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Magnetic studies of loess–paleosol sequences have shown that the magnetic properties of loess and its parent material are sensitive to weathering degree. However, the relationship between magnetic properties and weathering processes in red soils of southern China remains unclear due to the diversity of parent rocks and the influence of climate. This study focused on red soils developed on weakly magnetic sandstone, in tropical and subtropical regions of Yunnan, China. The principal element content, magnetic susceptibility, temperature-dependent susceptibility curve (χ–T curve, where χ represents the magnetic susceptibility at the corresponding temperature during the heating and cooling process of the sample, and T represents the temperature during the heating and cooling process.), hysteresis loop and Isothermal Remanent Magnetization (IRM) of the samples were determined, the weathering characteristics and magnetic properties of profile samples were analyzed, and their relationship was examined, as well as the impact of climate change on fine-grained ferrimagnetic minerals and magnetic properties. The results revealed that red soils developed on weakly magnetic sandstone exhibited significant correlations between three magnetic indices, low-frequency magnetic susceptibility (χlf), frequency-dependent susceptibility (χfd), (χpost-pre + χd)/χpara, and the silica-sesquioxide ratio (SAF), indicating that these indices can be used to assess soil weathering. Additionally, this study proposed a new index based on the 1 < Log10Bh < 1.5 mT component obtained from decomposition of the IRM curve, which can also be used to assess soil weathering. The enhancement of magnetic properties in red soils along a single profile was found to be related to the increase in the content of fine-grained ferrimagnetic com-ponents controlled by weathering. Comparing the two climatic regions, it was found that in Yunnan, China, as the climate changes from subtropical humid to tropical humid, the weathering of the red soil profiles becomes stronger, and the fine-grained ferrimagnetic components increase, indirectly enhancing the magnetic properties of red soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theories surrounding the three circuits of capital have been extensively studied and developed within the context of developed countries. However, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence from the developing world. China, as the largest developing economy, has experienced rapid urbanization with population migration and capital flow, which has garnered significant attention. In light of these circumstances, this study aims to analyze the temporal dynamics of capital switching between the three circuits and utilizes panel regression analysis to explore their growth effects and driving forces across Chinese provinces. This study reveals several notable observations. Firstly, it is evident that most provinces have witnessed the capital switching out of the production sphere. Secondly, regarding the impact of three circuits of capital on urbanization transformation, a sequence characteristic is observed. Specifically, the primary and secondary circuits of capital have initially displayed a weakening positive effect on urban economic growth, which eventually becomes statistically insignificant. Conversely, the tertiary circuit of capital exhibits a robust and continuously significant positive impact. Lastly, the determinants differ across three circuits of capital. The local fiscal deficit is found to have a significant positive effect on the primary circuit, while the scale of social credit stands out as the most notable factor for the tertiary circuit of capital. Moreover, the study uncovers the significant role played by institutional factors and financial development in promoting the secondary circuit of capital and facilitating fixed investment in the urban built environment. These findings have important implications for enhancing capital flow and achieving the goal of new-type urbanization in China. It also highlights the importance of creating a favorable institutional environment that encourages investment and fosters a thriving financial sector. • Most provinces have experienced the capital switching out of the production sphere. • The effects of the three circuits of capital on urban economic growth display 'sequence characteristics'. • Fiscal deficit and social credit have significant positive effects on the primary and tertiary circuits, respectively. • Both institutional factors and financial development play a significant role in promoting the secondary circuit of capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SARS-CoV-2, a member of the coronavirus family, causes COVID-19, which can range from the ordinary cold to the rare but fatal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Disease (MERS). Radiologists can better diagnose COVID-19 using deep learning and computer vision techniques. However, training requires large centralized datasets. In addition, medical data protection prevents centralized server training with medical data. In this study, we propose a federated learning-based framework, Cov-Fed, to facilitate decentralized training of medical data. Cov-Fed is characterized by the proposed Multi-Efficient Channel Attention Network (MECAN) and a multi-model user-server weight update mechanism, respectively. In addition, Cov-Fed leverages PySyft encryption and decryption mechanisms for privacy preservation. Due to the salient nature of features corresponding to viruses, the classification of x-ray scans is challenging. Hence, we propose a multi-ECA attention mechanism embedded in the Cov-Fed to enhance feature maps of chest X-ray scans for classification without compromising performance. Extensive experiments are conducted on several public medical datasets and compared with some state-of-the-art models. Based on several evaluation metrics, Cov-Fed exhibited satisfactory performance with an average accuracy of 87. 65 % , an inference time of 92. 8 s , and ROC-AUC of 92. 46 % compared with some state-of-the-art models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ship classification in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is a fundamental and significant step in ocean surveillance. Recently, with the rise of deep learning (DL), modern abstract features from convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have hugely improved SAR ship classification accuracy. However, most existing CNN-based SAR ship classifiers overly rely on abstract features, but uncritically abandon traditional mature hand-crafted features, which may incur some challenges for further improving accuracy. Hence, this article proposes a novel DL network with histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) feature fusion (HOG-ShipCLSNet) for preferable SAR ship classification. In HOG-ShipCLSNet, four mechanisms are proposed to ensure superior classification accuracy, that is, 1) a multiscale classification mechanism (MS-CLS-Mechanism); 2) a global self-attention mechanism (GS-ATT-Mechanism); 3) a fully connected balance mechanism (FC-BAL-Mechanism); and 4) an HOG feature fusion mechanism (HOG-FF-Mechanism). We perform sufficient ablation studies to confirm the effectiveness of these four mechanisms. Finally, our experimental results on two open SAR ship datasets (OpenSARShip and FUSAR-Ship) jointly reveal that HOG-ShipCLSNet dramatically outperforms both modern CNN-based methods and traditional hand-crafted feature methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is playing an important role in maritime domain awareness. As a fundamental ocean mission, SAR ship detection can offer high-quality services for marine surveillance. It receives widespread concern in the SAR remote sensing community. Recently, deep learning (DL) has greatly improved SAR ship detection accuracy. However, there are still some unperceived imbalance problems that seriously hinder further accuracy improvements among current DL-based SAR ship detectors. Therefore, we propose a novel concept of balance learning (BL) for high-quality SAR ship detection. We first point out the four unperceived imbalance problems, i.e., image sample scene imbalance, positive negative sample imbalance, ship scale feature imbalance, and classification regression task imbalance. Then, we offer some profound insights into these imbalances. Immediately, we propose four effective solutions to handle the above four imbalances correspondingly, i.e., balance scene learning mechanism (BSLM), balance interval sampling mechanism (BISM), balance feature pyramid network (BFPN), and balance classification regression network (BCRN). Finally, combined with the four solutions, a novel balance learning network (BL-Net) is proposed. Ablation studies can confirm each solution's effectiveness. Experimental results on five open datasets (SSDD, Gaofen-SSDD, Sentinel-SSDD, SAR-Ship-Dataset, and HRSID) reveal BL-Net's state-of-the-art SAR ship detection performance compared to the other 30 DL-based SAR ship detectors. Specifically, in contrast to the current most competitive method, the accuracy increase of BL-Net is 2.98% on SSDD, 1.97% on Gaofen-SSDD, 1.49% on Sentinel-SSDD, 0.55% on SAR-Ship-Dataset, and 4.95% on HRSID. Last but not least, the satisfactory ship detection results on another two large-scene Sentinal-1 SAR images confirm BL-Net's strong migration capability. This indicates BL-Net's potential value in marine surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SAR slow-moving target detection and velocity estimation in ultra-high speed platform and strong clutter are a serious problem. The existing slow-moving target velocity estimation methods including fractional Fourier transform (FrFT), bidirectional imaging mode (DiBi) and the dual-beam interferometry mode (DBI) cannot suppress the clutter, which reduces the accuracy of velocity estimation. To solve the problem, we propose an accurate azimuth velocity estimating method refocusing iterative optimization (RIO) based on the quad-beam mode. Firstly, we use the back projection (BP) algorithm for the quad-beam imaging, and perform accurate registration and clutter suppression for the two forward (fore-) and two afterward (aft-) beams respectively. After that, the azimuth offset in fore- and aft-beam images is utilized to achieve the coarse azimuth velocity estimation. Then we put forward the RIO algorithm to compensate the error in velocity estimation. Through iterative search and compensation the azimuth velocity, the azimuth offset is gradually reduced to disappear, thus a more accurate estimation of azimuth velocity is realized. The experiments validate the accuracy of azimuth velocity estimation of the proposed method and the error is less than 0.01 m s − 1 , which is much better than the other three typical methods (FrFT, DiBi, DBI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two graphs are said to be D -cospectral if they have the same distance spectrum. A graph is said to be determined by its distance spectrum if there is no other non-isomorphic graph D -cospectral with it. In this paper, we mainly consider the graphs with at most three distance eigenvalues different from −1 and −2. Concretely, we find all non-isomorphic D -cospectral graphs among these graphs, and prove that the remaining graphs are determined by their distance spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the linear array synthetic aperture radar (LASAR) three-dimensional (3D) imaging, the spacing between adjacent elements in the uniform linear array (ULA) must satisfy the Nyquist sampling theorem to avoid the grating lobes, which makes the number of elements in the ULA very large. To reduce the elements in the ULA, the coprime adjacent array (CAA) with the same aperture length as the ULA is used when conducting LASAR 3D sparse imaging by compressed sensing (CS) algorithms. However, due to the increased autocorrelation coefficient of the measurement matrix, there exists grating lobes interference in the CAA-SAR imaging results. To solve this problem, we propose a joint sparse recovery (JSR) algorithm for CAA-SAR 3D sparse imaging. Firstly, we conduct sparse imaging on the CAA and its two subarrays, respectively. Secondly, the imaging results of the CAA and its two subarrays are performed image segmentation by the OTSU algorithm to extract their target-areas' imaging results. Finally, we perform the image fusion by the wavelet transform on the target-areas' imaging results to obtain the final imaging results. Both simulation and experimental results indicate that the imaging quality and computational efficiency of the JSR algorithm are higher than the random sampling array (RSA) and CAA under the same number of array elements. Besides, under the same aperture length, the JSR algorithm improves the computational efficiency than the ULA without imaging-quality loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bottom water reservoir is universal in all reservoirs in the world. In the exploitation process of the bottom water reservoir, because the reservoir is in complete contact with bottom water, the natural energy supply of the bottom water reservoir is sufficient. At the same time, in the production process, the pressure drop generated by the formation is mainly concentrated near the wellbore, which leads to a short period of waterless oil production, fast water breakthrough, and fast water cut rise, which seriously affects the overall recovery factor and increases the risk of oil filed exploitation. Since the distribution of an interlayer enhances the heterogeneity of the reservoir, it has a prominent impact on the flow of oil and water in the bottom water reservoir. However, people know little about the impact of the interlayer on the bottom water reservoir. In this paper, the mathematical model of two-phase flow in the bottom water reservoir with the interlayer is proposed, and the numerical solution of the model is obtained by a finite element method. The influence of the distribution of the interlayer on the water cut rising law of the bottom water reservoir is analyzed. The results show that the bottom water is blocked by the interlayer and its own gravity and the rising height of the bottom water is limited, so that the interlayer has a significant inhibitory effect on the coning of the bottom water. The closer the interlayer is to the oil-water interface, the faster the water cut will rise; the narrower the interlayer is, the faster the bottom water ridge will advance; when the width of the interlayer is the same as that of the reservoir, the water cone will not appear; the higher the permeability of the interlayer is, the faster the upper body of the water cut will be; when the permeability of the reservoir and the interlayer is over 1000, the influence of the interlayer on the water cut rise is not obvious; the thickness of the interlayer on the water cut rise law has little effect. Finally, through the case analysis, it is proposed that the new horizontal wells should be arranged in the position where the interlayer develops. The findings of this study can help for the better understanding of control laws of the interlayer on the bottom water and providing a crucial theoretical basis for the development of the bottom water reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron-enriched Cordyceps militaris was obtained by adding FeSO 4 solution to the mycelia for biotransformation. The polysaccharide-iron (III) was extracted by water extraction and alcohol precipitation. High performance liquid chromatography showed that the crude polysaccharide-iron (III) had three components. The second component was purified by Sephadex G-150 and named as CPS-iron-II. The average molecular weight of CPS-iron-II was 44.136 kDa. The content of iron was 2.73%. The monosaccharide composition analysis indicated that the CPS-iron-II was composed of rhamnose, arabinose, galactose, glucose, mannose, galacturonic acid with percentage ratio of 0.94:3.12:27.01:36.62:30.20:2.12. The results of methylation analysis revealed that the CPS-iron-II was made of →2)-β-D-Glc p -(1→, with →2, 4)-α-D-Glc p -(1→ highly branched. Congo-red test showed that CPS-iron-II can cause flocculation of Congo red solution. The anti-oxidative analysis showed that antioxidant activity of CPS-iron-II was almost equal to that of Vc. The manuscript provided a new way for the preparation of polysaccharide-iron(III) from Cordyceps militaris. • Iron-enriched Cordyceps militaris mycelia were prepared through biotransformation. • CPS-iron-II was isolated from iron-enriched mycelia. • The structures of CPS-iron-II were accurately characterized. • The CPS-iron-II had good antioxidant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardial infarction (MI) results in prolonged ischemia and the subsequent cell death leads to heart failure which is linked to increased deaths or hospitalizations. New therapeutic targets are urgently needed to prevent cell death and reduce infarct size among patients with MI. Runt-related transcription factor-1 (RUNX1) is a master-regulator transcription factor intensively studied in the hematopoietic field. Recent evidence showed that RUNX1 has a critical role in cardiomyocytes post-MI. The increased RUNX1 expression in the border zone of the infarct heart contributes to decreased cardiac contractile function and can be therapeutically targeted to protect against adverse cardiac remodelling. This study sought to investigate whether pharmacological inhibition of RUNX1 function has an impact on infarct size following MI. In this work we demonstrate that inhibiting RUNX1 with a small molecule inhibitor (Ro5-3335) reduces infarct size in an in vivo rat model of acute MI. Proteomics study using data-independent acquisition method identified increased cathepsin levels in the border zone myocardium following MI, whereas heart samples treated by RUNX1 inhibitor present decreased cathepsin levels. Cathepsins are lysosomal proteases which have been shown to orchestrate multiple cell death pathways. Our data illustrate that inhibition of RUNX1 leads to reduced infarct size which is associated with the suppression of cathepsin expression. This study demonstrates that pharmacologically antagonizing RUNX1 reduces infarct size in a rat model of acute MI and unveils a link between RUNX1 and cathepsin-mediated cell death, suggesting that RUNX1 is a novel therapeutic target that could be exploited clinically to limit infarct size after an acute MI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The study aimed to promote nurses' compliance with best practices for dysphagia screening in patients with stroke. Introduction: Dysphagia can significantly increase the risk of complications, especially aspiration pneumonia, leading to increased risk of disability, death, and high medical expenses. Dysphagia screening can reduce aspiration risk and is recommended as a crucial step in dysphagia management; however, not all patients with stroke undergo dysphagia screening in the neurology ward. Methods: The JBI Evidence Implementation Framework was used in this study. A baseline audit was conducted by interviewing 22 nurses and reviewing 48 medical records to evaluate current practice against best practice recommendations. The JBI Getting Research into Practice (GRiP) tool was used to identify barriers and strategies for practice change. A follow-up audit of 19 nurses and 48 medical records was conducted after implementation of improvement strategies. Results: The follow-up audit results showed improvement in three criteria compared with the baseline audit: for Criterion 1, compliance increased by 27.3%, rising from 72.7% to 100%; for Criteria 3 and 4, compliance increased by 77.1%, rising from 20.8% to 97.9%. The difference in nurses' knowledge, attitude, and behavior scores for dysphagia screening between the baseline and follow-up audits was statistically significant (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: The project showed improvements in evidence-based practice in the dysphagia screening of stroke patients in a neurology ward. However, more work needs to be done to ensure the sustainability of best practices, such as regular training for nurses, supervision from managers, and regular audits of dysphagia screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence indicates that glucose variation (GV) plays an important role in mortality of critically ill patients. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the coefficient of variation of 24-h venous blood glucose (24-hVBGCV) and mortality among patients with acute respiratory failure. The records of 1625 patients in the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care II (MIMIC II) database were extracted. The 24-hVBGCV was calculated as the ratio of the standard deviation (SD) to the mean venous blood glucose level, expressed as a percentage. The outcomes included ICU mortality and in-hospital mortality. Participants were divided into three subgroups based on tertiles of 24-hVBGCV. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between 24-hVBGCV and mortality. Sensitivity analyses were also performed in groups of patients with and without diabetes mellitus. Taking the lowest tertile as a reference, after adjustment for all the covariates, the highest tertile was significantly associated with ICU mortality [odds ratio (OR), 1.353; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.018–1.797] and in-hospital mortality (OR, 1.319; 95% CI, 1.003–1.735), especially in the population without diabetes. The 24-hVBGCV may be associated with ICU and in-hospital mortality in patients with acute respiratory failure in the ICU, especially in those without diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a noninvasive measure of coronary atherosclerosis, the proximal pathophysiology underlying most cases of myocardial infarction (MI). We sought to identify expression signatures of early MI and subclinical atherosclerosis in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS). In this study, we conducted paired-end RNA sequencing on whole blood collected from 198 FHS participants (55 with a history of early MI, 72 with high CAC without prior MI, and 71 controls free of elevated CAC levels or history of MI). We applied DESeq2 to identify coding-genes and long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) differentially expressed in MI and high CAC, respectively, compared with the control. Results: On average, 150 million paired-end reads were obtained for each sample. At the false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.1, we found 68 coding genes and 2 lincRNAs that were differentially expressed in early MI versus controls. Among them, 60 coding genes were detectable and thus tested in an independent RNA-Seq data of 807 individuals from the Rotterdam Study, and 8 genes were supported by p value and direction of the effect. Immune response, lipid metabolic process, and interferon regulatory factor were enriched in these 68 genes. By contrast, only 3 coding genes and 1 lincRNA were differentially expressed in high CAC versus controls. APOD, encoding a component of high-density lipoprotein, was significantly downregulated in both early MI (FDR = 0.007) and high CAC (FDR = 0.01) compared with controls. Conclusions: We identified transcriptomic signatures of early MI that include differentially expressed protein-coding genes and lincRNAs, suggesting important roles for protein-coding genes and lincRNAs in the pathogenesis of MI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat waves pose a significant risk to the health and safety of city dwellers, with urbanization potentially amplifying the health impact of extreme heat. Accurate assessments of population heat exposure hinge on the interplay between temperature, population spatial dynamics, and the epidemiological effects of temperature on health. Yet, many past studies have over-simplified the matter by assuming static populations, leading to substantial inaccuracies in heat exposure assessments. To address these issues, this study integrates dynamic population data, fluctuating temperature, and the exposure-response relationship between temperature and health to construct an advanced heat exposure assessment framework predicated on a population dynamic model. We analyzed urban heat island characteristics, population dynamics, and heat exposure during heat wave conditions in Beijing, a major city in China. Our findings highlight significant intra-day population movement between urban and suburban areas during heat wave conditions, with spatial population flow patterns showing clear scale-dependent characteristics. These population flow dynamics intensify heat exposure levels, and the disparity between dynamic population-weighted temperature and average temperature is most pronounced at night. Our research provides a more comprehensive understanding of real urban population heat exposure levels and can furnish city administrators with more scientifically rigorous evidence. [Display omitted] • Urban heat waves pose a significant risk to the health and safety of city dwellers • Population movement between urban and suburban areas is obvious in megacities • Movement of people between places of work and residence modifies the heat exposure • A dynamic population risk assessment index for heat exposure was developed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The TiNiSn-based half-Heusler compounds have been considered as a promising thermoelectric material system for waste heat recovery applications. There have been numerous studies dedicated to improving its intrinsic low thermoelectric performance, and one strategy is to incorporate certain types of metal dopants into the host materials. Only a few research works have been focused on the effects of the dimensions of metal particles on the thermoelectric properties of materials. In this study, we investigate the roles of micro- (M) and nano-scale (N) Cu powders in affecting the microstructures and thermoelectric properties of TiNiCu x Sn (x = 0−0.1) compounds. Owing to the ease of oxidation of Cu nanoparticles and the tedious preparation procedure, TiNiCu x , N Sn shows lower carrier concentration and electrical conductivity compared to the TiNiCu x , M Sn with the same nominal Cu content. The high-temperature Seebeck coefficient of TiNiCu x , N Sn gradually deteriorates as the temperature rises, partly due to the impurities-induced bandgap narrowing effect. The maximum power factor achieved for TiNiCu x , N Sn is about 20.2% lower than that for TiNiCu x , M Sn. Even though the reduced contribution of electronic component leads to a lower total thermal conductivity at low temperatures, the highest zT obtained in TiNiCu x , N Sn is markedly lower than that in the corresponding TiNiCu x , M Sn. These findings highlight the importance of investigating the dimensions of metal dopants in studies of the thermoelectric properties of materials. • Strong correlations were found between the dimensions of Cu powders and the thermoelectric properties of TiNiCu x Sn alloys. • TiNiCu 0.075, M Sn exhibits the highest PF at around 770 K, which is an increase of nearly 35% compared to that of TiNiSn. • The nano-scale Cu powder was found to be less effective in improving the thermoelectric performance of TiNiSn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the search to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of structural health monitoring for preserving safety and integrity in civil infrastructure, the search for innovative technologies is of critical importance. This paper introduces ExpoDet, a comprehensive framework designed for autonomous health inspection and infrastructure assessment. ExpoDet features a multi-detection detector, autonomous navigation for micro aerial vehicles facilitated through secondary reward reinforcement learning, and a damage aggregation scheme for autonomous health assessment following detections. Moreover, it presents an attention module called EEAM+ that introduces dynamic feature orientation and significantly enhances the capabilities of ExpoDet. ExpoDet is extensively tested and evaluated in both offsite and field test experiments. Comparisons with several state-of-the-art object detectors coupled with attention modules show an average improvement of approximately 3% across various evaluation metrics. • ExpoDet, a multi-task framework, is proposed for autonomous structural health inspection and assessment. • Secondary reward reinforcement learning, which constrains two related robotic tasks, is proposed. • Dynamic orientation of feature maps is introduced into the explicit ensemble attention module. • ExpoDet demonstrates engineering feasibility and practicability with satisfactory performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The class of P -reducible manifolds was first introduced by Matsumoto. This class of Finsler manifolds contains the classes of C -reducible manifolds, Berwald manifolds and Landsberg manifolds. In 1977, Matsumoto and Shimada proposed an open problem: Is there any concrete P -reducible metric which is not C -reducible? For this aim, we study a class of Finsler metrics called general (α , β) -metrics. We find equations which characterize P -reducible general (α , β) -metrics. Furthermore, if β is parallel to α , then general (α , β) -metrics are P -reducible rather than C -reducible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of stimulated reservoir volume of tight reservoir, horizontal well can form three zones, the inner zone is multistage fracturing zone, the middle zone is skin damage zone, and the outer zone is undamaged zone. In this paper, a transient well test analysis model of multistage fracturing horizontal well in three area composite reservoir is proposed. Based on Laplace transformation, point source integration, and superposition principle, the infinite conductivity multifracture model of three area composite reservoir is obtained. The linear equations of finite conductivity multifracture in Laplace space are established by using the equal conditions of flow and pressure at the fracture wall. Gauss-Newton iteration method and Stehfest number are used to obtain the solution of wellbore pressure. The accuracy of the results is verified by numerical simulation. Then, the flow characteristics of multistage fracturing horizontal wells in three area composite reservoirs are analyzed by type curves. The flow is divided into ten stages, which are the bilinear flow, the linear flow, the first radial flow stage, the inner zone linear flow, the inner zone radial flow, the middle zone linear flow, the middle zone radial flow, the outer zone linear flow, the outer zone radial flow, and the boundary dominated flow. The pressure derivative curves show different characteristics in different flow stages. The influences of fracture conductivity, fracture spacing, radius ratio of the middle zone to inner zone, radius ratio of the outer zone to the middle zone, permeability ratio of inner zone to the middle zone, permeability ratio of inner zone to outer zone, storage capacity ratio of inner zone to the middle zone, and storage capacity ratio of inner zone to outer zone on type curves are analyzed. Finally, the application and reliability of the proposed model are verified by a case example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A W‐band wide‐beam horn suitable for prime‐focus feed is described in this paper. It was designed to provide better illuminations for outer panels of larger reflector antennas and to improve performance of radio holography systems. Much effort has been spent on precise characterization of the amplitude and phase patterns of the wide beam horn which has a direct impact on the measurement accuracy of the radio holography. A far‐field measurement setup with the correction of phase errors due to cable flexing has been developed. Good beam pattern agreement has been achieved between simulation and measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial inequality in basic service provision is a key challenge for smart city development strategies. With a focus on walkable accessibility, this paper proposes a new methodological approach to analyzing spatial inequalities in metropolitan cities. In addition to proving the effectiveness of the proposed methodology by using New York City as an empirical case, the insights offered by the analysis contribute to an improvement in the current understanding of the negative implications that spatial inequalities can have on public health. Policies concerning local public service rearrangement should consider spatial inequalities to promote more effective forms of public participation both in the United States and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distance Laplacian matrix of a connected graph G is defined as ℒ G = Tr G − D G , where D G is the distance matrix of G and Tr G is the diagonal matrix of vertex transmissions of G. The largest eigenvalue of ℒ G is called the distance Laplacian spectral radius of G. In this paper, we determine the graphs with maximum and minimum distance Laplacian spectral radius among all clique trees with n vertices and k cliques. Moreover, we obtain n vertices and k cliques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distance Laplacian matrix of a connected graph G is defined as ℒ G = Tr G − D G , where D G is the distance matrix of G and Tr G is the diagonal matrix of vertex transmissions of G. The largest eigenvalue of ℒ G is called the distance Laplacian spectral radius of G. In this paper, we determine the graphs with maximum and minimum distance Laplacian spectral radius among all clique trees with n vertices and k cliques. Moreover, we obtain n vertices and k cliques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns a model of hierarchical neural network with D n × D n -symmetry and time delays. The linear stability of the steady state is obtained via an artful factorization technique of the characteristic equation corresponding to the linearized system. And we also perform a delay-induced Hopf bifurcation analysis involving spatio-temporal patterns of bifurcated periodic solutions relying on the equivariant Hopf bifurcation theory for retarded functional differential equations and the representation method of Lie groups. Some numerical simulations for a simple example are carried out to demonstrate the application of our theoretical conclusion that multiple periodic orbits could occur simultaneously from Hopf bifurcation in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ionic liquid-modified reduced graphene oxide/polyaniline (RGO-IL/PANI) composite was synthesized successfully. The ionic liquid enlarged the interlayer distance of RGO sheets and acted as a PANI dopant to improve the orderly establishment of PANI. The supercapacitor based on RGO-IL/PANI presented outstanding energy density (24.1 W h kg−1 at 501 W kg−1), good cycling stability (91.5% capacity retention after 1000 cycles) and excellent flexibility. The results demonstrated the significant potential application of the obtained RGO-IL/PANI composite as a flexible electrode for high-performance energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dexamethasone can alleviate the severity of bronchial and alveolar edema and therefore is widely applied in the treatment of various exudative diseases including pulmonary edema. However, the effectiveness of dexamethasone is still being questioned and its mechanism is not fully understood. Aquaporins (AQPs) are mainly responsible for the transmembrane transport of water, which is tightly associated with pulmonary edema. Small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs) are considered to play a protective role in some pathological conditions. In this study, we demonstrated that dexamethasone can upregulate the expression of AQPs in A549 cells by inducing SUMOylation. We found that a low dose of dexamethasone significantly upregulated the levels of SUMOylation and AQP expression in A549 cells, accompanied by a translocation of SUMOs from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. We also explored the possible relation between SUMOylation and AQPs. Knockdown of SUMO2/3 by RNA interference decreased the level of AQP4 in A549 cells after dexamethasone stimulation. Together, our findings demonstrated that AQP4 expression was upregulated in A549 cells exposed to dexamethasone, and SUMOylation may participate in the regulation of AQP4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tibetan Plateau is one of the last areas populated by modern humans because of its harsh environment. Due to the paucity of reliably dated archaeological sites, the history of the peopling of Tibet is unclear. However, more than 110 microblade sites discovered on the Plateau indicate large-scale migration. This paper reviews microblade assemblages in seven geographical regions in terms of the specific techno-typologies, and divides them into three types. Based upon results obtained from 17 archaeological sites and techno-typological comparisons, we argue that microblade sites on the Plateau fall within three periods, 14-10 ka BP, 8-7 ka BP and 5-3 ka BP. The techno-typology of sites in the first period is still unclear. Assemblages are dominated by flake blank exploitation cores represented by wedge-shaped nuclei during the second period. Conical microblade cores and pottery coexisted during the latest period. A combination of chronology, techno-typology and the locations of microblade sites discovered on and around the Tibetan Plateau supports the conclusion that people bearing microblade technology originating in North China migrated to the Plateau via a northern route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ship detection from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery is attracting increasing attention due to its great value in ocean. However, existing most studies are frequently improving detection accuracy at the expense of detection speed. Thus, to solve this problem, this paper proposes HyperLi-Net for high-accurate and high-speed SAR ship detection. We propose five external modules to achieve high-accuracy, i.e., Multi-Receptive-Field Module (MRF-Module), Dilated Convolution Module (DC-Module), Channel and Spatial Attention Module (CSA-Module), Feature Fusion Module (FF-Module) and Feature Pyramid Module (FP-Module). We also adopt five internal mechanisms to achieve high-speed, i.e., Region-Free Model (RF-Model), Small Kernel (S-Kernel), Narrow Channel (N-Channel), Separable Convolution (Separa-Conv) and Batch Normalization Fusion (BN-Fusion). Experimental results on the SAR Ship Detection Dataset (SSDD), Gaofen-SSDD and Sentinel-SSDD show that HyperLi-Net's accuracy and speed are both superior to the other nine state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, the satisfactory detection results on two Sentinel-1 SAR images can reveal HyperLi-Net's good migration capability. HyperLi-Net is build from scratch with fewer parameters, lower computation costs and lighter model that can be efficiently trained on CPUs and is helpful for future hardware transplantation, e.g. FPGAs, DSPs, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: To assess the value of conventional ultrasound (US), contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and mammography in the diagnosis of breast lesions with calcifications. METHODS: A total of 87 breast lesions with calcification were subjected to US, CEUS and mammography and divided into 3 groups: Group A (all cases), Group A1 (31 cases who underwent US and CEUS first followed by mammography), and Group A2 (56 cases who underwent mammography first followed by US and CEUS). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of different methods in different groups. RESULTS: In Group A, the area under the ROC curve (AUROC) of CEUS were 0.937, which were significantly higher than that of mammography (p < 0.05). In Group A1, the AUROC of CEUS were 0.842, which were not significantly different from that of US and mammography (p > 0.05). In Group A2, the AUROC of CEUS were 0.987, which were significantly higher than that of mammography and US (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on the mammography results, the combination of US and CEUS might improve the diagnostic efficacy in breast lesions with calcification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the important antivibration fittings in transmission lines, the damper’s accurate location, the quick detection of damper rust defect, and the timely remedial measures are all of great significance to ensure the reliable transmission of electric energy. Considering the background complexity of the damper image and harmfulness of its rust defect, a method for identifying the rust status of damper based on image processing is proposed in this article. First, the damper image acquired by the image acquisition device is grayed, and the feature enhancement of the damper region is completed by the local difference processing, the edge strength mapping based on the anisotropic Gaussian kernel directional derivative and the image fusion, and so on. Second, the segmentation of damper is completed by the threshold segmentation and the morphological treatment. Finally, the rust parameters of the damper area, which are the rusty area ratio (RAR) and the color shade index (CSI) are presented, by which the identification of the rust status can be defined as the rust-free, slight rust, medium rust, and severe rust. The results show that the segmentation and accurate identification of the rusted dampers can be completed by the proposed method. The total identification rate of the rusted dampers can reach 93% even under the complex background. The method is new and effective for identifying the rust status of damper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Rotenone induces the DA degenration in the olfactory bulb. • Drp1 mitochondrial recruitment leads to excessive mitochondrial fission and abnormal morphology. • Drp1-mediated mitochondrial fission activates the NLRP3 inflammasome of the olfactory bulb. • The pathological alteration of olfactory bulb is closely associated with Drp1-dependent mitochondrial fragmentation. Olfaction is often affected in parkinsonian patients and its disturbances precede the classical cognitive and locomotor dysfunction. The olfactory bulb might be the region of onset in Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis, evidenced by the presence of disease-related protein aggregates and disturbed olfactory information processing. However, the underlying molecular mechanism that governs the olfactory bulb impairments remains unclear. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between olfactory bulb and inflammatory pathological alterations and the potential mechanisms. Here we found that rotenone led to typical parkinsonian symptoms and decreased tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons in the olfactory bulb. Additionally, increased NF-κB nuclear translocation and NLRP3 inflammasome components expressions caused by rotenone injection were observed accompanied by the activation of microglia and astrocytes in the olfactory bulb. Rotenone also triggered Drp1-mediated mitochondrial fission and this in turn caused mitochondrial damage. Furthermore, Mdivi-1(a selective Drp1 inhibitor) markedly ameliorated the morphologic disruptions of mitochondria and Drp1 translocation, inhibited the nuclear translocation of NF-κB, eventually blocked the downstream pathway of the NLRP3/caspase-1/IL-1β axis and expression of iNOS. Overall, these findings suggest that Drp1-dependent mitochondrial fission induces NF-κB nuclear translocation and NLRP3 inflammasome activation that may further contribute to olfactory bulb disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In North China, the archaeology of the Late Pleistocene is characterized by the persistence of flake-based lithic assemblages. Little is known about the use of stone tools and the reasons behind the success of a relatively simple core and flake technology are unclear. Most lithic studies in the region are traditionally based on a typological categorization of assemblages with the frequencies of cores and tool-types playing a significant role in the characterization of the site (e.g. residential vs. more logistical occupation). Hence, to discriminate stone tool from byproduct is essential to better understand variables such as site function or mobility but it remains particularly challenging in poorly standardized lithic assemblages. Here we present preliminary results of a study on the newly excavated material from cultural layer 2 and 3 at Shuidonggou Locality 2 (32.6–29.9 ka cal BP). We analyze use-wears on a sample of retouched and unretouched blanks using the low magnification technique and we compared our observations with several experimental referential. Our results can be summarized in two main points. First, we observe a similar frequency of use-wear on retouched tools and unretouched blanks. Second, differences in tool types do not match our basic identification of the working motions. Our results suggest that in Shuidonggou Locality 2, using retouch as a predictor for tool use is problematic (especially with regards to tool functions). Given that tool frequencies and tool diversity are data used to model site function, tool curation and hunter-gatherer mobility, we suggest that this issue should be further investigated in the context of 'core and flakes' assemblage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most important fields for fulfilling the sustainable development of human beings, green manufacturing has been attracting the attention of academia since the 1990s with the evolution of several synonym concepts. After nearly 30 years' development, a general cartography of existing research is now needed to reflect the major ideas and questions involved. This is carried out here by a bibliometric analysis. Following a basic review of the evolutionary progress of "green manufacturing" and similar concepts, we collect articles concerning green manufacturing, environmentally conscious/responsible manufacturing, benign manufacturing, and sustainable manufacturing. The data sources are limited to SCI and SSCI journals. Then we extract high frequency keywords from the articles and calculate their co-occurrence. A hierarchical clustering is conducted based on the co-word matrix, and six clusters are identified and visually presented by a strategic diagram and bi-dimensional multi-dimensional scaling diagrams. The six clusters cover the research subjects of green chemical materials, green manufacturing principles and approaches, common analytical tools, green manufacturing implementation of industrial firms, green supply chain, industrial ecology, GHG emissions, and green machining tools and processes. We build a framework to embed the green manufacturing system into the economic-social-eco system and divide green manufacturing research into three levels: application, organization, and system. Based on this framework, we combine the existing research architecture and research boundaries in the field and propose possible future research directions. • Co-word analysis using high frequency keywords extracted from SCI and SSCI journal papers. • Six clusters about green manufacturing (GM) are identified by hierarchical clustering. • Results are visually presented by strategic diagram and MDS diagrams. • A complete picture of research in GM is shown by a framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the role of intratumoral heterogeneity on MRI assessed by histogram analysis in differentiating soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) of different grades.Materials and Methods: Patients with primary STS undergoing MRI prior to iatrogenic procedures were included retrospectively. The histologic grade was assigned according to Federation Nationale des Centres de Lutte Contre le Cancer grading system. T1WI and T2WI were normalized by dividing mean signal intensity (SI) of contralateral/near unaffected muscles. Contrast-enhanced T1WI was normalized by computing enhancement ratio (ER) map as (SIpost-SIpre)/SIpre×100, where SIpre and SIpost represent SI of each pixel before and after enhancement. A region of interest (ROI) was manually drawn to include entire tumor area on axial slice with largest tumor diameter. Mean, mode, standard deviation, kurtosis and skewness on ROIs were extracted with ImageJ software. ANOVA/Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine the significance of differences. ROC curve was applied for statistically significant parameters. P value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Among involved 67 patients, 8 were assigned to grade 1, 38 to grade 2 and 21 to grade 3. Skewness (P =  0.022) and kurtosis (P =  0.035) on ER maps were significantly different among STS of different grades. The optimal cutoffs of skewness and kurtosis on ER maps were -0.488 (AUC[95% CI] 0.747[0.557-0.937]; sensitivity/specificity, 62.5%/86.4%) and 0.762 (AUC[95% CI] 0.684[0.548-0.821]; sensitivity/specificity, 76.2%/56.5%), respectively.Conclusion: Intratumoral heterogeneity on MRI quantitatively displayed by histogram parameters can differentiate STS of different grades. Skewness and kurtosis on ER maps show the capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental characteristics of internal forces and deformations in the directional distribution of granular materials, it is necessary to investigate the directional distribution of particles on the mechanical properties and microstructural evolution process of the soil. The discrete element particle flow program PFC3D is used to construct the particle with the same aspect ratio, convexity, and sphericity as the binary images, and the specimens with directional particle distributions of 0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90° are generated. Furthermore, the quantitative correlations between the constitutive parameters and the deposition angle are examined. The results show that the shear strength and shear expansion of the soil increase with increasing deposition angle. With an increase in axial strain, the dominant direction of contact points and the direction of force chain and normal contact force rotate counterclockwise. In the critical state, the microstructural direction of the specimens with different deposition angles is approximately the same, which is primarily along the direction of 45° + ϕcs. The critical friction angle decays as a power function with the increase of deposition angle in undrained tests. The critical void ratios of the specimens with different deposition angles under drained tests decay linearly as the deposition angle increases. The critical mechanical coordination number decays exponentially with an increase in deposition angle under undrained tests. The conclusions mentioned above serve as a guide for revising the constitutive equations for specimens considering the microscopic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the feasibility and effects of the WeChat‐based life review programme on anxiety, depression, self‐transcendence, meaning in life and hope among cancer patients. Background: Life review is effective in improving the psychospiritual well‐being of palliative patients. However, traditional life review programmes are limitedly applied in clinical practice. Design: A non‐concurrent controlled quasi‐experimental design. Methods: Ninety‐two cancer patients were recruited from April 2017 – February 2018, with 44 patients in the control group receiving routine care and 48 in the experimental group receiving a 6‐week WeChat‐based life review programme plus routine care. Compliance with the programme, difficulty in participation and satisfaction with the programme were used to explore its feasibility. Anxiety, depression, self‐transcendence, meaning in life and hope were measured at baseline and immediately after the programme. Results: All experimental participants who completed the programme used the WeChat platform; 39 participants had no difficulties in operating the platform and 40 were satisfied with the programme. Statistically significant effects were identified on anxiety, depression and self‐transcendence. An increase in the levels of meaning in life and hope was observed in the experimental group after the programme. Conclusion and impact: The innovative WeChat‐based life review programme is an effective non‐pharmacological intervention in improving psychospiritual well‐being of community‐dwelling cancer patients. It could be integrated into transitional care for cancer patients. Future research with rigorous design is necessary to test the effects online life reviews among cancer patients. Trial registration: This study was registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (Registration No: ChiCTR‐IOR‐17011998). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A series of aliphatic terminal diamines with different kinetic diameter length, including 1,2-diaminoethane (A2), 1,3-diaminopropane (A3), 1,4-diaminobutane (A4), 1,5-diaminopentane (A5), 1,6-diaminlhexane (A6), 1,7-diaminoheptane (A7), and 1,8-diaminooctane (A8), were selected as built-in molecules of graphene oxide (GO) to fabricate diamine modified graphene oxide nanosheets (Ax-GO). Through vacuum filtration method, diamine modified Ax-GO membranes with tunable interlayer spacing were deposited on the polydopamine (PDA) modified α-Al 2 O 3 supports. The separation performances of the Ax-GO membranes were evaluated for seawater desalination by pervaporation. It is found that the water fluxes of the Ax-GO membranes increase with the enhancement of the interlayer spacing of the Ax-GO. Impressively, A4-GO membrane displays the best performance with water flux of 19.7 kg·m−2·h−1 and ion rejection of 99.9% at 90 °C for desalination of 3.5 wt% seawater. Further, A4-GO membrane shows high stability for seawater desalination, and the desalination performance keeps unchanged up to 168 h at 75 °C. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Covalent modification strategy is developed to prepare graphene oxide framework • Aliphatic terminal were selected for cross-linking modification of graphene oxide • Diamine modified graphene oxide (Ax-GO) membranes were prepared facilely. • A4-GO membrane display high desalination performance and stability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Distribution of interfacial stresses were extracted from created model. • Effects from thinned silicon ROIC were assessed with failure stress criterions. • Relations between failure stress components and silicon ROIC thicknesses were obtained. • BCS with thinner silicon ROIC was effective in eliminating thermal mismatch problems. Thermal mismatch problems can trigger the cracking of the InSb photosensitive layer, the local delamination and the performance degradation of the InSb infrared detector arrays (IDAs). We preferred the balanced composite structure (BCS) proposed by Jeffrey Barton to eliminate these typical failure phenomena. In the BCS, the silicon readout integrated circuit (Si-ROIC) was thinned to make its effective coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) match the CTE of the InSb photosensitive layer. In order to assess the efficacy of the thinner Si-ROIC in the BCS, with the help of the established InSb IDAs assembly equivalent structure model, we quantitatively analyzed the effectivity of the thinned Si-ROIC in the elimination of the tensile stress (causing the InSb photosensitive layer to crack), the interfacial shear stress (leading to the local delamination of the InSb IDAs), and the peeling stress (giving rise to the edge delamination of the InSb IDAs). We observed that the tensile stress in the InSb photosensitive layer decreases linearly with the thinned Si-ROIC, besides, the interfacial shear stress and the peeling stress also decrease linearly with the thinned Si-ROIC in the range of 300–50 μm. When the Si-ROIC is thinner than 50 μm, the location, in which the local maximal shear stress or the maximal peeling stress appears, moves inward and deviates from its preceding location. All these simulation results clearly confirm that the thinner Si-ROIC in the BCS is an effective approach to concurrently reducing the three main failure stress components in the InSb IDAs assembly, and this major characteristic of concurrently decreasing the three main failure stress components contributes to completely solve the thermal mismatch problems in the InSb IDAs assembly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Fenton pretreated sludge had significant improvement in MFC electricity production. • The reduced inner resistance in FSMFC resulted in higher maximum power density. • Several well known electrogens were identified in FSMFC. Abstract This study evaluated electricity production from a two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) coupled with sludge Fenton oxidation process. The total experimental period was divided into two stages. In the first stage, a series of batch studies were carried out to elucidate the parameters governing sludge Fenton process. The optimum conditions have been found as pH = 3, H 2 O 2 dosage = 9.99 g/L and Fe2+dosage = 0.75 g/L. In the following stage, two MFCs, one MFC was filled with pretreated sludge supernatant (FSMFC) and the other MFC was filled with raw sludge supernatant (RSMFC), were operated to generate electricity. It was demonstrated that Fenton pretreated sludge showed significantly improvement in MFC electrical productivity. FSMFC reached a maximum power density of 8.15 w/m3 at a current density of 18.05 A/m3, while RSMFC reached the maximum power density of 0.45 w/m3 at a current density of 1.09 A/m3, much lower than FSMFC. The reduced inner resistance of 36.73 Ω in FSMFC, hence yielding higher maximum power density. And utilization of organic matter in FSMFC was much higher than that in RSMFC, the removal efficiencies of SCOD, protein and polysaccharide were 70.7%, 46.4% and 53.2%, respectively. On the other hand, samples of inoculation sludge and anodic biofilm were analyzed using the metagenome sequencing technique for microbial community analysis. At the phyla level, the total percentage of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi of total sequences increased from 76.94% (inoculated sludge) to 92.09% (MFC biofilm), these phyla were most frequently detected in MFC. At the genus level, it suggested that the inoculation sludge was mainly dominated by Unclassified, while Comamonas, Burkholderia, Desulfovibrion Pseudomonas and Pseudoxanthomonas well-known electrogens were identified in anode biofilm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Die vorliegende Studie geht von den DaF-Lehrwerken des chinesischen Germanistikstudiums aus, um die Stereotypisierung der deutschen Kultur bei Chinesen empirisch zu untersuchen. Dabei wird der Fokus dieser empirischen Untersuchung darauf gerichtet, wie die Stereotypisierung der deutschen Kultur in chinesischen DaF-Lehrwerken für Germanistikstudierende aussieht. Mittels einer qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse über alle kulturspezifischen Inhalte in den erforschten Lehrwerken stellt sich heraus, dass die DaF-Lehrwerke des chinesischen Germanistikstudiums eine Palette an Stereotypen über die deutsche Kultur aufweisen, wobei die chinesische Perspektive eine gewichtige Rolle spielt. Außerdem wird in den Lehrwerken bei der Herausbildung von Stereotypen ein Schwerpunkt auf das Germanistikstudium sowie das Deutschlernen gelegt. Schließlich stellt die ganze Stereotypisierung in den Lehrwerken ein Wechselspiel vielfältiger Elemente der Lehrwerke dar. This empirical study is based on the GFL textbooks of Chinese German Studies and aims at the stereotyping of German culture in China. By using the qualitative content analysis, all the elements in the selected GFL textbooks which are related to German culture have been interpreted and investigated. The results demonstrate that the GFL textbooks of Chinese German Studies show a wide variety of stereotypes about German culture and that Chinese perspective plays an important role in the development of the stereotypes in the Chinese GFL textbooks. Furthermore, Chinese GFL textbooks mainly focus on the German Studies and German learning in the process of stereotyping. Finally, the stereotyping in the Chinese GFL textbooks embodies the interplay of diverse elements in the textbooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Anthropogenic emissions of reactive nitrogen (Nr) result in adverse impacts on the ecosystems. Nowhere has that threat been more challenging than in rapidly urbanized China, the world's largest anthropogenic Nr producer. The Nanjing Declaration in 2004 called for global reductions in Nr emissions. To assess China's progress, multisource Nr emissions were evaluated with a quantitative method from 2004 to 2014. The results showed that national Nr emissions had increased with fluctuation over this period, 55–59% of the total Nr emissions were emitted to the atmosphere, and that agricultural production still was the biggest contributor (62–69%). The hotspots were mainly located in the developed and coastal regions that also have high population densities. Urbanization was associated with overall decreases in agricultural Nr emission and increases in industrial and residential Nr emissions. The overall increase in residential Nr emission per capita played a large role in driving the growth of national Nr emission. Continuing urbanization poses a significant challenge to future Nr mitigation for ecosystem sustainability and a range of strategies, covering improvement of N-use efficiency, slowdown of Western China's urbanization, and promotion of low N intensive lifestyle, are proposed that can promote Chinese low-nitrogen development. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Anthropogenic Nr emissions from China have increased with fluctuation since Nanjing Declaration. • Urbanization has positive and negative two-way effects on Chinese Nr emissions. • Continuing urbanization poses a significant challenge to future Nr mitigation. • Regional Nr emissions possess mitigation potentials with the promotions of low-N strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Power budget is a key factor that should be considered in intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) passive optical networks (PONs). Based on the low-cost 10G-class electro-absorption modulated laser (EML) operating at C-band, we not only experimentally and theoretically investigate the interplay between the chromatic dispersion, the chirp of EML, and the self-phase modulation (SPM), but also explore the influences of the resolution and timing jitter of the analog to digital converter (ADC). Both theoretical and experimental results show that high power budget can be effectively achieved by making full use of the high launch power induced SPM effect and EML-induced frequency chirp. Based on the 10-G transmitter optical sub-assembly (TOSA) and receiver optical sub-assembly (ROSA), we successfully realize 25 Gb/s signal transmission at C-band over 25 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) in IM/DD PON system. Even the worst performing bands can still achieve 25 dB power budget. The proposed scheme in this work has a potential application in future cost-effective optical access networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Let D denote the distance matrix of a connected graph. The inertia of D is the triple of integers (n + (D) , n 0 (D) , n − (D)) , where n + (D) , n 0 (D) , n − (D) denote the number of positive, 0, and negative eigenvalues of D , respectively. The D -energy is the sum of the absolute eigenvalues of D. In this paper, we first obtain the inertia and a formula for the determinant of the distance matrices of the line graphs of unicyclic graphs; Then, as applications, we obtain the graphs with maximum (resp. minimum) D -energy among all these graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inbred lines are important germplasm in cauliflower breeding programs. To understand the genetic diversity and relationships of cauliflower inbred lines, the use of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers will be of great value for parental line selection and breeding strategy design. In this study, the genetic diversity and relationships of 165 cauliflower inbred lines primarily derived from southeast China were assessed using SSR markers. Forty-three SSR markers were polymorphic across these inbred lines and generated a total of 111 alleles. The mean values of the number of alleles (Na), effective number of alleles (Ne), Shannon’s Information index (I), and polymorphism information content (PIC) per locus were 2.581, 1.599, 0.517 and 0.316, respectively. Genetic distance values among all pairs of the inbred lines varied from 0 to 0.67 with an average of 0.30. On the basis of genetic distance data estimated with the SSR markers, the 165 cauliflower inbred lines were classified into four main clusters (from group Ⅰ to group Ⅳ) by cluster analysis and four subpopulations (from POP 1 to POP 4) by structure analysis. The classification patterns of most cauliflower inbred lines were not consistent with their curd maturity, curd solidity or geographic origins. These results based on estimates by the SSR markers, suggested the genetic diversity of the 165 cauliflower inbred lines was relatively narrow. Therefore, pyramiding the valuable genes among different types of the cauliflower inbred lines is important to increase the genetic diversity to obtain desirable hybridization combinations. The information generated in this report will be useful for assessing germplasm and breeding in cauliflower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A generalized k -Yamabe problem is considered in this paper. Denoting Ric and R the Ricci tensor and the scalar curvature of a Riemannian space (M , g) respectively, we consider the σ k -type equation σ k (λ s t) = c o n s t. , where λ s t are the eigenvalues of the symmetric tensor s R i c − t R ⋅ g and σ k is the k − t h elementary symmetric polynomial. We show that the equation is solvable in a conformal class if s R i c − t R ⋅ g is in the convex cone Γ k + and 2 t > s > 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Intense vibrations in hydraulic turbine generator unit draft tubes lead to a run-out of the unit shafting and threaten its safe and stable operation. Correct maintenance is therefore important for the safe operation of such units. This study involves assessing the condition of the turbine generator unit by extracting the feature information of its vibration signals. Based on previous research, we present an enhanced Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT) method with an energy-correlation fluctuation criterion to extract feature information and effectively verify the method with simulated signals. An inspection application based on the signal from a vortex strip in the draft tube of a prototype turbine under suboptimal operating conditions indicates that this method is more effective than the traditional one, with a better component identification capability and better suited to the analysis of the complex and dynamic feature information of hydro turbines. Highlights • Intense vibration in hydraulic turbine generator unit draft tubes leads to a run-out of the shafting of the unit. • It assessed the condition of the unit by extracting information concerning its vibration signal features. • An enhanced Hilbert Huang Transform (HHT) method with an energy-correlation fluctuation criterion was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, single-side-band (SSB) modulation direct detection (DD) based optical transmission systems have attracted great interest due to their capability of electronic chromatic dispersion (CD) compensation. In this paper, we investigate the digital chromatic dispersion pre-management for optical SSB signals which are generated by radio frequency (RF) tone based on I/Q modulator and optical carrier based dual-drive Mach–Zehnder modulator (DDMZM) with DD at the C-band via numerical simulations. The impact of CD, self-phase modulation (SPM) and phase-to-amplitude noise on such a SSB DD optical transmission system with I/Q modulator based virtual carrier assisted, and the DDMZM based optical carrier are investigated. The simulation results have successfully demonstrated the transmission of a 224-Gb/s Nyquist 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) signal over 75-km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) with bit error rate (BER) less than 3.8 × 10 −3 in a SSB-DD system by using digital CD pre-management. It is shown that the SPM induced impairment can be optically mitigated by the residual positive CD of the SSMF link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid increase in sustainable development, there have been increasing calls for social sustainability to be incorporated into construction. One promising yet under explored direction is to take into account the context of temporal construction project-based organizations (PBOs), interconnected networked stakeholders, and the longitudinal monitoring of organizational governance. The use of social network analysis (SNA) to study various relationship-oriented phenomena is gaining popularity in organizational governance and project management and has the potential to be applied to construction in which PBOs prevail. This study aimed to develop a multilayered conceptual framework for improving social sustainability in construction, in which the link between the theories of social sustainability and construction can be advanced through network thinking and SNA. Based on the framework, effective operational methods can be derived to measure and analyze the working relationships involved and, in so doing, the social sustainability aspects can be better embedded in the relationships. A building project was investigated as a case study to illustrate the application of the conceptual framework. By continuous monitoring of the network interplay and adjustments on institutional settings, construction can be more socially sustainable in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]