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Nowadays, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and techniques is ubiquitous and transversal. Fields that take advantage of AI advances include sound and music processing. The advances in interdisciplinary research potentially yield new insights that may further advance the AI methods in this field. This special issue aims to report recent progress and spur new research lines in AI-driven sound and music processing, especially within interdisciplinary research scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) has been widely used as a leading cathode material for lithium-ion batteries in consumer electronics. However, unstable cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) and undesired phase transitions during fast Li+ diffusivity always incur an inferior stability of the high-voltage LCO (HV-LCO). Here, an ultra-thin amorphous titanium dioxide (TiO2) coating layer engineered on LCO by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) strategy is demonstrated to improve the high-rate and long-cycling properties of the HV-LCO cathode. Benefitting from the uniform TiO2 protective layer, the Li+ storage properties of the modified LCO obtained after 50 ALD cycles (LCO-ALD50) are significantly improved. The results show that the average Li+ diffusion coefficient is nearly tripled with a high-rate capability of 125 mAh g−1 at 5C. An improved cycling stability with a high-capacity retention (86.7%) after 300 cycles at 1C is also achieved, far outperforming the bare LCO (37.9%). The in situ XRD and ex situ XPS results demonstrate that the dense and stable CEI induced by the surface TiO2 coating layer buffers heterogenous lithium flux insertion during cycling and prevents electrolyte, which contributes to the excellent cycling stability of LCO-ALD50. This work reveals the mechanism of surface protection by transition metal oxides coating and facilitates the development of long-life HV-LCO electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous zinc metal batteries (AZMBs) are considered a promising candidate for grid-scale energy storage systems owing to their high capacity, high safety and low cost. However, Zn anodes suffer from notorious dendrite growth and undesirable surface corrosion, severely hindering the commercialization of AZMBs. Herein, a strategy for engineering a dense ZnO coating layer on Zn anodes using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique is developed, aiming to improve its long-term cycling stability with fewer Zn dendrites. The surface-modified Zn anode (ZnO@Zn) exhibits an excellent long-cycling life (680 h) and stable coulombic efficiency when being used in a symmetric cell. Moreover, the ZnO@Zn electrode shows a high stability with almost no capacity decay after 1100 cycles at 2C in a full cell using MnO2 as the cathode. The ZnO coating is conducive to reducing corrosion and the generation of by-products, thus increasing the reversibility of Zn2+/Zn stripping/plating. Particularly, density functional theory (DFT) calculation results reveal that the ZnO coating layer could effectively lower the adsorption energy of the Zn(002) plane in ZnO@Zn, inducing the preferential deposition of Zn2+ towards the (002) crystal plane with fewer Zn dendrites. The surface ZnO coating protocol provides a promising approach to achieve a dendrite-free Zn anode for stable AZMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we derive asymptotic properties of both the velocity and the vorticity fields to the 3-dimensional axially symmetric Navier–Stokes equations at infinity under the generalized D-solution assumption ∫ ℝ 3 | ∇ u | q d x < ∞ for 2 < q < ∞. We do not impose any zero or non-zero constant vector asymptotic assumption to the solution at infinity. Our results generalize those in [H. Choe and B. Jin, Asymptotic properties of axis-symmetric D-solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations, J. Math. Fluid Mech. 11(2) (2009) 208–232; S. Weng, Decay properties of axially symmetric D-solutions to the steady Navier–Stokes equations, J. Math. Fluid Mech. 20(1) (2018) 7–25; B. Carrillo, X. Pan and Q. S. Zhang, Decay and vanishing of some axially symmetric D-solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations, J. Funct. Anal. 279(1) (2020) 108504], where the authors focused on the case q = 2 and the velocity field approaches zero at infinity. Meanwhile, when q → 2 + and the velocity field approaches zero at infinity, our results coincide with the results in [H. Choe and B. Jin, Asymptotic properties of axis-symmetric D-solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations, J. Math. Fluid Mech. 11(2) (2009) 208–232; S. Weng, Decay properties of axially symmetric D-solutions to the steady Navier–Stokes equations, J. Math. Fluid Mech. 20(1) (2018) 7–25; B. Carrillo, X. Pan and Q. S. Zhang, Decay and vanishing of some axially symmetric D-solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations, J. Funct. Anal. 279(1) (2020) 108504]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corrosion of rebars will change the mechanical properties of the reinforced concrete structure, leading to the decline in the structural strength, which seriously threatens the safety and stability of buildings and power equipment foundations. Hence, it is of great significance to detect the internal corrosion of reinforced concrete structures. In this paper, a nondestructive detection method for detecting the corrosion in reinforced concrete structures based on microwave was proposed, and the corrosion state of rebar can be evaluated by the change of microwave information. Compared with other detection methods, microwave nondestructive detection has the advantages of low energy consumption, strong penetration, no contact, and small equipment volume and weight. In order to verify the effectiveness of the method, a microwave nondestructive detection simulation test platform was built and reinforced concrete test models with different corrosion lengths and depths were made. The influences of concrete parameters, the microwave frequency, and the lifting distance of the waveguide were analyzed. The frequency sweeping and moving scanning detection methods of the waveguide were carried out for the test models with different corrosion defects, and the changes of microwave S-parameters under different corrosion defects were obtained. The results show that when the waveguide is placed horizontally by the frequency sweeping detection method, the corrosion length detection effect of rebar is better. When the waveguide is placed vertically by the frequency sweeping detection method, the corrosion depth can be identified and the amplitude of transmission coefficient increases with the increase in the corrosion depth. The corrosion length of rebars can be identified quantitatively by the moving scanning detection method of the waveguide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The patent entry standard raises the technical level, but it also sparked discussion on patent strategic. This paper constructs an evolutionary game model by introducing a supervisory mechanism and conducts simulations to study patent strategy of enterprises participating in standard setting. Moreover, empirical is used to test opportunistic motive. This paper finds that pre‐regulation and post‐punishment have key effect on the equilibrium. With the strengthening of supervision, the system tends to converge on the results of prior disclosure. Companies participating in national standard setting have opportunistic motive to patent applications. The paper enriches the research of intellectual property in standardisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider regularity criteria of a class of 3D axially symmetric MHD-Boussinesq systems without magnetic resistivity or thermal diffusivity. Under some Prodi-Serrin type critical assumptions on the horizontal angular component of the velocity, we will prove that strong solutions of the axially symmetric MHD-Boussinesq system can be smoothly extended beyond the possible blow-up time $ T_\ast $ if the magnetic field contains only the horizontal swirl component. No a priori assumption on the magnetic field or the temperature fluctuation is imposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

String instruments, wind instruments and percussion instruments are three traditional categories of musical instruments, among which wind instruments play an important role. Usually, pitches of wind instruments are determined by the vibrating air column, and the musical pitches will be affected by multiple factors of the air flow. In this article, the mechanism of sound production by a pipe is analysed in terms of the coupling of the edge tone and the air column's vibration in the tube. Experiments and computational fluid dynamics numerical calculations are combined to study the influence of the jet velocity on the oscillation frequency of the edge tone and the musical sound produced by the tube, which help to gain deeper insight into the relation between physics and music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Natural orifice specimen extraction (NOSE) surgery has been widely implemented in colorectal cancer surgery due to its good short‐term efficacy. However, anastomotic leakage (AL) is a serious postoperative complication in colorectal cancer, and the risk factors for this complication after NOSE surgery have rarely been investigated. The aim of this study was to explore the predictive factors for AL after laparoscopic resection with transrectal NOSE for rectal cancer and sigmoid colon cancer. Methods: A total of 208 patients who underwent total laparoscopic resection with transrectal NOSE for rectal cancer and sigmoid colon cancer from January 2014 to June 2019 were systematically reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the relevant risk factors. Results: The rate of AL was 10.1% (21 of 208 patients). The univariate analyses showed that male sex (85.7% vs 57.8%, P =.013), the distance from the anal verge (10.5 vs 14.5 cm, P =.011), and a duration of operation ≥140 min (71.4% vs 29.4%, P<.001) were associated with an increased incidence of AL. The multivariate analysis showed that a duration of operation ≥140 min (OR = 5427, 95% CI = 1.355‐21.727, P =.017) was an independent risk factor for AL. Conclusion: A duration of operation ≥140 min is a possible risk factor for AL after total laparoscopic resection with transrectal NOSE for colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]