In situ non-destructive measurement of Josephson junction resistance using fritting contact technique

Conventional four-probe methods for measuring the resistance of Josephson junctions can damage superconducting thin films,making them unsuitable for frequency measurements of superconducting qubits.In this study,we present a custom probe station measurement system that employs the fritting contact technique to achieve in situ,non-destructive measurements of Josephson junction resistance.Our experimental results demonstrate that this method allows for accurate prediction of qubit frequency with an error margin of 17.2 MHz.Moreover,the fritting contact technique does not significantly affect qubit coherence time or the integrity of the superconducting film,confirming its non-destructive nature.This innovative approach provides a dependable foundation for frequency tuning and addressing frequency collision issues,thus supporting the advancement and practical deployment of superconducting quantum computing.

Flexible pavement longitudinal joint quality evaluation using non-destructive testing

Longitudinal joint construction quality is critical to the life of flexible pavements.Maintaining deteriorated longitudinal joints has become a challenge for many highway agencies.Improving the joint's quality through better compaction during construction can help achieve flexible pavements with longer service lives and less maintenance.Current quality control(QC)and quality assurance(QA)plans provide limited coverage.Consequently,the risk of missing areas with poor joint compaction is significant.A density profiling system(DPS)is a non-destructive alternative to conventional destructive evaluation methods.It can provide quick and continuous real-time coverage of the compaction during construction in dielectrics.The paper presents several case studies comparing various types of longitudinal joints and demonstrating the use of DPS to evaluate the joint's compaction quality.The paper shows that dielectric measurements can provide valuable insight into the ability of various construction techniques to achieve adequate levels of compaction at the longitudinal joint.The paper proposes a dielectric-based longitudinal joint quality index(LJQI)to evaluate the relative compaction of the joint during construction.It also shows that adopting DPS for assessing the compaction of longitudinal joints can minimize the risk of agencies accepting poorly constructed joints,identify locations of poor quality during construction,and achieve better-performing flexible pavements.

Acoustic Non-Destructive Testing Technology in Concrete Bridge Inspection and Pile Foundation Detection

This article takes the actual construction project of a certain concrete bridge project as an example to analyze the application of acoustic non-destructive testing technology in its detection.It includes an overview of a certain bridge construction project studied and acoustic non-destructive testing technology and the application of acoustic non-destructive testing technology in actual testing.This analysis hopes to provide some guidelines for acoustic non-destructive testing of modern concrete bridge projects.

Pharmacological targeting cGAS/STING/NF-κB axis by tryptanthrin induces microglia polarization toward M2 phenotype and promotes functional recovery in a mouse model of spinal cord injury

The M1/M2 phenotypic shift of microglia after spinal cord injury plays an important role in the regulation of neuroinflammation during the secondary injury phase of spinal cord injury.Regulation of shifting microglia polarization from M1(neurotoxic and proinflammatory type)to M2(neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory type)after spinal cord injury appears to be crucial.Tryptanthrin possesses an anti-inflammatory biological function.However,its roles and the underlying molecular mechanisms in spinal cord injury remain unknown.In this study,we found that tryptanthrin inhibited microglia-derived inflammation by promoting polarization to the M2 phenotype in vitro.Tryptanthrin promoted M2 polarization through inactivating the cGAS/STING/NF-κB pathway.Additionally,we found that targeting the cGAS/STING/NF-κB pathway with tryptanthrin shifted microglia from the M1 to M2 phenotype after spinal cord injury,inhibited neuronal loss,and promoted tissue repair and functional recovery in a mouse model of spinal cord injury.Finally,using a conditional co-culture system,we found that microglia treated with tryptanthrin suppressed endoplasmic reticulum stress-related neuronal apoptosis.Taken together,these results suggest that by targeting the cGAS/STING/NF-κB axis,tryptanthrin attenuates microglia-derived neuroinflammation and promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury through shifting microglia polarization to the M2 phenotype.

Chondroitinase ABC combined with Schwann cell transplantation enhances restoration of neural connection and functional recovery following acute and chronic spinal cord injury

Schwann cell transplantation is considered one of the most promising cell-based therapy to repair injured spinal cord due to its unique growth-promoting and myelin-forming properties.A the Food and Drug Administration-approved Phase I clinical trial has been conducted to evaluate the safety of transplanted human autologous Schwann cells to treat patients with spinal cord injury.A major challenge for Schwann cell transplantation is that grafted Schwann cells are confined within the lesion cavity,and they do not migrate into the host environment due to the inhibitory barrier formed by injury-induced glial scar,thus limiting axonal reentry into the host spinal cord.Here we introduce a combinatorial strategy by suppressing the inhibitory extracellular environment with injection of lentivirus-mediated transfection of chondroitinase ABC gene at the rostral and caudal borders of the lesion site and simultaneously leveraging the repair capacity of transplanted Schwann cells in adult rats following a mid-thoracic contusive spinal cord injury.We report that when the glial scar was degraded by chondroitinase ABC at the rostral and caudal lesion borders,Schwann cells migrated for considerable distances in both rostral and caudal directions.Such Schwann cell migration led to enhanced axonal regrowth,including the serotonergic and dopaminergic axons originating from supraspinal regions,and promoted recovery of locomotor and urinary bladder functions.Importantly,the Schwann cell survival and axonal regrowth persisted up to 6 months after the injury,even when treatment was delayed for 3 months to mimic chronic spinal cord injury.These findings collectively show promising evidence for a combinatorial strategy with chondroitinase ABC and Schwann cells in promoting remodeling and recovery of function following spinal cord injury.

Optimizing the key parameter to accelerate the recovery of AMOC under a rapid increase of greenhouse gas forcing

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation(AMOC)plays a central role in long-term climate variations through its heat and freshwater transports,which can collapse under a rapid increase of greenhouse gas forcing in climate models.Previous studies have suggested that the deviation of model parameters is one of the major factors in inducing inaccurate AMOC simulations.In this work,with a low-resolution earth system model,the authors try to explore whether a reasonable adjustment of the key model parameter can help to re-establish the AMOC after its collapse.Through a new optimization strategy,the extra freshwater flux(FWF)parameter is determined to be the dominant one affecting the AMOC’s variability.The traditional ensemble optimal interpolation(EnOI)data assimilation and new machine learning methods are adopted to optimize the FWF parameter in an abrupt 4×CO_(2) forcing experiment to improve the adaptability of model parameters and accelerate the recovery of AMOC.The results show that,under an abrupt 4×CO_(2) forcing in millennial simulations,the AMOC will first collapse and then re-establish by the default FWF parameter slowly.However,during the parameter adjustment process,the saltier and colder sea water over the North Atlantic region are the dominant factors in usefully improving the adaptability of the FWF parameter and accelerating the recovery of AMOC,according to their physical relationship with FWF on the interdecadal timescale.

Activation of adult endogenous neurogenesis by a hyaluronic acid collagen gel containing basic fibroblast growth factor promotes remodeling and functional recovery of the injured cerebral cortex

The presence of endogenous neural stem/progenitor cells in the adult mammalian brain suggests that the central nervous system can be repaired and regenerated after injury.However,whether it is possible to stimulate neurogenesis and reconstruct cortical layers II to VI in non-neurogenic regions,such as the cortex,remains unknown.In this study,we implanted a hyaluronic acid collagen gel loaded with basic fibroblast growth factor into the motor cortex immediately following traumatic injury.Our findings reveal that this gel effectively stimulated the proliferation and migration of endogenous neural stem/progenitor cells,as well as their differentiation into mature and functionally integrated neurons.Importantly,these new neurons reconstructed the architecture of cortical layers II to VI,integrated into the existing neural circuitry,and ultimately led to improved brain function.These findings offer novel insight into potential clinical treatments for traumatic cerebral cortex injuries.

Phase aberration correction in ultrasonic phased array non-destructive testing systems

Phase aberration correction for medical ultrasound systems has attracted a great deal of attention. Since phased array techniques are now widely employed for industrial non-destructive testing （NDT） applications in various fields, the problem of phase aberrations in the process of NDT testing is considered. The technique of cross-covariance for phase aberration correction is presented. The performance of the technique for phase aberration correction is tested by means of echo signals obtained in practical non-destructive testing experiment. The results show that the technique has the better accuracy of phase correction.

Pulsed Eddy Current Non-destructive Testing and Evaluation:A Review

Pulsed eddy current （PEC） non-destructive test- ing and evaluation （NDT＆E） has been around for some time and it is still attracting extensive attention from researchers around the globe, which can be witnessed through the reports reviewed in this paper. Thanks to its richness of spectral components, various applications of this technique have been proposed and reported in the lit- erature covering both structural integrity inspection and material characterization in various industrial sectors. To support its development and for better understanding of the phenomena around the transient induced eddy currents, attempts for its modelling both analytically and numeri- cally have been made by researchers around the world. This review is an attempt to capture the state-of-the-art development and applications of PEC, especially in the last 15 years and it is not intended to be exhaustive. Future challenges and opportunities for PEC NDT＆E are also presented.

Non-destructive Evaluation of Composite Pressure Vessel by Using FBG Sensors

In recent years, advanced composite structures are used extensively in many industries such as aerospace, aircraft, automobile, pipeline and civil engineering. Reliability and safety are crucial requirements posed by them to the advanced composite structures be- cause of their harsh working conditions. Therefore, as a very important measure, structural health monitoring （SHM） in-service is deft- nitely demanded for ensuring their safe working in-situ. In this paper, fiber Bragg grating （FBG） sensors are surface-mounted on the hoop and in the axial directions of a FRP pressure vessel to monitor the strain status during its pressurization. The experimental results show that the FBG sensors could be used to monitor the strain development and determine the ultimate failure strain of the composite pressure vessel.

A coin-tap method of composite materials non-destructive testing based on improved grey clustering

Aiming at the problems of low reliability and complex operation of traditional coin-tap test of composite material,this paper introduces the grey system theory and achieves better performance.The response signals of coin-tap are classified through the grey clustering based on relation analysis,and corresponding improvements are made to the calculation method of the relation degree of nearness.First,the time history of acceleration is taken as the system behavior sequence.The improved correlation calculation method is used to solve the relation degree of nearness between the sequences,and the matrix of degree of grey relation is constructed based on this.Then,the sequence groups are summarized through the matrix,and the response signals of coin-tap are qualitatively classified according to the location of the reference sequence.Finally,the defect detection of composite materials is completed without pre-testing.The test results show that the accuracy of the coin-tap test based on improved grey clustering reaches 100%,which simplifies the operation steps while ensuring the reliability of the coin-tap test results.

Understory Recovery in Coast Redwood Communities: A Case Study Comparing a Naturally Recovering and an Actively Managed Forest

Restoration of late seral features in second growth Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood) forests is increasingly important, as so little of the original old-growth remains. Natural recovery is an effective method restoring many late seral features, and does not require the additional disturbance of active management. In order to better understand management impacts on redwood understory abundance and composition, data were collected in naturally recovering stands and in stands that were actively managed with the explicit intent of promoting old-growth characteristics. Ten 10 m diameter plots with three 2 m diameter nested sub-plots were randomly sampled in two sites within each management type. Results indicate that tree canopy cover, native species cover and richness, richness of coast redwood associated species, and the cover of Trillium ovatum (western wake robin) were significantly higher in naturally recovering versus actively managed stands. In addition, several coast redwood associated understory species were exclusively recorded in the naturally recovering stands including: Asuram caudatum (wild ginger), Prosartes hookeri (hooker’s fairybells), Maianthemum racemosum (false solomon seal), Scoliopus bigelovii (fetid adder’s tongue), Viola sempervirens (redwood violet);while only one such species was recorded exclusively in the actively managed stands: Trientalis latifolia (pacific star flower). Natural recovery appeared to support understory recovery more effectively than active forest management in this case.

Non-Destructive Testing of Structures Using Optical and Other Methods: A Review

Non-destructive testing (NDT) of structures is one of the most important tasksof the proper maintenance and diagnosis of machines and constructions structuralcondition. NDT methods contribute to the damage tolerance philosophy used in theaircraft design methodology as well as many other operation and maintenance programsof machinery and constructions. The following study is focusing on overviewing animportant group of NDT methods: the optical and other ones, which found broadapplicability in scientific and industrial studies nowadays. The paper discusses theselected most widely applicable methods, namely, visual testing, ultrasonic testing,radiographic testing, infrared thermography as well as electronic speckle patterninterferometry and shearographic testing. Besides the basic principles of testing usingthese methods, their potential applications in various industrial and technologicalbranches are broadly discussed. The analysis as categorization of the NDT methodsprovided in this paper may help in selection of such methods in diagnosis of varioustypes of structures and defects and damage occurring in these structures.

Non-destructive experimental testing and modeling of electrical impedance behavior of untreated and treated ultra-soft clayey soils

The characterization of ultra-soft clayey soil exhibits extreme challenges due to low shear strength of such material.Hence,inspecting the non-destructive electrical impedance behavior of untreated and treated ultra-soft clayey soils gains more attention.Both shear strength and electrical impedance were measured experimentally for both untreated and treated ultra-soft clayey soils.The shear strength of untreated ultra-soft clayey soil reached 0.17 kPa for 10% bentonite content,while the shear strengths increased to 0.27 kPa and 6.7 kPa for 10% bentonite content treated with 2% lime and 10% polymer,respectively.The electrical impedance of the ultra-soft clayey soil has shown a significant decrease from 1.6 kΩ to 0.607 kΩ when the bentonite content increased from 2% to 10% at a frequency of 300 kHz.The10%lime and 10% polymer treatments have decreased the electrical impedances of ultra-soft clayey soil with 10%bentonite from 0.607 kΩ to 0.12 kΩ and 0.176 kΩ,respectively,at a frequency of 300 kHz.A new mathematical model has been accordingly proposed to model the non-destructive electrical impedancefrequency relationship for both untreated and treated ultra-soft clayey soils.The new model has shown a good agreement with experimental data with coefficient of determination（R;）up to 0.99 and root mean square error（RMSE） of 0.007 kΩ.

Optical techniques in non-destructive detection of wheat quality:A review

Wheat quality detection is essential to ensure the safety ofwheat circulation and storage.The traditional wheat quality detection methods mainly include artificial sensory evaluation and physicochemical index analysis,which are difficult to meet the requirements for high accuracy and efficiency in modern wheat quality detection due to the disadvantages of subjectivity,destruction of sample integrity and low efficiency.With the rapid development of optical technology,various optical-based methods,using near-infrared spectroscopy technology,hyperspectral imaging technology and terahertz,etc.,have been proposed for wheat quality detection.These methods have the characteristics of nondestructiveness and high efficiency which make them popular in wheat quality detection in recent years.In this paper,various state-of-the-art optical-based techniques of wheat quality detection are analyzed and summarized in detail.Firstly,the principle and process of common optical non-destructive detection methods for wheat quality are introduced.Then,the optical techniques used in these detection methods are divided into seven categories,and the comparison of these technologies and their advantages and disadvantages are further discussed.It shows that terahertz technology is regarded as the most promising wheat quality detection method compared with other optical detection technologies,because it can not only detect most types of wheat deterioration,but also has higher accuracy and efficiency.Finally,the research of optical technology in wheat quality detection is prospected.The future research of optical technology-based wheat quality detection mainly includes the construction of wheat quality optical detection standardization database,the fusion of multiple optical detection technologies and multiple quality index information,the improvement of the anti-interference of optical technology and the industrialization of optical inspection technology for wheat quality.These studies are of great significance to improve the detection technology of wheat and ensure the storage safety of wheat in the future.

Measuring Herbage Mass by Non-Destructive Methods： A Review

Accurate assessment of herbage mass （HM） in pasture is a key to budgeting forage in grazing systems worldwide. Different non-destructive techniques to measuring pasture yield are commented. The methods compared include visual estimations, manual and electronic pasture meters and remote sensing. All methods are associated with a moderate to high error, showing that some indirect methods of yield estimation are appropriate under most appropriate because many factors as climate variations, soil certain conditions. In general terms, no method was found as the characteristics, plant phenology, pasture management and species composition must be taken into account to make local calibrations from a general model. Best results were found modifying general methods under local calibrations and under local conditions. In order to give farmers the best method to manage adequately their own grazing systems, researchers must select the most suitable technique considering the scale of operation, the desired accuracy and the resources available.

Optical generation,detection and non-destructive testing applications of terahertz waves

Optoelectronic terahertz generation and detection play a key role in the applications of non-destructive testing,which involves different areas such as physics,biological,material science,imaging,explosions detection,astronomy applications,semiconductor technology and superconductiong electronics. In this article,we present a reviewof the principle and performance of typical terahertz sources,detectors and non-destructive testing applications. On this basis,the newdevelopment and trends of terahertz radiation detectors are also discussed.

Non-Destructive Imaging of Water Permeation through Cementitious Materials Using MRI

In this study, water permeation through cementitious materials was observed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The influence of cement type on the magnetic resonance signal was studied subsequent to determining the parameters required for imaging. Consequently, adequate imaging of water permeating through hardened cement paste (HCP) made with white Portland cement was achieved, while water permeation through ordinary Portland cement-based HCP yielded poor signal. HCPs maintained at various levels of relative humidity (RH) were observed, and the signal was detected only from those maintained at an RH of higher than 85%. The water permeation depths in HCP were observed by using MRI, and the measured depths were compared to those measured via a spraying water detector on the split surface of the specimens. As a result, good agreement was confirmed between the two methods. Additionally, MRI was applied to concrete specimens;although it was found that water was not detected when a lightweight aggregate was used, water permeation through concrete with limestone aggregate was detectable via MRI. MRI will help in understanding how water permeation causes and accelerates concrete deteriorations such as rebar corrosion and freezing and thawing.

Rapid and Non-destructive Prediction of Protein Content in Peanut Varieties Using Near-infrared Hyperspectral Imaging Method

This study was undertaken to investigate the feasibility of near-infrared(NIR) hyperspectral imaging(1 000–2 500 nm) for non-destructive and quantitative prediction of protein content in peanut kernels. Partial least squares regression(PLSR) calibration model was established between the spectral data extracted from the hyperspectral images and the reference measured protein content values, with the coefficient of determination of prediction(R_P^2) of 0.885 and root mean square error of prediction(RMSEP) of 0.465%.Regression coefficients(RC) from PLSR analysis were used to identify the most essential wavelengths that had the greatest influence on changes in the protein content. Eight optimal wavelengths were selected by RC and its corresponding simplified RC-PLSR prediction model was also obtained, showing better performance with a higher R_P^2 of 0.870 and a lower RMSEP of 0.494%. The results indicate that hyperspectral imaging with PLSR analysis can be used as a rapid and non-destructive method for predicting protein content in peanut.

NON-DESTRUCTIVE PAVEMENT LAYER THICKNESS MEASUREMENT USING EMPIRICAL MODE DECOMPOSITION WITH GPR

Ground Penetrating Radar(GPR) is an effective Non-Destructive Testing(NDT) technique for highway pavement surveys, which is able to acquire continuous pavement data compared with traditional core drilling method. In this study, we proposed an accurate and efficient method to estimate the thickness of each pavement layer using an air-coupled GPR system. For this work, the main difficulties are estimating each pavement layer's time delay and dielectric constant. We first give the basic signal model for pavement evaluation, and then present an Intrinsic Mode Functions(IMFs) product detector to determine each pavement layer's time delay. This method is based on Empirical Mode Decomposition(EMD), which is an adaptive signal decomposition procedure and proved to be suitable for suppressing noises in GPR signal. The dielectric constant was determined by metal reflection measurement. The laboratory and highway experiments illustrate that the proposed thickness estimation method yields reasonable result, thus meets the requirements of practical highway pavement survey with massive GPR data.