pose a significant risk for patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Horizontal transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes contributes to prevalence of multidrug-resistant infections in this patient population. At an academic bone marrow transplantation center, we performed whole genome DNA sequencing (WGS) on commonly used physician items, including badges, stethoscopes, soles of shoes, and smart phones from 6 physicians. Data were analyzed to determine antimicrobial resistance and virulence factor genes. A total of 1,126 unique bacterial species, 495 distinct bacteriophages, 91 unique DNA viruses, and 175 fungal species were observed. Every item contained bacteria with antibiotic and/or antiseptic resistance genes. Stethoscopes contained greatest frequency of antibiotic resistance and more plasmid-carriage of antibiotic resistance. These data indicate that physician examination tools and personal items possess potentially pathogenic microbes. Infection prevention policies must consider availability of resources to clean physical examination tools as well as provider awareness when enacting hospital policies. Additionally, the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes (eg, encoding resistance to aminoglycosides, β-lactams, and quinolones) reinforces need for antimicrobial stewardship, including for immunocompromised patients. Further research is needed to assess whether minute quantities of microbes on physician objects detectable by WGS represents clinically significant inoculums for immunocompromised patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy consumption has dramatically increased in buildings over the past decade. A synthetic urban building energy consumption dataset can be used to estimate energy demand and anthropogenic carbon emission, which overcomes the constraints of real-world datasets, including difficulties in the collection of energy uses from different sources, expense, and time. In this study, a 24-h building energy consumption dataset was designed and established in a hot and humid subtropical region, based on ENVI-met, Energyplus™ and Access software. The dataset considers 72 conditions from three aspects including six built-up local climate zones, seven building categories (five public and two residential buildings), and four widely-used air conditioning systems. A total of 17,400 building energy consumption data were collected. We analyzed the hourly variations of building energy consumption under different conditions, and the factors influencing the building energy consumption. Finally, based on the dataset, taking Tianhe District in Guangzhou as an example, we further explored the hourly spatio-temporal distribution patterns of building energy consumption and daily total building energy consumption distribution using ArcGIS software. This study provides a method for establishing an urban building energy consumption dataset from a local-scale view, which shows a new light on developing the National Building Energy Consumption Database response to global low-carbon action. [Display omitted] • Propose a bottom-up building energy consumption (BEC) accounting method • Establish a LCZ-based BEC dataset based on a series of coupling factors • Present spatio-temporal visualization maps of local-scale BEC • A LCZ-based BEC dataset contributes to design "smart energy network" • The established BEC dataset can be applied to guide smart urban planning [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the aquaculture environment are receiving increasing public attention as emerging contaminants. In this study, aquatic plant (P) and sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFC) were used individually and in combination (P-SMFC) to simulate in situ remediation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and sul genes in aquaculture environments. The results showed that the average power densities of SMFC and P-SMFC were 622.18 mW m−2 and 565.99 mW m−2, respectively. The addition of 5 mg kg−1 of SMX to the sediment boosted the voltages of SMFC and P-SMFC by 36.3% and 51.5%, respectively. After 20 days of treatment, the removal efficiency of SMX from the sediment was 86.17% and 89.60% for SMFC and P-SMFC group, respectively, which were significantly higher than the control group (P < 0.05). However, removal of SMX by plants was not observed. P-SMFC group significantly reduced the biotoxicity of SMX to Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in the overlying water (P < 0.05). P and P-SMFC groups significantly reduced the abundance of ARGs intl1 and sul1 (P < 0.05). The removal rate of ARGs intl1 , sul1 and sul2 from sediments by P-SMFC ranged from 94.22% to 97.08%. However, SMFC increased the abundance of sul3. SMFC and P-SMFC increased the relative abundance of some of sulfate-reducing bacteria such as Desulfatiglans , Thermodesulfovibrionia and Sva0485 in sediments. These results showed that aquatic plants promoted the removal of ARGs and SMFC promoted the removal of antibiotics, and the combination with aquatic plants and SMFC achieved a synergistic removal of both SMX and ARGs. Therefore, current study provides a promising approach for the in situ removal of antibiotics and ARGs in the aquaculture environment. [Display omitted] • Aquaculture pond sediments as fuel for SMFCs have excellent potential to produce electricity. • SMFC accelerated the removal of SMX and increased microbial diversity in sediments. • The submerged plant, Egeria densa, plays an important role in the removal of antibiotic resistance genes and Intl1. • Combining with aquatic plants and SMFC will achieve a synergistic removal of SMX and ARGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2006.04.014 Byline: Li Feng (a), Qinglin Zhao (b), Hanwen Zhang (c) Keywords: Location management; Nonisotropic mobility model; Distance and direction Abstract: This paper proposes a distance-and-direction-based location management scheme with a nonisotropic mobility model to capture the directional movement of an MT, which remarkably reduces the total cost at the cost of a slight increase in the location update cost. In this scheme, whenever a distance threshold or a direction threshold is exceeded, a location update is performed. When a call arrives, the network pages the called MT within the paging area defined by the distance threshold and direction threshold. In addition, an online distance-and-direction calculation method, and an interactive distance-and-direction optimization algorithm are developed to dynamically adjust the paging area. We analyze this scheme using a Markov chain for both one-dimensional (1-D) case and two-dimensional (2-D) case. Specifically, a good state coalition method is proposed to reduce sharply the computational complexity of the 2-D cost evaluation. Numerical results suggest that substantial cost saving can be obtained by fully utilizing the mobility direction information. Therefore, the proposed scheme outperforms the distance-based scheme. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Mathematics, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, China (b) Department of Information Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, China (c) Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China Article History: Received 24 August 2005; Revised 5 March 2006; Accepted 17 April 2006 Article Note: (miscellaneous) Responsible Editor: W. Wang

• We examine the empirical nexus between governance quality green growth performance (GRG). • The analysis reveals that governance quality enhances the green growth performance. • The findings reveal the growth enhancing role of financial sector development. • Notably, the analysis highlights the positive effect of all proxies of governance on green growth. • The findings have significant policy implications for policymakers. This study investigates the impact of governance quality (AGI) on green growth (GRG) in BRICS nations from 1998 to 2022, focusing on aspects like corruption control and regulatory quality. Utilizing advanced econometric models such as FMOLS, DOLS, and CS-ARDL, the analysis highlights a positive correlation between governance quality and green growth. Stronger governance is linked to enhanced green growth, underscoring the importance of robust governance mechanisms for environmental sustainability. These findings offer valuable policy insights, emphasizing the need for improved governance to support green growth initiatives. This research enriches the literature by empirically examining governance's role in fostering green growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Error attenuation capacity of a target tracking system is the key indicator for the system's tracking precision. Without changing the system's feedback control structure, the traditional first order integral control, which is widely used in traditional tracking systems, cannot meet a higher precision for those fast targets with high mobility. The work described in this paper concerns about this problem, and proposes a cascade lag control scheme with one or more order to level up the system's active error suppression capacity in low-frequency range. By substituting the cascade lag controllers for additional integral operator, a higher amplitude ratio system, which implies higher tracking precision, is obtained without loss of stability. As a difficult task for massive parameters' designing, a concept of relative order and a configuration proportion law is proposed to simplify the analysis as well as parameters tuning. Relationship between the relative order and system performance is given. The multi-order cascade lag control scheme's efficiency is proved in both theoretical analysis and experiments in an electro-optical tracking system. [Display omitted] • A multi-order cascade lag control scheme is proposed for target tracing systems. • The parameter configuration method is proposed with concept of related order. • Analytical gain promotion and phase value are theoretically proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two non-singleton interval type-2 fuzzy PID (NIT2F-PID) controllers for the high precision electro-optical tracking system (ETS) are presented to improve anti-interference ability. Specifically, two types of non-singleton fuzzifiers, including type-1 (T1) and type-2 (T2), are considered to construct the proposed NIT2F-PID (N1IT2F-PID and N2IT2F-PID) controllers. Faced with the optimization problem of parameters, particle swarm optimization (PSO), quantum-behaved PSO (QPSO), weighted QPSO (WQPSO) and improved QPSO with adaptive coefficients (LTQPSO) are employed for comparison of convergence performance to optimize the parameters of controllers. In addition, to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed NIT2F-PID controllers, PID, singleton T1 fuzzy PID (ST1F-PID), singleton interval T2 fuzzy PID (SIT2F-PID), T1 non-singleton interval T2 fuzzy (N1IT2F) and T2 non-singleton interval T2 fuzzy (N2IT2F) controllers are also designed. All of these controllers are tested under the circumstances of step disturbance and sinusoidal disturbance. At last, a series of simulation analyses and experimental results explicitly show performance of proposed NIT2F-PID controllers are superior to their counterparts. • NIT2F-PID controllers for high precision ETS are presented in the absence of an accurate mathematical model. • PSO, QPSO, WQPSO and LTQPSO algorithms are employed to determine optimal parameters of the controllers. • PID, ST1F-PID, SIT2F-PID, and NIT2F (N1IT2F and N2IT2F) controllers are also designed. • Online experiments are conducted in the presence of step and sinusoidal disturbances respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]