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The maneuverability of flight vehicles and their significant working power cause high non-uniform heat flux in their electrical components. Meanwhile, the package structure of components leads to a hostile heat dissipation environment in which air cooling cannot be realized, and a heat sink with conventional dimensions cannot meet the strong heat dissipation requirement, so the microchannel heat sink (MCHS) has been proposed instead. The mode of secondary branches of microchannel heat sink on the current research was full-opening one crossing the channel wall, the semi-opening secondary branch has rarely been studied yet. Meanwhile, the influences of secondary branches on the flow and heat transfer performance and temperature uniformity of an MCHS under non-uniform heat flux have not been mentioned. Hence, in this paper, a numerical model for a MCHS with secondary branches is proposed to enhance the thermal performance of heat sinks and to improve the temperature uniformity of the substrates. Considering the symmetry structure of the heat sinks, the computational domain is constructed by two parallel sinusoidal channels with secondary branches on the adjacent channel wall. The effects of geometric factors, such as the cross-sectional opening degree and the arrangement of branches on the thermal performance of the heat sinks, are studied. The results show that compared with the conventional wavy MCHS, the secondary branches promote fluid mixing efficiency, enhance thermal performance, and provide dynamic adjustment of the flow distribution. Furthermore, a heat sink with middle semi-opening branches shows superior thermal performance, while the one with interlaced semi-opening branches shows better temperature uniformity of substrate. Meanwhile, an MCHS with secondary branches has a much larger Fc and a smaller S ̇ gen / S ̇ gen , 0 than those of a heat sink with no branches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid development of high-power electromechanical actuator, the conventional cooling technologies become hard to meet the requirement of heat dissipation, the minichannel heat sink using supercritical cryogenic propellant methane is proposed for high power electromechanical actuator's thermal control in flight vehicles, withstanding the extreme ambient of flight vehicles like gravity acceleration and replacing the air-cooled method under the rarefied atmosphere. However, the optimal working patterns especially considering both the factors of geometric and operation conditions need to be investigated thoroughly due to the complicated heat transfer mechanism of supercritical methane in minichannel of heat sink. Therefore, in the present article, based on the actual configuration of IGBT power module in flight vehicle actuator, the numerical models of minichannel heat sink under various cross sections with the same aspect ratio and hydraulic diameter, namely triangle, trapezoid, and rectangle, are established with the overall region of 50 mm × 100mm. The hydraulic diameter of fluid region in single channel is 1.5 mm, the size of solid region for computational domain is 3 mm × 5 mm (width × height) and the material is silicon. The overall channel number is 17, the inlet Reynolds number covers from 500 to 1500 and the operation pressure ranges 5 MPa to 7 MPa, while the ratio of mass flux to heat flux keeps constant. On this basis, the thermal performance, in especial the local heat transfer features of supercritical methane in minichannel heat sinks under three different geometric configurations of cross section is researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high sensitivity plasmonic temperature sensor based on a side-polished photonic crystal fiber is proposed in this work. In order to achieve high sensitivity and high stability, the gold layer is coated on the side-polished photonic crystal fiber to support surface plasmon resonance. The mixture of ethanol and chloroform is used as the thermosensitive liquid. The performances of the proposed temperature sensor were investigated by the finite element method (FEM). Simulation results indicate that the sensitivity of the temperature sensor is as high as 7.82 nm/°C. It has good linearity (R 2 = 0.99803), the resolution of 1.1 Ă— 10âˆ'3 °C, and the amplitude sensitivity of 0.1008 °Câˆ'1. In addition, the sizes of the small air hole and polishing depth have little influence on the sensitivity. Therefore, the proposed sensor shows a high structure tolerance. The excellent performance and high structure tolerance of the sensor make it an appropriate choice for temperature measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose is to promote the supply–demand market circulation of agricultural products and agricultural informationization. First, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) applications in the matching circulation of agricultural products are analyzed theoretically. The IoT technology is then designed based on AI algorithms and used in a logistics company's operating system that transports agricultural products. Compared with the traditional circulation mode of agricultural products, intelligent IoT (IIoT) can provide stable market supply, reduce time and circulation costs, and enhance information communication. Chinese farmers have the facilities to operate the IIoT platform. Advice and suggestions on implementing the platform are given. Applying IIoT to match agricultural supply and demand information can reduce the circulation cost, integrate the supply–demand information of various products, and timely and efficiently convey the supply–demand information, thereby promoting the informationization of agricultural market and rural economy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A valid user modeling method which combines stable centroids and centroid fluctuation ranges. • A data cleaning algorithm in order to remove abnormal data. • A fixed centroid clustering algorithm by using the stable cluster centroids as the initial centroids. • An authentication method based on fluctuation ranges of centroid positions. User authentication of mobile devices is an important means to protect data security and user privacy. Low overhead, high accuracy and continuous authentication are challenging problems in user authentication. Aiming at the disadvantages of current authentication methods based on keystroke dynamics such as low accuracy and one-time authentication, this paper proposes a new authentication method named UIKI (User Identity authentication method based on clusters of Keystroke time Intervals). UIKI consists of the valid user modeling phase and the runtime user authentication phase. In the valid user modeling phase, UIKI uses a clustering algorithm to find the stable centroids and the fluctuation range of a valid user's centroid positions. In the runtime user authentication phase, UIKI clusters the data to be authenticated with the stable centroids as the initial centroids, and compares the results of clustering with the stable centroids and the centroid fluctuation range of the valid user to determine whether the input data are from the valid user. Experimental results prove that UIKI has the average FAR (False Accept Rate) of 0.082 and the average FRR (False Reject Rate) of 0.052, which can effectively authenticate a user's identity. UIKI has the advantages of high accuracy, low overhead and continuous authentication, which is suitable for the user authentication of mobile devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A domestic Sabin strain-based inactivated poliovirus vaccine (Sabin IPV) was approved by China Food and Drug Administration in 2017 as a replacement for the Salk strain-based inactivated poliovirus vaccine (Salk IPV) that has been in use in China for over 10 years. The present post-marketing trial was implemented in China to assess the immunogenicity and safety of replacing the Salk IPV with the Sabin IPV in the last two immunizations of the standard three-dose schedule. We conducted a randomized, controlled clinical trial with two groups that received three doses of IPVs at the age of 2, 3, and 4 months: the Salk-Sabin-Sabin group and the Salk-Salk-Salk group. Blood samples were collected before vaccination and 30–40 days after the third dose of vaccination. The seroconversion rates and antibody geometric mean titers (GMTs) were calculated and analyzed to evaluate immunogenicity. The safety of both immunization schedules was also monitored and analyzed. Of 360 recruited healthy infants, all three IPV doses were administered and blood collection was completed in 330 infants. All participants (100%) in both groups were seropositive for all three poliovirus types after the last vaccination. There were significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.001) in the GMTs for antibodies against poliovirus types 1 and 2, but no significant difference was observed for antibodies against type 3 (P = 0.009). A non-inferiority t -test showed that the post-immunization GMTs for all three types in the Salk-Sabin-Sabin group were not inferior to those in the Salk-Salk-Salk group (P < 0.001). Safety assessment indicated that there was no significant difference in the incidence of all adverse events between the two groups (P = 0.806). The Salk-Sabin-Sabin IPV immunization schedule is not inferior to the Salk-Salk-Salk IPV schedule in terms of both immunogenicity and safety. Clinical trial number: NCT04051736. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The feasibility of SCO 2 -NCL utilized in micro spacecrafts is studied numerically. • The applicability of SCO 2 -NCL on thermal control is validated when g*≥0.05 g. • The superior performance of NCL can be obtained with a low m ˙ by crossing the T cr. • A flow correlation is proposed considering the large range of gravities separately. Aiming at the heat dissipation problem under the strict constraints of mass, volume, and power consumption in micro spacecrafts, the feasibility of applying a natural circulation loop (NCL) to the thermal control system is performed for the CubeSats (Cube satellites) of orbiting operations or the micro-rovers of extraterrestrial explorations. A 3-dimensional NCL model under variable gravity conditions corresponding the environment of aerospace is established, and the supercritical CO 2 as the coolant. The heat transfer and thermal performance of NCL under gravity range of 10−6 g to 10 g are analyzed numerically, including the Earth orbit, the surface of the Moon and the Mars etc. The calculation results present that the gravity has a great influence on the flow circulation characteristics and thermal performance of the NCL. The applicability of employing NCL on the thermal control system of micro spacecrafts is validated with the gravity no less than 0.05 g. It is worth noting that, by designing the range of temperature from inlet to outlet of the heated tube covering the large specific heat region, the superior thermal performance can be obtained on account of the strong heat-carrying capacity of supercritical fluid, even under the low gravity with a small mass flow rate. Finally, a flow correlation is proposed considering the effect of gravity, flow regime, buoyancy force, and geometric factors, which is suitable on the NCL in the thermal control system of micro spacecrafts, and the R 2 is 99.77%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A dual-channel SPR fiber-optic sensor was implemented, and two sensing channels do not interfere with each other. • The zinc oxide film plays a dual role of protecting the silver film and enhancing the sensitivity of the sensor. • The sensor achieves temperature compensation when measuring the concentration of glucose or sodium chloride. • The designed sensor proposes a solution for the temperature compensation problem when measuring glucose and sodium chloride solutions. The temperature variation is one of the main error factors in the process of glucose and sodium chloride solution concentrations detection based on optical fiber sensor. In this paper, we proposed a sensor with temperature compensation, which can detect the temperature while measuring the concentrations of glucose or sodium chloride solution. The dual-channel design enables the sensor to obtain accurate measurement results of glucose and sodium chloride concentrations, and also to monitor the environmental temperature simultaneously. The deposition of zinc oxide film not only enhances the sensitivity of the sensor but also prevents oxidation of the silver film. The high stability of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) ensures that the two sensing channels of the sensor do not interfere with each other. The proposed dual-channel sensor offers advantages of low cost, a simple structure, and high sensitivity, with potential applications in the fields of food science and biochemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is difficult to alter the thermal performance of a minichannel heat sink with a fixed structure under constant operating conditions. In particular, if the local heat transfer of the substrate cannot be regulated in real time, the dynamic heat dissipation needs of high-power electronic components cannot be met in the electrical servo systems of flight vehicles. In this paper, a new minichannel heat sink structure based on the classical rectangular channel is proposed and a piezoelectric oscillating fin (POF) is introduced to replace the fixed fin. The thermal performance of the heat sink can then be regulated using the swing of the POF, with supercritical carbon dioxide (S–CO 2) as the coolant. Transient numerical simulations are applied to investigate the influence of various POF operating parameters on the heat transfer of the channel, such as the oscillation amplitude and frequency. The results demonstrate that a channel with a POF can allow for dynamic and rapid adjustment of the thermal performance through control of the oscillation frequency and amplitude of the POF, with a constant channel configuration, coolant, and operating conditions. The heat transfer can be enhanced significantly by the swing of the POF, with the local Nusselt number growing up to 8.3 times and the overall one up to 1.14 times. Both the oscillation frequency and amplitude have a positive correlation with the intensity of heat transfer. The POF also contributes to a greater pressure drop and fluctuation in pumping power. A comprehensive evaluation coefficient shows that the POF is effective at improving the overall thermal performance with a low-frequency swing, while high-frequency operation enhances the local heat transfer and decreases the local temperature near the tail end of the POF. Finally, considering the effects of the frequency and amplitude of the POF, as well as the variable thermophysical properties of the supercritical coolant, a heat transfer correlation based on the Dittus–Boelter equation is established to predict the thermal performance of the channel with a POF. This prediction has a maximum error of ±0.56%. • A minichannel introducing piezoelectric oscillating fin (POF) to replace the fixed fin is proposed. • The thermal performance of the minichannel heat sink is regulated using the POF and S–CO 2. • The influence of oscillation frequency and amplitude of the POF on heat transfer is investigated. • A heat transfer correlation for POF channel based on the Dittus–Boelter equation is established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate estimate of tree biomass is essential for forest management. In recent years, several climate-sensitive allometric biomass models with diameter at breast height (D) as a predictor have been proposed for various tree species and climate zones to estimate tree aboveground biomass (AGB). But the allometric models only account for the potential effects of climate on tree biomass and do not simultaneously explain the influence of climate on D growth. In this study, based on the AGB data from 256 destructively sampled trees of three larch species randomly distributed across the five secondary climate zones in northeastern and northern China, we first developed a climate-sensitive AGB base model and a climate-sensitive D growth base model using a nonlinear least square regression separately. A compatible simultaneous model system was then developed with the climate-sensitive AGB and D growth models using a nonlinear seemingly unrelated regression. The potential effects of several temperature and precipitation variables on AGB and D growth were evaluated. The fitting results of climatic sensitive base models were compared against those of their compatible simultaneous model system. It was found that a decreased isothermality ([mean of monthly (maximum temperature-minimum temperature)]/(Maximum temperature of the warmest month-Minimum temperature of the coldest month)) and total growing season precipitation, and increased annual precipitation significantly increased the values of AGB; an increase of temperature seasonality (a standard deviation of the mean monthly temperature) and precipitation seasonality (a standard deviation of the mean monthly precipitation) could lead to the increase of D. The differences of the model fitting results between the compatible simultaneous system with the consideration of climate effects on both AGB and D growth and its corresponding climate-sensitive AGB and D growth base models were very small and insignificant (p > 0. 0 5). Compared to the base models, the inherent correlation of AGB with D was taken into account effectively by the proposed compatible model system developed with the climate-sensitive AGB and D growth models. In addition, the compatible properties of the estimated AGB and D were also addressed substantially in the proposed model system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to produce more voltage levels and meet the requirement of the motor drive in electric vehicles (EVs), a hybrid cascaded multilevel converter based on three-level (TL) cells is proposed in this paper. In each unit, there is a battery and two series-connected capacitors, which hold a half of the battery voltage, respectively. Each TL cell is controlled to be connected or bypassed by a converter unit because of the modular structure. Three voltage levels can be produced when the TL cell is connected. All TL cells are cascaded to produce a staircase dc voltage, and an H-bridge is utilized to alternate the direction of it to form the ac output voltage. Compared to similar converter based on half-bridge arms, the proposed topology is able to produce more voltage levels with same number of battery modules. Voltage balances among TL cells and between two capacitors in each TL cell are both realized by a proposed overall control strategy. Experiments are provided to show the validity of the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photoluminescence properties of dopants are strongly correlated with their distributions in host phosphors, the knowledge of which, however, is not well established yet. In this paper, the distribution of the active dopants, for example, trivalent ytterbium (Yb3+) and bivalent nickel (Ni2+) in a highly transparent germanate glass‐ceramic containing thermally grown Zn1+xGa2−2xGexO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) nanospinels, is revealed by an analytical transmission electron microscope. The elemental mapping and linescan analysis confirm that both Yb3+ and Ni2+ accumulate preferentially in the germanium‐substituted ZnGa2O4 nanospinels embedded in the glass. The influence of glass crystallization on the electric transition properties of Yb3+ is presented. An enhanced ultrabroadband near infrared emission of Ni2+ is observed as a result of efficient energy transfer from Yb3+ to Ni2+ accumulated in the nanocrystals. Discussions are given to account for the detailed mechanisms of the efficient energy transfer occurring between the dopants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A novel turn-on rhodamine B-based fluorescent chemosensor (RBCS) was designed and synthesized by reacting N-(rhodamine B)lactam-1,2-ethylenediamine and carbon disulfide. Upon addition of Fe3+ in EtOH/H 2 O solution (2:1, v/v, HEPES buffer, 0.6 mM, pH 7.20), the RBCS displayed a significant fluorescence enhancement at 582 nm and a dramatic color change from colorless to pink, which can be detected by the naked eye. Significantly, the RBCS exhibited a highly selective and sensitive ability toward Fe3+. The detection limit of the probe was 2.05 × 10−7 M. Job's plot indicated the formation of 1:1 complex between the RBCS and Fe3+. Moreover, the practical use of the RBCS is demonstrated by its application in the detection of Fe3+ in HeLa cells. Graphical abstract Upon addition of Fe3+ in EtOH/H 2 O solution (2:1, v/v, HEPES buffer, 0.6 mM, pH 7.20), RBCS displayed a significant fluorescence enhancement at 582 nm and a dramatic color change from colorless to pink, which can be detected by the naked eye The detection limit of RBCS was 2.05 × 10−7 M. Job's plot indicated the formation of 1:1 complex between RBCS and Fe3+. Moreover, the practical use of RBCS is demonstrated by its application in the detection of Fe3+ in HeLa cells. Image 1 Highlights • The probe was designed and synthesized by reacting two Rhodamine B moieties and 1,1-Thiocarbonyldiimidazole. • The sensor exhibited remarkable highly selective and sensitive detection for Fe3+ over other metal ions. • The detection limit of the probe was 0.256 μM. • The sensor was successfully applied to detecting Fe3+ in HeLa cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper proposes an active bus voltage limiter with a modified modulation strategy for bi-directional power flow applications. When the motor is braking, the regenerative energy raises the DC bus voltage. Additional shunt resistors are usually used to dissipate the regenerative energy, which is a waste. The active rectifiers, which are also mentioned as PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) rectifiers, can transfer the regenerative power to the power grid but the cost is high and not economic, especially when the regenerative power is comparatively low. This paper investigates the zero-sequence current produced by the active bus voltage limiter and then presents a modified space vector modulation strategy to effectively suppress the zero-sequence current and keep the unity power factor. The analysis about the control strategy of the topology is carried out. And the algorithms for regenerative applications are discussed. An industrial prototype is built to verify the configuration. Highlights • The proposed limiter can transfer the regenerative energy to the power grids. • The model of the zero-sequence current generated in the applications is established. • A modified SVPWM is proposed and the zero-sequence currents are suppressed. • The strategy proposed can be further used when many inverters run in parallel. • An industrial prototype is built and has been used in elevators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A certain number of batteries are connected in series to raise the DC bus voltage in energy storage systems (ESSs). The ratings of the discharging and charging currents of the batteries are limited. As a result, the dynamic performance of the battery cannot meet the requirements in some ESSs, which are installed to smooth the power from wind power generators. This paper proposes a structure that is a combination of ultra‐capacitors and traditional batteries. With the help of the ultra‐capacitors, two goals are achieved: (i) the terminal voltage is enhanced, and (ii) the dynamic performance of the ESS is improved. Control of the proposed ESS is discussed, and an experimental prototype is built to validate the working schemes. The proposed solution is highly modularized, and thus the electrical energy modules can be easily removed and installed. © 2018 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A low-cost and easy-to-manufacture surface plasmon resonance temperature sensor was implemented. • The sensor has an ultra-wide temperature detection range. • Ethanol is used as a temperature-sensitive material for high-sensitivity temperature sensing. • The sensor has high reliability and repeatability. In this work, a temperature sensor is proposed and experimentally demonstrated using a low cost surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system based on optical fiber. The sensor is formed by splicing a short length of no-core fiber (NCF) with two multimode fibers (MMFs). A silver film is deposited on the NCF to excite SPR effect. Overcome the defect of the complex fabrication process of the existing optical fiber sensor. The sensing characteristics at different deposition times have been studied. Experimental results show that for low and medium–high temperature, the sensitivity of the sensor is −3.01 and −1.425 nm/°C, respectively. It has a wide detection range from −40 to + 70 °C. The sensor also showed good reliability after repeated experiments. The temperature sensor covering low and medium–high temperature has important application value in agricultural production and soil temperature monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ni2+/Yb3+/Er3+/Tm3+ codoped transparent glass‐ceramics (GCs) containing both hexagonal β‐YF3 and spinel‐like γ‐Ga2O3 dual‐phase nanoparticles (NCs) are synthesized by melt‐quenching and subsequent heating procedures. Two techniques of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) nanoanalytics and optical spectroscopy are conjugated to understand the distribution of the rare‐earth ions (REs) and transition metals (TMs) in the nanostructured GCs. It is found that the REs are located predominantly in β‐YF3, whereas the TMs in γ‐Ga2O3 NCs. As a result, energy transfer (ET) between the REs and TMs is considerably suppressed due to the large spatial separation (> 3 nm), but it is enhanced between the REs partitioned in the β‐YF3 NCs. This has important implications for intended and demanding photoluminescence functions. For example, an ultrabroadband near‐infrared (NIR) emission in the wavelength region of 1000‐2000 nm covering the entire telecommunications window is observed for the first time. Meanwhile, intense upconversion (UC) emissions covering the 3 primary colors and locating in the first biological window can be also recorded under excitation by a single pump source at 980 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Selective doping of optically active ions into the nanocrystalline phase(s) of glass ceramics is of interest for photoluminescence (PL) applications to control the energy transfer (ET) processes between dopants on the nanometer length scale. Here, the focus is on explaining the essential knowledge of the distribution of two groups of active ions: transition metal (Ni2+ and Cr3+) and rare earth (Yb3+ and Er3+) ions, which are doped into i) single‐phase Ga2O3 and ii) dual‐phase Ga2O3 and YF3 nanocrystals (NCs). These NCs are obtained by thermally crystallizing ternary silicate‐ and quinary fluorosilicate‐based glasses, respectively. It is found that the two types of active ions can successfully be doped into Ga2O3 NCs, resulting in enhanced ET between the dopants because of the small separation distance of, e.g., <10 Å, whereas ET is significantly suppressed when Ga2O3 and YF3 NCs are coprecipitated. In this case, the studied rare earth ions have a high propensity for being selectively doped in YF3 NCs. The studied transition‐metal ions can always be found in Ga2O3 NCs irrespective of the presence of the fluoride phase. The selective doping and the ET between the two types of active ions can be controlled simultaneously on annealing. This may allow for the achievement of diverse PL properties, such as ultrabroadband near‐infrared and upconversion‐mediated Stokes emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel, facile, and one-step conventional heating method is developed to synthesize monodisperse Sn-doped Fe2O3 nanoclusters with a novel spindle-like 3D architecture. The morphology and size of the products can be controlled by adjusting the reaction time and the concentration of additive Sn ions, which are the two affecting factors for the synthesis mechanism. As a proof-of-concept demonstration of their function, our spindle-like Sn-doped Fe2O3 nanoclusters present a large capacity of 938 mA h g−1 at 0.2 C after 100 cycles as compared with bare SnO2 and Fe2O3 nanoparticles. Importantly, the capacity is about 805 mA h g−1 at 1 C with a capacity retention as high as 95% after 500 cycles when used as lithium ion battery anodes. This excellent electrochemical performance benefits from the successful doping and their 3D assembled structure, which help improve the conductivity, overcome the large volume changes and stresses during the charge–discharge reaction and finally result in the superior cycling performance and charge-rate capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thee corrosion behavior of Alloy C-276 in high-temperature and high-pressure water at 500°C and 25 MPa, respectively, was investigated by means of mass gain, scanning electron microscopic observation, and X-ray diffraction. The results indicated that the mass gain rate of Alloy C-276 in supercritical water obeys the parabolic law. The oxide scale was formed on Alloy C-276 with a dual-layer structure, mainly consisting of an outer Ni-rich layer and an inner Cr2O3/NiCr2O4 mixed layer. Tiny microcracks can also be found in the oxide scale if exposed for longer time. Meanwhile, higher temperature promotes oxide rate and results in thermal stress in the oxide film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a zero-voltage-switching modular equalization for series super-capacitor string in a large energy storage system. The zero-voltage working scheme is analyzed based on Power Simulation (PSIM) to verify its validity. An equalization system test for 16-super-capacitor cells is conducted under voltage-imbalanced conditions. The power flow model, switching patterns, and zero-voltage gap are discussed. The simulation and experimental results are presented, indicating that the equalization not only inherits the advantages of traditional inductor-based super-capacitor equalization system, but also brings some merits, such as flexible, low switching loss, and highly modularized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gao, Z. G.; Zhang, Q. H.; Wang, H.; Zou, T.; Liu, K. X., and Wu, S. Q., 2016. The impacts of wind and air pressure on fluctuations of the mean Bohai Sea level A numerical ocean model is employed to simulate mean sea level along coast of the Bohai sea for quantitative analysis on the contribution of wind and pressure to coastal mean sea level variations. It's shown that numerical results represent well the temporal and spatial character of mean sea level along coast of the Bohai Sea, and can be used to analyze mean sea level abnormity events. It's found that seasonal mean sea level variation caused by wind and air pressure accounts for about 70% of the variation of mean sea level. The three abnormal events of mean sea level occurred in Nov., 1988, Oct., 2006, and Feb., 2010 respectively indicate that sea surface air pressure and wind variation caused a wind-driven current. Consequently, water transportation is of great importance for the seasonal variations of mean sea level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The probe exhibited excellently selective and sensitive detection for Hg2+ over other relevant analytes. • The fluorescent response was fast within 120 s and a dramatic color changes (from colorless to light green) could be observed by naked eyes. • The detection limit of the probe was 0.019 μM. • The probe was successfully applied to detecting Hg2+ in real water samples and HeLa cells. Mercury ions are highly toxic to living organisms and environment, hence Monitoring and quantification of mercury ions remain great significance. Herein, we have designed and synthesized a novel reaction-based fluorescence probe RANS for detection of Hg2+ by using a xanthene derivate as fluorophore and a thiosemicarbazide moiety as the recognition site. By applying mercury-promoted desulfurization reactions, probe RANS exhibited excellent capability of detecting Hg2+, such as rapid response (120 s), high sensitivity (0.019 μM) and good selectivity. Upon reaction with Hg2+, the thiosemicarbazide group of probe RANS formed 1,3,4-oxadiazole along with a significant color change from colorless to light green. Importantly, RANS has been successfully applied to selectively imaging Hg2+ in living cells with low cytotoxicity and quantitative detection of Hg2+ in real water samples. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The probe specially detected palladium based on Pd0-mediated Tsuji-Trost reaction. • The probe could selectively detect palladium with large Stokes shift (155 nm). • The dramatic color changes (from colorless to blue) could be observed by naked eyes. • The detection limit of the probe was 0.140 μM. • The probe was successfully applied to detecting palladium in real water samples and HeLa cells. Nowadays, palladium has been widely used in many fields, which facilitates all aspects of our life. However, it may cause water and soil pollution and bring irreversible damage to the environment and organisms. Developing a fluorescence probe for rapid, highly sensitive and selective detection of palladium is still a poser. In this work, we designed and synthesized a novel fluorescence probe (RHS) for specific detection of palladium. Based on Pd0-mediated Tsuji-Trost reaction, the fluorescence probe was constructed by a rhodol derivative as the fluorophore and an allyl carbonate moiety as the specific palladium reactive site. The probe displayed excellent properties for detecting palladium, such as high selectivity and sensitivity, rapid response (20 min) and large Stokes shift (155 nm). The detection limit was determined to be as low as 0.140 μM with a linear range from 20 to 80 μM. After addition of palladium in RHS solution, the color of the solution turned from yellow to blue, indicating palladium could be monitored by the naked eyes. Moreover, probe RHS was successfully applied to palladium detection in environmental water samples. Importantly, with low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility, the probe could monitor palladium in living cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Providing temporal isolation between critical activities has been an important design criterion in real-time open systems, which can be achieved using resource reservation techniques. As an abstraction of reservation servers, virtual processor is often used to represent a portion of computing power available on a physical platform while hiding the implementation details. In this paper, we present a general framework of partitioning an application comprised of hard real-time tasks with precedence constraints onto multiple virtual processors in consideration of communication latencies between tasks. A novel method is proposed for assigning deadlines and activation times to tasks such that tasks partitioned onto different virtual processors can be analyzed separately using well-established theories for uniprocessor. Extensive simulations have been performed and the results have shown that, compared to existing algorithms, the proposed method achieves better performance in terms of minimizing both total bandwidth and the maximum individual bandwidth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • The probe was designed and synthesized based on a rhodol derivate anchored with the 2,4-dinitrophenyl group. • The fluorescent response was fast within 12 min and a dramatic color change (from colorless to pink) could be observed by naked eyes. • The detection limit of the probe was 0.097 μM. • The probe was successfully applied to detecting H 2 S in real water samples and HeLa cells. In this work, a reaction-based fluorescence turn-on probe RCHO, a rhodol derivate anchored with the 2,4-dinitrophenyl moiety, was designed and synthesized for H 2 S detection. The 2,4-dinitrophenyl moiety, as an electron-withdrawing group, was used for quenching the fluorescence of the fluorophore. The probe RCHO could quantitively detect H 2 S with high selectivity and fast response by introducing aldehyde groups in the ortho position of 2,4-dinitrobenzene. After addition of H 2 S, H 2 S was quickly added to the aldehyde group through a nucleophilic addition reaction, and then the dinitrophenyl ether underwent effective intramolecular thiolysis, which resulting in the release of the fluorophore and a rapid fluorescence turn-on response. The detect limit was calculated to be 0.097 μM. Furthermore, in the presence of H 2 S, a remarkable color change from colorless to pink was observed, indicating that the probe RCHO could monitor H 2 S by the naked eyes. More importantly, the probe could be used as a highly efficient tool for H 2 S detection in living cells and environmental water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A narrowband dual-polarization filter based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with Au-Ag double-layer films is proposed. The cladding of PCF is composed of three layers of air holes, and Au-Ag double-layer films are coated on two symmetrical air holes to excite surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect. The special mechanism of the Au-Ag double-layer films takes advantage of the narrower full width at half maximum (FWHM) of silver. On the other hand, gold is used to protect the silver from oxidation and improve the stability of the filter, and can also enhance SPR effect. The simulation results show that the dual-polarization filter with double-layer metal films has higher resonance absorption and better spectra than that with the single-layer metal film. When the thickness of the double-layer metal films is 22.5 nm (the thickness of silver film is 18 nm), the confinement loss of dual-polarization filter at 1430 nm is achieved to 64.08 dB/cm (y-pol core mode) and at 1530 nm is achieved to 37.26 dB/cm (x-pol core mode). The wavelength range of crosstalk (CT) greater than 20 dB and less than −20 dB are 1410–1450 nm and 1510–1550 nm for the device length of 10 mm, respectively. The CT is achieved 555.07 dB and −321.54 dB at the wavelength of 1430 nm and 1530 nm, respectively. These characteristics show that the filter has excellent performance, and will become a suitable candidate for a narrowband polarization filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In control devices for the Internet of Things (IoT), energy is one of the critical restriction factors. Dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) has been proved to be an effective method for reducing the energy consumption of processors. This paper proposes an energy-efficient scheduling algorithm for IoT control devices with hard real-time control tasks (HRCTs) and soft real-time tasks (SRTs). The main contribution of this paper includes two parts. First, it builds the Hybrid tasks with multi-subtasks of different function Weight (HoW) task model for IoT control devices. HoW describes the structure of HRCTs and SRTs, and their properties, e.g., deadlines, execution time, preemption properties, and energy-saving goals, etc. Second, it presents the Hybrid Tasks' Dynamic Voltage Scaling (HTDVS) algorithm. HTDVS first sets the slowdown factors of subtasks while meeting the different real-time requirements of HRCTs and SRTs, and then dynamically reclaims, reserves, and reuses the slack time of the subtasks to meet their ideal energy-saving goals. Experimental results show HTDVS can reduce energy consumption about 10%-80% while meeting the real-time requirements of HRCTs, HRCTs help to reduce the deadline miss ratio (DMR) of systems, and HTDVS has comparable performance with the greedy algorithm and is more favorable to keep the subtasks' ideal speeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify bipotential precursor cells of erythroid and myeloid development in human bone marrow. Materials and Methods: Cells coexpressing CD13 and CD36 (CD13+CD36+) were investigated by analyzing cell-surface marker expression during erythroid development (induced with a combination of cytokines plus erythropoietin), or myeloid development (induced with the same cocktail of cytokines plus granulocyte colony-stimulating factor of bone marrow–derived CD133 cells in liquid cultures. CD13+CD36+ subsets were also isolated on the 14th day of cultures and further evaluated for their hematopoietic clonogenic capacity in methylcellulose. Results: Colony-forming analysis of sorted CD13+CD36+ cells of committed erythroid and myeloid lineages demonstrated that these cells were able to generate erythroid, granulocyte, and mixed erythroid–granulocyte colonies. In contrast, CD13+CD36− or CD13−CD36+ cells exclusively committed to granulocyte/monocyte or erythroid colonies, respectively, but failed to form mixed erythroid–granulocyte colonies; no colonies were detected in CD13−CD36− cells with lineage-supporting cytokines. In addition, our data confirmed that erythropoietin induced both erythroid and myeloid commitment, while granulocyte colony-stimulating factor only supported the differentiation of the myeloid lineage. Conclusions: The present data identify some CD13+CD36+ cells as bipotential precursors of erythroid and myeloid commitment in normal hematopoiesis. They provide a physiological explanation for the cell identification of myeloid and erythroid lineages observed in hematopoietic diseases. This unique fraction of CD13+CD36+ cells may be useful for further studies on regulating erythroid and myeloid differentiation during normal and malignant hematopoiesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An efficiently aerobic dehydrazination of arylhydrazines promoted by potassium tert‐butoxide (tBuOK) is detailed in this study. This method smoothly produces aromatics analogues from arylhydrazines using catalytic amount of tBuOK under practical conditions, exhibiting excellent functional group tolerance and a broad substrate scope. The application potential of this approach is further demonstrated through the preparation of deuterated, iodinated and brominated aromatics. Moreover, it shows that this aerobic base‐mediated dehydrazination could be utilized to prepare unsymmetrical aryl sulfides, selenides and tellurides with high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing air and sea temperatures, the thermodynamic environments over the oceans are becoming more favourable for the development of intense tropical cyclones (TCs) with rapid intensification (RI). The South China coastal region consists of highly densely populated cities, especially over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. Intense TCs maintaining their strength or the RI of TCs close to the coastal region can present substantial forecasting challenges and have significant potential impacts on the coastal population. This study investigates the effect of sea-surface and sub-surface temperatures and salinity on the intensification of five TCs, namely Super Typhoon Hato in 2017, Super Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, and Typhoon Talim, Super Typhoon Saola, and Severe Typhoon Koinu in 2023, which have significantly affected the South China coastal region and triggered high TC warning signals in Hong Kong in the past few years. This analysis utilised the Hong Kong Observatory's TC best-track and intensity data, along with sea temperature and salinity profiles generated using the China Ocean ReAnalysis version 2 (CORA2) product from the National Marine Data and Information Service of China. It was found that high sea-surface temperatures (SST) of 30 °C or above for a depth of about 20 m, low sea-surface salinity (SSS) levels of 33.8 psu or below for a depth of at least 20 m, and strong salinity stratification of at least 0.6 psu per 100 m depth might offer useful hints for predicting the RI of TCs over the western North Pacific and the South China Sea (SCS) in operational forecasting, while noting other contributing environmental factors and synoptic flow patterns conducive to RI. This study represents the first documentation of sub-surface salinity's impact on some intense TCs traversing the SCS during 2017–2023 based on an observational study. Our aim is to supplement operational techniques for forecasting RI with some quantitative guidance based on upper-level ocean observations of temperatures and salinity, on top of well-known but more rapidly changing dynamical factors like low-level convergence, weak vertical wind shear, and upper-level divergent outflow, as forecasted with numerical weather prediction models. This study will also encourage further research to refine the analysis of quantitative contributions from different RI factors and the identification of essential features for developing AI models as one way to improve the forecasting of TC RI before the TC makes landfall near the PRD, with due consideration given to the effect of freshwater river discharge from the Pearl River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To explore the safety, efficacy, advantages, and disadvantages of robotic-assisted splenectomy (RS) in children by analyzing and comparing the clinical data of RS and laparoscopic splenectomy (LS). Methods: The clinical data of 35 children who underwent laparoscopic or RS or partial splenectomy from February 2010 to October 2022 were included. A retrospective analysis based on general information, clinical data, and prognosis were performed. Results: Among 35 cases, 14 cases, and 21 cases underwent RS and LS, respectively. The average operation time was 167 (120–224) minutes in the RS group and 176 (166–188) minutes in the LS group. The intraoperative blood loss was significantly larger in LS group than RS group (P = .0009). The length of hospital stay was significantly longer in LS group than RS group (P = .0015), and the hospitalization cost was significantly higher in RS group than LS group (P < .0001). There were no cases of conversion to laparotomy in the RS group, but two cases in the LS group. In terms of postoperative complications, there were one and three cases in the RS and LS groups, respectively. Conclusion: The Robotic Surgical System was safe and feasible in pediatric splenectomy or partial splenectomy which was an alternative to laparoscopic surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to enhance the stability of the Rotigotine (ROT) patch using polymers as crystal inhibitors. Three polymers (Poloxamer 188, Soluplus, TPGS) were selected as crystal inhibitors to formulate ROT patches with varying drug loadings (20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%, w/w). SEM and XRD analysis revealed that the Soluplus and Soluplus-TPGS groups with a high concentration (80%, w/w) of ROT could be stored at room temperature for at least 90 days without crystallization. Moreover, the crystallization nucleation time and growth rate were utilized to assess the ability of Poloxamer 188, Soluplus, and TPGS to hinder the formation of ROT crystals and slow down its crystallization rate. Molecular docking results elucidated the intermolecular forces between ROT and different polymers, revealing their mechanisms for crystal inhibition. The ROT-Soluplus-TPGS combination exhibited the lowest binding free energy (−5.3 kcal/mol), indicating the highest binding stability, thereby effectively reducing crystal precipitation. In vitro skin permeation studies demonstrated that ROT patches containing crystal inhibitors exhibited promising transdermal effects. With increasing ROT concentration, the cumulative drug permeation substantially increased, while the lag time was notably reduced. This study offers novel insights for the development of ROT patches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclic peptides offer a range of notable advantages, including potent antibacterial properties, high binding affinity and specificity to target molecules, and minimal toxicity, making them highly promising candidates for drug development. However, a comprehensive database that consolidates both synthetically derived and naturally occurring cyclic peptides is conspicuously absent. To address this void, we introduce CyclicPepedia (https://www.biosino.org/iMAC/cyclicpepedia/), a pioneering database that encompasses 8744 known cyclic peptides. This repository, structured as a composite knowledge network, offers a wealth of information encompassing various aspects of cyclic peptides, such as cyclic peptides' sources, categorizations, structural characteristics, pharmacokinetic profiles, physicochemical properties, patented drug applications, and a collection of crucial publications. Supported by a user-friendly knowledge retrieval system and calculation tools specifically designed for cyclic peptides, CyclicPepedia will be able to facilitate advancements in cyclic peptide drug development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Users' trip location information is of great value in the study of social computing and big data. Based on the personalized characteristics of user trajectory data, this paper proposes a Trajectory-based Identity Authentication Method (TIAM). TIAM consists of the registration phase and the authentication phase. Users initialize the trip routes and the coordinates of home and office in the registration phase to set template trajectories and stay points. In the authentication phase, TIAM first preprocesses trajectory data, and then calculates the similarity between the sample trajectories to be authenticated and the template trajectories in the template library, and detects if there are stay-point hits in the sample trajectories. Third, TIAM authenticates whether the current user is valid based on similarities and stay-point hits, and updates the template library with new sample trajectories that are authenticated as valid to accommodate changes in the users' trip routes. Because the process of collecting data and authentication is transparent to a user, TIAM does not reveal the user's biological information, and can dynamically adapt to the change of user's trajectories. Therefore, TIAM has strong flexibility and adaptability. Experiments show that the average authentication accuracy of TIAM is 96.74%. It is not only suitable for the identification of mobile device owners, but also suitable for monitoring children safety and transport vehicles of dangerous goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Cyber-Social Systems (CSS), sensors play a key role in the intelligent perception and recognition of people, objects and the environments, in which target localizing is one of the important issues. It is often difficult to accurately and conveniently localize the sensors due to the presence of Non-Line Of Sight (NLOS) when there are obstacles. This paper proposes a sensor localization method based on WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) localization, which first collects the angle and intensity information of the WiFi signals of mobile base stations during a linear or curvilinear motion, then uses the Nonlinear Inequality Constrained-Unscented Kalman Filter (NIC-UKF) method presented in this paper to filter interference, so as to localize the positions of sensors. The method has stronger stability, high precision, and acceptable computing overhead, which is suitable for the localization of fixed or low-speed moving targets in Cyber-Social environments with obstacles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The heat transfer mechanism of supercritical methane for regenerative cooling in EMA is explored numerically. • The integrated and domination effects between buoyancy and centrifugal force in helically coiled tube are discussed. • The effects of pressure and heat flux on heat transfer of supercritical methane are analyzed. • Six semi-empirical heat transfer correlations are compared with that of simulation results. A numerical model employing the SST k-ω turbulent model is built to predict the turbulent flow and heat transfer of supercritical methane in helically coiled tube for the heat dissipation of high-power electromechanical actuator. The heat transfer mechanism and the crucial influence factors viz. pressure and heat flux are discussed, and the comparison between the semi-empirical heat transfer correlations and the simulation results are performed. The calculation results indicate that: (1) before the pseudo-critical point of supercritical methane in helically tube, the effect of the buoyancy caused by the thermophysical properties cannot be neglected; (2) the domination of the centrifugal force on the heat transfer after the pseudo-critical point of supercritical methane can be confirmed obviously, contributed to the non-uniform distribution of flow and heat transfer coefficient in cross sections; (3) pressure and heat flux both exhibit significant effects on heat transfer of supercritical methane in helically coiled tube; (4) the semi-empirical heat transfer correlation from Zhang et al. shows the best agreement against the simulation result in the present paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the effect of laparoscopic-assisted resection and colorectal anastomosis with a stapling technique in the treatment of Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) in infants. Methods: From June 2018 to January 2019, 25 cases of HSCR diagnosed by clinical examination and pathology were selected at the Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China. All children were treated with standard laparoscopic-assisted transanal endorectal pull-through surgery (the modified Swenson technique). The short segment type and the typical type with a descending colon–rectum anastomosis were both included. The long segment type had an ascending colon–rectal anastomosis after ascending colon turnover. The colorectal anastomosis was divided into traditional manual anastomosis and straight intraluminal stapler (SIS) anastomosis. According to the different methods of anastomosis, the patients were divided into a traditional group and a SIS group. Age, gender, body weight, operation time, blood loss, postoperative anal exhaust and defecation time, postoperative hospitalization time, and postoperative short-term complications were analyzed retrospectively. Results: A total of 25 children were diagnosed with HSCR. There were 17 boys and 8 girls, and their average age was 10.20 months (interquartile range, 8.60–11.30). Their average body weight was 7.90 kg (interquartile range, 7.50–8.40). There were 17 cases of the typical type, 5 cases of the short segment type, and 3 cases of the long segment type. The different colorectal anastomosis methods were divided into 10 cases in the traditional group and 15 cases in the SIS group. There were no intraoperative complications, wound infections, or anastomotic fistula. Compared with the SIS group, children in the traditional group had an increased operative time (129.5 versus 103.00 minutes; P < .0001), increased intraoperative blood loss (20.00 versus 7.00 mL; P < .0001), increased postoperative hospitalization time (12.00 versus 9.00 days; P = .0003), and increased postoperative defecation time (18.40 versus 13.20 hours; P < .0001). After 6–12 months of follow-up, there was no anastomotic stenosis or enterocolitis in the SIS group. In the traditional group, 1 child had anastomotic stenosis, which improved 6 months after anal dilatation. One case of enterocolitis occurred 4 months after the operation and was cured after enema and infusion. Conclusion: Laparoscopic-assisted resection combined with colorectal anastomosis with the stapling technique in the treatment of HSCR in infants is feasible. It had a short operation time, less bleeding, less trauma, and a rapid recovery of postoperative intestinal function. The anastomosis was smooth, wide, and reliable, and anastomotic fistula and stenosis did not occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Employee voice has been considered as an important means to understand the cutting-edge information, gain social status and performance advantage for leaders, employees and the organization, respectively. However, our knowledge about how and when employees' emotions influence voice remains limited. Design/Methodology/Approach: In order to better illustrate the role of emotion on voice, based on emotion as social information theory and similarity attraction theory, we proposed a research model through which emotion recognition ability affects voice via perceived ambidextrous leadership. A sample of 182 comprised of full-time employees and their 43 immediate supervisors was collected through questionnaires in China, and analyzed via hierarchical regression method. Findings: We found that subordinate's emotional recognition ability has a significant positive effect on promotive and prohibitive voice, and that perceived ambidextrous leadership plays a significant mediating role between subordinate's emotional recognition ability and promotive voice, while no mediating role is found between subordinate's emotional recognition ability and prohibitive voice. In addition, in contrast to leader-subordinate gender dissimilarity, leader-subordinate gender similarity is more effective in strengthening the impact of emotion recognition ability on perceived ambidextrous leadership, and thus promotes employee voice. Originality/Value: This research not only advances our understanding of employee voice, but also provides specific reference for management practices from the perspective of gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor based on dual-side polished photonic crystal fiber (PCF) has been presented in this paper. An external gold (Au) coating was used as a plasmonic material to detect changes in an analyte refractive index (RI). Sensor’s structural parameters were optimized for better performance. The proposed sensor’s simulation was conducted using the finite element method (FEM). Analytes within the RI range of 1.30 to 1.40 were used to develop a sensor. The numerical results are expected to have a wavelength sensitivity (WS) of 9400 nm/RIU and amplitude sensitivity (AS) of 27.27 RIU−1, respectively, and a spectral wavelength resolution of 1.063 × 10−5. Furthermore, it is expected to obtain maximum loss of 161,270 dB/m for a Y-polarization (Y-P) odd mode with an analyte RI = 1.37. We obtained an extinction ratio of − 321.54 dB for the polarization filter effect, which is considered to be good. This structure has the advantages of being easy to fabricate, affordable, and expected to show better sensitivity than many other sensors. It assumes to detect a wide range of analytes, making it suitable for organic chemical sensing, pharmaceutical inspection, and biosensor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Robotic surgery is becoming increasingly widely used in the field of pediatric surgery. The present study aimed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of robot-assisted resection of benign pediatric splenic tumors and to discuss the technical points. Methods: A total of 32 patients who were diagnosed with benign splenic tumors and underwent minimally invasive surgery from January 2017 to September 2023 were included in the study. The clinical data including demographic criteria, operative details, and postoperative outcomes were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Thirteen patients underwent robot-assisted surgery, and 19 patients underwent laparoscopic surgery. The median operation time was 150 min, with an interquartile range (IQR) of 120 to 200 min for the robot-assisted group and 140 min with an IQR of 105 to 180 min in the laparoscopic group (P = 0.318). Despite four cases in the laparoscopic group (21%) being converted to laparotomy because of intraoperative bleeding, compared with none in the robot-assisted group, there was no significant difference between two groups (P = 0.128). The intraoperative volume of blood loss was significantly less (P = 0.041), and the hospitalization expense was significantly higher (P = 0.000) in the robot-assisted group than for the laparoscopic group. There was no significant difference in patients' age, tumor size, postoperative feeding time, and the postoperative hospitalization time between two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Robot-assisted benign splenic tumor resection was safe and feasible, and it reduced surgical trauma for the pediatric patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monotrete leiurusis the only freshwater puffer founded in Nala River, which is a tributary of the Langcang–Mekong River in China. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of theMonotrete leiurusis 16,448 bp long and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and 1 control region (CR). The base composition of the genome is 29% A, 23.8% T, 31.8% C and 15.4% G and this composition shows a bias for A + T. The mitochondrial genes fromMonotrete leiurusare overlapped in a total of 34 bp at seven locations and interleaved with a total of 64 bp intergenic spacers at 13 locations. The results can not only help clarify the classification problem in sibling freshwater puffers, but also provide information for their protection in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cascaded H-bridge (CHB) multilevel inverters are widely used in industrial applications, such as medium-voltage conversion and motor drives. However, the DC bus voltage in the electric vehicles is limited and it might not meet the requirements of the inverters for conventional motor drives. This paper presents a solution to drive the conventional motor (3Φ/AC 220 V) with inadequate DC bus voltage (DC 144 V) in an electric vehicle without any extra step-up circuits. The solution consists of a CHB inverter as a motor drive and a high-frequency (HF) transformer to balance the voltage. The multilevel CHB inverter improves the voltage and the current waveforms. High-frequency link (HFL) is used to create several isolated DC sources for the system and it can improve the power density. Besides, it replaces bulky line-transformers in the conventional CHB inverters, and the volume is reduced. Also, the inverter has bidirectional power flow ability, which can improve the efficiency in motor drives. As a result, the reduction of the step-up circuits is achieved and the topology can be used in the electric vehicles that are powered by only one 144 V-battery. The details and the principles of the control algorithm is discussed and an experiment based on a four-level CHB inverter with one DC 30 V power source is carried out to validate the proposed characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, L 1 -norm-based non-greedy linear discriminant analysis (NLDA-L 1) for feature extraction has been shown to be effective for dimensionality reduction, which obtains projection vectors by a non-greedy algorithm. However, it usually acquires unsatisfactory performances due to the utilization of L 1 -norm distance measurement. Therefore, in this brief paper, we propose a flexible non-greedy discriminant subspace feature extraction method, which is an extension of NLDA-L 1 by maximizing the ratio of L p -norm inter-class dispersion to intra-class dispersion. Besides, we put forward a powerful iterative algorithm to solve the resulted objective function and also conduct theoretical analysis on the algorithm. Finally, experimental results on image databases show the effectiveness of our method [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background A big pertussis outbreak occurred in a primary school with high vaccination coverage in northern China. An investigation was carried out in order to calculate the attack rate and identify the risk factors. Methods Between May 12 and July 29, an investigation was carried out in the primary school, which included 383 students and 27 teachers. Three definitions were used to distinguish the cases: confirmed, epidemiologically linked and suspected cases. A total of 232 blood samples were collected and examined by ELISA among healthy children in another primary school. Results A total of 138 suspected pertussis cases were counted, of which 116 students were confirmed. The attack rate among students was as high as 30.29%. The pertussis outbreak lasted 88 days, and had quaternary cases of transmission. Migrant children were almost four times as likely to catch the disease as local children (p = 0.005). In addition, students who had received the last dose of pertussis vaccine more than 4 years prior were three times more likely of becoming ill than those less than 4 years (p = 0.006). The average level of antibodies to pertussis was 30.99 IU/mL among healthy children. No statistically significant difference was observed between DTaP and DTwP (p = 0.843). Conclusions This pertussis outbreak in a primary school with high vaccination coverage was an evidence of the pertussis resurgence in China. The major risk factor we identified was the waning of immunity in the years after pertussis vaccination. Booster vaccination for students should be given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A D-shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF) surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is proposed to measure the refractive index in visible and near-infrared regions. Compared with traditional PCF, the use of D-shaped PCF can avoid filling materials and coatings in the hole. The plasma material of sensors is silver, and graphene is coated on the surface of the silver film. Graphene layer can not only prevent the oxidation of the silver but also improve the performance of the sensor. Then the influence of structural parameters on the sensor performance is studied by the finite element method (FEM). Results show that the performance of the sensor is not sensitive to the structural parameters, which makes the sensor has a good manufacturing tolerance. Moreover, when the refractive index (RI) of the analyte is 1.33 ~ 1.41, the maximum wavelength sensitivity is 13,750 nm/RIU, and the corresponding RI resolution is 7.27 × 10−6 RIU−1. In addition, the maximum figure of merit is 201 RIU−1. The proposed sensor is advanced with high sensitivity, simple structure and big fabrication tolerance, which could become a competitive candidate for water pollution monitoring, medical diagnosis, biochemical analysis, and detection fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe a voltammetric immunoassay for the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). A GCE was modified by electrodeposition of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) doped with tannic acid (TA). Subsequently, four-armed poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was assembled onto the modified surface through hydrogen bonding. The fabrication steps were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry. The PEG/TA-PEDOT surface is shown be super-hydrophilic and to possess anti-fouling capability. Antibody against CEA was then covalently immobilized on the electrode. By using hexacyanoferrate as an electrochemical probe and at a working potential of 0.18 V vs SCE, the amperometric response is linear in the 10 ag·mL to 1.0 ng·mL CEA concentration range, and the detection limit is as low as 4.8 ag·mL (at an S/N ratio of 3). The assay was applied to the quantification of CEA in 1:10 diluted human serum samples. Recoveries ranged from 103.7 to 108.7%, and relative standard deviations from 2.9 to 4.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biothiols and hydrogen sulfide, as critical sulfur-containing reactive substances, serve essential functions in various human pathological processes, making it challenging to simultaneously distinguish them due to their similar reactivity and structures (−SH). Here, we rationalized the development of a single-wavelength excitation near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence probe, FC-NBD , for distinguishing GSH/H 2 S and Cys/Hcy by separated fluorescence dual channels. In this probe, FC-NBD , composed of coumarin-benzopyrylium derivatives linked with nitro benzoxadiazole (NBD) via ether bonds, could quantitatively and selectively distinguish GSH/H 2 S and Cys/Hcy with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.199/0.177 μM and 0.106/0.076 μM, respectively. As expected, under single-wavelength excitation (470 nm), FC-NBD demonstrated distinctly separable green and NIR fluorescence emissions towards Cys/Hcy at 550 and 660 nm, but only exhibited a noticeable NIR fluorescence emission towards GSH/H 2 S at 660 nm. Moreover, FC-NBD could simultaneously visualize and discriminate GSH/H 2 S and Cys/Hcy in living cells as well as zebrafish through green and NIR channels at a single excitation wavelength. [Display omitted] • A single-wavelength excitation NIR fluorescence probe based on coumarin-benzopyran derivatives was synthesized. • The probe could distinguish GSH/H 2 S and Cys/Hcy through two distinctly separated emissions with rapid response. • The probe could simultaneously visualize and discriminate GSH/H 2 S and Cys/Hcy in living cells and zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), a significant substance, could cause food safety problems and damage to organisms. Consequently, it is critical to develop an effective fluorescence sensing strategy that can measure H 2 S in both food samples and biological systems with superior selectivity and sensitivity. Herein, a simple H 2 S-activatable near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence probe (FC-HS) based on a coumarin–benzopyrylium scaffold and bearing a 2,4-dinitrophenyl moiety was built and structurally characterized, exhibiting a remarkable NIR fluorescence response for H 2 S at 660 nm with a low limit of detection (LOD = 35.7 nM) despite the presence of other possible interference species. Meanwhile, the FC-HS mounted on the filter paper strips, was capable of successfully detecting H 2 S gas produced by food spoilage. Moreover, FC-HS could also monitor H 2 S in living cells and zebrafish with excellent biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity. [Display omitted] • A simple H 2 S-activatable NIR fluorescence probe based on a coumarin–benzopyrylium derivative was synthesized. • The probe displayed high selectivity and sensitivity towards H 2 S in the near-infrared region with a low detection limit. • The probe-loaded filter paper was successfully employed for the determination of gaseous H 2 S produced by food spoilage. • The probe was successfully utilized in imaging determination for H 2 S in living cells and zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]