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Background Remimazolam tosilate (RT) is a novel short-acting GABA (A) receptor agonist that has a rapid recovery from procedural sedation and can be fully reversed by flumazenil. To date, there have been relatively few articles comparing RT and propofol for general anesthesia. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of RT with or without flumazenil compared with propofol in general anesthesia for day surgery. Methods 115 patients scheduled for day surgery were randomized into three groups: RT (n = 39), RT + flumazenil (n = 38) and propofol (n = 38). The primary endpoints were anesthesia induction time and time until fully alert. Anesthesia success rate, bispectral index (BIS) values, injection pain, opioid and vasopressor dosages, postoperative recovery profiles and perioperative inflammatory and cognitive changes were assessed. Any adverse events were recorded. Results Induction times were similar among the three groups (P = 0.437), but the median time until fully alert in patients treated with RT was longer than that of the propofol or RT + flumazenil groups (17.6 min vs. 12.3 min vs. 12.3 min, P 0.05). Smaller percentages of patients who received RT (26.3%) and RT + flumazenil (31.6%) developed hypotension during anesthesia maintenance compared with propofol (68.4%), and consequently less ephedrine (P Conclusion RT permits rapid induction and comparable recovery profile compared with propofol in general anesthesia for day surgery, but has a prolonged recovery time without flumazenil. The safety profile of RT was superior to propofol in terms of hypotension and injection pain. Trial registration The study was registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry http://www.chictr.org.cn/ (Registration date: 19/7/2021; Trial ID: ChiCTR2100048904).

We develop a new structure of the Green's function of a second-order elliptic operator in divergence form in a 2D bounded domain. Based on this structure and the theory of rearrangement of functions, we construct concentrated traveling-rotating helical vortex patches to 3D incompressible Euler equations in an infinite pipe. By solving an equation for vorticity \begin{equation*} w=\frac{1}{\varepsilon^2}f_\varepsilon\left(\mathcal{G}_{K_H}w-\frac{\alpha}{2}|x|^2|\ln\varepsilon|\right) \ \ \text{in}\ \Omega \end{equation*} for small $ \varepsilon>0 $ and considering a certain maximization problem for the vorticity, where $ \mathcal{G}_{K_H} $ is the inverse of an elliptic operator $ \mathcal{L}_{K_H} $ in divergence form, we get the existence of a family of concentrated helical vortex patches, which tend asymptotically to a singular helical vortex filament evolved by the binormal curvature flow. We also get nonlinear orbital stability of the maximizers in the variational problem under $ L^p $ perturbation when $ p\geq 2. $, Comment: 39 pages

Neonates who receive repeated or prolonged general anesthesia before the age of 4 are at a significantly higher risk of developing cognitive dysfunction later in life. In this study, we investigated the effects of repeated neonatal propofol exposure on hippocampal synaptic plasticity, neuronal excitability, and cognitive function. Adeno-associated SIRT1 virus with CaMKIIɑ promotor and a viral vector carrying the photosensitive gene ChR2 with the CaMKIIɑ promotor, as well as their control vectors, were stereotaxically injected into the hippocampal CA1 region of postnatal day 5 (PND-5) rats. PND-7 rats were given intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg/kg propofol or fat emulsion for three consecutive days. Western blotting, Golgi staining, and double immunofluorescence staining were used to evaluate the SIRT1 expression, synaptic plasticity, and the excitability of neurons in the hippocampal CA1 region. The Morris water maze (MWM) test was conducted on PND-30 to assess the learning and memory abilities of rats. Repeated neonatal propofol exposure reduced SIRT1 expression, suppressed synaptic plasticity, decreased glutamatergic neuron excitability in the hippocampus, and damaged learning and memory abilities. Overexpression of SIRT1 attenuated propofol-induced cognitive dysfunction, excitation-inhibition imbalance, and synaptic plasticity damage. After optogenetic stimulation of glutamatergic neurons in the hippocampal CA1 region, the learning and memory abilities of rats exposed to propofol were improved on PND-30. Our findings demonstrate that SIRT1 plays an important role in cognitive dysfunction induced by repeated neonatal propofol exposure by suppressing synaptic plasticity and neuronal excitability.

The potential advantage of laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) compared with open gastrectomy (OG) for serosa-invasive (pT4a) Siewert type II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) remains uncertain. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the short- and long-term outcomes of LG compared to OG for pT4a Siewert type II/III AEG cancers. We retrospectively evaluated 283 patients with pathological confirmed T4a Siewert type II and type III AEG who underwent LG or OG in our center between January 2004 and September 2015. The short- and long-term outcomes were compared between the groups using a 1:1 matched propensity score matching method (PSM). The LG group had a longer operation time, less estimated blood loss, less time to first flatus, less time to start liquid diet, less time to first ambulation, and shorter length of incision than the OG group. The conversion rates were 5.4% in the LG groups. There was no significant difference in the overall complication rate between the LG and OG groups. The 5-year overall survival (OS) and the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) were comparable between the LG and OG groups (35.4% vs 32.1%, p = 0.541; 34.1% vs 31.0%, p = 0.523, respectively). There was no significant difference in the recurrence rate and pattern between the LG and OG groups. Laparoscopic gastrectomy is associated with better short-term outcomes and similar long-term outcomes for pT4a Siewert type II/III AEG. This study reveals that LG could be a safe and feasible option for pT4a Siewert type II/III AEG compared to OG.

It is still challenging to develop suitable cathode structures for high-rate and stable aqueous Zn-ion batteries. Herein, a phosphating-assisted interfacial engineering strategy is designed for the controllable conversion of NiCo2S4 nanosheets into heterostructured NiCoP/NiCo2S4 as the cathodes in aqueous Zn-ion batteries. The multicomponent heterostructures with rich interfaces can not only improve the electrical conductivity but also enhance the diffusion pathways for Zn-ion storage. As expected, the NiCoP/NiCo2S4 electrode has high performance with a large specific capacity of 251.1 mA h g−1 at a high current density of 10 A g−1 and excellent rate capability (retaining about 76% even at 50 A g−1). Accordingly, the Zn-ion battery using NiCoP/NiCo2S4 as the cathode delivers a high specific capacity (265.1 mA h g−1 at 5A g−1), a long-term cycling stability (96.9% retention after 5000 cycles), and a competitive energy density (444.7 W h kg−1 at the power density of 8.4 kW kg−1). This work therefore provides a simple phosphating-assisted interfacial engineering strategy to construct heterostructured electrode materials with rich interfaces for the development of high-performance energy storage devices in the future.

The Hopf bifurcation control of hyperchaotic system has become the focus of bifurcation researches. By setting up the controller for the hyperchaotic system, the critical point of Hopf bifurcation is delayed or advanced,and the stability of the system is changed. In this paper, based on the first Lyapunov coefficient, the Hopf bifurcation characteristics of a chaotic system are studied. The stability of the system is judged by the value of the first Lyapunov coefficient. The dynamic state feedback control method is used to set the nonlinear controller for the system. By adjusting the control parameters, the Hopf bifurcation of the system can be changed, and the unstable range becomes stable. Finally, by the numerical simulations observation, it is shown that the theoretical analysis is correct.

Diabetes is an urgent health issue characterized by ethnic and regional variations, and is inseparable from the different dietary habits. It is worthy to note that the incidence of diabetes in Bai nationality has been reported to be much lower than Han in China. As a daily vegetable of Bai, the phytochemical and antidiabetic study of Ottelia acuminata var. acuminata had not been carried out. In this study, 41 metabolites with diverse diarylheptanoid (six new ones, Otteacumienes A–F), flavone, sesquiterpenoid, coumarin, lignan, polyacetylene, and alkaloid skeletons were characterized from O. acuminata var. acuminata. Among them, the racemic nature of 3 was characterized by chiral resolution and calculated ECD methods. The biological study revealed diarylheptanoids showed significant α-glucosidase inhibitory activities with 5 as the most effective one (60-fold stronger than acarbose). Molecular docking studies indicated that these structures have different binding cavities with acarbose. This study demonstrated that O. acuminata var. acuminata might correlated with the low incidence diabetes of Bai and the diarylheptanoids may have potential therapeutic value for diabetes mellitus. Graphical Abstract

To effectively protect the marine ecological environment, herein, the silver-loaded organometallic framework material ((MIL-101(Cr)@Ag) was synthesized to study the rapid enrichment of iodide ions. Under the best experimental conditions, the reaction was in adsorption equilibrium within 10 min, and the maximum adsorption capacity could attain 57 mg/g. The XPS and XRD analysis indicated that the iodide ions mainly interacted with silver atoms in MIL-101(Cr)@Ag to form AgI. The adsorption behavior was well fitted by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model, showed that adsorption process was mainly monolayer chemisorption. Therefore, MIL-101(Cr)@Ag could be used as a potential material for removing iodide ions from aqueous solutions.

Fast removal of soft phases (e.g., pearlite and ferrite) in the iron matrix limits the wear life of high-Cr white irons. To address this shortcoming, the authors successfully produced fine networks of M6C carbide in a high-Cr white iron through extensive thermodynamic calculations. Fishbone-like networks of M6C carbides were observed with an optical microscope. It was experimentally determined that such carbide networks protected the soft matrix and increased the overall hardness. Additionally, electron backscattered diffraction was conducted, which showed that the alloy contained phases of M7C3, M6C, ferrite, and retained austenite. Solidification sequence was determined by correlating the thermodynamic equilibrium calculation results with the size and distribution of each phase. A dry sand/rubber wheel apparatus following ASTM standard G65 Procedure A was utilized to assess the abrasive wear performance of the developed alloy. Results showed that the volume loss of the developed material was 25 pct less than that of conventional high-Cr white irons. Wear scars were investigated using a scanning electron microscope, and the improved wear resistance was attributed to the “buffer” effect and plastic deformation of the introduced M6C carbide networks.

An Fe-15Mo-18Cr-3.3C-1.65V white iron has been widely used in industries for many years due to its excellent wear performance, but never been reported to academic circle. This paper studied its phase constituents in as-cast condition and its wear performance for metal-to-metal contact wear applications. Microstructural analyses were performed using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with phase identification performed using a transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) technique. A solidification sequence was proposed by correlating thermodynamic equilibrium calculations with the distribution and size of the phase constituents. Field-returned components were analyzed after approximately 10,000 service hours. Micro-galling defects exhibited regions of material flow, white layer formation, subsurface cracking, and material loss. For the first time, white layer was found in a highly alloyed white iron, which was determined to be nanocrystalline with an average grain size less than 15 nm and a phase constitution similar to the base metal. Material loss contributed to abrasive wear scars and eventual leakage of the lubricant protecting the wear components.

The paper proposed a trust model based on mathematical statistic method to enhance the safety of a VANET. By applying the statistical principles such as significance test, hypothesis test and confidence interval, the model can help the reputation management center to calculate trust values of all vehicle nodes, can help vehicle nodes to judge whether an event message can be trust or not. The simulation experiment results show that the model can effectively identify false event messages, improve the accuracy of data and enhance the information security of a VANET.

Frictional heat-induced severe adhesive wear has been limiting the lifetime of metal-to-metal wear systems for many years. Five graphitic white irons were previously designed and produced to introduce flake graphite into white iron, with the goal to expedite heat dissipation and reduce the frictional heat effect. This paper focused on the graphite addition effect on adhesive wear resistance for graphitic white irons and its comparison with abrasive wear. Adhesive wear resistance was assessed with a block on ring apparatus in accordance with ASTM G77. An empirical model was formulated to quantitatively evaluate graphite additions’ effect on the adhesive wear resistance. The model indicated that 1 vol.% graphite addition had the same effect as a hardness increase of 2.66 HRC, which was a 14% higher contribution than previously observed for three-body abrasive wear of the same alloys studied following ASTM G65. The improved wear resistance was related to an increased thermal diffusivity of the composite microstructure, and the surface lubricating effect of graphite.

Plant-specific NAM, ATAF, and CUC (NAC) transcription factors (TFs) play clear roles in plant development and abiotic stress responses. Chinese dwarf cherry (Cerasus humilis) is an economically important shrub, that has strong resistance to drought. In this study, we isolated and functionally characterized a novel NAC TF from C. humilis. The ChNAC1 ORF contained 894 nucleotides, encoding 297 amino acid residues. ChNAC1 amino acid sequences had the highest similarity with homologous petunia (Petunia hybrida) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) NAM proteins. The ChNAC1 transcripts were most abundant in the leaves of seedlings and significantly up-regulated by drought stress. The nuclear localization and transcriptional activity of the C-terminal domain further confirmed that ChNAC1 functions as a TF. Yeast two-hybrid results showed that ChNAC1 can homodimerize in yeast cells. Next, we transformed ChNAC1 into wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana and found that the ectopic expression of ChNAC1 increased chlorophyll, water, proline, and protein contents as well as higher peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities while decreasing electrolyte conductivity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents compared to wild-type and mutant lines. Further, overexpression of ChNAC1 positively regulated ABA-responsive genes under drought stress and increased ABA sensitivity during root growth. Collectively, these results demonstrate the key role of ChNAC1 in drought stress tolerance.

In this paper, we study the desingularization of multiscale rotating vortex patches with fixed angular velocity to the 2D Euler equations in a disk. We prove the existence of two-parameter multiscale V-states concentrating near two points. These two points are determined by the Robin function to the Green’s function, the Green’s function and angular velocity, and not symmetric about the origin, which is new to the former results. The existence of multiscale V-states with N-folds for $$ N\ge 2 $$ is also proved.

In this paper, we investigate a $6$-dimensional smooth thick braneworld model which contains a compact extra dimension and an infinite large one. The braneworld is generated by a real scalar field with a $\phi^6$ potential and the bulk is asymptotically $\text{AdS}_6$ spacetime. The geometry achieves the localization of the free $U(1)$ gauge field, which is a problem in the $5$-dimensional Randall-Sundrum-like models. In addition, we analyze the stability of the braneworld system and the localization of gravitons., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures

In this paper, we propose a scheme allow vehicles in a Vehicular Ad hoc Network share running information among them. We developed a mechanism that can help a vehicle to judge the trustworthiness of a message. We classify information into two types: one is emergency warning message, and the other is event reporting message. By collecting reports from other vehicles who pass through the place where an event occurs on claimed by a message, a vehicle can make a decision whether the message is true or false by using algorithms proposed in the paper. Simulation experiments show the scheme can work well and efficiently. The scheme can resist certain attacks that are hardly identified by other schemes as it avoids using vehicle’s ID. It can also protect a driver’s privacy in some extent which is a hot issue in recent research.

Metal-to-metal wear systems are widely used in various industries, but heat-induced adhesive wear has been limiting the lifetime of the components for many years. An idea of introducing interconnected flake graphite networks into white iron was developed by the authors, which can potentially solve this problem by increasing the overall thermal conductivity. To optimize the thermal conductivity and wear resistance, five alloys with different chromium and carbon contents were designed, produced, and investigated to develop the first generation of graphitic white iron. Mathematical models were developed to correlate the graphite phase concentration and cooling rate with carbon equivalent. It was shown that graphite volume percent needs to be higher than 7 pct to have a consistent thermal conductivity increase. Hardness model developed in this article suggested that M7C3 has a higher hardness than the plate cementite, and hardness increases with increasing chromium content in the carbides. The as-solidified microstructure was characterized using a SEM, and solidification sequence was established for this novel alloy system. Unexpectedly, for the first time, study of alloy with 11 wt pct Cr shows that M7C3 was formed during eutectic reaction and then transformed into cementite at a lower temperature.

We study brane worlds in an anisotropic higher-dimensional spacetime within the context of $f(R)$ gravity. Firstly, we demonstrate that this spacetime with a concrete metric ansatz is stable against linear tensor perturbations under certain conditions. Moreover, the Kaluza-Klein modes of the graviton are analyzed. Secondly, we investigate thick brane solutions in six dimensions and their properties. We further exhibit two sets of solutions for thick branes. At last, the effective potential of the Kaluza-Klein modes of the graviton is discussed for the two solved $f(R)$ models in higher dimensions., Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures; Sec IV updated; Appendix C added; minor other changes made; matches the published version

The uncertainty is a significant characteristic of wind speed in wind engineering field. Especially, it has brought much more problems to the grid in safe and efficient utilization of large scale wind power. And there is urgent need of systematic and perfect models that can describe windspeed uncertainty in grid scheduling and controlling. In this paper, a universal power-law model is proposed for properly depicting the uncertainty of both wind speed and wind power. According to the turbulence nature of wind uncertainty, the uncertainty model of wind speed is firstly obtained by using wavelet multi-scale transform algorithm for its tight supporting characteristic, which is more reasonable than the traditional algorithm of getting the mean valve and the variance valve of the time series. And the turbulent intensity model is further improved by a power-law model, which is suitable for much more kinds of turbulence on complex geographical conditions than that proposed in current international IEC standard with the sufficient actual data. In physically speaking, the model improvement with three parameters is consistent with turbulence development mechanism. Moreover, the uncertainty modeling method of wind power is developed based on the universal power-law model, which is not only suitable for the power of single wind turbine, but also suitable for the power of whole wind farm. It’s very importance that the wind speed uncertainty model is extended to model the power uncertainty of wind turbine and farm, in especial its or their power output is usually limited for human adjustment control. It has a certain significance to the real-time dispatch and optimal control of the renewable energy power system.

To exam the effect and safety of conventional acupuncture (CA) on cardiac arrhythmia. Nine medical databases were searched until February 2016 for randomized controlled trials. Heterogeneity was measured by Cochran Q test. Meta-analysis was conducted if I2 was less than 85% and the characteristics of included trials were similar. Nine qualified studies involving 638 patients were included. Only 1 study had definitely low risk of bias, while 7 trials were rated as unclear and 1 as high. Meta-analysis of CA alone did not have a significant benefit on response rate compared to amiodarone in patients with atrial fibrillation (Af) and atrial flutter (AF) [relative risk (RR): 1.09; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.79–1.49; P=0.61; I2=61%, P=0.11]. However, 1 study with higher methodological quality detected a lower recurrence rate of Af in CA alone as compared with sham acupuncture plus no treatment, and benefits on ventricular rate and time of conversion to normal sinus rhythm were found in CA alone group by 1 study, as well as the response rate in CA plus deslanoside group by another study. Meta-analysis of CA plus anti-arrhythmia drug (AAD) was associated with a significant benefit on the response rate when compared with AAD alone in ventricular premature beat (VPB) patients (RR, 1.19, 95% CI: 1.05–1.34; P=0.005; I2=13%, P=0.32), and an improvement in quality-of-life score (QOLS) of VPB also showed in 1 individual study. Besides, a lower heart rate was detected in the CA alone group by 1 individual study when compared with no treatment in sinus tachycardia patients (MD–21.84 [–27.21,–16.47]) and lower adverse events of CA alone were reported than amiodarone. CA may be a useful and safe alternative or additive approach to AADs for cardiac arrhythmia, especially in VPB and Af patients, which mainly based on a pooled estimate and result from 1 study with higher methodological quality. However, we could not reach a robust conclusion due to low quality of overall evidence.

In this paper, a general circuit topology of enhanced indirect-driven self-sensing actuation (EIDSSA) is proposed to allow independent design of actuation and self-sensing in piezoelectric-actuated systems. Sensitivity analysis is performed in terms of suspension structural dynamics, geometric amplification and material property. The proposed EIDSSA circuit topology is realized and incorporated into a commercial dual-stage hard disk drive to improve the rejection capability of audio-induced vibrations. Experimental results show that the on-track total-runout has been reduced by 8.89% in pink noise audio-induced vibrations and 25.2% in single-tone 2.5 kHz audio-induced vibrations without additional loop tuning efforts.

Disingenuously manipulating impact factor is the significant way to harm the fairness of impact factor. That behavior should be banned with effective means. In this paper, data mining techniques are used to solve this problem. Firstly, ten features are collected into feature set for nine normal journals and nine abnormal journals from 2005 to 2014. Then, three types of strong classification methods, k-nearest neighbor, decision tree and support vector machine are adopted to learn the well classification models. Moreover, eight algorithms are run on the data set to find out suitable methods for detecting impact factor manipulation in our experiment. Finally, two excellent algorithms in performance with precisions higher than 85 % are picked out and used to predict new journal samples. According to the results, random forest and one type of support vector machine are relatively more suitable than k-nearest neighbor in this case of detecting abnormal journals. When using those two methods to recognize other 90 journals in the field of nine disciplines from 2007 to 2014, they are verified to be broadly applicable. Unfortunately, four journals are recognized to be manipulated in some years. Therefore, in this paper, two data mining methods are discovered to be intelligent and automatic ways to detect and ban impact factor manipulation for journal managers.

To investigate the protective mechanism of violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) zeaxanthin in Cerasus humilis under drought and salt-stress conditions, we cloned the entire cDNA sequence of ChVDE from C. humilis and generated ChVDE-overexpression (OE) and ChVDE-complementation (CE) Arabidopsis plants. The open reading frame of ChVDE contained 1,446 bp nucleotides and encoded 481 amino acids. The ChVDE showed the highest similarity with those of Camellia sinensis and Citrus sinensis. Subcellular localization analysis showed that ChVDE was located in the chloroplasts. OE plants showed stronger root growth and higher levels of total chlorophyll as compared to WT and VDE mutant (npq1-2) plants. Moreover, the relative de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle pigments (A + Z)/(V + A+Z) was higher in OE plants than in the controls. OE plants had enhanced photosynthetic rates, respiration rates, and transpiration rates compared with the WT or npq1-2 plants after drought or salt treatment. Collectively, our results demonstrate that ChVDE plays a positive role in both drought and salt tolerance.

As the age profile of many societies continues to increase, in addition to the increasing population of people affected by chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and so on, supporting health, both mentally and physically, is of increasing importance if independent living is to be maintained. Sensing, remote health monitoring, and, ultimately, recognising activities of daily living have been an promising solution. From a technical perspective, the Internet of Things (IoT) is gaining a rapidly growing attention in many disciplines, especially in personalised healthcare. Meanwhile, body area sensor network (BASN) under the IoT framework has been widely applied for ubiquitous health monitoring, for example. ECG monitoring has been commonly adopted as vital approach for diagnosing heart disease. The main contribution of this paper include the following: firstly, this paper presents a novel system, the WISE (Wearable IoT-cloud-baSed hEalth monitoring system), for real-time personal health monitoring. WISE adopts the BASN (body area sensor network) framework in the support of real-time health monitoring. Several wearable sensors have been embedded, including the heartbeat, body temperature, and the blood pressure sensors. Secondly, the majority of existing wearable health monitoring systems requisite a smart phone as data processing, visualisation, and transmission gateway, which will indeed impact the normal daily use of the smart phone. Whilst in WISE, data gathered from the BASN are directly transmitted to the cloud, and a lightweight wearable LCD can be embedded as an alternative solution for quick view of the real-time data.

Tetrastichus brontispae Ferriere (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is an important natural enemy of the coconut leaf beetle Brontispa longissima (Gestro), a serious invasive pest on palm plants. Exposure to low temperature (2 °C) for 4, 24 and 48 h had an adverse effect on biological performance (survival, parasitism rate) of T. brontispae with immature parasitoids (eggs, larvae, and pupae) being more sensitive to low temperature than adults. Exposure to 2 °C for 24 h reduced the water content and increased the concentration of glycerol and trehalose, and activity of superoxidae in T. brontispae adults. Analysis of suppression subtractive hybridization indicated the integrative controlling and transcriptome regulation of the networks in the cold stress response of T. brontispae. Our study suggests that the allocation of energy reserves to either prevent or repair cold-induced damage may consume resources that could otherwise be invested in reproduction and consequently its ability to exert control on B. longissima.

Rh/ZrO2 catalyst was prepared by the impregnation method and then aged in N2 atmosphere with 10% steam at 1050°C for 12 h. The regeneration of the aged catalyst was examined by slow cooling the catalyst in O2 following preheating at 950°C. The as-prepared, aged, and regenerated catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface area analysis, and (CO+NO) reaction activity tests, CO chemisorption, and transmission electron microscopy. The results revealed that the Rh species on ZrO2 that underwent severe sintering during the high-temperature aging process could be regenerated by the slow re-oxidation process employed herein. Owing to the remarkable increase in the degree of Rh dispersion after the regeneration process, the activity could be markedly recovered. Further investigations revealed that such a regeneration phenomenon, involving the re-dispersion of the Rh species during the slow cooling process in O2, was strongly related to the phase transformation of the ZrO2 support and the interaction between the Rh and tetragonal ZrO2 species.

Accurate prediction of ultra-short-term wind speed is important in many applications. Because of the different patterns of wind speed, researchers have indicated that a multi-scale prediction method based on wavelet algorithms could improve forecasting. However, traditional multi-scale methods that directly synthetize results of different-scale components may reduce forecasting accuracy because of error accumulation. In this paper, a multi-scale synthesis strategy that takes into account the predictability of different scales is proposed. As the correlation length of each frequency sub-series is different, prediction models are constructed for each frequency sub-series using different numbers of prediction steps. Finally, based on two wind farms in different regions of China and different basic forecast models, eight experiments are performed using real-world wind speed data. Experimental results show that the proposed multi-scale synthesis method has better performance than traditional multi-scale forecasting methods that use direct synthetizing strategies, indicating its utility in wind engineering applications.

Interest in Citizen Science has grown significantly over the last decade. Much of this interest can be traced to the provision of sophisticated platforms that enable seamless collaboration, cooperation and coordination between professional and amateur scientists. In terms of field research, smart-phones have been widely adopted, automating data collection and enriching observations with photographs, sound recordings and GPS coordinates using embedded sensors hosted on the device itself. Interaction with external sensor platforms such as those normally used in the environmental monitoring domain is practically null-existent. Remedying this deficiency would have positive ramifications for both the professional and citizen science communities. To illustrate the relevant issues, this paper considers a common problem, that of data collection in sparse sensor networks, and proposes a practical solution that would enable citizen scientists act as Human Relays thus facilitating the collection of data from such networks. Broader issues necessary for enabling intelligent sensing using common smart-phones and embedded sensing technologies are then discussed.

In conventional track-settling process, dual-stage actuation (DSA) is not activated until the read/write head is in close proximity to the target track so that chances of saturation are reduced. In this paper, we propose an earliest switch-on scheme based on the calculation of the exact saturation boundary, considering both position error signal and voice coil motor velocity error. It allows the DSA loop to be switched on earlier than current practices while piezoelectric actuators remain unsaturated. Simulations on a 2.5$$''$$?? commercially available hard disk drive show that the proposed scheme can reduce the post-seek oscillation and shorten the 5 % track-settling time by more than 16 % in the presence of in-drive disturbances.

Cuticular wax is a complex mixture of very-long-chain fatty acid derivatives. The wax on the surface of plants serves as a protective barrier to reduce non-stomatal water loss and environmental damage. However, the loss of wax may lead to a glossy phenotype, which is an favorable trait in leafy vegetables. The mechanism of glossy mutants in non-heading Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. var. communis) has not been studied yet. In this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the cuticular wax on the leaves and stem of a glossy mutant was dramatically reduced compared with that of the wild-type plant. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the cuticle ultrastructure of glossy mutant leaf and stem were altered when compared with the wild type. A cuticle wax analysis showed the total wax content of leaves, as well as alkanes, ketones and alcohols, was decreased. A genetic analysis indicated that the glossy phenotype was controlled by a single gene. Based on a homology analysis, the Brcer1 gene was identified as the candidate gene controlling the glossy phenotype. In the glossy mutant, a 39-bp deletion leads to an mRNA disruption and reduces the expression of the BrCER1 gene. Sequence analysis showed that a loss of function mutation in the Brcer1 gene was different from that of Cgl1, which was previously shown to be responsible for the glossy phenotype in B. oleracea, showing typical parallel selection. These findings provide a better understanding of the cuticular wax biosynthesis pathway and offer important information for molecular-assisted breeding of non-heading Chinese cabbage (B. rapa L. var. communis).

We propose a quantum key distribution based on Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometry and interaction-free measurement on single photon. The raw key comes from the photons on which MZ interferometry happened. And the interaction-free measurements are used to detect eavesdroppers. The analysis indicates that the protocol is secure, and can prevent some familiar attacks, such as photon number splitting (PNS) attack. This scheme is easy to be realized in current experiments.

Activity recognition is fundamental to many of the services envisaged in pervasive computing and ambient intelligence scenarios. However, delivering sufficiently robust activity recognition systems that could be deployed with confidence in an arbitrary real-world setting remains an outstanding challenge. Developments in wireless, inexpensive and unobtrusive sensing devices have enabled the capture of large data volumes, upon which a variety of machine learning techniques have been applied in order to facilitate interpretation of and inference upon such data. Much of the documented research in this area has in the main focused on recognition across pre-segmented sensor data. Such approaches are insufficient for near real-time analysis as is required for many services, such as those envisaged by ambient assisted living. This paper presents a novel near real-time sensor segmentation approach that incorporates the notions of both sensor and time correlation.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) involving demyelinating and neurodegenerative processes. Several of the major pathological CNS alterations and behavioral deficits of MS are recapitulated in the experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) mouse model in which the disease process is induced by administration of myelin peptides. Development of EAE requires infiltration of inflammatory cytokine-generating monocytes and macrophages, and auto-reactive T cells, into the CNS. Very late antigen-4 (VLA-4, α4β1) is an integrin molecule that plays a role in inflammatory responses by facilitating the migration of leukocytes across the blood-brain barrier during inflammatory disease, and antibodies against VLA-4 exhibit therapeutic efficacy in mouse and monkey MS models. Here, we report that the tellurium compound AS101 (ammonium trichloro (dioxoethylene-o,o') tellurate) ameliorates EAE by inhibiting monocyte and T cell infiltration into the CNS. CD49d is an alpha subunit of the VLA-4 (α4β1) integrin. During the peak stage of EAE, AS101 treatment effectively ameliorated the disease process by reducing the number of CD49d(+) inflammatory monocyte/macrophage cells in the spinal cord. AS101 treatment markedly reduced the pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, while increasing anti-inflammatory cytokine levels. In contrast, AS101 treatment did not affect the peripheral populations of CD11b(+) monocytes and macrophages. AS101 treatment reduced the infiltration of CD4(+) and CD49(+)/VLA4 T cells. In addition, treatment of T cells from MS patients with AS101 resulted in apoptosis, while such treatment did not affect T cells from healthy donors. These results suggest that AS101 reduces accumulation of leukocytes in the CNS by inhibiting the activity of the VLA-4 integrin and provide a rationale for the potential use of Tellurium IV compounds for the treatment of MS.

MnTeMoO6 crystals have been grown by the top-seeded solution growth method. The hardness, density, specific heat and chemical stability of MnTeMoO6 crystal were measured and analyzed. The actual density of MnTeMoO6 crystals are slightly larger than 5.0g/cm-3. An average Mohs hardness of about 4.5 is presented in MnTeMoO6 crystals, indicating the crystal is easy to cut and polish. The hardness and actual density of MnTeMoO6 crystals increase with the crystal quality, and the crystal with the smallest hardness and actual density has the poorest quality. The specific heat was measured to be 0.41-0.55 Jg-1K-1 over the temperature range of 20-300 \({}^{\circ}C\). The chemical stability measurements indicate that the MnTeMoO6 crystal has an excellent chemical stability and is resistant to diluted hydrochloric acid and diluted nitric acid.

Ag nanoparticles were prepared via a wet chemical reduction method and treated with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) to form an insulating SiO2 layer on the surface (Ag@SiO2). The Ag@SiO2 nanoparticles were introduced in to the BaTiO3/poly (vinylidene fluoride) matrix to prepare the three-phase Ag@SiO2/BaTiO3/poly (vinylidene fluoride) composite, and the dielectric behavior of the composite was investigated. The results showed that the typical “conductor/polymer” percolation effect was not observed in the composite as a result of the SiO2 layer, which prevented Ag particles from contacting with each other directly and restricted the movement of electrons under external field. The high dielectric constant of 723 and a relatively low loss of 0.82 were achieved at 100 Hz with 40 vol% Ag@SiO2 and 20 vol% BaTiO3, respectively. The microcapacitor network model and “Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars” (MWS) effect were used to investigate dielectric properties of the three-phase composite.

The antigenic response of β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg), treated by dynamic high-pressure microfluidization (DHPM) at different temperatures, was determined by an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using polyclonal antibodies from rabbit serum. DHPM treatment causes changes in the protein structure and may influence the antigenicity of β-Lg. DHPM treatment of β-Lg at 90 °C showed significant effects with the antigenic response of 5.2 μg mL−1 (untreated), 45 μg mL−1 (40 MPa), 79 μg mL−1 (80 MPa), 132 μg mL−1 (120 MPa), and 158 μg mL−1 (160 MPa). In combination with temperature treatment (70–90 °C), the antigenic response enhanced as the temperature increased at 160 MPa. The β-Lg antigenicities were about 14, 108, and 158 μg mL−1 at 70, 80, and 90 °C, respectively. However, the influence of DHPM pressures on the antigenic response of β-Lg standards was different. DHPM modified β-Lg standards showed a remarkable increase in antigenicity when treated to 80 MPa. Above 80 MPa, the antigenic response decreased.

Interleukin (IL)-33 is a recently described pro-inflammatory cytokine. Here we demonstrate IL-33 as a regulator of functional osteoclasts (OCs) from human CD14(+) monocytes. IL-33 stimulates formation of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)(+) multinuclear OCs from monocytes. This action was suppressed by anti-ST2 antibody, suggesting that IL-33 acts through its receptor ST2, but not by the receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) decoy, osteoprotegerin, or anti-RANKL antibody. IL-33 stimulated activating phosphorylations of signaling molecules in monocytes that are critical for OC development. These included Syk, phospholipase Cγ2, Gab2, MAP kinases, TAK-1, and NF-κB. IL-33 also enhanced expression of OC differentiation factors including TNF-α receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6), nuclear factor of activated T cells cytoplasmic 1, c-Fos, c-Src, cathepsin K, and calcitonin receptor. IL-33 eventually induced bone resorption. This study suggests that the osteoclastogenic property of IL-33 is mediated through TRAF6 as well as the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif-dependent Syk/PLCγ pathway in human CD14(+) monocytes.