SCAN+rVV10: A promising van der Waals density functional

The newly developed "strongly constrained and appropriately normed" (SCAN) meta-generalized-gradient approximation (meta-GGA) can generally improve over the non-empirical Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) GGA not only for strong chemical bonding, but also for the intermediate-range van der Waals (vdW) interaction. However, the long-range vdW interaction is still missing. To remedy this, we propose here pairing SCAN with the non-local correlation part from the rVV10 vdW density functional, with only two empirical parameters. The resulting SCAN+rVV10 yields excellent geometric and energetic results not only for molecular systems, but also for solids and layered-structure materials, as well as the adsorption of benzene on coinage metal surfaces. Especially, SCAN+rVV10 outperforms all current methods with comparable computational efficiencies, accurately reproducing the three most fundamental parameters---the inter-layer binding energies, inter-, and intra-layer lattice constants---for 28 layered-structure materials. Hence, we have achieved with SCAN+rVV10 a promising vdW density functional for general geometries, with minimal empiricism

A single-phase bidirectional AC/DC converter for V2G applications

This paper presents a single-phase bidirectional current-source AC/DC converter for vehicle to grid (V2G) applications. The presented converter consists of a line frequency commutated unfolding bridge and an interleaved buck-boost stage. The low semiconductor losses of the line frequency commutated unfolding bridge contribute to the comparatively good efficiency of this converter. The buck and boost operating modes of the interleaved buck-boost stage provide operation over a wide battery voltage range. The interleaved structure of the interleaved buck-boost stage results in lower battery current ripple. In addition, sinusoidal input current, bidirectional power flow and reactive power compensation capability are also guaranteed. This paper presents the topology and operating principles of the presented converter. The feasibility of the converter is validated using MATLAB simulations, as well as experimental results

The weak Galerkin finite element method for Stokes interface problems with curved interface

In this paper, we develop a new weak Galerkin finite element scheme for the Stokes interface problem with curved interfaces. We take a unique vector-valued function at the interface and reflect the interface condition in the variational problem. Theoretical analysis and numerical experiments show that the errors can reach the optimal convergence order under the energy norm and $L^2$ norm

V2V-Assisted V2I MmWave Communication for Cooperative Perception with Information Value-Based Relay

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) vehicular communication is a key technology that enables autonomous vehicles to collaborate in environment perception, thereby improving traffic efficiency and safety to a new level. Many recent works have focused on relay-based solutions to overcome the inherent defects of mmWave, such as the severe path loss and its sensitivity to blockages. However, the selfishness of the vehicles is often ignored. Considering the application-oriented nature of vehicular communication, we propose an information value-based relay strategy for mmWave vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) transmission in this paper. Specifically, the vehicles are allowed to make relay decisions based on the evaluation of the value of messages from their own perspectives. To this end, a simple relay probability model based on the required awareness range is introduced. Through the use of stochastic geometry to model the vehicular network, the outage performance is analyzed and the results are validated by simulations. Impacts of both network and application related parameters on the outage performance are investigated. These preliminary results laid the foundation for the further expansion of the information value-based relay strategies to a wider range of network settings

Effects of Chronic Mild Stress on the Development of Atherosclerosis and Expression of Toll-Like Receptor 4 Signaling Pathway in Adolescent Apolipoprotein E Knockout Mice

Here, we investigated the effect of chronic mild stress (CMS) on the development of atherosclerosis as well as the expression of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) signaling pathway in adolescent apolipoprotein E knockout (apoE-/-) mice. Mice were subjected to daily CMS for 0, 4, and 12 weeks, respectively. To identify the expression of Toll-like receptor 4 signaling pathway in adolescent apolipoprotein E knockout mice subjected to CMS, we compared gene expression in aortas of stressed and unstressed mice using TLRs signaling pathway real-time PCR microarrays consisting of 87 genes. We found that atherosclerosis lesions both in aortic tress and sinuses of CMS mice were significantly increased linearly in response to duration of CMS exposure. Among 87 genes analyzed, 15 genes were upregulated in stressed mice, especially TLR4, myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), and IL-1β, and 28 genes were downregulated compared with nonstressed mice. CMS mice demonstrated markedly increased aortic atherosclerosis that were associated with significant increases in levels of expression of TLR4, MyD88, nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), MCP-1, IL-1β, TNF-α, and sICAM-1. Taken together, our results suggest an important role for TLR4 signaling pathway in atherosclerosis in a CMS mouse model

Characterization of a calcium/calmodulin-regulated SR/CAMTA gene family during tomato fruit development and ripening

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fruit ripening is a complicated development process affected by a variety of external and internal cues. It is well established that calcium treatment delays fruit ripening and senescence. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Previous studies have shown that calcium/calmodulin-regulated SR/CAMTAs are important for modulation of disease resistance, cold sensitivity and wounding response in vegetative tissues. To study the possible roles of this gene family in fruit development and ripening, we cloned seven <it>SR/CAMTAs</it>, designated as <it>SlSRs</it>, from tomato, a model fruit-bearing crop. All seven genes encode polypeptides with a conserved DNA-binding domain and a calmodulin-binding site. Calmodulin specifically binds to the putative targeting site in a calcium-dependent manner. All <it>SlSRs </it>were highly yet differentially expressed during fruit development and ripening. Most notably, the expression of <it>SlSR2 </it>was scarcely detected at the mature green and breaker stages, two critical stages of fruit development and ripening; and <it>SlSR3L </it>and <it>SlSR4 </it>were expressed exclusively in fruit tissues. During the developmental span from 10 to 50 days post anthesis, the expression profiles of all seven <it>SlSR</it>s were dramatically altered in ripening mutant <it>rin </it>compared with wildtype fruit. By contrast, only minor alterations were noted for ripening mutant <it>nor </it>and <it>Nr </it>fruit. In addition, ethylene treatment of mature green wildtype fruit transiently stimulated expression of all <it>SlSR</it>s within one to two hours.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study indicates that <it>SlSR </it>expression is influenced by both the <it>Rin</it>-mediated developmental network and ethylene signaling. The results suggest that calcium signaling is involved in the regulation of fruit development and ripening through calcium/calmodulin/SlSR interactions.</p