Three-dimensional effects of sidewalls on the low-frequency unsteadiness of the shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction (SBLI) are of academic and practical importance but not yet well understood. Considerable attention has been paid to the viscous effect of sidewalls, whereas the potential inviscid confinement effect of sidewalls has received little attention. The present work provides experimental evidence of multiscale spanwise travelling waves crossing the separation front under the confinement of sidewalls. Global pressure measurements were made for a sidewall-confined 24$^\circ$ compression ramp interaction in Mach-2.83 flow using fast-responding pressure-sensitive paint. The unsteady pressure in a statistically two-dimensional intermittent region suggests that in addition to the canonical streamwise oscillation, the separation front exhibits significant low-frequency, multiscale spanwise distortion. Modal analysis further reveals that multiscale spanwise unsteadiness has higher intensity and frequency than the streamwise oscillation. Such strong spanwise unsteadiness calls attention to the low-frequency unsteadiness in previous sidewall-confined SBLI experiments and encourages further study on the mechanism of the confinement effect.

The paper deals with the workspace-based optimization of a novel humanoid robotic arm. The eight-degree-of-freedom hybrid manipulator that conforms to the kinematics characteristics of the human arm is briefly introduced. According to the structural features of this mechanism and the requirements of tasks in the complex environment, the workspace is divided into three parts, the orientation space of the humanoid shoulder joint, the position space of the humanoid elbow joint, and the active orientation space of the end-moving platform. Moreover, a multi-parameter planar model is proposed for the optimization problem with multidimensional parameters and highly nonlinear constraints. Based on the visualized optimization result, the coupling effect of each parameter on the corresponding workspace is clearly presented. Considering the compactness and the processing and assembling technology of this mechanism, a set of structural parameters satisfying the workspace-based optimization objective is obtained. Simulation results show that the corresponding workspace of the three parts has increased significantly by the factor of 1.45, 1.68, and 1.3, respectively.

We investigate the effect of the secondary baroclinic vorticity (SBV) on the energy cascade in the mixing induced by the multi-mode Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI). With the aid of vorticity-based simplified models and the vortex-surface field, we find that the effect of the SBV peaks at a critical time when the vortex reconnection widely occurs in the mixing zone. Before the critical time, spikes and bubbles evolve almost independently, and we demonstrate that the variation of the kinetic energy spectrum induced by the SBV has the $-1$ scaling law at intermediate wavenumbers using the model of vortex rings. This SBV effect causes the slope of the total energy spectrum at intermediate wavenumbers to evolve towards $-3/2$ at the critical time. Subsequently, the SBV effect diminishes and the energy spectrum decays to the $-5/3$ law. Inspired by the vortex dynamics, we develop a model for estimating the mixing width and validate the model using numerical simulations of the multi-mode RMI with various modes of initial perturbations. This model captures the nonlinear growth of the mixing width before the self-similar growth stage.

This study examines the effects of an old-age allowance programme in Taiwan, the Senior Citizens Welfare Living Allowance (SCWLA), on intergenerational financial transfers, living arrangements and contact, as well as the heterogeneity of its effects by adult children’s five types of motives for giving: altruism, exchange, reciprocity, affection, and sense of responsibility. Using 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 data from the Panel Study of Family Dynamics, we employed a difference-in-difference individual fixed effect model to compare the outcomes across the treatment (aged 65 and older) and comparison groups (aged 55 to 64) before and after the introduction of SCWLA. Our results indicate that SCWLA crowds in intergenerational contact but does not significantly change financial transfers and co-residence patterns. The increase in intergenerational contact is primarily driven by adult children having lower motives for giving. This suggests that old-age allowances may reduce financial entanglement between adult children and older parents and change the social norm by raising “low motivators’” awareness, respect and concern for elderly. Providing public transfer to the elderly should not be hampered by the fear of distorting family support functions.

In this paper, we present a novel sampling-based motion planning method in various complex environments, especially with narrow passages. We use online the results of the planner in the ADD-RRT framework to identify the types of the local configuration space based on the principal component analysis (PCA). The identification result is then used to accelerate the expansion similar to RRV around obstacles and through narrow passages. We also propose a modified bridge test to identify the entrance of a narrow passage and boost samples inside it. We have compared our method with known motion planners in several scenarios through simulations. Our method shows the best performance across all the tested planners in the tested scenarios.

Anaemia is a global public health problem affecting women worldwide, and reproductive-age women are at increased risk. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study analysing the prevalence of overall anaemia and anaemia according to severity in Chinese pre-pregnant women to update current knowledge on anaemia epidemiology. Based on the National Free Preconception Check-up Projects supported by the Chinese government, 5 679 782 women participating in this project in 2017 were included in the present study. The cyanmethemoglobin method was applied to assess Hb concentrations. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were applied for associated factors. The prevalence of anaemia among Chinese pre-pregnant women was 21·64 % (mild: 14·10 %, moderate: 7·17 % and severe : 0·37 %). The prevalence of overall and severe anaemia was the highest in Tibet and the lowest in Beijing among thirty-one provinces. Women’s age, region, ethnic origin, educational level, occupation and pregnancy history were all correlated with anaemia. Women with B blood type (adjusted OR (aOR) = 0·89), higher BMI (overweight: aOR = 0·84; obesity: aOR = 0·70) and alcohol consumption (aOR = 0·69) were less likely to have anaemia, while those with rhesus negative blood type (aOR = 1·10), history of anaemia (aOR = 2·60), older age at menarche (aOR = 1·19), heavy menstrual blood loss (aOR = 1·39), longer menstrual period (aOR = 1·09) and shorter menstrual cycle (aOR = 1·08) were more likely to suffer from anaemia. Meat or egg eaters were not significantly associated with severe anaemia. Anaemia is of moderate public health significance among Chinese pre-pregnant women. Interventions should be considered to prevent anaemia to the greatest extent possible to avoid potential harm in this population.

We elucidate the effect of the secondary baroclinic vorticity (SBV) on the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI) accelerated by a weak incident shock and develop a vortex-based model for spike and bubble growth rates. Two major mechanisms of the single-mode RMI, the primary baroclinic vorticity (PBV) and the pressure perturbation, are distinguished by simplified models with the vortex-surface field. We find that the effect of the pressure perturbation can be neglected in the present RMI, and the growth of the interface or vortex surface is first driven by the PBV. Subsequently, the SBV, generated by the misalignment between the density gradient across the interface and the pressure gradient produced by the PBV-induced velocity, leads to the nonlinear growth of the interface with the generation of spikes and bubbles. Inspired by this mechanism, we develop a predictive model of spike and bubble growth rates using the motion of viscous vortex rings. The circulation of the vortex ring is modelled with the SBV effect. This model is validated by five data sets of direct numerical simulations and experiments of the single-mode RMI with various initial conditions.

In this paper, dual-band and tri-band bandpass filters (BPFs) with fully independent and controllable passbands based on multipath-embedded resonators are presented. The dual-band BPF consists of two double open-ended stub-loaded terminal-shorted resonators (DOESL-TSRs) with a common via-hole connected along the symmetric plane of the filter. Based on DOESL-TSRs, a triple open-ended stub-loaded terminal-shorted resonator (TOESL-TSR) is proposed in the design of tri-band BPFs. The resonant characteristics of DOESL-TSR/TOESL-TSR are analyzed by the numerical calculation method. The measured results of the dual-band BPF show that the center frequencies (CFs) are located at 2.595 and 5.75 GHz, respectively, with 3 dB fraction bandwidth (FBWs) of 15 and 12.8%. The measured CFs of the tri-band BPF are located at 2.545, 3.775, and 5.95 GHz, respectively, with 3 dB FBWs of 9.8, 9.3, and 5.5%. Both of the filters exhibit the merits of fully independent and controllable passbands, high selectivity, and compact size.

Resistant starch (RS) was recently approved to exert a powerful influence on gut health, but the effect of RS on the caecal barrier function in meat ducks has not been well defined. Thus, the effect of raw potato starch (RPS), a widely adopted RS material, on microbial composition and barrier function of caecum for meat ducks was determined. A total of 360 Cherry Valley male ducks of 1-d-old were randomly divided and fed diets with 0 (control), 12, or 24 % RPS for 35 d. Diets supplemented with RPS significantly elevated villus height and villus height:crypt depth ratio in the caecum. The 16S rRNA sequence analysis indicated that the diet with 12 % RPS had a higher relative abundance of Firmicutes and the butyrate-producing bacteria Faecalibacterium, Subdoligranulum, and Erysipelatoclostridium were enriched in all diets. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were significantly increased in the 24 % RPS diet v. the control diet. When compared with the control diet, the diet with 12 % RPS was also found to notably increase acetate, propionate and butyrate contents and up-regulated barrier-related genes including claudin-1, zonula occludens-1, mucin-2 and proglucagon in the caecum. Furthermore, the addition of 12 % RPS significantly reduced plasma TNF-α, IL-1β and endotoxin concentrations. These data revealed that diets supplemented with 12 % RPS partially improved caecal barrier function in meat ducks by enhancing intestinal morphology and barrier markers expression, modulating the microbiota composition and attenuating inflammatory markers.

Human innate immune plays an essential role in the spontaneous clearance of acute infection and therapy of HCV. We investigated whether the SNPs in retinoic acid-inducible gene I-like receptor family were associated with HCV spontaneous clearance and response to treatment. To evaluate the clinical value of DDX58 rs3824456, rs10813831 and rs10738889 genotypes on HCV spontaneous clearance and treatment response in Chinese Han population, we genotyped 1001 HCV persistent infectors, 599 participants with HCV natural clearance and 354 patients with PEGylated interferon-α and ribavirin (PEG IFN-α/RBV) treatment. People carrying rs10813831-G allele genotype were more liable to achieve spontaneous clearance than the carriage of the T allele (dominant model: adjusted OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.08–1.71, P = 0.008). In rs10738889, the rate of persistent infection was significantly lower in patients with the TC genotype compared to those with TT genotype (dominant model: adjusted OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.06–1.74, P = 0.015). Multivariate stepwise analysis indicated that rs10738889, age, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were independent predictors for HCV spontaneous clearance. However, there were no significant differences in the three selection SNPs between the non-SVR group and the SVR group. These results suggest the DDX58 rs10813831 and rs10738889 are associated with spontaneous clearance of HCV, which may be identified as a predictive marker in the Chinese Han population of HCV.

Underground Nuclear Astrophysics in China (JUNA) will take the advantage of the ultra-low background in Jinping underground lab. High current accelerator with an ECR source and detectors were commissioned. JUNA plans to study directly a number of nuclear reactions important to hydrostatic stellar evolution at their relevant stellar energies. At the first period, JUNA aims at the direct measurements of 25Mg(p,γ)26 Al, 19F(p,α) 16 O, 13C(α, n) 16O and 12C(α,γ) 16O near the Gamow window. The current progress of JUNA will be given.

Conventional underwater navigation and positioning methods for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) either require the installation of acoustic arrays, which make AUVs less independent, or result in cumulative errors. This paper proposes an Underwater Terrain Positioning Method (UTPM) using Maximum a Posteriori (MAP) estimation and a Pulse Coupled Neural Network (PCNN) model for highly accurate navigation by AUVs. The PCNN model is used as a secondary discriminant to effectively identify pseudo-anchor points in flat terrain feature areas and to find the true positioning point, which significantly improves the matching positioning accuracy in these areas. Simulation results show that the proposed method effectively corrects Inertial Navigation System (INS) cumulative errors and has high matching positioning accuracy, which satisfy the requirements of AUV underwater navigation and positioning.

Multi-functions devices attract much attention due to their great potential and large demands in wearable electronics. Besides some studies of integrated different functional devices as one, there is a novel strategy to fabricate multi-functions devices, that using one device to achieve two or more functions. Herein, we report the temperature sensing and energy storage multi-functions device based on graphene supercapacitor. By measuring the change of leakage current of supercapacitor, the obtained device could detect the environmental temperature. Integrating the planar-structure supercapacitor on one flexible printed circuit board with electronic components together, the obtain device presents perfect mechanical stability that no noticeable difference of both capacitance and leakage current under any bending status. Importantly, the temperature sensing function exhibits a high accuracy of 1 °C with a high resolution of 0.0588 °C. This work demonstrates the feasibility of the strategy of one device achieve two functions: using one supercapacitor to achieve temperature sensing and energy storage dual function simultaneously.