In this paper, an automatic obstacle avoidance trajectory planning strategy is proposed for the simultaneous motion of multi-robots, which perform anthropomorphic skill operations in a large curved preformed three-dimensional (3D) weaving environment with multiple obstacles and limited space, to eliminate tedious manual calibration work of robot path in engineering. Firstly, an Adaptive Goal-guided Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (AGG-RRT) algorithm is proposed, combined with the robot obstacle avoidance strategy, to search the discrete position of the collision-free path of the end-effector gradually from the starting point to the ending point. Then the optimization of the path is completed by bidirectional pruning of redundant nodes and cubic non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) curve fitting. And finally, the robot trajectory is interpolated based on S-shaped acceleration/deceleration planning to ensure smooth robot joint motion. The simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the AGG-RRT algorithm over the basic RRT algorithm and related improved algorithms in terms of search time and success rate. The simulated experiments also achieve the smooth trajectory planning of multiple robotic arms with the synchronous obstacle avoidance motion, which shows that the AGG-RRT algorithm is successfully applied and the collision-free trajectory planning strategy is effective.

The TanDEM-X DEM is a valuable data source for estimating glacier mass balance. However, the accuracy of TanDEM-X elevation over glaciers can be affected by microwave penetration and phase decorrelation. To investigate the bias of TanDEM-X DEMs of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau, these DEMs were subtracted from SPOT-6 DEMs obtained around the same time at two study sites. The average bias over the studied glacier areas in West Kunlun (175.0 km2) was 2.106 ± 0.012 m in April 2014, and it was 1.523 ± 0.011 m in Geladandong (228.8 km2) in October 2013. By combining backscatter coefficients and interferometric coherence maps, we found surface decorrelation and baseline decorrelation can cause obvious bias in addition to microwave penetration. If the optical/laser data and winter TanDEM-X data were used as new and historic elevation sources for mass-balance measurements over an arbitrary observation period of 10 years, the glacier mass loss rates in West Kunlun and Geladandong would be potentially underestimated by 0.218 ± 0.016 and 0.158 ± 0.011 m w.e. a−1, respectively. The impact is therefore significant, and users should carefully treat the bias of TanDEM-X DEMs when retrieving a geodetic glacier mass balance.

To investigate the effects of dietary fibre on follicular atresia in pigs fed a high-fat diet, we fed thirty-two prepubescent gilts a basal diet (CON) or a CON diet supplemented with 300 g/d dietary fibre (fibre), 240 g/d soya oil (SO) or both (fibre + SO). At the 19th day of the 4th oestrus cycle, gilts fed the SO diet showed 112 % more atretic follicles and greater expression of the apoptotic markers, Bax and caspase-3, and these effects were reversed by the fibre diet. The abundance of SCFA-producing microbes was decreased by the SO diet, but this effect was reversed by fibre treatment. Concentrations of serotonin and melatonin in the serum and follicular fluid were increased by the fibre diet. Overall, dietary fibre protected against high fat feeding-induced follicular atresia at least partly via gut microbiota-related serotonin–melatonin synthesis. These results provide insight into preventing negative effects on fertility in humans consuming a high-energy diet.

Bile acids (BA) have emerged as signalling molecules regulating intestinal physiology. The importance of intestinal microbiota in production of secondary BA, for example, lithocholic acid (LCA) which impairs enterocyte proliferation and permeability, triggered us to determine the effects of oral probiotics on intestinal BA metabolism. Piglets were weaned at 28 d of age and allocated into control (CON, n 14) or probiotic (PRO, n 14) group fed 50 mg of Lactobacillus plantarum daily, and gut microbiota and BA profile were determined. To test the potential interaction of LCA with bacteria endotoxins in inducing damage of enterocytes, IPEC-J2 cells were treated with LCA, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and LCA + LPS and expressions of genes related to inflammation, antioxidant capacity and nutrient transport were determined. Compared with the CON group, the PRO group showed lower total LCA level in the ileum and higher relative abundance of the Lactobacillus genus in faeces. In contrast, the relative abundances of Bacteroides, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Parabacteroides and Ruminococcus_1, important bacteria genera in BA biotransformation, were all lower in the PRO than in the CON group. Moreover, PRO piglets had lower postprandial glucagon-like peptide-1 level, while higher glucose level than CON piglets. Co-administration of LPS and LCA led to down-regulated expression of glucose and peptide transporter genes in IPEC-J2 cells. Altogether, oral L. plantarum altered BA profile probably by modulating relative abundances of gut microbial genera that play key roles in BA metabolism and might consequently impact glucose homoeostasis. The detrimental effect of LCA on nutrient transport in enterocytes might be aggravated under LPS challenge.

The recent outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China, has imposed challenges on the Chinese medical system. Not only the dramatically increasing number of infected cases and insufficient medical resources, but also the peoples’ panic throughout the whole country have made medical services extremely difficult. To respond to these challenges effectively, our hospital implemented an urgent response strategy, including human resources and medical resources preparation and re-allocation, immediate fever screening, strict patient-visiting flow management, and reasonable information communication. Our experience and response measures could provide a reference for other hospitals in the current situation.

Path planning under 2D map is a key issue in robot applications. However, most related algorithms rely on point-by-point traversal. This causes them usually cannot find the strict shortest path, and their time cost increases dramatically as the map scale increases. So we proposed RimJump to solve the above problem, and it is a new path planning method that generates the strict shortest path for a 2D map. RimJump selects points on the edge of barriers to form the strict shortest path. Simulation and experimentation prove that RimJump meets the expected requirements.

The phase transition behavior of [011]- and [001]-oriented 0.24PIN–0.43PMN–0.33PT single crystals was investigated through dielectric measurement in the process of heating and direct current (DC) bias. The phase transformation sequence in the [011]-oriented crystals is rhombohedral (R) → monoclinic (MB) → orthorhombic (O) → monoclinic (MC) → tetragonal (T) → cubic (C). The phase transition temperatures of R to MB$\left( {{{\rm{T}}_{{\rm{R}} - {{\rm{M}}_{\rm{B}}}}}} \right)$ and MB to O $\left( {{{\rm{T}}_{{{\rm{M}}_{\rm{B}}} - {\rm{O}}}}} \right)$ decrease; meanwhile, the transition temperatures of O to MC$\left( {{{\rm{T}}_{{\rm{O}} - {{\rm{M}}_{\rm{C}}}}}} \right)$ phase, MC to T $\left( {{{\rm{T}}_{{{\rm{M}}_{\rm{C}}} - {\rm{T}}}}} \right)$ phase, and T to C (TT–C) phase increase with the increase of DC bias. The phase transformation sequence in the [001]-oriented crystals is R → T → C. As DC bias increases, the transition temperature TR–T of R to T phase declines and the transition temperature TT–C rises. Intermediate phases MB, O, and MC are only found in the [011]-oriented crystal. The phase transition characteristics of the [011]-oriented crystals are rather more complex than those along [001] direction. The micro–macro domain transition at Tf is related to crystal orientation and DC bias voltage. The phase diagram in terms of temperature and bias voltage is established for [011]- and [001]-oriented 0.24PIN–0.43PMN–0.33PT crystals. The DC bias dependent dielectric properties and phase transition characteristics are also compared with the crystals along [111] direction.

Water-based polyurethane/alumina hollow microsphere (WPU-hAl2O3) composite films were prepared via a facile spin coating method. The pristine WPU, as the matrix of the composite films, was tailor-made by hAl2O3 with the diameter of 2–5 μm to improve the mechanical and physical properties of the films. The hardness, surface morphology, infrared emissivity, wettability, and light transmittance of the WPU-hAl2O3 films with different hAl2O3 contents were investigated. The results indicate that the Vickers hardness, coefficient of friction, infrared emissivity at the wavelength of 2–22 μm, and wetting angle of the WPU-hAl2O3 films (30 wt%) increased by 53.6%, 51.7%, 21.1%, and 19.0%, respectively, compared with the pristine WPU films. Meanwhile, with the rising of hAl2O3 content, the light transmittance decreased by 75.3% at the wavelength of 400–800 nm. This work not only designs a kind of lightweight multifunctional composite film but also provides an effective route for extending further applications of hAl2O3 in the field of composite films.

To explore the effects of maternal nutrition on offspring muscle characteristics, a total of 56 sows were assigned to one of the four dietary groups during gestation: control (CON), or control diets supplemented with methyl donor (MET), bisphenol A (BPA), and combined BPA and MET (BPA+MET). Compared with CON offspring, MET offspring showed a higher meat redness value, but lower glycogen content in the longissimus thoracis (LT). Moreover, compared with CON offspring, MET offspring showed lower LT glycogen synthase (GS) mRNA levels at birth and the finishing stage, and increased methylation at the GS promoter. Prenatal BPA exposure reduced the pH and redness value of meat, but increased the lightness value, lactate content, glycolytic potential and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme activity in the LT muscle. Prenatal BPA exposure increased LDH mRNA levels in the LT muscle at birth and the finishing stage, and reduced methylation at the LDH promoter. Thus, maternal MET affects muscle GS and LDH expression via DNA methylation, thereby resulting in persistent effects on pork quality.

X-ray powder diffraction data, unit-cell parameters, and space group for ertapenem side chain, C20H19N3O7S, are reported [a = 4.907(6) Å, b = 18.686(3) Å, c = 22.071(1) Å, α = γ = 90°, β = 90.759(5)°, unit-cell volume V = 2023.82 Å3, Z = 4, ρcal = 1.462 g cm−3, and space group P21/c]. All measured lines were indexed and are consistent with the P21/c space group. No detectable impurity was observed.

A Celestial Navigation System (CNS) is a feasible and economical autonomous navigation system for deep-space probes. Ephemeris errors have a great influence on the performance of CNSs during the Mars approach phase, but there are few research studies on this problem. In this paper, the analysis shows that the ephemeris error of Mars is slowly-varying, while the ephemeris error of Phobos and Deimos is periodical. The influence of the ephemeris errors of Mars and its satellites is analysed in relation to both the Sun-centred frame and the Mars-centred frame. The simulations show that the position error of a probe relative to the Sun caused by the Mars ephemeris error is almost equal to the ephemeris error itself, that the velocity error is affected slightly, and that the position and velocity relative to Mars are hardly affected. The navigation result of a Mars probe is also greatly affected by the quantities and periodicities of the ephemeris errors of Phobos and Deimos, especially that of Deimos.

The Homo erectus cranium, mandible and hundreds of associated lithic artifacts found in Lantian (central China) in the 1960s demonstrate that the area was important for hominin habitation during the early to middle Pleistocene. However, the region, which was not adequately researched until the early 2000s, still poses several questions regarding hominin behavior and lithic technology development. In this study, three loess-paleosol sequences (the Jijiawan, Ganyu and Diaozhai sites), from which in situ stone artifacts were recovered, are investigated and dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), magnetostratigraphy and stratigraphic correlation. The results demonstrate that the artifacts are located within paleosol layers S4 (correlative with marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 11), S3 (MIS 9), S2 (MIS 7), and S1 (MIS 5); and within loess layer L1 (MIS 2-4). The main stone-knapping technique used was direct hard hammer percussion. In addition, the technological features of the stone tools found at these sites exhibit little variation, indicating the presence of a long-established, stable technology in the Lantian area. Our observations show that the ancient humans lived episodically on the terraces of the Bahe River from the early Pleistocene, indicating a long history of hominin occupation of the region.

Central China has experienced stronger summer monsoon during warm periods such as Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1 and 3, and weaker summer monsoon during cool periods such as MIS 2. The evolution history of Dajiuhu subalpine peatland in central China can help investigate how the expansion and shrinkage of peatland were associated with monsoonal strength over the last glacial–interglacial cycle. Here we apply bulk organic carbon and molecular biomarkers (hopane and n-alkane) to reconstruct the evolution history for the Dajiuhu peatland over the past 40,000 yr. The results indicate fluctuations between lacustrine and peat-like deposition during MIS 3, steady lacustrine deposition during MIS 2, and peatland initiation and expansion during MIS 1 in the Dajiuhu peatland. Therefore, at the glacial–interglacial scale, warmer summer and cooler winter conditions in interglacial periods are crucial to trigger peat deposition, whereas reduced evaporation in glacial period instead of decreased monsoonal-driven precipitation would have played a predominant role in the regional effective moisture balance. However, within the Holocene (MIS 1), monsoonal precipitation changes appear to be the main controller on millennial-scale variations of water-table level of the Dajiuhu peatland.