Mercury is a threatening pollutant in food,herein,we developed a Tb^(3+)-nucleic acid probe-based label-free assay for mix-and-read,rapid detection of mercury pollution.The assay utilized the feature of light-up fluor...Mercury is a threatening pollutant in food,herein,we developed a Tb^(3+)-nucleic acid probe-based label-free assay for mix-and-read,rapid detection of mercury pollution.The assay utilized the feature of light-up fluorescence of terbium ions(Tb^(3+))via binding with single-strand DNA.Mercury ion,Hg^(2+)induced thymine(T)-rich DNA strand to form a double-strand structure(T-Hg^(2+)-T),thus leading to fluorescence reduction.Based on the principle,Hg^(2+)can be quantified based on the fluorescence of Tb^(3+),the limit of detection was 0.0689μmol/L and the linear range was 0.1-6.0μmol/L.Due to the specificity of T-Hg^(2+)-T artificial base pair,the assay could distinguish Hg^(2+)from other metal ions.The recovery rate was ranged in 98.71%-101.34%for detecting mercury pollution in three food samples.The assay is low-cost,separation-free and mix-to-read,thus was a competitive tool for detection of mercury pollution to ensure food safety.展开更多
There are increasing demands for mobile health applications. This paper reports the development of a mobile health profile which dedicates to mobile applications. The mobile health profile is developed in association ...There are increasing demands for mobile health applications. This paper reports the development of a mobile health profile which dedicates to mobile applications. The mobile health profile is developed in association with the ZigBee Health Care profile and the IEEE 11073 standard which is normally applied to non-mobile applications. Since mobile sensors have to be carried by patients, the mobile health profile must facilitate mobility. In this investigation, a ZigBee fixed-mobile network (ZFMN) is defined and developed to supplement the ZigBee Health Care Profile for patient monitoring. The mobility study of ZigBee is performed using a random waypoint OPNET simulation model. In a ZFMN, the critical issue of address shortage is identified and discussed. It is analyzed that the problematic address shortage in a ZFMN may generate a huge amount of orphaned end devices and thus the packet drop percentage may potentially rise to 70%, rendering the network unable to function properly. Without introducing additional governing schemes, it is evaluated that the communication of the entire ZigBee network may paralyze. Further vigorous test are performed (by OPNET) on the communication capability of ZFMN when devices are randomly moving and sending data in 1s. It is vital to point out that under the adverse condition of address shortage, the performance of a ZFMN is still encouraging as long as the packet drop percentage has been kept below 3% before running out of address. The conclusion drawn in this analysis is that the packet drop percentage should be kept below 3% to provide a satisfactory QoS for an effective mobile health application using ZFMN such as patient monitoring. Such finding is also important for other future mobile application design of ZigBee. The address shortage issue is left as an open problem that needs attention for a resolution.展开更多
A number of congenital and acquired disorders require esophageal tissue replacement.Various surgical techniques,such as gastric and colonic interposition,are standards of treatment,but frequently complicated by stenos...A number of congenital and acquired disorders require esophageal tissue replacement.Various surgical techniques,such as gastric and colonic interposition,are standards of treatment,but frequently complicated by stenosis and other problems.Regenerative medicine approaches facilitate the use of biological constructs to replace or regenerate normal tissue function.We review the literature of esophageal tissue engineering,discuss its implications,compare the methodologies that have been employed and suggest possible directions for the future.Medline,Embase,the Cochrane Library,National Research Register and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched with the following search terms:stem cell and esophagus,esophageal replacement,esophageal tissue engineering,esophageal substitution.Reference lists of papers identified were also examined and experts in this field contacted for further information.All full-text articles in English of all potentially relevant abstracts were reviewed.Tissue engineering has involved acellular scaffolds that were either transplanted with the aim of being repopulated by host cells or seeded prior to transplantation.When acellular scaffolds were used to replace patch and short tubular defects they allowed epithelial and partial muscular migration whereas when employed for long tubular defects the results were poor leading to an increased rate of stenosis and mortality.Stenting has been shown as an effective means to reduce stenotic changes and promote cell migration,whilst omental wrapping to induce vascularization of the construct has an uncertain benefit.Decellularized matrices have been recently suggested as the optimal choice for scaffolds,but smart polymers that will incorporate signalling to promote cell-scaffold interaction may provide a more reproducible and available solution.Results in animal models that have used seeded scaffolds strongly suggest that seeding of both muscle and epithelial cells on scaffolds prior to implantation is a prerequisite for complete esophageal replacement.Novel approaches need to be designed to allow for peristalsis and vascularization in the engineered esophagus.Although esophageal tissue engineering potentially offers a real alternative to conventional treatments for severe esophageal disease,important barriers remain that need to be addressed.展开更多
Agriculture is the backbone of each country,and almost 50%of the population is directly involved in farming.In Pakistan,several kinds of fruits are produced and exported the other countries.Citrus is an important frui...Agriculture is the backbone of each country,and almost 50%of the population is directly involved in farming.In Pakistan,several kinds of fruits are produced and exported the other countries.Citrus is an important fruit,and its production in Pakistan is higher than the other fruits.However,the diseases of citrus fruits such as canker,citrus scab,blight,and a few more impact the quality and quantity of this Fruit.The manual diagnosis of these diseases required an expert person who is always a time-consuming and costly procedure.In the agriculture sector,deep learning showing significant success in the last five years.This research work proposes an automated framework using deep learning and best feature selection for citrus diseases classification.In the proposed framework,the augmentation technique is applied initially by creating more training data from existing samples.They were then modifying the two pre-trained models named Resnet18 and Inception V3.The modified models are trained using an augmented dataset through transfer learning.Features are extracted for each model,which is further selected using Improved Genetic Algorithm(ImGA).The selected features of both models are fused using an array-based approach that is finally classified using supervised learning classifiers such as Support Vector Machine(SVM)and name a few more.The experimental process is conducted on three different datasets-Citrus Hybrid,Citrus Leaf,and Citrus Fruits.On these datasets,the best-achieved accuracy is 99.5%,94%,and 97.7%,respectively.The proposed framework is evaluated on each step and compared with some recent techniques,showing that the proposed method shows improved performance.展开更多
With the advent in services such as telemedicine and telesurgery,provision of continuous quality monitoring for these services has become a challenge for the network operators.Quality standards for provision of such s...With the advent in services such as telemedicine and telesurgery,provision of continuous quality monitoring for these services has become a challenge for the network operators.Quality standards for provision of such services are application specic as medical imagery is quite different than general purpose images and videos.This paper presents a novel full reference objective video quality metric that focuses on estimating the quality of wireless capsule endoscopy(WCE)videos containing bleeding regions.Bleeding regions in gastrointestinal tract have been focused in this research,as bleeding is one of the major reasons behind several diseases within the tract.The method jointly estimates the diagnostic as well as perceptual quality of WCE videos,and accurately predicts the quality,which is in high correlation with the subjective differential mean opinion scores(DMOS).The proposed combines motion quality estimates,bleeding regions’quality estimates based on support vector machine(SVM)and perceptual quality estimates using the pristine and impaired WCE videos.Our method Quality Index for Bleeding Regions in Capsule Endoscopy(QI-BRiCE)videos is one of its kind and the results show high correlation in terms of Pearson’s linear correlation coefcient(PLCC)and Spearman’s rank order correlation coefcient(SROCC).An F-test is also provided in the results section to prove the statistical signicance of our proposed method.展开更多
Fe-Cr ferritic/martensitic(F/M)steels have been proposed as one of the candidate materials for the Generation IV nuclear technologies.In this study,a widely-used ferritic/martensitic steel,T91 steel,was irradiated by ...Fe-Cr ferritic/martensitic(F/M)steels have been proposed as one of the candidate materials for the Generation IV nuclear technologies.In this study,a widely-used ferritic/martensitic steel,T91 steel,was irradiated by 196-MeV Kr^(+)ions at 550℃.To reveal the irradiation mechanism,the microstructure evolution of irradiated T91 steel was studied in details by transmission electron microscope(TEM).With increasing dose,the defects gradually changed from black dots to dislocation loops,and further to form dislocation walls near grain boundaries due to the production of a large number of dislocations.When many dislocation loops of primary a0/2<111>type with high migration interacted with other defects or carbon atoms,it led to the production of dislocation segments and other dislocation loops of a0<100>type.Lots of defects accumulated near grain boundaries in the irradiated area,especially in the high-dose area.The grain boundaries of martensite laths acted as important sinks of irradiation defects in T91.Elevated temperature facilitated the migration of defects,leading to the accumulation of defects near the grain boundaries of martensite laths.展开更多
S. gesnerioides （Willd） Vatke is a major biological constraint to cowpea production in the dry savanna of sub-Saharan Africa. Yield losses caused by S. gesnerioides in these regions are estimated in millions of tons...S. gesnerioides （Willd） Vatke is a major biological constraint to cowpea production in the dry savanna of sub-Saharan Africa. Yield losses caused by S. gesnerioides in these regions are estimated in millions of tons annually, and prevalence of Striga soil infestation is steadily increasing. The availability of molecular markers tightly linked to S. gesnerioides resistance genes opens up the possibility of applying Marker-Assisted Selection （MAS） to cowpea and would fast track the process of developing resistance varieties to the parasite. In the present study, we report the use of Fast Technology for Analysis （FTA） also known as PlantSaver Cards （Whatman~ FTA）, developed by Flinder Technology associate to retrieve DNA from plant tissue for molecular analysis. A total of 100 F2 individual plants derived from two crosses were validated for SG3 resistance using two different SCAR markers （MahSe2 and C42B） linked to Striga race 3 （SG3） and 5 （SG5） resistance in other segregating populations. Genomic DNA was successfully recovered from leaf tissues of cowpea pressed onto FTA classic card and the DNA obtained from the FTA papers was found to be suitable for molecular analysis by PCR-based techniques. The marker efficiency of SCAR MahSe2 and C42B in detecting SG3 resistance was 98.5% and 93% respectively. This result revealed the utility of SCAR markers in cowpea breeding programme. Therefore, the application of MAS using FTA technology has the potential to increase efficiency of selection and for molecular characterization of cowpea lines for Striga resistance..展开更多
The weldments for several types of high Cr ferritic steels were investigated to understand the fracture mechanism of the Type IV crack. The creep testing shows that the Type IV cracking is more likely to occur at the ...The weldments for several types of high Cr ferritic steels were investigated to understand the fracture mechanism of the Type IV crack. The creep testing shows that the Type IV cracking is more likely to occur at the lower stress level, whereas at the higher stress level the crack shifts towards parent metal. The microstructures observed in the HAZ for all the materials are mostly tempered lath martensites. There was no δ ferrites found in all creep specimens.展开更多
Background: The White-browed Shortwing(Brachypteryx montana) is widespread from the central Himalayas to the southeast Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Multiple subspecies are ...Background: The White-browed Shortwing(Brachypteryx montana) is widespread from the central Himalayas to the southeast Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Multiple subspecies are recognised, and several of these have recently been suggested to be treated as separate species based on differences in morphology and songs.Methods: We here analyse plumage, morphometrics, songs, two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, and geographical distributions of the two mainland Asian taxa B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis and the Taiwan Residents B. m. goodfellowi.Results: We conclude that these differ congruently in morphology, songs and DNA. Male B. m. goodfellowi is the most divergent in plumage(sexually monomorphic, unlike the two others; male similar to female), and B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis differ in male plumage maturation. The song of B. m. cruralis is strongly divergent from the others, whereas the songs of B. m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are more similar to each other. Brachypteryx m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are sisters, with an estimated divergence time 4.1 million years ago(mya; 95% highest posterior distribution [HPD] 2.8–5.5 mya), and B. m. cruralis separated from these two 5.8 mya(95% HPD 4.1–7.5 mya). We also report notable range extensions of B. m. sinensis as well as sympatry between this taxon and B. m. cruralis in Sichuan Province, China. Brachypteryx m. montana from Java is found to be more closely related to Lesser Shortwing(B. leucophris) and Rusty-bellied Shortwing(B. hyperythra) than to the mainland Asian and Taiwan Residents taxa.Conclusion: Our data support a recent proposal to treat the three mainland Asian and Taiwan Residents taxa as three species, separate from B. montana sensu stricto: B. cruralis(central Himalayas to south central China and south Vietnam), B. sinensis(north central to southeastern part of China's Mainland) and B. goodfellowi(Taiwan Island).展开更多
The optimal dispatch of energy storage systems(ESSs)in distribution networks poses significant challenges,primarily due to uncertainties of dynamic pricing,fluctuating demand,and the variability inherent in renewable ...The optimal dispatch of energy storage systems(ESSs)in distribution networks poses significant challenges,primarily due to uncertainties of dynamic pricing,fluctuating demand,and the variability inherent in renewable energy sources.By exploiting the generalization capabilities of deep neural networks(DNNs),the deep reinforcement learning(DRL)algorithms can learn good-quality control models that adapt to the stochastic nature of distribution networks.Nevertheless,the practical deployment of DRL algorithms is often hampered by their limited capacity for satisfying operational constraints in real time,which is a crucial requirement for ensuring the reliability and feasibility of control actions during online operations.This paper introduces an innovative framework,named mixed-integer programming based deep reinforcement learning(MIP-DRL),to overcome these limitations.The proposed MIP-DRL framework can rigorously enforce operational constraints for the optimal dispatch of ESSs during the online execution.This framework involves training a Q-function with DNNs,which is subsequently represented in a mixed-integer programming(MIP)formulation.This unique combination allows for the seamless integration of operational constraints into the decision-making process.The effectiveness of the proposed MIP-DRL framework is validated through numerical simulations,demonstrating its superior capability to enforce all operational constraints and achieve high-quality dispatch decisions and showing its advantage over existing DRL algorithms.展开更多
To improve the phosphorus(P)recovery efficiency from livestock wastewater,a novel MgO doped mildewed corn biochar with thermal pre-puffing treatment(Mg-PBC)and without pre-puffing(Mg-BC)was synthesized and tested.The ...To improve the phosphorus(P)recovery efficiency from livestock wastewater,a novel MgO doped mildewed corn biochar with thermal pre-puffing treatment(Mg-PBC)and without pre-puffing(Mg-BC)was synthesized and tested.The thermal-puffing pretreatment improved the effectiveness of metal soaking and MgO dispersion.P recovery time with Mg-PBC(7 h)was significantly shorter than that with Mg-BC(12 h).Moreover,Mg-PBC showed significantly higher P recovery capacity(241 mg g^(−1))than Mg-BC(96.6 mg g^(−1)).P recovery capacity of the Mg-PBC fitted to the Thomas model was 90.7 mg g^(−1),which was 4 times higher than that of Mg-BC(22.9 mg g^(−1))under column test conditions.The mechanisms involved in P recovery included precipitation,surface complexation,and electrostatic interaction.After adsorption,both Mg-BC and Mg-PBC showed relatively low regeneration abilities.The P loaded Mg-BC(Mg-BC-P)and Mg-PBC(Mg-PBC-P),the later particularly,obviously increased the available P content and promoted plant growth.The release of P increased with time in the Mg-PBC-P treated soil,while it decreased with time in the P fertilizer treated soil.A cost-benefit analysis revealed that thermal-puffing pretreatment greatly increased the profit of MgO doped biochar from−0.66 to 5.90 US$kg^(−1).These findings highlight that biomass pre-puffing is a feasible treatment to produce MgO modified biochar and to recover P from livestock wastewater,and that the Mg-PBC-P can be used as a slow-release P fertilizer.展开更多
Concealed scene understanding(CSU)is a hot computer vision topic aiming to perceive objects exhibiting camouflage.The current boom in terms of techniques and applications warrants an up-to-date survey.This can help res...Concealed scene understanding(CSU)is a hot computer vision topic aiming to perceive objects exhibiting camouflage.The current boom in terms of techniques and applications warrants an up-to-date survey.This can help researchers better understand the global CSUfield,including both current achievements and remaining challenges.This paper makes four contributions:(1)For thefirst time,we present a comprehensive survey of deep learning techniques aimed at CSU,including a taxonomy,task-specific challenges,and ongoing developments.(2)To allow for an authoritative quantification of the state-of-the-art,we offer the largest and latest benchmark for concealed object segmentation(COS).(3)To evaluate the generalizability of deep CSU in practical scenarios,we collected the largest concealed defect segmentation dataset termed CDS2K with the hard cases from diversified industrial scenarios,on which we constructed a comprehensive benchmark.(4)We discuss open problems and potential research directions for CSU.展开更多
The amber sites from the Chiapas Highlands in southwestern Mexico constitute an Oligo-Miocene Amber-Lagerstätte(ca.24 Ma)whose mines and pits at Simojovel,Totolapa,and Estrella de Belén yield exceptionally p...The amber sites from the Chiapas Highlands in southwestern Mexico constitute an Oligo-Miocene Amber-Lagerstätte(ca.24 Ma)whose mines and pits at Simojovel,Totolapa,and Estrella de Belén yield exceptionally preserved fossil inclusions,notably insects from an estuarine wetland.A comprehensive cross-referenced catalog of insects and their close relatives(Arthropoda:Hexapoda)recorded in Mexican amber has been compiled.The catalog comprises 589 fossil records,including 21 orders,180 families,230 genera,and 193 species.Data show the fossil diversity of insects based on 65 years of taxonomic descriptions.The catalog also consists of an online database for consultation and permanent updating.Accordingly,the taxonomic composition of Hexapoda in Oligo-Miocene Mexican amber is a significant addition to the current knowledge of the diversity of Lagerstätte taxa distributed worldwide.展开更多
AIM:To analyze the two-year visual and refractive outcomes as well as the safety,and efficacy of photorefractive keratectomy(PRK)surgery for myopia.METHODS:In this prospective cohort study,63 eligible patients were re...AIM:To analyze the two-year visual and refractive outcomes as well as the safety,and efficacy of photorefractive keratectomy(PRK)surgery for myopia.METHODS:In this prospective cohort study,63 eligible patients were recruited,including 45 women(71.4%)and 18 men(28.6%).Demographic characteristics along with pre-and post-operative clinical data including visual acuity,refraction,maximum ablation,spherical and cylindrical error,and residual stromal bed(RSB)were evaluated.RESULTS:The mean age of the patients was 35.42±8.16y(range 22 to 55y).The mean spherical and cylindrical error before surgery were-2.23±1.58 D(range-5 to+0.25)and-1.24±0.94 D,respectively(range-3.75 to 0.00).The mean efficacy and safety of PRK surgery at 2y follow-up were 0.98±0.06 and 1.01±0.04 respectively.The lower age was significantly correlated with a higher amount of efficacy index(P<0.001,r=-0.42).Also,the lower amount of preoperative myopia and spherical equivalent(SE)were correlated with a higher safety index(P<0.001,r=-0.44;P<0.001,r=-0.46).CONCLUSION:The two-year efficacy and safety of PRK for the treatment of low myopia is excellent.Younger age and lower amount of refractive error are correlated with higher efficacy and safety indices of the surgery.展开更多
The role of brassinosteroids(BRs)in enabling plants to respond effectively to adverse conditions is well known,though the precise mechanism of action that helps plants cope with arsenic(As)toxicity is still difficult ...The role of brassinosteroids(BRs)in enabling plants to respond effectively to adverse conditions is well known,though the precise mechanism of action that helps plants cope with arsenic(As)toxicity is still difficult to interpret.Therefore we tested the effect of brassinolide(BL)spray(0,0.5,and 1 mg·L^(-1))on As(0,and 10 mg·L^(-1))stressed tomato defense responses As stress led to the induction of oxidative stress,impaired chlorophyll and nitrogen metabolism,and Fe uptake,in conjunction with a reduction in plant growth and biomass.BL spray,on the contrary,protected the photo synthetic system and helped plants grow better under As stress.This was achieved by controlling the metabolism of chlorophyll and proline and lowering the amounts of methylglyoxal and H_(2)O_(2) through glyoxalaseⅠandⅡand antioxidant enzyme s.BL decreased arsenic accumulation by directing As sequestration towards vacuoles and increased Fe amount in the leaves and roots by regulating the expression of As(Lsil and Lsi2)and Fe(IRT1,IRT2,NRAMP1,and NRAMP3)transporters in As-stressed tomatoes.Furthermore,BL boosted adaptability against As phytotoxicity,while reducing the damaging impacts on photosynthesis,nitrogen metabolism,sulfur asimilation,and Fe absorption.These results offer a solid framework for the development of exogenous BRs-based breeding strategies for safer agricultural development.展开更多
The all-vanadium redox flow battery(VRFB)plays an important role in the energy transition toward renewable technologies by providing grid-scale energy storage.Their deployment,however,is limited by the lack of membran...The all-vanadium redox flow battery(VRFB)plays an important role in the energy transition toward renewable technologies by providing grid-scale energy storage.Their deployment,however,is limited by the lack of membranes that provide both a high energy efficiency and capacity retention.Typically,the improvement of the battery’s energy efficiency comes at the cost of its capacity retention.Herein,novel N-alkylated and N-benzylated meta-polybenzimidazole(m-PBI)membranes are used to understand the molecular requirements of the polymer electrolyte in a vanadium redox flow battery,providing an important toolbox for future research toward next-generation membrane materials in energy storage devices.The addition of an ethyl side chain to the m-PBI backbone increases its affinity toward the acidic electrolyte,thereby increasing its ionic conductivity and the corresponding energy efficiency of the VRFB cell from 70%to 78%at a current density of 200 mA cm^(-2).In addition,cells equipped with ethylated m-PBI showed better capacity retention than their pristine counterpart,respectively 91%versus 87%,over 200 cycles at 200 mA cm^(-2).The outstanding VRFB cycling performance,together with the low-cost and fluorine-free chemistry of the N-alkylated m-PBI polymer,makes this material a promising membrane to be used in next-generation VRFB systems.展开更多
With the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic showing no signs of abating,resuming neglected tropical disease(NTD)activities,particularly mass drug administration(MDA)Z is vital.Failure to resume activities will...With the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic showing no signs of abating,resuming neglected tropical disease(NTD)activities,particularly mass drug administration(MDA)Z is vital.Failure to resume activities will not only enhance the risk of NTD transmission,but will fail to leverage behaviour change messaging on the importance of hand and face washing and improved sanitation--a common strategy for several NTDs that also reduces the risk of COVID-19 spread.This so-called"hybrid approach"will dem on strate best practices for mitigating the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)by incorporating physical distancing,use of masks,and frequent hand-washing in the delivery of medicines to endemic communities and support action against the transmission of the virus through water,sanitation and hygiene interventions promoted by NTD programmes.Unless MDA and morbidity management activities resume,achievement of NTD targets as projected in the WHO/NTD Roadmap(2021-2030)will be deferred,the aspirational goal of NTD programmes to enhance universal health coverage jeopardised and the call to leave no one behind'a hollow one.We outline what implementing this hybrid approach,which aims to strengthen health systems,and facilitate integration and cross-sector collaboration,can achieve based on work undertaken in several African countries.展开更多
基金financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(22074100)the Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by CAST(YESS20200036)+3 种基金the Researchers Supporting Project Number RSP-2021/138King Saud University,Riyadh,Saudi ArabiaTechnological Innovation R&D Project of Chengdu City(2019-YF05-31702266-SN)Sichuan University-Panzhihua City joint Project(2020CDPZH-5)。
文摘Mercury is a threatening pollutant in food,herein,we developed a Tb^(3+)-nucleic acid probe-based label-free assay for mix-and-read,rapid detection of mercury pollution.The assay utilized the feature of light-up fluorescence of terbium ions(Tb^(3+))via binding with single-strand DNA.Mercury ion,Hg^(2+)induced thymine(T)-rich DNA strand to form a double-strand structure(T-Hg^(2+)-T),thus leading to fluorescence reduction.Based on the principle,Hg^(2+)can be quantified based on the fluorescence of Tb^(3+),the limit of detection was 0.0689μmol/L and the linear range was 0.1-6.0μmol/L.Due to the specificity of T-Hg^(2+)-T artificial base pair,the assay could distinguish Hg^(2+)from other metal ions.The recovery rate was ranged in 98.71%-101.34%for detecting mercury pollution in three food samples.The assay is low-cost,separation-free and mix-to-read,thus was a competitive tool for detection of mercury pollution to ensure food safety.
文摘There are increasing demands for mobile health applications. This paper reports the development of a mobile health profile which dedicates to mobile applications. The mobile health profile is developed in association with the ZigBee Health Care profile and the IEEE 11073 standard which is normally applied to non-mobile applications. Since mobile sensors have to be carried by patients, the mobile health profile must facilitate mobility. In this investigation, a ZigBee fixed-mobile network (ZFMN) is defined and developed to supplement the ZigBee Health Care Profile for patient monitoring. The mobility study of ZigBee is performed using a random waypoint OPNET simulation model. In a ZFMN, the critical issue of address shortage is identified and discussed. It is analyzed that the problematic address shortage in a ZFMN may generate a huge amount of orphaned end devices and thus the packet drop percentage may potentially rise to 70%, rendering the network unable to function properly. Without introducing additional governing schemes, it is evaluated that the communication of the entire ZigBee network may paralyze. Further vigorous test are performed (by OPNET) on the communication capability of ZFMN when devices are randomly moving and sending data in 1s. It is vital to point out that under the adverse condition of address shortage, the performance of a ZFMN is still encouraging as long as the packet drop percentage has been kept below 3% before running out of address. The conclusion drawn in this analysis is that the packet drop percentage should be kept below 3% to provide a satisfactory QoS for an effective mobile health application using ZFMN such as patient monitoring. Such finding is also important for other future mobile application design of ZigBee. The address shortage issue is left as an open problem that needs attention for a resolution.
文摘A number of congenital and acquired disorders require esophageal tissue replacement.Various surgical techniques,such as gastric and colonic interposition,are standards of treatment,but frequently complicated by stenosis and other problems.Regenerative medicine approaches facilitate the use of biological constructs to replace or regenerate normal tissue function.We review the literature of esophageal tissue engineering,discuss its implications,compare the methodologies that have been employed and suggest possible directions for the future.Medline,Embase,the Cochrane Library,National Research Register and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched with the following search terms:stem cell and esophagus,esophageal replacement,esophageal tissue engineering,esophageal substitution.Reference lists of papers identified were also examined and experts in this field contacted for further information.All full-text articles in English of all potentially relevant abstracts were reviewed.Tissue engineering has involved acellular scaffolds that were either transplanted with the aim of being repopulated by host cells or seeded prior to transplantation.When acellular scaffolds were used to replace patch and short tubular defects they allowed epithelial and partial muscular migration whereas when employed for long tubular defects the results were poor leading to an increased rate of stenosis and mortality.Stenting has been shown as an effective means to reduce stenotic changes and promote cell migration,whilst omental wrapping to induce vascularization of the construct has an uncertain benefit.Decellularized matrices have been recently suggested as the optimal choice for scaffolds,but smart polymers that will incorporate signalling to promote cell-scaffold interaction may provide a more reproducible and available solution.Results in animal models that have used seeded scaffolds strongly suggest that seeding of both muscle and epithelial cells on scaffolds prior to implantation is a prerequisite for complete esophageal replacement.Novel approaches need to be designed to allow for peristalsis and vascularization in the engineered esophagus.Although esophageal tissue engineering potentially offers a real alternative to conventional treatments for severe esophageal disease,important barriers remain that need to be addressed.
基金This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF)grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT)(No.NRF-2021R1A2C1010362)and the Soonchunhyang University Research Fund.
文摘Agriculture is the backbone of each country,and almost 50%of the population is directly involved in farming.In Pakistan,several kinds of fruits are produced and exported the other countries.Citrus is an important fruit,and its production in Pakistan is higher than the other fruits.However,the diseases of citrus fruits such as canker,citrus scab,blight,and a few more impact the quality and quantity of this Fruit.The manual diagnosis of these diseases required an expert person who is always a time-consuming and costly procedure.In the agriculture sector,deep learning showing significant success in the last five years.This research work proposes an automated framework using deep learning and best feature selection for citrus diseases classification.In the proposed framework,the augmentation technique is applied initially by creating more training data from existing samples.They were then modifying the two pre-trained models named Resnet18 and Inception V3.The modified models are trained using an augmented dataset through transfer learning.Features are extracted for each model,which is further selected using Improved Genetic Algorithm(ImGA).The selected features of both models are fused using an array-based approach that is finally classified using supervised learning classifiers such as Support Vector Machine(SVM)and name a few more.The experimental process is conducted on three different datasets-Citrus Hybrid,Citrus Leaf,and Citrus Fruits.On these datasets,the best-achieved accuracy is 99.5%,94%,and 97.7%,respectively.The proposed framework is evaluated on each step and compared with some recent techniques,showing that the proposed method shows improved performance.
基金supported by Innovate UK,which is a part of UK Research&Innovation,under the Knowledge Transfer Partnership(KTP)program(Project No.11433)supported by the Grand Information Technology Research Center Program through the Institute of Information&Communications Technology and Planning&Evaluation(IITP)funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT(MSIT),Korea(IITP-2020-2020-0-01612)。
文摘With the advent in services such as telemedicine and telesurgery,provision of continuous quality monitoring for these services has become a challenge for the network operators.Quality standards for provision of such services are application specic as medical imagery is quite different than general purpose images and videos.This paper presents a novel full reference objective video quality metric that focuses on estimating the quality of wireless capsule endoscopy(WCE)videos containing bleeding regions.Bleeding regions in gastrointestinal tract have been focused in this research,as bleeding is one of the major reasons behind several diseases within the tract.The method jointly estimates the diagnostic as well as perceptual quality of WCE videos,and accurately predicts the quality,which is in high correlation with the subjective differential mean opinion scores(DMOS).The proposed combines motion quality estimates,bleeding regions’quality estimates based on support vector machine(SVM)and perceptual quality estimates using the pristine and impaired WCE videos.Our method Quality Index for Bleeding Regions in Capsule Endoscopy(QI-BRiCE)videos is one of its kind and the results show high correlation in terms of Pearson’s linear correlation coefcient(PLCC)and Spearman’s rank order correlation coefcient(SROCC).An F-test is also provided in the results section to prove the statistical signicance of our proposed method.
基金Project supported by Guangdong Major Project of Basic and Applied Basic Research(Grant No.2019B030302011)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.U2032143,11902370,and 52005523)+2 种基金the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of Guangdong Province,China(Grant No.2019A050510022)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(Grant Nos.2019M653173 and 2019TQ0374)the Heavy Ion Research Facility of Lanzhou(HIRFL).
文摘Fe-Cr ferritic/martensitic(F/M)steels have been proposed as one of the candidate materials for the Generation IV nuclear technologies.In this study,a widely-used ferritic/martensitic steel,T91 steel,was irradiated by 196-MeV Kr^(+)ions at 550℃.To reveal the irradiation mechanism,the microstructure evolution of irradiated T91 steel was studied in details by transmission electron microscope(TEM).With increasing dose,the defects gradually changed from black dots to dislocation loops,and further to form dislocation walls near grain boundaries due to the production of a large number of dislocations.When many dislocation loops of primary a0/2<111>type with high migration interacted with other defects or carbon atoms,it led to the production of dislocation segments and other dislocation loops of a0<100>type.Lots of defects accumulated near grain boundaries in the irradiated area,especially in the high-dose area.The grain boundaries of martensite laths acted as important sinks of irradiation defects in T91.Elevated temperature facilitated the migration of defects,leading to the accumulation of defects near the grain boundaries of martensite laths.
文摘S. gesnerioides （Willd） Vatke is a major biological constraint to cowpea production in the dry savanna of sub-Saharan Africa. Yield losses caused by S. gesnerioides in these regions are estimated in millions of tons annually, and prevalence of Striga soil infestation is steadily increasing. The availability of molecular markers tightly linked to S. gesnerioides resistance genes opens up the possibility of applying Marker-Assisted Selection （MAS） to cowpea and would fast track the process of developing resistance varieties to the parasite. In the present study, we report the use of Fast Technology for Analysis （FTA） also known as PlantSaver Cards （Whatman~ FTA）, developed by Flinder Technology associate to retrieve DNA from plant tissue for molecular analysis. A total of 100 F2 individual plants derived from two crosses were validated for SG3 resistance using two different SCAR markers （MahSe2 and C42B） linked to Striga race 3 （SG3） and 5 （SG5） resistance in other segregating populations. Genomic DNA was successfully recovered from leaf tissues of cowpea pressed onto FTA classic card and the DNA obtained from the FTA papers was found to be suitable for molecular analysis by PCR-based techniques. The marker efficiency of SCAR MahSe2 and C42B in detecting SG3 resistance was 98.5% and 93% respectively. This result revealed the utility of SCAR markers in cowpea breeding programme. Therefore, the application of MAS using FTA technology has the potential to increase efficiency of selection and for molecular characterization of cowpea lines for Striga resistance..
文摘The weldments for several types of high Cr ferritic steels were investigated to understand the fracture mechanism of the Type IV crack. The creep testing shows that the Type IV cracking is more likely to occur at the lower stress level, whereas at the higher stress level the crack shifts towards parent metal. The microstructures observed in the HAZ for all the materials are mostly tempered lath martensites. There was no δ ferrites found in all creep specimens.
基金P.A.gratefully acknowledges Jornvall Foundation,Mark and Mo Constantine,and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists(No.2011T2S04)P.A.and U.O.acknowledge the Swedish Research Council(Grant Nos.2015-04402 and 2015-04651,respectively)
文摘Background: The White-browed Shortwing(Brachypteryx montana) is widespread from the central Himalayas to the southeast Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Multiple subspecies are recognised, and several of these have recently been suggested to be treated as separate species based on differences in morphology and songs.Methods: We here analyse plumage, morphometrics, songs, two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, and geographical distributions of the two mainland Asian taxa B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis and the Taiwan Residents B. m. goodfellowi.Results: We conclude that these differ congruently in morphology, songs and DNA. Male B. m. goodfellowi is the most divergent in plumage(sexually monomorphic, unlike the two others; male similar to female), and B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis differ in male plumage maturation. The song of B. m. cruralis is strongly divergent from the others, whereas the songs of B. m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are more similar to each other. Brachypteryx m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are sisters, with an estimated divergence time 4.1 million years ago(mya; 95% highest posterior distribution [HPD] 2.8–5.5 mya), and B. m. cruralis separated from these two 5.8 mya(95% HPD 4.1–7.5 mya). We also report notable range extensions of B. m. sinensis as well as sympatry between this taxon and B. m. cruralis in Sichuan Province, China. Brachypteryx m. montana from Java is found to be more closely related to Lesser Shortwing(B. leucophris) and Rusty-bellied Shortwing(B. hyperythra) than to the mainland Asian and Taiwan Residents taxa.Conclusion: Our data support a recent proposal to treat the three mainland Asian and Taiwan Residents taxa as three species, separate from B. montana sensu stricto: B. cruralis(central Himalayas to south central China and south Vietnam), B. sinensis(north central to southeastern part of China's Mainland) and B. goodfellowi(Taiwan Island).
基金supported by the DATALESs project(No.482.20.602)jointly financed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research(NWO)and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
文摘The optimal dispatch of energy storage systems(ESSs)in distribution networks poses significant challenges,primarily due to uncertainties of dynamic pricing,fluctuating demand,and the variability inherent in renewable energy sources.By exploiting the generalization capabilities of deep neural networks(DNNs),the deep reinforcement learning(DRL)algorithms can learn good-quality control models that adapt to the stochastic nature of distribution networks.Nevertheless,the practical deployment of DRL algorithms is often hampered by their limited capacity for satisfying operational constraints in real time,which is a crucial requirement for ensuring the reliability and feasibility of control actions during online operations.This paper introduces an innovative framework,named mixed-integer programming based deep reinforcement learning(MIP-DRL),to overcome these limitations.The proposed MIP-DRL framework can rigorously enforce operational constraints for the optimal dispatch of ESSs during the online execution.This framework involves training a Q-function with DNNs,which is subsequently represented in a mixed-integer programming(MIP)formulation.This unique combination allows for the seamless integration of operational constraints into the decision-making process.The effectiveness of the proposed MIP-DRL framework is validated through numerical simulations,demonstrating its superior capability to enforce all operational constraints and achieve high-quality dispatch decisions and showing its advantage over existing DRL algorithms.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China(32172679)Open Research Project of Ningxia Key Laboratory for the Development and Application of Microbial Resources in Extreme Environments,China(NXTS05)financially supported this work.
文摘To improve the phosphorus(P)recovery efficiency from livestock wastewater,a novel MgO doped mildewed corn biochar with thermal pre-puffing treatment(Mg-PBC)and without pre-puffing(Mg-BC)was synthesized and tested.The thermal-puffing pretreatment improved the effectiveness of metal soaking and MgO dispersion.P recovery time with Mg-PBC(7 h)was significantly shorter than that with Mg-BC(12 h).Moreover,Mg-PBC showed significantly higher P recovery capacity(241 mg g^(−1))than Mg-BC(96.6 mg g^(−1)).P recovery capacity of the Mg-PBC fitted to the Thomas model was 90.7 mg g^(−1),which was 4 times higher than that of Mg-BC(22.9 mg g^(−1))under column test conditions.The mechanisms involved in P recovery included precipitation,surface complexation,and electrostatic interaction.After adsorption,both Mg-BC and Mg-PBC showed relatively low regeneration abilities.The P loaded Mg-BC(Mg-BC-P)and Mg-PBC(Mg-PBC-P),the later particularly,obviously increased the available P content and promoted plant growth.The release of P increased with time in the Mg-PBC-P treated soil,while it decreased with time in the P fertilizer treated soil.A cost-benefit analysis revealed that thermal-puffing pretreatment greatly increased the profit of MgO doped biochar from−0.66 to 5.90 US$kg^(−1).These findings highlight that biomass pre-puffing is a feasible treatment to produce MgO modified biochar and to recover P from livestock wastewater,and that the Mg-PBC-P can be used as a slow-release P fertilizer.
基金Deng-Ping Fan and Christos Sakaridis are funded by Toyota Motor Europe(research project TRACE-Zurich).
文摘Concealed scene understanding(CSU)is a hot computer vision topic aiming to perceive objects exhibiting camouflage.The current boom in terms of techniques and applications warrants an up-to-date survey.This can help researchers better understand the global CSUfield,including both current achievements and remaining challenges.This paper makes four contributions:(1)For thefirst time,we present a comprehensive survey of deep learning techniques aimed at CSU,including a taxonomy,task-specific challenges,and ongoing developments.(2)To allow for an authoritative quantification of the state-of-the-art,we offer the largest and latest benchmark for concealed object segmentation(COS).(3)To evaluate the generalizability of deep CSU in practical scenarios,we collected the largest concealed defect segmentation dataset termed CDS2K with the hard cases from diversified industrial scenarios,on which we constructed a comprehensive benchmark.(4)We discuss open problems and potential research directions for CSU.
文摘The amber sites from the Chiapas Highlands in southwestern Mexico constitute an Oligo-Miocene Amber-Lagerstätte(ca.24 Ma)whose mines and pits at Simojovel,Totolapa,and Estrella de Belén yield exceptionally preserved fossil inclusions,notably insects from an estuarine wetland.A comprehensive cross-referenced catalog of insects and their close relatives(Arthropoda:Hexapoda)recorded in Mexican amber has been compiled.The catalog comprises 589 fossil records,including 21 orders,180 families,230 genera,and 193 species.Data show the fossil diversity of insects based on 65 years of taxonomic descriptions.The catalog also consists of an online database for consultation and permanent updating.Accordingly,the taxonomic composition of Hexapoda in Oligo-Miocene Mexican amber is a significant addition to the current knowledge of the diversity of Lagerstätte taxa distributed worldwide.
文摘AIM:To analyze the two-year visual and refractive outcomes as well as the safety,and efficacy of photorefractive keratectomy(PRK)surgery for myopia.METHODS:In this prospective cohort study,63 eligible patients were recruited,including 45 women(71.4%)and 18 men(28.6%).Demographic characteristics along with pre-and post-operative clinical data including visual acuity,refraction,maximum ablation,spherical and cylindrical error,and residual stromal bed(RSB)were evaluated.RESULTS:The mean age of the patients was 35.42±8.16y(range 22 to 55y).The mean spherical and cylindrical error before surgery were-2.23±1.58 D(range-5 to+0.25)and-1.24±0.94 D,respectively(range-3.75 to 0.00).The mean efficacy and safety of PRK surgery at 2y follow-up were 0.98±0.06 and 1.01±0.04 respectively.The lower age was significantly correlated with a higher amount of efficacy index(P<0.001,r=-0.42).Also,the lower amount of preoperative myopia and spherical equivalent(SE)were correlated with a higher safety index(P<0.001,r=-0.44;P<0.001,r=-0.46).CONCLUSION:The two-year efficacy and safety of PRK for the treatment of low myopia is excellent.Younger age and lower amount of refractive error are correlated with higher efficacy and safety indices of the surgery.
基金financial support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2023YFD220120302)supported by RUDN University Strategic Academic Leadership Program。
文摘The role of brassinosteroids(BRs)in enabling plants to respond effectively to adverse conditions is well known,though the precise mechanism of action that helps plants cope with arsenic(As)toxicity is still difficult to interpret.Therefore we tested the effect of brassinolide(BL)spray(0,0.5,and 1 mg·L^(-1))on As(0,and 10 mg·L^(-1))stressed tomato defense responses As stress led to the induction of oxidative stress,impaired chlorophyll and nitrogen metabolism,and Fe uptake,in conjunction with a reduction in plant growth and biomass.BL spray,on the contrary,protected the photo synthetic system and helped plants grow better under As stress.This was achieved by controlling the metabolism of chlorophyll and proline and lowering the amounts of methylglyoxal and H_(2)O_(2) through glyoxalaseⅠandⅡand antioxidant enzyme s.BL decreased arsenic accumulation by directing As sequestration towards vacuoles and increased Fe amount in the leaves and roots by regulating the expression of As(Lsil and Lsi2)and Fe(IRT1,IRT2,NRAMP1,and NRAMP3)transporters in As-stressed tomatoes.Furthermore,BL boosted adaptability against As phytotoxicity,while reducing the damaging impacts on photosynthesis,nitrogen metabolism,sulfur asimilation,and Fe absorption.These results offer a solid framework for the development of exogenous BRs-based breeding strategies for safer agricultural development.
基金supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation(grant number 188631).
文摘The all-vanadium redox flow battery(VRFB)plays an important role in the energy transition toward renewable technologies by providing grid-scale energy storage.Their deployment,however,is limited by the lack of membranes that provide both a high energy efficiency and capacity retention.Typically,the improvement of the battery’s energy efficiency comes at the cost of its capacity retention.Herein,novel N-alkylated and N-benzylated meta-polybenzimidazole(m-PBI)membranes are used to understand the molecular requirements of the polymer electrolyte in a vanadium redox flow battery,providing an important toolbox for future research toward next-generation membrane materials in energy storage devices.The addition of an ethyl side chain to the m-PBI backbone increases its affinity toward the acidic electrolyte,thereby increasing its ionic conductivity and the corresponding energy efficiency of the VRFB cell from 70%to 78%at a current density of 200 mA cm^(-2).In addition,cells equipped with ethylated m-PBI showed better capacity retention than their pristine counterpart,respectively 91%versus 87%,over 200 cycles at 200 mA cm^(-2).The outstanding VRFB cycling performance,together with the low-cost and fluorine-free chemistry of the N-alkylated m-PBI polymer,makes this material a promising membrane to be used in next-generation VRFB systems.
基金The Ascend West and Central Project receives a grant from the Foreign,Common wealth and Developme nt Office of the UK Gover nment Grant/Contract No.PO 8476.
文摘With the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic showing no signs of abating,resuming neglected tropical disease(NTD)activities,particularly mass drug administration(MDA)Z is vital.Failure to resume activities will not only enhance the risk of NTD transmission,but will fail to leverage behaviour change messaging on the importance of hand and face washing and improved sanitation--a common strategy for several NTDs that also reduces the risk of COVID-19 spread.This so-called"hybrid approach"will dem on strate best practices for mitigating the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)by incorporating physical distancing,use of masks,and frequent hand-washing in the delivery of medicines to endemic communities and support action against the transmission of the virus through water,sanitation and hygiene interventions promoted by NTD programmes.Unless MDA and morbidity management activities resume,achievement of NTD targets as projected in the WHO/NTD Roadmap(2021-2030)will be deferred,the aspirational goal of NTD programmes to enhance universal health coverage jeopardised and the call to leave no one behind'a hollow one.We outline what implementing this hybrid approach,which aims to strengthen health systems,and facilitate integration and cross-sector collaboration,can achieve based on work undertaken in several African countries.
