Search Results (90)

To analyze the hydrodynamic performance of the Voith–Schneider Propeller (VSP) under high eccentricity (e = 0.9), open-water performance numerical calculations were conducted for the VSP at different eccentricities. The results were compared with experimental data, revealing significant discrepancies at high eccentricity. Analysis identified that during the experiment, the VSP blades did not strictly move according to the prescribed “normal intersection principle” when passing near the eccentric point, which was the primary cause of the errors between the calculation and experiment. Further research demonstrated that when the blades pass near the eccentric point, both the individual blade and the overall propeller exhibit strong unsteady pulsation phenomena. The characteristics of these unsteady forces become more pronounced with increasing eccentricity. For the VSP under high eccentricity (e = 0.9), different Blade Steering Curves near the eccentric point were designed using a parametric method. The hydrodynamic performance of the VSP under these different curves was compared. The study demonstrates that rationally optimizing the motion of blades is a key approach to improving their hydrodynamic performance. At J = 2.4, the adoption of Opt-5 enables a 4.67% increase in thrust, a 25.19% reduction in thrust pulsation, a 12.74% reduction in torque, an 81.94% reduction in torque pulsation, and a 19.95% improvement in efficiency for the VSP. Full article

NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC1/2) is a plant-specific transcription factor (TF) family that plays important roles in various physiological and biochemical processes of plants. However, the NAC gene family in Lagerstroemia indica and its role in anthocyanin metabolism are still unexplored. In our study, a total of 167 NACs were identified in the L. indica genome via genome-wide analysis and bioinformatics techniques. Amino acid sequence analysis showed that all 167 NAC proteins contained a conserved NAM domain. This domain primarily comprised random coils, extended strands, and alpha helices. Most NACs were found on the nucleus and dispersed over 23 of the 24 plant chromosomes. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the NACs can be categorized into ten subgroups. Furthermore, the promoter homeotropic elements predicted the cis-acting elements in the promoters of these genes related to hormones, development, environmental stress response, and other related responses, demonstrating the diverse regulatory mechanisms underlying gene functions. In addition, a co-expression network was established through RNA sequencing. This network helped identify seven key LiNACs, genes related to anthocyanin expression (CHS) and transcription factors (MYB and bHLH). To identify potential anthocyanin regulatory factors present in L. indica petals, protein interaction prediction was performed, which revealed that LiNACs might participate in anthocyanin regulation by interacting with other proteins, such as MYB, ABF, ABI, bZIP, MYC, etc. Our results provided novel insights and could help in the functional identification of LiNACs in L. indica and the regulation of anthocyanin synthesis. Full article

In industrial production, high-power microwaves are commonly used for heating and drying processes; however, their application in measurement is relatively limited. This paper presents a power measurement system to enhance the use of microwave measurements in industry and improve the efficiency of microwave drying for PET particles. Operating at 2.45 GHz, the system integrates four-port power measurements based on the multilayer perceptron (MLP). By introducing residual connectivity, the residual network is determined to detect the height of PET particles. Experimental results show that this system can perform rapid measurements without needing a vector network analyzer (VNA), significantly improving the efficiency of microwave energy utilization in the early drying stages. Furthermore, the system offers practical and cost-efficient predictions for low-loss particulate materials. This power measurement strategy holds promising application potential in future industrial production. Full article

This paper proposes a refractive index sensor with high sensitivity, which operates based on the Fano resonance phenomenon. The sensor is constructed using a metal–insulator–metal (MIM) waveguide integrated with a double square ring (DSR) configuration, enabling enhanced performance in refractive index detection. The propagation characteristics of the proposed structure are systematically investigated using the finite element method (FEM). Using a control variable method, this study systematically investigates the impact of refractive index changes and specific geometric parameters of the DSR structure on the sensor’s performance. Through the careful optimization of structural parameters, the sensor achieves a peak sensitivity (S) of 2700 nm/RIU along with a figure of merit (FOM) as high as 54. Owing to its simple configuration and high sensitivity, the proposed sensor holds significant potential for applications in temperature sensing and related fields. Full article

Recently, many stochastic Alternating Direction Methods of Multipliers (ADMMs) have been proposed to solve large-scale machine learning problems. However, for large-scale saddle-point problems, the state-of-the-art (SOTA) stochastic ADMMs still have high per-iteration costs. On the other hand, the stochastic primal–dual hybrid gradient (SPDHG) has a low per-iteration cost but only a suboptimal convergence rate of $\mathsf{𝒪}(1/\sqrt{S})$. Thus, there still remains a gap in the convergence rates between SPDHG and SOTA ADMMs. Motivated by the two matters, we propose (accelerated) stochastic variance reduced primal–dual hybrid gradient ((A)SVR-PDHG) methods. We design a linear extrapolation step to improve the convergence rate and a new adaptive epoch length strategy to remove the extra boundedness assumption. Our algorithms have a simpler structure and lower per-iteration complexity than SOTA ADMMs. As a by-product, we present the asynchronous parallel variants of our algorithms. In theory, we rigorously prove that our methods converge linearly for strongly convex problems and improve the convergence rate to $\mathsf{𝒪}(1/S^2)$ for non-strongly convex problems as opposed to the existing $\mathsf{𝒪}(1/S)$ convergence rate. Compared with SOTA algorithms, various experimental results demonstrate that ASVR-PDHG can achieve an average speedup of $2\times \sim 5\times$. Full article

Objective: This study elucidates the prognostic significance of perioperative changes in laboratory indicators for aneurysmal SAH and develops a nomogram model for outcome prediction. Methods: Aneurysmal SAH patients who received clipping or coiling at our institution between January 2016 and December 2022 were included. All patients were randomly assigned to derivation and validation cohorts. Independent predictors of unfavorable outcomes were identified by multivariate analyses. Three models were conducted to evaluate whether perioperative laboratory changes improve prediction performance. A nomogram including all independent predictors was developed in the derivation cohort and verified in both cohorts. Results: Diabetes mellitus [OR (95% CI) = 2.84 (1.44–5.59)], WFNS grade 3–5 [OR: (95% CI), 9.17 (5.49–15.33)], clipping [OR (95% CI) = 1.71 (1.03–2.85)], perioperative changes in white blood cell count [OR (95% CI) = 2.15 (1.17–3.96)], and concentrations of ALT [OR (95% CI) = 1.41 (1.04–1.91)], sodium [OR (95% CI) = 5.40 (3.01–9.71)], and glucose [OR (95% CI) = 2.18 (1.05–4.53)] were independent predictors of an unfavorable outcome. The predictive nomogram incorporated the aforementioned predictors and performed well in the derivation cohort (AUC, 0.839; 95% CI: 0.810–0.866) and the validation cohort (AUC, 0.797; 95% CI: 0.734–0.850). Conclusions: Perioperative changes in laboratory indicators can be predictors of unfavorable outcomes in aneurysmal SAH patients. The nomogram based on clinical and laboratory risk factors can be used as a convenient tool to facilitate individualized decision making. Full article

When pouring concrete overhead, a pump truck boom’s vibration has a big effect on how accurately the concrete is poured. This is especially true during fixed-point pouring, where the boom’s vibration is likely to cause the pouring position to deviate, which lowers the quality of the construction. It is difficult to forecast the dynamic reaction of the pump truck boom in a construction setting because of the constantly shifting external factors (wind speed, pipeline stress during pumping, etc.), which makes it difficult to guarantee casting accuracy. This study suggests a non-random vibration analysis technique for pump truck booms based on the interval process theory in order to address this issue. A dynamic excitation analysis method based on rigid–discrete coupling is proposed, taking into account the response influence of the material characteristics in the transportation process. The pumping process of concrete materials in the conveying pipeline is simulated using discrete element simulation technology to determine the system’s stress conditions under pumping conditions. The dynamic response characteristics of the pump truck boom under operating conditions are revealed by using non-random vibration analysis with the mathematical model that has been created based on the particular specifications of the pump truck boom. This study employs the Newmark-β technique for numerical computation to solve the dynamic equations and characterize the displacement response envelope under uncertain system parameter settings. The experimental findings demonstrate that the suggested approach may accurately capture the upper and lower bounds of the boom dynamic response, offering a trustworthy way to assess the dynamic behavior while pumping. The technique can reliably predict the dynamic displacement boundary and control the casting position deviation within a predefined range by accurately predicting the dynamic displacement range of the pump truck’s boom end and efficiently constructing the displacement envelope under uncertain dynamic excitation. For numerical computation, use the Newmark-β algorithm. This outcome confirms the substantial enhancement of the proposed method regarding pouring precision in construction settings, offering a novel solution and technical guidance for vibration control in engineering projects. Full article

With the widespread application of fuel cell technology in the fields of transportation and energy, Battery Management Systems (BMSs) have become one of the key technologies for ensuring system stability and extending battery lifespan. As an auxiliary power source in fuel cell systems, the prediction of the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of lithium-ion batteries is crucial for enhancing the reliability and efficiency of fuel cell ships. However, due to the complex degradation mechanisms of lithium batteries and the actual noisy operating conditions, particularly capacity regeneration noise, accurate RUL prediction remains a challenge. To address this issue, this paper proposes a lithium battery RUL prediction method based on an Adaptive Modal Enhancement Network (RIME-VMD-SEInformer). By incorporating an improved Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) technique, the RIME algorithm is used to optimize decomposition parameters for the adaptive extraction of key modes from the signal. The Squeeze-and-Excitation Networks (SEAttention) module is employed to enhance the accuracy of feature extraction, and the sparse attention mechanism of Informer is utilized to efficiently model long-term dependencies in time series. This results in a comprehensive prediction framework that spans signal decomposition, feature enhancement, and time-series modeling. The method is validated on several public datasets, and the results demonstrate that each component of the RIME-VMD-SEInformer framework is both necessary and justifiable, leading to improved performance. The model outperforms the state-of-the-art models, with a MAPE of only 0.00837 on the B0005 dataset, representing a 59.96% reduction compared to other algorithms, showcasing outstanding prediction performance. Full article

It is a great challenge for a safe surgery to localize the cutting tip during laminar grinding. To address this problem, we develop a framework of state estimation based on the CT image–force model. For the proposed framework, the pre-operative CT image and intra-operative milling force signal work as source inputs. In the framework, a bone milling force prediction model is built, and the surgical planned paths can be transformed into the prediction sequences of milling force. The intra-operative milling force signal is segmented by the tumbling window algorithm. Then, the similarity between the prediction sequences and the segmented milling signal is derived by the dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm. The derived similarity indicates the position of the cutting tip. Finally, to overcome influences of some factors, we used the random sample consensus (RANSAC). The code of the functional simulations has be opened. Full article

The purpose of this experiment is to investigate how different doses of Bacillus subtilis KG109 powder affect the growth performance, carcass quality, serum biochemical indexes, serum antioxidant and immunological index, intestinal morphology, and digestive enzyme activity of broilers. Four hundred chicks of a similar weight (1 day old) are randomly assigned to four groups of five replicates of 20 chicks each (half males and half females). The control group is fed a basal ration, and the experimental groups T1, T2, and T3 are supplemented with 6.0 × 10⁸ CFU/kg, 1.2 × 10⁹ CFU/kg, and 1.8 × 10⁹ CFU/kg of Bacillus subtilis KG109 bacterial powder, respectively, in the basal ration. The feeding cycle is 52 d. Compared with the control group, Bacillus subtilis KG109 powder (1) increases the broiler feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p < 0.05), (2) improves the carcass quality (slaughter rate, cooking loss, L* and b* values) (p < 0.05), (3) enhances the serum biochemical indexes (alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate transaminase (AST), albumin (ALB), and triglycerides (TG)) (p < 0.05), (4) improves the serum antioxidant capacity (total an-tioxidant capacity (T-AOC), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX)) and immunoglobulins (lg A, lg G, lg M) (p < 0.05), (5) improves the intestinal morphology (villus height and villus height to crypt depth (VCR)) (p < 0.05), and (6) increases the intestinal digestive enzyme activities (amylase, protease, and lipase) (p < 0.05). In summary, adding Bacillus subtilis KG109 to broiler diets can result in a significant decrease in broilers’ FCR, an increase in their slaughtering rate, a decrease in their serum ALT, ALP, and AST activities, an increase in their serum TG content, an improvement of their immune and antioxidant capacity, an improvement of their intestinal morphology, and an improvement of their intestinal digestive enzyme activity. It is recommended to add 1.8 × 10⁹ CFU/kg of bacteria. Full article

To maintain the stability of soft rock tunnels, the research team proposed a support scheme involving “floor grouting + floor anchors + sealing material”. This scheme incorporates a new sealing material with excellent mechanical properties, airtightness, and cost-effectiveness. To develop the sealing material, a series of proportioning tests and optimization designs were conducted to investigate how various experimental factors influence material performance. Based on these experiments, a regression prediction model was established to reveal the characteristics of factor interactions and determine the optimal mix ratio. Practical engineering validation confirmed that this support scheme effectively controls floor heave in soft rock tunnels. Full article

In the early stages of offshore low-permeability oil field development, it is crucial to ascertain the productivity of production wells to select high-production, high-quality reservoirs, which affects the design of the development plan. Therefore, accurate evaluation of well productivity is essential. Drill Stem Testing (DST) is the only way to obtain the true productivity of offshore reservoirs, but conducting DST in offshore oilfields is extremely costly. This article introduces a novel productivity evaluation method for horizontal wells in offshore low-permeability reservoirs based on an improved theoretical model, which relieves the limitations of traditional methods. Firstly, a new horizontal well productivity evaluation theoretical model is derived, with the consideration of the effects of the threshold pressure gradient, stress sensitivity, skin factor, and formation heterogeneity on fluid flow in low-permeability reservoirs. Then, the productivity profiles are classified based on differences in the permeability distribution of horizontal well sections. Thirdly, the productivity evaluation equation is modified by calculating correction coefficients to maximize the model’s accuracy. Based on the overdetermined equation concepts and existing DST productivity data, the derived correction coefficients in this paper are x₁ = 3.3182, x₂ = 0.7720, and x₃ = 1.0327. Finally, the proposed method is successfully applied in an offshore low-permeability reservoir with nine horizontal wells, increasing the productivity evaluation accuracy from 65.80% to 96.82% compared with the traditional Production Index (PI) method. This technology provides a novel approach to evaluating the productivity of horizontal wells in offshore low-permeability reservoirs. Full article

This study aimed to investigate the effects of adding L. paracasei LK01 to the diet on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immunity, intestinal health, and serum biochemical indicators of broilers. This study selected 1080 one-day-old broiler chickens with similar body weight, and randomly divided them into six groups, with six replicates in each group and 30 chicks in each replicate. The chicks were fed (1) the basal diet (CON), (2) the basal diet with 10⁶ CFU/kg L. paracasei LK01(T1), (3) the basal diet with 10⁷ CFU/kg L. paracasei LK01(T2), (4) the basal diet with 10⁸ CFU/kg L. paracasei LK01(T3), (5) the basal diet with 10⁹ CFU/kg L. paracasei LK01(T4), and (6) the basal diet with 10¹⁰ CFU/kg L. paracasei LK01(T5). The experiment lasted for 42 days. In this study, compared with the CON group, the diet supplemented with L. paracasei significantly increased body weight from 1 to 21 days (p < 0.05). In addition, the 10⁶ CFU/kg L. paracasei LK01 group significantly reduced the activity of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and triglyceride levels; the 10⁷ CFU/kg,10⁸ CFU/kg, and 10⁹ CFU/kg L. paracasei LK01 groups also reduced serum uric acid and total cholesterol levels (p < 0.05). The experimental groups all had lower serum levels of malondialdehyde and interleukin-1β (p < 0.01). Except for the 10⁶ CFU/kg group, all experimental groups had significantly lower tumor necrosis factor-α, and the 10⁶ and 10⁷ CFU/kg groups had higher immunoglobulin M levels (p < 0.05). In addition, the 10⁶ CFU/kg group significantly reduced the depth of the ileocecal crypts and increased the villus-to-crypt ratio (V/C) of the jejunum and ileum. In addition, dietary supplementation with L. paracasei LK01 did not change the α diversity of the microbial community in the cecum, but significantly increased the proportion of Bacteroides (phylum) (p < 0.05). The 10⁶ CFU/kg group also significantly increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Ruminococcaceae (genus), Lachnospiraceae (genus), and Faecalibacterium (genus) (p < 0.05). In summary, this study revealed that adding 10⁶ CFU/kg of L. paracasei LKO1 to broiler diets can improve their production performance, serum biochemical indicators, antioxidant, and immune capabilities, as well as cecal flora. Full article

This paper reviews microwave sensors and their applications in permittivity measurement. The detection, diagnosis, classification, and monitoring without contact and invasion have been the subject of numerous studies based on permittivity characteristics tracking. This review illustrates many new types of research in recent years. Firstly, the application background is briefly introduced, and several main measurement methods are presented. An overview of measurement technology in various applications is compiled and summarized based on numerous typical examples. Exciting applications are compared and presented separately, combining resonator sensors with strong electric fields. Furthermore, differential signals represent trends for future applications with strong environmental immunity, an alternative option to expensive measuring equipment. With the alternation of metamaterials, microfluidics technologies, cross-technology, algorithms, and so on, sensors play an exceptionally prominent role in practical and low-cost applications. Full article

Lagerstroemia indica is a widely used ornamental woody plant known for its summer flowering and significant ornamental and economic value. While L. indica boasts a variety of rich flower colors, the molecular mechanisms underlying this color formation remain unclear. In this study, we selected three different flower colors of L. indica—white (W), red (R), and purple (P)—for transcriptome and metabolome analysis. The metabolome analysis identified 538 flavonoids, with 22 anthocyanins highly accumulated in the red and purple flowers. RNA-seq analysis annotated a total of 35,505 genes. Furthermore, we identified 42 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis, with their expression levels aligning with anthocyanin content. Correlation analysis revealed that 19 MYB and 11 bHLH transcription factors are likely involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Additionally, we identified 59 auxin biosynthesis and signaling-related genes that are positively correlated with anthocyanin-related genes and metabolites, suggesting that auxin may play a role in regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis in L. indica. This study provides valuable insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying anthocyanin accumulation and color formation in L. indica petals and identifies several potential genes, laying the groundwork for further research on regulatory mechanisms and genetic improvement of L. indica. Full article