Collection System of Soil Moisture Information Based on ZigBee and GPRS

Real-time monitoring and wireless transmission of farmland soil moisture have been paid with more and more attention in the research of agricultural drought monitoring, early warning and prevention and control technology. The hardware design and software design of soil moisture monitoring in farmland were carried out, and a monitoring system based on the principles of ZigBee and GPRS technologies was developed and applied to the actual monitoring of soil moisture in farmland. This study provides a good idea to promote real-time monitoring, wireless transmission and intelligent management of soil moisture in farmland.

Hopf Bifurcations in a Predator-Prey System of Population Allelopathy with Discrete Delay

A delayed Lotka-Volterra two-species predator-prey system of population allelopathy with discrete delay is considered. By linearizing the system at the positive equilibrium and analyzing the associated characteristic equation, the asymptotic stability of the positive equilibrium is investigated and Hopf bifurcations are demonstrated. Furthermore, the direction of Hopf bifurcation and the stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions are determined by the normal form theory and the center manifold theorem for functional differential equations (FDEs). Finally, some numerical simulations are carried out for illustrating the theoretical results.

Application of topical gentamicin ointment in the treatment of Nagashima-type palmoplantar keratosis in children with a nonsense mutation

Importance:Nagashima-type palmoplantar keratosis(NPPK)is a hereditary dermatosis mostly caused by a nonsense mutation in SERPINB7.Despite the increasing interest in readthrough gentamicin treatment of NPPK,clinical evidence for this treatment is limited.Objective:This study aimed to provide further evidence for the use of topical gentamicin in the treatment of NPPK in children with nonsense mutations.Methods:We designed a bilaterally controlled study of topical gentamicin ointment.Children diagnosed with NPPK carrying nonsense mutations were enrolled in this study.A 0.1%gentamicin ointment was applied to one hand and an emollient to the other for 3 months.A bilateral comparison of the visual analog scale scores for clinical manifestations and safety was performed.Results:Ten children with NPPK were included in this study.In comparison with the emollient side,the topical gentamicin side showed significant improvements in hyperkeratosis,erythema,maceration,and desquamation after 1 and 3 months of treatment(P<0.05).However,hyperhidrosis and odor did not improve significantly.No adverse events were observed during the systemic safety monitoring examinations.Interpretation:Topical gentamicin ointment showed good safety in the treatment of NPPK with nonsense mutations,indicating that it is a promising therapeutic choice in children with NPPK.

Bending performance analysis on YBCO cable with high flexibility

In order to utilize high‐temperature superconducting Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide(YBCO)tapes to develop superconducting cables for high magnet field applications,it is critical to ensure the stable operation of the YBCO cable under challenging mechanical and thermal conditions.A new type of cable featuring the winding of YBCO and copper tapes around a spiral stainless steel tube has been proposed to increase flexibility and cooling.Experiments are performed to confirm that its critical current varies with the bending diameter.The cables wound with nine YBCO tapes in three layers show a critical current degradation of less than 5%for a bending diameter of 30 mm.The performance of the cable degrades as the number of wound layers increases.The critical current degradation of cable specimens wound from 15 tapes in five layers reached approximately 12%for a bending diameter of 30 mm.In addition,when compared to traditional CORC cable specimens,the developed cable specimens show better‐bending flexibility and achieve a lower critical bending diameter.The finite element models show that the higher elasticity coefficient and lower plasticity of the stainless steel spiral tube results in a lower strain on the YBCO tapes of the HFRC cable than that of the CORC cable,and the maximum strain on the YBCO tapes of the HFRC cable was only about 10%of that of the CORC cable.Therefore,it is less likely that the YBCO tape in this type of cable will reach the irreversible strain limit during bending,resulting in a degradation in current carrying performance.Furthermore,the cooling efficiency can be improved by flowing the cooling medium inside the central core,which can significantly improve its thermal stability.These advantages indicate the possibility of using it in future high‐field magnets with high current carrying capacity at fields greater than 15 T.

The effectiveness of sound-processing strategies on tonal language cochlear implant users:A systematic review

Importance:Contemporary cochlear implants(CIs)are well established as a technology for people with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss,with their effectiveness having been widely reported.However,for tonal language CI recipients,speech perception remains a challenge:Conventional signal processing strategies have been demonstrated to possibly provide insufficient information to encode tonal cues,and CI recipients have exhibited considerable deficits in tone perception.Thus,some tonal language-oriented sound-processing strategies have been introduced.The effects of available tonal language-oriented strategies on tone perception are reviewed and evaluated in this study.The results may aid in designing and improving tonal language-appropriate sound-processing strategies for CI recipients.Objective:The objective of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of tonal-language-oriented signal processing strategies on tone perception,music perception,word and sentence recognition.Methods:To evaluate the effects of tonal language-oriented strategies on tone perception,we conducted a systematic review.We searched for relevant reports dated from January 1979 to July 2017 using PubMed,Cochrane Library,EBSCO,Web of Science,EMBASE,and 4 Chinese periodical databases(CBMdisc,CNKI,VIP,andWanfang Data).Results:According to our search strategy,672 potentially eligible studies were retrieved from the databases,with 12 of these studies included in the final review after a 4-stage selection process.The majority of sound-processing strategies designed for tonal language were HiResolution with Fidelity 120(HiRes 120),fine structure processing,temporal fine structure(TFS),and C-tone.Generally,acute or short-term comparisons between the tonal language-oriented strategies and the conventional strategy did not reveal statistically significant differences in speech perception(or show a small improvement).However,a tendency toward improved tone perception and subjectively reported overall preferred sound quality was observed with the tonal language-oriented strategies.Interpretation:Conventional signal processing strategies typically provided very limited F0 information via temporal envelopes delivered to the stimulating electrodes.In contrast,tonal language-oriented coding strategies attempted to present more spectral information and TFS cues required for tone perception.Thus,a tendency of improved performance in tonal language perception in CI users was shown.

Clinical evaluation of cochlear implantation in children younger than 12 months of age

Importance Cochlear implantation(CI)is an effective therapy for patients with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss.It remains controversial whether children younger than 12 months of age should undergo CI.Objective To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of CI in children younger than 12 months of age.Methods We performed a retrospective study of clinical data of pediatric patients younger than 12 months of age who underwent CI and were followed up for 1 to 2 years.Patients’developmental levels were evaluated by the Gesell score before CI.Intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded to evaluate the safety of CI.Auditory and speech abilities were scored by the LittlEARS®auditory questionnaire(LEAQ),categories of auditory performance(CAP),speech intelligibility rating(SIR),infant‐toddler meaningful auditory integration scale(IT‐MAIS),and meaningful use of speech scale(MUSS)at 1,2,3,6,9,and 12 months after CI.The associations between clinical characteristics before CI and postoperative scores at 1 year after CI were analyzed by the linear mixed‐effects model.Results Eighty‐nine children(47 boys and 42 girls)were included in this study(mean age at CI,9.2±1.6 months).Sixteen patients were diagnosed with cochlear malformation and 16 underwent bilateral CI.No severe complications occurred in any patients.The mean developmental quotient of the Gesell score was 78.00±10.03.The median LEAQ scores were 0,5,10,16,22,26 and 30 before and at 1,2,3,6,9,and 12 months after CI,respectively.These findings implied that the LEAQ score greatly improved in the first year after CI.The overall CAP,SIR,IT‐MAIS,and MUSS scores also increased with increasing duration after CI.No significant associations were detected between clinical characteristics(age,sex,implant number,pre‐CI Gesell score,and inner ear malformation)and LEAQ outcomes at 12 months after CI.Interpretation With increasing duration after CI,auditory and speech behavior dramatically improve in young children.Our findings indicate that CI is feasible for children younger than 12 months of age.

Theoretical study on the oscillation mechanism of p53-Mdm2 network

In this paper, a delayed mathematical model was developed based on experimental data to understand how the time delays required for transcription and translation in Mdm2 gene expression affect the kinetic behavior of the p53-Mdm2 network. Taking the time delays as the main research parameters, tlie stability of the system at the positive equilibrium waa studied by using the theoretical method of delay differential equation. We found that such delays can induce oscillations by undergoing a supercritical Hopf bifurcation. Then, we used the normal form theory and the center manifold reduction to study the direction and stability of the bifurcation in detail. Furthermore, we also studied the effects of the length of time delays and the model parameters by numerical simulations. We found that time delays in Mdni2 synthesis are required for p53 oscillations and the length of such delays can determine the amplitude and period of the oscillations. In addition, the model parameters can also change the stability of the system. These results illustrate that the repair process after DNA damage can be regulated by varying time delays and the model parameters.

Oscillatory behavior of p53-Mdm2 system driven by transcriptional and translational time delays

Biological experiments clarify that p53-Mdm2 module is the core of tumor network and p53 oscillation plays an important role in determining the tumor cell fate.In this paper,we investigate the effect of time delay on the oscillatory behavior induced by Hopf bifurcation in p53-Mdm2 system.First,the stability of the unique positive equilibriurm point and the existence of Hopf bifurcation are investigated by using the time delay as the bifurcation parameter and by applying the bifurcation theory.Second,the explicit criteria determining the direction of Hopf bifurcation and the stability of bifurcating periodic solutions are developed based on the normal form theory and the center manifold theorem.In addition,the combination of numerical simulation results and theoretical calculation results indicates that time delays in p53-Mdm2 system are critical for p53 oscillations.The results may help us to better understand the biological functions of p53 pathway and provide clues for treatment of cancer.