Causes and classification of EMD mode mixing

At present, the lack of insight into the problem of mode mixing in Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) hinders the development of solutions to the problem. Starting with the phenomenon that the EMD decomposition cannot be accomplished when the number of signal extrema is abnormal, the causes of mode mixing were investigated and the conclusion was reached that there are only two basic types of mode mixing. In light of this finding, the mechanisms of the three typical mode mixing solutions and their limitations were analyzed. It was found from the analysis process and results that the findings of this study regarding the causes and types of mode mixing were correct

Study of modal acoustic emission to monitor the impact damage in a composite plate

Based on the theory of modal acoustic emission, this paper describes a new method to determine whether a plate made of a composite material has been damaged following external impact. Using modal acoustic emission theory, the relationship between the Lamb-wave mode of acoustic emission and the force direction in the plate was analyzed. This relationship was then verified using a lead-break experiment. The Lamb-wave mode of the acoustic emission signals produced by the damage in the plate was investigated, and the criterion for assessing the impact damage was proposed. During the impact experiments, the proposed criterion was employed to monitor the impact damage of the plate. The results indicate that it is feasible to use acoustic emission signals to directly determine whether an impact had caused damage to the plate

The Development of a Parent Report Instrument of Early Communication and Language Skills of Infants and Toddlers in Mainland China

This study was designed to produce a new parent-report measure, the Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin-Infant Toddler Assessment of Communication and Language (DREAM-IT) in order to provide norms for the developmental skills of children aged 0–36 months in four areas: expressive language, receptive language, cognitive play and social skills

A Non-Uniform Transmission Line Model of the ±1100 kV UHV Tower

The modeling of the Ultra-High Voltage (UHV) tower plays an important role in lightning protection analysis of transmission lines because the model used will directly affect the reliability of the results. Moreover, the higher the voltage level is, the more prominent the impact becomes. This paper first analyzes the inapplicability of the Hara multi-segment multi-surge impedance model for the ±1100 kV UHV towers, and then builds a non-uniform transmission line model of the tower. Secondly, the multi-segment multi-surge impedance model is used to study the influence of the tower’s spatial structure changes on its electromagnetic transient characteristics. It is concluded that the more accurately the nominal height of the tower is modeled, the more accurately its electromagnetic transient response is reflected. Finally, the lightning electromagnetic transient responses of the tower with the non-uniform transmission line model and with the multi-segment multi-surge impedance model are compared and analyzed, which shows that the non-uniform transmission line model is more in line with the actual situation under the lightning strikes

Nutrition and food security in rural China : evaluating the impacts of the national nutrition improvement plan for rural students - final technical report

The research analyzes how the school food system in China under the National Nutrition Improvement Plan affects local food security and the economic situation, nutrition, health, and education outcomes of girls and boys. Some findings to date include: the school food system has effectively helped rural students in poverty-stricken areas; school feeding has met basic nutritional needs of most students, and; students’ physical health has improved. The project also looks at how school meals are related to poverty reduction, and how poor families’ burdens have been relieved because of the school meals programme

Surface Plasmon Field-Enhanced Raman Scattering Co-Excited by P‑Polarized and S‑Polarized Light Based on Waveguide-Coupled Surface Plasmon Resonance Configuration

We constructed a waveguide-coupled surface plasmon resonance (WCSPR) structure to enhance Raman scattering. In this structure, P-polarized and S-polarized incident lasers can simultaneously coexcite the evanescent field, thereby further enhancing Raman scattering. This configuration is a five-phase Kretschmann resonance setup that consists of a SF10 prism/inner Ag film/SiO2 film/outer Ag film/water structure. The WCSPR configuration effectively concentrates and confines the evanescent field excited by the incident light. Ag nanoparticles assembled on the outer Ag film surface enhance the evanescent field further by means of surface plasmon resonance. By finely tuning the thickness of the Ag and SiO2 films, it is possible to achieve a coincidence between the SPR angle of P-polarized light and that of S-polarized light. At this angle, both P- and S-polarized light can jointly elevate the evanescent field intensity, leading to the simultaneous enhancement of the electric fields at the upper, lower, left, and right parts of the silver nanoparticles and generating maximum evanescent field enhancement. We achieved an electric field enhancement of up to 103 around the nanoparticles, leading to more SERS hotspots and comparable SERS enhancement capability to gap-type hotspots. Our WCSPR structure combined with the nanoparticles offers a feasible strategy for the SERS detection of large molecules that cannot be placed in traditional gap-type hotspots. It is highly convenient for SERS detection of large molecules

Assessment of the Impacts of Land Use/Cover Change and Rainfall Change on Surface Runoff in China

Assessment of the impacts of land use/cover change (LUCC) and rainfall change on surface runoff depth can help provide an understanding of the temporal trend of variation of surface runoff and assist in urban construction planning. This study evaluated the impacts of LUCC and rainfall change on surface runoff depth by adopting the well-known Soil Conservation Service-Curve Number (SCS-CN) method and the widely used Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-THIA) model. National hydrologic soil group map of China was generated based on a conversion from soil texture classification system. The CN values were adjusted based on the land use/cover types and soil properties in China. The L-THIA model was configured by using the adjusted CN values and then applied nationally in China. Results show that nationwide rainfall changes and LUCC from 2005 to 2010 had little impact on the distribution of surface runoff, and the high values of runoff depth were mainly located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Nationally, the average annual runoff depths in 2005, 2010 and 2015 were 78 mm, 83 mm and 90 mm, respectively. For the 2015 land use data, rainfall change caused the variation of surface runoff depth ranging from −203 mm to 476 mm in different regions. LUCC from 2005 to 2015 did not cause obvious change of surface runoff depth, but expansion of developed land led to runoff depth increases ranging from 0 mm to 570 mm and 0 mm to 742 mm from 2005 to 2010 and 2010 to 2015, respectively. Potential solutions to urban land use change and surface runoff control were also analyzed

Blue-Emitting InP/GaP/ZnS Quantum Dots with Enhanced Stability by Siloxane Capping: Implication for Electroluminescent Devices

InP quantum dots (QDs) with low toxicity are an ideal alternative to Cd-based QDs. However, the optical properties and stability of blue-emitting InP QDs are far inferior to those of red and green QDs. In this work, we report the synthesis of highly fluorescent InP/GaP/ZnS core/shell/ shell QDs with an emission wavelength of 484 nm and photoluminescence quantum yield of 71%, along with a full width at half-maximum as narrow as 45 nm. In addition, we encapsulated the QDs with siloxane via specific ligand exchange and condensation reactions to improve their stability. The corresponding siloxane capping QD light-emitting device (QLED) shows a maximum luminance of 690 Cd m(-2), an external quantum efficiency of 0.09%, and a much longer lifetime than pristine QDs. As a result, these enable the siloxane capping QDs to achieve a much stronger storage stability and a longer QLED lifetime than pristine QDs

Licochalcone A suppresses the proliferation of sarcoma HT-1080 cells, as a selective R132C mutant IDH1 inhibitor

IDH1 mutations are closely related to the development and progression of various human cancers, such as glioblastoma, sarcoma, and acute myeloid leukemia. By screening dozens of reported natural compounds using both wild-type and mutant IDH1 enzymatic assays, we discovered Licochalcone A is a selective inhibitor to the R132C-mutant IDH1 with an IC50 value of 5.176 μM, and inhibits the proliferation of sarcoma HT-1080 cells with an IC50 value of 10.75 μM. Suggested by the molecular docking results, Licochalcone A might occupy the allosteric pocket between the two monomers of IDH1 homodimer, and the R132H mutation was unfavorable for the binding of Licochalcone A with the IDH1 protein, as compared to the R132C mutation. Revealed by the RNA-Seq data analysis, the Cell Cycle pathway was the most over-represented pathway for HT-1080 cells treated with Licochalcone A. Consistent with these results, Licochalcone A induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of HT-1080 cells, while it showed minimal effect against the proliferation of normal RCTEC cells. The discovery of Licochalcone A as a mutation-selective IDH1 inhibitor can serve as a promising starting point for the development of mutation-selective anti-tumor lead compounds targeting IDH1