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Copyright of Science Technology & Engineering is the property of Chinese Society of Technology Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

Black textile filaments having good mechanical strength and low water absorbency were spun from carboxymethylated cellulose cross-linked with amine functionalized carboxylated carbon nanotubes (afc-CNT). Incorporating 1 wt.% afc-CNT by crosslinking resulted in filaments with increased mechanical strength (tenacity ~ 1.2 cN/dtex) and a lower water absorbency (water absorbency ~ 0.62 g water/g fiber). The fabricated cellulosic textile filaments also demonstrated antibacterial activity and UV protection capability due to incorporation of afc-CNT. Excellent level of color fastness was achieved for the composite textile filaments because of a chemical bond formation between carboxymethylated cellulose and afc-CNT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In this work, C@Fe3O4 composites were prepared through a typical template method with emulsified asphalt as carbon source, ammonium ferric citrate as transition metal oxide precursor, and NaCl as template. As an anode for lithium-ion batteries, the optimized C@Fe3O4-1:2 composite exhibits an excellent reversible capacity of 856.6 mA·h·g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 A·g−1 and a high capacity of 531.1 mA·h·g−1 after 300 cycles at 1 A·g−1, much better than those of bulk carbon/Fe3O4 prepared without NaCl. Such remarkable cycling performance mainly benefits from its well-designed structure: Fe3O4 nanoparticles generated from ammonium ferric citrate during pyrolysis are homogenously encapsulated in graphitized and in-plane porous carbon nanocages derived from petroleum asphalt. The carbon nanocages not only improve the conductivity of Fe3O4, but also suppress the volume expansion of Fe3O4 effectively during the charge–discharge cycle, thus delivering a robust electrochemical stability. This work realizes the high value-added utilization of low-cost petroleum asphalt, and can be extended to application of other transition-metal oxides-based anodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Urban railway systems in many cities are facing increasing levels of crowding and operating near capacity. Crowding at stations and on trains is a concern due to its impact on safety, service quality, and operating efficiency. Denied boarding is becoming a key measure of the impact of near-capacity operations on customers, and it is fundamental for calculating other performance metrics, such as the expected waiting time. Several approaches have been proposed to infer denied boarding using smart card and train movement data. They formulate the inference as a maximum-likelihood estimation problem on observed trip journey times, with an a priori model assumption on independent journey time components, and they require extensive ground truth data collection and model calibration for practical deployment. This article proposes a data-driven unsupervised clustering-based approach to robustly infer denied boarding probabilities for access-plus-waiting times by decomposing trip journey times (instead of directly on journey times). The approach is applicable to closed fare collection systems and consists of two main steps: grouping passengers to trains via trip exit information by using a probabilistic model and inferring denied boarding probabilities by using a structured mixture distribution model with physical constraints and systematic parameter initialization. The method is data driven and requires neither observations of denied boarding nor assumptions about model components’ independence and parameter calibrations. Case studies validate the proposed method by using actual data and comparing it with state-of-the-art models and survey data. The results demonstrate the proposed model’s robustness and applicability for estimating denied boarding under both normal and abnormal operation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

For the problem of two or more nuclear reactions producing the same product nucleus in the actual cross-section measurements of nuclear reactions, a method is given for subtracting the effect of interference reactions that produce the same product nucleus on the cross-section measurements of the target nuclear reaction. The cross-section values were measured for the 183W(n,p)183Ta reaction at four different neutron energies from 13.5 to 14.8 MeV using the activation technique. In the process of calculating the cross-section data, the effects of the interference reactions 184W(n,d)183Ta and 184W(n,n+p)183Ta were subtracted using the above method. At the same time, the effect of the 186W(n, α)183Hf → β − 183Ta process was also subtracted by using the previously developed method. Analysis and comparison show that our experimental cross-section values for the 183W(n,p)183Ta reaction agree with the previous results in the case of using the samples of enriched 183W at close energies. Discrepancies in the previous cross-section data of the 183W(n,p)183Ta reaction are clarified, and the recommendation excitation function curve for the 183W(n,p)183Ta reaction is given by adopting the nuclear theoretical model program system TALYS-1.95. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Objective: To compare cumulative live birth rate (LBR) between progestinprimed ovarian stimulation (PPOS) and GnRH antagonist protocols of preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) cycles in different populations. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. A total of 865 patients were enrolled and separate analyses were performed for three populations: 498 patients with predicted normal ovarian response (NOR), 285 patients with PCOS, and 82 patients with predicted poor ovarian response (POR). The primary outcome was cumulative LBR for one oocyte retrieval cycle. The results of response to ovarian stimulation were also investigated, including numbers of oocytes retrieved, MII oocytes, 2PN, blastocysts, good-quality blastocysts, and usable blastocysts after biopsy, as well as rates of oocyte yield, blastocyst formation, good-quality blastocysts, and moderate or severe OHSS. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify potential confounders that may be independently associated with cumulative live birth. Results: In NOR, the cumulative LBR of PPOS protocol was significantly lower than that of GnRH antagonists (28.4% vs. 40.7%; P=0.004). In multivariable analysis, the PPOS protocol was negatively associated with cumulative LBR (adjusted OR=0.556; 95% CI, 0.377-0.822) compared to GnRH antagonists after adjusting for potential confounders. The number and ratio of goodquality blastocysts were significantly reduced in PPOS protocol compared to GnRH antagonists (2.82 ± 2.83 vs. 3.20 ± 2.79; P=0.032 and 63.9% vs. 68.5%; P=0.021), while numbers of oocytes, MII oocytes and 2PN did not show any significant difference between GnRH antagonist and PPOS protocols. PCOS patients had similar outcomes as NOR. The cumulative LBR of PPOS group appeared to be lower than that of GnRH antagonists (37.4% vs. 46.1%; P=0.151), but not significantly. Meanwhile, the proportion of good-quality blastocysts in PPOS protocol was also lower compared to GnRH antagonists (63.5% vs. 68.9%; P=0.014). In patients with POR, the cumulative LBR of PPOS protocol was comparable to that of GnRH antagonists (19.2% vs. 16.7%; P=0.772). There was no statistical difference in the number and rate of good-quality blastocysts between the two protocols in POR, while the proportion of good-quality blastocysts appeared to be higher in PPOS group compared to GnRH antagonists (66.7% vs. 56.3%; P=0.182). In addition, the number of usable blastocysts after biopsy was comparable between the two protocols in three populations. Conclusion: The cumulative LBR of PPOS protocol in PGT cycles is lower than that of GnRH antagonists in NOR. In patients with PCOS, the cumulative LBR of PPOS protocol appears to be lower than that of GnRH antagonists, albeit lacking statistical difference, whereas in patients with diminished ovarian reserve, the two protocols were comparable. Our findings suggest the need for caution when choosing PPOS protocol to achieve live births, especially for normal and high ovarian responders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The present study proposes the application of ash-free coal (AFC) as a primary fuel in a direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) based on a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). AFC was produced by solvent extraction using microwave irradiation. The influence of AFC-to-carbonate ratio (3: 3, 3: 1, 3: 0 and 1: 3 g/g) on the DCFC performance at different temperatures (650, 750 and 850 oC) was systematically investigated with a coin-type cell. The performance of AFC was also compared with carbon and conventional hydrogen fuels. AFC without carbonate (AFC-to-carbonate ratio=3: 0 g/g) gave a comparable performance to other compositions, indicating that the gasification of AFC readily occurred without a carbonate catalyst at 850 oC. The ease of gasification of AFC led to a much higher performance than for carbon fuel, even at 650 oC, where carbon cannot be gasified with a carbonate catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In recent years, remarkable progress in zero-shot learning (ZSL) has been achieved by generative adversarial networks (GAN). To compensate for the lack of training samples in ZSL, a surge of GAN architectures have been developed by human experts through trial-and-error testing. Despite their efficacy, however, there is still no guarantee that these hand-crafted models can consistently achieve good performance across diversified datasets or scenarios. Accordingly, in this paper, we turn to neural architecture search (NAS) and make the first attempt to bring NAS techniques into the ZSL realm. Specifically, we propose a differentiable GAN architecture search method over a specifically designed search space for zero-shot learning, referred to as ZeroNAS. Considering the relevance and balance of the generator and discriminator, ZeroNAS jointly searches their architectures in a min-max player game via adversarial training. Extensive experiments conducted on four widely used benchmark datasets demonstrate that ZeroNAS is capable of discovering desirable architectures that perform favorably against state-of-the-art ZSL and generalized zero-shot learning (GZSL) approaches. Source code is at https://github.com/caixiay/ZeroNAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

For hearing aids, it is critical to reduce the acoustic coupling between the receiver and microphone to ensure that prescribed gains are below the maximum stable gain, thus preventing acoustic feedback. Methods for doing this include fixed and adaptive feedback cancellation, phase modulation, and gain reduction. However, the behavior of hearing aids in situations where the prescribed gain is only just below the maximum stable gain, called here "marginally stable gain," is not well understood. This paper analyzed marginally stable systems and identified three problems, including increased gain at frequencies with the smallest gain margin, short whistles caused by the limited rate of decay of the output when the input drops, and coloration effects. A deep learning framework, called deep marginal feedback cancellation (DeepMFC), was developed to suppress short whistles, and reduce coloration effects, as well as to limit excess amplification at certain frequencies. To implement DeepMFC, many receiver signals in closed-loop systems and corresponding open-loop systems were simulated, and the receiver signals of the closed-loop and open-loop systems were paired together to obtain parallel signals for training. DeepMFC achieved much better performance than existing feedback control methods using objective and subjective measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In this paper, we investigate an efficient way for identifying passengers in a metro system across two heterogeneous but complementary trajectory data sources: AFC data recording two points per trip about when and where a passenger enters or leaves the metro system, and WiFi data recording a few points passed by a passenger in the way of some of his/her trips. The identification result can help us to complete individuals’ mobility, and benefits to lots of services, e.g., individual route choice analysis, epidemic case detecting and so on. The problem is similar to calculate the similarity between two trajectories from two data sources, where a trajectory refers to a sequence of points where a passenger appeared in a metro system on observed days. However, due to the small location space in a metro network, large number of passengers with similar travel pattern, and so on, there are lots of trip overlaps or point co-occurrences between different passengers. That results in a large number of passengers mismatched by existing trajectory similarity measurement. To address the problem, this paper proposes a novel global-local correlation based trajectory similarity measurement GLTC. Specifically, GLTC first extracts all overlapping trip pairs of two trajectories by considering the spatiotemporal inclusions from global level. Then it gets the similarity by aggregating each overlapping trip pair’s local similarity, which is calculated by considering some data-driven insights helpful to uniquely identify a passenger (e.g., uneven passenger flow distribution in different cross-sections of a metro network, the number of trips in same travel pattern of a trajectory, and so on). We evaluate GLTC based on real-world data, and the experimental result shows that GLTC outperforms other baselines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The research objective of this study was to determine the impact of feed enrichment using Moringa leaf meal and shrimp meal on the growth performance of Tilapia. The initial weight of experimental fish was 6.10 ± 0.55 g/ head. The treatments given were Treatment A (feed without Moringa leaf meal and shrimp meal), Treatment B (commercial feed + 20% shrimp flour), Treatment C (commercial feed + 10% Moringa leaf meal + 20% shrimp meal), and Treatment D (commercial feed + 20% Moringa leaf meal + 20% shrimp meal). In total, there were 4 treatments with 3 replications each. Fish rearing lasted for 40 days. The results showed that the treatments had no effect on amount of feed consumption, protein efficiency ratio, specific growth rate, feed efficiency, survival rate, coefficient of variation and hepatosomatic index (p>0,05), but had an effect on the amount of protein consumption and body protein (p<0, 05). In conclusion, the enrichment of feed containing Moringa leaf meal and shrimp meal had no effect on the growth performance of Tilapia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

We present in situ major element, trace element, and Sr–Nd isotope data of apatite from an alkaline–carbonatite intrusion in the South Qinling Belt (SQB) to investigate their magma evolution and mantle sources. The Shaxiongdong (SXD) complex consists predominantly of the early Paleozoic hornblendite, nepheline syenite, and subordinate Triassic carbonatite. Apatites from all lithologies are euhedral to subhedral and belong to fluorapatite. Elemental substitution varies from REE3+ + Na+ + Sr2+ ↔ 3Ca2+ in carbonatite and syenite apatite to Si4+ + 2Na+ + 2S6+ + 4REE3+ ↔ 4P5+ + 5Ca2+ in hornblendite apatite. Apatites are characterized by enriched rare earth elements (REEs) and depleted high field strength elements (HFSEs). They record the distinct evolution of their parental magmas. The weak, negative Eu anomaly in hornblendite apatite, together with the lack of Eu anomalies in the bulk rocks, indicates a relatively reduced magma. The Sr–Nd isotope data of the apatite in SXD carbonatite, falling on the East African carbonatite line (EACL) and close to the field of Oldoinyo Lengai carbonatite, indicate that the SXD carbonatite is derived from a mixed mantle source consisting of the HIMU component and subducted sedimentary carbonates. The similarity in Sr and Nd isotopic compositions between the SXD hornblendite and syenite apatites and the early Paleozoic mafic-ultramafic dykes in the SQB suggests that they may share a common metasomatized lithospheric mantle source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Copyright of Estudos e Pesquisas em Psicologia is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

Objective: Women with Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) are characterized by increased incidence of infertility and disturbances in body composition. Serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), which reflects functional ovarian reserve, is decreased in women with HT and it be related to body mass. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relation between serum levels of AMH and body composition in HT compared to control group. Patients and Methods: We examined 85 euthyroid women: 39 subjects with HT and 46 control women. Body composition was analysed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and with bioimpedance method. Serum concentrations of AMH, leptin, TSH, thyroid hormones were assessed. Results: We observed lower serum concentration of AMH in women with HT in comparison to the control group (p=0.01), but without differences in serum concentration of leptin between studied groups (p=0.28). Women with HT were characterized by higher %body fat (p=0.01) estimated with bioimpedance method without differences in BMI, android and gynoid fat mass and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) mass estimated with DXA method when compared to the control group (all p>0.05). We found a negative relationship between serum concentration of AMH and %body fat (r=-0.38,p=0.03) in women with HT. Additionally, in HT group, the relationship between serum levels of AMH and leptin was not statistically significant (r=0.01,p=0.96). We observed a relationship between serum concentration of leptin and BMI, %body fat mass, android, gynoid and VAT mass in HT and in the control group (all p<0.01). Conclusions: Women with HT are characterized by lower levels of AMH and it is associated with higher fat mass, independently of serum levels of leptin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Anecessary requirement for automatic excitation regulation systems is ensuring the stability of the electric energy systems (EES) and the required quality of the transients (TP) of changes in operating parameters under the effect of various disturbances. In order to improve the damping of TEES, various stabilization channels of the automatic excitation regulator (AER) are used, as a rule. In the microprocessor regulator (MR) of the AER are stabilization channels, both internal (from the derivatives of the rotor current and stator voltage) and external (from the deviation and derivative of the frequency of stator voltage). The article compares the quality of stabilization of the operating parameters when using the AER signal in the frequency stabilization channels of the voltage on the generator buses (regular signal), and the differences between the deviation of the frequency of rotation of the generator shaft and the frequency of voltage on the station buses in EES mode and in certification mode. The effect of the parameters of the synchronous generator and of the conditions of its operation on the areas of the stability of the regulation system and the quality of damping is examined. It is shown that changing the parameters of the stabilization channel filters can increase the regions of stability and enhance the quality of damping of transient fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Let R be a non-commutative prime ring of characteristic different from 2, Qr be its right Martindale quotient ring and C be its extended centroid and L be a non-central Lie ideal of R Let F and G be two non-zero generalized skew derivations of R, associated with the same automorphism α and commuting with α. If F (G (x) x) = 0 for all x ∈ L , then one of the following holds: there exist a , c ∈ Q r such that F(x) = ax and G(x) = cx, for all x ∈ R , with ac = 0; R ⊆ M 2 (C) , the ring of 2 × 2 matrices over C, and there exist a , b , c , q ∈ Q r , such that q is an invertible element of Qr, F (x) = a x + q x q − 1 b , G(x) = cx, for all x ∈ R , with a c + q c q − 1 b = 0 ; R ⊆ M 2 (C) and there exist a , b , c ∈ Q r and α automorphism of R, such that F (x) = a x + α (x) b , G(x) = cx, for all x ∈ R , with a c = α (c) b = 0. Moreover, in this case α is not an inner automorphism of R. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The objective of the work was to investigate the prebiotic potential of pectic hydrolysates extracted from apple pomace and passion fruit peel, added to the diet of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The biological assay introducing pectic hydrolysates in the diet of Nile tilapia (3.9 ± 0.67 g) lasted 42 days. Five experimental diets were evaluated, one of them a control diet and the others with the addition of pectic hydrolysates (2.5 and 5 g/kg). The fish were fed three times a day until apparent satiation. At the experimental end point, the animals were fasted for 18 h and then subjected to biometrics for data collection, tissues and digests for further analysis. The results were subjected to a normality test, followed by analysis of variance, and the means of the treatments were compared by analysing orthogonal contrasts (p < 0.05). The pectic hydrolysates did not significantly influence the performance parameters. The fish had higher body crude protein content and protein deposition with diet control than in diet 2.5 g/kg of passion fruit peel. Fat content and fat deposition were lower in 2.5 and 5 g/kg of passion fruit peel when compared to the control group. The fish feeding with 5 g/kg of apple pomace hydrolysates showed greater trypsin and chymotrypsin activity, elevation of glucose concentrations in the liver and higher acetic acid production. However, further studies should be carried out to define the adequate amounts of pectic prebiotic supplementation, aiming at analysing the effects on Nile tilapia growth and alimentary efficiency, as well as to elucidate their mechanisms of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Origin-destination matrices help understand the movement of people within cities. This work is built upon the premise that stakeholders, e.g. decision makers, need to analyze mobility flows from spatio-temporal perspectives that are appropriate to their context of analysis. The data retrieved from sensors and Intelligent Transportation Systems are useful for this purpose due to their lower acquisition costs and fine granularity, although it is complex to use such data in an integrated way, as they might have heterogeneous representations of spatio-temporal attributes and granularities. Most of the related works on the analysis of OD flows consider matrices with a fixed spatio-temporal aggregation level, and do not explore the intrinsic issue of data heterogeneity. Herein we report our findings on building the semantic foundation of knowledge-assisted visualization tools for analyzing OD matrices from multiple stakeholder levels. We propose a set of ontology design patterns for modeling the semantics of OD data, and the relations between the spatio-temporal constructs that stakeholders ought to choose when visualizing urban mobility flows. Our approach aims to be reusable by researchers and practitioners. We describe a practical implementation using estimated flows from smart card data from Porto, Portugal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Molecules that covalently bind macromolecular targets have found widespread applications as activity-based probes and as irreversibly binding drugs. However, the general reactivity of the electrophiles needed for covalent bond formation makes control of selectivity difficult. There is currently no rapid, unbiased screening method to identify new classes of covalent inhibitors from highly diverse pools of candidate molecules. Here we describe a phage display method to directly screen for ligands that bind to protein targets through covalent bond formation. This approach makes use of a reactive linker to form cyclic peptides on the phage surface while simultaneously introducing an electrophilic 'warhead' to covalently react with a nucleophile on the target. Using this approach, we identified cyclic peptides that irreversibly inhibited a cysteine protease and a serine hydrolase with nanomolar potency and exceptional specificity. This approach should enable rapid, unbiased screening to identify new classes of highly selective covalent inhibitors for diverse molecular targets. Covalent inhibitors with high selectivity are rapidly identified by phage display. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Problem: For women of reproductive age, achieving a successful pregnancy requires both the normal functioning of reproductive endocrine and the health of the reproductive tract environment. We aimed to study how these fertility factors, such as female age, baseline sexual hormone levels, tubal patency, and vaginal pH, affect the composition of vaginal microbiome. Method of study: The 16S rRNA sequencing was carried on vaginal microbiome samples from 85 women of reproductive age without vaginal infections or reproductive endocrine diseases. The detailed correlations between fertility factors and vaginal microbiome were quantified by Spearman's rank tests. A linear discriminant analysis was carried out to explore the effects of fertility factors on the relative abundances of vaginal bacterial species. Results: The vaginal pH, levels of basal E2, LH, and FSH all had significant effects on the distribution of vaginal microbiome. The relative abundances of vaginal bacterial species, including Escherichia coli, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Prevotella intermedia, were significantly different due to the host's state of reproductive endocrine and tubal patency. It was worth noting that women with tubal obstruction, or prolonged menstrual cycle, or antral follicle count >15, or vaginal pH > 4.5 all had a higher abundance of Escherichia coli in vagina. Conclusion: The fertility factors associated with the reproductive endocrine and the genital tract environment affected vaginal microbiome in women of reproductive age. The species Escherichia coli, Streptococcus agalactiae, Prevotella intermedia, etc could be used as biomarkers to reflect the pathological state of reproductive endocrine and genital tract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In view of the fact that the fast-neutron experimental cross-section data of hafnium which is an important structural material of fusion reactor are few and there are the great differences in their evaluation values, several activation cross sections of (n, 2n), (n, p), (n, a) and (n, n′) reactions on hafnium isotopes have been investigated by neutrons generated from the T(d, n)4He reaction at the K-400 Neutron Generator at China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP). The gamma activities of the product nuclei were measured by a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer with a coaxial high-purity germanium detector. The 93Nb(n, 2n)92mNb reaction was used as neutron fluence standard, these experimental cross sections of the 174Hf(n, 2n)173Hf, 176Hf(n, 2n)175Hf, 178Hf(n, α)175m+gYb, 178Hf(n, p)178gLu, 178Hf(n, p)178mLu, 180Hf(n, 2n)179m2Hf, 180Hf(n, α)177m+gYb and 180Hf(n, n′)180mHf reactions were obtained in the neutron energy range of 13.5–14.8 MeV. These measured cross sections were discussed and compared with some previous experimental results from the literature and with the evaluation data from ENDF/B-VIII.0, CENDL-3.1, JEFF-3.3 and the theoretical results by using the computer code system Talys-1.9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Energy & fresh water have both become scarce resources in the modern era of human society. Sorption-based technology is environmentally friendly and energy-efficient and can be driven by low-grade energy to transfer energy and produce fresh water. Here, we report a solid sorbent fabricated by encapsulating a hygroscopic salt, lithium chloride (LiCl), inside micro-sized hollow-structured SiO2. This composite sorbent (LiCl@HS) exhibits 6 times faster water vapor sorption kinetics than pure LiCl and a water vapor sorption capacity of 1.7 kg kg−1 at a relative humidity (RH) of 50%, which is the highest ever reported for any solid sorbent in the literature. The low regeneration temperature (<80 °C) and good cycling stability ensure the feasibility of the composite sorbent for use in practical applications. The thermodynamic calculations reveal that the sorbent is able to continuously supply 20 °C temperature lift with a maximum coefficient of performance (COP) for cooling of 0.97 and COP for heating of 1.89 while simultaneously producing 9.05 kg potable water per kilogram sorbent daily using seawater as the source water and solar energy as the sole energy source. A homemade system is developed and its practical performance in providing seasonally switchable heating and cooling along with clean water production from source water with an impaired quality is successfully verified, indicating its great potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Adaptive feedforward cancellation (AFC) with a damping control system has been developed to improve the head-positioning accuracy in hard disk drives (HDDs). There are various disturbances that reduce the head-positioning accuracy in a head-positioning system. The control system must compensate for these disturbances to improve the head-positioning accuracy. In addition, the robustness of the control system should be considered to realize stable operation for a mass-produced product such as HDDs. The proposed AFC updates a forgetting factor that corresponds to a damping factor in the adaptive algorithm to minimize the position error signal in real-time, and it can optimize the characteristics of the control system according to individual variations. We verified effectiveness of the proposed AFC in the HDD benchmark model. It was confirmed that the proposed AFC can adequately compensate for the vibration caused by flow-induced vibration defined in the benchmark model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The research goal was to develop an improved water purification technology for public reservoirs by adding the vibrocavitation purification before a reagent method with sodium hypochlorite, produced via electrolysis of salt. The main tasks of the research include the determination of vibrocavitation treatment efficiency and the development of a new low-frequency vibration resonance cavitation process for water purification, as well as equipment for this process. The vibroresonance method supporting the intensity of spatial displacements of cavitation exciters was developed on the basis of the theory of cavitation fields in liquids. While using this method, it was possible to establish the boundary conditions for stable support of the cavitation field created by low-frequency vibrations. The developed method is based on the formation of high intensive cavitation fields in liquids by vibratory decks. The advanced technological scheme of water purification for pools and public use reservoirs was proposed, which includes the addition of resonance vibrocavitators to a closed circulation cycle of water purification with the reagent method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The aims were (i) to optimize the parboiling/decorticating process by assessing the effects of parboiling soaking temperature (60–80 ℃) and pearling time (4–6 min and 5.5–9.5 min for red and white sorghum) on endosperm yield and ash content, to obtain pregelatinized refined flours from parboiling sorghum (RF-PS) and (ii) to evaluate the final content of selected nutrients in RF-PS obtained in these optimal conditions. Endosperm yield decreased with the increase of pearling time, and a maximum around 70 ℃ soaking temperature was observed. Ash content decreased with increasing soaking temperature and pearling time. The optimal conditions of soaking temperature–pearling time were 73.3 ℃–4.8 min for red sorghum and 67.9 ℃–8.6 min for white sorghum, considering maximum endosperm yield and ash content lower than 0.65 g/100 g. In RF-PS obtained under optimal conditions, protein, lipid, Cu, and free polyphenols were higher in red sorghum than white sorghum (10.16 ± 0.62 vs. 9.42 ± 0.61 g/100 g, 0.89 ± 0.16 vs. 0.62 ± 0.11 g/100 g, 2.08 ± 0.21 vs. 1.88 ± 0.20 mg/kg, 79.51 ± 14.51 vs. 63.82 ± 4.33 mg/100 g). Fe, Zn, Ca, and Na were higher in white sorghum than red sorghum (20.61 ± 2.92 vs. 17.56 ± 0.98 mg/kg, 11.94 ± 0.84 vs. 9.58 ± 1.65 mg/kg, 87.45 ± 12.91 vs. 75.31 ± 12.57 mg/kg, 129.62 ± 9.03 vs. 102.69 ± 28.34 mg/kg). No difference was observed in the contents of ash, Mg, and K. It was possible to improve endosperm yield using a parboiling process prior to decortication. In addition, this process contributes to increase the mineral content in RF-PS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a standard algorithm for block ciphers for providing security services. A number of variations of this algorithm are available in network security domain. In spite of the strong security features, this algorithm has been recently broken down by the cryptanalysis processes. Therefore, it is required to improve the security strength of this algorithm as AES is popular in commercial use. In this paper, we have shown the reasons of the loopholes in AES and also have provided a solution by using our Symmetric Random Function Generator (SRFG). The use of randomness in the key generation process in block cipher is novel in this domain. We have also compared our results with the original AES based upon some parameters such as nonlinearity, resiliency, balancedness, propagation characteristics, and immunity. The results show that our proposed version of AES is better in withstanding attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

A solid-state energy storage device has been fabricated using FeCo-selenide nanosheet arrays as positive electrode and Fe2O3 nanorod as negative electrode. As an electrode material, the ternary FeCo-selenide nanosheet arrays supported by Ni foam show a highest specific capacitance of 978 F/g (specific capacity of 163 mAh/g) at 1 A/g and a superior cycle behavior of 81.2% are obtained after 5000 cycles at current density of 4 A/g. The asymmetric supercapacitor achieves the maximum energy density of 34.6 W h/kg at the power density of 759.6 W/kg. Furthermore, the superior cycling stability with 83% retention of initial capacitance after 5000 cycles further verify the practical applications of FeCo-selenide//Fe2O3 asymmetric supercapacitor. Meanwhile, the LED bulb and the light board of “CUMT” are lighted by connecting several capacitors to form a series circuit. Asymmetric supercapacitors based on FeCo-selenide nanosheet arrays as positive electrode and Fe2O3 nanorod arrays as negative electrode have been successfully fabricated. The FeCo-selenide was synthesized with two-step hydrothermal process, while Ni foam as substrate and current collector. The as-fabricated ASC devices exhibit energy density of 34.6 W h/kg at the power density of 759.6 W/kg. Furthermore, several cells were connected to illuminate the LED bulb and “CUMT”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Background: Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a rodent-associated zoonosis caused by hantavirus. The HFRS was initially detected in northeast China in 1931, and since 1955 it has been detected in many regions of the country. Global climate dynamics influences HFRS spread in a complex nonlinear way. The quantitative assessment of the spatiotemporal variation of the “HFRS infections-global climate dynamics” association at a large geographical scale and during a long time period is still lacking. Methods and findings: This work is the first study of a recently completed dataset of monthly HFRS cases in Eastern China during the period 2005–2016. A methodological synthesis that involves a time-frequency technique, a composite space-time model, hotspot analysis, and machine learning is implemented in the study of (a) the association between HFRS incidence spread and climate dynamics and (b) the geographic factors impacting this association over Eastern China during the period 2005–2016. The results showed that by assimilating core and city-specific knowledge bases the synthesis was able to depict quantitatively the space-time variation of periodic climate-HFRS associations at a large geographic scale and to assess numerically the strength of this association in the area and period of interest. It was found that the HFRS infections in Eastern China has a strong association with global climate dynamics, in particular, the 12, 18 and 36 mos periods were detected as the three main synchronous periods of climate dynamics and HFRS distribution. For the 36 mos period (which is the period with the strongest association), the space-time correlation pattern of the association strength indicated strong temporal but rather weak spatial dependencies. The generated space-time maps of association strength and association hotspots provided a clear picture of the geographic variation of the association strength that often-exhibited cluster characteristics (e.g., the south part of the study area displays a strong climate-HFRS association with non-point effects, whereas the middle-north part displays a weak climate-HFRS association). Another finding of this work is the upward climate-HFRS coherency trend for the past few years (2013–2015) indicating that the climate impacts on HFRS were becoming increasingly sensitive with time. Lastly, another finding of this work is that geographic factors affect the climate-HFRS association in an interrelated manner through local climate or by means of HFRS infections. In particular, location (latitude, distance to coastline and longitude), grassland and woodland are the geographic factors exerting the most noticeable effects on the climate-HFRS association (e.g., low latitude has a strong effect, whereas distance to coastline has a wave-like effect). Conclusions: The proposed synthetic quantitative approach revealed important aspects of the spatiotemporal variation of the climate-HFRS association in Eastern China during a long time period, and identified the geographic factors having a major impact on this association. Both findings could improve public health policy in an HFRS-torn country like China. Furthermore, the synthetic approach developed in this work can be used to map the space-time variation of different climate-disease associations in other parts of China and the World. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Aims: To validate the content of an updated orthoptic curriculum for the British & Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS), BIOS members were surveyed about their views on what an orthoptist should be able to do soon after entering the profession. Methods: An online survey of all practicing members of BIOS was carried out. In 35 questions across 5 domains (professional behaviour, foundation knowledge and theory, investigation, management and research and literature skills) covering the range of orthoptic practice, orthoptists were asked about the breadth and depth of knowledge required. Results were analysed by the respondents' working environment, experience, geographical region and teaching involvement. Results: 325 orthoptists (27% of the membership) provided useable data, and 265 provided a full dataset. Orthoptists are frequently required to exercise considerable autonomy and responsibility for patient care from very early in their careers across many domains, often in the least-supervised environments. There was broad agreement across most core topics but wider variation in opinion in more peripheral domains. More experienced orthoptists value the wider medical aspects of orthoptic practice more highly. Conclusions: The survey confirmed that there is generally a good match between current undergraduate teaching and clinicians' expectations of newly graduated orthoptists. It is clear that training must prepare graduates for a high level of professional autonomy from the earliest stages of their careers. There may be a place for targeting CPD provision for professionals at different stages in their careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Copyright of Bulletin of Botanical Research is the property of Bulletin of Botanical Research Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

Zircon megacrysts occur in association with mafic alkaline volcanic fields worldwide and have been used as indicators for the chemical characteristics of their mantle sources. However, their origins from magmas that are strongly undersaturated in zircon remain enigmatic. To resolve this conundrum, better constraints on the temporal and chemical relations between zircon megacrysts and associated mafic alkaline magmas are required. For six volcanoes from the West and East Eifel Volcanic Fields (WEVF, EEVF), Germany, we report concordant middle to late Pleistocene zirconmegacryst crystallization ages from (230Th)/(238U) disequilibrium and disequilibrium-corrected 206Pb/238U geochronology, which generally agree with independently constrained eruption ages. Trace elements in Eifel zircon megacrysts indicate crystallization from highly fractionated melt pockets in which zircon competed with other accessory minerals (e.g. apatite, titanite, pyrochlore) for incompatible elements enriched in residual melts, such as the rare earth elements, Th, and U. Eifel zircon megacrysts display systematic covariation between indices of differentiation (Eu/Eu*, Zr/Hf) and isotopic signatures of continental crustal contamination, revealing magmatic differentiation of parental mafic melts via coupled assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC). Isotopic compositions of⑐Hf and ኒ18O in Eifel zircon megacrysts are consistent with mid- to upper-crustal AFC end-members, which are represented by xenolithic ejecta in WEFV and EEVF volcanic deposits, although not necessarily the same ones that yielded zircon megacrysts. Lower-crustal mafic granulites, by contrast, are a poor match for the isotopic trends displayed by the Eifel zircon megacrysts. These lines of evidence support that the zircon megacrysts in the Eifel originated from mantle melts that differentiated in the mid- to upper crust where they fractionated and partially solidified as syenitic intrusive bodies. Mafic magma recharge en route to the surface then scavenged and disintegrated syenitic rock fragments, in some cases liberating zircon crystals as the only recognizable survivors of their plutonic hosts. Zircon megacrysts in mafic alkaline magmas thus should be treated cautiously as tracers for mantle isotopic compositions. Mixing between mafic magmas and accessory-mineral rich syenites can selectively enrich incompatible trace elements, and potentially compromise the genetic interpretation of trace element patterns in mafic rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Extracellular vesicles are particles in mammalian body fluids that have attracted considerable attention as biomarkers for various diseases. In the present study, the authors isolated RNA aptamers with an affinity for extracellular vesicles from two library pools that encoded randomized sequences of different lengths. After the several rounds of selection, two conserved motifs are identified in the sequences that are obtained by next-generation sequencing. Most of the sequences were predicted to adopt a secondary structure that consisted of a non-conserved stem structure and a conserved loop sequence. Two minimal similar sequences are synthesized and confirmed the ability of these sequences to bind to extracellular vesicles. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and melting temperature analysis demonstrated that the aptamers were able to form a G-quadruplex structure in their loop regions and these structures were stabilized by potassium ions. Consistent with these structural data, the affinity of each aptamer for extracellular vesicles was dependent on potassium ions. The aptamers that were identified may be useful molecular tools for the development of diagnostic methods that utilize body fluids, such as blood, saliva and urine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The pastoral communities in the Borana rangelands of southern Ethiopia mainly rely on cattle (Bos indicus) for their livelihoods. The reproductive performance of cattle is affected by environmental variability and mobility practices that affect fodder availability. This study was conducted to investigate the reproductive performances and herd growth potentials of cattle reared in three ecologically varied zones of Golbo, Malbe and Dirre in the Borana rangelands with different levels of mobility constraints. Using the progeny history technique we gathered life histories of 95, 44, and 138 breeding females and their 411, 203, and 448 calves from the pastoral zones of Golbo, Malbe and Dirre, respectively. The average number of breeding females per household showed a declining trend over the past 10 years. The age at first calving was 53 ± 1 (mean ± s.e.), 52 ± 2 and 56 ± 1 months for the cows from Golbo, Malbe and Dirre, respectively. The mean calving interval was 18. ± 0 for Golbo, 17 ± 0 for Malbe and 19 ± 0 for Dirre. The average number of calves per cow was 3.8 ± 0.1 and was highest in Golbo. Dirre had the lowest calving rate and higher calf mortality than Malbe and Golbo. A simulation of herd growth showed that in Golbo and Malbe the average number of females were 100% higher after 20 years than in Dirre. It is concluded that reduced pastoral mobility that affected resource access across ecological zones can compromise the reproductive performance and hence the growth potential of cattle populations. These findings underscore the importance of policy frameworks such as those by the African Union that call for upholding of pastoral land rights and enabling of mobility practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Effect of main characteristics of the gas medium on the absorbing properties of alkaline chemical absorbents is demonstrated. The following gas flow parameters were examined as variables: carbon dioxide content of the gas flow within the range 0.2-5.0 vol %, gas humidity of 25-90 rel %, and pressure in the zone of the chemisorption process in the range from 2 to 6 MPa. As objects of study served mixed chemical absorbents based on calcium, sodium, and lithium hydroxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The ATP-gated P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) is a non-selective cation channel which senses high extracellular ATP concentrations and has been suggested as a target for the treatment of neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. The use of P2X7R antagonists may therefore be a viable approach for treating CNS pathologies, including epileptic disorders. Recent studies showed anticonvulsant potential of P2X7R antagonists in certain animal models. To extend this work, we tested three CNS-permeable P2X7R blocker (Brilliant Blue G, AFC-5128, JNJ-47965567) and a natural compound derivative (tanshinone IIA sulfonate) in four well-characterized animal seizure models. In the maximal electroshock seizure threshold test and the pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) seizure threshold test in mice, none of the four compounds demonstrated anticonvulsant effects when given alone. Notably, in combination with carbamazepine, both AFC-5128 and JNJ-47965567 increased the threshold in the maximal electroshock seizure test. In the PTZ-kindling model in rats, useful for testing antiepileptogenic activities, Brilliant Blue G and tanshinone exhibited a moderate retarding effect, whereas the potent P2X7R blocker AFC-5128 and JNJ-47965567 showed a significant and long-lasting delay in kindling development. In fully kindled rats, the investigated compounds revealed modest effects to reduce the mean seizure stage. Furthermore, AFC-5128- and JNJ-47965567-treated animals displayed strongly reduced Iba 1 and GFAP immunoreactivity in the hippocampal CA3 region. In summary, our results show that P2X7R antagonists possess no remarkable anticonvulsant effects in the used acute screening tests, but can attenuate chemically-induced kindling. Further studies would be of interest to support the concept that P2X7R signalling plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of epileptic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Geology is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Geologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

Diamond like carbon (DLC) films deposited using CH4 and Ar and amorphous fluorocarbon (a:C-F) films deposited using CF4 and Si2H6 as precursors were optimized for ultra-low dielectric constant applications by tuning pressure, substrate temperature, and flow rate ratio. Sixty three films belonging to three stack configurations possessed good morphology and adhesion post DLC deposition. Structural and mechanical properties with respect to film integrity, adhesion, roughness, and shrinkage rate were studied. Internal and interface stress distribution results in the increased stability of as deposited DLC-a:C-F-DLC sandwich layers in comparison to a:C-F-DLC stacks. Annealed a:C-F with DLC top coat and As deposited a:C-F are similar in bonding structure. Failure mode is buckling delamination failure with increasing severity in films with higher oxygen incorporation and can be preserved by annealing the fluorocarbon component or providing a DLC base coat. Effect of process parameters on properties relevant to integration has been determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The present study proposes the production of ash-free coal (AFC) and its oxidation as a primary fuel in direct carbon fuel cells (DCFCs). The AFC was produced by the extraction of Arutmin sub-bituminous coal (AFC1) and Berau bituminous coal (AFC2) using polar solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMA), N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). It was carried out at a temperature of around 202 °C under atmospheric conditions and using a microwave irradiation method. Using NMP as the solvent showed the highest extraction yield, and the values of 23.53% for Arutmin coal and 33.80% for Berau coal were obtained. When NMP was added to DMSO, DMA and DMF, the extraction yield in the solvents was greatly increased. The yield of AFC from a sub-bituminous coal was slightly lower than that from a bituminous coal. The AFC was evaluated in a coin-type DCFC with a mixture of AFC and carbonate electrolyte (3 g/3 g) at 850 °C. The AFC and gaseous H fuels were compared using the electrochemical methods of steady-state polarisation and step chronopotentiometry. The DCFC ran successfully with the AFCs at 850 °C. The open-circuit voltages were about 1.35 V (AFC1) and 1.27 V (AFC2), and the voltages at 150 mA cm were 0.61 V (AFC1) and 0.74 V (AFC2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...