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Abstract Selenium (Se), the world's oldest optoelectronic material, has been widely applied in various optoelectronic devices such as commercial X‐ray flat‐panel detectors and photovoltaics. However, despite the rare and widely‐dispersed nature of Se element, a sustainable recycling of Se and other valuable materials from spent Se‐based devices has not been developed so far. Here a sustainable strategy is reported that makes use of the significantly higher vapor pressure of volatile Se compared to other functional layers to recycle all of them from end‐of‐life Se‐based devices through a closed‐space evaporation process, utilizing Se photovoltaic devices as a case study. This strategy results in high recycling yields of ≈ 98% for Se and 100% for other functional materials including valuable gold electrodes and glass/FTO/TiO2 substrates. The refabricated photovoltaic devices based on these recycled materials achieve an efficiency of 12.33% under 1000‐lux indoor illumination, comparable to devices fabricated using commercially sourced materials and surpassing the current indoor photovoltaic industry standard of amorphous silicon cells.

The operation of the subway system necessitates a comprehensive understanding of passenger flow characteristics at station locations, as well as a keen awareness of the average travel distances at these stations. Moreover, the travel distances at the station level bear a direct relationship with the built environment composed of land use characteristics within the station’s catchment area. To this end, we selected the land use features within an 800 m radius of the station (land use area, distribution of points of interest, and the surrounding living environment) as the influencing factors, with the travel distances at peak hours on the subway network in Xi’an as the research subject. An improved SSA-XGBOOST-SHAP interpretable machine learning framework was established. The research findings demonstrate that the proposed enhanced model outperforms traditional machine learning or linear regression methods in terms of R-squared, MAE, and RMSE. Furthermore, the distance from the city center, road network density, the number of public transit routes, and the land use mix have a pronounced influence on travel distances, reflecting the significant impact that mature built environments can have on passenger attraction. Additionally, the analysis reveals a notable nonlinear relationship and threshold effect between the built environment variables comprising land use and the travel distances during peak hours. The research results provide data-driven support for operational strategy management and line capacity optimization, as well as theoretical underpinnings for enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of the entire subway system.

Binocular structured light systems are widely used in 3D measurements. In the condition of complex and local highly reflective scenes, to obtain more 3D information, binocular systems are usually divided into two pairs of devices, each having a Single Camera and a Projector (SCP). In this case, the binocular system can be seen as Dual Cameras-Projector (DCP) system. In the DCP calibration, the Left-SCP and Right-SCP need to be calibrated separately, which leads to inconsistent parameters for the same projector, thus reducing the measurement accuracy. To solve this problem and improve manoeuvrability, a coupled calibration method using an orthogonal phase target is proposed. The 3D coordinates on a phase target are uniquely determined by the binocular camera in DCP, rather than being calculated separately in each SCP. This ensures the consistency of the projector parameters. The coordinates of the projector image plane are calculated through the unwrapped phase, while the parameters are calibrated by the plane calibration method. In order to extract sub-pixel accuracy feature points, a method based on polynomial fitting using an orthogonal phase target is exploited. The experimental results show that the reprojection error of our method is less than 0.033 pixels, which improves the calibration accuracy.

The shape characteristics of blasting fragments are important for analyzing the blasting fragmentation mechanism and evaluating the fragmentation energy efficiency. In this study, through field blasting experiments and morphological parameter measurements, fractal theory was employed to reveal the fractal characteristics of rock blasting fragmentation. Using the fragmentation fractal dimension, the probability of rock blasting fragmentation was analyzed, and a predictive formula for the specific surface area (SSA) of blasting fragments was established. For fragments, the fractal dimensions of the particle size distribution calculated using different characteristic sizes were less than 2.0. When the fragment size distribution had dual fractal characteristics, significant differences were observed in the scale-free interval and fragmentation fractal dimension. Within the large scale-free interval, the fragmentation fractal dimension was mostly greater than 2.3, whereas within the small scale-free interval, it tended to be less than 2.0. The rock fragmentation process typically consisted of two or three breakage levels, with a similarity ratio of 0.5 and an average fragmentation probability ranging from 0.44 to 0.71. The predicted SSA of the blasting fragments closely matched the measured values. The findings provide valuable insights into the mechanism of rock blasting fragmentation and the calculation of fragmentation energy consumption.

Abstract Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as an ideal biomarker for the early diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). In this work, a pump-free, high-throughput microfluidic chip coupled with catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) as the signal cascade amplification strategy (CHA–HCR) was developed for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) assays of PIK3CA E542K and TP53 (two GC-related ctDNAs). The chip consisted of six parallel functional units, enabling the simultaneous analysis of multiple samples. The pump-free design and hydrophilic treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG) realized the automatic flow of reaction solutions in microchannels, eliminating the dependence on external heavy-duty pumps and significantly improving portability. In the reaction region of the chip, products generated by target-triggered CHA initiated the HCR, forming long nicked double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) on the Au nanobowl (AuNB) array surface, to which numerous SERS probes (Raman reporters and hairpin DNA-modified Cu2O octahedra) were attached. This CHA–HCR strategy generated numerous active “hot spots” around the Cu2O octahedra and AuNB surface, significantly enhancing the SERS signal intensity. Using this chip, an ultralow limit of detection (LOD) for PIK3CA E542K (1.26 aM) and TP53 (2.04 aM) was achieved, and the whole process was completed within 13 min. Finally, a tumour-bearing mouse model was established, and ctDNA levels in mouse serum at different stages were determined. To verify the experimental accuracy, the gold-standard qRT–PCR assay was utilized, and the results showed a high degree of consistency. Thus, this rapid, sensitive and cost-effective SERS microfluidic chip has potential as an ideal detection platform for ctDNA monitoring.

Dominant frequency attenuation is a significant concern for frequency-based criteria of blasting vibration control. It is necessary to develop a concise and practical prediction equation describing dominant frequency attenuation. In this paper, a prediction equation of dominant frequency that accounts for primary parameters influencing the dominant frequency was proposed based on theoretical and dimensional analyses. Three blasting experiments were carried out in the Chiwan parking lot for collecting blasting vibration data used to conduct regression analysis of the proposed prediction equation. The fitting equations were further adopted to compare the reliability of three different types of dominant frequencies in the proposed equation and to explore the effects of different charge structures on the dominant frequency attenuation. The apparent frequency proved to be more reliable to express the attenuation law of the dominant frequency. The reliability and superiority of the proposed equation employing the apparent frequency were verified by comparison with the other five prediction equations. The smaller blasthole diameter or decoupling ratio leads to the higher initial value and corresponding faster attenuation of the dominant frequency. The blasthole diameter has a greater influence on the dominant frequency attenuation than the decoupling ratio does. Among the charge structures applied in the experiments, the charge structure with decoupling ratio of 1.5 and blasthole diameter of 48 mm results in the greatest initial value and corresponding fastest attenuation of the dominant frequency.

Understanding the structure–function relationship in a neuronal network is one of the major challenges in neuroscience research. Despite increasing researches at circuit connectivity and neural network structure, their structure-based biological interpretability remains unclear. Based on the attractor theory, here we develop an analytical framework that links neural circuit structures and their functions together through fixed point attractor in Caenorhabditis elegans. In this framework, we successfully established the structural condition for the emergence of multiple fixed points in C. elegans connectome. Then we construct a finite state machine to explain how functions related to bistable phenomena at the neural activity and behavioral levels are encoded. By applying the proposed framework to the command circuit in C. elegans, we provide a circuit level interpretation for the forward-reverse switching behaviors. Interestingly, network properties of the command circuit and first layer amphid interneuron circuit can also be inferred from their functions in this framework. Our research indicates the reliability of the fixed point attractor bridging circuit structure and functions, suggesting its potential applicability to more complex neuronal circuits in other species.

Due to the construction technology of roller compacted concrete (RCC) gravity dams, there are many weak layers that have the potential to affect the seismic performance of dams. However, research on the seismic response and failure characteristics of RCC dams considering their layered characteristic is still lacking. In this paper, the zero-thickness cohesive element is presented to model the mechanical behavior of the RCC layers. An impacted concrete beam is selected to verify its effects on simulating crack propagation. Subsequently, the concrete damaged plasticity model is utilized to model concrete under seismic loading. The dynamic interaction in the gravity dam-reservoir-foundation system is considered by coupled acoustic-structural method, whose rationality is validated by seismic failure mode analysis of the Koyna dam under the 1967 Koyna earthquake. The validated algorithms are applied to investigate the influence of the weak layer at different elevations on the seismic response and the failure process of the Guandi RCC gravity dam. On this basis, the effects of well-bonded RCC layers set at intervals along the dam on the nonlinear response and failure modes under strong earthquakes are further investigated. The results reveal that the weak layer will influence the anti-seismic capacity of RCC gravity dams, and the damage characteristics of the dam are significantly changed. In addition, well-bonded RCC layers still affect the seismic response of RCC gravity dams. Increasing displacement response and energy dissipation can be observed. Meanwhile, RCC layers lead to more severe damage to the dam under the same seismic input.

Rockburst is a kind of dynamic rock failure process that is easily induced by the excavation of a high-stress rock mass. However, from an energy perspective, the existing indexes for rockburst tendency have a limitation in that they do not consider the energy release speed. In this study, energy release effectiveness was proposed based on the local energy release rate while considering the influence of the energy release speed. The index can evaluate the stability of surrounding rock during the excavation of high-stress rock. The index can be obtained by recording the strain energy density of every element in the model during excavation and identifying the maximum strain energy density (Eimax), the minimum strain energy density (Eimin), the maximum time (timax), and the minimum time (timin) to calculate energy release speed and energy release effectiveness. A case study of the excavation of an experimental tunnel, namely, the URL of AECL, was adopted to validate the index. The results indicated that the proposed index can clearly identify the location and strength of the impact tendency area, and it can be effectively applied to the stability analysis during the excavation of deep tunnels.

In this work, the origins for the spectral difference between two isoflavones, formononetin (F) and ononin (FG), are revealed via a comparison study of the fluorescence molecular structure. The fluorescence enhancement of FG in hot alkaline conditions is reported for the first time. For F, there is almost no fluorescence under acidic conditions, but when the pH is >4.8, its fluorescence begins to increase due to the deprotonation of 7-OH. Under a pH between 9.3 and 12.0, the anionic form of F produces a strong and stable fluorescence. The fluorescence quantum yield (Yf) of F is measured to be 0.042. FG shows only weak fluorescence in aqueous solutions under a wide range of pH until it is placed in hot alkaline solutions, which is attributed to the cleavage reaction of the γ-pyrone ring in FG. The Yf of FG is determined to be 0.020. Based on the fluorescence sensitization methods of F and FG, the quantitative analysis and detection of two substances can be realized. The limit of the detections for F and FG are 2.60 ng·mL−1 and 9.30 ng·mL−1, respectively. The linear detection ranges of F and FG are 11.7~1860 ng·mL−1 and 14.6~2920 ng·mL−1, respectively. Although the structural relationship between F and FG is glycoside and aglycone, under hot alkaline conditions, the final products after the cleavage and hydrolysis reactions are essentially different. The different fluorescence characteristics between F and FG pave a way for further identification and a quantitative analysis of the corresponding components in Chinese herbal medicine.

In the international trend of vigorously developing low-carbon economy and green buildings, environmental protection and conservation have received increased attention in the construction field. Light steel, as an environmental protection material, has gradually become a key direction in the architectural field. The axially compressed columns forming the wall skeleton in the light steel structure usually adopt two cross-sectional forms, namely, cold-formed thin-walled steel built-up cross-section and independent profiled steel cross-section. The cold-formed thin-walled steel cross-section is divided by the splitting method into two types, namely, open type and closed type. This paper analyzes two cold-formed thin-walled steel composite sections and independent section columns. The theoretical calculation, experimental test, and finite element simulation were used, and the multidimensional calculation results were compared to obtain the mechanical properties of axial compression columns. Based on the comparison between the experimental results and the calculation results, it is found that the specification is conservative. The experimental results show that it is more flexible to use composite cross-section columns in the middle of the light steel skeleton; steel columns in the corner of the frame are more conducive to the structure’s overall stability.

Due to the wide applications of deep learning in the field of urban rail transit passenger flow forecasting, the selection problem of training samples has become increasingly more worthy of researchers' attention, as it is closely related to urban rail transit passenger flow time series. Therefore, it is necessary to study the distribution characteristics of the contribution degree of the training sample to guide sample selection in the deep learning training process. In this study, based on the prediction accuracy and the sample contribution degree, the optimal sample contribution combination algorithm (GWO-SCBP) was ultimately generated by the grey wolf optimizer (GWO) and error back propagation (EBP) algorithms. The contribution of training samples for each station of the Xi'an metro network was calculated and analyzed. The results show that the sample contribution is not only related to the distance between the sample and predicted value, but is also closely related to the station flow characteristics. By classifying the network stations and fitting the contribution degree of the central station of each type of station, linear equations of sample contribution degree were obtained, and the R2 values attained at least 0.65, indicating a good fitting effect.

Abstract Background Since the discovery of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in maternal plasma, it has opened up new approaches for non-invasive prenatal testing. With the development of whole-genome sequencing, small subchromosomal deletions and duplications could be found by NIPT. This study is to review the efficacy of NIPT as a screening test for aneuploidies and CNVs in 42,910 single pregnancies. Methods A total of 42,910 single pregnancies with different clinical features were recruited. The cell-free fetal DNA was directly sequenced. Each of the chromosome aneuploidies and the subchromosomal microdeletions/microduplications of PPV were analyzed. Results A total of 534 pregnancies (1.24%) were abnormal results detected by NIPT, and 403 pregnancies had underwent prenatal diagnosis. The positive predictive value (PPV) for trisomy 21(T21), trisomy 18 (T18), trisomy 13 (T13), sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs), and other chromosome aneuploidy was 79.23%, 54.84%, 13.79%, 33.04%, and 9.38% respectively. The PPV for CNVs was 28.99%. The PPV for CNVs ≤ 5 Mb is 20.83%, for within 5–10 Mb 50.00%, for > 10 Mb 27.27% respectively. PPVs of NIPT according to pregnancies characteristics are also different. Conclusion Our data have potential significance in demonstrating the usefulness of NIPT profiling not only for common whole chromosome aneuploidies but also for CNVs. However, this newest method is still in its infancy for CNVs. There is still a need for clinical validation studies with accurate detection rates and false positive rates in clinical practice.

Polysaccharide produced from medicinal endophytic fungus not only has applications in foods, but also exhibits multiple biological activities. In this work, an endophytic fungus Chaetomium globosum CGMCC 6882 could use corn stover to produce a polysaccharide (GCP-SC) by consolidated bioprocess and the titer of GCP-SC reached 3.2 g/L. The transcriptional levels of genes related to cellulose degradation (cbh, cdh, glu and egl) in C. globosum CGMCC 6882 were 4.38, 3.85, 3.13, and 2.17 folds compared to the control group when corn stover was used as the sole carbon source. Moreover, GCP-SC showed a time- and dose-dependent manner of inhibitory effect on A549 cells and the inhibitory rate reached 93.3%. This work provides meaningful data on agricultural residues utilization and facilitation of future relative resource conversion studies. Keywords: Corn stover, Chaetomium globosum CGMCC 6882, Polysaccharide

BackgroundNon-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS), a common cause of diarrheal enterocolitis, may also cause severe invasive diseases. Limited information on NTS infections in children is available in China.MethodsWe performed a retrospective study of children admitted to the Ningbo Women and Children's Hospital with culture-confirmed NTS infections between January 2012 and December 2019. Clinical and microbiological information were collected. We compared demographic, clinical and antibiotic resistance variables of invasive NTS (iNTS) infections and non-invasive NTS (non-iNTS) infections, and explored associations between hospitalizations for pediatric NTS infections and temperature and rainfall.ResultsA total of 166 pediatric hospitalizations due to NTS infection were identified during the 8-year study period. Most of the 166 children were ConclusionNon-iNTS accounts for the majority of infections in this study; infants ≤6 months and children with underlying medical conditions of leukemia are more likely to have invasive infection. The rates of antibiotic resistance in the iNTS isolates are generally lower than those in the non-iNTS isolates. On the other hand, high temperatures and heavy rainfall are positively associated with NTS hospitalizations among children in Ningbo.

Abstract Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are emerging drug targets, and TRP channel modulators possess therapeutic potential for many indications. However, there is a lack of intellectual and robust screening assays against TRP channels utilizing the least amount of compounds. Here, a precise microfluidic assay in single‐cell profile is developed for the screening of TRP channel modulators. The geometrically optimized microchip is designed for both trapping single cells and utilizing passive pumping for sequential media replacement with low shear stress. The microfluidic chip exhibits superior performance in screening, repeatable compound administration, and improved reproducibility. Using this screening platform, the false‐positive and negative rate of the commonly used Ca2+ imaging is reduced from 76.2% to 4.8% and four coumarin derivatives isolated from Murraya species that inhibit TRP channels are identified. One coumarin derivative B‐304 reverses TRPA1‐mediated inflammatory pain in vivo. Taken together, the data demonstrate that the established microfluidic assay in single‐cell profile could be used for the screening of TRP channel modulators that may have therapeutic potential for the channelopathies.

Fragmentation energy ratio is an important index to evaluate whether an explosive is used efficiently. This paper discusses the effect of water-decked blasting on fragmentation energy based on theory and numerical simulation, and three blasting tests were performed to measure the actual fragmentation energy at a granite-based field. Results show that at the same charge amount, the maximum borehole pressure of water-decked blasting is much greater than that of normal blasting in theory, which facilitates rock breaking. In numerical simulation, water-decked blasting is more beneficial to the transmission of explosive energy; therefore, the damage distribution is more uniform and the damage level is higher. The specific surface area and fragment size distribution were obtained by three-dimensional laser scanning and image analysis in field tests; therefore, the fragmentation energy could be measured, which showed that the fragmentation energy could be increased by 10% in water-decked blasting. In addition, water-decked blasting can reduce fly rocks and ensure the safety of rock blasting.

To recommend the excavation procedures and design parameters for underground powerhouses, excavation procedures of fifty-one underground powerhouses in China were summarized and analyzed based on in situ stress conditions. Firstly, the complex stress environment in China was introduced and fifty-one underground powerhouses with their engineering scale, size, lithology, rock classification and in situ stress level were listed in detail. Subsequently, to evaluate the influence of in situ stress levels on excavation procedure design, the correlation between excavation procedures and in situ stress level in three main excavation zones were analyzed accordingly. Moreover, to provide the excavation design recommendations, the strength–stress ratio (SSR) was promoted to analyze and recommend the design parameters, and the blasting excavation design based on the stress transient unloading control was also supplemented. The results show that excavation procedures have different priorities under different in situ stress levels, and the design parameters show an obvious relationship with in situ stress levels. Moreover, the excavation procedure parameters are suggested to adjust accordingly under different SSR. The discussion of influencing factors and specification ensures its rationality and accuracy. It is believed that the summary and recommendations can provide a good reference for excavation procedure optimization of underground powerhouse under high in situ stress.

The shear wave (S-wave) component of the total blast vibration always plays an important role in damage to rock or adjacent structures. Numerical approach has been considered as an economical and effective tool in predicting blast vibration. However, S-wave has not yet attracted enough attention in previous numerical simulations. In this paper, three typical numerical models, i.e. the continuum-based elastic model, the continuum-based damage model, and the coupled smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH)-finite element method (FEM) model, were first introduced and developed to simulate the blasting of a single cylindrical charge. Then, the numerical results from different models were evaluated based on a review on the generation mechanisms of S-wave during blasting. Finally, some suggestions on the selection of numerical approaches for simulating generation of the blast-induced S-wave were put forward. Results indicate that different numerical models produce different results of S-wave. The coupled numerical model was the best, for its outstanding capacity in producing S-wave component. It is suggested that the model that can describe the cracking, sliding or heaving of rock mass, and the movement of fragments near the borehole should be selected preferentially, and priority should be given to the material constitutive law that could record the nonlinear mechanical behavior of rock mass near the borehole.

The blast-induced damage of a high rock slope is directly related to construction safety and the operation performance of the slope. Approaches currently used to measure and predict the blast-induced damage are time-consuming and costly. A Bayesian approach was proposed to predict the blast-induced damage of high rock slopes using vibration and sonic data. The relationship between the blast-induced damage and the natural frequency of the rock mass was firstly developed. Based on the developed relationship, specific procedures of the Bayesian approach were then illustrated. Finally, the proposed approach was used to predict the blast-induced damage of the rock slope at the Baihetan Hydropower Station. The results showed that the damage depth representing the blast-induced damage is proportional to the change in the natural frequency. The first step of the approach is establishing a predictive model by undertaking Bayesian linear regression, and the second step is predicting the damage depth for the next bench blasting by inputting the change rate in the natural frequency into the predictive model. Probabilities of predicted results being below corresponding observations are all above 0.85. The approach can make the best of observations and includes uncertainty in predicted results.

Abstract The popularization of information spreading in online social networks facilitates daily communication among people. Although much work has been done to study the effect of interactions among people on spreading, there is less work that considers the pattern of spreading behaviour when people independently make their decisions. By comparing microblogging, an important medium for information spreading, with the disordered spin glass system, we find that there exist interesting corresponding relationships between them. And the effect of aging can be observed in both systems. Based on the analogy with the Trap Model of spin glasses, we derive a model with a unified power-function form for the growth of independent spreading activities. Our model takes several key factors into consideration, including memory effect, the dynamics of human interest, and the fact that older messages are more difficult to discover. We validate our model by a real-world microblogging data set. Our work indicates that, other than various features, some invariable rules should be considered during spreading prediction. This work also contributes a useful methodology for studying human dynamics.

At present, the study on the dominant frequency of blasting vibration is still a worldwide problem. Compared with the mature research on the particle peak velocity of blasting vibration, the researches on the dominant frequency of blasting vibration are much less. In this paper, by analyzing the main influencing factors of the dominant frequency, an attenuation equation of the dominant frequency induced by blasting vibration has been proposed by dimensional analysis combined with the theory of radial spherical wave propagation. The proposed equation is applied to the fitting analysis on the dominant frequency measured in Zhoushan Green Petrochemical Base in China, which has obtained a favorable fitting correlation. Based on the fitting analysis, it has found that the correlation coefficient of radial vibration obtained by the proposed equation is higher than that of vertical vibration, which is resulted from the reason that the vibration in vertical is considered to be influenced most by the R-wave on the ground and perceived to be quite different from the radial vibration affected by P-wave. In generally, different components of blasting waves will affect the attenuation of dominant frequency.

In drill and blast, the explosive filled in each blasthole is cylindrically shaped and generally initiated by the detonator. Thus, the effect of the initiation location must be addressed, as it determines the detonation direction along the entire column explosive. In this paper, the effect of the initiation location on blast vibration field and its acting mechanism were comprehensively investigated through the theoretical, computational, and experimental approaches. The results indicate that the initiation location plays an important role in the blast vibration filed of the cylindrical charge. The underlying effect of the initiation location can be regarded as the combined results of the energy distribution and phase delay effects of the column explosive source. The behavior of the rock mass in the single-hole blasting experiment demonstrates that the explosion energy is preferentially transmitted to the forward direction of the detonation wave. The seed wave-based computation model verifies that owing to the phase delay effect, the blast vibration field of the cylindrical charge is not uniformly distributed and is strengthened at the forward direction of the detonation wave. The production blasting experiment indicates that the ground PPV under bottom initiation is 61.3%∼211.7% larger than that under top initiation. In addition, the effect of the initiation location is sensitive to the charge length L and the denotation velocity D. Meanwhile, the effect of the initiation location vanishes with distance. The present study provides valuable reference for understanding the effect of the initiation location on blast vibration in drill and blast.

The shape of a free surface is an important factor that determines the effect of bench blasting. The structural dynamics theory was applied to establish a structural failure model of the layered rock considering the impact of a blasting gas intrusion. Combined with the continuous-discontinuous element method (CDEM), the influence of rock strata on the failure mechanism of back-break was analyzed. The results show that structural failure characteristics of stratum with different dip angles are different. The bending failure characteristics of dipping-in-face stratum are stronger than that in dipping-out-of-face stratum. With the increase of the dip angle and height of rock stratum, the bending failure length of dipping-in-face stratum increases and the maximum value reaches 5.24 m. The trend of failure along the stratum surface towards the bottom increases, which is an important reason for the formation of an unfavorable shape of free surface. However, the failure depth of the gently dipping stratum and dipping-out-of-face stratum is relatively uniform; the average value is about 0.5 m. Finally, combined with the results of the bench blasting field test of the Changjiu (Shenshan) limestone mine, which is the largest in the production of sand and gravel aggregates, we verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis results. Relevant research results can provide a theoretical basis and technical support for controlling the bench blasting effect.

Under complicated geological conditions, the vibration in the dam foundation caused by blasting can lead to further deterioration of the foundation rock mass and adversely affect the safety of foundation. In order to effectively control the vibration in dam foundation rock mass, a new bench blasting technique with shock-reflection device is proposed. It introduces a shock-reflection device consisting of high wave impedance block and cushion material, which is placed at the bottom of vertical borehole. This shock-reflection device can effectively reflect the explosion shock wave from vertical direction to horizontal direction after detonation, which can make blasting energy concentrated on the rock mass above dam foundation, so the vibration in the foundation can be controlled. Field blasting experiment was carried out to contrast the blasting induced vibration in foundation rock by bench blasting with shock-reflection device and conventional bench blasting. The results indicate that the vibration in the foundation rock can be reduced by 30%~57%. In addition, the vibration at the bottom of the borehole is also demonstrated by numerical simulation, with results similar to the field experiments. The production experiment results show that the new blasting technique can replace the conventional excavation method of dam foundation in complicated geological conditions, and the new blasting technique has been successfully applied to the Baihetan dam foundation excavation.

Drilling and blasting method as a common excavation method is widely used in the underground engineering construction. However, in the complicated geological conditions, the path of blasting excavation available has limitation, and then the larger blasting vibration is produced, which influence the stability and safety of the protected structure. To effectively reduce the blasting vibration by optimizing the blasting excavation method, firstly, the site test on blasting vibration is conducted to obtain the blasting vibration data; secondly, the LS-DYNA software is applied to simulate the vibration generated by blasting in site test, based on back analysis on the blasting vibration, the mechanical parameters of the rock mass are obtained, and they are used to simulate six different types of blasting excavation method. According to the analysis on them, the reasonable blasting excavation method is proposed to reduce the blasting vibration which can satisfy the blasting safety regulation.

High-precision wind tunnel simulation tests play an important role in aircraft design and manufacture. In this study, a high-speed pose vision measurement method is proposed for high-speed and rolling targets in a supersonic wind tunnel. To obtain images with high signal-to-noise ratio and avoid impacts on the aerodynamic shape of the rolling targets, a high-speed image acquisition method based on ultrathin retro-reflection markers is presented. Since markers are small-sized and some of them may be lost when the target is rolling, a novel markers layout with which markers are distributed evenly on the surface is proposed based on a spatial coding method to achieve highly accurate pose information. Additionally, a pose acquisition is carried out according to the mentioned markers layout after removing mismatching points by Case Deletion Diagnostics. Finally, experiments on measuring the pose parameters of high-speed targets in the laboratory and in a supersonic wind tunnel are conducted to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. Experimental results indicate that the position measurement precision is less than 0.16 mm, the pitching and yaw angle precision less than 0.132° and the roll angle precision 0.712°.

Influence of blasting vibration on young concrete structure is an important issue in the field of hydropower engineering, transportation, and so forth. Based on influence of blasting excavation on concrete pouring progress of box girder in nearby Yesanhe Super Large Bridge, which is located in Hubei Province of China, a method combining field test and numerical simulation is used to study influence of blasting vibration on young concrete super large bridge. The results show that blasting excavation of nearby Yesanhe Hydropower Station induced vibration response on Yesanhe Bridge and peak particle velocity (PPV) on the bridge was quite small under test conditions. Monitoring data and numerical simulation both indicate that PPV of box girder is 1 to 4 times larger than that of pier foundation; with the extension of bridge cantilever casting section, velocity amplification factors of different parts of the box girder have different changes and duration of vibration in vertical direction increases. Three days after concrete pouring, the impact of concrete ageing on PPV and damage distribution of the bridge is not obvious. When vibration velocity of pier foundation is within 2 cm/s, the maximum tensile and compressive stress of box girder concrete are less than the tensile and compressive strength of concrete, so that blasting vibration unlikely gives impact on the safety of bridge.

Uneven floor and fragmentation play an important role in blasting operations due to the direct effects on the efficiency of hauling and loading. This paper focuses on the influences of initiation position on bench blasting in order to improve blasting effects. The numerical simulations of bench blasting at different initiation points (top, middle, and bottom) are implemented based on secondary development of LS-DYNA with a tensile-compressive damage model. The damage spatial distribution characteristics of different initiation points are compared. The outlines of rock foundation and boulder areas are analyzed with the damage threshold of critical breakage that is ascertained by acoustic characteristic of damage rock mass. Results of the numerical simulations demonstrate that different initiation points make a great influence on the stress and energy distribution in blasting process and induce different blasting effects. Middle initiation turns out to be the best initiation to increase the flatness of the floor and decrease the oversize boulder ratio simultaneously, which will increase the damage areas of the bottom and top regions and give a better blasting effect. Field experiment in Baihetan Station was carried out to validate conclusions of numerical simulation. Research could provide a good reference for the improvement of rock blasting.

Clustered structure of social networks provides the chances of repeated exposures to carriers with similar information. It is commonly believed that the impact of repeated exposures on the spreading of information is nontrivial. Does this effect increase the probability that an individual forwards a message in social networks? If so, to what extent does this effect influence people's decisions on whether or not to spread information? Based on a large-scale microblogging data set, which logs the message spreading processes and users' forwarding activities, we conduct a data-driven analysis to explore the answer to the above questions. The results show that an overwhelming majority of message samples are more probable to be forwarded under repeated exposures, compared to those under only a single exposure. For those message samples that cover various topics, we observe a relatively fixed, topic-independent multiplier of the willingness of spreading when repeated exposures occur, regardless of the differences in network structure. We believe that this finding reflects average people's intrinsic psychological gain under repeated stimuli. Hence, it makes sense that the gain is associated with personal response behavior, rather than network structure. Moreover, we find that the gain is robust against the change of message popularity. This finding supports that there exists a relatively fixed gain brought by repeated exposures. Based on the above findings, we propose a parsimonious model to predict the saturated numbers of forwarding activities of messages. Our work could contribute to better understandings of behavioral psychology and social media analytics.

Full-depth ocean zonal currents in the tropical and extratropical northwestern Pacific (TNWP) are studied using current measurements from 17 deep-ocean moorings deployed along the 143°E meridian from the equator to 22°N during January 2016-February 2017. Mean transports of the North Equatorial Current and North Equatorial Countercurrent are estimated to be 42.7 ± 7.1 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m³ s-1) and 10.5 ± 5.3 Sv, respectively, both of which exhibit prominent annual cycles with opposite phases in this year. The observations suggest much larger vertical extents of several of the major subsurface currents than previously reported, including the Lower Equatorial Intermediate Current, Northern Intermediate Countercurrent, North Equatorial Subsurface Current, and North Equatorial Undercurrent (NEUC) from south to north. The Northern Subsurface Countercurrent and NEUC are found to be less steady than the other currents. Seasonal variations of these currents are also revealed in the study. In the deep ocean, the currents below 2000 m are reported for the first time. The observations confirm the striation patterns of meridionally alternating zonal currents in the intermediate and deep layers. Further analyses suggest a superposition of at least the first four and two baroclinic modes to represent the mean equatorial and off-equatorial currents, respectively. Meanwhile, seasonal variations of the currents are generally dominated by the first baroclinic mode associated with the low-mode Rossby waves. Overall, the above observational results not only enhance the knowledge of full-depth current system in the TNWP but also provide a basis for future model validation and skill improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]