Search

In this paper, a highly-efficient method for bonding Carbon Fiber (Cf)/Al composites and TiAl alloys was developed by means of laser-induced exothermic reaction of a Ni-Al-Ti interlayer. To examine the interlayer exothermic performance, the adiabatic temperature was calculated and the reaction temperatures were measured. Based on SEM, XRD and TEM, the interfacial reactions between carbon fiber and interlayer products were investigated. Results show that the addition of Ti enhanced the interfacial reactions between carbon fibers and interlayer products. The resulting formation of a 300–400nm thin Ti-C layer at the NiAl3/carbon fiber interface was identified as a key player in improving the joining quality on the Cf/Al side. The typical interfacial structure of the joint is (Cf/Al)/Ti-C/NiAl3/Ni2Al3/(NiAl+Al3NiTi2)/Al3NiTi2/TiAl. The joint formation mechanism was discussed. In addition, the effect of Ti content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of joints were investigated in detail. The optimum value of Ti content was found to be 5wt.%, leading to a defect-free joint and a maximum shear strength of 45.8MPa. Keywords: Laser-induced exothermic reaction, Cf/Al composites, TiAl alloys, Microstructure, Mechanical property, Welding

Since the Chinese government’s rapid increase in expenditures on science and technology (S&T) during the 2000s, numerous related policies have been implemented by national-, provincial-, city-and prefecture-level governments in China. Each level of government aims to promote innovation activities; however, few empirical evaluations have been conducted for each policy level and category. This study estimates the treatment effects of innovation policies at each government level and category by using firm-level survey data from Chengdu, an inland city. Results suggest that aggregated S&T policies stimulate effective firm-level innovation activities, in particular, city-level policies and various government services. On the other hand, some policy categories, including tax incentives, seem to be inefficient and these results are also consistent with related studies. Restructuring the current policy menu and establishing further feedback mechanisms for S&T policy will improve the efficacy of such spending.

The packings of cubes and cuboids (i.e., "elongated" or "compressed" cubes) are ubiquitous in nature. The high symmetry and space-tiling nature of such particles make them easily packable in dense configurations with a high degree of orientational and translational order. In this paper, we devise a novel inverse packing method that enables one to generate dense hard-particle packings with a controllable degree of disorder/order quantified by predefined order metrics via stochastic Monte Carlo optimizations. We employ the inverse packing method to generate and investigate the maximally dense random packings (MDRPs) of hard cubes and cuboids with aspect ratio α, in which a series of newly introduced normalized local cubatic order parameters sensitive to the onset of any spatial order in packings of cubes and cuboids is minimized. The density of the MDRP of cubes is φ ≈ 0.637, which increases as the shape deviates from the cube limit (α = 1) and reaches the maximal values for cuboids with aspect ratios α = 0.7 or 1.5. These special α values associated with local density extrema are almost identical for those associated with the random packings of spherocylinders, spheroids and superellipsoids, suggesting a universal influence of shape elongation on random packing density. Our inverse packing method can be readily utilized to study the MDRPs of other hard particles and the normalized local cubatic order parameter introduced here is applicable to other shaped particles characterized by three principal axes.

High-quality AlN epitaxial films have been epitaxially grown on Cu(111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) through effectively controlling the interfacial reactions between AlN epitaxial films and Cu substrates. The interfacial properties of the as-grown AlN/Cu hetero-interfaces and their formation mechanisms have been systemically studied. A 2.1 nm-thick CuxAl1−xN interfacial layer is formed in AlN/Cu hetero-structures at a high growth temperature of 600 °C, while abrupt and sharp AlN/Cu hetero-interfaces with no interfacial layer are achieved by effectively controlling the interfacial reactions at a low growth temperature of 450 °C. The as-grown ∼300 nm-thick AlN epitaxial films grown at 450 °C show very smooth surfaces with a root-mean-square surface roughness of 1.2 nm and high crystalline quality with full-width at half-maximum values of X-ray rocking curves for AlN(0002) and AlN(10−12) of 0.7° and 0.8°, respectively. Meanwhile, the residual stress in the as-grown AlN epitaxial films is also well controlled through low temperature growth with a residual compressive stress of 0.30 GPa. These high-quality AlN epitaxial films are of paramount importance for the commercial development of high-performance AlN-based optoelectronic devices.

Predicting the hydrate formation condition is an important issue for determining high CO 2 content natural gas transport. The widely used Parrish-Prausnitz (P-P) model cannot predict the hydrate formation temperatures and pressures accurately for high CO 2 content natural gas. This paper introduced a simple correction factor into the P-P model, resulting in an improved P-P model. The analytical expression of this new parameter is developed by correlating the deviations of the predicted hydrate formation temperatures with the CO 2 molar fraction in the gas mixtures. A total of 140 sets of experimental data were applied to validate the proposed model, which covered wide pressure and CO 2 molar fraction ranges of 1.45–13.0 MPa and 0–90%, respectively. The results show that the improved P-P model balances a simple form with high accuracy. The average deviation of the improved P-P model is 0.098 °C, whereas that of the original P-P model is 2.424 °C. It is essentially comparable in its prediction ability to CSMGem software and the cell potential method when it is applied to predicting the hydrate temperatures of high CO 2 content natural gases.

Magnolia delavayi is a rare, famous ornamental and important medical tree endemic to China. Here, we assembled the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of M. delavayi. Its length is 159,715 bp...

Bacterial flagella are large extracellular protein organelles that drive bacteria motility and taxis in response to environmental changes. Previous research has focused mostly on describing the flagellar assembly, its rotation speed and power output. However, whether flagella are permanent cell structures and, if not, the circumstances and timing of their production and loss during the bacterial life cycle remain poorly understood. Here we used the single polar flagellum ofVibrio alginolyticusas our model and, usingin vivofluorescence imaging, revealed that the percentage of flagellated bacteria (PFB) in a population varies substantially across different bacterial growth phases. In the early-exponential phase, the PFB increases rapidly in respect to incubation time, mostly through widespread flagella production. In the mid-exponential phase, the PFB peaks at around 76% and the partitioning of flagella between the daughter cells is 1:1 and strictly at the old poles. After entering the stationary phase, the PFB starts to decline, mainly because daughter cells stop making new flagella after cell division. Interestingly, we discovered that bacteria can actively abandon flagella after prolonged stationary culturing, though cell division has long been suspended. Lack of glucose was found to be a major factor promoting flagellar disassembly. We also revealed that the active loss of flagella was initiated by breakage in the rod connecting the extracellular filament to the basal body formed by MS- and C-rings. Our results highlight the dynamic production and loss of flagellar filaments during the bacterial life cycle.

During loop closing operation, if the loop current is too large, the connection switch of the loop point will be damaged, which will affect the normal operation of the distribution network. This paper takes the loop closing operation of 10 kV hybrid grounding system for arc suppression coil and small resistance in Hangzhou as an example, use ATP-EMTP software to build the model. In the simulation, the state at the time of the loop closing operation is accurately simulated, and the change of the loop current is observed to determine whether the loop closing operation can be performed. Analyze factors influencing the loop current and examine several ways to reduce the loop current. The conclusion has significant implications for practical loop closing operation of power systems.

The synthesized imidazoline phosphate quaternary ammonium salt has low stability, which is spontaneously and rapidly hydrolyzed to the long-chain fatty acid amide (LFA). The hydrolysate (LFA) has been found to be an efficient inhibitor for Q235 steel against CO

In state-of-the-art Virtual Reality (VR) technology, the audio experience tends to be dynamic and interactive, which is not feasible to be evaluated with conventional audio quality evaluation methods. For audio-visual VR scenarios, significant results can be drawn when overall perceived quality method is adopted, but the technical details become difficult to be located and analyzed. This paper proposes a multi-criteria subjective evaluation method to evaluate the binaural audio rendering techniques utilized in VR applications by setting up disparate influencing indicators in multiple scenarios. Subjective experiments are conducted on the test platform loaded with two VR audio renderers. The test results show that this method can be used to evaluate the performance of the renderers from different perspectives.

Background The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele is considered as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the association of APOE allele with MRI evidence of intracranial lesions has not been well understood. Methods Quantitative real‐time PCR was performed to detect the APOE genotype; MRI was examined for intracranial lesions. Their association was evaluated in a cohort of 226 AD patients and 2607 healthy individuals in southern China. Results The frequencies of ε2, ε3, and ε4 alleles were 8.0%, 82.9%, and 9.1% in the whole study population. The frequency of APOE‐ε4 allele was significantly higher in the AD subjects than that in the control group (14.4% vs 8.6%, P

Many multimedia applications require precise understanding of the rate-distortion characteristics measured by the function relating visual quality to media attributes, for which we term it the generalized rate-distortion (GRD) function. In this study, we explore the GRD behavior of compressed digital videos in a three-dimensional space of bitrate, resolution, and viewing device/condition. Our analysis on a large-scale video dataset reveals that empirical parametric models are systematically biased while exhaustive search methods require excessive computation time to depict the GRD surfaces. By exploiting the properties that all GRD functions share, we develop an Robust Axial-Monotonic Clough-Tocher (RAMCT) interpolation method to model the GRD function. This model allows us to accurately reconstruct the complete GRD function of a source video content from a moderate number of measurements. To further reduce the computational cost, we present a novel sampling scheme based on a probabilistic model and an information measure. The proposed sampling method constructs a sequence of quality queries by minimizing the overall informativeness in the remaining samples. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms state-of-the-art approaches in accuracy and efficiency. Finally, we demonstrate the usage of the proposed model in three applications: rate-distortion curve prediction, per-title encoding profile generation, and video encoder comparison., 12 pages, 7 figures

Citrus yellow vein clearing virus is a newly accepted member of the genus Mandarivirus in the family Alphaflexiviridae. The triple gene block proteins (TGBp1, TGBp2 and TGBp3) encoded by plant viruses in this family function on facilitating virus movement. However, the protein function of citrus yellow vein clearing virus (CYVCV) have never been explored. Here, we showed in both yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence (BiFC) assays that the coat protein (CP), TGBp1 and TGBp2 of CYVCV are self-interacting. Its CP also interacts with all three TGB proteins, and TGBp1 and TGBp2 interact with each other but not with TGBp3. Furthermore, the viral CP colocalizes with TGBp1 and TGBp3 at the plasmodesmata (PD) of epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana leaves, and TGBp1 can translocate TGBp2 from granular-like structures embedded within ER networks to the PD. The results suggest that these proteins could coexist at the PD of epidermal cells of N. benthamiana. Using Agrobacterium infiltration-mediated RNA silencing assays, we show that CYVCV CP is a strong RNA silencing suppressor (RSS) triggered by positive-sense green fluorescent protein (GFP) RNA. The presented results provide insights for further revealing the mechanism of the viral movement and suppression of RNA silencing.

Purpose To investigate the association between serum amyloid A (SAA) protein and the clinical features of acute anterior uveitis (AAU), and to evaluate the disease activity and treatment effect in relation to SAA levels. Methods AAU patients and healthy individuals were recruited from October 2016 to August 2017 at the Department of Uveitis, in the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University. Related demographic, clinical characteristics, and therapeutic data were analyzed. Results One hundred and eight AAU patients and 18 healthy controls were included in this study. Serum SAA levels in AAU patients were significantly higher than those of healthy controls (p all

Shale formations exhibit multi-scale geological features such as nanopores in formation matrix and fractures at multiple length scales. Accurate prediction of relative permeability and capillary pressure are vital in numerical simulations of shale reservoirs. The multi-scale geological features of shale formations present great challenges for traditional experimental approach. Compared to nanopores in formation matrix, fractures, especially connected fractures, have much more significant impact on multiphase flows. Traditional flow models like Darcy's law are not valid for modeling fluid flow in fracture space nor in nanopores. In this work, we apply multiphase lattice Boltzmann simulation for unsteady-state waterflooding process in highly fractured samples to study the effects of fracture connectivity, wetting preference, and gravitional forces.

This paper proposes a general-purpose industrial alarm design scheme that uses the STC15W402AS high-speed single-chip microcomputer to realize the integration of WS type, WA type and WV type, and does not use the special class D power amplifier chip, The internal resources of the microcontroller are used to generate high-frequency pulses that are in phase, modulated into inverted PWMDI and PWMD2 waveforms, thereby eliminating the LC filter at the output. A variable voltage high-speed pulse driver with working voltage is designed, and a BTL type D power amplifier with simple structure is constructed. When the volume is adjusted, the working voltage is changed, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the PWM modulated signal. If the required output power is different, replace the external field effect transistor (or FET). Therefore, this solution can greatly simplify the circuit, and at the same time reduce the type of product for management and maintenance, and greatly improve the competitiveness of the product.

Radiomic is a quantitative method to extract medical features and it can extend details that are invisible to human eyes. Studies have suggested that the radiomics of the hippocampus is a potential imaging biomarker for several diseases, including Alzheimer disease, mild cognitive impairment and multiple sclerosis. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the test-retest reproducibility of the radiomics measures of the hippocampus. For this purpose, the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and overall concordance correlation coefficient (OCCC) of the radiomics properties of the hippocampus were well studied in a dataset including 19 subjects who were scanned two times. The result highlights that most of the hippocampal texture are repeatable, and the possibility that texture may serve as a neuroimaging biomarker for the clinical study.

Compared with traditional training modes of assembly/disassembly, the virtual environment has advantages for enhancing the training quality, saving training resources, and breaking restrictions on training equipment and place. In order to balance the training quality, experience quality, and especially training costs, an interactive virtual training system for assembly and disassembly is discussed in this paper. The training is based on assembly precedence constraints among assembly paths. Also, the developer interface and the user interface are both provided for facilitation of the management, development, and modification of training contents. Two important modes of user interfaces are provided and based on immersive virtual reality (VR) devices and conventional desktop devices (the computer screen, keyboard, and mouse) for different economic conditions. Meanwhile, to improve the development efficiency of the training contents, the system is programmed as a software development kit providing the developer interface with parameter-input fields for Unity3d the virtual simulation engine. Finally, two subjective evaluation experiments are conducted to evaluate the usability in the training experience of interaction and precedence constraints via the desktop interface, and explore the difference of usability in the training experience between immersive VR environment and desktop environment provided by the training system.

4K, ultra high-definition (UHD), and higher resolution video contents have become increasingly popular recently. The largely increased data rate casts great challenges to video compression and communication technologies. Emerging video coding methods are claimed to achieve superior performance for high-resolution video content, but thorough and independent validations are lacking. In this study, we carry out an independent and so far the most comprehensive subjective testing and performance evaluation on videos of diverse resolutions, bit rates and content variations, and compressed by popular and emerging video coding methods including H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, VP9, AVS2 and AV1. Our statistical analysis derived from a total of more than 36,000 raw subjective ratings on 1,200 test videos suggests that significant improvement in terms of rate-quality performance against the AVC encoder has been achieved by state-of-the-art encoders, and such improvement is increasingly manifest with the increase of resolution. Furthermore, we evaluate state-of-the-art objective video quality assessment models, and our results show that the SSIMplus measure performs the best in predicting 4K subjective video quality. The database will be made available online to the public to facilitate future video encoding and video quality research.

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection represents an important risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a widely used biomarker for HCC. However, elevated serum AFP levels in different statuses of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is not well defined. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between AFP levels and HCV viral load in CHC patients. We also analyzed the correlation between three liver func-tion enzyme levels (AST, ALT, GGT) and HCV RNA viral load in CHC patients. METHODS A total of 279 patients infected with HCV were included in this study. Patients were divided into two groups: HCV RNA positive and HCV RNA negative group. Serum HCV RNA load was measured by Quantitative Real-time PCR. Electrochemiluminescence assay (ECLA) was used to determine the serum AFP levels. The differences between two groups in AFP levels and biochemical profile (AST, ALT, GGT) was evaluated. RESULTS The HCV RNA-positive group had significantly higher serum AFP levels than the negative groups (12.61 vs. 4.72 ng/mL, p < 0.0001). There was no correlation between AFP levels and HCV RNA viral load in HCV infection patients (p = 0.92). A significant correlation was observed between serum ALT (r = 0.243, p = 0.005), GGT (r = 0.212, p = 0.016) levels and HCV RNA viral load. Poor correlation (r = 0.148, p = 0.093) was found between AST levels and HCV RNA viral load. Interestingly, there was a positive correlation (r = 0.337, p < 0.001) between ALT and AFP levels in the whole study population. CONCLUSIONS We concluded that serum HCV RNA positive patients were candidates for therapeutic prevention of HCC and liver inflammation regardless of the HCV RNA viral load. Furthermore, higher burden of HCV viral load was associated with more severe liver damage.

ZnT8 is a zinc transporter enriched in pancreatic β-cells, and its polymorphism is associated with increased susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. However, the exact role of ZnT8 in systemic energy metabolism remains elusive. In this study, we found that ZnT8 knockout mice displayed increased adiposity without obvious weight gain. We also observed that the intestinal tract morphology, motility, and gut microbiota were changed in ZnT8 knockout mice. Further study demonstrated that ZnT8 was expressed in enteroendocrine cells, especially in 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)–positive enterochromaffin cells. Lack of ZnT8 resulted in an elevated circulating 5-HT level owing to enhanced expression of tryptophan hydroxylase 1. Blocking 5-HT synthesis in ZnT8-deficient mice restored adiposity, high-fat diet–induced obesity, and glucose intolerance. Moreover, overexpression of human ZnT8 diabetes high-risk allele R325W increased 5-HT levels relative to the low-risk allele in RIN14B cells. Our study revealed an unexpected role of ZnT8 in regulating peripheral 5-HT biogenesis and intestinal microenvironment, which might contribute to the increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

This study aims to numerically analyze the dynamic responses and damage/failure of bridge substructure during the vehicle-pier collisions, by employing the refined finite element (FE) models of a heavy truck and a simply-supported prototype highway bridge. Firstly, the adopted numerical algorithm and material model parameters to capture both the flexural and shear failures are validated through the simulations of two lateral flexible impactor crash tests. Then, the full-scale FE model of a typical four-span reinforced concrete (RC) bridge with two-pier bents is established, and a high-fidelity heavy truck FE model established previously is improved and further certified by comparisons with the eccentric and aligned full-scale crash test data. Furthermore, a series of numerical simulations are conducted to examine the heavy truck collision process and analyze the failure modes of bridge structure, as well as the parametric influences, including truck mass, impact velocity, and impact angle. Finally, the linear relationships of initial engine momentum, maximal vehicular impact force, 25-ms moving average, sectional force, and lateral displacement are proposed. It indicates that, (i) compared with the *MAT_CONCRETE_DAMAGE_REL3 and *MAT_WINFRITH_CONCRETE, *MAT_ CSCM_CONCRETE can well depict the flexural and shear failure modes of the pier subjected to heavy truck impact in actual accidents; (ii) the ultimate failure of the impacted pier is mainly caused by the impact of the cargo rather than the engine in the heavy truck; (iii) the impact angle significantly amplifies the possibilities of the T-girder falling off and the failure of bent cap, increasing the potential risk of overall collapse of the bridge superstructure.

Inflated membranes are popularly used in civil and aerospace engineering. They are flexible and their behaviors are featured by the interaction between the inner air pressure and deformation of the enveloping membrane (air–membrane interaction) which has not yet received attention in the literature. This paper aims at studying the air–membrane interaction and its influence on the static and dynamic properties of an inflated membrane by numerically analyzing a square ETFE (ethylene–tetrafluoroethylene) cushion. To account for the air–membrane interaction, the inner air was regarded as a linear potential fluid in developing the governing equations. The finite element model was derived from the discretized equations and verified through comparison with experimental results and those in the literature. Thereafter, the air–membrane interaction and its variation with influencing factors were investigated in the static and dynamic analysis by comparing results from the verified finite element model with the numerical solutions where the inner air was treated as the traction boundary conditions of the enveloping membrane. Results of this study indicate that (1) air–membrane interaction becomes more prominent with increasing external load and is gradually weakened with a rise in the frequency order; (2) air–membrane interaction makes the top membrane joined with the bottom membrane in the deformation and vibration; and (3) air–membrane interaction is strengthened with an increase in the initial inner pressure or geometric dimensions, but weakened when the membrane thickness or rise–span ratio increases. The present research is helpful to the understanding of the role the inner air plays in the behavior of inflated membranes, and may therefore improve the accuracy in analysis and the rationality in the design.

Energy revolution is important for realizing the coordinated development of energy system, economic society, and ecological environment. Energy strategies significantly influence the process of national and regional energy revolutions. In this article, we propose a systemic analysis method for energy strategies called SEGO (i.e., sustainable development, energy system, governance of society, and operation of market). Based on this, the global energy transition and China’s energy revolution strategy are analyzed from four aspects: energy challenge, energy system, energy governance, and energy market as well as their relationship. The results show that the world faces multiple energy challenges regarding energy equity, energy security, and green energy. Meanwhile, lack of strong energy governance has led to a low progress of the global energy transition. China is expected to play a more active role in promoting global energy transition. Although China has achieved less energy consumption and less emissions in its development, it still faces severe challenges in multiple aspects such as energy system integration. China should focus on the overall optimization and fine management of its energy system while considering economic development and ecological protection. The co-construction, sharing, and co-adjustment should be further coordinated among different types of energy networks. Moreover, disruptive innovation in new energy technologies and industries should be encouraged.

The growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) axis plays an important role in normal brain development, and GH deficiency inevitably affects the growth of the cerebral cortex. This study was designed to analyze morphological differences in gray matter volume, cortical surface area, and gray matter thickness between children with isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) and children with idiopathic short stature (ISS). Twenty-four children with IGHD (mean age 9.42 years, peak GH 5 μg/l) and 24 controls with ISS (mean age 9.21 years, peak GH 10 μg/l) were included. High-resolution three-dimensional T1-weighted MRIs were acquired at participants' first visit. Measurements of gray matter volume, cortical surface area and gray matter thickness were obtained using FreeSurfer. The total and regional differences between groups were statistically analyzed. Correlations between the FreeSurfer results and GH and IGF-I levels were also obtained. The gray matter volume, cortical surface area and gray matter thickness of the total brain and of the bilateral hemispheres of children with IGHD were significantly smaller than those of children with ISS (all P values 0.05). All the measurements had similar cortical distributions between groups but varied across regions. Cortical regions with significant differences in the mean gray matter volume and surface area were mainly distributed around the bilateral central sulci and the lateral and basal parts of the temporal lobes (all P values 0.05). There were negative correlations between gray matter volume, cortical surface area and GH levels, and the right hemispheric and total cortical surface area correlated significantly with GH levels (all P values 0.05) in children with IGHD. There were significant positive correlations between gray matter volume, cortical surface area and IGF-I levels (all P values 0.05) in both groups, except for in left hemispheric gray matter volume in children with ISS. Children with IGHD have significant morphological changes in the cerebral cortex, which were partially influenced by GH and IGF-I levels. These cortical changes may be related to deficits in their relatively slower development in intelligence, motor performance, and other functions.

To extend the materials application and achieve composite structures with combined advantages, the Cf/Al composites were joined with TiAl intermetallics by a novel laser-induced self-propagating high-temperature synthesis joining method. In this study, a Ni-Al-Zr interlayer was designed based on the calculation of the adiabatic temperature. The joint microstructure was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the NiAl + Ni2AlZr + Ni3Al5Zr2 eutectic were produced during the joining. The Al3NiTi2, Ni2Al3 and NiAl3 reaction layers formed respectively on both sides. A nanoscale thin Zr-C reaction layer formed on the NiAl3/Cf interface and greatly enhanced the bonding quality on the Cf/Al side. The effect of the interlayer composition and joining pressure on the joint microstructure and mechanical property was investigated. The highest joint shear strength was 68.71 MPa at a pressure of 4 MPa when the Zr content was 5 wt.%. Keywords: Metal-matrix composites (MMCs), Intermetallics, Microstructure, Mechanical property, Self-propagating high-temperature synthesis, Welding/joining

Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR EoS) is a reliable and widely used cubic EoS to predict natural gases thermodynamic properties. However, large deviations between the calculated compressibility factor values and the realistic values are observed when it is applied to the high volume CO2-content natural gas. In order to enhance its applicability, a new correction parameter associated with three-parameters (the reduced temperature Tr, reduced pressure Pr and CO2 volume content) is introduced into the attractive term of PR EoS by fitting the deviations between 267 groups of experimental compressibility factors and corresponding calculation values. The results reveal that the average absolute deviation between experimental data and predicted compressibility factors from the improved PR EoS is 2.708% when the pressures range from 3 MPa to 15 MPa, temperatures range from 263.15 K to 313.15 K and CO2 volume contents range from 9.84% to 100%. The deviation is reduced by 9.61% when compared to that of the original PR EoS. The results also demonstrate that this improved PR EoS has better performance than PRSV, PRTwu BWRS EoSs, and is essentially comparable in predictability to PC-SAFT EoS.

Herein, a robust method to fabricate expanded nanofiber scaffolds with controlled size and thickness using a customized mold during the modified gas-foaming process is reported. The expansion of nanofiber membranes is also simulated using a computational fluid model. Expanded nanofiber scaffolds implanted subcutaneously in rats show cellular infiltration, whereas non-expanded scaffolds only have surface cellular attachment. Compared to unexpanded nanofiber scaffolds, more CD68+ and CD163+ cells are observed within expanded scaffolds at all tested time points post-implantation. More CCR7+ cells appear within expanded scaffolds at week 8 post-implantation. In addition, new blood vessels are present within the expanded scaffolds at week 2. The formed multinucleated giant cells within expanded scaffolds are heterogeneous expressing CD68, CCR7, or CD163 markers. Together, the present study demonstrates that the expanded nanofiber scaffolds promote cellular infiltration/tissue integration, a regenerative response, and neovascularization after subcutaneous implantation in rats. The use of expanded electrospun nanofiber scaffolds offers a promising method for in situ tissue repair/regeneration and generation of 3D tissue models/constructs.

To improve the compressibility factor prediction of CO 2 -content natural gas, this short communication proposes a new combinational Stewart-Burkhardt-Voo (SBV) + Prausnitz-Gunn (PG) mixing rule for the Lee-Kesler equation of state. The rule suggests using SBV and PG mixing rules for the pseudocritical temperature and pressure computations, respectively, when the reduced temperature is higher than one and the reduced pressure is higher than five; otherwise, the pseudocritical temperature and pressure is calculated according to SBV mixing rule. Comparisons between experimental and calculation data show that the maximum average relative deviation is 1.56% when the mole fraction of CO 2 is less than 50%.

Substrate clogging is regarded as one of the main influencing factors on the sustainable operation in subsurface flow constructed wetlands (SSFCWs). The accumulation of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by microbial metabolism may contribute to the substrate clogging due to the increasing formation of biofilms in CWs. In this study, the quantity and composition of EPS, and the distribution and variation of bacterial communities in different CW systems with and without aeration and biochar addition were comparatively investigated. Biochar and intermittent aeration addition could shift the production and compositions of EPS in SSFCW. Higher total EPS production was observed in CW with intermittent aeration and biochar (328 mg L−1), compared with control (241 mg L−1), CW with biochar addition (154 mg L−1) and CW with intermittent aeration (285 mg L−1). In addition, biochar addition could decrease the content of soluble EPS (S-EPS), and combination of biochar and aeration could increase the content of tightly B-EPS (TB-EPS). Four fluorescent components were identified in EPS samples by parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis. The fluorescence intensity of tryptophan-like substance was maximum, followed by tyrosine-like substance and humic acid-like substance. The application of intermittent aeration and biochar improved the abundance of microbes but decreased the diversity of microbes. Moreover, higher relative abundance of some functional bacteria correlated with the nitrogen removal was found in biochar added intermittently aerated SSFCW. The obtained results revealed that intermittent aeration and biochar addition could enhance treatment performance, but might have a potential risk of substrate clogging in SSFCWs.

Human resource flexibility management, psychological capital and job performance are the core of organizational management. From the existing research, psychological capital as an intermediary variable, and specifically for China's employees as the sample of research less. In this paper, human resource flexibility management, job performance and psychological capital are taken as research variables. A correlation analysis and regression analysis were conducted on the work behaviors of employees. The results are as follows: first of all, human resource flexibility management has a significant effect on psychological capital. Function elasticity, salary elasticity and working hour elasticity are positively related to psychological capital. Secondly, among the direct effects of psychological capital on job performance, self-efficacy, hope, resilience and optimism all have significant positive effects on task performance. Self-efficacy, hope, resilience and optimism all have significant positive effects on Contextual performance. Finally, in the regulatory effect, psychological capital plays an intermediary role between human resource flexibility and job performance.

e16553 Background: The dynamics of the cancer genome and T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire are largely unclear during the development of gastric cancer, especially in the early stage. In this study, we studied the characteristics of genome and tumor microenvironment changes chronologically in 15 early gastric cancer (EGC) patients and illustrated their influence on carcinogenesis. Methods: 75 gastric tissues including precancerous lesions, cancer lesions and paired reference gastric samples, and 29 peripheral blood samples were obtained chronologically from 15 patients. All the lesions were categorized into 3 groups according to its pathology type (group1: inflammation or intestinal metaplasia, group 2: low-grade dysplasia (LGD), group 3: EGC). Deep sequencing of whole-exome and CDR3 chain of TCR of each sample was performed. Tumor mutation burden (TMB), TCR repertoire diversity and clonality were evaluated based on the sequencing data. Results: Heterogeneity existed in cancer genome and TCR repertoire among different patients. During carcinogenesis, TMB increased at first and then decreased, reaching its peak at LGD, which was different from what we have known from other advanced cancer. A detailed analysis showed that only part of the driver gene mutations maintained in this process. Compared with T cells infiltrated in reference samples, tumor-infiltrating T cells shared more clones with peripheral blood T cells. Diversity and clonality of TCR repertoire didn’t show significant change with the development of cancer (Shannon index: group 1 = 6.32, group 2 = 6.06, group 3 = 6.09, p = 0.836; Clonality: group 1 = 0.19, group 2 = 0.19, group 3 = 0.17, p = 0.374). Some CDR3 clones appeared in early-stage and maintained during the carcinogenesis process. Conclusions: Our research is the first to analyze the cancer genome and TCR repertoire changes from both the spatial and temporal perspectives during the development of early gastric cancer. Somatic mutations appeared in the very early stage of gastric cancer and may induce the immune microenvironment changes in gastric mucosa.

During the loop closing operation, excessive loop current may occur because of the amplitude and phase difference of the busbar voltage on both sides of the loop point, causing overcurrent protection or quick-break protection maloperation. This paper takes the loop closing operation of 10 kV hybrid grounding model of arc suppression coil and low resistance in Hangzhou as an example, use ATP-EMTP software to build the simulation model. The factors affecting the size of the loop current are tested, and the specific conditions for the loop closing operation are determined. The conclusions have great significances for promoting the automatic loop closing operation of 10kV distribution network. The conclusions have great significances for promoting the automatic loop closing operation of 10kV hybrid grounding distribution network.

Equalization of education facilities, which means the balanced distribution of human and material resources under limited resource conditions, is one of the goals of sustainable development. In the process of rapid urbanization in China, there are apparent discrepancies between urban and rural areas because of different land and household registration systems. Primary schools with three types of different administrative affiliations also have significant distinctions. This study is aimed at assessing and comparing the configuration of primary schools with three different administrative affiliations, including cities, towns, and villages. After building an indicator system, the entropy weight method is applied to calculate the overall and category configuration scores of each school. Based on a spatial database, the ArcGIS thematic maps display the geography characteristic of each school in different geolocations. Moreover, the Kruskal–Wallis test identifies if the configuration of primary schools with different administrative affiliations is equal. The results indicate that the allocation of primary schools with three different administrative affiliations showed a ternary development. Moreover, although primary schools with city affiliation had significant advantages in education quality and convenience, their supply–demand conditions were not optimistic. In addition, the quality of the primary schools subordinate to towns was better, but convenience was generally lower. Finally, the quality of primary schools subordinate to villages and some towns was still poor. The results provide facts and a basis for policymakers to achieve an equity configuration in the sustainable development context.

An efficient method is introduced for generating assembly precedence constraints on three-dimensional (3D) models based on a block sequence structure, with the purpose of enhancing the simulation quality of assembly precedence constraints and reducing the development cost of virtual assembly (VA)/virtual disassembly (VD) software. Firstly, we propose a block sequence structure to store and process the attribute data characterizing assembly precedence constraints and the reference variable of paths. Then the approaches to convert a block sequence to the next state for controlling the subsequent VA/VD operations are expounded. In the random-access memory, each assembly reference object is regarded as a node for distributed management of the precedence constraints of its paths. Therefore, the tedious preprocessing for each part model is not required. Meanwhile, the VA/VD process can be flexibly switched due to calculation and processing on the precedence relation data instead of separately setting and executing the assembly/disassembly sequences. The block sequence and state transition approaches can be programmed as the software development kit (SDK) providing parameter-input interfaces for different virtual simulation platforms, so the interactive VA/VD simulation can be efficiently developed without programming skills. For the practical application, we program and package an SDK for Unity3d and further evaluate its usability in aiding in the development of precedence constraints for VA/VD applications.

Little is known about the variations of fresh fruit biomembrane and its physiological and biochemical characteristics during storage. A navel orange mutant 'Gannan No.1' (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) showed higher membrane stability and titratable acid while lower calyx senescence compared with wild-type 'Newhall'. The membrane damage was significantly reduced in 'Gannan No.1' under 10% polyethylene-glycol (41.16% vs. 8.77%) and 30% polyethylene-glycol (52.59% vs.16.11%) treatments on day 45 after harvest. Consistently, membrane electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde were significantly decreased in 'Gannan No.1', and superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase were activated. A metabolic analysis was performed to evaluate membrane fatty acid unsaturation and peroxidation. Linolenic acid and hexadecylenic acid contributed to the higher degree of unsaturated fatty acids in 'Gannan No.1'. Furthermore, 'Gannan No.1' accumulated stress-resistant metabolites such as proline, α-tocopherol and glutathione. Correlation analysis of membrane homeostasis indexes with quality parameters showed the importance of biomembrane stability in maintaining citrus fruit quality.

The work intends to research the characteristics and applicability of three different types of interaction paradigms in immersive VR environment. For this purpose, a three-dimensional VR scene is designed based on the Unity3D simulation engine, and three types of interaction paradigms, including graphical user interface interaction paradigm, gesture interaction paradigm and voice interaction paradigm, are developed into this VR scene respectively. And the designed immersive and interactive scenes are experienced with HTC Vive. Taking into consideration the development of three interaction paradigms, the computational costs of the running scene with different type of interaction paradigm, and the user learning cost, the characteristics of the three types of interaction paradigms areexploredandcomparedwitheachotherforapplicabilityanalysis. Furthermore, the recommendation for selecting the appropriate interaction paradigm in different circumstances is provided according to analysis result.

With the development and popularity of virtual reality (VR) and 360 panoramic videos with head mounted display (HMD), user satisfaction is very significant as compared to other important end to end quality of service. To improve Quality of Experience (QoE) of 360 panoramic video, user profile needs to be analyzed. The user profile analysis can provide vital information to service providers which can help them to deal with their resources capably, by evaluating users behaviour and expectation. In this paper, we conduct a subjective test and propose a method to investigate QoE in VR by analyzing user profile. To do this, we first store the user profile data (e.g. age, gender, familiarity with 360 panoramic VR video, interest in the content) then we investigate the impact of different factors that influence QoE (encoding parameters, content type and device type) on user. The results of our analytical study provide another opportunity for content providers to offer best level service that meets customers expectations and desired experience to obtain high user satisfaction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt that analyzes the user profile for 360 panoramic videos in VR environment.

A series of porous hydrogen-bonding covalent organic polymers (HCOPs) have been synthesized based on three-composite building blocks through a quick and succinct method for fluoroquinolone antibiotics adsorption from aqueous solutions. The porous properties of the HCOPs were regulated and controlled by adjusting the lengths of linkers, and the crystallinity and stability were strengthened due to the introduction of hydrogen bonds in HCOPs. Taking advantage of the porous properties and π-conjugated phenyl rings, as well as functional –CO–NH– and –COOH groups, HCOPs removed organic pollutants from wastewater effectively and showed good reusability. The external adsorption behavior was analyzed using both kinetic analysis and isotherm analysis. The results showed that the adsorption obeys the pseudo-second order kinetic model and follows the Langmuir isotherm model. The obtained maximum adsorption capacity of the four HCOPs was arranged in sequence according to the specific surface areas and pore sizes. Furthermore, the internal mechanisms involving perforated porousness, electrostatic interaction, hydrophobic interaction, π–π electron-donor–acceptor (EDA) interaction and hydrogen bonding formation, were investigated in detail. We envisage broadly applying the HCOPs in the facile and effective management of environmental pollution.

CircRNAs could play critical functions in tumor progression. However, the expression and underlying mechanism of circRNAs in lung cancer progression remain poorly defined. In the present study, high-throughput microarray assay revealed that hsa_circRNA_100833 (identified as circFADS2) was markedly evaluated in lung cancer tissues, and it was further validated by qRT-PCR. High expression of circFADS2 was correlated with advanced TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, poor differentiation, and shorter overall survival of NSCLC patients. In vitro assays results showed that circFADS2 inhibition suppressed lung cancer cells proliferation and invasion ability. Bioinformatics analysis showed that miR-498 contained the complementary binding region of circFADS2, which was confirmed by Dual-luciferase reporter assay. In addition, the expression of miR-498 was down-regulated and negatively associated with circFADS2 expression in nonsmall cell lung cancer. Furthermore, rescue assays showed that miR-498 inhibitors abolished the effects of circFADS2 inhibition on lung cancer cells progression. Taken together, our findings indicated that circFADS2 was an effective tumor promoter in lung cancer progression, and its functions were performed by regulating the expression of miR-498. These data suggested that circFADS2 could act as a target for lung cancer treatment.

The diabetics are prone to skin infections, especially withThis study aims to explore the differential expression of toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and interleukin (IL)-8 secretion by keratinocytes between controls and diabetic patients when challenged withHaCaT cells were cultured in high-glucose (HG) Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) and low-glucose (LG) DMEM. Then, they were exposed toWe found that the expression levels of both TLR2 and IL-8 increased and then decreased in the two groups. Notably, the IL-8 levels in the LG group were higher than those in the HG group at each time point (These observations showed that TLR2 and IL-8 act on the keratinocytes interacting with

Due to rapid urban development in china, traffic problems are fast becoming considerably serious. In this study, we focus on intercity travel characteristics’ research. By investigating the travel characteristics of passengers and the intercity traffic demand forecast, we aim to discriminate the geographical spatial characteristics of departure places and to establish coupling law of city public transportation hubs and urban space which directly connect with the intercity rail station. In future research, we will try to determine theoretical research methods of node location choice in the urban transfer system. We will determine the location of the key hub node and form a transfer service for intercity public network system to improve the efficiency of residential travel.

In this study, Cf/Al composites and TiAl alloys were joined by a new method named laser-ignited self-propagating synthesis (SHS). Mixed powders of 63.0Ni–31.9Al–5.1Ti (wt%) were used as joining interlayer. Perfect joint was got. The microstructure evolution and formation mechanism of the SHS joint were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results show that localized melting occurs on both sides. One γ-Ni0.35Al0.30Ti0.35 and two Ni–Al reaction layers form, respectively, in the TiAl/interlayer and Cf/Al/interlayer interfaces. The combustion of Ni–Al–Ti interlayer begins with the sharp reaction of Ni and Al. The interlayer product is a eutectic organization of NiAl and Al-rich γ.

Advances in opto-electronics are often led by discovery and development of materials featuring unique properties. Recently, the material class of transparent conductive oxides (TCO) has attracted attention for active photonic devices on-chip. In particular, indium tin oxide (ITO) is found to have refractive index changes on the order of unity. This property makes it possible to achieve electrooptic modulation of sub-wavelength device scales, when thin ITO films are interfaced with optical light confinement techniques such as found in plasmonics; optical modes are compressed to nanometer scale to create strong light-matter interactions. Here we review efforts towards utilizing this novel material for high performance and ultra-compact modulation. While high performance metrics are achieved experimentally, there are open questions pertaining to the permittivity modulation mechanism of ITO. Finally, we review a variety of optical and electrical properties of ITO for different processing conditions, and show that ITO-based plasmonic electro-optic modulators have the potential to significantly outperform diffractionlimited devices.

Cf/Al composites and TiAl alloy were joined by combustion synthesis in different joining conditions. Effects of additive Cu, joining temperature and holding time on joint microstructure and shear strength were characterized by employing DTA, SEM, EDS, XRD and shear test. Results show that the additive Cu in the Ti–Al–C interlayer could significantly decrease the reaction temperature owing to the emergence of Al–Cu eutectic liquid. Reaction degree of the interlayer was influenced by joining temperature and holding time. Due to the barrier action of formed TiAl3 layer, reaction rate of Ti and Al was determined by the atoms diffusion. The reaction between Ti and Al was more sensitive to the joining temperature rather the holding time. The joints shear strength was influenced by joining condition directly. The maximum shear strength of CS joints was 25.89 MPa at 600 °C for 30 min under 5 MPa. Interface evolution mechanism of the CS joint was analyzed based on the experimental results and phase diagram.