There are complex river-lake systems in the Taihu Lake catchment with total water surface area of 6174.7 km2, and population density of 1079/km2, including Taihu Lake water surface area of 2338 km2. The water systems ...There are complex river-lake systems in the Taihu Lake catchment with total water surface area of 6174.7 km2, and population density of 1079/km2, including Taihu Lake water surface area of 2338 km2. The water systems in this catchment have healthy aquaecosystems during long history. However, in some riverlets in this catchment the water quality was estimated as “acute toxicity for higher organisms” and over standards for many heavy metal elements content;there were no any living plants and macro organisms in the water body, because there were developed a series of industry with abundant release of heavy metals and difficult decomposition organic chemical components along the riverlets during last decades. The even more serious situation was observed in sediments of the riverlets. How to restore such riverlet into a healthy aquaeosystem with abound plants and higher organisms? The main strategy and techniques are described in this paper as summarizing a report of engineering in a riverlet in Wuxi New District during last years, which leads to restore the aquaecosystem into a healthy one with abundant surface plant cultured on floating islands and observed living fish, lobster, frog, toad, mollusk and others in the riverlet. The main techniques are: 1) softwall buffer technic;2) floating eco-island technic by using which can culture any plant which can be cultured in solution;3) immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria (INCB) technic;4) tattering esters and other big-molecule organic chemicals by using electronic pulse technic and photosensitization technic;5) mist spray facility technic for improving dissolved oxygen in deep water layers;6) technic for buffering and suppressing H2S release from water;7) the appropriate portion of surface with cultured plant to the total water surface area is about 1/3;8) Cress [Oenanthe Ljavanica (Bl.) DC.] and Myriophyllum verticilatum L. may be cultured in Taihu Lake catchment during the whole year as main plants with mosaic combination of other supplement plants in different seasons.展开更多
The Kehdolan area is located at 20 kilometers to the?south-east of Dozdozan Town (Eastern Azarbaijan Province). According to structural geology, volconic rocks are situated in Alborz-Azarbyjan zone, and faults?are?obs...The Kehdolan area is located at 20 kilometers to the?south-east of Dozdozan Town (Eastern Azarbaijan Province). According to structural geology, volconic rocks are situated in Alborz-Azarbyjan zone, and faults?are?observed?in?the?same direction to this system with SE-NW trend. The results show that kaolinite alteration trend with Argilic and propylitic veins?is the?same direction with SW-NE faults in this area. Therefore, these faults with these trends can be considered as the mineralization control for determination of the alterations. Different image processing techniques,?such as false color composite?(FCC), band ratios, color ratio composite?(CRC), principal component?analysis?(PCA), Crosta technique, supervised spectral angle mapping?(SAM), are used for?identification of the alteration zones associated with copper mineralization. In this project ASTER?data are process and spectral analysis to fit for recognizing intensity and kind of argillic, propylitic,?philic, and ETM+ data?which?are process and to fit for iron oxide and relation to metal mineralization of the area. For recognizing different alterations of the study area, some chemical and mineralogical analysis data from the samples showed that ASTER data and ETM+ data were?capable of hydrothermal alteration mapping with copper mineralization.?Copper mineralization in the region is in agreement with argillic alteration. SW-NE trending faults controlled the mineralization process.展开更多
Synaptic pruning is a crucial process in synaptic refinement,eliminating unstable synaptic connections in neural circuits.This process is triggered and regulated primarily by spontaneous neural activity and experience...Synaptic pruning is a crucial process in synaptic refinement,eliminating unstable synaptic connections in neural circuits.This process is triggered and regulated primarily by spontaneous neural activity and experience-dependent mechanisms.The pruning process involves multiple molecular signals and a series of regulatory activities governing the“eat me”and“don't eat me”states.Under physiological conditions,the interaction between glial cells and neurons results in the clearance of unnecessary synapses,maintaining normal neural circuit functionality via synaptic pruning.Alterations in genetic and environmental factors can lead to imbalanced synaptic pruning,thus promoting the occurrence and development of autism spectrum disorder,schizophrenia,Alzheimer's disease,and other neurological disorders.In this review,we investigated the molecular mechanisms responsible for synaptic pruning during neural development.We focus on how synaptic pruning can regulate neural circuits and its association with neurological disorders.Furthermore,we discuss the application of emerging optical and imaging technologies to observe synaptic structure and function,as well as their potential for clinical translation.Our aim was to enhance our understanding of synaptic pruning during neural development,including the molecular basis underlying the regulation of synaptic function and the dynamic changes in synaptic density,and to investigate the potential role of these mechanisms in the pathophysiology of neurological diseases,thus providing a theoretical foundation for the treatment of neurological disorders.展开更多
This study aims to develop several optimization techniques for predicting advance rate of tunnel boring machine(TBM)in different weathered zones of granite.For this purpose,extensive field and laboratory studies have ...This study aims to develop several optimization techniques for predicting advance rate of tunnel boring machine(TBM)in different weathered zones of granite.For this purpose,extensive field and laboratory studies have been conducted along the 12,649 m of the Pahang-Selangor raw water transfer tunnel in Malaysia.Rock properties consisting of uniaxial compressive strength(UCS),Brazilian tensile strength(BTS),rock mass rating(RMR),rock quality designation(RQD),quartz content(q)and weathered zone as well as machine specifications including thrust force and revolution per minute(RPM)were measured to establish comprehensive datasets for optimization.Accordingly,to estimate the advance rate of TBM,two new hybrid optimization techniques,i.e.an artificial neural network(ANN)combined with both imperialist competitive algorithm(ICA)and particle swarm optimization(PSO),were developed for mechanical tunneling in granitic rocks.Further,the new hybrid optimization techniques were compared and the best one was chosen among them to be used for practice.To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed models for both testing and training datasets,various statistical indices including coefficient of determination(R^2),root mean square error(RMSE)and variance account for(VAF)were utilized herein.The values of R^2,RMSE,and VAF ranged in 0.939-0.961,0.022-0.036,and 93.899-96.145,respectively,with the PSO-ANN hybrid technique demonstrating the best performance.It is concluded that both the optimization techniques,i.e.PSO-ANN and ICA-ANN,could be utilized for predicting the advance rate of TBMs;however,the PSO-ANN technique is superior.展开更多
The application of Information and Communication Technologies has transformed traditional Teaching and Learning in the past decade to computerized-based era. This evolution has resulted from the emergence of the digit...The application of Information and Communication Technologies has transformed traditional Teaching and Learning in the past decade to computerized-based era. This evolution has resulted from the emergence of the digital system and has greatly impacted on the global education and socio-cultural development. Multimedia has been absorbed into the education sector for producing a new learning concept and a combination of educational and entertainment approach. This research is concerned with the application of Window Speech Recognition and Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 Integrated/Interactive Development Environment in Multimedia-Assisted Courseware prototype development for Primary School Mathematics contents, namely, single digits and the addition. The Teaching and Learning techniques—Explain, Instruct and Facilitate are proposed and these could be viewed as instructors’ centered strategy, instructors’—learners’ dual communication and learners' active participation. The prototype is called M-EIF and deployed only users' voices;hence the activation of Window Speech Recognition is required prior to a test run.展开更多
The radioactivity measurements in food crops and their diet derivatives and farm soil samples from Abeokuta, one of the elevated background radiation areas in Nigeria have been carried out in order to determine the co...The radioactivity measurements in food crops and their diet derivatives and farm soil samples from Abeokuta, one of the elevated background radiation areas in Nigeria have been carried out in order to determine the concentration levels of natural radionuclides (40K, 226Ra and 232Th). The activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides in the samples were determined via gamma-ray spectrometry using a 76 mm × 76 mm NaI(Tl) detector. Different common food crops representing the major sources of dietary requirements to the local population were collected for the measurements. The collected food crops were prepared into their different derivable composite diets using preparation techniques locale to the population. Using available food consumption data and the activity concentrations of the radionuclides, the ingestion effective doses were evaluated for the food crops and diet types per preparation techniques. For the tuberous food crop samples, the annual ingestion effective doses in the raw and different composite diets were 0.02 - 0.04 μSv and cumulatively 0.04 - 0.05 μSv while in the non-tuberous crops the doses were 0.44 - 0.70 μSv and cumulatively greater than 1 μSv respectively. Results of the study indicate that method of diet preparation is seen to play a major role in population ingestion dose reduction especially for tuberous crops than in non-tuberous crops. The study also showed that more ingestion dose could be incurred in diets prepared by roasting techniques. The result of the study will serve as a useful radiometric data for future epidemiological studies in the area and for food safety regulations and policy implementations in the country.展开更多
Effective prevention and management of osteoporosis would require suitable methods for population screenings and early diagnosis. Current clinicallyavailable diagnostic methods are mainly based on the use of either X-...Effective prevention and management of osteoporosis would require suitable methods for population screenings and early diagnosis. Current clinicallyavailable diagnostic methods are mainly based on the use of either X-rays or ultrasound(US). All X-ray based methods provide a measure of bone mineral density(BMD), but it has been demonstrated that other structural aspects of the bone are important in determining fracture risk, such as mechanical features and elastic properties, which cannot be assessed using densitometric techniques. Among the most commonly used techniques, dual X-ray absorptiometry(DXA) is considered the current 'gold standard' for osteoporosis diagnosis and fracture risk prediction. Unfortunately, as other X-ray based techniques, DXA has specific limitations(e.g., use of ionizing radiation, large size of the equipment, high costs, limited availability) that hinder its application for population screenings and primary care diagnosis. This has resulted in an increasing interest in developing reliable pre-screening tools for osteoporosis such as quantitative ultrasound(QUS) scanners, which do not involve ionizing radiation exposure and represent a cheaper solution exploiting portable and widely available devices. Furthermore, the usefulness of QUS techniques in fracture risk prediction has been proven and, with the last developments, they are also becoming a more and more reliable approach for assessing bone quality. However, the US assessment of osteoporosis is currently used only as a pre-screening tool, requiring a subsequent diagnosis confirmation by means of a DXA evaluation. Here we illustrate the state of art in the early diagnosis of this 'silent disease' and show up recent advances for its prevention and improved management through early diagnosis.展开更多
Decreasing the risks and geohazards associated with drilling engineering in high-temperature high-pressure(HTHP) geologic settings begins with the implementation of pre-drilling prediction techniques(PPTs). To improve...Decreasing the risks and geohazards associated with drilling engineering in high-temperature high-pressure(HTHP) geologic settings begins with the implementation of pre-drilling prediction techniques(PPTs). To improve the accuracy of geopressure prediction in HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs offshore Hainan Island, we made a comprehensive summary of current PPTs to identify existing problems and challenges by analyzing the global distribution of HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs, the research status of PPTs, and the geologic setting and its HTHP formation mechanism. Our research results indicate that the HTHP formation mechanism in the study area is caused by multiple factors, including rapid loading, diapir intrusions, hydrocarbon generation, and the thermal expansion of pore fluids. Due to this multi-factor interaction, a cloud of HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs has developed in the Ying-Qiong Basin, but only traditional PPTs have been implemented, based on the assumption of conditions that do not conform to the actual geologic environment, e.g., Bellotti's law and Eaton's law. In this paper, we focus on these issues, identify some challenges and solutions, and call for further PPT research to address the drawbacks of previous works and meet the challenges associated with the deepwater technology gap. In this way, we hope to contribute to the improved accuracy of geopressure prediction prior to drilling and provide support for future HTHP drilling offshore Hainan Island.展开更多
One of the detection objectives of the Chinese Asteroid Exploration mission is to investigate the space environment near the Main-belt Comet(MBC,Active Asteroid)311P/PANSTARRS.This paper outlines the scientific object...One of the detection objectives of the Chinese Asteroid Exploration mission is to investigate the space environment near the Main-belt Comet(MBC,Active Asteroid)311P/PANSTARRS.This paper outlines the scientific objectives,measurement targets,and measurement requirements for the proposed Gas and Ion Analyzer(GIA).The GIA is designed for in-situ mass spectrometry of neutral gases and low-energy ions,such as hydrogen,carbon,and oxygen,in the vicinity of 311P.Ion sampling techniques are essential for the GIA's Time-of-Flight(TOF)mass analysis capabilities.In this paper,we present an enhanced ion sampling technique through the development of an ion attraction model and an ion source model.The ion attraction model demonstrates that adjusting attraction grid voltage can enhance the detection efficiency of low-energy ions and mitigate the repulsive force of ions during sampling,which is influenced by the satellite's surface positive charging.The ion source model simulates the processes of gas ionization and ion multiplication.Simulation results indicate that the GIA can achieve a lower pressure limit below 10-13Pa and possess a dynamic range exceeding 10~9.These performances ensure the generation of ions with stable and consistent current,which is crucial for high-resolution and broad dynamic range mass spectrometer analysis.Preliminary testing experiments have verified GIA's capability to detect gas compositions such as H2O and N2.In-situ measurements near 311P using GIA are expected to significantly contribute to our understanding of asteroid activity mechanisms,the evolution of the atmospheric and ionized environments of main-belt comets,the interactions with solar wind,and the origin of Earth's water.展开更多
Tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy (Al-Si10Mg) reinforced with alumina (9%) and graphite (3%) fabricated by stir casting process was investigated. The wear and frictional properties of the hybrid metal matrix c...Tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy (Al-Si10Mg) reinforced with alumina (9%) and graphite (3%) fabricated by stir casting process was investigated. The wear and frictional properties of the hybrid metal matrix composites was studied by performing dry sliding wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester. Experiments were conducted based on the plan of experiments generated through Taguchi’s technique. A L27 Orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data. Investigation to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance on wear rate, as well as the coefficient of friction during wearing process was carried out using ANOVA and regression equations for each response were developed. Objective of the model was chosen as ‘smaller the better’ characteristics to analyse the dry sliding wear resistance. Results show that sliding distance has the highest influence followed by load and sliding speed. Finally, confirmation tests were carried out to verify the experimental results and Scanning Electron Microscopic studies were done on the wear surfaces.展开更多
Disordered ferromagnets with a domain structure that exhibit a hysteresis loop when driven by the external magnetic field are essential materials for modern technological applications.Therefore,the understanding and p...Disordered ferromagnets with a domain structure that exhibit a hysteresis loop when driven by the external magnetic field are essential materials for modern technological applications.Therefore,the understanding and potential for controlling the hysteresis phenomenon in thesematerials,especially concerning the disorder-induced critical behavior on the hysteresis loop,have attracted significant experimental,theoretical,and numerical research efforts.We review the challenges of the numerical modeling of physical phenomena behind the hysteresis loop critical behavior in disordered ferromagnetic systems related to the non-equilibriumstochastic dynamics of domain walls driven by external fields.Specifically,using the extended Random Field Ising Model,we present different simulation approaches and advanced numerical techniques that adequately describe the hysteresis loop shapes and the collective nature of the magnetization fluctuations associated with the criticality of the hysteresis loop for different sample shapes and varied parameters of disorder and rate of change of the external field,as well as the influence of thermal fluctuations and demagnetizing fields.The studied examples demonstrate how these numerical approaches reveal newphysical insights,providing quantitativemeasures of pertinent variables extracted from the systems’simulated or experimentally measured Barkhausen noise signals.The described computational techniques using inherent scale-invariance can be applied to the analysis of various complex systems,both quantum and classical,exhibiting non-equilibrium dynamical critical point or self-organized criticality.展开更多
The content of phytochemicals in vegetables is strongly affected by genetic, agronomic, and environmental factors, and by transportation and storage conditions, potentially affecting the sensory and putative health-pr...The content of phytochemicals in vegetables is strongly affected by genetic, agronomic, and environmental factors, and by transportation and storage conditions, potentially affecting the sensory and putative health-promoting properties. In this study the impact of different agricultural techniques on the phenolics content and antioxidant activity of extracts from a traditional Italian kale landrace, called palm-tree kale (Brassica oleracea L., ssp. acephala DC, var. sabellica L.) was evaluated. Furthermore, the antioxidant effects of the different extracts were assessed in a biological system using primary cultures of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. The final aim was to evidence whether and how the agronomic practices can affect the antioxidant properties of kale not only in vitro but also in cells. Results herein reported underline the influence of the crop production strategies in establishing the potential health benefits of a vegetable. This research approach could be useful for the selection of production techniques that are able to provide edible vegetables with higher functional activity, and evidences the need to study the food domain as a whole with the nutrition domain, and to integrate all results in order to have an overall “foodomics” vision allowing the improvement of health and well-being.展开更多
Higher order statistical features have been recently proved to be very efficient in the classification of wideband communications and radar signals with great accuracy. On the other hand, the denoising properties of t...Higher order statistical features have been recently proved to be very efficient in the classification of wideband communications and radar signals with great accuracy. On the other hand, the denoising properties of the wavelet transform make WT an efficient signal processing tool in noisy environments. A novel technique for the classification of multi-user chirp modulation signals is presented in this paper. A combination of the higher order moments and cumulants of the wavelet coefficients as well as the peaks of the bispectrum and its bi-frequencies are proposed as effective features. Different types of artificial intelligence based classifiers and clustering techniques are used to identify the chirp signals of the different users. In particular, neural networks (NN), maximum likelihood (ML), k-nearest neighbor (KNN) and support vector machine (SVMs) classifiers as well as fuzzy c-means (FCM) and fuzzy k-means (FKM) clustering techniques are tested. The Simulation results show that the proposed technique is able to efficiently classify the different chirp signals in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels with high accuracy. It is shown that the NN classifier outperforms other classifiers. Also, the simulations prove that the classification based on features extracted from wavelet transform results in more accurate results than that using features directly extracted from the chirp signals, especially at low values of signal-to-noise ratios.展开更多
We compared the collection techniques of fecal specimens for DNA extraction and fecal microbiome analysis by utilizing the glove from a standard-of-care digital rectal exam (DRE) and the rectal swab from a pre-prostat...We compared the collection techniques of fecal specimens for DNA extraction and fecal microbiome analysis by utilizing the glove from a standard-of-care digital rectal exam (DRE) and the rectal swab from a pre-prostate biopsy bacterial rectal culture collected in clinical care settings. DNA yield from the swab technique compared to the glove technique yielded similar amounts of DNA (18.1 vs. 13.1 ng/μL, p = 0.06), slightly favoring the swab technique. However, utilizing DNA yield cutoffs of 15 ng/μL (37% vs. 29%, p = 0.18) and 30 ng/μL (15% and 9%, p = 0.16), we identified no differences in yield between the swab versus glove technique, respectively. Absorbance values for overall DNA quality were significantly different in favor of the glove technique (mean 1.6 vs. 2.0, p < 0.001). Using an absorbance value of 1.5 as an indication of DNA quality, only 26% (19/91) met the cutoff value using the swab group compared to 47.3% (53/112) if the glove technique was used (p < 0.001). Similar results occurred for the RNA quality with an absorbance value cutoff of 2.0 (2.2% vs. 30.4%, p < 0.001). To increase sampling feasibility and improve population sampling, gloves used from a DRE may be utilized as a consistent and efficient fecal DNA collection technique for fecal microbiome analysis. DNA yield and quality from the glove technique are comparable to—if not better than—rectal swab collection.展开更多
Visualization is an established methodology in scientific computing. It has been used in many fields because of its strong capability in large data management and information display. However, its applications in powe...Visualization is an established methodology in scientific computing. It has been used in many fields because of its strong capability in large data management and information display. However, its applications in power systems, especially in Smart Grid are still in infancy stage. Besides, while there were a lot of researches working on visualizing data in transmission power system, the study on displaying distribution power system data was limited. Therefore, in this paper, author proposed some techniques to visualize the Smart Grid data at distribution. They are classified in three categories, which are low dimensional techniques, multivariate high dimensional techniques and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques.展开更多
Currently,the number of patients with myopia is increasing rapidly across the globe.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),with its long history and rich experience,has shown promise in effectively managing and treating th...Currently,the number of patients with myopia is increasing rapidly across the globe.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),with its long history and rich experience,has shown promise in effectively managing and treating this condition.Nevertheless,considering the vast amount of research that is currently being conducted,focusing on the utilization of TCM in the management of myopia,there is an urgent requirement for a thorough and comprehensive review.The review would serve to clarify the practical applications of TCM within this specific field,and it would also aim to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that are at play,providing a deeper understanding of how TCM principles can be effectively integrated into modern medical practices.Here,some modern medical pathogenesis of myopia and appropriate TCM techniques studies are summarized in the prevention and treatment of myopia.Further,we discussed the potential mechanisms and the future research directions of TCM against myopia.Identifying these mechanisms is crucial for understanding how TCM can be effectively utilized in this context.The combination of various TCM methods or the combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine is of great significance for the prevention and control of myopia in the future.展开更多
Symptomatic chondral or osteochondral defects of the talus reduce the quality of life of many patients.Although their pathomechanism is well understood,it is well known that different aetiologic factors play a role in...Symptomatic chondral or osteochondral defects of the talus reduce the quality of life of many patients.Although their pathomechanism is well understood,it is well known that different aetiologic factors play a role in their origin.Additionally,it is well recognised that the talar articular cartilage strongly differs from that in the knee.Despite this fact,many recommendations for the management of talar cartilage defects are based on approaches that were developed for the knee.Conservative treatment seems to work best in paediatric and adolescent patients with osteochondritis dissecans.However,depending on the size of the lesions,surgical approaches are necessary to treat many of these defects.Bone marrow stimulation techniques may achieve good results in small lesions.Large lesions may be treated by open procedures such as osteochondral autograft transfer or allograft transplantation.Autologous chondrocyte transplantation,as a restorative procedure,is well investigated in the knee and has been applied in the talus with increasing popularity and promising results but the evidence to date is poor.The goals of the current article are to summarise the different options for treating chondral and osteochondral defects of the talus and review the available literature.展开更多
Over the past few years,major investments have been directed toward building new railway lines and upgrading existing ones.Many of these lines include critical infrastructure where operational and safety conditions mu...Over the past few years,major investments have been directed toward building new railway lines and upgrading existing ones.Many of these lines include critical infrastructure where operational and safety conditions must be carefully considered throughout their life cycle.Recent advancements in science and technology have enabled more effective structural monitoring of railway systems,largely driven by the adoption of intelligent strategies for inspection,maintenance,monitoring,and risk management.Research continues to expand and deepen the knowledge in this area;however,it remains a challenging field due to factors such as the complexity of railway systems,the high cost of implementation,and the need for reliable long-term data.展开更多
Isolated power converters have emerged as an active research topic in power integrated circuit(IC)design.Reflecting this growing interest,ISSCC 2025 has featured a dedicated session on"Isolated Power and Gate Dri...Isolated power converters have emerged as an active research topic in power integrated circuit(IC)design.Reflecting this growing interest,ISSCC 2025 has featured a dedicated session on"Isolated Power and Gate Drivers".These converters enable safe and reliable power delivery across voltage domains and are widely used in renewable energy,electric vehicles,and telecommunications.Galvanic isolation prevents surge currents and ground loop issues in harsh high-voltage environments.As demand grows for compact,efficient,and high–power-density solutions,fully integrated architectures featuring on-chip transformers are increasingly favored over traditional module-based designs,offering>5 kV isolation with a smaller footprint and lower system cost[1].展开更多
Inguinal hernia is a prevalent global surgical condition,accounting for millions of repairs annually.Tension-free mesh repair has become the gold standard for both open approaches(e.g.,Lichtenstein repair)and laparosc...Inguinal hernia is a prevalent global surgical condition,accounting for millions of repairs annually.Tension-free mesh repair has become the gold standard for both open approaches(e.g.,Lichtenstein repair)and laparoscopic techniques(e.g.,transabdominal preperitoneal and totally extraperitoneal[TEP]repairs).1,2,3 Guidelines updated in 2018 and 2023 emphasize mesh-based repairs,providing recommendations to optimize outcomes and minimize complications.1,2 Laparoscopic hernia repair,particularly TEP,offers several advantages,such as reduced pain,quicker recovery,and improved cosmetic outcomes.展开更多
文摘There are complex river-lake systems in the Taihu Lake catchment with total water surface area of 6174.7 km2, and population density of 1079/km2, including Taihu Lake water surface area of 2338 km2. The water systems in this catchment have healthy aquaecosystems during long history. However, in some riverlets in this catchment the water quality was estimated as “acute toxicity for higher organisms” and over standards for many heavy metal elements content;there were no any living plants and macro organisms in the water body, because there were developed a series of industry with abundant release of heavy metals and difficult decomposition organic chemical components along the riverlets during last decades. The even more serious situation was observed in sediments of the riverlets. How to restore such riverlet into a healthy aquaeosystem with abound plants and higher organisms? The main strategy and techniques are described in this paper as summarizing a report of engineering in a riverlet in Wuxi New District during last years, which leads to restore the aquaecosystem into a healthy one with abundant surface plant cultured on floating islands and observed living fish, lobster, frog, toad, mollusk and others in the riverlet. The main techniques are: 1) softwall buffer technic;2) floating eco-island technic by using which can culture any plant which can be cultured in solution;3) immobilized nitrogen cycle bacteria (INCB) technic;4) tattering esters and other big-molecule organic chemicals by using electronic pulse technic and photosensitization technic;5) mist spray facility technic for improving dissolved oxygen in deep water layers;6) technic for buffering and suppressing H2S release from water;7) the appropriate portion of surface with cultured plant to the total water surface area is about 1/3;8) Cress [Oenanthe Ljavanica (Bl.) DC.] and Myriophyllum verticilatum L. may be cultured in Taihu Lake catchment during the whole year as main plants with mosaic combination of other supplement plants in different seasons.
文摘The Kehdolan area is located at 20 kilometers to the?south-east of Dozdozan Town (Eastern Azarbaijan Province). According to structural geology, volconic rocks are situated in Alborz-Azarbyjan zone, and faults?are?observed?in?the?same direction to this system with SE-NW trend. The results show that kaolinite alteration trend with Argilic and propylitic veins?is the?same direction with SW-NE faults in this area. Therefore, these faults with these trends can be considered as the mineralization control for determination of the alterations. Different image processing techniques,?such as false color composite?(FCC), band ratios, color ratio composite?(CRC), principal component?analysis?(PCA), Crosta technique, supervised spectral angle mapping?(SAM), are used for?identification of the alteration zones associated with copper mineralization. In this project ASTER?data are process and spectral analysis to fit for recognizing intensity and kind of argillic, propylitic,?philic, and ETM+ data?which?are process and to fit for iron oxide and relation to metal mineralization of the area. For recognizing different alterations of the study area, some chemical and mineralogical analysis data from the samples showed that ASTER data and ETM+ data were?capable of hydrothermal alteration mapping with copper mineralization.?Copper mineralization in the region is in agreement with argillic alteration. SW-NE trending faults controlled the mineralization process.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.31760290,82160688the Key Development Areas Project of Ganzhou Science and Technology,No.2022B-SF9554(all to XL)。
文摘Synaptic pruning is a crucial process in synaptic refinement,eliminating unstable synaptic connections in neural circuits.This process is triggered and regulated primarily by spontaneous neural activity and experience-dependent mechanisms.The pruning process involves multiple molecular signals and a series of regulatory activities governing the“eat me”and“don't eat me”states.Under physiological conditions,the interaction between glial cells and neurons results in the clearance of unnecessary synapses,maintaining normal neural circuit functionality via synaptic pruning.Alterations in genetic and environmental factors can lead to imbalanced synaptic pruning,thus promoting the occurrence and development of autism spectrum disorder,schizophrenia,Alzheimer's disease,and other neurological disorders.In this review,we investigated the molecular mechanisms responsible for synaptic pruning during neural development.We focus on how synaptic pruning can regulate neural circuits and its association with neurological disorders.Furthermore,we discuss the application of emerging optical and imaging technologies to observe synaptic structure and function,as well as their potential for clinical translation.Our aim was to enhance our understanding of synaptic pruning during neural development,including the molecular basis underlying the regulation of synaptic function and the dynamic changes in synaptic density,and to investigate the potential role of these mechanisms in the pathophysiology of neurological diseases,thus providing a theoretical foundation for the treatment of neurological disorders.
文摘This study aims to develop several optimization techniques for predicting advance rate of tunnel boring machine(TBM)in different weathered zones of granite.For this purpose,extensive field and laboratory studies have been conducted along the 12,649 m of the Pahang-Selangor raw water transfer tunnel in Malaysia.Rock properties consisting of uniaxial compressive strength(UCS),Brazilian tensile strength(BTS),rock mass rating(RMR),rock quality designation(RQD),quartz content(q)and weathered zone as well as machine specifications including thrust force and revolution per minute(RPM)were measured to establish comprehensive datasets for optimization.Accordingly,to estimate the advance rate of TBM,two new hybrid optimization techniques,i.e.an artificial neural network(ANN)combined with both imperialist competitive algorithm(ICA)and particle swarm optimization(PSO),were developed for mechanical tunneling in granitic rocks.Further,the new hybrid optimization techniques were compared and the best one was chosen among them to be used for practice.To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed models for both testing and training datasets,various statistical indices including coefficient of determination(R^2),root mean square error(RMSE)and variance account for(VAF)were utilized herein.The values of R^2,RMSE,and VAF ranged in 0.939-0.961,0.022-0.036,and 93.899-96.145,respectively,with the PSO-ANN hybrid technique demonstrating the best performance.It is concluded that both the optimization techniques,i.e.PSO-ANN and ICA-ANN,could be utilized for predicting the advance rate of TBMs;however,the PSO-ANN technique is superior.
文摘The application of Information and Communication Technologies has transformed traditional Teaching and Learning in the past decade to computerized-based era. This evolution has resulted from the emergence of the digital system and has greatly impacted on the global education and socio-cultural development. Multimedia has been absorbed into the education sector for producing a new learning concept and a combination of educational and entertainment approach. This research is concerned with the application of Window Speech Recognition and Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 Integrated/Interactive Development Environment in Multimedia-Assisted Courseware prototype development for Primary School Mathematics contents, namely, single digits and the addition. The Teaching and Learning techniques—Explain, Instruct and Facilitate are proposed and these could be viewed as instructors’ centered strategy, instructors’—learners’ dual communication and learners' active participation. The prototype is called M-EIF and deployed only users' voices;hence the activation of Window Speech Recognition is required prior to a test run.
文摘The radioactivity measurements in food crops and their diet derivatives and farm soil samples from Abeokuta, one of the elevated background radiation areas in Nigeria have been carried out in order to determine the concentration levels of natural radionuclides (40K, 226Ra and 232Th). The activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides in the samples were determined via gamma-ray spectrometry using a 76 mm × 76 mm NaI(Tl) detector. Different common food crops representing the major sources of dietary requirements to the local population were collected for the measurements. The collected food crops were prepared into their different derivable composite diets using preparation techniques locale to the population. Using available food consumption data and the activity concentrations of the radionuclides, the ingestion effective doses were evaluated for the food crops and diet types per preparation techniques. For the tuberous food crop samples, the annual ingestion effective doses in the raw and different composite diets were 0.02 - 0.04 μSv and cumulatively 0.04 - 0.05 μSv while in the non-tuberous crops the doses were 0.44 - 0.70 μSv and cumulatively greater than 1 μSv respectively. Results of the study indicate that method of diet preparation is seen to play a major role in population ingestion dose reduction especially for tuberous crops than in non-tuberous crops. The study also showed that more ingestion dose could be incurred in diets prepared by roasting techniques. The result of the study will serve as a useful radiometric data for future epidemiological studies in the area and for food safety regulations and policy implementations in the country.
基金Supported by Partially funded by FESR P.O.Apulia Region 2007-2013-Action 1.2.4,No.3Q5AX31
文摘Effective prevention and management of osteoporosis would require suitable methods for population screenings and early diagnosis. Current clinicallyavailable diagnostic methods are mainly based on the use of either X-rays or ultrasound(US). All X-ray based methods provide a measure of bone mineral density(BMD), but it has been demonstrated that other structural aspects of the bone are important in determining fracture risk, such as mechanical features and elastic properties, which cannot be assessed using densitometric techniques. Among the most commonly used techniques, dual X-ray absorptiometry(DXA) is considered the current 'gold standard' for osteoporosis diagnosis and fracture risk prediction. Unfortunately, as other X-ray based techniques, DXA has specific limitations(e.g., use of ionizing radiation, large size of the equipment, high costs, limited availability) that hinder its application for population screenings and primary care diagnosis. This has resulted in an increasing interest in developing reliable pre-screening tools for osteoporosis such as quantitative ultrasound(QUS) scanners, which do not involve ionizing radiation exposure and represent a cheaper solution exploiting portable and widely available devices. Furthermore, the usefulness of QUS techniques in fracture risk prediction has been proven and, with the last developments, they are also becoming a more and more reliable approach for assessing bone quality. However, the US assessment of osteoporosis is currently used only as a pre-screening tool, requiring a subsequent diagnosis confirmation by means of a DXA evaluation. Here we illustrate the state of art in the early diagnosis of this 'silent disease' and show up recent advances for its prevention and improved management through early diagnosis.
基金funded by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2015CB251201)the NSFC-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers (No. U1606401)+3 种基金the Scientific and Technological Innovation Project financially supported by Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (No. 2016ASKJ13)the Major National Science and Technology Programs (No. 016ZX05024-001-002)the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan (No. ZDYF2016215)Key Science and Technology Foundation of Sanya (Nos. 2017PT13, 2017PT2014)
文摘Decreasing the risks and geohazards associated with drilling engineering in high-temperature high-pressure(HTHP) geologic settings begins with the implementation of pre-drilling prediction techniques(PPTs). To improve the accuracy of geopressure prediction in HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs offshore Hainan Island, we made a comprehensive summary of current PPTs to identify existing problems and challenges by analyzing the global distribution of HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs, the research status of PPTs, and the geologic setting and its HTHP formation mechanism. Our research results indicate that the HTHP formation mechanism in the study area is caused by multiple factors, including rapid loading, diapir intrusions, hydrocarbon generation, and the thermal expansion of pore fluids. Due to this multi-factor interaction, a cloud of HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs has developed in the Ying-Qiong Basin, but only traditional PPTs have been implemented, based on the assumption of conditions that do not conform to the actual geologic environment, e.g., Bellotti's law and Eaton's law. In this paper, we focus on these issues, identify some challenges and solutions, and call for further PPT research to address the drawbacks of previous works and meet the challenges associated with the deepwater technology gap. In this way, we hope to contribute to the improved accuracy of geopressure prediction prior to drilling and provide support for future HTHP drilling offshore Hainan Island.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42474239,41204128)China National Space Administration(Pre-research project on Civil Aerospace Technologies No.D010301)Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA17010303)。
文摘One of the detection objectives of the Chinese Asteroid Exploration mission is to investigate the space environment near the Main-belt Comet(MBC,Active Asteroid)311P/PANSTARRS.This paper outlines the scientific objectives,measurement targets,and measurement requirements for the proposed Gas and Ion Analyzer(GIA).The GIA is designed for in-situ mass spectrometry of neutral gases and low-energy ions,such as hydrogen,carbon,and oxygen,in the vicinity of 311P.Ion sampling techniques are essential for the GIA's Time-of-Flight(TOF)mass analysis capabilities.In this paper,we present an enhanced ion sampling technique through the development of an ion attraction model and an ion source model.The ion attraction model demonstrates that adjusting attraction grid voltage can enhance the detection efficiency of low-energy ions and mitigate the repulsive force of ions during sampling,which is influenced by the satellite's surface positive charging.The ion source model simulates the processes of gas ionization and ion multiplication.Simulation results indicate that the GIA can achieve a lower pressure limit below 10-13Pa and possess a dynamic range exceeding 10~9.These performances ensure the generation of ions with stable and consistent current,which is crucial for high-resolution and broad dynamic range mass spectrometer analysis.Preliminary testing experiments have verified GIA's capability to detect gas compositions such as H2O and N2.In-situ measurements near 311P using GIA are expected to significantly contribute to our understanding of asteroid activity mechanisms,the evolution of the atmospheric and ionized environments of main-belt comets,the interactions with solar wind,and the origin of Earth's water.
文摘Tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy (Al-Si10Mg) reinforced with alumina (9%) and graphite (3%) fabricated by stir casting process was investigated. The wear and frictional properties of the hybrid metal matrix composites was studied by performing dry sliding wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester. Experiments were conducted based on the plan of experiments generated through Taguchi’s technique. A L27 Orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data. Investigation to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance on wear rate, as well as the coefficient of friction during wearing process was carried out using ANOVA and regression equations for each response were developed. Objective of the model was chosen as ‘smaller the better’ characteristics to analyse the dry sliding wear resistance. Results show that sliding distance has the highest influence followed by load and sliding speed. Finally, confirmation tests were carried out to verify the experimental results and Scanning Electron Microscopic studies were done on the wear surfaces.
基金Djordje Spasojevic and Svetislav Mijatovic acknowledge the support from the Ministry of Science,TechnologicalDevelopment and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia(Agreement No.451-03-65/2024-03/200162)S.J.ibid.(Agreement No.451-03-65/2024-03/200122)Bosiljka Tadic from the Slovenian Research Agency(program P1-0044).
文摘Disordered ferromagnets with a domain structure that exhibit a hysteresis loop when driven by the external magnetic field are essential materials for modern technological applications.Therefore,the understanding and potential for controlling the hysteresis phenomenon in thesematerials,especially concerning the disorder-induced critical behavior on the hysteresis loop,have attracted significant experimental,theoretical,and numerical research efforts.We review the challenges of the numerical modeling of physical phenomena behind the hysteresis loop critical behavior in disordered ferromagnetic systems related to the non-equilibriumstochastic dynamics of domain walls driven by external fields.Specifically,using the extended Random Field Ising Model,we present different simulation approaches and advanced numerical techniques that adequately describe the hysteresis loop shapes and the collective nature of the magnetization fluctuations associated with the criticality of the hysteresis loop for different sample shapes and varied parameters of disorder and rate of change of the external field,as well as the influence of thermal fluctuations and demagnetizing fields.The studied examples demonstrate how these numerical approaches reveal newphysical insights,providing quantitativemeasures of pertinent variables extracted from the systems’simulated or experimentally measured Barkhausen noise signals.The described computational techniques using inherent scale-invariance can be applied to the analysis of various complex systems,both quantum and classical,exhibiting non-equilibrium dynamical critical point or self-organized criticality.
文摘The content of phytochemicals in vegetables is strongly affected by genetic, agronomic, and environmental factors, and by transportation and storage conditions, potentially affecting the sensory and putative health-promoting properties. In this study the impact of different agricultural techniques on the phenolics content and antioxidant activity of extracts from a traditional Italian kale landrace, called palm-tree kale (Brassica oleracea L., ssp. acephala DC, var. sabellica L.) was evaluated. Furthermore, the antioxidant effects of the different extracts were assessed in a biological system using primary cultures of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. The final aim was to evidence whether and how the agronomic practices can affect the antioxidant properties of kale not only in vitro but also in cells. Results herein reported underline the influence of the crop production strategies in establishing the potential health benefits of a vegetable. This research approach could be useful for the selection of production techniques that are able to provide edible vegetables with higher functional activity, and evidences the need to study the food domain as a whole with the nutrition domain, and to integrate all results in order to have an overall “foodomics” vision allowing the improvement of health and well-being.
文摘Higher order statistical features have been recently proved to be very efficient in the classification of wideband communications and radar signals with great accuracy. On the other hand, the denoising properties of the wavelet transform make WT an efficient signal processing tool in noisy environments. A novel technique for the classification of multi-user chirp modulation signals is presented in this paper. A combination of the higher order moments and cumulants of the wavelet coefficients as well as the peaks of the bispectrum and its bi-frequencies are proposed as effective features. Different types of artificial intelligence based classifiers and clustering techniques are used to identify the chirp signals of the different users. In particular, neural networks (NN), maximum likelihood (ML), k-nearest neighbor (KNN) and support vector machine (SVMs) classifiers as well as fuzzy c-means (FCM) and fuzzy k-means (FKM) clustering techniques are tested. The Simulation results show that the proposed technique is able to efficiently classify the different chirp signals in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels with high accuracy. It is shown that the NN classifier outperforms other classifiers. Also, the simulations prove that the classification based on features extracted from wavelet transform results in more accurate results than that using features directly extracted from the chirp signals, especially at low values of signal-to-noise ratios.
文摘We compared the collection techniques of fecal specimens for DNA extraction and fecal microbiome analysis by utilizing the glove from a standard-of-care digital rectal exam (DRE) and the rectal swab from a pre-prostate biopsy bacterial rectal culture collected in clinical care settings. DNA yield from the swab technique compared to the glove technique yielded similar amounts of DNA (18.1 vs. 13.1 ng/μL, p = 0.06), slightly favoring the swab technique. However, utilizing DNA yield cutoffs of 15 ng/μL (37% vs. 29%, p = 0.18) and 30 ng/μL (15% and 9%, p = 0.16), we identified no differences in yield between the swab versus glove technique, respectively. Absorbance values for overall DNA quality were significantly different in favor of the glove technique (mean 1.6 vs. 2.0, p < 0.001). Using an absorbance value of 1.5 as an indication of DNA quality, only 26% (19/91) met the cutoff value using the swab group compared to 47.3% (53/112) if the glove technique was used (p < 0.001). Similar results occurred for the RNA quality with an absorbance value cutoff of 2.0 (2.2% vs. 30.4%, p < 0.001). To increase sampling feasibility and improve population sampling, gloves used from a DRE may be utilized as a consistent and efficient fecal DNA collection technique for fecal microbiome analysis. DNA yield and quality from the glove technique are comparable to—if not better than—rectal swab collection.
文摘Visualization is an established methodology in scientific computing. It has been used in many fields because of its strong capability in large data management and information display. However, its applications in power systems, especially in Smart Grid are still in infancy stage. Besides, while there were a lot of researches working on visualizing data in transmission power system, the study on displaying distribution power system data was limited. Therefore, in this paper, author proposed some techniques to visualize the Smart Grid data at distribution. They are classified in three categories, which are low dimensional techniques, multivariate high dimensional techniques and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques.
基金supported by Healthy China initiative of Traditional Chinese Medicine(No.889042).
文摘Currently,the number of patients with myopia is increasing rapidly across the globe.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),with its long history and rich experience,has shown promise in effectively managing and treating this condition.Nevertheless,considering the vast amount of research that is currently being conducted,focusing on the utilization of TCM in the management of myopia,there is an urgent requirement for a thorough and comprehensive review.The review would serve to clarify the practical applications of TCM within this specific field,and it would also aim to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that are at play,providing a deeper understanding of how TCM principles can be effectively integrated into modern medical practices.Here,some modern medical pathogenesis of myopia and appropriate TCM techniques studies are summarized in the prevention and treatment of myopia.Further,we discussed the potential mechanisms and the future research directions of TCM against myopia.Identifying these mechanisms is crucial for understanding how TCM can be effectively utilized in this context.The combination of various TCM methods or the combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine is of great significance for the prevention and control of myopia in the future.
文摘Symptomatic chondral or osteochondral defects of the talus reduce the quality of life of many patients.Although their pathomechanism is well understood,it is well known that different aetiologic factors play a role in their origin.Additionally,it is well recognised that the talar articular cartilage strongly differs from that in the knee.Despite this fact,many recommendations for the management of talar cartilage defects are based on approaches that were developed for the knee.Conservative treatment seems to work best in paediatric and adolescent patients with osteochondritis dissecans.However,depending on the size of the lesions,surgical approaches are necessary to treat many of these defects.Bone marrow stimulation techniques may achieve good results in small lesions.Large lesions may be treated by open procedures such as osteochondral autograft transfer or allograft transplantation.Autologous chondrocyte transplantation,as a restorative procedure,is well investigated in the knee and has been applied in the talus with increasing popularity and promising results but the evidence to date is poor.The goals of the current article are to summarise the different options for treating chondral and osteochondral defects of the talus and review the available literature.
文摘Over the past few years,major investments have been directed toward building new railway lines and upgrading existing ones.Many of these lines include critical infrastructure where operational and safety conditions must be carefully considered throughout their life cycle.Recent advancements in science and technology have enabled more effective structural monitoring of railway systems,largely driven by the adoption of intelligent strategies for inspection,maintenance,monitoring,and risk management.Research continues to expand and deepen the knowledge in this area;however,it remains a challenging field due to factors such as the complexity of railway systems,the high cost of implementation,and the need for reliable long-term data.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant U23A20353.
文摘Isolated power converters have emerged as an active research topic in power integrated circuit(IC)design.Reflecting this growing interest,ISSCC 2025 has featured a dedicated session on"Isolated Power and Gate Drivers".These converters enable safe and reliable power delivery across voltage domains and are widely used in renewable energy,electric vehicles,and telecommunications.Galvanic isolation prevents surge currents and ground loop issues in harsh high-voltage environments.As demand grows for compact,efficient,and high–power-density solutions,fully integrated architectures featuring on-chip transformers are increasingly favored over traditional module-based designs,offering>5 kV isolation with a smaller footprint and lower system cost[1].
文摘Inguinal hernia is a prevalent global surgical condition,accounting for millions of repairs annually.Tension-free mesh repair has become the gold standard for both open approaches(e.g.,Lichtenstein repair)and laparoscopic techniques(e.g.,transabdominal preperitoneal and totally extraperitoneal[TEP]repairs).1,2,3 Guidelines updated in 2018 and 2023 emphasize mesh-based repairs,providing recommendations to optimize outcomes and minimize complications.1,2 Laparoscopic hernia repair,particularly TEP,offers several advantages,such as reduced pain,quicker recovery,and improved cosmetic outcomes.
