To design properly and optimizate liquid-assisted processes such as reactive infiltration for fabricating light weight and corrosion resistant SiC/TiSi2 composites, the interfacial phenomena taking place when liquid Si-rich Si-Ti alloys are in contact with glassy carbon (GC) were investigated for the first time by wetting tests performed by both the sessile and pendant drop methods at T = 1450°C. Specifically, two different Si-rich Si-Ti alloys were selected, and the obtained results in terms of contact angle values, spreading kinetics, reactivity, and developed interface microstructures were compared with experimental observations previously obtained for the liquid Si-rich Si-Ti eutectics processed under the same operating conditions. The increase of the Si content did not affected the final contact angle values. Contrarily, the final developed microstructure at the interface as well as the spreading kinetics were observed as weakly dependent on the composition. From the practical point of view, Si-Ti alloy compositions with a Si-content falling in the simple eutectic region of the phase diagram might be potentially used as infiltrant materials of C- and SiC-based composites.

The purpose of the present study was to compare heart rate (HR), blood lactate and training load between different CrossFit® workouts, with equalized total volume in men and women. The study included 23 individuals (13 men and 10 women) experienced in CrossFit® training, who performed two workouts with different training types (as many reps as possible - AMRAP and for time) but equalized volume. Measurements of lactate, HR and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were performed. The results showed that there was no HR interaction between workout time and sex (p = 0.822; η2 = 0.006] and between workout type and sex (p = 0.064, η2 = 0.803). HR significantly differed during each workout type (p <0.001, η2 = 0.621), but not between the two workout types (p = 0.552, η2 = 0.017). Lactate showed no difference between the workout types (p = 0.474, η2 = 0.768), although the training load was higher (p = 0.033, η2 = 0.199) in women when they performed AMRAP. Altogether, HR was not significantly different between training types or sex, while RPE, lactate and training load showed small differences depending on the group (women or men) or workout type (AMRAP or 'for time').

The contextual and risk perception of climate change plays a critical role in an individual’s decision-making process. It could also help people to respond appropriately to the consequences of global climate change and eventually take necessary adaptation actions. However, the perceptions of climate change are often gendered and vary among men and women. Therefore, this study explores different perceptions of climate change and its local adaptation options among ultra-poor vulnerable women, particularly in highly vulnerable flood-prone regions of Bangladesh. The research followed an empirical research methodology to collect primary and secondary information using qualitative and quantitative research tools. The study findings reveal that climate change perceptions at the individual level are relatively low (63%). Still, they have been observing significant changes in various climatic variables over the past 30 years. Moreover, this study identified some major adaptation options such as plinth raising (100%), livestock rearing (100%), homestead gardening (82%), seasonal migration (82%), and using indigenous knowledge (69%), and so on to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change-induced extreme events including flooding at the local level. For implementing these adaptation measures, the respondents spent a significant amount of financial resources from individual sources in the study area. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used in addition to the statistical analyses to understand any connections between the climate change perceptions and other variables associated with the community under study. The SEM result shows that climate change will be a long–term problem, which offers a strong predictor in this model, considering standardized regression weight β= 0.56. It means, despite inadequate knowledge on climate change of the respondent’s, climate change is occurring and becoming the worst factor limiting cultural, economic, and environmental development in the study area.

In this research paper, a high gain transformer less inverter modeling which is used for the smart grid technology or as the stand alone for home appliances is proposed. The proposed transformer less topology provides a higher voltage gain, low cost, small size and simple control stand alone transformer less inverter for home appliances. The above inverter is modeled by using software which is known as MATLAB/ Simulimk.

Increasing the quality factor (Q) of an optical resonator device has been a research focus to be utilized in various applications. Higher Q-factor means light is confined in a longer time which will produce a shaper peak and higher transmission. In this paper, we introduce a novel technique to increase further the Q-factor of a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1D PhC) cavity device by using an end loop-mirror (ELM). The technique utilizes and recycles the light transmission from the conventional 1D PhC cavity design. The design has been proved to work by using the 2.5D FDTD simulation with Lumerical FDTD and MODE softwares. By using the ELM technique, the Q- factor of a 1D PhC design has been shown to have increased up to 79.53 % from the initial Q value without the ELM. This novel design technique can be combined with any high Q-factor and very high Q-factor designs to increase more the Q-factor value of a photonic crystal cavity devices or any other suitable optical resonator devices. The experimental result shows that the device is measurable by adding a Y-branch component to the one-port structure and able to get the high-Q result.

This paper presents an advanced microstructural analysis of the AlSiMg, Ti64 and N700 powders used for additive manufacturing. The internal microstructure of the regular and irregular powder grains were characterized down to atomic resolution by using scanning electron microscopy and high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy.The accretionary forms on top of the irregular AlSiMg powder grains exhibit a slightly coarse microstructure with a network of eutectic Si consisting of nano-crystallites, suggestinga slower cooling than the grain itself that contain a predominately amorphous Si network. A nm thin amorphous C layer on the surface of some Ti64 plasma atomized powder grains promoted the attachment of satellites and growth of envelopes. In case of gas atomized N700 powder grains, we identified thin oxide and carbon amorphous layers as well as metal segregations at the interface between the grain body and the accretionary forms.

The effect of rare earth Pr6O11 on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high-strength steel weld metal was investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and mechanical testing. Three different contents of Pr6O11 were added to the flux-cored wires. The results showed that the addition of 1% Pr6O11 can promote the refinement and spheroidization of inclusions, refine the grains, form acicular ferrites, and significantly improve the toughness of weld metal. The addition of Pr6O11 promoted the formation of rare earth composite inclusions and acicular ferrites in the weld metal, refined the lath microstructure, inhibited the formation of martensite and bainite. The crack formation mode changed from the boundary cracking of the bainite clusters caused by the surface shear stress to the surface shear stress-induced decohesion of inclusion. However, excessive addition of Pr6O11 will reduce the number of inclusion nucleation and deteriorate the mechanical properties. The wire No.2 with 1% Pr6O11 had the good comprehensive mechanical properties, and the corresponding values were 835MPa of tensile strength and 72 J of impact toughness. These findings suggest that the control of Pr6O11 can be an effective way to improve the impact toughness of weld metal.

The effect of Pr6O11 on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high-strength steel weld metal was investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and mechanical testing. Three different contents of Pr6O11 were added to the flux-cored wires. The results demonstrate that the addition of 1% Pr6O11 can promote the refinement and spheroidization of inclusions, refine the grains, form acicular ferrites in the weld metal, and significantly improve the toughness. The addition of Pr6O11 promoted the formation of rare earth composite inclusions and acicular ferrites in the weld metal, refined the lath microstructure, inhibited the formation of martensite and bainite. The crack formation mode changed from the boundary cracking of the bainite clusters caused by the surface shear stress to the surface shear stress-induced decohesion of inclusion. Excessive addition of Pr6O11 will reduce the number of inclusion nucleation and deteriorate the mechanical properties. The wire No.2 with 1% Pr6O11 had the good comprehensive mechanical properties.

Background: Caring for a loved one can be rewarding but also associated with substantial caregiver burden, developing mental outcomes and affecting happiness. Eventually, these physical and psychological disorders can lead to an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system. Meditation has been found to offer multiple benefits to relieve these disorders and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a four-week 16-hour presential meditation program on physiological and psychological parameters and vagal nerve activity in high-burden caregivers, comparing the results with those not receiving this program. Methods: A non-randomized repeated-measures controlled clinical trial was conducted, dividing participants between intervention and control groups by convenience allocation because random assignment was ethically inappropriate. Results: After the meditation program, the experimental group showed a significant reduction in anxiety levels (F= 24.92, p<0.001), a non-significant amelioration of depression levels (F= 1.75, p=0.19), and significantly improved heart rate variability (F= 8.40, p<0.05) and SDNN (F=15.59, p<0.05). Conclusions: Meditation can be a useful therapy to enhance the mental health and autonomic nervous system balance of informal caregivers, improving symptoms of physical and mental overload.

Marine renewable energy technologies have a great potential in supplying clean electricity to millions of people across the globe, if technical and economic conditions are in right. So far, ocean energy projects are commonly started by SMEs or educational institutions with limited budgets. Therefore, any effort to reduce expenses is of great value. One of the areas involving substantial expenses are the inevitable seabed inspection prior to deployment of marine renewable energy device. Detailed seabed inspections can also reduce the risk of associated with deployment of structures on uneven seabed, especially marine renewable energy devices with gravity foundations. By reducing the costs and risks of such surveys prior and during the installation phases, the feasibility of marine renewable energy projects can be more favoured and competitive. In this perspective, this study proposes a cost and time effective technique for seabed surveys. The proposed technique involves the use of high precision and inexpensive sonar systems and underwater optical cameras integrated into a versatile and compact subsea monitoring platform. It also involves simple and practical data acquisition and processing protocols that do not requires hi expertise for operation. The results obtained showed that high resolution bathymetric maps and detailed seabed inspections imagery can be acquired. This study concludes that a simple and inexpensive subsea monitoring platform comprising a multibeam, dual beam and video cameras can be effective for high resolution seabed inspection and bathymetric measurements for marine energy applications.

Pore Forming Toxins (PFTs), formed mainly by virulence factors of bacteria, belongs to Pore Forming Protein (PFP) family. Secreted as soluble monomers, they bind specific targets in membranes where their oligomerization and insertion place. Lysenin, a member of the PFTs, forms and oligomer after sphingomyelin binding, the so-called prepore, which become inserted forming a pore after a conformational change triggered by a pH decrease. In crowded conditions, oligomers tends to stay in prepore form because the prepore-to-pore transition is sterically blocked. In this study, we investigate the effect of calcium ions in those crowded conditions, finding that calcium act as a trigger for lysenin insertion. We localize the residues responsible for calcium sensitivity in a small α-helix. Our results are not only one of the few complete structural descriptions of prepore-to-pore transitions but the very first that involves a calcium triggering mechanism. The presence of glutamic or aspartic acids in the insertion domains could be an indication that calcium may be a general trigger for PFTs and more generally PFP.

High fat-diet (HFD) feeding is known to induce metabolic dysregulation, however less is known on its impact in promoting the hypercoagulable state. The current study aimed to evaluate platelet-monocyte aggregate (PMA) formation following short-term HFD feeding. This is particularly important for understanding the link between inflammation and the hypercoagulable state during the early onset of metabolic dysregulation. To explore such a hypothesis, mice were fed a HFD for 8 weeks, with body weights as well as insulin and blood glucose levels monitored on weekly basis during this period. Basal hematological measurements were determined and the levels of spontaneous peripheral blood PMAs were assessed using whole blood flow cytometry. The results showed that although there were no significant differences in body weights, mice on HFD displayed impaired glucose tolerance and markedly raised insulin levels. These metabolic abnormalities were accompanied by elevated baseline PMA levels as an indication of hypercoagulation. Importantly, it was evident that baseline levels of monocytes, measured using the CD14 monocyte marker were significantly decreased in HFD-fed mice when compared to controls. In summary, the current evidence shows that in addition to causing glucose intolerance, such as that identified in a prediabetic state, HFD-feeding can promote undesirable hypercoagulation, the major consequence implicated in the development of cardiovascular complications.

Sulfonated carbon was used as an efficient and reusable heterogeneous solid acid catalyst for the synthesis of biodiesel via esterification of oleic acid with methanol under high voltage conditions. Using an inexpensive and reusable catalyst, environmental benignity, excellent yields in short times, synthesis in atmospheric pressure and low temperature conditions are some of the important features of this protocol. In the final results were confirmed by GC.

The open source CFD code OpenFOAM has emerged as one of the most popular alternative to commercial CFD solvers. The recent version of OpenFOAM supports overlapping grids, so called Overset mesh. In this type of mesh, one or more sub-collection of control volumes (or cells) are allowed to overlap with other set of cells. This allows for great flexibility in modelling Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. Fluid mesh can be standard structured mesh of a rectangular/cuboidal/or cylindrical domain. The structure mesh can be generated separately by creating multiple layers around a given body. The overset mesh functionality allows for overlapping or immersing this structured mesh inside the fluid mesh and a relevant FSI or moving dynamics problems can be solved. The idea of overset mesh has been around since eighties but its support in OpenFOAM is very recent. Most CFD codes which support overset mesh have either been in-house or commercial CFD codes. OpenFOAM's support for overset is the first major open source code resource available for CFD problems. The aim of this research is to solve a classical benchmark airfoil problem using OpenFOAM overset mesh and compare the numerical results with experimental result. We report here flow simulations results around NACA 0018. The result obtained from overset mesh compares convincingly well with experimental results. Computations have been carried out for Reynolds numbers in the range of 10⁵ with angle of attack ranging from α= 5 degree to α= 30 degree with an interval of 5 degree. Turbulence is incorporated using k - ε turbulence model. This study helps developing confidence in using OpenFOAM overset support for more complicated flows and moving dynamics. This report is complemented with a brief description of finite volume discretization using overset mesh.

Currently the rapid growth of global economy has the competition among high-tech industries develop from regional to global, and the competition becomes fierce. In face of such fierce competition in global high-tech industry, it is realized that tangible assets could no longer be the differentiation basis, but intangible assets are regarded as the differentiation capital. An enterprise with sustainable innovation would dominate the world market and enhance the international competitiveness of domestic economy. When internal entrepreneurial culture is prevalent, an enterprise would naturally promote the innovation capability. Such a point of view also explains more popular of the innovative products or services of some enterprises than those with larger scales. Aiming at employees in high-tech industry in Guanxi Province, total 500 copies of questionnaire are randomly distributed, and 337 valid copies are retrieved, with the retrieval rate 67%. The research results reveal significantly positive correlations between 1.entrepreneurial culture and sustainable innovation capability, 2.sustainable innovation capability and patent, and 3.entrepreneurial culture and patent. According to the results, suggestions are proposed, expecting to explain how a high-tech business outperforms in the changeable digital era and acquires the sustainable innovation capability and patent to grasp the opportunity.

The Gleeble-1500D thermal simulation test machine was used to conduct the isothermal compression test on 21-4N at the strain rate ( ) of 0.01-10s-1, the deformation temperature (T) of 1273-1453K and the maximum deformation is 0.916. The data of the stress-strain ( - )were obtained. Based on the - data, the Johnson-Cook (J-C), modified J-C, Arrhenius and Back-Propagation Artificial Neural Network (BP-ANN) models were established. The accuracy of four models were verified, analyzed and compared. The results show that J-C model has a higher accuracy only under reference deformation conditions. When the deformation condition changes greatly, the accuracy of J-C model is significantly reduced. The coupling effect of T and of modified J-C model is considered, and the prediction accuracy is greatly improved The Arrhenius model introduces Zener-Hollomon (Z) to represent the coupling effect of T and , it has a fairly high prediction accuracy. And it can predict flow stress ( ) accurately at different conditions. The accuracy of BP-ANN model is the highest, but its learning rate is low, the learning and memory are unstable. It has no memory for the weights and thresholds of the completed training. So, there are certain limitations of it in use. Finally, a FEM of the isothermal compression experiment for four models were established, and the distribution of the equivalent stress field, equivalent strain field and temperature field with the deformation degree of 60% were obtained.

_{Superconducting foams of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_y$ (YBCO) are proposed as trapped field magnets or supermagnets. The foams with an open-porous structure are light-weight, mechanically strong and can be prepared in large sample sizes. The trapped field distributions were measured using a scanning Hall probe on various sides of an YBCO foam sample after field-cooling in a magnetic field of 0.5 T produced by a square Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet. The maximum trapped field (TF) measured is about 400 G (77 K) at the bottom of the sample. Several details of the TF distribution, the current flow and possible applicatons of such superconducting foam samples in space applications, e.g., as active elements in flux-pinning docking interfaces (FPDI) or as portable strong magnets to collect debris in space, are outlined.}

Geologists employ high-spatial-resolution (HR) remote sensing (RS) data for many diverse applications as they effectively reflect detailed geological information, enabling high-quality and efficient geological surveys. Applications of HR RS data to geological and related fields have grown recently. By analyzing these applications, we can better understand the results of previous studies and more effectively use the latest data and methods to efficiently extract key geological information. HR optical remote sensing data are widely used in geological hazard assessment, seismic monitoring, mineral exploitation, glacier monitoring, and mineral information extraction due to high accuracy and clear object features. Compared with optical satellite images, synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) images are stereoscopic and exhibit clear relief, strong performance, and good detection of terrain, landforms, and other information. SAR images have been applied to seismic mechanism research, volcanic monitoring, topographic deformation, and fault analysis. Furthermore, a multi-standard maturity analysis of the geological applications of HR images using literature from the Science Citation Index reveals that optical remote sensing data are superior to radar data for mining, geological disaster, lithologic, and volcanic applications, but inferior for earthquake, glacial, and fault applications. Therefore, geological remote sensing research needs to be truly multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary, ensuring more detailed and efficient surveys through cross-linking with other disciplines. Moreover, the recent application of deep learning technology to remote sensing data extraction has improved automatic processing and data analysis capabilities.

Intercropping significantly improves land use efficiency and soil fertility. This study examines the impact of three cultivation systems (monoculture sugarcane, peanut-sugarcane and soybean-sugarcane intercropping) on soil properties and diazotrophs. Sugarcane rhizosphere soil was sampled from the farmers’ field. Soil properties and nifH gene abundance were analyzed by high throughput sequencing. Moreover, a total of 436,458 nifH gene sequences were obtained and classified into the 3201 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Maximum unique OTUs resulted with soybean-sugarcane intercropping (<375). The dominant groups across all cultivation were Alpha-proteobacteria and Beta-proteobacteria. On the basis of microbial community structure, intercropping systems were more diverse than monoculture sugarcane. In the genus level, Bradyrhizobium, Burkholderia, Pelomonas, and Sphingomonas were predominant in the intercropping systems. Moreover, diazotrophic bacterial communities of these cultivation systems were positively correlated to the soil pH and soil enzyme protease. Moreover, low available P recovered from intercropping system showed a strong correlation with higher nutrient uptake activity of soil microbes. Based on the results, our investigation concluded that intercropping system caused a positive effect on the growth of diazotrophic bacterial communities and it might boost the soil fertility and this kind of study helps to develop an eco-friendly technology for sustainable sugarcane production.

A critical discussion on the computation of the dispersion diagram in periodic one-dimensional guiding structures is carried out. In particular, an analysis is presented of the pros and cons of combined methods that make use of full-wave simulations done with commercial software packages with further analytical post-processing based on simplifications brought by an equivalent circuit model of the structure. Some of the most common methods reported in the literature are reviewed and their advantanges and limitations highlighted. Our discussion is complemented with several selected numerical examples in order to discuss the most relevant aspects that a potential user of these methods should be aware of. Special attention is paid to the relevant role played by the high-order coupling between the two halves of a symmetric unit cell of the periodic structure.

Novel high energy density materials N14 (1,6-dihydro-1,2,3,3a,4,5,5a,6,7,8,8a,9,10,10a-tetradecazapyrene) and N18 (1,2,2a,3,4,4a,5,6,6a,7,8,8a,9,10,10a,11,12a-octadecazacoronene) were designed, and their structures, detonation performance and stabilities were calculated employing density functional theory (DFT). Calculations reveals that they have a good balance between high energy and stability. Their energy gaps between LUMO and HOMO are all lower than that of TATB, while their impact sensitivity h_50% is estimated close to that of RDX. Concerning energy, detonation performance of the N14 (P = 43.6 GPa, D = 10040 m/s, Q = 2214 cal/g) and the N18 (P = 37.4 GPa, D = 9400 m/s, Q = 2114 cal/g) are comparable to CL-20.

Obesity and metabolic disorders can be risk factors for the onset and development of neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects on dysmetabolism and neurodegeneration of a natural dietary supplement (NDS), containing Curcuma longa, silymarin, guggul, chlorogenic acid and inulin, on the brains of high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. A decreased expression of FACL-4, CerS-1 and CerS-4, reduced cholesterol concentration, increased IR expression and insulin signaling activation, were found in brains of NDS-treated HFD mice, suggesting that NDS is able to prevent brain lipid accumulation and central insulin resistance. In the brains of NDS-treated HFD mice, the levels of RNS, ROS and lipid peroxidation, the expression of p-ERK, H-Oxy, i-NOS, HSP60, NF-kB, GFAP, IL-1β, IL-6, and CD4 positive cell infiltration were lower than in untreated HFD mice, suggesting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of NDS. The decreased expression of p-ERK and GFAP in NDS-treated HFD mice was confirmed by immunofluorescence. Lastly, a lower number of apoptotic nuclei was found in cortical sections of NDS-treated HFD. All these data indicate that NDS exerts neuroprotective effects in HFD mice by reducing brain fat accumulation, oxidative stress and inflammation and improving brain insulin resistance.

Rockburst is a hazardous phenomenon in deep tunnels influenced by geological structural planes like faults, joints, and shear planes. Small-scale shear-plane-like structures have damaging impact on the boundaries of the tunnel, which accumulate high stresses. Such a shear plane was exposed in the side wall of the right headrace tunnel in the Neelum-Jehlum Hydropower Project. This project is constructed in the tectonically active Himalayas with high stress conditions. A shear plane combined with high stress conditions is very dangerous in deep excavations. The influence of a shear zone on rockburst occurrence near a tunnel is studied. The FLAC3D explicit code simulated the shear zone in the right tunnel, revealing that the stresses are concentrated near the shear zone, with no stress concentration in the left tunnel, which has neither shear zone nor rockburst. Rock mass was displaced near this shear zone even before excavation. Modeling results confirm that the side wall shear zone of the tunnel has a major influence on rockburst occurrence. A shear slip along this plane released huge amounts of energy, causing human fatalities and property damage. A numerical simulation validates the actual conditions and helps us understand the phenomenon of stress concentration near the shear zone and its impact during deep tunneling.

Fibrillin (FBN) is a plastid lipid-associated protein found in photosynthetic organisms from cyanobacteria to plants. In this study, 10 CsaFBN genes were identified in genomic DNA sequences of cucumber (Chinese long and Gy14) through database searches using the conserved domain of FBN and the 14 FBN genes of Arabidopsis. Phylogenetic analysis of CsaFBN protein sequences showed that there was no counterpart of Arabidopsis and rice FBN5 in the cucumber genome. FBN5 is essential for growth in Arabidopsis and rice; its absence in cucumber may be because of incomplete genome sequences or that another FBN carries out its functions. Among the 10 CsaFBN genes, CsaFBN1 and CsaFBN9 were the most divergent in terms of nucleotide sequences. Most of the CsaFBN genes were expressed in the leaf, stem, and fruit. CsaFBN4 showed the highest mRNA expression levels in various tissues, followed by CsaFBN6, CsaFBN1, and CsaFBN9. High-light stress combined with low temperature decreased photosynthetic efficiency and highly induced transcript levels of CsaFBN1, CsaFBN6, and CsaFBN11, which decreased after 24 h treatment. Transcript levels of the other seven genes were changed only slightly. This result suggests that CsaFBN1, CsaFBN6, and CsaFBN11 may be involved in photoprotection under high-light conditions at low temperature.

The article reveals distinctive features of the interaction between architectural and structural solutions for the design of tall buildings as well as spotlights the most distinctive cases of expression. In the contemporary world, interaction is turning into the antithesis of the formerly dominant utilitarian attitude and standardization of tall buildings architectural solutions. Meanwhile, the search for rational structural solutions leads to new possibilities of architectural expression. This necessitates the transformation of a structural solution and its adaptation to the need of a modern architect to be exceptional and noticed. Interaction covers the current as well as retrospective and perspective periods. SWOT analysis was used by the authors of the article to assess the interaction between architectural and structural solutions in tall buildings design, select the most important criteria that could be used searching for rational architectural and structural solutions in future by applying multi-criteria decision making methods.

This paper analyses the viability of different solutions to passively augment the axial stiffness of a horizontal axis radial levitation passive magnetic bearing (PMB) with topology previously studied. The zero-field cooling (ZFC) of high-temperature superconductor (HTS) bulks promotes higher magnetic impulsion and levitation forces and lower electromagnetic losses than with the field-cooling (FC), but on the other hand, the guiding stability is much lower than with FC. Because of stability reasons, FC was adopted in most superconducting maglev systems. The trend of this research group has been to develop an HTS ZFC horizontal axis radial levitation PMB presenting notable levitation forces with reduced electromagnetic losses, defined by a topology that creates guiding stability. Previous work has shown that even optimizing the bearing geometry to maximize magnetic guidance forces, could not be enough to guarantee the axial stiffness required for many applications. First, the extent to which guidance forces are augmented by increasing the number of HTS bulks in the stator is evaluated. Then, the axial stiffness augmentation by passively adding two limiting permanent magnet (PM) rings is evaluated. Results show that the axial stiffness is highly augmented by adding limiting PM rings with no significant additional investment. This change enables using the studied ZFC superconducting PMB in high-precision axial stability applications, such as precision gyroscopes, horizontal axis propellers and turbines.

Today electricity is distributed to the individual users via physical Copper connections. From the power stations, the energy is transported through transmission lines where the electricity, sinusoidally modulated at a fixed frequency of about 50 Hz, is raised up to a voltage in a range approximately variating between 30, and 110 kV. When electrons, aligned at this voltage, pass through the transmission lines, they cause coherent vibrations, sometimes even audible in the acoustic frequencies. In the spectrum of movements to which electric cables are subjected, there are also unexpected and sporadic movements caused by winds and rain. The problem of carrying out persistent, precise and spatially distributed monitoring of transmission line health is to use a large number of sensors physically distributed everywhere and somehow transmit the results to a control station. The use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data could be a viable solution of persistent and wide-area high-voltage vibration monitoring. In this paper we produce a comprehensive survey on how to monitor both movements in terms of vibrational displacement, due to weathering, and those due to electricity transmission, normally fixed at about 50 Hz. The results demonstrate the technical feasibility of an operational use of SAR for these purposes in the very short term. This would allow the possibility of monitoring malfunctions such as black-outs or other frequency anomalies.

High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b continues to have a substantial impact on wildlife, globally. A recent study has described the putative detection of HPAI in clinically healthy penguins, and those which were fitted with satellite tags reportedly engaged in apparently normal foraging behaviour in the months following sample collection. Herein we investigate the diagnostic approach utilised, and reveal that while the authors likely did detect subtype H5 influenza A virus, the most parsimonious conclusion is that they detected low pathogenicity H5 rather than HPAI H5N1. In response, we have provided an overview key considerations when selecting a diagnostic and outline published diagnostic assays that should be considered for future studies.

Nanoporous materials, such as Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), are renowned for their high selectivity as gas adsorbents due to their specific surface area, nanoporosity, and active surface chemistry. A significant challenge for their widespread application is their behavior and reduced gas uptake in wet conditions, attributed to competitive adsorption between gas and water. The current understanding of gas adsorption in wet materials is constrained by studies that utilize only small amounts of powdered porous materials (in the milligram range) within very small reactors (1-5 mL). This leaves a significant gap in knowledge about gas adsorption behaviors in larger reactors and when MOF sample sizes are increased (to the gram scale) for scaling up the process. Additionally, there is a notable dearth of experimental research in situations where MOFs are heavily saturated with water. To address these gaps, this study measures CH4 adsorption in MOFs under conditions of high moisture content, using larger samples of MOFs (in grams) and a large volume reactor. We selected commercially available MOFs, including HKUST-1, ZIF-8, MOF-303, and activated carbon. A high-pressure isotherms (at T = 274.15 K) using volumetric approach were measured to qualitatively compare the moles of gas adsorbed under both dry and wet conditions across different MOFs and weights. Experimental results show that the presence of water led to a decrease in total CH4 mmol adsorption in MOFs, with a more significant decrease observed in hydrophilic MOFs compared to hydrophobic ones. For hydrophilic MOFs, presence of crossover isotherms at crossover pressure provided evidence of water's conversion to hydrate and its positive role in enhancing total gas uptake, which varied among different hydrophilic MOFs. Oversaturated MOFs showed a larger deviation between dry and wet cases at higher pressures. The high-pressure isotherm data confirm the positive role of hydrophilic MOFs in the conversion of water to hydrate in oversaturated MOFs when MOFs sample size is large.

We present a study of the radio variability of bright, $S_{1.4}\geq100$ mJy, high-redshift quasars at $z\geq3$ on timescales up to 30--40 years. The study involved simultaneous RATAN-600 measurements at frequencies of 2.3, 4.7, 8.2, 11.2, and 22.3 GHz in 2017--2020. In addition, data from the literature were used. We have found that the variability index $V_S$ of the quasars ranges from 0.02 to 0.96, with about half of the objects in the sample showing a variability index in the range of 0.25--0.50, which is comparable to that of the blazars at lower redshifts. The distribution of $V_S$ at 22.3 GHz is significantly different from that at 2.3--11.2 GHz, which may be attributed to the fact that a compact AGN core dominates at the source's rest frame frequencies greater than 45 GHz, leading to higher variability indices obtained at 22.3 GHz (the $V_S$ distribution peaks around 0.4) compared to the lower frequencies (the $V_S$ distribution peaks around 0.1--0.2). Several source groups with distinctive variability characteristics were found using cluster analysis of quasars. We propose 7 new candidates for gigahertz peaked-spectrum (GPS) sources and 5 new megahertz peaked-spectrum (MPS) sources based on their spectrum shape and variability features. Only 6 out of 23 sources previously reported as GPS demonstrate a low variability level typical of classical GPS sources ($V_{S} < 0.25$) at 4.7--22.3~GHz. When excluding the highly variable peaked-spectrum blazars, we expect no more than 20\% of the sources in the sample to be GPS candidates and no more than 10\% to be MPS candidates.

Most works related to the identification of mathematical nonlinear systems make one suppose that such approaches can always be directly applied to any nonlinear system. This misconception produces a great deal of discouragement when the obtained results are not the expected ones. Thus, the current work hypothesizes that the most information one has about the mathematical structure of the model, the most precise the identification result should be. Therefore, a variant of the Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamics (SINDY) approach is presented to obtain the full mathematical nonlinear model of a high-order system with coupled dynamics, namely, a commercial quadcopter. Furthermore, due to its high sensitivity to inputs, a control system is devised using the identified model to stabilize the quadcopter. This illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed identification method.

A novel process design for damage-free and highly accurate positional integration of an optical multi-axial force sensor into a hollow tube by means of rotary swaging is introduced. Numerical simulations reveal relevant process phenomena of thin disc joining inside a pre-toothed hollow tube and help to find an optimal process design. Experimental trials show a significant effect of axial material flow and the number of tools in a rotary swaging process. By taking these effects into account, a successful form- and force-fit joining of the sensor carrying discs into the tube can be achieved. A successful joining of an optical sensor for bending forces and torque measurement shows hysteresis-free sensory behavior and thus backlash-free joining of the sensor carrier discs. The paper finishes with presenting an approach for closed-loop position controlling during the joining process and numerically investigation of the process design.

Whole genome alignment (WGA) is a critical process in comparative genomics, facilitating the detection of genetic variants and aiding our understanding of evolution. This paper offers a detailed overview and categorization of WGA techniques, encompassing suffix tree-based, anchors-based, and graph-based methods. It elaborates on the algorithmic properties of these tools, focusing on performance and methodological aspects. The paper underscores the latest progress in WGA, emphasizing the increasing capacity to manage the growing intricacy and volume of genomic data. However, the field still grapples with computational and biological hurdles affecting the precision and speed of WGA. We explored these challenges and potential future solutions. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive resource for researchers, deepening our understanding of WGA tools and their applications, constraints, and prospects.

The performance analysis of the internal/external flows around a high speed vehicle in near-space is fundamental and critical to the configuration and structure design for high speed aircraft. In this paper, the two-dimensional coupled implicit Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver and RNG k–ε turbulence model is employed to numerically simulate the flow field of an integrated high speed vehicle. The flow field are divided three parts to solve separately and compared with that solved by integrated simulation. The flow field are decomposed to save computer storage and simulation time. The first part is inlet/isolator, the second part is combustion chamber and the third is nozzle. In the computation process, the outlet condition of isolator is endowed to the inlet boundary of combustion chamber and the outlet boundary of combustion chamber is endowed to the inlet boundary of nozzle, then the whole flow field of integrated high speed vehicle is solved. Aerodynamic characteristic of fragment-computation and integration-computation is comparatively analyzed at different angles of attack, the results show that the maximum deviation of lift coefficient obtained by fragment-computation is less than 3% compared with that by integration, the maximum deviation of drag coefficient fragment-computation is less than 5% compared with that by integration, while pitching moment coefficient deviation less than 12%. However, for simulation time-consumption, the time used by fragment-computation reduces 45% compared with integration-computation. Meanwhile, by components force analysis, it can be concluded that the aerodynamic property of inlet/isolator can been obtained separately and hardly effected by other parts.

The ratio between blade height and chord, named aspect ratio (AR), plays an important role in compressor aerodynamic design. Once selected, it influences stage performance, blade losses, and the stage stability margin. The choice of the design AR involves both aerodynamic and mechanical considerations, and a reasonable aim is frequently to achieve a desired operating range while maximizing efficiency. For a fixed set of aerodynamic and geometric parameters there will be an optimal choice in AR that achieves a maximum efficiency. However, for a state-of-the-art aero-engine design optimality means multi-objective optimality, that is reaching the highest possible efficiency for a number of operating points while achieving a sufficient stability margin. To this end, the influence of the AR on the performance of the first rotor row of a multistage multi-objective high-speed compressor design is analyzed. A careful setup of the high-speed aerodynamic design problem allows the effect of the AR to be isolated. Close to the optimal AR, only a modest efficiency variation is observed, but a considerable change in compressor stability margin (SM) is noted. Decreasing the AR allows for an increasing efficiency, but at the expense of a reduced surge margin. This allows the designer to trade efficiency for stability. Increasing the AR, however, is shown to reduce both surge margin and efficiency, hence a distinct optimality in stability is observed for the analyzed rotor blade row. In this work, the optimality in surge margin with respect to AR is observed whereas a close to optimal efficiency. The predicted range from AR=1.10 to AR=1.64, is only indicative, considering that the definition of a multi-objective optimality requires balancing efficiency and surge margin and that the choice of balancing these two criteria requires making a design choice along a pareto optimal front.

This study aimed to use biomineralization technology to improve the bond strength of fiber-reinforced lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) after exposure to temperatures of 300 °C and 500 °C. The specimens of a control group (Group A) and two experimental groups (Group B and Group C) were prepared. These specimens healed themselves in different ways after exposure to high temperatures and pull-out tests. The self-healing method of Group A involved placing the specimen into an incubator. The self-healing method of Group B was the same as that of Group A. The self-healing method of Group C involved immersing the specimen in a mixed solution of urea and calcium acetate for two days, then taking it out and placing it in an incubator for two days. A cycle of four days was undertaken until the desired age was reached. After the specimens were healed to the planned age, the first and secondary pull-out tests and repair compound identification were carried out. After exposure to a temperature of 300 °C and self-healing for 90 days, compared with the specimens in Group A, the relative bond strength ratios of the secondary pull-out tests of the specimens in Group C increased by 20.3%. This indicates that biomineralization can effectively improve the bond strength of LWAC after high-temperature damage.

In the broader landscape of cryptocurrency risk management, this study delves into the nuanced estimation of Value at Risk (VaR) for a uniformly weighted portfolio of cryptocurrencies, employing the bivariate Normal Inverse Gaussian distribution renowned for its semi-heavy tails. Utilizing high-frequency data spanning from January 1st, 2017, to October 25th, 2022, with a primary focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum, our research seeks to accentuate the resilience of VaR methodology as a paramount risk assessment tool. The essence of our investigation lies in advancing the comprehension of VaR accuracy by quantitatively comparing observed returns of both cryptocurrencies with their corresponding estimated values, with a central theme being the endorsement of the Normal Inverse Gaussian distribution as a potent model for risk measurement, particularly in the domain of high-frequency data. To bolster the statistical reliability of our results, we adopt a forward test methodology, showcasing not only a contribution to the evolution of risk assessment techniques in Finance but also underscoring the practicality of sophisticated distributional models in econometrics. Our findings not only contribute to the refinement of risk assessment methods but also highlight the applicability of such models in precisely modeling and forecasting financial risk within the dynamic realm of cryptocurrencies, epitomized by the case study of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Background: Oscillation and pulmonary expansion (OPE) therapy can decrease postoperative pulmonary complications in a general surgical population, but its effect after cardiac surgery has not been reported, to our knowledge. We hypothesized that using an OPE device after cardiac surgery before extubation would decrease pulmonary complications. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included adults undergoing elective open cardiac surgery at our institution from January 2018 through January 2019, who had an American Society of Anesthesiologists score of 3 or greater. For mechanically ventilated patients after cardiac surgery, a new OPE protocol was adopted July 1, 2019, comprising an initial 10-minute OPE treatment administered in-line with the ventilator circuit, then continued treatments for 48 hours after extubation. Severe postoperative respiratory complications (primary outcome measure) included need for antibiotics, increased supplemental oxygen use, and prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS). Demographic, clinical, and outcomes data were compared for patients before (usual care with postextubation hyperinflation) and after protocol implementation (OPE). Results: Of 104 patients, 54 patients received usual care, and 50 received OPE. Usual-care recipients had more men (74% vs 62%; P=.19) and were older (median, 70 vs 67 years; P=.009) than OPE recipients. The OPE group had a significantly shorter hospital LOS than the usual-care group (mean, 6.2 vs 7.4 days; P=.04). Other measures improved with OPE but did not reach significance: shorter ventilator duration (mean, 0.6 vs 1.1 days with usual care; P=.06) and shorter LOS in the intensive care unit (mean, 2.7 vs 3.4 days; P=.06). On multivariate analysis, intensive care unit LOS was significantly shorter for the OPE group (mean difference, 0.85 days; 95% CI, 1.65 to 0.06; P=.04). The OPE group had a lower percentage of postoperative complications (10% vs 20%). Conclusion: OPE therapy after cardiac surgery is associated with decreased ICU and hospital LOS.

We present a design of electrostatic comb driver to improve and investigate its actuation performance. The proposed electrostatic comb actuator (ECA) is composed of two set of interdigitated comb microstructures, the inner combs are fixed to form the fish-bone microstructures and the outer combs are movable and connected to crab-leg flexure beams microstructures. The ECA is investigated to optimize the actuation performance by changing the comb shape and the intersection angle of crab-leg flexure beams. The comb shapes are compared between the traditional rectangle shape and the trapezoid shape, while the intersection angles of crab-leg flexure beams are compared between 45°, 60°, and 90° on the influences of ECA displacement and stability characteristics. These parameters are investigated for their impacts on the dynamic comb displacement and driving voltage. Under the condition of a driving DC bias voltage of 100 volts, the ECA displacement is firstly increased and then gradually decreased by increasing the comb finger length. The maximum displacement of ECA with trapezoid comb is 47.2 μm while that of ECA with rectangle comb is 22.4 μm. By using trapezoid comb shape to replace the rectangle comb under the same conditions, the ECA displacement is improved 2-fold. To enhance the stability of ECA system, the intersection angle of 90˚ of crab-leg flexure beams shows highest stability that is great better than the intersection angle of 45° and 60° of crab-leg flexure beams by increasing the driving different DC bias voltage to 100 volts on ECA. The stability of the ECA with the intersection angle of 90° of crab-leg flexure beams is enhanced 1.1-fold and 1.4-fold compared to that of 45° and 60° of crab-leg flexure beams, respectively. This design provides an optimized approach to the electrostatic comb actuator that can be used expansively in the gyroscope, motion sensor, position sensor, imaging sensor, optical sensor, and so on.

We discuss how the interaction of electrons with an overdamped optical phonon can give rise to a strange-metal behavior over extended temperature and frequency ranges. Although the mode has a finite frequency, an increasing damping shifts spectral weight to progressively lower energies so that, despite the ultimate Fermi liquid character of the system at the lowest temperatures and frequencies, the transport and optical properties of the electron system mimic a marginal Fermi liquid behavior. Within this shrinking Fermi liquid scenario, we extensively investigate the electron self-energy in all frequency and temperature ranges, emphasizing similarities and differences with respect to the marginal Fermi liquid scenario.

Due to the lack of theoretical research on the amount of spatio-temporal information in the high-speed photography technologies, obtaining an optimized system with a best amount of spatio-temporal information remains a challenge, resulting in insufficient effective information and observation accuracy for ultrafast events. The paper presents an ultrafast raster imaging (URI) system with a large amount of spatio-temporal information based on the all-optical raster principle in single-shot. Specifically, we derive the optimal equation of spatial resolution and the expression for the maximum amount of spatio-temporal information that can achieve excellent performance for an URI system. It serves as a general guideline for getting a large amount of information design in the URI system. Compared to the existing URI systems, the advanced URI system exhibits an improvement of nearly 1 order of magnitude in the amount of spatio-temporal information, and more than twofold in spatial resolution. It shows a great potential for capturing intricate and non-repetitive ultrafast events on the femtosecond time scale.

New ways of generating energy are currently being discussed, with a transition from traditional primary sources to more environmentally friendly options, particularly renewables. Energy storage is also closely related to this transition. Battery storage currently dominates this area. However, flywheel energy storage system (FESS) technology offers an alternative that uses stored kinetic energy to be transformed into mechanical energy and, using a motor-generator, electrical energy. FESS technology is thus flexible and can be applied in different industrial applications. The management of the technology of recycling W-MMC waste material from other products and the subsequent trial production of high-strength W-MMC material with a density of more than 17 500 kg/m3 from recycled powders allowed to test the limits of the so-called "heavy" flywheels used in rotor production. Materials with densities ≥ 7 800 kg/m3, and operating at lower to medium speeds up to 20 000 rpm. The results achieved lead to the conclusion that the developed recycled materials of the W-MMC type with a density ≥ 17 500 kg/m3, with a yield strength of 1 200 - 1 700 MPa depending on the production method, can be used as a substitute for the structural steels used today, without an enforced reduction of the maximum allowed rotor speed due to exceeding the maximum allowed stress.

The processes of hydrogen reduction of silicon and germanium chlorides under the conditions of high-frequency (40.68 MHz) counteracted arc discharge stabilized between two rod electrodes are investigated. The main gas-phase and solid products of plasma-chemical transformations are determined. Thermodynamic analysis of SiCl4 + H2 and GeCl4 + H2 systems for optimal process parameters was carried out. Using the example of hydrogen reduction of SiCl4 by the method of numerical modeling, gas-dynamic and thermal processes for this type of discharge are investigated. The impurity composition of gas-phase and solid reaction products is investigated. The possibility of single-stage production of high-purity Si and Ge mainly in the form of compact ingots, as well as high-purity chlorosilanes and trichlorogermane, is shown.

Implementing High-Performance Computing to solve In-Memory Data Grid (IMDG)-based energy infrastructure resilience research problems in a heterogeneous environment presents a challenge to workflow management systems. Large-scale energy infrastructure needs multi-variant planning and tools to allocate and dispatch resources in IMDG taking into account the subject domain specificity, resource characteristics, and constraints and quotas for resource use. To that end, we propose a workflow management system using our Orlando Tools framework. To scale computing resources, we provide their integration and use corresponding software to determine key application parameters that can significantly impact the processed data size and the required number of allocated resources. We automated the IMDG cluster launch for the workflow executions. To demonstrate the advantage of our solution, we apply it to evaluate the resilience of the existing energy infrastructure model. Compared to similar approaches, our approach explores large infrastructures by modeling many simultaneously failed elements of different types up to the number of network elements. In terms of problem-solving efficiency and resource use, we achieve near-linear speedup with increasing the number of nodes of each resource.

Machinery degradation assessment can offer meaningful prognosis and health management in-formation. Although numerous machine prediction models based on artificial intelligence have emerged in recent years, they still face a series of challenges: (1) Many models continue to rely on manual feature extraction. (2) Deep learning models still struggle with long sequence prediction tasks. (3) Health indicators are inefficient for remaining useful life (RUL) prediction with cross-operational environments when dealing with high-dimensional datasets as inputs. This research proposes a health indicator construction methodology based on a transformer self-attention transfer network (TSTN). This methodology can directly deal with the high-dimensional raw dataset and keep all the information without missing when the signals are taken as the input of the diagnosis and prognosis model. First, we design an encoder with a long-term and short-term self-attention mechanism to capture crucial time-varying information from a high-dimensional dataset. Second, we propose an estimator that can map the embedding from the encoder output to the estimated degradation trends. Then, we present a domain dis-criminator to extract invariant features from different machine operating conditions. The case studies with the FEMTO-ST bearing dataset and the Monte Carlo method for RUL prediction during the degradation process are conducted. The experiment results fully exhibited the signif-icant advantages of the proposed method compared to other state-of-the-art techniques.

Selecting drought-tolerant and more water-efficient wheat genotypes is a research priority, spe-cifically in regions with irregular rainfall or areas where climate change is expected to result in reduced water availability. The objective of this work was to use high-throughput measurements with morphophysiological traits to characterize wheat genotypes in relation to water stress. Field experiments were conducted from May to September 2018 and 2019, using a sprinkler bar irriga-tion system to control water availability to eighteen wheat genotypes: BRS 254; BRS 264; CPAC 01019; CPAC 01047; CPAC 07258; CPAC 08318; CPAC 9110; BRS 394 (irrigated biotypes) and Aliança; BR 18_Terena; BRS 404; MGS Brilhante; PF 020037; PF 020062; PF 120337; PF 100368; PF 080492; TBIO Sintonia (rainfed biotypes). The water regimes varied from 22 to 100% of the crop evapotranspiration replacement. Water stress negatively affected gas exchange, vegetation indices and grain yield. High throughput variables TCARI, NDVI, OSAVI, SAVI, PRI, NDRE and GNDVI had higher correlation with yield and morphophysiological measurements. The drought re-sistance index indicated that genotypes Aliança BRS 254, BRS 404, CPAC 01019, PF 020062, and PF 080492 were more drought tolerant.

The valley pseudospin properties of electrons in two–dimensional hexagonal materials result in lots of fascinating physical phenomena, which opens up the new field of valleytronics. The valley-contrasting physics aims at distinguishing the valley degree of freedom based on valley–dependent effects. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that both of the valley–selective high harmonic generation and valley–selective electronic excitation can be achieved by using an orthogonal two–color (OTC) laser field in gapped graphene. It is shown that the asymmetry degrees of harmonic yields in the plateaus, cutoff energies of generated harmonics and electron populations from two different valleys can be precisely controlled by the relative phase of the OTC laser field. Thus the selectivity of the dominant valley for the harmonic radiation and electronic polarization can be switched by adjusting the relative phase of the OTC laser field. Our work offers an all–optical route to produce the valley–resolved high harmonic emissions and manipulate the ultrafast valley polarization on a femtosecond timescale in condensed matter.

Mycoviruses are widespread across the major taxa of fungi including yeasts. Mycoviruses in the yeast fungus Geotrichum candidum are not well studied with three G. candidum-associated viral species characterized to date, all of which belong to the Totiviridae genus Totivirus. In this study, we report the molecular characteristics of another two totiviruses co-infecting isolate Gc6 of G. candidum. The two totiviruses were tentatively named Geotrichum candidum totivirus 2 (GcTV2-Gc6) and GcTV4-Gc6). Both viruses have typical genome organization of totiviruses comprising two ORFs encoding capsid protein (CP) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) at the N and C termini, respectively. Genomes of GcTV2-Gc6 and GcTV4-Gc6 are 4592 and 4530 bp long, respectively. Both viruses contain the -1 frameshifting elements and their proteins could be expressed as a single fusion protein. GcTV2-Gc6 is closely related to a totivirus isolated from the same host whereas GcTV4-Gc6 is related to insect-associated totiviruses. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that GcTV2-Gc6 and GcTV4-Gc6 belong to two different sister clades, I-A and I-B, respectively. It is interesting that all viruses identified from G. candidum belong to the genus Totivirus. It is possible that the RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism is not active to suppress totivirus accumulation in isolate Gc6.

Understanding the thermal cracks of rock caused by high temperature is of great help to the development of underground engineering, such as geothermal mining, underground coal gasification. Although there has been many study on thermal cracking, it is not systematic and in-depth enough. In order to deeply study the thermal crack mechanism of rock, this paper conducted thermal cracking experiments on granite at different temperatures and heating/cooling paths, and qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted on the crack initiation characteristics, propagation paths, and crack network morphology of rock thermal crack under different test conditions. The thermal crack mechanism was also analyzed from the perspectives of mineral petrology, fracture mechanics, thermodynamics, and other aspects. The research results show that there are two obvious mutation points in the study temperature range for samples with fast cooling paths (SF path: slow heating and fast cooling; FF path: fast heating and fast cooling), around 200-300 ℃ and 600 ℃, respectively, while for samples with slow cooling paths (SS path: slow heating and slow cooling; FS path: fast heating and slow cooling), there is only one mutation point around 600 ℃. The initiation positions of thermal cracking under all temperature paths are relatively similar, with intergranular crack located between particles at the edge of the sample or intercrystalline crack in the middle of feldspar or quartz aggregates. The initiation temperature of SF and FF path specimens is relatively low compared to SS and FS path specimens, and the number and size of cracks is small. The crack network structure formed by the SF path is the most complex, with the largest crack ratio and cumulative crack length; The crack network structure formed by the FF path is relatively complex, with a larger main crack size but relatively fewer secondary cracks; The FS and SS paths do not form a complex network with good connectivity. The process of thermal crack development can be divided into three stages: the development of small cracks, the joint development of main cracks and small cracks, and the connection of cracks into a network structure. The mechanism of thermal crack propagation is that the expansion and thermal conductivity between different crystals are different. The thermal stress caused by temperature gradient and the tension or shear stress caused by the inconsistent deformation of crystals form stress concentration in weak areas such as particles boundary, cleavage, and original cracks. Firstly, it causes some crystals with smaller strength or less rounded shape to crack, and when the combined stress is large, the cracks will gradually expand along the existing fine cracks. This also explains that the most main cracks of the SF and FF path specimens mainly surround some large mineral aggregates or between particles.

The study of velocimetry is important for characterizing and comprehending the effects of fluid flow, and the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique is one of the primary approaches for understanding the velocity vector field in a test section. Commercial PIV systems are expensive, with one of the main cost factors being high-speed camera equipment capable of capturing images at high frames per second (fps), rendering them impractical for many applications. This study proposes an evaluation of utilizing smartphones as image acquisition systems for PIV technique application. An experimental setup inspired by the known angular displacement of synthetic particles is proposed. A stepper motor rotates a plate containing an image of synthetic particles on its surface. The motion of the plate is captured by the smartphone camera, and the images are processed using PIVlab-MatLab® software. The use of two smartphones is assessed, with acquisition rates of either 240 fps or 960 fps and varying angular velocities. The results were satisfactory for velocities up to 0.7 m/s at an acquisition rate of 240 fps and up to 1.8 m/s at 960 fps, validating the use of smartphones as a cost-effective alternative for the PIV technique.

In this paper, a robust nonlinear dynamic controller is designed for a wind turbine with a permanent magnet synchronous generator. The wind turbine is subject to variations in all the parameters appearing in its mathematical model. Furthermore, the wind velocity is considered unavailable for direct measurement. This situation is of particular interest in practical applications, where only the nominal parameter values are known, and accurate wind velocity measurement is challenging due to perturbations caused by the turbine itself, even with appropriate sensors. The problem addressed in this work involves tracking the reference angular velocity corresponding to the wind velocity. To achieve accurate tracking, appropriate compensation of the perturbation terms resulting from parameter uncertainties and wind estimation errors is required. To address this problem, an estimator of the wind velocity is utilized, along with high–order sliding mode parameter estimators, to ensure high–performance operation of the turbine.

An experimental platform for laser-driven ion (sub-MeV) acceleration and potential applications was recently commissioned at the HiLASE laser facility. The auxiliary beam of the Bivoj laser system operating at GW peak power (~10 J in 5-10 ns) and 1-10 Hz repetition rate enabled a sta-ble production of high-current ion beams of multiple species (Al, Ti, Fe, Si, Cu, Sn). The pro-duced laser-plasma ion sources were fully characterized against the laser intensity on target (1013-1015 W/cm2) by varying the laser energy, focal spot size, and pulse duration. This al-lowed to provide accurate scaling laws of the maximum ion energy for the different target ma-terials investigated. Such experimental scaling laws are presented for the first time in the inves-tigated laser intensity range and for ns-class laser pulses, and allow to provide a qualitative in-terpretation of the laser-plasma interaction underpinning physics, thus to tune the main features of the accelerated ion beams (energy, temperature, and current). Such a detailed study was facil-itated by the large amount of data acquired at high repetition rate (1-10 Hz) provided by the Bivoj laser system. The versatility and tuneability of such high-repetition-rate laser-plasma ion sources are of po-tential interest for multidisciplinary user applications.

Cervical cancer is the most common female reproductive tract tumor and is currently the only cancer that can be prevented by vaccination. Early detection and treatment of cervical cancer can be achieved through regular screening for human papillomavirus (HPV). Therefore, in this paper, an electrochemical sensor was designed to detect HPV 16 using a dual signal amplification technique. APTES modified glassy carbon electrode to improve stability. Combining gold nanoparticles and chain amplification reactions for signal amplification purposes. The limit of detection (LOD) was 1.731×10-16 mol/L, and the detection range of this electrochemical sensor was increased in comparison to previous research, with a linear response range from 1.0×10-13 mol/L to 1.0×10-5 mol/L (R2 = 0.99232) for the target detector.In addition, the sensor showed equally good recovery in sophisticated human serum samples. It shows that it has good interference resistance and the designed biosensor can be a powerful and reliable tool for clinical disease diagnosis.

A conventionally cast CoNiFeMn0.5Cr1.5 alloy and two versions with 0.25C&amp;3.7Ta or 0.25C&amp;3.7Hf were tested in oxidation at 1000°C for 50h with thermogravimetric recording of the oxidation kinetic. In all cases the obtained mass gain curves are parabolic. Their parabolic constants are much lower than the Kp previously determined for the original alloys with an equimolar base (CoNiFeMnCr). However, the post–mortem exploitation of the oxidized samples revealed analogous oxidation features on surface and subsurface, with here too external oxide strata on surface with different Mn and Cr contents, and rather great Mn–depletion in addition to a moderate Cr–depletion, in subsurface. Globally, the oxidation behavior is significantly better than earlier observed for the equimolar version of these alloys.

We consider new insights into the origin and nature of pointer states and their role in wave function collapse in macroscopic quantum coherence. The work includes new theory of quantum coherence underpinned by turbulence, generated by a field of pointer states in the form of recirculating vortices (toroids), interconnected via a vortex cascade. Decoherence occurs when the interconnected field of vortices between pointer states is disrupted by external forces, leading to their localisation. The applicability of this work is considered in addressing unresolved questions in high temperature superconductivity and macroscopic quantum processes in biological systems. We also consider its implications for our understanding of intrinsic spin and pointer states within the standard "point source" representation of a quantum particle, which intuitively requires a more complexed description.

Nowadays, with the development of laser weapons, the primary power supply of laser weapons puts forward more and more high demand for its performance. The pulsed power supply based on conventional homopolar inductor alternator (HIA) cannot meet the requirements any more. In order to improve the power density and efficiency, this paper proposes applying the high-temperature superconducting (HTS) HIA with slotless stator core to this power supply. In this paper, the design considerations of it are presented, and the comparisons between the two power supplies are discussed. The calculation results show that the power supply based on HTS machine has much larger power density than the conventional HIA, and the efficiency is also larger than the conventional HIA. This can improve the performance of laser weapons dramatically.

Kampus Mengajar is a teaching and learning activity in schools as part of the independent campus learning policy (MBKM) initiated by Nadiem Anwar Makarim, B.A., M.B.A. as Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia. This article aims to find out the teaching campus, a form of direct student service in the world of education? This article is a qualitative descriptive with a literature study. The result of this article is that all work program designs that have been prepared together can be implemented well at SMP Dhaniswara Surabaya and get quite satisfactory results.

Global warming causes an alarming increase in temperature which negatively affects growth, physiology, and yield of rice. To gain some insights into the impacts of booting HT (at 42°C, 3 h for 7 days), we investigated its effect in three rice genotypes, namely, N22, KDML105 and IR64. Booting HT caused an extended phenology and lower photosynthesis and plant growth rate but an increase in chalkiness. Although, prolonged phenology from dough to physiological maturity led to longer duration of grain filling, the negative effects of its was significantly lower yield components, yield and harvest index in all rice. Among cultivars, N22 presented adapted ability to maintain leaf gas exchange and compensated vegetative part by an increase in tiller numbers resulting in less affected growth rate. It prolonged phenology that caused extended grain filling. Consequence, N22 was the lowest reduction in number of seed panicle^–1, number of filled seeds hill^–1, yield, HI as well as the lowest percentage chalkiness. KDML105 adapted to booting HT by maintaining leaf gas exchange, increasing specific leaf area and prolonging phenology. The longest extended phenology together with the maintenance of high photosynthesis during dough grain were associated with moderate yield reduction and chalkiness. However, IR64 showed dramatic reductions in photosynthesis, growth rate, and yield but highest percentage grain chalkiness. Therefore, in response to booting HT, N22, KDML105 and IR64 could be indicated as being heat tolerant, moderately heat sensitive, and heat sensitive, respectively. This can be applied for crop modelling and rice heat tolerance in breeding program.

This work reports the first nanocrystalline SnON (7.6 % Nitrogen content) n-type nanosheet Field-Effect Transistor (nFET) with transistor’s effective mobility (µeff) as high as 357 and 325 cm2/V-s at electron density (Qe) of 5×1012 cm-2 and ultra-thin body thickness (Tbody) of 7 and 5 nm, respectively. At the same Tbody and Qe, these µeff values are significantly higher than single crystalline Si, InGaAs, thin-body Si-on-Insulator (SOI), two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 and WS2. New discovery of slower µeff decay rate at high Qe than SiO2/bulk-Si universal curve was found, owing to one order of magnitude lower effective field (Eeff) by more than 10 times higher dielectric constant () in channel material, which keeps the electron wave-function away from the gate-oxide/semiconductor interface and lowers the gate-oxide surface scattering. In addition, the high µeff is also due to the overlapped large radius s-orbitals, low 0.29 mo effective mass (me*) and low polar optical phonon scattering. SnON nFETs with record-breaking µeff and quasi-2D thickness enable potential monolithic three-dimensional (3D) integrated circuit (IC) and embedded memory for 3D biological brain-mimicking structures.

Greenery-covered towers are a new generation of tall buildings characterized by substantial integration of vegetation. They aim to improve the quality of urban life by reducing air pollution, enhancing biodiversity, creating microclimates, and providing aesthetic and psychological benefits. This paper examines the innovative design approaches of greenery-covered towers, drawing on examples from different countries and contexts. It analyzes the technical, environmental, social, and economic aspects of these projects, as well as the challenges and opportunities they pose for the future of sustainable architecture. The paper concludes that greenery-covered towers should be further developed and refined to become a potential solution for addressing dense cities’ environmental and health issues.

Background: Children with anorectal malformation (ARM) require long-term follow-up, especially for fecal continence and main predictors of longer-term success are the type of ARM, associated anomalies and sacral integrity. Three-Dimensional High Resolution Anorectal Manometry (3D-HRAM) provides an image of the pressure profile of anal sphincter complex. Aim of study was to evaluate the anal sphincter function in ARM patients with 3D HRAM correlating this analysis to clinical outcome and to associated malformations. Methods: Forty ARM patients, were submitted to 3D HRAM: manometric, anatomical and clinical score were correlated to response to bowel management (BM). Results: A positive correlation between all scores and type of ARM was found: in high ARM and in patients with spinal anomalies (regardless to ARM type) lower scores were reported and even after BM they do not achieve good continence. Conclusions: 3D-HRAM provides information on the functional anatomy of the sphincter complex. Our study shows good correlation between the manometric results and clinical outcome, confirming spinal malformations and ARM type as most important prognostic risk factors for poor outcome. Specific sphincteric defects can be explored with manometry, allowing for tailored bowel management strategies.

This paper presents a novel high-power rotary waveguide phase shifter based on circular polarizers specifically engineered for high-power microwave (HPM) applications. The phase shifter is capable of performing a precise 360° linear phase shift through rotation and consists of three parts: a linear polarized to left-handed circular polarized (LP-LHCP) mode converter, a left-handed to right-handed circular polarized (LH-RHCP) mode converter, and a linear polarized to right-handed circular polarized (LP-RHCP) mode converter. The paper analyzes the phase shifting principle, optimizes the three parts of the X-band rotary waveguide phase shifter, and conducts simulation studies on the entire phase shifter made of aluminum. The results show that the reflection is less than -20dB and the transmission efficiency is over 95% within 9.5GHz to 10.2GHz. The phase shift has a linear relationship with the rotation angle by a factor of two within this frequency range. Specifically, the phase shifter can achieve a linear phase shift of 360° when rotated from 0° to 180°, with a maximum deviation of less than 1.2°. Moreover, the power-handling capacity of the phase shifter in vacuum exceeds 242mW.

Ultra-short laser pulses (1030 nm/230 fs) were used to laser ablate surface of crystalline sapphire. Laser ablated patterns were annealed at high temperature 1500∘C. Surface reconstruction took place removing ablation debris field at the edges of ablated pits in oxygen flow. Partial reconstruction of ripples was also observed.

The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in childhood obesity, and diet is a dominating driver. The effects of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), as a dietary fiber, on the composition and metabolism of gut microbiota in healthy children was investigated by vitro fermentation system with a reformative YCFA medium (rich in tryptic hydrolysates of meat). The 16S rRNA sequencing technology was utilized to analyze the varieties of gut microbiota. Measurement of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and gases were used by the gas chromatograph. Majorbio Cloud Platform and MetOrigin, as the interactive cloud server, perform the microbiota analysis, the metabolic pathway enrichment analysis, the statistical correlations, and biological relationships using network visualization. We found that the FOS group significantly regulated the composition and metabolism of gut microbiota. The co-metabolism network showed that 3 metabolites were related to 6 differential bacteria and 8 metabolism pathways. These findings suggest that dietary fiber could regulate the composition of gut microbiota and its metabolites in a better direction, but when dietary fiber participates in precision nutrition formula, it may be relevant for precision obesity, may help identify windows of opportunity for the dietary intervention of childhood obesity.

The quality of underground space information has become a major problem that endangers the safety of underground spaces. Currently, the main methods for the high-precision and long-distance transmission of detection information are radar and optical methods. However, in practical applications, we found that the radar method has the shortcomings of large energy loss and poor anti-jamming ability, which limit the accuracy of information data transmission and distance. The optical method has the shortcomings that the weather has a great impact on its accuracy and can only be applied to static objects above ground; therefore, it has the limitation of application objects and use environment. More importantly, the current high-precision information remote detection methods are limited to the detection of overground space objects and are not applicable to the detection of various information data in underground space. In this study, we analyze the spectral properties of the fractional differential operator and find that it is suitable for studying non-linear, non-causal, and non-stationary signals. The theory of fractional calculus is applied to the field of data processing, and a mathematical model of remote transmission and high-precision detection of information based on fractional difference is established, which realizes the functions of high-precision and remote detection of information. By fusing the information data to detect the mathematical model over a long distance and with high accuracy, a mathematical model for stratum data processing used to provide long-distance and high-accuracy data was established. Through application in engineering practice, the effectiveness of this method for underground space information data detection was verified.

This exploratory study examined the impacts of COVID-19 and emerging challenges and opportunities from aviation recovery. Using archival and secondary data analysis, the study found that there are several challenges to aviation recovery chief among them are labour challenges and extreme weather events, which have been responsible for traffic disruptions in major aviation markets such as Europe and the USA. Other emerging challenges include high debt, inflation, interest rates, fuel, cost of labour, and general operational costs. The study recommends several interventions to address the sector’s challenges, including adopting risk disaster preparedness and management to foster sustainability.

This paper proposes an encryption scheme for high pixel density images. Based on the application of the quantum random walk algorithm, the Long short-term memory (LSTM) can effectively solve the problem of low efficiency of the quantum random walk algorithm in generating large-scale pseudorandom matrices, and further improve the statistical properties of the pseudorandom matrices required for encryption. The LSTM is then divided into columns and fed into the LSTM in order for training. Due to the randomness of the input matrix, the LSTM cannot be trained effectively, so the output matrix is predicted to be highly random. The LSTM prediction matrix of the same size as the key matrix is generated based on the pixel density of the image to be encrypted, which can effectively complete the encryption of the image. In the statistical performance test, the proposed encryption scheme achieves an average information entropy of 7.9992, an average number of pixels changed rate (NPCR) of 99.6231%, an average uniform average change intensity (UACI) of 33.6029% and an average correlation of 0.0032. Finally, various noise simulation tests are also conducted to verify its robustness in real-world applications where common noise and attack interference are encountered.

A large number of studies have concluded that since housing pressure will affect the mobility of highly skilled young migrants (HSYM) in Chinese cities and regions, it is necessary to apply corresponding housing policies to adjust housing unaffordability for HYSM. This study uses a survey data conducted in China's Zhejiang Province of China, where specific policies have been implemented to attract talent and found that housing does crowds out the HSYM from a city, but the HSYM who have a master's degree or above or who work in government organizations or state-owned enterprises are more tolerant of housing unaffordability. The unmarried or those staying in the city for a long period are less tolerant of housing unaffordability. Meanwhile, there are the heterogeneous impacts of factors on the HSYM's tolerance for housing unaffordability across cities of different levels. Therefore, housing policies should highlight urban differences and intra-group differences.

In this paper a high-power and propellant-free electromagnetic propulsion is proposed based on the General Relativity and nuclear fusion technology. We find that Riemann curvature vanish and geodesic motion is free from gravitational field locally in a special space-time, which demonstrates the feasibility of propellant-free electromagnetic propulsion. To achieve high-power propulsion in Schwarzschild background, we choose current loop as axisymmetric field source and obtain exact solution of Einstein-Maxwell field equation using Killing symmetry and Ernst generation technique. An implementation with superconductor shield is given according to the Meissner effect, calculation implies that the device can be sufficiently free from gravitational field with the aid of existing nuclear fusion engineering.

(1) Background: High blood pressure is one of the symptoms of stroke, the Self Care Deficit theory by Dorothea Orem focuses on a person's ability to care for himself independently so that the ability to maintain his health and well-being is achieved. There are currently 600 million hypertensive patients worldwide, of which 3 million die every year. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to a 7-fold increase in the chances of stroke. The existence of this condition can be minimized in patients through several innovative interventions, one of which is foot massage. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of stretching and foot massage with lavender oil in stabilizing high blood pressure in stroke patients.(2) Methods: The method used in this research is descriptive. The subjects of this case study were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the journal Evidence-Based. Subjects included intervention patients and control patients. Foot massage therapy with lavender oil is done 2 times a day for 10-15 minutes using the effleurage technique after showering in the morning and evening. Stretching is done 2 times a day every 10-15 minutes.(3) Results: The results of the analysis showed that there was a change in blood pressure after the application of stretching and foot massage with lavender oil. From the initial examination, the results showed that the blood pressure of 170/100 mmHg decreased to 140/90 mmHg and the pain scale decreased from 4 to 0.

Many studies in the field of robot navigation have focused on environment representation and localization. The goal of map representation is to summarize spatial information in topological and geometrical abstracts. By providing strong priors, maps improve the performance and reliability of automated robots. Due to the transition to fully automated driving in recent years, there has been a constant effort to design methods and technologies to improve the precision of road participants and the environment's information. Among these efforts is the High Definition (HD) Map concept. Making HD maps requires accuracy, completeness, verifiability, and extensibility. Because of the complexity of HD mapping, it is currently expensive and difficult to implement, particularly in an urban environment. In an urban traffic system, the road model is at least a map with sets of roads, lanes, and lane markers. While more research is being dedicated to mapping and localization, a comprehensive review of the various types of map representation is still required. This paper presents a brief overview of map representation, followed by a detailed literature review of HD Map for automated vehicles. The current state of AV mapping is encouraging, the field has matured to a point where detailed maps of complex environments are built in real-time and have been proved useful. Many existing techniques are robust to noise and can cope with a large range of environments. Nevertheless, there are still open problems for future research. AV mapping will continue to be a highly active research area essential to the goal of achieving full autonomy.

Genomics involving tens of thousands of genes is a complex system determining phenotype. An interesting and vital issue is that how to integrate highly sparse genetic genomics data with a mass of minor effects into prediction model for improving prediction power. We find that deep learning method can work well to extract features by transforming highly sparse dichotomous data to lower dimensional continuous data in a non-linear way. This idea may provide benefits in risk prediction based on genome-wide data associated e.g. integrating most of the information in the genotype data. Hence, we developed a multi-stage strategy to extract information from highly sparse binary genotype data and applied it for risk prediction. Specifically, we first reduced the number of biomarkers via a univariable regression model to a moderate size. Then a trainable auto-encoder was used to extract compact representations from the reduced data. Next, we performed a LASSO problem process over a grid of tuning parameter values to select the optimal combination of extracted features. Finally, we applied such feature combination to two prognostic models, and evaluated predictive effect of the models. The results of simulation studies and real data applying indicated that these highly compressed transformation features could better improve predictive performance and did not easily lead to over-fitting.

We present here a five hours experimentation of a didactical path about the electromagnetic induction addressed to students of the last year of an Italian scientific high school and oriented to better understand the physical origin of the induced electromotive force. The expression of the induced electromotive force as the sum of the term linked to the time variation of the magnetic field and of the motional one has been obtained in a detailed way, still suitable for presentation at high school. Many examples have been proposed to the students in order to clarify the conceptual physical knots. The students’ responses to a 6-questions multiple choice questionnaire have been analyzed. It emerged that our approach is concretely feasible although we find the well-known difficulties in calculating flux and circulation of a vector field. Furthermore, it emerged that an integral approach to the problem masks the understanding of the nature of the forces acting locally on the charges. Hence our proposal of a “redefinition” of the induced electric field in terms of the magnetic vector potential is also presented.

Directed energy deposition (DED) is an efficient method to fabricate functionally graded materials (FGMs) with gradient composition and complex structures, allowing for local tailoring of properties instead of the costly need for extraneous welds and joints. In this study, a FGM from stainless steel to Inconel alloy was successfully fabricated using the powder-based laser DED. A very refined grain structure has been observed in at the composition with 75 wt.% Inconel alloy content, which also exhibits the highest (entropy). For the first time, the post heat treatments, microstructure and aging precipitation behaviors of FGMs were systematically studied via experimental characterization and computation, to elucidate their effects on the gradient smoothing and mechanical properties. The diffusion and segregation of Ni, Nb and Ti elements underly the transformation mechanism between Laves, δ, γ’ and γ’’ phases during precipitation. Homogenization on FGMs not only eliminates the heterogeneity inherited from the AM process, but also provides a practical way to smoothen the gradient on composition and microstructure for the eventual good gradient properties. It has a direct influence on the following precipitation behaviors in the FGM, which highly relies on the diffusion degree of the elements in the matrix and grain boundaries. The high-throughput thermodynamic modeling and kinetic modeling were exploited to evaluate the experimental microstructure and address computational uncertainty using different thermodynamic conditions and databases, which enables an accelerated design through local tailoring of process-structure-property relationships to develop new functional materials.

The ridge line of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSHRL) plays an important role in determining the shift of the summer rain belt in eastern China. In this study, we developed a forecast system for the June WPSHRL index based on the latest autumn and winter sea surface temperature (SST). Considering the adverse condition of the small observed sample size, a very simple neural network (NN) model was selected to extract the non-linear relationship between input predictors (SST) and target predictands (WPSHRL) in the forecast system. In addition, some techniques are used to deal with the adverse condition, enhance the stabilization of forecast skills, and analyze the interpretability of the forecast system. The forecast experiments show that the linear correlation coefficient between the predictions from the forecast system and their corresponding observations is around 0.6, and about three-fifths of the observed abnormal years (the years with an obviously high or low WPSHRL index) are successfully predicted. Furthermore, sensitivity experiments show that the forecast system is relatively stable in terms of forecast skill. The above evaluations suggest that the forecast system is valuable in a real application sense.

In this study, we propose a solution process for realizing color glass for building integrated pho-tovoltaic (BIPV) systems by spin coating a color solution composed of a pearlescent pigment mixed in a norland optical adhesive (NOA) matrix. Color solutions are made from mixing pearlescent pigments in NOA63. Compared to a physical vapor deposition process, color coatings are achieved by spin coating in a relatively simple and inexpensive process at room temperature. The optical properties can be easily controlled by adjusting the spin coating speed and the concentra-tion of the pearlescent pigments. The produced color glasses achieved a high transmittance of 85% or more in the visible wavelength range, except the wavelength spectrum exhibiting the maxi-mum reflectance. In addition, we propose a one-step lamination process of color glass on a solar cell by leveraging on the adhesive property of the NOA matrix. This eliminates the cost and pro-cess of additional ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) layer or other materials used in the conventional lamination process. The color glass produced through this study has stability that does not change its properties over time. Therefore, it is expected to be applied to the BIPV solar module market where aesthetics and energy efficiency are required.

Phenotypical screening is a widely used approach in drug discovery for the identification of small molecules with cellular activities. However, functional annotation of identified hits often poses a challenge. The development of small molecules with narrow or exclusive target selectivity such as chemical probes and chemogenomic (CG) libraries, greatly diminishes this challenge, but non-specific effects caused by compound toxicity or interference with basic cellular functions still poses a problem to associate phenotypic readouts with molecular targets. Hence, each compound should ideally be comprehensively characterized regarding its effects on general cell functions. Here, we report an optimized live-cell multiplexed assay that classifies cells based on nuclear morphology, presenting an excellent indicator for cellular responses such as early apoptosis and necrosis. This basic readout in combination with the detection of other general cell damaging activities of small molecules such as changes in cytoskeletal morphology, cell cycle and mitochondrial health provides a comprehensive time-dependent characterization of the effect of small molecules on cellular health in a single experiment. The developed high-content assay offers multi-dimensional comprehensive characterization that can be used to delineate generic effects regarding cell functions and cell viability, allowing an assessment of compound suitability for subsequent detailed phenotypic and mechanistic studies.

Vocational interest inventories are widely used by career counselors to help individuals to make career choices. The most common approach to assess vocational interests is based on verbal or textual stimuli. However, some of them are based on pictorials to overcome reading limits and provide additional information about the working environment and the activities related to a particular job. This article aims to present two studies on the development and first validation of the Multilingual Iconographic Professional Interest Inventory (MIPII) on two samples, one composed of 792 high-school students, and one composed of 366 middle school students. The inventory aimed to assesses the vocational interests of people over 19 areas by illustrations representing 95 jobs, five for each one, combined with their title in six different languages (Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French and Italian in this order). Both illustrations and titles are provided separately in the male and female version on the same page.

Currently available nationwide prediction models for fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) lack prediction confidence intervals and usually do not describe cross validated model performance at different spatiotemporal resolutions and extents. We used 41 different spatiotemporal predictors, including data on land use, meteorology, aerosol optical density, emissions, wildfires, population, traffic, and spatiotemporal indicators to train a machine learning model to predict daily averages of PM_2.5 concentrations at 0.75 sq km resolution across the contiguous United States from 2000 through 2020. We utilized a generalized random forest model that allowed us to generate asymptotically-valid prediction confidence intervals and took advantage of its usefulness as an ensemble learner to quickly and cheaply characterize leave-one-location-out CV model performance for different temporal resolutions and geographic regions. Using a variable importance metric, we selected 8 predictors that were able to accurately predict daily PM_2.5, with an overall leave-one-location-out cross validated median absolute error of 1.20 ug/m³, an R² of 0.84, and confidence interval coverage fraction of 95%. When considering aggregated temporal windows, the model achieved leave-one-location-out cross validated median absolute errors of 0.99, 0.76, 0.63, and 0.60 ug/m³ for weekly, monthly, annual, and all-time exposure assessments, respectively. We further describe the model’s cross validated performance at different geographic regions in the United States, finding that it performs worse in the Western half of the country where there are less monitors. The code and data used to create this model are publicly available and we have developed software packages to be used for exposure assessment. This accurate exposure assessment model will be useful for epidemiologists seeking to study the health effects of PM across the continental United States, while possibly considering exposure estimation accuracy and uncertainty specific to the the spatiotemporal resolution and extent of their study design and population.

Fat reduction and anti-inflammation are commonly claimed properties of probiotics. Lactobacillus plantarum and Enterococcus faecium were tested in high fat-induced obesity mice and in vitro experiments. After 16 weeks of probiotics, L. plantarum outperforms E. faecium on the anti-obesity property as indicated by body weight, regional fat accumulation, serum cholesterol, inflammatory cytokines (in blood and colon tissue), and gut barrier defect (FITC-dextran assay). With fecal microbiome analysis, L. plantarum but not E. faecium reduced fecal abundance of pathogenic Proteobacteria without an alteration in total Gram-negative bacteria when compared with non-probiotics obese mice. With palmitic acid induction, the condition media from both probiotics similarly attenuated supernatant IL-8, improved enterocyte integrity and down-regulated cholesterol absorption-associated genes in Caco-2 cell (an enterocyte cell line) and reduced supernatant cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) with normalization of cell energy status (extracellular flux analysis) in bone-marrow-derived macrophages. Because the anti-inflammatory effect of the condition media of both probiotics on palmitic acid-activated enterocytes was neutralized by amylase, the active anti-inflammatory molecules might, partly, be exopolysaccharides. As L. plantarum out-performed E. faecium in anti-obesity property, possibly through the reduced fecal Proteobacteria, with a similar anti-inflammatory exopolysaccharide; L. plantarum is a potentially better option for anti-obesity than E. faecium.

Background: High coronary thrombus burden has been associated with unfavorable outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the optimal management of which has not yet to be established. Methods: We evaluated the safety and efficacy of adjunctive catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with STEMI and high thrombus burden. Results: Among the 1,849 consecutive patients with STEMI, 263 had high thrombus burden. Moreover, 41 patients received intracoronary infusion of tissue plasminogen activator during primary PCI (CDT group), whereas 222 did not receive (non-CDT group). No significant differences in bleeding complications and in-hospital and long-term mortalities were observed (9.8% vs. 7.2%, p=0.53; 7.3% vs. 2.3%, p=0.11; and 12.6% vs. 17.5%, p=0.84, CDT vs. non-CDT). In patients who underwent antecedent aspiration thrombectomy during PCI (75.6%; CDT group and 87.4%; non-CDT group), thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grade 2 or 3 flow rate after thrombectomy was significantly lower in the CDT group than in the non-CDT group (32.2% vs. 61.0%, p&lt;0.01). However, the final rates improved considerably without significant difference (90.3% vs. 97.4%, p=0.14). Conclusions: For STEMI patients with high thrombus burden, adjunctive CDT is safe and effective for improving coronary flow. CDT resulted in favorable coronary flow even after unsatisfactory aspiration thrombectomy.

The study describes the acute and delayed time course of recovery following the CrossFit® Benchmark Workout Karen. Eight trained men (28.4±6.4 years; 1RM back squat 139.1±26.0 kg) undertook the Karen protocol. The protocol consists of 150 Wall Balls, aiming to hit a target 3 meters high. Countermovement jump height (CMJ), creatine kinase (CK), and perceived recovery status scale (PRS) (general, lower and upper limbs) were assessed pre, post-0h, 24h, 48h and 72h after the session. The CK concentration 24h after was higher than pre-exercise (338.4 U/L vs. 143.3 U/L; effect size: 0.74; p≤0.05). At 48h and 72h following exercise, CK concentration had returned to baseline levels. The PRS general and of the lower limbs were lower in the 24-hours post-exercise compared to pre-exercise (PRS general: 4.7 ±1.5 and 7.9 ±1.7 mmol/L; and PRS of the lower limbs: 4.0 ±2.5 and 7.9 ±0.8, respectively). The PRS general, lower, and upper limbs were reduced at 48-post exercise compared to 72-hours post-exercise scores. Our findings provide insights into the fatigue profile and recovery in acute CrossFit® and can be useful to coaches effectively design the daily session.

Sustainability is very important in business. The residential high-rise building all firms wanted to successful and sustainability in business. There is need the construction to completed low time, low cost and high quality in construction work. Therefore, real estate developers must find various strategies to use in construction projects to achieve goals and success of the firm. The purpose of this study was to indicate the very importance of knowledge management can lead to sustainability in business. Analyze 14 critical success to sustainability in residential high-rise building projects, collected questions from literature review, and survey in deep interview senior managers of 15 projects real estate development firms listed on the stock market of Thailand. Budget building more than 1000 million baht per project. From conceptual frame work five foundations integrated to knowledge management of critical success (KMITL PROCESS) used made tool survey in deep interview the critical success to sustainability in residential high-rise building project from project managers. Used IBM SPSS evaluated the critical success to sustainability. Found was one very important of critical success to sustainability, which was quality of products x̄ = 4.83. All 14 critical success to sustainability was found can applied made the knowledge management of critical success to sustainability in residential high-rise building project in firm. Especially in the field of construction managements project can used improve of all construction projects.

In the study of materials and macromolecules by first-principle methods, the bond order is a useful tool to represent molecules, bulk materials and interfaces in terms of simple chemical concepts. Despite the availability of several methods to compute the bond order, most applications have been limited to small systems because a high spatial resolution of the wave function and an all-electron representation of the electron density are typically required. Both limitations are critical for large-scale atomistic calculations, even within approximate density-functional theory (DFT) approaches. In this work we describe our methodology to quickly compute delocalization indices for all atomic pairs, while keeping the same representation of the wave function used in most compute-intensive DFT calculations on high-performance computing equipments. We describe our implementation into a post-processing tool, designed to work with Quantum ESPRESSO, a popular open-source DFT package. In this way we recover a description in terms of covalent bonds from a representation of wave function containing no explicit information about atomic types and positions.

Microbial communities play a key role in sustainable agriculture. However, we still need more in-formation, to understand the complex response of the microbial community to long-term organic farming, which aims to reduce synthetic fertilizer and pesticide use in order to produce sustainably and improve soil quality. We have assessed the long-term effect of two organic cropping systems and a conventional system on the microbial soil community structure using high-throughput se-quencing analysis. We analyzed the link between these communities and changes in soil properties and crop yield. Results showed that the crop yield was similar among the three cropping systems. Soil properties, such as total organic carbon, nitrogen, ammonium, magnesium and boron, influ-enced changes in the bacterial community structure. A linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) showed different bacteria and fungi as key microorganism of each of the three different cropping systems, in addition, our results reflected that fungal community were more sensitive than bacteria to cropping system. This research provides an insight about changes occurred in soils, especially in microbial communities considering the effect of that changes in crop yield which were remained stable among the different cropping systems.

We discuss the topic of the transparency of the Universe in gamma-rays due to the Extragalactic Background Light, and its cosmological and physical implications. Rather than a review, this is a personal account on the development of 30 years of this branch of physical science. Extensive analysis of the currently available information appears to us as revealing a global coherence among the astrophysical, cosmological, and fundamental physics data, or, at least, no evident need so far of substantial modification of our present understanding. Deeper data from future experiments will verify to what extent and in which directions this conclusion should be modified.

Long-term, high-accuracy mapping of built-up land dynamics is essential for understanding urbanization and its consequences for the environment. Despite advances in remote sensing and classification algorithms, built-up land mapping using early satellite imagery (e.g., from the 2000s and earlier) remains prone to uncertainty. We mapped the extent of built-up land in the North China Plain, one of China’s most important agricultural regions, from 1990 to 2019 at three-year intervals. Using dense time-stack Landsat data, we applied discrete Fourier transformation to create temporal predictors and reduce mapping uncertainties for early years. We improved overall accuracy by 8% compared to using spectral and indices predictors alone. We implemented a temporal correction algorithm to remove inconsistent pixel classifications, further improving accuracy to a consistently high level (>94%) across years. A cross-product comparison showed that our study achieved the highest levels of accuracy across years. Total built-up land in the North China Plain increased from 37,941 km² in 1990–1992 to 131,578 km² in 2017–2019. Consistent, high-accuracy built-up land mapping provides a reliable basis for policy planning in one of the most rapidly urbanizing regions of the planet.

Sentinel-1 satellite system continuously observes European countries in a relatively high revisit frequency of 6 days per orbital track. Given the Sentinel-1 configuration, most areas in Czechia are observed every 1–2 days by different tracks in a moderate resolution. This is attractive for various types of analyses by various research groups. The starting point for processing is an original data provided by ESA, for interferometry (InSAR) this level is a Single Look Complex (SLC) data. This work represents advantages of storing data augmented to a specifically corrected level of data, SLC-C. The presented database contains Czech nation-wide Sentinel-1 data stored in burst units that have been preprocessed to the state of a consistent well-coregistered dataset of SLC-C. These are resampled SLC data with their phase values reduced by a topographic phase signature, ready for fast interferometric analyses (an interferogram is generated by a complex conjugate between two stored SLC-C files). The data can be used directly into multitemporal interferometry techniques, e.g. Persistent Scatterers (PS) or Small Baseline (SB) techniques applied here. A further development of the nation-wide system utilising SLC-C data would lead into a dynamic state where every new pre-processed burst triggers a processing update to detect unexpected changes from InSAR time series and therefore provide a signal for early warning against a potential dangerous displacement, e.g. a landslide, instability of an engineering structure or a formation of a sinkhole. An update of the processing chain would also allow use of cross-polarised Sentinel-1 data, needed for polarimetric analyses. The current system is running at a national supercomputing centre IT4Innovations in interconnection to the Czech Copernicus Collaborative Ground Segment (CESNET), providing fast on-demand InSAR results over Czech territories. A full nation-wide PS processing using data over Czechia has been performed in 2017, discovering several areas of land deformation. Its downsampled version and basic findings are demonstrated within the article.

(1) Background: Applied health services research (AHSR) relies upon coordination across multiple organizational boundaries. Our aim was to understand how competing organizational and professional goals enhance or impede the conduct of high quality AHSR. (2) Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in two local health care systems in the UK, linked to a feasibility trial of a clinic-based intervention in secondary care. Data collection involved 24 semi-structured interviews with research managers, clinical research staff, health professionals, and patients. (3) Results: This study required a dynamic network of interactions between heterogeneous health and social care stakeholders, each characterized by differing ways of organizing activities which constitute their core functions; cultures of collaboration and interaction and understanding of what research involves and how it contributes to patient care. These interrelated factors compounded the occupational and organizational boundaries that hindered communication and coordination. (4) Conclusions: Despite the strategic development of multiple organizations to foster inter-professional collaboration, the competing goals of research and clinical practice can impede the conduct of high quality AHSR. To remedy this requires the alignment and streamlining of organizational goals, so that all agencies involved in AHSR develop a shared understanding and mutual respect for the progress of evidence-based medicine and the complex and often nuanced environments in which it is created and practiced.

There exist numerous high-dimensional problems in the real world which cannot be solved through the common traditional methods. The metaheuristic algorithms have been developed as successful techniques for solving a variety of complex and difficult optimization problems. Notwithstanding their advantages, these algorithms may turn out to have weak points such as lower population diversity and lower convergence rate when facing complex high-dimensional problems. An appropriate approach to solve such problems is to apply multi-agent systems along with the metaheuristic algorithms. The present paper proposes a new approach based on the multi-agent systems and the concept of agent, which is named Multi-Agent Metaheuristic (MAMH) method. In the proposed approach, several basic and powerful metaheuristic algorithms, including Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), Firefly Algorithm (FA), Bat Algorithm (BA), Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA), Gray Wolf Optimizer (GWO), Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA), Crow Search Algorithm (CSA), Farmland Fertility Algorithm (FFA), are considered as separate agents each of which sought to achieve its own goals while competing and cooperating with others to achieve the common goals. In overall, the proposed method was tested on 32 complex benchmark functions, the results of which indicated effectiveness and powerfulness of the proposed method for solving the high-dimensional optimization problems. In addition, in this paper, the binary version of the proposed approach, called Binary MAMH (BMAMH), was executed on the spam email dataset. According to the results, the proposed method exhibited a higher precision in detection of the spam emails compared to other metaheuristic algorithms and methods.

TiC–high Mn steel-bonded carbide with a cellular structure was designed and fabricated by powder metallurgy techniques using coarse and fine TiC particles as the hard phase. This preparation process was carefully investigated and optimized. The microstructure of the TiC steel-bonded carbide was observed using a scanning electron microscope. Results showed that there are two types of microstructures in the TiC steel-bonded carbide: the coarse-grained TiC and fine-grained TiC. The transverse rupture strength and impact toughness of the alloy reach maximum values 2231 MPa and 12.87 J/cm2, respectively when the starting weight ratio of MP-A (containing coarse TiC particles) to MP-B (containing fine TiC particles) is 60:40. Hence, this study serves as a feasible example of how to prepare a high-strength and high-toughness TiC–high Mn steel-bonded carbide.

Bioactive peptides are related to the prevention and treatment of many diseases. GPETAFLR is an octapeptide which was isolated from lupine (Lupinus angustifolius L.) and showed anti-inflammatory properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential activity of GPETAFLR to prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. C57BL/6J mice were fed a standard diet or an HFD. Two of the groups fed the HFD diet were treated with GPETAFLR in their drinking water at 0,5 mg/kg/d or 1 mg/kg/d. To determine the ability of GPETAFLR to improve the onset and progression of NAFLD, histological studies, hepatic enzyme profile, inflammatory cytokine and lipid metabolism-related genes and proteins were analyzed. Our results suggest that HFD-induced inflammatory metabolic disorders were alleviated by treatment with GPETAFLR. In conclusion, dietary lupine consumption could repair HFD-induced hepatic damage, possibly via modifications in the liver’s lipid signalling pathways.

The use of new developed high-strength steel in concrete members can reduce steel bars congestion and construction costs. This research aims to study the behavior of concrete columns reinforced with new developed high-strength steel under eccentric loading. Ten reinforced concrete columns were fabricated and tested. The test variables are transverse reinforcement amount and yield strength, eccentricity, and longitudinal reinforcement yield strength. The failure patterns are compression and tensile failure for columns subjected to small eccentricity and large eccentricity, respectively. The same level of post-peak deformability and ductility only can be obtained with lower amount of transverse reinforcement when high-strength transverse reinforcements are used in columns subjected to small eccentricity. The high-strength longitudinal reinforcement can improve bearing capacity and post-peak deformability of concrete columns. Besides, three different equivalent rectangular stress block (ERSB) parameters in predicting bearing capacity of columns with high-strength steel were discussed based on test and simulated results. It is concluded that the Code of GB 50010-2010 overestimates the bearing capacity of columns with high-strength steel, whereas bearing capacities computed using Codes of ACI 318-14 and CSA A23.3-04 agree well with test results.

The biogeography of inflammation in ulcerative colitis (UC) suggests a proximal to distal concentration gradient of a toxin. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has long been considered one such toxin candidate, and dietary sulfur along with the abundance of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) were considered the primary determinants of H2S production and clinical course of UC. The metabolic milieu in the lumen of the colon, however, is the result of a multitude of factors beyond dietary sulfur intake and SRB abundance. Here we present an updated formulation of the H2S toxin hypothesis for UC pathogenesis, which strives to incorporate the interdependency of diet composition and the metabolic activity of the entire colon microbial community. Specifically, we suggest that the increasing severity of inflammation along the proximal-to-distal axis in UC is due to dilution of beneficial factors, concentration of toxic factors, and changing detoxification capacity of the host, all of which are intimately linked to the nutrient flow from the diet.

A novel high-voltage powerline inspection system is investigated, which consists of the cooperated ground vehicle and drone. The ground vehicle acts as a mobile platform that can launch and recycle the drone, while the drone can fly over the powerline for inspection within limited endurance. This inspection system enables the drone to inspect powerline networks in a very large area. Both vehicle’ route in the road network and drone’s routes along the powerline network have to be optimized for improving the inspection efficiency, which generates a new two-layer point-arc routing problem. Two constructive heuristics are designed based on “Cluster First, Rank Second” and “Rank First, Split Second”. Then local search strategies are developed to further improve the quality of the solution. To test the performance of the proposed algorithms, practical cases with different-scale are designed based on the road network and powerline network of Ji’an, China. Sensitivity analysis on the parameters related with the drone’s inspection speed and battery capacity is conducted. Computational results indicate that technical improvement on the inspection sensor is more important for the cooperated ground vehicle and drone system.

Based on a modified dice-and-fill technique, a PIN-PMN-PT single crystal 1-3 composite with the kerf of 12 μm and pitch of 50 μm was prepared. The as-made piezoelectric composite material behaved with high piezoelectric constant (d33 = 1500 pC/N), high electromechanical coefficient (kt = 0.81), and low acoustic impedance (16.2 Mrayls). Using lithography and flexible circuit method, a 48-element phased array was successfully fabricated from such a piezoelectric composite. The array element was measured to have a central frequency of 20 MHz and a fractional bandwidth of approximately 77% at −6 dB. Of particular significance was that this PIN-PMN-PT single crystal 1-3 composite-based phased array exhibits a superior insertion loss compared with PMN-PT single crystal and PZT-5H-based 20 MHz phased arrays. The focusing and steering capabilities of the obtained phased array were demonstrated theoretically and experimentally. These promising results indicate that the PIN-PMN-PT single crystal 1-3 composite-based high frequency phased array is a good candidate for ultrasound imaging applications.

Abstract: The Inconel 625 is a nickel-based alloy has been widely used in the high-temperature application. The Inconel 625 exhibits unstable plastic flow at elevated temperature characterized by serrated yielding, known as Portevin-Le Chatelier effect. The aim of this work is to evaluate the mechanical properties at high temperatures of the Inconel 625. The tensile tests were performed in the temperature range of room temperature until 1000 °C and strain rate of 2x10^-4 to 2x10^-3 s^-1. The creep tests were performed in the temperature range of 600-700 °C, in the stress range of 500-600 MPa in a constant load mode. The surface fracture was observed by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Serrated stress-strain behavior was observed in the curves obtained at 200 to 700 °C, which was associated with the dynamic strain aging effect. The yield strength and the elongation values show an anomalous behavior as a function of the test temperature. An intergranular cracking was observed specimen tensile tested at 500 °C that can be attributed to the decohesion of the carbides along the grain boundaries. The fracture surface of the specimen tensile tested at 700 °C showed the predominance of transgranular cracking with tear dimples with a parabolic shape.

The aim of this study is to investigate, by means of experimental measurements and full-wave simulations, the dominant factors for the very high-resolution (VHR) radar image speckles from exponential correlated rough surfaces. A Ka-band radar system was used to collect the return signal from such a surface sample fabricated by 3D printing, and that signal was further processed into images at different resolution scales, where the image samples were obtained by horizontally turning around the surface sample. To cross-validate the results and to further discuss the VHR speckle properties, full wave simulations by full 3D Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method were conducted with 1600 realizations for the speckle analysis. At the considered very high resolution, speckle statistics show divergence from the fully developed Rayleigh distribution. The factors that impact on the high-resolution speckle properties from exponential correlated rough surface, are analyzed in views of the equivalent number of scatterers theory and scattering scales, respectively. From the data results and extended discussions, it is evident that both of the above factors matter for VHR speckle of backscattering, from the exponential correlated rough surface as a good representative for the ground surface.

Karst rocky desertification (KRD) is a process where strong anthropogenic disturbances and exposure of carbonate bedrock occurs in fragile karst ecosystems. The fractional cover of rocky outcrops is a key indicator and mechanistic driver of KRD and can be accurately assessed using remote sensing technology. Nevertheless, rugged karst terrain relief can cause shadow effects on satellite imagery and combine with high heterogeneity of karst landscapes to prevent fractional cover retrievals. In this study, we explored the feasibility of applying multispectral high spatial resolution ALOS imagery for fractional cover extraction of rocky outcrops. We selected the dimidiate pixel model (DPM), which has been applied in previous studies, and spectral mixture analysis (SMA; including simple endmember spectral mixture analysis (SESMA) and multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA)) to explore the feasibility of using remote images for KRD monitoring and improve accuracy for estimating fractions. Results from MESMA achieved high overall accuracy (76.4%) in monitoring percentage of rocky outcrop fraction in the study area. SESMA appears to underestimate percentage of rocky outcrop likely because the development of KRD was driven by complex factors (soil erosion, dissolution and anthropogenic disturbances). This results in spectral reflectance of rocky outcrop being variable in different settings. Predicted exposed bedrock coverage using SESMA and MESMA was similar in sun-lit and shaded areas although predictions from SESMA were smaller than reference data. DPM underestimated the fractional cover of rocky outcrops on south-facing slopes and overestimated it in shaded areas. Furthermore, SESMA and MESMA effectively reduced topographic effects. We conclude that it is better to extract percentage of rocky outcrop using MESMA in the karst region of southwestern China. Remote sensing is emerging as a feasible method to extract surface condition information in heterogeneous and rugged landscapes.

A plasmonic refractive index (RI) sensor based on metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide coupled with concentric double rings resonator (CDRR) is proposed and investigated numerically. Utilizing the novel supermodes of the CDRR, the FWHM of the resonant wavelength can be modulated, and a sensitivity of 1060 nm/RIU with high figure of merit (FOM) 203.8 is realized in the near-infrared region. The unordinary modes as well as the influence of structure parameters on the sensing performance are also discussed. Such plasmonic sensor with simple framework and high optical resolution could be applied to on-chip sensing systems and integrated optical circuits. Besides, the special cases of bio- sensing and triple rings are also discussed.