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The integration of Roadside Units (RSUs) is vital for the development of autonomous driving technologies. Challenges arise from sinking computing capabilities into RSUs and vehicles in the paradigm of Vehicle Edge Computing (VEC), particularly due to heterogeneous computation and communication capacities of network nodes and multiple sources of computing tasks (node-mounted and offloading tasks). These challenges complicate network stability from the perspective of a long-term optimization evolving over time, considering unpredictable task distribution and environmental states. To tackle these challenges, we approach the problem of partial task offloading to minimize task delay while meeting the demand of system stability over time as a dynamic long-term optimization. Utilizing Lyapunov stochastic optimization tools, we successfully decouple the long-term delay minimization and stability constraint, transforming it into a per-slot scheduling problem. Since the per-slot scheduling problem with complicated Lyapunov drift functions can not be solved by numerical optimization at each time step, our solution leverages a proposed deep reinforcement learning algorithm, leading to extensive simulations that demonstrate the superior effectiveness and efficiency of our proposal compared to existing schemes.

Whether in the field of medical care, or in people’s daily life and health protection, the importance of masks has been paid more and more attention. Acne, the most common complication after wearing masks, which is also called maskne, has been successfully introduced into the common language as a common topic of dermatologist consultations. This study aims to study the changes of microflora in maskne patients and healthy controls before and after wearing masks. In the summer of 2023, we collected a total of 50 samples from 15 maskne patients and 10 healthy controls before and after wearing surgical masks for a long time. 16 S ribosomal DNA sequencing and identification technology with V3-V4 variable region were adopted to explore the microbiome changes caused by mask wearing, analyze the changes in microbial diversity, and make interaction network. LDA effect size analysis was used to identify which bacteria showed significant changes in their relative abundance from phylum to genus. After wearing a mask, the microbiome of the maskne patients changed significantly more than that of the healthy controls, with both α diversity and β diversity lower than those of maskne patients before wearing masks and those of healthy controls after wearing masks. Co-occurrence network analysis showed that compared with other groups, the network of maskne patients after wearing masks for a long time had the lowest connectivity and complexity, but the highest clustering property, while the opposite was true for healthy controls. Many microbes that are potentially beneficial to the skin decreased significantly after wearing a mask. There was almost no difference in healthy controls before and after wearing a mask.

Most of the existing steganalysis methods for low-bit-rate compressed speech are specifically designed for a particular speech encoder or category of steganography methods, limiting their generalization capability. These methods require pre-selection of codewords affected by the specific steganographic process as input to the steganalysis models. In order to overcome this limitation and enhance the practicality of steganalysis algorithms, we propose a compressed Speech encoder and steganography Algorithm independent steganalysis Network, named SANet. Irrespective of the specific steganography algorithm used, modifications to the codewords will impact the sequential correlation characteristics of uncompressed domain (time domain) speech. Additionally, the compressed speech streams from different coders are unified in the uncompressed domain format. Therefore, this article introduces an intermediate representation based on the uncompressed domain and develops a neural network that utilizes collaborative correlation features to extract steganography-sensitive characteristics from this representation. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method achieves state-of-the-art detection performance for various steganography algorithms under different speech encoders.

The tendon–sheath system (TSS) has emerged as a promising solution for force transmission in robot applications, owing to the lightweight, low inertia, and good flexibility. However, the performance of tension control is affected by the configuration-dependent nonlinearities, and achieving precise control of the distal force of TSS in time-varying configurations remains a challenge. To address this issue, this article proposes a comprehensive method combining feedforward and feedback control to enhance the control accuracy of TSS by estimating the bending angle in real time, even when the system configuration is unknown. A bending angle estimation approach based on a friction model is proposed, and an improved friction model is developed to simulate the nonlinear friction more accurately. Furthermore, a double-TSS transmission structure is designed to facilitate the integration of control and configuration feedback in mechanical systems. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method in enhancing force-tracking performance in unknown configurations.

Compactness and effectiveness are two basic considerations of the inductive power transfer (IPT) system. This article proposes a highly magnetic integrated method of LCC-compensated IPT system in which coupling coils are integrated into the coupler to improve the misalignment tolerance and realize the design of zero-voltage switching (ZVS) condition. The primary-side coupler integrates a double-layer reverse coil and an inductor coil in the LCC resonant network to improve misalignment tolerance and compactness. The secondary-side coupler integrates an inductor coil in the LCC resonant network to realize the ZVS condition. The main advantage is that extra space and magnetic cores for the external compensation inductors are saved, accompanied by excellent misalignment tolerance and ZVS parameter configuration. And output power stability under misalignment with fewer mutual inductance cancel sacrifices is realized. A detailed design method of the coupler is given based on the circuit analysis. A 3-kW power level prototype is implemented to validate the proposed design. Experimental results show that the IPT system with the proposed design can retain the well-aligned power at 40% misalignment. The mutual inductance cancellation caused by the reverse coil is reduced to 51%, and the efficiency reaches 93.1%.

DosS is a heme-containing histidine kinase that triggers dormancy transformation inMycobacterium tuberculosis. Sequence comparison of the catalytic ATP-binding (CA) domain of DosS to other well-studied histidine kinases reveals a short ATP-lid. This feature has been thought to block binding of ATP to DosS’s CA domain in the absence of interactions with DosS’s dimerization and histidine phospho-transfer (DHp) domain. Here, we use a combination of computational modeling, structural biology, and biophysical studies to re-examine ATP-binding modalities in DosS. We show that the closed-lid conformation observed in crystal structures of DosS CA is caused by the presence of Zn2+in the ATP binding pocket that coordinates with Glu537 on the ATP-lid. Furthermore, circular dichroism studies and comparisons of DosS CA’s crystal structure with its AlphaFold model and homologous DesK reveal that residues 503–507 that appear as a random coil in the Zn2+-coordinated crystal structure are in fact part of the N-box α helix needed for efficient ATP binding. Such random-coil transformation of an N-box α helix turn and the closed-lid conformation are both artifacts arising from large millimolar Zn2+concentrations used in DosS CA crystallization buffers. In contrast, in the absence of Zn2+, the short ATP-lid of DosS CA has significant conformational flexibility and can effectively bind AMP-PNP (Kd= 53 ± 13 μM), a non-hydrolyzable ATP analog. Furthermore, the nucleotide affinity remains unchanged when CA is conjugated to the DHp domain (Kd= 51 ± 6 μM). In all, our findings reveal that the short ATP-lid of DosS CA does not hinder ATP binding and provide insights that extend to 2988 homologous bacterial proteins containing such ATP-lids.