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Scene recognition is a computer vision task that categorizes scenes from photographs. In this paper, we introuduce the Adaptive Local Recalibration Network (ALR-Net), a novel scene recognition method based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). In comparison to the object classification task, the scene classification images have a more dispersed distribution of information. To solve this issue, we suggest an attention mechanism for locating the discriminative regions for scene recognition. Along with normal data augmentation, we use the regions to guide two additional data augmentation approaches, namely adaptive cropping and adaptive hiding, in order to capture local information more efficiently and specifically. Attention maps are also used to adaptively recalibrate scene feature maps so that discriminative regions receive more attention than others. In addition, we bring in a scene distribution label for each image, which is used to assist the training of attention maps. Extensive studies on two scene recognition benchmarks verified the proposed model's effectiveness: MIT67 (88.37%) and SUN397 (74.24%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sheathed post-and-beam wooden structures are distinct from light-wood structures. They allow for using sheathing panels that are smaller (0.91 m × 1.82 m) than standard-sized panels (1.22 m × 2.44 m or 2.44 m × 2.44 m). Evidence indicates that nail spacing and panel thickness determine the lateral capacity of the wood frame shear walls. To verify the lateral shear performance of wood frame shear walls with smaller panels, we subjected 13 shear walls, measuring 0.91 m in width and 2.925 m in height, to a low-cycle cyclic loading test with three kinds of nail spacing and three panel thicknesses. A nonlinear numerical simulation analysis of the wall was conducted using ABAQUS finite element (FE) software, where a custom nonlinear spring element was used to simulate the sheathing-frame connection. The results indicate that the hysteretic performance of the walls was mainly determined by the hysteretic performance of the sheathing-frame connection. When same nail specifications were adopted, the stiffness and bearing capacity of the walls were inversely related to the nail spacing and directly related to the panel thickness. The shear wall remained in the elastic stage when the drift was 1/250 rad and ductility coefficients were all greater than 2.5, which satisfied the deformation requirements of residential structures. Based on the test and FE analysis results, the shear strength of the post-and-beam wooden structures with sheathed walls was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydroformylation is one of the largest industrially homogeneous processes that strongly relies on catalysts with phosphine ligands such as the Wilkinson's catalyst (triphenylphosphine coordinated Rh). Heterogeneous catalysts for olefin hydroformylation are highly desired but suffer from poor activity compared with homogeneous catalysts. Herein, we demonstrate that rhodium nanoparticles supported on siliceous MFI zeolite with abundant silanol nests are very active for hydroformylation, giving a turnover frequency as high as ~50,000 h−1 that even outperforms the classical Wilkinson's catalyst. Mechanism study reveals that the siliceous zeolite with silanol nests could efficiently enrich olefin molecules to adjacent rhodium nanoparticles, enhancing the hydroformylation reaction. Heterogeneous catalysts for olefin hydroformylation are highly desired but suffer from poor activity. Herein, the authors report that rhodium nanoparticles supported on siliceous MFI zeolite with abundant silanol nests are very active for hydroformylation, affording a turnover frequency that outperforms the classical Wilkinson's catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a rare liver disease occurring during pregnancy that is characterized by disordered bile acid (BA) metabolism. It is related to adverse clinical outcomes in both the mother and fetus. Our aim was to evaluate the BA metabolism profiles in different types of ICP and investigate the association between specific BAs and perinatal complications in ICP patients. We consecutively evaluated 95 patients with ICP, in which 53 patients were diagnosed with early-onset ICP (EICP) and 42 patients were diagnosed with late-onset ICP (LICP). Concentrations of 15 BA components were detected using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Clinical information was abstracted from the medical records. The percentage of conjugated bile acids increased in ICP patients. Specifically, taurocholic acid (TCA) accumulated in LICP patients, and glycocholic acid (GCA) predominated in EICP patients. A higher preterm birth incidence was observed among ICP patients. Albumin, total bile acids, total bilirubin and GCA percentage values at ICP diagnosis predicts 83.5% of preterm birth in EICP, and the percentage of TCA in total bile acids at ICP diagnosis predicts 93.2% of preterm birth in LICP. This analysis showed that the BA metabolism profiles of EICP and LICP were distinct. Increased hepatic load was positively correlated with preterm birth in EICP. An elevated TCA percentage in total bile acids provides a biomarker to predict preterm birth in LICP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mg2SiO4:Eu2+ phosphors with olivine structure were prepared by the solid-state reaction under a reducing atmosphere, and their phase composition, crystal structure, microscopic morphology, and photoluminescence properties were investigated. It was suggested that Eu2+ ions occupied the lattice of Mg2+ ions, and a small amount of Eu2+ ions doping (0.05% ~ 0.2%) did not affect the crystal structure and morphology of the Mg2SiO4. The samples were crystallized into ellipsoidal particles with a size of 1–3 μm. The optimal doping concentration of Eu2+ ions in Mg2-xSiO4: xEu2+ phosphors is 0.1%. Upon the excitation of 275 nm ultraviolet light, the Mg2-xSiO4: xEu2+(x = 0.1%) sample exhibited a broad emission band with the maximum emission intensity at 453 nm, which is in the spectral absorption range of chlorophyll A and chlorophyll B, thus enabling the enhancement of the photosynthesis of the plant growth. The emission spectrum of the sample is decomposed into two subbands by the Gaussian method, which corresponds to the 5d-4f transitions of Eu2+ ions occupying the Mg1 and Mg2 lattice sites, respectively. In addition, the fluorescence decay behavior and thermal stability of the Mg2-xSiO4: xEu2+(x = 0.1%) sample were analyzed, and the sample showed good thermal stability. These results indicate that the Mg2SiO4:Eu2+ phosphor has enormous potential in plant lighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a clinical syndrome of ovarian dysfunction characterized by premature exhaustion of primordial follicles. POI causes infertility, severe daily life disturbances and long-term health risks. However, the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. We previously identified a Basonuclin 1 (BNC1) mutation from a large Chinese POI pedigree and found that mice with targeted Bnc1 mutation exhibit symptoms of POI. In this study, we found that BNC1 plays key roles in ovarian reserve and maintaining lipid metabolism and redox homeostasis in oocytes during follicle development. Deficiency of BNC1 results in premature follicular activation and excessive follicular atresia. Mechanistically, BNC1 deficiency triggers oocyte ferroptosis via the NF2-YAP pathway. We demonstrated that pharmacologic inhibition of YAP signaling or ferroptosis significantly rescues Bnc1 mutation-induced POI. These findings uncover a pathologic mechanism of POI based on BNC1 deficiency and suggest YAP and ferroptosis inhibitors as potential therapeutic targets for POI. Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a clinical syndrome of ovarian dysfunction that results in infertility. Here they show that BCN1 mutation results in premature ovarian follicle activation and atresia through dysregulation of ferroptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider an irreversible dynamic pricing situation in which a firm uses real-time inventory information to decide the most opportune time to raise its sales prices. Feng and Xiao (Oper Res 48:332–343, 2000b) has studied this problem along with the opposite markdown case. In quite symmetric fashions, they established the optimality of threshold policies for both cases. Though the earlier work has made dramatic advances in dynamic pricing and at the same time pioneered with many relevant techniques, we believe its treatment of the markup case warrants some revision. In particular, we find it is in possession of an erstwhile-unknown complementarity property between price flexibility and inventory, whose counterpart is not true for the markdown case. This property is needed in the derivation leading to the optimality of a threshold policy. Our development also allows demand to be time-dependent in a product form, and naturally leads to an efficient policy-computing algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2015 by using energy consumption per capita and nitrogen fertilizer per capita as complementary variables of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions per capita. The panel unit root tests, Pedroni panel cointegration, long-term parameter estimates, and Dumitrescu–Hurlin (D–H) causality tests are used in the model. The results are consistent with the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis and show that the inverted U-shaped EKC exists between economic growth and NOx emissions. Energy consumption and nitrogen fertilizer has significantly positive effects on NOx emissions. These results give prominence to the need for decreasing NOx emissions and reducing energy consumption and nitrogen fertilizer. The novelty of this study is to add the nitrogen fertilizer as a new variable by a panel of 30 provinces in China covering 2006–2015 and extend the EKC model, which helps to fill the academic gap in the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical technology and the density functional theory can provide a new idea for the intelligent detection and protection of Chinese traditional appliances. Lithium-ion battery is a typical electrochemical energy storage system, which is used as the core power supply component of sensor equipment to ensure the normal operation of intelligent monitoring and protection of cultural relics. The first-principles calculation method theoretically can prove the experimental results. The electrochemical properties of Ni-rich LiNi1-x-yCoxMnyO2 cathode materials were studied by doping or coating modification methods for the power supply used for intelligent monitoring and protection sensors. The results show that the modified material has a high capacity retention rate. The heat generation of the modified Ni-rich LiNi1-x-yCoxMnyO2 material is low, which can meet the requirements of use. This improved technology can solve the problems related to electrical power in intelligent detection and protection of Bronze Buddha of Shang Dynasty in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of electrochemical technology and new media technology provides new ideas for the digital display of intangible cultural heritage. Lithium-ion battery is a typical electrochemical energy storage system that is used as the core power supply component of a display device to ensure that the digital display works smoothly. For the power supply used in the display stand, the LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode material is modified by using a coating modification method to study the electrochemical performance before and after modification. Results show that the modified material not only reduces the capacity decay but also achieves a high performance rate, and the entropy value and enthalpy change of modified material are less than those of pure LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2, which satisfies the requirements for long-term use. This modified technology can solve the problem related to the electrical energy sources in the intelligent display of Miao paintings in Western Hunan of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]