An Estimator of Heavy Tail Index through the Generalized Jackknife Methodology

In practice, sometimes the data can be divided into several blocks but only a few of the largest observations within each block are available to estimate the heavy tail index. To address this problem, we propose a new class of estimators through the Generalized Jackknife methodology based on Qi’s estimator (2010). These estimators are proved to be asymptotically normal under suitable conditions. Compared to Hill’s estimator and Qi’s estimator, our new estimator has better asymptotic efficiency in terms of the minimum mean squared error, for a wide range of the second order shape parameters. For the finite samples, our new estimator still compares favorably to Hill’s estimator and Qi’s estimator, providing stable sample paths as a function of the number of dividing the sample into blocks, smaller estimation bias, and MSE

High-Power Electromagnetic Pulse Exposure of Healthy Mice: Assessment of Effects on Mice Cognitions, Neuronal Activities, and Hippocampal Structures

Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a high-energy pulse with an extremely rapid rise time and a broad bandwidth. The brain is a target organ sensitive to electromagnetic radiation (EMR), the biological effects and related mechanisms of EMPs on the brain remain unclear. The objectives of the study were to assess the effects of EMP exposure on mouse cognitions, and the neuronal calcium activities in vivo under different cases of real-time exposure and post exposure. EMP-treated animal model was established by exposing male adult C57BL/6N mice to 300 kV/m EMPs. First, the effects of EMPs on the cognitions, including the spatial learning and memory, avoidance learning and memory, novelty-seeking behavior, and anxiety, were assessed by multiple behavioral experiments. Then, the changes in the neuronal activities of the hippocampal CA1 area in vivo were detected by fiber photometry in both cases of during real-time EMP radiation and post-exposure. Finally, the structures of neurons in hippocampi were observed by optical microscope and transmission electron microscope. We found that EMPs under this condition caused a decline in the spatial learning and memory ability in mice, but no effects on the avoidance learning and memory, novelty-seeking behavior, and anxiety. The neuron activities of hippocampal CA1 were disturbed by EMP exposure, which were inhibited during EMP exposure, but activated immediately after exposure end. Additionally, the CA1 neuron activities, when mice entered the central area in an Open field (OF) test or explored the novelty in a Novel object exploration (NOE) test, were inhibited on day 1 and day 7 after radiation. Besides, damaged structures in hippocampal neurons were observed after EMP radiation. In conclusion, EMP radiation impaired the spatial learning and memory ability and disturbed the neuronal activities in hippocampal CA1 in mice

Construction of a cross-species cell landscape at single-cell level.

Individual cells are basic units of life. Despite extensive efforts to characterize the cellular heterogeneity of different organisms, cross-species comparisons of landscape dynamics have not been achieved. Here, we applied single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to map organism-level cell landscapes at multiple life stages for mice, zebrafish and Drosophila. By integrating the comprehensive dataset of > 2.6 million single cells, we constructed a cross-species cell landscape and identified signatures and common pathways that changed throughout the life span. We identified structural inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction as the most common hallmarks of organism aging, and found that pharmacological activation of mitochondrial metabolism alleviated aging phenotypes in mice. The cross-species cell landscape with other published datasets were stored in an integrated online portal-Cell Landscape. Our work provides a valuable resource for studying lineage development, maturation and aging

Shear Performance of Adhesive Bonding of Cross-Laminated Bamboo

Tests were conducted of the bonding shear strength of different bamboo configurations in terms of grain direction, adhesive, and clamping pressure. The bonding shear tests were carried out with two basic configurations: glued together with the grain in the same direction, and cross-laminated. Five different adhesives were used: emulsion polymer isocyanate (EPI), polyurethane (PUR), melamine-ureaformaldehyde (MUF), hybrid polymer adhesive (HPA), and polyvinyl acetate (PVA). To assess the optimum value, specimens were prepared with three clamping pressures. According to the test results, the most suitable adhesive for glued laminated bamboo surface is MUF; EPI is not effective for bonding laminated bamboo elements, and PVA performs the best for scrimber produced with cross-laminated bamboo. The results also showed that end grain specimens had the highest bonding shear strengths among the four configurations, and that, in accordance with the properties of raw bamboo, cross-laminated types exhibited similar mechanical characteristics in both directions. It can be concluded that the testing method used for cross laminated timber is also suitable for assessing the shear strength of adhesive bonds for cross-laminated bamboo

Casticin Induces Human Glioma Cell Death through Apoptosis and Mitotic Arrest

Background: Malignant gliomas are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in brain and central nervous system tumors. Recently, casticin has drawn wide attention to its critical role in tumor progression. However, the effect of casticin on glioma remains undefined. Methods: Following treatment with casticin, cell viability, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest were examined in U251 glioma cells. Additionally, the involved molecular mechanism was assessed by western blotting and flow cytometry. Results: Casticin triggered an obvious dose-dependent decrease in U251, U87 and U373 glioma cell viability, and the growth inhibitory effect of casticin was correlated with cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis. Further mechanistic analysis indicated that casticin induced G2/M phase arrest by attenuating the polymerization of tubulin. Furthermore, striking apoptosis was also confirmed, accompanied by the up-regulation of caspase-3, p53 and proapoptotic protein Bax. These effects were absent when the caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk or p53 inhibitor PFTα were applied, suggesting that casticin could trigger cell apoptosis in a caspase-3 and p53-dependent manner. Conclusion: These findings provide a prominent insight into how casticin abrogates the pathogenesis of glioma, and support its potential clinical prospect for further development of anti-brain cancer therapy

Design of Health Monitoring Program for Filling System based on Data Level Fusion

Aiming at filling system health monitoring, the health monitoring type partition based on the data level fusion is studied. The health monitoring type is mainly divided into two parts, fusion-threshold monitoring based on single sensor data and fusion monitoring based on multi-sensor data of the same type. On this basis, Single sensor fusion monitoring based on RTS-TA algorithm and Multi-sensor fusion monitoring based on improved weighted fusion algorithm are designed. For multi-sensor data fusion, the fusion schemes are designed respectively according to the different situation whether the initial accuracy is known or not

Design of Health Monitoring Program for Filling System based on Data Level Fusion

Aiming at filling system health monitoring, the health monitoring type partition based on the data level fusion is studied. The health monitoring type is mainly divided into two parts, fusion-threshold monitoring based on single sensor data and fusion monitoring based on multi-sensor data of the same type. On this basis, Single sensor fusion monitoring based on RTS-TA algorithm and Multi-sensor fusion monitoring based on improved weighted fusion algorithm are designed. For multi-sensor data fusion, the fusion schemes are designed respectively according to the different situation whether the initial accuracy is known or not

Experimental investigation on the effect of mixed acids etched nickel foam electrode on performance of an alkaline direct ethanol fuel cell

The three-dimensional porous materials represented by nickel foam have broad application prospects in the fuel cell field due to their excellent physical properties (high conductivity, high porosity and high specific surface area, etc.). However, the smooth nickel foam skeleton not only limits the loadable amount of active materials, but also reduces the utilization efficiency of loaded active materials. Therefore, increasing the roughness of the nickel foam skeleton to improve the utilization of active materials has far-reaching significance for the practical application. In this paper, we used mixed acids solution to etch the nickel foam and investigated the effect of etched nickel foam electrode on the performance of an alkaline direct ethanol fuel cell. It was found that mixed acids etching treatment can significantly improve the roughness of nickel foam skeleton and had a great influence on the ethanol oxidation half-reaction (EOR), while the effect on the single cell performance can negligible. Therefore, we believe that the pretreatment method of nickel foam has little effect on the performance of high loading actual electrode