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In the digital era, major shipping lines are developing instant quote and online booking platforms. In one of the first attempts to investigate the post-event effects of this trend, we evaluate how a shipping line's online quote platform impacts its shipper portfolio and the ordered container volume. In order to control for unobserved, time-varying effects that could be correlated with the platform's implementation, we apply the regression discontinuity design (RDD) method to the import trade data from 2016 to 2019 of a top shipping line that released its platform in August 2018. We also adopt global polynomial regression and local liner regression so as to control for the effects of different polynomial time trends. We find the container volume assigned to the shipping line declined slightly after the online platform was launched. The container orders of small shippers increase by 3.97 TEU on average after online platform adoption. The volume of assigned containers from other shippersdeclines. These findings hold fruitful implications for shipping lines. A significant increase in the number of small shippers and their container volumes demonstrate administrative cost saving and risk mitigation for a shipping line. However, it also leads to possible loss of large customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study takes stock of business and economics research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and provides a dynamic panorama of the overall knowledge structure of this ever-growing body of work ever since its inception in 1966. Our bibliometric analysis based on the full archive of 1024 studies identifies the main trends of and the major intellectual contributors to the extant knowledge of AI in business and economics research. Specifically, our results show that (1) AI-focused business and economics research wintnessed growth over three stages, particularly with a sharp increase after 2017. (2) While this body of research has gained tremendous momentum across the globe, the United States is by far the center of knowledge generation. (3) Research collaborations are still limited in this area. (4) Research topics flourished, ranging from early decision support systems, neural networks, and scheduling methods to more recent machine learning, automation, and big data. This study also identifies fruitful avenues for further business and economics research with an AI focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analysis of the competitiveness of Brazilian container port terminals and discusses the implications for the sustainable development of this sector in Brazil in the context of container ship size maximization. A cluster analysis was developed. Thirteen criteria were selected in the analysis taking into consideration both the previous literature and the characteristic of Brazilian ports. The classification shows that the third group of terminals (Santos Brasil, BTP and Paranaguá) has the highest average values in eleven out of the thirteen criteria, standing out mainly in annual capacity, number of plugs, and GDP hinterland. This is the most competitive group with the highest frequency of ship visits. It is also interesting to find that this group of terminals has a limitation regarding the operational draft that limits the port sector when receiving large ships. Considering the expected inclusion of New Panamax-class ships operating on the Brazilian coast, container terminals have restrictions due to the limited operational draft. Conclusions are drawn regarding the potential for implementing strategies and policy interventions. The study represents an application inspired by the current debate in the Brazilian port sector, which presents the country's urgent problem of receiving large capacity ships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel broadband circularly polarized square-slot antenna with parasitic elements is presented in this article. The proposed antenna with dimensions of 77.6 × 77.6 × 1.6 mm3 is composed of a L-shaped strip, a pair of rectangular slots, a L-shaped branch, and an inverted L-shaped feeding line. First, a pair of rectangular slots are used to excite an impedance resonance point that appears near 4.8 GHz and improve the axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW). Second, a L-shaped strip etched into the square-slot ground plane is used to enhance the ARBW. Third, a L-shaped branch is inserted into the inverted L-shaped feeding line to improve the impedance matching at high frequencies. At a result, the multiple circularly polarized (CP) resonant points could be excited by using these slot and strips as perturbation elements to alter the surface current distribution of the antenna. To demonstrate the design rationality, a designed antenna model is simulated, manufactured, and measured. The tested results show the proposed antenna has a wider −10-dB impedance bandwidth from 2.6 to 6.6 GHz (86.9%) and a broad 3-dB ARBW from 2.35 to 5.80 GHz (84.7%). In addition, the measured peak gain of the antenna is 4.8 dBi. The presented antenna has a potential application value in C band wireless communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat transfer characteristic of supercritical water is one of the crucial issues in SuperCritical Water-Cooled Reactors (SCWRs). The efficiency and safety of the SCWR system are largely dependent on the local heat transfer performance. This paper establishes the numerical model for supercritical water in a long vertical circular loop (inside diameter = 10 mm) and analyzes the flow and heat transfer mechanism during the transition process from subcritical to supercritical states under various heat fluxes (uniform and nonuniform). The results reveal that the difference in thermophysical properties between the boundary layer and the core region is the main reason for the heat transfer behavior, especially during the transition from subcritical to supercritical and liquidlike to gaslike. The flow structure on the buffer layer is a dominating factor for heat transfer deterioration. The cases under variable nonuniform heat fluxes have a higher heat transfer coefficient compared with uniform heat fluxes. But, this will cause large changes of the parameter locally. The dominating factors of heat transfer deterioration under these conditions are also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the influence of absorption, anisotropy and unstable layered turbulence on the channel capacity of horizontal seawater link. By developing the spectrum average coherence length of collimated beam wave in the absorptive seawater turbulence, we propose a model of the channel capacity of links with carrier Bessel-Gaussian vortex localized wave. Our model shows that the capacity of links increases with the increasing of the half-modulated pulse width of the input pulse, the rate of dissipation of kinetic energy per unit mass of fluid and the anisotropic factor of turbulence, but it decreases with the increasing of the Bessel cone angle and the dissipation rate of the mean-squared temperature. We also find that there is a maximum effective beam waist for a given receiving aperture, the channel capacity is more sensitive to salinity fluctuations than to temperature fluctuations in turbulence, and the influences of the inner scale and outer scale of turbulence on channel capacity of links in anisotropic turbulence and isotropic turbulence are different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhein is a key ingredient in many herbal remedies and is widely used. However, herbs containing rhein are frequently associated with poisoning incidents, especially in elderly subjects. Acute and subchronic toxicity of rhein in Kunming mice (KM) was investigated in this experiment. Acute toxicity tests showed a 40% lethality at a given rhein dose of 4000 mg/kg, and the LD50 of rhein was calculated by the bliss method to be greater than 2185.6 mg/kg. In subchronic toxicity, d-gal-induced aged and immature animals were randomized into three groups that were exposed to rhein of 0, 175, and 375 mg/kg/d for 75 days, respectively. No mortality was observed in immature mice group, whereas 55.5% (5/9) subjects in aged mice groups died in the high dosage group. AST, ALT, IL-6, TNF-α levels and typical histopathological changes indicate that rhein causes liver injury. In addition, our investigation explored possible hepatotoxic mechanisms of rhein and experimental results showed increased ROS production, NRF-2 and MDA levels and decreased SOD levels, demonstrating that rhein causes oxidative stress. MMP and mitochondrial swelling levels were able to assess the impact of rhein on mitochondrial function. Furthermore, the effect of rhein on apoptosis can be detected by flow cytometry. Our studies suggested that rhein induces oxidative stress leading to mitochondria dysfunction and apoptotic activation. Multidrug resistance protein (MRP) is an efflux transporter protein and is capable of transporting cellular oxidative stress-related substances. To further clarify the role of MRP in rhein induced oxidative stress, we examined MRP expression in the liver. However, the expression of MRP has no statistical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to present the steady-state analysis in finite-buffer M/G/1 queues with starting failures under a randomized control of N-policy. When the system empties, the server is turned off. If the system size reaches the threshold N, the server is turned on with probability p or turned off with probability 1 − p. The server needs a startup time before providing service. If the server is started successfully (with probability θ), customers are served immediately. When the server is started unsuccessfully, he is started again. It is assumed that the restart is always successful. Using the supplementary variable method, we obtain the stationary distribution of the number of customers in the system. We develop a number of performance measures. A cost model is constructed, and we then determine numerical values of the optimal service rate to minimize the average cost per unit time. Finally, numerical examples are provided to show the effects of system parameters on performance measures and the optimal service rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new unsymmetrical ligands, namely, 2-(pyridin-3-yl)-5-(quinolin-2-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (L1) and 2-(pyridin-4-yl)-5-(quinolin-2-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (L2), have been synthesized and their self-assembly reactions with Co(NO3)2 and Co(ClO4)2 have been investigated for the rational construction of coordination polymers (CPs). It was found that the counter-anion plays an important role in the structural assemblies. Their anti-ovarian cancer activity was evaluated and the related mechanism was explored at the same time. Firstly, the proliferation of the ovarian cancer cells was measured with CCK-8 detection kit. Then, the real time RT-PCR was used to evaluate the relative expression levels of the ROS related genes in the ovarian cancer cells after compounds treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focus on passivity and passive control for a cascade nonlinear system consisting of two switched systems. The asymptotic stability criterion for the cascade system is developed without requiring passivity of subsystem in the whole state interval. Passivity and stabilisation of the closed-loop system are achieved by co-designing an output feedback control law and a state-dependent switching signal if the full output information is measurable. While the output information of the first switched system are not available, the sampled integral stabilisation (SIS) technique which only adopts the output information and common energy function of the second one, is exploited to achieve passive control of two switched systems connected in a cascade way. Then, a particular case of cascade system where only one passive switched system exists is stabilised via SIS technique. Finally, the validity of the developed results is demonstrated via a plane articulation arm example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is significant to identify the moldy status of stored maize by fungi infection in the early stage. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) combined with the sparse auto-encoders (SAE) and convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithms was used to classify the moldy grades of maize kernels. The HSI data were obtained in the range of 400–1000 nm, and four grades from health to heavy mildew were distinguished using the measured fungal spores of maize. The depth spectral features were represented using SAE and the image features were extracted by CNN. K nearest neighbors, support vector machine (SVM), and partial least squares discriminant analysis classifiers were combined with the spectral and image features to establish classification models to identify the different moldy grades of maize kernels. The comparison results indicated that the fusion of SAE and CNN combined with the SVM classifier to construct the SAE-CNN-SVM model had the most satisfactory identification result with high correct recognition rates of 99.47% and 98.94% for the training and testing sets, respectively, and the values of sensitivity and specificity were 0.95–1. The moldy grades were presented intuitively on the maize image based on pixels or kernel-wise. Therefore, the HSI with the SAE-CNN-SVM model had good recognition ability for the early detection of moldy maize kernels, which could potentially provide technical support for the development of online detection of moldy maize kernels during storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the image space analysis is applied to investigate a vector equilibrium problem using improvement sets and with matrix inequality constraints. First, a nonlinear scalar regular weak separation function is constructed by using the oriented distance function and the norm function. Then, a global saddle-point condition for a generalized Lagrange function is investigated. It is shown that the existence of a saddle point is equivalent to a nonlinear separation of two suitable subsets in the image space. Furthermore, a gap function and an error bound are obtained in terms of the nonlinear scalar regular weak separation function under suitable assumptions. As applications, an optimality condition, a gap function and an error bound for a strategic game with vector payoffs are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promoter of prosocial behavior in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic needs to be examined. Here, we examined the effect of experienced awe through cross-sectional (Study 1), a 3-wave longitudinal (Study 2) and experimental (Study 3–4) approaches. Study 1 showed that dispositional awe positively predicted one's prosocial behavior in the pandemic (N = 1281). Study 2 (N = 332) observed that experienced awe predicted higher prosociality, and this relationship was serially mediated by connectedness and empathy. Study 3 (N = 153) and 4 (N = 156) confirmed that elicited awe, compared to that of amusement and neutrality, promoted multiple types of prosociality (Study 3) and willingness of blood donation (Study 4) via serial mediation of connectedness and empathy. These findings suggest that the experience of awe increases one's connectedness to the world, which in turn enhances empathic concern and prosociality in pandemic fighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes high-frequency container port congestion measures based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. Vessel movement information of 3,957 container ships from March 2017 to April 2017 is included. The world top 20 container ports' berth and anchorage areas are identified through Density Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) and convex hull methods, and their hourly port congestion statuses are depicted in terms of the traffic volume and turnaround time. The constructed congestion measures overcome the disadvantages of the traditionally used port or industry data, which is heterogenous, behind the time and not easy to obtain publicly. The higher frequency (hourly) of the proposed measures can effectively monitor any slight change in port performance. A Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network model is then proposed for congestion prediction using constructed congestion measures. Point prediction and sequence prediction are both performed. We innovatively introduce congestion propagation effects into the prediction model as input features. Using Shanghai, Singapore and Ningbo ports as case studies, results show that the inclusion of congestion propagation effect can improve the prediction performance especially for sequence prediction. This study provides significant implications and decision support for container shipping market participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal post-reflux swallow-induced peristaltic wave index (PSPWI) and mean nocturnal baseline impedance (MNBI), novel impedance-based markers of reflux burden, are associated with esophageal dynamics. We aim to investigate the characteristics of PSPWI and MNBI in Chinese refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (RGERD) patients with different esophageal dynamic changes. 201 RGERD and 76 functional heartburn patients, undergone off-PPI endoscopy, esophageal manometry and impedance-pH monitoring, were included. Comparisons of conventional and novel impedance-pH metrics were made among different esophageal dynamics groups. Receiver operating-characteristic analyses were utilized to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of PSPWI and MNBI in differentiating abnormal esophageal dynamics. Correlations were used to investigate their associated factors. PSPWI and MNBI of RGERD with esophagogastric junction (EGJ) injury and esophageal dysmotility were lower than EGJ injury alone or normal dynamics (p < 0.05 for both comparisons). PSPWI with esophageal peristalsis abnormality was lower than EGJ injury (p = 0.049), while MNBI showed no statistical difference. PSPWI, MNBI and their combination have auxiliary diagnostic values for esophageal peristalsis [area under the curves (AUCs): 0.683, 0.656, 0.708)] while only their combination for EGJ injury (AUC: 0.610). And they positively correlated with esophageal motility while negatively correlated with ineffective swallows and acid reflux events. PSPWI and MNBI, indicating impairment of esophageal chemical clearance and mucosa integrity, were lower in RGERD patients with multiple esophageal dynamic injuries than single injuries or normal dynamics. Moreover, they provided useful contributing information for potential dynamic injuries if manometry has already been found normal or marginal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In general, the adsorption/desorption of free and adsorbed gas in coal will cause the coal matrix swelling/shrinkage. However, there is no constant conclusion on how the coal deforms under the two types of gas under different temperature and pressure conditions. Herein, a self-developed constant-temperature adsorption/desorption and deformation test system is used to monitor the axial and radial deformations of coal caused by the adsorption of different gases. The effects of effective stress and gas-self adsorption on the deformation in the process of expansion of gas adsorbed–coal are studied. The results showed that at the initial stage of gas adsorption by coal, the axial deformation of coal exceeds the radial deformation. Under the same injection pressure, the volumetric strain caused by injecting He and CH4 into coal first increases and then decreases with increasing temperature. During the CH4adsorption of coal, the volumetric strain of coal caused by effective stress exceeds that caused by adsorption stress. With increasing injection pressure, coal deformations caused by adsorption stress varied insignificantly. At a constant temperature, the CH4 adsorption stress increases slightly with increasing injection pressure. Under a constant injection pressure, the decrease in the CH4 adsorption stress is large when the temperature rises from 40°C to 60°C and is small when the temperature rises from 60°C to 80°C. The effect of temperature on the CH4 adsorption stress is more significant than that of the injection pressure. Finally, the ratio of volumetric strain caused by adsorption stress to that caused by effective stress decreases with increasing temperature, and it is approximately constant at temperatures between 60°C and 80°C. In general, the volume deformation caused by adsorption stress is mainly affected when the temperature is <60°C; thus, 60°C can be regarded as the threshold temperature at which the gas adsorption of coal is significantly changed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the problem of finite-time H ∞ control for switched systems under a dynamic event-triggered mechanism. In order to avoid frequent switching phenomenon and exclude Zeno behavior, discrete state information is used to construct a state-dependent switching law and a dynamic event-triggered mechanism. The event-triggered condition only needs to be detected at the sampled instants, so the data transmission pressure is greatly relieved. By introducing a delay-dependent Lyapunov function with the internal dynamic variable, a criterion is established to achieve the finite-time H ∞ performance. A set of dynamic event-triggered controllers and a state-dependent switching law are co-designed to reach desired behavior. An application example of the switched RLC system is offered to demonstrate the advantages of the acquired method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the severity of college student's mental health has increased, with depression being the most prominent. This study's primary purpose was to explore (1) whether the perceived stress of COVID-19 was associated with depression through sequential mediation of mindfulness and dysexecutive function and also (2) the temporal association among mindfulness, dysexecutive function and depression. Methods: We performed two studies to evaluate dysexecutive function as a mechanism through which mindfulness impacts depression under the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 1 used a sequential mediation model to test the mediating role of mindfulness and dysexecutive function between the perceived stress of COVID-19 and depression based on 1,665 emerging adults. Study 2 used a random-effect, cross-lagged panel model (RE-CLPM) to test the directionality among mindfulness, dysexecutive function, and depression based on 370 emerging adults. Results: The cross-sectional study showed that perceived stress of COVID-19 was positively associated with depression through the sequential mediation of mindfulness and dysexecutive function (effect: 0.08, 95%CI = [0.07, 0.10]), also through the mediation of mindfulness (effect: 0.05, 95%CI = [0.03, 0.06]) and dysexecutive function (effect: 0.08, 95%CI = [0.06, 0.10]) separately. The RE-CLPM study indicated that dysexecutive function mediates the reciprocal relation between mindfulness and depression at the within-person level. Conclusion: These results suggest that dysexecutive function is an intermediate psychological mechanism that exacerbates depression under pandemic-related stress. Mindfulness can predict dysexecutive function and subsequently improve depression. As depression under pandemic-related stress can weaken the mindful state, long-term mindfulness practices are needed to maintain mental health during COVID-19. Dysexecutive function is a potential cognitive risk factor of depression under pandemic stress using cross-sectional data. The random effect cross-lagged panel model (RE-CLPM) demonstrated temporal association among mindfulness, dysexecutive functions, and depression. Long-term mindfulness practices are needed to maintain mental health under COVID-19 stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime transportation is important, not only for its contribution to global trade, but also for its potential role in our common effort to curb the global environmental problems and make the world's economic development sustainable. An interesting finding is that shipping firms are more likely to adopt proactive GSCM strategies, which contradicts the findings of most management studies that reactive firms outnumber proactive and leading companies. All sample firms were clustered into "the leaders", "proactive firms", and "reactive firms" according to their level of GSCM strategy adoption. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: This study aimed to summarize the current evidence-based approach to perioperative enteral nutritional (EN) program for gastric cancer (GC) surgery and to develop a staged and operable EN management scheme based on the evidence to provide clinical guidance for improving perioperative EN management in patients with GC. Methods: First, we synthesized expert consensuses, systematic reviews, and guidelines related to GC patients who had undergone surgery, based on a review of the literature and expert meetings. Subsequently, after carefully evaluating and selecting relevant EN management data, we created a preliminary draft of a perioperative EN program. Following Delphi expert consultations, the final version of the perioperative EN program was constructed after revision. Results: After two rounds of consultation, the expert opinions tended to be consistent. The expert positive coefficient was 1.00, and the expert authority coefficient was 0.90. After the second round of consultation, the coefficient of variation of the importance score ranged from 0.05 to 0.20, and the coefficient of variation of the feasibility score ranged from 0.09 to 0.23. The Kendall harmony coefficients were 0.338 and 0.392, and the difference between them was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The final practice plan includes 4 first-level, 16 s-level, and 64 third-level items. Conclusions: The perioperative EN program constructed in this study is comprehensive in content, feasible, and evidence-based, and can provide insights for clinical improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The boiler equipment should be able to adapt to the load requirements and overcome the interference of various external conditions. By establishing a one-dimensional single-channel general numerical calculation model suitable for flow instability analysis of ultra-supercritical boilers at 700 °C, the rules of flow in the tubes are calculated. The 7th loop and the 22nd loop of the boiler water wall are selected as typical loops, and the dynamic characteristics of the two loops are calculated. The results show that after applying different multiples of heat flux disturbance, regardless of whether metal heat storage is considered, the inlet and outlet mass flow rates of the two circuits show inverse dynamic responses and eventually return to a steady state. When considering heat storage, it takes about 63 s for the 7th loop to return to stability. The recovery and stabilization time of the 22nd loop is about 60 s. Metal thermal storage has a positive effect on the settling time of the pipe section after heat flux disturbance. And when the maximum heat flux disturbance is applied, the maximum wall temperatures of the two loops are 443.9 °C and 446.5 °C, and the boiler can operate safely and stably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CAR-T is emerging as an effective treatment strategy for hematologic malignancies, however its effectiveness for treating solid tumors, such as Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is limited. Here, we screened a variety of CAR-T cells that target c-Met to investigate their potential to induce HCC cell death in vitro. Human T cells were transduced to express CARs by lentiviral vector transfection. c-Met expression in human HCC cell lines and CARs expression were monitored by flow cytometry. Tumor cell killing was evaluated by Luciferase Assay System Kit. The concentrations of cytokine were tested by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Knock down and overexpression studies targeting c-Met were conducted to assess the targeting specificity of CARs. We found that CAR T cells expressing a minimal amino-terminal polypeptide sequence comprising the first kringle (kringle 1) domain (denoted as NK1 CAR-T cells), efficiently killed HCC cell lines that expressed high levels of the HGF receptor c-Met. Furthermore, we report that while NK1 CAR-T cells were efficient at targeting SMMC7221 cells for destruction, and its potency was significantly attenuated in parallel experiments with cells stably expressing short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) that suppressed c-Met expression. Correspondingly, overexpression of c-Met in the embryonic kidney cell line HEK293T led to their enhanced killing by NK1 CAR-T cells. Our studies demonstrate that a minimal amino-terminal polypeptide sequence comprising the kirngle1 domain of HGF is highly relevant to the design of effective CAR-T cell therapies that kill HCC cells expressing high levels of c-Met. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency cesarean section is one of the most critical methods in the treatment of high-risk emergency obstetric cases. The aim of this study was to explore the clinical effect of constructing a Rapid Response Team (RRT) in emergency cesarean section. This is a pre- and post-implementation study. The patients who underwent emergency cesarean section were retrospectively analyzed and divided into an experimental group and a control group. There were 52 patients (June–December 2020) in the control group who underwent routine emergency cesarean section without an RRT, and 51 patients (January–June 2021) in the experimental group who underwent emergency cesarean section with an RRT. The operation time indexes (DOI, decision-to-operating room interval; O-I, operating room-to-incision interval; DII, decision-to-incision interval; I-D, incision-to-delivery interval; DDI, decision-to-delivery interval), DDI pass rate, neonatal Apgar score and maternal complications in the two groups were compared. Moreover, the management time trends (DOI, DII, and DDI) in the experimental group were analyzed. The DDI, DII, DOI, and O-I of the experimental group were shorter than those of the control group, and the differences were significant (p < 0.05). The DDI pass rate in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group, and the difference was significant (p < 0.01). The 1-min Apgar score of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). The key intervals of emergency cesarean section in the experimental group leveled off after approximately 3 to 4 months. In the face of emergency situations, the implementation of an emergency cesarean section RRT can improve delivery intervals for emergency cesarean and would be conducive to maternal and infant safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce CO2 emissions from shipping activities to, from, and within the European Union (EU) area, a system of monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of CO2 emissions from ships are implemented in 2015 by the EU. Although the MRV records in 2018 and 2019 have been published, there are scarce studies on the MRV system especially from a quantitative perspective, which restrains the potential of the MRV. To bridge this gap, this paper first analyzes and compares MRV records in 2018 and 2019, and then develops machine learning models for annual average fuel consumption prediction for each ship type combining ship features from an external database. The performance of the prediction models is accurate, with the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) on the test set no more than 12% and the average R-squared of all the models at 0.78. Based on the analysis and prediction results, model meanings, implications, and extensions are thoroughly discussed. This study is a pioneer to analyze the emission reports in the MRV system from a quantitative perspective. It also develops the first fuel consumption prediction models from a macro perspective using the MRV data. It can contribute to the promotion of green shipping strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aliphatic hydroxamic acids (HA) with varying numbers of carbon atoms, C2, C6, C8, C10, C12 and C17, and corresponding Fe(II), Fe(III), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes have been synthesized and characterized by various methods, including structural determination by single crystal X-ray diffraction and theoretical calculations. The biological activities of HA and their complexes have been assessed on a panel of pathogens, including eight bacteria strains and one fungus. The C12 aliphatic HA displayed the lowest minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) towards several microbial strains and a selective antifungal activity. This antifungal selectivity was further improved considering the Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes of C12 HA showed higher IC50 values, thus less impact on the SiHa human cell line viability. This work warrants further investigation to understand the underlying mechanism of action and potential biological applications of HA and the derived metal complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Yi-Qi Cong-Ming (YQCM) decoction has been widely used to prevent age-related hearing loss (ARHL), the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease in the elderly. Objective: To explore the mechanism of YQCM decoction in the treatment of ARHL. Materials and methods: The chemical constituents of YQCM were screened from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database. Potential targets of YQCM against ARHL were predicted by DrugBank, GeneCards, and OMIM database. Protein-protein network and enrichment analysis were used for exploring possible molecular mechanisms. Molecular docking and an in vitro model of ARHL by exposing auditory cells with 100 μM H2O2 for 3 h were applied. Cell viability and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨM) were detected by CCK-8 and high-content analysis. γH2AX and cleaved caspase-3 were detected by Western blot. Results: The main compounds have good affinities with hub targets, especially AKT1, PTGS2, and CASP3. GO and KEGG analysis showed that the main biological process and key targets were related to negative regulation of the apoptotic process. H2O2 treatment could reduce the cell viability by 68% and impaired ΔΨM, while 90 μg/mL YQCM pre-treatment could restore the cell viability by 97.45% and increase ΔΨM (2-fold higher). YQCM pre-treatment also reduced γH2AX and cleaved caspase-3 protein levels. Conclusions: Our study suggested that YQCM prevents ARHL by modulating the apoptosis process in auditory hair cells. Moreover, this study proved that bioinformatics analysis combined with molecular docking and cell model is a promising method to explore other possible pharmacological interventions of ARHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical study is conducted to investigate heat transfer characteristics of supercritical water flowing upward in an inclined smooth tube under uniform heating conditions. In this study, model verification was performed under the conditions of low heat flux and high heat flux to ensure the accuracy of experimental data. Inner wall temperature and heat flux distribute non-uniformly on the circumference due to the influence of natural convection. The increase of heat flux enhances the non-uniform circumferential distribution, while the increase of mass flux reduces the non-uniform circumferential distribution. Heat transfer of upward vertical and inclined flows is compared under low and high heat flux conditions. Radial distributions of fluid temperature, density, specific heat capacity, velocity, and turbulent kinetic energy are presented and analyzed. The analysis shows that the increase of heat flux reduces radial turbulence and heat-absorbing capacity of the boundary fluid, while increases radial temperature and density gradient. Three dimensionless buoyancy parameters are used to evaluate the buoyancy effect of inclined flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the problem of the input-to-state practical stability for switched affine systems with time-varying delay and essentially bounded exogenous disturbance. The presence of affine terms makes switched systems have multiple switched equilibria and brings further difficulties in the stability analysis, control synthesis and avoiding Zeno behaviours compared with the non-affine switched systems. To overcome these difficulties, first, a convex combination approach is employed to acquire a set of attainable equilibria limited by the system matrix, the delay term matrix, and affine terms. Second, a mode-dependent event-triggered mechanism with sampled-data information is established, which not only ignores Zeno behaviour but also effectively reduces network resource waste. An input-to-state practical stability criterion is proposed for the closed-loop system by converting the event-triggered control system into a time-delay system and introducing a less conservative time-dependent Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. Moreover, a sampled-data switching law and a set of executable controllers are also co-designed. Finally, an application example of the flyback DC–DC converter demonstrates the efficiency of the proposed result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the changes in amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and S100B in neonates with brain injury induced by neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (NHB). 67 neonates with brain injury induced by NHB admitted to our hospital from March 2016 to October 2018 were included in a brain injury group (BIG), and 82 neonates with NHB but without brain injury in our hospital during the same period were included in a non-BIG. The two groups were compared regarding the rates of normal and abnormal aEEG results. The proportion of normal aEEG results in the BIG was significantly lower than that in the non-BIG, and the proportion of moderately and severely abnormal aEEG results in the BIG were both significantly higher than those in the non-BIG. The BIG showed significantly higher NSE and S100B levels than those of the non-BIG. The ROC curve for predicting prognosis showed that the AUC of aEEG, NSE, S100B, and the combined detection are 0.780, 0.754, 0.743, 0.788. The AUC > 0.700 indicated a good predictive value for the prognosis. The combination of aEEG, NSE, and S100B has good value in diagnosing injury induced by NHB and can predict prognosis moderately well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]