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Tunable lens technology inspired by the human eye has opened a new paradigm of smart optical devices for a variety of applications due to unique characteristics such as lightweight, low cost, and facile fabrication over conventional lens assemblies. The fast-growing demands for tunable optical lenses in consumer electronics, medical diagnostics, and optical communications require the lens to have a large focal length modulation range and high compactness. Herein, for the first time, an all-solid tunable soft lens driven by highly transparent dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) and waterborne polyurethane (PEDOT:PSS/WPU) transparent electrodes is developed. The deformation of the tunable soft lens is achieved by the actuation of DEAs, mimicking the change of the surface profile of the human eye to achieve remarkable focal length variations. Upon electrical activation, this tunable soft lens can vary its original focal length by 209%, which is one of the highest among current tunable soft lenses and far beyond that of the human eye. This study demonstrates that transparent DEAs are capable of achieving focus-variation functions, and potentially useful in artificial robotic vision, visual prostheses, and adjustable glasses, which will induce significant effects on the future development of tunable optics.

Donor–acceptor (D–A) type conjugated polymers are promising high performance thermoelectric (TE) materials due to their high carrier mobility, versatile structure and easily tuneable doping level. In this work, we have demonstrated a significant enhancement in the TE performance of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) based D–A conjugated polymers by the incorporation of one 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) building block. When one thiophene building block of PDPP-5T was substituted by EDOT, the HOMO level of PDPP-4T-EDOT could be increased and the coplanarity of the conjugated backbone was slightly enhanced, which could facilitate the efficient p-doping of the conjugated polymer. Compared with PDPP-5T, PDPP-4T-EDOT exhibited a much higher optimal TE power factor of 298.2 μW m−1 K−2 at a lower doping level, which is among the highest value for p-type organic thermoelectric materials based on D–A conjugated polymers. The results provide attractive guidance for the design and development of high performance thermoelectric conjugated polymers.

When an input terminal is connected to a solar panel with a low voltage level and large power range fluctuation, a Boost type CLLC converter controlled by fixed frequency pulse width modulation (PWM) reduces the utilization of PV electric energy, and the synchronous drive of the secondary side and primary side ensures that the converter operates with low efficiency when the duty cycle is shifted by 0.5. To maximize the utilization of photovoltaic (PV) energy in a PV power generation system and improve the conversion efficiency, this paper studies a Boost CLLC converter with high gain and soft switching controlled by PWM-pulse frequency modulation (PFM) hybrid modulation for PV power generation. By controlling the duty cycle and switching frequency of the primary MOSFETs, the converter can stabilize the output voltage while tracking the PV maximum power point. Under such a hybrid control, the resonant gain of the converter is greater than 1, the voltage gain is large, one of the MOSFETs at the primary side is in a zero-voltage-switching-open (ZVS-ON) state, two diodes are used to realize zero-current-switching (ZCS) soft switching on the secondary side, and the efficiency of the converter is high. In addition, this paper studies the phenomenon of backflow power in the resonant circuit and the influence of a change in the switching frequency on the magnitude of the backflow power. Finally, a 500W experimental prototype was constructed to verify the accuracy of the theoretical analysis and the feasibility of the control method.

Autonomous mobile robot (AMR) has been appealed for intelligent manufacturing and automation applications due to their commendable performance. However, in the situation where accurate and fast trajectory tracking is required, the unknown dynamics (including the modelling uncertainty or parametric perturbations) may reduce the control precision. To address this challenge, an iterative super-twisting sliding mode control (ISSMC) scheme is presented for the concerned autonomous mobile robots. Specifically, a two-degree-of-freedom control scheme is established by combining super-twisting sliding and iterative learning mechanism. The second-order reaching mechanism of the super-twisting sliding law mitigates the chattering occurring in traditional solutions. Moreover, the iterative learning law can compensate for the dynamic tracking error. The achieved trajectory tracks the expected reference without knowing exact parameters. Lyapunov- like functions are constructed for guaranteeing the convergence and closed-loop system stability. Comparison experiments are offered to validate the availability of the presented ISSMC scheme.

To effectively eliminate the influence of the asymmetric structure on the positioning accuracy of asymmetric interferometer disturbance sensors, this paper proposes a positioning method based on convolution window filtering (CWF) and the S-transform (ST). First, we employ the CWF method to remove the noise and detect the endpoint of a disturbance frame, which is permanently stable. Then, the ST-based algorithm is used to remove the asymmetry of the extracted signal, which would seriously reduce the positioning accuracy. Finally, an experiment is performed to verify the effectiveness of this scheme by employing an asymmetric dual-laser source Mach–Zehnder interferometer based sensing system. The experimental results demonstrate that 93.25% of the positioning errors of 800 set tests are distributed in the range of ±20 m at the sensing length of 101 km. The average processing time of 800 set tests is 0.21 s. Therefore, the proposed method has practical applications in the field of perimeter security.

Context: Compounds to treat hypothyroidism in the absence of cardiac side effects are urgently required. In this regard, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) has gained interest due to its anti-anxiolytic, antihypertensive and antioxidant properties, and reported benefits to the thyroid system. Objective: We investigated the ability of GABA to ameliorate fluoride-induced thyroid injury in mice, and investigated the mechanism(s) associated with GABA-induced protection. Materials and methods: Adult male Kumning mice (N = 90) were exposed to NaF (50 mg/kg) for 30 days as a model of hypothyroidism. To evaluate the effects of GABA administration, fluoride-exposed mice received either thyroid tablets, or low (25 mg/kg), medium (50 mg/kg) or high (75 mg/kg) concentrations of pure GABA orally for 14 days groups (N = 10 each). The effects of low (50 mg/kg); medium (75 mg/kg) and high (100 mg/kg) concentrations of laboratory-separated GABA were assessed for comparison. Effects on thyroid hormone production, oxidative stress, thyroid function-associated genes, and side-effects during therapy were measured. Results: GABA supplementation in fluoride-exposed mice significantly increased the expression of thyroid TG, TPO, and NIS (P

Jellyfish are rich in resources and widely distributed along coastal areas. As a potential approach to respond to jellyfish blooms, the use of jellyfish-derived products is increasing. The citrus spider mite (Panonychus citri) is one of the key citrus pests, negatively impacting the quality and quantity of oranges. Due to the resistance and residue of chemical acaricides, it is important to seek natural substitutes that are environmentally friendly. The field efficacy of the venom from the jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai against P. citri was assayed in a citrus garden. The frozen N. nomurai tentacles were sonicated in different buffers to isolate the venom. The venom isolated by PBS buffer (10 mM, pH 6.0) had the strongest acaricidal activity of the four samples, and the corrected field efficacy 7 days after treatment was up to 95.21%. This study demonstrated that jellyfish has potential use in agriculture.

Number of visible satellites and mask angle of the GPS satellites are two major factors to influence positioning error characteristics of GPS/INS integrated navigation. For GPS signals, there are shading effects in urban canyons and forest environments. Based on the positioning error characteristics of GPS/INS integrated navigation model, with the different number of the visible satellites under the influence of mask angle, the simulation of positioning error RMS with different number of the visible satellites is provided. At the same time, the characteristics of the simulation results are analyzed in detail. Some theoretical references for the influence of mask angle to the GPS/INS integrated navigation performance are provided.

Jellyfish stings are a common issue globally, particularly in coastal areas in the summer. Victims can suffer pain, itching, swelling, shock, and even death. Usually, hot water, vinegar, or alumen is used to treat the normal symptoms of a jellyfish sting. However, a specific antivenom may be an effective treatment to deal with severe jellyfish stings. Cyanea nozakii often reach a diameter of 60 cm and are responsible for hundreds of thousands of stings per year in coastal Chinese waters. However, there has been no specific C. nozakii antivenom until now, and so the development of this antivenom is very important. Herein, we collected C. nozakii antisera from tentacle extract venom immunized rabbits and purified the immunoglobulin (IgG) fraction antivenom (AntiCnTXs). Subsequently, two complete procedures to produce a refined F(ab’)2 type of antivenom (F(ab’)2-AntiCnTXs) and Fab type of antivenom (Fab-AntiCnTXs) by multiple optimizations and purification were established. The neutralization efficacy of these three types of antivenoms was compared and analyzed in vitro and in vivo, and the results showed that all types of antibodies displayed some neutralization effect on the lethality of C. nozakii venom toxins, with the neutralization efficacy as follows: F(ab’)2-AntiCnTXs ≥ AntiCnTXs &gt, Fab-AntiCnTXs. This study describes the preparation of novel C. nozakii jellyfish antivenom preparations towards the goal of developing a new, effective treatment for jellyfish stings.

In the pipeline transportation process of fluid medium, there are usually small solid particles flowing along with the medium in the pipeline. When the velocity, direction and pressure of the pipe change, the small particles will collide irregularly in the pipeline. With the increase of service time, there will be a series of erosion wear. The DPM erosion prediction model in fluent software is used for numerical simulation analysis. The erosion and wear under different airflow directions are studied, and the areas with more severe erosion and wear are obtained. This shows that there are high requirements on the mechanical properties of the T-junction pipe material in the parts that are prone to erosion and wear during the use of the T-junction pipe. Different erosion rates are obtained under different working conditions. The erosive wear is the largest under the shunt a working condition; the erosive wear is the smallest under the confluence b working condition.

Wind turbine airfoil operates in the atmosphere with uncertain turbulence and relatively low Reynolds number all year round. Meanwhile, due to the complexity of blade airfoil fabrication, there are inevitable geometric deviations to the theoretical airfoil shape. These uncertainties from manufacturing and operating environment couple together and lead to performance degradation. In the traditional wind turbine airfoil design process, the uncertainties are not the design variables, objectives, and constraints are deterministic. This paper presents a novel approach for uncertain analysis and aerodynamic robustness optimization of wind turbine airfoil considering turbulence and geometric error uncertainties. An interval method coupled with the Kriging model is applied to quantify the uncertain influence, and is integrated in the optimization. The target of optimization is to find an optimal airfoil with low sensitivity to uncertainties, as well as maintaining lift to drag ratio. After optimization the min std best airfoil shows 17.96% reduction of fluctuation range and no decreased average of lift to drag ratio compared to the baseline airfoil. The optimization was validated through flow field analysis by non-deterministic CFD approach. The proposed methodology can be further applied to other engineering designs making product less sensitivity to uncertainties thus more reliable.

Background: The Intervention effect of fucoxanthin, which is reportedly a powerful antioxidant, on cadmium-induced thyroid damage in mice was evaluated.Methods: Animals (N = 120) were divided into control group (given pure water, N=20) and CdCl-exposed group (given CdCl orally at a dose of 30 mg/kg body weight (bw)/day for 30 days, N=100). Besides, the CdCl-exposed group were divided into following 5 groups (N=20) to evaluate the intervention effect of fucoxanthin: 1) negative control group (NCG, animals were supplied with pure water); 2) positive control group (PCG, animals were supplied with 50 mg/kg bw/day thyroid tablets); 3) low fucoxanthin concentration group (F1, animals were supplied with 10 mg/kg bw/day fucoxanthin); 4)medium fucoxanthin concentration group (F2, animals were supplied with 25 mg/kg bw/day fucoxanthin); 5) high fucoxanthin concentration groups (F3, animals were supplied with 50 mg/kg bw/day fucoxanthin). A 14-day treatment was conducted for these animals. The levels of T4, T3, MDA, APX and CAT were measured, and the expression levels of Bax, Bcl-2, ERK1, ERK2, MEK1, eIf2α, p-eIf2α, GRP78 and GRP94 genes were determined using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR). In addition, tissue histopathology and ultrastructure were recorded and analyzed.Results: We found that injection of cadmium chloride (CdCl) decreased blood T4 and T3 levels to 27.10 ng/ml and 837.74 pg/ml, respectively. In addition, CdCl intoxication induced oxidative stress, structural abnormalities and apoptosis in thyroid follicles. Our results showed that treatment of CaCl-exposed mice with 25-50 mg/kg bw/day fucoxanthin appreciably decreased oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by CdCl, and restored the microstructural and ultrastructural organisation of the thyroid gland towards normalcy. Compared with the negative control group, fucoxanthin treatment groups showed significantly upregulated T4 and T3 levels (52.17 ng/ml and 1669.18 ng/ml, respectively; P ＜ 0.05), relieved oxidative stress by decreasing Malondialdehyde (MDA) level and increasing Catalase (CAT) and Ascorbate Peroxidase (APX) levels, and increased apoptosis inhibition through inhibiting the ERK1/2 pathway and preventing endoplasmic reticulum stress in thyroid follicular epithelial cells.Conclusion: Herein, our study provides evidence of the protective effects of fucoxanthin supplementation against thyroid damage, and suggests therapeutic potential of this pigment in cases of Cd intoxication and hypothyroidism.

Transparency is one of the few forms of camouflage used by natural creatures in a habitat with any backgrounds. Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) have important applications in many areas such as soft robots, artificial muscles and compliant devices. However, conventional DEAs cannot mimic the transparent appearance of natural creatures by using conventional materials like carbon grease as the compliant electrodes since carbon grease is a viscous black fluid. In this work, transparent artificial muscles are demonstrated by exploiting blends of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and waterborne polyurethane (WPU) as compliant electrodes. The PEDOT:PSS/WPU blends are conductive and transparent solids, and the dielectric elastomer actuator artificial muscles can achieve a voltage-induced area strain of 200% with a transmittance of higher than 88% over the entire visible light spectrum. A transparent soft robot driven by these transparent artificial muscles is demonstrated. The fully transparent robot can vibrate asymmetrically at specific frequencies and demonstrate translational motion while keeping camouflaged in colorful backgrounds. The finite element analysis and experiments reveal the working mechanisms of the robot consistently. The concept of transparent actuators and transparent soft robots can guide the design of next-generation soft robots.

Planar array capacitance imaging technology is a kind of nondestructive testing technology applied to defect detection of composite materials. In the imaging process, the image quality is often poor due to the environment noise and the ill-posed of inverse problem solving. In this paper, an image reconstruction optimization method is proposed. Based on the analysis of the sensitive region of a single pair of electrodes and the contribution of capacitance value to each solution unit, an optimization matrix which is calculated by adjusting the contribution coefficient of each capacitance value to different solution units is proposed to optimize the sensitive field. Finally, simulation and experiment results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. Through the average relative error of each pixel of the reconstructed image before and after optimization, it can be seen that the error of reconstructed images at two different positions are reduced by an average of 3.22 % and 1.62 % respectively, while verified this method can effectively improve the reconstructed image and improve the anti-noise ability of the image.

Multifunctional films can have important applications. Transparent and flexible films with high conductivity and magnetic properties can be used in many areas, such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, magnetic switching, microwave absorption, and also biotechnology. Herein, novel highly conductive and superparamagnetic thin films with excellent transparency and flexibility have been demonstrated. The films were formed from a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS; Clevios PH1000) aqueous solution added with iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles that have a size of ∼20 nm by spin-coating. The PEDOT:PSS/Fe3O4 films have a high conductivity of 1080 S/cm through treatment with methylammonium iodide in an organic solvent. The high-conductivity PEDOT:PSS/Fe3O4 films can also have a saturation magnetization of 25.5 emu/g and an EMI shielding effectiveness of more than 40 dB in the 8–12.5 GHz (X band) frequency range. The PEDOT:PSS/Fe3O4 films have additional advantages, like e...

Non‐healing diabetic wounds are difficult to treat. They also create heavy financial burdens for both patients and society. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has been adopted to treat intractable wounds and has proved to be effective. However, the mechanisms that underlie the effects of this treatment are not entirely understood. Circulating fibrocytes are unique haematopoietic‐derived stem cells that have been reported to play a pivotal role in wound healing. Here, we have investigated the effect of NPWT on fibrocyte mobilization and the role of fibrocyte mobilization in the healing of diabetic wounds during NPWT. We show that the NPWT group exhibited 2.6‐fold to 12.1‐fold greater numbers of tail vein‐injected PKH‐26‐labelled fibrocytes in the diabetic wound sites compared with the control group. We also demonstrate that the full‐thickness skin wounds treated with NPWT exhibit significantly reduced mRNA and protein expression, blood vessel density and proliferating cells when exogenous fibrocyte mobilization is inhibited. We speculate that systemic mobilization of fibrocytes during NPWT may be a mechanism for healing intractable wounds in a diabetic rat model experiment and that enhancement of cell mobilization may represent a potential treatment idea for intractable wound healing across all fields of surgery.

With the explosive increase of smartphones, tablets and laptops, the past few years have witnessed the exponential rise of mobile data traffic.\ud This has already caused data overload on cellular networks. As a result, cellular networks can not offer sufficient capacity to accommodate the numerous mobile data requirements. Therefore, it is an urgent agenda for cellular network operators to find out immediate solutions. As a promising way to tackle this problem, mobile data offloading is considered to transfer traffic which originally generates towards cellular network to complementary networks. This article aims to present a comprehensive overview of mobile data offloading.\ud According to the participation of infrastructure, we classify the existing strategies into two major categories, namely infrastructure-based strategies and infrastructure-less strategies. Then, we review the technical aspects and discuss the state of the art in each category. After discussing advantages and disadvantages of these strategies, we also introduce the performance metrics used in offloading system, as well as the future challenges.

Compound properties of an alkali-free liquid accelerator are the mainstream of accelerator research and development in the present. Combined with the technical characteristics of wet-mix shotcrete in coal mines, organic high-polymer SWF is used to modify the accelerator because of improving the bond strength of the material and increasing the performance of antisagging. The mechanism of filling and thickening of SWF was analyzed from the aspects of pore characteristics and spatial structure of concrete. Through the determination of setting time, strength, and dispersibility, the optimum dose was determined, and a new style accelerator WIT-1 suitable for wet-mix shotcrete in coal mines was developed and applied on-site. The experimental results show that the addition of SWF increases the dispersibility of the accelerator product and the cohesiveness of concrete under the condition of ensuring strength and setting time, and the effect of modifying the accelerator to reduce the rebound of the wet-mix shotcrete is obvious.

Two low-bandgap polymers, PDTPN-α and PDTPN-β, containing diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) and dithienopyrrole (DTP) functionalized with two different side chains of α-naphthalene and β-naphthalene were synthesized. Experimental results show that subtle configuration changes at the side chains can effectively influence the molecular alignment, film morphology, and photodetector performance. As a result, the preferential edge-on orientation of PDTPN-β can effectively decrease the dark current density of the photodetector. This wealth of information on the strong correction between the variation in the molecular conformation and the device performance provides a novel avenue to prepare high-performance polymer photodetectors with superior specific detectivity.

In order to solve the problem of “attaching importance to the construction while neglecting the evaluation” in construction of continuous rigid frame bridges in China, a post-construction evaluation system was established by taking the elasticity modulus of concrete, frictional loss of prestress and loss of prestress as the indexes, and a three-level fuzzy comprehensive post-design evaluation model was built. The continuous rigid frame bridge on the Chongqing-Hechuan segment of Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway was taken as an example to conduct a comprehensive post-design evaluation. The results showed that the studied bridge was evaluated and categorized into Category II in the bridge design evaluation system, indicating a good design and operation state of this bridge. Suggestions and countermeasures were proposed for the design of continuous rigid frame bridges, with a vision to provide a basis for construction of bridges of the same type.

Wearable electronic devices are becoming increasingly popular. They can bring a tremendous impact to human life. Wearable sensors, a class of wearable electronic devices, have attracted considerable attention because of their importance in healthcare. In this study, graphene-based wearable sensors, which can be directly integrated into clothes or textile products, are fabricated by a simple and cost effective method. Non-woven fabric (NWF) is considered as a green and low cost textile material, and its properties can be engineered for specific functions, such as medical systems, clothing, filter and packaging. A piece of NWF was dipped into graphene oxide (GO) solution and then reduced in HI acid. The GO reduction was confirmed by both X-ray photoelectron spectra and scanning electron microscopy. In the final product, reduced GO sheets were evenly coated on the NWF surface. The as-prepared graphene-NWF (GNWF) sensors exhibited a negative gauge factor at small strain. The signal has good reproducibility in response to stretching, bending and pressure. The highest gauge factor is −7.1 at 1% strain, and the highest sensitivity is 0.057 kPa−1. The GNWF sensors are able to respond to a series of human motions with the differentiation of various degrees of motions, and it can monitor small scale motions such as pulse and respiration.

Deep neural network (DNN) as a popular machine learning model is found to be vulnerable to adversarial attack. This attack constructs adversarial examples by adding small perturbations to the raw input, while appearing unmodified to human eyes but will be misclassified by a well-trained classifier. In this paper, we focus on the black-box attack setting where attackers have almost no access to the underlying models. To conduct black-box attack, a popular approach aims to train a substitute model based on the information queried from the target DNN. The substitute model can then be attacked using existing white-box attack approaches, and the generated adversarial examples will be used to attack the target DNN. Despite its encouraging results, this approach suffers from poor query efficiency, i.e., attackers usually needs to query a huge amount of times to collect enough information for training an accurate substitute model. To this end, we first utilize state-of-the-art white-box attack methods to generate samples for querying, and then introduce an active learning strategy to significantly reduce the number of queries needed. Besides, we also propose a diversity criterion to avoid the sampling bias. Our extensive experimental results on MNIST and CIFAR-10 show that the proposed method can reduce more than $90\%$ of queries while preserve attacking success rates and obtain an accurate substitute model which is more than $85\%$ similar with the target oracle., Comment: 9 pages

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been attracting considerable attention because of their low fabrication cost and impressive energy conversion efficiency. Most PSCs are built on transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) such as fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) or indium tin oxide (ITO), which are costly and rigid. Therefore, it is significant to explore alternative materials as the transparent electrode of PSCs. In this study, highly conductive and highly transparent poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) films were investigated as the transparent electrode of both rigid and flexible PSCs. The conductivity ofPSS films on rigid glass or flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrate is significantly enhanced through a treatment with methanesulfonic acid (MSA). The optimal power conversion efficiency (PCE) is close to 11% for the rigid PSCs with an MSA-treatedPSS film as the transparent electrode on glass, and it is more than 8% for the flexible PSCs with a MSA-treatedPSS film as the transparent electrode on PET. The flexible PSCs exhibit excellent mechanical flexibility in the bending test.

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is the most successful conducting polymer in terms of practical application. It possesses many unique properties, such as good film forming ability by versatile fabrication techniques, superior optical transparency in visible light range, high electrical conductivity, intrinsically high work function and good physical and chemical stability in air. PEDOT:PSS has wide applications in energy conversion and storage devices. This review summarizes its applications in organic solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, supercapacitors, fuel cells, thermoelectric devices and stretchable devices. Approaches to enhance the material/device performances are highlighted.

Polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) is of great importance in the remote sensing, which can be used widely in both civil and military fields. However, existing classification methods cannot effectively utilize the spatial structure information of the SAR data. In this study, a classification method for PolSAR images based on non-negative tensor factorization (NTF) is proposed. The proposed method uses tensor to represent the original data and extract the spacial structure feature by using NTF. Classification results are obtained by using support vector machines (SVM) and the Wishart clustering technology. The results show the validity and accuracy of the proposed method on PolSAR images classification.

With the NPC converter widely applied to distributed generation system, the ability to ensure the DC bus neutral-point potential (NPP) balance has a crucial impact on the system. Research on grid-connected NPC three-level converter, in this paper, mathematical model of NPP fluctuation is established firstly, the mechanism of NPP ac-dc fluctuations is analyzed, the relationship between NPP error calculation and system operation mode (rectifier-mode or inverter-mode) is deduced, NPP control model based on equalizing loop is established. Secondly, the inherent relationship for NPP balancing control and controller parameter tuning method are given by theoretical analysis. In order to maximize suppress NPP AC fluctuations, the paper proposes a method that controller parameters is designed according to the largest open-loop shear frequency by system frequency characteristic analysis. The NPP Control method has the following advantages: effectively suppressing of NPP ac/dc fluctuations at the same time, positive and negative DC bus voltage fast dynamic response, high utilization rate of dc voltage. Finally, the correctness of the theoretical analysis is verified by MATLAB simulation.

Effect of Differently Regioselective Chitosan Sulfates on Serum Lipids in Alloxan induced Diabetic Rats Objective: Diabetes mellitus is the most common endocrine disorder, and sometimes accompanied by long-term complications, which mainly was resulted in insufficient metabolic control. In this paper, we investigated and compared the hypolipidemic activity of differently regioselective chitosan sulfates in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Methods: Compared with the normal control rats, no noticeable changes were found in serum lipid levels in the diabetes rats. Except 3-O-sulfochitosan (TCTS), other chitosan sulfates exhibit mild lipid regulating activities at different doses and time. Results: First, TCTS significantly elevated the serum cholesterol level, however, TCTS also notably increased HDL-C level. HDL-C is a kind of the important criteria of antiatherogenic agents. Many studies have showed that the higher level of HDL-C lead to the lower incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Second, treatment with TCTS the plasma insulin levels were obviously increased in the diabetic rats. Insulin deficiency in diabetes mellitus has been demonstrated to bring about various disorders in metabolic and regulatory processes, which in turn causes to accumulation of lipids. Conclusions: Therefore, in terms of the effect of TCTS for HDL-C and serum insulin level, TCTS might be has a lipid lowering effect on the alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

By incorporating six blue emissive polyfluorene arms into star-shaped orange emissive cores, two kinds of star-like white electroluminescent single-polymer systems are designed and synthesized. Energy transfer from the polyfluorene arms to the orange emissive cores is observed and a concentration quenching effect is effectively suppressed. Through thermal annealing, a highly efficient white emissive single-layer device is achieved with CIE coordinates of (0.33, 0.35) and a current efficiency of 18.01 cd A(-1).

Despite reports on many different techniques, the ideal method of vaginoplasty has not been firmly established. The purpose of our study was to describe the procedure and outcome of creating neovagina lined with autologous micromucosa. Nine patients with vaginal agenesis were reconstructed by our new technique. The mucosal grafts that harvested from the bilateral cheek were minced into 1 mm2 in size by machine and were transplanted to the cavity, which is dissected between the bladder and the rectum. In all cases, a neovagina was well formed, 8 cm in depth (range, 6-10), and 2 fingers in width. The lining was pink-colored, smooth, and was confirmed as mucosal histologically. The perineal area and donor sites were not disturbed postoperation. Of the 9 patients, 4 were married and sexually active. Three of them were satisfied with their sexual life, whereas the remaining one complained the inadequate depth of the neovagina. We conclude that the use of autologous micromucosa to construct a neovagina appears an easy, effective, and minimally invasive method. It deserves further application.

A high breakdown voltage (BV) thin SOI LDMOS with ultralow specific on-resistance is proposed and its mechanism is investigated. The LDMOS features an accumulation-mode extended gate (AEG) structure on the surface that consists of a P- region and two diodes in series. In the on-state, an electron accumulation layer is formed at the drift region surface and provides an ultralow resistance current path, which dramatically decreases the specific on-resistance (R on-sp ) and obtains a very low and even-distributed temperature. In the off-state, the P- region in AEG depletes the N-drift region, and hence increases the drift doping concentration (N d ) and further decreases the R on-sp . Moreover, the two reverse biased diodes sustain the gate to drain voltage in the on-state and offstate respectively, ensuring a high breakdown voltage and low leakage current. Compared with a conventional thin SOI LDMOS, the proposed device reduces the R on-sp by 70% and increases the BV by 7%.

With the rising of Chinese labor costs, industrial robots as a new type of labor force, is quietly changing employment pattern of China's manufacturing industry. This article first introduced the current development of industrial robots at home and abroad, summed up the current situation of China's industrial robots in a number of important issues, the research status of domestic industrial robot were reviewed, and the prospects for the development of China's industrial robots in the future. Keywords-Industrial robots, Intelligent control

The central corneal thickness (CCT) in age 48 years or less of Chinese was characterized and its relationship with gender, age, refraction and intraocular pressure (IOP) was investigated. Right eyes of 1669 participants were included in this study (880 men, 52.7% and 789 women, 47.3%). Mean age of the samples was 23.8 +/- 5.9 years. After the examination of corneal topography and refraction, Goldman applanation tonometry was carried out by one physician. Tonometric values were the mean of three consecutive readings. Subsequently, another physician carried out ultrasonic pachymetry with the DGH 2000 AP ultrasonic pachymeter. Six measurements were made at the center of the cornea of each eye. The mean value was used for analysis. The results showed that mean CCT of male participants was 551.33 +/- 34.62 microm, 5.79 microm more than that of female participants. Linear regression analyses revealed that CCT was negatively related with age only in female and no association was found between refractive status and CCT. IOP was positively related to CCT, and there was a difference in IOP of 1.5 mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa) per 100 microm difference in CCT. Ocular hypertension group was prone to have thicker cornea than average. The results indicated that in adult Chinese CCT tended to decrease with aging in female only. IOP measured by Goldmann tonometry was positively related with CCT so that CCT should be measured along with IOP.

Thermoelectric (TE) materials are important for the sustainable development because they enable the direct harvesting of low-quality heat into electricity. Among them, conducting polymers have attracted great attention arising from their advantages, such as flexibility, nontoxicity, easy availability, and intrinsically low thermal conductivity. In this work, a novel and facile method is reported to significantly enhance the TE property of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) films through sequential post-treatments with common acids and bases. Compared with the as-prepared PEDOT:PSS, both the Seebeck coefficients and electrical conductivities can be remarkably enhanced after the treatments. The oxidation level, which significantly impacts the TE property of the PEDOT:PSS films, can also be well tuned by controlling the experimental conditions during the base treatment. The optimal PEDOT:PSS films can have a Seebeck coefficient of 39.2 µV K−1 and a conductivity of 2170 S cm−1 at room temperature, and the corresponding power factor is 334 µW (m−1 K−2). The enhancement in the TE properties is attributed to the synergetic effect of high charge mobility by the acid treatment and the optimal oxidation level tuned by the base treatment.

A uniform doping ultra-thin silicon-on-insulator (SOI) lateral-double-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor (LDMOS) with low specific on-resistance (Ron,sp) and high breakdown voltage (BV) is proposed and its mechanism is investigated. The proposed LDMOS features an accumulation-mode extended gate (AG) and back-side etching (BE). The extended gate consists of a P– region and two diodes in series. In the on-state with VGD > 0, an electron accumulation layer is formed along the drift region surface under the AG. It provides an ultra-low resistance current path along the whole drift region surface and thus the novel device obtains a low temperature distribution. The Ron,sp is nearly independent of the doping concentration of the drift region. In the off-state, the AG not only modulates the surface electric field distribution and improves the BV, but also brings in a charge compensation effect to further reduce the Ron,sp. Moreover, the BE avoids vertical premature breakdown to obtain high BV and allows a uniform doping in the drift region, which avoids the variable lateral doping (VLD) and the "hot-spot" caused by the VLD. Compared with the VLD SOI LDMOS, the proposed device simultaneously reduces the Ron,sp by 70.2% and increases the BV from 776 V to 818 V.