The very high frequency data exchange system (VDES) is promising in promoting electronic navigation (E-navigation) and improving navigation safety. The multiple access control (MAC) protocol is crucial to the transmission performance of VDES. The self-organising time division multiple access (SOTDMA) protocol, as the only access mode given by current recommendations, leads to a high rate of transmission collisions in the traditional automatic identification system (AIS), especially with heavy traffic loads. This paper proposes a novel feedback based time division multiple access (FBTDMA) protocol to address the problems caused by SOTDMA, such that collision of transmissions can be avoided in information transmission among vessels. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed FBTDMA outperforms the traditional SOTDMA in terms of channel utilisation and throughput, and significantly reduces the transmission collision rate. The study is expected to provide insights into VDES standardisation and E-navigation modernisation.

Echinococcus shiquicus is currently limited to the Qinghai–Tibet plateau, a large mountainous region in China. Although the zoonotic potential remains unknown, progress is being made on the distribution and intermediate host range. In this study, we report E. shiquicus within Gansu and Qinghai provinces in regions located not only around the central areas but also the southeast edge of the plateau and describe their genetic relationship with previous isolates from the plateau. From 1879 plateau pikas examined, 2.39% (95% CI 1.79–3.18) were infected with E. shiquicus. The highest prevalence of 10.26% (4.06–23.58) was recorded in Makehe town, Qinghai province. Overall the prevalence was marginally higher in Qinghai (2.5%, CI 1.82–3.43) than in Gansu (2%, CI 1.02–3.89). The cox1 and nad1 genes demonstrated high and low haplotype and nucleotide diversities, respectively. The median-joining network constructed by the cox1–nad1 gene sequences demonstrated a star-like configuration with a median vector (unsampled haplotype) occupying the centre of the network. No peculiar distinction or common haplotype was observed in isolates originating from the different provinces. The presence of E. shiquicus in regions of the southeast and northeast edges of the Qinghai–Tibet plateau and high genetic variation warrants more investigation into the haplotype distribution and genetic polymorphism by exploring more informative DNA regions of the mitochondrial genome to provide epidemiologically useful insight into the population structure of E. shiquicus across the plateau and its axis.

A12-week experiment was conducted to evaluate the influences of thiamine ongrowth performance, and intestinal mitochondrial biogenesis and function of Megalobramaamblycephala fed a high-carbohydrate (HC) diet. Fish (24·73 (sem 0·45) g) were randomly assigned to one of four diets: two carbohydrate (CHO) levels (30 and 45 %) and two thiamine levels (0 and 1·5 mg/kg). HC diets significantly decreased DGC, GRMBW, FIMBW, intestinal activities of amylase, lipase, Na+, K+-ATPase, CK, complexes I, III and IV, intestinal ML, number of mitochondrial per field, ΔΨm, the P-AMPK: T-AMPK ratio, PGC-1β protein expression as well as the transcriptions of AMPKα1, AMPKα2, PGC-1β, mitochondrial transcription factor A, Opa-1, ND-1 and COX-1 and 2, while the opposite was true for ATP, AMP and reactive oxygen species, and the transcriptions of dynamin-related protein-1, fission-1 and mitochondrial fission factor. Dietarythiamine concentrations significantly increased DGC, GRMBW, intestinal activities of amylase, Na+, K+-ATPase, CK, complexes I and IV, intestinal ML, number of mitochondrial per field, ΔΨm, the P-AMPK:T-AMPK ratio, PGC-1β protein expression as well as the transcriptions of AMPKα1, AMPKα2, PGC-1β, Opa-1, ND-1, COX-1 and 2, SGLT-1 and GLUT-2. Furthermore, a significant interaction between dietary CHO and thiamine was observed in DGC, GRMBW, intestinal activities of amylase, CK, complexes I and IV, ΔΨm, the AMP:ATP ratio, the P-AMPK:T-AMPK ratio, PGC-1β protein expression as well as the transcriptions of AMPKα1, AMPKα2, PGC-1β, Opa-1, COX-1 and 2, SGLT-1 and GLUT-2. Overall, thiamine supplementation improved growth performance, and intestinal mitochondrial biogenesis and function of M. amblycephala fed HC diets.

N-3 long-chain (≥C20) PUFA (LC-PUFA) are vital fatty acids for fish and humans. As a main source of n-3 LC-PUFA for human consumers, the n-3 LC-PUFA content of farmed fish is important. Previously, we identified fatty acid-binding protein (fabp)-4 as a candidate gene for regulating the n-3 LC-PUFA content. Herein, we further assessed the role of fabp4 in this process. First, a 2059 bp promoter sequence of fabp4 in Trachinotus ovatus was cloned and, using progressive deletion, determined −2006 bp to −1521 bp to be the core promoter sequence. The PPAR-γ binding sites were predicted to occur in this region. A luciferase reporter assay showed that the promoter activity of fabp4 decreased following mutation of the PPARγ binding site and that PPARγ increased the fabp4 promoter activity in a dose-dependent manner, implying that T. ovatus fabp4 is a target of PPARγ. The overexpression of fabp4 or PPARγ increased the DHA content in hepatocytes, whereas suppression of their expression diminished this effect, suggesting that both fabp4 and PPARγ play an active role in regulating DHA content. Moreover, the inhibition of fabp4 attenuated the increase in PPARγ-mediated DHA content, and the overexpression of fabp4 alleviated this effect. Collectively, our findings indicated that fabp4, which is controlled by PPARγ, plays an important role in DHA content regulation. The new regulation axis can be considered a promising novel target for increasing the n-3 LC-PUFA content in T. ovatus.

As an attractive collector medium for hypervelocity particles, combined with outstanding physical properties and suitable compositional characteristics, SiO2 aerogel has been deployed on outer space missions and laser shock-loaded collection experiments. In this paper, impact experiments were conducted to understand the penetration process of irregular grains, irregular Al2O3 grains with two different sizes and speeds (~110 μm@7 km/s, ~251 μm@2.3 km/s) at various density silica aerogels. By classifying the shapes of projectile residues and tracks, the morphology of tracks was analyzed. It was observed that there were several kinds of typical tracks in the penetration of irregular grains, accompanied by residues with the shapes of near-sphere, polyhedron, streamlined body wedge, and rotator. The rotational behavior was demonstrated by the final status of one flake projectile as direct evidence. In addition, there was no obvious relationship between the track length and experimental parameters, which may be caused by the uncertain interaction between aerogels and irregular particles. In addition, it confirmed the existence of fragmentation, melting situation by observing the shape of the impact entrance hole. At the same time, optical coherence tomography was used to observe the detail of tracks clearly, which provided a method to characterize the tracks nondestructively.

In this paper, the generation of relativistic electron mirrors (REMs) and the reflection of an ultra-short laser off this mirrors are discussed, applying two-dimensional particle-in-cell (2D-PIC) simulations. REMs with ultra-high acceleration and expanding velocity can be produced from a solid nanofoil illuminated normally by an ultra-intense femtosecond laser pulse with a sharp rising edge. Chirped attosecond pulse can be produced through the reflection of a counter-propagating probe laser off the accelerating REM. In the electron moving frame, the plasma frequency of the REM keeps decreasing due to its rapidly expanding. The laser frequency, on the contrary, keeps increasing due to the acceleration of REM and the relativistic Doppler shift from the lab frame to the electron moving frame. Within an ultra-short time interval, the two frequencies will be equal in the electron moving frame, which leads the resonance between laser and REM. The reflected radiation near this interval and the corresponding spectra will be amplified due to the resonance. Through adjusting the arriving time of the probe laser, certain part of the reflected field could be selectively amplified or depressed, leading to the selectively adjusting of the corresponding spectra.

The thickness effect has a significant influence on the fatigue life of micro–nanometer thin films. Due to the increasing application of micro–nanometer thin films in the field of microelectronics, a suitable fatigue prediction model is urgently needed. To reveal the impact of the thickness effect on the fatigue life of a copper wire film, cyclic tension fatigue test of four groups of copper wire films were carried out. Based on the theory of continuous damage mechanics and damage homogenization method, a fatigue damage accumulation model that considered the film thickness was proposed. Based on the proposed fatigue damage prediction model, the damage evolution law and fatigue life of copper wire films with different thickness and strain range were predicted. Furthermore, the size effect of the copper films was analyzed. The results showed that the fatigue life of copper wire films will decrease with the increase of thickness and strain amplitude; the thinner the film, the more significant the thickness effect on the fatigue life is; with the increase of the film thickness, the film thickness effect will gradually decrease.

Cysticercosis caused by the metacestode larval stage of Taenia hydatigena formerly referred to as Cysticercus tenuicollis is a disease of veterinary importance that constitutes a significant threat to livestock production worldwide, especially in endemic regions due to condemnation of visceral organs and mortality rate of infected young animals. While the genetic diversity among parasites is found to be potentially useful in many areas of research including molecular diagnostics, epidemiology and control, that of T. hydatigena across the globe remains poorly understood. In this study, analysis of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of adult worms and larval stages of T. hydatigena isolated from dogs, sheep and a wild boar in China showed that the population structure consists of two major haplogroups with very high nucleotide substitutions involving synonymous and non-synonymous changes. Compared with other cestodes such as Echinococcus spp., the genetic variation observed between the haplogroups is sufficient for the assignment of major haplotype or genotype division as both groups showed a total of 166 point-mutation differences between the 12 mitochondrial protein-coding gene sequences. Preliminary analysis of a nuclear protein-coding gene (pepck) did not reveal any peculiar changes between both groups which suggests that these variants may only differ in their mitochondrial makeup.

To reveal the thermal shock resistance of double-layer thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), two types of TBCs were prepared via atmospheric plasma spraying, i.e., Gd2Zr2O7/yttria-stabilized zirconia (GZ/YSZ) TBCs and La2Zr2O7 (LZ)/YSZ TBCs, respectively. Subsequently, thermal cycling tests of the two TBCs were conducted at 1100 °C and their thermal shock resistance and failure mechanism were comparatively investigated through experiments and the finite element method. The results showed that the thermal shock failure of the two TBCs occurred inside the top ceramic coating. However, the GZ/YSZ TBCs had longer thermal cycling life. It was the mechanical properties of the top ceramic coating, and the thermal stresses arising from the thermal mismatch between the top ceramic coating and the substrate that determined the thermal cycling life of the two TBCs together. Compared with the LZ layer in the LZ/YSZ TBCs, the GZ layer in the GZ/YSZ TBCs had smaller elastic modulus, larger fracture toughness, and smaller thermal stresses, which led to the higher crack propagation resistance and less spallation tendency of the GZ/YSZ TBCs. Therefore, the GZ/YSZ TBCs exhibited superior thermal shock resistance to the LZ/YSZ TBCs.

The CoCrNiMox (x = 0, 0.1, and 0.2 in molar ratio) medium entropy alloys (MEAs) were fabricated by vacuum arc melting, followed by cold rolling and annealing treatments. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to characterize the microstructures. It has been shown that the CoCrNi MEA has a single FCC phase and the Mo-containing MEAs contain (Cr, Mo)-rich σ precipitates. In addition, the Mo addition caused significant grain refinement, due to the fact that the presence of σ phase exerts a strong pinning effect on the grain boundary migration. The hardness testing results indicate an increment in Vickers hardness from 187.5 ± 4.5 Hv of CoCrNi alloy to 309.5 ± 10.3 Hv of CoCrNiMo0.2 alloy. The yield strength and ultimate tensile strength also increase from 339 ± 2 to 644 ± 5 MPa and from 810 ± 5 to 1071 ± 17 MPa, respectively, but the elongation drops from 88.4 ± 4.0% to 29.5 ± 7.6%. The grain refinement and the precipitation of σ phase make synergistic contribution to the reinforcement of Mo-containing CoCrNi-based MEAs. The details and explanations in this study may guide the future design and research of the CoCrNi-based quaternary alloys with enhanced properties.

The particularity of nuclear power plant environment requires that the nuclear power inspection robot must be remote control operation. The main purpose of the inspection robot is to carry out inspection, prevention, reporting, and safety emergency operation on the instruments, so as to provide guarantee for the safe operation of the nuclear power plant. Based on the representative configuration of nuclear power robot at home and abroad, this paper develops a small and lightweight nuclear power plant inspection robot, including walking mechanism, lifting mechanism, operating mechanism, image acquisition, information communication and control system, etc., to carry on the statics analysis to the key components of the inspection robot and verify that the stiffness and strength of the mechanical structure meet the requirements of lightweight design. Modal analysis is carried out to verify that the motor does not cause resonance when working. The kinematic model of the robot has been established and can provide the theoretical basis for the controller design. A hierarchical control system based on LabVIEW upper computer monitoring and control operation interface is established, which uses adaptive fuzzy Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) control to simulate the walking control, and then realizes the control of walking mechanism through software programming, and the adaptive fuzzy PID control has better effect than the conventional PID control. The S-type acceleration and deceleration algorithm is used to realize the accurate control of the position location of the lifting mechanism. Finally, combined with the experiment of 5MS robot comprehensive experimental platform, it is proved that the inspection robot can realize remote control function operation.

The Shiji (史記 Records of the Grand Historian) is of great value for Chinese history before 90 BCE. Many online databases provide character-based search of the Shiji. We go beyond simple search by creating an word-based open-access database of the Basic Annals (本纪) of the Shiji that allows the exploration of relationships between persons and the relationships between persons and named places.

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.

Since December 2019, several new infectious diseases, mainly lung diseases caused by novel coronavirus infections, have been discovered in Wuhan, Hubei Province. With the spread of the epidemic, cases in other regions of China and abroad have been confirmed. This sudden outbreak of a new type of infectious disease has seriously threatened people’s health and safety, and China has adopted strong prevention and control measures in response. To provide a reference for international health emergency management workers, this article summarizes, from an academic perspective, the main prevention and control measures taken in China.

The oxidation behavior of the selective laser melting (SLM)–fabricated Inconel 718 was investigated through isothermal oxidation testing at 650 °C for 500 h and compared with that of the as-cast and as-forged specimens at the same testing conditions. The effect of microstructure and surface roughness on the oxidation behavior of the SLM-fabricated, as-cast, and as-forged Inconel 718 specimens was examined. The result shows that Inconel 718 fabricated by SLM with the unique layer structure exhibited a better resistance to the 500 h oxidation at 650 °C compared with as-cast and as-forged 718 with coarse dendritic structure and uniform equiaxed grain microstructure, respectively. The influence of the surface roughness on the long-time oxidation resistance of SLM specimens is not pronounced compared with that of as-cast and as-forged specimens. The tiny dendrites instead of grain boundaries are a major influencing factor for the oxidation process of SLM specimens. The surface roughness has more evident influence on the oxidation resistance of as-forged specimens than that of the as-cast ones subjected to the 500 h oxidation at 650 °C.

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.