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Obtaining future traffic state evolution information is critical to traffic control algorithms design and further to intelligent transportation systems. However, accurately predicting traffic state evolution is not an easy task, although the traffic prediction-related study attracted a lot of attention. This study develops a macroscopic traffic flow model-integrated deep learning framework (MTFD) for the high-resolution temporal-spatial traffic state dynamic propagation on a road network, integrating temporal-spatial traffic dependency, traffic flow theory, and data analysis techniques. First, traffic state propagation on every road Section is mathematically described by the CTM model given traffic initial and boundary conditions. Next, a temporal-spatial traffic dependency attention (TSTD) recurrent neural network is developed to predict boundary conditions factoring the traffic temporal-spatial dependency. Also, this paper develops a graph theory-based method to capture the temporal-spatial traffic dependency among the traffic on neighboring road sections. Last, the extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is introduced to adjust the predicted traffic state at an intersection to satisfy the conservation law. The numerical experiments illustrate that the proposed method predicts the traffic state evolution in a freeway network within 30 minutes with accuracy varying from 75%-95%. It has a better performance compared to the tested baseline models (APTN, Graph CNN-LSTM, and so on). The experimental results also illustrate that factoring traffic dependency and integrating data assimilation techniques can improve prediction accuracy.

Since the past decade, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data have been extensively adopted for traffic object recognition tasks. Existing methodologies often assume LiDAR data are acquired under normal weather conditions. Nevertheless, many researchers have observed that the LiDAR data captured under inclement weather are often contaminated with noises such as fog and snow, which may deteriorate the data quality and lead to false detections in traffic object recognition. This paper proposes a neighborhood-based noise removal methodology to eliminate snow noises from LiDAR data. It identifies a point of interest from a specific laser channel as an outlier, if the number of neighboring points in the same channel within a dynamic search radius is fewer than a threshold. Unlike existing methods that filter the entire LiDAR point cloud, the proposed methodology processes LiDAR data channel-by-channel, which helps reduce the data dimensionality and decouple the snow effects along the vertical axis of the 3D point cloud, leading to more effective and efficient outlier detection. Furthermore, by dynamically changing the search radius based on the point-to-sensor distance rather than adopting a fixed search radius, the proposed methodology can account for the reduced point density at far distances caused by the non-uniformity of LiDAR data. In the experimental study, the proposed methodology is compared against some existing LiDAR de-noising approaches, including two state-of-the-art methods, and demonstrates superior performance in both accuracy (i.e., F1 score = 98.3%) and efficiency.

ABSTRACTOn a microscopic scale, concrete was regarded as a three-phase composite consisting of coarse aggregate, cement mortar and interface transition zone (ITZ). The coarse aggregates and their peripheral ITZ were [...]

ABSTRACT Dry-based concrete specimens must be obtained to investigate a moisture effect, but the drying law and strength change vary for concrete of different strength grades under different drying temperatures. [...]

In this study, we propose a novel CLAHE-based nighttime image contrast enhancement approach for vehicle detection under nighttime conditions, which improves the contrast of low-quality nighttime images while preventing over-enhancement by employing the image dehazing technique. To implement and evaluate our proposed contrast enhancement method on nighttime images, we consider a scenario of using a camera-based Internet of Things (IoT)-edge computing device for traffic and road surveillance. Edge-computing and IoT technology enable significant amounts of novel studies to advance traffic system monitoring, sensing, control, and management. Considering multiple metrics of image enhancement quality, the proposed nighttime image contrast enhancement method outperforms some existing well-performing CLAHE-based methods. To provide accurate vehicle detection under nighttime conditions and different challenges, including vehicle overlapping, low-light conditions, camera vibrations, and image distortion, must be addressed. For this purpose, a deep neural network based on YOLOv5 architecture has been designed and trained using our custom-labeled dataset. The developed neural network is proven to be effective in the detection of different vehicles under low-light ambient conditions using video captured from a stationary camera. Experiments on our dataset show that the proposed contrast enhancement method greatly improves the detection performance of the trained YOLOv5 model under low-environment-light conditions compared with the model trained using unenhanced images. The model trained with enhanced images can provide an improvement of 5.7% on F1 score, 6.3% on mAP0.5, and 3.4% on mAP0.5:0.95 under specific conditions.

A significant number of camera-based solutions suffer from different kinds of performance issues, caused by unstable weather conditions e.g., wind, object overlapping due to heavy traffic flow, and lack of adjustment for a certain location where the camera is installed and fixed. In this paper, we developed an effective approach to traffic flow monitoring under daytime conditions by applying machine learning and computer vision techniques to extract motion traffic data parameters from the videos captured by the static surveillance camera installed and fixed at the intersection. We address the issue of video camera vibration and jittering by applying image-matching algorithms. In order to calculate the vehicle speed, we utilize the projective transformation to compute the real object distance from an image taken by a single camera installed at the road intersection. We adapt and employ state-of-the-art object detectors, transfer learning, and analytical computer vision methods to detect and track vehicles and measure moving speed and vehicle volume from a predefined detection area extracted from monocular videos. The developed approach is proven to be effective in estimating vehicle speed and vehicle volume using video sequences captured from a stationary camera. Experimental results obtained during the study prove the efficiency of the proposed method under strong vibration conditions. The proposed framework achieved promising tracking performance on custom-labeled test video clips with a small absolute error of 3.97% for traffic flow average speed estimation. An additional test on a video from BrnoCompSpeed Dataset shows that the proposed method can reduce the average speed estimation error by 51.8%.

ABSTRACT Pores, voids correspond to inevitable products in the formation of concrete and significantly affect its macroscopic effective strength. A lot of researches show that both porosity and pore structure [...]

The shape of a spacecraft is transitioning from monolithic, manual, and static to modular, autonomous, and dynamic. Modular Reconfigurable Spacecrafts (MRSs) offer better solutions than traditional monolithic spacecrafts in several aspects, and may become the next generation of spacecraft systems with efficient design, fast deployment, flexible application, and convenient management. This paper reviews the development and technology of MRS from three aspects: Modularity, reconfigurability, and autonomy. Despite the progress of research on MRS, there is still a lack of unified standards and little understanding of related concepts. Based on the understanding of basic concepts, the studies conducted on MRS are reviewed to identify technical requirements and solutions. Aiming at the future development trend of MRS, a novel modular self-reconfigurable spacecraft, referred to as MagicSat, is proposed. Furthermore, the MagicSat system composition, advantages, and application prospects are studied. The enabling technologies and major challenges of MRS are further analyzed in terms of modularization, integrated management, and self-reconfiguration technologies. Finally, the future development trend of MRS technology is predicted, and corresponding suggestions are provided.

ABSTRACT In order to obtain the drying control condition with no or minimal effect on concrete strength, various drying temperatures conditions are used as 150[degrees]C, 120[degrees]C, 105[degrees]C, 85[degrees]C and 60 [...]

The electrolyte coordination structure-dependent intercalation chemistry has been directly observed over an Al/graphite model battery using operando X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements which suggest a new method to investigate the electrolyte-dependent intercalation and interface chemistry.

The Cancer/Testis Antigen (CTA) genes comprise a group of genes whose expression under physiological conditions is restricted to the testis but is activated in many human cancers. Depending on the particular expression pattern, the CTA genes are speculated to play a role in spermatogenesis, but evidence is limited thus far. Here, we reported patients with a hemizygous nonsense mutation in cancer-testis antigen 55 (CT55) suffering from male infertility with extreme disruption in sperm production, morphology, and locomotion. Specifically, the insufficiency of sperm individualization, excessive residue of unnecessary cytoplasm, and defects in acrosome development were evident in the spermatozoa of the patients. Furthermore, mouse models with depletion of Ct55showed accelerated infertility with age, mimicking the defects in sperm individualization, unnecessary cytoplasm removal, and meanwhile exhibiting the disrupted cumulus-oocyte complex penetration. Mechanistically, our functional experiments uncovered CT55 as a new autophagic manipulator to regulate spermatogenesis via selectively interacting with LAMP2 and GABARAP (which are key regulators in the autophagy process) and further fine-tuning their expression. Therefore, our findings revealed CT55as a novel CTA gene involved in spermatogenesis due to its unprecedented autophagy activity.

Noble metal catalysts are generally expensive, and thus, abundant 3d metals recently received significant attention as catalysts in catalytic hydrogenation. Mn catalysts are widely applied in transfer hydrogenations, but the reported catalyst loadings remain up to three orders of magnitude higher than noble metals. Thus, catalyst consumption should be overcome before 3d metal catalytic systems may be utilized practically in industry. Here, a catalytic system based on novel, scalable triazole N5-ligands coordinated to Mn is presented for use in transfer hydrogenations. Based on pre-activation viadehydrohalogenation, an unprecedented, efficient catalytic system operating viasynergistic H-bond auxiliary activation was established. The Mn catalysts are practical at metal concentrations 0.0001 mol%, generating alcohol with turnover number (TON) up to 857,200, thus approaching loadings more conventionally observed in precious-metal-based systems. Notably, using this protocol, several pharmaceuticals may be easily synthesized in one pot.

This paper studies the traffic delay prediction modeling for multiple signalized intersections along the Ala Moana Boulevard and Nimitz Highway in Hawaii. Several machine learning (ML) based approaches have been studied in the literature, and most of them focused on prediction accuracy rather than the end use of real-time control and implementation. These ML models tend to be very complex and non-linear in nature, making it challenging to achieve fast inferences and are computationally heavy for real-time signal control implementation. In this paper, a simple yet accurate hybrid modeling method is proposed to predict traffic delay one-step ahead with the model made suitable for real-time implementation to control traffic flow. Since real-time road-side measurements are recorded in unstructured form, the paper also discusses other issues related to data extraction and the pre-processing process. Finally, a simple signal control loop is developed to demonstrate the proposed modeling approach, which has shown advantages in model accuracy and computation efficiency compared against several existing modeling methods.

ABSTRACTBackgroundKetogenic diet (KD) has been identified as a potential therapy to enhance recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a common type of traumatic brain injury that is characterized by delayed axonal disconnection. Previous studies showed that demyelination resulting from oligodendrocyte damage contributes to axonal degeneration in DAI.AimThe present study tests a hypothesis that ketone bodies from the ketogenic diet confers protection for myelin and attenuates degeneration of demyelinated axon in DAI.MethodsA modified Marmarou’s model of DAI was induced in adult rats. The DAI rats were fed with KD and analyzed with western blot, transmission electron microscope, ELISA test and immunohistochemistry. Meanwhile, a co-culture of primary oligodendrocytes and neurons was treated with ketone body β-hydroxybutryate (βHB) to test for its effects on the myelin-axon unit.ResultsHere we report that rats fed with KD showed an increased fatty acid metabolism and ketonemia. This dietary intervention significantly reduced demyelination and attenuated axonal damage in rats following DAI, likely through inhibition of DAI-induced excessive mitochondrial fission and promoting mitochondrial fusion. In an in vitromodel of myelination, the ketone body βHB increased myelination significantly and reduced axonal degeneration induced by glucose deprivation (GD). βHB robustly increased cell viability, inhibited GD-induced collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential and attenuated death of oligodendrocytes.ConclusionKetone bodies protect myelin-forming oligodendrocytes and reduce axonal damage. Ketogenic diet maybe a promising therapy for DAI.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2008.07.021 Byline: Guohui Zhang, Xinyu Shao, Peigen Li, Liang Gao Keywords: Multi-objective optimization; Flexible job-shop scheduling; Particle swarm optimization; Tabu search Abstract: Flexible job-shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is an extension of the classical job-shop scheduling problem. Although the traditional optimization algorithms could obtain preferable results in solving the mono-objective FJSP. However, they are very difficult to solve multi-objective FJSP very well. In this paper, a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and a tabu search (TS) algorithm are combined to solve the multi-objective FJSP with several conflicting and incommensurable objectives. PSO which integrates local search and global search scheme possesses high search efficiency. And, TS is a meta-heuristic which is designed for finding a near optimal solution of combinatorial optimization problems. Through reasonably hybridizing the two optimization algorithms, an effective hybrid approach for the multi-objective FJSP has been proposed. The computational results have proved that the proposed hybrid algorithm is an efficient and effective approach to solve the multi-objective FJSP, especially for the problems on a large scale. Author Affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province 430074, China Article History: Received 20 April 2007; Revised 25 July 2008; Accepted 28 July 2008

Saline–alkaline (SA) stress is characterized by high salinity and high alkalinity (high pH), which severely inhibit plant growth and cause huge losses in crop yields worldwide. Here we show that a moderate elevation of endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) levels by RNAi-mediated suppression of OsABA8ox1(OsABA8ox1-kd), a key ABA catabolic gene, significantly increased tolerance to SA stress in rice plants. We produced OsABA8ox1-kd lines in two different japonicacultivars, Dongdao 4 and Nipponbare. Compared with non-transgenic control plants (WT), the OsABA8ox1-kd seedlings accumulated 25.9%–55.7% higher levels of endogenous ABA and exhibited reduced plasmalemma injury, ROS accumulation and Na+/K+ratio, and higher survival rates, under hydroponic alkaline conditions simulated by 10, 15, and 20 mmol L−1of Na2CO3. In pot trials using SA field soils of different alkali levels (pH 7.59, 8.86, and 9.29), OsABA8ox1–kd plants showed markedly higher seedling survival rates and more vigorous plant growth, resulting in significantly higher yield components including panicle number (85.7%–128.6%), spikelets per panicle (36.9%–61.9%), branches (153.9%–236.7%), 1000–kernel weight (20.0%–28.6%), and percentage of filled spikelets (96.6%–1340.8%) at harvest time. Under severe SA soil conditions (pH = 9.29, EC = 834.4 μS cm−1), OsABA8ox1-kd lines showed an 194.5%–1090.8% increase in grain yield per plant relative to WT plants. These results suggest that suppression of OsABA8ox1to increase endogenous ABA levels provides a new molecular approach for improving rice yield in SA paddies.

In situ investigations of lithium batteries show that solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation and ion intercalation are highly dependent on the concentration and composition of electrolyte, and provide strategies for the modulation of battery performance

Developing natural nano-platforms with high biocompatibility and natural targeting ability represents great significance for drug delivery. High-density lipoprotein (HDL), a natural lipid-protein complex, plays important roles in physiological activities, particularly in reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) and be closely associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies have demonstrated that HDLs have the potential to serve as ideal drug carriers. Recombinant HDLs (rHDLs) have been used to encapsulate substances such as small interfering RNA (siRNA), drugs, and contrast agents, fully utilizing the biocompatibility and targeting ability of rHDL in the body and providing new strategies for drug delivery and disease treatment. In this review, we discussed in detail the basic principles of HDL as a drug delivery system, the mechanisms of targeted drug delivery, and several methods for preparing HDL nanoparticles. Afterward, we comprehensively reviewed the applications of HDL as a drug carrier in cardiovascular diseases, cancer treatment (such as glioblastoma, breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and urologic cancers) and some other fields. Finally, we reviewed the therapeutic effects and safety of HDL nanoparticles in clinical studies. Through a review and summary of these research advances, we aim to fully understand the potential of HDL as a drug carrier in clinical applications, providing valuable references and guidance for future research and expedites the translational application of HDL as drug carriers.

Infertility poses a global health and social challenge, affecting approximately 15% of couples at childbearing age, with half of the cases attributed to male factors, wherein genetic factors exert a substantial role. In our prior investigation, we identified loss-of-function variants within the gene encoding glutamine-rich protein 2 (QRICH2) in two consanguineous families, leading to various morphological abnormalities in sperm flagella and male infertility. Moreover, our observations in Qrich2knockout mice revealed a pronounced reduction in spermatozoa count. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive, prompting further investigation in the current study. By conducting experiments such as Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, immunofluorescence staining, flow cytometry, and single sperm metabolism analysis on the testes and spermatozoa of Qrich2knockout mice, we found a strong antioxidant capacity mediated by QRICH2 both in vivoand in vitro. Qrich2knockout led to elevated levels of ROS, consequently inducing DNA damage in spermatids, which in turn triggered increased autophagy and apoptosis, ultimately causing a significant decrease in spermatozoa count. Incubation with the N-terminal purified protein of QRICH2 exhibited potent strong antioxidant activity at the cell and spermatozoa levels in vitro, thereby enhancing spermatozoa viability and motility. Therefore, QRICH2 plays a crucial role in safeguarding spermatids from excessive ROS-induced damage by augmenting antioxidant capacity, thereby promoting spermatozoa survival and improving motility. Furthermore, the N-terminal purified protein of QRICH2 shows promise as an additive for protecting spermatozoa during preservation and cryopreservation.

Organic donor–acceptor cocrystals can improve the light-harvesting ability in visible or near-infrared regions, having a good photothermal conversion efficiency in some cases. While the photothermal conversion mechanism of organic cocrystals is still ambiguous. Here, the fluorescent molecule pyrene with a wide energy gap is selected as a donor, and the conjugated tetracyanide molecules are chosen as the acceptors. Pyrene and tetracyanide molecules are readily self-assembled into cocrystals (pyrene-tetracyanobenzene (PBC), pyrene-tetracyanoethylene (PEC), and pyrene-tetracyanoquinodimethane (PQC)) through intermolecular charge transfer. By changing the framework of acceptors, the optical properties of these cocrystals are tuned from photoluminescence (PBC) to photothermal conversion (PEC and PQC). PEC and PQC have an excellent photothermal conversion efficiency under near-infrared laser (808 nm) irradiation, its values can reach 80.9 and 83.3%, respectively. Based on the intermolecular interactions of cocrystals, femtosecond transient absorption, and excited-state theoretical calculation studies, the excellent photothermal conversion is attributed to the free rotation of the −C(C≡N)2group, which opens a tailormade channel for the effective nonradiative decay of the excited charge-transfer state. This study paves a way to design organic donor–acceptor cocrystal materials with high photothermal conversion efficiency.

Based on the self-developed high permeability water pressure loading system, the physical and mechanical properties and pore structure evolution under various high permeability water pressures were studied. This study aims to reveal the microscopic damage mechanism of concrete when subjected to high permeability water pressures. The results indicate that the internal water content increases with the rising of water pressure under various high permeability conditions. Furthermore, the higher the water pressure, the greater the reduction in strength, particularly evident in low-strength-grade concrete. High permeability water pressure causes to the expansion of gelatinized pores with small sizes into transition pores. Moreover, there is a concurrent alteration in both pore size and pore number under high permeability water pressure.

•2,4-Dihydroxybenzoic acid lead (β-Pb) was synthesized and its single crystal structure was reported firstly.•β-Pb crystallizes in the monoclinic system with the space group of C2/m. It is a monoacid complex, two phenolic hydroxyl groups of 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid don't provide any coordination action with lead ions.•β-Pb presents three continuous endothermic decomposition processes, one is the loss of coordinated water, and the other two are the decomposition processes.•For AP and RDX, the exothermic decomposition temperature and Eacan be significantly reduced, after the addition of β-Pb.

Large conductance Ca2+-activated K+channels (BK channels) are formed by Slo1 subunits as a homotetramer. Besides Ca2+, other divalent cations, such as Cd2+, also activate BK channels when applied intracellularly by shifting the conductance-voltage (GV) relation to more negative voltages. However, we found that if the inside-out patch containing BK channels was treated with solution containing reducing agents such as DTT subsequent Cd2+application completely inhibited BK currents. The DTT dependent Cd2+inhibition could be reversed by treating the patch with solutions containing H2O2, suggesting that a redox reaction regulates the Cd2+inhibition of BK channels. Similar DTT dependent Cd2+inhibition was also observed in a mutant BK channel, Core-MT, in which the cytosolic domain of the channel is deleted and in the proton activated Slo3 channels, but not observed in the voltage gated Shaker K+channels. A possible mechanism for the DTT dependent Cd2+inhibition is that DTT treatment breaks one or more disulfide bonds between cysteine pairs in the BK channel protein, and the freed thiol groups coordinate with Cd2+to form an ion bridge that blocks the channel or locks the channel at the closed state. However, surprisingly, none of mutations of all cysteine residues in Slo1 affect the DTT dependent Cd2+inhibition. These results are puzzling with an apparent contradiction: on one hand a redox reaction seems to regulate Cd2+inhibition of the channel, but on the other hand no cysteine residue in Slo1 subunit seems to be involved in such inhibition.

Solid/solid interfaces between electrodes and electrolytes play an important role in all-solid-state energy devices, while microscopic investigations of the buried interfaces remain challenging. Here, we construct metal|yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)|Au model cells consisting of a metal film cathode (metal (M) = Au, Ni, and Ag), a single crystalline YSZ electrolyte, and a Au film anode, and use quasi in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling analysis to investigate the restructuring of buried interfaces between metal cathodes and YSZ. After applying 2.9 V at 500 °C, interfacial Zr4+ions in the electrolyte are reduced and then interdiffuse with metal cathode overlayers, forming a miscible ZrM alloy interlayer. The interface restructuring degree follows the sequence of Au|YSZ|Au > Ni|YSZ|Au > Ag|YSZ|Au. Meanwhile, surface segregation of Zr on the cathode surface is also observed, whose degree follows the sequence of Ag|YSZ|Au > Ni|YSZ|Au > Au|YSZ|Au. Notably, the strong ZrM alloy formation enhances the interface restructuring but suppresses the Zr surface segregation. This work provides a fundamental understanding of the interfacial reaction at the buried electrode/electrolyte interface.

Azoospermia constitutes a significant factor in male infertility, defined by the absence of spermatozoa in the ejaculate, afflicting 15% of infertile men. However, a subset of azoospermic cases remains unattributed to known genetic variants. Prior investigations have identified the chibby family member 2 (CBY2) as prominently and specifically expressed in the testes of both humans and mice, implicating its potential involvement in spermatogenesis. In this study, we conducted whole exome sequencing (WES) on an infertile family to uncover novel genetic factors contributing to azoospermia. Our analysis revealed a homozygous c.355C>A variant of CBY2in a non-obstructive azoospermic patient. This deleterious variant significantly diminished the protein expression of CBY2 both in vivo and in vitro, leading to a pronounced disruption of spermatogenesis at the early round spermatid stage post-meiosis. This disruption was characterized by a nearly complete loss of elongating and elongated spermatids. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and co-immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated the interaction between CBY2 and Piwi-like protein 1 (PIWIL1). Immunofluorescence staining further confirmed the co-localization of CBY2 and PIWIL1 in the testes during the spermatogenic process in both humans and mice. Additionally, diminished PIWIL1 expression was observed in the testicular tissue from the affected patient. Our findings suggest that the homozygous c.355C>A variant of CBY2compromises CBY2 function, contributing to defective spermatogenesis at the round spermiogenic stage and implicating its role in the pathogenesis of azoospermia.

Cocrystal molecules obtained through simple self-assembly of small organic molecules often have unique properties that monomolecular crystals do not have. However, it is not easy to purposefully construct a series of cocrystals with specific functions. Moreover, the structures and dynamics of cocrystals are still riddles on account of the initial stage of cocrystal development. In this work, two electron donors (hexamethylbenzene and 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene) are selected to govern the degree of charge transfer (CT) between the donor and acceptor (pyromellitic dianhydride), which may help obtain two light-emitting materials. In comparison with the monocomponent crystals, the emitting wavelengths of these cocrystals redshift from the ultraviolet range to visible region. It is worth noting that the intermolecular CT of these cocrystal materials is probed by femtosecond transient absorption (fs-TA) spectrometry. The relationship between the characteristics of emission and the stacking patterns of two specific cocrystals has been explored by fs-TA and density functional theory simulation. This work established the foundation to trace the excited-state evolution channels of the organic cocrystal materials.

In the practical production, the transportation of jobs is existed between different machines. These transportation operations directly affect the production cycle and the production efficiency. In this study, an improved memetic algorithm is proposed to solve the flexible job shop scheduling problem with transportation times, and the optimization objective is minimizing the makespan. In the improved memetic algorithm, an effective simulated annealing algorithm is adopted in the local search process, which combines the elite library and mutation operation. All the feasible solutions are divided into general solutions and local optimal solutions according to the elite library. The general solutions are executed by the simulated annealing algorithm to improve the quality, and the local optimal solutions are executed by the mutation operation to increase the diversity of the solution set. Comparison experiments with the improved genetic algorithm show that the improved memetic algorithm has better search performance and stability.

The titanium alloy/zirconia functionally graded materials can greatly improve the hardness and wear resistance of titanium alloy, thus greatly enhance work life of titanium alloy. In this paper, the titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V)/zirconia functionally graded and non-functionally graded block were prepared by laser additive manufacturing to compare the microstructure evolution, elements distribution. The results indicated that the Ti6Al4V microstructure in the functionally graded block present the fine lath with the zirconia increasing. Compared to element distribution in the non-functionally graded block, the microstructure distribution in the functionally graded block altered from smooth and linear to nonlinear, and the elements transition is more stable and uniform. Microhardness in the functionally graded block increases with the zirconia increasing, and its variation trend agreed with the lever principle of composite mechanical properties. The wear loss was reduced with the zirconia increasing, and it was well conformed to the fitted function 1.09 × 10−2x-0.082. Also, the wear mechanism was mainly abrasive wear as the zirconia content rises in the functionally graded block, this was not like the mechanism of both abrasive wear and adhesive wear in the non-functionally graded block.

To investigate the clinical utility of ultrasound-guided balloon occlusion in cesarean section in patients with sinister placenta previa.

Smart manufacturing is the core in the 4th industrial revolution. Smart shop-floor is one of the basic units of smart manufacturing. With the development of the advanced technologies (e.g. cloud computing, internet of things, model-based definition, advanced simulation, artificial intelligence), a larger number of virtual shop-floors are being built. However, it is very important that how to realize the intelligent interconnection and interaction between physical shop-floors and virtual ones. Digital twin (DT) is one of the key technologies associated to the cyber-physical system. In this paper, we present our vision on the cyber-physical production system (CPPS) towards smart shop-floor at scale via DT. This paper firstly explores a product manufacturing digital twin (PMDT), which focuses on the production phase in smart shop-floor. The proposed PMDT consists of five models: Product Definition Model (PDM), Geometric and Shape Model (GSM), Manufacturing Attribute Model (MAM), Behavior and Rule Model (BRM) and Data Fusion Model (DFM). And then based on PMDT, this paper proposes a new architecture of CPPS, which is composed of five layers (physical layer, network layer, database layer, model layer, application layer). Finally, this paper addresses the opportunities to use DT for the CPPS to support job scheduling during normal operation. Furthermore, the related further work and suggestions are also discussed.

Organic light emitting diode (OLED) has been well researched and optimized during the past decades. OLED display is widely applied in the mobile phone, wearable bracelet, and TV et.al, and now it has begun to expand the field of automotive OLED displays. As another branch of OLED technology, the OLED lighting technology in automotive application market is also widely concerned. OLED inherently has the characteristics of planar light source, lightness, independently addressable segments, flexibility and transparency, which have brought impact and innovation to the traditional automotive lighting. Simultaneously, automotive lighting also puts forward more stringent requirements on the reliability and quality of the light sources. In this article, we will completely analyze the special requirements existed in different car lighting and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of OLED lighting, combined with current technologies. Also, OLED lighting technology in car application is highly anticipated in the future.

The neutron capture cross sections are very important in the field of nuclear device design and basic physics research. Hydrogen-free liquid scintillator such as C6D6detectors are widely used in the neutron capture cross-sectional measurements for the low neutron sensitivity and fast time response. The Back-n white neutron source at China Spallation Neutron Source is the first spallation white neutron source in China, and it is suitable for neutron capture cross-sectional measurement. A C6D6detector system was built in the Back-n experimental station. The pulse height weighting technique was used to determine the system’s detection efficiency. The response to gamma rays of the C6D6detector was measured, and the energy resolution function was determined. Monte Carlo simulation with Geant4 code was carried out to get the weighting function of this C6D6detector system. Additionally, the systematic uncertainty of the weighting function was also determined. According to the experimental and simulation results, this C6D6detector system can be used to measure neutron capture cross section.

AbstractDisaggregate choice models have been widely studied to quantify the influence of the characteristics of travelers as well as the attributes of alternatives and choices in their travel modes. However, due to their model specifications and primary assumptions on unobserved disturbances, their modeling capability is constrained. In this study, a Markov Logic Network (MLN)-based approach is developed to combine bounded rationality principles with travelers’ behavior in travel mode choices. This approach is established based on logical domain knowledge and probabilistic models. MLN can extract logical domain knowledge and represent the impacts of significant attributes using independent logical formulas that are weighted correspondingly by their relative relationships. Travel-mode choice is determined based on travelers’ personal preferences and logical domain knowledge. The numerical examples and parameter sensitivity analyses indicate this approach performs reasonably well. The research findings are helpful to better understand travel mode-choice model specifications and travel behavior interpretations.

•A Bayesian spatiotemporal approach is developed for crash frequency analysis.•This model can distinguish unobserved heterogeneity in spatial-temporal instability.•Spatiotemporal interactions are modeled using alcohol/drug impaired-related crash data.•The results indicate the appropriateness to integrate heterogeneity in the models.

The speed control is a loop of much significance in engine-dynamometer test bench. To solve problems resulting from traditional PID in present industry, such as a long tuning period of controller parameters and degraded dynamical speed control performance after a change of bench configuration or parameters, a new control method based on disturbance compensation and model reference adaptive control was proposed. Extended state observer was used to estimate and compensate the uncertainties and disturbance both inside and outside the system, and feedback control law was updated based on Lyapunov function, with control parameters identified online by recursive least square. The simulation results show that the proposed control method can improve speed control precision in the engine-dynamometer system. Furthermore, the calibrating effort in control parameters can be sharply reduced.

Hazards to roadways and travelers can be drastically different because hazards are largely dependent on the regional environment and climate. This paper describes the development of a qualitative method for assessing infrastructure importance and hazard exposure for rural highway segments in Hawai‘i under different conditions. Multiple indicators of roadway importance are considered, including traffic volume, population served, accessibility, connectivity, reliability, land use, and roadway connection to critical infrastructures, such as hospitals and police stations. The method of evaluating roadway hazards and importance can be tailored to fit different regional hazard scenarios. It assimilates data from diverse sources to estimate risks of disruption. A case study for Highway HI83 in Hawai‘i, which is exposed to multiple hazards, is conducted. Weakening of the road by coastal erosion, inundation from sea level rise, and rockfall hazards require adaptation solutions. By analyzing the risk of disruption to highway segments, adaptation approaches can be prioritized. Using readily available geographic information system data sets for the exposure and impacts of potential hazards, this method could be adapted not only for emergency management but also for planning, design, and engineering of resilient highways.

Highway traffic incidents induce a significant loss of life, economy, and productivity through injuries and fatalities, extended travel time and delay, and excessive energy consumption and air pollution. Traffic emergency management during incident conditions is the core element of active traffic management, and it is of practical significance to accurately understand the duration time distribution for typical traffic incident types and the factors that influence incident duration. This study proposes a dual-learning Bayesian network (BN) model to estimate traffic incident duration and to examine the influence of heterogeneous factors on the length of duration based on expert knowledge of traffic incident management and highway incident data collected in Zhejiang Province, China. Fifteen variables related to three aspects of traffic incidents, including incident information, incident consequences, and rescue resources, were included in the analysis. The trained BN model achieves favorable performance in several areas, including classification accuracy, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and the area under curve (AUC) value. A classification matrix, and significant variables and their heterogeneous influences are identified accordingly. The research findings from this study provide beneficial reference to the understanding of decision-making in traffic incident response and process, active traffic incident management, and intelligent transportation systems.

•Examined driver injury severities in low visibility related crashes.•Developed a finite mixture random parameters model.•Captured both within- and between-class unobserved heterogeneity.

IMPORTANCE: Myopia has reached epidemic levels among children in regions of East and Southeast Asia. High myopia is associated with myopic macular degeneration, glaucoma, and retinal detachment. OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of myopia and high myopia based on refraction without cycloplegia among children in primary and junior high schools in China. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This observational cohort study was completed in Guangzhou, China. It consisted of a cohort from 19 primary schools, who were followed up from 2010 to 2015, and a cohort from 22 junior high schools, who were followed up from 2010 to 2012. All schools were randomly chosen at rates proportional to the number of schools in each of the city’s 11 districts. Students with or without myopia in grade 1 (primary school) or grade 7 (junior high school) were eligible for inclusion. Data analysis occurred from February 2017 to October 2017. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Myopia was defined as a spherical equivalent refraction (SER) of −0.50 diopters (D) or less, as measured by subjective refraction without cycloplegia; high myopia was defined as a SER of −6.0 D or less. Annual incidences were defined as the proportion of participants each year found to have myopia or high myopia who did not previously have the condition. Height, weight, axial length (AL), corneal radius of curvature (CRC), and AL/CRC ratio were examined to assess if these measures were associated with future myopia or high myopia. RESULTS: A total of 4741 students with or without myopia in either grade 1 for the primary school cohort (mean [SD] age 7.2 [0.4] years; 932 of 1975 [47.2%] female) or grade 7 for the junior high school cohort (mean [SD] age 13.2 [0.5] years; 1254 of 2670 [47.0%] female) were included. Baseline mean (SD) SER was 0.31 (0.86) D among 1975 students in grade 1 vs −1.60 (2.00) D among 2670 students in grade 7. Baseline prevalence of myopia was 12.0% in grade 1 students (n = 237 of 1969) and 67.4% in grade 7 students (n = 1795 of 2663). The incidence of myopia was 20% to 30% each year throughout both cohorts. The incidence of high myopia was initially less than 1% in the primary school cohort (grade 1: n = 2 of 1825; 0.1% [95% CI, 0.0%-0.3%]), but incidence exceeded 2% in the junior high school cohort (in grade 9: n = 48 of 2044; 2.3% [95% CI, 1.0%-3.7%]). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The incidence of myopia among Chinese students based on refraction without cycloplegia is among the highest of any cultural or ethnic group. If confirmed with cycloplegic refraction, interventions to prevent myopia onset in Chinese populations should be initiated in primary schools.

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the world. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) taurine-upregulated gene 1 (TUG1) plays an important role in the development and progression of numerous cancers, including BC. However, the exact role of TUG1 in modulating BC progression is still poorly known. In this study, we found that TUG1 was upregulated and microRNA-29c (miR-29c) was downregulated in BC tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of TUG1 promoted the cell proliferation of T24 and EJ cells, whereas TUG1 knockdown had the opposite effect. Upregulation of TUG1 obviously facilitated the migration and invasion of T24 and EJ cells. In contrast, TUG1 silencing repressed the migration and invasion of T24 and EJ cells. Furthermore, TUG1 knockdown markedly increased the expression of miR-29c in vitro. On the contrary, overexpression of TUG1 remarkably decreased the expression of miR-29c. Transfection with plasmids containing mutant TUG1 has no effect on the expression of miR-29c. There were direct interactions between miR-29c and the binding sites of TUG1. In addition, the inhibitory effects of small interfering RNA specific for TUG1 on BC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were reversed by downregulation of miR-29c. Collectively, our study strongly demonstrates that TUG1 promotes BC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by inhibiting miR-29c, suggesting that lncRNA TUG1 may be a promising target for BC gene therapy.

Cell encapsulation using microgel and nanogel, as a strategy of cell surface engineering, can mimic the niches of cells and organoids. The established niche that seasons cells and tissues for the controllable development underlies the superiority of encapsulation on cells. Encapsulation by layer-by-layer nanogel coating is a bottom-up simulation of extracellular matrices via nano- or micropackaging of cells in a multiscale way. We report the nanogel encapsulation on individual neuronal cell for a basic study and application of permeability tuning to regulate cells’ apoptosis. Gelatin and hyaluronic acid (HA) are applied for encapsulating PC12 cells. The permeability of encapsulation on cells can be managed by adjusting different parameters such as material concentration, layer thickness and environmental pH. Eventually, permeability of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is controlled by tuning encapsulating parameters for blocking the interaction with TNF-receptor 1, so that cell apoptosis is inhibited. In short, nanogel encapsulation exhibits controllable permeability to different molecules and exerts screen effect on TNF-α for protection. This technique holds great potential in basic biological research and translational research, for example, the protection of transplanted cells against apoptotic factors in target areas.

Malaysia is one of many developing countries that have a high rate of road accidents. Most accidents happen to motorcyclists and car users, and motorcycles are deemed 17 times more dangerous than passenger cars. One of the most common accident types are collisions between motorcycles and passenger cars due to a lack of geometric design consistency on roads, wherein drivers make errors because of geometric features. Therefore, this study is conducted to develop a consistency model for motorcycle-car collisions based on the characteristics of the geometric design on the roads and vehicle continuous speed profiles. The study was conducted on the FT050 federal road in Malaysia, from km 31 to km 35. Use of a DG-200 global positioning system (GlobalSat, New Taipei City, Taiwan), the continuous speed profile was extracted to develop road design consistency profiles based on the following parameters: the bounded area between the profile, the average speed, and the standard deviation of speed along the road. Furthermore, the study investigated the effects of antiskid transverse rumble strip treatment along the section of km 34 to km 35 after the rumble strip treatment. The installation of antiskid transverse rumble strips generally produced a significant reduction in vehicle speeds on the Federal Road FT050, which has posted speed limits of 60 km/h. The mean speed along the sections with antiskid rumble strips declined by 3.4 km/h on federal roads with a speed limit of 60 km/h. The 85th percentile speed declined to 3.8 km/h with a speed limit of 60 km/h. The profiles show that the influence area of antiskid rumble strips would be generally less than 0.5 km. The km 34 to km 35 road section, which is justified based on the design consistency of the area and on the integrated design consistency model between car and motorcycle, is found to be acceptable.

Conventional cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT, Bi‐V) is associated with no response in about 40% patients due to an insufficient resynchronization. Some studies showed triple‐site ventricular (Tri‐V) pacing had greater benefits compared with Bi‐V pacing, but the results of these studies were conflicting. We hypothesized that Tri‐V pacing had greater benefits on long‐term outcomes compared with Bi‐V pacing in patients with heart failure. PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched for clinical studies with related outcomes. Weighted mean differences (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to compare the change in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular geometry, functional capacity, and quality of life between Tri‐V pacing group and control group. Five trials with 251 patients were included in the analysis. Patients in the Tri‐V pacing group had a greater improvement in LVEF(WMD4.04; 95% CI2.15‐5.92, P< .001) and NYHAclasses (WMD−0.27; 95% CI−0.42 to −0.11, P= .001) compared with control group. However, there were no significant differences in left ventricular geometry, six‐min walk distance, or Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire score between the two groups. The subgroup analyses showed there might be a greater improvement in LVEFin the Tri‐V pacing group in patients with QRSduration ≥ 155 ms (WMD5.60; 95% CI3.09‐8.10, P< .001). The present analysis suggests that Tri‐V pacing has greater benefits in terms of an improvement in LVEFand functional capacity in patients with systolic heart failure, especially in patients with the duration of QRS≥ 155 ms.

The control strategy of shifting actuators is the most crucial part in the development of automated mechanical transmission (AMT) system. To solve problems such as large workload of parameters tuning and worse disturbance-rejecting ability under traditional PID for selecting and shifting gear in present industry, a new strategy based on active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) was proposed. The extended state observer (ESO) was used to observe and compensate total disturbances in real time to achieve precise closed-loop control for shifting motor position. The Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) experiments show that the speed of selecting actuator moving to target position under ADRC is 14.3% faster than that of PID, and the position deviation of selecting actuator is 0.9mm under ADRC with an external disturbance of 1N·m added, which is 59.1% less than that under PID. And the target gear tracking test indicates that the total shifting time under ADRC can be reduced by 2.37% to 5.08% compared with PID. This strategy has better control accuracy and robustness under load mutation condition compared to traditional PID.

For the engine-dynamometer test bench, the engine torque output (Te) is controlled by the test bench controller through the manipulation of the engine acceleration pedal position (up). Due to the nonlinearities and uncertainties between upand Te, the time-consuming control parameters scheduling is usually necessary using conventional controllers. In this paper, a composite disturbance observation based torque controller is proposed. The nonlinearity, from upto the torque demand in the engine control unit, is compensated by an adaptive feed forward controller, based on the inverse of a self-learning MAP by stochastic gradient decent. All other nonlinearities and uncertainties are lumped as total disturbance. By estimating the total disturbance using the extended state observer in real-time, the plant is enforced as a first-order system to be easily controlled by a simple proportional controller. The proposed controller is validated in a high-fidelity GT-SUITE simulation model. Results show that average absolute torque tracking error is 1.62N·m over the suburban part in European Transient Cycle without the need of control parameters scheduling.

The effect of the α-glucosidase inhibitor acarbose on cardiovascular outcomes in patients with coronary heart disease and impaired glucose tolerance is unknown. We aimed to assess whether acarbose could reduce the frequency of cardiovascular events in Chinese patients with established coronary heart disease and impaired glucose tolerance, and whether the incidence of type 2 diabetes could be reduced.