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The stability of sampled-data systems is investigated using a new type of Lyapunov functional. The interval from the sampling point t k to t k+1 is assumed to be a sampling interval. By fully utilizing the characteristic information on the whole sampling interval, a new two-sided closed-loop Lyapunov functional is proposed, which utilizes the information on both the intervals from the sampling point t to t k and from t to t k+1 . Based on the two-sided closed-loop Lyapunov functional and modified free-matrix-based inequality, a less conservative stability criterion is derived for a sampled-data control system, and three numerical examples are provided to verify the effectiveness and reduced conservativeness of the proposed method. Furthermore, the proposed method is applied to solve the stability problem of electric power markets, and the practical significance of reducing the conservativeness is discussed.

In order to make the V-belt CVT match the Racing Baja condition and engine characteristics， its key parameters are optimized. A V-belt CVT mechanical model is established， and the CVT speed regulation characteristics are analyzed and simulated in Matlab. The genetic algorithm is used to optimize the key parameters of CVT with the aim of improving the power. The bench is set up for test verification. The test results show that the simulation results are basically consistent with the test data. The CVT transmission ratio changes according to the actual working conditions， and the engine always works in the peak torque and power corresponding speed range (2 800 ~3 600 r/min)， and the vehicle power performance is significantly improved. This study has a certain guiding role in the parameter matching and optimization of V-belt CVT.

Abstract Background Neutrophils form the first line of innate host defense against invading microorganisms. We previously showed that F0F1 ATP synthase (F-ATPase), which is widely known as mitochondrial respiratory chain complex V, is expressed in the plasma membrane of human neutrophils and is involved in regulating cell migration. Whether F-ATPase performs cellular functions through other pathways remains unknown. Methods Blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by nano-ESI-LC MS/MS identification and bioinformatic analysis were used to identify protein complexes containing F-ATPase. Then, the identified protein complexes containing F-ATPase were verified by immunoblotting, immunofluorescence colocalization, immunoprecipitation, real-time RT-PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis. Immunoblotting, flow cytometry and a LPS-induced mouse lung injury model were used to assess the effects of the F-ATPase-containing protein complex in vitro and in vivo. Results We found that the voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) α2δ-1 subunit is a binding partner of cell surface F-ATPase in human neutrophils. Further investigation found that the physical connection between the two proteins may exist between the F1 part (α and β subunits) of F-ATPase and the α2 part of VGCC α2δ-1. Real-time RT-PCR and PCR analyses showed that Cav2.3 (R-type) is the primary type of VGCC expressed in human neutrophils. Research on the F-ATPase/Cav2.3 functional complex indicated that it can regulate extracellular Ca2+ influx, thereby modulating ERK1/2 phosphorylation and reactive oxygen species production, which are typical features of neutrophil activation. In addition, the inhibition of F-ATPase can reduce neutrophil accumulation in the lungs of mice that were intratracheally instilled with lipopolysaccharide, suggesting that the inhibition of F-ATPase may prevent neutrophilic inflammation-induced tissue damage. Conclusions In this study, we identified a mechanism by which neutrophil activity is modulated, with simultaneous regulation of neutrophil-mediated pulmonary damage. These results show that surface F-ATPase of neutrophils is a potential innate immune therapeutic target. Graphical abstract

There is a common notion that traditional unsupervised feature extraction algorithms follow the assumption that the distribution of the different clusters in a dataset is balanced. However, feature selection is guided by the calculation of similarities among features when topic keywords are extracted from a large number of unmarked, unbalanced text datasets. As a result, the selected features cannot truly reflect the information of the original data set, which thus affects the subsequent performance of classifiers. To solve this problem, a new method of extracting unsupervised text topic-related genes is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a sample cluster group is obtained by factor analysis and a density peak algorithm, based on which the dataset is marked. Then, considering the influence of the unbalanced distribution of sample clusters on feature selection, the CHI statistical matrix feature selection method, which combines average local density and information entropy together, is used to strengthen the features of low-density small-sample clusters. Finally, a related gene extraction method based on the exploration of high-order relevance in multidimensional statistical data is described, which uses independent component analysis to enhance the generalisability of the selected features. In this way, unsupervised text topic-related genes can be extracted from large unbalanced datasets. The results of experiments suggest that the proposed method of extracting unsupervised text topic-related genes is better than existing methods in extracting text subject terms from low-density small-sample clusters, and has higher prematurity and feature dimension-reduction ability.

In order to study the dynamic characteristics and fatigue life of the plow bit-holede in the cutting process,according to the coal sample property and structure and motion parameters of plow,the random load of BH38/2 × 400 type coal plow bit was calculated by a software system of coal plow design and calculation. The load was applied to the multi body system model of the coal plow.The dynamic stress and the deformation distribution of the bit-holder in the working process were obtained by dynamic simulation. The fatigue life of the bit-holder was predicted by the rain flow counting of the stress information.Research results show that: under the action of complex mechanics with coal,the load of plow bit is non-linear. Under the action of nonlinear load,the areas with higher dynamic stresses are mainly concentrated in the contact position between rectangular groove of bit-holder and the back of plow bit,and the position of the square screw also suffered higher dynamic stresse. The cumulative fatigue damage of the bit-holder was analyzed by rain flow counting method,and the fatigue life was predicted to be about 475. 7 days. According to the comparison between the test value and the calculated value of plow bit,combined with the practical application feedback of the plow,the accuracy of the simulation results was verified.

The unconsolidated sandstone in hydrothermal geothermal field in Jianghan basin is taken as the research object. The hydrostatic pressure is applied to a geostress equal to 12.5 MPa. After the deformation of sample is stabilised, the evolution and mechanism of the permeability of unconsolidated sandstone under the compaction of high hydrostatic pressure are studied, which can provide some suggestions for the selection of equipment operating parameters for the tailwater recharge process in the hydrothermal geothermal field. The results indicate that under high hydrostatic pressure compaction, the permeability of unconsolidated sandstone samples tends to be a constant valued of 4.0×103 m2 within the current range of 0.5 mL/min to 3.0 mL/min. The pressure difference between the two ends of the sample increases nonlinearly with time and the degree of nonlinearity gradually increases with the increase of flow rate, but eventually tends to be stabilised. In addition, the sample of unconsolidated sandstone forms a tubular erosion channel in the direction of penetration, extending to about 2/3 of the sample. Based on the stop time of particle transportation and the extension length of tubular erosion channel in the penetration direction, the average migration velocities of particles under different flow rates are determined. It is found that the particle migration velocity increases exponentially with the increase of flow rate, and the amount of microparticle migrated per unit time increases. When the pressure difference exceeds about 1/2 of the hydrostatic pressure, the sample presents erosion damage and upstream diameter shrinkage.

Usherin is the most common causative protein associated with autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and Usher syndrome (USH), which are characterized by retinal degeneration alone and in combination with hearing loss, respectively. Usherin is essential for photoreceptor survival and hair cell bundle integrity. However, the molecular mechanism underlying usherin function in normal and disease conditions is unclear. In this study, we investigated structural models of usherin domains and localization of usherin pathogenic small in-frame mutations, mainly homozygous missense mutations. We found that usherin fibronectin III (FN3) domains and most laminin-related domains have a β-sandwich structure. Some FN3 domains are predicted to interact with each other and with laminin-related domains. The usherin protein may bend at some FN3 linker regions. RP- and USH-associated small in-frame mutations are differentially located in usherin domains. Most of them are located at the periphery of β-sandwiches, with some at the interface between interacting domains. The usherin laminin epidermal growth factor repeats adopt a rod-shaped structure, which is maintained by disulfide bonds. Most missense mutations and deletion of exon 13 in this region disrupt the disulfide bonds and may affect local protein folding. Despite low expression of the recombinant entire protein and protein fragments in mammalian cell culture, usherin FN3 fragments are more robustly expressed and secreted than its laminin-related fragments. Our findings provide new insights into the usherin structure and the disease mechanisms caused by pathogenic small in-frame mutations, which will help inform future experimental research on diagnosis, disease mechanisms, and therapeutic approaches.

We propose a novel optical spatial differentiator to perform the differentiation computation in terahertz region based on the graphene metalines, which consist of graphene layers with different widths and chemical potentials. The numerical simulation results show that when beam waist size w>1.9λ, the metalines perform the first-order differentiation in the reflection spectrum with efficiency>97%, which can be theoretically demonstrated by using transfer matrix method. In order to further improve the performance of the differentiator, evolutionary algorithm, such as genetic algorithm, is used to inversely design the structure parameters and chemical potentials of graphene metalines. The optimization results show that some performance metrics of the differentiator, for example normalized root-mean-square deviation, are better than the previous structures. Obviously, the proposed graphene metalines combined with inverse design technology can achieve a high-performance optical spatial differentiator in terahertz region and provide a new way to design the photonics devices.

In this paper, a triple-layer hybrid optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (THO-OFDM) for intensity modulation with direct detection (IM/DD) systems with a high spectral efficiency is proposed. We combine N -point asymmetrically clipped optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (ACO-OFDM), N /2-point ACO-OFDM, and N /2-point pulse amplitude modulated discrete multitoned (PAM-DMT) in a single frame for simultaneous transmission. The time- and frequency-domain demodulation methods are introduced by fully exploiting the special structure of the proposed THO-OFDM. Theoretical analysis show that, the proposed THO-OFDM can reach the spectral efficiency limit of the conventional layered ACO-OFDM (LACO-OFDM). Simulation results demonstrate that, the time-domain receiver offers improved bit error rate (BER) performance compared with the frequency-domain with ~40% reduced computation complexity when using 512 subcarriers. Furthermore, we show a 3 dB improvement in the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) compared with LACO-OFDM for the same three layers.

Structural thermal deformation is an important factor that affects the performance of MEMS devices. The mismatch of thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) between different materials is a major source. For single center supported MEMS devices, expansion difference between device and the substrate leads to the out of plane thermal deformation of the structure, resulting in the performance deterioration. This paper presents a thermal deformation suppression chip (TDSC) for single center supporting MEMS devices. It is fabricated by the MEMS process and consists of an upper plate and a lower plate. The materials of the upper and lower plates are the same as those of the device substrate and structure respectively. The principle of TDSC to suppress thermal deformation is material symmetry design. Single center anchor is adapted to connect the upper and lower plates. Besides, the center anchor can also isolate the packaging stress generated between TDSC and package shell. In this paper, center supported quadruple mass gyroscope (CSQMG) is used to verify the effect of TDSC. Finite element simulation shows that the thermal deformation suppression effect is determined by radius of TDSC anchor, and the deformation can be suppressed to 0. The conclusion is confirmed by White light interference experiment. In addition, the experiment results also show that the TDSC effectively reduce the thermal out-of-plane deformation after packaging, which is even better than that of the gyroscope without any packaging. It is further proved that TDSC can also significantly improve the temperature performance of the CSQMG. Moreover, the TDSC has simple process steps, small chip area, low cost, and is suitable for various MEMS devices with single center anchor.

The accurate diagnosis and prediction for individuals is crucial in computer-aided diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The existing structural magnetic resonance imaging based classification methods of AD diagnosis mainly focus on the voxel level, region level and patch level morphological pattern analysis. However, most of these methods extract features with high dimension which may lead to overfitting problem. Besides, the interaction of different patches is not considered in the classifier ensemble. In this article, we propose a novel anatomical landmarks and directed acyclic graph (DAG) network feature learning based classification algorithm for the diagnosis of AD individuals. First, the anatomical feature patches of gray matter image are identified by the morphological and statistical analysis. Second, a simple and efficient DAG convolutional neural network is proposed to extract the discriminative deep features of image representation. Especially, the deep features are obtained by fusing feature maps of different network levels which contain semantic high-level and high-resolution low-level features. Finally, support vector machine and deep features are utilized to construct the classification model and predict the individual of AD. Experiments on three public datasets including ADNI-1, ADNI-2 and MIRIAD demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively improve the classification performance compared with the state-of-the-art methods for AD diagnosis.

The classical SURF algorithm has many disadvantages, such as high dimension of feature descriptor, large amount of computation, and low matching accuracy when the angle of rotation and angle of view is too large. To solve the above problems, an improved algorithm is proposed. Firstly, image preprocessing is carried out by image binarization, feature points are extracted by Hes-sian matrix, and then feature description is carried out by using circular neighborhood of feature points. Har wavelet response is used to establish descriptors for each feature point, and the normalized gray-level difference and second-order gradient in the neighborhood are calculated simultaneously to form a new feature descriptor. Finally, the RANSAC algorithm is used to eliminate the mismatch points. The algorithm does not Compared with the classical SURF algorithm, it has the advantage of speed, and makes full use of the gray level information and the detail information, so it has higher accuracy. Experimental results show that the algorithm has good robustness and stability to image blur, illumination difference, angle rotation, field of view transformation and so on. The algorithm is applied to remote sensing image stitching to obtain the stitched image with no obvious geometric shift and good edge connection. This algorithm is a kind of image registration algorithm with short time and high precision, which can meet the registration requirements of remote sensing image stitching.

Context White tea [Camellia sinensis (L) O.Ktze. (Theaceae)] is popular in Asia, but its benefits on olfactory injury are unknown. Objective The present study explores the effects of white tea on the olfactory injury caused by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Materials and methods C57BL/6J mice (WT) were exposed to CUMS. CUMS mice (CU) were intranasally treated with white tea extract [low tea (LT), 20 mg/kg; high tea (HT), 40 mg/kg] and fluoxetine (CF, 20 mg/kg) for 7 days. Several behavioural tests were conducted to assess depression and olfactory function. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) and semi-quantitative reverse transcription PCR were performed separately to observe the changes of related structures and genes transcription level. Results The depressive behaviours of the LT and HT mice were reversed. The latency time of the buried food pellet test decreased from 280 s (CU) to 130 s (HT), while the olfactory sensitivity and olfactory avoidance test showed that the olfactory behaviours disorder of LT and HT mice were alleviated. The white tea increased the A490 nm values of the cortisol treated cells from 0.15 to 1.4. Reduced mitochondrial and synaptic damage in the olfactory bulb (OB), enhanced expression of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and olfactory marker protein (OMP) were observed in the LT and HT mice. Conclusions and discussion White tea has the potential in curing the olfactory deficiency related to chronic stress. It lays the foundation for the development of new and reliable drug to improve olfactory.

This work evaluates solid lipid nanoparticles of thiopental sodium against obesity-induced cardiac dysfunction and hypertrophy and explores the possible mechanism of action. TS loaded SLNs were formulated by hot-homogenization and solvent diffusion method. TS-SLNs were scrutinized for entrapment efficiency, drug loading capacity, gastric stability, particle size, in vitro drug release. Mice were feed with the normal chow or high-fat diet for 08 weeks to induce obesity and primary cardiomyocytes. The therapeutic effects of thiopental sodium in the high fat diet (HFD) induced cardiac hypertrophy. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was estimated at a regular time interval. At the end of the experimental study, systolic pressure left ventricular, LV end-diastolic pressure and rate of increase of LV pressure and antioxidant, apoptosis, cytokines and inflammatory scrutinized. HFD induced group mice exhibited a reduction in the body weight and enhancement of cardiac hypertrophy marker and dose-dependent treatment of thiopental sodium up-regulation the body weight and down-regulated the cardiac hypertrophy. Thiopental sodium significantly (p

Neurogenesis is an ordered transition from pluriptotent cells to neural precursor cells (NPCs) to neurons. Here the authors show that loss of the lysine demethylases JMJD3 and UTX leads reduced DNA accessibility at neurogenesis loci in human NPCs, and that the chromatin remodeller BAF can rescue differentiation defects.

Abstract Breast cancer (BC) leads to the highest mortality in women worldwide, characterized by inevitable proliferation and metastasis of BC cells. Mounting evidence confirm that lncRNAs play a significant role in the tumorigenesis and development of BC. lncRNA CERS6‐AS1 is a novel discovery, and its role and molecular mechanism in BC has not been studied. In this study, it was discovered that CERS6‐AS1 was overexpressed in BC tissues and cells. CERS6‐AS1 accelerated cell proliferation and suppressed cell apoptosis in BC. Moreover, molecular mechanism exploration uncovered that there was a positive association between CERS6 and CERS6‐AS1 (or IGF2BP3) expression in BC. Furthermore, IGF2BP3 serves as a RNA‐binding protein for CERS6‐AS1 and CERS6‐AS1 promoted CERS6 mRNA stability by binding to IGF2BP3. In the end, rescue experiments verified that overexpression of CERS6 rescues the inhibition of CERS6‐AS1 deficiency on BC progression in vitro and vivo. Taken together, these evidences suggested that CERS6‐AS1 promoted the progression of BC by binding to IGF2BP3 and thus enhancing the stability of CERS6 mRNA, providing a new underlying therapeutic target for BC to improve prognosis.

Abstract Background Extranodal marginal zone B‐cell lymphoma of mucosa‐associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma) in the oromaxillofacial head and neck region is rare, with limited data available. This retrospective study explored the clinical features, stage, treatment, and prognosis of this disease. Methods Overall, 105 patients with MALT lymphomas in the oromaxillofacial head and neck region were included in this retrospective analysis. SPSS 22.0 software package was used for data analysis and a two‐tailed P value of ≤.05 was considered statistically significant. Primary endpoints of the study were the complete response (CR) rate, overall survival (OS), and progression‐free survival (PFS). Results About 52% of the patients had long‐term xerostomia, autoimmune diseases, or chronic parotitis and 81% had diseases involving the large salivary glands. Ann Arbor staging of the patients was as follows: stages I/II, 73 patients and stages III/IV, 32 patients. In the 97 patients followed up, CR rate after initial treatment was 80%. Tumor progression was observed in 12 patients and 14 patients died. There was a significant difference between the rate of CR in localized (87%) and disseminated (67%) lymphoma patients (P = .02). The 5‐ and 10‐year PFS of the localized lymphoma patients were both 91%, whereas those of the disseminated lymphoma patients were 83% and 65%, respectively (P = .03). The 5‐year PFS rates of the chemotherapy and non‐chemotherapy groups in the disseminated lymphoma patients were 85% and 73% (P = .04). Meanwhile, the 5‐year PFS rates of the rituximab and non‐rituximab groups in the disseminated lymphoma patients were 100% and 70% (P = .03). In multivariate analysis, MALT Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (MALT‐IPI) was an independent prognostic factor affecting OS, whereas Ann Arbor staging affected PFS. Conclusions This study suggests that the outcome after initial treatment of MALT lymphomas in the oromaxillofacial head and neck region is satisfactory and that this disease progresses slowly. The CR rate and PFS of localized lymphoma patients are better than those of disseminated lymphoma patients. Systemic treatment (chemotherapy or rituximab) may improve PFS in disseminated disease patients. MALT‐IPI and Ann Arbor staging are independent prognostic factors.

The New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NRCMS) is one of the essential systems for ensuring public health in rural China. This paper investigates the effect of farmers' participation in the NRCMS on their subjective well-being and its mechanisms using data from the Chinese General Social Survey 2017. The results show that farmers' participation in the NRCMS significantly enhances their subjective well-being, and these results remain robust after regression with the instrumental variables method and propensity score matching method. Further analysis of the mechanisms suggests that participation in the NRCMS can enhance farmers' subjective well-being by increasing their consumption levels other than medical consumption. Moreover, medical consumption levels play a negative role in participating in the NRCMS on farmers' subjective well-being, which can be explained as the “masking effect.” The regression results of the subsamples show that the higher a farmer's income is, the less his or her participation in the NRCMS enhances subjective well-being. And the effect of participation in the NRCMS on farmers' subjective well-being is not significant if their health status is too high or too low.

ObjectiveThis study assessed the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels, alcohol consumption, craving, and psychological impairment in participants with alcohol use disorder (AUD).MethodsParticipants with AUD were randomly assigned to receive one of two treatments (active or sham rTMS). All participants received 10 daily active or sham rTMS sessions over the left DLPFC for 2 weeks, with follow-up visits at baseline and immediately after the completion of the treatments. Serum samples were obtained before and after the intervention. Days of heavy drinking, visual analog scale (VAS) scores, and mental health component scores (MCSs) of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey were used to assess the effects of rTMS.ResultsActive rTMS had a significant effect on reducing days of heavy drinking, alcohol craving, and serum NfL levels, and improved social functioning and mental health. The improvement with active rTMS was significantly greater than that with sham rTMS. Correlation analysis revealed that the reduction in the baseline drinking level was positively correlated with declines in the VAS and NfL levels but not with psychological scores.ConclusionRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left DLPFC was associated with reducing alcohol consumption and craving in patients with AUD and positively impacted neuropsychological and social function. Serum NfL levels may be useful as an early serological indicator of alcohol-induced brain injury.

The neuroprotective effect of electroacupuncture (EA) treatment has been well studied; growing evidence suggests that changes in lipid composition may be involved in the pathogenesis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and may be a target for treatment. However, the influence of early EA intervention on brain lipid composition in patients with PTSD has never been investigated. Using a modified single prolonged stress (mSPS) model in mice, we assessed the anti-PTSD-like effects of early intervention using EA and evaluated changes in lipid composition in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) using a mass spectrometry-based lipidomic approach. mSPS induced changes in lipid composition in the hippocampus, notably in the content of sphingolipids, glycerolipids, and fatty acyls. These lipid changes were more robust than those observed in the PFC. Early intervention with EA after mSPS ameliorated PTSD-like behaviors and partly normalized mSPS-induced lipid changes, notably in the hippocampus. Cumulatively, our data suggest that EA may reverse mSPS-induced PTSD-like behaviors due to region-specific regulation of the brain lipidome, providing new insights into the therapeutic mechanism of EA.

Background Lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3) is an inhibitory immunoreceptor that negatively regulates T-cell activation. This paper presents preclinical characterization of the LAG-3 inhibitor, ieramilimab (LAG525), and phase I data for the treatment of patients with advanced/metastatic solid tumors with ieramilimab ±the anti-programmed cell death-1 antibody, spartalizumab.Methods Eligible patients had advanced/metastatic solid tumors and progressed after, or were unsuitable for, standard-of-care therapy, including checkpoint inhibitors in some cases. Patients received ieramilimab ±spartalizumab across various dose-escalation schedules. The primary objective was to assess the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) or recommended phase II dose (RP2D).Results In total, 255 patients were allocated to single-agent ieramilimab (n=134) and combination (n=121) treatment arms. The majority (98%) had received prior antineoplastic therapy (median, 3). Four patients experienced dose-limiting toxicities in each treatment arm across various dosing cohorts. No MTD was reached. The RP2D on a 3-week schedule was declared as 400 mg ieramilimab plus 300 mg spartalizumab and, on a 4-week schedule (once every 4 weeks; Q4W), as 800 mg ieramilimab plus 400 mg spartalizumab; tumor target (LAG-3) suppression with 600 mg ieramilimab Q4W was predicted to be similar to the Q4W, RP2D schedule. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) occurred in 75 (56%) and 84 (69%) patients in the single-agent and combination arms, respectively. Most common TRAEs were fatigue, gastrointestinal, and skin disorders, and were of mild severity; seven patients experienced at least one treatment-related serious adverse event in the single-agent (5%) and combination group (5.8%). Antitumor activity was observed in the combination arm, with 3 (2%) complete responses and 10 (8%) partial responses in a mixed population of tumor types. In the combination arm, eight patients (6.6%) experienced stable disease for 6 months or longer versus six patients (4.5%) in the single-agent arm. Responding patients trended towards having higher levels of immune gene expression, including CD8 and LAG3, in tumor tissue at baseline.Conclusions Ieramilimab was well tolerated as monotherapy and in combination with spartalizumab. The toxicity profile of ieramilimab in combination with spartalizumab was comparable to that of spartalizumab alone. Modest antitumor activity was seen with combination treatment.Trial registration number NCT02460224.

Hereditary gingival fibromatosis (HGF) is the most common genetic form of gingival fibromatosis which is featured as a localized or generalized overgrowth of gingivae. Currently two genes (SOS1 and REST), as well as four loci (2p22.1, 2p23.3–p22.3, 5q13–q22, and 11p15), have been identified as associated with HGF in a dominant inheritance pattern. Here, we report 13 individuals with autosomal-dominant HGF from a four-generation Chinese family. Whole-exome sequencing followed by further genetic co-segregation analysis was performed for the family members across three generations. A novel heterozygous missense mutation (c.2812G > A) in zinc finger protein 862 gene (ZNF862) was identified, and it is absent among the population as per the Genome Aggregation Database. The functional study supports a biological role of ZNF862 for increasing the profibrotic factors particularly COL1A1 synthesis and hence resulting in HGF. Here, for the first time we identify the physiological role of ZNF862 for the association with the HGF.

For the problem of coal dust pollution in the return air lane of the comprehensive mining working face of soft rock mines.Based on the principle of supersonic siphon pneumatic atomization dust control, mobile vehicle-mounted pneumatic spraying combined with full-section fog curtain dust control technology is proposed to address the coal dust pollution problem in the return air tunnel of the comprehensive mining working face of soft rock mines. This technology has a wider spraying range, stronger wind resistance and lower energy consumption.Using the k-ε turbulence module and the fluid flow particle tracking module of COMSOL simulation software, a three-dimensional numerical model of the return air tunnel was established. The effect of wind flow characteristics on the diffusion range of coal dust and fog droplets was analysed, and the dust transport pattern and dust control effect of the new technology were obtained for different cross-sectional return airways. The results show that the velocity of the wind flow is continuously decayed by the slope, and the dust of different particle sizes is distributed differently by the inertial force. Coal dust with particle sizes larger than 6.5 μm accumulates below the structure at a lower velocity, and coal dust with particle sizes smaller than 4.5 μm is mostly suspended above the structure at a higher velocity. The device effectively stops the transport of dust and covers the whole section of the roadway, and the dust removal efficiency reaches 96.53%~97.93%, which provides relevant theoretical support and treatment means for the control of dust pollution in the return airway of coal mines.

To solve the problem of the inability of traditional spray dust removal technology to efficiently restrain dust diffusion at the heading face, a multilayer spiral fog curtain dust control method based on spirally arranged pneumatic nozzles is proposed. In this paper, the k-ɛ turbulence model and K-H droplet breakage model are used. First, different airflow fields are analyzed by simulating the simultaneous injection of different numbers of nozzles, and the motion law of airflow interaction is obtained. Taking the two-layer fog curtain as an example, a multiphysical field coupling numerical simulation of the two-layer spiral fog curtain applied in the field is carried out, and the variation law of its velocity field distribution and particle motion characteristics is analyzed. A similar experimental platform is established to verify the effectiveness of the simulation results and the feasibility of the dust removal scheme. The simulation results show that the double helix arrangement will form a rotating airflow with the cutting arm as the axis to cover the whole roadway section and produce a double-layer spiral fog curtain. The water mist is fragmented into smaller fog droplets under the action of rotating airflow, which improves the dust catching effect of the fog curtain. Experiments show that the dust removal rate and efficiency of multilayer spiral fog curtains are obviously stronger than those of natural dust reduction and traditional spray. After 3 minutes, a dust concentration of approximately 470 mg/m3 can be reduced to less than 4 mg/m3. The average dust removal rates of total dust and exhaled dust were 2.600 mg/(m3.s) and 0.189 mg/(m3.s), respectively, and the dust removal efficiencies were 97.01% and 94.32%.

By selecting typical seismic sections to carry out detailed structural interpretation, the structural style features of the Wunansha Uplift in the South Yellow Sea basin were systematically combined, and the compressional structures (imbricate, opposite/back thrust, and Y-shaped structures), strike-slip faults (positive flower-shaped faults), and extensional normal faults (listric-shaped normal faults) were identified. On this basis, combined with the characteristics of the regional stress field and the background of deep geodynamics, the genetic mechanism and structural evolution of the structural style in the Wunansha Uplift were defined. The stress mechanism of the compressional structures originated from the initial high-speed and low-angle NW subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate during the early Yanshanian movement in the Early Jurassic. The regional strike-slip fault was mainly a positive flower structure with compression and torsion characteristics, and its stress mechanism originated from sinistral shear caused by the Early Cretaceous low-angle NNW subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate. The Tan-Lu fault in eastern China also had sinistral shear characteristics in this period. The extensional normal fault was characterized by a listric shape, which developed along the northern boundary of the Wunansha Uplift, that is, the connection between the Wunansha Uplift and the Southern Depression of the South Yellow Sea basin. The stress mechanism was derived from the transition of the paleo-Pacific plate from low-angle to high-angle subduction during the late Yanshanian movement in the Late Cretaceous. Simultaneously, the tectonic stress system in eastern China also changed from compressional to tensional.

Text information mining is a key step to data-driven automatic/semi-automatic quality management (QM). For Chinese texts, a word segmentation algorithm is necessary for pre-processing since there are no explicit marks to define word boundaries. Because of intrinsic characteristics of QM-related texts, word segmentation algorithms for normal Chinese texts cannot be directly applied. Hence, based on the analysis of QM-related texts, we summarized six features, and proposed a hybrid Chinese word segmentation model by means of integrating transfer learning (TL), bidirectional long-short term memory (Bi-LSTM), multi-head attention (MA), and conditional random field (CRF) to construct the mTL-Bi-LSTM-MA-CRF model, considering insufficient samples of QM-related texts and excessive cutting of idioms. The mTL-Bi-LSTM-MA-CRF model is composed of two steps. Firstly, based on a word embedding space, the Bi-LSTM is introduced for context information learning, and the MA mechanism is selected to allocate attention among subspaces, and then the CRF is used to learn label sequence constraints. Secondly, a modified TL method is put forward for text feature extraction, adaptive layer weights learning, and loss function correction for selective learning. Experimental results show that the proposed model can achieve good word segmentation results with only a relatively small set of samples.

BackgroundThe first clinical study (NCT03671265) of first-line chemoradiotherapy combined with PD-1 blockade showed promising treatment outcomes in locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, partial patients did not respond to the combination treatment. The roles of dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages in this combination treatment remain poorly understood.MethodsWe performed multiplexed immunofluorescence method to identify CD11c+ DCs, CD68+ macrophages, and their PD-L1- or PD-L1+ subpopulations in paired tumor biopsies (n = 36) collected at baseline and during the combination treatment (after radiation, 40 Gy) from the phase Ib trial (NCT03671265). We applied whole exome sequencing in the baseline tumor biopsies (n = 14) to estimate tumor mutation burden (TMB). We dynamically investigated the spatial distribution of DCs and macrophages under chemoradiotherapy combined with PD-1 blockade, and evaluated the association between their spatial distribution and combination outcome, and TMB.ResultsThe results showed that high percentages of PD-L1- DCs and macrophages in the baseline tumor compartment, but not in the stromal compartment, predicted improved OS and PFS. Chemoradiotherapy combined with PD-1 blockade promoted DCs and macrophages to migrate closer to tumor cells. During combination treatment, PD-L1- tumor cells were nearest to PD-L1- DCs and macrophages, while PD-L1+ tumor cells were next to PD-L1+ DCs and macrophages. High TMB was closely associated with a shorter distance from tumor cells to DCs and macrophages. Shorter distance between PD-L1+ tumor cells and PD-L1+ DCs or PD-L1- macrophages during the combination was correlated with better OS. Shorter distance between PD-L1- tumor cells and PD-L1- macrophages during combination was associated with both longer OS and PFS.ConclusionsPD-L1- or PD-L1+ DCs and macrophages exhibit distinct spatial distribution in ESCC. The close distance between tumor cells and these antigen-presenting cells (APCs) is critical to the clinical outcome in chemoradiotherapy combined with PD-1 blockade in ESCC patients. Our results highlight the predictive potential of spatial patterns of APCs in chemoradiotherapy combined with immunotherapy and reveal the underlying mechanism of APCs participating in chemoradiotherapy-induced antitumor immune response in ESCC.

Switchgrass, a C4 plant with high potential as a bioenergy source, is unsteady in yield under sub-optimal conditions. Bacteria containing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase (ACC) deaminase can promote plant growth. We isolated bacteria containing ACC deaminase activity from switchgrass rhizosphere using an orthogonal matrix experimental design with four factors (bacterial liquid concentration, bacterial liquid treatment time, nitrogen content, and NaCl) to quantitatively investigate the effects and pairwise interactions on the seedling growth. Pseudomonas sp. Y1, isolated from the switchgrass cv. Blackwell rhizomes was selected. We optimized the inoculation bacterial concentration, treatment time, NaCl, and nitrogen concentration for the seedling growth. The optimal bacterial concentration, treatment time, NaCl, and nitrogen content was 0.5–1.25 OD at 600 nm, 3 h, 60–125 mM and 158 mg L−1, respectively. Pseudomonas sp. Y1 significantly increased the total root length, root surface, shoot length, and fresh and dry weight through an effective proliferation of the number of first-order lateral roots and root tips. This indicated that Pseudomonas sp. Y1 has a higher potential to be used as a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria bacteria.

The quantum Hall effect (QHE) associated with Chern insulators reveals the non-trivial topological properties of two-dimensional electronic systems subject to strong magnetic field, which features finite Chern number C and chiral edge states. The latter promise robust electron transport and have received tremendous attention in both the condensed matter physics and classical systems including photonics and acoustics. In acoustics, circulating air flow has been introduced to create an effective gauge magnetic field, which breaks the time-reversal symmetry and leads to chiral edge states for acoustic waves. While the robust edge states may offer possible routes towards acoustic devices yielding unidirectional sound propagation, e.g., acoustic diodes, the mode density at the interfaces is limited by small Chern numbers of ±1. Here, we realize acoustic Chern insulators with large Chern numbers, i.e., |C|≥ 1 (|C| = 1, 2, 3, 4). The system is based on circulating air flow in a sonic crystal (SC) with fourfold rotational symmetry. The large Chern numbers are obtained by breaking multiple accidental degeneracies at (non-)high-symmetric points. Based on these Chern insulators, acoustic diodes are realized by joining structures of different Chern numbers. Up to eight propagation modes are supported on the interfaces, greatly improving the mode density and hence the propagation efficiency. Our design offers possible routes towards high-efficient and topologically robust acoustic diodes, which may further inspire acoustic non-reciprocal devices based on topological Chern insulators. Experimentally, our proposals can be realized based on angular-momentum-biased resonator arrays.

With the continuous expansion scale of carbon market and the development of carbon trading mechanism, carbon emission right, as a new financial asset, is being brought into the category of asset allocation by more and more investors. As the burning of coal is the major source of carbon dioxide, China is facing serious ecological and environmental problems, which restrict the development of low-carbon economy. In order to reach the carbon dioxide emission reduction targets and promote the development of green investment market, the carbon market should be a good emission reduction measure. The correlation and dynamic volatility spillover among coal, carbon, and green investing markets are becoming a hot topic for current research. The paper applies both VAR-GARCH-DCC and VAR-GARCH-BEKK models to draw some significant conclusions. (1) The green investment market, coal market, and Shenzhen carbon market show obvious time-varying correlation, and the volatility of the green investment market is higher. (2) There is a bidirectional Granger causality between green investing and coal markets. (3) The investment portfolio and hedging mechanism of the market are established to reduce the risk and help investors obtain higher returns.

Global climate change is considered to be one of the main threats to organisms. As poikilothermic animals, amphibians are in particular sensitive because they cannot adapt to the dramatic climate change through active physiological regulation. Using 104 representative species, the present study conducted an assessment of amphibians vulnerability to climate change in China through the combination of two approaches. Specifically, 18 vulnerability criteria belonging to five categories (i.e., thermal tolerance, individual reproductive, population diffusion and diversity, food and habitat, and climate conditions) were first selected and scored based on literatures and experts opinions. Species were then ranked into three levels of climate change vulnerability (i.e., high, moderate, and low) by calculating vulnerability scores and conducting natural breaks analyses, as well as performing a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and k-means cluster analyses, respectively. To integrate the two results, a matrix with the ranks from each result was developed to produce a final integrated list. Our results indicated that the 104 amphibian species were classified into three types by natural breaks, with 54 low vulnerable species, 41 moderately vulnerable species, and nine highly vulnerable species. Based on the results of PCoA and k-means cluster analyses, five species were highly vulnerable, 38 species were moderately vulnerable, and 61 species were low vulnerable. The combination of the two ranks suggested that 36 species such as Hyla tsinlingensis and Liangshantriton taliangensis were of low vulnerability, 54 species such as Echinotriton chinhaiensis and Hynobius chinensis were of moderate vulnerability, and 14 species such as Ichthyophis kohtaoensis and Zhangixalus prasinatus were of high vulnerability. Overall, our results indicated that climate change could have strong potential effects on amphibians in China. And the highly vulnerable species such as Ichthyophis kohtaoensis, Zhangixalus prasinatus, and Theloderma corticale should be the priority in future conservation activities.

Two advanced wheat lines BAd7-209 and BAd23-1 without the functional gene GPC-B1 were obtained from a cross between common wheat cultivar Chuannong 16 (CN16) and wild emmer wheat accession D97 (D97). BAd7-209 showed superior quality parameters than those of BAd23-1 and CN16. We found that the components of glutenins and gliadins in BAd7-209 and BAd23-1 were similar, whereas BAd7-209 had higher amount of glutenins and gliadins than those of BAd23-1. RNA sequencing analysis on developing grains of BAd7-209 and BAd23-1 as well as their parents revealed 382 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the high–grain protein content (GPC) (D97 + BAd7-209) and the low-GPC (CN16 + BAd23-1) groups. DEGs were mainly associated with transcriptional regulation of the storage protein genes, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, and protein export pathways. The upregulated gluten genes and transcription factors (e.g., NAC, MYB, and bZIP) may contribute to the high GPC in BAd7-209. Our results provide insights into the potential regulation pathways underlying wheat grain protein accumulation and contribute to make use of wild emmer for wheat quality improvement.

BackgroundIn recent years, tinnitus has attracted increasing research interest. However, bibliometric analysis of global research on tinnitus is rare. The objective of this study was to identify and describe the foci and developing trends of tinnitus research using a bibliometric approach.MethodsPublications related to tinnitus published from 2001 to 2020 were searched for in the Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-E) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) databases in the Web of Science Core Collection of Clarivate Analytics. The bibliometric approach was used to estimate the searched data, and VOSviewer and CiteSpace software were used to identify and analyze research foci and trends in the field of tinnitus.ResultsA total of 5,748 articles were included. The number of publications on tinnitus has increased dramatically in the last 20 years, especially since 2010. The leading country in terms of publications and access to collaborative networks was the United States. High-frequency keywords included tinnitus, hearing loss, prevalence, management, depression, mechanism, vertigo, hearing, inferior colliculus, and noise. The analyses of keyword burst detection indicated that prevalence, anxiety, and neural network are emerging research hotspots.ConclusionIn the past 20 years, academic understanding of tinnitus has improved considerably. This study provides an objective, systematic, and comprehensive analysis of tinnitus-related literature. Furthermore, current hot spots and prospective trends in the field of tinnitus were identified. These results will assist otolaryngologists and audiologists in identifying the evolving dynamics of tinnitus research and highlight areas for prospective research.

Objective. Repair of cartilage defects, a common condition resulting from many factors, is still a great challenge. Based on their chondrogenic differentiation ability, mesenchymal stem cell- (MSC-) based cartilage regeneration is a promising approach for cartilage defect repair. However, MSC differentiation into chondroblasts or related cell lineages is elaborately controlled by stem cell differentiation stage factors and affected by an array of bioactive elements, which may impede the efficient production of target cells. Thus, identifying a single transcription factor to promote chondrogenic differentiation is critical. Herein, we explored the mechanism by which scrapie-responsive gene 1 (SCRG1), a candidate gene for cartilage regeneration promotion, regulates chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. Methods. Expression of SCRG1 was detected in umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UCMSCs) by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemical analysis during chondrogenic differentiation. The function of SCRG1 in chondrogenic potential was evaluated after gene knockdown or overexpression by lentiviral vectors. Finally, a rabbit cartilage defect model was established to evaluate the effect of SCRG1 on cartilage repair in vivo. Results. Expression of SCRG1 was upregulated during in vitro chondrogenic differentiation of UCMSCs. SCRG1 knockdown inhibited chondrogenic differentiation of UCMSCs, while SCRG1 overexpression promoted chondrogenic differentiation of UCMSCs in vitro. In addition, UCMSC overexpressing SCRG1 promoted cartilage repair in vivo. Mechanistically, SCRG1 promoted chondrogenic differentiation via upregulation of Wnt5a expression and subsequent inhibition of β-catenin. Conclusion. Our results showed that SCRG1 promotes chondrogenic differentiation of UCMSCs by inhibiting canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling through Wnt5a. Our findings provide a future target for chondrogenic differentiation and cartilage regeneration.

In order to solve the problem of coal dust pollution at the transfer point, a three-dimensional numerical model of wind flow-coal dust at the loading point of underground rubber run was established by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) discrete particle model and finite element method and k-ε turbulence model, and the coal dust diffusion pollution phenomenon caused by the coal flow transfer under the intersection of wind flow in the cross tunnel was studied. Based on the simulation results of wind flow velocity contour, pressure contour and isochronous flow vector distribution, the influence mechanism of wind flow and coal dust characteristics on the distribution of wind flow and coal dust diffusion in the roadway is analysed, and a dust control and reduction system and treatment scheme with new pneumatic screw spray technology as the core is proposed to suppress coal dust pollution at the reloading point. The results of the study show that the wind flow distribution is mainly influenced by the intersection of tape traction and cross-roadway wind flow, showing a complex multi-layer distribution along the roadway and in the normal direction; the diffusion of coal dust of different particle sizes is influenced by the roadway wind flow, and coal dust with particle sizes in the range of 10μm~20μm is more easily diffused, and the dust with particle sizes in the range of 20μm~45μm is mainly collected and suspended near the vortex wind flow at the cross-roadway. The coal dust in the range of 20 μm~45 μm is more likely to gather in the vortex; the treatment system effectively controls the coal dust inside the dust cover, and the spiral-shaped transported droplet particle group formed by the pneumatic spiral spray combines with it efficiently, which verifies the dust control and reduction effect of the pneumatic spiral spray system at the transfer point, and the dust removal efficiency reaches 89.35%~93.06%, which provides relevant theoretical support for the treatment of dust pollution at the coal transfer point in underground coal mines It provides the theoretical support and means to control dust pollution at underground coal transfer points.

Background. Accurate interpretation of lung function tests requires appropriate spirometry reference values derived from large-scale population-specific epidemiological surveys. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to establish normal spirometric values for the population of healthy, nonsmoking Han Chinese adults residing in Zhejiang province, China. Methods. We measured lung function parameters such as forced expiratory volume in 1 s, forced vital capacity, peak expiratory flow, maximal midexpiratory flow, and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide and considered age, height, and weight as independent factors that may modify these parameters. The clinical data were divided into the study arm and validation group. The study arms were used to construct predictive equations using stepwise multiple linear regression, and data from the validation group were used to assess the robustness of the equations. Results. The 3866 participants were randomized into a study arm (n = 1,949) and a validation arm (n = 1,917). Lung function parameters had a negative association with age and a positive association with height. Data from the two groups were similar. Predictive equations were constructed from the study arm, and the validation group was used to test the feasibility of the reference equations. Conclusions. The reference values we derived can be used to evaluate lung function in this cohort in both epidemiological studies and clinical practice.

Changes in climate and rapid urbanization have aggravated the urban heat island effect, and a reasonable means to reduce temperature increases in the surface thermal environment is urgently needed. We integrated the research perspectives of patch and network, taking Yinchuan metropolitan region as the research area, and reduced the surface thermal environment through the rational allocation of ecological land. For patch, a correlation analysis and linear regression were used to study the impact of landscape composition and spatial configuration on the surface thermal environment. For network, the thermal source patches were determined based on the morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) method, the thermal resistance surface was calculated based on the minimum cumulative resistance model, and the pinch points and corridors that prevented the surface thermal environment from circulating were determined based on circuit theory. Finally, ecological land with a cooling effect was deployed at the pinch point to prevent heat patch from spreading and thus connect to larger heat networks, and the regional cooling effect was estimated. The results were as follows: (1) The fitting precision of landscape factors and the surface temperature was in the order of area ratio of ecological land > shape index > fragmentation index. When the area ratio of ecological land was greater than 61%, the patch shape was simple, the degree of fragmentation was low, and the cooling effect was the most obvious. (2) Then, 34 corridors, 44 pinch points, and 54 grids of ecological land were identified for deployment. (3) After the deployment of ecological land, the simulated cooling effect was between 0.04 and 6.02 °C, with an average decline of 2.16 °C. This research case offers approaches for mitigating temperature increases in the surface thermal environment and improving the sustainable development of cities (regions), and it serves as a reference for improving the ecological environmental quality in arid and semiarid areas.

Carbon materials are valuable for adsorbing CO2. In this work, carbon materials with large specific surface area and pore volume were prepared through the combination of sodium alginate and zinc chloride, were applied to adsorb CO2 at 273 K and 298 K, showing a large adsorption capacity 2.75 mmol g-1 and 2.19 mmol g-1, respectively. Zinc chloride acts as an activator and pore forming agent.

This paper discusses the replacement of conventional GDP with green GDP (GGDP) as the main measure of economic health. Based on data on annual average temperature, annual precipitation, annual sunshine hours and annual average relative humidity for country C over the past decade, a multiple regression model is used to demonstrate that the linear effect of GGDP is positive for green growth. Further considering the differences in economic power between developed, developing and lagging countries, an infinite iterative game model of green GDP and conventional GDP is constructed based on the mutual constraints of long-term and short-term interests. Finally, considering the resistance to replacing GDP with green GDP, and in order to fully reflect the tortuous and complex relationship between climate change and social costs, an integrated model that will be embedded in the economic system, the DICE-2013R model, is constructed in order to achieve a shift from a single energy model to an integrated climate model. Normalising the data based on the model calcglobal scale.

Hydropower is a low-carbon emission renewable energy source that provides competitive and flexible electricity generation and is essential to the evolving power grid in the context of decarbonization. Assessing hydropower availability in a changing climate is technically challenging because there is a lack of consensus in the modeling representation of key dynamics across scales and processes. Focusing on 132 US federal hydropower plants, in this study we evaluate the compounded impact of climate and reservoir-hydropower models’ structural uncertainties on monthly hydropower projections. In particular, instead of relying on one single regression-based hydropower model, we introduce another conceptual reservoir operations-hydropower model in the assessment framework. This multi-model assessment approach allows us to partition uncertainties associated with both climate and hydropower models for better clarity. Results suggest that while at least 70% of the uncertainties at the annual scale and 50% at the seasonal scale can be attributed to the choice of climate models, up to 50% of seasonal variability can be attributed to the choice of hydropower models, particularly in regions over the western US where the reservoir storage is substantial. The analysis identifies regions where multi-model assessments are needed and presents a novel approach to partition uncertainties in hydropower projections. Another outcome includes an updated evaluation of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5)-based federal hydropower projection, at the monthly scale and with a larger ensemble, which can provide a baseline for understanding future assessments based on CMIP6 and beyond.

The number of bridges in operation has increased. Along with the increase in the length of time bridges are in service, the structural safety of the bridges also decreases. Bridge substructure is a key component of bridges, but there are few studies on safety management and identification of water bridge substructure damage. Deep learning is a focus of research in the field of target detection, and this document lightens YOLO-v4 to achieve precise and intelligent determination of concrete cracks. This was combined with a point cloud algorithm to provide a three-dimensional estimate of faulty lesions. Finally, the BIM was combined with the method of identifying the underwater structure of the deck. Based on Revit, an integrated management system for underwater bridge structures is put in place. Performing detailed bridge damage management includes (1) 3D visualization of the bridge detail model view, (2) establishment of a bridge damage database, (3) bridge damage management, and (4) management of the comprehensive underwater bridge inspection cycle.

Stockpile volume estimation plays a critical role in several industrial/commercial bulk material management applications. LiDAR systems are commonly used for this task. Thanks to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal availability in outdoor environments, Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) equipped with LiDAR are frequently adopted for the derivation of dense point clouds, which can be used for stockpile volume estimation. For indoor facilities, static LiDAR scanners are usually used for the acquisition of point clouds from multiple locations. Acquired point clouds are then registered to a common reference frame. Registration of such point clouds can be established through the deployment of registration targets, which is not practical for scalable implementation. For scans in facilities bounded by planar walls/roofs, features can be automatically extracted/matched and used for the registration process. However, monitoring stockpiles stored in dome facilities remains to be a challenging task. This study introduces an image-aided fine registration strategy of acquired sparse point clouds in dome facilities, where roof and roof stringers are extracted, matched, and modeled as quadratic surfaces and curves. These features are then used in a Least Squares Adjustment (LSA) procedure to derive well-aligned LiDAR point clouds. Planar features, if available, can also be used in the registration process. Registered point clouds can then be used for accurate volume estimation of stockpiles. The proposed approach is evaluated using datasets acquired by a recently developed camera-assisted LiDAR mapping platform—Stockpile Monitoring and Reporting Technology (SMART). Experimental results from three datasets indicate the capability of the proposed approach in producing well-aligned point clouds acquired inside dome facilities, with a feature fitting error in the 0.03–0.08 m range.

The planter plate is the most important component of the pneumatic hill-drop seed metering system for rapeseed. The structural parameters of the planter plate are the primary determinants of rape planting. The key structural and operational parameters, such as the layout of the suction hole, its diameter, and its shape, were determined through theoretical analysis. Fluent is used to simulate the flow field of various types of suction holes, and the effect of suction hole shape on the change in the flow field of the suction chamber shell is analyzed. Under the same boundary conditions, the results indicate that the maximum velocity of the end face of the horn hole and the average pressure of the section are the highest. Using a high-speed camera, the effects of suction hole diameter and shape on seed filling performance were studied, and the results of Fluent simulation analysis were validated. The optimal seed metering device operating parameters were as follows: planter plate speed of 30–70 r/min and negative pressure of −2.5–−1.5 kPa. The influence of working negative pressure and the rotational speed of the planter plate on seed arrangement performance was studied within the optimal operating parameter range. In order to improve the performance of rational close planting in the seed planter, the multi-objective optimization design of working parameters and the verification test were also conducted. The results showed that with the best combination of working parameters, the empty broadcast rate does not go above 3%, the hole number qualified rate does not go below 96%, and the difference between them and the theoretical optimization result does not go above 5.5%.

Long-span cable-stayed bridge is a typical wind-sensitive structure because of its light weight and great flexibility. The reliability evaluation of the cable-stayed bridge under wind action becomes a key issue during bridge design and operation. In this paper, taking Xiangshan Harbor highway cable-stayed bridge in Ningbo City in China as the engineering background, ANSYS 15.0 is used to build a finite element model of this bridge to explore its aerostatic stability and influencing parameters, then the static wind reliability of this bridge is analyzed. Firstly, considering the structural nonlinearity and the nonlinearity of static wind load comprehensively, the critical wind speed of aerostatic instability of the Xiangshan Harbor cable-stayed bridge is calculated by the internal and external double iteration method. Then the influence of the initial wind attack angle, steel wire breakage rate of the stay cables, static three-component force coefficients, and cable broken position on the static wind stability of this bridge are discussed. Thus, the variation rule of the critical aerostatic instability wind speed is obtained, and the parameter that has the greatest impact on the static wind stability of the cable-stayed bridge in service is determined. Finally, considering the randomness of these key parameters, they are treated as random variables, Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) method is used to obtain samples of random variables to calculate aerostatic instability wind speed for a given sample by self-written calculation program, and on this basis, static wind reliability analysis is conducted by the checking point method, which provides strong support for the static wind risk evaluation of the existing long-span cable-stayed bridge.

Metal foreign objects will not only reduce the output power and efficiency of the wireless power transfer (WPT) system, but also will be heated under the eddy current effect. The method based on the detection coil array has been wildly adopted for foreign object detection (FOD), especially in high-power level WPT applications. However, the problems of low sensitivity or misjudgment still exist which leads to a safety hazard. Therefore, high sensitivity of the foreign object-detection method based on the excitation frequency optimization has been proposed in this paper. Based on the impedance change of the detection coil caused by the foreign object coupling, the frequency characteristics of detection sensitivity were analyzed under the conditions of different self-inductance detection coils. Then, the detection coil was designed and its corresponding optimal excitation frequency was selected to achieve the optimal detection effect to eliminate the area of low detection sensitivity. Finally, an FOD experimental prototype was established to verify the proposed frequency optimization strategy. The results show that the sensitivity of the FOD system is up to 97.56%. With the optimal excitation frequency of 6.22 MHz, as for 1-yuan coin in the center position and corner position of the detection coil, the detection sensitivity is 92.89% and 40.16%, respectively, which is 22.13% and 23.89% higher than that of the excitation frequency is 1 MHz. The improvement of detection sensitivity is helpful to detect accurately and eliminate the detection blind area.

ABSTRACT: Based on comparative analysis on hydrochemical characteristics of geothermal water in the north part of Liaokao fault, this research focuses on studying the indicative significance of hydrochemical characteristics for the formation of geothermal water. The result shows that: (1) There is no obvious hydraulic connection between the karst geothermal water (occurred in the east part of the Liaokao fault) and the sandstone geothermal water (occurred in the west part of Liaokao fault). (2) In a close hydrological environment, caused by tectonic activities, geothermal water remains longer time in reservoir, hence the water-rock interaction is more complete, with high degree of concentrations, whereas the renewable capacity of the water is weaker. (3) There is no high temperature mantle source fluid mixed in the geothermal water. Karst geothermal water occurred deep circulatory convection along Liaokao fault and its secondary fault, therefore there is deep crust source fluid added into the geothermal water, closer to the Liaokao fault, the greater affected by the deep crust fluid. However, sandstone geothermal water has weak deep circulatory convection.

A variety of surface modification methods are applied to modify titanium implants to improve their biological activity. Micro-arc oxidation (MAO) can relatively simply and efficiently produce porous coatings with high bioactivity and bond strength on titanium surfaces. However, there is no conclusion about the effect of coatings with different pore sizes produced by MAO on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). To study the effect of different pore sizes on BMSCs, rat BMSCs were applied to detect the effect of different pore sizes prepared by MAO on cell adhesion and osteogenic differentiation. Three groups of coatings with different pore sizes were successfully prepared, and the pore size was within the range of 3–10 µm. Importantly, the expression of adhesion-related protein integrin β1 and osteogenic-related proteins OSX and ALP increased along with the increase in pore size. This study showed that the porous coating prepared by MAO promotes BMSCs adhesion and osteogenic differentiation. It reveals that the pore size is in the range of 3–10 µm and the larger pores are more beneficial for BMSCs adhesion and osteogenic differentiation. This study is instructive for optimizing the design of biomedical implant surfaces.

Abstract In the Southern Great Plains (SGP) of the United States, encroachment of the native invasive woody legume, honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torr.), has caused a decline in C4 mid‐grass abundance. Prosopis glandulosa invasion has also facilitated growth of the C3 mid‐grass species, Texas wintergrass (Nassella leucotricha [Trin & Rupr.] Pohl) initially beneath its canopy but extending to interspaces between P. glandulosa as stand density increases. Little is known about the stability of the Prosopis/Nassella association or C4 grass recovery following P. glandulosa disturbance. We quantified C3 and C4 grass production in interspaces, and basal cover in interspaces and P. glandulosa subcanopy microsites for 9 years following P. glandulosa suppression (top‐kill) and compared this to untreated P. glandulosa woodland (woodland). The Prosopis/Nassella association limited the window of C4 mid‐grass recovery to only a few years. Nassella leucotricha dominated grass production during the first 3 years after top‐kill. C4 mid‐grass recovery began in year 4, but was interrupted by severe drought in years 5 through 7. Recovery resumed in year 8, due to above‐average summer rainfall, but P. glandulosa regrowth was large enough by this time to limit C4 mid‐grass production to a third of its potential. Nassella leucotricha basal cover remained dominant and stable in woodland subcanopy microsites, even during drought, and only briefly declined in top‐kill subcanopy microsites before returning to pretreatment levels by year 8 as P. glandulosa regrowth increased and provided shade. Synthesis and applications. A single suppression event had little impact on disrupting the Prosopis/Nassella association and allowing C4 mid‐grass recovery. The coupling of a deciduous, N‐fixing C3 woody species with this C3 perennial grass may be a vegetative “state” that is resistant to multiple woody suppression disturbances and permanently limits the transition back to C4 grassland.

Abstract This study provides an overview of the coupled high‐resolution Version 1 of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SMv1) and documents the characteristics of a 50‐year‐long high‐resolution control simulation with time‐invariant 1950 forcings following the HighResMIP protocol. In terms of global root‐mean‐squared error metrics, this high‐resolution simulation is generally superior to results from the low‐resolution configuration of E3SMv1 (due to resolution, tuning changes, and possibly initialization procedure) and compares favorably to models in the CMIP5 ensemble. Ocean and sea ice simulation is particularly improved, due to better resolution of bathymetry, the ability to capture more variability and extremes in winds and currents, and the ability to resolve mesoscale ocean eddies. The largest improvement in this regard is an ice‐free Labrador Sea, which is a major problem at low resolution. Interestingly, several features found to improve with resolution in previous studies are insensitive to resolution or even degrade in E3SMv1. Most notable in this regard are warm bias and associated stratocumulus deficiency in eastern subtropical oceans and lack of improvement in El Niño. Another major finding of this study is that resolution increase had negligible impact on climate sensitivity (measured by net feedback determined through uniform +4K prescribed sea surface temperature increase) and aerosol sensitivity. Cloud response to resolution increase consisted of very minor decrease at all levels. Large‐scale patterns of precipitation bias were also relatively unaffected by grid spacing.

Objectives The main focus of this study was to investigate the effect of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the mental health condition and sleep quality of college students in Macao. In addition, the students’ behaviours during the pandemic, such as drinking alcohol, taking sleeping pills, and seeking psychological counselling were analyzed. Method A cross-sectional survey of mental health and sleep quality status, as well as the possible behavioral risk factors, was conducted among the college students of Macao in August, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online self-report questionnaire survey method was applied to assess the general demographics and related lifestyle behaviors of students. The general mental health condition and sleep quality were evaluated through the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaires, respectively. The main statistical methods included the Chi-square test, Bonferroni correction, and Pearson correlation. Data analysis was performed using SPSS Version 24.0. Results A total of 980 students were investigated in the study, of which 977 completed the survey. During the COVID-19 pandemic period, overall college students in Macao were psychologically well adjusted and reported good quality of sleep. However, female students were in poorer psychological condition than males (P < 0.05). Moreover, the students over 20 years of age had poorer sleep quality than students aged less than or equal to 20 (P < 0.05). The significant differences were found among the students in different study majors for the mental health status and sleep quality (both P < 0.05), which were associated with certain behaviors, such as drinking alcohol, taking sleeping pills, and seeking for help in psychological counselling during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Conclusions Poor mental health status could be either the consequence or cause of sleep disturbance, which might further affected physical health. Therefore, regular assessment of mental health condition and sleep quality of college students is particularly necessary during public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and appropriate intervention should be provided to the students.