Harmonious Screen Interface Design Principles from Chinese Calligraphy

Harmony is a major theme in Chinese culture. It is reflected in many forms, e.g. painting and garden design. However, calligraphy gives a straight forward insight into harmony in two dimensions. The main hypothesis was that the principles for building a harmonious calligraphic character could be converted from holistic to deductive and computable ones. These could then be applied to the design of harmonious screen interfaces, which would give visual pleasure. The first aim was to investigate and discover the quantifiable features of harmony in Chinese regular script calligraphy. Calligraphy has been associated in China with harmony and elegance for over 1500 years. There are features that are commonly accepted to establish harmony which can be quantified. However, the principles of Chinese calligraphy are embedded within Chinese culture. Direct translation does not convey the meaning. An extensive study was made of the literature on Chinese calligraphy and a practical exploration of characters was made. This resulted in a small number of principles which were needed to be satisfied for the character to appear harmonious. These were tested on several groups of participants. These principles were then converted into a mathematical form for Chinese regular script calligraphy, and for application to harmonious screen interface design. The mathematical forms were then tested on both Chinese regular script calligraphy and also on interface designs with groups of participants. Finally, an application for comparing harmony in Chinese calligraphic characters and interface designs was created. The “Harmony” application can be used to calculate how a Chinese calligraphic character or an interface design satisfies the principles of harmony and it can give an indication of how harmonious they are

Cyclic Load Responses of GFRP-Strengthened Hollow Rectangular Bridge Piers

This study investigated the seismic behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) strengthened hollow rectangular bridge piers. Cyclic testing of reinforced concrete (RC) piers retrofitted with GFRP was carried out under constant axial loading and lateral bending. The failure characteristics, flexural ductility, dissipated energy, and hysteretic behaviors, were analyzed based on experimental results. A simplified GFRP-confined concrete model is developed by considering effective strength coefficient and area distribution ratio of GFRP sheets. The results indicate that the failure modes and damage region would be changed and the ductility and dissipated energy of the GFRP-strengthened hollow rectangular bridge piers were improved greatly but not much improvement for the lateral load capacity. The analytical results of the force-displacement hysteretic loops based on the GFRP-confined concrete model developed in this paper agreed well with the experimental data

Interfacial Interaction Enhanced Rheological Behavior in PAM/CTAC/Salt Aqueous Solution—A Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Study

Interfacial interactions within a multi-phase polymer solution play critical roles in processing control and mass transportation in chemical engineering. However, the understandings of these roles remain unexplored due to the complexity of the system. In this study, we used an efficient analytical method—a nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulation—to unveil the molecular interactions and rheology of a multiphase solution containing cetyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (CTAC), polyacrylamide (PAM), and sodium salicylate (NaSal). The associated macroscopic rheological characteristics and shear viscosity of the polymer/surfactant solution were investigated, where the computational results agreed well with the experimental data. The relation between the characteristic time and shear rate was consistent with the power law. By simulating the shear viscosity of the polymer/surfactant solution, we found that the phase transition of micelles within the mixture led to a non-monotonic increase in the viscosity of the mixed solution with the increase in concentration of CTAC or PAM. We expect this optimized molecular dynamic approach to advance the current understanding on chemical–physical interactions within polymer/surfactant mixtures at the molecular level and enable emerging engineering solutions

Reactive oxygen species may be involved in the distinctive biological effects of different doses of 12C6+ ion beams on Arabidopsis

IntroductionHeavy ion beam is a novel approach for crop mutagenesis with the advantage of high energy transfer line density and low repair effect after injury, however, little investigation on the biological effect on plant was performed. 50 Gy irradiation significantly stimulated the growth of Arabidopsis seedlings, as indicated by an increase in root and biomass, while 200 Gy irradiation significantly inhibited the growth of seedlings, causing a visible decrease in plant growth.MethodsThe Arabidopsis seeds were irradiated by 12C6+. Monte Carlo simulations were used to calculate the damage to seeds and particle trajectories by ion implantation. The seed epidermis received SEM detection and changes in its organic composition were detected using FTIR. Evidence of ROS and antioxidant systems were analyzed. RNA-seq and qPCR were used to detect changes in seedling transcript levels.Results and discussionMonte Carlo simulations revealed that high-dose irradiation causes various damage. Evidence of ROS and antioxidant systems implies that the emergence of phenotypes in plant cells may be associated with oxidative stress. Transcriptomic analysis of the seedlings demonstrated that 170 DEGs were present in the 50 Gy and 200 Gy groups and GO enrichment indicated that they were mainly associated with stress resistance and cell wall homeostasis. Further GO enrichment of DEGs unique to 50 Gy and 200 Gy revealed 58 50Gy-exclusive DEGs were enriched in response to oxidative stress and jasmonic acid entries, while 435 200 Gy-exclusive DEGs were enriched in relation to oxidative stress, organic cyclic compounds, and salicylic acid. This investigation advances our insight into the biological effects of heavy ion irradiation and the underlying mechanisms

Effect and Process Conditions of Cold Plasma Combined withL-Glutamic Acid and Salt Stress on Germination and Enrichment ofγ-Aminobutyric Acid in Adzuki Bean

This study aimed to investigate the effect of cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAPP) treatment combined with salt stress on the enrichment of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in adzuki beans after germination. The effect of CAPP voltage, frequency, and duration of treatment of seeds, on their GABA content during germination was investigated using adzuki beans as raw material. In addition, the method of germination using L-glutamic acid (L-Glu) combined with salt stress was used to investigate the effect of single factors (germination time and concentrations of CaCl2, L-Glu, and NaCl) on enrichment of GABA. The optimal process conditions for enrichment of GABA using response surface optimization experiments were also determined. The results showed that the treatment of seeds with CAPP technology had a beneficial effect on their germination and enrichment of GABA. The CAPP treatment was more effective under the following conditions: voltage of 90 kV, frequency of 120 Hz, and duration of 20 min. When the germination time was 58 h and the CaCl2, L-Glu, and NaCl concentrations were 4.4 mmol/L, 3.2 mg/mL, and 66 mmol/L, respectively, the GABA content of germinated adzuki beans was 160.23±2.91 mg/100 g, which was 7.12 times higher than that of ungerminated adzuki beans. This method is efficient, reliable, cost-effective, and provides a technical reference for the industrial production of GABA-rich foods

A pulmonary nodule mislocated in “dorsal” segment due to tri-lobed left lung

BackgroundThe left lung has two lobes and one fissure, while the right lung has three lobes and two fissures. Accessory fissures are usually found in imaging examinations and autopsies; however, finding an actual accessory lobe is rare.Case presentationIn a lung nodule resection surgery, a 68-year-old male patient was found with three lobes and two fissures in his left lung. The lung nodule was misdiagnosed as being located in the lower lobe because the accessory fissure was misregarded as the oblique fissure. The lung nodule was found in the upper lobe, and this anatomical variation changed the surgical plan. The pathology of the lung nodule was granulomatous inflammation with caseous necrosis with the positive antacid stain. The patient was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis.Literature reviewCases involving the lung accessory fissure and lung accessory lobe variants were reviewed. In 10 autopsy and dissection studies, the incidence of accessory fissure in the left lung was 13.5% (79/587, ranging from 2.7% to 50.0%), and in the right lung, it was 7.3% (42/575, ranging from 3.1% to 30.4%). The incidence of accessory lobes in the left lung was 2.0% (11/547, ranging from 0.0% to 7.4%), and in the right lung was 2.6% (14/539, ranging from 0.0% to 17.4%). The incidence of accessory fissures in bilateral lungs identified by chest x-ray or computed tomography ranged from 7.3% to 32.0%. Three surgical case reports inferred accessory lobes, including a left upper lobectomy, left lung transplantation, and an open thoracotomy.ConclusionThis is the first clinical case report that shows that lung accessory lobe caused the mislocation of a lung nodule. Therefore, radiologists and surgeons should be aware of the possibility of an accessory lobe in the lung

Toward 6G TKμ\mu Extreme Connectivity: Architecture, Key Technologies and Experiments

Sixth-generation (6G) networks are evolving towards new features and order-of-magnitude enhancement of systematic performance metrics compared to the current 5G. In particular, the 6G networks are expected to achieve extreme connectivity performance with Tbps-scale data rate, Kbps/Hz-scale spectral efficiency, and $\mu$s-scale latency. To this end, an original three-layer 6G network architecture is designed to realise uniform full-spectrum cell-free radio access and provide task-centric agile proximate support for diverse applications. The designed architecture is featured by super edge node (SEN) which integrates connectivity, computing, AI, data, etc. On this basis, a technological framework of pervasive multi-level (PML) AI is established in the centralised unit to enable task-centric near-real-time resource allocation and network automation. We then introduce a radio access network (RAN) architecture of full spectrum uniform cell-free networks, which is among the most attractive RAN candidates for 6G TK$\mu$ extreme connectivity. A few most promising key technologies, i.e., cell-free massive MIMO, photonics-assisted Terahertz wireless access and spatiotemporal two-dimensional channel coding are further discussed. A testbed is implemented and extensive trials are conducted to evaluate innovative technologies and methodologies. The proposed 6G network architecture and technological framework demonstrate exciting potentials for full-service and full-scenario applications.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure

Berberine Improves Glucose Metabolism in Diabetic Rats by Inhibition of Hepatic Gluconeogenesis

Berberine (BBR) is a compound originally identified in a Chinese herbal medicine Huanglian (Coptis chinensis French). It improves glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic patients. The mechanisms involve in activation of adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK) and improvement of insulin sensitivity. However, it is not clear if BBR reduces blood glucose through other mechanism. In this study, we addressed this issue by examining liver response to BBR in diabetic rats, in which hyperglycemia was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by high fat diet. We observed that BBR decreased fasting glucose significantly. Gluconeogenic genes, Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and Glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), were decreased in liver by BBR. Hepatic steatosis was also reduced by BBR and expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) was inhibited in liver. Activities of transcription factors including Forkhead transcription factor O1 (FoxO1), sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP1) and carbohydrate responsive element-binding protein (ChREBP) were decreased. Insulin signaling pathway was not altered in the liver. In cultured hepatocytes, BBR inhibited oxygen consumption and reduced intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level. The data suggest that BBR improves fasting blood glucose by direct inhibition of gluconeogenesis in liver. This activity is not dependent on insulin action. The gluconeogenic inhibition is likely a result of mitochondria inhibition by BBR. The observation supports that BBR improves glucose metabolism through an insulin-independent pathway