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A novel sensitivity enhanced strain sensor based on two-arm Vernier Effect is proposed and demonstrated. This sensor is prepared by pasting two in-line Fabry Perot interferometers(FPIs) in cross configuration to a diamond metal frame. Because of the contribution of the FPI in vertical axis, it has a greater magnification factor M’ compared to traditional sensors based on Vernier Effect. The structure of the diamond metal frame is optimized using the finite element method by COMSOL. The numerical results indicate that the M’ increases with the decrease of the angle of the diamond metal frame, and when the angle is less than a critical value, M’ decreases sharply to a fixed value due to the vertical axis contraction and the release of preloading force. The experimental results show that when the diamond angle is 60, the M’ is 26.6 which is 4 times that of the sensor in parallel configuration using same FPIs while the free spectra range(FSR) unchanged. This feature is important to improve the sensitivity while controlling device costs.

Background Mental disorders among adolescents have become a worldwide public health problem. This study aimed to estimate the best combination of exercise time and screen time to promote the mental health of Chinese adolescents. Methods Participants included 7200 Chinese adolescents aged 13–18 years from six regions of China. Screen and exercise time data were collected via a self-rated questionnaire. Psychological symptoms (e.g., often feeling depressed, school-weary) were evaluated with the “Multidimensional Sub-health Questionnaire of Adolescents”. Chi-squared tests and logistic regression analysis were conducted to investigate the differences in and correlations among screen time, exercise time, and psychological symptoms. Results The overall detection rate of psychological symptoms among Chinese adolescents was 21.4% (22.1% for boys and 20.6% for girls). Psychological symptom detection rates were lowest among adolescents with 1–2 h/d of screen time (19.5%) and those with 30–60 min/d of exercise time (17.3%). Screen time > 2 h/d (OR = 1.38, P P Conclusion Screen and exercise time are associated with psychological symptoms in Chinese adolescents. A combination of 1–2 h/d of screen time and 30–60 min/d of exercise time is provided as a reference for better mental health.

The difference in growth and nutritional status, both important indices of population quality, between Chinese and Japanese children and adolescents is unknown.This study aimed to compare growth and nutritional status between Chinese and Japanese children and adolescents.The height-for-age and BMI-for-age distribution of 9,226 children and adolescents aged 7-18 years from China and Japan were described with the Lambda Mu and Sigma method. Wasting, overweight and obesity were evaluated based on BMI-for-age cut-offs of the 2007 WHO Child Growth Reference.For boys, the overall average height, weight and BMI of Chinese participants were 3.0 cm, 4.8 kg and 1.2 kg/mCompared with Japanese children, Chinese children tended to be taller. The worrying burden of overweight, obesity and wasting was recognised among Chinese children.

Groundwater is an important source of drinking water in arid areas and groundwater quality can affect human health. In the present study, 42 groundwater samples were collected from the aeolian-sand area of Yulin City, Northwest China, to better understand the groundwater quality for drinking purpose. The water quality index (WQI) was employed to evaluate the groundwater quality, and the associated human health risk was assessed using the assessment models proposed by USEPA for infants, children, and adults. The results showed that the groundwater was slightly alkaline, soft, and fresh water in the study area. The main anion and cation were Ca2+ and HCO3−, respectively, and the main processes controlling the groundwater quality were the dissolution of silicate minerals and cation exchange. NO3− concentration ranged from 0.50 to 98.00 mg/L, with a mean value of 19.13 mg/L. Among the 42 samples, 15 groundwater samples had high NO3− concentration exceeding the acceptable limit (20 mg/L) prescribed by the standard for groundwater quality of China for drinking purpose. In addition, WQI ranged from 5.5 to 132.5, indicating significant variation in water quality in the study area. Most of the groundwater samples (90.5%) were in the categories of excellent to good water for drinking purpose. Moreover, the non-carcinogenic risk of Hazard Quotient (NCHQ) for infants, children, and adults ranged from 0.0136 to 2.6630, 0.0130 to 2.5548, and from 0.0125 to 2.4500, respectively. The order of the NCHQ was infants > children > adults. The areas with high WQI and NCHQ were situated in the agricultural region, where the groundwater was polluted by nitrate due to excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers and large amount of untreated excreta of animals. These results would be helpful to establish reasonable management strategies for sustainable groundwater quality protection.

Neurodegenerative disease (ND) characterized by progressive neuronal cell death is closely associated with excessive production of TNF-α in the cerebrum. However, the specific molecular mechanism linking TNF-α and neuronal cell death remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we report that TNF-α-induced expression of ZBP1 plays a central role in neuronal cell death. We further demonstrate that IRF1 activates ZBP1 expression by directly binding to a core regulatory motif in the ZBP1 promoter in murine neuronal cells but not microglial cells. Moreover, the binding of IRF1 to the ZBP1 promoter causes the increase in ZBP1 expression in two human cell lines. Importantly, the expression levels of IRF1 and ZBP1 are positively correlated in TNF-α-related neurodegenerative disease, suggesting that the TNF-α-IRF1-ZBP1 axis may be a previously unrecognized mechanism of neuronal cell death in neurodegenerative diseases. Our study expands the knowledge on the upstream regulators that induce ZBP1 transcription and provides new insight into the role of ZBP1 in neurodegenerative diseases.

Dynorphin A is increased in neuropathic pain models. Activation of α7 n acetylcholine receptor (nAchR) reduces inflammation and pain. Whether activation of α7 nAchR affects dynorphin A release is unknown. The experiments evaluated the proinflammatory effect of dynorphin A in the spinal nerve ligation-induced neuropathic pain models and the effect of α7 nAchR activation on the dynorphin A content. α7 nAchR agonist, PHA-543613 and its antagonist, methyllycaconitine citrate were used and dynorphin A content was measured after spinal nerve ligation and in microglia cultures to test the analgesic mechanisms of α7 nAchR activation. The results showed that dynorphin A content peaked 3 to 7 days after nerve injury, and dynorphin A anti-serum intrathecal injection decreased IL-β and TNF-α content a week after nerve injury. Activation of α7 nAchR by PHA-543613 alleviated neuropathic pain behaviors and decreased dynorphin A concentration in the ipsilateral spinal cords. Also, PHA-543613 decreased dynorphin A release from the microglia cultures to LPS stimulation by activation of α7 nAchR. Our results suggest that dynorphin A contribute to the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain and that decreasing dynorphin A content by activation of α7 AchR of microglia is a potential therapeutic target for treating neuropathic pain.

Introduction/Background Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is the standard of care for FIGO stage IIB cervical cancer. However, there remains a role of surgical treatment in these patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of treatment modality on survival of patients with stage IIB cervical cancer. Methodology Patients with stage IIB cervical cancer registered in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 1988 and 2015 were identified and grouped according to their treatment modalities. For patients identified as surgical group, only those receiving both hysterectomy and chemotherapy were included. For patients identified as non-surgical group, only those receiving both beam radiation and chemotherapy were included. A 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) were performed to adjust the baseline characteristics. Results A total of 4718 eligible patients were identified, of whom 902 were in the surgical and 3816 in the non-surgical group. Patients undergoing surgery were younger and were more likely to be married, non-Black race, non-squamous cell carcinoma, N1 stage, and have medical insurance, small tumor compared to those receiving non-surgical treatment (P=0.037 for insurance; P Conclusion The treatment modality has significant impact on survival of patients with stage IIB cervical cancer. Surgical treatment should be preferentially considered in patients with non-squamous-cell histology. Chemoradiotherapy with completion surgery may be the most effective treatment. However, when non-surgical treatment was selected, the omission of brachytherapy should be avoided. Disclosures The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

We demonstrated an optical fiber sensor based on a cascaded fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI)-regenerated fiber Bragg grating (RFBG) for simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain under high temperature environments. The FPI is manufactured from a ∼74 µm long hollow core silica tube (HCST) sandwiched between two single mode fibers (SMFs). The RFBG is inscribed in one of the SMF arms which is embedded inside an alundum tube, making it insensitive to the applied strain on the entire fiber sensor, just in case the temperature and strain recovery process are described using the strain-free RFBG instead of a characteristic due-parameter matrix. This feature is intended for thermal compensation for the FPI structure that is sensitive to both temperature and strain. In the characterization tests, the proposed device has exhibited a temperature sensitivity ∼ 18.01 pm/°C in the range of 100 °C - 1000 °C and excellent linear response to strain in the range of 300 °C - 1000 °C. The measured strain sensitivity is as high as ∼ 2.17 pm/µɛ for a detection range from 0 µɛ to 450 µɛ at 800 °C, which is ∼ 1.5 times that of a FPI-RFBG without the alundum tube.

A kind of nested eccentric waveguide constructed with two cylindrical nanowires coated with graphene was designed. The mode characteristics of this waveguide were studied using the multipole method. It was found that the three lowest modes (mode 0, mode 1 and mode 2) can be combined by the zero-order mode or/and the first-order modes of two single nanowires. Mode 0 has a higher figure of merit and the best performance among these modes within the parameter range of interest. The mode characteristics can be adjusted by changing the parameters of the waveguide. For example, the propagation length will be increased when the operating wavelength, the minimum spacing between the inner and outer cylinders, the inner cylinder radius and the Fermi energy are increased. However, when the outer cylinder radius, the dielectric constants of region I, or the dielectric constants of region III are increased, the opposite effect can be seen. These results are consistent with the results obtained using the finite element method (FEM). The waveguide structure designed in this paper is easy to fabricate and can be applied to the field of micro/nano sensing.

Tire footprint properties have important effects on tire-road contact pressure distribution and, consequently, on the general performance of the tire when it is in contact with the road. Most of the research conducted in this area is related to the tire performance under static loading conditions. Past studies show that the slip ratio of the tire plays a significant role on tire footprint characteristics. In this study, to account for the effect of the tire footprint characteristics on the tire performance, a finite element tire model with detailed tread pattern (similar to the tire 205/55R16 used for testing and modeling) has been developed using ABAQUS software. The model has been validated using the experimental methods for both footprint dimensions and vertical stiffness values. The comparison of the results from experiment and simulation show a satisfying agreement within 3.6% error. The model has next been used to simulate tire-road interaction for both, static loading conditions and slippage. The results for the footprint properties of the tire with applied normal load of 4 kN for slip ratio of 10%, 15%, 20%, 35%, and 40% are presented. The footprint characteristics of the tire have been parametrized in order to describe the changes in the tire-road contact patch properties under different operational conditions. The parameters with the greatest effect on tire traction performance have been identified and the relationships between these parameters and the tire performance have been presented.

We demonstrate an optical fiber sensor produced by two parallel Fabry–Perot interferometers (FPIs) for simultaneous measurement of temperature and gas pressure under high temperature environments. Each FPI is manufactured by combining hollow silica tube (HST) and optical fiber. These two FPIs respectively form reference and sensing optical paths, which are connected by a 3-dB coupler to form the Vernier effect. A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is introduced in sensing arm FPI to measure temperature. By optimizing the structure of the two FPIs, our sensor obtains relatively low temperature cross-sensitivity, and effectively improved the fringe contrast of the reflection spectrum by using multimode fiber (MMF). The temperature sensitivity of the sensor is 12.01 pm/°C within the range of 25–600 °C. The pressure sensitivity of the sensor is as high as 63.67 nm/MPa and 21.22 nm/MPa within the range of 0–0.7 MPa at 25 °C and at 600 °C respectively, which is approximately 15-times that of the open-cavity FPI. Its simple manufacturing method and relatively low temperature cross-sensitivity have potential application in high-temperature air pressure monitoring.

Background: This study aimed to compare the difference in cardiorespiratory fitness between Chinese and Japanese children and adolescents. Methods: Participants comprised 9025 children and adolescents aged 7&ndash, 18 years from China and Japan. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was measured by performance in the 20 m shuttle run test (20mSRT) and estimated maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). Differences in CRF between countries were evaluated by t-tests. Centile curves for the 20mSRT and VO2max values were constructed for Chinese and Japanese children and adolescents, respectively, using the Lambda Mu and Sigma (LMS) method. Results: (1) For most of the age groups, the 20mSRT and VO2max performances among Chinese participants were lower than among Japanese participants. (2) Japanese children had the most apparent gains in P10, P50, and P90 VO2max values in primary school, however, they gradually decreased in middle school. For Chinese girls, the P10, P50, and P90 VO2max values decreased gradually with age. (3) The VO2max value among Japanese children increased, however, it decreased or remained flat among Chinese children in primary school. Conclusions: CRF among Chinese participants was lower than among Japanese participants while the VO2max value showed different trends in primary school. Effective measures should be taken to improve CRF among children and adolescents.

In mining areas, fresh groundwater plays an essential role in meeting the water needs for coal production, agriculture, animal husbandry, and human consumption. The objective of this study is to obtain a deeper understanding of the groundwater evolution processes, and to assess the groundwater quality and its suitability for domestic and irrigation purposes in Chenqi coalfield, located in the Hulunbuir grassland of Inner Mongolia, China. 21 groundwater samples were collected from three different landforms (high plain, plain, and river valley) for major ions and trace metals analyses. General hydrochemistry, correlation, and hierarchical cluster analysis methods were employed. The results show that the groundwater is predominantly of the HCO3–Na·Ca type and HCO3–Ca·Na in the plain and river valley areas, and of the Cl·(HCO3·SO4)–Na·Ca in the high plain area. The groundwater circulation is regulated by natural processes: in the plain and river valley areas, rock weathering, dissolution of silicates (especially plagioclase), and reverse cation exchange are the major hydrogeochemical processes occurring, whereas, in the high plain area, evaporation and dissolution of halite, silicates, and gypsum are the main hydrogeochemical processes. Besides, mining activities have a certain impact on groundwater quality due to the change of groundwater circulation conditions. Groundwater in the plain and river valley areas is suitable for drinking and irrigation purposes, with low concentrations of all parameters. However, in the high plain area, total hardness (TH), high total dissolved solids (TDS), and Cl− and SO42− concentrations limit the suitability of the groundwater for drinking purposes, while high EC and Na concentration makes it unsuitable for irrigation. These results aid in sustainable management of water resources in the study area, and provide a reference for the sustainable utilization of water resources and the rational exploitation of natural resources in other coal mining areas of the world.

It is essential to assess mine water quality before this resource can be comprehensively utilized. The objective of this paper was to develop an integrated approach that can be applied for mine water quality assessment. An improved analytic hierarchy process (IAHP) method was used to calculate the weights of evaluation parameters, while fuzzy variable sets were used to determine the classification of mine water quality. Guojiawan mining area in Shaanxi Province, China, was chosen as the study area for this research and concentrations of total dissolved solids, chemical oxygen demand, chloride, sulfate, fluoride, and arsenic, as well as pH were utilized as water quality assessment factors. A total of 16 water samples, 13 samples from Guojiawan coal mine and three samples from Beiniuchuan River near the mine, were collected. The results show that four of these samples belonged to class III (roof water and river water) and encompass 25% of the total, and it can be used for domestic drinking, irrigation and industrial purposes, directly. While three belonged to class V and were derived from the auxiliary and main haulage roadways as well as the 51140 face cutting. They can be used for some industrial purpose after corresponding treatment. This latter group of samples accounted for 18.75% of the overall total, while the remaining nine were evaluated as class IV, encompassing 56.25% of the total, and they can be used for irrigation directly and domestic drinking after proper treatment.

Preoperative prediction of the grade of soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) is important because of its effect on the treatment plan, as adjuvant chemotherapy before surgery may significantly affect survival. The purpose of our study was to assess the value of radiomics features in distinguishing histological grades of STSs. Eighty STS patients (18 low-grade [grade I]; 62 high-grade [grade II and III]) undergoing T1WI and fat-suppressed T2WI were enrolled in the primary set. The T1WI and fat-suppressed T2WI were analysed to derive volume-based data of the entire lesion. Multiple machine learning methods were trained to establish classification models to predict STS grades. We tested the model with a validation set (33 patients; 7 low-grade; 26 high-grade). The machine learning method performance varied with the different machine learning algorithms used. The best classification model for the prediction of STS grade, a combination of feature selection by recursive feature elimination (RFE) and random forest (RF) classification algorithm with synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE), had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.9615 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.8944-1) in the validation set. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the best method were 93.94, 96.15, and 85.71% in the validation set, respectively. Radiomics feature-based machine learning methods are useful for distinguishing STS grades, which improve the precision of preoperative diagnosis and may affect treatment strategies. Funding: This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 81370035, and 81230030). Declaration of Interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Ethical Approval: This retrospective study was approved by the local ethics committee of our hospital, which waived the need for patients’ informed consent.

In this work, an in-fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for ambient relative humidity (RH) and temperature measurements. The FPI is manufactured from short segments of hollow-core fiber (HCF) and photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The air-cavity in the HCF segment enables a strong light-air interaction whereas the air holes of the PCF serve as vents which enable the exchange of air between the air-cavity and the surrounding medium. Our findings show that the dip intensity is solely sensitive to the change in RH with a linear sensitivity of 0.06273 dB/%RH in the range of 35–71%RH whereas the dip wavelength is solely sensitive to the ambient temperature with a linear sensitivity of 10.64 pm/°C in the range of 25–70 °C. The cross-sensitivity between the two measurands can be disregarded, therefore no sophisticated equation is required for the discriminative measurement of humidity and temperature.

High quality passivating contacts can be realized by using the combination of a thin interfacial oxide (SiOx) and doped polysilicon (polySi). Recombination losses are minimized by providing very good passivation between the thin hydrogenated oxide and the cSi, a high field effect by the highly doped polySi [1-2], combined with the low level penetration of dopants in the wafer [2-3]. To realize this low level in-diffusion of dopants, several interacting options are evaluated in this work: the quality of the thin oxide layer (growth method), combined with a diffusion blocking method (nitridation), doping concentration levels in the polySi and temperature of diffusion. It is shown that for Phosphorus (P)-doped polySi, in-diffusion can be reduced by adding an i-layer in between the oxide and the highly doped polySi, lowering the overall doping level in the system slightly. For Boron (B)-doped polySi, in-diffusion can be blocked by nitridation of the SiO2 layer.

To improve the security and reliability of equipment and reduce their failure rate, a data-driven state detection algorithm was proposed. The concepts of multi-scale system, multi-scale entropy and multi-scale exergy were defined. The algorithm is used for multi-scale systems whose state parameters change over time and have the characteristic of increasing monotonically on a dominant scale. An abrasion index for the middle speed roller ring mill was constructed, which was used to monitor the states of the instruments. Noise that affected the accuracy of the results was analyzed. The results of simulation experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm, which can provide a technical basis for condition maintenance.

Chronic stress is a potential contributing factor for depression, accompanying with metabolic and inflammatory response. Exercise is considered as a treatment for depression, but mechanisms underlying its beneficial effects still remain unknown. The objectives of present study were to confirm that metabolic factors-triggered inflammatory response mediates the antidepressant actions of exercise in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rats. It has been found that CUMS stimulated expression of ghrelin and its receptor Ghsr, but inhibited expression of leptin and its receptor LepRb. Ghrelin, via binding to Ghsr, induced phosphorylation of GSK-3β on Tyr216 and decreased phosphorylation on Ser9, thus increasing GSK-3β activity. Conversely, ghrelin binding to Ghsr decreased STAT3 activity, through decreasing phosphorylation of STAT3 on Tyr705 and increasing Ser727 phosphorylation. Negatively correlated with ghrelin, leptin binding to LepRb had opposite effects on the activity of GSK-3β and STAT3 via phosphorylation. In addition, decreased leptin level initiated NLRP3 activity via LepRb. Furthermore, GSK-3β inhibited STAT3 activation, thus promoting the expression of NLRP3. Meanwhile, swim improved metabolic and inflammatory response both in CUMS and control rats. Our findings suggest that exercise not only ameliorates metabolic disturbance and inflammatory response in depression, but also contributes to metabolic and inflammatory function in normal conditions.

We demonstrated an optical fiber sensor with high sensitivity of temperature and refractive index, we can use it to measure temperature and refractive index simultaneously. The sensing head consists of a section of multimode fiber (MMF) and a section of multi-core fiber (MCF), which is connected between two segments of single-mode fibers to form a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). A short section of MCF and standard single-mode fiber was misaligned splicing. The sensitivity of temperature and refractive index obtained by experimental results is 52.3 pm/ °C and 11.22 dB/RI, respectively. Due to the use of different demodulation methods, the sensor can overcome the cross contamination problem of measuring the refractive index of the temperature. What's more, the sensor is small in size (only about 3mm), simple in structure and easy to fabricate.

The data-based parameter identification is an efficient way for the modeling of Wind Turbine Generation System (WTGS) which only reveals the external characteristic. However the inner characteristic is unknown. In practice the parameters of the mechanism model are changing with time. Thus in the paper the grey-box modeling approach which utilizes the operation data and operating mechanism together are proposed to realize the online parameter identification of WTGS under closed-loop. Considering the essential difference between aerodynamic system and the other systems the driven-train system and the electrical system are identified together which also simplify the identification process and the switching mechanism is proposed for the parameters update of mechanism model which is much efficient and applicable in practice. Besides the identification of driven-train system and electrical system in combination could ensure the global approximation ability to the dynamics of WTGS while the local approximation ability to the subsystems could also be validated when the identification parameters are obtained. In the paper the combined state space model including the driven-train model and Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) model is deduced. The GH Bladed Software would be used to generated the operation data for identification and the genetic algorithm is adopted to identify the model parameters. As a result the nonlinear state space model could be obtained and its approximation ability to the dynamic characteristic of WTGS is validated through simulation. Then the practical characteristic of wind turbine could be approximated more accurately. Note that the paper provides meaningful research basis for the control design and model-based fault diagnosis of large-scale WTGS.

A scheme, named SUV_Shape, for the gross tumor volume (GTV) delineation on positron emission tomography (PET) images was designed by a numerical approximation method, and evaluated during this study. Twenty-one vacuous plastic balls of different shapes and sizes, their volumes ranged from 0.56 to 179.50 mL and were confirmed by a BL610 balance (Sartorius, Canada), consisted of four group models. Every group model was filled with a specific activity [18F]-FDG solution (55.1, 38.2, 23.7, and 36.3 kBq/mL) represented tumor, and fixed at the bottom of a barrel which was filled with unlike [18F]-FDG solution (5.4, 6.8, 8.1, and 4.0 kBq/mL, correspondingly) represented the background. The PET data of them were acquired by two-dimensional and three-dimensional mode in a PET/CT scanner (Discovery ST8, GE Healthcare, USA). The volume of each ball was measured by SUV_Shape, and the BL610 balance, labeled as GTVs and GTVt, respectively. Five rabbits implanted VX2 squamous carcinomas were acquired by [18F]-FDG PET/CT. These rabbits were mercy killed within 24 h after PET/CT acquisition. VX2 tumors were surgically removed, and their volumes were measured by SUV_Shape, and caliper, labeled as GTVs and GTVt. The Spearman’s ρ between GTVs and GTVt were done. The tumor-background ratios in four groups of phantom models were 10.3, 5.6, 2.9, and 9.0, respectively. The relationship between GTVt and GTVs for phantom models was significant (Spearman’s ρ > 0.95, P

In Chinese agricultural villages, housing provides multiple functions for rural households. With the transition of state policies and regional socio-economic development in China over the last 40 years, farmers have modified the layout and form of rural housing to adapt to the shifts in their livelihoods and lifestyles. Rural housing built by the remittances of migrant workers has produced negative externalities in densely populated agricultural regions, whilst in some villages, traditional housing has been demolished as part of settlement rationalization plans, with peasants relocated to apartment-style housing. These practices have been controversial and generated conflicts between peasants and local governments. Thus, rural housing has become a theoretical and practical problem in rural China that cannot be resolved with a “one-size-fits-all plan or policy”. Based on field surveys and interviews in three case villages, this paper examines how the form and layout of North China quadrangles (NCQs, or Huabei siheyuan), the four-sided folk housing built by people of the Han nationality in northern China, have been modified since the 1970s. We discuss the land use problems arising from the evolution of NCQs and options for solutions. We found that NCQs in agricultural villages have undergone several dramatic modifications: NCQs built during the collectivist agriculture era (1970s) were traditional in style but had reduced functions; NCQs built during the agriculture intensification era (1980s to mid-1990s) played an important role in agriculture production; and NCQs built in the cyclical migration era (mid-1990s to date) are typically modern and spacious. These modifications to the form of NCQs can be seen as adaptation and survival strategies of rural households in response to socio-economic transitions, their changing livelihoods, and changes in their needs over the course of their lives. Today, rural houses with varied qualities, abandoned houses, and empty plots of land coexist and intermingle together in rural settlements. To manage this chaotic situation, we suggest macro-level solutions with targeted measures to respect variations in farmers’ characteristics and interests and avoid impairing the diversity and adaptability of rural folk housing.

Relatively little has been known about pathophysiological mechanisms contributing to the development of neuropsychiatric symptoms in the context of metabolic syndrome. Impaired leptin signaling activation in db/db mice has been proposed as a potential link between behavioral and metabolic disorders. Our previous studies have shown that exercise has the beneficial effects on a depression-like and insulin-resistant state in mice. The present study aimed to determine whether and how leptin receptor knockout (db/db) induces depression-like behaviors, and to identify the antidepressant effects of swimming exercise in db/db mice. Our results support the validity of db/db mice as an animal model to study depression with metabolic abnormalities, but fail to confirm the improvement of exercise on depression. LepRb knockout-induced depression-like behaviors are associated with STAT3/SOCS3 signaling but independent of IKKβ/NFκB signaling. Our findings suggest the potential importance of LepRb as an exercise-regulated target for depression, also representing a new target underlying treatment-resistant depression.

To analyze the characteristics and basic principles of the medical support and anesthesia for the Shenzhou eleven astronaut landing field, and to summarize the experience of the medical care and anesthesia in the main landing field of our country, and to ensure the security tasks in the special environment such as the emergency return of manned space flight. To review the reports on the medical care and anesthesia of the astronauts at landing field, and summarize the experience of the medical care and anesthesia of the Shenzhou five to the Shenzhou ten astronaut medical support landing field, and put forward a series of organizations and prepositions on the environment characteristics of the "Shenzhou eleven" in the long time and the cold weather in the main landing field of the scheduled return time. Case, equipment and effective treatment plan, and be tested in actual combat. On the basis of the original first aid, the first aid equipment was adjusted, the first aid procedure was optimized, the heat preservation heating device was added, the laryngeal mask, the anti fog visible laryngoscope and the portable ultrasonic device were introduced, and the anesthesia and medical care plan for the manned space landing field was formulated, which was the astronaut stay in the space and the cold and complicated weather conditions. The treatment and medical care provided a strong guarantee. The first aid support scheme of the Shenzhou eleven spacecraft's main landing field was improved and optimized, and it fully met the medical security task of the special environment such as the astronaut emergency return and so on in the cold weather.

Security alarm algorithm is the key technology in the application of automotive active collision avoidance system, both at home and abroad are in-depth study. The main basis for security alarm is the distance between vehicles, when the distance between the two vehicles arrive at certain critical range, the alarm system will alarm, to remind the driver brake or deceleration. This paper mainly introduces the safety distance between vehicles of the problem, based on the research at home and abroad, is improved to make it more in line with the real traffic environment on the existing model.

Since PIOs cannot be prevented, they will continue to occur, and methods are needed to mitigate the risk of catastrophic PIO. This paper discusses the challenges to detection of PIO in real-time. It describes the design of a method for the real-time detection of PIO that can be used to alert the flight crew in the early stage of a PIO, before the event has become catastrophic. With early warning, it is possible that loss of aircraft can be prevented through appropriate pilot response. Real Time Detection of a Pilot-Induced Oscillation (PIO) can potentially save both aircrew and aircraft. The method is effective at identifying any oscillatory behavior in real-time,Although limitations of the algorithm do exist, ROVER, if used correctly, will detect a severe PIO event and could allow a pilot to open the feedback control loop or adjust the control input strategy in order to suppress the aircraft oscillatory response.

By employing lithium and nitrogen codoping method, p-type zinc oxide (ZnO) films have been prepared, and the p-type conduction can maintain for 207 days. ZnO p-n junctions have been constructed based on the p-type ZnO. Under the drive of continuous current, obvious emission has been observed from the p-n junctions, and the ZnO p-n junction light-emitting devices (LEDs) can still work after placing in air ambient for 180 days. Room temperature electroluminescence spectra of the p-ZnO:(Li, N)/n-ZnO structured LEDs under continuous current recorded intermittently for 180 days. (C) 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Two different long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) are inscribed by high frequency CO 2 pulse laser. Coatings effects on inscribed LPFGs bend sensing characteristics are researched. The experimental results show that coatings effects on bending strain characteristics of LPFGs are more obvious, and LPFGs with coatings have more higher strain sensitivity, it is more suitable for used in bending sensor measurements.

Purpose. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of acute exhaustive swimming exercise on apoptosis in the skeletal muscle of mice.Method. C57BL/6 mice were averagely divided into seven groups. One group was used as control (C), while the remaining six groups went through one-time exhaustive swimming exercise and were terminated at 0 h, 2 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h upon completion of exercise.Result. ABTS was significantly lowered at 12 h and 48 h after exercise. The MDA level was significantly decreased at any time points sampled following exercise. Total SOD activity was significantly decreased at 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h after exercise. Neither mRNA of Bax nor Bax/Bcl-2 ratio was significantly altered by exercise. mRNA of Bcl-2 was significantly decreased since 6 h after exercise. mRNA and protein expressions of PGC-1αwere significantly increased at different time points following exercise.Conclusion. Cellular oxidative stress level was decreased following low intensity, long duration acute exhaustive swimming exercise in mice, and the enzymatic antioxidant capacity was compromised. Apoptosis of the skeletal muscle was inhibited, which could partially be explained by the enhanced level of PGC-1α.

In wireless scenarios, an effective protocol to increase the reliability for time-varying channels is the hybrid automatic repeat request (H-ARQ). In order to improve the performance of communication system with H-ARQ, a kind of full diversity low density parity check (LDPC) on H-ARQ channels was proposed. The new proposed LDPC codes connect the initial transmission with the repeated transmissions by root-connection to get extern diversity gain. In addition, the density evolution process was given. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can not only achieve full diversity, but also get better performance than constructed LDPC codes at present.

OBJECTIVE Depression and Type 2 diabetes mellitus are interrelated conditions, but the underlying neurobiology is insufficiently understood. The current study compared the effects of a pharmacological manipulation with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR) that targets neurobiological processes by adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase activation versus exercise on depression-like behavior and nitric oxide (NO)-related measures. METHODS A mouse model of a depression-like and insulin-resistant state, induced by the co-treatment of high-fat diet and corticosterone administration, was used to examine the antidepressant action of AICAR and exercise. RESULTS Data showed that AICAR was a putative antidepressant in the depression-like and insulin-resistant mice (total ambulatory distance in the open-field test was 5120.69 ± 167.47 cm, mobility duration in the forced swim test was 17.61 ± 1.54 seconds, latency to feed in the novelty suppressed feeding test was 255.67 ± 37.80 seconds; all p values < .05). Furthermore, the antidepressant actions of AICAR required endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity with increased NO production in the prefrontal cortex, whereas corticosterone-induced expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase and NO production may increase the risk of depression. In contrast to the traditional antidepressants such as ketamine and imipramine, AICAR interfered with the effects of insulin in skeletal muscle in the context of high-fat diet, consistent with the potential antidepressant effects of AICAR. Exercise also resulted in activation of adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase, nitric oxide synthase, and NO production (all p values < .01), which in turn may be implicated in the antidepressant effects of exercise. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that NO is an essential signal mediating the antidepressant actions of AICAR. Ultimately, the concurrent effects of AICAR on brain insulin action and mitochondrial function suggest a potential of neural insulin resistance, which may contribute to our understanding of the comorbidity of depression and Type 2 diabetes.

The least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) is sensitive to noises or outliers. To address the drawback, a new robust least squares support vector machine (RLS-SVM) is introduced to solve the regression problem with outliers. A fuzzy membership function, which is determined by heuristic method, is assigned to each training sample as a weight. For each data point, firstly a deleted input neighborhood is found when the high-dimension feature space of input is focused on. Then the new field is reformulated after the output is brought in the neighborhood which we have found. The fuzzy membership function (weight) is set according to the distance from the data point to the center of its neighborhood and the radius of the neighborhood, which implies the probability to be an outlier. Two benchmark simulation experiments and analysis are presented to verify that the performance is improved.

In order to study the influence of the analyzer angle of polarization detection system on the backscatter characteristic of optical pulse in the backward detection device of optical pulse underwater,firstly,the depolarization by scattering was analyzed qualitatively when polarized light travelled in the water using the reflection and refraction theory on the scattering interface.Secondly,with linear polarized laser pulse as incident light,backscatter signals of optial pulse were detected experimentally at different analyzer angles.Finally,after comparing statistical average of leading edge,trailing edge,width,peakvalue,shape and area of optical pulse′s backscatter signal at different analyzer angles,the influence of analyze angle on the backscatter characteristic of optical pulse was analyzed.The result shows that,with the increase of analyzer angle,the backsctter singal′s width becomes narrow,the shape becomes gentle,the peakvalue and area are decreased.The leading edge and trailing edge move backward and the moving distance of leading edge is much larger than that of trailing edge.And the backscatter signal from nearby water area is restrained more effectively by the polarization detection system.

Based on the photo-elastic effect and index ellipsoid,the relationship between transverse force and dielectric constant variation of polarization maintaining fiber(PMF) was obtained under the consideration of the difference between isotropic and anisotropic optical fiber under transverse force.Polarization coupling characteristic of PMF under transversal force was analyzed based on coupled-mode theory.The relationships between the coupling intensity and the amplitude,direction and the acting length of the transversal force were clarified by numerical simulation.When the direction of force was 45°,the coupling intensity of PMF was the best sensitive to the transversal force.The output extinction ratio changed periodically with acting length of the force,and different amplitude of the force corresponded to different period.The linear relation between the output extinction ratio and the amplitude of transverse force in the part region was found.These characteristics are consistent with previous experimental results.

In order to analyze influnce of laser pulse width on backward detection of long-distance wake bubbles,firstly,a simulated model is built to analyze the time-domain characteristics of the laser pulse′s backscttering signal underwater with Monte Carlo method based on Fournier Forand volume scattering function.Using this model,the variation of laser pulse′s backscttering signal by long-distance ship wake bubbles underwater with the width of initial laser pulse is studied.The result shows that,with the increase of the width of laser pulse,the outline of scattering signal by water and echo signal by wake bubbleds in backscattering signal become vague.When the width increases to a certain size,the echo signal cannot be distinguished from backscattering signal.In addition,with the decrease of the scattering intensity of bubbles or the distance between bubbles and detector,the variation becomes more evident.Finally,according to analysis results,a method is presented to extract the echo signal by wake bubbles based on inverse convolution.

Based on Fournier Forand volume scattering function,a simulated model was built to analyze the backscattering properties of laser pulse propagating in water.In this model,in order to obtain light′s impulse response of backscattering in water,Monte Carlo method was used to simulate the process of photon′s propagating.Then,the initial laser pulse and the impulse response were convolved,and the convolution result Fourier spectral was calculated to get the time-and frequency-domain characteristic of the laser pulse′s backscattering signal.Using this model,the influence of the size distribution of scatterer,the relative refractive index of scatterer to water and the attenuation coefficient on the backscattering properties of laser pulse propagating in water was analyzed when the initial laser pulse was approximated by Gaussian function.The result shows that,with the increase of the relative amount of small scatterer,the relative refractive index of scatterer to water and the attenuation coefficient,the energy of the backscattering signal is enhanced,the width is broadened,and the low frequency component is increased notablely.

An analytical method based on four-wave mixing (FWM) is here developed to study the generation of entangled state in an asymmetric semiconductor double quantum well structure. It is found that the maximally entangled state of two beams (the probe and four-wave mixing beams) can be achieved in an appropriate condition. Moreover, we also show that the two entangled beams propagate with ultraslow group velocity in the semiconductor medium. This investigation can be used for achieving the entangled beams in the semiconductor solid-state medium, which is much more practical than that in an atomic medium because of its flexible design and the wide adjustable parameters.

The formation water of Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation in the middle Sichuan Basin is of high salinity in most areas and of low to medium salinity locally. All the formation water lack sulphate ion implying good reducing and sealing conditions, but are rich in barium ion. The forming environment of the Xujiahe formation water is similar to that of the Jurassic formation water, but very different from that of the underlying marine formation water. The Xujiahe formation water has lower sodium (potassium) chloride coefficients and higher metamorphism coefficients. The water shows the characteristics of original continental sedimentary formation water reworked by later marine water of high salinity. In reworking the reservoirs, surface water of high sulphate ion content should be avoided, and also quick changes of formation temperature, pressure and chemical equilibrium should be avoided to prevent precipitates from blocking pores and throats. Key words: Sichuan Basin, Upper Triassic, formation water, origin, geological significance

We demonstrate the formation of ultraslow dark optical solitons with a four-level scheme in an asymmetric semiconductor double quantum well (SDQW) structure based on intersubband transitions by using only a low-intensity pulsed laser radiation. With appropriate conditions we show numerically that the dark optical soliton can travel with a ultraslow group velocity Vg/c ~ ? 10?3. Such a semiconductor system is much more practical than its atomic counterpart because of its flexible design and the controllable interference strength. This nonlinear optical process in the SDQW solid-state material may be used for the control technology of optical delay lines and optical buffers.

A solution to real-time optimal load dispatching problem of power plant is introduced in this paper. Based on analysis of amounts of operating data, it is proved that the characteristics curve of unit coal consumption rate (CCR) against load are constructed by discrete points and it can't be deduced by linear regression. At the default condition of accurate thermodynamic calculation, the factors impacting unit CCR for power supply are studied at different operating conditions. Data mining method is employed to predict CCR for power supply at different operating points and environmental condition based on history and real-time data. Thus, discrete mathematical model between load and CCR is build up for optimal load dispatching (OLD) among the units. Global optimal solution can be approached by dynamic programming method for the reason of the low dimension (number of units in one plant) of this issue now. The method proposed in this paper is applied in a power plant of Datang group and it is proved to be practical and effective.