Search

The complex dynamic behavior brings challenges for investigating the ground vibration induced by trains passing through bridges, in which accurate modelling and a large amount of field data are required. To better understand and predict the ground vibration induced by high-speed trains passing through bridges, it is necessary to collect more field test data as well as to develop more accurate models and computational methods. In this study, a two-dimensional (2D) wheel-rail-bridge model was first constructed to determine the forces on the bridge pier, and these forces were then applied to the pier-ground finite element model to capture the ground vibration response. The simulated RMS acceleration and magnitude of acceleration were in good agreement with the field measured results, and the errors were within the acceptable range, which validated the effectiveness of the two-step method proposed in this study. The ground vibration response under various soil conditions was analyzed with the validated numerical model. The proposed method provides a reference for the prediction of ground vibration induced by high-speed trains passing through bridges and for the environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time English speech translation is useful in numerous situations, including business and travel. The goal of this research is to improve real-time English speech translation efficacy. Initially, filter bank (FBank) features were extracted from English speech. Subsequently, an enhanced Transformer model was introduced, incorporating a causal convolution module in the front end of the encoder to capture English speech features with location information. The performance of the optimized model in translating English speech to different target languages was tested using the MuST-C dataset. The results revealed differences in translation results for different target languages using the improved Transformer. The highest bilingual evaluation understudy (BLEU) score was observed for Spanish text at 20.84, while Russian text obtained the lowest score of 10.56. The average BLEU score was 18.51, with an average lag time delay of 1202.33 ms. Compared to the conventional Transformer model, the improved model exhibited higher BLEU scores, lower time delay, and optimal performance when utilizing a convolutional kernel size of 3 × 3. The results demonstrate the dependability of the improved Transformer model in real-time English speech translation, highlighting its practical usefulness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model similarity experiment is an effective method to predict the vibration response of track-box girder structure under complex working conditions. In this paper, the coupling similarity relationship between the layers of the multilayer structure is deduced theoretically. In addition, according to the elasticity similarity law and the π theorem, a track-box girder coupling vibration model with a 10:1 geometric similarity ratio was designed. The influence of parameters on the system similarity was further discussed, including the density and elastic modulus of track plate, the stiffness of fastener and CA mortar layer. Finally, a scale track-box girder model was built. Based on the modal test and finite element method, the model design and the similarity relation between prototype and model were verified. The results show that the scale model can be employed to forecast vibrations for an elevated track bridge, and the vibration level under different working conditions can be inverted from the model test results in model design. When the geometry size of a certain structural layer in the direction of load is much larger than that of the other structural layers, the similarity relation derived from the material properties of the structural layer is approximately equal to the similarity of the system between the prototype and the scale model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, lightweight methods for single-image super-resolution have gained significant popularity and achieved impressive performance due to limited hardware resources. These methods demonstrate that adopting residual feature distillation is an effective way to enhance performance. However, we find that using residual connections after each block increases the model’s storage and computational cost. Therefore, to simplify the network structure and learn higher-level features and relationships between features, we use depth-wise separable convolutions, fully connected layers, and activation functions as the basic feature extraction modules. This significantly reduces computational load and the number of parameters while maintaining strong feature extraction capabilities. To further enhance model performance, we propose the hybrid attention separable block, which combines channel attention and spatial attention, thus making use of their complementary advantages. Additionally, we use depth-wise separable convolutions instead of standard convolutions, significantly reducing the computational load and the number of parameters while maintaining strong feature extraction capabilities. During the training phase, we also adopt a warm-start retraining strategy to exploit the potential of the model further. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. Our method achieves a smaller model size and reduced computational complexity without compromising performance. Code can be available at https://github.com/nathan66666/HASN.git [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global land resources are very important for people. After people's continuous change of land use, the types of land use have changed, forming the present man land relationship. China's territory is very rich, but the amount of land allocated per capita is less than the world's average. On this basis, people also waste and develop land excessively, which makes the land utilization rate between people and land smaller and smaller. Therefore, the state attaches great importance to the issue of land utilization rate. In recent years, China has also begun to attach importance to the issue of land resources planning, and the technology they use is also the most advanced. After the launch of remote sensing technology, the land use efficiency has been effectively monitored. Due to the continuous improvement of China's technology, remote sensing technology has completed many monitoring activities in land detection activities. With the rapid development of China's economy, China's land resources are more and more limited. Therefore, how to improve the national land utilization rate has become a topic of concern in China. The continuous development of remote sensing technology has played a certain role in land planning. It has laid a foundation for the development of land testing in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most significant interannual variability in the climate system, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has critical effects on global weather and climate patterns. To simulate and predict ENSO, coupled general circulation models (CGCMs) have become a key tool. However, the accurate simulation of ENSO is still a challenge for CGCMs. The performance of El Niño simulations conducted through FIO-ESM v1.0 is examined based on the outputs of the Coupled Model Intercomparsion Project phase 5 (CMIP5) historical experiments. The results show that FIO-ESM v1.0 suffers from similar common problems to other CMIP5 models, including an eastward shift in the central locations of El Niño, adopting a regular period of roughly 3 years, addressing excessively high amplitude, spurious eastward propagation of El Niño events, and Aborted El Niño events. El Niño composite and mixed layer heat budget analyses indicate that these simulation biases are mainly associated with the mean state biases, including a warm Sea Surface Temperature (SST) bias for the central-eastern Pacific, a cold SST bias for the western and central Pacific, seasonal cycles of SST of the equatorial eastern Pacific, and weaker trade winds. Weaker SST-cloud-shortwave radiation feedback in La Niña events than in El Niño events is what creates spurious ENSO amplitude symmetry in the model. We suggest that the improvement of El Niño simulations may be realized by focusing on the mean state and SST-cloud-shortwave radiation feedback in the tropical region. Specifically, further incremental improvements in the mean state of the tropical Pacific should constitute the first step to realizing more accurate ENSO simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from China Family Panel Studies 2010, we evaluate the role of the Birth Planning Policy (BPP) in altering decisions to have another child by birth parity, and the relationship of life satisfaction with the gender structure of the children of Chinese residents. We find strong positive effects of the BPP on the decision of having an additional child for Chinese residents, particularly if the previous children were girls. In spite of strong son preference in fertility behaviour, residents whose children are all daughters are found to be more satisfied with their lives than with other gender structures. The empirical findings support the view that daughters are more helpful in providing assistance to parents and in mitigating family conflicts hence increasing life satisfaction, while son preferences may be pursued reasons of lineage and hence do not result in more satisfied lives. We also find evidence that the BPP penalty might be a reason why having more sons could reduce life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research uses nationally representative data to study how economic resources and inequalities are associated with life satisfaction of Chinese residents. We construct economic resource and inequality measures from expenditure rather than from income, after confirming that expenditure inequality is a better measure in the Chinese context. We find that economic inequalities in general are negatively associated with life satisfaction, and that this association is larger for inequalities in the lower half of the distribution than those in the upper half of the distribution. We further explore the mechanisms under which inequality can be associated with life satisfaction, and find that aspiration is potentially one important channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This meta-analysis was undertaken to review the diagnostic accuracy of PI-RADS V2 for prostate cancer (PCa) detection with multiparametric MR (mp-MR).Methods: A comprehensive literature search of electronic databases was performed by two observers independently. Inclusion criteria were original research using the PI-RADS V2 system in reporting prostate MRI. The methodological quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) tool. Data necessary to complete 2 × 2 contingency tables were obtained from the included studies.Results: Thirteen studies (2,049 patients) were analysed. This is an initial meta-analysis of PI-RADs V2 and the overall diagnostic accuracy in diagnosing PCa was as follows: pooled sensitivity, 0.85 (0.78-0.91); pooled specificity, 0.71 (0.60-0.80); pooled positive likelihood ratio (LR+), 2.92 (2.09-4.09); pooled negative likelihood ratio (LR-), 0.21 (0.14-0.31); pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), 14.08 (7.93-25.01), respectively. Positive predictive values ranged from 0.54 to 0.97 and negative predictive values ranged from 0.26 to 0.92.Conclusion: Currently available evidence indicates that PI-RADS V2 appears to have good diagnostic accuracy in patients with PCa lesions with high sensitivity and moderate specificity. However, no recommendation regarding the best threshold can be provided because of heterogeneity.Key Points: • PI-RADS V2 shows good diagnostic accuracy for PCa detection. • Initially pooled specificity of PI-RADS v2 remains moderate. • PCa detection is increased by experienced radiologists. • There is currently a high heterogeneity in prostate diagnostics with MRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a population survey of the Chinese adult population-2010 Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS) modeled after the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We find that being the oldest child gives an education benefit to male and not female children who are often assigned supervisory roles for younger siblings. Most importantly, an increase in the fraction of female siblings leads to a significant increase in education of Chinese men and to a lesser extent Chinese women. This effect is concentrated among those with rural Hukou. In China, male children absorbed more education resources so that in a credit constrained family, increases in fraction of siblings who are sisters frees up resources for educating boys. This is less so for girls since their education was lower and additional resources would not be used for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclone (TC) genesis over the western North Pacific (WNP) is analyzed using 23 CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) models and reanalysis datasets. The models are evaluated according to TC genesis potential index (GPI). The spatial and temporal variations of the GPI are first calculated using three atmospheric reanalysis datasets (ERA-Interim, NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis-1, and NCEP/DOE Reanalysis-2). Spatial distributions of July-October-mean TC frequency based on the GPI from ERA-interim are more consistent with observed ones derived from IBTrACS global TC data. So, the ERA-interim reanalysis dataset is used to examine the CMIP5 models in terms of reproducing GPI during the period 1982-2005. Although most models possess deficiencies in reproducing the spatial distribution of the GPI, their multimodel ensemble (MME) mean shows a reasonable climatological GPI pattern characterized by a high GPI zone along 20°N in the WNP. There was an upward trend of TC genesis frequency during 1982 to 1998, followed by a downward trend. Both MME results and reanalysis data can represent a robust increasing trend during 1982-1998, but the models cannot simulate the downward trend after 2000. Analysis based on future projection experiments shows that the GPI exhibits no significant change in the first half of the 21st century, and then starts to decrease at the end of the 21st century under the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 2.6 scenario. Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the GPI shows an increasing trend in the vicinity of 20°N, indicating more TCs could possibly be expected over the WNP under future global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are concerned in this paper with measuring health outcomes among the elderly in Zhejiang and Gansu provinces, China, and examining the relationships between different dimensions of health status and measures of socio-economic status (SES). We are CHARLS pilot data to document health conditions, using a very rich set of health indicators that include both self-reported measures and biomarkers. We also examine correlations between these health outcomes and two important indicators of socio-economic status (SES): education and log of per capita expenditure (log pce), our preferred measure of household resources. In general education tends to be positively correlated with better health outcomes, as it is in other countries. However, unmeasured community influences turn out to be highly important, much more so than one usually finds in other countries. While it is not yet clear which aspects of communities matter and why they matter, we set up an agenda for future research on this topic. We also find a large degree of under-diagnosis of hypertension, a major health problems that afflicts the aged. This implies that the current health system is not well prepared to address the rapid aging of the Chinese population, at least not in Gansu and Zhejiang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]