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Challenges of process industry, which is characterized as hugeness of process variables in complexity of industrial environment, can be tackled effectively by the use of soft sensor technology. However, how to supplement the dataset with effective data supplement method under harsh industrial environment is a key issue for the enhancement of prediction accuracy in soft-sensing model. Aimed at this problem, a SVAE-WGAN based soft sensor data supplement method is proposed for process industry. Firstly, deep features are extracted with the stacking of the variational autoencoder (SVAE). Secondly, a generation model is constructed with the combination of stacked variational autoencoder (SVAE) and Wasserstein generative adversarial network (WGAN). Thirdly, the proposed model is optimized with training of dataset in industrial process. Finally, the proposed model is evaluated with abundant experimental tests in terms of MSE, RMSE and MAE. It is shown in the results that the proposed SVAE-WGAN generation network is significantly better than that of the traditional VAE, GAN and WGAN generation network in case of industrial steam volume dataset. Specially, the proposed method is more effective than the latest reference VA-WGAN generation network in terms of RMSE, which is enhanced about 9.08% at most. Moreover, the prediction precision of soft sensors could be improved via the supplement of the training samples.

The self-organization of building blocks in colloidal clusters and their architecture adjustment are crucial for the synthesis and design of colloids.

We demonstrated two-layer vertical welding of fused silica by femtosecond laser through galvo scanner. Promising approaches to a well-known technique of glasses welding by femtosecond laser were presented, which provided us efficient ways to draw welding route without programming through galvo scanner, gravitational effects on the welding direction by vertical welding and realized two-layer welding at very short intervals to refine microstructure and increase bonding strength in bonding zone. Under the same parameters condition, we found that the maximum joining strength as large as 80.26 MPa could be obtained in two-layer vertical welding through galvo scanner, which exceeded quadruple of one-layer horizontal welding focused by objective lens. Compared with one-layer welding, more uniform and fine microstructure can be obtained in bonding region by two-layer welding.

With the rapid development of high-frequency communication and large-scale integrated circuits, insulating dielectric materials require a low dielectric constant and dielectric loss. Poly (aryl ether ketone) resins (PAEK) have garnered considerable attention as an intriguing class of engineering thermoplastics possessing excellent chemical and thermal properties. However, the high permittivity of PAEK becomes an obstacle to its application in the field of high-frequency communication and large-scale integrated circuits. Therefore, reducing the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of PAEK while maintaining its excellent performance is critical to expanding the PAEK applications mentioned above. This study synthesized a series of poly (aryl ether ketone) resins that are low dielectric, highly thermally resistant, and soluble, containing cyclohexyl and diphenyl fluorene. The effects of cyclohexyl contents on the properties of a PAEK resin were studied systematically. The results showed that weakly-polarized cyclohexyl could reduce the molecular polarization of PAEK, resulting in low permittivity and high transmittance. The permittivity of PAEK is 2.95–3.26@10GHz, and the transmittance is 65–85%. In addition, the resin has excellent solubility and can be dissolved in NMP, DMF, DMAc, and other solvents at room temperature. Furthermore, cyclohexyl provided PAEK with excellent thermal properties, including a glass transition temperature of 239–245 °C and a 5% thermogravimetric temperature, under a nitrogen atmosphere of 469–534 °C. This makes it a promising candidate for use in high-frequency communications and large-scale integrated circuits.

Bacterial infections still cause many health problems for human beings. Silica aerogels with a three-dimensional (3D) porous structure and a large surficial area are promising candidates for drug delivery, but they have rarely been investigated for antibacterial agent delivery. Herein, we study mesoporous silica aerogels as carriers for delivery of three slightly soluble antibacterial agents including cinnamaldehyde (CA, liquid), salicylic acid (SAA, solid), and sorbic acid (SOA, solid) under supercritical fluid carbon dioxide. Notably, all three antibacterial agents form uniform nanocrystals in the mesopores of silica aerogels and the loading efficiency reaches 56 wt %, which assists in overcoming the obstacles of low bioavailability of slightly soluble antibacterial agents. Benefiting from nanocrystallized antibacterial agents, the agent-loaded aerogels exhibit an inhibition rate of 99.99% against

This paper proposes a hybrid lane occupancy rate prediction model called 2LayersCapsNet, which combines the improved capsule network and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The model uses CNNs to mine the spatial-temporal correlation characteristics of the lane occupancy rate and then uses an improved capsule network to mine the interrelationships in traffic data measured by sensors in continuous time intervals to predict the lane occupancy rate. The model can solve the problem of CNNs losing important spatiotemporal information caused by the maximum pooling operation and can obtain better prediction results. To verify the efficiency of the 2LayersCapsNet model, the model is compared with the capsule network model (CapsNet), convolutional neural networks model (CNNs), recurrent neural networks model (RNNs), long short-term memory model (LSTM) and stacked autoencoders model (SAEs) with similar network structures and parameter settings on the PEMS-SF data set. The experimental results indicate that the 2LayersCapsNet model can obtain a prediction model faster than the CapsNet model and that 2LayersCapsNet performs better than the CNNs, RNNs, LSTM and SAEs with respect to three evaluation metrics, namely, MAPE, MAE and RMSE, on four prediction tasks.

In this work, temperature field, residual stress, and strain field of two-fused-silica substrate welding by femtosecond laser pulses were simulated by ANSYS Workbench (a software of finite element analysis) using a transient thermal model together with a static structural model. A Gaussian heat source was periodically deposited at the interface of the samples and was moved at a constant velocity perpendicular to the optical propagation direction. The maximum residual stress was just 16.474 KPa at a time of 20 s through a simulation analysis. This was not sufficient to cause cracks in the fused silica. In addition, the influence of a magnetic field on the welding process was studied. The value of the residual stress and strain apparently decreased with an external magnetic field. In a real experiment, the maximum bonding strength reached 76.6 MPa under the same conditions as in simulation.

Internet of Remote Things (IoRT) is widely used in both military and civilian applications. However, due to the unique characteristics, which is characterized as long-distance and high-latency, the design of the routing protocol is a great challenge of IoRT. In this paper, a QoS-oriented and traffic-aware multi-path routing protocol (QoTa-MRP) is proposed for IoRT. QoTa-MRP is composed of two parts. The first part is the link traffic-aware based multi-paths source route discovery mechanism, which is used to establish multi-paths with lower link disjoint degree. The second part is path similarity and traffic priority based multi-path selection mechanism, which is used to determine the transmission mode of the traffic flows to enhance the reliability or effectiveness of the transmission. Simultaneously, the protocol is theoretically analyzed in terms of the successful transmission rate of routing transmission data packet. Finally, the dynamic source routing, which is a very representative protocol and is usually used as the baseline comparison protocol, is revisited for the performance verification of the QoTa-MRP in IoRT. It is shown in the simulation results that there are significant superiorities of QoTa-MRP than that of DSR in terms of network throughput, packet loss rate and routing packet header overhead in IoRT.

Though root architecture modifications may be critically important for improving phosphorus (P) efficiency in crops, the regulatory mechanisms triggering these changes remain unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that genotypic variation in GmEXPB2 expression is strongly correlated with root elongation and P acquisition efficiency, and enhancing its transcription significantly improves soybean yield in the field. Promoter deletion analysis was performed using 5' truncation fragments (P1-P6) of GmEXPB2 fused with the GUS gene in soybean transgenic hairy roots, which revealed that the P1 segment containing three E-box elements significantly enhances induction of gene expression in response to phosphate (Pi) starvation. Further experimentation demonstrated that GmPTF1, a basic-helix-loop-helix transcription factor, is the regulatory factor responsible for the induction of GmEXPB2 expression in response to Pi starvation. In short, Pi starvation induced expression of GmPTF1, with the GmPTF1 product directly binding to the E-box motif in the P1 region of the GmEXPB2 promoter. Plus, both GmPTF1 and GmEXPB2 highly expressed in lateral roots, and were significantly enhanced by P deficiency. Further work with soybean stable transgenic plants through RNA sequencing analysis showed that altering GmPTF1 expression significantly impacted the transcription of a series of cell wall genes, including GmEXPB2, and thereby affected root growth, biomass and P uptake. Taken together, this work identifies a novel regulatory factor, GmPTF1, involved in changing soybean root architecture partially through regulation of the expression of GmEXPB2 by binding the E-box motif in its promoter region.

Though root architecture modifications may be critically important for improving phosphorus (P) efficiency in crops, the regulatory mechanisms triggering these changes remain unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that genotypic variation in GmEXPB2 expression is strongly correlated with root elongation and P acquisition efficiency, and enhancing its transcription significantly improves soybean yield in the field. Promoter deletion analysis was performed using six 5’ truncation fragments (P1-P6) of GmEXPB2 fused with the GUS reporter gene in transgenic hairy roots, which revealed that the P1 segment containing 3 E-box elements significantly enhances induction of gene expression in response to phosphate (Pi) starvation. Further experimentation demonstrated that GmPTF1, a bHLH transcription factor, is the regulatory factor responsible for the induction of GmEXPB2 expression in response to Pi starvation. In short, Pi starvation induced expression of GmPTF1, with the GmPTF1 product not only directly binding the E-box motif in the P1 region of the GmEXPB2 promoter, but also activating GUS expression in a dosage dependent manner. Further work with soybean transgenic composite plants showed that, altering GmPTF1 expression significantly impacted GmEXPB2 transcription, and thereby affected root growth, biomass and P uptake. Taken together, this work identifies a novel regulatory factor, GmPTF1, involved in changing soybean root architecture through regulation the expression of GmEXPB2. These findings contribute to understanding the molecular basis of root architecture modifications in response to P deficiency, and, in the process, suggest candidate genes and a promoter region to target for improving soybean yield through molecular breeding of P efficiency.One Sentence SummaryThe bHLH transcription factor GmPTF1 regulates the expression of β-expansin gene GmEXPB2 to modify root architecture, and thus promote phosphate acquisition, and biomass in soybean.

A total of 249 maize kernel samples from 8 maize-producing provinces of China were collected after the harvest season in 2014. All samples were analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography. The incidences of FBs (FB1 + FB2) from Guizhou, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Chongqing, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Henan provinces were 71.4%, 73.8%, 28.0%, 52.6%, 85.0%, 87.5%, 38.1%, and 100.0%, respectively. The average concentration of FBs was 817 µg kg−1 and the concentrations ranged from

A total of 225 maize kernel samples were collected from Shandong Province in China from 2012 to 2014 and analysed for contamination with Fusarium spp. and fumonisins (FBs) using molecular methods and high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The results showed that the average incidences of Fusarium spp. in 2012, 2013 and 2014 were 23.3%, 37.1% and 36.5%, respectively, Fusarium verticillioides being the predominant species. In 2012, the average contamination level of FBs was 3071 ng g(-1), which was higher than that in 2014 (2913 ng g(-1)) and 2013 (2072 ng g(-1)). Of all samples, 13% and 19% had FB contamination levels higher than 2000 and 4000 ng g(-1), which are the maximum limits as set by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States and the European Commission, respectively. Therefore, efforts should be taken to minimise the potential risk of FBs to the health of humans and animals.

In order to make staff salary management more standardized, this paper designs a salary management platform for employees of printing company, which is based on the Asp.Net framework and uses C# language and SQL Server database to store data, with manage data information and staff attendance, assessment, performance, welfare, rewards and punishments and other functional modules, to achieve full management of the remuneration of printing enterprises employees and promote the fairness of the printing enterprises.

The passivity control of induction motors based on the adaptive observer is investigated in this paper. First, a torque tracking controller with damping injection is proposed, which can take advantages of the passivity property of the induction motors and fasten the convergence rate. Then, an adaptive flue observer is designed to estimate the flue magnitude, motor speed and stator resistance. The chosen of observer gain is discussed as well. Simulation results show that the proposed adaptive-observer-based passivity control strategy can effectively improve the static and dynamic performance of the induction motor.

The development and plasticity of central auditory system can be influenced by the change of peripheral neuronal activity. However, the molecular mechanism participating in the process remains elusive. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) binding with its functional receptor tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) has multiple effects on neurons. Here we used a rat model of auditory deprivation by bilateral cochlear ablation, to investigate the changes in expression of BDNF and TrkB in the auditory cortex after auditory deprivation that occurred during the critical period for the development of central auditory system. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry methods were adopted to detect the mRNA and protein expression levels of BDNF and TrkB in the auditory cortex at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks after surgery, respectively. The change in the expression of BDNF and TrkB mRNAs and proteins followed similar trend. In the bilateral cochlear ablation groups, the BDNF-TrkB expression level initially decreased at 2 weeks but increased at 4 weeks followed by the reduction at 6 and 8 weeks after cochlear removal, as compared to the age-matched sham control groups. In conclusion, the BDNF-TrkB signaling is involved in the plasticity of auditory cortex in an activity-dependent manner.

Water dispersible polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMCNa) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) were crosslinked via glutaraldehyde (GA) to improve the water resistance and stability performance of their pervaporation membranes. Relative crosslinking degrees (RCDs) of PECs with different GA contents were obtained by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). Free volume of crosslinked PECs membranes (CPECMs) was examined by Doppler Broadening Energy Spectroscopy (DBES). The surface hydrophilicity and morphology of CPECMs were investigated by dynamic contact angle (DCA) and atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. CPECMs were subjected to pervaporation dehydration of aqueous isopropanol mixtures. It was found that CPECMs showed very high water resistance, super permeability and good selectivity. Crosslinked PECs membrane with 0.5 wt% GA (CPECM0.5) showed a permeate flux of 21.2 kg/(m 2 h) and water content in permeate of 98.1 wt% in dehydrating 50 wt% aqueous isopropanol mixture at 70 °C. Moreover, good long time stability of CPECMs for dehydration of aqueous isopropanol mixture was also observed. These excellent performance are attributed to the chemical crosslinking of polyelectrolyte complex colloidal particles.

A layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique was used to construct temperature-responsive multilayer films of polybetaine poly-3-dimethyl(methacryloyloxyethyl) ammonium propane sulfonate (PDMAPS) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). The assembly and disintegration behaviors of PDMAPS/PAA multilayer films were investigated by quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results indicated that the assembly behaviors of PDMAPS/PAA multilayer films could be well regulated by the pH and temperature of dipping solutions. The disintegration of PDMAPS/PAA multilayer films could be well controlled by varying the disintegration temperature ( T d ) and the pH of buffer solution. The critical disintegration temperature ( T cd ) decreased with increasing pH of buffer solution used. The ionization of carboxylic acid groups (COOH) of PAA and the breakage of intra-chain associations of PDMAPS in multilayer films are two main reasons for the film disintegration. Based on the controllable disintegration of the PDMAPS/PAA multilayer, free-standing multilayer films were successfully prepared by LbL self-assembly of poly(4-vinylpyridiniomethanecarboxylate) (PVPMC) and PAA using PDMAPS/PAA as a sacrificial sublayer.

Objective The aim of the study was to investigate the protective effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza (SM) against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity in guinea pigs. Methods Thirty-nine guinea pigs were randomly divided into 3 groups. The first group (control group) received physiologic saline by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection for 5 days. The second group (cisplatin group) was treated with cisplatin (2 mg/kg per day, i.p. injection) for 5 days. The third group (SM group) was given SM (8 g/kg per day, i.p. injection) for 2 days and then was given SM (8 g/kg per day, i.p. injection) and cisplatin (2 mg/kg per day, i.p. injection) for 5 days. Auditory brain stem response (ABR) and cochlea blood flow measurement were used to evaluate cochlea function. The structures of cochlea were observed by light microscope, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope (TEM), and immunohistochemical examination. Results Cisplatin could cause severe acoustic damages including significant elevation of ABR threshold, substantial losses of outer hair cells and inner hair cells, and severe damage on the stria vascularis and spiral ganglion cells (SGCs). Although in SM group, the increased tendency of threshold was milder than that in cisplatin group. The damages in cochlea and stria vascularis were also less severe than those in cisplatin group. The expression of induced nitric oxide synthase in the cochlea and SGC in SM group was lower than that in cisplatin group. Conclusions Salvia miltiorrhiza can significantly reduce the cisplatin-induced side effects.

The effects of salicylate (a tinnitus inducer) were studied on the transient outward potassium current (I(K(A))) and the delayed rectifier potassium current (I(K(DR))) in acutely dissociated rat inferior colliculus neurons by the whole-cell voltage-clamp method. Salicylate's inhibition of the amplitude of I(K(A)) and I(K(DR)) was concentration-dependent. The IC(50) values for the blocking action of salicylate on I(K(A)) and I(K(DR)) were 2.27 and 0.80 mM, respectively. At a concentration of 1 mM, salicylate significantly shifted the activation and inactivation curves of I(K(DR)) negatively by approximately 11 and 24 mV, respectively, but did not shift the I(K(A)) curves. In conclusion, salicylate inhibits both I(K(A)) and I(K(DR)) in rat inferior colliculus neurons but only significantly affects the activation and inactivation kinetics of I(K(DR)). Depression of I(K(DR)) by salicylate may play an important role in salicylate-induced tinnitus.

To investigate the effects of the tinnitus inducer, sodium salicylate, on voltage-gated sodium channels, we studied freshly dissociated inferior colliculus neurons of rats by the whole-cell voltage clamp method. Salicylate blocked sodium channels in concentration-dependent manner (0.1-10 mM), and the IC50 value of salicylate was estimated to be 1.43 mM after application. The sodium conductance-voltage curve did not shift along the voltage axis with salicylate application. In contrast, the steady-state sodium channel inactivation curve was shifted by about 9 mV in the hyperpolarizing direction. In addition, salicylate delayed the sodium channel recovery from inactivation by increasing the slow time constant. It was concluded that salicylate bound to the resting and inactivated sodium channels to cause blocking, with a higher affinity for the latter state. Our results suggest that salicylate causes a concentration-dependent blockade of voltage-gated sodium channels and shifts the inactivation curve to more hyperpolarized potentials, which could be related to the mechanism of salicylate-induced tinnitus.

To investigate the mechanism of the tinnitus inducer, sodium salicylate, on voltage-gated sodium channels.The effects of salicylate on voltage-gated sodium channels in freshly dissociated inferior colliculus neurons of rats were studied, using the whole-cell voltage clamp method.Salicylate blocked sodium current (INa) in concentration-dependent manner (0.1-10 mmol/L). The IC50 value for the blocking action of salicylate was 1.43 mmol/L. Salicylate did not affect the conductance-voltage curve and the steady-state activation curve of INa. The steady-state INa inactivation curve of INa was shifted by about 9 mV in the hyperpolarizing direction. In addition, salicylate delayed the sodium channel recovery from INa inactivation by increasing the slow time constant.Our results suggest that salicylate causes a concentration-dependent blockade of INa and shifts the INa inactivation curve to more hyperpolarized potentials, which could be related to the mechanism of salicylate-induced tinnitus.

Road segmentation is the critical step in a vision system for outdoor road following. This paper presents a new method for color road segmentation. The basic idea of the method is as follows: each pixel of a color image consists of red, green, and blue intensity values; it can be considered as a feature vector in 3-D RGB space, and the road segmentation can be translated into a statistic classification problem. First, a color normalization transform is used to erase the shadows in a color image; then, the optimal discriminant plane technique is used for feature decorrelation; finally, road segmentation is completed by a minimum distance classifier designed on the optimal discriminant plane. We have done a lot of experiments, and the results show that the present method is effective.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.