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The inverse analysis of the deformation moduli of high arch dams based on displacement monitoring data is essential for structural safety assessment. In traditional inverse analysis methods, the deformation moduli are identified based on the single‐objective optimization and the hydrostatic component derived from the statistical model. This type of method has two main shortcomings: First, it treats the essential multi‐objective optimization problem as a single‐objective problem; second, the extracted hydrostatic component may be biased due to the multicollinearity of variables in the statistical model. This paper presents a methodology for the inverse analysis of the deformation moduli of high arch dams under a multi‐objective optimization strategy. The methodology employs empirical mode decomposition to extract the aging component from displacement monitoring data. Then, thermomechanical analysis is used to reconstruct the remaining hydrostatic and temperature components, thereby avoiding the biases encountered in solving the statistical model. The adaptive polynomial chaos expansion method is embedded in the NSGA‐III algorithm to establish and solve multi‐objective functions in the inverse analysis. Additionally, a composite decision index considering errors and test information is proposed to determine acceptable deformation moduli from the Pareto solution set. A high arch dam is selected to illustrate this methodology with static and dynamic monitoring data. The results show that the identified deformation moduli have errors of 3.8% and 7.2% in displacement and acceleration, respectively. The proposed methodology can yield deformation modulus values that are more consistent with the physical implications than those of the single‐objective optimization method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of cancer, including colorectal cancer (CRC), has repeatedly been demonstrated. However, very few lncRNAs have been well annotated functionally. Our study identified a novel lncRNA upregulated in CRC, NONHSAT136151, which was correlated with clinical progression. In functional assays, NONHSAT136151 significantly enhanced CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Mechanistically, NONHSAT136151 interacted with RNA‐binding protein (RBP) QKI (Quaking) to interfere with QKI binding to target mRNAs and regulate their expression. As well, FOXP3 may be causally related to the dysregulation of NONHSAT136151 in CRC cells through its transcriptional activity. In conclusion, our findings identified a novel lncRNA regulated by FOXP3 participates in CRC progression through interacting with QKI, indicating a novel lncRNA‐RBP interaction mechanism is involved in CRC pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many regions, even if waste vegetable oil is used as raw material, the profits of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester, FAME) enterprises still remain restricted, and they are facing environmental problems caused by the by‐product glycerol. Hence, value‐added utilization of FAME and glycerol is a promising alternative to improve the competitiveness of biodiesel enterprises in the economy and environmental protection. In this paper, FAME and glycerol were utilized to prepare epoxidized acyl glycerides by transesterification and epoxidation. In the transesterification, acyl glycerides were prepared by reacting FAME and glycerol catalyzed by K2CO3. The contents of monoacyl glyceride, diacyl glyceride, and triacyl glyceride in the acyl glycerides were about 50%, 40%, and 10%, and the optimal conditions were a temperature of 200°C and the molar ratio of FAME to glycerol of 1:1. In the epoxidation, selectivity of epoxides was significantly affected by monoacyl glyceride content, and a treatment method was developed to control the monoacyl glyceride content <5%. In addition, the plasticity of epoxidized acyl glycerides to partially substitute dioctyl phthalate in polyvinyl chloride was studied, the overall mechanical properties, thermal stability, and extraction resistance were improved. In this work, FAME and glycerol were utilized to prepare epoxidized acyl glycerides with higher value‐added, which provide a potential solution for improving the market competitiveness of biodiesel enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bladder cancer is the second most common malignant tumor in the urogenital system. The research investigated the prognostic role of immune‐related long non‐coding RNA (lncRNA) in bladder cancer. Methods: We extracted 411 bladder cancer samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Single‐sample gene set enrichment analysis was employed to assess the immune cell infiltration of these samples. We recognized differentially expressed lncRNAs between tumors and paracancerous tissues, and differentially expressed lncRNAs between the high and low immune cell infiltration groups. Venn diagram analysis detected differentially expressed lncRNAs that intersected the above groups. LncRNAs with prognostic significance were identified by regression analysis. Multivariate Cox analysis was used to establish the risk score model. Then we established and evaluated the nomogram. Additionally, we performed gene set enrichment analysis to explore the potential functions of the screened lncRNAs in tumor pathogenesis. Results: Three hundred and twenty differentially expressed lncRNAs were recognized. We randomly divided patients into the training data set and the testing data set at a 2: 1 ratio. In the training data set, 9 immune‐related lncRNAs with prognostic significance were identified. The risk score model was constructed to classify patients as high‐ and low‐risk cohorts. Patients in the low‐risk cohort had better survival outcomes than those in the high‐risk cohort. The nomogram was established based on the indicators including age, gender, tumor‐node‐metastases stage, and risk score. The model's predictive performance was confirmed by the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, concordance index method, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis. The testing data set also achieved similar results. Bioinformatics analysis suggested that the 9‐lncRNA signature was involved in the modulation of various immune responses, antigen processing and presentation, and T cell receptor signaling pathway. Conclusions: Our study uncovered the prognostic value of immune‐related lncRNAs for bladder cancer and showed that they may regulate tumor pathogenesis in various ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequency response analysis (FRA) is a widely used approach for detecting winding faults in a transformer. Appropriate and quantitative FRA features will help to improve the accuracy of fault diagnosis. In this study, a novel FRA interpretation including new image features is proposed based on the image processing technique. First, winding faults of different windings are simulated in a test autotransformer and the FRA curves are measured under various faults. Then frequency region division method and image processing technique are first applied to the measured FRA curves. The area ratio and centroid deviation in different frequency regions are calculated through a novel algorithm. Finally, the image features are used as the inputs to support vector machine model. Additionally, three different parametric optimisation algorithm are compared during the training process. The results show that the particle swarm optimisation and image feature exhibit best performance for identifying winding faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The windings of a traction transformer are always be threatened by the fluctuation of the load. Frequency response analysis (FRA) is regarded as the most effective method to diagnose the winding deformation. Appropriate FRA modelling method may help to predict typical winding faults for large transformers. The existing model usually simplify dozens of winding disks into several disks, it is applicable when analysing small displacement. However, when the disks between windings are seriously misplaced, the conventional model may not be suitable. This study presents an improved lumped parameter circuit model considering intersection capacitances and mutual inductance between windings. The feasibility of the proposed model is verified based on a 10 kV test transformer. Finally, the model is applied for a 220 kV traction transformer, the variation of parameters and features are analysed for axial displacement of different windings. The results show that the axial displacement may lead to increase of resonance frequency and decrease of amplitude. The low‐frequency band (1–30 kHz) may be regarded as visible features for diagnosing axial displacement of H winding and the middle frequency band (50–200 kHz) may be a characteristic band for diagnosing axial displacement of T winding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epoxidized oils are eco‐friendly plasticizers, which are industrially produced through the epoxidation reaction in a formic acid‐hydrogen peroxide autocatalyzed system. The fundamental knowledge to describe the phase equilibrium of systems after epoxidation reaction is lacking, which is crucial for the design of the purification facilities. This work reported experimental data for the liquid–liquid equilibrium of three systems, i.e., epoxidized fatty acid methyl esters + formic acid + water, epoxidized fatty acid 2‐ethylhexyl esters + formic acid + water, and epoxidized soybean oil + formic acid + water, in the temperature range (303.15–348.15) K under atmospheric pressure. The results indicated that the liquid–liquid equilibrium constant of formic acid in the systems followed the order of epoxidized fatty acid 2‐ethylhexyl esters > epoxidized fatty acid methyl esters > epoxidized soybean oil. Moreover, the obtained experimental data were correlated using nonrandom two liquid (NRTL) and universal quasi chemical (UNIQUAC) models. The maximum root mean square deviation (RMSD) values as low as 0.0052 and 0.0263 were estimated using the NRTL and UNIQUAC model, respectively. The NRTL model is more suitable than the UNIQUAC model to describe the liquid–liquid equilibrium behavior of these ternary systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Owing to the decrease of global oil price, development of downstream value‐added products is important to biodiesel industry. In this study, we used palmitic acid methyl ester (PAME) as a starting material to produce 2‐ethylhexyl palmitate (2‐EHP), an environmentally friendly biolubricant product, which was derived from the transesterification of fatty acid methyl esters and long chain fatty alcohols. Conventional synthetic routes of 2‐EHP have disadvantages, including high catalyst price, low conversion efficiency, and pollution issues. To solve these problems, in situ transesterification of PAME with 2‐ethylhexanol (2‐EH) was conducted over unsupported potassium carbonate as heterogeneous catalyst. The optimal reaction temperature, 2‐EH to PAME molar ratio, and catalyst to PAME mass ratio were 180 °C, 3:1, and 3.0 wt%, respectively. The PAME conversion reached up to 100% within 1 hour under the optimal conditions. In addition, a kinetic model describing the experimental data over a temperature range of 160–180 °C was developed. The dependence of kinetic rate constant (k) on temperature was evaluated, and the activation energy (Ea) for the transesterification of PAME with 2‐EH was calculated to be 57.04 kJ mol−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample consisting of 1,160,801 observations of privately held firms, we explore the relationship between earnings quality and privately held firms' debt financing, access to debt, and cost of debt, as well as the moderating effects of provincial-level economic development on this relationship. Our findings indicate that better earnings quality increases private firms' access to debt financing and lowers their cost of debt. The empirical results also show that these effects are more pronounced in less developed provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the mass transfer and reaction kinetics of soybean oil epoxidation using concentrated hydrogen peroxide in a formic acid-autocatalyzed reaction system were studied in detail. Studying the mass transfer of formic acid showed that the influence of reactant diffusion near the interface is eliminated when the stirring rate is > 120 rpm in a double-stirred cell, and the mass transfer rate decreases greatly with the conversion of double bonds and a decrease of reaction temperature. A temperature increase has little impact on the equilibrium of formic acid in the oil/water system, while an increase of epoxidized soybean oil significantly increases the value of the partition coefficient of formic acid. Another important aspect in the kinetic study is the decomposition of performic acid, which can cause the reduction of H2O2 and formic acid during the reaction. Finally, a biphasic model, which considers all reactions in oil and aqueous phases, the equilibrium and mass transfer of reagents and products between the phases, and the evolution of proton concentrations with time, was developed to describe the epoxidation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]