Auto-diagnosis of time-of-flight for ultrasonic signal based on defect peaks tracking model

With the popularization of humans working in tandem with robots and artificial intelligence (AI) by Industry 5.0, ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT)) technology has been increasingly used in quality inspections in the industry. As a crucial part of handling ultrasonic testing results–signal processing, the current approach focuses on professional training to perform signal discrimination but automatic and intelligent signal optimization and estimation lack systematic research. Though the automated and intelligent framework for ultrasonic echo signal processing has already exhibited essential research significance for diagnosing defect locations, the real-time applicability of the algorithm for the time-of-flight (ToF) estimation is rarely considered, which is a very important indicator for intelligent detection. This paper conducts a systematic comparison among different ToF algorithms for the first time and presents the auto-diagnosis of the ToF approach based on the Defect Peaks Tracking Model (DPTM). The proposed DPTM is used for ultrasonic echo signal processing and recognition for the first time. The DPTM using the Hilbert transform was verified to locate the defect with the size of 2–10 mm, in which the wavelet denoising method was adopted. With the designed mechanical fixture through 3D printing technology on the pipeline to inspect defects, the difficulty of collecting sufficient data could be conquered. The maximum auto-diagnosis error could be reduced to 0.25% and 1.25% for steel plate and pipeline under constant pressure, respectively, which were much smaller than those with the DPTM adopting the cross-correlation. The real-time auto-diagnosis identification feature of DPTM has the potential to be combined with AI in future work, such as machine learning and deep learning, to achieve more intelligent approaches for industrial health inspection

Microstructure and Discharge Performance of Aluminum Al 6061 Alloy as Anode for Electrolyte Activated Battery

Electrolyte activated battery finds its important use during natural disaster emergencies, such as floods and typhoons. Nevertheless, high corrosion rate will deteriorate the discharge performance of the battery and it is influenced by the type of electrolyte and discharge current. In this study, the corrosion and discharge performance of a commercial Al 6061 aluminum alloy as an anode are investigated at different discharge currents (0.001, 0.01, and 1 mA) and in different electrolytes, namely salt water, urea, and distilled water. Scanning electron microscopy results show that electrode in salt water has the most serious corrosion, followed by that of in urea and in distilled water. These electrodeelectrolyte combinations are further investigated with potentiodynamic polarization, galvanostatic discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to understand their discharge potential, discharge behavior, and corrosion mechanism. Among all combinations, aluminum in water is found to have the highest discharge performance with discharge potentials ranging from 716 to 744 mV, regardless of discharge current

Reactivation of Epstein–Barr virus by a dual-responsive fluorescent EBNA1-targeting agent with Zn2+-chelating function

EBNA1 is the only Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) latent protein responsible for viral genome maintenance and is expressed in all EBV-infected cells. Zn2+ is essential for oligomerization of the functional EBNA1. We constructed an EBNA1 binding peptide with a Zn2+ chelator to create an EBNA1-specific inhibitor (ZRL5P4). ZRL5P4 by itself is sufficient to reactivate EBV from its latent infection. ZRL5P4 is able to emit unique responsive fluorescent signals once it binds with EBNA1 and a Zn2+ ion. ZRL5P4 can selectively disrupt the EBNA1 oligomerization and cause nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tumor shrinkage, possibly due to EBV lytic induction. Dicer1 seems essential for this lytic reactivation. As can been seen, EBNA1 is likely to maintain NPC cell survival by suppressing viral reactivation

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Feasibility of quantum key distribution from high altitude platforms

This paper presents the feasibility study of deploying Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) from High Altitude Platforms (HAPs), as a way of securing future communications applications and services. The paper provides a thorough review of the state of the art HAP technologies and summarises the benefits that HAPs can bring to the QKD services. A detailed link budget analysis is presented in the paper to evaluate the feasibility of delivering QKD from stratospheric HAPs flying at 20 km altitude. The results show a generous link budget under most operating conditions which brings the possibility of using diverged beams, thereby simplifying the Pointing, Acquisition and Tracking (PAT) of the optical system on the HAPs and ground, potentially widening the range of future use cases where QKD could be a viable solution.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures. Comments are welcom

「回首．動情．傳承」長者生命故事計劃

嶺南大學亞太老年學研究中心獲華人永遠墳場管理委員會（「華永會」）資助為期一年的「回首．動情．傳承」長者生命故事計劃(「計劃」)。此計劃旨在讓青年人認識長者生命經驗，學習克服困難與挫折以提升抗逆力，建立正向人生觀。 近年，主流媒體經常批評年輕人的負面人生觀，例如：「躺平主義」、「享樂主義」、「犬儒心態」等，亦不時看到青年人輕生的新聞。我們曾在大學內處理過不少受情緒困擾及企圖自殺的個案，與學生深入交流後，發現他們面對着沉重的學業壓力、財政困難或複雜的家庭關係，內心充滿掙扎不安。 此計劃讓嶺大學生與長者導師進行深度的對談，透過了解長者走過的路、他們經歷過的挫折和教訓，給予年輕人生命的啟示。如果我們以旅遊比喻人生，長者就像環遊世界的資深背包客，即使大家遊覽不同的地點、觀賞過不同的風景，他們總能夠分享一些旅遊的心得，讓新手遊客走少一點冤枉路，或領悟到旅遊的樂趣和意義。長者亦可以藉由敍述人生片段回顧他們生命中的故事，學習接納過去，增加自我認同感。青年人創作生命教育書冊，將長者積極的人生觀傳給年輕一代，並藉此鼓勵其他長者豁達地度過餘年。 我們於2022年初招募嶺南大學學生接受「生命故事敍述」培訓，內容包括：本港的人口老化現象、敍述治療理論、與長者溝通的技巧及模擬實踐練習等，以裝備同學的知識和技巧。本中心再向屯門、元朗區的長者機構發邀請信，誠邀長者擔任生命導師接受訪問。 嶺大安排同學以兩人一組的小隊形式，於2022年6至7月期間前往長者中心、日間護理中心、嶺南大學或長者家中，與十二位長者進行深入訪談。訪談結束後，同學根據訪談的內容，為長者書寫他們獨特的生命故事。例如在人離鄉賤的異國環境下，努力打拼事業的Alfred；堅持不懈持續進修的淑芹和馮春林；即使沒機會求學，仍憑一雙巧手闖出一片天的譚惠；在文化大革命的漩渦中，憑着熱忱而改變命運的蘭英；還有為家人無私奉獻的鳳群、歐婆婆、雅芳及細女；離鄉別井勇闖異地的阿美和阿水；即使被家人賣去做「妹仔」，仍能以「阿Q精神」面對的諒餘。 為保障長者的私隱權益，本書內所有刊登之故事皆經過受訪者或社工審閱，部份受訪者選擇以化名的形式來分享自己的故事，我們亦移除了部份敏感的個人資料。https://commons.ln.edu.hk/apias_guide/1008/thumbnail.jp

Ethnic Related Selection for an ADH Class I Variant within East Asia

The alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) are widely studied enzymes and the evolution of the mammalian gene cluster encoding these enzymes is also well studied. Previous studies have shown that the ADH1B*47His allele at one of the seven genes in humans is associated with a decrease in the risk of alcoholism and the core molecular region with this allele has been selected for in some East Asian populations. As the frequency of ADH1B*47His is highest in East Asia, and very low in most of the rest of the world, we have undertaken more detailed investigation in this geographic region.Here we report new data on 30 SNPs in the ADH7 and Class I ADH region in samples of 24 populations from China and Laos. These populations cover a wide geographic region and diverse ethnicities. Combined with our previously published East Asian data for these SNPs in 8 populations, we have typed populations from all of the 6 major linguistic phyla (Altaic including Korean-Japanese and inland Altaic, Sino-Tibetan, Hmong-Mien, Austro-Asiatic, Daic, and Austronesian). The ADH1B genotyping data are strongly related to ethnicity. Only some eastern ethnic phyla or subphyla (Korean-Japanese, Han Chinese, Hmong-Mien, Daic, and Austronesian) have a high frequency of ADH1B*47His. ADH1B haplotype data clustered the populations into linguistic subphyla, and divided the subphyla into eastern and western parts. In the Hmong-Mien and Altaic populations, the extended haplotype homozygosity (EHH) and relative EHH (REHH) tests for the ADH1B core were consistent with selection for the haplotype with derived SNP alleles. In the other ethnic phyla, the core showed only a weak signal of selection at best.The selection distribution is more significantly correlated with the frequency of the derived ADH1B regulatory region polymorphism than the derived amino-acid altering allele ADH1B*47His. Thus, the real focus of selection may be the regulatory region. The obvious ethnicity-related distributions of ADH1B diversities suggest the existence of some culture-related selective forces that have acted on the ADH1B region

Magnetic Particle-Based Hybrid Platforms for Bioanalytical Sensors

Biomagnetic nano and microparticles platforms have attracted considerable interest in the field of biological sensors due to their interesting physico-chemical properties, high specific surface area, good mechanical stability and opportunities for generating magneto-switchable devices. This review discusses recent advances in the development and characterization of active biomagnetic nanoassemblies, their interaction with biological molecules and their use in bioanalytical sensors