Search Results (80)

The challenge of accurately diagnosing mechanical failures in high-voltage circuit breakers is exacerbated by the non-stationary characteristics of vibration signals. This study proposes a Dual-Channel Convolutional Neural Network (DC-CNN) framework based on the Gramian Angular Field (GAF) transformation, which effectively captures both global and local information about faults. Specifically, vibration signals from circuit breaker sensors are firstly transformed into Gramian Angular Summation Field (GASF) and Gramian Angular Difference Field (GADF) images. These images are then combined into multi-channel inputs for parallel CNN modules to extract and fuse complementary features. Experimental validation under six operational conditions of a 220 kV high-voltage circuit breaker demonstrates that the GAF-DC-CNN method achieves a fault diagnosis accuracy of 99.02%, confirming the model’s effectiveness. This work provides substantial support for high-precision and reliable fault diagnosis in high-voltage circuit breakers within power systems. Full article

Aging leads to ovarian degeneration in poultry, reducing egg production and quality. Ellagic acid (EA), a natural plant-derived compound, may help delay ovarian aging, though its precise mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated the effects of EA on ovarian aging of low-yield laying chickens and explored its underlying mechanism. EA supplementation (100 and 500 mg/kg) significantly increased ovarian weight as well as the number and proportion of small yellow follicles in aging chickens. EA administration elevated serum antioxidant levels and upregulated the expression of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) expression to reduce oxidative stress. Importantly, EA treatment suppressed the mRNA and protein expression of ferroptosis markers transferrin receptor protein 1 (TFRC) and solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11), increased Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA) expression, and alleviated G1 phase arrest in granulosa cells (GCs), promoting cell proliferation, which improves egg quality and production. Furthermore, in vitro experiments demonstrated that EA treatment decreased reactive oxygen species production, improved mitochondrial function, inhibited ferroptosis, and attenuated GCs aging. In conclusion, this study reveals the critical role of ferroptosis in chicken ovarian aging and suggests that EA may provide a promising approach for delaying ovarian aging and enhancing productivity in low-yield poultry. Full article

For steady transgenic expression, lentiviral vector-mediated gene delivery is a commonly used technique. One question that needs to be explored is how external lentiviral vectors and overexpressed genes perturb cellular homeostasis, potentially altering transcriptional networks. In this study, two Human Embryonic Kidney 293T (HEK293T)-derived cell lines were established via lentiviral transduction, one overexpressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and the other co-overexpressing GFP and ADORA3 following puromycin selection to ensure stable genomic integration. Genes with differentially transcript utilization (gDTUs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across cell lines were identified after short-read and long-read RNA-seq. Only 31 genes were discovered to have changed in expression when GFP was expressed, although hundreds of genes showed variations in transcript use. In contrast, even when co-overexpression of GFP and ADORA3 alters the expression of more than 1000 genes, there are still less than 1000 gDTUs. Moreover, DEGs linked to ADORA3 overexpression play a major role in RNA splicing, whereas gDTUs are highly linked to a number of malignancies and the molecular mechanisms that underlie them. For the analysis of gene expression data from stable cell lines derived from HEK293T, our findings provide important insights into changes in gene expression and alternative splicing. Full article

This study was conducted to quantitatively evaluate the reservoir damage caused by waterflood-induced velocity sensitivity in the tight oil reservoirs of Block L in the Ordos Basin. This research investigated changes in reservoir pore–throat structure before and after waterflooding through laboratory experiments. A velocity sensitivity characterization model was established as $R_c\left(Q\right)={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{Qexp}\left(-\beta {\left[v_{c0}\left(1+\lambda Q^{\eta }\right)\right]}^{\delta }\right)}{2\pi \varphi h{v}_{c0}\left(1+\lambda Q^{\eta }\right)}}$, and the injection volume as Q, and its reliability was validated using both experimental and field data. The results indicate that excessive water injection can lead to permeability damage in the reservoir. Based on this model, the optimal injection rate for Block L was determined to be 16.8 m³/day. Field application of this optimized rate reduced velocity sensitivity-induced particle damage by 21% and improved oil recovery by 1.4%. Full article

Estimating human posture in crowded smart teaching environments is a fundamental technical challenge for measuring learners’ engagement levels. This work presents a model for detecting critical points in human posture using ECAv2-HRNet in crowded situations. The paper introduces a method called ECAv2Net, which combines a channel feature reinforcement method with the ECANet attention mechanism network, this innovation improves the performance of the network. Additionally, ECAv2Net is integrated into the high-resolution network HRNet to create ECAv2-HRNet. This fusion allows for the incorporation of more useful feature information without increasing the model parameters. The paper also presents a human posture dataset called GUET CLASS PICTURE, which is designed for dense scenes. The experimental results when using this dataset, as well as a public dataset, demonstrate the superior performance of the human posture estimation model based on ECAv2-HRNet proposed in this paper. Full article

Numerical simulation of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been widely used to enhance the interpretation of GPR data and serves as a key component in Full Waveform Inversion (FWI). In response to the time-consuming numerical computation of layered medium and buried targets, which leads to inefficiency in full-wave inversion, this paper proposes a machine learning-based forward scattering rapid solution method. Using the detection of rebar buried in concrete under sand as the GPR application scenario, with scene parameters such as concrete moisture content, rebar radius, and burial depth, scattering echo signals are obtained via Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation. Principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to reduce the dimensionality of the echo data, and the first 40 principal component weight coefficients are selected as the output of the deep learning network. An innovative cyclic nested deep learning network architecture is designed, which not only fully explores the intrinsic causal relationship between the scene parameters and the principal component weight coefficients, but also refines and corrects each predicted principal component. The numerical results demonstrate that, compared with traditional machine learning methods, the cyclic nested machine learning network architecture offers higher prediction accuracy and learning efficiency, validating the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

To address the formation control issue of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a finite-time control scheme based on terminal sliding mode (TSM) is investigated in this paper. A quadcopter UAV with the vertical takeoff property is considered, with cascaded kinematics composed of rotational and translational loops. To strengthen the application in the low-cost UAV system, the applied torque is synthesized with an auxiliary rotational system, which can avoid utilizing direct attitude measurement. Furthermore, a terminal sliding mode surface is established and employed in the finite-time formation control protocol (FTFCP) as the driven thrust of multiple UAVs over an undirected topology in the translational system. To maintain the safe flight of the UAV clusters in an environment to avoid collision with obstacles or with other UAV neighbors, a pigeon-hierarchy-inspired obstacle avoidance protocol (PHOAP) is proposed. By imitating the interactive hierarchy that exists among the homing pigeon flocks, the collision avoidance scheme is separately enhanced to generate the repulsive potential field for the leader maneuver target and the follower UAV cluster. Subsequently, the collision avoidance laws based on pigeon homing behavior are combined with the finite-time sliding mode formation protocol, and the applied torque is attached as a cascaded structure in the attitude loop to synthesize an obstacle avoidance cooperative control framework. Finally, simulation scenarios of multiple UAVs to reach a desired formation among obstacles is investigated, and the effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated. Full article

As a key energy storage component in high-voltage circuit breakers, closing springs are susceptible to stress relaxation, resulting in a decline in closing performance due to high operational loads, prolonged usage, and environmental factors. In this work, the 60Si2CrVA alloy steel springs used in 110 kV high-voltage circuit breakers were utilized to study their mechanical behaviors under various temperatures, salt spray corrosion, and repeated closing operations. It is found that the conditions of salt spray corrosion, and repeated closing operations demonstrate a slight impact on its stress loss, while the operation temperature above 70 °C will result in an apparent increase in the stress loss rate. A threshold for closing failure related to the spring’s stress loss rate was established, and a life prediction method based on an improved Arrhenius acceleration model was proposed. The results indicate that the calculated service life of the spring is approximately 27.09 years based on the stress loss rate threshold of 4.5%. This work provides a novel method to evaluate the long-term operational state and service life of closing springs in high-voltage circuit breakers. Full article

Phenotypic modifications and their effects on cellular functions through the up-regulation of target gene expression have frequently been observed in genetic studies, but the unique roles of cell lines and their introduced plasmids in influencing these functions have not been fully revealed. In this research, we developed two distinct cell lines derived from the A549 cell line: one that stably overexpresses GFP and another that is a polyclonal stable line overexpressing both GFP and P2RY12. We then utilized transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) technology to screen out differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and genes with differential transcript usage (gDTUs) after GFP overexpression (GFP-OE) and P2RY12 overexpression (P2RY12-OE). We found that, compared with A549, there were more than 1700 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in both GFP-OE and P2RY12-OE cells, while only 866 DEGs were identified in GFP-OE and P2RY12-OE cells. Notably, the differences in transcript usage were relatively minor, with only over 400 genes exhibiting changes across all three groups. The functional analysis of DEGs and gDTUs showed that they were both highly enriched in the pathways associated with cell proliferation and migration. In summary, we performed an extensive analysis of the transcriptome profile of gene expression and alternative splicing with GFP-OE and P2RY12-OE, enhancing our comprehension of how genes function within cells and the processes that control gene expression. Full article

To improve the soil loosening effects of degraded grasslands, this study investigates the performance of a bionic loosening shovel designed based on the claws of prairie zokor. A single-factor simulation test of the bionic loosening shovel was conducted using EDEM software to analyze the effects of loosening depth (H) and operating speed (V) on key parameters, including the ridge disturbance area (A_s), furrow disturbance area (A_f), loosening resistance (F_r), and trench specific resistance (F_c). Additionally, field tests were performed to validate the simulation results of the bionic loosening shovel. The findings indicate that the difference ratio (D_a1) between the simulated and test values for the bionic loosening shovel remained consistently low, confirming the reliability of the simulation model in predicting variations in response parameters. Furthermore, comparative field tests were conducted to evaluate the loosening performance of the bionic loosening shovel against standard loosening shovels (the diamond-shaped loosening shovel and the arrow-shaped loosening shovel). The results show that the bionic loosening shovel achieved the lowest values for A_s, A_f, and F_r under the same operating parameters. However, its effect on improving A_f was limited. These findings provide valuable technical support for the enhancement and optimization of loosening shovels for degraded grasslands. Full article

Fusarium avenaceum is the predominant fungal pathogen responsible for root rot in Angelica crops and poses a serious threat to their commercial quality and yield in China. This fungus produces enniatin B (ENN B), a toxin that could be a pathogenicity and virulence factor in plant–pathogen interactions. Yet whether ENN B exacerbates host infection and the onset of root rot in Angelica spp. caused by F. avenaceum is surprisingly understudied. Pathogenicity assays revealed that ENN B co-inoculation with F. avenaceum significantly increased the root rot disease index in Angelica sinensis from 83.33% (pathogen alone) to 92.86% (p < 0.05). Toxin degradation experiments showed that the bacteria Paenibacillus polymyxa and Bacillus tequilensis were capable of degrading 60.69% and 70.02% of ENN B, respectively. Response surface optimization (24.5 °C, 22.01 mg/L ENN B, 0.99% inoculum) enhanced degradation by B. tequilensis to 81.94%, a 11.74% improvement. Three ester compounds were identified by LC-HRMS as potential degradation products of ENN B. In planta trials demonstrated that the disease index was 50.01% for the group co-inoculated with ENN B degradation products and F. avenaceum, a 42.85% reduction compared to the group co-inoculated with ENN B and F. avenaceum. This study provides a new microbial strategy for controlling root rot in Angelica crops from a mycotoxin degradation perspective, which can be applied to promote sustainable agricultural production. Full article

Federated learning enables multiple intelligent devices to collaboratively perform machine learning tasks while preserving local data privacy. However, traditional FL architectures face challenges such as centralization and lack of effective defense mechanisms against malicious nodes, particularly in large-scale edge computing scenarios, which can lead to system instability. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a cross-zone secure federated learning method with blockchain and credibility mechanism, named CS-FL. By constructing a dual-layer blockchain network and introducing a blockchain ledger between zone servers, CS-FL establishes a decentralized trust mechanism for index detection and model aggregation. In node selection, CS-FL considers multiple dimensions, including node quality, communication resources, and historical credibility, and employs a three-stage mechanism that introduces lightweight probe tasks to assess node status before formal FL training, ensuring high-quality nodes participate. Additionally, the credibility incentive mechanism penalizes nodes that bypass probe mechanism and engage in malicious behaviors, effectively mitigating the impact of deceptive attacks. Experimental results show that CS-FL significantly improves the defense performance of FL, reducing attack success rates from 75–85% to below 5–20% when facing different types of threats, and effectively maintaining the training accuracy of the FL model. This demonstrates the potential of CS-FL to enhance the security and stability of FL systems in complex edge computing scenarios. Full article

In recent years, navigation has attracted widespread attention across various fields, such as geomatics, robotics, photogrammetry, and transportation. Modeling the navigation environment is a key step in building successful navigation services. While traditional navigation systems have relied solely on 2D data, advancements in 3D sensing technology have made more 3D data available, enabling more realistic environmental modeling. This paper primarily focuses on voxel-based navigation and reviews the existing literature that covers various aspects of using voxel data or models to support navigation. The paper first discusses key technologies related to voxel-based navigation, including voxel-based modeling, voxel segmentation, voxel-based analysis, and voxel storage and management. It then distinguishes and discusses indoor and outdoor navigation based on the application scenarios. Additionally, various issues related to voxel-based navigation are addressed. Finally, the paper presents several potential research opportunities that may be useful for researchers or companies in developing more advanced navigation systems for pedestrians, robots, and vehicles. Full article

Background: Numerous studies have established a link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the development of depression in later life. However, the interactive relationships between ACEs, depression, and chronic diseases are still not well understood. In this study, the aim was to investigate the impact of ACEs on depressive trajectories among middle-aged and elderly individuals in China, as well as to examine the mediating roles of chronic diseases in this association. Methods: Data were drawn from 6921 participants aged 45 and older, using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) data from 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018, combined with the 2014 life history survey. Depressive symptom scores were assessed using the widely recognized CES-D-10 scale. The trajectories of depressive symptoms were identified via group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM). The association between ACEs and depressive trajectories was analyzed using multinomial logistic regression, and the KHB method was employed to test the mediating effects of different chronic diseases. Results: The age of the 6921 participants was 57.2 ± 8.0 years, with females comprising 53.9% and males 46.1%. We found that approximately 70% of Chinese middle-aged and older adults had experienced at least one ACE, and 4.8% had experienced four or more ACEs. The following four distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms were identified: continuing-low (N = 1897, 27.4%), continuing-low-to-middle (N = 2937, 42.4%), continuing-middle-to-high (N = 1649, 23.8%), and continuing-high (N = 438, 6.3%). Compared to individuals without ACEs, those with four or more ACEs had a significantly higher likelihood of following the continuing-low-to-middle trajectory (OR = 2.407, 95%CI: 1.633–3.550), the continuing-middle-to-high trajectory (OR = 7.458, 95%CI: 4.999–11.127), and the continuing-high trajectory (OR = 20.219, 95%CI: 12.115–33.744), rather than the continuing-low trajectory. Exposure to a greater number of ACEs was associated with an increased risk of following an adverse trajectory of depressive symptoms. Multiple chronic diseases significantly mediated the relationship between ACEs and depressive trajectories, with arthritis or rheumatism exerting the largest mediating effect, followed by digestive and respiratory diseases. Conclusions: These findings indicated that ACEs were associated with a higher risk of worse depressive symptom trajectories, with different chronic diseases mediating this relationship. Therefore, developing public measures to prevent ACEs can reduce the risk of chronic diseases and depression in middle-aged and elderly people. Additionally, strengthening the prevention and management of chronic diseases in individuals exposed to ACEs may further reduce their subsequent risk of depression. Full article

A universally applicable direct tension test method is proposed in this paper based on the concept of “compression-to-tension”. Using this method, one or two typical rocks were selected for each of the three types of rocks. The testing results of the direct tension method proposed were compared with the internationally recommended Brazilian splitting method to validate the feasibility of the direct tension method. Results showed that the tensile strengths of six typical rocks were consistent using the direct tensile test method proposed in this study and the Brazilian splitting method recommended internationally. The direct tensile strength deviation coefficient (C_v) of the six types of rocks was less than 0.1, indicating very small variability. In this study, the deviation coefficient (C_v) of the axial displacement corresponding to the tensile strength in both the direct tensile and indirect tensile tests was also less than 0.1, reflecting minimal variability. This shows the consistency of the two tensile test results to a certain extent, and also shows that the direct tensile test method is feasible to determine the tensile strength of rock. Full article