Search

This paper introduces a novel hybrid filtering algorithm that leverages the advantages of Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) to address state estimation challenges in power systems. The primary objective is to integrate the benefits of PMU measurements into the design of traditional power system dynamic estimators. It is noteworthy that PMUs and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems typically operate at different sampling rates in power system estimation, necessitating synchronization during the filtering process. To address this issue, the paper employs a predictive interpolation method for SCADA measurements within the framework of the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) algorithm. This approach achieves more accurate estimates, closer to real observation data, by averaging the KL distribution. The algorithm is particularly well-suited for state estimation tasks in power systems that combine traditional and PMU measurements. Extensive simulations were conducted on the IEEE-14 and IEEE-30 test systems, and the results demonstrate that the fused estimator outperforms individual estimators in terms of estimation accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO oxidative coupling to dimethyl oxalate (DMO) is an important approach for the product of ethylene glycol and CO elimination. In this work, the Co doped Pd/Al2O3 nanocatalyst was highly effective for CO oxidative coupling and enhanced remarkably CO conversion and the formation of DMO. The maximum DMO STY reached 1082 g L−1 h−1 over the Pd/Al2O3@1/20Co catalyst at 130 °C for 2 h under the space velocity of 3000 h−1, which is two times higher than that over the Pd/Al2O3 catalyst. The Co modification and its influence on the structure of the Pd/Al2O3 catalyst were also studied systematically by XRD, TEM, CO‐TPD, N2 physical adsorption and XPS techniques. An appropriate Co doing was confirmed to promote distinctly the generation of smaller Pd particles and the adjustment of the adsorption or activation of CO over the catalyst. A positive interaction between Pd nanoparticles and the modulated support with Co doping was demonstrated and favored the enhanced activity of the catalyst for the reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The effects of saturated fatty acids with different chain lengths (C12, C14, C16, C18) on the structure and digestibility of type 5 resistant starch (RS5s) were investigated. The complexing index (CI), structure, phase transition temperature, digestibility and evaluation glycemic index (eGI) values of RS5s were determined. High‐amylose corn starch VII (HA7) ‐ myristic acid (MA) complex had the highest CI value (41.1%), relative crystallinity (40.4%) and 1047 cm−1/1022 cm−1 (1.0), smallest full width at half maximum (fwhm) of the band at 480 cm−1 (16.4), indicating that RS5 with 14‐carbon saturated fatty acids was more easily to form V‐type crystal complexes with amylose, and the long‐range and short‐range molecular orderliness was the best. With the increase of the carbon chain (12 ~ 18), The peak temperature (Tp) of the complexes gradually increased from the HA7‐lauric acid (LA) complex (112.8 °C) to HA7‐stearic acid (SA) complex (119.1 °C). The content of slow digestible starch (SDS) and eGI values gradually decreased (P < 0.05), and the content of resistant starch (RS) significantly increased (P < 0.05). These results indicated fatty acid chain length and long‐range molecular orderliness were the main factors affecting the digestibility of RS5s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: With the increased development of pig farming intensification, air quality and odor emissions in pig houses are gradually attracting attention. Among them, ammonia is considered to be an important environmental indicator of pig house. Excessive accumulation of ammonia can seriously affect the growth status of pigs and also cause a potential health risk to farm workers. Therefore, it is very important to recognize the changes of ammonia in pig houses and to discharge ammonia in time for the welfare farming of pigs. In this study, three traditional machine learning algorithms and three deep learning algorithms were selected to predict the ammonia concentration in a pig house. Based on them, important environmental parameters and promising algorithms were screened out and the algorithms were evaluated for optimization. The results of the study can provide a reference for air quality regulation in pig houses. Accurately predicting the air quality in a piggery and taking control measures in advance are important issues for pig farm production and local environmental management. In this experiment, the NH3 concentration in a semi-automatic piggery was studied. First, the random forest algorithm (RF) and Pearson correlation analysis were combined to analyze the environmental parameters, and nine input schemes for the model feature parameters were identified. Three kinds of deep learning and three kinds of conventional machine learning algorithms were applied to the prediction of NH3 in the piggery. Through comparative experiments, appropriate environmental parameters (CO2, H2O, P, and outdoor temperature) and superior algorithms (LSTM and RNN) were selected. On this basis, the PSO algorithm was used to optimize the hyperparameters of the algorithms, and their prediction performance was also evaluated. The results showed that the R2 values of PSO-LSTM and PSO-RNN were 0.9487 and 0.9458, respectively. These models had good accuracy when predicting NH3 concentration in the piggery 0.5 h, 1 h, 1.5 h, and 2 h in advance. This study can provide a reference for the prediction of air concentrations in pig house environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an (A-R)TiO2 catalyst (ART) was prepared via the sol–gel method, and g-C3N4 (CN) was used as an amendment to prepare the g-C3N4/(A-R)TiO2 composite catalyst (ARTCN). X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption curves (BET), UV–Vis diffuse absorption spectroscopy (UV–Vis DRS), and fluorescence spectroscopy (PL) were used to evaluate the structure, morphology, specific surface area, optical properties, and photocarrier separation ability of the catalysts. The results showed that when the modifier CN content was 0.5 g, the dispersion of the ARTCN composite catalyst was better, with stronger light absorption performance, and the forbidden band width was smaller. Moreover, the photogenerated electrons in the conduction band of ART transferred to the valence band of CN and combined with the holes in the valence band of CN, forming Z-type heterostructures that significantly improved the efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole migration and separation, thus increasing the reaction rate. Gaseous and liquid ammonia were used as the target pollutants to investigate the activity of the prepared catalysts, and the results showed that the air wetness and initial concentration of ammonia had a great influence on the degradation of gaseous ammonia. When the initial concentration of ammonia was 50 mg/m3 and the flow rate of the moist air was 0.9 mL/min, the degradation rate of gaseous ammonia by ARTCN-0.5 reached 88.86%, and it had good repeatability. When the catalytic dose was 50 mg and the initial concentration of NH4+ was 100 mg/L, the degradation rate of liquid ammonia by ARTCN-0.5 was 71.60% after 3 h of reaction, and small amounts of NO3− and NO2− were generated. The superoxide anion radical (·O2−) and hydroxyl radical (·OH) were the main active components in the photocatalytic reaction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

{001}TiO2/TiOF2 photocatalytic composites with a high activity {001} crystal plane were prepared by one-step hydrothermal methods using butyl titanate as a titanium source and hydrofluoric acid as a fluorine source. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), raman spectroscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption curve (BET), UV-Vis diffuse absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and fluorescence spectroscopy (PL) were used to evaluate the structure, morphology, specific surface area, optical properties, and photocarrier separation ability of {001}TiO2/TiOF2. Ammonia nitrogen was taken as the target pollutant, and the degradation performance of the catalyst was investigated. The results show that hydrofluoric acid improves the content of {001} crystal plane of TiO2 with high activity; it also improves the specific surface area and dispersion of the composite material and adjusts the ratio of {001}TiO2 to TiOF2 in the composite material to enhance the absorption capacity of the composite material and reduce the band gap width of the composite material. The degradation rate of ammonia nitrogen by 100 mg F15 is 93.19% when the initial concentration of ammonia nitrogen is 100 mg/L and pH is 10. Throughout the reaction process, the {001}TiO2/TiOF2 composite produces superoxide anion radical (·O2−) and hydroxyl radical (·OH) to oxidize NH3·H2O and generate N2 accompanied by a small amount of NO3− and NO2−. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern society, the rapid development of the knowledge economy makes education become the core resource of a country's economic and social modernization development. Under this circumstance, student management has been paid more and more attention by people. This paper aims to study how to use the internet of things technology to study the student management evaluation system. This paper proposes a data mining algorithm based on the internet of things technology and proposes a decision tree method and an association rule algorithm based on the data mining algorithm. The experimental results of this paper show that the student growth rate in 2018 increased from 10% to 33% in 2019 and then from 21% in 2020 to 35% in 2021. It can be seen that with the development of the economy, the enrollment rate is also increasing, and the number of people who can go to college has increased rapidly. This also increases the difficulty of student management, making teachers' work more arduous, and the complexity of the amount of information leads to a drop in the efficiency of student management. However, the student management evaluation system based on the internet of things technology is beneficial to solving this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The effects of water content on the multi‐scale structure and digestibility of sweet potato starch (SPS) during heat‐moisture treatment (HMT) were studied, and the relationship between water content, starch structure and starch digestibility was analysed. The results showed that the surface of SPS granules changed after HMT, mainly in the form of depression, rupture and adhesion, and the change was more obvious with the increase of water content, and the crystalline structure changed from the original A‐type to A + V‐type. The relative crystallinity and double helix content decreased, the thickness of semi‐crystalline layered structure increased, and the peak intensity decreased. The molecular weight of SPS after HMT tended to be distributed in the low molecular weight range of 4 × 104 g mol−1 < Mw <4 × 105 g mol−1. These structural changes promoted the rearrangement of the intermolecular structure of SPS, which made amylase shield the original action site when acting on SPS, and converted part of rapidly digestible starch (RDS) content into slow digestible starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS) content, resulting in the increase of SDS and RS content. Especially in HMT‐25, the RS content of SPS was the highest, which was 28.60%. The experimental data can provide theoretical support for broadening the application of SPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polygons ranging in size from a few meters to kilometers have been observed in playa fields on Earth and Mars. The historically hyperarid climate of the Qaidam Basin has allowed the development of extensive polygonal landforms with diverse geometric and genetic types. Here we report a terrain of polygons with a pan-like structure, raised rims, and a size of about 60 to 120 m, and spatial variation in mineral composition and geometry from the Dalangtan area of the western Qaidam Basin on the Tibetan Plateau. Spatially, the polygons in the northeastern part of the study area have complete rims, while the polygons in the southwest have incomplete rims. These polygons consist of a halite crust in the subsurface and raised rims formed mainly of gypsum. In some areas, the polygonal rims are broadened and form boundary belts that are up to ~30 m wide and about 1.2 m high. We suggest that the formation of the halite crust in the subsurface redirects upward migration of evaporitic pore fluids that accumulate gypsum deposits to form the wide polygonal boundary belts. We argue that the similarly sized polygons with raised rims on Mars have similar lateral and vertical structures caused successively by the strong evaporation of lacustrine brines and subsurface pore fluids. • We investigate a pan-like polygon terrain and its genesis in the Qaidam Basin. • Polygons are characterized by a subsurface halite crust and gypsum-made raised rims. • The raised rims are later developed by the evaporation of subsurface pore fluids. • Polygons with salt crust and gypsum-made raised rims might be common on Mars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elastic strain limit of most metals are less than 0.2% except for whiskers or freestanding nanowires whose elastic strain limit could reach 4–7%. Ferroelastic metals such as shape memory alloys (SMAs) do exhibit giant recoverable strains (up to ∼13%). However, the strong non-linear pseudo-elasticity of SMAs leads to mechanical instability. By taking advantage of the strong composition-dependent critical stress for stress-induced martensitic transformation (MT) in NiTi SMA, this work demonstrates a novel design approach to achieve linear-superelasticity (∼4.6%) and ultralow modulus (8.7 GPa) of a NiTi single crystal. These unprecedented properties are realized through precisely controlling strain release during the MT via nanoscale concentration-gradient engineering. The computer simulation results and theoretical analyses reveal that the stress–strain behavior of NiTi and other SMAs can be regulated effectively by fine-tuning the concentration gradient. This may open a new avenue for the design of next generation ferroelastic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoscale concentration modulation (CM) is a novel and effective approach of manipulating martensitic transformations (MTs) for developing next-generation high-performance shape memory alloys (SMAs). Spinodal decomposition is one of the most economic methods to obtain bulk compositionally modulated materials for practical applications. The wavelength, amplitude, and statistical distribution of CM generated by spinodal decomposition are tunable via adjusting the aging temperature, or the aging time. However, how these features influence the effect of CM on MTs still remains largely unexplored. In this study, theoretical analyses and computer simulations are combined to dissect the influence of these features on the kinetic process of MTs and mechanical properties of SMAs. The findings of this study provide insights and guidance on the design of SMAs for desired mechanical properties via CM engineering. Moreover, the findings are applicable to not only SMAs but also other materials that have MTs, e.g. steels and high-entropy alloys. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In order to deal with non-stationary and nonlinear carbon price series, a hybrid forecasting approach is proposed in this study, which is incorporated variational mode decomposition (VMD), mode reconstruction (MR) and optimal combined forecasting model (CFM). The proposed approach introduces a new modes reconstruction method by using evolutionary clustering algorithm, and utilizes optimal combined model to forecast the reconstructed modes. The major steps of developed method can be summarized as: Firstly, carbon price is decomposed into several modes via VMD model, and the modes are obtained adaptively. Secondly, the comprehensive contribution index (CCI) of each mode is calculated and modes are further reconstructed by evolutionary clustering algorithm according to CCI. Then, a new sub-series called virtual modes (V-Modes) is defined and obtained. Thirdly, the optimal combined forecasting model is developed to forecast the V-Modes. In the end, the final forecasting results are obtained by summing the forecasts of V-Modes. For illustration and comparison, the carbon price data from Shenzhen and Hubei Province in China are shown as numerical examples. The empirical results confirm that the proposed approach outperforms benchmark models in terms of some statistical measures and robustness. Therefore, the proposed hybrid approach can be utilized as an effective model for the forecasting of carbon price. Highlights • A series of data modes for the carbon price is obtained based on VMD model. • The modes are reconstructed based on evolutionary clustering algorithm. • The optimal combined model is proposed to forecast the reconstructed modes. • The proposed model can improve the forecasting accuracy significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Fe-Cu low-carbon steels play significant roles in a rich variety of applications. The high strength of Fe-Cu steels originates from the strengthening effect of Cu precipitates. Further optimization of mechanical properties of Fe-Cu and Fe-Cu based steels requires an understanding of precipitation process of Cu particles. In this study, a comprehensive phase field model is developed which captures the microstructure evolution process during the nucleation and growth of BCC Cu precipitates followed by the BCC → 9R phase transformation. Results generated by phase field simulations agree well with previous experimental reports. In addition, the pseudo-spinodal decomposition theory is adopted to analyze the kinetic process of precipitation. Our simulation results and theoretical analyses jointly demonstrate that the kinetic process of precipitation and the initial Cu concentration of precipitates are ageing temperature and composition dependent, which is helpful in solving the mystery of the Cu concentration in precipitates of early stage. Moreover, interfacial energy and internal stress are found to be responsible for the temperature and composition dependence of critical nucleation size of the 9R phase, respectively. The nature of wetting layer and the mechanism that regulates the thickness of wetting layers are revealed as well. The comprehensive phase field model developed in this study offers a powerful tool for investigating precipitations in Fe-Cu alloys. The findings of this study provide new insights on the evolution process of Cu precipitates in Fe-Cu alloys. Graphical abstract Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to develop a new approach to deal with fuzzy group decision making (GDM) with additive trapezoidal fuzzy preference relations (ATFPRs) by using compatibility measure. We firstly present some concepts of compatibility index and expected preference relation (PR) for ATFPR and then propose a compatibility improving algorithm to help each individual PR achieve acceptable compatibility. Moreover, a least deviation model is provided to obtain the priority vector. Besides, based on the criterion of minimizing the compatibility index, we put forward an optimal model to determine the weights of experts in GDM. Finally, the GDM process with compatibility of ATFPRs is presented, and an illustrative example is utilized to verify the developed approach. The main features of our approach are that: (1) It guarantees that each individual ATFPR is acceptably compatible by using compatibility improving algorithm. (2) It ensures that experts’ weights in group aggregation are determined objectively by optimal model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we completed a simple low-temperature synthesis of nest-like titanium oxide (TiO2) microspheres with exposed (001) facets. For the first time, the photocatalytic performance was enhanced by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) alkalization. The characterization of as-synthesized F-TiO2 and OH-TiO2 were analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis, ultraviolet-vis diffuse reflection spectra and Raman spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared catalyst was evaluated through the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated solar light. The results showed that modification using NaOH can lead to an increase in the percentage of (001) facets from 27.8% for F-TiO2 to 39.2% for OH-TiO2. OH-TiO2 showed superior catalytic photoactivity toward MB. The mechanism of NaOH on TiO2 is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Laparoscopic surgery for gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is now widely performed. However, laparoscopic resection of GIST in the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) is technically difficult and rarely reported. Herein, we introduce four fashions of laparoscopic resection for EGJ-GIST.Methods: A retrospective review of 42 consecutive patients with EGJ-GIST who underwent attempted laparoscopic surgery was conducted. EGJ-GIST was defined as GIST with an upper border of less than 5 cm from the esophagogastric line. Four fashions of laparoscopic resection were performed: fashion A, laparoscopic wedge resection using linear stapler; fashion B, laparoscopic complete resection by opening the stomach wall and closing with suture or linear stapler; fashion C, laparoscopic mucosa-preserving resection; and fashion D, laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy with pyloroplasty and gastric plication. Clinicopathologic characteristics, operative course, and short-term and long-term outcomes were analyzed.Results: All procedures were completed successfully without operative complications. In 24 of 42 (57.1%) patients, tumors were located in the fundus or greater curvature. Out of those, 70.8% (17/24) received fashion A and 29.2% (7/24) received fashion B. Tumors in 16 of 42 (38.1%) patients were located in the lesser curvature. Of those, 81.3% (13/16) underwent fashion B and 18.7% (3/16) underwent fashion D. One tumor in the anterior stomach wall and one in the posterior wall received fashion C. The mean operative time was 103.8 ± 22.1 min and the mean estimated blood loss was 22.4 ± 13.5 ml. The mean time to flatus was 40.3 ± 12.9 h and the time to fluid intake was 43.2 ± 14.3 h. The mean hospital stay was 4.8 ± 2.1 days.Conclusions: Laparoscopic surgery for EGJ-GIST is safe and feasible. The selection of various laparoscopic resection fashions should be chosen based on tumor location and the surgeon's experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A thin ceramic wafer was fabricated via an efficient phase inversion/sintering. • The thickness of the ceramic wafer was 250 μm with a mean pore size of 200 nm. • The high Al 2 O 3 loading helps their uniform distribution on membrane surface. • This wafer exhibited an ultrahigh and stable flux and oil removal efficiency. • The fouling analysis shows the dominant fouling mechanism was cake filtration. Efficient preparation of ceramic membranes helps to reduce costs and makes them more competitive in the field of wastewater treatment. In this work, an ultrathin Al 2 O 3 ceramic wafer membrane with a thickness of 250 µm and the mean pore size of approximately 200 nm was prepared from the Al 2 O 3 /polysulfone slurries via a casting-phase inversion/sintering approach. This ultrathin and hydrophilic ceramic wafer has a fully sponge-like and slightly asymmetric structure and desirable porosity, endowing it with an exceptionally high pure water permeability of ∼ 45,000 L m-2h−1 bar−1, an ultrahigh and stable emulsion flux of 2500 ∼ 3500 L m-2h−1 bar−1, as well as a high oil rejection of 99 % against real oilfield produced water (OPW). In addition, the increased Al 2 O 3 content enhanced the thermodynamic instability of the ceramic slurry, leading to the enhanced interfacial instability, which contributes to the uniform distribution of Al 2 O 3 particles on the precursor membrane surface to some extent during the phase inversion process, thus to reduce the surface defects of ceramic membranes after sintering. The membrane fouling analysis revealed that the dominant fouling mechanism was cake filtration, indicating the formation of a relatively dense and smooth skin layer of the ceramic wafer, which endow it with a high flux recovery ratio of 97.8 % by a simple chemical cleaning after OPW filtration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with a single defect or randomly distributed defects, aligned defects are widely found or artificially designed in structures to realize various functions. However, the mechanical behavior of transition metal dichalcogenides with aligned defects is still unclear, which restricts the blooming application in novel flexible nanodevices. Herein, we report the strength and fracture properties of single layer MoS2 (SLMoS2) sheets with aligned defects under uniaxial tension by numerical calculation and theoretical modeling. It is found that the increase of the number of defects and adjacent spacing leads to the decrease of critical strain as well as tensile strength of both pristine and kirigami MoS2 sheets. Three types of crack propagation phenomena are discovered, and an effective theoretical model is employed to uncover the underlying mechanism of crack deflection phenomenon in SLMoS2 sheets with aligned defects. These results provide important insights into mechanical behavior of SLMoS2 sheets and should be helpful for potential applications of the new two-dimensional material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polydopamine (PDA) coated carbon nanotube (CNT)/poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) dielectric composites were fabricated through self-polymerization of dopamine hydrochloride (DAH) monomers. Microscopic observation substantiated that the thickness of PDA coatings on CNTs was tunable by varying the DAH/CNT ratios. When the PDA@CNTs were incorporated into the PVDF matrix, the electrical resistivity of the PDA@CNT/PVDF increased up with the thickening of PDA coatings, due to the inhibition of the direct contact between adjacent conductive particles. Considering the negative influence of current leakage on dielectric loss, the contribution of PDA coatings on dielectric behaviors of CNT/PVDF systems was compared at a similar resistivity. The results exhibited that accompanied with the enrichment of PDA contents, a more competitive balance between permittivity and loss factor was achieved. As an example, when 0.1 wt% 0.03PDA@CNTs were replaced by 0.2 wt% 0.2PDA@CNTs, the permittivity at 10 3 Hz was increased from 154 to 315 and the loss factor was reduced from 0.92 to 0.35. This indicated that the dielectric loss induced by the current leakage was suppressed when the conductive particles were coated by PDA layers. Accordingly, it can be regarded as one of strategies to make the percolative systems achieve high permittivity and low dielectric loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Martensitic transformation (MT) is typically a strongly first-order transition with autocatalysis in nucleation followed by rapid growth. It usually takes place within a narrow temperature or stress range, making its utilization in a controllable manner difficult. We show by computer simulations how MTs can be tailored by concentration modulation at the nanoscale in the parent phase, which induces spatial variations of both the stability of martensite and the transformation strain and tunes the overall MT kinetics from a typical first-order transition into a high-order like continuous transition. Such a unique MT characteristic reduces or even eliminates the transformation hysteresis and produces quasi-linear elasticity with ultra-low apparent elastic modulus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an integral glycoprotein on the surface of endothelial cells, thrombomodulin (TM) has very high affinity for thrombin. TM has been regarded to be a marker of endothelial damage since it can be released during endothelial cell injury. In this work, a highly sensitive fluorescence method for the quantitative detection of TM was developed. TM antibody (Ab) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were bound on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to construct BSA-AuNPs-Ab nanocomposites and they were characterized by transmission electron microscope and UV–vis spectrophotometry. The fluorescence of acridine orange (AO) was quenched by the prepared gold nanocomposites based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). In the presence of TM, the fluorescence was turned on due to the effective separation of AO from the surface of gold nanocomposites. Under optimum conditions, the enhanced fluorescence intensity displayed a linear relationship with the logarithm of the TM concentration from 0.1 pg mL − 1 to 5 ng mL − 1 with a low detection limit of 12 fg mL − 1 . The release of soluble thrombomodulin (sTM) by the injured HUVEC-C cells in the presence of H 2 O 2 was investigated using the proposed method. The released sTM content in the growth medium was found to be increased with the enhancement of contact time of the cells with H 2 O 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gum-like multifunctional β-Ti alloy Ti-24Nb-4Zr-8Sn-0.10O (in wt.%), known as Ti2448, has attracted a lot of attention lately for promising biomedical applications due to its ultralow apparent elastic modulus, high strength, super-elasticity, strong fatigue resistance, and excellent biocompatibility. In this study we investigate the deformation mechanisms in association with martensitic transformation (MT) in the alloy. Using a combination of crystallographic analysis and phase field simulation we find a rich variety of strain-accommodating domain patterns, including 30 twinning modes and 6 herringbone structures. These diverse strain accommodating modes, especially the excellent geometrical compatibilities of the twins and herringbone structures, provide the MT with great flexibility to adapt to arbitrary shape changes and defect structures generated during plastic deformation, which may have contributed to the exceptional mechanical properties of the alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adhesion, spreading, and proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cell line (HUVEC-C) cells, on a gold electrode were monitored using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements. The viscodensity effect caused by the normal action of the cells led to a decrease of the resonant frequency and increase of the motional resistance. The oxidative injury of HUVEC-C cells appeared immediately with the addition of HO, exhibiting the decline of cellular spreading area and cell coverage on the electrode surface and resulting in inverted QCM responses. The injured extent of the cells was found to be related to the content of HO. It is found that 0.05 mM quercetin added beforehand in the growth medium could remove completely the oxidative action of 1.0 mM HO. Quercetin with increased dosage still exerted a partial protective effect on HUVEC-C cells against oxidative injury induced by 2.5 mM HO. The microscope observations, electrochemical measurements, and MTT analysis validate the QCM assay results, indicating that quercetin is a valuable flavonoid anti-oxidant in the precaution and treatment for the oxidative injury of vascular endothelium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the requirements for wear resistance of materials under harsh pressure-velocity (PV) conditions become increasingly high. Herein, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) via a novel efficient plasma treatment was introduced to disperse evenly in polyamide 6 (PA6) matrix and a three-dimensional (3D) interconnected carboxyl functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) network was further constructed in PA6 composites via solvent-free ball milling and compression molding to achieve excellent tribological and heat dissipation properties. Friction tests show that the incorporation of the plasma-treated UHMWPE, as well as CNTs, leads to a significant reduction of the coefficient of friction (COF) of PA6 by 77.5%. Moreover, the 3D interconnected CNTs network forms a high-speed pathway for heat transfer and achieves a relatively high thermal conductivity (TC) of 0.40 W/(m K) at an ultra-low level of 0.2 wt% CNTs, which is 42.9% higher than that of pure PA6. Interestingly, the maximum contact temperature monitored by the infrared camera reduces greatly from 108.9 °C to 57.2 °C, indicating that low COF and high TC are beneficial for low contact temperature. As a result, the specific wear rate of PA6 composites is dramatically decreased by 98.1% compared to pure PA6. The strategy can be used to produce advanced bearing bushes and wearing laths in industrial applications. [Display omitted] • A novel efficient plasma treatment method was developed to modify the surface of UHMWPE with polar groups. • The evenly dispersed UHMWPE leads to a significant reduction of the coefficient of friction and wear rate of PA6 composites. • The 3D interconnected CNTs network greatly enhances the thermal conductivity (TC) of the PA6 composites. • The low coefficient of friction and high TC lead to a dramatical reduction of the maximum tribo-surface contact temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friction and wear properties of polyamide (PA) materials can be improved by graphite (Gr) due to its superlubricity. For further enhancing the ultimate properties of composites, the interfacial adhesion between Gr and PA has already attracted growing attention, while the contribution of Gr arrangement is often ignored. In this work, the interfacial adhesion was improved by π-π interactions between Gr and 1,3-Bis(4,5-dihydro-2-oxazolyl)benzene (BOB) functionalized PA6 via reactive extrusion. Moreover, the highly oriented structure of Gr was achieved by the strong extensional and shearing field. Experimental results indicated that BOB functionalized PA6 with 20 wt% highly oriented Gr (PA6-BOB/HOGr20) displayed excellent balanced performance. Compared with pure PA6, the coefficient of friction (COF) and specific wear rate of the PA6-BOB/HOGr20 composite were reduced by nearly 42% and 46%, respectively. Furthermore, its in-plane thermal conductivity (TC) reached as high as 2.14 W/(m K). Due to the low COF and high TC, the tribo-surface temperature was consistently lower than its glass transition temperature (T g) under harsh pressure-velocity (PV) conditions of this experiment. In addition, the PA6-BOB/HOGr20 composite still has high ductility, and the elongation at break reaches 150%. This work provides a facile and environmentally friendly method for designing high-performance wear-resistant composites, which can be used as linear guide rail, liner, and linear bearing in industrial applications. [Display omitted] • The interfacial adhesion between PA 6 matrix and graphite was improved by matrix modification through reactive extrusion. • Constructing a highly oriented structure of graphite in polyamide 6 by the strong extensional and shearing field. • The great contribution of highly oriented graphite to improving the heat dissipation performance of composites. • The uniform dispersion of graphite in PA6 matrix eliminates defects and improves the ductility of the composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the sliding mode control problem for uncertain MIMO linear Markovian jump systems. Firstly, by using the linear matrix inequality approach, sufficient conditions are proposed to guarantee the stochastically asymptotical stability of the system on the sliding surfaces. Secondly, an equivalent control based sliding mode control is proposed, such that the closed-loop system can be driven onto the desired sliding surfaces in a finite time. Finally, combining with multi-step state transition probability, the reaching and sliding probabilities are derived for situations where the control force may not be strong enough to ensure the fully asymptotical stability. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual-layer composite membrane is a new design for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) with membrane performance potentially superior to that of single layer porous membranes. Using dry–wet phase inversion technology, novel dual-layer hollow fiber membranes were fabricated in current research. The outer layer was made from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with polyvinylpyrolidone (PVP) or glycerol as non-solvent additive, while the inner layer consists of PVDF and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) blend. The effect of the nonsolvent additive type in the outer layer and that of PVA/PVDF blending ratio in the inner layer on the morphological, mechanical and separation characteristics of the composite membranes was investigated. Membrane performance was further correlated to the physicochemical and morphological characteristics of the membranes. In particular, a thorough investigation of pore wetting in DCMD was attempted for the first time in this work, observing the cross-sectional distribution of EDX chlorine signals as an indication of the penetration of sodium chloride solution into the pore from the feed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based multilayered dielectrics containing alternating layers of confined carbon black (CB) were fabricated using a layer-multiplying extrusion. For a given film thickness, a large enhancement of dielectric permittivity occurred following the increase of CB containing layers. When the number of total layers reached 256, the permittivity at 103 Hz became 3 times higher than that predicted by the series model. A frequency dependence in the dielectric loss curves caused by the layer multiplication process was also observed. The differences in capacitance and conductivity between neat PVDF and CB containing layers resulted in charge accumulation at their interfaces, leading to an increase in the permittivity and the dielectric loss peak intensity. Furthermore, the presence of PVDF between the CB containing layers distinctly improved the breakdown strength of the multilayered films by at least two orders of magnitude higher than that of the PVDF/CB conventional composite at a similar CB loading or conductivity level. The present approach for the preparation of high-k dielectrics with high breakdown strength would significantly broaden the choices of dielectric materials for pulse powered, high field electronics and a new generation of clean energy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the fact of uncertainty contained in observed real-valued time series, the aim of this paper is to explore interval implicitization in real-valued time series classification problems. A novel real-valued time series classification method under the transformed implicit interval-valued data environment is developed, namely 1NN-IDTW. To do this, by utilizing the ARIMA model, real-valued time series are first converted in parallel to interval-valued time series. Then, the integration of explored interval implicitization process, Dynamic Time Warping algorithm and the simple nearest neighbor classifier is proposed. In the numerical experimental part, the developed 1NN-IDTW is first directly applied to randomly selected 16 real-world datasets from the UCR time series archive for time series classification. The explored interval implicitization process is also integrated with different classification models, so as to verity its performance. The results indicate that our developed model performs better on 13 datasets over 6 baselines. Furthermore, comparing with existed time series classification methods, the integration of interval implicitization can improve the prediction accuracy by more than 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new (α + β) Ti-alloy, Ti-6Al-2V-1Cr-1Fe (wt%), with fine grain sizes, fine precipitates, together with the high strength and excellent ductility in its as-cast state is developed. As compared to the as-cast commercial Ti-6Al-4V alloy, the grain size and α lath thickness of the new alloy are substantially refined by 50∼75%, and the yield strength and ductility are increased by 19.7% and 51.8%, respectively. The grain size refinement is achieved by tuning the supercooling capacity of the alloy through alloying with the aid of CALPHAD calculations. In addition, the alloying of Cr and Fe substantially reduces the α lath thickness. This low-cost Ti alloy with the enhanced properties is anticipated to be highly suitable for various structural applications in its as-cast or as-printed state. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High performance wear-resistant polyamide 6 (PA6) not only needs low friction and wear, but also requires high thermal conductivity and outstanding mechanical strength. Introducing lubricants into polymers has proved to be a feasible method, however, the contribution of intrinsic structure of PA6 to tribological properties is often ignored. Herein, a novel approach to fabricate high performance wear-resistant bulk PA6 via constructing a highly aligned crystalline structure was proposed. Firstly, an intense flow field applied by force assembly elements (FAEs) was introduced into extrusion processing to prepare PA6 precursor sheets with initially aligned molecular chains. Next, the precursor sheets were uniaxially drawn at 120 °C to achieve highly aligned crystalline structure at low draw ratio. The X-ray diffraction results showed the crystal orientation of the precursor sheets is 42% higher than that of samples prepared without FAEs. Furthermore, tensile stress induced γ-α phase transition and improved the crystallinity. As a result, the friction coefficient and wear rate of the bulk PA6 decreased 50.8% and 64.9%, respectively. Note that the maximum contact surface temperature reduced from 109.8 to 64.8 °C during high-speed friction because of the increasement of the thermal conductivity, effectively avoiding the aggravation of wear caused by surface softening. Moreover, the bulk PA6 also has excellent mechanical properties with a yield strength of 242 MPa and an elongation at break of 90%. Such remarkable enhancements in both mechanical and tribological properties are primarily attributed to the highly aligned crystalline structure with high α crystal form content. This work provides a way to design mechanically robust, wear-resistant polyamide applied in industry, transportation, etc. [Display omitted] • The relationship between reciprocating sliding wear behavior and crystal structure of bulk neat PA6 was investigated. • The highly aligned crystalline structure greatly improved the thermal conductivity of PA6. • Wear behavior and surface oxidation degree of PA6 were influenced by thermal conductivity greatly. • The mechanical properties of PA6 can be improved simultaneously by regulating the crystal structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Martensitic transformation (MT) plays a critical role in determining both mechanical and functional properties of shape memory alloys (SMAs). The behavior of MT depends strongly on the microstructure of materials, and two- or multiple-stage MTs are typical examples of this. However, the physical origin of two- or multiple-stage MTs remains controversial although much effort has been made. In this study, a novel two-stage MT is observed in a TiNb-based SMA with nanoscale concentration modulation. The physical origin of this chemical-heterogeneity-induced two-stage MT is the difference in thermodynamic stability of the parent and martensitic phase between Nb-leaner and Nb-richer regions. The findings of this study not only expand the repertoire of mechanisms of two- or multiple-stage MT but also shed light on the long-standing controversy over the physical origin of multiple-stage MTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When modeling the biased minor loops of the giant magnetostrictive material (GMM) with the classic Jiles-Atherton method, it is hard to describe the characters. When analyzing the shape changing rule of the hysteresis minor loops of Terfenol-D, whose magnetizations are not saturated, the shapes of loops are mainly affected by pinning factor k and by curve shape parameter a. The parameter k increases with the amplitude of the minor loop driving magnetic field and decreases with the bias magnetic field, while parameter a decreases with the bias magnetic field of the minor loop. A sigmoid curve function was adopted as the revision function of k and a. The revised minor loop model not only can well demonstrate the hysteresis character of biased minor loops and symmetric minor loops of Terfenol-D, but also does not need any foregoing information of minor loop magnetizations. The maximum error between the simulation results and experiments is reduced from 11.77% to 3.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ribonuclease P (RNase P) complexed with external guide sequence (EGS) represents a nucleic acid-based gene interference approach to knock-down gene expression. Unlike other strategies, such as antisense oligonucleotides, ribozymes, and RNA interference, the RNase P-based technology is unique because a custom-designed EGS molecule can bind to any complementary mRNA sequence and recruit intracellular RNase P for specific degradation of the target mRNA. In this study, we demonstrate that the RNase P-based strategy is effective in blocking gene expression and growth of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), the causative agent of the leading AIDS-associated neoplasms, such as KS and primary-effusion lymphoma. We constructed 2'-O-methyl-modifiecl EGS molecules that target the mRNA encoding KSHV immediate-early transcription activator Rta, and we administered them directly to human primary-effusion lymphoma cells infected with KSHV. A reduction of 90% in Rta expression and a reduction of &ap;150-fold in viral growth were observed in cells treated with a functional EGS. In contrast a reduction of <10% in the RU expression and viral growth was found in cells that were either not treated with an EGS or that were treated with a disabled EGS containing mutations that preclude recognition by RNase P. Our study provides direct evidence that EGSs are highly effective in inhibiting KSHV gene expression and growth. Exogenous administration of chemically modified EGSs in inducing RNase P-mediated cleavage represent an approach for inhibiting specific gene expression and for treating human diseases, including KSHV- associated tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morphology of Ni4Ti3 precipitates is important in tuning the martensitic transformation (MT) behavior and mechanical properties of nitinol. Constrained ageing is effective in engineering the morphology of Ni4Ti3 precipitates due to the variant selection effect of external load which is still lacking. In this work, maps of variant selection effect of external load applied along all crystallographic directions are obtained by using a combination of theoretical analyses and phase field simulations. It is found that maps produced by uniaxial tension and uniaxial compression are quite different. The number and types of Ni4Ti3 variants preferred by external load vary as the loading direction changes. Moreover, factors influencing the strength of variant selection effect are discovered. This work provides insights on understanding the Ni4Ti3 precipitation process and sheds light on the engineering of morphology of Ni4Ti3 precipitates for desired mechanical and functional properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation of Ni 4 Ti 3 is effective in tuning martensitic transformations (MTs) in NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs). However, several fundamental issues concerning the influence of Ni 4 Ti 3 on MTs remain unclear. In this study, the microstructure evolution process during precipitation and its influence on B2→R MT are investigated using computer simulations based on the phase field method. In particular, the roles played by Ni concentration gradient in the B2 matrix and internal coherency stress fields associated with different precipitate microstructures are analyzed in detail. It is found that Ni concentration gradient in the B2 matrix created by Ni 4 Ti 3 precipitates alters significantly local martensitic start temperature and the overall MT behavior, while the internal coherency stress field associated with the Ni 4 Ti 3 precipitates dictates the structure of martensitic domains via variant selection. The latter effect makes it promising to develop Invar alloys via stress-ageing to tailor the precipitate microstructure. These findings provide fundamental insights into the mechanism controlling the MT behavior in precipitate-bearing SMAs and provide guidance for the design of thermomechanical treatment for desired precipitate microstructures and the corresponding MT behavior. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in swine wastewater may present a threat to the environment and public health. Conventional swine wastewater treatment processes generally fail to effectively reduce the content of ARGs. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a highly efficient and low-cost treatment method to solve this environmental problem. In doing so, we evaluated the application of three common coagulants in the treatment of swine wastewater. Using metagenomics, we evaluated the removal efficiency of ARG loads, as well as the effect of coagulation on the structure and diversity of swine wastewater, and on the bacterial community. The results showed that the three coagulants could effectively reduce the physicochemical pollution indexes of swine wastewater (e.g., TP, NTU, COD). After treatment, the loads of a variety of antibiotics in the swine wastewater were significantly reduced, with the exception of NFX and SMD, which were all close to 100%. At the same time, in evaluating the total number of microbial colonies and the total number of fecal Escherichia coli bacteria under the three conditions, Polyaluminum Chloride (PAC) ranked first among the three coagulants with 89.18%, 93.07%, 89.92%, 98.76%, 99.60%, and 98.68%. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the abundance of cfcC, tetX, mphE, msrE, tet36, and other ARGs in the water sample after the LST treatment was significantly lower than that of the original swine wastewater sample. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of using coagulants to treat swine wastewater, which is of great significance for improving water quality and reducing the potential impacts of ARGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 1. The PH/CS layer was constructed on the membrane surface by incorporating CS nanoparticles. • 2. PH/CS layer with beads-on-string structure reduced temperature polarization in MD membrane. • 3. The water flux of ENMs was increased 2.4 times after incorporating CS in PH nanofiber. • 4. PH/CS composite ENMs exhibited good long-term stability of over 5100 min. Membrane distillation (MD) is a promising technology among various desalination processes. However, the membrane used in MD is still problematic due to its low permeability and tendency to become wet. In this work, we fabricated a novel electrospun nanofiber membrane (ENM) with micro-nano structures resembling beads on a string to enhance water flux and anti-wetting properties in MD desalination. The composite ENM consists of a heat-conducting top layer made of polyvinylidene fluoride co-hexafluoropropylene (PH) nanofibers embedded with carbon sphere (CS) nanoparticles and a heat-insulating support layer made of pH nanofibers. The PH/CS top layer with beads-on-string micro-nano structures can not only provide a rough surface to elevate anti-wetting property of the membrane, but also create a maximum temperature difference inside the membrane to improve mass transfer of water vapor. The PH/CS composite ENMs acquired the highest water flux of ∼ 71.3 L m−2 h−1 at a temperature difference of 40 °C, and its salt rejection rate for a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution was higher than 99.9% in direct contact membrane distillation. Meanwhile, the composite ENM exhibited long-term stability of 5100 min. Our work presents a novel composite ENM with great potential for promoting water flux and anti-wetting properties towards MD desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, TiO 2 nanocages with a hollow structure were integrated into the polyvinylidene fluoride co-hexafluoropropylene (PH) spinning solution, leading to the fabrication of a novel PH/TiO 2 electrospun nanofiber membrane (PH/TiO 2 ENM) through electrostatic spinning. The incorporation of TiO 2 nanocages resulted in the formation of abundant micro-nano structures on the PH nanofiber surface, enhancing membrane roughness and hydrophobicity. Additionally, the hollow nanostructure of TiO 2 nanocages effectively reduced the thermal conductivity of the ENMs. This reduction in thermal conductivity mitigated the temperature polarization effect, thereby increasing mass transfer driving force for the ENMs. The maximum water flux of the PH/TiO 2 ENM reached ∼57.9 L m−2 h−1 (LMH), which was approximately 3.7 times higher than that of the original PH ENM. In addition to the formation of micro-nano structures on PH nanofibers, the presence of TiO 2 nanocages facilitated the attachment of more low-surface-energy FAS molecules, improving the resistance of them to fouling and anti-wetting properties against both inorganic and organic contaminants, even in the presence of SDS, in a composite feed solution during the DCMD process. Moreover, even after prolonged exposure to a composite salt solution, this membrane also exhibited exceptional anti-fouling properties and stable desalination performance during a 168 h long-term stability test. [Display omitted] • The incorporation of TiO 2 nanocages into ENM could enhance its hydrophobicity. • TiO 2 nanocages reduce temperature polarization and enhance mass transfer in ENMs. • TiO 2 nanocages improve membrane resistance to fouling by organic and inorganic contaminants. • PH/TiO 2 ENMs exhibited an outstanding long-term stability over 168 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pd nanoparticles were generated over Al2O3 modified by cellulose allowing a facile crystallization and used for CO oxidation. Smaller particles were prone to be formed over the support with the assistance of cellulose. The enhanced catalytic activity could be ascribed to the positive interaction between Pd particles and the modulated support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chatter is a common state in milling and turning, which will reduce the machining quality of parts. For taking adequate measures to avoid chatter, chatter detection is necessary. However, chatter recognition still has many difficulties for both turning and milling. Due to the material removal effect, the chatter frequency will change. The existing frequency band extraction methods, such as ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and wavelet packet transform, can not fully reflect the chatter information. As a result, a novel online chatter recognition method is proposed based on spectrum characteristics, which can be applied to the chatter recognition for both turning and milling under the combination of multiple cutting parameters black simultaneously. Firstly, we carried out the hammering experiment to obtain the frequency response function and modal frequency of the machining system before and after machining. The signal distribution characteristics of turning and milling signals are analyzed. Four features sensitive to chatter are extracted, including spectral standard deviation, frequency spectral expectation (FSE), spectral skewness, and relative power spectral entropy (RPE). Taking these features as inputs, a chatter recognition model is established based on an extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm. Finally, we conducted the turning and milling tests. The experimental results show that the proposed chatter recognition model can be effective under different cutting parameters for turning and milling. Besides, results also show the chatter recognition model has extraterritorial applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quasi‐solid‐state lithium metal batteries (QSSLMBs) necessitate stable electro‐electrolyte interfaces to ensure reliable stationary power supply, thereby placing significant emphasis on the development of polymer electrolytes with high and uniform conductivity. However, while preparing the polymer electrolytes, the uncontrolled radical polymerization process of polymer electrolytes often leads to localized phase agglomeration, resulting in inhomogeneous physiochemical properties. In this study, a method is proposed to regulate the micro‐phase structure, aiming to substantially enhance the homogeneity of physiochemical properties, specifically the ionic conductivity, through the optimization of organic monomer polymerization behavior. This proposed polymer electrolyte determines enhanced reaction kinetics and reactivity at the interfaces, thereby effectively regulating the Li plating/stripping behavior and mitigating dendrite formation. The Li||Li symmetrical cell employing the proposed polymer electrolyte demonstrates exceptional cyclic durability, surpassing 1000 h at 0.2 mA cm−2. Additionally, the QSSLMBs employing high‐voltage LiCoO2 as the cathode exhibit remarkable improvements in electrochemical performance, particularly in terms of cycling stability. The insights derived from this research suggest that the regulation of micro‐phase structure in polymer electrolytes represents a promising strategy to enhance the practicability of QSSLMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an efficient and environmentally friendly source of energy, shale gas is abundantly available and continues to contribute to the economy growth because of its huge potential for production. However, accurately predicting the transport behavior of shale gas is still challenging due to the small scale and complexity of nanochannels, which impedes the efficiency of recovery. In this paper, the transport behavior of shale gas in nanochannels with fractal roughness is studied by molecular dynamics simulation and theoretical analysis. It is found that the present work functions well to predict the transport behavior of shale gas in nanochannels with roughness. The introduction of fractal roughness hinders the transport of shale gas and leads to a complex trajectory of methane molecules in nanochannels. Furthermore, it is interesting to find the average gas viscosity increases, while the gas flux decreases with the increase in the inclined angle due to the impediment effect after the deflection. These results are helpful for understanding the migration of shale gas in nanochannels with roughness and guiding the improvement of shale gas recovery in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Podocyte injury is associated with albuminuria and the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). MiR-34a, a p53-regulated miRNA, directly targets SIRT1 and contributed to DN progression. MiR-34a represses SIRT1 to activate p53 and establish a positive feedback loop. However, whether p53/miR-34a/SIRT1 signaling is activated in podocytes and contributes to DN pathogenesis remains elusive. In this study, we observed that serum miR-34a level was positively correlated with podocyte injury in DN patients. The expression of acetylated p53 and miR-34a was upregulated, SIRT1was downregulated in glomeruli from patients with DN and STZ induced diabetic mice, as well as in human podocytes treated with advanced glycation end (AGE). MiR-34a antagonism in vitro and vivo in STZ induced diabetic mice developed alleviated glomerulus injury as reflected by attenuated albuminuria, reduced podocyte loss and restored autophagic flux. In human podocyte, inhibition of AGE formation by pyridoxamine prevented miR-34a dependent repression of SIRT1, p53 acetylation and activate podocyte autophagy in a dose-dependent manner. MiR-34a overexpression increases acetylation of p53 by translational repression of SIRT1. SIRT1 overexpression also impacts AGE induced apoptosis through deacetylating p53, whereas silencing of SIRT1 by EX527 attenuated the cytoprotective functions of miR-34a knockdown. Moreover, blockade of p53 acetylation significantly rescued miR-34a-induced apoptosis through SIRT1 restoration. Collectively, we demonstrate that by activation of p53, AGE induced the transcription of miR-34a, miR-34a in turn repressed SIRT1 to activate p53, resulting in a positive-feedback loop and contributing to podocyte injury. Targeting modulation of p53/miR-34a/SIRT1 feedback by miR-34a knockdown or overexpression of SIRT1 could rescue podocyte injury during DN. • p53/miR-34a/SIRT1 loop is present in the diabetic kidneys and AGE induced podocytes. • AGE medicated p53 activation promoted the expression of miR-34a, which suppresses SIRT1, resulting in a positive-feedback loop. • MiR-34a increases acetylation of p53 by translational repression of SIRT1. • It is likely that modulation of p53/miR-34a/SIRT1 feedback by miR-34a knockdown could rescued podocyte injury during DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, the microstructure evolution and macro-response of a ferromagnetic shape memory alloy under stimuli of magnetic fields with different frequency and coupled magnetic-mechanical loading are investigated via a real-space phase field simulation. It is found that the coercive field is reduced from 0.724 to 0.423 with the magnetic frequency f decrease from Hz to Hz, wherein the concomitant domain wall motion and magnetization rotation are captured as well. Moreover, simulation results demonstrate that, under the coupled magnetic-mechanical loading, the coercive field of the magnetic hysteresis loop could be reduced by applying a compressive strain perpendicular to the magnetic field direction. The domain evolution is mainly divided into three types during the coupled magnetic-mechanical loading, namely (a) domain wall motion with the magnetization rotation, (b) pure magnetization rotation, and (c) 180° domain coordinated domain switching. To better understand the domain evolution, we propose an index , with and indicating the absolute value of the averaged magnetization component and over the whole studied system, to characterize the magnetization change during the microstructure evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with the rapid update of nonlinear and irregular big data from the environmental monitoring system, both the public and managers urgently need reliable methods to predict possible air pollutions in the future. Therefore, a multi-scale deep learning (MDL) and optimal combination ensemble (OCE) approach for hourly air quality index (AQI) forecasting is proposed in this paper, named MDL-OCE model. Before normal modeling, all original data are preprocessed through missing data filling and outlier testing to ensure smooth computation. Due to the complexity of such big data, slope-based ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) is adopted to decompose the time series of AQI and meteorological conditions into a finite number of simple intrinsic mode function (IMF) components and one residue component. Then, to unify the number of components of different variables, the fine-to-coarse (FC) technique is used to reconstruct all components into high frequency component (HF), low frequency component (LF), and trend component (TC). For purpose of extracting the underlying relationship between AQI and meteorological conditions, the three components are respectively trained and predicted by different deep learning architectures (stacked sparse autoencoder (SSAE)) with a multilayer perceptron (MLP). The corresponding forecasting results of three components are merged by OCE method to better achieve the ultimate AQI forecasting outputs. The empirical results clearly demonstrate that our proposed MDL-OCE model outperforms other advanced benchmark models in terms of forecasting performances in all cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of two-phase γ-TiAl alloys depend strongly on the scale of their lamellar microstructures. In this study, we investigate the effect of alloy composition on lamellar thickness in Ti 100-x Al x by simulating microstructural evolution during the α 2 ′ → α 2 + γ phase transformation using the phase field method. From both existing experimental data and our simulation results we find that the average thickness of γ lamellae first decreases and then increases with increasing Al content. Further analyses reveal that this unique composition-dependence of the lamellar thickness could be associated with non-conventional pseudospinodal decomposition and congruent structural transformation mechanisms that generate ultra-high densities of nuclei at the initial stage, which impacts the later growth processes. The interplay between the number density of nuclei and the number of coalescence events during growth results in the non-monotonic dependence of the lamellar thickness on the alloy composition. These findings may offer new insights on the design of ultrafine lamellar microstructures for γ-TiAl alloys. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An accurate power state is the basis of the normal functioning of the smart grid. However, false data injection attacks (FDIAs) take advantage of the vulnerability in the bad data detection mechanism of the power system to manipulate the process of state estimation. By attacking the measurements, then affecting the estimated state, FDIAs have become a serious hidden danger that affects the security and stable operation of the power system. To address the bad data detection vulnerability, in this paper, a false data attack detection method based on weighted least squares (WLS) and an adaptive interpolation extended Kalman filter (AIEKF) is proposed. On the basis of applying WLS and AIEKF, the Euclidean distance is used to calculate the deviation values of the two-state estimations to determine whether the current moment is subjected to a false data injection attack in the power system. Extensive experiments were conducted to simulate an IEEE-14-bus power system, showing that the adaptive interpolation extended Kalman filter can compensate for the deficiency in the bad data detection mechanism and successfully detect FDIAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]