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In this paper, a system containing switching manifolds is constructed based on a non-linear conveyor belt model by introducing a periodic external excitation term. When the frequency of the external excitation is much smaller than the intrinsic frequency of the system, a series of bursting phenomena can be observed. Using the Filippov convex method, bifurcation mechanisms on the non-smooth boundary are discussed. Particularly, the explicit expression of the sliding region is obtained. Based on that, different bursting dynamics, especially the switching patterns dominated by sliding phenomena, are revealed by considering two cases of stiffness and excitation amplitude. It is shown that there exist different types of equilibrium points, leading to multiple modes of bifurcation, as stiffness changes. However, there always exist a pair of subcritical Hopf bifurcation points, which lie on the unstable equilibrium curve. Varying the excitation amplitude, different types of bursting oscillation modes may occur. In addition, both the transition of the type of equilibrium and the intrinsic structure of the system have effects on the local structure of the trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this paper, we propose a random noise suppression and super-resolution reconstruction algorithm for seismic profiles based on Generative Adversarial Networks, in anticipation of reducing the influence of random noise and low resolution on seismic profiles. Firstly, the algorithm used the residual learning strategy to construct a de-noising subnet to accurate separate the interference noise on the basis of protecting the effective signal. Furthermore, it iterated the back-projection unit to complete the reconstruction of the high-resolution seismic sections image, while responsed sampling error to enhance the super-resolution performance of the algorithm. For seismic data characteristics, designed the discriminator to be a fully convolutional neural network, used a larger convolution kernels to extract data features and continuously strengthened the supervision of the generator performance optimization during the training process. The results on the synthetic data and the actual data indicated that the algorithm could improve the quality of seismic cross-section, make ideal signal-to-noise ratio and further improve the resolution of the reconstructed cross-sectional image. Besides, the observations of geological structures such as fractures were also clearer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst for the acidic corrosive operating conditions is a challenging task. Herein, we report the synthesis of uniform RuO2 clusters with ∼ 2 nm in size via electrochemical leaching of Sr from SrRuO3 ceramic in acid. The RuO2 clusters exhibit ultrahigh OER activity with overpotential of ∼ 160 mV at 10 mA·cmgeo−2 in 1.0 M HClO4 solution for 30-h testing. The extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurement reveals enlarged Jahn-Teller distortion of RuO octahedra in the RuO2 clusters compared to its bulk counterpart. Density function theory calculations show that the enhanced Jahn-Teller distortion can improve the intrinsic OER activity of RuO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing the thermal reaction norm of coral larvae under elevated pCO2 is crucial to anticipate how larval dispersal and population maintenance may be affected by future climate change. Here, we characterized the functional relationship between temperature (27−33 °C) and larval performance of the reef coral Pocillopora damicornis under two pCO2 levels. The results showed that the temperature threshold of larvae was between 32 and 33 °C, as evidenced by the abrupt declines in photochemical efficiency and symbiont density, whereas no oxidative damage was observed between 27 and 33 °C and elevated pCO2 did not influence any of these parameters. In addition, larval respiration and photosynthesis rates exhibited parabolic responses to temperature, and this relationship conformed to the Gaussian–Gompertz model with an optimal temperature around 31.5 °C, which was approximately 2.5 °C above the summer mean temperature, suggesting the potential for thermal acclimation. Most importantly, elevated pCO2 significantly enhanced the larval photosynthesis and the stimulatory effect of elevated pCO2 on the photosynthetic rates and capacity was more pronounced in cool and warm temperatures, indicative of shifted thermal sensitivity under high pCO2. These results suggest that ocean acidification could alter the thermal performance curves and tolerance window of brooded P. damicornis larvae, with profound and important implications for larval ecology in a future changing ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot-rolled high-Mg-alloyed Al–Mg alloy (Al–9.2Mg–0.8Mn–0.2Zr–0.15Ti, labeled as 5A12) plates were successfully friction stir welded at rotating rates ranging from 750 to 1500 r·min−1 at a constant welding speed of 50 mm·min−1. The joints were characterized by optical microscopy (OM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and tensile testing. All the joints are volume defect-free and exhibit fine, equiaxed dynamic recrystallization (DRX) grains with high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) fractions of 88.6%–93.3% in the nugget zones (NZs). The DRX grain size and the second-phase particle size in the NZs have a parabolic relation with the rotating rate. Furthermore, among the joints tested, the joint prepared at 1000 r·min−1, which has the highest ultimate tensile strength ((478 ± 3) MPa) and the largest elongation to rupture (22.5% ± 1.4%)—approximately 87.5% and 145.2% those of the base metal, respectively, exhibits the smallest grain size of 2.93 μm, as well as the smallest particle size in the NZs. These excellent mechanical properties can be ascribed to the combined effects of the fine DRX grains with high fraction of HAGBs and the fine second-phase particles with a uniform distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ancient wooden buildings have been preserved after years of wind and rain, as well as damaged to different degrees. Most of the ancient wooden buildings are important cultural resources of the country; they are precious cultural heritages, and not recoverable. Therefore, it is particularly important to protect these ancient buildings. This paper analyzes and discusses the destruction form, repair principle and reinforcement method of ancient wooden buildings, and puts forward the shortcomings of existing technology, hoping to provide reference for effective protection of ancient wooden buildings in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maglev train has been successful in practice as a new type of ground transportation. Owing to the inherent nonlinearity and open-loop instability of the electromagnetic suspension (EMS) system, an analogue or a digital controller is used to control the maglev trains' stability. With the rapid development of embedded systems and artificial intelligence, intelligent digital control has begun to replace the conventional analogue control technology creating a new approach to the EMS control system. This paper proposes a hardware module for an embedded levitation controller based on digital signal processor and field programmable gate array, hence producing an open loop mathematical model of the embedded maglev control system. The deep learning controller is then developed based on a deep belief network (DBN) algorithm and a proportional integral derivative feedback controller. The simulations are conducted in the MATLAB environment after training the DBN. Simulation results are compared with those obtained from the conventional controller. Finally, experiments are implemented to examine the feasibility in practice of the application of the DBN into a maglev embedded control system. The system, with the proposed controller, can accurately track the target airgap of 8 mm. The maximum tracking error of sinusoidal trajectory is 0.17 mm and the maximum tracking error of step trajectory is 0.98 mm. Both simulation and experimental results are included in this paper to show that the proposed deep learning controller can be more robust and less complicated to implement in maglev control applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we tested whether larvae brooded by the reef coral Pocillopora damicornis from a naturally extreme and highly variable environment are preadapted to cope with predicted increases in temperature and pCO2. We exposed larvae to two temperatures (29 vs. 30.8 °C) crossed with two pCO2 levels (~ 500 vs. ~ 1000 μatm) in a full-factorial experiment for 5 d. Larval performance was assessed as dark respiration (RD), net and gross photosynthesis (PN and PG, respectively), survival, settlement, and the activity of carbonic anhydrase (CA), the central enzyme involved in photosynthesis. The results showed that RD was unaffected by either elevated temperature or pCO2, while elevated temperature and/or pCO2 stimulated PN and PG and increased the ratios of PN to RD, indicating a relatively higher autotrophic capacity. Consequently, larval survivorship under elevated temperature and/or pCO2 was consistently 14% higher than that under the control treatment. Furthermore, elevated temperature and pCO2 did not affect host CA activity, but synergistically enhanced symbiont CA activity, contributing greatly to the stimulated photosynthetic capacity. These results suggest that brooded larvae of P. damicornis larvae from Luhuitou may be preadapted to cope with projected warming and ocean acidification. More generally, it appears that corals from highly variable environments may have increased resilience to the widespread climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Androgen receptor (AR) plays a pivotal role as a target for amplification/mutation in pathogenesis and tumor progression in prostate, and thus, controlling AR activity or expression might be a feasible therapeutic approach for the treatment of prostate cancer. Here, we report the novel mechanisms by which 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) targets AR to stimulate cell death in both hormone-responsive and -refractory prostate cancer cells. We found that miR-488, a tumor suppressive microRNA, was markedly induced by GA treatment, resulting in the down-regulation of AR expression and inhibition of cellular responses mediated by androgens. Moreover, GA not only suppressed the expression of androgen target genes (TMPRSS2, PSA, and NKX3.1), but also enhanced the suppressive effect of anti-androgens (bicalutamide and flutamide) on LNCaP cell growth. Our data further provides evidence that down-regulation of AR expression by GA may occur through transcriptional suppression at AR promoter region between − 1014 and − 829. Ectopic expression of SFR and E2F3α reversed the inhibitory effect of GA on AR promoter activity as well as protein expression, suggesting that GA may target transcription factors SRF and E2F3α to regulate AR expression. Taken together, our study provides new insights on AR regulation and GA as a potential therapeutic candidate for human prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the wear resistance of Cr5 steel, wear-resistant layers with lamellar eutectic microstructure were fabricated by laser surface alloying (LSA), which is dependent on the in situ reaction between Cr and BC. Our results indicated that the hypoeutectic structures of the LSA layers were divided into interdendritic eutectic structures and dendrites. The area fraction of the eutectic structures increased with increasing laser scanning speed, which improved the hardness and wear resistance of the LSA layers. The average hardness of the LSA layer prepared at a scanning speed of 8 mm/s was HV 883.9, which was 1.8 times greater than that of the traditional quenched layer (approximately HV 480). After sliding for 659.4 m, the specimen prepared at a scanning speed of 8 mm/s exhibited a volume loss of 0.0323 mm, which was only 29.5% of the volume loss of the traditional quenched specimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a facile, environmentally friendly, and inexpensive method of creating a large-area superhydrophobic surface on steel substrates by a simple spray-coating method. Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry, and contact angle measurement were used to characterize the surface morphologies and wettability of the surfaces. The results showed that the hydrophobic -CH and -CH- groups were introduced into TiO particles which were modified from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. When the weight ratio of modified TiO to fluorinated polymethylhydrosiloxane was 7:3, the as-prepared coating both the micro/nanobinary structure and the low surface free energy layer exhibited superhydrophobic properties with a water contact angle of 161° and a sliding angle of 5°. In particular, the fluorinated polymethylhydrosiloxane/TiO nanocomposite superhydrophobicity surface has excellent durability and corrosion resistance. These fascinating performances make the present method suitable for large-scale industrial fabrication of chemically stable and anticorrosive superhydrophobic surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(lactic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol) copolymers were synthesized under the catalysis of multi-SOH-functionalized ionic liquid. Compared to the ordinary ionic liquids and the traditional Lewis acid catalysts, the ionic liquids with multi-sulfonic acid groups were more catalytically active, and the reaction conversion rate reached up to 97.8 %. The molecular weight of the resulting copolymer was 5.69 × 10 g mol and the degree of crystallinity was 42.9 %. The copolymers were also of higher hydrophilicity and better mechanical properties. The reaction kinetics of copolymerization was analyzed. The intrinsically high catalytic activity of multi-SOH groups originated from the lower activation energy and the higher free acidity. The recovering catalytic activity of the multi-SOH ionic liquid catalyst was higher, suggesting that it is a recyclable, environmentally friendly catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the view of fluid-structure interactions and rotor dynamics, this paper models the lateral vibration of a vertical downward rotating elastic drill string conveying mud subjected to supporting stabilizers, bit torque and longitudinal thrust. The dynamic model involves the rotational inertia of the drill string tube cross section, the gyroscopic effect caused by rotation, the damping due to friction with the surrounding fluid, the gravity force and mud buoyancy. Damped natural frequency, stability and resonance of the drill string system are determined by quadratic eigenvalue problem and investigated at influences of the stabilizer, rotational angular speed, mud flowing velocity, bit torque and thrust. As a result, the drill string can lose stability both at simultaneous and separate influences of the mud conveying, bit torque and thrust, whereas the rotation, stabilizer and gravity of the drill string can improve system stability; the rotational angular speed causing system resonance decreases with the increase of the mud flowing velocity, bit torque and thrust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal transmission lines assignment with maximal reliabilities (OTLAMR) in the multi-source multi-sink multi-state computer network (MMMCN) was investigated. The OTLAMR problem contains two sub-problems: the MMMCN reliabilities evaluation and multi-objective transmission lines assignment optimization. First, a reliability evaluation with a transmission line assignment (RETLA) algorithm is proposed to calculate the MMMCN reliabilities under the cost constraint for a certain transmission lines configuration. Second, the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is adopted to find the non-dominated set of the transmission lines assignments based on the reliabilities obtained from the RETLA algorithm. By combining the RETLA and the NSGA-II algorithms together, the RETLA-NSGA II algorithm is proposed to solve the OTLAMR problem. The experiments result show that the RETLA-NSGA II algorithm can provide efficient solutions in a reasonable time, from which the decision makers can choose the best solution based on their preferences and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the issue of synchronizing a blinking coupling mobile agent network through a blinking adaptation strategy, where each agent with blinking wave emission behavior not only adjusts its blinking period according to the local property of its neighbors, but also coordinates its blinking phase with those of neighboring agents. In leading the agents to blink orderly with a blinking period commensurate with the characteristic time of the dynamical oscillator, the presented blinking adaptation strategy works effectively in guaranteeing the synchronous motion of the considered network when the power density is large. In addition, the influence of the controlling parameter and moving velocity on network evolution is studied by assessing the convergence time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Number estimation of controllers is a fundamental question in pinning synchronization of complex networks. This paper studies the problem of controller number in synchronizing a complex network of coupled dynamical systems by means of pinning. For a complex network with a symmetric coupling matrix and full coupling between the nodes, we formulate network synchronization via pinning as a linear matrix inequality criterion, and provide a lower bound and an upper bound of the controller number for a given complex network with fixed architecture. Several numerical examples with Barabási-Albert network topologies are provided to verify our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-021-02161-3. Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper, synchronization of chaotic Colpitts circuits using a particle filter (PF) to combat the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel effect is studied by numeric simulations. A novel PF algorithm suitable for chaos synchronization is proposed. With this algorithm, chaos synchronization of Colpitts circuits can be achieved and maintained in AWGN channels. Parameters in the proposed PF algorithm are studied to understand their effects on synchronization performance. The synchronization performance using the proposed PF algorithm is compared with those using other digital filters, such as the extended Kalman filter and the generic PF. It is found that the proposed PF algorithm performs better than the other digital filters. Simulation results also show that the particle number is not very critical to the synchronization performance when this PF algorithm is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional method of synthesizing urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins is condensation polymerization with formaldehyde and urea in aqueous solution, which leads to the low resistance of UF resins against the influence of water and moisture and results in the high formaldehyde emission. A new method of melt condensation polymerization was used to synthesis UF resin by paraformaldehyde with urea. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscope and Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance were performed to elucidate the uron rings structural characteristics of UF resin by the synthetic route. The stability during storage and application were characterized by measuring concentration of methanol and free formaldehyde, and DSC and TG analysis, respectively. The results show that UF resin synthesized by melt condensation polymerization has lower content of free formaldehyde, high thermal stability and better stability during storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel process of preparing microencapsulated red phosphorus particles by rapid expansion of supercritical fluids (RESS) was tested, in which a new kind of nozzle and supercritical CO2 as a solvent were used. The structure of the microencapsulated red phosphorus particles were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). These results show that red phosphorus particles can be effectively encapsulated with paraffin by using the method. At the same time, how the moisture absorption ratio of microencapsulated red phosphorus particles was dependent on the experimental conditions was further investigated. The results suggest that paraffin-microencapsulated red phosphorus particles show a lower moisture absorption ratio within the experimental conditions of the extraction column and nozzle temperature of 120°C, extraction column pressure of more than 16 MPa, and a mass flow of core particles (0.5 g/min). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the issue of stabilization for the linear neutral systems with mixed delays. The attention is focused on the design of output feedback controllers which guarantee the asymptotical stability of the closed-loop systems. Based on the model transformation of neutral type, the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional method is employed to establish the delay-dependent stability criterion. Then, through the controller parameterization and some matrix transformation techniques, the desired parameters are determined under the delay-dependent design condition in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), and the desired controller is explicitly formulated. A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for positive polynomial validation based on polynomial decomposition is proposed to deal with control synthesis problems. Detailed algorithms for decomposition are given which mainly consider how to convert coefficients of a polynomial to a matrix with free variables. Then, the positivity of a polynomial is checked by the decomposed matrix with semidefinite programming solvers. A nonlinear control law is presented for single input polynomial systems based on the Lyapunov stability theorem. The control synthesis method is advanced to multi-input systems further. An application in attitude control is finally presented. The proposed control law achieves effective performance as illustrated by the numerical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robustly stable multi-step-ahead model predictive control (MPC) based on parallel support vector machines (SVMs) with linear kernel was proposed. First, an analytical solution of optimal control laws of parallel SVMs based MPC was derived, and then the necessary and sufficient stability condition for MPC closed loop was given according to SVM model, and finally a method of judging the discrepancy between SVM model and the actual plant was presented, and consequently the constraint sets, which can guarantee that the stability condition is still robust for model/plant mismatch within some given bounds, were obtained by applying small-gain theorem. Simulation experiments show the proposed stability condition and robust constraint sets can provide a convenient way of adjusting controller parameters to ensure a closed-loop with larger stable margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A support vector machine with guadratic polynomial kernel function based nonlinear model multi-step-a-head optimizing predictive controller was presented. A support vector machine based predictive model was established by black-box identification. And a quadratic objective function with receding horizon was selected to obtain the controller output. By solving a nonlinear optimization problem with equality constraint of model output and boundary constraint of controller output using Nelder-Mead simplex direct search method, a sub-optimal control law was achieved in feature space. The effect of the controller was demonstrated on a recognized benchmark problem and a continuous-stirred tank reactor. The simulation results show that the multi-step-ahead predictive controller can be well applied to nonlinear system, with better performance in following reference trajectory and disturbance-rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

( m,k)-firm real-time or weakly hard real-time (WHRT) guarantee is becoming attractive as it closes the gap between hard and soft (or probabilistic) real-time guarantee, and enables finer granularity of real-time QoS through adjusting m and k. For multiple streams with ( m, k)-firm constraint sharing a single server, an, on-line priority assignment policy based on the most recent k-length history of each stream called distance based priority (DBP) has been proposed to assign priority. In case of priority equality among these head-of-queue instances, Earliest Deadline First (EDF) is used. Under the context of WHRT schedule theory, DBP is the most popular, gets much attention and has many applications due to its straightforward priority assignment policy and easy implementation. However, DBP combined with EDF cannot always provide good performance, mainly because the initial, DBP does not underline the rich information on deadline met/missed distribution, specially streams in various failure states which will travel different distances to restore success states. Considering how to effectively restore the success state of each individual stream from a failure state, an integrated DBP utilizing deadline met/missed distribution is proposed in this paper. Simulation results validated the performance improvement of this proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we have investigated the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of GX-12, a multiple plasmid DNA vaccine for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. Plasmid DNA was rapidly degraded in blood with a half-life of 1.34 min and was no longer detectable at 90 min after intravenous injection in mice. After intramuscular injection, plasmid DNA concentration in the injection site rapidly declined to less than 1 % of the initial concentration by 90 min post-injection. However, sub-picogram levels (per mg tissue) were occasionally detected for several days after injection. The relative proportions of the individual plasmids of GX-12 remained relatively constant at the injection site until 90 min post-injection. The concentration of plasmid DNA in tissues other than the injection site peaked at 90 min post-injection and decreased to undetectable levels at 8 h post-injection. The rapid in vivo degradation of GX-12 and absence of persistence in non-target tissues suggest that the risk of potential gene-related toxicities by GX-12 administration, such as expression in non-target tissues, insertional mutagenesis and germline transmission, is minimal [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formulation of multibody dynamics was studied based on variational principle. The body coonection matrix was introduced to define the connection configuration. The expression for the system kinematics was obtained by using the body connection matrix. From variational principle the general dynamical equations for multibody system were derived and the dynamical equations were given for multibody system subjected to the constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors regret to inform that authors Pramod Aryal and Shuang Wu were inadvertently omitted from authorship of the manuscript above at the time of original submission. Pramod Aryal and Shuang Wu were contributors to conducting experiments, acquiring and initial plotting/analyzing data. The authors would like to state that Sun You and Pramod Aryal contributed equally to this work as co-first authors. The authors would like to re-designate the authorship of this manuscript, and add the current addresses of these two new authors, Pramod Aryal and Shuang Wu as shown in this Correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop novel CNS penetrant HDAC inhibitors, a new series of HDAC inhibitors having benzoheterocycle were designed, synthesized, and biologically evaluated. Among the synthesized compounds, benzothiazole derivative 9b exhibited a remarkable anti-proliferative activity (GI50 = 2.01 μM) against SH-SY5Y cancer cell line in a dose and time-dependent manner, better than the reference drug SAHA (GI50 = 2.90 μM). Moreover, compound 9b effectively promoted the accumulation of acetylated Histone H3 and α-tubulin through inhibition of HDAC1 and HDAC6 enzymes, respectively. HDAC enzyme assay also confirmed that compound 9b efficiently inhibited HDAC1 and HDAC6 isoforms with IC50 values of 84.9 nM and 95.9 nM. Furthermore, compound 9b inhibited colony formation capacity of SH-SY5Y cells, which is considered a hallmark of cell carcinogenesis and metastatic potential. The theoretical prediction, in vitro PAMPA-BBB assay, and in vivo brain pharmacokinetic studies confirmed that compound 9b had much higher BBB permeability than SAHA. In silico docking study demonstrated that compound 9b fitted in the substrate binding pocket of HDAC1 and HDAC6. Taken together, compound 9b provided a novel scaffold for developing CNS penetrant HDAC inhibitors and therapeutic potential for CNS-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The operator performing minimally invasive surgery is prevented from seeing the whole field with both eyes by the restricted small thoracotomy incision. To overcome this problem, we developed mirror glasses.Methods: Use of these glasses was evaluated in terms of the time required for threading of sutures with endoscopic forceps. Three surgeon ligated thread a suture five times with and without use of the glasses in the box, and the mean time was calculated for each surgeon.Results: The time required for ligation (mean +/- SD) was 24.2 +/- 2.9 s with mirror glasses and 27.0 +/- 2.5 s without the glasses (p = 0.01).Conclusion: The mirror glasses may be found useful for fine manipulation for minimally invasive surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel energy-efficient oil shale pyrolysis process triggered by a topochemical reaction that can be applied in horizontal oil shale formations. The process starts by feeding preheated air to oil shale to initiate a topochemical reaction and the onset of self-pyrolysis. As the temperature in the virgin oil shale increases (to 250-300°C), the hot air can be replaced by ambient-temperature air, allowing heat to be released by internal topochemical reactions to complete the pyrolysis. The propagation of fronts formed in this process, the temperature evolution, and the reaction mechanism of oil shale pyrolysis in porous media are discussed and compared with those in a traditional oxygen-free process. The results show that the self-pyrolysis of oil shale can be achieved with the proposed method without any need for external heat. The results also verify that fractured oil shale may be more suitable for underground retorting. Moreover, the gas and liquid products from this method were characterised, and a highly instrumented experimental device designed specifically for this process is described. This study can serve as a reference for new ideas on oil shale in situ pyrolysis processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]