Experimental Studies on Earthen Architecture Sites Consolidated with BS Materials in Arid Regions

This paper takes the preservation works on the archaeological sites of Gaochang Ruins, Xinjiang, as background. Based on the soil characteristics analysis on the archaeological sites, experimental studies were conducted on the consolidation effect of the BS-10 consolidation material on the archaeological sites of adobe and rammed earth. The results showed the following:, after consolidation, the wind erosion resistance of the soil on the archaeological sites was substantially increased, and the wind erosion modulus was reduced by 5~8 times; the soil exhibited fine grid structure and significantly reduced degree of permeability, while still maintaining the moisture exchange between inside and outside the soil; there is excellent ageing resistance; the resistance to freezing and thawing was closely related to the soil water content and had little influence in arid regions; the water resistance was improved and could satisfy the requirements for consolidating the sites in arid regions; the unconfined compressive strength was improved moderately, which was the key direction of improvement in the future, and the consolidated soil did not form duricrust on the surface and had good bonding strength with the internal parts. The BS-10 material can meet the consolidation requirements for the earthen archaeological sites in arid regions of northwest China

Constraining Ultralight Dark Matter through an Accelerated Resonant Search

Experiments aimed at detecting ultralight dark matter typically rely on resonant effects, which are sensitive to the dark matter mass that matches the resonance frequency. In this study, we investigate the nucleon couplings of ultralight axion dark matter using a magnetometer operating in a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) mode. Our approach involves the use of a $^{21}$Ne spin-based sensor, which features the lowest nuclear magnetic moment among noble-gas spins. This configuration allows us to achieve an ultrahigh sensitivity of 0.73 fT/Hz$^{1/2}$ at around 5 Hz, corresponding to energy resolution of approximately 1.5$\times 10^{-23}\,\rm{eV/Hz^{1/2}}$. Our analysis reveals that under certain conditions it is beneficial to scan the frequency with steps significantly larger than the resonance width. The analytical results are in agreement with experimental data and the scan strategy is potentially applicable to other resonant searches. Further, our study establishes stringent constraints on axion-like particles (ALP) in the 4.5--15.5 Hz Compton-frequency range coupling to neutrons and protons, improving on prior work by several-fold. Within a band around 4.6--6.6 Hz and around 7.5 Hz, our laboratory findings surpass astrophysical limits derived from neutron-star cooling. Hence, we demonstrate an accelerated resonance search for ultralight dark matter, achieving an approximately 30-fold increase in scanning step while maintaining competitive sensitivity.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

Detection of recurrent cytogenetic aberrations in multiple myeloma: A comparison between MLPA and iFISH

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a genetically heterogeneous disease with diverse clinical characteristics and outcomes. Recently, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) has emerged as an effective and robust method for the detection of cytogenetic aberrations in MM patients. In the present study, MLPA analysis was applied to analyze cytogenetics of CD138 tumor cells of 59 MM samples, and its result was compared, retrospectively, with the interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (iFISH) data. We firstly established the normal range of each of the 42 diagnostic probes using healthy donor samples. A total of 151 aberrations were detected in 59 patient samples, and 49/59 cases (83.1%) harbored at least one copy number variation. Overall, 0–7 aberrations were detected per case using MLPA, indicating the heterogeneity and complexity of MM cytogenetics. We showed the high efficiency of MLPA and the high congruency of the two methods to assess cytogenetic aberrations. Considering that MLPA analysis is not reliable when the aberration only exits in a small population of tumor cells, it is essential to use both MLPA and iFISH as complementary techniques for the diagnosis of MM

The Cube Surface Light Field for Interactive Free-Viewpoint Rendering

Free-viewpoint rendering has always been one of the key motivations of image-based rendering and has broad application prospects in the field of virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR). The existing methods mainly adopt the traditional image-based rendering or learning-based frameworks, which have limited viewpoint freedom and poor time performance. In this paper, the cube surface light field is utilized to encode the scenes implicitly, and an interactive free-viewpoint rendering method is proposed to solve the above two problems simultaneously. The core of this method is a pure light ray-based representation using the cube surface light field. Using a fast single-layer ray casting algorithm to compute the light ray’s parameters, the rendering is achieved by a GPU-based three-dimensional (3D) compressed texture mapping that converts the corresponding light rays to the desired image. Experimental results show that the proposed method can real-time render the novel views at arbitrary viewpoints outside the cube surface, and the rendering results preserve high image quality. This research provides a valid experimental basis for the potential application value of content generation in VR/AR

Application of nanogenerators in acoustics based on artificial intelligence and machine learning

As artificial intelligence (AI) advances, it is critical to give conventional electronics the capacity to “think,” “analyze,” and “advise.” The need for intelligent, self-powered devices has increased due to recent significant developments in the computer field, namely, in the fields of AI and machine learning (ML). The use of nanogenerators in the area of acoustics is examined in this Review, with an emphasis on how they might be integrated with ML and AI. Innovative energy-harvesting devices called nanogenerators are able to produce electrical power from outside sources, such as vibrations in the air or mechanical movements. The study examines a number of acoustic applications for nanogenerators, such as energy harvesting, sound detection, noise monitoring, and acoustic sensing. Furthermore, the research highlights how AI and ML techniques enhance the performance of nanogenerators and enable more efficient acoustic applications through data analysis and model training. At the end of this Review, the future development prospects of nanogenerators based on AI and ML were discussed

Vacuum Switching Technology for Future of Power Systems

Even though switching in vacuum is a technology with almost 100 years of history, its recent developments are still changing the future of power transmission and distribution systems. First, current switching in vacuum is an eco-friendly technology compared to switching in SF6 gas, which is the strongest greenhouse gas according to the Kyoto Protocol. Vacuum, an eco-friendly natural medium, is promising for reducing the usage of SF6 gas in current switching in transmission voltage. Second, switching in vacuum achieves faster current interruption than existing alternating current (AC) switching technologies. A vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) that uses an electromagnetic repulsion actuator is able to achieve a theoretical limit of AC interruption, which can interrupt a short-circuit current in the first half-cycle of a fault current, compared to the more common three cycles for existing current switching technologies. This can thus greatly enhance the transient stability of power networks in the presence of short-circuit faults, especially for ultra- and extra-high-voltage power transmission lines. Third, based on fast vacuum switching technology, various brilliant applications emerge, which are benefiting the power systems. They include the applications in the fields of direct current (DC) circuit breakers (CBs), fault current limiting, power quality improvement, generator CBs, and so forth. Fast vacuum switching technology is promising for controlled switching technology in power systems because it has low variation in terms of opening and closing times. With this controlled switching, vacuum switching technology may change the “gene” of power systems, by which power switching transients will become smoother

Personalized quality centric service recommendation

The broad application of service-oriented architecture (SOA) has fueled the rapid growth of web and cloud services and service-based systems (SBSs). Tremendous web and cloud services have been deployed all over the world. Finding the right services becomes difficult and critical. Thus, service recommendation has become of paramount research and practical importance. Existing web service recommendation approaches employ utility functions or skyline techniques. However, those approaches have not addressed a critical and fundamental problem: how to recommend services according to a system engineer’s quality constraints, e.g., response time, failure rate, etc. To address this issue, we first propose two basic personalized quality centric approaches for service recommendation, which employ the k-nearest neighbours and the dynamic skyline techniques respectively. To overcome the respective limitations of the two basic approaches, we propose two hybrid approaches, namely KNN-DSL and DSL-KNN. Extensive experiments are conducted on a real-world dataset to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approaches. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017

The leaf-air temperature difference reflects the variation in water status and photosynthesis of sorghum under waterlogged conditions.

Waterlogging stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses limiting sorghum growth and development. Consequently, the responses of sorghum to waterlogging must be monitored and studied. This study investigated changes in the leaf water status, xylem exudation rate, leaf anatomical structure, leaf temperature and photosynthetic performance. Waterlogging-tolerant (Jinuoliang 01, abbreviated JN01) and waterlogging-sensitive (Jinza 31, abbreviated JZ31) sorghum cultivars were planted in pots. The experiment was carried out using a split block design with three replications. Waterlogging stress was imposed at the sorghum five-leaf stage. The leaf free water content (FWC) and relative water content (RWC) decreased under the waterlogged condition. The leaf thickness was thinner under the waterlogged condition, and the main changes occurred in the upper epidermal and mesophyll cells. Gas exchange parameters and the xylem exudation rate were also restrained by waterlogging; however, greater responses of these parameters were observed in JZ31. JZ31 had a higher leaf-air temperature difference (ΔT) than JN01. We found that changes in ΔT were always consistent with changes in the RWC and the gas exchange parameters. ΔT was significantly associated with the leaf RWC, photosynthetic rate (Pn) and transpiration rate (Tr). The results suggest that ΔT may be an indicator reflecting the water status in leaves and can be used to evaluate the tolerance of sorghum to waterlogging

A network pharmacology approach to explore the mechanisms of Erxian decoction in polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) significantly affects women’s health and well-being. To explore the pharmacological basis of the Erxian decoction (EXD) action in PCOS therapy, a network interaction analysis was conducted at the molecular level. Methods The active elements of EXD were identified according to the oral bioavailability and drug-likeness filters from three databases: traditional Chinese medicine system pharmacology analysis platform, TCM@taiwan and TCMID, and their potential targets were also identified. Genes associated with PCOS and established protein–protein interaction networks were mined from the NCBI database. Finally, significant pathways and functions of these networks were identified using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses to determine the mechanism of action of EXD. Results Seventy active compounds were obtained from 981 ingredients present in the EXD decoction, corresponding to 247 targets. In addition, 262 genes were found to be closely related with PCOS, of which 50 overlapped with EXD and were thus considered therapeutically relevant. Pathway enrichment analysis identified PI3k-Akt, insulin resistance, Toll-like receptor, MAPK and AGE-RAGE from a total of 15 significant pathways in PCOS and its treatment. Conclusions EXD can effectively improve the symptoms of PCOS and our systemic pharmacological analysis lays the experimental foundation for further clinical applications of EXD