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This article is about the following Kirchhoff–Schrödinger–Poisson system with steep potential well 1.1 −(a+b∫ℝ3|∇u|2dx)△u+λV(x)u+μϕ(x)u=f(x,u)+h(x)|u|αinℝ3,−△ϕ=u2,inℝ3,$$ \left\{\begin{array}{ll}-\left(a&#x0002B;b{\int}_{{\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}&#x0005E;3}{\left&#x0007C;\nabla u\right&#x0007C;}&#x0005E;2 dx\right)\triangle u&#x0002B;\lambda V(x)u&#x0002B;\mu \phi (x)u&#x0003D;f\left(x,u\right)&#x0002B;h(x){\left&#x0007C;u\right&#x0007C;}&#x0005E;{\alpha }& \mathrm{in}\kern0.4em {\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}&#x0005E;3,\\ {}-\triangle \phi &#x0003D;{u}&#x0005E;2,& \mathrm{in}\kern0.4em {\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}&#x0005E;3,\end{array}\right. $$ where a,b,λ>0$$ a,b,\lambda >0 $$ are constants, μ>0$$ \mu >0 $$, and 0<α<1,f∈C(ℝN×ℝ,ℝ)$$ 0<\alpha <1,f\in C\left({\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}&#x0005E;N\times \mathrm{\mathbb{R}},\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}\right) $$. By using the variational principle, we overcome the difficulties caused by Poisson's term and obtain system (1.1) that has two nontrivial solutions under certain assumptions. Moreover, we study the concentration of solutions and obtain new conclusions of system (1.1). Finally, we present the case where the solution to system (1.1) does not exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we prove the multiplicity of positive solutions for the following singular problem involving the fractional p$p$‐Laplacian: (−Δ)psu+V(x)|u|p−2u=a(x)uκ−1+μb(x)uq−1,inRN$$\begin{equation*} \hspace*{4pc}(-\Delta)_p^su+V(x)|u|^{p-2}u=a(x)u^{\kappa -1}+\mu b(x)u^{q-1}, \mbox{ in } \mathbb {R}^N \end{equation*}$$u(x)>0,inRN.$$\begin{equation*} \hspace*{10.6pc}u(x)>0, \mbox{ in } \mathbb {R}^N. \end{equation*}$$Here, μ>0$\mu >0$, 0<κ<1$0<\kappa <1$, and p

Regression testing is an essential and expensive process in software testing. However, there may be insufficient resources for the execution of all test cases during regression testing. Test case prioritization (TCP) techniques improve the efficiency of regression testing by adjusting the test case execution sequence. Traditional TCP techniques usually rely on the historical execution information of the software under test for more efficient results. String distance‐based TCP (SD‐TCP) avoids these limitations; it uses only the textual difference information of the test cases themselves for prioritization. However, the time overhead on the sorting process of this method is not ideal, and the extreme test case inputs have an impact on the stability of the method. To address these problems, we propose a novel test case prioritization strategy, it first classifies the test cases more finely using the K‐medoids algorithm and then transforms the set into subsequences and improves the early diversity by greedy sorting within clusters. Finally, the test cases are selected through a polling strategy to compose the execution sequence. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms SD‐TCP in better time efficiency on test case prioritization; it also has a higher average percentage of fault detected (APFD) value than random prioritization (RP) and SD‐TCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescent conjugated polymers are widely investigated for their excellent performance in detecting explosives. In this work, two simple monomers are used to synthesize two novel fluorescent conjugated polymers, 3 and 6, with different conjugated structures via the linkages of "single bond" and "alkyne bond" by coupling reaction, and the fluorescence sensing performance for 2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene (TNT) is verified in both liquid and gas phases, aiming to demonstrate the influence of two different linkages on the fluorescence sensing properties. The fluorescent intensities of conjugated polymers in organic solvents gradually increase with increasing concentration within the low concentration range, while too high concentration leads to a decrease in the emission intensity because of the concentration quenching effect. The liquid‐phase limit of detection of 3 and 6 for TNT is as low as 1.9 and 1.6 µm in acetonitrile, respectively. The change rule of UV–vis absorption indicates that the static quenching model of TNT is predominant in liquid phase. Using a commercial portable explosives detector, 3 and 6 can effectively achieve the selective detection of gas‐phase TNT above 15 ng within 7 s and 8 ng within 5 s, respectively, demonstrating the great potential for rapid on‐site detection of trace explosives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the bioconvection impact on mixed convective Carreau fluid flowing toward permeable stretched surface with joule heating and Darcy‐Forchheimer effect. The evaluation has been attained in the presence of convective conditions, Joule heating, thermal radiative, mixed convective and motile microorganisms, which have not been dreamed before. Flow in permeable medium is characterized by utilizing Darcy‐Forchheimer model. Appropriate similarity factors are utilized to obtain the ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The derived mathematical formulation is now numerically solved with the help of R‐K 4th order scheme based on shooting approach. The results of the motile microorganism number, velocity, Sherwood number, temperature, motile density number, drag coefficient, concentration, and local Nusselt number are revealed graphically. The effect of bioconvection Lewis number on the motile microorganisms and motile density profile are quite inverse. Further, higher values of Schmidt number decrease the concentration field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living alone is an objective sign of social isolation. It is uncertain whether living alone worsens clinical outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients. We aimed to assess how living alone affected clinical outcomes in individuals with HF. We searched the electronic databases of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane from 1990 to April 2022 for studies comparing living alone with HF. A random‐effects model with inverse variance was used to pool adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Seven studies were deemed to meet the standards. In patients with HF, compared with living with others, living alone was associated with an elevated risk of any hospitalization at the 30‐day (HR: 1.78, 95% CI: 1.09–2.89), 90‐day (HR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.02–1.51), or ≥1‐year (HR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.04–1.26) follow‐up periods. HF patients living alone also had a greater risk of any hospitalization or death at the 30‐day (HR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.15–2.11), 90‐day (HR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.05–1.50), and ≥1‐year (HR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.09–1.28) follow‐up periods. However, patients living alone had no increased risk of all‐cause death at the 30‐day (HR: 1.0, 95% CI: 0.19–5.36), 90‐day (HR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.03–7.42), or ≥ 1‐year (HR: 1.10, 95% CI: 0.73–1.67) follow‐up periods. In comparison to living with others, living alone was associated with an increased risk of any hospitalization but not all‐cause death in HF patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Our study aimed to investigate the glucose levels in PD and controls. We also examine whether glucose control is associated with PD severity regardless of diabetic status, and test whether the correlation is mediated by cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) burden. Methods: A total of 100 patients with idiopathic PD and 100 age‐ and sex‐matched controls who underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were enrolled in this study. We collected the clinical data and blood parameters, including fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and blood lipid. Patients with PD were divided into early (n = 61) and advanced (n = 39) subgroups, based on Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stages. Differences between the PD and controls, PD with and without diabetes, and between two PD subgroups were compared. CSVD markers were assessed, including lacunes, white matter hyperintensities, enlarged perivascular spaces, and cerebral microbleeds. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to test the association between HbA1c and H&Y stages. Interaction between HbA1c and CSVD burden in relation to H&Y stages was also analyzed. Results: PD group exhibited higher HbA1c (p < 0.001), lower high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (p < 0.001) and triglyceride (p = 0.049) than controls. Advanced PD patients showed higher HbA1c than early PD group (p = 0.022). Increasing HbA1c (OR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.03–2.32, p = 0.036) along with longer disease duration (OR = 1.14, 95% CI 1.01–1.27, p = 0.028) and higher UPDRS III score (OR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.02–1.11, p = 0.002) increased the risk of belonging to the higher H&Y stage. However, interaction between HbA1c and CSVD burden in relation to H&Y stages was not significant. Interpretation: HbA1c is independently associated with H&Y stages in PD, and this correlation may not be mediated by CSVD burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Combinatorial testing (CT) is considered as a practical approach to detect software faults, which has arisen from the interaction between factors affecting the software behavior. However, most of the traditional algorithms on CT generation did not take advantage of the execution results of the earlier test cases, as well as neglect the impact of the nonequilibrium input parameter model (NE‐IPM) effect on redundant test cases, which bring a deleterious effect to the detection accuracy of the software faults. To solve these problems, we propose a novel CT approach with fuzzing strategy called CTAF. Based on the idea that fuzzing is performed during execution, CTAF exploits the execution results of earlier tests to provide guidance for subsequent test generation thereby reducing the redundant test cases without compromising the diversity of test cases. And then, we designed three experiments on real subjects of six open source software systems, and the experimental results show that the proposed CTAF approach can effectively improve the NE‐IPM effect and enhance the detection accuracy of software faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the following fractional Schrödinger–Poisson system (−Δ)su+V(x)u+ϕu=(Iμ∗F(u))f(u),inℝ3,(−Δ)sϕ=u2,inℝ3,$$ \left\{\begin{array}{ll}{\left(-\Delta \right)}&amp;#x0005E;su&amp;#x0002B;V(x)u&amp;#x0002B;\phi u&amp;#x0003D;\left({I}_{\mu}\ast F(u)\right)f(u),\kern0.30em &amp; \kern0.5em \mathrm{in}\kern0.5em {\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}&amp;#x0005E;3,\\ {}{\left(-\Delta \right)}&amp;#x0005E;s\phi &amp;#x0003D;{u}&amp;#x0005E;2,&amp; \kern0.5em \mathrm{in}\kern0.5em {\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}&amp;#x0005E;3,\end{array}\right. $$where μ∈(0,3),s∈34,1,Iμ:ℝ3\{0}→ℝ$$ \mu \in \left(0,3\right),s\in \left(\frac{3}{4},1\right),{I}_{\mu }:{\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}&amp;#x0005E;3\backslash \left\{0\right\}\to \mathrm{\mathbb{R}} $$ is the Riesz potential, V∈C(ℝ3,[0,+∞)),f∈C(ℝ,ℝ)$$ V\in \mathcal{C}\left({\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}&amp;#x0005E;3,\right[0,&amp;#x0002B;\infty \left)\right),f\in \mathcal{C}\left(\mathrm{\mathbb{R}},\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}\right) $$. By using a monotonicity trick and global compactness lemma, we obtain the existence of a ground state solution for the above system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prognosis of advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients has attracted much attention, but there is a lack of evaluation method. MRI‐based radiomics has the potential to evaluate AGC patients' prognosis. Purpose: To identify and validate the risk stratification and overall survival (OS) in AGC patients using MRI‐based radiomics. Study Type: Retrospective. Subjects: A total of 233 patients (168 males, 63.6 ± 11.1 years; 65 females, 59.7 ± 11.8 years) confirmed AGC were collected. The data were randomly divided into a training (164) and validation set (69). Sequence: A 3.0 T, axial T2‐weighted, diffusion‐weighted imaging, and contrast‐enhanced T1‐weighted (CE‐T1WI). Assessment: Radiologist 1 segmented 233 patients and radiologist 2 segmented randomly 50 patients on CE‐T1WI. The risk score (RS) was summed by each sample based on the radiomics features and correlation coefficients. Patients were followed up for 7–67 months (median 41; 138 dead and 95 alive). Statistical Tests: The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Kappa value were calculated. Differences in survival analysis were assessed by Kaplan–Meier curves and log‐rank test. Cox‐regression analysis was performed to identify the radiomics features and clinical indicators associated with OS. The calibration curves were built to assess the model. A two‐tailed P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Integrated with age, lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and RS, a survival combined model was built. The area under the curve (AUC) for predicting 3‐year and 5‐year OS was 0.765 and 0.788 in the training set, 0.757 and 0.729 in the validation set. There was no significant difference between the radiomics model and survival combined model for 3‐year (0.690 vs. 0.757, P = 0.425) and 5‐year OS (0.687 vs. 729, P = 0.412) in the validation set. The calibration curves showed a high degree of fit for the survival combined model. Data Conclusion: This study established a survival combined model that might help AGC patients in future clinical decision‐making. Evidence Level: 33 Technical Efficacy: Stage 5 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we construct a new family of multibump solutions to the following Choquard equation 0.1−Δu+V(|y|)u=(|x|−1∗K(|x|)|u|p)K(|y|)|u|p−2u,inℝ3,$$ -\Delta u+V\left(|y|\right)u=\left({\left|x\right|}^{-1}\ast K\left(|x|\right){\left|u\right|}^p\right)K\left(|y|\right){\left|u\right|}^{p-2}u,\kern0.5em \mathrm{in}\kern0.5em {\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}^3, $$where V(r)$$ V(r) $$ and K(r)$$ K(r) $$ are radial positive functions and both of them satisfy some decay conditions at infinity. The centers of these bumps are located in points on two circles. More precisely, the new type of solutions has polygonal symmetry in the (y1,y2)$$ \left({y}_1,{y}_2\right) $$‐plane and even symmetry about the y3$$ {y}_3 $$‐axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are concerned with the following Choquard equation: −Δpu+A|x|θ|u|p−2u=Iα∗F(u)f(u),x∈RN,$$\begin{equation*} \hspace*{5pc}-\Delta _{p}u + \frac{A}{|x|^{\theta }}|u|^{p-2}u = {\left(I_{\alpha }*F(u)\right)}f(u), \, x\in \mathbb {R}^{N}, \end{equation*}$$where p∈(1,N)$p\in (1,N)$, α∈(0,N)$\alpha \in (0,N)$, θ∈[0,p)∪p,(N−1)pp−1$\theta \in [0,p)\cup \left(p,\frac{(N-1)p}{p-1}\right)$, A>0$A>0$, Δp$\Delta _{p}$ is the p‐Laplacian, Iα$I_{\alpha }$ is the Riesz potential, and F is the primitive of f which is of critical growth due to the Hardy–Littlewood–Sobolev inequality. Under different range of θ and almost necessary conditions on the nonlinearity f in the spirit of Berestycki–Lions‐type conditions, we divide this paper into three parts. By applying the refined Sobolev inequality with Morrey norm and the generalized version of the Lions‐type theorem, some existence results are established. It is worth noting that our method is not involving the concentration–compactness principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a sustainable urban design, innovative city pilots offer a way for developing countries to achieve carbon reduction goals. To date, a total of 78 innovative cities have been established in China. In this context, this study examines whether innovative city construction can contribute to meet carbon mitigation targets. On the basis of expounding the mechanism of innovative city pilots on carbon emissions, the multiperiod difference in differences method is applied to investigate the average treatment effect and the mediating effect model is used to validate the transmission mechanism. The results show that innovative city pilots significantly reduce carbon emissions. Compared to nonpilot areas, the pilot areas reduce carbon emissions by 15%. Specifically, technological innovation is the primary channels for innovative city pilots to influence carbon emissions but industrial structure effect does not work. Furthermore, the superimposed effect analysis indicates that the carbon reduction effect of the city as both innovative city pilot and other pilot (low‐carbon pilot, broadband China pilot, intellectual property pilot) is greater than that of a single pilot. Results of heterogeneity analysis indicate that carbon mitigation efforts are more effective in central and western cities, nonmega cities, resource‐based cities and cities with high human capital and financial development. In addition, the pilot policy has a positive spatial spillover effects on carbon reduction in cities with geographical proximity and economic ties. These results can contribute to precisely assess the environment benefits of promoting innovative city pilot projects and provide a decision making reference for fighting climate change in the era of knowledge economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An excessive neutrophil count is recognized as a valuable predictor of inflammation and is associated with a higher risk of adverse cardiac events in patients with heart failure (HF). Our understanding of the effectors used by neutrophils to inflict proinflammatory actions needs to be advanced. Recently, emerging evidence has demonstrated a causative role of neutrophil-derived alarmins (i.e., S100A8/A9) in aggravating cardiac injuries by induction of inflammation. In parallel with the neutrophil count, high circulating levels of S100A8/A9 proteins powerfully predict mortality in patients with HF. As such, a deeper understanding of the biological functions of neutrophil-derived S100A8/A9 proteins would offer novel therapeutic insights. Here, the basic biology of S100A8/A9 proteins and their pleiotropic roles in cardiovascular diseases are discussed, focusing on HF. We also consider the evidence that therapeutic targeting of S100A8/A9 proteins by the humanized vaccine, antibodies, or inhibitors is able to town down inflammatory injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study the existence and multiplicity of nonnegative solutions for the following critical Kirchhoff equation involving the fractional p‐Laplace operator (−Δ)ps. More precisely, we consider M∬ℝ2N|u(x)−u(y)|p|x−y|N+psdxdy(−Δ)psu=λf(x)|u|q−2u+K(x)|u|ps*−2u,inΩ,u=0,inℝN\Ω,where Ω⊂ℝN is an open bounded domain with Lipschitz boundary ∂Ω,M(t)=a+btm−1 with m > 1, a > 0, b > 0, dimension N>sp,ps*=NpN−ps is the fractional critical Sobolev exponent, and the parameters λ > 0, 0 < s < 1 < q < p < ∞. Applying the Nehari manifold, fibering maps and Krasnoselskii genus theory, we investigate the existence and multiplicity of nonnegative solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium metal is the ideal anode material for high‐energy‐density lithium‐based batteries. Nevertheless, lithium metal tends to accumulate on the surface of the current collector during the plating and stripping process to form lithium dendrites, resulting in low Coulombic efficiency and safety issues. Here, a lithiophilic 3D copper‐based magnetic current collector is designed by loading ferromagnetic nickel–cobalt alloy and lithiophilic zinc oxide onto the copper foam to create a lithium‐free anode. Under the micromagnetic field, the novel lithium‐free anode achieves a high level of deep lithium deposition (from 300 µm to about 1000 µm), successfully alleviating the large change of lithium volume. In addition, the Coulombic efficiency and cyclic stability are improved effectively. With a total capacity of 1 mA h cm−2 at a current density of 1 mA cm−2, the Coulombic efficiency of the above remains 95% at 590th‐cycle. Moreover, the symmetric cell can stably cycle for more than 560 h at 2 mA cm−2 with the capacity of 1 mA h cm−2. This novel strategy will potentially open up new horizons for lithium‐free anodes, which may be generalized to other advanced energy storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the following fractional Kirchhoff equations with steep potential well: 0.1a+b∫ℝN(|(−△)α2u|2)dx(−△)αu+λV(x)u=f(x,u)+μg(x)uq,inℝN,u∈Hα(ℝN),N≥3,where a, b, λ > 0 are parameters, μ > 0, and 0

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) Rv1002c encodes the protein O‐mannosyltransferase (PMT), which catalyzes the transfer of mannose to serine or threonine residues of proteins. We explored the function of PMT in vitro and in vivo. Rv1002c protein was heterogeneously overexpressed in nonpathogenic Mycobacterium smegmatis (named as MS_Rv1002c). A series of trials including mass spectrometry, transmission electron microscope, biofilm formation and antibiotics susceptibility were performed to explore the function of PMT on bacterial survival in vitro. Mouse experiments were carried out to evaluate the virulence of PMT in vivo. PMT decreased the cell envelope permeability and promoted microbial biofilm formation. PMT enhanced the mycobacterial survival in vivo and inhibited the release of pro‐inflammatory cytokines in serum. The function might be associated with an increased abundance of some mannoproteins in culture filtrate (CF). PMT is likely to be involved in mycobacterial survival both in vivo and in vitro due to increasing the mannoproteins abundance in CF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although PdCu alloy is recognized as an active catalyst for ethanol electrooxidation, its activity needs significant enhancement to satisfy the practical application. In this study, surface nitrided PdCu nanosheets are constructed through a facile nitrogen plasma treatment. The obtained catalyst shows highly enhanced catalytic activity and stability toward ethanol oxidation reaction in comparison with normal PdCu nanosheets and Pd nanosheets. The improvement should be ascribed to the combined electronic and structural effects from introduced Cu and facile surface nitridation, which promote charge transfer and suppress CO poisoning. This work offers a guideline to design and synthesize efficient catalysts for energy electrocatalysis by rational surface engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automobile emissions are significantly dependent on the after‐treatment system performance, which is partly determined by exhaust temperature. Regarding diesel passenger cars, after‐treatment systems generally include diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), diesel particulate filter (DPF), and selective catalytic reduction (SCR). The layouts affect their temperature variations because of the heat loss and thermal capacity of tailpipes and after‐treatment systems. As for the original layout of DOC+DPF+SCR, nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions are the main concerns of diesel vehicle emissions, especially under cold‐start conditions. Ammonia Creation and Conversion Technology (ACCT) system shows excellent performance of reducing cold‐start NOx emissions; additionally, the damage costs of individual exhaust emissions are different greatly, which may change the priority of emission reductions when considering monetary penalty. In this article, the impacts of the after‐treatment system layouts on the exhaust emission reductions were investigated based on a diesel passenger car; additionally, SCR and ACCT systems as the De‐NOx devices were adopted individually in corresponding scenarios; the after‐treatment system layouts were assessed from the viewpoints of both emission factors and monetary penalty. The results indicated that the ACCT system presented much better NOx reduction effectiveness than SCR system over different layouts. NOx reduction efficiency was very sensitive to vehicle operation conditions over the upstream layouts of NOx reduction devices. The layout‐1 of DOC+ACCT+DPF showed the lowest global emission factors from the diesel passenger car. DPF was much easier to achieve regeneration under the original layout conditions due to its shortest distance to the engine. The layout‐2 of ACCT+DOC+DPF had the minimum monetary penalty factor of exhaust emissions from this diesel passenger car. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper proposes a model for the angular dependency of MatriXX response and investigates whether MatriXX, with the angular‐model‐based approach can be applied to true composite dose verification for IMRT plans. Method: This model attributes the angular dependence of MatriXX response to dynamical translation of its effective measurement plane (EMP) due to the change of beam angle. Considering this mechanism, true composite dose verifications for IMRT plans specified in AAPM TG 119 report using both MatriXX and Gafchromic EBT3 films were undertook and compared to validate the applicability of MatriXX for patient specific QA of composite beam IMRT plans. Dose verifications using MatriXX with and without angular‐model‐based approach were performed. Results: MatriXX with angular‐model‐based approach achieved gamma passing rates with 3%/3 mm and 3%/2 mm criteria better than 98.3% and 98.1% respectively for true composite dose verification of plans in AAPM TG 119 report. The 3%/3 mm and 3%/2 mm gamma passing rates using MatriXX without angular‐model‐based approach ranged from 85.8% to 98.2% and from 81.3% to 96.5%, respectively. The p‐values from the single sided paired t‐test indicated no statistical difference between the passing rates from MatriXX with angular‐model‐based approach and from films, and significant difference between the passing rates from uncorrected MatriXX and from films. Conclusion: The proposed model for angular dependent MatriXX response is necessary and effective. Dose verification using MatriXX with angular‐model‐based approach is acceptable for true composite beam IMRT plans with required accuracy to simplify patient specific QA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing style transfer methods have achieved great success in artwork generation by transferring artistic styles onto everyday photographs while keeping their contents unchanged. Despite this success, these methods have one inherent limitation: they cannot produce newly created image contents, lacking creativity and flexibility. On the other hand, generative adversarial networks (GANs) can synthesise images with new content, whereas cannot specify the artistic style of these images. The authors consider combining style transfer with convolutional GANs to generate more creative and diverse artworks. Instead of simply concatenating these two networks: the first for synthesising new content and the second for transferring artistic styles, which is inefficient and inconvenient, they design an end‐to‐end network called ArtistGAN to perform these two operations at the same time and achieve visually better results. Moreover, to generate images of higher quality, they propose the bi‐discriminator GAN containing a pixel discriminator and a feature discriminator that constrain the generated image from pixel level and feature level, respectively. They conduct extensive experiments and comparisons to evaluate their methods quantitatively and qualitatively. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of their methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polar functionalized isotactic and syndiotactic polypropylenes (PPs) are synthesized by direct, masking‐reagent‐free propylene and amino–olefin (AO, CH2=CH(CH2)xNnPr2, x=2, 3, 6) copolymerizations using the activated precatalysts rac‐[Me2Si(indenyl)2]ZrMe2 and [Me2C(Cp)(fluorenyl)]ZrMe2, respectively. Polymerization activities at 25 °C are as high as 4208 and 535 kg/(mol h atm) with AO incorporation up to 4.0 mol % and 1.6 mol %, respectively. Remarkably, introducing the amino‐olefin comonomers significantly enhances stereoselection for both isotactic (mmmm: 59.5 %→91.0 %) and syndiotactic (rrrr: 66.3 %→81.3 %) products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies show that the unsymmetric finite element method exhibits excellent performance when the discretized meshes are severely distorted. In this article, a new unsymmetric 4‐noded quadrilateral plane element is presented using both incompatible test functions and trial functions. Five internal nodes, one at the elemental central and four at the middle sides, are added to ensure the quadratic completeness of the elemental displacement field. Thereafter, the total nine nodes are applied to form the shape functions of trial function, and the Lagrange interpolation functions are adopted as the incompatible test shape functions of the internal nodes. The incompatible test displacements are then revised to satisfy the patch test. Numerical tests show that the present element can provide very good numerical accuracy with badly distorted meshes. Unlike the existing unsymmetric four‐node plane elements in which the analytical stress fields are employed, the present element can be extended to boundary value problems of any differential equations with no difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the following Schrödinger‐Poisson equations: −ε2Δu+V(x)u+K(x)ϕu=|u|p−2u,x∈R3,−ε2Δϕ=K(x)u2,x∈R3,where p∈(4,6), ε>0 is a parameter and V and K satisfy the critical frequency conditions. By using variational methods and penalization arguments, we show the existence of multibump solutions for the above system. Furthermore, the heights of these bumps are different order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic and vehicle simulations are often developed individually. However, vehicle performance is heavily affected by traffic conditions. Cosimulations of traffic and vehicle under real‐road situations can reflect the semi‐real‐world performance of vehicles, with traffic conditions being taken into considerations. This paper proposed an approach to combine the traffic and vehicle simulations that are realized by simulation of urban mobility (SUMO) and GT‐Suite software, respectively. In this paper, the sensitivities of the road grade and vehicle speed to the fuel economy and exhaust emissions were investigated; vehicle fuel consumption and regular exhaust emissions on a real‐road were analyzed; the effect of the traffic accident and congestions on fuel consumption and exhaust emissions were quantified. The results indicated that nitrogen oxides (NOx) and soot emission were consistent with fuel consumption rate, which was dominated by vehicle acceleration whose effect was aggravated by road grade. The fuel penalties caused by accident were in the range of 0.015‐0.023 kg depending on the severity of the accidents. The fuel consumption increased from 1.199 to 1.312 kg and 1.559 kg for 900 and 1800 vehicles/h traffic flow cases compared with 180 vehicles/h traffic flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the existence and multiplicity of standing waves with prescribed L2‐norm Schrödinger‐Poisson equations with general nonlinearities in R3: i∂tψ+Δψ−κ(|x|−1*|φ|2)ψ+f(ψ)=0,where κ>0 and f is superlinear and satisfies the monotonicity condition. To this end, we look for critical points of the following functional Eκ(u)=12∫R3|∇u|2+κ4∫R3(|x|−1*u2)u2−∫R3F(u)constrained on the L2‐spheres S(c)=u∈H1(R3):||u||22=c,c>0, where F(s):=∫0sf(t)dt. We consider the case where Eκ is unbounded from below on S(c) and establish the existence of critical points of Eκ on S(c) for c>0 sufficiently small and under some mild assumptions on f. In addition, we show that there are infinitely many radial critical points {unκ} of Eκ on S(c) when f is odd and present a convergence property of unκ as κ↘0. Our results generalize some recent results in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper presents an efficient topology optimization procedure for exterior acoustic‐structure interaction problems, in which the coupled systems are formulated by the boundary element method (BEM) and the finite element method (FEM). So far, the topology optimization based on the coupled FEM‐BEM still faces several issues needed to be addressed, especially the efficient design sensitivity analysis for the coupled systems. In this work, we contribute to these issues in two main aspects. Firstly, the adjoint variable method (AVM) formulations are derived for sensitivity analysis of arbitrary objective function, and the feedback coupling between the structural and acoustic domains are taken into consideration in the sensitivity analysis. Secondly, in addition to the application of fast multipole method (FMM) in the acoustic BEM response analysis, the FMM is now updated to adapt to the arising different multiplications in the AVM equations. These accelerations save considerable computing time and memory. Numerical tests show that the developed approach permits its application to large‐scale problems. Finally, some basic observations for the optimized designs are drawn from the numerical investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probabilistic optimal power flow (POPF) is an important tool in power system planning and operation. One limitation of conventional POPF is that only the probability information of random variables is obtained as a reference for related analyses. Frequency and duration information often plays an important role in power system assessment. In this study, a frequency and duration analysis method for POPF with wind farms (WFs) is proposed, which is based on Markov chains by improving the traditional probability‐frequency distribution function (PFDF) method. The main advantage of the proposed method is that highly accurate solutions can be obtained with less computation. Random input variables, including intermittent loads and WF power outputs associated with both wind speed uncertainties and wind turbine (WT) failures, are modeled using the corresponding PFDFs. With the proposed method, not only probability information but also frequency and duration information of random POPF outputs are efficiently and analytically computed through the operations of PFDFs of random inputs. Moreover, an optimization method for determining the clustering number of random states is proposed to improve the credibility of stochastic process modeling of Markov‐chain‐based random variables. The test on the modified IEEE‐RTS79 system with WFs demonstrates the rapidity and validity of the proposed method. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the following biharmonic equation: BvΔ2u+Vλ(x)u=α(x)f(u)+νK(x)|u|q−2uinRN,u∈H2(RN),where N⩾5,ν ∈ (0,ν0],1  <  q  <  2,Δ2u  =  Δ(Δu) and Vλ(x)  =  λa(x) − b(x) with λ > 0. Firstly, we prove the bipolar Rellich inequality. Secondly, by using bipolar Rellich inequality, Gigliardo‐Nirenberg inequality, and Ekeland variational principle, we prove the existence of nontrivial solution for problem Bν. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a class of sublinear or superlinear p(x)‐Laplacian equations in RN. Some new criteria to guarantee that the existence of multiple solutions for the considered problem is established by using the Morse theory and minimax methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the following fractional Schrödinger‐Poisson system ( − Δ ) α u + V ( x ) u + K ( x ) ϕ u = f ( x ) | u | q − 2 u , in R 3 , ( − Δ ) t ϕ = K ( x ) u 2 , in R 3 , where 0 < t ≤ α < 1, q ∈ ( 4 , 2 α ∗ ), and 4α+2t ≥3 and the functions V(x), K(x) and f(x) have finite limits as |x|→∞. By imposing some suitable conditions on the decay rate of the functions, we prove that the above system has two nontrivial solutions. One of them is positive and the other one is sign‐changing. Recent results from the literature are generally improved and extended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous tidal phenomena, including river tides, internal tides, and tides in ice‐covered bay, are nonstationary, which pose a great challenge for traditional tidal analysis methods. Based on the independent point scheme and cubic spline interpolation, a new approach, namely the enhanced harmonic analysis, is developed to deal with nonstationary tides. A MATLAB toolbox, S_TIDE, developed from the widely used T_TIDE, is used to realize the approach. The efficiency of S_TIDE is validated by analyzing a set of hourly water level observations from stations on the lower Columbia River. In all stations, the hindcast of S_TIDE is more accurate than NS_TIDE that is a powerful nonstationary tidal analysis tool adapted to river tides. The changing mean water level and tidal constituent properties obtained by S_TIDE are similar to those obtained by NS_TIDE, continuous wavelet transform, and empirical mode decomposition and highly consistent with theory on river tides. Moreover, different from NS_TIDE that only can be applied to river tides, enhanced harmonic analysis is free of dynamic content, assuming only known tidal frequencies. Therefore, S_TIDE can be applied to all kinds of nonstationary tides theoretically. Though powerful, S_TIDE also has some limitations: S_TIDE cannot be used for prediction and too many independent points in S_TIDE may induce computational memory overflow and unrealistic results. Plain Language Summary: Based on the independent point scheme and cubic spline interpolation, a new approach, enhanced harmonic analysis, was developed to deal with nonstationary tides. Enhanced harmonic analysis is realized by a MATLAB toolbox, S_TIDE, which is developed from the widely used T_TIDE. S_TIDE assumes only known tidal frequencies and theoretically can be applied to all kinds of nonstationary tides and stationary tides. In this study, S_TIDE is applied to analyzing records of river rides that is one of the simplest kinds of nonstationary tides for which ample data are available. The method is compared with other methods to show its efficiency. Key Points: A MATLAB toolbox, S_TIDE, is used to realize enhanced harmonic analysis (EHA) for nonstationary tidesS_TIDE can separate oscillations in MWL, amplitudes, and phases on different time scales within a given frequency band using different number of IPsFor D4 constituents, not only the time variations but also the along‐channel variations are dominated by river flow [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the existence of ground state solutions for the following Schrödinger-Poisson equations: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the following fractional Schrödinger equations: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the following Schrödinger-Poisson systems [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the following systems of Kirchhoff-type equations: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose Currently, there are limited options for treatment of postherpetic neuralgia ( PHN) patients in China. While pregabalin is an effective treatment option for PHN in several countries, there is limited information on its efficacy in Chinese patients. Methods This was an 8-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in Chinese patients with PHN randomized (1:1) to pregabalin 300 mg/day or placebo. Primary efficacy endpoint was change from baseline in mean pain score (Daily Pain Rating Scale; 0 = 'no pain' to 10 = 'worst possible pain'). Secondary efficacy endpoints included change from baseline in overall pain intensity score, by visual analog scale ( VAS; 0 = 'no pain' to 100 = 'worst possible pain') and daily sleep interference score (0 = 'pain does not interfere with sleep' to 10 = 'completely interferes'). Results A total of 220 patients were randomized and received treatment (111 pregabalin and 109 placebo). Improvement in mean pain score with pregabalin was significantly greater than placebo, least squares mean difference (95% CI), −0.71 (−1.08, −0.34); P = 0.0002. Improvements in VAS and sleep interference score at endpoint were significantly greater with pregabalin than placebo, least squares mean difference (95% CI), −8.18 (−11.99, −4.37); P < 0.0001, and −0.54 (−0.93, −0.14); P = 0.0079, respectively. Adverse events were consistent with current product labeling, with dizziness the most commonly reported adverse event (24.3% of pregabalin-treated patients). Conclusion Pregabalin improved measures of pain and sleep, and is well tolerated in Chinese patients with PHN. These results may inform physicians treating patients with PHN in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete interaction between the structural domain and the acoustic domain needs to be considered in many engineering problems, especially for the acoustic analysis concerning thin structures immersed in water. This study employs the finite element method to model the structural parts and the fast multipole boundary element method to model the exterior acoustic domain. Discontinuous higher-order boundary elements are developed for the acoustic domain to achieve higher accuracy in the coupling analysis. Structural-acoustic design sensitivity analysis can provide insights into the effects of design variables on radiated acoustic performance and thus is important to the structural-acoustic design and optimization processes. This study is the first to formulate equations for sound power sensitivity on structural surfaces based on an adjoint operator approach and equations for sound power sensitivity on arbitrary closed surfaces around the radiator based on the direct differentiation approach. The design variables include fluid density, structural density, Poisson's ratio, Young's modulus, and structural shape/size. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the accuracy and validity of the proposed algorithm. Different types of coupled continuous and discontinuous boundary elements with finite elements are used for the numerical solution, and the performances of the different types of finite element/continuous and discontinuous boundary element coupling are presented and compared in detail. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brucine chloromethochloride and strychnine chloromethochloride, the two chloromethochloride derivatives formed during the extraction of Semen Strychni in which dichloromethane was used as the extracting solvent, were isolated and purified by high-speed countercurrent chromatography for the first time. The two-phase solvent system composed of chloroform/methanol/0.3 mol/L hydrochloric acid (4:3:2, v/v/v) was selected for separation. From 300 mg of the crude extracts, 56.2 mg of brucine chloromethochloride and 60.2 mg of strychnine chloromethochloride were obtained with the purity of 99.78 and 96.99%, respectively, and the structures were confirmed by mass spectrometry, 1H, 13C, and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. The results indicated that the present method is a powerful technology for large-scale isolation of alkaloids from Semen Strychni. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the coupled system of Kirchhoff-type equations: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study a class of boundary value problems with impulsive effects. Under some natural assumptions, by using Morse theory in combination with the minimax arguments, we establish some new results on the existence of multiple nontrivial solutions for the problems. Recent results from the literature are improved and extended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydroxyapatite ( HAp) hollow microspheres with hierarchically porous structure and nanorice-like architecture units were synthesized by the composite-hydroxide approach. NH4 H2 PO4 was first reacted with hydroxides to form a hydroxide-insoluble M3 PO4 (the term M represents either Na or K). The diffusing M3 PO4 at the liquid-solid interface then reacted with the Ca( OH)2, forming insoluble HAp hollow spheres by Kirkendall process. Results show that when reaction time is increased from 3 to 12 h, the average diameter of the microspheres increased from 2.64 to 4.16 μm. In addition, the size homogeneity of the hollow microspheres was improved gradually due to Ostwald ripening. The prepared hollow microspheres were treated by ultrasound, and nanorice-like component units with a large mass of mesopores (<10 nm) were displayed. These prepared HAp hollow microspheres might be expected to apply to ion adsorption and drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rod-like oligo( p-phenylene ethynylene)-functionalized perylene bisimide triad was synthesized and characterized. Aggregation behavior in solvents of different polarity was investigated by absorption and fluorescent spectroscopy. The results showed that stronger aggregations took place in low-polarity slovent. The experiments also indicated that the energy and electron transfer might takeplace between the two chromophores during the photoinduced excitation. Highly ordered two-dimensional assemblies could be observed at solid/liquid interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the existence and multiplicity of solutions for a class of periodic Hamiltonian elliptic systems with spectrum point zero. By applying two recent critical point theorems for strongly indefinite functionals, we present some new criteria to guarantee that Hamiltonian elliptic systems with spectrum point zero have a ground state solution and infinitely many geometrically distinct solutions when the potential satisfies the asymptotically quadratic and weak superquadratic conditions, respectively. Some recent results are extended and improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell transplantation has become an attractive option for cardiac regenerative therapy. However, poor cell survival and extensive redistribution throughout the body can drastically affect the outcome and safety of cell therapy. Although various approaches have been attempted to support the survival and engraftment of implanted cells, we need to apply a new comprehensive strategy by melding the in vitro and in vivo approaches to recondition the cells and infarcted myocardium. Here we summarize our understanding of cell survival and migration after transplantation into the damaged heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An investigation was made as to how short-term traffic forecasting on motorways and other trunk roads is related to the density of detectors. Forecasting performances with respect to different detector spaces have been investigated with both simulated data and real data. Pruning techniques to the input variables used for neural networks were applied to the simulated data. The real data were collected from the M25 motorway and included flow, speed, and occupancy. With the data used in our study, the forecasting performances decrease with the increase of detector spaces. However, by taking the assumed costs of detector infrastructure into account, it may be concluded from this study that increasing coverage to a spacing of 500 m gives little extra benefit and may actually be counter productive in certain circumstances. It was concluded that, on the basis of current evidence, a detector spacing of between 1 and 1.5 km might be optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]