Rail, rivers, road or air : which infrastructure promotes growth in China?

We examine the relationship between growth in transportation and economic output across Chinese provinces from 2005-2014. Panel GMM methods evaluate the impact of changes in air, conventional rail, HSR, roads, and waterways turnover volume on provincial output growth. GMM estimates demonstrate that rail and roads significantly affect economic growth; rail’s impact is particularly significant and its estimates are economically large for agriculture and manufacturing output. In contrast, air, HSR and water usage do not contribute to economic growth. Impulse responses indicate that rail and roads considerably affect GDP growth across China, and there is bi-causality between transportation and economic growth. Cost-benefit analysis highlights that the benefit of roads, and particularly rail, outweigh the costs of infrastructure spending.peer-reviewe

Debridement of contaminated implants using air-polishing coupled with pH-responsive maximin H5-embedded metal-organic frameworks

The primary goal of peri-implantitis treatments remains the decontamination of implant surfaces exposed to polymicrobial biofilms and renders biocompatibility. In this study, we reported a synergistic strategy for the debridement and re-osteogenesis of contaminated titanium by using erythritol air abrasion (AA) coupled with an as-synthesized pH-responsive antimicrobial agent. Here, the anionic antibacterial peptide Maximin H5 C-terminally deaminated isoform (MH5C) was introduced into the Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIF-8) via a one-pot synthesis process. The formed MH5C@ZIF-8 nanoparticles (NPs) not only possessed suitable stability, but also guarantee the slow-release effect of MH5C. Antibacterial experiments revealed that MH5C@ZIF-8 NPs exhibited excellent antimicrobial abilities toward pathogenic bacteria of peri-implantitis, confirming ZIF-8 NPs as efficient nanoplatforms for delivering antibacterial peptide. To evaluate the comprehensive debridement efficiency, single-species as well as mixed-species biofilms were successively established on commercially used titanium surfaces and decontaminated with different methods: removed only by erythritol air abrasion, treated merely with MH5C@ZIF-8 NPs, or received both managements. The results demonstrated that only erythritol air abrasion accompanied with MH5C@ZIF-8 NPs at high concentrations eliminated almost all retained bacteria and impeded biofilm rehabilitation, while neither erythritol air abrasion nor MH5C@ZIF-8 NPs alone could achieve this. Subsequently, we evaluated the re-osteogenesis on previously contaminated surfaces which were treated with different debridement methods afterwards. We found that cell growth and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in the group received both treatments (AA + MH5C@ZIF-8) were higher than those in other groups. Our work emphasized the great potential of the synergistic therapy as a credible alternative for removing microorganisms and rendering re-osseointegration on contaminated implant surfaces, boding well for the comprehensive applications in peri-implantitis treatments

Design and analysis of a photon counting system using covered single photon avalanche photodiode

A photon counting system using covered single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) based on a standard IC process (0.18 μm) is designed and analysed in this work. The SPAD is formed using the medium voltage (MV) doping layers of the process. To reduce the dark count rate (DCR) in the SPAD, a shaded SPAD with the same structure is fabricated on the same chip which is covered by a metal layer and only providing DCR for the DCR correction. This DCR provided by the shaded SPAD can be also used for the real-time on chip monitoring of some other parameters such as temperature, breakdown voltage and afterpulsing probability. Experimental results show that the SPAD developed is able to detect the visible light from 450 nm to 850 nm with a 35 % peak photon detection probability achieved at around 550 nm with bias voltage of 16 V (excess voltage of 3 V). A timing jitter of 176 ps is measured with an excess voltage of 3 V. The dark count rate in the SPAD tested is about 1.38 cps/μm2 with excess bias voltage of 1 V and 14.62 cps/μm2 with the excess bias voltage of 3 V without the DCR correction. Results also show that a reduction of more than 85 % in the DCR (background noise) can be achieved when the DCR correction is applied resulting in a DCR of 1.68 cps/μm2 with excess bias voltage of 3 V. By monitoring the DCR of the shaded SPAD, the breakdown voltage and temperature of other on chip SPAD can be measured. The potential usefulness of the afterpulsing probability monitoring using the shaded SPAD and the crosstalk probability between SPADs on the chip are analyzed. In addition, the effects of process variations on the SPAD performance is investigated by testing 10 chips with the same SPADs fabricated and potential method is proposed for alleviating the process variations in the SPAD arrays

Microbial transformation of artemisinin by Aspergillus terreus

Abstract Background Artemisinin (1) and its derivatives are now being widely used as antimalarial drugs, and they also exhibited good antitumor activities. So there has been much interest in the structural modification of artemisinin and its derivatives because of their effective bioactivities. The microbial transformation is a promising route to obtain artemisinin derivatives. The present study focuses on the microbial transformation of artemisinin by Aspergillus terreus. Results During 6 days at 28 °C and 180 rpm, Aspergillus terreus transformed artemisinin to two products. They were identified as 1-deoxyartemisinin (2) and 4α-hydroxy-1-deoxyartemisinin (3) on the basis of their spectroscopic data. Conclusions The microbial transformation of artemisinin by Aspergillus terreus was investigated, and two products (1-deoxyartemisinin and 4α-hydroxy-1-deoxyartemisinin) were obtained. This study is the first to report on the microbial transformation of artemisinin by Aspergillus terreus

Asymptotic normality and mean consistency of LS estimators in the errors-in-variables model with dependent errors

In this article, an errors-in-variables regression model in which the errors are negatively superadditive dependent (NSD) random variables is studied. First, the Marcinkiewicz-type strong law of large numbers for NSD random variables is established. Then, we use the strong law of large numbers to investigate the asymptotic normality of least square (LS) estimators for the unknown parameters. In addition, the mean consistency of LS estimators for the unknown parameters is also obtained. Some results for independent random variables and negatively associated random variables are extended and improved to the case of NSD setting. At last, two simulations are presented to verify the asymptotic normality and mean consistency of LS estimators in the model

Application and Research of IoT Architecture for End-Net-Cloud Edge Computing

At the edge of the network close to the source of the data, edge computing deploys computing, storage and other capabilities to provide intelligent services in close proximity and offers low bandwidth consumption, low latency and high security. It satisfies the requirements of transmission bandwidth, real-time and security for Internet of Things (IoT) application scenarios. Based on the IoT architecture, an IoT edge computing (EC-IoT) reference architecture is proposed, which contained three layers: The end edge, the network edge and the cloud edge. Furthermore, the key technologies of the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the EC-IoT reference architecture is analyzed. Platforms for different EC-IoT reference architecture edge locations are classified by comparing IoT edge computing platforms. On the basis of EC-IoT reference architecture, an industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) edge computing solution, an Internet of Vehicles (IoV) edge computing architecture and a reference architecture of the IoT edge gateway-based smart home are proposed. Finally, the trends and challenges of EC-IoT are examined, and the EC-IoT architecture will have very promising applications

M-test in linear models with negatively superadditive dependent errors

Abstract This paper is concerned with the testing hypotheses of regression parameters in linear models in which errors are negatively superadditive dependent (NSD). A robust M-test base on M-criterion is proposed. The asymptotic distribution of the test statistic is obtained and the consistent estimates of the redundancy parameters involved in the asymptotic distribution are established. Finally, some Monte Carlo simulations are given to substantiate the stability of the parameter estimates and the power of the test, for various choices of M-methods, explanatory variables and different sample sizes

Histone Deacetylase 3 Aggravates Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus by Inhibiting Lymphocyte Apoptosis Through the microRNA-296-5p/Bcl-xl Axis

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by immune-mediated destruction of pancreatic beta-cells. Multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in T1DM pathogenesis. Although histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) has been reported to be involved in T1DM, the underlying mechanisms remain to be further elucidated. This study was designed to investigate the potential regulatory role of Hdac3 on T1DM progression. The expression of miR-296-5p and B-cell leukemia-XL (BCL-XL) was determined using RT-qPCR and Western blot assay in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with T1DM, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)- and cycloheximide (CHX)-induced cell model, and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced rat model. The binding affinity between miR-296-5p and Bcl-xl was verified by using dual-luciferase reporter gene assay, and the binding between Hdac3 and the promoter region of miR-296-5p was validated using chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. Western blot analysis and flow cytometry were conducted to assess the apoptotic events of lymphocytes. miR-296-5p expression was downregulated while BCL-XL expression was upregulated in PBMCs of patients with T1DM. An adverse correlation was identified between miR-296-5p and Bcl-xl in mouse TE15 B lymphocytes. Bcl-xl was further validated to be targeted and negatively regulated by miR-296-5p in 293 T cells. Hdac3 inhibited miR-296-5p expression by binding to its promoter region. The effects of overexpressed Hdac3 on lymphocyte apoptosis was counterweighed via downregulation of Bcl-xl or upregulation of miR-296-5p, the mechanism of which was further validated in a rat model of DM. Taken together, the Hdac3-mediated upregulation of Bcl-xl via inhibiting miR-296-5p promoter activity enhanced the anti-apoptotic capacity of lymphocytes to accelerate the occurrence of T1DM

Improvement of Corrosion Resistance of TiO2 Layers in Strong Acidic Solutions by Anodizing and Thermal Oxidation Treatment

By anodization and thermal oxidation at 600 °C, an oxide layer on Ti with excellent corrosion resistance in strong acid solutions was prepared. The structural properties of TiO2 films before and after thermal oxidation were investigated with methods of Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical characterization was recorded via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, potentiodynamic polarization and Mott–Schottky methods. XRD results show that a duplex rutile/anatase structure formed after oxidation, and the amount of anatase phase increased as the treatment time was prolonged from 3 to 9 h. XPS analysis indicates that as the thermal oxidation time increased, more Ti vacancies were present in the titanium oxide films, with decreased donor concentration. Longer thermal oxidation promoted the formation of hydroxides of titanium on the surface, which is helpful to improve the passive ability of the film. The anodized and thermally oxidized Ti samples showed relatively high corrosion resistance in 4 M HCl and 4 M H2SO4 solutions at 100 ± 5 °C. The passive current density values of the thermally oxidized samples were five orders of magnitude under the testing condition compared with that of the anodized sample. With the oxidation time prolonged, the passive current density decreased further to some extent