Precious Scrolls of Chinese Devout Women Buddhist Followers:A Case Study of Wilt Idema’s Pitfalls of Piety for Married Women

Deeply-rooted in China’s popular culture,precious scrolls(Baojuan)are the golden material to display popular religious belief of the mass.Based on the rare texts sorted and annotated by Shang Lixin,Dutch Sinologist Wilt L.Idema continues his journey of translating precious scrolls.Focused on the theme of devoted women Buddhist followers in Ming dynasty,he explores the ethical choices of married women in facing the betrayal of servants or concubines.His translations not only add important reading material to Western readers in the field of Chinese popular literature,but also set standard for the coming translators in rendering Chinese ballads.

A Parallel Indexing Cam Mechanism with Internal Placed Followers

A new type of parallel indexing cam mechanism is discovered.The composition of the cam profile is proposed and the formulas of the mechanism parameters are established by synthesis of its configuration and size.The equations for working pro- file and pressure angle of the cam are derived based on the inverse model and the derivative of pitch curve of cams.An example is given and demonstrates that it is available to design the new mechanism using the derived expressions.

Fiction with Influence Famous martial arts novelist Louis Cha Leung-yung’s passing leaves a growing legion of followers

There was an outpouring of grief across China on October 30 when fans of legendary wuxia （master of martial arts） novelist Jin Yong heard of his passing at age 94.

BILEVEL PROGRAMS WITH MULTIPLE FOLLOWERS

In this paper, we are concerned with bilevel programs with multiple followers. Three new solution concepts are introduced for a bilevel programming problem with multiple followers. First, one sufficient condition for the existence of a Nash equilibrium reaction is presented and the continuity of the reaction set is discussed. Next, we show that a class of bilevel programs with multiple followers can be solved via solving a corresponding bilevel program with a single follower. Finally on the basis of a theorem proved via applying the Kuhn-Tucker conditions to the inner game problem, a branch and bound technique is developed for bilevel program with multiple followers. Two numerical examples are also given to illustrate the algorithm.

Multi-circular formation control with reinforced transient profiles for nonholonomic vehicles:A path-following framework

This article investigates a multi-circular path-following formation control with reinforced transient profiles for nonholonomic vehicles connected by a digraph.A multi-circular formation controller endowed with the feature of spatial-temporal decoupling is devised for a group of vehicles guided by a virtual leader evolving along an implicit path,which allows for a circumnavigation on multiple circles with an anticipant angular spacing.In addition,notice that it typically imposes a stringent time constraint on time-sensitive enclosing scenarios,hence an improved prescribed performance control(IPPC)using novel tighter behavior boundaries is presented to enhance transient capabilities with an ensured appointed-time convergence free from any overshoots.The significant merits are that coordinated circumnavigation along different circles can be realized via executing geometric and dynamic assignments independently with modified transient profiles.Furthermore,all variables existing in the entire system are analyzed to be convergent.Simulation and experimental results are provided to validate the utility of suggested solution.

A Novel Prescribed-Performance Path-Following Problem for Non-Holonomic Vehicles

The issue of achieving prescribed-performance path following in robotics is addressed in this paper,where the aim is to ensure that a desired path within a specified region is accu-rately converged to by the controlled vehicle.In this context,a novel form of the prescribed performance guiding vector field is introduced,accompanied by a prescribed-time sliding mode con-trol approach.Furthermore,the interdependence among the pre-scribed parameters is discussed.To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method,numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the approach.

Evaluation of the Impact of Driver Behavior on Back of Queues Events in Work Zones Using the SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Study Data

The SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Study was used to evaluate the impact of various work zone and driver characteristics on back of queue safety critical events (crash, near-crash, or conflicts) The model included 43 SCE and 209 “normal” events which were used as controls. The traces included representing 209 unique drivers. A Mixed-Effects Logistic Regression model was developed with probability of a SCE as the response variable and driver and work zone characteristics as predictor variables. The final model indicated glances over 1 second away from the driving task and following closely increased risk of an SCE by 3.8 times and 2.9 times, respectively. Average speed was negatively correlated to crash risk. This is counterintuitive since in most cases, it is expected that higher speeds are related to back of queue crashes. However, most queues form under congested conditions. As a result, vehicles encountering a back of queue would be more likely to be traveling at lower speeds.

Finite-Time Sideslip Differentiator-Based LOS Guidance for Robust Path Following of Snake Robots

This paper presents a finite-time sideslip differentiator-based line-of-sight(LOS)guidance method for robust path following of snake robots.Firstly,finite-time stable sideslip differentiator and adaptive LOS guidance method are proposed to counteract sideslip drift caused by cross-track velocity.The proposed differentiator can accurately observe the cross-track error and sideslip angle for snake robots to avoid errors caused by calculating sideslip angle approximately.In our method,the designed piecewise auxiliary function guarantees the finite-time stability of position errors.Secondly,for the case of external disturbances and state constraints,a Barrier Lyapunov functionbased backstepping adaptive path following controller is presented to improve the robot’s robustness.The uniform ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system is proved by analyzing stability.Additionally,a gait frequency adjustment-based virtual velocity control input is derived to achieve the exponential convergence of the tangential velocity.At last,the availability and superiority of this work are shown through simulation and experiment results.

LSTM-DPPO based deep reinforcement learning controller for path following optimization of unmanned surface vehicle

To solve the path following control problem for unmanned surface vehicles(USVs),a control method based on deep reinforcement learning(DRL)with long short-term memory(LSTM)networks is proposed.A distributed proximal policy opti-mization(DPPO)algorithm,which is a modified actor-critic-based type of reinforcement learning algorithm,is adapted to improve the controller performance in repeated trials.The LSTM network structure is introduced to solve the strong temporal cor-relation USV control problem.In addition,a specially designed path dataset,including straight and curved paths,is established to simulate various sailing scenarios so that the reinforcement learning controller can obtain as much handling experience as possible.Extensive numerical simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method has better control performance under missions involving complex maneuvers than trained with limited scenarios and can potentially be applied in practice.

Knowledge,perceptions,and practice towards adverse events following immunization surveillance among vaccination workers in Zhejiang province,China

Objective:To access the level of knowledge,perceptions,and practice towards adverse events following immunization(AEFI)surveillance among vaccination workers in Zhejiang province,China.Methods:This was a cross-sectional survey involving 768 vaccination workers.Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires and analyzed by using SAS 9.3 software.Knowledge,perceptions,and practice on AEFI surveillance were summarized using frequency tables.The mean±SD value was used as the cut-off for defining good(values≥mean)and poor(values<mean)knowledge,perceptions or practice.Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine sociodemographic variables associated with knowledge,perceptions,and practice towards AEFI.Results:The proportions of good knowledge,perceptions and practice on AEFI surveillance were 78.13%,57.81%and 66.15%,respectively.Having a higher education background,longer years of experience,previous training on AEFI and≥30 years of age were factors associated with good knowledge,perceptions and practice on AEFI surveillance among vaccination workers.Conclusions:Over half of the respondents had good knowledge,perceptions and practice on AEFI surveillance work.Interventions on improving the vaccination workers’knowledge,perceptions and practice on AEFI surveillance should be considered in order to develop a more effective surveillance system.

Investigating the characteristic delay time in the leader–follower behavior in children single-file movement

The single-file movement experiment offered a convenient way to investigate the one-dimensional leader–follower behavior of pedestrians. This study investigated the time delays of children pedestrians in the leader–follower behavior by introducing a time-dependent delayed speed correlation. A total of 118 German students from the fifth grade(aged11–12 years old) and the 11th grade(aged 17–18 years old) participated the single-file experiment. The characteristic delay time for each pedestrian was identified by optimising the time-dependent delayed speed correlation. The influences of the curvature of the experimental scenario, density, age, and gender on the delay time were statistically examined. The results suggested that to a large extent, the revealed characteristic delay time was a density-dependent variable, and none of the curvatures, the age and gender of the individual, and the age and gender of the leader had a significant influence on it. The findings from this study are variable resources to understand the leader–follower behavior among children pedestrians and to build related simulation models.

海上自主水面船舶(MASS)路径跟踪控制系统综述

A review presents the state-of-the-art path-following control systems for maritime autonomous surface ships,where the special focus is placed on the guidance subsystem and control subsystem.The path following control system is one of the basic requirements for autonomous ships since it guarantees that the ship can track the predefined path with small crosstrack errors.The path following problem is firstly defined,and the cross-track error dynamics are derived from the kinematic equations of marine surface ships.The classical guidance laws are introduced,and the governing equations are also presented in this paper.A review of the guidance laws and controllers for the maritime autonomous surface ships has been carried out based on relevant journal and conference papers.Several important properties and characteristics,such as control structure,guidance law,control method,stability,environmental disturbance and vessel dynamics,are defined for the comparative analysis.Finally,the summary and a discussion on the most used technologies for the path following control of marine autonomous surface ships are presented and highlighted.

Hearing loss and tinnitus associated with COVID-19 vaccines:An analysis from the national pharmacovigilance database in Malaysia

Objective:To compare the reporting pattern of hearing loss and tinnitus across different vaccines brands used in Malaysia(BNT162b2,CoronaVac,ChAdOx1,Ad5.CoV2-S and BBIBP-CorV).Methods:This retrospective study included all reports of hearing loss and tinnitus occurring after COVID-19 vaccination that were received in the national pharmacovigilance database,QUEST,from February 24,2021 through July 31,2022.Reports given causality consistent or indeterminate were included.Results:There were 21 cases of hearing loss,with overall reporting rate of 0.29 cases per million doses.The rate was similar across BNT162b2,CoronaVac and ChAdOx1.For tinnitus,35 cases were reported,with the overall reporting rate of 0.49 cases per million doses,and the highest rate was reported for ChAdOx1.For both events,most cases aged 30 to 49 years.No gender disparity was observed.Both events were mainly reported to have occurred after the primary doses,with a median time-to-onset of two days.There were no statistically significant differences in the reporting patterns for both events across BNT162b2,CoronaVac and ChAdOx1 by age group,gender,race,and dose number.Conclusions:Despite the low reporting rates and insufficient evidence to confirm its relationship,hearing loss and tinnitus following vaccinations should not be ignored due to its disabling potential and impact on one’s quality of life.Continual reporting is encouraged for better signal characterization in the future.

Constrained Moving Path Following Control for UAV With Robust Control Barrier Function

This paper studies the moving path following(MPF)problem for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)under output constraints and wind disturbances.The vehicle is required to converge to a reference path moving with respect to the inertial frame,while the path following error is not expected to violate the predefined boundaries.Differently from existing moving path following guidance laws,the proposed method removes complex geometric transformation by formulating the moving path following problem into a second-order time-varying control problem.A nominal moving path following guidance law is designed with disturbances and their derivatives estimated by high-order disturbance observers.To guarantee that the path following error will not exceed the prescribed bounds,a robust control barrier function is developed and incorporated into controller design with quadratic program based framework.The proposed method does not require the initial position of the UAV to be within predefined boundaries.And the safety margin concept makes error-constraint be respected even if in a noisy environment.The proposed guidance law is validated through numerical simulations of shipboard landing and hardware-in-theloop(HIL)experiments.

Trade credit financing for supply chain coordination under financial challenges:a multi‑leader–follower game approach

This study is designed to solve supply chain inefficiencies caused by some members’financial problems,such as capital shortages and financing restrictions in a stochastic environment.To this end,we have established a supply chain finance framework by designing two novel coordinating contracts based on trade credit financing for different problem settings.These contracts are modeled in the form of multi-leader Stackelberg games that address horizontal and vertical competition in a supply chain consisting of multiple suppliers and a financially constrained manufacturer.However,previous studies in the trade credit literature have addressed only simple vertical competition,that is,seller-buyer competition.To solve the proposed models,two algorithms were developed by combining population-based metaheuristics,the Nash-domination concept,and the Nikaido-Isoda function.The results demonstrate that the proposed supply chain finance framework can eliminate supply chain inefficiencies and make a large profit for suppliers,as well as the financially constrained manufacturer.Furthermore,the results of the contracts’analysis showed that if the manufacturer is required to settle its payments to suppliers before the end of the period,the trade credit contract cannot coordinate the supply chain because of a lack of incentive for suppliers.However,if the manufacturer is allowed to extend its payments to the end of the period,the proposed trade credit financing contract can coordinate the supply chain.Finally,the sensitivity analysis results indicate that the worse the financial status of the manufacturer,the more bargaining power suppliers have in determining the contract parameters for more profit.

LRP6 Bidirectionally Regulates Insulin Sensitivity through Insulin Receptor and S6K Signaling in Rats with CG-IUGR

Objective Intrauterine growth restriction followed by postnatal catch-up growth(CG-IUGR)increases the risk of insulin resistance-related diseases.Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6(LRP6)plays a substantial role in glucose metabolism.However,whether LRP6 is involved in the insulin resistance of CG-IUGR is unclear.This study aimed to explore the role of LRP6 in insulin signaling in response to CG-IUGR.Methods The CG-IUGR rat model was established via a maternal gestational nutritional restriction followed by postnatal litter size reduction.The mRNA and protein expression of the components in the insulin pathway,LRP6/β-catenin and mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR)/S6 kinase(S6K)signaling,was determined.Liver tissues were immunostained for the expression of LRP6 andβ-catenin.LRP6 was overexpressed or silenced in primary hepatocytes to explore its role in insulin signaling.Results Compared with the control rats,CG-IUGR rats showed higher homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance(HOMA-IR)index and fasting insulin level,decreased insulin signaling,reduced mTOR/S6K/insulin receptor substrate-1(IRS-1)serine307 activity,and decreased LRP6/β-catenin in the liver tissue.The knockdown of LRP6 in hepatocytes from appropriate-for-gestational-age(AGA)rats led to reductions in insulin receptor(IR)signaling and mTOR/S6K/IRS-1 serine307 activity.In contrast,LRP6 overexpression in hepatocytes of CG-IUGR rats resulted in elevated IR signaling and mTOR/S6K/IRS-1 serine307 activity.Conclusion LRP6 regulated the insulin signaling in the CG-IUGR rats via two distinct pathways,IR and mTOR-S6K signaling.LRP6 may be a potential therapeutic target for insulin resistance in CG-IUGR individuals.

一种分布式系统中线程池的设计与实现

随着网络和分布式计算的日益发展,负载数量迅速增长,如何在大负载情况下保证高效的吞吐率是构建服务器 时所面临的问题,目前广泛采用的技术之一是线程池。借鉴Leader／Followers模式,设计并实现了一类高效的线程池,并 针对分布式系统环境做了进一步的改进。此方法已经应用到分布事务监控器OnceTX的实现中,并取得了很好的效果。

利用谱分析法估计GRACE Follow-On地球重力场的空间分辨率

利用轨道扰动引力谱和大地水准面累计误差谱分析的方法估计未来GRACE(gravity recovery and climateexperiment)Follow-On卫星反演地球重力场的空间分辨率。基于GRACE Follow-On卫星的轨道特性,计算其在高空所受到的径向扰动引力,并根据谱特性及星载加速度计的测量噪声水平分析该卫星能反演重力场的阶数。利用EGM96重力场模型分别计算200 km和250 km轨道高度处的扰动引力谱。分析其特性表明:在两个轨道高度处分别能反演281阶和242阶的地球重力场模型。给出大地水准面累计误差谱模型,并计算200 km和250 km轨道高度处大地水准面累计误差谱。分析其谱特性表明:在两个轨道高度处分别能反演至286阶和228阶的地球重力场模型。

基于Leader-follower与人工势场的多移动机器人编队控制

目的提出一种基于Leader-follower法和人工势场法相结合的多移动机器人编队控制方法,从而克服传统Leader-follower法中由微分方程确定的控制率无法将队形控制与避障统一的缺点.方法确定关于参数l和φ的人工势场函数,通过控制参数l和φ,使多移动机器人保持预定队形;机器人follower通过主动避障方法躲避障碍物,确定一个总的人工势场控制队形和避障.结果算法能使多移动机器人系统成功地进行编队和避障.结论通过仿真试验,机器人系统能够顺利通过狭窄通道,躲避静态障碍物和动态障碍物,并在避障后恢复队形,顺利到达目标,算法简单,从而验证了算法的有效性.

采用Leader-follower和模糊反馈机制的机器鱼队形控制

在Leader-follower框架下的多机器鱼系统队形控制中,针对Leader和Follower相对独立及落后机器鱼离队等问题,在传统的Leader-follower队形控制算法中引入模糊反馈控制器进行反馈调节,使得领航机器鱼Leader能定时检查Follower的位置,将多机器鱼系统的队形控制问题转化为具有反馈调节的Follower跟踪Leader的位置和方向的问题,以增强多机器鱼队形控制的稳定性,更好地协同作业完成任务.仿真试验验证了所提出的方法能较好地实现多机器鱼系统的队形控制.