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Phase interrogation surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging is, in principle, suitable in multiple samples and high-throughput detection, but the refractive index difference of various samples can be largely varied, while the dynamic range of phase interrogation SPR is narrow. So it is difficult to perform multi-sample detection in phase interrogation mode. In this paper, we successfully designed a multi-channel phase interrogation detection SPR imaging sensing scheme based on a common optical interference path between p- and s-polarized light without using any mechanical moving components. The fixed optical path difference between p- and s-polarized light is introduced by a birefringence crystal to produce sinusoidal spectral interference fringes. We adopted a time-division-multiplexing peak-finding algorithm to track the resonance wavelength so that the detection range can cover every channel. The phase values which carry the high sensitivity signal of the corresponding samples are calculated by the iterative parameter scanning cross-correlation algorithm.

COVID-19 continues to circulate globally in 2021, while under the precise policy implementation of China’s public health system, the epidemic was quickly controlled, and society and the economy have recovered. During the pandemic response, nucleic acid detection of SARS-CoV-2 has played an indispensable role in the first line of defence. In the cases of emergency operations or patients presenting at fever clinics, nucleic acid detection is required to be performed and reported quickly. Therefore, nucleic acid point-of-care testing (POCT) technology for SARS-CoV-2 identification has emerged, and has been widely carried out at all levels of medical institutions. SARS-CoV-2 POCT has served as a complementary test to conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) batch tests, thus forming an experimental diagnosis platform that not only guarantees medical safety but also improves quality services. However, in view of the complexity of molecular diagnosis and the biosafety requirements involved, pathogen nucleic acid POCT is different from traditional blood-based physical and chemical index detection. No guidelines currently exist for POCT quality management, and there have been inconsistencies documented in practical operation. Therefore, Shanghai Society of Molecular Diagnostics, Shanghai Society of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Microbiology Division of Shanghai Society of Microbiology and Shanghai Center for Clinical Laboratory have cooperated with experts in laboratory medicine to generate the present expert consensus. Based on the current spectrum of major infectious diseases in China, the whole-process operation management of pathogen POCT, including its application scenarios, biosafety management, personnel qualification, performance verification, quality control, and result reporting, are described here. This expert consensus will aid in promoting the rational application and robust development of this technology in public health defence and hospital infection management.

Background T2DM is associated with CVD. SGLT2i represent the most effective class of oral medications for the treatment of T2DM, and have been shown to improve generalized vascular dysfunction. Methods T2DM was induced by HFD to male C57BL/6J mice for 24 weeks. After that, HFD-fed mice were treated with Cana (50 mg/kg/d) by oral gavage for 6 weeks. Myocardial mitochondrial morphology and cardiovascular abnormalities were assessed by TEM, immunofluorescence staining and Masson’s staining; lipids profile and oxidative stress state were assessed by corresponding biochemical assay kits and immunohistochemical staining; the myocardial injury was characterized by HE colonic gut microbiota was assessed by 16S rDNA sequencing. Results Cana reduced the lipid (such as TG, TC, and LDL-C) accumulation in serum, thus decreased atherogenic index of plasma and arteriosclerosis index values. More importantly, Cana decreased the thickness of the vascular basement membrane, improved cardiac mitochondrial homeostasis, and relieved oxidative stress (e.g. regulation of ROS, SOD, GSH, and MDA levels). And, Cana reduced the circulating markers of inflammation (such as TNFα, MCP-1, and IL-6). Myocardial injury was alleviated after Cana treatment with decreasing levels of serous cTn I (from 95 pg/mL to 75 pg/mL) and sCD40L (from 120 pg/mL to 90 pg/mL). Thus, the cardiovascular abnormality was relieved by elevating the CD31 expression level and suppressing fibrosis and basement membrane thickening (from 0.6 μm to 0.2 μm) in T2DM mice. Interestingly, Cana administration increased the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (from 230% to 98%) and the relative abundance of Olsenella, Alistipes, and Alloprevotella, while decreasing the abundance of Helicobacter and Mucispirillum in mice with diabetic CVD. Conclusions Cana treatment improved CVD by decreasing the risk of atherosclerosis and reducing the thickness of the vascular basement membrane. Importantly, Cana treatment significantly elevated myocardial mitochondria homeostasis, thus ameliorated the oxidative stress and inflammatory states. Moreover, Cana subtly altered microbiota composition in T2DM mice with CVD, which contributed to the improvement of CVD. Collectively, the improvements of myocardial mitochondrial and gut microbiota homeostasis, may represent an important mechanism underlying the cardiovascular benefits of Cana treatment.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) represent the most effective oral drugs for the treatment of T2DM, and have been shown to improve generalized vascular dysfunction. However, it’s effect on improving diabetic CVD and the possible action mechanism are currently unclear.Methods: T2DM was induced by feeding a high-fat diet (HFD) to male C57BL/6J mice for 24 weeks. Afterthat, HFD-fed mice were treated with Cana (50 mg/kg/d) or positive drug metformin (225 mg/kg/d) by oral gavage for 6 weeks. Myocardial mitochondrial morphology and cardiovascular abnormalities were assessed by transmission electron microscope and histological staining; lipids profile and oxidative stress state were assessed by corresponding biochemical assay kits and histological staining; myocardial injury was characterized by H&E staining, TUNEL, and ELISA assays; colonic gut microbiota was assessed by 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing.Results: Cana reduced the lipid (such as TG, TC, and LDL-C) accumulation in serum, thus decreased atherogenic index of plasma and arteriosclerosis index values. And, Cana reduced the circulating markers of inflammation (such as TNFα, MCP-1, and IL-6). More importantly, Cana improved cardiac mitochondrial homeostasis and relieved oxidative stress. Myocardial injury was alleviated after Cana treatment with decreasing levels of serous cTn I and sCD40L. Thus, cardiovascular abnormality was relieved by elevating the CD31 expression level, and suppressing fibrosis and basement membrane thickening in T2DM mice. Interestingly, Cana administration increased the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes and the relative abundance of Olsenella, Alistipes, and Alloprevotella, while decreased the abundance of Proteobacteria, Helicobacter and Mucispirillum at various taxonomic levels.Conclusions: Cana treatment improved CVD by decreasing the risk of atherosclerosis, maintaining a relatively normal haemogram, and reducing the thickness of vascular basement membrane and myocardial injury. Importantly, Cana treatment significantly elevated myocardial mitochondria homeostasis, thus ameliorated the oxidative stress and inflammatory states. Moreover, Cana subtly altered microbiota composition in T2DM mice with CVD, which contributed to the improvement of CVD. Collectively, the improvements of myocardial mitochondrial and gut microbiota homeostasis, may represent an important mechanism underlying the cardiovascular benefits of Cana treatment.

The problem of multiplicative passive control for a class of uncertain sampled-data systems with time-delay is considered via observer-based control, aiming to solve the problem that many kinds of uncertainties in the plant, controller and observer. In the light of the Lyapunov stability theory and linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach, a sufficient existence condition and design method of observer and multiplicative passive controller are derived. Finally, a numerical example is illustrated to show the effectiveness of the proposed results.

Background Before public health emergencies became a major challenge worldwide, the scope of laboratory management was only related to developing, maintaining, improving, and sustaining the quality of accurate laboratory results for improved clinical outcomes. Indeed, quality management is an especially important aspect and has achieved great milestones during the development of clinical laboratories. Current status However, since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic continues to be a threat worldwide, previous management mode inside the separate laboratory could not cater to the demand of the COVID‐19 public health emergency. Among emerging new issues, the prominent challenges during the period of COVID‐19 pandemic are rapid‐launched laboratory‐developed tests (LDTs) for urgent clinical application, rapid expansion of testing capabilities, laboratory medicine resources, and personnel shortages. These related issues are now impacting on clinical laboratory and need to be effectively addressed. Conclusion Different from traditional views of laboratory medicine management that focus on separate laboratories, present clinical laboratory management must be multidimensional mode which should consider consolidation of the efficient network of regional clinical laboratories and reasonable planning of laboratories resources from the view of overall strategy. Based on relevant research and our experience, in this review, we retrospect the history trajectory of laboratory medicine management, and also, we provide existing and other feasible recommended management strategies for laboratory medicine in future., Influential events during the history impacted laboratory management activities (left). After COVID‐19 outbreak, the scope of management outside the laboratory has extended exponentially the scope (right).

Porphyran and its derivatives possess a variety of biological activities, such as ameliorations of oxidative stress, inflammation, hyperlipemia, and immune deficiencies. In this study, we evaluated the potential efficacy of porphyran-derived oligosaccharides from Porphyra yezoensis (PYOs) in alleviating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and preliminarily clarified the underlying mechanism. NAFLD was induced by a high-fat diet for six months in C57BL/6J mice, followed by treatment with PYOs (100 or 300 mg/kg/d) for another six weeks. We found that PYOs reduced hepatic oxidative stress in mice with NAFLD, which plays a critical role in the occurrence and development of NAFLD. In addition, PYOs could markedly decrease lipid accumulation in liver by activating the IRS-1/AKT/GSK-3β signaling pathway and the AMPK signaling pathway in mice with NAFLD. PYOs also apparently relieved the hepatic fibrosis induced by oxidative stress via downregulation of TGF-β and its related proteins, so that liver injury was markedly alleviated. Furthermore, PYOs treatment relieved cecal microbiota dysbiosis (such as increasing the relative abundance of Akkermansia, while decreasing the Helicobacter abundance), which could alleviate oxidative stress, inflammation, and lipid metabolism, and protect the liver to a certain degree. In summary, PYOs treatment remarkably improved NAFLD via a specific molecular mechanism and reshaped the cecal microbiota.

Emerging evidence demonstrated that traffic-related air pollution induced adverse effects on cardiovascular system. We designed a population-based cross-sectional study to explore the association between residential proximity to major roadways, traffic density and the prevalence of valvular heart disease (VHD). A total of 34040 subjects from a Rural Health Project between 2013 and 2018 were collected. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 4158 participants were enrolled in the final analysis. And we calculated the subjects’ proximity to major roadways and collected the traffic density on the major roadways. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was performed to diagnose the VHD, according to the current AHA/ACC (the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology) guidelines. Differences between groups were examined by the one-way ANOVAs for continuous variables and the chi-square tests for categorical variables. A logistic regression models were used to assess the associations. The stratified analysis by age and sex were conducted to further analyze the association. The restricted cubic spline analysis was performed to further evaluate the association between road way distance and VHD. Bonferroni test was used to adjust the significance level. The subjects closer to the major roads had the higher risk of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) (odds risk, OR = 1.519, 95% confidence intervals, 95%CI: 1.058-2.181), especially in female. The risk of VHD was positive (high traffic density VS low traffic density, OR = 1.799, 95%CI: 1.221-2.651), especially in female. In addition, the high traffic density was associated with the risk of mitral regurgitation (MR) (OR = 1.758, 95%CI: 1.085-2.848). The restricted cubic spline analysis found a threshold distance of about 300 m, where had the lowest risk of VHD, aortic regurgitation (AR), MR, TR. Our results found a positive association between traffic-related air pollution and VHD especially in female.

In order to improve efficiency in turbomachinery, brush seal replaces labyrinth seals widely in the secondary air system. A 2-d staggered tube bank model is adopted to simulate the gas states and the pressure character in brush seal, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to solve the model in this paper. According to the simulation results, the corrected formula of the Euler number and dimensionless pressure are given. The results show that gas expands when flow through the bristle pack, and the gas expansion closes to an isotherm process. The dynamic pressure increases with decreasing static pressure. The Euler number can reflect the seal performance of brush seals in leakage characteristics. Compared with increasing the number of rows, the reduction of the gap is a higher-efficiency method to increase the Euler number. The Euler number continually increases as the gap decreases. However, with the differential pressure increasing, Euler number first increases and then decreases as the number of rows increases. Finally, the pressure distribution on the surface of end rows is asymmetric, and it may increase the friction between the bristles and the back plate.

A variety of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing devices have been extensively used in biochemical detection for their characteristics of label-free, highly sensitive, and faster detecting. Among them, the spectrum-based SPR sensing devices have offered us great advantages in high-throughput sensing due to their large dynamic range and the possibility of detection resolution similar to that offered by angle interrogation. This paper demonstrates a spectrum-based SPR imaging sensing system with fast wavelength scanning capability achieved by an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) and a low-cost and speckle-free halogen lamp implemented as the SPR excitation source. Especially, we developed a novel four-parameter-based spectral curve readjusting (4-PSCR) method for data processing, which offered us a faster and more accurate spectral data curve fitting process than the traditional polynomial fitting method. With the configuration, we have also conducted an SPR high-throughput detection of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spike protein, proving its application possibility in the screening of COVID-19 with high accuracy. We believe that the higher sensitivity and accuracy of the system have made it readily used in biochemical imaging and detecting applications.

Few-shot classification aims to learn a model that can generalize well to new classes–that are unseen in the training phase–with a small number of labeled instances. Many existing approaches learn a shared embedding function across various tasks to measure the similarities between support (train) and query (test) samples. However, the embeddings generated by these approaches fail to take into account the feature importance of different instances and the feature correlation between support and query samples in each task. To tackle this problem, we propose a novel Self-Adaptive Embedding approach (SAE) by introducing a hierarchical attention scheme. The major novelty of SAE lies in two folds. First, SAE can effectively capture the most discriminative features at the instance level, which significantly improves its performance on downstream classification tasks. Second, SAE can adaptively adjust the representations of support and query samples by considering the feature structures shared by them at the task level. Experiments demonstrate that SAE significantly outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods.

A phase surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing technology based on white light polarized interference in common-path geometry is reported. A halogen lamp is used as the excitation source of the SPR sensor. The fixed optical path difference (OPD) between p- and s-polarized light is introduced by a birefringence crystal to produce sinusoidal spectral interference fringes. The SPR phase is accurately extracted from the interference fringes using a novel iterative parameter-scanning cross-correlation algorithm. The dynamic detection range is expanded by tracking the best SPR wavelength, which is identified using a window Fourier algorithm. The experimental results show that the sensitivity of this SPR system was 1.3 × 10−7 RIU, and the dynamic detection range was 0.029 RIU. This sensor, not only simple to implement and cost efficient, requires no modulators.

With the emerging routing planning issues in Power Line Communication networks, the development of routing strategy in PLC networks is increasingly important. Because of the channel noise and attenuation, it is necessary to consider the delay of transmission in PLC networks. To reduce the delay of PLC networks under reliability, we design a routing selecting algorithm while meeting the energy consumption limitation of the PLC networks and reducing the average transmission delay. Simulation results show that this strategy can achieve low transmission delay, and improve the overall performance of the network.

Sensitive and accurate hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA quantification is essential for the management of chronic hepatitis C therapy. Currently, in Shanghai, China, many laboratories offer to quantify the HCV RNA level using various reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assays, but the degree of proficiency may vary between them. The objective of this study was to realistically evaluate the performance of clinical laboratories for HCV RNA quantification by a new way of proficiency test program (unannounced inspection). Inactivated chimeric influenza viral particles (CIVP) encapsulating specific RNA sequences of HCV were prepared as positive samples. The sample panel, which consisted of two negative and eight positive samples with different concentrations of CIVP (25 IU/ml to 2.5×106 IU/ml), was distributed to 40 clinical laboratories for HCV RNA quantification. The results reported by the participating laboratories were compared and scored. It was found that 75 % (30/40) of the laboratories obtained an acceptable or better performance score, while the other 10 laboratories had room for improvement. Reported results for individual samples ranged from 125 IU/ml (minimum) to 6.0×104 IU/ml (maximum). The greatest variation was observed for samples with a relatively low concentration. Interlaboratory variability among replicate samples was significantly greater than intralaboratory variability (p

This paper, for the first time, presents a wavelength-scanning surface plasmon resonance microscope (WS-SPRM) as a label-free biosensor capable of measuring cell-substrate interaction. The approach utilized a liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) as a fast and flexible wavelength-scanning device that can implement a wavelength-scanning and SPR imaging cycle within 1 s. The system was verified by monitoring the dynamics of cellular processes including cell detachment and electroporation of individual cells. It was found that the WS-SPRM presented better performance than the intensity-based SPRM (I-SPRM) in the imaging of cell adhesion. The results also indicated that the WS-SPRM exhibited a larger dynamic range in monitoring cell electroporation than that of I-SPRM. In summary, the developed WS-SPRM in this study provides a promising technique for real-time monitoring of cell-substrate interaction.

Study on the resource utilization of CO2 is important for the reduction of CO2 emissions to cope with global warming and bring a beneficial metallurgical effect. In this paper, research on CO2 utilization in the sintering, blast furnace, converter, secondary refining, continuous casting, and smelting processes of stainless steel in recent years in China is carried out. Based on the foreign and domestic research and application status, the feasibility and metallurgical effects of CO2 utilization in the ferrous metallurgy process are analyzed. New techniques are shown, such as (1) flue gas circulating sintering, (2) blowing CO2 through a blast furnace tuyere and using CO2 as a pulverized coal carrier gas, (3) top and bottom blowing of CO2 in the converter, (4) ladle furnace and electric arc furnace bottom blowing of CO2, (5) CO2 as a continuous casting shielding gas, (6) CO2 for stainless steel smelting, and (7) CO2 circulation combustion. The prospects of CO2 application in the ferrous metallurgy process are widespread, and the quantity of CO2 utilization is expected to be more than 100 kg per ton of steel, although the large-scale industrial utilization of CO2 emissions is just beginning. It will facilitate the progress of metallurgical technology effectively and promote the energy conservation of the metallurgical industry strongly.

Weibull fading channel has a wide range of applications in wireless fading channels as we know today. In this paper, an FPGA-based wireless channel emulator is presented. We investigate the quality of service (QoS) performance of wireless channels subject to weibull fading channel on an FPGA platform based on stochastic network calculus. In order to analyze the performance, we aim at deriving the service curve of weibull fading channel. With the closed-form stochastic service curve, the QoS performance like stochastic delay and backlog bound can be derived. Simulation results verify that the delay and backlog are inversely proportional to their bounds. Moreover, through numerical experiments, we show the method is not only capable of deriving stochastic performance bounds, but also can provide guidelines for designing transmission strategies on FPGA platform.

Background: Up to 80% of patients with pancreatic cancer experience abdominal and back pain. Although pharmacologic medications provide some relief, many report inadequate analgesia and adverse effects. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive physical modality and had been widely applied for pain relieving, yet no study has investigated the effectiveness of TENS for pain in pancreatic cancer. Methods: Eligible patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to TENS group or control group. The primary outcome was percentage change of numerous rating scale (NRS) after treatment. Secondary outcomes included percentage change of analgesic medication consumption and effect on constipation and poor appetite. Results: One hundred seventy-one patients were recruited (84 to control group and 87 to TENS group). NRS in TENS group has been largely decreased 77.9% right after treatment and 27.1% in 2 hours, before applying any analgesic medication, while that in control group was slightly downregulated right after treatment but gave a trend to increase at 1, 2, and 3 hours. When comparing both groups, pain was significantly well controlled without analgesic medication supplement in TENS group at 0 hour (difference in mean percent change in NRS = 50.0 [95% CI, 50–51.4], P

Different modeling methods and potential flow methods have substantial influences on the prediction results of wave loads and hydroelastic responses of ships traveling in waves, so it is of great importance to carry out uncertainty analyses for relevant aspects. For a very large bulk carrier, the 1D Euler–Bernoulli beam and 3D FEM are used to build the dry structure model, and 3D methods in the frequency domain and time domain are used to predict the wave loads. The influences and uncertainties of the structure modeling method on the hydroelastic response and wave load are assessed, which indicates that the 1D Euler–Bernoulli beam model overestimates the resonant frequencies. Furthermore, the hydroelastic responses and wave loads are analyzed using three-dimensional methods in the frequency domain and time domain for a 205,000 DWT bulk carrier, a 500,000 DWT ore carrier and a 156,800 m3 LNG carrier. Furthermore, a comparison is conducted between the numerical prediction results and experimental data measured from the see-keeping basin; meanwhile, the error principles of the numerical analysis are investigated, which infers that the vertical bending moment and horizontal bending moment have smaller numerical prediction errors, while the torsional moment has the largest error.

This paper takes Deppon Express Company as an example to study the optimization of the layout of the store warehouse under the standardized operation mode. First of all, it Analyzes warehouse layout present situation of the express company, and gets the problems of the warehouse layout of the company, for example, the layout of the lack of scientific, as well as part of the operational areas of position arrangement is not reasonable and unreasonable action path which leads to the whole business operation efficiency is low. Finally, thus using SLP to solve those problems, and put forward the company store aisle warehouse layout optimization strategy of management according to the comprehensive relations preliminary to the data warehouse layout optimization figure.

Investigation of hydroelastic ship responses has been brought to the attention of the scientific and engineering world for several decades. There are two kinds of high-frequency vibrations in general ship responses to a large ocean-going ship in its shipping line, so-called springing and whipping, which are important for the determination of design wave load and fatigue damage as well. Because of the huge scale of an ultra large ore carrier (ULOC), it will suffer seldom slamming events in the ocean. The resonance vibration with high frequency is springing, which is caused by continuous wave excitation. In this paper, the wave-induced vibrations of the ULOC are addressed by experimental and numerical methods according to 2D and 3D hydroelasticity theories and an elastic model under full-load and ballast conditions. The influence of loading conditions on high-frequency vibration is studied both by numerical and experimental results. Wave-induced vibrations are higher under ballast condition including the wave frequency part, the multiple frequencies part, the 2-node and the 3-node vertical bending parts of the hydroelastic responses. The predicted results from the 2D method have less accuracy than the 3D method especially under ballast condition because of the slender-body assumption in the former method. The applicability of the 2D method and the further development of nonlinear effects to 3D method in the prediction of hydroelastic responses of the ULOC are discussed.

TiO 2 /PbS(CdS) quantum dots (QDs) bulk heterojunction has been fabricated by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method via alternate deposition of PbS and CdS QDs. In comparison with TiO 2 /PbS heterojunction, the incident photon to current conversion efficiency was increased almost 50% in the visible region. Meantime, the short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage were enhanced 200% and 35% respectively. The influence mechanism of CdS is related to reduction of trap state density at TiO 2 /PbS interface and PbS QDs surface by the discussion of the dark current density–voltage curves, the transient photocurrent response curves and the electrochemical impedance spectra spectroscopy (EIS).

BRCA1-associated protein-1 (BAP1) is an important nuclear-localized deubiquitinating enzyme that serves as a tumor suppressor in lung cancer; however, its function and its regulation are largely unknown. In this study, we found that BAP1 protein levels were dramatically diminished in lung cancer tissues while its mRNA levels did not differ significantly, suggesting that a post-transcriptional mechanism was involved in BAP1 regulation. Because microRNAs (miRNAs) are powerful post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, we used bioinformatic analyses to search for miRNAs that could potentially bind BAP1. We predicted and experimentally validated miR-31 as a direct regulator of BAP1. Moreover, we showed that miR-31 promoted proliferation and suppressed apoptosis in lung cancer cells and accelerated the development of tumor growth in xenograft mice by inhibiting BAP1. Taken together, this study highlights an important role for miR-31 in the suppression of BAP1 in lung cancer cells and may provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of lung carcinogenesis.

The ferroelectric-like hysteretic I–V effect was observed in the multilayer film of PMMA/carbon quantum dot (CD)/PEDOT:PSS using ITO and Al metal as the electrodes. The multilayer film exhibited two different resistance states and larger hysteresis window under the electric field compared to the film without CD addition. The influence of additional CD layers on the short circuit current (Isc) and open circuit voltage (Voc) values is related to the interfacial polarization between PMMA and PEDOT:PSS layers. The introduction of a CD layer intensifies interfacial polarization for two dielectric layers, resulting in the larger hysteresis window. An interfacial polarization field E′ increases with the external electric field increasing and reaches a maximum value at the threshold voltage Voc of ±15 V. The switch reliability of the device is operated over 5 × 103 times in a succession of periodic pulses without any performance degradation.

Large and long ships experience springing behavior. Depending on the trade routes and design of such ocean-going ships, wave-induced vibrations may be due to springing and whipping effects. In this paper, we address the wave-induced vibrations in an ultra-large ore carrier under fully loaded and ballast conditions. The experimental measurements from tests performed using a flexible model of the ship were compared with the numerical predictions from 3-D hydro-elastic theory (THAFTS) (Wu, Hydroelasticity of floating bodies. PH.D thesis, Brunel University, 1984). The measurements showed multiple frequencies between the encountered wave frequency and the 2-node bending frequency that occurred only in ballast conditions, whereas the springing vibrations were more apparent with forward speed under ballast conditions in both regular and irregular waves. The numerical method predicted the vertical bending moment quite well in the fully loaded condition but underestimated it in the ballast condition. This result was primarily due to an inability to capture the prediction of the multiple frequencies between the encountered wave frequency and the 2-node bending frequency. Using THAFTS, a new ship form with a deep draft was introduced, and this vessel was shown to reduce springing vibrations.

Agaro- and neoagaro-oligosaccharides with even-numbered sugar units possess a variety of biological activities. However, the effects of the odd-numbered oligosaccharides from Gracilaria agarose (OGAOs) on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have not been reported. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of OGAOs on anti-T2DM from different aspects. We found that OGAOs treatment could alleviate oxidative stress, inflammation, and the related hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, lipid accumulation, and obesity in high-fat diet (HFD) induced T2DM. Investigation of the underlying mechanism showed that colitis and colonic microbiota dysbiosis in T2DM mice were ameliorated after OGAOs treatment. First, OGAOs increased the expression of ZO-1, occludin, and AMPK, and suppressed the TLR4/MAPK/NF-κB pathway in colon indicating that OGAOs enhance intestinal integrity and conduct the anti-apoptosis effects to prevent the invasion of toxins and harmful microorganisms. Moreover, the relative abundance of Akkermansia was significantly upregulated in the gut microbiome of T2DM mice associated with a dramatic decrease of the relative abundance of Helicobacter, which are both beneficial for alleviating colitis and T2DM. In addition, Spearman's correlation analysis indicated that changes in the colonic microbiota could regulate oxidative stress, inflammation, and hyperlipidemia. In summary, the underlying mechanism of OGAOs on alleviating colitis and colonic microbiota dysbiosis in T2DM has been intensively studied, illustrating that OGAOs could be further developed as a potential pharmaceutical agent for T2DM.

Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, smart city and logistics in China have been developed significantly. This study is based on the accelerated development of smart cities and smart logistics after the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, and combined with literature, it puts forward the update of smart cities and the trend of gradually centralized, intelligent and intensive development of China’s logistics industry.

A series of CFD RANS simulations are presented for Wigley hulls of two freeboard heights progressing with forward speed in waves. Free surface effects are captured using the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method embedded in open source software OpenFOAM. Comparisons of heave, pitch motions and added resistance of the first Wigley model against the experiments of Kashiwagi (2013) confirm the numerical validity of the hydrodynamic modelling approach. Further simulations for the lower-freeboard Wigley model reveal that the highest green water impact on decks appears in way of λ / L = 1.3 and at the highest instantaneous pitch amplitude where the water propagates far downstream and across the deck. The simulations also demonstrate that the green water events are associated with air bubble entrapment.

Based on the research of lean production, the lean supply theory is a development of the lean concept from the production field to the supply field. After that, it is developed integrated lean supply which is a kind of collaboration in the first level and provides components with higher quality and lower cost for assembly plants in larger size, higher level, shorter time and enterprises in the supply chain for a long term and it could finish the process of supply with higher lean requirement on the premise of highly integration. The supply chain system in auto-mobile industry is very complicated. At the same time the operational efficiency of supply logistics will directly influence the final profit of enterprises in the supply chain. However, in the process of implementing lean supply logistics, due to the lack of specific and systematic theoretical guidance, the research results are not satisfactory. This article base on the perspective of collaborative innovation, and through collaborative innovation of supply-chain, production and distribution logistics in different stages of logistics operation to realize logistics integration of a enterprise successfully.

Ultraviolet (UV) photoresponse properties of ZnO nanorods arrays (NRs) deposited with copper thiocyanate (CuSCN) by different successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) cycles were investigated. Compared to the pristine ZnO NRs, the UV photosensitivity increases from 1.65 to 131.53 through lowering the dark current and the photoresponse speed has been obviously improved. As the number of SILAR cycles reaches 120, self-powered UV photoresponse property with fast response speed was observed, which was attributed to the photovoltaic behavior of ZnO/CuSCN.

An electrical bistable device was fabricated by using SiO2 modified-ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in poly-vinyl-phenol (PVP) polymer as the charge storage medium. Compared to the reference devices with PVP or ZnO NPs embedded in PVP, the proposed device showed improved reproducible electrical bistability. The time maintenance for On/Off states reached 10 4 s , revealing the better environmental stability. The carrier transport mechanism was interpreted by the space-charge-limited-current (SCLC), thermionic emission (TE) and ohmic conduction models. The charge trapping and de-trapping process of ZnO NPs were described based on the energy-band diagram of the device.

Study on the resource utilization of CO2 is important for the reduction of CO2 emissions to cope with global warming and bring a beneficial metallurgical effect. In this paper, research on CO2 utilization in the sintering, blast furnace, converter, secondary refining, continuous casting, and smelting processes of stainless steel in recent years in China is carried out. Based on the foreign and domestic research and application status, the feasibility and metallurgical effects of CO2 utilization in the ferrous metallurgy process are analyzed. New techniques are shown, such as (1) flue gas circulating sintering, (2) blowing CO2 through a blast furnace tuyere and using CO2 as a pulverized coal carrier gas, (3) top and bottom blowing of CO2 in the converter, (4) ladle furnace and electric arc furnace bottom blowing of CO2, (5) CO2 as a continuous casting shielding gas, (6) CO2 for stainless steel smelting, and (7) CO2 circulation combustion. The prospects of CO2 application in the ferrous metallurgy process are widespread, and the quantity of CO2 utilization is expected to be more than 100 kg per ton of steel, although the large-scale industrial utilization of CO2 emissions is just beginning. It will facilitate the progress of metallurgical technology effectively and promote the energy conservation of the metallurgical industry strongly.

In this paper, a novel fuzzy system based method for modelling both rate-independent and rate-dependent hysteresis in the piezoelectric actuator is proposed. First, the partial Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy rule is designed. The antecedent structure of the fuzzy system is identified through uniform partition of its input variable. Then, the parameters of the consequent structure are optimized via the recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm. The modelling method is simple to implement and highly efficient to compute. Experimental results show that the proposed method is efficient to model both rate-independent and rate-dependent hysteresis. Based on the inverse of the developed model, feed-forward hysteresis compensation experiments at the frequencies of 50 Hz and 100 Hz are also conducted with the hysteresis effects being obviously reduced. The major contribution of this paper is that the inverse of the model can be analytically computed and the method can be applied to the case of real-time on-line modelling.

In this paper, we propose a methodology for landslide susceptibility assessment at a regional scale in Yunnan, southwestern province of China. A landslide inventory map including 3,242 landslide points was prepared for the study area. Five factors recognized as correlated to landslide (namely, lithology, relative relief, tectonic fault density, rainfall, and road density) were analyzed and mapped in geographic information system. An index expressing the correlation between each factor and landslides [called class landslide susceptibility index (CLSI)] was proposed in the study. While analyzing landslide distribution in a large area, point aggregation might be expected. To quantify the uncertainty caused by aggregation, class landslide aggregation index was proposed. To account for the importance of each of the factors in the landslide susceptibility assessment, some weights were calculated by means of analytic hierarchy process. We propose a weighted class landslide susceptibility model (WCLSM), obtained by the combination of CLSI values of each factor with the correspondent weight. WCLSM performance in the study area was evaluated comparing the results obtained by first modeling all landslides and then by performing a time partition. The model was run including only landslides that occurred before 2009 and then validated with respect to landslides that occurred after 2009. The prediction–rate curve shows that the WCLSM model provides a good prediction for the study area. Of the study area, 21.4 % shows very high and high susceptibility and includes the 87.7 % of the number of landslides that occurred after 2009.

Background Although human cancers have heterogeneous combinations of altered oncogenes, some crucial genes are universally dysregulated in most cancers. One such gene, FEAT (faint expression in normal tissues, aberrant overexpression in tumors), is uniformly overexpressed in a variety of human cancers and plays an important role in tumorigenesis by suppressing apoptosis. However, the precise molecular mechanism through which FEAT is upregulated during tumorigenesis remains largely unknown. Methods In this study, we used bioinformatic analyses to search for miRNAs that potentially target FEAT. We examined the expression of FEAT protein level by western blotting and miR-16 level by qRT-PCR assay. Cancer cell lines (A549, MCF-7 and Huh-7) with miR-16 upregulation and FEAT silencing were established and the effects on apoptosis of cancer cells in vitro were assessed. Luciferase reporter assay was also performed to investigate the interaction between miR-16 and FEAT. Results We identified a specific target site for miR-16 in the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of FEAT. Consistent with the bioinformatic analyses, we identified an inverse correlation between the miR-16 and FEAT protein levels in lung cancer, breast cancer, and hepatocellular cancer tissues. We then experimentally validated miR-16 as a direct regulator of FEAT using cell transfection and luciferase assays. Finally, we demonstrated that the repression of FEAT by miR-16 promoted the apoptosis of cancer cells. Conclusions Our findings provide the first clues regarding the role of miR-16 as a tumor suppressor in cancer cells through the inhibition of FEAT translation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-015-1458-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Due to limited technical and social resources, many physician practices fall short on accurate blood pressure measurement to carry out large-scale hypertension research projects. The accuracy and standard of data acquisition are very important when data sources are diverse in medical big data research. This paper proposes Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) is appropriate approach to teach volunteers necessary knowledge and skills of blood pressure measurement for hypertension research. It introduces a new citizen science "paradigm" to support big data research such as hypertension. MOOC is a new type online course that provides a combination of short video lectures, frequent comprehension quizzes and active participation in discussion forum. The well-trained data collectors by MOOC will be granted to collect and publish data of hypertension research. The process of medical big data research based on MOOC was introduced.

The motion and structural response to wave loading are studied experimentally for a large ship modeled with multiple segments and beams of variable cross-sections. As opposed to the traditional method with small number of segments and beams of uniform cross-section, the multi-segmented model with beams of variable cross-sections can more accurately simulate some of the hull properties that will otherwise be neglected. In this paper, the design method for the multi-segmented model is presented, and the model test results for the multi-segmented model with variable cross-section beams are compared with the traditional uniform beams and less segmented model for calm water, regular and irregular wave conditions. The influences of the segment number, variable cross-section, vessel speed and wave height are investigated using the load forecasting methods based on the rigid body and hydroelastic theories. It has been found that using variable cross-section beams can simulate hull stiffness of each section more accurately, and with the increase of the segment number in the ship model, the high frequency characteristics of the bending response are better reflected. Furthermore, the calculation results agree well with the experimental data, and the hydroelastic theory is found to be able to predict the higher frequencies of the hull structural responses. At the same time, with the increase of the vessel speed and wave height, the bending moment and wave height show an obvious nonlinear relationship. The methods and results presented in this paper have a certain guiding significance for the tank model tests and design of large ship structures.

Background: With the influx of rural migrants into urban areas, the spread of HIV has increased significantly in Shaanxi Province (China). Migrant workers are at high risk of HIV infection due to social conditions and hardships (isolation, separation, marginalization, barriers to services, etc.). Objective: We explored the efficacy of a HIV/AIDS prevention and control program for rural migrants in Shaanxi Province, administered at both rural and urban sites. Methods: Guidance concerning HIV/AIDS prevention was given to the experimental group (266 migrants) for 1 year by the center of disease control, community health agencies and family planning department. The intervention was conducted according to the HIV/AIDS Prevention Management Manual for Rural Migrants. A control group of migrants only received general population intervention. The impact of the intervention was evaluated by administering HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes and sexual behavior (KAB) questionnaires after 6 and 12 months. Results: In the experimental group; 6 months of intervention achieved improvements in HIV/AIDS related knowledge. After 12 months; HIV/AIDS-related knowledge reached near maximal scores. Attitude and most behaviors scores were significantly improved. Moreover; the experimental group showed significant differences in HIV-AIDS knowledge; attitude and most behavior compared with the control group. Conclusions: The systematic long-term cross-site HIV/AIDS prevention in both rural and urban areas is a highly effective method to improve HIV/AIDS KAB among rural migrants.

The Yangtze River Bridge studied in this paper is a three-tower steel concrete structure cable stayed bridge with two sides steel cable, composite girder cable stayed bridge and the largest span between towers in the world. The lightning density at the bridge site is much higher than the average value of Wuhan city, so it is important to access the lightning safety. This paper analyzes the lightning activity and the soil geological condition of the region where the bridge is located. Lightning current distributions in various branches of the bridge are calculated using CDEGS software, and the lightning ground potential distribution, touch voltage and step voltage around the bridge branch at two kinds of lightning current waveforms when different towers of the bridge are struck by lightning. Lightning safety measures are put forward in detail based on the calculation results of safety voltage limitations for human.

Developing the research of the construction rheology of cement concrete is the key technology for concrete design and construction. Vibration Viscosity Coefficients of freshly mixed concrete in different mixing ratio are measured in this paper. The correlation curve of concrete slump and vibration structure viscosity coefficients is obtained. Reasonable values of vibration viscosity coefficients will be selected to meet the the requirements of vibrator slipform construction for concrete materials.

Generation rescheduling is a cost-effective way to enhance steady-state and dynamic security. The paper presents an improved formulation for generation rescheduling and develops an iterative solution procedure. The proposed method can be used to assist operators to eliminate potential steady-state insecurity, dynamic insecurity, or their combination. Steady-state security is established by the well known (n – 1) criterion which deals with thermal limits of transmission lines. Dynamic security is defined in such a fashion that transient stability of the system is maintained under any of the contingencies which may occur at each end of every transmission line of a power system. An attractive feature of the proposed method is that it is reliable, realistic and easy to understand since dynamic security is checked in the method by an integration procedure. Simulation results of a 36-machine 200-node practical power system are demonstrated.

Wavelength interrogation surface plasmon resonance imaging (λSPRi) has potential in detecting 2-dimensional (2D) sensor array sites, but the resonance wavelength imaging rate limits the application of detecting biomolecular binding process in real time. In this paper, we have successfully demonstrated an ultrafast λSPRi biosensor system. The key feature is a two-point tracking algorithm that drives the liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) to achieve fast-tracking of the resonance wavelength movement caused by the binding of target molecules with the probe molecules on the sensing surface. The resonance wavelength measurement time is within 0.25s. To date, this is the fastest speed ever reported in λSPRi. Experiment results show that the sensitivity and dynamic are 2.4 × 10−6 RIU and 4.6 × 10−2 RIU, respectively. In addition, we have also demonstrated that the system has the capability of performing fast high-throughput detection of biomolecular interactions, which confirms that this fast real-time detecting approach is most suitable for high-throughput and label-free biosensing applications.