Search

We report the discovery of three HI absorbers toward low-power radio active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in a pilot HI absorption survey with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). Compared to past studies, FAST observations have explored lower radio powers by $\sim$0.4 dex and detected these weakest absorbers at given redshifts. By comparing the gas properties and kinematics of sources along radio powers, we aim to explore the interplay between AGN and the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM). Compared to brighter sources at similar redshifts, our observations suggest a slightly lower detection rate of HI absorption lines ($\sim$$11.5\%$) in low-power radio AGNs with $\text{log}(P_{\text{1.4 GHz}}/\text{W Hz}^{-1})=21.8-23.7$. The low-power sources with $\text{log}(P_{\text{1.4 GHz}}/\text{W Hz}^{-1}), 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Weak emission-line quasars (WLQs) are a subset of Type 1 quasars that exhibit extremely weak Ly$α+$N V $λ$1240 and/or C IV $λ$1549 emission lines. We investigate the relationship between emission-line properties and accretion rate for a sample of 230 `ordinary' Type 1 quasars and 18 WLQs at $z < 0.5$ and $1.5 < z < 3.5$ that have rest-frame ultraviolet and optical spectral measurements. We apply a correction to the H$β$-based black-hole mass ($M_{\rm BH}$) estimates of these quasars using the strength of the optical Fe II emission. We confirm previous findings that WLQs' $M_{\rm BH}$ values are overestimated by up to an order of magnitude using the traditional broad emission-line region size-luminosity relation. With this $M_{\rm BH}$ correction, we find a significant correlation between H$β$-based Eddington luminosity ratios and a combination of the rest-frame C IV equivalent width and C IV blueshift with respect to the systemic redshift. This correlation holds for both ordinary quasars and WLQs, which suggests that the two-dimensional C IV parameter space can serve as an indicator of accretion rate in all Type 1 quasars across a wide range of spectral properties., 17 pages (AASTeX 6.3.1), 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Most readout circuits of the two-dimensional resistive sensor array (2-D RSA) have a non-linear relationship between the output voltage and the resistance of the element being tested (EBT), which will cause extra measurement error for the finite precision of the analog-to-digital converter. Firstly, we designed a novel linear readout circuit based on double voltage feedback loops (LRC-DVFL) which could access two elements in the array simultaneously, and the output voltages had a linear relationship with the resistances of the EBTs. Then, the approximate circuit model of the LRC-DVFL was derived and the mathematical equivalent resistance expressions of the EBTs were derived in Appendix. Followed, the simulation experiments and the test experiments with a prototype circuit of the LRC-DVFL were carried out. Experimental results show that the LRC-DVFL can access two elements in the 2-D RSA simultaneously with linear output voltages, and the performance of the LRC-DVFL can be evaluated quickly by using the mathematical equivalent resistance expressions of the EBTs.

To objectively classify and evaluate the strong aroma base liquors (SABLs) of different grades, solid-phase microextraction-mass spectrometry (SPME-MS) combined with chemometrics were used. Results showed that SPME-MS combined with a back-propagation artificial neural network (BPANN) method yielded almost the same recognition performance compared to linear discriminant analysis (LDA) in distinguishing different grades of SABL, with 84% recognition rate for the test set. Partial least squares (PLS), successive projection algorithm partial least squares (SPA-PLS) model, and competitive adaptive reweighed sampling-partial least squares (CARS-PLS) were established for the prediction of the four esters in the SABL. CARS-PLS model showed a greater advantage in the quantitative analysis of ethyl acetate, ethyl butyrate, ethyl caproate, and ethyl lactate. These results corroborated the hypothesis that SPME-MS combined with chemometrics can effectively achieve an accurate determination of different grades of SABL and prediction performance of esters.

The effect of graphene (GN) on the transport of CIP and NOR in porous media is investigated by a combination of batch experiments, column experiments and mathematical models. The results obtained by batch experiments show that GN has great adsorption capacity to two antibiotic contaminants, and the maximum adsorption amounts based on the Langmuir model calculation are 270.67 mg/g and 178.36 mg/g, respectively. The column experiments suggest the mobility of CIP and NOR decreases with the mass fraction of GN packed in porous media, and the mass recovery rates of CIP and NOR increase with flow velocity. As the concentration of Na+ increases, the mobility of CIP and NOR is enhanced. However, Ca2+ has a significant enhancement effect on the mobility of CIP and NOR. Moreover, the transport processes of CIP and NOR in the column are predicted by a BDST mathematical model, and the calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental results. The relationships between kinetic parameters related to QNs’ mobility and GN content, flow velocity and ionic strength are obtained by a regression analysis, which can be used to predict the mobility of CIP and NOR in porous media.

Can the development zone policy that pioneered Chinese industrialization energize the consumption of urban residents and become an important means of achieving the coordinated development of indust...

We present ultraviolet spectroscopy covering the Ly$α$ + N V complex of six candidate low-redshift ($0.9 < z < 1.5$) weak emission-line quasars (WLQs) based on observations with the Hubble Space Telescope. The original systematic searches for these puzzling Type 1 quasars with intrinsically weak broad emission lines revealed an $N \approx 100$ WLQ population from optical spectroscopy of high-redshift ($z > 3$) quasars, defined by a Ly$α$ + N V rest-frame equivalent width (EW) threshold $< 15.4$ Å. Identification of lower-redshift ($z < 3$) WLQ candidates, however, has relied primarily on optical spectroscopy of weak broad emission lines at longer rest-frame wavelengths. With these new observations expanding existing optical coverage into the ultraviolet, we explore unifying the low- and high-$z$ WLQ populations via EW[Ly$α$+NV]. Two objects in the sample unify with high-$z$ WLQs, three others appear consistent with the intermediate portion of the population connecting WLQs and normal quasars, and the final object is consistent with typical quasars. The expanded wavelength coverage improves the number of available line diagnostics for our individual targets, allowing a better understanding of the shapes of their ionizing continua. The ratio of EW[Ly$α$+NV] to EW[MgII] in our sample is generally small but varied, favoring a soft ionizing continuum scenario for WLQs, and we find a lack of correlation between EW[Ly$α$+NV] and the X-ray properties of our targets, consistent with a "slim-disk" shielding gas model. We also find indications that weak absorption may be a more significant contaminant in low-$z$ WLQ populations than previously thought., 20 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Relation prediction is a task designed for knowledge graph completion which aims to predict missing relationships between entities. Recent subgraph-based models for inductive relation prediction have received increasing attention, which can predict relation for unseen entities based on the extracted subgraph surrounding the candidate triplet. However, they are not completely inductive because of their disability of predicting unseen relations. Moreover, they fail to pay sufficient attention to the role of relation as they only depend on the model to learn parameterized relation embedding, which leads to inaccurate prediction on long-tail relations. In this paper, we introduce Relation-dependent Contrastive Learning (ReCoLe) for inductive relation prediction, which adapts contrastive learning with a novel sampling method based on clustering algorithm to enhance the role of relation and improve the generalization ability to unseen relations. Instead of directly learning embedding for relations, ReCoLe allocates a pre-trained GNN-based encoder to each relation to strengthen the influence of relation. The GNN-based encoder is optimized by contrastive learning, which ensures satisfactory performance on long-tail relations. In addition, the cluster sampling method equips ReCoLe with the ability to handle both unseen relations and entities. Experimental results suggest that ReCoLe outperforms state-of-the-art methods on commonly used inductive datasets.

Recent studies have revealed the global deposition on Earth of radioactive elements (e.g., $^{60}$Fe) resulting from the metal-enriched ejecta of nearby (within $\sim 100$ pc) supernova explosions. The majority of neutron stars in our Solar neighborhood remain to be discovered. Here we report the discovery of the nearest ($127.7 \pm 0.3$ pc) neutron star candidate in the single-lined spectroscopic binary LAMOST J235456.76+335625.7 (hereafter J2354). Utilizing the multi-epoch spectra and high-cadence periodic light curves, we measure the mass of the visible star ($M_{\rm vis}=0.70\pm 0.05\ M_{\odot}$) and determine the mass function of the invisible object $f(M)=0.525 \pm 0.004\ M_{\odot}$, i.e., the mass of the unseen compact object is $M_{\rm inv} \geq 1.26 \pm 0.03\ M_{\odot}$. The excess UV emission due to a hot supramassive white dwarf is absent. Hence, it is likely that J2354 harbors a neutron star. J2354 is X-ray dim (the $0.1$--$2.4$ keV luminosity $, 35 pages, 8 figures, to be submitted

Additional file 1: Supplementary Information for SEM image of h-BN, IFFT image of the Fe region for the TEM image, hysteresis loops of the CoFeB film, the measured voltage signals for the spin valve devices and simulation of injected current distribution along the z direction of GaN film.

Stretchable and flexible sensing arrays can facilitate human-computer interaction and biofeedback, such as robots, medical devices, and human-computer interface devices. To meet the demand on perceiving the temperature distributions on varied surface areas with low cost, in this paper, we designed a stretchable and flexible thermal sensing cushion (SFTSC) based on the two-dimensional thermistor array with multi-arch structure. The $8 \times 8$ negative temperature coefficient resistors each with two pins were used as the thermistors. For good stretchability, every conductive textile electrode (CTE) in the SFTSC was fabricated by folding a conductive textile strip with multi-arch structure in an insulated elastic textile substrate. For decreasing the number of the test wires, all thermistors in the SFTSC were arrayed in the shared row-column fashion by inserting two pins of every thermistor into its row CTE and its column CTE, respectively. The performances of the SFTSC were evaluated by temperature sensing experiments of a cup, human hand and sitting posture, and the experimental results showed that the SFTSC with good flexibility and good stretchability could perceive its surface temperature well even its surface area was stretched larger 2.25 times.

Why an acquiring firm chooses a target over others is a question yet not investigated well. Using a multi-dimensional temporal focus framework and upper echelon theory, we proposed that a firm's choice for diversifying or focused acquisition is predicted by the CEO’s temporal focus. Furthermore, this link is contingent on corporate governance (compensation). The result from the analysis of 302 M&A deals from semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries revealed that CEOs with high future/present focus are more likely to make a diversifying acquisition than focus acquisition, while present-focused CEOs are more likely to make a focused acquisition over diversifying takeover. With a high stock option, future-focused CEOs will be more eager to make diversifying acquisitions, while past-focused CEOs' likelihood of making a focused acquisition is reduced. Also, with high stock ownership, the interest of future and present-focused CEOs for diversifying takeover will reduce, while CEOs with high past focus will more tend to make a focused acquisition.

Additional file 1. Materials and methods. Additional references. Fig. S1. (A) Viability of sentinel slices from lung tissue explants on Day 7. (B) Effect of PLN-74809 on Smad2 phosphorylation. (C) Dose titration of PLN-74809 on COL1A1 expression. Fig. S2. Dose titration of PLN-74809 on Col1a1 expression in PCLSs prepared from bleomycin-challenged mouse lung. Fig. S3. Antifibrotic effects of dual αvβ6/αvβ1 inhibition in the bleomycin mouse model. (A) Total lung hydroxyproline content and (B) 2H incorporation into lung hydroxyproline in sham-challenged mice and bleomycin-challenged mice treated with vehicle or PLN-74809. Fig. S4. Concentration required to decrease Col1a1 expression by 50% in PCLSs from acute bleomycin-challenged mouse lung. Table S1. Donor history for human lung samples. Table S2. Custom fibrosis gene panel. Table S3. TaqMan primers/probes.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. miR-198 does not affect the cell cycle. (A,B) A498 and ACHNcells were transfected with scrambled mimic of miR-198 and wild-type miR-198. After 36 h, the cells were analyzed using flow cytometry to assess their cell cycle. NS = no significant. (C,D) ACHNcells were treated like (A). NS = no significant.

Biomarker-assisted diagnosis and intervention in Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be the key to prevention breakthroughs. One of the hallmarks of AD is the accumulation of tau plaques in the human brain. However, current methods to detect tau pathology are either invasive (lumbar puncture) or quite costly and not widely available (Tau PET). In our previous work, structural MRI-based hippocampal multivariate morphometry statistics (MMS) showed superior performance as an effective neurodegenerative biomarker for preclinical AD and Patch Analysis-based Surface Correntropy-induced Sparse coding and max-pooling (PASCS-MP) has excellent ability to generate low-dimensional representations with strong statistical power for brain amyloid prediction. In this work, we apply this framework together with ridge regression models to predict Tau deposition in Braak12 and Braak34 brain regions separately. We evaluate our framework on 925 subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Each subject has one pair consisting of a PET image and MRI scan which were collected at about the same times. Experimental results suggest that the representations from our MMS and PASCS-MP have stronger predictive power and their predicted Braak12 and Braak34 are closer to the real values compared to the measures derived from other approaches such as hippocampal surface area and volume, and shape morphometry features based on spherical harmonics (SPHARM)., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 17th International Symposium on Medical Information Processing and Analysis

Additional file 2. The original data of RT-PCR and Western Blot.

The mass, origin, and evolutionary stage of the binary system LB-1 have been intensely debated, following the claim that it hosts an similar to 70Mblack hole, in stark contrast with the expectations for Galactic remnants. We conducted a high-resolution, phase-resolved spectroscopic study of its Paschen lines, using the Calar Alto 3.5 m telescope. We find that Pa beta and Pa gamma(after subtraction of the stellar absorption component) are well fitted with a standard double-peaked disk profile. We measured the velocity shifts of the red and blue peaks at 28 orbital phases: the line center has an orbital motion in perfect antiphase with the secondary, and the radial velocity amplitude ranges from 8 to 13 km s(-1), for different methods of profile modeling. We interpret this curve as proof that the disk traces the orbital motion of the primary, ruling out the circumbinary disk and the hierarchical triple scenarios. The phase-averaged peak-to-peak half-separation (a proxy for the projected rotational velocity of the outer part of the disk) is similar to 70 km s(-1), larger than the orbital velocity of the secondary and inconsistent with a circumbinary disk. From those results, we infer a primary mass 4-8 times higher than the secondary mass. Moreover, we show that the intensity ratio of the blue and red peaks has a sinusoidal behavior in phase with the secondary, which we attribute to external irradiation of the outer part of the disk. Finally, we discuss our findings in the context of competing scenarios proposed for LB-1. Further astrometric Gaia data will test between alternative solutions. © 2020. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved., This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of CYhina (NSFC) under grant numbers 11988101/11933004 (J.L.), 11690024 (Y. L.) and 11603035 (S.W.).

High Q optical resonators are a key component for ultra-narrow linewidth lasers, frequency stabilization, precision spectroscopy and quantum applications. Integration of these resonators in a photonic waveguide wafer-scale platform is key to reducing their cost, size and power as well as sensitivity to environmental disturbances. However, to date, the intrinsic Q of integrated all-waveguide resonators has been relegated to below 150 Million. Here, we report an all-waveguide Si3N4 resonator with an intrinsic Q of 422 Million and a 3.4 Billion absorption loss limited Q. The resonator has a 453 kHz intrinsic linewidth and 906 kHz loaded linewidth, with a finesse of 3005. The corresponding linear loss of 0.060 dB/m is the lowest reported to date for an all-waveguide design with deposited upper cladding oxide. These are the highest intrinsic and absorption loss limited Q factors and lowest linewidth reported to date for a photonic integrated all-waveguide resonator. This level of performance is achieved through a careful reduction of scattering and absorption loss components. We quantify, simulate and measure the various loss contributions including scattering and absorption including surface-state dangling bonds that we believe are responsible in part for absorption. In addition to the ultra-high Q and narrow linewidth, the resonator has a large optical mode area and volume, both critical for ultra-low laser linewidths and ultra-stable, ultra-low frequency noise reference cavities. These results demonstrate the performance of bulk optic and etched resonators can be realized in a photonic integrated solution, paving the way towards photonic integration compatible Billion Q cavities for precision scientific systems and applications such as nonlinear optics, atomic clocks, quantum photonics and high-capacity fiber communications systems on-chip., Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures

Radio-loud quasars (RLQs) are more X-ray luminous than predicted by the X-ray-optical/UV relation (i.e. $L_\mathrm{x}\propto L_\mathrm{uv}^\gamma$) for radio-quiet quasars (RQQs). The excess X-ray emission depends on the radio-loudness parameter ($R$) and radio spectral slope ($\alpha_\mathrm{r}$). We construct a uniform sample of 729 optically selected RLQs with high fractions of X-ray detections and $\alpha_\mathrm{r}$ measurements.We find that steep-spectrum radio quasars (SSRQs; $\alpha_\mathrm{r}\le-0.5$) follow a quantitatively similar $L_\mathrm{x}\propto L_\mathrm{uv}^\gamma$ relation as that for RQQs, suggesting a common coronal origin for the X-ray emission of both SSRQs and RQQs. However, the corresponding intercept of SSRQs is larger than that for RQQs and increases with $R$, suggesting a connection between the radio jets and the configuration of the accretion flow. Flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs; $\alpha_\mathrm{r}>-0.5$) are generally more X-ray luminous than SSRQs at given $L_\mathrm{uv}$ and $R$, likely involving more physical processes. The emergent picture is different from that commonly assumed where the excess X-ray emission of RLQs is attributed to the jets. We thus perform model selection to comparecritically these different interpretations, which prefers the coronal scenario with a corona-jet connection. A distinct jet component is likely important for only a small portion of FSRQs.The corona-jet, disk-corona, and disk-jet connections of RLQs are likely driven by independent physical processes. Furthermore, the corona-jet connection implies that small-scale processesin the vicinity of SMBHs, probably associated with the magnetic flux/topology instead of black-hole spin, are controlling the radio-loudness of quasars., Comment: 30 pages, 17 figures, published in MNRAS

In the readout circuits of the two-dimensional (2-D) resistive sensor arrays, various auxiliary electrical components were used to reduce their crosstalk errors but resulted in increased circuit complexity. Readout circuits with low-complexity structures were necessary for wearable electronic applications. With only several resistors and a microcontroller, readout circuit based on resistance matrix approach (RMA) achieved low complexity but suffered from small resistance range and large measurement error caused by the output ports’ internal resistances of the microcontroller. For suppressing those negative effects, we firstly proposed an improved resistance matrix approach (IRMA) by additionally sampling the voltages on all driving row electrodes in the RMA. Then the effects of the output ports’ internal resistances and the analog-to-digital converter’s accuracy for the RMA and the IRMA were simulated respectively with NI Multisim 12. Moreover, a prototype readout circuit based on the IRMA was designed and tested in actual experiments. The experimental results demonstrated that the IRMA, though it required more sampling channels and more computations, could be used in those applications needing low complexity, small measurement error and wide resistance range.

With scanning approaches of low complexity, the 2-D resistive sensor arrays (RSAs) are used to extract the distribution of sensed variable values (e.g., physical pressure) over the sensing area. This review surveys the scanning approaches of the 2-D RSAs, their evaluation methods, and their applications. The principle of the 2-D RSA with the scanning approach is introduced first. Then, different scanning approaches of RSAs are illustrated. The scanning approaches of RSAs are mainly categorized into the inserting diode method, the inserting transistor method, the passive integrator method, the resistance matrix approach, the incidence matrix approach, the voltage feedback method, the zero potential method, and so on. Next, various evaluation methods of the scanning approaches are presented. The scanning approach’s evaluation methods are categorized into testing of the actual system, analyzing with circuit simulation software, and analyzing with test model. Followed, typical applications of the 2-D RSAs with the scanning approaches and their special requirements are analyzed. Finally, the characteristics of various typical scanning approaches and their development tendency are discussed and investigated in detail.

Predicting long-term migration of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) in subsurface systems is essential to determine appropriate remediation design for cleanup of subsurface contamination. The migration of DNAPLs is not only affected by the heterogeneity of porous media, but also controlled by the relative permeability of DNAPLs over long-term periods. A new light transmission micro-tomography (LTM) is developed to quantify the heterogeneity parameters including porosity, permeability and entry pressure of two dimensional (2D) porous media. Also, a relative permeability-saturation model (RPM) is proposed for the complexity of long-term DNAPLs migration in porous media, in which the infiltration and redistribution periods are simulated by the drainage and imbibition stages using Brooks and Corey (BC) model, respectively. To verify the effect of LTM and RPM, an experiment of long-term perchloroethylene (PCE) migration is performed in a 2D bench-scale sandbox and the simulation based on LTM and RPM is conducted to predict PCE migration behavior. Comparison and moment analysis of PCE plumes shows that PCE infiltration and spreading behavior is well modeled over long-term contaminant migration period including calibration, verification and validation periods. This reveals the complexity of DNAPL behavior and steps forward to accurately quantify micro-structures of porous media.

Pinghu City is a typical coastal city in Zhejiang Province. It has confronted many problems such as low velocity of the river network and poor quality of the water ecological environment. Water pollution has seriously affected the local social and economic development as well as the residential environment. In this study, the plain river network of Pinghu City is selected as an example to analyze the amount of various pollutants. Different types of pollutants are calculated based on the statistic data. The pollution characteristics of the coastal plain river network in Pinghu City is then collected and analyzed. This study will provide further treatment solutions for water pollution in cities with typical coastal plain river network in Zhejiang Province.

Due to the improvement of the understanding of the natural environment and social service function of rivers, many countries in the world have started the research and practice of water environment protection. Lots of Chinese cities also paid most of their attentions to the water environment especially in the river network area. Systematic calculation and analysis of the water environment status becomes famous in most of the Chinese cities, which not only shows the current status of water environment but also indicates the methods to reduce the domestic pollution. In this study, Changxing county is selected as a typical Chinese city, COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) and TN (Total Nitrogen) are considered as two typical pollutants, both water environmental capacity and current pollution are calculated. From the comparison between the present pollution load and the discharge limit into the river, it can be seen that TN is the key influencing factor of the water environment carrying capacity in Changxing County, and its overload ratio is up to 5.0. A series of measures to reduce the pollution load into the river are put forward in order to provide an auxiliary decision-making basis for further protecting “clear water and green mountains”.

This paper proposed a handwriting input method based on the thermal cue of the fingertip. During writing or drawing movements of a fingertip on the surface of a temperature sensitive panel, the thermal exchange happened between the fingertip and the panel. In this method, the temperature values of the thermistor array in the temperature sensitive panel could be recorded and the fingertip moving trajectories could be tracked. Thus the handwriting characters written by the fingertip could be recognized. With this method, we then designed a handwriting prototype device with a 16 × 8 thermistor array in the row–column fashion covered its temperature sensitive panel. Finally, digital character input experiments on the handwriting device were performed. The experiment results verified the validity and the feasibility of the handwriting input method based on the thermal cue of the fingertip.

To fast evaluate the features of the zero potential circuits (ZPCs) for the 2-D networked resistive sensor arrays, such as the setting non-scanned-electrode ZPC, the setting non-scanned-sampling-electrode ZPC, and the setting non-scanned-driving-electrode ZPC, we first proposed the approximate models of the ZPCs with one op-amp. By analyzing the approximate model, we then gave a mathematical expression of the effective equivalent resistor of the element being tested in the ZPCs with one op-amp. Finally, we evaluated the approximate model of the ZPCs with one op-amp by simulation experiments. The results show that the proposed approximate model of the ZPCs with one op-amp is applicable to fast analyze the performance of the resistive sensor array parameters, including array size and the resistance range of the sensitive elements, and the ZPCs’ parameters, including the multiplexers’ switch resistors, the gain of the zero potential op-amp, and the resistance value of the sampling resistor.

With long flexible cables connected to the 1-wire setting non-scanned-driving-electrode equipotential (S-NSDE-EP) circuit, the resistive sensor array modules got flexibility in robotic operations but suffered from the crosstalk problem caused by wire resistances and contacted resistances of the cables. Firstly, we designed a new S-NSDE-EP circuit using two wires for every driving-electrode and every sampling-electrode to reduce the crosstalk caused by the connected cables in the 2D networked resistive sensor array. Then, an equivalent resistance expression of the element being tested (EBT) for this circuit was analytically derived. Then, the 1-wire S-NSDE-EP circuit and the 2-wire S-NSDE-EP circuit were evaluated by simulations. The simulation results show that the 2-wire S-NSDE-EP circuit, though it requires a large number of wires, can greatly reduce the crosstalk error caused by wire resistances and contacted resistances of the cables in the 2D networked resistive sensor array.

Objective Three-dimensional printing may play an important role in patients’ education. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of personalized 3D printed models for increasing patient understanding of their medical condition and surgical plan. Methods Forty-five patients with degenerative lumbar diseases were randomized by block design into three groups: educational program presented by CT & MRI imaging (care-as-usual), 3D reconstructions, or personalized 3D printed models. Patients’ level of understanding and satisfaction were evaluated by two questionnaires one day after education. Results Patients educated with personalized 3D printed models demonstrated an expanded level of understanding than patients educated with CT & MRI imaging (care-as-usual) (P ＜ 0.05) and 3D reconstructions (P ＜ 0.05). Personalized 3D printed models also resulted in a higher degree of patient satisfaction (P ＜ 0.05). Conclusions Personalized 3D printed models and 3D reconstructions can simplify and enhance understanding of lumbar anatomy, physiology, and patients’ disease and surgical plan. Personalized 3D printed models also enhance patients’ subjective satisfaction. Practice implications Personalized 3D printed models for patient education are feasible and could be generalized for degenerative lumbar diseases.

We have investigated the jet-linked \mbox{X-ray} emission from highly radio-loud quasars (HRLQs; $\log R>2.5$) at high redshift. We studied the X-ray properties of 15 HRLQs at $z>4$, using new {\it Chandra} observations for six objects and archival {\it XMM-Newton} and {\it Swift} observations for the other nine. We focused on testing the apparent enhancement of jet-linked \mbox{X-ray} emission from HRLQs at $z>4$. Utilizing an enlarged (24 objects) optically flux-limited sample with complete X-ray coverage, we confirmed that HRLQs at $z>4$ have enhanced X-ray emission relative to that of HRLQs at $z\approx$ 1--2 with matched UV/optical and radio luminosity, at a \mbox{4.0--4.6}~$��$ level; the X-ray enhancements are confirmed considering both two-point spectral indices and inspection of broad-band spectral energy distributions. The typical factor of enhancement is revised to $1.9^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$, which is smaller than but consistent with previous results. A fractional IC/CMB model can still explain our results at high redshift, which puts tighter constraints on the fraction of IC/CMB X-rays at lower redshifts, assuming the physical properties of quasar jets do not have a strong redshift dependence. A dominant IC/CMB model is inconsistent with our data., 25 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

By sharing rows and columns, the 2-D networked resistive sensor arrays simplified the interconnect complexity but suffered from the crosstalk problem among its elements. The crosstalk was mainly affected by the multiplexers' resistor, adjacent column elements, adjacent row elements, and array size. First, we designed an improved isolated drive feedback circuit (IIDFC) using one operational amplifier to reduce the crosstalk caused by the adjacent column elements in the 2-D networked resistive sensor array. Then, a mathematical equivalent resistance expression of the element being tested (EBT) for this circuit was analytically derived. Then, the IIDFC and its equivalent resistance expression of the EBT were evaluated by the simulations. The simulation results show that the IIDFC can greatly reduce the crosstalk error caused by the adjacent column elements in the 2-D networked resistive sensor array with the row-column fashion and its resistance expression of the EBT can be used as a general formula to evaluate the performance of the IIDFC.

Rationale: Primary spinal glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a rare clinical entity with an aggressive course and an invariably dismal prognosis. Its clinical characteristics, radiologic and pathologic findings, and treatment protocols have been discussed in a few cases. Patient concerns: A 15-year-old female was admitted to the neurology department with a chief complaint of progressive numbness and weakness in her left upper extremity for 3 months and neck pain for 1 month. Diagnoses: Spinal magnetic resonance imaging showed an intramedullary expansile mass localized between C4 and C7. The diagnosis of GBM was determined on the basis of the histopathological findings after operation. Interventions: Laminotomy and laminoplasty between C4 and C7 were performed, and the tumor was partially resected. The patient was administered focal adjuvant radiotherapy concomitantly with oral chemotherapy following the surgery. Outcomes: With severe neurologic deficits at 13 months after the diagnosis, the patient expired. Lessons: Although therapeutic options have been improving, the prognosis of the primary spinal GBM remains poor. The treatment of primary spinal GBM entered into a central registry and multiple-center cooperation is important in establishing future therapeutic strategies.

Wireless body sensor networks enabled electrocardiogram (ECG) biosensors are a novel solution for patient-centric telecardiology. With this solution, the prevention and early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases can be effectively improved. However, the energy efficiency of the present wireless ECG biosensors still needs to be improved. In this paper, a dynamic compression scheme is proposed to deal with the challenge of ultralow power and real-time wireless ECG application. This compression scheme consists of a digital integrate-and-fire sampler and a lossless entropy encoder, which can reduce airtime over energy-hungry wireless links and improve the energy efficiency of the biosensors. The efficiency improvement is evidenced by the experiments using the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database in MICAz node. The lifetime of dc-implemented MICAz node can be extended up to 76.60% with high signal recovery quality. This scheme is also compared with the digital wavelet transform-based and compressed sensing-based compression schemes. All experimental results indicate that the proposed scheme has high-energy efficiency, low computational complexity, less resource consumption, and rapid time response.

In this paper, we present a measurement error analysis of the voltage feedback non-scanned-electrode (VF-NSE) method for the 2-D resistive sensors array that shares row and column connections for simplifying interconnections. A mathematical voltage expression for the VF-NSE method has been analytically derived and verified by the circuit simulations, which is affected by the multiplexers’ resistor, the column adjacent elements and the row adjacent elements. Based on this analysis of the VF-NSE method with the sample resistor connected to the voltage source, we examined and proved that the voltage expression is general for analyzing the effect of the multiplexers’ resistor, the column adjacent elements and the row adjacent elements in the networked resistive sensor array.

In order to improve the accumulating efficiency of solar energy, we designed a trolley with a 2-DOF attitude regulation structure of solar panels. In it, a solar orientation sensor was used to detect the solar orientation and the solar light intensity. A trolley’s differential wheels and a steering engine were used to keep the solar panels of the trolley vertically facing the Sun. At a certain interval, the steering engine adjusted the elevation angle of the solar panels and the trolley’s differential wheels adjusted the solar panels’ azimuth angle. Test experiment results show that the trolley can improve the accumulating efficiency of solar energy.

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 85% of China's GHG emissions are attributed to urban economic activities, and this share is expected to rise given China's fast urbanization process. This paper provides estimates of city-level industrial CO2 emissions and their growth rates for all 287 Chinese prefecture-level and above cities during the years 1998–2009. We decompose the CO2 emission changes into scale, composition and technique effects. The decomposition results show that these three effects differ significantly across the three tiers of cities in China. The scale effect contributes to rising CO2 emissions, while the technique effect leads to declining CO2 emissions in all cities. The composition effect leads to increasing CO2 emissions in the third-tier cities, while it reduces CO2 emissions in the first and second-tier cities, due to the relocation of energy-intensive industries from the latter to the former type of cities. Based on these decomposition results, we identify the separate channels through which the inflow of FDI and the environmental regulations affect city-level CO2 emissions. The decomposition framework in our paper can help policy makers and scholars to better understand Chinese cities’ trade-offs between economic growth and environmental goals.

1PPS signal is the standard output of GNSS timing receiver. The pulse is used to synchronize the device to Universal Time Coordinated(UTC) or the GNSS system time, and it is the recovery of GNSS system time or UTC in the local timing receiver. 1PPS signal of GNSS timing receiver is often phase calibrated in discrete steps with an uncorrected frequency error present. If such a calibration was used in GNSS timing receiver, we would observe the 1PPS signal phase error progressing at the uncorrected frequency error. When the phase error grows to the phase step size, a calibration will be done and we will observe a phase step in the 1PPS signal phase. This phase step is GNSS Timing signal granularity. This phenomenon is called the sawtooth behavior of the GNSS 1PPS signal. In order to correct the sawtooth error of 1PPS signal, we study the zoom technique of GNSS timing signal granularity, and propose an improved scheme. The programmable delay line technology is introduced in the improved scheme. The granularity of the programmable delay line device can reach 0.25ns. Combining with the programmable delay line device, we propose a control algorithm which can realize the zoom of local 1PPS signal's granularity. This scheme allows for real-time correction of the quantization error and reduces the residual noise to about 1∼2 nanoseconds peak to peak (pk-pk), and improves the instantaneous and short-term timing accuracy of GNSS 1PPS.

To assess the value of passive leg raising (PLR) test in predicting fluid responsiveness in patients with sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction.A prospective observational cohort study was conducted. Thirty-eight patients under mechanical ventilation suffering from sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction admitted to Department of Surgical Intensive Care Unit of First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University from September 2013 to July 2014 were enrolled. The patients were studied in four phases: before PLR (semi-recumbent position with the trunk in 45°), PLR (the lower limbs were raised to a 45° angle while the trunk was in a supine position), before volume expansion (VE, return to the semi-recumbent position), and VE with infusing of 250 mL 5% albumin within 30 minutes. Hemodynamic parameters were recorded in every phase. The patients were classified into two groups according to their response to VE: responders (at least a 15% increase in stroke volume, A SV(VE) ≥ 15%), and non-responders. The correlations among all changes in hemodynamic parameters were analyzed by linear correlation analysis, and the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was plotted to assess the value of hemodynamic parameters before and after PLR in predicting fluid responsiveness.Of 38 patients, 25 patients were responders, and 13 non-responders. There was no significant difference in the baseline and hemodynamic parameters at semi-recumbent position between the two groups. The changes in SV and cardiac output (CO) after PLR (Δ SV(PLR) and Δ CO(PLR)) were significantly higher in responders than those of non-responders [ Δ SV(PLR): (14.7 ± 5.7)% vs. (6.4 ± 5.3)%, t = 4.304, P = 0.000; ΔCO(PLR): (11.2 ± 7.5)% vs. (3.4 ± 2.3)%, t = 3.454, P = 0.001], but there was no significant difference in the changes in systolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, pulse pressure, and heart rate after PLR (Δ SBP(PLR), Δ MAP(PLR), Δ PP(PLR) and Δ HR(PLR)) between two groups. Δ SV(VE) in responders was significantly higher than that of the non-responders [(20.8 ± 5.5) % vs. (5.0 ± 3.7) %, t = 8.347, P = 0.000]. It was shown by correlation analysis that ΔSV(PLR) was positively correlated with Δ SV(VE) (r = 0.593, P = 0.000), Δ CO(PLR) was positively correlated with ΔSV(VE) (r = 0.494, P = 0.002). The area under ROC curve (AUC) of Δ SV(PLR) ≥ 8.1% for predicting fluid responsiveness was 0.860 ± 0.062 (P = 0.000), with sensitivity of 92.0% and specificity of 70.0%; the AUC of Δ CO(PLR) ≥ 5.6% for predicting fluid responsiveness was 0.840 ± 0.070 (P = 0.000), with sensitivity of 84.0% and specificity of 76.9%; the AUC of Δ MAP(PLR) ≥ 6.9% for predicting fluid responsiveness was 0.662 ± 0.089, with sensitivity of 68.0% and specificity of 76.9%; the AUC of Δ SBP(PLR) ≥ 6.4% for predicting fluid responsiveness was 0.628 ± 0.098, with sensitivity of 76.0% and specificity of 61.5%; the AUC of Δ PP(PLR) ≥ 6.2% for predicting fluid responsiveness was 0.502 ± 0.094, with sensitivity of 56.0% and specificity of 53.8%; the AUC of Δ HR(PLR) ≥ -1.7% for predicting fluid responsiveness was 0.457 ± 0.100, with sensitivity of 56.0% and specificity of 46.2%.In patients with sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction, changes in SV and CO induced by PLR are accurate indices for predicting fluid responsiveness, but the changes in HR, MAP, SBP and PP cannot predict the fluid responsiveness.

In this paper, a new hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA), the niched Pareto tabu search combined with a genetic algorithm (NPTSGA), is proposed for the management of groundwater resources under variable density conditions. Relatively few MOEAs can possess global search ability contenting with intensified search in a local area. Moreover, the overall searching ability of tabu search (TS) based MOEAs is very sensitive to the neighborhood step size. The NPTSGA is developed on the thought of integrating the genetic algorithm (GA) with a TS based MOEA, the niched Pareto tabu search (NPTS), which helps to alleviate both of the above difficulties. Here, the global search ability of the NPTS is improved by the diversification of candidate solutions arising from the evolving genetic algorithm population. Furthermore, the proposed methodology coupled with a density-dependent groundwater flow and solute transport simulator, SEAWAT, is developed and its performance is evaluated through a synthetic seawater intrusion management problem. Optimization results indicate that the NPTSGA offers a tradeoff between the two conflicting objectives. A key conclusion of this study is that the NPTSGA keeps the balance between the intensification of nondomination and the diversification of near Pareto-optimal solutions along the tradeoff curves and is a stable and robust method for implementing the multi-objective design of variable-density groundwater resources.

The prediction of the clock errors of atomic clocks plays an important role in the work on time and frequency. Each of the prediction models often used at present has its own merits and shortages. A combination of the predicted results obtained by means of these models can be used to synthesize the characteristics of various kinds of prediction models. In the light of the problem which occurs when the linear combination model is used to make the prediction of clock errors, the concept of learning weight is proposed and the modified combination prediction model is made by taking advantage of various kinds of pieces of accuracy information. For verifying the efficiency of this method the clock error sequences of the IGS (International GNSS Service) of 4 GPS satellites are selected and the predicted results of the quadratic polynomial and grey model are combined. The result shows that the modified model can further improve the stability and accuracy based on the guarantee of the reliability.

In recent years, many sensors made of hard materials have been designed to detect human body movements in physical exercises. However, hard materials usually cause extra dyskinesia for body movements. To detect human limb motion with less dyskinesia in physical exercise, a novel flexible capacitive angle sensor (NFCAS) based on a conductive textile was designed in this paper. The NFCAS has two non-parallel plates, namely, an exciting plate and a sensing plate, which can be fixed onto the inner forearm and the inner upper arm. Thus, the angle between the two plates of the NFCAS can be used to represent the angle of medial elbow, and its variation can lead to changes in the sensor&rsquo, s capacitance at the same time. A push-ups experiment and pull-ups experiment were conducted to evaluate the designed NFCAS&rsquo, s performance. Experimental results showed that the NFCAS could detect the main processes of push-ups and pull-ups. Besides high measurement precision, the NFCAS is also soft, thin, lightweight, and easily made. Therefore, it can be widely applied for detecting human limb motion with less dyskinesia in physical exercises.

In this paper, the daily precipitation data of 19 meteorological stations in Guizhou Province from 1961 to 2015 are used. Using GIS spatial analysis method and linear trend analysis method, the distribution characteristics of annual and seasonal precipitation in Guizhou province were analyzed from space and time. The results show that: (1) From the perspective of spatial distribution, annual precipitation is generally less in the south and north and less in the east and west. The precipitation in winter and spring is east-west distribution and decreases from east to west in the four seasons. The precipitation in summer is roughly north-south and south-north less. The precipitation in autumn is mainly concentrated in southwest Guizhou and Chishui valley. (2) From the time distribution point of view, the precipitation in Guizhou Province showed a general downward trend, of which the precipitation in spring, autumn and winter showed a decreasing trend, the downward trend in autumn was more obvious, and the precipitation in summer increased but not obviously.

Extraction of Am(III) and Ln(III) from NaClO4medium has been investigated with di(2-ethylhexyl) dithiophosphoric acid, di(2-ethylhexyl) monothiophosphoric acid, di(2-ethylhexyl) monothiophosphinic acid, octylphenyl dithiophosphinic acid and 11 kinds of dialkyl dithiophosphinic acids (alkyl = hexyl, heptyl, octyl, nonyl, 2-ethylhexyl, 1-methylheptyl, phenyl, chlorophenyl, methylphenyl, 2,5-dimethylphenyl, and 3,5-dichloro-4-methylphenyl) in xylene. The effect of chemical structures of those extractants on separation capability has been studied. The relationship between the slope value of the lgD−pH and extraction conditions can be described as: lgS=alg(CHA/CMS/4)+b. In the presence of macro amounts of Eu(ClO4)3, the formula, lg SFAm/Eu=B−2lg(CHL−DEu/(DEu+1)CEu), can well describe the relationship between separation factor and the extraction condition. A high separation factor (SFAm/Eu=2500) is obtained by solvent extraction from 1 mol/L NaNO3solution with 0.5 mol/L di(2-ethylhexyl) dithiophosphinic acid in toluene.

Objective To describe the MRI findings and discuss the pathogenesis formation mechanism of syringomyelia in the patients after spine surgical operation. Methods Totally 13 patients were been enrolled in the study. Before operation, none of our patients presented with spinal cord syringomyelia. The mean follow-up duration was 6 years (range 2–10 months) by MRI. Four of the 13 patients after spinal cord tumor removed operation, 3 patients after spinal trauma operation, 2 cases had scoliosis before, 2 cases were cervical spondylotic myelopathy and 2 cases had tethered cord syndrome before operation. MR features of pre- and post-operation on all patients were been studied in contrast with surgical results and clinical symptoms. The radiology diagnostic was made by 3 different radiologists respectively. The characteristics of length, width, signals, shape of cavity and spinal cord position as well as subarachnoid shape were focused on. Results All the patients had no syringomyelia on MRI before operation. The spinal cord of 7 patients showed persist compression and 2 patients had tethered cord before operation. MRI features of syringomyelia after operation in our cases showed longitudinal cavity with syrinx fluid had T1 and T2 relation characteristics of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The mean length was 5.5 spinal segment, 4 cord of 13 patients presented cord compressed from anterior materials, 4 occurred postoperative adhesion to the back of lumbar spinal canal and spinal cord of 1 cases clung to the front wall of cervical spinal canal. Conclusion The mechanism of syringomyelia in the patients after spinal surgical intervention may be the persisting compression or intention of the spinal cord in the period of pre- or post-operation. The edema, cyst, malacia of spinal cord are the most important lesions and risk factors resulted in the syringomyelia.

Al2O3−SiO2−TiO2−ZrO2 supported membranes were prepared by Sol-Gel method. These composite ceramic membranes are level, even and no macro crack. There exist several crystalline phases such as Al2O3, TiO2 (anatase), Al2SiO5, and ZrO2 in these membranes. Changing the molar ratio of Al:Si:Ti:Zr, the kinds and content of crystal phases of composite membranes could be different, which may lead to a variety of microstructure of membranes. The surface nonoscale topography and microstructure of membranes were investigated by XRD, SEM, AFM, EPMA. The effects of additives and heat treatments on the surface nanoscale topography and microstructure of composite ceramic membranes were also analyzed.

The supported membranes of Al2O3 and its modification membranes were prepared. Al2O3, Al2O3-SiO2-TiO2 and Al2O3-SiO2-TiO2-ZrO2 membranes were manufatured by the slip-casting process using mixing boehmite, silicate, titania and zirconia sols under proper conditions, then the composite membrane was prepared. The structure and characteristics of the membrane were determined by XRD, SEM and AFM measurement. The conditions of preparation of the membrane are discussed. The thickness of the layer is about 1–2 μm, the diameter of an average pore is 200–300 nm and has a narrow pore distribution without crack forming. By changing the ratios of Al∶Si∶Ti∶Zr (mol), variations of surface pore size of Al2O3-SiO2-TiO2-ZrO2 membrane can be gained.