Life in the modern century is heavily reliant on an enormous amount of electricity consumption as technology has become the most integral part of daily life. In this context, smart grid systems play a pivotal role to maintain the uninterrupted power supply which needs to be monitored in a timely fashion to keep track of the electric consumers’ usage pattern. The smart meter is the one of smart applications of the smart grid that collects huge amounts of consumer load data on a daily basis which has become a focus for various researchers and analyzers to study load characterization. In this paper, an approach has been proposed to recognize the energy consumption patterns among diverse types of consumers ranging from residential to industrial levels. This approach is worth considering not only for load pattern recognition but also for involving customers in different events such as demand response or peak shaving. In such a way, this analytical mechanism certainly assists in reducing power wastage and saving costs. The proposed methodology is based on a two-fold clustering algorithm with the use of state-of-the-art technology, machine learning. The primary goal is to classify electric customers' data collected from smart meters. Then, analyzing the classified results with an aim to predict power consumption patterns for the customers in the future and making the right energy policy that will benefit both the grid operator and consumers as well.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how global research cooperation patterns in the secondary battery industry have changed over recent years and to identify the evolution in the focus of research. To this end, network analysis was performed using the nationality information of the authors of a 10-year multinational joint research paper related to lithium-ion batteries. Furthermore, keyword analysis and topic modeling were performed using the abstract data from the study. The results of this study confirm that some countries that are not well-known in the field, such as Australia, Spain, and France, showed high centrality, compared with the level of cooperation scale. Additionally, six research topics were identified. According to a comparison over the first half of the decade, no difference was observed in the appearance of keywords indicating high energy density and conductivity with lithium, a key mineral. Keyword distribution was high for topics like battery charging and discharging in the first half of the decade, and for next-generation battery materials, such as solid electrolytes, lithium metal anodes, and lithium-sulfur batteries in the second. These results provide insights into the establishment of R&D cooperation strategies by countries and pre-planning by companies in the battery industry.

Rapid urbanization has led to many ecological problems such as landscape fragmentation, decreased landscape connectivity, and decreased biodiversity. Building an ecological security pattern is an important way to ensure ecological security and maintain sustainable urban development. Harbin is an important large-scale city in northeastern China, and the urban central district of Harbin is used as the study area. Ecological sensitivity assessment, MSPA, gravity model, landscape connectivity assessment and MCR model were used to extract ecological source areas, ecological corridors and ecological nodes in the study area to construct and optimize the ecological security pattern. Research shows that: A total of 23 ecological source areas were identified, mainly located along the Songhua River in the central part of the study area and in the mountain forest areas within the A-cheng District in the southeastern part of the study area. 48 ecological corridors were extracted, mainly in Daowai District, A-cheng District and the eastern part of Xiangfang District. There are 8 important ecological corridors and 10 important connecting corridors. 61 ecological nodes of the first level and 65 ecological nodes of the second level were extracted. High, higher, medium, lower and low security areas were classified based on the minimum cumulative resistance surface, with the highest proportion of high ecological security areas accounting for 45.75% of the study area. 65 ecological breakpoints were extracted and restoration measures were proposed. Finally, The structure of the ecological security pattern optimization of "two axes, two belts and four areas" is proposed, and corresponding ecological management measures are put forward. The experimental system of this study can provide new ideas for the construction of ecological security patterns in other regions and provide scientific support for the ecological sustainable development of similar urban areas.

Membrane filtration is a popular choice in the treatment of wastewater for reuse. However, when used to produce clean water, these devices are subject to concentration polarization and fouling, which inhibit their ability to operate efficiently and provide high-quality permeate streams. Patterned membrane surfaces offer a hydrodynamic approach to mitigating concentration polarization and the surface fouling that follows. However, when subject to a steady feed flow rate, surface patterns generally produce stagnant zones in cavity-like spaces where particulate from the bulk flow recirculates in stationary vortices. To prevent aggregation in these recirculation zones, and therefore the onset of surface fouling, we study a rapidly pulsed feed flow. When combined with cavity-like geometries, such as the valleys present in membrane surface patterns, a rapidly pulsed flow generates mixing mechanisms (i.e., the deep sweep and the vortex ejection) that disrupt otherwise stagnant regions. First, we confirm the existence of these mechanisms, which are typically induced in impermeable cavities at relatively low Reynolds numbers, for near transitional feed Reynolds numbers in permeable cavity spaces via numerical simulation of the flow field. Following this confirmation, we demonstrate the ability of these mechanisms to remove particles trapped in recirculation zones via massless particle tracking studies. The results of this work suggest that when combined with a rapidly pulsed inlet flow, patterned membrane surfaces can not only alleviate concentration polarization and the surface fouling that follows but also reduce the need for traditional cleaning methods, which require operational downtime and often involve the use of abrasive chemical agents.

The understanding of structural alteration mechanisms due to relative humidity impact on organic supports of paintings is of crucial significance for the preventive conservation strategies in order to ensure the long-term preservation of important cultural identity artworks. The effort in this paper is to simulate Museum realistic relative humidity condition in a climate chamber while monitoring the structural responses through a quantitative interferometric method allowing the quantitative correlation between the physical values of deformation and mass alteration relevant to relative humidity fluctuations.

Due to the accelerated development of the offshore method of oil production in recent decades, especially in the Arctic region, the risks of crude oil pollution of the waters of the World Ocean are inevitably increasing. These oil spills during the exploitation of shelf deposits, transportation of oil from production sites and other anthropogenic impacts have a devastating impact on the marine biosphere, economy and life of coastal regions. For operative monitoring of water surface and fixation of oil spills it is necessary to use modern, effective and reliable methods, remote monitoring tools. One of such methods is radar. This article deals with increasing the efficiency of the radar method of water surface monitoring by means of constructive modification of the radar antenna array and changing the shape of the radio signal. As a result of the literature review, theoretical analysis of radar and conducted mathematical modeling it is substantiated the increase of radar monitoring efficiency by using phased active antenna array and construction of the cosecant-squared pattern diagram of the radio signal.

In the investment casting process, the pattern made of wax is obtained in a die for further formation of shell mold. This work investigates commercial pattern waxes fluidity with a newly developed injection fluidity test. A good correlation between wax fluidity and its viscosity is observed, which is different from metallic alloys, where the solidification behavior is more critical. The difference in investigated filled waxes fluidity can be associated with the type and amount of filler.

The time when a patient has mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an important period for delaying the onset of dementia and has been the main target of dementia prevention research in recent years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dietary intake and dietary patterns of MCI patients in Taiwan. In total, 40 subjects were enrolled in this cross-sectional study that was conducted from July 2019 to September 2021 at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Results of the clinical dementia rating (CDR) and mini-mental state examination (MMSE) were obtained from medical records. Participants were divided into two groups: a healthy group (MMSE ≥ 26 points, CDR=0) and an MCI group (MMSE ≥ 26 points, CDR=0.5). Results indicated that the MCI group had significantly higher copper and lower low-fat meat intake compared to the healthy group. Furthermore, the high MIND (Mediterranean-dietary approaches to stop hypertension intervention for neurodegenerative delay) diet score represented a lower risk of MCI. After adjusting for age and gender in the multivariate regression analysis, calcium and fruit intake levels were positively associated with the MMSE. In conclusion, the prevalence of MCI was closely associated with dietary intake, such as copper and calcium, as well as dietary patterns, particularly the MIND diet.

Objective: To use the ancient and modern medical record cloud platform (V2.3.5) to organize and explore the medication patterns of the "Three Causes, Extremity, and One Disease Syndrome Formula" by Chen Wuxuan, and to summarize its therapeutic ideas. Method: Collect and organize the "San Yin Si Tian Fang" in the "San Yin Ji Yi Zheng Fang Lun", and use the modern medical record cloud platform (V2.3.5) to conduct medication frequency statistical analysis, cluster analysis, and complex network analysis. As a result, a total of 16 Chinese herbal medicines were collected in the "Three Causes, Extreme and One Disease Syndrome Formula", involving 75 traditional Chinese medicines. Statistical analysis showed that roasted licorice was the most commonly used, followed by Pinellia ternata, papaya, ginger, and Poria cocos; Medications mainly include warm drugs, sweet and pungent flavors, as well as drugs that promote lung and spleen meridians. Cluster analysis can divide the above-mentioned traditional Chinese medicine into two groups, with specific grouping as follows. Group 1: ginger, white peony, aconite, papaya, and achyranthes bidentata; Group 2: roasted licorice, poria cocos, dried ginger, pinellia ternata, and green peel. Conclusion: The characteristics of the 16 prescriptions are biased towards Xin Gan Wen, emphasizing the regulation of the spleen and stomach, which may be related to the common use of prescription by doctors in the Song Dynasty and the tendency towards warm and dry medication.

Two strongly curved areas of the Carpathians in Romania are earthquake-prone: Vrancea - in the South-Eastern Carpathians, and Danubian – in the western edge of the Southern Carpathians. By far the highest seismicity episode in 2023 was recorded in the Southern Carpathians, near Targu Jiu city, of more than 4000 earthquakes. A first ML 5.2 mainshock was recorded on 13 February, followed by a second one, ML 5.7, on 14 February. Our purpose is to provide a first analysis of this sequence in order to explain its extent and unusual development, in time. The possible role of fluids in the middle crust, is discussed in connection with the rather unusual character of the space-time distribution of aftershocks. A large and high-quality dataset is provided by the dense array of seismic stations which has been gradually improved by adding new stations in the epicentral area. The thorough revision of the phase picking and location reveals a few interesting and intriguing features of seismicity that still remain worthy to be further investigated. The database built within this paper provides excellent information not only for Targu Jiu area, but for any other investigation in intra-continental regions characterized by diffuse and sporadic seismic activity.

This paper studies the evaporative heat transfer characteristics of R744 at low temperatures in a horizontal smooth tube as a cascade refrigeration system (CRS) among hybrid cascade refrigeration systems (HCRSs). There is a lack of research on the low-temperature evaporative heat transfer characteristics of R744 under the operating conditions of evaporators used in actual CRSs used in supermarkets. Therefore, this study aims to provide basic data on the evaporative heat transfer characteristics of R744 in the evaporators of refrigerators used in supermarkets. The tube used in the evaporation experiment conducted herein was a smooth horizontal copper tube with an inner diameter and length of 11.46 mm and 8000 mm, respectively. The experimental pa-rameters were as follows: heat fluxes of 12–21.5 kW/m2, mass fluxes of 75–225 kg/(m2·s), and saturation temperatures of −50–−30 °C. The main results are summarized as follows. (1) When designing the R744 evaporator, the mass and heat fluxes must be maximized within the operating conditions, and the saturation temperature must be designed to be as low as possible. (2) The evaporative heat transfer coefficient of R744 can be predicted well by using the correlation formula of Chen at the evaporation temperature of −40 °C in the CRS.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has caused great damage to the global pig industry. The innate immunity plays a significant role in resisting viral infection, however, the exact role of innate immunity in the anti-PEDV response has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we observed that various porcine innate immune signaling adaptors are involved in the anti-PEDV activity. Among these, TRIF and MAVS showed the strongest anti-PEDV activity. The endogenous TRIF, MAVS and STING were selected for further examination of anti-PEDV activity. Agonist stimulation experiments showed that TRIF, MAVS and STING signaling all have obvious anti-PEDV activity. The siRNA knockdown assay showed that TRIF, MAVS and STING are also all involved in anti-PEDV response, and their remarkable effects on PEDV replication were confirmed in TRIF-/-, MAVS-/- and STING-/- Vero cells. For further verification, the anti-PEDV activity of TRIF, MAVS and STING could be reproduced in porcine IPEC-DQ cells. In summary, this study reveals that multiple pattern recognition receptor (PRR) signaling pathways of porcine innate immunity play an important role in the anti-PEDV infection, providing new and useful antiviral knowledge for prevention and control of PEDV spreading.

The Silk Road pattern (SRP) and Circumglobal teleconnection pattern (CGT) are two well-known teleconnection patterns along the Eurasian westerly jet during boreal summer, which are often regarded as one teleconnection pattern. In view of the distinct features of the SRP/CGT on the interannual (IA) and interdecadal (ID) timescales, the present study investigates the linkages and differences between the SRP and CGT on the two timescales. On the IA timescale, the SRP and CGT feature a similar circumglobal wave train structure with strong and significant centers over Eurasia, but show clear independences. Specifically, the SRP and CGT illustrates largely the mid-/high-latitude-related and tropics-related parts of the Northern Hemisphere upper-tropospheric circulation variations, respectively. Also, the CGT shows a stronger connection to the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) heating and El Niño–Southern Oscillation than the SRP, which makes the CGT more like a tropical-forcing-driven atmospheric mode but the SRP more like an internal atmospheric mode. The linkages and differences between them are associated with their asymmetry relationship during their positive and negative phases, which are attributed mainly to the asymmetry impact of the ISM heating/cooling on the Eurasian circulations. On the ID timescale, the SRP and CGT are characterized by a coherent two-wave train structure over Eurasia, and feature more like the same teleconnection pattern, which are associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. The present findings on the linkages and differences between the SRP and CGT are helpful to understand the variability and prediction of the SRP and CGT.

This paper focuses on the impact that urban traffic has on the environment. The study characterizes the global effect of GHG emissions, including the ecologic evaluation and the characterization, normalization, and evaluation factor. The work makes a detailed survey of the different modes of driving and their influence on engine performance as one of the principal causes of gas emissions during the combustion process. The article analyzes six types of vehicles equipped with different engine configurations: diesel and gasoline, GLP and GNC, hybrid electric, and plug-in hybrid electric. Simulation of the driving mode under various operational conditions for every type of engine results in energy consumption, thus, in GHG emissions, carbon dioxide and monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and Sulphur dioxide. The study concludes that a reduction in vehicle speed, thus in the engine revolutions, has positive effects on engine combustion and gasses emissions, which is reduced by 27.5%. The study also concludes that the limitation in driving mode, avoiding sharp and sudden acceleration, may reduce up to 45% of GHG emissions. The changes applied in the driving mode improve the air quality in the urban environment, reducing the content of GHG from 39% to 61%.

The extensive utilization of rebar during the construction of the project generates immense rebar waste, leading to increased construction costs and significant greenhouse gas emissions. Various approaches have been explored focusing on the minimization of rebar-cutting waste, such as optimizing cutting patterns, lap splice position, and special-length rebar utilization. Nonetheless, reducing rebar usage by minimizing the number of splices remains uninvestigated. In response to these issues, a two-stage optimization algorithm was developed, prioritizing special-length rebar to achieve near-zero rebar-cutting waste of less than 1% and concurrently reduce rebar usage, thereby promoting sustainable construction practices. The two-stage algorithm presented in this study involves the optimization of the lap splice position for the continuous rebar with a reduction of splices number. Furthermore, it integrates a special-length minimization algorithm for the additional rebars. Applying the algorithm to beam structures in a small-sized factory building project led to a notable reduction of 29.624 tons of rebar, equivalent to 12.31% of the total purchased quantity. Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 102.68 tons, and associated costs decreased by USD 30,256. A rebar-cutting waste of 0.99% which is near zero was achieved. These findings highlight the significant potential of the proposed algorithm in reducing rebar waste and facilitating sustainable construction practices. In addition, the application of the proposed algorithm in reinforced concrete construction projects will amplify the associated advantages accordingly.

Since there are no morphological clues capable of making a pathologist suspect a possible mammary origin of a metastatic lesion without adequate clinical information, the histologic diagnosis of brain metastasis from BC is still based on the immunohistochemical expression of mammary gland markers such as GATA-3, ERs, PgRs and HER-2. The present retrospective study aimed to select purely morphological features capable to suggest the mammary origin of a metastatic carcinoma to the brain. The following histological features were collected on a series of 30 cases of brain metastases from breast cancer:(i) solid growth pattern; (ii) presence of comedonecrosis; (iii) glandular differentiation. Our results showed that most cases histologically exhibited solid growth pattern with at least focal comedonecrosis, producing an overall morphology closely reminiscent of mammary high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ. Although the above-mentioned morphological parameters are not strictly specific to a mammary origin, they may have an important diagnostic utility in leading pathologists to suspect a possible breast primary tumor and to include GATA-3, ERs, PgRs and HER-2 to the immunohistochemical panel.

The purpose of the study was to identify factors characterizing a decrease in LV global systolic function in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) after revascularization using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based ischemic injury pattern and laboratory parameters sensu left ventricular global systolic function. A total of 109 STEMI patients were examined. The patients underwent contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI with a 1.5 Tesla GE SIGNA Voyager (GE HealthCare, USA) on the 7th-10th days from the onset of the disease. According to cardiac MRI analysis, the patients were divided into the following groups with regard to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) values: group 1 – patients with LVEF ≥50%; group 2 – patients with mildly reduced LVEF 40-49%; group 3 – patients with low LVEF <40%. A predominance of most parameters of the ischemic injury pattern was noted in patients with mildly reduced and low LVEF versus patient group with LVEF ≥50%. Some risk factors for a decrease in LVEF <50% systolic function in STEMI patients after revascularization were revealed: male gender; time from the onset of the anginal attack to revascularization; coronary artery status; several LV parameters; ischemic injury characteristics; natriuretic peptide and troponin I levels.

Oncolytic virotherapy is a promising immunotherapy approach for cancer treatment, utilizing viruses to preferentially infect and eliminate cancer cells while stimulating immune responses. In this review we synthesize current literature on the molecular circuits of immune sensing and response to oncolytic virotherapy; focusing on viral DNA or RNA sensing by infected cells, cytokine and danger-associated signal sensing by neighboring cells, and subsequent downstream activation of immune pathways. The sequential sense-and-response mechanisms involve the triggering of molecular sensors by viruses or infected cells to activate transcription factors and related genes for a breadth of immune responses. We describe how molecular signals induced in the tumor upon virotherapy can trigger diverse immune signaling pathways, activating both antigen-presenting cell-based innate and T cell-based adaptive immune responses. Insights into these complex mechanisms provide valuable knowledge for enhancing oncolytic virotherapy strategies.

The change of habitat pattern is one of the key factors affecting the survival of moose population. The study of habitat landscape pattern is the key to protect Chinese cold temperate forest moose population and monitor the global distribution of moose. By means of MaxEnt model, landscape index calculation and ecological risk assessment model, combined with field survey and infrared camera monitoring data from April 2014 to January 2023, the author evaluated the habitat suitability of moose population in Nanwenghe National Nature Reserve of the Great Khingan Mountains, and divided the range of moose habitat based on the logical threshold of the model. The landscape pattern index of moose habitat was calculated by Fragstats software and a landscape ecological risk assessment model was established to analyze the landscape pattern and ecological risk dynamic changes of moose habitat in 2015 and 2020. The results showed that under the premise of global warming, the habitat landscape contagion index decreased by 4.53 and the split index increased by 4.86 from 2015 to 2020. In terms of ecological risk: the area of low ecological risk areas increased by 0.88%; the area of medium ecological risk areas decreased by 1.11%; and the area of higher ecological risk areas increased by 0.23%. The fragmentation risk of landscape pattern of moose habitat tends to increase, the preferred patch type is dispersed, the degree of aggregation is low, and the risk of patch type transformation increases. And the middle and high ecological risk areas are mainly concentrated in the river area and its nearby forests, showing a fine and scattered distribution. Under the interference of global warming and human activities, the fragmenta-tion trend of moose habitat in the study area is increasing, and the habitat quality is declining, which is likely to cause moose population migration. For this reason, the author believes that the whole cold temperate forest is likely to face the risk of increasing the transformation trend of dominant patch types in the cold temperate coniferous forest region mainly caused by global warming, resulting in an in-crease in the risk of habitat fragmentation. While the distribution range of moose is reduced, it has a significant impact on the diversity and ecological integrity of the whole cold temperate forest ecosystem. This study is helpful for human beings to strengthen their awareness of forest and river protection, avoid further intervention in more human activities, and formulate a reasonable plan for forest protec-tion and sustainable development in cold temperate zones. to provide theoretical reference for effective monitoring and protection of cold temperate forest and moose population dynamics.

(1) Background: During physical exercise, ventilation (VE) adapts to the intensity and characteris-tics of the effort. The breathing pattern is defined as the relationship between the tidal volume (VT) and breathing frequency (BF) for a given VE. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether inspiratory muscle training influenced the response of the breathing pattern during an incremen-tal effort in amateur cyclists. (2) Methods: 18 amateur cyclists completed an incremental test to exhaustion with gas analysis on a cycle ergometer and spirometry. Cyclists were randomly as-signed to two groups (IMTG=9; CON=9). The IMT group completed 6 weeks of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) using a PowerBreathe K3® device at 50% of the maximum inspiratory pressure (Pimax). The workload was adjusted weekly. After the 6-week intervention, the cyclists repeated the incremental exercise test with gas analysis and spirometry. The response of the breathing pat-tern was evaluated during the incremental exercise test. (3) Results: Pimax increased in the IMTG (p<0.05; +19.62%). Variables related to the breathing pattern response showed no differences be-tween groups after the intervention (EXPvsCON; p>0.05). Likewise, no differences were found in the IMTG after training (PREvsPOST; p>0.05). (4) Conclusions: IMT improved the strength of in-spiratory muscles and sports performance in amateur cyclists. These changes were not attributed to alterations in the response of the breathing pattern.

In order to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of the cultural landscape of the Yangtze River (Nanjing section) and show the role of the Yangtze River culture in promoting regional economic development and cultural radiation, Based on the Knowledge graph technology and 3S technology, this paper conducts geographical positioning and spatial analysis of the Yangtze River cultural landscape in Nanjing, and analyzes the surrounding environment by combining remote sensing images and topographic data. Researches show that: The Yangtze River cultural landscape in Nanjing includes 74 landscape points of seven landscape types, and the distribution of landscape points shows a clustering trend, but the spatial distribution and aggregation degree of different types of cultural landscapes are different. Due to the influence of climate environment and water resources distribution, the surrounding cultural landscape has a low altitude and high vegetation coverage, showing obvious distribution characteristics along the river. This study is helpful to improve the coordination degree between cultural landscape protection and planning management, and can provide useful reference for the protection of cultural landscape of the Yangtze River.

Forest-grass intercropping patterns of protected cultivation has been widely used to increase productivity and sustainability in modern agriculture. However, there have been few studies of wolfberry (L. barbarum) intercropping and it is cultivated mostly by clean tillage. This paper takes 10 kinds of wolfberry-forage intercropping patterns, compares the effects of different planting modes on the growth, yield, photosynthetic characteristics, nutritional quality, and the degree of occurrence of diseases and pests, which aims to make clear the effects of wolfberry-forage intercropping patterns on wolfberry. The results showed that different intercropping combinations had different effects on wolfberry. The overall effect of Wolfberry-forage intercropping patterns on the growth of wolfberry were promote the photosynthetic characteristics. Ryegrass could increase the branch number, Lvyuan 5 and mangel increase branch length; Mangel, clover, sweet sorghum, ryegrass and stipas could reduce the damage of powdery mildew by 69%, and alfalfa, stipa and ryegrass could reduce the occurrence of aphids by 67% (P<0.05). Intercropping could increase carotenoids, flavonoids and ascorbic acid contents to improve wolfberry quality by 21%, 53% and 127%, respectively (P<0.05). Among all the performances, wolfberry-mangel intercropping has absolute advantages in promoting wolfberry yield and quality increase. Therefore the best patterns of wolfberry-mangel, wolfberry-ryegrass, wolfberry-alfalfa and wolfberry-clover were chosen.

Chemical instability of liquid-repellent surfaces is one of the nontrivial hurdles that hinders their real-world applications. Although much efforts have been made to prepare chemically durable liquid-repellent surfaces, few attentions have been paid to exploit the instability for versatile use. Herein, we propose to create hydrophilic patterns on superhydrophobic surface by taking advantage of its chemical instability induced by acid solution treatment. Superhydrophobic Cu(OH)2 nanoneedles covered Cu plate that shows poor stability towards HCl solution (1.0 M) is taken as an example. Results show that 2.5 min of HCl solution exposure leads to the etching of Cu(OH)2 nanoneedles and partial removal of self-assembled fluoroalkyl silane molecular layer, resulting in the wettability transition from superhydrophobocity to hydrophilicity, and the water contact angle decreases from ~160° to ~30°. Hydrophilic dimples with different diameters are then created on the superhydrophobic surfaces by depositing HCl droplets with different volumes. Afterwards, the hydrophilic dimple patterned superhydrophobic surfaces are used for water droplet manipulations, including controlled transfer, merging and nanoliter droplets deposition. The results thereby verify the feasibility of creating wettability patterns on superhydrophobic surfaces by using their chemical instability towards corrosive solutions, which broadens the fabrication methods and applications of functional liquid-repellent surfaces.

The Upper Hunter Valley is a major coal mining area in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Due to the ongoing increase of mining activities, PM10 (air-borne particle with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 micrometres) pollution has become a major air quality concern in local communities. The early part of this study identified two air quality subregions in the valley. This paper aims to provide a holistic summarisation of the relationships between elevated PM10 pollution in two subregions and the local- and synoptic-scale meteorological conditions for spring and summer, when PM10 pollution is relatively high. A catalogue of twelve synoptic types and a set of six local meteorological patterns have been quantitatively derived and linked to each other using the self-organising map (SOM) technique. The complex meteorology-air pollution relationships have been visualised/interpretated on the SOM planes for two representative locations. It was found that the influence of local meteorological patterns differed significantly for mean PM10 levels vs the occurrence of elevated pollution events and between air quality subregions. In contrast, synoptic types showed generally similar relationships with mean vs elevated PM10 pollution in the valley. Two local meteorological patterns, the hot-dry-northwesterly wind conditions and the hot-dry-calm conditions, were found most PM10 pollution conducive in the valley when combined with a set of synoptic counterparts. These synoptic types are featured with the influence of eastward migrating continental high pressure system and westerly troughs, or a ridge extending northwest towards coastal northern NSW or southern Queensland from the Tasman Sea. The method and results can be used in air quality research for other locations of NSW, or similar regions elsewhere.

In this work, we consider two SIR patterns with demography: the classical pattern and a modified pattern with a linear transmission coefficient of the infection. By reformulating of each first order differential systems as a system with two second-order differential equations, we investigate the nonlinear dynamics of the system from the Jacobi stability point of view by using the KCC geometric theory. We will study the intrinsic geometric properties of the systems by determining the geometric associated objects: the zero-connection curvature tensor, the nonlinear connection, the Berwald connection, and the five KCC invariants: the first invariant - the external force εi, the second invariant - the deviation curvature tensor Pji, the third invariant - the torsion tensor Pjki, the fourth invariant - the Riemann-Christoffel curvature tensor Pjkli, and the fifth invariant - the Douglas tensor Djkli. In order to obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the Jacobi stability near the equilibrium points, the deviation curvature tensor will be determined at each equilibrium points. Furthermore, we will compare the Jacobi stability with the classical linear stability, inclusive by diagrams related to the values of parameters of the system.

Arid- and semi-arid Central Asia is particularly sensitive to climate change. The changes in extreme precipitation in Central Asia stemming from climate warming are the subject of intense debate within the scientific community. This study employed a Morlet wavelet analysis to examine the annual occurrence number of extreme precipitation in Central Asia from May to September during the period of 1951–2005. Their modulating planetary-scale climate modes were identified by using a linear regression analysis. Two major scales of the temporal variability were derived: 2–3.9 yr and 4–6 yr. The dominant variability was 2–3.9-yr scale and was associated with the negative phase of the Polar/Eurasia (POL) pattern. The 4–6-yr scale provided a secondary contribution and was closely linked to the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). These planetary climate modes acted as precursors of extreme precipitation over Central Asia. The negative phase of POL directly contributed to a negative height anomaly over Central Asia, which was intimately related to extreme precipitation. In contrast, the negative NAO phase possibly manifested as a Rossby wave source, which was subsequently exported to Central Asia through a negative–positive–negative Rossby wave train.

Ship wave is of great interest for wave drag, coastal erosion and ship detection. In this paper, a highly-paralleled numerical scheme is proposed for simulating three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear Kelvin ship waves effectively. First, a numerical model for nonlinear ship waves is established based on potential flow theory, boundary integral method and Jacobian-free Newton-Krylov (JFNK) method. In order to improve computational efficiency and reduce data storage of JFNK method, a banded preconditioner method is then developed by formulating the optimal bandwidth selection rule. After that, a Graphics Process Unit (GPU) based parallel computing framework is designed, and a GPU solver is developed by using Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) language. Finally, numerical simulations of 3-D nonlinear ship waves under multiple scales are performed by using the GPU and CPU solvers. Simulation results show that the proposed GPU solver is more efficient than the CPU solver with the same accuracy. More than 66% GPU memory can be saved and the computational speed can be accelerated up to 20 times. Hence, the computation time for Kelvin ship waves simulation can be significantly reduced by applying the GPU parallel numerical scheme, which lays a solid foundation for practical ocean engineering.

The scattering pattern from a narrow absorbing/amplifying grating is investigated. A simple model of a narrow amplifying grating is solved exactly numerically and approximately analytically for the regime where the beam’s wavelength is much shorter than the grating’s wavelength. The main results are: The incident angle divides the scattering pattern into two regimes: below and above the incident angles. The former regime has a weak dependence on the incident angle but has a strong dependence on the scattering one. In this regime, a new grating formula is derived. The opposite occurs in the latter regime, which is very sensitive to the incident angle, but has only weak dependence on the scattering angle. Consequently, at certain incident angles, all the scattering is concentrated in the first regime, i.e., all scattering angles are lower than the incident angle.

This study delves into a unique binary pattern found within the wellknown 3n+1 problem, or Collatz conjecture. Through careful analysis of the steps in the 3n+1 sequence, we have discovered a special binary representation that captures the behavior of all positive integers undergoing this transformation. With this new understanding, we have provided a solid proof confirming the validity of the 3n+1 problem for all positive integers. Our method goes beyond the need for extensive computational confirmation, providing a simple and elegant resolution to a long-standing mathematical mystery.

The number of diabetic patients worldwide is increasing rapidly. Prevention of diabetic reti-nopathy (DR), a leading cause of blindness, is a serious issue. We examined the effects of prophy-lactic pattern scanning laser retinal photocoagulation on DR development in 16 Spontaneously Diabetic Torii (SDT) fatty rats. Photocoagulation was applied to the right eyes of 8-week SDT fatty rats, and the left eyes served as the untreated controls. Electroretinography at 9 and 39 weeks of age and pathological examination of the retinal thickness and number of retinal folds, and immunohistochemistry of vascular endothelial growth factor and glial fibrillary acidic pro-tein at 24 and 40 weeks of age were performed bilaterally. No significant differences were seen between the left and right eyes in the apex latency and the amplitude of the oscillatory potential wave in the SDT fatty rats at 9 and 39 weeks of age and in the pathology and immunohistochem-istry in the SDT fatty rats at 24 and 40 weeks of age. Prophylactic pattern scanning retinal laser photocoagulation did not affect the development of DR in SDT fatty rats.

The article presents an innovative method for synthesizing radiation patterns efficiently by 1 combining the Taguchi method and neural networks, while validating the results on a 10-element 2 antenna array. The Taguchi method aims to minimize product and process variability, while neural 3 networks are used to model the relationship between antenna design parameters and radiation 4 pattern characteristics. This approach utilizes Taguchi parameters as inputs for the neural network, 5 which is then trained on a dataset generated by the Taguchi method. After training, the network is 6 validated using a real 10-element antenna array. Analytical results demonstrate that this method 7 enables efficient synthesis of radiation patterns with a significant reduction in computation time 8 compared to traditional approaches. Furthermore, validation on the antenna array confirms the 9 accuracy and robustness of the approach, showing a high correlation between predicted performances 10 by the neural network model and actual measurements on the antenna array.In summary, our article 11 highlights that the combined use of the Taguchi method and neural networks, with validation on a 12 real antenna array, offers a promising approach for efficient synthesis of antenna radiation patterns. 13 This approach combines speed, accuracy, and reliability in antenna system design.

Recent climate change and water pollution has affected algal diversity resulting in emergence of more tolerant species. They can be the indicators of water quality, pollution and seasonal changes. Present study revealed the green algal diversity and distribution pattern according to water parameters and season in the Lucknow City, India. The water sample were collected from seven sites within Lucknow and outskirts. The occurrence of a total of 36 taxa of green algae belonging to 11 genera are recorded. It has been observed that less polluted water is dominated by Spirogyra; where conductivity, TDS and salinity of water were low. Whereas the more polluted water was dominated by desmids. Dominance index was found highest in site 4 (0.61), where only three taxa were identified; whereas the lowest (0.13) was measured in site 1, where nine taxa were identified. This study also recorded several algal taxa for the first time from Lucknow.

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) has long been a dominant paradigm in software development, but it's not without its challenges. One major issue is the problem of tight coupling between objects, which can hinder flexibility and make it difficult to modify or extend code. Additionally, the complexity of managing inheritance hierarchies can lead to rigid and fragile designs, making it hard to maintain and evolve the software over time. This paper introduces a software development pattern that seeks to offer a renewed approach to writing code in Object-Oriented (OO) environments. Addressing some of the limitations of the traditional approach, the Puzzle Pattern focuses on extreme modularity, favoring writing code exclusively in interfaces. Concrete classes are subsequently assembled through the implementation of those interfaces, reducing coupling and introducing a new level of flexibility and adaptability in software construction. The highlighted pattern offers significant benefits in software development, promoting extreme modularity through interface-based coding, enhancing adaptability via multiple inheritance, and upholding the SOLID principles, though it may pose challenges such as complexity and a learning curve for teams.

The Urban heat island (UHI) effect has evolved into one of the key environmental problems affecting urban ecological environment and sustainable development. Based on 52 Urban Thermal Heat spots (UTHSs) with significant differences between land use structure and UGI spatial layout within the influence range of UHI in Shanghai, Landsat-8/9 satellite images were used to construct a high-dimensional data set reflecting the impact of built environment components on urban thermal environment. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyze the spatial difference qualitatively. Using stepwise regression model and partial least square regression (PLSR) model, the complex response relationship between UGI pattern differentiation and urban thermal environment in three spatial stratification ranges of UTHSs was quantitatively analyzed. Overall, the statistical explanatory power of the partial least square regression PLSR model is due to the stepwise regression model. The PLSR model points out that moderately increasing the average building height, CA, PLAND, LSI and LPI play a positive role in inhibiting/slowing down the growth of LST (land surface temperature), and the cooling effect of index weights decreases in order. However, the interaction effects of CA×Cohesion×AI×LPI and PLAND×CA×Cohesion×AI×LPI exert relatively small weight on the cooling effect, and according to the results, suggestions such as UGI structure and urban construction layout optimization can effectively alleviate the urban heat island effect are proposed.

Purpose: To examine the effectiveness of patterned laser trabeculoplasty (PSLT) as an additional treatment for patients of open-angle glaucoma (OAG) receiving maximized ocular hypotensive medications (OHM). Methods: Forty eyes of 33 patients (average age 72.7±10.7 years) who had not previously undergone open glaucoma surgery or laser trabeculoplasty and were treated with maximized OHM between June 2018 and March 2022 were included. A 360-degree PSLT was conducted and postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) and survival curves at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months were evaluated. Results: According to the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the average survival time was 8.1 months with death defined as postoperative IOP reduction of less than 10% or requiring additional treatment. The average survival time was 4.9 months with death defined as postoperative IOP reduction of less than 20% or requiring additional treatment. In the 31 eyes which received no additional treatment after PSLT, the mean preoperative IOP was 18.5±3.9 mmHg, which reduced to 15.3±4.1 mmHg (p=1.62 x 10-6)), 15.5±3.4 mmHg (p=1.51 x 10-5), 15.7±4.0 mmHg (p=1.75 x 10-5), 14.7±4.38 (p=2.89 x 10-6), and 15.0±4.0 mmHg (p=5.74 x 10-9) at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after PSLT, respectively. The IOP reduction rate one year after PSLT was 18.7%. Thirteen of the 31 eyes (42%) achieved a 20% reduction in IOP compared to the baseline. Conclusion: Adjunctive treatment with PSLT in OAG patients receiving maximized OHM may be effective over 12-months of follow-up.

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet has been shown to lower the risk of developing chronic non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Improvements in depression, participation in daily activities in older individuals, weight loss and reduction in adverse pregnancy outcomes are associated with adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The number of studies that have evaluated barriers to the adherence of the Mediterranean diet in the US and in particular, in racial and ethnic minority populations within the US are few. Among Native American and Alaskan Native populations, studies evaluating traditional or alternative Mediterranean diet adherence for chronic non-infectious diseases is unavailable. Mediterranean diet scoring instruments used in studies in European and Mediterranean countries and among white participants in the US fail to capture the dietary patterns of racial and ethnic minority populations. In this narrative review the food components of the traditional Mediterranean diet are discussed, adherence to the Mediterranean diet is examined in Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries and barriers preventing adherence to the Mediterranean diet in the US and among racial and ethnic minority populations is reviewed. Recommendations for improving nutrition education and intervention, and increasing adherence and cultural adaptions to the Mediterranean diet are provided.

With recent advancements in network technology and spread of Internet, use of social network services and Internet of Things devices has flourished, leading to a continuous generation of large volumes of graph stream data, where changes, such as additions or deletions of vertices and edges occur over time. Additionally, owing to the need for efficient use of storage space and security requirements, graph stream data compression has become essential in various applications. Even though various studies on graph compression methods have been conducted, most of them do not fully reflect the dynamic characteristics of graph streams and complexity of large graphs. In this paper, we propose a compression scheme using provenance data to efficiently process and analyze large graph stream data. It obtains provenance data by analyzing graph stream data and builds a pattern dictionary based on this to perform dictionary-based compression. By improving the existing dictionary-based graph compression methods, it enables more efficient dictionary management through tracking pattern changes and evaluating their importance using provenance. Furthermore, it considers the relationships among sub-patterns using an FP-tree and performs pattern dictionary management that updates pattern scores based on time. Our experiments show that the proposed scheme outperforms existing graph compression methods in key performance metrics, such as compression rate and processing time.

During the high-speed flight of a vehicle in the atmosphere, surface friction with the air generates aerodynamic heating. The aerodynamic heating phenomenon can create extremely high temperatures near the surface. These high temperatures impact material properties and the structure of the aircraft, so thermal deformation measurement is essential in aerospace engineering. This paper revisits high-temperature deformation measurement using the digital image correlation (DIC) technique under high-intensity blackbody radiation with a precise speckle pattern fabrication and a heat haze reduction method. The effect of speckle pattern on the DIC measurement has been thoroughly studied at room temperature, but high-temperature measurement studies have not reported such effects so far. We found that the commonly used methods to reduce the heat haze effect could produce incorrect results. Hence, we propose a new method to mitigate heat haze effects. An infrared radiation heater was employed to make an experimental setup that could heat a specimen up to 950 ℃. First, we mitigated image saturation using a short-wavelength bandpass filter with blue light illumination, a standard procedure for high-temperature DIC deformation measurement. Second, we studied how to determine the proper size of the speckle pattern under a high-temperature environment. Third, we devised a reduction method for the heat haze effect. As proof of the effectiveness of our developed experimental method, we successfully measured the deformation of stainless steel 304 specimens from 25 ℃ to 800 ℃. The results confirmed that this method can be applied to the research and development of thermal protection systems in the aerospace field.

Present study on land use land cover analysis and taluka wise combination of cropped area, carried out in Beed district of Maharashtra state in India and studied 11 talukas of the district. Secondary data on land use land cover and area in various crops has been collected, compiled and analyzed from various secondary sources. Simple descriptive statistics used to examine the agricultural land use land cover and J.C. Weaver’s crop combination technique was used for taluka wise analysis of crop combinations and on the basis of highest to smallest area engaged in particular crop, crops have been ranked. The study showed that, in the district as a whole, percentage of uncultivated land other than fallow was about 46 percent as compare to net sown area is only 35 percent in total geographical area (1063855ha) of Beed district. The study further revealed that about 42 percent area engaged in food crops and about 58 percent area occupied by nonfood crops, which includes cereals (25%), cotton (19%), pulses (13%), oilseed (12%), sugarcane (5%) and fruits and vegetables (3%). Results of Weaver’s crop combination technique showed that the Wadwani taluka demarcated as most diversified taluka by means of maximum number (sixteen) of crops combinations with the lowest variance value (14) found in the present investigation. Further, the study revealed that the high crop diversity found in Dharur taluka with eighteen crop combinations and the taluka has given first rank amongst others. To derive the crop diversity ranking, taluka wise maximum to minimum number of crop combinations derived in different talukas and given ranks accordingly. The study concluded that, agricultural land use analysis is essential for solving and optimizing the land use problem, maintaining socio-ecological balance, best utilization of scarce resources. The authors enlightened that the rational use of agricultural land has important for food security and biodiversity which increase the productivity and profitability of the agriculture sector and it indicates the decision making ability of farmers in study area.