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Here we present a method for predicting debris flow run-out based on a numerical model for shallow water flows, using a case study conducted on Xulong Gully, a proposed dam site for a hydropower station in the upper reaches of the Jinsha River. A field investigation and remote sensing interpretation methods were used to develop a comprehensive evaluation of debris flow zones and calculate the potential provenance volume in the Xulong Gully. Particle-size analysis was conducted on the early debris flow fan in the Xulong Gully to determine the rheological properties of the debris flow materials. A numerical model for shallow flows was constructed using the finite volume method to verify fluid motion across complex terrain and explore the debris flow run-out range with various provenance volumes. The model showed that for a total debris flow volume of less than two million m3, the debris flow impact area would remain within the Xulong Gully. However, if the total debris flow volume is more than two million m3, the debris flow would flush out into the Jinsha River, blocking a portion of the river. If all the provenance in the Xulong Gully were flushed out, the maximum flow velocity of the generated debris flow would be 11 m/s and the thickness of the debris flow at the Xulong Gully estuary would be about 28.8 m. The debris flow would completely block 470 m of the Jinsha River.

Background: The antigen HCA587 (also known as MAGE-C2), which is considered a cancer-testis antigen, exhibits upregulated expression in a wide range of malignant tumors with unique immunological properties, and may thus serve as a promising target for tumor immunotherapy. Objective: The study aimed to explore the antitumor effect of the HCA587 protein vaccine and the response of humoral and cell-mediated immunity. Methods: The HCA587 protein vaccine was formulated with adjuvants CpG and ISCOM. B16 melanoma cells were subcutaneously inoculated to C57BL/6 mice, followed by treatment with HCA587 protein vaccine subcutaneously. Mouse survival was monitored daily, and tumor volume was measured every 2 to 3 days. The tumor sizes, survival time and immune cells in tumor tissues were detected. And the vital immune cell subset and effector molecules were explored. Results: After treatment with HCA587 protein vaccine, the vaccination elicited significant immune responses, which delayed tumor growth and improved animal survival. The vaccination increased the proportion of CD4+ T cells expressing IFN-γ and granzyme B in tumor tissues. The depletion of CD4+T cells resulted in an almost complete abrogation of the antitumor effect of the vaccination, suggesting that the antitumor efficacy was mediated by CD4+ T cells. In addition, knockout of IFN-γ resulted in a decrease in granzyme B levels, which were secreted by CD4+ T cells, and the antitumor effect was also significantly attenuated. Conclusion: The HCA587 protein vaccine may increase the levels of granzyme B expressed by CD4+ T cells, and this increase is dependent on IFN-γ, and the vaccine resulted in a specific tumor immune response and subsequent eradication of the tumor.

The great M ~ 8 1920 Haiyuan earthquake (HYEQ) was one of the largest and most deadly earthquakes in China in the last century, with ~ 234,000 deaths. The earthquake occurred within the Loess Plateau of northern China, where Quaternary loess deposits form a distinctive blanket across the landscape. Large regions of this loess cover experienced co-seismic landslides. Based on an analysis of the original disaster reports, field surveys, and satellite image interpretation, we have compiled the shaking effects of the earthquake, including the distribution of landslides, fatalities, and structural damage. Landslides triggered by the HYEQ (n > 7,000) are concentrated south of the Haiyuan fault, in a region that has both thick loess cover and long-term relief generated by the drainage network. This distribution is spatially separated from landslides triggered by other earthquakes. We find that in contrast to previous studies, the most important factor in the severe death toll of the HYEQ was the collapse of housing by ground shaking, including collapse of loess house-caves. Landslides were a secondary factor; although up to 32,000 deaths occurred in areas with intense landsliding. Based on the revised distribution pattern of landslides and damage (e.g., house collapses), we suggest that the isoseismal intensity IX line extends south of previous locations. We have also identified 126 dammed lakes created by co-seismic landslides, which form major modifications of this semi-arid landscape. The research methods in this paper, combining historical review, satellite image interpretation, and field validation of landslides, can be used as a reference for studies of other areas affected by historical earthquakes and co-seismic landslides, elsewhere in the Loess Plateau and beyond.

Shear fault-bend folds are characterized by a long back-limb that dips more gently than the fault ramp [1]. During the folding growth, the back limb rotates and widens progressively through a combination of limb rotation and kink-band migration. Two end-member models of shear fault-bend folding theories, including simple-shear fault-bend folding (C=0.5) and pure-shear fault-bend folding (C=1), have been developed and widely applied. Mixtures of pure and simple shear (0.5Here, we develop a method to calculate the shear-index (C), providing an idea to improve the mixed-shear fault-bend fold models, and establishing a formula to calculate the incremental shortening based on the nonlinear relationship between the back-limb dip angle and the shortening. It is a more general method to calculate the incremental shortening of the shear fault-bend folds.This model has been applied to the Tugulu anticline in the northern foreland of Chinese Tian Shan, which is a mixed-shear fault-bend fold based on previous studies [3]. Through an analysis of deformed fluvial terraces and growth strata, we develop the shortening history of the Tugulu anticline along the Hutubi River using our developed nonlinear model. Our results show that the Tugulu anticline has a shear-index of ~0.91 and a steady shortening rate of ~1.5mm/yr over the last 500ka.References:[1] Suppe et al. (2004) AAPG Memoir 82: 303-323. [2] Yue et al. ( 2011) AAPG Memoir 94: 153–186. [3] Qiu et al. ( 2019) Tectonophysics 772:228209.

SUMMARY Chemical synapses of shared cellular origins have remarkably heterogeneous structures, but how this diversity is generated is unclear. Here, we use three-dimensional (3D) electron microscopy and artificial intelligence algorithms for image processing to reconstruct functional excitatory microcircuits in the mouse hippocampus and microcircuits in which neurotransmitter signaling is permanently suppressed with genetic tools throughout the lifespan. These nanoscale analyses reveal that experience is dispensable for morphogenesis of synapses with different geometric shapes and contents of membrane organelles and that arrangement of morphologically distinct connections in local networks is stochastic. Moreover, loss of activity increases the variability in sizes of opposed pre- and postsynaptic structures without disrupting their alignments, suggesting that inherently variable weights of naive connections become progressively matched with repetitive use. These results demonstrate that mechanisms for the structural diversity of neuronal synapses are intrinsic and provide insights into how circuits essential for memory storage assemble and integrate information., Graphical abstract, In brief Zhu et al. show that development of structurally diverse pools of glutamatergic synapses in the mouse brain does not require synaptic activity. They also demonstrate that structurally diverse synapses are arranged in local connectomes in a stochastic manner and that experience reduces the variability of synaptic weights.

Landslides play an important role in landscape evolution of the Loess Plateau, northern China, but they have not been systematically analysed across the region. The contribution to regional rates of erosion and sediment budgets is poorly known as a consequence. Co-seismic landslides are a significant natural hazard, and exacerbate the threat posed by active faults in the region, but this aspect of the landslides is also poorly quantified. This paper presents inventories for ~80,000 landslides in the Loess Plateau, and analyses the distributions and extents. Four study areas focus on the epicentres of major (M > 7) historical earthquakes, from 1303 CE (Hongdong), 1556 (Huaxian), 1718 (Tongwei) and 1920 (Haiyuan), which are likely to have been major triggers for landslides in these regions. A fifth study area focuses on landslides in the aftermath of localised storms in 2010 in the Tianshui region, to allow comparison of landslides clearly triggered by rainfall with landslides in the regional inventories. Landslides predominantly resulted from failure of the regional loess blanket that gives the region its name, or the soil profile developed above it. Rainfall-generated landslides are dominantly surficial soil landslides. Landslides preserved in the four epicentral areas are larger and deeper, and resemble global bedrock landslides in the dimensions. Total volume of landslide in each of the four epicentral areas are on the order of 3–7 km3; these volumes are likely to be the cumulative totals of repeated earthquakes in the same regions, with each event reactivating landslide scarps on hillsides. Comparison of landslide distributions and modern settlement patterns suggests that future M > 7 earthquakes striking the Loess Plateau may trigger landslides that could directly hit 30–50% of the communities.

A Multi-Depot Green Vehicle Routing Problem (MDGVRP) is considered in this paper. In MDGVRP, Alternative Fuel-powered Vehicles (AFVs) start from different depots, serve customers, and, at the end, return to the original depots. The limited fuel tank capacity of AFVs forces them to visit Alternative Fuel Stations (AFS) for refueling. The objective is to minimize the total carbon emissions. A Two-stage Ant Colony System (TSACS) is proposed to find a feasible and acceptable solution for this NP-hard (Non-deterministic polynomial-time) optimization problem. The distinct characteristic of the proposed TSACS is the use of two distinct types of ants for two different purposes. The first type of ant is used to assign customers to depots, while the second type of ant is used to find the routes. The solution for the MDGVRP is useful and beneficial for companies that employ AFVs to deal with the various inconveniences brought by the limited number of AFSs. The numerical experiments confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms in this research.

The antigen HCA587 (also known as MAGE-C2), which is considered a cancer-testis antigen, exhibits upregulated expression in a wide range of malignant tumors with unique immunological properties, and may thus serve as a promising target for tumor immunotherapy.The study aimed to explore the antitumor effect of the HCA587 protein vaccine and the response of humoral and cell-mediated immunity.The HCA587 protein vaccine was formulated with adjuvants CpG and ISCOM. B16 melanoma cells were subcutaneously inoculated to C57BL/6 mice, followed by treatment with HCA587 protein vaccine subcutaneously. Mouse survival was monitored daily, and tumor volume was measured every 2 to 3 days. The tumor sizes, survival time and immune cells in tumor tissues were detected. And the vital immune cell subset and effector molecules were explored.After treatment with HCA587 protein vaccine, the vaccination elicited significant immune responses, which delayed tumor growth and improved animal survival. The vaccination increased the proportion of CD4The HCA587 protein vaccine may increase the levels of granzyme B expressed by CD4

BACKGROUND The albumin to fibrinogen ratio (AFR) and C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) have emerged as useful biomarkers to predict systemic inflammation. The aim here is to investigate the relation between AFR/CAR and Disease Activity Score of 28 joints (DAS 28) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS This retrospective study included 160 patients with RA and 159 healthy controls. We divided the RA patients into two groups according to the DAS 28-ESR score. Group 1 included 40 patients with a score of lower than 2.6 (patients in remission) and Group 2 included 120 patients with a score of 2.6 or higher (patients with active disease). The correlations between AFR, CAR and the disease activity were analyzed. RESULTS For RA patients, the AFR was lower than those in the control group (P

We experimentally demonstrate a 60-GHz radio-over-fiber (RoF) system using an adaptive activated artificial neural network nonlinear equalizer (ANN-NLE) to improve the bit error rate (BER) performance. We propose a variable- $\alpha $ activation function ANN-NLE with a faster convergence speed and a stronger equalization ability to solve the nonlinear problems generated from the RoF link. To the best of our knowledge, this letter is the first to apply an adaptive activation function ANN to solve a classification problem and equalize the signals in a 60-GHz RoF system. Using the proposed ANN-NLE, a higher convergence speed and better BER performances can be achieved. Comparisons between our proposed ANN-NLE and nonlinear Volterra equalizer in polynomial structure are reported. Using the proposed ANN-NLE, the system successfully transmits a 5-Gbps BPSK signal through a 10-km fiber and 1.2-m wireless link under a forward error correction limit of $10^{-3}$ with much higher power sensitivity than the Volterra equalizer.

We propose and validate a complex-valued multilevel artificial neural network nonlinear equalizer (ANN-NLE) for single-carrier 16QAM and 64QAM signals transmissions in the 60-GHz radio-over-fiber (RoF) transmission system. First, we analyze the nonlinearities in the fiber-wireless channels. Then, we introduce the principles of the multilevel ANN-NLE proposed for the millimeter-wave RoF systems. From the analysis of nonlinearities in a single-carrier optical transmission channel, it is essential to design a complex-valued ANN-NLE to mitigate the cross-modulation (XM) effects between the in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) components. Finally, we report on single-carrier signaling at 16QAM and 64QAM on 60 GHz, demonstrating the ability of the proposed ANN-NLE approach to minimize the nonlinear compression in an RoF system. As an added benefit, the complex-valued ANN-NLE has a great tolerance to phase rotations. The convergence time, activation function, step size, and number of taps are discussed in Section IV.

We present a dynamic capacity allocation mechanism based on the Quality of Service (QoS) for different mobile users (MU) in 60 GHz radio-over-fiber (RoF) local access networks. The proposed mechanism is capable for collecting the request information of MUs to build a full list of MU capacity demands and service types at the Central Office (CO). A hybrid algorithm is introduced to implement the capacity allocation which can satisfy the requirements of different MUs at different network traffic loads. Compared with the weight dynamic frames assignment (WDFA) scheme, the Hybrid scheme can keep high priority MUs in low delay and maintain the packet loss rate less than 1% simultaneously. At the same time, low priority MUs have a relatively better performance.

We experimentally demonstrate a 60-GHz radio over fiber (RoF) system utilizing a blind equalizer to improve the bit error rate performance. We propose a blind variable step-size decision-directed least mean square (VSS-DD-LMS) equalization algorithm with fast convergence speed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first to apply a variable step size LMS blind equalizer in a 60-GHz RoF system. Using this algorithm, higher convergence speed and fewer iterations can be achieved simultaneously. Comparisons of our proposed algorithm with other existing algorithms in the designed RoF system are reported. The optimal value of the tap number is also investigated. A 5-Gb/s BPSK signal is successfully transmitted through a 10-km fiber and 1.2-m wireless link using our proposed blind VSS-DD-LMS equalizer under a forward error correction limit of $10^{-3}$ .

A Multi-depot Green Vehicle Routing Problem (MDGVRP) is considered in this paper. An Ant Colony System-based metaheuristic is proposed to find the solution to this problem. The solution for MDGVRP is useful for companies, who employ the Alternative Fuel-Powered Vehicles (AFVs) to deal with the obstacles brought by the limited number of the Alternative Fuel Stations. This paper adds an important constraint, vehicle capacity to the model, to make it more meaningful and closer to real-world case. The numerical experiment is performed on randomly generated problem instances to understand the property of MDGVRP and to bring the managerial insights of the problem.

We propose a multi-level artificial neural network nonlinear equalizer for 16QAM transmissions in a 60-GHz millimeter-wave radio-over-fiber system. The intra-band nonlinear compression effect and nonlinear phase noise can be mitigated in the fiber-wireless systems.

The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have emerged as useful biomarkers to predict systemic inflammation. However, there is no study to investigate the relationship between the biomarkers and dermatomyositis (DM).Seventy-three newly diagnosed patients with DM and 147 healthy subjects were selected in this retrospective study. We divided the 73 DM patients into 2 groups: 55 without interstitial lung disease (ILD) and 18 with ILD. Complete clinical characteristics were extracted from the medical records of DM patients. The correlations between NLR, PLR, the clinical characteristics and the disease activity were analyzed.For DM patients without ILD, the NLR and PLR were significantly higher than those in the control group (both P0.001). For DM patients with ILD, the NLR and PLR were higher than in DM patients without ILD (P=0.004 and P=0.026, respectively). The NLR was positively correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP) (r=0.543, P0.001) and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (r=0.513, P=0.001). The global activity scores correlated positively and significantly with NLR, PLR, and CRP (r=0.486, P0.001; r=0.240, P=0.041; and r=0.343, P=0.003, respectively). Based on the ROC curve, to predict DM patients with ILD, the best cut-off value of the NLR was 3.98 (sensitivity 88.9%, specificity 52.7%, AUC=0.727), and the best cutoff value of PLR was 221.69 (sensitivity 77.8%, specificity 69.1%, AUC=0.722).Both NLR and PLR exhibit favorable diagnostic performance in predicting pulmonary involvement and disease activity in patients with DM. We provide the optimal cut-off values for DM patients with ILD that would maximize the diagnostic efficiency.